《Aspiring to the Immortal Path》


 Chapter 1: Chasing a Dream

    Whenever the winds blew across the mountains, the trees of Jade Orchid Mountain would rustle with green billows, and when the golden light of the sunset cast itself across the lush mountain, it would te the trees in gold¡ªa sea of green shing with golden scales, a gorgeous sight beyond words.


    In the kingdom of Sageheart, this was famously known as the Rising Jade Meets Setting Sun.


    The Rosecloud Domain¡¯s prodigious energies that locked the heavens and sealed the earth, the Gold Ignis Astral Winds that not even those cultivators who sought immortality dared to confront, were nothing but beautiful scenes that had drawn much fame and countless sightseers.


    But for themon folk who lived on thisnd, neither the jade forest nor the golden sunset could match the importance of their fields.


    In Little River Vige at the base of Jade Orchid Mountain, several dozen families were working their fields.


    It was the middle of spring, the time to sow seeds.


    But in one field, a single youth was working the field alone. He appeared to be ten-some years old, but he was handling thisrge field all by himself, his childish face covered in sweat.


    ¡°Big Brother Tang Jie!¡± A crisp voice came from the distance.


    The youth raised his head and saw a girl with her hair tied up in two bunches, sticking out from her head like two goat horns, running over with a bowl of water.


    She wasn¡¯t a very pretty girl, and years of working in the field had made her skin rather tough and tanned. But herrge eyes sparkled brightly with vim and vigor.


    The girl held the bowl in front of the boy. ¡°Big Brother Tang Jie, aren¡¯t you tired? Have some water.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± The boy took the bowl of water, but rather than drinking, he absentmindedly looked at the reflection of his face.


    It was a rather good-looking face. It was slightly gaunt, the skin fair and clear, and it sported a very handsome nose bridge. In truth, the nose was the most important part about a person¡¯s face. If the nose looked good, the person¡¯s entire appearance would be improved.


    The boy had this sort of enchanting nose, but his soft and weak eyes failed to match, making him seem rather cowardly and timid.


    He didn¡¯t like it much, so he squinted his eyes, straightened his neck, and clenched his muscles. His eyes became much sharper, and his demeanor became more intimidating.


    In his memories, he had had another name¡ªalso Tang Jiye.


    (TN: The names share the same pronunciation, though the second character is different. The first name uses ½Ù while this one uses ½Ü. Tang Jie [½Ü] will be written as ¡®Tang Jiye¡¯ to differentiate them.)


    On Earth, he had been an ordinary office worker at a certainpany in a certain city. His father had been the chief physician at the city hospital while his mother had been a math teacher.


    If he had continued on the normal course of life, Tang Jiye probably would have advanced up the ranks in hispany, and if he did well, he could have be a leader of the nation with limitless possibilities.


    Tang Jiye had worked diligently toward this goal and had earned the appreciation of his superiors. He had even hooked up with a girlfriend who was from a simrly influential family. Though she had a short temper, she didn¡¯t have any major problems.


    No one could have expected that Tang Jiye would face disaster.


    Tang Jiye had just been walking on the street when a man iling around a knife ran out and made Tang Jiye his second victim.


    He had seen that savage-faced stranger shing at a random woman a step ahead of him, and then the man had stabbed his sharp knife into Tang Jiye¡¯s chest¡­ The little Tang Jie had died in a rather simr fashion.


    Two years ago, when little Tang Jie had just reached the age of ten, he had gone out hunting on the mountain with his parents and fellow vigers. While the rest of the vige was focused on dealing with a giant bear, a boar with two sharp tusks had appeared.


    It had punched a hole in little Tang Jie¡¯s chest in the same ce where Tang Jiye had been stabbed.


    In the end, it had died under the frenzied attack of Tang Jie¡¯s parents, who also died bringing it down.


    But something that could be considered either tragic oric took ce. Tang Jie didn¡¯t die. He came back to life.


    It was at that moment that Tang Jiye arrived in the boy¡¯s body.


    Upon arriving, he discovered that he was an orphan.


    Fortunately, his initial confusion and hesitation had been taken for despair and grief at the loss of his parents. Under the care of the other vigers, he gradually grew used to this new environment and began to energetically apply himself to his new life.


    Two years had since passed much more quickly than he could have imagined.


    ¡°Big Brother Tang Jie, drink!¡± The little girl¡¯s big eyes gleamed as she spoke to Tang Jie.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Stirred from his nostalgia by the girl¡¯s call, he drank the bowl of slightly muddied water.


    The little girl giggled happily as she watched Tang Jie drink the water down. Looking around at the field, she said, ¡°Brother Tang Jie, you probably can¡¯t do all this alone. Let me help you.¡±


    The little girl was about to get to work when Tang Jie stopped her. ¡°Yaya, that¡¯s not needed. There¡¯s only half left of this field, and I can get it done in another two days.¡±


    ¡°But don¡¯t you still have three fields on the eastern end of the vige? There¡¯s no way you can do them on your own.¡±


    ¡°I already sold them,¡± Tang Jie indifferently replied.


    ¡°Sold them?¡± Yaya¡¯s eyes flew open in shock. ¡°You sold your family¡¯snd? What will you do in the future?¡±


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t answer. Instead, a middle-aged man walked over and lovingly caressed Yaya¡¯s head. ¡°Silly little girl, you still don¡¯t get it? Little Jie¡¯s mind isn¡¯t here! He wants to go out!¡±


    <em>Go out?</em>


    Yaya looked in a daze at Tang Jie. ¡°You¡­ you want to leave Little River Vige?¡±


    For the people of the Rosecloud Domain, a girl of twelve wasn¡¯t young. It would be extremely normal for her to be married off after another two years.


    Though Tang Jie was an orphan, he was extremely smart, since he had the soul of an adult. He also looked rather handsome and cool. It was only natural for little girls to like him.


    She had never expected to hear that Tang Jie wanted to leave. Yaya became extremely dejected.


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Uncle Li is right. Next year, I¡¯ll sell off thesest two fields and then leave.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± the little girl said in a trembling voice.


    ¡°Go and see the world outside,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°What¡¯s so good about the outside?¡± Yaya couldn¡¯t understand what Tang Jie was thinking at all.


    That Uncle Li sighed. ¡°Little Jie, you¡¯d better think this over carefully. The world is a tough ce, and while Little River Vige is a poor ce, it¡¯s a rare spot of peace and safety. If you leave this ce, your life isn¡¯t guaranteed to improve. The money you have from selling thend won¡¯t be able tost you very long.¡±


    ¡°Uncle Li, I know. I have hands and feet and know how to take care of myself. And besides, isn¡¯t there still another year?¡± Tang Jie calmly replied.


    Uncle Li could tell from this reply that his mind was made up, so he could only sigh and say no more.


    At this moment, there was a blinding sh of light in the distance, like the rising sun, and everyone was forced to close their eyes until the light died away. After that came a rumble of thunder that made little Yaya turn pale and fall on her butt.


    Everyone raised their head at the same time and saw that the weather had suddenly changed. The sky had darkened, and the golden sea of clouds had been whipped into a frenzy.


    There were clearly two people flying through the sea of clouds, the clouds around them wildly roiling and dancing.


    One of them was covered in dazzling golden light that made him appear like a god who had descended to the mortal realm. The other wore billowy white robes and swung around a sword that unleashed clouds of sword qi. Wherever the light of the sword went, countless trees atop Jade Orchid Mountain would snap.


    ¡°Xu Muyang, you can¡¯t run. Just obediently submit yourself!¡± The golden-armored figure pushed through the sword light and thrust arge palm at the white-robed man. Unperturbed, the white-robed man dodged to the side. A massive handprint descended from the heavens, mming into therge stone atop Jade Orchid Mountain and instantly crushing it into powder. The mountaintop shuddered.


    ¡°Immortals? Immortals are fighting?¡± The vigers of Little River Vige looked up and cried out in rm. Tossing aside their hoes, they ran for shelter.


    When Immortals battled, mortals suffered. Themon folk living in the Rosecloud Domain had long ago learned how to avoid the fallout from Immortal battles. Though Little River Vige was remote andcking in spiritual energy, the vigers rarely seeing Immortals, they had still taken the precaution of excavating caves to hide in.


    The vigers ran into the cers beneath their homes. Only Tang Jie continued to view the Immortals¡¯ battle from a distance, a fervent light in his eyes.


    He muttered, ¡°Immortals¡­ Those are Immortals?¡±


    From the moment he hade to this world, he had known that this world had cultivators, but he had never truly seen an Immortal. Tales regarding Immortals were like legends, existing only in the imagination. Thus, even though he yearned to be one, he did not desperately pursue it.


    But today, he finally saw it.


    The two Immortals in the clouds unleashed prodigious strength with every moment, and with each sh, the aftershocks obliterated everything in their path and even caused the earth to quake.


    Was this the power of Immortals?


    Tang Jie had never expected that his first time seeing Immortals would be so splendid and grandiose. At this moment, he was seized by an intense urge:


    <em>I want to be an Immortal!</em>


    There was no reason, and he did not need a reason!


    The divine grace the Immortals disyed as they scattered the golden clouds was enough to fill his heart with infinite yearning.


    Thus, with one nce, Tang Jie had made up his mind to seek immortality no matter what!


    ¡°Yes, this is why I came to this world!¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    As for why he wanted to be Immortal?


    What sort of Immortal he would be?


    Or even what Immortals were?


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t care!


    None of it was important.


    Immortals were Immortals, and just by being one, his wish would be fulfilled!


    He strode toward the two Immortals battling in the distant sky.


    ¡°Tang Jie,e back!¡± Uncle Li called out.


    Tang Jie shouted back, ¡°Go and hide! I¡¯m going to take a look. Perhaps one of them will take me as their disciple.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡± Uncle Li shouted. ¡°The door to immortality is difficult to enter! Little Jie, don¡¯t be stupid!¡±


    Tang Jieughed.


    He naturally understood how difficult it was to step through the door of immortality.


    It was human instinct to seek strength. Tang Jie wanted to seek immortality, so why wouldn¡¯t others?


    It was precisely because everyone in the world sought immortality that the threshold was so high.


    One couldpare it to the test he had taken to get his job in hisst life.


    And the temptation of immortality was many times greater than that of a job. Topare it to an army of tens of thousands trying to cross a single nk would not be at all excessive.


    But that was why he had to try and work even harder to pursue it!


    A man could not live for more than one hundred years, and he could not waste it away in mediocrity.


    He was fortunate enough to have been reborn, so he needed to valiantly press forward so that he could live up to the generous gifts of the heavens and not let down this second life.


    It did not matter that the path to immortality was difficult or dangerous. They were simply momentary spots and scenes in the path of life, and it was only right that he thoroughly experience them!


    Turning his head to Uncle Li, Tang Jie called, ¡°I know it¡¯s difficult, which is why I have to take every chance I get!¡±


    Saying this, he ran toward the summit of Jade Orchid Mountain.


    ¡°No, don¡¯t go! You¡¯ll die!¡± Uncle Li and Yaya called out together.


    Battles between Immortals could shake the heavens. If a mortal like him got close, the aftershocks alone could obliterate his body. To charge right in was no different from suicide.


    The other vigers also saw Tang Jie running in the direction of the battle and realized what he was doing, and they shouted, ¡°Little Jie, don¡¯t be dumb! Even if you run up to the side of an Immortal, they won¡¯t ept you!¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°I know¡­ but while trying might result in failure, not trying means I¡¯ll never get a chance!¡±


    With the sea of golden clouds raging above, he lowered his head and charged forward for his dreams!

 Chapter 2: Tragic Turn

    The battle in the sky continued. That heaven-consuming magic power stirred the air into a hurricane, and the sky darkened.


    That golden-armored god was still swinging his powerful arms, each hit striking the air and stirring up a howling gale.


    The immense wind pressure was like a tornado, creating barriers of wind that made each step forward excruciatingly difficult for Tang Jie.


    On the other hand, that white figure weaved through the wind. With each swing of his sword, a powerful sword beam would cleave across the sky like a bolt of lightning. When they struck the earth below, they left behind deep fissures.


    Tang Jie had to be cautious and avoid these stray attacks from the heavens.


    He ran against the wind pressure, dodged the lightning, maneuvered his way through the forest, and jumped between giant rocks. He was as nimble as a monkey as he rushed toward the summit of Jade Orchid Mountain.


    Only there could he see the Immortals in the sky, could he have the chance to talk with them.


    There was another sh of light in the sky. Tang Jie instinctively lunged forward, and behind him, a beam of sword lightning crashed down, sting a rock that he had stepped on earlier. The rock was obliterated, and the shockwave struck Tang Jie and sent him flying.


    He grunted and spat out blood, after which he jumped to his feet, grabbed a hanging branch of a tree, and swung forward on it.


    The farther he charged, the stronger the power of the aftershocks became. By the time he had reached the midway point of the mountain, gales were ripping across the slope, sword lightning was raining down in a deluge, and sand and gravel flew through the air.


    And then Tang Jie stopped.


    He had no choice except to stop!


    This was because there were no trees to shelter behind up ahead. The summit of Jade Orchid Mountain had already beenpletely shorn of trees.


    Those beams of sword energy and the omnipresent wind pressure whirled and howled across the top of the mountain, creating a world-destroying momentum. To press any farther would mean certain death.


    Could he not even get close?


    Tang Jie hopelessly looked up at the sky.


    Those two figures in the sky had reached the most intense moment of their battle.


    A blurry figure had appeared behind the golden-armored god. The moment this phantom appeared, Tang Jie felt a boundless pressure. He found that he could not see the face of that phantom, but it felt to him as if held up the heavens, its feet rooted to the earth and its head holding up the void. It was a majestic figure that one could not directly look at, and it instilled respect and awe in all who beheld it.


    Tang Jie could barely control his body as it sought to prostrate. At this moment, the white figure suddenly shouted, ¡°Rise!¡±


    The bald top of Jade Orchid Mountain suddenly exploded with light that formed into an enormous and locked down the entire region, including the golden-armored god.


    ¡°Eight Gates Heavenseal Formation! So you were ready for this, Xu Muyang!¡± the golden-armored god howled. The phantom behind him fiercely punched at this heaven-enclosing.


    The massive erupted with light as it trembled, the space within the formation trembling with it.


    Shockwaves of air rippled and surged out of the formation.


    Tang Jie paled in fright, and he cast aside all other thoughts and ran back, lunging behind a giant boulder.


    A howling torrent of wind blew overhead, sweeping up clouds. This powerful gust of windsted for a good several seconds, causing the giant stone to sway and almost squash Tang Jie.


    ¡°Holy shit, is this a nuclear bomb?¡± Tang Jie softly cursed.


    Of course, it was much weaker than an actual nuclear bomb, but it probably had the force of several thousand tons of TNT.


    The golden-armored god¡¯s heaven-rming strike scattered apart that Eight Gates Heavenseal Formation, even slicing off a part of the top of Jade Orchid Mountain. These were both indicators of the sheer power packed into that strike.


    But after this strike, the phantom behind the golden-armored god disappeared. The white-clothed man used this chance to swing his sword, striking the golden-armored god in the chest.


    ¡°Aaagh!¡± The golden-armored god screamed as blood gushed out.


    The golden-armored god swayed a little in the air, almost falling from the clouds. It was clear that this one sh had dealt him an enormous wound.


    Without the slightest hesitation, he turned and fled. As he fled, he left behind onest threat. ¡°Xu Muyang, you can¡¯t run! Once Masteres, your death is assured!¡±


    The voice lingered in the air as the golden-armored god transformed into a golden beam of light and shot toward the horizon.


    The man in white did not pursue. He watched his opponent leave, and then his body swayed as he vomited blood and began to fly off in the other direction.


    ¡°Senior! Wait for me!¡± Seeing this, Tang Jie hastily charged after that man in white.


    But that white figure moved as fast as lightning and was flying besides. There was simply no way Tang Jie could keep up. In the blink of an eye, he had vanished from Tang Jie¡¯s sight.


    The vige chief and vigers of Little River Vige looked up hopefully.


    The dust from the battle in the distance had settled, and the Immortals were gone, leaving behind devastation. A figure walked out from the distance.


    Yaya¡¯s sharp eyes immediately recognized the person, and she shouted in joy, ¡°It¡¯s Brother Jie! Brother Jie!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Tang Jie! He¡¯s still alive!¡±


    The vigers began to call out, and everyone rushed over to Tang Jie and began to pepper him with questions and see if he was okay. Once they saw that he was just a little dirty, they finally rxed.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine as long as you¡¯re still alive.¡± Uncle Lin sighed in relief andughed.


    Yaya hugged Tang Jie and asked, ¡°Brother Jie, did you run into an Immortal?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head, smiling. ¡°I couldn¡¯t keep up with them¡­ Even getting close was difficult¡­ I failed.¡±


    His tone was very calm, and his smile very sincere, but everyone could hear the unwillingness hidden behind that smile.


    ¡°Failure is failure, but at least you¡¯re still alive.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right! What could be more important than living?¡±


    ¡°Little Jie, I¡¯m not criticizing you, but you should get a hold of yourself and stop thinking about Immortals and such. A meeting with Immortals is difficult to find, and the gate to Immortals is difficult to enter. Seeking out an Immortal to attain the Dao is not something poor people like us can think about.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! It¡¯s best for people like us to keep to our roles.¡±


    ¡°Right, Little Jie, why don¡¯t you buy back those three fields of yours? I¡¯ll go and talk with Old Zhang about it. He¡¯ll definitely agree.¡±


    For a moment, everyone was giving their opinions. There were some who were giving earnest advice, others who were mocking him, some who wereforting him, and others who viewed his conduct with disdain.


    Uncle Li was blunter with his words. ¡°Brat, you would even give up your life to seek immortality?¡±


    ¡°I was just working toward what I aspired to.¡±


    ¡°Even if it caused your death?¡±


    ¡°Yes! In this age, there are many people with dreams, but too few of them are willing to pay the price for their dreams.¡±


    Uncle Li had not expected a mere child to say such words, and he was rendered speechless.


    Even though Tang Jie¡¯s first attempt to seek an Immortal had failed, he did not regret it.


    This was because he had tried for it, done his utmost, even put his life on the line.


    So long as he was striving for his dream, even if he failed, he would feel no regret.


    Rather than growing discouraged, he felt even more driven to seek out the path of immortality.


    Tang Jie mentally swore, <em>One day, I will be like them and travel freely across the heavens.</em>


    <em>No matter how many untold difficulties I must face!</em>


    After this incident, the people of Little River Vige returned to their ordinary lives, ceaselessly tending to their fields.


    Every day, Tang Jie would join the rest in setting out in the morning and returning at dusk. It appeared as if he had given up on his unrealistic fantasies.


    But whenever he was free, Tang Jie would go alone to the summit of Jade Orchid Mountain, quietly sitting there and looking up at the sky in a daze.


    The trees destroyed by the battle began to grow back. In this world of abundant spiritual energy, life was abnormally tough and tenacious.


    In just a few days, the summit was once more covered in green, the rising jade once more meeting the setting sun that cast its light over thisnd and painted Tang Jie¡¯s body a faint golden hue.


    He was like a statue erected at the summit¡­ A month went by in the blink of an eye.


    The farmwork was done, but Tang Jie continued to go up the mountain every day.


    Going up the mountain had already be a habit for him, and the vigers could only mentally sigh at this sight.


    Today, Tang Jie spent another day on the mountain, and by the time he came back, it was already dusk.


    When he got to his home, he found that Yaya was waiting for him at the door.


    The little girl looked at him with herrge and bright eyes, softly muttering, ¡°You went up to the mountain again?¡±


    ¡°Mm,¡± Tang Jie grunted before moving to enter his house.


    Yaya pulled him back. ¡°Brother Tang, what are you doing? Everyone in the vige says you¡¯ve gone crazy. The Immortals are gone, but you still go up to the mountain every day. What¡¯s the point?¡±


    The people in the vige had already asked him this question many times.


    Tang Jie had never answered.


    But today, after some hesitation, Tang Jie answered, ¡°In that battle, I saw that the man in white was injured. Injured very badly¡­¡±


    ¡°How do you know that he was injured badly?¡±


    ¡°Because he didn¡¯t go after that other man¡­ I think that it wasn¡¯t because he didn¡¯t want to do it, but because he couldn¡¯t,¡± Tang Jie answered.


    ¡°So¡­¡±


    ¡°So I think that he might not have gone very far. For him, the best n would be to immediately find a ce nearby to treat his wounds.¡±


    ¡°So you go up to the mountain every day to see if you can find him? You still haven¡¯t given up?¡± Yaya¡¯s little face turned red from agitation.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never given up,¡± Tang Jie lightly said. ¡°Even if I still fail, I still won¡¯t give up. In another year, I will leave this ce to see the world and find an Immortal.¡±


    For Tang Jie, his month searching the mountain for clues was just another failure to find an Immortal.


    Two failures was far from enough to make him give up.


    Dreams were something that should be tirelessly pursued even if one failed countless times.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Yaya was so angered by Tang Jie¡¯s words that she was on the verge of tears.


    She suddenly raised her hand and pped Tang Jie.


    It was a stinging pain.


    ¡°Tang Jie, you bastard!¡± Yaya shouted for all she was worth, then turned around and ran away.


    As Tang Jie watched her run away, he sighed and silently apologized.


    He had never intended to hurt a girl¡¯s feelings, particrly this little girl who loved him. He was internally conflicted and wondered if he should go after her and say a fewforting words. But he feared that this would only make her more attached to him. As he was hesitating, he heard the sound of horse hooves in the distance, and saw a rising plume of dust. Judging by the size of the dust trail and the thundering of the hooves, a lot of people wereing.


    A momentter, a force of men seething with killing intent appeared in the distance, their figuresrge and muscr, and though they had no armor, they all wielded sharp sabers. The leading men were holding short bows that they aimed in his general direction.


    Tang Jie was shocked and immediately got down.


    Ever since he had been stabbed to death in hisst life, Tang Jie would instinctively get down whenever someone aimed a weapon at him.


    This reaction saved his life. As he got down, he heard the twang of a bow, and a sharp arrow brushed past his scalp and nailed itself into the wooden house behind him, the tail still quivering.


    ¡°Horse bandits!¡± Tang Jie flipped over and jumped to his feet, rushing to the back of the house as he loudly shouted, ¡°Bandits areing! The horse bandits of the Wildgrain ins!¡±


    Anyang Prefecture was swarming with bandits that robbed and plundered wherever they pleased. They were cruel and violent, butchering entire viges and sparing nothing. Of them, the Wildgrain in horse bandits were the cruelest.


    Tang Jie had heard rumors about them, but he had never imagined that they woulde upon his vige.


    As he loudly shouted and evaded, he heard another twang. One of the horse bandits had loosed an arrow at Yaya.


    ¡°Yaya, get down!¡± Tang Jie roared.


    But the little girl was not as quick to react as Tang Jie, and the sudden appearance of bandits had already paralyzed her with fear.


    <em>Plush!</em> The arrow pierced through her chest, and Yaya¡¯s body swayed and then thudded to the ground.


    A momentter, hundreds of bandits swarmed into the vige, their leader a tall and muscr man wielding a nine-ringed saber. He pointed ahead and shouted, ¡°Kill! Kill everyone you can, and steal everything you can!¡±


    ¡°Nooo!¡± Yaya¡¯s death caused Tang Jie to howl in pain.


    He saw that the bandits had already charged into the vige and raised their sabers against the unprepared vigers. Blood swiftly began to spurt into the air.


    A hunter raised up the knife and fork in his hands, but there was no way he could stop a mounted bandit. A saber shed, and the hunter swiftly had his head removed from his shoulders.


    Most of the vigers ran around in panic, but the horse bandits rode them down, using spears to prate through their backs and sabers to cut off their heads.


    The bandits shouted andughed, sparing no one, not even the old or young.


    Little Tiger, Nanny Hu, Uncle He¡­ Hiding behind his house, Tang Jie watched as the vigers were ughtered, and his mind grew frenzied with rage.


    Uncle Li ran out of the house next door. Upon seeing his daughter copsed in a pool of blood, he cried out and rushed over.


    ¡°Don¡¯te out!¡± Tang Jie urgently shouted.


    A horse bandit saw Uncle Li and charged over with a savage smile.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Tang Jie gritted his teeth and charged at the bandit, taking out his dagger and flinging it at the bandit.


    The bandit reacted quickly, swinging his saber and urately striking the dagger in midair. His horse rammed into Uncle Li, and the saber came down, taking Uncle Li¡¯s life. The bandit turned his attention to Tang Jie,ughing as he said, ¡°Still one more!¡±


    He turned his horse in Tang Jie¡¯s direction.


    Tang Jie saw that the situation was grim, and began to run to the forest, seeking out that deserted trail. But the horse moved quickly, and the bandit didn¡¯t need long to catch up to Tang Jie and swing down his saber. Just when it was about to hit, Tang Jie lunged forward, avoiding the blow. He quickly turned around with another object in his hand: the rake from his backyard.


    This rake swung at the bandit¡¯s waist. Not having expected a twelve-year-old boy to strike in this way, the bandit was caught off guard.


    The nine points of the rake dug into his body, causing him to hiss in pain. The horse turned its head and rammed into Tang Jie, sending him flying. Tang Jie could feel that his ribs were probably broken, and he copsed on the ground in pain.


    The bandit pulled out the rake, jumped off his horse, and savagely stalked toward Tang Jie. ¡°Foul brat, you¡¯re dead!¡±


    He considered himself a veteran warrior who could hold his own against three or five strong men. He had never imagined that he would be wounded today by some little brat. His heart burning with rage, he was determined to tear this boy apart.


    Tang Jie saw the man striding over, and then he suddenly raised his hand, obscuring the bandit¡¯s eyes with dust. He lunged forward with all his strength, and because the bandit¡¯s waist was injured, the bandit had naturally bent down a little, giving Tang Jie¡¯s mouth ess to the throat.


    The bandit groaned in pain, and his saber swung at Tang Jie¡¯s back. But horse sabers needed space to exhibit their full might, and they were much less effective in such close quarters. Tang Jie was determined to fight to the death, so he allowed the edge of the saber to cut at his back and continued to doggedly bite down on the bandit¡¯s throat.


    The bandit began to panic, and he gathered up all his strength and tried to push Tang Jie away. But to his surprise, this move also took his life.


    Using the power of this push, Tang Jie ripped out the bandit¡¯s windpipe. Blood gushed out, and the bandit gripped his throat and staggered a few steps before dropping to the ground.


    Tang Jie also came crashing down to the ground.


    He had taken a saber blow to the back, had been struck by a horse, and then had been pushed away by the bandit, so his injuries were dire. But he still went up to that bandit and snatched the saber from his hand.


    The bandit was notpletely dead yet, and his eyes were wide open as they stared at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie coldly said, ¡°What are you looking at? Beast!¡±


    The saber swept across the bandit¡¯s throat.


    <em>Thud!</em>


    Tang Jie vomited blood and weakly leaned against a tree.


    Although he had killed someone for the first time, he felt not one trace of fear. All he had was infinite hatred for these dregs of humanity.


    Suddenly, a voice rumbled like thunder through the firmament.


    ¡°Audacious bandits, ughtering innocents! Die!¡±

 Chapter 3: Killing in Rage

    Following the roar, a slender white figure appeared in the distance, rapidly flying toward the vige.


    This was clearly the white-clothed Immortal that Tang Jie had failed to find. His appearance at this time was truly unexpected.


    ¡°It¡¯s an Immortal! Everyone, retreat!¡± the bandit chief immediately shouted.


    By the time he was shouting the first word, that white figure had just appeared at the end of the vige¡¯s road, his white robes floating, his eyebrows raised as his sword emerged from his sheath. By the time he was shouting ¡®retreat¡¯, the figure had already gone up to a bandit. The sword fell, a head flew, and blood gushed into the air.


    In that straightforward fashion, he confronted the bandits, and the brash horse bandits immediately fled like stray dogs.


    The bandit chief shouted, ¡°The cksand Group was ignorant and did not know this ce was guarded by an Immortal. We are willing to withdraw, so please, Immortal, stay your hand!¡±


    The Wildgrain in bandits were very sharp and shrewd. They could cause trouble for the heavens and the earth, but definitely not for any ce protected by an Immortal.


    They had already scouted out Little River Vige, and knew that it had no connection to an Immortal. This was why they had been so bold as to strike. But to their surprise, they ended up running into an Immortal anyway.


    His power, speed, and the swing of his sword ced him at least at the Mortal Shedding Realm, as a True Spirit Master who had broken free of mortality. Moreover, he killed with decisiveness, with sword arts swift and vicious. There was a more than fifty percent chance that he was a sword cultivator who cultivated the art of killing. This was not something that a mere numerical advantage could deal with, which was why the chief pleaded for mercy.


    The white-clothed man snorted, ¡°The bandits of the cksand Group were wiped out three days ago. Where did this other cksand Groupe from? Sihai has gued the nearby viges for more than just a day, ughtering entire viges andmitting countless crimes. Bei Sihai, why is it that you dare to do the deed but not confess to it?¡±


    As he spoke, he killed three more bandits, truly killing humans as easily as one would butcher pigs.


    When that bandit chief called Bei Sihai heard the white-clothed man exposing him, he immediately knew that there would be no mercy. His face twisted with savagery. ¡°You Immortals take up the most territory and the most resources. You im to be dragons protecting the world, but you¡¯re really just seizing its wonders for yourself, fattening yourselves at its expense while bringing down misfortune on us mortals. Is there any way for us mortals to survive? There¡¯s no need to keep up appearances with this old man in a ce like this! Even if he¡¯s a Spirit Master, so long as his Violet Pce isn¡¯t open yet, he¡¯s not unkible.¡±


    His words were damning. Cultivation had five major realms. Let alone the fourth realm, the Violet Pce Realm, the second realm, the Mortal Shedding Realm, was not something one-hundred-some bandits could deal with.


    On the other end, the white-clothed man couldn¡¯t retort to Bei Sihai¡¯s words. He only slightly frowned and sighed.


    Bandits had always lived with their lives on the line, and when they saw that this man wasn¡¯t letting them go, they turned savage, answering Bei Sihai¡¯s call and lunging at the Immortal.


    Spiritual energy pervaded the world. Immortals could use this energy to cultivate and improve themselves, and while mortals did not have the methods for cultivation, they could strengthen their bodies by spending long periods of time immersed within it.


    Though these bandits were mortals, they had been nurtured by spiritual energy. They had powerful physiques and were practiced martial artists who had battled for many years and possessed vicious tactics. Tang Jie had been able to kill one mostly due to luck, with a small part being that his opponent had underestimated him.


    Thus, when they all charged together, even that white-clothed man wasn¡¯t able to kill all of them at once. Weapons shed in the air as a brawl ensued. Meanwhile, that Bei Sihai quietly sneaked away. He had called on the others to throw away their lives, but he himself was making a run for it.


    He was well aware that what made Immortals truly terrifying was not their weapon arts, but their magic spells. Because of this, this battle was hopeless.


    A momentter, the man in white grunted, and his sword erupted with a brilliant light that was about a foot long. This light swept around in a circle, after which the heads of ten-some bandits rolled to the ground.


    ¡°It¡¯s an Immortal sword art!¡± the bandits yelped in unison, fear and despair in their eyes.


    At this moment, the man in white suddenly grunted again, and his body trembled, a bloodstain appearing on his white robes.


    Bei Sihai was stunned at first, and then he shouted in glee, ¡°He¡¯s injured! He was injured before this!¡±


    All of the bandits were invigorated by these words, and like a drowning man clutching a straw, they heedlessly lunged at the white-clothed man.


    Sure enough, the man¡¯s wounds had started making trouble again. He could no longer circte energy as smoothly, and his movements were no longer light and easy. Some of the bandits began to fire at the man from a distance with bows and crossbows.


    ¡°Hmph, scoundrels!¡± the man angrily grunted.


    These bandits were trulycking in experience, believing that just because an Immortal was injured, they could deal with one. In truth, a normal injury would have had minimal effect on a cultivator.


    But sometimes, ignorance and fearlessness would allow one to get extremely lucky.


    This man in white had not suffered some light wound. Even one month had only been enough to recover a little. However, in using that sword art just now, he had stimted the wound, and he could now feel the spiritual energy in his body seething like a turbulent ocean, threatening to explode out of his body. He knew that if he didn¡¯t end this battle now, he would probably die here. However, his spiritual energy was difficult to control at the moment, rendering him unable to use any Immortal arts.


    If they had all scattered in fear, the white-clothed man could have relied on his skills to kill them one at a time. But now that they were all rushing up and surrounding him, he had no way to get out. Moreover, his injuries were worsening, so if he did not take care of these human dregs soon, he would probably be the one in trouble. It would truly be like a ship overturning in cid waters.


    <em>It seems I¡¯ll have to do this¡­</em> the man in white thought to himself. Looking around at the bandits attacking him, his eyes suddenly released a stream of divine light.


    ¡°This is¡­?¡± Bei Sihai, who had been cautiously observing the man in white this entire time, noticed something was wrong. He saw that sliver of divine light, and a much-renowned term appeared in his mind.


    Divine Sense!


    This was Divine Sense!


    Bei Sihai was aghast!


    This man wasn¡¯t in the Mortal Shedding Realm, but the Celestial Heart Realm!


    At this moment, hepletely gave up on trying to kill the Immortal and began to flee with all his might, no longer caring about what happened behind him.


    Wherever the white-clothed man¡¯s eyes went, the bandits would grab their heads and howl in pain. They dropped from their horses, blood gushing out from their eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.


    A Divine Sense attack covered an enormous range, and mortals simply had no way of stopping it.


    But for some reason, the man in white restricted his attack to several dozen meters around. Bei Sihai had fled early, escaping the range of the attack. In addition, the Divine Sense attack aimed only at humans, not horses, so his horse continued to ride away with him. However, the aftershocks from the Divine Sense attack left him in great pain, his brain feeling as if it was being jabbed by needles. The immense pain caused him to miserably howl.


    As he fled, a youth charged out from the side and threw a saber at Bei Sihai¡¯s back.


    Hearing the sound of rushing wind behind him, Bei Sihai tilted his head to the side. He avoided the lethal blow, the tip of the saber brushing past his head, but he ended up with an ear cut off.


    As he madly howled, the horse brought Bei Sihai away.


    Seeing that he couldn¡¯t catch up, Tang Jie helplessly stopped.


    He looked back at the man in white, who was simply standing there after making his attack.


    On this day, the person he had fruitlessly sought had finally appeared.


    He had flown down from the heavens and faced down that group of murderous bandits, killing to his heart¡¯s content and leaving rivers of blood in his wake. Not a single bandit had been able to withstand the might of his sword.


    Those brash, arrogant, and fearless bandits had been felled by the man¡¯s sword, one by one, blood raining down as the survivors covered their heads and fled like rats.


    That white figure; the dazzling sword beams as swift as lightning; the rain of blood¡ªall of these scenes had imprinted themselves on Tang Jie¡¯s heart.


    The scale of this battle was much smaller than that battle of two Immortals in the heavens, but it had left an even deeper impression on Tang Jie.


    Even after many years, it would remain an indelible mark in Tang Jie¡¯s mind. Not even Godhead Pce¡¯s divine connection, Paramount Majesty, or the domineering and peerless ¡®Only I Am the Truth¡¯ of the Annihtion King could ovee the heroic figure of Xu Muyang sweeping through the bandits with his sword.


    This was how an Immortal should be, wielding a sword and scourging evil!


    But it was also on this day that Little River Vige was ughtered!


    Blood flowed through Little River Vige, dyeing Tang Jie¡¯s field of vision red!


    Tang Jie felt like his life was mocking him.


    On this day, he had experienced life¡¯s greatest rise and greatest fall, both joy and sorrow. He had been stupefied, his emotions thrown into absolute turmoil as he wondered what he should do.


    He turned around and looked again at the man in white.


    <em>Plush!</em> The man in white vomited blood, and then he limply fell to the ground, unconscious.


    On this very same day, Tang Jie saw an Immortal fall.


    With this, he understood that even Immortals could die.


    Perhaps it was due to this understanding that came from seeing an Immortal fall that he developed a most audacious and unprecedented n¡­

 Chapter 4: Tricking an Immortal

    When Xu Muyang woke up, the stars were already twinkling in the night sky.


    Nearby, a bonfire burned, the light illuminating a young boy that was sitting next to him.


    As he was about to sit up, the boy pushed him back down. ¡°Don¡¯t move. I just applied medicine to you.¡±


    <em>Medicine?</em>


    <em>What medicine?</em>


    As Xu Muyang was just about to ask, he saw the medicine bottle in the boy¡¯s hand.


    ¡°White Jade Spread?¡± Xu Muyang eximed. He could tell from the style of the bottle that it was his.


    Only now did he discover that all of the medicine he carried had been taken from him by the boy and was now ced at his feet.


    ¡°Who are you to dare to touch my possessions without permission?¡± Xu Muyang was furious.


    The items cultivators carried on their bodies were often linked to their lives, and they could not be recklessly touched.


    His storage bag had been destroyed in the previous bottle, so he was carrying his items on his person. He had never imagined that some mortal boy would scour his body of everything.


    He immediately sat up, his right hand snatching at the air. In the distance, a simple and heavy copper mirror suddenly flew into his hand. As he had used spiritual energy, his blood roiled once more, and he vomited arge mouthful of blood. But Xu Muyang ignored this and put away the mirror, after which he grabbed at a jade writing strip beside him. This time, he did not use his long-range item-seizing spell.


    The boy exined, ¡°I know that it¡¯s not good to look through the possessions of others, but both of us were injured. If I didn¡¯t use the medicine, we would both be dead.¡±


    Xu Muyang realized that his wound was already thered with a thickyer of White Jade Spread. It appeared that the boy had been reapplying medicine for him.


    The boy also had ayer of White Jade Spread over his back. White Jade Spread was a valuable medicine, and only a small amount was needed. Using it in the way the boy had was an enormous waste.


    Xu Muyang¡¯s tone softened. ¡°I see. But you were still a little too bold. Don¡¯t you know that while Immortals carry medicines, if not used properly, they will do more harm than good? Not using the medicine will result in death, but using it incorrectly will also result in death.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Surprisingly, the boy nodded and said, ¡°I know, so I took a look at your wound first. I thought that you probably applied medicine to your wound. This White Jade Spread you speak of is something I confirmed afterparing it against the medicine on your wound multiple times, so it should be the right one.¡±


    Xu Muyang was speechless.


    It turned out that this boy had first looked at his wound before choosing a medicine. It was no wonder he had chosen White Jade Spread out of the many medicines in his possession.


    If not for the White Jade Spread, he probably wouldn¡¯t have woken up so quickly.


    Xu Muyang said, ¡°My injury appears to be an external injury, but it is actually because of tyrannical energy running through my body and upsetting my meridians. White Jade Spread can help me stabilize my spiritual energy and repair my meridians. I intentionally did not have that wound heal, as the bleeding will actually make the medicine work faster. But to treat your external injury, it is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Moreover, the medicine is not fit for the illness. You should have used that bottle of Patch Cream next to you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I get it. I was wondering why an Immortal¡¯s medicine was having a hard time healing a simple external wound.¡± The boy appeared enlightened, snatching up that Patch Cream and spreading some on his back. Sure enough, he felt a refreshing chill on his back, and even the pain lessened.


    He had not asked the owner of this medicine if he could use it. Though Xu Muyang had thought about stopping him, he ultimately decided that since this boy had saved him, he would be a little too petty if he stopped the boy. Thus, he decided to let the matter go.


    The boy sat at his side and said, ¡°My name is Tang Jie, the Jie (½Ù) of cmity (½ÙÄÑ).¡±


    In truth, he had already heard that golden-armored god call out this man¡¯s name, but he was pretending not to know.


    ¡°Xu Muyang,¡± Xu Muyang somewhat coldly replied.


    Tang Jie smiled at this answer.


    This answer meant that Xu Muyang had not noticed him in that previous battle.


    Of course, he could have noticed and not cared. In the eyes of an Immortal, a mortal like him was like an ant.


    Who would pay much attention to an ant?


    Since that was so, it would make the rest of his work easier.


    ¡°Tang Jie?¡± Xu Muyang mulled over the name, creasing his brow. ¡°This name is too heavy with killing intent. It¡¯s inauspicious!¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°When I was born, it was during the Dark Cloud Coup in the Central ins, and there was also the cmity of the Sunset Clouds Swallowing the Moon. A fortune teller said that these were extremely inauspicious signs from the heavens. He said that I was born in response to disaster and that my life would be fraught with disaster. I would be a bane to my father, my mother, my friends, my wife, to all the people close to me. I would even be a bane to heavens, earth, all things in the world, and even the Dao of Heaven, a bane to everything. Thus, the fortune teller advised my parents to call me Tang Jie so that my name could suffer the cmity in my ce, perhaps turning disaster into fortune.¡±


    ¡°Absurd!¡± Xu Muyang shouted. ¡°All things in the world cycle beneath the Dao of Heaven, and even the sacred Immortals can only gaze up at it. The mysteries of heaven are unfathomable, so who would dare to speak so brazenly about banes? This fortune teller was a wicked deceiver who spoke only nonsense. He should have been beaten to death!¡±


    ¡°He wasn¡¯t beaten to death, but he was beaten. Despite this, though, my parents ultimately decided to give me this name. Two years ago, I encountered a great cmity. Both of my parents died, and I died and then came back to life¡­ Perhaps this was the disaster that my name suffered in my ce,¡± Tang Jie casually said.


    To be frank, he didn¡¯t know if Tang Jiye had transmigrated into Tang Jie¡¯s body, or if Tang Jie was some sort of reincarnation of Tang Jiye.


    But regardless, in this life, he was Tang Jie!


    After some thought, Xu Muyang asked, ¡°Did you belong to Little River Vige?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°I was only passing by. I just so happened to see you kill all the bandits and then fall unconscious.¡±


    As he spoke, he patted the readied bundle at his side and then began to sort out the medicines on the ground, using this busywork to conceal his nervousness.


    He was nervous not merely because he was lying, but because he was lying to an Immortal!


    This was his first meeting with an Immortal!


    But on this first meeting, he was deceiving an Immortal. This was audacious to the extreme.


    But he had no other choice!


    When Tang Jie saw that white-clothed Immortal appear, he knew that his moment hade.


    The gate to Immortality was difficult to find. Many mortals sought to be Immortals, but few seeded. Even if one managed to encounter an Immortal, Immortals rarely offered instruction.


    He had been bitterly searching for an Immortal, but now that he had found one, there was no guarantee the Immortal would ept him as a disciple.


    However, Tang Jie was well aware of how important it was to step onto the path of immortality, and even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, he had to try.


    Though he had saved Xu Muyang, Xu Muyang had killed the bandits and saved him. In other words, Xu Muyang didn¡¯t really owe him. On the contrary, if not for this battle, Xu Muyang¡¯s old injuries would not have started acting up. In truth, Tang Jie owed more to Xu Muyang.


    It was precisely for this reason that he could not admit that he was someone from Little River Vige.


    He wanted this Immortal to owe him a favor. Only then could he have a chance at bing an Immortal.


    For this little bit of chance, he could chase and pursue, even give up his life, so naturally, he could lie.


    It was fortunate that he hade out when Xu Muyang was already unconscious and had not noticed him. Moreover, from their conversation just now, Tang Jie had determined that Xu Muyang had not noticed his presence in the earlier battle, either. Thus, it waspletely possible to say that he had just been passing through.


    The only thing he did not dare to be certain of was if Xu Muyang, as an Immortal, would be able to sense if he was lying.


    This was a gamble, a gamble that the human mind was unfathomable, that not even Immortals had the ability to read the minds of others.


    At least not all of them!


    Tang Jie was determined to take this bet!


    If he won, he could have an Immortal owe him a favor.


    If he lost, it was just a small lie, not enough to get him the death penalty.


    This was an Immortal who punished the wicked, so he wouldn¡¯t just kill him because of a lie.


    And besides, what would it matter if he were killed?


    Be an Immortal or die trying!


    The cmity that had befallen the vigers of Little River Vige had let Tang Jie clearly understand how miserable it was to live the life of an ant. Tang Jie was willing to go to any lengths to alter this fate.


    Sure enough, Xu Muyang was clearly taken aback upon hearing that Tang Jie didn¡¯t belong to Little River Vige. ¡°You don¡¯t belong to Little River Vige? Then how did you get that wound on your back?¡±


    ¡°That man you chased away on his horse. I couldn¡¯t dodge in time, so he got a hit on me with his saber,¡± Tang Jie calmly said.


    Compared to the nervousness from his first lie, Tang Jie was much moreposed with his second.


    The lie was not immediately exposed, meaning that Tang Jie had won his bet on the two most important points.


    Xu Muyang was stunned, and after a momentary daze, he replied, ¡°I see. Thank you for your assistance, little brother.¡±


    ¡°Honored Immortal is a righteous and noble warrior, a yer of bandits. What I have done is nothing inparison.¡±


    ¡°In the end, I was a step toote and could not save the people of Little River Vige.¡±


    ¡°I am sure that they are grateful that you avenged them,¡± Tang Jie calmly replied, as if the people of Little River Vige really had nothing to do with him.


    Upon seeing the look on his face, Xu Muyang had no more doubts. He could only sigh as he pondered the heavy karma he had brought on himself.


    When an Immortal took on karma that could not be resolved, it would often leave a crack on their heart.


    While these cracks would not seem like anything, cultivators had to face five realms and fourteen tiers, and one tier was the Heart Demon Tier.


    If the heart had a crack, a Heart Demon would emerge from it, and if the cracks were innumerable, so would the Heart Demons be. When that time came, even if one possessed outstanding cultivation, there would be no salvation. For this reason, all those who sought the Dao had to be very careful about this matter.


    What one needed to pay attention to was that Heart Demons had nothing to do with virtue, nor was it a matter of ¡®you saved me, so I must repay you¡¯. And it was also not the case that every incident would seed karma that would bear fruit. It was connected to one¡¯s character and convictions.


    If Tang Jie had helped some devil who followed the principle of the strong eating the weak, who returned kindness with enmity, then even if this man immediately killed Tang Jie, there would be no Heart Demon, for this man would have followed his convictions.


    In killing Tang Jie, he would have verified his Dao. On the contrary, not killing would have created a Heart Demon.


    From this, one could see that Heart Demons did not care about good or evil, only about what cultivators did on their path to immortality that went against their will and convictions, and led to mental contradictions.


    It was also for this reason that cultivators were often very firm in their convictions. Once they attached themselves to an ideal or point of view, their minds were not easily changed.


    If they suddenly changed their minds, they might feel regret over their past actions, and this was how Heart Demons were born.


    A heart was difficult to change, and even if one had forgotten what was done in the past, the heart would remember, and thus Heart Demons were born.


    Xu Muyang had been born in a great n, and though he was not some benevolent sage, he held the viewpoint that kindness must be returned.


    Since someone had ¡®lent a helping hand¡¯, he had to repay it no matter what.


    He took out a bottle of pills and ced it in Tang Jie¡¯s hand. ¡°This is a bottle of Spirit-Nurturing Pills. These can nourish the spiritual organs and strengthen one¡¯s spirit. Even if a mortal takes them, they can still strengthen the body and cure illness. You helped me, so you can take these pills. In addition, you can also take that bottle of Patch Cream.¡±


    Karmic debts had to be settled, but there was an art to it.


    Cultivators had long lives with countless experiences and all sorts of karmic debts burdening them. If they treated them all earnestly, they would never get anything else done.


    Thus, cultivators had their own ways of resolving their problems. The simplest way was like this, gifting a bottle of spirit medicine.


    There was no need to worry about whether it was enough. Heart Demons came from one¡¯s heart, and if one believed that thepensation was enough and felt no regret, there was no problem.


    Thus, selective ignorance, self-deception, and self-constion became necessary lessons for cultivators. But if someone were to point out and expose these tricks, a few words would be enough for the strategy to fall apart and for a Heart Demon to be incited.


    In battles between Immortals, this was how one could win with words. It was for the same reason that cultivators rarely spoke about their personal experiences, so that they did not expose any weaknesses.


    Xu Muyang was clearlycking when it came to deceiving himself. For this reason, his first offer had been a bottle of first-rate Spirit-Nurturing Pills. <em>Shameless, ck-hearted fellow, I¡¯m even paying you back for the White Jade Spread you used up.</em>


    Tang Jie was a rather sharp person. He was no Immortal, but he had lied without shame, and he had little interest in these pills, putting them down and lightly saying, ¡°I don¡¯t want them.¡±


    He didn¡¯t understand Heart Demons, but he knew about favors. From a certain perspective, they were the same thing.


    Xu Muyang wanted to return a favor with a bottle of pills? Absolutely not!


    Seeing that he didn¡¯t want it, Xu Muyang hastily said, ¡°If you don¡¯t think it¡¯s enough, I¡­¡±


    Tang Jie stood up. ¡°I simply helped you in the passing, and there is no need for Honored Immortal to be so concerned. Right, I saw that you wereing from the east, so I presume that you were headed for Anyang Prefecture. I happen to be going there too, so why not apany me? Honored Immortal is injured, and there might be many inconveniences on the road that I can help you with.¡±


    Of course, Tang Jie had no idea where Xu Muyang was going, but Anyang Prefecture was up the road, so there was nothing wrong with saying that Tang Jie was going to Anyang Prefecture.


    So long as he could follow this man, Tang Jie was in no rush on the matter of seeking instruction in cultivation.


    His many years in bureaucracy had made him understand that if one wanted to cling to the leg of someone else, one first had to win the owner¡¯s favor.


    On the other end, Xu Muyang wanted to cry.


    <em>If only you had just stopped at saying that you were just helping in the passing and didn¡¯t mind!</em> Xu Muyang would have just hardened up andforted himself by saying that this boy didn¡¯t want a reward, and as the boy hadn¡¯t suffered any sort of loss, the karmic debt would have been settled.


    But then, the boy had added that they should travel together, thus creating a problem.


    The boy had helped him, so if he refused, he would seem too cold, thus going against his heart.


    Cultivators could do anything except go against their heart!


    In truth, he really could just leave. The Heart Demon created from such a trivial matter was not guaranteed to do anything to him.


    After all, the Heart Demon Tribtion was formed from the umtion of one¡¯s actions across one¡¯s lifetime.


    But settling karmic debts and taking actions that did not go against one¡¯s heart was a habit that all cultivators would develop. This was like opening shop every day. Whether one had a little or a lot of business, each day had to be taken seriously.


    After thinking it over, Xu Muyang decided to ept this request.


    In his view, this was just a twelve-year-old boy who would need his help at some point. When the time came, he would settle this karmic debt.


    Upon learning that Xu Muyang was willing to travel with him, Tang Jie happily smiled.


    The door of opportunity was wide open, and so all he needed to do was hold it fast.


    The heavens had sent him to this world but had not given him any sort of cheat.


    He would just create one himself!

 Chapter 5: A Karmic Debt Is Hard to Resolve

    A gravestone was set up in front of Little River Vige.


    This was a grave for the whole poption of Little River Vige. All that was written on it was: ¡®The 138 vigers of Little River Vige are buried here.¡¯


    There were no names, for Tang Jie was not a member of Little River Vige. He could not write down the names, for he should not have known them!


    Standing in front of the grave, Tang Jie was emotionless.


    No¡ªthere was a sliver of sympathy and rage. These were emotions that any normal person would feel after experiencing such a tragedy, but these were not emotions one who belonged to Little River Vige would have.


    Tang Jie utilized his anger well to mask his pain.


    Thus, no matter how closely Xu Muyang looked, he wouldn¡¯t see the expected sorrow on Tang Jie¡¯s face.


    There was no way a twelve-year-old boy could conceal his emotions. Xu Muyang had to give up on this fantasy.


    After ncing onest time at Yaya¡¯s grave, Tang Jie turned around. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Tang Jie set off first, and while Xu Muyang was still behind him, he took the chance to silently cry¡­ It was a distance of more than one hundred li between Little River Vige and Anyang Prefecture.


    At Xu Muyang¡¯s usual speed, he could have reached it easily, but he wasn¡¯t fully recovered and had the ¡®burden¡¯ of Tang Jie, so they could only walk.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie managed to find a few horses out in the fields that had originally belonged to the bandits. He then found a tbed cart in the vige and attached the horses to them, thus making a tbed carriage that the two of them could sit on.


    Tang Jie tied a few more horses to the back of the cart and loaded them with some of the better weapons, iming that they could sell them once they got to Anyang Prefecture.


    Though Immortals did notck for supplies, Tang Jie clearly had no intention of relying on Xu Muyang for food and drink, but was intending to rely on himself.


    Since they were traveling, they had to asionally converse, deepening their understanding of each other.


    Tang Jie fabricated a background, saying he hade from Sunward Vige on the other side of Jade Orchid Mountain, and he was heading to Anyang Prefecture to look for work. Though he was only twelve, in this world, a twelve-year-old boy could already do some work, and it wasn¡¯t rare to see them working alone. As for Sunward Vige, Tang Jie had been there before, so if Xu Muyang interrogated him, he could answer any questions. However, Xu Muyang didn¡¯t ask any more questions,pletely believing Tang Jie¡¯s story.


    However, Xu Muyang kept his own background mysterious, only saying that he was a cultivator who had long ago forgotten about mortal affairs and was no longer willing to bring them up. As for the address of ¡®Honored Immortal¡¯, Tang Jie was asked to no longer use it and to instead call him ¡®True Person¡¯.


    He didn¡¯t want to say much, but Tang Jie had a variety of questions.


    ¡°Why should I address you as ¡®True Person¡¯ and not ¡®Honored Immortal¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Because I am not an Immortal. Only someone who has mounted the Immortal tform can even be considered a semi-Immortal.¡±


    ¡°What is the Immortal tform?¡±


    The Immortal tform is the fifth realm of cultivation.¡±


    ¡°And what does ¡®fifth realm¡¯ mean?¡±


    ¡°Cultivation consists of five major realms: Spirit tform, Mortal Shedding, Celestial Heart, Violet Pce, and Immortal tform. At the fifth realm, one can convert spiritual energy into Immortal Essence, thus bing an Earth Immortal.¡±


    ¡°Then what are the Spirit tform, Mortal Shedding, Celestial Heart, and Violet Pce? And what is an Earth Immortal?¡±


    The more Xu Muyang answered, the more questions Tang Jie asked.


    His first impression of Tang Jie was that this boy was very talented, someone who was capable despite his young age. But now, he felt that a child was still a child, still innocent and ignorant.


    The ignorance was real, but the innocence was naturally faked.


    Tang Jie had been born with the ability to act cute and ignorant. The immature feared nothing, and no question was off limits.


    Xu Muyang felt helpless, and while he answered a few at first, he decided to just feign deafness after that.


    Even so, Tang Jie managed to learn a lot.


    Cultivation was divided into five realms. In the first four realms, one was considered a cultivator or an immortal aspirant. Only in thest realm could one be considered to have entered the Immortal path and earn the appetion of Immortal.


    In the first realm, the Spirit tform Realm, one could be called a cultivator disciple, but to be called a spirit master would be overstepping one¡¯s bounds.


    Though the Immortal Domain seemed very messy, it was actually very strictly regted. Those of the Spirit tform Realm were called Spirit Disciples, those of the Mortal Shedding Realm called Spirit Masters, those of the Celestial Heart Realm called True Persons, those of the Violet Pce Realm called True Lords or Celestial Sovereigns, and those of the Immortal tform Realm called Immortals.


    Themon people knew nothing of this and called all cultivators Immortals. The Immortals did not make a fuss over this, but among themselves, they were very clear about the differences.


    Anyone who dared to call themselves a True Person while not at the Celestial Heart Realm would be asking for trouble.


    As for Xu Muyang, he was a True Person of the Celestial Heart Realm.


    Tang Jie was astonished to hear that this Celestial Heart Realm True Person who had ttened a mountaintop was only in the ¡®middle of the pack¡¯. What sort of abilities would someone at the Violet Pce Realm or Immortal tform Realm have, then?


    It was a good thing that he didn¡¯t say it out loud, or else Xu Muyang might have given him a good thrashing.


    Middle of the pack?


    Did he know how difficult cultivation was?


    In the Rosecloud Domain, the Celestial Heart Realm, while not top-ss, was still high in the ranks.


    As for the Violet Pce Realm, those were existences who could found their own sects. Immortal tform Realm cultivators were legendary existences. At this level, cultivators could breach the protective ster winds and wander around the world beyond.


    For this reason, Celestial Heart Realm cultivators could be described as the backbone of the Rosecloud Domain¡¯s cultivator strength.


    And it was precisely because he was a Celestial Heart True Person that he could use Divine Sense to kill people without leaving a mark. It was just that his heavy injuries had even damaged his Divine Sense, causing his attack range to shrink.


    Besides this, Tang Jie learned that Xu Muyang was not a native of the Sageheart Kingdom.


    He was from the Nadir Hill Kingdom.


    Rosecloud was home to beasts with the appearance of tapirs. They were born with three eyes, could move as fast as lightning, had vicious personalities, and made cries akin to a wailing infant. Killing was second nature for them.


    In the 733rd year of Tianjing, the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign battled one of these vicious, three-eyed tapirs on an ind in the far west. After three days of battle, he slew the tapir and turned it into a spirit hill that joined the ind to the continent. This hill was called Tapir Hill, and waster known as Nadir Hill.


    This was the origin story of the Nadir Hill Kingdom.


    Sageheart was in the far east, and Nadir Hill was in the far west. Xu Muyang hade all the way from the west to east, and Tang Jie would never believe it if he said that he had juste to sightsee. Given what had happened before, the answer was obvious.


    He hade here fleeing for his life.


    Put bluntly, this was an Immortal in dire straits.


    An Immortal in dire straits was still an Immortal, so Tang Jie privately told himself, <em>I can¡¯t shun him.</em>


    With the cart, they could cover more than one hundred li in a day. Tang Jie drove the cart, while Xu Muyang didn¡¯t need to do anything except stay in the back and care for his wounds. In this time, Tang Jie even helped Xu Muyang apply some more medicine, ensuring that Xu Muyang had nothing to worry about.


    At dusk, the two of them arrived at Anyang Prefecture.


    Xu Muyang wanted to quickly resolve this karmic debt, so he took Tang Jie to the finest establishment in the city, Phoenix Pavilion.


    Although resolving karmic debt with a fine meal was rather cheap, it was much better than burdening himself like this.


    Frankly speaking, resolving karmic debt was merely a matter of doing something that one would not regret. It was impossible for one to not feel any regret or remorse in one¡¯s life, but at least one could reduce or minimize these things. A minor trifle like this was naturally nothing at all.


    With this thought in mind, Xu Muyang only ordered the most expensive foods, not the tastiest, and the two of them enjoyed themselves.


    But when the time came to settle the bill, Xu Muyang flipped through his belongings and realized that he didn¡¯t have any money!


    Xu Muyang¡¯s wealth had been destroyed in thest battle, and even his storage bag had been lost. At the time, he had only managed to save the most important medicines and treasures. But when it came to money, he had not taken a single coin.


    For mortals, money was a number-one priority that could never be forgotten, but in the eyes of cultivators like Xu Muyang, money was a worthless thing that was hardly worth the trouble. Moreover, he normally brought spirit foods, so he had no expenses to speak of. As a result, he had momentarily forgotten about this matter.


    This matter still shouldn¡¯t have presented a problem to him. When he normally walked the mortal world, he would only need to reveal his identity to have rich merchants, officials, and local figureheads falling over themselves to give him money.


    Even the King of Sageheart would be polite to him, and so long as he didn¡¯te to find trouble, even the official sect of the Sageheart Kingdom, the Basking Moon Sect, would treat him with respect.


    <em>Gifts of money? Any money gifted to me would be trying to humiliate me!</em>


    But things were different now. He was being pursued by someone and needed to be inconspicuous. Exposing himself at Jade Orchid Mountain didn¡¯t matter, but now that he had left the mountain, he could no longer be so obvious.


    Since he couldn¡¯t reveal his identity, he suddenly realized that he had no means of getting money.


    Would he have to study the way of those lowly thieves and steal from others?


    Or would he have to do some dine-and-dashing?


    That was just too humiliating.


    Tang Jie could see how conflicted he was, and said, ¡°Eat. There¡¯s no need to worry. When I went out just now, I spoke with the manager. We can pay for this meal with a horse.¡±


    Xu Muyang¡¯s face went red. ¡°How did you know that I didn¡¯t have any money?¡±


    ¡°Did you forget that I already searched your body?¡± Tang Jie answered.


    After dinner, Tang Jie really did hand off a horse to the manager.


    The horses ridden by these bandits differed in quality, and not all of them had been excellent steeds. However, the ones Tang Jie had selected were the best, and each one could be exchanged for forty taels of silver.


    In this world, a single tael of silver had the purchasing power of one thousand yuan back in his original world.


    Xu Muyang¡¯s dinner had cost forty thousand yuan¡ªa truly extravagant feast.


    After this was done, Tang Jie said, ¡°If we keep this up, we¡¯ll end up broke after a few meals. Let¡¯s be a little more conservative after this.¡±


    Xu Muyang¡¯s face reddened, and he could only nod.


    He was a mighty cultivator, a Celestial Heart Realm True Person. No matter where he went, he would be a first-rate individual, but now, he was being taught lessons by a little boy. This was truly absurd.


    Tang Jie had brought six horses, and he still had five left. He sold them all to a merchant, exchanging them for 180 taels of silver.


    Tang Jie had also taken the money off the bodies of the dead bandits, but s, the bandits were all poor, with their weapons being their greatest assets. The bodies of a hundred-some bandits had only turned up ten taels of silver. But after selling off their weapons, he was able to scrape together two hundred taels of silver, a considerable sum.


    Since Xu Muyang didn¡¯t have money, Tang Jie naturally had to pay for the lodgings as well.


    Staying in the room that Tang Jie had rented for him, Xu Muyang grew even more miserable.


    He had believed that once they were at Anyang Prefecture, Tang Jie would have to rely on him for his livelihood, but the opposite turned out to be true.


    Knowing that he was dependent on Tang Jie for food and lodging while Tang Jie depended on him for nothing left Xu Muyang with an extremely unpleasant feeling.


    How was it that he had not only failed to repay the favor, but now owed even more?


    Xu Muyang felt very vexed by his situation.


    He normally spent every night quietly meditating, harmonizing his breathing and treating his injuries.


    But tonight, alone in his room, he could sense that his emotions were restless, unsuitable for meditation. Thus, he went out to the yard to practice the Visceral Manifestation ssic.


    The Visceral Manifestation ssic was a cultivation mantra that he hade upon, and it was precisely this incident that had forced him to flee for his life.


    As he was circting his energy, he saw Tang Jie walk out of his room to stand nearby and watch.


    To watch a cultivator cultivate was the greatest taboo.


    Xu Muyang wanted to rebuke him, but when he thought about how this boy was young and didn¡¯t understand these rules, and also how Tang Jie had looked after him, he felt that driving him away would be too ungrateful. Unable to tell him to leave, Xu Muyang just let Tang Jie watch, thinking to himself that since this boycked the foundation or the corresponding cultivation arts, he wouldn¡¯t be able to get anything from the experience.


    At this time, he was utilizing his supreme self-consoling art.

 Chapter 6: The Visceral Manifestation Classic

    As Xu Muyang got up in the early morning, he saw a bowl of silver ear fungus and lotus seed soup on the table in front of him, a kind of tonic. The inn could not possibly make this sort of breakfast for its guests, so Xu Muyang knew that it must have been Tang Jie who made it.


    Though this sort of lotus seed soup was useless at his level of cultivation, the good intentions were still there, and Xu Muyang felt ratherforted. Moreover, the soup was made well and had an excellent taste, and eating it was a delight.


    After breakfast, Tang Jie came to pay a visit to Xu Muyang and ask him where they were going next.


    This put Xu Muyang in a difficult spot.


    He was fleeing pursuit, so he had no fixed goal. He was just going wherever the wind took him.


    Anyang Prefecture was in the far east, and farther east was the endless sea. Was he going to flee to the inds?


    As if he could see Xu Muyang¡¯s hesitation, Tang Jie said, ¡°If Spirit Master Xu doesn¡¯t need to go to any particr ce, I have a suggestion. Why not buy a house? A quiet and peaceful ce for you to recover.¡±


    ¡°Buy a house?¡± Xu Muyang was astonished.


    ¡°Yes. If it¡¯s a problem of money, Spirit Master Xu does not need to worry. I have some silver taels that should be enough to buy a small house.¡±


    ¡°But that is your money.¡±


    ¡°But those horses came from the bandits that Master Xu killed, so some of the money should be Master Xu¡¯s,¡± Tang Jie said in a tone that was neither servile nor overbearing. While using the address of Spirit Master Xu, he had dropped the ¡®Spirit¡¯, simply calling him Master Xu.


    Xu Muyang didn¡¯t notice this, hesitantly saying, ¡°In the end, it¡¯s not proper for me to stay here for long.¡±


    ¡°When you don¡¯t want to stay any longer, just sell it. Moreover, Master Xu is unwell and has no one to attend to you. I happened toe here to look for work, and I can attend to you in my free time,¡± Tang Jie continued.


    Once they got to Anyang Prefecture, Tang Jie had confirmed that Xu Muyang had no set destination in mind. Since that was the case, he would just keep him here.


    He wanted to follow Xu Muyang and cultivate, so he had to remain at Xu Muyang¡¯s side. If Xu Muyang wanted to leave, he would follow, but if he couldn¡¯t find a good reason to travel together with him, Xu Muyang would sense that he had ulterior motives. Although his intentions would be exposed eventually, until their rtionship had reached a certain level, this time was best dyed as long as possible.


    Since he couldn¡¯t follow the man, he might as well make him stay.


    Xu Muyang had no idea what was going through Tang Jie¡¯s mind and was still worrying over his karmic debt and owed favors. He thought to himself that if he really left, he would never be able to resolve this karmic debt, so he decided to listen to Tang Jie and stay.


    But even so, if Tang Jie bought the house he lived in, wouldn¡¯t he owe Tang Jie another favor?


    Or was it as Tang Jie said, and some share of the money was his?


    After some thought, he realized that this wasn¡¯t quite right. After all, he had chosen to ignore the horses. If someone else got rich off of them and he was still somehow owed a share, then weren¡¯t all the scavengers in the world about to get robbed?


    But if he didn¡¯t stay in that house, where would he stay? After all, Tang Jie was also paying for his room at the inn!


    He found it impossible to calcte the bill and only felt a headacheing on, so he decided to stop thinking about it and let Tang Jie handle everything.


    Tang Jie worked very efficiently, and in just two days, he had found a good house.


    The house was an old home downstream from the Windscreen Ford outside of Anyang Prefecture. The original owner had fallen on hard times and was selling it, and Tang Jie had bought it for 150 taels of silver.


    The procedure for buying a house was very simple. All one needed was to request some prestigious elder in the area to serve as an intermediary, and everything was done once the contract was signed and the money exchanged.


    The house was bought under the name of ¡®Tang Jie (½Ù)¡¯, but the elder wasn¡¯t listening carefully, so on the contract, he wrote ¡®Tang Jiye (½Ü)¡¯.


    Tang Jie had intended to point this out, but a momentter, he decided that since he didn¡¯t understand this world very well, it would be safer to use a pseudonym. Thus, he let this matter go.


    Once the house was bought, Xu Muyang paid it a visit. He saw that while the house wasn¡¯t big, it was still a house with six rooms, including the main room and side room, and two gates. It was rather remote, but it had its back to a small hill and was fronted by willows and a river. This gave it the excellent fengshui of a mountain behind it and the water before it. It was a peaceful and beautiful ce that left him satisfied.


    Also of note was that this ce had abundant spiritual energy, making it the perfect ce to rest and recover.


    Xu Muyang immediately realized that Tang Jie had not found some random house. After asking Tang Jie, he realized that Tang Jie truly had selected this house because of the area¡¯s abundance of spiritual energy.


    Xu Muyang was very curious about this. ¡°How did you know that this area had abundant spiritual energy?¡±


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°This family once nted spirit grains for an Immortal sect, but theter generations weren¡¯t interested in farming, leaving thends abandoned. As this was a ce that could grow spirit grains, it must have abundant spiritual energy. After all, Immortals wouldn¡¯t choose a bad location. Moreover, this ce is close to a road intersection, making things easier for you.¡±


    In pointing out the numerous roads, he was naturally referring to how Xu Muyang was being hunted down and this would provide him more avenues of escape.


    Xu Muyang was thoroughly stunned by this reply.


    He looked at his room and found that it had already been swept clean. On the side was a study, and all the tools of a schr were present. Outside of the room was the courtyard, which was perfect for quiet cultivation.


    This boy had handled everything neatly and cleanly.


    He finally began to look at Tang Jie in a different light.


    After some time, Xu Muyang finally nodded. ¡°Though he is young, his thoughts are very meticulous.¡±


    He was finally finding this boy rather interesting and was no longer in such a rush to part ways with him.


    He vaguely sensed that if he stayed at this boy¡¯s side, his life would be much easier.


    From that day forward, Xu Muyang took up residence in this courtyard downstream of Windscreen Ford, and Tang Jie naturally took up residence as well. After all, he wasn¡¯t going to buy a house just for Xu Muyang to live in while he stayed in an inn.


    There wasn¡¯t much money left after they bought furnishings, and they couldn¡¯t just sit back and rx until their money ran out, so Tang Jie found work in Anyang Prefecture.


    During the day, he would head off to the city to work, and at night, he would return to the house to cook for Xu Muyang, wash the clothes, and clean the houses, taking care of all the housework.


    All Xu Muyang needed to do was quietly recover from his injuries.


    asionally, he would sit alone and fiddle around with that bronze mirror, closely inspecting it for something. But most of the time, he would just sigh.


    Tang Jie¡¯s work truly was saving him some effort. There were many small domestic trifles that Xu Muyang could never have imagined that Tang Jie would think of. With him here, Xu Muyang basically didn¡¯t need to worry about his needs. At some point, Xu Muyang grew ustomed to Tang Jie¡¯s service.


    When covered in many lice, one would cease to itch, and when mired in many debts, one would cease to worry about them. As time went on, Xu Muyang decided to stop thinking about his karmic debt.


    In the blink of an eye, the two of them had lived together for half a month, and were gradually beginning to know each other.


    On this night, Xu Muyang went out to the courtyard to cultivate the Visceral Manifestation ssic as usual while Tang Jie watched on the side. The two of them already regarded this as routine.


    Once Xu Muyang was done cultivating the Visceral Manifestation ssic and ceased circting energy, Tang Jie served a cup of tea. Smiling, he said, ¡°Congrattions, Big Brother Xu, for recovering from your injuries.¡±


    Their rtionship had deepened so much that he could call him ¡®Big Brother Xu¡¯.


    ¡°I¡¯ve only recovered thirty percent of my power¡­ mm, how could you tell?¡± Xu Muyang asked.


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°Whenever Big Brother Xu would cultivate the Visceral Manifestation ssic before, you would only do eleven movements, but today, you did twelve. From this, I can see that it wasn¡¯t that you didn¡¯t want to do it in the past, but that you didn¡¯t have the strength. Since you can do twelve, it naturally means that your injuries are improving.¡±


    ¡°That truly is the case.¡± Xu Muyang was not surprised by Tang Jie¡¯s meticulous nature. Smiling, he exined, ¡°The Visceral Manifestation ssic has twelve forms and has the effect of increasing spiritual energy. Before this, Icked in both energy and blood, so I didn¡¯t dare to perform theplete set of twelve. Now that my condition is gradually improving, I can finally perform them all.¡±


    Saying this, he looked at Tang Jie. ¡°I must thank you for serving me so dutifully, allowing me to recover without worry.¡±


    ¡°So when Big Brother Xupletes the Visceral Manifestation ssic, you can drive out that domineering energy andpletely recover?¡± Tang Jie excitedly said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that easy. The Visceral Manifestation is only a basic art and has little effect when ites to healing injuries.¡±


    ¡°But isn¡¯t Big Brother Xu a True Person of the Celestial Heart Realm? Why do you have to restart from the foundations? Oh, I know! You must not have been a diligent student when you were little, so your foundation isn¡¯t good.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Xu Muyang angrily said. ¡°Although this Visceral Manifestation ssic is a basic art, it has an extraordinary background. It emphasizes the entranced mind that focuses on one¡¯s aspirations; the fusion of the body with the Dao, the essence contained within the blood; energy running through the one hundred meridians, flowing smoothly and without obstruction¡­¡±


    He immediately went on a big spiel, essentially saying that this Visceral Manifestation ssic had mighty origins and amazing effects. He was so agitated that he even quoted some of the lines from the text.


    After speaking for a while, he suddenly realized what was going on and red at Tang Jie. ¡°Kid, you fooled me again.¡±


    As he spent more and more time with Tang Jie, he gradually came to understand him. He wasn¡¯t ignorant at all, only feigning it. Every time he spoke with him, he would end up divulging something about the cultivation world. Thus, Tang Jie was no longer ignorant about cultivation and Immortals, and he could even quote a few snatches from the Visceral Manifestation ssic now.


    But Xu Muyang didn¡¯t care that much.


    After receiving Tang Jie¡¯s care and attention, he had begun to like the boy. Now that there was some affection between them, he naturally no longer bickered about the minor things.


    He had been fooled by Tang Jie, but in truth, he was willing to be fooled.


    In his view, the Visceral Manifestation ssic was incredibly abstruse and difficult to cultivate. Even a True Person of the Celestial Heart Realm like him had a hard time realizing any effect, so there was no way Tang Jie couldprehend theplete cultivation method through the snatches he had heard¡­ He was growing more and more skilled in his self-consoling art.


    Hearing Xu Muyang¡¯s rebuke, Tang Jie giggled, his expression like that of an innocent and pure child.


    But Xu Muyang didn¡¯t take the bait this time. After saying a few more words, he returned to his room to sleep.


    Watching Xu Muyang leave, Tang Jie put away his smile, his innocent and childish eyes turning deep and profound.


    He muttered to himself, ¡°The entranced mind that focuses on one¡¯s aspirations; the fusion of the body with the Dao, engaging the organs and abandoning essence; energy running through the one hundred meridians, flowing smoothly and without obstruction¡­¡±


    He began to recite the words Xu Muyang had just spoken while repeating the movements, extending his arms and taking up an extremely strange posture. This was the first form of the Visceral Manifestation¡¯s twelve forms.


    Every night, once Xu Muyang went back to rest, Tang Jie would practice the Visceral Manifestation ssic.


    This was the only thing he could practice.


    He had watched the first eleven forms of the Visceral Manifestation numerous times and had practiced each of them to perfection.


    Each time he did this, his body felt extremely rxed and pleased, as if all the veins in his body had been opened up. But there was always something off at the end. This was because he wascking the twelfth form, which prevented him from getting the full effect.


    Today, he had learned the twelfth form, and so once he finished the eleventh form, he naturally moved on to the twelfth. Although it was his first time using it, he moved with incredible grace and proficiency, as if his body had been waiting for this moment. He performed the movement as naturally as a river flowed.


    Tang Jie finally felt a weak pulse of energy from his Energy Cave Point.


    (TN: In Chinese acupuncture, the Energy Cave Point is located a little bit beneath the navel.)


    The Visceral Manifestation ssic could allow him to sense spiritual energy! He was naturally ted, so he repeated the twelve forms again.


    Performing the movements of the Visceral Manifestation ssic presented no difficulty to him. On the contrary, they became easier the more he did them, and the energy flow through his body improved. After the third repetition, his weak spiritual energy grew stronger and stronger until he was almost sure of its existence.


    Tang Jie was in the initial stage of cultivation and had no idea of its challenges and dangers. In his excitement, he continued to repeat the process, and the flow of energy grew stronger and stronger, until he began to feel something swelling in his abdomen.


    Tang Jie finally realized that something was wrong, and hastily stopped.


    The moment he stopped, the energy in his body explosively dispersed, flooding through his meridians. Thatfortable sensation now became one of absolute misery, plunging Tang Jie from heaven into hell.


    As the energy rushed through his body, blood began to flow out of his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and even began to leak out of the pores on his skin. Tang Jie felt like his body was being gnawed on by countless ants, and one torrent of energy rushed at his brain. His brain began to buzz as if something was madly knocking against it.


    He knew that he was as good as dead if this went on, so he shouted with all his strength, ¡°Big Brother Xu!¡±


    Xu Muyang immediately charged out of his room, and when he saw what was happening, he shouted, ¡°A Jade Gate Heaven Charge? How could that be?¡±

 Chapter 7: Jade Gate Heaven Charge

    Within the human body was the Jade Gate that served to lock away the world.


    Spiritual energy permeated the world, but mortals could not sense, absorb, or digest it, only passively receive it. This was because of the Jade Gate.


    If one wished to cultivate immortality, one first had to charge through the Jade Gate. Only then could one step onto the Spirit tform and sense the world. It was for this reason that cultivators called the first realm the Spirit tform Realm.


    This was the first major threshold of cultivation.


    Charging through the Jade Gate required energy, and as mortals normally did not have spiritual energy in their body, they found it very difficult to break through the Jade Gate on their own. They would usually require the assistance of their seniors.


    But spiritual energy was not the only way to break through the gate. Those of a sufficiently brave or heroic nature could crash through this gate.


    The world abounded with heroic characters, and when they suddenly erupted in strength in the middle of a bitter melee, it was because they had broken through the gate.


    This phenomenon was called the Jade Gate Heaven Charge, referring to how someone had managed to break through the Jade Gate without anyone¡¯s help.


    But the Jade Gate Heaven Charge only sounded nice. It was not necessarily a good thing.


    ¡®The Jade Gate of the Spirit tform; the gate opening of nine cycles.¡¯ This referred to the degree to which the Jade Gate was opened during the breakthrough process.


    The Spirit tform Jade Gate had nineyers, like nine circr targets. Opening eachyer was like punching a hole through the center of the target, allowing spiritual energy to flow through the hole into the body of the cultivator.


    The first cycle of gate opening was to punch through the first target. Three cycles meant that one had punched through the nine, eighth, and seventhyers all at once.


    The more gates one opened, the more spiritual energy woulde through, and the better results one¡¯s cultivation would produce. Once the charge¡¯s power was spent, the Jade Gate¡¯s form would be fixed. For this reason, each person had only one chance at this in their lifetime.


    For this reason, the number of cycles one could achieve when opening a gate would define the quality of a cultivator to a certain extent.


    Though the Jade Gate Heaven Charge did not rely on outside aid, as it depended on one¡¯s inherent strength, it was difficult to maintain. This meant that the degree to which the Jade Gate opened was never veryrge. Some people would not even be able to make one full cycle, only opening the gate a hair¡¯s width, meaning that they would never be able to step onto the Spirit tform.


    So it was said that not relying on outside aid only sounded nice. A Jade Gate Heaven Charge without external aid was like children in a kindergarten trying to draw without the guidance of a teacher.


    Tang Jie was radiating spiritual energy¡ªone of the signs of the Jade Gate Heaven Charge.


    Moreover, the spiritual light erupting from his body and the overflowing of spiritual energy were clearly not caused by a surge of blood energy. Rather, it was the result of spiritual energy entering the body and running rampant.


    This also meant that Tang Jie was not actually charging at the gate. Instead, the spiritual energy in his body had gone out of control and was running amok in his body, inadvertently ramming into the Jade Gate.


    Thus, rather than calling it a Jade Gate Heaven Charge, it would be better to call it energy corruption.


    Tang Jie was probably the first in the history of the cultivation world to suffer from energy corruption without even cultivating.


    Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t difficult for Xu Muyang to save him.


    After all, someone with a low foundation was like a child, and the trouble one could cause was ultimately limited.


    But Xu Muyang truly didn¡¯t understand. Why was there suddenly spiritual energy in Tang Jie¡¯s body?


    He urgently asked, ¡°What happened to you?¡±


    Had some cultivatore by and sent spiritual energy into Tang Jie¡¯s body but failed to teach him how to guide it, resulting in the spiritual energy getting out of control?


    Tang Jie struggled out, ¡°Big¡­ Big Brother Xu, I was cultivating the Visceral Manifestation ssic¡­¡±


    <em>The Visceral Manifestation ssic?</em>


    Xu Muyang was stupefied.


    How could that be?


    He knew the effects of the Visceral Manifestation ssic.


    Upon obtaining this art, Xu Muyang had discovered that it was a method for absorbing spiritual energy without passing through the Jade Gate.


    At the start, he had treated it as an absolute treasure, believing that while other people could only absorb spiritual energy through the Jade Gate, one who cultivated the Visceral Manifestation ssic could absorb energy from two sources, thus doubling the effectiveness. For this reason, this was an art that excelled at boosting one¡¯s cultivation.


    But only when he cultivated it did he discover that the amount of spiritual energy that could be absorbed was tiny, far less than what could be absorbed through the Jade Gate. While it seemed like Tang Jie¡¯s body was raging with spiritual energy, Xu Muyang could gather this much energy in the space of a single breath.


    Moreover, when cultivating the Visceral Manifestation ssic, even the rate at which he absorbed spiritual energy through the Jade Gate was severely reduced. In whole, the effects were worse.


    Xu Muyang hadn¡¯t taken this seriously at first, believing that he just wasn¡¯t proficient in the technique. After all, the creator of the art had been a peerless master who had gone to great lengths to hide this art away, so it could not be so useless. There was no one who would receive a huge boost in cultivation without gaining proficiency in an art, so he continued to diligently study this art.


    Yet as the days dragged on without any progress in the Visceral Manifestation ssic, he gradually began to be discouraged and consider the art of dubious worth. Otherwise, he would not have so easily taught it to Tang Jie.


    But when he saw the spiritual energy running amok in Tang Jie¡¯s body, the Jade Gateing under assault, his mind was finally opened.


    As if a bolt of lightning shed across his mind, Xu Muyang shouted, ¡°So that¡¯s it! The viscera are within and the manifestations take form on the outside, then, after forming the manifestations, bolster the internals, charging at the Jade Gate without using any external force¡­ The Visceral Manifestation ssic was an art for charging at the gate that the Ninedark Martial Lord prepared for his reincarnation! Damn it! I¡¯m an idiot! A real idiot! How did I not realize this!?¡±


    Xu Muyang pped his head.


    He couldn¡¯t be med for not thinking of this possibility. No one in the cultivation world had ever created an art for charging at the gate.


    Firstly, creating an art for absorbing spiritual energy without going through the Jade Gate was very difficult. Secondly, anyone who was capable of creating such an art had no need for it.


    As for their descendants, they could just pour in spiritual energy to open the Jade Gate. There was no need to waste time and energy on something so meaningless.


    The rigid thinking of millennia had caused Xu Muyang to not even consider this angle, which was why he had taken it as a treasured art that could double his cultivation speed.


    He was excited to realize the truth, but he was also disheartened upon realizing that the art he had been cultivating for so many days was an art for charging at the gate that waspletely useless to him.


    While he was lost in his own gains and losses, Tang Jie was reaching his breaking point. Lying on the ground, he painfully moaned, ¡°Big Brother Xu¡­ Big Brother Xu¡­¡±


    Xu Muyang was called back to his senses by his cries, and only now did he remember that Tang Jie was still lingering on the precipice of death.


    When he looked at Tang Jie again, there was aplicated mixture of emotion in his eyes.


    He reached out a hand and poked Tang Jie¡¯s body. That berserk spiritual energy was immediately pacified, no longer bashing around his body. It still remained in Tang Jie¡¯s body, making him feel ufortable, but at least it was no longer as painful.


    Xu Muyang then said, ¡°Do you have a desire to be a cultivator?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Jie loudly shouted.


    At this point, he finally and loudly voiced his desires.


    He loudly shouted, ¡°I want to learn, so I followed you. I studied the Visceral Manifestation ssic, and even though I knew that it was dangerous without the mantra, I still wanted to learn it!¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°¡®Why¡¯?¡± Tang Jieughed. ¡°A true man aspires to travel far and make his mark, to stand tall and look with disdain at the heavens. How could I be resigned to the empty life of a fly? Immortals exist, so I want to be one. There¡¯s no need for any other reason besides that!¡±


    In Tang Jie¡¯s eyes, people wanted to be Immortals for the same reason as they sought promotion and wealth.


    Did there need to be a reason to seek promotion and wealth?


    No!


    Wanting to be an Immortal didn¡¯t need a reason. It was not wanting to be an Immortal that needed the reason!


    Xu Muyang was stunned. ¡°This is your reason?¡±


    ¡°Is that not enough?¡± Tang Jieughed. Although Xu Muyang had pacified the spiritual energy inside him, the pain was still excruciating, yet he still managed to keep up his smile.


    He looked at Xu Muyang, mustered all his strength, and shouted, ¡°Then what if I give you another reason? Because¡­ because I don¡¯t want to be like the vigers of Little River Vige, bing fish on the chopping board of others!¡±


    With this roar, he finally released all the negative emotions that he had been storing up at the bottom of his heart all this time, bellowing his hatred at those who had destroyed his home and loved ones, bellowing out all the thoughts he had buried away for so long.


    Xu Muyang gave a slight nod. ¡°Then¡­ you truly are thest viger of Little River Vige¡­ Good, very good; I was actually fooled by a twelve-year-old boy.¡±


    If he still couldn¡¯t realize the truth after hearing Tang Jie¡¯s indignant and sorrowful answer, then he was truly a fool.


    Tang Jie fearlessly looked at him. ¡°Yes, but didn¡¯t you already guess? Isn¡¯t that the reason you didn¡¯t want to ept me?¡±


    Xu Muyang wasn¡¯t an idiot. He might have been initially fooled by Tang Jie, but as the days went by, he would naturally notice a problem.


    But as they spent more time together, Xu Muyang came to like Tang Jie, and there were some things that he wasn¡¯t willing to bicker about. Thus, he decided not to wonder about whether Tang Jie was a viger of Little River Vige or not.


    Hearing Tang Jie¡¯s words, Xu Muyang shook his head. ¡°Although you fooled me, I don¡¯t me you. Regardless of what you say, you did save me. Moreover, you¡¯ve taken care of me, so passing on to you a cultivation method is nothing at all. I did not take you as a disciple because I didn¡¯t want to harm you. You must realize¡­ the Immortal path is dangerous!¡±


    Tang Jie coughed blood and smiled. ¡°Is there any ce in the world that isn¡¯t dangerous? What crime did the vigers of Little River Vigemit to be ughtered?¡±


    ¡°Just because the vigers of Little River Vige were unlucky doesn¡¯t mean that everyone is unlucky. But all those who walk upon the Immortal path must vie against the heavens and struggle against their fellow men. Not one day will be a peaceful one!¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s why I need to walk it!¡±


    Xu Muyang had nothing more to say.


    After some thought, he nodded. ¡°If you want to learn, I can teach you, but you must first answer my question.¡±


    ¡°You want to know how I was able to gather spiritual energy?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Xu Muyang nodded. ¡°The Visceral Manifestation ssic has twelve forms, and each movement is incrediblyplex and is abination of numerous hand signs. Moreover, each form has its corresponding cultivation mantra. The mantras of the Visceral Manifestation ssic you have are notplete, and they are all out of order. How were you able to allow spiritual energy into your body without theplete mantra?¡±


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°The mantras I have truly were iplete, and even the parts I had, I didn¡¯t fully understand. The entranced mind that focuses on one¡¯s aspirations, engaging the organs and abandoning essence¡ªI don¡¯t get it at all. But I can ignore what I don¡¯t understand and focus on what I do. Energy running through the one hundred meridians, flowing smoothly and without obstruction¡ªI understand this. Cultivators cultivate using the spiritual energy of the world, right? Since the energy must flow through the hundred meridians, you first have to have energy. I once heard you say that when one can sense the Energy Cave Point, the energy wille through on its own. In other words, energy begins from the Energy Cave Point¡­¡±


    As Tang Jie exined his thought process, still in pain, Xu Muyang was stupefied.


    Tang Jie¡¯s method was very simple, skipping past what he didn¡¯t understand and trying ording to what he did understand.


    There was an order needed when sending energy through the one hundred meridians. The Energy Cave Point belonged to the Lesser Yin Foot Kidney Meridian, so the appropriate route was the very same meridian. Thus, he just needed to go along the Four Fullness Point, the Middle Pouring Point, and all the other points in that meridian, thus saving Tang Jie the need for those other mantras. Even if there were missing parts, he could just deduce the missing parts.


    (TN: The Lesser Yin Foot Kidney Meridian is also known simply as the Kidney Meridian. All three acupuncture points mentioned here belong to this meridian. In particr, the Energy Cave Point is described as three inches below the navel, while the Four Fullness and Middle Pouring Points are two inches and one inch beneath the navel respectively.)


    Besides that, the twelve forms of the Visceral Manifestation ssic were also extremely important, each movement closely connected to the mantras exining how energy should be circted.


    Tang Jie noticed that the first movement opened up all of the positions in the Lesser Yin Hand Heart Meridian, so that was the meridian it corresponded to.


    Thus, the second movement naturally had to have a corresponding meridian as well.


    The human body had twelve major meridians, and these corresponded to twelve major movements. Thus, Tang Jie was able to smoothly find the right order for the energy flow, linking together the snatches of mantra Xu Muyang had given him and sessfully performing the art.


    Tang Jie had been born in a family of Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners, and though he had never actually taken up that profession, this was a profession that valued knowledge even more than technique. After spending a long time immersed in this environment, Tang Jie had developed a rather deep understanding of the human body, which had allowed him to seed.


    Xu Muyang was bbergasted at what he was hearing, never thinking that someone could cultivate using this method. He muttered, ¡°Do you know how dangerous this was?¡±


    Spiritual energy was not something that could be yed around with, and cultivation was not something that could be casually imagined. Each art and each mantra was achieved through the tireless effort of one¡¯s predecessors.


    Tang Jie was able to use his imagination to cultivate spiritual energy through the Visceral Manifestation ssic, but this owed more to luck than to genius. This was because sensing and absorbing spiritual energy was the fundamental function of the Visceral Manifestation ssic.


    But doing something asplicated as getting the energy flowing through his meridians in the right order and increasing his spiritual energy was not something that could just be imagined. The various leaps of faith and deductions had ultimately caused energy corruption. If not for Xu Muyang, he would have died a violent death.


    ¡°Of course, I understand.¡± Tang Jie squeezed out a pained smile. ¡°But I didn¡¯t have a choice. Big Brother Xu, I want to cultivate!¡±


    I want to cultivate!


    These simple words that contained Tang Jie¡¯s aspirations left Xu Muyang¡¯s heart shaken.


    It was such a familiar scene. His mind went back to that stubborn young boy facing his father and saying simr words¡­ Tang Jie¡¯s words had inadvertently stirred up great waves in Xu Muyang¡¯s heart. After a long while, he let out a long sigh. ¡°Forget it, forget it. Since you¡¯re so determined, then let¡¯s see how lucky you are. Right now, the spiritual energy in your body is running amok, and you¡¯re at the crucial stage of charging at the Jade Gate. If you seed, you can set out on the Immortal path. I will now pass on theplete mantra of the Visceral Manifestation ssic to you. Circte spiritual energy ording to the mantra and break through the Jade Gate.¡±


    He pressed a finger on the Wind Pce Point located on the back of Tang Jie¡¯s neck.


    The pacified spiritual energy in Tang Jie¡¯s body once more went berserk, causing Tang Jie to yell in pain. Xu Muyang harshly barked, ¡°Don¡¯t shout! Focus your mind, breathe in, and guide the spiritual energy into the Wind Pce. With courage and vigor, charge at the Jade Gate and step onto the Spirit tform¡­¡±


    As Xu Muyang spoke, Tang Jie gritted his teeth and fell silent.


    Charging at the gate used energy as its force, and crying and wailing would waste spiritual energy. Without sufficient force, the Jade Gate would be difficult to open, and fear and pain would shrink one¡¯s resolve, obstruct the meridians, and hinder the flow of energy. The reduction in efficiency was so bad that even if the Jade Gate were opened, one might only be able to perform one or two cycles.


    Thus, charging at the gate required a fearless resolve that did not flinch in the face of pain, courage and spirit.


    Of course, too much courage and spirit was no good. The human body had a limit, and when one broke through this limit, spiritual energy might rush at the Spirit tform and damage it.


    The minor consequence of this was damage dealt to the entire body and the wounding of one¡¯s vitality. A medium consequence was the destruction of the Spirit tform and the end to any aspirations to the Immortal path. As for the serious consequence, that was the destruction of one¡¯s internal organs, death on the spot.


    Thus, when the disciples of Immortals charged at the gate, they needed to take countermeasures, and they would have seniors overseeing them to react to any sudden developments.


    Now, with Xu Muyang¡¯s guidance, Tang Jie felt a point of spiritual light entering the Wind Pce Point on the back of his neck, guiding him upward. He was already in a world beyond description. Tang Jie felt like he was in the clouds, and above the clouds were nine rings of Jade Gates, their centers spiraling, creating a bizarre ck hole that drew Tang Jie¡¯s mind toward them¡­

 Chapter 8: Stepping onto the Immortal Path

    When Tang Jie woke up, he found himself lying in the bed.


    Sitting up, he saw Xu Muyang standing nearby in front of a desk, writing something with his brush.


    Without turning his head, Xu Muyang said, ¡°Lie back down. Your Jade Gate was just opened and your Spirit tform is still unstable. It still needs time to firm up.¡±


    With a flick of his hand, the talisman beneath his brush flew up and attached itself to Tang Jie¡¯s body.


    It was only now that Tang Jie realized that the world looked different, that all of the objects around him had be clearer, the colors were vibrant, the air more beautiful, and his body brimming with strength that seemed like it could never run out.


    ¡°Big Brother Xu, are you saying that I can cultivate now?¡± Tang Jie delightedly asked.


    ¡°In terms of aptitude¡­ yes.¡±


    ¡°Wonderful!¡± Tang Jie was so excited that he wanted to jump, but as he began to move, the talisman on his body shed. Tang Jie was instantly rendered immobile and forced to lie back down.


    ¡°I already told you not to move,¡± Xu Muyang said, turning around and thrusting the brush at Tang Jie several times. Several threats of light appeared in the air and wound themselves around Tang Jie.


    ¡°Big Brother Xu, this is¡­¡± Tang Jie didn¡¯t understand what was going on.


    ¡°A minor spirit-constricting art. It can temporarily restrain the spiritual energy in your body and prevent it from moving around. Last night, your spiritual energy ran amok, doing severe damage to your meridians. You need to rest and recover before you can actually begin cultivation. Spend the next two days taking a good rest. I¡¯ve already gotten some time off for you from your job at Anyang Prefecture,¡± Xu Muyang lightly said.


    At this time, Xu Muyang put down the brush and sat down next to Tang Jie. Smiling, he said, ¡°Five cycles of the Jade Gate¡ªmedium aptitude, not bad. Even more astonishing is that you did it alone. That you were able to reach this stage is a sign of your astonishing persistence.¡±


    Five cycles meant that Tang Jie had opened fiveyers of the Jade Gate. The Jade Gates of the Spirit tform could be divided into high, medium, and low grades. Three cycles and lower was considered low-grade, while seven cycles and above was considered high-grade.


    Tang Jie hadpleted five cycles of his Jade Gate, making him the middle of the middle. Though he wasn¡¯t some incredibly talented individual, he also wasn¡¯t trash.


    After hearing Xu Muyang say this, Tang Jie finally hazily recalled thatst night, under Xu Muyang¡¯s guidance, he seemingly had charged through five gates.


    Charging at the gates brought immense pain, and even with his adult resolve and astonishing persistence, he only managed to reach the fifthyer. After breaking through the fifthyer, he had fallen unconscious, thus putting an end to any further progress.


    ¡°What a pity. In the end, my persistence wascking, and I wasn¡¯t able to hold on.¡± Tang Jie was ovee with regret.


    Xu Muyang smiled. ¡°If your persistence is no good, then no one in the world has good persistence. Charging at the gate isn¡¯t something that can be done purely through persistence. The Jade Gate seals away the heavens, but different people are sealed to different extents. Some people have gates that are naturally tightly shut, and even using spiritual energy until their bodies explode might not be able to open a single gate. After all, the amount of spiritual energy a mortal body can contain is limited.¡±


    Charging the gates required spiritual energy, and mortals had a limited amount of spiritual energy that their body could contain. Thus, what decided the number of gates that could be opened was one¡¯s persistence and how tightly shut the gates were. If the gates were rather loose, then the same amount of charging power would open more gates.


    Thus, charging at the gates had both aponent that depended on one¡¯s innate qualities and aponent that depended on one¡¯s efforts.


    Tang Jie wascking when it came to innate quality, but his will was far above that of the ordinary person.


    His charge at the gates had utilized almost one hundred percent of his avable strength.


    Many Immortal cultivator disciples would try for a high grade, but the immense pain would make them howl and back away, wasting spiritual energy and ultimately causing them to get a lower grade.


    For reasons rted to innate aptitude and persistence, only a few disciples ever managed to possess a high-grade Jade Gate opening. The vast majority were medium- or low-grade. Thus, while five cycles of the Jade Gate sounded average, it actually ced him above the majority of cultivator disciples and was a rather decent aptitude.


    After hearing Xu Muyang¡¯s exnation, Tang Jie understood, and his regret was somewhat diminished.


    But Xu Muyang shook his head, not satisfied. ¡°If it were anyone else with a five-cycle Jade Gate, I would think that it wasn¡¯t bad, but you¡¯re different. Your method of breaking through the gate was developed by the Ninedark Martial Lord for his reincarnation. It¡¯s somewhat uneptable that this was all that you were capable of.¡±


    ¡°Who is the Ninedark Martial Lord? Is he someone incredible?¡± Tang Jie curiously asked.


    To his surprise, Xu Muyang¡¯s face darkened at this question. ¡°The Ninedark Martial Lord was a great power of this world, someone who had surpassed the Immortal tform and stood above all the world. In his era, he would sense when anyone mentioned his name. Themon people feared his power so much that they only dared to call him ¡®Martial Lord¡¯ rather than his full name. Even though he¡¯s dead, he¡¯s not someone a puny mortal like you can doubt.¡±


    Tang Jie straightened up after being rebuked, respectfully replying, ¡°Yes. I know my errors.¡±


    Xu Muyang saw that he had humbly received the lesson and was satisfied. ¡°Forget it. I can¡¯t me you. After all, you¡¯ve only just taken your first step into the Immortal Gate, and there are still many things that you do not understand. For the next two days, I¡¯ll teach you about the things you need to pay attention to in the cultivation world.¡±


    Tang Jie was delighted. From Xu Muyang¡¯s tone, it seemed he was nning on formally taking him as a disciple. He hastily said, ¡°Yes, Master.¡±


    But Xu Muyang waved him off and said, ¡°Don¡¯t call me ¡®Master¡¯. I¡¯m not taking you as my disciple.¡±


    Tang Jie was bbergasted, upon which Xu Muyang said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to be disappointed. I¡¯m not taking you as my disciple for your own good. First of all, I¡¯m being hunted by someone, and though I¡¯ve managed to avoid them for now, my enemies will catch up eventually. If I took you as my disciple, I would only be burdening you. Secondly, you belong to the Sageheart Kingdom, which is under the jurisdiction of the Basking Moon Sect. It is not right for me to ept a disciple from Sageheart without the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s approval. Thirdly, I am from the Xu n, and all my arts are passed down from my n. They cannot be lightly passed down to those not of the Xu bloodline, so passing them to you would break the n¡¯sws. Fourthly, the Basking Moon Sect is one of the six major sects of Rosecloud, a famed orthodox sect. When ites to resources or lineage, it is far superior to the Xu n. Rather than learning from me, it would be much better to join the Basking Moon Sect.¡±


    Tang Jie had never imagined that an Immortal would have so many rules and restrictions when taking a disciple.Only now did he understand why Xu Muyang had always been reluctant to ept him as a disciple.


    Xu Muyang continued, ¡°But our meeting must have been fated in some way. While I can¡¯t take you as my disciple, I can still teach you a few things. Once I have fully recovered, I will take you to Allspring City and help you get into the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s Basking Moon Academy, thus resolving our karmic debt.¡±


    Now that Xu Muyang had said all this, Tang Jie knew that there was no chance of taking Xu Muyang as his master. He could only nod and say, ¡°Thank you, Big Brother Xu!¡±


    Xu Muyang heartilyughed. ¡°Since you consider me your big brother, I can¡¯t let you continue on without knowing who exactly your big brother is. Fine; let¡¯s start from me. Let me tell you a little about the cultivation world.¡±


    Xu Muyang came from the Xu n of Nadir Hill, one of the four major cultivation ns of Nadir Hill: the Kongs, the Gus, the Mings, and the Xus. The Xu n was ranked fourth. Xu Muyang was the third child of the Xu n Patriarch, Xu Huaili. He had an older brother and sister, and also a younger sister. As a member of a great n, Xu Muyang was born with a golden spoon.


    Compared to his siblings, Xu Muyang could be considered a genius. At the age of nine, he charged at the gates and opened seven cycles. For a time, the patriarch had been inclined to make him the next patriarch.


    But Xu Muyang quickly disappointed his father.


    Xu Muyang had no interest in the strongest arts of the Xu n, the Seven Heaven-Bewildering Illusions and the Grotto Void ssic. On the contrary, he was naturally inclined toward the art of formations, specializing in the Dao of transformation and simtion.


    An Immortal¡¯s four auxiliaries were pills, talismans, formations, and tools. Each one was extremely important, but there was no such thing as a top-ss pill refiner who could order around a top-ss Immortal.


    Strength was a supplement, and status could also only serve as a supplement.


    It was no good for a team to be without a healer, but how many healers could carry a team?


    In the end, healers were supporters, and pill refiners served the same role in the backend.


    Could a logistics officer step onto the battlefield and start givingmands?


    The cultivation world was a world where the fist was king. Even if one possessed the ability to refine unique spiritual pills, if one ended up displeasing some bigshot, one could still die with a single p!


    For this reason, while Immortals would be polite and respectful to cultivators possessing formidable support abilities when it was required, these things could never be converted into true power and authority.


    The Xu n was a peak existence of Nadir Hill, and it had various formation masters, pill refiners, talisman creators, and artificers under itsmand. It did not need its future patriarch to personally handle such things.


    Thus, while the Daos of the Pill, Talisman, Tool, and Formation were not necessarily bad, they were only ¡®good careers¡¯, something for ordinary cultivators to pursue. They were not something the sessor of a major n should seek.


    Thus, Xu Huaili was rather incensed that Xu Muyang was ¡®ignoring his proper upation¡¯, but Xu Muyang stubbornly insisted.


    He was a very talented individual, and as he cultivated, he truly managed to flourish in the Dao of Formations. He quickly became the number one formation master of Nadir Hill. As for his Celestial Heart Realm cultivation, he had incidentally cultivated to that level under the pressure from his father and due to the requirements of high-level formations.


    For the majority of cultivators, the Celestial Heart Realm was the greatest goal in their lives, but for Xu Muyang¡­ it hade incidentally.


    Yet this was precisely why his true fighting power was ratherckingpared to other True Persons of the Celestial Heart Realm.


    Even though Xu Muyang¡¯s formation abilities were getting stronger and stronger, his status in the n continued to fall.


    In the end, the patriarch gave up on him and decided to ignore him and let him quietly cultivate his formations. But Xu Muyang was not discouraged by his family¡¯s indifference. He continued to research the Dao of Formations, and his attainments grew by the day, until his name was soon known throughout the Rosecloud Domain.


    It was at this time that Xu Muyang received a very special invitation, and it was this invitation that had resulted in his being heavily injured and fleeing far from his home.


    Xu Muyang had not gone into the details, but considering all that had happened, Tang Jie gathered that it was connected to that Ninedark Martial Lord.


    ¡°That period of time when my n abandoned me was probably the most free I had ever felt in my life. Although many people felt regret over the fact that I had lost my ce as sessor, I had never nned on seeding the Xu n¡­ I¡¯m not a good fit.¡± Xu Muyang pensively said, ¡°Managing a big n isn¡¯t easy. At times, you¡¯ll have to sacrifice a lot. I didn¡¯t want to lose those things¡­ So as to not lose anything, I was willing to not get those things.¡±


    ¡°To not lose anything, you were willing to not get other things¡­¡± Tang Jie pondered these words, and then he asked, ¡°Then doesn¡¯t that mean that to get something means that you have to lose something?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Xu Muyang replied. ¡°You are different from me. You are someone who can ept losing to gain. I was sure of this the moment I learned that you were from Little River Vige. 138 vigers were massacred, but you could stille up with the idea to trick me. If you are not naturally heartless, then you must have been born with absolute self-control. Do you understand how great of a threat these two kinds of natures pose to you?¡±


    ¡°Threat?¡± Tang Jie was confused.


    ¡°Yes, the Heart Demon Tribtion!¡± Xu Muyang only now told Tang Jie about the Heart Demon Tribtion.


    This was Tang Jie¡¯s first time learning about such a thing, and only now did he understand why it had been so easy to deceive Xu Muyang.


    ¡°When an Immortal is cultivating, they graduallye to discover their Origin Heart. From the moment the Origin Heart appears, all those deeds theymitted in the past that go against their Origin Heart will brand themselves upon it. When the Heart Demon Tribtiones, these will turn into Demons, thus leading to the tribtion.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s like that and you have to go through this Heart Demon Tribtion, doesn¡¯t it mean that the worse one¡¯s character is, the better? The lower one¡¯s bottom line is, the easier it will be to ovee the Heart Demon Tribtion?¡±


    ¡°So they say that evildoers live a thousand years. Those who will resort to any methods, anxious for achievement and profit and easily moved to murder¡­ from this, you can see how dangerous the Immortal path is.¡±


    ¡°Then why hasn¡¯t the cultivation world bepletely dominated by jackals, wolves, tigers, and panthers?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that bad. Extreme chaos will eventually give rise to order, for others and for oneself. While the callous and unrighteous might be strong, nobody likes them. Let alone the orthodox cultivators, they don¡¯t even like each other. This kind of people can bepared to lions or tigers, and it¡¯s very difficult for them to group together, because none of them can trust each other.¡±


    Tang Jieughed and said, ¡°That¡¯s true. The wicked can only advance when among the good. If the whole world is full of evil people, then none of them can get anywhere.¡±


    While lowering one¡¯s bottom line could allow one to rapidly mature, one would not be able to win the favor of others. While the cultivation world was cruel, it had order, and it would not permit such a scourge.


    Moreover, depravity was a sort of habit. Once one set down this path, it was difficult to turn back.


    This wasparable to killing for fun.


    When killing someone no longer went against one¡¯s Origin Heart, not killing did.


    This also meant that one would have to keep killing¡­ no different from seeking death.


    For this reason, being bad for a lifetime was even more difficult than being good for a lifetime.


    ¡°Thus, I am saying that when you deceived me, you must ask yourself if this went against your Origin Heart. In the future, if you have no bottom line, you are certain to incur the wrath of the heavens and the people. Though each individual matter might be small, they will umte over time. So ask yourself: if I remained clueless about this matter, would you feel any shame? If you will, how much?¡±


    Tang Jie seriously pondered the question, turning the matter over and over again in his mind.


    After some thought, Tang Jie raised his head and answered, ¡°In the future, I will carefully consider these things, but on this matter, though I deceived Big Brother Xu, I feel no remorse. This matter did not breach my bottom line, and I did not stain my Origin Heart!¡±


    Xu Muyang was stunned.


    He stared at Tang Jie, and after a while, he squeezed out, ¡°This bottom line¡­ is truly a little low.¡±

 Chapter 9: Washing the Meridians

    In the room, Xu Muyang continued to tell Tang Jie about the cultivation world.


    ¡°Cultivation is divided into five realms, and each realm has three tiers, excepting the Immortal tform Realm, which has only two tiers. Thus, it is sometimes called the Five Realms and Fourteen Tiers. The Spirit tform Realm is divided into the Spirit Spring, Spirit Lake, and Spirit Sea Tiers, and these primarily refer to the amount of spiritual energy in one¡¯s body. Cultivators cultivate spiritual energy, and for this reason, the first realm focuses mostly on absorbing and circting spiritual energy. In the Spirit tform Realm, one breathes in spiritual energy and uses this energy to modify one¡¯s constitution and increase the amount of spiritual energy that can be contained in the body. Thus, the Spirit tform Realm is often called the Breathing Period or the Energy Refining Period.


    ¡°At this time, the cultivator still has the body of a mortal and has yet to reach the stage where they have shed their mortal shell and been remolded. They can learn spell arts, but as they can only be used through the spiritual energy in their bodies, their power is limited. It is for this reason that cultivators in this stage are normally called Spirit Disciples, and the spell arts they can use are normally simply called ¡®spells¡¯, not ¡®arts¡¯. Only after entering the Mortal Shedding Realm can they harness the spiritual energy of the world and use true spell arts, finally earning the right to call them ¡®arts¡¯. And it is in this period that cultivators can truly shed their mortal body and reshape it into a spiritual body, which is why it is called the Mortal Shedding Realm. As building the spiritual body and shedding the mortal body is the basis of cultivation, this is often called the Foundation Period or the Spiritual Body Period. Did you get all that?¡±


    ¡°Big Brother Xu¡¯s exnation is simple and concise. I understand everything. To put it simply, realms are qualitative improvements while tiers are quantitative improvements, right?¡± Tang Jie answered.


    Xu Muyang smiled and nodded. ¡°This summary is fresh and interesting, and it also makes some sense. While it¡¯s notpletely urate, it¡¯s also not too far off the mark.¡±


    At the same cultivation level, different cultivation methods would produce different results.


    ording to Xu Muyang, the human body was made from meridians, blood, energy, the bones, muscles, and organs, and each part had its own purpose and use. Different cultivation methods and processes would bring about different changes, and it would also affect what one was good at. Even the simplest spells like Wind de, Frost Sword, Fireball, and Chain Lightning would show varying levels of power depending on the type of cultivation method the cultivator had used.


    Those with abundant experience would only need to see one attack to get a general idea of the primary cultivation method and background of their opponent.


    Moreover, not all methods werepatible, and it was crucial to determine if there were any conflicts between them. For example, the Heavenfire Sutra primarily focused on the Lesser Yang Triple Burner Meridian of the Hand. Energy was dispersed in the heart cavity and ended in the liver and galldder. The liver was of the Wood element and governed refinement. The heart belonged to the Fire element and governed divinity. For this reason, the fire energy was vigorous, and once the technique was cultivated sessfully, the Heavenfire would have the power of a wildfire. But the Stillwater Sutra used the Lesser Yin Meridian of the Foot, which rose from the spleen and ended in the kidney. The spleen was of the Earth element and governed transportation. The kidney was of the Water element and governed essence storage. Once one cultivated this technique, one would have the grandeur of all rivers running to the sea.


    But these two were not subordinate to each other and stood on their own.


    Not only did they stand on their own, they actually conflicted against each other. Someone who was unaware and cultivated them together would have their efficiency halved.


    Thus, with cultivating methods, more was not better. Rather, one had to ensure that theyplemented each other.


    ¡°This is also another reason I don¡¯t want to teach you the Xu n¡¯s arts,¡± Xu Muyang said. ¡°The Xu n¡¯s Grotto Void ssic cultivates the Greater Yang Small Intestine Meridian of the Hand, which emphasizes the eye, focusing on prating through the void and the creation of a grotto illusion. The Basking Moon Sect cultivates the Lesser Yin Heart Meridian of the Hand, which emphasizes the heart. The two do not share the same basis, but the heart is the master of the five organs and is the residence of the sovereign. Thus, it is better to start with the Violet Jade Mantra and Divine Firmament Sword ssic of the Basking Moon Sect as your foundation.¡±


    ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is that cultivating the Violet Jade Mantra and Divine Firmament Sword ssic of the Basking Moon Sect doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t cultivate the Xu n¡¯s Grotto Void ssic, but if I cultivate the Grotto Void ssic, I might not be able to cultivate the Violet Jade Mantra. Is that right?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°Right, that¡¯s exactly what I mean. The Basking Moon Sect is a brilliant andrge sect, and its mantra is vast and verypatible. If you have it as your foundation, you will be able to learn anything in the future without a problem, and you will have limitless potential.¡±


    ¡°Understood. This is like how a sea can hold ake, can hold all rivers, but ake trying to hold a sea will result in rampant flooding.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you understand,¡± Xu Muyang said with a smile.


    Tang Jie was a very clever child and could thoroughlyprehend everything that he saw only a little of. Xu Muyang was delighted to have such a student. Although he was not taking Tang Jie as his disciple, he was treating him as one.


    ¡°So aren¡¯t you saying that there¡¯s no point in me cultivating the Visceral Manifestation ssic?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°The Visceral Manifestation ssic is merely a method for breaking through the gate coupled with the ability to wash the meridians. It does cultivate any particr meridians, so cultivating it will not produce any problems. Moreover, the Visceral Manifestation ssic is still a product of the Martial Lord, so I still feel it¡¯s not that simple.Continue practicing it, and you might gain something else in the future. My meridians are already hardened, so washing them has little use to me.¡± With thesest words, Xu Muyang shook his head and sighed.


    ¡®Washing meridians¡¯ was really tempering and expanding the meridians.


    Once the Jade Gate was opened, energy would flow through the meridians. Different methods of energy cirction would result in different cultivation methods. The purpose of washing the meridians was simply to expand the meridians, allowing more energy to flow and the meridians to bear more energy load.


    If the human body waspared to a country, the meridians were the roads, with each acupuncture point being a stop. The wider the roads, the smoother the flow of traffic. More spiritual energy could flow through, and of greater power.


    There was an old saying in China: ¡®If you want to get rich, fix the roads first.¡¯


    The cultivation world had a simr saying: ¡®If you seek immortality, first wash your meridians.¡¯


    Besides washing the meridians, a cultivator who was just getting started also had to open their Spirit Eye, which was where spiritual energy was stored. Only by opening the Spirit Eye could spiritual energy be stored, expanded, and formed into the basic energy for spell arts.


    But different cultivation methods had different ways of opening the Spirit Eye, and even different locations. For this reason, Xu Muyang did not teach Tang Jie how to open the Spirit Eye. Tang Jie was going to enter the Basking Moon Sect in the future, and that ce would have even better methods than the Xu n¡¯s to learn.


    Thus, while washing meridians was building the foundation, a day that went by without opening the Spirit Eye was another day where Tang Jie had not formally be a cultivation disciple.


    ¡°So that means that I can only officially start cultivating when I enter the Basking Moon Academy?¡±


    ¡°What? Getting impatient?¡± Xu Muyang smiled.


    Tang Jie¡¯s face reddened, but he didn¡¯t argue. ¡°I¡¯m just eager.¡±


    ¡°I can understand what you¡¯re feeling,¡± Xu Muyang said with a smile, ¡°but cultivation is not something that can be done in a day and a night. Only byying a good foundation can you cultivate with greater efficiency. In truth, children your age, when your bones are not fully developed, are in the best period for meridian washing. s, most children are temperamental and are unable to suppress their yearning for spell arts and divine connections, and there are always those who seek momentary pleasure¡­ For this reason, so many geniuses, after passing through the painful charging of the gates, were defeated at the simple washing of meridians, limiting their potential.¡±


    He spoke these words with earnest sincerity, and Tang Jie felt his heart chill. He knew that Xu Muyang was warning him.


    He solemnly said, ¡°I understand. No matter where or what we do, patience is the key to our sess.¡±


    ¡°Excellent!¡± Xu Muyang pped his hands. ¡°And there¡¯s no need to be anxious. There¡¯s a limit to how much the meridians can be expanded, and meridian washing will normally be done in half a year. At that time, you can formally begin cultivating. I will take you to the Basking Moon Sect, and, given my reputation as a formation master, there should be no problem getting you in.¡±


    He didn¡¯t say that he would get him in based on the fact that he was a Celestial Heart True Person, but that he was a formation master. It was clear that he was very confident in his Dao of Formations.


    From this day onward, Tang Jie cultivated the Visceral Manifestation ssic and washed his meridians.


    Though he was young, he had the soul of an adult, and he had long ago passed that youthful stage of his life where onecked self-control. Thus, after his moment of eagerness, he did not repeat the mistake, and his steady progress amazed Xu Muyang.


    ¡°Such a sly fellow, yet also so prudent and capable, truly hard to understand.¡± Xu Muyang was forced to admit that while Tang Jie might havecked the greatest cultivation aptitude, when it came to how he conducted himself, he truly could not be regarded as a child.


    Even though he was busy cultivating, Tang Jie did not ck in his care for Xu Muyang. Every day, he continued to diligently clean the courtyard and go to work.


    Xu Muyang spent most of his time in his room, recovering from his injuries. But as the days passed, his condition became better and better, and he could soon go out whenever he pleased, even asionally going through some punching routines when he was in the mood, to exercise hiszy bones.


    He had nothing else to do today, so he was moving through the courtyard, taking in the scenery. Suddenly, he realized that the fake mountain, the pavilion, the stone table, and the surrounding flowers and nts had all been inadvertently arranged in a way that was in tune with the principles of the world. A few minor alterations would be enough to make them into a formation, so he immediately began studying it.


    He had a natural fondness for the Dao of Formations, being so interested in researching formations that he even tossed aside the position of Xu n Patriarch.


    Before this, he had been more focused on recovering from his injuries, but now that he was better, he naturally had the spare energy to focus on his hobbies.


    Under his control, formation lines began to spread out from his feet, linking to the objects in the courtyard. shing with brilliant light, they swiftly assembled into a small formation.


    Xu Muyang pointed at the small formation. ¡°Conceal!¡±


    With a twinkle, the formation lines gradually faded away. If no one pointed it out, it would be very difficult to notice that there was a formation in this courtyard.


    ¡°Not bad! Not bad!¡± Xu Muyang nodded in satisfaction at his newlypleted work. This formation was something he had created on a whim, but he hade up with many new ideas in the process. Bursting with inspiration, he rushed back to his room and began to write down all the new ideas for formations he had. Arge notebook waspletely filled up, and with Xu Muyang having expressed himself to his heart¡¯s content, feeling that he had gotten everything down, he finally looked up and saw that it was already dark outside.


    His Xu n¡¯s Grotto Void ssic ced importance on the eye, and so he could see as well in night as in day, so he had not realized theing of the night.


    ¡°Strange¡ªwhy hasn¡¯t that kid sent over dinner yet?¡± Xu Muyang muttered.


    Tang Jie should have alreadye back and brought dinner over.


    But then he realized something and pped himself on the head. ¡°Shit!¡±


    He charged out of his room and saw Tang Jie walking in circles in the courtyard, his eyes dazed. It was clear that he couldn¡¯t tell what direction he was going, and he would asionally shout, ¡°Big Brother Xu!¡±


    But his voice couldn¡¯t leave the formation, so Xu Muyang hadn¡¯t been able to hear it.


    From the look of it, he had been imprisoned here for a good half of the day.


    <em>Whew!</em> ¡°Thankfully, it was just an illusion formation,¡± Xu Muyang said, so scared that he had broken out in a cold sweat.


    If he hadid down a killing formation, Tang Jie would have already been dead.

 Chapter 10: The Dao of Formations

    In the room, Tang Jie red at Xu Muyang and asked, ¡°So you¡¯re saying that youid down a formation in a moment of excitement and then went back to your room to write down your inspirations, forgetting about me?¡±


    Xu Muyang¡¯s face reddened. ¡°I just forgot the time.¡±


    He was a mighty True Person of the Celestial Heart Realm, but in front of a boy, he was like a child who had done something wrong. It was quite an amusing sight.


    Of course, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t be med for being angry. No one would be happy to be imprisoned for several hours the moment they got home.


    After hearing Xu Muyang¡¯s answer, Tang Jie stood up and left.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Xu Muyang asked in surprise.


    ¡°To make dinner. I was imprisoned the moment I got back, so I haven¡¯t even started on dinner yet.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t long before Tang Jie came over with dinner.


    The two of them ate together in the courtyard, Tang Jie never saying a word.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you still angry at me?¡± Xu Muyang chuckled and looked at Tang Jie. ¡°Fine¡ªI admit that I was wrong. I apologize. Is that okay?¡±


    The rtionship between Immortals and mortals was like that between gods and themon folk. Let alone being imprisoned for half a day, even if Tang Jie had been killed, no one would have dared to say anything. But now, Xu Muyang was actually apologizing to Tang Jie. It was easy to see that their rtionship was an extremely deep one.


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not angry. I¡¯m just wondering about what formations really are. How can they be so amazing?¡±


    In the formation, he had felt like he was in a maze. The courtyard was still the same courtyard, but he couldn¡¯t get out no matter what he did. The room had been right over there, yet it had felt like it was on the other end of the world. He had been rather panicked and fearful at the time, but now that he thought back to it, he found the entire experience incredibly mysterious. For this reason, even when eating, he couldn¡¯t help but ponder it. What was the principle that could make ordinary dirt and soil into this sort of divine dimension?


    ¡°You¡¯ve noticed it as well?¡± Xu Muyangughed. ¡°Yes, the Dao of Formations is truly an amazing field, epassing all things and containing the supreme principles of the world. A single de of grass and a tree can be made into a formation. It can be considered the number one mystery of the world. Even if cultivators use their entire lives, they might not be able to plumb even one ten-thousandth of its depths, and its uses are limitless¡­¡±


    When it came to his favorite subject, Xu Muyang became a fountain of ceaseless praise.


    ¡°So what is the Dao of Formations, really?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    Xu Muyang answered, ¡°In the final analysis, the Dao of Formations is really just the cultivation of the world!¡±


    ¡°Cultivation of the world?¡±


    ¡°Correct!¡± Xu Muyang sternly replied. ¡°If you consider the human body to be a world, what we cultivators do is cultivate our bodies. Outside of our bodies is the vast universe, another world. This world has mountains, rivers,kes,ndmasses, and seas, and in truth, every part has its corresponding element in our own bodies. The human body absorbs spiritual energy and circtes it to use Immortal arts. The world also has spiritual energy, so why can it not be circted to also produce Immortal arts? The world has no consciousness, so it cannot circte spiritual energy on its own, but through various methods, cultivators can configure this energy. These are formations!¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Tang Jie understood now. In truth, this was just the physics from his previous world!


    Formations were really like advanced and exquisite machines that used spiritual energy as their power source, the formation lines in ce of circuits. Spiritual energy was circted to achieve a certain effect.


    But thews of this world were different, and the users were different, resulting in different forms and effects, and evenpletely different methods of production.


    It was for these reasons that the Dao of Formations covered an extremely broad range of topics in the cultivation world.


    Of the four auxiliaries of Immortals¡ªpills, talismans, tools, and formations¡ªformations had the broadest use. Not only were there guardian formations that could be used to protect sects, there were even formations that could support the other three auxiliaries. Refining pills requiredying down a formation, creating talismans required a formation diagram, and forging weapons required carving formations. It could be considered an omnipresent art with far-reaching influence. Thus, there were many sub-branches of the Dao of Formations.


    Xu Muyang exined that formations were usually divided into dead formations and living formations. Dead formations were fixed and immobile. The small bewildering formation that Tang Jie had been trapped in was an example of a dead formation. Living formations were normally battle formations, and cultivators normally worked together to use them. These could multiply one¡¯s strength and were valuable tools used by the weak to ovee the strong.


    Besides that, they could also be divided ording to function. For example, formations were required in the creation of pills, talismans, and tools, and people normally called this kind ¡®auxiliary formations¡¯, auxiliaries within auxiliaries.


    In short, there were many schools of formations with long and storied origins, and there was no real unified standard. Everyone had their own way of judging them and even different opinions on them.


    For example, some people believed that formations should be used as a support. They were manifestations of a cultivator¡¯s will in the outside world, and they should serve cultivators. For this reason, these people regarded Xu Muyang¡¯s view that the Dao of Formations was the Dao of the World with scorn and disdain.


    Ideals would guide one¡¯s conduct.


    Xu Muyang¡¯s ideals led to his proficiency in worldly formations. He was skilled inying down or undoing formations of enormous size, but he was not as skilled when it came to battle formations or small auxiliary formations.


    When it came to an understanding ofrge-scale formations, there was probably no one in the Rosecloud Domain who could match Xu Muyang.


    Xu Muyang went on and on, ceaselessly chattering, his eyebrows rising and falling in excitement.


    Tang Jie had never seen him so open with information before. He had gone to great efforts before this to learn about cultivation from Xu Muyang, even risking his life, and in the end, all he got to learn was the Visceral Manifestation ssic.


    In the middle of all his excitement, Xu Muyang suddenly said, ¡°Why not learn the Dao of Formations from me?¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Tang Jie was dumbfounded.


    Xu Muyang said, ¡°This Dao of Formations is my own, developed from all the formation treatises I gathered throughout the world. It¡¯s not a secret art of the Xu n, so I can pass it on to you. I can see that you¡¯re smart and clever, a perfect fit for learning it!¡±


    ¡°But¡­ my heart is on the Great Dao, and it¡¯s not good to have my attention divided¡­¡± Tang Jie hesitantly replied.


    While the Dao of Formations was good, a person¡¯s focus was limited.


    Tang Jie was no longer that little boy who knew nothing about cultivation, and he was now deeply aware of just how difficult the Immortal path would be. Many people would go their entire lives without reaching the apex.


    Why had the Xu n patriarch been unwilling to have Xu Muyang learn the Dao of Formations? It was precisely because he feared that Xu Muyang¡¯s scattered attention would interfere with his progress on the proper course. Tang Jie knew that he didn¡¯t have Xu Muyang¡¯s heaven-defying aptitude, and even someone who had opened seven cycles like him had been hunted down by that golden-armored god. If Tang Jie split his attention, his future achievements would be limited.


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that,¡± Xu Muyang said with a shake of his head. ¡°The path of cultivation is very difficult, and besides putting in hard work, you also have to possessprehension. The Dao of Formations and cultivation both contain the utmost principles of the world, and it¡¯s not like the two of them can¡¯t assist each other. Moreover, the Dao of Formations is notpletely useless in battle. In the battle at Jade Orchid Mountain, I was far weaker than that He Chong, but I still managed to beat him away with my Eight Gates Heavenseal Formation.¡±


    <em>If you had listened to your dad and focused on cultivating, you probably wouldn¡¯t have needed formations to beat that He Chong silly,</em> Tang Jie mentally grumbled. But seeing how happy Xu Muyang was, he truly couldn¡¯t bring himself to say these words out loud.


    Xu Muyang had mostly been a rather quiet fellow, exuding the aura of an Immortal. Only now did Xu Muyang truly have the air of a mortal about him.


    It could only be said that he truly loved the Dao of Formations.


    Xu Muyang continued, ¡°Moreover, you¡¯re only washing your meridians right now and can¡¯t cultivate, so you don¡¯t have anything else to do. Since I¡¯ve agreed to teach you a few things, but I can¡¯t pass on the Xu n¡¯s Immortal arts to you, teaching you all about the Dao of Formations I have learned in my life doesn¡¯t go against our promise. In the future, if you truly have no interest, I won¡¯t force you. What about it?¡±


    ¡°Fine¡­¡± Tang Jie helplessly replied.


    Xu Muyang saw how unwilling he was, and was both happy and amused. Patting him on the head, he said, ¡°Kid, still trying to suck up after getting such a good deal? Do you know how many people wanted to learn the Dao of Formations from me? But I refused all of them.¡±


    <em>Yes, your dad didn¡¯t want you to learn the Dao of Formations, but you insisted on learning it. Others wanted to learn from you, but you didn¡¯t want to teach them. I didn¡¯t want to learn from you, but you insisted on teaching me. I wanted to learn Immortal arts, but you¡¯re teaching me the Dao of Formations. You must be a donkey, right? Doing the opposite of what anyone asks you¡­</em> Ever since he had learned that Xu Muyang couldn¡¯t read minds, Tang Jie¡¯s silent rebukes were getting stronger and stronger.


    But whether he was willing or not, it seemed that he would have to learn the Dao of Formations.


    After dinner, Xu Muyang started the lesson.


    ¡°The Dao of Formations is a broad and deep field, but no matter the kind of formation, they all have fourponents: the formation eye, the formation lines, the formation gate, and the formation source. The formation eye is the pivot of the formation, the location of its core. It is like the human brain, controlling everything, and is the most crucialponent. Without the formation eye, the formation will not operate as you want. This sort of formation would be a truly dead formation. The formation lines are the routes through which spiritual energy flows, like the blood vessels of the human body or the roads of the world. Without formation lines, the formation will be unable to operate. The formation gate is the door. It can allow people entry, permit them to leave, or keep out enemies. The formation source is where the formation obtains the power to activate. Humans require spiritual energy to use arts, and so do formations¡­¡±


    ¡°I understand. The formation eye is the brain and givesmands. The formation lines are the blood vessels and bones, offering support. The formation gate is where the power is actually exerted, the four limbs. As for the formation source, it is the heart, a power source, like an engine¡­ oh, I mean, like our Spirit Eye, right?¡±


    ¡°Correct. Cultivators use arts by drawing on the energy in their Spirit Seas, and formation sources use spirit stones or other external objects as a powerful source. Of course, the cultivator can use their own body as a power source as well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s weird. I didn¡¯t see any spirit stones with that small bewildering formation of yours.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because I added a small spirit-gathering formation that can automatically gather spiritual energy. This technique is called ovepping formations.¡±


    ¡°Then doesn¡¯t that mean that with a spirit-gathering formation that can automatically gather worldly spiritual energy, a spirit-gathering formation can serve as a formation source? But how is a spirit-gathering formation activated? Does it power itself? Perpetual motion?¡± Tang Jie¡¯s eyes almost popped out of their sockets.


    Xu Muyang had never heard of the term ¡®perpetual motion¡¯, but he could understand the meaning by looking at the individual words. Laughing, he said, ¡°How could anything be that good? The spirit-gathering formation requires external power to activate. I had to add spiritual energy to get it moving. And even then, the spirit-gathering formation can only absorb the spiritual energy in the vicinity. Once the surroundings have been drained of spiritual energy, it will stop working. This bewildering formation was just a little game to me. Unless it were supplied with spirit stones, it woulde apart on its own after three days at most.¡±


    ¡°So there really is no such thing as perpetual motion.¡± Tang Jie sighed. ¡°So that means that there¡¯s no such thing as a truly eternal formation under the heavens. Every kind of formation actually needs someone to maintain it or sufficient spiritual energy reserves to exist?¡±


    Xu Muyang replied, ¡°Perhaps there¡¯s no such thing as eternal formations, but there are formations that can exist for tens of thousands of years.¡±


    ¡°Tens of thousands of years?¡± Tang Jie was rmed by Xu Muyang¡¯s words.


    ¡°Yes, I experienced one myself not too long ago,¡± Xu Muyang said, his expression turning solemn, his eyes brimming with reverence as he recalled that experience.


    After a long while, he sighed. ¡°I¡¯m still very far away from the great ones of ancient times. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have only been able to open that first gate¡­¡±


    He stopped there, changing the topic. ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s not bring that up. These are all things that you can¡¯t understand yet. Let¡¯s return to the Dao of Formations. Of the four coreponents of a formation, the formation lines and formation source are the mostplex. I will first teach you basic formation lines.¡±


    He raised his hand and began to draw in the air. Several shing lines appeared in the air, but after a few moments, they faded away.


    ¡°Draw the formation lines I just drew in the air. Remember, you have to draw in the same order I did, without the slightest error,¡± Xu Muyang indifferently said.


    Drawing formation lines was a basic skill for formation masters and often served as an entrance examination. While Xu Muyang wanted to teach Tang Jie, he also wanted to see if Tang Jie had any talent in the field. If Tang Jie truly had no talent to speak of, then he would not force the issue.


    A momentter, Tang Jie grabbed a tree branch and began to draw on the ground. He couldn¡¯t create light with his fingers like Xu Muyang, so he could only do this assignment the old-fashioned way, but his work was fine and meticulous.


    Xu Muyang was rather nonchnt at the start, but as he watched Tang Jie draw, he was startled.


    This was because Tang Jie had almost perfectly copied his formation lines. Once Tang Jie was done, Xu Muyang realized that it was an almost stroke-by-stroke imitation.


    ¡°How¡­ how did you do it?¡± Xu Muyang said in shock.


    ¡°It¡¯s very simple. Isn¡¯t it just an image made of lines?¡± Tang Jie was somewhat at a loss. In his eyes, while these formation lines wereplex, they were just some geometric images. He just needed to focus a little to remember them. After all, back in school, he had be extremely familiar with such things. Since Xu Muyang wanted him to draw them, he would just draw them.


    He had not known that while Xu Muyang had asked him to draw them, he had never dreamed that Tang Jie would be able to draw everything.


    It wasn¡¯t like the Rosecloud Domain didn¡¯t have math, but this kind of knowledge didn¡¯t have much status, and the depth of knowledge wasckingpared to Earth¡¯s. Those that understood it might not be capable of cultivating, and cultivators didn¡¯t have a need to understand. Only those cultivators who studied the Dao of Formations would study this kind of knowledge.


    For this reason, what were extremely simple pictures to Tang Jie would leave passersby baffled.


    Upon hearing Tang Jie call this ¡®very simple¡¯, Xu Muyang hastily drew anotherplicated figure on the ground. This time, instead of having Tang Jie copy it, he pointed at a formation line and said, ¡°Starting from here and ending here, find three connecting lines that do not intersect.¡±


    Tang Jie nced at it and used his stick to point out, ¡°This line¡­ this line¡­ and this line.¡±


    Xu Muyang was bbergasted. Finding three non-intersecting lines that connected amid this pile ofplicated designs wasn¡¯t hard, but doing it so quickly was not easy.


    Xu Muyang asked another question, this time having him calcte the routes of each line and the areas they covered.


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t imagined that a ss on formations would be a math test, and he didn¡¯t know how far he should go with his calctions. Thus, he could only do exactly as Xu Muyang requested of him.


    Tang Jie had little interest in his math, but his mother had been a math teacher and had often used thesh on him to spur him in his studies, saying that he wasn¡¯t allowed to shame his mother. It had been less than two years since he had graduated, and he still retained most of what he had learned. Moreover, the questions Xu Muyang asked were not too hard. Thus, Tang Jie was able to answer more than half of the questions.


    Xu Muyang was getting increasingly rmed.


    This was because Tang Jie had used several solving methods that even he didn¡¯t understand.


    The Dao of Formations was very demanding on one¡¯s skill in changes and divination, but there were few who were truly interested in it. Those people who pursued the Dao of Formations were mainly after the power of formations. The divination knowledge that was needed to use it was incredibly boring; the learning process, excruciating.


    It could be said that Xu Muyang could count the number of people he had met that were good with math using his fingers. But now, he had made a discovery that was both shocking and delightful. He grabbed Tang Jie and shouted, ¡°Incredible! Genius! And you say that you don¡¯t want to learn? You¡¯re a genius at the Dao of Formations!¡±


    Scared out of his wits, Tang Jie blurted out his thoughts: ¡°But I don¡¯t actually want to learn it.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense! With such talent, how could you not love it?¡± Xu Muyang was so excited that he had lost all of his usual grace. Seeing Tang Jie refuse to acknowledge his talent in this field, he was wracked with heartache. ¡°You don¡¯t understand what love is!¡±


    He was a diehard believer in the principle that attitude determined everything, firmly believing that only with love could one achieve great things.


    His aplishments in the Dao of Formations were purely because of his deep love of the Dao of Formations, his love of divination. In his view, Tang Jie¡¯s talent was because of his passion for the Dao of Divination. Otherwise, how could he have reached such a high level of attainment?


    Tang Jie had never seen him like this, and was at a loss for what to do. ¡°But, Big Brother Xu, I truly don¡¯t feel any interest toward this.¡±


    ¡°Then how can you exin your talent?¡± Xu Muyang stubbornly insisted.


    Tang Jie helplessly answered, ¡°How do I know¡­ Maybe I don¡¯t love the Dao of Formations, but the Dao of Formations loves me!¡±

 Chapter 11: Only Seeking a Free and Unfettered Life

    Whether Tang Jie was willing or not, he was set to study the Dao of Formations.


    Thus, in the following days, in addition to cultivating the Visceral Manifestation ssic, Tang Jie learned about formations from Xu Muyang. Fortunately, all he had to upy him every day was washing meridians, and he did not need to cultivate, so he had time enough.


    ¡°The Dao of Formations is the use of techniques to resonate with the will of the heavens. Thus, to master the Dao of Formations, one must understand the will of the heavens¡­¡±


    In today¡¯s ss, Xu Muyang was lecturing Tang Jie on formations and the concept of natural evolution.


    Xu Muyang said that the will of the heavens was present in all things within the world, every de of grass and tree having its reason to exist. For this reason, Xu Muyang¡¯s Dao of Formations emphasized natural evolution, following one¡¯s heart and making the best of new situations.


    This meant that the same formation in different environments could differ in how it wasid out, and its effect and power would also change.


    To take that small bewildering formation as an example, if it had been used in another area, it would have needed to beid out in a different way and would have had a different effect.


    Of course, this was not absolutely necessary, but toy out a formation in this way was the most natural and would have the greatest power.


    For formations, nature served as the best cover.


    Unlike cultivators, formations drew directly on the spiritual energy of the world and possessed incredible power, so cultivators could not recklessly step into them. Thus, a formation that could not hide its existence was a bad formation. Xu Muyang was an expert in his field. All of the formations heid down were basically undetectable before triggering. That golden-armored god he had been battling with had utterly failed to notice the existence of the Eight Gates Heavenseal Formation, and if not for his prodigious strength, he would have died within that formation.


    Besides this, one also had to be skilled at observing one¡¯s environment and identifying what could be used.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at mountains as mountains or water as water. Every existence in this world, if used properly, can be a formation eye, a formation line, or a formation gate. Ordinary people are ignorant, and frequently use spirit materials as the basis, but this loses the original meaning of the Dao of Formations,¡± Xu Muyang said with a sigh.


    ¡°Big Brother Xu is saying that other people use various spirit materials as the basis for formations, just like how when building a house, one would use stone as the foundation and wood for the beams to build a high tower, but when youy down formations, you might dig a hole out of a tree? Is that correct?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°In saying this, you seem to make me a worse builder of houses than others,¡± Xu Muyang snorted. ¡°Using a tree as a house naturally can¡¯tpare to getting materials and building a house. But what if I used this world as a house? The mountains as the bones, the rivers as the veins. What would you think about a tower built like that?¡±


    ¡°Then that¡¯s naturally something that others can¡¯tpare to. But is there really such a formation?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Xu Muyang firmly replied. ¡°In the past, I might have had my doubts, but now, I can tell you with absolute certainty that it does exist!¡±


    ¡°Was it a formation set up by that Ninedark Martial Lord?¡± Tang Jie suddenly asked.


    Xu Muyang couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback. He looked at Tang Jie and asked, ¡°You know?¡±


    ¡°Mm, that¡¯s not all I know.¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°I also know¡­ that the golden-armored god who was chasing you that day was a member of Godhead Pce, right?¡±


    Xu Muyang trembled. ¡°How do you know all this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not strange,¡± Tang Jie leisurely answered. ¡°The Kongs, Gus, Mings, and Xus are the four great cultivation ns. From what Big Brother Xu has said, you also have a resounding reputation in Nadir Hill. If it were some ordinary sect, how would they have dared to send people after you? Is there anyone else besides Godhead Pce that would hunt you to the ends of the earth?¡±


    In this time with Xu Muyang, Tang Jie had deepened his understanding of the Rosecloud Domain.


    The Rosecloud Domain was home to six kingdoms and fifty-nine provinces, seven seas and ny-eight inds. Sageheart and Nadir Hill were two of the six kingdoms.


    The Immortals had set down rules: one sect could control one kingdom, and one kingdom could venerate one sect. The Basking Moon Sect was the major sect backing the Sageheart Kingdom, and Godhead Pce was the sect backing Nadir Hill.


    These six sects had transcendent status, and even kings would have to kowtow to them.


    The other sects besides these six were all small sects that had to pay obeisance to the big six in order to survive.


    Though the Xu n was one of the esteemed four cultivation ns, it was still far inferior to Godhead Pce. If Godhead Pce dared to kill Xu Muyang, who would dare stop it?


    These reasons let Tang Jie easily guess who Xu Muyang¡¯s pursuer was.


    ¡°Then, do you understand the reason for all this?¡± Xu Muyang asked.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Mm, the ancient powerhouse Ninedark Martial Lord, the Visceral Manifestation ssic intended for use on his reincarnation, and a peerless formation¡ªput all these things together and you get a story. Presumably, it¡¯s the usual story about exploring some secret domain and stealing treasure. Besides, as Big Brother Xu has told me again and again, the cultivation world is a dangerous ce.¡±


    Xu Muyang¡¯s mouth opened and closed, but he couldn¡¯t manage a word. Finally, he broke into a loudugh. ¡°Good job, kid! I just knew that it was pointless to try and hide it from you. Yes, Godhead Pce discovered the Returned Remnants of the Ninedark Martial Lord, and invited me to join them and undo the formations so that they could explore its secrets. In the end, I was too naive, believing that since I was part of the Xu n, Godhead Pce would not go so far as to cook the dogs once the hares were hunted. But in the end, they were still so ruthless. If I hadn¡¯t realized that something was up and pulled out in time, rather than dying to the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, I would have died at the hands of Godhead Pce¡¯s cubs!¡±


    He was indignant as he spoke, clearly still furious and sad over what had transpired.


    When Godhead Pce had sent people to find him and told him that they had found the Returned Remnants of the Ninedark Martial Lord, he was also bbergasted.


    ¡®Returned Remnants¡¯ meant a return to the origin, a person transforming into nature upon death.


    Throughout their lives, cultivators would absorb a great deal of the world¡¯s spiritual energy, and once they died, this spiritual energy would return to the origin, return to nature.


    For this reason, the stronger the Immortal, the more abundant the spiritual energy that would be restored with their Returned Remnants. Some powerful individuals would have their spiritual energy gather up into rain showers upon their deaths that could even turn barrennds into a paradise.


    Immortals had no tombs. Returned Remnants were their spiritualnds.


    It was also for this reason that the disciples of major Immortal sects, if the situation allowed, would do their utmost to return to their original sects before dying and transforming into Returned Remnants. Over time, they would be able to create a blessednd of abundant spiritual energy for their sects.


    At least half of the reserves of a great n or sect would manifest in this form.


    A domain¡¯s spiritual energy was limited. If one ce flourished, another would wane, and over the long term, different areas would have different levels of spiritual energy.


    That bandit called Bei Sihai had criticized Immortals for harming the world for their own gain for this reason.


    The world had originally been abundant with spiritual energy, but the majority of it had been taken by Immortals. Even if mortals wanted to cultivate, they could not.


    Godhead Pce had said that they had found an area of abundant spiritual energy in the Celestial Mountains, and as there were no Immortal ns or sects nearby, they suspected that it was the Returned Remnants of some great power, so they began a long and protracted search. In the end, they discovered a formation in the mountains, and the spiritual energy was leaking out from it. They had been able to determine that it had not been leaking for very long¡ªa sign that the true spiritualnd was even more amazing.


    At the same time, they had found an ancient bronze mirror.


    ¡°The same ancient mirror you often y around with?¡± Tang Jie gasped.


    ¡°Correct,¡± Xu Muyang said as he took out that bronze mirror.


    This mirror had a bright side and a dark side. On the dark side, the images of birds, beasts, flowers, fish, bugs, mountains, and rivers had been carved, surrounded by strange formation lines. Tang Jie didn¡¯t notice anything at the start, but as he looked more closely, he felt like this scenery was moving. His surroundings began to morph, and he felt like he was being pulled into an odd and extraordinary world.


    Fortunately, Xu Muyang promptly blocked the dark side, bringing Tang Jie back to his senses.


    On the bright side, only the character ¡®±ø¡¯ (Martial) had been written, and it was also surrounded by numerous formation lines.


    The ¡®±ø¡¯ character had been written with great vigor, the strokes imbued with seemingly limitless power. It radiated a somber energy that threatened to prate through Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie let out a yelp, and Xu Muyang put away the mirror. ¡°Youck sufficient power. This item contains the Divine Will of the Martial Lord. Though it has been worn away by the passage of ten thousand years, its sharpness is still not something you can endure.¡±


    Tang Jie began to sweat. This was something left by a deceased man and carried some of his will, but it was still so powerful even after ten thousand years. How terrifying would its owner have been when he still lived? It was no wonder Xu Muyang spoke of him with such reverence.


    ¡°So this belongs to Godhead Pce?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Xu Muyang answered. ¡°After finding this ancient mirror, they had it appraised, and Godhead Pce became very sure that the ¡®±ø¡¯ character represented the ancient Ninedark Martial Lord. s, while the martial lord had dominated the world in his era, little information on him was passed down to the present era. They were only able to reach their conclusions through the age of the object and the lingering energy upon it. This ancient mirror was found in a cave that had been sealed by a formation. The formation was of a very low rank and was easy to break, but the methods maintaining it were extremely high-ss, preserving it through generations. Godhead Pce spected that this might have been left behind specifically for the Ninedark Martial Lord¡¯s reincarnation. Of course, whether or not it actually was the martial lord and how the martial lord died remain in the realm of spection. After all, many years have passed since that bygone era, and many truths have been lost in the river of history. We could only believe that this was a possession of the Ninedark Martial Lord.¡±


    ¡°It seems like he didn¡¯t seed at reincarnating,¡± Tang Jie said.


    Xu Muyang bitterly smiled. ¡°If he had seeded, none of this would have happened.¡±


    Reincarnation was the helpless choice that cultivators made when their lives came to an end, cing their hopes on the future.


    After an Immortal reincarnated, all of their past memories would be wiped away, and only by lucky chance would they be able to recover them.


    If they were unlucky, they might go through several cycles of reincarnation without recovering their memories. With each cycle, more memories would disappear, and after enough cycles, the chance essentially became nil.


    Godhead Pce spected that the martial lord might have encountered some major crisis. With no other options, he chose to reincarnate. This Ninedark Profound Martial Mirror was a key he had left for himself to open up his treasury.


    But either the martial lord¡¯s reincarnation had failed or the memory recovery had failed. In any case, he had not returned to take the Profound Martial Mirror, allowing it to eventually fall into the hands of Godhead Pce.


    Since the Profound Martial Mirror was still there, it meant that the wondrous techniques the martial lord had left for himself, as well as his many treasures, were probably also still there.


    Thus, Godhead Pce did everything in its power to try and break the formation. The initial probes had cost the lives of numerous people, and after one hundred years, they had still gotten nowhere. It was easy to imagine what sort of mood they were in after finding the door but being unable to get in.


    It was just at that time that Xu Muyang, a formation genius, began to rise in reputation. With no other option, they sought Xu Muyang¡¯s help, promising a heavy reward.


    Xu Muyang was proficient in formation texts, and recognized the long-lost Nine Executions Immortal Formation. With the information left on the Profound Martial Mirror, he was even able to undo the firstyer of the formation and obtain the Visceral Manifestation ssic.


    It was also at that time that Xu Muyang noticed Godhead Pce¡¯s murderous intentions toward him.


    ¡°But why did they insist on killing you?¡± Tang Jie was confused. ¡°Godhead Pce is a powerful faction, so it shouldn¡¯t be so stingy about some small payment, right? And the formation wasn¡¯t evenpletely undone¡­¡±


    Xu Muyang snorted. ¡°Of course it wasn¡¯t about that little reward, but to keep the secret. The Ninedark Martial Lord¡¯s Returned Remnants are certain to be an area of abundant spiritual energy. Even if there was nothing in there at all, thend alone would be worth a lot. It would have the same value as a natural spiritual vein, but it would need a long period of time to fully exploit. The problem is that though Godhead Pce managed to get the Martial Mirror, the Celestial Mountains are not located in Nadir Hill, but rather in thends of Endsea and Tetrapole. If the news gets out that Godhead Pce is digging up treasure and upyingnd in the territory of these two kingdoms, Horizon Ocean Pavilion and the Thousand Passions Sect will certainlye to take their share, making a sh unavoidable. Horizon Ocean Pavilion and the Seven Absolutions Sect are firm allies, while the Thousand Passions Sect and the Basking Moon Sect stand together through thick and thin. Godhead Pce will find it hard to stand alone, so it will have no choice but to get the help of the Beast Refining Gate. If all six major sects join in, no side will be able to get much out of it. In the end, I¡¯m not a member of Godhead Pce and am not bound by the Godhead Oath. A promise sworn under pain of a Heart Demon alone would not be enough to let them rest easy. As for the concern about the formation not beingpletely undone, they primarily didn¡¯t understand how to use the Profound Martial Mirror. Once they saw me unlock the Martial Mirror¡¯s secrets, my greatest use disappeared. If they hadn¡¯t decided to save some energy and have me continue to undo the formation, they might have killed me back then.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Tang Jie said. ¡°So you immediately ran, taking the Visceral Manifestation ssic and the Profound Martial Mirror with you?¡±


    ¡°If they are not benevolent, I will not be righteous,¡± Xu Muyang snorted. ¡°They wanted to kill me, so I naturally took their treasures and ran. I managed to get the others away from me by saying that I needed space to undo the secondyer of the formation. It was only that He Chong, who was the best in formations at Godhead Pce, who stayed to supervise me while iming to be my assistant. He was also skilled in pursuit arts, so when I used the chance to escape, he chased me down, sticking to me like ster all the way from Nadir Hill to Jade Orchid Mountain. If I hadn¡¯t been able toy down the Eight Gates Heavenseal Formation, I probably would have died there.¡±


    When mentioning this, Xu Muyang¡¯s voice grew softer.


    Though he had beaten back He Chong, the man woulde back eventually, and he probably wouldn¡¯t be alone this time, but with a group.


    His peaceful life could notst for too long.


    ¡°But, Big Brother Xu, didn¡¯t you say that cultivators had to go through the Heart Demon Tribtion, that going against one¡¯s Origin Heart would produce Heart Demons? How could they dare to do such a thing?¡±


    Xu Muyang answered, ¡°There are great aspirations and minor aspirations, strong Heart Demons and weak Heart Demons. At the start of their journeys, cultivators will usually dere their ambitions, their great aspirations. These are normally the goals they wish to achieve in their life, and this goal will be in line with their Origin Heart, and so their future conduct will often be in line with their Origin Heart. The aspirations of the majority of cultivators can normally be ced into a few categories. They might seek longevity and immortality, seek dominance and tyranny, seek righteousness and chivalry, or seek freedom andck of restraints¡­ These are all great aspirations, and relinquishing the minor aspirations to pursue the great is a frequent sight. For example, while I brought you along to resolve my karmic debt with you, if you had dared to block my path, I would have killed you, and this would not have gone against my Origin Heart. Even if I had been reluctant to do the deed, that little Heart Demon would be much easier to deal with than the supreme demon that would have been born if I had gone against my great aspiration.¡±


    ¡°I get it now. So can you only have one great aspiration? Or can you have a lot?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Xu Muyang was taken aback by the question, and he needed some time to think of an answer. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of any limit, but while the great aspiration is the basis for cultivating to Celestial Heart, it can also serve as a hindering force. People don¡¯t normally make too many great aspirations, I guess? As for you, if you wish to get proper results in cultivation, you must also dere a great aspiration, establishing the foundation of your will. This is also why I asked you why you wanted to cultivate. s, the answer you gave was not among the above categories. Now that you¡¯ve been told all this, let me ask you again: what do you seek in cultivating the Immortal path?¡±


    What was it that he sought?


    Tang Jie struggled with the question.


    After some thought, he raised his head and answered, ¡°I cultivate not to seek fame or reverence, nor do I seek to live as long as the heavens and earth. Life will eventuallye to an end, and all that matters is that the years I do live are good ones. I hope that I will be able to traverse the world and live without restraints, so what I seek¡­¡±


    Tang Jie paused, then finally, he gave a decisive answer:


    ¡°Freedom, unbound by all restraints!¡±

 Chapter 12: Sorrowful Parting

    The days of cultivation flew by very quickly.


    After a big downpour at the end of summer, the autumn silently arrived.


    Half a year had gone by in the blink of an eye.


    In this half a year, Tang Jie¡¯s days were rather packed with washing his meridians and learning formations from Xu Muyang.


    Today, in the courtyard, Tang Jie was practicing punching.


    He was currently practicing an arm boxing routine. Xu Muyang had taught it to him, and it was meant to work with the Visceral Manifestation ssic in washing his meridians.


    At this time, he was punching with such vigor that he created small gusts of wind. asionally, spiritual energy would make an entire circuit of his body. With each of these circuits, Tang Jie would experience an incredibly pleasant sensation, and at the same time, his body grew stronger.


    Xu Muyang said that this was an indicator that his meridians had yet to expand to their limit.


    After finishing the routine, Tang Jie felt the spiritual energy leave his body with great reluctance.


    He could have kept practicing, but Xu Muyang exined that cultivation was not something that got better the more diligent one was. Excessively domineering training methods would cause one to overdraw on one¡¯s potential and even cause longsting injury to the body. It was best to strike a bnce between work and rest.


    Thus, he could only stop, yet he also couldn¡¯t restrain a sigh. ¡°I wonder when these days are going to end?¡±


    ¡°What? Can¡¯t wait any longer?¡± In the pavilion, Xu Muyang was drawing on paper with a brush, and what he was drawing was a set of strange formation talismans. Hearing Tang Jie¡¯s words, he chuckled. ¡°For people like you, washing the meridians and establishing a foundation might be monotonous and boring, but do you realize how many cultivators pray to the heavens to be given a chance to redo this period?¡±


    ¡°Big Brother Xu is right,¡± Tang Jie hastily replied.


    Thinking back to his school days, he recalled that many of his ssmates were anxious to enter society and break free of those prison-like days in school. Only when they spent some time in society and got battered and bruised did they recall how wonderful their school life had actually been.


    Tang Jie had been through life before, and though that life hadn¡¯t granted him any powerful starting advantages, it had given him abundant life experience. His mindset had long ago surpassed his age, and he was well aware of what was most important. He had only sighed just now because of his sensation of momentary helplessness. If he were really told to give up onying his foundation and move straight to cultivation, he would absolutely refuse.


    Xu Muyang had seen many cultivation disciples who had gotten bored of this routine, even the geniuses getting anxious to begin cultivating.


    In the cultivation world, the number of people who actually started cultivating Immortal arts without properlyying down their foundation was rather small. Rather, the moremon sort was those who did not treasure their bodies, clinging to a small thread of hope and trying to pull up the nts to help them grow faster.


    Thus, he was full of praise for Tang Jie¡¯sposure.


    He smiled and said, ¡°Since you¡¯re done boxing,e and study today¡¯s formations.¡±


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but bitterly smile.


    The Dao of Formations, much like medicine, was a discipline where knowledge far surpassed technique in importance. For this reason, it also had few restrictions.


    In this half-year, Tang Jie practiced the Visceral Manifestation ssic only twice a day, the amount of time put together taking only an hour. He spent most of his time studying formations.


    At times, Tang Jie wondered whether Xu Muyang was using this method on purpose to try and draw his interest.


    Compared to the slow pace of washing meridians, Tang Jie was advancing in leaps and bounds in his studies of formations.


    This was not entirely because of his excellent mathematical foundation.


    The Dao of Formations epassed everything: divination, mathematics, geography, and even the weather. If one considered the existence of ancient formations, one could even add in history and culture. Math served as only a singleponent.


    What was far more crucial was his adult mindset, allowing him to learn things much faster than the normal twelve-year-old boy. It was often said that children were strong learners, but a child¡¯s learning ability came more from the fact that they were always copying others. When it came to a capacity to take in knowledge, they were far inferior to adults.


    The content an elementary student learned within a year couldn¡¯t evenpare to what a high school student learned in a month.


    For this reason, Tang Jie was rapidly proceeding through his formation studies. The memorization abilities and techniques primed by exam-preparation sses hadid down an excellent foundation, and in just half a year, Tang Jie had basically mastered all the basic knowledge needed for the Dao of Formations, leaving Xu Muyang effusive with praise.


    With a flick of Xu Muyang¡¯s hand, the formation talisman he had been drawing flew into Tang Jie¡¯s hand. ¡°Lay down a formation ording to this diagram.¡±


    ¡°A spirit-surveying formation?¡± Tang Jie said with a nce at the diagram. He was currently able to easily identify the function of each formation diagram. Spirit-surveying formations were used to survey the movements of the surrounding area¡¯s spiritual energy so that cultivators could seek out areas of abundant spiritual energy. This was one of the simplest kinds of formations.


    Normally, cultivators also had spirit-seeing arts, but as formations were in tune with thews of the world, they were more effective than spirit-seeing arts.


    ¡°Yes. This time, you musty down apletely usable spirit-surveying formation, and it must cover a range of three li.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Tang Jie firmly replied. He raised a hand, and a line of spiritual light shot out of his hand andnded on the ground.


    His Jade Gate was open, so he could take in spiritual energy. It was just that without a Spirit Eye, he could not store it. Thus, so long as he used the spiritual energy he absorbed before it dissipated, he could still use it toy down spirit formations. However, this way of doing things was very discontinuous, and it was impossible to finish everything in one go. This resulted in a pitifully limited effect,parable to the tracings of a child.


    As Tang Jie drew out the formation, Xu Muyang watched from the side, asionally giving pointers.


    After two whole hours, he finally finished drawing the formation. He inserted spiritual energy to activate it, and he immediately saw a strange fog appear within the formation, churning around. Besides that, there were also white plumes of smoke.


    ¡°Sess!¡± Tang Jie shouted in delight.


    The emergence of these plumes of smoke was a sign that the formation was a sess. These plumes of smoke represented the surrounding spiritual energy. The formation lines had markings, and these markings represented different locations. The size and color of the plumes of smoke represented the differing amounts of spiritual energy.


    This was his first timeying down a formation, and the formation only covered three li. If Xu Muyang had done it instead, it would have been instantlypleted and probably would have extended for ten thousand li.


    As Tang Jie watched those plumes of smoke rise from the formation, he felt as ted as could be. Half a year of bitter studying had finally borne fruit, and he couldn¡¯t help but feel sincere gratitude to Xu Muyang. He even felt that it was no longer a waste of time to learn the Dao of Formations, that it was actually rather useful.


    Manybors could only be enjoyable once they yielded results.


    Xu Muyang was extremely satisfied by this performance. ¡°There are stillrge gaps in the connections between the formation lines. Formation lines are where spiritual energy travels through the earth, and just drawing the lines isn¡¯t enough. You must also unblock the formation lines to ensure that the spiritual energy can flow freely. Look at this formation line. You made two patches, and there¡¯s already a break in the middle. While they look connected, in reality, only a thread of spiritual energy can get through. Laying down a formation isn¡¯t drawing a picture, and it¡¯s not good enough to make a good drawing. What¡¯s truly important is what¡¯s inside. Look here, here, and here¡­ While some of this is admittedly because you don¡¯t have enough spiritual energy to sustain theying down of the formation, some of it is also because you are unustomed to the work.¡±


    ¡°Mm, I get it. It¡¯s just like how a road needs to be kept open. The widest road, if it¡¯s not kept properly cleared, will still end up being blocked. At times, a single breakpoint can paralyze traffic on the entire road.¡±


    ¡°Correct. Besides that, your knowledge of divination is shallow. The spirit-surveying formation is a formation for surveying spiritual energy. Since it is a surveying formation, it should be primarily operating through the Qian Gate. The Qian Gate represents heaven, to sit upon the central tform and listen to the flow of energy from all sides. Thus, the spirit-surveying formation has the Qian Gate as its primary. For what reason did you bolster the Xun Gate instead?¡±


    (TN: The Eight Gates represent the Eight Trigrams that are used in Chinese divination. The names of these gates are Qian, Kun, Zhen, Kan, Gen, Xun, Li, and Dui.)


    Tang Jie awkwardly scratched his head. ¡°The Xun Gate represents wind, light and nimble, emphasizing change and distance. You said that you wanted the spirit-surveying formation to cover three li, so¡­¡±


    ¡°Forsaking the root to seek out the branch!¡± Xu Muyang swiftly rebuked. ¡°What you needed to do was to make a good spirit-surveying formation, not to simply satisfy my requirements!¡±


    ¡°Yes, I understand,¡± Tang Jie sternly replied.


    Cultivation was not the same as preparing for an examination. While Tang Jie benefited from his past experiences, he was also restricted by the mindset from his past life. Fortunately, Xu Muyang had promptly pointed it out, so he understood where his mistakes were.


    Xu Muyang continued to lecture him on how his formation was insufficient, and as he got more into it, spirit lines began to shoot out from his fingers, repairing Tang Jie¡¯s spirit-surveying formation. As the formation was repaired, it grewrger andrger, covering a greater and greater range. Not only were the clouds visualized, Tang Jie could now faintly make out rising and falling mountains. It was as if the entire world was within the formation, everything under his control.


    In Xu Muyang¡¯s hands, this spirit-surveying formation had be a reflection of the world. Tang Jie was amazed, but Xu Muyang thought little about it, saying, ¡°All formations are connected. There are many times when just a few minor changes might create apletely different formation. When a spirit-surveying formation is brought to its ultimate form, it can reflect the entire world, bing a Chiliocosmic Formation. And it¡¯s not just the spirit-surveying formation. Other formations can do this as well. Theposition, changes, and improvements needed for this are incrediblyplex, the mysteries endless. Even if you devote your entire life to the pursuit, you might not be able to reach the end. Do you still have no interest in this field?¡±


    Tang Jie giggled. ¡°I know I was wrong. In the future, I will study hard and get better every day!¡±


    Xu Muyangughed at his words, but just when he was about to say more, there was a gleam of violet light in the formation.


    Startled, Xu Muyang looked at the formation and saw a shing light within it.


    ¡°Violet energy surging to the heavens?¡± Xu Muyang blurted out, his face paling.


    ¡°Violet energy surging to the heavens? What is that?¡± Tang Jie¡¯s experience in cultivation was limited, so he did not understand the meaning of this phrase.


    Xu Muyang said nothing, falling into deep thought.


    ¡°What happened? Big Brother Xu.¡± Tang Jie could tell that something was off about Xu Muyang¡¯s expression, and spoke with concern.


    After a moment of silence, Xu Muyang suddenlyughed. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. There¡¯s no need to worry about this matter. Oh, right, we¡¯ve lived together for half a year now, but it seems like we¡¯ve never drunk wine together, yes? Today is your first time sessfullyying down a formation, so let¡¯s celebrate a little. Why don¡¯t we do this? Go out and buy some wine and food. Today, let us brothers recite poems to the moon and drink together. Oh, right, remember to get Old Chen Ji¡¯s braised duck.¡±


    ¡°But Chen Ji lives in Anyang Prefecture,¡± Tang Jie replied with some difficulty.


    ¡°Then just go over. It¡¯s fine,¡± Xu Muyang said with a casual wave.


    ¡°It¡¯s alreadyte, so going to Anyang Prefecture now isn¡¯t very good. Moreover, Chen Ji¡¯s duck has always sold extremely well, and it normally doesn¡¯tst until the evening.¡±


    Xu Muyang¡¯s face froze as Tang Jie continued, ¡°But there¡¯s some aged wine in the kitchen that was left behind by the original owner. Besides that, there are two chickens in the yard. If Big Brother Xu wants to eat, I can butcher them to go with Big Brother Xu¡¯s wine.¡±


    Saying this, before Xu Muyang could reply, he rushed off to the kitchen.


    Xu Muyang frowned. He wanted to say more, but as he saw that shing violet energy in the formation, he helplessly sighed.


    Tang Jie worked very quickly, and after one hour, dinner was served.


    The sky had gone dark, save for the moon hanging overhead.


    Xu Muyang and Tang Jie sat across from each other in the small pavilion, drinking white wine while eating sliced cold chicken.


    The moon was very beautiful. Xu Muyang looked in a daze at the sky. In the light of the golden rose-tinted clouds, the moonlight was intensified, seeming like golden liquid as it illuminated the courtyard.


    ¡°These evening clouds¡­ truly beautiful!¡± Xu Muyang suddenly eximed.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Tang Jie saw that Xu Muyang had a weird look on his face, so he did not dare reply.


    As if talking to himself, Xu Muyang said, ¡°These evening clouds are the afterglow of the Gold Ignis Astral Winds. They protect us, repelling any outside invaders, protect the Rosecloud Domain, allowing its spiritual energy to continue to circte and flow rather than leaking out. But they also shackle us, shackle the people of Rosecloud, preventing us from leaving this domain¡­ I truly want to go out and see the Great Ster Chiliocosm.¡±


    ¡®The Great Ster Chiliocosm¡¯ was what those Immortals who had attained the Dao and could ascend to the heavens called the world beyond the Rosecloud Domain. It was said that there were actually countless worlds of various sizes beyond the Rosecloud Domain.


    If the Rosecloud Domain was the Earth, then the Great Ster Chiliocosm was the universe.


    s, leaving the Rosecloud Domain was not an easy task. The Gold Ignis Astral Winds that enclosed the heavens served as a natural barrier that not even spiritual energy could escape. If ordinary cultivators got close, they would be burned to ash. Only true Immortals who had stepped onto the Immortal tform could endure the Astral Winds and leave this domain to freely roam the nine heavens.


    Some people said that this was the Rosecloud Domain¡¯s method of protecting itself. It was precisely because of the Gold Ignis Astral Winds that the majority of cultivators had no other choice but to return their remnants to the earth, giving back to the world the spiritual energy that they had stolen and allowing the cycle to continue.


    Without the Gold Ignis Astral Winds, cultivators could leave whenever they pleased, and with the passage of time, all the spiritual energy was certain to be exhausted.


    For this reason, in the eyes of some extremists, each Immortal that ascended and departed was a criminal who stole spiritual energy and did not return it.


    Fortunately, the number of ascenders was low, and the amount of spiritual energy the Rosecloud Domain truly lost was like a single hair from nine oxen.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t understand why Xu Muyang had suddenly brought up the Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    Xu Muyang drained his cup and filled it up again as he continued to talk to himself. ¡°When I was young, my father was very strict with me. Every day, if it wasn¡¯t cultivation, it was learning how to manage the n. But I was born a rebel, so I would always be looking for chances to run out and y. Every time, my father would catch me and give me a good beating. At those times, Second Sister would protect me. I remember one time, when I went out to y, in a moment of mischief, I managed to burn down a little pavilion in the house. It was Second Sister who stood up and said that she burned it. s, Father was no fool and still managed to find out that I was the real culprit¡­ That board smacking down really hurt.¡±


    Tang Jie silently listened.


    Xu Muyang continued to talk to himself. ¡°Thus, I began to n on running away. Unfortunately, I ran away three times and was caught every time. One time, I even got out of Nadir Hill, but my father personally captured me and gave me a good beating.¡±


    Xu Muyang dropped his head and chuckled. ¡°It was onlyter on that I came to know that since I carried the blood of the Xu n in my veins, when I was born, my blood was registered in the ancestral hall, leaving behind a Life Lantern. No matter where I went, the Xu n could find me through that Life Lantern, unless I left the Rosecloud Domain and entered the Great Ster Chiliocosm. At that moment, I began to dream about leaving this world. Of course, that was just a fantasy, and Iter on realized how difficult it was to be an Immortal. My Xu n was one of the four great ns, but it could not even produce a Violet Pce True Lord. If I wanted to leave this world, it would have to be through other means. At that point, I began to research the Dao of Formations¡­ The Dao of Formations is extremely profound. It can turn the earth into a prison, create a world of its own. This Rosecloud Domain is like a world-sized cage, so it can also be considered a natural formation of immense size. As I devoted myself to undoing this formation and immersed myself in the Dao of Formations, I fell in love with it. As I delved deeper and deeper, I eventually forgot my initial goal.¡±


    He looked at Tang Jie. ¡°You said that you sought freedom unbound by all restraints, but did you know? While your dream looks simple, it is actually incredibly difficult. How could a human actually be truly free? Even if you seed in cultivation one day, so long as you are still imprisoned in the Rosecloud Domain, imprisoned in this worldly cage, you will not have achieved your freedom unbound by all restraints!¡±


    ¡°So, as long you remain in the Rosecloud Domain, you can¡¯t avoid your pursuers, right? That violet energy surging to the heavens¡­ Have the people from Godhead Pce caught up?¡± Tang Jie coolly said.


    Xu Muyang was startled, and then he shook his head and bitterly smiled. ¡°I knew I couldn¡¯t hide it from you.¡±


    ¡°So you wanted me to go and buy Chen Ji¡¯s braised duck to try and send me away?¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Xu Muyang nodded. ¡°Butter on, I realized that I didn¡¯t even know exactly when they would show up. What if they didn¡¯te while you were out but did once you were back? So when you didn¡¯t ept the excuse, I decided to drop the matter. Better to just exin everything to you here so that you didn¡¯t die unaware.¡±


    ¡°So why don¡¯t you run?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t run¡­ Iid down a bewildering formation at Jade Orchid Mountain, and since they didn¡¯t chase me for half a year, they shouldn¡¯t have been able to find me. But since they¡¯re after me now, it means that they know where I am, so there¡¯s no point in my trying to run.¡± Xu Muyang gave a slight shake of his head, and a hint of grief appeared in his eyes.


    Tang Jie was stunned. He recalled what Xu Muyang had been telling him about the Xu bloodline and finally understood. He blurted out, ¡°Your n sold you out! Violet energy surging to the heavens¡­ The Violet Pce Realm?¡±


    Tang Jie understood everything now.


    Violet energy was indicative of massive spiritual energy pulses, and violet energy surging to the heavens meant that someone with formidable spiritual pressure had appeared. Only an extremely small number of people in the Rosecloud Domain had reached the Violet Pce Realm, and in this remote region, encountering one was basically impossible.


    Now, the spirit-surveying formation had detected violet energy, and it was approaching Anyang Prefecture, straight to their location.


    There was a sliver of a possibility of encountering a Violet Pce True Lord by chance, but the fact that this one was headed straight toward them clearly meant that they wereing for Xu Muyang.


    They were not moving very quickly, so either this individual was not good at flying or was confident that there would be no escape. Considering how terrifying Violet Pce True Lords were, thetter was more probable.


    Xu Muyang hadn¡¯t even been able to beat an ordinary Celestial Heart Realm expert of Godhead Pce. Now that a Violet Pce True Lord wasing, how could he fight back? Tang Jie stared at Xu Muyang in shock, but Xu Muyang was as calm as an ancient well.


    Tang Jie stood up and yelled, ¡°How could they treat you like this? You¡¯re a member of the Xu n!¡±


    He wasn¡¯t angry that Godhead Pce wasing, and Xu Muyang wasn¡¯t afraid. In the end, it just meant that he couldn¡¯t run any longer.


    But Tang Jie couldn¡¯t understand why the Xu n had sold Xu Muyang out.


    But Xu Muyang shook his head. ¡°Insting for half a year, they have already done their duty to the utmost. Tang Jie, you still do not truly understand the cruelty of the cultivation world, nor do you understand the status of the six major sects in the Rosecloud Domain. The four great ns? In front of the six major sects, they are just small fish¡­ A single Violet Pce True Lord can sweep over the four great ns. Due to the limits of the techniques my Xu n cultivates, no one has been able to enter the Violet Pce Realm as of yet. As for the six major sects, each sect has at least three True Lords and Celestial Sovereigns, and even a few who are great powers of the Immortal tform Realm. My father has no choice but to lower his head!¡±


    Tang Jie felt despair at these words. ¡°Then are you just going to give up like this?¡±


    ¡°What else can I do?¡± Xu Muyang smiled as he once more drained his cup. ¡°In truth, I knew that this day woulde eventually. It was lucky that I even had half a year. This is thest kindness my n could show me. I owe my n too much, and if I could be reborn, I could only try to repay them. Tang Jie, let me tell you this. You cannot hate my n for this, and in the future, you are not allowed to seek vengeance from them.¡±


    ¡°Wh¡­ what?¡± Tang Jie was stunned. <em>Vengeance?</em>


    <em>Where did thise from?</em>


    Xu Muyang swiftly said, ¡°Yes. Remember, I was born in the Xu n, and I will die as a ghost of the Xu n. In the future, when you seed in cultivation, if you can still remember what I told you, then you may only treat the Xu n with kindness, not hate.¡±


    ¡°But why should I¡­¡±


    ¡°Because of this!¡± Xu Muyang shook his wrist, thrusting the Profound Martial Mirror which he had been so attached to into Tang Jie¡¯s chest. ¡°The Ninedark Profound Martial Mirror is the key the martial lord left behind to undo the array, and the formation lines on it are those of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. It can simte nature and is bursting with mystery. Only byprehending it can you truly undo the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. Moreover, when I was examining the mirror, I discovered that, besides the formation lines, there was also some strange mantra in the mirror, though I couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of it. Not even Godhead Pce knows about this. All they know is that the Martial Mirror is the key. If you have the time, try toprehend this mantra. You must not miss out on this chance. In truth, I¡¯ve always felt that the martial lord¡¯s arrangements can¡¯t have been this simple. While the Nine Executions Immortal Formation is an ancient formation of extraordinary power, that¡¯s only to us. To those existences capable of killing him, it shouldn¡¯t have been as effective. It¡¯s clear that a single formation isn¡¯t enough, and the secret might be within the mirror.¡±


    Xu Muyang then handed over a thick notebook, several bottles of pills, and his own sword to Tang Jie. ¡°The book contains all that I have learned about formations over the years. Take good care of it. Until you¡¯ve reached a level of formation where you can emte nature, where you can perceive things as clearly as one can see a zing fire, it is best if you do not try toprehend the Martial Mirror. Otherwise, your life might be endangered. As for the Azure Light Sword, it is my only treasure. Though you still can¡¯t use it very well, it should be enough to protect you. The rest is rather ordinary, so sell it for money. I¡¯m not good at fighting, so I¡¯ve never liked things like treasures. I actually don¡¯t have much to give you, but so long as you continue to study the formation knowledge I have left for you andprehend the diagrams, you will eventually be able to undo the Nine Executions Immortal Formation and take the treasure within.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°There are no ¡®but¡¯s. Quickly leave this ce. They¡¯ve never seen you before and have no idea you exist. Even if I die, I will not let them get the Profound Martial Mirror!¡± Xu Muyang was shouting now, and the violet energy was getting closer and closer.


    ¡°No! I won¡¯t go! I don¡¯t care about some Xu n! I only care about you!¡± Tang Jie shouted. ¡°I won¡¯t throw you away!¡±


    At that moment, he suddenly understood that in this half-year, Xu Muyang had treated him like a little brother, and he had truly treated Xu Muyang like his older brother.


    No matter what, he could not just watch Xu Muyang die!


    Xu Muyang smiled. ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to be so agitated. I am not dying for your sake. If I wanted to survive, there would be some small sliver of hope if I handed over the mirror. But I¡¯m not a magnanimous sort, so if someone schemes against me, I have to repay it. Rather than gambling on a chance at life, I would rather take my sweet revenge! I give you the Profound Martial Mirror so that I can borrow your hand to take revenge on Godhead Pce, burdening you with danger and trouble. Thus, there¡¯s no need for you to be too moved. Besides, without the mirror in their hands, my Xu n will also be much safer!¡±


    Saying this, Xu Muyang stood up and made a snatching motion at Tang Jie. Countless spirit lines appeared and wrapped around Tang Jie like threads. Xu Muyang took out a piece of paper and folded it into the shape of a horse.


    Xu Muyang drew a few lines on the paper horse and threw it to the ground. With a loud neigh and the stomping of hooves, a muscr white horse appeared.


    Xu Muyang threw Tang Jie onto the horse, the spirit lines wrapping themselves around the horse. He then pped the horse on the buttocks and sent it off.


    ¡°Big Brother Xu, don¡¯t make me go!¡± Tang Jie shouted for all he was worth.


    Xu Muyang shouted back, ¡°Go north, and don¡¯te back!¡±


    ¡°Noooo!¡± Tang Jie desperately shouted, but he had no means of breaking free of the spirit threads that bound him to the horse as it galloped away.


    As Tang Jie¡¯s figure faded into the distance, Xu Muyang finally sat back down.


    He took the wine and filled his cup again, muttering, ¡°A pity¡­ In the end, I didn¡¯t have time to send you to the Basking Moon Sect. You¡¯ll have to rely on yourself for your future path.¡±


    Thus, he began to quietly await his fate.

 Chapter 13: Declaring an Aspiration

    The darkness of the night grew deeper and deeper.


    Some time had passed. In the small pavilion, Xu Muyang was downing cup after cup of wine, a burning sensation in his throat. Rather than using his spiritual energy to digest the alcohol, Xu Muyang immersed his entire body into the intoxication.


    Though he was slightly dizzy, he felt inspired, and recited, ¡°Recollecting the young years, the old times roaming the parks, the carriages flowing like water and the horses like vigorous dragons, the flowers and moon in the spring breeze! Out of the dream, returning to the frontier fortress, the western winds worrying up green waves. When will the journey home be?¡±


    (TN: This poem is a fusion of two poems, both of which were written by emperors of the Southern Tang Dynasty. The first section was written by Li Yu, thest emperor of the Southern Tang, while the second section was written by the second emperor of the Southern Tang.)


    This poem was something he had thought up on the spur of the moment. He was no famed poet, but he was from a great n and had read quite a few books. Mixing the lines of his forebears together, first recollecting the past and then musing on the current situation, could create something rather presentable.


    But just when he blurted out these words, a loud voice came from outside. ¡°Hand over the Profound Martial Mirror and you will be able to go back home in all respects. Xu Muyang, rather than clinging to precious treasure and sighing leisurely at the moon, it would be better to return what is stolen to one¡¯s rightful owner and return to the proper path!¡±


    As this voice spoke, three individuals appeared in the courtyard.


    Their leader was a violet-robed elder. He wasn¡¯t very tall, but he had a vigorous grandeur about him that made everyone focus on him.


    At this time, he had his hands behind his back as he looked at Xu Muyang, his eyes radiating such majesty that they were hard to directly gaze at.


    Seeing this, Xu Muyang immediately said, ¡°So it is Aspirational Lord Wunian who has personally graced me with your presence.¡±


    Godhead Pce had four True Lords, and True Lord Wunian was ranked second. In Godhead Pce, he was the Insight Master and was famed for his power and prowess. He cultivated the Great Aspiration divine connection of Godhead Pce, so he was known as ¡®Aspirational Lord Wunian¡¯.


    ¡°You know that it is the Aspirational Lord who hase, so why are you not kneeling!?¡± A voice exploded. It was none other than that He Chong who Xu Muyang had shed with at Jade Orchid Mountain, and he was the one who had talked about the ¡®return to the proper path¡¯.


    But the violet-robed elder was unmoved, simply saying, ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±


    Xu Muyang nced at the other individual out of the corner of his eyes. This was a young man in white who looked rather simr to Xu Muyang.


    Seeing him, Xu Muyang trembled all over. ¡°Big Brother!¡±


    Even though he had predicted that a member of the Xu n would being, he had not imagined that it would be his older brother, Xu Ruogu.


    But when Xu Ruogu nced at Xu Muyang, his face was emotionless, and he coldly said, ¡°Father and Mother miss you. Hand over Godhead Pce¡¯s possession and thene home with me.¡±


    ¡°Father¡­ Mother¡­¡± Xu Muyang softly muttered. With a bitter smile on his face, he asked, ¡°Are they still doing well?¡±


    ¡°They are doing very poorly. In thisst half-year, they have been suffering for your sake. I havee this time to take you back to see them.¡±


    ¡°See them¡­¡± A hint of sorrow appeared in Xu Muyang¡¯s eyes. ¡°Can I really still see them?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Aspirational Lord Wunian finally began to speak. ¡°Xu Muyang, in truth, this was a misunderstanding from the start. My Godhead Pce never intended to kill you. How could we? The Xu n is one of the four great ns of Nadir Hill, and Godhead Pce will not strike against its own people. We only nned to use the Mindwipe spell on you once the matter was done, clearing away your memories.¡±


    Mindwipe was a secret Immortal spell that could wipe the memories of the person it was used on. But while the Mindwipe spell was powerful, it was not selective. Once it was used, all memories would be wiped away, and even one¡¯s Divine Will would vanish. The person that the spell had been cast on would be stopped at Celestial Heart, unable to advance any further.


    Hearing this, Xu Muyang loudlyughed. ¡°Without my memories, am I still me?¡±


    Without his memories, all his knowledge on formations would be gone, and he wouldn¡¯t even be able to muster together a single spell. All he would have would be his Celestial Heart Realm cultivation, but without any spell arts, he wouldn¡¯t even be able to beat a Spirit Disciple. This was no different from crippling him. Moreover, a person was a person precisely because of their memories, and it was how they had some understanding of the world.


    Without memories, how was a person any different from a newborn baby?


    Moreover, the use of the Mindwipe spell wasplex, so he probably wasn¡¯t telling the truth. It was more likely that this was the exnation they had made up for the Xu n.


    ¡°It¡¯s better than dying. As long as you are willing to allow me to search your memories with the Soulscour spell to confirm that you did not leak the information to anyone else, and then hand over what you stole, I swear on my name as True Lord that I will not kill you, only wipe your memories and return you to the Xu n. These were the conditions we agreed on with Xu Huaili.¡±


    Soulscour was an even more painful spell than Mindwipe. When it was used, its target would suffer unbearable pain. Damage to the soul was getting off lightly, and in the worst case, one could be made into an imbecile.


    Soulscour and then Mindwipe? This was the greatest torture that could be inflicted on a living being, far beyond any mortal torture. But Aspirational Lord Wunian spoke of them in such a nonchnt tone that they seemed like matters of course.


    In his view, Xu Muyang had stolen a treasure of Godhead Pce, so leaving him alive was already an incredible act of generosity to the Xu n, a great show of benevolence from Godhead Pce.


    Xu Muyang was infuriated, and he red at Aspirational Lord Wunian and shouted, ¡°Scour my soul and then wipe my mind! Shi Wunian, you¡¯re ruthless, truly the Master of Insight of Godhead Pce, a man whose name makes others pale! But this time, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t get your way!¡±


    He was so furious that he even dropped the titles, directly calling Wunian by his name.


    He then stood up, his body surging with spiritual energy and radiating a formidable will to fight. Even in front of a Violet Pce True Lord, he refused to back down.


    Xu Ruogu paled in fright. ¡°Third Brother, what are you doing? Don¡¯t be stupid!¡±


    He finally revealed the concern at the depths of his heart.


    Aspirational Lord Wunian¡¯s face darkened. ¡°The audacity!¡±


    All he did was re, but the air suddenly became as thick as glue. All of Xu Muyang¡¯s erupting spiritual energy was suppressed, forced back into his body.


    At the same time, He Chong charged at Xu Muyang, his right hand grabbing at him as he shouted, ¡°Xu Muyang, just submit!¡±


    Xu Muyang had been rendered immobile, but he fearlesslyughed. ¡°A Violet Pce True Lord¡¯s words can connect to the heavens and earth, manifesting the divine connection in a single chant. But I¡¯d like to see what your cultivation that can generate ten thousand arts with a single chant can do to stop me!¡±


    His body erupted with spiritual light, exploding with such vigor and force that it overcame Aspirational Lord Wunian¡¯s power.


    He grimaced. ¡°Not good! He¡¯s going to detonate his Celestial Heart!¡±


    Shi Wunian had never imagined that Xu Muyang would be so decisive, willing tomit suicide rather than give him a chance. In rm, he thrust out his hands, a heaven-engulfing pressure encroaching from all sides as he shouted, ¡°Xu Muyang, don¡¯t be rash! Think about the Xu n¡­¡±


    Xu Muyang cut him off. ¡°I am thinking about the Xu n! Each day you don¡¯t have the Martial Mirror is another day you don¡¯t move against the Xu n! I¡¯ve already taken care of everything. After I¡¯m dead, if Godhead Pce moves against the Xu n, the entire world will know about the Martial Mirror. By the way, big Brother, you probably don¡¯t know what the Martial Mirror really is, do you?¡±


    Xu Ruogu was dumbfounded.


    He truly did not know what the Martial Mirror was.


    The people of the Xu n only knew that Xu Muyang had stolen some important treasure of Godhead Pce, presumably rted to the treasury they had sought Xu Muyang¡¯s help to open. But they had never known what this treasure was.


    There were many treasures in the world, and not every one was worth sacrificing one¡¯s life for. Godhead Pce¡¯s pursuit of Xu Muyang could have been due to the importance of the treasure, but it could also be understood as anger at the betrayal, so there had been no reason to consider the value of the treasure.


    But now, it seemed like this treasure was incredibly powerful, so powerful that Godhead Pce would even destroy the Xu n for it. Xu Ruogu was aghast at this revtion.


    ¡°What?¡± Shi Wunian was also astonished by Xu Muyang¡¯s words, not having expected that he would have a back-up n like this.


    His mental trepidation affected his Immortal arts, and for a moment, the spiritual pressure weakened.


    Xu Muyang used this chance to unleash spiritual light from his entire body, transforming it into a giant ball of light that shot into the sky, lighting up the night like a rising sun.


    ¡°Not good!¡± Shi Wunian immediately saw that the situation was dire, his mind rapidly turning as he thrust forward his hands and shouted, ¡°Heaven Earth Barrier, rise!¡±


    Ayer of Immortal energy covered the three.


    ¡°Third Brother, no!¡± Xu Ruogu howled in grief.


    Xu Muyang nced at Xu Ruogu, hazy moisture in his eyes.


    ¡°Goodbye, Big Brother. Xu Muyang is too ashamed to report to Father and Mother in this life. I must entrust it all to Big Brother¡­¡±


    ¡°Noooo!¡±


    Xu Ruogu let out a heart-wrenching cry, but Xu Muyang¡¯s spiritual energy was surging out of every pore in his body, bringing with itrge quantities of blood.


    The spiritual energy transformed into a giant tidal wave that swept out in all directions, and as it swept up to the Heaven Earth Barrier, it erupted with mes of light.


    The entire house was ttened, and the remaining power surged forward with unstoppable momentum, turning the vicinity into tnd as well.


    Fortunately, this was a remote and deserted area. However, the entire region was shuddering as brilliant lights shot into the air.


    If the previous scene had been like a rising sun, the mes of light achieved the effect of the sun pressing down on the earth. Anyang Prefecture, several li away, was also bathed in this rain of light, the entire city tottering on the verge of copse.


    ¡°Who dares to cause trouble in Anyang Prefecture?¡± Several figures charged out of Anyang Prefecture and began to head in the direction of the incident site.


    That wave of spiritual energy left all of them shaken.


    How much strength did this person have to have to unleash such terrifying spiritual pressure and might?


    ¡°Something big has happened,¡± a cultivator within Anyang Prefecture said in a dry tone.


    A white horse flew along the old Anyang road.


    Tang Jie continued to struggle, trying to break free of the spirit lines that bound him, but his efforts were futile.


    He saw himself getting farther and farther from the home, and his heart grew colder and colder.


    ¡°No, no, I want to go back!¡± Tang Jie shouted.


    He circted the Visceral Manifestation ssic¡¯s mantra as hard as he could, absorbing spiritual energy. Even though he knew that it was useless, he still tried.


    Spiritual energy ran rampant in his body, inflicting unbearable pain on Tang Jie, but Tang Jie did not stop. He continued to borrow the spiritual energy in his body to try and break free of his bonds.


    At this moment, he suddenly felt a sliver of spiritual energy fuse into his veins and vanish. At the same time, one of the spirit lines binding Tang Jie snapped.


    Tang Jie was startled, and then he was ted. He stimted the spiritual energy, fusing more of it into his veins. Tang Jie felt as if his blood was beginning to seethe, like his body was about to explode.


    It was a bizarre development that Tang Jie had never experienced before, but he continued without remorse, for he could feel his strength crazily soaring.


    As he fused more and more spiritual energy into his veins, Tang Jie suddenly roared and shook his arms. <em>Crack! Pop!</em> The spirit lines binding him all snapped.


    As the spirit lines snapped, the white horse let out a loud neigh and copsed to the ground, instantly returning to its paper form.


    Tang Jie tumbled to the ground.


    But he immediately jumped back up. He had taken a nasty fall just now, but he waspletely uninjured, and he felt like there was still unspent strength surging through his body. Seeing that the white horse had turned back to paper, he angrily roared, ¡°No! Get up! Take me back!¡±


    The paper horse silentlyy in Tang Jie¡¯s hand, not transforming no matter how much spiritual energy he poured in.


    Helpless, Tang Jie threw aside the paper horse and began to run back to the courtyard.


    He wasn¡¯t going to fight with the people of Godhead Pce. He only hoped to get back before they arrived and get Xu Muyang away from there.


    What did it matter if they had the Xu n¡¯s Life Lantern? He and Xu Muyang could just take the Profound Martial Mirror and hide out in the Basking Moon Sect. He didn¡¯t believe that the Godhead Pce would dare to chase them into the Basking Moon Sect!


    It was true that they were in dire straits, but there was still a way out. There was no reason to give up so easily!


    But he had only managed to make it a few steps when he saw an enormous explosion of light in the distance.


    It had clearlye from their house.


    ¡°No! Big Brother Xu!¡± Tang Jie yelled in grief.


    At that moment, he understood that the one known as Xu Muyang had ceased to exist in this world.


    Stupidly gazing at that distant plume of smoke, Tang Jie suddenly dropped to his knees.


    ¡°Big Brother Xu, farewell!¡±


    A savage killing intent in his eyes, he shouted to the heavens, ¡°Today, Tang Jie deres his great aspiration¡­ I swear an oath on my Heart Demon, to be marked on my Origin Heart, that so long as this Tang Jie still walks the earth, he will destroy Godhead Pce!¡±

 Chapter 14: The Basking Moon Sect

    The vicious winds finally died down.


    The spiritual energy had vanished from Xu Muyang¡¯s body, which thudded to the ground.


    Once the light was gone, a downpour of spiritual rain descended. This was all of the spiritual energy that Xu Muyang had absorbed, now returning to nature.


    When an Immortal passed, a hundred spirits were born.


    When an Immortal was born, a hundred spirits vanished.


    This was an unchanging principle of the cultivation world.


    The rtionship between the cultivation world and the natural world was like that between night and day, in a constant cycle of creation and destruction.


    When a cultivator died, it would mean that a purend of spiritual light would be born. Simrly, when a powerful cultivator emerged, arge amount of resources would be consumed, and perhaps even countless mountains and rivers would disappear.


    But to Xu Ruogu, while spiritual energy was cyclical, there was no getting back a lost life. Spiritual rain fell on his body, shoulders, and face, turning into tears.


    ¡°Little Brother¡­¡± Xu Ruogu silently wept.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Shi Wunian furiously roared.


    Xu Muyang had detonated his Celestial Heart, and while the Heaven Earth Barrier had prevented him from taking too much physical damage, his dignity had been severely damaged. This was no different from a vicious p to the face.


    What did it matter that he was a Violet Pce True Lord?


    Xu Muyang had still left him with nothing.


    He Chong charged out and searched Xu Muyang¡¯s body, but he found nothing.


    His face ghastly pale, he turned to Shi Wunian and said in a trembling voice, ¡°Aspirational Lord¡­ The Martial Mirror isn¡¯t on him¡­ ¡°


    Shi Wunian gasped.


    He hade on this trip precisely to get back the Profound Martial Mirror, never imagining that Xu Muyang might not have it.


    After all, it was a rare treasure that was the key to opening the formation. Anyone who got it would be unwilling to part ways with it. Only now that he recalled Xu Muyang¡¯s words did he realize that he might have made a grave mistake.


    Xu Muyang had not been lying. Half a year was enough time for him to do many things!


    ¡°Search! This is the foundation of Godhead Pce¡¯s prosperity! Even if you have to search the heavens and the earth, you will get the Martial Mirror back!¡± Shi Wunian lost his bearing as he chillingly spoke, his savage visage infused with an indescribable terror.


    As he called out, He Chong rushed into the ruins and began to search through them.


    Though he was a True Person of the Celestial Heart Realm, he now acted like a mole, though he seemingly did not care about his appearance. But despite his best efforts, he found nothing.


    After seeing He Chong search through the ruins ande up with nothing, Shi Wunian¡¯s eyes filled with killing intent.


    He angrily red at Xu Ruogu. ¡°Your fine third brother!¡±


    Xu Ruogu was stunned. Realizing that Xu Muyang had thoroughly enraged Aspirational Lord Wunian, he hastily dropped his head. ¡°O wise Aspirational Lord, this matter has nothing to do with the Xu n! Xu Ruogu, as a representative of the Xu n, will mobilize all our men to seek out this Martial Mirror!¡±


    ¡°Find it? How?¡±


    Xu Ruogu took in a deep breath and answered, ¡°I understand my third brother. Since he said that he had a n, the Martial Mirror probably isn¡¯t here. But when we arrived, I found that the courtyard was very clean, as if someone was frequently cleaning the ce. My third brother has never cared about his appearance, was toozy to care about anything besides his clothes, and in his difficult straits, he certainly wouldn¡¯t have been in the mood to keep the courtyard clean. Someone else must have been responsible for this. In addition, I got a look at that stone table and saw that there were several small appetizers on it. Third Brother has never been fond of mortal food and drinks. With this food and wine on the table, it must mean that he was enjoying them with someone else. Although he¡¯s put away the bowls and chopsticks, I can still see that he was not alone here.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­¡±


    ¡°He must have given the Martial Mirror to someone else!¡± Xu Ruogu firmly dered. ¡°So long as we find this person, we can find the Martial Mirror. Since the wine and food were still warm, this person hasn¡¯t been gone for long. If we find out who they are, we will be able to get back Godhead Pce¡¯s possession¡­¡±


    Shi Wunian¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°He Chong, immediately investigate who was staying together with Xu Muyang.¡±


    Xu Ruogu sighed in relief upon obtaining Shi Wunian¡¯s acknowledgment. <em>Little Brother, in the end, I had to let you down.</em>


    In Xu Muyang¡¯s eyes, no one in Godhead Pce was worth trusting. While Shi Wunian had been saying that he had never meant to silence him through death, who could say if he was telling the truth? Perhaps it had merely been a means of winning over the Xu n. Once he had the Martial Mirror, he might have started killing everyone. Since the Xu n had been brought into the mix, then even if they didn¡¯t know the entire truth, they would know that this was an extremely important matter and thus be silenced anyway.


    But if Godhead Pce couldn¡¯t get the mirror, there was no point in silencing witnesses, and with the additional threat of leaking information, the Xu n was safe.


    But this was only Xu Muyang¡¯s opinion. The only people he had interacted with were the members of Godhead Pce harboring ill intentions while he was working on the formation. His viewpoint determined that he would never be able to trust anyone from Godhead Pce.


    Xu Ruogu did not think this way.


    It had to be said that the Xu n was still one of the four great ns of Nadir Hill, boasting high status and prestige and awork that spanned the kingdom. If Godhead Pce destroyed the Xu n, it would trigger massive unrest in Nadir Hill, with such broad and far-reaching effects that it might even cause internal discord within the sect. While Godhead Pce was powerful, it was still rooted in thends of Nadir Hill and relied on mortals and numerous ordinary cultivators for its extraordinary status. It would not take such a chaos-causing move lightly. Killing Xu Muyang would only affect the Xu n. Destroying the Xu n would affect the entire kingdom. Their meanings werepletely different.


    Thus, Xu Ruogu firmly believed that even if Godhead Pce got back the Martial Mirror, it would not truly destroy the Xu n. On the contrary, it might use the opportunity to ingratiate itself and share some of the goods with the Xu n, thus burying the hatchet between the two.


    This was not out of the realm of possibility. After all, Godhead Pce had not killed Xu Muyang. He hadmitted suicide, making it somewhat easier for the Xu n to ept.


    But on the other hand, if they didn¡¯t get back the mirror, there was a high chance that Godhead Pce would remember this grudge and secretly work to suppress the Xu n, causing it to fall from its peak status. At the very least, this chance was higher than that of the Xu n being annihted.


    The dead only thought about survival, but the living had to consider how to live even better and to continue the glory of the n.


    Thus, he was more willing to help Shi Wunian get back the Martial Mirror to seek forgiveness.


    While brothers, they had twopletely different opinions.


    Xu Muyang had a rather extreme personality, while Xu Ruogu was very steady and earnest. But Xu Muyang understood the importance of the Martial Mirror, while Xu Ruogu knew nothing.


    It was impossible to say who was more right until something happened.


    As they were thinking, a loud cry came from the horizon. ¡°Who dares to release spiritual might in thisnd, rming themon people and acting as if my Basking Moon Sect does not exist?¡±


    ¡°The Basking Moon Sect¡¯s people are here!¡± He Chong shouted.


    Shi Wunian coldly grunted. ¡°He Chong, get to work. Xu Ruogu,e with me to wee them. I really wonder: what can the Basking Moon Sect do to us?¡±


    Qiong Province was remote, so even if the Basking Moon Sect had sent people to manage this ce, it could not be anyone too important. So long as it wasn¡¯t an elder of the Basking Moon Sect, who could think about stopping Shi Wunian?


    Several figures flew over from the distance, their leader wearing a ck robe and sporting a long beard. He had a lively light in his eyes and arge sword slung across his back.


    Upon seeing Shi Wunian, he was just about to shout orders when he suddenly shivered, rubbed his eyes, and took a second look. Seemingly frightened, he descended from the air, then immediately put his hands together and bowed. ¡°Nan Baicheng of the Basking Moon Sect pays respects to Aspirational Lord Wunian. I did not know that the Aspirational Lord was gracing thisnd with your presence, so please forgive me!¡±


    Shi Wunian nced at this Nan Baicheng and noted, ¡°Kid, you have some experience.¡±


    Nan Baicheng smiled. ¡°Aspirational Lord is a celestial being. This one is Nan Baicheng, assigned as the branch manager of Anyang Prefecture. This one is fortunate enough to possess a Myriad Immortal Register, where he saw Aspirational Lord¡¯s image, so this one knows not to offend you.¡±


    The so-called Myriad Immortal Register was really a sort of protective talisman in the cultivation world.


    There were all kinds of entric personalities in the cultivation world, those whocked tact and loved to y around in the mortal world. If some unaware and unlucky individual ran into one of these high masters, they would truly be seeking death.


    There was no telling when one might run into such an individual, so someone established the Myriad Immortal Register, upon which were drawn the images and distinguishing characteristics of all those at or above the Celestial Heart Realm, the True Persons and True Lords.


    Of course, not all great powers could be found in the Myriad Immortal Register, and some experts were skilled in changing their appearance, but it was still better than nothing.


    Later on, a new function was developed for the Myriad Immortal Register. These were rankings. There were rankings for new talents, rankings for True Lords¡­ It was essentially a strength differentiator.


    There was no ranking for the Immortal tform Realm. Firstly, there were very few people in this realm. Secondly, Immortals were not people that could be recklessly ranked by mortals. identally irking some Immortal would result in an unjust death.


    Shi Wunian was one of the Four Divine Lords of Godhead Pce, and he had made his name early on and was renowned throughout the cultivation world. Thus, his appearance was recorded on the Myriad Immortal Register. Besides that, he had a proud personality and refused to do something as lowly as changing his face. Thus, Nan Baicheng had almost instantly recognized him.


    As for Xu Ruogu and He Chong, while they were on the Myriad Immortal Register, they were ranked very low, and their drawings had been done crudely, so Nan Baicheng was not guaranteed to recognize them. Of course, even if he had, he wouldn¡¯t have cared, given that the mighty Shi Wunian was present.


    Nan Baicheng was the manager for Anyang Prefecture and its surroundings, and though he did not hold any government position, as a Spirit Master of the Mortal Shedding Realm, he had the respect of all the officials and cultivators in the area, who all addressed him as Spirit Master.


    But in front of Shi Wunian, he was like a mouse who had seen a cat, not even daring to fart. He was so frightened that those behind him also fell silent, not knowing where this man hade from.


    They didn¡¯t even have the right to see the Myriad Immortal Register.


    Nan Baicheng came forward and bowed. ¡°For what reason has Aspirational Lord Wunian graced the meagernds of Qiong Province? If there is something you need, Aspirational Lord need only say the word. This one will do everything in his power to serve.¡±


    Shi Wunian grunted, ¡°No need. We have business here, so just leave.¡±


    Nan Baicheng¡¯s expression immediately turned awkward.


    But after some thought, Nan Baicheng raised his hands in a salute and said, ¡°Aspirational Lord is incorrect. This Anyang Prefecture is under the administration of my Basking Moon Sect, and we are the masters of this ce. While Aspirational Lord is a Violet Pce True Lord, you are still a guest, and is there such a thing as a guest having the master leave?¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Shi Wunian¡¯s eyes unleashed divine light as he red at Nan Baicheng. Invisible spiritual pressure immediately came down on Nan Baicheng, and he felt like there was a mountain on his shoulders, rendering him immobile.


    He endured the pressure and said with some difficulty, ¡°If Aspirational Lord has business, Nan Baicheng will naturally not stop you, but as the supervisor appointed by the sect, this one cannot just leave. Please forgive me for this offense, Aspirational Lord.¡±


    When he first saw Shi Wunian, he had been ovee with terror, but he had quicklyposed himself, and he was now throwing caution to the wind.


    Before getting here, he had seen spiritual energy shoot into the sky with an astonishing aura, and he knew then that this was probably not a problem he could deal with. Thus, he had long ago shattered his messenger talisman, sending a notification to the sect. And when he saw that Aspirational Lord Wunian hade personally, he had shattered an emergency token. Not only could this emergency token request aid, it could also contain a small amount of information. As time was short, he only had time to write in his sleeve that the Aspirational Lord hade. Though it was rather vague, it was probably enough for the Basking Moon Sect to understand.


    The Basking Moon Sect¡¯s men were already on the way, so all he needed to do was keep these people here until then.


    If the reinforcements from the sect saw Shi Wunian driving him away with a single sentence, he could end any hopes he had of further advancement in the sect.


    But if he could resist Shi Wunian¡¯s pressure until the sect¡¯s reinforcements arrived, he would have made a major contribution.


    He knew that he couldn¡¯t hold Shi Wunian for even a second, but this was still the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s territory. If Shi Wunian dared to kill a member of the sect here, he would be essentially pping the Basking Moon Sect in the face. This was not something he would do unless he had gonepletely mad.


    Nan Baicheng was also taking a gamble!


    There had always been many people in the cultivation world who were willing to gamble their lives for the sake of advancement.


    ¡°So you insist on observing me?¡±


    Nan Baicheng smiled and answered, ¡°Aspirational Lord misunderstands. Aspirational Lord is a guest from afar, so this one only wishes to do his utmost in his role as the host. As the branch leader of Anyang, I can be considered a local expert, so if Aspirational Lord needs something done, you need only ask. Nan Baicheng is willing to lead his subordinates in serving you.¡±


    The cultivators at his side were sharp, and immediately saluted. ¡°We are willing to serve the Aspirational Lord!¡±


    Shi Wunian could not possibly have them help him find Tang Jie. Once Tang Jie was found, they would probably interrogate him first.


    Any matter that required a True Lord was not a small concern!


    Just when Shi Wunian was about to say ¡®no need¡¯, Nan Baicheng nced at the nearby ruins and sternly said, ¡°Qi Nan, can you find out who was living here?¡±


    Shi Wunian immediately felt an ill foreboding. The Basking Moon Sect was familiar with the area and would probably find out everything soon. He immediately thought about silencing witnesses, but then he realized that Nan Baicheng had undoubtedly already reported back, and this was the incident site. He might have been able to kill the person, but there was no silencing the words.


    He inwardly fumed, cursing Xu Muyang for giving him such trouble right before he died.


    There were many ways ofmitting suicide, but he had chosen to detonate his Celestial Heart, probably precisely so that he could bring in the Basking Moon Sect.


    Nan Baicheng had no idea how many times the death god had circled over the heads of him and his subordinates. A cultivator at his side quickly withdrew, and a few momentster, he returned with a booklet. After flipping through it, he said, ¡°Found it. Half a year ago, this house was sold. The buyer was some youth not local to the area.¡±


    ¡°Not a local?¡± Shi Wunian¡¯s eyes shed. ¡°What was his name?¡±


    The cultivator was just about to answer when Nan Baicheng snatched the book and instantly destroyed it.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Shi Wunian was enraged. Just when he was about to strike, Nan Baicheng ced his hands on that cultivator¡¯s face, building up spiritual energy as he loudly said, ¡°Aspirational Lord, since you havee here, how could you just leave? If it were to be known that my Basking Moon Sect treated Aspirational Lord so rudely, we would lose all face. As for information on the owner of this house, it is but a minor concern. So long as Aspirational Lord is willing to stay, the Basking Moon Sect will offer the information with both hands.¡±


    It appeared that if Shi Wunian did not agree, Nan Baicheng would unleash his spiritual energy and destroy that cultivator¡¯s head. This was a decision that Nan Baicheng had made on the spot.


    Shi Wunian angrily smiled. ¡°Do you really think that will work on me?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. A Violet Pce True Lord can send their Divine Will through the world and create ten thousand arts with a single chant. How could a few little tricks from me possibly stop a True Lord?¡± Nan Baicheng smiled.


    With these words, his subordinates finally understood that they were facing a master of the Violet Pce Realm, leaving them scared out of their wits.


    But Nan Baicheng continued, ¡°But while it is easy for Aspirational Lord to kill me, it is not easy to stop me. And I presume that Aspirational Lord came from afar to do more than kill members of my Basking Moon Sect, yes?¡±


    Shi Wunian froze.


    The six major sects did not coexist in harmony. They had many quarrels with each other, but these conflicts were not in the open and were instead prosecuted in the shadows. Going up to the door and pping the other party in the face was not something people of this sort did lightly. Provoking one¡¯s opponent normally had few advantages.


    Nan Baicheng continued, ¡°Aspirational Lord, please hold a while.¡±


    Shi Wunian coldly snorted, ¡°Brat! It has been many, many years since I¡¯ve met such an audacious junior. It seems that the Basking Moon Sect has been producing a lot of talents as ofte. But, unfortunately, it seems like theyck experience.¡±


    Shi Wunian slightly raised his hand.


    Nan Baicheng turned pale. Was Shi Wunian really going to risk a grudge with the Basking Moon Sect to kill him?


    But to his surprise, Shi Wunian pointed at an empty area in front of him, upon which the destroyed book began toe back together. Once it had reformed, it flew into his hands, even on the same page number it had been when it was destroyed.


    ¡°This¡­ The Art of Origin Return?¡± Nan Baicheng cried out in rm.


    ¡°No, it is the Dao Will of Time. While the Art of Origin Return can return things back to their original shape, it requires sufficient understanding of the object in question. But the Dao Will of Time is different. It only has the target return to what it was at a certain point in time,¡± Shi Wunian answered with a smile.


    ¡°Dao Will¡­ A Dao-controlling Celestial Sovereign?¡± Nan Baicheng said in shock.


    While True Lords and Celestial Sovereign were both at the Violet Pce Realm, there was a difference between them.


    Spells, arts, divine connections, and Daos¡ªthese were the four major abilities of cultivators, and only those who controlled a Dao could be called Celestial Sovereigns.


    Without control over a Dao, even if one entered the Violet Pce, one could only call themselves a True Lord.


    Shi Wunian regretfully shook his head. ¡°Only a minor Dao. This cannot be considered true control over a Dao, as it can only be used on inanimate objects. The Great Dao is boundless, and who can say that they can control it? Even Celestial Sovereigns can¡¯tpare to Earth Immortals¡­¡±


    As he spoke, he began to read through the book, and he quickly found the information he sought.


    ¡°Tang Jiye, twelve years old¡­¡± Shi Wunian read out the name.


    At this time, He Chong ran over. Just when he was about to say something, Shi Wunian waved his hand and said, ¡°I already know who this person is. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Nan Baicheng panicked and said, ¡°Aspirational Lord, please hold. My sect¡¯s third senior uncle has heard of Aspirational Lord¡¯s arrival and is already on his way to wee you, and he has ordered this lowly one to keep Aspirational Lord here no matter what. His venerable self will soon be here¡­¡±


    ¡°That madman Xiao Biehan ising?¡± Shi Wunian scowled at this name, angrily saying, ¡°This old man has no time to see him!¡±


    Basking Moon Sword Fanatic Xiao Biehan was a renowned martial maniac who loved fighting with others the most in life. This fellow clearly wanted to find him for a duel, regardless of anything else.


    Shi Wunian naturally wasn¡¯t afraid of him, but he had an important mission and no time for Xiao Biehan.


    But though he didn¡¯t want to fight, the other party might not be willing to let him go.


    He had barely spoken when a long whistle could suddenly be heard from the distance, after which a beam of sword energy pierced through the clouds and erupted with light. There was even more power in this sword energy than in Xu Muyang¡¯s detonation of his Celestial Heart, and sharp sword intent swept through the world. Even though it was far on the horizon, Shi Wunian and Xu Ruogu could still sense that vicious fighting intent.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Shi Wunian cursed.


    Xiao Biehan hade so quickly that it was obvious that he had used a teleportation formation.


    All of the six kingdoms had teleportation formations to make movement convenient so that any stricken area could be swiftly reinforced. But teleportation formations of one kingdom were not normally linked to teleportation formations of another, and one would have to cross the border the old-fashioned way. Besides that, using them required a vast amount of spirit stones, so they were only used for important asions.


    Shi Wunian had not imagined that Xiao Biehan would be so insane as to use a teleportation formation toe over and duel him.


    A frigid sword flew out from the distance. At first nce, it was far on the horizon, and a momentter, it was right in front of them.


    An illusory sword sliced at Shi Wunian as a brash voice resounded in the air. ¡°Shi Wunian, you came at the perfect time! Come and fight me!¡±


    ¡°Xiao Biehan, this one is searching for a traitor to the sect. It has nothing to do with your Basking Moon Sect!¡± Shi Wunian pointed his hand at the air and thrust, causing that sword to disappear.


    ¡°So long as it happened within my Basking Moon Sect¡¯s territory, how could my Basking Moon Sect not be involved? Cut the chatter! Let¡¯s fight first!¡±


    With this bellow, a tall and muscr middle-aged man with long hair appeared out of the clouds. He swung his arm, and another sharp light sword shed at the ground.


    ¡°He Chong, Ruogu, go after that person. Leave this fellow to me!¡± Shi Wunian roared. Golden armor appeared on his body¡ªthe same kind of golden armor that Tang Jie had seen at Jade Orchid Mountain, though radiating even brighter golden light. He punched, instantly creating spiritual pressure that made everyone back away, their feet shivering in fear.


    But Xiao Biehan was unsatisfied, brashly dering, ¡°Don¡¯t try and fool me with your Godhead Armor! Hurry up and use your Great Aspiration divine connection!¡±


    Each sh more frenzied than thest, Xiao Beihan filled the sky with innumerable swords, imbued with so much power that they cut down hills into tnd. The aftershocks of sword energy alone were enough to send cultivators scattering.


    ¡°Bastard! Bastard! Bastard!¡± Shi Wunian was infuriated beyond words. He knew that there was no way he could go after Tang Jiye with this fellow dragging him down. His only option was to try and defeat him first.


    A momentter, he flew into the sky and began to chant, ¡°I dere my great aspiration: to destroy all conditioned existences in this world¡­¡±

 Chapter 15: Pursuit

    Anyang Prefecture was particrly lively tonight.


    First, Xu Muyang had detonated his Celestial Heart, sending energy skyward. Afterward, Shi Wunian and Xiao Biehan had gotten into a big fight, battling from Windscreen Ford all the way to the summit of Rainbow Cloud. For the entire night, the people of Anyang Prefecture could see gouts of me in the sky and hear rumbles of thunder.


    Shockwaves of spiritual energy stirred up storms that wreaked havoc across Anyang Prefecture, destroying nearly one hundred civilian homes and ttening the hills around Windscreen Ford.


    Even so, it wouldn¡¯t be long before life returned.


    The vanished grass and trees would grow back, and the hills and mountains would gradually recover through the use of spell arts.


    This was how things were in the cultivation world. Thend would experience a cycle of restoration and destruction because of cultivators. Rivers¡¯ changing course and mountains¡¯ rising and disappearing weremonce.


    Cultivators could enter seclusion for one hundred years, and when they finally emerged, the world would have changed.


    Thus, while battles between cultivators might have been bitterly fought, battles causing the sun and moon to grow dark and blood to bathe the heavens, when the battle ended, ancient battlefields would often be gathering points of spiritual energy and prosper.


    If some ancient great power died, thend would be blessed for ten thousand li, and in time, a powerful sect would be born.


    Of course, there were also great powers who would not die in a timely fashion and who would seal all of their power into a spiritualnd. The Ninedark Martial Lord was an example of this sort. It was precisely because no one had discovered his spiritualnd for ten thousand years that the formation had finally begun to fail, allowing a small amount of spiritual energy and good fortune to leak out, thus drawing in countless people greedy for its power.


    Shi Wunian was in no mood to mess around with Xiao Biehan, as the Martial Mirror took precedence. After fighting for a bit, he shouted, ¡°Xiao Biehan, can I still not concede?¡±


    Xiao Biehan loudlyughed. ¡°What a dishonest fellow! You clearly have some strength in reserve, so how could you concede? Come,e; let¡¯s continue. If you have business, we can talk about it once the battle is over!¡±


    No matter how unwilling and reluctant Shi Wunian was, he could not hope to leave unless Xiao Biehan stopped his assault.


    The two of them fought until the sun rose in the east. Upon seeing the break of dawn, Shi Wunian angrily roared, ¡°Xiao Biehan, just how long do you want to fight? This old man has business and doesn¡¯t have the time to y with you!¡±


    The swords suddenly disappeared, and Xiao Biehan miraculously sheathed his sword and drew back. Laughing, he said, ¡°Since Aspirational Lord Wunian is in no mood to fight, then forget it. What a pity! If Aspirational Lord is in no mood to fight, then even if I win, it would be a hollow victory. Aspirational Lord, since you have business to attend to, then please be on your way. My Basking Moon Sect will not try to keep you. But, Aspirational Lord, you should understand that this Sageheart Kingdom is protected by my Basking Moon Sect. Consider your actions carefully.¡±


    With a heartyugh, he departed.


    Shi Wunian was so angry that he could vomit blood.


    He hade very quietly and inconspicuously, and it was clearly this bastard who had started a fight as soon as he got here. Just who was the one not considering their actions?


    Returning to the ground, Shi Wunian saw that He Chong and Xu Ruogu were still there. Killing intent in his eyes, he asked, ¡°Why have you not gone after that boy?¡±


    He Chong answered, ¡°Li Hongyang and Ming Yekong came as well. They were watching us and forbade us from leaving.¡±


    ¡°What? Basking Moon Sect, this isn¡¯t over!¡± Shi Wunian was furious, thrusting out a palm and obliterating arge boulder next to him.


    But despite his fury, he could do nothing to the Basking Moon Sect.


    After some thought, Shi Wunian said, ¡°So much time has passed that that kid has probably run far away by now, and finding him won¡¯t be easy. He Chong, find the person who sold this house, get a description of that boy, and have a painting made. Distribute this portrait to all of our Shadow Hall disciples in Sageheart and have them search for him. We must find him!¡±


    ¡°What? Mobilize all of our Shadow Hall disciples?¡± He Chong¡¯s heart thumped.


    ¡®The Shadow Hall¡¯ referred to the spies that the various sects had nted in other kingdoms. They specialized in gathering information, and if necessary, they could be mobilized to execute special missions. This was an extremely dangerous career, and most cultivators with future prospects would not choose this path. Thus, each spy was extremely valuable. Godhead Pce had only a hundred-some spies in Sageheart, and if they were all mobilized, the chances that they would be exposed were extremely high. The moment the Basking Moon Sect found them, they would be dead men walking.


    The Basking Moon Sect would not kill Shi Wunian, but it would be ruthless to these spies. When the time came, there would probably be a sudden rash of idents.


    ¡°That¡¯s not something we can worry about right now. The Martial Mirror is the foundation of Godhead Pce¡¯s prosperity. We have to get it back no matter what,¡± Shi Wunian ruthlessly said.


    Xu Ruogu was rmed, hastily saying, ¡°Aspirational Lord, this matter has already rmed the Basking Moon Sect, and they will probably keep a close eye on us. If we mobilize the Shadow Hall disciples now, I worry¡­¡±


    Shi Wunian understood what he was saying before he could finish. If they mobilized the Shadow Hall disciples now, the Basking Moon Sect would probably catch them all before they could even do anything.


    Shi Wunian nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right. That was my mistake. Do you have any ideas?¡±


    Xu Ruogu answered, ¡°Aspirational Lord, in the end, this is thend of the Sageheart Kingdom, so our actions can¡¯t be too brash. In my view, we have several paths that we can proceed on.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Tell me them.¡±


    ¡°The first option would be to bring over the elite trackers from Godhead Pce and Nadir Hill and have them start their investigation from here. The second would be to bribe the local officials of Sageheart Kingdom and gather information from them. The third option would be to gather some people from the rural areas and have them serve us in conducting the search. If we use the people of Sageheart to do our work, we¡¯ll have more manpower at a cheaper price. And not even the Basking Moon Sect will be able to stop us.¡±


    Shi Wunian nodded at these words. ¡°Not bad. You¡¯ve got a good head on your shoulders and deserve to be the next patriarch of the Xu n. Having the Sageheart people help us in our search is an idea. That being the case¡­ He Chong, send a message back to Godhead Pce. Have them send over Hunting Eagle, and then inform the Shadow Hall disciples to work with him.¡±


    He Chong respectfully replied, ¡°It will be done. But, Aspirational Lord, if we do this, the Basking Moon Sect will have a clearer idea of our objective.¡±


    ¡°They probably already know enough,¡± Xu Ruogumented.


    ¡°Hahahaha! Feels good, feels good! That was truly an excellent fight!¡±


    In Anyang Prefecture, Xiao Biehanughed, holding his sword upside down, as he entered the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s branch hall. As he seated himself at the head seat, two other individuals stood at his side, both True Persons of the Celestial Heart Realm.


    One wore an azure robe while the other wore a ck robe. They seated themselves below and to the sides of Xiao Biehan. The azure-robed one had a greenplexion, appearing like a corpse, while the ck-robed one had a face so handsome that even men would be moved.


    All the other cultivators, including Nan Baicheng, were prostrating at Xiao Biehan¡¯s feet.


    ¡°Paying respects to Third Martial Uncle!¡±


    ¡°Paying respects to the Founder!¡±


    ¡°Paying respects to True Person Hongyang!¡±


    ¡°Paying respects to True Person Yekong!¡±


    Greetings filled the air.


    Xiao Biehan waved his hand. ¡°All of you, rise. Who is the one in charge here?¡±


    Nan Baicheng hastily stood up. ¡°Nan Baicheng, Changfeng¡¯s disciple, pays respects to Martial Uncle, True Person Hongyang, and True Person Yekong!¡±


    Xiao Biehan looked at Nan Baicheng. ¡°Changfeng? You¡¯re Yan Changfeng¡¯s disciple? Go on and tell me what happened here. The rest of you are dismissed.¡±


    Everyone else left, leaving Nan Baicheng to report on what had happened. Of course, Nan Baicheng made sure to include how he had calmly faced down Aspirational Lord Wunian and was determined to die if necessary. The three individuals simply listened.


    Once Nan Baicheng was done, the azure-robed man asked, ¡°Do you know who it was in the residence?¡±


    Nan Baicheng hurriedly replied, ¡°True Person Yanghong, after Martial Uncle began battling with Aspirational Lord Wunian, this disciple immediately sent men to investigate the details of the residence. We have already found that there were two inhabitants in the residence. One was a twelve-year-old boy called Tang Jiye. The house was bought under his name, and he once worked at an inn in Anyang Prefecture. He had been working there all the way untilst night, but he did not show up today. The other was an older man in white, appearing twenty-some years old. Since he arrived half a year ago, he has remained in the residence and did note out. I¡¯ve questioned the seller of the house, who confirmed that when they were exchanging pleasantries, the man seemed to have the surname ¡®Xu¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Xu?¡± The ck-robed man immediately said, ¡°I recall who that fellow fromst night was now! It was Xu Ruogu!¡±


    ¡°So Shi Wunian really dide this time to hunt down a traitor?¡± the green-robed Li Hongyang asked.


    Xiao Biehan snorted. ¡°Bullshit! Is hunting down a traitor so important that Shi Wunian himself woulde out? And since when was it Godhead Pce¡¯s ce to manage the affairs of the Xu n? That spiritual explosionst night was clearly a Celestial Heart Realm True Person detonating their Celestial Heart! Harrumph! For a mighty True Person of the Celestial Heart Realm to be forced to detonate their Celestial Heart, this matter is clearly moreplicated than it seems! Hongyang, find out how many Celestial Heart Realm experts the Xu n has, and which one of them like to wear white.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to investigate,¡± the ck-robed Ming Yekong swiftly said. ¡°The Xu n has seven people at the Celestial Heart Realm: Xu Huaili, Xu Ruogu, Xu Mingyue, Xu Muyang, and three others who do not have the surname ¡®Xu¡¯. That man in white wasn¡¯t of the right age to be Xu Huaili, and since it was a man, it could only have been Xu Muyang!¡±


    ¡°Xu Muyang?¡± Xiao Biehan was taken aback. ¡°That formation master?¡±


    He stroked his chin and began to think, muttering, ¡°In other words, Godhead Pce and Xu Ruogu came to capture Xu Muyang, but Xu Muyang was more willing to kill himself than be captured. But Xu Muyang is dead now, yet they haven¡¯t left. On the contrary, they¡¯re trying to find that boy¡­ haha, there¡¯s a problem here. It seems like the boy must eithere from some extraordinary background, or else be holding some precious treasure.¡±


    ¡°Martial Uncle is truly perceptive. I think the same. But I have not heard of any young scion of any sect going missing as ofte, so I would venture to say that there is an eighty percent chance of it being thetter. What does Martial Uncle think we should do next?¡± Ming Yekong asked.


    ¡°Is there any need to ask?¡± Xiao Biehan grunted. ¡°I don¡¯t know what it is that Godhead Pce wants, but I know it must be important, so important that Shi Wunian woulde himself, so important that someone as proud as him would concede to me! Haha, he didn¡¯t know that the more he wanted to leave, the more I had to keep him! I don¡¯t care what Godhead Pce wants to do, but my Basking Moon Sect can¡¯t let it seed, at least not easily!¡±


    He pped his hand down, obliterating the table beneath his palm.


    While Xiao Biehan was called a sword fanatic and martial maniac, he had never been stupid. A love of fighting merely served as his smokescreen. He hade over this time to make trouble for Godhead Pce, and if Shi Wunian had confessed that Xu Muyang had stolen some treasure of Godhead Pce, Xiao Biehan might have dropped the matter.


    The Basking Moon Sect was not so impoverished that it would want to steal Godhead Pce¡¯s treasures.


    But the more unwilling he was to talk about it, the more suspicious Xiao Biehan became, and the more Xiao Biehan wanted to impede him. Thus, he fought with even greater enthusiasm.


    The six major sects got along on the surface, but they struggled against each other in the shadows. Each of the sects only had one other sect that they truly got along with. For the Basking Moon Sect, its true friend was the Thousand Passions Sect, while it treated the rest with feigned courtesy. Now that Godhead Pce had run over to the territory of the Basking Moon Sect, Xiao Biehan would be letting down his title of Third Martial Uncle of the Basking Moon Sect if he didn¡¯t try to hinder Godhead Pce in some way.


    In any case, he was a martial maniac.


    Relying on his behavior of feigned madness, Xiao Biehan had seeded in causing a mess for Godhead Pce.


    With this said, Xiao Biehan continued, ¡°Investigate that boy immediately, and have our disciples seek him out. We have to find him before Godhead Pce. I don¡¯t believe that we can¡¯t find someone in our territory before they can. In addition, send people to keep watch on Shi Wunian¡¯s movements. It would be best if he mobilized his Shadow Hall disciples so that we can catch all those mice in one fell swoop.¡±


    Cold sweat drenched Nan Baicheng¡¯s back as he said, ¡°Martial Uncle, to follow a Violet Pce True Lord¡­ this disciple¡­¡±


    ¡°No need to keep it a secret. You can just follow him in the open,¡± the handsome Ming Yekong said. ¡°Since Aspirational Lord Wunian has graced my Sageheart Kingdom with his presence, we must take care of our guest to the utmost. Arrange a ce for him to stay and then find some people to serve. I trust that the Aspirational Lord will not be able to refuse my Basking Moon Sect¡¯s hospitality in earnest¡­ Find a few smart and discreet disciples for this matter.¡±


    ¡°This disciple understands,¡± Nan Baicheng quickly replied. Openly keeping watch on Shi Wunian wouldn¡¯t result in any big harvest, but many things could be found by observing the small details. Besides, the Basking Moon Sect already knew what they were trying to do, so what they needed was to dy rather than further investigate.


    As for the truth, they would know everything once they found that boy, Tang Jiye.


    ¡°Shi Wunian and hispany were in such a rush to leave that I¡¯m sure that Tang Jiye hadn¡¯t been gone for long. Mobilize all our men in the area, and we should be able to find that Tang Jiye,¡± Li Hongyang said.


    ¡°This disciple will go.¡± Only now did Nan Baicheng move to leave.


    ¡°Hold on,¡± Xiao Biehan suddenly said. ¡°You risked your life to keep Shi Wunian here for our arrival. You did very well, and I will report this to Senior Brother and get you the reward you deserve.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Martial Uncle!¡± Nan Baicheng said in delight.


    In just two days, the Basking Moon Sect found all the information it needed.


    There were six people who were of simr age and appearance to that Tang Jiye, had gone out alone that night, and had been in the area, ording to the ounts of people in the area. Of these six, five had already been found, and none of them had anything to do with Xu Muyang.


    Thest one had yet to be found.


    Eyewitness reports said that he hadst been spotted going north.


    Xiao Biehan immediately ordered the local officials on the border to dispatchrge numbers of people to search for the boy. At the same time, He Chong, who had bribed the local officials at great expense, had also learned this news. He organized a group of wandering warriors to begin searching for Tang Jiye.


    But after two months, he was still nowhere to be found, as if he had vanished from this world.

 Chapter 16: Ling Province

    Ling Province, Canglong Prefecture.


    Sageheart had twelve provinces, and in terms of area, Ling Province was ranked fourth. In terms of spiritual energy, Ling Province was ranked tenth. But economically, Ling Province was ranked second.


    This ce was located in the south of Sageheart, and like Qiong Province, it was located in the far east. Geographically, however, it was located close to Cloudlock Isle, forming with it an important cape called Boundless Cape.


    Setting out from Boundless Cape and sailing along the coast, one could reach the Endsea Kingdom in thirty days.


    Endsea and Sageheart were not connected bynd, but they were linked by ocean routes. The sea route meant that this ce was a major nexus of maritime trade, making Ling Province the most important economic province for the Sageheart Kingdom. Thus, even though Ling Provincecked in spiritual energy, it had a status that could not be ignored.


    Canglong Prefecture was where the provincial headquarters of Ling Province was located, and it was the most bustling ce in the entire province. This ce had the Sageheart Kingdom¡¯srgest ships, its most high-ss restaurants, its most luxurious inns, and its most beautiful women.


    A boy was confidently walking its long avenues. It was none other than Tang Jie.


    He had not listened to Xu Muyang and gone north. Rather, as soon as he had left Anyang Prefecture, he had turned around and headed south.


    Xu Muyang had told him to go north because Basking Moon Academy was in the north, and he had wanted Tang Jie to seek instruction there. But Tang Jie knew that since Godhead Pce had not gotten the Profound Martial Mirror, it would not let Tang Jie go. As he was traveling alone, his trail would be too obvious. Thus, after making a feint, he had changed course, sticking to small paths and traveling only at night.


    It was a simple trick, but very useful.


    No one expected a twelve-year-old to y this sort of trick, and the pursuers had mostly gone north. Only a very small number had been sent south, and so naturally, even if they had searched every inch of the Sageheart Kingdom, they would have never found him.


    There was another reason he had gone south. Without Xu Muyang¡¯s rmendation letter, Tang Jie would have found it very hard to enter Basking Moon Academy.


    Basking Moon Academy epted only fifteen hundred disciples every year.


    But there were at least one hundred thousand contenders for these fifteen hundred spots.


    And this wasn¡¯t even considering that he couldn¡¯t pay for the tuition.


    Basking Moon Academy required an annual tuition fee of three hundred spirit coins.


    Spirit coins were the basic currency used by cultivators. The official exchange rate put the value of one spirit coin as the equivalent of one tael of silver. But in reality, mortals found it very difficult to make this exchange. As a result, there was a private market for spirit coins where their value was three to five times higher.


    This also meant that the initial tuition for Basking Moon Academy cost more than one million yuan, and this was just the tuition. The cost would only rise when all the other expenses were added on. In truth, Basking Moon Academy didn¡¯t actually make money from the tuition, but the same couldn¡¯t be said for all the other expenses. It was rather like the spin-off merchandising industry from his previous life.


    The reason this was the case was that Basking Moon Academy had been founded with the intention of fulfilling the desires of mortals who sought immortality, and was intended to educate everyone regardless of background.


    In the earliest stages, the various major sects had their own ways of assessing foundations and selecting inner sect disciples.


    But the sects quickly realized the many drawbacks of this method.


    Cultivation required a foundation, but not everything relied on the foundation. It was like how someone needed intelligence to reach sess, but they could not rely entirely on their intelligence. There were always a few people with ordinary aptitude who managed to get outstanding grades.


    For those ordinary people who could not get their foot through the door, this served as the best evidence that one¡¯s natural aptitude was a useless measure, and so they were dissatisfied with these selection methods that looked solely at one¡¯s foundation. While the cultivation sects imed that their children were incapable of cultivation, they were really just being conservative and old-fashioned, obstinately clinging to foundations. Since there were people in the world who had seeded in cultivation without good foundations, who could say that they were not one of those people?


    In reality, while people like this did exist, they were so small in number that their methods were not worth imitating.


    But themon people knew nothing, always believing that if others could create miracles, so could they.


    When the Immortals refused them at the gates, they could not help but begin to resent them.


    In order to avoid too many conflicts with the secr world, to maintain their image, and make their countries more governable, the Immortal sects made apromise. These were the Immortal Academies. They announced that anyone could enter these schools to study, and so long as they seeded in their studies, they could enter the sects.


    This method killed four birds with one stone.


    1. It avoided the prejudices of the foolish mortals who believed that the sects were not giving them a chance.


    2. It saved them the effort of assessing the foundations of the disciples. Assessing a disciple¡¯s foundation was not some easy task. It required a senior of the sect and some resources, and little things built up into great expenses.


    3. It provided an extra source of revenue to the sects. The parents of the world were all the same. So that their daughter or son could cultivate, they were willing to offer up all their life savings. They would hate anyone who refused them, grumbling that they weren¡¯t being given a chance. But if they failed to make the grade, their families would me them for being ipetent rather than the sect, and their elders would give up on the idea.


    4. This truly could prevent the sects from missing out on disciples who were astonishingly talented despitecking a good foundation. After all, anyone who could meet the standards of the sect, regardless of the state of their foundation, had some value to the sect.


    But some sects believed that this method had far too much of a secr vor to it. Cultivators were high masters that resided outside the world. They could ept the reverence of themon folk, but how could they imitate them and open up schools?


    If everyone had the chance to cultivate, wouldn¡¯t the cultivators be lowering their status?


    But the facts bore out that only by opening the gates could one gather talented individuals. Those conservatives who kept the gates closed would ultimately drown in the wave of the new era.


    The Basking Moon Sect, Godhead Pce, and the other four sects had been able to be the six strongest sects of the Rosecloud Domain not merely because of their formidable reserves. They had also been the first to change, which had ultimately allowed them to attain their current hegemonic positions. As for those stubbornly conservative sects, their scarcity of disciples ultimately resulted in deficits of manpower, and they gradually declined until they vanished into the river of history.


    But as time went on, Basking Moon Academy gradually changed from a school for all ordinary people into a school dominated by the rich and powerful. It was excruciatingly difficult for poor sons and daughters to get in.


    Of course, there was not just one path to cultivation, but just because it was difficult to get into Basking Moon Academy didn¡¯t mean any of the other paths were easy.


    For example, Tang Jie had been with Xu Muyang for a long time, but he had never been able to learn his Immortal arts. Those Immortal masters who had emerged from their respective sects had basically all sworn oaths that they would not pass down the Immortal arts of their sects to outsiders¡­ When the heavens opened one door to mortals, it often closed another.


    As the best path to cultivation in the Sageheart Kingdom, Basking Moon Academy was the site of the most vehementpetition!


    In short, the poor pursued schrly fields, the rich studied martial arts, and those who sought Immortality suffered poverty for three generations!


    The path of Immortality was difficult, and just the initial studies were enough to make the majority of people despair.


    When it came to money, Tang Jie did have it.


    That Azure Light Sword Xu Muyang had given him was a decent treasure of good value. However, selling the sword was the same as exposing himself, and besides, Xu Muyang had given him this sword, and he was reluctant to sell it. Moreover, even with money, that door was still not open to him.


    Only with nine cycles of his Jade Gate and astonishing talent would he have had a chance at an exceptional admission.


    If he wanted to get into a school, he would have to use other means.


    After spending half a year with Xu Muyang, Tang Jie was no longerpletely unaware of the cultivation world. Thus, beforeing here, he had already developed a full n.


    As he walked down the street, Tang Jie spotted a bustling restaurant frequented by numerous customers. Tang Jie went in, sat at a table, and ordered a few small dishes, after which he began to eat and drink.


    He was in no rush. He slowly ate and drank until the mealtime rush had passed. As the customers dwindled, Tang Jie waved over a waiter. Taking out a few copper coins, he ced them in the waiter¡¯s palm and requested, ¡°Waiter, I have a question I¡¯d like to ask you.¡±


    The waiter¡¯s eyes shed with happiness as he put away the money. ¡°Honored Guest, what do you need?¡±


    ¡°This is my first time at Canglong Prefecture, so I¡¯m not familiar with the situation. I¡¯d like to find someone to ask.¡±


    ¡°What does Honored Guest want to know?¡±


    ¡°A lot, but what I want to know the most is which families have the greatest status in Canglong Prefecture.¡±


    ¡°This is¡­¡± The waiter hesitated.


    Tang Jie chuckled and gave him a few more coins. ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand. Do I look like some bigshot bandit to you?¡±


    The waiter looked at Tang Jie and saw a young boy, not someone particrly wicked. Moreover, true bandits were not likely to use this method of gathering information. His worries ayed, he said, ¡°This Canglong Prefecture has five major ns: the Jins, the Zhangs, the Gus, the Weis, and the Zhous. Each one has an outstanding reputation in Canglong Prefecture, and it could be said that half of the wealth of Canglong Prefecture resides with these five ns.¡±


    ¡°Exin a little more in detail,¡± Tang Jie said as he pointed at the food on the table.


    The waiter saw that there weren¡¯t any other guests around, so he sat down, picked up some chopsticks, and began to eat as he spoke. ¡°If you had to point out the biggest n in Canglong Prefecture, it would be the Jin n. The Jin n got its start with ships, and at present, six out of every ten ships at the pier are owned by the Jin n or under its control. It has ten-some cultivators under its retainer, and that¡¯s what you can call ¡®amazing¡¯. The Zhang n is a n of officials, with its venerable patriarch once serving as the Left Assistant Steward of the Ministry of Personnel! That¡¯s a rank four official, and he has disciples across thend. In Canglong Prefecture alone, there are numerous officials who originated from the Zhang n. The current prefect of Canglong Prefecture even has to visit the Zhang patriarch and wish him a happy birthday every year. They own the mostnd in all of Canglong Prefecture, particrly spirit fields, almost all of which are controlled by the Zhangs.¡±


    The waiter took a few more mouthfuls before continuing, ¡°The Gu n had its start in the underworld. Apparently, they first united Canglong Prefecture¡¯s underworld. The head of the n at the time was supposedly some cultivator who was associated with some sect, but the details aren¡¯t too clear. All I can say is that this is a ruthless bunch of people with the worst of reputations. They primarily operate bodyguard services, gambling houses, pawnshops, and loan houses. Besides that, they also get money from the local gangs, from which they¡¯ve also raised quite a few thugs. The Wei n and Zhou n only started getting big recently. For the most part, they do business on the streets, with quite a few of Canglong Prefecture¡¯s stores belonging to these two ns. The Wei n primarily works in goods, fabric, restaurants, inns, pharmacies, clothing and food stores¡ªthings that themon people buy. The Zhou n works with flowers, jewels, books, and banks, and they usually interact with nobles and officials. Our restaurant was opened by an inw of the Wei n.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Tang Jie pondered all this information and then asked, ¡°If I were to choose a n to side with, which n do you think is better?¡±


    The waiterughed and then gave Tang Jie a profound nce as if he was saying, ¡®I just knew that you were going to ask this.¡¯ He replied, ¡°Joining them isn¡¯t easy. Of these ns, the first three have all existed for more than a hundred years, and even their subordinates are brought up in-house, passed down from generation to generation. The steward¡¯s son bes the steward, the gatekeeper¡¯s son bes the gatekeeper, and so on. They¡¯re all very loyal, and it¡¯s very difficult for outsiders to get in!¡±


    ¡°Then the Weis and Zhous¡­¡±


    ¡°They are recruiting outsiders, but they require people with clean backgrounds.¡±


    ¡°A clean background¡­¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    His own background could not be considered clean.


    After asking the waiter a few more questions and getting a general picture of the situation, Tang Jie left.


    For the next few days, Tang Jie wandered around Canglong Prefecture, strolling around for ten-some days before disappearing again¡­ It was soon winter.


    The winter this year in Canglong Prefecture seemed particrly cold. Overnight, arge nket of snow was dumped on the city.


    As Old Wu got up in the morning, he saw that the street was covered in white, and his own courtyard was thickly carpeted with snow.


    Shaking his head, the old man went out to clear the snow.


    Once he was done, Old Wu massaged his aching back and sighed, ¡°Haaa, I really am getting old and useless. These bones have gotten worse again this year.¡±


    He coughed a little as he spoke.


    An elderly voice said from inside, ¡°Old man, don¡¯t forget to clear the snow in front of the gate.¡±


    ¡°I know, old woman,¡± Old Wu rudely replied.


    As he opened the gate and was about to shovel the snow, he suddenly felt his leg kick against something.


    Looking down, Old Wu paled. ¡°Oh no! Old woman, someone¡­ someone died in front of our gate!¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    A momentter, an olddy ran out of the house and to the gate. Truly, someone was lying down in front of the gate, their body covered in snow. If Old Wu had not identally kicked them, they would have remained undiscovered.


    The olddy hurriedly squatted down and took a closer look. ¡°Oh my god, he¡¯s just a boy! How could he have just died?¡±


    ¡°What a shame!¡± Old Wu sighed.


    He could now clearly see that the one who had died in front of their house was a boy, yet to reach adulthood.


    Suddenly, the body on the ground twitched, causing the two elders to jump in fright. But they quickly came around, and the olddy shouted, ¡°He¡¯s still alive!¡±


    ¡°Hurry! Carry him inside!¡± The elders worked together, lifting the boy up and into their house. While they were both rather old, they had worked for a living and the boy was light, so they managed to do it.


    cing the boy on the bed, Old Wu shouted, ¡°Old woman, hurry up and heat up some ginger soup for him to drink! We can¡¯t get careless!¡±


    The old woman hastily ran off to heat the ginger soup.


    The boy seemed to be more energetic with some ginger soup in his belly, and his eyes slowly opened.


    ¡°Awake! He¡¯s awake!¡± the old woman excitedly shouted.


    The husband and wife sighed in relief. Old Wu nodded his head and smiled. ¡°He¡¯s awake, and that¡¯s all that matters! To think that I, Wu Nanpu, could still save someone in my old age. And in the same way asst time, haha.¡±


    The olddy rolled her eyes at him. ¡°Look at how proud you are. If Xin¡¯er were to ever find out, he¡¯d mock you all day.¡±


    But she was also rejoicing inside.


    The boy woke up, looked around, and seemed to realize something.


    He suddenly sat up and got on his knees. ¡°Elders, thank you for saving this little one¡¯s life! This little one swears to repay your generosity even if my body and bones are shattered!¡±


    ¡°Come on, get up; what¡¯s the point in saying all this?¡± The olddy hastily helped the boy up, and only then did she ask him how he had fallen unconscious outside their gate.


    The boy answered that he had fled from the Wildgrain ins. The Wildgrain ins were overrun by bandits, and it wasmonce for viges to be wiped out. Though the Immortals cleared them out, the bandits were like weeds, returning again and again, only to be wiped out once more.


    This boy had been one of the victims of the Wildgrain ins horse bandits. His family had been ughtered, and he had ultimately fled alone all the way to Canglong Prefecture. But without any food or money, he wandered the streets until he almost froze to death in front of the Wu home.


    The olddy looked at the boy¡¯s weak and thin body and felt pity. ¡°This child has truly been through a lot,ing alone from so far away, only to run into this winter¡¯s first big snow that almost took his life. If we have him leave, with no home to go back to, he really might freeze to death on the streets.¡±


    She turned to Old Wu, and though the old man said nothing, he understood her meaning.


    ¡°This¡­ Xin¡¯er is no longer here, and the home only has the two of us old folks, so it might not be very suitable¡­¡± The old man was hesitant.


    The olddy pped the old man on the head and rebuked, ¡°What are you still thinking about? A little boy alone and impoverished! Are you really just going to watch as he freezes and starves to death on the streets? When you save someone, you save them all the way!¡±


    ¡°But his background isn¡¯t clear¡­¡±


    ¡°¡®His background isn¡¯t clear¡¯? Wu Nanpu, are you from some bigshot n that is worth the attention?¡±


    Old Wu scratched his head. It was true. Though the Wei n steward¡¯s care in thest few years had made their lives much better, in the end, they were just an ordinary family that wasn¡¯t worth anyone¡¯s attention.


    Moreover, he had always been a good person who was praised by everyone, and he certainly couldn¡¯t recall having any enemies.


    With this in mind, he nodded. ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, why don¡¯t you stay with us for a while? As for when you find a job¡­¡±


    He was going to say that once the boy found a job, he could move out. But before he could finish, the boy prostrated on the floor and said, ¡°Elder, thank you for allowing me to stay. This little one was saved by the two of you, so from now on, I will regard you as my father and mother!¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± The old man was dumbfounded, but the olddy was all smiles. Patting the boy on the head, she said, ¡°Good, good! An extra person is just another bowl and another pair of chopsticks, nothing more. Right, child, I still don¡¯t know your name.¡±


    The boy raised his head, revealing his starry eyes. ¡°My name is Tang Jie!¡±

 Chapter 17: Gu Changqing

    An inn in Anyang Prefecture.


    A slender young man in golden fighting clothes with straight eyebrows and bright eyes stood in front of Shi Wunian. He bowed to him and said, ¡°Gu Changqing of the Hawk Hall pays respects to Aspirational Lord! And pays respects to these two True Persons.¡±


    ¡°There is no need for such courtesy.¡± Shi Wunian waved his hand, indicating that the man should sit down. ¡°Thank you foring from so far away.¡±


    ¡°Aspirational Lord, thank you for your concern. Your disciple brought twelve capable men from the Hawk Hall with him and is ready for Aspirational Lord¡¯s orders.¡±


    ¡°On the matter of seeking out the Martial Mirror, I would like to hear your opinion¡­ I presume that you already know about the matter?¡±


    ¡°Yes, this disciple read through all the files on the way here.¡±


    ¡°What is your view?¡±


    ¡°There is no solution to this problem,¡± the young man answered.


    ¡°Mm?¡± Shi Wunian raised an eyebrow.


    This Gu Changqing appeared unafraid, only saying, ¡°With the trouble Xiao Biehan has caused, we have already missed out on the best time to catch that boy. The heavens and earth are vast, the people as vast as the sea. As we did not catch him in thest few months, even if we have a few more years, even decades, we still might not be able to catch him¡­ We¡¯ve never even seen his face before.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t we have the name?¡±


    ¡°In the Sageheart Kingdom, there are thousands of people with the name ¡®Tang Jiye¡¯. Besides that, a name is something that can be changed whenever one pleases. If we rely only on the name, we probably won¡¯t be able to find anything.¡±


    ¡°And the portrait?¡± Xu Ruogu asked.


    ¡°Even more useless,¡± Gu Changqing rudely answered. ¡°Oral descriptions are only useful when the subject in question has obvious physical features. For example, a face with a mole, a bald head, or some other natural trait. But if they¡¯re an ordinary person, a portrait is unable to identify anyone.¡±


    Everyone fell silent. Portraits were already somewhat different from the real person, and when one considered that this portrait was based on oral descriptions, while the result might look simr to Tang Jie, it would be difficult to recognize him unless one had actually met him before.


    Gu Changqing added, ¡°In addition, it is only a boy who is still growing. As a person grows up, their appearance will change. After a year has passed, even someone who was familiar with him might not recognize him in person, let alone from some unreliable portrait. And we aren¡¯t even considering that he might be trying to hide.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean we just have to let him go free?¡± He Chong anxiously asked.


    ¡°Naturally not. I am only saying that pursuing him might not produce a result. I did not say that I could not find him,¡± Gu Changqing indifferently answered.


    ¡°What¡¯s your n? Given what you¡¯ve said,¡± Shi Wunian said.


    Gu Changqing answered, ¡°To catch this boy, we must first understand him. Whileing here, I investigated everything about Xu Muyang and found that he did not know any boy by the name of ¡®Tang Jiye¡¯ before this. True Person Xu should be able to confirm this.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Xu Ruogu answered.


    ¡°Then this means that Xu Muyang got to know this boy after he fled to the Sageheart Kingdom. True Person He, when you were chasing Xu Muyang to the Sageheart Kingdom, did you ever leave Xu Muyang alone for too long?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not,¡± He Chong answered. ¡°I chased him all the way, sporadically battling him, barely leaving his side. At most, we were separated for only a few hours.¡±


    ¡°That means that he got to know this boy after the battle at Jade Orchid Mountain. The house was bought one month after the battle at Jade Orchid Mountain, by which time that Tang Jiye had already made his appearance. Thus, he should have met Tang Jiye during this month. Beforeing here, I ordered the Shadow Hall disciples to investigate Xu Muyang¡¯s movements in the area. They discovered that one month after the battle at Jade Orchid Mountain, several days before Tang Jiye bought the house, bandits massacred the vigers of Little River Vige at the base of Jade Orchid Mountain. The entire poption of the vige was ughtered.¡±


    ¡°You think that Xu Muyang did it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already been to Little River Vige, and someone set up a gravestone there, though, unfortunately, there were no names. I had my men dig up the grave and inspect the corpses, and we confirmed that the wounds inflicted were sword wounds. Some of them had died to a Divine Will attack.¡±


    ¡°As expected!¡± He Chong snorted. ¡°On that day, when I was defeated, I used the Divine God¡¯s Fury to st apart that Eight Gates Heavenseal Formation. Xu Muyang had made that formation in haste, so it wasn¡¯t that effective. Xu Muyang must have been too injured to maintain the formation, so he must have stayed in the area to heal up, onlying out one monthter. This happened to be just in time to run into those bandits ughtering the vigers, so he killed the bandits in turn. This Xu Muyang, even when death was imminent, did not forget his chivalrous nature!¡±


    His voice was dripping with disdain.


    ¡°That sounds right,¡± Gu Changqingmented. ¡°Beforeing, I also had my men investigate the surrounding viges. Some people had rtionships with Little River Vige, and they verified that there truly was a boy with the surname ¡®Tang¡¯ of about twelve years old. s, their rtionships were shallow and theycked detailed information. The entire vige was burned down, so there is no means of getting any more detailed information, but we can be eighty percent sure that this Tang Jiye is thest surviving viger of Little River Vige. After killing the bandits, Xu Muyang took him away.¡±


    ¡°Is there a point in knowing all this?¡± He Chong unhappily said.


    ¡°There is!¡± Gu Changqing answered. ¡°Only by knowing who our target is can we understand him. This boy¡­ is not simple.¡±


    ¡°And why do you say that?¡±


    ¡°Because we couldn¡¯t find him despite mobilizing so many men; because Xu Muyang dared to entrust that item to the boy; because he was able to get Xu Muyang to take him with him!¡± Gu Changqing answered. He turned to Xu Ruogu and asked, ¡°True Person Xu, you are Xu Muyang¡¯s elder brother. In your view, is Xu Muyang the kind of person to entrust a treasure to a person he was not sure about?¡±


    Xu Ruogu shook his head.


    ¡°After killing all the bandits, would he leave with the boy he had saved and even live with that boy for half a year?¡±


    Xu Ruogu continued to shake his head.


    Cultivators lived wandering lives, and their interests came and went. While they would sometimes execute justice in the ce of the heavens, going with someone they had saved was out of the realm of possibility.


    Yet this Tang Jiye had convinced Xu Muyang to take him and even entrust him with the Martial Mirror. It was clear that Xu Muyang had seen something in him.


    Shi Wunian sighed. ¡°It¡¯s no wonder we couldn¡¯t find that boy. In the end, we were deceived by his age.¡±


    A normal boy in dire straits would reveal himself in panic, and Godhead Pce would have had the chance to find him. But since this boy was moving around with a n and this wasn¡¯t their home territory, the task became much more difficult.


    Gu Changqing smiled. ¡°In truth, there are times when it¡¯s good that they¡¯re smart. A smart person has ambition, and ambition means a goal. Since we can¡¯t find him, we might as well try something else.¡±


    ¡°You mean¡­¡±


    ¡°He has the Martial Mirror,¡± Gu Changqing stated. ¡°He definitely knows the use of the Martial Mirror. Aspirational Lord, if a boy has a key to a treasury, what do you think he will do with it?¡±


    Shi Wunian¡¯s eyes gleamed. ¡°Do you even need to ask? He¡¯ll naturally look for an opportunity to open the treasury.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± He Chong pped his hand. ¡°We just need to send people to keep a watch on the formation and he¡¯ll eventually deliver himself to our doorstep!¡±


    But his words caused Shi Wunian and Xu Ruogu to nce at him in contempt while silently cursing his idiocy.


    The Nine Executions Immortal Formation was an ancient formation. Besides knowledge of formations, one¡¯s cultivation was also crucial. Even with the Martial Mirror, Tang Jie was incapable of opening the formation.


    If they really chose to camp out in front of the formation, there was no telling how many years they would have to wait. Perhaps after one hundred years, that boy might have be a corpse already and still not have made it to the Celestial Mountains, and the Martial Mirror would end up buried deep in the earth.


    Gu Changqing asked, ¡°Thus, let me ask a question of True Person Xu. Do you think that Xu Muyang would have passed on the cultivation mantras of the Xu n to that boy?¡±


    ¡°Impossible!¡± Xu Ruogu firmly dered. ¡°The Xu n¡¯s cultivation methods can only be passed to those of the bloodline, not to outsiders. This is the foundation of the n, and he would never have broken this rule.¡±


    If Xu Muyang had been a traitor to the n, Xu Ruogu would have never dared to be so certain. But Xu Muyang had been thinking about protecting the Xu n before his death, so he could have never done such a thing.


    ¡°Did he have any other cultivation method?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Xu Ruogu replied. ¡°My third brother was obsessed with the Dao of Formations, so he did not understand the cultivation methods of other sects. He Chong should be able to verify this.¡±


    He Chong nodded. ¡°I fought with him for two months, and Xu Muyang used every trick at his disposal. I did not see him use any techniques outside of the Xu n¡¯s, so he probably could not use any.¡±


    ¡°Then that means that Tang Jiye most likely cannot use any cultivation methods, except¡­¡± Shi Wunian recalled the Visceral Manifestation ssic, but considering that Xu Ruogu was present, he did not say its name.


    Gu Changqing said, ¡°The Visceral Manifestation ssic is only a foundational cultivation technique and is not a cultivation method of the Spirit tform Realm, so it does not count.¡±


    He Chong red at Gu Changqing for revealing the name of the Visceral Manifestation ssic, but Gu Changqing simply chuckled. ¡°Who still can¡¯t guess at what¡¯s going on by now? But without knowing the specific value or location of the treasure, there¡¯s no way of knowing whether it is worth risking one¡¯s life for. The Visceral Manifestation ssic was the work of that august figure, but so long as its maker remains unknown, you can spread this name across the world without anyone caring. In truth, it¡¯s fine to speak openly. If you can¡¯t keep it hidden, it would be better to just stop hiding it. Just tell them that it¡¯s a treasury left by an Earth Immortal of the Immortal tform Realm located in our Nadir Hill.¡±


    Shi Wunian nodded repeatedly. ¡°Not bad.¡±


    Since they couldn¡¯t prevent this news from leaking, they might as well lower its value.


    While the Immortal tform Realm was impressive, the various sects all hadparable existences. The relics of an Immortal tform Realm Earth Immortal was worth Shi Wunian making the journey, but it wasn¡¯t worth the all-out effort from the six major sects.


    ¡°But if we continue to pursue the issue, they might not believe us,¡± Xu Ruogu hesitantly said.


    ¡°Thus, for now, I must have Aspirational Lord return,¡± Gu Changqing said. ¡°If Aspirational Lord remains here, you will only increase the perceived importance of this affair and draw the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s attention. Your visit could be exined as a means of preserving Godhead Pce¡¯s dignity, but if you stay any longer, it means that this matter is one of grave importance.¡±


    ¡°Then what about the Martial Mirror?¡± He Chong frowned.


    ¡°While the Martial Mirror is important, it is in the hands of a mortal boy. The true difficulty is in finding the person, not taking the item. A strong man could easily deal with the target, and there is no need for Aspirational Lord or these two True Persons to remain.¡±


    ¡°It makes sense.¡± Shi Wunian nodded. ¡°Since that is the case, we will return to Godhead Pce tomorrow. Hunting Eagle, remain here and continue the search. But what does it matter that the boy doesn¡¯t know how to cultivate?¡±


    Gu Changqing answered, ¡°One must cultivate in order to unlock the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. Since Tang Jiye failed to obtain the Xu n¡¯s arts and the Visceral Manifestation ssic is not enough to let him officially cultivate, then his next step¡­¡±


    Shi Wunian understood. ¡°Basking Moon Academy! He¡¯ll definitely try to get into Basking Moon Academy! No wonder he went north!¡±


    ¡°True! So long as we have people watch the academy, we¡¯ll catch him eventually. It¡¯s much better than keeping watch in the mountains,¡± He Chong excitedly said.


    ¡°But Basking Moon Academy is not easy to get into,¡± Xu Ruogu said.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Gu Changqing sighed. ¡°Fortunately, this boy doesn¡¯t seem stupid. I can only hope that he¡¯s very smart, so smart that he can ovee all the barriers before him and enter the academy.¡±


    ¡°Basking Moon Academy only epts students up until the age of sixteen. This year¡¯s chance has already passed, so he still has three years to attempt it,¡± Xu Ruogu said.


    ¡°Three years! Still another three years,¡± Shi Wunian and He Chong helplessly said in unison.


    Gu Changqing indifferently said, ¡°For the sake of Godhead Pce¡¯s eternal foundation, even waiting one hundred years would be fine! Patience is the treasure that leads to sess, whereas ack of patience means that nothing will get done. Moreover, waiting at Basking Moon Academy will always be better than waiting by the formation. Of course, this disciple will do his utmost to find this boy, but our clues are limited, so the hope is minuscule.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s all that can be done.¡± Shi Wunian nodded. ¡°As for the Nine Executions Formation, Godhead Pce will dispatch people to keep a watch on it throughout the year so that this kid doesn¡¯t get a single chance. We also have to keep an eye on the smaller sects.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Gu Changqing answered. ¡°But I feel that he will most likely choose Basking Moon Academy. With the Martial Mirror in hand, he would be wasting it if he did not apply his efforts on the proper path. To make the search easier, your disciple also wishes to ce several subordinates in Basking Moon Academy.¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Shi Wunian frowned. ¡°Basking Moon Academy ces a lot of emphasis on a clean background. Our disciples here might not be able to pass their checks.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not necessary,¡± Gu Changqing replied. ¡°Just have them enter the academy in the name of Godhead Pce.¡±


    ¡°How could they agree to that?¡±


    ¡°They will. The Basking Moon Sect is worried about its secret arts getting out, but what we want is a person. We can go without the Violet Jade Mantra, and there is no need for us to learn the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, so we can simply have them take unimportant sses and even be watched. If the Basking Moon Sect is willing, we can also have them send disciples to our Godhead Pce Academy to study, where we will treat them as honored guests. While we might suffer a little loss, if we give them good conditions, they should agree.¡±


    He Chong grunted.


    Gu Changqing¡¯s words sounded nice, but in the end, he was thinking about himself. It seemed that he was intending to use Godhead Pce¡¯s resources to train his subordinates.


    Learning first-ss arts was never easy. Besides exceptional talent, one also needed achievements and loyalty. For most disciples, let alone divine-rank arts, the ordinary arts were more than enough to greatly boost their strength.


    Moreover, if these few people learned the arts of the Basking Moon Sect, even if they were not powerful arts, they would still have unique value to Godhead Pce in the future. Their status would not becking and there would not be any need to worry about resources. In the future, there was an extremely high chance that they could be True Persons or True Lords. As these people would all have been selected by Gu Changqing, they would naturally be grateful to him, and so Gu Changqing¡¯s power and status would rise. He had truly given a lot of thought to this n.


    However, Gu Changqing¡¯s meticulous n needed Godhead Pce¡¯s approval.


    And all of this was dependent on Gu Changqing getting back the Martial Mirror. If he failed¡­ <em>Haha,</em> He Chong mentally sneered. <em>You¡¯ll have to spit back out everything you ate!</em>


    He had no grudges with Gu Changqing, but he had lost Xu Muyang, causing his status in Godhead Pce to fall. Thus, he naturally felt unhappy when he saw others performing well and hoped that they would fail.


    ¡°Makes sense!¡± Shi Wunian had already stood up. ¡°I will report this to the Pce Lord once I return. Starting from now, this ce is under your supervision!¡±


    ¡°Yes! This disciple will not return to the pce without the Martial Mirror!¡± Gu Changqing prostrated in delight.

 Chapter 18: Steward Qin

    Before daybreak, Tang Jie would rise to sweep the courtyard.


    There was a rustling sound as Tang Jie waved the broom again and again across the ground. Spiritual energy traveled through every meridian of his body before ultimately dispersing into nothing.


    But with eachplete cycle, a sliver of spiritual energy would merge with his veins, causing his strength to swell.


    This was something Tang Jie had discovered when breaking free of the restraints Xu Muyang had ced on him. He discovered that cultivating the Visceral Manifestation ssic could not only use spiritual energy to expand the meridians, but also merge spiritual energy into the blood and increase one¡¯s strength.


    Refining the blood, bones, and viscera with spiritual energy was something that only someone at the Mortal Shedding Realm could do, and it was precisely why this realm was called ¡®Mortal Shedding¡¯, because one could shed one¡¯s mortal constitution. But the Visceral Manifestation ssic could refine the body while one was still at the initial stage of the Spirit tform Realm. This was a pleasant surprise for Tang Jie.


    At that time, he realized that this was probably the true hidden purpose of the Visceral Manifestation ssic.


    Xu Muyang had always believed that the Visceral Manifestation ssic, as a product of the Martial Lord, had to have more of an effect than just helping one break through the Jade Gate, and it now seemed that he was correct. However, he had mistakenly believed that the Visceral Manifestation ssic was meant to help one to achieve nine cycles of the Jade Gate, when it was actually for refining one¡¯s body early.


    It was hard to me Xu Muyang for not thinking about this possibility.


    Immortals derived their power from spell arts, and the Jade Gate was most important, as it would directly determine one¡¯s cultivation speed. No one would have expected the Visceral Manifestation ssic to delve down another path. As for why it was like this, Tang Jie knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to find the answer until he opened the Martial Lord¡¯s treasury.


    As he cleaned the courtyard and cultivated the Visceral Manifestation ssic once more, he felt his body growing stronger. Though he was just a teenager, he had about the same strength as an adult, and he delighted in this fact.


    The door creaked, and Granny Wu came out. When she saw that Tang Jie had already cleaned up the courtyard, she smiled and said, ¡°Boy, you got up early again.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled back. ¡°When I was unconscious, the two elders saved me, and even the sacrifice of my life would not be enough to repay this kindness, so what does cleaning the courtyard matter? Grandmother, please go back and rest. I¡¯ll start boiling the water in the kitchen.¡±


    ¡°Aiyah, there¡¯s no need. Once you got here, the two of us were left with nothing to do, with you doing everything,¡± the old woman helplessly said. ¡°I don¡¯t even have a ce to stretch my old bones.¡±


    ¡°Then let me massage your back!¡± Tang Jie walked over with a smile. He helped the old woman sit down and then began to attentively massage her back.


    Having learned massage from his father from hisst life, he worked like a professional, his hands carrying just the right amount of force. The old woman was asfortable as could be.


    When Old Wu came out and saw what was going on, he couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°You really know how to enjoy yourself. Why, you¡¯ve practically be Old Lady Wei.¡±


    Granny Wu rolled her eyes at her husband andughed. ¡°Look at this. Not even Old Lady Wei is asfortable as me. Little Jie¡¯s hands! They¡¯re truly exquisite! My entire body is rxed, and I feel like I¡¯ve gotten younger by a few years. Though I¡¯ve been married to you for so long, I¡¯ve never enjoyed something like this. Ah, I suppose this life was worth it now.¡±


    ¡°Since Grandmother likes this, Little Jie will give you a massage every day from now on!¡± Tang Jie said.


    ¡°Alright!¡± Granny Wu immediately agreed.


    Tang Jie was very good at conducting himself. In his few days here, he had thoroughly cleaned the house without asking for a single coin, only requiring three meals a day and a ce to sleep. No servant came this cheaply, so how could the old granny not enjoy this treatment?


    In truth, it was very simple to get into someone¡¯s good graces. Someone who knew how to talk, conduct oneself, and work, so long as they did these things well, would naturally earn favor.


    The Wu couple had seen little of the wider world, and since Tang Jie could garner Xu Muyang¡¯s favor, it would be a simple task to get the favor of the old couple. He served the two elders until they felt like they were in paradise. Moreover, as they were alone, their children having left the house, Tang Jie¡¯spanionship caused them to like him more and more, and they truly began to treat him like a child of the house.


    ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, you can just stay here from now on. You don¡¯t need to go anywhere else,¡± Granny Wu said with a heartyugh.


    ¡°That won¡¯t do. Grandmother, I still have to go out and work. I can¡¯t rely on my two elders for my food and drink for the rest of my life, can I?¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°You¡¯re still young. There¡¯s no need to be in such a rush.¡±


    ¡°Grandmother, don¡¯t just look at my age. I¡¯m rather strong and can do all the work an adult can do. Besides, the two of you saved my life and let me stay. It¡¯s only right that I serve you. How could I eat and drink for free?¡±


    After some thought, Old Wu nodded. ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±


    Granny Wu red. ¡°Old man, what are you saying? Are you really going to let Little Jie go out? Do you really think we can¡¯t raise a single child?¡±


    ¡°Haaa, you can¡¯t say it like that,¡± Old Wu said, waving his hand. ¡°The child of a poor home starts managing the household early. If not for Tang Jie¡¯s troubles, he might not have be so clever and intelligent. I think having him go out to work will be good for him. If you think it¡¯s too much, you can just not take his money and let him save it up so that he can use it to get a good wife.¡±


    Granny Wu found that this argument made sense, and dropped her head to think. ¡°I suppose it¡¯s fine, but since you want this, old man, you¡¯re the one responsible. Find Little Jie a good job.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± Old Wu was dumbfounded. With a bitter smile, he said, ¡°Where am I going to find him a job? And besides, it depends on what he can do.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s massaging hands began to move slower, and he dropped his head as he answered, ¡°Grandpa, I was born in a poor family, and I don¡¯t know how to do anything besides nt crops.¡±


    ¡°Nothing at all?¡± The look on Old Wu¡¯s face immediately crumbled. ¡°That makes things hard. You¡¯ve never had another job before?¡±


    ¡°I have, actually,¡± Tang Jie said. ¡°For a time, I was a page for a family there. The people rather liked me and treated me well. But then the bandits came¡­¡±


    He stopped, a faint sob to his voice.


    The two elders understood and sighed.


    Granny Wu eximed, ¡°Aiyah, let¡¯s not talk about such sad things. It¡¯s no wonder Little Jie is so good at cleaning the house. It felt like you worked for some big family before. Right, old man!¡±


    Granny Wu suddenly shouted, ¡°Why not ask Steward Qin? Maybe he can get a job for Little Jie in the Wei Estate.¡±


    Old Wu immediately frowned. ¡°This¡­ Doesn¡¯t it seem improper?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s improper about it?¡± Granny Wu shouted back. ¡°You saved Steward Qin¡¯s life. That winter day, wasn¡¯t he just like Little Jie, almost freezing to death at our doorstep? Really, it¡¯s quite the coincidence. I didn¡¯t think that, after twenty years, Little Jie would end up in the same way. Qin Yuan is now the chief steward of the Wei n and has treated us well. If you go and talk to him, I¡¯m sure it will work out!¡±


    ¡°But the Wei n doesn¡¯t take people of unclear backgrounds, and not even Steward Qin might be able to change that.¡±


    ¡°What unclear background?¡± Granny Wu said, her eyes ring. ¡°Little Jie is a part of our family. He¡¯s¡­ he¡¯s¡­ he¡¯s my stepson. Am I, Wu Yu Hehua, still someone of an unclear background? If that¡¯s still not enough, just say that he¡¯s your love child that you had with someone else!¡±


    Old Wu instantly blushed. ¡°What are you saying!? I¡¯m fifty and six years old, so how could I have fathered a twelve-year-old love child? If these words of yours get out, how am I going to walk around the neighborhood? Really¡­ really¡­¡±


    Granny Wu pursed her lips. ¡°Xin¡¯er is only seventeen this year, and isn¡¯t he also a son you had in your old age?¡±


    ¡°How could that be the same? I was still forty, still had¡­ still had¡­ had a little more strength.¡± Old Wu took quite a while to squeeze out thosest words.


    ¡°Little Jie isn¡¯t that much younger than Xin¡¯er.¡±


    ¡°Stop making trouble!¡± Old Wu was so angered by his wife¡¯s words that he iled his hands around.


    Tang Jie smiled at the bickering, but a momentter, he dropped to his knees in front of Granny Wu and shouted, ¡°Tang Jie is willing to treat my two elders as my adopted father and mother, and requests my elders to ept me. From now on, I will do my utmost as your son to fulfill my filial duty!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still this boy that knows how to talk.¡± Granny Wu smiled as she helped Tang Jie up. ¡°Haa, good child, since you¡¯ve already kneeled, it would be rude of me to refuse. Hurry and stand.¡±


    She then turned to her husband. ¡°What? Still not happy? It seems to me that you¡¯re blessed to have Little Jie as your adopted son!¡±


    ¡°This¡­ this¡­¡± Old Wu shook his head. In the end, he couldn¡¯t ovee his wife and finally nodded. ¡°Fine, fine, I agree as well.¡±


    He found the fact that he was adopting a son in his old age rather interesting, and couldn¡¯t help but chuckle.


    ¡°Then why haven¡¯t you gone to invite Steward Qin toe over for a visit?¡±


    ¡°I will invite him in time, but you can¡¯t rush this matter. Tang Jie has only been at our house for a few days, and he needs to stay here for a while. Once everyone in the neighborhood knows his background, we can invite him over. Otherwise, when Steward Qin questions us about this child, we won¡¯t be able to say anything. How could he rmend him then?¡±


    Secretly, Old Wu also felt like he needed to see this boy¡¯s character. One or two days wasn¡¯t enough for this. A long period of time was necessary to achieve understanding.


    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Granny Wu muttered as she looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m in no rush, so long as my elders don¡¯t mind me eating for free.¡±


    ¡°Goodness, how could we mind? And aren¡¯t you doing a lot of work already? You should get yourself ustomed to this ce. Besides, your adopted father is here for you, so you don¡¯t need to worry about anything.¡±


    ¡°Yes, adopted mother!¡±


    With this, Tang Jie formally began to reside with the Wu family.


    Time flew by, and several months went by in the blink of an eye. As winter passed and spring arrived, another year began.


    It had been almost a year since his first meeting with Xu Muyang.


    In this year, Tang Jie had clearly grown taller. His meridians had finished expanding, and even his veins were brimming with spiritual energy. But it seemed like the Visceral Manifestation ssic wasn¡¯t done yet, and it had automatically moved on to his bones and organs, making his entire body stronger and stronger. On the surface, however, he remained an ordinary youth. No one could tell that this youth¡¯s body contained enough strength to easily topple three or five strong men.


    At the same time, Tang Jie had gradually grown familiar with the surrounding neighborhood. There was no one on Big Willow Street who didn¡¯t know that the Wu family had saved a boy in the winter and had taken him as their adopted son. Though he wasn¡¯t old, he was extremely smart and clever. From time to time, he would help his neighbors with a few jobs, and he was also rather handsome, drawing the admiration of quite a few of the local girls.


    In celebration of the new year, Steward Qin paid a visit to the Wu family, bringing gifts with him. Tang Jie was fortunate enough to get a look at him. He was a middle-aged man in his forties, appearing very mature andposed.


    In the past, this Steward Qin had almost frozen to death in front of the Wu home. Fortunately, the two elders had given him a bowl of warm porridge and saved his life. Surprisingly, a few years ago, he had suddenly made it big. Following the master of the Wei n, he had be the Wei n¡¯s chief steward. Of course, he had not forgotten the kindness that had been shown to him. Every year, he would pay a visit during the new year festivities and deliver gifts of some silver taels.


    Old Wu¡¯s son, Wu Xin, had benefited from Steward Qin and had entered the Wei Estate a few years ago for work. Later on, as a servant student, he had gone with the Wei n¡¯s First Young Master to Basking Moon Academy. All of a sudden, Old Wu had a cultivator for a son, and his status soared. Though he had yet to finish his studies, even a Spirit Disciple would be enough for Old Wu to not worry about food or drink for the rest of his days, and no one would dare to cause him trouble. It was also for this reason that Steward Qin became even more diligent.


    Today, Steward Qin had once moree to visit the Wu couple. Old Wu had Tang Jie prepare wine and meat, and then they ate together at the table.


    As they were eating, Granny Wu shot her husband a nce, but Old Wu buried himself in his food and pretended not to see.


    Seeing this, Steward Qinughed. ¡°My elders, you must have something to discuss, yes? It¡¯s been so many years, so why the need to hide things from each other? Please, say whatever it is. If it is within my power, I would not dare to refuse.¡±


    Angrily ring at her husband, Granny Wu said, ¡°This man has always been like that, never willing to ask something of others. Even now, he still feels embarrassed for asking your help to rmend Xin¡¯er.¡±


    ¡°Just a minor matter hardly worth worrying about,¡± Steward Qin said with a smile. ¡°Brother Xin has not let the two of you down. He¡¯s be a study partner, and I¡¯m even hoping to rely a little on Brother Xin¡¯s shine in the future.¡±


    ¡°Of course, of course. If he dares to not look after you, I¡¯ll have his hide. Even if he bes an Immortal, he¡¯s still my son, the flesh that dropped out of my belly!¡± Granny Wu happily said. She then grabbed Tang Jie and said, ¡°You know my family¡¯s Little Jie. Some months ago, we picked him up out of the snow. Now that I think about it, it was just like you.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Steward Qin¡¯s eyes reddened at the mention of the past. He felt some sympathy for this boy that had shared his plight.


    Granny Wu saw that there was an opening and hastily said, ¡°But while this boy has had it hard, he¡¯s very clever. He¡¯s been cleaning up the house and has done a fine job of it, as you¡¯ve seen. He worked in a big family before, but that family encountered disaster, resulting in his dire circumstances. You see¡­¡±


    ¡°You wish me to bring him into the Wei Estate?¡± Steward Qin understood the old woman¡¯s intentions.


    ¡°Yes!¡± The old woman didn¡¯t hide it, bluntly asking, ¡°Do you think you can do it?¡±


    After some thought, Steward Qin answered, ¡°Normally, I could, but he¡¯s been here for too little time, and I don¡¯t understand him enough. Moreover, there are no vacancies in the Wei Estate at this time.¡±


    The old woman¡¯s expression fell.


    Steward Qin added, ¡°But this boy is smart and clever, I can tell. It seems like today¡¯s food was all made by him as well, yes?¡±


    ¡°Yes. When he learned that you wereing, Little Jie busied himself the entire day.¡±


    Steward Qin smiled and looked at Tang Jie. ¡°I can understand wanting to get into the Wei n. But you should know that it is not easy to get in. Tell me: for what purpose do you want to get into the Wei n?¡±


    After some thought, Tang Jie answered, ¡°I want to enter the Wei Estate to make some money to support my two elders. They saved me, so I want to return their kindness. In addition, I am envious of Brother Wu Xing for being able to go with First Young Master Wei to Basking Moon Academy. If possible, I hope to be able to also get there through my own efforts¡­¡±


    Steward Qin nodded. ¡°Very good. You didn¡¯t lie.¡±


    The world had never been fair.


    Basking Moon Academy had only 1500 open spots every year, and countless people tried to squeeze their way in.


    But for ordinary families, this was harder than ascending to the heavens. For the rich and noble ns, this was an extremely simple affair. Some of the big ns could easily get a few spots, and the extra spots would be given to the servants.


    This was because all the major sects had a rule that students could not bring their servants to the academy. Thus, to ensure that their children were not wrongly treated, these powerful ns would think of apromise. For example, they would send servants in as students. On the surface, they were students, but they were really servants and study partners.


    Of course, they were not merely there to serve. The servants obtained the opportunity to cultivate because of these ns, and they were certain to be grateful for this chance. If they achieved anything in the future, they would often choose to continue to serve the n.


    The Jin n retained ten-some cultivators, and more than half hade in this way. These people were more loyal than outside hires, and it could be said that they prospered together with the n.


    As Ling Province had a high economic status and paid a lot of tribute to the Basking Moon Sect, it had 120 spots at Basking Moon Academy every year. Of these 120 spots, 40 were for Canglong Prefecture.


    These forty spots were normally first divided between the five great ns, with the remainder to be fought over by outsiders.


    The Wei n was allotted one spot a year, and it umted other spots through mutual trades. Through this method, it could build up a lot of spots, which it would normally use to send off one son of the main branch and two to three servants.


    Thus, bing a servant of a great n could be considered a chance to ascend to the heavens in a single step.


    This was also why Tang Jie had wracked his mind to think of a way to get into the Wei n.


    The older son of the Wei n had sessfully entered the academy, but it was said that he was making poor progress and had little chance of getting into the Mortal Shedding Realm, meaning that he couldn¡¯t graduate and would remain a Spirit Disciple for the rest of his life.


    Though Spirit Disciples were cultivators and could use spells and arts, they still had mortal bodies, of limited lifespan and ability.


    The Wei n needed to ensure the longevity of the n, so it needed a true cultivator of its own, at least of the Spirit Master level. Thus, it ced its hopes on the younger son. If he couldn¡¯t do it, then hopefully his study partner could, as he would be like an unofficial member of the n. Normally, the n would try to make marriage connections with such individuals.


    As a result, while the status of servants might be low, once they became a study partner, the n would treat them rather well so as to gain their favor.


    The younger son, Wei Tianchong, was eleven this year. In a few more years, he could enter the academy.


    This was Tang Jie¡¯s chance to enter Basking Moon Academy, his only chance!


    But this was no secret. Many people knew about it.


    This was also why it was never hard for great ns to hire servants, particrly those of Tang Jie¡¯s age, who were anxious to enter the academy. Every year, countless people would try to bribe their connections to get into the n, with some going to such extreme lengths as to forsake any pay, seeking only a chance.


    Thus, getting into the Wei n was extremely difficult. Besides a clean background, one also needed connections. And it was no secret why everyone wanted to get into the Wei n. Tang Jie had no need to hide it, much less the ability.


    As for whether or not he could stand out and get selected as an attendant once he got in, that would depend on his own ability.


    For Tang Jie, while it wasn¡¯t easy to get selected amid all the other servants, it was much easier thanpeting with a hundred thousand others.


    After all, he had the experience of an adult. If he couldn¡¯t beat a bunch of children, then he had no hope of cultivating to be an Immortal.


    Hearing Tang Jie¡¯s answer, Steward Qin nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, I will take note of this matter. Currently, the Wei Estate does not have any open spots, so you will have to wait. When the opportunityes, I will rmend you. Getting in will depend on your own ability.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Chief Steward Qin!¡± Tang Jie excitedly prostrated on the ground.


    With Qin Yuan¡¯s rmendation, he had a chance.


    Tang Jie had a long road in front of him, but at the very least, he could see the gleam of daybreak on the horizon.

 Chapter 19: Entering the Estate

    It turned out that when Qin Yuan said ¡®wait¡¯, Tang Jie would end up waiting for several months.


    It was the sixth month when Steward Qin finally came with the good news: there was a vacancy.


    A few days ago, the fellow responsible for caring for the gardens of the Wei n hade down with a sudden illness and died, and this vacancy needed to be filled. When the news got out, the stewards of the Wei n all rmended candidates. Steward Qin had rmended Tang Jie.


    The next morning, Steward Qin brought Tang Jie to the Wei Estate.


    As one of the five great ns of Canglong Prefecture, the Wei n¡¯s estate was extraordinary.


    The estate on its own took up more than half of Azure Cloud Street. It had more than four hundred rooms and six gardens, and it served as the residence for nearly three hundred people.


    The ones in the Wei n with the greatest seniority were naturally Venerable Master Wei and his wife, Venerable Lady Wei.


    This couple had produced two sons and two daughters, all of whom were already married.


    The eldest son, Wei Danbai, was the current patriarch of the Wei n. He had one wife and two concubines. His principal wife, Wei Shufeng, n¨¦e Zheng, had given birth to two sons and a daughter. Her eldest son, Wei Tianzhi, was currently attending Basking Moon Academy. The secondborn, her daughter Wei Qing¡¯er, had gone to Illusory Heart Academy of the Thousand Passions Sect. Her youngest son was Wei Tianchong. There was also one son and one daughter who were born from concubines. They had no right of inheritance and no chance at entering an academy. In some aspects, they were worse off than the servants.


    The names ¡®Tianzhi¡¯ (Aspiring to Heaven) and ¡®Tianchong¡¯ (Charging at Heaven) indicated the Wei n¡¯s aspirations: ascending to the heavens.


    When Wei Danbai had his first son, the Wei n was flourishing in Canglong Prefecture, so he had stopped thinking about how to make money and instead thought about how to cultivate and attain the Dao.


    s, their foundations were still shallow, and the n still could not im to have a cultivator that was truly its own, only Spirit Masters it had employed at heavy price¡ªfar inferior to the Jins, Zhangs, and Gus. So long as the Wei n could produce a Spirit Master, its prosperity would be ensured for a hundred years. If it produced a Celestial Heart Realm expert, then the Wei n would no longer be ¡®the Canglong Prefecture Weis¡¯, but ¡®the Ling Province Weis¡¯.


    As for the kingdom-level ns, that required many Celestial Heart Realm experts, and the n would need its own legacy that could be passed down.


    Putting aside Wei Danbai, the Venerable Master¡¯s second son, Wei Qingsong, also had a son and daughter. The elder son was called ¡®Wei Ming¡¯, and the younger daughter was called ¡®Wei Die¡¯.


    Wei Ming had entered the academyst year, but just like Wei Tianzhi, he had a low aptitude, having opened few gates, and cultivation was proving difficult. Wei Qingsong could not afford to give as many resources to his son as Wei Danbai could to his, so the Venerable Master had not had much hope in that line. Thus, the Wei n¡¯s hopes primarily rested on Wei Tianchong.


    The Wei n valued men over women, and there was little drive to have its daughters cultivate¡ªafter all, there was no reason to waste precious resources on another n¡¯s daughter-inw.


    This was also why there were few women in the cultivation world. It wasn¡¯t that theycked aptitude, but their ns were far more willing to support the boys. It was said that Wei Qing¡¯er had possessed incredible talent and had been picked out by the Thousand Passions Sect. Otherwise, she probably would have still been in the n, waiting to be married off.


    The Wei household consisted of several hundred people, and one could say that all of them were there to serve at the behest of the Wei n¡¯s members. The gardener position that Tang Jie was applying for managed the Meditation Garden, which was where the younger son, Wei Tianchong, resided.


    It was for this reason that thepetition for this position was particrly fierce.


    Chief Steward Qin Yuan had brought Tang Jie, and the second steward and third steward had brought their own candidates. Besides that, a few outer house stewards of the Wei n had rmended their own candidates. There were eighteen boys in total, and at this time, they were standing in front of thedy of the Wei Estate, Zheng Shufeng. All of them bowed and greeted her together.


    At least this era was not as repulsive as the Qing Dynasty, where the servants needed to call themselves ¡®ves¡¯ and needed to prostrate upon seeing any member of the household.


    In truth, this era was moreparable to the Earth¡¯s Tang Dynasty. The mood was more open, and while there was still some semnce of hierarchy, at least servants were not untouchables and had their own dignity.


    After all, a world in which one could cultivate was one bursting with opportunity. Even the poorest person had a chance to soar into the heavens.


    As she was selecting a servant for her son, Lady Wei was treating this asion with great solemnity and hade to make the choice herself.


    She was seated in front of the hall, wearing a dress of red satin depicting butterflies among the flowers. A hairpin of green jade beads was thrust into her hair, and behind her, two maids lightly fanned her.


    She took a sip of tea, and then slowly said, ¡°First, step up and state your names.¡±


    The eighteen boys began to say their names while the secretary on the side wrote them down.


    Thedy then said, ¡°If you can read, raise your hand.¡±


    All eighteen boys raised their hand, and the secretary thus made a check next to all their names, indicating that they had all passed this trial.


    In truth, for the most part, the boys of poor families in Canglong Prefecture did not know how to read.


    But these people were mostly rmended by elders in the estate, and they understood the estate¡¯s standards.They would never pick anyone that could not pass the grade.


    Even Tang Jie had had to go through several rounds of questioning from Qin Yuan before the steward had confirmed that he met the standards.


    Tang Jie had begun to read in Little River Vige. He already had an excellent educational foundation and learned very quickly. In his time with Xu Muyang, whenever he was free, he would practice his calligraphy.


    Xu Muyang had fretted that if he couldn¡¯t even write well, how could he draw talismans?


    He had originally believed that a few of the eighteen might not know how to read, but surprisingly, they all met that standard.


    Thedy then said, ¡°If you know arithmetic, raise your hand.¡±


    This time, a few people did not raise their hands, but a majority of them still did.


    Lady Wei said, ¡°If you have worked in a wealthy or major n before, raise your hand.¡±


    Even fewer raised their hand this time, only Tang Jie and two other boys.


    Lady Wei questioned the three of them on their experience. Tang Jie had already fabricated his experience back with the Wu couple, and after half a year of perfecting this lie, he had a firm grasp of the details.


    Once she was done, Lady Wei asked, ¡°What flowers have you nted before? Let me hear it.¡±


    She got silence in answer.


    The Wei n cared little about ordinary flowers, so there was no point in bringing them up. As for those rare and precious flowers, impoverished boys were not worthy to touch them.


    They all looked at each other, and when they saw that none of them were raising their hands, they collectively sighed in relief.


    But after some thought, Tang Jie raised his hand and said, ¡°This little one has cared for the thousand-cup flower before.¡±


    The other boys instantly paled.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Lady Wei appeared interested. ¡°Speak¡ªtell me about this flower.¡±


    Tang Jieposed himself and answered, ¡°The thousand-cup flower is a needle-type flower, its roots, stem, and leaves all bearing thorns. It is an extremely drought-resistant nt, and its stem can be used in medicine. If it can be raised for ten years, it can gain some spirituality. As it has many needle-like leaves, when the flower blooms, it appears like a thousand flowers blooming at once. Thus, it is called ¡®the thousand-cup flower¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Good, very good!¡± Lady Wei nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Did you learn this while at the previous family you worked for?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°The thousand-cup flower does not like humid environments, so while it is not rare in houses of the north, it is seen much less often in Canglong Prefecture.¡±


    In truth, when he had bought the house, the previous owner had left this flower behind.


    Tang Jie had heard that the thousand-cup flower was beautiful when it bloomed, so he had taken care of it. s, after half a year, the flower had not bloomed. He had not expected to use the information he had learned back then to answer this question.


    The Wei n¡¯s gardens couldn¡¯t have just this one flower, but knowing one was better than knowing none.


    ¡°Correct. For this reason, you must look after it with even greater care.¡± Thedy smiled and then turned to the other boys. ¡°You are not to be med for having never taken care of any valuable flowers before. If the Wei n did not nt flowers different from those of ordinary households, we would be lowering our status. Thus, there is no need for any of you to worry. If you do not know, you can learn. The Wei n has people who can teach you.¡±


    Everyone sighed in relief at these words.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but feel that this was unfortunate. Though he had not hoped to get selected purely because of this point, it was still a pity that this small point of advantage was not ying much of a role.


    Thedy had a good personality, asking question after question. It appeared that she wanted to thoroughly understand these boys.


    In terms of performance, none of the other boys couldpare to Tang Jie.


    But Tang Jie knew that his greatest problem was his background.


    Though he had the guarantees of the Wu couple, he still couldn¡¯tpare to these local boys whose backgrounds were there for everyone to see.


    Fortunately, he had a n for this. Rather than worried that thedy would be too focused on this subject, he was worried that she wouldn¡¯t be focused enough.


    After asking a battery of questions, thedy finally asked, ¡°If you entered the Wei n, how much pay would you find appropriate?¡±


    This was an exquisitely asked question.


    Fortunately, these boys were ready. A clever one stepped up and said, ¡°Naturally, it is mydy who will decide this. Whatever thedy decides is how much I will make.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes! To serve the Wei n is this little one¡¯s blessing. How could I state a price?¡±


    There was one boy who was so desperate to get in that he shouted, ¡°So long as I can work for the Wei n, this little one is willing to go without pay!¡±


    None of these boys was very old, but all of them seemed very mature and experienced. Tang Jie knew that most of them had probably been instructed by the adults of their homes to do this.


    As the other boys made their cases, Tang Jie thought it over and answered, ¡°If mydy is willing, Tang Jie hopes to be paid three strings of cash every month.¡±


    Three strings of cash was three thousand copper coins, the equivalent of three taels of silver.


    This also meant that Tang Jie was asking for a sry of three thousand yuan a month.


    In the other world, this sry would have been reasonable, but for the boy servants of the Wei n, it was an astronomical sum.


    No one had ever dared to ask for such a high sry!


    All the boys stared in shock at Tang Jie, and Qin Yuan was also aghast. Had this boy gone mad? He was asking for three strings of cash from the Wei Estate?


    Even Lady Wei looked at Tang Jie in shock. ¡°You want three strings of cash?¡±


    Tang Jie appeared conflicted, clenching his teeth and saying, ¡°Yes! Mydy, please forgive me. While this little one is seeking work so as to climb the high branch of the Wei n, even more important is to make money for the household expenses of my adopted parents.¡±


    ¡°For the Wu couple? Do theyck for money?¡±


    ¡°That is not the case,¡± Tang Jie answered. ¡°But my adopted parents are old in years, and manualbor in their youth nted the seeds of illness. Now, on rainy days, their bones and muscles ache, and their bodies are listless. Canglong Prefecture is a city with abundant water and a long rainy season, so this little one hopes to buy my parents some spirit medicine, but spirit medicine is extremely expensive¡­¡±


    Tang Jie did not continue, but thedy already understood.


    ¡°I see now.¡± Thedy nodded. ¡°I have heard from Qin Yuan about you. It is truly a coincidence that you would freeze and copse in front of the Wu couple¡¯s home. You treat the two elders very well, and the neighborhood is rather admiring of your efforts. You are a good child, one of the rare ones who knows how to return kindness with kindness.¡±


    Saying this, thedyughed. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s it for today. You are all dismissed. When the selection is made, you will be informed.¡±


    The eighteen boys all left.


    When Tang Jie got back to the Wu home, the couple hastily asked Tang Jie what had happened, and Tang Jie replied to all their questions.


    When they heard that Tang Jie had asked for three strings of cash, the two elders moaned. Granny Wu grumbled, ¡°Boy, you¡¯re normally so clever, so how could you be so foolish today? Those families want to send in their kids for free, but you wanted three strings of cash. Really, really¡­ you¡¯re hopeless.¡±


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t exin, smiling as he said, ¡°If there¡¯s no hope, there¡¯s no hope. Serving my two elders is fine as well.¡±


    The two elders sighed, but there was nothing they could do.


    The eighteen boys had gone, but Lady Wei was still looking over their files. The two maids behind her, seeing that no one was around, had begun to converse with each other.


    This one said that the Li boy wasn¡¯t bad, while that one said that the Liu boy was a better fit. One remarked, ¡°I think I saw you blush. It seems like you¡¯ve taken a shine to one of them,¡± after which the two started quarreling.


    Lady Wei found this all rather amusing. Shaking her head, she lightly coughed, upon which the maids shut their mouths, but one of them failed to stifle a giggle.


    Lady Wei asked, ¡°What are you giggling about?¡±


    The maid replied, ¡°Mydy, I was thinking about that boy Tang Jie. He dared to ask for three strings of cash! He¡¯s got quite the mouth on him.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes. He really thinks that the Wei n is just begging to let him in.¡±


    As they spoke, Steward Qin came in, and their words caused his face to redden. He bowed and said, ¡°Mydy, the boys have all been sent back.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    After some thought, Qin Yuan added, ¡°Mydy, please do not take what Tang Jie said today to heart.¡±


    ¡°Take what to heart?¡± thedy replied. ¡°What are you referring to?¡±


    ¡°This¡­ the three strings of cash,¡± Qin Yuan answered.


    Thedy took a sip of her tea. ¡°What? You think that my Wei n can¡¯t take out a few strings of cash to employ someone?¡±


    ¡°Of course I don¡¯t. It¡¯s just that that boy doesn¡¯t understand¡­¡±


    ¡°I think that he is very understanding,¡± thedy replied. ¡°The Wu couple saved his life, so he decided to risk it all to try and care for them. From this, I can see that he is kindhearted and loyal. To understand that filial piety is the foundation of all virtues at such a young age is a good thing.¡±


    Lady Wei sighed. ¡°You must understand that not everyone in the world will reciprocate kindness with kindness. Are there not many people in this world who forget favors and vite justice? Thus, when selecting servants, one must look to loyalty first and foremost. While it is good to be smart and clever, a sincere nature is even more important!¡±


    Qin Yuan was delighted, knowing that there was a chance.


    But one of the maids argued, ¡°But that boy¡¯s background is ultimately rather shallow. You can know a person and know his face, but you can¡¯t know his heart.¡±


    Qin Yuan was mentally infuriated, but he did not dare to talk back. However, thedy scoffed and said, ¡°Did you get something from the Li family to speak on their behalf? What does it matter if he has only lived here for a short time? And it¡¯s not like everyone needs a clean background. Brothers by blood can turn against each other, and the kindness of a single meal can result in a fountain of gratitude. Did I not overrule all other objectors to make Qin Yuan the chief steward precisely because he knew to repay kindness with kindness, because he was a reliable person? While this Tang Jie¡¯s background is somewhat unclear, he has a sincere nature and a good temperament. In my view, he¡¯s even more reliable than those with their roots here.¡±


    ¡°Then don¡¯t we have to pay him three strings of cash a month?¡± the other maid grumbled.


    Thedy rolled her eyes and jabbed the maid¡¯s forehead with a sharp fingernail. ¡°Look at how petty you are! What¡¯s a few strings of cash? The master can pay out one million taels of silver to get a Spirit Master for the Wei n! You trulyck experience. Besides, that Wu Xing is studying with Tianzhi. If he finds out that we chose the boy from his family over all the other boys, he will think that we are taking care of his family ahead of time, right? So, it¡¯s decided then. I choose Tang Jie!¡±


    ¡°Mydy is wise!¡± Steward Qin bowed until his head touched the floor.

 Chapter 20: Young Master Wei

    On the same night, Steward Qin came with the good news, and the elders were so delighted that Tang Jie had been selected that they went the entire night without sleep.


    The next morning, someone from the Wei Estate came to lead Tang Jie to the estate.


    Tang Jie did not get another meeting with thedy. Rather, an old man with the surname ¡®Niu¡¯ led Tang Jie into the estate.


    Passing through peaceful ponds and pavilions, walking along shady little avenues, winding around magnificent fake mountains, and stepping across bridges of sandalwood, the two of them arrived at the Meditation Garden. As he looked at that bright red and willowy green flowerbed, Tang Jie knew that this would be where he worked.


    Elder Niu began to instruct Tang Jie in how to care for these flowers and how to prune them. Tang Jie had brought a small notebook, and wrote down the pointers as he listened¡ªa sight which the old man was rather satisfied to see.


    Those boys who came to work as servants in the Wei n were generally after the opportunity to be servant students. Thus, they often had little interest in the proper path, and their attention was not on how to do their job properly.


    Seeing Tang Jie so focused, at least able to differentiate between his actual duties and extraneous pursuits, the elder had a good impression of Tang Jie.


    Once he was done exining the basic care instructions, Elder Niu said, ¡°Raising flowers isn¡¯t actually that difficult. You just need to follow the rules. The key here is your diligence. You¡¯re new here, so if there¡¯s something you don¡¯t understand, just ask me. I live in that little house on the side, over there. But if you keep asking me questions every day after a month, I won¡¯t be bothered to answer.¡±


    ¡°Yes, this little one understands,¡± Tang Jie respectfully replied.


    The old man nodded in satisfaction and then began to tell Tang Jie about the situation in the Meditation Garden.


    Since he was going to work, he had to at least know the people that lived here.


    There weren¡¯t actually many people living in the Meditation Garden. Other than the younger son, Wei Tianchong, there were six boy servants, two guards, and one old nurse. The guards were adult martial artists who normally didn¡¯t appear in the Meditation Garden, so there was no need to worry about them, and there was certainly no need to worry about the nurse.


    Of the six boy servants, the one with the highest status was Wen Qing. He was the head of the servants of the Meditation Garden and was responsible for the young master¡¯s daily schedule, personnel, and finances. He was the oldest, sixteen this year, and so he had no hope of being a servant student. Thus, this actually made him the least threatening.


    After him were Shi Mo (¡®Ink Attendant¡¯) and Shi Meng (¡®Dream Attendant¡¯). Thedy had personally given them these names. Those who had been given names were normally those who had been sold into servitude. People like Tang Jie were ssified asborers and weren¡¯t considered to have sold themselves into servitude, so there was no need for them to be granted names.


    The greatest advantage of being sold into servitude over not was that being sold meant that one could directly be a close servant, and this was exactly how Shi Mo and Shi Meng had attained their current status.


    Shi Mo was the reading partner, responsible for apanying the young master in his studies and preparing his ink and brushes. Shi Meng primarily cleaned the young master¡¯s room, tidied his bed, and served him tea and water.


    These two were the closest of the young master¡¯s servants and could be considered the strongestpetitors for the status of servant student.


    In truth, regardless of the n, most servant students came from these two positions. Wu Qin had been Wei Tianzhi¡¯s reading partner, but he had reced the original reading partner, so he had not been given a name.


    Besides these two, there were three other boy servants responsible for misceneous tasks and running errands. Adding on the flower boy Tang Jie, there were seven boy servants in all.


    As for food and clothes, these were taken care of by servants of the main house. There was no need for the boy servants to worry themselves over such things. Thus, these boy servants actually had a rather easy time of it. They just needed to stick around the young master and do whatever he ordered.


    But in reality, none of the boy servants except Shi Mo and Shi Meng were permitted to get close to the young master.


    The young master was on the verge of going to school, and his mindset would y arge part in determining who his future servant students would be. Thus, Shi Mo and Shi Meng kept a close eye on him, barely giving the other boy servants a chance. Even when they did get a chance to interact with the young master, that pair would closely cling to him.


    The twelve- or thirteen-year-old children of other families might have still been in their naughty and mischievous phases, but the boy servants of the big ns had already begun to fight for their futures.


    As they were speaking, a group of ¡®soldiers¡¯ rushed out from the other side. Their leader was a slightly chubby little boy wearing a fiery general¡¯s suit of armor, holding a bamboosh in his hand and mounted on another boy. Behind him were four boy servants, all of them dressed like soldiers and holding sharp wooden stakes, hollering as they ran out.


    Tang Jie was startled by this disy, while Elder Niu bowed and said, ¡°Young Master!¡±


    Tang Jie realized that this was his master, and immediately dropped his head and offered greetings. He peeked at the young master¡¯s armor and inwardly grumbled, <em>How could he be wearing such a heavy suit of armor?</em>


    There was a gust of wind, and the armor fluttered a little. It seemed to be made of paper, and Tang Jie mentally chuckled.


    The little fatty went up to the two, dismounted from the neck of that boy servant, and grunted. The group came to a halt, and the little fatty said to Elder Niu, ¡°Old Niu, why did youe?¡±


    The old man smiled. ¡°There¡¯s a new gardener in the estate. Thedy instructed me to show him around.¡±


    A narrow-eyed boy standing on the side whispered a few words into the little fatty¡¯s ears, upon which the little fatty nced at Tang Jie. ¡°You¡¯re the gardener boy that my family is paying three strings of cash for?¡±


    Tang Jie lowered his head. ¡°Yes, Young Master. Tang Jie greets the Young Master.¡±


    The little fatty grunted. ¡°You don¡¯t look like much.¡±


    The other boy servants giggled. Boys didn¡¯t know how to hide their emotions, and it was clear that they were delighting in his plight.


    These servants were already hostile to each other as they vied for the spot of servant student, and now, there was a neer that was being paid three strings of cash per month, much more than they were getting. They immediately developed a dislike for this individual, so they mocked him as soon as they could.


    Tang Jie was unashamed, lightly saying, ¡°This little one knows that he is not any much, but as I have received thedy¡¯s favor, I will do my utmost to carry out my duty.¡±


    His words instantly caused theughter to stop.


    He had been selected by thedy, so if they keptughing, they would beughing at thedy for not being able to see properly.


    The boy servants might have still had some things they didn¡¯t understand, but this was definitely not one of them.


    Even the young master did not dare to say that his mother was incorrect. After taking onest look at Tang Jie, he grunted, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    He remounted his ¡®warhorse¡¯ and left.


    Tang Jie was still rather surprised as he watched the group leave. He asked Elder Niu, ¡°Why is the young master dressed like that?¡±


    Elder Niu sighed. ¡°The young master doesn¡¯t have much interest in cultivation. All he wants to do is mount a horse and be a general, saying that he doesn¡¯t want to cultivate. Every day, when he has nothing else to do, he likes to y-fight, and the master anddy are both very concerned¡­¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°I see now. But it¡¯s hard to me him for that. Cultivation emphasizes pursuit of the Heavenly Dao, a free and unfettered life above physical objects. It cannotpare to the luxuries of the secr world.¡±


    ¡°But human life is short, a hundred years going by in the blink of an eye.¡±


    ¡°But the pursuit of immortality requires asceticism, and how is that different from being a grass or stone? It would be much better to have an exciting life.¡±


    Elder Niu looked in shock at Tang Jie, not having expected him to say such things.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m just speaking from his perspective. For a child, old age and death are distant affairs, and a rich life full of excitement is far more important. He wants to be a general not because of the position, but because of the power and majesty. In truth, the cultivation world also has many exciting things, but he¡¯s probably been scared off by the bitter cultivation the Spirit Masters of the n undergo every day. This disgust and the pressure of the n might have pushed him in the opposite direction, which isn¡¯t strange. But if he actually understood the advantages of cultivation, his mind might change¡­¡±


    Elder Niu had never heard something like this. In shock, he said, ¡°But you¡¯re also a child.¡±


    ¡°A child who has experienced death,¡± Tang Jie lightly replied. ¡°Maturity has to do with age, but even more with experience.¡±


    He was referring to Little River Vige and Xu Muyang¡¯s death, but the old man thought that he was talking about how he had almost frozen to death in front of the Wu family¡¯s gate. Letting out an emotional sigh, he said no more.


    From this day onward, Tang Jie officially began to work in the Wei n.


    Being a gardener boy in the Wei n was a rather easy job. Every day, he just needed to water the nts, get rid of the bugs, and prune the leaves. The youngest son of the Wei n was a boy and had no interest in flowers. Normally, he would juste over and take a look, unable to tell if Tang Jie was doing a good job. Moreover, Shi Mo and Shi Meng kept a tight leash on him, and other than the first day, he didn¡¯t even call out to Tang Jie once.


    Tang Jie was happy to have this free time. Once he was done with his job, he would go to the room the Wei Estate had assigned to him to research Xu Muyang¡¯s Dao of Formations. This was the primary focus of his efforts as ofte.


    This wasn¡¯t because he had changed his mind and decided to pursue Xu Muyang. It was just that he had yet to officially begin to cultivate, and the Visceral Manifestation ssic did not permit unrestricted cultivation. He had no other ce to focus his free time. Considering that he would need to open the Nine Executions Immortal Formation in the future, he would have to learn the Dao of Formations anyway. And once he got into the academy, he wouldn¡¯t have the time to study this. Thus, he needed to make good use of this time.


    As for the matter of Young Master Wei, he was in no rush.


    There was still three years until he would enter the academy, time enough.


    Besides, trying to get closer to the young master without understanding his situation was not necessarily a good thing. It would be better to first observe from the sides and understand the young master¡¯s preferences, like his favorite foods, his favorite clothes, and his current mood. Once he understood the young master, he could minimize his mistakes once he started to get close to him.


    Seeding in a single try would always be more effective than failing ten times in a row.


    In his view, the young master didn¡¯t have a bad personality, and thedy taught him rather severely. With all those boy servants ttering him every day, it was inevitable that he became a little proud, but his nature was still rather good. Otherwise, in his conversation with Tang Jie on the first day, a brutal and cruel young master might have given him a goodshing if he had been feeling displeased.


    Perhaps because they regarded Tang Jie as obedient and knowing his ce, the other boy servants didn¡¯t try to cause any trouble for Tang Jie.


    But Elder Niu had ryed Tang Jie¡¯s words to Lady Wei.


    Lady Wei was a wise woman, and sheprehended these words. A few dayster, she invited a peak Spirit Master who had wandered about for many years and the garrison general of Canglong Prefecture as guests to the house. At the banquet, the garrison general was extremely respectful to the Spirit Master, addressing him as ¡®Immortal Elder¡¯. That Immortal Elder, having received the gifts of the Wei n, began to rte his many years of experience. When he got to the exciting points, the young master became overjoyed and wanted nothing more than to be an Immortal and wander the world. And the garrison general, having also received his order, began to bitterlyin about the hardships of being a soldier, expressing envy over the freedom that cultivators enjoyed.


    The Wei n¡¯s Spirit Masters were all people who had barely entered the Mortal Shedding Realm and achieved nothing after that, belonging to the ss of people in the cultivation world with the least potential. Those with any actual potential would never deign to be hired by a ¡®small n¡¯ like the Wei n.


    This time, though, the Wei n had invited a true member of the cultivation world, and the young master had his mind opened. Seeing how humble that general had been, he gradually came to understand that generals had an extremely low status in this world, and so he gradually dispelled any idea of being a general from his mind.


    While he would still y around every day, he stopped ying war games. On asion, he would put on a Daoist robe and pretend to use spells.


    He would point his wooden sword, and a boy servant would ¡®vomit blood¡¯ and fall to the ground, ¡®dead¡¯. The young master would heartilyugh, believing himself to already be an Immortal who had attained the Dao.


    This matter increased Lady Wei¡¯s good impression of Tang Jie. She found this child to be mature and understanding, so she began to have thoughts about moving Tang Jie to the young master¡¯s side to supervise his studies. But considering that Tang Jie had only been around for a short while, she decided to wait and see.


    However, casualments were passed on by the maid Yanzhi to Shi Mo, that narrow-eyed boy from the other day.


    On this day, Tang Jie was diligently pruning the garden. His work was done, and the garden was neat and orderly. His skills had greatly improved, and he couldn¡¯t help but be a little proud. But when he thought about how Young Master Wei had no eye for such things and that he was essentially casting pearls before swine, he couldn¡¯t help but feel that it was a pity.


    At this moment, Young Master Wei charged out, clothed in a Daoist robe and holding a wooden sword in hand. He pointed at Tang Jie and shouted, ¡°Witness my supreme Immortal arts! Fall!¡±


    Tang Jie was taken aback, and before he could react, he heard an angry roar of, ¡°Why haven¡¯t you fallen yet!?¡±


    Shi Mo lunged forward, grabbing him and bringing him down into the flowerbed, where they rolled around, crushing the flowers and sending petals drifting into the air¡­

 Chapter 21: Landscaping Art

    ¡°Hahahaha!¡± Brazen and fearlessughter rang out.


    Tang Jie slowly stood up and saw that the lunge and the roll had left the flowerbed in a disastrous state.


    On the side, Shi Mo arrogantly said, ¡°In the future, remember that when the young master casts a spell, you do as he says. Don¡¯t make me remind you again.¡±


    He walked out of the garden, making sure to stomp on the meticulously trimmed flowers, ensuring that the petals and stems were crushed to the ground.


    The other boy servant, Shi Meng, also shouted, ¡°Hurry and clean up the flowerbeds! You want to ruin the young master¡¯s good mood with yourziness? Useless thing!¡±


    Young Master Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t seem to care. As he looked around at the scattered flowers, his eyes shed. ¡°Eh? These flowers flying about actually look very pretty.¡±


    ¡°If that is what Young Master wishes to see, we can make all the flowers fly,¡± Shi Mo quickly said.


    The young master was immediately tempted, but fortunately, a voice called out, ¡°What are you messing around for? Shi Mo, don¡¯t give the young master any bad ideas. If thedy finds out, she¡¯ll have your hide!¡±


    A somewhat older youth approached. This was the head of the boy servants, Wen Qing. He was clearly infuriated over the state of the flowerbed.


    Unafraid of Wen Qing, Shi Mo snorted and ignored him.


    But when the young master heard thedy being mentioned, the thought of his mother¡¯ssh stirred the fear in his heart, and he banished the idea. He shouted, ¡°Come on; let¡¯s go!¡±


    The group walked away.


    Wen Qing was inwardly furious that Shi Mo had ignored him, knowing that he had a chance of entering the academy in the future and didn¡¯t need to worry about such a figure. But there was nothing he could do about his rage. Looking at Tang Jie still standing in the flowerbed, he rudely asked, ¡°Hurry and clean up! What are you standing around for?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°I have to go to the storeroom and report first, or else it will be my mistake.¡±


    Wen Qing was shocked to see him smiling. ¡°Your hard work was ruined by someone else and you¡¯re still smiling?¡±


    Tang Jie indifferently replied, ¡°What was ruined were the flowers of the Wei n, not my work. If the young master isn¡¯t worried about it, why should I be?¡±


    Wen Qing saw this and was dissatisfied. ¡°Don¡¯t you know that they¡¯re intentionally targeting you? I heard that thedy was very satisfied with your performance and was nning to transfer you over to the young master¡¯s side. It was Yanzhi who told me this.¡±


    Tang Jie simply nced at him and did not reply, continuing with his business.


    Wen Qing saw that he was being ignored and angrily said, ¡°You don¡¯t believe me?¡±


    ¡°I do, but what of it?¡±


    ¡°You have to strike first!¡±


    Tang Jie gave Wen Qing a strange look.


    He knew that Wen Qing wanted to borrow his hand to take revenge on Shi Mo and Shi Meng for their disrespect, but in his eyes, these methods were just as lowly as Shi Mo¡¯s.


    When striking out, one had to be sure of their target and purpose.


    If he had been in Shi Mo¡¯s shoes, he would have never openly destroyed the fruits of hisbors. Rather, he would have secretly worked to undermine him, doing things like watering flowers that shouldn¡¯t have been watered oring in the middle of the night to destroy the garden he was in charge of, after which he would be charged with ipetence and driven out of the estate by thedy.


    The flowers had been crushed, and while that was refreshing for Shi Mo, this was not an error that Tang Jie hadmitted, only a willful act from the young master. They had destroyed Tang Jie¡¯s work, but they had done no damage to Tang Jie himself.


    Wen Qing¡¯s incitement and Shi Mo¡¯s provocation were both actions of this nature. They did not achieve the ultimate objective of ¡®suppression¡¯.


    While these boy servants knew how to suppress their foes, when it came to methods, they still relied on ¡®venting their anger¡¯, amusing themselves by taking revenge rather than specifically working toward their goals.


    Tang Jie could only sneer, feeling that dealing with these naughty children was truly lowering himself.


    s, he needed to stand out, so he needed to crush all opposition, both weak and strong. But it was up to him how they were crushed. He would not fall for Wen Qing¡¯s incitement like a fool and serve as his tool.


    Hearing Wen Qing¡¯s words, Tang Jie answered, ¡°I¡¯m not interested.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Wen Qing inwardly fumed, pointing at him and cursing, ¡°Truly a spineless coward!¡±


    ¡°If I¡¯m a spineless coward, I guess I am. Servants¡­ If servants aren¡¯t the ones who are wronged, who will be?¡± Tang Jie answered.


    Working in the bureaucracy for so many years, Tang Jie had long ago understood the principle that one could not obsess too much over everything.


    No matter how many reasons he had or how justified he was, if he fought with everyone over everything, the only impression he would leave in others was of someone who liked to make trouble.


    This was certainly not a good impression to leave!


    As for being bullied by Shi Mo once?


    Let him keep bullying.


    Was there anyone in life who would not suffer injustice in some way?


    Those who could not suffer injustice were those who had little patience and couldn¡¯t carry much weight.


    As for secretly killing Shi Mo, Tang Jie didn¡¯t even consider it.


    The Wei Estate wasn¡¯t the battlefield, and it could not tolerate such ¡®decisive lethality¡¯. Nor was the Rosecloud Domain some primordial forest where the strong brazenly ate the weak. And Tang Jie certainly was not some Son of Heaven who could have an entire family ughtered on the slightest provocation.


    Thus, Tang Jie had no ns to take revenge on this matter. It was meaningless and unnecessary.


    Wen Qing saw that he couldn¡¯t convince Tang Jie. ¡°Remain lowly if you want!¡± he said with a huff, and then he stomped away. Tang Jie could only shake his head and smile.


    But Wen Qing¡¯s words had put Tang Jie on alert. He now knew that there were manyplicated rtionships between the servants, and they all helped each other.


    Today, Yanzhi had only secretly ryed thedy¡¯s words, but next time, they could get even more inspired and attempt to frame him or something of the sort, and that would truly be a problem.


    Although thedy was a wise person, believing only in another person¡¯s wisdom was not a reliable strategy.


    Fine¡­ it seemed that he would first have to develop good rtionships with the other servants, and some money would probably be enough to smooth things over. In addition, since Shi Mo had caused him a problem today, he would probably try it again. If this continued, the flowerbed would be in tatters, and even if he wasn¡¯t in the wrong, thedy would take him to be ipetent.


    This thought made Tang Jie realize that he first needed a way to stop the flowerbed from continuing to be destroyed.


    But what was the best way to do it?


    This matter depended on the young master. He would have to be reluctant to do the deed.


    s, the young master had no appreciation for¡­ <em>Hold on!</em> Tang Jie suddenly recalled the look on Wei Tianchong¡¯s face when he saw the flowers scattered about.


    <em>That¡¯s right!</em>


    Who said men had no appreciation for beauty?


    In truth, it was simply that one didn¡¯t care too much about something that was always around them.


    Wei Tianchong was still a child, and he naturally found the things in his surrounding environment to be of little interest. It was the fresh and interesting that he found far morepelling.


    Tang Jie knew what he should do.


    That night, Tang Jie decided to not return to his little hut to research the Dao of Formations, and spent the entire night working away in the flowerbed.


    Those boy servants thought that he was still cleaning up the flowerbed, and chuckled to themselves.


    Shi Mo and Shi Meng decided that they would teach him another lesson tomorrow so that this bastard would realize how futile it was to try to steal their positions.


    The next morning, when Wei Tianchong got up, Shi Mo and Shi Meng once more brought the young master to the garden.


    Just when they were about to rey the scenario from yesterday, everyone was dumbfounded.


    The flowers of the flowerbed were in apletely different arrangement.


    In the center of the flowerbed was a big, smiling face. The eyes were made from ck chestnut flowers and white chrysanthemums, the lips from red blood cherry blossoms, andrge leaves and string bamboo made up the face. Pink hydroniums made up the ears, blue irises formed the nose, and purple mountain azaleas formed the hair. It was a lifelike smiling face that looked rather simr to the young master.


    ¡°This¡­ this is¡­¡± The boy servants were gobsmacked.


    Only the young master seemed very curious. ¡°Eh? This is fun! This¡­ this is me?¡±


    On the side, Tang Jie respectfully replied, ¡°Yes. This little one worked through the night to repair the damage to the flowerbed. As I was working, I inadvertently noticed that the damaged arrangement looked somewhat like the young master¡¯s face. I suddenly realized that it was certain to be amusing if these flowers were arranged to look like the young master¡¯s face, so I boldly made an attempt. Does Young Master like it?¡±


    <em>Simr, my ass!</em> Shi Mo and the others mentally roared. <em>How could an arrangement look like someone if you just rolled around in it?</em>


    But the young master shouted, ¡°Like it! I like it! It¡¯s not bad at all!¡±


    He had said that it wasn¡¯t bad and the flowerbed was even arranged to look like him, so even if Shi Mo and the others had been given one hundred times the courage, they would not dare to ruin it now. They could only re helplessly at Tang Jie.


    The young master asked, ¡°What else can you arrange the flowers into?¡±


    These words caused all the servant boys to mentally curse in dismay.


    Sure enough, Tang Jie answered, ¡°Tang Jie can make whatever the young master asks for.¡±


    Arranging flowers into various forms, merging together gardening and art, was amon urrence back on Earth. Even some auntie in the supermarket could arrange cans or something else into various forms. But in this world, it was a breakthrough, and it wasn¡¯t strange that Wei Tianchong was interested in such things.


    Though Tang Jie didn¡¯t knowndscaping art, he had seen it before, and through his research into the Dao of Formations, he had developed some understanding of design.


    While a professionalndscaper might treat Tang Jie¡¯s work with disdain, the young master wasn¡¯t a professional critic.


    An amateurndscaper was capable of producing a few sighs of praise from an amateur sightseer.


    The young master excitedly asked, ¡°Then could you arrange the flowers to look like my mom?¡±


    Tang Jie was scared out of his wits. <em>This kid! Does he have no limits? He can even have his mother¡¯s image modeled.</em>


    The young master was young and a boy, so there was nothing wrong with arranging the flowers into his likeness. But thedy was the manager of the house, and the servants would have to pass by this arrangement every day and see it¡­ This was no different from seeking death!


    Fortunately, Wei Tianchong knew that this wasn¡¯t right, so he promptly changed his mind. ¡°No, not her. What else can you do?¡±


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°This is only a t image. If I had enough materials, this little one could arrange the nts into actual models, like birds, animals, fish, or even little people. If the young master likes it, I can even make a flower statue of the young master, and a flower Shi Mo and Shi Meng to attend you¡­¡±


    Shi Mo and Shi Meng mentally cursed, <em>Who asked to be included!?</em>

 Chapter 22: Learning From Nature

    The young master was delighted. ¡°Interesting, interesting! Why don¡¯t you do it and let me have a look, then?¡±


    ¡°I need materials to do it,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°That¡¯s no problem. If you need anything, talk with Wen Qing. Tell him that I wanted it. How much time do you need?¡±


    ¡°Ten days to half a month.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s too slow!¡±


    ¡°If I had someone to help me, the work would go faster.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll have a few of them help you. They¡¯ll listen to your orders.¡± The young master waved his hand, handing over all his boy servants for Tang Jie to use.


    Shi Mo and Shi Meng nced at each other. How had they be Tang Jie¡¯s subordinates in the blink of an eye?


    Tang Jie smirked as he bowed and answered, ¡°Yes, Young Master!¡±


    From that point, the boy servants of the Meditation Garden began to work for Tang Jie.


    Shi Mo and Shi Meng had originally worried that Tang Jie would use this opportunity to deal with them, but Tang Jie did not. Rather, he used this opportunity to get closer to everyone.


    Firming up one¡¯s own foundation would always be more important than striking out at one¡¯s opponents. Forgiving one¡¯s opponents would more easily win respect than beating them down. Tang Jie was well aware of this.


    Sure enough, this way of doing things won everyone¡¯s favor, and even the elders of the estate felt that Tang Jie was a decent boy. They knew very well that Shi Mo and his lot were hostile to Tang Jie, and they admired Tang Jie for not taking revenge.


    The young master no longer had the boy servants to mess around with, so whenever he was free he woulde by to see how Tang Jie was doing, asionally helping a little himself.


    Of course, it actually would have been better if he hadn¡¯t helped, and he only added to their work, but nobody dared to question him. As for him, the more he yed, the happier he became.


    For a time, the garden became the most active ce of the Meditation Garden, and it wasn¡¯t long before the flower statues began to rise. Tang Jie depicted all sorts of things: humans, toys, pavilions¡ªhe made this little flower garden into a world of its own, brimming with fun and interesting things.


    Of course, Tang Jie considered what everyone could ept and didn¡¯t make anything too unreasonable. He mostly stuck tomon objects.


    Even so, once the work was done, the Wei Estate was given quite the shock. Even the venerable master, the venerabledy, the master, and thedy all came to take a look.


    This was the first time Tang Jie was seeing the venerable master and his wife.


    Patriarch Wei Danbai was a middle-aged man with a very dignified appearance, exuding power even when silent. This man ced a heavy emphasis on the rules, so he didn¡¯t much like this y from Tang Jie. But the venerable master was rather amused, believing that while this was somewhat ying to the crowd, it was also very clever. The old man had spent too long in this estate and had grown bored with it. Now that he had something so fresh and new, he naturally had to praise Tang Jie a little.


    Since both the venerable master and his wife liked it, Wei Danbai couldn¡¯t say that he did not.


    For this effort, Lady Zheng Shufeng gave Tang Jie five taels of silver.


    Tang Jie took the five taels of silver home and bought arge amount of medicine for the Wu couple so that they could stay healthy. When thedy learned of this, she became even more satisfied with Tang Jie. Besides that, Young Master Wei Tianchong also became more familiar with Tang Jie and no longer ignored his presence.


    In the eyes of Shi Mo¡¯s group, this was an awful development. Even the other servants of the Wei n began to look at Tang Jie differently.


    ¡°You¡¯re giving this to me?¡± Yanzhi asked in delight as she held the cosmetic powder in her hands.


    Tang Jie grinned. ¡°Yes. I was passing by the Treasure House store and saw that some new products hade in from Endsea. I remembered that today was Elder Sister Yanzhi¡¯s birthday. Since Sister is called Yanzhi (Rouge), I thought that this cosmetic powder would be perfect for you. It just so happened that thedy rewarded me with a few taels of silver, and I still had some left after buying the medicine for my elders, so I bought it as a birthday present. Sister, please ept this.¡±


    In truth, she wasn¡¯t actually older than Tang Jie, but due to their status, the servants of the Wei Estate normally addressed the maids of thedy as ¡®Elder Sister¡¯.


    Yanzhi rolled her eyes at him and then smiled. ¡°You¡¯re quite considerate, though I¡¯m sure that it was intentional rather than a coincidence.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled and said nothing.


    Of the six major sects of the Rosecloud Domain, the Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion had the most women. For this reason, the Endsea Kingdom was renowned for its cosmetic powder. A small box of cosmetic powder, even of the most ordinary brand, would cost seven to eight hundred strings of cash. Yanzhi would never believe that Tang Jie had gotten this idea on the spur of the moment, but this only increased her good impression of Tang Jie.


    Putting away the powder, Yanzhi looked at Tang Jie and said, ¡°You seem to be a tactful person. Not bad. You¡¯ve done well.¡±


    With these words, she turned and left.


    She didn¡¯t give Tang Jie any promise, but Tang Jie knew that this gift meant that Yanzhi would no longer bring him any trouble.


    Of course, Yanzhi had needed a gift, but he also needed to improve his rtionship with the other servants.


    Fortunately, he was on orders from the young master to arrange the flowers into various figures. Although the ones he had done earlier were good, children craved new things, so it wouldn¡¯t be long before he would have to change things up.


    In order to constantly change up flowers, he needed many resources, needed metal wire and other such things, and Tang Jie now wielded some authority so that he could acquire these resources. However, now that Wei Tianchong¡¯s interest had cooled, he no longer cared about the process, only the result. Thus, he took back his boy servants.


    Free of supervision, Tang Jie could now embezzle some of the items. He even had some purchasing power, and some merchants would give him some extras to get in his good graces so that they could do business with the Wei Estate. Thus, Tang Jie was already making some gray ie. It wasn¡¯t a lot, but it was enough to buy out those servants and get closer to them.


    As for embezzlement¡­ if he didn¡¯t embezzle, how could he be a proper servant?


    All those officials hoping for promotion and those people lined up in front of the room to take the civil examination¡­ were they all doing it for the sake of the people?


    After saying goodbye to Yanzhi, Tang Jie returned to the flowerbed to continue his work.


    Though thendscaping art had drawn the young master¡¯s attention, it had also increased his workload and left him without time to study the Dao of Formations.


    If Tang Jie couldn¡¯tplete his study of formations before entering school, he wouldn¡¯t have much time to do so in the future.


    This was a source of some frustration to him.


    Today, as he was looking at the flowers and grass, he had a sudden thought.


    <em>Why not use the flower garden to research formations?</em>


    In this period of time, to avoid being discovered, he had only done theoretical study. He knew the contents of the book Xu Muyang had given to him by heart, and it could be said that all hecked was a chance to put theory into practice.


    Xu Muyang¡¯s Dao of Formations emphasized learning from nature, and this was the perfect environment.


    Of course, this was the Wei n, so he couldn¡¯ty down any kind of lethal formations. Illusion and maze formations, however, were fine. If necessary, he could even make a maze for the young master to y in. He just needed to be careful and ensure that no one found out.


    The Wei Estate had Spirit Masters, and Tang Jie knew that he would have to work hard to hide any formation from them.


    Different uses had different requirements.


    Formations were mostly used for defense. Major sects used them as barriers,parable to the walls used in ancient times back on Earth. But some formations required the enemy to be lured inside, so they needed to be perfectly concealed.


    Xu Muyang¡¯s concept of learning from nature perfectly met this requirement for concealment. Thus, he had been extremely skilled in concealing his formations, which had yed a major role in his ability toy down the Eight Gates Heavenseal Formation while being pursued by He Chong and keep it hidden until it was activated.


    As that was the case, he needed to study his concealment techniques well.


    In Xu Muyang¡¯s treatise, he had a section specifically focused on how to hide a formation.


    To conceal a formation¡¯s existence, one needed to naturally merge the formation with the surrounding environment, requiring every de of grass to be a natural part of the formation. All things had spiritual energy running through them, and differentbinations would result in different functions.


    There were natural forbidden grounds in the world, and this was frequently because the surrounding environment inadvertently created a spiritual energy circuit, thus creating a natural formation.


    What Tang Jie needed was to understand the attributes of the spiritual energies in the flowers and grass, how the spiritual energy flowed, and then to determine how to arrange them so that they naturally merged together.


    But turning a formation into a design that actually worked was easier said than done. Even Xu Muyang¡¯s book had not contained any such records. After all, he had never needed to apply his skills to gardening. Thus, Tang Jie had to research this himself.


    More than half a year went by as he continued his research.


    He had focused on mergingndscaping art with formations, but he had not made much progress. The servants had received gifts from him and no longer caused him any trouble. As for Shi Mo and Shi Meng, they still felt unhappy over being forced to work with him that one time. Though they had yet to take their revenge, they still wanted to teach him a lesson. It was just that they didn¡¯t know how. Besides that, the young master had recently been treating Tang Jie rather favorably, so they were wary about acting. As a result, this period of time had been very calm and peaceful.


    Today, Tang Jie was still busying himself in the flowerbed, creating a garden maze.


    A nt maze was one of the most difficult formations to detect. Even if those in the maze got lost, they would believe that it was the work of the maze, not a formation.


    But bringing the two together was not easy. Natural mazes relied onplex and intersecting paths to confuse, but formations relied on the cirction of spiritual energy to achieve their effect. While they both had the same effect, the underlying principles werepletely different. If one were to look at theposition of the formation from the outside, one would find that it had nothing at all to do with a maze.


    Tang Jie had wracked his brains but had still not been able to solve the problem.


    Today, he was continuing his research. Suddenly, he heard a girl ask, ¡°Eh? What¡¯s this?¡±


    He turned and saw a graceful little girl wearing a moon-white flowery jacket and gold-threaded shoes walk over, a jade hairpin in her hair. She was very pretty, and moved with elegance and grace. Behind her were two attending maids.


    The moment Tang Jie saw the girl, he hastily bowed. ¡°Fourth Young Lady.¡±


    This Fourth Young Lady was Wei Qingsong¡¯s daughter, Wei Die. She was Wei Tianchong¡¯s older cousin, a few days older than him. Among the seven children of Wei Danbai and Wei Qingsong, she was fourth in age, so she was called ¡®the Fourth Young Lady¡¯. Tang Jie had met her twice before, but it was always from a distance, and they never had any chance to talk.


    Now that she was walking over, Tang Jie naturally needed to bow.


    Wei Die looked at the garden and said, ¡°So you¡¯re Tang Jie? I¡¯ve heard your name quite a lot recently. I saw your work a few days ago, and I have to say that you did a good job. But what are you working on today? I really can¡¯t tell.¡±


    Tang Jie hurriedly answered, ¡°It¡¯s a maze.¡±


    ¡°A maze¡­¡± A tinge of helplessness appeared in Wei Die¡¯s eyes. ¡°Isn¡¯t the Wei n itself a maze? Why waste the effort in making another one?¡±


    There was a sense of boundless resentment in her voice.


    The two maids lightly coughed, but Wei Die appeared not to notice.


    This girl who was about Tang Jie¡¯s age seemed to have many worries.


    Tang Jie pretended not to hear, saying with a smile, ¡°The Wei Estate is a major undertaking, so it would be no exaggeration to call it a maze. But my maze is different, meant to show the grandeur in the small. If Fourth Young Lady is interested, you can try it out.¡±


    ¡°Forget it.¡± Wei Die shook her head. ¡°There are so many intersecting paths inside, I¡¯m already dizzy from looking at it from the outside. If I really went in, I don¡¯t know what would happen, nor do I have the energy to waste on it. I hope that my little brother will like it.¡±


    She looked at Tang Jie. ¡°You¡¯re putting in so much effort, so I presume that you have your sights set on Basking Moon Academy?¡±


    Tang Jie bowed. ¡°If it is possible to go, that would naturally be for the best.¡±


    He did not conceal his desires. A hint of unwillingness appeared in Wei Die¡¯s eyes as she resentfully said, ¡°Why¡­ why is it that even you servants can seek the Immortal path while we women don¡¯t even get that chance? ¡®Fourth Young Lady¡¯? I don¡¯t even match up to a maid!¡±


    She stomped her feet and stormed off.


    As Tang Jie watched her leave, he mentally shook his head.


    <em>So that¡¯s what it was about.</em>

 Chapter 23: Stabbing a Horse

    The youngdy had even less of a chance than a servant. It was hard to me her for being indignant.


    But Tang Jie felt that this was fine for her. Having been in the Wei Estate for some time now, Tang Jie had begun to understand what was going on within its walls.


    Though the Wei Estate seemed very grand and imposing, all sorts of dirty things were going on in the shadows. If the fourth youngdy did not wish to lie in these muddy waters, it was best if she kept her distance.


    Perhaps Venerable Master Wei thought the same?


    Suddenly, Tang Jie muttered in shock, ¡°Grand on the outside, dirty in the shadows¡­¡±


    He recalled Wei Die¡¯s words, ¡®There are so many intersecting paths inside, I¡¯m already dizzy from looking at it from the outside¡­¡¯


    <em>Damn it; why didn¡¯t I think about this before? I¡¯m really an idiot!</em> Tang Jie pped his head and silently cursed himself.


    He suddenly realized that he had no need to merge together a natural maze and a formation.


    Mixing a natural maze with a formation was like trying to mix a Chinese ink wash painting with an oil painting. No matter how hard one tried, the result would always be a hodge-podge.


    But what if he flipped things around andid down a formation inside the maze?


    Since they couldn¡¯t be merged, he would just put them together.


    The outside would be the natural maze, while the inside would be the maze formation. The outside was used to fool outsiders, to obscure the actual formation. The two would coexist in an innately wlessbination. What need was there to merge them together?


    This was like hiding an oil painting in some part of arge ink wash painting. If one didn¡¯t pay attention, it would be difficult to see it. And if the ink wash painting used thick and heavy strokes, the oil painting would be even more concealed.


    Concealment!


    Concealment was the key, not actually merging them together.


    At times, rather than considering whether something wasplicated enough, one had to consider whether it was simple enough!


    Tang Jie was enlightened, and he mentally cursed at himself for all the wasted time. He modified the garden again, this time not seeking fusion, instead using the natural maze to conceal the formation within.


    This formation wasn¡¯trge, and affected only a limited area. Without using a spirit-detecting art to observe the area, even a Spirit Master might not notice the formation.


    Two dayster, Tang Jie finished his work and brought the young master over to take a look.


    Wei Tianchong walked the maze until he got dizzy, but he still wasn¡¯t able to get out. He found it very interesting and called it ¡®fun¡¯ again and again. It seemed like he had never noticed the formation inside.


    This was Tang Jie¡¯s first time using a formation to imprison someone, so he was privately delighted. He felt that the Dao of Formations was truly rather interesting, and even began to like it a little.


    He could help but think about Xu Muyang¡¯s words, and sulked. <em>Did I really like the Dao of Formations and just didn¡¯t know it this whole time?</em>


    In the following days, Tang Jie constantly adjusted the formation, producing all kinds of mazes that left Wei Tianchong endlessly amused.


    Of course, to satisfy the young master¡¯s mood, Tang Jie would asionally secretly let him out of the maze. Wei Tianchong had no idea that Tang Jie was throwing the game, believing that he was awesome and excitedly shouting in glee. He had no idea that his mood was entirely under Tang Jie¡¯s control. He would be happy whenever Tang Jie wanted him to be happy and dejected whenever Tang Jie wanted him to be dejected.


    When another person¡¯s mood was under the control of another, it often meant that this person was essentially being controlled. The young master began to like Tang Jie more and more, growing closer and closer to him, and this made Tang Jie seem more and more unpleasant in the eyes of Shi Mo and Shi Meng. The hostility that had vanished some time ago gradually began to return.


    Today, Wei Tianchong was bored, and he suddenly had the idea of going to Weing Dragon Mountain to enjoy some barbecue.


    Tang Jie had taught him the term ¡®barbecue¡¯. Sometimes, when Wei Tianchong and Tang Jie talked, Tang Jie would tell him stories and amusing anecdotes.


    Tang Jie had once told him about how the youth of the modern era often went out to go barbecuing.


    At the start, Wei Tianchong had expressed little interest in going out into the wilderness with a stove to roast meat skewers, but for some reason, he now wanted to try.


    He decided to bring Tang Jie with him.


    Weing Dragon Mountain was a famous mountain in Canglong Prefecture. It appeared to extend into the distance and was so high that it pierced the heavens. The legends said that a true dragon had descended on the summit of this mountain, so it was called ¡®Weing Dragon Mountain¡¯.


    It was here that Canglong Prefecture (Azure Dragon Prefecture) got its name.


    Weing Dragon Mountain had steep sides, and the mountain paths were difficult to traverse. The boys from the Wei n didn¡¯t head to the summit, instead stopping at a smallke in the foothills. They set up the barbecuing rack by theke and began to roast meat.


    This was Wei Tianchong¡¯s first time roasting meat for himself, and though he didn¡¯t find anything special about it at first, as he watched the meat turning on the rack, oil dripping down from it and fragrance filling his nose, he started to get hungry and began to barbecue the meat himself. He ended up having fun, finding the process to be rather amusing.


    The boys drank and ate to their hearts¡¯ content by theke, but Tang Jie was forced to stand on the side and attend them.


    Fortunately, they had chosen a good location. The sereneke, the boundless mountain, the little pavilion by an ancient road¡ªthis was truly an excellent scenic spot. To sit by a stone next to theke and take in the scene was also a kind of happiness. s, only Tang Jie, who had lived the life of a man in a big modern city, could understand the beauty of nature. Wei Tianchong and his fellow boys felt nothing.


    They had note here to appreciate the scenery. In truth, they hade here to secretly have some alcohol. For this, Wei Tianchong had stolen a jar of good wine from the kitchen.


    Lady Wei was a strict disciplinarian, and children were not permitted to drink alcohol until they came of age.


    Wei Tianchong had no interest in drinking wine, but he was a child. He had to try anything at least once.


    He took a drink and felt the wine burn in his throat. He didn¡¯t find it tasty at all, but when he saw all the other boys looking at him, he felt too embarrassed to say that he couldn¡¯t drink. Thus, in imitation of martial arts warriors, he drank down all his wine and shouted, ¡°Good wine! Drink!¡±


    Thus, the boys began to guzzle down the wine.


    There was alcohol here that was drinkable and alcohol that was not, but no attention was paid to this distinction, and they had a few drinks from all of them.


    s, ¡®a few drinks¡¯ was a lie. These boys took themselves to be heroes and knew no restraint. It wasn¡¯t long before they were swaying back and forth.


    Gradually, the sky began to darken. Seeing that night wasing, Tang Jie proposed that they return to the estate.


    Wei Tianchong was having the time of his life and had no intention of returning. He said that he wanted to appreciate the moon. The sight of Dragon Lake under the moon was said to be one of the best sights in Canglong Prefecture.


    Perhaps because he had drunk too much, Shi Mo spoke in a louder tone than usual, shouting, ¡°Young Master, to appreciate the moon at Dragon Mountain, you have to climb to the summit. Why don¡¯t we go up the mountain?¡±


    Wen Qing frowned and said, ¡°It¡¯s gettingte and the mountain path is difficult to traverse. Going up anding back down might take several hours. I think we should save it for next time.¡±


    During the day, they had only thought about eating and drinking, not about taking a detour up the mountain. If they went up, they would certainly waste a lot of time going up and down. They would returnte, and thedy would certainly scold them.


    Wei Tianchong was somewhat intoxicated. His head swaying side to side, he said, ¡°Then I¡¯ll ride up the mountain on my horse! Today, this young master will ride to the top of Dragon Mountain, atop my horse with whip raised!¡±


    ¡°Alright!¡± The other boys pped their hands.


    When the young master of the Wei Estate went out, he naturally had to have his horse, but there was only one horse for the young master himself. The others had to walk behind him.


    This chestnut horse had been a gift from Master Wei to Wei Tianchong when he was ten years old, intended for him to use this chance to exercise his body. Wei Tianchong had once aspired to be a general, so he had some skill in horsemanship. But he was still too young and spent most of his time ying, spending more time mounting people than mounting horses. It was only when he went out that he would ride this horse.


    This chestnut horse was the responsibility of one of the boy servants of the Meditation Garden, Mu Chen, and it was currently being fed on the side.


    ¡°Riding a horse onto the mountain is too dangerous!¡± Tang Jie hurriedly said.


    Weing Dragon Mountain did have a horse path, but this path had no guardrails. Even modern mountain paths did not all have guardrails.


    Though there was still some hazy light, it would soon bepletely dark. If there were a small mishap on the road, if the horse lost its footing, then Young Master Wei would be gone.


    Tang Jie¡¯s warning made the other boys realize that this was a dangerous endeavor, but just when they were about to advise Wei Tianchong not to go, their young master pushed Tang Jie aside. ¡°Cut the chatter! Hurry and bring over my horse! If you say another word, I¡¯ll whip you!¡±


    Normally, restrained by his family, he would not act so brazenly, but his mother was not here. He now reigned supreme, and his wild side was on full disy.


    The boy servants knew Wei Tianchong and knew that these words meant that he was serious. For a moment, they did not dare to object. Tang Jie looked around and saw that no one else was speaking up, even Wen Qing having fallen silent.


    Shi Mo and Shi Meng looked at Tang Jie with cold smiles.


    In truth, if everyone had worked together to persuade Wei Tianchong, they might have seeded, but if Shi Mo and Shi Meng said nothing, the others would not dare to step forward.


    These two were extremely wary of Tang Jie and wanted nothing more than for him to quarrel with Wei Tianchong, so why would they help him? Besides that, they were drunk, which made them incapable of thinking about the consequences.


    Shi Mo even threatened, ¡°The young master wants to go up the mountain, and you dare to stop him? You¡¯re really asking for a beating!¡±


    Tang Jie was infuriated.


    This was nothing but a bunch of naughty children with misced priorities! If something really happened to Wei Tianchong, none of the people here would be spared!


    They might have been suicidal, but Tang Jie had no desire to follow them. He ced himself in front of Wei Tianchong and coldly said, ¡°Young Master, this is not your personal garden where you can do as you please. The slopes of Weing Dragon Mountain are steep, it¡¯s getting dark, and Young Master has even had wine. It would be better¡­¡±


    <em>Pa!</em> Tang Jie received a heavy p to the face.


    After pping Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong roared, ¡°Impudent! If the young master wants to do something, is it up to you to decide what he can do?¡±


    Tang Jie felt a stinging pain on his face, but he still barred Wei Tianchong¡¯s path. ¡°If Young Master is unhappy, then you may hit me or curse at me, but so long as this little one is here, I cannot let Young Master go up the mountain. If Young Master is still unwilling, we can return to the estate and report this matter to thedy so that I am fired, but right now, this little one cannot let Young Master go up the mountain!¡±


    ¡°You!¡± Wei Tianchong was so furious that his body was shaking. Stomping his feet, he shouted, ¡°You¡¯re one of my people! You dare disobey me!?¡±


    Furious that Tang Jie continued to stubbornly block his path, he roared, ¡°Nothing will stop me from getting up the mountain today! All of you, pull him aside!¡±


    The boys rushed up and dragged Tang Jie to the side, Shi Mo and Shi Meng using the chance to punch Tang Jie a few times.


    They had snuck out to drink wine, not even bringing the guards or nanny with them. There was not a single person here who understood what was really going on, so none of them dared to bear the anger of the young master!


    Seeing Wei Tianchong mount the horse and prepare to ride off onto the mountain path, Tang Jie panicked and shook his arms. With his current level of strength, dealing with children was simple, and he instantly threw the boys aside.


    Tang Jie grabbed a long metal skewer off the barbecue rack and ran to Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong had just gotten onto the horse, and when he saw Tang Jie running over, he snorted and spurred his horse into a gallop.


    In his view, Tang Jie was just trying to stop his horse from moving forward. As long as he moved the horse faster, he could outrun this annoying kid.


    But as the horse was raising its hooves, Tang Jie had already charged up, swinging the metal skewer and fiercely stabbing it into the chestnut horse¡¯s left eye.


    This blow was packed with power, and the skewer plunged right into the horse¡¯s brain.


    The horse let out a neigh, throwing Wei Tianchong off before copsing into a pool of blood.


    ¡°My horse!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted, ignoring the pain. ¡°You¡­ you killed my horse!¡±


    He had never imagined that Tang Jie would do something like this.


    How could he do this?


    How could he dare to do it?


    How was he even capable of doing it?


    Everyone was dumbfounded, looking fearfully at Tang Jie.


    His body speckled with blood, Tang Jie nced at the still-twitching horse, then turned to Wei Tianchong and coldly said, ¡°Young Master¡­ It seems like there¡¯s no going up the mountain today.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was stunned.


    At this moment, he looked at Tang Jie with a sliver of fear in his eyes.

 Chapter 24: Spurring On

    ¡°Beat him! Beat him! Give him a good beating for me!¡±


    In the Meditation Garden, Wei Tianchong sat on a long chair and pointed at Tang Jie, who had been tied up on a tree. A bandage was wrapped around Wei Tianchong¡¯s head¡ªthe result of a wound to his head after he had fallen from his horse. It still throbbed with pain even now, causing him to hate Tang Jie even more.


    Shi Mo coldlyughed as he took out a whip that had been soaked in water and began to viciously whip Tang Jie. With onesh, a bloody wound was created on Tang Jie¡¯s chest.


    <em>Pa! Pa!</em> The sound of the whip cracking resounded through the Meditation Garden, and wounds began to umte on Tang Jie¡¯s body. Shi Mo resented him for what he had done earlier, and he showed no mercy, some of hisshes intentionally striking Tang Jie¡¯s face. As a result, Tang Jie¡¯s entire face was soon a bloody mess.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t make a single sound throughout, only coldly stared at Shi Mo.


    His eyes were so chilling that Shi Mo couldn¡¯t help but be afraid.


    But a momentter, he considered that Tang Jie was still tied to a tree, so what did he have to fear? He savagely said, ¡°Still trying to act tough!¡±


    He mindlesslyshed the whip again and again.


    After numerousshes, Shi Mo finally ran out of strength. He threw the whip at Shi Meng and said, ¡°Your turn! Once you¡¯re tired, switch with someone else! For daring to kill the young master¡¯s horse, he deserves to be whipped to death!¡±


    Pain!


    Endless and indescribable pain!


    It was a pain that made life worse than death!


    Even in ancient times, whipping had been an extremely terrifying form of punishment.


    During the whipping, a person¡¯s flesh would becerated and mutted, and after ceaseless whipping, one¡¯s flesh would be separated from one¡¯s bones. A brutal torturer might even keep whipping until the bones were visible. This could truly be described as death by a thousand cuts.


    The whips of the Wei n were just ordinary rattan whips, but the wounds still burned with pain, and the strikes still tore at the flesh.


    Children did not understand the ways of the world, and they also did not understand restraint.


    The endless whipping caused Tang Jie to fall unconscious, and then wake back up, and then go unconscious again, repeating in an endless cycle.


    When pain reached a certain point, it became numbness!


    Tang Jie felt entirely numb, unable to sense any part of his body. The whip striking his body seemed to be striking a pile of mangled flesh that did not belong to him.


    At this point, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he really would end up being beaten to death by Wei Tianchong here.


    He had not resisted when Wei Tianchong ordered the others to tie him up, as he had believed that thedy would hear of the matter ande to take care of things.


    But he discovered that he had made a mistake: he had underestimated a child¡¯s desire for revenge, and forgotten that they did not care about the consequences!


    Wei Tianchong was only twelve, and had grown up spoiled. He had no clue about restraint!


    So that he wouldn¡¯t be disturbed, Wei Tianchong had even sealed the Meditation Garden, permitting no one entry!


    There would be no reinforcements here!


    Little scoundrels were all like this. They were sloppy and half-hearted when studying, but when it came to doing bad things, they were suddenly very meticulous!


    If this went on, he probably wouldn¡¯t even have the strength to escape.


    This thought made Tang Jie silently curse. The Visceral Manifestation ssic¡¯s technique began to circte through his body. He absorbed spiritual energy and moved it through his meridians and throughout his entire body.


    This was why he had dared to allow himself to be tied up. Putting aside everything else, his Jade Gate was open, and he had the ability to cultivate.


    He had not used it before because he did not want anyone to find out his secret, but it was apparent that these kids were brainless. He could use the technique in front of them without a single one of them realizing anything.


    As the spiritual energy flowed through his body, the pain dwindled away, and the power of spiritual energy even caused his injuries to begin to heal.


    This was not all. His intense desire to live had unleashed all the energy in his body. As the spiritual energy ran through his veins, it began to permeate into his organs and bones.


    Refining the organs!


    Refining the bones!


    Tang Jie almost yelped in shock. He had inadvertently discovered something new!


    Since he had washed his meridians and refined his veins, Tang Jie had suspected that the Visceral Manifestation ssic was capable of refining his organs and bones as well. s, no matter what he did, he had never been able to get any results.


    Only now, when he was being beaten by the boy servants, did Tang Jie discover that spiritual energy really was capable of refining the organs and bones. This left him pleasantly surprised.


    It turned out that the Visceral Manifestation ssic really could do this, but did it have to be in these circumstances?


    <em>No, wait!</em>


    <em>The Martial Lord wouldn¡¯t have made the Visceral Manifestation ssic so that he could torture himself. There has to be something that I¡¯m not understanding.</em>


    He once more reviewed the Visceral Manifestation ssic¡¯s mantra and tried toprehend its meaning. As he thought back to Xu Muyang¡¯s words, he had a sh of insight.


    <em>The viscera are within and the manifestations take form on the outside. After forming the manifestations, bolster the internals¡­ The entranced mind that focuses on one¡¯s aspirations; the fusion of the body with the Dao, engaging the organs and abandoning essence¡­ engage the organs and abandon essence¡­ Right! I get it now!</em>


    Tang Jie was enlightened.


    The Visceral Manifestation ssic wasn¡¯t merely for charging through the gate. It was also used to refine the body!


    It was actually a body-refining art!


    Through spiritual energy, one could refine the body. ¡®After forming the manifestations, bolster the internals¡¯ referred both to absorbing spiritual energy and also to first focusing on the body before learning spell arts.


    The organs referred to in ¡®engage the organs and abandon essence¡¯ were the five organs. ¡®Engaging the organs¡¯ meant that focusing on the organs was key.


    ¡®Abandon essence¡¯ had many exnations, but here, it had to mean that one should abandon cultivation of spell arts for the time being and focus on the surface.


    This was an art that worked from the outside in, training the body before studying arts!


    This waspletely the opposite of what was popr in current Immortal sects.


    Most Immortals first cultivated spell arts, and once they had abundant spiritual energy and had entered the Mortal Shedding Realm, they would use spiritual energy to refine their mortal bodies. At this time, cultivators had already been through the Spirit tform Realm, and their bodies had adapted to spiritual energy. Thus, refining the body was both safer and more efficient.


    But the Martial Lord was an extraordinary person, or perhaps he cared more aboutprehensive strength. He probably hadn¡¯t cared about anything like safety orfort.


    This also meant that one shouldn¡¯t focus too much on the twelve forms of the Visceral Manifestation ssic. The twelve forms were just an aid for guiding spiritual energy. Once they were mastered, one could cultivate in any circumstances, and cultivating while putting the body through physicalbor would have an even better effect!


    Xu Muyang¡¯s warning that excessive cultivation would damage the meridians might not even apply to the Visceral Manifestation ssic!


    Tang Jie would have never found this out if not for this whipping session.


    Excited, he began to fully circte the Visceral Manifestation ssic, and spiritual energy freely flowed through his body. As it made a circuit of his body, a part of it permanently remained, silently modifying his constitution and healing some of his injuries.


    But this also brought Tang Jie immense pain¡­ The numbness disappeared, and the pain came roaring back, once more taking hold of Tang Jie¡¯s body. Before the new flesh could do anything, it was once morecerated apart.


    Tang Jie clenched his teeth and held on. He began to guide the spiritual energy to his skin, modifying his skin so that it became more resistant. Gradually, the boy servants discovered that their whipping was seemingly less effective. At times, even severalshes would fail to break Tang Jie¡¯s skin.


    But they didn¡¯t know that this was because Tang Jie was using spiritual energy to protect his body. They just thought they were tired and weak from the prolonged whipping.


    On the other hand, Tang Jie was getting more and more excited. He discovered that when he was whipped, the spiritual energy would enter his body more effectively. The Visceral Manifestation ssic could absorb spiritual energy through the skin, and when the skin was broken open, the absorption effect grew stronger. Although it could notpare to the Jade Gate, it was excellent for refining the body.


    These few moments of whipping had been more effective for Tang Jie¡¯s cultivation than the previous several months. Tang Jie was looking forward to more whipping.


    <em>Harder!</em>


    <em>Whip me harder!</em> Tang Jie mentally shouted, and then he mocked himself for having fallen so low.


    This was truly being spurred on!


    Of course, Tang Jie still pretended to be on hisst breaths.


    The whipping went on for more than an hour, after which the boy servants started to get scared.


    Only now did they realize that whipping someone could kill them.


    Wen Qing walked over and said to Wei Tianchong, ¡°Young Master, that¡¯s enough. If you keep beating him, he really might die.¡±


    Wei Tianchong had never killed anyone before, and he was not so ruthless as to regard human lives as nothing more than toys. Wen Qing¡¯s warning scared him out of his wits, and only now did he realize that he had gone overboard. He hastily said, ¡°Is he still alive?¡±


    A boy servant walked over and ced a finger under Tang Jie¡¯s nose. ¡°He¡¯s alive.¡±


    Wei Tianchong immediately sighed in relief.


    So long as Tang Jie was alive, he wasn¡¯t afraid.


    His fear gone, his temper returned.


    Tang Jie¡¯s daring in killing his horse and those cold and horrifying eyes made Wei Tianchong explode with rage, and he shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t let him down. Keep him tied to the tree!¡±


    Saying this, he went back to his room to go to bed. After all this activity, he was rather tired.


    Tang Jie mentally gave a bitterugh. This child truly didn¡¯t know what was important.


    <em>Don¡¯t you know that, even without whipping, tying a person to a tree overnight can kill a man?</em>


    s, he had no ns to give up his life to prove Wei Tianchong¡¯s mistake. It would probably take ages until this kid understood this principle.


    The boy servants naturally would not dare to let Tang Jie down without Wei Tianchong¡¯s order.


    Tang Jie was in no rush. He used the time to nurture his organs with spiritual energy.


    In truth, using spiritual energy to heal his external wounds was the most appropriate choice.


    But after considering the people of the Wei Estate, he decided to give up on this chance.


    As he expected, nurturing the organs had less of an effect than nurturing the bones and skin. This was presumably brought about by the situation of his body.


    To nourish the organs, one needed to consume physical energy, to put the body through intense physical activity. To refine the bones and skin, one probably needed to be beaten.


    <em>Haaa, it¡¯s not like I can hire someone to beat me, right?</em>


    <em>No, battle!</em>


    Tang Jie suddenly understood.


    The Ninedark Martial Lord was a great power of the world who had made his fame through battle. This art had naturally been prepared for the sake of battle.


    Tang Jie had finally understood, but s, he couldn¡¯tugh at this time.


    Understanding a person¡¯s arts was actually about understanding the person!


    <em>I¡¯m an idiot! Why didn¡¯t I realize this sooner?</em>


    Fortunately, he still had time. In the future, when he learned the arts of his predecessors, he had to first understand the person. Only then could he truly grasp the essence of the art.


    After a night of cultivation, Tang Jie had essentially healed all of his internal injuries, but his skin remained a horrifying, mangled mess of blood and flesh.


    At daybreak, Tang Jie grew tired and fell asleep.


    It wasn¡¯t long before the maid Yanzhi came to the Meditation Garden with the morning tea. When she saw Tang Jie¡¯s mangled body on the tree, she was so frightened that she dropped her tray.


    Lady Wei, Zheng Shufeng, was already awake. She was eating her white fungus and lotus seed porridge when she heard Yanzhi running in.


    ¡°Mydy, something¡¯s happened!¡±


    ¡°What has you in such a panic?¡± Zheng Shufeng originated from a great n and emphasized tradition in all things. She had always disliked servants running around and shouting without any semnce of order.


    ¡°Tang Jie¡­ Tang Jie¡­ the young master tied him up on a tree and beat him into a bloody mess! He might be dead!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Zheng Shufeng stood up so quickly that she knocked her bowl of porridge onto the floor.

 Chapter 25: Fall

    ¡°Who did this?¡± thedy angrily roared as she looked up at the bound Tang Jie on the tree.


    The boy servants on the side all trembled in fear, not daring to speak.


    In truth, this was a pointless question. Who else besides Wei Tianchong would have been so bold as to do this?


    Thedy had clearly realized this. She yelled, ¡°Wen Qing, why haven¡¯t you brought him down yet? Shi Meng, go and wake up Chong¡¯er. What time is it that he¡¯s still sleeping? Shi Mo, talk! What happened?¡±


    Shi Mo recounted what had happenedst night in a terrified and shaky voice. He naturally didn¡¯t say anything good about Tang Jie, saying only that Tang Jie had gotten in the way of Wei Tianchong¡¯s fun and even killed the young master¡¯s horse. Enraged, the young master had whipped him.


    But Zheng Shufeng was a sharpdy, and she immediately knew that something was wrong.


    Tang Jie had been with the estate for some time now, and she had some understanding of him. She knew Tang Jie to have a calm andposed personality, and he would never do something without a reason. Noticing the lie in Shi Mo¡¯s recount, she immediately pped him. ¡°Bastard thing, even daring to deceive me? Chen Yan, Chen Xin, separate these children and question them individually!¡±


    The brothers Chen Yan and Chen Xin were the guards of the Meditation Garden.


    Although she wasn¡¯t a professional interrogator, questioning the witnesses separately was something a professional interrogator would have chosen to do.


    These children had little experience in the ways of the world, so a few questions soon had them spilling the beans.


    When Zheng Shufeng heard that her son had gone off to the mountains to drink wine and even nned to ride up the mountain in the middle of the night, she became so angry that she started shaking.


    At this time, Wei Tianchong came over.


    The intoxication had faded, as had his anger. When he saw Tang Jie¡¯s body lying on the ground and his mother, he felt all of his arrogance leaving him, and he obediently walked up to his mother and said, ¡°Mom¡­¡±


    Before he could say anything, Zheng Shufeng pped her son on the face.


    Wei Tianchong was dumbfounded by this p. Meanwhile, Zheng Shufeng began to scold her son, ¡°Will you only be satisfied when you¡¯ve angered me to death? Drinking wine and trying to ride a horse up Weing Dragon Mountain, and even almost whipping Tang Jie to death! How could I have given birth to such a good-for-nothing!?¡±


    She grew angrier the more she thought about it. She took out hersh and began to mindlessly beat Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong had never tasted such pain before, and he began to yowl in pain. As he ran around, he shouted, ¡°That kid killed my horse! My horse! What¡¯s wrong with me hitting him? I¡¯m the young master!¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m your mother!¡± Thedy began to strike him even more savagely.


    But in the end, this was her son. Once she saw that she had beaten Wei Tianchong¡¯s face into a swollen mess, even drawing blood, she hesitated and eased her strikes.


    But the thought of how ignorant her son was continued to cause her to shake in rage.


    The young master saw that his mother had stopped hitting him, so his courage came back, and he stubbornly said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with me riding a horse up the mountain? I¡¯m very good at riding, so nothing would have happened. Besides, even if he wanted to stop me, why did he have to kill my horse? He¡¯s my servant, yet he dared to kill my horse! Why shouldn¡¯t I be able to punish him?¡±


    ¡°Still don¡¯t know your errors?¡± Zheng Shufeng pointed at her son and cursed, ¡°Weing Dragon Mountain has steep slopes, and you wanted to ride up that mountain with your meager skill? You¡¯re seeking death! You had your servants stop Tang Jie, and he couldn¡¯t hit you, so what could he do except kill your horse? And you hoodlums! You were meant to serve the young master, but what have you done? You did not stop the young master frommitting errors, and you even forced Tang Jie to kill the horse! Bastards, the lot of you! Leave the estate at once!¡±


    These words caused Wen Qing and the others to turn deathly pale.


    The boys all kneeled on the ground, trembling as they begged for mercy. Fortunately, the old nanny next to Zheng Shufeng said, ¡°Mydy, if you really drive all of them away, who will serve the young master? You also know that they are all servants. For some things¡­ they truly cannot be counted on to stop. That Tang Jie was quite the bold one, daring to even kill the young master¡¯s horse. It is no wonder the young master was angry.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re speaking up for them,¡± thedy said as she red at the nanny.


    This nanny was Wei Tianchong¡¯s wet nurse, who had a rather high status in the estate, so she did not fear thedy much. Smiling, she said, ¡°I just feel that even if you drive these people away and bring another batch, the same thing will happen.¡±


    Zheng Shufeng thought it over and realized that this was right. But she was still angry, so she red at the boys and harrumphed, ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll keep you around for now. Once the Master returns, we¡¯ll decide how to deal with them!¡±


    The young master shouted, ¡°For what reason!? Shi Mo and the others are my servants. No one else is allowed to touch them. Without that Tang Jie, I would have been perfectly fine yesterday!¡±


    ¡°Still not convinced? Alright, since you said that you would be fine, let me see it! One of you, bring over a horse and have him ride it up Weing Dragon Mountain! It¡¯s day now and you¡¯re not drunk, so you can see the road clearly. Let me see if you can ride a horse up the mountain!¡±


    ¡°Alright!¡± Wei Tianchong agreed.


    For some things, one would never know how difficult they were unless one tried to do them!


    When Wei Tianchong rode his horse up to the base of Weing Dragon Mountain and saw the steep mountain path and the summit that pierced into the clouds, his heart trembled.


    At night, he hadn¡¯t been able to see it clearly, but now that he had another look at it, he realized that it truly was a difficult path. How was it that he had not noticed earlier?


    ¡°What? Afraid?¡± Zheng Shufeng asked with a cold look at her son.


    Boys couldn¡¯t handle being provoked.


    Wei Tianchong raised his head and said, ¡°Who said that? I was just looking at the path¡­ Watch me!¡±


    He raised his whip and had the horse gallop up the mountain.


    It was easy at the start, the slopes not steep and the ground rather close.


    But as he got higher, the road became increasingly uneven, with stones littering the path. The slightestck of caution would cause the horse¡¯s body to tilt.


    A third of the way up the mountain, the winds began to pick up, constantly howling around. The summit was still distant, and Wei Tianchong¡¯s heart began to thump.


    He no longer dared to charge forward, leading his horse to carefully trot forward. Though it was slower, it was much better than not reaching the summit.


    If he could reach the summit, he could prove that he was right. This was how Wei Tianchong encouraged himself.


    s, reality was not as pretty as his imagination. Weing Dragon Mountain was no servant of the Wei n and had no need to give face to the young master.


    He wasn¡¯t even halfway up the mountain. At this time, a mountain path appeared before Wei Tianchong.


    This mountain path was not too narrow, at least twenty feet in width, but both sides were steep, bare cliffs. It was far more frightening than the road that had run around the mountain.


    Wei Tianchong grew fearful. He wanted to turn back, but he also wasn¡¯t willing to give up, so he rode the horse forward.


    As he trotted on that unshielded mountain path, a gust blew across, causing the horse and rider to both sway.


    Wei Tianchong asionally nced down and saw a dizzying and seemingly bottomless abyss.


    ¡°Hold!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted.


    Although he was afraid, he had a stubborn personality and was unwilling to back down no matter what. His horse slowly pressed forward, traversing the mountain path like it was walking along a steel wire.


    At this moment, the horse suddenly stepped on a rock, and its body tilted. Wei Tianchong hastily pulled on the reins to try and stabilize the horse.


    But he put too much power into it, and as the horse got its footing back, Wei Tianchong lost control of his body. He fell off the horse, and after tumbling over on the ground a few times, he rolled straight off the cliff.


    He actually could have stopped himself, but fear had drained his body of strength. Unable to hold on, he tumbled off the mountain path and into the abyss.


    ¡°Noooo!¡± Wei Tianchong wailed in fear.


    Just when he thought he was dead, a beam of spiritual light shot out, wrapped around Wei Tianchong, and stopped his fall.


    Wei Tianchong raised his head in shock and saw a white-bearded elder floating in the air, the spirit line in his hand wrapped around Wei Tianchong. With a pull, the elder brought Wei Tianchong to his side, after which heughed and took Wei Tianchong back down the mountain. He moved with deceptive speed, and in the blink of an eye, he had arrived in front of Lady Wei.


    The elder saluted Zheng Shufeng and said, ¡°I have fulfilled my duty!¡±


    ¡°Mom!¡± Wei Tianchong looked at his mother. His legs were still trembling, and he suddenly felt wetness between his legs. Looking down, he saw that he had wet his pants just now.


    There was a burst of muffledughter.


    Zheng Shufeng coldly snorted. ¡°Riding a horse in the day and you weren¡¯t even able to get halfway up the mountain. You still think your horsemanship is good?¡±


    Wei Tianchong could no longer say anything.


    ¡°Good-for-nothing son, why haven¡¯t you thanked Master Lu for saving you?¡±


    Wei Tianchong was just about to thank him when the elder waved his hand, ¡°Forget it. I wasn¡¯t the one who saved you; it was Tang Jie¡­ Don¡¯t let this happen again, Young Master!¡±


    When Tang Jie awoke, he found that he was lying in a bed.


    It was an extremely soft bed, the quilt made from satin, and there was even incense burning in the room. The environment was very elegant, so this was clearly not a servant¡¯s dwelling.


    Tang Jie was startled, but when he tried to stand up, he discovered that he was wrapped up like a sticky rice dumpling.


    At this moment, a maid came in with a wash basin. Looking at Tang Jie, she smiled and said, ¡°You¡¯re awake.¡±


    Tang Jie recognized this maid. She was called ¡®Shi Yue¡¯, and she was one of thedy¡¯s maids.


    ¡°So it was Elder Sister Shi Yue. What is this ce? Why am I here?¡± Tang Jie already had a good idea about what was going on from the smile on Shi Yue¡¯s face, but he still feigned ignorance.


    Shi Yue walked over, wet a towel, and wiped Tang Jie¡¯s face. ¡°This is Fragrant Perch, the room used for honored guests. Don¡¯t worry; it was thedy who ordered you to be brought here. You¡¯re blessed!¡±


    Shi Yue then gave him a general ount of what had happened while he was ¡®unconscious¡¯.


    ¡°Thedy said that you did right and did well. This time, it was because the young master was too unreasonable, and thedy harshly punished him. He¡¯s not permitted to leave his house for three months. As for Shi Mo and Shi Meng, they were originally going to be fired, but the wet nurse spoke up for them, so their punishment was put off.¡±


    Though Shi Mo and Shi Meng were ve servants, they still had a background. Just like how Tang Jie had been rmended by the chief steward, Shi Mo and Shi Meng had also managed to get in through connections with their rtives. In Shi Mo¡¯s case, he was a child of a rtive of the wet nurse. Otherwise, the wet nurse would not have been able to speak up on their behalf.


    As young masters usually grew up on the milk of their wet nurses, in ancient times, wet nurses enjoyed higher status in theserge ns. The most famous wet nurse in history was Madame Ke, who had been the wet nurse to the Tianqi Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youjiao, and for a time, one could say that the bnces of power had been reversed.


    To all that had transpired, Tang Jie was nonchnt.


    Although the wet nurse¡¯s words had prevented thedy from driving out Shi Mo and Shi Meng, after this incident, both of them had fallen in favor, and it would be very difficult to recover.


    Some errors could not bemitted!


    As expected, Shi Yue said, ¡°Even so, thedy ns to move Shi Mo away from the young master¡¯s side.¡±


    ¡°Who will take Shi Mo¡¯s ce?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what they¡¯re talking about right now? The chief steward rmended you, saying that you¡¯re mature andposed, but the second steward and third steward have their own candidates, saying that you would be recovering for some time or that you¡¯re unqualified. Hmph! In any case, they all want to rmend their own people. The master and thedy are still discussing the matter. Thedy prefers you, but the master has some apprehensions¡­¡±


    Shi Yue looked around, and when she was sure that no one else was around, she whispered to Tang Jie, ¡°Immortal Master Lu went to look at the horse you killed and said that your stab was vicious and decisive, taking the horse¡¯s life with a single blow. Such uracy and lethality is not something an ordinary boy should have. And since your background is still somewhat murky, the master is still rather wary.¡±


    His persistent bribes had finally worked, and both Yanzhi and Shi Yue were now on friendly terms with Tang Jie. This was why Yanzhi reported to thedy immediately on seeing Tang Jie, and why Shi Yue had warned Tang Jie about what the master was thinking.


    ¡°Thank you, Elder Sister Shi. I understand.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not worried?¡± Shi Yue saw the unperturbed look on Tang Jie¡¯s face and became rather curious.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°The human heart will reveal itself in time. For some things, rushing will do no good.¡±


    Shi Yue also smiled. ¡°What a good temper you have. Oh, this is some spirit medicine thedy got from Immortal Master Lu. Once you take it, your injuries should recover more quickly.¡±


    Saying this, she took out a medicine bottle, removed a single pill, and ced the pill in Tang Jie¡¯s mouth.


    The pill melted in Tang Jie¡¯s mouth, and Tang Jie felt a stream of spiritual energy flowing through his body, carrying with it an indescribablyfortable warmth. This energy flowed through his meridians, producing an effect far greater than that of the Visceral Manifestation ssic.


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°A wonderful medicine!¡±


    ¡°Of course! This is an Immortal¡¯s spirit medicine. Immortal Master Lu is normally reluctant to use it. He even told me that I should bring him back the rest once you were healed.¡±


    In truth, Tang Jie could heal his wounds very quickly so long as he wanted it.


    But after hearing Shi Yue¡¯s words, he suddenly felt like resting up in bed for a few days wasn¡¯t a bad idea.

 Chapter 26: Refusing the Secretary Post

    After resting for ten-some days, Tang Jie finally ¡®recovered¡¯, havingpletely consumed that bottle of spirit medicine. Embezzlement was something that went from small to big. Tang Jie had grown bored of embezzling worthless things like steel wire and was very happy to see that he could take his embezzlement to a new level.


    When thedy heard that Tang Jie had recovered, she had Shi Yue bring him over.


    Unlike before, it was not just thedy meeting with Tang Jie, but also Patriarch Wei Danbai and that Spirit Master who had saved Wei Tianchong from falling that day, Lu Chenyang.


    Wei Danbai was the sort that you could tell was grim and inflexible at first nce, someone who wasn¡¯t easy to interact with. His square face rarely smiled, and he was serious, quiet, and focused on business. It was a perfect face for depicting on a giant portrait to hang from the gate tower.


    ¡°Tang Jie pays respects to the master, thedy, and Spirit Master Lu!¡± Upon entering, Tang Jie first bowed to the three of them.


    ¡°Sit.¡± Zheng Shufeng smiled at Tang Jie. She had a very favorable opinion of Tang Jie and thus spoke to him in the kindest manner.


    ¡°With the master anddy present, this lowly one does not dare to sit.¡±


    ¡°Your injuries have just recovered, so there is no need for you to be polite,¡± thedy said, ordering a servant to bring Tang Jie a stool. It was only then that Tang Jie sat down.


    Once Tang Jie was seated, thedy said, ¡°You were mistreated in the previous incident. You did very well, but Chong¡¯er was ignorant. You were called this time so that you may be rewarded.¡±


    Yanzhi came forward with a tray upon which were ten gleaming silver ingots.


    Tang Jie knew that a single silver ingot was equivalent to ten taels of silver. This was a reward of one hundred taels of silver, a truly generous reward.


    Tang Jie was just about to say a few polite words when Wei Danbai said, ¡°It is to reward you, so there is no need to refuse. It is the rule of the Wei Estate to reward merits and punish mistakes. This is your deserved reward.¡±


    <em>Hey, is there really any need to state such a simple principle? You think your n is the only one in the world that knows it?</em>


    Tang Jie sighed as he mentally grumbled.


    He knew that Wei Danbai was trying to draw a clear line and clearly wasn¡¯t nning to make too big a deal of this matter, let alone try to owe Tang Jie a favor. If Tang Jie refused, Wei Danbai would only think that he wanted more, so it was best to just ept the reward.


    But this was fine too. With one hundred taels of silver, he could buy some excellent medicine for the Wu couple.


    Thedy continued, ¡°We have already investigated the situation. It was Shi Mo¡¯s idea to drink alcohol, it was Shi Mo who proposed going up the mountain at night, and it was even Shi Mo who called for you to be beaten. This little scoundrel! Rather than supervising the young master¡¯s studies, he encourages him to cause trouble every day. It¡¯s outrageous! Out of respect for the wet nurse, I have not driven him out of the estate, but he cannot stay any longer at the young master¡¯s side.¡±


    Thedy took a sip of tea and cleared her throat before continuing, ¡°Since Shi Mo will no longer be here, someone must take his ce. I n to make you Shi Mo¡¯s recement.¡±


    Tang Jie nced at Wei Danbai, who was frowning slightly. He apparently didn¡¯t like the decision, but knew that it was thedy who had the power to make the decision.


    Zheng Shufeng was a rather forceful and intelligent woman. In the estate, she enjoyed the favor of the venerable master anddy, and she also had a significant reputation outside the estate. She herself was from a n of renown. Though the Zheng n was not as brilliant as the Wei n, it was still an old n. Zheng Shufeng was learned in both literature and etiquette, and after her marriage, she had managed the household well and caused the Wei n to prosper even more.


    This could be seen from how easily shemanded the Spirit Masters of the house. The living expenses of these Spirit Masters were all directly handled by Zheng Shufeng. As the manager of the household, she had managed to seize control of the n¡¯s most important strength. These Spirit Masters probably listened to her even more than Wei Danbai.


    It was thus no wonder that Zheng Shufeng had more say over personnel than Wei Danbai.


    If Tang Jie had to pick between the master and thedy, he would be more willing to serve thedy.


    But when Zheng Shufeng said these words, after some thought, Tang Jie answered, ¡°Mydy, thank you for your kindness, but this lowly one currently does not think he is suitable to rece Shi Mo. Mydy, please reconsider.¡±


    Zheng Shufeng had not expected him to refuse. Even Wei Danbai, Spirit Master Lu, Steward Qin, and Yanzhi were all startled, looking at Tang Jie in shock.


    ¡°You¡¯re not willing?¡± Zheng Shufeng asked.


    Tang Jie hastily replied, ¡°It¡¯s not that I am unwilling, but because I killed the young master¡¯s horse, the young master might still hold some resentment against me, thus making it difficult for me to fulfill my duty as a reading partner. The young master¡¯s studies are a major concern, and if the young master¡¯s studies are dyed, this lowly one would feel ashamed. For some things, if they cannot be done well, they should not be done.¡±


    Husband and wife were both startled.


    ¡°For some things, if they cannot be done well, they should not be done¡­¡± Zheng Shufeng muttered Tang Jie¡¯s words. ¡°An excellent saying!¡±


    She suddenly giggled and looked at her husband. ¡°Master, do you still think I¡¯ve picked the wrong person?¡±


    Wei Danbai said nothing, but Master Lu said, ¡°Mydy truly possesses formidable insight. This child does not possess a reserved mindset, but rather an early-matured wisdom. He knows what should be done and what should not be done, when to retreat or advance, and when to give up. Good, very good!¡±


    It was only after Spirit Master Lu¡¯s praises that Wei Danbai finally spoke. ¡°But he is right. Chong¡¯er is an ignorant child and will probably hold a grudge against Tang Jie on this matter. For now, it is not proper to have him serve as a reading partner for him. Though Shi Mo has made mistakes, he has done his utmost to serve Chong¡¯er. Let us give him one more chance.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all because of your many misgivings!¡± Zheng Shufeng rolled her eyes at her husband. ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, let¡¯s give Shi Mo another chance, but if he dares to make another mistake, I will not show him mercy.¡±


    She turned to Tang Jie and said, ¡°You have just recovered and your health is still unsteady. Return and rest for a day beforeing back.¡±


    Thus, the meeting came to a close.


    As he sent Tang Jie out, Steward Qin couldn¡¯t help butin, ¡°Goodness, child, what can I say? So many people are seeking to be the young master¡¯s reading partner, but you gave up on it! Truly¡­¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Are you not worried about dying the young master¡¯s studies?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t try that on me,¡± Steward Qin snorted. ¡°Talk. You must have had something else on your mind, right?¡±


    Tang Jie rather trusted Steward Qin.


    After some thought, Tang Jie answered, ¡°I truly did have a few other reasons I could not openly speak about for not bing a reading partner. As Sir knows, apanying the young master in studies is the most tiring and thankless task. If you supervise him, the young master will get annoyed, but if you don¡¯t guide him, thedy won¡¯t like you.¡±


    Steward Qin nodded. While everyone sought the reading partner position, it wasn¡¯t an easy job. It took enormous effort to keep both sides happy.


    Tang Jie felt that while he could do it, it would require far too much energy.


    He was still studying the Dao of Formations every day and making a lot of progress. He had no need to take on such a tiresome role.


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°It won¡¯t be long before the young master¡¯s examination. In the young master¡¯s current circumstances, Uncle Qin, do you think he will do well?¡±


    Thinking it over, Steward Qin sighed. ¡°Him? We would have to thank the ancestors if he even managed to write aplete essay!¡±


    ¡°Thus, if I became the reading partner, wouldn¡¯t I be taking the me for Shi Mo?¡±


    Steward Qin began tough. ¡°I just knew you had seen something! You¡¯re right. Now truly isn¡¯t the right time to be a reading partner. But if you want to go to Basking Moon Academy, you¡¯ll have to be his reading partner eventually.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not for certain,¡± Tang Jie casually replied. ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any n that has it as a rule that only close servants can be servant students, yes?¡±


    Bing a close servant was like bing secretary for a leader.


    It was easy to get promotions as a secretary, but did anyone say that only secretaries could get promoted?


    Tang Jie, with his merits fromndscaping art, was like an official wielding real power who had a good track record. He already had some hope of promotion, so why insist on pursuing the secretary position?


    If he really got the post but did nothing of merit, he would only be wiping away all his previous contributions.


    Through his understanding of this principle, Tang Jie lost all his interest in the reading partner position.


    Steward Qin was taken aback. ¡°That¡¯s true, but the close servants are all closer to the young master, and the young master¡¯s intentions can directly determine your future. It would be better if you got close to him.¡±


    Tang Jie profoundly answered, ¡°While the young master¡¯s will is truly important on the matter of the servant students, it is not the young master who wields the true decision-making power, but thedy! So long as I have thedy¡¯s support, I could clean the chamber pots and still be a servant student! Thus, I¡¯m not worried about whether or not I can fight for the position. At times, not fighting is the best way to fight!¡±


    Steward Qin was left utterly bbergasted by Tang Jie¡¯s words.


    Perhaps because they wanted to be the young master¡¯s servant student, many people had made it a high priority to draw the young master¡¯s attention, yet neglected to pay attention to the background.


    But Tang Jie had not.


    As someone who had worked in the bureaucracy, Tang Jie was well aware that one had to understand who wielded the true power!


    Only by attaching oneself to the true power holder could one have any chance at future prospects.


    s, many people couldn¡¯t understand something so simple.


    While the young master¡¯s opinion was very important when it came to the matter of school admission, the only one whose words truly mattered was thedy. Even Wei Danbai had to listen to his wife!


    Bereft of thedy¡¯s trust, Shi Mo was merely a decoration in the reading partner position!


    She could tolerate Shi Mo because Wei Tianchong was still in the Wei n, under her control, and Shi Mo wouldn¡¯t be able to cause too much trouble. At the same time, she gave face to the wet nurse.


    But when Wei Tianchong went off to school, the heavens were high and the emperor was far away. Her child would have to face many things alone, and thedy could not possibly leave her child in the hands of such an unreliable servant. For something as important as this, face no longer mattered!


    Thus, by losing thedy¡¯s trust, Shi Mo had essentially already lost the right to be a servant student.


    s, even now, he didn¡¯t understand this. He continued to bitterly struggle for the reading partner post, hoping that clinging to the young master could keep his hopes alive. Little did he know that this only annoyed thedy further.


    On this question, let alone those children, not even Steward Qin had noticed, and he had needed Tang Jie¡¯s prompting to understand. He regarded Tang Jie in a different light.


    Qin Yuan shook his head and sighed. ¡°In the end, I underestimated you.¡±


    Tang Jie bowed. ¡°No matter what happens to Tang Jie in the future, I will never forget the kindness shown to me by the two elders and Steward Qin!¡±


    Shrewdness did not mean ruthless callousness.


    Though Tang Jie had deceived and used the Wu couple and Steward Qin, he felt sincerely grateful for how they had treated him. Thus, these words came from the heart, and Steward Qin was gratified to hear them.


    Life returned to its normal course.


    Tang Jie continued to work in the garden while honing his Dao of Formations.


    His level in the Dao of Formations swelled, but this primarily manifested in his bewildering formations. As his Spirit Eye wasn¡¯t open yet, he didn¡¯t have sufficient spiritual energy toy down formations. Thus, Tang Jie put in even more effort when it came to linking his formation lines, and gradually, he began to develop his own unique style, though it was still difficult to determine in what direction it would go.


    Besides that, Tang Jie developed a habit of taking a morning run every day.


    He would run from the Wei Estate to Weing Dragon Mountain, where he would find a deserted ce to lift weights and do squats, circte the technique of the Visceral Manifestation ssic, and breathe in spiritual energy. Once he was done circting the technique, he would return to the Wei Estate for the day¡¯s work.


    asionally, when he saw other servants doing heavybor, he would volunteer to help, using this chance to train his Visceral Manifestation ssic and also obtain the praise of the other servants. As a result, his rtions with the other servants of the Wei Estate became better and better.


    As the days went by, Tang Jie grew taller and stronger, his body gaining muscle. But these muscles were not as outrageous as those of bodybuilders. They simply made him appear very healthy and energetic.


    Whenever the young master was bored, he woulde and look at him work, but this was usually restricted to a few nces from a distance before he left.


    Their rtionship became strange, and no one could say what it was really like.


    As for Shi Mo and Shi Meng, they became much more obedient after the horse-stabbing incident, and no longer dared to cause any trouble. The Meditation Garden weed a rare moment of peace.


    The only bad thing was that Tang Jie had another nickname after the incident: Horse-Stabbing Tang Jie.


    This was his second epithet after his entry to the Wei Estate, the first being ¡®that Tang Jie who gets three strings of cash a month¡¯.


    Frankly, Tang Jie didn¡¯t like it, as this reminded Wei Tianchong every day that Tang Jie had killed his horse, which made him ufortable.


    Tang Jie knew that this was a scheme concocted by Shi Mo and the others, but there was nothing he could do.


    No¡ªthat wasn¡¯t quite true.


    Since he couldn¡¯t wash away his own problems, he could only look forward to his rivals performing even worse.


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s examination soon arrived.


    As expected, the teacher¡¯s assessment was blunt and brutal: ¡®Ignorant and ipetent, making aughingstock of himself!¡¯


    When thedy saw this evaluation and saw the shoddily written and incoherent essay, she gave her son a good beating, and her opinion of Shi Mo fell to the lowest level possible. But Shi Mo knew nothing about this and continued to curry the young master¡¯s favor.


    In this calm fashion, more than a year went by.


    Today, Tang Jie was continuing to care for the flowers and nts of the garden. He knew every nt in the garden well, and a casual stroke of his hand could produce wonders.


    At this time, Tang Jie saw Shi Yue in the distance.


    ¡°Elder Sister Shi Yue, for what reason have youe to the Meditation Garden today?¡± Tang Jie asked with a smile.


    Shi Yue had a grave expression. She went up to Tang Jie and whispered into his ear.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Tang Jie paled.

 Chapter 27: A New Rival

    Ji Ziqian stood in the hall, bowing to Zheng Shufeng. ¡°Ziqian pays respects to my maternal aunt!¡±


    Seated on the raised tform, Zheng Shufeng inspected Ji Ziqian. She saw that this was a delicate youth who appeared well-learned and polite. Satisfied, she softly asked, ¡°How old are you now?¡±


    ¡°Thirteen, born in the same year as Chong¡¯er and two months older than Chong¡¯er. Sister-inw, how could you forget?¡± The one who spoke was a middle-aged woman seated next to Zheng Shufeng. She was elegantly and luxuriously dressed, but she seemedckingpared to Zheng Shufeng.


    Her name was Wei Lanxin, and she was Wei Danbai¡¯s younger sister who had been married out.


    Zheng Shufeng pped her forehead. ¡°Oh my! I¡¯m getting old, so my memory isn¡¯t what it used to be. Ziqian, it has been a long time since youst came to our home, yes?¡±


    ¡°Two years and four months,¡± Ji Ziqian answered.


    ¡°Oh, you remember the day so well,¡± thedy said with a smile.


    ¡°Ziqian has always yearned to enter the Wei n, but the distance of my home makes visiting inconvenient. I naturally remembered my one visit.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a child that knows how to speak.¡± Thedy nodded in satisfaction. She turned to Wei Lanxin. ¡°This child doesn¡¯t seem bad.¡±


    ¡°If you think he¡¯s not bad, then there¡¯s a chance?¡± Wei Lanxin smiled.


    Zheng Shufeng was in no rush, casually saying, ¡°But Ziqian is still a child of the Ji n. Wouldn¡¯t it be wronging him too much to make him a servant student of Chong¡¯er?¡±


    ¡°No, no!¡± Wei Lanxin waved her hand. ¡°Ziqian is blessed to be able to enter the Wei n. It¡¯s an opportunity that you can¡¯t get even if you beg for it. We don¡¯t seek anything else. My n will pay for everything else. All we need is the spot.¡±


    ¡°How could that do?¡± Thedy was not happy to hear this, frowning and saying, ¡°Since he will be a servant student, the Wei n will naturally pay for the expenses. How could it be reasonable for your n to pay?¡±


    Ji Ziqian hastily said, ¡°If maternal aunt¡¯s support can allow me into the academy, Ziqian will be deeply grateful and will repay you until my body crumbles!¡±


    ¡°These are heavy words,¡± thedy said. ¡°We are all family, so what need is there to repay until the body crumbles? Sit, sit. There¡¯s no need to be so polite. In a little while, I will take you to see the venerable master. For this matter, his venerable self¡¯s approval is needed¡­¡±


    Standing in the flowerbed, Tang Jie sternly asked, ¡°So thedy has already agreed?¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t there at the time. I heard all of this from Yanzhi, so I don¡¯t know the details,¡± Shi Yue whispered. ¡°I do know that she didn¡¯t agree immediately, instead pushing the matter to the venerable master. But it seems that it will seed.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s strange.¡± Tang Jie was confused. ¡°Can¡¯t thedy decide this on her own? Why leave it to the venerable master?¡±


    ¡°How would I know?¡±


    Tang Jie pondered the problem for ages and still couldn¡¯t find out the reason. He could only mutter, ¡°There¡¯s something fishy going on here.¡±


    ¡°Why are you thinking about what¡¯s fishy or not? I¡¯m saying that the spot is about to be taken away and you¡¯re still not nervous?¡± Shi Yue was amazed by hisposed manner.


    Tang Jie indifferently replied, ¡°The ones who should be nervous are Shi Mo and Shi Meng. Suddenly, two spots have be one. This should have been a big blow to them, right?¡±


    Shi Yue covered her mouth and chuckled. ¡°Shi Mo has been very obedient as ofte, probably thinking that he still has a good chance, but he¡¯s probably crying after hearing this news. But since there¡¯s only one spot, it means that your and Shi Meng¡¯s chances have both gotten smaller. You had best be careful!¡±


    ¡°I understand. Right, I still haven¡¯t thanked you for telling me this.¡± Tang Jie took out some money to ce in Shi Yue¡¯s hand.


    But to his surprise, Shi Yue drew back her hand and red at him. ¡°You think everyone is like Yanzhi, helping you for some money? Idiot!¡±


    Her face red, she turned to leave.


    Tang Jie watched Shi Yue leave in shock, and then he shook his head and bitterly smiled.


    But a momentter, his face was covered by dark clouds.


    He muttered, ¡°Ji Ziqian¡­¡±


    He had heard about the Ji n.


    The Ji n was a n of Ling Province¡¯s Yongkang City. It was an old n with deep roots in Yongkang and had a longer history than the Wei n. It primarily operated in the buying and selling of textiles.


    But in thest ten-some years, the Ji n¡¯s textile business had been steadily deteriorating, and the n¡¯s fortunes were beginning to wane.


    Yongkang didn¡¯t have a high status in Ling Province, and the Ji n¡¯s falling fortunes meant that obtaining a spot at the academy was extremely difficult.


    In these circumstances, it was understandable that Ji Lanxin would seek out a chance for her son as a servant student.


    But his arrival was a nightmare for all the servants hoping to be servant students!


    More importantly, if Ji Ziqian coulde out of nowhere to seize a spot, who could say that tomorrow wouldn¡¯t bring a Li Ziqian or Zhang Ziqian?


    There were only two spots for servant students, and if another came, Tang Jie would lose all hope!


    The poor would be ignored by all in a busy market, whereas the rich would be sought by distant rtives while deep in the mountains.


    The Wei n was a grand enterprise, and there were numerous people rted to them in one way or another. It wouldn¡¯t be strange if one or more people came up in another few days seeking out the servant student spot.


    Tang Jie felt his head swell at the thought of it.


    He had gone to such great effort for the sake of getting into Basking Moon Academy, but would it alle to naught just because of family connections?


    The thought of the rtionship between the Ji n and Wei n made Tang Jie feel helpless.


    No!


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes brightened.


    Thedy had not immediately agreed.


    Since she had pushed the matter to the venerable master, it meant that thedy did not actually like this. Though he didn¡¯t know the reason, the Ji n matter wasn¡¯t going as smoothly as it appeared.


    Then perhaps he still had a chance!


    That afternoon, once he was done with work, Tang Jie decided to go and see Chief Steward Qin rather than going to rest.


    After a long conversation, he went to the Lady¡¯s Harmony Garden.


    Thedy was taking her afternoon nap, so Yanzhi had nothing to do and was waiting outside. When she saw Tang Jieing over, she shot him a nce.


    Inwardly chuckling, Yanzhi walked over and said, ¡°Oh my, how is it that you have the free time to visit today?¡±


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°The young master is tired of flower arts, so I have to think about getting new tricks. But as Elder Sister knows, how could this little brother have this many tricks? As I was worrying about what to do, I remembered that Elder Sister is skilled at embroidery, so I¡¯vee to humble myself and ask Elder Sister Yanzhi to make an embroidery for me.¡±


    Yanzhi looked Tang Jie over. ¡°You even want a woman¡¯s embroidery? If this got out, how could I continue to walk the streets? It might even be misunderstood as you and me having an¡­¡±


    Her face turned red and she said no more. Tang Jie smiled and said, ¡°Yes, I was in too much of a rush and didn¡¯t think of this possibility. This being the case, forget it.¡±


    Though he implied that he was leaving, Tang Jie didn¡¯t actually move, instead saying, ¡°Right, Elder Sister Yanzhi, I heard that another honored guest came to the estate today?¡±


    Yanzhi looked in amusement at Tang Jie and snorted, ¡°Hmph, news travels rather fast. Was it that little rascal Shi Yue who told you? It seems that your request about embroidery was fake. What you really came for is information.¡±


    Tang Jie grinned. ¡°Rather than looking for information, I¡¯m here to verify it. After all, the Ji n and Wei n are connected by blood. This servant student matter must be set in stone already.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not for certain,¡± Yanzhi harrumphed. ¡°Thedy did not express her agreement, instead leaving it to the venerable master to decide. But the venerable master said that the master should be consulted over this matter, and the master is still out on business. He sent back a reply saying that there was no rush to decide the servant students just yet, and that that other young master should stay in the Wei Estate for a while and spend some time together with the young master.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re all shirking responsibility, but why?¡± Tang Jie hurriedly asked.


    Yanzhi grunted and ignored him.


    Tang Jie took out some money and ced it in Yanzhi¡¯s hand, upon which Yanzhi smiled and put it away. Looking around to make sure that no one was around, she went up to Tang Jie¡¯s ear and whispered, ¡°I don¡¯t know either. When the madame returned this time, she had many gifts, and she also said that so long as the Wei n gave the Ji n a spot, the Ji n could pay all the expenses. Surprisingly, thedy didn¡¯t seem to appreciate this kindness, instead taking them to see the venerable master. When she came back, she even threw a tantrum, saying ¡®Is my Wei n socking in money that they need to pay the fee? Truly inexplicable!¡¯ I really don¡¯t understand why she got so angry.¡±


    The academy fees were expensive, and to support several cultivation disciples every year, the Wei n paid a massive sum. For the Ji n to shoulder the school fees was a good thing, so why wasn¡¯t thedy satisfied? Yanzhi truly didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Tang Jie nodded and chuckled, his doubts finally cleared. ¡°I thought that this matter should have easily seeded, and was wondering why it was taking so long for the decision to be made. It seems that the problem is here.¡±


    Yanzhi was confused and poked Tang Jie. ¡°Hey, what are you saying? Do you know why thedy is angry?¡±


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°There¡¯s one other important reason the n is willing to select servants to join the young master in the academy besides serving the young master: to train an Immortal Master that belongs to them. To obtain a trustworthy Immortal Master, any amount of money is worth it. While the Ji n and Wei n are rted by marriage, Ji Ziqian is ultimately not a member of the Wei n. He isn¡¯t a part of the n, but he could join the n. But the madame insisted that the Ji n would pay the fees. This is clearly an investment meant to reduce the amount of power they need to borrow from the Wei n. In other words, in the future, Ji Ziqian will still serve the Ji n!¡±


    Tang Jie coldlyughed. ¡°For the poor, the school fee might be a high threshold to ovee, but for the big ns, it¡¯s the spot that¡¯s truly worth the money. You also know that those spots opened up to outsiders every year are things that not even money can buy. A single one of these few spots can be sold for tens of thousands of taels of silver, even one hundred thousand, many times more than the tuition. The hottest items in the auction houses are always the spots for Basking Moon Academy! But the Ji n is trying to take a Wei n spot while giving absolutely nothing in return. How could thedy not be angry? The Wei n gets one spot a year, but there are at least one hundred people every year who are after this spot. The Wei n uses this spot to bnce the books so that it can continue to support its members already in school. Otherwise, not even the Wei n would be able to bear this million-silver-tael expense. You can say that the selling of this spot has already be a business, and the Ji n has offered up the lowest bid out of everyone!¡±


    Tang Jie snorted. ¡°With such shortsighted vision, it¡¯s no wonder the Ji n is declining. They¡¯re not even willing to pay the most basic price, so how can they get the long-term rewards? Of course, they¡¯re only able to pull this off because of their closer rtionship. s, this madame has clearly overestimated the value of her chip. Not even the venerable master would agree to throw away tens of thousands of strings of cash for a daughter that he already married off.¡±


    He spoke casually but with a profound tone, and Yanzhi was amazed by what she was hearing.


    She was just a maid who served thedy, so her vision was very limited. Though she knew that Spirit Masters were revered, she had no clear idea about what this really meant. She only knew that the tuition fee of several hundred silver taels annually was an astronomical price, never realizing that the spot was actually the most valuable of all.


    She was a maid, so one or two silver taels was enough to entertain her for quite a few days. The thought of tens to hundreds of thousands of silver taels being thrown around left her dizzy and her head aching.


    After hearing Tang Jie¡¯sst few words, she finally understood why Shi Yue treated Tang Jie so well.


    She sensed that this rascal of a girl had seemingly understood everything and so had long ago made her choice¡­ She was investing for the future!


    This was different from Shi Mo, who was still entrusting his hopes to the young master. Yanzhi and Shi Yue had long ago realized that Shi Mo¡¯s chances were minuscule, and so Yanzhi had already begun to distance herself. However, for the sake of money, she had yet topletely ignore him. To her surprise, Shi Yue had gone a step further and had begun to hang around Tang Jie.


    Realizing this, Yanzhi cursed her blindness. She had thought herself smart, but she had been distracted by small profits. Meanwhile, though Shi Yue appeared gentle and quiet, she was secretly using every method at her disposal.


    Yanzhi¡¯s expression changed, and she smiled at Tang Jie and said, ¡°I get it now. You¡¯re the clever one here, immediately finding the problem. It seems that they won¡¯t be able to seed at this matter.¡±


    She was now trying to tter Tang Jie.


    ¡°That¡¯s not for certain either!¡± Tang Jie firmly said. ¡°In the end, the two ns are still connected by marriage. So long as the madame is willing to yield a little, the venerable master and master might be willing to lower themselves. It looks to me like the Ji n has grown too used to doing business and is ying the negotiating game, putting in the lowest bid when the seller is asking for the highest price. But the madame will eventually agree to a few conditions, at which point Ji Ziqian¡¯s entry into the academy will be set in stone.¡±


    Saying this, Tang Jie looked at Yanzhi and smiled. ¡°Elder Sister Yanzhi, though I haven¡¯t been with the estate for long, Elder Sister has helped me many times and I am grateful for it. I was originally nning to repay Elder Sister once I entered the academy, but it seems that my hopes are slim now.¡±


    He shook his head and sighed. ¡°s, Ji Ziqian is still the young master of the Ji n. No matter how much sess he achieves in the future, he will have nothing to do with Elder Sister.¡±


    Yanzhi was vexed by these words.


    This was true. Unlike Tang Jie, Ji Ziqian came from a wealthy n and had countless servants of his own. He had no need to gain the favor of the servants of the Wei n. Even if Yanzhi wanted to try and curry favor with Ji Ziqian, she had little chance.


    This caused Yanzhi to anxiously say, ¡°Isn¡¯t there still one spot left?¡±


    Tang Jie solemnly said, ¡°There are still two years until the young master leaves for the academy. How can Elder Sister Yanzhi be so sure that someone else might not pop up in the future? Moreover, two spots open is always better than one spot. Best to prepare for a rainy day. If you wait until the second spot is gone, no amount of anxiety will save you!¡±


    Yanzhi utterly paled.


    The hope that had just stirred up in her heart was instantly extinguished by Tang Jie, so it was easy to imagine her mood.


    Looking at Yanzhi¡¯s expression, Tang Jie knew that the time was ripe. He softly muttered, ¡°But it¡¯s not like there¡¯s no way¡­¡±

 Chapter 28: Alliance

    ¡°Impossible!¡± Shi Mo jumped up and stared at Yanzhi.


    Yanzhi sneered, ¡°The young master of the Ji n has already taken up residence in the Wei Estate and will soon be visiting the Meditation Garden. You¡¯ll know if it¡¯s real then. What, you think I would deceive you?¡±


    Shi Mo¡¯s entire body trembled.


    Though he didn¡¯t know that thedy had already decided to not give him any chances, he did know that he was inferior to Shi Meng in thedy¡¯s eyes.


    Shi Mo and Shi Meng were both close attendants to the young master, but Shi Meng¡¯s post was one of servitude, not study, so his lot was much easier than that of the reading partner. Moreover, he had a cautious personality and didn¡¯t have any impulsive ideas, and he had the support of the outer house steward. Thus, his impression in the eyes of thedy was much better.


    In the past, there had been two spots. One was for Shi Meng and the other was naturally for him. He knew that thedy didn¡¯t like him, but he wasn¡¯t too afraid. He had deluded himself into believing that the young master would help him.


    But now, only one spot was left, and his hopes had plunged. How could he possibly ept this?


    ¡°How could this be? How could this be?¡± Shi Mo frantically paced around while shaking his head. ¡°Only one spot is left¡­ I can¡¯t beat Shi Meng! I can¡¯t!¡±


    Yanzhi inwardlyughed at Shi Mo¡¯s appearance. Tang Jie had been right that he was truly a good-for-nothing, but she said, ¡°What? You¡¯re giving up? It seems like I was optimistic about you for nothing!¡±


    ¡°Then what do you think I should do?¡±


    ¡°You! What an idiot! You need me to give you advice? Don¡¯t forget that Ji Ziqian hasn¡¯t officially been made a servant student yet. He¡¯s only temporarily living here. You still have a chance. You just have to drive out Ji Ziqian, right?¡±


    ¡°Me? How am I going to drive him out? He¡¯s the young master of the Ji n, the young master¡¯s older cousin!¡± Shi Mo shouted.


    Yanzhi snorted. ¡°If you can¡¯t drive him away, why not the young master?¡±


    Shi Mo was startled. ¡°The young master?¡±


    Yanzhi savagely said, ¡°Yes, the young master! Don¡¯t forget what he came here to do! To be a servant student! A servant student is a servant! He¡¯se here to be a servant, to serve the young master. Here, he is no longer the Ji n¡¯s young master, but a servant of the Wei n. Do you get it?¡±


    Shi Mo understood what Yanzhi was hinting at, and his eyes shed. ¡°Yes, he¡¯s trying to fight with me over the servant student post, right? Hmph, then I¡¯ll teach him what it means to be a servant! If he can¡¯t even attend to the young master, how can he be a servant student?¡±


    Shi Mo bowed to Yanzhi. ¡°Elder Sister Yanzhi, thank you for your guidance!¡±


    Yanzhizily said, ¡°That¡¯s all?¡±


    Shi Mo understood, and hastily took out all the money he had on him and gave it to Yanzhi. ¡°A small token of my appreciation.¡±


    Yanzhi took it. ¡°I won¡¯t stand on ceremony, then, but remember: you can¡¯t do this alone. You have to get Shi Meng and the young master to help you.¡±


    ¡°How could they help me?¡± Shi Mo helplessly said. ¡°This matter has nothing to do with them¡­¡±


    ¡°Who says? You¡¯re still the young master¡¯s close attendant. That¡¯s a significant rtionship!¡± Yanzhi rolled her eyes. ¡°Listen to me¡­¡±


    She went up to Shi Mo¡¯s ear and began to whisper. As she spoke, Shi Mo¡¯s eyes began to glow. He bowed to Yanzhi and said, ¡°Elder Sister, thank you for your instruction!¡±


    ¡°Then I wish you luck. In the future, if you seed in bing an Immortal, remember to help your elder sister.¡±


    ¡°Shi Mo would never dare to forget Elder Sister¡¯s immense kindness!¡±


    Yanzhi coldlyughed. ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about immense kindness for now. Let me tell you that going against the Ji n¡¯s young master is risky business. You had best think clearly about what you want to do. And don¡¯t me me for not warning you. Once I go out the door, I won¡¯t remember anything we talked about here. If you try to drag me in¡­¡±


    ¡°Elder Sister, please be at ease. That won¡¯t happen!¡± Shi Mo hurriedly said, his face turning savage. ¡°What¡¯s the problem with going against the Ji n? I entered the Wei Estate so that I could enter the academy and be an Immortal. If someone tries to cut off my path, why shouldn¡¯t I fight them? At worst, I bring them down with me. No one else should think about entering the Immortal Gate!¡±


    The righteousness and unyielding bravery of youth!


    ¡°So long as you¡¯ve resolved yourself,¡± Yanzhi said with a cold smile as she left.


    To dare oppose the Ji n¡¯s young master, whether or not Shi Mo seeded, he was doomed. But he didn¡¯t have any hope in the first ce, so Yanzhi didn¡¯t mind giving him an extra kick.


    Even if this matter were really exposed, it was fine, because Tang Jie had already helped her find a way out. No matter what conditions the Ji n agreed to give the Wei n, they could not possiblypare to what a servant would pay. If not for their familial rtionship, the Wei n would have been more willing to use a servant.


    Thus, her way of doing things was resolving a problem for the Wei n.


    If the master found it inconvenient to do something, the servants should voluntarily shoulder some of the burden! This was a manifestation of loyalty!


    With this back-up exnation, Yanzhi wasn¡¯t worried.


    And besides, in this matter, she was only one of the participants¡­ On the same night, Wei Tianchong learned about Ji Ziqian¡¯s arrival.


    The news left him bbergasted. ¡°Why didn¡¯t I know about this?¡±


    Shi Mo answered, ¡°When the Ji n¡¯s people came, they went straight to see thedy, and they discussed everything with thedy. We only learned about it from the conversations between the servants. The matter has already reached the Meditation Garden, and everyone knows by now.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying I¡¯m thest to find out? And why didn¡¯t theye to see me?¡± Wei Tianchong was even more amazed. He didn¡¯t feel much about the arrival of a new servant student. After all, anyone could serve in the role. But for the Ji n people to ignore him and go see thedy left him a little ufortable.


    During the day, he needed to attend ss, so it was understandable that they hadn¡¯te to see him then, but it was now night, and they still had note to see him. What did they take him for?


    <em>You¡¯re going to be my servant student!</em>


    Nobody liked to be disrespected!


    Shi Mo could tell what the young master was feeling, and mentallyughed. ¡°The Ji n hase this time for the servant student spot, not to actually serve the young master. For them to have no respect for the young master is a problem.¡±


    Wei Tianchong immediately scowled.


    On the side, Shi Meng couldn¡¯t help but frown at Shi Mo¡¯s words, but he remained silent.


    From his perspective, fighting for two spots was better than one. Tang Jie had said that he didn¡¯t dare to be certain that he could get the only spot, and neither did Shi Meng.


    Thus, if possible, he did not want to see the Ji n join in, but he wasn¡¯t ascking in confidence as Shi Mo, so his anxiety wasn¡¯t as high. He would not as willingly join in.


    But though he didn¡¯t want to join, someone insisted on pulling him in.


    Seeing that Wei Tianchong was hesitating, Shi Mo said, ¡°In truth, one servant student spot isn¡¯t too much. At worst, you just have to hand over this spot. But this will put Shi Meng in a hard spot. The two of us are your servants, and once in school, it would have been just one master and two servants, which would have been barely enough for the young master. But with Young Master Ji here, it¡¯s now one servant and two masters. When the timees, Shi Meng might have to learn the cloning spell.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was very unhappy to hear this, snorting, ¡°Bullshit! He¡¯sing here to be my servant student! Why should he use my servant?¡±


    Though he and Ji Ziqian were cousins, they had only met each other once two years ago, and his memories were rather fuzzy. When it came to affection, he preferred his family¡¯s servants.


    Shi Meng had heard these words and realized the problem. He could not ept the life of one servant serving two masters.


    This was particrly because the servants were fighting to get into the academy to cultivate, not to serve.


    If two people served one, there would be at least some time to cultivate.


    One person serving two would mean that he would be a real servant. He wouldn¡¯t have any time to cultivate, so what did it matter if he went to the academy?


    Anyone would be shortsighted, irritable, and even impulsive when they were about to lose something. Shi Meng had not thought of this problem before, but now, Shi Mo had pointed it out.


    Shi Meng hastily said, ¡°Young Master, to have this lowly one serve two young masters, no matter how tiring, this lowly one will notin. But Shi Meng fears that when the timees, his service will not be satisfactory. If the matters of Young Master Ji were to hinder Young Master¡¯s matters¡­¡±


    Wei Tianchong shouted, ¡°You¡¯re my servant! You don¡¯t need to listen to anyone else¡¯s orders! No matter what, I won¡¯t agree to this!¡±


    ¡°But, Young Master, in the end, it is the master and thedy who decide this. Direct refusal might not be very proper. We have to find a more tactful way,¡± Shi Mo said.


    Wei Tianchong was still angry. ¡°What tactful method?¡±


    Shi Mo said with a cold smile, ¡°Since the Ji n¡¯s young master ising to be a servant student, then treat him like a servant! If he can really do this lowly one¡¯s duties, then I will give up my spot. What do you think? Besides, it¡¯s only right and proper that the young master can order him around. Does he dare to refuse? Since he¡¯s here, he should put aside any thought of being a young master. This is the Wei Estate, not the Ji n!¡±


    Wei Tianchong was dumbfounded for a moment, then he raised his head andughed. ¡°That¡¯s good. We¡¯ll do exactly as you propose!¡±


    But after some thought, he hesitated and muttered, ¡°But if Mom finds out, she might beat me again¡­¡±


    Shi Mo and Shi Meng sighed together. They knew that this boy was outwardly fierce and inwardly weak. Using him to deal with Ji Ziqian would take more than just a few words.


    At the same time.


    The Wei n¡¯s second steward and third steward were drinking together.


    ¡°So this matter is settled?¡± Third Steward Zhu Qing asked.


    ¡°Mm. He¡¯s staying at Clear Yang Pavilion. They say that he will stay a few days first to see how he gets along with the young master, but this is just a tactic to buy time in my view,¡± Second Steward Yan Chen said as he sipped his wine.


    ¡°Clear Yang Pavilion? Why have him live there? That¡¯s quite a distance from the Meditation Garden! What is Qin Yuan doing?¡± Zhu Qing didn¡¯t understand.


    Yan Chen chuckled. ¡°Distance is good. If he lives far away, it will be difficult for him to get around, and he will want to rest earlier. They didn¡¯t even manage to visit the young master today¡­ Chief Steward Qin executed a beautiful move.¡±


    The third steward¡¯s eyes shed. ¡°So you¡¯re saying Qin Yuan did it on purpose¡­¡±


    ¡°Who can say if it was on purpose? Perhaps it was as he said and he just wanted to give the madame and Young Master Ji a quiet and secluded ce,¡± Yan Chen said, after which he drained his cup.


    ¡°Hmph, nice words, but who can¡¯t tell what he¡¯s up to?¡± Zhu Qing disdainfully said.


    ¡°We¡¯re all in the same boat. Young Master Ji¡¯s arrival threatens Tang Jie, but doesn¡¯t he also threaten Shi Mo and Shi Meng? You know, if these kids just fought each other, we could ept it if our candidates lost. But now this Young Master Ji hase out of nowhere. Who could possibly ept that?¡±


    ¡°True!¡± Zhu Qing gulped his wine. ¡°That kid Tang Jie knows how to act, treating both of us with respect. Last time, when the master awarded him one hundred taels of silver, he gave most of it to the Wu couple, but he also didn¡¯t forget to give the two of us a little. Though Shi Mo has tried to make trouble for him several times, he¡¯s never tried to take revenge, and it was only because of him that Shi Mo kept his ce as reading partner. You can call him shrewd or patient, but at least he has a very open mind. If he really seeds, he presumably won¡¯t make things difficult for us, and we can ept it. But what does that Ji Ziqian count as? He appears humble, but my eyes are still good, and I could see that we didn¡¯t exist in his eyes! If he seeds in bing an Immortal, we won¡¯t even have the right to drink his footwashing water!¡±


    Yan Chen didn¡¯t continue, instead lightly saying, ¡°Sister Lu paid me a visit today.¡±


    Sister Lu was Wei Tianchong¡¯s wet nurse and also the person who had supported Shi Mo. She was somewhat younger than them, but her husband was a manager of one of the Wei n¡¯s businesses and one of the earliest followers of the venerable master. Even Wei Danbai treated the man with some measure of respect. Thus, she had such considerable status in the estate that even the stewards called her ¡®Sister Lu¡¯.


    ¡°Oh? What did she say?¡±


    ¡°She was naturally extremely unhappy. It seems that Steward Qin paid her visit, as did Shi Mo¡­¡±


    Yan Chen stopped there, but Zhu Qing already understood. ¡°So nobody likes them, right?¡±


    They knew that the master and thedy didn¡¯t like them.


    The Ji n were trying to bid for the lowest price possible, not realizing that this wasn¡¯t the right ce for it, making thedy very unhappy.


    Of course, if Ji Lanxin were given time, she might realize and make amends. The problem was that some people wouldn¡¯t give them the time.


    ¡°A pity. The venerable master and venerabledy rather like this grand-nephew of theirs,¡± Yan Chen said.


    ¡°Then make it so that they don¡¯t like him,¡± Zhu Qing coldly replied.


    The two of them exchanged nces and started tough.


    Benefit was a chain, and every person was just a link in the chain.


    The Ji n¡¯s people had broken the rules and tried to force themselves in, thus dealing a major shock to all the people of the Wei Estate, or at least to the chain of benefit that linked all the servants of the estate.


    Of course, in normal circumstances, if they were all fighting their own battles, none of them would have had the courage to oppose the Ji n.


    But if someone was guiding them, if someone was willing to lead the charge, the bandwagon effect would cause even the most timid of them to make their voice heard.


    This was not merely a struggle for benefit, but a ss struggle. There was no changing this!


    By plucking at their heartstrings of desire, Tang Jie had sessfully tied everyone together, creating an unseen alliance against the Ji n.


    Ji Ziqian¡¯s prospects in the Wei n were foreordained to be dim¡­

 Chapter 29: The Rules

    Ji Ziqian got up very early in the morning, and Ji Lanxin personally took the time to help her son dress. She also reminded him, ¡°I¡¯m wronging you by having you serve as a servant student, but the gate to Immortality is difficult to enter, and there¡¯s no other way besides this. When you see your little brother Chong, you must remember to not conflict with him and do your best to get on good terms with him.¡±


    ¡°Mom, you¡¯ve told me twenty times now,¡± Ji Ziqian proudly replied. ¡°Rx. I¡¯ll handle this properly.¡±


    As the young master of the Ji n, Ji Ziqian truly did have things to be proud of.


    Last year, a Spirit Master had been invited to open his Jade Gate, and he had achieved four cycles, which was a middling aptitude. Most importantly, sufficient perseverance and endurance was required to break through the Jade Gate. Such attributes were rare among young scions, and Ji Ziqian was rather proud of what he was able to achieve.


    And as he knew how to conduct himself, being well-versed in etiquette, and was much smarter than Wei Tianchong, he considered it a trifle to get into Wei Tianchong¡¯s good graces.


    In normal circumstances, it truly wouldn¡¯t have been hard.


    Once they were done dressing, the two of them went out and asked for a servant to lead them to the Meditation Garden. The Clear Yang Pavilion was rather far from the Meditation Garden, and they had to pass through quite a few other ces to get there. Ji Ziqian had not been here in some time, and as he strolled through the estate, he marveled at its grandeur. The boy servant leading them was a smart fellow, and spoke of the various buildings as they passed by them, exining the Wei Estate¡¯s situation to Ji Ziqian. Ji Ziqian was newly arrived, so he naturally regarded this information with high importance and was very thankful to the boy servant.


    But this slowed them down. Moreover, they also ran into various people on the way: boy servants from the other residences, maids, and even stewards. All of them were extremely polite, every meeting resulting in an exchange of pleasantries. But this slowed them down even more.


    After walking some distance, they arrived at the venerable master¡¯s residence, Retiring Years House. They saw the venerable master performing punching exercises in the courtyard, and since they had seen him, Ji Ziqian had to go up and greet him.


    The venerable master saw his grandnephew approaching, and there was yet another exchange of pleasantries. It was quite a while before they could finally set off again.


    But all this meant that it took more than an hour for them to get to the Meditation Garden.


    When they arrived, they were told that Wei Tianchong was in ss and shouldn¡¯t be disturbed.


    Wei Lanxin was very displeased. ¡°Didn¡¯t someone say that since the young master was visiting today, there was no need for Chong¡¯er to attend ss?¡±


    She was Wei Tianchong¡¯s aunt, so she naturally did not use a polite form of address when talking about Wei Tianchong.


    Shi Meng put on a fake smile as he answered, ¡°The young master truly did wait, but after waiting for almost an hour and seeing that no one hade, he thought that the two of you were noting, and went to ss.¡±


    He had not brought up how impatient Wei Tianchong had be over being kept waiting for so long, even breaking a chair. Wei Lanxin and Ji Ziqian failed to notice the problem.


    Since they werete, they truly could not me Wei Tianchong.


    Fortunately, Shi Meng said, ¡°But since the two of you have arrived, we must inform the young master. Let this lowly one lead the two of you to the ssroom.¡±


    Ji Ziqian decided that this was true, so he politely answered, ¡°As this is the case, then I must trouble you.¡±


    Though he originated from a great n, he knew that he hade here as a supplicant. Thus, he treated the servants politely. However, he disdained to lower himself to learn the art of giving gifts of money as Tang Jie had.


    ¡°Please follow me.¡± Shi Meng led Wei Lanxin and Ji Ziqian to the ssroom.


    Inside the ssroom, a teacher was lecturing while ten-some children sat below. These were all children of the Wei n, but which one was Wei Tianchong?


    Shi Meng pointed at Wei Tianchong and said, ¡°That one is the young master. It is ss time, so it is best if the two of you do not disturb him. I will go over and inform him now.¡±


    Saying this, he lightly coughed into the room.


    Shi Mo heard the cough and raised his head to see three people standing outside the ssroom. He knew that Ji Ziqian had arrived, so he used his elbow to poke Wei Tianchong and then motioned outside using his chin.


    Wei Tianchong looked over, and his eyes met Ji Ziqian¡¯s gaze.


    But Shi Mo maderger movements than necessary, so the teacher saw it. He grabbed his discipline stick and pointed it at Wei Tianchong. ¡°Rather than looking around, focus on your studies!¡±


    He smacked Wei Tianchong on the head with the stick, causing him to shrink his head back and look away.


    The teaching style of the ancients did not emphasize pleasure and fun, nor had they put away the practice of corporal punishment.


    The teacher position had the privilege of beating the young master, and the teacher of the Wei n was a famous schr of Canglong Prefecture who wielded considerable prestige. He had taught many students who had risen to be influential figures.


    Let alone the Wei n¡¯s young master, he would punish the young masters of the Jins, Zhangs, and Gus, and even the children of Immortals if they did not properly pay attention.


    Thus, when the stick smacked down, not even Wei Tianchong dared to resist. But deep down, he clenched his teeth in hatred of Ji Ziqian.


    Actually, after his tantrumst night, Wei Tianchong had decided that since this was his cousin, he had no reason to quarrel with him too much, so he had decided to let the matter go. But now, after being entrapped several times in a row, he had as awful an impression of Ji Ziqian as there could possibly be.


    Ji Ziqian was still unaware that he hadpletely failed to give a good first impression. In his view, it was only natural for the teacher to administer punishment when a student wasn¡¯t listening in ss. Thus, he smiled and said, ¡°It seems like this really isn¡¯t the time. Since that¡¯s the case, why not return to the Meditation Garden and wait? Right, Shi Meng, how long does the teacher usually teach for?¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Shi Meng appeared to be in a difficult spot. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. The teacher never has a set schedule. Sometimes his sses are long, and sometimes his sses are short. It all depends on his mood. Sometimes, he even teaches until nighttime.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Ji Ziqian thought it over. ¡°That being the case, let¡¯s return to Clear Yang Pavilion. If the young master¡¯s ss ends early, please inform me.¡±


    ¡°Naturally.¡± Shi Meng smiled.


    Of course, Ji Ziqian received no notification of any sort.


    In his two days in the estate, all Ji Ziqian had managed to do was see Wei Tianchong in the distance and cause him to get beaten.


    His third day in the estate.


    Today, Ji Ziqian got up early, put on his clothes, and made another trip over. Wei Lanxin had been nning to apany him, but to her surprise, Yanzhi came over with an invitation from thedy.


    Zheng Shufeng did not know that Ji Ziqian had not managed to get a chance to talk with her son yesterday. She believed that since both sides had met and were familiar with each other, there was no need for Wei Lanxin to go over every time. Thus, on Yanzhi¡¯s suggestion, she had called over Wei Lanxin so that they could keep the venerabledypany together.


    When Wei Lanxin heard that Zheng Shufeng wanted her toe and keep the venerabledypany, she wanted to decline, but she didn¡¯t know how. Fortunately, Ji Ziqian said, ¡°Mother should just go and keep the venerabledypany. I¡¯ll just go and see Little Brother Chong myself.¡±


    Wei Lanxin was still rather anxious about this proposition. She said, ¡°This being the case, you should take Chai Si with you.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t proper for Ji Ziqian to bring servants with him this time, so Wei Lanxin had only brought her personal maid, Ning Cui, and the carriage driver, Chai Si. At this time, only Chai Si could fill the role.


    The same boy servant from yesterday led the way, but today was free of all those incidents, and he was able to smoothly arrive at the Meditation Garden just when Wei Tianchong was admiring the flowers.


    When he saw Wei Tianchong, Ji Ziqian came forward with a smile and said, ¡°Little Brother Chong, it¡¯s been two years. How have you been?¡±


    For Ji Ziqian,ing here to serve as a servant student was truly ast resort, and he could not possibly regard himself as a servant. This was his only weakness, but it was a weakness that no one would normally dare to use.


    It was for this reason that he had nned today to try and get closer to Wei Tianchong by talking about old times, speaking of positive things. This was truthfully the same attitude with which Tang Jie had treated Xu Muyang, and there was no error in using it.


    s, Tang Jie had already seen through his strategy, and he had ryed it through Shi Mo into Wei Tianchong¡¯s ears a day ago. Moreover, after what had happened yesterday, Wei Tianchong had a terrible impression of Ji Ziqian. Thus, when he saw himing, he only spoke to Shi Mo and ignored Ji Ziqian. Ji Ziqian had reached out his hand for a handshake, but when he saw no reaction from Wei Tianchong, he could only awkwardly draw back his hand and scratch his head.


    ¡°Right, the weasel bristle brush in the study needs recing. Remember to¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s already been changed, Young Master. Your favorite silver needle brush from the Violet Inkstone Store.¡±


    ¡°As quick-witted as ever,¡± Wei Tianchong said with a chuckle. Only then did he turn to nce at Ji Ziqian. With an extremely casual tone, he said, ¡°Oh, if this isn¡¯t Big Brother Ziqian. Long time no see! What¡¯s brought you here today?¡±


    Ji Ziqian smiled. ¡°How could Little Brother Chong not know? The day before yesterday, my mother came and made a formal request to the Wei Estate, hoping to obtain a student spot. The Wei n has a spot every year, and the Ji n and Wei n have such a close rtionship. Rather than giving the spot to an outsider, it would be much better to give it to one of your own people.¡±


    His words were very normal, but s, this was not the time, for all of the ¡®outsiders¡¯ were present.


    Let alone Shi Mo and Shi Meng, even Tang Jie and the other servants were present. All of them mentally snorted at these words.


    Wei Tianchong wasn¡¯t angered over this. He coldly said, ¡°No one informed me, so how could I know?¡±


    Ji Ziqian was taken aback. This didn¡¯t sound right to him.


    The Ji n had paid its visit to the Wei Estate two days ago, and someone had informed Wei Tianchong yesterday. It was impossible for Wei Tianchong to not have known. This could only mean one thing: he was unhappy that Ji Ziqian had not visited him in the previous two days.


    But this was no big deal. An exnation would clear up everything. Ji Ziqian hastily smiled and said, ¡°Oh, Cousin, you misunderstand. It was because we were arranged to stay at Clear Yang Pavilion, which is rather far, making traveling back and forth inconvenient. Moreover, my mother was tired from the journey and needed to rest early, so we didn¡¯te on the first day. As for yesterday, I specifically came over¡­¡±


    But it probably would have been better for him to not bring up yesterday. The mention of yesterday immediately made Wei Tianchong think about how he had been beaten by the stick, and he felt a dull pain from his head. His expression immediately darkened. ¡°Yongkang City is also rather far from Canglong Prefecture, but didn¡¯t the Ji n stille over for a single spot? How is it that my Wei n¡¯s Clear Yang Pavilion is somehow farther from my Meditation Garden than Yongkang City is from Canglong Prefecture? I didn¡¯t know the Wei Estate was that big.¡±


    The boy servants all chuckled.


    Ji Ziqian immediately knew that he had said something wrong, but when he was about to exin, Wei Tianchong said, ¡°Although the Wei n has a spot every year, there¡¯s always someone that wants it. We need to keep up rtions with numerous parties, and there are some people who can¡¯t be offended, and there are always numerous rtives who are trying to pay us visits looking for a chance. There¡¯s only one spot, but more than a hundred people are after it every year. Thus, we can¡¯t give this spot to just anyone. So what is Ziqian bringing to the table?¡±


    Ji Ziqian was angered by these words.


    He knew that he had inadvertently offended Wei Tianchong, but not this badly. His mother Wei Lanxin was still a sister to Wei Danbai, born of the same mother, and he was Wei Tianchong¡¯s cousin, not just some random bystander off the street. Wei Tianchong¡¯s words were putting him on the same level as those money-hungry distant rtives.


    His Ji n was still a famous n of Yongkang City, and when Wei Lanxin had been married to his father, the Wei n had not been so illustrious yet. These ns had once been well-matched in social status, so why were they now likeplete strangers?


    But he knew that now was not the time to offend Wei Tianchong, so he restrained his anger and rified, ¡°The Ji n is not taking this spot for free. Ziqian came this time to enter as a servant student.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Wei Tianchongughed. ¡°Then I wrongly med you.¡±


    Ji Ziqian was delighted to hear this, believing that he had exined everything clearly. But to his surprise, Wei Tianchong pped his hands and said, ¡°Since you¡¯re a servant student, then that means you¡¯vee to be my servant, right? Great! Shi Mo, tell him the rules and have him know what he¡¯s going to do.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Ji Ziqian was dumbfounded, feeling like he had been struck by a bolt of lightning.


    But Wei Tianchong had already turned around and left.


    Shi Mo chuckled and walked over to stand in front of Ji Ziqian. ¡°Young Master Ji¡­ oh, no; I should just call you ¡®Ziqian¡¯ now. The estate doesn¡¯t have many rules, but each one is very important. The first thing a servant should understand is seniority and social standing. Thus, the first rule is that when you see the young master next time, you can¡¯t call him ¡®Little Brother Chong¡¯ or ¡®Cousin¡¯. Just like us, you must call him ¡®Young Master¡¯¡­¡±


    Ji Ziqian was utterly dumbfounded.


    Shi Mo was still talking. ¡°In addition, what¡¯s going on with a servant bringing along a servant? That attendant behind Ziqian¡ªwhere the hell did hee from? So filthy! Best to have him leave at once so that he doesn¡¯t dirty the Meditation Garden. My Wei Estate can¡¯t stand a person like this¡­¡±


    On the other end, Wei Tianchong returned to his room. Sticking out his tongue, he said, ¡°Shi Meng, did I do well?¡±


    He no longer seemed as brash and arrogant as before.


    ¡°Naturally. Young Master¡¯s performance was wless. Anyone who saw it would understand Young Master¡¯s words to be measured and reasonable,¡± Shi Meng ttered.


    Wei Tianchong sighed. ¡°That¡¯s good, then. But don¡¯t you think we¡¯re doing a little too much? He¡¯s still my cousin. Having him call me ¡®Young Master¡¯ doesn¡¯t seem right.¡±


    Shi Mo smiled. ¡°You¡¯re not the one telling him to call you ¡®Young Master¡¯. You¡¯re just having him learn the rules. He¡¯sing to be a servant student, so he needs to know some of the basic rules. Isn¡¯t that very normal? Even an honored guest from outside would have to be reminded about where they can and cannot go. As for the details of the rules, those are all being taught by Shi Mo, so what does it have to do with you? It¡¯s Shi Mo who¡¯s saying that he should call you ¡®Young Master¡¯¡­¡±


    ¡°But when he calls me ¡®Young Master¡¯, how should I respond?¡±


    ¡°Once you get used to it, you won¡¯t care. In the end, isn¡¯t it all up to you, Young Master? Ji Ziqian ising here as a servant student and just following the rules. If he is willing to call you ¡®Young Master¡¯, it can¡¯t be considered breaking the rules, right? And is there a reason you can¡¯t ept it?¡±


    ¡°True.¡± Wei Tianchong nodded. ¡°Fortunately, Auntie isn¡¯t here today. If she had been, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to say any of this.¡±


    Wei Lanxin was his aunt, and he would never be able to force his cousin to call him ¡®Young Master¡¯ and act like a servant in front of his aunt.


    Just like the teacher, she had the authority to beat him.


    He couldn¡¯t help but feel awe for those people who had the privilege to beat him!


    Shi Meng giggled. ¡°Since he¡¯s a servant now, his family¡­ It¡¯s best to meet family as little as possible. Rules are rules, and if any random visitor suddenly means the rules don¡¯t exist anymore, what¡¯s the point of rules? So Young Master Ji must keep this rule, as must thedy of the Ji n!¡±


    ¡°Even my aunt has to follow the rules?¡± Wei Tianchong shouted. ¡°You must be joking! Impossible!¡±


    Shi Meng lowered his head. ¡°The madame naturally does not need to follow the rules of the Meditation Garden, but she must follow the rules of the Wei Estate.¡±

 Chapter 30: A Plan Crafted for the Target

    In the afternoon, Shi Yue paid a visit to the garden. As she watched Tang Jie work away, she softlyughed and gracefully walked over. Standing behind him, she pped him on the back and shouted, ¡°Hey!¡±


    Tang Jie was unperturbed, calmly turning around and saying, ¡°Good afternoon, Elder Sister Shi Yue.¡±


    ¡°Is scaring you once that difficult? You already saw me a while ago, right?¡± Shi Yue asked, looking at Tang Jie with her big, watery eyes.


    ¡°I just heard your footsteps,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°Right, how is it that you¡¯re free to see me right now?¡±


    Shi Yue covered her mouth and chuckled. ¡°Isn¡¯t that because of all the trouble you lot have caused? It wasn¡¯t even noon when that Young Master Ji went back to the madame. You weren¡¯t there to see it, but his eyes were all red, on the verge of tears! I heard that you treated him rather savagely?¡±


    ¡°It has nothing to do with me.¡± Tang Jie spread apart his hands and acted as if he was being unjustly used. ¡°It was just Shi Mo teaching him the rules for servants. That Young Master Ji just couldn¡¯t take it.¡±


    Tang Jie proceeded to recount how Shi Mo had ¡®instructed¡¯ Ji Ziqian in how to be a servant. Shi Mo had not allowed Ji Ziqian to rx, working for the entire morning and truly treating him like a servant.


    Ji Ziqian was unexpectedly so patient as to endure it all, but unfortunately, he was still a young master. Normally, he was the one being attended upon, so he had no idea how to do such things. Even if he was willing to do it, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do it well. Thus, Shi Mo had disciplined him quite a few times over the morning.


    With Chai Si having been forced away and all of the servants intentionally ignoring him, he couldn¡¯t find a single person to help him out.


    Even though he had had a good upbringing, he eventually reached his breaking point. He ultimately managed to find an excuse to run off and tearfully plead to his mother.


    Shi Yue found it a very amusing story, bursting intoughter and pping her hands. ¡°Good! Good! A beautiful job! These jobs are all things we servants normally do, and he¡¯se to be a servant student. Even if he goes and tells thedy, we still have an excuse.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Tang Jie sighed. ¡°In my view, not only was it not beautiful, it was sorelycking.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Why is that?¡± Shi Yue was confused.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°We do things normally because we have a goal. If it¡¯s difficult to realize this goal, we often have to resort to roundabout methods, and it¡¯s easy to forget our original goal while using these methods. The treatment of Young Master Ji is truthfully a manifestation of this illness. Although Ji Ziqian was taught a harsh lesson today, thus venting the anger of the servants, was our goal to teach him a lesson?¡±


    Shi Yue was dumbfounded as Tang Jie grimly continued, ¡°It was to drive him out! All the ns and methods should be as closely linked to the goal as possible. If we can¡¯t reach the goal, then the effect will be the opposite of what we wanted.¡±


    In order to ensure that he was clean, Tang Jie had not appeared, controlling everything from the shadows. But this meant that he hadn¡¯t been able to give Shi Mo and the others a specific n, nor could he give timely instructions.


    This was the disadvantage of controlling things from behind the curtain. He could point the way, but it was very difficult for him to interfere in the execution. This would rely solely on the skill of the executors.


    In the morning, Shi Mo had once moremitted the error of losing sight of his goals. s, though Tang Jie had been able to see it all, he could offer no advice.


    It was only when Shi Yue arrived that Tang Jie finally had a choice to talk about it. He wanted to borrow Shi Yue¡¯s mouth to correct the errors of those little scoundrels.


    Shi Yue was taken in by these words, saying, ¡°But hasn¡¯t that Young Master Ji already left in a huff?¡±


    ¡°He left in a huff today, but he¡¯lle back,¡± Tang Jie profoundly said.


    Shi Yue¡¯s mouth opened. ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­ they won¡¯t truly leave?¡±


    ¡°How could they give up that easily?¡± Tang Jie casually said. ¡°Once theye back, it won¡¯t be so easy.¡±


    Ji Ziqian had fallen for the trap because he had not expected the Wei n to be so hostile to him. This was tantamount to being struck with a ckjack on entry.


    It was hard to me him. While Ji Ziqian was trained in courtesy and etiquette, that was just upbringing. It had nothing to do with understanding other people.


    If he truly had to consider the problems of others from their perspective¡­ Even an adult, someone who was well-acquainted with the ways of the world, might not be able to do this.


    But after this incident, Ji Ziqian was on his guard, and it would no longer be easy to entrap him.


    Regardless, he was still Wei Tianchong¡¯s cousin, and he was afforded more space than most to turn things around.


    When it came to opponents like this, if they weren¡¯t killed in one blow, they would turn around and bite back.


    This was why Tang Jie felt so troubled. s, he could not give instructions, so he was like the clever housewife who still had to worry about having no rice to cook. He had all these resources avable to him, but he couldn¡¯t use them in the open. For many things, he could only sit by helplessly and watch.


    Even Shi Yue felt a headache from his words. ¡°That¡¯s a big problem, then. Given the madame¡¯s temper, she¡¯ll definitely go on a rampage. All of you might be doomed.¡±


    ¡°A rampage?¡± Tang Jie was taken aback. After some thought, he asked, ¡°You¡¯re saying that the madame wille over to the Meditation Garden to cause trouble?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Shi Yue replied. ¡°The madame is known for her foul temper. Before she was married, she would often beat and curse at the servants. Once she was married, her temper only slightly improved, but it¡¯s still not great. While she seems polite now, that¡¯s only because she¡¯s seeking something from the Wei n. Once she finds out her son has been humiliated, she¡¯ll definitelye by to start a ruckus.¡±


    ¡°You weren¡¯t even born when the madame was married off. How do you know all this?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what all the elders in the estate say. And I¡¯ve also gotten close with her maid, Ning Cui, in thest few days.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ Do the stewards also know of this?¡±


    ¡°Naturally.¡±


    He dropped his head and began to think, and a smile formed on his lips.


    He chortled, ¡°Good, very good! I was wondering why these kids were so bold and were acting so brainless, why it felt like there was another show toe. An excellent interlocking n crafted specifically for the target¡­ It should be those fellows who nned everything out. Haha, truly, old ginger is hotter than new. It seems that I¡¯ve learned something new this time!¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Shi Yue was confused.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°A rampage is a good thing. I¡¯m actually more worried that she won¡¯t¡­ Right, there¡¯s something that I might have to trouble Elder Sister Shi Yue with.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying? Don¡¯t call me ¡®Elder Sister¡¯ in the future. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m older than you. You can just call me by name. If you need something, I¡¯ll definitely help you if I can¡­¡±


    ¡°Wei Tianchong, you little rabbit babe,e out!¡±


    Wei Lanxin had arrived at the Meditation Garden with her child in tow, fuming with rage. Even before entering, she was already angrily gesturing at the house and cursing.


    Wei Tianchong peeked through the window, saw his aunt, and immediately drew back his head in fear.


    Seeing that Wei Tianchong wasn¡¯ting, Wei Lanxin tried to go inside, but Shi Mo stepped forward to block her way, shouting, ¡°Madame, this is the young master¡¯s study. You have not been permitted¡­¡±


    ¡°Scram!¡± Wei Lanxin pped Shi Mo. ¡°You were the one who bullied my son, right? I¡¯lle and settle ounts with you soon!¡±


    Saying this, she charged into the house.


    The moment she charged in, she heard the shattering of porcin, and the shards of a flower vase appeared at her feet. Wei Lanxin was startled, but she thought little about why there was a vase ced next to the door, and charged up to Wei Tianchong. The young master saw that the situation was bad and turned to run. Meanwhile, Shi Meng came up to block her path, even holding a chair in his hands.


    Wei Lanxin straightened her back and said, ¡°You would dare to strike at me?¡±


    Shi Meng shivered, but in the end, he did not dare to strike, and put down the chair.


    Wei Lanxin grabbed the chair and threw it.


    Shi Meng ducked, and the chair brushed past his head and smashed into a painting in the middle of the hall, punching a hole in it. The back of the chair bumped against Wei Tianchong¡¯s head, causing him to howl in pain, and when he went to feel his head, his hand came back with blood.


    Wei Lanxin was about to give chase when Shi Mo lunged out and grabbed her leg while shouting, ¡°Young Master, run!¡±


    Wei Tianchong disyed a rare moment of agility as he made a flying leap through the window. Wei Lanxin wanted to chase, but Shi Mo continued to hold on. Seeing that the kid had run, she helplessly raged and started to curse, ¡°Wei Tianchong, you heartless scoundrel! How could you treat your cousin like this? Is my fate so bitter that only a few years after I left my home, everyone is bullying me!?¡±


    Wei Tianchong saw that his aunt wasn¡¯t chasing him, and herment caused him to feel apologetic, so he stopped and turned around. He muttered, ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t do anything¡­ I just had my servants teach him the rules¡­¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s your cousin! How could you have him do the work of a servant!?¡± Wei Lanxin shouted back.


    Wei Tianchong grew angry and began to yell. ¡°But he came to be a servant student, so he¡¯s a servant.¡±


    Wei Lanxin was taken aback by these words, and then she began to weep. ¡°You¡­ you actually have the nerve to say such words! I took care of you when you were little! Do you know how well I treated you back then? I took you out every day to y, and you were always saying you wanted toe with your second aunt. I even cleaned up after your poop and pee! I raised you, and this is how you treat me? Do you even have a heart¡­¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s face alternated between red and white at this scolding. He had no memory of his younger years, so he really didn¡¯t know how to respond.


    When Shi Mo saw that she was no longer chasing, he released his grip and ran over to Wei Tianchong¡¯s side.


    Wei Lanxin was stillmenting her fate and just went on and on, talking about how she had taken care of Wei Tianchong in various ways. It was like she had been the real one who had raised Wei Tianchong.


    Everyone in the Meditation Garden ran over to see what was going on, but when they saw that it was the madame, none of them dared to say a word. They simply watched as Wei Lanxin performed her monologue.


    Her son Ji Ziqian felt incredibly ashamed as he watched. Trying to stop it, he said, ¡°Mom, just forget it.¡±


    But Wei Lanxin pushed aside her son¡¯s hand and shouted, ¡°This is none of your business!¡±


    She pointed at Wei Tianchong and continued to curse, but her words became simple and repetitive, even repeating the same stories she had told just moments ago.


    As Tang Jie watched, he inwardlyughed. As she was cursing, he saw Shi Yue appear in the distance and give him a nod.


    Tang Jie rushed up to Wei Tianchong¡¯s side and said, ¡°Young Master, we had best resolve this matter quickly. I saw Shi Yue just now. It seems that this matter has rmed thedy and she is on her way now.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Wei Tianchong jumped in fright.


    Shi Mo¡¯s eyes shed. He knew that the moment he had been waiting for hade.


    He hastily said, ¡°Madame, these words are not correct. When the young master was born, you had already been married off to the Ji n, so how could you have cared for the young master every day? And even clean up after his poop and pee? The Wei n¡¯s young masters do not require the personal attendance of thedies, with even the milk being provided by wet nurses. Otherwise, what would we servants have to do? I would venture to say that you only came to the Wei Estate once and gave the young master a few candies. You didn¡¯t think of this as some heavenly gift, did you?¡±


    Everyoneughed at these words, finding Wei Lanxin¡¯s words to truly be absurd.


    ¡°You!¡± Wei Lanxin was so angry that she sat down on the ground. ¡°Upside down! The world has turned upside down! Do all the ves of the Wei n speak like this? Do the rules still exist? Does anyone teach you? A bunch of heartless scoundrels! This Zheng Shufeng can¡¯t even teach her son and servants properly. How can she manage the Wei n? Truly, when the upper beam isn¡¯t straight, the lower beam will be crooked! This Wei n is rotten from top to bottom, everyone filthy and disgusting!¡±


    As she freely cursed and rebuked, a voice rang out in the distance. ¡°Goodness! What did Shufeng do to offend my younger sister, that she would nder me behind my back like so?¡±


    Wei Lanxin turned in rm to see Zheng Shufeng emerging from the distance. At her side were two other people: the Wei n¡¯s venerable master and venerabledy.


    Wei Lanxin paled as the venerable master mmed down his dragon-headed cane and harrumphed, ¡°Endless weeping, beating and chasing, shouting abuse like the wife of some fishmonger, badmouthing your own family without any restraint¡ªis this how you were taught? You have thrown away all of the Wei n¡¯s dignity!¡±


    The venerabledy sighed, ¡°¡®Filthy and disgusting¡¯¡­ Lanxin, you are still a daughter of the Wei n. How could you say this?¡±


    Wei Lanxin panicked. ¡°Dad, Mom, I wasn¡¯t talking about you¡­ I was just so angry that I misspoke¡­¡±


    Zheng Shufeng sneered, ¡°Younger Sister misspoke in a moment of anger, and since we are family, we will not quibble over this point. But why did you run over to the Meditation Garden to throw a tantrum?¡±


    ¡°I just came to reason things out with Chong¡¯er¡­¡±


    ¡°Reasoning things out involves destroying the pine-plum vase I bought for Chong¡¯er? Reasoning things out requires destroying my painting? Reasoning things out requires you to strike my son on the head?¡±


    Though Zheng Shufeng had just arrived, she could see at a nce the state of the Meditation Garden.


    This was no different from a bandit piging a vige!


    She had personally selected and arranged everything in her son¡¯s house. All of these were exquisite items that had been arranged so as to provide a sense of grandeur and nobility, and what state was it in now?


    The sight caused Zheng Shufeng¡¯s heart to ache.


    As a very economical woman, she felt an even greater heartache than the pain she had felt from Wei Lanxin¡¯s nder.


    She inwardly fumed, and though her voice was not raised, her tone was as cold as the edge of a saber. The wound to her son had particrly provoked her ire.


    Wei Lanxin still refused to yield. ¡°But your son bullied my son first!¡±


    Zheng Shufeng suppressed her rage and said, ¡°I already know of what happened. While it was somewhat callous for Chong¡¯er to order him around, the argument was sound. Moreover, over thest few days, quite a few people havee toin to us, saying that if Ziqian came to be a servant student but refuses to do the work, when the timees to enter school, it will be one servant serving two masters. Putting aside the difficulty of serving two masters with sufficient care, that single servant student will have a hard time cultivating, so in the future, if he seeds or fails, he will hold a grudge. The Wei n will have paid all his expenses but will have failed to receive the expected reward¡­¡±


    Saying this, Zheng Shufeng sighed. ¡°Even the Immortals established the academies to get on good terms with the mortals, opening for them the door to Immortality, so how could our Wei n so easily disregard the desire of our servants to enter the academy? This is why we approved of Ziqian learning the rules and taking a share of the work. s¡­¡±


    She shook her head.


    The price offered was extremely low, and now he wasn¡¯t even willing to do the work. Let alone Zheng Shufeng, even the venerable master and venerabledy could not bear to keep watching.


    The venerable master slowly said, ¡°This isn¡¯t right. In the end, it¡¯s not right. This matter¡­ I think we should forget about it.¡±


    These words were like a bolt of lightning crashing into Wei Lanxin¡¯s head, and she finally sobered up.


    Wei Lanxin begged the venerable master, ¡°Dad, putting aside anything else, Ziqian is still your great-nephew! You can¡¯t not give him a chance!¡±


    The venerabledy snorted. ¡°Ziqian is our great-nephew, but Chong¡¯er is our grandson. Since the two of them can¡¯t get along, we have to choose one. Or are you saying that we should give up on our Wei surname and choose another n? Besides, since our Wei n can¡¯t teach our children properly, take this great-nephew of ours back and teach him yourself!¡±


    The venerabledy was rather petty and was in no mood to forgive Wei Lanxin for what she had said.


    Wei Lanxin¡¯s body went limp as she copsed to the ground.

 Chapter 31: Heart Like a Mirror

    Ji Ziqian left.


    He hade brimming with confidence and grandeur, and left with an ashenplexion.


    But the rage of Lady Wei had only just begun.


    Seated on the raised tform, Zheng Shufeng coldly looked down on the servants. She said in an icy tone, ¡°Talk! Who incited the young master against his own cousin?¡±


    Though Zheng Shufeng had said in front of Wei Lanxin that she had intended to have Ji Ziqian take on some servant duties, which wasn¡¯t a lie, arranging things oneself was entirely different from having the servants arrange things.


    If she had arranged things, she undoubtedly would have mediated with the Ji n first, and allowances and understanding could have been obtained for many things. But when the servants decided matters, that was truly just giving Ji Ziqian a hard time.


    This question had all the servants trembling in fear, not daring to speak. Only Wei Tianchong stiffened his neck and said, ¡°It was my own idea. Since he came here to be my servant¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t try that with me!¡± Zheng Shufeng pped the back of her chair. ¡°Ji Ziqian is still your cousin. If not for these servants egging you on, when would you have ever been so bold as to try this?¡±


    She once more scanned the servants and snorted. ¡°Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know what all of you are thinking. Do you all take the servant student spot as meat in your bowl that you¡¯re free to eat? If someone tried to touch your bowl, you would naturally fight back¡­ but this spot is the Wei n¡¯s, not yours!¡±


    As Zheng Shufeng shouted, the servants dropped their heads even lower. Even Tang Jie did not dare to speak at a critical moment like this.


    She was right.


    This was the Wei n¡¯s wealth. It was no one else¡¯s business who the Wei n wanted to give it to.


    If it was given to you, you must give thanks!


    If it was not given to you, you had better notin!


    But greed would make them forget all this. All of their schemes were for something that wasn¡¯t even theirs, that they had somehow regarded as their exclusive property.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but sigh at this thought.


    <em>Big Brother Xu, you were right. My bottom line as a person truly is a little low.</em>


    <em>Ah, forget it. This chance at cultivation is no longer just about my dreams. This is about revenge for Xu Muyang!</em>


    To avenge Xu Muyang, he had wiped away his kind heart so that he could do what needed to be done. If he seeded, he would just have to treat the Wei n better.


    <em>I might have a low bottom line, but at least I have one. I will repay the kindness shown to me by my benefactors, </em>Tang Jie told himself.


    Zheng Shufeng was still shouting, ¡°Talk! Who gave you this idea?¡±


    Wei Tianchong obstinately refused to answer.


    While this kid had quite a few problems, one good thing about him was his loyalty. After all, he was in an era where promises and trust were important.


    In the modern era, ¡®debt dodgers¡¯ could live a free and unfettered life through shamelessness, but if someone in this era became known for such conduct, even strangers would spit on them while passing by.


    In this world of Immortals where a single person could be stronger than an entire army, when normal martial strength was incapable of binding those powerful inhumans, reputation could be the only restraint.


    It was for this reason that the education system had emphasized reputation and loyalty for hundreds of years, making it so that even the powerful individuals of the Immortal tform Realm were unwilling to be cursed for all time.


    Of course, there were always exceptions.


    Thus, storytellers normally told stories about loyalty in the martial world, about upholding promises, about friends willing to sacrifice for each other. Wei Tianchong lived in this kind of era, and the word ¡®loyalty¡¯ had been rooted in his bones. No matter how much Zheng Shufeng scolded him, he would never open his mouth.


    s, Zheng Shufeng was a smart woman. She coldly snorted and said, ¡°You think that I won¡¯t be able to guess so long as you don¡¯t talk? Who would be affected most by Ziqian¡¯s entry into the academy? Isn¡¯t it just those scoundrels who think that they have a chance at seeding? Shi Meng, Shi Mo, Tang Jie, Bao Liang! The four of you, step forward!¡±


    The four boy servants stepped forward together, and Zheng Shufeng passed her harsh gaze over them before ultimately cing her gaze on Shi Mo. ¡°Shi Mo, talk! Were you the one who incited this incident?¡±


    Shi Mo was startled. Knowing that he couldn¡¯t hide it from thedy, he toughened up and said, ¡°Mydy, it was truly this lowly one¡¯s idea to have the young master teach Young Master Ji, but this lowly one only suggested that Young Master teach Young Master Ji some of the rules. After all, if this lowly one is not at the young master¡¯s side, Shi Meng alone might not be able to serve two masters. I had no intention of making trouble for anyone. If mydy does not believe me, you may ask¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to ask. I know that you didn¡¯t try to give him a hard time in particr, for dealing with Ji Ziqian requires nothing of the sort. Some ordinary work and a few cold jeers is enough to hit his limit. You think you can deceive me?¡± Zheng Shufeng roared. ¡°And also, don¡¯t think that you alone can take responsibility for everything. You aren¡¯t enough to create such a mess!¡±


    Shi Mo lowered his head and said nothing.


    Though he had promised Yanzhi that he wouldn¡¯t snitch, deep down, he was hoping that thedy would see through him with her sharp eyes, as he had no desire to shoulder all the responsibility alone.


    Not only was there happiness from bringing someone down with him, but also and most importantly, thew could not punish the masses. If the majority of the Wei Estate¡¯s servants were involved in this incident, thedy would have no choice but to restrain herself.


    After all, no matter how big the n, it needed the support of its servants. This was the basic foundation on which he had dared to step forward.


    Zheng Shufeng looked at Shi Mo and knew that his actions had been silently approved, and she became so angry that she began to tremble. ¡°Good, very good! A bunch of hoodlums, all of themwless! If I really let all of you go to the academy and be Immortals, there¡¯s no telling how you will actually treat the Wei n in the future! Rather than trusting in you, it might be better to trust in those Immortal Masters hired with silver! I think that none of you should go to the academy. My Wei n doesn¡¯t need its own Immortal Masters!¡±


    These were heavy words, and everyone paled. In the end, Chief Steward Qin lightly coughed. ¡°Mydy, these words are inappropriate¡­¡±


    Rules that could be casually broken were not rules!


    And Spirit Masters raised by the n were very different from Spirit Masters hired from the outside.


    This wasn¡¯t just a question of loyalty.


    Loyalty was actually one of the least trustworthy things of all.


    Hundreds of years of human history had proved that when a master prospered, even surrendered soldiers were loyal, and when the master was in peril, even their own family would run out of loyalty.


    The argument that Immortals from one¡¯s own n were more loyal was just an exnation to fool outsiders. In truth, this was the part with the least value.


    In terms of usability, outside Spirit Masters were more useful than n Spirit Masters. After all, they were paid monthly, and if they didn¡¯t work, they didn¡¯t get paid.


    The true difference between outside Spirit Masters and n Spirit Masters was not loyalty, but that no matter how much money an outside Spirit Master was paid, they would never pass on their Immortal arts to you.


    Only a n¡¯s own Spirit Master had the privilege, willingness, reason, and possibility of obtaining approval to pass down Immortal arts, creating a true cultivator n. And the families established by these Spirit Masters would often have significant connections with their originating ns, sometimes directly by marriage.


    For example, if Tang Jie became a Spirit Master and wanted to continue his cultivation but could not repay the Wei n, the best method would be to marry a daughter of the Wei n and leave behind a descendant.


    If the Wei n didn¡¯t have a marriageable daughter or the Spirit Master didn¡¯t take a liking to a girl, it was fine. They could find a maid to take as an adopted daughter, upon which the descendant would still be linked to the Wei n by marriage, and other kinds of blood rtionships could form. Of course, the details depended on the Spirit Master¡¯s future prospects. Taking Shi Yue as an example, if Tang Jie managed to seed and also took a liking to her, she could jump into the position of youngdy of the house, her status even higher than Wei Lanxin¡¯s, and her future son might even be able to inherit the Wei n!


    A n that wanted to persist for a hundred, a thousand years, had to rely on this lineage. As for loyalty¡­ did anyone really think that loyalty was worth a million taels of silver?


    Moreover, the servant student rule had been passed down for several hundred years. The servants were willing to work for the lowest price precisely for this chance. The profit chain between servants meant that one loyal servant could bring up a whole host of loyal servants, with far-reaching effects. If the Wei Estate broke this rule, the servants would rebel, and even other ns would speak on their behalf and caution against it.


    Theplicated web of rtionships between the servants meant that a matter that concerned one person concerned arge number of them. Otherwise, Ji Ziqian would not have encountered such stiff opposition, and Xu Ruogu would not have been so confident that Godhead Pce would not destroy his n.


    The crisscrossing humanwork had always been the most important guarantor.


    The only difference was that mortals had mortalworks and Immortals had Immortalworks.


    When it came to outside Spirit Masters, the n enjoyed the benefits of only a single person.


    When it came to n Spirit Masters, it wasn¡¯t just the one Spirit Master, but also the power of lineage and the strength of thework the Spirit Master would develop over his lifetime.


    Thus, in the end, Zheng Shufeng¡¯s words were merely spoken in rage. She did not have the ability, daring, or permission to break this rule.


    But her rage had yet to subside. Though Steward Qin¡¯s warning was correct, she was not willing to listen. She red at Steward Qin and said, ¡°Don¡¯t think that I¡¯m blind. How was it that that pine-plum vase suddenly appeared next to the door? Why were we immediately informed when the trouble started at the Meditation Garden? How did even the venerable master find out so quickly? And how did we arrive just in time to hear Wei Lanxin speak those unbearable words? These little kids aren¡¯t enough to think of such a sinister scheme. Some of their elders might have been messing around behind the curtains, hmmm? Right, Qin Yuan, don¡¯t you think that the Clear Yang Pavilion is a little too far from the Meditation Garden? And here I thought you were loyal and honest!¡±


    Steward Qin was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat, but he could only smile and say, ¡°Mydy has always been wise, but no one has the power to stop the madame from saying what she wants.¡±


    He had not explicitly denied Zheng Shufeng¡¯s usations.


    Smart servants knew when to act dumb.


    Smart masters knew when to let go.


    Zheng Shufeng was very smart, so she would never investigate this matter thoroughly. She only threw out these questions as a deliberate show of strength, a warning to these people to not think that she was some senile woman.


    <em>I¡¯ll y dumb for now and let you go, but you had better put an end to those petty thoughts! This spot belongs to the Wei n, and it¡¯s not your ce to decide who it goes to!</em>


    Thus, Steward Qin did not argue, only pointing out Wei Lanxin¡¯s wrongs.


    Qin Yuan was also right. Clear Yang Pavilion was rather far, but it was not so far that it was impossible to see Wei Tianchong. To tell the truth, it was because Wei Lanxin hadn¡¯t taken Wei Tianchong seriously. The difficulties Wei Tianchong had inflicted on Ji Ziqian were truthfully the most basic requirements for a servant student. Bluntly speaking, Ji Ziqian hadn¡¯t been conscious of his duty in the slightest. Moreover, while the servants had schemed against him, the servants couldn¡¯t control Wei Lanxin¡¯s mouth and herck of self-control. She could only me her foul mouth and her inability to act properly.


    In the end, this was all because they had problems that were exploited by others.


    Zheng Shufeng understood this. In any case, she didn¡¯t like Wei Lanxin, so she had used this opportunity to drive her out and put an end to the matter.


    Everyone had reached a tacit understanding. The servants had helped Zheng Shufeng dispose of the troublesome Ji n, and in return, they were able to safely enjoy those two spots. It was only with this tacit understanding that everyone could coexist in harmony.


    Thus, after venting her rage some more, Zheng Shufeng made the unprecedented decision to not punish anyone. Truly, she had raised them up high and then gently put them back down.


    With an ¡°Out!¡± from Zheng Shufeng, all the servants fled as if they had been granted a pardon. Steward Qin and Tang Jie left at the very end, neither of them saying a word. It was only when they were almost out of the estate that Tang Jie smiled and said, ¡°Uncle Qin, thank you for all your help this time.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯ve boarded the pirate ship!¡± Steward Qin helplessly sighed, but there was no regret in his eyes.


    He looked at Tang Jie. ¡°Though you did well this time, it¡¯s had a bad effect. It¡¯s a good thing that Shi Mo took the me for everything, so you don¡¯t need to worry too much. If all goes as expected, once the young master enters school, you will be joining him, so let me congratte you now.¡±


    But Tang Jie lightly said, ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Actually, Shi Mo still has a chance.¡±


    ¡°Mm?¡± Steward Qin was taken aback. ¡°After that incidentst time, you said that he didn¡¯t have a chance. After this big mess, why are you now saying that he has a chance?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s precisely because of this big mess that Shi Mo has a chance.¡± Tang Jie sighed.


    ¡°What chance?¡±


    ¡°A Great Heart Demon Aspiration!¡±

 Chapter 32: Choosing a Sect (I)

    The Heart Demon Aspiration was something that every servant student needed to make before entering school. The ns were not fool enough to take them at their word.


    A Heart Demon Aspiration was far more binding than a verbal promise.


    When it came to Heart Demon Aspirations, there were great aspirations, minor aspirations, and non-aspirations. Tang Jie¡¯s oath to destroy Godhead Pce was a great aspiration, while Xu Muyang¡¯s desire to end the karmic debt he owed to Tang Jie for saving him could not even be considered an aspiration, so it was called a non-aspiration.


    Non-aspirations were like opening up a store for the day. Sess or failure, it was just business with one or two customers and wouldn¡¯t have much effect, and it took an ordinary amount of effort.


    Minor aspirations were like signing a purchasing contract with apany. Each contract had a lot on the line. A lost contract wouldn¡¯t be fatal, but it would have serious consequences and could not be taken lightly.


    Great aspirations were likerge contracts that the fate of thepany hinged on. A failed contract would lead to the bank asking for repayment, cash flow problems, and ultimately, closure.


    Thus, great aspirations were not to be made lightly, but dering a great aspiration could also strengthen one¡¯s Dao Heart, erecting a foundation for the heart that would make one¡¯s path to cultivation smoother.


    This was the nature of aspirations.


    Aspirations had nature, but they also had contents.


    ¡°I dere my great aspiration: to eat meat with every meal from now on!¡±


    Such absurd contents could be called a great aspiration, but there was no point, and it would bring no benefit, only trouble.


    As for an aspiration like ¡°I dere my great aspiration: to destroy Godhead Pce,¡± this was an aspiration of extermination. It would bring Tang Jie no benefits when it came to cultivation, but when he faced off against the people of Godhead Pce, he would obtain some kind of external aid, but as for how it would manifest, it depended on the person.


    As for Shi Wunian¡¯s ¡°I dere my great aspiration, to destroy all conditioned existences in this world¡±, this was an aspiration for the breaking of arts. It did not mean that he could truly destroy all the arts in the world, but when he sought to break arts, it would provide him extra help. But his Great Aspiration divine connection was truly mystical. Not only was he allowed to make the aspiration before every battle, he could even alter the aspiration, and the price for going against the aspiration would be much smaller than usual.


    As for the seeking of immortality or freedom, these were foundational aspirations, the foundation of what a cultivator sought. Thus, the vast majority of aspirations were foundational aspirations.


    Great aspirations were the form. The likes of extermination, foundation, and breaking of arts were the contents, and they could be dered as great aspirations or minor aspirations.


    The servant students of every great n normally had to dere an aspiration before entering school. These aspirations were called aspirations of gratitude, and their contents would also differ.


    ns normally would not force servant students to dere a great aspiration, as this would affect their Immortal foundation and the fruits of their cultivation, but a minor aspiration was a must. However, if someone were willing to make a great aspiration, no one would stop them.


    Tang Jie believed that Shi Mo still had a chance because of the potential of a Great Heart Demon Aspiration.


    In the past, Shi Mo was still deluded into thinking he had a chance, so he would not have made a greater promise in the hopes of entering school. But after this incident, Shi Mo was once more at the heart of the struggle, and he would inevitably realize that he had little chance of being selected by thedy. He would no longer be fooled by his status as ¡®secretary¡¯.


    In dire straits, people would often fight a desperate battle.


    To get into school, Shi Mo¡¯s only option was to promise more, to offer up the greatest repayment he possibly could in the form of a great aspiration. When you can¡¯t borrow money, just take a higher-interest loan! There was never ack of risk-taking investors in the world!


    Of course, not just everyone would do this.


    You first had to be worthy.


    And those who were truly worthy might not be willing to make this choice.


    The path of cultivation was one of many dangers, and rather than risking one¡¯s life to be a high-ss ve, it was probably better to just live a safe and muddleheaded life.


    But Tang Jie knew that Shi Mo would probably do this.


    He understood Shi Mo, and he could see that desire for fame and power in Shi Mo¡¯s eyes.


    For this, he might even be willing to sell off half his life.


    Steward Qin understood the moment he heard ¡®Great Heart Demon Aspiration¡¯, and his brow creased. ¡°That¡¯s truly a problem if this is the case. If there¡¯s really nothing to be done, you¡¯ll just have to do the same.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just a bidding war, an attempt to see who will put up the higher price. Unless my life is on the line, this sort of pursuit regardless of the costs is not necessary.¡± Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°I have benefitted from the Wei n, and if I am able to enter Basking Moon Academy in the future, I will repay it, but I have no ns to sell off half my life¡­ Uncle Qin knows that I have always longed for freedom. Though I have not dered an aspiration, I have marked it in my heart. If I sell off half my lifespan to cultivate, I will go against my Origin Heart, at which point stepping onto the Immortal path is pointless. Thus, I can ept being a servant and heeding orders for the time being, but not for an eternity!¡±


    ¡°No matter how great your ambitions, you have to step through the Immortal gate first. If you can¡¯t, what¡¯s the point?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯s impossible. There¡¯s actually a most simple method of defeating Shi Mo¡¯s Great Heart Demon Aspiration. It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t really want to use it.¡±


    ¡°And what is that?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Actually, the Wei n isn¡¯t some cultivator n, so it has no true understanding of the Heart Demon Aspiration. I¡¯ve been fortunate enough to interact with an Immortal before, so I happen to know some things about the Great Heart Demon Aspiration.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve met an Immortal?¡± Steward Qin was shocked.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°But it was just a chance meeting, and in those brief days together, I managed to learn a few things about the cultivation world. From what I know, the Great Heart Demon Aspiration has many constraints. It is not as useful as everyone thinks it is.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°Uncle Qin, do you know why cultivators have Heart Demon Tribtions?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Qin Yuan was an ordinary steward. He only knew about the Heart Demon Tribtion because he was well-informed, but where would he find out what exactly a Heart Demon Tribtion involved?


    Tang Jie smiled and exined, ¡°Cultivation consists of five realms: the Spirit tform Realm, the Mortal Shedding Realm, the Celestial Heart Realm, the Violet Pce Realm, and the Immortal tform Realm. The focus of the Spirit tform Realm is energy, opening the Spirit Sea in the body to absorb spiritual energy and then using spiritual energy to produce various kinds of spell arts. But these spell arts consume the body¡¯s energy and do not make any modifications to the body. In truth, these are simply methods of moving energy around, like the difference between a mortal with a weapon and one without. At the Mortal Shedding Realm, when one opens the Heaven-Earth Bridge, a cultivator can use the spiritual energy in one¡¯s body to harness the spiritual energy of the world. At this time, the spiritual energy in the body is only a lure, a booster. Human power is limited, but the power of the heavens and the earth is unlimited. Thus, it is only at this time that Immortal Masters possess their heavenly abilities. Besides that, there is something else that separates the Mortal Shedding Realm from the Spirit tform Realm. At this stage, one can use spiritual energy to purify, temper and transform the body. And does Uncle Qin know what happens at the Celestial Heart Realm?¡±


    Steward Qin nkly shook his head.


    ¡°In truth, the Celestial Heart Realm is simply the next step in the purification and tempering, but at this time, what is being purified is not the body, but¡­¡± Tang Jie pointed at his own head.


    Steward Qin trembled. ¡°The head?¡±


    ¡°To be more precise, the brain, the mind. Though the Mortal Shedding Realm is about shedding the mortal body, the head remains a weakness. They can survive a damaged heart, but they would still die if their head is no more. That is because this ce is still mortal. The brain is the mostplicated part of the human body, and even those mighty Immortals of the Mortal Shedding Realm cannot casually purify and temper it. They must wait until after they have formed their Celestial Heart to do so. Once they form their Celestial Heart, they will form their Spirit Will, and after that is the Divine Will. Whether it is the Spirit Will or the Divine Will, it is actually our formless consciousness given form.¡±


    Steward Qin understood. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that this is where the Heart Demon Tribtiones from?¡±


    ¡°Correct. The Celestial Heart Realm is about cultivating the Spirit Will, turning it from formless into formed, and with it, you also give form to Heart Demons. Heart Demons are those things we¡¯ve regretted or been upset by, and they will emerge in the process of manifesting the Spirit Will. Put simply, it¡¯s just the difference between the Divine Will and Demonic Will, like the good and evil sides of a person. The Divine Will can be controlled, and at high levels of cultivation, it can move heaven and earth with a single thought. Without the need for any sort of spells or incantations, it can create ten thousand arts. This is the Violet Pce Realm. The Demonic Will cannot be controlled and will only bite back at its owner. Thus, the Heart Demon Tribtion is a tribtion that will only happen at the Celestial Heart Realm.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that ordinary Spirit Masters don¡¯t fear the Heart Demon Tribtion?¡±


    ¡°The fear is there, but it¡¯s a fear that if they do too many things that dirty their heart, then they¡¯ll have to pay up when they reach the Celestial Heart Realm. But if they decide to stop at the Mortal Shedding Realm and go no further, then they really don¡¯t need to fear anything.¡±


    Steward Qin¡¯s entire body felt cold. ¡°But I¡¯ve never heard the n¡¯s Spirit Masters talk about this.¡±


    ¡°Why would they?¡± Tang Jie countered. ¡°They probably had to dere an aspiration upon entering the Wei Estate, and since they dered an aspiration, they probably got a little higher pay for it. What sort of person would be bored enough to tell their master, ¡®By the way, I don¡¯t n to try for the Celestial Heart Realm in my lifetime, so don¡¯t take that Heart Demon Aspiration I made to you seriously¡¯?¡±


    Steward Qin was utterly speechless.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°In truth, all the old-school cultivator ns know about this, but why would anyone talk about it? After all, that could easily offend many people, as there are many Spirit Masters who rely on this for a living. In the end, the Wei n hasn¡¯t been around for that long, and it doesn¡¯t have its own Spirit Masters, so it still doesn¡¯t know about a lot of things. Besides that, those Spirit Masters might not have intentionally deceived you. Many Spirit Masters haven¡¯t reached that stage and might not have even realized it themselves.¡±


    ¡°And why is that?¡± Qin Yuan asked, very curious. How could not even Spirit Masters be aware?


    ¡°Because cultivation itself is a very dangerous affair, and the slightestck of caution might result in corruption. Learning about theter parts of the path of cultivation too early might result in cultivators making risky attempts. While this might be a result of a moment of curiosity, the results are often tragic! For the sake of safety, masters normally won¡¯t tell their juniors such things too early, and even if they do tell them, they will add on warnings to not talk about it or rashly attempt it.¡±


    ¡°Then how did you¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like that Immortal had any intention of taking me as a disciple, and I still don¡¯t know any Immortal arts, so he just casually told me a few things. Perhaps he felt like I would never in my lifetime be able to get into an academy,¡± Tang Jie said with a smile.


    In truth, Xu Muyang had told him all this partially because he trusted in Tang Jie¡¯s mature personality and believed that he wouldn¡¯t mess around, and partially because he had drunk a few cups of wine that day and had not been on his guard. After the incident, he had been so full of regret that he wanted to die, and he repeatedly warned Tang Jie not to try it. Fortunately, Tang Jie had not believed himself to have such heaven-defying talent that he could seed. Whenever it came to his safety, he was never reckless.


    Steward Qin paced back and forth and then shook his head. ¡°No, I must tell thedy about this.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d better not,¡± Tang Jie advised. ¡°If you really tell her, wouldn¡¯t you be hated by those Spirit Masters for the rest of your life? If they hold grudges¡­ if they want to kill you, you might not even realize how you died. And in truth, it¡¯s not like those Spirit Masters are guaranteed to not want to advance to the Celestial Heart Realm. So long as there¡¯s a sliver of hope, is there anyone who would truly be willing to stop? Thus, the Heart Demon Aspiration still carries some meaning. It¡¯s just that you can¡¯t take it too seriously or ce too much trust in it.¡±


    Steward Qin sighed. ¡°I hope that they¡¯re unaware of this as well. You¡¯re right. If I caused trouble over this problem, it would be awful whether they knew or not, and what if I ended up harming the innocent? But thedy is wise and has never staked everything on the Heart Demon Aspiration. She has always said that while the Heart Demon Aspiration is important, a person¡¯s nature is also important. Only when both are present can the safety of the n be ensured.¡±


    ¡°I agree.¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°The truly smart people never blindly believe in something they do not understand. As always, thedy is wise!¡±


    ¡°But if we can¡¯t talk about it, then there¡¯s no stopping Shi Mo¡¯s great aspiration, and your only choice is to imitate Shi Mo. At most, you¡¯ll have to stop at Mortal Shedding. It¡¯s still better than being unable to enter the Immortal gate.¡±


    But unfortunately, Tang Jie was not willing. ¡°I won¡¯t use my future as a chip and wager it all. In truth, even if the Wei n doesn¡¯t choose me, I¡¯m confident that I can still enter the Immortal gate. It¡¯s just that it will be more troublesome.¡±


    Steward Qin was startled by these words. ¡°You¡¯re saying you have another way of entering the Immortal gate?¡±


    ¡°Of course. The Sageheart Kingdom doesn¡¯t just have the Basking Moon Sect. If I can¡¯t get into Basking Moon Academy, can I not go to another sect? It¡¯s just that the Basking Moon Academy is the orthodox path, and if I can take the regr road, why would I take the small roads? If I were willing to stop at Mortal Shedding, many sects in the Sageheart Kingdom would be willing to choose me, and getting into any of them would be much easier than getting into Basking Moon. Besides¡­¡±


    Just when he was about to say ¡°I actually have a way of beating Shi Mo¡±, Steward Qin grabbed Tang Jie and excitedly asked, ¡°That means you know of a way to get into another sect? Please, Little Jie, I¡¯m begging you: you have to help me with something!¡±


    ¡°Uncle Qin, what are you doing?¡± Tang Jie was startled. He had never seen Steward Qin this agitated, much less use the word ¡®begging¡¯ in front of him.


    Steward Qin anxiously said, ¡°Please, you must help the fourth youngdy! She¡¯s about to go crazy from wanting to cultivate!¡±


    In a dimly-lit room, Wei Die nervously sat across from Tang Jie, and next to her was the equally nervous Steward Qin.


    Rubbing his hands, Steward Qin somewhat awkwardly said, ¡°I guess I can tell you this without beingughed at. Little Jie, I¡¯ve watched the fourth youngdy grow up and taken care of her, so I already regard her as my own daughter. Over thest few years, as the fourth youngdy is a woman and has no opportunity, she has been in a very bad state, and I have also been worried about her¡­¡±


    ¡°I know. The year the fourth youngdy was born was also the year Elder Sister Little Ru died, yes?¡± Tang Jie lightly said.


    Steward Qin shivered, his head dropping as he began to sob.


    Steward Qin had had a daughter called Qin Ru, his only daughter.


    The year Wei Die was born, Qin Ru came down with a serious illness and died. Wei Die had just been born, and the servants of the Wei Estate were at their busiest, so Qin Yuan hadn¡¯t even been able to see his daughter onest time.


    This had been an enormous blow to Qin Yuan.


    One girl was born and another passed away. And after Wei Die was born, Qin Yuan found that she looked rather simr to his own daughter. Thus, he ced his affection on this girl. In his mind, he believed that Wei Die was his daughter¡¯s reincarnation. Even though Wei Die had actually been born before Qin Ru¡¯s death, Qin Yuan ignored this point and treated her as his daughter¡¯s reincarnation.


    His fatherly affection for Wei Die over thest few years had been no secret. Only Steward Qin thought that it was. It was only when Tang Jie softly exposed the matter that Steward Qin dropped his head and began to cry.


    After some time, Steward Qin finally said, ¡°Little Jie, if you know a way, then please, teach it to the fourth youngdy. Please, if you really know a way to get through the Immortal gate, then if you help me with this, you won¡¯t owe me anything in the future¡­¡±


    ¡°Uncle Qin¡­¡±


    Wei Die and Tang Jie called out at the same time.


    Wei Die was moved. On the matter of cultivation, not even her father, Wei Qingsong, had put in more than a token effort, but Steward Qin was willing to go to any lengths, seizing on even the smallest chances.


    Tang Jie said in displeasure, ¡°Uncle Qin, what sort of person do you take me for? We¡¯re all family, so how can we owe each other? I will do my best for the fourth youngdy, but sess will still depend on herself.¡±


    Wei Die hastily said, ¡°I wish to cultivate, so I am willing to endure any kind of suffering.¡±


    ¡°If being willing to endure suffering were all it took, wouldn¡¯t everyone be an Immortal? Is life in a rich n more difficult than farming?¡± Tang Jie answered with disdain.


    Wei Die¡¯s face reddened, and all she could say was, ¡°Then what do you think I should do?¡±


    ¡°If you wish to enter the Immortal gate, you must first have a definite goal. Fourth Young Lady, let me ask you why you want to cultivate¡­¡±


    Wei Die very seriously considered the question before finally answering, ¡°I want to cultivate because I¡¯m not convinced. Why is it that men can do it while women cannot? This isn¡¯t fair. In addition, I also want the freedom of an Immortal.¡±


    ¡°So you wish to cultivate to seek fairness and freedom?¡±


    ¡°Yes, fairness and freedom!¡± Wei Die firmly said.


    ¡°Good. Now let me ask you: what do you think of yourself as a person? In other words, I would like you to evaluate your personality.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Wei Die hadn¡¯t expected this question. After a while, she finally muttered, ¡°I think¡­ I should be¡­ a good girl¡­¡±


    Wei Die felt rather embarrassed topliment herself, and with thest few words, her face blushed in shame, and she lowered her head, unwilling to meet Tang Jie¡¯s gaze.


    Qin Yuan hastily said, ¡°Wei¡¯er is a good child with a gentle personality. She has always treated the servants magnanimously.¡±


    Tang Jie coolly said, ¡°Your words don¡¯t count.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Qin Yuan was confused.


    Tang Jie exined, ¡°Your affection for the fourth youngdy will hinder you from giving a fair assessment, so your assessment does not count. To understand what sort of person the fourth youngdy is, you must observe her with your eyes, analyze her with your mind, and test her with time. In my view, the fourth youngdy is still somewhat far away from having a magnanimous personality.¡±


    Wei Die¡¯s face turnedpletely red. ¡°Tang Jie, I came to see you because Uncle Qin said that you had a way of getting me into the Immortal gate, not so that you could humiliate me. Are these questions supposed to help me in that?¡±


    ¡°Of course. If you can¡¯t get into Basking Moon Academy, you can only fall back and settle for the next best thing. But while the Sageheart Kingdom has only one major sect, it has countless smaller ones, so you have to carefully consider your choices. I know that you¡¯re going to say that you¡¯re fine so long as you can get into any sect, but sometimes, it¡¯s better to act slowly rather than act with too much haste. If you don¡¯t think carefully now, you might regret it in the future. Fourth Young Lady is currently like a person about to starve to death, willing to eat anything you can put into your mouth. But I cannot let the youngdy casually choose a sect. Fourth Young Lady must understand that cultivation is no simple matter. Starting from the foundation, one must proceed carefully with each step. A single mistake might lead to a loss of opportunity for a lifetime.¡±


    Saying this, Tang Jie took out a piece of paper. Wei Die watched as he wrote a row of names on it. These were clearly the other sects of the Sageheart Kingdom.


    Tang Jie ced the paper on the table and said, ¡°Other than the Basking Moon Sect, which is Sageheart¡¯s only major sect, there are several hundred sects of various sizes. But, Young Lady, you must understand that only a small number of these several hundred sects can actually lead you to the Great Dao. Some techniques might feel good when first practiced, but they go against the Great Dao and cause the foundation to beid down incorrectly. In the future, no matter how hard you work, your results will be limited. The direction of a human life is very important. Taking the wrong road might have you going in the opposite direction of where you want to go. This is why I asked Fourth Young Lady the first question. I wanted to know if Fourth Young Lady¡¯s ambitions were focused on the Great Dao. If this is not the fourth youngdy¡¯s ambition, then you can just find the easiest one to get into so you can go through the motions.¡±


    ¡°How could that do?¡± Wei Die shouted. ¡°I seek fairness, not going through the motions!¡±


    ¡°Very good.¡± Tang Jie once more waved around the paper. ¡°There are twenty-two sects on this paper. I specifically chose them because I believe that they are sects that have the potential. Since Fourth Young Lady seeks the Great Dao, we should start with these twenty-two sects.¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡± Steward Qin was rather confused. ¡°How do you know that these twenty-two sects can allow one to cultivate to the Great Dao while the others can¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°By looking at history.¡±


    ¡°Looking at history?¡±


    The two were further confused by Tang Jie¡¯s answer.


    ¡°Yes, by looking at history! The will of the heavens is unfathomable, and the future is unpredictable, but the future is constantly repeating history. Thus, by understanding history, you can understand the future!¡±

 Chapter 33: Choosing a Sect (2)

    ¡°To understand a sect¡¯s resources, the simplest method is also the most effective: looking at its history. The greatest difference between a major sect and a minor sect is in their Immortal arts. To understand which one has the better Immortal arts, you can¡¯t listen to what they say. You have to look at their past. Sects can decline, but their Immortal arts will remain. If a sect has produced a Violet Pce True Lord in its history, then that means that the sect does not have a problem when ites to arts. Even if this sect has, for some reason or another, lost its high-level arts, at least there is no problem with its low-level arts, and in the future, you can just cultivate a different art. But if they¡¯ve never produced a True Lord¡­ you have to be careful.¡±


    Saying this, Tang Jie produced another piece of paper. ¡°Take this Furious Sword Gate noted here. It once had a resplendent period where it produced numerous Celestial Heart Realm experts that swept over the opposition. But this Furious Sword Gate has never produced a Violet Pce True Lord. Those peerless geniuses of the Furious Sword Gate ultimately stopped at the peak of the Celestial Heart Realm, none of them able to make that critical step. Some of them even died in the attempt. This means that there is a problem with this sect¡¯s arts. If you cultivate it, you might not even have a chance to start over. Of course, it might just be that their luck was bad, but on a matter like this, it¡¯s better to be safe than sorry.¡±


    In truth, the Xu n was a ssic example. The n¡¯s Immortal arts were limited, and if there was a problem with one¡¯s foundation, then no matter how talented one was, one would never be able to surpass the Celestial Heart Realm.


    Fortunately for them, the Celestial Heart Realm was enough to muddle through in the Rosecloud Domain, which was why the Xu n was still okay. But for those people who were set on the Great Dao, to have hope and to be able to realize one¡¯s hopes were twopletely different things.


    For arts like those of the Xu n, one could learn them in one¡¯s journey for the Dao, but one absolutely could not use them to establish their foundation. Of course, the Xu n was trying to find its own solutions to this problem.


    Unlike Qin Yuan and Wei Die, Tang Jie had spent half a year with Xu Muyang and had learned many important things about the cultivation world. In knowledge of this aspect, only official Spirit Masters couldpare to him.


    When it came to the various minor sects of Sageheart, Xu Muyang had told him about a lot of them, and Tang Jie had learned about some of them over thest two years. As for the method of looking at history to filter out the bad ones, this was his own unique development. Though it was not guaranteed to work, it was not without reason. At least when it came to the arts of the twenty-two sects he had written, they could be trusted.


    Qin Yuan and Wei Die were stunned. It took a while for Wei Die to finally ask, ¡°And what was the meaning behind your second question?¡±


    Tang Jie exined, ¡°Immortal sects differ in their methods. Even the same spell art will have different effects when used by different people. What do you think the essential reason for these differences is?¡±


    ¡°Their individual aptitude?¡± Steward Qin blurted out.


    Tang Jie shook his head. Wei Die was the smarter one, and she shouted out in understanding, ¡°Could it be personality?¡±


    ¡°Yes, personality is the root of it all,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°Each person has their own personality, and their fate is often directly linked to their personality. If you tried to teach one of those extreme warriors who only know fighting an Immortal art that requires constant repetition, how could he possibly exhibit his power? And if you took some timid coward and taught him some bold and proactive art, how do you expect him to gather his courage? Personality is talent, and while one¡¯s bodily aptitude is also very important, one¡¯s personality is even more so. If you don¡¯t find the right ce, then even if you go to a traditional Immortal sect, your future potential will still be limited!¡±


    He hadprehended this through the whipping Wei Tianchong had given him.


    The Ninedark Martial Lord had made his fame through battle, and so his technique was most suited for battle, and even its cultivation required battle.


    ¡°Then why do you have to go to Basking Moon Academy?¡±


    ¡°Basking Moon Academy is the dazzling orthodox school, and it contains innumerable Immortal arts. You could even say that it has Immortal arts for everyone. After all, this sort of major sect has far more talents than you can imagine. Over there, you will always be able to find your reflection, which is why anyone can go to them. Even if there¡¯s really nothing that suits you, they can design something to suit your needs. Of course, whether they¡¯re willing is another matter entirely.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Wei Die seemed to understand.


    ¡°Besides that, not only can personality determine one¡¯s cultivation achievements, but also whether or not you fit into a sect. Different sects and different Immortal arts often also mean different cultures¡­ mm, I mean to say ¡®different ways of thinking¡¯. If your lifestance¡­ if your ideas differ from the mainstream ideas of the sect you¡¯re in, you¡¯ll have a very bad time of it in the future. But if it¡¯s the opposite, then you¡¯ll be able to easily get into that sect.¡±


    Saying this, Tang Jie waved around that first paper. ¡°Fourth Young Lady is a woman, and many of these sects on this paper focus too much on Yang energy. This makes them unsuitable for women, so we can rule them out.¡±


    Saying this, he raised the brush and eliminated many of the names, instantly leaving behind a scant few.


    Tang Jie added, ¡°I don¡¯t understand Fourth Young Lady that much, but it seems to me that you do not fear difficulty in cultivation and are willing to seize any chance. From this, I can see that you are outwardly soft and inwardly hard. You¡¯re also very opinionated, and once you make up your mind, it¡¯s very hard to change it. A personality like this is most suited for a technique that is simple yet requires constant tempering, an art that tests your tenacity. While such arts are not very noteworthy at first, they get stronger as time goes on. If that¡¯s the case, then I think the ones that fit you are the Heavenly Extinction Sect, the Five God Church, and Heart Severing Pavilion. But the Heavenly Extinction Sect is too murderous in nature. Fourth Young Lady¡¯s ambition does not lie in wielding your sword to wander the world, nor do you align with its goal of killing all things that can be killed. Moreover, they¡¯ve been getting more and more arrogant over thest few years, and in my view, it¡¯s a foregone conclusion that the Basking Moon Sect will wipe them out. Going there is no different from seeking death, so it¡¯s best to forget about it.


    ¡°The Five God Church is very mysterious, and though it has produced a Violet Pce True Lord, it was far too long ago, and it has withered away into a miserable state, only getting on by duping people into believing it has high connections. I wouldn¡¯t advise you to go there unless there was no other option. Although I emphasize history, we also cannot ignore the present.


    ¡°As for Heart Severing Pavilion, its master originated from the Thousand Passions Sect. I heard that she was hurt by a man and developed a hatred for men, so she left the Thousand Passions Sect and set up Heart Severing Pavilion. The master of Heart Severing Pavilion can be considered a genius. When she left, she swore a great aspiration that she would never pass on the secret learnings of the Thousand Passions Sect to outsiders, but she managed to produce her Heart Severing Mantra by basing it on the Thousand Passions Sect¡¯s basic mantra, which has been passed down through her school since then. Though Heart Severing Pavilion has never produced a Violet Pce True Lord, that is because too little time has passed since she first established her sect. As this pavilion master based her own art on the Thousand Passions Sect¡¯s basic art, I am confident that there is no problem with the cultivation foundation and that you will not be led down the wrong path. Moreover, that she could create her own art means that she possesses top-ss experience, not even considering her talent. After all, creating an Immortal art has little to do with one¡¯s talent in cultivation, having more to do with one¡¯s life experiences and understanding of cultivation. When ites to teachers, an experienced teacher will always be better than a talented one. This is why I have included this sect among the twenty-two sects you can choose.¡±


    After talking for so long, Tang Jie took a drink of water and rested a bit before continuing. ¡°Fourth Young Lady seeks freedom, to not be oppressed under the feet of men. In truth, you actually share some simrities with the master of Heart Severing Pavilion. In human rtions, people need to speak the samenguage to be friends. If people with mismatched personalities be teacher and disciple, it probably won¡¯t turn out well. But if their personalitiesplement each other, matters will be much simpler. It¡¯s just that the personalities of the people in Heart Severing Pavilion are rather extreme. If you join the pavilion, you need to be careful to not be brainwashed by them into hating men as soon as you see them.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Wei Die¡¯s face reddened as she answered. ¡°Given what you¡¯ve said, I¡¯ll choose Heart Severing Pavilion.¡±


    ¡°Although Heart Severing Pavilion doesn¡¯t have a very high status in the Sageheart Kingdom, and its requirements for epting disciples aren¡¯t too out-there, it¡¯s not a ce just anyone can get into. It requires the payment of five hundred spirit coins every year.¡±


    ¡°Five hundred spirit coins!¡± Wei Die¡¯s face immediately turned unpleasant.


    Qin Yuan alsoined, ¡°This isn¡¯t cheap! Basking Moon Academy only charges three hundred spirit coins.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Basking Moon Academy only asks for three hundred because it doesn¡¯t rely on tuition fees to make money. Its primary goal is to select talented individuals, spread its influence, and establish a foundation that can stand for eons. Heart Severing Pavilion is still a small sect, and it doesn¡¯t receive offerings from the locals. It even has to pay a fee to the Basking Moon Sect every year, so they can only make money from the tuition fees. If you really do the calctions, five hundred spirit coins is actually quite cheap. Most important is that their spots aren¡¯t hard to get, nor do they have a lot of follow-up fees. If you consider the spot and the additional fees, Basking Moon Academy is a hundred times more expensive than Heart Severing Pavilion. Second Master might not be able to get a spot at Basking Moon Academy for the fourth youngdy, but with his status, five hundred spirit coins and a spot at Heart Severing Pavilion shouldn¡¯t be difficult.¡±


    ¡°But I have heard that even if I go to Heart Severing Pavilion¡¯s academy, it doesn¡¯t mean I will be able to get into Heart Severing Pavilion.¡±


    ¡°Naturally. Getting into Basking Moon Academy doesn¡¯t mean you can get into the Basking Moon Sect either. Once you get into the academy, you still have to rely on yourself for your performance. That¡¯s why I rmended that sect to you. With your personality, you¡¯re more of a fit for Heart Severing Pavilion, so your chances of sess will be greater. Don¡¯t look down on Heart Severing Pavilion because of its size. So long as you choose the right path and do well, your future aplishments might be greater than you think.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just worried that Father won¡¯t agree,¡± Wei Die said with a sigh.


    Five hundred spirit coins wasn¡¯t cheap. ording to the standard exchange rate, it was five hundred silver taels, but it would be several times that on the ck market. Wei Qingsong was no Wei Danbai, so he might not be that generous.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°While Second Master isn¡¯t the patriarch, he is still a principal member of the Wei n. He should still be able to pay out five hundred spirit coins a year. What¡¯s key is not whether Second Master has it, but whether he¡¯s willing.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s words happened to be exactly what Wei Die was worried about. Sighing, she said, ¡°In the end, I am a woman¡­¡±


    ¡°Wrong!¡± Tang Jie replied with a harshness in his eyes. ¡°That you are a woman is not the reason the second master is unwilling.¡±


    ¡°Mm?¡± Wei Die and Qin Yuan both looked at Tang Jie in surprise.


    Tang Jie exined, ¡°Parents dote on their children, whether male or female. The difference in treatment is often due to a variety of factors. While the favoring of men over women is undoubtedly an important reason, that doesn¡¯t mean there are no other reasons. Fourth Young Lady, think about it. Growing up, have you ever done anything that can make your parents trust you?¡±


    ¡°Make my parents trust me?¡±


    ¡°Right!¡± Tang Jie sternly said, ¡°In the Wei Estate, the most senior figures are the venerable master and the venerabledy, but the one managing the entire estate is the firstdy. Normally, when she speaks, even the venerable master listens. Why do you think this is so? Because she is the wife to the first son? No, it is because thedy is sufficiently smart and can shoulder the duties of the house. None of the servants are displeased about her ce, and even the Immortal Masters like Master Lu are willing to obey her!¡±


    Qin Yuan repeatedly nodded at these words. Zheng Shufeng was an intelligent woman who handled things very fairly. Even when she rebuked the servants, nobodyined. She was many times more intelligent than Wei Lanxin and had always been very popr.


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°If you want to prove that you¡¯re better than a man, you can¡¯t just rely on empty words. You have to show it. In truth, Fourth Young Lady, if you really did seed at cultivation, the second master would be overjoyed. Even if you are married out in the future, you are still a daughter of the Wei n. When the Wei n truly needs it, I am sure that Fourth Young Lady will be willing to help them out. Even if he values a daughter much, much less than a son, one hundred thousand taels of silver can be spent on the third young master, so spending twenty thousand taels of silver can¡¯t be too much, yes? And it¡¯s only five hundred spirit coins.


    ¡°So the key is trust!¡± Tang Jie dered. ¡°Getting the second master to pay this money is very simple. You just need to have him trust you.¡±


    ¡°Then how do I get trust?¡±


    ¡°You have to work for it, of course!¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°In a few days, it will be the venerabledy¡¯s seventieth birthday. This is one of the biggest social events the Wei Estate will be holding for now, and the Wei Estate will be decked out to entertain all the guests. This matter is normally handled by thedy, so why not go to thedy and ask for some work, to take responsibility for some part of the preparations? So long as the venerabledy¡¯s birthday goes well, you will gain some of the credit and everyone will trust in your abilities. And always be more dutiful and filial no matter the asion, so that they believe that even if you are married off, you will have your parents¡¯ n at heart¡­ In these circumstances, even if you don¡¯t say anything, I¡¯m sure that the second master will still get the idea of sending you to school. In truth, parents¡¯ expectations for their daughter are sometimes very simple. Large errors can be minimized into small errors and forgiven, while small achievements are often unted like great merit. If Fourth Young Lady is dutiful in your everyday life and seeds in bringing over everyone to your side, Second Master will naturally begin to trust you.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ I¡¯m worried that I won¡¯t do it well,¡± Wei Die softly said.


    ¡°Even if you can¡¯t, you must!¡± Tang Jie bluntly said. ¡°If you can¡¯t even do something like this well, why seek Immortality? Do you really think just entering an Immortal sect and practicing Immortal arts every day is really enough? Or is it that you think that because the cultivation world ces itself above the world of mortals, it is free from the disgusting and filthy affairs of the mortal world? The path to Immortality is akin to a mountain path, and countless people are struggling for it, fighting to get through the gate and fighting after they get through the gate, and the fighting only gets more vicious, ruthless, savage, and perilous! Stepping onto the Immortal path is stepping on the road ofpetition. Someone could push you off the mountain path at any time and into the abyss. If you don¡¯t want to fight and work, then it would be better to not cultivate at all!¡±


    ¡°If I don¡¯t fight and work, it would be better to not cultivate?¡± Wei Die stared with jaw agape at Tang Jie.


    Perhaps realizing that he had spoken too harshly, Tang Jie softened his tone before continuing. ¡°As the fourth youngdy, you have many advantages. If you cannot even stand out in your own home, then you might not be able topete with others in Heart Severing Academy. Thus, we should start from here. This is your chance to get through the Immortal gate, and it is also the training you must go through before entering. I believe that you can do it.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s final words of encouragement caused Wei Die¡¯s eyes to sh, and she bowed to Tang Jie. ¡°Thank you for your instruction. Wei Die understands.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°There¡¯s no need to be polite. Remember, when working, don¡¯t think about too much. Just focus on doing a good job. Sess sometimeses very easily. To sum it up briefly, be inconspicuous as a person and conspicuous in your work. Alright, I won¡¯t say any more than this. Everything else depends on you.¡±


    Once he was done, he realized that the other two were looking at him with strange looks. Surprised, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s up? Did I say something wrong?¡±


    Qin Yuanposed himself and said, ¡°I truly didn¡¯t think that a child could consider so much¡­ Are you really fourteen?¡±


    It was Tang Jie¡¯s turn to be speechless.


    Finally, Wei Die chuckled. ¡°Regardless, I have to thank you for your pointers. In the future, if Wei Die seeds in cultivation, I will not forget the lessons taught to me by Young Master Tang. If you need anything in the future, Wei Die will not let you down!¡±


    She was the fourth youngdy, but she was calling Tang Jie ¡®Young Master¡¯. This was a reflection of just how much she respected Tang Jie.


    ¡°Fourth Young Lady is too polite.¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°But now that you mention it, I truly need Fourth Young Lady¡¯s help with something¡­¡±


    Tang Jie was like a man with not long to live who wouldn¡¯t even overlook a one-night debt. He had just helped out the fourth youngdy and was already asking to be paid interest.

 Chapter 34: Plant Becomes Sprite

    The next day, Wei Die really went to thedy to ask for work.


    Zheng Shufeng was rather surprised to see the fourth youngdy asking for work, but she considered this a good thing and didn¡¯t refuse. She allowed the fourth youngdy to choose a task she liked, so Wei Die asked to be in charge of all thendscaping for the estate.


    Wei Die then very awkwardly told Tang Jie that she had asked for this job because she wanted Tang Jie to help her. After all, Tang Jie worked as the gardener at the Meditation Garden. She was essentially resorting to trickery.


    To her surprise, Tang Jie burst out inughter. He considered it more like skillful management than trickery. If you can¡¯t do it yourself, just choose someone who can do the job well to help you. This was also a skill, and from this, he could tell that the fourth youngdy was rather smart.


    Wei Die was rather embarrassed by his praise, but she was inwardly rather pleased with herself. Thus, she made Tang Jie her assistant, and the two of them worked together to n out thendscaping design for the entire estate. In a sh, Tang Jie had been promoted from gardener of the Meditation Garden to chief gardener of the entire estate¡ªa rather unexpected harvest.


    As many guests would being to the venerabledy¡¯s birthday, neither of them dared to be careless. Every day, they would get together to decide how to arrange the various gardens.


    Tang Jie had been a gardener for a bit more than a year, and his experiences from his past life made him particrly unconventional. Thus, whether it was in design or execution, he was always able to suggest new and refreshing ideas.


    Wei Die didn¡¯t understandndscaping that much, but as the fourth youngdy, she understood how to appreciate it, and she also knew the likes of the people in the estate as well as the customs and taboos of the n. She understood what should be done and what might end up making a mess.


    One was outward-facing while the other was inward-facing, and they made for a perfect match.


    Through their efforts, the gardens of the Wei Estate began to transform. Blooming flowers took the form of various vivid and interesting well-wishing birthday designs. Whether it was in the form of words, birds, fish, or insects, they were all there, and though there were many different kinds of scenes, they all joined together into amon theme. It was an endlessly interesting and beautifulndscape.


    Gardening was different from other fields and was very difficult to keep secret. Thus, before the pair had finished, the people of the Wei Estate had already begun to notice and issue their praise, saying that this might be the most beautiful birthday party in the history of the Wei n.


    Zheng Shufeng had not initially believed that the fourth youngdy would be very capable, but after seeing her do such a good job, she couldn¡¯t help but give praise. Even Wei Qingsong developed a higher opinion of his daughter. This overjoyed Wei Die, and she knew that she was getting closer and closer to her dream. At this time, she finally understood the true meaning behind Tang Jie¡¯s words.


    It turned out that having her parents trust her wasn¡¯t hard at all. She just needed to do a good job with her duties.


    Of course, all of her efforts could only truly pass the test when the guests arrived.


    On this day, it was finally the venerabledy¡¯s birthday.


    The Wei Estate weed innumerable guests. Almost every person of some name in Canglong Prefecture was present. Even the prefect of Canglong Prefecture and the members of the other four great ns came to offer their congrattions, bringing with them generous gifts. The servants were so busy that they hardly had a moment to breathe. Even the boy servants of the Meditation Garden, Shi Mo and crew, had been transferred away to attend to the guests.


    The nging of drums and chimes was the theater troupe who had been invited to put on a show for the venerabledy¡¯s birthday, and the numerous footsteps were the guests admiring the scenery of the Wei Estate. mes exploded in the sky while brightnterns festooned the earth. It was a grandiose and bustling scene, but it would forever belong to someone else.


    At this time, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t actually busy. The nature of his work forbade him from still being busy at this time.


    And unlike the fourth youngdy, he had no need to receive the guests. Thus, Tang Jie was one of the few idlers in the estate today. While everyone else was in the main hall with the guests, Tang Jie was walking alone through the Meditation Garden, admiring his own work while thinking about modifications to his formations.


    In this time, he had once more advanced in the Dao of Formations. He had a basic grasp on all those small formations. All hecked was spiritual energy to support them.


    As he was thinking, he inadvertently raised his head and saw that there was something wrong with one of the garden sculptures.


    That garden sculpture was a seven-colored deer made from red duck plum blossoms, green roses, white sunset, orchids, and other flowers. The seven-colored deer was an auspicious beast in the Rosecloud Domain, and it was said that encountering it would mean great fortune. Wei Tianchong was going to enter school soon, so with the help of the fourth youngdy, Tang Jie had made this seven-colored deer.


    But now that he was looking at it again, he felt like it was missing something. As he walked up and took a closer look, he discovered that one of the eyes of the seven-colored deer, made from a green rose, had gone missing, leaving an empty socket.


    ¡°Which little rascal would be so foolish?¡± Tang Jie was rather angry.


    At this moment, a dark silhouette shed past him. Tang Jie turned around but saw nothing. But when he turned back to look at the deer, he saw that the eye had returned, the green petals swaying in the wind, infused with some indescribable oddness.


    Tang Jie felt a chill in his heart.


    He quietly took a few steps back and then loudly said, ¡°What illustrious figure hase to y a trick on this lowly one? If I have offended you in any way, please forgive me.¡±


    ¡°Heheh¡­¡± A giggle could be heard in the air,ing from all directions and sounding like theugh of a child.


    It was a crisp and pleasant voice, but one that he was a stranger to.


    What Tang Jie feared the most was that someone in the estate would doubt his status, and his second-greatest fear was that Godhead Pce would find him.


    This clearly wasn¡¯t someone of the estate, and Godhead Pce wouldn¡¯t be so polite. Thus, when he heard this voice, Tang Jie calmed down.


    He did not want to get entangled with this person too much, so he turned to leave. But as he took a step forward, his surroundings suddenly darkened. The mor and the mes in the sky all disappeared, and the Meditation Garden became eerily quiet, like a tomb.


    ¡°An illusion formation?¡± Tang Jie cried out in rm. Without the slightest hesitation, he dropped his body and charged forward.


    But after a few steps, the scene in front of him changed. He had somehow changed directions, and the garden that was behind him was now in front of him.


    ¡°Reversing heaven and earth?¡± Tang Jie gasped. He immediately took a step to the side, and his surroundings changed once more. The garden had seeminglye alive, constantly moving around Tang Jie, all of the flowers flying up and filling the air with petals.


    ¡°So it was a minor befuddling formation,¡± Tang Jieughed.


    He was far too familiar with this kind of formation. Xu Muyang had used this same formation to imprison him once.


    Illusion formations usually came in two types. The first would create a true illusion dimension, another world right in front of your face. The other created misperceptions by confusing the five senses.


    The minor befuddling formation belonged to thetter category. Its most noteworthy property was to confuse even a person¡¯s movements.


    Attempting to go in one direction to get out, you were actually off-track from the start and just walking in circles.


    There were many ways to break this formation, and Tang Jie knew of at least two he could use. The first was to use spiritual energy to control his body, using energy in ce of his feet to carry him forward. In this way, he could travel in an actual straight line, and it would only take a few steps to get out. The other method was to break the formation itself.


    Tang Jie was extremely familiar with the workings of this formation, so he disdained to walk out. He thrust out a finger, from which spiritual energy burst forth.


    He had yet to learn any secret arts or Immortal spells. All he was unleashing was spiritual energy he had absorbed, and it had no more power than blowing hard from his mouth. But this point of energy was released exactly where a formation line had been concealed. With this single poke, the spiritual energy link was severed, and the entire formation fell apart.


    ¡°Eyah¡­¡± There was a light gasp. This time, Tang Jie could tell where it wasing from, and he turned around and grabbed at it, but he ended up grabbing nothing. In the midst of his surprise, he saw a sh of light flying into the garden.


    Though it was a brief nce, Tang Jie had seen what it was.


    It was clearly a little person about the size of his palm, covered in green leaves. From the face, it appeared to be a girl.


    ¡°A grass sprite?¡± Tang Jie gasped in surprise.


    The world was suffused with spiritual energy that nurtured all things and fostered spirituality.


    When nts gained spirituality, they became sprites. When birds and beasts gained spirituality, they became fiends. When the souls of the dead gained spirituality, they became ghosts. When stones and metals gained spirituality, they became monsters.


    The one who had made the illusion formation to mess around with him was clearly a grass sprite.


    But nts usually became sprites out in the wilderness where spiritual energy was abundant. How could one have appeared in the Wei Estate?


    Tang Jie was deeply confused.


    At the moment he caught the glimpse of that grass sprite, the sprite had already vanished into the garden and be impossible to find.


    Tang Jie was confused and continued to ponder. At this moment, he saw that the eye socket of the seven-colored deer was empty once more.


    Tang Jie understood and softly chuckled. ¡°So it was a sprite born from that green rose, no wonder¡­ I get it now.¡±


    Although Canglong Prefecturecked in spiritual energy, spiritual energy still existed. It was just rtively sparse. And Tang Jie had spent his days using the Meditation Garden¡¯s flowerbeds as a ce to practice his formations, so he had naturally gathered the surrounding spiritual energy.


    Thus, the Meditation Garden had actually be a gathering point for spiritual energy long ago. It was just that Tang Jie had concealed this with his formations so that no one noticed.


    This green rose was a rather rare flower. The Wei Estate had bought a total of two of them several years ago, and as they were difficult to care for, they currently only had twenty. Thus, even Tang Jie made sure to take good care of them. But unexpectedly, after more than a year of nurturing in the formations, one of the green roses had gained spirituality and be a sprite. This was a rare urrence. After all, not every nt in an area abundant with spiritual energy could gain spirituality.


    As the formations in the flowerbed had always been illusion formations, the green rose sprite was born with a grasp of illusion formations. But it had clearly used it on the wrong person, trying to target Tang Jie. It was no wonder it had been broken.


    ¡°Quite a little rascal we have here.¡± Tang Jie smiled. He knew that this sprite had just been born and still understood little, like a small child. The illusion formation just now hadn¡¯t been intended to harm. It had instinctively used the formation, using the things that it knew to y a trick. Thus, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t angry.


    But if this little one continued to mess around in this ce, it would cause a scene in the Wei Estate. If a Spirit Master were called out, the sprite had a high chance of being made into medicine. Sprites were excellent material for spiritual medicines. This little thing couldn¡¯t even beat Tang Jie, so it was dead for sure against a real Spirit Master.


    ¡°Green rose sprite,e out at once!¡± Tang Jie sternly said. ¡°Do I really need to go out and catch you?¡±


    There was no response.


    Tang Jie grunted. ¡°Stop hiding! You grew up here and just gained spirituality, so you¡¯re still weak and the area you can move your body is limited. Green roses have a unique aroma that I can use to track you down. If you don¡¯te out now, I might pull you out and burn you up!¡±


    This threat carried weight. A little head adorned with a flower crown peeked out from behind the seven-colored deer, a pair ofrge eyes shing on that tender little face, its little lips cutely pursed.


    Her shing eyes were looking at Tang Jie, and she said nothing. Tang Jie ordered, ¡°Return to your ce and don¡¯t recklessly show yourself again. This Canglong Prefecture is a ce of crouching tigers and hidden dragons. If one of them discovers you, there¡¯s no hope of escape! The heavens granted you the gift of spirituality, so do not betray their hopes.¡±


    The green rose sprite trembled, and then she climbed up to the seven-colored deer¡¯s eye socket. In a sh of light, she became a green rose, but its leaves swayed despite theck of wind, as if it was shivering.


    Tang Jie was in no rush to make contact with it, saying, ¡°Very good. Just like that. Just remember to not show yourself.¡±


    Saying this, he turned and left.


    He didn¡¯t try to catch this green rose sprite. This was both because he was worried that the attempt might end up destroying the garden and because the seven-colored deer without an eye was too ugly. There were only twenty green roses, so he wouldn¡¯t even be able to find a recement. Besides that, he was the reason for the green rose sprite¡¯s birth, so she was familiar with him. If it were anyone else, the green rose sprite probably wouldn¡¯t have yed this trick.


    In other words, he just needed to slowly nurture the sprite¡¯s affection. He still had a very high chance of taming this sprite.


    Though this little sprite didn¡¯t have much ability, who knew how she would turn out in the future? At least for the moment, she had decent talents when it came to illusion formations.


    Even if she really didn¡¯t have any future prospects, she was perfectly fine as a pet.


    At this moment, another person suddenly came over. It was none other than the fourth youngdy, Wei Die.


    Tang Jie was just about to call out to her when he suddenly saw that her face was covered in tears. She was crying!

 Chapter 35: Gossip and Slander

    ¡°What happened?¡± Seeing Wei Die crying, Tang Jie hurriedly went up to her.


    But he had only walked a few steps when Wei Die backed away and shouted, ¡°Don¡¯te over!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Fourth Young Lady, it¡¯s me! Tang Jie!¡±


    ¡°I know¡­ Don¡¯te over, or else I¡¯ll have to exin myself all over again,¡± Wei Die said as she sobbed.


    <em>What?</em>


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t understand, so he could only stand where he was and talk. ¡°What in the world happened? Was thendscaping not done well and criticized by the venerabledy?¡±


    Wei Die shook her head. ¡°No, it was done very well, but¡­¡±


    She blushed as she exined what had happened.


    The gardens arranged by Wei Die were more than satisfactory, drawing amazement and many excellentments from the guests. Wei Die had made a solid disy of her ability, and even her father, Wei Qingsong, had felt that she had done a good job and had truly grown up.


    But a tree that stood out would sway in the wind. By showing her ability, Wei Die earned the displeasure of others, so someone began to spread rumors behind her back that the fourth youngdy was having a secret affair with a boy servant.


    As Tang Jie had assisted her in selecting a sect, Wei Die had an extremely high opinion of Tang Jie and did not treat him like a servant. They decided many things through joint discussion and were very close, and everyone else in the estate had been able to see this.


    But this really wasn¡¯t anything. After all, they had to work together to make the venerabledy¡¯s birthday a sess.


    But when these rumors began to spread, a very ordinary coboration began to appear fishy, became evidence, and the rumors spread even more wildly.


    The rumors had started even before the birthday party. It was just that no one was foolish enough to talk about them in front of Wei Die, so Wei Die and Tang Jie had not known about them.


    But many guests hade this time, and the guests did not have as many apprehensions as the servants. Someone loudly brought the matter up, and Wei Die immediately heard it.


    She wasn¡¯t the only one. Her father heard as well, and immediately scolded Wei Die.


    Wei Die felt like she was being unjustly used, but as she had no one toin to, she just blindly walked around, thus unwittingly ending up in the Meditation Garden.


    Tang Jie frowned. ¡°Who would be so bold as to fabricate rumors about the fourth youngdy?¡±


    ¡°How could I know?¡± Wei Die said in frustration. ¡°These rumors get worse the more they¡¯re spread. Finding the source is very unlikely.¡±


    ¡°True. The first rumor was probably just a few casualments. The speaker might not have meant anything, but the listener had an idea. Love affairs are always matters of great interest to people, and it involves the fourth youngdy. Though this is a taboo, it only makes the rumor more stimting, so it¡¯s only natural that more details were added to spice up the story,¡± Tang Jie said with a smile.


    ¡°You¡¯re smiling? I¡¯m about to be worried to death!¡± Wei Die said, hopping about in panic.


    ¡°What can I do except smile? Should I cry like the fourth youngdy?¡± Tang Jie coolly said. ¡°In truth, this isn¡¯t that big of an incident. Fourth Young Lady, when you enter the Immortal gate, you will undoubtedly experience all kinds of dangers and perils. Verbal attacks like this are actually the least dangerous. By experiencing some of it now, when you¡¯re alone in the future, you will be more capable of withstanding the various trials and tribtions. To start with taking non-lethal attacks is always better than immediately being forced to take lethal attacks. At that time, you would be more willing to bleed than to cry¡­ Remember: never, ever allow others to think that you are weak. The weak can be sympathized with, but they will never be invested in.¡±


    Wei Die did not not entirely understand Tang Jie¡¯s words, but she got the general meaning. Her face reddened as she said, ¡°Yes, I understand. Why does it sound like you think that this is actually a good thing for me?¡±


    ¡°From a long-term perspective, this truly is a good thing,¡± Tang Jie answered.


    Seeing howposed Tang Jie was, Wei Die began to gradually calm down.


    She wiped away her tears and firmly nodded. ¡°I understand. Then what about you? Aren¡¯t you worried that thedy will fire you?¡±


    She had calmed down a lot and begun to think moreprehensively about the situation, so she immediately started to worry about Tang Jie.


    Now that she thought about it, these rumors were also bad for Tang Jie.


    ¡°I¡¯m not worried about that. After all, firing me would essentially be proving the rumor true, and thedy wouldn¡¯t do something that stupid. Besides that, rumors are still rumors, things without any sort of basis and that easily fall apart. Fourth Young Lady, rx. The sky won¡¯t fall.¡±


    She bit her lip. ¡°That¡¯s easy to say, but what am I supposed to do, exactly?¡±


    ¡°Since the rumor is out there, you have to clean it up. The simplest method would be to immediately find an excuse, perhaps saying that I didn¡¯t do my job well, and then have me tied up and beaten, and all the rumors will naturally disappear,¡± Tang Jie casually said, as if the one to be beaten was someone else. In truth, he wanted a chance to once more experience the effects of whipping. After all, he really couldn¡¯t find any opportunity to fight in a ce like this.


    Wei Die was delighted at first, but then she shook her head. ¡°No, no, that would be hurting you. Do you have any other ideas?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Fourth Young Lady,¡± Tang Jie sincerely said. ¡°What is the harm in Tang Jie sacrificing a little for the fourth youngdy¡¯s reputation? Just hit me!¡±


    ¡°No, you helped me. I can¡¯t return my benefactor¡¯s kindness with evil!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really fine. I¡¯ll endure the beating!¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I¡¯m willing! Just hit me!¡±


    ¡°No is no!¡± The girl covered her ears and stomped her feet.


    No matter what Tang Jie said, she refused to agree.


    Tang Jie felt that this was a great pity. Sometimes, it was problematic for a woman to have too good of a heart.


    Since the beating wasn¡¯t happening, Tang Jie could only say, ¡°If you insist, we can only use another way. Perhaps we can turn your misfortune into a blessing.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the method?¡±


    ¡°Directly bring up Heart Severing Pavilion!¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°Originally, you would have had to show your abilities a few more times to earn the second master¡¯s trust so that he could send you to Heart Severing Pavilion, but now that this rumor has appeared, it serves as the best way to split the two of us up. Besides that, the master of Heart Severing Pavilion is known for her hatred of men. If you choose that ce, you can express your true feelings, and the second master will probably ept so that he can clear up the rumors.¡±


    Wei Die¡¯s eyes immediately brightened as she pped her hands. ¡°A wonderful n! Tang Jie, you¡¯re always the one with the ideas.¡±


    Tang Jie had resolved these troublesome love affair rumors with just a few words, even turning this incident into a chance to get Wei Die into Heart Severing Pavilion earlier. More and more, Wei Die was looking at Tang Jie in a different light.


    If a man could make a woman feel safe, fear nothing when standing at his side, then he had essentially already captured half of that girl¡¯s heart.


    Originally, she had been focused on cultivation, so she felt only gratitude to Tang Jie. But because of those rumors, she inexplicably felt something else when she looked at Tang Jie.


    Initially, she had wanted nothing more than to tell the entire world that she had no rtionship with Tang Jie, but now, she inexplicably felt reluctant.


    She didn¡¯t know why she was so reluctant. <em>Am I really starting to like Tang Jie?</em>


    This thought sent her into a panic, and she immediately rejected the idea as improper. <em>He¡¯s just a servant! How could we be together?</em> But there was another voice in her head. <em>A servant is still a person. If he enters the academy and bes a Spirit Master, you¡¯ll naturally be a match for each other.</em> And then the first voice asked, <em>Wouldn¡¯t that confirm the rumors?</em> The other voice answered, <em>Let them be confirmed. What are you afraid of? </em>¡­In the end, she was still a young girl who didn¡¯t understand her emotions very well. Her mind was an utter mess, and she immediately grew bashful and lowered her head, not daring to say another word.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know that her mind was such a mess, only saying, ¡°But this method is a little ambiguous. A smart person will understand, but an idiot will find it hard. Considering that people who like to make up rumors are often wrong in the head, I would still advise you to beat me a little. Using both methods will produce an even better result.¡±


    He still hadn¡¯t given up on the idea of being beaten.


    In the end, Wei Die decided to not tie up Tang Jie and beat him, instead going to find her father.


    When Wei Qingsong heard that his daughter wanted to go to Heart Severing Academy, he hesitated for a while before realizing that this was a solution to his problems while also satisfying his daughter¡¯s desire to cultivate, so he agreed. But this matter wasn¡¯t something that could be done in a day or two, and the details would still need a few days to work. Even so, Wei Die felt endlessly grateful to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t care much. He was more focused on that green rose sprite in the garden.


    Today, Tang Jie got up early in the morning and arrived at the garden with cabbage leaves, carrots, and other kinds of food. After cing them in the garden, he silently backed away to watch.


    Using food as bait had always been a way of getting on someone¡¯s good side. Hazelnuts for squirrels, bananas for monkeys, lollipops for little girls¡­ Tang Jie didn¡¯t know what the green rose sprite liked, so he had brought a little of everything to test the waters.


    It wasn¡¯t long before a little head peeked out from a bush in the back of the garden. It looked over at the food, seemingly very curious, but after a few looks, it stopped paying the food any attention. On the contrary, it kept looking at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was very disappointed. It was clear that she didn¡¯t like this food, so he returned to his room to find something else. But despite several trips, he found nothing that she liked.


    Tang Jie was left in a sullen mood.


    Though he could seize the green rose sprite by force, this would probably cause him to be rejected. A newborn sprite was an extremely simple lifeform. If you treated it well, it would treat you well. If you used force on it from the beginning, it would only leave it with psychological trauma. Thus, Tang Jie would not resort to force unless it was absolutely necessary.


    But what did this little one like?


    Tang Jie really couldn¡¯t think of anything, so he said, ¡°Hey, what do you like to eat? Tell me and I¡¯ll get it for you.¡±


    The little thing blinked at Tang Jie, and then she climbed onto a nearby flower and licked the dew off the top of it.


    ¡°So you like flower dew.¡± Tang Jie smiled, but then after some thought, his face turned sour. ¡°That¡¯s a problem. You can gather dew yourself, and it¡¯s not like I can gather it faster than you can. Is there anything else that you like?¡±


    The little one said nothing. She sat on the flower petal, lightly swaying her body as she looked at Tang Jie.


    ¡°Fine. If you won¡¯t say anything, I¡¯ll guess. Mm, you¡¯re a flower sprite, so it¡¯s not strange that you like things with a lot of water. Maybe I should work off the fact that you¡¯re a nt. What do nts like besides water?¡± Tang Jie stroked his chin and muttered. His eyes suddenly shed. ¡°Right, fertilizer. But fertilizer¡­ fertilizer is excrement. Could you like excrement?¡±


    The little one was at first stunned, and then she furiously ced her hands on her hips and angrily red at Tang Jie.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t notice, continuing to conjecture, ¡°Right, now that I think about it, a flower is a nt¡¯s reproductive organ, so dew is really just a nt¡¯s secretion¡­ But wouldn¡¯t that make you the¡­ toilet?¡± Tang Jie suddenly blurted out.


    <em>Pa!</em> A de of grass struck Tang Jie in the face. The little one bared her teeth at Tang Jie and then jumped into a bush, vanishing from sight.


    Looking at that bush, Tang Jie muttered, ¡°Fine, I guessed wrong. It seems like you don¡¯t like those things.¡±


    This first attempt to get close was a failure!

 Chapter 36: Taming

    Tang Jie ced a small bowl of lotus seed porridge on the grass and then backed away a few steps. ¡°Alright, stop being so upset. It¡¯s because I was rude and forgot that you already had intelligence. How could I group you with those ignorant nts? Since you¡¯re a sprite, you naturally want to eat cooked food, so you ignored the raw food I brought you. I stole this lotus seed porridge from the kitchen. Servants like me normally don¡¯t have the right to eat something like this. Take it as an apology from me.¡±


    The green rose sprite appeared behind a stone, her arms on her waist as she harrumphed and turned her head away, ignoring him.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Still angry? Don¡¯t be so petty. Didn¡¯t I just say a few wrong things? Alright, alright, if you don¡¯t want to eat this, just say something. If you can¡¯t talk, just wave your hand so that I can return it to the kitchen. If you want to eat it, don¡¯t be polite.¡±


    The green rose sprite rushed over and thrust her head into the bowl. <em>Gulp! Gulp!</em> She slurped down the soup. It turned out that she really did eat such things.


    In the blink of an eye, she had drained the small bowl. Though there hadn¡¯t been much porridge, she also wasn¡¯t very big. Drinking so much caused her little tummy to swell so that she seemed like a woman who was ten months pregnant. She thumped down next to the bowl, unable to get back up.


    Tang Jie giggled at the sight. He reached out to grab her, and the little thing tried to flee in fright. s, she had eaten too much and couldn¡¯t move.


    Tang Jie ced her in his palm and petted her on the head. ¡°Alright, alright, no need to be nervous. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to hurt you.¡±


    The little thing trembled a little before finally epting Tang Jie¡¯s petting. But herrge eyes continued to move around as if she was thinking about something.


    Tang Jie found her cute. Raising her up to his face, he asked, ¡°Are you still angry?¡±


    The little thing ced a hand on his face and licked him, but then it made a strange face and made a ¡®<em>yaya</em>¡® sound that was crisp and pleasant to the ear.


    Tang Jie was startled, and then he shook his head and smiled. ¡°It seems like you really don¡¯t know how to talk, perhaps because it was only a short while ago that you became a sprite. Now, since I¡¯ve apologized and you¡¯ve epted my gift, things should be fine between us, right?¡±


    But the little sprite shook her head.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know whether tough or to cry. ¡°Still not satisfied? Then what else do you want?¡±


    The sprite looked at Tang Jie and then suddenly grabbed Tang Jie¡¯s finger and savagely bit down.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Tang Jie gasped in pain and instantly shook his arm, flinging the sprite away.


    Tang Jie looked down and saw his finger had been bitten rather badly and was bleeding copiously.


    Tang Jie was rather angry. <em>This little thing really doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s good for it. I was trying to tease, but she turns around and bites!</em> Just when he was about to teach that green rose sprite a lesson, he saw that the sprite¡¯s originally round tummy had shriveled away again.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± Tang Jie curiously wondered.


    The sprite had already crawled up from the grass. Standing next to a bush that was about as tall as she was, she angrily red at Tang Jie. She stomped her feet, put her left hand on her waist, and pointed at Tang Jie¡¯s nose with her right hand as ¡®<em>yiya</em>¡® sounds came out of her mouth. Of course, Tang Jie didn¡¯t understand a word of what she was saying.


    Tang Jie saw that she was licking the bloodstains on her lips as she was talking, and as that blood entered her belly, that still somewhat swollen belly wentpletely t.


    He was amazed by this sight. ¡°Blood¡­ So you want to drink blood!¡±


    Tang Jie hurried to the kitchen and got the sprite a bowl of chicken blood. But to his surprise, she only took a sip before putting it back down and ignoring it.


    Tang Jie thought that she was full, but instead, the little one pointed at Tang Jie and started jabbering again.


    Tang Jie seemed to get it this time, saying in shock, ¡°You like human blood?¡±


    The sprite earnestly nodded, even sticking out her tongue and licking, clearly appearing unsatisfied. It was like she was saying, ¡°Your blood is much tastier than chicken blood.¡±


    Tang Jie was speechless. All he could do was offer his finger. ¡°Take it easy. Don¡¯t drink too much.¡±


    The sprite hugged Tang Jie¡¯s finger and took a bite, causing him to gasp in pain. It felt like this sprite¡¯s bites were particrly painful. With his current constitution, this sort of wound should have been nothing at all, as he could even takeshing, but when she bit, it felt like the pain went straight to his heart.


    Fortunately, the little one knew what was proper. After taking a big drink, she voluntarily let go. However, given the contented look on her face as she savored the aftertaste, it was clear that she wanted more.


    ¡°At least you understand that a trickle of water will take a long time to be exhausted,¡± Tang Jie said as he waved around his finger. Actually, it was rather strange. After she let go, his finger didn¡¯t hurt. Tang Jie curiously asked, ¡°Is it that you like human blood, or is it that you like my blood?¡±


    The sprite pointed at Tang Jie and mewled.


    ¡°You like my blood?¡± Tang Jie said in surprise.


    It had just been a random question, but he had received a surprising answer.


    Tang Jie once more looked down at the wound. The drop of blood had a crystalline luster in the sunlight, shing like a jewel and infused with a faint spiritual light.


    ¡°Spirit blood!¡± Tang Jie finally got it.


    Sprites were born from the spiritual energy of the world and were not true living beings. Thus, throughout their lives, they would need blood, flesh, and energy to nourish themselves.


    This was the opposite of humans. Humans had bodies of flesh and blood, and needed to take in spiritual energy. Meanwhile, sprites, as natural beings of spiritual energy, needed to take in blood energy.


    In this aspect, sprites and cultivatorsplemented each other.


    This was why there were many folktales about sprites, monsters, fiends, and ghosts harming people. While there were some parts that weren¡¯t true, they were notplete fabrications. The vast majority of these spiritual creatures dined on blood and flesh. It was just that they usually fed on wild beasts and livestock. At times, a particrly savage one might hurt a person, but not take their life. Humans, on the other hand, loved to hunt down spirit creatures and harvest their body parts in the name of ying fiends and devils.


    For these spirit creatures, the amount of help brought by ordinary flesh and blood was limited. The best was still flesh and blood infused with spirituality. But spiritualized blood could normally only be found in those of the Mortal Shedding Realm, and ordinary spirit creatures had no chance at getting it. Thus, in normal circumstances, a weak spirit creature like the green rose sprite would have to rely on hunting beasts in the wilderness for food, absorbing the minuscule amounts of spirituality in their blood. But eating one hundred wild beasts couldn¡¯t even match one mouthful of Tang Jie¡¯s blood.


    For the little sprite, Tang Jie¡¯s blood was like a massive supplement, a kind of spirit medicine for spirit creatures, a mother¡¯s milk for an infant, or a heavenly treasure for cultivators.


    Seeing the sprite stare at him, Tang Jie guessed at what she was thinking. Smiling, he said, ¡°If you listen to me, I¡¯ll feed you in the future.¡±


    The sprite didn¡¯t suck much blood, and so long as he didn¡¯t allow the sprite to think of his blood as an everyday meal, Tang Jie could still raise it. His words made the sprite do a flip in the air in excitement. In a sh, she climbed up to Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder and began to lick him.


    ¡°Okay, okay! Oh, this is for you, but you¡¯re not allowed to bite me again.¡± Tang Jie passed over that drop of blood on his finger, and the little one immediately drank it down. She felt dizzy in the head, and her body swayed a few times before falling over.


    In rm, Tang Jie hastily scooped her up. He discovered that she was snoring away in his hand, silver slivers of perfume trickling down her mouth.


    ¡°This is¡­ Gosh, she¡¯s drunk!¡± Tang Jie didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry.


    He had heard about being intoxicated by alcohol or smoke, but this was the first time he had seen someone get intoxicated by blood.


    Taming the green rose spirit had gone surprisingly smoothly.


    Spirit creatures were actually extremely cautious lifeforms. Thousands of years of being hunted down by humans had made every spirit creature know to avoid humans.


    Tang Jie had probably only managed to sessfully tame the sprite because she had just been born and wasn¡¯t as suspicious yet, coupled with the allure of his spirit blood.


    But even though he had tamed it, dealing with it was still a problem. She was still young and didn¡¯t know the dangers of the human world. If she remained in the garden, she would be found eventually.


    The problem was that there were only twenty green roses. Someone would undoubtedly notice if one went missing, at which point Tang Jie would be at fault.


    ¡°It seems like I¡¯ll have to find a way for the young master to crush one to death. Hey, let me ask you: you¡¯ll be fine if someone steps on you, right?¡±


    Tang Jie asked this question to the sprite after she woke up.


    But when she heard about the young master stepping on her, she repeatedly shook her head, unwilling to go through with it.


    Tang Jie was at a loss. All he could do was try his utmost to exin to her the dangers of remaining here.


    When she heard that Tang Jie wanted to move her away from here, she blinked a few times and then grabbed a bluewater orchid on the side. The orchid began to transform into a green rose¡ªa sight which left Tang Jie stupefied.


    As sprites were born from spiritual energy, they often had a few natural talents.


    Tang Jie had thought that this sprite could only use the most basic illusion formations, but it turned out that she could also modify nts. But now that he thought about it, it was only natural. She was a green rose sprite that had gained spirituality, so turning a nt into a green rose wasn¡¯t strange at all.


    Tang Jie took that orchid-turned-green-rose and looked it over, confirming that it wasn¡¯t an illusion. Full of appreciation, he hugged the sprite and said, ¡°We¡¯ve struck it rich! A green rose goes for one tael of silver! If you change a few more flowers into green roses when you have free time, we¡¯ll neverck for money.¡±


    Surprisingly, the mention of making money had the sprite shaking her head. She pointed at her tummy, indicating that creating that green rose took a lot of her energy, and making her do it again would mean feeding her.


    From her attitude, it seemed like she would need to drink quite a lot this time.


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°After all that trouble, in the end, I would just be selling my blood¡­ Forget it.¡±


    Regardless, with this green rose, he could take away the sprite and prevent any further incidents.


    But¡­ he still felt like something wasn¡¯t right.


    After thinking it over, he suddenly realized, ¡°Shit, what do I do about the missing bluewater orchid? That thing also costs a lot.¡±


    The sprite was dumbfounded for a moment, then she giggled and turned herself into a bluewater orchid.


    Tang Jie was on the verge of tears. ¡°If you be an orchid, won¡¯t you still have to get stomped on?¡±


    The sprite was at aplete loss. She looked at the orchid she had turned into a green rose and then looked at Tang Jie, her eyes constantly blinking. It was clear that she didn¡¯t know what to do.


    Tang Jie pointed at some grass. ¡°Can you turn this weed into a green rose?¡±


    The sprite spread apart her hands, indicating that she couldn¡¯t.


    After wasting a great deal of time, Tang Jie finally understood that this one could turn herself into any flower and could also turn any flower into a green rose and back, but she could not turn one flower into another kind of flower, and she could only do this on flowers that were simr in nature. Turning a weed into a flower was not possible.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Tang Jie helplessly offered his finger so that she could drink his blood. ¡°Turn that green rose back, and then find one that¡¯s not worth a lot of money to¨C hey, hey, not that one! That one¡¯s also expensive¡­ Find one that¡¯s worth less, idiot¡­ Fine, it¡¯s not like you know which ones are worth money¡­ Gently, ouch! I know, I was wrong! Isn¡¯t that good enough? I¡¯m the idiot¡­¡±


    It took a great deal of messing around to finally settle things. That night, Tang Jie went out to buy a flower pot. After filling it with dirt, he put the sprite inside and carried the pot to his own room.

 Chapter 37: Root Carving

    The little sprite was very curious about her new home. For her, the human world had many new and interesting things, so she touched everything she could.


    An inkstone drew her attention. She walked over, crawled on top of the inkstone, and looked around. She identally fell into the ink, so when she came out again, she was all ck.


    Tang Jie burst out inughter. The sprite was rather incensed and shook her head, sttering the entire room in ink.


    ¡°Alright, vicious creature!¡± Tang Jie was rendered speechless by the ck dots now sprinkling his room. He pulled the sprite off the inkstone and prepared to give her a bath, but then he saw the little one wave her hands, upon which all the ink dissipated on its own, leaving only that cute little face, happily smiling at Tang Jie.


    ¡°Though you¡¯recking in strength, it seems like you have a lot of tricks,¡± Tang Jie said as he patted her head. ¡°Since you go ¡®yiyi yaya¡¯ all the time, why don¡¯t I call you ¡®Yiyi¡¯ from now on?¡±


    The sprite was so excited at having a name that she did a somersault and then repeatedly nodded her head.


    ¡°Good. Then stay here like a good girl,¡± Tang Jie said as he took his leave.


    ¡°Yiyiyaya!¡± Yiyi frantically shouted upon seeing that Tang Jie was going to leave.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not leaving. I¡¯m just going to make you a nest. I¡¯m guessing that you don¡¯t n to obediently stay in that flower pot.¡±


    A few momentster, Tang Jie came inside with arge block of wood.


    He hollowed out the block of wood, stuffed the inside with cotton, and then sewed a little pillow and nket from a piece of cloth. He then hung a curtain over the hole, thus creating a little wooden house.


    Patting the nket, Tang Jie said, ¡°Alright, starting from today, this is your nest. In the future, if everything is fine, you can sleep here. When I¡¯m not around, you can y around inside the room, but you can¡¯t go outside. If somebodyes, you have to be a flower in the pot. You can¡¯t let other people discover you. Do you understand?¡±


    The little sprite nodded, and then she turned into a little white flower and quietly stood in the pot.


    ¡°Just like that!¡± Tang Jie smiled.


    A momentter, she turned back into humanoid form, lunged into Tang Jie¡¯s chest, and began to nuzzle against him.


    After ying for a while, the sprite grew tired and fell asleep in Tang Jie¡¯s hand. Tang Jie carefully ced the green rose sprite in her little house and covered her with the nket.


    He then sat on his bed and began to think about what had transpired.


    On his first meeting with the green rose, Tang Jie had only been thinking about how to get her on his side. It was only after he had obtained her that he realized that the appearance of the little sprite might bring him many problems.


    As he carefully considered all the potential problems he might encounter, Tang Jie gradually developed a n on how to proceed. Seeing that it was gettingte, Tang Jie looked at the sleeping sprite, softly said, ¡°Good night,¡± then went to bed.


    The next morning, Tang Jie got up early. After tending to the garden, Tang Jie found a few old tree roots and began to carve them with a knife. After cutting away the leaves, Tang Jie began to carve images into the roots.


    A curious boy servant asked what he was doing. Tang Jie replied that he was doing some root carving.


    He had been relying onndscaping art to draw attention for too long, and Wei Tianchong was no longer as interested. Thus, Tang Jie nned to use root carving to again grab Wei Tianchong¡¯s attention.


    But most importantly, in the name of root carving, Tang Jie could moverge amounts of wood into his room in the future, thus concealing the little sprite¡¯s nest and making it less obvious. Although Tang Jie rarely had guests in his room, it was best to guard against any mishaps. And this would also be helpful once he entered school.


    At the academy, Tang Jie could no longer work as a gardener, which would mean that he would lose his position of expertise. Tang Jie had to find a new path for himself.


    Root carving was a decent choice. This sort of hobby could be done anywhere one could get a few blocks of wood to serve as materials.


    If he did well, he could sell them to buy household goods, and if he was mediocre, he could give them as gifts. Someone with a specialized skill would always be more weed than someone without.


    Besides that, root carving was also useful for cultivation. In cultivation, there was a field called ¡®puppetry¡¯. Bybining puppets with refining formations, one could create a mechanical person capable of battle. In this, one had to use carving.


    In truth, art always had a practical value in the cultivation world, whether it was calligraphy, painting, music, or carving. One would always be able to find a ce where these skills could show their worth.


    For example, Xu Muyang had needed just a few strokes of his brush to draw a horse, and a spell art had brought it to life, an embodiment of his exquisite artistry.


    If the drawing were done poorly, intending to draw a horse and creating a camel, even if it were brought to life, it would just be a joke.


    As for calligraphy, it was a basic requirement for drawing talismans. If someone were trying to write the word w¡¯ (ÂÉ) but were so terrible at writing that they ended up writing ¡®kill¡¯ (ɱ), before the effects could even activate, everyone else would have probablyughed so hard their teeth would have fallen out.


    Thus, in the academies set up by the major sects, the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting were taught alongside Immortal arts, and they all had practical uses. There were all kinds of characters in the cultivation world, but there were no illiterates.


    Tang Jie had spent more than a year in the Wei Estate, and besides formations, he also practiced calligraphy and drawing when he had the time. He didn¡¯t seek astounding aplishment, only to meet the standard. It was said that there were some students in the academies who ultimately failed to graduate precisely because they performed so awfully in their culture studies.


    Tang Jie had no desire to be unable to graduate just because his writing was bad.


    As for root carving, Tang Jie was considering going into puppetry in the future, integrating his knowledge of formations into it.


    The Dao of Formations was a very broad field. Besides military and protective formations, pill refining, weapon crafting, and puppets all required formations, but the direction and properties were all different.


    Xu Muyang specialized primarily in worldly formations, and he wasn¡¯t too good at other kinds of formations. But as they shared the same underlying principles, Tang Jie waspletely capable of studying and researching them.


    Tang Jie had no interest in puppetry, but the carving ability associated with it was the only field that had any rtionship tondscaping. The other fields, like calligraphy and painting, had nothing to do with gardening. If he did such things at work, he would receive no praise from the Wei n for his ambition.


    Besides that, puppetry was somewhat closer in form to the technology of the era of his previous life. For Tang Jie, this meant that he had more room to develop in this field.


    Though he still didn¡¯t know much about root carving, there were still two years until he entered the academy. Two years was enough time for him to gain a basic grasp of this art.


    Sure enough, this new trick really did draw Wei Tianchong¡¯s attention. The Rosecloud Domain had stone statues, but root carving was extremely rare.


    As he watched Tang Jie fiddling around with the tree roots and producing all sorts of shapes, Wei Tianchong grew interested and took up an old tree root so that he could also learn.


    Tang Jie proceeded to teach him how exactly to handle these tree roots.


    Root carving had higher demands on the material than stone carving. The carver had to cleverly use the natural form of the material, and the principle emphasized was ¡°30% artificial, 70% natural¡±. Besides that, true root carving sought the rare and bizarre when it came to form. Trees that grew on the ins had sufficient nutrients, so they grew quickly, and the wood tended to be soft, so it was difficult to form into strange shapes. Trees that grew in tough environments, like those that grew in the shade, in the cracks of mountains, or in crevices of rock, or those trees that had lived despite being struck by lightning, burned by fire, eaten by insects, crushed by stones, trampled by humans, or cut at by des, would often begin to deform, driven by theck of water, poor soil, and little light. In addition, before carving, one needed to perform several preparations on the material.


    However, what Tang Jie sought was not artistry, but practicality. Thus, he cared little about these conditions. In his eyes, root carving was ¡®70% artificial, 30% natural¡¯.¡±


    Artistry emphasized bizarre shapes and abundant imagination, but puppetry emphasized emtion of reality, and one also needed to leave space for the refining formation. The two looked simr but were fundamentally different.


    But regardless of the kind, the work wasn¡¯t simple.


    Carving was an art that was a synthesis of many other kinds of art. Not only did the artist require the ability to carve, they also needed the ability to appraise and to draw.


    Tang Jie¡¯s art cells were clearly limited, and he met none of the above requirements. He took out a block of wood and looked at it all day without seeing anything special about it. Ultimately, after carving for a while, he managed to make a little wooden doll, the head taking up a third of the wood, two roots forming little legs. It was an ugly thing. If a refining formation were attached to it and activated, allowing it to walk, it would probably be a hunchback and would probably fall over every two steps.


    Tang Jie could only helplessly sigh, soothing himself by saying that he was beloved by the Dao of Formations and that he couldn¡¯t hope that all the Daos of the world would love him. But it seemed like his n would fail. Sure enough, no matter how well some ns were designed, they were no good if onecked the ability to execute them.


    Looking to the side, he saw Wei Tianchong swiftly moving around the knife as he carved away at a te-shaped tree root. It wasn¡¯t long before a little turtle had appeared in his hand. While the turtle had a lot of ws, it had all the proper parts and didn¡¯t seem too deformed.


    Tang Jie was stunned. ¡°Have you learned this before?¡±


    He was so shocked that he even forgot to say ¡®young master¡¯.


    ¡°Not at all. This is my first time. It¡¯s rather interesting,¡± Wei Tianchong said as he looked admiringly at his work.


    ¡°A genius¡­¡± Tang Jie helplessly moaned.


    Not even in his dreams could he have imagined that Wei Tianchong would be talented in this field.


    From this day forward, Wei Tianchong carved tree roots together with Tang Jie.


    Unlike Tang Jie, who was ¡°loved by the Dao of Formations¡±, the young master sincerely loved carving,pletely matching Xu Muyang¡¯s line that loving something would bring talent in it.


    At first, Wei Tianchong worried that his mother would find out and scold him for focusing too much on trifling concerns, but when he heard that this was also one of the foundations of cultivation, he threw himself without reservation into root carving.


    As expected, when thedy heard of this, she questioned Spirit Master Lu. When she learned that this was true, she simply said, ¡°Don¡¯t let it interfere with his other lessons,¡± before dropping the matter.


    For her, it was not important what path her son took in cultivation. What was important was that he finally had something to pursue and that he was willing to work for this pursuit. For this, she admired Tang Jie even more.


    Anyone who could have her child progress was a good person!


    But Tang Jie grew more and more sullen as time went on.


    As he spent more time carving, Wei Tianchong¡¯s carving skill grew by leaps and bounds. At the start, he was only carving little wooden dolls, but in a few months, Wei Tianchong could take an entire tree trunk and carve it into a statue as tall as an adult.


    After several months, Wei Tianchongpleted his firstrge wooden sculpture: a giant tiger rendered in vivid detail.


    Tang Jie had no doubt that if it were fitted with a suitable refining formation, it would truly be a man-eating tiger.


    As he watched Wei Tianchong put up his first giant statue in the flowerbed so that it could be proudly disyed, Tang Jie silently crushed the big-headed doll in his hand.


    Even its heart was crushed.

 Chapter 38: Farewell

    Ever since the young master learned root carving from Tang Jie, he became obsessed with it.


    Compared to Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t like human forms much. He preferred carving flowers, birds, fish, and insects, and he produced all kinds of wondrous creations.


    As the days went by, the flowerbed was slowly filled with his carvings. Every time a guest came and learned of the young master¡¯s works, they would sigh in wonder at his talent.


    And whenever this happened, Tang Jie felt the sorrow of imminent unemployment.


    His ¡®ipetence¡¯ in the arts had caused Tang Jie to give up on carving. If not for the little sprite, he would have stopped carving entirely.


    At present, the greatest achievement Tang Jie had made in root carving was building a maze. This was a rather simple task: find a few blocks of wood, dig out seven or eight holes in them, and then pile them up in his room in a small mountain so that the little sprite could y around in them.


    Tang Jie¡¯s root carving n had utterly failed, but there was a benefit to it: Wei Tianchong¡¯s rtionship with Tang Jie began to improve.


    Ever since the horse-stabbing incident, Wei Tianchong¡¯s attitude toward Tang Jie had been lukewarm, and it wasn¡¯t because he was holding a grudge against Tang Jie. After falling from the borrowed horse in the day that one time, he no longer resented Tang Jie.


    He just couldn¡¯t forget Tang Jie¡¯s cold gaze when killing the horse. Whenever he recalled that gaze, he couldn¡¯t help but shiver, and so he became subconsciously reluctant to get too close to Tang Jie.


    And Tang Jie was going through thedy for the student spot, so he wasn¡¯t too interested in getting in Wei Tianchong¡¯s good graces. Thus, the two of them had maintained the ordinary rtionship of a servant and his superior.


    But after root carving, Wei Tianchong and Tang Jie began to grow closer.


    Whenever Wei Tianchong received a gift, he would think about sharing some of it with Tang Jie.


    This made the eyes of all the other servants of the estate turn red. Tang Jie was already liked by thedy, and now he was improving his rtionship with the young master. It seemed like his hopes of bing a servant student had increased again.


    Even though they were envious and resentful, Shi Mo and Shi Meng could do nothing. When a person was justing up, they could still be beaten down. But once he was already up and out, beating him down became a difficult task.


    Moreover, Tang Jie, just like Shi Mo, now had his ownwork, and he was no longer so easily dealt with.


    After another month, Tang Jie finished with his maze in his little house, after which hepletely gave up on root carving.


    But he didn¡¯t just sit around. He suddenly changed interests and started to make flower pots.


    His flower pots were even worse than his root carvings, but Tang Jie was very interested in them. s, the young master didn¡¯t share the same interest.


    He didn¡¯t spend too long on the pots. One day, afterpleting arge flower pot, he ced a particrly straight root carving into it. After staring at the pot for a long while, he finally nodded in satisfaction.


    Once he ced the root carving together with little Yiyi¡¯s pot, he did not make a single pot more.


    Of course, he still worked on root carving, but he had already turned his focus from the carving to refining formations. Ignorant bystanders thought that he was still trying to chase after the young master, and they secretly sniggered that he was an example of ¡°rotten wood that couldn¡¯t be carved¡±.


    Thus, after ¡°Three-Strings-a-Month Tang Jie¡± and ¡°Horse-Stabbing Tang Jie¡±, Tang Jie got another nickname: ¡°Rotten Wood Tang Jie¡±.


    Time went by quickly, several months going by in the blink of an eye. During the day, Tang Jie worked and studied formations, and at night, he practiced calligraphy and cultivated the Visceral Manifestation ssic, guiding energy into his body. In his free time, he yed with the little sprite, asionally teaching her a few words. The days went by calmly andfortably.


    s, Yiyi still wasn¡¯t able to talk. Every day, she would just ¡°<em>yiyiyaya</em>¡±. If she wanted anything, she would just point, and Tang Jie would attend upon her like a servant. It was a good thing that she was cute, and Tang Jie was happy to serve, treating her as a pet.


    Half a year went by. On this day, Tang Jie was holding a block of wood while strenuously shouting.


    cing a refining formation on a puppet was actually very difficult.


    Xu Muyang had been skilled in natural formations, using the entire world as his canvas for his formations. All he needed to do was apply his dyes to the world and ultimately give it form.


    In this aspect, natural formations were actually the easiest toy down, but they had rather high requirements and many limits. For example, they couldn¡¯t be moved around.


    The refining formation on a puppet was different. The puppet was the canvas for the formation and would be affected in the process. The avable space for the formation was greatly reduced.


    Though Xu Muyang had worked in this field a little, he had been no expert and was not proficient in refining formations used with puppets. Tang Jie could only do his own research.


    Today, he was working on synchronizing the lines of the formation with the grooves of the wood carving, but at this time, he saw Wei Die walking over to him.


    Tang Jie put down the wood carving and went up to wee her. ¡°Fourth Young Lady, the young master is in ss¡­¡±


    ¡°I came to find you,¡± Wei Die said.


    ¡°Find me?¡± Tang Jie said in surprise.


    Ever since they had worked together for the venerabledy¡¯s birthday, stirring up many kinds of rumors, Wei Die had nevere specifically to find Tang Jie again. Even when she paid an asional visit, she would nevere alone, and she would say nothing when she saw Tang Jie. Tang Jie knew that she was intentionally trying to avoid arousing any suspicion, so he hadn¡¯t expected her toe alone to find him today.


    ¡°Yes. Come with me.¡± As Wei Die spoke, she was already turning to walk out of the Meditation Garden.


    Tang Jie scratched his head and followed.


    Wei Die led him straight to a small bamboo grave in the estate. This area was secluded and was rarely visited. Tang Jie wondered what Wei Die had brought him here for.


    Wei Die led him all the way into the depths of the bamboo grove, after which she turned around and said, ¡°The matter with Heart Severing Pavilion is settled. In another few days, I will be heading off to Yan Province.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Then I must congratte Fourth Young Lady.¡± Tang Jie was happy for Wei Die. ¡°Fourth Young Lady¡¯s wish has been fulfilled. Congrattions.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I finally seeded, but for some reason, I don¡¯t feel happy in the slightest,¡± Wei Die pensively said. ¡°It might be as long as seven years until I return to Ling Province. When I was at home, I always wanted to leave, but now that I¡¯m about to leave, I find myself reluctant.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°It¡¯s very normal to feel timid about leaving home.¡±


    ¡°Timid about leaving home?¡± Wei Die thought it over and lightly shook her head. ¡°What I¡¯m reluctant to leave isn¡¯t my home, but a person.¡±


    ¡°If you miss your parents, you cane back and visit.¡±


    ¡°And what if I miss you?¡±


    This was like a bolt of lightning, leaving Tang Jie utterly dumbfounded.


    He looked in a daze at Wei Die, and only after a while did he finallye back to his senses. ¡°Fourth Young Lady¡­ this joke isn¡¯t funny at all.¡±


    Wei Die smiled, her smiling face like a beautiful flower blooming in the sun. She muttered, ¡°Yes, just a joke. I came to find you so that I could thank you for your help, but I ended up scaring you. It was my mistake.¡±


    Her tone was indifferent, but there was a tinge of sadness on her brow, as if she was aggrieved over something. Tang Jie¡¯s heart couldn¡¯t help but waver.


    The two of them fell silent.


    Silently, they stood across from each other.


    They looked at each other.


    They said nothing.


    After a while.


    Wei Die finally said, ¡°Then¡­ when I¡¯m gone, will you miss me?¡±


    Tang Jie opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. After a while, he finally managed to say, ¡°Naturally.¡±


    Wei Die saw that he was not being sincere and said, ¡°In the end, I¡¯m not in your heart.¡±


    ¡°How could I dare? With the Great Dao before me, I do not dare to have a partner in my heart.¡± He did not speak of the difference between master and servant. He was just worried about setting in stone a future with Wei Die.


    ¡°You just haven¡¯t met your fated person yet, but I wonder what sort of woman would match you¡­¡± Wei Die said in a disappointed tone. At this point, she didn¡¯t seem to be joking at all.


    Once, those rumors had given her a big blow, but in her current mood, she wanted nothing more than for the rumors to be true.


    But in the end, rumors were rumors. While the falling blossoms had a desire, the flowing waters were merciless.


    Tears began to well up in Wei Die¡¯s eyes as she looked at Tang Jie.


    She suddenly clenched her teeth and pouted. ¡°Since I pulled you to this deserted ce, I at least have to do something a little shameful to be satisfied.¡±


    <em>What?</em>


    Tang Jie was startled as Wei Die walked up, embraced him by the neck, and kissed him on the lips.


    This kiss lightly touched Tang Jie¡¯s lips, but it also seemed to imprint itself on the bottom of his heart, leaving him at a loss for what to do.


    After this light kiss, Wei Die let go, her small face instantly blushing. Her head lowered, she began to walk out of the grove. After walking a few steps, she seemed to think of something and turned her head around. ¡°I forgot to tell you that I opened my Jade Gate a few days ago. It¡¯s also five cycles. Let me tell you this. You had best get into Basking Moon Academy so that we can see which of us goes further on the path of Immortality!¡±


    With five cycles of the Jade Gate, she was the Wei n¡¯s second genius after Wei Qing¡¯er, but they were both girls. For the Wei n, which always prioritized men over women, this could be considered an enormous joke.


    Wei Die turned back around and left.


    Tang Jie wanted to call out to her, but after hesitating for a while, he ultimately remained silent, only watched as she slowly walked out of the forest¡­ As he left the bamboo forest, Tang Jie still felt rather muddleheaded.


    Wei Die¡¯s kiss was the first kiss he had received from a girl in this world, and it was also actually his first kiss.


    Though it had been a soft kiss, it felt like it had chiseled itself into Tang Jie¡¯s heart. Tang Jie knew that he would never be able to forget this kiss.


    His heart was still unsettled when he saw another girl standing nearby.


    ¡°Shi Yue?¡± Tang Jie was dazed.


    Standing in front of the bamboo grove, Shi Yue looked at Tang Jie, her face ghastly pale.


    She gave him a profound nce and then walked away.


    ¡°Shi Yue!¡± Tang Jie chased after her and grabbed her. ¡°You saw it all?¡±


    Shi Yue threw off his arm. ¡°I wish I hadn¡¯t seen anything. Really, I didn¡¯t think¡­ Tang Jie, you¡¯re good! You¡¯ve even hooked the fourth youngdy!¡±


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. ¡°It¡¯s not what you think. There¡¯s nothing between us.¡±


    ¡°Nothing? I saw her walk out of the bamboo grove with my own eyes, her face blushing, and you say that you didn¡¯t do anything?¡± Shi Yue seemed on the verge of tears. ¡°In the end, I was too naive. I thought that you were someone reliable¡­ It¡¯s no wonder you never showed me any respect. It¡¯s because you had someone even better in your heart!¡±


    Tang Jie helplessly said, ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. In truth, Elder Sister, I¡¯m not the one you actually like, right?¡±


    Shi Yue was taken aback. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°There are some things that I don¡¯t want to say too explicitly, but both you and I know what¡¯s going on.¡±


    Shi Yue felt like she was being unjustly used. ¡°You think that because I thought that you could be a servant student, I intentionally tried to get close to you? So you looked down on me?¡±


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t answer.


    So long as they both understood, there was no need to say things so clearly.


    s, if he did not say it outright, Shi Yue would not let go.


    She looked at Tang Jie and said, ¡°Yes, I admit that I treated you well because thedy had a good opinion of you, and I don¡¯t deny that I had selfish motives. But as maids, are we in the wrong for thinking for ourselves? Although I thought that you had future prospects, I also thought that you were a pretty good person, a reliable person, so I devoted myself to you, but then you¡­¡±


    As she spoke, she started to sob.

 Chapter 39: Parting

    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve never looked down on you because of your goal.¡±


    Shi Yue said in surprise, ¡°Are you serious?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°Every person has the right to consider their own future, and I¡¯ve never believed that you¡¯ve done anything wrong. In my home, there¡¯s a saying that goes that a man of ability doesn¡¯t fear a woman who¡¯s materialistic, only one that¡¯s not. Women have it difficult in this world, and no matter what sort of goal you try to reach, so long as you put in the effort, you will naturally receive a reward. Thus, I have never believed that there is anything wrong with women like this, nor have I ever looked down on them.¡±


    As someone who had been brought from the modern era to this one, Tang Jie had long ago grown numb to materialistic women. In his view, materialistic women didn¡¯t exist. It was simply a difference in priorities.


    Men also craved wealth and power. What was it about women that somehow made them able to see beyond material things?


    Shi Yue had her ambitions when it came to dealing with him, but he also had his own designs when it came to the Wei Estate. They were both working to their own ends, but they hadn¡¯t hurt anyone else, and they had even helped each other a lot. Thus, there was no need to criticize.


    It was precisely because this was what he thought that Tang Jie spoke with confidence and energy, as if this was the principle of the world. Shi Yue was left astounded.


    She finally couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Then why is it that you never paid any attention to me?¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯m not the one you want,¡± Tang Jie answered. ¡°Elder Sister treated me well, and I have noted all of it down. In the future, if I seed in cultivation, I will not forget Elder Sister¡¯s kindness and will generously repay it, but that does not include myself. After all, that isn¡¯t what you sought in the first ce.¡±


    For a woman to seek something in return was nothing much.


    But since she wished for material wealth, then he would give her material wealth. Was there any point in adding a marriage to it?


    In Tang Jie¡¯s eyes, it wasn¡¯t wrong for a woman to seek material things. What was wrong was to insist on adding the pretext of love, to use the name of a married couple to bind the man to a contract. While it seemed innocent and pure, it was just a ploy to fool the people, a show of affection. To put it in more extreme terms, it was to pay a small price for endless reward.


    Tang Jie could not ept this.


    Shi Yue wanted him to repay her in the future, so he would repay her in the future.


    But to give his heart to her, to be a proper Spirit Master husband? Forget it.


    Thus, Shi Yue¡¯s mistake was not that she wanted, but that she wanted too much.


    Tang Jie did not believe in finding exactly the right person, but if a woman didn¡¯t actually love him and also did not possess some sort of talent that could allow him to ignore this problem, he could not be med for being picky.


    Shi Yue stared in a daze at Tang Jie.


    After a while, she said, ¡°In other words, you¡¯re saying that I have ulterior motives? My attitude toward you wasn¡¯t entirely because of¨C¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Tang Jie interrupted. ¡°I understand Elder Sister¡¯s kind intentions, but ask yourself honestly: if it were one day dered that I had no chance of bing a servant student, Elder Sister, would you still treat me so well? Would you be willing to entrust the rest of your life to me?¡±


    Affection? There naturally was some.


    s, affection was not some absolute value that either existed or didn¡¯t. It was often mixed together with various other elements. A pure and unblemished love could perhaps only be sought in dreams.


    A woman who nned to tie herself to a man, even if she didn¡¯t feel any affection for him, would probably convince herself that she did.


    Tang Jie was somewhat handsome and knew how to act as a person, so it was quite easy to convince herself that she liked him. Thus, when Shi Yue said that she liked him, the affection might not have been faked, but the love probably wasn¡¯t real.


    Perhaps this sort of love was only a superficial love. She could love him, but she could also love other people.


    In the end, she could only deceive herself, but not others.


    Tang Jie¡¯s answer left Shi Yue speechless. At this moment, she found that she really couldn¡¯t answer this question, and her mood began to fall.


    Seeing her beautiful face turning gloomy, Tang Jie sighed. ¡°My heart is on the Great Dao, so I truly have no intentions when ites to the fourth youngdy. This incident was a misunderstanding. As for you, Elder Sister Shi Yue, I can only apologize. But as I have said, if I meet with sess in the future, I will not forget Elder Sister¡¯s kindness!¡±


    Saying this, he walked away.


    As she watched him walk away, Shi Yue suddenly felt regret.


    Perhaps she should have boldly dered to Tang Jie, ¡®I can do it! No matter what the situation, I am willing to suffer with you until old age.¡¯


    But in the end, she had hesitated.


    A moment of hesitation had resulted in the loss of an opportunity for an eternity.


    At that moment, Shi Yue¡¯s tears fell like the rain.


    Three dayster, Wei Die left the Wei Estate for Heart Severing Academy in Yan Province.


    Before leaving, Wei Die hugged her mother and wept, putting on a show of the child reluctant to leave. Nobody noticed a silent and nameless boy servant standing at the edge of the crowd of people sending her off.


    He was looking at Wei Die, and when their eyes met, their hearts both trembled.


    Steward Qin was relieved to see all this finallying to pass, and on that night, he took Tang Jie out drinking. In his intoxication, he kept shouting, ¡°Ru¡¯er, Ru¡¯er¡­¡± After sending Steward Qin home, Tang Jie returned to his room.


    He felt rather sad, but he didn¡¯t know what to say. Hey on the bed and stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep.


    Suddenly, he heard a rustling sound at his ear.


    Looking over, he saw that Yiyi had climbed onto his bed.


    The sprite walked past his ear and entered the nkets, cuddled up to Tang Jie, and fell asleep.


    Seeing her peacefully sleeping, Tang Jie felt a warmth in his heart, and that inexplicable sorrow was also greatly diluted.


    So that he wouldn¡¯t identally crush her, Tang Jie slightly turned over on his side and gave her a little kiss on the face. ¡°Naughty thing, why are you sleeping with me rather than in your own bed?¡±


    The sprite spoke as if she was in a dream, muttering, ¡°This ce¡­ warm¡­¡±


    Tang Jie was stunned.


    Yiyi could talk!


    After a rain shower at the end of autumn, the weather began to chill.


    The nights began to grow longer and the sunlight was no longer as bright and cheerful.


    Winter was the most boring season for a gardener. In these days when all things withered, Tang Jie came to have much more free time.


    Today, Steward Qin paid a visit. The two of them drank wine by the table and casually chatted. As they drank and drank, snowkes began to drift down.


    Tang Jie opened the window, and a gust of wind sent snow inside. The snowkesnded on Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder and hands, and began to slowly melt.


    ¡°Another year has passed,¡± Tang Jie softly said.


    An inexplicable sorrow.


    ¡°Yes, and another big snowstorm. This makes me think of that snowstorm from twenty-some years ago,¡± Steward Qin pensively said as he looked out the window. ¡°Without the Wu couple, I would not have lived to see this day¡­ and neither would you.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled.


    ¡°Right, have you been to see them recently?¡± Steward Qin asked.


    ¡°Mm, just yesterday. Their bodies are doing well, but they miss their son, so they aren¡¯t in a very good mental state, and nothing I say to them helps.¡±


    Steward Qin frowned at these words. ¡°Wu Qin is a little unreasonable. He¡¯s been at the academy for so long, but he essentially only writes one letter back a year. Even the first young master is better when ites to writing back.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Sending letters requires money.¡± Tang Jie smiled.


    Steward Qin disliked how blunt he was, and red at him. But Tang Jie was right, so he also began tough.


    He downed a cup of strong wine, and his body released a warmth that dispelled the cold. Steward Qin suddenly said, ¡°The third young master is going to open his gate soon.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Tang Jie asked in surprise, ¡°When?¡±


    ¡°In the next two days,¡± Steward Qin answered. ¡°He¡¯s going to enter school at the start of summer. Now is the time to open the gate and wash his meridians. It can¡¯t be dyed any longer.¡±


    Opening the Jade Gate was a rather painful process, so the various ns did not require the students about to enter school to open their gates early, waiting until their minds were as mature as possible before starting the process. Xu Muyang had been able to open his gate so early not because of some incredible talent, but because he had been frequently beaten and had a better capacity to endure pain.


    The young master would be entering school next year, so now was the ideal time to open his gate. And if the young master had to open his gate, it wouldn¡¯t be long until the servant students had to as well.


    Sure enough, Steward Qin said, ¡°That matter is going to be decided soon. In thest few days, all kinds of bad characters have been around thedy, trying to court her favor in the hopes of getting a chance.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± That was all Tang Jie said.


    ¡°You¡¯re not nervous?¡± Steward Qin was amazed.


    ¡°If being nervous were of any help, I would be in aplete state of panic, acting as if my eyebrows were on fire,¡± Tang Jie said with augh.


    ¡°Foul brat, as flippant as ever. You¡¯re that confident you¡¯ll seed?¡± Qin Yuan alsoughed.


    ¡°This can¡¯t be considered self-confidence. It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve fought all the fights I¡¯ve needed to fight. This is no longer the time to struggle and seize, only to wait,¡± Tang Jie answered.


    For Tang Jie, the servant student selection was like a graduation exam. The proper thing to do was to establish the foundation in the school term, not to go begging for good fortune right before the examination.


    And the master anddy of the Wei Estate had probably made up their minds long ago. Thus, the true oue had been decided long before the final moment.


    Steward Qin shook his head and said, ¡°That¡¯s easy to say, but you need to have a calm andposed personality to pull it off. I didn¡¯t think that an elder like me would be lessposed than you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because Uncle Qin is worried about me and isn¡¯t as heartless as me,¡± Tang Jie said.


    ¡°You sweet-talker!¡± Steward Qin harrumphed. Standing up, he said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ve given you the notice. This old man has his own business to attend to¡­ You¡¯re not nervous, but I can¡¯t help but be worried. I still need to go and do something and ask some questions to help you out.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Uncle Qin.¡± Tang Jie bowed to Steward Qin.


    After sending Steward Qin out, Tang Jie nced at the table. The little white flower in the pot immediately turned into Yiyi.


    ¡°Daddy! I want to y hide-and-seek!¡± Yiyi jumped onto Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder and giggled into his ear.


    ¡°How many times have I said it already? Call me ¡®Big Brother¡¯!¡± Tang Jie turned to Yiyi¡¯s small face and added, ¡°And also, I¡¯m too big. I can¡¯t get into those little holes¡­¡±


    Mm, why was it that these words didn¡¯t sound right?


    ¡°Use an illusion formation, an illusion formation!¡± the little sprite shouted, pping her hands. She raised her hand, and an illusion formation appeared in the room.


    Unlike Tang Jie, the sprite didn¡¯t need to waste timeying down a formation, but simply created one with a raise of her hand. To tell the truth, her illusion formation was no longer a formation, but a spell art.


    Ever since she had learned to speak, this was the game she had most frequently yed with Tang Jie.


    ¡°Next time. Your big brother will be busy for the next few days. Be a good girl and don¡¯t run around.¡±


    Little Yiyi¡¯s face instantly fell, and she shouted at Tang Jie, ¡°I hate you!¡±


    She turned around and transformed back into a flower in the pot, ignoring Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie shook his head and sat back down at the table.


    He opened a drawer and took out a letter.


    There was a smile in his eyes as he looked at the graceful writing on the paper.


    Examination day finally arrived.


    On this day, all the servants of the Meditation Garden assembled before thedy, awaiting their judgment.


    Before this, the third young master had his gate opened first.


    Perhaps because he didn¡¯t want to humiliate himself, the third young master did not open his gate in front of others, instead having it done in a little room behind the hall.

 Chapter 40: Selection (1)

    Screams like those of a pig being butchered could be heard loud and clear, causing one¡¯s hair to stand on end. At times, it was even possible to hear thedy shout in concern, ¡°Don¡¯t shout! Gather your energy! Push! My son, you can definitely endure it. Open¡­ it¡¯s open, you can do it¡­¡±


    It sounded like someone was giving birth.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but smile.


    The other boy servants mistook this smile for one of self-assurance. Shi Mo red at him and mouthed several words. Tang Jie could tell that he was saying, ¡®Don¡¯t think you¡¯ve already won.¡¯


    He softly chuckled in reply.


    The screams gradually dwindled away. Tang Jie knew that the charging at the gate was over.


    A few momentster, Spirit Master Lu appeared with the master and thedy. As they walked, he said, ¡°Congrattions, my master anddy. With four cycles of the gate open, the third young master¡¯s talent is not bad.¡±


    <em>His talent wasn¡¯t bad, but his will was too weak,</em> Tang Jie mentallymented. From Wei Tianchong¡¯s rming screams alone, he had been able to tell that he had failed to fully exhibit his talent. Otherwise, he could have reached five cycles, and with a little more resolve, he might have even reached six cycles.


    ¡°In any case, he¡¯s still of middling aptitude, much better than Tianzhi¡­ s, it seems like the men of the Wei n still fall short of the women.¡± Zheng Shufeng ignored the fact that her son was in the lower end of the middle aptitude, insteadmenting how the Wei n¡¯s sons were worse than its daughters.


    Her daughter, Wei Qing¡¯er, had opened six cycles, and she was born with Seven Passion Meridians, making her an excellent match for the arts of the Thousand Passions Sect, so she was the one with the greatest prospects. Wei Qingsong¡¯s daughter, Wei Die, had opened five cycles, and she also had a bright future. But the first young master, Wei Tianzhi, had only opened two cycles. While he had managed to get into Basking Moon Academy, he had made little progress and was still working to get into the Spirit Sea Tier. If his luck was bad, the Spirit Sea Tier might be his peak.


    As for Wei Qingsong¡¯s son, Wei Ming, he had opened three cycles, a head above Wei Tianzhi. This had always left Zheng Shufeng unhappy.


    Now that her younger son had opened four cycles and entered the middle grade, so long as he were provided enough resources, he could reasonably be expected to be a peak Spirit Master without a problem, and if he was lucky, he might even have a chance at the Celestial Heart Realm.


    A n ultimately relied on its men to continue. With four cycles of the Jade Gate, Zheng Shufeng could finally rest easy.


    As she walked out, Zheng Shufeng announced to the servants, ¡°The third young master has seeded in opening four cycles of his gate!¡±


    All of the servants loudly replied, ¡°Congrattions to the third young master; congrattions to the master and thedy! May the third young master seed in cultivating to Immortality early and bring glory to the n!¡±


    Zheng Shufeng nodded in satisfaction. ¡°The third young master is done with his business, so now, it is your turn. I presume that some of you have been waiting for this day for a long time now.¡±


    Everyone tensed up at her words.


    Tang Jie inwardly praised Zheng Shufeng¡¯s methods.


    Wei Tianchong had just opened his Jade Gate, so his energy was drained and he required rest. He had probably already fallen unconscious.


    If the servant students were decided now, he could not possibly intervene.


    Although Zheng Shufeng was his mother and his interference was essentially useless, one less objecting voice, one less person to contradict her was a good thing. If both her husband and son opposed Zheng Shufeng¡¯s choice, then even she would find it hard to force the matter through.


    Without this possible objecting voice, and her husband unwilling to contradict her when it came to domestic matters, Zheng Shufeng had essentially endowed herself with all the authority for the selection.


    In this aspect, one could say that Zheng Shufeng¡¯s attitude toward Shi Mo had be even more obvious: she would never leave her son in Shi Mo¡¯s hands.


    Wei Danbai and Zheng Shufeng sat down, upon which Zheng Shufeng slowly said, ¡°Since that is so, I presume that I do not need to say anything more. Everyone knows how difficult it is to get a single spot in Basking Moon Academy. While the Wei n is a grand enterprise, it cannot waste a spot on somebody useless. We must look to your performance to decide on our selection. Now, I will give all of you onest chance to say anything you want. One by one now. Shi Meng, you first.¡±


    Though Zheng Shufeng had spoken in a vague manner, there was no question that she was asking everyone to make their Heart Demon Aspirations. Of course, demanding that they make it would be too much. The other party had to be willing to make the aspiration, itching to make the aspiration. The master would have to politely and ¡®helplessly¡¯ ept it.


    Shi Meng came forward and loudly said, ¡°At a young age, Shi Meng was sold into the service of the Wei n,ing under the care of the master and thedy¡­¡±


    After saying a pile of useless gratitudes, Shi Meng finally said, ¡°¡­If I am able to receive the generous favor of the master and thedy, and allowed to enter the academy, Shi Meng swears an oath upon his Heart Demon, to be marked on his Origin Heart, that from this point onward, Shi Meng will be loyal to the Wei n, be part of the Wei n, and do everything in his power to serve the Wei n and bring it glory.¡±


    Shi Meng¡¯s Heart Demon Aspiration was quite standard, swearing loyalty, fealty, and servitude. To put it bluntly, he would owe the Wei n, but if he managed to be a Spirit Master, he would still receive the treatment that was owed to him.


    This was very normal. People wagered their future prospects in hopes of changing their lifestyles. If one became an Immortal but still needed to serve as a servant for the rest of their lives, who would waste their time in cultivation?


    ¡°Mm.¡± Wei Danbai and Zheng Shufeng nodded their heads at this.


    After Shi Meng, it should have been Shi Mo, but Shi Mo lowered his head and didn¡¯te forward, instead pushing forward another boy servant.


    The boy servant who was pushed forward had no choice except to make an aspiration.


    He knew that he had no chance. In truth, at this point, everyone knew that they were just going through the motions. If everything went as expected, thedy would choose Shi Meng and Tang Jie. Thus, the boy servant made a rather half-hearted aspiration.


    The boy servants went up one by one until only Tang Jie and Shi Mo were left.


    Tang Jie knew that Shi Mo wanted to be thest so that no one could imitate his Great Heart Demon Aspiration. With a soft chuckle, Tang Jie came forward and began to speak. ¡°If I can be blessed by the Wei n with the opportunity to cultivate, then Tang Jie will do his utmost to serve the young master. I make an aspiration upon my Heart Demon that if the young master does not achieve Mortal Shedding, Tang Jie will not shed his status as servant, and if the young master does not achieve Celestial Heart, Tang Jie will not leave the n register. And if Tang Jie has the chance to glimpse the secret of the Celestial Heart, he will create an Immortal art to be left with the Wei n!¡±


    Wei Danbai and Zheng Shufeng were both shaken by this vow.


    Compared to the aspirations of the other boy servants, Tang Jie¡¯s Heart Demon Aspiration was very concrete.


    ¡®If the young master does not achieve Mortal Shedding, Tang Jie will not shed his status as servant¡¯ meant that for every day Wei Tianchong did not break into the Mortal Shedding Realm, Tang Jie would remain a servant for another day. And when the third young master entered the Mortal Shedding Realm, so long as he didn¡¯t enter the Celestial Heart Realm, Tang Jie would not leave the n registers, meaning that he would always appear as a representative of the Wei n. Of course, he would no longer be a servant.


    It was a very solemn oath. Not only did he bind himself, he also expressed that his repayment to the young master would not merely be manifested in his service, but also in cultivation. He would not dare to say such words unless he was confident in himself.


    But at the same time, it also meant that when Wei Tianchong entered the Celestial Heart Realm, Tang Jie would officially cease to be part of the Wei n and would regain his freedom. Of course, this freedom had its own price, for he would have to leave behind an Immortal art that could be passed down in the Wei n.


    The boy servants had made aspirations that were illusory and made no reference to anything practical. This was so that they had a chance to walk back their words in the future. When seeking an opportunity, no one would say that if they seeded in cultivation in the future, they would leave, even if all of them were really thinking about it.


    Tang Jie was probably the first person to swear a Heart Demon Aspiration that noted that he would leave the Wei n¡¯s service, but at the same time, he had stated the conditions for his departure.


    This was precisely what had surprised Wei Danbai and Zheng Shufeng and caused them to have a different reaction than to all the other aspirations they had heard.


    Wei Danbai grunted, clearly unhappy.


    But Zheng Shufeng was smiling.


    One had to at least be at the Celestial Heart Realm to create an Immortal art, which also meant that Tang Jie was confident he could reach this level.


    To tell the truth, this promise carried far more force than the promises of the other boy servants. It was just the stated intention to leave that made it unpleasant. However, for a practical woman like Zheng Shufeng, promises with clear goals and repayments were more eptable.


    Putting aside everything else, the guarantee of Wei Tianchong entering the Celestial Heart Realm and guaranteed Immortal art that could be passed down in the Wei n made it worth investing in Tang Jie. What Tang Jiecked in loyalty, he made up for with a most generous repayment, and at least it was more substantial than some ¡°service to the Wei n¡±. Eating and cking off in the Wei n every day could also be called ¡°service¡±. After all, wasn¡¯t that what the Spirit Masters of the Wei n were currently doing? The times when they were actually put to use were few and far between.


    In addition, Tang Jie¡¯s departure was tied to Wei Tianchong, meaning that in the future, if Tang Jie wanted his freedom, he would have to assist Wei Tianchong. In this aspect, he was more motivated to help Wei Tianchong than any other servant, as this would also benefit him.


    Finally, Zheng Shufeng didn¡¯t believe in Heart Demon Aspirations. She trusted more in a person¡¯s nature. In her eyes, if there really was a servant student who could reach the Celestial Heart Realm, it wasn¡¯t someone the puny Wei n could control. It would be better to let them go and establish a good rtionship with them. Even if the other party was truly free, so long as they were on good terms, they mighte to help the Wei n in the future. At times, affection was even more important than contracts.


    Thus, she took a great liking to Tang Jie¡¯s Heart Demon Aspiration.


    Husband and wife had showed opposite reactions, which was Shi Mo¡¯s chance.


    A momentter, he came forward, and prostrated before the master and thedy, saying in a tearful voice, ¡°Through the blessing of the master and thedy, Shi Mo was allowed into the Wei n and followed the young master in reading and recognizing characters, living a life without worries. Shi Mo is willing to go so far as to have his body crushed and pulverized to repay this great generosity! Shi Mo knows that hemitted many grave errors in the past, but Shi Mo feels remorse and is willing to change. Thus, I make a great aspiration. If the master anddy are willing to give Shi Mo one more chance, Shi Mo will loyally serve the Wei n, taking it as his only master for his entire life, serving it like an ox or horse, without the slightestint, for all eternity!¡±


    A great aspiration!


    Not merely a great aspiration, but one in which he had sworn to serve the Wei n for the rest of his life, serving it like an ox or horse.


    <em>Shi Mo, you¡¯re truly a ruthless sort. For the sake of cultivation, you would be willing to bring yourself to the lowest ss. It seems like you¡¯re going all-in,</em> Tang Jie inwardly sneered.


    He knew what Shi Mo¡¯s n was. So long as he could be a Spirit Master, even if he didn¡¯t ask to no longer be a servant, the Wei n could not actually treat him as a servant. His status would just be the lowest of all the Spirit Masters, even lower than the likes of Steward Qin!


    Zheng Shufeng and her husband were clearly taken aback by Shi Mo¡¯s aspiration.


    The two of them looked over at Spirit Master Lu seated on the side. He nodded, confirming that Shi Mo had made this aspiration on his Origin Heart and that it was valid.


    There was no set procedure for swearing an oath upon one¡¯s Heart Demon. The key was that it had been made sincerely. Spirit Master Lu was here to confirm that the servants were making their Heart Demon Aspirations sincerely.


    Wei Danbai sternly asked, ¡°Shi Mo, do you know what you¡¯re doing?¡±


    Shi Mo loudly answered, ¡°This lowly one knows. This lowly one¡¯s words all came from his heart. None of it was a lie!¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Shufeng, you see¡­¡± Wei Danbai began to think, ncing over at his wife.


    He had already agreed with his wife that they would pick Shi Meng and Tang Jie, but he couldn¡¯t help but be tempted by Shi Mo¡¯s great aspiration. He was already hoping that his wife would change her mind.


    But to his surprise, Zheng Shufeng grimly shook her head.


    Shi Mo was stunned, and Wei Danbai was also rather displeased. ¡°Shufeng, aren¡¯t you a little too biased against Shi Mo?¡±


    Zheng Shufeng snorted. ¡°This isn¡¯t bias, but understanding. Those who aren¡¯t fit will never be fit, not even if they make the greatest aspiration in the world. I do not understand cultivation, but I understand the ways of the world. I have never heard of an ignorant child who can suddenly mature upon making an aspiration. Moreover, the Sageheart Kingdom has thousands of ns, but I have never heard of any n that dared to make a cultivator into a servant, so how could my little Wei n dare to start a precedent? There are some promises that he can be bold enough to make, but that we do not dare to receive¡­ I feel that it is better to conduct oneself in a steadfast manner. Promises, no matter how pretty, are still only promises. Rather than standing at the pond and longing for fish, better to go home and weave a!¡±


    Wei Danbai was left speechless by these words, Master Lu nodded and smiled, Shi Mo felt like he had been dropped into an ice house, and even Tang Jie was shaken.


    He had never expected Zheng Shufeng to be utterly unmoved by Shi Mo¡¯s Great Heart Demon Aspiration. This was far, far beyond his expectations.


    Zheng Shufeng added, ¡°While Tang Jie¡¯s ambitions are long-term, they have substance. The Celestial Heart Realm is still rather distant to our Wei n, and if we can exchange one spot for a Celestial Heart Realm cultivator, we will greatly profit¡­¡±


    Wei Danbai also smiled. One spot for one Celestial Heart Realm was naturally a huge profit. Tens of thousands of people entered the Immortal academies every year, but less than one Celestial Heart Realm expert was produced every year. Tang Jie¡¯s promise truly was extremely valuable. His wife¡¯s argument made sense, so he nodded in approval.


    Shi Mo shouted, ¡°I¡¯m not convinced! Mydy, what sort of person is Tang Jie? How is it that he can help the young master reach the Celestial Heart? He speaks without thinking¡­¡±


    ¡°I have a five-cycle Jade Gate. Is that enough?¡± Tang Jie casually said.


    Everyone was stunned by these words.

 Chapter 41: Selection (2)

    Back to the night of Ji Ziqian¡¯s departure:


    In the small wooden hut, Tang Jie said to Wei Die, ¡°I truly need Fourth Young Lady¡¯s help with something.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like this¡­ before meeting Fourth Young Lady, I already exined to Uncle Qin that I was once fortunate enough to encounter an Immortal.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know. That¡¯s why you understand so much about the cultivation world.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that this immortal did something else for me besides telling me about the cultivation world.¡±


    ¡°What was it?¡±


    ¡°Opening my Jade Gate,¡± Tang Jie answered.


    Steward Qin and Wei Die were both bbergasted, Wei Die blurting out, ¡°Your Jade Gate is already open? How many cycles?¡±


    ¡°Five cycles,¡± Tang Jie helplessly replied.


    A five-cycle Jade Gate!


    Steward Qin and Wei Die gasped.


    A five-cycle Jade Gate sounded like the middle grade.


    But it was just like how the Celestial Heart Realm was only ¡®middle grade¡¯, yet no one dared to not take a True Person seriously.


    For the vast majority of cultivators, a five-cycle Jade Gate was already an extremely difficult feat. A conceited genius like Ji Ziqian had truthfully only managed to reach four cycles.


    And of the three young masters and six servants students the Wei n had dispatched, none had reached five cycles, the best having only reached four. This also meant that while Tang Jie¡¯s aptitude put him in the middle, he was in the upper rankspared to the rest of the crowd. It was no wonder that Steward Qin and Wei Die were so shocked.


    It had to be understood that a five-cycle Jade Gate signified that someone had the qualities to reach the Celestial Heart Realm.


    Such was the importance of the Jade Gate to the cultivation world. It served as a dividing line, the number of cycles serving as an indicator of one¡¯s potential. For example, one cycle or two cycles meant that one could definitely be a Spirit Disciple, which was one¡¯s foot into the door. Three or four cycles meant that one could be a Spirit Master, five or six was Celestial Heart, and seven or eight was Violet Pce. Nine cycles meant that one had a fifty percent chance of reaching Immortal tform.


    A five-cycle Jade Gate meant that if one cultivated normally, one would have a fifty percent chance of reaching the Celestial Heart Realm.


    Of course, this wasn¡¯t some scientific division. It symbolized a cultivator¡¯s ability to circte and absorb spiritual energy. It could bepared to a person¡¯s life expectancy in that it had the greatest theoretical value.


    In the process of cultivation, as one traveled down side roads, one might suffer from internal injuries that constantly wore away at the so-called sess ratio. Those who could truly reach the Immortal tform from the Violet Pce were probably less than one in ten, but this didn¡¯t prevent people from saying that those with a nine-cycle Jade Gate had a fifty percent chance of reaching Immortal tform. For example, while an eight-cycle Jade Gate might not be able to reach Violet Pce, those cultivators who could reach Violet Pce were often seven-cycle or more.


    By the same principle, those of lower aptitude might be able to make the leap. Fortune was fickle, and there was no telling what could influence one and allow one to have better results than expected.


    Thus, the Jade Gate division represented only a possibility, not an inevitability. But at the very least, it could serve as a reference.


    When Steward Qin learned that Tang Jie had a five-cycle Jade Gate, he immediately became excited, but he also instantly understood why Tang Jie was worried.


    Before servant students entered school, the n¡¯s Spirit Masters would help them open their Jade Gates.


    The fact that Tang Jie¡¯s Jade Gate was already open was a major w when it came to his identity.


    He would have to exin to the Wei Estate who had opened his Jade Gate!


    If this matter could not be exined, he would have no hope of getting into the academy.


    Tang Jie had been trying to find a way to conceal this matter, but now, he finally had a chance.


    ¡°Little Jie, tell me honestly: did someone order you to enter the Wei n, or do you have some ulterior motive?¡± This was a major development that affected the n, so Steward Qin turned serious. He was devoted to the Wei Estate and would never permit someone he had brought in to harbor ill intentions.


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°Though I encountered an Immortal who opened my gate, I did not obtain any sort of Immortal art, nor did I receive guidance from anyone. It was purely a fortuitous opportunity. If I did have some sort of motive when it came to the Wei n, it would be that I want to enter school using the Wei n¡­ which is what every servant seeks.¡±


    ¡°Swear it!¡± Wei Die sternly ordered.


    ¡°Of course. I, Tang Jie, swear an oath upon my Heart Demon that I entered the Wei n with no ill intentions, only to enter the Immortal Gate. The Immortal Gate is difficult to enter, and I could only rely on the Wei n. If I seed in my efforts, I will generously repay this kindness. If I break this oath, may my Heart Demon devour me!¡±


    Though it was not a great aspiration, he spoke with great solemnity, and Steward Qin and Wei Die rxed. In the end, neither of them was the patriarch, so they did not need to think about problems so thoroughly. So long as Tang Jie hadn¡¯te to do harm, they wouldn¡¯t push the matter too hard.


    Of course, this was also because they had known Tang Jie for some time. If he had brought up this matter on their first meeting, then no matter how much Tang Jie had offered, Steward Qin might not have believed him, let alone been as bold as to get him into the Wei Estate.


    As for now, after more than a year of knowing him, Steward Qin felt that Tang Jie was still a trustworthy person.


    In the end, affection was sometimes better able to gain trust than reason.


    After making the oath, Tang Jie said, ¡°Although I don¡¯t have harmful intentions, this matter is still rather troublesome. Fourth Young Lady, you also know that servant students are decided on the whim of the master and thedy. If they have some apprehension, thinking that I was hiding something from them, and start to distrust me¡­¡±


    Putting aside the fact that a Heart Demon Aspiration had no effect before Celestial Heart, even if it was effective, it could not bepletely relied on. At least thedy had never relied solely on the Heart Demon Aspiration.


    Thus, while the Heart Demon Aspiration could be used to affirm one¡¯s true feelings to the master and thedy, it was clearly not enough to get one past the finish line.


    ¡°You want me to help you conceal this matter?¡± Wei Die understood what Tang Jie wanted.


    ¡°What I hope for is that once you enter Heart Severing Pavilion, you can send a letter saying that you had a senior who came to Canglong Prefecture, saw my talent, and decided on a whim to help me open my Jade Gate.¡±


    ¡°I see. That¡¯s no problem.¡± Wei Die immediately agreed. ¡°I¡¯ll say that I owed you a favor, so I entreated a person to help you out.¡±


    It was just a letter, not anything big, and for Tang Jie, it resolved a major problem for him and allowed him to put down a major weight on his heart.


    Steward Qin was also enlightened. ¡°No wonder you don¡¯t take Shi Mo¡¯s Heart Demon Aspiration seriously. You already have a n, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I have a n,¡± Tang Jie answered. ¡°The five-cycle Jade Gate is my source of concern, but it is also my trump card. A Heart Demon Aspiration can only guarantee one¡¯s loyalty, but besides loyalty, one also needs ability. A person¡¯s worth has always been one¡¯s ability multiplied by one¡¯s loyalty. He can give loyalty, but what about ability? For the Wei Estate, investing in someone with sixty loyalty and sixty ability is much better than investing in someone with one hundred loyalty and twenty ability. After all, excessive loyalty can only express itself when the n is in dire peril, its value going unnoticed most of the time. And any great n wouldn¡¯t spend too much time thinking about its own extinction. Besides that, even if such a thing did happen, it wouldn¡¯t be something that a few pieces of excessively loyal trash could save. Rather than paying more to the excessively loyal, it would be better to spend the money hiring more talents so as to avert the decline. Thus, I¡¯m not worried about Shi Mo at all. My only headache is over how to exin my five-cycle Jade Gate. With the fourth youngdy¡¯s help, this problem will be solved.¡±


    The best way to defeat Shi Mo¡¯s Great Heart Demon Aspiration was topete with him in ability, not loyalty.


    A five-cycle Jade Gate was the best anyone in the Wei n besides Wei Qing¡¯er had reached, and also the best among all the men.


    A five-cycle Jade Gate meant a chance at Celestial Heart. Tang Jie¡¯s Heart Demon Aspiration was not mere bluster, but backed by actual ability.


    Inparison, no matter how good Shi Mo¡¯s aspiration was, if he couldn¡¯t even reach Spirit Master, what would it matter?


    But to Tang Jie¡¯s surprise, before he even had a chance to use his hidden card, Zheng Shufeng had rejected Shi Mo.


    ording to Tang Jie¡¯s original script, Shi Mo would first stage aeback, after which Tang Jie would move heaven and earth to turn the tables back around. With all the ups and downs, climax topping climax, it would have made for a wonderful show. It was twists and turns,ebacks from desperate spots, that were fun to watch.


    But life wasn¡¯t a game, and it didn¡¯t follow the scripts of others.


    Zheng Shufeng¡¯s resolve had greatly reduced the effectiveness of Tang Jie¡¯s trump card, making his killing blow no longer as important. On the contrary, it proved that Zheng Shufeng was right, that she knew how to pick people.


    Tang Jie felt a deep sense of helplessness.


    The letter from Wei Die was at this time formally presented to Wei Danbai and Zheng Shufeng.


    The two of them read through the letter and whispered to each other. From the satisfied look in Zheng Shufeng¡¯s eyes, the look of shock on Wei Danbai¡¯s face, and Tang Jie¡¯s assured attitude, Shi Mo finally understood what he was facing¡ªeven without Zheng Shufeng¡¯s direct refusal, Tang Jie hade ready to turn the tables.


    He had been ready from the very start!


    Shi Mo had lost!


    He had utterly lost, lost even though he had wagered everything he had. Moreover, he had lost twice, the savage beating from both Zheng Shufeng and Tang Jie letting him know that he had no hope of winning, regardless of how much he bet.


    It was a miserable defeat, devoid of the slightest tinge of heroism. And in Tang Jie¡¯s eyes, there was no sense of aplishment in defeating a child.


    But Shi Mo still did not give up.


    He was still unwilling!


    As he watched the master anddy talk, Shi Mo shouted for all he was worth, ¡°I can do it too! Let me charge through the gate! I can also open up five cycles!¡±


    At this time, he was no longer struggling for the servant student position, only for the right to speak.


    He wanted to prove to everyone that if Tang Jie could do it, so could he!


    s, reality was always so cruel.


    Zheng Shufeng raised her head and looked to Spirit Master Lu.


    Lu Chenyang softly chuckled and made a snatching motion in Shi Mo¡¯s direction. Pulling him through the air, he patted down Shi Mo¡¯s body in several spots like he was inspecting a piece of pork. He shook his head. ¡°A slow aptitude and a poor constitution. There¡¯s no need to waste time on a thorough inspection. In my view, you can only reach four cycles at most.¡±


    Saying this, he pushed Shi Mo away.


    Four cycles at most! This meant that if hecked Tang Jie¡¯s persistence and resolve, he would normally only be able to reach two or three cycles.


    This news almost made Shi Mo faint.


    Seeing how dejected he was, Tang Jie softly sighed. ¡°Without ability, no one will want you, even if you¡¯re willing to be a dog.¡±

 Chapter 42: Charged with a Mission

    There was no more suspense in the selection of servant students. Thedy ultimately decided to task Shi Meng and Tang Jie with this duty.


    With the decision made, some people celebrated while others felt dejected.


    People gathered around Tang Jie and Shi Meng to congratte them, and even Steward Qin got a few words of congrattion.


    The praise for the two talents of the Wu family and Steward Qin¡¯s superb insight came thick and fast.


    The more quick-witted ones snuck out of the estate to report to the Wu family, for the rejoicing Wu couple was certain to give them a mary reward.


    Today became a day of celebration. Just like the imperial examinations of antiquity or the sports drafts of the modern era, bing a servant student was amon dream shared by all mortals.


    Shi Meng and Tang Jie were surrounded by people and were being treated in a way that they had never experienced before. With one step, they had ascended through the dragon gate and got a little taste of what it meant to be a celebrity.


    While the sesses were the center of attention, the failures were utterly ignored.


    While Tang Jie was epting everyone¡¯s congrattions, he discovered that Shi Mo had already left the hall.


    No one knew when he had left.


    Just when he was wondering about this, he heard Zheng Shufeng behind him say, ¡°Tang Jie,e here.¡±


    At this time, the master and Master Lu had gone. The only person left on the raised tform was Zheng Shufeng.


    Tang Jie assented. Zheng Shufeng pointed at the seat next to her. ¡°Sit.¡±


    ¡°Mydy is present, so this lowly one does not dare to sit.¡±


    ¡°There is no need to be polite.¡± Zheng Shufeng smiled. ¡°This is your just reward.¡±


    Now that he was a servant student, Tang Jie had ceased to be an ordinary servant. ording to the custom upheld by all the great ns, even the masters of the house would be much more polite to these future Immortal masters.


    Tang Jie knew this, so after expressing thanks, he sat down next to Zheng Shufeng.


    Zheng Shufeng carefully inspected Tang Jie. She saw that his expression was upright and that he had not grown proud and forgotten himself because of his new status. She was very satisfied, and nodded. ¡°It¡¯s been almost three years since you first came to the Wei Estate. In these three years, I have seen how you do things and developed an understanding of you. Do you know why I selected you to enter the estate?¡±


    ¡°Is mydy talking about the matter of the three strings of cash?¡± Tang Jie cautiously asked, not knowing why Zheng Shufeng had asked this question.


    Zheng Shufeng chuckled and shook her head. ¡°The filial piety you showed to the Wu couple that day truly did y an important role in my decision to select you, but there was another important reason: your background.¡±


    Background?


    Tang Jie was startled. Wasn¡¯t his background his greatest problem?


    Zheng Shufeng said, ¡°To travel all the way from the Wildgrain ins to Canglong Prefecture, you must have gone through a lot of hardship in that time, yes?¡±


    Hearing this caused the image of Xu Muyang to appear in front of Tang Jie. As he thought about his excruciating journey across mountains and rivers to travel from Anyang Prefecture to Canglong Prefecture, he couldn¡¯t help but reply, ¡°Those days were the darkest days of my life. One person traveling the wilderness alone with only a few coins and nowhere to go¡­ At times, even I find myself wondering how I managed to make such a long journey.¡±


    Tang Jie had truly gone through great suffering when fleeing the pursuit of Godhead Pce. Not even mentioning his hunger and the hardships of the journey, he had to be on his guard at any time against potential dangers.


    A twelve-year-old child surviving this journey to Canglong Prefecture was a miracle in itself.


    Tang Jie had never brought this up before, and no one else had noticed, but to his surprise, Zheng Shufeng had realized the extraordinary nature of his journey. Tang Jie immediately felt like he had encountered his soul mate.


    ¡°It truly must have been difficult¡­¡± Zheng Shufeng nodded and sighed. ¡°If my Chong¡¯er had your persistence and tenacity, he might not have only opened four cycles. Your Jade Gate has five cycles not because of your astonishing talent, but as a reward for the arduous trial you experienced. There are probably few servants in the Wei Estate who can talk about a simr experience.¡±


    Hearing this, Tang Jie suddenly understood why Zheng Shufeng had favored him so much.


    Sure enough, Zheng Shufeng said, ¡°In truth, I also know that making Chong¡¯er taste a little hardship would benefit him. But in the end, I am a woman, a mother, and how many mothers can truly harden their hearts and have their children taste hardship, particrly those hardships that might leave them half-dead? When Chong¡¯er was opening his gate today, my heart ached as he wailed.¡±


    ¡°This lowly one understands. The hearts of the parents of the world are to be pitied.¡±


    ¡°¡®The hearts of the parents of the world are to be pitied¡¯¡­¡± Zheng Shufeng considered these words, and finally, a smile appeared on her face. ¡°An excellent phrase. Chong¡¯er is a pampered child who has never suffered hardship. And it so happens that Wanquan City is far away from Canglong Prefecture. Once he¡¯s in school, I can¡¯t protect him even if I want to. When the son travels abroad, a mother worries. If I cannot find someone that I can truly rely on, then should I ce my hope on those good-for-nothings? So my first task is to entrust you with my Chong¡¯er. Although Shi Meng is also a diligent child, he¡¯s still veryckingpared to you.¡±


    Although Tang Jie¡¯s background was somewhat unclear, he had traveled alone from Anyang Prefecture to Canglong Prefecture, so he had the ability to survive on his own and solve problems. This was the reason Zheng Shufeng held him in such high regard.


    For Zheng Shufeng, a servant student achieving meteoric sess and repaying their master had never been most important.


    What was most important was her son!


    So long as her son was fine, everything else was okay.


    From this perspective, servant students existed for two purposes, and for Zheng Shufeng, ¡°attend and serve¡± was far more important than ¡®investment for the future¡¯.


    In truth, ns had initially selected servant students to attend on their children. The ¡°expectation of repayment¡± was something that had been added onter.


    Just as Tang Jie had said, when in pursuit of a goal, after many twists and turns, one would often lose sight of one¡¯s original goal.


    But Zheng Shufeng had not!


    She knew very well what she wanted.


    This was why, no matter how good Shi Mo¡¯s Heart Demon Aspiration was, since hecked the ability to care for Wei Tianchong, Zheng Shufeng would never choose him. In Zheng Shufeng¡¯s eyes, the ability to care for the third young master was her top priority!


    Thus, even if Tang Jie didn¡¯t have a five-cycle Jade Gate, his ability to survive and solve problems meant that Zheng Shufeng would still choose him. This was something that not even Tang Jie had thought about.


    Tang Jie was enlightened by Zheng Shufeng¡¯s words.


    Although he had considered that Zheng Shufeng would ce some importance on this matter, he had never realized that she valued this category far more than any other.


    To realize the problem but pay it little heed was tantamount to not realizing the problem at all. Tang Jie felt like he had made a grave mistake. If he had realized this earlier, he could have promised a little less in his Heart Demon Aspiration.


    Thus, he had actually already paid the price for his mistake.


    He couldn¡¯t be med for this. In thest three years, his opponents had all been immature children.


    While weak opponents had allowed him to easily obtain victory, they did not stimte Tang Jie¡¯s desire to fight, so it was inevitable that he would miss a few things.


    Thus, the real excitement would only happen when he encountered real opponents with some heft to them.


    His ipetent opponents over thest three years had dragged him down. The only bright spot was probably Ji Ziqian¡¯s appearance, which had invigorated Tang Jie a little.


    Fortunately, Basking Moon Academy was a gathering ce of talents, and the struggle for the Great Dao was endless and cruel. He was confident that many exciting things awaited him in the future.


    ¡°Mydy, be at ease. Tang Jie will take good care of the third young master,¡± Tang Jie hurriedly responded.


    Zheng Shufeng added, ¡°In addition, Chong¡¯er is still a little young. Back then, he still did not understand how to conduct himself, even whipping you once. I was still there, so there was no need to worry about you being unjustly treated. If there was any trouble, I could step forward and resolve things. But once you leave the n and head off to thend of Immortals, I might not be capable of protecting him if he causes any trouble. And if he causes a big mess, there¡¯s even a chance the n might be destroyed. Thus, my second task is to have you keep watch over Chong¡¯er for me and ensure that he doesn¡¯t cause any trouble that he shouldn¡¯t.¡±


    She spoke very solemnly, and Tang Jie knew that she wasn¡¯t joking.


    In Basking Moon Academy, whether it was servant students, nobles, geniuses, or the Immortals, none of them could be lightly provoked.


    Wei Tianchong was the little tyrant of the Wei n, but over there, he would have to learn to bow his head.


    But a boy¡¯s personality was difficult to control, and only the heavens knew when he would get into trouble. Thus, Zheng Shufeng even bowed when speaking to Tang Jie.


    Everyone saw this bow and was given a fright, Tang Jie even jumping to his feet. ¡°Mydy, you are being too polite. This lowly one does not dare to receive this bow.¡±


    ¡°So long as you canplete these two tasks, what does a meager bow matter?¡± Zheng Shufeng answered with a smile.


    Taking care of her son and keeping him out of trouble¡ªthese were Zheng Shufeng¡¯s two requests and her most important requests. So long as he could do these things, her investment in Tang Jie would have already paid off. As for Tang Jie¡¯s promise, that was just interest. Zheng Shufeng didn¡¯t care if she got it or not.


    Tang Jie could only bitterly smile when it came to the mission Zheng Shufeng had charged him with. ¡°Mydy, I can agree to the first task and do my utmost to carry out this duty. But when ites to the third young master¡¯s conduct, my abilities are limited.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Zheng Shufeng nodded. ¡°After all, you are a servant. When you speak, he is not guaranteed to listen, as we can see from the incident at Weing Dragon Mountain. At that time, you could kill his horse to stop him, but in the future, there will be many more incidents where there will be no horse for you to kill. Ah, forget it. Since I have chosen to trust in you, I should trust you until the end¡­ Yanzhi, bring over the n discipline stick.¡±


    Yanzhi hastily went up to the front of the hall and took ash that she delivered to thedy.


    Thissh was not the rattansh that Wei Tianchong had used to whip Tang Jie, but a special discipline tool made from bamboo. Itsshes would not severely wound the person, but it would leave the victim in excruciating pain. It emphasized ash that would never be forgotten by the victim.


    At the same time, it was the tool the Wei n used to execute the nw. It represented the majesty of the Wei n patriarch, and no child of the Wei n could resist it.


    Zheng Shufeng grabbed the bamboosh and offered it to Tang Jie. ¡°When you arrive at the academy, I will formally hand it to you. If Chong¡¯er dares to do anything unfilial,sh him in the name of the nw! I trust that you will know when to use it and when to not!¡±


    Tang Jie trembled.


    This was an imperial sword!


    With this in hand, he would no longer have to worry about Wei Tianchong¡¯s stubbornness or him doing something foolish.


    Upon seeing the bamboosh, Tang Jie gave the deepest bow he could, loudly saying, ¡°Thedy trusts in this lowly one, and this lowly one is endlessly grateful. Mydy, be at ease. Tang Jie will not let thedy down and will take good care of the young master!¡±


    Everyone else was stunned by the sight of this bamboosh, and Shi Meng couldn¡¯t help but inwardly sigh. It turned out that he wasn¡¯t that important in thedy¡¯s eyes.


    If Ji Ziqian had not been pushed out, the one pushed out would have been him. This thought caused him to sweat.


    But there was one thing that he understood. In the future, his status in their group of three would be the lowest.


    This¡­ was truly a difficult fact to ept!


    As he sighed, a boy servant suddenly ran in and cried out in panic, ¡°Mydy, mydy, it¡¯s terrible!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s got you in such a panic?¡± Zheng Shufeng said with a frown.


    ¡°Shi Mo¡­ Shi Mo¡¯s gone crazy. He¡­ he¡­¡±


    ¡°He did what?¡± Zheng Shufeng impatiently asked.


    ¡°He took the third young master hostage!¡±

 Chapter 43: Rescue

    In the small hut behind the hall, Shi Mo waved around the knife in his hand and shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t get close! If you try to get close, I¡¯ll stab him to death!¡±


    In his hand was the unconscious third young master, Wei Tianchong.


    This wasn¡¯t Shi Mo¡¯s work. Rather, Wei Tianchong had fallen asleep after undertaking his charge at the gate.


    Zheng Shufeng arrived in haste with Steward Qin and Tang Jie. When she saw what was happening, she almost fainted. Thankfully, Tang Jie was able to catch her. Zheng Shufeng shouted, ¡°My son!¡± and began to weep.


    ¡°Shi Mo, do you know what you¡¯re doing? Release the third young master at once!¡± Steward Qin roared.


    ¡°Shut your mouth! It¡¯s all because of you that I lost my chance!¡± Shi Mo shouted back.


    At this moment, his hair was undone and his face was savage, his eyes full of despair. He constantly gestured here and there with the knife before pointing it at the third young master like some thief who was wary of being surrounded. Tears also ran down his face.


    He shouted to the crowd, ¡°Why¡­ why weren¡¯t you willing to give me a chance¡­? I was willing to be a servant for life¡­ I just wanted a chance¡­ I won¡¯t ept it¡­ I won¡¯t!¡±


    He hysterically wailed.


    Wei Danbai and the others also arrived on the scene. When the venerabledy saw the scene, she screamed and fainted, throwing the servants into turmoil.


    Wei Danbai was furious and shocked to see his son being held hostage. He angrily said to his wife, ¡°Look at what you¡¯ve done! If you hadn¡¯t insisted on picking Tang Jie, would things have turned out like this?¡±


    Zheng Shufeng heard her husband rebuking her, but she restrained herself for now and sternly asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Immortal Master Lu? Why isn¡¯t he here yet?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already sent people to fetch him. He should be here soon,¡± Steward Qin hastily said.


    The wet nurse shrilly shouted, ¡°Shi Mo, have you gone crazy? Your mother entrusted you to me and told you to take good care of the third young master, but what have you gone and done? What am I going to do in the future!?¡±


    The wet nurse wept in despair.


    Rtions between people had always entailed living together and dying together!


    Shi Mo had dragged her down with him, and no matter how today ended, her days in the Wei Estate were bound to be a torment.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care!¡± Shi Mo swung around the knife. ¡°I won¡¯t ept it! I won¡¯t! I served the young master for so many years, but how many of you appreciated my efforts? You would hit me and curse at me at the slightest excuse! Did anyone take me seriously? Why? Why is it that Tang Jie, a neer, could receive such treatment, while I, the young master¡¯s reading partner, can¡¯t apany him¡­? I¡­ I won¡¯t ept it!¡±


    He began to sob.


    ¡°Audacious beast!¡± At this moment, a shout came from the distance, and three people flew over, their leader being Master Lu. The three Spirit Masters of the Wei n had finally emerged.


    Before Lu Chenyang even arrived on the scene, he sent out a ray of spirit light. But just as he was about to form a spell, Shi Mo pointed the knife at Wei Tianchong¡¯s eye and shouted, ¡°If you try anything, I¡¯ll kill him!¡±


    Master Lu hadn¡¯t expected Shi Mo to be so resolved. He hesitated, not daring to release that spirit sword. The spiritual energy bacshed onto his body, inflicting several shocks that caused his body to sway in the air and almost crash.


    The three Spirit Masters were stymied by Shi Mo¡¯s tactic, and for a moment, none of them dared to make a move, looking at each other in indecision. Master Lu was just about to speak when Shi Mo shouted, ¡°Shut your mouths and don¡¯t do anything! If anyone dares to try a spell, no matter what spell it is, I¡¯ll kill him!¡±


    Shi Mo had his mind set on cultivation, so he had some understanding of the various abilities of the cultivation world.


    Although Spirit Masters of the Mortal Shedding Realm could fly into the sky or burrow into the earth, they needed to form spells, just like how wizards needed to chant to use magic. Only at the Violet Pce Realm, when one¡¯s mind was connected to the world, were chants and forms no longer required, and any spells or arts could be manifested with the raise of a hand. This category of ability was known as the divine connection, for ¡°Divine Will connects to the heavens and earth, creating ten thousand arts with a single chant.¡±


    Thus, when he shouted, the three Spirit Masters didn¡¯t even dare to move for fear that the third young master would be hurt.


    Shi Mo stared at the trio and shouted, ¡°Back off! Stand farther away, and if you dare to get close, I¡¯ll kill him!¡±


    The three Spirit Masters nced at each other and helplessly retreated. They were normally lofty existences who regarded the likes of Shi Mo as ants, being able to kill countless such people with a single finger, but in this situation, they were utterly powerless.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but mentally shake his head at this sight.


    <em>What the hell were you guys shouting for? Couldn¡¯t you have just used a concealment spell ande over from behind, after which any spell would have settled things?</em>


    But now it was no good. Shi Mo had made it so that they didn¡¯t dare to move, and if any one of the three Spirit Masters suddenly disappeared, Shi Mo would probably stab that knife into Wei Tianchong¡¯s eye. Even if he didn¡¯t die, he would be crippled.


    Despite their prodigious abilities, they had not the slightest inkling of how to deal with terrorists, so they were entirely useless in this situation. Sure enough, one could not rely purely on brute strength to deal with problems.


    ¡°What¡¯s to be done, what¡¯s to be done!?¡± The venerable master stomped his feet in anxiety, and then he pointed at Zheng Shufeng. ¡°Look at what you¡¯ve done! A fine mess you¡¯ve made!¡±


    Whenever there was a problem, people always had a habit of shirking responsibility. It was as if all of this was because of Zheng Shufeng.


    Zheng Shufeng took in a deep breath. She knew that she couldn¡¯t panic at a moment like this, but this was her first time encountering a situation like this, and her son was in danger. With her mind unsettled, she couldn¡¯t think of a solution to this problem.


    In the end, it was Tang Jie that said, ¡°Mydy, let me deal with this.¡±


    ¡°You?¡± Zheng Shufeng looked at Tang Jie in surprise.


    Wei Danbai sharply said, ¡°Stop messing around. Even the Spirit Masters can¡¯t do anything. Why do you believe that you can resolve this problem?¡±


    He didn¡¯t care about Tang Jie¡¯s life, but if Wei Tianchong died because of Tang Jie¡¯s actions, not even the lives of one hundred Tang Jies would be sufficientpensation.


    ¡°I¡¯m the only one who can get close to him,¡± Tang Jie answered. ¡°He hates me, so if he has the chance, he¡¯ll kill me, and now, I¡¯m going to give him that chance.¡±


    Wei Danbai coldly sneered. He thought to himself, <em>If killing you could save my son, I would immediately agree.</em> But then he considered that Tang Jie might use this time to negotiate with Shi Mo.


    In truth, Tang Jie wanted to go because he knew that if he didn¡¯t take care of this problem, he would be the next in line to face misfortune.


    That Shi Mo had not talked about killing Tang Jie meant only one thing: this was an impromptu crime, not a premeditated n. Thus, he had no conditions, and this was more like a hysterical outburst. This could be seen from the endless fear and trepidation lurking behind his savage exterior.


    But if this stalemate continued, his mind would clear up and he would start making demands, which did not bode well for Tang Jie.


    Thus, he had to take the initiative.


    If Shi Mo stabbed him, Tang Jie wouldn¡¯t necessarily die.


    But a single finger from a Spirit Master of the Wei Estate would guarantee that there would be no tomorrow.


    Zheng Shufeng asked, ¡°You¡¯re sure that you can get close to him?¡±


    ¡°I have to try.¡±


    ¡°No, I can¡¯t agree to this!¡± Wei Danbai shouted.


    ¡°I¡¯ll allow it!¡± Zheng Shufeng said.


    ¡°You?¡± Wei Danbai looked at his wife in shock.


    Zheng Shufeng said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that during the horse-stabbing incident, Master Lu believed that it was a vicious and decisive stab that only someone of abnormal ability could pull off? Since that¡¯s so, let this abnormal person continue to show off his abnormal abilities.¡±


    ¡°But what if¡­¡±


    ¡°Then what other n is there?¡± Zheng Shufeng asked.


    Wei Danbai was rendered speechless.


    As Wei Danbai and his wife were in a standoff, Tang Jie had already walked out of the crowd and toward the hut.


    ¡°Don¡¯te over!¡± Shi Mo used his free hand to point at Tang Jie. He stared at Tang Jie while pointing his knife at Wei Tianchong, as if he would stab as soon as he dared to get close.


    Tang Jie stopped. ¡°Don¡¯t be so nervous. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m some Immortal master. I don¡¯t have the ability to kill you over such a great distance. I came over to tell you something¡­ If you want to defend yourself against an attack from a Spirit Master, a knife alone won¡¯t do. You have to realize that there are innumerable Immortal arts in the world, some with abilities you¡¯ve never heard of before. Who¡¯s to say that there aren¡¯t Mortal Shedding Realm Spirit Masters who can use spells without any preparations? The reason they haven¡¯t used them yet is that the distance is too great and they¡¯re worried about injuring the third young master. So¡­¡±


    His words were half-true. There was no guarantee that there weren¡¯t such Immortal arts at the Mortal Shedding Realm that could be used without chants or forms, but such Immortal arts would never be found in the Spirit Masters hired by the Wei n.


    But Shi Mo¡¯s mind was a mess, so he could not think about such things.


    Tang Jie pointed at the door. ¡°So to guard against Spirit Masters, you should first close the door. If the people outside can¡¯t see in, you¡¯ll be safer.¡±


    Shi Mo looked at the door and then looked at Tang Jie. He suddenly shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t try that on me! You¡¯re trying to use the moment I¡¯ve left the young master to close the door to have those Spirit Masters strike, right?¡±


    If he went to close the door, he would definitely have to leave the third young master alone for a moment. While Spirit Masters took time to form their spells, there were still a few spells that took less than a second to release¡ªand dealing with Shi Mo didn¡¯t require any sort of impressive spell.


    Tang Jie appeared a little startled, and then he scratched his head. ¡°So you saw through me. This is quite the problem.¡±


    ¡°You, close the door!¡± Shi Mo shouted at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie shrugged and walked over to the door.


    At the entrance, as Tang Jie held the door, he gave Shi Mo a nce of utter disdain, like he was looking at a corpse.


    Shi Mo couldn¡¯t help but shiver at this gaze. He pointed at Tang Jie and shouted, ¡°It was you! It¡¯s all because of you! Get in here! I¡¯m going to kill you, kill you!¡±


    ¡°So you finally realized it.¡± Tang Jie smiled, took a few steps forward, and softly shut the door. At the same time, a spirit line appeared between his fingers, sweeping through the air before vanishing into the room.


    Tang Jie then turned around and walked a few steps into the room. Shi Mo pointed at Tang Jie. ¡°Stand there and don¡¯t move!¡±


    Tang Jie sneered. ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to kill me? If I stand this far away, how are you going to kill me?¡±


    Shi Mo froze.


    Tang Jie had alreadye another few steps forward. He stopped in front of a table, grabbed an inkstone and examined it, put it back down, and then took a few bites of the apple that had been peeled for Wei Tianchong. He then grabbed the nearby teapot and poured himself a cup of tea, but rather than drinking it, he dumped it out. He was like someone who was bored and just messing around.


    But as he was moving around, he was releasing spirit line after spirit line, gradually covering the entire room. A small befuddling formation gradually took shape in the room.


    He said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You took the young master hostage with such little daring? I really don¡¯t know what to say about you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like that!¡± Shi Mo shouted. ¡°I never intended to take the young master hostage¡­ I just¡­ I just wanted to find the young master and tell him¡­ tell him that I would no longer be able to serve him¡­¡±


    As Shi Mo spoke, he began to sob.


    The door was closed, and the only people in the room were Shi Mo, Tang Jie, and the sleeping Wei Tianchong. Shi Mo had no one else to talk to, so he began to tearfully exin himself to Tang Jie.


    ¡°I never had any intention of taking the young master hostage¡­ When I came, Bao Liang was peeling fruit for the young master, and I wanted to help¡­ but theyughed at me, said that I was far too useless, not even able to be a servant student despite being the reading partner, and told me to get out¡­ They cursed at me¡­ I got angry and started fighting with them.¡± Shi Mo raised the knife and began to cry. ¡°There were too many of them, and I couldn¡¯t beat them¡­ I took the knife from Bao Liang and pointed it at the young master¡­ It really wasn¡¯t on purpose. I never thought about taking the young master hostage¡­ I only wanted to scare them. I really don¡¯t know how it turned out like this¡­¡±


    Tang Jie was rather surprised to hear this. He took another few steps forward, more spirit lines quietly flying out of his hand. ¡°Since it wasn¡¯t on purpose, why didn¡¯t you just put down the knife earlier?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Shi Mo¡¯s mouth opened, but he couldn¡¯t speak.


    When he had grabbed the knife and pointed it at the young master, Bao Liang and the others had run off in fright, shouting, ¡®Shi Mo¡¯s gone crazy.¡¯


    Perhaps because his resentment had yet to disperse, when Shi Mo had looked at the young master, he had suddenly had an idea. Since he had already gone so far, why not¡­? But when countless people had gathered, he truly began to regret his decision.


    s, at this time, he could no longer back out.


    ¡°Toote¡­ It¡¯s already toote¡­¡± Shi Mo began to wail.


    Tang Jie could only sigh at his sorrowful appearance. ¡°It might not be toote¡­ If you give up now, there still might be time.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s toote.¡± Shi Mo helplessly shook his head. ¡°I took the young master hostage, so they won¡¯t let me go¡­ no way.¡±


    As he wept, viciousness once more took hold of his heart. He raised his head, looked at Tang Jie, and shouted, ¡°This is all because of you! Because of you! You made me lose everything! I¡¯ll kill you!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be a fool, Shi Mo.¡± Tang Jie shook his head.


    He moved a chair over and sat in front of Shi Mo. ¡°I¡¯m right here, Shi Mo. If you really want to kill me, then get over here, take that knife, and stab it into my chest. But, Shi Mo, do you really have the guts for it?¡±


    Shi Mo stared at Tang Jie in a daze, but that knife didn¡¯t move an inch.


    ¡°What? Scared? You¡¯ve discovered that killing someone isn¡¯t that easy, right? Sometimes, things are much easier to talk about than to do. From the look of it, you can¡¯t even hold your knife steady. Even if I ced my neck in your hands, you probably wouldn¡¯t be able to press down, right?¡± Tang Jie said with a sympathetic look.


    He softly chuckled and shook his head. ¡°If you¡¯re scared, you¡¯re scared. There¡¯s nothing shameful about being afraid of death. If you¡¯re not that kind of person, just don¡¯t do that sort of thing. We all make mistakes. It¡¯s nothing much. You just have to correct the mistakes. Taking the young master hostage is a grave crime, but the young master is still unharmed. It¡¯s not toote to stay your hand!¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll let me go?¡± Shi Mo asked in a trembling tone.


    ¡°This¡­ Punishment is a given, but I can promise you that I will plead for mercy for you and ensure that you won¡¯t die.¡±


    ¡°You? Why would you help me? You hate me so much you want me to die!¡± Shi Mo shouted again. He was constantly shifting between fear and madness, his condition extremely unstable.


    Tang Jie shook his head and smiled. ¡°Shi Mo, you have too high of an opinion of yourself. In my eyes, you were never an opponent, not even worth my attention. ¡®Hate you¡¯? To put it bluntly, you¡¯re not worthy. If I really hated you¡­ you would have been finished long ago.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to lie to me! I¡¯ve hit you before, and I¡¯m always causing you trouble!¡±


    ¡°But did I ever retaliate?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    Shi Mo fell silent. After some thought, he shouted, ¡°You couldn¡¯t retaliate. You¡¯re cowardly and afraid of causing trouble. You wouldn¡¯t dare!¡±


    ¡°¡®Afraid of causing trouble¡¯?¡± Tang Jie heartilyughed. ¡°Could someone afraid of causing trouble kill the young master¡¯s horse in front of him? Could they have walked in here to confront you and invite you to stab them? By the way, why is your knife trembling? Which one of us is the real cowardly one here?¡±


    Shi Mo trembled even more intensely.


    Tang Jie sneered. ¡°Also, do you really think I couldn¡¯t take care of you if I wanted to? Do you know how Ji Ziqian was sent packing? Do you really believe it was all due to your efforts?¡±


    Tang Jie looked at Shi Mo and dered, ¡°It! Was! Me! I was the one who requested Steward Qin to work with the elders of the estate and advise you. It was also me who bribed Yanzhi into inciting you into dealing with Ji Ziqian. And it was also me who had Shi Yue call over the venerable master and thedy to see the show for themselves. Without my intervention, it would be me and Ji Ziqian going off to school. Do you understand?¡±


    Shi Mo was stunned into silence. ¡°It was you¡­ It was all your doing?¡±


    ¡°Yes, me! I don¡¯t like hurting others, but if I really wanted to, I can guarantee that you would die without even knowing how you died. The one who really pushed you aside wasn¡¯t me, but Shi Meng, because if she had to select between me and Shi Meng, thedy would still choose me! Shi Mo, I never considered you a rival. In my eyes, you were nothing more than a somewhat willful and utterly ignorant little boy,¡± Tang Jie coldly said. ¡°You¡¯re very naughty and deserve to be punished. You deserve a savage spanking, but you don¡¯t deserve death. I can guarantee that if you put down the knife and go outside with me, I will use my future prospects to ensure that you won¡¯t die. This is your final chance!¡±


    When Tang Jie uttered the words ¡®final chance¡¯, his befuddling formation was alreadyplete. The moment he activated the formation, Shi Mo would be lost within it, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to kill Wei Tianchong even if he wanted to.


    But Tang Jie wanted to try.


    He wanted to see if he could convince Shi Mo to give up.


    This was partially because he still didn¡¯t want to expose his formation abilities, and partially because he wanted to give Shi Mo a chance.


    ¡°No! No! No!¡± Shi Mo shook his head in disbelief. He found it impossible to imagine that he had been someone¡¯s puppet this entire time. He hysterically shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, you scoundrel!¡±


    ¡°Are you angry? If you¡¯re angry, you can go and tell the master and thedy.¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you¡¯re unwilling. You were always the spear in my hand, a tool that I used against others. Your mission is nowplete, so it¡¯s about time to end things!¡±


    Whether it was out of remorse or anger, it was fine so long as he was willing to go out.


    As for any secrets he might divulge, these were a trifling matter. Even if they could be confirmed, thedy would not care.


    People were always very forgiving when it came to mistakes of the past.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to tell thedy¡­ I¡¯m going to tell thedy¡­ They¡¯ll believe me. They¡¯ll understand this wasn¡¯t my mistake, it wasn¡¯t me¡­ This was all your conspiracy!¡± Shi Mo muttered. As if he had seized some sort of lifeline, his eyes began to burn with hope.


    It was clear that his mind was on the verge of breaking.


    He threw aside the knife.


    He began to walk out of the hut, still muttering, ¡°I¡¯m telling thedy¡­ Thedy will believe in me¡­ You confessed to it¡­¡±


    He staggered past Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie could only mentally sigh at his state.


    Regardless, the matter was resolved.


    An amateur negotiator paired with an amateur criminal had been enough to muddle through. Tang Jie was rather satisfied with his performance this time.


    As Shi Mo was leaving, Tang Jie withdrew the formation he had justid down so that no one could find out about his abilities. After once more determining that Wei Tianchong was fine, he carried him out.


    At this moment, he heard an ¡°Agh!¡± from outside.


    ¡°Not good!¡± Tang Jie was shaken. Carrying Wei Tianchong, he rushed out of the hut. He saw Shi Mo lying in a pool of blood and Master Lu drawing back his palm, using a white towel to clean off the blood.


    ¡°Chong¡¯er!¡± Zheng Shufeng shouted and rushed over.


    The crowd quickly swarmed in, taking the third young master from Tang Jie and tightly surrounding him as if they were afraid that Shi Mo might take the young master hostage again.


    Only Tang Jie stared in a daze at Shi Mo.


    He was dead!


    The top of his skull had been shattered, and he had died on the spot. His eyes were wide open, staring at the sky.


    ¡°Why?¡± Tang Jie angrily red at Spirit Master Lu. ¡°Why did you kill him? He even put down his knife and surrendered!¡±


    ¡°Scoundrel, how dare you speak to Immortal Master Lu like that?¡± Wei Danbai angrily rebuked Tang Jie.


    But Master Lu gave Tang Jie a strange look and casually said, ¡°Shi Mo took the young master hostage¡ªa treasonous act. To kill him was right and proper. What¡¯s so strange about that?¡±


    ¡°But I promised him that if he let the third young master go, the Wei Estate wouldn¡¯t kill him, that I would guarantee his safety with my future career!¡± Tang Jie began to shout. ¡°He didn¡¯t do this on purpose. It was a momentary impulse!¡±


    Lu Chenyang was now clearly angered. ¡°Hmph, childish promises! How can they be taken seriously? As you¡¯ve saved the third young master, I will not argue with you, but Shi Mo deserved death for his treason. If you asked anyone here their opinion, all of them would say that this old man did nothing wrong!¡±


    Tang Jie looked around and saw that nobody was saying a thing. From the looks of disgust on their faces, it was clear that none of them believed that Lu Chenyang had done anything wrong. This made Tang Jie¡¯s heart go cold.


    In truth, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t against killing people, but that was if that person truly deserved death.


    But today, Lu Chenyang had used his actions to tell Tang Jie that Shi Mo¡¯s actions deserved death!


    As a servant, he had dared to take the young master hostage. This was a grave crime, and regardless of the harm done or remorse felt, no matter if he gave himself up, he had to pay with his death!


    This was the moralw of this world!


    Moreover, this moralw even permitted cultivators to carry out executions without going through any questioning or procedures.


    It could be said that they shared the same viewpoint when it came to punishing evil, but their standards for evil were vastly different!


    This was the difference in thought that was bound to arise from the cultures of two different worlds.


    Tang Jie had not run into it before, but he had now.


    He was lucky. Today, he had merely been speaking up for a criminal who ¡®deserved death¡¯, showing off the generous aspect of Earth¡¯s thinking. This made others think of him as rather inflexible, but at least it wasn¡¯t fatal.


    But one day, what if things were turned around?


    What if Tang Jie ran into someone who he thought deserved death but others did not?


    Suddenly, Tang Jie realized that mixing into an environment was simple, but mixing into a culture was extremely difficult. And in the end¡­ this ce wasn¡¯t Earth!


    At this time, Zheng Shufeng had seen that her son was fine, so she walked over and said, ¡°Tang Jie, I know that you are a good child who ces a lot of worth on his promises, and I can understand making promises to save my son. But you did not go back on your promise in this matter, and you cannot be med for this, and it is also natural that you would momentarily forget yourself. Regardless, you risked your life to save Chong¡¯er, and my Wei n must thank you.¡±


    After saying this, Zheng Shufeng swept her gaze over Shi Mo¡¯s body, revealing a look of disdain, anger, and hatred. She then proudly raised her head and said, ¡°Shi Mo was treasonous, and for daring to take my son hostage, he deserved ten thousand deaths. It is fortunate that we discovered his ugly side today. Otherwise, if this madman had been sent to school with Chong¡¯er, who knows what would have happened? This estate has so many people, and aren¡¯t all of them normally so capable? But when real problems arise, a boy servant had to go and rescue the hostage! Does anyone doubt my decision now? ¡®Unreliable background¡¯¡­ pah!¡±


    For the first time, Zheng Shufeng spat on the ground and swaggered away, leaving Wei Danbai where he stood, his face alternating between green and red.


    Though she had not named anyone in particr, she had clearly been referring to how her husband and the venerable master had taken out their anger on her.


    She was normally a magnanimous woman, but when she got worked up, she was as sharp as a razor. Even the venerable master and Wei Danbai were rendered speechless. Presumably, Wei Danbai would have to offer a sincere apology to his wife tonight.


    At this moment, there was a groan from the crowd. ¡°Ugh, I hurt all over¡­ Eh? What happened? What are all of you doing, standing around me?¡±


    It was Third Young Master Wei Tianchong.


    He had finally woken up.

 Chapter 44: An End to the First Stage

    Every spring, the rivers would thaw. This was the time when the trade routes began to flow again, and it was Canglong Prefecture¡¯s busiest period. Caravans from all around moved through this ce, circting all kinds of goods throughout the country.


    Besidesmercial movement, there was another kind of movement that also started at this time: student movement.


    Although Basking Moon Academy only started in the summer, thend was vast. Afraid of dys on the journey, many students began their preparations for their journey far in advance.


    This year, Tang Jie was sixteen, Shi Meng was fifteen, and the third young master was fifteen and a half. Once-ignorant and -immature brats had grown up into handsome young men, tall enough that they could almost match adults. They had also be much more mature and tactful.


    Today, the Wu home was very lively.


    As soon as Tang Jie came in, he saw the Wu couple carrying out various bundles from the house: cotton nkets, clothes, and shoes were being piled up.


    Tang Jie was astonished. ¡°Dad, Mom, what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you headed off to school tomorrow? We have to prepare your winter clothes,¡± Granny Wu answered as she continued to move things around.


    ¡°But the winter just passed, didn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°But you still have to go through next year¡¯s winter, right? And the year after that, yes?¡± Granny Wu rolled her eyes at her son.


    Tang Jie helplessly said, ¡°We can talk about that next year. If it¡¯s really no good, I can just buy some clothes.¡±


    ¡°You think that will work? Things in the capital are expensive! The clothes in our home are perfectly serviceable, and it will be a great pity if there¡¯s no one to wear them,¡± Granny Wu said as she waved around the small lined jacket in her hand.


    Old Wu couldn¡¯t watch anymore. ¡°My dear wife, Xing¡¯er wore that when he was little, so it¡¯s best not to give him that. Young people these days don¡¯t wear old clothes.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still rather new! It¡¯s a pity that no one¡¯s going to wear it,¡± the olddy muttered. But she still put the jacket down and took out several more for Tang Jie.


    A small package appeared in her hand, and she stuffed it into Tang Jie¡¯s grip. Holding Tang Jie¡¯s hand, she said, ¡°There are 23 taels of silver and four strings of cash in here. Put it in a good ce so that you have some money to spend in the capital.¡±


    Tang Jie drew back his hand. ¡°Mom, what are you doing? I don¡¯tck for money, and the Wei Estate pays a monthly stipend.¡±


    After bing servant students, both Tang Jie and Shi Meng had experienced a change in status. Each month, they received ten taels of silver, the equivalent of ten thousand yuan every month¡ªthe sry of a minor white-cor worker. And this wasn¡¯t even considering that the Wei n was paying for all their basic school expenses.


    ¡°Aiya, what¡¯s the use of that monthly stipend? Don¡¯t think your mother doesn¡¯t know how expensive those cultivator academies are! All the young scions of big nsin aboutcking money. Xing¡¯er even sent us a letter about it!¡±


    ¡°Brother Xing sent a letter saying that hecked money?¡± Tang Jie sensed that something was wrong.


    Granny Wu¡¯s face froze, and then she drylyughed. ¡°He sent a letter not too long ago. He said that he needed to buy Immortal medicine but didn¡¯t have the money¡­¡±


    ¡°How much did he want?¡±


    ¡°Five hundred taels, but we didn¡¯t have that much, so we gave him one hundred.¡±


    ¡°One hundred taels? You¡¯ve given him a lot of money over thest few years, so where did you get one hundred taels?¡± Tang Jie was dumbfounded, but then he suddenly realized, shouting, ¡°Did you give him the money I¡¯ve been giving you over thest few years?¡±


    The two elders lowered their heads in embarrassment.


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart burned with rage. ¡°Why did you hide it from me? That money was for you to buy medicine!¡±


    Over thest few years, as he had spent most of his time in the Wei Estate, Tang Jie would only asionally pay a visit. Thus, while he would asionally go out to buy the medicine himself when he got the money, he mostly handed over the silver to the couple so that they could buy medicine for themselves.


    But it was now apparent that they had spent not a single coin of the money Tang Jie had given them on themselves.


    ¡°Aiya, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Old Wu hastily grabbed Tang Jie and said, ¡°We¡¯ve already lived a fairly long time, and living a few days more or less doesn¡¯t matter much. Besides, look at us! We¡¯re doing fine.¡±


    He thumped his chest a few times, but he put in a little too much power and broke out in a coughing fit. The old man waved his hand and said, ¡°I¡¯m fine, fine. I¡¯ve just been a little wheezy as ofte¡­¡±


    Granny Wu came forward and ced the package in Tang Jie¡¯s hand, awkwardly saying, ¡°That silver was left for the two of you. We just kept it secret and saved it away, intending to give it to you when you entered school. We didn¡¯t expect Xing¡¯er to ask for money, so we ended up giving it to him. In doing this, we wronged you, so we gathered this up¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯m angry about!¡± Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°Wu Xing has his own hands and feet, so he should make that money himself! One hundred taels of silver is useless at school, not enough to buy even one truly authentic spirit medicine, but it would be enough to keep yourselves healthy into old age. Yet you¡­¡±


    He wanted to rage, but he couldn¡¯t get angry at the old couple. Stomping his feet, he mentally cursed Wu Xing¡¯s ignorance.


    The elders embarrassedly said, ¡°It should be able to help a little.¡±


    Tang Jie saw that the couple was in a difficult spot, and his anger immediately dissipated, his eyes bing a little moist.


    After a while, he said, ¡°Forget it. Even if you didn¡¯t give it to me, I imagine that you wouldn¡¯t spend it on medicine. Give it here. I just hope that he won¡¯t fail to live up to your expectations.¡±


    Hearing this, the couple sighed in relief. Granny Wu insisted on giving this silver to Tang Jie, and Tang Jie knew that if he didn¡¯t take it, the old couple would feel even worse. He could only take the money and try once at school to get some spirit medicine to send to the old couple.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t let the old couple keep working today. He packed up everything by himself and then attended upon the couple until bedtime.


    Lying in bed, Tang Jie realized that it would probably be some time until he saw the old couple again.


    Over thest three years, the couple had begun to treat him as their own son, and he couldn¡¯t help but treat them as his birth parents.


    He was now about to travel abroad for a long time, and his heart throbbed in sorrow.


    The next morning, Tang Jie arrived at the Wei Estate with arge bundle of clothes and other items. The Meditation Garden was packed, countless servants packing the third young master¡¯s luggage. Rather than going out to school, it seemed more like he was moving.


    Although only three people were entering school, ten-some servants would be going with them to Wanquan City, and even a Spirit Master would being along to ensure their safety. Even when they were at Wanquan City, there would still be some servants outside of Basking Moon Academy. The servant students entering school were merely responsible for school life.


    Tang Jie detoured around the crowd and returned to his own little hut in the Wei Estate, and he discovered that Steward Qin was waiting for him there.


    ¡°Uncle Qin!¡± Tang Jie shouted.


    Steward Qin smiled at Tang Jie. ¡°You¡¯re setting off today. Have you packed everything?¡±


    ¡°Mm, I just need to pack up my things in this room and I¡¯ll be done,¡± Tang Jie answered.


    The two of them entered his room, and Tang Jie packed up his brush, inkstone, paper, and some casual clothes. He also grabbed the two potted nts on the table.


    Steward Qin was surprised. ¡°You¡¯re even taking these two potted flowers?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°After all this time in the Wei Estate, all I learned was how to nt flowers. I¡¯ve been taking care of these two flowers for a rather long time, and when I see them, I think about my time here. So I¡¯ve decided to take them with me as a memento.¡±


    Steward looked at the little white flower, that thick and crude root carving, and also the unsightly pots that Tang Jie had fired himself, and he shook his head. ¡°Sure enough, talented people have their entricities. Forget it. It¡¯s all your concern, so it¡¯s fine if you like it.¡±


    Saying this, Steward Qin added, ¡°Right, take this silver for once you enter school.¡±


    Steward Qin took out a bag of silver and passed it to Tang Jie.


    ¡°Uncle Qin!¡±


    ¡°Take it.¡± Steward Qin smiled. ¡°I know that the Wu couple must have given you some silver, but you can never have enough money. Basking Moon Academy isn¡¯t the Wei n, and I can¡¯t help you if you need anything. You¡¯ll have to rely on yourself.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not for certain. In truth, there is something Steward Qin can help me with.¡±


    ¡°Oh? And what can I help you with?¡± Steward Qin asked with augh.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I just need Uncle Qin to write a few letters for me¡­¡±


    As he came back to the Meditation Garden with the two potted nts, everyone truly did click their tongues in bemusement.


    But Tang Jie was a celebrity in the Wei Estate. Not only did thedy favor him, she had even given him the n discipline stick. His future prospects alone made it so that no servant dared to tease him.


    The convoy heading to school consisted of seven carriages. The young master¡¯s luggage alone took up three carriages. As for the remaining four, one was for the young master to eat and rest in, one was for the Spirit Master, one was for the servants, and thest was for Shi Meng and Tang Jie.


    As the young master needed an attendant, Shi Meng and Tang Jie took turns going over. But Tang Jie hadn¡¯t attended on the young master much, so this was primarily Shi Meng¡¯s responsibility. Tang Jie¡¯s primary responsibility was to supervise the young master¡¯s cultivation and restrain his actions so that he wouldn¡¯t cause trouble.


    Thus, on this journey, Tang Jie was bound to have an easier time than Shi Meng.


    At noon, the packing was finally done. After lunch, the convoy set off. Zheng Shufeng reluctantly watched as her son left, and after repeatedly imploring Tang Jie to take good care of her son, she finally sumbed to everyone else¡¯s exhortations and left the convoy, her face covered in tears.


    Once the convoy was on its way, Shi Meng went to attend to the young master, leaving Tang Jie alone in the carriage. Through the window, he could see the scenery outside.


    The scenery outside slowly fell back, gradually fading into the distance. The crowd that had gone to see them off became little ck dots that dwindled into nothing. ¡°Heheh!¡± A soft giggle came from behind his head.


    Little Yiyi crawled up to Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder. There was now only that strange root carving still in its pot, standing all alone.


    Yiyi was much bigger than when Tang Jie had first met her.


    The little girl that had been the size of a thumb was now twenty-some centimeters tall. Although she was still delicate as before, it wasn¡¯t so bad that one constantly had to worry about crushing her to death by ident.


    Lying on Tang Jie¡¯s body like a squirrel, Yiyi curiously looked out the window. ¡°Big Brother, are we finally leaving this ce?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯re leaving,¡± Tang Jie mechanically answered. He suddenly thought about the timidity about leaving home he had talked about with the fourth youngdy.


    Yes, there were always those people that one was unwilling to part with!


    In contrast, this little thing had been with him practically from the moment she was born, never interacting with others. Without any sort of lingering affections, she only felt traveling to be curious and refreshing.


    She giggled and asked Tang Jie, ¡°Is the world outside exciting?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s exciting.¡±


    ¡°Is the world outside pretty?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty.¡±


    ¡°Then can I go out and y on my own in the future?¡±


    ¡°No, at least not now.¡±


    Little Yiyi¡¯s excitement immediately plunged.


    She muttered, ¡°I hate you! Hate you! Hate you!¡±


    Her childish voice somewhat alleviated Tang Jie¡¯s sorrow. Patting her on the head, he said, ¡°Alright, stop messing around. Oh, a little reward. Is that good enough?¡±


    Tang Jie offered his finger.


    But to his surprise, she looked away and said, ¡°Don¡¯t want!¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because Big Brother¡¯s blood is getting harder and harder to drink.¡±


    ¡°Harder to drink?¡± Tang Jie was astonished. ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be. It¡¯s still the same mix and still the same taste.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean!¡± She jumped up and down on Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s not that it tastes bad. It¡¯s just hard¡­ hard¡­ just¡­ drinking it¡­ is very difficult!¡±


    Yiyi gestured with her hands and feet, trying to exin what she meant.


    Tang Jie finally got it. Recently, little Yiyi had been finding it harder and harder to drink his blood, needing a long time to suck out only a little.


    In shock, Tang Jie looked down at his hand. The skin was like smooth white jade, not at all like the hand of aborer, and finally gleamed with spiritual light. Tang Jie bit down on his hand, but he found that he couldn¡¯t break the skin. Biting down harder, he finally managed to draw a bead of blood, but it oozed back and forth across his fingertip, refusing to drop down.


    ¡°My blood¡¯s practically like paste!¡± Tang Jie yelped in surprise.

 Chapter 45: The Heavenly Dao Stele

    The Sageheart Kingdom epassed an area of five million square kilometers. It was long from north to south and narrow from east to west, and it essentially covered the entire eastern part of the Rosecloud Continent. The shape of the kingdom seemed rather like a woman being pressed up against a corner.


    Canglong Prefecture was located at the sole of the woman, and Wanquan City was located at the woman¡¯s chest. From the sole, reaching the chest in the north required traveling through seven provinces and thirty-some cities¡ªa distance of two-thousand-some kilometers and three months.


    Over this long journey, the beautiful natural scenery was the only means of dispelling loneliness.


    This was Wei Tianchong¡¯s and Shi Meng¡¯s first time traveling far away from home, so they were brimming with excitement and would go off to y around at every stop. Thedy understood her son¡¯s temperament, so she had arranged for them to start their journey early so that he would have plenty of time to y.


    Tang Jie spent most of the time reading in the carriage.


    He read a lot of books. There was ¡°Treatise on Human Order¡±, which discussed humanity¡¯s rtionship to the Great Dao, and there was ¡°Anthology on Enlightenment¡±, a collection of essays. He also read travel guidebooks like ¡°Zhang Zimo¡¯s Sageheart Travel Guide¡±, and also stories about Immortal warriors, such as ¡°Records of Sword Immortals¡±. In his luggage, besides his clothes and those two potted nts, what took up the most space was books.


    Today, Tang Jie was reading a book when his carriage came to a swaying halt.


    Raising the curtain, Tang Jie saw that a forty-some-year-old man was walking over.


    ¡°Steward Zhang, is something wrong?¡± Tang Jie shouted.


    Steward Zhang¡¯s name was Zhang Yuan, and he was one of the outer branch stewards of the Wei Estate. He was primarily responsible for the Wei n¡¯s trade caravans, and spent most of the year traveling around. He had abundant experience, and to ensure that the journey was safe, Zheng Shufeng had tasked him with supervising the third young master¡¯s journey to school. Thus, the majority of the matters concerning the convoy were handled by him.


    ¡°What else could it be?¡± Steward Zhang sighed in exasperation. ¡°Tang Jie, you have to go and talk with the third young master. We¡¯ve barely made any progress, having to stop three times a day. If he¡¯s not saying that he¡¯s feeling suffocated and needs to go out for a walk, he¡¯s saying that he finds the scenery nice and wants to take a look around, or that he¡¯s heard about some restaurant and wants to eat. We just arrived at Little Bright Lake, and the young master heard that the scenery was good and that a gifted schr from ancient times left behind some calligraphy, so he said that he wanted to appreciate the calligraphy of past worthies and also go boating on theke. Thedy gave me ten days of extra time, but if this keeps up, not even twenty extra days will be enough. We might not even reach Wanquan City by autumn at this rate!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°So why did you even bring up Little Bright Lake in front of him? You know his personality. The moment you speak about eating or ying with him, he has to take part.¡±


    Steward Zhang bitterly replied, ¡°Why would I ever bring it up with him? But he has eyes and ears of his own, and I can¡¯t stop him from gathering his own information. Just go and talk with the young master. He listens to you!¡±


    Ever since the Shi Mo incident, after Wei Tianchong learned that Tang Jie had saved him, he had been much more polite to Tang Jie, and when he learned that his mother had given Tang Jie the n discipline stick, he became even more unwilling to provoke Tang Jie. This was also why he had mostly called on Shi Meng to attend to him during this journey.


    Tang Jie considered Steward Zhang¡¯s pleas and asked, ¡°Where is he now?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s right up ahead in the pavilion, appreciating the calligraphy left on the Heavenly Dao Stele by Zhang Shuhan. But he probably doesn¡¯t even know who Zhang Shuhan is, so what can he appreciate!?¡± Zhang Yuan dropped his head and sighed.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go and find him¡­ I think it¡¯s time I talked with him anyway.¡±


    In an eight-sided pavilion next to Little Bright Lake, Wei Tianchong was standing in front of arge stone stele that stood more than ten feet high.


    Wei Tianchong was clearly much more mature, his height almost that of an adult. He was wearing a silk schr¡¯s robe, an elegant hairpin tied up in his hair and a folding fan made by Treasured Celebration Store in his hand. Though he was a little on the plump side, he still had a rather attractive figure.


    At this time, he was looking at the threerge words carved into the stele:


    Beneath the three words, eight more words had been written: Ⱥа±ÙÒ×£¬Íò¶ñ¸©Ê× (All heresy easily refuted, all evils bowing their heads).


    Wei Tianchong carefully examined these words and nodded. ¡°Excellent calligraphy, and excellent words: ¡®All heresy easily refuted, all evils bowing their heads.¡¯ Shi Meng, look at the majestic style of this calligraphy, the brush strokes like flying dragons. Truly, excellent writing and excellent words!¡±


    Compared to before, Wei Tianchong was much more eloquent when he spoke.


    ¡°Of course. Zhang Shuhan was a master calligrapher of his generation. Little Bright Lake owes half of its fame to the calligraphy of this Heavenly Dao Stele. Every year, numerous schrs and literatie to visit. As we are passing by, it would truly be a great pity if we didn¡¯te to visit it,¡± Shi Mengmented.


    Tang Jie happened toe over at this time. He smiled and shook his head, and as he entered the pavilion, he said, ¡°While Zhang Shuhan was a master calligrapher of his generation, Third Young Master speaks incorrectly when he says that these words were written with brush strokes akin to flying dragons.¡±


    ¡°Eh? What do you mean?¡± Wei Tianchong was confused.


    Tang Jie stood next to Wei Tianchong and nced at the Heavenly Dao Stele. When he saw the eight words written upon it, he sighed. ¡°Young Master, do you know what sort of person Zhang Shuhan was?¡±


    Wei Tianchong answered, ¡°Wasn¡¯t he a former assistant minister and a schr of the Hanlin Academy?¡±


    ¡°So Young Master actually knows a little,¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    ¡°Tsk, do you really take me for aplete ipetent?¡± Wei Tianchong said, raising his nose.


    Wei Tianchong had matured with age, and at the age of sixteen, he was much more knowledgeable. At the very least, he would notmit the mistakes of the past.


    ¡°Then does Young Master know what Zhang Shuhan went to doter on? And why he wrote this Heavenly Dao Stele? And do you know why it is called the Heavenly Dao Stele?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    Wei Tianchong opened his mouth, but after a long while, all he could manage to say was, ¡°The book didn¡¯t say.¡±


    Tang Jie burst intoughter.


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s face reddened in shame. ¡°If you know, say it already.¡±


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°Zhang Shuhan went to cultivate Immortality.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng both gasped in surprise.


    ¡°Yes, Zhang Shuhan went to cultivate Immortality!¡± Tang Jie repeated. ¡°Back then, Zhang Shuhan had be an official because he believed that while martial might could keep the other countries pacified, civil officials were required to bring health and prosperity to the people. But after starting his official career and spending twenty years in officialdom, experiencing various ups and downs and seeing all that the human world had, he finally realized that having civil officials ruling the country was nothing but a fantasy. In the end, he resolved to resign from his post and enter the Immortal gate¡­ At that time, he was more than fifty years old.¡±


    ¡°An old man still cultivating Immortality? Isn¡¯t it said that the young have the best constitution and that it¡¯s difficult to get results in one¡¯s twilight years?¡± Shi Meng asked in shock.


    ¡°Yes, but he did it anyway. Not only that, he obtained extraordinary results in cultivation. Do you know what level he ultimately managed to reach?¡±


    ¡°What level?¡± the two asked in unison.


    ¡°Celestial Sovereign!¡± Tang Jie dered.


    This caused both Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng to shout in unison, ¡°A Dao-controlling Celestial Sovereign?¡±


    Celestial Sovereigns were even more terrifying existences than Violet Pce True Lords. It was a stage between the Violet Pce Realm and the Immortal tform Realm, and from a certain perspective, they were even more rare than those of the Immortal tform Realm.


    This was because being a Celestial Sovereign had nothing to do with one¡¯s cultivation realm. Only by mastering a Dao could one be called a sovereign.


    A Celestial Sovereign wasparable to an Immortal tform cultivator in some ways.


    ¡°He did not control the Dao, only entered the Dao! Cultivators have their own divisions when ites to understanding the Dao:prehending the Dao, entering the Dao, and controlling the Dao. Each one is different,¡± Tang Jie solemnly corrected. ¡°Defining a Celestial Sovereign as one who controls the Dao is only terminology used by ignorant mortals. In truth, one only needs toprehend the Dao to a certain extent to be called a Celestial Sovereign. We¡¯re going to be students at Basking Moon Academy in the future, so as people in the field, it is best if we do not repeat this mistake.¡±


    ¡°Then what does it mean to control the Dao?¡± Wei Tianchong curiously asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know either. To tell the truth, I¡¯m not even sure about the difference betweenprehending, entering, and controlling the Dao. I¡¯ve heard that there are other levels beyond these three, but I have no idea what they are or how many there are,¡± Tang Jie answered.


    When Xu Muyang had been telling him about the cultivation world, he had told him that the Dao was the highest pursuit of all cultivators, but let alone Tang Jie, not even Xu Muyang really knew what the Dao was. He only knew that controlling the Dao was the highest realm of the Dao, but he had never learned how to control the Dao or how many people could control the Dao, nor had he ever seen or heard anyone controlling the Dao.


    ¡°Even though Zhang Shuhan couldn¡¯t control the Great Dao, he definitely reached the Dao-entering level. In his early years, he gained fame for his calligraphy, and after he began cultivating, he entered the Dao through his calligraphy. His formidable Eight Arts for Executing Evil caused all the devils of the world to lower their heads and back away. Do you know what the Eight Arts for Executing Evil were?¡±


    Wei Tianchong turned to the eight words on the Heavenly Dao Stele. ¡°It couldn¡¯t be those eight words there, could it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, ¡®All heresy easily refuted, all evils bowing their heads¡¯,¡± Tang Jie firmly dered. ¡°Whenever Zhang Shuhan faced an enemy, he only needed to write these eight words, and all evil, no matter how numerous, would be exterminated. It was an art of limitless power, but s, his attempt to enter the Immortal tform failed, and he died. If he hadn¡¯t died, do you really think you would be able to call Zhang Shuhan by his name? You would be calling him ¡®the Evil-Executing Celestial Sovereign¡¯, or ¡®Celestial Sovereign Zhang¡¯!¡±


    ¡°But who could kill him? Not even a Titan of the Immortal tform would be able to kill him, right?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. He pointed at the stele with his chin. ¡°Who do you think it could be?¡±


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng nced at each other and blurted out, ¡°The Heavenly Dao?¡±


    ¡°Correct! The Heavenly Dao! The Heavenly Dao is heartless. In Zhang Shuhan¡¯s era, the Immortal factions were vying for supremacy. It was an era of constant war, and the people lived in constant misery. Zhang Shuhan wished to save the world, but he was helpless against the heavens. He raised his brush and wrote out these words criticizing the Heavenly Dao, futilely attempting to make the Heavenly Dao the head of all evils so that he could execute it, and destroy the Heavenly Dao to rescue humanity. It goes without saying what his end was.¡±


    One man attempting to execute the heavens was really one man trying to challenge the world, and this world was not the Rosecloud Domain, but the Great Ster Chiliocosm!


    Although Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng found it impossible to imagine such a battle, they still stared at Zhang Shuhan¡¯s calligraphy in shock.


    This was like an ant trying to hack at an elephant!


    ¡°Then this Heavenly Dao Stele¡­¡± Shi Meng said.


    ¡°This Heavenly Dao Stele is said to be the work of calligraphy that Zhang Shuhan futilely attempted to imbue with his Eight Arts of Executing Evil to suppress the Heavenly Dao, and you see the result. The Heavenly Dao reigns above while the Eight Arts are below¡­ It was the Eight Arts of Executing Evil that ended up being suppressed by the Heavenly Dao. Even so, the essence of Zhang Shuhan¡¯s calligraphy and Dao still remain in this Heavenly Dao Stele, causing countless people to visit and get rubbings of them, some of them even trying to use these words toprehend the Dao. Don¡¯t just look at the Heavenly Dao Stele on the surface. Its foundation is actually deeply rooted, and it is impossible to break or move. Countless people once fought against each other in the hopes of seizing the Heavenly Dao Stele for themselves, which ended up making the surrounding area into a blessednd. Butter on, people realized that trying toprehend the Dao through the Heavenly Dao Stele was too difficult, and it was anyway impossible to monopolize it. Thus, people gradually put an end to such ideas and allowed the stele to remain here for the fortunate. Thus, every year, many Immortalse to admire the stele, and many ignorant mortals attempt to imitate them. Gradually, this valuable Immortal treasure became a scenic spot frequented by tourists and literati. Themon people only know of Zhang Shuhan, and not of the Evil-Executing Celestial Sovereign.¡±


    Tang Jie softly chortled. ¡°In hister days, Zhang Shuhan¡¯s writing stopped pursuing the art of calligraphy, instead emphasizing righteousness and the execution and subjugation of all evils. His brushstrokes were brimming with power, and just a single nce is enough to shake the soul. Thus, his words are resounding with strength and power. Rather than mellow and gentle, they exude a murderous aura. Third Young Master described the brushstroke like flying dragons, but using mortal calligraphy to describe the calligraphy of an Immortal is lowering Zhang Shuhan. You have to realize that even if there was a true dragon, it would still have to bow its head to Zhang Shuhan. If he were still alive, he definitely would not appreciate this evaluation.¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s face went red. ¡°How could I know about all this? I just thought that the words were pretty¡­¡±


    Tang Jie casually said, ¡°Calligraphy, cultural relics, historical sites¡ªyou have to understand history to actually appreciate these things. Taking this Heavenly Dao Stele as an example, if you didn¡¯t understand its history and only looked at the stele, you wouldn¡¯t understand its meaning. If you don¡¯t understand its meaning, then this Heavenly Dao Stele is nothing more than a stone stele upon which someone wrote words, and there¡¯s little point in looking at it. Once you understand its history, when you see those words, you will think about that peerless hero hastily writing with his brush, radiating power and glory. You could imagine his rage and his audacity in challenging the heavens, and you can imagine his tragic death¡­ You can feel his emotions, feel his helplessness, feel his n. When you stand here, before this stele, you are transported back into the past, bearing witness to that point in history¡­¡±


    As Tang Jie softly spoke, he looked at the Heavenly Dao Stele. The image of Zhang Shuhan writing his Eight Arts of Executing Evil down to suppress the Heavenly Dao emerged before his eyes. He felt like he could see the eight words, ¡°ÈºÐ°±ÙÒ×£¬Íò¶ñ¸©Êס±, erupting with the most resplendent light in the sky above the stele, carrying endless killing intent and anger as they charged up to the heavens.


    And then he saw the clouds split open and a giantw wheel manifest, slowly turning and radiating a dazzling divine light.


    The eight words were puny before the divine light of the heavens, and with a boom, they were suppressed and disintegrated. At the same time, a person standing on the horizon also dissolved into nothing. ¡°Agh!¡± Tang Jie shouted as he staggered back, blood almost ejecting out of his mouth as his face turned ghastly pale.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted, scared out of his wits.


    When he looked at Tang Jie, he saw a brief sh of divine light in his eyes. Tang Jie stared hard at the Heavenly Dao Stele and softly muttered, ¡°The Heavenly Dao Law Wheel!¡±

 Chapter 46: Disciple Rules

    Inside the eight-sided pavilion next to Little Bright Lake, Tang Jie wiped the blood from the corner of his lips. ¡°I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s just that I recklessly attempted to experience that ancient battle and was struck by the Dao Will inside the stele, which injured me. I really didn¡¯t think that the Dao Will in the Heavenly Dao Stele would still be so vicious after one thousand years.¡±


    Wei Tianchong looked at him in disbelief. ¡°You mentioned some Heavenly Dao Law Wheel just now. You couldn¡¯t have alreadyprehended the Dao, right?¡±


    Tang Jie burst out inughter. ¡°Comprehend the Dao? Comprehend the Dao? You actually have toprehend something to be considered asprehending the Dao. Young Master, does it look like Iprehended anything?¡±


    Wei Tianchong scratched his head. ¡°That¡¯s true, and you don¡¯t seem to have changed. Besides, the cultivation world has spells, arts, divine connections, and Daos. Since Daos are the highest level, you should have to go up step by step. How could it be possible to enter the Dao before even training in Immortal arts?¡±


    There was nothing wrong about what he had said. The Dao couldn¡¯t beprehended at the drop of a hat. Without the appropriate strength, trying toprehend the Dao was like being an elementary school student trying to watch international news. They could understand all the words, but they didn¡¯t understand the meaning.


    What he didn¡¯t know was that Tang Jie wasn¡¯tprehending the Dao, but observing the Dao.


    The Heavenly Dao was ever-changing. Mortals normally weren¡¯t able to see it, and only on certain lucky asions could they glimpse the turning of the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel.


    Comprehending the Dao was like reading a book and learning characters, and observing the Dao could be considered like getting one¡¯s foot into the door. Only by observing the Dao could one proceed toprehending the Dao, and there were no conditions to getting one¡¯s foot into the door.


    Tang Jie had inadvertently glimpsed the turning of the Heavenly Dao, and though it had only been a brief glimpse, it had left a deep mark on his heart. At that moment, he at least knew what the Heavenly Dao was and had a most directly perceived impression of it. This impression wasn¡¯t something that could be described or imagined through the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel. It was a sensation that was buried deeply in the mind, which could only be felt and not described. Trying to talk about it would only result in gobbledygook!


    With this experience, when he arrived at the right realm of cultivation, he could begin toprehend the Dao.


    He still didn¡¯t know what sort of use this had for him, but he knew that this was a lucky encounter where he had been able to momentarily interact with the Great Dao of Immortals.


    s, when he looked at the Heavenly Dao Stele again, he no longer felt that soul-shaking experience. He knew that he had been given only one chance, and when it was gone, it was gone. Regret welled up in his heart.


    ¡°By the way, how do you know all this?¡± Wei Tianchong changed the topic.


    Tang Jie had been waiting for this. He smiled at the question and said, ¡°If you read a lot of books, you¡¯ll naturally understand as well.¡±


    He waved around a booklet in his hand.


    Wei Tianchong could tell that the booklet Tang Jie was holding was ¡°Disciple Rules¡±, so he couldn¡¯t help but shake his head. ¡°This sort of thing isn¡¯t fun to read.¡±


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°Young Master, you misunderstand. These aren¡¯t just any disciple rules I have here, but the disciple rules for Basking Moon Academy. Written here are all the rules you have to follow once you enter the academy. I specifically requested thedy to have the first young master send over a copy several days ago.¡±


    ¡°My mom helped you buy this book?¡± Wei Tianchong¡¯s curiosity was aroused. ¡°Won¡¯t we learn all this once we get to the school? Why buy it when we¡¯re still so far away? And why have my big brother buy it for you?¡±


    ¡°Only when you know the rules can you avoid overstepping them. Third Young Master, you must not underestimate the rules of Basking Moon Academy. This is very important. While there aren¡¯t a lot of rules, you have to understand every line. It¡¯s only a thousand-some words, but you have to carefully pore over them and think over each line again and again. In thest few days, I¡¯ve read each rule more than a hundred times and can recite them back to front. If I had to wait until we got to school to understand them, I wouldn¡¯t have the time to research them this thoroughly.¡±


    ¡°But what¡¯s the point?¡± It was Shi Meng who was confused this time. Wasn¡¯t it just the school rules? This much attention didn¡¯t seem necessary.


    Tang Jie chuckled and seated himself on a long bench on one side of the pavilion. As he looked out to Little Bright Lake, he said, ¡°Young Master, did you know that when a new student enters the academy, he gets one hundred points? These one hundred points are a representation of our behavior in school. The slightest error will have the Immortal masters of the school deduct points. Once you¡¯ve lost all one hundred points, you¡¯re expelled. Even if you¡¯re a peerless genius with a nine-cycle Jade Gate, you¡¯re still no exception. Thus, you can¡¯t rx once you get into school. If you don¡¯t do well, you¡¯ll be driven out and have wasted a spot. Now, Young Master, tell me: are these rules important or not?¡±


    Wei Tianchong was scared out of his wits. ¡°No one told me about this! How do you know?¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯ve read the disciple rules.¡±


    ¡°Then it¡¯s something you only found outter. Why would you think about reading the disciple rules in the first ce?¡± Wei Tianchong was confused, unable to connect the cause to the effect.


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°Because even if I didn¡¯t know about the one-hundred-points rule, I would still pay close attention to the rules of Basking Moon Academy! When you go to a new ce, you have to understand the rules of that ce. For example, as your servants, don¡¯t we need to understand the rules of servants so that we can do our job?¡±


    Wei Tianchong awkwardlyughed. ¡°It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t get it, but I¡¯ve heard that the cultivation world is a ruthless ce where the strong eat the weak, with the person with the strongest fist setting the rules, so the rules aren¡¯t that important.¡±


    Tang Jie heartilyughed as he thought to himself, <em>Of course it¡¯s a world where the strong eat the weak. You think that your tying me up on a tree and giving me a good whipping wasn¡¯t the strong eating the weak? Wasn¡¯t Shi Mo¡¯s death the strong eating the weak? Is it only when they shout ¡®those who resist shall perish¡¯ that the strong eat the weak?</em>


    But all he said was, ¡°The cultivation world truly is a ce of cruelpetition, and it¡¯smonce for people to fight with their lives on the line. But that also depends on the situation. In truth, there are two kinds of cruelpetition. One kind is the conflicts of troubled times. You could say that bare fists truly are king in those times. ughter and fighting are rampant, and that¡¯s when the person with the strongest fists can call himself king. But the other kind is the conflicts of the civilized world. It¡¯s cruel at its essence, but on the surface, everyone is polite to each other.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Currently in the Rosecloud Domain, the six major sects rule the world, a civilized world. In this civilized world, no matter how cruel you are on the inside, you have to be gentle and mild on the outside. Even when you kill, you have to say that you¡¯re sending them on their way. That¡¯s what it means to be cultured. Thus, the strong eating the weak and fists making the rules are real things, but they flow beneath the surface, and it¡¯s probably only those small sects that take them as the standard. The Basking Moon Sect would never permit such things to be let out into the open.¡±


    ¡°So why is it that the small sects practice such things while the Basking Moon Sect doesn¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°Because the Basking Moon Sect is the ruling party¡­ mm, I mean ¡®the sect in power¡¯. For major parties, rules are the basic measures that they use to manage the world. Without established standards, management bes impossible. Only those out-of-power¡­ those powerless minor sects would think every day about how to topple the rules, because for them, only when the rules are overturned do they have a chance. Thus, it is not for no reason that major sects are conservative while minor sects are progressive. Of course, what they¡¯re progressing to is another matter entirely, so long as they¡¯re not the same as the original sect. Major sects emphasize the rules, so minor sects naturally have to be all about the strong eating the weak, the victor being the king. If the major sects emphasized ¡®might makes right¡¯, more than half of those minor sects would be people-oriented and focus on statecraft to rule the world. To overturn the political power, one must overturn the school of thought. So long as the school of thought changes, so will the direction of the fist¡­ No matter the era or the world, this point has never changed,¡± Tang Jie lectured.


    ¡°As for the Basking Moon Sect, it stands at the apex of Sageheart and it sets the rules that control the world. To break itsws is to affect the welfare of the Basking Moon Sect, to offend the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s authority, to challenge the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s status. Thus, while the Basking Moon Sect values geniuses, it values the rules even more. Young Master, if you think that someone with overflowing talent can ignore the academy¡¯s rules, then you are gravely mistaken. Many geniuses had too high of an opinion of themselves and ignored the rules, causing them to be expelled from Basking Moon Academy.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled at this. ¡°Right, in Basking Moon Academy, there is a rule that says that if you don¡¯t arrive at campus on time, you¡¯re deducted ten points for each extra day. If you¡¯rete by ten days¡­ haha, then you should go back the way you came! It doesn¡¯t matter how you try to exin yourself!¡±


    Wei Tianchong paled. He finally understood why Tang Jie had brought all this up in front of him.


    If his ying around and sightseeing caused them to bete, then he would be expelled before he even got to school. If his mother found out that her son was the first person to be expelled this year, he would probably be beaten to death!


    This thought made Wei Tianchong¡¯s blood run cold.


    He scratched his head and said, ¡°Alright, I get it. Starting from today, we¡¯ll just keep to the schedule. I won¡¯t bete.¡±


    ¡°Young Master is wise as always,¡± Tang Jie replied with a chuckle.


    Wei Tianchong resentfully said, ¡°So from what you¡¯ve said, so long as my points aren¡¯t all deducted, I can be a disciple of Basking Moon?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°Basking Moon Academy epts 1500 students every year, but does Young Master know how many of them actually manage to get into the Basking Moon Sect?¡±


    ¡°One thousand?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head.


    ¡°Five hundred, then?¡±


    Tang Jie still shook his head.


    ¡°It can¡¯t be one hundred, right?¡± Wei Tianchong¡¯s heart went cold.


    Only one hundred getting into the sect out of 1500 was a 1-in-15 chance, which seemed a little too small.


    Tang Jie chortled. ¡°Ten.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Wei Tianchong¡¯s and Shi Meng¡¯s chins almost dropped off.


    Tang Jie added, ¡°Ten at most! Better to have nothing than ept mediocrity!¡±


    ¡°How could it be this few?¡± Wei Tianchong was stunned.


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°The students of Basking Moon Academy can be divided into five categories. The worst are those who are expelled because all of their points were deducted. Because they were expelled, these people are not allowed to call themselves students of Basking Moon Academy, so they are called ¡®forsaken students¡¯, students who have been abandoned. Every year, there will be one to two hundred of this kind of student. From this, we can see that it¡¯s not that easy to keep the rules of Basking Moon Academy.


    ¡°The second category consists of students who are able to preserve their point total but fail to reach the Mortal Shedding Realm. They are called ¡®donation students¡¯, because they¡¯ve essentially paid money to spend some time at school and then leave, so people tease them by saying that they¡¯ve made a donation. There are more of these people whock the aptitude to reach the Mortal Shedding Realm, several hundred every year. This also means that donation students and forsaken students take up at least half of every ss.


    ¡°The third category naturally consists of people who are able to maintain their point total and enter the Mortal Shedding Realm. At this point, Basking Moon Academy will acknowledge them as students, but they are only students. It¡¯s just like how when a teacher lectures in ss, he will only teach, and there is no teacher-student rtionship. In addition, we¡¯re also known as students when we first enter. Whether we go up or go down will depend on how we perform.


    ¡°The fourth category consists of the outstanding individuals chosen from the third category, the elites. The Basking Moon Sect acknowledges their status and allows them into the outer sect. Thus, they are called ¡®outer disciples¡¯ or ¡®outstanding students¡¯. There are about one hundred of this sort of student every year. In this category, you can barely be considered a Basking Moon disciple.


    ¡°The fifth category is the top ten most outstanding members of the outer disciples. They are allowed into the Basking Moon Sect and are taught the supreme Immortal arts. These are the real Basking Moon disciples, the inner sect.


    ¡°Besides these five categories, there is one more category. All of the inner sect disciples of a certain age are gathered together and selected from. The number of this category isn¡¯t fixed, nor is the time of selection, and those selected are the best of the best, one in ten thousand, the people who have the chance to be the inheriting disciples of Violet Pce True Lords or the Great Powers of the Immortal tform. These are called True Inheritors, and they don¡¯t belong to any of the five categories.


    ¡°Forsaken students, donation students, students, outer disciples, and disciples are the five categories of students at Basking Moon Academy. When you meet someone, you can tell from what they call themselves what sort of person they are. Of course, you can¡¯t hope that forsaken students or donation students will call themselves such. Moreover, different categories will receive different treatments. Young Master, if you hope to achieve sess, you can¡¯t be careless.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was left wide-eyed and ck-jawed by all that he had heard. ¡°Why do I feel like this is even moreplicated and difficult than selecting servant students?¡±


    <em>So you also know that being selected as a servant student is difficult? </em>Tang Jie mentally grumbled, but he still spoke with a smile. ¡°Naturally. Basking Moon Academy has never been a ce where you can rest easy once you get in. Many people think that just getting into an academy is walking through the Immortal gate, but they are gravely mistaken. The road after that is still long.¡±


    Entering the school was only obtaining the right to enter the Immortal gate.


    If a True Inheritor was the champion, disciples were the top ten and outer disciples were the top forty. Students reached the semifinals, donation students only reached the preliminaries, and school entry was just an open audition.


    As for forsaken students, they had essentially broken the rules and been disqualified.


    The path of Immortality was long, and the Immortal gate was difficult to open. Simply passing through the gate required going through many checkpoints and felling their guardians. How could it be so easy as just walking through?


    The thought of only 10 out of 1500 bing disciples had Wei Tianchong trembling. He shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t have much hope in myself. I think I should try for the level of outer disciple, but even outer disciples are restricted to one hundred. Do you think that if I got to the student level, my mom won¡¯t scold me? At least the academy will have acknowledged me as a student.¡±


    His only goal was to live up to his mother¡¯s hopes so that he wouldn¡¯t be beaten. As for the fact that his mother wouldn¡¯t even be able to beat him once he became an Immortal, he had never even thought about it.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Thedy¡¯s hopes for Young Master are truly only to the student level. To enter as a student and leave as a student is enough. But¡­¡±


    His voice trailed off, and Wei Tianchong shivered. ¡°¡®But¡¯ what?¡±


    ¡°But I gave my Heart Demon Aspiration to the master anddy. If Young Master does not shed mortality, Tang Jie will not shed his status as servant. If Young Master does not reach Celestial Heart, Tang Jie will not leave the n register. A mere student is still far away from Celestial Heart!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Wei Tianchong jumped and pointed at Tang Jie. ¡°You¡­ you¡­ you¡­ you want me to be an outer disciple?¡±


    ¡°While reaching the status of outer disciple increases your chance of reaching Celestial Heart by a lot, it¡¯s still not safe enough¡­ Thus, rather than an outer disciple, I want Young Master to be a formal inner sect disciple, to be in the top ten!¡± Tang Jie sternly said.


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s eyes rolled over, and he almost fainted.


    This fellow wanted him to be one of those 1-in-150 elites? Was he joking?


    Wei Tianchong was a rather proud child, but no matter how proud he was, with his four-cycle Jade Gate, he wasn¡¯t so arrogant as to believe that he could be first among one thousand. Tang Jie¡¯s words had his body shivering in fear, and he shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it! I have no interest in being one of the top ten disciples.¡±


    ¡°Right, right!¡± Shi Meng shouted. ¡°Living up to thedy¡¯s expectations, but not up to Tang Jie¡¯s? What sort of absurd world is that? The young master is the young master, while you are the servant. What makes it so that you can demand the young master to be one of the top ten disciples?¡±


    Tang Jie spread apart his hands. ¡°Why so agitated? You talk as if I¡¯m hurting the young master, but isn¡¯t this for his own good? Entering the ranks of the top ten disciples is something that countless people would be willing to crack their heads open for.¡±


    ¡°You talk well, but you want to make the young master a disciple? Then first, let¡¯s see if you have the ability to be a disciple, yes?¡± Shi Meng shouted.


    Wei Tianchong seemed to wake up from a dream at these words. ¡°Right, right. Tang Jie, first worry about yourself. Once you have the ability to be a disciple, you can think about me. If you can be a True Inheritor, I can enter the inner sect!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I don¡¯t have any confidence in bing a True Inheritor, but for me, bing a formal inner sect disciple isn¡¯t difficult¡­ Getting into the Basking Moon Sect is an easy task for me.¡±


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng nced at each other, and then they raised their heads andughed so hard that they rocked back and forth.


    ¡°Keep boasting!¡± Wei Tianchongughed. ¡°If it¡¯s that easy to get into the Basking Moon Sect, then why did youe to my n? Couldn¡¯t you have just gone over to Basking Moon Academy? Shi Meng, let¡¯s go. Don¡¯t waste any more time talking with him.¡±


    He went back to the carriage. Regardless, losing points for beingte was noughing matter, so it was best that they got on their way.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. You think that believing in yourself is enough to get in? You boast too much!¡± With these words, Shi Meng followed Wei Tianchong.


    Looking at Little Bright Lake, Tang Jie smiled.


    He softly muttered, ¡°Why¡­ Because I¡¯m Tang Jie. That¡¯s why!¡±

 Chapter 47: The Student Forest

    With Tang Jie¡¯s reminder about the rules, Wei Tianchong no longer wasted time sightseeing. The convoy¡¯s speed picked up, and as it was protected by a Spirit Master, after an arduous journey, they finally arrived safely at the capital of the Sageheart Kingdom, Wanquan City.


    As the kingdom¡¯s capital, Wanquan City was overflowing with grandeur that Canglong Prefecture simply couldn¡¯tpare to. The city was prosperous and thriving, the roads wide enough for eight carriages to run abreast. The buildings on both sides were richly ornamented, and exuded a luxurious air. Even many of the pedestrians wore silk brocade and carried themselves in an impressive manner.


    The carriage rolled smoothly across the stone paving. At almost every intersection was a fountain, each one in a different form.


    It was said that there was a river running beneath Wanquan City, so there were many spring sources throughout the city. Some bored person once tried to count them all, but they reached three thousand and still weren¡¯t done. Thus, it came to be known as Wanquan City (Ten Thousand Springs City).


    Wanquan City was divided into an inner and outer city. The inner city was the imperial pce of the Sageheart Kingdom. While the Immortal sects reigned supreme, the imperial n served as the mortal representatives of the Immortals, and so the imperial city had its unique dignity and status.


    On the eastern outskirts of the outer city were the Clear Sky Mountains, and the illustrious Basking Moon Academy was situated on Rising Star Peak of the Clear Sky Mountains. But unlike most mountains, this was not a natural mountain range. Rather, a Great Power of the Basking Moon Sect had used their supreme Immortal arts to raise it from the earth. This was why the mountains were called Clear Sky and the peak was called Rising Star¡ªit was hoped that the rising stars of the cultivation world would have a smooth path to the heavens.


    The carriages made their way toward the Clear Sky Mountains. After passing through Wanquan City, they arrived at the foot of the Clear Sky Mountains. There was ake at the foot of the mountains that circled around them like a jade belt. It was called Jade Belt Lake, and it had also been created by that Great Power of the Basking Moon Sect. All of the Clear Sky Mountains were circled by Jade Belt Lake, and it was said that thiske was popted with man-eating monsters so that no boats except the Immortal ferries could cross it.


    In other words, the Clear Sky Mountains were actually Basking Moon Academy. Once one was inside Basking Moon Academy, one would need approval from the academy to leave.


    At the foot of the mountains, one could seerge numbers of houses built up along theke. This was the famous ¡°Student Forest¡±, the residences for the students of Basking Moon Academy for when they lived outside of the academy.


    The rules of Basking Moon Academy stated that students were not permitted to bring servants, but so their scions would not suffer, the various great ns would always find loopholes in the rules.


    You don¡¯t permit servants? Then I¡¯ll bring servant students. You can¡¯t say anything if fellow students decide to help each other.


    And the rules of the academy are only in force within the academy. That being the case, I¡¯ll build a house outside the academy for my servants. ording to the rules of the academy, students were allowed to leave the school for one day a month. If there was anything that needed to be done, they coulde here to get their servants to handle the problem¡ªthe servant students were only responsible for addressing problems within the academy, and other things were handled by people on the outside.


    Thus, man¡¯s cunning was limitless. ¡°No matter how you try to restrain me, I¡¯ll always find a loophole.¡±


    This was how the Student Forest was born.


    The Wei n had also bought a house in the Student Forest, but it was jointly owned by the two older brothers of the Wei n. In any case, they only went out once a month, so this house was enough.


    When the convoy arrived, the resident boy servant from the Wei n was waiting there for them.


    Wei Tianchong got off his carriage, and as he looked at the house, he frowned. ¡°Isn¡¯t this a little too small?¡±


    This house was a square of four rooms arranged around a courtyard, simr to the courtyard houses of Beijing. In terms of area, it was much, much smaller than the Meditation Garden. The three young masters each lived in one of the rooms, while the servants lived in thest one.


    Wei Tianchong had never lived in such a small room back in the Wei n.


    The boy servant was called Lin Mao. When he heard Wei Tianchong¡¯s question, he chuckled. ¡°Young Master, while this house is small, you have no idea how much it cost.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was taken aback. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that this house was very expensive?¡±


    The boy servant raised three fingers.


    ¡°Three thousand taels?¡± Wei Tianchong asked in confusion, thinking to himself, <em>This is rather pricey. No wonder Mom wasn¡¯t willing to buy a bigger one.</em>


    ¡°It¡¯s thirty thousand!¡± the boy servant dered.


    ¡°What?¡± Wei Tianchong barely stopped himself from jumping. ¡°Is this extortion? A little house like this is thirty thousand taels?¡±


    Thirty thousand taels of silver was the equivalent of thirty million yuan!


    This house plus the courtyard was two hundred square meters at most, meaning that it cost one hundred and fifty thousand yuan per square meter!


    The most expensive houses in Canglong Prefecture would, at most, go for ten thousand yuan per square meter, which was why Wei Tianchong had considered three thousand taels to be rather expensive. The house by Windscreen Ford that Tang Jie had bought was a little bigger than this, and it had only cost one hundred and fifty taels. Even Tang Jie was shocked to find out that this little house cost thirty thousand.


    The boy servant smiled. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be done. After all, this is Basking Moon Academy, and most of the people are wealthy and respectable. This house isn¡¯t worth a lot of money, but there¡¯s no more freend in the surrounding area. Thus, the property values around Jade Belt Lake go up every year. This ce is considered rather cheap. There are locations with excellent views of theke and mountains that are hotly contested despite going for one hundred thousand taels.¡±


    One hundred thousand taels was one hundred million yuan!


    And this was mostly for students to stay in that house for one day a month, limiting the price increase. If the Basking Moon Sect had required all students to have a registered address in the Student Forest to be admitted, then the property values would have gone to the moon.


    The thought of one house selling for one hundred million yuan left Tang Jie with a throbbing headache. All he could manage to say was, ¡°School district housing!¡±


    The abundance of spiritual energy and the ability of Immortals to keep the weather favorable throughout the year meant that the Rosecloud Domain was rather productive, but themon people lived very average lives. It appeared that most of the wealth was gathered in thends of cultivators.


    ¡°This is too savage!¡± Even a wasteful scion like Wei Tianchong felt his heart ache from this price.


    The boy servant added, ¡°But this isn¡¯t without reason. Although the houses are expensive, if you seed in your studies, Young Master, it can be sold off. If Young Master can be an outer disciple, or even a disciple, this would be a blessednd. When the timees, the master and thedy could easily sell off this house for fifty thousand taels. Young Master, you have to understand that the most expensive house in the Student Forest isn¡¯t the one with the best view, but one which produced disciples. Thus, the master and thedy are making an investment here.¡±


    Truly, when anything became associated with something that constantly appreciated in value, its own value would never fall.


    Wei Tianchong asked, ¡°Then if I be a forsaken student?¡±


    The boy servant was so frightened that he started shivering. <em>How could the third young master be so unreasonable? He hasn¡¯t even entered school yet and is already thinking about getting expelled!</em> He chuckled nervously, but he didn¡¯t dare to answer.


    ¡°If you be a forsaken student, then this house probably won¡¯t even sell for ten thousand taels,¡± Tang Jie said with a smile. ¡°Thus, Third Young Master, your grades in school are directly linked to the Wei n¡¯s expenses of tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands, of silver taels. It would be terrible if you didn¡¯t diligently apply yourself to your studies.¡±


    ¡°Stop trying that on me. You want me to memorize the disciple rules again? I refuse!¡± Wei Tianchong brusquely replied.


    ¡°Memorizing the disciple rules is also good for you. If you¡¯re familiar with the rules, you¡¯ll make fewer mistakes and think more carefully about your actions. You don¡¯t want to get sent home because you didn¡¯t understand the rules and got your points deducted, right?¡± Tang Jie replied with a smile.


    Wei Tianchong twisted his head away. ¡°I still won¡¯t memorize it. Don¡¯t I have you for that? Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know that you¡¯re just trying to ck off. Once we get into school, you n to toss me aside, but you¡¯re also worried that I will get into trouble, so you¡¯re having me memorize the rules. Hmph, I¡¯m not falling for this bait.¡±


    ¡°Truly, those three years we spent together weren¡¯t wasted. The young master is understanding me more and more.¡± Tang Jie grinned back.


    ¡°Hmph, I knew it was like that,¡± Wei Tianchong smugly said. He pointed at Tang Jie and warned, ¡°Also, stop demanding that I make the top ten disciples or something like that. I have no interest.¡±


    ¡°This¡­ I really can¡¯t give up that easily. Even if I have to use a pnquin, I¡¯ll carry you up to that position,¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    ¡°Truly¡­ truly¡­ you terrify me!¡± Wei Tianchong was powerless, so he decided to just go straight to his room to get away from Tang Jie¡¯s pestering.


    The boy servant had never seen a servant speak to his master this way, and was momentarily dumbfounded. He looked back and forth between Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong, unable to make sense of what had happened.


    He asked Shi Meng, ¡°He¡¯s a servant student?¡±


    Shi Meng looked at him like he was an idiot. ¡°Of course. What? A servant can¡¯t joke around with his master? I suppose everything is new and strange to someone without experience.¡±


    With a shake of his hand, he walked away.


    As they had arrived early, they were able to rest in the house for a few days. In that time, Wei Die¡¯s older brother, Wei Ming, came to visit and see the third young master. On the other hand, Wei Tianchong¡¯s older brother, Wei Tianzhi, didn¡¯te. Apparently, he was participating in some school trial and was busy.


    This was a meeting of cousins, of schoolmates, so that night, wine was served in the courtyard, and they chatted all night. But when it came to the subject of school, Wei Ming was unwilling to speak, restraining himself to a few vaguements. Tang Jie had heard that he had a very open and frank personality. For such an open person to be so silent meant that he definitely wasn¡¯t having a good time.


    In the end, after drinking a little too much, Wei Ming grabbed Wei Tianchong¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Little Brother, heed my advice. Since you¡¯re here, work hard. Don¡¯t be as mischievous as before. This Basking Moon Academy isn¡¯t the Wei n, and trying to stand out here is hard!¡±


    Wei Tianchong was confused by his words, and he asked, ¡°Is someone bullying you?¡±


    ¡°Bullying?¡± Wei Ming burst intoughter. ¡°After entering Basking Moon Academy, who has the time to bully others? Perhaps if you¡¯ve advanced to the high levels, you might run into those unreasonable people, but right now¡­ you have to fight for the right to be bullied!¡±


    Wei Ming patted Wei Tianchong a few times and then swaggered off.


    Wei Ming¡¯s disy scared Wei Tianchong. He had never heard of fighting for the right to be bullied. He was so afraid that he tossed and turned in his bed all night, unable to sleep.


    On the morning of the third day, registration for the academy finally began.


    Walking out of the Student Forest and arriving at the Jade Belt Lake ferry, they saw a giant dragon-headed junk anchored at the dock.


    This junk was sorge that it seemed like it could carry nearly ten thousand people. It should have been impossible for it to sail such a shallowke, but there it stood, majestically docked at the pier. This was naturally the work of Immortal arts, and it was a truly gorgeous sight.


    Countless people packed the dock. Though there were only 1500 students, there were many more people present to send them off, ballooning the number to nearly ten thousand. These ten thousand people could be considered the gathering of the young elite and nobility of the Sageheart Kingdom. If one threw a brick into the crowd, one would strike some wealthy scion nine times out of ten, and the remaining one time would be some prince or princess. A misstep might be on the foot of some minister¡¯s son.


    But all of these talented and spoiled children didn¡¯t even dare to breathe too loudly in front of the gate to Basking Moon Academy. In front of this Immortal sect, all secr nobles did not dare to raise their heads. This alone could allow one to understand why everyone so desperately wanted to be an Immortal.


    Over the entrance to the ferry had been ced a sign that dered, ¡°All those sending off students, stop here!¡± Two people with moon-white robes and long swords slung across their backs stood next to the sign¡ªprobably students that Basking Moon Academy had sent to supervise the registration.


    Spotting the sign, Tang Jie grabbed the luggage and said, ¡°Come on; we have to go over by ourselves.¡±


    As he looked at the ferry entrance, Wei Tianchong recalled Wei Ming¡¯s behavior from the night before. Wei Tianchong, who had never left his home or his family before, suddenly shivered and blurted out, ¡°Entering through the academy gate is like entering the deep sea.¡±


    Turning back to the steward and servants who hade to send him off, his eyes began to moisten. ¡°Steward Zhang, thank you for sending us this far. When you get back, tell my mom that I miss her!¡±


    Steward Zhang was scared out of his wits. <em>When did this kid suddenly get a personality change and be so tactful? He even knew to apologize to me for the difficult time I had escorting him here.</em>


    Wei Tianchong said, ¡°I suddenly don¡¯t feel like going to school¡­¡±


    Steward Zhang stumbled so badly he almost fell over.


    Fortunately, this was just a moment of timidity from Wei Tianchong. He knew that giving up and going home wouldn¡¯t mean anything good for him. As Tang Jie pulled on him, he hardened up and walked forward.


    As there were a lot of students, everyone had to stand in line. Perhaps because they had all been informed ahead of time, few people tried to break the rules.


    It was inevitable for rich scions to have a little pride, but this didn¡¯t mean that they would act arrogant and unruly wherever they went. At least here, they knew that they couldn¡¯t get arrogant. Of course, it was hard to say how they would act in the future.


    As everyone waited quietly to board the ship, chiming bells rang out from the back.


    Everyone turned their heads and saw a carriage shing with golden light stop at the ferry entrance. Several golden-clothed young men got off the carriage. They said nothing, simply standing on the side and watching the crowd.


    ¡°Who are those people? Are they also students entering school? Why don¡¯t they stand in line?¡± someone whispered.


    ¡°Those are all seniors who have already entered school, so they naturally don¡¯t need to wait in line. They¡¯ve juste to maintain order.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense. The students of Basking Moon Academy all wear the same clothes, the moon-white robes. Why would they be wearing gold robes? And their ages don¡¯t match.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because those guys are different from other students. They¡¯re exchange students from Godhead Pce, so an exception was allowed for their entry. What¡¯s strange about them wearing the traditional clothes of Godhead Pce?¡±


    ¡°So they¡¯re students from Godhead Pce.¡±


    The crowd chattered.


    Several years ago, Godhead Pce had sent these people to Basking Moon Academy, purportedly for some exchange of Immortal arts, an exchange of students. Regional differences and ents made this impossible to hide, so those with good intelligenceworks already knew about this. It was just that no one had expected to see these students right as they were entering the academy.


    However, they also normally wore moon-white robes. It was only today that they wore golden robes for the first time in their years here.


    This was because this admission year was thest year Tang Jie could enter Basking Moon Academy. After this year, if Tang Jiye still didn¡¯t appear, they could no longer keep waiting, and if he dide, it didn¡¯t matter if they stayed or not. Since they would have his information, they would no longer be searching blindly.


    Thus, for this year¡¯s school registration, Godhead Pce had made an exception and showed itself, openly seeking out Tang Jie.


    ¡°Godhead Pce¡­¡± Hearing this name, Tang Jie raised his head and looked at those golden-clothed young men who had gotten off the carriage.


    A mysterious smile appeared on his lips as he softly muttered, ¡°They really dide¡­¡±


    ¡°Who came?¡± Wei Tianchong had heard Tang Jie¡¯s muttering.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t answer, only softly chuckled.


    A momentter, he did something that left everyone shocked.


    He charged out of line, jumped at a nearby carriage, and flipped onto the roof.


    Standing on the roof, Tang Jie shouted, ¡°I, Tang Jie, finally fulfilled my wish of getting to Basking Moon Academy as a student! I hereby announce that one of the top ten disciples¡¯ spots for this ss will be mine!¡±


    This deration reverberated in everyone¡¯s ears, leaving everyone gobsmacked, and those golden-clothed men also turned to look at Tang Jie.


    The quiet atmosphere instantly erupted into loud chatter.


    Tang Jie casually jumped down from the carriage and returned to Wei Tianchong¡¯s side.


    Wei Tianchong was rmed by what Tang Jie had done. ¡°Tang Jie, have you gone crazy? How could you go around shouting in front of Basking Moon Academy¡¯s entrance like that!?¡±


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°Just demonstrating my convictions. In ancient times, didn¡¯t the strong do things like this? If you don¡¯t express your emotions and disy your ambitions, how can you ever call yourself daring and courageous?¡±


    ¡°But this is Basking Moon Academy. All those rich and powerful nobles don¡¯t dare to act rashly, but you started shouting in front of the academy gate. Are you not afraid of getting points deducted?¡± Wei Tianchong was so angry that he felt like he was about to go crazy.


    Everyone said that he didn¡¯t understand how to be discreet, so why was it that when Tang Jiecked tact, he was even worse than him?


    And he knew that what he didcked tact!


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°I know that I don¡¯t need to be afraid, because this isn¡¯t the academy, so the academy won¡¯t take points away from me for this. Trust me.¡±


    He pointed with his chin at the two students. Sure enough, the only reaction of the two students was to nce at him.


    Wei Tianchong rxed. ¡°Regardless, it¡¯s best to be cautious!¡±


    He was now the one urging Tang Jie to be careful. Truly, there was nothing too bizarre in this world.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°Of course I¡¯ll be cautious. It¡¯s precisely because I¡¯m cautious that I¡¯ve memorized the disciple rules. When you know what you can¡¯t do, you¡¯ll know what you can do¡­¡±


    ¡°¡®When you know what you can¡¯t do, you¡¯ll know what you can do¡¯?¡± Wei Tianchong¡¯s eyes brightened.


    ¡°Correct! What do you think, Third Young Master? Memorize the disciple rules with me? Once you¡¯ve memorized the disciple rules, you¡¯ll be able to do a lot of things that you previously couldn¡¯t!¡±


    ¡°Let me think about it.¡±


    Truly, the motivation for breaking the rules was always more powerful than that for following the rules!

 Chapter 48: Li Yu

    Tang Jie¡¯s boast immediately had the crowd growing livelier. Those students who had been suffocated by the majesty of the Basking Moon Sect saw that Tang Jie was fine and immediately began to loudly talk. Of course, one of the topics of conversation was Tang Jie¡¯s actions just now.


    ¡°What n was that young master from, that he was so bold?¡±


    ¡°From his clothes, he¡¯s clearly a servant student.¡±


    ¡°Servant students are this bold nowadays?¡±


    ¡°He must be some naive country bumpkin. Dering that he will make it to the top ten? Such arrogance!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to see what he can do.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s there to see? He¡¯s clearly just ying to the crowd.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d still like to see. Once we get into school, we have to look for a chance to take care of someone so arrogant.¡±


    Amid all these conversations, there were admirers, the envious, and even those who inexplicably hated Tang Jie¡­ As the chattering went on, all the students finally boarded the ship, after which, without any sort of oars or sails, it began to move toward the Clear Sky Mountains.


    As this was their first time here, most of the students gathered on the deck to view the scenery.


    Jade Belt Lake was a beautiful sight, theke¡¯s surface rippling with silver light in which one could faintly make out fish swimming beneath the surface. There was also a small ind on theke, and one could see pavilions and towers through the lush foliage of the trees, though no one knew what their purpose was.


    In the distance, on the summit of Rising Star Peak of the Clear Sky Mountains, was aplex of buildings that soared into the clouds. That was Basking Moon Academy.


    Someone familiar with the academy began to call out the various buildings. ¡°Look! That¡¯s the Heaven One Pavilion, the Ink Fragrance Court, and also the Alljoin Garden, the Hall of Supreme White, the Five-Side Pavilion, and the Heaven Circuit tform¡­ It¡¯s a pity we can¡¯t see the Divine Battleground.¡±


    A less knowledgeable student asked, ¡°What are all these ces?¡±


    The student who had first spoken exined, ¡°Heaven One Pavilion is the library of Basking Moon Academy, and it derives its name from the saying ¡®Heaven one generates water¡¯. Stored inside are the various Immortal arts that the Basking Moon Sect has gathered over the years. The Ink Fragrance Court is the ce where the scriptures are passed on to us and we can clear up any questions we have. As for Alljoin Garden, it is where we will live in the future. The Hall of Supreme White is where we learn about talismans, the Five-Side Pavilion is where we learn about pill refining, and the Heaven Circuit tform is where we learn about the Dao of Formations. Besides that are the Gold Tempering tform and the Divine Battleground. The former is where weapons are forged and thetter is the training ground, but we can¡¯t see them from this angle.¡±


    ¡°I see. Brother, thank you for clearing up my confusion.¡±


    ¡°It was no trouble at all. Starting from now, we¡¯ll be living in Basking Moon Academy for the next ten years. It would be no good if we went in knowing nothing.¡±


    Ten years was the school term that Basking Moon Academy had set down. Regardless of your progress, once the ten years were up, you had to leave the academy. But if you could enter the Mortal Shedding Realm within this period, you could choose whether or not to stay in the academy.


    ¡°True. Starting from today, we will all be fellow ssmates, so let me introduce myself. This lowly one is Mo Wencai, a son of the Mo n of Min Province.¡±


    ¡°My name is Li Xuxi, and my father is Li Yun.¡±


    ¡°So the son of the Tiger Might General is here. This one is Xu Yuexiang. My father is Xu Yourong, the current chief inspector of Hongwu City.¡±


    ¡°Jin Jiajun, a native son of Wanquan City.¡±


    ¡°Your surname is Jin? Could you be a young talent of the Prince of An¡¯s n?¡±


    ¡°I would not dare call myself talented.¡±


    The attentive observer would notice that as the students introduced themselves, they began to unconsciously organize themselves into groups.


    The officials made up one group, the scions of rich ns formed another group, and the servants had their own group. There was also a groupposed of a small number of excessively talented people who came from poor backgrounds. Essentially, like attracted like.


    Communication skill was one of the important sses that noble scions had to go through. A rich son could be clueless about everything else, but they had to recognize a sufficient number of noble and powerful people, for these nobles were the most valuable resource. Just like how Tang Jie had tried every method possible to hug the leg of the Wei n, the rich scions were born with the chance to monopolize these resources. When they came to school, whether or not they achieved sess, so long as they became friends with enough nobles and nurtured sufficiently deep rtionships, they had already seeded in a certain sense.


    Some modern entrepreneurs enthusiastically joined MBA programs not because those programs could teach them anything, but because the people who joined these programs were often powerful entrepreneurs. The more of them they knew, the more opportunities they had.


    This was why Wei Tianchong also mixed in with this group. He quickly became acquainted with a few ssmates and made some friends, and even Shi Meng managed to get a few servant friends.


    In contrast, Tang Jie was much quieter. He didn¡¯t try to make connections with anyone. He only looked at that distant summit, the image of Xu Muyang appearing in his mind.


    <em>Big Brother Xu, I finally lived up to your hopes and arrived at Basking Moon Academy, </em>Tang Jie mentally muttered.


    As the students conversed with each other, there was a giant ssh of water, and a golden carp the size of a boat jumped out of theke, pping its tail against the surface and sshing out even more water.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a fiend carp! A fiend carp!¡± several students shouted.


    ¡°There¡¯s a fiend, a fiend in Jade Belt Lake!¡± someone shouted.


    Another worked up his courage and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. This is an Immortal boat. That carp fiend wouldn¡¯t dare to attack it.¡±


    As he spoke, that golden fiend carp made a flip in the air and then turned into a muscr, bearded man who burst out inughter. ¡°Kids, do you really think this puny talisman boat can stop me? Let me board this boat for all of you to see!¡±


    He began to walk across the waves like they were solid ground.


    ¡°A great fiend who can transform!¡± Everyone backed away in fear upon seeing that carp turning into a human.


    Fiends were different from sprites. Sprites were born from nts, so they had no blood energy and thus had no set state. Upon attaining spirituality, they could immediately change form, and this transformation was primarily a transformation of spiritual energy and had little to do with strength. But fiends evolved from birds, beasts, insects, fish, or other animals. They had bodies of flesh and blood, and were thus innately restricted. When they attained spirituality, they could not immediately transform. They needed to go through protracted cultivation, and only when they reached a certain level could they take human form.


    This was why a fiend with the ability to transform could be called a great fiend. They were at the Celestial Heart Realm at the minimum, some even capable of reaching the Violet Pce Realm.


    The carp fiend man needed only a few steps to get onto the ship, and the students backed away in fear, grouping together. Someone even fell off the ship into theke because of it.


    The man found this very boring, waving his hand and shouting, ¡°A bunch of cowards. You want to cultivate Immortality with this little guts? It would be best if you went back home now to suck on your mothers¡¯ milk.¡±


    ¡°Senior, these words are mistaken,¡± a voice piped up. ¡°When facing someone stronger than oneself, fear is simply a method of protecting oneself. Is not knowing fear when facing a fierce tiger or wolf no different from sending oneself to death?¡±


    The fiend carp red. ¡°Who? Who dares to say that I was wrong?¡±


    Though he demanded an answer, his eyes were already on Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie had been the one to say those words.


    Tang Jie wasn¡¯t afraid, either. He stepped forward and bowed to the fiend carp. ¡°Basking Moon student Tang Jie pays respects to Senior.¡±


    The students all turned to Tang Jie with sympathetic looks. How could he dare to butt heads with this great fiend?


    The fiend carp looked at Tang Jie and barked, ¡°Kid, your words don¡¯t make sense. I cultivated Immortality by boldly and vigorously pressing forward, cutting down all the obstacles in my path and being unafraid of any opposition. How could the craven and cowardly who are greedy for life and afraid of death cultivate Immortality?¡±


    ¡°On the contrary, why would one cultivate Immortality if one were not greedy for life and afraid of death?¡± Tang Jie countered. ¡°Are the great aspirations the cultivators seek not long life, the undying body, the eternal existence? If they didn¡¯t fear death, why even seek Immortality? A human lives one hundred years which pass by in the blink of an eye. Death could happen at any time, so why go through the trouble of cultivation? If you don¡¯t want to live anymore, wouldn¡¯t a knife across the throat be simpler?¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± The fiend carp was rendered momentarily speechless.


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°Cultivators emphasize bold and vigorous advance because they seek a tough and tenacious resolve, but a tenacious will is no recement for supreme Immortal arts. If one faces an insurmountable mountain, then drawing back can also be considered a wise decision.¡±


    The fiend carp was left dumbstruck. All he could do was point at Tang Jie and ask his own question. ¡°Then why aren¡¯t you afraid of me?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°That is because I have already heard about Senior Li Yu of Jade Belt Lake, one of the year-long protectors of Basking Moon Academy. As one of the three great guardian fiends of Basking Moon Academy, you have a most forthright and loyal nature. Every year, you like to y around with the students, so there¡¯s no need to be afraid. If I did not know Senior¡¯s background, then this lowly one would have run just as quickly as anyone else when Senior suddenly appeared.¡±


    The man was taken aback for a moment, and then he raised his head andughed. ¡°Good! Truly someone with both knowledge and daring, and you even know how to talk! I like it. Correct¡ªthis one is Li Yu. Feng Hongluan requested me to supervise today!¡±


    When they found out that this was one of the guardian great fiends of Basking Moon Academy, the students calmed down. Now that they thought about it, it was true. There was no way a fiend or monster would dare to run around in Basking Moon Academy without permission.


    In truth, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t the only student who knew about Li Yu. It was just that he had emerged with such momentum and such a savage visage that everyone had been momentarily scared out of their wits.


    Of course, there were some others who weren¡¯t afraid, but they simply stood on the deck and watched. None of them had been like Tang Jie and spoken to Li Yu. Inwardly, they found Tang Jie using this moment to curry favor with this great fiend to be shameless and not the correct path. There were also those who wanted to curry favor but didn¡¯t have the guts to speak after seeing their own masters putting on airs, giving Tang Jie the chance to speak up.


    There were few like Tang Jie who did not take their masters seriously.


    At this moment, Li Yu produced a jar of wine as if by magic. Patting Tang Jie, he said, ¡°Come,e,e. You¡¯ve got some guts, so share a drink of wine with me.¡±


    ¡°This junior will humblyply.¡± Tang Jie didn¡¯t stand on ceremony, taking the wine bowl and drinking down the wine. He felt a fiery sensation that traveled from his stomach to the rest of his body. All of his blood energy seethed, and Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but shout, ¡°Good wine!¡±


    Thisment caused all the students to nce at him. They all believed that he was just feigning heroism and viewed him with contempt.


    ¡°If there¡¯s anyone else who wants to drink,e up together!¡± Li Yu shouted.


    The other students looked at each other, and some of them came forward.


    Wei Tianchong was somewhat hesitant, but he saw Tang Jie saying to him, ¡°Young Master,e here and try a little. This is excellent wine.¡±


    With the carpetid out for him, Wei Tianchong stopped acting polite. He took the wine bowl and drank. Sure enough, his entire body heated up, and he blurted out, ¡°This is spirit wine?¡±


    But he felt remorse the moment he shouted.


    As expected, Li Yuughed, ¡°Hahahaha, you only understand now? I¡¯vee today to gift spirit wine, but I didn¡¯t expect all these students to not appreciate my gift. That being the case, I¡¯ll just leave it to those who appreciate my gift!¡±


    ¡°It was spirit wine?¡±


    ¡°I want to drink too!¡±


    ¡°I want to drink too!¡±


    The students immediately rushed up in excitement upon hearing that it was spirit wine.


    But to their surprise, Li Yu waved his hand, and an invisible barrier manifested in front of them. ¡°Toote. Since you were so affected and aloof before, there¡¯s no need to suddenly act so greedy now. Since you¡¯re going to be noble and aloof, you should be noble and aloof to the end!¡±


    After saying this, he allowed Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong, and the others to continue drinking.


    There were 1500 Basking Moon students here, but only ten-some were sitting by Li Yu, guzzling down the wine until it waspletely emptied. Li Yu threw away the wine jar and shouted, ¡°The wine has been gifted, so this one will be off!¡±


    With a sh, he turned into a giant golden carp and vanished into theke.


    When the other students saw that the man was gone and the wine jar was empty, they sighed in regret. Only those who had partaken in the wine were overjoyed.


    This spirit wine had extraordinary effects, strengthening one¡¯s body and spirit. Though the students had yet to cultivate, they still benefited greatly from the spirit wine. Normally, a single jar of spirit wine could go for one hundred spirit coins.


    Those who had failed to drink it fumed, and someone coldly mocked, ¡°My aspirations are set on the Great Dao, and one of tenacious resolve does not need external aid. How can someone who gets smug after gaining a few benefits through ttery consider themselves a cultivator? They bring dishonor on the name of Immortals!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right! Do they really think we couldn¡¯t see that that was Li Yu, one of the three great fiends?¡±


    ¡°Those who practice ttery are all lowly people.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think he isn¡¯t? He¡¯s a servant, after all!¡±


    ¡°Hahahaha!¡¯


    Laughter broke out, more than half of it aimed at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie wasn¡¯t angry. ¡°Everyone, you¡¯re right. I am truly a tterer. If someone is willing to offer me benefits, I will be effusive with my praise so that the other side is all smiles. Someone makes a request of me and I fulfill it. It is simply a mutual exchange. Since all of you are lofty and unyielding characters who do not rely on external aids, I presume that you feel it beneath your dignity to be with me. But who were all those people who rushed up together to get at the spirit wine?¡±


    Everyone fell silent.


    Tang Jie added, ¡°I used ttery in exchange for advantages, but none of you said anything at all, so why should you get anything? Just as Senior Li said, since you decided to be noble and aloof, be noble and aloof to the very end. What¡¯s the point in being envious and mocking others? If your heart truly sought nothing, then whatever I do should be of no concern to all of you.¡±


    These words caused those people who had mocked him to pale. One of them, who wore luxurious clothes, angrily said, ¡°What a clever tongue! It¡¯s a pity that cultivation of Immortality does not depend on the sharpness of one¡¯s wit.¡±


    Tang Jie immediately replied, ¡°True. One must have resources, so I have to seize every chance, ttering everyone I should tter. Of course, I know that all of you have grown used to being ttered by others, so you need some time to adjust to this change, but why disapprove of the tterers just because of this?¡±


    The other students wanted to retort, but they couldn¡¯t find the words. But when it came to arguments that concerned one¡¯s pride, it truly didn¡¯t matter how reasonable one¡¯s argument was.


    Someone immediately jumped out and said, ¡°Clever-tongued toady! I don¡¯t think that great fiend Li Yu was anything much either. Just a few words were enough to get some spirit wine out of him. This sort of person who only likes to hearpliments and rejects harsh advice is certain to be fooled by some lowly person in the future!¡±


    ¡°Right, right!¡± A chorus of agreement came from the crowd.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°Excellent words, brimming with righteousness. In other words, all of you are able to take in harsh advice? All of Tang Jie¡¯s words just now came from the bottom of his heart, were sincere advice. On the other hand, are all those people calling out in agreement not tterers? If voices of opposition count as harsh advice, then my words right now count as harsh advice, but how many of you can ept it?¡±


    Those proud scions were once more rendered speechless. As they looked at each other and racked their brains for a response, Tang Jie said, ¡°Even if you were right, did none of you realize why Senior Li Yu suddenly appeared? And why he suddenly gifted spirit wine?¡±


    They were all dumbfounded.


    Tang Jie exined, ¡°He did all this to tell everyone that you have to rely on yourself for everything here!¡±


    Tang Jie paused a moment before continuing, ¡°This ce is Basking Moon Academy, and your former status is irrelevant here. Otherwise, there would have been no reason to forbid the ns from bringing in servants. Starting from today, there will be many more incidents like the one just now. The academy will give everyone some resources, but it definitely won¡¯t be enough to satisfy each one of you. If all of you wish to remain proud and aloof, don¡¯t me opportunity for passing you by. Let me give you a word of advice: if you don¡¯t ept the gifts of the heavens¡­


    ¡°Don¡¯t me the heavens for not giving you gifts!¡±

 Chapter 49: Entering School

    ¡°Good words!¡± someone suddenly shouted.


    There was another ssh from theke as Li Yu suddenly returned.


    ¡°Senior!¡±


    This time, all of the students respectfully prostrated to Li Yu.


    Only Tang Jie stayed standing, looking at Li Yu and asking, ¡°Didn¡¯t you leave?¡±


    Li Yu rolled his eyes. ¡°This Jade Belt Lake is my home. Where do you expect this old man to go?¡±


    He burst out inughter. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve met such an interesting baby. Not bad, not bad. I quite like you. Oh, this is for you, but it¡¯s not some gift from heaven, nor does it have anything to do with the academy. It¡¯s a personal gift from this old man!¡±


    A golden light flew toward Tang Jie, and he reached out and grabbed it. In his hand was a golden fish scale, and he immediately knew that this was one of the scales from Li Yu¡¯s body.


    Something taken off the body of a great fiend that could transform, even if it wasn¡¯t a treasure, would still have a unique value, and Tang Jie was overjoyed.


    Li Yu shouted, ¡°Kid, you¡¯ve received my gift, so you must pay your respects!¡±


    ¡°Senior, many thanks for your generous gift. This lowly one bows to you!¡± Tang Jie immediately prostrated.


    ¡°Good, then this old man will ept your gratitude!¡± Li Yu loudly said. ¡°All you other kids, listen well. This old man loves to be ttered and fawned on. If you want something good from this old man, then you first need to know how to behave. But while this first gift only needed a fewpliments, the second gift might need a kowtow. If you want something nice from me, you had best think of a way to make me happy! Hahahaha!¡±


    Hisughter resounding in the air, he jumped back into theke, leaving the students to nce at each other in silence, not daring to casually speak.


    But this had little to do with Tang Jie¡¯s words from before. Only an extremely small number of them had understood the key of the argument just now. They were quiet only because they were afraid that Li Yu could still be listening.


    Li Yu had definitely heard the argument just now, and he had probably not given Tang Jie such a generous gift because he found Tang Jie interesting. Rather, it was probably because he wanted to infuriate the other students. Thus, while Li Yu seemed like a forthright person, he probably wasn¡¯t particrly broad-minded. Anyone else who dared to keep insulting him might infuriate him so badly that he could pop up onto the deck to give them a beating.


    Since they were no longer arguing about this matter, they all gawked at the golden fish scale in Tang Jie¡¯s hand. Wei Tianchong curiously walked over and asked, ¡°Let me take a look. What is this? What does it do?¡±


    Tang Jie put away the scale. ¡°You also saw how I got it. His venerable self didn¡¯t say, so how could I know?¡±


    ¡°Let me look. Don¡¯t be so petty.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m worried that once you take a look, you won¡¯t give it back.¡±


    Wei Tianchong saw that he was exposed and chuckled, ¡°Then what if I ask you to give it to me?¡±


    Tang Jie said in a serious tone, ¡°¡­Do you think that this is appropriate?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the young master. Why would it be inappropriate?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re the young master! I¡¯ve only ever heard of servants eating from the hands of their young master, but I¡¯ve never heard of a young master stealing treasures from the hands of a servant.¡±


    ¡°Then what if I buy it with silver?¡±


    ¡°Do you think our senior will be happy if we haggle over the price of a gift he gave on Jade Belt Lake?¡±


    ¡°Then forget it.¡± The moment Tang Jie brought up Li Yu, Wei Tianchong had to reluctantly give up.


    Everyone found this scene rather amusing. A student that Wei Tianchong had recently befriended said with augh, ¡°Tianchong, this servant of yours is quite interesting. Is he not afraid of you? He must be the son of some elder of your estate, who grew up together with you in the Wei n?¡±


    Wei Tianchong sighed. ¡°That¡¯s not the case. He only entered our estate three years ago. But he saved my life, so I can¡¯t really argue with him.¡± <em>But what¡¯s most important is that my mom gave him the n discipline stick, and he can beat me¡­</em>


    Someone chuckled, ¡°I see. No wonder he¡¯s so arrogant. But since he¡¯s a servant, a servant student, he should keep to his duties. Even if he does have achievements, he can¡¯t grow conceited because of them. Brother Tianchong, when I get the chance, I¡¯ll help you teach him a lesson and make him understand what a servant is.¡±


    Wei Tianchong grinned as he answered, ¡°Heh, thank you, but there¡¯s no rush. He¡¯s normally very obedient.¡±


    As they joked with each other, the boat arrived on the other side.


    The students disembarked, and there was someone waiting to lead them up the mountain.


    Basking Moon Academy was built on a mountain, and designed with a lofty and majestic style. Upon going through the gates, they immediately saw a bronze statue that stood thirty feet high. This was the founding ancestor of the Basking Moon Sect, the Water Moon Celestial Sovereign.


    It was said that when the Water Moon Celestial Sovereign was passing by the Moon-Reflecting Pond in the Cloudrise Mountains, he bore witness to the golden roseclouds engulfing the moon. Enlightened, he used his Scooping the Moon Out of Water divine connection to have his moon bask within the light. Breaking through the barrier around the domain, he questioned his heart andprehended the Dao, thus breaking out of the domain and ascending. His descendants took up his legacy and established a sect, and thus, the Basking Moon Sect was born. It referred to a sort of realm where one could turn the illusion into reality, but it had nothing to do with any sort of art. Even the name of the Sageheart Kingdom originated from how the Celestial Sovereign had questioned his heart.


    Thus, the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s primary focus was the Origin Heart. As it focused on the Origin Heart, it naturally wanted only the courageous and bold to strive and seed on the Immortal path. Thus, it had no apprehensions about contention and struggle, and it was why there had been that gift of wine. In truth, there were little games like this every year, but they would always be different, and they would always be difficult to notice.


    Of course, you could only contend over what you were permitted to contend over, and it was best not to think about what you had not been given permission for. Dauntless advance could only be performed on the path drawn out by the school. Leaving the main road and stepping onto empty air was suicidal.


    Once they were in the academy, there was a registration desk where everyone could register their names and origins.


    ¡°Name?¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie.¡±


    ¡°Jade Gate?¡±


    ¡°Five cycles.¡±


    ¡°So he did only five cycles, and he dares to im a ce in the top ten? Ridiculous?¡± Scornfulughs came from the crowd.


    Tang Jie had grown famous because of his deration, so quite a few people were paying attention when he registered. They had taken him for some nine-cycle-Jade-Gate genius, but he was only a five-cycle.


    On the other end, Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng were also registering. Once they were done, a student distributed to them student cards.


    The student cards were made of some dazzling golden metal and could be tied to the waist. This was the point card for the academy students. A recording formation had been inscribed inside it that would keep the point total of every student.


    When a student made a mistake, the academy¡¯s monitors would deduct the appropriate number of points from this point card. There were two copies of the point deduction. One was on the student¡¯s point card while the other was recorded with the monitor, so even a genius who could undo the formation would be powerless.


    Once they got the point cards, someone came to lead everyone to Alljoin Garden.


    Alljoin Garden was where all of the students resided, more than ten thousand in all, so it was a rather suitable name.


    Though Alljoin Garden was the student dormitory, it wasid out rather elegantly. Rather than a modern checkerboardyout, the houses were spread out randomly like pieces on a go board, little bright points of light concealed within the mountain forest. Within this forest were also little streams, pavilions, and winding corridors. The ce was like andscape garden.


    The Alljoin Garden was simply the dormitory area, yet it was already so beautiful. From this, one could see that Basking Moon Academy¡¯s reputation had not been faked.


    Though it upied such a vast area, one couldn¡¯t tell from the outside. Tang Jie suspected that this was because of a formation. However, it could also be because he was a neer and wasn¡¯t very familiar with the area.


    Tang Jie was just a servant student, but this was an unofficial status. On the surface, all students were equals, and so Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong did not live together.


    The student guide led Wei Tianchong to a courtyard and pointed out, ¡°This is your residence.¡±


    Wei Tianchong saw that this courtyard was rather spacious, the surrounding environment simple and elegant, and he nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Though it¡¯s not as big as my n¡¯s Meditation Garden, it¡¯s a pretty good environment. The only drawback is that this courtyard has too much empty space.¡±


    The student guide coldly snorted. ¡°Another ignorant fool. Every de of grass and tree here is a precious nt, and even the dirt on the ground is of a higher grade than that of your home. How could youpare it to your countryside hovels, stained with mortal energies!?¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Wei Tianchong had never seen someone talk to him like this before, and was just about to curse him out when Tang Jie stopped him and shot him a nce.


    Wei Tianchong suddenly recalled the rules of the academy. When fighting with students, striking someone was -5 points, injuring someone was -10, and taking someone¡¯s life was expulsion. He could only swallow his anger.


    The student saw that Wei Tianchong had restrained himself, and chuckled. Only then did he lead Shi Meng and Tang Jie to their residences.


    Tang Jie¡¯s residence was next to a grove of apricot trees, and there was even a little stream nearby, and a little farther off was a small pavilion. It was located at the edge of the mountain and offered a wonderful view.


    Once he was settled, Tang Jie went to Wei Tianchong¡¯s ce. He saw that Wei Tianchong was still grumbling about that senior student within his house while Shi Meng was trying to calm him down.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Are you still angry?¡±


    ¡°That kid criticized me, yet he¡¯s just as bad! I don¡¯t even know what I did to him that caused him to ridicule me like that,¡± Wei Tianchong angrily said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not strange at all. He was trying to provoke you. If you really couldn¡¯t control yourself and started fighting him, then you would be falling into his trap.¡±


    ¡°Ah? Why¡¯s that?¡± Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t get it.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Because he¡¯s a school monitor! The school monitors are only concerned with deducting points, and ording to the school rules, if he deducts 100 points, he can get a point reward.¡±


    ¡°This academy even has point rewards?¡± Wei Tianchong was shocked.


    ¡°Naturally. We¡¯re going to be in this school for ten years! Who knows when you could make a mistake and lose a few points? 100 points seems like a lot, but divided across ten years, that¡¯s only 10 points per year. A single fight and that¡¯s it for your points for the year. If there weren¡¯t point rewards, how could anyone survive? As they say in my hometown, a carrot in one hand and a big stick in the other. Points aren¡¯t merely proof that you can stay in the academy. They also serve as an important criterion for who gets selected as outer disciples and disciples!¡±


    ¡°So that fellow was trying to cheat me?¡± Wei Tianchong finally understood.


    He knew that the cultivation world was cruel, but he hadn¡¯t expected to find a pithole at every step. He had just entered school, and someone was already trying to bait him. If Tang Jie hadn¡¯t managed to make him learn the disciple rules, he really would have walked into that trap.


    Wei Tianchong was starting to understand Wei Ming¡¯s words.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°These monitor students are trying to get points from us, and their greatest fear is that we don¡¯t make mistakes. When ites to deducting points, they¡¯re ruthless, and they always try to push the upper limit. If we don¡¯t make mistakes, they¡¯ll seek chances to lure us into making mistakes. In my hometown, they call this ¡®entrapment¡¯! How do you think those hundred-plus students get eliminated every year? Do you really think there are that many stubborn and ignorant fools?¡±


    Wei Tianchong started to sweat. He resentfully said, ¡°I¡¯ll have to keep my distance from those fellows in the future.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no avoiding them. The one from just now was out in the open, but there are also those hiding in the shadows, just waiting for you to mess up. They¡¯ve all learned Immortal arts, and some of them can even use concealment spells. These are vicious sorts, and there¡¯s no telling when they might pop up. Thus, you just have to be careful to not make mistakes¡­¡±


    Wei Tianchong shivered and instinctively looked around.


    Tang Jie saw how nervous he was and knew that he had aplished his goal. ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry here. Not even the monitors can sneak into a student¡¯s residence. If they¡¯re discovered, they¡¯ll be immediately expelled.¡±


    <em>Whew!</em> Wei Tianchong sighed in relief.


    ¡°But¡­¡± Tang Jie paused, immediately putting Wei Tianchong on edge once more.


    ¡°But ording to the school rules, cultivator students must keep a neat appearance and clean houses. No dust or dirt is permitted, and certainly not any sort of mess. Vitors will be deducted one to five points if discovered, and each time it¡¯s discovered is a new deduction. Thus, they can¡¯t sneak in, but they cane in for sanitation checks.¡±


    ¡°Heh, can you just say everything at once? You scared me silly! This is a simple matter.¡±


    Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t worry once he heard about this requirement. He turned to Shi Meng and said, ¡°Shi Meng, hurry up and clean the house.¡±


    What were servant students for? Weren¡¯t they for situations exactly like this?


    Thus, they not only had to care for their master, they also had to ensure that their master wasn¡¯t driven out of school for things like this.


    Shi Meng looked at Tang Jie as if saying, ¡°What about him?¡±


    There had been many boy servants on the road, and he had been able to leave this kind of work to them, leaving little for Shi Meng and Tang Jie to do. But now, it was just the two of them, so they needed to decide how to divide thebor.


    Wei Tianchong firmly dered, ¡°I need to memorize the disciple rules. Tang Jie, exin to me clearly what all these rules are about.¡±


    <em>Ugh, I guess I¡¯m doing it by myself.</em>


    Tang Jie said, ¡°Memorizing the disciple rules is simple, but understanding their deeper meaning, how to use them, and analysis of possible pitfalls and loopholes will take some time.¡±


    ¡°Rx; I¡¯ll pay attention!¡± Wei Tianchong answered.


    No matter how willful he was, he knew to be obedient after suffering a little.


    Tang Jie put on a helpless expression. ¡°The problem is that I haven¡¯t cleaned my house yet either.¡±


    ¡°Shi Meng, clean my room, and then clean up Tang Jie¡¯s room.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Young Master!¡±


    Shi Meng¡¯s face was so overcast that it looked like it would start raining soon.

 Chapter 50: Carefree House

    Teaching Wei Tianchong the disciple rules went on until the evening, when a flying message talisman informed all of them that it was mealtime.


    The academy¡¯s cafeteria was called Thousand Taste Pavilion. Befitting its name, it served various delicacies from all across Rosecloud. You could basically get anything you could think of.


    But only when they got in did they realize that reality was not as beautiful as they had imagined.


    1500 students needed to eat in this cafeteria, but there was only one service window!


    One!


    A line made up of 1500 students extended all the way out of the cafeteria, forming an extremely long dragon.


    Wei Tianchong and Tang Jie arrivedte and were instantly scared out of their wits by the sight.


    Wei Tianchong shouted, ¡°How are there so many people? How long will we have to wait?¡±


    ¡°Save the chatter forter and get in line.¡± Tang Jie hurriedly dragged Wei Tianchong to the back of the line.


    Wei Tianchong had never experienced this before. He shouted, ¡°No, let me see if I can get in front.¡±


    ¡°Young Master,¡± Tang Jie said with great heartache, ¡°apply your studies!¡±


    Aghast, Wei Tianchong looked around. Not noticing anything, he whispered, ¡°Are they all hiding?¡±


    ¡°Do you even need to ask?¡± Tang Jie grunted.


    It wasn¡¯t long before Tang Jie¡¯s prophecy came true.


    Some young master saw how long the line was and wanted to just get his food without waiting in line. At this point, two students wearing moon-white robes appeared in the cafeteria like ghosts, chuckling to themselves as they pulled the young master to the side and whispered a few words to him. That young master became deathly pale as he obediently took out his point card. There was a sh of light, and then the card was returned to him.


    The two students disappeared, and that young master went back to quietly stand in line.


    Wei Tianchong was sweating from the sight. ¡°Traps everywhere, everywhere! This isn¡¯t some cultivator academy! It¡¯s an academy of fraudsters.¡±


    Quite a few people lost points because they couldn¡¯t stand in line. Thankfully, it was only one point. The only problem was that the line was simply too long.


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s group had to wait for ages to finally get their food. But when he saw the food he had received, he immediately shouted, ¡°What the hell is this?¡±


    It consisted of a bowl of brown rice, two pieces of salted meat, a few cauliflowers, and a bowl of broth.


    Even Shi Meng gasped at this sight.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it said that you can eat spirit foods in the academy?¡± Wei Tianchong angrily said. ¡°Wasn¡¯t it said that Thousand Taste Pavilion has every kind of food? What is this? Not even pigs would eat this!¡±


    Tang Jie pointed at the cafeteria¡¯s sign, on which was clearly written: ¡°Limit of ten sets of spirit food. Limit of one hundred sets of gourmet food. No limit on coarse foods.¡±


    Tang Jie pointed at his rice bowl. ¡°Do you see it? Just like with Li Yu¡¯s spirit wine, everything is of limited supply. If youete, you can only eat coarse food. We should try to get here a little earlier next time.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was on the verge of tears. ¡°Is there no other way?¡±


    ¡°There is. There¡¯s a payment service window over there.¡± Tang Jie pointed at the corner.


    Wei Tianchong really did see a little service window there, but when he walked over to take a look, he was blown away. ¡°One bowl of refined rice costs one spirit coin?¡±


    ¡°A bowl of pork costs three spirit coins.¡± Shi Meng gloomily shook his head.


    ¡°And a serving of spirit grain costs ten spirit coins.¡± Tang Jie also felt a deep sense of helplessness.


    This was highway robbery!


    ¡°I really don¡¯t know how those students managed to get through this,¡± Shi Meng sighed.


    These words made Tang Jie realize something.


    That¡¯s right!


    Why didn¡¯t he see any of their upperssmen buying their food here?


    Looking around, he saw that almost everyone in the cafeteria was a new student.


    What did the upperssmen do for food?


    But even if he asked this question, he would be asking in vain. The only upperssmen Tang Jie had interacted with were the monitors, and all of them were just waiting to take their points. Trying to get anything from them would be like sending amb into the mouth of a tiger. He could only slowly ponder this matter on his own time.


    Though the price was uneptable, in the end, Wei Tianchong gritted his teeth and bought a bowl of refined rice and a fish that he ate along with his broth. As for Tang Jie and Shi Meng, they had to satisfy themselves with the coarse meal.


    As they ate, they silently cursed Basking Moon Academy. asionally, they saw some unfortunate soul losing points, over which they rejoiced.


    At times, happiness was best when it was established on the suffering of others.


    It hadn¡¯t been very long, but seven or eight people had already lost points, and were standing in line with tearful faces.


    Wei Tianchong wanted to see what would happen when someone got angry and caused a ruckus, but s, there were no such idiots to be seen.


    But Wei Tianchong soon realized that something was off. He asked, ¡°Why is it all young masters who are meeting misfortune, while none of the servant students get into trouble?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s strange about that? Young masters have never really suffered before, so they¡¯re naturally easy to fool. As for us servants, we¡¯ve all gotten used to mistreatment,¡± Tang Jie answered.


    Wei Tianchong was enlightened. ¡°It¡¯s no wonder that student chose to provoke me¡­ Hold on, Tang Jie; what did you mean by that? Are you saying that you feel like I¡¯ve mistreated you before?¡±


    Tang Jie raised his head andughed. ¡°Young Master, look at what you¡¯re saying! I am talking about the majority, but that doesn¡¯t include you.¡±


    ¡°Then you¡¯re saying that I am a very good master?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Young Master is respectful to all and has always regarded the servants as friends. You are as magnanimous as can be,¡± Tang Jie said without the slightest blush.


    ¡°As long as you know,¡± Wei Tianchong said, content with the answer.


    And then he saw Tang Jie moving his chopsticks over, taking a big chunk of meat from that fish that had cost him three spirit coins, and eating it.


    Wei Tianchong was furious, but just when he was about to rebuke Tang Jie, he recalled how he had just acknowledged that he treated servants as friends. As a result, he could only suppress his anger.


    Shi Meng saw Tang Jie eating the fish and was going to get some for himself, but to his surprise, Wei Tianchong had learned and already ced the rest of the fish in his bowl.


    Shi Meng decided that he couldn¡¯t steal fish out of the young master¡¯s bowl, so he could only reluctantly give up. He looked down at his broth and brown rice, wanting to cry but having no tears to spare.


    Even as a servant, he had never eaten such poor food back in the Wei n!


    After dinner, the master and his two servants decided to take a stroll around the academy, having nothing else to do.


    Basking Moon Academy was truly beautiful. Just by walking around, they could see picturesquendscapes all over the ce.


    asionally, one or two female cultivators would pass by. Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng would immediately stare, barely restraining themselves from wolf-whistling.


    At sixteen years of age, a young man¡¯s body was beginning to mature and he began to understand the positives of women.


    s, Basking Moon Academy had many men and few women. Out of ten students, only one would be a woman, and for this reason, the female cultivators had extremely high standards and were very unlikely to pay attention to any particr man.


    As they walked along, Wei Tianchong suddenly said, ¡°I think I get it.¡±


    ¡°What does Young Master understand?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°In Basking Moon Academy, you have to fight for everything!¡± Wei Tianchong resentfully said. ¡°You had to fight for that spirit wine, you have to fight for points, and you even have to fight for food! The only thing you probably don¡¯t have to fight for is taking a shit!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right,¡± Shi Meng agreed.


    ¡°Understanding this isn¡¯t enough. You must apply what you have learned, Young Master,¡± Tang Jie reminded.


    ¡°I get what you mean. If my guess is correct¡­¡± Wei Tianchong shook his head and then said like a strategist divulging his analysis, ¡°Then when sses start tomorrow, we¡¯ll also have to fight. There are probably only a few seats, so if weete, we¡¯ll have to stand during ss.¡±


    Tang Jie punched his palm and said, ¡°Young Master, you finally understand!¡±


    Wei Tianchong raised his head andughed, very satisfied with himself.


    But after a while, he paled. ¡°Shit; doesn¡¯t that mean I can¡¯t oversleep?¡±


    ¡°You should get up before daybreak,¡± Tang Jie casually said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll wake you up.¡±


    As they were on their way back, Tang Jie found a nk of wood to take back.


    Wei Tianchong curiously asked him what it was for. Tang Jie said that it was for a signboard, so that he could give his residence a name.


    While Basking Moon Academy was all about fighting, it enjoyed cultivating a cultured appearance, and the students were the same. Students often liked to make signboards for their residences, giving them names like ¡°Crouching Dragon Pavilion¡±, ¡°Clear Heart Hall¡±, ¡°Bright Aspiration House¡±, and the like.


    Tang Jie felt that he should give his house a name, since he was going to live there for ten years.


    Wei Tianchong was interested, and he and Shi Meng found their own nks to bring back.


    When he got back, Tang Jie decided to name his residence ¡°Carefree House¡±. He sought freedom without restraints. Although this sort of carefree and happy life, aloof from the matters of the world, wasn¡¯t actually a good fit for his state of mind, it exuded an aura of transcendent freedom.


    Shi Meng was much simpler. Since this was all about feigned refinement, he just decided to call his residence the Refined Pavilion.


    As for Wei Tianchong, despite racking his brains, he couldn¡¯t think of a good name, so he ultimately decided on an old one.


    His brush swished.


    The words ¡°Meditation Garden¡± had been written with ugly strokes on his signboard.


    A house within the Student Forest had the serial number of Jade Overlook #45.


    But in secret, it had another name: ¡°Eagle Nest¡±.


    In the Eagle Nest, Gu Changqing sat at his desk, reading through arge stack of files.


    These were all student files for this year¡¯s ss. Godhead Pce had gone through great effort to obtain them.


    As Gu Changqing looked through them, he would asionally write downments, indicating that so-and-so should be observed or that so-and-so should be ced under heavy surveince.


    In the middle of his research, a man in golden clothes rushed inside. ¡°Good news¨C¡±


    ¡°Out!¡± Gu Changqing barked without raising his head.


    The golden-clothed man froze. Gu Changqing barked again, ¡°Out! And learn to knock beforeing in!¡±


    The man¡¯s face twitched, but he swallowed his rage, left the room, and closed the door before knocking on it. ¡°Subordinate Zhao Xianguo has a report for the Deputy Eagle Master!¡±


    ¡°Come in.¡±


    Zhao Xinguo pushed open the door and said, ¡°When the new students wereing in, a student called Tang Jiye jumped out of the crowd and made a deration.¡±


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°¡®And¡¯?¡± Zhao Xinguo was startled. ¡°And then¡­ and then he said that he, Tang Jiye, would definitely be one of the top ten disciples¡­¡±


    Gu Changqing finally raised his head, looking at Zhao Xinguo with scorn. ¡°This is your good news?¡±


    Zhao Xinguo took in a deep breath. ¡°All of the new students were timid, not daring to speak too loudly. He was the only one who did anything different, and he called himself Tang Jiye. I feel that he is very suspicious.¡±


    Gu Changqing gave him a deep look and then pointed at a chair next to him. ¡°Sit.¡±


    Zhao Xinguo sat down, and Gu Changqing proceeded to ignore him and carry on with his work.


    Zhao Xinguo grew impatient and called out to him, but Gu Changqing¡¯s sharp gaze forced him back into silent waiting.


    After a little while, there was another knock. ¡°Gao Fei of the Hawk Hall has a matter to report to the Deputy Eagle Master.¡±


    ¡°Come in.¡±


    Another man entered, but he wore coarse robes of cloth rather than golden robes. Upon entering, he gave Gu Changqing a slight bow and then said, ¡°We¡¯ve discovered a new student called Tang Jie. This person is somewhat simr to the target we are pursuing.¡±


    ¡°Junior Brother, you¡¯rete. I¡¯ve already gotten ahead of you and reported this matter to the Deputy Eagle Master. You have to be fast when ites to things like this!¡± Zhao Xinguo smugly said, his voice dripping arrogance.


    Gao Fei simply smiled. ¡°Senior Brother Zhao¡¯s reaction speed is truly fast. Your junior cannotpare.¡±


    ¡°What did you find?¡± Gu Changqing asked, ignoring Zhao Xinguo.


    ¡°Upon investigation, I found that this person was called Tang Jie, the Jie (½Ù) of ¡®kidnap¡¯ (½Ù³Ö). The pronunciation is the same, but the character is different. Hees from the Canglong Prefecture Wei n and is a servant student for the Wei n¡¯s third young master, Wei Tianchong, and possesses a five-cycle Jade Gate. As too much time has passed, it is impossible to match his height to our original information, but his appearance is somewhat simr to Tang Jiye¡¯s. However, as my lord said, there are far too many people who match Tang Jiye¡¯s features, so it cannot be used as evidence. Thus, I had someone gather some information from the Wei n¡¯s young master. I learned that this Tang Jie joined the Wei n three years ago. I have not gotten the exact details yet, and further investigation is required.¡±


    ¡°Three years ago¡­ Canglong Prefecture¡­ Wei n¡­¡± Gu Changqing chuckled. ¡°Then we can make him one of our objects of investigation.¡±


    He then nced at Zhao Xinguo. ¡°News can¡¯t just be fast. It also has to be as detailed as possible.¡±


    Zhao Xinguo said nothing, his ears turning red.


    Gao Fei said, ¡°But it¡¯s rather strange. If this Tang Jie is really who we¡¯re looking for, he should have hidden himself when he saw us. Why would he jump out instead?¡±


    Zhao Xinguo found a chance to speak and disdainfully said, ¡°You even need to ask that? He must have guessed that someone was observing the reactions of the students from the shadows and knew that shrinking back would just draw suspicion. Thus, he made a feint so that we would believe that since he had stepped out, he couldn¡¯t be Tang Jiye. As they say, the most dangerous ce is often the safest.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit!¡±


    To Zhao Xinguo¡¯s surprise, Gu Changqing pped his desk, leaving a palm-shaped hole in the redwood desk. Gu Changqing roared at Zhao Xinguo, ¡°What sort of nonsense exnation is this? So based on your theory, since the Gold Ignis Astral Winds are the most dangerous, he must have gone flying up there! Is a danger that you can hide in still considered a danger?¡±


    Zhao Xinguo shrank back in the face of Gu Changqing¡¯s anger, exining, ¡°What I mean by ¡®the most dangerous ce¡¯ is¡­ a mental gap.¡±


    ¡°A mental gap means not thinking things through thoroughly! Only an ipetent would ce his hopes on his opponent¡¯s mistakes!¡± Gu Changqing continued to speak bluntly. ¡°Tang Jie knew that shrinking back would draw suspicion, so he decided to stand up and shout? Then we won¡¯t suspect him? What sort of idiotic logic is this? Are we not suspecting him now? If he was this sort of person, then he is undoubtedly the biggest idiot in the world. Do you think such an idiot would be able to avoid our rigorous search for three years? Useless thing! Out!¡±


    Ashamed and frustrated, Zhao Xinguo could only salute and depart.


    Gao Fei watched Zhao Xinguo leave, then he said with a frown, ¡°Eagle Master, Senior Brother Zhao is still True Person Zhao¡¯s son. Isn¡¯t scolding him like this a little too excessive?¡±


    ¡°If he weren¡¯t True Person Zhao¡¯s son, do you think I would tolerate this piece of trash?¡± Gu Changqing snorted. ¡°I was already sick of him. He¡¯s just a True Person¡¯s son. There¡¯s no reason for me to be afraid of him!¡±


    Gao Fei smiled, but he didn¡¯t dare to reply.


    Gu Changqing said to Gao Fei, ¡°This Tang Jie, number 96. We¡¯ll put him in Grade B for now while we gather more information. Let¡¯s do everything ording to procedure.¡±

 Chapter 51: The First Class (1)

    Early in the morning, before the sun had even risen, Wei Tianchong was woken up. He was still very drowsy, and roared, ¡°Stop bothering me!¡±


    Tang Jie immediately called out, ¡°Young Master, it¡¯s time for ss.¡±


    ¡°No, I won¡¯t go. I¡¯m sleeping.¡±


    ¡°If we get therete, we¡¯ll have to stand while listening to the lecture.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll stand,¡± Wei Tianchong impatiently answered.


    A momentter, Tang Jie pulled Wei Tianchong out from the nket and carried him out.


    ¡°Tang Jie, you dare!¡± Wei Tianchong punched at Tang Jie, but Tang Jie immediately grabbed Wei Tianchong¡¯s arm. With his strength, Wei Tianchong had no hope of resisting.


    ¡°I¡¯m telling Mom! I¡¯m telling Mom!¡± Wei Tianchong desperately shouted.


    ¡°Then you should do it after you go to ss. Shi Meng, hurry and help the young master wash up!¡± Tang Jie said, ignoring Wei Tianchong.


    Shi Meng rushed up and angrily said, ¡°Why is it me again? Why aren¡¯t you doing it?¡±


    ¡°Then do you want to switch ces? You encourage the young master to attend ss while I help him wash up?¡± Tang Jie asked, lifting up Wei Tianchong in his hand.


    Shi Meng looked at the iling and cursing Wei Tianchong and swallowed. ¡°Forget it. I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    After iling around for a bit, Wei Tianchong finally woke up a little.


    The three of them arrived together at the Ink Fragrance Court. Quite a few people had already arrived at the lecture hall. It appeared that many students had already learned their lesson from yesterday.


    Basking Moon Academy didn¡¯t have a custom of dividing sses. All fifteen hundred students listened to ss together, and sure enough, there were only a hundred-some seats. As they hade early, they were able to get seats near the front.


    The key here was that there were few servants that could ignore the will of their young masters and drag them out of bed. The vast majority of servants were only able to tearfully beg for their young masters to get out of bed.


    As the sun began to rise, the students finally began to arrive. The majority of them didn¡¯t have seats, and endlessly cursed. But as the monitors were present, none of these young masters dared to force someone out of a seat.


    At this moment, Tang Jie suddenly raised a sign.


    ¡°Seat for sale¡ªthree spirit coins.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was shocked. ¡°You¡¯re selling your seat?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°As servants, we¡¯re used to standing.¡±


    ¡°But three spirit coins is a little too expensive, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s my seat, so if I can¡¯t sell it, I¡¯ll use it for myself.¡±


    Three spirit coins was truly a rather excessive price.


    Tang Jie¡¯s actions inspired many other servant students who hade early, and they also began to sell their seats, though much more cheaply, for only a little silver. Even Shi Meng sold off his seat. No one paid any attention to Tang Jie¡¯s seat, but he truly didn¡¯t care.


    He was happy to sit back and watch.


    It wasn¡¯t long before the lecturing Immortal master arrived.


    The Immortal master was a middle-aged man with a long beard. His face was dark and scowling, as if everyone owed him money.


    As he swept his gaze around, the chattering students instantly fell silent.


    The Immortal master nodded. ¡°Close the door and take a count. Those who have yet to arrive don¡¯t need toe in.¡±


    His voice wasn¡¯t particrly loud, but it reached throughout the hall.


    The doors of the hall boomed shut on their own.


    A few momentster, the count was done. A monitor student came forward and said, ¡°Esteemed Teacher Xin, of the fifteen hundred students of this ss, 1342 have arrived. 158 have yet to arrive.¡±


    The dark-faced Immortal master said, ¡°Deduct five points from everyone who didn¡¯te to the lecture.¡±


    The students down below started to sweat. This was changing thew to drive people away!


    The dark-faced Immortal master could tell what they were all thinking, and he coldly snorted. ¡°The Immortal Path is treacherous and hard to traverse. Those who seek the Great Dao must possess a tenacious will and boldly press forward. If it had been so easy to seek the Dao, who would value it? Yesterday, upon entering this school, you presumably experienced some of this school¡¯s rules, but even now, there are still some people who dare to bete! If they can¡¯t even do something as basic as getting up early, how do they expect to cultivate Immortality? Best to go home early and sleep!¡±


    He spoke with such harshness that everyone shivered.


    Tang Jie felt that this Immortal master¡¯s argument was very reasonable.


    Although Basking Moon Academy had harsh rules, they weren¡¯t unreasonable. Not permitting students to fight each other or to bete were extremely normal rules. It was just that these young masters were so used to thefort and power afforded by their status that they had yet to fully adapt.


    The cafeteria¡¯s rules were a little excessive, but they could correct the habit of these young masters in thinking that they had priority in everything. It taught them that nothing came easily and that they needed to change their bad habits and follow the rules.


    If these bad habits weren¡¯t changed and those rich young masters brought their habits to the cultivation world, nothing good would result.


    Moreover, Tang Jie felt that there was another meaning hidden behind these rules, though he couldn¡¯t tell what it was yet.


    The Immortal master continued, ¡°All of you had best shape up in the future. My Basking Moon Academy does not like empty words, and everything must be realized through action. Thus, during lectures, I will only say things once. All of you had best listen closely, and if you don¡¯t catch something, you will have to deal with the consequences yourself.¡±


    After saying all this, the Immortal master said, ¡°I will now begin ss. My name is Xin Yue. ording to the school rules, all lecturing teachers should be addressed as Esteemed Teacher, and you may also add their surname. Those who do not do this are considered to be breaking the rules of etiquette. During ss, you must remain silent, and questions are not allowed. Any sort of racket, noise, or question is breaking the rules, and the perpetrators will be deducted one point for every incident.¡±


    There were more than a thousand people in this ss. If they all asked questions, he would have no time to lecture.


    ¡°Since this is the first day, I will tell you all about the origins of Basking Moon Academy, the aim of Basking Moon Academy, and the history of several Immortals. The history of the Rosecloud Domain can be traced back to as far as fifteen thousand years ago. There are no written records of the earliest times, and we can only understand a little through investigation of ruins. Among the Immortals that we have some proof of, the Virtue Sage was the earliest and the Law Verifier was the second. At that time, the heavens and earth were infused with spirituality¡­¡±


    He wasn¡¯t teaching them how to cultivate! This left everyone disappointed.


    The Rosecloud Domain had a long history. It was currently divided into four major periods: Remote Antiquity, High Antiquity, Near Antiquity, and the Current Era. Remote Antiquity was fifteen thousand years ago, so long ago that not even those Immortals who cultivated longevity had survived until now. Thus, there were no verifiable historical records. As for High Antiquity, some historical records had been passed down to the present. The Ninedark Martial Lord had been a Titan of the High Antiquity. This time period had been ten thousand years ago. Immortals of this era had already died or had broken out of the domain for parts unknown, and no one knew if they still lived.


    Near Antiquity spanned from five thousand years ago until now, and the real history of the Rosecloud Domain began here.


    Near Antiquity had experienced three periods of great upheaval, each time causing a momentous transformation. The Basking Moon Sect had arisen in the third upheaval, the ¡°Cmity of Primordial Fog¡±, and had slowly grown stronger since then. It had existed for three thousand years, spending eighteen hundred years in ascendence and one thousand years in a golden age. Basking Moon Academy had existed for twelve-hundred-some years. It could be said that the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s golden age was closely connected to the establishment of Basking Moon Academy.


    Most of the students had little interest in the history of Rosecloud, but Tang Jie was burning with enthusiasm.


    Though he could read and write, he had never been properly educated since he hade to the Rosecloud Domain. In order to mix into this world, learning as much as possible about this world in all aspects was necessary.


    Those who had truly experienced society would all feel an endless longing for their school days. Tang Jie, who had once said with a mncholy sigh, ¡°I was happier back in school,¡± and, ¡°If I had a chance to go back to school, I would definitely study hard,¡± naturally wouldn¡¯t waste this chance.


    Thus, not only did he earnestly listen in ss, he even took notes.


    Students of this era rarely took notes, and Tang Jie¡¯s behavior caused Xin Yue to nce at him a few times.


    When the lecture was over, Xin Yue left. Just when everyone thought they could take a break, another Immortal master arrived.


    This was a female teacher who had a voice as pleasant as a singing oriole. But her words made everyone¡¯s hearts freeze.


    ¡°My name is Si Yue¡¯er. I will now lecture everyone on the geography of the Rosecloud Domain.¡±


    They were still in ss, and they still weren¡¯t being taught cultivation. Everyone began to grumble, and not even the threat of losing points could stop the seething ¡°popr discontent¡±.


    They had been standing for an entire hour!


    This Si Yue¡¯er had a rather good temper. Rather than shouting out point deductions, she smiled. ¡°I know that all of you students had a hard timeing to this ce, and that you came here to cultivate Immortality and attain the Dao. But if you do not understand the principles, how can you attain the Dao? My Basking Moon Academy is a vast undertaking that not only teaches Immortal arts, but also teaches everyone the principles of life. If all the Immortals we teach go out to the world with no understanding of the principles by which to conduct themselves as people, always threatening to kill those who defy them, then we would have brought up nothing but devils. It is best to not have such Immortals. Moreover, cultural knowledge is not without its uses. The cultivation world has existed for more than ten thousand years, and while Immortals have been born and died, and the mountains and rivers are ever changing, there are also some things that don¡¯t change. If you understand the workings of the world, you can obtain anything you want from the world. For example, if you go to some river valley and encounter some bizarre object, you might be able to discover something. But if you don¡¯t understand even the basic principles, you might never have any lucky encounters. On the contrary, you might end up walking into a death trap. All of you should understand that there are quite a few forbidden grounds and danger zones in the Rosecloud Domain. If someone were to recklessly wander in, unaware of their power, then all that bitter cultivation of Immortality would essentially be seeking death¡­¡±


    After she said all this, theints finally died away. Si Yue¡¯er gave a satisfied nod. ¡°That¡¯s the right attitude.¡±


    Someone down below said, ¡°It seems like there are other sses after this one?¡±


    Si Yue¡¯er grinned upon hearing this. ¡°Of course. Astrology, history, nature, geography, divination, mathematics, calligraphy and painting, mixed studies¡­ all of them are necessary. The students of Basking Moon Academy, even if they can¡¯t ovee others in strength, have to meet the standard when ites to knowledge, and they certainly aren¡¯t allowed to be uncultured brutes who bring shame to Basking Moon Academy!¡±


    Everyone grew annoyed at this, and someone thumped his chest and stomped his feet as he said, ¡°I came here to cultivate Immortality, not to read books. When are we going to learn how to properly cultivate? I¡¯m practically dying here!¡±


    Wei Tianchong also wanted to shout, but Tang Jie swiftly covered his mouth and indicated that he couldn¡¯t speak.


    Si Yue¡¯er said, ¡°So we have to pack all these sses together. In the mornings, you have culture studies, and in the afternoon, you learn cultivation. Once you¡¯ve passed the literary exam, you naturally no longer need to study culture and everyone can spend their entire day on cultivation.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it was.¡± Everyone sighed in relief.


    But the thought of standing until noon left everyone frustrated.


    Tang Jie once more raised his sign.


    ¡°Seat for sale¡ªfive spirit coins.¡±


    This bastard had increased the price.


    Finally, some young master lost his patience and decided to buy the seat.


    After taking the money, Tang Jie stood up and stood next to Wei Tianchong. In any case, he could still take notes while standing.


    Si Yue¡¯er smiled. ¡°Since all of you understand, let¡¯s proceed ording to the rules.¡±


    What?


    What rules?


    Si Yue¡¯er¡¯s smile suddenly turned cold. ¡°Any sort of racket, noise or question is not permitted during ss. Didn¡¯t Teacher Xin already tell you? All that talking has wasted a lot of time. You, you, you¡­ for causing a racket once, you all lose one point. You, you, you, and you caused a racket twice, so you lose two points. You caused a racket twice and asked a question once. Minus three points!¡±


    She continued to point out at the crowd, and none of those students who had made noise managed to escape. Those students who were pointed out immediately went pale as the monitors came up to take away their points.


    An indignant person pointed at Tang Jie and shouted, ¡°He sold his seat, so why doesn¡¯t he lose points? I won¡¯t ept this! Even if I lose a point, I still have to ask this question!¡±


    Si Yue¡¯er answered, ¡°The ss rules don¡¯t permit making noise, but so long as you stay quiet and don¡¯t interrupt the esteemed teacher, you can do anything you want. In truth, I don¡¯t really care if you listen or not. You could even sleep if you want, but no snoring! He sold his seat without saying anything, so he didn¡¯t break a rule. Why would I deduct points from him?¡±


    Everyone finally understood why Tang Jie had sold his seat by holding up a sign, and realized that he had been ready long ahead of time. When selling the seat just now, all he had done was hold up the sign, put down the sign, take the money, and stand up. Not a single word had been spoken.


    Wei Tianchong finally understood what he had meant by ¡°When you know what you can¡¯t do, you know what you can do!¡±


    In truth, Tang Jie had been performing a test.


    When rules were rigorously carried out to a certain point, they often became inflexible.


    He wanted to know just how inflexible these rules were.


    It now appeared that Basking Moon Academy¡¯s rules were incredibly inflexible.


    Once Si Yue¡¯er had answered the question, she smiled. ¡°As for you, minus one point for asking a question, and for questioning the esteemed teacher¡¯s judgment and speaking disrespectfully, minus three points, for a total of four points.¡±


    The student instantly crumpled.


    Si Yue¡¯er harrumphed, speaking in a smug tone that everyone could hear. ¡°Fifteen hundred people is far too many. The academy only has so many esteemed teachers, so how can we deal with this workload? The unsuitable should go back home as quickly as possible to save us some effort. Xin Yue is a dummy; with that scowl on his face, who would dare to break the rules? I¡¯m still the best. Haven¡¯t I punished all these people in one go?¡±


    Everyone shivered at these words.


    Tang Jie failed to stop Wei Tianchong¡¯s mouth, allowing him to blurt out, ¡°This woman¡¯s really treacherous.¡±


    Tang Jie wanted nothing more than to kick this idiot to death.


    Sure enough, Si Yue¡¯er heard this and turned to smile at Wei Tianchong. ¡°Speaking insolently and ndering the esteemed teacher¡­ Minus five points!¡±


    A monitor student immediately charged out like some baneful devil and snatched Wei Tianchong¡¯s point card. With a wave of his hand, five points became dust in the wind.

 Chapter 52: The First Class (2)

    Once the sses were finally over, Wei Tianchong was dazed and tired, but Tang Jie pulled him up and quickly walked out of the hall.


    Wei Tianchong was just about to ask what the matter was when Tang Jie gestured at him to be quiet. He had learned from experience and no longer dared to ask questions. He and Shi Meng followed Tang Jie out, and once they were a few steps past the door, Tang Jie pulled on him and shouted, ¡°Run!¡±


    ¡°Run? Why?¡±


    ¡°To eat!¡± Tang Jie growled, his body shooting away like a lightning bolt.


    To eat!


    Shi Meng and Wei Tianchong felt like they had awoken from a dream, and immediately started running.


    Seeing the master and his two servants madly running, the other students were startled, and then they realized what was going on. ¡°To eat!¡±


    With a whoosh, all the students rushed to Thousand Taste Pavilion like a charging army. Wei Tianchong¡¯s group was already lined up at the front, panting for breath as they took their food from the window. Sure enough, these were delicacies rich with spirituality, carrying a tasty luster and exceptional aroma.


    ¡°I can finally eat something good!¡± Wei Tianchong sighed as he carried his tray of food to a seat and began to wolf it down.


    Tang Jie chuckled and simply sat down, not touching his food.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you eating yet?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°You¡¯ll find out soon.¡±


    A few momentster, Thousand Taste Pavilion was packed, all of the students forming a long line.


    Tang Jie raised a sign once more. ¡°Spirit food for sale¡ªfull set for 35 spirit coins.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re even selling your lunch?¡± Wei Tianchong¡¯s eyeballs almost fell from their sockets.


    <em>No wonder he wasn¡¯t eating.</em>


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°Why not? I haven¡¯t officially started cultivating yet, so eating these nice things will only strengthen my body. It¡¯s too much waste. I wasn¡¯t able to digest all of the spiritual energy from the spirit wine we had yesterday, which was a great pity, so it¡¯s better to just sell it. My price is much lower than Thousand Taste Pavilion¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re savage!¡± Wei Tianchong was speechless.


    He looked over at Shi Meng, who was so shocked that the food had dropped from his open mouth.


    But he had eaten his meal, so he had no means of selling it.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say this earlier!?¡± Shi Meng painfully said.


    Tang Jie casually replied, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be giving myselfpetition? In this day and age, finding a big client isn¡¯t easy.¡±


    Even Wei Tianchong had eaten his dinner with broth. In this ce, wealthy young masters did not dare to unt their wealth. Thirty-five spirit coins in modern-day terms would be thirty-five thousand yuan if going by the official exchange rate, and it would be over one hundred thousand yuan if going by the ck market exchange rate!


    Even the richest young master wouldn¡¯t dare to eat like this every day, so for Tang Jie, the fewerpetitors, the better.


    Shi Meng awkwardly said, ¡°How could I do something like that?¡±


    Tang Jie sneered, ¡°You almost sound like you were sitting while listening to ss this morning.¡±


    A few momentster, someone finally got sick of the ¡°pig feed¡± and ran over to Tang Jie to buy his spirit food. Of course, Tang Jie didn¡¯t forget to take that customer¡¯s ¡°pig feed¡± in exchange, which he devoured with gusto.


    In the blink of an eye, Tang Jie had made forty spirit coins. His monthly school stipend was only ten taels of silver, so in the space of one morning, he had made an entire year¡¯s worth of money.


    The afternoon ss was for the transmission of arts.


    This was not held at the Ink Fragrance Court, but in front of a lecturing stone held on another peak of the Clear Sky Mountains, Morning Sun Summit. Students needed to traverse the mountains to get there.


    This was without question another trial, and Wei Tianchong had never suffered like this before. After making it halfway, he couldn¡¯t move anymore. He sat on the ground and began to cry, ¡°I¡¯m not walking anymore! I want to go home!¡±


    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t want to, you must. This is the cultivation ss. If you miss out on the transmission of arts, you would havee to this academy for nothing,¡± Tang Jie said as he pulled him along.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t move, I¡¯ll beat you!¡± Tang Jie roared. This was the first time he had used the n discipline stick to threaten Wei Tianchong since leaving the Wei Estate. Although thedy had given him this precious sword, he could not use it whenever he wanted. Thus, Tang Jie was normally not inclined to use this ¡°treasure¡±. However, this was the crucial cultivation ss, so he had no other choice but to threaten.


    Wei Tianchong shivered, knowing that this scoundrel was fully capable of doing it. Shivering, he could only stand up and press forward. As he walked, he continued to grumble, ¡°I¡¯m telling Mom how much suffering you put me through!¡±


    Tang Jie sneered. ¡°Go on; tell her! I promise you thedy won¡¯t care!¡±


    ¡°Nonsense! My mother loves me the most!¡±


    ¡°Mydy spoils the young master, and if thedy were here and saw the suffering you had to endure, she assuredly wouldn¡¯t be able to endure it. But she¡¯s not here, so no matter how much Young Masterins about your suffering to her, so long as she knows that this is for your own good, she won¡¯t feel the slightest heartache.¡±


    ¡°How is that possible?¡± Wei Tianchong was struck dumb.


    ¡°Nothing is impossible,¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°All the parents of the world are like that, hardening their hearts when their children are out of sight.¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. He realized that Tang Jie¡¯s words made sense. When sending him off, his mother had said that he needed to temper himself and prepare himself for suffering. Did his mother truly not care?


    This thought made him panic, and he started to wail, ¡°How could my life be one of such suffering!?¡±


    Tang Jie grew angry and grabbed him. ¡°Suffering? Third Young Master, I¡¯m the one suffering here. No matter what I do, I can¡¯t stop you. It¡¯s only the first day, and you¡¯ve already lost five points! I still need you to be a top-ten disciple. At this rate, I¡¯ll be thanking the heavens if you don¡¯t be a forsaken student!¡±


    When others thought about their plight, they would work harder to improve themselves, but he was forced to bring this fellow up to Celestial Heart. Tang Jie felt a massive headacheing on.


    <em>What in the world inspired me to make that aspiration?</em>


    Wei Tianchong felt extremely embarrassed by Tang Jie¡¯s words, so he gritted his teeth and finally managed to make it to Morning Sun Summit.


    He had initially thought that he waste and would have to stand for ss, but to his surprise, the area in front of the lecturing stone was covered in sitting mats. This time, everyone could sit down.


    Tang Jie pulled on Wei Tianchong, and the three found a ce to sit. It wasn¡¯t long before the other students started arriving. Surprisingly, no one was kept out of the summit.


    Wei Tianchong found it very curious, so he asked Tang Jie, ¡°Why aren¡¯tters being driven away this time? And why does everyone have a seat?¡±


    After thinking it over, Tang Jie answered, ¡°Yesterday and this morning were probably lessons for everyone so that they would all shape up. Moreover, missing out on one or two culture sses wouldn¡¯t have too much of an effect. The cultivation ss, on the other hand, is a big deal, and also the foundation of Basking Moon Academy. Keeping outters and making them miss out on a ss would affect their cultivation for the rest of their lives. In the end, they wouldn¡¯t y such games.¡±


    ¡°I get it!¡± Wei Tianchong was enlightened, and then his face turned bitter. ¡°If I had known earlier, I wouldn¡¯t have pushed myself so hard.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you!¡± Tang Jie was speechless.


    It wasn¡¯t long before a white-browed elder appeared on the lecturing stone.


    His eyes were closed, and he had a bitter expression on his face. When he appeared, the students whispered, ¡°It¡¯s True Person Ku.¡±


    Tang Jie had also heard about True Person Ku. This was an illustrious senior of Basking Moon Academy who had taught countless people and was also respected by themon people.


    Most importantly, True Person Ku had an excellent personality and had received much praise. He presumably wouldn¡¯t entrap the students.


    Sure enough, when True Person Ku arrived, he immediately started lecturing rather than wasting time on chatter.


    ¡°The world is awash with spiritual energy, and divine connections fill the universe. What cultivators cultivate is the spirit of the world. They store spirit within their bodies, merge spirit with their souls, circte spirit through their meridians, and use spirit through arts. Thus, in essence, those who cultivate spirit cultivate their body, soul, arts, and meridians. Of these, the body is the foundation while spells and arts are the exterior, for the purpose of bringing the inner and outer¡­¡±


    As True Person Ku spoke, elegant scrolls depicting to the students how to control spiritual energy appeared.


    A cultivator¡¯s ascent on the Immortal path was truthfully just improvement in how they circted their spiritual energy. Even when one entered the Immortal tform and turned spiritual energy into Immortal Essence, this was nothing more than a higher quality of energy.


    Energy was like a staircase. No matter how you climbed the path of Immortality, whether you jumped or leaped, cried orughed or shouted, you wouldn¡¯t be able to leave the stones that formed the basis of the path.


    But there were a thousand paths with countless turns, so there were still differences when it came to how you ascended.


    The methods by which cultivators used spiritual energy were essentially the same as Xu Muyang had used for his formations, using a series of procedures and arrangements to utilize one¡¯s spiritual energy. Whether they were formations or spell arts, they all involved giving the proper orders to spiritual energy to reach a designated goal and thus manifest Immortal arts.


    This was precisely why all spell arts had a basic restriction: spiritual energy had to be capable of doing such a thing.


    If spiritual energy could never possibly reach an effect, then there was no such Immortal art that could do so, unless you controlled the Great Dao and transcended the limits of energy.


    ¡°Spiritual energy has a form, and thus, it has spirituality and can bemanded, can transform into all things and have limitless uses. But in the end, it has limits. It cannot prate into the underworld or be used on the future, and it is difficult to be used on formless things. Thus, to have form and enter the formless and break the restrictions of energy serves as the ultimate ideal of all cultivators, and this is called the Dao¡­¡±


    The meaning of this was that because spiritual energy had form, it could not be used on illusory things. Thus, there were no Immortal arts that could predict the future and glimpse the secrets of the heavens in this world.


    In other words, in the Great Ster Chiliocosm, there were no such things as fortune tellers and star readers, and those that existed were really just fraudsters. Nor were there spell arts that could find out what was going on one thousand li away with a pinch of the fingers. Yes, one could know what was happening one thousand li away, but it couldn¡¯t be done with a pinch of the fingers!


    Only when one truly controlled the Great Dao could one apply the formed to the formless, breaking the restriction of spiritual energy and obtaining all kinds of absurd abilities.


    Immortal cultivators were also known as Dao cultivators, because the Dao served as one of the ends of the Immortal path. But the Dao was far too ethereal and difficult to understand. Only by slowly progressing on the path of the formed did one have a chance of glimpsing the will of the Dao.


    A journey of one thousand li began with a single step. For any Dao cultivator, to get to the formless, one had to start with the formed. Thus, spiritual energy served as the start of one¡¯s cultivation journey.


    Store spirit within the body, merge spirit with the soul, circte spirit through the meridians, and use spirit through arts¡ªthese four instructions served as a summary of what a cultivator needed to do to use arts. Storing spirit with the body was the beginning of the beginning, and opening the Spirit Eye to store spirit was the first step.


    ¡°The human body is its own world. All Five Elements are present, thus epassing all things. Energy runs through the one hundred channels, manifesting all arts. But while the world is limitless, human strength is limited. To store spirit within the body is to take the Five Elements¡­¡±


    These words spoke of how the human body formed a world of its own, carrying Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements, corresponding to the world atrge. This was why when spiritual energy was circted through this body, one could unleash all the arts of the greater world through this miniature world.


    But as the human body was limited, it could not truly contain the entire world. Thus, one had to choose a path to set on rather than blindly proceeding.


    True Person Ku began to lecture on how to open the Spirit Eye.


    It was often said that the Spirit Eye was where spiritual energy was stored, but this was not entirely correct. It was more urate to say that one had to work through the Spirit Eye to store and use spiritual energy.


    A person with an unopened Spirit Eye was like a brush. To use spiritual energy, one had to constantly absorb more, like a brush needing to constantly be dipped into ink to write. This was the situation Tang Jie was in.


    Someone with an opened Spirit Eye was like a fountain pen, able to write without stopping.


    Thus, the Spirit Eye wasn¡¯t the ink reserve, but the little hole on the tip of the pen. Only with this hole could the spiritual energy in the reservee out in a controlled flow, and through this little hole, the ink could be absorbed back in.


    The distribution of the Five Elements across the human body differed, and where one opened one¡¯s Spirit Eye would havepletely different effects. Thus, cultivators needed to carefully choose where they opened their Spirit Eye.


    The Basking Moon Sect primarily cultivated the Lesser Yin Heart Meridian of the Hand and the Lesser Yin Kidney Meridian of the Foot. Thus, most of their mantras focused on these two meridians, and they would open their Spirit Eyes between these two meridians.


    Of these, the Lesser Yin Hand Heart Meridian originated in the heart, and so it belonged to the heart. The acupuncture points of this system were the Highest Spring, Green Spirit, Lesser Sea, Spirit Path, Inward Connection, Yin Cleft, Spirit Gate, Lesser Mansion, etc.


    The Lesser Yin Foot Kidney Meridian started in the pinky finger and traveled all the way to the sole of the foot, connecting the entire body. The Visceral Manifestation ssic¡¯s first step started from the Lesser Yin Foot Kidney Meridian. Acupuncture points of this meridian included the Bubbling Well, zing Valley, Hidden Gate, and Divine Manor.


    This was why the Spirit Eye could be opened up at various locations. It simply depended on one¡¯s needs.


    For example, Bubbling Well was located at the base of the foot, and as its originator, the kidney, had the element of Water, while the foot was favorable to Earth, the resultant energy was mild and favorable for support. Thus, if one opened up their Spirit Eye with the Bubbling Well as the base, the most appropriate arts to cultivate would be water arts. But there was also some affinity to Earth, and since the kidney meridian had powerful supportive and nurturing abilities, rising in cultivation realms was easier. As a result, one became suitable for cultivating primarily Water arts with Earth arts as a support, and one would advance easily in cultivation, but one wouldn¡¯t be a strong fighter. This approach was more suitable for students that sought a long life.


    But if you were a battle junkie, you might cultivate Fire arts, and so taking this approach would halve your efficacy.


    Besides the location of one¡¯s Spirit Eye, another consideration was the cultivation method of one¡¯s Spirit Eye. Different methods used on the same Spirit Eye would have different effects.


    Thus, before opening the Spirit Eye, one had to confirm one¡¯s future path.


    Why did cultivators have to dere great aspirations?


    It was because only when you were sure of your aspiration would you know what path to take so that you wouldn¡¯t get lost.


    Starting from their foundation, cultivators had to firm up their Origin Hearts. Only when one knew the path one needed to walk in the future could one avoid too many detours, and there were some detours from which there was no going back.


    As True Person Ku exined the functions and element of each meridian, the students felt their horizons broadening. Only now did they realize that Basking Moon Academy¡¯s reputation hadn¡¯t been faked, and the frustration they had felt from all the tribtions before this was greatly reduced.


    When True Person Ku was finally done, everyone realized that the sun was setting.


    True Person Ku waved his horsetail whisk and loudly said, ¡°Today¡¯s ss ends here. Students, you may select a single arts manual from in front of the lecturing stone and use this art to open your Eye. Tomorrow, I will hold a question-answer session. I will hold this question-answer session for students every day. If you do not have any questions, you do not need toe and can cultivate on your own. Remember that without permission, none of these arts are to be transmitted to outsiders. Those who secretly exchange secret arts will be heavily punished.¡±


    Once he was done speaking, tens of thousands of books appeared in front of the lecturing stone.


    These books didn¡¯t actually exist. They floated in front of the stone wall, showing beneath them their names, descriptions saying where the Spirit Eye would be opened, their special attributes, and what was to be avoided.


    It was clear that everyone needed to decide on their final path.


    ¡°Once you make your choice on the Immortal path, there is no going back. Everyone, please consider your choice carefully.¡± After saying this, True Person Ku disappeared.


    The students gathered in front of the lecturing stone. All of those countless books momentarily dazzled them, and they didn¡¯t know which one to choose.


    Wei Tianchong looked at Tang Jie. ¡°Which one do you think I should pick?¡±


    He had unconsciouslye to highly value Tang Jie¡¯s opinion.


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°Each person has their own path, and for your own path, your own choice is still the best. If you would ask me, all I could say is that you first have to understand why it is that you cultivate Immortality!¡±


    Wei Tianchong was taken aback, and he began to seriously ponder the question. He finally muttered, ¡°In truth, I¡¯m only cultivating to live up to Mom¡¯s expectations, the n¡¯s expectations. As for myself¡­ I¡¯ve never really thought about it before.¡±


    As he looked at the countless books floating in front of the lecturing stone, a hint of confusion appeared in his eyes.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°Then think about this. As a person, you must have something you want. The path you choose should be the one that takes you closest to your dream.¡±


    ¡°Then what about you? What are you picking?¡± Shi Meng couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Me?¡± Tang Jie smiled as he pointed at a book. ¡°I choose that one!¡±


    As Tang Jie pointed and the other two looked over, that book turned into a golden stream of light that shot into Tang Jie¡¯s palm and disappeared. The contents of the book automatically appeared in Tang Jie¡¯s mind, but there was no sign of the real thing. Meanwhile, an identical copy of the book appeared in front of the lecturing stone.


    ¡°Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra!¡± the two of them eximed.


    Most of the books here involved the Lesser Yin. The Lesser Sea, as the origin of the Lesser Yin, was the number one Spirit Eye of the Basking Moon Sect.


    Its origin, the heart, belonged to Water, and it was an intersection of points, the sea to which all rivers returned. Its position at the elbow made it easier to circte energy and faster to use arts. The arts manifested were made ofpact and pure energy, so they excelled at attacking hardened positions, and it was good at gathering energy!


    It excelled at swift attacks!


    Excelled at breaking through armor!

 Chapter 53: The Secret

    Once Tang Jie had chosen his starting cultivation technique, Wei Tianchong finally made his choice.


    The Lesser Sea Spiral Essence Mantra.


    This mantra also established the Spirit Eye at the Lesser Sea point, but it didn¡¯t have any other special attributes. It was just that once one cultivated it, one would have a constant and long-term stream of spiritual energy, so it was more suitable for protracted battles.


    The Lesser Sea served as the number one Spirit Eye location for the Basking Moon Sect, and most students would normally choose this point. Only a few students, who had specific requirements or goals, would take other paths.


    The Lesser Sea Spiral Essence Mantra was the easiest of the Lesser Sea mantras.


    In truth, Wei Tianchong simply wanted the best and easiest technique.


    As for Shi Meng, he chose the Water Spring Reflection Mantra.


    The Water Spring point favored nourishment and not battle. Those who cultivated this mantra often had long lives and could easily advance in cultivation, and when they used spells like the Returning Spring spell, the results would be better. Shi Meng was clearly set on increasing his cultivation level and notpeting with anyone.


    He had average aptitude, so he chose his technique in the hopes of advancing in cultivation. Many geniuses were too conceited and would often choose paths that weren¡¯t suitable for them, ending up even worse off than average people.


    80% of the Rosecloud Domain¡¯s ¡°good-for-nothing¡± Spirit Masters were like Shi Meng, including Spirit Master Lu. They sought easy and steady advancement.


    In addition, the Water Spring Mantras actually did have the ability to control water and were suitable for studying Water element spells and arts. While the Lesser Sea Mantras also belonged to the element of Water, in those mantras, the Water element was used for tempering and not for application.


    With the Water Spring Mantra as his foundation, Shi Meng would have a much easier time learning Water spells and arts that could be used to clean the house. He was probably also preparing for a life beyond that of endless servitude.


    These mantras served as the foundation for cultivation. They could only be used to open the Spirit Eye, store energy, andy a foundation,ing without any sort of spell or art. Only when one opened the Spirit Eye could one learn simple spells.


    Once they were done choosing their mantras, the three of them rushed off to get food. s, everyone was ready this time and some people had managed toe even earlier. In the end, they didn¡¯t even get into the first hundred and could only settle for the coarse meal.


    Wei Tianchong had no other choice than to buy some additional food. As he ate, he cursed, ¡°When I finish cultivating the Spiral Essence Mantra and spiritual energy can freely flow through my body, I¡¯ll be as light as a swallow and definitely get here first!¡±


    Shi Meng helplessly reminded him, ¡°This will be rather difficult. In the future, we will probably have even less of a chance.¡±


    ¡°Ah? Why is that?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Because other people are also cultivating. But the biggest problem is that while the Spiral Essence Mantra provides a constant stream of energy and is good for long battles, it¡¯scking in explosiveness, so¡­¡±


    Wei Tianchong understood without needing to hear the rest.


    The Spiral Essence Mantra¡¯s strong point wasn¡¯t speed, so in the future, whenever everyone was cultivating, if Wei Tianchong tried topete in speed, he would definitely lose to those students who had chosen to specialize in speed. This meant that he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to get into the top one hundred again in the future.


    This fact immediately made Wei Tianchong pale. He thumped his chest, hammered his head, and wailed, ¡°If I had known, I would have chosen a mantra that increased my speed!¡±


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. The Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra he had chosen and the Water Spring Reflection Mantra Shi Meng had chosen also did not specialize in speed. Thus, he could already imagine the sight of countless students flying forward while the three of them were left far behind in the back.


    Suddenly, Tang Jie¡¯s eyes shed, and he pped the table and shouted, ¡°I get it!¡±


    All the students nced at him while Wei Tianchong asked, ¡°What did you get?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled and whispered, ¡°Third Young Master, the various rules of Basking Moon Academy all have hidden meanings!¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Apply your studies!¡± Tang Jie sternly said. ¡°You have to frequently use the things you learn to be familiar with them and exhibit their might. Think about it. To eat good food and spend less time in line, the students will undoubtedly make a mad dash at every meal, and so they will probably use the Immortal arts they¡¯ve learned. Isn¡¯t this sort ofpetition the best time to train? The effects would be much better than just burying your head and training alone!¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see!¡± Shi Meng and Wei Tianchong understood.


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°When I was researching the disciple rules, I found that the rules of this academy were rather strange. On one side, they encouragedpetition, but on the other side, they were very strict in various ways, banning this or that, contradicting themselves in many ways. Although the Basking Moon Sect cares about the rules, these rules don¡¯t make sense. But if you look at it from the perspective of cultivation, all of these questions are cleared up. For example, this rule about cleaning your house. How do cultivators have time to clean up their home every day? That means you have to learn a cleaning spell, and though cleaning spells seem simple, since it has too many targets that it needs to be used on, you have to really focus on the subtlety of spiritual energy usage. Thus, you¡¯re practicing your control of spiritual energy. And despite this rule about not asking questions in ss, during the day, I could hold signs up and the teachers didn¡¯t care. What does this mean? Talisman refining! With message talismans, we canmunicate freely in ss, saying anything we want. If you have the skill, you could even put up a sound-blocking formation. In short, Basking Moon Academy has made all these rules not just to teach us how to conduct ourselves as people, but also to put pressure on us to apply our studies!¡±


    ¡°Yes, I get it now,¡± Shi Meng excitedly said, waving his fist.


    ¡°Then banning fights is also a test?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    ¡°Of course. It tests our ability to observe and see through concealment. If we have the ability to notice the monitors before they arrive, we can fight however they want. Of course, we can¡¯t kill anyone.¡± Tang Jie exposed the secret with these words.


    Basking Moon Academy emphasized the rules and did not permit any rule to be broken, but conversely, this also meant that if you had the ability, you could use that ability to break, work around, or even exploit the rules.


    On one side, they kept to the rules, using all these various conventions to restrain everyone, and on the other side, they encouragedpetition and bold advance. Only bold advance under this sort ofrge framework would keep everyone on track and ensure that they didn¡¯t step off the mountain and plunge into the abyss.


    This was the goal of Basking Moon Academy. It was to have everyone realize what it meant when it was said, ¡°The Immortal path is like a mountain road over which ten thousand people vie.¡±


    It took Tang Jie pointing it out for the two of them to finally understand.


    ¡°Then what happens if you can¡¯t do it?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    ¡°Then you obediently follow the rules.¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°If you don¡¯t have the skill, just be an obedient and reserved person. This is also something that Basking Moon Academy wants to tell us. But just like Teacher Xin said, they don¡¯t openly state many things, but show it in their actions. We have to understand the meaning of these actions ourselves.¡±


    ¡°But that also means that I won¡¯t be able to eat spirit food in the future!¡± Wei Tianchong tearfully said. Tang Jie had said so much, but in the end, Wei Tianchong¡¯s real concern was food. The thought that he wouldn¡¯t be able to ovee others in speed left him grieving.


    ¡°Third Young Master doesn¡¯t need to worry about that. I think I know what to do.¡± Tang Jie smiled.


    ¡°What sort of n do you have?¡± Wei Tianchong was excited.


    ¡°Follow me after you¡¯re done eating.¡±


    After they were done eating, Tang Jie took Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng to Spirit Wonder Market.


    Spirit Wonder Market was actually Basking Moon Academy¡¯s misceneous goods store. After all, the students needed to live here, so they needed a store to buy things from. Thus, it had opened a stall here where items that one needed for daily life were sold. There were even essential cultivation resources like magic tools, talisman paper, and spirit pills.


    Wei Tianchong hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to bring them here. He asked, ¡°What are we doing here?¡±


    ¡°Buying things, of course.¡±


    ¡°But the stuff here isn¡¯t cheap.¡±


    ¡°That depends on what you¡¯re buying,¡± Tang Jie chuckled. He saw a stall in the distance that sold grains. There were all sorts of grains on disy, including spirit grains.


    Tang Jie walked over andughed. ¡°I was right. Young Master, look at the price.¡±


    Wei Tianchong looked over and saw that half a kilogram of refined rice was being sold for twenty copper coins. He said in shock, ¡°So cheap?¡±


    In truth, twenty copper coins was rather expensive for half a kilogram of rice. Outside, it would normally go for five to ten copper coins. But in Basking Moon Academy, where one bowl of rice went for one spirit coin, twenty copper coins for half a kilogram was practically free!


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Naturally. Basking Moon Academy is all about applying what you¡¯ve studied, and Immortal arts can be applied to every part of one¡¯s life. If you try to buy ready-made food, you¡¯ll have to pay an astronomical price, but if you buy your own rice to cook, then the price will be much cheaper. But this still isn¡¯t enough¡­¡±


    Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Shopkeeper, might I ask if you sell seeds at this store?¡±


    A middle-aged woman walked out of the store and warmly smiled at Tang Jie. ¡°Little dear, you¡¯ve asked an excellent question. My store does have seeds, not just for refined rice, but also for spirit grain.¡±


    ¡°What price?¡±


    The woman smiled. ¡°The refined rice is sold at wholesale price, but the spirit grains differ ording to quality. The cheapest goes for one spirit coin per tael.¡±


    ¡°As expected.¡± Tang Jie pped his hands andughed.


    While buying rice to cook still made the store a small profit, buying the seeds would mean paying wholesale price, and when it came to spirit rice, it was actually even cheaper¡ªone spirit coin per tael wasn¡¯t a price you could get outside.


    But nting spirit rice took time, so before the harvest, one still needed to buy raw rice to cook for one¡¯s meals.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°This Basking Moon Academy wants us to do everything personally, to feel personal hardship through the process, and to train our spells and arts. To make rice, we need to know how to use fire-controlling spells, and to farm, we need to train in cloud and rain spells.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that we¡¯ll have to grow our own food?¡± Shi Meng was also getting excited. After all, he had grown up in poverty and didn¡¯t care about this sort of hardship.


    ¡°Naturally.¡± The one to speak this time was the middle-aged woman. She cupped her hands in greeting and said, ¡°My three little dears, congrattions on finally realizing the secret to survival in this school. I look forward to the three of you continuing to work hard and living up to the hopes of the academy. In addition, I would ask that the three of you keep this a secret. It would be best if the studentsprehended such things on their own.¡±


    Tang Jie bowed to the woman, ¡°Madam, thank you for your instructions. This lowly one will remember. Might I ask your name?¡±


    Everyone in Basking Moon Academy was a student or an Immortal master. Tang Jie didn¡¯t even dare to be careless around a woman selling rice.


    But the woman simply chuckled. ¡°You may just call me Madam Shui.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was so happy that he wasughing. ¡°So it was like that. In the future, if I can¡¯t outrun the others, I can grow my own¡­ food¡­ to eat¡­ Oh no!¡±


    Wei Tianchong suddenly paled, his tone suddenly changing.


    ¡°Young Master, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to grow food,¡± Wei Tianchong bitterly said.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°And I thought that it was something big. In truth, if you want to eat, you don¡¯t have to grow and farm. If we can buy rice seeds, I presume that the same is true for chickens, ducks, and other kinds of meat. We should be able to raise our own. If we have extra, we can even sell it to other students. After all, we can¡¯t make everything ourselves, so we¡¯ll need to trade.¡±


    Wei Tianchong got it. ¡°It¡¯s no wonder our houses have so much empty space in the courtyard. That empty space is for us to provide for ourselves, whether it¡¯s farming crops, raising animals, or digging out ponds. The academy has no rules about this, so we can choose what to do with it.¡±


    ¡°No wonder none of the upperssmen go to Thousand Taste Pavilion,¡± Shi Meng said.


    Tang Jie simply chuckled. In truth, when he arrived at Spirit Wonder Market, he had confirmed his theory. This was because all those upperssmen that they hadn¡¯t seen¡­ were trading their products here. This market was actually mostly formed from students.


    ¡°That is so.¡± The woman covered her mouth and smiled. ¡°Everyone has their own ambitions and strong points, and so students should do what it is they want or what they¡¯re good at. So long as it doesn¡¯t break the academy¡¯s rules, the academy will permit it. Does this young master have any particr skill?¡±


    Wei Tianchong froze.


    He thought the question over, and his plump face reddened as he shamefully said, ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t do anything!¡±

 Chapter 54: Lesser Sea Grotto Metal

    Wei Tianchong said nothing on the way back.


    Only when they were back in the Meditation Garden, as he watched Tang Jie and Shi Meng cleaning up the house, splitting the spirit seeds they had bought, and preparing the ground, did Wei Tianchong suddenly ask, ¡°Tang Jie, am I not really useless?¡±


    ¡°Young Master, where did this questione from?¡±


    ¡°I know even if you don¡¯t say anything.¡± Wei Tianchong dejectedly sat on a stone stool. ¡°In your eyes, I¡¯m probably just someone who came from a good family. Outside of the Wei n, I¡¯m just a loser who can¡¯t do anything. Without the two of you, I might not even be able to survive¡­¡±


    Shi Meng hurriedly said, ¡°Young Master, you can¡¯t say such things. You¡¯re the young master, so we should serve you. That¡¯s only natural.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to trick me, Shi Meng, and I didn¡¯t ask you. I asked Tang Jie. Tang Jie, you won¡¯t try to deceive me, right?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. Putting the spirit seeds to the side, he walked up to Wei Tianchong¡¯s side and sat down. He grabbed his own left hand, raised a finger, and suddenly pulled it back. The finger bent to almost ny degrees, and Wei Tianchong stared in shock. Tang Jie asked him, ¡°Do you know how to do this?¡±


    Wei Tianchong shook his head.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°It¡¯s a little talent. My bones are more flexible than most people¡¯s, but this talent isn¡¯t good for anything.¡±


    Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t get what he meant. Tang Jie continued, ¡°Actually, every person has their own talent, but it¡¯s different depending on the person, and some talents are more useful than others, with some talents having no use at all. In my view, for the young master, the Wei n is essentially the talent you were born with, and it¡¯s a rather useful one. Then, is having a talent wrong?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. So you¡¯re saying that it¡¯s not wrong that I don¡¯t know these things?¡± Wei Tianchong excitedly asked.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s not wrong. As cultivators, we are born in mortality and seek to shed mortality, and is our goal not to rid ourselves of earthly frustrations? Since you were born in a great n, you were born without a need to wash your own clothes, so why, when you¡¯re cultivating Immortality, do you have to learn such things? Isn¡¯t this like the tail wagging the dog?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    Wei Tianchong grew even more excited at these words. Meanwhile, Shi Meng was in disbelief. He had believed that Tang Jie would use this chance to reproach Wei Tianchong a little more, but instead, he had said something like this.


    <em>This ttery¡­ Do you not see it!?</em>


    ¡°But¡­¡± Tang Jie trailed off.


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s heart immediately tightened. ¡°¡®But¡¯ what?¡±


    ¡°But while having a talent isn¡¯t wrong, not understanding how to use this talent is a grave mistake. It isn¡¯t wrong for Young Master to be born of a great n and to have great wealth and prestige avable to him, but if you don¡¯t properly use these resources to diligently cultivate Immortality, eventually bing even less than an ordinary person, then that would be horrible. Thus, Young Master, you don¡¯t need to know these menial tasks, but you must practice your Immortal arts. If you can¡¯t even do that¡­ then you¡¯re really nothing more than trash!¡± Tang Jie firmly said.


    He hadn¡¯t been using this chance to advise Wei Tianchong to change his bad andzy habits.


    The young master was the young master, and his habits had been nurtured over many years. Such things couldn¡¯t be changed on a whim. He was dejected today, but he might return to his old ways tomorrow.


    A person¡¯s momentary enlightenment could never be believed in. Few could suddenly be enlightened and change overnight. If one¡¯s nature were that easy to change, it wouldn¡¯t have been their nature in the first ce.


    But on the other hand, today¡¯s blow had cut down some of Wei Tianchong¡¯s pride. It had allowed him to understand that a great n had its advantages, but relying purely on a n wouldn¡¯t suffice. The only proper path was to utilize one¡¯s background in a n properly.


    Even if he couldn¡¯t do it now, at least he knew what was correct. In the past, he had not realized it at all.


    Moreover, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t wrong. In Basking Moon Academy, farming and other menial tasks were just methods, not goals. There was no need to use them to verify that the young master had matured.


    Wei Tianchong asked, ¡°How do you think I should use my advantage?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very simple. Young Master, aren¡¯t you very talented when ites to carving? Normally, it would take a long time and a lot of investment to seed in this pursuit. It¡¯s not something that you can seed at very easily. But since Young Master already has a foundation in this pursuit because of your family background, you might as well try it out. At leastpared to those other students who are learning minor spells so that they can provide for themselves, you can ess an even higher level of cultivation.¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°You¡¯re right! Starting from today, I¡¯ll devote my focus there. I¡¯ll definitely show good results.¡±


    Tang Jie grabbed Wei Tianchong¡¯s hand and excitedly said, ¡°This old ve has waited far, far too long for you to say such words. Young Master, you¡¯ve finally matured!¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡­ Shi Meng¡­ Once all the jobs that needed to be done were finished, Tang Jie returned to his residence, cleaned up his room, and then sowed the spirit grain seeds. Besides that, he also bought some flowers for his courtyard.


    Wei Tianchong even teased him for this, saying that he had gotten so used to being a gardener that he had even brought the habit to school.


    Once this was all done, Tang Jie prepared to cultivate the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra.


    The Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra could be considered one of the best and strongest of the basic cultivation techniques provided by the Basking Moon Sect, but it was also one of the most difficult.


    The greatest attribute of this mantra was its ability to condense energy into a powerful, needle-like bolt of energy. Thus, it was suitable for cultivating armor-piercing and other such attack arts. It was capable of punching through metal and shattering jade. Thus, without using any sort of art or spell, one could unleash a solid needle of spiritual energy from one¡¯s finger after one seeded in cultivating this technique.


    With this as the foundation, armor-piercing spells and the like would be more effective, but this was also why cultivating this technique was more demanding and moreplicated than cultivating other mantras.


    As he entered a meditative state, Tang Jie began to follow the memorized mantra and take in spiritual energy.


    Spiritual energy entered through the Jade Gate and first traveled through the Lesser Yin Heart Meridian of the Hand. The spiritual energy would be made to move in a spiral, and it would be transformed as it traveled through each point of the meridian. Once it had traversed the entire meridian and returned to the starting point, a loop would beplete. The energy would then travel to another meridian to go through another loop.


    The human body had twelve meridians, and there were twelve loops. Once the twelve loops wereplete, the energy spiral would be a whirlpool and enter the Lesser Sea. It would create a Spiritual Space within the body there, which would be where spiritual energy would be stored. The point at which energy entered was called the Spirit Eye.


    In this way, the first step to cultivation wasplete, and it was normally called a Major Circuit Heaven.


    Through repetition of this process, the Spirit Eye would be fully opened and the Spiritual Space expanded, at which time one could be said to have attained initial sess.


    It sounded simple, but when he actually tried it, Tang Jie realized that spiritual energy was very difficult to control.


    When he used energy in the past, he simply took in and released, only ever attempting to maneuver the energy through his body. He had never had to deal with various transformations in the middle. He had to learn how to control these transformations while also guiding the spiritual energy throughout his entire body.


    This was the most unique attribute of the orthodox mantras. They emphasized steady progress, with even the worst technique still making sure to nurture the other meridians, though the degree to which each meridian was focused on differed. The greatest advantage this bestowed was that one could cultivate whatever one wanted in the future without any sort of problem with the foundation.


    Those techniques that were all about quick gains and rapid progress would often only focus on one main meridian and a few auxiliary meridians. The more extreme ones would consider a single loop to be a Major Circuit Heaven, but in the end, a single block of wood could not hold alone. Over the long term, there would only be a strong trunk and weak branches, and those meridians that were not nurtured would gradually wither away and no longer be able to be cultivated.


    Failing to cultivate in the proper manner might even result in being deformed.


    The Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra was the mostplicated of the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s foundation techniques. Though it focused on the Lesser Yin Meridian as its main meridian, it was also very demanding on the other meridians. Its structure was one king, two ministers, and nine generals. The Lesser Yin Hand Heart Meridian was the king, the Lesser Yin Foot Kidney Meridian and the Greater Yang Hand Small Intestine Meridian were the ministers, and the remainder were the generals.


    Thus, the twelve loops were allplex and had high requirements.


    Tang Jie¡¯s work could bepared to going up a mountain while performing gymnastics. Not only could he not make any mistakes, he also needed to switch paths, and only when he had taken every path would he be considered to have officially climbed the mountain.


    If one made a misstep, a lot of energy would be wasted, and it would often be the case that one ran out of energy halfway through. Let alone twelve different loops to form an energy whirlpool, even one basic loop was impossible.


    And this was only the first level of the mantra.


    But Tang Jie wasn¡¯t in a rush.


    He knew that a Circuit Heaven was just like typing on a keyboard. It took practice to get from taking ages to type a single letter to typing several hundred characters per minute.


    But the Circuit Heaven was even moreplicated than a keyboard, and more difficult, so familiarity would take much longer.


    The importance of the Jade Gate now made itself evident.


    The Jade Gate was where spiritual energy was taken into the body. The more open a Jade Gate was, the more spiritual energy could be drawn in at one time and the stronger one¡¯s spiritual senses would be. This allowed one to more confidently guide energy through the meridians and also allowed more to be lost before causing problems, giving a greater chance toplete an energy whirlpool and perhaps even create a more effective energy whirlpool.


    One couldpare the Jade Gate to a sluice gate. The more the sluice gate was opened, the more water woulde in, and the more powerful the force of the water would be.


    A three-cycle-Jade-Gate rookie might need seven or eight days toplete twelve loops, whereas a nine-cycle Jade Gate might need only one day. The gap was obvious.


    Tang Jie felt like controlling the spiritual energy in his body was like wearing rollerskates untrained. The slightest movement would send him uncontrobly rolling off in a random direction, and a mistake could have him lying on his back instantly.


    In terms of cultivation, this would be spiritual energy asionally breaking free and ramming into the walls of the meridians, thus injuring the cultivator.


    Although the Basking Moon Sect was the orthodox sect and all of its mantras were extremely safe, injuries from failed attempts to cultivate were impossible to avoid. In this brief period of time, Tang Jie had already had five impacts with his meridians, and his chest was wracked with pain. And this was energy that had been refined and condensed into a needle. Having an energy needle jam itself into the walls of one¡¯s meridians was not a pleasant experience.


    The pain in his chest meant that all his mishaps were primarily taking ce there.


    The Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra had energy enter through the Jade Gate and erupt at the heart. This was equivalent to stumbling at one¡¯s doorstep.


    He could only helplessly shake his head. But he knew that this was because he still wasn¡¯t familiar with the process. As he cultivated more and gradually familiarized himself with the process, he would probably be able to spread the pain from his chest to all over his body¡ªa truly ambitious idea.


    Because of the bacsh, Tang Jie didn¡¯t keep pushing against the problem. He stopped to rest a little and massage his chest.


    He already understood that diligence couldn¡¯t always make up for clumsiness.


    Cultivators did not advocate excessive cultivation precisely because they feared hurting themselves in cultivation and damaging their meridians, thus creating problems in the future. In this aspect, not even nine-cycle Jade Gates could help out.


    To tell the truth, a nine-cycle Jade Gate was like Wei Tianchong¡¯s family background. It granted a higher starting point, but you still had to rely on yourself for the rest of the road.


    Of course, ack of talent could be supplemented with more resources.


    By consuming spirit medicines during cultivation to increase the quantity of spiritual energy, one could temporarily increase one¡¯s aptitude. But this would cease once the medicines stopped working, so it couldn¡¯t bepared to someone with talent.


    Tang Jie had sold off most of the medicines Xu Muyang had left for him long ago during his flight, and the rest he had given to the Wu couple for their health. The only medicine Tang Jie had was the spirit medicine that he had embezzled from Spirit Master Lu all those years ago. s, it was only half a bottle, and it wasn¡¯t the right medicine for the job. Using it would waste more than he gained.


    ¡°Then what if I continue to force cultivation, and once I¡¯m injured, I use the medicine to treat myself? But the medicine might still not be right for the job,¡± Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but wonder.


    ¡°Hold on¡­¡± Tang Jie suddenly realized something. He muttered, ¡°Don¡¯t I cultivate the Visceral Manifestation ssic? Spiritual energy enters the body, the blood, and the bones, and I¡¯ve been washing my meridians for three years. My body should be much better than others¡¯. I haven¡¯t been sick in three years, and even whipshes recover very quickly. My ability to recover from impacts to my meridians should also be better, right?¡±


    As he realized this, his eyes brightened.

 Chapter 55: Spirit Objects

    The next day, after the culture sses, Tang Jie went to Morning Sun Summit. Sure enough, Daoist Ku was already waiting at the lecturing stone, and many disciples had gathered in front of him. All of them clearly had problems that they hade across while cultivating.


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng hadn¡¯te, instead choosing to stay in their rooms and cultivate. They had run into the same situation as Tang Jie and were currently trying to get used to spirit sensing.


    Frightened by the rules of Basking Moon Academy, the students were all much more obedient, all of them standing in line to ask their questions.


    A student asked, ¡°Esteemed Teacher, this lowly one was practicing the Divine Gate Energy Controlling Artst night, but when I was moving energy through the Green Spirit point, the energy suddenly dispersed. What is the reason for this?¡±


    Daoist Ku replied, ¡°The Green Spirit is about rectifying energy and letting it proceed ording to its nature, and so when you move energy through this point, you should let nature take its course. The Divine Gate Energy Controlling Art emphasizes control, so excessively controlling energy is a must. Since these things are at odds with each other, it is not strange for the energy to disperse. Oveing this obstacle is simple. Either you let the energy flow naturally or you control the energy by force. You must choose one method or the other, and they will have different effects. Simply choose the one that fits your mood.¡±


    ¡°This lowly one understands.¡±


    The student withdrew, and another student came forward with a question.


    Tang Jie very earnestly listened. The Major Circuit Heaven revolution seemed like a simple energy absorption process, but it was abination of many principles of the human body. Every line and every acupuncture point had a reason to exist. As energy passed through them, it would either transform in ordance with the principle or be forcefully guided through, but no matter which route one chose, it would be closely connected to the nature of the point in question.


    Thus, to master the Major Circuit Heaven, one had to understand the function of every part of the human body, its guiding principle and significance.


    Basking Moon Academy didn¡¯t have a ss that specifically lectured on such things. The culture sses in the morning did discuss such things, but the majority of students didn¡¯t care about it that much. It was only when they ran into problems that they realized how important this was.


    Daoist Ku had a rather good personality. One of the esteemed teachers of the culture sses would have probably said with a grim face, ¡°I already exined this in the morning. Since you couldn¡¯t be bothered to listen, go and think about the problem yourself!¡±


    Basking Moon Academy¡¯s thousands of years of development had produced a very mature system, with each step having deep significance.


    Even more rare was that they didn¡¯t use modern force-feeding teaching techniques, instead teaching ording to need, allowing the students to discover their own problems in the process of cultivation. It probably wouldn¡¯t be long before the students realized the importance of the culture sses.


    But for Tang Jie, problems of the arts and sciences had never been problems at all. In this aspect, he was able to quickly deduce many things from one case, and he very soon understood the significance of all the meridians and points that he needed to cultivate. At the moment, all he didn¡¯t understand was the corresponding transformations.


    Of course, if he really understood them, then he could design his own mantra.


    Once all the students in front were done asking questions, it was finally Tang Jie¡¯s turn.


    Tang Jie stepped forward and bowed. ¡°Esteemed Master, I would like to know how one knows when one¡¯s body has reached its limit from too much cultivation and should cease cultivation.¡±


    Daoist Ku smiled at this question. ¡°In all things, you cannot rush too much. Cultivation is a dangerous path, and every mistake has a certain effect on the body. It is just that our bodies will recover on their own most of the time. I understand your meaning. You wish to rapidly improve through harsh cultivation, but finding a limit on this matter is extremely difficult. After all, every person is different. Normally, when energy begins to run astray and jolts the meridians, you should take a small break. But some people with tough constitutions can continue to press forward. However, when the blood energy begins to roil and your spiritual breathing falls into disarray, you must immediately stop!¡±


    ¡°This lowly one understands!¡± Tang Jie bowed and withdrew.


    Daoist Ku suddenly added, ¡°If you wish to elerate your cultivation without regard for injury, I rmend you learn the Internal Breathing spell. This is a spell for surveying the spiritual energy in your body and determining if you have any internal injuries. It is a necessary cultivation spell for many studies. Learning it is very simple, as it is just a small spell. Anyone who understands how to circte spiritual energy can use it. But I don¡¯t rmend this. After all, the road is long. The Internal Breathing spell can only check for injuries, not heal them. Once you discover a problem, the injury will still be there and you must still be cautious!¡±


    ¡°Esteemed Teacher, thank you for your guidance. I will be careful!¡±


    Tang Jie withdrew, and another student naturally came up to ask a question. Tang Jie wasn¡¯t in a rush to leave. He stood on the side and continued to listen to the various questions, asionally discussing cultivation with other students. This Daoist Ku was truly a good person, permitting the students to privately converse. So long as they didn¡¯t discuss the specific details of their cultivation arts, they could discuss cultivation. It was just that they couldn¡¯t talk so loudly that they disturbed others.


    As he was listening, a voice suddenly rang out. ¡°Seeking rapid advancement at the expense of your body? Brother Tang, you don¡¯t think that getting into the top ten disciples requires only a high cultivation level, do you?¡±


    Turning around, he saw a refined young man holding a folding fan. Though he couldn¡¯t be described as a god, he was quite handsome. It was just that the pride on his face stirred up distaste in others.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t find it weird that this fellow knew his name. Quite a few students knew him from his deration at the gate to the academy and his interaction with Li Yu on the ship.


    ¡°Might I ask for you¡­¡± Tang Jie turned around to ask.


    Before the young man could answer, another student scoffed, ¡°You¡¯ve never heard of You Shaofeng, the son of the Lord of Yangling? What a simpleton!¡±


    The speaker was probably the young man¡¯s servant student. Tang Jie didn¡¯t even nce at him. He tilted his head and thought a little before dering, ¡°Never heard of him.¡±


    That You Shaofeng was expecting him to at least say something like ¡°Honored to meet you¡± or ¡°Nice to meet you¡±, but he had gotten a reply like this! He closed his folding fan angrily and pointed it at Tang Jie. ¡°You!¡±


    Apparently to himself, Tang Jie said, ¡°He¡¯s just a mortal, so why should I have heard about him? Should we immortal cultivators have to care about some mortal¡¯s status? How bizarre.¡±


    You Shaofeng was so furious that his body was trembling. If not for the strict rules, he would have already started a fight.


    He growled, ¡°A servant student dares to be so arrogant, a five-cycle-Jade-Gate fantasizes about entering the top ten? I look forward to seeing how you end up dying in the future!¡±


    Before Tang Jie could reply, another voice called, ¡°Yo, Young Master You, this is a little too much. This is a school, not some ruthless and barbaric battlefield. How could you so easily talk about life and death here? I didn¡¯t cultivate Immortality so that I could get into fights on a whim.¡±


    Two other people, a man and a woman, walked over.


    The man was holding a copy of ¡°Treatise on Human Order¡±. The woman wore a long gown of purple gauze, but she was wearing the moon-white robes of the academy beneath it. She was casually waving around a willow branch in her hand, and her appearance was rather pretty.


    The one who had spoken was none other than the woman with the willow branch.


    You Shaofeng grimaced at the appearance of these two. ¡°Shu Mingyang, Liu Hongyan, what are you two doing here?¡±


    Shu Mingyang!


    Liu Hongyan!


    Tang Jie raised an eyebrow upon hearing these two names.


    It had been three days since the new students had arrived at the academy. They were all strangers at first, but as they gradually grew ustomed to each other, the reputations of some people began to spread.


    For example, Tang Jie was currently one of the celebrities among the new students. He was known as ¡°Mad Student Tang Jie¡± for his deration made in front of the school.


    Shu Mingyang and Liu Hongyan could also be considered celebrities among the new students.


    Shu Mingyang (Book Famous) perfectly fit his name, exuding a thick schrly aura. He sought peace for the world and practiced the Great Dao of Human Order. He was normally one of few words and liked to read the ¡°Treatise on Human Order¡± when he was free, but nobody dared to underestimate him.


    For he had an eight-cycle Jade Gate!


    In this ss, there was one person with a nine-cycle Jade Gate, four people with an eight-cycle Jade Gate, nine people with a seven-cycle Jade Gate, and twenty-four with a six-cycle Jade Gate. Shu Mingyang was one of the four students with an eight-cycle Jade Gate.


    Thus, even though he wasn¡¯t a noble scion or a servant student, Basking Moon Academy had made an exception and admitted him. No one in Basking Moon Academy dared to look down on him.


    As for Liu Hongyan, she had a six-cycle Jade Gate, so she wasn¡¯t part of the high grade and hadn¡¯t been given an exception. However, through enormous persistence and resolve, she had walked the Fiend Demon Path and obtained admission.


    The Fiend Demon Path was a chance Basking Moon Academy gave to particrly determined potential students among themon people. It was a dangerous path that had many fiends and demons. Moreover, no matter how much you walked, only the top three were admitted.


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t taken this path not because he was afraid, but because too few people took the path. Godhead Pce would probably send people to watch it, so he would probably be captured before even getting onto the path.


    That Liu Hongyan was able to stand out on the Fiend Demon Path was a sign that she possessed not only astonishing willpower, but impressivebat prowess. Such a feat would have been impossible without some skill in mortal martial arts. This was precisely why she was rather well known among the new students.


    The two of them had relied on themselves to get into Basking Moon Academy, so it wasn¡¯t strange for them to be together, and they naturally wouldn¡¯t fear this You Shaofeng.


    As You Shaofeng spoke, Shu Mingyang didn¡¯t even raise his head, continuing to read his book. Meanwhile, Liu Hongyan chuckled. ¡°Young Master You, what are you saying? Are you saying we can¡¯te to Morning Sun Summit? I just thought that your tone was too boastful, so I made a few casualments. Was that enough to offend Young Master You? If Young Master You doesn¡¯t like it, why not let Hongyanpensate you?¡±


    She charmingly smiled, but her eyes were cold and sharp, indicating that she had no intention of paying any sort ofpensation.


    You Shaofeng grunted. ¡°No matter how boastful my tone, it can¡¯tpare to Mad Student Tang Jie who dered that he would enter the top ten.¡±


    Shu Mingyang suddenly spoke. ¡°When speaking of ambitions, how can one be boastful? As a cultivator, I seek to enter the Heavenly Dao through the Human Dao, which is already a lofty ambition. If you do not even dare to strive for the top ten disciples, why even cultivate? What does it matter if he has only a five-cycle Jade Gate? This aptitude is not particrly bad, and it¡¯s not like there are no people with five cycles in the Rosecloud Domain who have entered the Violet Pce Realm.¡±


    ¡°Those are as rare as Phoenix feathers and Qilin horns!¡± You Shaofeng retorted.


    ¡°But they do exist, even those of the Immortal tform,¡± Shu Mingyang replied, and then he said no more.


    Having been verbally thwarted by the pair, You Shaofeng was so angry that he could hardly speak. He stomped his feet and walked away, but he remembered to shoot Tang Jie a re before leaving.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t be bothered with him. Meanwhile, Shu Mingyang and Liu Hongyan walked over.


    Shu Mingyang didn¡¯t like to talk, so it was still Liu Hongyan speaking. ¡°It seems like Young Master Tang¡¯s deration in front of the academy has brought you a lot of trouble.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not strange,¡± Tang Jie breezily replied. ¡°I¡¯m just a little servant student, yet I dared to make such a bold deration in front of the academy gate. It would be far stranger if people didn¡¯t resent me¡­ though I don¡¯t exactly know what they have to resent.¡±


    Liu Hongyan covered her mouth and chuckled. ¡°You know that people will resent you, but you don¡¯t know why? That¡¯s a rare sight.¡±


    ¡°Not rare at all. If someone bes famous, trouble is certain to follow. There¡¯s no celebrity in the world that isn¡¯t cursed at by someone. There will always be those petty people who inexplicably can¡¯t stand the sight of you, and those people who will twist ck into white, hating you the better you do¡­ If you went and asked them, they wouldn¡¯t be able to give you a proper reason. All they would say is that they just don¡¯t like you, and then like mad dogs, they¡¯ll bite you, attack you, nder you, like you killed their entire family.¡±


    ¡°Excellent words. I was wondering in what way Mad Student Tang Jie would be mad, but it now seems that you¡¯re someone who understands the ways of the world,¡± Liu Hongyan said with a smile. She looked over Tang Jie with curiosity and appreciation in her eyes.


    Tang Jie casually said, ¡°Compared to Liu Hongyan of the Fiend Demon Path and the eight-cycle Young Master Shu, I am still verycking.¡±


    The three of them began to chat, listening to Daoist Ku answering questions as they did, and they ended up bing friends.


    Once the ss was over and everyone went back, Tang Jie went over to the market to seek out the Internal Breathing spell. This spell was considered a staple good, a minor spell used for inspecting the body, so it could be directly bought from the market rather than going to the academy.


    This was also why it was a spell recorded in a book rather than one of those illusory books that inscribed their contents into the mind. Real arts were all passed on without the use of paper.


    Tang Jie spent three spirit coins to buy the Internal Breathing spell and returned to the Carefree House. He saw that Little Yiyi was ying around in the garden, and next to Yiyi, several little buds had sprouted out of the earth.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Tang Jie was taken aback, and then he realized that these were the spirit grain seeds he had nted yesterday.


    Spirit grains absorbed spiritual energy to grow, and growing them wasn¡¯t easy. It normally took several years for them to ripen. In areas abundant with spiritual energy like this ce, it would still take a year and a half. How had they already begun to sprout after one night?


    As he reeled in shock, Tang Jie realized something and looked at Yiyi. ¡°Did you do this?¡±


    Little Yiyi saw that Tang Jie had returned and rushed into Tang Jie¡¯s embrace. Like a baby searching for milk, she buried her head in Tang Jie¡¯s chest. When she heard Tang Jie speak, she raised her head and seriously nodded. ¡°Mm, it¡¯s very fun. When they saw me, they were itching to grow out of the ground!¡±


    <em>They were itching toe out of the ground when they saw you?</em>


    Tang Jie felt speechless over this little thing¡¯s way of speaking.


    <em>Fine, at least you know how to use the word ¡°itching¡± in that way.</em>


    Putting aside any hope of getting a proper answer out of her, Tang Jie inspected the little buds himself. He discovered that it was only a small number of seeds, not all of the spirit grains.


    But all of the ones that had sprouted belong to a single kind: Painted Eyebrow.


    Painted Eyebrow was a kind of spirit grain, but while it had a pretty name, it had average properties. It belonged to the Wood element, and after eating it, those who cultivated Wood essence energy would receive additional aid.


    Tang Jie had bought several different kinds of seeds to see what sort of effect they had. This Painted Eyebrow had somehow grown faster under Yiyi¡¯s influence, but she hadn¡¯t affected any of the other kinds. Did this have to do with the element? Was it because they were of the same element or because they wereplementary elements? What was the secret here?


    Moreover, even the Painted Eyebrows had different degrees of growth. Some had just broken out of the ground, while others were as long as a finger.


    Tang Jie carefully questioned Little Yiyi, and through her garbled answers, he finally understood that the region with the best growth¡­ was where Little Yiyi had urinated.


    Tang Jie now understood that Little Yiyi was a spiritual lifeform and a grass sprite, so the liquids in her body had a stimting effect on nts that were simr in nature to her¡­ but this required frequent watering.


    Once he understood this, he sighed in disappointment.


    This meant that he still couldn¡¯t take Little Yiyi as the golden finger that could elerate the growth of nts. At best, this could only elerate the growth of a little pinch of spirit grains.


    <em>Mm, it¡¯s still better to be able to harvest some early.</em> Tang Jie decided to have Yiyi live in the courtyard from now on.


    Tang Jie suddenly had an idea and went out again.


    He went back to the market and bought some young fish, then he went back to the Carefree House and dug out a ditch in his garden that connected to the little stream outside. Once he had the water flowing in, he dug out a little pit and put the young fish inside. He then took out Li Yu¡¯s golden scale and ced it in the water.


    He had examined this scale quite a few times, but he still didn¡¯t understand how to use it. Now, through Yiyi, he had an idea.

 Chapter 56: Opening the Spirit Eye

    Tang Jie spent the night continuing to study and practice the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra. At the same time, he constantly used the Internal Breathing spell to inspect his body and ensure that the impacts weren¡¯t too much for his body to handle.


    To his delight, he realized that it really was as he had predicted. The constitution conferred by the Visceral Manifestation ssic had greatly improved the ability of his meridians to take impacts.


    ording to what Daoist Ku had said during the day, if energy ran astray, the students would have to take a short break, but he could repeatedly circte energy, and only after two or three times would he feel a jolt to his meridians. As for the ¡°blood energy roiling and spiritual breathing disarray¡± that Daoist Ku had spoken of, six or seven mistakes would cause his blood energy to roil a little, but his spiritual breathing remained steady.


    Even when he used the Internal Breathing spell to check, he found that there were nosting side effects.


    Not only that, with just a small break, all of the damage would disappear, and he could continue.


    This let him essentially cultivate for twice as long as others. He finally seeded in pushing the energy to the Lesser Sea point and dispersing it through his body,pleting the first loop, the Lesser Yin primary meridian loop, which was the most important and mostplicated.


    While he was still far away frompleting a Major Circuit Heaven, he had made incredible progress.


    From this, Tang Jie also found out how difficult cultivation really was. Simply creating an energy whirlpool took so much time. Using this energy whirlpool to open and expand a Spiritual Space would probably take much more effort.


    When a Spiritual Space was first opened, it could only take in ten drops of spiritual liquid. A Spirit Spring could hold one hundred drops, a Spirit Lake could hold one thousand, and a Spirit Sea could hold ten thousand. Each step was a tenfold increase in capacity. Spiritual liquid was a representation of how much spirit power one could store. Essentially, it was the mana required to use spells.


    Afterpleting the first step, Tang Jie felt sore all over and finally stopped cultivating. But he realized that it was already early in the morning and almost time for ss. Sure enough, when cultivating Immortality, time just flew by.


    Fortunately, he wasn¡¯t sleepy. Cultivation was the best kind of rest. If one could constantly circte and loop spiritual energy, one could go several months without sleep.


    As he left the house, Tang Jie took a look at the pond. Most of the fish fry were the same, but two golden carp were clearly much bigger.


    When he saw this, he leaned back andughed.


    He finally understood the use of that golden fish scale.


    It contained the essence of great fiend Li Yu¡¯s flesh and blood.


    This blood essence was something that Tang Jie couldn¡¯t absorb. Only those of the same kind could absorb it.


    This was wonderful news.


    It took quite some time for a fish to fully mature, and infusing its flesh with spirituality involved feeding it various medicines. It was a cost-intensive endeavor. Taking the spirit fish sold by Thousand Taste Pavilion, and not considering the ruthless mark-ups applied, even a small fish would normally go for five to ten spirit coins.


    With this fish scale, he would need only a few days to raise arge golden carp, and one fish would have the same effects as one bottle of energy-restoring pills, and it could nourish the blood and strengthen the body.


    If used to support one¡¯s cultivation, it would be the equivalent of eating superb spirit medicine.


    Li Yu was a great fiend capable of transformation, so his scale contained so much essence that he could raise ten-somerge spirit fish without a problem.


    This was how to truly use this treasure!


    That night, Tang Jie roasted a golden carp to eat, and when he began to circte energy, he found that the energy was strong and forceful, allowing him toplete four small loops in a single night.


    After another two days, with more proficiency in spiritual energy control, Tang Jie finallypleted a Major Circuit Heaven. In total, he had taken five days.


    And this was because he hadn¡¯t realized the power of the Visceral Manifestation ssic on the first day, so his speed was rather fast.


    It was onlyter on that Tang Jie learned that fifty people had finished the first Major Circuit Heaven before him, which left him shocked. He had the golden carp to help him and the Visceral Manifestation ssic. Despite his diligent cultivation, how had he not even managed to squeeze into the top fifty?


    Butter on, he understood that this had to do with the mantra as well. His Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra was the mostplex and difficult technique. A Major Circuit Heaven for this mantra would have taken much longer for others toplete.


    Besides, quite a few of the fifty had good families who could support them with spirit medicines, and their effects wereparable to his golden carp, so all theycked was the Visceral Manifestation ssic. There were also those who were more talented, neutralizing much of the advantage created by the Visceral Manifestation ssic. Coupled with the easier nature of their mantras, it wasn¡¯t strange that they were faster.


    Even so, out of fifteen hundred students, only these people were a little faster than him.


    There was only one person whopletely surpassed him in terms of cultivation speed of the same mantra.


    His name was Qi Shaoming.


    Nine-cycle-Jade-Gate Qi Shaoming!


    In the following days, Tang Jie went to ss during the day, and other than when he asionally went to attend to Wei Tianchong, he spent the rest of his time cultivating in the Carefree House.


    In truth, other than having a few too many rules that were implemented rather strictly, Basking Moon Academy was a very liberal ce. After all, cultivation was a very personal affair. Besides giving pointers, the academy needed to give everyone adequate time to explore everything on their own.


    As they were cultivating a new technique and this was a fresh experience, everyone worked very hard in this initial phase. Even Wei Tianchong became much more obedient, diligently cultivating every day and researching carving in his spare time. He even voluntarily gave up on his one free day every month, which left Tang Jie very satisfied.


    This was always the most peaceful period for every ss of Basking Moon Academy. The majesty of the rules was still present and everyone stillcked the confidence topete with each other.


    With the fish scale and the Visceral Manifestation ssic, Tang Jie made triumphant progress, and on his twenty-first day in school, he officially opened up his Spiritual Space and opened his Spirit Eye.


    As for the fish scale, Tang Jie had used it to raise twelverge carp that were brimming with spirituality. He had eaten three himself and left nine with the intent to sell so that he could buy the Wu couple some good spirit medicine.


    s, the fish scale¡¯s blood essence was nowpletely used up, and it was nothing more than a regr fish scale now.


    Even so, Tang Jie felt like he had greatly benefited. It had to be understood that this fish scale had a value of fourteen hundred spirit coins at least.


    By selling his seat and his spirit food, he had only managed to make forty spirit coins, but this one impromptu gift from Li Yu was worth more than a thousand. As the saying went, ¡°A hair of a powerful man is ten years of work for a mortal.¡± In this life, only by grabbing onto someone¡¯s leg did one have any future prospects.


    At this time, only around fifty people hadpletely opened their Spirit Eyes. The majority of people hadn¡¯t even got halfway topletion, and a small number had justpleted their first Major Circuit Heaven.


    As for those who had yet toplete their first Major Circuit Heaven¡­ the smarter ones would elect to withdraw.


    Strictly speaking, only by opening the Spirit Eye did one enter the Spirit tform Realm. Before that, one merely had the right to cultivate but had yet to actually begin cultivating.


    With his Spirit Eye open, Tang Jie could finally start attempting to condense energy into liquid.


    Condensing energy into liquid was different from opening a Spiritual Space.


    It also required looping spiritual energy through the body, but as the goal was condensing the energy, the spiritual energy entered through the Jade Gate and ended in the heart. From the heart, it would gather at the Lesser Sea point, where it would be refined into liquid that would drop through the Spirit Eye into the Spiritual Space. This was called the Minor Circuit Heaven.


    Unlike the Major Circuit Heaven, as this was only condensing energy into liquid to serve as power for spells and arts, nurturing the meridians was not required. Thus, unlike with the Major Circuit Heaven, there was no need to go through the time and effort of making twelve loops. But while it was just a simple loop, performing it was extremelyplicated and required a lot of training from the cultivator.


    The Major and Minor Circuit Heavens were essential requirements for cultivators.


    To use the simplest analogy, a Major Circuit Heaven increased the upper limit of one¡¯s level and MP while the Minor Circuit Heaven increased the MP recovery speed.


    When two cultivators of simr aptitude fought, the one with the faster-operating Minor Circuit Heaven would be stronger, as they could recover their spiritual energy more quickly.


    Why was it that Wei Tianchong¡¯s Lesser Sea Spiral Essence Mantra could provide a constant stream of energy?


    Put bluntly, it was because it had the simplest method for operating the Minor Circuit Heaven.


    The easier it was to operate, the faster it could run, and so it was only natural that one could recover energy faster.


    Of course, when introducing these techniques, no one would say, ¡°This technique is very simple.¡± Instead, they would say, ¡°The special trait of this technique is a constant stream of energy.¡± It would be like if you were trying to sell something. You wouldn¡¯t say, ¡°Our products arecking in quality,¡± only ¡°Our products are very cheap.¡±


    Thus ¡°constant and long-term stream of energy¡± had almost be a substitute term for simple techniques in the cultivation world, simr to ¡°I bought a watchst year.¡±


    (TN: In Chinese, ¡°I bought a watchst year¡± would have the pinyin of ¡°wo qu nian mai le ge biao¡± and if you took the first letter of each word, you would get ¡°wqnmlgb¡±, which can be constructed into another phrase that essentially means ¡°Screw your mother¡±.)


    Of course, there were also some good techniques that had dyed effects and were very powerful, but just like that line about buying watches had its original meaning, bad money drove out the good, and it had long ago be difficult to distinguish between the two.


    Cultivators had extremely high requirements when it came to operating the Minor Circuit Heaven. For truly powerful cultivators,pleting a single Minor Circuit Heaven took as little as a second. Only with powerful recovery abilities could one ensure that one could maintainbat strength from the beginning to the end of a long battle.


    This was why the Spirit tform Realm was also called the Circuit Heaven tform. The terms ¡°Breathing Period¡± and ¡°Energy Refining Period¡± referred to the functions of the Circuit Heavens on spiritual energy.


    For talented people, this was where their advantages became obvious.


    When practicing the Major Circuit Heaven, those with high talent were more capable of sensing the energy whirlpool and controlling it.


    When practicing the Minor Circuit Heaven, for the same loop, an average person might be able to condense two or three drops of spirit liquid, while one with a nine-cycle Jade Gate could condense ten drops in one go. There was nothing to be done. They just had a bigger faucet.


    As Tang Jie began to circte energy ording to the mantra, he encountered the same problems as before.


    Fortunately, it was just one loop, so after wasting half the night, he finallypleted his first Minor Circuit Heaven. His spiritual energy was condensed into liquid that flowed through the Spirit Eye into the Spiritual Space.


    As he carefully felt out his body, Tang Jie understood that his first attempt at condensing energy had resulted in only two drops. This wasn¡¯t a sign that he was untalented, but that he had sought speedypletion in the process of condensing energy, causing too much energy to be lost. But once he became proficient with it, the process would be more effective. With his talent, he should be capable of about five drops every try, corresponding to his Jade Gate.


    A recently-opened Spirit Eye could only hold ten drops of spirit liquid, but it was still power that he could use for a few small spells.


    There was still a long time until he could expand the Spirit Eye into a Spirit Spring, so Tang Jie decided that there was no harm in learning a few small spells.


    In truth, the vast majority of students had to consider studying a few spells at this stage. After all, basic mantras like the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra only tempered the body and had no other effect. To possess a variety of abilities, one needed to learn spells and arts.


    Of course, some students sought only cultivation level and not battle, so they gave up on cultivating spells and arts, gave up on proficiency with the Minor Circuit Heaven, and focused only on expanding the Spiritual Space and increasing their cultivation level.


    But just as the esteemed teachers had said, cultivation could not be done in a single step. Even if all of one¡¯s time were devoted to raising one¡¯s cultivation level, one might not be much faster than those people who chose to study a few spells.


    After all, the Major Circuit Heaven had to go through all the loops to be effective.


    Thus, there was no difference whether someone could do three circuits in one night, or three and a half circuits. If onecked the time, continued cultivation was just wasted time, so it would be better to practice spells.


    Moreover, cultivating spells and arts could also increase one¡¯s understanding of cultivation. Even low-ss spells would often serve as the foundation of high-ss spells, so learning them now would beying a foundation for the future. Thus, it was almost a requirement to learn them.


    Tang Jie had another very important reason that pressed him to quickly master a few spells that were useful in battle.


    Twenty-some days passed.


    After morning ss, Tang Jie went to Heaven One Pavilion.


    Heaven One Pavilion was the library of Basking Moon Academy. It had nine floors in all. The lower four floors were for spell books, and the upper four floors were for art books, but there was no floor for divine connections. Only those at the apex of Celestial Heart could learn those, so Basking Moon Academy didn¡¯t need them.


    The top floor of Heaven One Pavilion was reserved for the treasured arts of the Basking Moon Sect: the basic portion of the Violet Jade Mantra and the spell portion of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic.


    Once the students had opened their Spirit Eyes, they were permitted to take one spell book from Heaven One Pavilion. There was a floor corresponding to each level, with the eighth floor corresponding to the apex of the Mortal Shedding Realm. This was theoretically the highest one could reach in one¡¯s ten years at Basking Moon Academy, but no one had reached it in thest several hundred years.


    Each student could only take one book for each advancement they made. Any more would require spending money. However, learning a higher-ranked version of a spell or art that one was already learning was free.


    As for the ninth floor, only students favored by Basking Moon Academy could take a book from there.


    This sort of favor could be summarized with a single saying:


    ¡°Bing a disciple doesn¡¯t necessarily confer the right to enter the ninth floor, but those who enter the ninth floor will definitely be disciples.¡±


    When Gu Changqing said that they wouldn¡¯t be learning the Violet Jade Mantra or Divine Firmament Sword ssic and would only learn ordinary things, he was just framing the situation in pleasant terms. Even if he did want those techniques, stealing them would be harder than ascending to the heavens.


    Upon arriving at Heaven One Pavilion, Tang Jie looked at the ninth floor for some time before finally making his way toward the door.


    The guarding student saw Tang Jie and raised an eyebrow. ¡°Opened your Spirit Eye?¡±


    It had been a month and a half since school had started, and more than three hundred students had opened their Eyes by now. For Tang Jie toe at this time still ced him in the upper ranks, but it wasn¡¯t too outstanding of a performance.


    ¡°Yes, Senior Brother, I made a breakthrough just yesterday. I¡¯vee today to see if there are any suitable spirit spells for me,¡± Tang Jie said as he handed over his point card. This card also served as a book voucher. Once used, it meant that he had taken his book for this phase.


    The student nodded. ¡°Not bad. Remember that you can only choose one.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Might I ask how much it costs to buy another?¡±


    ¡°You want to learn a lot of spirit spells?¡± The student was rather surprised. ¡°Your Spirit Eye has just opened, so learning one is enough. Careful not to bite off more than you can chew.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother. I only want to ask.¡±


    The student replied, ¡°Though the mantras on the first floor can all be learned upon just entering Spirit tform and aren¡¯t very powerful, they¡¯re not cheap. One costs twenty spirit coins, and even if you learn it, you can¡¯t transmit it to others.¡±


    ¡°I understand. Thank you, Senior Brother!¡± Tang Jie entered Heaven One Pavilion.


    There was a white-faced student holding the fort inside. When Tang Jie came in, he said without raising his head, ¡°Choose your book, but don¡¯t go randomly touching. Each book has a description, so decide if you want a book after you read the description. Grabbing a book means choosing the book, and the contents of the book will automatically enter your mind. There are no returns.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Senior Brother, but I don¡¯t need to browse. I¡¯ve already made my decision,¡± Tang Jie answered.


    ¡°Mm?¡± The white-faced student finally raised his head. ¡°Which one do you want?¡±


    ¡°The Aqualight Shroud and the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword.¡±


    ¡°The Twelve-Form Horizon Sword? A martial technique?¡± The student was shocked.


    ¡°Yes, a martial technique.¡± As Tang Jie spoke, he handed over twenty spirit coins.

 Chapter 57: Twelve-Form Horizon Sword

    ¡°What? You redeemed the Aqualight Shroud, and you also bought the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword for twenty spirit coins?¡±


    Wei Tianchong gawked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie corrected, ¡°I redeemed the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword and I paid twenty spirit coins for the Aqualight Shroud.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was about to blow his top. ¡°Is there a difference?¡±


    Tang Jie spread apart his hands. ¡°I still bought a spell book, right?¡±


    ¡°So you also know that the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword is a martial technique, not a spell book?¡± Wei Tianchong felt like he was about to go insane from listening to Tang Jie.


    Martial techniques were mortal techniques.


    In other words, these were things that mortals practiced. True cultivators disdained to learn such things.


    Tang Jie had to have gone crazy, actually buying¨C ah, no, ¡°redeeming¡± a martial technique manual.


    It was like refusing to go Yale, Harvard, Qinghua, or Peking, and instead choosing some third-rate diploma mill!


    ¡°It¡¯s still usable by both Immortals and mortals,¡± Tang Jie said with a smile.


    ¡°But it¡¯s still a martial technique!¡±


    Wei Tianchong thumped his chest and stomped his feet, his face brimming with disappointment.


    As it was usable by both Immortals and mortals, it meant that there was something special about it and cultivators could get something out of using it.


    The Twelve-Form Horizon Sword was precisely this sort of special martial technique. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have been stored in Heaven One Pavilion.


    The Twelve-Form Horizon Sword was a technique for practicing sword swings, and had certain requirements when it came to strength.


    For mortals, this requirement meant mobilizing their physical strength, but cultivators could use spiritual power, and sword techniques powered by spiritual energy would naturally be stronger and faster than those powered by mortal strength. But that was the extent of it. In the end, this was a martial technique meant to exhibit the power of a weapon. It would not be stronger than spells, nor would it change in any way.


    ¡°You don¡¯t even have a sword, so how are you going to train in the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword!?¡± Wei Tianchong shook his head and sighed.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Then I¡¯ll just buy one.¡±


    ¡°Can you afford it? The cheapest low-grade spell weapon costs several hundred spirit coins, yeah?¡± Wei Tianchong snorted.


    Weapons were divided into spell weapons, art relics, and divine treasures. Weapons were for spells, relics for arts, and treasures for divine connections. These categories of weapons corresponded to different levels of techniques, and they could be further divided into low, middle, upper, and ultimate grades. It was said that above divine treasures were Dao armaments that only Dao Controllers could use, but these only existed in legends.


    Tang Jie again smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll buy an ordinary iron one first.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯vee to cultivate Immortality, not practice martial arts!¡± Wei Tianchong covered his head and moaned. ¡°You¡¯re humiliating me to death! When you go out in the future, don¡¯t say that you¡¯re my servant student.¡±


    Tang Jie was speechless. ¡°Is that necessary? I haven¡¯t even criticized you for not opening your Spirit Eye yet.¡±


    Wei Tianchong jumped up. ¡°Who said? I¡¯m about to seed, in another ten days at most! You will have only beaten me by ten days!¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Then I must congratte you, Young Master.¡± Tang Jie also got a little excited.


    When it came to opening the Spirit Eye, one month was fast, two months was standard, and three months was the bottom line.


    If Wei Tianchong was able to open his Spirit Eye within the next ten days, it meant that he would have no problems reaching Mortal Shedding. Of course, that was if he maintained his speed.


    The Wei n had high hopes for him and had probably given him many spirit medicines. And considering that he had been working rather hard and cultivated the simpler Lesser Sea Spiral Essence Mantra, it was quite normal for him to reach this level of aplishment.


    ¡°Naturally.¡± Wei Tianchong smugly added, ¡°And when the timees, I¡¯ll definitely pick a good spirit spell. I won¡¯t be like you, choosing some Twelve-Form Horizon Sword. Even that Aqualight Shroud is trash.¡±


    The Aqualight Shroud was not trash.


    This was an authentic spirit spell. When this spell was used, it created a shroud of water that protected the user and weakened attacks.


    <em>The problem, Tang Jie, is that you¡¯re cultivating the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra!</em>


    <em>What are the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra¡¯s traits in battle?</em>


    <em>Gathering energy!</em>


    <em>Swift attacks!</em>


    <em>Breaking through armor!</em>


    <em>This is an offensive mantra!</em>


    <em>If you had already cultivated to some high level, learning some defensive spells or arts would be very normal, but why are you learning this Aqualight Shroud now!?</em>


    <em>It would be better if you learned something like bone-piercing needles!</em>


    But given the selection of Twelve-Form Horizon Sword, Wei Tianchong couldn¡¯t be bothered to scold Tang Jie for picking the Aqualight Shroud.


    How did someone who was normally so smart be so stupid when it came to learning spells?


    Tang Jie felt rather thankful to see Wei Tianchong so aggrieved.


    It seemed like his rtionship with the third young master had improved without his realizing it.


    While Wei Tianchong was still rather willful andzy, still had a host of bad habits, and still tried to order him to do servant jobs, at least he was concerned about him too.


    This was good.


    No matter how Wei Tianchong raged andmented, Tang Jie took his two books and went off to the market to buy himself an iron sword for three silver coins, after which he returned to the Carefree House to practice his sword.


    As it said in the name, the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword consisted of twelve sword forms.


    Each sword form had its own movement. There was striking, thrusting, swinging upward, and shing, but they were mostly simple and direct. They primarily relied on swift and fierce moves that assaulted lethal points. It was a very practical sword art.


    Among mortals, it would be considered an upper-ss martial art.


    But for cultivators, even the best mortal technique was still a mortal technique. ¡°With my body protected with Immortal energy, you can hack at me all you want. You won¡¯t even be able to dodge a single finger from me.¡±


    In front of powerful Immortal arts, technique was helpless, meaningless. Thus, cultivators almost never practiced such techniques.


    But Tang Jie clearly didn¡¯t think this way.


    Tang Jie spent the days practicing with his sword in the courtyard and asionally practicing the Aqualight Shroud. Using the Aqualight Shroud cost ten drops of spirit liquid, and at the speed with which he could operate the Minor Circuit Heaven, he really didn¡¯t have enough.


    When could he be like those Titans, able toplete a Circuit Heaven in the space of a single breath?


    Several dayster, Wei Tianchong opened his Spirit Eye, and another few days after that, Shi Meng also seeded.


    The two of them went to Heaven One Pavilion to redeem their spell books.


    Wei Tianchong chose the Spirit Guidance spell. When used, it created a spirit thread that wrapped around an object, allowing one to move around the object as one pleased.


    This was on Tang Jie¡¯s advice.


    As a scion of a great n, Wei Tianchong would never be able to be like those students from impoverished backgrounds, who sweat blood and suffered hardship in their efforts. But he happened to have some grasp of carving, which was perfect for moving in the direction of puppet spells and summoning. He would have subordinates to order around whenever he pleased, which was very fitting for a rich young master like him. And his Lesser Sea Spiral Essence Mantra was all about a constant stream of energy, making it perfect for this line.


    The Spirit Guidance spell was the most basic technique for controlling puppets. It could be used to control small objects, but it required the guidance of a spirit thread, not through some formless connection, and it was limited by distance. But if it were performed well, one could even use it to control a flying sword¡ªa flying sword on a line.


    Anyway, they weren¡¯t fighting at this stage, so it was best toy a foundation for the future and practice control.


    Moreover, Wei Tianchong liked to y around, and after being so obedient and diligent for a bit, he had started to return to his old habits. With the Spirit Guidance spell, he could control brooms, move around chairs, walk the chopsticks, or amuse himself in other ways. It was a form of teaching through y.


    As for Shi Meng, as expected, he chose to learn the Clean spell¡ªfreeing him from some of his servile duties.


    These days of cultivation were simple and calm. Another month went by in the blink of an eye.


    The Eagle Nest.


    Gu Changqing was bent over his desk and writing something when he heard knocking at his door. ¡°Subordinate Gao Fei has a matter to report to Eagle Master.¡±


    ¡°Come in.¡±


    A tall young man walked in. He first bowed to Gu Changqing and then said, ¡°There has been news from Canglong Prefecture about Number 96.¡±


    ¡°Speak,¡± Gu Changqing said as he continued to work.


    ¡°Sageheart Shadow Hall 42 reports. We found that Tang Jie entered the Wei n three years ago. He is the adopted son of Wu Nanfu of Canglong Prefecture and his wife. At the time, he had fallen unconscious from the cold in front of the Wu house and was saved by them.¡±


    ¡°When did this happen?¡±


    ¡°Year 342 of Tianshu, the twelfth month.¡±


    Gu Changqing stopped his brush and looked at Gao Fei, a sharp light in his eyes. ¡°Year 342 of Tianshu?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Gao Fei answered. ¡°Exactly this year!¡±


    Gu Changqing¡¯s voice turned cold and harsh. ¡°Was there any other information?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Apparently, this Tang Jie lived in the Wildgrain ins before his home was attacked by bandits and everyone killed. He fled alone to Canglong Prefecture.¡±


    ¡°The Wildgrain ins? Bandits?¡± Gu Changqing stood up, his voice rising in volume.


    He looked at Gao Fei and saw that Gao Fei was smiling. ¡°Yes, Eagle Master. A downcast boy called Tang Jie fleeing bandit raids in the Wildgrain ins fell unconscious from the cold in front of the Wu house. This just so happens to be three months after Tang Jiye fled. After that, Tang Jie was adopted by the couple and entered the Wei n, where he ultimately became a servant student and entered Basking Moon Academy¡­¡±


    Gu Changqing swiftly said, ¡°Is the information source reliable? Has it been confirmed? What of the secrecy?¡±


    Gao Fei replied, ¡°I can guarantee the reliability, and this information is no secret. The Wu couple is well-known on Big Willow Street, and when it is mentioned, almost everyone on the street will remember the story about Tang Jie being rescued and adopted. All of them also know about Tang Jie. When he became a servant student, the Wu couple¡¯s status rose again, and everyone on the street is talking about how the Wu couple raised two cultivator sons. Number 42 only needed one day to gather all this information. There is no chance of there being a problem.¡±


    ¡°What of the Wei Estate?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing good there. The Wei Estate doesn¡¯t take in strangers, and it¡¯s watched over by Spirit Masters, so infiltrating it isn¡¯t very easy. Of course, with some time and energy, we should be able to do it, but it¡¯s not very worth it. After all¡­¡± Gao Fei hesitated.


    ¡°After all, we have enough information, right?¡± Gu Changqing said.


    Gao Fei did not dare to reply.


    Gu Changqing chuckled, all of his excitement disappearing.


    He went back to his seat, leaned back, and closed his eyes in thought.


    Gao Fei was confused. After waiting for a while, he softly said, ¡°Eagle Master?¡±


    ¡°Mm,¡± Gu Changqing grunted.


    He then said, ¡°It seems that this Tang Jie truly is very suspicious.¡±


    ¡°Then, Eagle Master¡­¡±


    Gu Changqing slowly opened his eyes. ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, I really do not understand why this Tang Jie shouted that deration before entering the academy.¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Gao Fei hesitated.


    After thinking it over for a long time, he finally said, ¡°Your subordinate does not know, but I know that it cannot be because the most dangerous ce is the safest.¡±


    Gu Changqingughed. ¡°Don¡¯t even bring up that idiot. With regards to that deration, I think there are four possibilities.


    ¡°One: this was simply a coincidence. This Tang Jie has no connection to the Tang Jiye we are looking for and this person is simply a very bold and ambitious person.


    ¡°Two: this Tang Jie isn¡¯t the real Tang Jiye. The real Tang Jiye might be a student under a pseudonym who paid this Tang Jie toe out and draw away our attention.¡±


    Gao Fei frowned at these first two possibilities. Personally, he didn¡¯t like them.


    Gu Changqing continued, ¡°Three: he is Tang Jiye. His goal with that deration was precisely to draw our attention.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Gao Fei asked.


    ¡°Right, why? That¡¯s the key!¡± Gu Changqing said. ¡°If he¡¯s really Tang Jiye and did this on purpose, then I can only offer one exnation¡­ He is intentionally challenging us.¡±


    ¡°Challenging us?¡± Gao Fei didn¡¯t dare to believe his ears. ¡°Challenging Godhead Pce?¡±


    ¡°Youths are all about loyalty and self-sacrifice, burning with vigor. They¡¯re capable of anything.¡±


    ¡°No matter how burning with vigor he might be, is he not afraid that we¡¯ll find him?¡±


    That¡¯s the problem¡­ exactly the problem!¡± Gu Changqing lightly rapped his fingers and asked Gu Changqing, ¡°Do you think we can capture him right now?¡±


    Gao Fei opened his mouth, but no words came out.


    Gu Changqing softly chuckled, ¡°Yes, we can¡¯t! This is the territory of the Basking Moon Sect, and he¡¯s in Basking Moon Academy! We can¡¯t capture him¡ªat least not openly.¡±


    Over thest three years in which Godhead Pce had been seeking out its target in the territory of the Basking Moon Sect, it had suspected countless people.


    There weren¡¯t a lot of people like Tang Jie, but also not too few.


    There were always a few people who were simr to Tang Jie. After all, it wasn¡¯t just Tang Jie and Ji Ziqian who were trying to get into the academy by squeezing their way into a big n. There were far too many to count.


    And sometimes, there were impatient operatives who were itching to grab someone and interrogate them.


    Over thest three years, such incidents had happened twice. Each time, Godhead Pce had to pay enormouspensation to pacify the rage of the Basking Moon Sect, and it had almost resulted in their expulsion.


    Of course, whether their rage was fake or real was unimportant. What was important was that the price for pacifying this rage wasn¡¯t cheap!


    It was so high that Godhead Pce had even sent someone to warn Gu Changqing not to act unless he was sure about the target.


    They did not want to give the Basking Moon Sect a third chance at extortion.


    ¡°It seems this is why he¡¯s so confident about challenging us, but he¡¯s looking down on my Godhead Pce. He doesn¡¯t really think that he can sleep without worries just because of the school, does he?¡± Gao Fei angrily huffed.


    ¡°No!¡± To his surprise, Gu Changqing shook his head. ¡°You forget that I mentioned that there were four possibilities.¡±


    ¡°Eagle Master, you mean¡­¡±


    Gu Changqing rapped on his desk and said, ¡°A boy who was able to have Xu Muyang take him along on their first meeting; a boy who could get Xu Muyang to entrust him with an important treasure after only half a year of interaction; and now, a boy who was able to ovee the obstacles and sessfully enter Basking Moon Academy. Would such a person, after biding his time for three years, decide to expose himself and challenge us off a momentary impulse? Just as you said, he¡¯s just a student. Does he really think we can¡¯t do anything to him? No, I don¡¯t believe it. I don¡¯t believe he¡¯s that stupid! I would be more willing to believe in the first and second possibilities than believe in the third!¡±


    ¡°But in your first and second possibilities, he wasn¡¯t Tang Jiye.¡±


    ¡°Correct. So if he really is Tang Jiye, there must be a fourth possibility¡­¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Gu Changqing answered. ¡°This is precisely what I don¡¯t get. If he¡¯s really Tang Jiye, why did he do such a thing? I know that a fourth possibility exists, but I don¡¯t know the answer to it. And the answer to this possibility may be the real answer¡­¡± Gu Changqing massaged his forehead and closed his eyes.


    Gao Fei knew that this was how Gu Changqing acted when he was facing a predicament.


    Gu Changqing had always had a high opinion of himself. He believed that he was always capable of understanding the mentality of his targets.


    But this time, he found that if he ced Tang Jie as Tang Jiye, he couldn¡¯t understand the meaning behind Tang Jie¡¯s actions.


    This was the real source of his frustration.


    And from a certain perspective, it was also the source of his unease.


    If Tang Jie was really Tang Jiye, then was there some other trap or scheme lurking behind his actions?


    Gu Changqing had to consider this possibility.


    ¡°Eagle Master, regardless, Tang Jie is an extremely suspicious target. And if there¡¯s really some things we can¡¯t understand¡­ then let¡¯s save it for when the task is done,¡± Gao Fei cautiously said.


    Gu Changqing paused for a moment.


    His brow gradually uncreased, and a smile appeared on his lips. ¡°My apologies, Gao Fei; I¡¯ve fallen into my old habits again. You¡¯re right. If we don¡¯t understand something, we just don¡¯t think about it and get to work first. To not do anything just because of too many suspicions is what is trulyughable¡­¡±


    Gu Changqing took in a deep breath and firmly said, ¡°Move Tang Jie up to Grade A. One: inform our people in the academy to continue suppressing information on Tang Jie. Basking Moon Academy must not be allowed to notice him. Two: send people to get close to him and confirm our information on him. Three: find a chance to search his room, and make sure to search the house in the Student Forest as well. If he really is Tang Jiye, then the Martial Mirror should be nearby. If we can find that, nothing else is important.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±

 Chapter 58: Forming a Club

    Today, Tang Jie was still practicing with his sword.


    In the courtyard, he swung around the shabby iron sword with great vigor and force.


    Once he performed all twelve forms, he put away his sword, upon which he heard apuse from outside.


    Turning his head, he saw Shu Mingyang and Liu Hongyan walking over, apanied by two others, a man and a woman. The man had a face somewhat simr to Tang Jie¡¯s, but he was a little taller and had a sword slung across his back.


    The woman at his side wore a water-blue gown. Just like Liu Hongyan, she wore the school uniform beneath the gown. She had her hair in a bun, a jade-green bamboo hairpin thrust through it. She had a delicate appearance, and while shecked the heroism of Liu Hongyan, she had more charm.


    They walked over, and Liu Hongyan pped her hands and said, ¡°I have never seen Brother Tang perform a sword dance before.¡±


    ¡°So it was Young Master Shu and Miss Liu. It is a boorish martial technique, and I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ve let the two of you witness a farce.¡± When Tang Jie saw them, he put down his sword and went over to wee them. He looked over at the sword-carrying man and blue-gowned woman. ¡°And these two would be¡­¡±


    Liu Hongyan smiled. ¡°Please forgive us foring without an invitation. These two are also friends we made in school, Cai Junyang (Famed Noble Cai) and Ping Jingyue (Calm Moon).¡±


    Tang Jie raised an eyebrow and asked, ¡°Cai Junyang and Ping Jingyue of the Two Famed Gentlemen and the Misty Moon Joins Stem and Flower?¡±


    The blue-gowned woman was surprised. ¡°So Young Master Tang has heard of us.¡±


    ¡°The Two Famed Gentlemen¡± referred to Shu Mingyang and Cai Junyang, epassing both their names and their ambitions.


    Shu Mingyang wished to bring peace to the world, so his book never left his hand. Cai Junyang sought to travel the world as a chivalric hero, so his sword never left his side.


    As for ¡°Misty Moon Joins Stem and Flower¡±, this referred to Liu Hongyan and Ping Jingyue.


    Students were students, and as self-professed romantics, they had the habit of making up all sorts of sayings and nicknames for other people. These two phrases referred to these four people, but surprisingly, all four of them hade to pay Tang Jie a visit today.


    Liu Hongyan chuckled. ¡°You forget two parts. Two Famed Gentlemen, but in the end, theyck fame (Qi Shaoming). The Misty Moon Joins Stem and Flower, but they know not the peace of a dream (An Rumeng).¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s mouth opened, but he couldn¡¯t speak. Ping Jingyue lowered her head and giggled, and even Shu Mingyang stopped reading, only giving a soft sigh. Only Cai Junyang grunted, ¡°Qi Shaoming¡­ I¡¯ll be able to defeat him one day. Just you wait.¡±


    Qi Shaoming and An Rumeng were probably the two most popr students of this year¡¯s ss.


    Qi Shaoming had a nine-cycle Jade Gate and was the most talented person of the ss, and he also cultivated the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra.


    Though he had been born in a great n, he had been admitted as a special case. He did not take up a reserved spot, did not have to pay for tuition, and received the full support of his family.


    He was talented, had many resources, and was also diligent!


    He needed only three days toplete his first Major Circuit Heaven, and opening his Spirit Eye had taken only eighteen days.


    He wasn¡¯t just the first to sessfully cultivate the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra, he was also the first among all 1500 students.


    As for An Rumeng, she was an exchange student from the Thousand Passions Sect.


    Ever since it had received so much from epting exchange students from Godhead Pce, Basking Moon Academy felt that this was a rather excellent policy, so it naturally went to the sect that it had a close rtionship with, the Thousand Passions Sect. An Rumeng was the transfer student from the Thousand Passions Sect.


    She had a seven-cycle Jade Gate and Six Desires Spirit Veins. As part of Basking Moon and Thousand Passions, she received the full support of the Thousand Passions Sect.


    She also had talent, resources, and diligence!


    She needed only six days for her first Major Circuit Heaven and thirty-two days for her Spirit Eye.


    Although the time was a bit longer, this was because she was cultivating two mantras at once, which was even moreplex than the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra. Moreover, she had Spirit Veins. Her true talent wasn¡¯t in cultivation speed, but in the power of the arts and spells that were specifically designed for her.


    Shu Mingyang¡¯s group of four may have been known as the Two Famed Gentlemen and the Misty Moon Joins Stem and Flower, but their reputation fell behind those of Qi Shaoming and An Rumeng. Thus, some busybody added these two lines to the end, changing them to ¡°Two famed gentlemen, but in the end, theyck fame¡± and ¡°The misty moon joins stem and flower, but they know not the peace of a dream.¡±


    These additions immediately changed the tone of the phrases, so it was no wonder that Cai Junyang was unhappy.


    Hearing Cai Junyang say this, Shu Mingyang said, ¡°Brother Cai, there¡¯s no need to be so unwilling. That Qi Shaoming truly is stronger than us. We¡¯re just not as good as him.¡±


    ¡°The path of cultivation is long, and this is only the first step. What does it matter if there are geniuses? Until we reach the end, who can say who will be the winner?¡± Cai Junyang was still not convinced.


    Ping Jingyue smiled. ¡°Brother Cai, you seem to have forgotten that you are also a genius in the minds of others.¡±


    Just like Shu Mingyang, Cai Junyang had an eight-cycle Jade Gate, and he was also an unreachable genius in the eyes of others. It was just that Qi Shaoming had somewhat surpassed him. Ping Jingyue¡¯s prompting made him realize that the words he had said just now could also be used on him, and he immediately fell silent.


    Fortunately, Liu Hongyan intervened here, ¡°Alright! We didn¡¯te here today to talk about who¡¯s the most genius and who¡¯s going the farthest. We argued so much that we forgot about our actual business here.¡±


    Tang Jie was also confused. ¡°Right, I was just going to ask. Why did the four of youe and see me today?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like this,¡± Liu Hongyan said. ¡°We were bored today, so we suddenly had the idea of making a club.¡±


    ¡°Making a club?¡± Tang Jie was surprised.


    Tang Jie knew that the school had clubs, but most of them were made by bored students. There were all kinds of clubs: some of them were for researching Immortal arts, and others were for elegant hobbies like calligraphy, painting, or poetry. These usually weren¡¯t robust groups. After all, all of the students had the pressure to improve, and so they only asionally gathered together. Often, the clubs would break up after graduation.


    Surprisingly, Liu Hongyan and the other three wanted to form a club.


    ¡°What sort of club?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°A book club, to discuss books and the Dao,¡± Ping Jingyue answered.


    ¡°Why would you think of me?¡±


    ¡°You can only me yourself for being number one in cultural studies in our ss,¡± Liu Hongyan replied.


    Basking Moon Academy had cultivation geniuses, so it naturally had cultural studies geniuses.


    If Qi Shaoming was the number one cultivation genius, Tang Jie was the number one studying genius.


    From his first day in school, he had diligently listened to the lectures, putting on the act of a good student every day. He diligently took notes and could be described as being hungry for knowledge. It could even be said that he was dead set on bing the top student.


    Thus, on the first minor exam half a month ago, other than the arts, where Tang Jie was truly no good, Tang Jie got almost full points on all the literary studies, bing the undisputed number one.


    If the reputation of Mad Student Tang Jie had only informed the student body in general about his existence, his status as top studentpletely settled his status as a celebrity.


    Of course, in this era where literary pursuits fell behind martial ones, one hundred literary geniuses couldn¡¯tpare to a single nine-cycle Jade Gate. But there was no denying that Tang Jie was still a celebrity. When it came to discussing books and the Dao, there was truly no one who couldpare to him.


    Liu Hongyan¡¯s group wanted to form a club and knew Tang Jie, so they naturally came to find him.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help butugh at Liu Hongyan¡¯s request. ¡°My apologies. I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t have any interest in such matters. I apply myself to cultural studies only to increase my knowledge, not to study the Great Dao.¡±


    Shu Mingyang firmly said, ¡°Brother Tang, this is a mistake. As a schr, I set my aspirations on the world, on safeguarding themon people, not merely increasing my knowledge to make light conversation over the dinner table. I seek to rectify the world and save the people from cmity. For this, how could one not seek to understand the Great Dao?¡±


    ¡°Brother Shu, you exaggerate. The world is currently well-governed, and though there are still some people who are impoverished, they cannot be considered to be in some great abyss of suffering. As for the Great Dao of the world, such things are too profound for me to understand. But I do not know that this is an academy where we cultivate Immortality, not books.¡±


    ¡°That makes it even more necessary to study. Discussing books and the Dao is to understand the reasoning. To have strength and not understand the principles makes one the same as a scoundrel conducting evil out in the open, causing trouble and harming the people!¡±


    Tang Jie felt very helpless when it came to Shu Mingyang and his desire to bring salvation to the world. Truthfully, if he wanted to argue, he really could debate with Shu Mingyang for a bit. For example, he might posit, ¡°Even if I have to be a great person, why must I be a great person like you? ¡®Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you¡¯, ¡®do to others what you would do to yourself¡¯,¡± and so on.


    Though he couldn¡¯t be a great person like Shu Mingyang, he at least knew to respect others. When it came to things like this, he was more willing to suffer the verbal rebukes of others.


    Thus, he simply nodded and said, ¡°Brother Shu is right. Thank you for your instruction.¡±


    But Shu Mingyang was deeply dissatisfied. ¡°You don¡¯t speak with sincerity. It¡¯s all just for show!¡±


    Tang Jie was in an awkward position. In the end, Liu Hongyanughed. ¡°Brother Tang, don¡¯t take it to heart. He¡¯s just that sort of person. He¡¯s fine normally, but whenever ites to justice, Pedant Shu immediately gets angry.¡±


    Shu Mingyang still wasn¡¯t happy, but just when he was about to continue arguing his case, Tang Jie hastily said, ¡°I¡¯ll join, I¡¯ll join the club.¡±


    Shu Mingyang finally dropped the matter.


    Since he had agreed to join the club, the four of them were naturally his friends. Tang Jie invited the four of them into his courtyard to sit and chat. The four of them entered his house, and Tang Jie said, ¡°Please excuse me for my crude hovel.¡±


    Liu Hongyan looked around at the room and smiled. ¡°Though it¡¯s a little simple, it¡¯s very clean. Not bad.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just a servant student without any other skills, so I just tidied the ce up a little,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°Ah, that brings me to another topic. Young Master Tang, once we form the club, why not invite Young Master Wei?¡± Ping Jingyue suddenly said.


    ¡°Him?¡± Tang Jie thought it over and then shook his head. ¡°Forget it. He likes flying birds and riding horses, rednterns and wine. He has little interest in human rtions and the Great Dao. If he really came, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to understand half a sentence before he started losing focus.¡±


    Everyone immediatelyughed at his words.


    Once they were doneughing, Tang Jie served everyone tea, after which hemented, ¡°Right, since we¡¯re forming a club, we need to have a name, right?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s call it the Society of Heroes,¡± Cai Junyang proposed.


    ¡°I prefer Salvation to the World,¡± Shu Mingyang said.


    Liu Hongyan replied, ¡°Since we¡¯re discussing the Great Dao, let¡¯s call it the Great Dao Club.¡±


    Ping Jingyue retorted, ¡°What Society of Heroes, Salvation to the World, or Great Dao Club? These are all awful. Let¡¯s call it the Freedom Society! After all, what¡¯s so bad about free and unfettered life?¡±


    She turned her watery eyes to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie thought it over and replied, ¡°Since everyone has a different opinion, I think we should do it like this. Let¡¯s pick a club president first, and then we can let the club president decide. I propose that the one who had the idea should take the responsibility.¡±


    Everyone looked at Ping Jingyue.


    Ping Jingyue was startled, looking left and right, but Liu Hongyan said, ¡°I think this idea isn¡¯t bad. Little Sis, since you suggested the idea, you¡¯re the best person for the job.¡±


    Ping Jingyue thought about it and finally nodded. ¡°Alright, I guess I¡¯ll be the president. As that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll be naming it the Freedom Society.¡±


    ¡°Freedom Society it is.¡± Cai Junyang nodded. He didn¡¯t really care about the name. Shu Mingyang, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow and wanted to protest, but in the end, he gave up. As for Liu Hongyan, she remained silent.


    Tang Jie now said, ¡°The five of us is a little too few to form a club, yes? Should we find more people?¡±


    ¡°You should ask this to Hongyan. She¡¯s the well-informed one,¡± Cai Junyang answered.


    ¡°Oh? So you¡¯re saying that it was Miss Liu¡¯s idea toe and find me?¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I must thank Miss Liu for your generosity.¡±


    Liu Hongyan hastily said, ¡°You can just call me Hongyan. Since we¡¯re ssmates and forming a club, we¡¯re all family. There¡¯s no need to be strangers to each other.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Then when ites to recruiting people, I will leave it to Big Sister Hongyan.¡±


    ¡°If we¡¯re doing it like that, you should call me Little Sister. I happen to be a little younger than you,¡± Liu Hongyan chuckled.


    ¡°Yes, I was wrong, Little Sister Hongyan,¡± Tang Jie replied with a smile.


    Liu Hongyan nodded in satisfaction. After pondering the matter for a bit, she gave several names. Everyone then discussed the details, including the rules of the club and the day when the club was to be founded.


    After talking for a while and seeing that it was gettingte, the four of them finally left.


    Tang Jie personally escorted them to the gate. He silently watched them leave, his eyes slowly turning colder.


    When he returned to his room, Little Yiyi appeared and jumped onto Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Brother, Brother, are they your good friends?¡±


    ¡°I suppose so,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°Then can I meet them?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Yiyi pouted. ¡°It¡¯s been so long and I¡¯m still all alone. I¡¯m so bored.¡±


    ¡°Because while some of them are good friends, some others¡­ are only good friends on the surface.¡±

 Chapter 59: Meeting

    The whirlpool in the body was constantly revolving, growingrger andrger, slowly expanding the Spiritual Space at a rate that couldn¡¯t be perceived by the naked eye.


    Once all the spiritual energy was used up, the whirlpool disappeared and this cultivation session came to an end.


    Tang Jie felt out that Spiritual Space and knew that it could hold about eighty drops of spirit liquid. He was getting closer and closer to the Spirit Spring.


    The Major and Minor Circuit Heavens got stronger as one grew more proficient with them, and they would circte faster and faster. Otherwise, at the base speed, it would take decades to reach the Spirit Sea Tier, which required ten thousand drops.


    Tang Jie was growing more and more proficient with the Circuit Heavens, and his spirit senses were also improving. In a single night, he could circte six or seven Major Circuit Heavens, and at this speed, he would need only ten more days to reach the Spirit Spring level.


    ording to the standards of Basking Moon Academy, two months to open a Spirit Eye was normal.


    After that, it was six months for a Spirit Spring, a year and a half for a Spirit Lake, and four and a half years for a Spirit Sea. The remaining two years were for charging at Mortal Shedding, a total of eight years.


    Each division, from spring toke to sea, had a tenfold difference. For the tenfold increase in each tier, the cultivation speed needed to increase by three times and the time needed to increase by three times. This was the only way to keep progressing.


    For most students, as they practiced more and more, their Circuit Heavens would turn faster and faster, and so increasing the speed by three times with each new phase wasn¡¯t difficult at all. The problem was that each tier of the Spirit tform Realm required upgrading the mantra once, which would mean new transformations. This meant that the students would have to learn a new Circuit Heaven mantra after just familiarizing themselves with the first, and the difficulty would suddenly spike.


    Although the new mantra had the old one as a basis, there would always be a few awkward spots that would drag down their progress.


    This was why the cultivation standard used four cycles as the baseline.


    A nine-cycle couldplete their Spirit Sea in as little as three years.


    But a three-cycle was toeing the danger line. Breaking into Mortal Shedding in ten years would be good enough.


    Basking Moon Academy only allowed students to stay for ten years, ensuring that three-cycle students still had a high chance of entering Mortal Shedding. Of course, those of worse aptitude truly had no other method than to rely on their effort and luck.


    Tang Jie had only been in school for three months. With the help of the Visceral Manifestation ssic, he was at the front when it came to speed, but he didn¡¯t have any support besides that, so he was at the tail of the first pack. Other people needed two months to get to Spirit Spring, but he only needed ten-some days.


    At this speed, three years for Spirit Sea wasn¡¯t too realistic, but four or five years waspletely possible.


    He saw that he didn¡¯t have enough time until mealtime to finish another Major Circuit Heaven, so he practiced his sword art and the Aqualight Shroud.


    Compared to the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword, the Aqualight Shroud was much more troublesome to practice.


    Spells and arts generally consisted of two phases.


    The first was to circte energy through the body.


    The second was to summon the power through a magic form.


    Cultivators guided spiritual energy through their body and altered it, making it like a formation that resonated with the Great Dao, and through this, could achieve numerous wondrous abilities. This was called ¡°art manifestation¡± or ¡°art cirction¡±.


    Once art cirction wasplete, the user needed to have the energy move ording to their will, drawing it out of the body and thenmanding it. It wasn¡¯t as simple as gathering up an energy arrow and just tossing it out. This phase was known as ¡°art guiding¡±.


    Art manifestation required circting energy akin to a Circuit Heaven, and different spells and arts required different methods of cirction.


    Art guiding required a form, and different forms had different requirements.


    For new students, art manifestation was the most painful affair. After all, one had to control the energy route ording to the method, and each art and spell was like a diagram. Simply memorizing it was a tiring affair. Inparison, the form was much simpler. Only a few hand gestures andmands would be enough to have the spell moving ording to one¡¯s will. There was a lot of sharedmonality.


    For older cultivators, the situation was exactly the opposite. They had already gone through the most difficult part of art manifestation. After enough practice, art manifestation became like a Circuit Heaven, and manifesting a spell or art often took the space of a single breath. On the contrary, the form used to draw out the spell was difficult topress, and worst of all was that forms were impossible to hide in battle. Often, your opponent would see you forming some spell with your hand and would essentially know what you were trying to do.


    As a beginner, Tang Jie faced the problem of art manifestation.


    Aqualight Shroud¡¯s art manifestation required first consuming spirit liquid, converting it into energy, and then guiding the energy through the prescribed path, after which one would use the form to draw out the spell. Each step was rather troublesome and required endless repetition to master.


    Put bluntly, Major Circuit Heavens, Minor Circuit Heavens, and spells all required long and arduous practice to master.


    However, proficiency in a spell would increase the speed at which the spell could be cast. The spell¡¯s power depended on a person¡¯s cultivation realm, aptitude, and weapon, the cultivation art, and the spell itself. And the finishing touch to all this was thepleteness of the casting.


    Even worse was that the limit of magic power meant that spells could not be cultivated whenever one pleased. Eighty drops of spirit liquid was only enough to use the Aqualight Shroud eight times, and at Tang Jie¡¯s current mastery of the Minor Circuit Heaven, he could only create five drops of spirit liquid with each circuit. This meant that Tang Jie could only recover 120 drops every 24 hours, and so he could only practice the Aqualight Shroud twelve times, and this would mean not doing any other kind of cultivation in those 24 hours.


    The Visceral Manifestation ssic was of no help here. He could only make the best out of every attempt.


    Tang Jie circted energy ording to the mantra and then used the form. It took quite a while for the Aqualight Shroud to finally form. The time from when he began circting energy for the spell to its final emergence was twenty seconds. Tang Jie bitterly smiled. ¡°At this speed, by the time I release the shroud, I¡¯ll have been hacked to death ten times.¡±


    He had to find a way to improve.


    The best method was none other than spirit-returning medicine. This medicine increased spiritual energy and could increase the recovery effect of a single Minor Circuit Heaven by several dozen times.


    But such medicine was incredibly valuable, and the greatest drawback of spirit medicines was that they could only help for a moment. Cultivation was a long-term affair. If he really wanted to use spirit medicine to cover for his massive gap in talent, not even the Wei n would have enough money.


    After some thought, Tang Jie gave up on the idea of buying medicine. Compared to him, the Wu couple needed it more.


    As he was thinking about this, Shi Meng arrived.


    ¡°The young master has called you to his side.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Tang Jie asked, putting away his sword.


    ¡°The first young master and second young master havee.¡±


    At the Meditation Garden, Tang Jie saw that there were four others besides Wei Tianchong in the garden.


    Tang Jie had already seen Wei Ming. At the head of the other three was a tall young man with a square face who looked rather like Wei Danbai. With one nce, he knew that this was the first young master, Wei Tianzhi.


    As for Third Young Master Wei Tianchong, he had an egg-shaped face, inheriting his mother¡¯s looks, so it was no wonder his mother favored her younger son.


    Until a few days ago, Wei Tianzhi had been training outside and had no time to see him. But he had finallye to visit today.


    There were two people at Wei Tianzhi¡¯s side, and Tang Jie recognized one of them at a nce. This had to be Wu Xing. He was the son of the Wu couple, so he had some of his father¡¯s charm.


    These four were conversing in the courtyard when Tang Jie arrived. He bowed to Wei Tianchong and said, ¡°Greetings, Third Young Master.¡±


    He then turned to Wei Tianzhi. ¡°First Young Master! Second Young Master!¡±


    Wei Ming was rather polite, nodding at Tang Jie.


    Wei Tianzhi looked at Tang Jie and said, ¡°You must be Tang Jie. I¡¯ve heard about you. It wasn¡¯t long ago that you got the nickname of Mad Student. You¡¯re a servant student, yet your conduct is rather showy. You are not as steady and mature as Mother described you to be.¡±


    The first young master was basically like a younger version of the father. Even his tone was mature and old-fashioned.


    Tang Jie could only answer, ¡°Yes. When this lowly one entered school, he momentarily lost himself upon the fulfillment of his dream. First Young Master, please forgive me. This will not happen again in the future.¡±


    Wei Tianzhi nodded and then pointed at the people at his side. ¡°This is Xiao Zhe and Wu Xing, my servant students. Now that I think about it, Wu Xing is your older brother. This is the first time you two brothers are meeting, so you should get to know each other.¡±


    Tang Jie turned to Wu Xing. ¡°Older Brother Wu Xing, Tang Jie was fortunate enough to be saved by Father and Mother and get this chance to enter school. Such generosity is difficult to reciprocate. In the future, if Older Brother needs anything, please seek out your younger brother, and I will do all that I can.¡±


    Wu Xing nodded. ¡°There¡¯s no need to be polite. Father and Mother praised you as filial, and the two of them relied on your care while I was gone.¡±


    He spoke politely, but his tone was t andcked any sort of affection for a younger brother. Tang Jie didn¡¯t find this strange. After all, this was their first meeting, and they could naturally build up their rtionship over time.


    Once he was seated, everyone got to chatting.


    Tang Jie learned that Wei Tianzhi and Wu Xing had gone off to the Thunderp Mountains a few days ago toplete a herb-gathering mission for the school. While they called it training, it was really a way to make money.


    To cultivate, one needed enough resources. The n subsidy alone wasn¡¯t enough for the bottomless hole of cultivation. The students could never have enough money when it came to this pursuit. Thus, even the rich young scions had to go out and make money from time to time.


    Thus, Basking Moon Academy prepared training grounds for its students, for them to both gather resources and train their skills.


    The Thunderp Mountains were located in the northern reaches of Sageheart. This was an extremely dangerous ce that was crawling with fierce beasts, but it also had numerous natural treasures. Students from Basking Moon Academy would explore the ce every year, and while there were those who sessfully obtained many resources, there were also quite a few who lost their lives.


    Wei Tianchong asked his older brother how the harvest was, at which Wei Tianzhi shook his head and sighed. ¡°The Thunderp Mountains are incredibly dangerous. On my first day, I saw an upperssman get devoured by a fiend with my own eyes. Let alone a harvest, it was good enough to get back home alive.¡±


    ¡°But didn¡¯t the school dispatch an esteemed teacher? How did someone die?¡± Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t understand.


    Wei Tianzhi answered, ¡°It¡¯s true that there was an esteemed teacher, but the problem was that there were a lot of students and not enough good things to go around. The school has a rule that the esteemed teacher is only there to protect you, but whatever the esteemed teacher takes action to gain belongs to the school, not the students. To get something, you have to leave the protection of the teacher, so all the students ultimately choose to go their own way. I ran into danger on my first day in the Thunderp Mountains and was fortunate to survive, so I didn¡¯t dare to leave the esteemed teacher¡¯s side after that. By working as a servant, I managed to get a bottle of spirit medicine, but it¡¯s just a cup of water on a burning cart.¡±


    Wei Tianzhi sighed and shook his head again.


    He was the first young master of a wealthy n, and he had never served someone else. But in the Thunderp Mountains, he had needed to serve the teacher to get anything to eat. He was naturally in a sour mood.


    If he was like that, Wu Xing and Xiao Zhe were naturally no better.


    ¡°So then it will be difficult for Big Brother to reach Mortal Shedding within ten years?¡± Wei Tianchong said, feeling aggrieved in his older brother¡¯s ce.


    ¡°Mortal Shedding? I stopped dreaming about that long ago!¡± Wei Tianzhi burst out inughter. Once he was doneughing, he said in a sorrowful tone, ¡°Seven years! I¡¯ve been in school for seven years, but because Ick talent and have only two cycles, I¡¯ve only been able to reach the Spirit Lake Tier, still far away from the Spirit Sea. I¡¯ve let down Father and Mother. My only hope now is that I canplete my Spirit Sea by the ten-year mark so that I can get a method for reaching the Mortal Shedding Realm¡­¡±


    The rule of Basking Moon Academy was ¡°teach as you go.¡±


    If one could reach the Spirit Sea Tier by the ten-year mark, even if one couldn¡¯t reach Mortal Shedding, one at least had the right to receive a method that could allow one to break into Mortal Shedding. Thus, even after one left the school, they could slowly cultivate on their own time and still have a chance at Mortal Shedding.


    He just wasn¡¯t permitted to transmit the technique to outsiders.


    There were many students like this. Even though they failed at the school, they didn¡¯t truly lose hope. Quite a few of them even managed to seed in advancing after leaving school.


    Otherwise, the great ns would have to consider whether this endeavor was worth the difficult barrier of entry, the high chance of elimination, and the enormous expense.


    It was precisely because of this back-up path that one-cycles and two-cycles still dared toe to school. ¡°You can do it in ten years, and I can manage it in twenty!¡±


    Of course, after reaching Mortal Shedding, they didn¡¯t have any mantra for what came next, so they often stopped at the basic level.


    Most of the Rosecloud Domain¡¯s Spirit Masters were of this kind.


    Wei Ming was a little better off than Wei Tianzhi.


    He had a three-cycle Jade Gate and was on his fifth year. While the resources the n could provide him were limited, he did get his proper share. Based on his progress, he was meeting the criterion for the lower end of the standard, teetering on the edge. A step forward would mean sess and a step back would be a failure. His chances were exactly fifty percent.


    As for Wu Xing, he had a three-cycle gate, but hecked the resources of the two young masters, so his progress was on about the same level as the first young master. Thus, he didn¡¯t hope for the Mortal Shedding Realm and only sought to get a Spirit Sea by graduation.


    After this bout of sadness, Wei Tianzhi suddenly asked, ¡°I¡¯vee this time to visit you, but also see how you¡¯re doing. Tianchong, have you learned a spell?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve learned the Spirit Guidance spell,¡± Wei Tianchong honestly replied.


    ¡°Spirit Guidance? You call that a spell? What is it good for?¡± Wei Tianzhi was very unhappy. ¡°Cultivation is about boldly advancing, and there will be countless dangerous obstacles in the path toe. What sort of help will such a childish spell be to you in the future? Do you truly n to have the n support you for the rest of your life? Stop messing around!¡±


    Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t dare to talk back to his brother, so he looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie felt helpless, so he could only toughen up and reply, ¡°First Young Master, this lowly one was the one who advised the third young master to learn the Spirit Guidance spell. While this spell has nobat abilities, it is the basic skill for controlling puppets. The third young master is very talented when ites to carving, so this lowly one advised¡­¡±


    ¡°I know that he can carve, but can he seed in puppetry simply because he can carve? Carving is only for the form, but the materials are the foundation and the refining formation serves as the soul! Can he make refining formations? Does he have the materials? What¡¯s the point of the form without the foundation and the soul? Moreover, cultivators ultimately depend on themselves. Relying on external objects will ultimately limit one¡¯s prospects!¡± Wei Tianzhi spoke so sternly that not even Tang Jie dared to talk back.


    There wasn¡¯t anything wrong with his argument, but his standards were a little high.


    Perhaps puppetry didn¡¯t lead to the Great Dao at the end of the path of Immortality, but most cultivators simply sought to get as far as they could go. The end of the path of Immortality was simply something nice to look at and think about. Actually doing it was truly difficult.


    Moreover, even if Wei Tianchong cultivated the Dao of Puppetry, it didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t cultivate anything else. Many of the spells they learned now were just the basics, the foundations, tools for reaching their goals. So long as the foundation was steady, there was no need to be so serious about the methods.


    s, he was still the first young master, and it wasn¡¯t Tang Jie¡¯s ce to argue. He could only lower his head and assent.


    In the end, it took a few words from Second Young Master Wei Ming to soothe the first young master.


    But Tang Jie knew that his nickname of Mad Student Tang Jie and the Spiritual Guidance spell had caused the first young master to dislike him, and all he could do was sigh.


    After the meal, Tang Jie found a chance to talk with Wu Xing alone. He asked Wu Xing, ¡°Big Brother Wu Xing, how many spirit coins do you have on you?¡±


    ¡°I have some, but not a lot. Why do you ask? If you n to borrow¡­¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°Brother Wu Xing, you misunderstand. It¡¯s like this. Father and Mother aren¡¯t doing very well, so I n to buy the two of them some life-extending medicine.¡±


    ¡°Life-extending medicine?¡± Wu Xing was shocked. ¡°That¡¯s a spirit medicine that costs a whole spirit jade!¡±


    Medicines were divided into grades: mortal grade, spirit grade, and Immortal grade. They each had their corresponding prices. The medicine that Spirit Master Lu had given Tang Jie before had merely been a mortal-grade medicine. It was called a spirit medicine, but this was like how mortals called Spirit Masters ¡°Immortal Masters¡±, always raising their status.


    Life-extending medicine was true spirit medicine. It could transform the bones of mortals and extend their lifespans. If used on the old couple, it would undoubtedly cure them of illnesses that had ailed them for many years.


    Hearing Wu Xing say this, Tang Jie sighed. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s because it¡¯s so expensive that I¡¯m looking for Big Brother¡¯s help. If we put our money together, we might be able to buy it.¡±


    Wu Xing brusquely replied, ¡°That¡¯s a spirit jade, one thousand spirit coins. How much money do you think I have?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need that much. I came upon a lucky opportunity when entering school, so I¡¯ve made some money. I only need eighty-three spirit coins from Big Brother to get enough.¡±


    ¡°What? So you have more than nine hundred coins?¡± Wu Xing jumped in surprise.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    Not concealing anything, he told him about the fish scale and its purpose. He then said, ¡°I raised nine fish from that fish scale and sold them off for nine hundred coins. Before that, I made forty spirit coins, so I had nine hundred and forty coins, then I spent twenty-three, so I have nine hundred and seventeen coins left.¡±


    He had thought that the nine-hundred-some spirit coins he had left would be enough, but when he had started to ask around and realized that the medicine cost so much, he was filled with regret. Thus, he could only ask for Wu Xing¡¯s help. After all, they shared the same parents.


    To his surprise, Wu Xing grimaced. ¡°This¡­ I don¡¯t actually have that much.¡±


    ¡°How could Big Brother be in this school for seven years and not even have earned eighty-three spirit coins?¡± Tang Jie said in shock.


    ¡°That¡¯s not the case. But who would keep around money if they could use it to buy medicine? I really don¡¯t have that much to hand over right now.¡±


    Tang Jie thought it over and sighed. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll just borrow some from the third young master. You can just help me by sending it out. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Why can¡¯t you send it yourself?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Our parents have high hopes in you, and I¡¯m sure that this will make them happier. Moreover, I¡¯ve got a reputation for rashness, having already gotten the nickname of Mad Student. Our parents might get into trouble because of me, so I really don¡¯t want anyone to know about the two of them¡­ so I would like to leave this matter to Big Brother.¡±


    With no other option, Wu Xing nodded.


    Tang Jie went to see Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong heard that Tang Jie wanted to borrow money and wasn¡¯t too concerned, immediately giving him the spirit coins.


    Tang Jie took the money to Wu Xing. ¡°I leave everything to you, Big Brother.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll help you out with this,¡± Wu Xing said as he put the money away.

 Chapter 60: Unfilial Son

    After seeing their younger sibling, Wei Tianzhi and Wei Ming were anxious to get back to cultivating, so they bid farewell.


    Upon leaving the Meditation Garden, Wu Xing went alone to Spirit Wonder Market.


    As he walked through the market, his mind was in turmoil.


    One thousand spirit coins!


    The money that Tang Jie had taken out hadpletely upset his mind.


    He clearly understood what this money meant.


    With this money, he had an even greater chance of reaching Spirit Sea!


    But this money was for the health of his parents.


    <em>Curses!</em>


    <em>Why is it that he was able to make almost one thousand coins right after getting into school while I was able to make so much less despite being in this school for seven years? All I have is a few spirit coins.</em>


    Wu Xing mentally fumed.


    Gritting his teeth, Wu Xing walked up to an upperssman selling medicines in the market and asked, ¡°Senior Brother, do you happen to have any life-extending medicine?¡±


    The student raised his head and nced at Wu Xing in surprise. ¡°Life-extending medicine? I¡¯ve never made it before. It¡¯s made for mortals, and the price is expensive, so people normally don¡¯t make it. But if you have the money, I can take an order. How much do you want?¡±


    ¡°One bottle.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a lot and isn¡¯t really worth the trouble. It¡¯s not like I can easily sell off any extra. I would advise you to see if there¡¯s anyone else that needs it, and then you cane and find me together.¡±


    ¡°Where am I going to find someone else who needs life-extending medicine?¡± Wu Xing bitterly smiled.


    ¡°It truly isn¡¯t easy,¡± the student chuckled. ¡°Those with money will use it to buy medicines to nourish their own spirit. It must have been hard to save up these one thousand spirit coins, right?¡±


    Wu Xing lightly nodded.


    The student continued, ¡°In my view, you should give up on the life-extending medicine. You¡¯re not that old, so your parents must be about forty? This is far from the age where you need to start thinking about their old age, so why not work hard to improve yourself? Once you¡¯re stronger, can¡¯t you get as much life-extending medicine as you want?¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Wu Xing hesitated.


    The student chuckled. ¡°I can understand the desire to be a filial student, but there¡¯s no need to be in a rush about it. Filial piety is something you can consider in the long term. What¡¯s a true pity is when you try to be filial butck the strength, so you end up wasting the blood and sweat of your parents. As your senior, I can see that your aptitude is average. If you don¡¯t work hard now, you¡¯ll miss the chance and be filled with regret.¡±


    He grabbed a medicine bottle. ¡°I just made these Essence-Refining Pills a few days ago. Anyone beneath Mortal Shedding will receive an enormous boost to their spiritual energy after taking it. If you¡¯re conservative, you could go for forty to sixty days straight of hard cultivation. And I¡¯m not overcharging for it. This happens to be myst bottle, and the sooner I sell it, the sooner I can start on another batch. I just want one thousand spirit coins for it. What do you think?¡±


    Wu Xing was immediately tempted. He also knew that the Essence-Refining Pills had an excellent effect and would normally sell for 1200 spirit coins. He was being offered a cheaper price for them, so this truly was an opportunity.


    The student saw that he was hesitating and smiled. ¡°What? You still need to think about it? An opportunity passed won¡¯te by again. I¡¯m only giving you this cheap price because I¡¯m anxious to start another batch, so I¡¯m only looking to break even. Normally, I would never be willing to do this.¡±


    Wu Xing thought it over and then said, ¡°I want to inspect the medicine.¡±


    ¡°Naturally.¡± The student wasn¡¯t worried that he would be ying any tricks, and threw the bottle over.


    Wu Xing poured out a pill. He rolled around that pill in his palm and sniffed it. After confirming that it was the real deal, he gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll buy it.¡±


    He handed over the money and walked away with the medicine.


    He was excited, feeling blessed, but he was also uneasy and ashamed. As he was rushing back, a dark silhouette appeared in front of him.


    Wu Xing knew that while Basking Moon Academy appeared calm on the surface, anything could happen in the shadows. He immediately got on guard, but then he saw that it was Tang Jie standing in front of him.


    ¡°It¡¯s you?¡± Wu Xing¡¯s heart tightened. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    Tang Jie said nothing.


    He stood there, coldly staring at Wu Xing.


    Wu Xing¡¯s heart chilled, and he backed away. ¡°You¡­ You saw it all?¡±


    Tang Jie lightly nodded, his eyes filled with sorrow.


    He had been prepared for this, but he was still shocked when he witnessed it with his own eyes.


    He hadn¡¯t dared to believe that Wu Xing would act like this!


    Wu Xing¡¯s body trembled, and then he shouted, ¡°You followed me? You bastard, you didn¡¯t trust me!¡±


    A hint of bitter helplessness appeared on Tang Jie¡¯s face. ¡°Yes, I didn¡¯t trust you. When I saw how you took my money, I knew that I wouldn¡¯t be able to just let you go. Do you know how much I hoped I was wrong? Though I knew that you were rather unreliable, I felt that you hadn¡¯t fallen this far. I still clung onto a little hope. I didn¡¯t think¡­¡±


    Tang Jie suddenly roared, ¡°They¡¯re your birth parents! How could you do this!? Are you even fit to be their son!?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doing this precisely because I¡¯m worried about them. What do you know? With this medicine, I¡¯ll be able to cultivate better and reach a higher realm, allowing me to better repay them!¡± Wu Xing shouted.


    ¡°Not a bad excuse,¡± Tang Jie sneered. ¡°But why didn¡¯t you tell that upperssman that your parents are actually pushing sixty and they have many long-term illnesses that are difficult to cure? Wait until you seed in cultivation? And when would that be? Mortal Shedding Realm? Celestial Heart Realm? Perhaps Violet Pce Realm? Or perhaps when you be an actual Immortal will you actually start doing your filial duty? I worry that they won¡¯t be able to wait that long!¡±


    ¡°Bullshit!¡± Wu Xing roared. ¡°Tang Jie, my parents are doing fine. I won¡¯t let you nder them like this!¡±


    ¡°Good, good, very good! Now you¡¯re the filial child again. Sure enough, filial piety through words is the easiest. If someone dared to insult your parents, I¡¯m sure that you would kill their entire family back if you could, right?¡± Tang Jieughed. ¡°And using usations to cancel out your own wicked deeds? Saying that you don¡¯t trust me? Saying that I¡¯m ndering you? Anything else? Make every usation you can and say it was all my fault, right? And you think that will make it up to your parents? So that you can peacefully take your medicine and start cultivating? Essence-Refining Pills¡­ For the sake of saving a few dozen days, you would be willing to give up on decades of your parents¡¯ lives!¡±


    Wu Xing was so intimidated by Tang Jie¡¯s angry roars that he sat on the ground.


    He looked at Tang Jie in a daze. ¡°I¡­ It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t care about them¡­ but I¡­ that upperssman¡­ This medicine only cost one thousand coins¡­ he was giving me such a huge discount¡­ huge¡­ Do you know? This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance!¡±


    ¡°Yes, and you discounted your parents¡¯ lives while you were at it,¡± Tang Jie coldly said.


    Wu Xing was dumbstruck, and then he held his head and began to cry.


    Tang Jie was disgusted by this, but in the end, he said, ¡°There¡¯s still time to correct your error. Go back to that upperssman, return the medicine, and get back your money. If you can¡¯t, sell it off, and then go and buy life-extending medicine.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s useless.¡± Wu Xing shook his head. ¡°Life-extending pills start at thirty pills for a single cauldron. I would have to find two other people to order it with me¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop looking for excuses!¡± Tang Jie became truly angry. ¡°If you can¡¯t find someone, just slowly work at it. I don¡¯t believe that there¡¯s not one or two people among the more than ten thousand Basking Moon students who need life-extending medicine! But did you go looking? No! You didn¡¯t even try!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s bellows infuriated Wu Xing, and he jumped to his feet and shouted, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m looking for excuses, but so what? I won¡¯t ept it! Why? Why is it that people can be so talented that they can easily reach the Mortal Shedding Realm without medicine? Why is it that you were able to get that fish scale and make more than nine hundred coins as soon as you got into the academy? Why is it that you¡¯re a five-cycle while I¡¯m a three-cycle? I won¡¯t ept it! I want to seed, want to reach the Mortal Shedding Realm! What¡¯s wrong with that? They¡¯re my parents, and they gave me everything I wanted. You sent them money, and then they would send the money to me. I¡¯m their son. Why can¡¯t I use it?¡±


    ¡°You!¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m shameless, unfilial, alright? As for you, you were saved by my parents, so you wanted to repay their kindness, but why do you insist on repaying them? Why not repay them through me? I¡¯m their son!¡±


    Wu Xing started iling around in agitation.


    ¡°Tang Jie, now that I think about it, I¡¯m your older brother, your big brother! Just treat this as helping me out. This is also a form of filial piety toward my parents, right? My dad sent me a letter saying that those one hundred taels of silver had been given to them by you, and they were sending them to me. I thank you for that, but can I ask you to help me one more time? Give me these one thousand spirit coins so that I can improve myself. With it, I can grow stronger faster. Two months¡ªwhat if I only need these two months to get into Spirit Sea? You wouldn¡¯t destroy a person over this, would you? This is all my hope! I¡¯ll tell Mom and Dad about this, that you helped me, and they¡¯ll think well of you. Think about it. They also want to see me seed. If you let them choose, they would also choose me, right?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s entire body went cold.


    He took in a deep breath. ¡°I will not agree to this. I warn you that you should immediately return the medicine, or else I¡¯ll stop being polite.¡±


    ¡°Stop being polite? Is your head messed up?¡± Wu Xing burst out inughter, which looked ratherical when paired with the tears running down his face.


    ¡°And how exactly are you going to stop being polite with me? Just you? A guy who¡¯s only just opened his Spirit Eye and hasn¡¯t reached Spirit Spring? I¡¯m only asking because you¡¯re my little brother, because you gave me this money. Do you really take yourself seriously just because I¡¯m being polite to you?¡±


    Wu Xing¡¯s face darkened. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m not reliable, but who made you have me buy the medicine¡­ You were testing me? You were fucking scheming against me? I¡¯ll be filial to my parents in the future, and I¡¯m their son! Your criticism isn¡¯t needed!¡±


    He pointed at Tang Jie, his face turning savage. ¡°Out of respect for my parents, and since you called me Big Brother, I¡¯ll give you one chance. Get out of here at once, or else I¡¯ll have to discipline you!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s hopes were utterly dashed now.


    He grimly shook his head. ¡°I said before that I was asking you to buy the medicine because I offended a few people after entering the academy and didn¡¯t want them to know about the condition of my parents. That might give them something to exploit, could bring trouble on Mom and Dad. Thus, I had to ask you to send the medicine. After all, you¡¯re their son by birth, so it¡¯s only right and proper that you send it to them! I also knew that you would be tempted by this money, but I had no other choice. I could only trust that you were a little better than I imagined¡­ but it seems that your mind is set. I know that you¡¯re at the Spirit Lake Tier, two tiers higher than me, and you¡¯ve probably mastered quite a few spells, right? I¡¯d like to see if you¡¯re actually capable of disciplining me.¡±


    He was already striding toward Wu Xing.


    ¡°Impudent!¡± Wu Xing¡¯s eyes shed with a ruthless light. He looked around and saw that there were no monitors around, after which his hands began to form the form. ¡°Since you¡¯re seeking death, don¡¯t me me¡­¡±


    Before he could finish, Tang Jie had charged up and punched him in the face.


    He had charged up in a sh, and Wu Xing hadn¡¯t imagined that this would be how Tang Jie attacked, so he was sent flying. He rolled twice on the ground, his hands still trying to create the form, but before he could finish, Tang Jie had already rushed up and kicked his hand. At the same time, he also punched Wu Xing in the chest, instantly interrupting his energy flow and once more stopping the spell.


    Tang Jie mmed his head up into Wu Xing¡¯s jaw and then gave him a knee, causing Wu Xing to throw his head back and howl in pain.


    Though he was at the Spirit Lake Tier, strength and tier were not the same thing.


    As hecked talent, Wu Xing had put most of his energy into advancement, and he had little time to practice his spells. Thus, he had a hard time using spells under Tang Jie¡¯s vicious assault.


    There were numerous Spirit Disciples like him whocked talent and so focused entirely on their cultivation, and so there were numerous people in the cultivation world who were poor fighters.


    Of course, on the other hand, there were also quite a lot of strong fighters with average cultivation.


    In normal circumstances, if they were all fighting with just spells, he would be fine. After all, he had a Spirit Lake, so if he could unleash spell after spell, he would definitely beat Tang Jie ck and blue.


    But s, Tang Jie had caught himpletely off guard and refused topete with him in spells. Without the initiative, he now found it hard to turn the tables.


    As Tang Jie gave him a savage beatdown, Wu Xing was both shocked and infuriated. Suppressing the pain, he formed a spell, and an azure light finally appeared in his hand.


    ¡°Gale de!¡± Wu Xing sent this de flying at Tang Jie.


    He didn¡¯t want to kill Tang Jie, so he sent the de at Tang Jie¡¯s arm.


    To his surprise, Tang Jie ignored it, enduring the de to punch Wu Xing. This was a savage and heavy punch that caused Wu Xing¡¯s eyes to roll over and his body to stagger back a few steps. When he looked at Tang Jie again, he saw that a wound half a finger deep had appeared on Tang Jie¡¯s arm. It was by no means a light wound, but it was far lighter than Wu Xing had imagined.


    ¡°How could that be?¡± Wu Xing was rmed. He knew the power of his Gale de. It was enough to cut a stone in half, so why was it so weak on Tang Jie¡¯s body, like the strike of an ordinary weapon?


    But before he could react, Tang Jie came at him with a kick that once more sent him rolling over.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Wu Xing reached behind his back and pulled out a dagger. At the same time, he mobilized spirit power and formed another spell, lightning shing on the de of the dagger.


    But as he swung the dagger, Tang Jie grabbed a tree branch on the ground and swung it at his head. Wu Xing instinctively raised his dagger to block, but then Tang Jie turned his wrist, and the tree branch swung upward. This was the Rising Sword Form of the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword.


    Spiritual light shed on the branch, and the energy-infused branch pped against Wu Xing¡¯s face. As a martial technique that was usable by both mortals and Immortals, it had average power. Its greatest advantage was that it could mobilize spiritual energy to strengthen its moves without any sort of form.


    Empowered by spiritual energy, the blow brought Wu Xing down to the ground so hard that he couldn¡¯t get up. However, he managed to get his dagger to scrape against Tang Jie¡¯s body. But as itcked in strength, it didn¡¯t even manage to break the skin. The lightning on the de swiftly coiled around Tang Jie¡¯s body, causing his entire body to go numb, but everything quickly went back to normal.


    A body like steel!


    ¡°This¡­ this is impossible¡­¡± Wu Xing stared in disbelief at Tang Jie.


    He was a Spirit Disciple at the Spirit Lake Tier, but he was defeated by someone who wasn¡¯t even at Spirit Spring?


    ¡°Nothing is impossible. Compared to a Spirit Eye defeating a Spirit Lake, I¡¯m more in disbelief about your character. Since you were able to create a new low when ites to human character, there¡¯s nothing strange about a new low when ites to strength,¡± Tang Jie coldly said. He walked over, pulled open Wu Xing¡¯s clothes, and took out the bottle of Essence-Refining Pills.


    ¡°My medicine!¡± Wu Xing shouted.


    ¡°It¡¯s mine!¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°I owe Mom and Dad, and I will repay Mom and Dad, but you and I¡­ will never be brothers!¡±


    With this, Tang Jie strode away.

 Chapter 61: Search

    ¡°Dad, Mom, I hope this letter finds you well. Today, I finally met Big Brother Wu Xing. Big Brother is doing well and misses the two of you dearly. But because he¡¯s at a crucial juncture in his cultivation and can¡¯t be distracted, he was only able to learn about how the two of you were doing from me. All of his words showed great worry for you two. Although this was my first meeting with my big brother, our conversation went well, and Big Brother showed a lot of concern for me and even gave me a few pointers on cultivation¡­¡±


    Once the letter was done, Tang Jie carefully read it over to make sure that there were no problems. With a sigh, he ced the letter in an envelope.


    He turned around and saw the bottle of Essence-Refining Pills, and he once more felt frustrated.


    The result of Wu Xing¡¯s unreliability was that he didn¡¯t dare to send medicine back to the old couple, and for a moment, he couldn¡¯t think of a way to send the medicine back.


    He grew more frustrated the more he thought about it. ¡°Damn it!¡± He punched the wall.


    The wall swayed from the impact of the punch, and the entire house trembled a little.


    He drew back his fist and clenched it. The joints cracked like rumbling thunder.


    He muttered, ¡°It seems like I can only keep waiting. My only hope is that they move a little faster and don¡¯t disappoint me.¡±


    He looked down at his fist.


    Though he had seeded in taking the power of the Gale de, he hadn¡¯t known to what extent. All he had known was that if he left Wu Xing with enough space to use spells, he would be no match. Thus, no matter what, he had to hold him down. He hadn¡¯t expected that the damage from the Gale de would be so small.


    In the little time that had passed, his wound had mostly recovered.


    While Gale de wasn¡¯t some powerful art, it wasn¡¯t exactlycking in strength. Since he was able to take the Gale de, didn¡¯t that mean that he was essentially impervious to all attacks weaker than Gale de?


    Tang Jie realized that he might need to assess the power of various spells and test how well his body could resist them. This would undoubtedly be of huge help to him in future battles.


    But there were numerous spells in the world, and testing them all one by one wasn¡¯t easy. He could only take it step by step.


    Tang Jie continued to cultivate every day.


    Seven dayster, he sessfully advanced to the Spirit Spring Tier.


    This was the first standard phase of the Spirit tform Realm, a sign that the student had officially be a Spirit Disciple. As for before that, that was just the yground.


    Upon entering the Spirit Spring Tier, one¡¯s Spiritual Space would gradually harden. Further expansion would require using the Level 2 mantra of the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra.


    But Basking Moon Academy had always passed on only the appropriate mantra for each level. Tang Jie had only gotten the first level, and if he wanted the next, he would have to go to the lecturing stone to see Daoist Ku, at which point everyone would know how much progress he had made.


    After some thought, Tang Jie decided to put it off and use this free time to properly cultivate the Aqualight Shroud.


    The Aqualight Shroud required first running energy through the Greater Yin Foot Spleen Meridian, and once it reached the Bowel Abode point, the energy would be shaped into a shield as described by the spell, and then the form would draw out the energy and create the Aqualight Shroud.


    But as an upside, the form was not required.


    The form served to guide the spell, but defensive spells were normally used on the self, so guidance was not needed. Of course, if it were used on someone else, the form was still needed.


    Thus, defensive spells normally went off faster than offensive spells. Their downside was that defense would always lose out to offense.


    Offense focused on a point while defense spread over an area. Since they both used up spiritual energy, offense was bound to be more powerful than defense.


    Thus, the vast majority of students normally wouldn¡¯t choose defensive spells at first, only going for them once they had a lot of other spells.


    Tang Jie had chosen this one because he had the Visceral Manifestation ssic to refine his body.


    The Visceral Manifestation ssic had toughened his body, but it was only enough to block mortal weapons. It still wasn¡¯tpletely immune to spell attacks like the Gale de. Wu Xing¡¯s spell had actually wounded him rather badly, but he had a very tenacious personality and the Visceral Manifestation ssic also endowed him with astonishing recovery powers, so he had been able to get by without significant consequences.


    Someone just a little stronger than Wu Xing might have been able to push through the Visceral Manifestation ssic.


    And the Aqualight Shroud¡¯s greatest attribute wasn¡¯t its ability to defend against damage, but that to reduce damage. This reduction was pretty good, and Tang Jie estimated that it ranged from five to twenty percent depending on the attribute of the attack.


    The weakness of the Aqualight Shroud was that it would get damaged as it weakened attacks, and it had an extremely low upper limit to the number of attacks it could endure. Taking the Gale de as an example, it could take two or three of them before being destroyed.


    But regardless, the Visceral Manifestation ssicbined with the Aqualight Shroud greatly boosted Tang Jie¡¯s survivability. If Tang Jie had been able to use the Aqualight Shroud in his battle with Wu Xing, he might have suffered only a surface wound.


    Thus, Tang Jie proceeded to vigorously train in the energy cirction method of the Aqualight Shroud.


    When he ran out of spiritual energy, he would circte the Minor Circuit Heaven. After all, the Minor Circuit Heaven involved condensing energy into liquid and recovering spiritual power, so there was no problem about mantra level. Otherwise, the saying about ¡°a Circuit Heaven in a single breath¡± wouldn¡¯t exist.


    These two activities upied Tang Jie for half a month.


    For this half a month, he remained at Spirit Spring, storing one hundred drops and making no progress in cultivation. But when it came to spell execution, he experienced clear progress.


    He went from one revolution of the Minor Circuit Heaven every hour to about one every twenty minutes.


    This was the learning period starting from zero, the period where progress was easiest and greatest. The higher one went, the more difficult things would get.


    He hadpressed the casting time of the Aqualight Shroud to six seconds, but any faster wasn¡¯t easy.


    In a sh of spells, six seconds was actually enough. After all, the opponent also needed time to form their spells. But Tang Jie wasn¡¯t satisfied.


    His battles were about life and death, not simple sparring.


    In such mortal battles, efficiency took the fore. There were no civilities or pointless courtesies, and no one would give you time to use your spells, just like how he didn¡¯t give Wu Xing time to use his spells.


    Catching the enemy off guard with fast and strong attacks, ruthlessly exploiting the casting time limitation, was currently his only way to ovee enemies stronger than him. In order to do this, he needed to be faster!


    ¡°It¡¯s really no good. It seems like I¡¯ll have to use that method¡­ but the time isn¡¯t ripe¡­ These damn bastards. When are they going to get here¡­¡± Tang Jie sighed.


    The people he was waiting for were surprisingly restrained.


    If they didn¡¯t move out, Tang Jie had to keep most of his ns on the back burner.


    At this moment, a voice came from outside. ¡°Is Brother Tang here?¡±


    It was Liu Hongyan.


    Tang Jie walked out and saw Liu Hongyan standing in front of his courtyard. He hastily said, ¡°So it¡¯s Little Sis Hongyan. Why did youe to find me today?¡±


    Liu Hongyan red at him. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you have the nerve to ask! Today is the day we¡¯re forming the club. I naturally came to get you.¡±


    Tang Jie pped his head in enlightenment. ¡°I forgot! Please wait. I¡¯ll go and get ready.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s there to get ready?¡± Liu Hongyan rolled her eyes at him.


    ¡°I have to put on new clothes,¡± Tang Jie smiled.


    A few momentster, Tang Jie walked out. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡±


    The Freedom Society¡¯s founding was being held at Ping Jingyue¡¯s ¡°Heart Moon Temple¡±. As Shu Mingyang¡¯s group of four had quite some prestige, several dozen students were attending the ceremony, many of which had rather decent talent, with quite a few having six cycles or more.


    But the most renowned Qi Shaoming and An Rumeng were nowhere to be seen. It waster revealed that the Freedom Society hadn¡¯t even sent them invitations, probably because they didn¡¯t want the two to hog all the attention.


    In truth, it wouldn¡¯t matter if they had sent invitations. These two were cultivation fanatics, spending every day in ss or in closed-door cultivation, and they made massive progress in cultivation every day.


    Some time ago, Qi Shaoming became the first person to enter the Spirit Spring Tier, and then he madly advanced into the Spirit Lake Tier. He ignored all types of invitations, acting very much like a yer who wanted to powerlevel first and show offter.


    An Rumeng was more of a show-off. A few days ago, at the Divine Battleground, having reached the Spirit Spring Tier, she had challenged three Spirit Lake disciples in a row, causing a huge stir, after which she disappeared into the crowd to bury herself once more in cultivation.


    As it was just a bunch of students, club-founding day was just a ceremony that primarily existed to give everyone a chance to chat and develop connections, even asionally discussing their experiences. To tell the truth, when it came to discussing human order and the Great Dao, probably only Shu Mingyang was interested.


    Tang Jie mixed into the crowd, asionally exchanging a few words with some people he knew. He was called the Mad Student, but he didn¡¯t seem mad or arrogant at all, and so many people who didn¡¯t know him changed their views of him.


    At the same time.


    The Carefree House.


    Three men in ck appeared in front of Tang Jie¡¯s house.


    Their leader, a tall and bulky figure, stood in front of the door and nodded. One person started to search the courtyard while the other went into the room and began to scour through it.


    The man in ck responsible for searching the courtyard would asionally thrust a stick into the ground and take it back out. After looking at the stick, he would move to another ce to continue.


    The man in ck responsible for the room essentially turned the entire room upside down, searching every ce that could be searched and almost dismantling the house.


    A few momentster, the man in ck searching the courtyard came back. ¡°Sir, I didn¡¯t find anything.¡±


    The man in ck searching the room followed. ¡°Sir, I searched every spot. There were no secretpartments, and I found nothing.¡±


    Though their leader¡¯s face was obscured, they could sense that he had slightly creased his brow.


    He rapped his finger against his thigh, and after a few moments, he asked, ¡°You checked every spot?¡±


    ¡°Everywhere I could. I almost dismantled the ce.¡±


    The leader felt annoyed. He performed a spell form, and all the items in the room that had been moved returned to their original positions. Even the signs that they had been moved disappeared.


    The Art of Origin Return!


    The Art of Origin Return could be said to be the best restoration art. At its highest level, it could return something that had been scattered into powder to itsplete form. This man hadn¡¯t reached that level, but there was no problem with moving items in the room back to their ces.


    After doing this, the man walked out of the room, and then he suddenly realized something. He looked toward the rear courtyard and questioned, ¡°There seems to be a spiritual energy reaction from there?¡±


    One of the men reported, ¡°It¡¯s the spirit grains nted back there. I¡¯ve searched that entire field, but I didn¡¯t find any buried objects.¡±


    The leader looked at the yard. Sure enough, it was nted full of spirit grains, and there were a few pots around the field. There was also a small pond in which several fish happily swam. By the wall were a wicker basket, a hoe, and some wood blocks meant to be used as fuel. Lastly, there was a stone mortar and some flour scattered on the ground.


    There was truly nothing suspicious, so the man could only sigh. ¡°Keep watching, and don¡¯t let down your guard.¡±


    He turned and left.


    Late at night.


    The Freedom Society¡¯s club-opening activity finally came to an end.


    Upon returning to the Carefree House, Tang Jie stood in front of the entrance and didn¡¯t go in, instead carefully inspecting the furnishings inside his house.


    He didn¡¯t notice anything strange, which caused him to frown.


    Rather than entering, he walked around the house and to a corner of the courtyard.


    He looked at the ground.


    Some flour had seemingly inadvertently been spilled on the ground here. On this little patch of dirt, there was a faint and iplete mark. If one looked very carefully, one might be able to tell that it was a footprint.


    Upon seeing this indistinct and faint mark, Tang Jieughed.


    ¡°You finally came! Art of Origin Return¡­ my ass! You! Big! Dummy!¡±

 Chapter 62: Xie Fengtang

    ¡°Thief!¡±


    A loud shout tore through the night and resounded through Alljoin Garden.


    This shout immediately drew the attention of countless students, and some people quickly identified the direction the voice hade from and ran over.


    In the blink of an eye, arge number of students had gathered in front of the entrance to the Carefree House. A group of monitor students pushed their way through the crowd and saw Tang Jie standing at the entrance.


    ¡°What happened? What¡¯s with all the shouting?!¡± a monitor angrily demanded.


    Tang Jie said to the person, ¡°Senior Brother, a thief entered my room just now. It seems like they wanted to steal something.¡±


    The crowd immediately became restless.


    Basking Moon Academy was the highest-level school in the Sageheart Kingdom. Supervised by Immortal masters as it was, not even a mouse would be able to get in if it weren¡¯t permitted. It had been a long time since there hadst been a thief, but surprisingly, one had shown up today. The incident instantly became a hot topic of conversation.


    The monitor students were dumbfounded. One of them asked, ¡°Did you see who it was?¡±


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°It was too dark and this student just returned, so I wasn¡¯t able to get a good look.¡±


    ¡°Did you lose anything?¡±


    ¡°No. Everything in the room is where it should be.¡±


    ¡°Then why did you shout ¡®thief¡¯?¡± that student huffed.


    Tang Jie wasn¡¯t in a hurry. He pointed at the flour on the ground. ¡°If there was no thief, where did that footprinte from?¡±


    Compared to when Tang Jie had seen it, the footprint was much more distinct.


    That student instantly froze.


    Basking Moon Academy had strict rules. Without permission, not even monitors were permitted to enter the residences of others without an invitation. Even if this person wasn¡¯t a thief, they still needed to be captured and questioned.


    Since Tang Jie had ¡°evidence¡±, this matter needed to be investigated.


    The lead student immediately burned a message talisman, and less than fifteen minutester, more people appeared in front of the Carefree House.


    It was none other than Xin Yue and Si Yue¡¯er.


    The moment Xin Yue arrived, he grunted, ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since a thief has caused trouble in Basking Moon Academy. I didn¡¯t think that a mess like this would happen today.¡±


    He strode into Tang Jie¡¯s room and looked around. ¡°Who is the owner?¡±


    Tang Jie stepped forward, cupped his fist in his other hand, and bowed. ¡°Basking Moon Student Tang Jie pays respects to Esteemed Teachers Xin and Si.¡±


    ¡°So it was you.¡± Upon seeing Tang Jie, Xin Yue gave a rare smile.


    As the top student, Tang Jie was favorably viewed by the teachers.


    Xin Yue even remembered how Tang Jie was the only one to use a notebook to take notes during the first ss, recording his every word.


    Though he really didn¡¯t have a high view of his own lectures, he couldn¡¯t help but be happy that someone was so attentive during one of them.


    Xin Yue nodded. ¡°Tell me what happened.¡±


    Tang Jie recounted how he was returning from the club-opening ceremony and ¡°inadvertently¡± discovered someone¡¯s footprint in the flour he had spilled.


    He then pointed at the footprint and said, ¡°Esteemed Teacher, please look. This shoeprint is definitely muchrger than this lowly one¡¯s shoe. It would have been impossible for this to be a shoeprint that I left myself.¡±


    Xin Yue nced at it and then continued, ¡°Was there anything missing in the room?¡±


    ¡°No. Not only did I not lose anything, everything was right where it belonged, like nothing had ever moved.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Running over to your house while you aren¡¯t here but not doing anything?¡± Xin Yue raised an eyebrow, and then he carefully inspected the room. Suddenly, he made a form with his hands, sending out streams of spiritual energy across the room. He grimaced. ¡°Someone used a spell on the items in this room¡­¡±


    If someone had used spells on the items in this room, the nature of this incident changed. If someone had nted some pernicious spell on these ordinary items, they might have been nning to take someone¡¯s life.


    Si Yue¡¯er asked, ¡°Can you identify the spell?¡±


    She wasn¡¯t like Xin Yue. Besides lecturing, Xin Yue was also part of the Insight Department, and he was an expert at discovering hidden traces.


    Xin Yue shook his head. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like some curse art or wicked spell, but I don¡¯t know the purpose. I need to investigate more.¡±


    Just when he was about to, he heard a voice from behind him. ¡°There¡¯s no need to inspect it. It¡¯s the Art of Origin Return.¡±


    Everyone turned around and saw an azure-robed, middle-aged man standing at the door.


    The man had a dignified appearance that oozed majesty. He walked in with his hands held behind his back. The moment the two teachers saw him, they bowed and called out in unison, ¡°Hall Master Xie!¡±


    After hearing this form of address, how could Tang Jie not know who this person was?


    Deputy Headmaster of Basking Moon Academy, Xie Fengtang!


    The Basking Moon Sect had eight inner halls and eight outer halls. Basking Moon Academy was truthfully just a part of the Training Hall, one of the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s eight inner halls. Its responsibility was to train disciples.


    As Basking Moon Academy had a rather important status, the headmaster was usually the Training Hall Master. As Headmaster Feng Hongluan was normally out traveling and difficult to pin down, the students had never actually seen their headmaster. Most of Basking Moon Academy¡¯s duties were carried out by the deputy headmaster, Xie Fengtang, and Xie Fengtang was one of the deputy hall masters of the Training Hall.


    This was also why the esteemed teachers often called the deputy headmaster ¡°Hall Master¡±, as they were subordinates of the Training Hall. But this was not a privilege that the students enjoyed.


    Xie Fengtang¡¯s sudden appearance caused Tang Jie to hastily prostrate. ¡°I pay respects to the headmaster.¡±


    ¡°Rise.¡± Xie Fengtang waved his hand, and an invisible energy stood Tang Jie up.


    Xin Yue said, ¡°Hall Master, you said that this was the Art of Origin Return? But this is a spell art that only those of the Mortal Shedding Realm can use. Are you saying that the intruder was one of my school¡¯s Mortal Shedding Realm students?¡±


    But why would a Mortal Shedding Realm student intrude on the house of a new student?


    What was there that a Mortal Shedding Realm student could want?


    Xin Yue suspiciously looked at Tang Jie.


    But Tang Jie had a nk look on his face, as if he had no idea what was going on.


    Xie Fengtang said, ¡°We¡¯re still not sure if they are a Basking Moon Student, but the purpose of the Art of Origin Return is to return everything to its original ce. This means that the intruder didn¡¯t want anyone to know that they had been here¡­¡±


    The eyes of the teacher lit up. ¡°That¡¯s right! Does that mean that the intruder didn¡¯te to steal anything?¡±


    As esteemed teachers of the academy, they didn¡¯t like it when such things happened. After all, it would mar the reputation of the school if such an incident got out.


    When people achieved high status, enjoying both power and wealth, they needed to pay a bit more attention to their reputation.


    Xie Fengtang leisurely said, ¡°Perhaps they simply didn¡¯t find what they wanted.¡±


    Si Yue¡¯er said, ¡°Regardless of their purpose, since this intruder knows how to use the Art of Origin Return, let¡¯s just see which students of the academy know how to use this art and then check their alibis. We should be able to find out who did this. Hmph, someone willing tomit such sneaky actions in school must be picked out, viciously punished, and expelled!¡±


    When it came to expelling students, she was really quite enthusiastic.


    But to her surprise, Xie Fengtang replied, ¡°There¡¯s no need to investigate. Basking Moon Academy has more than ten thousand students, and the number of students who know this art will be five at the most. Even if there are a few without alibis, I can guarantee to you that all of them will be innocent.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Si Yue¡¯er was taken aback. ¡°Why is that?¡±


    Xie Fengtang sighed. ¡°Yue¡¯er, could you stop thinking so much about expelling students? Use your head a little. Think about it. What sort of art is the Art of Origin Return and what sort of person would learn it?¡±


    Si Yue¡¯er trembled at these words.


    The Art of Origin Return was an art that returned objects to their original form. Itcked any sort ofbat power, and as most students were focused on heightening their cultivation, few people would learn this sort of art.


    Those people willing to learn it were often those people who were hidden in the shadows and were given special missions.


    These people operated in secret and did not want to be discovered, so learning this art was very useful to them. If Tang Jie hadn¡¯t found that footprint, those traces of spiritual energy would have eventually faded away, and without this evidence, not even Immortals would have been able to notice anything fishy.


    And in Basking Moon Academy, a scant number of students chose this path.


    No, she could think of a few!


    Si Yue¡¯er¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°Could it be Go¨C¡±


    Xie Fengtang raised a hand and stopped her. ¡°Don¡¯t rashly specte without evidence.¡±


    Si Yue¡¯er took in a deep breath. ¡°Yes, but I don¡¯t understand. If it was them, why would they do it like this?¡±


    ¡°We have to ask him about that.¡± Xie Fengtang looked at Tang Jie. ¡°What is your name?¡±


    Tang Jie immediately replied, ¡°This student is called Tang Jie!¡±


    Xie Fengtang had asked casually, and hadn¡¯t expected to hear this name.


    His face paled in shock. ¡°What did you say your name was?¡±


    ¡°The student Tang Jie pays respects to the headmaster!¡± Tang Jie loudly replied, at the same time holding high the point card with his name on it.


    Seeing the name written on the point card, Xie Fengtang regained some of hisposure. ¡°So it was Tang Jie.¡±


    He turned his head, and a man offered him a book with both hands. Xie Fengtang flipped through the book and frowned. ¡°Why is there no information on this student?¡±


    The man answered, ¡°The information is iplete. Someone must have suppressed it.¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°This student is Tang Jie, a native of Qiong Province, but I was forced to flee my home because of a raid by the Wildgrain in bandits, and I entered the Wei Estate three years ago.¡±


    Xie Fengtang was taken aback. ¡°Qiong Province? From the Wildgrain ins? Entered the Wei Estate three years ago? Three years ago¡­ I see.¡±


    He nodded his head repeatedly, and a smile appeared on his dignified face.


    Xin Yue and Si Yue¡¯er didn¡¯t understand. They looked at Xie Fengtang and asked, ¡°Hall Master, is there a problem?¡±


    Xie Fengtang shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Heh, truly surprising¡­¡±


    He once more looked at Tang Jie, saying nothing. His expression constantly shifted as his eyes moved around, his thoughts inscrutable.


    Tang Jie became somewhat afraid of his gaze, shrinking back. ¡°H¨C¡­ Headmaster, did this lowly one do something wrong?¡±


    Xie Fengtang¡¯s face shifted around a few more times before he finally shook his head. ¡°No, you did nothing wrong. On the contrary, you did very well¡­ extremely well!¡±


    Tang Jie sighed in relief and said, ¡°I just came back and saw a stranger¡¯s footprint, so I got scared and shouted. But I didn¡¯t think that I would disturb the headmaster. In the future, I won¡¯t cause such a big fuss over such minor matters.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Xie Fengtang said, patting Tang Jie on the shoulder. ¡°Regardless, someone truly did intrude into your home. This is partially due to ack of supervision from my Basking Moon Academy. As the deputy headmaster, I carry some of the me.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Xin Yue and Si Yue¡¯er looked at Xie Fengtang in shock.


    Xie Fengtang continued, ¡°Since you were scared, the school should pay you somepensation.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Tang Jie raised his head in delight.


    ¡°Of course. As the deputy headmaster, would I deceive you?¡± Xie Fengtang chuckled. ¡°Speak. What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ then can I ask for spirit medicine to use in cultivation?¡± Tang Jie quickly requested.


    ¡°No problem.¡± Xie Fengtang nodded. ¡°I will write you a letter that you can take to Five-Side Pavilion to redeem ten bottles of low-grade spirit medicine. In addition, I will give you one thousand spirit coins to assuage your fears. Is that good enough?¡±


    ¡°Good, great! Headmaster, my utmost gratitude!¡± Perhaps because he was shocked by this sudden fortune, Tang Jie was trembling all over in excitement as he prostrated.


    Ten bottles of low-grade medicine? One thousand spirit coins?


    Xin Yue and Si Yue¡¯er nced at each other. When had Xie Fengtang be so generous?


    After soothing Tang Jie, Xie Fengtang turned to leave.


    As he was walking out, Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Headmaster, do you think those thieves wille back?¡±


    Xie Fengtang stopped and thought about it. He turned back to Tang Jie and smiled. ¡°That¡¯s possible. Those thieves seem to have seen something in you, to suddenly search your house. Since they¡¯vee once, they cane a second time. But there¡¯s no need to worry¡­¡±


    He turned to Xin Yue and Si Yue¡¯er. ¡°Go and call Zhao Xiliang. Have himy down a formation to protect this area.¡±


    ¡°Lay down a formation?¡± The eyes almost popped out of the sockets of Xin Yue and Si Yue¡¯er.


    ¡°Yes,y down a formation!¡± Xie Fengtang firmly dered. ¡°Since one of our students has been frightened by an intruder, we must take measures to protect him. This thief harbors ill intentions and mighte again. We naturally have to nip this problem in the bud. In the future, keep an eye on this ce to avoid this sort of thing happening again. The foundation of my Basking Moon Academy depends on the people that make it up. We must treat people right, or else how will we earn the hearts of the world? Let it be done.¡±


    After saying this, he blinked away.


    Si Yue¡¯er didn¡¯t want to believe her ears. She turned to Xin Yue and said, ¡°¡®People are the foundation¡¯? ¡®Treat people right¡¯? Is this still Miser Xie?¡±


    Xin Yue grimly shook his head.

 Chapter 63: Materials

    ¡°What? You¡¯re saying a thief went into your house, and then Headmaster Xie gave you ten bottles of spirit medicine and one thousand spirit coins tofort you?¡± Wei Tianchong¡¯s jaw almost fell off.


    ¡°Yup. I also didn¡¯t know that Headmaster Xie would be such a nice person and so concerned for his students. I must truly be lucky to have run into such a kind teacher,¡± Tang Jie replied, sighing emotionally.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Wei Tianchong stomped his feet and shouted, ¡°Why did the thief have to go into your house?¡±


    Ten bottles of spirit medicine and one thousand spirit coins! Even the Wei n would feel the pain from this sort of investment!


    ¡°What is there to steal in this ce of yours?¡± Tang Jie said with pursed lips.


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying you have something to steal back at your ce?¡± Wei Tianchong angrily replied.


    ¡°At least I have a few nts.¡±


    ¡°Only an idiot would go and steal nts!¡± Wei Tianchong was about to go insane.


    ¡°Mind your words. You might offend a lot of people like that,¡± Tang Jie muttered. Saying this, he took out some spirit coins and gave them to Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong was delighted. ¡°Are you splitting some with me?¡±


    ¡°No, this is repayment.¡± Tang Jie grinned.


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s face immediately fell, and with a grunt, he took the spirit coins and counted them several times. When he realized that there were a few extra, he nodded in satisfaction. ¡°I suppose you have some tact.¡±


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. ¡°Young Master, you¡¯re the young master, and you possess immense wealth. Do you really need to be so happy over a few extra coins?¡±


    ¡°Haa, when you don¡¯t cultivate, you don¡¯t realize how easily money can be used,¡± Wei Tianchong sighed. ¡°What does it matter that my Wei n has such a big business? A single bottle of spirit medicine can go for hundreds of spirit coins. It¡¯s way too expensive! Just who can buy such things? Tell me: don¡¯t they just refine pills in a furnace? Why is it so expensive? Are they all made with the world¡¯s most rare and valuable resources?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Young Master, you do not realize that these medicines are expensive not because of their material, but because of the manpower costs. In the end, mortals are different from Immortals. For mortals, spirit coins are like several taels of silver, big money. But in the eyes of Immortals, spirit coins are little different from copper coins, and it¡¯s spirit jades that are moreparable to silver. Thus, whenever a cultivator does something, they use spirit coins as the basic unit of currency. Trying to view Immortals through the eyes of mortals is likeparing the ie of a servant to the livelihood of a young master. There¡¯s simply noparison to be had.¡±


    ¡°True,¡± Wei Tianchong muttered. He understood this principle, but as someone who had relied on his family for everything, he had grown used to considering money in mortal terms, Thus, he found everything here ridiculously expensive.


    If spirit coins were taken as copper coins, then those hundreds of spirit coins really weren¡¯t a big deal at all.


    This was why Xie Fengtang¡¯s first offer had been ten bottles of spirit medicine and one thousand spirit coins.


    In his view, such sincerity barely cost him anything. For the sake of the big picture, it was a trifling price.


    ¡°That¡¯s why we have to rely on ourselves to make money in the future,¡± Tang Jie advised.


    ¡°That¡¯s easy to say, but all I know how to do is the Spirit Guidance spell. How am I going to make money?¡± Wei Tianchong helplessly said.


    ¡°Through puppets, of course.¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Now that I think about it, Third Young Master should be done training your carving, yes? It¡¯s about time you started carving a puppet. So long as you make a decent-looking puppet, whether you sell it or use it, it can still be considered a part of your wealth.¡±


    ¡°But don¡¯t puppets need a refining formation and materials?¡±


    ¡°The refining formation is simple. Young Master can learn formations yourself, and even if you don¡¯t know how, you can get an upperssman who does know formations to help out. As for materials, we can just buy some, and doesn¡¯t Young Master have plenty of money right now?¡±


    The best thing about puppetry was that the strength of puppets had nothing to do with the strength of the cultivator.


    So long as one had enough materials and the proper refining formations, a cultivator waspletely capable of creating a powerful puppet that was much stronger than they were¡ªone that could serve as the most reliable bodyguard.


    Thus, for the students, puppetry was a rather practical choice. In the early stages, at least, it had immense value. But it involved too many fields and had starting costs that few people could bear, so it wasn¡¯t exactly a popr specialty.


    But in Tang Jie¡¯s view, the two most important skills necessary for puppetry¡ªcarving and refining formations¡ªwere covered by him and Wei Tianchong. The only remaining problem was that of money.


    And Wei Tianchong happened to have the ability to satisfy this requirement.


    ¡°I see.¡± Wei Tianchong stroked his chin. ¡°Alright, then we¡¯ll do as you say. My mom just so happened to send me some silver a few days ago, so let¡¯s use it on this.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I wanted to hear. Come on; let¡¯s go shopping.¡±


    Together with Shi Meng, they quickly set off for the market.


    Wei Tianchong had decided that if he was going to make something, it would be the best.


    He wanted nothing more than to use top-ss materials like Refined Cloudmother Metal to create a peerlessbat puppet, so he had eyes only for the best materials.


    But when he saw their cost, he immediately leapt in fright.


    ¡°My god! How could this fist-sized piece of Violet Turquoise cost two hundred coins? And that hundred-year Azure Tong log costs five hundred? Isn¡¯t this too expensive?¡±


    As Wei Tianchong looked around the market, he found everything to be absurdly expensive. He grabbed Tang Jie¡¯s hand and said, ¡°It¡¯s no good. Tang Jie, everything is too expensive. I just did some calctions, and do you know how much it will take me to make one puppet? Eighty thousand! Eighty thousand spirit coins!¡±


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. ¡°Third Young Master, who made you look at those things? You¡¯re only looking at the best items, so you naturally won¡¯t be able to afford anything.¡±


    ¡°I am not!¡± Wei Tianchong said, feeling like he was being unjustly used. ¡°I was just nning to make a Rank 3 puppet¡­¡±


    ¡°Rank 3?¡± Tang Jie was so angry that he wanted tough.


    Puppets in the cultivation world were divided into the mortal grade, spirit grade, and Immortal grade. Mortal-grades had no ranking and were made from ordinary materials. All they needed was a refining formation to activate them. For example, if the tiger that Wei Tianchong had carved back at the Wei Estate had been given a refining formation and activated, it would be a puppet, but as it was made with ordinary wood, it would be a rankless mortal-grade puppet with very littlebat power.


    The spirit grade was divided into nine ranks, with Rank 9 being the highest, possessing strength only second to Immortal tform.


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s Rank 3 was equivalent to the Mortal Shedding Realm.


    Hearing that Wei Tianchong wanted to make a Rank 3bat puppet, Tang Jie helplessly shook his head. ¡°Rank 3¡­ Your appetite is really big!¡±


    Wei Tianchong became embarrassed and scratched his head. ¡°Wasn¡¯t it said that the biggest advantage of puppets was that they could surpass the level of the creator? So¡­¡±


    ¡°So you set your eyes on the Mortal Shedding Realm?¡± Tang Jie didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. ¡°Third Young Master, be realistic. We¡¯re only just getting started, so let¡¯s start with Rank 1. A cheap one will cost two or three thousand. If you do a good job, it could be equivalent to a Spirit Lake.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was extremely reluctant to spend two thousand spirit coins on ¡°hiring¡± only a Spirit Lake assistant, but he could only nod.


    Tang Jie took him around the market and finally pointed at a block of scorched wood in front of a stall run by a student. ¡°Senior Brother, how much does this block of wood cost?¡±


    The upperssman looked at Tang Jie and said, ¡°Eight hundred coins.¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°Expensive.¡±


    The student snorted. ¡°Kid, you don¡¯t know what you¡¯re looking at. This is Electro Wood, wood that has been struck by lightning and absorbed a little lightning energy. If it¡¯s used to make abat puppet, its attacks will innately be infused with lightning and more powerful than usual.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s true that it¡¯s Electro Wood, but it depends on what sort of wood was struck. Ordinary wood has no traits and can¡¯t absorb lightning power. Only spirit trees will do. And even spirit trees can be divided into good and bad. And you also have to look at their attribute. Some haveplementary attributes, but ones with detrimental attributes will have a negative effect. Besides that, there¡¯s also the kind of lightning and how the lightning struck. Electro Wood is a treasure because it has absorbed the properties of the lightning, but it doesn¡¯t be better just because it was more damaged by the lightning¡­¡±


    He pointed at the Electro Wood and said, ¡°This Electro Wood appears to be a water fir, which isn¡¯t exactly a very good kind of wood, and the lightning struck its main body, ruining half of it. Only the bottom half is usable. It¡¯s too small for the main body and yet too much for any other part. Eight hundred coins¡­ It¡¯s really not worth it.¡±


    The student was bbergasted, staring in shock at Tang Jie. ¡°You were able to see this much?¡±


    ¡°Studying has its benefits,¡± Tang Jie lightly said. He raised a hand. ¡°Three hundred.¡±


    ¡°This price is a little too low,¡± the student said with a shake of his head.


    The two of them haggled before ultimately settling on five hundred.


    Wei Tianchong felt rather strange as he took the wood. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that this Electro Wood is too small to be used as the main body? So why did we buy it?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°When I said that it was too small for the main body, I was talking about a human-sized puppet, but what if we didn¡¯t want to make something that big?¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Wei Tianchong froze. ¡°We¡¯re not making a human puppet?¡±


    ¡°Yes, why should we insist on making a human puppet?¡± Tang Jie asked. ¡°A puppet¡¯s strength depends on the material, not its size. But the cost of a puppet is often linked to the size. If you use a lot of material, you naturally have greater costs. That being the case, why don¡¯t we focus on small and excellent instead?¡±


    Wei Tianchong had his eyes opened, and he happily said, ¡°You¡¯re right!¡±


    But then he realized something and said, ¡°That¡¯s not right!¡±


    ¡°How is it not right?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s too small, we can¡¯t carve a refining formation.¡±


    If materials served as the flesh and blood for a puppet, the refining formation was the puppet¡¯s soul. This soul needed to be carved into the puppet throughplex methods before it could disy its unique purpose. The smaller the body, the more difficult it would be to carve. After all, the space to carve would be limited.


    In truth, a puppet¡¯s grade and rank depended on the level of the refining formation.


    The higher the level of the refining formation, the higher the rank of the puppet would be.


    And the level of the refining formation depended on the materials. The better the materials, the better the refining formation one could use.


    Thus, the costs of the materials decided the size of the puppet, and the size of the puppet determined how big the refining formation could be. As these ratios changed, the puppet¡¯s strength would change.


    Thus, a Rank 1 puppet could cost two thousand spirit coins, but it could also cost as much as eighty thousand.


    Tang Jie was saying that they should focus on small and excellent, first making a Rank 1 before thinking about the future.


    Hearing this from Wei Tianchong, Tang Jie smiled and said, ¡°We just need to find a more skillful formation master.¡±


    ¡°Might the effect be worse because of it?¡± Wei Tianchong worriedly said.


    Tang Jie firmly said, ¡°Third Young Master, leave this to me. I can guarantee that I canplete this puppet in a way that leaves you satisfied!¡±


    They strolled around the market some more and bought the rest of the materials for the puppet, after which Wei Tianchong went back to work on it.


    Actually making the puppet was a rather intensive affair. Carving was the foundation, but before making the puppet, one had to think about what sort of puppet one wanted to make and the functions it would have. Only then could one actually start on production.


    Wei Tianchong had bought the materials without knowing what they did¡ªthe sign of an amateur. Fortunately, Tang Jie had already nned out everything for him, so he didn¡¯t need to worry.


    As a servant student, Tang Jie had gradually focused his efforts on assisting Wei Tianchong with his cultivation. Matters of daily life were now essentially left to Shi Meng, and though Shi Meng was unwilling, he could only ept his fate. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have chosen to learn the Clean spell.


    After sending Wei Tianchong back, Tang Jie returned to the Carefree House.


    Unlike before, right after he stepped into the Carefree House, the weather suddenly changed. The little house in front of him disappeared, while the road before him became a giant intersection of roads leading off to parts unknown. Dark clouds covered the sky, crackling with lightning.


    But when this lightning touched Tang Jie¡¯s point card, the clouds dispersed.


    This was the chain formation that Xie Fengtang had ordered to beid down around his house, capable of befuddling, obstructing, attacking, and warning of potential intruders.


    Upon entering the formation, one would end up first in the befuddling formation. This was to prevent students who identally wandered in from falling victim to the rest of the formations. One would have to attack the befuddling formation to activate the rest of the formation. The formation would fully mobilize, attacking and hindering the enemy while sending a warning to the academy.


    ¡°This formation is pretty good. It can even activate by touch. When I have the time, I need to study it,¡± Tang Jie muttered to himself once he was past the formation.


    In normal circumstances, studying a formation that had already beenid down wasn¡¯t easy.


    But as he was the target being protected by the formation, the formation wouldn¡¯t hurt him, so he could study it as he pleased.


    Before this, however, he had something else to do.


    He untied his bundle and took out some items that he had bought while strolling through the market with Wei Tianchong.


    Tang Jie had bought some of his own materials while buying Wei Tianchong¡¯s materials. He had concealed it using Wei Tianchong¡¯s purchases so that he drew no notice. When Wei Tianchong asked him what they were for, he had said that they were materials needed for the refining formationter on.


    These truly were materials for a formation, but rather than for a refining formation, they were forying down a formation of his own.

 Chapter 64: The Fisherman

    <em>Bang!</em>


    A powerful palm st obliterated the desk made of fine sandalwood.


    ¡°What happened here?¡± Gu Changqing¡¯s roar resounded through the Eagle Nest, causing the three golden-clothed people down below to lower their heads in fear.


    Gu Changqing¡¯s chest rose and fell as he suppressed his rage and yelled, ¡°You useless idiots, bastards, trash! It¡¯s one thing to not find anything, but to leave behind tracks?! What¡¯s the point in keeping you around?¡±


    The thought of how the people he had sent had blundered once more caused the mes of rage to burn in Gu Changqing¡¯s heart. He wanted nothing more than to crush their heads!


    The people below all trembled in fear, not daring to speak. It was Gao Fei on the side who said, ¡°Eagle Master, do not be moved to anger so quickly. I think that there is something fishy going on here.¡±


    ¡°Something fishy?¡± Gu Changqing turned to Gao Fei.


    Just like how Gu Changqing was the talent most favored by Godhead Pce at the moment, Gao Fei was the person that Gu Changqing appreciated the most. He would always put extra attention on his opinions.


    Gao Fei exined, ¡°Qi Ming is a veteran of the Hawk Hall, and we have all seen how he conducts his missions. He is a very mature and reliable person who has never made any mistakes before.¡±


    Gu Changqing grunted, ¡°I know, which is why I sent him. I didn¡¯t think he would make such an error.¡±


    Gao Fei replied, ¡°But I feel¡­ Could it be possible that this wasn¡¯t a mistake made by Qi Ming¡¯s group?¡±


    ¡°Mm?¡± Gu Changqing looked at Gao Fei. ¡°You mean¡­¡±


    Gao Fei bowed and replied, ¡°I wasn¡¯t there to see it myself, so I do not dare to be too certain. However, I had someone ask some of the nearby students, and also had some people sound out Xin Yue and Si Yue¡¯er. Apparently, Tang Jie shouted about a thief because he discovered a footprint. Eagle Master, don¡¯t you think shouting ¡®thief¡¯ upon finding a footprint is making a mountain out of a molehill?¡±


    Gu Changqing squinted. ¡°Continue.¡±


    Gao Fei said, ¡°In addition, ording to the information I gathered, that footprint was extremely distinct, like the owner had stepped right into the pile of flour. It would be understandable if the three of them had left some small blemish in their movements, like a few small clues in an unnoticed corner. But to leave such obvious evidence without realizing it¡­ I don¡¯t believe Qi Ming¡¯s group is ipetent to that level.¡±


    The three people below looked at Gao Fei with warm tears of gratitude.


    Gu Changqing finally regained his cool.


    He sat down and stroked his chin. ¡°You¡¯re right. Gao Fei, I got too agitated. It seems like there really is something suspicious going on¡­¡±


    ¡°But your subordinate still does not understand. If Tang Jie really is trying to frame us, why would he do such a thing?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Gu Changqing went to rap on his desk as was his habit, but he found that he had obliterated his desk, so he stood up and began to pace back and forth. He then said, ¡°It¡¯s naturally because he benefits from this. Xie Fengtang has probably noticed him now, yes? Now, the Basking Moon Sect will keep a close eye on him, and with the Basking Moon Sect interfering, we will have a hard time moving against him.¡±


    ¡°Eagle Master means that he used this incident to draw the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s attention and protect himself?¡± Gao Fei frowned. ¡°But the problem is that the Basking Moon Sect isn¡¯t exactly made up of kindhearted souls. We want the Martial Mirror, but so do they! Could it be¡­ that Tang Jie ns to hand the Martial Mirror over to the Basking Moon Sect?¡±


    Gao Fei paled at this thought.


    If this was so, this would be the worst conclusion possible.


    Gu Changqing shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think he will hand over the Martial Mirror. If he wanted to hand it over, he would have done it three years ago. Why waste all the time and effort working as a servant? Even if he tried to exchange the Martial Mirror to be a True Inheritor, the Basking Moon Sect would probably agree, yes? If he wanted to do this, he would have done it long ago.¡±


    ¡°Then why does he want the Basking Moon Sect to notice him?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Gu Changqing coldly chuckled. ¡°Gao Fei, you¡¯ve forgotten something.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Gu Changqing spoke clearly and slowly. ¡°Up until now, we have actually found no evidence that he¡¯s Tang Jiye!¡±


    Gao Fei was stunned.


    Gu Changqing said, ¡°Can you really be sure that he is the Tang Jiye with the Martial Mirror? He simply has a simr background, age, and name to Tang Jiye, but does this mean he¡¯s Tang Jiye? Frankly speaking, neither of us have yet confirmed this point!¡±


    ¡°After this incident, there¡¯s a ny-nine percent chance that he¡¯s the one!¡± Gao Fei said with clenched teeth. ¡°Otherwise, why would he fabricate evidence to frame us?¡±


    ¡°The problem is that our people really did go that night! That he shouted at the time might mean that it¡¯s not a coincidence, that Qi Ming¡¯s men really did leave behind some sort of trace! So it¡¯spletely possible for him to have discovered some sort of problem and then caused a great stir about it, making the evidence more obvious. Young men just love to y to the crowd. There¡¯s also this possibility!¡± Gu Changqing exined. ¡°Most importantly, if Tang Jie really wanted to frame us, why did he choose precisely the night we went? Did he really have to wait until we came? He could have chosen any time he wanted to fabricate the evidence.¡±


    That disciple called Qi Ming down below swiftly said, ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s because of the Art of Origin Return?¡±


    ¡°Wrong!¡± Gu Changqing said. ¡°The Art of Origin Return isn¡¯t the only thing that can implicate Godhead Pce. If I were Tang Jie and I wanted to draw Basking Moon Academy¡¯s attention, I would definitely have a simpler option. For example, I could shout that some person wearing golden clothes was seen leaving my room. Framing! What does it mean to frame someone? It means to fabricate evidence! But he didn¡¯t do this, instead waiting until we actually went, and we can¡¯t even be sure that that evidence was actually fabricated by him!¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Everyone was momentarily speechless.


    ¡°This also means that we still can¡¯t be sure that he¡¯s Tang Jiye? And we can¡¯t even be sure if he was trying to frame us?¡± Qi Ming resentfully said.


    ¡°Yes, we can¡¯t confirm it! Over thesest three years, there have been quite a few targets like him. But he is the only one to announce that he is Tang Jie, and he is the only one to discover our people after we searched his house. These two points alone are enough to mark him as suspicious, but they aren¡¯t enough to prove that he¡¯s the one!¡± Gu Changqing sighed. ¡°In this world, there are far too many suspicious things and far too few things that can be confirmed!¡±


    He was a person who cared a lot about the evidence. Though he was willing to admit that Tang Jie had an incredibly high chance of being Tang Jiye, until he found the Martial Mirror, any sort of reckless action was unwise.


    If they got the wrong person, he would be in a whole load of trouble!


    Gu Changqing added, ¡°But this is why I can understand why he wants the Basking Moon Sect to take note of him.¡±


    Gao Fei¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°Because the Basking Moon Sect can¡¯t be sure either.¡±


    ¡°Correct.¡± Gu Changqing smiled and nodded. ¡°Let us make a conjecture¡­


    ¡°Suppose that I am Tang Jiye, and I am also Tang Jie. I have the Martial Mirror, and if I seed in cultivation, I can go to the Celestial Mountains, open up the formation, and obtain the Martial Lord¡¯s treasure. But seeding in cultivation is easier said than done. If I wish to open the formation in the Celestial Mountains, I must at least be a True Person of the Celestial Heart Realm. And for the vast majority of people, the Celestial Heart Realm is a distant and unreachable goal.¡±


    Gao Fei joined in, ¡°So I not only have to get into Basking Moon Academy, I have to obtain the favor of the academy, advance to the top ten students, and obtain the secret legacy arts! That¡¯s the only way to guarantee that I can get to Celestial Heart!¡±


    ¡°Correct. But I¡¯m just a person of middling talent with a five-cycle Jade Gate. What can I do to get the Basking Moon Sect to favor me?¡± Gu Changqing rejoined.


    A savage light shed in Gao Fei¡¯s eyes. ¡°It naturally has to be the Martial Mirror¡­ This is the only weight I have avable!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s precisely why I shouted in front of the school, hoping to draw the academy¡¯s attention.¡±


    ¡°But I didn¡¯t expect Godhead Pce to bribe some people in the academy and prevent this information from being reported to the higher-ups. Moreover, the Basking Moon Sect has a limited understanding of the Martial Mirror, so the attention I received was less than expected.¡±


    ¡°So I need another way to further remind Basking Moon Academy.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that I don¡¯t want to actually hand over the Martial Mirror, nor do I want to reveal the secret of the Martial Mirror. How should I remind the academy, then?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s somewhat difficult¡­ but¡­ perhaps¡­ I can turn around and use Godhead Pce¡­¡± Gao Fei¡¯s voice dwindled. ¡°If the Basking Moon Sect finds out that Godhead Pce suspects me, they¡¯ll naturally notice me.¡±


    ¡°So what I have to do is make the Basking Moon Sect see Godhead Pce¡¯s investigation,¡± Gu Changqing said. ¡°This is the same as me telling the Basking Moon Sect that Tang Jie might be Tang Jiye.¡±


    Gao Fei continued, ¡°Yes, in this way, the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s attention will be on me, but since Godhead Pce isn¡¯t sure about who I am, the Basking Moon Sect also can¡¯t be sure if I¡¯m Tang Jiye or not.¡±


    Gu Changqing: ¡°Thus, the Basking Moon Sect will keep an eye on me, but it won¡¯t take any reckless action.¡±


    Gao Fei: ¡°But the risk is still there. The Basking Moon Sect might choose to cast aside all apprehensions and seize me to search my soul and find the truth. After all, Basking Moon Academy is subordinate to the Basking Moon Sect. If they want to seize someone, they don¡¯t need to go through the trouble Godhead Pce has to.¡±


    Gu Changqing: ¡°Is there anything in the world that¡¯s risk-free? When facing enormous organizations like the Basking Moon Sect and Godhead Pce, when trying to snatch wood from the fire, you have to take some risks. Moreover, the chances of the Basking Moon Sect doing this aren¡¯t high. Firstly, they still aren¡¯t sure if I¡¯m the person that Godhead Pce wants. What would they do if they seized the wrong person? The consequences of soul searching are too severe, crippling the person in a way little different from death. Moreover, soul searching also has its limits, and it might not get the information they want from me. Secondly, Godhead Pce is still watching. It¡¯s one thing if the Basking Moon Sect doesn¡¯t find anything, but if it does, Godhead Pce won¡¯t just let the matter go. If they expose the matter and make it known that Basking Moon Academy tortured a student to seize his treasures, the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s reputation will plunge.¡±


    Gao Fei: ¡°A student¡¯s life is worthless. But the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s reputation is worth a lot of money. Moreover, this is a situation where they¡¯re not sure if this is the right person or what they stand to gain. The situation will be even more disastrous if they end up killing a student in vain.¡±


    Gu Changqing: ¡°So if I were Xie Fengtang, I definitely wouldn¡¯t use such crude and simple methods.¡±


    Gao Fei: ¡°I would pretend to not know and use tactful and gentle methods to express my kindness, making it so that Tang Jie feels gratitude toward the Basking Moon Sect until he is ultimately willing to hand over everything to the sect. If Tang Jie himself hands it over, it doesn¡¯t matter how much trouble Godhead Pce tries to make, and the reputation of the Basking Moon Sect will be unharmed. I get both the virtue and the reward!¡±


    Gu Changqing: ¡°But if he doesn¡¯t hand anything over, I can improve my rtionship with him and gather information. It¡¯s just a child, and it won¡¯t take much effort to trick him. If it¡¯s really no good, I can still resort to torture and interrogation. Even if it¡¯s the worst oue and Tang Jie isn¡¯t Tang Jiye, it would just be a little favor showered on a single student, no big loss. In any case, whether being proactive or conservative, so long as that person is in my hands, I can do whatever I want.¡±


    Gao Fei: ¡°It¡¯s like using the Basking Moon Sect to restrain Godhead Pce and Godhead Pce to restrain the Basking Moon Sect!¡±


    Gu Changqing: ¡°The sandpiper and m fight while the fisherman catches both!¡±


    Gao Fei: That¡¯s why Xie Fengtang immediately handed out ten bottles of spirit medicine and one thousand spirit coins after the incident.¡±


    Gu Changqing: ¡°This is only the beginning. If Xie Fengtang feels that there¡¯s a high chance that I¡¯m Tang Jiye, if he knows the value of the Martial Mirror, if I perform a little better¡­¡±


    Gao Fei: ¡°Then even the ninth floor of Heaven One Pavilion might be open to me¡­ This kid¡¯s a really ruthless schemer!¡±


    With thesest words, Gao Fei finally stopped standing in Tang Jie¡¯s shoes. He exchanged a nce with Gu Changqing, and they both sucked in a cold breath of air.


    The subordinates below had their minds utterly blown away.


    Why had Gu Changqing not considered the Basking Moon Sect all this time? Because he believed that if Tang Jie wanted to hand over the Martial Mirror to the Basking Moon Sect, he would have already done so rather than wait all this time.


    It was precisely this limitation of thought that had caused him tomit a grave error!


    Tang Jie truly hadn¡¯t handed over the Martial Mirror to the Basking Moon Sect, but this didn¡¯t mean that he didn¡¯t want to use the Basking Moon Sect.


    The best way of using the Basking Moon Sect wasn¡¯t to tell the Basking Moon Sect, ¡°I am the person that Godhead Pce is after.¡± Rather, it was to use the actions of Godhead Pce to have the Basking Moon Sect ¡°suspect that I am the person that Godhead Pce is after.¡±


    There didn¡¯t seem to be much of a difference between the two.


    But in certain situations, this difference was like the gap between heaven and earth.


    Suspicions were suspicions, but when you didn¡¯t have the actual object, when you didn¡¯t have a personal confession, when you only had a few clues here and there, you couldn¡¯t guarantee that it was him!


    And he had already started to derive benefits from the process.


    Gao Fei muttered, ¡°If this is his n, then isn¡¯t this kid¡¯s shrewdness just a little too frightening? He¡¯s only sixteen!¡±


    Gu Changqing snorted. ¡°You forgot that he drew our attention through his name of Tang Jie. And he was already being called Tang Jie back in the Wei Estate. If he is really Tang Jiye, then he started plotting this from before he entered the Wei Estate.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Everyone stared in shock at Gu Changqing.


    ¡°That year, he wasn¡¯t even thirteen yet,¡± Gu Changqing slowly said.


    Everyone was rendered speechless.


    In truth, this matter wasn¡¯t actually very hard to conjecture out. In normal circumstances, they would have noticed that something was wrong from Tang Jie¡¯s shouted deration in front of the school. Even if they didn¡¯t think that Tang Jie wanted to be the fisherman who benefited from the fight between the two other parties, they would have at least considered that he was borrowing the Basking Moon Sect to protect himself.


    But they didn¡¯t think that an immature teenager would be able to think about this kind of n.


    This wasn¡¯t just a matter of intelligence anymore. What was most important was that their opponent had seen through worldly affairs and had an extremely deep understanding of society!


    Rather than that n that had toyed with them, this was what shocked them and left them in disbelief.


    At this moment, all of them suddenly had amon hope: that this was all merely spection!


    Merely spection!


    Gao Fei said, ¡°But there is ultimately a limit to how much he can extract benefits from the cracks. Once one side loses patience, he¡¯ll be done for¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, ying with fire like this will eventually get you burned,¡± Gu Changqing answered, ¡°so there are ultimately two possibilities.¡±


    ¡°What are they?¡±


    ¡°One: he truly isn¡¯t Tang Jiye. All he has done so far is simply shout that he¡¯s Tang Jie, discover that someone was spying on him, and report this to the school. From the perspective of a normal person, he truly hasn¡¯t done anything wrong, and his reaction is also normal. We¡¯ve just had bad luck while he¡¯s had extraordinary luck. Thus, this entire incident was a coincidence. At his age, he shouldn¡¯t be able to concoct this sort of n. We¡¯re just being too paranoid and overthinking it.¡±


    ¡°And the second?¡±


    ¡°He really is Tang Jiye, and all of this was meticulously nned by him, and he was just waiting for us to take the bait. If this is true, we can¡¯t treat him like some ignorant teen, and instead have to treat him like a sly fox, like an unprecedented foe. If this is our opponent, he must have realized the risk inherent to this n, so¡­¡±


    Gu Changqing raised his head and looked at his men.


    ¡°He must have a back-up n!¡±

 Chapter 65: Spirit Gathering

    Cloudmist Stones were cautiously ced down on two sides of the room, and then silver powder was carefully sprinkled over them. In a sh of light, all the materials used toy down a formation disappeared as if they had never existed.


    Tang Jie exhaled. ¡°This spirit-gathering formation is finally done.¡±


    The spirit-gathering formation was made to gather spiritual energy from the surrounding world, and was one of the moremon kinds of formations in the cultivation world. Cultivators frequently used this formation to gather spiritual energy so that they could mobilize the spiritual energy of the world.


    Although the ability of cultivators to absorb spiritual energy primarily depended on their Jade Gates, the local environment was also a significant factor. Even a nine-cycle-Jade-Gate cultivator could not cultivate in a ce devoid of spiritual energy.


    But spirit-gathering formations couldn¡¯t beid down as casually as befuddling formations. Special materials were needed to serve as their foundation.


    Just like medicines and puppets, formations were also divided into mortal, spirit, and Immortal grades, and there were different ranks within the grades.


    A minor befuddling formation belonged to the mortal grade, so it needed only a few spirit lines to create.


    The spirit-gathering formation was a Rank 1 spirit formation, so it required some materials. Even Xu Muyang, who bragged that he could use the world itself as his formation, couldn¡¯t actually make a formation without any materials. He just required fewer of them.


    The strongest known formation so far was the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. This was a formation that imed to execute Immortals, so it surpassed the Immortal grade. This was why not even Godhead Pce dared to think about breaking the formation by force.


    Tang Jie had long known how toy down a spirit-gathering formation, as it was one of the basic formations, but he had not been bold enough toy it down before now.


    The spirit-gathering formation gathered energy from the surroundings, so it created much more disturbance than the minor befuddling formation. He would be discovered the moment he activated it.


    He couldn¡¯t let anyone know that he understood formations!


    At least not now!


    If Godhead Pce knew that he knew, it could basically confirm who he was.


    Tang Jie¡¯s n required only suspicion, not confirmation!


    Thus, no matter what, he could not allow Godhead Pce or the Basking Moon Sect the chance to confirm who he was.


    But when Xie Fengtang had that protective formation set up around the Carefree House, everything changed.


    With the outside formation serving as a cover, he could do whatever he pleased without being discovered. Even if he were noticed, people would take it for pulses from therge formation outside.


    This was Tang Jie¡¯s first time actuallyying down a formation. Everything before this was justying the foundation.


    This was like a cook-in-training finally graduating and beginning to cook food for the customers himself.


    Fortunately, he was also the customer, so he didn¡¯t have to worry about the reviews.


    Upon activating the spirit-gathering formation, Tang Jie could feel the spiritual energy gathering around him.


    As the formation worked, more and more energy umted and began to surge into Tang Jie¡¯s body on its own. The faucet of a five-cycle Jade Gate wasn¡¯t very big, but the flow was elerating.


    Tang Jie used this chance to circte the Circuit Heaven, greedily absorbing the spiritual energy, converting it into spiritual liquid to be stored in the Spiritual Space, and then rapidly releasing it as a spell. As he continued this cycle, one Aqualight Shroud after another appeared and disappeared.


    The effects of the spirit-gathering formation were obvious. Tang Jie¡¯s magic recovery speed had essentially doubled.


    Even so, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t satisfied. The higher his proficiency, the more difficult it became to improve.


    Several hundred attempts might be able to shrink the casting time from twenty seconds to six second, but each additional second of reduction might require thousands of attempts.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie didn¡¯t have only the spirit-gathering formation. He also had the spirit medicine Xie Fengtang had given him.


    In order to elerate his mastery of the Aqualight Shroud, Tang Jie had redeemed half of the medicine as spirit recovery medicine.


    In the Rosecloud Domain, the majority of spirit recovery medicines didn¡¯t immediately restore energy upon consumption. Rather, the medicine was packed with spiritual energy that could easily be converted into liquid, but this energy still needed to go through a Minor Circuit Heaven.


    Tang Jie took one of the spirit recovery pills and immediately felt his body brimming with energy. With one Minor Circuit Heaven, he was able to condense thirty drops of spiritual liquid. Not only that, his Minor Circuit Heaven suddenly elerated. The effects of the medicine had also made the condensation process remarkably smooth.


    Tang Jie continued to digest the medicine while exhausting the energy through rapid casting of the Aqualight Shroud, growing more and more proficient with it.


    After one night, the medicinal effects of the spirit recovery pill finally ran out. Tang Jie calcted that he had circted the Minor Circuit Heaven about seventy times, and his speed had essentially doubled. This was mostly because the energy was easy to condense, but this process had also increased his familiarity with the cirction of the Minor Circuit Heaven.


    At the same time, he had cast the Aqualight Shroud more than two hundred times, and he had managed to reduce his cast time to nearly five seconds.


    One bottle of spirit recovery medicine had ten pills, and five bottles could be used for fifty days. Tang Jie estimated that he would need two to three bottles to reduce his cast time for the Aqualight Shroud to one second.


    The sun was rising, and Tang Jie felt clean and refreshed. He withdrew the spirit-gathering formation before leaving his house to attend ss.


    During ss, Tang Jie saw that Wei Tianchong was listless, so he used his brush to write a question to Wei Tianchong: ¡°Did you not sleepst night?¡±


    Wei Tianchong wrote back, ¡°Ah, don¡¯t even talk about it. I finally realize the drawback of making puppets. When we cultivate, we can go without sleep for a night without a problem, but making a puppet isn¡¯t cultivation! I was working all night, so I¡¯m exhausted.¡±


    ¡°Then sleep. After all, so long as you don¡¯t talk, sleeping in ss is fine.¡±


    ¡°But what about ss? The big exam is in a few days.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯re going to pass whether you listen or not. You¡¯ll just have to keep taking sses.¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie, should you be speaking to the young master in this way?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not speaking. I¡¯m writing.¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie, is it really right for me to work on puppets? Big Brother came again yesterday and lectured me, saying that I wasn¡¯t attending to my proper duties.¡±


    ¡°The path of Immortality is very narrow and very long, but there isn¡¯t just one path. Each person has their own road to walk, Third Young Master, and this one is the best fit for you. If you believe in me, just keep on this path. I guarantee that you will seed. Don¡¯t forget that I¡¯m still hoping for you to be one of the top ten disciples.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t bring up the top ten. But I discovered somethingst night. Making puppets is rather interesting. Each material has its own purpose, and when it¡¯s put in a different location or is activated by a different refining formation, it will have a different effect. It¡¯s endlessly amusing. This little carving skill of mine is far from the only thing needed for making puppets.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good as long as you like it. If you¡¯re interested, then you will seed so long as you persist in it. Right, how much longer until you expect the puppet to beplete?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still my first work, so I¡¯ll need at least twenty days to make a good job of it. But when several upperssmen learned about what I was doing, they said that it was too small and not suitable for a refining formation. Normal students don¡¯t have the skill, and I might need to ask for the help of an esteemed teacher.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I can help you solve that problem.¡±


    ¡°You know refining formations?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t, but I know someone who does.¡±


    ¡°An expert?¡±


    ¡°A hidden master who secludes themselves from the world, a hidden dragon among the students, a superman ying the pig to eat tigers, a supreme Formation Dao expert of a generation.¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie, you¡¯re messing around with me again!¡±


    ¡°¡®Again¡¯? Whatever do you mean, Third Young Master? In any case, I can guarantee to you that the refining formation will be wless and a Rank 1bat puppet will soon make its debut. But to get a refining formation to your satisfaction, it probably won¡¯t be cheap.¡±


    ¡°How much?¡±


    ¡°One hundred spirit coins.¡±


    ¡°If you can pull off what you say you can, one hundred spirit coins is worth it.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡± Tang Jie smiled and stopped writing.


    The Eagle Nest.


    Gu Changqing sat on his seat. A new desk had been ced in front of him.


    After some thought, Gao Fei finally said, ¡°If he¡¯s really Tang Jiye, Eagle Master, what do you think his back-up n is?¡±


    Gu Changqing shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. This boy has already surpassed our expectations, and there are some things that are now beyond my estimations. When dealing with this sort of opponent, relying on the simplest method is often the least troublesome.¡±


    Gao Fei¡¯s eyes shed. ¡°Eagle Master means¡­¡±


    ¡°Intricate items fear being treated brutishly. Since our opponent hasid out this intricate and interlocking n, at times, you can¡¯t try and unwind it. That will only make you follow the pathid out by the enemy and draw you deeper and deeper into the quagmire. Thus, at times like these, it¡¯s best to strike with thunderous momentum and destroy it! Since our foe wants to y with fire, we should let him know that he doesn¡¯t have the ability to control the fire, that everything is not going to go his way. The moment he lights the fire, this fire will be lunging at him and devouring him whole!¡±


    Gu Changqing coldlyughed. ¡°Immediately send someone to capture Tang Jie and interrogate him with the Soulscour spell!¡±


    <em>So we are still going to make our move?</em>


    Gao Fei frowned. ¡°Isn¡¯t this a little too rushed? We actually still have a few other ways we can investigate him. We can even go to Anyang and find some people who have seen Tang Jiye before.¡±


    ¡°What if that¡¯s exactly what he wants?¡± Gu Changqing countered. ¡°Anyang is far away, and who knows how long it will be until we find those people? He might have tried something else by then, so we will have run around for nothing. Our foe is so cunning that we have no other choice than to use extraordinary methods. Moreover, it¡¯s not like we didn¡¯t have those peoplee over before, and you know what happened.¡±


    Gao Fei naturally knew.


    They had had many suspected targets over thest three years, and they had had those people from Anyange over, but it turned out that those people had already begun to forget what Tang Jiye looked like, and the people from Godhead Pce were so intimidating that they would often just point people out at random.


    One of thest two mistakes had been because those fellows had randomly pointed out the wrong person.


    ¡°Moreover, I feel like if Tang Jiye is smart enough, he¡¯s probably taken precautions against this,¡± Gu Changqing added.


    Gao Fei agreed with this. Even so, he still warned, ¡°That¡¯s all true, but we still have to try. Moreover, if the Soulscour spell doesn¡¯t turn up any clues, we might lose any hope. And the Soulscour spell¡¯s costs are too high¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we interrogate him first. The Soulscour spell is only thest resort. As for the costs, you don¡¯t need to worry about that.¡±


    ¡°Then what if he¡¯s the wrong person?¡±


    ¡°So until we seed, we have to ensure that Godhead Pce is not implicated in any way¡­¡± Gu Changqing paused, and then he sighed. ¡°We can¡¯t repeat the mistake from thest two times. We have to think of another method this time.¡±


    ¡°The Basking Moon Sect has already taken note of Tang Jie. If we make our move now, they won¡¯t believe us.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t need to believe us. We just need to offer an exnation.¡±


    Gao Fei said nothing.


    He understood what Gu Changqing meant.


    Gu Changqing sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s prepare ourselves to lose a man¡­ Sacrifices are necessary for the sake of great ambitions. One life for the Martial Mirror is already very worth it.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Gao Fei said, lowering his head.


    He couldn¡¯t help but think to himself that it probably wasn¡¯t worth it for the person being sacrificed. They couldn¡¯t hope for any volunteers, so they would have to use their heads a little.


    Gu Changqing added, ¡°You choose the person.¡±


    Gao Fei coldlyughed, knowing that Gu Changqing was pushing the problem onto him so that he would take the fall for any sort of mishap.


    But who would bear the me, if not one¡¯s subordinate?


    ¡°How much time do you need?¡± Gu Changqing asked.


    After some thought, Gao Fei replied, ¡°At least one month. Tang Jie¡¯s residence has a protective formation. After that incident, whether he¡¯s Tang Jiye or not, he¡¯ll be on his guard, so we¡¯ll need some time to slowly get close to him. Unless¡­¡±


    ¡°Unless what?¡±


    ¡°Unless we have Fierce Ape do it.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Gu Changqing immediately rejected the idea. ¡°That¡¯s our ultimate trump card, not to be used until we¡¯ve reached our absolute limit! It wasn¡¯t easy to train Fierce Ape.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°I will give you forty days. Within forty days, you must capture Tang Jie!¡±


    ¡°Your subordinate understands!¡± Gao Fei loudly replied.

 Chapter 66 - Probe

    <h2>Chapter 66: Probe</h2>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    For the next few days, Tang Jie continued to train his casting time, unlike the vast majority of students.


    One student after another entered the Spirit Spring Tier and smugly returned to practice, but Tang Jie was in no rush. He cast the Aqualight Shroud again and again, shrinking his casting speed from five seconds to four seconds, three seconds, two seconds¡­ Today, Tang Jie was cultivating again in his room when he heard someone calling him from outside.


    As he walked outside, he saw a student standing at the gate.


    ¡°So it was Senior Brother Li. What brings Senior Brother here to my ce?¡±


    This Senior Brother Li¡¯s name was Li Zhen, and he was a sixth-year student at Basking Moon Academy. He was at the Spirit Lake Tier, but he was much stronger than Wu Xing.


    This Li Zhen walked a simr path to Tang Jie. Rather than rushing to the next tier, he would diligently practice spell arts at every tier to raise hisbat strength, after which he would rely on hisbat strength to carry out missions for the academy and obtain resources that he used to boost his cultivation speed.


    This was the best option for students who didn¡¯t have enough talent, but it also carried too much risk.


    A few days ago, Li Zhen had battled several people on the Divine Battleground and won several times in a row, so he had some reputation. Thus, Tang Jie knew who he was, and he had even met him once.


    When he saw Tang Jiee out, Li Zhen smiled. ¡°You know that the big exam is in a few days, but the pitiful me has failed year after year. I can¡¯t keep wasting my time on this. I heard that you were a genius student of Basking Moon Academy, someone of great erudition and talent. Why don¡¯t you instruct me a little?¡±


    The rules for Basking Moon Academy¡¯s culture studies were very simple. All content would be lectured on for half a year, and after this half-year, there would be a big examination. Those who passed would not need to take the sses again.


    As for those that didn¡¯t, they would have to continue taking sses. One could take vacations for trials and missions, but if one were at school, one couldn¡¯t miss a single day. Only when one passed the big exam could one finally stop attending ss.


    The Basking Moon students were all focused on cultivation and had little time for culture studies. It was onlyter on that they realized that if they didn¡¯t pass their culture sses, they would have to spend every morning listening to lectures, which severely hampered their progress. Considering that Major Circuit Heavens couldn¡¯t be circted only partially, this dy became even worse. After all, if you needed two hours to finish one Major Circuit Heaven but you had to attend ss in an hour, you would have no means of circting half a Major Circuit Heaven, going to ss, and then finishing up the other halfter.


    Thus, the students were forced to apply their efforts to an area they had no interest in.


    For example, in Li Zhen¡¯s six years, he had diligently cultivated, even practicing Circuit Heavens while in ss, and this naturally resulted in his failing the exam several times. Many people were like him and had totally given up on culture studies. After all, they could cultivate during ss, just a little less efficiently, and theirprehensive evaluations would be somewhat lower. So it was a surprise for Tang Jie to see Li Zhen running over to him today.


    Tang Jie chuckled at Li Zhen¡¯s words. ¡°When ites to cultural studies, this junior brother truly does have some confidence. But every ss presumably has stand-outs in cultural studies. Basking Moon Academy is divided by years, and so there should be at least ten such cultural studies geniuses. Why would Senior Brothere and find me?¡±


    Li Zhenughed. ¡°Revising cultural studies takes time. If I went to look for help from those fellows, I would be walking into a lion¡¯s maw. Your senior brother has a hard time getting enough money, and I can¡¯t afford to buy their time. As for you, junior brother, you¡¯re a neer, so your services are probably a little cheaper. I¡¯ve specifically prepared this bottle of spirit-nurturing pills to serve as your fee.¡±


    He took out a bottle of spirit-nurturing pills as he spoke.


    Tang Jie smiled and said, ¡°These spirit-nurturing pills are too expensive, and your junior brother can¡¯t ept them. In truth, Senior Brother, there¡¯s no need to go this far. Since Senior Brother wishes to pass the culture exam, you should just pay more attention in ss, after which you¡¯ll naturally understand everything. Why would it be necessary to find this junior?¡±


    Li Zhen hastily said, ¡°The esteemed teacher doesn¡¯t permit questions during the ss, and I¡¯m a slow fellow who has many questions that I¡¯m confused on, so I¡¯vee to seek Junior Brother¡¯s help. Is Junior Brother unwilling?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°My apologies. This junior is in the middle of a major push to the Spirit Spring Tier, so I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t have the time.¡±


    ¡°With these spirit-nurturing pills, you can reach the Spirit Spring Tier even faster.¡±


    Tang Jie still shook his head. ¡°This junior thanks Senior Brother for your kind intentions, but let¡¯s drop this matter.¡±


    ¡°You!¡± Li Zhen angrily red at him. ¡°Then at least you can invite me to sit down in your room for a little while, yes?¡±


    Tang Jie still shook his head.


    Li Zhen grew so angry that his entire body shuddered. Pointing at Tang Jie, he yelled, ¡°Good! Good! A mere first-year student dares to act so arrogant! I lowered myself to ask for your help, and even offered you a bottle of spirit-nurturing pills, but you refuse to help me in the slightest, not even letting me sit down for a while! I¡¯ll remember your disrespect!¡±


    He turned and left.


    After leaving the Carefree House, Li Zhen walked over to a secluded area, where a tall and slender student was standing.


    When the student saw Li Zhening over, he creased his brow and said, ¡°It seems like Senior Brother failed.¡±


    Li Zhen harrumphed. ¡°I lost this bet. While I might not be particrly popr in the school, I¡¯m at least known about by my juniors, so they would have to show me some respect if I wanted something. Yet this Tang Jie wouldn¡¯t even let me step into his room. Junior Brother Min, you were right. This Tang Jie is truly an extremely arrogant and brash person. He appears meek on the surface, but deep down, he shows no regard for anyone. If his house wasn¡¯t protected by a formation, I would have forced my way in and taught him a good lesson.¡±


    He threw over the bottle of spirit-nurturing pills.


    That student with the surname Min chuckled and gave the pills back. ¡°It was a joke for my own amusement, Senior Brother. There¡¯s no need to take it so seriously. Senior Brother should take back this bottle of spirit-nurturing pills.¡±


    Li Zhen was very unhappy to hear this. ¡°You¡¯re saying this like I¡¯m a person who doesn¡¯t keep their promises. Since I lost those spirit-nurturing pills to you, I naturally can¡¯t take them back. If I won, then you would have had to give me five bottles, and I would have wanted everyst one. Alright, that¡¯s it. Goodbye!¡±


    The student watched Li Zhen leave and then lowered his head and began to think. He then took out a talisman and wrote some words on it: ¡°Tang Jie is cautious and does not permit strangers to enter his room. When moving through the school, he walks only the main roads and refuses to take detours, and his paths are frequented by many students and monitors. Besides that, he is being watched by Spirit Masters from the shadows. More time is needed to find a chance to move against him.¡±


    Once he was done writing, he conjured a me from his finger and set the talisman ame, burning it into ash.


    Twenty dayster, Wei Tianchong finally finished the first puppet in his life.


    This was a wolf-shaped puppet. It wasn¡¯t veryrge, but it had a very intimidating appearance.


    The Electro Wood had been formed into the torso, and two ck crystal beads had been used for the eyes. The ws and teeth were made from an alloy into which a small amount of Primal Iron had been mixed. This small block of metal had cost nearly one thousand coins and was the most expensive part.


    The insides of the wolf were empty so that the spirit stones used as the driving power could be ced inside. This was the mostmon power source of the cultivation world, but spirit stones were not used as a means of transaction. This was because spirit stones had differing traits, sizes, and effects, so they served as one of the basic products frequently traded on the market.


    The head also had a horn made of the same alloy, making the wolf seem particrly ferocious.


    In terms of the quality of the materials, thisbat puppet could pass as a Rank 1 puppet. But its small size limited the refining formation that could be carved into it, and its abilities were also bound to be limited.


    Wei Tianchong had onlypleted its form. It was the refining formation that would confer the soul and allow him to operate it as he desired.


    As if he was handing off his own child to Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong reluctantly said, ¡°It¡¯s up to you, so take good care of it!¡±


    ¡°Third Young Master, rx.¡±


    With Wei Tianchong¡¯s puppet in tow, Tang Jie went to the Heaven Circuit tform.


    The Heaven Circuit tform was where students could learn the Dao of Formations.


    ording to the rules of Basking Moon Academy, once students reached the Spirit Spring Tier, they gained the right to apply for misceneous studies in talismans, formations, pill refining, and tool crafting.


    Some time after the application, the school would arrange for an assessment. Only the students who had passed the assessment could formally study one of these misceneous fields. As for how applicants were selected, it followed the school¡¯s usual style. No matter how many geniuses there were, only ten would be selected every time, and it would rather choose no one than take mediocre talents, refusing those who did not meet the requirements.


    Of course, if you thought you were talented enough, you could take the examination again, but while the first test was free, you would have to pay for the subsequent ones.


    If the students wanted to stand out, they would have to rely on their talent, their family, or their own desperate efforts. The misceneous fields of pills, talismans, formations, and tools represented a fourth path, but this path also had high requirements when it came to talent. Moreover, it required a lot of early investment, so it was difficult to stand out without support from one¡¯s family.


    In this aspect, Tang Jie had been lucky to learn formations from Xu Muyang. Xu Muyang¡¯s Dao of Formations emphasized nature, emphasized casting arts through natural formations and avoiding the use of materials whenever possible. This was what had allowed Tang Jie a chance toy down a foundation. But even Xu Muyang¡¯s Dao of Formations required materials for formations at higher levels. Thus, for thest three years, Tang Jie had only been able to dabble with basic formations. Fortunately, he had essentially memorized that book, so he had a rock-solid theoretical foundation.


    In front of the Heaven Circuit tform was arge za.


    Ten-some students sat on the za, all of them seemingly pondering and calcting something. asionally, they would use chalk to draw lines on the ground.


    Tang Jie knew that they were calcting the configuration of a formation. This was basic knowledge for formationposition, but it was incrediblyplex and would often leave people with headaches. He had been the same in the beginning.


    But he wasn¡¯t here to watch these studentspose formation diagrams. He looked around and spotted a rather downcast student.


    While the student was rather dejected, his gaze was focused, and judging by his formation diagram, his basic skills were rather good. He was just a little too inflexible, but this was exactly what Tang Jie wanted.


    He¡¯s the one, Tang Jie thought to himself.


    After tidying up his clothes, Tang Jie walked over and bowed. ¡°Senior Brother, my greetings.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± The student raised his head and looked at Tang Jie. ¡°You are¡­¡±


    ¡°Student Tang Jie, a member of this year¡¯s ss¡­¡±


    Tang Jie quickly exined why he hade.


    The student was happy to hear that Tang Jie wanted him to make a refining formation for a puppet.


    Students dabbled in these misceneous fields precisely to make money so that they could buy spirit medicine for cultivation.


    But those with skill had all gone to the market to get business. Those who remained at Heaven Circuit tform to struggle with formation diagrams werecking in ability and had reached a standstill in their progress.


    This student was called Qin Liang. He wasn¡¯t particrly outstanding in the Dao of Formations, and he had a rather dull nature. Thus, he had not been able to get any business. He hadn¡¯t expected business toe walking up to his doorstep. Not only could he make a little money, he could also get in some practice.


    But when Tang Jie took out the puppet for him to see, Qin Liang frowned. ¡°This puppet is a little small.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be nervous.¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°This puppet wasn¡¯t meant forbat, only to y around with, so just a few simple formations will do.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Qin Liang immediately rxed when he heard that the puppet wouldn¡¯t be used for battle.


    Since it was just being used for amusement, a few basic control formations would be enough, which meant that there was more than enough space.


    ¡°But these were all excellent materials that went into this puppet. Using it for y is quite the pity.¡± Qin Liang clicked his tongue as he looked at the puppet.


    This sort of puppet could go for at least two thousand spirit coins. What sort of young master would be so frivolous as to spend such materials on a toy?


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Senior Brother, please draw out the formation ording to this diagram.¡±


    He presented a formation diagram.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Qin Liang looked quizzically at the diagram. ¡°This formation diagram is rather strange. Why are there so many gaps and unconnected lines in the center? And the materials needed are also rather special¡­ Will this formation actually work?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like this. My young master is rather interested in the Dao of Formations, so it¡¯s best to leave some nks so that the young master can¡­¡± Tang Jie gave a ¡°you get me¡± look to Qin Liang and passed over thirty spirit coins.


    Qin Liang immediately nodded in understanding. Some rich young master probably wanted to unt his skills, so he was having someone else do half while he did the rest, thus allowing him to brag that this was all his effort.


    He was getting paid regardless, so he didn¡¯t care, and he epted the job without furtherment.


    Three dayster, Qin Liang finished the formation and gave the puppet to Tang Jie. Tang Jie looked over the puppet and found that this kid hadn¡¯t gotten ahead of himself and added on extra lines. Deeply satisfied, he praised Qin Liang¡¯s workmanship, leaving Qin Liang on cloud nine.


    ¡£


    Tang Jie returned to the Carefree House with the partiallyplete puppet.


    He took out his prepared materials. It was time he turned this simple toy into a magical item.

 Chapter 67 - The True Intent Revealed

    <h2>Chapter 67: The True Intent Revealed</h2>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    In his little room, Tang Jie grabbed a steel needle and dipped it in a paint made from powdered saltpeter, mica, and bluefire shards. Tang Jie carefully thrust the needle into the formation lines he had drawn beforehand. He had made this paint ording to the secret recipe left by Xu Muyang, and it was uniquely suited for transferring spiritual energy. Once spiritual energy began to flow through the paint along the formations, they would form the corresponding spell as soon as the formation was activated.


    In truth, formations, talismans, and spells all shared the same originating principle. They all used cirction of spiritual energy to achieve some desired effect.


    Daoist Ku had once asked in ss, ¡°Everyone knows that the world has spiritual energy, but what is spiritual energy?¡±


    Very few people were able to say anything meaningful.


    ording to Daoist Ku, spiritual energy was a sort of fundamental matter that objectively existed in the cultivation world. Just like atoms, it could constitute all things.


    It differed in that spiritual energy possessed spirituality.


    This ¡°spirituality¡± was not the same thing as spiritual energy. It referred to a trait that differentiated it from all other kinds of matter in the world.


    The wind had no consciousness, the rain had no consciousness, wood had no consciousness, stone had no consciousness, but spirit did have consciousness.


    Spirit had consciousness, but it was ignorant and unaware.


    Spirit was the origin of all!


    It possessed life, yet it was not living. The greatest difference setting it apart from all other things thatcked awareness was that it could react in response to orders. It was like a stone given life, able to listen to orders.


    Spirit was this sort of substance.


    All spells were fundamentally different orders given to spirits.


    All the loops and all the endless changes had their foundation in this.


    Thus, spells were justmandsmands meant specifically for spiritual energy so that it would move as the user desired.


    Talismans, formations, and spells were all different ways tomand spiritual energy, but as they existed for different purposes, their methods also differed.


    They could bepared to the brush, the pen, and the pencil. They were all for writing words, but they had different purposes and existed in different domains.


    Spells resided in the human body. The body was the basis, and the meridians the paths. What mattered here was the heart¡¯s desire.


    Talismans were on talisman paper and used paper as the basis and the ink lines as paths. What mattered here was convenience.


    Formations existed in nature and used nature as the basis and formation lines as the paths. What mattered here was power.


    While they differed on the surface, they were all connected in the fundamentals.


    This was why Little Yiyi could use formations like spells. She had been born understanding befuddling formations, her body naturally in tune with them. This allowed her topose the formation within her body and use it as if it were a spell.


    As for refining formations, they used the puppet as the basis and formation lines as the path. What was important here was flexibility.


    The refining formation would change ording to the level of the material used in the puppet and the shape of the puppet.


    Thisbat puppet used Electro Wood for the torso, so the most appropriate refining formation should have some connection to lightning.


    Tang Jie was currently carving a lightning formation: the Minor Celestial Wolf sh Formation.


    This was a refining formation that Xu Muyang had inadvertentlye across in his early days traveling the world. It was originally called the Celestial Wolf sh Formation, and it was originally intended to be used onrge wolf puppets.


    Afterprehending the Dao of Formations, Tang Jie had been researching this refining formation, and he found that it could be used on smaller puppets if one sacrificed some of the abilities, and so he had devoted some time specifically to researching this problem.


    In his three years at the Wei Estate, he didn¡¯t have a mantra that he could use to cultivate, so he had poured the majority of his energy into this project. At that time, he was only thinking about how to get the best puppet while using the least amount of effort.


    Even so, the high cost of making a puppet caused him to give up on the idea for a time. It was only when Wei Tianchong¡¯s talents emerged that he decided to knuckle down and focus.


    The modified refining formation was named the Minor Celestial Wolf sh Formation by Tang Jie. As a miniature refining formation, it specialized in drawing in lightning energy to make the puppet move faster and strike with lightning-infused attacks.


    The process for carving a refining formation was extremelyplex. Each formation line needed to be meticulously calcted. Tang Jie needed the entire afternoon to finish only a small part, and the effort left his forehead caked in sweat.


    Just when he was about to sit down and rest, he heard someone shouting outside.


    Tang Jie quickly put the puppet away and then went out to take a look. Liu Hongyan and Ping Jingyue hade with several ssmates he had gotten to know at the Freedom Society¡¯s founding day ceremony.


    When he saw them, Tang Jie smiled and said, ¡°So what wind has blown you my way again today?¡±


    Ping Jingyue rolled her eyes. ¡°You still have the nerve to ask? Ever since that theft incident, your Carefree House has be a fortress, with nobody allowed toe inside. Don¡¯t you know that people have started putting bets on you now?¡±


    ¡°Betting? On what?¡± Tang Jie asked in curiosity.


    Liu Hongyan replied, ¡°On who can break this formation, naturally, and get through the main gate of your Carefree House. We¡¯ve made a bet with the Absolute Spirit Club that we can go through your main gate whenever we want.¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°You guys must be really bored.¡±


    Ping Jingyue giggled and looked at Tang Jie. ¡°Then what about you? Are you going to let us make a little extra money?¡±


    ¡°Do you even need to ask?¡± Tang Jie opened up the formation and said, ¡°Come inside.¡±


    The Freedom Society students chuckled as they went into the Carefree House, and once they were inside, they teased him some more, joking about how Basking Moon Academy protecting Tang Jie had essentially turned him into a canary in a cage, and there was no telling if it was a blessing or a curse. Tang Jieughed with them, and all of them happily chatted.


    In the eight-sided pavilion outside the Carefree House, that Student Min appeared again. He looked at the entrance of the Carefree House and wrote on a talisman, ¡°The Freedom Society members can go in. It seems that Tang Jie only lets students of the same year enter his house. If we want to catch Tang Jie, we have to go from there.¡±


    A few momentster, a reply came. ¡°Have Trickster Ghost go.¡±


    After sending off Liu Hongyan¡¯s group, Tang Jie went back to work on the refining formation.


    The Minor Celestial Wolf sh Formation took a whole four days toplete, after which Tang Jie needed to start on another formation for it.


    Toplete this formation, Tang Jie needed to take a trip to Spirit Wonder Market.


    At Spirit Wonder Market, Tang Jie confidently walked around as he sought the materials he needed.


    As he looked around, he found that he hade by the spirit grain stall fromst time.


    That Madam Shui was leaning against her stall, looking at him with a smile.


    Tang Jie walked over and saluted her. ¡°Greetings, Madam Shui.¡±


    Madam Shui smiled. ¡°You have a good memory. Your group could be considered the earliest batch of students to understand how to survive in this academy.¡±


    ¡°Madam tters me too much, and I dare not ept this praise. Student Tang Jie wishes Madam well.¡±


    ¡°Mm, you also speak rather politely. Seeing as you know some tact and I¡¯m rather happy today, just say what you want from me and I can sell it to you at a discount. You can also save yourself the trouble of being scammed again by your upperssmen.¡±


    Tang Jie hastily said, ¡°I did note to buy spirit grains today.¡±


    Madam Shui rolled her eyes. ¡°I sell only grains at this grain store of mine, but who said that I only had this one store?¡±


    Tang Jie was taken aback as Madam Shui said, ¡°Follow me.¡±


    She began to walk to the other side.


    As he followed Madam Shui, he arrived at a pavilion.


    The pavilion was five stories tall and brightly decorated.


    Tang Jie was startled by this pavilion. ¡°Spirit tform Pavilion? Madam was the one who runs Spirit tform Pavilion?¡±


    Spirit tform Pavilion was one of the most famous stores of Spirit Wonder Market. It sold magic tools, talisman paper, various materials, and basically everything else one needed at the Spirit tform Realm, so it was called Spirit tform Pavilion.


    Madam Shui smiled. ¡°My son was the one who opened it, but he¡¯s so busy that he rarelyes by. I run it for him most of the time. Come on; let me see what you need.¡±


    Madam Shui waved at Tang Jie toe in.


    A boy servant immediately came over. Of course, this job was held by a student of Basking Moon Academy.


    Once a student passed the culture exam, they would have much more free time. Some people who got bored of cultivating woulde out and get jobs to make a little money.


    Cultivation, missions, misceneous studies, and working were all choices avable to students, and what they chose could indicate the different paths they might walk in life.


    This student came up and asked, ¡°Junior Brother, is there anything you need?¡±


    Tang Jie hesitated before finally saying, ¡°I need some purple ink, some Spirit-Closing Powder, and some bone-piercing needles.¡±


    ¡°Spirit-Closing Powder?¡± Madam Shui was shocked. ¡°This is poison used for dispersing spirit. What do you need it for?¡±


    Tang Jie hurriedly answered, ¡°The culture exam will be in a few days. Tang Jie believes that he will pass the culture exam without a problem, and ns to take on a trial after the exam is over.¡±


    ¡°Going out on a trial mission right after the exam? That¡¯s a little too rushed, isn¡¯t it? You¡¯re a new student without a firm foundation and stillcking in strength. Even the simplest trial ground is too dangerous for you.¡± Madam Shui frowned in concern.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I need the Spirit-Closing Powder,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°I don¡¯t have any other way. My resources are limited and my cultivation speed is too slow. If I don¡¯t make some money, I might not be able to reach Mortal Shedding within ten years.¡±


    Madam Shui looked suspiciously at Tang Jie, and then she grabbed him and sent energy into his meridians. Tang Jie was shocked and tried to pull away, but he couldn¡¯t shake off her grip. Fortunately, Madam Shui drew her hand back a few momentster. ¡°So you are already at the Spirit Spring Tier. As you have a five-cycle Jade Gate, that¡¯s not too bad at all. It can¡¯t be considered particrly good, but even if you don¡¯t use spirit medicine, you should be able to enter the Mortal Shedding Realm in ten years without a problem. But your body is rather strange. How is your blood energy so powerful?¡±


    She inspected Tang Jie¡¯s body, and Tang Jie started to sweat. With a smile, he said, ¡°This lowly one has exercised his body since he was young, so my constitution is rather good.¡±


    Madam Shui chuckled, knowing that he wasn¡¯t being sincere, but she didn¡¯t push the matter. ¡°Your secrets are your own affair, and I don¡¯t have a hobby of prying too much. Since you have a rather solid constitution, you should be able to deal with a few small fiends. But if you actually run into something formidable, then you¡¯ll be dead for sure. Forget it. It¡¯s all your own business, and I can¡¯t be bothered. I do have Spirit-Closing Powder, and I can give it to you. But you must not use it on your ssmates. If I find out, I¡¯ll have your hide.¡±


    Tang Jie hastily said, ¡°My thanks, Madam. Tang Jie would not dare to use it on my fellows.¡±


    After getting the materials he needed, Tang Jie returned to the Carefree House and once more began to work on a refining formation.


    This refining formation was much simpler than the Minor Celestial Wolf sh Formation, and it took only one afternoon toplete.


    He looked at theplete lightning wolf puppet and had it move around. The wolf puppet instantly shot to the millstone in the rear courtyard. It swept out its ws and immediately left three deep w marks on the millstone, andt this was without the refining formation¡¯s spell being activated.


    Tang Jie was satisfied. While the puppet¡¯s defenses were on the weak side, it was fast and agile, its attacks sharp and prating. If it were used in a sneak attack, it could heavily injure a Spirit Sea student. If used well, it would be an excellent trump card at his current level.


    But when he thought about Madam Shui, Tang Jie felt his confidence evaporate.


    This was the first time he had encountered someone who had discovered how strong he was with just a single touch. It wasn¡¯t such a big deal for his Spirit Spring Tier cultivation to be exposed, but she had even noticed the body-refining effects of the Visceral Manifestation ssic.


    Moreover, the tough skin that he was so proud of was nothing more than ¡°a rather solid constitution¡± to Madam Shui. Tang Jie started to sweat again as he recalled the encounter.


    Basking Moon Academy was truly a ce of crouching tigers and hidden dragons. Even a random grain store owner possessed such lofty cultivation. He wouldn¡¯t even find it strange now if some unassumingdy sweeping the ground were to suddenlye over and say, ¡°You¡¯re not cultivating this mantra right. You need to do this, and this¡­¡±


    Only now did he truly understand that strength was the most reliable thing in this world.


    All intelligence and schemes had to be established on a foundation of sufficient strength. Without this strength, everything else was just a momentary illusion.


    He had been lucky that the rtionship between Godhead Pce and the Basking Moon Sect had given him an opportunity to exploit.


    But this luck was limited and would run out one day.


    At that time, he would truly be at a dead end.


    ¡°Before then, I have to get enough strength to protect myself,¡± Tang Jie said to himself.


    After he finished the puppet, Tang Jie didn¡¯t immediately give it to Wei Tianchong. Using the excuse that the refining formation was time-consuming, he held onto it for a few more days.


    He spent the following days diligently cultivating. As his Spirit Spring Tier cultivation had been discovered, he no longer kept hiding it. He went to the lecturing stone and took the Level 2 mantra to continue cultivating. Fortunately, the time that had passed allowed him to match the speed of a five-cycle Jade Gate, so nobody suspected him.


    On this night, another guest paid a visit to the Carefree House.


    It was Zhuang Shen, a student of the Freedom Society. Tang Jie had met him at a few of the club meetings.


    He invited Zhuang Shen inside and casually asked, ¡°Brother Zhuang, what brings you here today?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I just have a few things to ask Brother Tang.¡± Once he was inside, Zhuang Shen casually walked around, inspecting the area. He ced his right hand in his bag and tossed out a diagram from it. The diagram vanished into the air, and then a blue curtain surrounded the Carefree House. It seemed like this entire area had been isted.


    ¡°Oh? What about?¡± Tang Jie was walking in front of him and seemingly hadn¡¯t noticed.


    Zhuang Shenughed. ¡°Naturally, it¡¯s about Brother Tang¡¯s true identity!¡±


    A sword shed, shing right at Tang Jie!

 Chapter 68 - Murder

    <h2>Chapter 68: Murder</h2>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    A shining sword shed at Tang Jie¡¯s back.


    Zhuang Shen used eighty percent of his strength in this attack. He was sure that Tang Jie wouldn¡¯t die from this attack, but he would be heavily injured.


    But as he attacked, Tang Jie moved.


    He turned around!


    He raised his right hand, the sword within it blocking the edge. ng! Zhuang Shen¡¯s sword failed to strike true, and the impact made his entire body shudder.


    ¡°You!¡± Zhuang Shen was shocked. The sword sh that he had been building up power for this whole time had failed to do anything. It was clear that his opponent had been ready for it.


    Stunned, he was about to create a form when Tang Jie charged up with a ruthless smile and punched Zhuang Shen in the face.


    It was a savage punch that immediately had blood flowing from Zhuang Shen¡¯s nose.


    He rolled on the ground to avoid Tang Jie¡¯s following attack, but then he realized that rather than pursuing him, Tang Jie was just watching him with cold eyes.


    ¡°You¡­ you already knew¡­¡± Zhuang Shen looked in disbelief at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie shrugged. ¡°I didn¡¯t know, but I have a habit of always nning for the worst-case scenario. Frankly speaking, I didn¡¯t expect Godhead Pce¡¯s supervisor here to be so decisive, sending someone to capture me after that incident. They¡¯re really not afraid of what will happen if they catch the wrong person¡­ Admirable, admirable. It seems like I have a formidable foe.¡±


    Zhuang Shen blurted out, ¡°You really are Tang Jiye!¡±


    Through his words, Tang Jie had inadvertently confessed that he was the real deal.


    Zhuang Shen had believed that he needed to fight a bitter battle and then perhaps even apply some torture to finally get a confession. To his surprise, Tang Jie had saved him a whole lot of trouble and just confessed to it.


    Gu Changqing¡¯s greatest worry had been that they would catch the wrong person in this operation, but with this information, Zhuang Shen was able to cast aside his worries.


    He burst out inughter. ¡°Good! Good! Good! Surprisingly, it is I, Zhuang Shen, who will be able to conclude this vast project of Godhead Pce! If I capture you, Godhead Pce will be certain to richly reward me, after which getting into Mortal Shedding, even Celestial Heart, will present no difficulty. Hahahaha!¡±


    He stood up and threw aside his ordinary iron sword, taking out a purple shortsword from his bag.


    This shortsword¡¯s purple de was covered in magic inscriptions, with fire seeming to flow through them. If one looked carefully, one would discover that it had a refining formation on it.


    A spell weapon!


    Zhuang Shen hadn¡¯t intended to kill with his earlier strike, so he had used ordinary iron. But since his target was prepared, he naturally needed to use a magic tool.


    But rather than the spell weapon, Tang Jie was more focused on the bag that had held it.


    He tilted his head. ¡°A Mustard Seed Bag¡­ good, wonderful! I didn¡¯t think that Godhead Pce would even give you a Mustard Seed Bag to deal with me. There must be a lot of nice things in there, yes?¡±


    The Mustard Seed Bag, referring to the saying ¡°A universe in a mustard seed¡±, was one of the most important art relics for cultivators.


    But this kind of art relic wasn¡¯t something everyone could own. A Mustard Seed Bag able to contain one cubic meter of space generally cost one spirit jade, and one with greater volume would be even more expensive.


    Zhuang Shen grunted, ¡°Godhead Pce has expended much manpower and resources over thest few years to get back the Martial Mirror, and Eagle Master Gu has racked his brains. One Mustard Seed Bag is nothingpared to all that effort. But you didn¡¯t let down the Eagle Master and finally appeared. It¡¯s just that nobody expected you to shout that deration in front of the academy and y a game of real or fake with us.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°A game of real or fake? I can¡¯t be that hard to figure out, nor did I think that this sort of children¡¯s game would be of any use against you. I only did this because I had no other choice, because you forced me to. After all, would you have really let me be to focus on my studies?¡±


    ¡°We forced you to?¡± Zhuang Shen was confused.


    He was already impatient to strike.


    He hadn¡¯te here to kill Tang Jie, only to capture and interrogate him. Since his opponent was already answering all his questions, capturing him became secondary. What was important now was to clear up all the questions he had.


    If taking back the Martial Mirror was his first mission, finding out why Tang Jie had done all this was the second mission.


    ¡°Yes, you forced me to.¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Tell me: if I didn¡¯t shout that I was Tang Jie, would you have not investigated me? If I had chosen to go to some other school and not Basking Moon Academy, would you have not investigated me?¡±


    Zhuang Shen shook his head. ¡°How could that be? We¡¯re watching all the schools of the Sageheart Kingdom. Basking Moon Academy is simply the most important one. And any student entering any school is marked for investigation. Eagle Master Gu never ced any hopes on you retaining your original name.¡±


    Gu Changqing was a cautious person and wouldn¡¯t suspect Tang Jie just because he shouted something, nor would he not suspect Tang Jie if he didn¡¯t shout. Everything depended on the evidence.


    If Tang Jie hadn¡¯t forced him into a corner, he wouldn¡¯t have moved so quickly to capture him.


    ¡°Yes, precisely because I knew this, I didn¡¯t go through the trouble of changing my name. After all, it would be the same whether I changed it or not. So long as I wanted to cultivate Immortality, you lot would eventuallye and find me,¡± Tang Jie said with a smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s true, so I can understand why you came to Basking. Since you would be suspected no matter where you went, you might as well go to the best. But how did you know our method of investigation?¡± Zhuang Shen still had questions. ¡°Rather than inspecting people one by one, what if we were secretly sending out people to investigate possible suspects? Then there would have been no need for you to shout!¡±


    ¡°It was your people who told me,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°If you were nning to secretly observe people, why would you have the Godhead Pce studentse out in the open? No matter how weak Godhead Pce¡¯s presence in the Sageheart Kingdom is, it should be able to send more than one or two people to mix into the academy, yes? And are you not one of them? There can only be one answer. There are too many schools and too many students, so relying on two people to investigate is simply impossible.¡±


    Zhuang Shen¡¯s jaw dropped.


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°The Martial Mirror is a matter of utmost importance, and limited manpower can¡¯t possibly investigate everyone, and Godhead Pce isn¡¯t that powerful that it can appoint its own people into these schools, so it has to rely on these exchange students. Sometimes, it¡¯s not that you don¡¯t want to do something, but that you can¡¯t. Of course, you need to investigate both in the open and in the shadows. Godhead Pce is really pulling out all the stops here, now that I look back at it.¡±


    These words were exactly what Zhuang Shen was thinking, and he could only sigh. ¡°It¡¯s true. My Godhead Pce can¡¯t cover its tracks because it can¡¯t, and you can¡¯t hide also because you can¡¯t hide. Since we can¡¯t keep things a secret, we might as well use it and take some risks, but that¡¯s because we have no other options. My Godhead Pce¡¯s students appeared in their golden clothes precisely to force you out. And your bold deration was meant to draw out the Basking Moon Sect. It was all for the same reason: because we had no other option, because this was the only choice we had!¡±


    The ways of the world often left people with undesirable options.


    If possible, Gu Changqing wouldn¡¯t have wanted the students of Godhead Pce to appear in front of Basking Moon Academy.


    If possible, Tang Jie would have never been willing to make that bold deration in front of Basking Moon Academy.


    If possible, Tang Jie would not have entrusted Wu Xing with the purchase of medicine.


    If possible, Tang Jie wouldn¡¯t have even wanted to be a servant in the Wei Estate.


    With the exception of those with adventurous spirits, the majority of miracles and grand feats came from people who had no other choice and were forced to take risks.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Jie also sighed. ¡°s, the Basking Moon Sect didn¡¯t notice me. Your Eagle Master Gu is really quite good. He must have gone to great lengths to draw away the attention of the Basking Moon Sect, yes?¡±


    ¡°With each new ss, Eagle Master Gu will first suppress the information on a group of suspicious students, which costs quite a lot of money. s, that deration of yours easily undid all this work,¡± Zhuang Shen coldly said. ¡°Baiting the Basking Moon Sect and Godhead Pce into fighting each other! An excellent n!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Yet you still managed to guess at who I was, no? But you couldn¡¯t confirm it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we couldn¡¯t confirm it before, but we can confirm it now.¡± Zhuang Shen pointed his spell sword at Tang Jie andughed. ¡°Where can you run now?¡±


    Tang Jie coldly snorted. ¡°Do I need to run? You¡¯re the only one who¡¯s confirmed anything.¡±


    A barrier of water had already appeared around him.


    Zhuang Shen¡¯s eyes turned harsh. ¡°Still trying to resist? What an idiot!¡±


    As he raised the purple shortsword, a sword beam shot at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie blocked with his own sword and coldly replied, ¡°You¡¯re the idiot here, no? You think I told you all that because I intended to let you live?¡±


    ¡°What a joke! On your own?¡± Zhuang Shen shouted back. He raised the purple shortsword again, and a ball of purple me jumped out of the sword and flew at Tang Jie.


    Boom! Purple mes exploded, prating through the barrier and crashing into Tang Jie. His entire body was wrapped in mes, forcing him to roll on the ground.


    Zhuang Shenughed as he stalked closer. ¡°What do you think about the power of my Violet me Sword?¡±


    Tang Jie continued to roll on the ground. By the time the purple mes finally went out, his body was covered in scorch marks.


    Tang Jie grunted in pain. ¡°It¡¯s quite powerful. You must cultivate the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s Yang Valley Violet me Mantra or Godhead Pce¡¯s Yang Heaven Fire Mantra, yes?¡±


    Zhuang Shen was startled. He hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to still be in the mood to talk. He snorted, ¡°Since I¡¯m a Godhead Pce spy infiltrating the academy, I¡¯ve naturally learned the Yang Valley Violet me Mantra, and I also practice the me Sword spell. The Violet me Mantra together with this Violet me Sword allows me to double the power of my me Sword spell, and even my casting speed is increased. Your Aqualight Shroud can block my sword, but it can¡¯t block the Violet mes!¡± Zhuang Shen pointed at Tang Jie and shouted, ¡°Talk! Where is the Martial Mirror?¡±


    ¡°You dare to try and kill me with just this?¡± Tang Jie chortled. ¡°Godhead Pce can¡¯t be this stingy, can it?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Zhuang Shen was once startled by Tang Jie¡¯s attitude.


    Tang Jie stood up, all the burn wounds on his body rapidly healing.


    How can that be?


    Zhuang Shen didn¡¯t dare to believe his eyes.


    Tang Jie stretched his neck and coldly said, ¡°Let me tell you one more thing. The Visceral Manifestation ssic has the ability to refine the body, allowing one to absorb spiritual energy before Spirit tform and temper the body. My body¡¯s constitution seems pretty good. While it might not be at the level of a Mortal Shedding Realm expert, I¡¯m basically immune to ordinary weapons now, and small spells don¡¯t have much effect on me. Of course, you have the Violet me Sword, so your spells are a lot stronger. However, inbination with the Aqualight Shroud, I¡¯m able to hold out. Even if I get a few small wounds, the Visceral Manifestation ssic also happens to boost recovery speed by a lot. So¡­ you¡¯ll have to work a little harder to capture me.¡±


    ¡°The Visceral Manifestation ssic? Refining the body?¡± Zhuang Shen stared in shock at Tang Jie, and then heughed. ¡°So that¡¯s where you get your confidence from. I didn¡¯t know that the Visceral Manifestation ssic would have this sort of use. As expected, the Martial Lord left behind some astounding treasures. Good, very good! The stronger you are, the more valuable the treasures of the Martial Lord must be, and so the greater my merit!¡±


    His face turned savage as mes erupted from the Violet me Sword once more, and he shed.


    ¡°I said already that this isn¡¯t enough!¡± Tang Jie swung his sword to meet the attack, and then he thrust his sword at Zhuang Shen¡¯s face.


    A shield suddenly appeared in Zhuang Shen¡¯s hand, which he used to block Tang Jie¡¯s strike.


    Zhuang Shen kicked Tang Jie away, shattering his barrier. He howled, ¡°Then what about this Energy Shield?¡±


    He had cast the Energy Shield with incredible speed. It was clear that he had practiced it hundreds of times, just like Tang Jie had.


    Tang Jie jumped back to his feet.


    Zhuang Shen took out a talisman and pointed it at Tang Jie. ¡°Flying Sword Talisman!¡±


    The talisman turned into a spirit sword that shot at Tang Jie.


    Just when it seemed like Tang Jie couldn¡¯t dodge it, another Aqualight Shroud emerged.


    The flying sword pierced through the Aqualight Shroud and stabbed into Tang Jie¡¯s chest. At the same time, Tang Jie let out a roar and punched at the flying sword. Bang! The flying sword turned back into countless bits of flying paper, leaving a sliver of blood on Tang Jie¡¯s fist.


    This barrier and this punch left Zhuang Shen shaken. He blurted out, ¡°You were ready for all this!¡±


    He could train in the Energy Shield because he had the support of Godhead Pce, and for his work, he naturally needed a protective spell that he could use whenever he needed.


    But Tang Jie was able to cast the Aqualight Shroud quickly because he had some purpose for it. This meant that he had been preparing for this battle for some time.


    Tang Jie slowly stood up and said to Zhuang Shen, ¡°What¡¯s so strange about that? I didn¡¯t know when Godhead Pce woulde, but I have to prepare myself for the worst-case scenario¡­ though this result isn¡¯t necessarily that bad.¡±


    Zhuang Shen guffawed. ¡°Are you joking? You think this Aqualight Shroud can stop my Godhead Pce?¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Tang Jie countered. ¡°Do you know what the keys are to deciding a battle?¡±


    ¡°Strength, of course!¡± Zhuang Shen said, once more swinging his purple sword at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie blocked with his own sword as he casually said, ¡°Strength is truly important, but what¡¯s even more important is initiative. The person with the initiative will grasp victory. Godhead Pce is very strong, and I naturally can¡¯t beat it, but I can choose to not fight the people I can¡¯t beat!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Zhuang Shen froze.


    ¡°You still don¡¯t get it?¡± Tang Jie sneered. ¡°This is my home, my court. Only I can decide who cane in and who can¡¯t! So¡­ I can choose my opponent!¡±


    With a roar, Tang Jie swung down his sword with thunderous momentum.


    With three heavy blows on Zhuang Shen¡¯s Violet me Sword, Zhuang Shen was sent staggering back, his arm beginning to ache from the shock. But he was even more shocked by Tang Jie¡¯s words.


    He could choose the opponent!


    He was the one with the initiative!


    Only now did Zhuang Shen realize why Tang Jie was so confident. He had controlled the tempo from the very beginning.


    He had the initiative, and he could choose who he fought!


    When he chose to attack, it naturally meant that he was confident in his chances of victory!


    This understanding left Zhuang Shen dumbfounded. Meanwhile, Tang Jie continued to attack Zhuang Shen, using the moves of the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword one after the other.


    Both of them were still at the start of the path of Immortality, and using spells alone wasn¡¯t enough. Thus, they had both chosen the same path: using spells to strengthen the body. Their tactical thinking was very practical, which was a rare sight in this school.


    This meant that their battle was like a sh of experts possessing sword energy, with many brilliant and dazzling shes of light.


    Tang Jie had the Aqualight Shroud, the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword, and the Visceral Manifestation ssic¡¯s body refining. Zhuang Shen had the Energy Shield, the me Sword spell, and the Violet me Sword. Both of them were also trained in sparring, and so they were equally matched.


    Suddenly, with a bang, Tang Jie¡¯s Aqualight Shroud shattered and Zhuang Shen¡¯s Energy Shield exploded.


    The two of them immediately cast their defensive spells again and went back to fighting, still evenly matched.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Zhuang Shen growled.


    He reached into his Mustard Seed Bag and pulled out another item. In a golden sh of light, a golden suit of armor attached itself to Zhuang Shen.


    ¡°Godhead Armor? Not bad! Not bad!¡± Rather than surprised, Tang Jie was ted.


    Godhead Pce was most famous for this Godhead Armor. It had specific spells and arts rted to it, as well as spell weapons and art relics. It was known for its impressive defense. As a spy Godhead Pce had nted in Basking Moon Academy, Zhuang Shen naturally couldn¡¯t study the mantras of Godhead Pce, but he had brought a Godhead Armor spell weapon with him.


    Though it was of the lowest level, its defensive abilities were above the Energy Shield¡¯s.


    This didn¡¯t mean that Godhead Pce was so stingy as to not give Zhuang Shen an art relic. However, the higher the level of the relic tool in question, the more spiritual energy it took to use. If a normal Spirit Disciple used an art relic, they would often be emptied of spiritual energy after a single strike. Using an ordinary spell weapon was far more flexible.


    And with this spell-weapon-grade Godhead Armor, Zhuang Shen didn¡¯t have to worry about getting hurt.


    Equipped with this armor, Zhuang Shen savagely snarled, ¡°Tang Jie, you didn¡¯t really think all I had was that sword, did you?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I knew,¡± Tang Jie answered to his surprise. ¡°Since Godhead Pce sent you, it had to be sure that you would be able to deal with me. We¡¯re both part of the same ss, so if you didn¡¯t have some sort of trump card, how could you be sure of victory? But did you know that I was waiting for exactly this?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Zhuang Shen was stunned once more.


    In this short while, he had been surprised by Tang Jie numerous times.


    Tang Jie¡¯s smile chilled. ¡°If you hade without treasures, do you really think I would have bothered with you? You think it¡¯s my hobby to take such big risks just so I can kill someckey of Godhead Pce? No, I want the treasures you came with! Kill and rob, kill and rob¡­ Killing isn¡¯t the goal. It¡¯s what you¡¯re robbing. For this battle, I used two bottles of spirit recovery pills and several hundred spirit coins, and even stopped my cultivation for more than a month so I could practice spells. Given my investment, I would have been deeply disappointed if you had brought only a few magic tools to deal with me!¡±


    Tang Jie created a form with his hands, and a momentter, a ck silhouette lunged at Zhuang Shen!

 Chapter 69 - Azure Light

    <h2>Chapter 69: Azure Light</h2>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The dark silhouette lunged at Zhuang Shen and bit down on his arm.


    Though the Godhead Armor possessed formidable defense, it only protected the torso. It did not protect the limbs in any way.


    Zhuang Shen took the full brunt of this bite, lightning flowing through his body. And while the Godhead Armor was powerful, it was weakest when defending against lightning attacks. Zhuang Shen¡¯s body went numb all over, and he froze for a moment.


    He was finally able to see that what had bitten him was a wolf puppet.


    ¡°Abat puppet?¡± Zhuang Shen cried out. ¡°How can you control it without the Spirit Guidance spell?¡±


    ¡°Guess!¡± Tang Jie called out as he threw aside his sword!


    Giving up his sword to use his fists!


    He savagely punched Zhuang Shen right on the Godhead Armor, leaving his chest in immense pain.


    Zhuang Shen immediately knew that the situation had turned against him.


    After all, this Godhead Armor was only of spell weapon grade and wasn¡¯t very effective at neutralizing lightning and strong impacts.


    Tang Jie had a sword but wasn¡¯t using it, instead resorting to his fists, indicating that he was ready and knew to target the weakness of the Godhead Armor.


    Those three years he had spent avoiding Godhead Pce had made him understand a lot about it. Godhead Armor was the most renowned product of Godhead Pce, so he naturally understood how to deal with it.


    Zhuang Shen tried to jump away, but Tang Jie was hot on his tail, attempting to elbow Zhuang Shen in the face.


    If this blow made contact, Zhuang Shen¡¯s face would be pulverized.


    Zhuang Shen shouted and once more thrust his hand into his bag. He took out some rope and tossed it into the air. The rope moved like a snake and coiled around Tang Jie, bringing him crashing to the ground.


    Seeing that he had seeded, Zhuang Shenughed. ¡°What about this Immortal-Binding Rope? Tang Jiye, hand over the Martial Mirror and save yourself the pain of Soulscour!¡±


    ¡°The Soulscour spell?¡± Even though he was tied up tightly, Tang Jie didn¡¯t panic. He looked jeeringly at Zhuang Shen. ¡°But do you actually know it?¡±


    ¡°I naturally can¡¯t use it, but I have this.¡± Zhuang Shen took something else out of his bag.


    A Soulscour talisman.


    Zhuang Shen smugly said, ¡°The Eagle Master requested this from Godhead Pce precisely to be used against people like you. A Violet Pce Titan personally refined it, and it¡¯s quite expensive. Your time on this world is worth it since you¡¯re able to experience it.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled upon seeing the talisman. ¡°This Mustard Seed Bag is truly a bag of one hundred treasures. They really gave you quite a lot of good things. The Violet me Sword, the Mustard Seed Bag, the Godhead Armor, the Immortal-Binding Rope, and now this Soulscour talisman. Though they¡¯re all at the spell weapon level, the effects are pretty good. Oh, and there¡¯s also that istion formation diagram. They¡¯ve really made quite the investment. However¡­¡±


    Before he finished speaking, the wolf puppet suddenly lowered its head toward Zhuang Shen. Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Three bone-piercing needles shot toward Zhuang Shen.


    rmed, he dodged away, and two of the needles struck the Godhead Armor and dropped limply to the ground, while thest one brushed past his arm.


    It was just a scratch, but Zhuang Shen found that he couldn¡¯t circte his spiritual energy anymore.


    ¡°Spirit-Closing Powder?¡± Zhuang Shen was shocked. The wolf puppet howled as it charged at him again, ramming him with its horn.


    Zhuang Shen stopped hesitating and once more pulled out a small talisman from his bag. He waved it in the air, and the talisman immediately began to swell, turning into a wolf that lunged at the wolf puppet.


    ¡°A refined beast?¡± Tang Jie was surprised at the appearance of this wolf, his eyes going ck.


    This was the specialty of the Beast Refining Gate: capturing wild beasts and refining them intobat beasts. The Beast Refining Gate had good rtions with Godhead Pce, so it wasn¡¯t strange for Zhuang Shen to have a refined beast.


    But now that one person was bound up by a spell weapon while the other was suffering from Spirit-Closing Powder, the battle had be one of puppet versus refined beast¡ªa rather strange development indeed.


    But though Zhuang Shen had been hit by the Spirit-Closing Powder, he could still move. A momentter, he took out a pill from his bag and swallowed it. The effect of the Spirit-Closing Powder began to dissipate.


    An antidote!


    Tang Jie rolled on the ground and disappeared.


    Zhuang Shen saw the world turn upside down, and he could no longer tell where he was.


    ¡°An illusion formation?¡± Zhuang Shen yelped in rm.


    ¡°Correct!¡± Tang Jie¡¯s voice resounded out of the fog. ¡°Yiyi,e here and untie me!¡±


    A little person flew out of the puppet. It was none other than Yiyi.


    It was no wonder Tang Jie could control thebat puppet without using the Spirit Guidance spell. It turned out that this little creature had been inside, controlling it.


    Without Yiyi, the puppet immediately stopped. Fortunately, the refined beast was also confused by the illusion formation, so it wouldn¡¯t be causing him much of a problem. At the same time, Zhuang Shen turned around and shed at the source of the sound, but he hit empty air. There was nothing behind him.


    Tang Jie¡¯s voice once more rang out. ¡°Your Eagle Master Gu is pretty good, but he made two mistakes. The first mistake is that he forgot who Xu Muyang was.¡±


    ¡°Xu Muyang?¡± Zhuang Shen was shaken by the mention of this name.


    ¡°Yes. Big Brother Xu, a formation master¡­ He gave me the Martial Mirror, so why couldn¡¯t he pass onto me his Dao of Formations?¡± As he spoke, a sword thrust out, aimed at the back of Zhuang Shen¡¯s head.


    Zhuang Shen reacted quickly, lunging forward. The sword tip scratched against his back, creating a trail of sparks against the Godhead Armor.


    Zhuang Shen immediately reversed his sword and thrust backward, and the Violet me Sword unleashed a gout of me. An energy barrier appeared in front of Tang Jie¡¯s chest, blocking the strike.


    Zhuang Shen pointed at the air. ¡°Return!¡±


    The Immortal-Binding Rope automatically returned to Zhuang Shen¡¯s hand, causing Yiyi to shriek in rm. Zhuang Shen threw out the rope again, causing it to bind Tang Jie once more.


    Tang Jie had no choice but to jump back into the fog, where Yiyi hurried to untie him again, all the while shouting, ¡°I hate you! Hate you! Can you not get tied up so quickly by him!?¡±


    ¡°Then can you not let him get back the rope?¡± Tang Jie brusquely replied.


    ¡°It¡¯s pointless. That¡¯s his, so unless you can remove his mark on it, he can just cast a spell to bring it back, you big idiot!¡± Yiyi said, stomping her feet.


    The twobatants had gone at it for several rounds, using their trump cards one by one.


    Zhuang Shen had various spell weapons, and Tang Jie had also used various tools. For a moment, they were in a stalemate. Tang Jie was once more untied, but he was reluctant toe out again.


    Zhuang Shen savagely looked around while shouting, ¡°Tang Jie, get out here! If you¡¯re a true man, you¡¯ll properly fight me!¡±


    ¡°Shit, that¡¯s a nice one. If you¡¯ve got the guts, why not fight me without using all those spell weapons?¡± Tang Jie continued to hide in the fog, momentarily at a loss.


    Yiyi curiously asked, ¡°But didn¡¯t you say it was better the more treasures he had?¡±


    Tang Jie rolled his eyes. ¡°So long as he can¡¯t beat me first.¡±


    He had to admit that Zhuang Shen excelled in bothbat strength and adaptability. He must have been trained by Godhead Pce, or else he would have never been able to fight so decisively at his age.


    If it weren¡¯t for the fact that he couldn¡¯t learn the spells of Godhead Pce because he needed to infiltrate Basking Moon Academy, Tang Jie really might not have been able to beat him.


    Just like how Zhuang Shen had underestimated him, he discovered that he had underestimated Zhuang Shen.


    Who could have imagined that Zhuang Shen would be both flexible and well-equipped? His view had been that Godhead Pce would give Zhuang Shen just two or three spell weapons.


    But it appeared that he had been too narrow-minded. It was clear that spell weapons were expendable to Godhead Pce. If Zhuang Shen¡¯s strength hadn¡¯t been limited, preventing him from using all his tools to their full potential, Godhead Pce might have even given him a few art relics.


    Seeing that Tang Jie was continuing to hide, Zhuang Shen¡¯s eyes gleamed with killing intent. ¡°You think this shabby formation is enough to keep you hidden?¡±


    He took out a small bottle and took a pill from it. A momentter, Zhuang Shen¡¯s body began to swell.


    He had originally been fair and lean, but after taking the pill, his body groaned and bulged with muscle. He turned from a refined and cultured boy into a savage and muscr man.


    He punched at the ground, sending out a massive shockwave that scattered the fog of the illusion formation.


    Tang Jie scowled as he muttered, ¡°A demonblood pill¡­ Just how many treasures does he have?¡±


    He was truly beginning to think that this fellow was too well equipped.


    Demonblood pills were pills refined from the blood of fiend beasts, and they could temporarily grant the user the strength of the corresponding fiend beast. It was just like Li Yu¡¯s golden scale, though it had been refined into a medicine that allowed cultivators to absorb the blood essence directly.


    Zhuang Shen had taken a demonblood pill that was made from the blood of some powerful great fiend, and his body exuded a mighty aura.


    Although this illusion formation was easy to create, it was still the lowest rank of illusion formation, so it could be broken with brute force. Zhuang Shen didn¡¯t understand formations, so he chose the most direct method, punching again and again. As the shockwaves rippled out, the illusion formation was jolted apart, revealing Tang Jie.


    When he saw Tang Jie, Zhuang Shenughed. ¡°Let¡¯s see where you hide now!¡±


    He elected to not use the Immortal-Binding Rope, just grabbing at Tang Jie with his bare hands.


    Tang Jie thrust his sword, but Zhuang Shen grabbed it, ignoring its sharp edge and allowing the sword to stab him. ng! His constitution had be even stronger than Tang Jie¡¯s.


    Tang Jie had no choice except to abandon the sword and retreat. Zhuang Shen roared, ¡°I can¡¯t believe you forced me to use the Blood Refining Beast Pill! Once I catch you, I¡¯ll have to torture you long and hard to vent my anger.¡±


    The Blood Refining Beast Pill was the lowest level of demonblood pill with the most obvious increase in strength, but it had severe side effects. Once its effects had passed, he would be extremely weak.


    ording to the n, this demonblood pill wasn¡¯t meant to be used for capturing Tang Jie. Rather, after he had captured and interrogated him, he would take the pill to flee Basking Moon Academy. But to his surprise, a puny Spirit Spring Tier was very hard to deal with, and not even three spell weapons were enough to deal with him. And with all his spell weapons, he was actually using much more spiritual energy than Tang Jie. He had already used several spells, so he didn¡¯t have much spiritual energy left. He had no choice except to use the demonblood pill.


    He could only now hope that after getting the confession, he still had a chance to escape. Otherwise, he would probably be dead.


    He naturally had no idea that Godhead Pce was already prepared to make him a sacrificialmb whether he seeded or failed, an offering to the Basking Moon Sect. All he was thinking about was the great merit he was about to achieve and what sort of reward Godhead Pce would give him.


    Unlike the other spies of Godhead Pce, Zhuang Shen really was a Sageheart native, but he had been born in poverty and had no chance to cultivate. Godhead Pce had found him and promised him that if he worked for Godhead Pce, he would have the chance to cultivate Immortality.


    He naturally understood how risky it was to infiltrate the Basking Moon Sect as a spy of Godhead Pce, but fame and riches were found in danger. In order to stand out, he naturally didn¡¯t mind taking this gamble.


    Using the strength provided by the Blood Refining Beast Pill, he cast aside his sword and shield. The refined beast, deprived of its opponent, wanted to charge over and help him, but he called it back to the talisman and charged at Tang Jie.


    With the current state of his body, he no longer needed to rely on anything else.


    Tang Jie met him head-on. The Aqualight Shroud immediately shattered and his body was sent flying. He crashed to the ground and vomited blood, and for a moment, he wasn¡¯t able to get up.


    Yiyi took control of the puppet and tried to get it to bite Zhuang Shen, but Tang Jie called out in rm, ¡°Yiyi, no!¡±


    Boom! Zhuang Shen punched the puppet, cracking the Electro Wood torso. Yiyi was thrown out of the puppet¡¯s body and immediately dropped to the ground and began to cry.


    Zhuang Shenughed as he stalked toward Tang Jie. Tang Jie could only sit on the ground, unable to move. Seemingly at the end of his rope, he grabbed a broom and threw it at Zhuang Shen.


    Zhuang Shen swept the broom aside. Tang Jie grabbed a fistful of dirt and flung it at him.


    Zhuang Shen simply closed his eyes a little to avoid the dirt. He heartilyughed. ¡°Is that all you can do? Come on; didn¡¯t you say that you were going to kill me? Didn¡¯t you say you wanted me to have a lot of treasures so you could take them all? Come on; the Violet me Sword is right here, and so is the Godhead Armor. I¡¯m waiting for you toe and take them.¡±


    Tang Jie grabbed a flower pot¡ªthe pot holding the root carving that he had brought from the Wei Estate with Yiyi.


    Grabbing the top of the root carving, he lifted the pot and coldly said, ¡°Like I said, your Eagle Master Gu made two mistakes. The second mistake is that he was only focused on the Martial Mirror, forgetting about¡­¡±


    Without finishing his sentence, he raised the pot and swung it like a meteor hammer at Zhuang Shen.


    Furious Sword Form!


    ¡°A pointless trick,¡± Zhuang Shen said, curling his lips in disdain. He casually raised a hand to block the pot.


    But at this moment, a beam of azure light emerged from that root carving.


    ¡°This is a¡­¡± The azure light filled Zhuang Shen¡¯s field of vision, rapidly expanding.


    Before he could say ¡°sword beam¡±, there was a ssh of blood, and his arm went flying off his body!


    ¡°Aaagh!¡± Zhuang Shen howled in pain. This sword beam had sliced off his arm and had also deprived him of all the power of the demonblood pill. His entire body crumpled, so weak that it could no longer stand.


    In a shower of wooden debris, Tang Jie now held an azure longsword.


    ¡°Forgetting about the Azure Light Sword!¡±


    Tang Jie finally finished his sentence.


    The pot crashed to the ground and broke into pieces.


    A bronze mirror flew out, spinning around on the ground a few times before stopping.

 Chapter 70 - Store The Bow

    <h1>Chapter 70: Store the Bow</h1>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Lying in a pool of blood, Zhuang Shen weakly groaned.


    The pill¡¯s effect had passed, and his entire body was devoid of strength. He could only stare at that bronze mirror in front of him.


    ¡°The Ninedark Profound Martial Mirror¡­ I didn¡¯t think that the item my Godhead Pce was going to such great lengths to look for would be right here¡­¡± Zhuang Shen coughed and then began tough. ¡°Tang Jie, you¡¯re ruthless and daring! To hide the Martial Mirror and the Azure Light Sword in a flower pot, right under our eyes!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here, so why wouldn¡¯t I bring these things with me?¡± Tang Jie replied, somewhat tired.


    That attack just now had emptied him of spiritual energy. If this hadn¡¯t worked, he really would have had to submit himself to capture.


    What truly left him ufortable was the emptiness of his Spiritual Space. His soul gave off an indescribable sense of hunger.


    He felt weak, so he could only use his sword as a support while taking a spirit recovery pill.


    Only after this did he say, ¡°Godhead Pce¡­ I really didn¡¯t think that the minor soldier it dispatched would be this troublesome.¡±


    The strike from the Azure Light Sword was the final card he had to y. He had chosen the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword back then not merely so he could practice his sparring technique. More important was that it was the only martial technique that let him use the power of an art relic while still being a Spirit Disciple.


    It was just that this attack took too much. The moment he did it, he would bepletely out of strength. Thus, Tang Jie didn¡¯t want to use this move unless it was absolutely necessary.


    He had once believed that he could avoid using this trump card, not having expected Zhuang Shen to be so problematic as to push him this far.


    Zhuang Shen harshly replied, ¡°It¡¯s good that you realize! You think that you¡¯re safe just because you have the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s protection? Godhead Pce could crush you like an ant if it wanted to. If you realize this, hurry up and hand over the Martial Mirror. Otherwise, even if you kill me, the Eagle Master will realize that there¡¯s something wrong with you. You really don¡¯t think that any random kid would be able to beat me, do you?¡±


    ¡°Of course, of course. If my discovery of a thief was just a coincidence and not enough to confirm who I am, killing you would be no different from telling Godhead Pce that I¡¯m Tang Jiye. But you don¡¯t think I thought about this problem before fighting you?¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    He squatted and pped Zhuang Shen¡¯s face with the tip of his sword. ¡°As for you, why do you think that, after you captured me, the Basking Moon Sect was going to let you go?¡±


    ¡°I never nned to stay in the Basking Moon Sect¡­¡±


    ¡°Idiot!¡± Tang Jie cut him off. ¡°Right now, everyone who knows about the Martial Mirror knows that Godhead Pce is investigating me. If anyone were to attack me at this time, they don¡¯t even need to think to know that it was Godhead Pce¡¯s work. Do you really think that your Eagle Master Gu would let you escape in these circumstances?¡±


    Zhuang Shen was stunned. ¡°This is impossible¡­¡±


    ¡°Nothing is impossible. Let me make a guess. When they sent you, they probably said that after you seeded, they would get you out of Basking Moon Academy and send you to Godhead Pce? There¡¯s probably someone waiting for you by the school gate, right? They should probably have monitor authority and can send you out of the school.¡±


    Zhuang Shen shuddered.


    Tang Jie could see from his expression that his guesses were right.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°Do you get it now? You¡¯re just an idiot being used by someone else. If I didn¡¯t tell you, you would have died without even knowing how you died.¡±


    ¡°This is impossible¡­ impossible¡­¡± Zhuang Shen repeatedly shook his head. He shouted at Tang Jie, ¡°They wouldn¡¯t treat me like this! Impossible!¡±


    Tang Jie snorted, ¡°I have no interest in your trust. I was just telling you that your loyalty to Godhead Pce is pointless. They never took you seriously. Godhead Pce has all those spies out in the open. Who is responsible for them? What is the name that this Eagle Master Gu is working under? What¡¯s his status? What¡¯s their follow-up n?¡±


    Zhuang Shen burst out inughter. ¡°Tang Jie, you said all that just so that I would confess everything, right? Screw you! You¡¯ve already revealed who you really are, so it means you¡¯re going to kill me. I won¡¯t tell you anything!¡±


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°You think too highly of yourself. I told you all this solely so that you would understand a little more before you die. Do you really think that remaining silent will do you any good?¡±


    ¡°If you want to torture me,e on already. I won¡¯t even crease my brow!¡± Zhuang Shen shouted.


    ¡°Stubborn, as expected. But who said I was going to torture you? You forgot about this little thing¡­¡± Tang Jie took something out.


    The Soulscour talisman!


    Zhuang Shen paled. ¡°No!¡±


    ¡°As you said, your time on this world is worth it if you¡¯re able to experience this Soulscour. Let me take a look at your memories¡­¡± Tang Jie jammed the Soulscour talisman onto Zhuang Shen¡¯s face, and Zhuang Shen immediately began to shriek in pain as if he was experiencing the worst torture in the world. His face twisted and shuddered. He rammed his head repeatedly against the ground with a boom! Boom!


    Tang Jie was unmoved. He grabbed Zhuang Shen¡¯s head tightly, and in a rush of spiritual energy, the memories were sent over.


    The Soulscour spell was a particrly insidious spell. Put simply, it forcefully converted the memories of the victim into substance and then sent them over to the caster through spiritual energy.


    Those at the Celestial Heart Realm always had to be cautious when cultivating the Spirit Will for worry that they would damage their consciousness. The Soulscour spell did this process by force, caring little for what the victim experienced, so the consequences were naturally severe.


    If the victim of the Soulscour spell already had a Spirit Will, they still had some hope of maintaining their sanity, but someone without a Spirit Will would be made an imbecile!


    As the spell was being used, the person being Soulscoured would feel like ten thousand needles were being jabbed into their brain every second, and the caster would be able to see all their memories.


    These memories were visible only because the Soulscour spell had forced them out, and they wouldst for only a brief moment. Thus, the caster needed to extract the memories quickly, and what memories they extracted would depend on their luck. This was why Gu Changqing had not been overly willing to use this method.


    The only exception was if the target already had a Spirit Will, as such a target could be Soulscoured multiple times.


    Zhuang Shen¡¯s memories became various scenes that swiftly passed before Tang Jie¡¯s eyes like a movie in fast-forward. His childhood, the trials he had gone through as he matured, his secret crushes, Godhead Pce¡¯s arrival¡­ All sorts of memories appeared, jamming themselves into Tang Jie¡¯s mind so quickly that he felt overwhelmed.


    He wanted to look for the information he needed, but he simply didn¡¯t have the time to search. As his eyes rapidly moved around, he was only able to catch a scene here and there, a mishmash of sounds entering his ears in a variety of ways.


    ¡°Gu Changqing¡­ Deputy Eagle Master of Hawk Hall¡­ Gao Fei¡­ Zhao Xinguo¡­ capture Tang Jie¡­ Trickster Ghost¡­ Min Dong¡­ Fierce Ape¡­ Damn it, who is Fierce Ape!?¡±


    Tang Jie roared, but he was unable to endure the frenzied rush of information. With a shout, he drew his hand away, and only then did he realize that blood was flowing out of his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.


    He really hadn¡¯t expected the Soulscour spell to be this dangerous. Tang Jie gasped for air.


    s, he was never able to find any of the key memories concerning Fierce Ape. He only knew that this Fierce Ape was Godhead Pce¡¯s true trump card, its best spy. They were hiding among the student body and looking for Tang Jiye.


    Fortunately, he knew the identity of the person who was going to pick up Zhuang Shen and where they were!


    He looked at Zhuang Shen and found that the man was unconscious. The Soulscour talisman on his forehead dissipated into smoke.


    ¡°Big Bro, are you okay?¡± Yiyi grabbed Tang Jie and shook him.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that the Soulscour spell would affect me this much. It¡¯s no wonder Big Brother Xu advised me to not try and manifest a Spirit Will.¡±


    ¡°¡®Big Brother Xu¡¯?¡± Yiyi looked curiously at Tang Jie.


    In truth, she knew nothing about Tang Jie¡¯s past. It was only Zhuang Shen¡¯s visit that caused her to vaguely understand a few things, but she didn¡¯t entirely understand. All she knew was that the thing hidden in the pot was extremely important.


    ¡°Mm, a very good person, but unfortunately, he¡¯s dead now. I¡¯ll tell you his story in the future. We still have work to do.¡± Tang Jie affectionately said, petting Yiyi on the head.


    ¡°Right, right, we still have a lot of treasures to collect!¡± Little Yiyi jumped and shouted.


    ¡°Not that¡­¡± Tang Jie bitterly smiled. ¡°It¡¯s dealing with the aftermath.¡±


    ¡°¡®Dealing with the aftermath¡¯?¡± Yiyi didn¡¯t get it.


    ¡°Yes, dealing with the aftermath. Yiyi, remember what your older brother teaches you. Killing someone isn¡¯t hard. What¡¯s hard is how to not have other peoplee looking for trouble after you¡¯ve killed someone.¡±


    Tang Jie stood up, finished off Zhuang Shen with his sword, and grabbed his Violet me Sword.


    He put away that formation diagram and left the Carefree House, with no time to look over the diagram carefully.


    It waste at night, and all was quiet. He encountered no one as he walked along the path.


    Tang Jie continued down the narrow mountain path, eventually reaching a secluded little grove at the foot of the mountain.


    There was no one in this little grove, and few people even passed by here during the day. It was an excellent ce to kill someone.


    Someone was standing in the grove. It was none other than that Student Ming who had used Li Zhen and others to probe Tang Jie¡¯s defenses.


    Upon seeing him, Tang Jie dropped his head and slowly approached him using the cover of the darkness and the trees.


    But as he was walking, a soft crack came from under his feet.


    He had stepped on a tree branch.


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart sank as that Student Min turned around.


    Tang Jie quickly came up with an idea. Bending down, he stretched out a hand and said in a raspy voice, ¡°Help¡­ me¡­¡±


    Basking Moon students all wore moon-white robes, and it waste at night, so Min Dong didn¡¯t immediately recognize him, instinctively thinking that Zhuang Shen had returned.


    Seeing the other person vomiting on the ground, Min Dong rejoiced. Taking out the shortsword from behind his back, he walked over and asked, ¡°How did you end up like this? Did you seed?¡±


    He had been ordered by Gao Fei to kill Zhuang Shen whether he seeded or failed. Of course, if Zhuang Shen seeded, he would first have to ask him what the oue was before killing him.


    Tang Jie nodded, but he didn¡¯t dare to say any more for fear that Min Dong would realize his voice was wrong.


    Min Dong became even more delighted, returning the shortsword to behind his back as he asked, ¡°Did you confirm that it was him? Do you know where the Martial Mirror is?¡±


    In his excitement, he got up close, upon which he realized that this person didn¡¯t have the same body as Zhuang Shen. His heart tensed as Tang Jie raised his head.


    Under the hazy moonlight, Min Dong saw Tang Jie¡¯s icy expression and took fright. He immediately tried to back away when¡ªplush!¡ªhe felt pain in his belly.


    The Violet me Sword had run him through!


    With a single twist, almost all his organs were twisted apart.


    ¡°Aaa¨C!¡± Min Dong howled in pain, but before he could shout for long, Tang Jie stuffed a fist in his mouth. He pushed Min Dong with the sword until¡ªthump!¡ªhe nailed Min Dong to a tree.


    Min Dong stared at Tang Jie, blood pouring out of his mouth.


    He tried his best to pull out his shortsword, but his back was pinned against the tree, so he couldn¡¯t pull it out no matter how hard he tried.


    He could only try to push Tang Jie away.


    But he felt like he was being pinned down by a mountain. He pushed as hard as he could with no pushback from Tang Jie, but Tang Jie was unmoved, coldly staring at him.


    The stalemate continued¡­ His life rapidly fading, Min Dong soon ran out of strength.


    Finally, after a few despairing snatches at the air, he dropped his head.


    Tang Jie kept it up for a little while longer before pulling out the Violet me Sword. He turned over Min Dong¡¯s body and grabbed the shortsword. He could tell from the lines on the de that it was a spell weapon meant specifically for prating through armor, probably meant for dealing with Zhuang Shen. s, he didn¡¯t have any other treasures on him.


    He wrote on the ground with the tip of his sword, ¡°The birds have yet to be hunted, so why so anxious to store the bow? Zhuang Shen.¡±


    Tang Jie realized his mistake and changed ¡°Zhuang Shen¡± to ¡°Trickster Ghost¡± before turning to leave.

 Chapter 71 - The Parting Classic

    <h2>Chapter 71: The Parting ssic</h2>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Upon returning to the Carefree House, Tang Jie saw that Yiyi had already cleaned up the courtyard.


    Yiyi was sitting on the ground and picking through items. When she saw Tang Jie, she excitedly said, ¡°Big Brother,e here! Look at all these nice things!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s there to see? I¡¯ve already experienced them all,¡± Tang Jie casually said.


    While speaking with Zhuang Shen, Tang Jie had already looked through the contents of his Mustard Seed Bag.


    Besides the antidote pill and demonblood pill, Zhuang Shen had two bottles of spirit-restoring pills, three bottles of spirit-nurturing pills, six flying sword talismans, one Clear Heaven talisman, one Primordial Chaos talisman, and several dozen spirit coins.


    Besides that, there were the four spell weapons: the Violet me Sword, the Godhead Armor, the Immortal-Binding Rope, and the refined beast token. The Mustard Seed Bag was an auxiliary art relic that could hold five cubic meters, putting it at a value of at least six spirit jades. This alone meant that Tang Jie had made a generous profit. Sure enough, murder was the quick path to riches, though it was a very risky one.


    Besides that, there was one more auxiliary art relic, the formation diagram. In truth, this was the most valuable of all of Zhuang Shen¡¯s property.


    A formation recreation diagram!


    This was a formation diagram that could store a formation, not a formation diagram specifically meant for isting Tang Jie.


    The biggest problem with formations was that they needed to beid down. One needed to eithery them down before the battle or be like Yiyi and possess a talent. It was impossible toy them down during a battle.


    This formation recreation diagram had an internal space that allowed the storage of materials, but it only allowed putting in, not taking it out. The materials ced within could create a formation through the formation diagram at a much faster speed than normal. It could be used to prepare a formation beforehand or toy down a formation on the spot.


    The sole drawback was that the formation released, regardless of the type, would be much smaller, but the materials required remained the same. Thus, while it was good for emergency use, it wasn¡¯t proper for normal circumstances.


    Even so, it was a very practical treasure. After all, it was one of the art relics that Spirit Disciples could use.


    The formation recreation diagram wasn¡¯t of a very high rank¡ªit could only store formations of Rank 2 or below, and only a single formation, not ovepping formations. Fortunately, Tang Jie¡¯s level was only at Rank 2. Further up, he wouldn¡¯t be able toy down the formations even if you gave him the materials, so he was in no rush.


    Yiyi was delighted to hear this.


    She had been dividing the treasures into a pile to her left, a pile to her right, and a pile in her hands, even muttering to herself, ¡°This is yours¡­ This is mine¡­ This is¡­ also mine¡­¡±


    Hearing Tang Jie say this, she decided to put everything in her own pile. But she was too small to grab everything, and after tottering a few times, she ended up falling into a pile of talisman paper.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°How can you be so young yet already so in love with treasure?¡±


    The littless frowned and snorted, ¡°I don¡¯t care! This is all mine!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s no good,¡± Tang Jie said as he walked over. ¡°This is all stolen property, so we can¡¯t use it for now.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t care, don¡¯t care, don¡¯t care!¡± Yiyi hollered.


    Tang Jie picked her out of the pile of treasure and put her in his bosom. ¡°Yiyi, be a good girl and wait for Big Brother to change it all into money. Then Yiyi can spend every day counting money at home. How about that?¡±


    Yiyi looked around, and then she pointed at Tang Jie¡¯s nose and shouted, ¡°You had better keep your word!¡±


    Tang Jie pulled on her finger and smiled. ¡°With this finger pull, I swear to keep this promise for a hundred years!¡±


    Yiyi found this very funny, and wildly pulled on his finger and shouted, ¡°Great! Great! Keep this promise for a hundred years!¡±


    Suddenly, she thought of something and jumped out of Tang Jie¡¯s bosom. She raised an item and asked, ¡°What about this?¡±


    This was clearly the Ninedark Profound Martial Mirror.


    Tang Jie was scared out of his wits, and quickly snatched the mirror. ¡°Absolutely not this one.¡±


    The moment he touched the mirror, he felt a strange sensation from it.


    It was the same sort of feeling he had gotten while Soulscouring Zhuang Shen.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Tang Jie cried out in rm.


    A flood of information rushed into his mind, and Tang Jie was dazzled by countless images flitting past his eyes.


    He saw a vast and deste void, a giant more than one hundred thousand feet tall wiedling an enormous axe and roaring, his cries shaking the earth and resounding through the heavens.


    He was surrounded by countless Immortals who were attacking him with various weapons, their various multicolored lights issuing forth and illuminating the entire world.


    Above the giant was a grandiose pceplex, the jade buildings and rainbow clouds exuding a hallowed aura.


    Four figures radiating golden light like four suns circled constantly around the pce, asionally unleashing beams of light down below.


    In the face of these ceaseless attacks, the giant raised his head and shouted a single word.


    ¡°Weapon (±ø)!¡±


    (TN: The word ¡°±ø¡± has variety of military-rted meanings. It can mean ¡°weapon¡±, ¡°soldier¡±, or ¡°warlike¡±.)


    Tang Jie saw the weapons of the countless Immortals instantly shatter, bing glistening stars that flew toward the giant, attaching to his axe and making itrger.


    The giant swung his axe at the celestial pce overhead. A part of this divine pce was instantly turned into countless shards. ¡°Ah!¡± Tang Jie threw down the Martial Mirror and backed away, panting for breath.


    ¡°Big Brother, Big Brother, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Yiyi rushed over.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Tang Jie shook his head and focused.


    The scene from just now had already deeply embedded itself in Tang Jie¡¯s mind, leaving an indelible mark.


    Xu Muyang was right. The Martial Mirror really was hiding another secret, but it seemed like unlocking it would require meeting some special conditions.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know what sort of conditions he had met to unlock this secret, but the greatest possibility was that it was linked somehow to experiencing a Soulscour. After all, the information transfer was very much like the Soulscour spell. But the contents seemed more like a trace of Divine Will left by the Martial Lord.


    Divine Will was the manifestation of the soul, so it was normal for it toe up after a Soulscour. What was far more miraculous was that this Divine Will had remained on the Martial Mirror for more than ten thousand years.


    But Tang Jie felt that this alone wasn¡¯t enough. After all, all he had done was use the Soulscour spell. Even if some traces of the spell still remained in his body, there was no reason for the Martial Mirror to unlock on its own. Tang Jie guessed that the Visceral Manifestation ssic had also yed an important role.


    The Visceral Manifestation ssic determined the person while the Soulscour determined the method. The correct person paired with the correct method was what truly unlocked the secret of the Martial Mirror. It was no wonder Xu Muyang had only found the mirror strange and had never been able to unlock its secrets.


    If he followed this line of thought, did it mean that the Nine Executions Immortal Formation also required a specific person to gain entry?


    If that was the case¡­ Tang Jie¡¯s gaze paused on the Martial Mirror.


    He walked forward and grabbed the Martial Mirror. As light flowed across its surface, he was able to see countless words.


    But when he looked carefully, Tang Jie realized that these words weren¡¯t on the Martial Mirror. Rather, they existed in his mind.


    But in normal circumstances, he couldn¡¯t think about them at all. He could only see them through the Martial Mirror. It was like the Martial Mirror was reflecting the memories stored in his mind.


    If someone else looked at the Martial Mirror, they would just see the patterned grooves. Only Tang Jie could see the words reflected upon it.


    It wasn¡¯t just words, There were also countless illusory figures jumping around and performing movements.


    He didn¡¯t recognize a single one of these characters, but he could inexplicably understand what they meant.


    He raised his head to see tworge golden words written in a solemn, simple, and imposing style.


    Tang Jie blurted, ¡°Parting ssic!¡±


    The Parting ssic!


    To be more precise, this was the true secret technique left by the Martial Lord, the most important mantra he had developed in his lifetime.


    It waspletely different from the current orthodox school.


    Cultivation currently emphasized separating the human and the spirit. Spiritual energy was a weapon for cultivators, but a weapon was a weapon while a human was a human. The two could not be mixed. Even though one could refine the body after reaching the Mortal Shedding Realm, the effects would be limited.


    In this aspect, the vast majority of the cultivators of this world could be called magicians.


    But the Parting ssic cultivated blood energy.


    Those who cultivated blood energy fused the spirit into the body to strengthen it, viewing the body as the universe that could contain the world. It was precisely because of his powerful blood energy, tough bones, and steely constitution that the Martial Lord was able to dominate the world. The most domineering of all was his fleshly body, and it was his blood energy that made him the most powerful and domineering existence of High Antiquity.


    Later on, people who saw its effects called it ¡°body cultivation¡±, but if one looked at its fundamentals, it was better to call it ¡°blood cultivation¡±.


    This was why the Parting ssic was actually much simpler than the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra. It was not divided by levels, and simply required constant cirction of the same mantra.


    But it required a frightening amount of medicines to cultivate this mantra.


    ording to the Parting ssic, before cultivation, he would have to gather arge number of herbs for a medicinal bath. While boiling in this bath and circting the mantra, one could absorb all the medicinal effects for the most ideal effect.


    There were herbs like the Nineheaven Luan Grass, Ten Thousand Year Fire Essence, Dragonslug Phoenix Blood, Hundred-Refined Fiend Pills¡­ Tang Jie almost fainted from all these ingredients.


    These were all earthly treasures. Any one of them would have the six major sects at each other¡¯s throats. Where was he going to get them? And there was even a note: ¡°The more the better, never ending!¡±


    My ass!


    In this aspect, the Martial Lord¡¯s Immortal art was extremely valuable and also extremely worthless.


    This was because it required far too much, more than any normal person could possibly satisfy.


    If he were really able to gather all these treasures, he might dominate the world even if he went and cultivated some other mantra.


    This mantra was far less valuable than he had expected, and Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but be disappointed.


    Forget it, forget it.


    Why should I take a different path?


    Since I have the Martial Lord¡¯s mantra, I might as well take the path heid down.


    At least it gives me a direction in life.


    It wasn¡¯t like he absolutely needed all those herbs.


    There was another note in the Parting ssic saying that if it really was no good, he could find herbs with simr functions to serve as recements. If he couldn¡¯t find ten-thousand-year essence, he could get one-thousand-year essence, and perhaps even essence that was only several hundred years old.


    There was even a list that described various herbs together with their traits and functions.


    Tang Jie went straight to the bottom of the list, which was five-hundred-year Violet Wolfiporia. Tang Jie made some calctions and determined that he couldn¡¯t buy it. With all his assets, he could buy a fifty-year one, and if he wanted the whole set, he could only buy a five-year one.


    Five years is five years. It¡¯s still better than nothing.


    Without my eating anything, the Visceral Manifestation ssic still got me steely skin and bones, Tang Jie remarked to himself.


    But he then recalled that despite cultivating the Visceral Manifestation ssic for three years, he could barely block a low-rank spell and was evaluated as having a rather sturdy constitution. Thus did Tang Jie¡¯s attempt at self-constion fail.


    Fortunately, besides the Parting ssic, there was an art.


    The Weapon Mantra!


    (TN: The actual name is the ¡°±ø Character Mantra¡±)


    This was the shout the Martial Lord had made that shattered all weapons, the art that grasped the origin of the Martial Dao!


    This Weapon Mantra imed that once it was cultivated, one would be able to shatter all weapons in the world, extract their essences, and refine them into a divine weapon.


    In the Martial Mirror, Tang Jie had seen the Martial Lord shout ¡°Weapon¡±, which was the ultimate manifestation of the Weapon Mantra. With a singlemand, all weapons shattered!


    Compared to that mantra which required a sea of resources to cultivate, the Weapon Mantra had a much lower threshold. One simply needed to refine one¡¯s body to a certain level and then unleash one¡¯s blood energy ording to the mantra to manifest the art.


    Tang Jie circted his blood energy ording to the instructions of the art, but he felt all his blood energy seethe unpleasantly.


    Tang Jie gritted his teeth and persevered. Gradually, the blood energy calmed down. A bloody light appeared on Tang Jie¡¯s body. The light flowed around and gradually congregated on the tip of Tang Jie¡¯s right index finger.


    This is the blood power gathered by the Weapon Mantra? I can use it to shatter all weapons in the world?


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t quite believe it.


    Yiyi was still hugging the Violet me Sword while staring at him.


    Tang Jie pointed his finger at it, wanting to see how powerful it really was.


    Considering that this was his first try, there was no way he could destroy a spell weapon. But to his surprise, with his one finger, the Violet me Sword let out a soft cling.


    A light burst out of the sword, and then, boom! The sword erupted into shards.


    ¡°How could this be?¡± Tang Jie was dumbfounded.


    How could a light thrust from his finger be this powerful?


    Although he had already seen the supreme power of the Weapon Mantra, Tang Jie had never imagined that he could imitate the Martial Lord and destroy a weapon with a single thought.


    Although this spell weapon wasn¡¯t some big treasure, it wasn¡¯t something that should have broken apart just because he impulsively thrust at it with his finger, right?


    Yiyi was dumbfounded.


    But her reaction was different from Tang Jie¡¯s.


    She looked at the bits of sword scattered around the air, then her lips pouted and she plopped on her butt and began to cry, ¡°My treasure¡­¡±


    ¡°Yiyi, I¡¯m sorry.¡± Tang Jie was just about tofort her when he suddenly felt sweetness in his mouth, and then blood erupted from his mouth. His body went limp, and he dropped to the ground.


    Only now did he realize that he didn¡¯t have the strength to move.


    Countless dazzling stars were dancing in front of his eyes.


    This was an illusion produced by severe weakness.


    ¡°Stimting all my blood energy¡­ shit!¡± Tang Jie muttered, and then his eyes rolled over as he fainted.

 Chapter 72 - Change Of Strategy

    <h2>Chapter 72: Change of Strategy</h2>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    When Tang Jie woke up, the sky was brightening.


    Little Yiyi had exhausted herself from crying and had fallen asleep next to him.


    Looking at the debris scattered across the ground, Tang Jie felt speechless.


    He now understood what the Weapon Mantra was really about.


    His one finger thrust fromst night had almost drained him of all his strength.


    If he hadn¡¯t been cultivating the Visceral Manifestation ssic for three years, improving his constitution to a far higher level than an ordinary person¡¯s, this one finger might have crippled him.


    And it was also a good thing that he had targeted a spell weapon. An art relic probably would have cost him his life.


    The night had passed, and Tang Jie still felt dizzy, his footsteps heavy. It felt like he had just spent a wild night with a dozen girls.


    It was no wonder the Martial Lord had required a powerful constitution. With his current constitution, he would probably need seven or eight days to recover.


    But¡­ why did it feel like something wasn¡¯t right?


    Tang Jie nced at the debris on the ground.


    Shit!


    He destroyed a low-ranked spell weapon just like that?


    Though he wouldn¡¯t have been able to use the Violet me Sword himself, it was still a spell weapon that he could have sold for a lot of spirit coins.


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart twisted in pain as he realized that he had destroyed nearly one thousand spirit coinsst night.


    As he began to clean up the pile of metal shards, he discovered a golden light shing in the debris.


    He squatted down, pushed aside the metal, and found a little golden speck.


    He gently picked it up and found that this golden speck seemed to have some sort of connection to him. With a single thought, the golden speck flew up and began to circle around his body.


    With a wave of his hand, the golden speck seeped into his body, and as it flowed through his blood energy, Tang Jie sensed that he could release this golden speck whenever he wanted.


    He recalled the scene where the Martial Lord had exhibited his divine might. With a single shout, he had shattered all weapons and drawn them into his palm. Tang Jie instantly understood and blurted out, ¡°Condensing a weapon!¡±


    With shattering, there was also condensation!


    Shatter all weapons to condense and refine a divine weapon!


    This was the true meaning of the Weapon Mantra.


    But it appeared that destroying a single spell weapon had only condensed this single golden grain, which couldn¡¯t be used for anything.


    Even so, Tang Jie was still pleasantly surprised. When next he battled a foe, he could destroy their weapon with a single move, allowing him to fight however he pleased.


    But he quickly grew worried once more.


    The Martial Lord¡¯s techniques were all extremely simple, but they were also extremely difficult to cultivate.


    One required collecting the world¡¯s rarest herbs. It was no wonder the Martial Lord had made his fame throughbat. He wouldn¡¯t have had a future if he didn¡¯t fight!


    But Tang Jie had no ns to fight everyone in the world and dominate it all by himself. In his view, to be everyone¡¯s enemy was to fail as a human.


    But today, this Immortal art he had learned about was telling him that there were some things that had nothing to do with pursuits, personality, intelligence, or ability to conduct himself!


    The path of the strong was carved out through battle. ttering everyone made life smooth and easy, but it caused one to lose sharpness!


    At times, it wasn¡¯t that one didn¡¯t understand how to behave, but that one didn¡¯t want to!


    ¡°So when necessary¡­ you have to fight!¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    At first, he was somewhat regretful that Godhead Pce had forced him to fight a battle of little meaning. If Godhead Pce didn¡¯t back away because of this and instead chose to go on a frenzied counterattack, then he would definitely have made a loss.


    But now that he was enlightened, he felt heroism swelling up in his heart. Gu Changqing, if you really don¡¯t know what¡¯s good for you and act without care for the consequences, why don¡¯t I rely on Basking Moon and fight to the end with you?


    In the end, one¡¯s nature was difficult to change. Though he had hardened his resolve to fight, he had added on the condition of ¡°relying on Basking Moon¡±.


    If the Martial Lord had been reborn and able to hear what Tang Jie was thinking, he would have kicked him away and tried to get as far as possible from him.


    After putting away that golden speck, Tang Jie went to ss.


    After morning ss, Tang Jie handed the puppet over to Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong was delighted to find out that his puppet was ready. He grabbed it and repeatedly looked it over, at the same time asking about what sort of things this puppet could do.


    Tang Jie gave him a detailed exnation, though he naturally didn¡¯t bring up the Spirit-Closing Powder. While the wolf puppet was small, it was nimble and fast, and its attacks were vicious. If not for this puppet, Tang Jie probably would have died to Zhuang Shenst night.


    As he listened to Tang Jie¡¯s exnation, Wei Tianchong admired his precious puppet. Suddenly, he spotted several cracks on the puppet and eximed, ¡°Why does this puppet seem cracked?¡±


    Tang Jie hastily said, ¡°Oh! Those are formation lines.¡±


    ¡°Formation lines? Aren¡¯t formation lines hidden?¡± Wei Tianchong was confused.


    ¡°There are also some formation lines that aren¡¯t easy to hide.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡± Wei Tianchong seemed doubtful.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Tang Jie firmly said.


    Wei Tianchong looked it over and muttered, ¡°Why do I feel like it will fall apart in a fight?¡±


    Tang Jie immediately said, ¡°You had best keep a good eye on it. This wolf puppet emphasizes lightness, speed, and agility. Its attacks are swift and infused with lightning that can numb the opponent. You can install secret weapons in it and it can fight in closebat, and because it¡¯s small, it¡¯s ideal for sneak attacks. But this means that it¡¯s not good for attacking powerful foes. But there¡¯s nothing to be done about that. After all, it¡¯s just a Rank 1 puppet. It¡¯s already pretty good that it can do this much.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see,¡± Wei Tianchong said, scratching his head.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we try it out?¡± Tang Jie suggested.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Wei Tianchong quickly put the puppet down and used the Spirit Guidance spell. Controlled by the spirit thread, the wolf puppet moved as quickly as the wind. With one swipe of its ws, it tore two big chunks out of a small tree. If it had been used on a human body, it would have taken a life, or at least a big piece of flesh. Purely in offensive terms, it did not lose out to low-rank offensive spells. It was just a littlecking in variety, only able to attack using its ws and head.


    But cultivating spells required long and bitter cultivation, whereas the wolf puppet could continuously attack as soon as it wasplete, and it didn¡¯t use up spiritual energy. It was much more practical than a spell, and it was worth the two thousand spirit coins he had spent.


    Tang Jie asked, ¡°What do you think?¡±


    Wei Tianchong repeatedly praised, ¡°Mm, it¡¯s good, good! It¡¯s really rare to see a Rank 1 puppet with such agility!¡±


    ¡°Of course, this is the agility model. Remember that you absolutely cannot let it fight a head-on battle,¡± Tang Jie reminded again, still unable to rx.


    ¡°Rx,¡± Wei Tianchong casually said. ¡°I would rather be injured than let it get damaged.¡±


    Tang Jie managed to muddle his way through and let out a sigh of relief. I managed to pull a fast one this time, saying that it was good at attack and weak at defense, but for the next puppet, unless the material is tough enough, I have to add a protection formation.


    Wei Tianchong took the puppet for a walk like it was a dog, and as expected, he caused a lot of heads to turn.


    Quite a few people found the puppet very interesting and came over to ask him how he had made it, and Wei Tianchong made sure to spice up the story, winning the envy of the crowd. Wei Tianchong¡¯s vanity was satisfied, and he felt like this casual walk alone made his two thousand coins worth the money.


    Several girls were drawn over by the puppet, and Wei Tianchong used the opportunity to chat them up. At that moment, the wolf puppet became a BMW, attracting countless beauties. Wei Tianchong felt like he had ascended to the heavens, that this was the most wonderful moment in his life ever since he had entered the academy.


    Tang Jie apanied Wei Tianchong in ying around for a while, and then the two of them returned to their respective residences.


    As they were walking, a group of people suddenly appeared in front of them. It was Teacher Xin Yue followed by a pack of students, all of whom were monitors. They had grim expressions, and it was easy to see that something bad had happened.


    The other students found it strange and began to wonder what had happened. Only Tang Jie knew that it was probably because a corpse had been found in a small grove at the base of the mountain.


    As Basking Moon Academy now knew, that Gu Changqing probably knew as well, right?


    He was wondering how the two sects would react and was quite looking forward to it.


    The thought made a smile appear on Tang Jie¡¯s lips.


    Pa!


    Another desk was obliterated.


    The Eagle Nest¡¯s tables had been very unfortunate as ofte.


    Gu Changqing¡¯s face was green, matching his name (Greenface Gu).


    Down below, Gao Fei, Qi Ming, Zhao Xinguo, and the others silently stood, too afraid to talk.


    Gu Changqing red at Gao Fei. ¡°Why did it turn out like this?¡±


    Gao Fei dropped his head and replied, ¡°Your subordinate is ipetent and did not handle things properly. Zhuang Shen must have realized that we nned to silence him, so he decided to betray us, killing Min Dong before running off.¡±


    The operation had been a total failure. Nothing had happened to Tang Jie, while one operative had died and the other had gone missing with everything he had. Gao Fei could not escape the responsibility for all this.


    Worst of all was that while Zhuang Shen was an infiltrator, Min Dong¡¯s status as a student of Godhead Pce had been out in the open.


    If only Zhuang Shen had gone missing, Godhead Pce could im that this matter had nothing to do with them, but Godhead Pce had to deal with Min Dong¡¯s death no matter what.


    And there was also that line of words left next to the corpse, which ced the me on Godhead Pce. Not only could Godhead Pce not me this on anyone else, it gave the Basking Moon Sect an opportunity.


    Gu Changqing looked at Gao Fei and then weakly sat back on his chair. ¡°Xie Fengtang sent someone to me telling me that I needed to give an exnation to the Basking Moon Sect¡­ It was clearly a disciple of Godhead Pce that was killed, yet I have to give the Basking Moon Sect an exnation!¡±


    Gu Changqing cast aside his grace and began to shout.


    ¡°Trash! All of you are trash!¡±


    It was hard to me Gu Changqing for being angry. Two operations in a row had utterly failed somehow. Not only had they failed to find out if they had the right target, Godhead Pce had been pushed into a very passive position.


    Exploding with rage, he cursed at all his subordinates in the Hawk Hall, Gao Fei included.


    Everyone down below nced at each other. Finally, Qi Ming cupped a fist in his hand and said, ¡°Eagle Master, your subordinate has something to say.¡±


    Gu Changqing darkly said, ¡°Are you going to say that my Hawk Hall disciples have gone through intensive training and have executed various missions far more difficult than this one, and such a mistake has never urred, at least not as low-ss of a mistake as this, so how is it that we have made mistake after mistake when ites to Tang Jie?¡±


    Qi Ming¡¯s mouth opened and closed, and all he could say was, ¡°Yes. Eagle Master is wise.¡±


    Gu Changqing grunted, ¡°I naturally have my doubts, but a failure is a failure. Your ipetence is cold, hard reality!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Gao Fei saluted. ¡°This disciple is willing to take the punishment!¡±


    ¡°You made a mistake, so you naturally have to take the punishment, but our first priority is to find out exactly what happened. Gao Fei, Zhuang Shen was your responsibility. What do you know about him?¡±


    Gao Fei replied, ¡°This disciple recruited Trickster Ghost into the sect, and he has always trusted in me. He has an average mind, but he is a diligent cultivator and a hard worker. I was quite optimistic about him, never thinking that¡­ he would be such a letdown.¡±


    Gao Fei had a very reluctant look on his face as he spoke.


    ¡°Do you think he could have realized our n and struck back?¡± Gu Changqing asked.


    Gao Fei¡¯s mouth opened, but in the end, he could only shake his head.


    Gu Changqing knew that a shadow had been cast on Gao Fei¡¯s heart, stripping him of his confidence. He could only sigh and say, ¡°The human mind is unpredictable, and it¡¯s normal for you to not see it. If you had revealed something in your words or arrangements, Zhuang Shen might have been able to notice something¡­¡±


    ¡°But this could also have been Tang Jie¡¯s work!¡± Qi Ming immediately said.


    He was still unwilling to ept his previous failure, and just like how Gao Fei had worked to protect him, he was returning the favor and trying to protect Gao Fei.


    ¡°Yes, this is a possibility.¡± Gu Changqing didn¡¯t retort this time. ¡°But, Gao Fei, how many spell weapons did you give Zhuang Shen?¡±


    Gao Fei hurriedly replied, ¡°The Violet me Sword, Godhead Armor, a Refined Beast Token, and Immortal-Binding Rope. Forbat alone, I gave him four, and that¡¯s not even mentioning the talismans and pills. Zhuang Shen was a very diligent cultivator, so though his cultivation level was rather low, he had decentbat experience and could react quickly. With his strength and any one of those spell weapons, he shouldn¡¯t have failed unless he encountered a genius. With four such treasures, he might have even been able to beat a monster like Qi Shaoming or An Rumeng.¡±


    ¡°Then if Tang Jie wanted to cause trouble, he would have to at least have the strength to beat Zhuang Shen first, yes?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Do you think he does?¡±


    Gao Fei¡¯s mouth opened and closed, and then he finally replied, ¡°From what we know so far, Tang Jie hadn¡¯t learned any spells or mantras before entering the academy¡­ five-cycle Jade Gate, no resources, and all he had was the scale from Li Yu. There is truly no way for him to make up for such arge gap.¡±


    ¡°Then we still can¡¯t confirm it!¡± Gu Changqing snorted.


    To tell the truth, this situation was getting more and more confusing for him.


    Even if Tang Jie hadid a trap, it didn¡¯t make sense for him to be able to defeat Zhuang Shen.


    Zhao Xinguo said, ¡°Eagle Master, isn¡¯t finding out the truth simple? We just need to find Zhuang Shen. Since he killed Min Dong and ran, and it¡¯s only been a night, he can¡¯t have gone far. We should still be in time to capture him.¡±


    ¡°Find him? You¡¯re right about that.¡± Gu Changqing grunted, surprisingly not rebuking him. Instead, he said, ¡°But let me ask you this. If you were Zhuang Shen and were on the run after killing someone, knowing that Godhead Pce woulde looking for you, what would you do?¡±


    Zhao Xinguo was startled and momentarily unable to respond.


    In the end, it was Gao Fei who replied. ¡°In times of crisis, a person will often be driven to desperate action. Zhuang Shen knew the secret of the Martial Mirror and knew the value Godhead Pce ced on it. If we pursue him too closely but fail to catch him, he might reveal everything as ast resort. Unlike that Tang Jiye, he doesn¡¯t have the Martial Mirror, so he doesn¡¯t care about what will happen once the news of the Martial Mirror leaks.¡±


    Zhao Xinguo was dumbfounded by this reply.


    He truly hadn¡¯t realized this problem.


    Gu Changqing said, ¡°Capturing Zhuang Shen isn¡¯t out of the question, but we can¡¯t search out in the open. We have to search secretly and ensure that we can capture him in one move so that he doesn¡¯t do anything desperate. But the sea of people is vast, so secretly searching for him is easier said than done.¡±


    If they couldn¡¯t find Zhuang Shen, they would temporarily be unable to determine the truth. One could also say that they could only trust what they saw on the surface, which made Gu Changqing feel very helpless.


    ¡°Then what do we do now?¡± Gao Fei asked.


    Gu Changqing sat back on his chair.


    He massaged his forehead and thought long and hard before saying, ¡°Secretly pursue Zhuang Shen. As for Tang Jie, put a pause on all operations concerning him for now. Just keep watching him. And for the Basking Moon Sect, I will go and give them an exnation. Zhao Xinguo, take a trip to Anyang and find those people who met Tang Jiye before.¡±


    Gu Changqing had not trusted these people before, but now, it seemed he had to ce his hopes on these old folks who had met Tang Jiye before.


    ¡°But the time it takes to go there and back¡­¡± Zhao Xinguo wasn¡¯t very happy to do something that offered so little challenge.


    ¡°Tang Jie will be spending ten years in this school. We have enough time to take things slowly.¡± Gu Changqing had already made up his mind.


    When it came to Tang Jie¡¯s n, Gu Changqing had initially chosen violence as the solution.


    But despite the use of violence, the scheme remained unbroken.


    After suffering two losses in a row, he finally decided to change his risk-taking strategy and take things slowly.


    In the current situation, he no longer had the option of ending things quickly.

 Chapter 73 - White Crane

    <h2>Chapter 73: White Crane</h2>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    That afternoon, Tang Jie took a trip to Heaven One Pavilion to redeem a spell.


    He had reached Spirit Spring long ago, but he had been training his spell for the battle, so he had yet to redeem his new spell.


    He had killed who he needed to kill, so he naturally needed to prepare for the next phase of his cultivation.


    He redeemed two spells, the same asst time. One was the Aquagel Shroud, which was the upgraded version of the Aqualight Shroud. It still emphasized reducing damage, but it could endure stronger attacks. It was a rather decent spell, and it could theoretically be used all the way until the Mortal Shedding Realm.


    Since he had already practiced the Aqualight Shroud, he naturally had to walk this path to the end. There was no reason to waste the foundation he had put so much work into. The art manifestation for the Aquagel Shroud was slightly moreplicated than that of the Aqualight Shroud, but since he was proceeding from the foundation of the Aqualight Shroud, his cultivation time would be much more efficient.


    The other spell was the Energy Needle.


    The Energy Needle belonged to the same school as the Energy Shield that Zhuang Shen had used before. Among the low-ranked spells, it was decently strong, but when it came to the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra, it still wasn¡¯t the best choice.


    The Energy Needle was renowned for its fast art manifestation, but itcked armor-piercing ability. When it came to the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra, it only utilized the fast energy cirction, but its power was limited.


    If Wei Tianchong were to find out about Tang Jie¡¯s choice, he would inevitably once more jump around and curse Tang Jie for being wrong in the end, always choosing spells that didn¡¯t match his path.


    Well, at least this was one third of the path.


    Tang Jie chose it primarily because of a certain advantage this spell had. It could be wrapped around other objects, imbuing them with spiritual energy and increasing their power.


    He had shattered the Violet me Sword in exchange for a golden speck, but he didn¡¯t know what it was for. However, he knew without a doubt that it was incredibly tough, so if he wrapped it in the Energy Needle and used it for an attack, its power would soar.


    As for the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword, it had no upgraded version, so it could only be cast aside. But this didn¡¯t matter to the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword. After all, he had only chosen it to utilize the power of the Azure Light Sword.


    After redeeming the two spells, Tang Jie was just about to walk out when he spotted Liu Hongyan walking over.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Tang Jie was shocked. ¡°You¡¯re not going to tell me that you also came to redeem a spell book, right?¡±


    Liu Hongyan asked with a smile, ¡°And what if I was?¡±


    ¡°That would be strange. You have a six-cycle Jade Gate, but you¡¯re redeeming a spell book now. If this is Spirit Spring Tier, then you¡¯re a little slow. If this is Spirit Lake Tier, then you¡¯re a little fast.¡±


    Liu Hongyan smiled. ¡°You¡¯re quite good. It seems like no matter what someone is trying to do, they can¡¯t hide anything from you. However, I really did just reach Spirit Spring.¡±


    ¡°How could you be this slow?¡± Tang Jie frowned.


    There was no reason someone of Liu Hongyan¡¯s aptitude should have just reached Spirit Spring. Had she been hiding her progress just like him?


    Liu Hongyan bluntly replied, ¡°Isn¡¯t it because of the big exam half a month from now? You think everyone is like you, able to memorize everything the esteemed teacher has lectured on after only one ss.¡±


    She shot him a flirtatious nce.


    ¡°The big exam?¡± Liu Hongyan¡¯s words reminded Tang Jie that there was such a thing.


    Basking Moon Academy had a major examination every half a year, and it seemed like it really would be about that time in half a month.


    The students of Basking Moon had always grumbled about the big exam, since failing it meant that one had to keep attending ss, and attending ss would dy one¡¯s cultivation.


    But this wasn¡¯t the most important thing.


    ording to the rules of the school, the evaluation for disciples and outer disciples involvedprehensive consideration of one¡¯s points, culture sses, cultivation progress, performance in missions, and potential, and those with the highest overall assessment would take precedence.


    Anyone who thought that the strongest was certain to be a disciple was gravely mistaken.


    Thus, those without hope of bing an outer disciple had to work hard at studying so they had more time to cultivate. Those students who had hope of bing a disciple or outer disciple also had to work hard at studying to increase their overall evaluation.


    Thus, these students also wanted to study hard so that they could get through the culture studies as quickly as possible.


    s, sometimes, things just didn¡¯t go how one wanted.


    When the teachers of Basking Moon Academy lectured, they would pack their lectures with immense amounts of information, at times throwing out so much information at once that it made one dizzy. And when it came to mathematics, which required meticulous calctions, even hard memorization was useless.


    Students needed to cultivate in the afternoon and at night. It was often the case that after a night had passed, they would grow more familiar with the Major Circuit Heaven but would be incapable of remembering more than a few words from the culture sses they had attended just yesterday.


    This was why the students who passed the big exam every year were few in number. In the end, everyone would be forced to continue attending sses. It was said that there were even students at Spirit Sea and Mortal Shedding who still attended sses.


    Those students who had been through these tribtions before had exined, ¡°I actually wanted to listen to the lecture, but for some reason, I always get sleepy in ss. In order to stop myself from falling asleep, I have to circte the Circuit Heaven and cultivate my mantra, but after circting a few Circuit Heavens and finally getting back my focus, I find out that the ss has already ended¡­¡± and all other kinds of bitterints.


    Those, other than those professional students, even the cultivation prodigies had to resort tost-minute cram sessions.


    It was said that even Qi Shaoming and An Rumeng had stopped their cultivation to bury their heads in books, hoping that they wouldn¡¯t have to enter these damned culture sses after this one big examination was over.


    Liu Hongyan was naturally one of them.


    Of course, for Tang Jie, these problems truly weren¡¯t problems.


    He longed for knowledge about this world, and this was his motivation to study. With interest, he was naturally attentive in ss, making the contents easier to understand. As for math, there wasn¡¯t even a need to bring it up. He could pass even without attending ss.


    Thus, he truly hadn¡¯t thought about this frustration that all the other students faced until Liu Hongyan brought it up. He awkwardlyughed. ¡°It was my mistake. Right, how are your studies going? Are you confident in passing?¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡± Liu Hongyan heavily sighed. ¡°If I were confident, I wouldn¡¯t be so miserable. That said, do you really not n on helping me?¡±


    She ced a fair hand on Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder.


    Tang Jie calmly took a step back. ¡°Little Sister Hongyan, if you¡¯re looking for supplementary lessons, wouldn¡¯t Young Master Shu be better? When ites to culture sses, he doesn¡¯t lose out to me at all.¡±


    Tang Jie could get through the culture sses because of his past experiences, but Shu Mingyang was a real genius. As well as being an eight-cycle-Jade-Gate genius of Basking Moon Academy, he did better in his culture sses than in cultivation, and he was second only to Tang Jie.


    Liu Hongyan was surprised by Tang Jie¡¯s rejection. She angrily rolled her eyes and said, ¡°If you don¡¯t want to help me, forget it, and why are you bringing him up with me? Don¡¯t you know he no longer has anything to do with me?¡±


    ¡°Oh? You two are quarreling?¡± Tang Jie knew that Liu Hongyan and Shu Mingyang were very close, and there were rumors around the academy saying that they were a pair. But from her tone, it seemed like some problems had cropped up between them.


    Liu Hongyan tersely answered, ¡°There was no argument. It¡¯s just that seeing him carrying around that book all day gets really annoying. Even if he cherishes the world, is there any need for him to put on such airs? He seems really fake to me, so I don¡¯t want to associate with him. Is that not allowed?¡±


    You think he¡¯s really fake now? How is that different from before? Tang Jie chuckled to himself. He said, ¡°It¡¯s not my ce to pass judgment on your rtionship, but if this is the case, it¡¯s even less my ce to help you. If someone else saw me, wouldn¡¯t they think I was getting in the way of your rtionship?¡±


    ¡°If you get in the way, you get in the way. Are you scared?¡± Liu Hongyan red at Tang Jie.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m afraid.¡± To her surprise, Tang Jie openly admitted it, leaving Liu Hongyan stunned.


    Tang Jie bowed to her and went on his way,pletely ignoring the resentment on Liu Hongyan¡¯s face.


    She watched Tang Jie leave, after which the look of resentment disappeared. A soft chuckle came from behind her. ¡°He doesn¡¯t seem to trust you very much. He¡¯s probably noticed something.¡±


    ¡°I think so too,¡± Liu Hongyan said without turning her head. ¡°He intentionally tested mest time, and I identally forgot myself and said that he was older than me. That definitely must have raised his guard.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re sure that he was testing you?¡±


    Liu Hongyan hesitated for a moment, and then she shook her head. ¡°I can¡¯t be sure, but if I were Tang Jie and in the same situation, I would definitely find it strange and at least ask, ¡®How did you know how old I was?¡¯ But he didn¡¯t ask. This means that he was trying to test me. Ordinary people don¡¯t go randomly testing other people, so I think there¡¯s really a high chance that he¡¯s Tang Jiye! Of course, this isn¡¯t a sure thing, and I don¡¯t dare to make any assertions.¡±


    ¡°Then you advise¡­¡±


    Liu Hongyanughed. ¡°Are you joking? I¡¯m only telling you what I¡¯m seeing. What¡¯s to be done is your business.¡±


    The other partyughed. ¡°You¡¯re just like your master. Alright, I¡¯ll tell them. Right, there¡¯s another person you need to pay attention to.¡±


    On Tang Jie¡¯s way back, a paper bird suddenly flew over to him.


    Upon reaching Tang Jie, it burned up on its own, leaving only a few words: ¡°Pay me a visit. Xie Fengtang.¡±


    Headmaster Xie is looking for me?


    After some thought, Tang Jie decided that this probably had to do with Min Dong¡¯s death.


    It was impossible for the Basking Moon Sect to not have suspected him.


    Unafraid, he went over to Xie Fengtang¡¯s residence.


    Xie Fengtang lived on a mountain slope on the southern side of the Clear Sky Mountains. It was an elegant and serene environment, and there was even a grove of purple bamboo nted in front of his house. After passing through the bamboo forest, he saw Xie Fengtang seated in his courtyard. Across from him stood a red-headed white crane, and there was clearly a chessboard between the two of them.


    He was ying chess with the crane.


    Tang Jie said nothing at this sight, simply stood on the side and waited.


    Xie Fengtang seemed to be unaware of his arrival. He ced a piece on the board and then took a sip of his tea.


    The white crane used its beak to ce a piece in retaliation.


    The two of them battled on the board, but Tang Jie was in no rush. When he saw that Xie Fengtang had finished his tea, he even grabbed the teapot and filled the cup back up before returning to the side to quietly wait.


    Xie Fengtang smiled. ¡°Little Dan, what do you think about this kid?¡±


    The white crane turned to nce at Tang Jie and spoke in a melodious female voice. ¡°There are few at this age who can be soposed. He is a very steady and tactful child.¡±


    Xie Fengtang chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s not easy for you to call someone decent. This child only just entered this academy, but he has already received the approval of you and Old Li.¡±


    The white crane raised her head and disdainfully said, ¡°Don¡¯tpare me to that big idiot that loves ttery.¡±


    Xie Fengtang shook his head, and then he ced another piece on the board before turning to Tang Jie. ¡°This is Senior Bai Dan. Why have you yet to greet her?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Student Tang Jie pays respects to Senior Bai Dan!¡± Tang Jie hastily bowed to the white crane.


    Basking Moon Academy had three great fiends: the golden carp, the white crane, and the old turtle. This was naturally the white crane, but she was a proud sort with a beautiful body, so unless it was necessary, she disliked taking human form.


    The white crane nodded her slender neck and replied, ¡°As I have received your respects, I must naturally give you a gift. This is for you.¡±


    A white feather floated off the white crane¡¯s body and into Tang Jie¡¯s hand.


    Tang Jie was left dumbfounded.


    Why did these great fiends like using parts of their body as gifts to others?


    But after some thought, he realized that this made sense. The most valuable thing they had was probably their flesh and blood. He wondered what would happen if ever met the old turtle.


    Would it knock off a piece of its shell for him?


    That would truly be interesting.

 Chapter 74 - Exam Preparation

    <h1>Chapter 74: Exam Preparation</h1>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    As random thoughts ran through his mind, Tang Jie bowed. ¡°My utmost gratitude for this generous gift, Senior!¡±


    Xie Fengtang continued to y chess with the white crane as he said, ¡°I called you here to ask you about how you have been doing recently.¡±


    ¡°This student is doing well.¡±


    ¡°Mm. Do you know of the matter regarding Min Dong?¡±


    Tang Jie respectfully said, ¡°I have heard of a little, but I do not know the details.¡±


    Xie Fengtang exined nothing to him, casually saying, ¡°A student has been killed, and another has gone missing. Basking Moon Academy is somewhat restless this year.¡±


    ¡°It is truly rather restless,¡± Tang Jie repeated as he lowered his head, not daring to say anything that could be taken as a mistake.


    Xie Fengtang wasn¡¯t willing to let him go, continuing, ¡°I heard that Zhuang Shen was on good terms with you?¡±


    ¡°We were only acquaintances, not exactly on good terms,¡± Tang Jie calmly corrected.


    ¡°But from what I know, he came to find you before he went missing?¡±


    ¡°He wanted my help to study for the big exam, but I refused him. There have been a lot of requests like this recently, and Zhuang Shen was only one of them. This student is truly too busy,¡± Tang Jie said, carefully choosing his words.


    Xie Fengtang chuckled. ¡°So that¡¯s how it was. I have heard that you do well in culture sses. The students of Basking Moon Academy have alwaysined about the culture sses, but it seems that you don¡¯t have this problem?¡±


    ¡°In truth, it is somewhat annoying,¡± Tang Jie said with a smile. ¡°But the academy instructs us in culture sses to teach us how to act as people. Cultivation of Immortal arts is like a sharp weapon. If one does not understand principles and does not know how to conduct oneself, it would be better not to cultivate Immortal arts. It is precisely because this student understands this point that he does not dare to be negligent.¡±


    Xie Fengtang raised an eyebrow. ¡°This isn¡¯t wrong, but aplishing it is another matter. There are always those people who are dignified in voice but carry vicious hearts.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°This student would not dare to boast, but he understands basic principles like not killing the innocent and returning kindness with kindness and can carry them out.¡±


    ¡°Return kindness with kindness?¡± Xie Fengtang squinted. ¡°Then who do you think has shown you kindness so far?¡±


    ¡°The elderly Wu couple and the Wei Estate,¡± Tang Jie immediately replied.


    ¡°Then have you repaid them yet?¡±


    ¡°This student is working toward that.¡±


    Suddenly, Tang Jie had an idea. Perhaps this is a chance for me to exchange those Essence-Refining Pills for lifespan-extending pills, he thought to himself. ¡°In truth, a few days ago, this student tried to send some spirit medicine to the old couple, but¡­¡±


    ¡°But what?¡± Xie Fengtang asked.


    Tang Jie intentionally hesitated before exining what had happened with Wu Xing.


    Of course, he wouldn¡¯t mention how he feared that Godhead Pce might notice his attitude to the Wu couple. All he said was that buying lifespan-extending medicine wasn¡¯t easy, so he had entrusted Wu Xing with the task.


    ¡°Something like this happened? Are you telling the truth?¡± Xie Fengtang¡¯s face turned grim.


    In a peaceful world, justice and righteousness took precedence.


    No matter how filthy things were in the shadows, justice had to be maintained in the light, and it was always worth it to uphold a justice that did not harm one¡¯s self-interest.


    For Xie Fengtang, a bottle of lifespan-extending medicine was nothing, naturally not as important as one¡¯s filial piety toward one¡¯s parents. This Wu Xing was lowdown scum who would dare to covet a gift to his parents. It was outrageous to the extreme.


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. ¡°Would this student dare to lie about such a thing?¡±


    He had no good feelings toward Wu Xing and cared not one bit about his fate. If he could use this matter to get some spirit medicine for the Wu couple and increase Xie Fengtang¡¯s trust in him, he would have made a huge profit.


    To tell the truth, he had brought up this matter in the same way he had asked for three taels of silver per month from Zheng Shufeng. He had used his filial piety toward the Wu couple to express his ¡°loyalty¡±.


    In this aspect, Tang Jie¡¯s filial piety was extremely useful, causing him to be repaid for what he paid out and luring others into investing in him.


    But Tang Jie did not care what people might think about him.


    Even without a reward, he would treat the old couple well, and if he could receive an additional reward for his filial piety, why would he reject it?


    Public and private good, ck and white, all of it was extremely muddled together, right and wrong difficult to distinguish. His attitude toward such things was very simple: if he could do something that harmed no one else and benefited him, then he would do it.


    Of course, doing no harm did not apply to his enemies and those he despised.


    Hearing Tang Jie say this, Xie Fengtang took out a talisman, wrote a few words on it, and burned it. He then said to Tang Jie, ¡°I will have some people ask around, then¡­¡±


    Before he could finish, Tang Jie bowed and said, ¡°If this matter is verified, Headmaster, please do not punish Wu Xing or spread the word of his misdeeds. No matter what, he is still the old couple¡¯s son. They would not wish to see their son driven out of the academy. If he became a forsaken student because of me, I would have erred rather than doing good.¡±


    Xie Fengtang was taken aback, and then he finally nodded. ¡°I am starting to believe that you have a good nature. Rx. If it is true, I will ignore it, but I will reward you. Let¡¯s do this. In this big exam, if you can get first ce, the academy will reward you with one bottle of life-extending pills, and also¡­ it can also give you a mysterious present. What do you think?¡±


    Tang Jie was taken aback, and then he happily prostrated. ¡°Headmaster, thank you for your generous treatment!¡±


    The academy¡¯s rules had always been about the minority taking precedence, withpetitions everywhere.


    The top three scorers of the examination were given rewards. This was a certainty for every year.


    But this time was bound to be different.


    Although Xie Fengtang hadn¡¯t exined, there was a high chance that this mysterious gift would be the right to enter the ninth floor of Heaven One Pavilion.


    It was a mysterious gift naturally because there was a chance that he might not get first ce. If it were kept as a mystery, Basking Moon Academy still had the right to make the reward whatever it wanted.


    Xie Fengtang had yed his hand beautifully, and remained able to retreat or advance.


    He had only given Tang Jie a small reward earlier to get closer to him. But after the incident with Min Dong, he suspected Tang Jie even more, and Tang Jie¡¯s performance had truly earned his satisfaction, so he could consider allowing him to learn the secret arts of Basking Moon.


    Passing on secret arts was an enormous reward to any student, but for Basking Moon Academy, it was a reward that came without the slightest cost. It was the most profitable investment. At worst, it would just be an extra True Inheritor, which would pose no harm to the sect.


    With this reward of life-extending pills, Tang Jie wouldn¡¯t need to go trading medicines and letting the whole world know what he wanted.


    As for sending it back¡­ ha, he would think of something.


    After resolving these two big problems, even though he knew that what Xie Fengtang cared about was the Martial Mirror, Tang Jie still felt extremely grateful to Xie Fengtang.


    After leaving Xie Fengtang¡¯s residence, Tang Jie went to Spirit Wonder Market and bought some herbs, preparing to cultivate the Parting ssic. But he saw that Wei Tianchong hade to pay him a visit, looking around like he was trying to be secretive. Upon seeing Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong immediately grabbed him and said, ¡°Tang Jie, you have to help me out!¡±


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t scratch his head with Wei Tianchong holding his arms, so he could only ask, ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Ha, what else could it be?¡± Wei Tianchong pped his thigh. ¡°The big exam!¡±


    It was the big exam again.


    It seemed like all of the students were frantic about this examination.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Young Master, if you wish to pass the big exam this time, it¡¯s very simple. I was nning to do some review, so you can apany me.¡±


    Wei Tianchong immediately frowned. ¡°That won¡¯t do, won¡¯t do. Just reading it won¡¯t do me any good. I don¡¯t understand any of it.¡±


    ¡°Then how do you want me to help you?¡±


    An idea urred to him, leaving Tang Jie shocked. He pointed at Wei Tianchong with shaky hands and said, ¡°You¡­ you¡­ It can¡¯t be?¡±


    Wei Tianchong chortled. ¡°Yes, exactly!¡±


    He whispered into Tang Jie¡¯s ear, ¡°I¡¯m relying on you for the exam. You have to give me the answers!¡±


    Tang Jie took in a deep breath. ¡°Young Master, there are proctors. I really can¡¯t help you with this.¡±


    ¡°You can do it!¡± Wei Tianchong said with all sincerity. He looked around to make sure that no one was nearby, then he excitedly said to Tang Jie, ¡°Listen to me. I¡¯ve already nned everything. You just need to help me in math and astronomy. Those calctions are just too difficult! I really don¡¯t get them. Once you¡¯re done with your test, just give me a gesture. Stretch out your left hand for a difficult problem and your right hand for an easy one. For the sake of safety, use hand gestures to answer me. If you point, that means ¡®1¡¯, and a fist means ¡®2¡¯¡­¡±


    Wei Tianchong went on and on, getting more and more excited, and Tang Jie was left utterly gobsmacked.


    Wei Tianchong was still going. ¡°If it¡¯s a creature, use your body to signal it. Extending your neck means a crane and shrinking back your head means a turtle. If it¡¯s about the meridians, just point it out. There¡¯s too much to talk about, so we need to practice. Let¡¯s go inside and try it out¡­¡±


    Tang Jie was still stupefied.


    Wei Tianchong was about to continue when he saw that Tang Jie wasn¡¯t talking. He extended his fingers and waved his hand in front of him. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Only now did Tang Jiee to his senses. Lightly coughing, he said, ¡°This would be terrible if it were discovered!¡±


    If one were discovered cheating once in the examination, they would lose 20 points and lose their right to take the exam. If caught twice, they would lose 50 points and be expelled from the exam again. Being caught thrice resulted in immediate expulsion.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be afraid,¡± Wei Tianchong casually said. ¡°My n leaves no evidence for people to use. I¡¯ve already thought everything through. Basking Moon Academy¡¯s exam is just like its rules. So long as you¡¯re not caught on the scene and don¡¯t leave behind any evidence, nothing will happen to you. You just need to help me, and once I¡¯m through this trial, I¡¯ll be able to cultivate as I please. This is called applying your studies!¡±


    By the end, Wei Tianchong was already starting to shake his head.


    He was finally beginning to apply his studies.


    Tang Jie felt helpless. ¡°But it¡¯s too risky. Why not wait a little longer? If you study for another two years, you¡¯ll be able to pass all the same.¡±


    ¡°Then it will be toote. And what if I still don¡¯t pass?¡±


    For him, passing together with Tang Jie was his best chance. If he missed out on this chance, and Tang Jie was certain to pass, he wouldn¡¯t be able to find anyone else to help him cheat.


    Tang Jie helplessly said, ¡°Then what about the other questions? You can¡¯t pass the big exam with just the math questions!¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s face reddened. He looked around once more to ensure that no one was in the area, then he solemnly said, ¡°Rx. I¡¯m fully prepared. There¡¯s no way I can fail.¡±


    ¡°So what is this fool-proof n of yours?¡±


    Wei Tianchong gritted his teeth and decided to pull Tang Jie into a small grove by the path. He then raised his clothes, revealing that small slips of paper had been attached to his clothes.


    Tang Jie almost fainted. Wei Tianchong excitedly said, ¡°What do you think? I¡¯m fully prepared, right? I had Shi Meng prepare all this.¡±


    Tang Jie had to force himself to not curse. He croaked, ¡°Third Young Master¡­ didn¡¯t you say you didn¡¯t want to leave behind hard evidence? This is Basking Moon Academy! Even if you¡¯re cheating, you have to do so with skill!¡±

 Chapter 75 - False Accusation

    <h2>Chapter 75: False usation</h2>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After exining to Wei Tianchong in every way possible that his method of cheating wouldn¡¯t work, Tang Jie was finally able to escape.


    Upon returning to the Carefree House, Tang Jie heated up a big basin of water, threw in all of the herbs he had bought, and then jumped in and started to circte the mantra to refine his body.


    The Parting ssic¡¯s cultivation process was truly a most excruciating affair. Tang Jie felt like he was being boiled alive. The medicinal power would seep into the steam as the herbs were boiled and enter his body, and so his body felt like it was on fire, his blood energy seething and beads of blood emerging from every pore. His body was a frightening sight to behold.


    The process took an entire hour, and it only ended after Tang Jie circted the mantra three times and absorbed all the medicinal power.


    Upon emerging, Tang Jie discovered that he was much more energetic. After using the Weapon Mantrast night, he had been weak and listless all day, but now, he was brimming with strength and vigor.


    He looked at his body and found that his boiled skin was cracked all over, peeling away to reveal a glossyyer of new skin beneath.


    ¡°Is this considered shedding the mortal body?¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    ording to the Parting ssic, the Martial Lord had divided body refining into five phases. These were the Wood Body, the Jewel Body, the Diamond Body, the Immortal Spirit Body, and the Great Dao Body.


    The Visceral Manifestation ssic could bring one to the Wood Body level. Upon reaching this level, one would no longer get ill and would be impervious to mortal weapons. The Jewel Body, other than strengthening one¡¯s constitution, also worked the organs. One¡¯s blood energy would flourish, lifting weights would be easy, and endurance would soar. It was described as having a body of jade and marrow of gold.


    As for the Diamond Body, upon cultivation, one would truly possess a body like diamond, capable of even resisting art relics. When one reached the Immortal Spirit Body level, one would obtain a truly undying body.


    The glossy, jewel-like luster of Tang Jie¡¯s skin meant that he was at the threshold of the Jewel Body.


    The Visceral Manifestation ssic was the entry technique to the Parting ssic. He had cultivated it for three years and essentially finished the Wood Body, so it was natural for him to be ready to enter the Jewel Body level. But he was only at the threshold and was still far away from reaching the jade constitution and golden marrows.


    As he looked back at the basin of water, he saw that it waspletely ck. Was it because he had been too dirty or because of the filth expelled from his body?


    Although it was rather excruciating, the Parting ssic¡¯s cultivation process was quite simple.


    With this bath done, if he wanted to keep cultivating it, he would have to gather new herbs. The problem was that this one round of cultivation had almost emptied Tang Jie¡¯s savings.


    Tang Jie made some calctions. The Parting ssic didn¡¯t take long to cultivate, but it used a tremendous amount of resources. Meanwhile, the mantras of Basking Moon primarily relied on time, and the aid that medicines and herbs could provide was limited.


    In other words, 99% of his cultivation time could be spent on Basking Moon mantras and 99% of his resources could be devoted to the Parting ssic.


    He was currently poor, with plenty of time and no money, so he would have to spend most of his focus on Basking Moon mantras.


    Thus, Tang Jie continued to cultivate the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra, at the same time familiarizing himself with his new spells, the Aquagel Shroud and the Energy Needle.


    The Aquagel Shroud was simple. With the Aqualight Shroud as the foundation, Tang Jie was able to easily pick up this spell. But with the Energy Needle, he needed to start from the beginning.


    Fortunately, Min Dong¡¯s death had caused Basking Moon Academy to increase the guard, so he didn¡¯t need to worry about Godhead Pce making another move for now. Thus, Tang Jie was in no rush to train spells, and spent his days cultivating normally.


    On the surface, the school said that Min Dong had gone out on a mission without permission and died. As for Zhuang Shen, it said that he had some family emergency and had to withdraw from school. The majority of the student body remained clueless as to what had transpired.


    For the vast majority of students, Basking Moon Academy was a calm and peaceful ce. Though there were fierce rivalries, it was far from reaching a level where one¡¯s life was on the line.


    In this period, Wei Tianchong came to find him two more times, clearly still determined to cheat on the exam. He brought up all sorts of suggestions, but Tang Jie refused all of them. In the end, he promised that if conditions on the testing ground permitted, he would help Wei Tianchong out.


    Half a month went by very quickly, and the day of the big exam finally arrived.


    The big exam was held twice every year, and it was always the busiest and liveliest time of year.


    This year¡¯s big exam was particrly lively, for the academy had announced that the top scorer of this year¡¯s ss would receive a special reward. All of the students who thought themselves gifted were itching to take their shot.


    Of course, in their eyes, this so-called special reward would probably be a high-quality bottle of spirit medicine.


    Even so, this was worth it for most of them.


    Today, all of the side courtyards of the Ink Fragrance Court were opened, and several thousand students gathered in the main square of Ink Fragrance Court. Whether one was at Spirit Lake, Spirit Sea, or the Mortal Shedding Realm, so long as one had yet to pass the culture exam, one had to participate.


    Everyone had a small table in front of them and a small cushion under them. The test paper was ced on the table. Basking Moon Academy didn¡¯t have subject tests, but ced all the questions on this one test, squeezing in all sorts of questions together. There were one thousand points in total, and one needed to get five hundred to pass. There were nearly one hundred questions and a time limit of six hours.


    Around the students were students who had already passed the examination and were serving as proctors, as well as a few esteemed teachers, all of them eying the students like hungry wolves.


    The students looked at each other, exchanging nces. They tacitly understood that a battle of cheaters and cheat-catchers was about tomence.


    In Basking Moon Academy, students would think of every method possible to get through this trial, battling the proctors in wits and strength. There were some who joined together to try and mutually assist each other. If Tang Jie had to describe it, he would call this ¡°organized test copying¡±.


    Every year, many students would get caught cheating and expelled, and there were also students who got lucky and passed. One could say that the big exam was the primary producer of forsaken students.


    Anyone who could sessfully cheat was certain to be famous because of it.


    There was no need for the school toe looking to settle ountster. Just as Tang Jie and everyone else knew, the incapable needed to follow the rules while the capable could break, work around, or even exploit the rules!


    So long as you were capable of sessfully cheating while being watched by several thousand students and several dozen teachers, you could crow about your achievements afterward and the school would do nothing about it. On the contrary, it might even congratte you. This was one of the defining attributes of Basking Moon Academy.


    But pulling it off truly wasn¡¯t easy.


    With the ring of a gong, all the students sat down in front of their tables, raised their brushes, and began to write.


    Tang Jie took only a nce at the questions and smiled.


    While this examination had all kinds of questions, they had all been lectured on in ss. For Tang Jie, this was as simple as could be, and he immediately began to write.


    The Ink Fragrance Court¡¯s square had more than ten thousand students, but it was silent, the only sounds the scratching of brushes and the asional flipping of a page.


    Tang Jie moved quickly through the questions. As he was writing, he heard someone shout behind him, ¡°You! Your privilege is removed! Get out!¡±


    Tang Jie raised his head to look and saw a proctor student charging in, grabbing a nearby student, and dragging him away.


    That student shouted, ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°No shouting!¡± A white-bearded Spirit Master waved his hand, and the student immediately lost his voice. As his body was dragged out, another student came forward and deducted twenty points from him.


    ¡°This is only the beginning¡­¡± Tang Jie helplessly shook his head and went back to writing.


    As he rapidly answered questions, he suddenly sensed a shift in spiritual energy.


    As he cultivated more and more, he grew more sensitive to the surrounding spiritual energy, so he was naturally able to realize a problem.


    He tilted his head and saw a distant student looking at his table, a gleam in his eyes.


    The Spirit Eye spell?


    This Spirit Eye spell was a kind of surveince spell, but he hadn¡¯t expected someone to have learned it. It was rather useful for something like the big exam.


    In truth, the big exam was a world for students skilled in surveince and observation. Basking Moon Academy was all about applying one¡¯s studies, and it used methods like this so that each student could disy their skills.


    Anyone who said that surveince spells were useless¡­ would have to pass the big exam first.


    Tang Jie immediately took out a piece of paper and covered his previously answered questions.


    He wasn¡¯t just being petty. His goal in this exam was no longer to pass, but to get the right to enter the ninth floor of Heaven One Pavilion.


    ording to his agreement with Xie Fengtang, he had to be the top scorer.


    As all the students of the academy had to take part in the exam, he had manypetitors, so he didn¡¯t dare to be careless. What if he let that student copy all his answers and then that student was able to solve a few questions that he couldn¡¯t? Then he would have lost for no good reason.


    Moreover, the path of Immortality was fraught with conflict. There was no need to politely yield the path.


    That student saw that Tang Jie had covered his answers, and grimaced. Grunting, he turned his head to another student.


    At this moment, a proctoring teacher suddenly grunted and waved his hand. That student¡¯s vision went dark, and he could no longer see anything.


    The teacher said, ¡°Focus on your test and stop looking around.¡±


    There was no evidence he had used the Spirit Eye spell to peek at other test sheets, so he wasn¡¯t immediately removed, but there was no problem with breaking off his spell.


    Tang Jie continued to answer questions until a sudden gust of wind blew away the nk sheet of paper he was using as a cover.


    A transparent eyeball appeared in front of him, turning left and right as it inspected his test sheet.


    Tang Jie was speechless.


    Even the Windguide spell and Eye of Observation spell had appeared.


    The Eye of Observation had appeared at his abdomen, using Tang Jie¡¯s body to block out the eyes of the proctors. It was a very clever move, but s, it required Tang Jie¡¯s cooperation.


    Tang Jie chuckled and grabbed it. The Eye of Observation shattered, and there was a grunt from nearby. Having his spell broken wasn¡¯t a good thing for this unlucky student.


    Tang Jie felt his back turning hot. Someone was resentfully ring at him, unwilling to give up.


    As most of the top students had already passed their exams and be proctors, Tang Jie, as the new top student, was being targeted the most by other students. Various spells were used on him, constantly meddling with his test sheet so much that he was truly starting to get annoyed.


    Fortunately, the proctors weren¡¯t just going to stand around and watch. From time to time, they would grab someone and kick them out.


    In the sky above the Ink Fragrance Court¡¯s square, a person would asionally fly through the air. The cheating students who had been caught were thrown out one by one. All they could do was curse and grumble outside, hoping that they would be luckier next time.


    As he was rapidly writing, Tang Jie heard a soft ¡°Hey! Hey!¡±


    It was an urgent call.


    Looking up, he saw Wei Tianchong, seated in front and to the left of him, shooting him looks and gesturing with his hand.


    His meaning was, ¡°Hurry up and give me the answers.¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head.


    Seeing that he had refused, Wei Tianchong¡¯s face fell. He could only grip his brush and stare nkly at his test sheet.


    Tang Jie bitterly chuckled and continued writing.


    Suddenly, a gust of wind carried a piece of paper onto his table.


    Tang Jie froze as someone shouted, ¡°He¡¯s cheating!¡±


    Raising his head, Tang Jie spotted a nearby student pointing at him while shouting at a proctor, his eyes burning with hatred.


    Tang Jie saw that it was none other than that You Shaofeng that he had mocked before.

 Chapter 76 - After The Exam

    <h2>Chapter 76: After the Exam</h2>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    A false usation!


    Tang Jie instantly realized what was going on.


    This was a problem!


    As You Shaofeng called out, a proctor student was walking toward Tang Jie, looking at the piece of paper that hadnded on his table.


    Tang Jie knew that he could exin that someone of his caliber had no need to cheat, but he immediately realized that noise-making was not permitted on the testing ground. If he wanted to exin, he would have to leave the testing ground, but that would mean that wouldn¡¯t be able to keep taking the test. While he would save himself from losing points, he would lose this chance to take the test.


    It was a minor problem to lose out on the opportunity to take the first exam, but a huge problem to lose his chance at entering the ninth floor of Heaven One Pavilion.


    In a sh, Tang Jie made up his mind.


    He suddenly grabbed the paper.


    Opened it.


    Pushed it up to his nose, and blew hard!


    This movement immediately made the proctor freeze.


    You Shaofeng also froze.


    Tang Jie casually threw the paper to the ground and continued answering questions as if the one You Shaofeng had shouted about wasn¡¯t him.


    The student looked at the ball of paper on the ground and then looked at Tang Jie¡¯s answer sheet. In the end, he simply red at Tang Jie and said, ¡°You¡¯re ruthless!¡±


    He turned and left.


    Tang Jie raised his head and looked at You Shaofeng.


    Their eyes met, and it seemed like sparks exploded between them.


    You Shaofeng grunted and turned back to his test, but Tang Jie was still inwardly fuming.


    He didn¡¯t know if You Shaofeng hade up with this idea on the spot, had nned this out, or was being instigated by someone else, but since he had tried to pin him with a false charge, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t be med for striking back.


    Since he liked hurting others, he should have understood that he could be harmed in return.


    With this idea in mind, Tang Jie decided to take things slowly, returning to his test.


    Once he had answered the majority of the questions, he lightly coughed in Wei Tianchong¡¯s direction.


    Wei Tianchong was frantically scratching his cheeks as he stared at the test. When he heard Tang Jie cough, he immediately turned around and saw Tang Jie gesturing at him.


    This was the signal that he had agreed on with Tang Jie when he was trying to cheat, but Tang Jie had rejected it, so he hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to now make the signal. He nodded his head in delight.


    Seeing that Wei Tianchong understood, Tang Jie lowered his head and pretended to pick up his shoes. Meanwhile, he silently circted his energy and sent out an Energy Needle.


    The attack flew along the ground with great speed and struck You Shaofeng¡¯s sole.


    You Shaofeng felt a sudden pain at his feet and instinctively jumped up and began to shout. Crash! His table flipped over, and the chaos drew the attention of countless students.


    Several proctors immediately rushed toward You Shaofeng.


    The testing ground was in an uproar.


    With everyone distracted, Tang Jie grasped a test paper, poured spiritual energy into it, and sent it flying toward Wei Tianchong.


    At the same time, Wei Tianchong used the Spirit Guidance spell to send his test paper to Tang Jie¡¯s table.


    The two test papers crossed paths andnded at the same time, and in a sh, the trade was done.


    The two exchanged nces, and Wei Tianchong chuckled, much more assured now.


    There were three pages in all to the test, and they had chosen to exchange the page that was worth the most points¡ªa little more than four hundred. The remaining two pages were left for Wei Tianchong to answer, and even if he answered them mindlessly, he was capable of at least getting to five hundred points.


    For Wei Tianchong, passing would be great, and he wasn¡¯t hoping for a higher score. Thus, he happily began to answer questions, and with his renewed vigor, his mind began to work a lot faster, and he managed to get many questions he previously didn¡¯t understand.


    Tang Jie nced at You Shaofeng and saw several students leading him away. You Shaofeng still wanted to shout, but a Spirit Master casually sealed his voice so that he could be quietly carried out of the testing ground.


    As they walked past Tang Jie, the mute You Shaofeng stared at Tang Jie with eyes oozing resentment.


    He knew without thinking that this had been Tang Jie¡¯s work.


    A Spirit Master inspected the ground where You Shaofeng had been sitting and seemingly sensed something, letting out a chuckle.


    He walked over to Tang Jie and whispered, ¡°All other methods are permitted on the testing ground, but attacking another is taboo. Do not do this again.¡±


    Tang Jie affirmed, ¡°Yes, but how did the esteemed teacher find out? Or did you guess?¡±


    The teacher was taken aback. ¡°What¡¯s the difference if I found out or guessed?¡±


    ¡°If it was found out, then I was being rash, and this is an error that should be corrected. If you guessed, then it means that this student did not do anything wrong.¡±


    The teacher froze for a moment, and then heughed. ¡°Good kid, rather interesting. It¡¯s no wonder the headmaster has taken so much interest in you.¡±


    He didn¡¯t answer Tang Jie¡¯s question, simply patted him on the shoulder and walked away.


    Without anyone else disturbing him, Tang Jie could finally work on his test in peace.


    Six hours went by quickly.


    Finally, a gong rang, announcing the end of the exam. Though they were reluctant and unwilling, whether they were done or not, the students had to immediately put down their tests and leave the testing ground.


    As they were exiting, someone shouted, ¡°Haha, I seeded! I¡¯ll definitely be able to pass!¡±


    Turning in the direction of the voice, Tang Jie saw Wei Tianchong waving his arms around and shouting like a basketball yer who had just made a m dunk.


    Tang Jie was scared out of his wits, and immediately grabbed him. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m celebrating!¡± Wei Tianchong hugged Tang Jie and said, ¡°Who said that the Spirit Guidance spell was useless? Without the Spirit Guidance spell, how could I have exchanged test papers with you? Hahahaha!¡±


    Wei Tianchong ced his hands on his hips and heartilyughed, unaware of his surroundings.


    Everyone instantly looked at Wei Tianchong, the ce bing eerily silent.


    Sensing all these eyes on him, Wei Tianchong shivered.


    He fearfully asked Tang Jie, ¡°Why are they all looking at me? Wasn¡¯t it said that you were fine as long as you didn¡¯t get caught during the test, and after the test, you could say whatever you want?¡±


    Tang Jie was sweating hard. ¡°Of course there¡¯s no problem with that by the rules, but do you need to be so brash about it? Don¡¯t forget that quite a few people got caught trying to cheat or failed to cheat. What do you want them to think of you?¡±


    Wei Tianchong saw that everyone was still staring at him with all kinds of emotions in their eyes, including envy and resentment. He immediately lost his courage and fled into the crowd.


    Once they were outside, the eerily quiet atmosphere immediately turned noisy. There were many mournful and emotional sighs as the students began to talk with each other.


    Someone asked another how the test went.


    ¡°How did it go? Any hope of passing?¡±


    A shake of the head.


    ¡°What about you?¡±


    A sigh.


    Someone asked if they managed to cheat or not.


    ¡°How did you do?¡±


    ¡°I luckily seeded. What about you?¡±


    ¡°Ah, all for naught!¡±


    ¡°Count yourself lucky that you weren¡¯t caught.¡±


    Others tried to check answers with each other.


    ¡°What was the answer to question twenty?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know either.¡±


    ¡°Does anyone know what the Cmity of Primordial Fog is?¡±


    ¡°The domains of the cosmos are divided into positive and negative realms. The Primordial Fog Domain is a negative realm and is crawling with countless fiends and demons. Eighteen hundred years ago, the demons of Primordial Fog invaded the Great Ster Chiliocosm, with our Rosecloud Domain being one of the targets. The various sects all worked together to fight back, and it was then that my Basking Moon Sect rose to prominence. It was brought up in the very first ss.¡±


    ¡°God, I even remember memorizing that. How could I forget it while taking the exam?¡±


    ¡°Who are the Four Absolutions of Near Antiquity?¡±


    ¡°The Ice Mountain Fairy, the Wonderhand Immortal Sovereign, the Wuwang Celestial Sovereign, and the Decacosmos Venerable.¡±


    ¡°Shit, I wrote Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, and ck Tortoise.¡±


    ¡°Could you use your brain a little? Those are the Four Sacred Beasts of High Antiquity!¡±


    ¡°What is the teaching principle of the Basking Moon Sect?¡±


    ¡°Preserve the ancient ways, conduct oneself with ceremony, govern the world withws, and seek guidance from the Origin Heart. It¡¯s written on the walls! These are free points! You could have turned your head and found the answer, no?¡±


    ¡°You think I had the guts to turn my head¡­¡±


    Wei Tianchong excitedly said, ¡°I got them all right!¡±


    Everyone looked at him with disdain.


    Wei Tianchong awkwardly smiled and then ran away.


    Tang Jie found this veryughable. He saw Shi Meng walking over.


    Tang Jie asked, ¡°How did you do?¡±


    Shi Meng was rather downcast. ¡°I had best prepare myself to take sses again.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t lose heart. Everything will get better.¡± Tang Jie patted him on the shoulder.


    Someone softly giggled.


    Turning his head, Tang Jie spotted Liu Hongyan, Ping Jingyue, Shu Mingyang, and Cai Junyang walking over.


    Liu Hongyan seemed very happy, allowing Tang Jie to make a good guess. With a smile, he said, ¡°It looks like you passed.¡±


    Liu Hongyan rolled her eyes. ¡°Someone wasn¡¯t willing to help, so I naturally had to ask someone else.¡±


    She looked resentfully at Shu Mingyang.


    Shu Mingyang awkwardly lowered his head.


    He imed that he wanted to improve the world for the good of all, and he disdained things like cheating, but Liu Hongyan¡¯s constant pestering finally made him concede, though his heart was filled with shame.


    Tang Jie said with a smile, ¡°Brother Shu, you had better thank me for this opportunity to see a beauty disy her skills.¡±


    His words dispelled the embarrassment Shu Mingyang felt while also pushing away Liu Hongyan¡¯sints.


    Ping Jingyue chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re a good talker, but it seems like not everyone is confident about passing¡­¡±


    Her voice trailed off as she nced at Cai Junyang.


    Cai Junyang dryly coughed, pretending not to see. It was clear that he wasn¡¯t sure he could pass.


    Of the four, he was the least confident, which made him rather sullen.


    Tang Jie asked, ¡°How do you think Qi Shaoming and An Rumeng did?¡±


    This question drew everyone¡¯s interest, and they wondered how the two geniuses of their ss had done.


    Liu Hongyan said, ¡°I saw them just a few moments ago, and they seemed rather confident.¡±


    Everyone sighed, and the naked envy they all showed caused all of them to burst out inughter.


    They chatted for a while, and at some point, someone suggested, ¡°Since the exam is over, why don¡¯t we go out for a day and have some fun? We¡¯ve been in the academy for half a year and still haven¡¯t been to Wanquan City.¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Yeah!¡± Everyone immediately agreed to the suggestion.


    They were still young, and they had had just about enough after cultivating and studying for half a year.


    Tang Jie was rather hesitant. After all, leaving the school meant leaving the school¡¯s protection.


    Cai Junyang grabbed his arm and said, ¡°You¡¯re always the most hesitant one. It¡¯s not like another day of practice is going to let you catch up to Qi Shaoming, nor will a missed day let the others catch up to you. You¡¯ve got plenty more days at this school!¡±


    Seeing how passionate he was, Tang Jie could only agree. ¡°Alright, but since we¡¯re going out, we might as well bring along more people. Why not make it all the members of the Freedom Society?¡±


    Ping Jingyue was rather frustrated by this. ¡°Too many people will make it difficult to manage.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°You¡¯re the club president, so you can¡¯t always concern yourself with our little circle. You have to look after the other club members too.¡±


    Ping Jingyue red at him. ¡°I guess that makes sense. Since we¡¯ve all agreed, the entire club will be going to Wanquan City tomorrow.¡±


    At this moment, Wei Tianchong eagerly ran over and shouted, ¡°Where are you guys going? I want to go too!¡±


    Tang Jie was rendered speechless. He turned to the others and saw that they were smiling.


    Ping Jingyue said, ¡°Then let¡¯s bring him along.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a little inappropriate?¡± Tang Jie said. ¡°After all, this is a club activity.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll just have him join the club,¡± Liu Hongyan replied.

 Chapter 77 - Young Schoolmates (1)

    <h1>Chapter 77: Young Schoolmates (1)</h1>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Early the next morning, all the members of the Freedom Society gathered at the pier at the base of the mountains, where the school¡¯s ship would pick them up.


    Only when they arrived at the meeting point did they realize that it wasn¡¯t just the Freedom Society who had chosen today for an outing.


    It appeared that everyone had been restrained to their breaking point in this half a year and had unconsciously chosen today to take a break. s, the school did not let vacation days umte, or else all of them would have chosen to y around for several days.


    Tang Jie got on the boat and saw Liu Hongyan, Ping Jingyue, and the others waving at him from the ship¡¯s bow. He went over with Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng, a white flower in his hand.


    A student spotted the white flower in his hand and chuckled. ¡°Brother Tang, why did you bring this little flower with you? Which beauty do you n to gift it to?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Brother Lin, you misunderstand. I happened to see this flower on my way here and noticed that it had a hint of spiritual energy. If I take good care of it, something good might happen, so I plucked it. When I get back, I¡¯ll have to buy it a flower vase.¡±


    Someone looked at the flower and reached out with his senses. He nodded and said, ¡°It truly does have some spirituality.¡±


    He wanted to inspect it more, but Tang Jie put the flower away.


    Someone saw Wei Tianchong and Tang Jie together and joked, ¡°Tang Jie, why are you bringing your two followers with you when going out to y?¡±


    Wei Tianchong frantically shouted, ¡°I¡¯m his young master! He¡¯s the follower!¡±


    That student coldly snorted andpletely ignored Wei Tianchong.


    Tang Jie frowned. This student was called Hua Yang, and he was a student of the Freedom Society who came from a major n.


    As the Freedom Society was started by the likes of Ping Jingyue and Shu Mingyang, it consisted mostly ofmoner students, with few noble scions, but this Hua Yang was one of those exceptions. Apparently, he had joined specifically because he was in love with Ping Jingyue. It was also for this reason that he regarded anyone who got close to Ping Jingyue as an enemy.


    The closest person to Ping Jingyue was Cai Junyang, but Cai Junyang had an eight-cycle Jade Gate. Putting aside his fast cultivation speed, he had entered the academy with a strong martial arts foundation, so in this ss, he was considered one of the best fighters. Hua Yang didn¡¯t dare to offend Cai Junyang, so he could only provoke Tang Jie.


    Hua Yang was clearly trying to stir discord between him and Wei Tianchong, so Tang Jie lightly said, ¡°My n¡¯s young master has always been a magnanimous person. When he heard that his servants were going out to y, he decided toe with us to increase this Tang Jie¡¯s dignity, and this Tang Jie is ashamed for having to ept. As for him not being a club member, Brother Hua does not need to worry. My young master joined the club yesterday.¡±


    With his words, he turned Wei Tianchong into a kind master who cared for his servants while Hua Yang had subtly been reduced into a servant who was going out to y. Hua Yang inwardly fumed, but as he was unable to vent his anger, he turned away in a huff.


    Wei Tianchong was happy to hear this, whispering to Tang Jie, ¡°Am I really that good?¡±


    Tang Jie had to work hard to stop himself from kicking Wei Tianchong into theke.


    The ship glided across the surface of theke and soon reached the opposite shore. The students cheered as they disembarked like they were tourists finally returning home.


    Winter snow had fallen not too long ago, and the Student Forest was nketed in white frost.


    Only now did the students realize that it was alreadyte winter.


    When they turned their heads, they saw the rippling waters of theke and the lush green mountains of eternal spring.


    Thiske seemed to be the border between two worlds.


    It was at this moment that they truly realized that they had ceased to be mortals some time ago.


    The mncholy and sighingsted only for a moment. These students who had returned to the mortal world soon sorted themselves out and headed toward their nned destination.


    Most of the Freedom Society members had not yed around in Wanquan City before, so they had decided to take a look around the city.


    One student in the club was a native of Wanquan City, so he guided everyone else through the deep winter snow to the various scenic spots of Wanquan City.


    Although they wore only a singleyer of clothing, the students didn¡¯t feel cold. As they were already capable of absorbing spiritual energy and using it, their constitutions had silently been modified.


    ¡°Up ahead is Wanquan City¡¯s most famous spot, the Long Dike of Flying Snow. Many pines and cypresses have been nted along the dike, and every winter, the snow piles onto the pines. When the wind blows, the snow will be blown into the air, and this isbined with the beautiful scenery of the dike, and thus we have the Long Dike of Flying Snow, one of the top ten scenic spots of Wanquan City¡­¡± The student who was serving as the ¡°tour guide¡± spoke with confidence, and to prove his words, he sent out a stream of spiritual energy to shake the pines, sending snow drifting from the pines in a mist. It was a truly beautiful sight.


    Everyone stood among the snowy mist. As they gazed at the whiteness, all of them agreed without speaking to use their spiritual energy to hold aloft the snowy mist and cause it to slowly spiral in the air, creating an indescribably gorgeous view.


    ¡°This¡­¡± The tour guide student felt very helpless. ¡°You have to let the snowy mist fall on your body and feel the chill. What are you guys doing?¡±


    Liu Hongyan smiled. ¡°I think this is more fun.¡±


    She extended a hand, and a gust of wind swept out of her palm and made the snowkes tumble around.


    Suddenly, Liu Hongyan closed her hand, and the snowkespacted into a ball. She pointed at Shu Mingyang and shouted, ¡°Take this!¡±


    The snowball flew at Shu Mingyang at a slow and leisurely ce.


    Shu Mingyang raised his hand, using the book to protect his face, and the snowball swerved in the air to strike Tang Jie. Tang Jie raised his hands, formed a seal, and pointed at the approaching snowball. A gust of air shot out from his finger¡ªnone other than the Energy Needle.


    But the snowball was more agile than expected, suddenly elerating, making a circle in the air, and shooting at Cai Junyang. Cai Junyangughed, but he didn¡¯t do anything. It was only when that snowball was up close and personal that he swung his sword, and that snowball exploded into kes.


    Liu Hongyan hadn¡¯t expected this move from him, and she gave him a hard re. She made a pushing motion with her hands, and the snowy mist roiled as it enveloped everyone. Everyone began tough and y atop the long dike.


    Thankfully, it was winter, so there were few pedestrians, and the pedestrians that passed by saw those moon-white uniforms and knew that they were Basking Moon students, so they weren¡¯t too disquieted. They simply gawked from a distance, envy in their eyes.


    After messing around for a while, they took a break. Liu Hongyan said with a smile, ¡°Alright, alright, let¡¯s stop. Look there. Zhiyuan is on the verge of tears.¡±


    The tour guide student was called Yang Zhiyuan, and he seemed very dejected over how nobody was taking his ¡°job¡± very seriously.


    Ping Jingyue suddenlymented, ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s very strange. I was getting suffocated to death in school, only cultivating and cultivating every day, so I thought it would be fun to go out and y for once. But now that we¡¯re out here, why do I feel like spells and arts are more interesting?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±


    Everyone voiced their agreement.


    Although they were having a lot of fun, they felt nothing toward the surrounding scenery, finding it more amusing to mess around with their fellow schoolmates. s, they spent more time discussing cultivation. Rather thaning out to y, it was more like they had chosen a different ce to keep studying.


    Even Liu Hongyan ced a hand under her chin and began to think. ¡°That¡¯s true. How strange! I loved snowball fights in the past, so why don¡¯t I find it as exciting now?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still not excited enough? You were the one who was the happiest ying,¡± Shu Mingyang said with a re.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s because this no longer belongs to us.¡±


    ¡°No longer belongs to us?¡± Everyone looked at Tang Jie.


    ¡°Yes, it no longer belongs to us,¡± Tang Jie casually said. ¡°Today, we can stand here in the wintryndscape and y around for a while, but in the future, when we have higher cultivation levels, even this will fail to garner any interest from us.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± someone asked.


    ¡°Because we¡¯re no longer mortals! Whether you like it or not, want to admit it or not, we¡¯re getting further and further away from mortals. Those things that mortals dream about will eventually be things we can get just by reaching out. Take this snowyndscape as an example. In the future, if we want winter, we can make winter, or summer, just like how the Clear Sky Mountains are eternally in spring. If you¡¯d like, you could make it an eternal winter. And think about those things themon people want. How many of us even ce much value in silver taels now? Without these wants, we naturally find it hard to feel joy¡­ We¡¯re in the middle of breaking away from the sufferings of mortals, but we¡¯re also getting further and further away from their joys.¡±


    Everyone was rendered speechless.


    Today, they were still schoolmates, able to stroll on this long dike if they were in the mood, to get a taste of human life and imagine the future.


    But once they graduated, or perhaps even before that, they would lose all interest in even things like this.


    At that time, higher realms and greater power would be their only pursuit.


    This time they had spent together on the long dike would be thest memory of their human life that they could reminisce about.


    Everyone couldn¡¯t help but be a little sentimental over this.


    Liu Hongyan was the only one whoughed. ¡°That truly sounds very boring. Does that mean we who pursue Immortality seek to have no desires or wants?¡±


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°If we reach the end, I¡¯m afraid that might be the case. Fortunately, reaching the end is very difficult.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that it¡¯s a good thing that the path of Immortality is long?¡± Ping Jingyue asked in disbelief.


    ¡°At least it gives us a goal, and at least we can still find our own amusements in the process¡­ like this.¡± As Tang Jie spoke, he grabbed some snow and threw it down Ping Jingyue¡¯s snow-white neck.


    Ping Jingyue yelped, but then she realized that the icy sensation of the snow was less stimting than she imagined. She couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. ¡°You¡¯re right. This pain is less, but so is the fun. But for daring to sneak attack this girl, you had best be prepared to eat my Palm Lightning!¡±


    She thrust her palm, unleashing a ball of lightning at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jieughed as he dodged and ran away.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about running!¡± Ping Jingyue lunged forward and grabbed, and Tang Jie frantically jumped, grabbing onto a tree branch. Ping Jingyue was hot on his heels, and the other students looked at each other and began to join in on the fun.


    Just as Tang Jie had said, as cultivators, they sought amusement that was different from that of mortals and would only leave pedestrians amazed.


    As they yed around, Liu Hongyan suddenly gasped and stopped, looking to the side.


    Everyone followed her gaze and saw a woman standing on the riverbank on the other end, gazing into the distance.


    The woman wore a pink cotton jacket, had a white mink fur around her neck, and wore pink-soled, flower-embroidered shoes. She had a beautiful face with powdered cheeks, exuding an indescribable charm. She held a plum blossom in her hand. This flower that bloomed in the twelfth month had be a point of red in the frost, a particrly striking existence.


    Standing nearby was a young man who wore a long robe of silk brocade. His brows were straight, his eyes shone like stars, and his skin shone with the luster of jade. At his waist was a sword that was clearly no mortal weapon.


    He stood behind the woman and was seemingly saying something to her. A few momentster, he shook his head and left on his own.


    ¡°Those two are¡­¡± Wei Tianchong curiously prompted, seeing the weird expressions on everyone¡¯s faces.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Qi Shaoming, An Rumeng.¡±


    At the same time, that white-robed young man in the distance raised his head and looked at the group of students behind, happening to meet their gazes.

 Chapter 78 - Young Schoolmates (2)

    <h2>Chapter 78: Young Schoolmates (2)</h2>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Whether it was due to Tang Jie speaking or the appearance of Qi Shaoming and An Rumeng, the Freedom Society members suddenly lost interest.


    After visiting the long dike, the schoolmates stopped their sightseeing, instead going to a nearby restaurant to eat.


    The owner had sharp eyes and could tell by ncing at their uniforms that these were students from Basking Moon Academy. He quickly escorted them up to the private room on the upper floor.


    Cai Junyang was the most straightforward of all. The moment the alcohol was served, he raised his cup and loudly said, ¡°That we met means we share some destiny together. As fellow schoolmates, let us share a toast!¡±


    ¡°A toast!¡±


    ¡°A toast!¡±


    ¡°A toast!¡±


    All of the students called out, even the girls, and they downed their cups of wine.


    As the wine entered their bellies, the restaurant soon grew lively.


    Cai Junyang was definitely the one with the best alcohol tolerance among them, and he had a very bold personality, so the students were soon being dragged into drinking contests with him, and even after three or four had fallen, he was stillpletely fine. If Tang Jie hadn¡¯t obstinately refused, Cai Junyang wouldn¡¯t have spared him either.


    Once onerge jar of wine had been finished, Cai Junyang felt even bolder. He stood on the top floor of the restaurant and shouted out, ¡°Basking Moon Student Cai Junyang sets down his resolve before Full Moon Tower! Today, I am a student who diligently cultivates the sword so that I might walk the world with sword in hand¡­ One day, I, Cai Junyang, will make the entire Rosecloud Domain know my name!¡±


    ¡°Good!¡± Everyone pped their hands and shouted.


    ¡°Just parroting the words of another,¡± Cai Junyang said, his head wavering a little from intoxication. ¡°Brother Tang¡¯s deration in front of Basking Moon Academy¡ªthat¡¯s what can truly be called heroic. Now¡­¡±


    He belched. ¡°It¡¯s a littlete.¡±


    ¡°It also depends on the sort of person,¡± Hua Yang said with a sneer. ¡°Given Brother Cai¡¯s talent and strength, when you say such things, they are bold and heroic words, but when others say them, they can only be called empty bluster.¡±


    Everyone looked at Tang Jie and chuckled.


    Cai Junyang shook his head. ¡°Brother Hua, you¡¯re wrong. Strength doesn¡¯t depend on just talent. In the end, you have to see how they do in an actual fight. Although I¡¯ve never seen Brother Tang fight, when we were ying around on the long dike today, I noticed that Brother Tang was rather agile. I would dare wager that if you two actually fought, Brother Hua, you would be no match for Brother Tang.¡±


    Hua Yang also had a five-cycle Jade Gate, but unlike Tang Jie, he had his n¡¯s resources, so he didn¡¯t think he would fare worse than Tang Jie.


    Cai Junyang¡¯s words immediately made his face redden. ¡°We would actually have to fight to find out.¡±


    He turned to Tang Jie. ¡°Tang Jie, do you dare to fight with me?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°All of us came out to y, so just have fun. If you want to fight, there will be plenty of chances in the future.¡±


    ¡°Are you chicken?¡± Hua Yang spoke in a louder tone.


    Trying to provoke me?


    Tang Jie inwardly chuckled and shook his head. ¡°If Brother Hua says I¡¯m chicken, then I¡¯m chicken. I can only ask that Brother Hua is gracious enough to let me go. I am just a minor character, so I don¡¯t deserve all this attention everyone is showing me.¡±


    Hua Yang couldn¡¯t push him too far after he said all this, so he could only snort, ¡°You turned out to be quite the coward.¡±


    Tang Jieughed and didn¡¯t argue.


    It was still Ping Jingyue who yed the role of mediator. ¡°Alright, alright, we¡¯re all schoolmates. What are we arguing for? If you really want to fight, there¡¯ll be time to fight in the future. The exam is done, and the training will start soon. If you want to show off, do so there.¡±


    All the students fell silent at this.


    Only Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t get it. ¡°Training? Don¡¯t the training missions only start at the Spirit Lake Tier?¡±


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°It means formal cultivation training.¡±


    ¡°Formal cultivation training?¡± Wei Tianchong was still confused. ¡°Aren¡¯t we doing cultivation training right now?¡±


    Tang Jie rolled his eyes. ¡°There needs to be cultivation and training to have cultivation training! You¡¯ve cultivated, but have you ever trained?¡±


    Wei Tianchong was bbergasted. He wanted to say that he was always training, but he knew that Tang Jie and the others weren¡¯t talking about that sort of training.


    Shu Mingyang exined, ¡°¡®Training¡¯ here meansbat lessons. Students learn spells, but daily practice is far from enough. We also need to engage in sparring to improve ourselves. Only by bringing together cultivation and training can you get cultivation training!¡±


    ¡°How is that different from training missions?¡± Shi Meng blurted out.


    Just like Wei Tianchong, he didn¡¯t understand what training was about.


    Shu Mingyang answered, ¡°Training missions are about going outside to engage in actualbat with fiend beasts. The fruits are greater, but so is the risk. If you don¡¯t do a good job, it¡¯s very normal to lose your life. Training involves practice within the school, and students officially begin training after the first exam ends. Students must participate whether or not they passed the exam. You can also take part in it early, but there¡¯s no reward. Compared to training missions, official cultivation training is much safer, though you get fewer benefits from it.¡±


    ¡°There are benefits?¡± Wei Tianchong was interested in that.


    Cai Junyang answered, ¡°That¡¯s only natural. You have to understand that training is the foundation for our future sess. The path of Immortality can bepared to a mountain road, with countless people fighting over it. Do you really think thatpetitions over a cup of wine on the ferry or a te of food at Thousand Taste Pavilion can be called struggles? Training is where the true struggle begins, the beginning of everything, and it is also the guarantee of my sess! I¡¯ll tell you now that there is a ranking for each day of training, and anyone who gets on that ranking will be rewarded with resources from the school. Someone who can seed in training will have the path open for them. Otherwise, the school has so many spells and arts, all of them difficult to cultivate, and just advancing in cultivation realm alone takes up so much energy. How can anyone have time to practice spells? Even a nine-cycle Jade Gate holder wouldn¡¯t have the time. In the end, you need a ranking to get more resources. In addition, your grades in training are also taken into ount in your training mission grade. Only if your grades are good can you be qualified to enter the nextpetition.¡±


    ¡°I get it now.¡± Wei Tianchong understood. ¡°I didn¡¯t hear anything about this from my big brother.¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°They didn¡¯t mention it because they never went.¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t go?¡± Wei Tianchong was bbergasted. ¡°You don¡¯t need to go to training?¡±


    ¡°It is said that you have to attend three days of training every month,¡± Tang Jie said. ¡°Some people whock strength know that going is pointless, so they¡¯re naturally not willing to waste their time. And those whock talent ce more importance on increasing their cultivation level. After all, the restrictions on spells are rather low, and there will always be a chance to get some more. There are also some people who are afraid of pain and aren¡¯t willing to go. People in these three categories will usually only take part in the lowest level of training, and they¡¯ll often just go into the ring and immediately concede.¡±


    ¡°Afraid of pain?¡±


    ¡°Yes. You have to realize that the academy permits sparring, and if you run into a ruthless opponent, it¡¯s not unusual if you¡¯re beaten half to death.¡±


    Wei Tianchong couldn¡¯t help but shiver. ¡°That scary? Then I shouldn¡¯t go, either.¡±


    Tang Jie got angry at this, saying, ¡°Third Young Master, resources are limited, and the Great Dao must be fought for! The struggle of Immortal cultivation begins at training, and all the struggles before this were just to get you used to the environment. If you shrink back at the start, you won¡¯t be willing to confront many other dangers, meaning that when you walk the path of Immortality, you¡¯ll eventually be pushed aside!¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Wei Tianchong was still hesitant.


    Tang Jie knew that relying on reason wouldn¡¯t work, so he added, ¡°Moreover, while training for other people might mean losing some blood, that¡¯s not certain when ites to you.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Wei Tianchong was puzzled.


    ¡°Because you have a puppet.¡±


    ¡°A puppet?¡± Wei Tianchong¡¯s eyes shed.


    ¡°Correct, a puppet!¡± Tang Jie affirmed. ¡°A puppet is also considered a part of your strength. After all, it was made from your resources. When ites to resources, eating medicine to increase your strength counts, so there¡¯s no reason for puppets to not count. But you need to assign the puppet to your name during training, and you can¡¯t let other people use it. Third Young Master, you are very skilled when ites to carving, so it¡¯spletely possible for you to use the wolf puppet in battle and get somebat experience. If you run into someone you can¡¯t beat, you just concede at worst, and you won¡¯t get hurt in any way. But if you win, you¡¯ll benefit enormously. With the extra resources, you can cultivate faster. Why else would I have advised you to go into puppets?¡±


    He had advised Wei Tianchong to make puppets by saying that he could make money, but Wei Tianchong had had so much fun with the puppet that he hadpletely forgotten about making money.


    It was only when Tang Jie brought it up that he understood that there was also this sort of goal in mind. Those two thousand spirit coins hadn¡¯t been just to get him a toy.


    Wei Tianchong was immediately tempted by the proposition.


    Though he was a cowardly person who disliked hard work, he still had some ambition. If he could pay a small price for resources that could improve his cultivation speed and get a rather high ranking in the academy, his mother would definitely be happy.


    He was also just two days from getting into the Spirit Spring Tier. When the time came, he could choose a spell that could work with thebat puppet, and perhaps he really could win a few matches.


    Hua Yang sneered, ¡°So from Brother Tang¡¯s tone, you¡¯ll be going to training?¡±


    Tang Jiezily replied, ¡°I¡¯m just a little servant student, so I don¡¯t have any good sources of resources. Since the academy has given me the opportunity for some resources, I naturally have to fight for them.¡±


    ¡°Good. Then let us meet on the Divine Battleground. When the timees, I will definitely take some time to experience Brother Tang¡¯s strength and see if you really are as strong as Brother Cai says.¡±


    Tang Jie indifferently replied, ¡°Then you¡¯ll have to get in line. My luck hasn¡¯t been goodtely, and there will probably be quite a few people who want to give me a beating using this opportunity.¡±


    Everyone burst out inughter.


    Ever since Tang Jie had made that deration in front of the academy gate, many people had been unhappy with him, and whether it was due to the matter with Li Yu, the favor showed to him by Ping Jingyue and the others with the founding of the Freedom Society, or his position as top student, he had constantly been the target of unkind gazes.


    But the people who actually came to cause him trouble were few. You Shaofeng was the first, but he definitely wouldn¡¯t be thest.


    Perhaps everyone was waiting precisely for the Divine Battleground.


    Once the argument was over, everyone went back to drinking.


    When students got together, they would always talk loudly about whatever topic struck them. There were those who imagined the future, those who reminisced on the past, those whopeted against each other, and those who challenged each other to drinking contests.


    After three rounds of wine, a student who had drunk too much loudly said, ¡°There are no days or months in the cultivation of Immortality, but our days of school wille to an end. Today, we are mortal schoolmates, but in the future, we will be Immortalrades, walking the Great Dao side by side, together¡­ together¡­¡±


    He froze, not knowing how to follow up.


    Shu Mingyang said, ¡°Together relieving the suffering of themon people.¡±


    ¡°Hear hear!¡± the students said, pping.


    A student called Li Yijing waved his hand in disagreement. ¡°No, that¡¯s no good. The world is at peace, so where did ¡®the suffering of themon people¡¯e from? Brother Shu¡¯s ambitions are set on the world, and this is a good thing, but you shouldn¡¯t make reality too dark.¡±


    ¡°But there is always some suffering,¡± Shu Mingyang said.


    ¡°While themon people might not be suffering, unrest is everpresent! In my view, it should be ¡®walking the Great Dao side by side, raising our swords to pacify unrest and bring joy¡¯!¡± Cai Junyang loudly said.


    Another studentmented, ¡°That¡¯s your desire to be a chivalrous wandering warrior. As cultivators, we¡¯re not that passionate. No, no, Junyang, you don¡¯t act like a cultivator at all.¡±


    ¡°True. If it were me, I think walking the Great Dao side by side, unrestrained across the world, is much more like an Immortal,¡± Ping Jingyue said.


    A student immediately chuckled. ¡°Well, that depends on who you¡¯re walking alongside across the world.¡±


    ¡°Is there a need to ask? Schoolmates naturally aren¡¯t suited for this role. Only your Daopanion would work,¡± another person added.


    All the studentsughed while Ping Jingyue blushed. She said in a soft voice, ¡°None of you are taking this seriously.¡±


    But her eyes turned on Tang Jie, whether intentionally or not.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°The Great Dao is difficult to travel, the path of Immortality rife with struggle. Since we walk the Great Dao side by side, we climb up the peak of life and death together.¡±


    ¡°Walking the Great Dao side by side, together climbing the peak of life and death?¡± Everyone pondered these words.


    Liu Hongyan finally said, ¡°Brother Tang, your words are just as bold and heroic as Junyang¡¯s, but it¡¯s a little too grim. My Little Yueyue¡¯s ¡®walking the Great Dao side by side, unrestrained across the world¡¯ is a lot more cheerful.¡±


    The students all chortled. Only Hua Yang snorted, his heart burning with resentment.


    Tang Jie coolly said, ¡°The sights at the peak of life and death are beautiful, and fragrant footsteps await at the end of the path of Immortality.¡±


    Everyone was startled by these words.


    Liu Hongyan had just been joking, and another student would have made up a line or two to tease the two beauties of the club, yet with this verse, Tang Jie had refused.


    Ping Jingyue¡¯s face dimmed. Squeezing out a smile, she asked, ¡°Fragrant footsteps at the end of the path of Immortality? But whose fragrant footsteps could have earned Brother Tang¡¯s attention?¡±


    Tang Jie raised his head back andughed. ¡°I¡¯m just talking for the sake of talking, so everyone should just listen for the sake of listening. There¡¯s no need to take me seriously. I became a servant student to seek out the footsteps of Immortals. If I went to seek fragrant footsteps, that would make me a ve student. Thus, I¡¯m not really hoping for much; I just want to properly serve my young master.¡±


    Everyoneughed.


    Wei Tianchong was busy chowing down on meat when he heard Tang Jie. A chicken wing in his mouth, he nodded. ¡°Mm, mm, mm! Us? We walk the Great Dao side by side, eating and drinking what we want¡­ Oh, this is for you!¡±


    He thrust a chicken leg into Tang Jie¡¯s hand.


    Tang Jie dly took it. ¡°My thanks, Young Master.¡±


    Everyone was speechless. Shu Mingyang chuckled and said, ¡°It seems like Young Master Wei has set his ambitions on ying his heart out in the day and enjoying song and dance every night, enjoying all the pleasures of the world.¡±


    Wei Tianchong nodded. ¡°I know that it¡¯s a little crude and most of you will look down on me for it, but I¡¯m a simple person. Why do people cultivate Immortality? In my view, it¡¯s to live afortable life. In the end, it¡¯s for oneself! Brother Su, you wish to support the people of the world, but there¡¯s a high chance that you also want to enjoy the fame and renown in the history books, yes? This is called fame-seeking! Brother Cai, you wish to sweep through the unrest of the world with your sword, but this is probably because you want to enjoy the gratitude of others, yes? This is called emotion-seeking. In other words, all of us have something that we seek. It¡¯s just that my sights aren¡¯t set that high. I¡¯m just seeking to enjoy a life without suffering, heheh.¡±


    These words made everyone view Wei Tianchong in a different light.


    Wei Tianchong saw everyone staring at him and was scared out of his wits. He turned to Tang Jie and asked, ¡°Did I say anything wrong?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head and smiled. ¡°Not this time. Young Master is a simple person, and simple people look at problems more directly, more fundamentally, but they¡¯re not necessarilyckingpared to those people who seem smarter.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I get it, heh.¡± Wei Tianchong grinned and went back to eating.


    Everyone was still speechless over what he had said. In the end, it was Shu Mingyang who broke the silence. ¡°Young Master Wei is saying that no matter why we cultivate Immortality, we are all seeking something, so why should we put down some pursuits while raising up others? In the past, I somewhat looked down on the young master; I didn¡¯t expect to be enlightened by his words. This Mingyang was a little too conceited.¡±


    He bowed to Wei Tianchong as a form of apology, leaving Wei Tianchong in a rather awkward spot.


    Cai Junyang raised his cup. ¡°Come on. No matter what the future holds, we are all schoolmates today. The path of Immortality is long, and many days of struggle lie before us, but at least today, we are schoolmates, friends! A toast to schoolmates today, Immortalrades in the future!¡±


    ¡°Schoolmates today, Immortalrades in the future!¡± All the students stood up and raised their cups high.


    Ping!


    The cups clinked, and wine sloshed into the air.


    At that moment, as he watched these youthful schoolmates clinking cups, brimming with vigor, Tang Jie suddenly recalled a poem.


    Alone I stand in the autumn cold, on the tip of Orange Ind, the Xiang flowing northward. I see a thousand hills crimsoned through, by their serried woods deep-dyed; and a hundred barges vying, over crystal blue waters. Eagles cleave the air, fish glide in the limpid deep; under freezing skies a million creatures contend in freedom. Brooding over this immensity, I ask, on this boundlessnd, Who rules over man¡¯s destiny?


    I was here with a throng ofpanions. Vivid yet those crowded months and years. Young we were, schoolmates, at life¡¯s full flowering; filled with student enthusiasm, boldly we cast all restraints aside. Pointing to our mountains and rivers, setting people afire with our words, we counted the mighty no more than muck. Remember still, how, venturing midstream, we struck the waters, and waves staying the speeding boats?

 Chapter 79 - Selling Stolen Goods

    <h2>Chapter 79: Selling Stolen Goods</h2>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Once everyone was full of wine and food, Tang Jie suggested a free period so that all of them could stroll the streets and buy anything they wanted to take back.


    Everyone was in support of this idea. Shopping had always been an important part of sightseeing, and so long as they weren¡¯t being forced to spend, everyone was happy to take part.


    After setting a time and location to meet up, everyone dispersed.


    Tang Jie naturally traveled together with Wei Tianchong, but midway, Tang Jie used the excuse of buying a vase to leave first.


    Once he was away from everyone else, Tang Jie walked the streets. He seemed to be alone, admiring the scenery, but there was a little head at his chest that was curiously looking around.


    With no more students around, little Yiyi could finally get some air.


    Her eyes were glowing as she took in the sights of the outside world. ¡°Wow! The outside is so big¡­ so pretty!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled and whispered, ¡°Yes, the outside world is very big and very pretty¡­ but be careful. Don¡¯t poke your head out too far.¡±


    He lightly pressed Yiyi¡¯s head back into his clothes. Fortunately, the style of clothes worn in this era was very loose and spacious, so there was no fear of suffocating her.


    Hiding in his clothes, Yiyi grumbled, ¡°Can I still note out? I really want to go out and take a look around. Big Brother, haven¡¯t they already gone?¡±


    Tang Jie stopped on the street and looked at the distant scenery. As if he was talking to himself, he softly said, ¡°The ones out in the open left, but not necessarily the ones in the shadows.¡±


    ¡°The shadows?¡± Yiyi didn¡¯t understand. She furtively looked around and softly asked, ¡°Is someone following us?¡±


    After spending so much time with Tang Jie, the littless had gradually begun to realize the dangers around Tang Jie. While Tang Jie had yet to officially tell those secrets to Yiyi, he had not tried to hide them from her. Even an innocent little girl would slowly begin to understand what was going on.


    ¡°Mm, perhaps,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± Yiyi was astonished.


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°How could I know? I¡¯ve only just started cultivating, and to deal with Zhuang Shen, I had to focus onbat spells. Those people sent to deal with me wouldn¡¯t be strong fighters with powerful spells, but veteran scouts. It would truly be amusing if I could so easily discover them. I just feel that if I were Godhead Pce, since Tang Jie finally came out for a trip, there would have to be something wrong with their heads if they didn¡¯t take this chance.¡±


    ¡°Then why did you split off from the other students? Aren¡¯t you afraid of being captured?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just trying to see if they want to catch me, follow me, or perhaps straight-up ignore me. If I didn¡¯t give them the chance, how could I ever figure out their movements? If I don¡¯t know their movements, how can I n for them?¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ but isn¡¯t that too risky?¡± She crouched in his cor like a kitten, looking around, and then she mimed an adult by propping a hand under her chin and beginning to seriously think.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Why do you think I brought you with me? If they really try to capture me, I¡¯ll just throw you out and make a run for it. Remember to cover me!¡±


    ¡°I hate you!¡± Yiyi shouted, but Tang Jie immediately ced a finger on her mouth.


    Yiyi immediately began to struggle and wildly scratch with her hands, but she was so weak that all she managed to do was make Tang Jie itch.


    ¡°Alright, alright, I¡¯ll stop messing around. This is Wanquan City. Even if it isn¡¯t Basking Moon Academy, it¡¯s not a ce Godhead Pce can mess around in just because it wants to. If they really make their move, I just need to cause a giant ruckus and then buy some time. The teachers will immediately rush over. Your illusion formation is no good for fighting, but it¡¯s great for buying time. Moreover, I¡¯ve also made my preparations, so there¡¯s nothing to be afraid of.¡±


    ¡°Hmph, why didn¡¯t you say so earlier!?¡± Yiyi angrily turned her head away and proceeded to ignore him.


    Tang Jie petted her on the head. ¡°Okay, stop being angry and be a good girl. No matter what they try to do, we¡¯ll figure it out before they make their move. This is a chance for them, but also a chance for us.¡±


    ¡°But how will we figure it out?¡± Yiyi whispered.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need your help for that.¡±


    Tang Jie confidently strode through the streets of Wanquan City, and it wasn¡¯t long before he arrived at a store that bought and sold magic tools. He went inside, and after a few moments, he resumed his wandering.


    A little whileter, a man went into the store and spotted the shop assistant behind the counter.


    The man walked over and asked, ¡°Shopkeeper, I¡¯d like to ask you a question.¡±


    The shop assistant nced at the man and went back to working his abacus.


    The man offered a silver ingot. ¡°Did a young mane in just now?¡±


    The shop assistant looked at the ingot and took it. He then casually said, ¡°A young man dide in. What about it?¡±


    ¡°Did he buy anything from you?¡± the man hurriedly asked.


    ¡°Buy something?¡± The shop assistant shook his head in surprise. ¡°No, he was only looking.¡±


    ¡°Just looking?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he said he wanted to buy a spell-weapon-grade sword, but from the look of it, he was sorelycking in money and could never afford one,¡± the shop assistant scornfully said.


    As a shop assistant, he wouldn¡¯t show contempt in front of customers, but he found it hard to conceal his disdain when in front of others.


    But the man wasn¡¯t satisfied with this answer. He asked, ¡°Did he try to sell you anything like a Mustard Seed Bag or an art sword?¡±


    ¡°A Mustard Seed Bag? An art sword? Dear customer, are you making fun of me? Are those things that young man could have?¡± the shop assistant scornfully said.


    The man was disappointed to hear this. He shook his head and took out a silver tael to give to the shop assistant. ¡°I¡¯m sure you know what should be said and what shouldn¡¯t.¡±


    The shop assistant smiled upon receiving the silver tael. ¡°Rx. This one understands.¡±


    The man left with a sigh.


    Right after he left, Tang Jie turned around and went back. He bowed to the shop assistant. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry to bother you, but I was so busy examining your wares that I identally left my flower behind.¡±


    He pointed at a small white flower lying in the corner.


    ¡°A middle-aged man wearing purple robes? Not a member of the Freedom Society?¡± Tang Jie was very disappointed, but after some thought, he understood. ¡°In this situation, there¡¯s no need to have the spy in the Freedom Society follow me. After all, they¡¯ll be easily exposed. But it seems like they¡¯re only following and investigating me this time, not capturing me. It seems like that Gu Changqing has settled down after suffering twice and has stopped with the brute force approach. If so, he must have sent people to Anyang, and a round trip will take four to five months¡­ Very good. This is the perfect amount of time to improve myself. But that fellow who keeps following me is quite annoying. With him around, I won¡¯t be able to do anything.¡±


    Tang Jie muttered to himself. Just like how Gu Changqing had analyzed him, he had basically analyzed Gu Changqing¡¯s actions.


    ¡°Yes, yes.¡± Little Yiyi nodded as if she understood, though she didn¡¯t actually get a thing.


    ¡°It¡¯s good that I have a way,¡± Tang Jie smiled.


    He continued to pretend he was taking in the scenery and looked around. Sure enough, he soon spotted that purple-robed, middle-aged man that Yiyi had spoken of. He was following him at a distance, neither too closely nor too distantly. If not for Yiyi pointing him out, he really wouldn¡¯t have been able to tell that this portly man was a spy of Godhead Pce.


    Tang Jie inwardly sneered. He turned his head and began to walk toward the man.


    The man saw Tang Jieing over, but he didn¡¯t panic. He simply mixed into the crowd and walked like nothing had happened.


    Suddenly, Tang Jie stopped him. ¡°Sir, do you know the way to Loyalty Street?¡±


    The purple-robed man froze. ¡°This¡­ I¡¯m not too sure.¡±


    ¡°Oh, then I¡¯m sorry for disturbing you.¡± Tang Jie walked away with a smile and asked someone else for directions.


    The purple-robed man watched in a daze as his target walked away, not sure what he should do.


    He wanted to follow, but since they had just met, if they ran into each other again, even an idiot would be able to tell that they were being followed.


    While he was trying to decide what to do, Tang Jie had already sauntered away, disappearing into the crowd, so he could only stomp his feet in frustration. He wanted to ask for help from Gu Changqing, but then he realized that he would probably be scolded for his ipetence, and he suddenly lost the courage to send out the message talisman. After thinking it over, he decided that it wasn¡¯t a big deal. That Tang Jie was simply a suspicious target, but that shop assistant had said that he was only window shopping, not even daring to bring up the idea of buying a spell weapon. Consoling himself in this way, he simply reported ¡°Nothing unusual discovered¡± and ended it there.


    Tang Jie took many turns through the streets, and when he saw that the purple-robed man hadn¡¯t followed, he chuckled and continued down the street.


    He first found a deserted alley to change out of his moon-white uniform. He smeared dirt across his face and messed up his hair, and then he walked out. He looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to him, after which he swaggered into a store.


    The shop assistant saw a filthy young maning in and immediately wanted to shoo him out, but to his surprise, the young man casually announced, ¡°Call your boss out. I¡¯ve got a good deal for him.¡±


    ¡°Little cub, what sort of deal could you possibly offer?¡± the shop assistant rudely responded.


    The young man raised a bag. ¡°Open up your dog eyes. What am I holding?¡±


    ¡°A Mustard Seed Bag?¡± The shop assistant¡¯s eyes flew open, and after carefully examining it, he determined that it was the real deal. His face paled, and he hastily said, ¡°Customer, please wait a moment while I go and get my boss.¡±


    This Mustard Seed Bag was none other than the one Tang Jie had taken from Zhuang Shen.


    Tang Jie had profited greatly from killing Zhuang Shen and Min Dong. s, the only things that could be sold were the pills, talismans, and Mustard Seed Bag, as they had no identifying marks. He kept the pills and talismans for himself, leaving the Mustard Seed Bag as the sole thing he could sell.


    As for the other items, after studying the structure of the Godhead Armor, Tang Jie used the Weapon Mantra on it and Min Dong¡¯s dagger. Together with that grain from the Violet me Sword, he now had three golden grains.


    When put together, these three golden grains merged together on their own into a slightlyrger golden grain.


    As for the formation diagram and Immortal-Binding Rope, he was unwilling to refine them with the Weapon Mantra, and the Refined Beast token couldn¡¯t be refined, so Tang Jie nned to use it himself. Of course, that was only for when no one was around.


    The shop owner quickly came out, and when he saw the Mustard Seed Bag, he quickly nodded. ¡°Yes, this is a Mustard Seed Bag, but it¡¯s a little on the small side.¡±


    Tang Jie acted unreasonable and shouted, ¡°Old man, don¡¯t take me for a fool. I¡¯ve asked around about this Mustard Seed Bag. It¡¯s worth at least six spirit jades!¡±


    The shop owner chuckled. ¡°Six spirit jades is the selling price, but I can¡¯t buy it for that much. If you¡¯re selling, I can give you three spirit jades.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s no good!¡± Tang Jie snatched the Mustard Seed Bag back. ¡°I¡¯ve already inquired, and this one can go on the market for at least forty-five hundred coins!¡±


    ¡°True, but I presume that this Mustard Seed Bag isn¡¯t exactly clean?¡± the shop owner replied with a smile.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Tang Jie acted like he had been exposed, his shame fueling his anger. ¡°Why do you care where ites from? In any case, I didn¡¯t steal it. It¡¯s just¡­ I came across it on the side of the road and picked it up!¡±


    The shop owner smiled. ¡°Picked it up or stole it or whatever, I¡¯m not arguing over this with you. So long as you can¡¯t say where you got it from, there will always be problems. How about this? I¡¯ll buy that Mustard Seed Bag from you for three and a half spirit jades and promise you that I won¡¯t reveal to anyone who sold it. How about it?¡±


    Tang Jie pretended to hesitate. ¡°You¡¯re sure? If someonees to ask questions¡­¡±


    ¡°This old man will say that I didn¡¯t get any Mustard Seed Bag today. As for this one, I picked it up a long time ago,¡± the shop owner firmly said.


    Tang Jie clenched his teeth and finally nodded. ¡°Fine, three and a half spirit jades. You win this time.¡±


    ¡°No, we¡¯re all on the same boat here,¡± the shop owner said with a smile. ¡°If you have anything else that can¡¯t see the light of day, you cane and find me.¡±


    The shop owner was in a good mood, having gotten almost a fifty percent discount on this Mustard Seed Bag worth six spirit jades.


    ¡°I will.¡± Tang Jie smiled. These words left him very relieved.


    While the Mustard Seed Bag was good, it wasn¡¯t something he could use. In the end, it was just a storage tool, so it was more important to exchange it for good medicines that he could use on himself. Thus, even if he was selling for much less than the market price, it was still worth it.


    With thirty-five hundred spirit coins, Tang Jie could buy another set of herbs to cultivate the Parting ssic. In truth, thirty-five hundred spirit coins was enough to cultivate the Parting ssic once, as was thirty-five thousand, or three hundred and fifty thousand spirit coins.


    It was just that the level of progress would differ.


    As for now, to tell the truth, Tang Jie had no idea what he was going to do with all these coins.


    After strolling around some more, Tang Jie went back to the ce he had agreed to meet the other students at.


    The students had returned, and since it was gettingte, they decided to go back to the academy, happilyughing and chatting all the way.


    Once they were seated on the ferry back to the Clear Sky Mountains, all of the students looked back at Wanquan City.


    A student emotionally said, ¡°Who knows when we¡¯ll all be able to y together like this again? Do you remember when we first came? We thought that one day a month of vacation was too little, but now, it really does seem like a little much¡­ Now that we have stepped upon the Immortal path, the seasons are gradually fading away. All that exists in our eyes is the struggle of the path of Immortality.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes,¡± the other students emotionally sighed.


    The boat docked, and the students became like tired birds returning to their nests, bidding each other farewell.


    Before he left, Cai Junyang called out to Tang Jie, ¡°Tang Jie, students today and opponents tomorrow. The Divine Battleground¡­ I¡¯ll be waiting for you. Don¡¯t disappoint me!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled and helplessly shook his head.


    Those people who wanted to make trouble for him would be waiting for him on the Divine Battleground, and those who didn¡¯t want to make trouble for him also weren¡¯t nning to let him go. It seemed that he had a very exciting life to look forward to.

 Chapter 80 - Art Transmission

    <h2>Chapter 80: Art Transmission</h2>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After the trip to Wanquan City, life went back to normal. Like clockwork, every day, the students went to ss, got off ss, and cultivated. The cycle repeated monotonously and mechanically.


    The grades for the examination came out three dayster.


    As expected, Tang Jie got first ce.


    At times, Tang Jie wondered whether he had achieved this ranking through his own power or Xie Fengtang had cheated for him.


    But this wasn¡¯t important.


    What was important was that on the day he was announced as the top scorer, Basking Moon Academy announced something else: as the top scorer of the exam, Student Tang Jie would gain the privilege of entering the ninth floor of Heaven One Pavilion once.


    The academy exploded into an uproar at this news.


    Everyone knew that there would be an additional special reward for this exam besides a bottle of lifespan-extending pills, but nobody had expected the reward to be this good.


    The ninth floor of Heaven One! The Violet Jade Mantra and the Divine Firmament Sword ssic!


    The two core secret arts of the Basking Moon Sect were opened to Tang Jie.


    Once again, Tang Jie became the hot topic. Everyone called Tang Jie lucky, and so ¡°Mad Student Tang Jie¡± now had ¡°Heaven¡¯s Chosen Tang Jie¡± as apanion.


    In the Rosecloud Domain, there was no such thing as a Son of Heaven or a child of fortune. The Heavenly Dao favored no one, and the people did not support such things like the will of the heavens. This would only be rejecting the efforts of others and attributing everything to the old heavens.


    If that were so, what would be the point in cultivation?


    But this didn¡¯t stop them from bestowing special halos on particrly lucky people.


    Of course, in the eyes of certain other people, this matter meant something entirely different.


    The favor of Basking Moon Academy and the opening of Heaven One¡¯s ninth floor indicated a change in Tang Jie¡¯s status, and with this change in status, the pressure on Gu Changqing suddenly increased.


    He received a secret missive from Godhead Pce.


    The message said: ¡°If you can confirm that Tang Jie is Tang Jiye, capture him at all costs.¡±


    By ¡°at all costs¡±, Godhead Pce naturally meant that it was willing to go as far as open war with the Basking Moon Sect if necessary.


    s, Gu Changqing could only bitterly smile. That¡¯s exactly the one thing I can¡¯t confirm!


    If he had been able to confirm this, he would have long ago sent his best men to kidnap Tang Jie rather than just waiting around and sitting on his hands.


    Currently, he had ten-some suspects, and the only way Tang Jie differed from the rest was that he had discovered signs of their search. To confirm that he was Tang Jiye from just that was taking the process far too lightly.


    He could only wait for the people from Anyang to arrive, and hope that they wouldn¡¯t disappoint him again.


    s, Anyang was far away, and a round trip would take four to five months.


    For some reason, he felt like this might not even work, because if he were Tang Jiye, he would never leave such an important and obvious weakness open.


    Putting aside Gu Changqing, who was worrying about what he stood to gain and lose, Tang Jie was currently standing at the happiest intersection of his life.


    The ninth floor of Heaven One Pavilion!


    Tang Jie stood in the very center of the floor. In front of him was a statue of the founder of the Basking Moon Sect, the Water Moon Celestial Sovereign.


    He was seated with his legs crossed, his left hand in front of his chest, a piece of violet jade grasped in his palm. His right hand was resting on his knee, holding a shortsword.


    In front of the statue was a prayer mat for people to kowtow on. There was nothing else.


    This was the ninth floor of Heaven One?


    Tang Jie was rather stunned.


    He had imagined what the ninth floor of Heaven One would look like countless times, but this simplicity, even crudeness, still left him surprised.


    He couldn¡¯t see a single book here, only that seated statue which exuded majesty and power.


    ¡°Yes, this is the ninth floor of Heaven One.¡±


    Standing behind him was Xie Fengtang.


    Xie Fengtang pointed at the statue. ¡°Why are you not paying respects to the founder?¡±


    Tang Jie hastily came forward and prostrated, striking his head three times against the ground.


    These three kowtows represented entry into the sect. It meant that, starting from today, Tang Jie was an official outer disciple of the Basking Moon Sect, albeit one who needed to continue his studies at the academy.


    Seeing that Tang Jie was being solemn and not messing around, Xie Fengtang nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Very good. Look closely. The founder is holding replicas of my Basking Moon Sect¡¯s important techniques, the Violet Jade Mantra and the Divine Firmament Sword ssic!¡±


    Tang Jie looked at the jade and the sword, thinking to himself, So the mantras were recorded in the jade and the sword. It¡¯s no wonder they¡¯re called the Violet Jade Mantra and the Divine Firmament Sword ssic.


    ¡°The mantra primarily focuses on cultivation while the sword ssic focuses onbat. You are only a novice outer disciple, so you may select one of the two. If you have the opportunity to make another contribution to the sect, you maye back for the other. Now, make your choice.¡±


    Tang Jie looked at the jade and then looked at the sword. ¡°Headmaster, the mantra is the foundation. If I wait until Mortal Shedding to cultivate the Violet Jade Mantra, will I miss out on establishing a foundation?¡±


    Xie Fengtang chuckled. ¡°The Violet Jade Mantra isn¡¯t only a foundational mantra, but also the sum of the founder¡¯sprehension of the Dao, his understanding of cultivation realms. Although it has methods for cultivation and for breaking through, it also expounds upon the Dao. Cultivating it at any stage of cultivation cannot be consideredte. Back then, my Basking Moon Sect had yet to reach such glorious heights, but many Immortal Titans hade seeking the Violet Jade Mantra, seeking a foundation with which toprehend the Dao.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, I will seek the Divine Firmament Sword ssic!¡±


    ¡°The Divine Firmament Sword ssic¡­ You are sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes, this disciple is certain!¡±


    ¡°Very well!¡± Xie Fengtang pointed at the golden shortsword held by the statue, and the sword suddenly shed with a golden light that turned into a sword beam and shot into the air.


    The light erupted through the room, and countless images appeared.


    As these human figures appeared, they began to shift around. They used sabers, swords, spears, cudgels, hammers, fists, truncheons, and all other kinds of weapons, and they unleashed countless spells. mes shed and exploded, and countless flickering words appeared behind these figures. Red lines traveled within the human figures: the paths along which energy traveled. All of these images ovepping each other presented a dazzling and confusing ensemble.


    Tang Jie blurted out, ¡°This isn¡¯t a sword technique?¡±


    Xie Fengtang chuckled. ¡°Who said that the Divine Firmament Sword ssic is only a sword technique? If the Violet Jade Mantra is the sum of the founder¡¯s understanding of the Dao, then the Divine Firmament Sword ssic is eighty percent unrted to the founder. Rather, when juniors of the sect developed their own Immortal arts, they would record them here.¡±


    It turned out that the Divine Firmament Sword ssic was the product of the blood and sweat of many previous generations of the Basking Moon Sect.


    When it came to Immortal arts, an older one was not necessarily a better one.


    Time was always advancing, and those who came after stood on the shoulders of those who came before, so they were always able to develop better spell arts. Thus, at least when it came to spell arts, the new was actually stronger than the old. Those ancient existences were so terrifying because they had lived long and had cultivated for enough time, and also because it was said that when the world was first created, the Heavenly Dao was made manifest, and so the Dao was easier toprehend.


    Later on, the Heavenly Dao no longer revealed itself, and the Dao became more difficult to traverse. Thus, Dao cultivation declined, and Dao cultivators became Immortal cultivators, spirit cultivators.


    The Divine Firmament Sword ssic was an umtion of the various sessful spell arts developed by generations of the Basking Moon Sect, and all of them were bound to be wondrous techniques.


    But there were so many of them that Tang Jie would really only be able to learn one or two.


    Xie Fengtang said, ¡°In this session of art transmission, there are 1342 suitable spell arts, each with their own mysteries. Focus your mind on the one you wish to learn. Do not try to memorize too many, as that will only scatter your focus.¡±


    Art transmission also depended somewhat on luck.


    If you had the ability, memory, and perception, you could learn more, but if you didn¡¯t have the ability, you could only learn one, and if you were too greedy, you might even learn none.


    ¡°You have two hours. Within two hours, how much youprehend will depend on yourself. Remember: you only get one chance. A big contribution will be required to enter Heaven One Pavilion¡¯s ninth floor next time.¡±


    Xie Fengtang left with a smile, leaving Tang Jie toprehend on his own.


    He seemed to be implying something with hisst words.


    Art transmission normallysted six hours¡ªenough for most people toprehend one or two powerful spell arts.


    But Tang Jie only had two hours. No matter which one he chose, he was bound to not have enough time. In fact, it might just barely not be enough time.


    If he wanted more time toprehend, he would need to make a big contribution. This had always been a rule of sects, not some additional stiption.


    From this angle, if the disciples of the Basking Moon Sect wanted to obtain these Immortal arts, it couldn¡¯t be called difficult. They simply needed to make sufficient contributions.


    But with Tang Jie¡¯s current ability, he had nothing that could meet the sect¡¯s standards for contributions other than handing over the Martial Mirror.


    In truth, Xie Fengtang was already pressing Tang Jie to hand it over¡­ even if he didn¡¯t actually know what he wanted Tang Jie to hand over.


    Tang Jie had no means ofining. After all, this was an additional reward for being the top scorer of the exam, and since it was an extra reward, let alone two hours, he would have had to thank Xie Fengtang for even one minute.


    The treasures were far off while the mantra was close at hand. It was up to Tang Jie what to choose.


    But everything remained an unknown variable. Xie Fengtang could not have imagined that Tang Jie would say this after he left:


    ¡°Two hours¡­ Enough.¡±


    A momentter, he took out that formation diagram.


    He had known from the start that Basking Moon Academy would y some trick on him when he entered Heaven One Pavilion, and he had naturallye prepared.


    Actually, Basking Moon Academy didn¡¯t ban disciples from taking notes. After all, there was simply no time to record all the different energy circuits. It was far more effective to rely on one¡¯s own knowledge toprehend and memorize. Thus, Xie Fengtang had not thought about searching Tang Jie.


    After all, this was an art transmission, not a jail sentence.


    But what Basking Moon Academy hadn¡¯t anticipated was that Tang Jie knew formations.


    Understanding formations did not mean much. After all, one could memorize formations, but one couldn¡¯t bring them along. The problem was that no one knew that Tang Jie had a formation recreation diagram, which instantly resolved all his problems.


    The situation was entirely different.


    Two hours was enough for Tang Jie to finish what he wanted to do.


    Tang Jie took out an ink brush.


    He had made this brush using Bai Dan¡¯s feather.


    When he first received the feather, he had racked his mind thinking of a way to use it.


    If he wanted to use it like the fish scale, he would first have to get his hands on some birds.


    Clear Sky Mountains had Immortal cranes, but these were mounts for the teachers. Let alone capture them, if he tried to pluck a single one of their feathers, Bai Dan wouldn¡¯t forgive him.


    Jade Belt Lake had some golden carp, but Li Yu didn¡¯t care one bit about them, whereas the Immortal cranes of the Clear Sky Mountains were untouchable. One could say that the lives of beasts were not equal.


    Tang Jie had been unable to find an idea, and it was onlyter on when he went to seek Madam Shui¡¯s help that he had an idea and asked Madam Shui to make the feather into a brush. Whether this brush were used for talismans or formations, it would have an excellent effect.


    The formation diagram was now unfurled, the diagram empty like a nk sheet of paper. The only exception was a little brightness on the upper right corner. It had various colors of light, like a paint palette. This was where the materials forying down the formation were stored.


    Tang Jie dipped the brush into the palette, then, without taking the brush off the diagram, he drew a stroke, and the formation began to emerge on the paper.


    Laying down a formation like drawing a picture!


    As he made stroke after stroke, lines appeared on the formation recreation diagram, and a small memory formation began to form.


    Tang Jie¡¯s brush moved swiftly, and the more he used the brush, the easier the process became.


    Xie Fengtang was waiting outside while he wasying down this formation so that he couldprehend more spells than he should have been able to. If Xie Fengtang rushed in right now and saw this, even if he didn¡¯t kill Tang Jie on the spot, he would at least strip him of this chance at art transmission.


    But Tang Jie felt no fear. On the contrary, this high tension stimted his focus, driving him to move the brush faster and faster. Each formation line came out like he had memorized it a hundred times, with not a single mistake made.


    Even when he wasying down formations before, Tang Jie had never imagined that he could do it so gracefully and naturally. Under heavy pressure, Tang Jie had inadvertently entered a state of absolute concentration. Though he had yet to reach a state of absolute oneness with nature, he had undoubtedly taken a huge step forward.


    But Tang Jie wasn¡¯t focused on such things. All of his attention was on the formation, and he moved faster and faster, with greater and greater grace and elegance.


    Finally, he raised his brush and pressed it down on the center of the formation diagram.


    cing the eye!


    With this eye, the formation wasplete!


    A spiritual light shot out of the formation diagram and spread out, beginning to record the various images in the air.


    Whew! Tang Jie exhaled in relief.


    He was finally done.


    With this memory formation, he could record many of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic¡¯s spell arts and then slowly pick through them on his own time.


    s, the formation diagram had a limit, and this memory formation was much smaller than normal. It was impossible for it to memorize all the spell arts, but this was fine. At least Xie Fengtang wouldn¡¯t find out.


    In truth, the light exploding from the ninth floor of Heaven One Pavilion was visible even to people outside of the Clear Sky Mountains.


    But this was a normal urrence when art transmission was taking ce.


    Just like how therge formation outside of the Carefree House had hidden Tang Jie¡¯s spirit-gathering formation, the art transmission formation of Heaven One Pavilion¡¯s ninth floor concealed that little memory formation¡­ Two hourster, Xie Fengtang entered and saw Tang Jie meditating on the floor.


    He waved his hand, and the light of the Sword ssic dispersed.


    Xie Fengtang looked at Tang Jie. ¡°How was it? Which one did you learn?¡±


    Tang Jie grimaced.


    Xie Fengtang smiled at his expression. ¡°If you failed toprehend any, there¡¯s nothing to be done. The sect has its rules, and you will need to make a contribution¡­¡±


    Before he could finish, Tang Jie said, ¡°Haaa, this disciple is ipetent and was only able to learn three spell arts, and there¡¯s also one that I was barely able to memorize, so I probably won¡¯t get anywhere with it.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Three?¡±


    Xie Fengtang was utterly dumbfounded.

 Chapter 81 - Seclusion

    <h2>Chapter 81: Seclusion</h2>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Xie Fengtang didn¡¯t dare to believe his ears.


    He stared at Tang Jie. ¡°You said you memorized three spells?¡±


    ¡°To be more precise, three and a half,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    He wasn¡¯t worried about shocking anyone, directly stating that he had learned three and a half.


    The reason he did so was that he would eventually have to use the spell arts he had learned. If he said that he had only memorized one, then he would only be able to use one in the future. How would he exin things if he then used a second?


    Since that was the case, he might as well make himself a genius. My memorization ability is just that good! What about it?


    Other people could have nine-cycle Jade Gates, so why couldn¡¯t he have the talent of incredible memory?


    He had said ¡°three and a half¡± because Tang Jie estimated that this was about what he could aplish in the next ten years.


    The spell arts of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic couldn¡¯t bepared to the spell arts of the floors below. Each one was deep and broad and could be used all the way to Celestial Heart or Violet Pce without a problem, growing stronger alongside the user.


    But for the same reason, these spell arts were extremely difficult to cultivate.


    Unlike pure spells like the Aqualight Shroud, the spell arts of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic were not solely spell arts. They also had their specific cultivation mantra. Only when one reached a certain proficiency in the mantra could one use the spell arts at their full effectiveness.


    Thus, Tang Jie estimated that mastering three spells in ten years was already pretty good. He said ¡°three and a half¡± to leave himself a back-up in case he progressed faster than expected. If he needed to add an extra spell, he could just shout, ¡°I finally remember everything regarding the fourth spell!¡± Thus, the half spell would be a full spell.


    The memory formation had recorded more than just these spell arts, of course, and so most of them would be wasted, but¡­ who would care?


    Just keeping them there to look at was fine.


    Xie Fengtang¡¯s jaw dropped, and he asked in a trembling tone, ¡°Which three?¡±


    He automatically ignored the ¡°half¡±.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Violet Lightning Lunge, Formless Golden Body, and Divine Court Thousandshift. But, Headmaster, I memorized them in haste, and I worry that I might forget something if too long passes.¡±


    He looked at Xie Fengtang like someone who badly needed to go to the toilet, his expression screaming, ¡°Any questions can wait forter, and I just barely memorized these, so let me go and practice them first.¡±


    In truth, he hadn¡¯t memorized a single word of these three spells. He was just worried that Xie Fengtang wouldn¡¯t believe him and would ask him about the mantras for these spells. Since he naturally couldn¡¯t answer, he naturally needed an excuse to get out.


    Fortunately, his reason was a good one. Any disciple of the Basking Moon Sect that managed to learn part of these two treasured arts would be anxious to rush back home, often not emerging for ten days to half a month. These people didn¡¯t want toe out until they could recite most of the mantra, and might even go so far as to circte energy while taking a piss.


    Xie Fengtang didn¡¯t feel it was right to stop him. After staring at Tang Jie in a daze for a while, he finally said, ¡°Alright, go on.¡±


    Tang Jie voiced his thanks and then flew back to the Carefree House.


    Xie Fengtang watched him excitedly rush off, and his lips trembled as he said, ¡°Tried to steal the chicken and ended up losing the rice¡­¡±


    He then realized that this kid was a rare talent if he could memorize three spell arts in only two hours.


    Oh, that meant that even if he wasn¡¯t Tang Jiye, he was at least a genius, so taking him as an outer disciple couldn¡¯t be considered a loss, right?


    Xie Fengtang found the situation much easier to ept.


    The supreme self-consoling art could be found everywhere.


    Upon returning to the Carefree House, Tang Jie activated the formation and then hung up a sign saying that he was busy cultivating and not seeing anyone. In any case, everyone knew about what he had just gone through.


    After all that, he finally began to study the three spell arts that he had named.


    In those two hours, Tang Jie basically hadn¡¯t had anything to do besidesying down the formation, so he had decided to look through all the thousand-some spells so that he knew what was going on. Others would spend a few minutes selecting and the rest of the time memorizing, but he spent all of the time besides the time needed forying down the formation on selection, and so he had chosen the spell arts that would naturally be the best for him.


    Tang Jie¡¯s first selection was the Violet Lightning Lunge.


    As one could tell from the name, this was a spell art that could be used both for escape and forbat.


    In the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, the Violet Lightning Lunge was the one of the fastest spell arts. Its only ws were its immense consumption of spiritual energy and its short duration, meaning that it couldn¡¯t be used for long trips. However, for short-term sprints and closebat, it was extremely useful, good for attacking and for escaping. Besides that, it could be used with flight spell arts to increase one¡¯s flying speed.


    The Formless Golden Body was a powerful spell art that would increase the toughness of one¡¯s body and one¡¯s physical strength. This was different from the Hundred Refinement Period of the Mortal Shedding Realm. The Hundred Refinement Period was meant to permanently modify the physical body, whereas the Formless Golden Body was a spell art that only temporarily boosted the body¡¯s toughness and strength. However, it had an excellent effect, making the entire body as tough as steel and as strong as an earth dragon, supporting closebat in both offense and defense.


    Spell arts that strengthened the body normally focused on either toughness or strength. Only high-ranking spell arts like the Formless Golden Body could do both, and superbly.


    As it was a spell art, even though Tang Jie already had a tough body, he could still enjoy the benefits.


    Truthfully, he had chosen it because he needed an excuse for his strong constitution. Before enteringbat, he would just act out the Formless Golden Body¡¯s form, and whether he actually used it or not would depend on the situation he faced.


    Anyone who thought that Tang Jie would be low in spiritual energy because of this would probably miscalcte and face misfortune.


    As for the third spell, the Divine Court Thousandshift, it was a weapon spell.


    This spell art¡¯s greatest property was that it could be used with any kind of weapon.


    He had chosen this spell art because of the Martial Lord¡¯s Weapon Mantra.


    Although the Weapon Mantra seemed to do nothing but destroy weapons and other magic tools, Tang Jie had developed a few ideas when it came to that golden grain.


    With a thought, he summoned from his body the golden grain produced from the destruction of three spell weapons.


    The destruction of one spell weapon had produced a grain of sand so tiny that it was almost unnoticeable, but now, the grain of sand was big enough that he could see it in his hand and feel its toughness.


    Tang Jie rolled the grain of sand around in his fingers as he circted the Weapon Mantra. The grain of sand gradually lengthened until it became like a hair.


    ¡°As expected,¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    He looked at this almost invisible golden thread and pulled, but the golden thread didn¡¯t snap.


    ¡°Not bad!¡± Excited, Tang Jie circted the Energy Needle, gathering spiritual power on his fingers. He threw out the golden needle, upon which the golden thread prated through the wooden door, leaving a tiny, almost imperceptible, hole.


    The small demonstration was a big sess, and Tang Jie was ted.


    But a momentter, he paled. ¡°Shit! Where did I throw it to?¡±


    He rushed out and began to search.


    After searching for a while, Tang Jie finally sensed the little golden grain and found the golden thread sticking out of a pile of dirt.


    Tang Jie was verging on tears as he looked at the golden thread.


    This thing was far too small. If he threw it too far, he might not find it for several days!


    No, once it got a little bigger, its presence would also be stronger, making it somewhat easier to find.


    But there was no telling how many weapons he would have to destroy to bring it to a usable level. Tang Jie was left utterly speechless by the secret arts of the Martial Lord.


    Besides the three aforementioned spells, Tang Jie had also prepared a fourth spell, the Jade Shattering Finger¡ªan extremely powerful armor-piercing spell art. It was able to undo many kinds of defensive spell arts, including the Godhead Armor.


    And he cultivated the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra, which was the ideal support for the Jade Shattering Finger, making it twice as powerful.


    But Xie Fengtang hadn¡¯t asked, so Tang Jie hadn¡¯t bothered to mention it. If necessary, he could exchange it for another spell. In any case, there were tons of spell arts on the formation diagram that he could choose at his leisure.


    Tang Jie was in no rush to practice and would first carefully study them¡­ There was plenty of time to cultivate.


    Half a month went by in the blink of an eye.


    When Tang Jie emerged from seclusion, he was no longer worried about any interrogation from Xie Fengtang.


    s, Xie Fengtang wasn¡¯t interested. On the contrary, Wei Tianchong was in a rush to meet him.


    His heart had almost shattered from all the waiting.


    ¡°You¡¯re my servant student!¡± he howled as he grabbed Tang Jie¡¯s arm. ¡°Disappearing for half a month, how were you a servant in any way?¡±


    Tang Jie helplessly smiled. ¡°I was in seclusion.¡±


    ¡°Hmph, true, a legacy from the ninth floor of Heaven One!¡± Wei Tianchong grunted. ¡°What I don¡¯t get is how you could get such excellent treatment at Basking Moon Academy. Getting a fish scale, spirit medicine, a legacy, and I even heard that the crane fiend gifted you a feather! Why is it that I didn¡¯t get anything¡­?¡±


    His eyes were brimming with envy and resentment.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know what to say. He could only remind him, ¡°Mind your words. It¡¯s ¡®Senior Crane¡¯ or ¡®Senior Bai¡¯.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s not like she¡¯s here,¡± Wei Tianchong casually said.


    ¡°When ites to some things, you should pay attention to them at all times to develop a habit.¡±


    ¡°This is the only thing bad about you. You care too much about these things. Don¡¯t you ever get tired?¡± Wei Tianchong said, shaking his head.


    ¡°That¡¯s how I got a crane feather and fish scale,¡± Tang Jie breezily replied.


    Wei Tianchong was dumbfounded, and he dropped his head and earnestly thought about it. He soberly said, ¡°Tang Jie, you¡¯re right. You were able to get so much while I got nothing not because of any sort of favor from the heavens, but because you worked harder than me. I shouldn¡¯t envy you!¡±


    Tang Jie was dumbfounded and wondered how this kid had suddenly had a change in nature that made him so understanding. He hurriedly said, ¡°Third Young Master, you finally understand. Then from now on, we can work hard together¡­¡±


    Before he could finish, Wei Tianchong waved his hand. ¡°Work hard? That¡¯s too tiring. I¡¯m not interested.¡±


    ¡°Then why¡­¡±


    ¡°What I¡¯m trying to say is that you were rewarded for your hard work, and since you worked a lot, you naturally deserved a lot. As for me, I don¡¯t like too much hard work and suffering, so I¡¯ll just put in a little less work and get a little less. I can¡¯t put everything on the line for my dreams, but I can at least fulfill some of my desires! In the future, no matter how much you get, your young master won¡¯t envy you. You see? I¡¯m getting more and more sensible, right?¡± Wei Tianchong threw his head back andughed.


    Tang Jie was rendered utterly speechless. All he could do was give a thumbs-up. ¡°You win!¡±

 Chapter 82 - The Fearless Spell!

    <h2>Chapter 82: The Fearless Spell!</h2>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After chatting with Wei Tianchong for a while, Tang Jie finally learned that quite a lot had happened in the academy while he was in seclusion.


    The most exciting topic was naturally that the training was beginning!


    Student training had always been a big deal in the academy. It was often only then that a student¡¯s status began to truly change.


    Starting from training, students would basically be divided into two groups.


    One category consisted of those whocked talent and resources, and so they turned their focus entirely to bing students and advancing in cultivation. Wei Tianzhi and Wu Xing were perfect examples of this category.


    The other category were those of decent talent, who could be students through their own efforts without a problem. Their goal was to be outer disciples or disciples.


    For these people, training was when they could show their talent.


    In Basking Moon Academy, there were two kinds of training.


    One kind was solo training. Solo training involved taking on trials. Established on the Divine Battleground were the Seven Celestial Halls. Students could enter this hall to take on a trial, and when theypleted the trial, they would receive an evaluation which could range from 0 to 100.


    At one hundred points, one could receive a reward. But any person could only receive the hundred-point reward once from each trial. However, the earlier one got the reward, the higher the quality of the reward would be.


    Above the hundred-point reward was the record reward, which was for the highest record the academy had for each trial. If one broke the record, one could leave behind their name and obtain the record reward.


    This was divided into tiers. Each trial was divided into Spirit Spring, Spirit Lake, Spirit Sea, Mortal Shedding, Hundred Refinement, Nine Revolutions, and Cognitive Creation for a total of seven records.


    As no one in Basking Moon Academy had ever reached Celestial Heart within ten years, there was as of yet no Celestial Heart record.


    The second kind of training was paired training, which was student-versus-student sparring, the most exciting form of training. It was an important standard for evaluating everyone¡¯s actualbat strength.


    The academy would assign grades based on the sparring results of each day. It would select a top five and issue one to five energy-nurturing pills to the corresponding ranks, which could be used to slightly increase one¡¯s cultivation speed.


    Every three months, there would be a minor tournament. A top ten would be selected, and they would receive one to ten Essence-Refining Pills¡ªthe same that Wu Xing had tried to buy.


    Every year, there would be a major tournament from which a top twenty would be selected. These would be given one to twenty True Essence Pills, and the first ce winner would be able to select a spell weapon or art relic ording to their cultivation level, but one could only receive one such prize per cultivation level. If one got first ce again but had failed to advance in cultivation, the privilege would pass on to second ce, and this privilege could not be umted.


    One year after entry into the academy, all students would be formally evaluated. Exam grade, points, cultivation level, and training performance would serve as the four factors of one¡¯s final evaluation, and the three hundred best would be selected.


    These three hundred were called the ¡°reserve¡± outer disciples and disciples. All that one could be certain about was that, while these three hundred would not necessarily all be able to be outer disciples, those who couldn¡¯t get into this group would have no hope at all.


    After the full ten-year term, the academy would add on an evaluation of one¡¯s potential, which looked at whether a student resorted to extreme methods to overstimte their potential so that they could increase their cultivation level.


    If they really had done such a thing, the school wouldn¡¯t punish them, but there could be no hope of bing an outer disciple for them.


    Thus, starting from training, thepetition in school truly began.


    Every day, month, and year, the training grades would directly decide the resources avable to everyone. The higher one managed to rank, the more resources and rewards one would receive, and the more rapidly one would get stronger.


    In order to prevent a minority of powerful students from monopolizing the resources, the academy had a rule that a student could only rank five times per month in sparring training.


    After all, the academy understood that other than people who were of simr strength and would thus have both victories and losses, when the gap in strength got to a certain point, the weaker party would always lose to the stronger party. If they didn¡¯t add this limit, there would be no need for training. They could just choose the strongest people and give them the rewards every day.


    Fortunately, the limit applied only to the daily rewards. There was no restriction on the minor and major tournaments. If you had the skill, you could even hold the top position for ten years in a row without a problem.


    For this purpose, the academy had designed a point system for the Divine Battleground.


    Each student would start with ten points. A win was worth one point and a loss was minus one point. If the points ran out, one would lose the privilege to take part in sparring training for the day.


    The battleground points would refresh once every day, and points did not umte over the days. The rankings were decided based on the points of that specific day.


    In order to prevent fraud, match-ups were decided by drawing lots, and matching those of simr strengths took priority.


    As usual, the division was done by tier: Spirit Spring versus Spirit Spring, Spirit Lake versus Spirit Lake. While lower tiers could challenge higher tiers, the opposite was not true. The rewards for doing so would not change, however, as the privilege of challenging was already a sort of favor toward the weaker side.


    There was one other type besides these two:bat drills. These were held in special regions within the Clear Sky Mountains and could be considered the safest basic missions. But taking part in them required payment of a fee.


    In summary, Basking Moon Academy had a lot of rules, and every one had its purpose. While they encouragedpetition, they didn¡¯t blindly believe in it.


    While Tang Jie had been in seclusion for half a month, Wei Tianchong had been to the Divine Battleground several times.


    Solo training tested one¡¯s personal strength, so it didn¡¯t permit the help of external aids. Thus, he had gone to the sparring training field, but he had ended up badly losing.


    ¡°They¡¯re all vicious people!¡± Wei Tianchong wept, grabbing onto Tang Jie. ¡°Normally, they¡¯re all polite like brothers, so why do they suddenly be hostile in the arena? They¡¯re brutal when they fight, focusing on the face!¡±


    Looking at Wei Tianchong¡¯s dejected expression, Tang Jie began to understand why he had been waiting for him for half a month.


    But Tang Jie found it strange. ¡°This shouldn¡¯t be. You have a puppet, which is much easier to use than spell arts.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that they¡¯re all lowly scoundrels! They know I¡¯m using the Spirit Guidance spell to control the puppet, so as soon as the fight starts, they use spiritual energy to disrupt me and prevent me from givingmands, then beat me up!¡±


    Tang Jie was dumbfounded. ¡°How could they know something like spiritual energy disruption? They¡¯re just activating their spiritual energy to agitate the surrounding spiritual energy, just yelling into the air. How much effect could it have? In my view, it¡¯s because you¡¯re too afraid and aren¡¯t properly using your spells!¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s face reddened, and he dropped his head and fell silent.


    Tang Jie was right. Those students hadn¡¯t learned any spell art that could specifically disrupt spiritual energy. It was just that heckedbat experience and would lose his courage in battle.


    If one couldn¡¯t work up the courage, one might not be able to use even ten percent of one¡¯s strength.


    In the end, Wei Tianchong was a young master who had not suffered much hardship. His mother had kept his personality in check, and while he was a little bit of a degenerate, he wasn¡¯t so bossy as to be tyrannical.


    But as he was so mediocre in all aspects, in an actual fight, he naturally wasn¡¯t better than the others. The puppet could only serve as a decoration.


    ¡°This sort of thing isn¡¯t a big deal,¡± Tang Jieforted. ¡°Train a little more and you¡¯ll adapt to the environment.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to get beaten up a lot more,¡± Wei Tianchong bitterly said.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t go and get used to it yourself, I can¡¯t help you.¡±


    ¡°How can that do?¡± Wei Tianchong jumped up. ¡°You said that you would help me get to the top ten, but my scores are terrible everywhere else. How do you think I¡¯m going to get into the top ten with just that?¡±


    Now you want to be a top-ten disciple?


    Tang Jie was utterly speechless.


    After thinking it over, Tang Jie finally said, ¡°Right, you should have reached Spirit Spring, yes?¡±


    ¡°Mm, a few days ago.¡±


    ¡°Did you learn a new spell yet?¡±


    ¡°No. Didn¡¯t you say you were going to help me pick one?¡±


    ¡°Good; then I have an idea. Come on. Let¡¯s go and pick out a spell for you,¡± Tang Jie said as he pulled Wei Tianchong along.


    ¡°What spell?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll know when we get there.¡±


    ¡°Just tell me first.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, don¡¯t be such a worrywart. You¡¯ll find out once I help you choose it. Right, why didn¡¯t Shi Menge with you?¡±


    ¡°Oh, him? He¡¯s still in ss. He didn¡¯t pass the exam.¡±


    When they came out of Heaven One Pavilion, Wei Tianchong was still pestering Tang Jie. ¡°You¡¯re sure this spell is good?¡±


    ¡°Trust me, Third Young Master, it will definitely work,¡± Tang Jie firmly replied. ¡°Why not try it now?¡±


    ¡°Now? I haven¡¯t even practiced this spell yet.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t require any particrly hard training. This Fearless spell is a spell to reduce pain. After you use it, it will be effective for some time. During a battle, you only need to release it once and be fine, and it doesn¡¯t require any special training,¡± Tang Jie casually said.


    The Fearless spell!


    This was the spell that Tang Jie had selected for Wei Tianchong. It was a spell that weakened the effect of pain, and even the pain from being struck by a sword or saber would be greatly reduced. For some types of pain, it would even stimte the user and make them feel joy.


    Tang Jie began to instruct him. ¡°When facing formidable strength, you first have to have a formidable heart. Your current problem is that you¡¯re afraid of fighting and pain. We have to take care of this problem first before we can consider solving the problems with yourbat strength. With this spell, you won¡¯t have to worry about the pain. All that¡¯s left is to instruct you in how to properly use your puppet!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡±


    ¡°Extremely sure, Third Young Master!¡± Tang Jie affirmed.


    Under Tang Jie¡¯s encouragement, Wei Tianchong once more went to the Divine Battleground.


    The Divine Battleground was located in a valley of the Clear Sky Mountains. On one end of the valley was the solo training area, and on the other end was the sparring training area.


    This was Tang Jie¡¯s first time here, and he found the area very refreshing andcking in any of the murderous aura he expected. If someone hadn¡¯t told him, he wouldn¡¯t have realized that this was a ce of bloodshed within Basking Moon Academy.


    Wei Tianchong led Tang Jie to the sparring training grounds like an old hand, and Tang Jie was greeted with the sight of a massive drilling ground.


    This was not the sparring area, but the practice area. It was where students cultivated, practiced their skills, made friends, and also agreed to spars with each other.


    The rooms lined up along the sides of the practice area were the sparring rooms. Each sparring room had a formation protecting it. Registration was required before entry, and there was someone overseeing it. Besides that, there was also a doctor to safeguard against idents.


    The Divine Battleground wasn¡¯t the mission area, and no one was allowed to die here.


    Wei Tianchong went straight to a sparring room, where the student managing it drew a lot to decide his opponent.


    Tang Jie took the time to observe the practice area and watch those students training on it. He was used to deciding on his ns before carrying them out, and he had always ced an extremely high value on information. Anyone might be a future opponent, so he would first see how they practiced and get a sense of their style so that he could draft tactics for the future.


    He wasn¡¯t worried about Wei Tianchong. He had done so poorly in this period that, ording to the principle of assigning opponents close in strength, he would probably be given a rookie as an opponent.


    Sure enough, after a little while, Wei Tianchong excitedly rushed out, waving around his arms. ¡°I won! I won!¡±


    But his body was covered in blood, and even his nose had been broken. He was in miserable condition.


    A student came out behind him, his angry face all ck and blue. He muttered as he walked, ¡°God, what a tough bastard. What did he eat that made him so fierce? It¡¯s like he didn¡¯t care for his life.¡±


    Wei Tianchong hugged Tang Jie. ¡°Tang Jie, you¡¯re incredible! I really won!¡±


    ¡°Third Young Master, congrattions on your first victory in your lifetime, but I believe that it won¡¯t be yourst,¡± Tang Jie very officiously replied.


    ¡°Naturally. This Fearless spell is really good. Your choice really was excellent!¡± Wei Tianchong excitedly said.


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart tightened when he saw how happy Wei Tianchong was. He cautiously warned, ¡°The Fearless spell is good, but¡­¡±


    ¡°But what?¡± Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t care. Rolling up his sleeves, he flexed his biceps to show off his strength.


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. ¡°But the Fearless spell can only conceal pain for a moment. The wounds will normallyst for somewhat longer¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Wei Tianchong was startled, and his jubnt smile began to fade.


    The Fearless spell¡¯s effects began to fade, and the pain instantly engulfed Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong immediately howled, covering his face as he cried out, ¡°Holy shit! It hurts like hell! Tang Jie, you bastard, why didn¡¯t you tell me this earlier!?¡±


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have picked it if I had. Third Young Master, in life, you¡¯ll have to confront things that you don¡¯t like. To experience thister is actually a blessing. After all, you still won, yes? It¡¯s still better than being beaten up and not winning.¡±


    ¡°I know! The problem is that I was sofortable getting hit that I let him punch me a few extra times!¡± Wei Tianchong moaned as he covered his nose.

 Chapter 83 - Planning

    <h1>Chapter 83: nning</h1>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Though Tang Jie was at the Divine Battleground, he didn¡¯t take part. He spent the entire day watching how they trained, even asking for a list of all the victorious students in the half a month he had been in seclusion¡ªnot just the top five, but the entirety of the top one hundred.


    It wasn¡¯t easy to get this information, and Tang Jie was ultimately forced to rely on his reputation as a student who had entered Heaven One¡¯s ninth floor and obtained the Divine Firmament Sword ssic to get it.


    Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t understand why he wanted it. Tang Jie only exined, ¡°Young Master, don¡¯t underestimate the value of this information. There¡¯s a lot of knowledge in here. Only with sufficient information can we design a n and get a good ranking, perhaps even get into the top five.¡±


    ¡°You still need a n?¡±


    Wei Tianchong was speechless. You got the legacy of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic. Why do you need to be so careful?


    From the moment Tang Jie was permitted into the ninth floor of Heaven One, he entered the ranks of the strong students. But because of his seclusion, he had not had a chance to disy his strength. However, all the students believed that while Tang Jie might not be strong enough to get first ce, after inheriting the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, he could at least get into the top five.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°I¡¯m not doing this research for me, but for you. If the n is good, there¡¯s even a hope of getting you onto the public ranking.¡±


    ¡°Get me onto the public ranking?¡± Wei Tianchong felt his knees getting weak.


    What sort of joke was that?


    He knew his own strength. He had nothing else besides puppets.


    And he wasn¡¯t the only one with a puppet.


    In this period of time, some people had seen how good Wei Tianchong¡¯s puppet looked and started to make their own.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Yes, since I¡¯m going to make you a disciple, I naturally have to put in a little work. A good n maximizes a person¡¯s strength, even allowing the weak to ovee the strong.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that I¡¯m too weak¡­¡± Wei Tianchong weakly replied.


    Tang Jie: ¡°¡­¡±


    This kid might have seemed foolish, but he actually knew what was going on.


    Tang Jie could only try to buoy his spirits. ¡°I¡¯m the one who wants to get you onto the public ranking, and I wouldn¡¯t do such a thing if I wasn¡¯t confident. Look here. ording to the school rules, to prevent a small number of people from monopolizing all the resources, anyone can only enter the ranking five times a month. What does this mean? On the surface, the academy says that only five people per cultivation tier can get a reward, but in reality, it¡¯s at least thirty people. Considering that the majority of people can¡¯t guarantee that they¡¯ll rank five times, this number is even greater! Thus, in reality, you¡¯re not fighting for the top five, but the top one hundred.¡±


    ¡°I get that, but what does it matter?¡± Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t get it. For him, whether it was the top five or one hundred, they were all too distant.


    ¡°¡®What does it matter¡¯?¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°The difference here is huge. You have to understand that ording to the school rules, so long as you get into the top five, it counts as one time, regardless of whether you¡¯re first or fifth. If all the experts upy the rankings on the same day, that means that at least five of the strong students have lost one chance. If this repeats itself a few times, doesn¡¯t that mean your chances will increase theter in the month it is?¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying I should avoid the strong students?¡± Wei Tianchong¡¯s eyes brightened.


    ¡°To be more precise, you need to choose your opponents!¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°You¡¯re still too weak, so even if you didn¡¯t run into the likes of Qi Shaoming or An Rumeng, anyone mildlypetent would still beat you. Let alone the top one hundred, even the top three hundred is no good. Thus, rather than avoiding the strong, our n is choosing the weak.¡±


    Tang Jie used the same mindset he had used when dealing with Zhuang Shen.


    ¡°But even like that, the more I fight, the stronger my opponents will be, and I¡¯ll still have no hope.¡±


    Tang Jie patiently exined, ¡°Actually, everyone has things they¡¯re good at and bad at. Cultivators often counter each other in certain ways. If you find an opponent that you counter, even if they¡¯re stronger than you, you will still have a chance at beating them.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Wei Tianchong was enlightened. ¡°You¡¯re saying that I should specifically look for opponents that I counter? Which opponents are those?¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°The current you can¡¯t counter anyone. You only know a total of two spells: the Spirit Guidance spell and the Fearless spell. Who do you think you can counter?


    ¡°However, that doesn¡¯t mean you can¡¯t counter anyone in the future. You¡¯ve already grown proficient in the Spirit Guidance spell, and the Fearless spell doesn¡¯t need any sort of proficiency, so now, you can learn a few more spells and develop your own specialty.¡±


    ¡°What should I learn?¡±


    ¡°You absolutely have to learn the Sovereign Command spell. This is the upgraded version of the Spirit Guidance spell, and it is the actual basic spell for controlling puppets. With it, you won¡¯t need to use spirit lines to control the puppet and will more easily control it. With the Spirit Guidance spell as your foundation, you should be able to adapt to this spell very quickly. As for other spells, this depends on two factors. The first is you, and the second is your future opponent,¡± Tang Jie said as he patted the information he had gathered.


    Wei Tianchong was somewhat getting it. ¡°You¡¯re saying I should first see what the specialties of my potential opponents are, and then¡­ take the right medicine for the illness.¡±


    ¡°Correct,¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°First, we have to find the opponents that we want to counter, and then we should choose spells targeted against them. They will be your stepping stones in the future. After that, we need to see when your opponents will appear. Look right here. This records all the people who managed to rank, when they participated, and the sparring room they fought in. A person has their own habits. For example, they have a certain time of day when they cultivate, when they practice spells, and when they go training. Once you have grasped their habits, you¡¯ll know when theye and when they¡¯ll leave. Once you know this, you can then understand their fighting styles and strength, after which we can choose which opponent to challenge and avoid the opponents we don¡¯t want to fight.¡±


    ¡°But they could change their habits at any time.¡±


    ¡°Then you just lose one. So what? When victory depends on long-term umtion, one or two variables is nothing at all. So long as their behavior and fighting style doesn¡¯t change, our chances of victory are higher! The chance at victory is the foundation! Moreover, even if they really change, we just need to relearn the rules.¡±


    ¡°It seems very troublesome,¡± Wei Tianchong worriedly said.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Young Master, you don¡¯t think every good idea doesn¡¯t have to consider the difficulties of execution, do you? The n I propose isn¡¯t very difficult to think of, at least not for the hundreds of elites present in Basking Moon Academy. The real problem is that gathering all this information is difficult, as is analyzing it. A lot of time and effort is required to get a good result. Rather than wasting that time, it would be better to focus your efforts on cultivating and increasing your strength. I¡¯m doing this for you. If I had to do it for myself, I really wouldn¡¯t be willing to go through the effort!¡±


    Getting the movements and habits of all those people down wasn¡¯t an easy task, which was why Tang Jie had asked for all that information. Moreover, he didn¡¯t need it just for today, but for many other days in the future.


    Only with this vast sea of information would Tang Jie be able to find the right opponents for Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong nodded.


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°Of course, finding the right opponent still isn¡¯t enough. Basking Moon Academy has far too many students, and not even I have the energy to handle it all. Fortunately, we have another method of remedying this problem.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the method?¡±


    ¡°The second method is the school¡¯s point system. ording to the school¡¯s rules, each victory is worth one point, and the student ranking depends on how many points you can get every day. In other words, if Qi Shaoming came to the battleground today and only fought ten matches, he would only get ten points at most. And if you fought thirty and won twenty-one, you would get twelve points, so you would beat Qi Shaoming in the daily ranking. Do you get it?¡±


    Wei Tianchong finally got it. ¡°So you¡¯re saying I should increase the time I spend in training?¡±


    ¡°Correct!¡± Tang Jie affirmed. ¡°People like Qi Shaoming normally won¡¯t spend their entire day at the battleground. After all, they need to cultivate. I¡¯ve nced over these records and found that people like Qi Shaoming and An Rumeng almost always go to the battleground in the morning, and they only spend four hours at most in training, so the number of daily battles they have doesn¡¯t exceed ten. Do you know why that is?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°They go to the battleground in the morning because they¡¯re used to going to ss in the day and cultivating at night. A capable person must have habits. Thus, after the exam, they use ss time for training and continue to devote the rest of the time to cultivation. And they fight only ten battles because they don¡¯t have enough spiritual energy!¡±


    A human¡¯s power was limited, and even the most pugnacious fighter would feel tired after ten rounds.


    For geniuses like Qi Shaoming and An Rumeng, all they could do was guarantee their chances of victory, but when fighting opponents of a simr level, they weren¡¯t necessarily able to endure more battles than their opponents.


    Not even they could win every single match.


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°They won¡¯t waste too much time on the battleground recovering spiritual energy, and since they can only get onto the rankings five times a month, it¡¯s not worthpeting every day. But this is an opportunity for us.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Since you can only get onto the top five five days a month, we can choose to put all our efforts into one day. I might not be able to get onto the top five five times, but I should have a chance at getting onto it one time, right?¡± Wei Tianchong confidently said.


    ¡°Correct. But other people might also have realized this, and they will also make their own decisions. Fortunately, your Lesser Sea Spiral Essence Mantra gives you an endless stream of energy, so you have the advantage when ites to recovery.¡± When talking up the advantages of the Spiral Essence Mantra, Tang Jie had to stop himself from smiling. Fortunately, he quickly got ahold of himself and continued, ¡°Of course, when choosing a spell, we should choose those that use up less energy. You fight using puppets, so in protracted battles, you have the advantage.¡±


    With these words, Wei Tianchong was finally confident.


    He loudly said, ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll follow your n!¡±


    He had no idea that everything Tang Jie had said was utter nonsense!


    His n was to get Wei Tianchong up in the rankings, but the top five was still far away.


    However, Tang Jie was well aware that while some people didn¡¯t work hard because they werezy, other people didn¡¯t work hard because they couldn¡¯t see any hope.


    ¡°If this is all you have, I think that you won¡¯t get anywhere no matter how hard you try.¡± These words could utterly destroy a person¡¯s life. ¡°Work diligently. I think that you have some potential in this field, that you have room for development.¡± These words could create a sessful individual.


    People needed hope to motivate them into fighting with all they had.


    Wei Tianchong might have feared pain and might havecked grand ambitions, but this didn¡¯t mean that he didn¡¯t want to keep advancing.


    But in his view, with his four-cycle Jade Gate, he really couldn¡¯tpete against the others.


    Since that was the case, he naturally didn¡¯t feel like putting in any effort.


    Thus, to make this sort of person work hard, one needed to give them hope.


    Tang Jie had done a little more. He didn¡¯t want to just spur Wei Tianchong on; he also wanted to use beautiful words to sketch out the ¡°perfect¡± n, to draw a beautiful cake. This painted cake would be so alluring that he could draw Wei Tianchong forward step by step¡­ This was his real goal.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t need him to be capable of fighting the world, but he at least needed to know how to fight and struggle!


    In the midst of this struggle, his strength would gradually increase, he would gradually mature, and he would get closer and closer to the goal.


    Tang Jie¡¯s efforts finally bore fruit. Seeing that Wei Tianchong was finally energetic again, Tang Jie was somewhat moved. He patted Wei Tianchong on the shoulder and said, ¡°Rx. So long as you¡¯re willing to put in the effort, I can definitely make you stand out. Starting from today, I will be your golden finger, your old grandpa. No matter what, I¡¯ll help you carve out a little space of your own on the path of Immortality!¡±


    Wei Tianchong waspletely baffled by what he was saying.

 Chapter 84 - Celestial Defense Hall

    <h1>Chapter 84: Celestial Defense Hall</h1>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    For the next few days, Tang Jie devoted his energy to helping Wei Tianchong gather information, organize it, and analyze opponents. In addition, he ultimately helped Wei Tianchong choose the Mis Step and the Evilhook Shadow Soldier.


    The Mis Step was a kind of evasive art that specialized in quickly dodging in a small area. The Evilhook Shadow Soldier was a spell that summoned shadow soldiers to assist one in battle. Among the lower-rank spells, it was of the more practical kind.


    Tang Jie had already decided to have Wei Tianchong walk the path of the summoner. After all, this kid disliked work and enjoyedfort, so this was the best for him. This was the reason he had picked the Evilhook Shadow Soldier for him.


    The Evilhook Shadow Soldiers were the lowest tier of shadow soldiers, and their fighting power was limited. But they were rather good at holding down the enemy, and served as excellent hindrances.


    The strategy Tang Jie had devised for Wei Tianchong was very simple: evade with the Mis Step, disrupt with the shadow soldiers, and attack with the puppet.


    At the Spirit Disciple phase, spells were limited in power, so most Spirit Disciples chose the same path as Tang Jie and Zhuang Shen, joining spells to a martial arts basis, and so most of their attacks were close-ranged.


    As for Spirit Sea Tier and above, one would have ten thousand drops of spiritual liquid and be more proficient in many spells. This was when spells started to fly back and forth.


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s current cultivation direction was to target a certain part of the student body, and these students werepetitors for the top five. If he could ovee this trial, Wei Tianchong¡¯s chances would soar. Besides that, this sort of battle via exhaustion by relying on subordinates didn¡¯t consume much spiritual energy, so it was perfect for a protracted battle.


    Once Wei Tianchong grew proficient in these spells and then learned one or two long-range spells, he would essentially be a magician countering a warrior.


    What followed was bitter training for Wei Tianchong. No matter how much he countered his opponents, he still needed a basic level of strength to fully exhibit his advantage.


    After resolving Wei Tianchong¡¯s problem, Tang Jie could finally focus on himself.


    But rather than showing off his power on the sparring ground like everyone had anticipated, Tang Jie didn¡¯t even go.


    He went to the solo training area.


    The Divine Battleground¡¯s solo training area was on the other end of the valley, far across from the sparring training area. Its official name was actually the Spell Art Specialized Training Zone.


    He walked past the training ground, went through the mountain valley, and arrived in a forest that was awash with bird song and the aroma of flowers. He saw several pce halls towering in the distance, a perimeter wall around them.


    Tang Jie counted them and found that there were seven in all. Each one had a nameboard in front of it: Celestial Pivot, Celestial sh, Celestial Pearl, Celestial Simtion, Celestial Execution, Celestial Variation, and Celestial Defense.


    These were the illustrious Seven Celestial Halls.


    Tang Jie knew that these names actually corresponded to different categories: attack (Celestial Execution), defense (Celestial Defense), evasion (Celestial sh), endurance (Celestial Pearl), adaptation (Celestial Variation), agility (Celestial Pivot), and integration (Celestial Simtion).


    Each hall had its corresponding requirements when it came to spells, and the testing and training focused precisely on these requirements.


    An elder sat in front of the entrance to the halls. There was a table next to him which was piled with jade tokens. He nced at Tang Jie and said, ¡°Name and tier.¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie, Spirit Spring Tier.¡±


    The old man took a jade token and wrote upon it his name and tier. He then threw it over and said, ¡°This is your teleportation token that will take you into the Seven Celestial Halls. You may enter each hall only once. Spirit Spring takes the first door on your left.¡±


    Tang Jie looked at the jade token. Aplex formation diagram had been carved into it¡ªpresumably a teleportation formation. But it could only be used to travel inside and outside of the halls. At the same time, this formation also kept track of his grade.


    Tang Jie hung it from his waist with his point card, and after some thought, he decided to go for Celestial Defense Hall first.


    He cultivated the Visceral Manifestation and Parting ssics, and his constitution was much tougher than average. He wanted to see how good it was at resisting attacks.


    He arrived in front of Celestial Defense Hall. There was a notice in front of it, upon which was written:


    ¡°This hall is for training defensive abilities. After receiving a token, you may enter. No equipment is permitted. You may enter the hall once a day, and if you find the challenge to be beyond your power, activate the token to be teleported outside of the pce. Don¡¯t lose your life just because you¡¯re trying to be brave!!!¡±


    The three exmation marks in a row were to emphasize that the students were not to risk their lives.


    Although Basking Moon Academy¡¯s cultivation didn¡¯t require people to lose their lives, there were always those people who tried to y with their lives.


    Tang Jie entered the first door on the left, upon which his surroundings changed and he was transported to a closed area.


    This area wasn¡¯trge and was all gloomy. A row of ck-armored people stood in front of him.


    ¡°Puppets?¡± Tang Jie called out in surprise.


    He could tell at a nce that these ten ck-armored people were all puppets. Their bodies were thickly covered in formations that shed in the gloom.


    The moment Tang Jie appeared, a ck-armored puppet charged out and punched at him.


    Tang Jie instinctively dodged, but he found that the puppet was incredibly fast, instantly charging to his side, punching at his lower abdomen and sending him flying.


    Though this punch seemed savage, there was more driving force than there was shock, so Tang Jie wasn¡¯t badly hurt.


    The ck-armored puppet quickly delivered another punch to Tang Jie¡¯s chest.


    Tang Jie realized that while the puppet could move quickly, the punching speed wasn¡¯t anything to write home about. This was presumably an opportunity the school gave for students to use spells.


    Despite this discovery, Tang Jie didn¡¯t use any sort of defensive spell, letting his body take the hit. He discovered that this punch was slightly stronger than the first one.


    The ck puppet continued to savagely beat Tang Jie, each punch stronger than thest. Tang Jie was determined to test just how strong his body was, so he constantly waved around his arms to block.


    The puppet continued its merciless beatdown, getting stronger and stronger until its punches reached the point where they could shatter stone, at which they stopped getting stronger. At this time, Tang Jie heard a soft beep from the jade token.


    Another ck-armored puppet charged out. Just like the first, it began to savagely beat Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie immediately understood that these ten puppets represented one hundred points, with each puppet representing ten points. Only by blocking the attacks of all ten puppets would one get one hundred points. As for the record, it was naturally about how long one couldst.


    Upon realizing this, Tang Jie decided to fight it out with the puppets.


    As time went on, Tang Jie had to deal with more puppets. Once he was dealing with three puppets at once, he began to feel like he was hitting his limit.


    Though their punches couldn¡¯t deal too much damage to him, his body was beginning to ache from the umted beating.


    Moreover, with the increased number, blocking grew more and more difficult.


    At this time, Tang Jie blocked a hammering blow from one puppet, but the other two puppets nked him, each one punching at his waist. Thankfully, they were restrained by their formations from attacking his head.


    Even so, Tang Jie was still forced into a retreat. A momentter, the fourth puppet rushed out and gave Tang Jie a savage kick.


    This was a heavy kick that was stronger than any of the previous punches.


    ¡°Shit! The level went up!¡± Tang Jie cursed. When these puppets reached a certain number, they would get a little stronger. Previously, they had used nothing but their fists, but when the fourth one came out, they started using their feet.


    He rolled and jumped to his feet, but before he could get his footing, a puppet rammed its head into his chest and sent him flying again.


    Alright, so they can use their heads too.


    Tang Jie rolled on the ground and vomited blood.


    He saw two puppets charging at him, raising their feet in unison to stomp on him.


    Tang Jie could only raise his hands to defend, but another puppet rushed up and kicked him in the waist, almost breaking his bones.


    The four puppets were attacking him all at once.


    With no better option, Tang Jie activated the Formless Golden Body. Eight fists punched at Tang Jie¡¯s body, but the impacts made metallic ngs.


    The powerful bacsh caused all four puppets to pause. Tang Jie rolled out of the way and hastily got to his feet. Only then did he have a chance to sigh in relief.


    With the support of the Formless Golden Body, he had increased his defensive powers and could hold out for a little longer.


    But Tang Jie wasn¡¯t satisfied.


    He shook his head. ¡°Is this as far as I can go? That can¡¯t be.¡±


    He pped the jade token. The four puppets were charging at him, but when he pped the token, he transformed into a light and vanished from the space. He appeared once more outside the entrance.


    The old man at the entrance nced at Tang Jie. Looking down, he said, ¡°Forty-one points, not bad among the new students. But for students with the Formless Golden Body, it¡¯s somewhatcking. When ites to points in the special training halls, there¡¯s a big difference between the first fifty and thest fifty.¡±


    Tang Jie was surprised to hear this. He wasn¡¯t surprised that the old man knew the spells he had, but he was surprised that points became more difficult to get the more points he had.


    But when he recalled how the puppets suddenly got stronger when the fourth one joined in, he somewhat understood.


    However, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t worried. His primary goal here was to test himself, not to pass the trial, so he didn¡¯t care too much about the points.


    Thus, he respectfully said, ¡°Yes, this student has only begun to learn the Formless Golden Body and has yet to gain proficiency, hence my unsatisfactory performance. This student is certain to train harder when he gets back.¡±


    After saying farewell to the elder, Tang Jie didn¡¯t leave. Instead, he found a corner to rest.


    He was currently considering a problem. The Parting ssic¡¯s body-refining was not as effective as he had thought.


    Though it wasparable to a low-ss spell when it came to strengthening the body, this was still a secret art cultivated by the Martial Lord.


    Putting aside the three years cultivating the Visceral Manifestation ssic, he had bathed himself two times ording to the methods listed out by the Parting ssic, investing several thousand spirit coins, yet this was all he could get? The effect was less than if he had put on a piece of armor, but this shouldn¡¯t have been the case.


    Was he not cultivating it correctly?


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but wonder.


    As was his habit, Tang Jie circted the mantra while he pondered. The wounds inflicted by the puppets were gradually neutralized by his recovery ability. Tang Jie suddenly realized that his recovery speed was somewhat faster than usual.


    Faster?


    Tang Jie had a startling realization.


    He shouted, ¡°Damn, how could I forget? I need to get beaten up to improve!¡±


    He suddenly recalled the realization he had made when Wei Tianchong was whipping him.


    The Martial Lord¡¯s body-refining mantra nurtured the constitution, but its various abilities required the right conditions to trigger.


    In thesest few years, no matter how Tang Jie cultivated, he couldn¡¯t beat himself up every day. His long runs every day primarily increased his endurance and his thick blood strengthened his recovery ability, but hecked opportunities forbat, meaning that he could not make his body as tough as diamond. He had obtained his current constitution by triggering the conditions for the other kinds of body refining, but he had never triggered all of them.


    Even the body refining of the Parting ssic had only endowed him with greater potential. He still needed to be beaten to stimte it.


    And today, in Celestial Defense Hall, he finally got the beating he needed. Perhaps because this potential had been ruing for ages, this one time had allowed Tang Jie to make a lot of progress.


    ¡°It seems like I¡¯ll have to go to Celestial Defense Hall to get beaten every day. If I can get one hundred points without using a single defensive spell, then that gets me exactly what I need. I get resources while also preserving a hidden card,¡± Tang Jie concluded.


    While he did want to leave his name on the ranking and get resources, what troubled Tang Jie the most was getting good grades while also preserving some of his strength. And now, one of these Seven Celestial Halls was shining a ray of light toward him.

 Chapter 85 - Celestial Execution Hall

    <h1>Chapter 85: Celestial Execution Hall</h1>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Now that Tang Jie knew where the problem was, his confidence in the Martial Lord¡¯s mantra was restored. As he had nothing else to do, he decided to visit the other halls.


    As he expected, Celestial sh Hall was for training in evasion. The moment he entered the hall, he saw countless locusts flying toward him. Students were not permitted to use any kind of defensive spell and had to rely on moving and blocking to avoid the attacks. Those locusts didn¡¯t hurt when they hit. They just left behind a mark, and then the jade token would sh to record it.


    Once the time limit ran out, the grade would be determined based on the number of hits received.


    Tang Jie had yet to gain proficiency in the Violet Lightning Lunge, so the moment he went in, he was made into a punching bag, the jade token shing so much that it was like a light bulb. His grade was naturally unspeakably awful.


    Celestial Pearl Hall tested endurance. Upon entry, Tang Jie discovered that he was in the middle of a battlefield. In front of him were countless charging soldiers, and behind him, soldiers on his own side were charging up. Those soldiers were truly endless, and when one batch died, another would charge up. There was no end to it, and Tang Jie fought until he was so exhausted that he couldn¡¯t raise his arms. Only then did he realize that in these battles involving endless waves of soldiers, even the most divine and powerful spell arts were fake. Only a neverendingbat strength could sustain him.


    After leaving Celestial Pearl Hall, Tang Jie rested for a bit, then he went to Celestial Variation Hall. Before entering Celestial Variation Hall, he could take a few illusion talismans. These illusion talismans recorded various spells that could serve to make up for the abilities the studentscked in their current stage.


    Upon entering the hall, they would battle in spells with illusory Spirit Masters. All kinds of spells would be used, which the students could not possibly block at their current stage. All they could do was use the spell talismans they had on hand to respond. Before they ran out of spell talismans, they had to either defeat their opponents orst long enough.


    This hall trained a student¡¯s understanding and choice of spells. When facing potential kinds of dangers, choosing the right spell was at times better than just using a strong spell. At the same time, this would also help students by having them personally experience the practicality of various spells.


    This was the easiest hall Tang Jie went through. As he was a top student in culture studies, he had developed some understanding of various spells. Though it couldn¡¯t be described as mastery, he would at least be able to choose countermeasures that were somewhat reasonable.


    Even so, he got only thirty-two points. The spell arts got stronger and stronger, more and more difficult to deal with, and some of the spell arts seemed to even be different in nature from their form. There were also spell arts that were cast with incredible speed, and you needed to guess at what sort of spell the opponent was using from the form they were making at the first instant to choose the proper response.


    Celestial Pivot Hall tested agility. Inside were Spirit Master illusions who would fight with you, but unlike the Spirit Masters of Celestial Variation Hall, what mattered here was how fast you cast your spells, which were extremely weak. It was often the case that a student would have barely made a form when a barrage of spells descended upon them, at times even preventing them from performing art manifestation.


    It was quite normal for unlucky students to be incapable of casting even a single spell for some time.


    There were all kinds of hindrances.


    Tang Jie was in a somewhat better state. While he hadn¡¯t practiced the Aquagel Shroud to the point where he could cast it instinctively, he was getting extremely close to being able to instantly cast it, so defending against attacks wasn¡¯t a problem. The problem was that he hadn¡¯t reached that level of speed with the Energy Needle.


    Those illusory Spirit Masters sent out one spell after another while Tang Jie had yet to cast a single Energy Needle. His Aquagel Shroud blocked it all, turning Celestial Pivot Hall into Celestial Defense Hall. In the end, he was forced out of the hall by a unified salvo from the illusions.


    After getting badly beaten at Celestial Pivot Hall, Tang Jie headed off for Celestial Simtion Hall.


    Celestial Simtion Hall was aprehensive training ground. Normally, when students entered, they would be transported into a dangerous forest and would encounter all sorts of dangerous and bizarre things. At times, they would be chased down and be forced to flee, and sometimes, it was the other way around, where the student became the hunter. There were also times when special fiends would appear, including fiend foxes that could tempt people, savage and brutal bears, or swift and nimble tree apes. There were even times when a student would receive bizarre search missions. The requirements would change every time, and the situations would often be poles apart. It could be considered the mostplicated of the halls, and the one which tested the most attributes.


    Tang Jie¡¯s overall ability and judgment were extremely strong, so his grade in this hall wasn¡¯t bad.


    After Celestial Simtion Hall, Tang Jie headed for Celestial Execution Hall.


    Celestial Execution Hall tested the offensive power of a student, but unusually, Celestial Execution Hall produced an illusory city ofmon folk and told the students that these people were all illusions created by vicious ghosts. The students were to kill them, with the person with the greatest number of killsing out the victor.


    But Tang Jie really couldn¡¯t see how these people were vicious ghosts. When he raised his sword to kill the first civilian, the civilian made no attempt to counter, and the blood sshing on his body still felt warm.


    Tang Jie was truly dumbfounded. He almost wondered if these illusions were real. He saw the civilians scattering in fear, some people even getting on their knees and begging for their lives. Tang Jie couldn¡¯t bring himself to strike at them.


    He stopped attacking.


    In the end, this hall was the one that Tang Jie scored the worst in.


    When he came out, Tang Jie was somewhat absentminded.


    He didn¡¯t understand why Basking Moon Academy would do such a thing.


    Didn¡¯t they often emphasize that people should act properly and that they didn¡¯t support senseless ughter?


    Why would they have students experience this sort of madness?


    Was this the Celestial Execution Hall that trained in offensive power?


    It was more like a demon-cultivating hall that sought to wipe away a person¡¯s humanity!


    He had been through all seven halls and was tired in both body and mind. Moreover, the enormous shock from Celestial Execution Hall finally made him take his leave.


    He was unaware that not long after he left, Xie Fengtang suddenly appeared in front of Celestial Execution Hall, and with him was Si Yue¡¯er and the old man from the entrance.


    ¡°Elder Qian, what do you think about this child?¡± Xie Fengtang asked with a smile.


    The elder slowly replied, ¡°Not bad. At least he¡¯s not an indiscriminate murderer.¡±


    Si Yue¡¯er pursed her lips. ¡°But hecks in ruthlessness,cks the resolve to kill. He¡¯s like a nagging old woman.¡±


    Xie Fengtang rolled his eyes at her and sighed. ¡°A resolve to kill doesn¡¯t mean to kill decisively, Yue¡¯er! Can you not always judge people using your standards?There are many things in this world that require resolve, and the resolve to not kill is also a kind of resolve!¡±


    ¡°But the path of Immortality is treacherous, and has anyone ever ascended to the summit without staining themselves with blood?¡± Si Yue¡¯er replied, unwilling to back down. ¡°Do you think our hands aren¡¯t stained with blood? And were there not innocents among them? If he can¡¯t understand this, then I think he will find it very hard to achieve anything.¡±


    ¡°That depends on the circumstances, and the environment. When one has choices, one must learn to restrain oneself. It is easy to act brashly but difficult to restrain oneself. The Great Dao is difficult to seek and is not something that can be solved through simple killing,¡± the old man leisurely said.


    After some thought, he said, ¡°I¡¯m optimistic about the child.¡±


    ¡°As someone who was able to learn three spell arts in two hours, he¡¯s naturally worth being optimistic about,¡± Xie Fengtang chuckled. Unfortunately, he had no idea that his reasoning was established on false grounds. Of course, if he came to like Tang Jie more in the future and then learned that Tang Jie had cheated, he might even say something like, ¡°A student daring enough to y tricks knowing that the headmaster is right outside truly has some guts.¡±


    If you liked someone, you would always be able to find a reason, and vice versa.


    His trip through the Seven Celestial Halls had allowed Tang Jie to understand just how far he was from the peak.


    And it was no wonder that the standard time to cultivate from Spirit Spring to Spirit Lake was a year and a half.


    In this year, the students would mature in many ways, and the strengths of older Spirit Spring students would differ from those of the new Spirit Spring students.


    Why was it that geniuses like Qi Shaoming and An Rumeng couldn¡¯t win every match from the start? Precisely for this reason.


    Of course, as time went on, the situation would change.


    At Qi Shaoming¡¯s current rate of progress, he was probably about to hit the threshold of the Spirit Lake Tier soon. If he wasn¡¯t in a rush, he could focus on spells and fight for ranking. After all, these were resources that were up for grabs.


    An Rumeng was different. Her Six Desires Meridians didn¡¯t favor cultivation speed, but they made practicing spell arts more efficient. Just like how the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra would boost the power of the Jade Shattering Finger, the Six Desires Meridians would have special effects on certain spells. In battle, she would probably be even stronger than Qi Shaoming at the start.


    While other students were anxious topete against each other on the sparring ground, Tang Jie favored the special training. One reason was that heckedbat experience. As someone who had been reincarnated into this world, he had been through the rough and tumble of life and hade to understand many things a lot earlier than most. Secondly, the special training gave him more obvious improvements to his strength.


    The sparring ground had too many problems when it came to focus. The special training ground was where he could truly temper his body.


    Thus, for the next few days, other than his daily cultivation, he went to the special training ground every day for training.


    His favorite of the Seven Celestial Halls was Celestial Simtion Hall. He enjoyed the bizarre and constantly changing environment, and he was gradually beginning to understand the various ecologies of the Rosecloud Domain.


    Celestial Simtion Hall had so many different forms that its contents alone could consume countless hours of effort. When the Seven Celestial Halls had been designed, it was probably Celestial Simtion Hall that had taken the most effort.


    The one that he benefited from the most was Celestial Defense Hall. As Tang Jie had predicted, the constant beating caused Tang Jie¡¯s body to get stronger and stronger. He could now resist the beating up to the seventh puppet. Now, let alone the Formless Golden Body, he didn¡¯t even use the Aquagel Shroud.


    Once the seventh puppet appeared, all the puppets received another huge power boost, and their attacks could now bepared to low-rank spells. The fourteen fists of the seven puppets were like fourteen spells, and ordinary defensive spells probably wouldn¡¯t be able tost a single round.


    Even Tang Jie with his formidable constitution was forced to leave after a single round.


    The most painful was Celestial Pearl Hall. The endless battle not only harshly tested a student¡¯s physical and spiritual energy, it also challenged their mentality and will. While other kinds of training tested only one¡¯s power, Celestial Pearl Hall constantly squeezed the body. It was truly a ce where only tough and bitter practice could achieve progress.


    This was why Tang Jie would always only withdraw once he was so exhausted that he couldn¡¯t move a finger.


    He had the most progress in Celestial Variation Hall. Celestial Variation Hall asked more of the mind than of strength, and this was Tang Jie¡¯s greatest talent, so his grades here were only second to his grades in Celestial Defense Hall. Celestial Defense Hall had his best grades because he had his mantra and resources, but with Celestial Variation Hall, he relied purely on talent. Thus, Tang Jie was naturally prouder about his grades in this hall.


    His progress in Celestial sh Hall was the slowest. As his body was tough, Tang Jie didn¡¯t need to dodge much, so his attitude wasn¡¯t right, and thus, his results were limited. And given that the Violet Lightning Lunge wasn¡¯t a spell art that specialized in evasion in a small area, progress was even slower than Tang Jie had anticipated.


    The hall he was most unwilling to go to was Celestial Execution Hall.


    This was also the hall with the worst grades, with barely any progress to speak of.


    Today, Tang Jie once more emerged from Celestial Execution Hall. This time, he still killed only one person before leaving.


    The elder nced at him and asked in a strange tone, ¡°I don¡¯t quite understand. You don¡¯t strike me as an indecisive person, so why are you still unwilling to strike at those illusions? You must know by now that they are not actually living beings.¡±


    ¡°Because I feel like this sort of cultivation is of no help to our strength. All it will do is nurture the brutality and savagery in our hearts,¡± Tang Jie frankly replied. ¡°I feel like Basking Moon Academy doesn¡¯t need this sort of disciple.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± The elder chuckled. ¡°Basking Moon Academy doesn¡¯t need this kind of disciple? Interesting, interesting. But who are you to decide what sort of disciple Basking Moon Academy requires?¡±


    Tang Jie was startled.


    The elder added, ¡°And why do you think Basking Moon Academy requires disciples? No, the one who requires disciples is the Basking Moon Sect, not Basking Moon Academy¡­ Do you understand?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart trembled.


    The elder continued, ¡°You¡¯re very smart, but you¡¯re clearly too smart, so smart that you would try and fathom the school¡¯s purpose. This is your problem. But there are some things that are beyond your ability to fathom. Why do you think that the Basking Moon Sect doesn¡¯t need killers? Do you think that the Basking Moon Sect can just sit back and rx now that it dominates Sageheart, and no one can shake it from its position?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s lips trembled, but he remained silent.


    He knew that the elder would give him the answer.


    The elder sighed. ¡°This is a school, and there are many things that shouldn¡¯t be here, but this doesn¡¯t mean that you won¡¯t have to deal with those things in the future. In life, there are many things that you will be powerless to do anything about. Cultivators live long lives and will encounter even more such things. At times, when the heavens above demand that you swing your de and kill, you will not have a choice.¡±


    ¡°I understand what you mean, venerable elder, but if possible, there should always be another solution,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°Another solution?¡± The elder nced at Tang Jie. ¡°Then do you have another way to get a high score in Celestial Execution Hall without killing people?¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Tang Jie was rendered speechless.


    He truly had no such solution.


    ¡°Since you cannot, then you must confront it. The school does not encourage you to massacre innocents, but the school also wishes you to understand that you must confront things that you are powerless to change. Go, then. I will give you one more chance. This time, you must kill at least one hundred beforeing out. At that time, you might discover something new.¡±


    The elder pointed at Tang Jie¡¯s jade token and then sent Tang Jie back into Celestial Execution Hall with a sweep of his sleeve.


    Back in the hall, Tang Jie took in a deep breath.


    He looked at the city full of civilians, closed his eyes, and swung his sword.


    He hacked! He killed! He swung around his sword and ughtered, allowing the blood to ssh onto his body. Though the cries for mercy rang out in his ears, he continued to kill and kill, his heart constantly telling himself that these were all illusions.


    Those people kneeling in front of him and begging for their lives were all killed, their blood gushing across the streets.


    Finally, after killing so many people, Tang Jie heard a furious bellow.


    ¡°Fuck him! This old man begged you, but you still killed! Brothers, let¡¯s take him down!¡± The civilians who had been begging for their lives suddenly stood up, and their leader turned into a vicious ghost and lunged out.


    ¡°So they really were all disguised vicious ghosts!¡± Tang Jie finally understood.


    These once-kind and -pitiable civilians suddenly turned into vicious ghosts, and the heartache that had been holding him back instantly disappeared. Heughed long and hard, then he raised his sword and rushed back into the fray¡­ When Tang Jie came out again, his body was brimming with murderous energy and suffused with the will to fight.


    The elder nced at him. ¡°Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°Yes! This student understands. The world is a treacherous ce, with demons and monsters running amok. At times, we cannot believe only what we can see, but we must firmly believe in our Origin Hearts. The school already told us that they were vicious ghosts, but I was still swayed by their pleas for mercy and was deceived by their acting, thus I failed time and time again. This means that I was still hesitant, that Icked self-confidence!¡±


    ¡°Very good. It¡¯s good so long as you know. Go on, then, go on.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Jie respectfully departed, but deep down, he coldly snorted.


    It now seemed that Basking Moon Academy wanted to use this matter to make the students firmly trust in the Basking Moon Sect.


    Yes, Tang Jie hadn¡¯t been able to recognize the civilians as disguised vicious ghosts, but that was because whether vicious ghosts or civilians, they were all illusions. It was naturally impossible to detect a difference.


    But in reality, there were certain to be clues if a ghost transformed into a person.


    Not just ghosts, but all schemes and plots would have clues that could expose them.


    The Basking Moon Sect used this matter to beat down a student¡¯s trust in their own judgment¡ª¡±If my own judgment is wrong, let the Basking Moon Sect judge for me.¡±


    An excellent method!


    Tang Jie inwardly chuckled.


    After all, this was Basking Moon Academy. Without breakingposure, it was already nurturing the students to have absolute trust in the Basking Moon Sect.


    Upon understanding this, Tang Jie naturally understood how to proceed.


    With this matter resolved, Tang Jie felt relieved, and his footsteps were much lighter.


    As he was heading back, he saw Wei Tianchong walking toward him.


    Upon seeing Tang Jie, he hugged his head and started to cry. ¡°Tang Jie¡­ You need to help me get justice!¡±


    ¡°Young Master? What happened?¡± Tang Jie asked in confusion.


    ¡°My puppet¡­¡± Wei Tianchong wailed, ¡°They destroyed my puppet!¡±

 Chapter 86 - Venting Anger (1)

    Chapter 86: Venting Anger (1)


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    While Tang Jie had been training in the Seven Celestial Halls, Wei Tianchong hadn¡¯t been sitting idle. Rather, following Tang Jie¡¯s n, he had been practicing his spells and choosing opponents that could maximize his chances of victory.


    Recently, Wei Tianchong had been growing more proficient with his spells and more experienced inbat, so his cowardice had begun to fade away, allowing him to express more and more of his strength.


    Among the four-cycle-Jade-Gate students, he had been in the middle of the pack, and since he was the young master of a great n, he had the support of resources. So long as he was willing to put in the effort, it would be quite normal for him to be able to enter the top five hundred.


    With the puppet Tang Jie had helped him make and the strategy that had been designed for him, he had been able to progress even further. Thus, he had recently managed to push his way into the top three hundred.


    Though he still wasn¡¯t able to hit the top five, it was a fact that he was progressing quickly. There were even many students who knew that this fat kid and his ¡°dog¡± were rather difficult to deal with.


    But it was precisely for this reason that Wei Tianchong had created a problem for himself.


    As he was targeting opponents, Wei Tianchong was familiar with many of his opponents and would often run into them during the spars.


    A few days ago, Wei Tianchong had fought with a group of students, and one of them had been unlucky enough to match with Wei Tianchong three times in a row. The oue was obvious.


    That student had probably been enraged by Wei Tianchong¡¯s shameless fighting style. Unable to win or avoid him, he elected for a vicious move.


    ¡°Those guys didn¡¯t care if they lost their matches, all of them challenging me and attacking my baby. I didn¡¯t care at first and fought several matches in a row, but in the end¡­¡± Wei Tianchong started to bawl, ¡°In the end, I discovered that my baby had stopped working. I begged them to stop, but they refused. I immediately conceded, but he still kept hitting, and they ended up beating my puppet until it fell apart¡­ uwaaa¡­¡±


    Wei Tianchong hugged Tang Jie and wept, drenching Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but scowl.


    Though the wolf puppet was somewhat weak defensively, it was extremely agile and wasn¡¯t easy to attack unless it was specifically targeted.


    Although the Divine Battleground¡¯s sparring didn¡¯t forbid students from attacking puppets, these were still very valuable things, and there was no need to break someone¡¯s rice bowl. To still attack it even after a concession was too much.


    Tang Jie grunted, ¡°Who was it? Tell me.¡±


    ¡°Qiu Jing, Han Zhe, Ye Xing, Zhong Han, and Li Huaihai. The five of them are all in cahoots. That Qiu Jing is their leader, Ye Xing was the one who smashed my puppet, and Li Huaihai came up with the idea. After smashing my puppet, theyughed at me, saying that I was nothing without my puppet¡­¡± Wei Tianchong grew sadder the more he talked about it.


    Tang Jie was rendered almost speechless by his appearance. All he could say was, ¡°Why are you crying? You¡¯re a man! Isn¡¯t it just a broken puppet? Just make another one.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s easy for you to say! Two thousand spirit coins! It wasn¡¯t easy for my mom to get me this money. You think my Wei n¡¯s silver drops out of the sky?¡± Wei Tianchong sobbed.


    ¡°Well, hearing this from you is quite new and fresh. You¡¯re actually starting to get concerned over your n,¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    Wei Tianchong was going to keep arguing when Tang Jie patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Alright, alright, I¡¯ll help you deal with this. Right, did you bring the broken puppet back with you?¡±


    Wei Tianchong nodded. ¡°It¡¯s all in pieces now, but I saw that the materials were still good, so I¡¯m wondering if it can be put back together and used again.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the way!¡± Tang Jie said, greatly relieved. ¡°Young Master, it seems like you¡¯ve learned how to handle yourself.¡±


    Wei Tianchong awkwardly scratched his head. Tang Jie pulled on him and said, ¡°Come on!¡±


    ¡°To where?¡±


    ¡°Where else? To help you get revenge. They bullied my young master, so I have to help you vent your anger!¡±


    Tang Jie pulled Wei Tianchong to the sparring ground.


    At the sparring ground, Tang Jie asked, ¡°Which ones are Qiu Jing and Ye Xing?¡±


    Wei Tianchong pointed at several students. ¡°The tall and thin one is Qiu Jing while the short and fat one is Ye Xing. The one with the yellow face is Li Huaihai, and next to him are Han Zhe and Zhong Han. The rest are their servant students.¡±


    Tang Jie looked over, and it just so happened that those students were looking back.


    Upon seeing Wei Tianchong and Tang Jiee in, that Ye Xing loudlyughed. ¡°Look! That coward came back, and he brought a servant student.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that Tang Jie?¡±


    ¡°So he¡¯s Tang Jie! This kid got the Sword ssic¡¯s legacy but didn¡¯te to the sparring ground, instead running off to the Seven Celestial Halls every day. I didn¡¯t expect him toe forward today. Is it all because of that kid?¡±


    ¡°Hmph, someone so cowardly can be said to being forward?¡± Several students scoffed in disdain.


    Tang Jie had note to the sparring ground all this time, and there were already rumors going around on the campus.


    Some people said that he hadn¡¯t actually managed to memorize any spell arts from the Sword ssic, thus wasting the chance, and so he did not dare toe to the sparring ground.


    Other people said that the Sword ssic¡¯s spell arts were too difficult to practice, and hisck of sess had dyed his progress, making him afraid to enter the sparring ground.


    Others said that he was like a cowardly mouse, fearful of pain and death, so even with supreme spell arts, he did not dare toe out.


    In any case, Tang Jie didn¡¯t dare toe!


    Some busybodies had ranked this ss¡¯s students, and Tang Jie had initially been ranked in the top twenty.


    But as Tang Jie refused to appear while other students disyed their formidablebat prowess, Tang Jie slid all the way into the top fifty, and then the top one hundred, and finally, he couldn¡¯t even be found in the top three hundred.


    At this point, nobody took Tang Jie seriously, so they mocked Wei Tianchong and Tang Jie to their hearts¡¯ content.


    Tang Jie was not angry about this, softly chuckling. ¡°It¡¯s quite a lot of people. Five young masters and twelve servant students¡­ good, very good!¡±


    He walked to the other side.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m taking part in the sparring, of course. If I don¡¯t spar, how can I beat those guys up?¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°But the opponents are decided by random draw!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll just fight a few rounds. I¡¯ll pull them eventually,¡± Tang Jie lightly replied.


    Wei Tianchong almost fainted.


    Just fight a few rounds? Was he joking?


    Was he going to fight all the way until he ran into Qiu Jing andpany? Wasn¡¯t he worried about running out of strength and spiritual energy?


    But Tang Jie really did go.


    There was a lot-drawing room on the sparring ground. Before taking part in the sparring, students had to register their point cards, which would record their information and results. The lot-drawing room had students tasked with using the sparring results to partition the students by strength. When lots were drawn, those with somewhat simr results would be ced together, so there was a higher chance that they would draw each other as opponents.


    Tang Jie entered the lot-drawing room. The student in charge was called Zhao Shuxin. He recognized Tang Jie and asked, ¡°It¡¯s been quite some time since I¡¯ve seen you. Have youe to ask for information again?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°No, I¡¯vee to spar.¡±


    Zhao Shuxin heartilyughed. ¡°You¡¯ve finally decided to participate. A lot of people havee looking for youtely.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m sure there are many people who can¡¯t wait, but they¡¯ll get their turn eventually.¡±


    Tang Jie handed over ten spirit coins and softly said, ¡°Help me out here and let me get matched with Qiu Jing and Ye Xing¡¯s group.¡±


    Zhao Shuxin was taken aback at first, and then he realized what was going on. He took the money and whispered, ¡°So you¡¯vee to take revenge for your young master, but you¡¯ve just arrived. If I had you match with them immediately, it wouldn¡¯t seem very convincing.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll fight a few rounds first.¡±


    ¡°Alright, then I¡¯ll make the arrangements. This happens to be your first day taking part, so you don¡¯t have a rating and I can match you with whoever I want, but after today, you won¡¯t get this chance. Right, Qiu Jing¡¯s group has a win percentage of forty-one percent, and their rating is average.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Tang Jie smiled and patted Zhao Shuxin. ¡°Thank you, Brother.¡±


    Zhao Shuxin had already pulled a lot for him. ¡°He Xinping, Room D2. Take his lot to win. Remember: no killing allowed.¡±


    Thesest words were standard.


    Tang Jie went straight to Room D2. A few momentster, that student called He Xinping entered. His eyes brightened when he saw Tang Jie. ¡°So it was Mad Student Tang Jie. I didn¡¯t think that you would still daree to the sparring ground. Do you know how many people¡­¡±


    He wanted to say more, but Tang Jie walked up and said, ¡°Where did all this useless talke from?¡±


    He punched at He Xinping, who hadn¡¯t expected him to start fighting so soon. He wanted to block, but Tang Jie moved so quickly that all he saw was Tang Jie¡¯s fist rapidly expanding in front of his eyes.


    Boom! He Xinping went flying out, and his eyes rolled over as he fell unconscious.


    Tang Jie took his lot and returned to the lot-drawing room.


    Zhao Shuxin saw Tang Jieing back and asked in shock, ¡°Why did youe back?¡±


    ¡°Fight¡¯s over.¡±


    Zhao Shuxin¡¯s mouth dropped in disbelief. It took Tang Jie prompting him to hurry up before he came to his senses and pulled another lot for Tang Jie. He asked, ¡°You don¡¯t need to rest a little?¡±


    ¡°No need. I¡¯m short on time.¡±


    He took the lot and entered the room. This time, he didn¡¯t give his opponent even the chance to speak. He used the Violet Lightning Lunge and sent his opponent flying with a single punch.


    He fought three matches in a row like this, knocking down three students before they even had a chance to cast a spell.


    One student was unconvinced. After losing, he shouted on the training area, ¡°What sort of way of fighting is this? Like the fighting of some vige brute!¡±


    Tang Jie jeered, ¡°So you¡¯re saying that you can¡¯t even beat a vige brute?¡±


    The student immediately shut up while everyoneughed.


    Another student shouted, ¡°Everyone, be careful. Tang Jie is extremely cunning. He didn¡¯t give any of us the chance to fight back. When exchanging blows with him, you must be cautious. Don¡¯t get caught by surprise by his sneak attack!¡±


    ¡°Truly, the servant student takes after the master. That Wei Tianchong was a slippery fellow who only knew how to run, and this Tang Jie only does sneak attacks, only knowing how to punch people. This master and servant are truly wretches!¡±


    Another student shouted, ¡°Tang Jie ising! Tang Jie ising!¡±


    Some student with nothing else to do notified the other students who were itching to beat up Tang Jie and had not yet gotten a chance.


    Tang Jie was still fighting. The fourth student was much more cautious. Upon entering the room, he said nothing, first releasing a shield.


    He saw Tang Jie charge over and savagely punch the shield. The shield rippled and let out a brilliant light when Tang Jie punched it, but it didn¡¯t shatter. The student was scared at first, but then he heartilyughed, ¡°Haha, you¡­¡±


    He had barely gotten out three sybles when Tang Jie¡¯s fist came down again on the shield. Pop! The shield shattered, and the fist collided with his face.


    The student¡¯s vision went dark, and he copsed to the ground.

 Chapter 87 - Venting Anger (2)

    <h1>Chapter 87: Venting Anger (2)</h1>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After six matches in a row, the seventh opponent was finally a little different. In terms of both reaction time and casting speed, he was a lot better.


    Nevertheless, Tang Jie¡¯s onught swiftly sted down his will to fight.


    As that boy left, he even cried, ¡°Why do you have to be such a bully? You don¡¯t even let me cast a single spell.¡±


    Helpless, Tang Jie could only try and soothe him. ¡°I use the Formless Golden Body, a body-strengthening spell art from the Divine Firmament Sword ssic. Your loss was not without reason.¡±


    The student was greatlyforted to hear this.


    After seven victories in a row, many people at the sparring ground had begun to pay attention to Tang Jie¡¯s battles.


    Qiu Jing¡¯s group had grim expressions.


    Li Huaihai sternly said, ¡°He¡¯s fought seven matches in a row. This kid is clearlying after us.¡±


    ¡°I saw that ages ago,¡± Qiu Jing scoffed. ¡°He¡¯se to get back his young master¡¯s dignity.¡±


    ¡°Then he¡¯s got a lot of fighting ahead of him.¡± Han Zhe yed the cultured scion, fanning himself as he smiled. ¡°There are several hundred people on the sparring ground. He¡¯ll have to get lucky to pull us. He might even exhaust himself to death before that happens.¡±


    At this moment, a distant voice shouted, ¡°Zhong Han! Tang Jie!¡±


    Zhong Han paled. ¡°No way! So fast?¡±


    Qiu Jing exined, ¡°Is there even a need to ask? He must have bribed that Zhao Shuxin. That greedy ghost took our money and then took Tang Jie¡¯s. He truly working for both sides.¡±


    ¡°Shit! Well, if it¡¯s a fight he wants, it¡¯s a fight he gets! I¡¯m not guaranteed to lose!¡± Zhong Han stubbornly said.


    He spoke heroically, but there was a hint of cowardice in his voice.


    Upon entering the room, Zhong Han immediately used a defensive spell, but he saw that Tang Jie wasn¡¯t moving. He just looked at Zhong Han and asked, ¡°You smashed my young master¡¯s puppet?¡±


    ¡°If I did, what about it?¡± Zhong Han proudly raised his head.


    ¡°Very good. That puppet cost my young master two thousand spirit coins. Pay up and I¡¯ll let your group go.¡±


    Zhong Han was startled at first, and then he began tough. ¡°Pay you? Are you joking with me? And let us go? You want to let me go, but I don¡¯t want to let you go! Penta-Earth Sword!¡±


    He swung his hand, a yellow sword beam shooting toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie dodged to the side and charged at Zhong Han, throwing a punch!


    ¡°Rock Armor!¡± Zhong Han roared, ayer of earthy yellow armor appearing on his body.


    A momentter, Tang Jie¡¯s fist smashed into Zhong Han¡¯s armor, and the enormous energy smashed a dent into the armor and sent Zhong Han staggering back. He grimaced. ¡°Such strength.¡±


    Tang Jie kicked at Zhong Han.


    He coldly said, ¡°I¡¯ll say it again. Paypensation and I¡¯ll let all of you go.¡±


    ¡°Compensation?¡± Zhong Hanughed so hard that he could hardly breathe. ¡°Have you lost your mind? What will you do if I don¡¯tpensate you? I just lose a round. So what? If you¡¯ve got the guts, kill me!¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°That being the case¡­ I will have to do this.¡±


    He suddenly swung his hand down like a saber.


    Scared, Zhong Han instinctively raised his sword to block. Tang Jie¡¯s palm sliced down, striking the de of the sword, and with one strike, crack! The sword was cut in two.


    Zhong Han was dumbfounded, and then he began to moan, ¡°My sword!¡±


    This sword was a lower-grade spell weapon, but to his surprise, Tang Jie had destroyed it with one strike.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t be bothered with him. He grabbed his lot and threw him out of the room.


    Seeing the miserable state Zhong Han was in, Qiu Jing and the rest all scowled.


    They didn¡¯t find it strange that Zhong Han had been defeated. The strength of their group wasn¡¯t much better than the students who hade before him. But they hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to break Zhong Han¡¯s sword.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± They got together to talk about what to do.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what sort of technique this guy practices, but he can break a weapon with his palm. He¡¯s clearly aiming at our weapons, so we can¡¯t use them when fighting him,¡± Qiu Jing grimly said.


    ¡°But doesn¡¯t that mean that we¡¯ll be even less of a match for him?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t panic. Slowly wear him out. He¡¯s fought eight matches in a row, and I don¡¯t believe that his spiritual energy is endless. It¡¯s not like he can get matched with our entire group of ten-plus people.¡±


    But the p to the face from reality had always been callous.


    For the next few matches, Tang Jie really did manage to get matched only with members of their group. As they were afraid of Tang Jie¡¯s revenge, they didn¡¯t dare use their weapons, causing their strength to fall, so Tang Jie was able to beat them more easily than he had his previous opponents, basically knocking them down as soon as they stepped up. Others tried to use movement techniques to wear Tang Jie out with hit-and-run tactics, but s, Tang Jie¡¯s Violet Lightning Lunge was faster, and so their tactics ended up making them lose even faster.


    One unfortunate soul had been wearing spell-weapon-grade armor. It was able to take the initial blow, but then Tang Jie grabbed it and tore the armor to shreds, causing another one to leave the sparring room in tears.


    As they saw the people around them being called out and defeated one by one, Qiu Jing¡¯s group grew more and more depressed.


    Finally, a voice called out.


    ¡°Ye Xing. Tang Jie.¡±


    ¡°Shit, it¡¯s our group again. How much money did Tang Jie give Zhao Shuxin that has that bastard working so hard?¡± All of them ground their teeth until they were sore.


    Ten spirit coins was quite generous from Tang Jie. A low-level student could ignore the rules for one spirit coin, and ten spirit coins was enough for them to stomp on the rules, not even considering that these ten spirit coins were from a student who had inherited the Sword ssic.


    In any case, Ye Xing didn¡¯t care. He rumbled, ¡°Let¡¯s fight, then, and find out who¡¯s disciplining who here!¡±


    In terms of strength, Ye Xing was the best of their group.


    Swinging his warhammer, he walked into the room.


    Although he came from a rich n, he had a savage face and was both short and fat. His spell weapon was also a rarely seen hammer.


    He cultivated the Large Bone Great Strength Mantra, a rare mantra that molded the body through spells. Even in the Basking Moon Sect, it was a path that very few people chose. It provided incredible amounts of strength and was ideally suited for closebat. If one weren¡¯t thinking about the long term, it would give one a natural advantage in strength at the Spirit Disciple level. It was only Wei Tianchong¡¯s fighting method that could counter him. Normally, few people would be able to take him on in directbat.


    Because he used a war hammer, he wasn¡¯t worried about Tang Jie doing anything to his weapon and felt okay about using it.


    As he entered the room, Ye Xing ced the head of the hammer on the floor with a loud thump.


    He looked at Tang Jie andughed. ¡°Kid, don¡¯t think that this old man is as easy to deal with as those rookies.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s gaze rested on the war hammer for a few moments, after which he softly said, ¡°You used this hammer to smash my young master¡¯s puppet?¡±


    Ye Xing erupted inughter. ¡°Yes! What sort of shitty puppet was that? Just a few blows from my hammer were enough to knock it to pieces! That kid Wei Tianchong was even hugging my leg and crying, haha!¡±


    He pointed at the scar on his face and savagely said, ¡°You see this? The puppet did this. Even though I got injured, I still had to beat him and smash that puppet of his. Let¡¯s see how cocky he can be after that!¡±


    ¡°Good, very good!¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°That being the case, I will smash your hammer.¡±


    ¡°Smash my hammer? Are you trying to tell a joke?¡± Ye Xing didn¡¯t dare to believe his ears.


    His war hammer weighed more than one hundred kilograms, and ordinary mortals couldn¡¯t even wave it around. Even he could only swing it around after using the Brute Strength spell. Although it was cheaper than the puppet, it was much tougher.


    And this fellow was saying that he was going to smash it? Absolutely ridiculous!


    A momentter, Tang Jie charged out and punched at Ye Xing.


    ¡°Raaa!¡± Ye Xing bellowed, ¡°Whirlwind Hammer!¡±


    The iron hammer howled around, stirring up a gale as it hurtled toward Tang Jie.


    The Brute Strength spell plus the Whirlwind Hammer was Ye Xing¡¯s killerbo. Moreover, the spell weapon had a strengthening function of its own, so this hammer had the force of at least one thousand kilograms.


    Ye Xing was confident that Tang Jie would have to dodge this hammer blow!


    No one could withstand his hammer. Let alone Tang Jie, even those at the top of the ranking couldn¡¯t. On this point, Ye Xing had always been confident.


    So long as Tang Jie dodged, Ye Xing would follow up with the Wind Needle. Once it hit, Tang Jie¡¯s movements would undoubtedly be hindered, after which he could smash that hammer into Tang Jie¡¯s body. The thought made him happy, and he savagely smiled. He felt like he could already see Tang Jie¡¯s bones breaking under his hammer.


    It was a pity that he wasn¡¯t allowed to kill.


    He even felt a hint of regret.


    But at that moment, he saw Tang Jie charging straight at him.


    He stared straight at the metal hammer and swung his fist!


    How could that be?


    Ye Xing was startled.


    He was going to confront the hammer with a fist?


    Events moved faster than he could think.


    At the moment the hammer was about to meet the fist, Tang Jie extended a finger.


    That finger concealed under the brightness of the hammer shed with a bloody light.


    It touched the hammer.


    A single finger!


    Bang!


    Spiritual light exploded through the room.


    Ye Xing felt his hands lighten, and he could no longer control his boosted strength and staggered forward.


    Staggered into Tang Jie!


    The air was awash with countless pieces of metal dust.


    He then saw Tang Jie take one step forward.


    Just one step.


    A knee mmed into his belly.


    ¡°Agh!¡± Ye Xing screamed in pain. It was just a knee into his belly, but he felt like he was about to vomit his guts.


    He then saw the world spinning around him, the sky and earth reversed¡­ He flew out and crashed heavily to the ground.


    ¡°Not even able tost one blow,¡± Tang Jie spat. He seemed to casually clean up the metal debris at his feet, a golden light silently flowing through the sole of his foot into his body.


    Just now, he had used the Weapon Mantra. After those two baths, Tang Jie could finally use the Weapon Mantra without fainting. Even so, he feltpletely tired out.


    Tang Jie grabbed Ye Xing¡¯s lot and then swept a hand across his own shoulder, creating a red line of blood. He then walked out, upon which Ye Xing began to wail. He was weeping over his hammer.


    Upon seeing Tang Jiee out, Wei Tianchong excitedly rushed up. ¡°You won again?¡±


    ¡°Mm, I shattered his hammer.¡±


    ¡°You shattered his hammer?¡± Wei Tianchong yelped in surprise. ¡°How did you manage that?¡±


    He could ept breaking a sword, but how had Tang Jie even managed to destroy a hammer?


    ¡°Perhaps he bought one of poor quality,¡± Tang Jie said, spreading apart his hands.


    ¡°Tang Jie, even if it¡¯s poor quality, it¡¯s still made of iron!¡±


    ¡°I cultivate the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra. It¡¯s supposed to pierce through metal. Perhaps if it were made of wood, I might not have been able to shatter it.¡±


    At this time, Ye Xing walked out, carrying the metal shards of his hammer.


    Upon seeing that Ye Xing¡¯s hammer had been shattered, Qiu Jing¡¯s group paled, and they looked fearfully at Tang Jie.


    The entire sparring ground buzzed with chatter.


    No one knew how he had done it, but destroying a hammer with one strike was a stunning feat.


    Someone muttered, ¡°The Divine Firmament Sword ssic! This must be a spell art of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic!¡±


    In truth, the Divine Firmament Sword ssic had many spell arts that could destroy spell weapons in one strike, but one needed to cultivate them to a high level to achieve it. If Tang Jie had wanted to destroy a spell weapon with one strike using the Formless Golden Body, he would need to practice it for at least three more years.


    Thus, Tang Jie had done something extremely risky.


    But he had to do this.


    This was a chance, a chance to publicly show that he had the ability to destroy the weapons of others.


    If he missed the chance, he had no idea when he would get another.


    And after this, he would be able to exin himself when he tried it again in the future.


    When it was hard to hide something, it was better to just make up an excuse for it so that it could be used openly. In this aspect, he and Gu Changqing were on the same page.


    This was also why he had fabricated an injury. It was to let everyone know that he had exerted too much strength and injured himself.


    Zhao Shuxin saw his state and asked, ¡°Do you still want to continue?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m going to rest a little first.¡±


    After fighting all these matches and using the Weapon Mantra, even he was unable to keep fighting for now.


    He sat down and began to circte Circuit Heavens.


    He was recovering the physical strength he had used, but in the eyes of others, he was treating himself.


    It appeared like he was going to keep fighting, and everyone began to talk again, looking at Qiu Jing¡¯s group with amusement.


    ¡°Boss, what do we do?¡± Han Zhe and the others began to panic.


    Qiu Jing stomped his foot. ¡°We¡¯re leaving!¡±


    If they left the sparring ground, Tang Jie would no longer be able to cause them trouble.


    They hastily began to leave.


    The crowd in the training area immediately erupted inughter. Everyone loved tough at the suffering of others.


    In today¡¯s battles, Qiu Jing¡¯s crew had been utterly humiliated, and they would probably have to keep their heads down when they saw anyone in the future.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t continue to challenge. He asked Wei Tianchong, ¡°What about it? Is your anger vented now?¡±


    ¡°Mm, I¡¯m good,¡± Wei Tianchong grinned.


    To destroy a sword, a suit of armor, and a hammer all in one go meant that the other party had suffered a greater loss, and they had also been publicly humiliated. His anger had been thoroughly vented.


    ¡°Good,¡± Tang Jie indifferently said, his eyes following Qiu Jing¡¯s group as they left. He saw Zhong Han and the others throwing aside their broken spell weapons, and he had an idea. ¡°Third Young Master, can you help me with something?¡±


    ¡°What is it? As your young master, I¡¯ll help you out.¡±


    ¡°Nothing much. See that sword and armor those two threw away? I want you to bring them back for me.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to do with those?¡± Wei Tianchong asked in surprise.


    ¡°Nothing much¡ªjust to keep them as souvenirs. After all, they¡¯re the results of my first day of matches, so I have to take good care of them,¡± Tang Jie replied with a smile.


    Wei Tianchong was enlightened, and he hurried off to pick up the discarded sword and armor, making sure to show them off to the crowd as he brought them back.


    After receiving the sword and armor, Tang Jie saw that he had basically recovered his physical strength. He didn¡¯t n to keep fighting, so he turned to leave.


    As he was leaving, he heard a studentment, ¡°Taking first ce on his first day, he¡¯s truly Mad Student Tang Jie.¡±


    ¡°Tsk, his luck was good. He didn¡¯t get anyone difficult.¡±


    ¡°True. He didn¡¯t even get anyone of the Fierce Brave level. He¡¯s also lucky that he didn¡¯t get his evaluation back today, so he only got paired against rookies.¡±


    The students chattered on.


    One of the more clear-headed students asked, ¡°Shattering a hammer in a single blow can be called luck?¡±


    But he was quickly drowned out by the voices of the angry crowd.


    Tang Jie was rather amazed that he had gotten first ce. Only now did he see today¡¯s Spirit Spring battle ranking. After winning fourteen matches in a row, he now upied the top spot.


    Startled, he asked Wei Tianchong, ¡°How is my score so high?¡±


    ¡°Of course. You won fourteen matches in a row. If you aren¡¯t the highest, who else would be?¡± Wei Tianchong excitedly said. ¡°If everything goes as usual, today¡¯s first ce should be yours.¡±


    ¡°No one else might snatch first ce from me?¡±


    ¡°What are you even saying?¡± Wei Tianchong rolled his eyes. ¡°They would have to win fifteen matches in a row and waste a ton of strength. You can only get on the rankings for five days a month. Those people capable of getting on the ranking wouldn¡¯t be so bored as to go all-out just for a single day, while those whock the ability to get on the ranking won¡¯t be able to beat your score. You¡¯re the one who told me all this. How could you forget?¡±


    Tang Jie was dazed for a moment. He muttered, ¡°I was just messing around, so how did I end up getting first ce?¡±

 Chapter 88 - Contest

    <h2>Chapter 88: Contest</h2>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie had had Wei Tianchong grab that pile of scrap metal primarily to see if he could use the Weapon Mantra on broken weapons to refine them.


    The results of the experiment left Tang Jie greatly disappointed.


    The broken weapons could be broken down even more by the Weapon Mantra, but this would not produce the golden particle.


    Tang Jie realized that the Weapon Mantra¡¯s weapon condensing could probably only be used onplete weapons.


    But why did that have to be the case?


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know.


    The Weapon Mantra was the most incredible spell art he had ever seen, its underlying principles so thoroughly different from the spells present that Tang Jie found it impossible toprehend its secrets.


    But the golden grain that came from Ye Xing¡¯s war hammer was a pleasant surprise for Tang Jie.


    This golden grain was clearly bigger than the one from the Violet me Sword.


    Ye Xing¡¯s war hammer had been a middle-grade spell weapon, meaning that the higher the grade of the shattered weapon was, the more golden grains he could obtain.


    Once he had this golden grain join the rest, the resultant golden grain was muchrger.


    After solemnly putting it away, Tang Jie began his daily cultivation.


    The next morning, Cai Junyang and Liu Hongyan paid him a visit.


    Cai Junyang shouted as soon as he arrived, ¡°Tang Jie, you rascal, I thought you were more loyal than that! Yesterday, you suddenly rushed over to the Divine Battleground and got first ce. Were you striking when our guard was down? We were waiting for you for ages, but you only ran over when we weren¡¯t there?¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°How could I dare to fight with all of you? If I didn¡¯t go when you weren¡¯t there, who knows when I would be able to get first ce?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t try that with me. Come,e, let¡¯s go.¡± Cai Junyang grabbed Tang Jie.


    ¡°Go where?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°Where else? The Divine Battleground, naturally. I¡¯m going to have a proper fight with you!¡± Cai Junyang energetically dered.


    He hade to the Divine Battleground several times and had gotten into the top five three times. His best cing was second, and he had yet to get first. He hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to immediately get first ce on his first appearance, and he naturally couldn¡¯t ept such things and needed to have a match.


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. ¡°But we have to pull each other, which isn¡¯t guaranteed.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even try to make an excuse. As if I don¡¯t know how you managed to get matched with those guys yesterday! You¡¯ve already been evaluated as a Fierce Brave, so we¡¯re going when there are few other Fierce Braves on the battleground, meaning that we can get matched against each other.¡±


    The academy had five categories for fighters on the battleground: Peerless, Fierce Brave, Tenacious, Ordinary, and Ipetent.


    Ipetents were those who lost many times in a row, with their win percentage being less than 10%. The Ordinary were those who lost more than they won, with win percentages of 50% or lower. The Tenacious were those who fought at least ten battles in a day and had a win percentage higher than 50%. Fierce Braves needed to fight ten battles in a day while winning at least seven. The Peerless were those who fought at least ten battles a day while maintaining a 90% win percentage, and kept up this performance for three days in a row.


    Students were evaluated once every day, and their grades would change with it. Each match would be held between those with simr evaluations.


    Matches between those of the same category were prioritized, followed by those of a lower level, and so on.


    This was why few students in the academy received the evaluation of Fierce Brave, and those who could keep this rating over the long term were even fewer, for as one¡¯s rating went up, the opponents would get tougher.


    Yesterday, though Tang Jie had won fourteen matches in a row, as he had no evaluation, he had note up against any tough opponents. This was also why many people weren¡¯t convinced of his power yet. With his evaluation issued, Tang Jie would now have to match against opponents of the same level, and only when there were no avable opponents of his level could he get matched against students of lower caliber.


    In these circumstances, winning fourteen in a row would be very difficult. This exined how he had been able to get first ce after winning fourteen in a row yesterday.


    Cai Junyang hade to find Tang Jie so early because he knew that there were few people present on the battleground this early, and with few people of the Fierce Brave category present and the prioritization of matching against people of the same level, it would be easy for him to get matched with Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was astonished to hear these words from Cai Junyang. ¡°Don¡¯t you have ss in the morning?¡±


    ¡°I took a day off.¡±


    ¡°How did you do that?¡±


    ¡°Indigestion.¡±


    Tang Jie was speechless. On the side, Liu Hongyan covered her mouth andughed.


    Since this was the case, Tang Jie stopped talking and went with them to the Divine Battleground.


    At the battleground, sure enough, Tang Jie got matched with Cai Junyang in the first round.


    Once they were in the room, Cai Junyang pulled out his sword and smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t me me for bullying you. This sword of mine is a middle-grade spell weapon. Its name is Tsunami, and while it isrge and broad, it swings quickly and smoothly, like a giant tsunami that can engulf a mountain. I cultivate the Lesser Sea Massing Wave Mantra, and the spells I¡¯ve learned are the Pilewave Sword, the Ripplewalk, and the Shore-Crashing Hand.¡±


    The Lesser Sea Massing Wave Mantra emphasized massing energy and quick, continuous attacks. The Pilewave Sword was a swift-attacking sword art. Unlike the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword, it was a proper Immortal spell, and when activated, it could condense the surrounding air and slow down an opponent as if they were moving through water. Only the caster would not be affected.


    It together with the Massing Wave Mantra and the Tsunami Sword made the perfectbo.


    Tang Jie chuckled as he pulled out an iron sword. ¡°The Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra, the Aquagel Shroud, the Energy Needle, the Formless Golden Body, the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword¡­ and a mortal-level iron sword.¡±


    He felt somewhat embarrassed as he got to the end. Cai Junyang red at him. ¡°What nonsense are you learning? Why didn¡¯t you learn the Silk Rending Hand, the Mountain Cleaver Sword, or the Bone Piercing Needle? Those are the spells that go with your Grotto Metal Mantra!¡±


    Tang Jie shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll definitely learn them next time.¡±


    The two of them looked at each other, and they simultaneously erupted inughter.


    A momentter, Cai Junyang shouted, ¡°Kid, watch my sword!¡±


    He swung his sword at Tang Jie.


    Although he was friends with Tang Jie, he attacked savagely, showing no intention of holding back.


    As the sword swung, Tang Jie immediately felt the air around him getting heavier, and even breathing became somewhat difficult. He rapidly backed away, but he felt like he was moving through water, his spiritual energy circting slowly. Cai Junyang¡¯s sword was alreadying down on his head.


    With no other option, Tang Jie pretended to activate the Formless Golden Body and then raised his sword to block. To his surprise, Cai Junyang suddenly shifted the trajectory of the sword, instead thrusting it at him from down below. Tang Jie immediately smashed his arms down, striking the sword and changing its trajectory so that it only brushed past his body. A momentter, the sword came back around and went for another sh.


    Just as Cai Junyang had imed, his attacks came in wave after wave. Once his offensive got started, he didn¡¯t give his opponents any chance to counterattack. Tang Jie was forced to use the Violet Lightning Lunge to charge forward, and the two passed by each other. Cai Junyang quickly turned around and thrust his palm at Tang Jie¡¯s fleeing back.


    The Shore-Crashing Hand!


    The air boomed as a hand appeared and mmed into Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie had yet to reach mastery in the Violet Lightning Lunge, so he was unable to dodge. But his body shed with light as the Aquagel Shroud appeared. The palm pierced through the shroud and struck Tang Jie in the back, but Tang Jie was fine. He turned around and fired an Energy Needle.


    Cai Junyang vanished, the watery nature of the air not hindering him in any way, and easily dodged it. This was the Ripplewalk.


    He instantly appeared in front of Tang Jie and swung his sword again.


    Tang Jie could only raise his sword to block again, at the same time trying to back away and create distance between him and Cai Junyang, but Cai Junyang doggedly pursued.


    The Lesser Sea was located at the elbow, favoring the cirction of energy!


    Cai Junyang had an eight-cycle Jade Gate, far superior to Tang Jie¡¯s. Moreover, his spell arts were aplete set, so as his attacks driven by spiritual energy came in wave after wave, they were truly savage. In terms of speed and flow, they were far above Tang Jie¡¯s attacks.


    As they got to fighting, they immediately began to use all sorts of dazzling moves. This battle was far more intense than any of the fourteen battles Tang Jie had fought yesterday.


    Even with Tang Jie¡¯s constitution, one of Cai Junyang¡¯s sweeping sword energy attacks was still extraordinarily painful. He knew that this guy¡¯s sword technique was sharp, but Cai Junyang was also rather proficient in the Pilewave Sword, and his attacks were exceptionally fierce.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Cai Junyang swung his sword three more times, and Tang Jie raised his sword to block three times. ng! Half of his sword went flying away.


    Cai Junyangughed. ¡°Tang Jie, it¡¯s your weapon being destroyed this time. I¡¯m sure those students will thank me once they find out!¡±


    Tang Jie helplessly shook his head. ¡°That thing still cost me three silver coins, and you went and broke it. This karma really came quickly.¡±


    He threw away the sword!


    Time for fists!


    He swung a punch at Cai Junyang!


    This punch had all the fury of a thunderstorm, and Cai Junyang felt a major threat approaching. He brought his sword back and raised it to block, therge sword like a giant board in front of him.


    ¡°Raaa!¡± Tang Jie roared like a tiger, his body swelling with strength. Cai Junyang felt a massive push as iron fist met giant sword, and he was sent flying.


    Although he hadn¡¯t actually used the Formless Golden Body, he had gathered up all the strength in his body for this blow.


    ¡°Break through!¡± Tang Jie roared. As Cai Junyang flew through the air, Tang Jie pursued.


    At this moment, Cai Junyang¡¯s giant sword erupted with light.


    Tang Jie immediately knew that this wasn¡¯t good. He saw the light on Cai Junyang¡¯s sword turn into lightning, and then he shed the sword: ¡°Raging Wave sh!¡±


    Tang Jie saw that he couldn¡¯t dodge and turned his fist into a palm, trying to catch the sword between his palms. At the same time, he kicked at Cai Junyang. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able topletely block this attack, so he risked injury to strike back at Cai Junyang.


    The two came together and then broke apart. Boom! They mmed into opposite walls, causing the room¡¯s defensive formation to erupt with a brilliant light.


    ¡°Ugh!¡± Cai Junyang spat out blood. Tang Jie¡¯s kick had left his abdomen badly sore. ¡°Such strength! The effects of your Formless Golden Body are very impressive!¡±


    Tang Jie grunted and looked at his shoulder.


    While he had managed to grab the sword itself, there was no stopping the energy of the sword, which had cut at his shoulder.


    This blow was so powerful that not even the body that had been bathed twice using the Parting ssic could stop it. A wound two fingers deep had been sliced open, deep enough to see the bone. Despite the pain, he couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°The Raging Wave sh¡­ You¡¯re quite the treacherous fellow, hiding a move like that.¡±


    Cai Junyangughed. ¡°The art of war is all about mixing truth and fiction, fiction and truth. I said that I had learned three spell arts, but I didn¡¯t say that they were the only three. What does it matter if I¡¯ve used the Raging Wave sh?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Tang Jie used the wall to help him get back up. ¡°But this move of yours is a little too vicious. Weren¡¯t you worried that you might kill me?¡±


    ¡°I aimed at your arm, and with the esteemed teachers around, what do you have to worry about? Besides, I only did it when I saw that the defenses from your Formless Golden Body were pretty good. If it were anyone else, would it have been worth me using my ultimate move?¡± Cai Junyang smugly added, ¡°As ones who cultivate Immortality, we will have to confront numerous dangers in the future. If you can¡¯t even take an injury like this, how can you cultivate Immortality? I tricked you today, but at least it¡¯s better than being tricked by your enemies!¡±


    He was proud to have actually taught Tang Jie something.


    Tang Jie shook his head and chuckled, after which he took out his lot and threw it at Cai Junyang. ¡°I can¡¯t move my arm for now, and I have to get it treated by an esteemed teacher. I¡¯ll count this as your win.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, ¡®count this as my win¡¯? I clearly won!¡± Cai Junyang was very dissatisfied.


    ¡°You yed a trick, and I didn¡¯t use the Aquagel Shroud because I wanted to save spiritual energy. You won¡¯t get the chance next time.¡±


    ¡°Alright, then when we fight again, I¡¯ll definitely leave you convinced of your loss.¡± Cai Junyang left with a heartyugh.


    He was in a great mood after beating Tang Jie, and he failed to notice that Tang Jie was smiling.


    Although he had lost, Tang Jie was overjoyed. After all, his opponent had been Cai Junyang, one of the geniuses of the academy.


    Without using the Formless Golden Body, he had forced Cai Junyang to use his hidden trump card to just barely win. Tang Jie felt great honor in this loss.


    But most importantly, Tang Jie had greatly benefited from this battle.


    There was nothing toin about concerning Cai Junyang¡¯sbat talent. Tang Jie had been able to rely on his extremely tough body to resist that flurry of attacks, but anyone else would have fallen long ago.


    This battle had made Tang Jie realize his shorings, realize that he still had many problems. If he could improve upon them, his strength would undoubtedly rise to another level.


    ¡°Regardless, you¡¯re a good opponent. Out of gratitude¡­ I will definitely defeat you!¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    At this moment, he heard someoneughing behind him. ¡°Tang Jie, you cowardly turtle, you finally came out of your shell. How was it? Now that you¡¯ve run into an actual opponent, your true formes out, right?¡±


    He turned his head to see that You Shaofeng was walking toward him.


    He was clearly happy and relieved to see that Tang Jie had lost, and there was no hiding the hatred and disdain in his eyes. ¡°In the exam, you framed me! I¡¯m going to teach you a lesson today, you bastard!¡±


    Tang Jie pursed his lips. ¡°You¡¯re acting like I¡¯ve wronged you. If you want to fight me, it¡¯s simple. Let me get my injuries treated first, and then I¡¯lle and find you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send you back to the esteemed teacher very soon!¡±


    Tang Jie spread apart his hands. ¡°No problem. Get a room and wait for me.¡±


    Twenty minutester.


    A ghastly wail came from inside a sparring room. ¡°My weapon¡­¡±


    It was none other than You Shaofeng.

 Chapter 89 - A Chance

    Chapter 89: A Chance


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie wasn¡¯t going to be polite now that he had already shown his ability.


    Starting from this day, Tang Jie officially began his life of training on the sparring ground. While he never actually used the Formless Golden Body, he didn¡¯t keep any of his other tricks hidden.


    The Divine Battleground might have been the cruelest ce in the academy. The students bitterly fought over the limited resources avable, disying all their abilities. They would strike with savagery, and injuries weremonce.


    It wasn¡¯t rare for students to resort to extreme methods such as the kind Qiu Jing¡¯s crew had employed against their opponents. If someone thought that they could win if they were just strong enough, then they were gravely mistaken.


    Even the likes of Qi Shaoming, An Rumeng, Cai Junyang, and Shu Mingyang had losses recorded on the Divine Battleground.


    As for Tang Jie, though he had gotten first ce on the first day, starting from the next day, he did not have such an easy time.


    After losing to Cai Junyang, Tang Jie fought nine more matches, winning five and losing four.


    One of the four who beat him was none other than Shu Mingyang.


    Unlike Cai Junyang, Shu Mingyang had learned as many as eighteen spells. With all these spells, he naturally couldn¡¯t cast them as quickly as Tang Jie and the others could cast theirs, but he was skilled in talismans. In every match, he was certain to use talismans, unleashing a plethora of spells that left Tang Jie dizzy and confused.


    But Tang Jie quickly managed to counter Cai and Shu with a painful blow.


    On the third day, Tang Jie designed his tactics specifically to counter Cai and Shu. For Shu Mingyang, he used a rapid offensive, while against Cai Junyang, he put up a hard wall of defense, thus defeating both of them.


    But people soon began to target him¡­ The battles went on in this intense and exciting fashion, and it was only in this phase that Tang Jie truly interacted with the experts of the academy¡ªthere were always those people who didn¡¯t garner much fame at the start of the term but would gradually reveal their edge on the Divine Battleground.


    In the process of fighting with these worthy adversaries, Tang Jie was constantly improving himself and gaining more and morebat experience. It was also at this point that he truly understood what it meant for there to always be someone that was better.


    In this period of time, he fought with Cai Junyang five times, losing three times and winning twice. After his first loss, he and Cai Junyang had fought four more times and each won twice. He had fought with Shu Mingyang six times, with three victories and three losses. He had gone against Liu Hongyan three times, winning twice and suffering an unexpected third loss. Against Ping Jingyue, he had fought two times and won both times.


    He had fought against Hua Yang three times and won three times. In the first battle, he had shattered Hua Yang¡¯s spell weapon, leaving him so angry that he had vomited blood on the spot.


    It was two other students who truly dealt Tang Jie a painful blow.


    One was called Li Yunfan, and the other was called Li Huanian.


    The former was a seven-cycle-Jade-Gate student from the same ss who also cultivated the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra. Tang Jie had fought him four times and lost every time¡ªhis worst record to date. Li Yunfan had an almost divine mastery of the Silk Rending Hand and the Mountain Cleaver Sword, and his attacks were sharp and vicious. This was a student who had gained fame purely throughbat.


    Li Huanian was fromst year¡¯s ss, one of the minority who had failed to advance to the Spirit Lake Tier in a year and a half. However, that he hadn¡¯t reached the Spirit Lake Tier was not because hecked talent, but because he had put a significant part of his energy into practicing spells. He was proficient in seven or eight spell arts, and his cultivation had lingered on the edge of the Spirit Lake Tier. The students from his ss all cursed him out for being shameless, relying on his extra year of study to steal resources from the lower-level students.


    But these were the rules of the academy.


    So long as the students didn¡¯t break the rules, they could exploit them however they pleased. It was all just a problem between students.


    In truth, for the majority of students, even with an extra year of cultivation, they might not have been able to win if they ran into geniuses of the lower ss, and they might have only dyed their own cultivation.


    Li Huanian wasn¡¯t the only one who had done this, but he was the only one who had seeded.


    Tang Jie had fought with him four times, losing three times and winning once.


    There was also a student called Heng Wei. This person had average strength, but he was extremely durable, and fighting with him was like trying to eat a sticky cake.


    Tang Jie had fought him three times and won every time, but after each battle, he was absolutely exhausted. Later on, he learned that this guy was the top scorer of Celestial Pearl Hall, just like how Tang Jie was currently the top scorer of Celestial Defense Hall.


    Lastly, he had fought An Rumeng once.


    That was possibly the most beautiful one-sided defeat of his lifetime.


    This girl had an extremely fast movement technique, and Tang Jie had yet to master the Violet Lightning Lunge. Throughout the entire battle, Tang Jie hadn¡¯t even been able to catch the edge of An Rumeng¡¯s skirt before he was defeated. The battle left some psychological trauma on Tang Jie for quite some time afterward.


    This girl was currently the only person who had maintained her evaluation of Peerless.


    As for Qi Shaoming, Tang Jie had yet to fight him, for Qi Shaoming had yet to participate in sparring training.


    He was training in the Seven Celestial Halls, of which Celestial Pearl Hall alone could drain a person, so he didn¡¯t have the time to do anything else. Tang Jie had met him a few times over there, but of course, since they didn¡¯t know each other well, they normally just nodded at each other and smiled. Of course, Tang Jie didn¡¯t often go to Celestial Pearl Hall, as he focused more on tempering his body in Celestial Defense Hall.


    Tang Jie officially began to make a name for himself, and he gradually climbed back up from being a ¡°coward¡± to the top twenty. In this month, he managed to rank three times: first, fourth, and fifth.


    But what truly made Tang Jie famous was his habit of easily destroying the weapons of others.


    As there were always a few people in this initial phase who wanted to make trouble for Tang Jie, Tang Jie would never be polite. Whenever he fought them, he would turn their weapons into scrap metal, after which he came to be known as the ¡°Weapon-Shattering Madman¡±, and the Formless Golden Body enjoyed an even greater reputation in the academy.


    Tang Jie felt that this was the most interesting part. A spell art that he had never actually used once was now viewed as the strongest spell in the eyes of others.


    With all these weapons being broken, Tang Jie¡¯s golden grain grewrger until he could now form it into a needle.


    Tang Jie had tried to wrap the golden grain in the Energy Needle and then throw it out in the shape of a needle. One strike had been able to punch a hole in arge stone. After the Formless Golden Body, this was the second of Tang Jie¡¯s secret trump cards.


    His only regret was that when he threw out the golden needle, he would need ages to find it again. He had no way of knowing when it would get big enough for him to sense it from a long range, so Tang Jie felt like he might need to find a chance to learn the Sovereign Spirit spell and see if this could solve the problem.


    The Sovereign Spirit spell was simr to Wei Tianchong¡¯s Sovereign Command spell, but while thetter emphasized control, the former emphasized sensing. It was better when it came to searching for objects with spirituality, and it could also control puppets to a certain degree.


    But if he did this, he would once more be putting off learning the spells that were a set with the Grotto Metal Mantra, and Wei Tianchong would probably rebuke him until his jaw fell off.


    Without a puppet, Wei Tianchong was dejected for a few days, but he soon regained his energy and nned to make a strongerbat puppet.


    For this purpose, he invested all the money the Wei n sent to him into materials. Tang Jie saw his efforts and gifted the medicines he got for getting in the top five to him.


    Wei Tianchong was shocked by this gesture. ¡°And you? What are you going to do?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about me. I¡¯m definitely going to get into the top five more in the future and will have medicines like these avable to me. These spirit-nurturing pills aren¡¯t very useful for me, so I would rather give them to you. So long as you are willing to put in the effort, everything is negotiable.¡±


    Wei Tianchong stared at Tang Jie, and it took a while for him to finally say, ¡°My mom¡­ really made the right choice.¡±


    Time rapidly passed in this sort of passionate and excited fashion, half a month going by in the blink of an eye.


    Today, after fighting ten matches in the sparring ground, Tang Jie had gone on to the Seven Celestial Halls to cultivate.


    Tang Jie preferred this ce to the noisy environment of the sparring ground.


    It was a clean and simple ce where he could bury his head in training, as if everything outside had nothing to do with him. He didn¡¯t need to think about Godhead Pce, didn¡¯t need to think about rtions with others, and didn¡¯t even need to think about his young master. Though he sweat and bled, he also gave his brain some time to take a break. Boom!


    A giant hammer smashed down, and Tang Jie flew into the air. Without even time to look, he rolled across the ground, and arge foot mmed down next to him.


    Tang Jie continued to roll as more and more feet stomped down around him. Tang Jie was forced to make ten-some rolls before finally jumping to his feet.


    The moment he jumped to his feet, the dark silhouette of a puppet rushed to his side and punched, hitting him right in the belly. Tang Jie¡¯s entire body trembled, but he roared, grabbed the puppet, and threw it aside.


    ¡°Sess!¡± Tang Jie shouted out in delight.


    The grab and throw was something Tang Jie had learned after being pummeled for quite some time. It seemed very simple, but it required seizing the moment when the opponent had just struck and had yet to exert new strength. It was most suited for use against those opponents who relied on their speed to attack.


    With this puppet thrown aside, a gap appeared in the encirclement of the eight puppets, and with a roar, Tang Jie charged at it. But just when he was about to break out, the ninth puppet appeared, blocking Tang Jie¡¯s path and giving him a punch.


    Tang Jie tried to grab its fist, but his hand missed, the punch savagely striking him in the face and sending him flying.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Tang Jie cursed. The nine puppets suddenly elerated, bing blurs as they attacked Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was forced to activate the jade token and teleport out of the hall to escape this terrifying assault.


    The elder outside nced at Tang Jie and nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Not bad. You¡¯ve reached ny points. Your progress recently has truly been surprising.¡±


    Tang Jie took in a deep breath. ¡°Thank you for your instruction, Senior. This lowly one will continue to work hard.¡±


    Though that was what he said, he knew that he had essentially used up the potential he had obtained through the Parting ssic. He had felt his body¡¯s strengthening beginning to slow down. If he wanted to bring the pace back up, he would probably have to spend more money.


    s, after he had inherited the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, the Basking Moon Sect had seemingly stopped thinking about him and was no longer inclined to act. Thus, trying to get benefits from the Basking Moon Sect had be extremely difficult.


    If it¡¯s really no good, I¡¯ll just use all my strength and get one hundred points, Tang Jie said to himself. But this would mean exposing one of his trump cards.


    As he was hesitating, he saw a person approaching in the distance.


    Tang Jie looked over and saw that it was Wu Xing.


    Wu Xing also saw him, and he immediately dropped his head and walked away.


    Tang Jie¡¯s mouth opened, wanting to shout something, but he couldn¡¯t manage to speak.


    The elder noticed this and asked, ¡°You have some sort of quarrel with that student?¡±


    ¡°Ah. Not really¡­ He¡¯s my older brother,¡± Tang Jie very awkwardly replied. Wu Xing¡¯s figure was fading into the distance.


    ¡°Oh?¡± The elder raised a white eyebrow. ¡°If I remember correctly, that student¡¯s surname is Wu.¡±


    ¡°His parents are my adopted parents,¡± Tang Jie replied. He asked the elder, ¡°Has he beening to the Seven Celestial Hallstely?¡±


    The elder nodded. ¡°Yes, hees here every day and trains until he¡¯s totally spent. s, his talents are limited, and he has poorprehension, so though he trains hard, he hasn¡¯t made much progress. Rather than training, it seems to me that he¡¯s torturing himself¡­ He has a great load on his mind.¡±


    ¡°Is that so,¡± Tang Jie mechanically replied.


    The elder smiled. ¡°It seems that your rtionship with your older brother isn¡¯t that good.¡±


    ¡°There were a few problems¡­¡± Tang Jie didn¡¯t continue.


    The elder seemed to understand. ¡°Was it rted to cultivation?¡±


    Tang Jie nodded.


    The elder sighed. ¡°Haaa, the path of Immortality is beset with struggles. For the sake of a few cultivation resources, brothers will turn on each other, and father and son will be enemies. There is not even the slightest bit of the human touch there. Such Immortals¡­ are better off not cultivating.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like that!¡± Tang Jie hastily replied. He wanted to say more, but the old man waved his hand and stopped him.


    ¡°I know. He was probably the one in the wrong, but, in the end, he¡¯s still your older brother. While you might not be rted by blood, he is still your older brother. He might have done wrong, but did you ever give him a chance?¡±


    Tang Jie froze.


    The elder closed his eyes and unhurriedly said, ¡°I¡¯m old, and I¡¯ve seen too many things like this. Cultivating for a lifetime, living for a hundred generations, I have seen the people around me die off one by one. A thousand years go by in a sh, but when I look back in the twilight, I realize that finding my formerpanions is very difficult. What does it matter if you have cultivated until your power reaches the heavens and reverberates through the earth? Some things that are lost¡­ cannot be brought back. When ites to rtives, if you can get along, why fight? All of you are still young, and on the path of youth, making mistakes is verymon. If possible, there is no harm in trying one more time. Better than to look back on the past and regretfully sigh.¡±


    Tang Jie was dumbfounded. After a long while, he bowed to the elder. ¡°Senior, thank you for your instruction!¡±


    He turned and left.


    That afternoon, Tang Jie didn¡¯t cultivate. He sat in his room pondering something, even ignoring Yiyi¡¯s teasing.


    Late in the night, Tang Jie finally made up his mind.


    He walked out and went to Wu Xing¡¯s residence. After hesitating for a while, he knocked on the door.


    The door opened to reveal Wu Xing.


    He was much more haggard than when they had first met.


    Upon seeing Tang Jie outside, Wu Xing paled. ¡°What did youe here to do?¡±


    Tang Jie took out the bottle of lifespan-extending medicine. ¡°I want to ask for your help in sending out this medicine¡­ I couldn¡¯t find any other way of sending it out, so I ended uping back to you.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by this?¡± Wu Xing looked at the medicine and then angrily red at Tang Jie.


    ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand me. It was just that there was an old man who told me that everyone makes mistakes, and we sometimes need to learn how to give others more chances¡­ I want to try it out.¡±


    Tang Jie ced the bottle on the table and silently looked at Wu Xing.


    Wu Xing¡¯s body trembled. Suddenly, he dropped to his knees and began to weep.

 Chapter 90 - Record

    Chapter 90: Record


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Seven Celestial Halls.


    Tang Jie suddenly appeared in front of a hall. He staggered backward, his face as white as a sheet.


    Cough¡­ Tang Jie spat out a mouthful of blood. ¡°Thest ten points are really difficult to get.¡±


    He took out the jade token and looked at it. It said that he had 91 points.


    But Tang Jie knew that this one extra point had been gotten in exchange for an injury. This one extra round of beating he had endured had caused him to vomit blood. If he had tried to endure another one after that, he might have been beaten to death.


    The elder wasn¡¯t here, so Tang Jie moved to the side to rest.


    With nothing else to do, he looked at the record wall next to him.


    The record wall recorded the grades of the students. The formation on the wall was linked to the jade tokens held by all the students. When the score on the token changed, the ranking on the wall would also change.


    On the wall that recorded the rankings for Celestial Defense Hall of this year¡¯s ss, Tang Jie held the top spot, so his ranking didn¡¯t change. His score simply went from 90 to 91.


    In second ce was Qi Shaoming, with 83 points.


    ¡°He¡¯s catching up rather quickly,¡± Tang Jie frowned.


    If he recalled correctly, Qi Shaoming had only had 80 points yesterday. In just one day, he had gotten three more points.


    Further down was a student called Fang Zhi who Tang Jie had never seen before.


    On this wall, there was one name that was even higher than Tang Jie: Cang Qingfeng.


    There was a note under it:


    ¡°Cang Qingfeng, a student of the 442nd ss, current record holder of Celestial Defense Hall¡¯s Spirit Spring Tier,sting a total of thirty-five seconds.¡±


    ¡°Cang Qingfeng, thirty-five seconds¡­¡± Tang Jie furrowed his brow.


    ording to the rules of the Seven Celestial Halls, each puppet represented ten points. The first ten points were the easiest to get, attained as soon as the puppet started attacking. After that, it depended on how long one couldst. If one couldst until the tenth puppet entered the battle, one got one hundred points.


    But how long one couldst would depend on one¡¯s ability, and each additional second would be a record.


    Basking Moon Academy¡¯s Seven Celestial Halls had existed for one thousand years, so these records were always being broken. Thus, the records on these walls were actually the best records left by countless elites over one thousand years.


    Each broken record would mean that the strongest record in the 1800-year history of Basking Moon Academy had been established.


    The record of this Cang Qingfeng had been set 1400 years ago, and had remained unbroken to this day.


    As looked at the other walls, he saw that Cang Qingfeng was the record holder for the Spirit Lake Tier, Spirit Sea Tier, and even the Mortal Shedding Realm.


    Tang Jie suddenly had an idea and went to see who the record holders of the other halls were.


    At Celestial Execution Hall, Tang Jie sawrge names written on the walls.


    One of these names drew his attention.


    ¡°Xiao Biehan, a student of the 1326th ss, current record holder of Celestial Execution Hall¡¯s Hundred Refinement Period.¡±


    ¡°So it was the third martial uncle of the Basking Moon Sect. As expected of the sword maniac, after breaking the records of his predecessors, his own record has remained unbroken,¡± Tang Jie remarked with a chuckle.


    After looking around Celestial Execution Hall, Tang Jie went to see the other halls and saw quite a few famous people.


    It was Yan Changfeng for Celestial Pivot Hall, Ming Yekong for Celestial sh Hall, Lu Yuanzhen for Celestial Pearl Hall, and Feng Hongluan for Celestial Variation Hall. Excluding Cang Qingfeng, these were all illustrious individuals of the current age, with Feng Hongluan being the current headmaster of Basking Moon Academy.


    But none of these people had been like Cang Qingfeng and upied the top records for all tiers. Most of them only disyed their strength at a certain stage.


    After all, there were countless talents over one thousand years, and leaving one¡¯s name on the records once was a feat for the ages.


    This was what made Cang Qingfeng even stranger. Who was this person? As someone who had set out to understand the Basking Moon Sect, he had never heard of the sect having this sort of person.


    Was it a student who wasn¡¯t willing to join the sect? Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but think.


    Though Basking Moon Academy was designed to recruit talents for the Basking Moon Sect, not every exceptional student was willing to join. There were always one or two independent-minded geniuses who might choose otherwise.


    These people were normally called ¡°outstanding students¡±. This title held the same status as ¡°outer disciple¡± and was indicative of students who had stood out but had not joined the inner sect.


    As he wandered and pondered, he ended up walking back to Celestial Defense Hall. He looked nkly at Cang Qingfeng¡¯s name for a while, at which point someone came out. It was none other than Qi Shaoming.


    He was also surprised to see Tang Jie, but he just gave a perfunctory nod and left.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t try to act close. He simrly gave a nod and left.


    Qi Shaoming nced at his departing back, and then he took up the position Tang Jie had just left, in front of the wall.


    ¡°91 points¡­ It went up again, so fast!¡±


    Just like how Tang Jie thought Qi Shaoming was rapidly improving, Qi Shaoming thought that Tang Jie was rapidly improving. After all, the more points one got in the Seven Celestial Halls, the more difficult it was to get more.


    That dazzling 91 made Qi Shaoming feel rather ufortable.


    He outwardly appeared very mild and gentle, but down in his bones, he was as proud as anyone else.


    For he was Qi Shaoming!


    Nine-cycle-Jade-Gate Qi Shaoming!


    He was normally cold and aloof not because he did not like to make friends, but because he felt that Basking Moon Academy was awash with mediocrity, that no one else here except An Rumeng had the right to be his friend.


    He wasn¡¯t taking part in sparring training because he knew after losing several times that the Spirit Spring Tier wasn¡¯t enough for him to truly dominate. Thus, he had begun to bitterly train at the Seven Celestial Halls.


    One day, when he was truly peerless, he would return to the sparring ground and sweep through all opposition.


    But here, he had encountered other rivals.


    There was Cai Junyang at Celestial Pivot Hall, Li Huanian at Celestial Simtion Hall, Shu Mingyang at Celestial Variation Hall, An Rumeng at Celestial sh Hall, Li Yunfan at Celestial Execution Hall, Heng Wei at Celestial Pearl Hall, and here, at Celestial Defense Hall, was Tang Jie.


    Though he, Qi Shaoming, considered himself a genius, he couldn¡¯t get first ce in any of the halls.


    Of course, this partially had to do with his pride causing him to fight for supremacy wherever he went. Even though he had no first ce, his name could be found in the top ten of every hall. In terms of total score, he was naturally the indisputable number one.


    But for him, this was far from enough.


    His eyes burned with fighting intent as he muttered, ¡°I¡¯ll surpass all of you. One by one¡­ I¡¯ll defeat all of you!¡±


    There was nothing to do in the afternoon, so Tang Jie went to see Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong was messing around with his puppet in the courtyard.


    This puppet was clearly bigger than the first. Rather than using Electro Wood, whichcked in defense, for the torso, Wei Tianchong had chosen to use the tough and durable Violet Sandstone.


    To the west of Sageheart was a region known as the Violet Desert, which produced Violet Sandstone. Violet Sand had a tendency to aggregate and could easily bepacted into stone. This was a rough stone that was very porous, making it easy for spiritual energy to flow through it. It was perfect for those kinds of puppets that had smooth shells but were internally filled with holes.


    It could be said that Violet Sandstone was the ideal material for low-level students to make puppets with. While it couldn¡¯t be infused with lightning like Electro Wood, it was tough and durable, and most importantly, it was cheap.


    It was just that working with it was rather tiresome. After all, this was sculpting with stone, not wood.


    In truth, Tang Jie had thought about selecting Violet Sandstone for Wei Tianchong at first, but Wei Tianchong was toozy and had refused, so he had to go with Electro Wood.


    Ye Xing¡¯s hammer had shattered his puppet and knocked him out of hisziness. He realized that so long as he waszy, he would have to pay the price.


    This time, he had maturely chosen the material most appropriate for his level.


    Of course, this meant that his puppet would take at least three months to finish.


    For this, Wei Tianchong had learned the Ghost Axe spell. Through spiritual energy, one could make any weapon sharp and tough, making it perfect for sculpting. Of course, it could also be used in closebat.


    Wei Tianchong was busy working on his puppet, but when he saw Tang Jie, he happily put down his chisel and hammer and rushed over. ¡°Why did youe to find me today?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Look at what you¡¯re saying! I¡¯m your servant student. I should being to see how you¡¯re doing whether I have business or not.¡±


    ¡°Oh my, someone still remembers that they¡¯re a servant student,¡± a sarcastic voice said from the back. Shi Meng was standing in the small spirit grain field, a small raincloud in front of him watering the nts.


    The Raindrive spell.


    Tang Jie knew that Shi Meng was angry.


    Tang Jie had been busy cultivating, so he hadn¡¯t been taking much care of Wei Tianchong¡­ Alright, it wasn¡¯t like he had done much in the past.


    Wei Tianchong was currently relying on Shi Meng to handle all his daily needs.


    While Shi Meng had learned Immortal arts that had made a lot of his work easier, sometimes, it wasn¡¯t just a matter of more or less, but one ofparison.


    He watched as Tang Jie cultivated every day and ignored their young master, so he naturally felt ufortable. Moreover, Wei Tianchong was alwaysplimenting Tang Jie.


    Thus, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t angered by Shi Meng¡¯s reprimand. Wei Tianchong, on the other hand, was rather unhappy, saying, ¡°Shi Meng, what are you saying? Tang Jie is taking care of my studies. Without him, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to pass the exam, and he helped me teach a lesson to that group of scoundrels just recently.¡±


    Tang Jie hurriedly stopped him. ¡°Forget it, forget it. Shi Meng is right. I have been neglecting my duties to you recently, and I owe a lot to Shi Meng for taking up my duties.¡±


    He walked over and took out a bottle of spirit-nurturing pills that he gave to Shi Meng. ¡°I¡¯m sure that taking care of the young master has hindered your cultivation. There are some things that I should have done that you helped me do instead. I don¡¯t have any good way of repaying you, so take this as a sign of my gratitude. In the future, if I get any more, I won¡¯t forget about you.¡±


    Shi Meng was rather startled as he took the bottle. He looked at Tang Jie. ¡°You¡­¡±


    Tang Jie very seriously said, ¡°We all entered the academy together, and there are times when one person can¡¯t go it alone. I received some instructions from an elder a few days ago, and upon thinking back, I feel like there are some things that I failed to do well enough. If I did anything that displeased you, please forgive me.¡±


    His words made Shi Meng start to feel awkward. Scratching his head, he said, ¡°Forget it. We¡¯ll just count this as you paying for my time.¡±


    Shi Meng knew that his abilities were limited, and even if he had thrown all his work onto Tang Jie, he would have never been able to get into the top five and enjoy its rewards as Tang Jie had. Since that was the case, it was better to do a good job as a support. In any case, life here was simple, and Wei Tianchong had be much more reliable such that he could handle the work alone. With these spirit-nurturing pills, he was actually making a profit, so he dly epted them.


    ¡°It seems like you¡¯ve reached Spirit Spring, right?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    Shi Meng chuckled. ¡°Mm, a littleter than the young master. I got to Spirit Spring only a few days ago, after which I learned the Raindrive spell.¡±


    Just like Wei Tianchong, he had a four-cycle Jade Gate, but he didn¡¯t have the resources, so he was always slower than Wei Tianchong. To be honest, if not for Tang Jie, Shi Meng would have been considered one of the more decently talented servant students.


    ¡°You won¡¯t have much of a future if you only learn things like this,¡± Tang Jie said.


    Shi Meng dropped his head. ¡°I know that, but there¡¯s nothing else to be done. I only have four cycles and don¡¯t have any resources, just barely meeting the school¡¯s minimum standard for entering Mortal Shedding. If I divide my attention into learning spells, I wouldn¡¯t be able to seed in either aspect.¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°You¡¯re right, but learning spells doesn¡¯t necessarily mean dividing your attention.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What do you mean by that?¡± Shi Meng was confused.


    ¡°Not every spell requires you to get proficient in them before you use them,¡± Tang Jie exined. ¡°Battles are dangerous, with every second mattering, so the faster you can cast a spell, the better. But not all spells are like that. Take healing spells as an example. There isn¡¯t much of a difference between casting one in the blink of an eye and casting one over the course of five minutes.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­¡±


    ¡°There are also scouting spells, counter-stealth spells, and other support spells. So long as they¡¯re spells that don¡¯t need to be used in battle, they don¡¯t be practiced to too high of a proficiency level. You simply need to know how to use them.¡±


    Shi Meng¡¯s eyes brightened at these words, and Tang Jie continued, ¡°You cultivate the Water Spring Reflection Mantra. This mantra specializes in recovery and healing spells, so why not try to learn a few? In future missions, you¡¯ll have plenty of space to disy your ability.¡±


    ¡°Missions?¡±


    ¡°Yes, missions!¡± Tang Jie patted him. ¡°You¡¯ve only just stepped onto the Immortal path, and no one can say what the final oue will be, so why give up so easily? Since you can¡¯t make yourself stand out like the others, why not find your own ce? Right now, most students are seeking proficiency, not variety, focusing onbat. There¡¯s nothing wrong with this line of thought, but some things lose their value when there¡¯s too much of it around. Since everyone else is pursuing purity, you might as well walk the path of variety and learn a lot of spells. Learn all sorts of spells, specifically the ones that other people don¡¯t know, and they might prove more useful than you think.¡±


    Shi Meng¡¯s eyes brightened even more, but then they swiftly dimmed. ¡°But I don¡¯t have the money to learn that many spells.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯ll pay it. It¡¯s just twenty spirit coins for one book, right? I¡¯m your young master, so I can certainly afford it. You can just repay meter!¡± Wei Tianchong confidently thumped his chest.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s exactly what I mean,¡± Tang Jie said with a smile. ¡°Every person has their own position, and once you find yours, you¡¯ll have a path forward.¡±


    Shi Meng finally looked at Tang Jie with a hint of gratitude in his eyes. ¡°Thank you.¡±

 Chapter 91 - Grabbing Feathers From A Flying Goose

    <h1>Chapter 91: Grabbing Feathers from a Flying Goose</h1>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Today, Tang Jie once more went to Celestial Defense Hall.


    Standing in front of the record wall, he looked up at the name on the top, that Cang Qingfeng and his record ofsting thirty-five seconds against ten puppets.


    He suddenly had an impulse.


    He wanted to unleash all his strength and try to break that record!


    At present, he was confident that he could get full points using the Formless Golden Body and the Aquagel Shroud.


    But how long could hest against the full onught of those ten puppets?


    How far away was he from thirty-five seconds?


    A voice in his mind warned him that now wasn¡¯t the time to reveal his strength, as this would only plunge him into danger sooner.


    But another voice responded that the potential energy endowed by the Parting ssic had essentially been used up, and daily cultivation would have a limited effect. He needed more resources to rapidly improve.


    Moreover, he needed to be even stronger to even have a sliver of a hope of aplishing what he needed to do next.


    To do this, he probably needed to be the first in his ss to get one hundred points and thus obtain the reward.


    In the end, Tang Jie decided to use the Aquagel Shroud to try and get the highest score. Whether he seeded or not, he would not use the Formless Golden Body.


    With this idea in mind, Tang Jie entered Celestial Defense Hall.


    With the support of the Aquagel Shroud, Tang Jie was able tost for much longer.


    Finally, after a long assault, the tenth puppet began to move.


    But unlike with the previous puppets, when the tenth puppet began to move, the other nine puppets fell back.


    The tenth puppet slowly raised its fist, took aim at Tang Jie, and gave a seemingly unremarkable punch.


    But when this punch flew out, Tang Jie felt an enormous pressure engulfing him, rendering him unable to run. At that moment, he felt an immense fear.


    He saw this punch hurtling toward his chest, prating through the Aquagel Shroud.


    Bang!


    One punch.


    That was enough to pop the Aquagel Shroud like a balloon.


    It made contact with his chest.


    Tang Jie let out a frenzied howl, and the jade token erupted with blinding light and transported him out of the hall.


    The moment he appeared, he rolled around on the ground. He looked at his chest and saw arge imprint of a fist on it, and his chest had even slightly caved in.


    Tang Jie was stunned by what he was seeing.


    The power of this punch was simply horrifying.


    ¡°One second¡­ one punch!¡±


    Tang Jie suddenly understood.


    Thirty-five seconds meant thirty-five punches, but when it came to punches like these, he couldn¡¯t even take one.


    Yes, he hadn¡¯t been able to take it. Before the fist had been able to touch him, when the Aquagel Shroud had shattered, he had sensed that something was wrong and activated the token.


    This was also why his jade token showed that he only had 99 points.


    The tenth puppet had started moving, but he had not gotten 100 points.


    Tang Jie made some calctions. With the power of that fist, even if he used the Formless Golden Body, he would only be able tost three to five punches. Thirty-five punches? He didn¡¯t even dare to imagine it. The moment his resistance broke, a single punch would tten him into a meat pancake. It was no wonder the academy repeatedly emphasized that the students shouldn¡¯t try to force things.


    To reach Cang Qingfeng¡¯s level, the only method was probably to buy another batch of herbs to improve himself.


    But¡­ where would he get the money for these herbs?


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t think of any good ideas, so he shook his head and dropped the notion.


    After some thought, he started tough. The records of the Seven Celestial Halls were the product of more than a thousand years of elites. He had a mere five-cycle Jade Gate and limited resources. It was already hard enough to get here. A record that could be so easily broken could only be a joke.


    Forget it. I should just work to get one hundred points.


    It would probably take a long period of tough training to be able to endure just one punch from the tenth puppet.


    The difference of a single point was a distance of one thousand feet!


    He really hadn¡¯t expected this puppet to be so powerful. What was it made of? And what sort of formation was carved into it?


    Suddenly, Tang Jie had a sh of insight.


    That¡¯s right!


    He had been so focused on training that he had yet to research these puppets.


    These puppets, as formation guardians, were all incredibly powerful, and the refining formation carved into them had to be incrediblyplex. He was certain to benefit if he could learn it. How had he never thought about it?


    Sure enough, a person would pay attention to different things ording to what they liked.


    If Xu Muyang had been here, he would have been over the moon to see such powerful puppets, and he would have gone to every length possible to understand them.


    But he still had time. Wei Tianchong needed two months toplete his puppet, so Tang Jie could use this time to research them. When the time came, he could give Wei Tianchong a pleasant surprise and himself a powerful helper.


    Tang Jie heartilyughed. He knew what he should do next.


    He excitedly rushed off, and it wasn¡¯t long before another young man arrived in front of this hall.


    It was Qi Shaoming.


    As he looked up at the nameboard of Celestial Defense Hall, Qi Shaoming muttered, ¡°I¡¯ve learned a defensive spell this time, so I¡¯m well prepared. I¡¯ll definitely get to the next level this time!¡±


    In a sh, he entered the hall.


    Just like Tang Jie, when Qi Shaoming reappeared in front of the hall, he staggered backward and fell back onto his butt, his legs weak.


    He looked at the score on his jade token: 89 points.


    Qi Shaoming sighed.


    He was finally catching up!


    For this score in Celestial Defense Hall, he had learned three defensive spells, which was the upper limit for what a cultivator at his stage could use at the same time.


    When it came to defensive spells for cultivators, only spells of different natures could ovep. Spirit Disciples could only use body strengtheners, defensive barriers, and shields. Only when he could condense a Spirit Halo and radiate magic outward would he be able to userge-scale defensive spells like domains.


    He wasn¡¯t too proficient in his third defensive spell, so he had only been able tost up to 89 points.


    In this way, 100 points in Celestial Defense Hall probably corresponded to greater proficiency in all three categories of defensive spells one could learn at the Spirit Spring Tier. Only after one had mastered them all could one pass.


    Tang Jie had always had only two spells, the Formless Golden Body and the Aquagel Shroud, yet he had been able to get ny-some points. This was very rare, and it was presumably due to the wonders of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic.


    But regardless, he had once more closed the distance between him and Tang Jie.


    With this thought in mind, he looked up at that name on the record board.


    Tang Jie, 99 points.


    ¡°99 points?¡± Qi Shaoming trembled. He couldn¡¯t stop himself from shouting, ¡°How is that possible?¡±


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know that someone was doggedly attempting to catch up to his score. He was currently racking his brain for ideas on how to benefit from those ten puppets.


    Another day.


    In Celestial Defense Hall, Tang Jie endured the beating of a puppet to carefully examine the refining formation carved into it.


    ¡°All eight gates are present, and the formations ovep. I see. It¡¯s actually a mortal formation, but throughbination, its power soars. It¡¯s incredible!¡± Tang Jie was shaking.


    These puppets that beat him silly weren¡¯t even rankedbat puppets!


    This was because they didn¡¯t have a single spirit formation. Their immense strength came purely from abination of mortal formations.


    Mortal formations corresponded to Spirit Spring, while Rank 1 corresponded to Spirit Lake.


    This also meant that these puppets that beat the students ck and blue were truly Spirit Spring existences. The school had not let out puppets of higher rank to bully them.


    Upon realizing this and then thinking about the ¡°Rank 1 wolf puppet¡± he had made, Tang Jie felt ashamed.


    That Rank 1bat puppet of his would have been utterly pulverized in front of this unrankedbat puppet!


    It was fun to challenge others that were beyond one¡¯s level, but not fun at all to be the one challenged.


    Tang Jie was more amazed the more he saw, finally understanding the profundity and broadness of the Dao of Formations. Comparing what he had learned to this refining formation was like the novice meeting the master. The pitiful him had been hiding skills for fear that he might shake the world, but it now appeared that even if he did reveal his abilities, he wouldn¡¯t shake anyone of importance. At most, he would just startle a few ignorant fools like himself.


    The puppet he was studying was still punching him. At this time, the second puppet came up.


    Tang Jie patiently pushed aside one and pressed the other to the ground, like a man about to force himself on a woman. He stared hard at the patterns on the puppet, and as the puppet fought back, he saw spiritual energy rapidly flow through the armpit, briefly shing.


    ¡°The Stop Gate really is where strength is controlled¡­¡±


    Ping!


    An iron fist mmed into Tang Jie¡¯s head.


    Tang Jie casually blocked it and then raised up that puppet¡¯s arms. ¡°Stop bothering me!¡±


    The puppet groaned and rumbled, and then it suddenly kicked.


    Tang Jie took the kick in the chest, but at that moment, he saw another sh of light. Flipping over, he rushed back to examine the puppet¡¯s armpit. He cried out in delight, ¡°Flying Fish Thread! Golden Silkworm Exuvia! So these were the foundation! No wonder a mortal formation can be so powerful! This is too shameless!¡±


    Flying Fish Thread was the wing sinew of the Four-Winged Flying Fish, a species native to the Endless Sea Zone. It was tough and conducted spiritual energy extremely well, so it was an excellent material for making formation lines. Golden Silkworm Exuvia was a specialty of the northern frontier and was superb for making formation gates.


    These two materials were extremely difficult to find in Rank 1 spirit puppets, let alone mortal-grade puppets! Whenbined with the exquisiteyout of the refining formation and the ovepping formations, it was no wonder that these puppets could even ovee Rank 2bat puppets.


    Tang Jie continued to hold that puppet and look it over. Sure enough, he found several other excellent materials.


    At that moment, he suddenly had an idea. What would happen if I took these materials from the puppets?


    The puppets relied on these materials to move, but some materials would run out, and so extra material would be stored within the puppet so that it could be replenished when necessary, simr to the spirit stones that were used to drive the puppets.


    These ten puppets were made of excellent materials, and he would be rich if he could scrape off a little.


    With this idea in mind, Tang Jie immediately pushed that puppet down and began to search for the Qian Gate.


    Formations had eight gates and nine transformations. These were Rest (Kan), Life (Geng), Injury (Zhen), Stop (Xun), View (Li), Death (Kun), rm (Dui), and Open (Qian). They had different names and different jobs, and they each had their variations.


    The Qian Gate was the gate of central pivot, and it was also called the Open Gate. It led to the source of the formation, and all the reserve materials were certain to be stored at the source and would be automatically supplied through the Qian Gate. Formation sources were usually inside the body of a puppet.


    There were countless methods to undo a formation, but they could be categorized into two general methods: by force or by procedure.


    Tang Jie naturally couldn¡¯t go with force. This would destroy the puppet. So he had to go with option two.


    In normal circumstances, this would have been impossible as well. After all, these were extremely strong puppets.


    But this was Celestial Defense Hall. The puppets were restricted in strength at the start, and it was only at the end that they would bepletely unleashed. This initial phase was the perfect opportunity for him to strike.


    Of course, it was only with his body that had been refined through the Parting ssic that he was capable of doing this. A normal student¡¯s defensive spells would only be able to resist the attacks. They wouldn¡¯t have the strength to tinker with the puppets.


    At this point, Tang Jie stopped researching the formations. He activated the Formless Golden Body, pressed the puppet to the ground, and mbered onto it. After searching it all over, he finally found the Qian Gate, which happened to be located at its butt.


    ¡°Shit, to think it would be here!¡± Tang Jie cursed.


    Three puppets were now up, all of them barraging him with blows, causing his metallic body to ng and ring.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t care. He sent spiritual energy through his finger and opened the Qian Gate. ck! The puppet stopped moving, and a small opening appeared at its bottom, revealing the various resources stored inside.


    ¡°Wonderful!¡± Tang Jie shouted in delight. He didn¡¯t dare to take out too much. He took out a small amount and put back the rest, after which he let the puppet go back to normal.


    As the three puppets continued to attack him, Tang Jie rolled his eyes and ignored them. Instead, he lunged at the puppets that had yet to move, pushing them all to the ground and opening them up for their goodies.


    After harvesting all ten puppets, Tang Jie activated his jade token and left, not caring about his grade.


    He made sure that no one was around and hastily made his escape.

 Chapter 92 - Seeking A Revenue Source

    <h2>Chapter 92: Seeking a Revenue Source</h2>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    ¡°Frost Sulfur, White Saltpeter, Darkcloud, ze Powder¡­ As expected, the Basking Moon Sect is bursting with wealth.¡± Tang Jie carefully organized the materials he had collected.


    These materials were all superb materials forying down formations, probably worth around eight hundred spirit coins all together.


    Since Tang Jie had neither the support of a wealthy n, some golden finger that could produce money, nor an invention that could make him rich, he had to make good use of this rare opportunity.


    Sinceing to Basking Moon Academy, Tang Jie had gotten rich twice. One had been granted to him by Xie Fengtang, the other he had obtained by killing Zhuang Shen, and now, he had a third.


    With these resources, he could once more purify and refine his bones and muscles, and his strength would climb once more. Perhaps once that was done, he would have the right to go out on missions and create his own fortune.


    But this time, Tang Jie didn¡¯t n to sell these things to outsiders.


    If these materials were used on Wei Tianchong¡¯s puppet, they would bring it to a whole new level. Most importantly, these were materials used for the refining formations of Celestial Defense Hall, so they were perfect for this particr application. Even if it couldn¡¯t reach the level of Celestial Defense Hall¡¯s puppets, it would at least be much stronger than the wolf puppet.


    The next morning, Tang Jie went to find Wei Tianchong. When Wei Tianchong heard that he could get rare materials at a discounted price, he was delighted. But then his face turned bitter. ¡°I¡¯ve basically used up all the money I have, and I have to keep a little for cultivation. When we made the wolf puppet, you said that we could make money with it, but we ended up not making anything, so it was aplete loss. Building another one will be even more expensive. Even though the Wei n sends me money every month, it¡¯s still not enough.¡±


    Tang Jie could only say, ¡°The wolf puppet was a lossmaker, destroyed before we could use it to make money, but that¡¯s because wecked experience. We had to at least try. This time, I have a good idea, and I can guarantee Young Master that it can be immediately used to make money once it¡¯s done.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the method?¡±


    ¡°Tiger Roar Valley.¡±


    ¡°Tiger Roar Valley? You n to take a mission there?¡± Wei Tianchong jumped to his feet.


    Tiger Roar Valley was a valley within the Clear Sky Mountains.


    Arge formation had been set around the valley, and many fierce beasts, including fiends, sprites, ghosts, and monsters, were raised within. It was the number one most dangerous ce in the school, and it was also the school¡¯s internal mission ground. But the teachers didn¡¯t call them ¡°missions¡±, only bat drills¡±.


    ording to the esteemed teachers, the fiend beasts of Tiger Roar Valley were intended for the students to test their abilities on, to hone their ability to survive in the wild.


    Everything in Tiger Roar Valley was raised by humans, the nts being deliberately nted and the fiend beasts captured from outside. Thus, the students needed to pay an entry fee to enter this mission, but they would also benefit from it. It all depended on the student whether they made a profit or a loss.


    ording to the school rules, the entry fee was two hundred spirit coins per person, and it was only for Spirit Lake Tier and below.


    This was why, though Tiger Roar Valley was much safer than the outside, students did not dare to recklessly venture in. Putting aside all the suffering and hard work they would have to go through, if they didn¡¯t make enough money from the trip, they would suffer a loss.


    ¡°Yes, to Tiger Roar Valley. You¡¯re still a far cry from fighting for the top five. I got ahead of myself a few days ago, so now that I think about it, going to Tiger Roar Valley would be better,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°It¡¯s not better!¡± Wei Tianchong pounded his chest. ¡°You think two hundred spirit coins is that easy to get? While those things we buy on the market go for several hundred to a thousand coins, those are all items brought back by students at Spirit Lake from dangerous areas on the outside, not stuff from Tiger Roar Valley! In that valley, an herb that goes for ten spirit coins is considered valuable, and it might be guarded by some fiend beast¡­ Tell me, it¡¯s just an herb that costs ten spirit coins, but it will be guarded by a fiend beast in Tiger Roar Valley. What sort of absurdity is that!?¡±


    ¡°From Third Young Master¡¯s tone, it seems you¡¯ve researched this.¡±


    ¡°Hah, you think I would be as ignorant as before?¡± Wei Tianchong casually said.


    Wei Tianchong was much more informed than before.


    Once training began, quite a few students hade up with the idea of entering the valley to defeat monsters and make money, but many of them naturally ended up with bloodied heads.


    The biggest mistake they made was topare the prices of the materials they saw on the market to those in Tiger Roar Valley, forgetting that while Basking Moon Academy was generous, it wouldn¡¯t stuff this ce full of precious materials for you to find.


    Just like Wei Tianchong had said, even a spirit nt worth ten spirit coins might be guarded by a fiend beast!


    Two hundred spirit coins? You would be incredible if you could just make back your investment!


    As for those fiend beasts worth hundreds of coins, haha, you would have to be careful not to end up as their food!


    Why else had not even Qi Shaoming or An Rumeng gone there? It was a scam!


    ¡°Then what if I brought a puppet?¡± Tang Jie casually asked.


    ¡°Mm?¡± Wei Tianchong froze.


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°All restrictions are only useful on people whock the strength. When ites to the rules of Basking Moon Academy, it has always been the capable getting more. Puppets can¡¯t be traded around for sparring training, but there is no rule in Tiger Roar Valley about only the master being allowed to use them. Third Young Master, do you think that I will make a loss if you let me take the puppet?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not!¡± Wei Tianchong blurted out.


    Tang Jie was an inheritor of the Sword ssic, a top twenty ranker, one of the illustrious ¡°strong¡± of their ss. If he had one of the puppets that Wei Tianchong had put his all into, he couldn¡¯t possibly make a loss.


    Upon understanding this, Wei Tianchong blurted out, ¡°Tang Jie, you clever scoundrel, so you were counting your chickens before they hatched. With my puppet, you could truly make a lot of money in there¡­ but why do you think I¡¯ll let you use my puppet? That¡¯s something I made with my effort and my money!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll rent it, Third Young Master.¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Didn¡¯t I have you make a puppet precisely so you could make money? But how do you make money? Try and get into the top five with it? But you¡¯re not strong enough. So why not just rent it? At several dozen spirit coins a day, you just need one hundred days to make back your investment.¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s mouth opened, but nothing came out.


    After some thought, he realized a problem and waved his hand. ¡°No good. What if you break it?¡±


    Tang Jie felt helpless. ¡°It¡¯s not like this puppet is made of Electro Wood. The material is much tougher. Moreover, I guarantee this time that I will have a defensive formation added on, and it won¡¯t break so easily this time. In addition, you won¡¯t rest easy renting it to anyone else, but you also won¡¯t rest easy renting it to me?¡±


    Wei Tianchong looked suspiciously at Tang Jie. ¡°The one I can¡¯t rest easy about is you¡­ Why do I feel like those formation lines were the reason the wolf puppet was so easy to break?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart thumped. ¡°I have a rtionship with the student selling materials, so I can negotiate with him for you. As for the price¡­ I should be able to bring it down to fourteen hundred.¡±


    ¡°One thousand.¡±


    ¡°Third Young Master, these goods are already cheaper by several hundred coins!¡±


    ¡°Twelve hundred at most. Any more and I don¡¯t want it.¡±


    ¡°If I can take your puppet to Tiger Roar Valley ande back fully loaded, I will spread the word that this was all because of your puppet, at which point it will be much easier to run your renting business.¡±


    ¡°One-time free rent, and I¡¯ll also help you buy a spell to control puppets. In addition, I can also help you by paying the entry fee for Tiger Roar Valley, but you have to pay it back.¡±


    ¡°Deal!¡± Tang Jie gritted his teeth and agreed.


    This kid normally wasn¡¯t anything to write home about, so why was he so vicious when it came to business?


    With the money Wei Tianchong gave him, Tang Jie immediately went to Spirit Wonder Market and bought one thousand spirit coins of herbs for his medicinal bath. With the remaining two hundred, he bought some other materials.


    Perhaps because it was only a one-thousand-spirit-coin bath, the effect was far inferior to his second bath. In truth, Tang Jie barely felt anything at all. This made Tang Jie realize that as his body improved, achieving the same degree of effect would probably require greater expense.


    Tang Jie felt some regret. If he had realized this, he probably would have saved the money.


    But considering that there were some things that could only be understood after suffering a loss, he didn¡¯t mind too much.


    This trip to Tiger Roar Valley was extremely important to Tang Jie. It would determine whether or not Tang Jie could develop this area into a harvestablend, a source of revenue.


    If he wanted to improve quickly, he needed a way to make money.


    The resources provided by the Divine Battleground were limited, and for the sake of long-term growth, students needed a more stable source of ie.


    The students were all racking their brains for ways to make money, which included working in the school or selling pills, talismans, formations, or tools.


    But there were few jobs, and the four auxiliaries required too much investment and took too much time. His only advantage, formations, couldn¡¯t be exposed, so he had to find another route. In the end, he set his sights on Tiger Roar Valley.


    But Tiger Roar Valley wasn¡¯t an easy ce to make money. Cai Junyang had gone to Tiger Roar Valley twice. The first time, he had only brought back herbs worth eighty spirit coins. The second time, with experience, he had brought out products worth one hundred and twenty coins. After two visits, he had only made back half his investment. As he had entered the academy by dint of his eight-cycle Jade Gate and hadn¡¯te from a wealthy n, he said that he had lost so much from those two visits that he didn¡¯t even have pants anymore.


    That someone of Cai Junyang¡¯s strength had ended up in this state was a sign of just how difficult it was to make money. Thus, Tang Jie estimated that even if he used the Formless Golden Body, he would only be able to break even at best. Of course, this was because they had gone in too early. If they had waited until theter end of Spirit Spring, they would have been able to make more money, but for the students, this was toote.


    In order to make this ce a long-term source of resources for oneself, one needed to be stronger.


    There was one other important reason he needed to go to Tiger Roar Valley¡­ He was now ready. All that he needed was Wei Tianchong¡¯s puppet.


    Today, Wei Tianchong¡¯s puppet was finallyplete. Unlikest time, this was an actual human-shaped puppet.


    The best advantage of a human-shaped puppet was that it could wear armor and use weapons. With the right refining formation, it could even be used against Spirit Masters of the same level.


    Wei Tianchong had invested everything he had into it. Besides the remaining materials from the wolf puppet, he had spent five thousand spirit coins, emptying out his reserves and even borrowing money from his older brother. If Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help him turn this puppet into wealth and strength, he would have to find Tang Jie and have it out with him.


    With the puppet, Tang Jie once more went to that Qin Liang to help him carve the refining formation, using the same method asst time.


    Several dayster, when he picked up the puppet, he would finish the work.


    But this time, he no longer used the formation from Xu Muyang¡¯s formation treatise. Instead, he used the refining formations from the puppets of Celestial Defense Hall.


    Through his research over thest few days, he had a good grasp of the formation diagrams on the puppets.


    The puppets of Celestial Defense Hall were able to go one-versus-one against Tang Jie and Qi Shaoming and beat them so badly that they vomited blood. Even without all those precious materials they had, their strength still could not be underestimated.


    After five whole days, Tang Jie finished carving the formation. Tang Jie then rented a puppet token from the academy. There was a space inside the token that could store a puppet, but unlike a Mustard Seed Bag, it couldn¡¯t store anything else.


    Finally, Tang Jie tested his newly learned Sovereign Spirit spell. Regrettably, while the Sovereign Spirit spell could help him sense the gold needle if he lost it, it was still limited by distance.


    But it was better than nothing.


    Everything was ready, so he set off to Tiger Roar Valley to start his n.

 Chapter 93 - Tiger Roar Valley (1)

    <h2>Chapter 93: Tiger Roar Valley (1)</h2>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tiger Roar Valley was located at the southernmost end of the Clear Sky Mountains.


    After descending from Rising Star Peak, Tang Jie traversed a long mountain road. Suddenly, the view in front of him opened up, and he spotted a vige.


    It wasn¡¯t arge vige, being home to only a few dozen families, but it was particrly lively. Several men dressed asborers were holding down a horned bull. One of them had a long dagger in hand, and with a stab, he killed the bull, after which he took out several coins and passed them to a student standing on the side. As the student took the money, he muttered, ¡°Only this much?¡± Then he shook his head and left.


    A few olddies were headed off to the slopes to dry herbs while a few middle-aged women gave another student some money.


    Farther off, he saw several metal cages. Various vicious beasts were held in these cages, some of them even being low-ss fiend beasts.


    Tang Jie knew that this ce was Tiger Roar Vige.


    Tiger Roar Vige was a very special ce in Basking Moon Academy. The vigers here primarily lived by trading with the students who ventured into the valley.


    If the students got something out of the valley and didn¡¯t want to carry it all the way back, they could sell it to the vigers. The vigers would process everything on the spot, and once they were done processing, they would sell the goods to the school. At times, when the prey in Tiger Roar Valley began to run out, the vigers would help to catch some and put them in the valley.


    Behind the vige was the entrance to Tiger Roar Valley. A teacher sat by the entrance, responsible for taking the entrance fee. Next to the teacher was a sign upon which were written the various rules for the valley.


    There were a lot of rules. For example, powerful spell arts that could damage the valley environment were forbidden, herbs that were less than a year old could not be dug out, some herbs could not have their roots dug out, some herbs couldn¡¯t be dug out until they were three years old, and so on.


    As for whether or not you were actually able to tell the difference, the school didn¡¯t care. Everything had been taught in ss, and if you took out what shouldn¡¯t have been taken out, you would be punished all the same.


    The moment Tang Jie arrived, a middle-aged woman came up to greet him. Smiling, she asked, ¡°Little Brother, do you n to enter the valley? Why not buy a map? Only ten spirit coins.¡±


    ¡°A map? Ten coins?¡± Tang Jie asked in shock.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The woman pped her hands. ¡°Little Brother, don¡¯t think it to be too expensive. With this map of mine, you¡¯ll be able to go wherever you want without fear of getting lost. You have to understand that my man nearly died several times to get it all drawn out.¡±


    ¡°Why would I worry about getting lost?¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°You have to get a token before going in, and every time you go in, you automatically get teleported out after twelve hours, and if you¡¯re in danger, you can also have yourself teleported out before that. I shouldn¡¯t have to worry about getting lost no matter where I go, right?¡±


    The womanughed. ¡°That¡¯s true, but besides giving directions, my map also has notes on where the resources are. What fiend beasts are where and where certain herbs are nted are all clearly marked. Forget it. I¡¯ve taken a liking to you, so I¡¯ll take a bit of a loss and sell it to you for five coins. That should be good enough, right?¡±


    ¡°So these maps must sell very well.¡±


    ¡°Naturally,¡± the woman boasted.


    ¡°That being so, I presume that those gathering points marked on the map have been picked clean? Even if there¡¯s still some left, I¡¯m afraid that it won¡¯t be easy to gather,¡± Tang Jiemented.


    The woman¡¯s face instantly went stiff. Turning serious, she said, ¡°So you aren¡¯t easy to fool. If you didn¡¯t want to buy, why didn¡¯t you say something earlier and save me some energy?¡±


    She turned around and left in a huff.


    Tang Jie found this rather funny. He shouted, ¡°If you¡¯re willing to sell it for one spirit coin, I¡¯ll take one.¡±


    The woman immediately turned around. ¡°Deal!¡±


    She quickly stuffed the map in his hand, worried that he might regret it.


    Tang Jie took a look at the map. Though the drawing was crude, it marked out the general terrain well and had noted down where resources were located. It was no fake, so he paid the money.


    At the entrance to the valley, he saw several students standing around. When they saw Tang Jie, one of them said, ¡°Heading into Tiger Roar Valley? Interested ining with us?¡±


    Tiger Roar Valley hadplicated terrain and was crawling with fiend beasts, so students often formed groups.


    But Tang Jie had his own ns here, so he had to refuse their kind intentions.


    That student didn¡¯t take the rejection too badly. He simplyughed, ¡°Another one who thinks he¡¯s something else.¡±


    Tang Jie brushed it off. He paid the two hundred spirit coins and went into the valley.


    Inside the valley, Tang Jie looked at the map and then began to follow a certain mountain road.


    Tiger Roar Valley didn¡¯t seem veryrge, but it was ratherrge once one was inside. After walking for a while, Tang Jie looked around to check that he was alone. He then patted his chest and said, ¡°You cane out.¡±


    A little head emerged from Tang Jie¡¯s bosom. It was none other than Yiyi.


    She looked left and right before leaping onto Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder and shouted, ¡°Yay! I can finallye out!¡±


    She took a look at her surroundings and shouted in awe, ¡°Wow! So pretty!¡±


    Tiger Roar Valley really did look pretty. They were currently standing in a meadow, and nearby were blooming flowers of some sort. There were red, green, pink, and purple flowers, all of themplementing each other¡¯s splendor. Farther off was a lush forest.


    An asional breeze blew through the valley, rustling the leaves. Birds flew between trees, singing their crisp and melodious songs, sunlight peeked through the leaves, and a beautiful fragrance filled the air.


    Yiyi jumped down from Tang Jie, running across the grass with her bare feet and asionally giggling.


    This was her first time in such a big ce, and she didn¡¯t need to hide herself, so it was no wonder she was happy. Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but feel a little ashamed. In the end, it was because he was just too weak and didn¡¯t dare to reveal her to anyone else. Take the three great fiends of Basking Moon as an example. Everyone knew that every part of their body was a treasure, but did anyone dare to treat them as materials?


    In this world, strength couldn¡¯t decide everything, but you couldn¡¯t decide anything without strength!


    Yiyi ran back and asked, ¡°Big Brother, is this our new home?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry; it¡¯s not. We can only stay here for twelve hours,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°Is that so¡­¡± Yiyi pouted in sadness.


    ¡°If we make enough from this trip, we cane every day.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Yiyi got excited and jumped back onto Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder. ¡°So what are we doing?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s simple: find herbs and kill fiend beasts,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    Tiger Roar Valley¡¯s resources could be divided into two categories: spirit nts usable in medicine and fiend beasts with valuable body parts. The former required searching and thetter required fighting, and neither was easy.


    After listening to Tang Jie, Yiyi nodded. ¡°Mm, watch this!¡±


    She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.


    nt sprites were innately sensitive to the auras of fiends, sprites, ghosts, and monsters. Even at a distance of several kilometers, they would still be able to sense even the slightest whiff of an abnormal scent. After all, this was how lifeforms like them avoided danger in their early stages.


    A few momentster, Yiyi pointed with her small hand. ¡°There¡¯s orchids over there, and water caltrops over there, and over there, and over there¡­¡±


    Her little finger thrust out again and again, leaving Tang Jie dazzled. Tang Jie could only say, ¡°We can only pick orchids that are two years or older.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t smell that out!¡± Yiyi grumbled. Her nose continued to wrinkle as she sniffed around. Suddenly, she covered her nose and shouted, ¡°Stinky! Stinky! ¡­There¡¯s a big snake over there, and it¡¯sing our way!¡±


    She pointed to the west.


    ¡°A big snake?¡± Tang Jie quickly grabbed the map and looked at what sort of creatures should be nearby. ¡°It¡¯s a mottled snake!¡±


    Mottled snakes were a kind of fiend beast that lived in Tiger Roar Valley. Their bodies were covered with rainbow dots and they had venomous bites. They enjoyed eating their prey while it was alive.


    This was a local tyrant of Tiger Roar Valley, and the students wouldn¡¯t lightly provoke it. Tang Jie hadn¡¯t expected to run into it right after entering the valley.


    There was no need to ask. It had definitely been drawn over by Yiyi.


    nt sprites were sensitive to the odor of other such spiritual beings, but those spiritual beings were also sensitive to her odor. These lifeforms rich in spirituality weren¡¯t just good for humans, but also for fiends. Thus, the moment Yiyi appeared, the mottled snake began to rush over.


    Although Tang Jie knew that bringing Yiyi might result in a situation like this, he hadn¡¯t expected it toe so quickly.


    At this moment, Tang Jie immediately shouted in dismay, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Grabbing Yiyi and stuffing her into his bosom, he ran off.


    Only a few momentster, a giant snake covered in rainbow spots slithered over.


    This snake was seven to eight meters long and was as thick as a water barrel. Its green and oily eyes chilled the blood.


    It extended its long tongue to test the air. After finding the lingering odor in the air, it let out a long hiss and followed Tang Jie.


    As Tang Jie ran, Yiyi shouted from his bosom, ¡°It¡¯s still chasing!¡±


    ¡°This is a big problem!¡± Tang Jie continued to run.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that we came here to kill fiend beasts? Why are we running, then?¡±


    ¡°Because the fiend beasts I nned to kill don¡¯t include that one!¡± Tang Jie brusquely replied.


    Tiger Roar Valley served as the basicbat drilling ground for the students. It was safer than the outside world for three main reasons.


    The first was the teleportation jade token. If a student ran into danger, they could immediately leave using the teleportation token. This was the greatest guarantor of a student¡¯s safety. But leaving early meant losing out on an opportunity. The academy wouldn¡¯t let you back in the valley unless you paid the fee again.


    The second was that the information on all the fiend beasts was avable, and the students would never run into some fiend beast that they had never seen before. Thus, the students were aware of which fiend beasts they could deal with and which they couldn¡¯t.


    The third was that there were no fiend beasts above the Spirit Sensing Level. There was only one of high grade, with the rest being of middle and lower grade.


    The Rosecloud Domain divided fiends, sprites, ghosts, and monsters into five levels: Spirit Sensing, Mind Opening, Transformation, Divine Division, and Void Returning, each one corresponding to a different human cultivation realm. Each level was further divided into upper, middle, and lower grades.


    As for Yiyi, she hadn¡¯t even entered a level yet.


    Besides these three safeguards, the situation was the same as the outside world. If a student were slow to react and got eaten by a fiend beast, it could only be said that they were ipetent.


    There was another way in which fiend beasts and students greatly differed.


    When it came to students, cultivation and strength were two separate things.


    Cultivation could bepared to a student¡¯s level while spell arts were skills. Just having a level without the skills and equipment was useless, and so they would usually be weaker than their cultivation realm suggested.


    Fiend beasts were different. Their strength was directly connected to their level, truly a case where they were as strong as their level. This was particrly true of fiend beasts that were blessed with talent. Even at the Spirit Sensing Level, they would be extremely strong, and as their level rose, they would be both stronger and smarter, even developing in ways entirely different from humans.


    This was why it wasmon for fiend beasts to disy strength above their level. It wasn¡¯t even strange for Spirit Sensing fiend beasts to ovee Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators.


    This mottled snake was a middle-grade fiend beast of Tiger Roar Valley.


    Even if it wasn¡¯t some particrly talented and powerful existence, its level and grade meant that its strength wasparable to a Peerless-level Spirit Lake Tier student. Tang Jie hadn¡¯t even reached Peerless as a Spirit Spring student, so he didn¡¯t have the guts to challenge it.


    As Tang Jie ran, he had Yiyi turn back into a flower.


    Once she turned into a flower, the spiritual energy on her body would disperse and she would leave much less of a trail.


    But now that the mottled snake had picked up on the scent, it wouldn¡¯t give up that easily. Even if she withdrew her spiritual energy now, there was still a lot hanging in the air. It continued to doggedly pursue, getting closer and closer.


    ¡°Shit! So stubborn!¡± Tang Jie nced at the snake that was hot on his heels, getting closer and closer, and started to get a headache.


    Though he had the jade token to ensure that his life wasn¡¯t in danger, he couldn¡¯t ept getting driven out of the valley right after going in.


    ¡°What do we do? What do we do?¡± Seeing that turning into a flower hadn¡¯t helped, Yiyi peeked her head out again.


    That made it even worse, causing the snake to chase them even harder.


    ¡°What else? We¡¯ll just have to race,¡± Tang Jie said, helplessly rolling his eyes.


    He was rather frustrated to be forced to run for his life right after entering the valley.


    Yiyi immediately started to wail. ¡°It was all my fault! I drew it here¡­ woooo¡­¡±


    She cried so hard that Tang Jie felt embarrassed. He realized that he had spoken rudely just now and hurt her, so he stroked her head and said, ¡°My baby, you didn¡¯t do anything wrong. It¡¯s just one snake. What can it do to us?¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s chasing us and won¡¯t let us go¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know,¡± Tang Jie said, ncing behind him.


    There was arge plume of dust in the distance, and the rumbling of the snake could be heard as it chased after them. Suddenly, there was a deafeningly loud hiss.


    Tang Jie grunted. ¡°You wanted to eat, right? I¡¯ll make sure you¡¯re so full you can¡¯t move!¡±


    He suddenly changed directions and charged to the side.


    On the southern side of Tiger Roar Valley was a meadow where a herd of horned bulls were leisurely grazing.


    In the food chain of the Rosecloud Domain, horned bulls were at the very bottom. They had nothing except their sharp horns to defend themselves.


    Their only purpose in Tiger Roar Valley was to serve as food for other fiend beasts and ensure that the food chain remained normal.


    The school allowed the live capture of these unaggressive creatures, but they couldn¡¯t be killed. Sometimes, when a student couldn¡¯t get anything good in the valley, they would grab a bull and sell it off. Each one was worth ten spirit coins, but only one could be taken out per visit.


    This herd of horned bulls was currently drinking water by a stream.


    A small calf tried to push to the front of the crowd, but an irascible male pushed it away, causing it to tumble over. The calf mooed in distress before mbering to its feet and moving to the back of the herd to its mother¡¯s side. It nudged its mother¡¯s body, seekingfort.


    And then something it would never be able to understand happened.


    A human appeared in the distance, running straight toward them.


    That human charged up close, and then the calf saw its mother fly into the air. Moo¡­ The calf cried out in surprise.


    The herd fell into turmoil.


    Grabbing a horned bull, Tang Jie threw it behind him. This horned bull weighed seven to eight hundred kilograms, and even with his constitution, Tang Jie found it rather hard to throw it, so he activated the Formless Golden Body.


    The horned bull flew through the air toward the giant mottled snake. The snake opened its maw and swallowed the bull in a single gulp.


    It hade to eat Yiyi, but since someone was delivering food to its mouth, it didn¡¯t mind having a bite.


    The bull herd ran off in panic, but Tang Jie chased after them, catching another bull and throwing it behind him.


    He threw it straight at the snake¡¯s mouth. The mottled snake couldn¡¯t reject its predatory instincts, and it once more raised its head and ate the bull, though it still continued to chase.


    ¡°A pretty good appetite¡­ Let¡¯s see how many more you can eat!¡± Grunting, Tang Jie threw two more bulls.


    The mottled snake ate both. After eating four bulls in a row, itsrge body finally began to feel rather bloated. Unable to continue on, it came to a stop and red at Tang Jie. It was still trying to move its body forward, but its actions had be clumsy and slow.


    ¡°Come on! Keep chasing!¡± Tang Jie coldlyughed. ¡°Beasts are beasts! No matter how powerful they are, they can¡¯t change their natures.¡±


    Tang Jie wiped the sweat off his forehead.


    This big snake had truly chased him rather hard. If not for the Violet Lightning Lunge¡¯s decent speed, he might have been forced out of the valley already.


    The bull herd had already run off into the distance. Tang Jie saw that the snake had stopped moving from eating too much, and suddenly had an idea. Could I use this chance to kill it?


    He slowly took a few steps toward the snake.


    The snake had eaten far too much and was essentially paralyzed.


    As Tang Jie got closer and closer, the mottled snake suddenly raised its body, opened its mouth, and hissed, spewing out venom.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie was on his guard, so he immediately used the Violet Lightning Lunge and rapidly retreated. Venom descended like rain in front of him, instantly causing the grass to wither.


    A drop of venom sshed onto Tang Jie¡¯s arm, instantly causing arge chunk of flesh to melt away like it hade into contact with a strong acid.


    He looked back at the snake and saw that giant being staring at him, baring its hook-like fangs at him.


    While this fellow had eaten so much that it couldn¡¯t move, it still wasn¡¯t something he could deal with.


    Tang Jie reluctantly pointed at the snake and said, ¡°You win!¡±


    He turned and left.


    Hissss! The mottled snake hissed in fury.


    It was clear that neither side was very satisfied with this conclusion.

 Chapter 94 - Tiger Roar Valley (2)

    <h2>Chapter 94: Tiger Roar Valley (2)</h2>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After throwing off the mottled snake¡¯s pursuit, Tang Jie continued his way along the mountain path.


    ¡°There¡¯s spirit grass up ahead!¡± Nestled in Tang Jie¡¯s bosom, Yiyi pointed with her finger before quickly drawing back.


    After the lesson just now, Yiyi did not dare to reveal herself. While she was hiding in Tang Jie¡¯s bosom, at least her scent wouldn¡¯t travel very far.


    Going in the direction Yiyi had indicated, Tang Jie went up to a shrub. Next to it, ten-some bright red grasses were swaying in the wind.


    ¡°Red tuber grass, not very valuable,¡± Tang Jie sadly remarked.


    Three stalks of red tuber grass went for only one spirit coin. It was a low-value nt whose only redeeming quality was that it grew very quickly. It normally needed only half a year to mature, and a lot would grow out at once.


    Tang Jie counted them and found that there were twenty, so he took out his small herb hoe.


    The main value of the red tuber grass was in its roots, so he dug them out together with their roots. However, the school rules said that at least one stalk had to be left in any patch of red tuber grass so that they could continue to thrive. The academy wouldn¡¯t go out of its way to watch every student to make sure this happened, but if it got serious about investigating, no one would be able to hide. Thus, the students did not break this rule lightly.


    After taking eighteen stalks, Tang Jie carefully put them away and continued.


    As he was walking, Yiyi suddenly shouted, ¡°Run! Another monster ising!¡±


    Tang Jie turned around and ran. At the same time, he asked, ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°A leopard, a wicked leopard!¡± Yiyi shouted, waving her fists.


    Hearing this, Tang Jie stopped.


    Yiyi panicked. ¡°Hurry and run! Why did you stop?¡±


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°I can fight a leopard.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Yiyi was dumbfounded.


    She had been scared silly by the big snake and wanted to run the moment she discovered a fiend beast. She had forgotten that they hadn¡¯te here so that they could flee from anything they ran into.


    There were three kinds of leopard fiends in Tiger Roar Valley, but all of them were of the lower grade.


    Tang Jie only avoided those of middle grade and above. If he even had to avoid lower grades, he might as well have note.


    As he turned around, he saw a ck leopard charging at him, moving so fast that it was just a ck blur.


    So it was a ck leopard. This fellow¡¯s hide is worth quite a lot, and its flesh has nourishing effects. As the ck leopard lunged, Tang Jie was already thinking about how to skin it and how much he would make from its various parts.


    The ck leopard suddenly elerated. Upon reaching Tang Jie¡¯s side, it swept a paw at him, sharp ws coldly glinting under the sunlight.


    Tang Jie roared and struck out with his palm, colliding with the leopard¡¯s paw. He wanted to test out the toughness of his body and see how it would fare without using any defensive spells. As the sharp ws shed with the metal palm, a sliver of blood flew into the air. Tang Jie grunted and drew back. Looking down at his palm, he saw that there were five bloody holes.


    It was a bad wound, but Tang Jie was delighted.


    Low-tier fiend beasts didn¡¯t have many spell arts, and primarily relied on their physical bodies to fight. While the ck leopard wasn¡¯t known for its strength among the low-level fiend beasts, it was very difficult for someone to fight against it without using spell arts.


    After this sh of palm and paw, Tang Jie activated the Aquagel Shroud and gave the ck leopard a flying kick, choosing to fight it by exchanging blow for blow.


    A w prated through the shroud and left five bloody scratches on Tang Jie¡¯s body while Tang Jie¡¯s foot met the ck leopard¡¯s abdomen.


    The abdomen was a weak point for feline creatures, and with this kick, the ck leopard yowled. But a momentter, it flipped over in the air and brought its long tail down like a whip on Tang Jie¡¯s body, knocking him away.


    It was an unexpectedly powerful blow that left Tang Jie with a burning pain. As he flew out, he shot an Energy Needle at the ck leopard.


    But the ck leopard was far more agile than he had anticipated, dodging and leaving a blur in the air. It charged into Tang Jie¡¯s chest and took a bite at his neck.


    Caught off guard by this sudden development, Tang Jie had to activate the Formless Golden Body. The ck leopard bit down on Tang Jie¡¯s neck and felt like it was biting steel. ng! Its teeth failed to sink in. The ck leopard froze, giving Tang Jie time to strike its head with his elbow. Meanwhile, the leopard swung a paw at his face.


    The two separated. While the leopard had been forced back, it had left a bloody scratch on Tang Jie¡¯s face, and there were two very shallow teeth marks on his neck.


    ¡°It¡¯s quite a hassle to deal with,¡± Tang Jie grumbled. The ck leopard was famed for its speed, and it had probably used its natural spell art just now, making it extremely nimble.


    In this sh, Tang Jie had actually been the loser.


    Yiyi jumped around and shouted, ¡°You said you could beat it!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say I could do it easily!¡± Tang Jie tersely replied as he took out the puppet token.


    A light shot out of the puppet token, and the ck, human-shapedbat puppet appeared on the ground. Under Tang Jie¡¯s control, it rushed at the ck leopard.


    To his surprise, the ck leopard growled and turned to flee the moment the puppet appeared.


    Yiyi raised her little hand and threw out the Immortal-Binding Rope, but to her surprise, the leopard easily dodged it.


    It moved quickly, and in an instant, it was gone.


    Able to fight but unable to keep up, Tang Jie could only watch as it disappeared into the forest.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Tang Jie cursed, feeling extreme helplessness.


    The leopard was a weirdo of the natural world. While it had a savage appearance, it was extremely weak inbat. Even after bing a fiend, it still ranked at the bottom. Only its incredible speed kept it from being killed easily.


    Since the ck leopard had run off, Tang Jie could only continue to dig for herbs.


    Fortunately, with Yiyi, Tang Jie found the process very smooth. It wasn¡¯t long before he had dug out several kinds of grass. While they weren¡¯t valuable individually, when put together, they were worth a lot of money.


    But in order to truly make money from Tiger Roar Valley, he had to kill fiend beasts.


    Fiend beasts would always be more valuable than herbs. Killing just one would often be worth several hundred coins. To take that mottled snake that had chased Tang Jie as an example, if Tang Jie had managed to kill it, the whole thing would have easily sold for seven or eight hundred coins.


    But a target like this usually required many students working together.


    The strongest fiend beast in Tiger Roar Valley was of upper grade, but only those below Spirit Lake were permitted entry. This was to make everyone understand the value of working together. But Tang Jie had too many secrets that couldn¡¯t see the light of day, so he had to work alone.


    After a while, they ran into their third fiend beast, a brown bear.


    Yiyi shouted, ¡°This one is slow!¡±


    Tang Jie wanted to cry. ¡°This one is strong.¡±


    There were two kinds of brown bears in Tiger Roar Valley: a middle-grade and a lower-grade.


    Even the lower-grade brown bear had the thickest hide among all the lower-grade beasts of Tiger Roar Valley. And with one swing of its paw, it could pulverize a giant rock as tall as a man.


    While Tang Jie¡¯s body was tough, it wasn¡¯t tough enough to fight head-on with it. If he tried to fight it with the puppet, he might win, but it woulde at a terrible price.


    That fellow was also strong enough to break the Immortal-Binding Rope by just struggling a little.


    Unless there was an absolute gap in strength, or the opponent had many treasures but could not fully use them, such as with Zhuang Shen, the majority of battles between equally-matched opponents would end up with paying more than was gained, the pros not outweighing the cons.


    In truth, the vast majority of rewarding victories were the result of the strong oveing the weak.


    In a sh between truly powerful opponents, both sides normally suffered enormous losses, and neither side could be said to have truly benefited. It was simply a matter of who lost less.


    Thus, to benefit, one had to choose the right target.


    Strength determined the scope of choice. The stronger one was, the more targets would be avable, and the more one would benefit.


    Tang Jie was strong in the Spirit Spring Tier, but even so, in Tiger Roar Valley, only a quarter of the lower-grade fiend beasts were suitable for him to deal with. For him to fail three times in a row was absolutely normal.


    Yiyi once more sniffed the odor of a fiend beast on the air. She weakly said, ¡°One wolf. Can you fight it?¡±


    ¡°What kind of wolf?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Yiyi replied, propping a hand under her chin.


    Tang Jie looked at the map and thought about what he had learned in ss. He muttered, ¡°Since it¡¯s a lone wolf, it should be a needleback wolf or a wind wolf, but I should be able to beat either.¡±


    ¡°You can fight?¡± Yiyi got excited.


    ¡°Mm,¡± Tang Jie nodded affirmatively. ¡°It¡¯s just not very valuable.¡±


    ¡°Haaa,¡± Yiyi sighed.


    ¡°Just be happy with what we have. With our current level of ability, we have to content ourselves with fighting wolves.¡± Not daring to be careless, Tang Jie took out the puppet.


    While wolves weren¡¯t worth much¡ªseventy to eighty coins apiece¡ªif he could kill one, today couldn¡¯t be considered a huge loss.


    Soon, a needleback wolf appeared in the distance.


    Upon seeing the needleback wolf, Tang Jie heartilyughed.


    This wolf was actually rather strong, but it wasn¡¯t as fast as the ck leopard and not as tough as the brown bear. Its strength was perfect for Tang Jie to suppress, and it could be described as Tang Jie¡¯s favorite opponent.


    The needleback wolf was somewhat cautious when it saw Tang Jie, not willing to rush up. Tang Jie had Yiyi show herself, upon which the wolf became red-eyed and howled.


    Yiyi immediately retreated into Tang Jie¡¯s bosom in fright while Tang Jieughed and punched at the approaching wolf.


    The wolf howled and swung its ws to meet Tang Jie¡¯s palm. Both of them trembled, and then with a sharp yowl, the wolf dropped its head. The countless sharp hairs on its back suddenly stood up and began to shoot at Tang Jie.


    This was the needleback wolf¡¯s unique skill. When those hairs were fired, they were like steel needles, the dense barrage carrying considerable power.


    But Tang Jie and the other students all knew about this wolf¡¯s special powers. Since Tang Jie dared to fight it, he was naturally prepared to deal with it.


    The moment the wolf had dropped its head, Tang Jie had activated the Formless Golden Body and the Aquagel Shroud.


    Hundreds of hairs prated through the barrier, and then they thumped against his body. Countless needles had stabbed into his body, turning him into a pincushion, but none of them prated very deeply.


    At the same time, the puppet charged out and punched into the wolf¡¯s now-barren back.


    This was no wolf puppet. It was imbued with impressive physical strength, a single punch almost shattering the wolf¡¯s bones. The wolf immediately knew the situation was bad. After taking onest avaricious look at Yiyi, it turned to flee.


    ¡°Want to run?¡± Tang Jie had already activated the Violet Lightning Lunge and moved to pursue. The wolf wasn¡¯t as fast as the ck leopard, and he instantly caught up and gave the wolf a kick in the abdomen, throwing it back to the puppet.


    Yiyi once more threw out the Immortal-Binding Rope, which wrapped tightly around the wolf.


    The wolf had a savage nature and constantly shook its head and snarled, at the same time trying to break the rope.


    When the Immortal-Binding Rope had bound up Tang Jie back then, he had been renderedpletely immobile, but the bound-up wolf could still move its head and tail. It clearly wasn¡¯tpletely subdued.


    Lower-grade spell weapons clearly weren¡¯t very effective at suppressing lower-grade fiend beasts, and there was even a chance that it could escape.


    Fortunately, the puppet came up and pressed down on the wolf. At the same time, the defensive formation on it activated so that the wolf¡¯s bites were powerless.


    This time, the wolf was renderedpletely immobile.


    Tang Jie was already creating a form, his hand shing with spiritual light, a milky-white light forming on his finger joints.


    The Jade Shattering Finger!


    This was another powerful spell art Tang Jie had learned from the Divine Firmament Sword ssic.


    But he wasn¡¯t very proficient in his spell, and simple art manifestation took ages. Thankfully, he had the suppression of the puppet and the Immortal-Binding Rope, allowing him to take his time casting.


    At this moment, his finger appeared to be made of white jade. Tang Jie charged up and thrust the finger at the wolf¡¯s head.


    The finger prated through the wolf¡¯s head like it was made of tofu. Plush! The finger stabbed into the wolf¡¯s head, and spiritual power surged down the finger and erupted. Boom! The wolf stopped moving.


    Whew! Tang Jie pulled out the finger and drew back a few steps.


    Though the battle hadn¡¯t been long, it had been a close one, and he had suffered some pretty bad injuries.


    The wolf hairs went limp now that they weren¡¯t supported by fiend power, and Tang Jie now looked like he was turning into a werewolf.


    Yiyi carefully plucked out the wolf hairs. Each hair removed would leave behind a little pinprick of blood.


    It took a while to finally take out all the wolf hairs. Tang Jie was now covered in so many red spots that he looked like he had measles.


    But he had a powerful constitution, and such injuries would probably fully recover in four hours.


    ¡°Put away all these hairs. Wolf hairs that can beunched contain some essence energy of the fiend wolf and can be used for talisman brushes,¡± Tang Jie ordered Yiyi.


    ¡°Understood.¡± Yiyi obediently nodded.


    Tang Jie started to skin and dismantle the wolf.


    Yiyi watched him work from the side,curiously asking, ¡°Big Brother, are we still going to hunt fiend beasts after this?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s so dangerous. The fiend beasts here are all formidable.¡± The weakest wolf had left Tang Jie covered in wounds, and Yiyi was fearful of running into anything stronger.


    The fiend beasts of Tiger Roar Valley weren¡¯t good little boys and girls who would wait in line for you to challenge them.


    After some thought, Tang Jie stopped and said, ¡°It¡¯s not that the fiend beasts are formidable. We¡¯re just too weak.¡±


    ¡°Then why not wait until we¡¯re a little stronger toe?¡±


    ¡°Because that might be toote,¡± Tang Jie replied. He stroked Yiyi¡¯s face and said, ¡°Your big brother has a lot of enemies, and they¡¯ve been itching to cause your big brother trouble. They haven¡¯te to find your brother yet, but they¡¯ll being one day. They won¡¯t give your big brother too much time.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so we need to get stronger faster so that we can protect ourselves!¡± Yiyi raised her fists and shouted.


    ¡°No.¡± Tang Jie shook his head andughed. ¡°It¡¯s not to protect ourselves¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s to kill them all!¡±

 Chapter 95 - Tiger Roar Valley (3)

    <h1>Chapter 95: Tiger Roar Valley (3)</h1>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After getting the hide and the other things, Tang Jie continued his journey.


    Tiger Roar Valley was shaped like the opening of a gourd, narrow at the start and widening the farther one went in. An artificial valley, it upied half of the Clear Sky Mountains. Not only did it cover a vast area, it had aplicated terrain, ying host tokes, forests, hills and mountains. It followed the principle of mountains in ake, a valley in the mountains, and a universe within the valley.


    Tang Jie walked up to a pool at the base of a mountain. The water was clear, so he stopped to take a drink, using the opportunity to see if there were any valuable spirit nts growing around the area.


    But it seemed like somebody had already been through here and picked everything.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t care. After drinking some water, he sat on a stone, dropped his head, and began to think.


    After some time, he suddenly looked up at a distant peak.


    A tiger with a white forehead had appeared on that summit.


    That tiger was sitting up on arge stone, staring at Tang Jie and Yiyi in his bosom.


    Even though Yiyi was hiding and hadn¡¯t shown herself, Tang Jie felt like the tiger could see through his clothes, see through everything.


    ¡°Hurr¡­¡± the tiger lowly grumbled.


    It wasn¡¯t a loud sound, but it was heavy and lingering, traveling across the valley.


    Upon hearing this sound, Yiyi poked her head out and met eyes with that tiger.


    Yiyi didn¡¯t sense the tiger¡¯s imposing aura, so she didn¡¯t feel afraid. She asked Tang Jie, ¡°Big Brother, that tiger is looking at us! Is it also a fiend?¡±


    ¡°Mm, a very formidable fiend,¡± Tang Jie affirmed, his eyes fixed on the tiger.


    ¡°So why isn¡¯t it chasing us?¡± Yiyi curiously asked. Any fiend beast they hade across had chased after them, causing them to spend more time running than the typical student.


    ¡°Because it can¡¯te down,¡± Tang Jie exined. ¡°There¡¯s a formation on that summit that keeps it prisoner.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Why does it have a formation imprisoning it? Aren¡¯t the fiend beasts of Tiger Roar Valley free to move around?¡±


    ¡°This is an exception¡­ Yiyi, do you know how Tiger Roar Valley got its name?¡±


    Yiyi was taken aback. ¡°It can¡¯t be because of this big tiger, can it?¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°To be more precise, its ancestor.¡±


    ¡°Its ancestor?¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Tang Jie nodded again.


    He looked up at the tiger on the summit, which was still staring at him.


    Tang Jie sat down on the stone, beginning to speak as he looked at the tiger. ¡°Yes, at the very beginning, Tiger Roar Valley was actually a prison for a fiend tiger. This mountain was the site of his prison. Many years ago, Basking Moon Academy had four great fiends: turtle, crane, tiger, and carp. The fiend tiger was the third oldest. These four great fiends were actuallypanions of seniors of the Basking Moon Sect, just like you and me now.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Yiyi nodded to indicate that she understood. ¡°What about after that?¡±


    ¡°After that?¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°These four great fiends werepanions of predecessors of the Basking Moon Sect. Some of these seniors ascended out of the domain, some died, and others entered seclusion. These four great fiends no longer had masters, so they decided to remain at the academy and serve as its guardian fiends. But one day, the fiend tiger suddenly turned traitor.¡±


    ¡°The fiend tiger turned traitor?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°The fiend tiger turned traitor because it wanted a treasure of the Basking Moon Sect. It stole the treasure and left, but then the Basking Moon Sect caught it and brought it back. To find out where the tiger had hidden the treasure, they locked it up on this Tiger Roar Peak, applying the cruelest torture methods to it as they interrogated it every night. Every night, it was possible to hear the miserable howls of the fiend tiger on Tiger Roar Peak, hence its name.¡±


    ¡°And what happened after that?¡± Yiyi propper her chin on her hands as she listened to Tang Jie¡¯s story.


    ¡°After¡­ That fiend tiger never gave up where it had put the treasure it had stolen, and since Basking Moon Academy couldn¡¯t get what it wanted, the fiend tiger remained imprisoned until it ultimately died on Tiger Roar Peak. But it wasn¡¯t by itself. It also had a wife and children. When the fiend tiger died, its wife and children were still imprisoned here, for the Basking Moon Sect feared that the fiend tiger might have left the secret to its wife and children using secret bloodline techniques. They continued to hold the fiend tiger¡¯s descendants here to interrogate them, but they still got nothing. Eventually, the Basking Moon Sect gave up entirely. They decided to just create Tiger Roar Valley around Tiger Roar Peak, converting the area into a mission ground for students. As for Tiger Roar Peak, it serves as the final challenge area for students¡­¡±


    ¡°So this tiger is the only upper-grade fiend beast!¡± Yiyi shouted, pointing at the tiger.


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Correct. It is the only upper-grade Spirit Sensing fiend beast of Tiger Roar Valley, a direct descendant of that fiend tiger. It is imprisoned here and can only walk around the summit. But students can enter the summit whenever they please to hunt the fiend tiger.¡±


    For the students, an upper-grade fiend beast was truly too powerful, so powerful that if this fiend tiger were allowed to freely travel the valley, not even the jade token would be able to keep the students safe.


    This was why the academy had penned up the fiend tiger all by itself and given the students the right to choose.


    If you didn¡¯t want to run into an upper-grade fiend beast, you just needed to not go up to the summit, and if you did go up to the summit, your life was in your own hands.


    ¡°But doesn¡¯t that mean that all the fiend tigers will eventually be killed?¡± Yiyi asked.


    ¡°They won¡¯t.¡± Tang Jie exined, ¡°Every once in a while, the Basking Moon Sect will send someone out to capture a fiend tiger to mate with the fiend tigers of Tiger Roar Peak to produce offspring so that the bloodline doesn¡¯t go extinct. And the Basking Moon students are strictly forbidden to kill any tiger cubs that they encounter. Anyone who breaks this rule is immediately expelled, even executed! If the old fiend tiger dies and the new fiend tiger hasn¡¯t matured, Tiger Roar Peak is temporarily closed until it grows up. The other fiend beasts of Tiger Roar Valley are changed out every year, as it¡¯s fine so long as they¡¯re at about the same level of strength, but the fiend tiger of Tiger Roar Peak has not changed in centuries, has always been a descendant of that fiend tiger. After one thousand years, the tiger blood has painted Tiger Roar Peak red countless times. Not a single fiend tiger has ever had a good end. This is the punishment for that fiend tiger¡­ Not even its offspring are spared!¡±


    As if it could hear Tang Jie, that tiger on the summit let out a low and mournful growl that resounded through the valley.


    ¡°That¡¯s horrifying.¡± Yiyi had also been scared out of her wits by Tang Jie¡¯s story.


    After all, she was still young. There were still some things that were just too cruel in her view.


    In truth, even some students found this story rather cruel.


    But Basking Moon Academy didn¡¯t try to hide it.


    Just like how Celestial Execution Hall was used to make students trust in the Basking Moon Sect, Tiger Roar Peak told the students through another method about the cost of betrayal.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°It might be cruel to the fiend tigers, but what about the students? Do you know how many students each fiend tiger kills? After all, upper-grade fiend beasts have never been easy to kill. With numbers, the students do manage to kill the fiend tigers, but in its death throes, the fiend tiger will always take some people down with it. Don¡¯t blindly believe in the jade token. The fiend tiger can kill an average student in one blow. This is why the vast majority of the hunts on the fiend tiger end in failure. It¡¯s not because they can¡¯t win, but because of the devastating losses. They grow afraid, lose courage, fall apart, and run¡­¡±


    ¡°And they still go? Is the fiend tiger very valuable?¡±


    ¡°Valuable?¡± Tang Jie raised an eyebrow. ¡°It¡¯s naturally very valuable. An upper-grade fiend beast will always be more valuable than a middle-grade or lower-grade, but no matter how much it¡¯s worth, it¡¯s not worth your life, is it? But as it¡¯s the only upper-grade fiend beast, killing it is a sort of exclusive honor for the students¡­ This is the highest achievement one can have at the Spirit Spring Tier, even greater than the records of the Seven Celestial Halls in some aspects. This alone would cause many to risk their lives. There¡¯s also a story that the treasure that the fiend tiger stole back then has been on Tiger Roar Peak this whole time. It¡¯s just that no one has ever been able to find it. Thus, there are some students who want to ascend to heaven in a single step by finding this treasure. But if you want to find the treasure, you have to step over that fiend tiger¡¯s corpse first.¡±


    ¡°Wow! Then if we can kill the fiend tiger, we can get the treasure?¡± Yiyi¡¯s eyes widened in wonder and excitement.


    Tang Jie found this ratherughable. Pinching her little face, he said, ¡°Silly girl, if the Basking Moon Sect couldn¡¯t find it after several hundred years, why should the students be able to? That treasure vanished from this world ages ago, such that the fiend tigers couldn¡¯t hand it over, which is why they have been punished here for generation after generation.¡±


    ¡°Ow! Stop! Don¡¯t pinch my face!¡± Yiyi loudlyined.


    ¡°However¡­¡± Tang Jie¡¯s tone suddenly changed. ¡°While there¡¯s no getting the treasure, that doesn¡¯t mean there¡¯s nothing else to be gained. There should be some treasures there. It¡¯s just that most people don¡¯t recognize them.¡±


    ¡°What else could there be?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Think about it, Yiyi. Use that little brain of yours. All the information you need is in the story. It¡¯s just a matter of whether you can discover it or not. No rush. You have time to think about it.¡±


    ¡°Hmph, I¡¯m not going to think about it.¡± Yiyi turned her head away in a huff. ¡°You¡¯re a student of the academy, so you have Immortal teachers who tell you things. While it¡¯s easy for you to get these things, it would be weird if I could guess at anything.¡±


    Tang Jie casually replied, ¡°The esteemed teachers will bring up this story during their lectures, but do you think they would be so cruel and direct when telling this story? No, they polish up the story so that everyone believes that the fiend tiger is just reaping what it sowed. Thus, this version of the story I told actually isn¡¯t the school¡¯s version. It¡¯s actually¡­¡±


    ¡°From that Big Brother Xu of yours?¡± Yiyi smartly finished.


    Tang Jie¡¯s gaze dimmed.


    After a long while, he finally said, ¡°Big Brother Xu was the one who told me the story, but we have to realize the information inside it on our own. There is something I need on that Tiger Roar Peak. I have to get it¡­ no matter what!¡±

 Chapter 96 - Tiger Roar Valley (4)

    <h1>Chapter 96: Tiger Roar Valley (4)</h1>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After resting for a while, Tang Jie took Yiyi away from the mountain spring.


    As they continued forward, they heard fighting up ahead.


    Following the source of the noise, Tang Jie spotted five students surrounding a giant golden-haired monkey. That giant monkey was nearly three meters tall. It constantly swung around its long and thick arms, furious roars asionallying from its mouth. Sometimes, it would even swing a cudgel, stirring up a howling gale.


    While this fellow had a big body, it was also abnormally agile. It jumped around the crowd, constantly dodging spell arts, and the one or two attacks that made contact barely seemed to bother it. Meanwhile, its counterattacks were sharp and vicious, often shattering stone.


    Tang Jie had arrived in the middle of their pitched battle.


    It was clear that this giant monkey was much stronger than the wolf that Tang Jie had fought earlier. However, it was facing five students, all of whom were rather strong and worked well together, so it was losing.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯te forward. He stood at a distance and shouted, ¡°Tang Jie of the 1822nd ss. Do you need help?¡±


    The rules of Basking Moon Academy stated that if one ran into other students of the academy inbat, whether in Tiger Roar Valley or any other mission ground, one was not supposed to interfere except in dire circumstances. Instead, one had to first state their grade and name so as to avoid misunderstandings.


    If one didn¡¯t state their identity, then even if one spoke constantly about helping, there was still a chance of having other motives, perhaps professing to help while doing the opposite.


    This was a rule that had developed in the Rosecloud Domain after thousands of years of cultivator development. Even if you had to state a fake identity, you still had to state something. It was just like handing a gun to a person with the barrel pointed at yourself. Whether it was useful or not, doing this would at least set people at ease.


    If the other party needed help, they would usually immediately state a reward so as to avoid problems that came from dividing the spoils.


    As for killing them and stealing the monster¡­ at least in Tiger Roar Valley under the administration of the academy, this was no different from suicide.


    ¡°Not right now!¡± the leading student shouted.


    He was clearly unwilling to share the spoils with an extra person. While this giant monkey was powerful, it was just a lower-grade fiend beast. With five versus one, they were easily capable of taking it down.


    Tang Jie nced at the giant monkey and said, ¡°You had best be careful. This should be a golden mandrill who was recently released. It was a mated pair that was released, so if this one can¡¯t win, it might call for help. You had better end this battle quickly, or else you¡¯ll be in trouble.¡±


    The leading student froze. ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. But I know there are only six kinds of fiend monkeys in Tiger Roar Valley, and most of them live in groups. If this isn¡¯t a golden mandrill, you might be in even more trouble¡­ In any case, if it were me, I wouldn¡¯t fight a monkey I came across.¡±


    ¡°If you join, we¡¯ll give you 15%!¡± the student shouted. ¡°We¡¯ve been fighting this monkey for ages, so this should be apletely fine price!¡±


    Tang Jie was just about to say something when that golden-furred monkey let out a loud roar that resounded through the area.


    Everyone paled at this roar.


    Tang Jie quickly retreated. ¡°It¡¯s calling for help! You had better get out of here!¡±


    ¡°No, we were about to win!¡± One of the students was unwilling to give up.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to get driven out of the valley, now, start running. Know when to give up!¡±


    After saying this, Tang Jie turned and ran. At the same time, a furious roar came out of the forest, so loud that the trees all trembled as if a gale was passing through, and countless birds took flight in rm.


    An enormous golden figure began to rapidly approach. It seemed evenrger than the monkey they had just been fighting.


    ¡°Not good! Run!¡± The leading student sheathed his sword and ran.


    The five students all took to their heels, but that monkey they were fighting wasn¡¯t willing to let bygones be bygones. It chased after the students, and one of the slower students was struck in the back by the monkey¡¯s palm. As blood spewed out of his mouth, he realized that he couldn¡¯t run and reluctantly activated his jade token, teleporting out of the valley.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie turned away and ran without looking back.


    He hadn¡¯t attacked before, so the two monkeys ignored him and chased after the remaining four students.


    Tang Jie ran all the way until he felt like he was out of thebat area. Only then did he stop, leaning against a tree and panting for breath.


    Probably also scared silly by the two giant monkeys, Yiyi patted her chest and said, ¡°Big Brother, this ce is so scary!¡±


    It had only been half a day, and they had already been forced to run for their lives twice. They imed to being here to hunt fiends, but it seemed more like they hade here to be abused by fiends.


    ¡°Silly girl.¡± Tang Jie scratched Yiyi¡¯s nose and chuckled. ¡°If fiend beasts were that easy to deal with, they wouldn¡¯t be worth anything. This Tiger Roar Valley is actually pretty good. At least we have all the information readily avable and a teleportation token to keep us safe. In the future, when we go to truly dangerous ces, we won¡¯t have all these advantages. Alright, let¡¯s keep exploring and see what¡¯s in the area.¡±


    Just when Tang Jie was about to continue forward, he discovered that his hand was stuck to the tree.


    Raising his head, Tang Jie discovered that a bizarre human face had appeared on the tree. The bark suddenly moved, revealing two eyes looking down at Tang Jie.


    ¡°A tree sprite!¡± Tang Jie shouted.


    He pulled hard with his arm. Ssst! He tore his hand away from the trunk, leaving his palm a bloody mess.


    Anger appeared on the tree¡¯s face, and a mouth opened up and noiselessly roared. The numerous branches on the tree turned into whips thatshed at Tang Jie.


    The Formless Golden Body and Aquagel Shroud activated.


    Pa! Pa! Pa!


    Tang Jie¡¯s body erupted with light as the branchesshed down, and the Aquagel Shroud instantly shattered. The terrifying strength instantly sent Tang Jie flying, turning his back into a field of mangled flesh.


    The moment Tang Jiended on the ground, an enormous tree root broke out of the ground, coiled around him, and dragged him back to the tree. The tree sprite opened its mouth wide, revealing that it was packed with teeth.


    Seeing that there was no avoiding this, Tang Jie produced a sword.


    The Azure Light Sword!


    Sword light erupted!


    Whoosh! With one sh, the tree root was cut in half.


    It was a savage sh that caused a tinge of pain to appear on that old tree¡¯s face.


    Tang Jie took out two tokens.


    The puppet token!


    The beast refining token!


    A puppet and refined beast appeared and charged out, blocking those treeshes.


    With these two covering for him, Tang Jie was able to leave its attack range. He took out a spirit recovery pill and swallowed it.


    Using the Azure Light Sword just now had emptied him of spiritual energy.


    After taking the medicine, Tang Jie angrily pointed at the tree. ¡°Thirty coins! I¡¯ll remember this!¡±


    A bottle of spirit recovery pills cost around three hundred spirit coins. Each bottle held ten pills, so each pill was worth thirty coins.


    This tree¡¯s sneak attack had increased Tang Jie¡¯s cost by thirty spirit coins. How could he not be angry?


    The tree¡¯s response was very simple. It pulled out its roots from deep in the earth, turning them into thick feet that it used to raise itself up. It began to chase after Tang Jie, and while it made each stride rather slowly, it covered a huge distance with every stride.


    ¡°Run!¡± Tang Jie turned and ran.


    While this tree sprite was a lower-grade sprite, it was one of the strongest and most troublesome to deal with. Putting aside its tenacious vitality, it was extremely strong. Itsshing branches and tough roots would be enough to give most students second thoughts, and even a group would find it hard to deal with. Even that fiend bear that Tang Jie had avoided earlier would be no match for it.


    Its only weakness was probably that it was rather slow. If it couldn¡¯t be beaten, it could be run from. This was why the tree sprite preferred to act like an ordinary tree to catch opponents by surprise.


    ¡°I hate you!¡± Yiyi hollered. ¡°We¡¯re all sprites, so why are you bullying us!?¡±


    ¡°Not all sprites are as adorable as you,¡± Tang Jie helplessly said.


    In truth, just like fiends, sprites were mostly savage creatures. Otherwise, why would they drink blood? As sprites drank more and more blood, they would be infected by the blood energy within and gradually umte a murderous aura. In some aspects, they were even crueler than fiends.


    As for Yiyi, she was how she was because she had spent most of her life around Tang Jie and was nurtured by spiritual blood, thus had kept her spirituality. If she had lived out in the wild, killing and eating raw flesh and blood to survive, the cute and innocent little girl would have ultimately be a cruel and vicious scorpion woman, perhaps even suffering a drop in intelligence.


    Intelligence was a product of sapience and one¡¯s experience in society. True maturity could only be achieved through living in society for a long time. Even fiend beasts that had entered the Mind Opening Level only had the potential to grow intelligent, but intelligence didn¡¯t spring from nothing. The same was true for sprites. Even if they were born as Spirit Sensing, without some sort of nurturing, they would gradually fall back into chaos.


    This was why it wasmon for Mind Opening fiend beasts and Spirit Sensing sprites who ate raw flesh and blood to be as dumb as pigs.


    After running for a while and seeing that it couldn¡¯t catch up, the tree stopped chasing and returned to its original position to wait for other prey.


    Tang Jie immediately saw that the tree had stopped chasing, and stopped too. Shockingly, he then began to walk back to the tree.


    Although the tree was a sprite, it had mediocre intelligence. Since it had given up on the pursuit, it had decided to ignore Tang Jie.


    Thus, Tang Jie stood outside the tree¡¯s attack range and began to observe the tree.


    Yiyi nervously asked, ¡°You aren¡¯t going to try and fight it, are you?¡±


    In terms of strength, this tree was far stronger than the golden mandrill or brown bear.


    ¡°Mm, we don¡¯t have much time left. If we don¡¯t gather a little more, today will be a loss,¡± Tang Jie coolly said.


    ¡°But we can¡¯t beat it.¡±


    ¡°Yiyi, the greatest difference between humans and fiends, sprites, ghosts, and monsters isn¡¯t in the toughness of our fists, but that we use our heads better than them. This tree sprite is very formidable, but its greatest weakness is that it¡¯s too slow.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I get it. You n to fight around it, using the Energy Needle to beat it to death!¡± Yiyi jumped up and shouted.


    ¡°That¡¯s no good,¡± Tang Jie replied, shaking his head. ¡°The Energy Needle affects too small of an area and isn¡¯t suitable against these big fellows with tenacious vitality. Even the Jade-Shattering Finger would be no good, let alone the Energy Needle. If I wanted to use spell arts like these to kill this tree sprite, not even using up all my spiritual energy might be enough. And this fellow is deeply rooted into the earth, so it can constantly absorb water from the soil to recover. Even fire spell arts aren¡¯t too effective against it.¡±


    ¡°Then what do we do?¡± Yiyi was baffled.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°We naturally use even stronger spell arts to kill it.¡±


    ¡°But you don¡¯t have any stronger spell arts,¡± Yiyi pouted.


    Tang Jie proudly replied, ¡°I don¡¯t have spell arts, but I do have formations!¡±


    Formations existed in nature, using nature as the basis and formation lines as the paths. What they emphasized was power!


    The same spell art expressed through a formation would be far stronger than if cast by a cultivator.


    Asying down formations took time, in normal circumstances, it was difficult for formations to be useful on the battlefield, but when facing this tree sprite, Tang Jie didn¡¯t have those concerns. He could simply take out his materials and startying down his formation.


    He wasying down the Earth me Fiend Formation. This was a formation that had been recorded in Xu Muyang¡¯s treatise. When perfected, this formation could produce Earthfiend Fire, summoning mes from out of the earth that would annihte a region.


    The formation Tang Jie wasying down naturally wasn¡¯t that terrifying. He cared more about how this formation produced mes out of the earth, making it perfect for dealing with this tree sprite.


    Unlike fiend beasts, tree sprites normally didn¡¯t attack things outside their range, particrly a low-level tree sprite like this, which evencked the ability to tell that someone was trying to attack it.


    Thus, as Tang Jie set up the formation not far from it, it gave no reaction, allowing Tang Jie to easily finish the job.


    What came next was very simple.


    Afterying down the formation, Tang Jie fired off an Energy Needle that struck the tree right in the trunk. Anger appeared on the tree¡¯srge face, and it raised itself off the ground and charged at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie simply stood where he was and watched the tree. Once it had charged into the formation, he coldly said, ¡°Wee to your death trap!¡±


    As he snapped his fingers, mes erupted out of the ground, surrounding the tree sprite on all sides.


    Hwaaa!


    It let out a hoarse roar like that of a forest swept up in a gale.


    The treeshes wildly pped at the mes while the roots burrowed deep in the earth in an attempt to extinguish the mes on them.


    But this was the Earth me Fiend Formation, and the mes were made from spiritual energy. They would only go out when the surrounding spiritual energy ran out or the formation was stopped. Otherwise, they would keep burning no matter what the tree tried.


    The tree sprite knew that this was bad and turned to flee this death trap.


    Seeing that it was about to run, Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Stop it! Don¡¯t let it run!¡±


    The puppet and the refined beast rushed out to block the tree sprite.


    Formations normally had a gate of sealing that prevented the target from escaping, but Tang Jie¡¯s formationyout was crude andcked any sort of lock. Of the eight gates of formation arts, he had only truly used three: Death, Open, and Rest.


    The Open Gate was the gate of central pivot, the Death Gate was the gate of ughter, and the Rest Gate was the gate of cirction. These gates were absolutely necessary.


    The remaining gates were the Stop Gate, which was concerned with controlling change; the Life Gate, concerned with defense; the Injury Gate, concerned with sealing and capturing; the rm Gate, concerned with confusion and chaos; and the View Gate, concerned with concealment and disguise. All he needed to do with these was to satisfy the most basic requirements, but they were essentially functionless.


    There was nothing to be done. Another w of formations was that they cost resources. Tang Jie couldn¡¯t bear the cost of theplete Earth me Fiend Formation, and even this one with three gates was the formation at its lowest level.


    Thus, if the tree sprite wanted to escape, all Tang Jie could do was try to stop it himself.


    The ming treeshes danced, but Tang Jie braved the mes to grab hold of one of the tree¡¯s root feet and refuse to let go.


    This tree sprite was incredibly strong, and he couldn¡¯t hold it down with his strength alone. Thankfully, the puppet wasn¡¯t much weaker than he was, and with each one holding down a side, they just barely managed to prevent the tree sprite from escaping.


    The ming whipsshed against his body, tearing at his clothes and burning away the cloth. Sparks hissed as they struck his body, but Tang Jie continued to grimly hold onto the tree sprite.


    These Earthfiend mes were truly vicious. Once they got onto the tree sprite, they clung tightly to the tree and burned away, rapidly consuming the tree sprite¡¯s life. The tree sprite asionally gave a noiseless roar, its face wracked with pain. It was clear that these mes were doing immense damage.


    If it escaped and its roots could absorb some water from the ground, it could still recover, but in this formation, even the ground was on fire. It wasn¡¯t long before it had been almost burned to charcoal.


    Perhaps because it knew that death was near, the tree sprite let out a strange shout. The mes on its body dimmed and all the treeshes began to draw back, pulling Tang Jie closer to it.


    ¡°Oh no!¡± Tang Jie paled. He knew that this tree sprite was trying to bring him down with it since it couldn¡¯t escape, so he immediately tried to withdraw.


    But the tree sprite on the verge of death was a tough customer. Its roots coiled together into a giant tentacle that wrapped around Tang Jie and dragged him into the pile of mes.


    A look of satisfied savagery appeared on the tree sprite¡¯s face, knowing that Tang Jie couldn¡¯t escape.


    But Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re wrong!¡±


    He lightly pressed his hand against the ground.


    The mes disappeared!


    Ping!


    Tang Jiended on the ground in front of the tree sprite, his eyes meeting the face on the tree.


    He chuckled. ¡°Iid down the formation, so it¡¯s up to me whether it¡¯s on or off.¡±


    ¡°Hwaaa!¡±


    The tree sprite once more shrieked in anger. Its mouth opened, a green light shooting out of it at Tang Jie. This was a tree seed.


    A tree seed was the collected essence of a tree sprite and its final trump card. If it hit the target, it would immediately start to grow within the target, absorbing their life to restore its own.


    It had no other choice.


    But as the tree seed flew out, Tang Jie pointed at it. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I want!¡±


    A golden light flew out from the tip of Tang Jie¡¯s finger, stabbing right through the tree seed.


    It was none other than the small golden needle formed from the Weapon Mantra.


    This tree seed formed from the tree sprite¡¯s essence was so tough that even a high-tier Spirit tform student would be heavily injured by such an attack, but the golden light pierced through it and then soared away in a golden streak of light.


    ¡°Aaaaah!¡± The tree sprite made a third shriek, like the painful scream of a human.


    The branches of the tree all sagged in unison, and it began to rapidly shrivel. Ultimately, it became a desated old tree, that face on its trunk streaked with extreme reluctance.


    Whew! ¡°It¡¯s finally dead!¡± Tang Jie wiped the sweat from his forehead.


    The tree sprite deserved its reputation as the most troublesome of lower-grade sprites. Tang Jie had been forced to use almost everything at his disposal to finally kill it. The formation to kill it had cost a hundred coins all on its own.


    After this battle, his expenses had soared. So far, he had paid out a total of 330 coins in this venture, and this wasn¡¯t even considering that he was renting this puppet for free this time around.


    If that tree sprite had managed to escape, he would have basically gone bankrupt. Thankfully, he hadn¡¯t been disappointed. This tree sprite was worth much more than that wolf.


    Someone screamed behind him. It was Yiyi.


    Tang Jie thought that Yiyi had found something and turned his head in shock, but he saw her covering her eyes and pointing at Tang Jie¡¯s lower body. ¡°Ugly! So ugly!¡±


    Tang Jie looked down and saw that the mes had rendered him almostpletely naked. Embarrassed, he hastily covered himself with the wolf skin.


    Seeing that Yiyi was still angry, Tang Jie was going to exin when he suddenly realized something, his face paling. ¡°Shit! Where did it end up?¡±


    He rushed out to find that golden needle¡­

 Chapter 97 - Prisoner

    <h1>Chapter 97: Prisoner</h1>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie wasted quite a lot of time to find the golden needle, after which he began to clean up the battlefield and wipe away any remnants of the formation.


    He casually threw the tree seed at Yiyi. ¡°Oh, this is for you. I didn¡¯t expect you to be the one to win out in this expedition.¡±


    ¡°What is this?¡± Yiyi curiously looked at the seed. The seed looked like an olive pit. It was emerald green all over and had a hole punched through it, made by Tang Jie, from which green liquid was flowing out.


    ¡°The tree sprite¡¯s sprite core, where all of its essence is gathered,¡± Tang Jie answered. He swept up Yiyi and pointed at the sprite core. ¡°Sprite cores, fiend pellets, ghost essence, and monster marrows are the four core treasures of these four creatures. This is the sprite core of that tree sprite, and this alone is worth a lot of money.¡±


    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t the wolf we killed earlier have a fiend pellet?¡± Yiyi questioned.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Spritesck blood energy because they have no flesh and blood, but they find it easy to gather spiritual energy and form sprite cores. But this is why most of their body parts are essentially worthless, since their essence is all gathered up here. Fiends are different from sprites because they have bodies of flesh and blood, which makes up for theirck of spiritual energy. Spiritual energy integrates with their entire body, making all their body parts valuable, but it also makes it difficult for it to form a fiend pellet. Any fiend with one would undoubtedly be a powerful existence. If we ran into such a fiend beast, we would die without even knowing how we died. While this tree sprite was lower-grade, it had lived for a long time, so it isn¡¯t strange for it to have formed a sprite core. But it seems like it hadn¡¯t formed it very long ago, so it¡¯s a bit small. In my estimation, it¡¯s only worth four hundred coins at most.¡±


    ¡°What is it used for?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s got a lot of uses, whether it¡¯s pill refining, medicine production, drawing talismans, orying down formations, but its effects are different depending on the use case. This tree sprite had an average nature and was of lower grade, and itcks any sort of special effects. However, it is rich in spirituality and Wood energy, so if you eat it, it will give you a huge boost.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s such a good thing, it¡¯s best if Big Brother sold it,¡± Yiyi said while hugging Tang Jie¡¯s neck.


    She was a little mischievous, but she understood the situation and knew that Tang Jie hade to this ce for money. The sprite core was the most valuable thing they had gotten. If she ate it, wouldn¡¯t they be suffering a huge loss?


    Tang Jie scratched her nose andughed. ¡°Silly girl, you eating it is the best use of all. Moreover, I pierced through the sprite core with my finger, and its energy is already starting to leak out. If you don¡¯t eat it now, it¡¯ll all leak out, and that would be the real loss.¡±


    It was true that sprite cores and fiend pellets were valuable, but they were also where the lifeforce of these creatures was located. When they were about to die, they would often use them in onest desperate assault. Thus, getting an intact sprite core or fiend pellet was difficult. In the end, Tang Jie had beencking in strength, so his only way of dealing with the sprite core had been the golden needle. If he had been the slightest bit hesitant back there, he probably would have been the one who died.


    Of course, he had been so willing to give it up partially because he knew that Yiyi was here, so at least he wouldn¡¯t lose too much from the sprite core.


    Hearing this, Yiyi stopped hesitating and swallowed the sprite core.


    The moment she swallowed it, her face shed with green energy, and spiritual energy filled her body. Her body began to grow as though inting, from a little thing only twenty centimeters tall to the size of a newborn infant, more than double her former size.


    Not only that, her skin gained a crystalline texture, and beneath her jade-white skin, light seemed to flow.


    Tang Jie creased his brow. ¡°Spiritual energy fills the body, illusory and refusing to congeal¡­¡±


    He used the Azure Light Sword to cut his wrist, creating a deep wound. He offered it to Yiyi. ¡°Yiyi, drink!¡±


    Yiyi¡¯s stomach was empty of anything except an indescribable hunger. Upon seeing Tang Jie¡¯s presented arm, she immediately began to gulp his blood.


    Her blood drinking this time was many times more ferocious. Tang Jie felt like all the blood in his body was flowing into Yiyi¡¯s mouth.


    Tang Jie knew that this wasn¡¯t good. The more spiritual energy Yiyi absorbed, the more blood energy she required as nourishment. The tree sprite¡¯s sprite core had contained powerful spiritual energy, meaning that he would need to supply more blood. If she were allowed to keep drinking, Tang Jie would be greatly drained, and perhaps not even several months of rest would be enough to recover.


    He knew now that he was being rash. Though he was familiar with the content the teachers had lectured on, there were always some things that the teachers didn¡¯t have time to lecture on and could only be experienced.


    As Yiyi drank more blood, her body began to fill out. She became less like a crystalline doll, her eyes gradually turning red and bing tinged with confusion.


    Tang Jie understood that she was in a key moment and couldn¡¯t be disturbed, so he gritted his teeth and took a demonblood pill.


    This demonblood pill was made from the fiend pellet of a Blood Refining Beast. Upon its use, one¡¯s blood energy would swell. Its purpose was to refine blood, so it was perfect for supplying Yiyi with blood energy. Even if he might be weak for a while after this, he wouldn¡¯t be damaging his foundation.


    Under the effects of the demonblood pill, Tang Jie¡¯s blood energy frenziedly grew. Yiyi continued to madly drink his blood, turning him into a leaky pool with the hose on, water going in and water going out.


    Only when that crystalline luster began to disappear and healthy ruddiness returned did Yiyi finally let go, and her confused red eyes cleared up.


    She exhaled, her head dropped to the side, and she fell asleep.


    The little one had drunk her fill and gone to sleep, leaving Tang Jie speechless.


    Yiyi had absorbed the majority of the blood energy from the demonblood pill, and because there was still a sliver of medicinal power left, Tang Jie still wasn¡¯t feeling the side effects. On the contrary, he was brimming with energy.


    But Tang Jie knew that this effect wouldn¡¯tst for long, so he didn¡¯t keep hunting. Once he had packed everything up, he carried Yiyi through the valley, and it wasn¡¯t long before he returned to that mountain spring.


    But that tiger on the summit wasn¡¯t there. It might have gone back to its cave to rest.


    Tang Jie began to make his way up the mountain.


    Making his way along the mountain paved with ck stone, when Tang Jie got a third of the way up the mountain, he saw a stone stele upon which threerge words were written: ¡°Fiend Sealing Stele¡±.


    The stele was ced across the path leading up to the summit.


    Beyond the stele, the ck stone became red, and between red and ck was a clear dividing line that divided the summit and the area beneath the summit into two different worlds.


    This ce was the jail of the only upper-grade Spirit Sensing fiend of Tiger Roar Valley, the fiend tiger.


    To go beyond this line was to go through the protection of the formation and enter the tiger¡¯s cage.


    Every year, many students would enter the fiend tiger¡¯s cage to fight with it, and while they would usually fail, victory or defeat was not important.


    For the students, this was a necessary experience in their growth. Only by truly experiencing a battle with a high-grade Spirit Sensing beast would they be able to understand what they were actually capable and incapable of in future missions.


    Tang Jie stood in front of the stone stele, a profound look in his eyes as he pondered something.


    After a long while, he suddenly stepped forward.


    He stepped onto the red stones.


    Raaa!


    A tiger¡¯s roar came from the summit.


    The tiger once more appeared, standing atop a stone and staring at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie¡¯s left foot was on a red stone, his right foot on a ck one. Straddling two worlds, he coldly looked at the tiger.


    Man and tiger were in a standoff.


    Tang Jie slowly raised his right foot and took another step forward.


    Now, his entire body was within the formation.


    The tiger still did not move, still looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie took another step forward.


    A third step!


    A fourth step!


    Tang Jie cautiously stepped forward, still staring at the fiend tiger.


    The tenth step.


    The fiend tiger finally moved.


    It made a flying leap off the summit.


    Tang Jie hastily retreated.


    He retreated one step!


    Raaa!


    The tiger let out a ferocious and thunderous roar that made Tang Jie freeze.


    The Violet Lightning Lunge that he had just been about to use was dissipated by this roar.


    Unable to circte the technique, he could only retreat!


    He retreated a second step.


    The fiend tiger¡¯s body was entirely in the air, wind gathering at its feet.


    Tang Jie retreated a third, fourth, fifth, and sixth step!


    By the time he had fallen back four steps, the fiend tiger was like a streak of lightning, hurtling down and instantly covering a hundred meters!


    He fell back a seventh step.


    The fiend tiger was right in front of him, the winds howling!


    He fell back an eighth step. The tiger raised its w and swatted at him.


    Tang Jie leaned back, and the w brushed past his face, flitted past his leg, and mmed to the ground with a ssh of blood.


    Boom!


    Lightning and wind erupted!


    The w striking the ground had stirred up winds that carried gravel and debris at Tang Jie!


    The stones pelted his body like bullets. Thud! Thud! Thud! Blood sshed.


    Tang Jie vomited blood and fell back.


    The ninth step!


    One foot was out of the barrier.


    At this moment, a stone spike shot out of the ground, aimed at the sole of Tang Jie¡¯s foot.


    Tang Jie jumped.


    The fiend tiger jumped with him, its maw aiming to bite down on Tang Jie.


    In the air, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t dodge. He could only try his best to lean back as far as possible.


    Time slowed to a crawl.


    His body moved back through the air while the tiger lunged down the mountain.


    The giant tiger had opened its mouth wide, revealing its savage teeth.


    Tang Jie did not doubt the lethality of this bite. Even with his body, he would still die.


    The teeth grewrger andrger in his eyes, almost upying his entire field of vision, consuming his entire world. They gleamed with a cold light and carried the smile of death¡­ A chill touched his body.


    The moment the teeth touched his body, a giant golden appeared around the summit.


    Tang Jie passed through the golden like it was made of air.


    But the tiger ran straight into it.


    Lightning crackled across the, instantly gathering into a giant bolt of lightning that mmed into the tiger.


    Raaaaw! The fiend tiger howled in pain and misery.


    Tang Jie finally made it out of the formation, his inertia carrying him into the ground, where hended on his butt.


    He saw that the tiger still refused to back down, even after being struck by lightning.


    It rammed its head against the, madly howling at Tang Jie, making terrifying sounds.


    It rammed its head against the!


    It swiped its ws at the!


    It gnawed at the!


    Consumed by madness and rage!


    What weed it was callous and vicious lightning.


    Lightning mmed down again and again on its body, tearing open its flesh and burning its hide, even exposing the white bone underneath.


    Finally, it could take no more and copsed.


    It panted for breath, but it was still staring at Tang Jie. Tang Jie could see that its eyes burned with hatred!


    Tang Jie looked at it and said nothing.


    Man and tiger, separated by a, stared at each other.


    After a long while, the fiend tiger stood back up.


    It lurched back up to the summit, its steps slightly unsteady.


    Tang Jie watched it go, step by step, until he could no longer see it.


    Unprecedented fatigue spread throughout his body. Tang Jie knew that this expedition in Tiger Roar Valley hade to an end.

 Chapter 98 - Growth

    <h1>Chapter 98: Growth</h1>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    In a sh of light, a person appeared at the entrance of Tiger Roar Valley. It was Tang Jie, with a big cloth bag slung across his back.


    He heard mockingughter at his ear. Several students standing outside the valley had taken note of his miserable state and mistakenly believed that he had been driven out by some fiend beast.


    Frankly speaking, he really was in a rather sorry state. His clothes had been burned while dealing with the tree sprite and his body had been left like a beehive from the stone and gravel kicked up by the fiend tiger. No matter how formidable his body was, he couldn¡¯t recover that fast. He was covered in wounds and made for an rming sight.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t be bothered with them. He leaned against a tree to rest for a while.


    When his bag suddenly lightened, he knew that Yiyi had woken up, realized that the environment had changed, and turned back into a flower. Only then did he open up the bag, whereupon he saw a dazzling green rose resting atop a pile of herbs, beautiful and alluring.


    Tang Jie chuckled as he grabbed the green rose and put it away. He then walked with heavy steps up to several vigers and threw the bag over. ¡°How much is all this?¡±


    A viger looked through the contents and said, ¡°With that wolf skin you¡¯re wearing, 121 coins in all.¡±


    ¡°Give me some clothes.¡±


    The viger chuckled, took out a set of rough clothes, and threw them over at Tang Jie. ¡°This set is new. It¡¯s for free.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Tang Jie found a deserted ce to change his clothes, after which the viger counted out the spirit coins and handed them to Tang Jie. Patting him on the shoulder, he said, ¡°This is pretty good for your first time.¡±


    ¡°But it was still a loss,¡± Tang Jie softly said.


    ¡°That¡¯smonce. It¡¯s fine as long as you were able to stay alive. This Tiger Roar Valley is for you to experience the dangers of the outside world. Such lessons can¡¯t be bought even if you had a thousand gold coins,¡± the vigermented, seeminglying from a ce of experience.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I would be more willing to exchange those lessons for a thousand gold coins.¡±


    The viger was taken aback, and then he broke out inughter. He waved Tang Jie away, in no mood to argue.


    Tang Jie returned to the Carefree House with his hundred-some coins, rather frustrated.


    Though he had made money on this trip to Tiger Roar Valley, most of that profit had gone into Yiyi. He hadn¡¯t made much of his return in actual cash.


    He still owed Wei Tianchong two hundred spirit coins. He still had three spirit coins, so in other words, he was still missing seventy-six spirit coins. He couldn¡¯t think of a way to make up this gap.


    It left him with quite the headache.


    In the end, after thinking back and forth, he decided to use the pills he used for cultivation to cover the bill.


    Xie Fengtang had given him ten bottles of spirit medicine, and he had the bottle of Essence-Refining Pills from Wu Xing, and Zhuang Shen had some pills. As he had been using them sparingly, he still had a lot left over. If he really had no other option, he had enough to cover his expenses.


    He currently had a very simple method of distribution for cultivation. His resources went to cultivating the Parting ssic while his time went to cultivating mantras. In any case, he had a five-cycle Jade Gate, so even if he didn¡¯t use any medicine, he could get into Mortal Shedding in ten years without a problem. Thus, he wasn¡¯t in a rush to elevate his cultivation realm.


    Once they were back in the Carefree House, Yiyi jumped out from Tang Jie¡¯s bosom and shouted, ¡°Big Brother, I got bigger!¡±


    Tang Jie squatted down and smiled at Yiyi. ¡°You did get bigger, but you¡¯re still a small thing.¡±


    ¡°I hate you! People grow slowly, you know!¡± Yiyi put her hands on her waist and shouted at him.


    Tang Jie swept her up in his arms and hugged her. ¡°Yes, yes, Yiyi will ultimately grow into a big girl. But just growing big isn¡¯t enough. You also have to develop some skills. Tell your big brother: did you get any new skills?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Yiyi pointed at a wildflower in the courtyard. ¡°Big Brother, watch!¡±


    That wildflower turned into a green rose.


    Sweat appeared on Tang Jie¡¯s forehead. ¡°Didn¡¯t you already know how to do this?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but I couldn¡¯t do it at will. Now, I can transform a lot at once, and I don¡¯t need to drink your blood. I just need to rest for a bit. Didn¡¯t you want to sell them for silver? You can do that now!¡± Yiyi wildly gesticted as she spoke.


    ¡°The problem is that I don¡¯t need silver anymore!¡± Tang Jie wanted to cry.


    Though silver could be exchanged for spirit coins, selling off ten baskets of flowers would only get him two or three spirit coins. If he had that time, he might as well find a job in the school.


    ¡°Your abilities have to keep up with the times¡­¡± Tang Jie solemnly and sincerely said.


    ¡°Oooooh¡­¡± Yiyi¡¯s voice dwindled away as she replied, not fully understanding what was being conveyed.


    After some thought, she said, ¡°What about this?¡±


    She pointed at the green rose, and the green rose began to rapidly grow to the height of an adult man, with the coro also growingrger.


    ¡°That¡¯s rather interesting. You can make nts grow¡­ Only green roses?¡± Tang Jie looked at Yiyi.


    Yiyi firmly nodded.


    Tang Jie sighed.


    ¡°Anything else?¡± he asked.


    Yiyi somewhat unwillingly said, ¡°There¡¯s just this left.¡±


    She pointed at the green rose again, upon which the green rose came to life, its giant coro suddenly opening like a mouth, revealing sharp teeth. It bit down on Tang Jie¡¯s arm, but it wasn¡¯t able to bite through.


    Tang Jie was rather interested. ¡°Mm, not bad, but it doesn¡¯t seem strong enough¡­¡±


    Before he could finish, ptoo! The coro spat out a green glob of liquid onto Tang Jie¡¯s skin which made Tang Jie dizzy the moment he saw it.


    ¡°It¡¯s venomous? Not bad!¡± Tang Jie excitedly said.


    The green rose could attack and spit venom. It was far from ¡°bad¡±.


    But Yiyi pouted in dissatisfaction. ¡°It¡¯s so ugly.¡±


    Her standard for evaluating her abilities was very simple: did it look pretty or ugly?


    The green rose nurtured by her talentcked the elegance of a green rose and appeared more like a vicious man-eating flower. Its green mucus was even more disgusting, so it was small wonder that she didn¡¯t like it.


    Tang Jie asked, ¡°How many of these can you make at one time?¡±


    Yiyi replied, ¡°I can only make one at a time, after which I have to rest, but it will stick around.¡±


    As expected, her magic power wascking.


    Although she had eaten the sprite core of the tree sprite, it didn¡¯t mean she had the strength of the tree sprite. Right now, Yiyi could just barely be considered even a lower-grade sprite. But as time progressed, she would naturally get stronger. Unlike humans, sprites didn¡¯t have such rigorous requirements when it came to cultivation.


    Of course, the disadvantage of natural growth was that it was very hard for sprites to increase their cultivation speed without chance encounters like this.


    ¡°Right, can this flower obey your orders?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Yiyi proudly replied. Saying that, she pointed at the green rose and shouted, ¡°This is my big brother! You¡¯re not allowed to bite him!¡±


    Sure enough, the flower coro drew back.


    ¡°I can also make it bigger or smaller.¡± Yiyi pointed again. ¡°Shrink!¡±


    The green rose shrank back into the earth.


    ¡°Not bad, not bad,¡± Tang Jie nodded.


    This single green rose Yiyi had nurtured was actually very limited in the damage it could do.


    But this nt could stick around, so more could be raised. If he gave her enough time, he could have an entire field of venomous roses, relying on numbers for victory. It was incredibly useful while also costing less than a formation.


    One sprite core, one demonblood pill, and a few days of weakness had been exchanged to get Yiyi this spell art, and it had been well worth it.


    Unlike cultivators, sprites found it very difficult to learn spell arts through external methods. Their spell arts were mostly the result of the flesh and blood they devoured coupling with the special traits of their bodies.


    However, it was hard to say what spitting venom had to do with Yiyi¡¯s special traits.


    Regardless, Yiyi¡¯s getting this ability was good news, and Tang Jie was so excited that he hugged Yiyi and gave her a big kiss.


    ¡°Ah! Ew! Ew! I¡¯m a girl! You¡¯re not allowed to kiss me!¡± Yiyi furiously turned her head away, rubbed her face against the ground, and then spat.


    Ah, I guess I see it now, Tang Jie helplessly thought.


    The next morning, Tang Jie went to Wei Tianchong and returned the puppet and money to him.


    Wei Tianchong checked over the puppet several times, and only after confirming that it wasn¡¯t damaged did he ask Tang Jie how his trip into Tiger Roar Valley had gone.


    Tang Jie gave a rough summary of his time in Tiger Roar Valley. Of course, he skipped over his fight with the tree sprite. All he said was that after he escaped, he made a few more rounds of the valley, after which his time ran out and he returned.


    After telling his tale, Tang Jie summarized, ¡°Tiger Roar Valley has all kinds of vicious fiend beasts, and getting anything out of there isn¡¯t easy. At my current level of strength, it¡¯s still very difficult for me to profit from my harvests. It¡¯s only thanks to Young Master¡¯s puppet that I didn¡¯te out with a loss.¡±


    ¡°¡®Didn¡¯te out with a loss¡¯?¡± Wei Tianchong pointed at the medicine in his hand. ¡°You even used your medicine to cover your debt!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I already used some of what I got, so Icked the money. But, Third Young Master, this was my first time, so there was a lot I didn¡¯t understand, and some mistakes were inevitable. Next time, I¡¯m confident that I can get much more.¡±


    ¡°You want to go again?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Third Young Master, in my ns, Tiger Roar Valley is my future revenue source. Even if I only make fifty spirit coins per trip, that¡¯s five hundred coins after ten trips.¡±


    ¡°But it takes too much time,¡± Wei Tianchong said with a shake of his head. ¡°You need a whole day for Tiger Roar Valley, and you might be able to make several dozen spirit coins out of it, but since you dy your cultivation for an entire day, you¡¯re not guaranteed to gain more than you lose. Moreover, Tiger Roar Valley isn¡¯t like cultivation where you can make steady progress every day. There might be a day where you¡¯re unlucky and get chased by some fiend beast until you¡¯re forced out of the valley. That would mean a loss of two hundred coins, several days of work.¡±


    ¡°Naturally,¡± Tang Jie casually replied. ¡°But just like how I gathered information and analyzed opponents for you, it¡¯s all about probabilities. So long as I¡¯m strong enough, my probability of winning is higher than the probability of losing. While trips to Tiger Roar Valley are somewhat like gambles, they¡¯re still established on a foundation of strength. With my level of strength, I¡¯m confident that I can win more than I lose.¡±


    ¡°Then why not wait a little longer until you¡¯re stronger and more confident?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m an impatient person.¡±


    Wei Tianchong appeared amazed. ¡°Really? Doesn¡¯t seem like it to me!¡±


    Tang Jie helplessly said, ¡°Then I¡¯ll give you another reason. The puppet is done, so following our n, you need to rent it out. Given the value of the puppet, I think that thirty coins a day for the rent is worth it, but other students might not think so. That being the case, why not just rent it to me?¡±


    ¡°Then what do I do about the sparring ground?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t stand much of a chance of getting into the top five, so it doesn¡¯t matter if you have a puppet or not. It would be best if you focused on improving yourself first.¡±


    Wei Tianchong thought it over and nodded.


    Tang Jieughed and then extended his hand. ¡°Then I would like to request that Young Master lends me another two hundred coins.¡±


    ¡°I knew it!¡± Wei Tianchong helplessly took out the money and gave it to Tang Jie. Suddenly, he said, ¡°Hold on. Tang Jie, I feel like something isn¡¯t right here.¡±


    ¡°Third Young Master, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Look here.¡± Wei Tianchong started to count on his fingers. ¡°I was the one who lent you the money for the valley¡¯s entry fee, I bought the spell art for you to learn, and I also spent money on the puppet you¡¯re using. I haven¡¯t even spent this much money on my own cultivation, so why am I spending all my family¡¯s money on you? Have I be Tang Jie¡¯s banker? No, I¡¯m not even a banker. A banker gets interest¡­¡±


    Tang Jie tipped back andughed. Leaning on Wei Tianchong, he said, ¡°Young Master, what are you saying? I¡¯m renting it, you know, renting!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not right either. You¡¯re the one renting the puppet, but you also proposed the rental fee of thirty! I didn¡¯t even state a price!¡±


    ¡°Then forty,¡± Tang Jie firmly said. ¡°Third Young Master, you can¡¯t rent a puppet at that price on the outside!¡±


    ¡°Their puppets don¡¯t seem better than mine. I feel like I could rent this puppet for fifty coins without a problem!¡±


    Tang Jie chortled. ¡°Third Young Master is a generous soul who has always treated his servants well. How could you haggle with us over a measly ten spirit coins?¡±


    ¡°The problem is that it¡¯s ten spirit coins a day¡­¡± Wei Tianchong stroked his chin.


    ¡°Talking about money damages rtionships, Young Master!¡± Tang Jie gravely said.


    Wei Tianchong let out a long sigh. ¡°Bringing up rtionships hurts my wallet, schoolmate!¡±


    Though he wasn¡¯t at all familiar with modern ways of speaking, it seemed that he had managed to learn without a teacher.


    In the end, they negotiated a rental price of forty-five coins each time, with a 10% discount if he booked the puppet for the entire month.

 Chapter 99 - To And Fro

    Chapter 99: To and Fro


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After resting for three days, Tang Jie headed back into Tiger Roar Valley.


    This time, he was much more familiar with the valley and wasn¡¯t chased around by a mottled snake like before.


    A day quickly went by. Looking over his harvest, he found that he had made a small profit after deducting the loan and the rent. Tang Jie stopped hunting and headed for Tiger Roar Peak.


    He stood in front of the stone stele. That tiger had already appeared on the summit.


    It coldly stared at him, the ¡°Íõ¡± on its forehead creased into a ball.


    Tang Jie chuckled.


    He started walking.


    He stepped onto the blood-red stones.


    One step!


    Two steps!


    Three steps!


    At ten steps, Tang Jie stopped.


    The fiend tiger didn¡¯t attack. It continued to watch him.


    Tang Jie continued.


    He took one more step and then stopped.


    Whoosh!


    A gust of wind!


    The tiger pounced!


    Tang Jie used the Violet Lightning Lunge and immediately shot backward.


    The tiger¡¯s roar reverberated, but this time, it only made Tang Jie slightly tremble and failed to cut off the cirction of his technique.


    The massive tiger w mmed down on the red stones, stirring up dust.


    When the dust dispersed, Tang Jie was standing outside of the boundary line, a trickle of blood running down his arm.


    When the tiger had pounced, it had concealed an air de in the storm that had injured him.


    The shattered stone automatically re-formed.


    The fiend tiger took several steps back, growled in warning, and turned back.


    Tang Jie once more stepped in, but the fiend tiger simply nced at him before proceeding to ignore him.


    ¡°Big Brother¡­¡± Yiyi softly said from atop Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder.


    She had been sleeping when Tang Jie had challenged the fiend tigerst time, so she had no idea what had happened.


    But this time, she could see everything clearly. The fiend tiger moved like lightning and struck with savagery. It wasn¡¯t something the current Tang Jie could fight.


    ¡°Yiyi, don¡¯t be afraid.¡± Tang Jie lightly patted Yiyi. ¡°Do you remember what your big brother told you to do?¡±


    ¡°Mm!¡± Yiyi firmly nodded.


    ¡°Then go.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m afraid¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, Yiyi. It¡¯s not interested in you!¡± Tang Jie calmly said.


    Yiyi tilted her head. She was somewhat baffled that the fiend tiger wasn¡¯t interested in her.


    As a sprite that had managed the rare feat of keeping her intelligence, she was the best sort of sustenance for all fiend beasts.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Because it only has eyes for me¡­ It hates humans.¡±


    He looked at the fiend tiger, meeting its gaze.


    Yiyi slid down from Tang Jie¡¯s body and dodged into a bush on the side. Sure enough, the fiend tiger didn¡¯t even nce at her.


    They kept up their stalemate.


    After a long while, Yiyi reappeared at Tang Jie¡¯s side. She mbered up to his ear and whispered, ¡°It¡¯s done.¡±


    Tang Jie took out a piece of wolf meat and ced it on the ground. He then shouted at the tiger, ¡°When Ie to see you next time, I hope you¡¯ll be more polite. I don¡¯t have any ns to kill you, only to talk¡­ I know that you can understand what I¡¯m saying. You¡¯re not like the others. You have intelligence!¡±


    Raaaa! The fiend tiger furiously roared in response.


    Tang Jie shook his head and withdrew past the stele.


    Starting from this day, Tang Jie officially began his Tiger Roar Valley money-making n.


    At Tang Jie¡¯s current level of strength, it had already been demonstrated that freely traveling Tiger Roar Valley and maintaining a long-term profit was extremely difficult.


    Firstly, there were numerous unpredictable risks, and Tang Jie wasn¡¯t capable of averting disaster every time. Yiyi¡¯s existence allowed him to quickly find things that others could not, but it also made it easier for the fiend beasts to notice him.


    On his third trip into the valley, Tang Jie had the misfortune to run into a dread lizard that chased him for the entire day. Although this fellow moved slowly and couldn¡¯t catch up to Tang Jie, it was extremely patient and never let Tang Jie go. Besides that, it had an excellent nose and was always able to track him down.


    In the end, Tang Jie didn¡¯t even manage to kill a single fiend beast. He would be halfway through fighting one when that dread lizard would barge in and force him to flee.


    That day ended up being Tang Jie¡¯s Waterloo. He lost more than a hundred spirit coins, only managing to mitigate his losses with the herbs he gathered.


    With no better option, he had to borrow from Shu Mingyang and the others for a fourth trip into the valley.


    This time, his luck wasn¡¯t bad, and he made back a little.


    Unfortunately, on his fifth trip into the valley, he was pursued by fiend beasts again. This time, it was a pack of galewind wolves that doggedly pursued him until he was forced to teleport out. Fortunately, Tang Jie had managed to get a little before that, barely preserving his capital.


    Besides that, there was one other unexpected problem that reduced Tang Jie¡¯s profits.


    The problem was the number of fiend beasts and spirit nts in the valley.


    The rate of reproduction would always fall far behind the rate of killing!


    No matter what sort of protective measures were implemented in Tiger Roar Valley, the valley¡¯s own production would never be able to meet the needs of the students.


    This was why Basking Moon Academy would send out people at set intervals to catch fiend beasts and gather spirit nts that would be brought back to be ced in the valley.


    This usually served as a long-term mission for the disciples of the Basking Moon Sect.


    But this didn¡¯t happen every day. The resupply normally happened once every three months.


    If students frequently entered the valley in this period and killed many fiend beasts, the number of fiend beasts left in the valley would dwindle.


    Due to their strength, it was normally the weaker fiend beasts and the easier-to-find spirit nts that would be reduced, with the remainder being extremely difficult to deal with.


    Thus, Tiger Roar Valley had its high-yield and low-yield periods.


    In low-yield periods, even Tang Jie could only work to break even.


    This wasn¡¯t a surprising situation. Risk and reward had always been directly proportional to each other.


    Tiger Roar Valley¡¯s safety measure reduced the risk, the entry fee raised the costs, and the imported nature of the creatures and nts within reduced the predicted reward¡ªit wasn¡¯t like the Basking Moon Sect was going to nt some supreme Immortal grass in Tiger Roar Valley.


    Not even one that cost more than one hundred coins!


    But Tang Jie persisted in going in every day.


    His days of adventuring in the valley went for day after day.


    One month quickly went by.


    In this month, considering the rent and other costs, Tang Jie had made a profit, but it was much smaller than he had expected. In this one month, he had made only three hundred coins.


    Three hundred coins wasn¡¯t a small number, but the problem was that he had stopped his daytime cultivation for these three hundred coins.


    Consider the Essence-Refining Pills. One bottle of these pills, which could go for twelve hundred coins, could only boost a student¡¯s cultivation speed for forty to sixty days. Stopping his daytime cultivation for thirty days in exchange for three hundred coins was honestly a pointless exchange.


    This was precisely why quite a few people mocked Tang Jie for his gambling nature, thinking that he was a big shot and wasting his time in Tiger Roar Valley.


    If he had the energy, he could have sparred a few times and tried to ce. It would be much more worthwhile than going into Tiger Roar Valley.


    Even Shu Mingyang and Cai Junyang had advised him to stop several times.


    But Tang Jie persisted in his n.


    And after the conclusion of every hunt, if he had not been driven out, he would go to Tiger Roar Peak.


    At the start, the fiend tiger had been very wary of him.


    Each time Tang Jie visited, it would immediately appear and try to kill Tang Jie.


    But in truth, it was getting further and further away from being able to kill Tang Jie.


    As he interacted with the fiend tiger more and more, he came to understand it better and learn its abilities.


    As an upper-grade Spirit Sensing fiend beast, the tiger had four innate spell arts.


    The first was the Wind Lunge spell art it used to pursue him. Like the Violet Lightning Lunge, it was good for short-term sprints but wasn¡¯t suitable for long battles.


    The second was its Earth Spike spell art. It could control the earth to create spikes to attack its targets. It was of average strength, but it was a damaging spell art that covered arge area. It was also the least threatening to Tang Jie.


    The third was the Tiger Roar. It had the power to intimidate and break spell casting.


    The fourth was an art that could create air des to attack opponents over a long distance. These were rather powerful air des. Even when Tang Jie used the Formless Golden Body and the Aquagel Shroud, they could still do some significant damage.


    Its true power rested in its terrifying strength. Its ws could easily tear apart anything in front of it, its teeth were sharper and tougher than upper-grade spell weapons, and its tail was like a whip that could shatter metal and jade.


    Its spell arts were at the Spirit Spring Tier, but its body was definitely at the Mortal Shedding Realm.


    Tang Jie even suspected it could have a fifth spell art.


    The fiend tiger clearly had gifts in both Wind and Earth. The Tiger Roar was a bloodline skill and didn¡¯t need to be counted. Wind was about speed, so its Wind Lunge was extremely fast, the best of its various spells. Earth was about defense, so the spell art it hadn¡¯t used was probably some sort of rock armor. It was just that Tang Jie hadn¡¯t been able to force it out, so he had yet to experience it.


    The more he understood, the more difficult it became for the fiend tiger to kill Tang Jie.


    The first time, it had been able to heavily injure Tang Jie. The second time, it had lightly injured him. But after that, it wasn¡¯t even able to injure Tang Jie.


    When the tiger found that it couldn¡¯t kill him, it chose to ignore him.


    Tang Jie was able to make his way deeper and deeper into its cage.


    The fiend tiger pursued.


    It failed and gave up.


    Through this cycle of pursuit and giving up, Tang Jie was able to widen his area of activity more and more.


    It went from ten steps all the way to eighteen steps.


    Every time, before leaving, he would leave behind some food.


    But the fiend tiger had never once touched it.


    As time went on, the fiend tiger totally ignored Tang Jie, not even trying to grab Tang Jie after he ventured twenty to thirty steps in. It was as if it had tacitly epted Tang Jie¡¯s right to exist.


    s, no matter how much Tang Jie called out to it, the fiend tiger didn¡¯t respond, as if it couldn¡¯t understand what he was saying at all.


    Thus, Tang Jie didn¡¯t continue to advance. He kept a safe distance of twenty steps, never going beyond this limit.


    This stalemate between man and tiger continued. Tang Jie continued to go to Tiger Roar Peak every chance he had, like he was going into his own home. It appeared that they had gradually grown used to each other¡¯s existence¡­ Tang Jie hade to Tiger Roar Peak again today. The fiend tiger was stillzing on the rock at the summit, not even ncing at Tang Jie.


    He sent Yiyi off to do her job while Tang Jie walked around the activity area he had set out for himself.


    As he strolled around, he suddenly spotted a little red flower growing behind a rock nearby. There was a red fruit hanging from it that was about the size of a pomegranate.


    ¡°Redpaste fruit?¡± Tang Jie gasped.


    This fruit was clearly the Fire-type fruit, redpaste fruit, and it had just reached full ripeness.


    Redpaste fruit wasn¡¯t a particrly rare kind of spirit fruit. It was of the Fire element, and it was valuable whether it was used for cultivation or in medicine.


    But redpaste fruit had a rather long ripening period, requiring several years to truly ripen. Cultivators normally weren¡¯t interested in waiting that long. After all, it wasn¡¯t like just anyone could seize this area for their own. Thus, they would often pick it when it was just beginning to ripen. It was extremely rare to see a redpaste fruit in Tiger Roar Valley that was this ripe.


    The redpaste fruit in front of Tang Jie waspletely ripe, making it much more valuable than the usual redpaste fruit. If he could pick it, he could sell it for at least one hundred and fifty coins.


    Tang Jie then realized that this was also an area of highly concentrated spiritual energy, and Basking Moon Academy had probably sowed spirit seeds here. But as the fiend tiger was guarding this ce, Tiger Roar Peak wasn¡¯t a ce just any student coulde up to. As a result, many of the good things here had yet to be picked, and this redpaste fruit had clearly been preserved until now because of the fiend tiger.


    The fruit wasn¡¯t far, only three steps out of the safety zone he had prescribed for himself.


    The fiend tiger wasn¡¯t moving and the redpaste fruit was right there. Tang Jie¡¯s eyes shed, and he rushed at the fruit.


    The moment he left his safety zone¡­


    The tiger roared!


    The fiend tiger instantly got up and lunged down, fast as lightning!


    But the moment it lunged, Tang Jie stopped.


    He put aplete stop to all his forward momentum, turned around, and ran back to the boundary stele.


    Boom!


    The tiger w struck air.


    As Tang Jie rushed back to the stele, Yiyi swiftly appeared. She tightly held on to Tang Jie and nervously looked at the fiend tiger.


    Raaaa! The fiend tiger was enraged over having missed again, and it roared at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie chuckled.


    He stood on the boundary line and coolly said, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t find it strange that I was so vignt. I already said that I knew you were ying dumb.¡±


    The fiend tiger red at Tang Jie.


    ¡°I just want to talk with you¡­ s, your hatred for humans is too deep. It seems that we won¡¯t be able to talk unless I beat you up. That¡¯s fine with me. I¡¯lle and defeat you. I hope that you will be a little more cool-headed then.¡± Tang Jie turned and left.

 Chapter 100 - Suspicion

    Chapter 100: Suspicion


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Today, after returning from Tiger Roar Valley, Tang Jie passed by the sparring ground on his way back and happened to run into Cai Junyang.


    Cai Junyang came up to Tang Jie and chuckled. ¡°How was your harvest today?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°272 coins, not too bad. What about all of you?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about it,¡± Cai Junyang said with a shake of his head. ¡°I ran into a few tough opponents, and while I managed to win, I wasted a lot of strength, resulting in my not having enough strength and losing four in a row.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not too surprising,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    Sometimes, when he had been pushed out of Tiger Roar Valley early, Tang Jie would take a stroll around the sparring ground and see what was going on.


    There were more and more students entering Spirit Spring, and some people who had been in Spirit Spring for long enough had started working on their spell arts.


    This was the period in which everyone¡¯s strength was rapidly climbing.


    Though most of them were still no match for the likes of Cai Junyang and Tang Jie, the people of their group would undoubtedly have to use more strength to defeat them. With victorying at a greater cost, they wouldn¡¯t have the strength for afterward, so their win percentages naturally fell.


    It was nothing at first. After all, losses were to be expected when grinding through battles.


    But when someone was lucky enough to win once or twice, they would shout something like, ¡°I beat Cai Junyang! An eight-cycle Jade Gate isn¡¯t anything special,¡± or ¡°I beat Tang Jie! What does it matter that he learned the Divine Firmament Sword ssic? That opportunity should have been given to me!¡± or something simr. Suchments were very unpleasant to hear.


    The people at the top had to put aside the thought of dominating forever, while the people below couldn¡¯t help but celebrate their small sesses.


    Cai Junyang said, ¡°If this goes on, our chances to rank will undoubtedly dwindle, and so will the resources we can obtain. This means that we¡¯ll get stronger more slowly and those guys will get more and more arrogant.¡±


    ¡°Nothing you can do about that.¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Several thousand students are fighting it out, and not everything can go the way we want it. It¡¯s not like the Rosecloud Domain exists only for us. If that weren¡¯t the case, I wouldn¡¯t need to run off to Tiger Roar Valley every chance I get. I would rather fight fiend beasts than fight those students. The danger is there, but at least I won¡¯t have those people acting smug.¡±


    ¡°But we have to work to get out of this situation,¡± Cai Junyang replied.


    ¡°Oh? It seems like you have a n.¡±


    Cai Junyang replied, ¡°Brother Tang, you know that rigorous training isn¡¯t enough to step upon the Great Dao. You also need resources. The few resources we get from ranking are far from enough. Putting aside the difficulty, even if we go all out and get into the top five once, we get only a few bottles of medicine, just a cup of water on the burning cart when ites to cultivation.¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Naturally, but that¡¯s true for everyone, and it¡¯s not like we can do anything about it. Until we can participate in the official missions of the Spirit Lake Tier, we can only get resources from the battleground or Tiger Roar Valley.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not for certain.¡± Cai Junyang chortled. ¡°These are only the resource avenues the school provides for us. But we students can open up our own avenues.¡±


    Tang Jie was taken aback, then he realized something and said, ¡°You mean¡­ take private work?¡±


    ¡°Private work? That¡¯s too coarse. We¡¯ve just been invited to put on an appearance.¡± Cai Junyang waved his hand, and his face reddened.


    Although Spirit Spring Tier cultivators were the lowest level of cultivators, in the mortal world, Spirit Spring Tier students could still be considered high masters.


    Simply their ability to navigate through the air like it was tnd was something that ordinary mortals were not capable of. If Tang Jie and Cai Junyang left the academy, they could easily be experts out in the world without any problem.


    But this wasn¡¯t what was actually important. What was really important here was that they were students of Basking Moon.


    Basking Moon Academy served as the disciple reserve for the Basking Moon Sect. From a certain perspective, it was like the party school for the sect. Anyone who came out of the academy was bound to have some status.


    (TN: Party school here refers to a school run by a political party. In this case, the author is probably referring to the school run by the Communist Party of China.)


    This was not only because of their abilities, but because of their identities.


    It was precisely why many wealthy ns of the kingdom wanted to get close to these students, particrly those middle-tier ns who weren¡¯t able to get anyone into the school.


    For those students who had a limitless desire for resources, these wealthy ns were another means of making money. Just like artists eating together with the wealthy, sometimes, justing to sit around as the guest of honor brought in quite a lot of money.


    This was particrly true for the famous students in the academy. They were like celebrities of some fame in entertainment circles. The moment they left the academy, they would have considerable social status.


    People like Cai Junyang, Tang Jie, and Liu Hongyan, outstanding students who could often gain the Fierce Brave evaluation, couldmand a price of around three hundred spirit coins.


    Those like Ping Jingyue, one level below, could get around two hundred.


    Beneath that was the Ordinary level, which could get anywhere from fifty to one hundred.


    As for the Ipetent and those who didn¡¯t even dare to step into the battleground, they normally only got ten spirit coins as an appearance fee, and that was if anyone was willing to pay.


    From a certain perspective, students who went out as honored guests were prostituting themselves out. Strength served as their good looks, ranking was their fame, and talent was their skills in bed¡­ The student of this ss with the highest social status was said to be An Rumeng. As the only student with a Peerless evaluation, blessed with both beauty and talent, shemanded a price of a thousand spirit coins just to invite her to a meal, and an opportunity to sleep with her cost several times that.


    What a truly pleasant idea!


    s, An Rumeng had never agreed to anyone¡¯s request.


    In the end, the academy wasn¡¯t the entertainment industry. The people of this era valued their reputation and did not consider this sort of thing to be any sort of honor. Most people would not be willing to bend at the waist for the sake of ¡°five pecks of rice¡±. And the school itself did not support this conduct. The one day of vacation per month was an invisible restriction on this activity.


    He had not expected Cai Junyang to bring up such a thing today.


    Perhaps because he felt embarrassed about it himself, Cai Junyang added, ¡°It was actually quite the coincidence. Apparently, it¡¯s Lin Dongsheng¡¯s grandfather¡¯s birthday soon, and he wants to find a few presentable guests to increase the family¡¯s prestige, which is why he came looking for us.¡±


    Lin Dongsheng was one of the earliest members of the Freedom Society. He was a person of some status in Wanquan City.


    Lin Dongsheng was their schoolmate, and going over to offer birthday wishes was a just cause and wouldn¡¯t hurt their reputation. It was hard to me Cai Junyang and the others for epting.


    ¡°Well, if it¡¯s the Lin n¡¯s birthday party, I guess it¡¯s fine.¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°But I¡¯ve been rather busytely and might not have the time.¡±


    Cai Junyang smiled. ¡°Dongsheng said that if we¡¯re willing to go, he can give each of us two hundred coins as a thank-you gift.¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°Brother Lin is being very generous.¡±


    Though it was lower than the normal price, they had a proper excuse and were doing this for a friend, so it wasn¡¯t particrly petty.


    Moreover, Tang Jie had to risk his life in Tiger Roar Valley for an entire month to make three-hundred-some coins.


    Such was the way of the world. Selling one¡¯s body would always make more than hard work.


    Tang Jie squinted. ¡°Who else is Brother Lin nning to invite?¡±


    ¡°It should be seven or eight people,¡± Cai Junyang answered. ¡°Any more and he couldn¡¯t afford it! Haha!¡±


    But Tang Jie wasn¡¯tughing. He simply asked, ¡°When is it?¡±


    ¡°Ten days from now.¡±


    ¡°Alright!¡± Tang Jie nodded in agreement. ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡±


    Once they had parted, Tang Jie¡¯s face turned grim. ¡°So it¡¯s starting¡­¡±


    The people from Anyang Prefecture had probably arrived by now.


    These people naturally couldn¡¯t enter Basking Moon Academy. If they wanted to point out Tang Jie, they would have to wait for him toe out.


    Students didn¡¯t leave the academy for just any reason, so just waiting him out wasn¡¯t possible. Thus, someone needed to find a reason to call him out.


    The excuse of a birthday, the temptation of money, and the friendship between schoolmates all served as suitable excuses.


    But¡­ why was it Cai Junyang who had called out to him?


    Could he be Fierce Ape?


    Tang Jie found it somewhat hard to believe.


    He had always suspected Fierce Ape to be one of Shu, Liu, Ping, and Cai, but he had never been able to confirm which.


    His top suspect had been Liu Hongyan.


    After all, Liu Hongyan had been the one who had proposed that he join the Freedom Society. She was familiar with his situation and had exposed her ulterior motives.


    Next in line was Ping Jingyue. Everyone could tell that this girl had other intentions when it came to Tang Jie, but if these intentions were affectionate in nature, then it was somewhat inexplicable.


    The third suspect was Shu Mingyang. This bookworm who had all sorts of grand ambitions and spent all day buried in his books had the perfect cover to watch him out of the corner of his eyes.


    As for Cai Junyang, he was the least suspicious.


    He found it impossible to equate someone so straightforward and heroic, who was so devoted to the idea of bing a swordsman that could sweep through the world, with someone who could suddenly turn around and admit that they were a Godhead spy. Whether emotionally or objectively, he did not want to believe that it was Cai Junyang.


    But today, the one who had invited him was Cai Junyang, which left Tang Jie confused.


    Could Fierce Ape really be him?


    Had he really misjudged the man?


    Or was he being used by someone else?


    If so, then when Liu Hongyan and Ping Jingyue had acted abnormally with him before, could someone have been manipting them from the shadows?


    After all, if there was a once, there could be a twice. Someone who had been used once would naturally be used many times more.


    If so, would he also have to overturn his suspicions on Liu, Ping, and Shu?


    He stood there thinking for a long while, but he wasn¡¯t able to find an answer.


    It was easy to know a person¡¯s face, but not their heart. This game of guessing who was the mole was probably the worst game in the world to y.


    Gu Changqing had a headache about Tang Jie¡¯s identity, but Tang Jie had his own frustrations about Fierce Ape.


    Later generations could look back on the past and pontificate on the errors made, always iming that so-and-so was suspicious in however many ways for quite some time and that the failure to notice could only be ascribed to ack of intelligence. But if they were actually in the thick of things, bereft of the god¡¯s-eye view, and facing countless possible choices, they would realize that they were at aplete loss for what to do.


    And then they would understand that the onescking intelligence had been themselves all along.


    Currently, Tang Jie was dealing with only a few people, and he interacted with that group of four a lot, yet he still couldn¡¯t tell which one was Fierce Ape, while Gu Changqing hadn¡¯t even properly met Tang Jie before and was facing even more choices. How in the world could he possibly confirm anything?


    For him to resolve to immediately capture Tang Jie in this situation required incredible daring. An ordinary person in his ce would have been overly cautious and had even more misgivings.


    It was easier to demean others than to do a good job oneself!


    After turning the matter over in his mind again and again, Tang Jie still couldn¡¯t find an answer. Finally, he shook his head and pushed off the matter for now. He muttered, ¡°Forget it. As a cultivator, I should be bravely forging ahead, fearless of any sort of obstacles. Regardless of which one of you is Fierce Ape, I¡¯ll take you on. If you dare toe at me, I¡¯ll dare to kill you with my sword!¡±


    There were many things that he wanted to do but couldn¡¯t because the time wasn¡¯t right.


    Now that his enemy had made his move, it was time for him to make his own!


    As he thought this, he began to seethe with fighting intent. He stopped worrying about who Fierce Ape was, leaning back andughing.


    A student passing by was scared out of his wits, believing that this person had gone mad.

 Chapter 101 - Unsheathed

    Chapter 101: Unsheathed


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The next morning, Tang Jie made the unprecedented decision to head to the Seven Celestial Halls instead of going to Tiger Roar Valley.


    The old man looked at Tang Jie and nodded. ¡°You haven¡¯t been here in some time.¡±


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°This student has been going to Tiger Roar Valley for about a month now. Feeling that I have made some progress, I have returned to the Seven Celestial Halls to prove myself.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± The elder squinted at Tang Jie. ¡°No wonder you seem slightly different today. It appears that you¡¯ve gotten something good out of Tiger Roar Valley, that it¡¯s changed you.¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°My body hasn¡¯t changed, but my attitude has. This student tasted struggle and brushed against death in his time in Tiger Roar Valley, and was finally enlightened.¡±


    ¡°Is that so¡­?¡± The elder nodded. ¡°That being the case, go, then, and let me see how well you do.¡±


    ¡°Elder, thank you for your auspicious words! Tang Jie will definitely make a breakthrough!¡± Tang Jie replied, clenching his fists.


    He currently had 99 points in the Celestial Defense Hall. Another breakthrough would mean 100 points!


    The elder was rather taken aback by his confidence.


    The old man suddenly felt that Tang Jie had changed more than he had imagined and was no longer the same Tang Jie from before.


    The previous Tang Jie had been calm, cautious, and courteous, but this made himck the appearance of the vigor and energy of youth. He rarely spoke with gusto.


    This had made the old man feel some regret. What sort of youth were they if theycked sharpness and vigor?


    But today, he felt an inexplicable power from Tang Jie.


    It was a brash and confident energy, brimming with the will to fight!


    It was like a sword finally being pulled out of its sheath, revealing its cold sharpness for all to see!


    The sword was finally being flourished!


    Within the Celestial Defense Hall, Tang Jie once more battled with those ten puppets.


    One puppet after another joined the fray, their offensive power climbing, their mighty punches sending shockwaves through the air, but Tang Jie continued to fearlessly battle them.


    Those savage fists and feet struck his body, causing him immense pain, but he did not shrink back. On the contrary, these attacks only incited his fighting spirit. He resisted the attacks, not even ncing at the puppets around him. He stared only at that tenth puppet that had yet to move.


    Seven puppets, eight puppets, nine puppets!


    As time went on, all nine puppets were activated, their strength enough to st through a steel bar twenty centimeters thick. They made heavy thumps against his body, like giant hammers.


    Bang!


    A heavy punch struck Tang Jie¡¯s arm, and he raised his arm and punched back. As the puppet went flying back, he jumped out and dodged the attacks of two other puppets while kicking at another. At this moment, another four puppets charged in to suppress Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie raised his arms and unleashed an explosive strength from his body, throwing back all four puppets.


    ¡°Come on!¡± he shouted at that tenth puppet that had yet to move.


    Finally, that puppet¡¯s eyes shed red.


    All nine puppets withdrew as the tenth puppet stepped forward and punched at Tang Jie¡¯s chest.


    It was that seemingly ordinary and uninteresting punch again, but this time, Tang Jie didn¡¯t try to dodge.


    There was a look of excitement in his eyes, and even a tinge of bloodthirsty fervor.


    As that fist approached, he shouted, ¡°Formless Golden Body!¡±


    That Formless Golden Body that he had kept in hiding all this time was finally activated. He had decided to stop holding back and use all of his strength now.


    He raised his fist and punched at the puppet with all his might!


    Boom!


    A storm ripped through the area, carrying Tang Jie with it. Hended on the ground and rolled. For a moment, he was unable to get up, his entire body feeling like it was falling apart.


    Terrifying strength!


    The will to fight in Tang Jie¡¯s eyes grew even greater. ¡°This is the limit of your strength? Then¡­ again!¡±


    Rather than retreating, he advanced, once more punching at that puppet.


    That puppet raised its arm and made its second punch.


    Their fists collided, and with another enormous impact, Tang Jie was sent flying.


    He felt like his arm had broken, immense pain wracking his body. He raised his head and vomited blood.


    But he quickly got back up andughed. ¡°This really is your limit, huh? Then again!¡±


    He raised his left arm and punched.


    Tang Jie had cast aside all other thoughts. All he wanted to do with this puppet was to fight! Fight! Fight!


    To have a joyful and refreshing battle!


    He had been holding back and hiding for far too long.


    He was waiting precisely for the day when he could explode!


    Now that this day had finallye, he would use his fists to express his true strength!


    Fight!


    Boom!


    Fists met again and again as Tang Jie and the puppet savagely beat at each other. Rather than some lifeless object, he treated it more like it was his mortal foe!


    His mind seethed with fighting intent, burned with passion. He stirred up all the blood energy in his body and punched again and again.


    Celestial Defense Hall? Training defense? None of this was important. All that mattered was his opponent!


    Defeating his opponent!


    All his pain was forgotten, all his exhaustion washed away. Tang Jie felt like some limitless energy was supporting him and allowing him to punch again and again.


    Unleashing his berserk will to fight, his steely fists furiously punched with a boom, boom, boom like the crashing of mighty waves.


    After innumerable punches, ck! The puppet suddenly stopped moving.


    Tang Jie¡¯s punch struck the puppet, and then with a bang, the puppet exploded into pieces.


    What?


    Tang Jie froze.


    He had broken the puppet?


    Though the puppet was of mortal grade, it was built from essence metal and was incredibly tough. Normal punches and kicks shouldn¡¯t have been able to injure it, yet his unrestrained punching had managed to break it. Tang Jie found it hard to believe.


    There was a golden sh of light.


    He looked down at his feet and saw a golden grain!


    A grainrger than any grain Tang Jie had seen before!


    The Weapon Mantra?


    But he hadn¡¯t used the Weapon Mantra. And the Weapon Mantra shattered weapons, so why had this puppet shattered?


    Could it be¡­ the Martial Dao?


    Had he inadvertently touched upon the Martial Dao?


    Tang Jie had a sh of insight.


    The Martial Lord had gained dominance through battle!


    Only through a fierce will to fight could one truly exhibit the learning of the Martial Lord.


    He had never imagined that he could break the puppet.


    He had simply wanted to use all his strength to fight as much as he could and get the highest grade possible. As for breaking that Cang Qingfeng¡¯s record, he hadn¡¯t even thought about it.


    It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to. He justcked the confidence.


    But this was also why, when he erupted with fighting intent and fought with all his strength, he had inadvertently reached the domain of fighting for the sake of fighting without regard for the oue, entering the Dao of the Martial Lord.


    This was why he could shatter weapons with a single strike, and why he did not feel exhausted, his blood boiling and his body brimming with energy!


    It was a most mysterious feeling. A momentter, this sensation vanished. As he calmed back down and tried to think back to it, he found that he couldn¡¯t recall what it felt like.


    Ah, forget it. The Dao of the Martial Lord was something that could only beprehended through battle. Since he had inadvertently touched the threshold, he would undoubtedly be able to reach it again in the future. There was no rush.


    But how exactly was breaking the puppet going to be graded?


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know, nor did he care.


    He was still brimming with the will to fight, so he had no time to think about other things. If there was any problem, the school could have a headache about it. He collected the golden grain, gathered up the broken bits of the puppet, and then used the jade token to leave the hall.


    When he appeared outside, the elder nced at Tang Jie, jumped to his feet, and pointed at him, his voice shaking. ¡°You¡­ you¡­¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°This student was not careful and broke the puppet. Elder, please inform me on how this is to be graded.¡±


    He spoke boldly and confidently, feeling no shame over having broken public property. It was as if he was saying that any problem was the school¡¯s to handle, not his.


    The old man was stunned by his words. He blurted out, ¡°How¡­ how is this possible? This ckte Soldier was built with high-grade essence metal, and even a Hundred Refinement Spirit Master would need to use a powerful spell art to destroy it! How could a Spirit Spring like you do it?¡±


    So the ten puppets were called ckte Soldiers.


    Tang Jie calmly replied, ¡°Perhaps it was old and not being maintained properly.¡±


    Not maintained properly, my ass!


    The elder was speechless, but after a while, he suddenly began tough. ¡°Good! Great! Kid, good work! In eighteen hundred years, no student of the Basking Moon Sect has ever been able to break a ckte Soldier. You are the first! Excellent!¡±


    These ten ckte Soldiers were very expensive, but in the old man¡¯s eyes, a broken puppet was no problem at all. He was far happier that the academy was ying host to such a monstrous student.


    He found Tang Jie increasingly likeable. He looked at Tang Jie¡¯s jade token and said, ¡°Eighteen seconds¡­ What a pity. It was only eighteen seconds, unable to reach that¡­ person¡¯s strength. But your counterattack was vicious, so it deserves its own record.¡±


    He waved his hand, and another row of words appeared on the nearby Spirit Spring Tier record wall.


    ¡°Tang Jie, a student of the 1822nd ss, established a record in the Spirit Spring Tier of Celestial Defense Hall,sting for eighteen seconds and destroying a ckte Soldier!¡±


    It was on the same line as Cang Qingfeng.


    For the first time in history, the Celestial Defense Hall¡¯s Spirit Spring Tier yed host to two records.


    After doing this, the old man looked at Tang Jie and asked, ¡°Tell me: how did you do it?¡±


    Once his happiness had passed, he sought to understand what had happened.


    ckte Soldiers couldn¡¯t be broken by just anyone.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°I went all-out!¡±


    ¡°All-out?¡± The old man was startled.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Yes, I fought with everything I had. The only thought in my mind was to fight!¡±


    He didn¡¯t exin any more than this.


    The Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra, the Jade Shattering Finger, or the Formless Golden Body could serve as exnations for his ability to break a puppet.


    But none of these was enough. After all, he hadn¡¯t cultivated them for very long.


    When you couldn¡¯t give a reasonable exnation, you might as well use what appeared like the most unreasonable yet also most reasonable exnation to answer.


    A zing will to fight that stimted the body, the human body as the world, a treasure house of infinite potential, the eruption of the miniature universe¡­ and so on.


    Over the thousands of years, the human body had created countless miracles, and there were countless things that didn¡¯t make sense but had really happened. You simply had to believe that there were many things in this world that couldn¡¯t be exined.


    This incident was just one of many.


    To put it simply, I had an explosion of potential!


    For love and justice!


    This was the reason Tang Jie gave!


    The old man was dumbfounded by this answer.


    After giving his answer, Tang Jie bowed to the old man and left.


    The old man was too shocked by this news, so he failed to notice that Tang Jie had left with the remains of the puppet.


    It was only after Tang Jie was gone that the old man came back to his senses with a start. He quickly burned a talisman to notify the academy that someone had set a new record in the Seven Celestial Halls.

 Chapter 102 - News

    Chapter 102: News


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    In his small courtyard in the bamboo grove, Xie Fengtang was ying chess with the white crane. They were evenly exchanging blows on the board, and it was difficult to tell who was winning.


    A message talisman flew in andnded in Xie Fengtang¡¯s hand.


    Xie Fengtang creased his brow.


    He didn¡¯t like it when someone disturbed his chess time.


    Particrly when he was about to lose.


    It was the white crane who prompted, ¡°It must be a big deal if someone is asking for you at a time like this.¡±


    ¡°How bad could it be? Probably something trivial like a careless student getting injured during sparring, or else someone who broke the rules and needs to be expelled,¡± Xie Fengtang casually said.


    Despite that, he still opened the message to look.


    Not paying much attention to it, he said as he read, ¡°See? I was right. It¡¯s just some student setting a record in the Celestial Defense Hall, not a big¡­ Establishing a new record?¡±


    Xie Fengtang¡¯s voice suddenly hit a new vocal range.


    Only now did hee to his senses, and his gaze became fixed on the message talisman. The news atop it had left him bbergasted.


    After eighteen hundred years, even for the Basking Moon Sect, a new record was no minor affair.


    Even the white crane raised her head in shock. ¡°What did you say? Someone broke the Celestial Defense Hall¡¯s record? Who was it?¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie¡­¡± Xie Fengtang spoke with some difficulty. ¡°He wasn¡¯t able to break that one¡¯s record, but he established a new record¡­ breaking the ckte soldier¡­ How is that possible?¡±


    Whoosh!


    The white crane disappeared, reced by a woman clothed in robes as pure white as snow.


    ¡°I will inform the headmaster.¡±


    She vanished.


    The Celestial Defense Hall.


    Qi Shaoming confidently made his way to the Seven Celestial Halls.


    He had buried his head in training as ofte, and he had grown proficient in all his spell arts. He nned to get one hundred points in the Celestial Defense Hall this time and be the first in his ss to get a full score, thus protecting his honor as the number one genius.


    He wanted everyone to know that Qi Shaoming was not just a cultivation genius, but also a spell art genius. It wasn¡¯t just because of his nine-cycle Jade Gate that he had been able to get this far!


    He arrived in front of the record wall, and as was his habit, he nced up.


    And then he froze.


    ¡°Lasting for eighteen seconds and destroying a puppet? How is that possible?¡± Qi Shaoming felt like he had been struck by lightning as he stared in disbelief at the record on the wall.


    In just one night, Tang Jie had jumped from 99 points to establishing a new record?


    The gap was so big that he almost fainted.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe it!¡± Qi Shaoming angrily shouted.


    But no matter how unwilling and angry he was, the words on the wall clearly disyed Tang Jie¡¯s grade.


    The Divine Battleground.


    Cai Junyang was in the middle of a pitched battle with another student.


    Beams of sword light swept across that student, making him incapable of countering.


    ¡°Hyah!¡± With a shout, Cai Junyang threw back his opponent with his sword and then kicked him to the ground.


    He had won another bout.


    He was in good condition today, winning eight in a row. If he could win two more, he could get onto the ranking.


    After taking his opponent¡¯s lot and leaving, Cai Junyang went to see what the rankings were, but he spotted countless students leaving in droves, chattering on about something. He couldn¡¯t help but be interested.


    He grabbed a student and asked, ¡°What happened?¡±


    That student shouted, ¡°Apparently, Tang Jie set a new record at the Celestial Defense Hall! Hested for eighteen seconds and destroyed a puppet! Everyone is heading over to the record wall to confirm it.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Cai Junyang was bbergasted.


    The Meditation Garden.


    Wei Tianchong was practicing a new spell he had learned, Fireball.


    The Fireball spell was one of the most practical spells in Basking Moon Academy. It wasn¡¯t weak and had a short art manifestation time. Its only weaknesses were that it didn¡¯t fly very quickly and wasn¡¯t particrly stealthy. But it was pretty good when paired with a puppet.


    Wei Tianchong produced a fireball and pushed it out with both hands. The fireball flew out and struck a target, sting it into bits.


    Wei Tianchong looked at the chunks of wood and nodded in satisfaction.


    But he still wasn¡¯t proficient enough with the art manifestation, so it took him seven or eight seconds to cast the spell. True mastery would take a lot more work.


    His older brother hade to visit him a few days ago, and when he saw that his little brother was learning a lot of spells, he once more rebuked him for not properly studying. His older brother believed that he should be working on improving his cultivation level. How would learning spells at the puny Spirit Spring Tier benefit him?


    He had no hope of getting onto the rankings, so no matter how well he practiced his spells, it was all in vain.


    But Tang Jie had said that when he reached the Spirit Lake Tier and could learn even better spell arts, wouldn¡¯t he have to start from the beginning with them? By learning some lower-tier spells, he was actually preparing for higher-tier spells. Moreover, a spell art that one was familiar with would always be more meaningful in battle than a stronger spell that one wasn¡¯t familiar with. It was impossible toprehensively n for the future, and one had to seize the opportunities presented before them now.


    Both sides had their arguments, and Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t know which to choose.


    ¡°Haaa, which one should I listen to?¡± Wei Tianchong put a hand under his chin and pondered.


    At this moment, Shi Meng rushed inside, shouting, ¡°Young Master! Young Master!¡±


    ¡°What happened? Why so frantic?¡± Wei Tianchongzily replied. ¡°As a student, I cultivate the path of Immortality. What I seek is to not panic when the sky is falling, to remain unperturbed when the de is at my chest. Your behavior brings shame upon your master¡­¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie set a new record at the Celestial Defense Hall!¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Wei Tianchong jumped to his feet.


    Shi Meng repeated his words, and then he shouted, ¡°Lasting for eighteen seconds and destroying a ckte Soldier! It¡¯s all written down on the record wall! It¡¯s a new record for the Spirit Spring Tier!¡±


    ¡°A new record?¡± Wei Tianchong was dizzied by this news.


    Suddenly, he erupted inughter. ¡°My servant student made a new school record! Wonderful! My Wei n has to bask in this glory!¡±


    He jumped and whooped as he charged out of the Meditation Garden, shouting, ¡°Tang Jie is my servant student! Tang Jie is my servant student!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t panic when the sky is falling, Young Master! Don¡¯t panic when the sky is falling!¡± Shi Meng ran after him.


    Dust Departing Pavilion.


    To depart dust was to distance oneself from the red dust of the mortal world, severing the six desires.


    The human body possessed six desires: sight, hearing, scent, taste, touch, and want. But in the Thousand Passions Sect, the six desires represented six realms: action without trace, speaking without voice, energy without shape, art without form, heart without dust, and Dao without obstruction.


    ¡°Action without trace¡± meant that those in this realm should be able to use flight spell arts so as to leave no trace of their movements. ¡°Speaking without voice¡± meant the ability to use sound spell arts so that one could use spells without the slightest sound, thus catching enemies off guard.


    ¡°Energy without shape¡± and ¡°art without form¡± referred to the ability to circte and control spell arts. The former referred topressing the time it took to cast spells, while thetter involved adding more effects onto spells.


    As for ¡°heart without dust¡± and ¡°Dao without obstruction¡±, these referred to even higher levels. It was said that few within even the Thousand Passions Sect had truly grasped them.


    ¡°Dust Departing¡± reflected a pursuit of a heart without dust. As for Dao without obstruction¡­ this was a realm spoken of only in the legends. It had been far too many years since anyone in the Thousand Passions Sect had reached this realm.


    An Rumeng was sitting in front of a bed of flowers, reading a book.


    This was a new habit she had developed recently. She had discovered that this could allow her to more quickly reach the realm of a heart like cid water.


    A heart like cid water was a basic requirement to cultivate the Heart Questioning Mantra.


    The Heart Questioning Mantra originated from the Violet Jade Mantra and was a product of the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s founder, the Water Moon Celestial Sovereign. Its most defining trait was that it cultivated the heart. Sessfully cultivating this mantra would allow one to see through delusions and expel anger. It was one of the most effective ways of suppressing Heart Demons.


    The Thousand Passions Sect had always had bizarre spell arts that were known for being quick to cast, but they were alwayscking when it came to cultivation of the heart. They did not teach one how to conduct oneself humanely. On the contrary, cultivating their spell arts was liable to create Heart Demons.


    The Basking Moon Sect emphasized the Origin Heart, which countered Heart Demons. But when it came to spell arts, they were very inflexible. Their spell arts were powerful but slow to cast, so students would usually pick strong spell arts early on.


    The mantras of the two sectsplemented each other, resulting in their thousand-year friendship.


    The other four major sects had simr rtionships with each other.


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion was proficient in cultivation realms andbat, but it wasn¡¯t as good in the misceneous arts. The Seven Absolutions Sect had many legacies and was strong in all the various subfields, but it was very average when it came to pure cultivation and spell arts.


    Godhead Pce excelled in defense and fared poorly in offense, and while it had powerful killing moves, it was weak in ordinarybat. The Beast Refining Gate was the exact opposite. With powerful refined beasts, it excelled in ordinarybat butcked powerful killing moves, thus supplementing Godhead Pce¡¯s weakness.


    Each of the six major sects had their pros and cons, and the members of each pairplemented their counterpart. On the basis of shared welfare, they eventually formed three alliances.


    ¡°The mind has no set desire, and the demon has no fixed shape. The desire decides the Heart Demon. First, question the Origin Heart, making the mind one¡­ first, question the Origin Heart, making the mind one¡­¡±


    An Rumeng softly muttered. As she held the book in her hand, she recalled the words of the Heart Questioning Mantra.


    Heart Demons were formed from a person¡¯s thoughts and spiritual energy. As one¡¯s thoughts were constantly changing, Heart Demons also came in many shapes and sizes.


    ording to the Heart Questioning Mantra, to deal with Heart Demons, one first had to make the mind one. Only when the mind was pure could one see through delusions and not be fooled.


    But people in this world had countless matters on their mind. How could the mind truly be made one? Probably only an imbecile could truly achieve such a thing.


    The Heart Questioning Mantra naturally wouldn¡¯t make a person resort to such extreme methods. It told the cultivator to ce their heart on the Great Dao, pointed directly at the Origin Heart, and only then could the mind be made one, misceneous thoughts cleared away, and the heart resolved.


    ¡°Heart on the Great Dao, pointed directly at the Origin Heart¡­ but the Origin Heart is not on the Great Dao¡­¡± An Rumeng suddenly muttered.


    She softly shook her head. ¡°Ah, forget it. Wherever the heart is, in the end, it¡¯s all about focusing the mind on a single thought.¡±


    She continued to read.


    But while her eyes were on the book, her mind was drifting about the heavens.


    At this moment, someone charged into the courtyard. It was a female student, and she shouted at An Rumeng, ¡°Rumeng! Rumeng!¡±


    ¡°Yan¡¯er, what has you hollering like this?¡± An Rumeng closed the book and frowned.


    ¡°Tang Jie¡­ Tang Jie¡­ It seems that he set a new record at the Celestial Defense Hall!¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± An Rumeng stood up, causing the book on her knee to fall to the ground.


    ¡°Tang Jie challenged the Celestial Defense Hall,sting for eighteen seconds against the tenth puppet and destroying a ckte Soldier! It¡¯s all recorded on the record wall!¡±


    ¡°A ckte Soldier?¡± An Rumeng gasped.


    But a momentter, she closed her eyes. Her chest heaved up and down for a few moments before quickly calming back down.


    She softly and indifferently said, ¡°I see.¡±


    On this day, the news that Tang Jie had set a new record at the Celestial Defense Hall grew wings and swiftly flew across the academy. It wasn¡¯t long before all the students and teachers knew about his feat.


    For a moment, Tang Jie was the hottest topic of conversation among the students.


    The Student Forest.


    Gu Changqing was also bbergasted after hearing the news.


    But unlike other people, after his initial shock, Gu Changqing asked a string of questions. ¡°Who can tell me why Tang Jie chose this moment to set a record at the Celestial Defense Hall? Is it a coincidence? Or intentional? If it¡¯s intentional, doesn¡¯t that mean he was hiding his strength? Since he was hiding his strength, why would he suddenly reveal it now?¡±


    No one could answer him.

 Chapter 103 - Reward

    <h2>Chapter 103: Reward</h2>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie stood in front of Xie Fengtang.


    Not meek.


    Not arrogant.


    Xie Fengtang examined this young man. After some time, he nodded. ¡°You¡¯ve given me another shock.¡±


    Few things could leave the Headmaster of Basking Moon Academy shocked.


    Particrly when it came to students.


    Tang Jie had already made Xie Fengtang¡¯s heart tremble three times. The first time was when it concerned his identity, the second time was at the art transmission, and the third time was now.


    Tang Jie was probably the student that Xie Fengtang was the most familiar with now.


    The word ¡°familiar¡± could not be underestimated. Numerous people racked their minds for ways to make their face ¡°familiar¡± to their boss.


    Only when your boss had some impression of you would they think of you when it came to tasks and jobs, and only then would you get more opportunities.


    Everyone in the world was working hard, but working hard with no opportunity resulted only in bitter toil.


    Only opportunitybined with hard work could transform into a lucky encounter.


    Basking Moon Academy had more than ten thousand students, and it was impossible for Headmaster Xie Fengtang to know each and every one of them. He hadn¡¯t even met nine-cycle-Jade-Gate Qi Shaoming or Thousand Passions Sect genius An Rumeng. After all, had there ever been a year wherein Basking Moon Academy didn¡¯t admit a few geniuses?


    Thus, even though Tang Jie¡¯s identity was suspect, that didn¡¯t mean that Xie Fengtang would pay too much attention to him.


    Besides the fact that he wasn¡¯t sure about Tang Jie¡¯s identity, there was one other important reason: the Basking Moon Sect didn¡¯t know that the Martial Lord¡¯s treasure store was not in Nadir Hill.


    But they knew that it couldn¡¯t be in Sageheart. After all, Xu Muyang had fled to Sageheart.


    A treasure store that wasn¡¯t within the borders of one¡¯s faction was bound to be difficult to get, and even if they did manage to get it, it woulde at an enormous price.


    Understanding this, the Basking Moon Sect wasn¡¯t too interested in getting the treasure. Its primary goal was to stop Godhead Pce from getting anything.


    This was why Xie Fengtang had not invested anything into Tang Jie after the art transmission.


    This understanding made it so that Tang Jie received far less from the Basking Moon Sect than he had anticipated and so that the Basking Moon Sect wasn¡¯t in a hurry to force Tang Jie¡¯s hand.


    There were advantages.


    And there were disadvantages.


    But today, Tang Jie had once more appeared before Xie Fengtang.


    This time, he hade as a record holder of the Celestial Defense Hall.


    Tang Jie respectfully replied to Xie Fengtang, ¡°It is all thanks to Headmaster Xie¡¯s care for this lowly one. This student was only able to aplish this feat because he was able to learn the secret arts of the supreme Divine Firmament Sword ssic. This student does not dare to im any credit.¡±


    Xie Fengtang indifferently replied, ¡°Though the secret arts of Basking Moon are not recklessly transmitted, a few people will always be able to get them every year. But not even in thest one hundred years has there been someone who has obtained a secret art and used it to set an unprecedented record¡­ After eighteen hundred years of umtion, every record on the walls of the Seven Celestial Halls represents countless lucky encounters, strength, stories, sweat, and blood!¡±


    Xie Fengtang¡¯s tone turned harsh as he reached the end.


    After the surprise and joy came the interrogation.


    Xie Fengtang needed Tang Jie to give a reasonable exnation.


    Tang Jie could no longer use the exnation of an explosion of potential. Xie Fengtang was not Elder Qian, who did not need to worry about the affairs of the school and only needed a cursory exnation. To use that exnation with Xie Fengtang was no different from suicide. He would undoubtedly see if you could experience that same explosion of potential in front of him.


    Tang Jie chuckled and said, ¡°Headmaster is correct. Behind each record of the Seven Celestial Halls is endless sweat and blood¡­ Without growth of the body, if one still wants to achieve great things, one must pay a great price.¡±


    Xie Fengtang was startled. ¡°You¡­¡±


    ¡°The Nine Deaths Origin Return Art,¡± Tang Jie answered.


    This name was like a thunderbolt striking Xie Fengtang¡¯s mind, and he yelped, ¡°The Nine Deaths Origin Return Art? You had the guts to cultivate the Bitter Silence Heart Dhyana?¡±


    The Nine Deaths Origin Return Art was a secret art recorded in the Divine Firmament Sword ssic.


    This secret art was not developed in the Basking Moon Sect. Rather, an Immortal tform Titan of the Basking Moon Sect had once ascended and wandered all the domains of the universe, bringing back what he had found. Apparently, this technique hade from an Immortal book known as the Bitter Silence Heart Dhyana.


    It was extremely easy to cultivate this art, and it had the effect of body refining. If one seeded in cultivating this art, one¡¯s bones would be like a diamond, and it would also strengthen armor-piercing and metal-piercing spells.


    But as one could tell from the name, cultivating this art was extremely dangerous, and the slightest negligence might lead a cultivator into energy corruption. Moreover, breakthroughs could only be achieved through life-or-death battles. The dangers were such that the chance to die was nine out of ten, hence the name of Nine Deaths Origin Return Art.


    There would naturally be few people who would be willing to learn such a spell art.


    Although there were many people willing to risk their lives to advance their cultivation, that depended on the method. Those who grabbed their weapons and charged into a trap were called brave, but those who took a revolver with five bullets loaded, pointed it at their head, and pulled the trigger were called idiots.


    That Titan had brought back this art because, just like the Visceral Manifestation ssic, it was an art that could refine the body at the Spirit tform Realm. Such an art was incredibly rare and was worth researching. Thus, it had been recorded in the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, but no one had ever actually picked it to cultivate.


    In terms of cultivation effect, it was no worse than the Visceral Manifestation ssic, perhaps even better, but when it came to safety, the Visceral Manifestation ssic was miles ahead.


    Tang Jie naturally wouldn¡¯t be so foolish as to cultivate it.


    But he had created too much of a mess this time. Not even he had imagined that he would break a puppet.


    Now that the deed was done, he needed to fix it somehow.


    After thinking it over, he finally recalled the ¡°three and a half¡±.


    He had said to Xie Fengtang that he had memorized three and a half spells, but Xie Fengtang had never asked him what the half was, and Tang Jie hadn¡¯t mentioned it, leaving it in reserve in case he needed it.


    With the matter of this record to deal with, Tang Jie thought of the Nine Deaths Origin Return Art.


    This art¡¯s body-refining effect was a perfect match for his current situation. Xie Fengtang had never cultivated the Nine Deaths Origin Return Art before, or even the Formless Golden Body, so even if he cut Tang Jie open to take a look, he wouldn¡¯t notice anything suspicious.


    Xie Fengtang was dumbfounded after Tang Jie brought up the Nine Deaths Origin Return Art. He stared at him and asked, ¡°So you went to Tiger Roar Valley every day for thest month to experience life-or-death struggles?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Jie confirmed.


    His trips to the Tiger Roar Valley also perfectly matched up with the Nine Deaths Origin Return Art, addressing all his problems and giving the most reasonable answer. It exined both his explosive growth in strength and his frequent trips to Tiger Roar Valley.


    ¡°Why would you memorize this spell art?¡± Xie Fengtang was confused. The Divine Firmament Sword ssic had so many spell arts, so why did you choose this suicidal one?


    ¡°Because this art was simple. I didn¡¯t have time, so I sought out simple arts to memorize, and only afterward did I realize that it was the Nine Deaths Origin Return Art,¡± Tang Jie lied without the slightest change in expression. ¡°As I already memorized it, how could this student not ept learning and using it?¡±


    ¡°Absurd! You don¡¯t know how suicidal this was. That you¡¯re still alive can only be due to pure luck!¡± Xie Fengtang was infuriated by Tang Jie¡¯s answer, pointing at him and cursing. Though his rebukes were harsh, they came out of a ce of concern. ¡°Do you know how dangerous your actions were?¡±


    ¡°As Headmaster said, each record on the wall represents countless lucky encounters, strength, stories, sweat, and blood¡­ This student is of average aptitude. If I seek progress, I cannot take the well-trodden path.¡±


    Tang Jie spoke in a calm tone, but this calmness concealed the mindset of someone who had grown indifferent to death.


    Although it was false that he had cultivated the Nine Deaths Origin Return Art, it was true that he walked the tightrope of life and death, and his path was no less dangerous than cultivating this art. Thus, his emotions at this time were not feigned in the slightest.


    Someone of Xie Fengtang¡¯s experience could naturally hear the weight and bitterness in Tang Jie¡¯s tone.


    The perfect lie sometimes wasn¡¯t about the contents. Sometimes, the skill of the actor mattered more. At this moment, Xie Fengtang had no more doubts about Tang Jie.


    Xie Fengtang couldn¡¯t help but sigh at Tang Jie¡¯s willingness to walk the path of danger to reach sess. ¡°Forget it. In the end, the academy didn¡¯t think things through properly for the art transmission. I will have Heaven One Pavilion remove this art so that it cannot be passed on to students in the future. This art is far too dangerous. How about this? Cease cultivation of this art and I will give you additionalpensation.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Jie respectfully replied.


    Xie Fengtang sighed in relief when he saw how sincere Tang Jie was being. ¡°Regardless, you did establish a new record in the Celestial Defense Hall. ording to the academy¡¯s rules, you deserve a reward.¡±


    This was the main reason Xie Fengtang had summoned him.


    ording to the academy¡¯s rules, a reward was to be given both for reaching full points and for breaking a record.


    The reward for full points was a single True Essence Pill. It wasn¡¯t too valuable¡ªaround one hundred spirit coins. After all, it actually wasn¡¯t too hard for students to get full points. They just needed to train hard to get it.


    But the reward for breaking the record was much better.


    The rules of the Basking Moon Sect stated that the Basking Moon Sect would award ten spirit jades to anyone who could leave their name on the record walls of the Seven Celestial Halls. Besides that, Basking Moon Academy could issue its own reward, with the exact details left to the school to decide.


    Ten spirit jades was equivalent to ten thousand spirit coins, which was thergest reward Tang Jie had received to date, but it was issued directly by the Basking Moon Sect.


    This wasn¡¯t strange. It could bepared to a student breaking the record at an athleticpetition, whereupon the city¡¯s education department would give a reward of ten thousand in cash, which wasn¡¯t much at all in the grand scheme of things.


    As for the school¡¯s internal reward, it was normally perfunctory and decided by the headmaster.


    After handing over the ten spirit jades and one True Essence Pill, Xie Fengtang smiled. ¡°The spirit jades are a reward from the sect. ording to the rules, the academy also has a reward for you. Is there anything you need?¡±


    Even for Xie Fengtang, a new record set was an honor, a meritorious deed, an achievement.


    It was like a famous person appearing in a school. The entire school would be able to bask in the glory.


    This was exactly why Miser Xie had once more gotten generous, asking if Tang Jie wanted anything.


    Tang Jie hurriedly replied, ¡°This student wishes to cultivate the Dao of Tools, butcks the resources to do so.¡±


    ¡°The Dao of Tools?¡± Xie Fengtang was taken aback.


    Basking Moon Academy did have sses for pills, talismans, formations, and tools, but it required a significant investment from students.


    Learning these misceneous topics required an additional fee, and there were various other expenses besides.


    Forging tools required buying one¡¯s own materials, making talismans required buying paper and ink, and pills and formations necessitated buying a pile of materials. The school provided all these materials, but they all came at a price. You had to buy whatever you needed.


    As for whatever was made, once the school had inspected it and confirmed that it met the standard, it could be sold, and the student would keep the money. But given the abilities of the students, making money would require a period of hard study first.


    Considering the low status of these auxiliary fields, the high investment, and the extra focus and attention they demanded, most students weren¡¯t willing to learn them. The people who tried out these pursuits were usually students whocked talent but came from families of some wealth.


    After a moment of shock from hearing Tang Jie¡¯s request, he frowned and said, ¡°Your performance in cultivation has been remarkable, so there is no need for you to learn these side studies. Dividing one¡¯s attention is a major taboo in cultivation!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°There are three reasons this student was able to give such a remarkable performance. The first is that Headmasterpensated me with resources for the fright I received after that one incident. The second is that I received an art transmission from the Divine Firmament Sword ssic. The third is the Nine Deaths Origin Return Art. But when I look back at it, it bes clear that none of these three can be repeated. This student does not dare to put his hopes on luck and so must seek out a path to long-term prosperity.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Xie Fengtang found the argument rather reasonable.


    Tang Jie truly did have his current level of strength due to a mixture of coincidences and lucky opportunities, but in the end, he had a five-cycle Jade Gate. If his luck ran out, he would eventually fall behind.


    This being the case, he naturally had to think of a way to improve himself.


    But while the auxiliary fields could serve as a source of ie, they would dy one¡¯s cultivation. In the end, whether one quickly seeded or ended up hurting oneself would depend on the individual.


    After some thought, he nodded. ¡°Since that¡¯s what you want, I can let you learn tool crafting without taking the test and exempt you from paying the ss fees, but everything must be achieved through your own effort. If you find that youck the talent, it would be best if you gave up early.¡±


    The auxiliary sses cost two hundred spirit coins a year, so ten years was two thousand coins.


    The reward Xie Fengtang had given Tang Jie wasn¡¯t bad, but he was only being so generous because Xie Fengtang rather liked him and also suspected that he was someone else. He probably wouldn¡¯t have been so straightforward if this had been someone else.


    After all, the true reward for breaking the record was ten spirit jades. The academy¡¯s own reward was just an extra.


    And even this wasn¡¯t enough. Xie Fengtang added, ¡°Since I¡¯m having you stop cultivating the Nine Deaths Origin Return Art, I must give you somepensation. Go to Spirit tform Pavilion and select a middle-grade spell weapon for yourself.¡±


    ¡°Headmaster, thank you for your generosity!¡± Tang Jie loudly said.


    There was truly nothing better than exchanging a spell art that he had never learned for a middle-grade spell weapon!


    Haaa, I should have said four and a half, Tang Jie greedily thought to himself.

 Chapter 104 - Forging Platform

    Chapter 104: Forging tform


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Once Tang Jie got back from Xie Fengtang¡¯s ce, he saw a crowd of people waiting for him in front of the Carefree House.


    Among them were Shu, Liu, Cai, and Ping, and also some students from the Freedom Society, such as Li Yijing and Yang Zhiyuan. Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng were also present.


    Upon seeing that Tang Jie was back, Wei Tianchong excitedly ran over and grabbed him. ¡°My god! Where did you go? We¡¯ve been waiting for you for ages!¡±


    It would have been far stranger if all these people didn¡¯te to see him after he had set a new record at the Celestial Defense Hall.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Where else would I have gone? The headmaster called me, you know?¡±


    ¡°It must have been to give you a reward,¡± Cai Junyang said, and everyone looked at Tang Jie enviously.


    Liu Hongyan scooted over and said, ¡°Come on, hurry up! Tell us what Headmaster Xie gave you.¡±


    Tang Jie freely confessed that he had been given ten spirit jades and free admission to cultivate the Dao of Tools.


    The ten spirit jades had everyone¡¯s eyes turning red.


    ¡°Treat us! You have to treat us to a meal!¡± Li Yijing shouted.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! That¡¯s right!¡± the others all shouted.


    Tang Jie bitterly chuckled, ¡°This is highway robbery.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯re robbing. Who made it so that you suddenly got so much all at once?¡± Ping Jingyue came over and smiled. ¡°If you hadn¡¯t said anything, we wouldn¡¯t be so upset.¡±


    Suddenly, Shu Mingyang said, ¡°I think that these actions are not proper.¡±


    Tang Jie was deeply moved. ¡°Only Brother Shu understands me.¡±


    Shu Mingyang casually followed, ¡°Since Brother Tang has gotten ten thousand coins, how could treating us to a meal be enough? It needs to be a spirit banquet.¡±


    Tang Jie felt his vision go dark as everyone erupted inughter, ¡°That¡¯s right! He should treat us to a spirit banquet!¡±


    In the end, Cai Junyang waved his hand and said, ¡°Let¡¯s talk about the mealter. I have something to talk about with Tang Jie.¡±


    Tang Jie looked at him strangely. ¡°What do you need me for?¡±


    Cai Junyang pursed his lips. ¡°What else could it be? Let¡¯s have a match. You¡¯ve set a record at the Celestial Defense Hall, so I presume that you¡¯ve made some progress. I want to see how strong you are now.¡±


    ¡°Right, right, a fight!¡± Everyone shouted together.


    Tang Jie knew that he couldn¡¯t put this off and nodded. ¡°Alright, but since we¡¯re going to fight, it has to be with all you. If you want to extort me, you have to let me beat you all up first.¡±


    ¡°If you want a fight, let¡¯s fight. Do you think we¡¯re afraid of you?¡± Liu Hongyan proudly replied.


    That afternoon, Tang Jie and the Freedom Society students went off to the Divine Battleground and had a good fight.


    This time, he held nothing back and defeated all of his challengers.


    Though Cai Junyang had experienced his own leaps in progress, he was still no match for Tang Jie with the Formless Golden Body activated and was beaten ck and blue.


    Once all the sparring was done, Tang Jie took a look at the rankings and found that he had once more taken the top spot.


    In revenge, that night, during the banquet, the Freedom Society students picked several gourmet spirit dishes, stripping Tang Jie of four-hundred-some coins in one go.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t just sit around and take it. During the banquet, he found an opportunity to speak with Cai Junyang alone, saying, ¡°Go and tell Lin Dongsheng that I can go to his grandfather¡¯s birthday party, but I¡¯m epting no less than seven hundred coins, and it has to be paid in advance.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Cai Junyang was stunned by Tang Jie¡¯s lion-like appetite.


    Tang Jie smugly replied, ¡°I¡¯m a student who¡¯s set a new record in the Celestial Defense Hall. How can my price beparable to those of lower status now? Seven hundred coins is already the lowest price I can give to a schoolmate.¡±


    Cai Junyang furrowed his brow. ¡°Tang Jie, though we cultivators need resources, is there any need to treat even your schoolmates like this? You say that your social status has risen, but going up by one hundred should be enough. Growing all the way to seven hundred is truly too excessive. This is hardly the proper way to act¡­¡±


    He shot Tang Jie an unhappy look.


    Tang Jie understood what he meant. He was warning Tang Jie to not get proud of this minor sess and suddenly forget about who he was.


    It had to be understood that he was only a Spirit Spring Tier student, and his grades were only impressive in the Spirit Spring Tier. Past this tier, his past achievements would be meaningless.


    Many geniuses had amazing starts but gradually vanished into the crowd as time went on. Present arrogance could bring future trouble.


    But Tang Jie smiled. ¡°That¡¯s why I need your help. Don¡¯t say that I was the one who said it. Just say that you were the one who advised me to and it¡¯ll be fine, right? Once this is all done, I¡¯ll give you one hundred. How about it?¡±


    Cai Junyang couldn¡¯t help but shake his head and sigh. ¡°Why is everyone like this¡­ Alright, alright. For the sake of these one hundred coins, I¡¯ll be the evildoer for you. But if he doesn¡¯t agree, it has nothing to do with me.¡±


    ¡°He will agree,¡± Tang Jie happily replied.


    As he watched Cai Junyang walk over to Lin Dongsheng, Tang Jie muttered, ¡°Why is everyone like this¡­ why is everyone like this¡­¡±


    A smile emerged on his face, somewhat gratified but also somewhat confused.


    A few momentster, Cai Junyang came back and told Tang Jie: Lin Dongsheng said that he needed to go back and talk with his grandfather.


    Tang Jie was deeply disappointed.


    This answer meant that the chances Lin Dongsheng was Fierce Ape were very small. Just like the others, he was being used by someone else.


    As for whether or not Lin Dongsheng would agree, he wasn¡¯t worried at all. Let alone seven hundred, Gu Changqing would pay even if he asked for seven thousand. Of course, if he dared to make such a demand, he would basically be telling the other side that he knew what they were up to.


    After the banquet, the rest of the night was quiet and peaceful.


    The next morning, Tang Jie went to the Forging tform.


    The Forging tform was located in the belly of the Clear Sky Mountains. Inside the mountains, Earth Fire burned year-round. The Basking Moon Sect used a formation to summon Earth Fire for its own purposes, turning this ce into an area the academy could use for forging. Thus, it became known as the Forging tform, and also as the Earth Fire Zone.


    The teacher supervising the Forging tform was called Dan Xin. He had already received word from the academy. After meeting Tang Jie and getting him registered, he took him on a personal tour of the Forging tform, letting him pick the destination.


    Just like the Seven Celestial Halls, the Forging tform had a different official name: the Tool Dao Cultivation Zone. Forging weapons was only one of its areas of specialty.


    Cultivation in the Dao of Tools consisted of three phases: form production, enchantment, and ceremonial refinement.


    ¡°Form production¡± referred to creating the equipment, forging the weapon. It was called form production because what was being produced was not always a weapon. There were also defensive items like suits of armor, support items like Mustard Seed Bags, and even strange objects like flower baskets and wine cups. All sorts of materials could be used in this process, not just metal.


    This was also why form production was divided into forging, weaving, and other such disciplines.


    ¡°Enchantment¡± referred to the carving of formations into the equipment that had been produced, granting it special effects. This was somewhat simr to puppets, but as equipment was generally smaller, the requirements for the formations were higher. Thus, they developed their own special system and stopped being called formations. Instead, they were called seals.


    Even so, seals and formations had many simrities, so ¡°seal¡± and ¡°formation¡± were often used synonymously. Thus, students skilled in the Dao of Formations could also cultivate the Dao of Tools. This was akin to someone from the gymnastics team joining the national diving squad, as the techniques used were simr.


    Not just the Dao of Tools, one could even pursue the Daos of Pills and Talismans. Pills, talismans, formations, and tools were considered the four supports for cultivators, but the Dao of Formations was the support of the supports. Whether it was pills, talismans, or tools, they all required formations.


    Of course, as different fields, they all had their special needs.


    The Dao of Formations was a profound field that was connected to all others, but this didn¡¯t mean that the person who cultivated the Dao of Formations was equally profound. All sciences required math, but this didn¡¯t mean that a mathematician could be a specialist in every field.


    As for ceremonial refinement, it was thest step for refining a tool. Only spell weapons and art relics that had gone through ceremonial refinement could be weapons that were truly a cultivator¡¯s own. At its most profound levels, ceremonial refinement could even mentally link user and tool, allowing control of the tool with the mind and allowing the weapon¡¯s power to be used to its maximum extent.


    Ceremonial refinement wasn¡¯t just a job for the refiner, but also one for the user. It required many days to reach sess.


    With these three serving as benchmarks, the Tool Dao Cultivation Zone was divided into eight primary regions: appearance creation, casting, seal creation, seal enchantment, seal refinement, life ceremony, blood ceremony, and extraction. Besides that were the support divisions such as storage and material gathering.


    Esteemed Teacher Dan Xin took Tang Jie around the Forging tform. The production region was thergest. It was divided into casting, weaving, form production, and other such smaller areas.


    In the casting area, Tang Jie finally found the cksmith feeling that he was looking for.


    In a hot and spacious hall, several dozen furnaces had been lined up. Numerous formation lines crisscrossed beneath the furnaces, asionally unleashing searing mes.


    In front of these furnaces stood muscr men, their bodies drenched in sweat as they hammered metal.


    Some of these men forged armor, others forged sabers and swords, and some of them forged strange items that Tang Jie could make no sense of. Each one had a student at their side who assisted these smiths in their work. When a person finished an item, it would be thrown into a basin of water, where it would hiss and unleash a cloud of steam. A student would swiftlye up to wipe off the sweat from their ¡°master¡±.


    He spotted a few students hammering by the furnaces, a master giving them pointers on the side and even asionally cursing at them.


    ¡°This is the main region of our Tool Dao Cultivation Zone, the casting region. Every year, the casting region produces three thousand pieces of equipment. This is not just for the students of the school to use. Some of it is distributed within the Sageheart Kingdom. Even the worst of these weapons would be considered a divine weapon in the mortal world,¡± Dan Xin exined to Tang Jie. Although he was a teacher, he was rather polite to Tang Jie. After all, this was a student who had set a new record at the Celestial Defense Hall and was favored by Xie Fengtang, so he naturally received different treatment.


    ¡°I presume that the worst weapons are those forged by the students,¡± Tang Jie said with a smile.


    Dan Xin erupted inughter. ¡°It¡¯s always a process to move from nothing to something, to go from ignorance to knowledge. Forging weapons here is not the same as forging weapons in the mortal world. As these weapons require seal enchantment, each shaping and each exertion of strength must be carefully considered. The surface must be sharp, but the insides must also be internally consistent. The ability to modify theposition of the inside by striking the outside depends on the individual. It looks like they¡¯re just hammering away, but each hammer blow consumes spiritual energy, and each blow must be urate and dealt with the proper amount of strength! Though pills, talismans, tools, and formations are considered misceneous fields, each of these fields requires a proper cultivation level to get the full use out of it.¡±


    Dan Xin¡¯s face was brimming with pride as he spoke. It was clear that he was very confident in his Forging tform. He pointed at the anvils and said, ¡°The forging of weapons alone can provide enough material to study for a lifetime!¡±


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but blurt out, ¡°The path of cultivation is broad and profound. Even the simplest thing conceals a vast sea of knowledge.¡±


    ¡°Yes, exactly,¡± Dan Xin said, punching his palm.


    Tang Jie knew how to talk. With only a few sentences, he had Dan Xin smiling. The misceneous fields had never been valued by orthodox practitioners, so he treasured any sort of praise for the Dao of Tools. And praise that came from one of the geniuses of Basking Moon Academy was even more valuable.


    Once they had been through the entire cultivation zone, Dan Xin asked, ¡°Have you thought about where you want to go? I can arrange a ce for you wherever you go. Casting, seal production, and seal enchantment are the three subjects with the most potential. You can pick any one of them.¡±


    Dan Xin was being very considerate with him. These three choices were the most popr and most profitable of the Dao of Tools.


    Unless they were particrly talented or enjoyed the subject, students normally only entered the misceneous fields to make money.


    Casting saw results the fastest and was the best ce to make money, and in the process of casting, one could even strengthen the body, so it had always been the most popr area in the Forging tform. Although it was rather tiring, the students still fought to get a spot. But there was an annual limit, and not every student was able to get in.


    But if Tang Jie wanted to learn it, Dan Xin could immediately arrange a spot for him.


    However, Tang Jie replied, ¡°If possible, this student hopes to learn extraction.¡±


    ¡°Extraction?¡± Dan Xin was dumbfounded. ¡°Why do you want to learn extraction?¡±


    What ¡°extraction¡± really meant was handling broken tools.


    There were always some weapons and tools that were unsessful and thrown away, but the material these items were made of still had value. If the proper methods were used to extract these materials, there was no need to waste them. Back when Wei Tianchong¡¯s wolf puppet had been destroyed, he had asked a student of the extraction region to help him extract the useful materials.


    Trash disposal was one of the hallmarks of a civilized society.


    But most students didn¡¯t think there was much of a future in disposing of broken weapons, so they didn¡¯t want to learn it.


    Dan Xin hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to ask to learn extraction.


    This was like someone who could be an office worker instead deciding to be a janitor!


    ¡°Yes, this student wants to learn extraction,¡± Tang Jie firmly dered.


    This had been the sole reason he had wanted to learn the Dao of Tools.


    Xie Fengtang hadn¡¯t known, and neither had Dan Xin.


    Tang Jie had never had the slightest interest in refining tools. He wanted to cultivate the Dao of Tools because this was the only ce where he could get his hands on arge number of weapons.


    He wasn¡¯t here to forge weapons, but to destroy them!


    And extraction was all about destroying weapons!

 Chapter 105 - Soul Weapon

    <h1>Chapter 105: Soul Weapon</h1>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The extraction region was located outside of the cave in a barren area.


    Compared to the secluded natural feeling of the rest of the academy or the blistering heat and activity of the Forging tform, this ce was rather somber and deserted.


    Arge and empty building was where the extraction region was located.


    When Tang Jie arrived, he saw two studentszily applying extraction techniques to a broken weapon, stripping it of materials. Next to them was arge pile of the resulting scrap.


    Dan Xin lightly coughed, causing the two students to fearfully stand up.


    No matter how dissatisfied, angry, or reluctant they were, they could not show any of this in front of the academy¡¯s esteemed teachers.


    There was only trembling fear and reverence to majesty.


    Dan Xin sternly swept his gaze over the two and said, ¡°I¡¯ve brought you a new schoolmate. Starting from today, he will work with you in the extraction area. Although extraction is boring work, through extraction, you can understand theposition of magic tools. It is the mostprehensive way of studying the refining of tools. You must not devalue yourself and should apply yourself to your studies!¡±


    The two students fearfully affirmed, but they inwardly grumbled. While the extraction area could allow them to understand theposition of magic tools, the problem was that they needed the chance to make tools.


    No matter how much they learned through extraction, they needed to personally make a weapon to apply this knowledge. It was only because they had no other choice that they chose to learn this.


    After Dan Xin handed over Tang Jie to them, he left.


    Tang Jie and the two students introduced themselves. One was called Zhou Jiahui; the other, Liu Zihan. They were from the ss above his and were already in the Spirit Lake Tier.


    Perhaps because these two spent most of their time here and didn¡¯t go out, they didn¡¯t know who Tang Jie was. They simply regarded him as a student who couldn¡¯t get into one of the hotter fields and was only left with the spurned art of extraction.


    Thus, they were rather cold to him. They simply told him what the basic duties of the extraction region were before going off to do their own work.


    Extracting primarily consisted of two parts: undoing materials and removing seals.


    Removing seals meant taking out the seals that had been inserted into a magic tool.


    Various seals needed to be applied to a weapon for it to have magic powers. These seals were individually made, and it was through wondrous seal enchantment methods that they were merged together and inserted into a weapon, endowing the weapon with all kinds of special functions.


    Removing seals involved taking out the seals that had been inserted into the weapons, and if a seal could be removed intact, it could even be reused for another weapon.


    As for undoing materials, that involved converting a weapon back into the materials it had been made from. It sounded simple, but it was actually quite the difficult process. Materials would be modified and fused together in the manufacturing process. Splitting them back up naturally wasn¡¯t easy.


    Removing seals and undoing materials both had specific spell arts: the Seal Parting spell and the Dissociation spell.


    Finally, one needed to have sufficient understanding of theposition of the weapon and the structure of the seal toplete the extraction.


    The deeper the understanding, the more materials one could return to their original form, and the greater the profit. Other students had to buy materials to make weapons to sell, but the extraction students were the opposite. They bought broken weapons and sold materials.


    Dan Xin had already given Tang Jie the Seal Parting spell and Dissociation spell, so he now had to practice using them on broken weapons.


    The school rules stated that students who were just starting to learn extraction would be given ten broken weapons for free to practice on, but they would have to buy anything more than that.


    This was special treatment for the extraction region. After all, few students were willing to learn.


    Following the instructions from Zhou and Liu, Tang Jie went to the storage to get a broken weapon.


    This broken weapon was a war saber. It had been made using high-quality essence metal mixed with crushed starstone. The creator had presumably been someone who cultivated the Great Ster Art and who had wanted to produce a magic tool for himself that could harness the power of the stars. But harnessing the power of the stars had never been easy, and there were many requirements when it came to the seals. There was a problem during the seal enchantment, and the seal had broken apart in the process, directly affecting the integrity of the entire weapon.


    There was no seal removal for this weapon, as the enchantment had failed. Only materials could be extracted.


    Even so, one first had to use the Seal Parting spell to remove the remnants of the seal from the weapon before one could use the Dissociation spell.


    Otherwise, the collision of spells would not only destroy the weapon but also inflict a bacsh on the caster.


    Tang Jie carefully observed the lines on the saber, sensed the spiritual light on its surface, and carefully inspected the cracks on the seal. Only by getting a detailed understanding of the weapon¡¯s situation could the sess rate of the Seal Parting spell be increased.


    This process took almost two hours.


    Observation, analysis, and dposition were all important parts of the extraction process, but they were also extremely boring, testing the patience of the extractor.


    An entire day of work could be for the sake of extracting the equivalent of several dozen, or even just a few, spirit coins of material from a weapon. For a student, this was difficult to endure.


    But this was like cultivation, requiring a long period of training to gradually grow proficient in, allowing one to get faster and more efficient.


    Yet for Tang Jie, it was the opposite.


    He wasn¡¯t thinking about making money at all. He was researching extraction purely to understand where the limit of the Weapon Mantra was.


    After he analyzed the saber, he used the Seal Parting spell to wipe away the remnants of the seal from the weapon. It didn¡¯t do a very good job, so he needed to do it several times.


    If a novice wanted to do a good job, they had to double their effort, double their time, and double their patience.


    Once he had finally wiped the seal off the weapon, Tang Jie activated the Weapon Mantra.


    The saber instantly crumbled into countless fragments.


    To Tang Jie¡¯s regret, he failed to obtain a golden grain from it.


    The saber was destroyed, and he hadn¡¯t even been able to extract any materials.


    ¡°It seems that it has to have a seal,¡± Tang Jie muttered. ¡°The seal is the magic, the fighting soul of the weapon. Without a seal, there is no soul, making it a mortal weapon. In other words, the Weapon Mantra¡¯s true function is on weapon souls. Could it be¡­¡±


    Tang Jie thrust out his finger, and a golden light emerged. As he carefully examined that little golden needle, he started to understand what was going on. ¡°Could the golden grains condensed by the Weapon Mantra actually be weapon souls? As souls, they have fixed forms, but as soul weapons, they can undergo countless transformations. But while there are spell weapons, art relics, divine treasures, and Dao armaments in the cultivation world, I¡¯ve never heard of soul weapons. Eh, forget it. It¡¯s not like the Martial Lord ever mentioned this sort of thing. I can call it whatever I want, so I¡¯ll just call you a soul weapon.¡±


    But this was only his initial impression. He still had many things he needed to verify.


    Tang Jie got his second broken weapon, a five elements wheel. During the life ceremony process, there had been a mishap which led to the magic tool being ruined.


    The life ceremony was when a magical tool that was enchanted with seals underwent ceremonial refinement, truly merging the two together.


    A mistake in the life ceremony meant that it would be difficult to merge the tool with the seal. It would be difficult to control and could even injure the user.


    But as a magic tool, it was aplete product, though one that was devoid of value. Thus, it had the highest value when it came to extraction.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t even try to remove the seals. He simply used the Weapon Mantra, and sure enough, a golden grain appeared, but it was very small, probably the smallest Tang Jie had seen to date.


    This meant that the Weapon Mantra still needed the seal and tool to be fused to a certain extent, at least to a point where it was usable.


    He then got another broken weapon and repeated the process.


    This was a frost sword that had experienced an error during the blood ceremony.


    The blood ceremony was when a refined weapon underwent another session of ceremonial refinement with the user, bonding the tool to the user so that the user could use it as if it was an extension of his own body.


    But the blood ceremony was not a required process. Normally, only a student with special needs would request the blood ceremony.


    This frost sword should have been snow-white, but because of that error in the blood ceremony, it was speckled with blood. It was clear that the blood ceremony practitioner had paid a grave price for the blood ceremony¡¯s failure.


    But as this was the highest grade of failed product, when Tang Jie refined this frost sword that carried the blood energy of a cultivator, he obtained a golden grain about the same size as the one he had gotten from Ye Xing.


    Tang Jie tried to use the Weapon Mantra on a seal alone, but it had no effect.


    From this, he could tell that the Weapon Mantra also had requirements when it came to materials.


    Those golden grains probably contained a part of the essence within the materials.


    Finally, Tang Jie found a broken longsword in the broken tool storehouse. While this sword was broken, a single seal on the shattered de was undamaged.


    Tang Jie used the Weapon Mantra on this sword. Sure enough, he received a golden grain.


    He concluded that it didn¡¯t matter that the sword was broken. The real problem was when the breaking of the weapon damaged the seal.


    The higher the level of the seal on the magic tool and the higher the grade of the material, therger the golden grain he received.


    The golden grain from Ye Xing¡¯s hammer had beenrge because of the material.


    The golden grain from the frost sword wasrge because of the seal.


    They came at the problem from different directions, but the golden grain they provided was the same.


    He now had a basic understanding of how the Weapon Mantra worked.


    After using the Weapon Mantra several times, Tang Jie was so exhausted that not even his formidable constitution could sustain him any longer. Instead of going back to the Carefree House, he just went to sleep in the extraction region.


    From that day onward, Tang Jie diligently began to destroy weapons.


    As most of the weapons he destroyed with the Weapon Mantra were rejects, the cost was extremely low.


    A low-grade spell weapon would go for several hundred to a thousand coins on the market, but because they were broken, they were normally worth several dozen to as little as a few measly coins.


    Thus, Tang Jie bought many broken tools to destroy every day, and his golden grain grewrger andrger.


    In the past, his golden grain was only big enough to make the finest embroidery needle, but after a few days, the golden grain had doubled in size and could be condensed into a real flying needle.


    At least he could see it if he threw it on the ground.


    Besides that, Tang Jie began to understand more and more the rtionship between the Weapon Mantra and seals and materials.


    He found that the Weapon Mantra was almost only useful on metallic materials, and any metal the Weapon Mantra was used on would be rendered into mortal iron, its value plunging. In addition, the Weapon Mantra had clear differences depending on the type of magic tool. For example, the Weapon Mantra was noticeably more effective on weapons than on armor. As for theplexity of the seal, Tang Jie was still in the discovery process and didn¡¯t have a clear idea on the rtionship.


    Regardless, this understanding allowed him to target his purchases and ensure that he got a greater return.


    While he was busying away, he had no idea that Zhou Jiahui and Liu Zihan had been left utterly dumbfounded.


    They had seen many students in the extraction region frantically buying broken weapons to practice on.


    But they had rarely seen someone like Tang Jie who boughtrge numbers of weapons every day, using up as many as five weapons every day. After all, extracting material from broken weapons wasn¡¯t easy for a novice, and they would normally have to spend an entire day on just one.


    What was truly shocking, though, was that this guy had spent several days at work but hadn¡¯t extracted a thing!


    After so many days of frantic work, an investment of several hundred coins, and several dozen broken tools, even the dumbest student should have produced some materials, right?


    But Tang Jie had managed to turn all those broken tools into scrap metal that could only be melted down in the furnace!


    On Tang Jie¡¯s fifth day in the extraction region, as Zhou and Li watched him produce another pile of trash, one thought appeared in their minds: good-for-nothing!


    Basking Moon Academy¡¯s first good-for-nothing in the Dao of Tools!

 Chapter 106 - Heartbreak Saber

    Chapter 106: Heartbreak Saber


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t go to the extraction region today, instead heading for Spirit Wonder Market.


    He made his way through the noisy crowd to the grain store. He saw that Madam Shui wasn¡¯t there, so he went to Spirit tform Pavilion.


    Sure enough, Madam Shui was there. She saw Tang Jie and smiled. ¡°Why did you onlye today? Fengtang came to me several days ago and said that you were going to redeem a spell weapon, so I ended up waiting several days for nothing.¡±


    Tang Jie quickly replied, ¡°Madam, my utmost apologies. This lowly one went to the Forging tform for several days, and the Dao of Tools was so profound and deep that I became momentarily immersed and forgot about redeeming the spell weapon. It was only today that I remembered and rushed over.¡±


    While he was respectful on the surface, he was inwardly shocked. Everyone in Basking Moon Academy, from high to low, would address Xie Fengtang as Headmaster, not even daring to add on the ¡°Deputy¡±, but Madam Shui referred to him directly by name. It was apparent that she had significant status and was no hidden expert who had decided to y the role of a janitor.


    Madam Shui chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I was simply curious to see how you were doing. It appears that you¡¯ve made a lot of progress.¡±


    She beckoned. ¡°Come,e. I¡¯ve prepared a few small things. See which one is the best for you.¡±


    Tang Jie followed Madam Shui through the main hall and into a courtyard.


    This was a vast courtyard that even had a drilling ground. There were weapons of all sorts arranged on racks, and there were several targets set up at the other end.


    Tang Jie could see that even the targets were made from high-quality diamondstone, making them difficult to break.


    A quick-witted student was alreadying over with three silken boxes.


    Madam Shui opened the first box. Inside was a pair of ck iron hoops.


    Madam Shui took one out and exined, ¡°This is an Earth Loathing Ring. Spirit tform Pavilion brought it from outside. Though it is only a middle-grade spell weapon, the materials are of high quality, and its power is rather good. Eighteen seals have been applied, creating a ster microcosm. You can hold it in your hands to attack or toss it out. After ceremonial enchantment, only a little training will be needed to control it freely.¡±


    Madam Shui threw out the Earth Loathing Ring. The hoop flew out, a ck figure in the air, and struck one of the distant targets, causing it to explode.


    Madam Shui beckoned, and the Earth Loathing Ring automatically flew back into her hand.


    Tang Jie was rmed. This was what ¡°power is rather good¡± meant?


    The Earth Loathing Rings were definitely at the apex of power when it came to middle-grade spell weapons. Ye Xing¡¯s hammer would probably be too ashamed to call itself a middle-grade spell weapon in front of the Earth Loathing Rings.


    If he shattered a weapon like this, who knew how big the golden grain he received would be¡­? His extraction activities had made him a little crazy. Whenever he saw a good weapon, he would get the urge to break it.


    Madam Shui put the Earth Loathing Ring back into the box. ¡°The Earth Loathing Ringse as a pair, and they can be used one after the other. But the drawback is that their power is fixed, and they will not grow stronger with the user. They¡¯re good if you¡¯recking in strength, but if you¡¯re already strong, you can only use them for a while before giving them up. And they favor attack and not defense, long distance over short distance. I don¡¯t think they¡¯re a good match for you.¡±


    She opened the second box.


    Inside was a fiery-red longsword.


    Madam Shui took out the red sword. Without any sort of action on her part, a me erupted from the tip of the sword.


    This me floated at the tip of the sword, not flickering at all. It was evident that this me was already very substantiated.


    In the cultivation realm, the simplest way of determining how much damage water, fire, and wind attacks could deal was the level of substantiation.


    The higher the substantiation, the greater the power.


    Just like how the Jade Gate was used to confirm a student¡¯s potential, while substantiation was not absolute, it was an extremely useful reference.


    This sword was rather simr to Zhuang Shen¡¯s Violet me Sword, but this me was clearly more substantiated. Tang Jie judged that if Zhuang Shen had had this sword, Zhuang Shen would have won that fight.


    He could now tell that Madam Shui was giving him some special attention.


    Middle-grade spell weapons had their own hierarchy. If she hadn¡¯t liked him, then she probably would have given him the worst middle-grade spell weapons to choose from.


    But Tang Jie knew how to behave himself, and Madam Shui rather liked him.


    She had clearly taken out high-quality items, each one extremely valuable. Tang Jie probably couldn¡¯t buy them even if he was willing to pay two thousand coins.


    Madam Shui didn¡¯t give an exnation. After revealing the me at the top of the sword, she put it back and opened the third box.


    Inside this box was a strangely-shaped long saber.


    The saber was ck, and a third of the way up the de, there was a V-shaped impression, taking the shape of a barb.


    Madam Shui grabbed the saber and said, ¡°This is the Heartbreak Saber, made from ck steel mixed with inkcloud stone. It is enchanted with twenty-four seals, incredibly sharp, and ideal for armor-piercing attacks. Once it plunges into the body and is pulled out, the barb will drag out the organs, dealing even more damage. Thus, it is called Heartbreak. You cultivate the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra, so this saber is the perfect fit for you. But this saber is extremely dangerous, and anyone struck by it will be crippled if not killed. You must be careful when using it¡­¡±


    Madam Shui gave Tang Jie a profound look.


    Tang Jie understood that this was a warning.


    Of the three middle-grade spell weapons, the Heartbreak Saber was undoubtedly the most suitable for him.


    Moreover, Tang Jie was sorely in need of a weapon. Although he had the even more formidable golden needle, the golden needle was not suitable in the role of his usual weapon, particrly as he needed to spend ages looking for it once he threw it out.


    Upon receiving this warning from Madam Shui, Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Yes, this student understands. This student swears that he will never bring this saber into the battleground and only use it when his life is in danger. Moreover, he promises to sh frequently and refrain from thrusting.¡±


    Madam Shui nodded. ¡°It¡¯s fine so long as you understand. So, shall I take it that you mean to pick the saber?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Yes, I will take it.¡±


    Madam Shui closed the box and pushed it over to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t leave after receiving the box. Instead, he told Madam Shui that he wanted to buy some things from Spirit tform Pavilion.


    Madam Shui chuckled. ¡°I forgot that the sect also rewarded you with ten thousand coins. Now that I think about it, you¡¯re quite the rich boy among the students. I should make you spend a little of that fortune here.¡±


    Rather than attending to him personally, she had someone else take Tang Jie around the shop.


    Tang Jie returned to the main hall and began to carefully seek out the things he wanted.


    Spirit tform Pavilion had aprehensive stock, offering pills, talismans, and tools of all kinds. Tang Jie was in no hurry and carefully looked through everything. Suddenly, he was drawn to a set of needles.


    This was a set of flying needles, one set consisting of eighteen silver needles. Each needle was stored separately and could be kept at the waist for ready ess.


    The student responsible for taking him around saw that Tang Jie had his eyes on the needles and hurriedly said, ¡°These Silver Cloud Needles are made from essence iron and have exceptional prating force. They are stored individually, but they can also beunched in unison. The needles are enchanted with seals that, when activated, can form something akin to a sword formation. Although it¡¯s a lower-grade spell weapon, it possesses outstanding power.¡±


    ¡°But what do you do after you¡¯veunched them?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°Oh, that?¡± The student smiled. ¡°You use the needle glove to bring back the flying needles. The needle glove is made from deer hide and is enchanted with a return seal that is linked to the needles. So long as the needles are within one kilometer, the needle glove can call them back.¡±


    ¡°So if the enemy runs off with the needles, you¡¯re out of luck?¡±


    The studentughed. ¡°Nothing is perfect in this world. Even if it¡¯s a weapon that¡¯s gone through ceremonial refinement, if the opponent is strong enough, can¡¯t they take it from you all the same?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Tang Jie casually said. ¡°How much is this set of Silver Cloud Needles?¡±


    ¡°Nine hundred coins,¡± the student replied.


    ¡°That expensive?¡± Tang Jie frowned. ¡°These needles shouldn¡¯t have taken that much material to make, right?¡±


    ¡°The flying needles don¡¯t need much material, but thebor costs are high. Junior Brother, you should know that the smaller an item is, the more difficult it is to enchant it with seals. These Silver Cloud Needles are so small that applying a seal to them takes a lot of work.¡±


    ¡°I see. Then I¡¯ll take it.¡±


    He naturally didn¡¯t want these needles for their offensive power.


    While these needles were pretty good, they were still a one-time attack. Even with the needle glove to get them back, it probably wasn¡¯t something as simple as firing them off and calling them back. The process probably required a lot of work.


    This set had caught his eye mainly because he wanted to research the seal and see if he could use it on his golden needle.


    Even if he couldn¡¯t do anything with that knowledge, he could at least mix in the golden needle among the Silver Cloud Needles to take the enemy by surprise. It was just that these needles were silver and his was gold, so it was hard to say how well-concealed it really was. It would mostly depend on the opponent.


    After buying the needles, Tang Jie continued to browse and soon spotted a set of snowsilk clothes.


    From the name alone, one could tell that snowsilk clothes were a high-ss item. In truth, they had nothing to do with snow or silk. Rather, these were just clothes woven from special silver threads. They had little protective effect, but they were resistant to tearing and could fend off water and fire.


    On his first trip to Tiger Roar Valley, Tang Jie had ruined his clothes in the battle with the tree sprite. Ever since then, he had been looking for a set of clothes that could endure through a battle. Ending up naked after every battle simply wasn¡¯t eptable. Yiyi¡¯s ¡°So ugly!¡± had badly damaged his dignity.


    As they didn¡¯t have a defensive effect, the snowsilk clothes weren¡¯t expensive, but they still cost two hundred spirit coins.


    The snowsilk clothes of Basking Moon Academy were generally designed like the uniforms. Tang Jie tried it on and looked at himself in the mirror. He decided that he looked pretty good.


    After buying the clothes, Tang Jie casually asked, ¡°Right, do you sell any good materials here?¡±


    ¡°What do you need?¡±


    Tang Jie passed over a list.


    The student gave the list a look-over and replied, ¡°You¡¯ll probably have to pay two thousand coins to get all this.¡±


    The student shot Tang Jie aplicated look, thinking to himself, We¡¯re all people, yet our fates are so different. This kid hasn¡¯t even been in school for a year, but he¡¯s gotten both a middle-grade spell weapon and so much money. Mentally sighing, he said, ¡°We have most of it, and what we don¡¯t have, we can find in the other stores. Please wait a moment while I get them.¡±


    Tang Jie needed a lot of things, and the student would need some time to gather it all.


    With nothing else to do, Tang Jie continued to browse Spirit tform Pavilion to see if there was anything good.


    At this time, another customer entered the store.


    It was Shu Mingyang.


    Shu Mingyang¡¯s eyes brightened when he saw Tang Jie. ¡°Oh? Why are you here?¡±


    ¡°Shopping. What about you?¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°I¡¯vee here to sell, actually,¡± Shu Mingyang replied, waving around the stack of spell talismans in his hand.


    Shu Mingyang was the first member of this year¡¯s ss to pick up misceneous studies. After the big exam, he had passed the Talisman Dao test and started to learn talismans. He actually possessed some talent in this field, and he would spend his free time making talismans.


    Making talismans was really just recording the spells one knew on talisman paper. When needed, one simply needed to activate the talisman. It was much easier than casting in the middle of battle.


    Talismans and formations were really just different forms of spells. Talismans were fast and convenient, and besides that, they could be given to other people to allow them to use spells they normally wouldn¡¯t be able to.


    The Soulscour talisman had been a good example of this.


    Formations were more about power. The same spell would have its power multiplied when expressed through a formation. It was just more troublesome to use.


    Those who created weapons sold weapons, and those who made talismans naturally sold talismans. While Shu Mingyang probably had a grand time taking out talisman after talisman in a fight, the costs were actually rather high. Thus, he had to sell some of what he made every day to bnce the books.


    This was precisely why Shu Mingyang didn¡¯t like going to the Divine Battleground. In his current situation, a fight just wasn¡¯t worthwhile.


    To sell goods, students could set up their own stall, or they could sell wholesale to other stores, though thetter would unavoidably result in less profit.


    Shu Mingyang had an eight-cycle Jade Gate, so he didn¡¯t need to waste cultivation time for the sake of a little more profit. Thus, he had always sold his talismans to stores.


    The two couldn¡¯t help butugh upon meeting each other.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°I happen to be in the market for some talismans, so why not sell them to me? I can pay you a little extra, but you¡¯ll have to sell it to me for cheaper than the store will.¡±


    ¡°Nothing could be better!¡± Shu Mingyang smiled. He stuffed the talismans into Tang Jie¡¯s hand. ¡°Take a look and pick out whatever you need.¡±


    ¡°Thest time we fought, I remember you throwing out this talisman that immediately made me feel weak all over. What spell art was that?¡± Tang Jie asked as he looked through the talismans.


    ¡°Oh, that was a Bloodseal talisman. It weakens the enemy by dispersing blood energy, but its effects are rathercking. It only slightly weakens the target and doesn¡¯tst for very long at all.¡±


    ¡°I can just use a few more,¡± Tang Jie replied. He had already picked out the talismans he wanted from the stack.


    Shu Mingyang saw that he had mostly selected weakening or strengthening talismans and curiously asked, ¡°What are you buying all these for? Are you worried that someone might buy them to use against you?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m the only one with a strong body. I n to use them on a rather troublesome fiend.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to Tiger Roar Valley again?¡± Shu Mingyang asked in surprise.


    ¡°Mm, I¡¯ll stop after a few more trips. If my luck is good¡­ once should be enough,¡± Tang Jie casually answered.

 Chapter 107 - Divine Court Thousandshift

    <h1>Chapter 107: Divine Court Thousandshift</h1>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325Edited by: Michyrr


    The next morning, Tang Jie once more went to Tiger Roar Valley.


    This was Tiger Roar Valley¡¯s low-yield period, as the fiend beasts that were easy to deal with had essentially all been killed off. The remainder were all tough customers.


    Students generally didn¡¯t go to Tiger Roar Valley in this period.


    The valley was Tang Jie¡¯s alone.


    He walked the wilderness of Tiger Roar Valley, Yiyi on his shoulder, the Heartbreak Saber at his waist, his white student robes drifting in the wind. At this moment, they looked rather like Kenpachi Zaraki and Yachiru Kusajishi from ¡°Bleach¡±.


    But hecked the exaggerated hair style and the scar on his face.


    Tang Jie was much more energetic than usual today.


    Not only had little Yiyi showed herself, she was even sitting on his shoulder with no intention of getting down.


    They strolled through the valley as if its inhabitants were nothing.


    Suddenly, Yiyi raised her head and sniffed at the air. She pointed ahead and shouted, ¡°Left side!¡±


    Tang Jie nced to his left.


    A massive brown bear had appeared in the distance.


    ¡°It¡¯s that guy,¡± Tang Jie said, tilting his head.


    He and this bear could be considered old acquaintances. Tang Jie had first entered the valley more than a month ago, and he had run into the bear once every few days.


    Every time he did, he had no choice but to flee.


    But today, Tang Jie had no ns to keep running.


    He continued forward.


    When the fiend saw that he wasn¡¯t running, it roared and began to lope over to Tang Jie.


    While it looked clumsy, it wasn¡¯t slow once it started running.


    The four bear paws hit the ground, creating a rumbling earthquake.


    Arge stone blocked its path, and the fiend bear couldn¡¯t even be bothered to go around. It charged straight ahead, obliterating the stone.


    Tang Jie sighed and said to the giant bear, ¡°Stand aside. I¡¯m not here for you today.¡±


    His warning was clearly useless. The giant bear roared, and as it charged close, it swung a giant paw at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie hurriedly retreated. As he avoided the bear¡¯s attack, he thrust a palm at the bear¡¯s body. The bear seemed to care little about this, opening its mouth and biting at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie kicked at the bear, using the force tounch himself.


    This palm and kick would have sent an average student flying into a corner, but they barely itched the bear, which once more charged at him.


    ¡°Alright, it seems like there¡¯s no getting rid of you!¡± Tang Jie coldly snorted.


    As the fiend bear charged over, Tang Jie grabbed the Heartbreak Saber and pulled it out of its sheath. A ck wave of saber energy shed at the brown bear.


    Thud!


    Blood sttered.


    Grooow!


    The fiend bear let out a furious roar. As it raised its giant paws in the air, they grew incrediblyrge and began to exude an rming spiritual pressure. This was the fiend bear¡¯s innate spell art, the Giant Bear Spirit Paw. That enormous paw howled down from the heavens. Tang Jie saw that there was no dodging it and grunted. Mustering his spiritual energy, he shed upward, releasing a wave of berserk saber energy from his weapon at the paw.


    Blood rained down, that saber energy almost cleaving apart that steely bear palm.


    The Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra finally showed its use, maximizing the power of the Heartbreak Saber and allowing it to punch through armor.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t get off scot-free.


    The fiend bear¡¯s strength was simply too terrifying. As a consequence of taking this attack directly, he suffered a powerful bacsh that left his hands numb.


    He was only able to take the blow because of his constitution. A normal student would have had to rely on spell arts and use hit-and-run tactics.


    The fiend bear was both shocked and enraged by its heavy injuries. It ced its uninjured paw on the ground, and a powerful force traveled through the earth and jolted Tang Jie into the air.


    The fiend bear bellowed at the airborne Tang Jie, formless sound waves striking Tang Jie as if they were solid and sending him hurtling away.


    Tang Jie jumped to his feet, but the fiend bear was hot on his tail. Just as it was about to swing its paw at Tang Jie, Tang Jie suddenly turned around, gripping his saber with both hands, and thrust the saber at the fiend bear.


    The sword thrust form of the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword!


    There was a ck sh as the saber plunged into the fiend bear¡¯s abdomen, encountering no resistance. This was a far more serious injury, and the fiend bear howled in pain and swung its paw, striking Tang Jie in the left shoulder and sending him flying away.


    As Tang Jie flew out, the Heartbreak Saber was extracted from the bear¡¯s body, the barb dragging out a part of the intestines with it.


    This only worsened the injury. The fiend bear bellowed in agony and swung its paw in pursuit of Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was also badly injured. While those saber attacks had seemed simple, they had consumed a significant amount of physical and spiritual energy. Holding his injured shoulder, he could only try and dodge the bear¡¯s attacks.


    The fiend bear was berserk from its injuries and did not care that its intestines were dragging along the ground. As it fiercely pursued Tang Jie, it got faster and faster, swept up in its rage.


    ¡°Hurry and use the puppet!¡± Yiyi shouted.


    ¡°No!¡± Tang Jie said as he retreated. ¡°The puppet¡¯s not good against it!¡±


    Puppets were truly the best investment one could make.


    A puppet with a value of five thousand spirit coins, capable of attacking and defending, in terms of individual strength, was something that any average student was no match against. Comparatively, no spell weapon or medicine would be able to provide as obvious an increase in fighting power.


    But it also was a bad investment in some ways. The first drawback was damage. When dealing with an extremely powerful target like the fiend bear, a fiend that specialized in strong attacks, the puppet, which had no idea how to dodge, would generally just fight to the death. If it lost that fight, then what was left might not even be worth five hundred coins. If Tang Jie had to exin himself, he would say that he could break his body and slowly recover, but if the puppet broke, then he would be in tears. Secondly, its agility wascking, and it was no good against agile targets like the ck leopard.


    Thus, puppets were good for bullying the weak and poor at fighting the strong. It was the best there could be against weak opponents. A target that would normally need a spell art to handle could be dealt with in one or two hits from the puppet, saving on spiritual energy.


    But against strong opponents, one had to weigh the pros and cons.


    Wei Tianchong had already lost a puppet once, and Tang Jie did not dare to risk this one.


    Moreover, he wanted to see if he was strong enough to fight against this lower-grade Spirit Sensing fiend bear.


    The Heartbreak Saber had so far not disappointed him, revealing its peerless sharpness.


    It was just a pity that the fiend bear was too strong. Even after taking such a heavy injury, it still wasn¡¯t dead. Hecked an armor-breaking offensive spell and couldn¡¯t do anything to it for now.


    Hold on!


    He actually did have an offensive spell.


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes suddenly brightened.


    That fiend bear was charging at him again. In berserk rage, it was moving faster and faster, a whirlwind of blood emerging from that severed paw as it swung it around.


    At the same time, Tang Jie swung his saber at an angle, releasing a ck surge of energy.


    ¡°Thousand Rupture sh!¡±


    The violent energy rushed out and mmed into the fiend bear¡¯s body. As the bear¡¯s body flew into the air, countless wounds appeared on it¡ªthe product of Tang Jie unleashing several dozen waves of saber energy in an instant.


    This one attack had cost Tang Jie a fifth of his spiritual energy.


    Although he was at the Spirit Spring Tier, after half a year of cultivation, he was able to store five-hundred-some drops of spirit liquid in his body. This one attack had used more than one hundred drops.


    That fiend bear was so heavily injured that it couldn¡¯t get back up for a moment. But it was so tenacious that it still wasn¡¯t dead.


    ¡°Wow! Awesome!¡± Yiyi was gobsmacked. ¡°But what is this Thousand Rupture sh? Why have I never seen you study it before?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Divine Court Thousandshift,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    The Divine Court Thousandshift was the third spell art that Tang Jie had imed to have chosen during the art transmission session on the ninth floor of Heaven One.


    It had originally been intended for use with the golden needle.


    s, the golden needle grew too slowly, so he had never had a chance to use it.


    The greatest advantage of this spell art was that it had different effects depending on the weapon it was applied to and had considerable power. It was just that it took quite a lot of spiritual energy to use.


    This was the first time Tang Jie had used this spell art in battle.


    ¡°So this was the Divine Court Thousandshift? So when you¡¯re using it with a saber, it bes the Thousand Rupture sh?¡± Yiyi asked.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°While the Divine Court Thousandshift will have different effects depending on the weapon, they all share the same core spell. Thus, there isn¡¯t anything like different names for different weapons. That would be so tiring.¡±


    ¡°Then why did you shout ¡®Thousand Rupture sh¡¯?¡±


    ¡°I was just ying around.¡±


    ¡°I hate you!¡± Yiyi angrily said, clenching her fists. I can¡¯t believe you made me think that you were secretly learning a new spell art!


    At this moment, the fiend bear on the ground suddenly rose up and lunged at Tang Jie.


    ¡°Ah, watch out!¡± Yiyi shouted.


    Tang Jie grabbed the needles at his waist and threw them out. ¡°Thousand Rupture Needle!¡±


    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!


    Ten-some thin needles prated into the giant bear¡¯s body, and a golden needle flew through its eye and out the back of its head.


    This was the final straw on the camel¡¯s back, and the fiend bear toppled over.


    Seeing that the bear was dead, Tang Jie drew back his hand and shook his head. ¡°I was already writing this trip off as a loss, but you insisted on letting me make up for my costs.¡±


    ¡°¡®Thousand Rupture Needle¡¯?¡± Yiyi looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie firmly replied, ¡°I didn¡¯t have time toe up with a new term.


    ¡°Alright, turn back already. I have business to attend to.¡± Tang Jie pushed Yiyi back into his bosom and had her turn back into a flower.


    He hadn¡¯te here to hunt today.


    At least before yesterday, he would have never taken this fight.


    But with the Heartbreak Saber and the Silver Cloud Needles, he had grown strong enough that he could go from prey to hunter.


    Such was the way of the world. The rtionship between hunter and prey was always changing.


    From another point of view, no matter how much stronger you became, you would never be satisfied, for your targets would change with you, and you would want to get stronger and stronger until you had reached your limit and had to stop.


    Strength was like money. You never felt like you had enough!


    After getting the hide and other items from the bear, Tang Jie continued on his way.


    This time, no new fiend beasts came to cause him trouble, and he was able to smoothly reach Tiger Roar Peak.


    As he made his way to the stele, he spotted the fiend tiger at the summit.


    He stood at the boundary line and smiled at the tiger. ¡°How are you doing? I¡¯ve been busytely and haven¡¯t had the time to visit. Did you miss me?¡±

 Chapter 108: Subduing a Tiger

    Chapter 108: Subduing a Tiger


    Atop Tiger Roar Peak, the fiend tiger coldly red at Tang Jie, its eyes callous.


    Perhaps in its view, Tang Jie hade again to do as he always did and perform some pointless tests.


    But today, Tang Jie hade to do something different.


    After calling out to the tiger, Tang Jie took a few steps forward and slowly took something out.


    A formation brush!


    The fiend tiger¡¯s eyes erupted with a sharp light as it stared at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie smiled and lightly waved his left hand, sprinkling around Demon-Subduing Sand.


    What was ordinary sand could be nourished by spiritual liquid and transformed, allowing it to be the basis for a formation.


    Tang Jie lightly thrust out the formation brush in his right hand. Threads of spiritual energy shot out and began to draw lines in the air.


    He wasying a formation!


    With the world as his canvas, materials as his ink, and the formation brush as his brush, he was trulyying down a formation for the first time.


    The Fiend-Conquering Demon-Executing Formation!


    This was also the only method of victory a student of the Spirit Spring Tier like him had against a high-grade Spirit Sensing fiend beast.


    But that fiend tiger wasn¡¯t a fool like the tree sprite. It knew something was wrong as soon as it saw spiritual energy emerging around Tang Jie.


    <em>Raaaa!</em> It let out a furious roar and pounced at Tang Jie, the air howling past it.


    Tang Jie continued to wave around his brush, spiritual light shooting out here and there as that image took form. At the same time, he produced another object from his left hand.


    A formation recreation diagram!


    Without even ncing at the tiger, Tang Jie pushed the formation recreation diagram forward. The diagram opened, and a wall of ice appeared.


    The fiend tiger charged straight into the wall of ice, creating a dazzling explosion of light. But it had been kept out by the wall.


    The Guardian Ice Wall!


    A formation recreation diagram could hold a miniaturized formation, but its power was limited. It wasn¡¯t enough to deal with the fiend tiger, but it was perfectly fine if all he needed was a defensive formation to hold off the fiend tiger¡¯s attack for a while.


    After releasing the defensive formation, Tang Jie continued to sweep around the formation brush, devoting all of his attention to the formation he wasying out. Unlike the memorization formation, the Fiend-Conquering Demon-Executing Formation was much moreplex, but Tang Jie had practiced it countless times beforeing. He moved his brush with confidence, spiritual energy rushing out with every stroke, and as the formation lines crept out and linked the numerous materials, a resplendent light began to emerge.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    Tang Jie threw out a block of Fragrant Pond Mud, which uratelynded at the Gen position. Yellow emerged on the mud, and under the guidance of Tang Jie¡¯s formation brush, this yellow light became the Life Gate.


    Earth gave birth to all things, and Fragrant Pond Mud was mud formed by the withering of countless flowers that grew on the spiritual grounds of Rosecloud. It was all about nourishment, and so when it was used as the source of the Life Gate, it stimted growth and formation creation!


    The fiend tiger saw what was going on and angrily roared, swiping at the ice wall with its sharp ws. Chunks of ice were knocked off the wall and melted on contact with the ground.


    Tang Jie took out a small bottle with his left hand, sprinkling this liquid at the Kan position. This liquid was Yiyi¡¯s urine.


    Guided by his spiritual energy, the urine exuded a blue light, water rippling out and forming the Rest Gate.


    The Rest Gate¡¯s focus was operation. Water had no fixed form and could infiltrate all spaces. The urine of a flower sprite was rich in spiritual energy, so it was able to nourish and elerate formation creation.


    After finishing this gate, he took out another item, Cloudmother Essence, and threw it on the Xun position. Blue clouds emerged and were formed into the Stop Gate.


    The Stop Gate¡¯s focus was control, and the Xun position belonged to Wind. Light and agile, it favored control and adaptability!


    A bright moon hung in the sky, honed by the buffeting of the protective Ignis Astral Winds. It had attained spirituality and could change.


    Three items produced three gates, and the Fiend-Conquering Demon-Executing Formation erupted with light, a spiritual gust stirring.


    The fiend tiger roared even more fiercely, its giant ws striking the ice wall and des of wind shooting out of its mouth. A giant hole was punched through the thick wall.


    Intimidating power!


    Tang Jie was unmoved. He took out Azure Wind Wood and ced it in the Li position. Azure light appeared, shifting around before forming the View Gate.


    The View Gate¡¯s focus was concealment, but this formation was out in the open and had no need to be hidden. Thus, the lowest value was ced on this gate, and it served only to support the other seven gates.


    However, with the appearance of the View Gate, four of the eight gates were present, and the formation pulsed with even greater power.


    The fiend tiger began to grow afraid, fear mixing with its shock and anger. It raised its head back and howled, its left foot stomping on the ground. The earth quickly covered its body, forming into a spiked suit of armor.


    The fiend tiger once more rammed at the ice wall, the countless spikes jamming into the ice and making the wall creak and groan as it hit its limit.


    Tang Jie was still unperturbed as he once more waved his hand.


    A small chunk of Electro Woodnded on the Kun position, shooting a sliver of lightning into the clouds.


    The Death Gate focused on lethality, but Tang Jie had no intentions of killing his target. Thus, just like the View Gate, he had made only perfunctory arrangements. This Electro Wood was from Wei Tianchong¡¯s shattered wolf puppet.


    When the Death Gate formed, the formation began to resound with thunder!


    The fiend tiger was wrathful, bloody light erupting from its body and shooting out in vicious spikes that sted the ice wall. Under its mes of rage,rge chunks of the ice wall crashed to the ground. It was clear that it wouldn¡¯tst for much longer.


    Tang Jie took out a bowl of grease and ced it in the Dui position. The oil spontaneouslybusted as soon as it was in ce.


    Under Tang Jie¡¯s guidance, the mes turned into a giant coiled lizard.


    He had used the fat of a fire lizard to manifest endless mes that he used to form the rm Gate.


    The rm Gate¡¯s focus was on upsetting and confusing the mind. This was vital for this formation, so he had used the fat of a Mind-Opening-level fire lizard for the fire source.


    With six gates formed, the formation began to radiate an intimidating aura.


    The fiend tiger could feel a terrifying pressure sweeping toward it.


    In shock and rage, the tiger opened its eyes wide. The rock armor formed into two ck horns on its head that it used to ram the ice wall.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    <em>Boom!</em>


    <em>Boom!</em>


    After three charges, the ice wall was covered in cracks and was tottering. It was getting closer and closer to the breaking point.


    Tang Jie threw out his seventh set of materials.


    Starfell Stone, Soul-Suppressing Wood, Hate-Dispelling Water, Astral Wind me, and Azure Light Sword!


    The Injury Gate focused on sealing and capture. The Fiend-Conquering Demon-Executing Formation¡¯s primary purpose was suppression, so the Injury Gate was the most important gate of all, and Tang Jie had invested the most into it.


    Starfell Stone was of the Earth element and would strengthen the Injury Gate. Soul-Suppressing Wood was of the Wood element and served to suppress the soul and unsettle the mind. Hate-Dispelling Water belonged to Water and would reduce the will to fight. Astral Wind mes were refined from the Astral Winds that protected this domain, and only Titans were capable of producing it, so it was the most expensive and most difficult to find. This material was primarily used to exert divine might and awe. The Azure Light Sword belonged to metal. As an art relic, it had a powerful suppressive force.


    All Five Elements were present to form the Injury Gate. It was the highest priority!


    To deal with this fiend tiger, Tang Jie had taken out everything he had. He had spent the hair-raising price of two-thousand-some spirit coins for this venture, and evenpletely dismantling this fiend tiger might not be able to make back his investment.


    With these five treasures as its foundation, the Injury Gate exploded with light, and Tang Jie guided it into a pir of light that soared into the heavens.


    At the same time, the fiend tiger angrily bellowed and charged a fourth time.


    <em>Pa!</em>


    Chunks of ice and colored mes flew into the air as the ice wall exploded. There were no more barriers between the fiend tiger and Tang Jie.


    But at the moment the ice wall shattered, Tang Jie calmly shouted, ¡°Yiyi!¡±


    With this summons, that little girl hiding behind him raised her hand.


    A momentter, countless green roses erupted out of the earth, coiling over like countless brambles and twining themselves around the fiend tiger. Their coros opened up into giant mouths that bit at the tiger.


    In the month that Tang Jie had visited Tiger Roar Peak, Tang Jie had had Yiyi secretly nt all these.


    The green rose formation!


    This was the name Tang Jie had given it.


    This green rose formation that had taken more than a month toy down was his second method of stopping the fiend tiger. After all, the formation diagram was too limited in power, and relying on it alone to keep out an upper-grade fiend beast was just asking too much, unless Tang Jie suddenly ascended to a new level in his Dao of Formations.


    As the fiend tiger was pinned to the ground, Tang Jie threw out some spirit coins. As the coinsnded in the Qian position, golden light erupted into a halo, forming the Open Gate.


    Spirit coins were made from metal mixed with inkcloud stone. They had the Metal attribute and focused on opening the formation and activating it!


    All gates were present, the Qian, Kun, Zhen, Gen, Li, Kan, Dui, and Xun positions all resonating in unison.


    But this still wasn¡¯t enough. While all eight gates were present, the eye of the formation, the formation source, was still missing.


    Tang Jie ced a spirit stone on the ground, which would serve as the true driving force behind the formation.


    He swept his brush downward and began to draw out the formation eye. Countless formation lines appeared, linking the eight gates and forming aplicated spider web. Winds howled within the formation space.


    Bloody light once more erupted from the fiend tiger¡¯s body, and its entire body rippled with strength. <em>Bang! Bang! Bang!</em> The entwining green roses snapped apart.


    Yiyi saw that the green rose formation was failing to hold the tiger andmanded the remaining green roses to coil around. At the same time, she jumped around and shouted, ¡°Hurry up! I can¡¯t hold on much longer!¡±


    Tang Jie appeared to not hear, but his brush moved faster and faster. All he had eyes on at this time was the formation.


    The fiend tiger roared, snapping the remaining flowers and lunging at Tang Jie.


    At this moment, Yiyi waved her hand again, and two figures suddenly appeared to confront the fiend tiger.


    It was the puppet and the refined beast.


    This was Tang Jie¡¯s third safeguard.


    <em>Bang! Bang!</em>


    The puppet and refined beast were both sted back.


    In terms of strength, an upper-grade fiend beast, even one that didn¡¯t specialize in strength, would still be stronger than that bear!


    <em>Raaa!</em>


    After pushing back the puppet and refined beast, the fiend tiger roared at Tang Jie and thrust a paw at the ground. An earth spike surged out of the earth in response!


    <em>Plush! Plush!</em>


    The earth spike prated through the sole of Tang Jie¡¯s foot, pinning him to the ground.


    Tang Jie grunted, but his brush didn¡¯t stop. He continued to wave it around, more and more formation lines appearing in the air as the eight gates rumbled, clouds of spiritual energy gathering!


    The fiend tiger saw that not even the earth spike could stop Tang Jie, so it lowered its head and began to charge at Tang Jie like a bull.


    At this moment, Yiyi threw out a stack of talismans.


    It was the talismans Tang Jie had bought from Shu Mingyang just yesterday.


    The fiend tiger froze for a moment as Yiyi swiftly tossed out something else.


    The Immortal-Binding Rope!


    Talismans and the Immortal-Binding Rope!


    These were Tang Jie¡¯s fourth safeguard.


    The fiend tiger was infuriated by the restraints on its body and immediately began to struggle against the Immortal-Binding Rope. But the effects of the talismans had rendered it momentarily powerless.


    The refined beast pounced and bit down on the tiger¡¯s neck.


    The tiger turned its head, its sharp horns stabbing into the refined beast¡¯s body and instantly gutting it.


    But this interference had made it fail to break free of the rope a second time. The puppet ran over and grabbed the fiend tiger.


    It didn¡¯t hit. It grabbed!


    It grabbed the fiend tiger and threw it into the distance.


    While the fiend tiger was powerful, it wasn¡¯t too heavy, so it was thrown far into the distance.


    As it rolled on the ground, it once more exerted its strength. In an explosion of crimson light, a flood of strength swept out.


    Under its berserk struggles, the spell effects began to wane, and even that Immortal-Binding Rope began to grow taut.


    Finally!


    <em>Beng!</em>


    The Immortal-Binding Rope that had held it down broke into several dozen pieces.


    With thest restraint gone, the fiend tiger pounced again, but it saw Tang Jie making one final flourish of his brush where all the countless formation lines intersected.


    The formation eye wasplete!


    With this onest stroke, the Fiend-Conquering Demon-Executing Formation wasplete!


    Within the formation, light exploded, thunder rumbled, and spiritual might gathered together into a giant hand made of mes of light.


    The fiend tiger growled in fright and tried to back away, knowing that it was no match.


    Tang Jie snorted. ¡°You really think you can run?¡±


    Standing in the formation, he pointed at the Injury Gate. Spiritual threads flew out, the five treasures all shining with light. That giant hand in the sky extended and then suddenly descended on the fiend tiger.


    With a boom, the palm suppressed the fiend tiger.


    Tang Jie formed a spell, and the giant hand closed together and returned, gripping the fiend tiger like it was a chicken and throwing it into the center of the formation. The fiend tiger could no longer see its surroundings. It could only hear rumbling thunder as a giant hand pressed down on it like a mountain.


    It was only now that Tang Jie had seeded. Butying down this formation hade at an enormous cost. He had almost run out of energy just drawing out the formation.


    But he had barely managed to do it.


    Looking at the dying refined beast and the broken Immortal-Binding Rope, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but regretfully sigh.


    It was a pity that Godhead Pce wasn¡¯t willing to give him more time, or else he could have reduced his losses.


    But regardless, he had seeded!


    So long as he could reach his goal, everything was worth it.


    He walked up to the suppressed fiend tiger and said, ¡°Now we can properly talk.¡±

 Chapter 109: Negotiating with a Tiger for Its Hide (1)

    Chapter 109: Negotiating with a Tiger for Its Hide (1)


    The fiend tiger had been rendered immobile by the giant hand, but its eyes stared at Tang Jie with naked hostility.


    Tang Jie looked at it as he organized his thoughts, after which he slowly said, ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. I don¡¯t have any intention of killing you. I just want something from you, though I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s actually an object¡ªmore likely some secret art. So long as you¡¯re willing to hand it over, I will let you go.¡±


    <em>Raaa!</em> The fiend tiger lowly growled as it coldly stared at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I know that you wouldn¡¯t believe me, but think it over. All in all, I paid four to five thousand coins for this trip. With such high costs, I wouldn¡¯t make it back even if I sold you off. Do you really think I would have gone so far just to make a loss?¡±


    Tang Jie paused a moment before going on. ¡°What I want isn¡¯t you, and it¡¯s never been you. That¡¯s why I think we can still talk¡­ Don¡¯t y dumb. I know you can understand me. I didn¡¯t spend several thousand spirit coins and a month just to fool a tiger fiend! And this isn¡¯t some secret, so there¡¯s no point in continuing to pretend.¡±


    The tiger¡¯s eyes finally changed, and it now looked warily at Tang Jie.


    Finally, the fiend tiger moved.


    It extended a w and wrote several words on the ground:


    ¡°What do you know?¡±


    Upon seeing these words, Tang Jie smiled. ¡°A lot, but I only suspected at first. But after interacting with you for a month, I¡¯ve confirmed my suspicions.¡±


    No matter how the fiend tiger tried to hide it, after a month of interaction, the intelligence it had shown with its repeated pursuits and attacks would have made even an ordinary person realize there was something unusual about this fiend tiger, let alone Tang Jie, who was mentally prepared for it.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t the Basking Moon Sect who told you?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Even in the Basking Moon Sect, only the higher echelons would know about this, yes? Why would they tell a puny student like me? But the Basking Moon Sect doesn¡¯t need to tell me for me to understand what¡¯s going on. There are far too many reasons for me to know.¡±


    ¡°Too many reasons?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Jie exined, ¡°The first thing is the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s actions. Why would the Basking Moon Sect imprison all of you for generations? Just to punish you and your offspring? That¡¯s too meaningless. People could be driven by hatred into such irrational actions, but arge organization will not, much less keep up this sort of boring affair for a thousand years. The only reason they would do this is not for revenge, but because this is the only way they have of getting back that secret treasure¡­ bloodline inheritance! But this is clearly a different kind of bloodline inheritance. Other fiend inheritances mighte in the form of strength, but yours is memory and intelligence! Through this inheritance, you can have intelligence before the Mind Opening level, and the information concerning the treasure is also hidden within your bloodline. Thus, the Basking Moon Sect has you ughtered generation after generation, but it does not allow your line to go extinct. They hope that a cowardly tiger who is fearful of death will appear among your kin and hand over the treasure in return for their life. Of course, this is only a theory.


    ¡°Secondly, there are historical records,¡± Tang Jie continued. ¡°I¡¯ve looked through the records Basking Moon Academy has, particrly the records on the tiger hunts of Tiger Roar Valley. The students of Basking Moon have gone up the mountain more than once to hunt the tiger, and there are those who believed that humans are stronger than tigers mostly due to their intelligence, so they tried to kill the fiend tiger byying various traps. But the records show that almost all the ns that relied on intelligence failed. Those who seeded in hunting a tiger had rather simple ns, winning the battle through guts. They relied on strength, blood, and fearless sacrifice to win, not their heads.¡±


    The fiend tiger began tough, and the sound ofughter from its mouth sounded rather bizarre.


    ¡°But regardless, none of you gave them a good end.¡±


    The fiend tiger softly growled, its proud head dropping.


    Yes, what did it matter how many students they killed?


    There was no end to the students, so the tigers would continue to be ughtered for generation after generation.


    Tang Jie could only sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t know what sort of treasure you¡¯re hiding that would make all of you endure generations of ughter to keep it, but that has nothing to do with me. It¡¯s not what I want.¡±


    The tiger¡¯s eyes shed, and it wrote out another line of words on the ground:


    ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°What else could I want?¡± Tang Jie softly chuckled. ¡°When the fiend tiger who stole the treasure was captured by the Basking Moon Sect, the treasure was nowhere to be found, so it was ultimately imprisoned for the rest of its life, dooming its offspring to the same treatment. But there was something I found strange about this. Why did the Basking Moon Sect not use the Soulscour spell?


    ¡°And don¡¯t try and tell me that fiends are different from humans. When a tiger fiend reaches Mind Opening, it can take human form, and while the mind may be formless, the Soulscour spell forces spiritual energy into the brain and brings form to formless thoughts! I¡¯ve experienced the Soulscour spell, so I know this. Thus, anything that has rationality, that has a soul, that can think, can be Soulscoured! The fiend tiger has intelligence and a soul, so why can¡¯t it be searched?


    ¡°There can only be one reason for the Basking Moon Sect not using the Soulscour spell: the fiend tiger had a secret art that could resist Soulscour!


    ¡°Soulscour is a spell used on the mind, and since the fiend tiger could even resist Soulscour, it¡¯s not strange at all that it could pass down its memories. This is the third reason I knew you were intelligent, and this art is exactly what I want.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what I¡¯m after!¡±


    If there was a spear, there was a shield to fend it off.


    The Soulscour spell existed, so there was naturally an art that could resist Soulscour. This wasn¡¯t some big secret.


    In truth, all the major sects had various methods for resisting Soulscour.


    But these methods were not permitted to be passed on or inherited. They could only be granted by the higher echelons.


    After all, the Soulscour spell was the best method to be used against traitors of the sect and could not be transmitted to untrustworthy people.


    This was precisely why, though the Basking Moon Sect had a secret art for resisting Soulscour, Tang Jie had no hopes of learning it.


    His only hope was this fiend tiger.


    The fiend tiger had a secret art to resist the Soulscour!


    This was precisely why the Basking Moon Sect had imprisoned the tiger through normal means, holding it on the mountain and executing generation after generation.


    But even though the fiend tiger line had persisted for a millennium, not one had lowered its head, swearing to guard the secret to the end. Thus, the Basking Moon Sect had yet to seed.


    Was it because the treasure had disappeared and couldn¡¯t be handed over? Or was it because the treasure was so important that the tigers were more willing to die than to hand it over?


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know, nor did he care.


    All he wanted was the method to resist Soulscour!


    ¡°Hand over the secret art and I can spare your life!¡± Tang Jie dered.


    The fiend tiger stared at him, doubt in its eyes.


    It wrote on the ground, ¡°Why?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Because I¡¯m carrying my own treasure, one that is on par with the treasure your ancestor stole. Someone wants it, but I don¡¯t want to hand it over.¡±


    Tang Jie had smoothly grouped himself together with the fiend tiger.


    This fiend tiger and its ancestors had been in by humans for generations, and its hatred for humans was rooted in its bones.


    The threat of death alone was useless against it.


    If it were effective, the fiend tigers would have handed over the treasure long ago rather than dragging things on for this long.


    But Tang Jie dared to try because he was different from others.


    His situation was very simr to the fiend tiger¡¯s!


    It was just like how he was able to win Steward Qin¡¯s sympathy because his ¡°situation¡± had been very simr to Steward Qin¡¯s.


    Those who shared the same fate would pity and cherish each other!


    People would always be more understanding and sympathetic to people who had simr sorrows.


    Thus, what Tang Jie needed to do first was remove himself from the category of ¡°the Basking Moon Sect¡±.


    Sure enough, the fiend tiger was startled.


    It wrote on the ground:


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe you. Humans are cunning.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not deceiving you,¡± Tang Jie said as he took out an item.


    The Martial Mirror!


    ¡°Look at it, and look at the word on it. You can still feel the energy lingering upon it.¡±


    He slowly brought the Martial Mirror up to the tiger¡¯s face, showing the fiend tiger the ¡°±ø¡± character inscribed upon it. The immense energy within the Martial Mirror immediately had the fiend tiger howling in fear.


    Tang Jie put away the Martial Mirror. ¡°You¡¯ve inherited your ancestor¡¯s memories, so you should know that the Basking Moon Sect doesn¡¯t have anything like this. This is a treasure with a legacy of ten thousand years, one that is the key to a treasury. Many people want it¡­¡±


    The fiend tiger looked at Tang Jie and finally wrote:


    ¡°Why have you not been captured by them?¡±


    ¡°Because they¡¯re still not sure if I have it, but they suspect me. It won¡¯t be long until they confirm who I am, at which point they will capture me, interrogate me, and even use Soulscour on me.¡±


    ¡°You can run.¡±


    ¡°I will not run. If I run, I will expose myself. I¡¯m not like a fiend who can pass down memories through bloodline, and it¡¯s not like every fiend is capable of such a thing. As for humans, we can only inherit strength through educational systems. If I lose this system, I will lose my stairway to Immortality.¡±


    ¡°You will be imprisoned and tortured.¡±


    ¡°If I¡¯m prepared, I won¡¯t. On the contrary, I can use this chance to profit¡­¡±


    Tang Jie then told the fiend tiger everything about the Martial Mirror in detail.


    He exined everything, holding nothing back.


    He spoke of Xu Muyang¡¯s death, of his entry into the Wei Estate, his meticulous ns, his exploitation of Godhead Pce¡¯s and the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s doubts, and also his current situation.


    He spoke very sincerely and with great emotion.


    He was like an old man recalling his life before the final parting, or like a lover confessing his feelings. His tone was neither meek nor arrogant, his expression neither hot nor cold, and he spoke neither too slowly nor too quickly.


    But his calm narrative caused the fiend tiger to feel Tang Jie¡¯s immense sorrow, helplessness, and hatred.


    These were all emotions that it could understand.


    These were emotions that had grown fainter with time, but they could never be forgotten. There was no need to remember them, for they were buried deep in its bones.


    Tang Jie continued to talk.


    He spoke of his great aspiration: to destroy Godhead Pce.


    The fiend tiger recalled the oath its ancestor had made to the heavens.


    He spoke of his battle with Zhuang Shen.


    The fiend tiger recalled its past battles with students.


    He spoke of the trial he was soon to face.


    The fiend tiger thought about how it would one day die on this Tiger Roar Peak.


    Tang Jie talked about a lot, and the fiend tiger thought about a lot.


    They sat within the formation,miserating with each other.


    Finally, Tang Jie said all that he needed to say, all that he could say.


    Ending with a long and trailing sigh, Tang Jie said, ¡°This is my story, and it is why I havee to find you. Although I am a human, just like you, I might be someone¡¯s prisoner at any moment¡­ It could be the Basking Moon Sect, or it could be Godhead Pce.


    ¡°I won¡¯t be imprisoned for generations like your tribe. I will simply be captured, and then the Soulscour spell will be used on me so that they can find out everything. Of course, they might not get what they want with the Soulscour. I have my means of ensuring that they will find nothing even if they search my soul, but that would ensure my doom.


    ¡°I don¡¯t fear death, but I must live so I can do many more things.


    ¡°Thus, I need your secret art to fight back against those people after the Martial Mirror, those people watching me, including Godhead Pce and that Basking Moon Sect you loathe.


    ¡°If you hate them, then please teach me your secret art!¡±

 Chapter 110: Negotiating with a Tiger for Its Hide (2)

    Chapter 110: Negotiating with a Tiger for Its Hide (2)


    After a few moments of silence, the fiend tiger finally wrote:


    ¡°Why should I help you? You humans are all despicable and cunning. I will only be happy when all of you are dead.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, there¡¯s no end to humans,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°I know that you hate humans, and so even if everything I told you was the truth, you still wouldn¡¯t sympathize with me. But I have two reasons you should help me. First: if you don¡¯t help me, I¡¯ll kill you. I know that you¡¯re not afraid of death, but I won¡¯t kill just you, but your children as well.¡±


    The fiend tiger red at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. There¡¯s nothing strange about it. If you didn¡¯t have any children, Tiger Roar Peak wouldn¡¯t even be open. The Basking Moon Sect won¡¯t permit your lineage to go extinct, so since it¡¯s open, you must have a little tiger cub.¡±


    ¡°The Basking Moon Sect won¡¯t allow this¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, the Basking Moon Sect won¡¯t allow this, but did you forget who I am? I¡¯m someone who could be wanted at any moment. Do you think there¡¯s anything I wouldn¡¯t dare to do? Threats and warnings only work against people who follow thew, but they mean nothing to desperate fugitives. And I¡­ I am that desperate fugitive,¡± Tang Jie callously said, ncing up at the summit.


    Though he couldn¡¯t see anything, he knew that there was a little tiger on that summit.


    He muttered, ¡°The Basking Moon Sect doesn¡¯t want the little tiger to die, and I presume that you don¡¯t want that either, right? That secret treasure must be very important, extremely important, so important that your lineage is willing to be killed and imprisoned for generations to maintain that sliver of hope¡­ If I kill it, the hopes held by all your forebears will be extinguished, and the torment of one thousand years would have been suffered in vain. Am I right?¡±


    <em>Hraooo!</em> The fiend tiger angrily roared.


    ¡°Stop shouting. It¡¯s useless. This formation has the ability to block noise. Even if we shatter the heavens here, no one outside will know. And don¡¯t hope that anyone wille to pay you a visit. Perhaps the Basking Moon Sect would have watched you closely several hundred years ago, but after nearly one thousand years of nothing but waiting, the Basking Moon Sect has probably already given up. All of this is merely out of habit. They have no interest in you, so there is no possibility they would care about you. Don¡¯t forget that I was testing you for a month, and in this month, I wasn¡¯t testing just you, but the Basking Moon Sect as well!¡±


    Tang Jie suddenly began tough.


    ¡°But I¡¯m actually more willing to use the second reason to convince you.¡±


    ¡°What reason is that?¡±


    ¡°I have a n, a n that will get a lot of people killed, including members of the Basking Moon Sect¡­¡±


    Tang Jie began to recount his n.


    It was a very long n, and the fiend tiger very earnestly listened, asionally gasping in surprise.


    When Tang Jie finished describing his n¡­


    The way the tiger looked at Tang Jie hadpletely changed.


    It wrote:


    ¡°Did you really think of this n on your own?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t believe it?¡±


    ¡°You are only sixteen, not at all like a person who can think up a n like this.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Even though you heard it from my mouth, you still don¡¯t believe that I was the one who thought of it, so they will be even less inclined to believe it. Then¡­ they will believe the answers I give them. After all, they make sense, right?¡±


    ¡°But that puts you in too much danger.¡±


    ¡°When did you start getting worried about me?¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    The fiend tiger froze.


    After a while, it wrote, ¡°If my ancestor had your brain, our tribe would not have fallen into this state.¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°But I am here now. If you are willing to help me, one day, I might be able to help you escape this torment.¡±


    ¡°The problem is: why should I trust you? The Basking Moon Sect has used every method avable to try and get the supreme treasure of our Tiger Tribe, employing all kinds of schemes.¡±


    ¡°The supreme treasure of the Tiger Tribe?¡±


    ¡°Yes. If you were a mole sent by the Basking Moon Sect, you would already know this, and if not, there is no harm in telling you. That so-called treasure of the Basking Moon Sect was originally the supreme treasure of our Tiger Tribe, linked to the rise and fall of our tribe.¡±


    ¡°As I already said, I have no interest in your business. I only want the secret method to resist Soulscour.¡±


    ¡°Then prove it to me.¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve said all I can say and done all I can do. You can believe that I¡¯ve been sent by the Basking Moon Sect to deceive you, but if that¡¯s what you think, then you can think that everything I do is faked. Even if I killed several students of Basking Moon Academy with my own hands, you would still believe that it was all an act.¡±


    ¡°There is no need. Release me and I will believe you.¡±


    ¡°Release you?¡± Tang Jie was taken aback. ¡°I didn¡¯t take you for a fool, but you take me for a fool? Release you¡­¡±


    The fiend tiger impatiently wrote, ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, why should I believe you?¡±


    Tang Jie was speechless.


    The tiger continued to write.


    ¡°Are you afraid? I thought that when you threatened the life of my child, when you told me your n, you no longer feared death!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes erupted with a vicious light. ¡°Are you provoking me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just verifying your words. If what you said is true, you should be willing to pay everything¡­ including your life!¡±


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t expected the fiend tiger to say something like this.


    And when faced with this argument, he found that he had no retort.


    The fiend tiger coldly looked at him, seemingly mocking him.


    It was like it was saying, ¡°Your so-called willingness to die exists only in your words. When it reallyes down to it, are you still hesitating?¡±


    It was a provocation!


    But it was very effective!


    Because it was right. Tang Jie had no reason to back down.


    Tang Jie had already prepared himself to give up his life.


    But was giving up one¡¯s life something that could be done by just saying it?


    One would have to walk to the precipice of death to truly experience what this meant.


    Many thoughts ran through Tang Jie¡¯s mind.


    He finally understood that he actually wasn¡¯t ready.


    What did it mean to truly fight? To truly be willing to die? To truly advance fearlessly forward, to stake everything on one throw? He had never really experienced it.


    Because he had prepared many back-up ns for himself.


    Thus, when the danger truly came, when he really had to make his choice, he would procrastinate, hesitate, retreat.


    Perhaps this was why he had yet to trulyprehend the Martial Lord¡¯s realm?


    He was far too far away from this realm!


    But this discovery had note toote.


    Tang Jie looked at the fiend tiger and nodded.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I hesitated, so I didn¡¯t actually prepare myself to give up my life. But as you said, all that I have done is already dancing at the edge of death. I should have this attitude, should have prepared myself. If I have to fail eventually, rather than crying bitterly right before defeat, it would be better to try bravely pressing forward¡­ At least the death will be more heroic, though it will also be a little more stupid. But the truly courageous are willing to die in stupid and heroic fashions.¡±


    Tang Jie started tough.


    He dered, ¡°I agree!¡±


    He didn¡¯t immediately release the tiger. He first had Yiyi leave the formation so that she wouldn¡¯t get hurt if the fiend tiger betrayed him.


    Little Yiyi started weeping, refusing to go, and in the end, Tang Jie had to order her out.


    Back in the formation, Tang Jie looked at the fiend tiger.


    He sighed.


    He knew that he was making the most dangerous gamble of his life.


    If he lost, he would lose his life.


    It was not at all likely that a seemingly reasonable argument could easily convince someone. Pros and cons, profit and loss, only worked on people with cool heads, but the hatred of a thousand years could burn away all rationality.


    He wouldn¡¯t find it strange at all if this fiend tiger killed him as soon as it had its freedom.


    But he had no other choice.


    Just as the fiend tiger had said, he had already walked up to the line of death. If he didn¡¯t ovee this obstacle, he wouldn¡¯t be able to move on to the next step.


    Looking at the fiend tiger, Tang Jie took in a deep breath and resolutely removed the formation.


    The mountain disappeared, that strength that had rendered the fiend tiger immobilepletely vanishing!


    <em>Raaa!</em>


    A furious roar resounded.


    The moment the fiend tiger was free, it pounced!


    Tang Jie instinctively retreated and raised his saber to block.


    With a swat of a tiger w, a powerful energy set the Heartbreak Saber flying out of Tang Jie¡¯s hand, and the tiger brought Tang Jie to the ground.


    Tang Jie crossed his arms together as the tiger pressed down a paw on Tang Jie¡¯s chest. Its ws were so sharp that they created five bloody holes in Tang Jie¡¯s body. With just a small push, it could scoop out his heart.


    The tiger didn¡¯t clench its ws, choosing to stare at Tang Jie with eyes of burning hatred.


    Hatred that could scorch the heavens!


    Teeth as sharp as sabers!


    It opened its mouth, bringing its teeth up to Tang Jie¡¯s throat!


    Sure enough, it had gone back on its word!


    Its hatred toward humanity had caused the fiend tiger topletely ignore Tang Jie¡¯s advice and think only about killing him.


    And this time, before killing Tang Jie, it wanted him to feel what it meant to struggle before death, wanted him to regret everything, wanted these damned humans to pay for their actions!


    It had only one thought in its mind!


    A thought that had passed down through the one thousand years of the fiend tiger lineage!


    Through the years, it had been magnified again and again, prating deep into the marrow and bingpletely insoluble!


    It wanted to drink its fill of human blood!


    The moment before the teeth touched his body, Tang Jie said, ¡°Killing me is the same as epting your fate!¡±


    The fiend tiger shuddered, and it did not close its jaws.


    Tang Jie slowly said, ¡°You can disbelieve me, but I¡¯m your only chance! If you kill me, you give up on yourst opportunity!¡±


    The fiend tiger still did not move.


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°If you can¡¯t control your emotions, a beast will forever be a beast!¡±


    The fiend tiger trembled again.


    Finally, it began to move its teeth away from Tang Jie, but it didn¡¯tpletely rx.


    It stared at Tang Jie, and Tang Jie stared back.


    Sweat began to appear on his forehead.


    Though he had prepared to die, facing down this savage beast, facing the threat of death so close, Tang Jie instinctively felt some fear over death.


    But he persisted, continuing to stare at the fiend tiger.


    Even if his eyes were plucked out, he still wouldn¡¯t blink.


    The sweat continued to flow as the man and tiger continued their stalemate.


    Under the ws of this savage tiger, all strength was pointless. Only mental will could disregard level.


    <em>Grrrr¡­</em> The fiend tiger lowly growled, its body shuddering as if it was hesitating over something, conflicted over something.


    Suddenly, it raised its paw and swatted Tang Jie away. This one swat tore several deep w marks in Tang Jie¡¯s body.


    Tang Jie rolled on the ground a few times, coughing blood as he sat up. At this time, the fiend tiger jumped onto his body, cing its full weight on him.


    The massive tiger head was up against his face, a pungent and bloody odoring from its mouth and nose.


    Its green eyes stared at Tang Jie, and Tang Jie felt like they were two points of green light gettingrger andrger until they engulfed his field of vision. The world around him began to spin, his heart shuddered, and countless strange thoughts appeared in his mind. At that moment, he felt like he was being swept away on the river of time¡­

 Chapter 111: Negotiating with a Tiger for Its Hide (3)

    Chapter 111: Negotiating with a Tiger for Its Hide (3)


    When Tang Jie woke up, he found that he wasn¡¯t where he had fallen unconscious, but inside a cave.


    The cave was very clean, though there was a pile of bones in the corner.


    There were many bones, piled up into a small mountain.


    Tang Jie sat up.


    ¡°You¡¯re awake?¡± A voice suddenly spoke.


    Tang Jie instinctively turned his head and saw the fiend tiger standing behind him, staring at him with its green eyes that carried an indescribably sinister and eerie aura.


    ¡°You can talk?¡± Tang Jie blurted out.


    ¡°Try again.¡±


    Tang Jie froze, and then he realized that the tiger was growling. It was just that he was somehow able to understand these growls.


    ¡°You can¡¯t talk, but I can understand tigernguage?¡± Tang Jie said in surprise.


    ¡°Tigers have nonguage. This is merely a mental connection. If you could understand tigernguage, nothing would be impossible.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Tang Jie dropped his head and looked at himself.


    The wound on his chest was already closed, and he seemed to have an extra ball of memories in his mind. As he closed his eyes and looked them over, he suddenly understood. ¡°Blood Refining Spirit spell¡­ So this is the secret art your tiger lineage used to resist Soulscour. It¡¯s a body-strengthening spell?¡±


    Tang Jie gasped in surprise.


    The Blood Refining Spirit spell wasn¡¯t simply a method to resist Soulscour, but also a body-strengthening spell.


    Unlike normal body-strengthening spells, which used spiritual energy to modify and strengthen the body, the Blood Refining Spirit spell used mental will as the stimnt.


    Soulscour used spiritual energy as the vessel, attaching to thoughts and forcing form onto the formless.


    The Blood Refining Spirit spell did the same, but it was one step ahead. It merged with the blood, stimting blood energy and hypnotizing the self into causing blood energy to swell and strength to soar.


    When the fiend tiger¡¯s body had erupted with blood energy several times, it had been using exactly this art.


    Butpared to self-hypnosis, the Blood Refining Spirit spell had more substance and was the real deal.


    ¡°Thoughts are merged into the spirit and entrusted to the blood, allowing them to be passed down. With the mind attached to the body, spirit and flesh are merged, allowing Soulscour to be resisted. This art travels through thoughts to reach the will, allowing it to be ovepped.¡± Put simply, the Blood Refining Spirit spell could merge mind and body. With the mind carried within the blood, the soul was no longer a lone existence, so it could not be Soulscoured. Finally, it was different from traditional body-strengthening spells, achieving a simr effect through different means, so it could be used on top of normal body-strengthening spells.


    For example, after using the Formless Golden Body, he would still be able to use the Blood Refining Spirit spell.


    But while the Blood Refining Spirit spell had a powerful effect, it required an already formidable constitution as a basis. If one¡¯s constitution weren¡¯t strong enough, one would overspend one¡¯s blood energy and be weak afterward, having a simr effect to the demonblood pill.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie was very confident in this aspect.


    Tang Jie had only wanted a Soulscour resistance spell, but he hadn¡¯t expected to get such a powerful body-strengthening spell. This spell had a lot of uses and was even more valuable than the spell arts he had obtained from the Divine Firmament Sword ssic. From a certain perspective, it was even more valuable than the Parting ssic. After all, the Parting ssic consumed a vast amount of resources. Meanwhile, this spell simply needed to be learned to be used, and the more proficient one became, the longer it wouldst and the fewer side effects it would have.


    It was a rather pleasant surprise.


    ¡°But this spell art doesn¡¯t let me understand what you¡¯re saying?¡± Tang Jie quickly realized that it wasn¡¯t the Blood Refining Spirit spell that let him understand what the tiger was saying.


    ¡°That is because I also gave you some of my essence blood.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Tang Jie was confused.


    Perhaps it had been his words that had caused the fiend tiger to pass on the secret art to him, but to give him essence blood that allowed him to understand the words of tigers was treating him a little too well. The grudge of a thousand years was not that easy to resolve. It was barely enough that they were using each other, and there was no reason to give him something for free.


    The fiend tiger started tough. ¡°You don¡¯t think that those words of yours really moved me, do you?¡±


    ¡°I must have some other use,¡± Tang Jie said with a chuckle.


    As expected, the tiger had another goal, but it was impossible for his words from before to have not been useful in the slightest.


    Usually, one had to bring together many factors to achieve an effect.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t know what the unknown factor was.


    ¡°I need you to do something for me.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s killing the Basking Moon Sect, I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°Of course not. I need you to do something very simple¡­ Take away my child.¡±


    ¡°Your child?¡± Tang Jie froze, then he swiftly replied, ¡°With the formation here, I can¡¯t take it out! And even if I did bring it out, they¡¯d notice.¡±


    The formation around Tiger Roar Peak had an identification ability. Any tigers that entered TIger Roar Peak would be locked inside the peak forever, with no hope of escape.


    And things wouldn¡¯t be fine even if he could take a tiger cub out.


    Although the many years had caused the Basking Moon Sect to give up on getting any information about the secret treasure from the fiend tigers, it would still send people to see the situation every once in a while.


    If Tang Jie took a cub with him, it wouldn¡¯t be long before Basking Moon Academy would realize something was wrong. A cursory investigation would soon reveal who was behind it.


    Perhaps the Immortal sects could be deceived when they weren¡¯t paying much attention, but when they actually started to pay attention, they would be able to root out the truth.


    The fiend tiger ignored Tang Jie¡¯s reply.


    It moved to the side, revealing what was behind it.


    Tang Jie saw that there was another tiger lying behind the fiend tiger.


    Tang Jie could tell at a nce that it was a female tiger, a lower-grade fiend tiger that the Basking Moon Sect had caught as a mate. This fiend tiger wasn¡¯t very powerful. Even as a lower-grade fiend, it was down near the bottom, and students would barely have to worry about it. After all, the tiger fiend¡¯s descendants were the true fiend tigers of Tiger Roar Peak. The others were ordinary Spirit Sensing fiends that could be dealt with by just one or two students.


    But there was clearly something wrong about this female tiger.


    It was syed out on the ground, panting for breath as if it was about to die.


    Looking down, Tang Jie saw two furry heads snuggled up to the female tiger¡¯s bosom.


    Two tiger cubs!


    Two!


    Tang Jie felt his head buzzing as he blurted out, ¡°You have two children?¡±


    The higher the level of a fiend beast¡¯s lineage, the lower the fertility.


    The reason was that the stronger one¡¯s bloodline power was, the more taxing the pregnancy would be. Pregnancies of high-level fiend beasts would often ce an enormous strain on the mother, even result in a bacsh.


    Thus, for high-level fiend beasts, conception and pregnancy were both difficult.


    Perhaps this was thew of the world. The more impressive one¡¯s strength, the more restricted one¡¯s numbers were.


    Thus, high-level fiend beasts often had difficulties with breeding, and it was often the case that when they became pregnant with more than one child, they would fail to sessfully give birth to any.


    Of course, this wasn¡¯t always the case. If the mother was powerful, it would naturally be able to endure the bloodline strength of its unborn children.


    But the mother tiger of Tiger Roar Peak was an ordinary fiend tiger the Basking Moon Sect had caught from outside. For it to give birth to two cubs at once was rather rare, and it was hard to me it for being in this state.


    Of course, the situation wasn¡¯t unheard of. After all, fiend beasts could also advance. If the mother tiger had advanced to a middle-grade fiend beast during its imprisonment, it would have had a much greater chance of giving birth to two cubs at once.


    But in such circumstances, the Basking Moon Sect would normally take away one of the cubs¡­ Tang Jie hadn¡¯t expected to see two cubs together.


    It was no wonder the mother tiger¡¯s life was in danger. It had probably consumed almost all of its life force to give birth to these two little fellows.


    ¡°Yes, this is the reason you are still alive.¡±


    The fiend tiger went up to its wife and licked the two cubs.


    The two cubs probably hadn¡¯t been born very long ago, and the memories in their blood had yet to awaken. These were truly nothing more than two tiger cubs, still mischievously rolling around in their mother¡¯s embrace and caring little for their father¡¯s love.


    But Tang Jie could feel the deep affection in each of the fiend tiger¡¯s licks.


    Tang Jie understood. ¡°The Basking Moon Sect still doesn¡¯t know about this?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± the fiend tiger said as it looked at its own children, its eyes thick with a father¡¯s love and devoid of killing intent. ¡°They normallye once every half a year, and there is still two months until their next visit. Thest time they came, they already saw that Zhen¡¯er was pregnant, but they don¡¯t know that she has two cubs. I want to take this opportunity to have you take away one of my children and help it escape this cage, returning freedom to my Tiger Tribe. This is the opportunity that my Tiger Tribe has been awaiting for one thousand years, and it is also my condition¡­ If you refuse, I will kill you now!¡±


    Tang Jie swallowed. ¡°But how do I take it out?¡±


    ¡°The refined beast token,¡± the fiend tiger replied. ¡°Perhaps this is the will of the heavens. The heavens had youe here, the heavens had you defeat me, the heavens had me father two children in this time, and the heavens had a student of Basking Moon possess a refined beast token of the Beast Refining Gate¡­ ce my child in the refined beast token and you can take it out.¡±


    The refined beast token was used specifically by the Beast Refining Gate for holding living creatures. As they could hold living beings, refined beast tokens were extremely valuable in their own right. But the space in the refined beast token was lonely and dark, not suitable for long-term residence. So that the beasts wouldn¡¯t go mad after long periods of istion, and so that they would be more obedient and fight more vigorously, the cultivators of the Beast Refining Gate would often refine fiend beasts until their rationality had been wiped away. This had been the case for that refined fiend wolf.


    A tiger cub naturally couldn¡¯t be refined until its rationality was gone, but it was fine to put it inside for a short period.


    Tang Jie nowpletely understood.


    The fiend tiger was right. This was precisely the reason he was alive!


    To seed, one needed to meet a staggering number of conditions. One required strength, a n, and also luck!


    Laying down a formation to subdue a tiger required strength. Without this strength, he would have never gotten an opportunity to speak with the tiger. Meticulous arrangements designed specifically for the target were the ns. Without ns, and only strength, he would just be doing what students had been doing for thest thousand years. The two tiger cubs and the refined beast token were luck. This luck served as the final key that had finally let him surmount the fiend tiger¡¯s mental defenses and push through its hatred.


    It was precisely thebination of strength, nning, and luck that had allowed him to seed.


    Of course, Tang Jie didn¡¯t believe in any will of the heavens.


    If the heavens had shown their favor, this matter would have been even simpler.


    He was more willing to believe that the heavens rewarded the diligent, that luck only favored those who were willing to put in the effort.


    But regardless, he had to admit that he had been extremely lucky this time.


    Not only had he obtained the Blood Refining Spirit spell, he had even gotten a fiend tiger cub.


    From what the fiend tiger had said before, this fiend tiger¡¯s bloodline was probably rather noble among tigers.


    As if it could tell what Tang Jie was thinking, the fiend tiger suddenly roared and pounced, bringing Tang Jie to the ground.


    It roared at Tang Jie, ¡°I am letting you take away my child, but I am not letting you make it a ve! Human, swear an oath to never use any methods to bind my child into very, or else I would rather have it die here!¡±


    <em>So that¡¯s how it is?</em>


    ¡°Alright. I, Tang Jie, swear an oath upon my Heart Demon that I will take your child from this ce and treat it well. Once it is mature, I will let it go free and never take it as my ve!¡±


    The fiend tiger¡¯s eyes immediately softened.


    It lowly growled, ¡°Remember your oath. My blood flows in your body, and it will give you strength, but it will also turn into a frightening nightmare demon. If you dare to break your oath, your death will be a painful one!¡±


    ¡°If I dare to break my oath, my death will be a painful one!¡± Tang Jie repeated. The fiend tiger had never been his target. Getting it would be nice, but not getting it wasn¡¯t any sort of heartache. Moreover, forcing someone into very was always worse than relying on affection.


    He had no blood oath with Yiyi, but was there any closer rtionship than that between him and Yiyi?


    In the future, he would let the tiger cub go, but after he cared for it for so long, who was to say if this little fellow would be willing to leave?


    Of course, he wouldn¡¯t say such things out loud.


    He looked at the fiend tiger and said, ¡°Then, there is onest problem.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°There are two cubs. Which one will you pick for me to take away?¡±


    What?


    The fiend tiger froze, and it turned to its children.


    It had only been thinking about seizing the opportunity, but it had never thought about which to choose.


    It was only when Tang Jie mentioned it that it realized that it had to make a choice.


    It would choose one child to leave and one child to remain¡­ To remain here meant to be a prisoner, to fight, and to die.


    In other words, it had to choose which of its children would survive.


    The fiend tiger froze.


    Those two furry little cubs were all full and began to roll around and y in front of their parents.


    They were still small.


    They did not know of their mother¡¯s situation.


    They did not know of their father¡¯s troubles.


    They did not know their future fate would be decided by a single thought from this fiend tiger.


    There were two children, but only one could leave!


    Who would go?


    Who would stay?


    The fiend tiger was at a loss.


    It looked at its wife. The mother tiger seemed to realize that a choice was about to be made, and it began to weep, pained growlsing from its mouth.


    It looked at its children who were tottering around. The young one identally slipped and ran into the older brother. Both brothers fell to the ground and started to cry¡­ The fiend tiger could not control himself and began to weep.


    Tigers had nonguage, and its weeping came in the form of howls.


    <em>Raaa!</em>


    Bitter and sorrowful howls resounded through Tiger Roar Valley. Even those who could not understand tigers could hear that deep sorrow and infinite resentment in those howls!

 Chapter 112: Parting

    Chapter 112: Parting


    Sorrowful tiger eyes moved back and forth between the two tiger cubs. Finally, with a trembling w, the fiend tiger pointed at one of the little cubs.


    ¡°Take the little one with you.¡±


    It turned its head, unable to watch this parting.


    Tang Jie walked over and grabbed the little cub that was ying with its older brother.


    The little fellow was still ignorant, so when someone grabbed it, it instinctively tried to bite.


    But it was too weak and failed to prate the skin on Tang Jie¡¯s arm.


    Tang Jie raised his hand, bringing the little cub into the air, but it didn¡¯t let go, continuing to bite down on Tang Jie¡¯s arm while its four paws iled in the air, doing everything it could to fight back against Tang Jie¡¯s arm.


    Its older brother lunged over and began to gnaw at Tang Jie¡¯s feet, letting out soft growls.


    Tang Jie chuckled at how adorable and cute it was. He asked, ¡°Does it have a name?¡±


    The fiend tiger shook its head. ¡°I have yet to name them. But as the tigers are the kings of beasts, our tribe has the surname of Wang (King). I am called Wang Poguan. You can name them.¡±


    ¡°Wang Poguan (Break Barrier)¡­ I understand. Then I will name them after the concept of being free and unfettered (Xiaoyao). Their formal names will be Wang Xiao and Wang Yao. As for your baby name, let¡¯s just go with how your head looks and call you Bao¡¯er (±¦).¡±


    He grabbed the cub and held it affectionately in his embrace.


    While tigers were fierce, they were very cute as cubs, and Tang Jie naturally took a great liking to it. In the eyes of Wang Poguan, this was naturally a relief, but it also added to the sorrow of parting, and it started to sorrowfully growl in helplessness.


    The deal was done, so Tang Jie went to gather his materials and leave. While these materials had been used toy down the formation and some of them had been used up, others could be gathered back up and used again. For example, it was impossible for the Azure Light Sword to be depleted after being used in a formation just one time.


    As he was packing things up, Tang Jie suddenly thought of something and asked the fiend tiger, ¡°Right, since the Basking Moon Sect onlyes once every half a year, how do you normally survive? When I woke up, I saw a pile of bones in the cave. That should be your food, but where does ite from?¡±


    The fiend tiger replied, ¡°There is a red dogwood flower that grows on the summit. When the fruit of this flower is crushed, it will release a scent that can attract all beasts.¡±


    ¡°So it was the helping dogwood. I wondered why the Basking Moon Sect could be so at ease as to onlye once every half a year,¡± Tang Jie said with a chuckle.


    Compared to the other spirit nts of Tiger Roar Valley, the helping dogwood could be considered a truly rare nt. The fruits it produced could restore blood and spirit and were of huge help in cultivation,manding extraordinary value. When the dogwood fruit was crushed, it would create a scent that would travel far, so it was an excellent way of attracting fiend beasts, if not somewhat of a waste.


    The Basking Moon Sect had probably nted helping dogwood on Tiger Roar Peak for its own convenience. Since the fiend beasts would throw themselves into the, they wouldn¡¯t need to waste time and energy serving the fiend tiger on the mountain.


    After several hundred years of care, anyone would start to think of ways to avoid work.


    As if it could tell what Tang Jie was thinking, the fiend tiger said, ¡°I still have some red dogwood fruit left over, and you can take it if you want it. There are also some other spirit nts that I have no use for, and you may take as much as you want.¡±


    ¡°Then thank you, Big Brother Wang!¡± Tang Jie immediately took the rope that was offered to him, and he called the tiger ¡°Big Brother¡± very naturally.


    The fiend tiger shuddered. It had hated humanity for a lifetime but was now being called ¡°Big Brother¡± by a human, and it found it hard to get used to. In the end, it managed to restrain itself and tell Tang Jie where the spirit nts were located.


    The helping dogwood fruits were located at the back of the summit.


    As it had been nted a long time ago, this helping dogwood had numerous fruits. s, over the years, many of them had turned to pulp, but even so, Tang Jie managed to get ten-some fruits.


    Each helping dogwood fruit was worth several hundred coins. Although some of the fruits had been damaged because the tiger didn¡¯t want to take care of them, all together, they were still worth around two thousand coins. This was enough to make back his costs, and this wasn¡¯t even considering that not all of the formation materials had been used up.


    He took a look at the time and decided to walk around Tiger Roar Peak some more to gather flowers and fruits.


    He had invested an enormous amount into this trip and had already prepared himself for a loss. But now that he saw some hope of making back his costs or even getting a profit, he couldn¡¯t just let it go. He took everything of value, not even leaving behind the most ordinary de of spirit grass. He thoroughly scoured the area, even calling Yiyi to help him.


    The littledy had a 100% uracy rate when it came to searching for spirit grass.


    Once his bags were full, Tang Jie ran the calctions and found that he had made back everything he spent, so he was in a much better mood.


    Going back to the cave, Tang Jie bowed to the fiend tiger. ¡°Big Brother Wang, thank you for your generosity!¡±


    The fiend tiger grunted, ¡°I don¡¯t need your thanks, only that you take good care of my child.¡±


    ¡°Big Brother Wang, be at ease. Tang Jie will take good care of him. Right, Tang Jie would like to request something else.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Big Brother Wang, you only seek the blood and flesh of those fiend beasts, but I have use of their hides. If possible, in the future, I was wondering if Big Brother Wang could leave the hides intact for me, or even some bones that you don¡¯t need,¡± Tang Jie said with a smile.


    It appeared that now that he had scoured the area for spirit nts, he had moved his attention to fiend beasts.


    This was like having the fiend beast hunt for him!


    His thought process was like this: if you eat the meat, why not give everything else to me? It¡¯s not like you have any use for it.


    As for what was already in the cave, those were no good. They had been there for so long that any essence energy inside of them had long ago dispersed, making them worthless.


    The fiend tiger red at him. ¡°Human, you¡¯re too greedy. I won¡¯t quarrel with you if you want the skin and bones of other fiend beasts, but if you¡¯re trying to get my children¡­¡±


    ¡°Big Brother Wang, Yiyi is just as valuable as your little tiger cubs, but do I look like I n to sell her off?¡± Tang Jie asked back.


    The fiend tiger rxed upon hearing this, snorting, ¡°Even so, why should I trust you?¡±


    Before releasing the tiger, Tang Jie had had Yiyi leave. It was clear from how much Tang Jie cherished this precious sprite that he was not a person of shallow affections.


    This was precisely why it had entrusted him with the tiger cub.


    Seeing that the fiend tiger didn¡¯t mind, Tang Jie said, ¡°Right, one other thing¡­¡±


    ¡°You have too many requests!¡± The fiend tiger got angry.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°This isn¡¯t a demand, but a gift.¡±


    Tang Jie took out the Martial Mirror. ¡°Many people want this, and though I managed to fool the people that Godhead Pce sentst time, that was simply because they had restrained themselves and were unwilling to rm me before they had confirmed who I was. But if theye again, whether it¡¯s the Basking Moon Sect or Godhead Pce, they probably won¡¯t rest until they¡¯ve flipped the entire ce upside down. It¡¯s not right for me to leave it at my ce anymore.¡±


    ¡°You want to hide it here?¡±


    Tang Jie nodded.


    Was there any safer and more ideal ce than this?


    Not even in their dreams would the Basking Moon Sect and Godhead Pce have imagined that Tang Jie would hide the Martial Mirror here.


    And probably only the fiend tiger had the strength to protect the Martial Mirror and no desire for it.


    This fiend beast that hated humans the most had be the guardian Tang Jie could trust the most.


    From a certain perspective, Tang Jie was also making a security deposit.


    With this item in the fiend tiger¡¯s possession, it could guarantee that Tang Jie wouldn¡¯t go back on his word, allowing the tiger to rx.


    Thus, the fiend tiger replied without hesitation, ¡°Very well, I agree to your request.¡±


    Tang Jie found a corner and buried the Martial Mirror there.


    He then muttered, ¡°The Tiger Roar Peak that was once searched a thousand years ago finally has a real secret treasure¡­¡±


    Hearing this, the fiend tiger let out a sorrowful growl.


    He had taken everything he wanted and passed on everything he wanted to pass. With nothing else he needed to do, Tang Jie released the wolf.


    Though the fiend tiger had heavily injured the wolf, it would have recuperated with some time. But to free up the beast token, Tang Jie swiftly killed off this refined beast.


    The wolf and Immortal-Binding Rope were items that couldn¡¯t see the light of day, so he didn¡¯t mind too much even if he didn¡¯t have them.


    After killing the wolf, Tang Jie immediately dissected it for parts, and only after that did he grab the little tiger cub to put into the beast token.


    Just when he was about to take it away, the mother tiger growled and staggered to its feet. It walked over to the tiger cub and licked it a few times, tears in its eyes.


    Although it hadn¡¯t attained rationality, it was no ordinary beast. It knew its child was about to leave, and it looked at its mate with imploring eyes. It was clear it did not understand why its child had to be taken away.


    The fiend tiger looked at its wife and helplessly sighed. Stroking the fur on its wife¡¯s neck with a paw, it softly said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be done. For the child and for my tribe, there are things I must do. Zhen¡¯er¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    The mother tiger looked in a daze at its husband, seeming to understand yet not understand, but there was a hint of gentle affection in its eyes.


    And then she saw her husband open his mouth and bite down on her neck.


    <em>Pa!</em>


    With one bite, the mother tiger¡¯s neckbone was bitten through.


    The mother tiger grunted and dropped to the ground, still staring at her husband. Even in death, she had not understood what happened.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Tang Jie jumped in fright. ¡°Why did you kill her?¡±


    ¡°Silence!¡±


    The tiger¡¯s roar resounded through the cave.


    The fiend tiger turned its head, and Tang Jie could see it ring at him with eyes as red as blood.


    It said, ¡°Her body was too weak, and the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s people are no fools. They would need just one look at her to know that there was a problem. Her mind hadn¡¯t opened yet, and she didn¡¯t have the blood refining ability, so the slightest probe would reveal everything¡­ The Basking Moon Sect cannot be allowed to know the truth!¡±


    ¡°So you killed your own wife?¡± Tang Jie angrily said.


    The fiend tiger pounced at Tang Jie and growled at him, ¡°For the revival of my tribe, all of us are constantly dying! Remember your promise! The day you can return freedom to my child, you can take my head with you!¡±


    It drew back, bit down on its wife, and threw her over to Tang Jie. ¡°For you. Didn¡¯t you want the bones, hide, and blood of fiend beasts? Didn¡¯t you want to use our lives as the source of your strength? She is yours!¡±


    His words burned with endless hatred and anger!


    Therge tiger corpse hit Tang Jie in the chest and caused him to stagger backward several steps.


    The two tiger cubs had just lost their mother, and they failed to realize what had happened for a moment. They circled around the tiger corpse, asionally pushing against her with their heads.


    The fiend tiger grabbed little Bao¡¯er and thrust it into Tang Jie¡¯s refined beast token. ¡°Hurry and go already!¡±


    Carrying the tiger corpse and arge bag of materials, Tang Jie staggered out of the cave.


    His mind was inplete disarray.


    Xu Muyang¡¯s words resounded in his mind.


    The Immortal path was dangerous!


    The cultivation world was callous!


    Yes, Xu Muyang had been right.


    The cultivation world was callous!


    Though he had already known this.


    Though he had already understood this.


    Though he had already prepared for this.


    When the cruel and callous actually yed out in front of him, Tang Jie was still shaken.


    In the end, Basking Moon Academy wasn¡¯t the real cultivation world. This warm and gentle environment made students yearn for the outside world, but only when they experienced the coldblooded nature of the outside would they understand the cruelty of the real world!


    What had happened on Tiger Roar Peak was a microcosm of the truth of the world!


    He felt sorrow, but there was nothing he could do but walk out of the formation.


    He took onest nce at Tiger Roar Peak.


    The fiend tiger was watching from the summit.


    Tang Jie lightly shook his head and pped his jade token.


    In a sh, Tang Jie appeared outside of the valley entrance, in front of the vigers of Tiger Roar Vige. Everyone could see that he was carrying arge tiger corpse.


    Everyone was scared out of their wits. ¡°You killed Tiger Roar Peak¡¯s fiend tiger?¡±


    How could that be?


    Not evenrge groups of students managed to achieve that feat!


    ¡°No¡­ I just¡­ When it was unprepared, I snuck into its cave¡­ stole its spirit nts¡­ killed its wife¡­¡± Tang Jie muttered in reply.


    As if in response to his words, the roar of a tiger came from the distant Tiger Roar Peak.


    <em>Raaooooo!</em>


    Imbued with infinite sorrow and bone-prating hatred, it resounded through the valley!

 Chapter 113: Student Loan (1)

    Chapter 113: Student Loan (1)


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know how he ended up back at the Carefree House.


    After getting away from those respectful vigers and tactfully refusing their purchasing offers, Tang Jie said that he was tired and went back with the tiger corpse.


    As he made his way back, he drew the attention of countless students, who pointed and gestured at him. The intive tiger roar was still ringing in Tang Jie¡¯s ears, and he could still see the deep affection and helplessness in the mother tiger¡¯s eyes at the moment of death.


    When he got back to his home, Tang Jie listlessly sat on the ground.


    He released the tiger cub from the beast token.


    Perhaps because he had spent a little too long in that sealed space, the first thing the little cub did was angrily scratch at Tang Jie, after which he saw the motionless form of his mother.


    Perhaps he thought that his mother was asleep. He circled around the body, asionally pushing at her with his head as if he was trying to wake her up.


    In the end, he grew tired and copsed into sleep next to the corpse.


    Yiyi emerged from Tang Jie¡¯s bosom. Climbing onto his neck, she whispered, ¡°Big Brother¡­¡±


    She spoke very softly.


    Everything that had happened today had also been a big shock for this little girl.


    ¡°Mm,¡± Tang Jie grunted.


    He looked at the tiger corpse and then looked at the still-unaware little cub. He grabbed Yiyi and put her next to the tiger cub. ¡°Yiyi, can you promise your big brother something?¡±


    ¡°Mm. Big Brother, just say it and Yiyi will do it.¡±


    ¡°Starting from now, this little tiger is your little brother. Promise your big brother that you will take good care of him.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Yiyi crisply replied, ¡°I¡¯ll take good care of my tiger little brother.¡±


    ¡°Very good,¡± Tang Jie said, petting Yiyi on the head. ¡°Bao¡¯er is still young and doesn¡¯t understand many things. You¡¯re his big sister, so in the future, you can¡¯t argue with your little brother over everything.¡±


    Yiyi firmly nodded.


    Tang Jie smiled and moved to walk out.


    ¡°Big Brother, where are you going?¡± Yiyi asked.


    ¡°To get something for the tiger cub to eat,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    Regardless of how depressed he was, life had to go on.


    The news that Tang Jie had killed a tiger quickly spread.


    Like when he had set a new record, Tang Jie once more had his name resounding through the academy.


    Cai Junyang came to find him on the same day, and the moment he saw Tang Jie, heughed. ¡°You¡¯re vicious! I can¡¯t believe you had the guts to run off to Tiger Roar Peak and kill the tiger. That was an upper-grade Spirit Sensing fiend beast!¡±


    ¡°It was a lower-grade. I killed the mother tiger, and one that had just given birth to a cub and was weak. It was even easier to kill than a normal fiend beast,¡± Tang Jie corrected.


    ¡°But you killed it right under the eyes of an upper-grade fiend beast!¡± Cai Junyang emphasized. He emotionally sighed, ¡°Ah, Tiger Roar Peak! Tiger Roar Peak! Most students don¡¯t even dare to go up there. Every tiger hunt usually requires gathering up more than a hundred people, and even then, most attempts end in failure and numerous casualties. But you went up there alone, so even if you only killed the mother tiger, that¡¯s still enough to proudly stand above the rest of the academy. I, Cai Junyang, acknowledge my inferiority!¡±


    Cai Junyang actually had very high self-esteem and rarely yielded to others, but this time, he truly yielded.


    It was hard to me him. In terms of strength, the Spirit Spring Tier was the lowest tier of cultivation, and there were many people stronger than them.


    But when it came to guts, there were few that had such daring.


    Setting a new record was a sign of strength, and venturing alone into the tiger¡¯s mountain was a sign of courage. Thetter was in much shorter supply and so was more valuable. Moreover, strength would increase with age.


    Thus, it wasn¡¯t just Cai Junyang. All the teachers of the academy looked at Tang Jie in a new light.


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that I can raise my price again?¡± Tang Jie asked with a smile.


    ¡°You still want more?¡± Cai Junyang¡¯s eyes almost popped out. ¡°I still haven¡¯t told you that Lin Dongsheng agreed to yourst price and you already want to increase it?¡±


    ¡°Just joking. I¡¯m not asking for more this time. Right, from the sound of it, Lin Dongsheng has agreed to pay me seven hundred?¡±


    ¡°He agreed a few days ago, but you were holed up in the Forging tform for thest few days, so I didn¡¯t get the chance to tell you. I even had everyone I knew try to pass on the word to you, but in the end, the message never reached you. Lin Dongsheng is beside himself with anxiety. And right after I heard that you came out, you go and kill the mother tiger. You really are something else!¡±


    ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s what was going on.¡± Tang Jie nodded, a sharp glint in his eyes.


    Cai Junyang took out six hundred coins. ¡°Lin Dongsheng had me give this to you. As we agreed, I¡¯ve already taken my one hundred coins.¡±


    ¡°And you call me greedy? I see that you¡¯re not so polite when the timees to split the money,¡± Tang Jie teased as he took the money.


    The two chatted for a little while longer before Cai Junyang left. They had agreed to go down the mountain two days from now to attend the Lin n grandfather¡¯s birthday party. As for the birthday gifts, Lin Dongsheng had already prepared them. The students just needed toe with the gifts.


    After saying goodbye to Cai Junyang, Tang Jie returned to his room to think.


    He reconsidered his n, weighing the different possibilities, noting them down, and analyzing them.


    Yiyi saw that he was serious and tactfully decided not to disturb him, going off to y with the cub.


    The little cub was still trying to get used to the fact that he had lost his parents and brother and would asionally give a sad growl.


    Yiyi acted like a real older sister, picking up the cub and patting him on the back, speaking soothing words to him like an adult using an innocent tone.


    Though she had never learned these things, she quickly picked up these things on her own.


    The tip of the brush scratched against the paper as Tang Jie continued to ponder the possible mishaps that might ur in the execution of his n and how he would counter them.


    Finally, he managed to find some problems that he had not noticed before and developed solutions for them.


    He took another look at the n written out before him and repeatedly checked it over. After confirming that there were no ws, he put it away.


    He took out the formation diagram and some materials. Wiping away the previous formation, Tang Jie began toy out a new one.


    This new one wasn¡¯t too difficult, and Tang Jie was soon done.


    Once it was done, Tang Jie took out the Heartbreak Saber and cut his wrist, allowing a drop of blood to fall into the formation.


    ¡°Big Brother! What¡¯s wrong?¡± Yiyi was rmed by what Tang Jie was doing and quickly rushed over.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m just making some extra preparations,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    The blood was quickly absorbed into the diagram, and it began to give off a red glow of the energy of life.


    Tang Jie continued to drip blood into the diagram.


    As he let out blood, he began to throw in the various spirit fruits and nts he had gathered from Tiger Roar Peak.


    Finally, when the formation in the diagram was brimming with blood, formed into a red sea, Tang Jie cut arge chunk of flesh from his thigh and threw it into the formation, after which he swiftly furled up the diagram.


    His vision blurred, and he almost fell to the floor.


    Fortunately, Yiyi was there to support him. ¡°Big Brother!¡±


    The little girl stared at him with eyes brimming with concern.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯ll be better soon,¡± Tang Jie said, smiling at Yiyi.


    ¡°Big Brother, what are you doing? It¡¯s so scary!¡±


    ¡°Just making some preparations forter.¡±


    ¡°Big Brother, are those bad people really hard to deal with?¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    ¡°Even harder to deal with than that big tiger?¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t we just not fight them?¡± Yiyi asked, looking up at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jieughed.


    He stroked Yiyi on the head. ¡°Silly girl, I don¡¯t want to fight them either, but they¡¯re looking for me. Yiyi, don¡¯t worry. Your big brother can deal with them. Your big brother will defeat them and kill them. You have to trust in your big brother. Once this battle is over, our life will be much more peaceful. But¡­¡±


    Tang Jie hesitated, then he sat next to Yiyi, picked up the tiger cub, and ced them on hisp. He then sternly told Yiyi, ¡°But your big brother will have to go out for a bit, and I can¡¯t bring you along. Yiyi, you and I will have to part for a time.¡±


    ¡°Nooo!¡± Yiyi¡¯s eyes turned red as she threw herself into Tang Jie¡¯s chest. ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave Big Brother!¡±


    She started to wail. She hugged Tang Jie¡¯s neck and wept, ¡°Big Brother, are you angry because I didn¡¯t listen to you? Do you not want me anymore?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart ached as he hugged Yiyi. ¡°Silly little girl, how could that be? Your big brother could abandon anyone, but not you. But your big brother has to go and deal with the enemy, and that¡¯s not the ce for you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not afraid! I¡¯ll fight with Big Brother!¡± Yiyi shouted.


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s no good. Yiyi, listen to me. Once your big brother is gone, you have to take care of the little tiger. Tell your big brother: can you take care of the little tiger and yourself?¡±


    ¡°No! I can¡¯t!¡± Yiyi loudly wept. ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave you! Don¡¯t want to! Don¡¯t want to!¡±


    Tang Jie felt his heart breaking, and he could only pat her on the back and say, ¡°You big dummy, in fact, even when you¡¯re not with your big brother, you can help me out. If you don¡¯t listen to me, then your big brother really will die.¡±


    While Yiyi was a child, she had been through dangerous experiences and challenges. And she was also a sprite, so she was more intelligent than the average child. She immediately stopped crying. Wiping away her tears, she asked, ¡°What can I help Big Brother do?¡±


    Looking at her tear-drenched little face, Tang Jie chuckled and said, ¡°First, take good care of this formation diagram¡­¡±


    He gave the formation diagram to Yiyi and began to softly tell her what she needed to do.


    Sitting in Tang Jie¡¯sp, she listened with greater concentration than ever before.


    After giving Yiyi her orders, Tang Jie went to see Wei Tianchong and returned the puppet to him. He then took a stroll around the outskirts before going to Spirit tform Pavilion.


    He saw Madam Shui and went to greet her.


    Madam Shui chortled. ¡°Good kid, you came out of the Forging tform just yesterday, and you went and killed a mother tiger today. You¡¯re really someone who knows how to stir up trouble.¡±


    ¡°I owe much to Madam¡¯s Heartbreak Saber,¡± Tang Jie said, attributing his feat to the weapon.


    ¡°I know what the treasure I gave you is capable of. In the end, it was because you were sharp enough, though it was a little too risky. Ah, forget it. What¡¯s done is done, and nothing I say will change your mind. But you should take it a little easier from now on. That tiger on Tiger Roar Peak is an upper-grade fiend beast and won¡¯t be fooled by ordinary tricks.¡±


    ¡°This lowly one will keep that in mind.¡±


    ¡°Alright, what do you want this time?¡±


    ¡°I would like Madam¡¯s help with something.¡± Tang Jie gave the tiger corpse to the Madam, as well as the bear corpse, the wolf corpse, and the materials that he hadn¡¯t used up. ¡°I would like Madam to appraise these.¡±


    Madam Shui frowned. ¡°You could have sold all of this in Tiger Roar Vige. Why bring it to me?¡±


    While Spirit Wonder Market sold materials, it didn¡¯t really buy materials, or at least not materials from Tiger Roar Valley. This was mostly because the produce of Tiger Roar Valley was too worthless, so only those vigers found them worthwhile to handle. Spirit Wonder Market primarily traded in higher-ss materials and finished goods.


    But Tang Jie¡¯s harvest this time came from the materials he had found on Tiger Roar Peak, which were much more valuable than those found in the valley. Even so, Madam Shui found them barely eptable.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°If Madam wants it, I will sell, but if you don¡¯t want them, I will use them as coteral.¡±


    ¡°Coteral?¡± Madam Shui was taken aback by this term. ¡°You want to borrow money?¡±


    ¡°Yes! I would like to formally take a loan!¡± Tang Jie answered.


    In this era, specialties were less defined, and many merchants sought to provide numerous services. Thus, it wasn¡¯t rare for stores to also provide loans. Spirit tform Pavilion offered this service, and the interest rate was rather low.


    This was because this was a store administered by Basking Moon Academy, so the loans were subsidized, and they could essentially be considered student loans.


    Even so, it wasn¡¯t just any student who could take a loan. One had to show a sufficient level of strength and sufficient ability to repay the loan in order to take the loan.


    Tang Jie had the reputation and ability to be a client of Spirit Wonder Market, and he was one of those clients with high potential.


    But he had no reason to take a loan!


    Madam Shui looked at Tang Jie in shock. ¡°You¡¯re already out of money? Didn¡¯t the Basking Moon Sect award you with ten thousand spirit coins just a few days ago?¡±


    ¡°I still have around eight thousand. If I sell these items, I¡¯ll probably have ten thousand,¡± Tang Jie replied. He had spent quite a lot buying broken weapons before this, but the six hundred from Cai Junyang had recovered some of it, and if he sold off these items, he would essentially break even.


    ¡°Then why do you want to borrow money? For what?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°I was mainly able to kill the mother tiger because of my young master¡¯s puppet¡­¡±


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t directly answer Madam Shui¡¯s question, instead exining how he had managed to kill the mother tiger.


    ording to his exnation, he had used the puppet to draw away the fiend tiger and then struck and killed the mother tiger when he saw the opportunity.


    It was apletely reasonable lie. As for why the fiend tiger had taken the bait so easily and why Tang Jie had been able to get so close without being discovered, or even how he had also managed to get away with all the spirit nts¡­ even humans had their bouts of idiocy, so why not tigers?


    The good thing about lies was that they just needed to make sense, and the many problems that came with actual execution were not important. In any case, the proof was right there, so you had to believe it whether you wanted to or not.


    After describing how he had killed the tiger, Tang Jie said, ¡°After this battle, this lowly one discovered that this attempt was truly rather risky and that I was able to seed mostly due to luck. Luring the enemy away with the puppet and striking at the weak point is a workable tactic, but puppets have no intelligence and need someone to control them to react, so they can¡¯t lure the enemy very far. Thankfully, the mother tiger was weak after giving birth, so I was able to kill it with one blow, but that fiend tiger came rushing back and nearly took my life. After thinking it over, I feel that if I had a puppet that could work on its own, like a ckte Soldier, I would have been able to lure the fiend tiger farther away, and I wouldn¡¯t have been so severely injured¡­¡±


    He had just bled himself out, so he was still very weak, his face a sickly pale. In Madam Shui¡¯s eyes, his ¡°severe injuries¡± weren¡¯t feigned at all, though she had no idea that it had nothing to do with any ¡°tough battle¡±.


    After hearing all this, she somewhat understood what he was getting at. ¡°You want to get a loan to buy a puppet?¡±


    ¡°Yes, one like a ckte Soldier, one that doesn¡¯t need to be controlled and can take orders from its master.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯te cheap. Whether it¡¯s for materials or the refining formation, this sort of puppet is extremely expensive.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I need to borrow money,¡± Tang Jie replied with a smile.


    ¡°How much do you want to borrow?¡±


    ¡°Two hundred thousand.¡±


    <em>Pffft!</em> Madam Shui spat out her tea.

 Chapter 114: Student Loan (2)

    Chapter 114: Student Loan (2)


    In the mortal world, two hundred thousand spirit coins was several hundred million. In the cultivation world, even Spirit Masters wouldn¡¯t be able to easily take out such a sum. Perhaps only those of the Celestial Heart Realm could pay out two hundred thousand with barely a twitch.


    As for students, this was an enormous sum!


    Tang Jie had a lion-like appetite, gobbling up two hundred thousand in one bite. Madam Shui could barely breathe after hearing his request.


    ring at Tang Jie, Madam Shui said, ¡°You¡¯ve got quite the appetite. Two hundred thousand coins? What do you have to offer as coteral?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°This lowly one still understands the school¡¯s rules. It¡¯s one-to-five coteral value at most, yes?¡±


    Coteral was needed before the loan could be provided, but Spirit tform Pavilion offered loans primarily to help out students, so it naturally wouldn¡¯t only loan out as much as there was coteral for. Rather, it would make partitions ording to the fame, status, and ability of the students.


    There were five tiers. The worst was 1:1, requiring as much coteral value as the money offered, and the highest was 1:5, with the student being able to borrow five times the value of their coteral.


    One¡¯s tier was usually closely connected to one¡¯s performance on the Divine Battleground. Normally, to borrow money at the fifth tier, one needed to have the Peerless evaluation.


    But Tang Jie¡¯s situation was clearly somewhat different.


    As she listened to Tang Jie, Madam Shui somewhat understood what he was getting at. ¡°So you had this all nned out. Though you aren¡¯t a student with a Peerless evaluation, you¡¯ve set a record and ventured into Tiger Roar Peak alone, so putting you in Tier 5 won¡¯t be too excessive. But¡­ even so, you would need forty thousand in coteral.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I need Madam¡¯s help,¡± Tang Jie said with a smile. ¡°I have these goods, and I can also offer up the Heartbreak Saber and Silver Cloud Needles as coteral. If that¡¯s still not enough, then let¡¯s do a batch loan, and I¡¯ll use the puppet as coteral¡­¡±


    He was trying to get a subprime loan.


    He would use the borrowed money to manufacture goods and then use the goods to borrow money.


    The Rosecloud Domain didn¡¯t have the concept of subprime loans, so it was much more cautious when it came to risk. But student loans had some credit worthiness on their own, so a certain level of risk was permitted. Besides that, this was a rather civilized era, so getting a small subprime loan might still be possible.


    s, Madam Shui still shook her head. ¡°That still won¡¯t do!¡±


    Tang Jie wanted too much. This was no longer a problem of coteral.


    A loan of two hundred thousand would mean that the interest payment alone would be one thousand spirit coins. There was no way a student like him could pay all that back on his own.


    In the end, money was loaned so that money could be made. All other considerations were based on the borrower¡¯s ability to repay the loan.


    Let alone a Spirit Spring student, even a Peerless Spirit Sea student wouldn¡¯t be able to make one thousand coins per month, so there would be no hope of borrowing two hundred thousand.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s make it one hundred thousand.¡± Since two hundred thousand didn¡¯t work, Tang Jie made a concession.


    Madam Shui was rendered helpless, and she chuckled, ¡°Tang Jie, if you don¡¯t mind me saying so, you¡¯ve got a good head and you work hard, but your ideas are a little too big. It would be one thing if you said you were just making a puppet, but spending one hundred to two hundred thousand? In the cultivation world, cultivation is the proper path. If you spend one hundred thousand on a puppet, you could rank first in the Divine Battleground five times a month and sweep through Tiger Roar Valley and still not make back your costs.¡±


    Inpetition, one had to consider one¡¯s costs.


    Why was it that groups of students had failed to hunt the fiend tiger on Tiger Roar Peak while Tang Jie alone had seeded?


    It wasn¡¯t because he was stronger than those students, but because he had been willing to disregard profit and make a loss in order to win.


    If he didn¡¯t have another goal in mind, such a victory was pointless!


    But using the same method in school wasn¡¯t worth it.


    Madam Shui had a very high opinion of Tang Jie, but she was very pessimistic when it came to Tang Jie¡¯s goal. Thus, no matter how much she liked him, she would never agree.


    But in this matter, Tang Jie could not back down.


    ¡°Madam, please, show some generosity. If Madam is willing to lend, this student is willing to ept a monthly interest rate of 3%.¡±


    ¡°3% monthly interest rate?¡± Madam Shui scoffed. ¡°You talk big, but that¡¯s three thousand coins a month. How do you n to pay that?¡±


    ¡°Using myself,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°If I can¡¯t repay it, then there¡¯s no harm in selling myself off to Spirit tform Pavilion!¡±


    Madam Shui was just about to say ¡°You aren¡¯t worth that much¡± when she heard a voicee from outside: ¡°Lend it to him.¡±


    Xie Fengtang had appeared at the entrance.


    ¡°Fengtang?¡± Madam Shui raised her head in surprise. ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    ¡°For this kid, of course.¡± Xie Fengtang pointed at Tang Jie. ¡°You don¡¯t think he came here to borrow money from you without any sort of preparation, did you?¡±


    So that¡¯s how it was! Tang Jie had even asked for help from Xie Fengtang in order to borrow this money.


    When she understood this, she red at Tang Jie.


    Although she didn¡¯t fear Xie Fengtang, Xie Fengtang was the headmaster of Basking Moon Academy. Since he was allowing this loan, there was no need for her to haggle. All she could say was, ¡°That being the case, I¡¯ll lend it out, but don¡¯t me me for not warning you. If you don¡¯t have the ability to repay, this debt will crush you.¡±


    Madam Shui was unwilling to loan to him out of concern that he was taking too much pressure too early.


    But she had no idea that Tang Jie was carrying a burden far greater than anyone could imagine.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°This lowly one will remember Madam¡¯s concern.¡±


    Madam Shui took out a slip of talisman paper, and as she wrote down the amount being loaned, she said, ¡°Since you¡¯re borrowing money, you had best take a close look at the rules. I won¡¯t take 3% interest from you. The monthly interest is 1.5%, to be paid monthly. A quarter of the principal must be repaid every half a year, and the loan must bepletely paid off in two years. As for your coteral, forget about it. These aren¡¯t rare things for Spirit tform Pavilion. In any case, if you can¡¯t repay the loan, the people of the Basking Moon Sect wille to settle the debt with you. When the timees, you¡¯ll have to take out everything you own to pay the debt, and if youck the money, you¡¯ll have to sell your body¡­ At your current level of strength, you¡¯ll be working for a lifetime.¡±


    ¡°Naturally!¡± Tang Jie immediately agreed.


    Once she had exined all the important conditions, Madam Shui handed over the loan receipt. ¡°There are no problems. Please leave a drop of your blood here as a seal.¡±


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t even look. He simply bit his lip and left a red seal of blood on the paper.


    The loan receipt used a special kind of talisman paper. The moment one dripped blood on it, the loan receipt would lock onto the borrower¡¯s position. There was no hiding unless one fled the Rosecloud Domain.


    Once this was done, Madam Shui gave Tang Jie one hundred spirit jades, and Tang Jie left after receiving the money.


    Madam Shui once more looked at Xie Fengtang, a chiding look in her eyes. ¡°Really, what are you doing? How could you agree to lend him money? He¡¯s just a student. How long do you think it will take for him to pay it back?¡±


    To her surprise, Xie Fengtang replied, ¡°What I want is exactly for him to not have any money to pay it back with. There are some things that you don¡¯t know about, so there is no need for you to ask.¡±


    With a heartyugh, he departed.


    The Basking Moon Sect¡¯s patience with Tang Jie was beginning to run thin, but there had been no opportunity to interrogate him.


    Now that Tang Jie owed one hundred thousand spirit coins, when he couldn¡¯t pay it back, the Basking Moon Sect would finally have its chance.


    How could Xie Fengtang let go of such an opportunity?


    With the money, Tang Jie took a stroll around Spirit Wonder Market.


    With all of this money, he now only looked at the best items.


    Fifty-year violet wolfiporia, one-hundred-year ice lotus, thirty-year-settled stone essence, and even Mortal Shedding fiend pellets. All of these were items that he sought.


    Yes.


    These were all herbs used for cultivating the Parting ssic.


    Tang Jie had never once nned to use these one hundred thousand coins on a puppet.


    The biggest problem with providing loans in ancient times was that it was hard to keep track of how the money was spent.


    The loan providers had only ever worried about the ability to repay the loan and what to do if the money couldn¡¯t be repaid. But problems like how to avoid clients who couldn¡¯t pay and the managing of finances had never been considered. The ¡°seeking loan receipt¡± also meant that the chances of the borrower running off plunged such that nobody cared about seeing how Tang Jie actually spent the money.


    With this giant sum, Tang Jie swept through Spirit Wonder Market.


    This was the biggest shopping spree he had ever had in his time in the academy. In the space of two hours, he spent all one hundred and ten thousand spirit coins in his possession.


    With his bundles of precious materials, he returned to the Carefree House. He had wiped Spirit Wonder Market free of its rare goods so that there were probably no herbs left in the academy, and the price of materials was certain to soar in the short term. But Tang Jie didn¡¯t care.


    Once he got back to the Carefree House, he heated up a basin of water, prepared the herbs, and dumped them into the water. Thus, he began his fourth tempering bath.


    This was the most expensive bath to date. With just the slightest cirction of the mantra, medicinal power would travel through the water and steam into his skin and onward into his body.


    The excessive blood loss during the day had left him utterly exhausted, and his body was now like a hungry baby, greedily sucking on any source of nutrition.


    Tang Jie¡¯s body was like a ck hole, able to take in all the medicinal effects.


    In the herbal haze, Tang Jie could feel his body changing.


    His skin turned even whiter and cleaner, gaining the luster of jade, healthy and pliant. But nobody could tell that a berserk strengthy beneath this cultured exterior.


    Tang Jie could feel a warmth madly surging through his entire body, and as this indescribable power filled him, he couldn¡¯t help but want to shout! Want to fight!


    This originated from a desire to unleash his abundant blood energy.


    But Tang Jie knew that he had to endure, had to keep focusing on circting the mantra. The steam gathered over his head like a cloud, bizarrely spinning, and Tang Jie¡¯s face flushed red, then began to change into other colors under the steam¡­ This bath was particrly long,sting all the way until the afternoon of the next day before the medicinal power was finally spent.


    When he finally emerged from the bath, he was no longer that dejected self who was weak from blood loss. He was brimming with energy and seemed entirely transformed.


    It was an indescribable feeling, a sensation that the surrounding world was slightly different. Nothing had actually changed, but with one nce, Tang Jie felt like he could see the world down to the tiniest detail.


    All was within his vision!


    All secrets were revealed to him!


    This was the realm of the minuscule and detailed.


    Tang Jie understood that he had reached what cultivators referred to as the minuscule level.


    The minuscule level was truthfully a disy of a cultivator¡¯s abilities. Once a cultivator tempered their body to a certain level, the functions of their senses and organs would be strengthened. Vision, hearing, and other senses would be boosted, while the body¡¯s organs would be more capable of producing blood and recovering.


    The minuscule level meant that one would be able to observe everything down to the tiniest detail, nothing escaping one¡¯s gaze.


    Above the minuscule level were void-plumbing and illusion-breaking. At this level, one could see through the void, look beyond the pale of death, and prate through illusions without the need of spells. But Tang Jie wasn¡¯t able to reach this higher level yet.


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t expected this one bath to get him to the minuscule level, and he couldn¡¯t help but sigh in wonder. The Martial Lord¡¯s arts were expensive, but their effects were worth the cost.


    His skin was so glossy that it truly seemed to be made of white jade. It was only now that he could be considered to have reached the Jewel Body.


    The Jewel Body referred to a body like jade and marrow made from metal. The body had been strengthened from the outside to the inside, and all the organs had been bolstered. This was the primary reason he had been able to reach the minuscule level.


    In terms of strength, while Tang Jie felt like he was much stronger, it wasn¡¯t what he had expected out of an investment of one hundred and ten thousand coins.


    Tang Jie knew that this was primarily because this tempering bath had primarily bolstered his insides, and also because he had yet to fully develop his body.


    The changes the Parting ssic effected on the body primarily focused on boosting the potential of the body. Thirty percent was in immediate effect while seventy percent was in potential. Further honing would be needed to see real change, and the method he used to hone his body would determine how this potential developed.


    Someone who cultivated the Parting ssic could focus on fierce and swift attacks, endurance, incredible strength, skin as tough as metal, or even a recovery ability so formidable that it would make one unkible.


    Tang Jie¡¯s training in the Celestial Defense Hall had meant that hisst few cultivation sessions of the Parting ssic had been focused on defense. When paired with the Aquagel Shroud and the Formless Golden Body, he could simply stand there and let an average student beat him to no avail.


    As for how to develop this potential, that would depend on his experiences and what direction he chose.


    Even so, Tang Jie¡¯s strength had already taken a massive leap.


    The herbs he had bought with one hundred and ten thousand spirit coins had endowed him with a body that not even a Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator in the Hundred Refinement Period could match.


    Though he appeared refined and gentle on the surface, a mad beast lurked beneath!

 Chapter 115: Leaving the Academy

    Chapter 115: Leaving the Academy


    The day of the birthday party finally arrived.


    That morning, Tang Jie had just finished practicing his sword arts when someone knocked on the door.


    He opened the door to find Lin Dongsheng.


    Lin Dongsheng was scrawny and thin, looking like someone who was easily frightened, and his eyes constantly darted around. He was like a monkey.


    The moment he saw Tang Jie, he put on a respectful smile. ¡°Brother Tang, are you ready? Everyone else is waiting for you at the base of the mountain.¡±


    Tang Jie asked, ¡°Wasn¡¯t the birthday banquet supposed to be held at night? Why are we going so early?¡±


    Lin Dongsheng replied, ¡°Ha, Brother Tang, you¡¯re wrong there. We so rarely leave the academy that we have to make the most out of the one day we have and have a fun time. We¡¯ve all agreed to y around in the city during the day, and when nightes, we¡¯ll head straight over to my ce for the banquet.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s fine. Let me clean up a little first.¡±


    He returned to his room to change clothes.


    Once he had dressed ande out, Lin Dongsheng saw that Tang Jie was only wearing his student robes and hadn¡¯t even brought a weapon, carrying only a box in his hand. He couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Tang Jie, why are you going with so little? What about the Heartbreak Saber?¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m going out to spar. Why should I bring my saber?¡±


    ¡°You might be asked to put on a performance.¡±


    ¡°I can perform a dance with any random saber. Come on; let¡¯s head to the post station first. I have something I need to mail out.¡±


    ¡°For the old couple?¡± Lin Dongsheng casually asked as he walked with Tang Jie.


    ¡°No, for Lady Wei. The young master asked me to do it. I¡¯m a servant student, you know,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°I almost forgot that you were a servant student,¡± Lin Dongsheng said,ughing. ¡°But if I could have grades like yours, I would also be willing to be a servant student!¡±


    ¡°Forget about it. Who would be a servant student if they could be a young master? You¡¯re someone who lives in luxury while not knowing it. Rather than getting envious of all those heavenly geniuses, you go and envy servants like me. To stand on the side and look down on us lowly scoundrels from on high is the proper path!¡± Tang Jie teased.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean that I¡¯m respectful to the wise?¡±


    ¡°Ha, it looks more to me like you have ulterior motives.¡±


    Lin Dongsheng erupted inughter.


    The two schoolmates talked andughed as they made their way to the post office. Tang Jie passed the box to the student in charge. The student gave him a receipt, and after Tang Jie put it away, he waved his hand and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    At the base of the mountain, he saw that Cai Junyang, Liu Hongyan, Ping Jingyue, Shu Mingyang, Li Yijing, and Yang Zhiyuan were all there.


    For this birthday party, the Lin n had invited all the elite students of the Freedom Society.


    After exchanging a few words, they all boarded the boat.


    As the boat approached the other shore, Tang Jie took out a gold-embroidered fan from his sleeve and lightly fanned himself.


    Everyone saw him putting on airs and expressed their wonder.


    Ping Jingyue covered her mouth and chuckled. ¡°Brother Tang, when you wave around a fan, you actually seem rather cultured.¡±


    Tang Jie casually answered, ¡°So are you implying that there¡¯s a degenerate hiding in this body?¡±


    Everyoneughed.


    Cai Junyang frowned and said, ¡°Why are you taking out a fan? It¡¯s not like we¡¯re students off to the capital to take exams. What¡¯s the point in acting like a snob?¡±


    Tang Jie continued to fan himself as he said, ¡°We¡¯re entering the city as guests, so we can¡¯t seem like violent brutes. Putting on a dignified fa?ade is necessary. And besides, it¡¯s hard enough in life to find an opportunity to y pretend!¡±


    ¡°Then pleasepose a poem for me to enjoy.¡±


    Tang Jie waved his fan and forthrightly replied, ¡°Absolutely not! I¡¯m feigning refinement, not actually refined.¡±


    Everyone again erupted inughter.


    They were soon at the shore. The party disembarked and headed into the city.


    Once the group was rather far off, several people appeared in a distant grove of trees.


    The leader was Gao Fei. Next to him were Zhao Xinguo and three other people, all of them wearing short-sleeved clothes made of rough cloth.


    ¡°Is it him?¡± Zhao Xinguo asked.


    The three of them looked at each other and shook their heads.


    Zhao Xinguo angrily said, ¡°What does shaking your head mean? Talk! Do you still not know if it¡¯s him?¡±


    The three of them replied together, ¡°Master, we do not know.¡±


    ¡°Trash!¡± Zhao Xinguo was so furious that he almost vomited blood.


    One of the older men hurriedly said, ¡°It¡¯s really too far, and he¡¯s waving that fan around, obscuring half of his face. But at first nce, he does look rather simr.¡±


    ¡°Rather simr!¡± the other two replied in unison.


    Gao Fei snorted, ¡°If you can¡¯t see him clearly, you can¡¯t see him clearly. What¡¯s this about being simr or not? We require a definite answer, not this sort of wishy-washy reply. If you couldn¡¯t get a good look, then we¡¯ll follow him and get a closer one. We have the entire day, so get a good look and make sure. Don¡¯t make the same mistake asst time!¡±


    Godhead Pce had never nned to wait until the evening banquet to make the confirmation. From the moment Tang Jie came out, they were ready to have his identity confirmed and then have him captured.


    For this purpose, Godhead Pce had enclosed all of Wanquan City in a!


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie casually strolled around with the other students.


    It was the middle of spring, when all the flowers were in bloom, and seas of flowers could be seen wherever one looked. There was a thick crowd around the Student Forest, and the carriages of wealthy ns were going in and out. The new school year was about to begin, and the next batch of students was about to arrive.


    ¡°Really, time just flies by. All of a sudden, it¡¯s been almost a year. I can still remember what it was like when we first entered school. I didn¡¯t think I would be seeing a new batch of studentse in so soon. We¡¯re going from being junior brothers and sisters to their senior brothers and sisters,¡± Liu Hongyan emotionally sighed.


    These words drew the agreement of the others.


    In their minds, this year had truly gone by quickly. They had never imagined that time would just rush past them so quickly.


    They had initially believed that ten years in school was too long, but now, it seemed that if theypletely devoted themselves to cultivation, ten years might be too short.


    Cai Junyang sighed, ¡°That¡¯s what the cultivation of Immortality is like. The mountains have no concept of years, and the cultivation of Immortality cares not for months. We haven¡¯t even really started yet. Once we get into the truly profound realms, we might meditate in the morning and onlye out after a few years or even a few decades. When that timees, when we look back, we might find that deep seas have turned into mulberry fields and that the people around us are all different. The ruddy cheeks of childhood might have even turned into white bones buried in the yellow earth.¡±


    Everyone couldn¡¯t help but be shaken by these words.


    Tang Jie lightly said, ¡°There¡¯s a good reason those who cultivate Immortality seek a clear mind and solitary lives. If you can¡¯t abandon your secr connections, you can never achieve the Great Dao.¡±


    Liu Hongyan smiled. ¡°So ording to Brother Tang, for us schoolmates to go out like this to leisurely enjoy the flowers and chat about the Immortal path is actually taking the incorrect path. Rather, we need to be like Qi Shaoming and An Rumeng, holding ourselves aloof from everyone else and being all alone?¡±


    Everyoneughed,menting, ¡°That¡¯s exactly it! Our actions are not the correct path!¡±


    Ping Jingyue pouted. ¡°How boring. Even if we have to be all alone in the future, we don¡¯t have to do that right now. Why should we abandon our present friends for our future solitude? We should be cherishing these moments in which we can be together.¡±


    ¡°But we¡¯ll ultimately have to part,¡± Tang Jie casually said.


    Everyone¡¯s hearts sank.


    Liu Hongyan slightly creased her brow. ¡°Brother Tang, your words are too¡­¡±


    Before she could finish, she saw Tang Jie walking away.


    Taken aback, Liu Hongyan shouted, ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    Tang Jie turned his head and smiled. ¡°I¡¯m parting for a bit.¡±


    He made a small gesture that he needed to pee.


    Liu and Ping immediately blushed, and Liu Hongyan got so angry that she stopped her feet. She red at Tang Jie before looking away, shouting, ¡°But you¡¯ll have toe back at some point. Do you think you can run away?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps¡­¡± Tang Jie leisurely replied as he made his way into a nearby grove of trees.


    Since he needed to pee, he naturally needed to do it in a ce where no one was around while also keeping a watch on his surroundings.


    Deep within the trees, Tang Jie looked around to make sure no one was around before taking out a flower from his bosom.


    The flower transformed into Yiyi, who silently looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie squatted down and stroked Yiyi¡¯s face. ¡°Yiyi, starting from now, your big brother won¡¯t be able to keep youpany. You need to take good care of yourself and the little tiger.¡±


    He took out the refined beast token, wrapping it into a bundle with a cloth he had brought with him and then cing it in Yiyi¡¯s hands.


    Yiyi began to cry. ¡°Big Brother, I don¡¯t want to go. Can¡¯t you let me stay at your side a little longer?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart winced at these words.


    s, he could only shake his head.


    The moment he stepped onto the shore, he was no longer safe.


    Godhead Pce could move at any time.


    Yiyi had to leave him as soon as possible. Each extra minute was another minute that she was in danger.


    ¡°I also don¡¯t want to leave, silly girl¡­¡± He hugged Yiyi and gave her a kiss.


    This time, Yiyi didn¡¯t try to avoid it.


    After kissing her, Tang Jie wiped away her tears. ¡°Go on. Take the little cub away from this ce, and make sure nobody notices you.¡±


    Yiyi could no longer restrain herself and began to wail.


    She buried her head in Tang Jie¡¯s chest and bitterly sobbed, tearsing out from her like a fountain.


    Even though he knew that the situation was dangerous and that each additional second of dy was dangerous, when he saw how sad Yiyi was, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t bring himself to push her away.


    He lightly stroked her head and patted her on the back. ¡°Yiyi, be good. If you want to see your big brother earlier, you have to listen to him. So long as your big brother can beat those bad people, Yiyi cane back to your big brother¡¯s side.¡±


    Hearing this, Yiyi restrained her sobs.


    She looked up at Tang Jie and sniffled, tears still running down her face.


    Tang Jie could look no longer. He turned around and began to leave.


    ¡°Big Brother!¡± Yiyi shouted.


    Tang Jie¡¯s feet paused for a moment, but in the end, he left without another word.


    He had already told her everything he needed to. There was nothing else to be said.


    As she watched him leave, her tears gradually dried up.


    She wiped away her tears and released the tiger cub.


    The tiger cub clearly didn¡¯t like being in the token, and began to softly growl.


    Yiyi hugged him and soothed, ¡°Bao¡¯er, be a good boy and don¡¯t make a fuss. Your big sister is here.¡±


    ¡°Woo¡­¡± The tiger cub looked around, clearly wondering why Tang Jie wasn¡¯t here.


    ¡°Big Brother left us¡­ Starting from now, it¡¯s just the two of us,¡± Yiyi said, hugging the cub.


    ¡°Wooo?¡± The tiger cub looked at Yiyi in wide-eyed confusion.


    ¡°But he wille back,¡± Yiyi seriously said.


    She grabbed the cub¡¯s ear. ¡°Come on, Bao¡¯er. We have to leave¡­ and do what Big Brother told us to so that he can beat those bad people. So long as we can beat those bad people, Big Brother wille back.¡±


    The tiger cub didn¡¯t understand what she meant, but when he saw Yiyi walk away, he followed her like a littleckey. The little girl and the tiger soon vanished into the depths of the forest.


    At the same time, Tang Jie stepped out of the forest and saw a man walking toward him.


    The man was wearing golden clothes and had a handsome and confident face.


    When he saw Tang Jie, he smiled and said, ¡°Is this Student Tang Jie of Basking Moon?¡±


    ¡°You are¡­¡± Tang Jie appeared confused.


    ¡°This one is Gu Changqing!¡±

 Chapter 116: Chat

    Chapter 116: Chat


    ¡°Gu Changqing?¡±


    Tang Jie muttered, the confusion in his eyes growing.


    He tilted his head and thought it over, then he shook his head. ¡°My apologies. I don¡¯t seem to know you.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s face had showed no peculiarities, which left Gu Changqing a tad disappointed. But he was unmoved, smiling as he said, ¡°It isn¡¯t strange for Little Brother to not have heard of me. This one is the supervisor for the Godhead Pce exchange students here.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so it was Supervisor Gu!¡± Tang Jie spoke in a very dragged-out way, his face clearly showing the look of someone who had no idea who he was talking to but trying to look like they did.


    He could pretend to not know Gu Changqing, but not Godhead Pce.


    Actually, Gu Changqing wasn¡¯t lying. Besides being Deputy Eagle Master of the Hawk Hall, he really was the supervisor for all of Godhead Pce¡¯s students, and this was his publicly known status.


    Because of his age, he couldn¡¯t enter the academy, so he had to leave most of the work to his subordinates.


    This was one of the greatest restrictions on him.


    But today, he was finally able to see Tang Jie himself.


    Looking at Tang Jie¡¯s face, Gu Changqing chuckled and said, ¡°I don¡¯t me you for not recognizing me, but I¡¯ve heard about you. On the first day of school, you amazed everyone with your deration, and after getting first ce in the examination, you inherited the Immortal ssic, and not too long ago, you established a new record in the Celestial Defense Hall. Your reputation is already catching up to those of Qi Shaoming and An Rumeng, and your poprity is currently unparalleled. Today, a student of Godhead Pce came to my ce to take his monthly sry and told me that he saw you. Otherwise, I would have narrowly missed out on this chance to meet with Little Brother Tang. When I heard that you were here, I came personally to see you. Please forgive me if I am disturbing you in some way.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes glowed. ¡°Your Godhead Pce students get a monthly sry?¡±


    It was as if these were the only words of all that Gu Changqing had said that he had paid any attention to.


    Gu Changqing erupted inughter. ¡°My Godhead students are far from home and have traveled great distances, all for this matter. If they did not have any sort of sry, how could they be convinced?¡±


    When he said ¡°all for this matter¡±, he stared at Tang Jie. It was as if he was saying, ¡°I burdened so many people by having them travel so far from their homes all because of you!¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°It truly isn¡¯t easy. But haven¡¯t students of my Basking Moon also gone to Nadir Hill? Though I don¡¯t know if they receive any sort of sry.¡±


    ¡°Of course they do, though it¡¯s my Godhead Pce paying it.¡± Gu Changqing was in no rush. When he saw that Tang Jie remained impervious to his probes and had changed the topic to money, he decided to y along.


    The two of them continued to chat as they walked along. Hearing this from Gu Changqing, Tang Jiemented, ¡°Wow! Then your Godhead Pce is much more generous than the Basking Moon Sect.¡±


    ¡°If Little Brother is willing, you can also be an exchange student at Godhead Pce,¡± Gu Changqing beamed. ¡°With Tang Jie¡¯s current status and reputation, my Godhead Pce would undoubtedly be happy to make the exchange. If Little Brother is willing toe, you can receive one spirit jade a month. How about it?¡±


    He went with the flow and offered Tang Jie an invitation.


    Tang Jie hesitated and then answered, ¡°It sounds pretty good, but I¡¯m not the one who can decide such things, right?¡±


    ¡°If Little Brother is willing, we will handle Basking Moon Academy. It¡¯s just a minor matter.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what you say, but we¡¯ve only just gotten to know each other and you¡¯re already bringing up topics like this. Isn¡¯t this a little much for a stranger?¡±


    Gu Changqingughed. ¡°Little Brother is right. After all, this is our first meeting. It¡¯s a little early to talk about such things.¡±


    Cai Junyang and the rest walked over, and they all froze when they saw Gu Changqing.


    Liu Hongyan asked, ¡°Tang Jie, this one is¡­¡±


    ¡°This is Godhead Pce Supervisor Gu Changqing¡­¡± He looked at Gu Changqing and added, ¡°He seems to be somewhat of an admirer of mine.¡±


    <em>Thud!</em>


    The students almost fell over.


    <em>The student supervisor of Godhead Pce is somewhat of an admirer of yours? You really know how to talk!</em>


    Even Gu Changqing¡¯s face was shifting around a bit, but in the end, he just chuckled. ¡°Little Brother truly speaks in an amusing manner. Right, how should I address all of you?¡±


    Cai Junyang and the others reported their names.


    Gu Changqing realized what was happening. ¡°So this was a gathering of the elite students of the Freedom Society. I¡¯m rather lucky to chance upon it. Regardless, all of you are rare geniuses of the academy, and I must use this chance to get to know all of you. My good students, where are all of you going? Why not let this Gu Changqing apany you? I have lived in Wanquan City for three years and am quite familiar with the area.¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Liu Hongyan and the others exchanged looks.


    They were students going on an outing. Why was this random outsider trying to butt in?


    In the end, it was Lin Dongsheng who spoke. ¡°It would naturally be wonderful if Supervisor Gu is willing to join us. Right, my Lin Estate¡¯s venerable master is having his birthday tonight. If Supervisor Gu does not mind, you may join.¡±


    His grandfather had invited numerous famous individuals for his birthday, and as the student supervisor for Godhead Pce, Gu Changqing could be said to represent Godhead Pce in some respects. Thus, Lin Dongsheng had sufficient reason to wee him.


    ¡°That being the case, this Changqing will trouble you, then,¡± Gu Changqing said in delight.


    They strolled along Jade Belt Lake and chattered. Though Gu Changqing was a Spirit Master, he didn¡¯t have the attitude of an esteemed teacher, so everyone had a pleasant time talking with him.


    Not far from them, a group of what appeared to be tourists followed at a pace that was neither too fast nor too slow. They seemed to be enjoying the view, but they would asionally nce at the students. This was naturally Gao Fei¡¯s group.


    ¡°Look. Over there is where my Godhead Pce has lodgings. If all of you have time in the future, you maye and pay a visit, and my Godhead Pce will certainly do everything in its power as the host,¡± Gu Changqing said, pointing at the Eagle Nest.


    All the students turned together, as did Tang Jie. This time, he did not use the fan to cover his face.


    All three got a good look this time and shivered in unison. They all shouted, ¡°It¡¯s him! He¡¯s the one!¡±


    Gao Fei¡¯s eyes erupted with cold light. ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡±


    An old man stared at Tang Jie¡¯s face and muttered, ¡°He¡¯s gotten a little taller and his skin¡¯s a little whiter, but it¡¯s still the same appearance. It should be him!¡±


    ¡°Move past them and take a look from another angle!¡± Gao Fei sternly ordered.


    This was an important matter, and afterst time¡¯s mistake, Godhead Pce didn¡¯t want another. They would only move after repeatedly confirming it.


    The group quickly moved past the students. They stopped ahead to pretend to look at the scenery while ncing at Tang Jie.


    After repeatedly looking at Tang Jie, another of the trio trembled and said, ¡°It¡¯s right. It must be him!¡±


    ¡°No mistake?¡±


    ¡°No mistake!¡± all three replied in unison.


    One of them said, ¡°This lowly one would dare to wager my life that he is Tang Jiye. Master Gao, look there. Doesn¡¯t he look rather simr to that person I mistook for himst time? That was just because I hadn¡¯t gotten a proper look at his face. Now that I have, I¡¯m sure that it¡¯s him!¡±


    ¡°Good! Excellent!¡± Gao Fei was so excited that he wanted to howl at the sky, but he restrained his emotions and gave the distant Gu Changqing a nod and a thumbs-up.


    This meant that the target was confirmed with the highest level of reliability.


    Now, they needed to prepare to catch the target.


    But to his surprise, Gu Changqing lightly shook his head.


    Zhao Xinguo froze. ¡°What does Eagle Master mean? Why aren¡¯t we capturing him even though we¡¯ve confirmed it?¡±


    Gao Fei understood and whispered, ¡°We¡¯re still in the Student Forest, too close to the academy, so it¡¯s not right to strike yet. It will be better to make our move when we¡¯re farther away so as to avoid the Basking Moon Sect.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Zhao Xinguo got it. He asked Gao Fei, ¡°Since we¡¯ve confirmed the target, what should we do with these three?¡±


    ¡°Get them out of here,¡± Gao Fei replied.


    ¡°Why not¡­¡± Zhao Xinguo made a killing gesture.


    Gao Fei considered it, but he ultimately shook his head.


    The students were still walking along theke, and as they conversed, they drew farther and farther away until they reached a rather deserted area.


    In the middle of an excited conversation, Cai Junyang suddenly sighed.


    Yang Zhiyuan asked him, ¡°Brother Cai, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± Cai Junyang said with a shake of his head. ¡°I just thought about how it will be my father¡¯s birthday in a few more days. Brother Lin, your home is in Wanquan, so you can still go back when your elders have birthdays, but people like us who havee from afar don¡¯t have that ability.¡±


    ¡°True, true,¡± everyone sighed. They had all been away from home for nearly a year. It was far from their minds when they were cultivating, but now that Cai Junyang had brought it up, they all couldn¡¯t help but think of home.


    Tang Jie noted, ¡°Even so, we just have to work hard on cultivating. Once we reach Spirit Lake, we can go out on missions. We can just find a ce close to home and pay them a visit while we¡¯re out.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea,¡± everyone agreed.


    Tang Jie added, ¡°But for Supervisor Gu, you came all the way to Sageheart from Nadir Hill. Not even the excuse of a mission would let you visit your parents, yes?¡±


    Gu Changqing smiled. ¡°I am an orphan and have no rtives.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Tang Jie said in a half-teasing manner, ¡°I¡¯ve heard Godhead Pce¡¯s Shadow Hall specifically raises orphans so that they can be sent to various areas as spies once they¡¯re adults. Supervisor Gu, you¡¯re not from Godhead Pce¡¯s Shadow Hall, are you?¡±


    Gu Changqingughed. ¡°I didn¡¯t think this little brother would understand my Godhead Pce so well. Yes, I really am from the Shadow Hall. But Changqing is rather fortunate to enjoy the favor of Godhead Pce. I was given a chance to show my ability that had me transferred from the Shadow Hall to the Hawk Hall.¡±


    ¡°The Hawk Hall?¡± Li Yijing was surprised. ¡°Isn¡¯t that the department of Godhead Pce meant specifically for searching for and capturing criminals? So you¡¯re a hunting dog of Godhead Pce?¡±


    No matter the era, country, or faction, hunting dogs had a bad reputation. They were the spies ofrge organizations, and their executioners.


    In a world of strife, the ministry of war took the fore!


    In a world of peace, the hunting dogs showed their might!


    In these two differing eras, different organizations were relevant.


    In this peaceful and civilized world, the Hawk Hall was located in the darkest shadows cast by the light, where all the filth gathered, and hunting dogs were synonymous with cruelty and callousness!


    Everyone slightly grimaced at the mention of hunting dogs.


    Deep down, none of them wanted to interact with this sort of person.


    It would be like if a modern-day person found that they were standing next to someone from the KGB. Even if they had done nothing wrong, they would still feel guilty.


    Cai Junyang snorted. ¡°It¡¯s no wonder Godhead Pce came all the way to my Sageheart to exchange students! The exchange is just a front to probe my country, yeah? I really don¡¯t know what the upper echelons of the Basking Moon Sect are thinking, letting Godhead Pce do as it pleases. Cowards!¡±


    Sure enough, criticizing government policy was an amusement that themon folk never tired of.


    Cai Junyang had a straightforward personality and had nothing good to say about hunting dogs. Thus, he boldly said these words in front of Gu Changqing.


    Gu Changqing wasn¡¯t angry. He simply chuckled and said, ¡°Gathering information is the Shadow Hall¡¯s work. The Hawk Hall is concerned with capturing criminals, so, Young Master Cai, I won¡¯t ept this usation.¡±


    ¡°But what sort of person is in my Sageheart Kingdom that the Hawk Hall would be after?¡± Liu Hongyan asked.


    ¡°Someone who stole a treasure of my Godhead Pce,¡± Gu Changqing casually replied.


    He then recounted what had happened with Xu Muyang.


    Of course, from his mouth, the tone of the story changed entirely. Xu Muyang was now someone who was greedy for treasure and fled after stealing from Godhead Pce. Gu Changqing had received orders to capture him, so he decided to work as student supervisor for Godhead Pce while on the job.


    ¡°I see.¡± Cai Junyang nodded. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that the thief is dead, but the treasure has ended up in the hands of a Sageheart native?¡±


    ¡°Precisely,¡± Gu Changqing replied.


    ¡°Then has Godhead Pce found this person?¡± Liu Hongyan asked.


    Gu Changqing smiled. ¡°This fellow is exceptionally cunning and extremely difficult to find. My Godhead Pce has searched for three years but has yet to capture him.¡±


    Shu Mingyang asked, ¡°You don¡¯t have the slightest clue?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the case. We know that this person is sixteen this year, with the surname Tang and the given name of Jiye,¡± Gu Changqing said, dragging out his words.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    Everyone immediately looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was unperturbed, feigning surprise as he said, ¡°Oh, wow, really? That person is called Tang Jie? And I thought that my name was very rare.¡±


    ¡°The Jiye of ¡®talented¡¯,¡± Gu Changqing said with a smile.


    <em>Is that how it was!</em> Everyone sighed in relief, but they vaguely felt that something wasn¡¯t right.


    Ping Jingyue softly said, ¡°It seems that Supervisor Gu didn¡¯te with us purely by coincidence. It seems like you wanted to see how simr this Jie and that Jiye were.¡±


    Gu Changqingughed. ¡°Yes, Young Master Tang is a native of the Wildgrain ins, and the one we¡¯re searching for is none other than that Tang Jiye of Little River Vige. The two lived very close to each other and have simr names and ages. My Godhead Pce had no choice but to investigate you. Please forgive me for any offensemitted.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, so long as you¡¯re not unjustly using me,¡± Tang Jie casually replied.


    Gu Changqing narrowed his eyes. ¡°But¡­ when we were investigating that Xu Muyang, we only got the name of Tang Jiye from the name on the house sale contract. Brother Tang, don¡¯t you find it strange? How did we know that he was from Little River Vige?¡±


    Tang Jie was startled. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you mean.¡±


    Gu Changqing continued, ¡°To investigate this Tang Jiye¡­ I dug up the grave at Little River Vige.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Tang Jie shuddered.


    Gu Changqing¡¯s voice was like a wicked wind at Tang Jie¡¯s ear.


    ¡°I dug up and inspected the corpses, and then I threw the corpses on the side of the road for the wild dogs to eat!¡±

 Chapter 117: Capture (1)

    Chapter 117: Capture (1)


    The mes of anger instantly zed through Tang Jie¡¯s body.


    <em>Gu Changqing!</em>


    <em>How could you do such a thing?</em>


    Tang Jie stared at Gu Changqing, no longer hiding the light of hatred in his eyes.


    He knew why Gu Changqing had suddenly mentioned this.


    He wanted to provoke Tang Jie into admitting that he was Tang Jiye.


    Even though he had had the people from Anyange to confirm his identity, Gu Changqing still wanted to confirm who he was through his own methods.


    From a certain perspective, it was even more reliable than those witnesses.


    This was even more reason that he had to restrain himself.


    But no matter how he restrained himself, the seething mes uncontrobly erupted from the depths of his heart and burned up his body.


    His emotions made it almost impossible for him to control himself.


    At this moment, someone shouted.


    ¡°Beast!¡±


    Cai Junyang¡¯s roar exploded in everyone¡¯s ears.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    He pointed at Gu Changqing and roared, ¡°Gu Changqing, are you even human? Digging up graves and destroying bodies is something reviled by both gods and man!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t just hatred that would make people take leave of their senses.


    Fury against evil actions would also make people stand up.


    Gu Changqing hadn¡¯t expected that, right when he was about to seed at provoking Tang Jie, Cai Junyang would jump out first.


    He was slightly taken aback.


    A momentter, Liu Hongyan, Ping Jingyue, Shu Mingyang, Li Yijing, and Yang Zhiyuan also stared furiously at him.


    Liu Hongyan remarked, ¡°What crime did the vigers of Little River Vigemit? To be first ughtered by bandits and then have their grave dug up? If you want to investigate Tang Jiye, investigate him, but what point is there in dragging in innocent people, not even letting people keep their bodies intact in death?¡±


    Ping Jingyue angrilymented, ¡°Hunting dogs will be hunting dogs, devoid of any humanity.¡±


    The students all criticized Gu Changqing, probably believing that since they couldn¡¯t beat Gu Changqing with their strength, they might as well scold him with their tongues.


    Gu Changqing hadn¡¯t expected this situation.


    It wasn¡¯t that he was stupid. Rather, after bing Deputy Eagle Master, he had always been reprimanding others, not being reprimanded. Even if he did something wrong, his subordinates would tactfully remind him rather than bluntly stating it.


    This was precisely why even the most talented individual would be immersed in their sense of superiority and believe that everything they did was right.


    This didn¡¯t mean that their intelligence had fallen, only that in this environment, they would slowly lose the ability to consider problems from the perspective of people who were ¡°lower¡± than them.


    ¡­Because they didn¡¯t need to!


    As they didn¡¯t need it, they didn¡¯t train it.


    Moreover, ¡°considering from multiple perspectives¡± was a field of study of its own. Regardless of the era, the vast majority of people couldn¡¯t do it.


    As for Gu Changqing, he had been too focused on Tang Jie¡¯s reaction and hadpletely forgotten about the reaction of others.


    The result was that before Tang Jie could fly into a rage, Cai Junyang and the others were already furious.


    In the face of this situation, Gu Changqing froze at first, and then his face darkened. ¡°A bunch of ignorant juniors! Have you spent so long in this peaceful age that you have forgotten that the essence of our cultivation world is that the strong eat the weak? To disrespect an esteemed teacher for the sake of some dead mortal vigers, are you seeking death?¡±


    At this moment, he finally revealed the dignity a Mortal Shedding Realm Spirit Master should possess. Spiritual pressure descended and rendered all the students motionless.


    He looked at Tang Jie. ¡°Tang Jie, you still think you can hide? Or do you think your schoolmates can protect you?¡±


    These words made everyone look at Tang Jie.


    Liu Hongyan asked, ¡°You¡¯re really the Tang Jiye they¡¯re looking for?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Does it matter if I am? Look at how he¡¯s acting. He¡¯s clearly decided that it¡¯s me, so it probably doesn¡¯t matter what I say.¡±


    Gu Changqing grunted. ¡°Then you should just obediently submit yourself to capture. Why force my hand?¡±


    As he spoke, ten-some men dressed in ck rushed out and surrounded them.


    The students were all stunned by this sight.


    They had not feared Gu Changqing before because they believed that the school would protect them.


    But it was now clear that the other party was willing to enter open hostilities, which somewhat changed the situation.


    This meant that Godhead Pce no longer cared about the Basking Moon Sect!


    Cai Junyang howled like a tiger, pushing back against the spiritual pressure and taking therge sword from his back. Pointing it at Gu Changqing, he said, ¡°Gu Changqing, this isn¡¯t Nadir Hill, and it¡¯s not a ce where Godhead Pce can do as it pleases. I don¡¯t care if he¡¯s the person you¡¯re looking for. As a student of Basking Moon, I won¡¯t let you have your way!¡±


    ¡°All by yourself?¡± Gu Changqing scoffed in disdain.


    His eyes shed as he suddenly grabbed at Cai Junyang¡¯s sword.


    He very simply made to grab the edge of the sword, and the sword failed to cut him. Cai Junyang pulled away the sword in rm, but he found that Gu Changqing¡¯s hand had closed on the sword like a vise, and there was no drawing it back.


    Gu Changqing casually pushed with his grabbing hand, and the hilt of the sword rammed into Cai Junyang, mming both the hilt and the hand that was holding it into his chest. With one strike, Cai Junyang instantly vomited blood.


    A casual push had been enough to heavily injure Cai Junyang.


    ¡°Junyang!¡± Liu Hongyan shouted.


    Tang Jie roared, ¡°Gu Changqing, this has nothing to do with them!¡±


    Gu Changqing darkly replied, ¡°This is yourst chance. Everyone else besides Tang Jie must immediately leave. I will spare you out of respect for the Basking Moon Sect.¡±


    The students looked at each other, not knowing what to do.


    Lin Dongsheng was the first to fall back, shouting, ¡°This has nothing to do with me!¡±


    He ran out, and those men in ck didn¡¯t stop him, letting him leave.


    Gu Changqing pointed at Tang Jie. ¡°Seize him!¡±


    <em>Whoosh!</em> The men in ck immediately rushed up.


    One of them made to grab at Tang Jie. Tang Jie dropped his shoulder, avoiding the grab and firing back with an elbow. The man in ckughed and turned his grab into a p aimed at Tang Jie¡¯s elbow.


    As elbow and palm met, <em>bang!</em> The two of them staggered in unison, the man in ck yelping in surprise at Tang Jie¡¯s strength.


    Tang Jie stepped to the side and turned, thrusting his left hand at the eyes of that man in ck. Using his finger in ce of a sword, he used the stabbing form of the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword.


    It was an extremely swift counterattack, and the man in ck saw that he couldn¡¯t dodge and dropped his head. While the finger didn¡¯t stab his eyes, it jabbed into his forehead. At the same time, the man in ck kneed Tang Jie in the stomach, causing him to shudder in pain. Meanwhile, he thrust out his left palm, which now glowed with a faint golden light.


    Tang Jie also cast the Aquagel Shroud to take the attack, and fired off an Energy Needle at the same time. The man in ck reacted quickly and dodged. In the space of a few seconds, the two of them had exchanged several blows, but the other men in ck were in no rush to intervene. They just watched the battle y out with great confidence.


    While these men in ck were all no-names, they were actually experts of the Hawk Hall. They didn¡¯t possess high cultivation levels, but they were well-tempered veterans. No matter how strong Tang Jie was, he was only at the Spirit Spring Tier, and he was dearlycking in both cultivation andbat experience.


    As the two exchanged blows, the man in ck started to get worried about his inability to capture Tang Jie. He roared, and golden armor appeared around him.


    Godhead Armor!


    At the same time, he punched at Tang Jie, creating a whirlwind with the force of his attack.


    But to his surprise, rather than dodging, Tang Jie punched back.


    As the two fists met, the man in ck felt an enormous strength surging up.


    <em>Oh, no!</em>


    The man in ck instantly knew that this kid had been hiding his power, but at this point, this enormous strength had already sent him flying.


    As he flew back, Tang Jie activated the Violet Lightning Lunge and rammed his head into the man¡¯s chest. The man in ck reacted quickly and thrust down with his elbow. His elbow exploded with energy and probably had the weight of five hundred kilograms behind it.


    But Tang Jie took this blow head-on as he reached out his hand to grab the saber at the man¡¯s waist.


    <em>Bang!</em>


    The two of them separated, but after being knocked away by the elbow, Tang Jie now had a bright steel saber that he had taken from that ck-clothed man.


    ¡°I have a weapon now!¡± Tang Jieughed as he massaged his shoulder.


    Even with his constitution, that elbow blow had still been rather painful. As expected, any random soldier sent by Godhead Pce wasn¡¯t someone that he could deal with through a few punches and kicks. Frankly, he had only been able to get the saber because his opponent had been looking down on him.


    These people would have never been able to imagine that he would spend more than a hundred thousand coins to strengthen his body. In terms of cultivation, he truly was inferior, but when it came to his body, even a Spirit Master might not be able to match him.


    ¡°Bastard! Everyone, together!¡± The man in ck who had had his saber stolen felt humiliated.


    The men in ck didn¡¯t stand around this time. Ten-some men pulled out their sabers and surrounded Tang Jie.


    Tang Jieughed and charged up to meet their weapons.


    As several of the men in ck were about to attack, Gu Changqing shouted, ¡°I want him alive!¡±


    These men were startled and became hesitant to strike. Upon seeing that Tang Jie was about to run into their sabers, they were forced to move their sabers away. Tang Jie used this chance to swing his saber, unleashing a shockwave as he shed at one of them. This man in ck screamed as he was thrown back.


    The men in ck were shocked and enraged. Gao Fei arrived on the scene and shouted, ¡°Use your armor!¡±


    All the men in ck revealed their Godhead Armor at the same time, but Tang Jie wasn¡¯t afraid. He let out augh and charged.


    In terms of strength, these ck-clothed men were no match for him individually, but the gap wasn¡¯t big, and they had the numbers advantage. However, Tang Jie was taking advantage of the fact that they didn¡¯t dare to kill him to gopletely on the offensive, making all his attacks lethal. As these men in ck didn¡¯t want to kill him, they were momentarily unable to deal with him.


    Seeing what was going on, Gao Fei shouted, ¡°You can¡¯t kill him, but you can injure him.¡±


    These words immediately changed the situation.


    Tang Jie had just pushed a man in ck back when he heard a howl of wind behind him, and then a bright saber light shed his back.


    This was a heavy blow, and even though Tang Jie had the defenses of the Formless Golden Body, he was still somewhat wounded. Blood sshed into the air as Tang Jie trembled. He immediately turned to counter with his saber, but the man in ck who had attacked him had already drawn back.


    At the same time, two more sabers stabbed at his left and right arms, striking at areas that were not fatal.


    Tang Jie could no longer take these attacks directly, but just as he dodged, two more men in ck charged up.


    These people were used to working together and already had a well-developed order of battle. Despite their numbers, there was no disorder in their movements.


    Tang Jie had originally wanted to use this chance to kill one or two, but all he had done was heavily injure one at the start.


    He felt some regret.


    If Godhead Pce was a tree, then he didn¡¯t even count as an ant.


    At his current level of strength, an existence like Godhead Pce was still too distant.


    Fortunately, he had never ced much hope in this battle. It was just that if his foe was moving to capture, he had to at least put up some resistance and do what was expected of him.


    The men in ck constantly circled around him, clearly intending to tire him out.


    Tang Jie thought to himself, <em>Why not stop here?</em>


    With this thought in mind, he feigned exhaustion and opened himself up to the ck-clothed men.


    One of his assants really did seize this chance to step forward and capture Tang Jie.


    But just when he was about to seed, there was a thunderous roar.


    In a sh of sword light, the man in ck was struck by a sword gale and sent flying.

 Chapter 118: Capture (2)

    Chapter 118: Capture (2)


    Everyone turned their heads in shock and saw Cai Junyang standing there, pointing his sword at the men in ck, with some blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.


    Tang Jie was stunned. ¡°Junyang, what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°What am I doing?¡± Cai Junyang shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m fighting, of course. As a cultivator, I should bravely press forward, fearless of death! How can I be a hero if I shrink back in the face of adversaries and abandon myrades?¡±


    Tang Jie was speechless.


    Cai Junyang swung his sword. ¡°Raging Wave sh!¡±


    With another swing of his sword, he released a dazzling sword light.


    ¡°Junyang, no!¡± Tang Jie said in a panic.


    ¡°Seeking death!¡± In the distance, Gao Fei raised his hand and thrust it at Cai Junyang, preventing Cai Junyang from swinging his sword anymore.


    ¡°Mortal Shedding Realm!¡± Shu Mingyang shouted from the side.


    Gao Fei was using his hand to exert control through spiritual energy, which was a skill only a Spirit Master of the Mortal Shedding Realm could possess. Using the spiritual energy in one¡¯s body to harness the spiritual energy of the world sounded easy, but it involved an essential difference in how one cast.


    To put it simply, it was to make every close-range ability a long-range one!


    Unexpectedly, Cai Junyang roared, ¡°What does it matter if he¡¯s Mortal Shedding Realm? Aaagh¡­ Break!¡±


    His entire body bulged with muscle, his sword erupted with light, and then, despite Gao Fei¡¯s suppression, it began to move.


    Even Gao Fei couldn¡¯t help but be startled.


    After all, Cai Junyang was only at the Spirit Spring Tier, but he was resisting the spiritual pressure of the Mortal Shedding Realm. There was simply noparing their spiritual power, and it was more than just one level that separated them.


    But even in these circumstances, he was still able to move, and the strength he unleashed left even Gao Fei shaken.


    Gu Changqing muttered, ¡°Fearless in the face of death, brimming with the will to battle, and even seems capable of breakthrough in the middle of battle¡­ Basking Moon Academy really does have many talents. If he survives, he might be able to enter the Dao of the Fearless. A pity¡­¡±


    He waved his hand, and a man in ck turned and charged at Cai Junyang.


    Cai Junyang could barely move under Gao Fei¡¯s pressure, so there was no way he could dodge this man¡¯s attack.


    The steel saber neared his abdomen.


    ¡°Vortex sh!¡± someone shouted.


    A wind de exploded out, striking the man in ck and forcing him back.


    The attacker was none other than Liu Hongyan.


    ¡°Hongyan, you?¡± Shu Mingyang was bbergasted.


    Liu Hongyan chuckled. ¡°Junyang is right. Tang Jie is our schoolmate. Abandoning him and running isn¡¯t something I can do.¡±


    After some hesitation and wavering, Liu Hongyan had decisively made her choice.


    To fight alongside Tang Jie!


    At this moment, Tang Jie was kicked by a man in ck and staggered back several steps. Liu Hongyan rushed up to support him.


    At the same time, Cai Junyang broke through Gao Fei¡¯s restraints and rushed to Tang Jie¡¯s side. Gao Fei didn¡¯t try to stop him, allowing the three of them to stand together.


    Those men in ck were about to keep attacking when Gu Changqing lightly coughed. All of them stopped at once.


    Carrying out orders swiftly and decisively!


    Gu Changqing casually said, ¡°Such daring! Who else wants to help Tang Jie? I will give you onest chance.¡±


    The others looked at each other, upon which Tang Jie sternly said, ¡°Hurry and get out of here. Godhead Pce is after me, not you guys, so don¡¯t lose your life just for my sake.¡±


    Putting aside these men in ck, Mortal Shedding Realm Gao Fei alone was enough to beat all the students working together, and that wasn¡¯t even considering the stronger Gu Changqing and whoever else he might be hiding in the shadows.


    The students had no chance of victory in this battle!


    After thinking it over, in the end, Yang Zhiyuan stomped his feet and said, ¡°My apologies. Though we are schoolmates and friends, I cannot bring myself to die for you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I don¡¯t me you,¡± Tang Jie said, shaking his head as he smiled.


    His body was covered in wounds, but his smile was rxed and carefree.


    He truly didn¡¯t me him. After all, shrinking back in the face of death was normal.


    Li Yijing wanted to say something, but Yang Zhiyuan pulled him, and the two walked out together.


    With these two gone, the only two who had yet to make their choice were Shu Mingyang and Ping Jingyue.


    Everyone looked at these two.


    Shu Mingyang sighed. ¡°Actually, I really want to leave. I have my own ambitions and don¡¯t want to die. But now that Junyang has gone crazy and Hongyan has gone dumb, if I leave, I¡¯ll probably cast a shadow on my heart for the rest of my life¡­¡±


    He walked up to the three, standing alongside Tang Jie as he pulled out a stack of talismans.


    Ping Jingyue took in a deep breath, but without a word, she walked over and stood next to the four.


    Tang Jie sighed at this. ¡°Why are you guys doing this to yourselves?¡±


    He really didn¡¯t want to have everyone follow him into these muddy waters.


    Cai Junyangughed. ¡°As a student of Basking Moon, I can kill or be killed, and I can run away when facing a powerful foe, but I don¡¯t have a habit of abandoning myrades. As this is the situation we find ourselves in, we have to fight. It¡¯s better to die a heroic death than to drag out an ignoble existence.¡±


    Liu Hongyan pouted. ¡°You¡¯ve taken all the good words for yourself. Let¡¯s just fight. There¡¯s no point in being indecisive!¡±


    She began to form her strongest spell with her hands, the Flying Moon de Art. While she spoke casually, when facing a powerful foe, Liu Hongyan still fully prepared herself.


    Tang Jie felt his heart heat up as heughed. ¡°Alright, then we might as well fight to our hearts¡¯ content!¡±


    ¡°Fight to our hearts¡¯ content!¡± the others shouted in unison.


    Gu Changqing coldly snorted. ¡°Fight to your hearts¡¯ content? Do you have the ability to say those words? All you have is heroic ambition, but you have none of the heroic strength to back it up, so all you do is make a joke of yourself¡­¡±


    His body suddenly vanished as he charged at the group of five.


    He was dealing with them personally!


    Cai Junyang roared, swinging his sword at Gu Changqing and unleashing a wave of molten fire.


    Gu Changqing grunted, ¡°Don¡¯t know your own strength!¡±


    These words were like a sudden explosion in their minds, and Cai Junyang was the first to be struck. The shock threw his breathing into disarray and prevented him from casting a spell.


    At the same time, Liu Hongyan and Tang Jie threw out the Flying Moon de and the Energy Needle.


    Gu Changqing elerated, leaving a blur on the ground and easily dodging these two attacks. He charged at the five, moving up to Liu Hongyan¡¯s side and sending her flying with a thrust of his palm.


    Ping Jingyue shouted as she fired a ball of lightning from her palm. At the same time, Shu Mingyang raised a talisman from which lightning shot out.


    ¡°Palm Lightning!¡±


    ¡°Lightning talisman!¡±


    Two bolts of lightning shot at Gu Changqing, but Gu Changqing simply snatched with his hand like it was an eagle w. The two bolts of lightning struck his palm, fusing into a beam of lightning, and then Gu Changqing closed his hand, balling up the lightning in his hand.


    The lightning continued to pulse in his hand, refusing to scatter. It was as if Gu Changqing had caught two lightning snakes, a frightening sight.


    ¡°Bringing form to spirit?¡± Shu Mingyang blurted out. ¡°You¡¯re already at Nine Revolutions?¡±


    The Mortal Shedding Realm had three periods: Hundred Refinement, Nine Revolutions, and Cognitive Creation.


    Someone who had entered Nine Revolutions had spiritually refined all nine of the human body¡¯s weak points: the heart, the liver, the spleen, the stomach, the kidneys, the lungs, the intestines, the gall dder, and the head. It was theprehensive strengthening of the organs that came after the strengthening of the bones and flesh in the Hundred Refinement Period. At this time, the cultivator could be considered to have fused flesh and spirit.


    The most obvious disy of this was the ability to substantialize spiritual energy.


    These two lightning bolts were spell arts, and they would dissipate once they struck. Only someone at the Nine Revolutions level had the ability to substantialize spiritual energy and could trap an opponent¡¯s spell art in their hand and prevent it from dissipating.


    With this move, Gu Changqing had shown that he was at Nine Revolutions or higher. Moreover, the people of the Hawk Hall were not cultivators who only sought higher realms. For them,bat power was more important than cultivation realm, so he was as strong as his cultivation realm implied.


    ¡°Ignorant juniors!¡± Gu Changqing tossed out the two lightning snakes back at their casters, striking them both.


    The two of them were instantly paralyzed by their own spell arts and dropped to the ground.


    Cai Junyang finally managed to stabilize his breathing, and with a roar, he once more unleashed the Raging Wave sh.


    But to his surprise, as Gu Changqing turned around, his left hand shed with golden light as if it had been ted in metal, and he pped his hand at the sword.


    <em>ng!</em> In a ring of shing metal, Gu Changqing grabbed the sword in midair.


    Tang Jie swung his saber at Gu Changqing.


    But Gu Changqing ignored the saber, his left hand sliding along the sword in a trail of metal sparks and striking Cai Junyang in the chest with his palm.


    Rather than flying out, Cai Junyang froze, and then he vomited blood and dropped limply to the ground.


    This one palm strike had broken seven or eight of his ribs.


    Gu Changqing raised his left hand over his head, and Tang Jie¡¯s saber struck it right in the palm, creating a ssh of sparks.


    Gu Changqing grabbed and twisted, breaking off the tip of the saber. With a flick of his fingers, he sent the saber tip at Tang Jie. The power attached to the saber tip sted a bloody hole in Tang Jie¡¯s body, and Tang Jie flopped to the ground.


    With just a few moves, Gu Changqing had defeated all five of the students, and all while using only one hand.


    Just as Gu Changqing had said, such heroic phrases and daring were nothing before absolute strength. It was simply the tragedy of the mantis trying to stop a carriage!


    With the five students felled by Gu Changqing, the men in ck rushed up to capture Tang Jie, cing a saber on his neck to ensure that he wouldn¡¯t move.


    Gao Fei walked over and looked at the four people on the ground. He respectfully asked, ¡°Eagle Master, what should we do with these people?¡±


    Gu Changqing looked at Tang Jie, thinking that he would beg for their lives to be spared. To his surprise, Tang Jie said nothing, only stared at Gu Changqing.


    Gu Changqing furrowed his brow and finally said, ¡°Forget it. We¡¯ve already started a feud with Basking Moon Academy by kidnapping a student. There¡¯s no need to make this matter worse than it already is. Let the others go and let¡¯s get out of here with Tang Jie.¡±


    He shot out a bolt of air with a flick of his fingers, knocking Tang Jie out.


    The men in ck hurried away with Tang Jie.


    Gu Changqing continued to stand there, pondering something.


    Zhao Xinguo emerged from his hiding spot to stand next to Gu Changqing. Smiling, he said, ¡°Eagle Master, congrattions on thepletion of your mission!¡±


    ¡°A day without the Martial Mirror in our hands means another day without sess,¡± Gu Changqing indifferently replied. ¡°Moreover¡­¡±


    ¡°Moreover?¡±


    ¡°Moreover, I feel like this operation went too smoothly.¡±


    Zhao Xinguo immediatelyughed. ¡°We were just dealing with a few kids. What sort of problems could we have encountered?¡±


    Gu Changqing shook his head.


    This force was enough to deal with a few ordinary kids.


    But if Tang Jie was really Tang Jiye, then all that had happened before had not been a coincidence.


    How could he underestimate a kid who had thwarted Godhead Pce again and again?


    To tell the truth, in this operation to lure out Tang Jie, Gu Changqing¡¯s primary goal had been confirmation, and his secondary goal had been capture. If he could make the confirmation, then whether it was him or not, the operation would be a sess. He had been in no rush to capture.


    But to his surprise, the operation had gone very smoothly, with both the confirmation and the capture seeding. There had been no mishaps, and everything had gone exactly as he had nned.


    This was precisely why Gu Changqing felt no joy from sess. On the contrary, he felt uneasy.


    He once more recalled Tang Jie¡¯s cold and callous eyes. There was derision and disdain in those eyes, the sense that everything was under his control¡­

 Chapter 119: Interrogation

    Chapter 119: Interrogation


    When Tang Jie woke up, he found himself in a little room.


    It was a simple room that had been cleaned up.


    Looking out from the open window, he could see a bamboo forest. This was probably some hut hidden in the woods.


    Tang Jie was lying on a bed in the room. He tried to move and found that his entire body wascking in strength.


    Looking down, he discovered a talisman shing on his chest.


    Whenever he tried to circte energy, his spiritual power would flow into the talisman on his chest and cause it to sh.


    ¡°The New Rain on Barren Mountain Curse,¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    ¡°Correct. New rain on a barren mountain is like spring water running over the rocks. Anyone suffering from this curse will have their spiritual power be like water flowing atop rocks, leaving behind no marks and unable to gather, so it naturally bes useless.¡±


    Gu Changqing entered the room, and with him were Gao Fei and that Hawk Hall subordinate called Qi Ming.


    Gu Changqing said, ¡°The New Rain on Barren Mountain Curse is primarily used on prisoners. Students like you have little experience in the world, and few of them know of it. It¡¯s rare to see someone like you that knows about it.¡±


    Tang Jie indifferently replied, ¡°I got first ce in the exam.¡±


    This reply caused Gu Changqing to burst out inughter.


    He shook his head. ¡°Did you know? Purely through your attitude now, I can already confirm that you are Tang Jiye. No one has ever been captured by my Hawk Hall before and remained soposed.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°From your tone, I guess that Hawk Hall doesn¡¯t have a good reputation?¡±


    Gu Changqing took thement in stride. ¡°The Hawk Hall mostly deals with fiendish and ckhearted people. Extraordinary methods are naturally required to deal with extraordinary people.¡±


    ¡°Before today, I had no idea I was some fiendish and ckhearted person.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re naturally not ckhearted, but you¡¯re extremely cunning. Do you have any idea how much manpower and resources my Godhead Pce invested into searching for you in thest few years?¡±


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°Rather than wasting it all, you could have just given it to me, and then what would have been the harm in admitting that I was Tang Jiye?¡±


    ¡°If you had been willing to hand over the Martial Mirror back then, do you really think my Godhead Pce would be stingy about its reward?¡±


    ¡°What a pity that I don¡¯t have it, then, nor am I the Tang Jiye you think I am,¡± Tang Jie sighed.


    ¡°You still dare to lie!¡± Qi Ming shouted. ¡°The people from Anyang have already identified you! If you have some sense, you will hand over the item and spare yourself the torture!¡±


    ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    Gao Fei spoke up. ¡°What? You still need us to remind you? People saw you when you lived and worked in Anyang Prefecture. They¡¯ve already pointed you out as Tang Jiye.¡±


    ¡°Then they got the wrong person.¡±


    ¡°All of them were wrong?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re framing me.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think they¡¯re framing you?¡±


    ¡°Who knows¡­? Maybe someone bribed them.¡±


    ¡°Who would bribe them into framing you?¡±


    ¡°The real Tang Jiye, of course.¡±


    ¡°Absolute nonsense!¡±


    ¡°How do you know that I¡¯m saying nonsense? Did you investigate those witnesses?¡± Tang Jie countered.


    These words made the hearts of Gu Changqing and Gao Fei leap.


    <em>Could it be¡­</em> At this moment, Qi Ming sneered, ¡°How amusing! Why would Tang Jiye choose to frame you of all people?¡±


    ¡°How would I know that? Maybe¡­ maybe he was among the students, and maybe he heard that deration of mine. Maybe for him, this was a chance to distract you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡± Qi Ming shouted. ¡°You¡¯re just making things up now!¡±


    Tang Jie asked, ¡°Why is it impossible? If you were Tang Jiye and hiding among the students, wouldn¡¯t you use that opportunity when you saw it?¡±


    Qi Ming coldlyughed. ¡°The problem is that all of this is too much of a coincidence!¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s not a coincidence,¡± Tang Jie casually replied.


    ¡°What?¡± Qi Ming didn¡¯t get what he meant.


    Unfortunately, Tang Jie didn¡¯t exin.


    He scornfully nced at Qi Ming and then closed his eyes, ignoring them.


    ¡°Bastard¡­¡± Qi Ming was enraged by his disdain and said, ¡°It seems like we¡¯ll have to work on you a little before you¡¯re willing to talk.¡±


    He walked over to Tang Jie and extended a wed hand toward him. The hand turned ck and began to emit a sinister energy.


    Tang Jie coldly watched, his expression unperturbed.


    Gao Fei frowned and wanted to stop Qi Ming, but Gu Changqing pulled him back.


    Gu Changqing shook his head and walked out of the hut.


    Gao Fei looked back at Tang Jie before following.


    As he walked up behind Gu Changqing, he saw that Gu Changqing¡¯s face was sullen, and he was seemingly pondering something. Gao Fei didn¡¯t dare to speak, so he simply stood on the side. Tang Jie¡¯s grunts of pain could be heard from the hut. The torture had begun.


    All of the subordinates of the Hawk Hall were skilled torturers, able to put a person in so much pain that they would beg for death. People who went through their hands would often have their skin yed off while still being alive.


    This was precisely why an extremely small number of people could endure the interrogation of the Hawk Hall. At times, they wouldn¡¯t even want to live anymore, would hand over all their secrets for the sake of a swift death.


    But Gu Changqing didn¡¯t appear to have any hint of anticipation on his face.


    His face was dark as he listened to the groans of pain from the hut and Qi Ming¡¯s shouts of ¡°Talk! Where is the Martial Mirror?¡±


    Suddenly, he said, ¡°Gao Fei, do you think Tang Jie was telling the truth?¡±


    ¡°Eagle Master is referring to¡­¡±


    ¡°Those people from Anyang.¡±


    ¡°Eagle Master still feels some doubt over whether Tang Jie is Tang Jiye?¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Gu Changqing shook his head. ¡°There is no doubt that Tang Jie is Tang Jiye. You can tell that from how he¡¯s acted today alone. Suchposure is not something an ordinary student could have. This means that he¡¯s already psychologically prepared himself¡­ and perhaps even more than that.¡±


    Gao Fei was taken aback. ¡°Then why¡­¡±


    ¡°Because it isn¡¯t normal! A young man that is being unjustly used, even if he¡¯s not going to wail to the heavens about his misfortune, would at least be somewhat agitated. Do you remember what I said before? If Tang Jie is Tang Jiye, then his mind is far greater than we can imagine! He¡¯s fallen into our hands, yet he doesn¡¯t even try to put up a perfunctory disguise. All he says is that he isn¡¯t Tang Jiye, but his attitude and his tone all scream that he¡¯s Tang Jiye¡­ This is too contradictory! Too abnormal!¡±


    ¡°It truly is rather abnormal, but regardless, he¡¯s in our hands now. No matter what ideas he has, we¡¯ll slowly get them out of him.¡±


    ¡°What I fear is that we won¡¯t get anything at all. There are always some tough bones in this world,¡± Gu Changqing said with a sigh.


    ¡°Even the toughest bone will be useless against the Soulscour spell.¡±


    Gu Changqing coldly said, ¡°If he came prepared, I fear that not even the Soulscour spell will work.¡±


    Gao Fei was stunned.


    Gu Changqing said, ¡°I have a bad feeling. Gao Fei, where are those people from Anyang now?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already had them leave.¡±


    ¡°Go after them and investigate. See if they took money or not.¡±


    ¡°Since we¡¯ve already confirmed that he¡¯s Tang Jiye, why even investigate?¡±


    ¡°For many things, without a definite answer, all spection is pointless. In the end, you have to find out the truth to understand. In addition, once you¡¯re done investigating, there¡¯s no need to hurry back. Wait outside for further news.¡±


    ¡°No need to hurry back?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I feel that this operation has gone too smoothly, abnormally smoothly, and Tang Jie¡¯s behavior is strange. There might be a trap, and I have this extremely worrying feeling that bad news might show up at our doorstep at any moment. Having you go is leaving behind a back-up n, a sliver of hope.¡±


    ¡°Eagle Master!¡± Gao Fei shouted in agitation.


    Gu Changqing stopped him. ¡°I did an injustice to you over the Zhuang Shen affair, and it is time for me topensate you. Just wait outside, and no matter what happens, don¡¯t make a move. In short, if nothing happens, then everything will be fine, but if something does happen, you put your own safety first. Am I understood?¡±


    Gao Fei stared in shock at Gu Changqing, and Gu Changqing pointed out and harshly said, ¡°Go! Now! This is an order!¡±


    Gao Fei stared at Gu Changqing before finally bowing and departing.


    Gu Changqing watched Gao Fei vanish from his field of vision, and then he pondered for a little while longer before heading back into the hut.


    In the hut, Tang Jie was still enduring Qi Ming¡¯s torture. His body was covered in wounds, with barely a single ce on his body having been left intact. But the true pain came from inside his body.


    Berserk energy rampaged inside his body, prodding into him like innumerable needles and causing so much pain that his body spasmed like he was being electrocuted. And then these ¡°needles¡± exploded throughout his body, as if every cell in his body was exploding. Tang Jie felt like he was being sted into tiny bits. His breathing halted as he felt like he was being sent to the heavens. At that moment, even his heart had stopped.


    His blood vessels bulged, his eyes stuck out, and he truly appeared like a person standing on the precipice between life and death but never falling¡­ It was an indescribable pain.


    Only when Qi Ming drew back his hand did Tang Jie feel that heart-rending power disappear. He breathed a sigh of relief as he returned from the heavens to the mortal world.


    HIs forehead was caked in sweat.


    ¡°Heheh¡­¡± Qi Ming chortled. ¡°Did you like my Thousand Carnage Hand? Obediently tell us where the Martial Mirror is and you won¡¯t have to endure this pain anymore.¡±


    Tang Jie squeezed out a smile.


    Perhaps because the pain had robbed him of too much of his strength, this smile was particrly ugly.


    He weakly said, ¡°Are you thirty?¡±


    ¡°Mm?¡± Qi Ming was startled.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that you¡¯re not that old,¡± Tang Jie muttered. ¡°You¡¯re about to die soon, and at such a young age. What a pity.¡±


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Enraged, Qi Ming once more applied his Thousand Carnage Hand.


    ¡°Urrgh!¡± Tang Jie grunted in pain.


    But he clenched his teeth and didn¡¯t yell.


    Those eyes that were about to pop out of their sockets stared hard at the ceiling, his consciousness floating up and down in the sea of pain while sweat mixed with the blood flowing out of his body and dyed his body red.


    The session ended.


    Tang Jie¡¯s body flopped like a fish, and it took a while for his spasms to finally stop.


    Qi Ming grabbed him by the cor. ¡°Talk!¡±


    He sent a stream of spiritual energy into Tang Jie¡¯s body to bring back his mind.


    A little life came back to Tang Jie.


    He looked at Qi Ming and softly chuckled. ¡°You should cherish the little time you have left.¡±


    The Thousand Carnage Hand again.


    When Gu Changqing came in, Tang Jie was still twitching in pain on the ground.


    When Qi Ming saw Gu Changqinge in, he awkwardly stood up and said, ¡°Eagle Master, this kid¡¯s tough. He¡¯s received the Thousand Carnage Hand five times and still won¡¯t talk.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Gu Changqing didn¡¯t find this strange.


    In truth, he would have found it far stranger if Tang Jie had broken now.


    ncing at Tang Jie, Gu Changqing walked over and sat down next to him. ¡°I¡¯ve already sent Gao Fei to investigate those people from Anyang. Is that what you wanted?¡±


    Tang Jie looked at him and said nothing.


    Gu Changqing muttered, ¡°If my guess is right, you must have given those Anyang people some silver. After being paid off, those Anyang people can¡¯t be trusted no matter what they say. It¡¯s a good way of cleaning yourself, even if killing them would be better. But it seems that you¡¯re not too willing to kill the innocent.¡±


    Tang Jie continued to ignore him.


    Gu Changqing continued, ¡°But there¡¯s one thing I don¡¯t understand. Since you wanted to fabricate evidence to show that you weren¡¯t Tang Jiye, why do you not even try to act like it in front of us?¡±


    Tang Jie finally spoke.


    He said, ¡°How long have I been here?¡±


    Gu Changqing was taken aback by the question, but he still replied, ¡°An hour.¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°It¡¯s about time. Prepare yourselves. You still have a chance.¡±


    The two of them were puzzled by this. Gu Changqing frowned. ¡°What are you saying?¡±


    Tang Jie simplyughed at Gu Changqing.


    ¡­Like he was looking at a dead man.


    Gu Changqing felt a chill in his heart.


    He suddenly realized something and blurted out, ¡°The Basking Moon Sect! You¡¯re waiting for the Basking Moon Sect to save you?¡±


    Qi Ming was bbergasted. ¡°How could the Basking Moon Sect find this ce?¡±


    They had naturally prepared to deal with the Basking Moon Sect for this kidnapping.


    It had to be understood that the greatest difference from their previous attempts was that they had acted out in the open!


    The Basking Moon Sect could not tolerate such a thing.


    Thus, the Hawk Hall had never hoped about the Basking Moon Sect letting them go. This ce that Tang Jie had been brought to was a secret base that Godhead Pce had been operating for a long time that existed precisely for this day.


    But from Tang Jie¡¯s tone, it seemed that what they had believed to be a sure thing wasn¡¯t so certain at all.


    Gu Changqing wasn¡¯t in the mood to think about this problem. He took out a talisman and swiftly burned it. ¡°All people, increase the rm perimeter and prepare to withdraw!¡±


    ¡°Eagle Master, isn¡¯t this being too cautious?¡± Qi Ming anxiously said. ¡°If the Basking Moon Sect really ising to save him, he has no reason to warn us.¡±


    Looking at Tang Jie¡¯s confident eyes, Gu Changqing felt an inexplicable fear. ¡°Better to believe that there is a threat than to believe that there¡¯s nothing.¡±


    Suddenly, a sharp whistle shattered the calm of the bamboo grove.


    ¡°Enemy attack!¡±


    And then the voice was cut off!

 Chapter 120: Attack

    Chapter 120: Attack


    The Basking Moon Sect hade!


    It hade with the force of thunder and lightning!


    As that intive cry of warning rang out, several dozen people in white appeared outside the bamboo grove.


    The moment they appeared, they rushed into the bamboo grove, leaving a silver radiance in their wake. There were only a few dozen people, but they had the momentum of an army of thousands.


    A Hawk Hall subordinate who had been standing guard only had time to swing his saber when a white figure brushed past him. He swayed a little and then exploded in a shower of blood, his body flying apart.


    The bamboo forest trembled as a rain of azure light descended to meet these unwee guests. In fact, if one looked carefully, one would find that this rain of light was made up of the bamboo leaves of the forest.


    ¡°Dance!¡±


    With a soft shout, all of the several dozen people in white unleashed chilling saber waves. The gale of des protected them, obliterating the azure rain as it approached.


    But a momentter, several dozen long pieces of bamboo shot out of the forest like spears.


    ¡°sh!¡±


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    The circr saber winds suddenly straightened out, turning into saber beams that sliced through the air, mming into those bamboo spears in brilliant explosions that gorgeously illuminated the skies over the bamboo grove.


    After cutting through the bamboo, the white-clothed people continued forward. Countless stones rose up out of the ground and began to sweep toward them like a sandstorm.


    ¡°Shake!¡±


    All of the white-clothed people pped their hands in unison, creating a series of shockwaves that resounded through the area and forced back the approaching cloud of gravel.


    But after this, a wave of poisonous insects assailed the group¡­ Within the bamboo forest, a Hawk Hall disciple swiftly ran into the hut. Upon seeing Gu Changqing, he immediately prostrated. ¡°Eagle Master, the Basking Moon Sect has attacked. The Hawk Hall disciples are doing all they can to hold them off, but they won¡¯tst for much longer!¡±


    ¡°Who is overseeing the operation?¡±


    ¡°Not clear, but from the level of organization and teamwork, they seem to be men from the Combat Department!¡±


    ¡°The Combat Department?¡± Gu Changqing gasped.


    Xie Fengtang had mobilized the disciples of the Combat Department to save one person?


    The Combat Department¡¯s disciples trained solely for battle, and their greatest skills were in groupbat. They excelled in joint attacks andbat formations, and they were brave and powerful. They were also one of the few existences that could use numbers topensate for quality and kill those of higher cultivation level.


    ¡°Activate the formation! We¡¯re withdrawing!¡± Gu Changqing ordered.


    Astral Winds stirred within the bamboo forest, forming an azure vortex.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Azure Astral Killing Formation! Don¡¯t go in!¡± someone called out.


    ¡°Stop!¡± a voice shouted.


    At this time, those people in white who had seemed utterly unstoppable finally stopped. There were thirty-six of them, all of them wearing snow-white scarves that covered their faces and gripping steel sabers. Their eyes coldly shed in silence, and only the blood dripping from their sabers served as evidence that their weapons had already drunk the blood of the sentries in the forest as they were charging through.


    ¡°Seal!¡±


    All of the white-clothed people pointed at the sky, and arge number of silver threads shot from their fingertips, covering the sky like a spiderweb, intersecting into a silver that engulfed the entirety of the bamboo forest.


    Since they couldn¡¯t break through the enemy formation, they might as well create their own formation to prevent the enemy from escaping. Themander of this group was a swift and decisive person.


    Besides these thirty-six people, there was a tall and handsome young man who didn¡¯t have his face covered. At this moment, he suddenly turned around and bowed. ¡°Squad 12 Captain Lu Yu of the Vanguard Hall of the Combat Department pays respects to Headmaster Xie!¡±


    Several people casually stood in the rear. Their leader was none other than Xie Fengtang.


    He hade personally.


    He was the one who ordered the offensive to stop.


    Several people stood at his side, Si Yue¡¯er, Xin Yue, and Daoist Ku among them.


    There was also a man who was covered in armor, respectfully following behind Xie Fengtang.


    ¡°Rise,¡± Xie Fengtang indifferently said. ¡°You did rather well.¡±


    ¡°But they were still able to send out a warning and activate the formation! This disciple failed his mission!¡± Lu Yu said in remorse.


    This should have been a perfect sneak attack, but in the end, the target had been alerted, foiling the attack. He med himself so much that he found even Xie Fengtang¡¯s praise to be nothing but cold mockery.


    Xie Fengtang didn¡¯t mind. ¡°This cannot be med on you. The operation was too hasty, and we weren¡¯t able to find out where all their hidden sentries were stationed, so missing one or two is normal. Gu Changqing is truly a talented individual. You can tell from how decisive and fearless his subordinates are. Haaa, what a pity.¡±


    Afterforting Lu Yu, Xie Fengtang said, ¡°Xiliang, go and break this Azure Astral Formation.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± a middle-aged man with his beard parted into three strands respectfully said.


    This was none other than Zhao Xiliang, the man in charge of Basking Moon Academy¡¯s Heaven Circuit tform. He had also been the one toy down the protective formation around the Carefree House.


    ¡°It¡¯s only a secret base, but it has an Azure Astral Formation. This Gu Changqing is truly very cautious,¡± Xin Yue remarked.


    Si Yue¡¯er grunted in dissatisfaction. ¡°We should just go in there and handle it personally. Letting thebat disciples go in simply threw away our chance.¡±


    Lu Yu heard this and turned red in the face.


    Xie Fengtang chuckled. ¡°If we do everything personally, what do we have disciples around for? And besides, you and I wouldn¡¯t be guaranteed to do a better job. Those hidden sentries were hidden all over the ce and were all linked to each other, so removing one would set off the rest. Unless we could traverse three thousand kilometers in an instant, we wouldn¡¯t be able to match their performance. However, toy down an Azure Astral Formation in this little bamboo grove without anyone noticing, haha¡­ It seems like Lin Yuanming has a death wish!¡±


    His voice suddenly turned grim, his face nastily scowling.


    The general next to him immediately broke out in a sweat. ¡°Headmaster, although thisnd is Minister Lin¡¯s property, Minister Lin retired long ago, and thisnd is being managed by a cousin. Perhaps this matter has nothing to do with Minister Lin. We should investigate some more¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need,¡± Xie Fengtang coolly interrupted. ¡°Twelve years ago, three of the secret bases my Basking Moon Sect established in Nadir Hill were uprooted by Godhead Pce in a single night, resulting in a loss of sixteen elite spies. If my memory is correct, Lin Yuanming was one of the people responsible for supplying and supporting those three bases. My Basking Moon Sect investigated this incident for many years to no avail, but Lin Yuanming was on the list of suspects. It now appears that there were no coincidences. When you get back, have the king seize his household¡­ Our Basking Moon Sect can negotiate when ites to everything else, but it will not tolerate consorting with foreign foes and selling out the country!¡±


    The general took in a deep breath before respectfully saying, ¡°As the esteemed mastermands!¡±


    Thepleted silver now spanned the stars and enclosed the world.


    Zhao Xinguo rushed over and shouted, ¡°They¡¯ve sealed the area!¡±


    Gu Changqing nced up at the sky. ¡°A thirty-six-man Astral Formation. They came in too much of a hurry and couldn¡¯t bring many Combat Department disciples, so they weren¡¯t able to make a formation that couldpletely lock down this area¡­ Use the Five Elements Earth Escape Art!¡±


    Qi Ming urgently said, ¡°But, Eagle Master, the Five Elements Earth Escape Art won¡¯t let us bring too many people with us. It would be better to have them use their own escape techniques to try and run!¡±


    ¡°No! Ordinary escape techniques won¡¯t let them take anyone along, and the distance is too short, making it easy for them to be caught. We have to use the Five Elements Earth Escape Art in order to flee Wanquan City with Tang Jie.¡± Gu Changqing took in a deep breath. ¡°As for those we can¡¯t bring with us¡­ All disciples below Spirit Sea must guard this ce to the death!¡±


    Everyone was shaken by this order. Only Zhao Xinguo said, ¡°That¡¯s the only option!¡±


    He hurried back into the forest, loudly shouting, ¡°All disciples below Spirit Sea, protect the bamboo grove to the death! Die for the glory of my Godhead Pce!¡±


    ¡°For the glory of Godhead Pce!¡± the disciples in the forest roared in unison.


    At the same time, all the Hawk Hall subordinates of Spirit Sea and above retreated from the forest and began to work together toy down the Five Elements Earth Escape Art.


    As they began to work together to cast the spell, there was a massive boom, and the entire bamboo grove swayed.


    An azure hurricane stirred up, kicking up vicious winds.


    ¡°They¡¯re breaking the formation! The Azure Astrals have been mobilized!¡± a disciple shouted.


    ¡°It must be Zhao Xiliang!¡± Qi Ming said, turning ghastly pale.


    The Five Elements Earth Escape Art was a long-distance teleportation spell art that required many people to work together and a set amount of time to cast. But Zhao Xiliang was breaking the formation with thunderous momentum. He had only just started, but the Azure Astrals were already rmed, and the spiritual energy of the formation was in disarray and finding it difficult to gather. He clearly knew that the Godhead Pce disciples were trying to use arge-scale spell art to escape, so he was disrupting the flow of spiritual energy while breaking the formation so that they would find it difficult to cast the spell.


    If this went on, the Basking Moon Sect would be able to charge in before they finished casting the Five Elements Earth Escape Art.


    But more importantly, if Zhao Xiliang was here, it meant that so was Xie Fengtang!


    ¡°Eagle Master, what do we do?¡± a Hawk Hall subordinate shouted.


    Before Gu Changqing could answer, a voice spoke. ¡°Have one of the remaining disciples charge out and disrupt the breaking of the formation.¡±


    Everyone turned their heads in shock, for the speaker was Tang Jie.


    He was sitting on the ground, leaning against the door lintel and looking at them.


    He had recovered some of his energy after a little rest.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Qi Ming was instantly enraged by the sight of him.


    He was the one who had caused the Hawk Hall to lose so many good experts. Not only did they have to abandon this base they had operated for many years, they also had to abandon many disciples in order to escape.


    And he still had the guts to talk at a time like this.


    If not for the Martial Mirror, he would have killed this bastard right here!


    Even so, he still shouted, ¡°If you dare to speak nonsense again, I¡¯ll cut off your tongue!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°The thirty-six-man squad from the Combat Department is already putting their focus into locking down the skies and won¡¯t have the ability to do anything else. Zhao Xiliang is also mostly focused on breaking the formation. They won¡¯t expect it if youe out and make a surprise attack at this time to disrupt him. Just likeying down a formation, there are critical junctures in breaking a formation. If a person¡¯s tempo is suddenly disrupted by an attack, all their previous work might go to waste. Anyway, these are all people who are going to die here, so why not try? Consider it onest show of loyalty.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit! All nonsense! You¡¯re making us send our men to their deaths!¡± Qi Ming angrily said.


    Gu Changqing suddenlymented, ¡°No, he¡¯s right. A counterattack will buy us more time.¡±


    Qi Ming was startled. ¡°Eagle Master.¡±


    Gu Changqing was staring at Tang Jie. ¡°But you have to counterattack at the right time. The wrong moment will lead to much less of an effect. We don¡¯t understand formations, so we would find it difficult to seize the right moment. But it seems like you understand a little¡­ Damn it; I should have realized this! It seems like Xu Muyang really treated you well!¡±


    Tang Jie looked out at the azure storm in the bamboo forest, muttering, ¡°The Azure Astrals are in a frenzy, and signs of chaos are evident. This is the result of the Stop Gateing under attack. Zhao Xiliang started from here to break control, remove variation, disrupt spiritual energy, and interrupt casting. The Basking Moon Sect has always emphasized stability in its actions, and Zhao Xiliang is no exception, though he¡¯s a little too by-the-books. If you attack him at the moment the Rest Gate acts on the Stop Gate, you will definitely be able to catch him off guard.¡±


    Gu Changqing and Qi Ming were dumbfounded.


    At this moment, they found Tang Jiepletely unfathomable.


    ¡°You¡­ Why do you want to help us?¡± Qi Ming muttered.


    Tang Jie ignored him, going on, ¡°But besides being a formation master, Zhao Xiliang is also a Mortal Shedding expert at the Nine Revolutions Period. A few suicide soldiers of the Hawk Hall won¡¯t affect him that much. At least one Mortal Shedding Realm expert will be needed to sessfully disrupt him. Of course, this person will more than likely die afterward.¡±


    He looked at Qi Ming and grinned. ¡°You go and stop him. I¡¯ll tell you when the moment is right.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± Qi Ming was utterly dumbfounded.


    ¡°Yes, you. You can choose to die like a hero in battle, protecting your Eagle Master as he runs away with me, or can choose to die with everyone here.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s grin grew even bigger. ¡°I already said that you didn¡¯t have much time left, but you didn¡¯t believe me!¡±

 Chapter 121: Backlash

    Chapter 121: Bacsh


    Outside the bamboo forest, Zhao Xiliang waspletely focused on breaking the formation. He held numerous spiritual threads in his hand that were attached to different points and were constantly disrupting the operation of the formation.


    Under his control, the Azure Astral Formation gradually began to spin out of control. Smoke began to rise from the Stop Gate as it approached its limit.


    Zhao Xiliang chuckled at the sight. ¡°While the Hawk Hall hasid down an Azure Astral Formation, it¡¯s clear that the person whoid down the formation isn¡¯t here. A formation without a controller is like a city without soldiers. You think a formation alone can deal with me? Break!¡±


    He pushed his hand toward the Azure Astral Formation, and a giant handprint pressed down on the formation. Suddenly, several dozen figures flew out of the formation.


    One of them moved as quickly as lightning, aiming straight at the center of Zhao Xiliang¡¯s forehead.


    Zhao Xiliang was aghast. With a brief nce, he could tell that this person was a Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator, so he did not dare to take this attack. Enduring the pain, he drew back his hands and thrust out his palms several times, manifesting palms that sealed the space around him. <em>Pa! Pa! Pa!</em> Sword light exploded against palm winds, releasing startling spiritual shockwaves. Zhao Xiliang grunted and fell back. While he had managed to block the attack, the formation that had been on the verge of copse had restabilized.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Zhao Xiliang was so angry that he wanted to vomit blood.


    The Stop Gate erupted with light. Control had been restored, and the Azure Astrals now sent a gale at Zhao Xiliang, forcing him to retreat again.


    At the same time, the swordsman pursued, sword energy flowing out as he sent three sharp sword waves at Zhao Xiliang.


    He knew that he was dead, so all he wanted was to try and bring another Mortal Shedding Realm expert with him.


    But as he swung his sword, he heard a light snort at his ear.


    This sound was like a ringing bell, and Qi Ming saw stars for a brief second. His sword froze, and he failed to make the thrust.


    In the distance, an azure palm appeared, approaching at high speeds and striking him right in the chest.


    Qi Ming¡¯s body swayed, and he looked down at his chest and saw an azure handprint upon it.


    ¡°The Yi Wood Azure Essence Palm¡­ Xie Fengtang¡­¡± Qi Ming was barely able to squeeze out these words, after which his body rapidly withered, his clothes, flesh, and blood all decaying, and a gust of wind blew away the remaining dust.


    After this blow struck true, Xie Fengtang charged out and thrust a palm at the bamboo forest before him.


    This palm instantly kicked up a storm, and in the distance, the Azure Astral Winds stirred, turning into thousands of scythes that shot at Xie Fengtang in a ded storm.


    The disruption of the formation had failed, so Xie Fengtang had decided to go in personally and destroy the formation.


    As the Azure Astral Winds assailed him, Xie Fengtang roared and thrust out his palms. <em>Boom! Boom! Boom!</em> He thrust out his palm ten-some times, impacting against the air and creating ten-some vortices that swept toward the storm of azure scythes. As these two waves of spiritual energy collided against each other, azure mes burst out and rained over the world, turning the entire world green.


    ¡°Yue¡¯er!¡± Xie Fengtang shouted.


    Si Yue¡¯er flew past him, a flower basket in her hand. She threw the flower basket down, and the petals in the basket drifted out and bloomed into tens of thousands of flowers that blocked that downpour of Azure Astral Wind.


    Xin Yue, Daoist Ku, and the other teachers of Basking Moon took action, causing the entire bamboo forest to shake and sway.


    No matter how powerful the Azure Astral Formation was, it could not withstand thebined might of the Basking Moon teachers, and it gradually began to break.


    At this moment, a yellow light shed within the formation. Xie Fengtang spotted it and shouted, ¡°It really is the Five Elements Earth Escape Art! Do everything you can to stop it!¡±


    <em>Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!</em>


    The teachers raised their hands in unison and thrust them at the yellow light in the formation, upsetting the spiritual energy in an attempt to interrupt the art manifestation.


    As the Astral Winds dissipated and the formation began to fall apart, azure light erupted within the formation. A fire descended from the sky and mmed into the center, unleashing an even greater burst of yellow light.


    Xie Fengtang was startled. ¡°Where did this Heavenfiree from?¡±


    Zhao Xiliang saw this and paled. ¡°Not good! Heavenfire burns Wood, and Fire generates Earth! This is a method of elerating the Five Elements Earth Escape Art! They have a formation expert helping them.¡±


    Qi Ming¡¯s sudden attack could be put off as a coincidence, but the descent of Heavenfire removed any possibility of a coincidence.


    The Five Elements generated each other, and of these, Fire generated Earth.


    Basking Moon Academy had locked down the area, so it had guessed that its enemy would use the Five Elements Earth Escape Art to flee. This was precisely why no one used any Fire spells, for fear that this would elerate the casting.


    They had not expected the enemy to use the Wood attribute of the Azure Astral Formation to bring down Heavenfire and ruin Basking Moon Academy¡¯s n.


    Everyone grew anxious and unleashed their full might, waves of spiritual energy exploding. Finally, the Azure Astral Formation broke and copsed under theirbined attacks.


    Xie Fengtang shot through the bamboo forest and thrust forward with his palm.


    A palm infused with azure energy mmed against the yellow dome. At the same time, the yellow dome let out a powerful light and then, <em>boom!</em> It vanished, leaving behind a giant bottomless pit in the ground.


    ¡°Bastards!¡± Xie Fengtang furiously roared as he watched his enemies vanish right in front of him.


    ¡°They managed to escape?¡± Si Yue¡¯er dropped down from the sky and looked around in shock.


    Even though the teachers of Basking Moon Academy had been working together and Celestial Heart Realm Xie Fengtang had been personally overseeing the operation, the enemy had still managed to escape. If this news got out, the Basking Moon Sect would be humiliated!


    Xie Fengtang angrily snorted, ¡°So long as they still have Tang Jie, it doesn¡¯t matter where they run!¡±


    He opened his hand, revealing the loan receipt that showed that Tang Jie owed one hundred thousand spirit coins.


    A yellow light shed, and ten-some people appeared somewhere in the wilderness.


    The moment they appeared, one of them vomited blood and copsed to the ground.


    ¡°Zhu Yun!¡± Gu Changqing shouted as he went to help up his subordinate, but he found that the man was already dead.


    Xie Fengtang¡¯s palm hadn¡¯t been able to keep them, but the aftershocks had badly wounded them. This Zhu Yun had taken the attack directly, and while the body had escaped, his life was no more.


    Gu Changqing felt a tinge of sorrow at the death of his subordinate.


    He turned his head and counted. He discovered that he only had fifteen men left.


    The Hawk Hall had sent forty-some good men to Wanquan City, and more than half of them had died in this one battle!


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± someone abruptly shouted.


    A Hawk Hall subordinate charged up, grabbed Tang Jie, and shouted, ¡°This is all because of you! Because of you!¡±


    He began to punch and kick Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie let him beat him, watching with cold eyes.


    He softly said, ¡°The one before you beat me, and he just died.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re threatening me?¡± The Hawk Hall subordinate exploded with rage.


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t threaten people.¡±


    The man smiled in anger. Grabbing Tang Jie by the neck, he shouted, ¡°I¡¯ll kill you, and then let¡¯s see what you¡­¡±


    ¡°Gu Bai, stop!¡± Gu Changqing shouted.


    ¡°Eagle Master!¡± That man called Gu Bai trembled.


    Gu Changqing coldly said, ¡°Everyone¡¯s fates were sealed the moment they entered the Hawk Hall and went to Sageheart. Either weplete the mission and return as heroes, or we fail the mission and die as strangers in a strangend. This world is all about killing or being killed. Some of our brothers have gone, and we can feel sad, but we cannot let them die in vain. I presume that I do not need to exin Tang Jie¡¯s importance to you.¡±


    Gu Bai reluctantly released his grip on Tang Jie. After some thought, he decided that he wasn¡¯t done and kicked Tang Jie.


    Gu Changqing looked around and said, ¡°This wasn¡¯t the location we designated. Xie Fengtang¡¯s palm prevented the Five Elements Earth Escape Art from exhibiting its full might. Kong Wng, take some men and look around to see where we are. And then find some clothes so we can all change.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± A Hawk Hall subordinate hurried off with two men.


    Gu Changqing strode over to Tang Jie and said, ¡°How did the Basking Moon Sect find you? And why did you help us?¡±


    Tang Jie grinned at Gu Changqing. ¡°In the past, you had only one question: Am I Tang Jiye or not? After capturing me, you had a second question: Where is the Martial Mirror? And just now, you had a third question: How did the Basking Moon Sect find me? And then there¡¯s the fourth question: Why am I helping you? ¡­Don¡¯t you find it very amusing? You captured me, but not only did you not get the answer you wanted, you only have more and more questions.¡±


    <em>Thud!</em>


    Tang Jie was punched in the belly.


    Drawing back his fist, Gu Changqing said, ¡°I want an answer, not mocking!¡±


    Tang Jie clenched his teeth in pain. ¡°An answer? The answer is that because of your actions, the Basking Moon Sect has basically concluded that I am Tang Jiye! Do you think anything good will happen to me once I fall into their hands?¡±


    Gu Changqing nodded. ¡°So you would rather be captured by us than fall into the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s hands?¡±


    ¡°This is all your fault! I already said that I wasn¡¯t Tang Jiye, but you insisted that I was. Even if I return to the Basking Moon Sect, I¡¯ll still probably be interrogated. They won¡¯t be as determined and resolute as you lot. If they don¡¯t get what they want, they might even decide to kill me on the spot and then me the entire thing on you!¡±


    ¡°Bullshit! If you didn¡¯t want to go back to the Basking Moon Sect, why would you lure them to us?¡± Gu Bai shouted. ¡°Eagle Master, this kid hasn¡¯t said a word of truth. Let¡¯s just use Soulscour on him.¡±


    Two of his good friends had died in the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s attack, so he loathed Tang Jie.


    ¡°Yes, use Soulscour!¡±


    ¡°Use it, Eagle Master!¡±


    The others all agreed.


    Who didn¡¯t have a few good friends? Tang Jie¡¯s actions had killed so many people that he was hated by more than just one.


    Gu Changqing hesitated.


    Soulscour was extremely unreliable, and they might lose some important information, so Gu Changqing only wanted to use it as ast resort. But it now seemed that there was no choice except to use Soulscour.


    The Basking Moon Sect had probably been able to find them so quickly because they had done something to Tang Jie. If they didn¡¯t find the reason, they would be hunted down until the very end.


    Realizing this, Gu Changqing finally nodded.


    Gu Bai savagely smiled as he walked over and said, ¡°Kid, this is yourst chance. Start talking or I¡¯ll use the Soulscour spell on you!¡±


    Tang Jie looked sympathetically at him.


    ¡°You¡¯re seeking death!¡±


    Being looked at like this infuriated Gu Bai, so he began to make the hand signs for the Soulscour spell.


    The Soulscour spell was a high-level spell art that involved the Spirit Will. In normal circumstances, only those at the Celestial Heart Realm could learn it.


    It was only because the Hawk Hall¡¯s people needed to use it often that they were able to learn this spell art before they were supposed to. But they were only barely able to use it, and were unable to apply the spell to a talisman. Thus, when Zhuang Shen had gone in, they had had him take a Soulscour talisman.


    At this moment, as Gu Bai made the hand signs,rge beads of sweat formed on his forehead. It was clear that this spell was cing an enormous burden on him.


    Once he had finished the art cirction, he tapped Tang Jie¡¯s forehead with his finger.


    Other Hawk Hall members had already grabbed onto Tang Jie so that he couldn¡¯t avoid it.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t even try. He let Gu Bai¡¯s finger touch his forehead, a smile in his eyes.


    Gu Changqing saw this and mentally trembled. He wanted to stop Gu Bai, but he ultimately failed to speak.


    As Gu Bai¡¯s finger touched Tang Jie¡¯s forehead, spiritual power was sent into Tang Jie¡¯s mind.


    In normal circumstances, the Spirit Will would forcefully convert Tang Jie¡¯s thoughts into images that would enter Gu Bai¡¯s mind. Of course, this would deal an enormous mental shock to Tang Jie.


    But when his finger touched, he felt his spiritual power running into some kind of wall that it couldn¡¯t break through. He was taken aback and thought to himself, <em>This kid has a really formidable will.</em> But he thought nothing more of it and simply redoubled his spiritual energy.


    A momentter, his field of vision widened. But different from the memory images he expected, all he saw was an endless sea of blood.


    He was in the middle of the sea of blood, waves raging around him and gales howling. Gu Bai looked around in shock and blurted out, ¡°Where is this ce?¡±


    No one answered!


    This was a mental battle, and his voice was purely a transmission of his will. It echoed through the sea of blood, and what came in reply was a fierce and furious roar.


    <em>Raaa!</em>


    The roar of a tiger erupted in Gu Bai¡¯s mind.


    This time, he could now see that there was a giant tiger standing at the end of the sea of blood, its giant maw opened to him.


    Waves appeared on the sea of blood, sweeping him toward the giant tiger¡¯s mouth. It was like a ck hole, ready to devour him in both body and soul¡­ ¡°No!¡±


    Gu Bai yelled in fear.


    In the wilderness, Gu Changqing and the others saw Gu Bai throw back his head and vomit blood, after which he copsed to the ground.


    ¡°Gu Bai, what¡¯s wrong?¡± The others rushed to help him up.


    Gu Bai slowly opened his eyes.


    There was no light in them.


    He ckly gazed at them as if he didn¡¯t recognize any of them, and then he giggled like a child.


    Everyone froze.


    Gu Changqing instantly ced two fingers on Gu Bai¡¯s neck, and then he turned ghastly pale. ¡°The Soulscour failed, and bacshed on his body¡­ He¡¯s be an imbecile!¡±


    These words were like a bolt of lightning crashing on their heads.


    Only Tang Jie calmlyy back on the ground, muttering as he looked up at the sky, ¡°As I said, I don¡¯t threaten people.¡±

 Chapter 122: Box

    Chapter 122: Box


    Gu Bai was dead.


    Gu Changqing had seized and killed him in one blow.


    Gu Changqing would rather have him die than let one of his subordinates live on as an imbecile.


    He gently closed Gu Bai¡¯s eyes and then turned to Tang Jie. ¡°You¡¯ve killed another one of my brothers.¡±


    ¡°It has nothing to do with me. The secret art I possess can only resist Soulscour, but it doesn¡¯t go as far as triggering a bacsh on the caster. In the end, he only ended up this way because his cultivation wascking,¡± Tang Jie replied without hesitation, denying responsibility.


    This was despite the fact that he had just said that he didn¡¯t threaten people.


    ¡°You could have at least warned him!¡± a Hawk Hall subordinate angrily said.


    Tang Jie looked at him like he was an idiot.


    He didn¡¯t make fun of the man for being so stupid. He simply said, ¡°Even if I said anything, would you have believed me?¡±


    Indeed.


    Would they have believed him?


    There were some things that people had to test for themselves before they believed.


    Gu Changqing chuckled. ¡°Good, very good. Tang Jie, you¡¯ve truly prepared well. It now seems like you intentionally let yourself be captured.¡±


    ¡°If I said that this really wasn¡¯t the case, that I¡¯m really not Tang Jiye and that I only learned this spell art due to a lucky encounter, you definitely wouldn¡¯t believe me,¡± Tang Jie said with a smile.


    ¡°Then you truly would have had enough lucky encounters.¡±


    Tang Jie spread apart his arms and shamelessly replied, ¡°Yes. Perhaps the heavens favor me.¡±


    ¡°A pity, then, that the heavens still had you fall into our hands. I will definitely make sure that you will be begging for death!¡± Zhao Xinguo viciously said, seizing Tang Jie.


    Just when he was about to punch him, Tang Jiezily said, ¡°The third.¡±


    Zhao Xinguo trembled and didn¡¯t follow through with the punch.


    Gu Changqingughed again.


    Hisughter grew louder and louder until he had raised his head and was madlyughing, all of the wilderness resounding with hisughter.


    Finally, theughter stopped.


    He turned to Tang Jie and nodded. ¡°Good! Excellent! Tang Jie, you have guts for messing around with us. But if you think we can¡¯t do anything to you just because we can¡¯t Soulscour or kill you, then you are gravely mistaken!¡±


    Hatred seethed within his eyes. ¡°Just because we can¡¯t kill you doesn¡¯t mean that we can¡¯t do anything to you. For each day you don¡¯t hand over the Martial Mirror, I will have a part of your body cut off. This is the first time, so let¡¯s take your five fingers!¡±


    Gu Changqing¡¯s saber shed as he cut at Tang Jie¡¯s fingers. One sh wasn¡¯t enough, causing Gu Changqing to gasp in surprise. With another swing, the fingers finally fell off.


    ¡°Aagh¡­¡± Tang Jie grunted in pain. The fingers were connected to the heart, and this sudden loss of five fingers almost made him fall unconscious.


    Gu Changqing harshly said, ¡°Tomorrow, I will cut off a hand, and the day after that, a foot, and the day after that, an eye. If you still won¡¯t hand it over, I¡¯ll castrate you. In at most seven days, you will be made into a human stick, crippled for the rest of your life!¡±


    Until one reached Hundred Refinement, crippling injuries, if not healed at the first moment, were extremely difficult to recover from.


    Even if a Titan took action, they would only barely be able to heal the damage, but one¡¯s cultivation progress woulde to a standstill, and it would be difficult to make any more progress.


    Five fingers was alright, but if the entire arm were cut off, the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra would be finished. As for castration, not only would it end one¡¯s chances at offspring, it would also bring an end to one¡¯s cultivation path!


    Thus, Gu Changqing¡¯s threat carried a lot of force, and his resolute action proved that this was no bluff.


    Lying in a pool of blood, Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Good! You¡¯re also pretty good! Carving up a person until they¡¯re just a stick¡­ Not even when the six major sects worked together to fend off the Cmity of the Primordial Fog did they resort to such cruel methods, but it seems the Hawk Hall can! Excellent! Excellent! So this is the style of Godhead Pce. Seven days¡­ Gu Changqing, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t get that luxury!¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Everyone angrily red at Tang Jie.


    No one had expected Tang Jie to have the guts to say such words at a time like this.


    Gu Changqing snorted. ¡°You have a tracking spell on you, right? Though I don¡¯t know what the method used was, I¡¯m sure it must be some secret guiding art or a bloodline tracker. If it¡¯s a secret art, a concealment spell will do. We were careless before and didn¡¯t use one. If it¡¯s bloodline¡­¡±


    Gu Changqing grabbed the five fingers. ¡°Isn¡¯t this a part of your bloodline? Qiao Liu, catch a few birds.¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± A Hawk Hall subordinate ced his fingers in his mouth and whistled.


    A few momentster, a bird flew out andnded on that Qiao Liu¡¯s shoulder.


    Gu Changqing tied a finger to the bird, and with a whistle from Qiao Liu, the bird pped its wings and flew away.


    In this fashion, five fingers were sent off to different parts of the world.


    Tang Jie looked admiringly at Gu Changqing. ¡°That¡¯s a pretty good idea. Since you can¡¯t hide, just give your opponent more choices, muddying their vision and weakening your pursuers.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that the Basking Moon Sect really did use a bloodline tracking art on you?¡± Gu Changqing quickly picked up what Tang Jie had implied with his words.


    Tang Jie froze for a moment, and then he bitterly smiled. ¡°You really are something else. I only misspoke a little and you managed to realize.¡±


    ¡°But I can¡¯t rx just because of this. Who can say that you didn¡¯t intentionally misspeak?¡±


    Gu Changqing thrust his finger at several points on Tang Jie¡¯s body, sealing any possible secret arts on his body.


    ¡°This is the problem,¡± Tang Jie said,ughing. ¡°Gu Changqing, you¡¯re a smart person, and the biggest problem smart people have is that they overthink things. Because they overthink things, they don¡¯t know what to choose. Even if I told you the truth, you would think that I was setting some sort of trap. So¡­ even if I told you where the Martial Mirror was, would you believe me?¡±


    Gu Changqing froze.


    He suddenly realized that even though Tang Jie was in his hands, the initiative had always been with Tang Jie.


    This wasn¡¯t a good feeling at all!


    Tang Jie was like a bronze pea: uncookable, unchewable, and uncrushable. He couldn¡¯t be killed and couldn¡¯t be searched, and he didn¡¯t even fear torture. Even his words were a mix of truth and fiction that were difficult to discern between.


    His self-assured look made every piece of information he gave a potential trap that you didn¡¯t dare to believe, meaning that there was no point in having it.


    He was this way because he had never once showed the slightest tinge of fear.


    Fear was the foundation of an interrogation¡¯s sess!


    All interrogation methods, regardless of era, were established on this fact. Thousands of years of history had proved that when the one being interrogated did not fear pain or death, the vast majority of interrogations would fail.


    Tang Jie was undoubtedly this sort of person.


    Unlike other people who were being interrogated, he didn¡¯t disy intense emotions that were normally needed to resist interrogation, such as madness, anger, or resolve. Instead, he was one of those extremely rare people who were calm and assured, who seemed to have everything under control. These people were also the most frustrating to deal with.


    What he didn¡¯t know was that this was the greatest harvest Tang Jie had gained from that standoff with the fiend tiger on Tiger Roar Peak.


    If not for that direct experience with death, Tang Jie wouldn¡¯t have been able to remain so calm andposed. That precious experience had made himpletely put aside concerns about life and death and bravely confront all he faced.


    As Gu Changqing understood this, the way he looked at Tang Jie slowly changed.


    He suddenly chuckled. ¡°You are an interesting opponent, but you¡¯re too naive if you think these tricks are enough to deal with me.¡±


    Gu Changqing sat down.


    He sat down on arge rock and stared at Tang Jie. It was a while before he spoke again.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t bring a saber.¡±


    ¡°Mm?¡± Tang Jie was startled.


    Gu Changqing rified, ¡°The Heartbreak Saber. You didn¡¯t bring it.¡±


    Tang Jie answered by coldly staring at Gu Changqing.


    Gu Changqing continued, ¡°You didn¡¯t bring the Heartbreak Saber, the Silver Cloud Needles, the talisman papers, or even a single coin. When we captured you, you had nothing of value on you. You¡¯ve learned a secret art to resist Soulscour, had a bloodline tracking spell used on you, and even understand how to make back-up ns. But as you have absolutely nothing on you, it means that you knew that we would move against you before leaving the academy.¡±


    ¡°What about it?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°The dead do not need to worry about their property,¡± Gu Changqing replied. ¡°You made all the preparations to be captured, so you presumably made a meticulous n for your escape, yes? I should have realized this already. A person might be unafraid of dying not because they don¡¯t fear death, but because they know that they won¡¯t die!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯splexion began to change.


    Gu Changqing had put the matter of the Martial Mirror to the side and instead begun to focus on Tang Jie!


    Gu Changqing coldly said, ¡°Your arrogance, daring, confidence, and your schemes against us are all because you are confident that you can escape. This is precisely why you helped us leave when the Basking Moon Sect attacked. Perhaps your lies are notpletely lies. Falling into the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s hands at this time truly does you no benefit. On the contrary, in our hands, we can¡¯t kill you or do anything to you, which gives you a chance to escape.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s face darkened, that gentle smile vanishing.


    Gu Changqing continued, ¡°So we just need to keep a close eye on you and cut off any hope you have of escaping. You¡¯ll be much more obedient then.¡±


    Tang Jie scoffed and ignored him.


    ¡°But¡­¡± Gu Changqing suddenly changed the topic. ¡°From this incident, I can tell that the Martial Mirror definitely isn¡¯t in the Carefree House.¡±


    Tang Jie was astonished. ¡°How do you know that?¡±


    ¡°Because you wouldn¡¯t be so rxed about it. Just as you said, the Basking Moon Sect has presumably determined that you are Tang Jiye. That being the case, they would definitely search the Carefree House. You were able to realize that nothing good would happen to you if you ended up with the Basking Moon Sect, so you naturally wouldn¡¯t be so foolish as to leave the Martial Mirror in the Carefree House¡­ They wouldn¡¯t be as polite as my men and would probably turn the entire ce over and dig up the foundations if necessary.¡±


    Gu Changqing chuckled again. ¡°If it¡¯s not at the Carefree House, you must have moved it somewhere else. I was wondering where you had it moved to when I suddenly thought of something.¡±


    Tang Jie grimaced and quickly reached into his bosom.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to look,¡± Gu Changqing said, producing a receipt. It was the one that Tang Jie had received when sending off his box this morning.


    Gu Changqing went on, ¡°I was wondering what you had sent out, but now, it looks like it was probably the Martial Mirror that was in the box. Perhaps not just the Martial Mirror, but the Heartbreak Saber and your other possessions as well. Lin Dongsheng, that fool, just watched as you sent out the Martial Mirror. But this was a good idea. Without stepping out of the academy, you were able to silently move away the treasure. Once we captured you, you would execute your escape n, after which you would pick up the Martial Mirror and flee, and no one would be able to do anything to you.¡±


    Tang Jie suddenly clutched his belly andughed.


    A Hawk Hall subordinate kicked him. ¡°What are youughing about?¡±


    Tang Jie pointed at Gu Changqing andughed. ¡°I¡¯mughing at how confident you are! I really did send out that box, but there was no Martial Mirror inside. If you try and look for that box, I¡¯m afraid all you will be doing is trying to draw water with a bamboo basket!¡±


    ¡°I have to see for myself before I can know the truth. Even if it¡¯s not, it must be something very important. Perhaps it might be the clue we need.¡±


    Gu Changqing ordered, ¡°Have Lin Dongsheng go and investigate which trading caravans are responsible for shipping Basking Moon Academy¡¯s goods, and where they are going.¡±


    A Hawk Hall disciple burned up a message talisman and began tomunicate with Lin Dongsheng.


    Tang Jie coldly looked at Gu Changqing and said, ¡°You had best be careful. This might be another trap, you know?¡±


    Gu Changqing was startled at first, but he then shook his head andughed. ¡°I must admit that you are the weakest yet most troublesome opponent I have faced since entering the Hawk Hall. No one has ever been like you, dealing so much damage to the Hawk Hall and making me wary with every one of your empty words and false threats¡­ Whether it¡¯s a trap or not, I won¡¯t try to run. You are in my hands, so everything you have will inevitably be mine!¡±


    ¡°But it might not be what you want,¡± Tang Jie indifferently replied.

 Chapter 123: Meeting Death

    Chapter 123: Meeting Death


    It was springtime, and the rivers were thawing. This was the season when the trade routes began to flow once more.


    Merchants and travelers moved along the West Wind Old Road.


    A merchant convoy slowly emerged out of the distance, gs rising from three sides of the carts.


    On one side was the character ¡°À衱 (Li), indicating that this was a merchant convoy from the Li n of Wanquan City.


    On another was a triangr g depicting a majestic lion. This was an indicator that the Lion Escort Company of Wanquan City was in charge of escorting the convoy.


    At the very front was a g bearing the silver moon. This was the symbol of the Basking Moon Sect and a sign that this merchant convoy was transporting the goods of the Basking Moon Sect.


    Wang Kuizhong sat on the cart at the very front, warily looking around.


    One of the young guards seemed to be thirsty and left his post to head to the rear cart to get some water. Wang Kuizhong spotted this and immediately pointed at him. ¡°Shuisheng, you fool, trying to ck off again! Get back to your post right now!¡±


    That kid called Shuisheng resentfully went back to his post by the second cart. Holding the hilt of his saber, he mumbled, ¡°It¡¯s not like there¡¯s anything to do. He¡¯s just trying to show off. Escorting the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s convoys is the most boring job of all. Who would dare to touch their things?¡±


    An older guard grabbed Shuisheng¡¯s ear. ¡°Shut your mouth, you brat. The boss went through a lot of negotiating with the Li n to get this Basking Moon Sect escort job. Others can¡¯t even dream about getting this one, but you find it boring? So you would find running into actual bandits a fun time? All of those things will have your head! No one might have the guts to take the goods of the Basking Moon Sect, but that doesn¡¯t mean that our Lion Escort Company can lose its dignity. Moreover, there¡¯s plenty more journey left, and while we might not run into bandits, we might run into some sort of unintelligent mountain sprite or wild monster. Keep your eyes sharp! The safer the business, the more you aren¡¯t allowed to mess it up, or else we¡¯ll all be going home hungry.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    Wang Kuizhong nodded in satisfaction after seeing that junior being reprimanded. It was always those elders who were more reliable. He shouted, ¡°Old Liu, up ahead is the Eighteen Ravines. Take a few of the young ones with you to make some offerings to the mountain and then find a person to announce ouring.¡±


    ¡°Understood, second captain,¡± the old guard replied, and immediately set about organizing the men.


    Several guards had already mounted their horses and were about to go up ahead when they suddenly spotted a plume of dust in the distance. A group of horsemen emerged from the dust. There were ten-some of them, all of them dressed in ck fighting clothes, and they were headed right at them.


    Wang Kuizhong¡¯s heart tensed. <em>This shouldn¡¯t be something bad, right?</em>


    While he was still fooling himself, he shot a nce at the old guard. The guard understood and ordered, ¡°All carts, move to the side. They might be passing through!¡±


    At the same time, he tightened the grip on his weapon, carefully observing these people.


    These men were soon up close, and they showed no signs of slowing down as they charged straight at the convoy.


    The old guard flipped onto his horse and stood up. He shouted, ¡°The Lion Escort Company is escorting this convoy through Baodi. Might I ask whichpany¡­¡±


    Before he could finish, that group of horsemen arrived, their leader raising his hand for a brief moment. There was a sh of light, and then the old guard swayed. A momentter, his head flew into the air, a fountain of blood gushing out of his neck.


    The man¡¯s head tumbled in the air beforending in Wang Kuizhong¡¯sp. Wang Kuizhong jumped up in rm. ¡°It¡¯s a cultivator!¡±


    He had been able to see just now that this had been a spell art that only cultivators could use.


    Wang Kuizhong shouted, ¡°Immortals, these are goods of the Basking Moon Sect¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I want!¡± an icy voice replied. ¡°Kill! No survivors!¡±


    As this despair-inducing voice spoke, the sounds of killing were already being carried along the wind.


    The ten-some ck-suited men charged into the convoy, and blood soon began to spurt into the air.


    ¡°Nooo!¡± Wang Kuizhong hollered. These people didn¡¯t just want their goods, but their lives!


    He pulled out his saber and hacked at one of the men in ck that was charging at him, yelling in a most despairing tone, ¡°I¡¯ll take you down with me!¡±


    The man in ck lightly grunted and charged straight ahead. As he rode past Wang Kuizhong, the body of the second captain of the Lion Escort Company swayed, and then it exploded into countless chunks of flesh that sttered across the old road.


    In the blink of an eye, the twenty-some members of the convoy, bodyguards and porters, were ughtered to a man.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie angrily red at Gu Changqing. ¡°You¡¯re just stealing a box. Was it necessary to kill them all?¡±


    Gu Changqing waved his hand, and the ten-some Hawk Hall subordinates began to search through the contents of the convoy.


    Gu Changqing slowly said, ¡°First, although we know that the goods of Basking Moon Academy are all transported by the Li n Merchant Company, we don¡¯t know which convoy it is. Until we find that object, we can¡¯t let them know what our objective is. By killing them, we can make them misunderstand this as a revenge killing. Second, I¡¯m still not sure about you. Who knows if your n to escape doesn¡¯t involve this merchantpany? If so, then there might be experts mixed in. Striking first can also force out any hidden dangers and avoid the possibility of a sneak attack. If you need someone to me, just me yourself for sending off that box and dragging in other people.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the one killing, yet you push the me onto others?¡± Tang Jie sneered.


    ¡°You were the one who dragged them down,¡± Gu Changqing unyieldingly replied. ¡°If you truly had a conscience, there would have been no need to drag in innocents.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit!¡± Tang Jie spat at Gu Changqing. ¡°I¡¯ve seen plenty of people use this sort of crooked reasoning, people who clearlymit evil but then insist on pushing the responsibility onto others, as if others should just let you do as you please and that the slightest effort on their part is involving people in their troubles. Absolutely absurd! Yes, I admit that what I did truly had the chance of involving innocents, but I¡¯ve never taken the initiative to hurt others. I¡¯m just trying to survive! If my survival means that many people must die and so I should die, then doesn¡¯t that mean that all gentlemen in the world with enemies shouldmit suicide right now so that they don¡¯t involve innocents? cing yourself in the standpoint of extreme evil and then ming the righteous, iming that anyone with the slightest conscience is hurting others, is a trickmonly yed by evildoers like you. Unfortunately, that¡¯s useless against me. I, Tang Jie, have never intended to y the part of a saint who is good to the world. I just never thought that you would be this deranged! But no matter how much you nder me, it won¡¯t change your coldblooded and callous nature!¡±


    ¡°Seeking death!¡± Gu Changqing¡¯s face chilled as he pped Tang Jie across the face.


    Tang Jie opened his mouth and spat bloody spittle at Gu Changqing, but Gu Changqing moved his head and dodged it.


    At this moment, the men in ck finished searching the goods and reported, ¡°Eagle Master, we didn¡¯t find it.¡±


    ¡°Mobilize all our hidden Shadow Hall disciples and keep searching for other convoys!¡± Gu Changqing ordered.


    ¡°But, Eagle Master, this is likely to expose them!¡± a subordinate urgently replied.


    ¡°For the sake of Godhead Pce, some sacrifices are necessary,¡± Gu Changqing coldly replied.


    Tang Jie immediately jeered, ¡°That¡¯s true. Didn¡¯t you also just make some sacrifices for Godhead Pce?¡±


    The expressions of all the Hawk Hall subordinates instantly dimmed.


    Not long after they had kidnapped Tang Jie, the Basking Moon Sect had immediately attacked the Hawk Hall. At the same time, it had also sent someone to Godhead Pce to ask about what was going on.


    Godhead Pce was naturally prepared for this. It immediately dered that Gu Changqing and his men were traitors to Godhead Pce, drawing a clear line between itself and Gu Changqing. At the same time, it also paidpensation to the Basking Moon Sect.


    This was the countermeasure that Godhead Pce had long ago prepared. Of course, these were only public statements. If the Hawk Hall members could get back to Nadir Hill, they would naturally be treated as heroes.


    But all of this depended on their ability to get back the Martial Mirror.


    If they couldn¡¯t get it, then they would truly be abandoned pieces.


    Gu Changqing and the others all understood this.


    Tang Jie¡¯s words had prodded this sore spot. Gu Changqing¡¯s face stiffened, and then he suddenly swung his saber and cut off Tang Jie¡¯s left arm.


    His saber was vicious and moved as quickly as lightning. With one strike, Tang Jie¡¯s entire arm was chopped off, and Tang Jie almost fainted from the pain.


    Only then did Gu Changqing say, ¡°You have to know when and how to use a sharp tongue. This is the price you must pay today.¡±


    Gu Changqing was truly decisive, cutting off his arm without hesitation. At this time, a disciple quickly chopped Tang Jie¡¯s arm up and used the same trick as before to disperse the pieces.


    Tang Jie was in so much pain that his voice was trembling, yet he was smiling. ¡°Alright! Then I¡¯ll wait until tomorrow for you to cut off my leg. If you have the guts, you¡¯ll do it now, but I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t have the time.¡±


    Gu Changqing grimaced, and then he turned around and shot a ray of golden light at a nearby shrub.


    The golden light disappeared into the shrub, and there was a scream. A man dressed in ordinary clothes dropped out of the shrub, arge hole in his neck.


    As he copsed, a silver light shot out of his hand and exploded in the sky, turning into a crescent silver moon, contrasting against the golden sun in the sky.


    All of the Hawk Hall disciples paled at this sight, one of them shouting, ¡°A moon dancing in the sky! A scout sent by the Basking Moon Sect!¡±


    As the moonlight appeared, a loud and piercing howl came out of the distance.


    This howl shook the surroundings, and its source approached at high speeds. It was clear that the nearby experts were answering this summons.


    Gu Changqing barked, ¡°Go!¡±


    All of them mounted their horses, but just as they were about to leave, Tang Jiezily said, ¡°Hey, which one of you is going to help me onto a horse?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t do it yourself?¡± Gu Changqing angrily shot back, but when he turned his head, he saw Tang Jie pointing at his bloodied stump with a cold smile on his lips.


    Gu Changqing froze, and then he rushed over, grabbed Tang Jie, and ced him on the saddle of one of his subordinate¡¯s horses. ¡°Hold him tight. If you let him go, you¡¯re dead!¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°But while I still have an arm to hold him today, you¡¯ll be cutting off my leg tomorrow, meaning that someone will have to hold me.¡±


    Gu Changqing once more froze. Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m waiting for you to take my leg tomorrow. If you want, you can even take it now!¡±


    He erupted inughter.


    He was clearly missing an arm now, yet it seemed like he was the winner here.


    That Hawk Hall disciple wanted to give him a good thrashing, but the howling was getting closer and closer. Their pursuers would soon be here.


    Gu Changqing spurred his horse. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    All of them pushed their horses into a gallop.


    A person emerged at their rear, appearing like a beam of light as he pursued them, shouting, ¡°Kidnapping my student and destroying my merchant convoy? How can you just leave and go whenever you please? Stay right there!¡±


    A beam of spiritual light descended from the sky.


    Gu Changqing flew off his horse and shot out a golden light of his own. As the spiritual energies collided, Gu Changqingnded back on his horse and shouted, ¡°It¡¯s Gu Yifeng of the Basking Moon Sect! Su Mo, go and stop him while the rest of you follow me! Use the Bloodburn spell!¡±


    All the Hawk Hall disciples applied the Bloodburn spell to their horses.


    When the Bloodburn spell was used, a horse¡¯s speed would multiply, allowing it to move just as quickly as a person flying in the air, but the horse was certain to die afterward.


    It wasn¡¯t that the Hawk Hall members didn¡¯t know how to fly, but flying consumed spiritual energy, and the days ahead were certain to be those of pursuit and being pursued. Each drop of spiritual energy needed to be conserved until theypleted their mission or died. Using horses to get around was the best way of saving their energy.


    Empowered by the Bloodburn spell, the horses galloped off. At the same time, one of the Hawk Hall members resolutely turned around to confront Gu Yifeng.


    This was a suicide mission, but it was at times like these that the Hawk Hall disciples disyed their outstanding qualities, heedlessly charging out to meet death.


    The pursuer¡¯s furious roar came from the rear: ¡°Seeking death!¡±


    Spiritual energy howled, swords and sabers nged, and then a mournful and biting wind swept out¡­ Tang Jie muttered, ¡°Another one dead.¡±

 Chapter 124: Spirit Identification

    Chapter 124: Spirit Identification


    In theing days, Gu Changqing ran around the country with Tang Jie and his men, avoiding the pursuit of the Basking Moon Sect while continuing to search for the box.


    Of course, he continued to interrogate Tang Jie every day, though he didn¡¯t cut off any more arms or legs. After all, it was a hassle running around with a cripple.


    Just as Tang Jie had said, if he really cut off Tang Jie¡¯s arms and legs, he would have to get someone to carry him around.


    Year 347 of Tianshu, 3rd month, 12th day.


    Gu Changqing of Godhead Pce led men of the Hawk Hall in kidnapping Basking Moon student Tang Jie.


    On the same day, Basking Moon Academy raided the bamboo forest, dealing a heavy blow to the Hawk Hall and forcing Gu Changqing to flee with his remaining men.


    On the 13th day of the 3rd month, Gu Changqing traveled one hundred kilometers and made a sudden attack, destroying two merchant convoys in one day and departing in haste.


    The Basking Moon Sect informed all the sects throughout the country,rge and small, that Gu Changqing was to be killed if found!


    On the same day, Lin Dongsheng was executed!


    On the 15th day of the 3rd month, Gu Changqing rushed to Min Province and raided Ming City. After killing the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s branch supervisor of Ming City and destroying the teleportation formation, he fled.


    On the 17th day of the 3rd month, Gu Changqing went through the Dreg Mountains andid a trap. In this counterattack, the eighteen disciples of the Pine Tree Gate who were pursuing him were killed, along with Pine Tree Gate Elder Yu Hai. Gu Changqing himself sustained injuries.


    Enraged, the Basking Moon Sect offered a bounty: Anyone who delivered Gu Changqing¡¯s head would be granted one upper-grade Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill and would be exempt from one year of tribute.


    At the same time, it dispatched many excellent experts, such as Du Hongyang, Wu Xianguang, Bei Canghan, and Gu Yifeng, to take charge of the pursuit. Xie Fengtang returned to the academy to preside over the general operation.


    On the 18th day of the 3rd month, Du Hongyang pursued Gu Changqing to the Trimountain Lakes, but he was fooled by Gu Changqing¡¯s decoy, and Gu Changqing escaped once more with the Five Elements Earth Escape Art.


    On the 19th day of the 3rd month, Gu Changqing ambushed another Basking Moon merchant convoy. At this time, everyone in the Sageheart Kingdom knew about Godhead¡¯s hunting eagle.


    As the Eagle Master of the Hawk Hall responsible for capturing the wanted fugitives of Godhead Pce, Gu Changqing was also an old hand when it came to escaping pursuit. Even though the Basking Moon Sect had sent outrge numbers of people to search for him, Gu Changqing was still able to find the opportunity to escape, and even if there were no opportunities, he would create one.


    He used feints, diversions, sudden counterattacks, and all other kinds of techniques, ying out a game of pursuit and counter-pursuit.


    Through Gu Changqing¡¯s good graces, Tang Jie was able to experience how this game yed out in the cultivation world.


    Unlike with mortals, a pursuit and counter-pursuit in the cultivation world didn¡¯t just require experience, but also a diverse array of abilities, and the knowledge to identify these abilities, target them, and undo them. Above all, one had to understand how to exploit one¡¯s advantages.


    Southpoint Mountain.


    This was arge mountain in Sageheart¡¯s Quan Province.


    A group quickly moved along the mountain path. This was none other than the Hawk Hall group.


    Suddenly, a small and thin man in ck at the front of the group raised a hand, and everyone stopped in unison.


    Gu Changqing quickly walked over. ¡°What have you found?¡±


    ¡°There are traces of someone having gathered spiritual energy up ahead, not too long ago,¡± the man in ck replied. His name was Zheng Fei, and he was an expert when it came to spirit sensing and spirit scouting.


    Gu Changqing snatched at the air, as if he was bringing the air up to his nose. He sniffed and frowned. ¡°It¡¯s fiend energy. A fiend passed by up ahead, but it¡¯s not strong, so we don¡¯t need to worry about it. Let¡¯s keep going.¡±


    The group continued forward.


    Tang Jie ran over and curiously asked, ¡°Did you use the Windcatcher spell just now? Isn¡¯t the Windcatcher spell usually used to break Wind-type spells? How can you also use it to identify spiritual energy?¡±


    Gu Changqing smiled. ¡°What¡¯s identifying the spirit isn¡¯t the spell, but the person. Spell arts are rigid while people are flexible. If you can understand this secret, then you can use Windcatcher or even Windwalking for spirit identification.¡±


    ¡°I get it. It¡¯s like how chopsticks can be used to eat and also to kill. The one who ultimately decides is the user.¡±


    ¡°Correct!¡± Gu Changqing nodded his head in praise.


    ¡°But fiends are beasts that are connected to the spirit, their body and spirit fused together. How can you identify them?¡±


    Gu Changqing replied, ¡°While fiends are connected to the spirit, they eat flesh and drink blood, so their spirits have a pungent and ruthless odor. They also have no idea how to conceal it, so heavy traces are left behind wherever they go. Since you scored first ce in the exam, you should know that spiritual energy has its own character.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°Energy has spirit and can transform, and as it has this spiritual character, it is called spiritual energy. While ¡®spiritual energy¡¯ is only two words, it epasses all things. It is often able to experience astonishing transformations and achieve fantastical effects.¡±


    ¡°Yes, exactly.¡± Gu Changqing nodded in satisfaction. Just like that, he began to exin how to identify fiend spirit.


    Tang Jie grew excited and started to try out identifying spiritual energy. As he observed his surroundings, he managed to put on such a good imitation that even Gu Changqing had to sigh in praise. Although hecked talent in cultivation, he had a truly astounding ability toprehend. He often needed to only be taught things once, and he was even sometimes able to deduce many more things.


    He wanted to get the location of the Martial Mirror from Tang Jie, and Tang Jie wasn¡¯t falling to tough tactics, so he had naturally moved on to softer methods.


    One person wanted to learn and one person wanted to teach, so they naturallyplemented each other.


    This sort of thing had started a few days ago. Each time Gu Changqing employed some method to escape pursuit, Tang Jie would ask about how it worked, and Gu Changqing would generously teach him.


    While Tang Jie was happily learning, Gu Changqing said, ¡°The art of spirit observation and identification seems simple, but it is the basis of the art of pursuit and counter-pursuit. At the apex, one would be able to observe and detect everything in one¡¯s surroundings, and not even the strongest concealment techniques will be enough to hide from you. The next step would be to observe the weather and the skies to conjecture on all things, knowing things that are happening one thousand kilometers away. Though it is yet to reach the profundity of understanding everything by counting one¡¯s fingers, the ability to understand from observing the tiniest details is still formidable. In the academy, you should have heard of the tales of powerful Immortal masters. It often takes them a single thought to sense a change in their surroundings. While it sounds mysterious, it is really just because of what I have told you. Of course, while knowing what is happening a thousand kilometers away might sound a little exaggerated, with a Spirit Will, to be omniscient is no problem at all. On the contrary, without this level of awareness, then even a vast Divine Will that can reach out one thousand kilometers would be the same as opening one¡¯s eyes and seeing nothing.¡±


    Tang Jie was entranced by these words. Gu Changqing smiled. ¡°Actually, my Godhead Pce possesses a vast number of spell arts and a broad array of divine connections. A simple thing like a spirit identification spell is nothing. If you are willing to hand over the Martial Mirror, my Godhead Pce can immediately make you a True Inheritor. All of the True Lords, Celestial Sovereigns, and Immortal tform Titans will be avable for you to choose as your teacher, and you may pick any sort of technique you want. Even, I, Gu Changqing, can bemanded around as your servant. That lost arm of yours can also be regrown. What Basking Moon Academy can give, my Godhead Pce can give you a hundred times over!¡±


    This trick again.


    After each lesson, Gu Changqing would always say something like this, and Tang Jie was quite used to it.


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°I knew that you would say this, and I really have thought about it. But I¡¯m not really Tang Jiye, and I don¡¯t have any Martial Mirror to give you.¡±


    Gu Changqing frowned. ¡°Tang Jie, isn¡¯t it too dull to still tly deny like this by now?¡±


    ¡°I knew that you would say that. You never believe me. Yes, the testimonies of those Anyang people, those past incidents, my many simrities to Tang Jiye, and even the fact that I know formations yet kept that a secret¡­¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°You really have too many reasons to believe that I¡¯m your man. s¡­ I¡¯m really not!¡±


    He raised his head and looked directly at Gu Changqing. ¡°Whether you believe it or not, I truly am not Tang Jiye.¡±


    Gu Changqing was mentally somewhat taken aback.


    To tell the truth, he really didn¡¯t understand what Tang Jie was trying to do or what sort of meaning denial had at this point.


    Was he afraid?


    Not at all!


    Was he not afraid?


    He never admitted to it!


    Yes, while everything he had done proved that he was Tang Jiye, he continued to verbally deny it.


    Gu Changqing couldn¡¯t understand orprehend why this was the case.


    As if he could see Gu Changqing¡¯s confusion, Tang Jie suddenly said, ¡°Do you know what your weakness is?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Gu Changqing was puzzled.


    Tang Jie earnestly replied, ¡°You don¡¯t understand politics!¡±


    You don¡¯t understand politics!


    This was Tang Jie¡¯s evaluation of Gu Changqing.


    It wouldn¡¯t be long until he understood what this really meant, but at this moment, he was dumbfounded.


    The deputy Eagle Master of Hawk Hall was being reprimanded by a sixteen-year-old, though he could perhaps be considered seventeen now.


    Gu Changqing¡¯s face shifted, and just when he was about to teach this bastard a lesson, the Hawk Hall subordinate responsible for watching the rear shouted, ¡°The spiritual energy pulses in the rear have intensified!¡±


    Gu Changqing suddenly turned around and began to make hand signs so quickly that his hands blurred, after which he wiped his eyes. Tang Jie knew that this was the Eagle Eye spell, which allowed observation over an incredibly long distance. With this spell alone, Gu Changqing was practically able to see the future.


    Sure enough, a momentter, Gu Changqing said, ¡°It¡¯s Wu Xianguang! This man is an extremely powerful fighter. We can¡¯t fight him directly, so we¡¯ll use a decoy, a flesh substitute!¡±


    As he spoke, all the Hawk Hall disciples used their sabers to slice off arge chunk of flesh from themselves. Tang Jie also had a piece of flesh cut off and thrown to the ground with the rest.


    A spell was chanted and a finger pointed at the flesh on the ground. A momentter, mirror images of the Hawk Hall disciples appeared.


    Gu Changqing pointed to the side, and the flesh substitutes began to run off in another direction.


    At the same time, Zhao Xinguo threw out a Cloud Veil that covered the group.


    Before leaving Nadir Hill for Sageheart, he had been given this protective art relic by his mother. He was afraid to use it because it was the possession of a female cultivator, but this art relic had yed a vital role in helping them avoid numerous dangers.


    A few momentster, a figure flew over them, followed by ten-some silver-armored disciples of the Combat Department. They circled above Gu Changqing¡¯s group for a while before going off in pursuit of the flesh substitutes.


    Once they were gone, everyone sighed in relief.


    Zhao Xinguo was just about to remove the Cloud Veil when Gu Changqing seized him. ¡°Wait.¡±


    A few momentster, another person emerged from his hiding spot and flew into the distance.


    It turned out that someone else had hidden themselves in the area at some point.


    Once that person was gone, Gu Changqing finally said, ¡°Alright, we¡¯re good. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Everyone sighed in relief.


    But at this moment, after taking back the Cloud Veil, Zhao Xinguo grunted, ¡°Go? Go where?¡±


    ¡°Mm?¡± Gu Changqing looked at Zhao Xinguo. ¡°Ten Kilometer Ry Station, of course. Number 36 has reported that a merchant convoy will be going through there tonight.¡±


    ¡°It seems pointless to me,¡± Zhao Xinguo said, an ambiguous tone to his voice.


    Gu Changqing frowned. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°¡®What do I mean¡¯? I mean that I¡¯ve had enough!¡± Zhao Xinguo roared. ¡°Gu Changqing, you¡¯re leading us straight to death!¡±


    He was so furious that he didn¡¯t even address him as ¡°Eagle Master¡±.


    Next to him, Wng panicked. ¡°Xinguo, how could you speak to Eagle Master like that?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care!¡± Zhao Xinguo bellowed. ¡°We clearly captured Tang Jie, but we¡¯re still running around looking for some box. Gu Changqing, you¡¯re wasting time, and you¡¯re wasting our lives! Look at us! How long do you think we can keep running?¡±


    He gestured at the people around him.

 Chapter 125: A Lie More Real Than the Truth

    Chapter 125: A Lie More Real Than the Truth


    Following Zhao Xinguo¡¯s finger, Gu Changqing saw pale and haggard faces.


    The Hawk Hall¡¯s people had been running for their lives this entire time to avoid the pursuit of the Basking Moon Sect. In truth, they were absolutely exhausted, but they had been enduring it all.


    But there was a limit to how much they could suffer. Cultivators were also people, and they had breaking points!


    While they had managed to achieve a miracle in their seven days of flight, they had paid far too great a price for this miracle.


    Putting aside the fact that the majority of the ten-some Hawk Hall members had died in battle, even those spies nted in various parts of Sageheart had been mobilized toplete missions for the Hawk Hall, even at the risk of exposing themselves.


    Godhead Pce had nted a total of three-hundred-some spies within the Sageheart Kingdom. In the space of seven days, thirty-some had died in battle, forty-some had been exposed, and at least half of the remainder had been implicated and would inevitably be exposed as well.


    At present, excluding Tang Jie, Gu Changqing had five men under hismand. The others had been killed in the pursuit or sacrificed themselves to hold off the enemy.


    Zhao Xinguo had been able to endure a lot, but after seven days of this, he could endure no longer.


    He wasn¡¯t like most of them. His father was a Celestial Heart True Person. He hade here to make a contribution to the sect and had never once thought about suffering so much.


    When they had captured Tang Jie, he had seen some hope of achieving some merit. At that time, he had followed all of Gu Changqing¡¯s orders. Even when they were attacked in the bamboo forest and suffered terrible losses, he didn¡¯t care so long as he could return to Nadir Hill and get a few achievements to his name. With his father¡¯s prestige and status, this would be more than enough to extract some benefit from.


    But the truth was that capturing Tang Jie wasn¡¯t the same as obtaining the Martial Mirror. They had been run ragged by ten days of flight and pursuit, and this young master had suffered enough.


    Not all young masters were bossy, but all of them were unable to take much suffering. Actually, that he had been able tost seven days was a miracle.


    Today, he had finally stepped forward.


    A smile appeared in Tang Jie¡¯s eyes.


    He knew that the moment he had been waiting for had finallye.


    After all the pain, all the blood and tears, it wasn¡¯t just Zhao Xinguo who was fed up, right? But they were cowed by Gu Changqing¡¯s power and weren¡¯t willing to speak out.


    In the face of Zhao Xinguo¡¯s criticisms, Gu Changqing replied, ¡°I know that all of you have suffered a lot, but we waited three years for this very moment. We have already paid too much and lost too many people for the sake of getting back the Martial Mirror. Do all of you want all of this to be in vain?¡±


    Zhao Xinguo coldlyughed. ¡°The problem is: how do you know that we¡¯ll get anything from this? Perhaps it will be just as pointless as thest few times.¡±


    ¡°I cannot guarantee anything,¡± Gu Changqing firmly replied. ¡°But this is exactly why we must grasp every avable opportunity.¡±


    ¡°What a joke! We have the person who knows where the Martial Mirror is right here, but we¡¯re running around and searching for ourselves! That¡¯s giving up on the trunk to seize the branches!¡±


    ¡°Then you go and ask him! If you can get anything out of him, I wouldn¡¯t even mind giving you all the credit!¡± Gu Changqing roared back.


    Zhao Xinguo was instantly silenced.


    It was absurd, of course. They had already used every method they could think of to get Tang Jie to admit where the Martial Mirror was.


    But this fellow remained stubbornly quiet. Even when his life was threatened, he would simply smile and present his neck as if he was saying, ¡°Stab me if you have the guts.¡±


    Gu Changqing had now pushed the problem onto him, and he was helpless as to what to do. He just rushed over and started beating Tang Jie up.


    Taking out his saber, he pointed it at Tang Jie¡¯s throat. ¡°It¡¯s all because of you that my Hawk Hall lost so many people. Since you won¡¯t hand over the Martial Mirror, what¡¯s the point in keeping you around? Better to kill you now so that no one gets it!¡±


    Tang Jiezily replied, ¡°The Basking Moon Sect never had any ns of getting the Martial Mirror, so what¡¯s the point in saying that no one will get it?¡±


    Zhao Xinguo spat at Tang Jie, ¡°You bullshitter! Then why are they chasing us like frenzied dogs? If not the Martial Mirror, what else would have them putting in so much effort? A student¡¯s life isn¡¯t worth that much!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°A student¡¯s life naturally isn¡¯t worth that much, but the lives of Godhead Pce¡¯s Hawk Hall and numerous spies are extremely valuable.¡±


    When Gu Changqing heard this, his entire body shuddered. ¡°What did you say?¡±


    ¡°You know what I¡¯m saying,¡± Tang Jie said, thick derision in his eyes. ¡°You know about jailbreaks, I presume? People in jail are always thinking about escaping, but they have no idea that their real suffering begins only after they¡¯ve broken free. All of you have always been thinking about trying to capture me, but you failed to realize¡­ the moment you captured me, your true suffering began.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s hearts chilled at these words.


    Had the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s attack and Tang Jie¡¯s help all been part of a trap?


    Then¡­ They didn¡¯t dare to keep thinking.


    Tang Jie casually continued, ¡°In truth, I gave you the answer long ago. It¡¯s just that you didn¡¯t want to believe me. Back in my hometown, there¡¯s a saying: suspecting the neighbor of stealing your axe. One day, a person lost his axe. He suspected that his neighbor stole it, so no matter what his neighbor did, he seemed like a thief. But after a while, he suddenly found his axe. When he looked at his neighbor again, he no longer seemed like a thief¡­ If you suspect someone, you will find everything that they do to be suspicious. If you don¡¯t suspect him, then nothing he does will appear suspicious. Preconceived notions are terrifying things, making us ignore all other facts. In truth, once you think it over, many things start to make sense. It¡¯s just that none of you wanted to think about them.¡±


    Tang Jie raised his head and looked at the Hawk Hall members. ¡°All of you are the same. Rather than saying that all the evidence proved that I am Tang Jiye, it would be better to say that you always hoped that I was Tang Jiye, so you couldn¡¯t see any other result and couldn¡¯t see any other possibility. Have you ever tried reconsidering this chain of events if I¡¯m not Tang Jiye? You might discover that there is actually an exnation for everything that has transpired.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s voice lingered in their ears like the murmuring of a ghost. Gu Changqing¡¯s face shifted around as he repeatedly shook his head. ¡°No¡­ This is impossible¡­¡±


    Some people still didn¡¯t get it, like Zhao Xinguo, this idiot, who urgently asked, ¡°What are you saying? Why don¡¯t I understand it? What other possibility could there be?¡±


    He grabbed Tang Jie¡¯s neck and yelled, ¡°What the hell are you saying?¡±


    But no matter how much he shouted at and beat Tang Jie, Tang Jie ignored him.


    He just coldly smiled at Gu Changqing.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie¡¯s words continued to bounce around in Gu Changqing¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Preconceived notions are a terrifying thing¡­


    ¡°Once you think it over¡­


    Have you ever tried reconsidering this chain of events if I¡¯m not Tang Jiye¡­¡±


    Gu Changqing¡¯s body began to tremble.


    ¡°No! Impossible!¡± He shook his head.


    But another voice in his head told him that this waspletely possible!


    It was absolutely logical!


    ¡°The Basking Moon Sect¡­¡± His pupils suddenly widened as he stared at Tang Jie. ¡°This was all a plot of the Basking Moon Sect? They had you disguise yourself as Tang Jiye so that we would take the bait?¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± All of the Godhead Pce disciples stared in shock at Gu Changqing.


    Gu Changqing muttered, ¡°Why did you intentionally announce your name before entering the academy? Why did you so easily find evidence that Qi Ming¡¯s men had entered your home? Why did Zhuang Shen fail his mission? Why did you so easily obtain the Sword ssic? Why did the Basking Moon Sect attack us as soon as we captured you¡­ Because this was all nned by the Basking Moon Sect! Three years ago, they knew that we were looking for the real Tang Jiye, so they sought a target that could be used as a convincing fake, thus fooling us and drawing our attention away, allowing them to search for the real Tang Jiye. Of course, when necessary, they could also use him as bait for us to bite on. When we became certain that you were Tang Jiye and sacrificed everything to kidnap you, the Basking Moon Sect would have a justified reason to get rid of us!


    ¡°Their goal from the very start was us!


    ¡°This is why you warned us about the sneak attack! This is why you helped us escape!


    ¡°Because the Basking Moon Sect wanted us to run. While we ran, they would force out all the spies serving us and purge all of the informants that Godhead Pce had nted over many years!¡±


    Gu Changqing stood up and furiously red at Tang Jie. ¡°From start to finish, you were doing everything you could to pretend to be Tang Jiye!¡±


    As Gu Changqing spoke, various images automatically appeared in everyone¡¯s minds.


    A secret plot concocted by the upper echelons of the Basking Moon Academy, unknown to anyone else¡­ A youth who was selected and who joined the Wei n as an orphan and then entered the academy as a servant student, even dering ¡°I am Tang Jiye¡± in front of the academy gates¡­ From that day onward, Godhead Pce¡¯s attention had been ced on this ¡°Tang Jie¡±, who dragged them along by the nose until they finally risked everything to try and kidnap Tang Jie, giving the Basking Moon Sect the perfect opportunity.


    A heaven-shaking scheme!


    Everyone was stunned by Gu Changqing¡¯s conjecture.


    Compared to all the reasons and evidence they had that made them certain that Tang Jie was Tang Jiye, this exnation clearly made much more sense.


    At least if Tang Jie was Tang Jiye, there were two problems that Gu Changqing would never be able to solve.


    1. How could someone who had yet to reach adulthood develop so many ways to deceive Gu Changqing and have the Hawk Hall members running around like stray dogs!?


    2. How was he able to resist the Soulscour spell!? The Basking Moon Sect could make trades for anything except this kind of secret technique.


    But if this was all a conspiracy by the Basking Moon Sect, everything made sense.


    The n was made by the people of the Basking Moon Sect, the identity was forged by the people of the Basking Moon Sect, that deration had been nned by the people of the Basking Moon Sect, the secret art had been passed on by the people of the Basking Moon Sect, the Anyang people had been bribed by the people of the Basking Moon Sect, and perhaps Zhao Xiliang had personally taught him about formations.


    The box was just bait that would draw them into action. After all, the more ces they went, the more spies they would draw out. Tang Jie was nothing more than a puppet on the stage. The people of the Basking Moon Sect were the ones behind everything.


    Almost all the inexplicable parts now had a perfect answer.


    As a lie, it was more real than the truth!


    Even if they weren¡¯t willing to believe it, all of the Hawk Hall disciples despaired.


    A Hawk Hall member muttered, ¡°We were fooled¡­ You aren¡¯t Tang Jiye¡­ Everyone died in vain¡­ in vain!¡±


    He shouted, and then he dropped to the ground and began to cry.


    ¡°No! I don¡¯t believe it! He must be Tang Jiye! He must be!¡± someone else shouted in agitation, pointing at Tang Jie. But from the look on his face, it was clear that he didn¡¯t believe his own words. He was clearly just trying to deny the truth in the face of despair.


    ¡°Shi Ke, Wei Yu, calm down!¡± Gu Changqing shouted. ¡°This is only a theory! A theory!¡±


    ¡°But the theory seems more like the truth,¡± Kong Wng said.


    Gu Changqing froze.


    He couldn¡¯t answer.


    His mind was in disarray, and he couldn¡¯t sort things out, but he vaguely felt that there was a problem.


    Tang Jie had pushed off the me too cleanly.


    He had instantly pushed all the problems onto a plot of the Basking Moon Sect, but Gu Changqing felt that there was some sort of problem. He just couldn¡¯t find out what it was.


    In the middle of his disarray, Zhao Xinguo muttered, ¡°It¡¯s over. We¡¯re done for. After so many deaths and so much suffering, it was all for a fake¡­ Bastard! Since that¡¯s the case, there¡¯s no point in keeping you around! Kill!¡±


    Zhao Xinguo hollered.


    ¡°Kill!¡±


    ¡°Kill!¡±


    ¡°Kill!¡±


    ¡°Kill!¡±


    The other four shouted, their voices brimming with endless rage, both because of the fact that they had been yed for an entire year and for their numerous brothers who had died because of this ¡°plot¡±.


    Suddenly, Gu Changqing had a sh of insight.


    Hold on!


    He finally found out where the problem was!


    Tang Jie shouldn¡¯t have brought this matter up, as this would only ce him in danger.


    Without the identity of Tang Jiye, the only conclusion facing Tang Jie would be death.


    He stared at Tang Jie and found that Tang Jie was smiling at him.


    He looked at Gu Changqing and noiselessly spoke two words.


    Gu Changqing could read from the shape of his mouth what he was saying.


    Celestial Mountains!


    <em>Boom!</em>


    Gu Changqing¡¯s mind exploded.


    In his interactions with Tang Jie, he had never once mentioned that the treasury was located in the Celestial Mountains precisely so that he could draw Tang Jie into a slip of the tongue and make Tang Jie cease his meaningless denials.


    And now, he had finally said it.


    And it was no slip of the tongue!


    He really was Tang Jiye!


    At the same time, his five men raised their sabers at Tang Jie.


    They wanted to kill Tang Jie and wash away all the suffering that had been caused by him!


    Gu Changqing cast aside all apprehensions and shouted, ¡°No!¡±


    He thrust out his palm!

 Chapter 126: Internal Strife

    Chapter 126: Internal Strife


    <em>Boom!</em>


    A wave of spiritual energy sted away all five of the Hawk Hall members.


    Gu Changqing had struck in haste, and this palm could not have been a light blow. Shi Ke bore the brunt of the attack and vomited blood.


    The five of them tumbled in the air andnded. Zhao Xinguo angrily shouted, ¡°Gu Changqing, what are you doing?¡±


    Gu Changqing was just about to reply when Tang Jie sneered, ¡°You still need to ask? If he kills you, no one will know that I¡¯m not Tang Jiye!¡±


    What?


    Everyone shuddered and stared in disbelief at Gu Changqing.


    Yes.


    Tang Jie was right.


    So many people had died, the mission had failed, and they had no idea where the real Tang Jiye was. All of their efforts had been for naught, so Godhead Pce would not be happy. Eagle Master Gu had been charged by Godhead Pce with retrieving the Martial Mirror, so he would find it hard to escape the me. How could he ept this oue?


    Inparison, people like them who had just been carrying out the mission wouldn¡¯t receive as much me.


    Thus, from Gu Changqing¡¯s perspective, Tang Jie was Tang Jiye, had to be Tang Jiye. No other possibility was allowed!


    As this thought shot through their minds, everyone understood what was going on, and they all looked warily at Gu Changqing.


    Gu Changqing was shocked and enraged. ¡°It¡¯s not like that. He¡¯s Tang Jiye¡­¡±


    Before he could finish, Tang Jie grabbed some sand and threw it at Zhao Xinguo.


    Zhao Xinguo raised his head and dodged it, then he chopped his hand at Tang Jie. If this strikended, Tang Jie would undoubtedly die. Gu Changqing had no time for exnations. He shot forward to protect Tang Jie, and as he blocked the strike, he shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t kill him! He mentioned the Celestial Mountains just now. He¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Raaa!¡± A palm thundered down. Kong Wng had attacked.


    Gu Changqing was so focused on exining himself that he couldn¡¯t dodge. He took on the full force of the palm and was forced back several steps.


    But though he had managed to get his words out, nobody cared.


    The words ¡°Celestial Mountains¡± had only been mouthed.


    No one here had heard Tang Jie say those words, and in their indignant rage, they certainly hadn¡¯t been observing him. Thus, they tossed aside this exnation, neither caring for nor believing it. They didn¡¯t even bother to think about the significance of those two words!


    If Gu Changqing had been given enough time, he might have been able to exin everything, but Tang Jie¡¯s actions had instantly pushed developments in the most intense direction, making it into an avnche that would trample everything in its way¡­


    With Gu Changqing pushed back by that palm, Shi Ke shot a bolt of wind from his finger at Tang Jie.


    They were still somewhat apprehensive of Gu Changqing, so they didn¡¯t try to attack him because of this usation, but they showed no mercy to Tang Jie.


    Gu Changqing panicked.


    He knew that Tang Jie had essentially tied the two of them together. So long as he wanted Tang Jie alive to hand over the location of the Martial Mirror, he could not let them kill Tang Jie, and this would confirm the usation that he was ¡°silencing witnesses¡±.


    He might have been in a panic, but that didn¡¯t mean he would just sit around and watch Tang Jie die. He could only rapidly retreat, grabbing Tang Jie and dodging to the side.


    But now, Wei Yu, Zheng Fei, and Zhao Xinguo charged up. Without any visible sort of casting from Gu Changqing, his left hand suddenly grew. Five sharp talons of energy shot out of his fingers, forming a hawk w that swept at the trio.


    This was the Divine Hawk w that he was so proud of.


    As expected given its name, the Hawk Hall had many spell arts connected to hawks and eagles, such as the Eagle Eye and the Hawk w, and these were all spells rted to observation and capture. As the deputy master of the Hawk Hall, Gu Changqing was proficient in all of these spell arts.


    He didn¡¯t intend to kill with this w, only stop the attacks of the five. But as he attacked, Tang Jie¡¯s eyes suddenly shed, and he thrust out a finger. A golden light shot through the dust toward Zhao Xinguo.


    Suppressed by the New Rain on Barren Mountain Curse, Tang Jie was incapable of using spiritual energy. But he had never relied on spiritual energy, instead relying on his formidable constitution, and he had made this attack using purely the strength of his wrist. Moreover, given the innate sharpness of the golden needle, it was able to punch a small hole through Zhao Xinguo¡¯s left shoulder.


    As blood flew into the air, Zhao Xinguo howled in pain, ¡°Gu Changqing, as expected, you really are trying to silence us?¡±


    Gu Changqing was also startled.


    Tang Jie had thrown out his needle in an extremely surreptitious manner, and nobody had been able to notice that little golden light amidst the wind and dust. Everyone believed that Gu Changqing had done this, and even Gu Changqing believed that he had identally injured Zhao Xinguo.


    He hastily said, ¡°That¡¯s not¡­¡±


    He still wanted to exin himself, but Zhao Xinguo was already punching out, unleashing a gust of wind. ¡°Fuck you!¡±


    Tang Jie had chosen to attack Zhao Xinguo because, after several days of getting to know him, he had realized that Zhao Xinguo was very narrow-minded and arrogant. Gu Changqing had been somewhat able to restrain him and prevent him from causing trouble, but in dire straits, he was bound to cause trouble.


    Now that he was injured, he truly believed Tang Jie was right and that Gu Changqing was trying to silence him, so he decided to attack Gu Changqing.


    Unlike the others, he was the son of a True Person. While he normally treated Gu Changqing as his superior, when there was really a problem, even Gu Changqing would have to stand to the side, for he had the courage and confidence to fight back!


    Gu Changqing grew angry.


    He was still the Eagle Master of the Hawk Hall, Zhao Xinguo¡¯s direct superior. For daring to attack him, Zhao Xinguo hadmitted the crime of striking a superior.


    ¡°Seeking death!¡± Gu Changqing¡¯s eyes coldly shed as he thrust out his palm, sending out a shockwave.


    This rage-driven attack contained considerable power. It instantly scattered Zhao Xinguo¡¯s gust of wind, and the remainder of its power sent Zhao Xinguo flying into the air while also striking the other four.


    The other four instinctively struck back to resist. Out of fear of Gu Changqing¡¯s strength, they did not dare to hold anything back. Four torrents of spiritual energy gathered together and then swept toward Gu Changqing.


    rmed, Gu Changqing stopped holding back as well. A pitch-ck metal w appeared in his hand, and he waved it at them. Five sharp, w-shaped energies instantly flew out.


    ¡°Watch out! It¡¯s the Soul-Seizing w!¡± Shi Ke shouted.


    <em>Pa!</em>


    Wei Yu was struck by a w, but as he flew into the air, he had already fired off an azure light from his hand. This azure light grewrger and transformed into a sword that shed down.


    Gu Changqing roared, and a golden armor appeared on his body. This suit of armor was much more dazzling than the one that Zhuang Shen had worn.


    Gu Changqing swung at the air, and the Soul-Seizing w struck the azure sword. The azure sword energy passed straight through the w and struck Gu Changqing¡¯s Godhead Armor.


    The Breeze Sword Pellet was Wei Yu¡¯s ultimate skill that he normally kept in reserve, but when he did use it, it had a thunderous impact. He understood Wei Yu, so when he saw that azure light, he had immediately activated his Godhead Armor. But he was also enraged that Wei Yu would use the Breeze Sword Pellet against him. After some thought, he realized that Tang Jie had sessfully riled up all these idiots and that it would be difficult for him to end things in a good way. If it was really no good, he would just have to kill them all.


    When it came to battles, the more one fought, the angrier one became and the greater were the grudges formed.


    It was often the case of ¡°You heavily injured me? Then I¡¯ll make you suffer even worse!¡±


    For Gu Changqing, using the Breeze Sword Pellet against him meant that the attacker had lethal intentions against him. But for Wei Yu and the others, wasn¡¯t Gu Changqing¡¯s Soul-Seizing w also an enormous threat?


    With neither side trusting the other, the battle intensified, and their hostility to each other only grew. A misunderstanding quickly became a battle where only one side would walk away alive.


    Everyone was serious now, neither side daring to hold back. The mountain path was immediately embroiled in dust and wind.


    As the Eagle Master of Hawk Hall, Gu Changqing could fight five opponents without falling behind.


    As the five of them attacked, Gu Changqing roared, and his body suddenly groaned and cracked. He erupted with a cold light that engulfed his surroundings.


    ¡°The Icesoul Radiance! Dodge!¡± Shi Ke shouted as he fell back.


    He had been with Gu Changqing the longest and understood his techniques the most. Gu Changqing had extracted the extreme Yin energy from Thousand-Year Ice to cultivate this Icesoul Radiance. Those struck by it would be uninjured on the surface, but their insides would be burned by mes of ice, their organs destroyed. Not even Godhead Armor could stop it. It was an extremely insidious technique.


    The other four paled at these words and immediately backed away. Zhao Xinguo used hand signs to instantly form several seals. At the same time, he shouted, ¡°The Great Art is without obstruction; the five lightnings upset the heavens!¡±


    As he shouted, light radiated from the top of his head and shot into the heavens. Clouds instantly gathered into dark masses that shed with lightning.


    ¡°The Lightning Secret Art, the Thunderstorm Hand?¡± Gu Changqing paled.


    The Thunderstorm Hand was the unique art of Zhao Xinguo¡¯s father, Zhao Tianlei (Heavenly Lightning). It possessed enormous power, and at profound levels, one could strike down their opponent with heavenly lightning from several dozen kilometers away.


    This was also the biggest difference between the Spirit tform Realm and the Mortal Shedding Realm. Spell arts broke free of the strictures of the body and could harness the power of the world to defeat one¡¯s opponent, so their power was many times greater.


    Zhao Xinguo didn¡¯t have his father¡¯s ability, but he had some familiarity with the Thunderstorm Hand. Thunderclouds gathered thickly above him, and then lightning descended. Zhao Xinguo raised his hand, grabbing this bolt of lightning and hurling it at Gu Changqing.


    ¡°Gu Changqing, die!¡±


    ¡°In your dreams!¡± Gu Changqing grunted.


    He slightly raised his head, a strange whistleing from his throat. A phantom pair of crow-ck wings suddenly grew from his back. These wings pped and then came together. The bolt of lightning struck the wings, and though electricity crackled along the wings, Gu Changqing was unharmed.


    ¡°How could that be?¡± Zhao Xinguo was stunned.


    Gu Changqing chuckled. ¡°If your father were here, I might not have been able to block the Thunderstorm Hand, but that little trick of yours is far from his level. Eaglesoar sh!¡±


    Gu Changqing shot at the five like a bolt of lightning, leaving afterimages in his wake.


    He moved with incredible swiftness, his Soul-Seizing w swiping at Shi Ke.


    He hated how talkative Shi Ke was, so he attacked him first.


    Shi Ke let out a strange shout and tumbled in the air to try to dodge. At the same time, he used several defensive spells.


    Gu Changqing pursued like a shadow, and Shi Ke¡¯s dodging proved fruitless. The Soul-Seizing w came down, piercing through all defenses and striking Shi Ke in the chest. The wnded on Shi Ke¡¯s Godhead Armor, and the talons closed, releasing cold energy. It was the Icesoul Radiance.


    Icy energy flowed into Shi Ke¡¯s body, rendering it stiff. Gu Changqing seized the moment to swipe at Shi Ke¡¯s throat with his metal w.


    Shi Ke grabbed his throat and fell back. Meanwhile, two bolts of lightning shot at Gu Changqing from behind¡ªattacks from Kong Wng and Zheng Fei. Gu Changqing turned around, dodging the attacks by a hair. Laughing, he said, ¡± After following me for so many years, have you forgotten that my specialty is speed? You think the five of you can deal with me? I¡¯ll have you all die one by one under my w!¡±


    He blinked away, leaving behind multiple afterimages as he rushed at Zheng Fei.


    Zheng Fei instantly knew that he was in trouble. He thrust out his palm and shouted, ¡°Meru Palm!¡±


    His palm attack instantly expanded into a giant hand.


    At the same time, Kong Wng howled, a three-legged golden eagle with blue eyes taking flight from his head and lunging at Gu Changqing.


    Wei Yu had also already used his Breeze Sword Pellet, unleashing a storm of swords.


    At this stage in the battle, everyone was using their strongest techniques, forgetting their time as fellow soldiers and striking out with the intent to kill.


    In the end, Gu Changqing was a high-tier Mortal Shedding Realm expert. Even though he was up against five opponents at once, he was still more than strong enough to deal with all of them. He dodged Kong Wng¡¯s strange bird and Zheng Fei¡¯s palm mountain, then he suddenly raised his body up and wed at the golden eagle with murder in his eyes. ¡°Puny beast, trying to show off here!¡±


    The Soul-Seizing w shed with a bloody light, the five talons growing bloody edges more than a foot in length and savagely stabbing into the golden eagle¡¯s head, instantly obliterating it.


    ¡°Little ck!¡± Kong Wng howled in grief.


    Gu Changqing vanished like a ghost, appearing at Zhao Xinguo¡¯s side and swinging down his w.


    Zhao Xinguo bellowed, lightning crackling out of his hand.


    Gu Changqingughed, taking the Thunderstorm Hand and thrusting his palm at Zhao Xinguo.


    <em>Boom!</em> The lightning exploded on Gu Changqing¡¯s body and turned his flesh into a mangled mess, but Zhao Xinguo had five holes in his palm thanks to Gu Changqing¡¯s fingers.


    Gu Changqing had only suffered a surface wound, but Zhao Xinguo¡¯s hand had essentially been crippled for the moment.


    Gu Changqing kneed Zhao Xinguo in the abdomen and sinisterly said, ¡°You five want to kill me? You don¡¯t have the right yet!¡±


    Zhao Xinguo vomited blood as he was knocked away. At this moment, Kong Wng suddenly hugged Gu Changqing¡¯s leg, ring in hatred at Gu Changqing. ¡°You killed my Little ck! You killed my Little ck!¡±


    Gu Changqing wanted to kick away Kong Wng, but Kong Wng was holding on with all his strength, and the Dragon Coil spell art had even more firmly bound him to Gu Changqing.


    At the same time, Wei Yu, Zheng Fei, and Shi Ke attacked together. Though Shi Ke had taken a blow to the throat, he wasn¡¯t dead yet. After all, he was at Hundred Refinement, so he possessed an abnormal vitality.


    Their attacks arrived simultaneously, and Gu Changqing, unable to dodge, had to take them all and was dealt significant damage.


    In truth, he had been restraining himself all this time, had truly not intended to kill, only to defeat them and reprimand them, after which he could exin everything. But Kong Wng was so griefstricken by the loss of his beloved bird that he was determined to take down Gu Changqing.


    At this point, Gu Changqing had to stop holding back. The Soul-Seizing w shed with bloody light once more, and the five talons plunged into Kong Wng¡¯s head.


    <em>Thud!</em>


    The five talons encountered no resistance, deeply embedding into Kong Wng¡¯s skull.


    Now Kong Wng (Hole Fifth Son) truly matched his name, his head bearing five holes.


    ¡°Wng!¡± Wei Yu and the others shouted, sorrow in their eyes.


    They had fled the bamboo forest together, but rather than dying at the hands of the Basking Moon Sect, they were to die in an internal battle? This simply wasn¡¯t the way to go.


    ¡°Bastard¡­ Those who go against me die!¡± Gu Changqing roared.


    He wasn¡¯t some domineering and tyrannical person, but at this point, words were pointless. It no longer mattered how overbearing he was, for the situationpelled him into action. He was forced to say such domineering words so as to intimidate his enemies.


    But while Kong Wng had suffered a serious wound, he was notpletely dead yet. He continued to clutch Gu Changqing¡¯s leg, and the Dragon Coil spell had yet to dissipate.


    At this time, Wei Yu and the others spoke in unison.


    ¡°Moon Demon Sword!¡±


    ¡°Meru Hand!¡±


    ¡°Thunderstorm Hand!¡±


    ¡°Destion sh!¡±


    All four used their strongest spell arts on Gu Changqing.


    Gu Changqing saw that there was no evading, and the wings on his back pped and enclosed him.


    <em>Boom!</em> The wings blew apart, and Gu Changqing flew out, grunting in pain.


    ¡°My Ink Falcon Wings!¡± Gu Changqing howled in pain.


    He had cultivated his Ink Falcon Wings for many years so that they could reach this level, but they had been half-destroyed under thebined attack. Of the two wings, only the spines were left, and his speed plunged as a result.


    Though he was in pain over this loss, Gu Changqing charged forward and swiped his w at Shi Ke. The Icesoul Radiance once more exploded, and this time, he showed no mercy. Five streams of cold energy coiled around Shi Ke while he embedded his w into Shi Ke¡¯s throat.


    With a shake of his hand, <em>pa!</em> Shi Ke¡¯s head broke free of his body and dropped to the ground.


    ¡°Shi Ke!¡± the remaining three shouted.


    ¡°All of you must die here!¡± Gu Changqing howled as he lunged at Zhao Xinguo.


    But without his falcon wings, his speed was greatly reduced, and he no longer could move as he pleased. As the surviving three cast their spells, his surroundings once more rumbled with thunder.


    There was another intense sh, and then a series of explosions. Zhao Xinguo, Wei Yu, and Zheng Fei vomited blood and fell back, but Gu Changqing was also blown out of the melee.


    All four of them now bore heavy wounds as proof of the ferocity of the sh just now.


    Even so, they were still ring at each other like four frenzied bulls. It seemed like they would truly fight until one side was dead.


    At this moment, Tang Jie suddenly shouted, ¡°You¡¯re still fighting? The Basking Moon Sect is almost here!¡±


    What?


    Everyone was startled.


    Tang Jie suddenly opened his mouth and spat arge mouthful of blood, which struck Wei Yu and Zheng Fei, drenching them in his blood.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°But stained with my blood, some people will never be able to escape.¡±


    <em>What?</em> Wei and Zheng were both shaken. Enraged, Wei Yu shouted, ¡°Even when you¡¯re about to die, you¡¯re still trying to drag down others!¡±


    He swung his sword at Tang Jie.


    But Gu Changqing would never let him seed. He rushed over and blocked the attack. Tang Jie rolled on the ground,ing to Shi Ke¡¯s and Kong Wng¡¯s corpses. With his one arm, he stripped the two of their Mustard Seed Bags and then began to run away. ¡°You¡¯re still not leaving!? They¡¯reing!¡±


    Spiritual light surged up in the distance. The Basking Moon Sect¡¯s Wu Xianguang was returning from his fruitless search and was rushing back after sensing the uproar behind him.


    Gu Changqing stopped hesitating. He shot out several bolts of ck energy at the three survivors, and then he grabbed Tang Jie and fled. He was no longer conserving spiritual energy, leaving mist and fog in his wake as he turned into a bolt of lightning.


    But he had been somewhat slow to escape and was wounded, so he was momentarily unable to throw off his pursuers.


    At this moment, Tang Jie said, ¡°The Cloud Marsh is thick with mists that will conceal spiritual energy pulses. You can avoid your pursuers in there.¡±


    ¡°What are you scheming now?¡± Gu Changqing angrily asked.


    Rather than answering, Tang Jie softlymented, ¡°It¡¯s not important what sort of scheme I have. What¡¯s important is this: are you more willing to face me or to face Wu Xianguang?¡±


    Gu Changqing shivered.


    Tang Jie was like a devil who had his heart in his hand. Every one of his words was able to strike at his weak points.


    At this moment, he could never admit that he was afraid of Tang Jie.


    But on the other hand, the apprehension Tang Jie gave him surpassed that from Wu Xianguang and the other Basking Moon experts. At least these people had never been able to inflict so much damage on Godhead Pce.


    As if he could see Gu Changqing¡¯s apprehensions, Tang Jie sighed. ¡°The Cloud Marsh is huge. I can understand your mistrust toward me, but in the end, I don¡¯t have the ability to turn the entirety of the Cloud Marsh into my home court. You can choose for yourself a ce to rest, and I¡¯m not that impressive as toy a trap that far ahead. Moreover, your injuries are not light, and you need to quickly heal up. Once we¡¯re there, I¡¯ll tell you what you want to know.¡±


    Gu Changqing took in a deep breath, and without another word, he charged into the Cloud Marsh.

 Chapter 127: Double-Layered Lie

    Chapter 127: Double-Layered Lie


    <em>Thud!</em>


    Tang Jie rolled on the ground a few times, feeling like every bone in his body was breaking.


    But when he looked up and saw nothing but clouds and mists, he chuckled.


    They were finally in the Cloud Marsh!


    This location was in the heart of the Cloud Marsh. By fleeing here and using the mists, Gu Changqing was finally able to throw off Wu Xianguang¡¯s pursuit. But he was deeply exhausted from the effort, holding his chest and listlessly sitting on the ground.


    In the earlier battle, he had been badly wounded, and he had consumed excessive amounts of spiritual energy in the following flight. At this moment, he felt weak all over.


    Even so, he carefully observed his surroundings, wary of any possible trap.


    The marsh was silent, and they were on one of the few solid patches of ground in the marsh.


    They were surrounded by dead and fallen trees. The sunlight was kept out by the mists, making the marsh humid and gloomy.


    It was a still and quiet environment. There were no birds here, only the sounds of poisonous insects.


    The Cloud Marsh was renowned in the Sageheart Kingdom for being a destend. There was nothing here besides mud, turbid waters, poisonous insects, and fiends, sprites, ghosts, and monsters. Thus, few people frequented this ce.


    After inspecting the area and confirming that there were no problems, Gu Changqing stood up, grabbed Tang Jie, and rammed him against a withered tree, savagely snarling, ¡°Why? Why did you do this? What sort of hatred do you hold against Godhead Pce, that you would go so far?¡±


    Tang Jie sympathetically looked at him. ¡°You finally understand.¡±


    Yes.


    Gu Changqing finally understood.


    He finally understood what sort of mistake he had made.


    The damn bastard!


    Tang Jie¡¯s goal had never been to protect his secret or protect the Martial Mirror. It had to be to attack Godhead Pce!


    He wanted Godhead Pce to die!


    To this end, he did not mind using his body as bait to lure the Basking Moon Sect into taking action!


    To this end, he did not mind exposing his identity, forcing the Godhead Pce forces to break apart!


    He wanted Godhead Pce to pay a bitter price, and a Hawk Hall secret base in the bamboo forest was not enough to satisfy him. He wanted to dig out the majority of the spies that Godhead Pce had hidden in the Sageheart Kingdom.


    This campaign alone had inflicted grievous losses on Godhead Pce. Some spies, like Lin Yuanming, had extremely high statuses and had been difficult to nurture, and this was precisely what made their loss hurt so much!


    A mistaken judgment on the enemy¡¯s strategic objective had been the root of this operation¡¯s failure.


    Because he didn¡¯t know what Tang Jie wanted, Tang Jie had managed to lead them all along by the nose.


    It had nothing to do with ack of wisdom, only with an information asymmetry. Analysis of information that had been fundamentally mistaken had foreordained that this w would exist, and this mistake rested in the most crucial part.


    Gu Changqing had never imagined that Tang Jie would be this insane. It was only when Tang Jie had used ¡°Celestial Mountains¡± to personally admit who he was, used that reckless challenge to incite internal strife, that Gu Changqing understood what he had been missing.


    ¡°Why?¡± Gu Changqing asked again.


    ¡°Big Brother Xu,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    This reply took Gu Changqing by surprise. ¡°Because of him? Because you called him Big Brother?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he treated me as his younger brother!¡± Tang Jie fearlessly replied, making sure to clearly pronounce every word. ¡°On the night when Big Brother Xu died, when I saw that explosion of spiritual light from Windscreen Ford, can you guess what I did?¡±


    Before Gu Changqing could ask, Tang Jie moved up to Gu Changqing¡¯s ear and whispered, ¡°I made a great aspiration, vowing to destroy Godhead Pce!¡±


    ¡°Bastard!¡±


    <em>Bang!</em> Gu Changqing thrust his palm into Tang Jie¡¯s chest, sending him flying.


    Gu Changqing stomped his foot on Tang Jie¡¯s chest. ¡°With just you, you want to destroy my Godhead Pce?¡±


    Tang Jie replied without flinching, ¡°At the very least, I managed to wipe out the majority of Godhead Pce¡¯s strength in the Sageheart Kingdom!¡±


    Gu Changqing shivered.


    Yes, regardless of what else happened, Tang Jie had at least managed to do some of what he had vowed.


    And he had done it with Gu Changqing¡¯s help.


    Gu Changqing bitterlyughed. ¡°Yes, I took your bait, killing off the majority of the people Godhead Pce had in this ce, but so what? My Godhead Pce has deep reserves and possesses formidable strength. Even if you¡¯ve killed this batch, we will raise another batch. You watch to destroy Godhead Pce? The dream of an imbecile!¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t kill them, but the Basking Moon Sect might,¡± Tang Jie indifferently said.


    ¡°What?¡± Gu Changqing shuddered. ¡°The Basking Moon Sect?¡±


    He suddenly realized something and blurted out, ¡°Zhao Xinguo? Damn it!¡±


    He instantly understood everything. Grabbing Tang Jie, he shouted, ¡°You intentionally let Zhao Xinguo go, right? You used your blood to cover Wei Yu and Zheng Fei, leaving Zhao Xinguopletely fine, and then you even dered what you had done! This was precisely so that idiot Zhao Xinguo would give up on Wei and Zheng and leave on his own!¡±


    ¡°You finally get it,¡± Tang Jieughed. ¡°Correct. He believes that all this is a plot of the Basking Moon Sect, and if he gets back to Godhead Pce alive, he¡¯ll definitely report everything. As for Wei Yu and Zheng Fei, their purpose is to draw away the Basking Moon Sect and cover his escape. Besides, I don¡¯t need too many messengers of this sort, for fear that they might discover a problem when corroborating events with each other. Say, if Godhead Pce finds out that this was all a ploy by the Basking Moon Sect, what do you think they will do?¡±


    He sinisterly said, ¡°One: they will be certain that I¡¯m not Tang Jiye, and so they will give up on investigating and pursuing me. Of course, there¡¯s still a chance of a small-scale revenge, but that will give me even more of a reason to keep killing the people of Godhead Pce. Two: they will hate the Basking Moon Sect, perhaps even start a war over it. Even if they manage to temporarily suppress their impulse to dere war, the conflicts in the shadows will intensify. The days of peace between the Basking Moon Sect and Godhead Pce are bound to be over¡­ and who can say that Godhead Pce will be the winner?¡±


    Gu Changqing¡¯s body went cold.


    Not even in his dreams could he have imagined that Tang Jie would develop this sort of n.


    All of this was a primer to trigger an even greater reaction.


    Using himself as a primer, he spurred the Basking Moon Sect into chasing the Hawk Hall.


    Using the pursuit as a primer, he caused the Basking Moon Sect and Godhead Pce to stand in opposition to each other.


    This bastard was so intent on scheming Godhead Pce¡¯s ruin that he didn¡¯t even mind pulling everyone into the vortex of war!


    This was why he had let Zhao Xinguo go, choosing him because this man was a fool.


    He would bring back the information Tang Jie wanted him to bring back and fulfill Tang Jie¡¯s expectations¡­


    ¡°Damn you!¡± Gu Changqing pped Tang Jie so hard that he knocked him to the ground. ¡°You harmed my Godhead Pce and even put yourself on the chopping block. You madman!¡±


    Tang Jie casually replied, ¡°Who said that I put myself on the chopping block?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Gu Changqing froze.


    Tang Jie exined, ¡°Being heedless of death and seeking death are two different things. You said it yourself. That I was unwilling to let go of the Heartbreak Saber meant that I had no ns of dying. Nothing in my ns says that I have to die. I just have to be prepared to ept death when my n fails. But if my n seeds, why should I have to die?¡±


    ¡°¡®Seeds¡¯? You seem to have forgotten that you are still in my hands! Even if I don¡¯t kill you, you think that the Basking Moon Sect will spare you after how you¡¯ve framed them?¡±


    ¡°They would have to first believe in Godhead Pce¡¯s usations¡­ and do you really think they would?¡±


    Gu Changqing was startled. ¡°They won¡¯t believe it?¡±


    ¡°Why should they believe it?¡± Tang Jie countered. ¡°If you were the master of the Basking Moon Sect, would you rather believe that this was a groundless allegation that Godhead Pce concocted after suffering a major loss, or that this was a n developed by a boy who wasn¡¯t even seventeen to incite two major sects into conflict? Which one do you think is more realistic?¡±


    Gu Changqing felt dizzy.


    Age! It was age again!


    Using his age, Tang Jie had brashly acted the fool while ying around with everyone in the palm of his hand.


    Why did Zhao Xinguo and the others believe in the lie Tang Jie had fabricated?


    Because someone of his age couldn¡¯t think up a n like this!


    For the same reason, Tang Jie could turn all of Godhead Pce¡¯s usations into groundless allegations and nder! When they angrily used the Basking Moon Sect of all this, the rtions between the two sects would worsen!


    If this caused a war, even the need to exin would be gone. Hatred would drown out all the other reasons!


    When Gu Changqing understood this, he felt the world around him spinning.


    This boy was more like a devil!


    Tang Jie sympathetically looked at Gu Changqing. ¡°You don¡¯t understand politics.¡±


    Those words again.


    This time, Gu Changqing understood what Tang Jie was saying. He asked, ¡°This was your n? Then how, in this n, did you n to exin all this to the Basking Moon Sect?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s simple. Even if you remove the part about the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s scheme, the lie can still stand on its own. Do you remember when you were brazenly searching for Tang Jiye four years ago? That actually wasn¡¯t some big secret.¡±


    Four years ago, to find Tang Jiye, both the Basking Moon Sect and Godhead Pce had mobilized on arge scale, and so much activity could never be kept a secret.


    Godhead Pce was somewhat better about it, as there was no way they could make their actions too obvious. But the Basking Moon Sect was searching for someone on its own territory, so it had no need to hide anything.


    This was precisely why quite a few people knew about Tang Jiye, though no one knew why he was being sought out.


    Now, what if there was a boy who inadvertently found out about this incident? He knows that his talent is limited, so in order to get the attention of the Basking Moon Sect, he doesn¡¯t even mind bing someone wanted by the Basking Moon Sect¡­


    Lacking experience, impulsive, daring, reckless, brainless¡ªthese were all things that matched with a young boy¡¯s intelligence.


    As for the truth¡­ that was tooplicated. Let alone thinking it, even someone who heard it might not be able to understand what was going on.


    Yes, this was Tang Jie¡¯s n.


    It was a perfect lie. First, have everyone believe that he was Tang Jiye, and then have everyone discover that this was a scheme, thus freeing him of all suspicion.


    In this way, everything about him that seemed simr to Tang Jiye, the things he couldn¡¯t hide like his background, became parts of his disguise, evidence that he had fabricated.


    In Godhead Pce, Tang Jie existed as a plot of the Basking Moon Sect.


    In the Basking Moon Sect, Tang Jie was a young man who was so brave and impulsive as to be heedless of the consequences.


    From either angle, the exnations made sense!


    This was precisely why Tang Jie, after receiving Lin Dongsheng¡¯s invitation, had gone and set a new record at the Celestial Defense Hall, leaving behind a dazzling list of achievements. Because it was only in this period that he could exploit his identity for maximum profit. It was not just to make himself stronger, but because after this incident, Tang Jie would no longer be Tang Jiye.


    He would be free of suspicion, but he would also cease to enjoy the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s favor, and it would be difficult to extract any further profit from his identity.


    Once he understood all this, Gu Changqing shook his head. ¡°They won¡¯t believe it. You won¡¯t get the chance to exin it to them.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to exin it. They probably already know.¡±


    Gu Changqing was puzzled at first, but he soon blurted in realization, ¡°That box?¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°The box had a few letters, written by an elder of the Wei Estate. The letters were written long ago, so there¡¯s no chance of it being newly fabricated evidence. Inside them, I¡¯m advised to stop thinking about pretending to be Tang Jiye and to just be myself. Out of respect for this elder, I kept the letters, but they ultimately serve as evidence that exposes my scheme.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled as he said ¡°exposes my scheme.¡±


    Gu Changqing was so angry that he started shaking. ¡°So that box was for the Basking Moon Sect¡­ You used us to prove that you were Tang Jiye and reaped the profits, and then you used us to prove that you weren¡¯t Tang Jiye and wash away the suspicion on you.¡±


    ¡°You were running around and massacring merchant convoys for that box. Do you think that the Basking Moon Sect was so dumb that it wouldn¡¯t notice? That box is probably already in the hands of the Basking Moon Sect,¡± Tang Jie said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m sure that Headmaster Xie is very unhappy after reading those letters.¡±


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    A paper was torn to shreds.


    Xie Fengtang¡¯s face was purple!


    Bastard!


    That audacious scoundrel!


    Pretending to be Tang Jiye, whom the Basking Moon Sect was after, to obtain the sect¡¯s favor and receive resources!? This kid seemed to not even know what the word ¡°death¡± meant!


    ¡°Find that kid and bring him back! He must be harshly reprimanded!¡± Xie Fengtang furiously ordered.

 Chapter 128: Close-Quarters Combat

    Chapter 128: Close-Quarters Combat


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it was¡­¡±


    In the Cloud Marsh, Gu Changqing let out a long sigh.


    He looked at Tang Jie in disbelief. ¡°Even now, I still somewhat can¡¯t believe that all of this was thought up by a teenager. Are you really seventeen?¡±


    ¡°Miracles are miracles because they defymon sense,¡± Tang Jie said with augh. ¡°I was so certain that my lie could deceive them because of this. In other words, if I were thirty-seven instead of seventeen, my lies wouldn¡¯t have been effective.¡±


    That was true.


    The two lies aimed at Godhead Pce and the Basking Moon Sect had targeted the fact that Tang Jie was seventeen and had the knowledge a normal teenager was supposed to have. Without this condition, the entire scheme would appear like a clumsy farce.


    ¡°But this n carries many inherent risks. After all, in our hands, you can¡¯t possibly decide what we do and don¡¯t do. What if we didn¡¯t do as you nned and search for the box? What would you do then?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°A truly good n doesn¡¯t force the enemy into following the n. Rather, no matter what the enemy does, they can never escape the n. Thus, in my design, I never needed you to find the box. It was simply one of many possible scenarios.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Then tell me: if I didn¡¯t do that, what then?¡± Gu Changqing said, his interest piqued.


    He was Eagle Master of the Hawk Hall, and the kind of person he interacted with the most in his life was criminals. Tang Jie had drawn his interest and made him very curious.


    ¡°I would let you run,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°So long as you still wanted the Martial Mirror, you wouldn¡¯t be able to kill me or leave Sageheart. With these two crucial points in mind, I essentially had you by the throat. It didn¡¯t matter what you did. While having you attack would make you expose Godhead Pce¡¯s spies, so would covering your escape. It¡¯s just a matter of how many people died. Even if the Basking Moon Sect wouldn¡¯t notice anything from this, I had other means of clueing them in¡­ Don¡¯t forget that I sent out that box in front of Lin Dongsheng.¡±


    ¡°Then Zhao Xinguo and the others¡­¡±


    ¡°The same, of course. Inciting your internal divisions was never part of my n. My n only required that one of you believe that I wasn¡¯t Tang Jiye. All that was left was to remove those who didn¡¯t believe. As for how you killed each other¡­ mm, you can only me yourselves for your stupidity. I saw an opportunity and took it. It was a rather pleasant surprise.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Gu Changqing nodded. ¡°But there are some key things that you needed to do but had no control over, that you had to rely on luck for, right?¡±


    Tang Jie finally fell silent.


    After some time, he nodded. ¡°Correct. There are some things that I needed to be done but had no ability to do, for the power to make that choice didn¡¯t rest in me, but in you! That was where I took a risk. As I had no confidence in pulling it off, I had to entrust it to luck¡­ but it seems like the heavens treated me kindly, and my luck wasn¡¯t bad.¡±


    He raised his head and gave Gu Changqing a chilling gaze.


    Gu Changqing chuckled. ¡°As expected. In other words, the Cloud Marsh is the ce in your n where you ultimately turn the tables? Seeing how confident you are, you feel that you can escape so long as you¡¯re here? Let me take a guess. In thest part of your n, did you n to tell me that the Martial Mirror is here, forcing me to take you here?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but you¡¯re wrong about one thing. My n never involved escaping.¡±


    He slowly raised his head to look at Gu Changqing, and then his eyes exploded with hatred. ¡°Killing you is much simpler than escaping!¡±


    Kill Gu Changqing and exterminate Godhead Pce!


    Just as Gu Changqing had said, he had always misjudged Tang Jie¡¯s objective.


    He wasn¡¯t defending, but attacking. He wasn¡¯t running, but making a counterattack!


    From the very start, he had nned to kill Gu Changqing.


    On the day he had learned that Gu Changqing had dug up the grave of Little River Vige and desecrated the corpses, his resolve to do so had been even more affirmed!


    It was this conviction that had sustained him until now, until he could finally make the counterattack!


    As these words left his mouth, Tang Jie¡¯s body seethed with an intense aura.


    It was such a violent energy that even when Gu Changqing was just standing there, his pupils constricted as he sensed the powerful pulses.


    ¡°So you were hiding your power this whole time¡­ but how is that possible? You only entered the academy a year ago. Even with the Immortal ssic from the Basking Moon Sect, there¡¯s no reason for you to have progressed so quickly.¡±


    An idea suddenly urred to him, and Gu Changqing shouted, ¡°The Martial Mirror? It wasn¡¯t just a key!¡±


    ¡°You finally understand?¡± Tang Jie sneered.


    Tang Jie raised his arm and punched. Gu Changqing¡¯s eyes gleamed with a savage light as he swung the Soul-Seizing w at Tang Jie.


    Fist met w in a powerful shockwave, a fierce gale ripping through the marsh. Tang Jie had taken on the blow of a Mortal Shedding Realm expert and didn¡¯t seem like someone suppressed by a curse at all.


    ¡°Body cultivation!¡±


    With this one exchange, Gu Changqing understood. It wasn¡¯t that the New Rain on Barren Mountain Curse wasn¡¯t working, but that Tang Jie simply wasn¡¯t relying on spiritual energy.


    His spell arts were only at the Spirit Spring Tier, so even if they were one hundred times stronger, they would still be no match for a high-tier Mortal Shedding Realm Spirit Master like Gu Changqing.


    But his body had far surpassed his cultivation level, and this was precisely the foundation on which he dared to fight against Gu Changqing!


    Tang Jie now fully revealed his formidable constitution, his strength continuing to soar as winds howled around him. Gu Changqing was stirred up by this sight, bellowing, ¡°Good, good! Let me see what sort of secret art the Martial Mirror was hiding that gives you the confidence to fight against me.¡±


    He thrust forward a hand, flinging a ball of icy energy toward Tang Jie. The cold energy struck Tang Jie¡¯s body and created white patches of frost that froze his entire body. This was Gu Changqing¡¯s Icesoul Radiance. When it made contact with the enemy, the cold energy would prate into their marrow and freeze them to death.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t seem to feel it, charging straight through the cold wave of energy.


    His movements cracked open the sheet of ice on him. His frozen skin was only slightly purple, but it quickly returned to normal, much to Gu Changqing¡¯s shock.


    Tang Jie was already charging, aiming a punch at Gu Changqing¡¯s face. As the gust from that punch struck his face, Gu Changqing knew that it would be a tough blow to take. He immediately pushed off with his toe, flying backward as he swung the Soul-Seizing w. Vicious wind ws struck Tang Jie¡¯s body, leaving it covered in bloody wounds.


    But the injuries were far smaller than Gu Changqing had anticipated, and even more shocking was that Tang Jie¡¯s wounds began to rapidly heal. It was such an astonishing ability to recover that even a Hundred Refinement Period cultivator might not be able to achieve it.


    ¡°What technique is this?¡± Gu Changqing blurted out.


    ¡°The Martial Lord¡¯s secret art, the Parting ssic body refining!¡± Tang Jie loudly replied as he rushed up and punched at Gu Changqing again.


    Over thest few days, the Hawk Hall had tortured him quite a lot to get him to confess the location of the Martial Mirror, and the potential endowed by one hundred thousand spirit coins¡¯ worth of medicine had mostly been tunneled into recovery. While he didn¡¯t exactly have an unkible body, he nevertheless possessed an incredible ability to recover.


    When Gu Changqing had cut off his fingers, he had grasped his fingers in pain, but actually, he had restricted the blood flow toward his wrist. Otherwise, those fingers would have grown back on their own.


    As for his arm, his constitution wasn¡¯t at the level where it could automatically recover from that.


    Even so, Gu Changqing was rather stunned. As he saw Tang Jie¡¯s eyes beginning to burn, he realized that he could not underestimate this secret art of the Martial Lord, as it was capable of making a student who had spent less than a year in the academy so strong. His desire to get the Martial Mirror grew even stronger.


    Tang Jie iled around his one arm like a madman, punching at Gu Changqing again and again.


    Gu Changqing tested his strength, intentionally taking a punch. He found that one punch had his insides seething, and he immediately knew that this kid wasn¡¯t weak. He hastily put up a barrier and started to engage in hit-and-run tactics.


    Tang Jie¡¯s spiritual energy was restrained, so he could only rely on his powerful body. Thus, he simply punched and charged without any sort of trickery.


    But this unreasonable way of fighting was sessfully suppressing Gu Changqing.


    As a Nine Revolutions Period expert, only one step away from Cognitive Creation, he wasn¡¯t weak, but in the battle with Zhao Xinguo and the others, he had lost his Ink Falcon Wings, which greatly weakened him, and even his spiritual energy had been greatly exhausted. The long flight had consumed even more spiritual energy, and he was now incapable of using even 30% of his strength.


    Of course, this still wasn¡¯t enough for Tang Jie to beat him. A wounded tiger was still a tiger. So long as it still breathed, one could not hope to be able to take its bite.


    The problem was that he was still set on getting the Martial Mirror, so he still held back with his attacks, avoiding lethal areas.


    But Tang Jie had an incredible ability to recover, and these non-lethal attacks essentially weren¡¯t attacks at all. He was already weakened, and with this additional restraint, he was soon being beaten down by Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie heedlessly charged, his fist mming down. Rather than the elegance of Immortals, he seemed more like a hoodlum in the streets.


    But this barrage of punches on Gu Changqing¡¯s barrier made it sh with energy, and Gu Changqing was forced to stagger back several steps.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Gu Changqing¡¯splexion shifted between green and red as he suddenly pointed his left hand at the ground. Thorns erupted and tightly wrapped around Tang Jie¡¯s feet.


    With Tang Jie rendered immobile, Gu Changqing grunted, ¡°With this little ability, you dare to challenge the Mortal Shedding Realm? Nothing but a blind fool¡¯s fantasies. As a Mortal Shedding Realm expert in the Nine Revolutions Period, I possess countless spell arts. So long as I don¡¯tpletely run out of spiritual energy, then even if I suffer ten times the injuries, I¡¯m still not someone you can beat.¡±


    Tang Jie saw that the thorns were holding him tight, and his eyes erupted with mes.


    He growled, ¡°The Dao of the Martial Lord seeks dominance through battle! You might have a thousand kinds of spell arts, but I¡¯ll break them all with brute strength!¡±


    He fiercely raised his head and howled.


    Like the cry of a beast, it resounded through the mists. His entire body surged with frenzied power, a gale stirring around him. Gu Changqing was bbergasted.


    Tang Jie¡¯s fighting intent was at an all-time high. There were no more schemes and plots, only fighting to his heart¡¯s content!


    ¡°Raaa!¡±


    Howling like a beast, he stepped forward.


    The tenacious thorns made from spell arts were gradually pulled along, and though bloody wounds appeared on his leg, they couldn¡¯t stop him.


    As his foot slowly moved forward, the thorns were pulled taut and began to groan.


    Finally, <em>snap!</em> One of the thorns broke.


    Tang Jie stomped his foot down.


    <em>Papapapa!</em>


    Even more of the thorns snapped apart.


    There was a gust of wind as Tang Jie broke free of his restraints and charged again at Gu Changqing.


    Gu Changqing hastily retreated in panic.


    Forming seals with his hands, he pushed them forward, creating a wall of crystal that blocked Tang Jie¡¯s path. He shouted, ¡°Your schemes have killed countless of my brothers. Is this the Dao of the Martial Lord you spoke of?¡±


    ¡°The Martial Dao is to begin the battle with surprise and to win the battle with direct confrontation, to confront courage with courage, and when courage iscking, to win through intelligence. In battle, I use the Martial Dao, and when scheming, I use my own Dao, and what¡¯s wrong with that? Perhaps I won¡¯t be like the Martial Lord and dominate the world, looking with contempt upon all things, but I can freely travel the world, untroubled for a thousand years!¡± Tang Jie roared. He lowered his head and rammed into the crystal wall. <em>Crack! Crack!</em> The crystal wall shattered.


    Gu Changqing retreated again, his hand forming more spells. A shield made of air appeared, and then flying needles, walls of fire, frost, and many other kinds of spells. All of them hurtled at Tang Jie, turning the marsh into a world of ice and fire.


    Tang Jie ignored it all and charged through. He burst through the air shield, took the flying needles, passed through the frost and fire, and just kept charging.


    Just when Gu Changqing was about to cast another spell, he paled. ¡°No! I¡¯m out of spiritual energy!¡±


    <em>Thud!</em>


    Tang Jie¡¯s head mmed into Gu Changqing¡¯s face.


    The blow had him bleeding from the nose. He staggered backward, hitting a tree.


    Tang Jie rushed up and began to savagely beat Gu Changqing, raining down punches on him, asionally mixing in a kick.


    The barrier shattered first, and then the punches began to batter at the Godhead Armor. Even though it was an art-relic-grade Godhead Armor, it was unable to hold out against Tang Jie¡¯s ceaseless onught. The powerful shocks created by punch after punch had Gu Changqing vomiting blood.


    Finally, Tang Jie punched Gu Changqing in the face, striking him so hard that one of his eyes almost popped out. Gu Changqing spat out blood and copsed to the ground, shouting, ¡°How is this possible?¡±


    Tang Jie stomped on Gu Changqing¡¯s body and coldly said, ¡°Nothing is impossible. Without spiritual energy, you¡¯re nothing.¡±


    Tang Jie punched again, working around the Godhead Armor and striking Gu Changqing in the crook of his left arm, almost breaking it.


    Just when he was about to strike again, Gu Changqing shouted, ¡°Wait!¡±


    Tang Jie stopped.


    Gu Changqing stared at Tang Jie and panted, ¡°You¡¯ve won¡­ Let me die an understanding ghost¡­ Where did you hide the Martial Mirror?¡±


    ¡°The Martial Mirror¡­¡± Tang Jie muttered. He nodded and said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll tell you. I put the Martial Mirror on Tiger Roar Peak.¡±


    ¡°Tiger Roar Peak?¡± Gu Changqing was startled. ¡°That fiend tiger¡­ an art to resist Soulscour¡­ Damn it! No wonder you went to Tiger Roar Peak for an entire month¡­ So that¡¯s how it was¡­ I understand¡­¡±


    ¡°Since you know, die already,¡± Tang Jie coldly said, swinging his fist at Gu Changqing.


    <em>Pa!</em>


    Gu Changqing caught the fist.


    As he caught Tang Jie¡¯s punch, Gu Changqing began tough.


    Then he said in a cold and sinister voice, ¡°You were finally willing to talk! All that effort and sacrifice was worth it. I finally managed to wait you out. Very good. Now, you can die! Golden Eagle Talon!¡±


    The fingers of his right hand became like a de and stabbed into Tang Jie¡¯s chest.

 Chapter 129: Spirit Blood Rebirth

    Chapter 129: Spirit Blood Rebirth


    <em>Thud!</em>


    The talon de entered Tang Jie¡¯s body, digging out a hole in Tang Jie¡¯s chest. A golden light erupted from the talon, and his chest exploded. Tang Jie was flung away with arge hole in his chest, the bones visible. It was even possible to see his heart beating.


    Gu Changqing heartilyughed as he stood up.


    His face had been badly wounded by Tang Jie and was no longer handsome and graceful. One of his eyes had even been blinded.


    But he felt no pain at all, and his face brimmed with excitement.


    The smile on his face made it seem even more savage and terrifying.


    ¡°You¡­ It was on purpose¡­¡± Tang Jie stared at Gu Changqing in disbelief.


    ¡°Of course. Did you really think you had me in the palm of your hand?¡± Gu Changqing grunted.


    He took a pill and swallowed it, after which he strode over to Tang Jie and stomped on him.


    Tang Jie moaned and weakly struggled, but even with his body refined by the Parting ssic, the ferocity of the Golden Eagle Talon wasn¡¯t something he could recover from quickly. As hey limp on the ground, Gu Changqing unleashed his Icesoul Radiance into his body, freezing all his organs.


    Only now did he discover that Gu Changqing¡¯s Icesoul Radiance was much fiercer than before.


    ¡°You nned this all from the start?¡± Tang Jie trembled as he looked at Gu Changqing.


    ¡°To be more specific, it was from when Gu Bai died,¡± Gu Changqing replied. ¡°When I realized that you were already prepared, I understood that it would be basically impossible to get the location of the Martial Mirror out of you. Thus, I decided to follow your n and see what you did. Once you believed that you were on the verge of sess, you would naturally spit out the location of the Martial Mirror. I have waited far too long for this day!¡±


    Gu Changqing loudlyughed. ¡°I must admit that your n was pretty good. You managed to basically wipe out everyone in the Hawk Hall.¡±


    ¡°You knew that they would die and intentionally let them die all to deceive me?¡± Tang Jie angrily roared.


    Gu Changqing grunted and applied pressure to his foot, causing Tang Jie to vomit blood. ¡°What do you understand? For the sake of greater sess, what do small sacrifices matter? So long as we can get back the Martial Mirror, with the resources left behind by the Martial Lord, we could easily set up one hundred Hawk Halls, so why worry about such minor trifles? And if I did not go so far, how could I make you so sure of your sess?¡±


    ¡°Then were Zhao Xinguo and the others faking it as well?¡±


    ¡°Them? Those idiots were easily incited by just a few words from you and actually betrayed me. While I could have warned them, I had to ultimately give up on them so that you wouldn¡¯t raise your guard. To make you take the bait, I even destroyed my Ink Falcon Wings. Otherwise, do you think that I, half a step from Cognitive Creation, would be so heavily injured by these fellows who are only in Hundred Refinement? Although your n was decent, its greatest problem was that you¡¯re too weak! So weak that no matter what n you had, I could break it with brute strength. Even if I only had ten percent of my strength left, I would need only a finger to squish you to death!¡±


    Gu Changqing once more startedughing.


    At Southpoint Mountain, he had initially been fooled by Tang Jie, but he quickly realized what was going on.


    But in order to have Tang Jie believe that he had taken the bait, he had decided to keep up the act.


    Now that his n had seeded and he had finally tricked the location of the Martial Mirror out of Tang Jie, he was excited. He was still badly injured, and as heughed in tion, he stimted his injuries. He felt his body ache all over, and there was even the vague sensation of a needle jabbed into his body that made him put a hand on his chest.


    He looked again at Tang Jie, a savage gleam in his eyes. ¡°Do you have anyst words? This is yourst chance to speak.¡±


    Tang Jie panted and answered, ¡°Alright, since that¡¯s the case, let me die an understanding ghost. I would like to know who Fierce Ape is.¡±


    Gu Changqing chuckled. ¡°There¡¯s no harm in telling you. Fierce Ape is a spy that my Hawk Hall went to great lengths to raise, and it is one that I am reluctant to mobilize. This person is¡­¡±


    He was just about to say the name when he suddenly realized that something was wrong.


    Why was this scene so simr to when Tang Jie had had a foot on him just moments ago?


    Gu Changqing didn¡¯t like this feeling, so he shook his head. ¡°Forget it. I¡¯ll just have you die an ignorant ghost.¡±


    He was just about to strike when Tang Jie sighed. ¡°What a pity¡­ Well, forget it. Let me ask you another question. Don¡¯t you feel a slight pain at your heart?¡±


    Gu Changqing froze, but just when he was about to speak, he felt a sharp jab of pain at his heart.


    It was so intense that he was momentarily stripped of all his strength and made to stagger back several steps.


    He tore off the Godhead Armor with his right hand, revealing a golden light at his chest.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Gu Changqing yelped.


    There was another sh from his heart, and there was another pulse of intense pain. It had clearly prated into his heart.


    If he hadn¡¯t been at Nine Revolutions and tempered his organs, he would have already been dead.


    But if he left it there and let it puncture his heart full of holes, even if he was at Nine Revolutions, he would still die.


    He reacted quickly, thrusting his finger at several points on his chest and circting spiritual energy in an attempt to force out that golden light.


    But while this golden light was impeded by his spiritual energy, it was made of some strange material that resisted his attempts to push it out. On the contrary, his attempts only intensified the pain.


    Gu Changqing was stunned and angrily red at Tang Jie. ¡°What did you do to my body?¡±


    Tang Jie coughed blood andughed. ¡°You¡¯re right. At my level, I can¡¯t take on a Nine Revolutions expert yet. Putting aside the fact that my spiritual energy is suppressed, even if I could use all my strength and had the Heartbreak Saber, I still wouldn¡¯t be able to beat you. No matter how I nned things out, I have no means of getting around the strength threshold. Unless¡­ unless my opponent was willing to be killed by me.¡±


    Gu Changqing felt like he had dropped into an ice house as he recalled that palm that Tang Jie had thrust at his left shoulder.


    If that palm from Tang Jie had been lethal, he would have definitely blocked it, but since that palm hadn¡¯t been lethal, he had taken the blow in order to make Tang Jie believe.


    There was no doubt that Tang Jie had hidden something in that palm thrust.


    With his level of strength, if he had been on guard from the very beginning, then even if Tang Jie had managed to nt anything in his body, he would have been able to immediately force it out. But in order to get the Martial Mirror¡¯s location, he had let Tang Jie do as he pleased, giving him more than enough time for the scheme to unfold¡­


    Gu Changqing was both rmed and angered by this thought.


    He was shocked not merely by Tang Jie¡¯s trap, but also that Tang Jie had nned this. ¡°You¡­ you already knew¡­ You nned this all from the start?¡±


    The words that Tang Jie had said not one minute ago once more came out from Gu Changqing¡¯s mouth.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I can¡¯t say that I¡¯ve been nning it for long. It¡¯s just that in order for a n to be perfectly executed, you have to ount for all the possibilities, and all the possibilities I¡¯ve thought of have far surpassed all that has transpired. Your behavior is simply one of those countless possibilities¡­ To tell the truth, this is the possibility I most anticipated. In this way, no matter how obvious my traps were, you would happily escape into this ce. In this aspect, I was truly making a gamble, but rather than gambling that you were dumb, I was gambling that you had at least some brains. My only concern was that Zhao Xinguo and the others were acting with you. Fortunately, you were the only actor here, and the rest were real idiots. If you had even one ally here, that needle wouldn¡¯t be able to do much to you¡­ Your strength is actually far beyond my expectations. I initially thought that the moment the needle pierced through your heart would be the moment of your death, but to my surprise, you¡¯re still alive. Truly, the Nine Revolutions body is incredible.¡±


    ¡°Impossible!¡± Gu Changqing madly howled.


    He could not believe that Tang Jie had actually seen through his n.


    To get Tang Jie¡¯s trust, he had sacrificed the majority of the Hawk Hall and even let those spies be dragged in. He had not imagined that Tang Jie had anticipated all of this.


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°Nothing is impossible. Actually, you aren¡¯t the first to y this game, but you¡¯re the one who¡¯s yed out your role so realistically, so gruesomely¡­ I suppose you don¡¯t know what it means when I say to watch more TV shows.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t kill me!¡± Gu Changqing roared. He once more thrust his finger at several points on his chest, spiritual energy entering his body. He was now mobilizing all of his strength to resist the golden needle.


    This man was truly powerful, and his brain also moved quickly.


    The golden needle that Tang Jie had refined using the Weapon Mantra was sharp and indestructible, and spiritual energy was essentially incapable of budging it. But at this moment, Gu Changqing was no longer using spiritual energy on the golden needle. Instead, he was using his flesh and muscles to slowly push out the golden needle.


    Tang Jie was bbergasted by what he was seeing.


    But he still shook his head and said, ¡°This is the difference in strength. Even this plot couldn¡¯t kill you. It seems I¡¯ll have to go all-out.¡±


    Grabbing hold of a tree, he managed to stagger to his feet.


    Gu Changqing circted energy to force out the needle as he snarled, ¡°With just you? You can¡¯t stop me!¡±


    Tang Jie was so injured that he could barely stand. Stopping Gu Changqing was impossible.


    Tang Jie coldly said, ¡°I can¡¯t stop you right now, but you seem to have forgotten why I had you go into the Cloud Marsh.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Gu Changqing was shaken.


    At this moment, a figure flew out in a green sh of light!


    It was none other than Yiyi!


    Before Tang Jie had even been captured, Yiyi had set off to this ce with the little tiger.


    She had nted green roses in almost every region of the marsh. She was mentally connected to them, so no matter where Tang Jie was in the marsh, she would be able to discover him and quickly make her way toward him.


    Tang Jie had wasted so much time talking with Gu Changqing precisely to buy time for Yiyi¡¯s arrival.


    ¡°Big Brother!¡±


    The moment Yiyi appeared, she rushed into Tang Jie¡¯s bosom and gave him a big kiss.


    A little tiger ran out behind her, but his legs were too short to keep up, so he could only howl.


    ¡°A sprite? A tiger fiend? So these were your trump cards.¡± Gu Changqingughed when he saw these two. ¡°And here I thought you hadid some sort of trap here. You were relying on them?¡±


    He could tell with one nce that these two fellows put together were still extremely weak. Even when he focused entirely on forcing out the golden needle, he was still confident that he could take care of these two.


    He would only need to devote a tiny bit of strength to get the job done.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°Their strength naturally isn¡¯t enough, but they aren¡¯t here to help me fight¡­ They¡¯re delivering goods.¡±


    ¡°Big Brother, here!¡± Yiyi stuffed the formation diagram into Tang Jie¡¯s hand.


    When he saw that formation diagram, Gu Changqing paled. He recognized what that was.


    Tang Jieughed as he opened the formation diagram, and he was immediately engulfed by a crimson mist.


    Tang Jie howled within the bloody mist as blood energy surged into his body, turning himpletely red. The wound on his chest began to heal, and even his severed arm began to grow back.


    ¡°Spirit Blood Rebirth!¡± Gu Changqing shouted. ¡°That was the formation you prepared?¡±


    Spirit Blood Rebirth was a rare recovery-type formation. While it couldn¡¯t bring back the dead, it boasted formidable restorative power. No matter how severe the injuries, so long as the target wasn¡¯t dead, the formation could heal them.


    But this formation had too many restrictions. Firstly, it requiredrge amounts of the user¡¯s own blood. Secondly, it could only be used once. Thirdly, it could only be maintained for one month. After one month, if the formation were not used, the energy in the blood within the formation would run out and be wasted.


    But in certain unique circumstances, this formation still had some value.


    ¡­Such as now.


    Through the Spirit Blood Rebirth Formation, Tang Jie¡¯s injuries were rapidly healed.


    His body possessed its own incredible recovery capabilities, and whenbined with the Spirit Blood Rebirth Formation, the effects became even more obvious. The severed arm grew back inch by inch, and at an astonishing speed, Tang Jie was healed.


    Standing within the rebirth formation, Tang Jie callously spoke.


    ¡°What¡¯s so strange about this? I never hoped that you people would leave me in a presentable state. In your hands, I might not die, but I would at least be crippled. But so long as I still had a sliver of hope, I would naturally make some ns¡­ I misjudged your strength, but I didn¡¯t misjudge your character!¡±


    Tang Jie pointed his newly regrown arm at Gu Changqing.


    ¡°I said before¡­ your greatest mistake is that you didn¡¯t cherish the lives of your subordinates. If you had valued them more, then even if you had one extra person at your side, you might have been able to avoid this loss!¡±

 Chapter 130: Who Will Take This Fine Head?

    Chapter 130: Who Will Take This Fine Head?


    In a cloud of blood, Tang Jiepleted his rebirth, like a phoenix being reborn in the mes.


    Gu Changqing was still trying to push out the golden needle as Tang Jie strode out. ¡°Gu Changqing, today is the day you die!¡±


    Gu Changqing snarled, ¡°You think that you¡¯re enough?¡±


    He thrust a hand into his Mustard Seed Bag and threw out an item. This item spun in the air and released a barrier of light that seized Tang Jie, rendering him immobile.


    The Soul-Sealing Stake!


    This was an art relic the Hawk Hall members used to capture powerful foes. It could intimidate targets and render them immobile, paralyzing their minds. It was also sometimes used for interrogation.


    Tang Jie had been suppressed by this Soul-Sealing Stake before, but unfortunately, his will was firm, and so even under the pressure of the Soul-Sealing Stake, he refused to talk.


    To protect himself, Gu Changqing had used this item.


    But Tang Jie was ready. As the Soul-Sealing Stake appeared, Tang Jie was already punching at the air.


    This blow struck the Soul-Sealing Stake, and there was instantly a surge of spiritual energy in response. The blow was many times stronger than any of his previous punches.


    Gu Changqing had been acting in that earlier battle, so why not Tang Jie as well?


    The Soul-Sealing Stake trembled from the punch as Tang Jie roared, ¡°You might have the Soul-Sealing Stake, but an art relic without a master controlling it is much weaker! With its own power, I don¡¯t believe it canst very long! Break! Break! Break!¡±


    He punched the Soul-Sealing Stake ten-some times, each punch strong enough to shatter stone. In the air, the art relic shed with mes of light.


    ¡°How is this possible?¡± Gu Changqing was stunned.


    Although the Soul-Sealing Stake truly was much weaker without him directly controlling it, just how strong was this guy¡¯s body if he could fight against an art relic using just his physical strength?


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing strange about it! For this battle, I borrowed one hundred thousand spirit coins from Basking Moon Academy to temper my body. My body is an art relic, so why can¡¯t I fight one!?¡± Tang Jie bellowed as he punched several times more.


    One hundred thousand coins?


    The number had Gu Changqing feeling dizzy.


    How much was one hundred thousand coins?


    Back then, the Essence-Refining Pills that Wu Xing had wanted to buy would have saved him forty days of cultivation, and they had only cost one thousand spirit coins. Using thisparison, one hundred thousand coins was equivalent to saving four thousand days of cultivation, which was ten years!


    Ten years was enough time for a four-cycle student to enter the Mortal Shedding Realm without the help of any resources.


    Of course, the actual calctions didn¡¯t work out this way. After all, spirit medicines could only work on the foundation of hard training, and the higher one went, the less effective they became. But this was still one hundred thousand coins, and all of it had been used on refining the body. These effects had made his body long ago surpass that of an art relic.


    At this moment, Tang Jie stopped hiding his strength, punching the Soul-Sealing Stake with all the power he could muster. The winds created by his punches produced a furious storm around him.


    The Soul-Sealing Stake gradually began to falter under the onught, its mes dimming as it neared copse.


    Gu Changqing knew that this wasn¡¯t good and pointed a finger at the Soul-Sealing Stake in the air. ¡°Intimidate!¡±


    The Soul-Sealing Stake erupted with light as Gu Changqing funneled spiritual energy into it, strengthening it once more. But by doing this, Gu Changqing had drawn focus away from controlling the needle. The golden needle that he had slowly been forcing out immediately jabbed back into his heart.


    ¡°Agh!¡± Gu Changqing yelled in pain as he turned his hand around and punched himself in the chest. As that immense power entered his body, it managed to stop the golden needle from intruding farther. But at the same time, he vomited arge amount of blood.


    Gu Changqing immediately took something else out of his Mustard Seed Bag and threw it at Tang Jie. It was a puppet.


    This puppet was covered in gold armor and wielded a saber that it shed at Tang Jie.


    ¡°A Goldte Soldier?¡± Tang Jieughed.


    He was far too familiar with such things. Wasn¡¯t this just the gold-armored version of the Celestial Defense Hall¡¯s ckte Soldiers?


    But unlike the ckte Soldiers, this Goldte Soldier didn¡¯t have the restriction of gradually increasing its strength, immediately starting out with heavy blows.


    But Tang Jie madlyughed as he punched back.


    Fist and saber met, the collision creating an explosion of sparks. The Goldte Soldier was actually forced back by the punch.


    Even before his fourth refining, Tang Jie was able to defeat a ckte Soldier. After his fourth bath, his strength had soared, and he was far above what a puny Goldte Soldier could handle.


    Gu Changqing knew this, so he had not nned to use the puppet at the start. But now that he was at death¡¯s door, even if this Goldte Soldier could only buy a short amount of time, it was fine.


    After the Goldte Soldier, Gu Changqing took something else out: a refined beast talisman.


    What came out this time was a giant ape warbeast, much stronger than the one that had been given to Zhuang Shen. This was a proper middle-grade warbeast, and the moment it appeared, it lunged at Tang Jie, joining the puppet in encircling Tang Jie. Together with the Soul-Sealing Stake¡¯s intimidating aura, the three of them formed a triangle.


    And then Gu Changqing took out another item, a small bronze mirror. He shed it at Tang Jie, and Tang Jie immediately felt like his strength was being drained away. Twenty percent of his strength had instantly vanished.


    ¡°An Essence-Pinning Mirror?¡± Tang Jie shouted.


    A smile emerged on Gu Changqing¡¯s face. ¡°How are you going to kill me now?¡±


    As an Eagle Master of the Hawk Hall, he truly had a diverse array of excellent items, but in order to deceive Tang Jie, he had never taken them out. But now, he was tossing them out one after the other.


    If it weren¡¯t for the fact that most art relics required someone to control them to unleash their true power and that he needed most of his focus to drive out the golden needle, he could have taken out even more treasures.


    But these treasures alone were enough to crush Tang Jie to death.


    As a Nine Revolutions Mortal Shedding expert and Eagle Master of the Hawk Hall, even when he was at the end of his tether and had suffered a fatal blow, he was not easy to kill. Tang Jie¡¯s refined body was so strong that even a Spirit Sea Tier student would be no match for him, but he was still far away from someone who was several tiers above him.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    He turned his head and shouted, ¡°Yiyi!¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± Yiyi jumped onto Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder and bit into his neck.


    ¡°Spirit transfer?¡± Gu Changqing yelped in shock when he saw what they were doing.


    Spirit transfer wasn¡¯t some secret art. It was normally a way of getting rid of excess spiritual energy.


    This method wasted a lot of spiritual energy and was normally worthless, but the greatest benefit was that it could bypass the vast majority of curses that restricted spiritual energy.


    Yiyi wasn¡¯t strong inbat, but as a sprite that was born through the spiritual energy of the world, she had a significant amount of spiritual energy¡ªeven more than Tang Jie. With the two of them working together, Tang Jie immediately regained the ability to use spells.


    Since Tang Jie could ount for and take countermeasures against his body being crippled, he naturally would have considered the possibility of his spell arts being sealed. Spirit transfer was the simplest and most effective way of getting around it.


    In his n, Yiyi had two missions. One was to deliver the formation diagram, and the other was to transfer spiritual energy to him.


    Frankly speaking, Tang Jie didn¡¯t dare to have her do anything moreplicated. After all, she was still too young and liable to mess up if things got tooplicated.


    As Yiyi bit down, Tang Jieughed and pointed a finger at Gu Changqing. Gu Changqing immediately felt the golden needle in his body shuddering as it continued to wreak havoc on his heart.


    Gu Changqing let out a howl of pain as he jumped to his feet and formed numerous hand signs, desperately trying to suppress the needle. While the needle slowed down, it continued to jab here and there, seemingly not willing to rest until it had turned his heart into a pincushion.


    ¡°Bastard! Hurry up and kill him!¡± Gu Changqing pointed at Tang Jie, and the puppet and refined beast charged out.


    As Tang Jie did his utmost to stop Gu Changqing, Gu Changqing sent out the order to kill Tang Jie.


    The tables were rapidly turned. As the puppet and refined beast charged at Tang Jie, the Soul-Sealing Stake and Essence-Pinning Mirror zed with light to weaken Tang Jie.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless!¡± Tang Jie roared, swinging both his arms. ¡°Formless Golden Body!¡±


    His body erupted with golden light as the Formless Golden Body activated.


    He had previously been relying purely on his physical body to fight, which was still rather taxing. But now that he could use spell arts, his strength instantly soared.


    As the Formless Golden Body activated, Tang Jie produced a silver needle.


    A Silver Cloud Needle!


    When Tang Jie hade down from the mountain, he had not dared to bring the Heartbreak Saber or the Azure Light Sword, since they were toorge to hide.


    If he had Yiyi take them away, Lin Dongsheng would have immediately noticed that he was missing something, and so the Hawk Hall would realize that Tang Jie had apanion. But the Silver Cloud Needles were small and would not be noticed, so they had be his only weapon.


    ¡°Thousand Rupture Needle!¡±


    Tang Jie activated his spell art, sending eighteen needles shining with spiritual energy at the Soul-Seizing Stake. Of Gu Changqing¡¯s four assets, the Soul-Sealing Stake was the most troublesome.


    Eighteen needles collided with the Soul-Seizing Stake in a dazzling burst of light. Amidst the radiance, the Soul-Seizing Stake was knocked high into the sky, and the power that had restricted his movements instantly disappeared.


    Tang Jie instantly strode forward, taking on the charge of the giant ape while punching away the puppet. He was weakened by the Essence-Pinning Mirror and failed to send the puppet flying.


    But at this moment, the eighteen needles flew back. Tang Jie grabbed one and flicked it at Gu Changqing. ¡°Energy Needle!¡±


    Gu Changqing formed several hand signs, and a curtain of light appeared in front of him. The needle struck the curtain and failed to prate.


    But in doing so, Gu Changqing once more allowed the golden needle to run free.


    At the same time, Tang Jie rushed up using the Violet Lightning Lunge and savagely punched at the curtain. <em>Boom!</em> He punched several times in rapid session, sending Gu Changqing flying.


    In a panic, Gu Changqing swung the Soul-Seizing w, creating five waves of ck energy that tore five talon-like wounds in Tang Jie¡¯s body, almost slicing open his stomach.


    A normal person would essentially be dead after such a blow.


    But a momentter, Tang Jie¡¯s astonishing recovery power began to heal the wound.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t even care, continuing to rain down blows on Gu Changqing.


    ¡°Kill the little one!¡± Gu Changqing shouted, pointing at Yiyi.


    If one had to point out a w of spirit transfer, then Yiyi was undoubtedly the greatest weakness. As she was giving all her spiritual energy to Tang Jie, Yiyi had no way of counterattacking.


    The puppet stomped over and punched at Yiyi.


    Yiyi continued to bite down on Tang Jie as that fist got closer and closer, the terror in her heart reaching maximum saturation.


    She knew that if she evaded, retreated, yielded, then all of the spiritual energy sustaining Tang Jie would disappear, and he would lose out on the chance to deal the killing blow.


    Thus, she watched that steely fist but didn¡¯t dodge.


    Just when the fist was about to touch her face¡­


    <em>Boom!</em>


    With a massive shock, the puppet was punched away. Tang Jie had managed to push back the puppet in time.


    But this had allowed Gu Changqing to finally create some distance.


    His face seething with fury, he viciously spat, ¡°You forced me to do this!¡±


    He thrust his fingers at several points on his body, and then his entire body began to radiate a bloody glow.


    Tang Jie had seen this bloody glow before, during Gu Changqing¡¯s battle with Zhao Xinguo and the others. Whenever Gu Changqing¡¯s body shed with blood energy, the attack was certain to be particrly powerful.


    But the blood energy had never been like this, so coarse and fierce, so unrestrained and without fear of the consequences.


    ¡°Godhead Immortal Body!¡± Gu Changqing howled.


    Tang Jie snorted, ¡°It really is the Godhead Immortal Body!¡±


    Just like the Formless Golden Body, the Godhead Immortal Body was a kind of body-refining spell art.


    Unlike the Formless Golden Body, which focused primarily on defense and secondarily on strength, the Godhead Immortal Bodyprehensively boosted all attributes. Not only were strength and defense increased, one¡¯s vitality also received a major boost. Once it was activated, one would be brimming with a savage strength, but one would be extremely weak in the aftermath.


    Gu Changqing had activated the Godhead Immortal Body, but rather than to deal with Tang Jie, it was because the golden needle was getting more and more uncontroble. As the golden needle madly jabbed at his heart, Gu Changqing roared, his fingers turning golden.


    Golden Eagle Talon!


    He jabbed his hand into his chest!


    <em>Thud!</em>


    The w prated into his chest, his hands searching for that golden needle that had prated into his body.


    He was going to drag that needle out!


    Blood gushed out of his chest, and Gu Changqing¡¯s eyes burned with hatred. As he searched inside his body, he madly yelled, ¡°Out! Get out right now!¡±


    Supported by the Godhead Immortal Body, his wounded organs were shattered and healed again and again. Gu Changqing seemed to have gone insane, his body drenched in his own blood.


    Tang Jie was horrified by this sight.


    This guy was absurdly cruel and vicious!


    Yiyi was so scared that her mouth came loose, ending the spirit transfer. Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Yiyi, don¡¯t get distracted!¡±


    She quickly bit down again on Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie rushed over and punched at Gu Changqing.


    Gu Changqing thrust out a palm. ¡°Out of my way!¡±


    Fist and palm met, and Tang Jie felt a powerful force pushing him away. Supported by the Godhead Immortal Body, Gu Changqing had physical strength on par with Tang Jie¡¯s.


    As Tang Jie was pushed away, the Aquagel Shroud appeared, fending off the attacks of the puppet and giant ape. He fired off another needle, which struck Gu Changqing, yet he didn¡¯t appear to notice. The Godhead Immortal Body quickly healed the wound while Gu Changqing continued to search his body for that golden needle.


    ¡°Shit, even this isn¡¯t enough to kill you!¡± Tang Jie felt his head aching.


    Tang Jie finally had a full understanding of Gu Changqing¡¯s strength. The man had been through multiple tough battles, was greatly weakened on a fundamental level, and had even fallen prey to Tang Jie¡¯s trap, yet he was still able to hold on, and he still even had some hope of turning the tables. Tang Jie was truly amazed.


    The giant ape and puppet once more came to stop him, and the Essence-Pinning Mirror was still working, reducing his strength by twenty percent. For a moment, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t break through, and the one or two attacks he made barely tickled Gu Changqing. He was starting to get worried.


    He knew that he couldn¡¯t let this keep going. His body suddenly began to seethe with blood energy as he howled.


    This howl was like that of a tiger, resounding through the valley and bouncing between the trees.


    Tang Jie rammed his head into the giant ape, letting the ape strike his body with its palms. He grabbed the ape¡¯s jaws with both hands and began to pull outwards. ¡°Open up!¡±


    The Blood Refining Spirit spell!


    Tang Jie¡¯s body had a red glow as an immense strength surged out of him. <em>Boom!</em> The giant ape¡¯s head was torn into two pieces by Tang Jie.


    The puppet charged in and aimed a punch at Tang Jie¡¯s temple.


    This punch had Tang Jie seeing stars, and not even thebined power of the Aquagel Shroud and Formless Golden Body were able to keep him up.


    Another punch came down, this one aimed at Yiyi.


    It was a heavy blow, and Yiyi was immediately dealt a heavy wound, the light on her body dimming, but she continued to bite down on Tang Jie.


    ¡°Yiyi!¡± Tang Jie called out.


    A tiger roared, the little cub charging out when he saw that Yiyi was injured and biting on the puppet¡¯s foot and trying to pull it away.


    The puppet turned around to punch the poor thing to death.


    Tang Jie heedlessly lunged out.


    He thrust a finger at the Goldte Soldier.


    The Weapon Mantra!


    After breaking that ckte Soldier, Tang Jie had never again felt that mysterious sensation where he was capable of breaking everything.


    He hadn¡¯t even tried to break anything besides weapons and tools.


    But this time, his mind was free of extraneous thoughts.


    Break the puppet!


    Save the little tiger!


    Save Yiyi!


    In this battle, it was win-or-die!


    Tang Jie mentally roared.


    ¡°As a cultivator, I bravely press forward, unafraid of death! The Dao of the Martial Lord is dominance through battle!¡±


    As he made this frenzied deration, Tang Jie¡¯s finger touched the puppet.


    The puppet froze, and then there was a soft ck.


    Dust exploded.


    The Goldte Soldier had crumbled into countless fragments, but in this pile of dust was a shing golden light, dazzling and enchanting.


    ¡°Awooo!¡± Tang Jie raised both his arms and howled.


    This one finger had consumed far too much of his energy, and his entire body felt weak. But his heart seethed with a peerless will to fight, and his stimted blood energy filled his heart and spurred him on to fight like never before.


    At the same time, Gu Changqing suddenly roared, ¡°I caught you!¡±


    Turning his head, Tang Jie saw Gu Changqing¡¯s blood-drenched hand emerging from his chest, a golden needle between his fingers. There was arge hole in his chest, and through it, it was possible to see his heart, covered with so many holes that it was almost in tatters, still beating and even beginning to heal.


    Gu Changqing madlyughed as he held the golden needle. ¡°Now what do you have to deal with me?¡±


    ¡°You think that matters,¡± Tang Jie coldly replied.


    He reached out with a hand, grabbing that point of golden light from among the dust, and then he flicked it at Gu Changqing.


    The golden light extended into a long thread that shot at Gu Changqing.


    Gu Changqing raised his arms and shouted, ¡°I have the Godhead Immortal Body! You can¡¯t kill me¡­¡±


    <em>Thud!</em>


    The golden light prated through Gu Changqing¡¯s forehead, leaving a hole.


    Gu Changqing¡¯s body trembled.


    He felt his head, and his fingers came away with a white substance.


    That was his brain matter.


    ¡°How¡­ how could it be¡­¡± he muttered.


    He still wasn¡¯t dead. He was under the effects of the Godhead Immortal Body and had a Nine Revolutions body, so even when his head was severely wounded, he wouldn¡¯t die. But his vision went blurry and his head fiercely ached. He could no longer cast any spell arts, and even his reaction speed was slowed.


    ¡°Raooo!¡± Tang Jie roared like a tiger and charged in, his fist once more stirring up a storm.


    Gu Changqing could vaguely see the image of a fierce tiger behind Tang Jie, its roar resounding through the mountains and dominating the world!


    <em>Boom!</em>


    Tang Jie punched his left hand that was holding the golden needle, and his hand exploded in a bloody mist as the golden needle flew through the air.


    ¡°No!¡± Gu Changqing shouted. His body erupted with bloody light as the Godhead Immortal Body was pushed to its limit.


    His shattered hand regrew as Gu Changqing shot over to Tang Jie like a bolt of lightning. In his right hand, the Soul-Seizing w unleashed a golden wave of light at Tang Jie¡¯s chest.


    At the same time, Tang Jie grabbed the golden needle and pointed into the distance. The golden light from before and the golden needle in Tang Jie¡¯s hand both began to extend, connecting into a golden thread.


    He threw out his arm in front of him as the Soul-Seizing w passed through the golden thread, the five talons prating through his body and leaving five bloody holes. At the same time, Gu Changqing¡¯s entire arm was bisected, both halves flying in Tang Jie¡¯s direction.


    ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Gu Changqing screamed. His arms were crippled, and there were holes in his head and his chest. But the Godhead Immortal Body kept him alive, and he jumped up and kicked Tang Jie.


    This kicknded right on Tang Jie¡¯s face, caving half of it in. Tang Jie¡¯s head tilted, one of his eyeballs almost dropping out of his socket. He pulled back the golden thread in his hand, and that long thread came back around and wrapped itself around Gu Changqing¡¯s neck.


    <em>Bang!</em>


    Gu Changqing kicked again, this time at Tang Jie¡¯s chest, shattering his ribs and sending him flying.


    As Tang Jie flew through the air, his eyes remained cold and callous. As he was kicked away, the golden thread in his hand became taut.


    A momentter, the thin golden thread sliced into Gu Changqing¡¯s neck.


    A head flew into the air!

 Chapter 131: Together Forever

    Chapter 131: Together Forever


    <em>Bang!</em>


    The head hit the ground in a spray of dust, bouncing several times before rolling next to Tang Jie.


    The eyes were still wide open, staring into Tang Jie¡¯s eyes, the mouth opening and closing several times as if it wanted to say something more.


    Tang Jie slowly pulled the bisected arm from his chest. ¡°The Weapon Mantra is the Martial Lord¡¯s secret art. It can shatter weapons and condense weapons. The art can take on countless variations and is unbreakable.¡±


    Once this was said, Gu Changqing¡¯s eyes finally closed.


    They never opened again.


    <em>Whew!</em> Tang Jie exhaled, instantly falling to the ground.


    He had finally won the battle, but it had been dangerous and hard-fought.


    He felt something like a pillow behind his head, soft and flexible.


    Then he heard Yiyi angrily yell, ¡°You¡¯re squashing me! I hate you! I hate you!¡±


    Tang Jieughed and raised his head with great difficulty, allowing Yiyi to crawl out. Her little face was rather pale.


    Though she had not made any attacks in this battle, almost all of the spiritual energy Tang Jie had consumed hade from her. Sprites relied on spiritual energy as their basis and blood energy as their nutrition. Tang Jie had absorbed so much of her spiritual energy in this battle that her vitality had been damaged. As shey atop Tang Jie, she weakly said, ¡°Big Brother, are the bad people dead?¡±


    ¡°Mm, dead,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°All dead?¡±


    ¡°All dead.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± Yiyi muttered, and then she fell asleep atop Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie saw that she had be a lot smaller and knew that she had suffered a massive loss of spiritual energy that had damaged her foundation. This one battle had almost brought her back to her original size, and she was both cute and pitiful. But he was heavily injured himself, so he alsoy down and fell asleep.


    He had no idea how long he was out for.


    Tang Jie felt a warmth on his face.


    Opening his eyes, he saw the little tiger crouched on his chest, licking him.


    This little guy had done barely a thing in this battle, so he had the most energy.


    When he saw that Tang Jie was awake, the cub stared at Tang Jie and began to growl.


    Tang Jie immediately understood what he was trying to say.


    ¡°It seems you¡¯re hungry.¡±


    The cub was hungry, and so was he, his stomach grumbling.


    Tang Jie saw that his injuries were much better, so he sat up. He gently put the sleeping Yiyi to the side and covered her with some of his clothes, after which he began to search through the Mustard Seed Bags.


    Tang Jie had the Mustard Seed Bags of both Shi Ke and Kong Wng, and now he had Gu Changqing¡¯s, for a total of three.


    Tang Jie found some food inside. He threw some meat to the tiger, but s, it was cooked, so he didn¡¯t know if the tiger cub would eat it.


    To his surprise, the cub lunged at the meat and began to devour it, seemingly enjoying it quite a lot.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°So you like cooked food.¡±


    In the marsh, the man and tiger ate and drank.


    With nothing else to do, Tang Jie emptied out the contents of the three Mustard Seed Bags to see his spoils.


    The Mustard Seed Bags were all from Mortal Shedding Realm experts, and all the items within were unusual. s, because of that battle, Shi Ke and Kong Wng had taken out all the weapons, and Tang Jie hadn¡¯t had the time to take them with him. There were no other treasures within their bags. The contents were primarily pills, medicines, and talismans, which was quite the sorry sight, worth even less than the Mustard Seed Bag. However, the two of them had had three-thousand-some spirit coins all together.


    Gu Changqing had quite a few art relics. Besides the Soul-Seizing w, Essence-Pinning Mirror, the Godhead Armor, and the Soul-Sealing Stake, he also had a flying sword, a bow, three green arrows, and a protective jade talisman.


    These all required the cultivator to expend spiritual energy to work, and they couldn¡¯t work alone. Thus, Gu Changqing had not used them in that battle. Otherwise, any one of them would have ended any hope Tang Jie had of winning.


    Besides that, there were numerous pills, medicines, and talismans, many of which were Mortal Shedding Realm spell arts. If not for Tang Jie¡¯s special constitution that made him so hard to kill, these talismans alone would have been enough to end him.


    Finally, there was a big pile of spirit coins.


    To Tang Jie¡¯s surprise, Gu Changqing had kept thirty entire spirit jades in his Mustard Seed Bag.


    But he quickly understood. Gu Changqing was the Eagle Master of the Hawk Hall, and he was also the one who controlled the Hawk Hall¡¯s finances in the Sageheart Kingdom. He naturally carried a lot of money on his person to use.


    Inparison, his art relics were rather average. These art relics added together might not even match Xu Muyang¡¯s Azure Light Sword.


    This was because art relics were personal items that had to be bought with one¡¯s own money.


    Though he was an Eagle Master of the Hawk Hall, he was still a Deputy Eagle Master. Moreover, he had been promoted to the position of Deputy Eagle Master so that he could catch Tang Jie. In actuality, he had been a young man who hadn¡¯t cultivated for that many years. He waspletely different from someone like Xie Fengtang, who was a Celestial Heart Realm existence who had cultivated for several hundred years and had been able to umte a vast amount of property.


    Thus, his personal wealth was limited and invested into these art relics, and more than half was probably public property, as it wasn¡¯t as if there was ack of public money. But all of it was Tang Jie¡¯s now.


    Tang Jie now probably had one hundred thousand spirit coins, and Tang Jie happilyughed.


    This was also an important reason he had to fight this decisive battle with Gu Changqing. If he didn¡¯t kill someone strong, how could he get rich? And how could he pay back his enormous debt?


    ¡°Right, there seems to be another unexpected benefit,¡± Tang Jie said, his eyes resting on Gu Changqing¡¯s head.


    If he recalled correctly, the Basking Moon Sect had issued a reward of one Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill and one year exempt from tribute for this head.


    The value of one year exempt from tribute varied from person to person, as sects did not all pay the same amount of tribute. The real value was in the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill.


    This was a true upper-grade spirit medicine and was no longer something that could be evaluated in purely mary terms.


    It was just that if one wanted to form one¡¯s Celestial Heart and enter the Celestial Heart Realm, one would need the help of a Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill. It could be considered the key support for entering Celestial Heart.


    It was truly surprising. The property of three cultivators couldn¡¯t match the value of Gu Changqing¡¯s head.


    He wrapped Gu Changqing¡¯s head in cloth and put it in the bag. Tang Jie saw the little tiger finish eating. Seemingly unsatisfied, the tiger stuck his head into the pile of items, rummaging for something else to eat.


    The little cub ended up falling into the pile, leaving only his two iling back legs sticking out. Tang Jie found it very amusing as he pulled him out by the back legs.


    The cub sat on his butt with a talisman stuck to his face, gnawing on a pearl and trying to swallow it.


    ¡°Eh? What¡¯s this?¡± Tang Jie found this pearl rather strange, as he hadn¡¯t noticed it before. He hastily took the pearl from the cub¡¯s mouth.


    The tiger cub was furious that the pearl had been stolen from him and started to gnaw at Tang Jie¡¯s arm. But though he bit and gnawed on Tang Jie¡¯s arm, he couldn¡¯t bite through.


    Tang Jie petted the cub on the head and smiled. ¡°Alright, alright, let me take a look. I know it¡¯s yours, so I¡¯ll give it back.¡±


    He carefully examined the pearl.


    This was a small sky-blue pearl. It had a moist and sparkling luster, as if it was made of crystal, but the insides were misty as if there was a cloud inside.


    Tang Jie sent in a sliver of spiritual energy. The spiritual energy vanished like a mud doll dropped into the sea, but there was no reaction.


    ¡°How bizarre. Is it like the New Rain on Barren Mountain Curse, an art relic for sealing spiritual energy?¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    He looked at the pile of random knick-knacks, so jumbled together that he could no longer tell what had belonged to whom. Thus, he did not know if this pearl belonged to Gu Changqing or the other two unfortunate souls.


    The little tiger was still biting at Tang Jie, so Tang Jie threw the pearl back so that he could y with it.


    At this moment, Yiyi finally woke up with a yawn.


    Upon seeing Tang Jie, Yiyi jumped to her feet and jumped into his embrace, holding tightly onto his neck and refusing to let go.


    ¡°Alright, alright, it¡¯s all over.¡± Tang Jie patted Yiyi¡¯s backfortingly.


    Yiyi started to cry. ¡°I hate you! You threw us away for so long! Do you know what I had to go through!?¡±


    ¡°I know¡­ I know¡­¡± Tang Jie kissed Yiyi on the cheek.


    He could understand what Yiyi had gone through without her saying it.


    A small child with a small tiger had to travel all the way from Wanquan City to the Cloud Marsh, and then she had to nt countless green roses to keep a watch on her surroundings. How could he not understand how difficult this was?


    If Yiyi hadn¡¯t been a sprite, she probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to pull it off.


    But even for a sprite, born of spiritual energy, this hadn¡¯t been easy.


    And she also had to take care of the little tiger.


    Thus, as Tang Jie hugged her, she began to describe her trials.


    He listened as she described how she had gotten here from Wanquan City, how she had almost been discovered, and how she had taken care of the tiger and stolen food for him.


    Ten short days had been like ten years for Yiyi.


    She had thought countless times about giving up.


    If not for Tang Jie¡¯s sake, if not for her fear that if she gave up, she would lose her ¡°big brother¡± forever, she wouldn¡¯t have been able tost until the end.


    Even when she reached the Cloud Marsh, things still were not exactly smooth sailing for her.


    The Cloud Marsh had all kinds of poisonous insects and fierce beasts, and also various fiends, sprites, ghosts, and monsters that were ¡°interested¡± in her.


    Yiyi had to avoid these powerful fiend beasts and nt her surveince green roses in safe areas. In truth, there were many areas in the Cloud Marsh that Yiyi could not keep watch on.


    Fortunately, Gu Changqing wasn¡¯t someone who liked to cause trouble, so he had also avoided the territories of the fiend beasts. Otherwise, Yiyi might not have been able to find him in time.


    Yiyi had experienced deep pain and suffering from this experience, but she had also matured a lot.


    Perhaps this was precisely why she had been able to doggedly hold on when the puppet had attacked her.


    Ten days!


    In ten days, Tang Jie had crossed vast distances and experienced all sorts of danger, but Yiyi had experienced her own difficult journey.


    It had truly been difficult for her to endure it all!


    When he realized this, Tang Jie looked at Yiyi with a somewhat different gaze.


    ¡°Thank you, Yiyi,¡± he said.


    Wiping away her tears, Yiyi sternly said, ¡°Big Brother, promise me that you will never separate from me again, okay?¡±


    Tang Jie felt his heart growing hot.


    He answered, ¡°Your Big Brother promises that I will never leave you again!¡±


    Yiyi nodded and loudly said, ¡°Never again!¡±


    ¡°Never again!¡± Tang Jie extended his pinky finger. ¡°Come on, pull my finger and I swear to keep this promise for one hundred years!¡±


    Yiyi waved around Tang Jie¡¯s hand and shouted, ¡°One hundred years isn¡¯t enough! I¡­ I want more years! Lots and lots of years!¡±


    She still had a very fuzzy concept of numbers and didn¡¯t know how much was a lot, so she decided to just ask for lots and lots.


    ¡°Alright, pull my finger and I swear to keep this promise for lots and lots of years!¡±


    The two of them shouted together and then giggled.


    The little tiger continued to gnaw on that pearl. When he heard theirughter, he raised his head in confusion, wondering what they were doing.

 Chapter 132: Stealing Money

    <h1>Chapter 132: Stealing Money</h1>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325Edited by: Michyrr


    A terrorhorn beast drank from a muddy pool of water, asionally raising its head to watch out for any possible dangers.


    Its thick neck restricted its field of vision, and it was essentially incapable of turning its head, so only by turning around would it be able to look behind itself. Thus, itpletely failed to notice a pile of dried-up leaves slowlying up behind it.


    As that pile got closer and closer, the horned beast suddenly felt a deep unease.


    The beast''s instincts told it that danger wasing, and it suddenly raised its head and charged off to the side.


    At the same time, a cold light shed out of the pile of leaves, striking at the weakest point in the buttocks of the terrorhorn.


    <em>Arooo!</em> The terrorhorn let out a tremendous roar as it iled its hooves and tried to flee this dangerous ce.


    But as one of its feet stepped on a few green vines, they coiled around it and held it fast.


    It angrily roared, and a yellow light appeared on its body as it began to use some sort of spell art.


    At this moment, a sword shed, leaving behind a white line across the back of the horned beast''s head.


    <em>Thump!</em> The enormous creature''s head fell to the ground.


    A human form appeared in a sh, and Tang Jie soonnded on the terrorhorn''s body.


    Looking at the corpse, heughed. "My luck''s not bad. We finally have some meat to eat."


    Terrorhorns were lower-grade fiend beasts, and while they seemed clumsy and slow, they were actually incredible when it came to escaping. Their body was covered with tough scales, and their natural spell art was Earth Escape. The only good method was to take them by surprise and strike the weak point at the back of their heads, instantly killing them.


    Now that the hunt had seeded, Tang Jie began to dismantle the terrorhorn. This fellow''s tough scales and single horn were excellent materials. All of its essence was contained there, but that meant that there was little value in the body.


    As he removed the horn and scales, the little tiger rushed up and began to gnaw on the beast''s flesh, so enthused and sloppy that his mouth was covered in blood.


    "Don''t rush. It''s all yours." Tang Jie stroked the cub''s head and smiled.


    The little tiger''s grunts could be considered a reply.


    Yiyiy on Tang Jie''s shoulder, watching him work. She curiously asked, "Big Brother, all the bad people are dead, so why haven''t we gone back to Basking Moon Academy?"


    Tang Jie replied as he removed the scales, "What are you in such a rush for? We rarely get to go out, and we''re in the Cloud Marsh, fiend beast territory, so we might as well hunt a few and reap the spoils. Isn''t that pretty good?"


    "The Cloud Marsh is very dangerous, and there are lots and lots of scary monsters."


    "That only means we have to seize this opportunity to get something good."


    "But we aren''t short of money. Didn''t Big Brother say that we made a lot this time?"


    Tang Jie stopped and thought about his answer. "Yes, but it might not end up ours."


    "Mm?" Yiyi didn''t get it.


    "Yiyi, you''re still young, so there''s still a lot you don''t understand. Even if I told you, you might not understand. But remember that while the cultivation world reveres strength, there''s no limit to how strong one can be. No matter how strong you get, you will always discover that there are stronger people above you who are keeping you down. Unless you get so strong that you essentially dominate the world, you will have to think carefully about everything you do."


    Tang Jie raised his head, looked at Yiyi, and smiled. "If I went back to Basking Moon Academy right now, because of the lies I spread earlier, the school will definitely punish me. In these circumstances, do you think they''ll admit that I brought back Gu Changqing''s head?"


    Yiyi asked in surprise, "They won''t? But you said that the major sects all cared about their reputation."


    "Of course, but what is reputation? It''s something that you show off to outsiders. Basking Moon Student Tang Jie was kidnapped, and the Basking Moon Sect mobilized arge force to rescue him, expending countless men and resources. How should this expense be calcted? Do they take into ount the value of Gu Changqing''s head? That''s no problem, but since the Basking Moon Sect spent so much manpower and resources to save me, isn''t it only right that theye and settle ounts with me? When the timees, you''ll find out that Gu Changqing''s head isn''t worth as much as you thought it was. Even those things I got from killing Gu Changqing and the others will probably have to be used to pay the bill, and even then I still might owe them. Two hundred thousand sounds like a lot, but that''s only for a person! When you''re talking about the expenses for the mobilization of a major sect¡­ it''s a cup of water on a burning cart."


    "But you helped them kill off so many of those Godhead Pce scoundrels."


    "Yes, but they can choose not to count that. The stronger party might not be able to have everything go its way, but the stronger party will hold the authority to speak¡­ They''re the ones who set the rules!"


    "Will they really do this?" Yiyi asked in shock.


    "I can''t say that they''ll definitely do it, but there''s at least a chance, yes? I''m not Tang Jiye, so the Basking Moon Sect no longer has any expectations of me. Since they have no expectations of me, they have to take back some of the capital that they invested." Tang Jie said in a profound tone, "Don''t try and test human nature. If you don''t want to be disappointed, it''s best that you don''t give them that chance."


    Yiyi pouted, "The Basking Moon Sect is too awful!"


    Tang Jieughed out loud. "Silly girl, I only said that it was a possibility. Don''t go ming people for something they haven''t done yet."


    "Then what do we do?"


    "It''s simple. We store our spoils somewhere safe, and then once we get back to Basking Moon Academy and settle things, we go back and get it¡­ When you have money, everyone wille to settle ounts with you, but when you have no money, that''s no longer necessary."


    If Tang Jie came back to Basking Moon Academy loaded with wealth, it would be truly hard to say that his saviors in the academy would not instantly turn into bloodthirsty wolves. Without the protective talisman that was Tang Jiye''s identity, many former conveniences would disappear.


    These conveniences weren''t exactly obvious, but when they were lost, you would understand just how hard it was to advance without them.


    This was precisely why Tang Jie couldn''t give others this sort of chance.


    Only now did Yiyi understand why Tang Jie continued to wander around the swamp. He was looking for a good ce to hide his wealth.


    Tang Jie continued, "Actually, this isn''t the only reason. The other is that no matter how I lie, it''s somewhat absurd for a Spirit Spring Tier to defeat a cultivator like Gu Changqing who was in the Nine Revolutions Period. Thus, I first need to bring myself to the Spirit Lake Tier so that I can exin myself when I get back."


    "So does it make more sense for a Spirit Lake to be able to beat a Nine Revolutions?" No matter how ignorant Yiyi was, even she could tell that this didn''t make a lot of sense.


    Cultivation consisted of five realms and fourteen tiers. It was normal to fight above one''s tier, but to fight above one''s realm was abnormal.


    A realm was a qualitative change. An outstanding Spirit Lake student might be able to easily beat an ordinary Spirit Sea student, but an outstanding Spirit Sea student would basically find it impossible to beat the worst Mortal Shedding Realm expert.


    "¡­uh, at least it makes more sense than Spirit Spring versus Nine Revolutions."


    Yiyi folded her arms like a little adult. "I feel like it doesn''t make sense either way."


    "¡­Just closing the gap a little," Tang Jie awkwardly said. "I can only take each step as Ie to it. Let me resolve the problem of cultivation first. Whether it''s escaping or striking back, I need to have enough strength for the exnation to be convincing."


    "But won''t it take you a long time to reach Spirit Lake?"


    "Not that long," Tang Jie replied. "I''m confident that so long as I can undo the New Rain on Barren Mountain Curse, I can get to Spirit Lake in a month at most."


    The Parting ssic''s body refinement strengthened his constitution, allowing Tang Jie to cultivate far more efficiently than others. If he hadn''t dyed his cultivation to increase his strength, he would have already reached Spirit Lake.


    Now that Gu Changqing was dead and things with Godhead Pce were settled for now, Tang Jie could focus entirely on advancing his cultivation. The three Mustard Seed Bags had also contained some medicines that could assist in cultivation, so Tang Jie really wasn''t boasting when he said that he only needed a month.


    The only restriction was that New Rain on Barren Mountain Curse.


    This curse prevented him from gathering spiritual energy, meaning that he couldn''t cultivate.


    But curses weren''t natural, and spell arts couldn''tst over the long term without support. Tang Jie had been trying to break through the New Rain on Barren Mountain Curse for thest few days, and without the Hawk Hall''s people reinforcing it or restraining him, Tang Jie could already feel the curse starting to loosen. It probably wouldn''t be long before he could break through and recover his power.


    "But if you enter Spirit Lake, you won''t be able to go into Tiger Roar Valley."


    "I just can''t go in there to hunt. I can still go in for other purposes. Moreover, the resources in Tiger Roar Valley are limited while the costs are high. Ultimately, that ce is where we can experience what life is like in the cultivation world, and it''s not suitable as a ce to obtain resources. For me, after getting the Blood Refining spell, I lost my reason to visit. At most, I''ll asionally go in to see Wang Poguan."


    "But he''s even keeping so many fiend beasts for you."


    "I can just leave them for Third Young Master."


    "You would have him go up Tiger Roar Peak?"


    "¡­I know that there are difficulties here, but I''ll think of something," Tang Jie said with augh. "Alright, regardless, what we need to do next is cultivate and improve ourselves!"


    Yiyi nodded and shouted, "Mm, cultivate! Cultivate! Yiyi also wants to cultivate so that she can beat the bad people together with Big Brother!"


    "Okay," Tang Jie chuckled.


    At this moment, Tang Jie''s ears twitched, and his expression changed. He extended a finger and ced it over his lips. "Shhh."


    The littledy understood and whispered, "Is someoneing?"


    After being together with Gu Changqing for so many days, Tang Jie was clearly sharper and more perceptive. Thus, he was able to sense the abnormal ripples of spiritual energy behind him.


    Tang Jie nodded. "It should be people who are after Gu Changqing. Let''s go. We can''t let them discover us."


    Tang Jie tore off a piece of flesh from his body and threw it into the distance, after which he rushed into the depths of the marsh.


    It wasn''t long before several dozen figures appeared in the marsh.


    A doughty and sturdy man nced at the terrorhorn corpse on the ground and said, "It hasn''t been dead for long, so the hunter should be nearby. Scatter and search. You guys take this side and you guys take that side. Stay in touch, and don''t try to fight the target. Immediately send the signal if you find him. The rest of you, follow me!"


    The group instantly dispersed, rushing to their assigned locations in a cohesive and orderly manner. These were clearly trained experts, but from their uniform, it was clear that they didn''t belong to the Basking Moon Sect. They were probably part of one of the minor sects of the Sageheart Kingdom.


    The doughty man led his men directly in Tang Jie''s direction, a sharp light in his eyes as he took in his surroundings, noting every detail.


    Amidst their sprint, the man shouted, "Halt!"


    Everyone stopped in unison. The man looked left and right, and then he pointed at a distant stone. The men behind him all raised their hands.


    A momentter, countless streaks of fire flew out of their hands, together with saber waves and sword energy, fusing together into a sharp wave of light that exploded against the distant rock.


    <em>Boom!</em> Therge rock was obliterated.


    When the dust settled, the doughty man went over to take a look. Grabbing the corpse of a fox, he said, "So it was just a sly fox. Let''s go!"


    The party swiftly vanished into the forest.


    Once they were gone, a human figure slowly arose from the mulch near therge stone.


    It was Tang Jie.


    Looking in the direction of the pursuers, he muttered, "Strange¡­ Why were they so ruthless? It seems like they don''t want any survivors, so they n to kill me too? Oh, the Basking Moon Sect only said to hand over Gu Changqing''s head. It never mentioned anything about bringing Tang Jie back alive¡­ shit. They haven''te to save someone, but to steal money."


    Tang Jie suddenly understood that these people didn''t care whether he lived or died, only about Gu Changqing''s head.


    If Tang Jie had been in Gu Changqing''s hands, then there would have still been some hope that they would be Tang Jie''s saviors.


    But now that Gu Changqing was dead, their natures would instantly change.


    It went without saying that if these people found that he had killed Gu Changqing, what awaited Tang Jie wouldn''t be rescue, but murder and theft.


    If Tang Jie didn''t have his own ns to wait a few more days before returning to Basking Moon Academy, then he would have mistaken these people for saviors and gone to meet them, and he would probably be dead by now.


    These minor sects didn''t care about the rules as much as the Basking Moon Sect, and reputation wasn''t important to them. The only things that mattered were profit and strength!


    "So what do we do now?" Yiyi hurriedly asked.


    Tang Jie''s eyes shed with murderous intent. "Ignore them for now. Once I get rid of the New Rain on Barren Mountain Curse and reach Spirit Lake, I''ll take care of them."


    "But you said to not me people for things they haven''t done yet."


    "Forget I said that!"

 Chapter 133: Fight

    Chapter 133: Fight


    A forest deep within the marsh.


    Tang Jie was seated cross-legged on the ground, his soles facing upward and his hands on his knees. His palms were aimed toward the sky and his middle fingers were curled inward. This was the ¡°Five Hearts Turned to Heaven¡± meditation stance, and there was white steam rising from the top of his head.


    From time to time, he would make signs with his hands. With each hand sign he made, more white steam would gather over his head.


    If one looked carefully, one would find that there was a golden thread in this white steam.


    This was the special symbol of the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra, representing the character of this spiritual energy.


    Spiritual energy had no character, and it transformed ording to what cultivators did to it.


    That there was only this thin golden thread indicated that the cultivator had yet to reach mastery. When the entirety of the white mist was made golden, it would mean that one had achieved greater mastery in the Grotto Metal Mantra.


    That golden thread in the mist swayed in the wind. As Tang Jie made his hand signs, it gathered and scattered. Gradually, it became straight like a spear, and the spiritual energy around it began to condense, after which it slowly began to sink into Tang Jie¡¯s body¡­


    It was a ceaseless cycle.


    Yiyi nervously sat on the side and observed their surroundings.


    This was now their thirtieth day in the Cloud Marsh.


    Twenty-some days ago, he had broken the New Rain on Barren Mountain Curse and regained the ability to use spiritual energy. Ever since then, he had led the pursuers on a wild goose chase while cultivating.


    Although Basking Moon Academy had the loan receipt that could track Tang Jie, there was only one loan receipt. So long as Tang Jie was constantly moving around, the Basking Moon Sect would have a hard time pinning down his location.


    The only disadvantage was that Tang Jie had to frequently cut off pieces of his flesh.


    In this process, his recovery abilities improved even more¡­ The potential bought by one hundred thousand spirit coins still hadn¡¯t run out, and Tang Jie still had plenty of room to grow.


    At the same time, while being pursued and tracked down, Tang Jie began to cultivate and work to increase his cultivation level.


    With the cultivation medicines left behind by Gu Changqing and the others, Tang Jie charged at full speed at the Spirit Lake Tier.


    Today, he was finally at the moment of breakthrough.


    As the Major Circuit Heaven revolved, the Spiritual Space in his body expanded. Tang Jie¡¯s Major Circuit Heaven was revolving faster and faster, as he was no longer some clumsy rookie. His Spiritual Space could now hold 999 drops of spiritual liquid.


    But at that final drop of expansion, he encountered an enormous barrier that he had failed to ovee.


    Tang Jie knew that he would run into this sort of blockade while making this charge at Spirit Lake. This was a threshold to breaking through into the next tier.


    It was said that advances in realm were qualitative changes while advances in tier were quantitative changes, but between each tier was a small blockade. The difficulty in oveing it was much lower than advancing through the realm threshold, but even so, many students had to expend ten days to half a month to finally break through to the next tier.


    s, Tang Jie didn¡¯t have much time.


    Through the Major Circuit Heaven, energy constantly circted through his body and charged at the blockade again and again, but Tang Jie still felt that he was just a littlecking.


    After circting the Major Circuit Heaven several times without a result, Tang Jie clenched his teeth and shouted, ¡°Yiyi!¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± Yiyi opened a small bottle and poured out all the Essence-Refining Pills, putting them in Tang Jie¡¯s mouth.


    These were hisst Essence-Refining Pills. If he didn¡¯t seed this time, Tang Jie really would have to spend those ten days to half a month to slowly chip away at this threshold.


    As the Essence-Refining Pills entered his stomach, a vast amount of spiritual energy spread out, instantly filling his body.


    Tang Jie once more circted the Major Circuit Heaven, guiding the spiritual energy through the circuit and creating a tremendous energy that entered the Spiritual Space. The spiritual surge howled within his body like a roaring storm as it carved away at the walls of the Spiritual Space.


    The white mist again appeared over Tang Jie¡¯s head, that golden thread solidifying and then shooting straight into the sky.


    ¡°Oh no!¡± Yiyi paled at this sight.


    She knew that this was a sign of Tang Jie¡¯s charge at the Spirit Lake threshold and that the blockade was about to break, but she hadn¡¯t expected that spiritual energy would shoot into the air as it did.


    Even Tang Jie didn¡¯t know this, or else he would have never chosen to make his breakthrough here.


    Although it wasn¡¯t exactly an impressive sight, someone with sharp eyes would easily be able to see that golden light. It probably wouldn¡¯t be long before someone noticed that someone was breaking through here and came to ask questions.


    ¡°You have to do it quickly!¡± Yiyi said, stomping her feet.


    She did not dare to disturb Tang Jie, so all she could do was release green roses to stop any enemies from approaching. But Yiyi wasn¡¯t very confident in the ability of her green rose vines to stop powerful foes.


    Tang Jie was at a crucial point in his breakthrough and could clearly feel the barrier slowly weakening under the spiritual surge. But the powerful pressure boosting the spiritual surge was beginning to weaken.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know whether the barrier would break or the spiritual surge would run out first. He could only focus on breaking through,pletely unaware of the outside world.


    At this moment, there was a whistle in the distance.


    Someone had noticed something going on and wasing over to see what it was.


    Yiyi grew anxious.


    With the pping of robes, several dozen people appeared in the distance.


    Their leader was a young man dressed in luxurious purple robes, and behind him was a group of warriors in martial attire. Next to him was an old man and two beautiful maids.


    The richly-dressed young master saw Tang Jie sitting there as soon as he appeared and immediately gasped in surprise. ¡°Eh? Isn¡¯t that Tang Jie? Why is he alone? Where is Gu Changqing?¡±


    The Basking Moon Sect had sent a wanted notice and mobilized the entire country to hunt down Gu Changqing. The various sects naturally knew what Gu Changqing and Tang Jie looked like, so they were surprised to see Tang Jie alone, with no sign of Gu Changqing.


    From the look of things, Tang Jie was making a charge at Spirit Lake.


    Gu Changqing was nowhere to be seen and Tang Jie was making a charge at the Spirit Lake Tier. What was going on here?


    Yiyi pointed at them and shouted, ¡°None of you is allowed to get close!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s even a sprite!¡± That richly-dressed young master looked at Yiyi with a greedy glint in his eyes. ¡°And it¡¯s a sprite that hasn¡¯t fallen into ignorance. What a rare sight! If I can get it, it should be able to be refined into a spirit pill.¡±


    ¡°Young Master, be careful. Since this sprite hasn¡¯t fallen into ignorance, someone is probably raising it,¡± the elder next to him warned. ¡°Our objective this time is Gu Changqing. The Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill is more important! Don¡¯t cause any side issues.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± the young master impatiently said. ¡°But since we¡¯ve seen it, why not just catch it?¡±


    Just when he was about to give the order, another group of people emerged nearby. This was that group of cultivators that Tang Jie had spotted thirty days ago.


    That doughty man charged up and formed a nk with that young master¡¯s group. When he saw Tang Jie all by himself, he froze, and when he saw Yiyi, there was a greedy glint in his eyes too.


    The richly-robed young master saw that someone else hade and angrily said, ¡°Tu Baixiong, my Jade Sword Gate was here first. Your Heavenly Extinction Sect has no ce here!¡±


    That man called Tu Baixiong nced at the young master and snorted. ¡°Young Lord Leng is incorrect on that. The Basking Moon Sect sent orders to all the kingdom, and any cultivator who¡¯s part of my Sageheart can kill Gu Changqing when they see him. When did this be the exclusive business of your Jade Sword Gate? Moreover, Gu Changqing isn¡¯t even here. Isn¡¯t it a little early to be iming this ce for yourself?¡±


    The elder next to the young master said, ¡°Gentlemen, let¡¯s not fight. Tang Jie is here, so Gu Changqing can¡¯t be far off. This person might be hiding somewhere right now, waiting to ambush us. This might just be a bait, luring us into fighting each other. Gu Changqing is Deputy Eagle Master of Godhead Pce¡¯s Hawk Hall. He is a cunning and sinister fellow, and even Elder Yu Hai of the Pine Tree Gate fell for his trap and died. We should all be careful.¡±


    The young master said in disdain, ¡°That idiot Yu Hai thought that he was all that after getting half a step from Celestial Heart, so it¡¯s no wonder he fell into a trap.¡±


    He was saying that others were arrogant, but his nose was so high that it was practically pointing at the heavens. Truly, it was easier to talk about others than to know oneself.


    That Tu Baixiong carefully examined his surroundings and frowned. ¡°Strange. If there¡¯s a trap, why is Tang Jie advancing his cultivation here? And why is there a sprite at his side? And what about that little tiger? If this was a trap, it would be far too bizarre of a trap.¡±


    At this moment, a man in martial attire next to Tu Baixiong pointed at Tang Jie and said, ¡°Senior Brother Tu, look at what he has.¡±


    Everyone followed that man¡¯s finger and saw that Tang Jie was clearly carrying three Mustard Seed Bags, and those Mustard Seed Bags had the image of a golden hawk on them. Tu Baixiong trembled as he blurted out, ¡°That¡¯s a Mustard Seed Bag belonging to Godhead Pce¡¯s Hawk Hall!¡±


    Tang Jie was carrying three Hawk Hall Mustard Seed Bags, and a single thought appeared in everyone¡¯s minds.


    Could Tang Jie have struck back against Gu Changqing and killed him?


    Everyone was left stunned by this thought.


    The elder said, ¡°Gu Changqing was badly injured when he killed Yu Hai. Might the long escape have worsened his injuries, allowing this kid to strike when he was unaware?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s possible,¡± Tu Baixiong said. ¡°My Heavenly Extinction Sect learned that Gu Changqing and his subordinates had a falling-out one month ago, and he personally killed two of them and fled with heavy injuries. Apparently, even his Ink Falcon Wings were destroyed. He must have been very severely wounded.¡±


    ¡°Can you confirm that?¡± the elder hastily asked.


    Tu Baixiong replied, ¡°The news came from Wu Xianguang. He found the remains of the Ink Falcon Wings on the battlefield, so there should be no doubt about it. In addition, three Hawk Hall experts scattered and ran. Two of them were killed, and only one was able to escape back into Sageheart. As for Tang Jie, the Basking Moon Sect has sent word that he has not once left the Cloud Marsh. The Basking Moon Sect was nning on locking the Cloud Marsh, but so that Godhead Pce wouldn¡¯t send people to cause trouble, it decided to entrust the task of finding him to us.¡±


    ¡°In other words, Gu Changqing really might already be dead?¡± the elder muttered.


    The young master said, ¡°Why guess? Just take those Mustard Seed Bags and we¡¯ll know the truth. If Gu Changqing is dead, his head must be inside one of them.¡±


    The young master made a snatching motion in the air, and a w appeared that moved to grab Tang Jie.


    Tu Baixiong waved his hand at the same time, but he attacked that w in the air. <em>Boom!</em> Their attacks collided and exploded in a shower of stars.


    ¡°Tu Baixiong, what are you doing?¡± the richly-attired young master furiously said.


    Tu Baixiong sinisterly said, ¡°Young Master Leng, I fear that you won¡¯t be willing to hand over the bags once you see what¡¯s inside. Gu Changqing¡¯s head is a treasure. The Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill¡­ The Jade Sword Gate wants it, but my Heavenly Extinction Sect doesn¡¯t want to give up on it either.¡±


    The young master angrily retorted, ¡°Bastard, you¡¯re trying to take something belonging to my Jade Sword Gate?¡±


    He waved his hand, and the long, jade-colored sword on his back flew out and stabbed at Tu Baixiong.


    ¡°Jade Pearl Sword!¡±


    Tu Baixiong grunted, a pitch-ck saber flying into his hand. He swung the saber and shouted, ¡°Thousand Rupture sh!¡±


    When Tang Jie had been using the Divine Court Thousandshift, he had randomly called out ¡°Thousand Rupture sh¡±, but now, Tu Baixiong was using the actual Thousand Rupture sh of the Heavenly Extinction Sect.


    As the saber swung, countless illusory sabers appeared and struck the jade sword. At the same time, voices shouted from both sides, ¡°Grab the Mustard Seed Bags!¡±


    The experts of the Jade Sword Gate and the Heavenly Extinction Sect charged at Tang Jie, at the same time unleashing various spell arts at each other. A storm of spells instantly engulfed the air of the Cloud Marsh.


    The Jade Sword Gate specialized in controlling swords, and their speed was on the faster side. A Jade Sword Gate disciple activated his sword control spell, and he followed the sword and shot toward Tang Jie like a ray of light.


    Yiyi shouted, and countless vines erupted from the ground to try and block him. The man swung his sword and shouted, ¡°Scram!¡±


    Sword light erupted, cutting down all the green rose vines. Yiyi shouted as she was sent flying. Meanwhile, the Jade Sword Gate disciple rushed up to Tang Jie, his hand reaching for the three Mustard Seed Bags.


    At this moment, the disciple heard a gust of wind behind him.


    He knew this was bad and instinctively swung his sword behind him.


    There was a sh of light as countless streaks of fire exploded in front of his eyes. The disciple screamed as he was obliterated by the Heavenly Extinction Sect members.


    The Heavenly Extinction Sect was infamous in Sageheart for its brutal methods. Tang Jie had once reviewed this sect and said that they were far too murderous and would be wiped out by the Basking Moon Sect eventually.


    The problem was that the Heavenly Extinction Sect had yet to be purged, and Tang Jie was still in dire straits.


    The attacks that had killed the Jade Sword Gate disciple would undoubtedly hit Tang Jie as well. The Heavenly Extinction Sect didn¡¯t care about the methods it used and did not care that Tang Jie was a student of Basking Moon.


    He was just a kidnapped student, so they could just kill him and me Gu Changqing for the deed. So long as they silenced all other witnesses, who could say any different?


    A momentter, those attacks savagely sted Tang Jie.


    Spiritual energy erupted from his body, sweeping out from him like an ocean wave.


    ¡°Just a little more! A little more!¡±


    Tang Jie had already sensed that something was going on outside, but he didn¡¯t have the attention to spare, focusing all his efforts on expanding his Spiritual Space.


    But for some reason, his breakthrough was particrly difficult.


    Tang Jie could sense that some of the spiritual energy he used in the charge was inexplicably disappearing, vanishing into his blood. This left him without the necessary energy to break into the next tier.


    The teachers had never mentioned anything like this during ss.


    Was this because he cultivated the Parting ssic?


    This thought left him stunned, but at this moment, he had no choice except to keep charging.


    At this moment, he felt an intense pain all over his body.


    A momentter, Tang Jie¡¯s blood energy created a powerful spiritual wave that surged against the flow. He suddenly felt the spiritual energy he was using for the breakthrough swelling, and it mmed against the barrier.


    In the middle of this frenzied battering, that barrier that had shackled Tang Jie for so long finally shattered. Tang Jie could feel his spiritual power cheering, and that golden thread above his head went taut, no longer appearing so vague and indistinct.


    Sess!


    Tang Jie was ted!


    He had finally stepped into Spirit Lake!


    At the same time, a Heavenly Extinction Sect disciple rushed up to Tang Jie and swung his saber to slice through Tang Jie¡¯s throat. At the same time, his other hand went to grab the Mustard Seed Bags at his waist. He really was nning to just kill Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes opened, shing with golden light.


    ¡°Seeking death!¡± Tang Jie barked. He thrust out a finger, striking the saber and instantly shattering it.


    And then his finger flew like a shooting star straight into his assant¡¯s throat.

 Chapter 134: Alarm Gate Banner

    Chapter 134: rm Gate Banner


    ¡°Aaagh!¡± The dying man let out a miserable scream.


    Everyone inbat turned their heads and saw Tang Jie slowly extracting his finger from that disciple¡¯s throat.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Tu Baixiong¡¯s eyes shone with excitement. ¡°Talk! Were you the one who killed Gu Changqing?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t say anything about your brother that just died, instead asking about Gu Changqing¡¯s location. The Heavenly Extinction Sect truly is callous.¡± Tang Jie stood up, grabbing that golden light in the air. ¡°As for Gu Changqing¡­ yes, he¡¯s dead. His head is in this Mustard Seed Bag,¡± Tang Jie said, patting one of the bags.


    Gu Changqing was really dead?


    Everyone grew excited and avariciously stared at that bag.


    Tu Baixiong viciously spat, ¡°Hand over the bag, and out of respect for the Basking Moon Sect, I won¡¯t kill you.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t kill me?¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°If you don¡¯t kill me, how will you exin things to the Basking Moon Sect? Even if the Basking Moon Sect will only care about the head and not ask about how you got it, are you not worried that I, a disciple of Basking Moon, will seek revenge for being stolen from? Do you really need to try these childish lies on me?¡±


    Tu Baixiong froze, and then his eyes shed with killing intent. ¡°You¡¯re just a student of Basking Moon, not a disciple, and you¡¯re already so arrogant. What does it matter if I kill you? My Heavenly Extinction Sect isn¡¯t a big sect like the Basking Moon Sect, but it¡¯s notpletely powerless, and it¡¯s not something some random student of Basking Moon can destroy.¡±


    ¡°Naturally,¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°The Heavenly Extinction Sect does have some status in Sageheart. Otherwise, none of you would have dared to touch me. Even if something happens in the future, you¡¯ll just have to pay somepensation at most, which can¡¯tpare to the benefits trading in the head will give you. But it seems that your luck isn¡¯t that great, for the Heavenly Extinction Sect isn¡¯t the only one here¡­¡±


    He nced at the Jade Sword Gate group on the side.


    Both sides had stopped fighting, and as each side had sustained casualties, they venomously red at each other.


    Upon hearing Tang Jie¡¯s words, that richly-dressed young master from the Jade Sword Gateughed. ¡°Young Master Tang is right. The Heavenly Extinction Sect is far too brash, even trying to steal from a Basking Moon student. That¡¯s no different from suicide!¡±


    Tu Baixiong snorted, ¡°It¡¯s not like you were doing anything different.¡±


    ¡°At least we didn¡¯t n to kill Young Master Tang,¡± the young master replied. ¡°Young Master Tang, my Jade Sword Gate wished to steal that head in your possession, and on this matter, my Jade Sword Gate has wronged you. Leng Xiyu treated you improperly, but I, Leng Xiyu, can promise you that this one never had any intention of harming Young Master Tang. Young Master Tang is a student of Basking Moon, so you should clearly understand the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s style: whatever is reported is what happened. The Basking Moon Sect will give the reward to anyone who can hand over the head, not necessarily the one who killed Gu Changqing. Thus, my Jade Sword Gate never had any intentions of silencing witnesses, for this is unnecessary. Moreover, my Jade Sword Gate is not as brash and arrogant as the Heavenly Extinction Sect, resorting to murder for everything.¡±


    This young master had been so proud that everyone in the world was beneath him a few moments ago, but now that Tang Jie had woken up, he had changed his tone and was no longer acting so arrogantly.


    His words were also true. The Basking Moon Sect¡¯s style was such that if someone came to them with the head, they probably wouldn¡¯t ask any questions.


    In truth, the Basking Moon Sect might have its own motives in allowing this.


    The Sageheart Kingdom had numerous small sects, and the Basking Moon Sect had always been trying to control them so that none of them could growrge enough to threaten its position. This Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill was a poison pill that could engender sectarian conflict.


    To put it simply, in the eyes of Godhead Pce, everything was for the Martial Mirror, so Tang Jie was the target. In the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s eyes, the goal was to exterminate Godhead Pce¡¯s spies and weaken the power of its subordinate sects, so Tang Jie was just a chess piece. Their viewpoints werepletely different.


    Everyone understood this. Otherwise, why would they have tried to grantly steal from Tang Jie as soon as they spotted him? To speak frankly, it was because the Basking Moon Sect allowed it.


    It was just that Leng Xiyu wouldn¡¯t say this openly, only imply it.


    But now that Tang Jie was awake, things were different.


    He had shattered a weapon with one strike and killed a man with one finger. This was proof that he had a certain level of strength, and besides that, he had the head. If he were pushed too far, he might destroy the head, and everyone would go away empty-handed.


    The Heavenly Extinction Sect¡¯s people were bloodthirsty and had a habit of resorting to violence for everything. Thus, when Tang Jie woke up, Tu Baixiong had dared to threaten him, proving himself to be the typical idiot. Tang Jie had had good reason to say that it was a miracle this sect had survived this long.


    But the Jade Sword Gate didn¡¯t have this problem. This richly-dressed young master Leng Xiyu had immediately confessed his wrongs and turned the ship around, trying to get in Tang Jie¡¯s good graces.


    As he finished speaking, he threw a bottle of pills at Tang Jie. ¡°Take this bottle of True Essence Pills as an apology from this one.¡±


    True Essence Pills were the best spirit medicine for assisting cultivation below the Mortal Shedding Realm, and Basking Moon Academy would only distribute a few each year. Tang Jie had only been able to get Essence-Refining Pills from killing Gu Changqing, with not a single True Essence Pill.


    This Leng Xiyu was being rather generous, immediately giving him a bottle of True Essence Pills.


    Tang Jie immediately put it away. ¡°I suppose I can let the attempted theft of the head slide.¡±


    Leng Xiyu hastily said, ¡°Young Master, thank you for your magnanimity. But this Heavenly Extinction Sect is truly vicious, daring to attack the young master. Why don¡¯t we work together and get rid of them?¡±


    Tu Baixiong snorted, ¡°The path of cultivation has danger at every step. Which one of us has not fought our way out of a sea of blood? Do you think my Heavenly Extinction Sect has been able to stand for so many years only because of the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s generosity? But since it¡¯se to this, my Heavenly Extinction Sect will simply apologize as well.¡±


    Tu Baixiong immediately threw Tang Jie a bottle of True Essence Pills.


    No matter how bloodthirsty the Heavenly Extinction Sect was, it knew that this wasn¡¯t the time to keep being unreasonable. Otherwise, they really could lose everything.


    Tang Jie took the bottle and said, ¡°The Jade Sword Gate merely wanted to steal from me, so one bottle was enough, but the Heavenly Extinction Sect wanted to kill me. Three bottles will be needed to resolve this grudge.¡±


    Tu Baixiong heartilyughed. ¡°Alright, deal!¡±


    Not even trying to negotiate, he threw over two more bottles.


    Cultivators had their own rules. Since Tang Jie said that three bottles of True Essence Pills were enough to settle things, then if he tried to bring up this matter in the future, Tu Baixiong would simply ignore him, and not even the Basking Moon Sect would help him.


    This was precisely why Tu Baixiong had given in so easily.


    Tang Jie took the pills and really did say no more. It was as if all the fighting from before had nothing to do with him. He indifferently said, ¡°I now understand what happened before, so let us discuss what happens afterward. Don¡¯t you all want Gu Changqing¡¯s head? This is simple. State your price. I¡¯ll sell it.¡±


    ¡°¡®Sell¡¯?¡± Both parties were startled.


    The elder softly said, ¡°This kid isn¡¯t simple.¡±


    When confronted by people who wanted to kill and steal from him, he not only did not try to get revenge, he tried to make money. A normal young man would never be so restrained.


    A normal young man would have taken Leng Xiyu¡¯s proposal and started a fight with the Heavenly Execution Sect. But in the end, this would be simply making a wedding dress for someone else.


    In contrast, by not taking a stance, epting mediation, standing above the fray, and asking for bids, he immediately put himself in an impregnable position, easily resolving the crisis he faced.


    ¡°Correct. The Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill is medicine used for breaking into the Celestial Heart Realm, but that¡¯s too far away for me. Nor do I have any need for a one-year exemption from tribute. Since you want all this, give me a price,¡± Tang Jie said, taking Gu Changqing¡¯s head out from his Mustard Seed Bag.


    If there were still unbelievers, they could now see the reality with their own eyes.


    The Basking Moon Sect had spread Gu Changqing¡¯s portraits all over the ce, and everyone was familiar with his appearance. When they saw his head, their eyes immediately burned with fervor.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± Leng Xiyu immediately asked.


    ¡°Cultivation medicines, natural treasures, wondrous techniques, valuable magical tools¡ªany of that is good. Money isn¡¯t necessary, for I don¡¯tck money,¡± Tang Jie said, patting his Mustard Seed Bags.


    Tu Baixiong immediately said, ¡°Three Heavenbane Lightning Pearls!¡±


    Heavenbane Lightning Pearls were one of the most vicious magic tools used by the Heavenly Extinction Sect. These lightning pearls had immense power, and a single one could shatter mountains. It was through these that the Heavenly Extinction Sect had gained dominance. The sect dared to be so arrogant mostly because of these domineering magic tools unique to their sect.


    Even Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but be tempted at Tu Baixiong¡¯s offer of three of them.


    Leng Xiyu grimaced. If Tu Baixiong was willing to hand over three Heavenbane Lightning Pearls, didn¡¯t that mean that he was carrying that many on his person?


    If true, the Jade Sword Gate was bound to lose in battle.


    But Tu Baixiong then awkwardly added, ¡°But I have to return to the Heavenly Extinction Sect before I can hand them over.¡±


    Leng Xiyu immediately erupted inughter. ¡°I was wondering why you were still willing to negotiate with us when you had three Heavenbane Lightning Pearls. It turned out you didn¡¯t have them on you at all.¡±


    Tu Baixiong¡¯s face went red. ¡°Three is too much, but I do have one. I was originally nning to use it on Gu Changqing, but Gu Changqing is dead. If you keep provoking me, do you think I won¡¯t use one pearl to blow you up?¡±


    With a flip of his wrist, a red pearl appeared in his hand.


    Everyone turned nervous at the sight of this pearl.


    Tu Baixiong savagely smiled. ¡°If I wasn¡¯t worried about destroying the head, I would have already thrown it over. You think I would still be trying to make this deal? Kid, you want it or not? Three lightning pearls for Gu Changqing¡¯s head is very worth it!¡±


    Tang Jie calmly said, ¡°The Jade Sword Gate hasn¡¯t made its bid yet.¡±


    Young Lord Leng Xiyu of the Jade Sword Gate warily nced at the lightning pearl in Tu Baixiong¡¯s hand before saying, ¡°While the Heavenbane Lightning Pearls are excellent items, they¡¯re one-use-only, and Young Master Tang would need to go to the Heavenly Extinction Sect to get them. I¡¯m sure Young Master knows the risks of this without me saying it. I have a treasure here that Young Master Tang can use right now.¡±


    He took out a small banner from his Mustard Seed Bag.


    Tu Baixiong trembled at the sight of it. ¡°The rm Gate Banner? So you had one of the Eight Destion Banners.¡±


    ¡°The Eight Destion Banners?¡± Tang Jie was startled.


    He had heard of the Eight Destion Banners, a set of eight art relics in the form of formation banners. When all of them were gathered, they could massively boost the power of a formation.


    In truth, they could not be considered art relics. Their power had been equal to a divine treasure. But for some reason, they had been lost and scattered.


    He hadn¡¯t expected this Young Lord Leng Xiyu of the Jade Sword Gate to have one of them.


    Although this was only one of the formation banners, as the formation banner that governed the rm Gate, it could massively boost the power of the rm Gate when used. The rm Gate was concerned with confusing the senses, so this banner was perfect for illusion formations.


    This rm Gate Banner was truly just right for Tang Jie. He was skilled in the Dao of Formations and was also a body refiner, so what he needed wasn¡¯t variousbat art relics, but treasures like this that could assist him in other aspects. Moreover, unlike the Azure Light Sword or Soul-Seizing w, which were extremely demanding on the cultivator, the banner could be used while in the Spirit tform Realm. It was perfect for him.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s not bad.¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°But there¡¯s only one banner.¡±


    ¡°Who would trade with you if they had the entire set?¡± Leng Xiyu said with augh. ¡°How is it? Is my rm Gate Banner not just as valuable as his Heavenbane Lightning Pearls?¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°It truly is a good offer.¡±


    Both of the items offered were good, but their values were actually much lower than that of Gu Changqing¡¯s head.


    But this was normal. Who would be willing to make this trade with Tang Jie otherwise?


    As far as Tang Jie was concerned, he would have to hand this head over eventually to maximize his profit from it, so he could ept this value.


    Tu Baixiong scornfullymented, ¡°It¡¯s just a shabby banner. What does it matter if the rm Gate can confuse the senses? My Heavenbane Lightning Pearl¡¯s power is boundless. You¡¯re dead no matter where you hide!¡±


    ¡°If we can¡¯t get it, then no one will leave with it!¡± The Jade Sword Gate elder grunted and took out a flying shuttle.


    ¡°The Moon Lightning Shuttle?¡± Tu Baixiong grimaced.


    The Heavenbane Lightning Pearl was arge-scale weapon, whereas this Moon Lightning Shuttle was a single-target treasure. A person at the Mortal Shedding Realm who provided this weapon with enough spiritual power could even piece through the True Astral Barrier of a Celestial Heart Realm cultivator.


    These people were all after Gu Changqing, so they had naturallye with their own trump cards.


    Seeing the situation, Tang Jie quickly said, ¡°I¡¯ll take the rm Gate Banner.¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie, you dare!¡± Tu Baixiong harshly said. There was no changing his old habits, and he felt his murderous intent stirring when he saw that Tang Jie wanted to trade with Leng Xiyu.


    But Tang Jie wasn¡¯t even trying to negotiate. He threw Gu Changqing¡¯s head over to Leng Xiyu. At the same time, a golden thread flew out of his hand and swept up the rm Gate Banner in Leng Xiyu¡¯s hand.


    Once he had the rm Gate Banner, Tang Jie rapidly retreated with Yiyi and the tiger cub, shouting, ¡°The deal is done. If you want to fight, it¡¯s between the two of you. Don¡¯t get me involved.¡±


    He moved very quickly, finishing the trade with the Jade Sword Gate before Tu Baixiong could cause trouble. This meant that Tu Baixiong would target Leng Xiyu now, allowing Tang Jie to run.


    With a furious bellow, Tu Baixiong roared, ¡°Leng Xiyu, hand over the head and I¡¯ll spare your life!¡±


    His Heavenly Extinction Sect often resorted to murder, but they loved to shout that they would spare the lives of others. It was truly odd.


    Tang Jie chuckled as he turned aside and looked for a ce to hide.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Yiyi asked in confusion.


    Tang Jie sinisterly said, ¡°You need to ask? I¡¯m naturally looking for an opportunity to kill them.¡±


    ¡°But you already agreed that things were settled between you and them.¡±


    ¡°Of course we settled things,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°Thus, this isn¡¯t revenge. I¡¯m just killing them and stealing their treasures¡­ What they can do, I can do too.¡±

 Chapter 135: Heavenbane Lightning Pearl

    Chapter 135: Heavenbane Lightning Pearl


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Stuffing the head Tang Jie had thrown to him into his Mustard Seed Bag, Leng Xiyu immediately shouted for everyone to leave.


    He had achieved his objective, so he had no desire to keep fighting with the Heavenly Extinction Sect. As he shouted, everyone immediately began to withdraw.


    Tu Baixiong¡¯s face turned cold. ¡°You think you can run?¡±


    His pitch-ck saber swung, unleashing a biting gust of wind.


    ¡°Tu Baixiong, do you really want to make an enemy of my Jade Sword Gate for a single Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill?¡± the elder shouted.


    ¡°What a joke! You think there¡¯s anything my Heavenly Extinction Sect doesn¡¯t dare to do?¡± Tu Baixiong savagely swung his saber again and again, unleashing wave after wave of saber energy at the Jade Sword Gate disciples. ¡°The path of Immortality is too narrow to hold this many cultivators. Some will live and some will die, and such is the endless cycle. This is the objective of the Heavenly Dao. Any cultivator of my sect can kill anyone they please! Kill! Kill! Kill!¡±


    He shouted ¡°Kill¡± three times in a row, and all of the Heavenly Extinction Sect disciples behind him madly shouted, ¡°Kill! Kill! Kill!¡±


    They truly erupted with a boundless killing intent, no longer thinking about profit or loss. All they had was a seething and endless desire to fight.


    This was the Heavenly Extinction Sect!


    What Tu Baixiong had spoken was the guiding principle of the Heavenly Extinction Sect. The founding principle of the sect was that anyone in the world could be killed. Even against a student of Basking Moon, they would swing their sabers without hesitation.


    This wasn¡¯t because the Heavenly Extinction Sect was merely a bunch of idiots. Rather, the cultivation methods and principles of the Heavenly Extinction Sect had made them act this way.


    This was something that Tang Jie only began to slowly understandter on. If someone¡¯s personality was decided by their education and environment, then a cultivator¡¯s personality also had the addition of cultivation.


    Just like Tang Jie had said, personality was also a kind of talent.


    A person without the heart to boldly advance wouldn¡¯t be able to learn pugnacious andbative techniques, while someone who usually learnedbative techniques would often be very aggressive, the twoplementing each other.


    This could also be considered a result of the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s tolerance.


    Only when these minor sects acted unreasonably would the people submit to the major sects and solidify their rule.


    If there really was some minor sect that acted reasonably, gaining the subservience of the people and gathering many talents under its banner, it might really be able to flip the tables.


    This was precisely why Tang Jie¡¯s first interaction with other people after leaving the Basking Moon Sect had had him witnessing a fierce struggle between minor sects. After growing ustomed to the glory of a prosperous age and the style of the academy, going back to this world of mortals was like going from heaven to hell. Everywhere he looked was blood and ughter. The dark side of the world was fully exposed!


    Anyone else in this situation probably would have already broken from this stimtion.


    As the Heavenly Extinction Sect disciples charged like berserkers, a vicious look appeared on Leng Xiyu¡¯s handsome face. ¡°The Heavenly Extinction Sect¡¯s people are all madmen. Fourth Uncle, kill them!¡±


    The elder raised his hand, and the Moon Lightning Shuttle shot out in a curve, shing through the air toward a Heavenly Extinction Sect disciple. It pierced through their protective barrier, instantly obliterating it, and then prated through the disciple¡¯s chest. In an explosion of electricity, the disciple burst apart in chunks of flesh and blood.


    The elder chuckled as he waved his hand, and the Moon Lightning Shuttle returned to his hand.


    In terms of power, the Moon Lightning Shuttle was much weaker than the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl, but it was extremely fast and could be used over and over. Meanwhile, the lightning pearl was single-use.


    This was precisely why the elder could use the lightning shuttle while Tu Baixiong couldn¡¯t just throw out his lightning pearl.


    This thing was just too powerful. Once it was thrown out, there wouldn¡¯t be much left, and there was no guarantee that Gu Changqing¡¯s head would be among it.


    The Jade Sword Gate was taking advantage of the fact that the Heavenly Extinction Sect couldn¡¯t lightly use its treasure. The elder threw out the shuttle again, which crackled through the air and obliterated yet another Heavenly Extinction Sect disciple.


    Tu Baixiong was so furious that he was shaking. He howled, ¡°No one will get it, then! All of your Jade Sword Gate¡¯s people will die here!¡±


    The red pearl appeared in his hand, and he tossed it in Leng Xiyu¡¯s direction.


    He had really used it!


    He actually had the guts to use it!


    Even Tang Jie was dumbfounded. ¡°Shit! He really used it? This madman!¡±


    Calm and rational people would never be able to understand the thought processes of madmen. At the very least, Tang Jie could not understand why Tu Baixiong would dare to do such a thing. At that moment, he couldn¡¯t help but think himself fortunate that Gu Changqing hadn¡¯t been Tu Baixiong. Otherwise, there was a high chance that Tang Jie would already be a dead man.


    Even worse was that it seemed like there were quite a few madmen like this in the world!


    And madmen like these just had to possess terrifying weapons!


    The Jade Sword Gate members all paled. The richly-dressed Leng Xiyu whistled, and his body suddenly elerated into the distance.


    As for that elder who had been called Fourth Uncle, red, blue, and purple lights appeared to protect his body.


    Tu Baixiong madlyughed. ¡°It¡¯s useless! Explode!¡±


    As he madly roared, he made signs with his hands.


    This Heavenbane Lightning Pearl was made through a secret art, and detonating it also required a secret art.


    As he formed the hand signs, the red pearl in the air shed, and then it unleashed a red brilliance. A massive, red Astral Wind swept out in all directions.


    With an enormous boom, mes rocketed into the sky, and the entire region was turned into a sea of mes.

 Chapter 136: Crazy

    Chapter 136: Crazy


    Vast waves of energy spread out in all directions, and the Jade Sword Gate disciples took the brunt of it. They were almost instantly evaporated, melted down together with their possessions.


    Even the Heavenly Extinction Sect disciples were caught up in the cmity. They had drawn close duringbat, and so even if Tu Baixiong had tried to control their movements somewhat, the battlefield was constantly shifting, and it was impossible to keep track of everyone.


    Thus, in this explosion, while the Jade Sword Gate disciples were obliterated by the immense power of the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl, many of the Heavenly Extinction Sect disciples also died.


    The Astral Wind did not dissipate after the explosion, continuing to howl around in the vicinity.


    ¡°The domain Astral Winds?¡± Tang Jie gasped in surprise as he observed the battlefield from a distance.


    The power contained in the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl was clearly that of the Astral Winds that protected the Rosecloud Domain.


    When he was dealing with the fiend tiger, he had spent a heavy price to buy a sliver of a refined Astral Wind me to use in his formation. This had been the most expensive material he had purchased, so he was extremely familiar with this Astral Wind.


    He had not expected these domain Astral Winds to appear today.


    But this Astral Wind seemed fiercer, more violent and frenzied. It was no wonder Heavenbane Lightning Pearls were so powerful and so difficult to produce. It was because they were made from domain Astral Winds.


    But from the look of it, the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl¡¯s Astral Wind was much weaker than the actual domain Astral Winds. Though the tide of mes was like an all-devouring monster, turning everything into ash, there was one person who was just barely holding on: the old man.


    In that frenzied surge of mes, the elder made hand sign after hand sign, his body shing with light. The barrier of red and blue light constantly shifted around as it fended off the rampant Astral Winds.


    But there was a limit to his ability to hold on. As the Astral mes howled, the elder¡¯s barrier began to crack and groan. Finally, in a rush of Astral mes, the elder screamed, and his body was instantly torn to shreds. All that was left was his head, flying in the air, its eyes still wide open as if in disbelief at the sight.


    At this moment, the power of the Astral mes was finally spent. In a howl, all of the Astral Winds gathered together into a single golden Astral me in the air.


    This was the true domain Astral Wind.


    ¡°Strange. The Heavenly Extinction Sect has been in decline for some time. It hasn¡¯t had anyone at the True Lord level or stronger for a while, right? So how can they make Heavenbane Lightning Pearls¡­?¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    He suddenly recalled the Astral Wind me he had bought, and he immediately understood.


    As he analyzed the rtionship between the Basking Moon Sect and the numerous minor sects of the Sageheart Kingdom, on the other end, the battlefield was a scene of devastation.


    The explosion of the lightning pearl had essentially wiped out the Jade Sword Gate group. Even the one who had run the fastest, Leng Xiyu, had been caught up in the aftershock and had been badly injured. And this was only because Tu Baixiong had wanted to protect the head and hadn¡¯t put him in the center of the pearl¡¯s explosion.


    But the Heavenly Extinction Sect had also lost nearly half its number, and the survivors were heavily injured.


    But these people felt no fear and seemed excited and invigorated.


    This was because the moment they entered the Heavenly Extinction Sect, they had developed the mindset of investing all their wealth and profit into cultivation, getting anything else they needed from adventuring. So long as they could survive, they were certain to develop into capable people.


    For the survivors, now that they had survived this lethal cmity, they would have a smooth road in the future. If they coulde back with the head, the sect would confer upon them great resources.


    When it came to stuff like this, the Heavenly Extinction Sect had never been petty.


    What did it matter that Tang Jie had risked exposing his identity to get the attention of the Basking Moon Sect? He was really quite average whenpared to these crazies of the Heavenly Extinction Sect. But at least he had managed to pay less for more.


    Tu Baixiong¡¯s attack had seeded, and when he saw that the Mustard Seed Bag was still there, he heartilyughed. ¡°I said that you would be fine if you just handed it over, but you just had to fight with me. This is what happens when you make an enemy of the Heavenly Extinction Sect!¡±


    Leng Xiyu had been heavily injured, and his entire backside was scorched ck. He was still struggling on the ground, but when he saw Tu Baixiong walking over, he knew that he was doomed. He ruthlessly said, ¡°If my Jade Sword Gate can¡¯t have it, you shouldn¡¯t dream about getting it either!¡±


    Tu Baixiong paled. ¡°No!¡±


    He rushed over to Leng Xiyu, but he was still a step too slow. Leng Xiyu pped the Mustard Seed Bag, and under his palm, the Mustard Seed Bag exploded into dust, disappearing along with all its contents.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Tu Baixiong was enraged by Leng Xiyu¡¯s decisive action.


    He had used a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl and lost so many of the sect¡¯s disciples, but in the end, he had gained absolutely nothing. Enraged, he struck Leng Xiyu with a palm, instantly killing this young master.


    Feeling that this wasn¡¯t enough, he took out his saber and chopped the young lord of the Jade Sword Gate into chunks of flesh¡ªa sight which made Tang Jie¡¯s blood run cold.


    He had never seen someone be so crazy and act so much like a lunatic.


    Even though he knew there was a lot of darkness in the corners of society, someone who had never experienced it before would never be able to truly understand this sort of madness.


    Tang Jie had mentally prepared himself for the darkness of mankind, but he had not prepared himself for the madness of a cultivator. Tu Baixiong was giving Tang Jie a lesson, letting him know that people were simply impossible to fathom.


    Before this, he had believed that he had won because of all the effort he had put into nning, leaving nothing to luck.


    But today, after seeing what had happened to the Jade Sword Gate, Tang Jie finally understood that he was still fortune¡¯s pet.


    Luck had made it so that his opponent was rational, had desires, and had a goal, and it was these reasons that let him fall into a trap.


    But in the future, there was no guarantee that the enemies he encountered would all match these criteria.


    Human nature was the most unpredictable of all!


    ¡­Especially when it came to cultivators!


    Little Yiyi was also stunned. If she hadn¡¯t experienced the battles in Tiger Roar Valley, hadn¡¯t experienced Tang Jie¡¯s gruesome battle with Gu Changqing, this horrifying scene would have traumatized her.


    Even so, Yiyi was still badly frightened.


    Crawling onto Tang Jie¡¯s back, Yiyi said in a trembling tone, ¡°Big Brother, those people are scary.¡±


    ¡°Mm,¡± Tang Jie grunted.


    He stood up and turned to leave.


    Yiyi was confused. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you were going to kill them? Big Brother.¡±


    ¡°The art relics have all been exploded to bits, so there¡¯s nothing to kill for,¡± Tang Jie replied as he walked away. ¡°Moreover, this is a pack of mad dogs. Fighting with them isn¡¯t wise. Using bait to lure them and make it so that they serve you and bite the people you want them to bite is the far superior policy¡­ I¡¯m starting to understand why the Basking Moon Sect tolerates these scoundrels.¡±


    Yiyi fell silent.


    After a long while, Yiyi finally said, ¡°Big Brother¡­¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    Yiyi very seriously said, ¡°I think being with you is going to ruin me at some point!¡±


    Fairy Mountain.


    This was a famous mountain located in the Sageheart Kingdom¡¯s Min Province. Its name was drawn from the fact that its principal peak, Fairy Peak, appeared like a fairy maiden grooming herself.


    Fairy Peak boasted gorgeous scenery and was awash with pink ducktail flowers. Every year, when spring started to be summer, ducktail flowers bloomed and turned Fairy Peak into a sea of pink. It was a beautiful sight that drew countless tourists every year to appreciate the flowers, and there were numerous tales about couples who came to Fairy Peak to seal their eternal bonds.


    Fairy Peak had a monastery known as White Rose Cloud Monastery. It was said that the incense sticks here were infused with spirituality and were extremely effective for those praying for marriage partners and for children, and so it had many pilgrims.


    It was early summer, and the ducktail flowers had yet to wither. This was usually Fairy Peak¡¯s most beautiful time of year.


    At the summit of Fairy Peak, Tang Jie held the tiger cub like he was a housecat and looked down at the sea of flowers and the numerous tourists, his heart carefree and rxed. He couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°This is truly an excellent view. Yiyi, why don¡¯t I tell Basking Moon Academy that I found you here?¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± Yiyi replied from her seat on Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder. ¡°But there¡¯s only ducktail flowers here, not green roses. What do we do about that?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s simple. We¡¯ll just say that you¡¯re a mutant,¡± Tang Jie said with augh.


    ¡°I hate you!¡± Yiyi pummeled Tang Jie with her little fists. The two of them freelyughed and teased each other on the summit, appearing like a brother and sister and attracting side-eyes and smiles from quite a few tourists.


    After leaving the Cloud Marsh, Tang Jie had started to make his way back to Basking Moon Academy, and so he had to pass through Fairy Peak. Without the Hawk Hall hunting him down, he was in a good mood, so he decided to y around and see the sights.


    Not since Xu Muyang¡¯s death many years ago had he enjoyed such free and rxed days.


    This was the lightness that came after killing off a major foe, and also the freedom that came from aplishing a part of his aspiration.


    Tang Jie himself had not noticed that he had changed somewhat after this battle. He was no longer silent and taciturn, constantly thinking about his ns. He smiled more, was more rxed and more active.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Tang Jie suddenly stopped and looked nearby.


    A group of people wasing up the mountain. From their dress, they appeared to be people who lived nearby and wereing up to offer incense and make prayers. Their leader was a youngdy from some n. She was luxuriously dressed and was rather pretty. Behind her was a maid, and she was nked by servants.


    What Tang Jie had taken notice of was the maid behind the youngdy.


    This maid was about sixteen. She wore a jade-green jacket and carried an umbre that she used to shade her youngdy.


    Those people noticed Tang Jie¡¯s stare, and someone pointed at him and shouted, ¡°Kid, you¡¯re being rude!


    ¡°You dare lust after the daughter of Secretary Li?¡±


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know who this Secretary Li was, but he knew that a secretary was an official rank with a grade of five.


    He paid little regard to a mere grade-five official.


    Cultivators were a higher ss of people, and anyone who stepped onto the Immortal Path no longer needed to bow to officials. Upon entering Mortal Shedding, one would have the same status as a grade-four official. A Spirit Lake Tier cultivator had the same status as a grade-six official, but as he came from Basking Moon Academy, even a grade-five official would not dare to disrespect him.


    Thus, he ignored the yelling of the servant and continued to stare.


    That servant saw that Tang Jie was ignoring him and started to tremble in anger. He wanted to rush up and beat this rude brat, but his youngdy pulled on him and told him not to lower himself to his level.


    The party continued up the mountain and entered the monastery at the summit. Tang Jie¡¯s gaze followed them until they disappeared into the monastery, and only then did he chuckle. ¡°Interesting, interesting.¡±


    ¡°Big Brother, what happened?¡± Yiyi whispered.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you notice something weird about that maid?¡±

 Chapter 137: Ghost

    Chapter 137: Ghost


    ¡°Mm!¡± Yiyi nodded. ¡°There was this strange odor on her, but Yiyi wasn¡¯t able to identify it.¡±


    ¡°It was the air of death,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°That maid is dead.¡±


    ¡°Dead?¡± Yiyi was aghast. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that person¡¯s a ghost?¡±


    ¡°Mm, 80% sure.¡± Tang Jie sternly nodded. ¡°As a Basking Moon student, since I¡¯ve noticed a haunting ghost, I can¡¯t just sit back and do nothing.¡±


    Ghosts were lingering spirits. When living things died and a part of their consciousness refused to vanish, a sliver of their soul would attach itself to spiritual energy, giving birth to a ghost that would wander the world.


    Unlike fiends and sprites, ghosts had no bodies and found it difficult to cultivate. Thus, they often attached themselves to living creatures, absorbing their Yang energy and eating their flesh and blood.


    But as ghosts were born from the consciousnesses of the deceased, they were born weak yet intelligent,pletely different from fiends. They knew that there were many cultivators among humans and normally wouldn¡¯t attach themselves to humans, preferring livestock or wild beasts.


    Yet since humans were intelligent creatures, they were of greatest benefit to ghosts. Thus, there were always a few ghosts bold enough to desire the human body.


    This ghost had attached itself to a human and taken their life. It was clearly one of the bolder sort.


    Did it really think it could escape the eyes of a cultivator?


    There had been a lecture specifically on how to identify the symptoms of someone being haunted by a ghost. Tang Jie was the top student of his year, so he had naturally been able to tell that something was wrong at a nce.


    ¡°Alright!¡± Yiyi pped her hands. ¡°Let¡¯s have some fun and catch a ghost!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so fun about it? If we don¡¯t do this properly, someone might die,¡± Tang Jie said, flicking her forehead.


    Yiyi blinked herrge and bright eyes. ¡°Is that ghost very powerful?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that powerful, but ghosts are born from strong wills that refuse to be extinguished and cling to spiritual energy, thus gaining intelligence. Even ignorant beings will be intelligent in this way, and so they are born naturally devious. You can¡¯tpare them to fiends and sprites. If you press it too hard, it can do anything. For example, it¡¯smon for ghosts to threaten the lives of the innocent. When removing a ghost, we can¡¯t harm others, so we can¡¯t recklessly charge in for fear that we might end up hurting those people.¡±


    This ghost even knew to take hostages? Yiyi was bbergasted. ¡°So what do we do?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°There¡¯s no rush. I was staring at her so hard that if this ghost is smart, it must know that it¡¯s been exposed. It¡¯s probably going to escape, so we just need to wait for it to escape before making our move.¡±


    ¡°I get it now,¡± Yiyi said, enlightened. It turned out that Tang Jie had intentionally been trying to scare out the snake just now.


    Sure enough, it wasn¡¯t long before a shout came from inside the monastery: ¡°Shiqin, Shiqin, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    A mor erupted within the monastery.


    Upon hearing the shouting, Tang Jie rushed inside. He saw that family in the monastery, gathered around the supine figure of the maid, who was thoroughly dead.


    Tang Jie faintly smiled. ¡°Sess.¡±


    That ghost had already taken fright and fled. Without the ghost possessing her, the dead maid had naturally copsed.


    Tang Jie formed a spell and began to search his surroundings for spiritual energy pulses to find that hidden ghost.


    He had learned this observation technique from Gu Changqing. Though it wasn¡¯t some powerfulbat spell art, it was extremely practical and perfect for finding this ghost.


    The moment he looked around, he really did sense a spiritual energy pulse moving to the back of the monastery. It was a congregation of Yin energy,cking in substance. This was a clear sign of a ghostly energy pulse.


    Tang Jie chuckled and said to Yiyi, ¡°You stay here in case that wicked ghostes back.¡±


    He began to walk to the back of the monastery.


    At the back of the monastery was a run-down courtyard that was overgrown with weeds, like it had been ages since someone hadst taken care of the ce. There was only a stone table and two stone stools.


    Tang Jie entered the courtyard and looked around. He set his eyes on a sleeping ck cat and smiled. ¡°What? Now you know to possess a beast?¡±


    The ck cat opened its green eyes and hissed.


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°Still acting? You¡¯ve clearly left your body, but you¡¯re still hanging around? You¡¯re still thinking about aeback? But you¡¯re rather unlucky to run into me today.¡±


    The ck cat hissed and thenughed like a human. ¡°A puny little Spirit Lake Tier dares to speak so boldly? If you know what¡¯s good for you, you should back away now, or else I¡¯ll suck you dry of Yang energy!¡±


    A ball of light formed on Tang Jie¡¯s fingertip. ¡°Let¡¯s test it out.¡±


    Without another word, he fired an Energy Needle at the ck cat.


    The ck cat howled and jumped, wing at Tang Jie¡¯s face, the five ws whooshing through the air.


    Tang Jie chuckled and let the cat scratch his face, which didn¡¯t even manage to draw blood. He quickly extended his left hand and grabbed for the cat¡¯s throat.


    This was someone else¡¯s backyard, so Tang Jie didn¡¯t want to make too much noise. Thus, he decided to end the battle quickly. Ghosts didn¡¯t have any form and could only use the power of their host. With how strong his body was, it wouldn¡¯t matter even if the cat was ten times stronger.


    After wing at Tang Jie¡¯s face, the ck cat turned around, dodging Tang Jie¡¯s hand and shooting back into the monastery.


    Tang Jie was taken aback, immediately knowing that this was bad. Sure enough, this ghost wasn¡¯t willing to leave the monastery because it nned to take people hostage.


    Tang Jie flicked his fingers, and several needles flew out and struck the ck cat.


    The ck cat staggered a little, but with a shriek, it charged forward. As a ghost, it could control the host body. So long as it could still move, it could make the body move even if the head were cut off.


    Tang Jie knew that he couldn¡¯t let it run into the monastery, or else there would be casualties. Activating the Violet Lightning Lunge, he shot forward and made to grab the ck cat by the neck.


    The ghost hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to be so fast at the Spirit Lake Tier, so it yelped in surprise, unable to dodge.


    At this moment, a young Daoist boy walked out. Seeing Tang Jie lunging at the ck cat, he froze.


    The ghost was delighted and lunged at the boy.


    Tang Jie knew that this wasn¡¯t good and shouted, ¡°Hah!¡±


    This roar was like a sound wave, causing the ghost to see stars and momentarily freeze. While it ran into the Daoist boy, it didn¡¯t have time to strike as Tang Jie grabbed it by the neck. To his surprise, the ghost twisted the ck cat¡¯s body, allowing the body to break free while leaving Tang Jie with a handful of fur.


    The ghost ran onto the roof beams and shrieked, ¡°You¡¯re not Spirit Lake Tier!¡±


    A normal Spirit Lake Tier would never be able to make such a soul-shaking shout.


    Tang Jie coldlyughed. ¡°But I am Spirit Lake Tier!¡±


    He chased the ghost onto the beams, preventing the ghost from rushing into the monastery¡¯s main hall.


    But that shout of his had rmed many tourists, and they began to walk to the back to see what was happening. They saw a man and a cat flying along the ceiling and the walls and were dumbfounded.


    The ghost saw a chance and rushed down, lunging at that noble youngdy.


    It appeared that the youngdy wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge in time, at which point a human figure rushed out and crashed into the ck cat. It was none other than Yiyi.


    The ghost and sprite collided and bounced away from each other, after which Tang Jie charged in, a golden light appearing in his hand that stabbed through the ck cat¡¯s head.


    The ghost knew that it hadpletely lost its chance. With a howl, a human figure erupted from the cat¡¯s body, misty and vague. But it was only half a body, the face blue and covered in blood, fangs protruding from its mouth.


    Everyone screamed in fear.


    ¡°So it¡¯s the ghost of someone who was chopped in half,¡± Tang Jie sneered.


    A ghost¡¯s form would usually be connected to their life, and most of them would keep the form they had when they died.


    As the lower half of this ghost was missing, it had clearly been cut in half at the waist. Being chopped in half was a form of torture used in Sageheart and it meant that this person was probably some wicked character in life to have received this treatment. After their death, their resentment had lingered and be this ruthless ghost.


    Once the ghost took its original form, it shrieked at Tang Jie. This time, its shriek took the form of a ball of azure light that flew at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie grunted and let the ball of light strike him as he thrust his palm in the direction of the ghost.


    There was no spell art in this thrust, which served only to disrupt the spiritual energy in the area.


    As ghosts had no original body and were born by some will attaching itself to spiritual energy, ordinary methods were no good against them. On the contrary, methods that could disrupt spiritual energy dealt the most damage to them. But this would only be effective against minor ghosts. A ghost that had cultivated ghost essence would require proper spell arts to deal with.


    As Tang Jie thrust out his palm, a wave of spiritual energy swept out, and the waist-severed ghost immediately turned blurry, scattering and recondensing. It appeared like a reflection on the surface of water.


    This was no small wound for the ghost. Frightened, it did not dare to attack again and fled into the distance.


    This time, it was really running.


    ¡°Want to run?¡± Tang Jie grunted, preparing to pursue.


    Someone furiously roared, ¡°A puny ghost dares to try and show off? Die!¡±


    An azure light emerged from the monastery, shooting toward the fleeing ghost.


    The azure light struck the ghost and exploded in a puff of smoke. The ghost wailed, but it moved down the mountain even more nimbly, picking up speed.


    Tang Jie hastily ran off in pursuit. Only now did he notice that there was someone next to him: the abbot of White Rose Cloud Monastery, a long-bearded, middle-aged man wearing a Daoist hat. To Tang Jie¡¯s surprise, this man was a cultivator, and he had been the one to unleash that azure light.


    As they pursued the ghost, the abbot said, ¡°Young Master, we owe much to your sharp eyes. I did not expect a ghost to appear among Secretary Li¡¯s family. If not for Young Master, the Li n would have experienced a cmity in the near future.¡±


    ¡°I just happened to notice in the passing. I did not think that the venerable abbot would also be a cultivator.¡±


    ¡°Not at all, not at all. I¡¯ve only learned a few small tricks. Right, this lowly Daoist is known as Daoist Fuyu.¡±


    ¡°Basking Moon Student, Tang Jie. I pay respects to Abbot Fuyu,¡± Tang Jie courteously replied.


    He was in no mood to chat with this Daoist, continuing to pursue the ghost from the summit to the midway point of the mountain. He saw the ghost drift into a forest of ducktail flowers.


    Tang Jie pursued like a bolt of lightning. Just when he was about to end this ghost once and for all, he heard a girl gasp, ¡°Why is there a ghost running around the mountain?¡±


    Another figure soon appeared¡ªthat of a girl wearing a white dress.


    She was a refined and attractive figure, possessing a slender waist, a graceful figure, eyebrows like ck willow branches, and eyes like rippling pools of water. At her waist was a string of bells that jangled as her dress swayed in the air.

 Chapter 138: Working Together (1)

    Chapter 138: Working Together (1)


    The girl suddenly appeared and looked in surprise at the ghost.


    The ghost was probably dizzy from its flight. The moment she appeared, it brandished its ws and lunged, trying to take a person hostage to protect itself.


    The girl softly chuckled. She took the string of bells at her waist and waved them at the ghost.


    There was a melodious ring, and the ghost froze in shock. The girl extended her slender finger and tapped the ghost on the head. The ghost turned into a ck light and was sucked into the bell.


    The girl waved the bells around, seemingly listening to it. She then grinned and tied the bells back to her waist.


    Just like that, she had taken care of the ghost.


    Tang Jie and Abbot Fuyu stopped in unison, both dumbstruck by what they had seen and clueless as to what to say.


    In the end, Abbot Fuyu came forward and respectfully bowed. ¡°Fuyu respectfully greets this benefactor. This ghost was a savage being, so it is fortunate that this benefactor was able to lend a hand and prevent it from escaping.¡±


    The girl replied, ¡°It can¡¯t be considered lending a hand. I just saw a ghost, so I captured it.¡±


    Her voice was indescribably pleasant to the ear.


    Abbot Fuyu replied, ¡°Since that is the case, why does our benefactor not destroy this wicked ghost?¡±


    The girl crisply replied, ¡°That¡¯s my business. What does it have to do with you?¡±


    From her tone, it seemed that she already considered the ghost to be hers.


    Abbot Fuyu froze, momentarily unable to speak. It was Tang Jie who chuckled and said, ¡°It¡¯s like this. This wicked ghost had possessed members of Secretary Li¡¯s family and has already killed someone. Miss, since you¡¯ve captured the ghost, it¡¯s best if you can follow us and exin things to the Li n so that they can rest easy.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see.¡± The girl thought it over and nodded. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go with you and ask those Li n people if they¡¯re willing to let me take this ghost away.¡±


    The abbot wanted to say, ¡°Would these people dare to say they aren¡¯t willing?¡± But all he could do at this point was agree.


    The three of them made their way back up the mountain.


    The girl walked with her hands behind her back, anguid yet somewhat carefree and naughty look on her face. She had a fleeting personality, and it was somewhat difficult to see through to her true nature.


    The abbot asked for her name, but the girl only replied, ¡°We¡¯re just strangers who were brought together by chance, so why ask so many questions? Once my business is done, I¡¯ll be on my way.¡±


    The abbot was somewhat displeased. ¡°It will just make it easier to address you.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ My surname is Xu.¡±


    ¡°So it is Miss Xu. This one is Fuyu, as Miss already knows, a mere unaffiliated cultivator. This is Basking Moon Student Tang Jie,¡± the abbot introduced.


    When the girl heard that Tang Jie was a Basking Moon student, she took a few more looks at him, but all she said was, ¡°So he was from Basking Moon Academy.¡± There appeared to be a more profound meaning to her words.


    As for Abbot Fuyu, he called himself an unaffiliated cultivator. He was at the Spirit Sea Tier and not far from Mortal Shedding.


    Upon reaching the summit, they found the Li n¡¯s people still paralyzed in fear. When they saw the abbot, they immediately went to ask him about the situation.


    The abbot told them that the ghost had been captured, and the youngdy of the Li n sighed in relief. When all of them heard that Tang Jie was a Basking Moon student, all of them began to express their gratitude, showing none of the disrespect from before. That servant who had reprimanded Tang Jie even repeatedly pped himself until Tang Jie stopped him, saying that it was Miss Xu who had captured the evil ghost.


    That Miss Xu said, ¡°I¡¯ve captured this ghost. If you don¡¯t want it, I¡¯ll handle it myself. Is that fine with you?¡±


    Young Lady Li naturally didn¡¯t have the slightest objection and hastily agreed.


    One of the servants rmended that she stay in the monastery for a few days so that the abbot could dispel the evil energies around her.


    In truth, ghosts were not really Yin creatures that inflicted disease. This was simply their mode of existence. And they also would not leave behind Yin energies that would harm people. In the end, these were simply the actions of the ignorant tofort themselves.


    Miss Xu said, ¡°Since that¡¯s settled, can I go now?¡±


    She turned to leave.


    The abbot hastily said, ¡°Benefactor, please hold.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Abbot Fuyu smiled. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s just that it¡¯s gettingte, so why doesn¡¯t our benefactor stay the night in the monastery? You can room together with Young Lady Li.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± The girl thought it over and nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±


    Tang Jie saw this and said, ¡°Abbot Fuyu, you seem to be showing rather unfair treatment. Since it¡¯s gettingte, why not have me stay the night too?¡±


    The abbot chuckled. ¡°Young Master Tang, you¡¯re joking. It¡¯s simply that the monastery has a limited number of guest rooms and can¡¯t entertain too many guests.¡±


    ¡°Oh, then it¡¯s simple,¡± Tang Jie said. ¡°Just find a storehouse for me and my little sister to stay in. I don¡¯t need anything too good.¡±


    The abbot hesitated. ¡°Young Master Tang is a Basking Moon student. Isn¡¯t treating you like this a little too improper?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I want it.¡±


    From the sound of it, he was going to stay the night no matter what.


    With no other option, the abbot ordered a page boy to clear out a firewood storeroom so that Tang Jie and Yiyi could stay in it.


    Once they were inside, Yiyi pointed at Tang Jie¡¯s nose and shouted, ¡°Talk! What¡¯s your purpose? Is it that you find that girl pretty and want to stay because she¡¯s staying too?¡±


    After all, Tang Jie was a Spirit Lake Tier cultivator, and he could ascend and descend a mountain as easily as traversing t ground. ¡°Not going down a mountain because it was gettingte¡± was only for normal people. What did such things matter to him?


    Thus, even Yiyi found his excuse incredibly ham-fisted.


    But Tang Jie hadn¡¯t expected her to tie the reason to Miss Xu, so he was momentarily speechless. Truly, girls could feel jealousy without needing to be taught.


    He hugged her and said, ¡°Silly girl, you¡¯re not allowed to speak such nonsense.¡±


    ¡°Then it must be!¡± Yiyi harrumphed and ignored him. Hugging the tiger, she said, ¡°Bao¡¯er, let¡¯s go. Don¡¯t pay any attention to this lustful wolf.¡±


    She went off to y with the tiger cub.


    Tang Jie had been rendered utterly speechless. But a momentter, his expression turned grave and his eyes glinted.


    The curtain of night fell.


    Fairy Peak was utterly silent.


    Tang Jie left his room and took a casual stroll around the monastery. He soon arrived at the shabby courtyard from earlier in the day, where he saw Miss Xu.


    She was sitting on one of the stone stools and had changed into a short-sleeved pink jacket, exposing her fair and slender arms and the golden bracelet on her wrist. She had a hand propped on her chin and was seemingly pondering something.


    When she heard footsteps behind her, she turned her head and spotted Tang Jie, and a hint of derision appeared in her eyes. It appeared that she had already noticed that Tang Jie wasing, but she said nothing, turning away and continuing to think.


    Tang Jie chuckled and asked, ¡°Miss Xu, do you still have the ghost you caught earlier?¡±


    The girl took off that string of bells and tossed it to Tang Jie, simply giving the bells to him.


    These bells could absorb ghosts and were probably some treasure, yet she didn¡¯t seem to care.


    Tang Jie was startled. He took the bells and looked them over, unable to figure out how to use them. He heard the girl say in her melodious voice, ¡°You can release the ghost by rotating the second small bell in a circle.¡±


    Tang Jie did as she said, and a mist emerged from the bell. The ghost from earlier appeared, but it was on itsst breath andcked any of the viciousness it had had during the day.


    Tang Jie covered his hand in spiritual energy, grabbed the ghost, and began to inspect it. ¡°The Yin energy is condensed. As expected, there are signs of ghost essence forming. But for a ghost that¡¯s this weak to be able to condense a ghost essence is very suspicious.¡±


    There was a faint red light within the ghost¡¯s body.


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t been able to clearly see it during their battle in the day, but now that it was night, Tang Jie could clearly see that red light in the ghost¡¯s navel.


    Tang Jie reached his hand out to the ghost. In shock, the ghost tried to evade his grasp, but it didn¡¯t have the strength to.


    Just when Tang Jie¡¯s hand was about to enter the mist and touch that red light, Miss Xu suddenly said, ¡°Don¡¯t touch it.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s hand froze, and then he slowly drew it back. ¡°Do you know what it is?¡±


    ¡°The ck Taurus Yin Bead.¡±


    ¡°The ck Taurus Yin Bead?¡± Tang Jie was bbergasted. ¡°No wonder this ghost is harboring a little ghost essence despite being so weak. As expected, someone is raising ghosts!¡±


    Tang Jie became enraged.


    The ck Taurus Yin Bead was an insidious kind of magical tool used to absorb Yang energy from the human body. If it were used on a ghost, it could be used to create an artificial ghost essence.


    Fiend pellets, sprite cores, ghost essences, and monster marrows were all rare treasures of the cultivation world, each with their own functions and value.


    Fiend pellets were ideal for strengthening the flesh and blood energy. Sprite cores provided arge boost to spiritual energy. Ghost essences strengthened one¡¯s mental energy. Finally, monster marrows could increase the power of elemental spell arts.


    Of these four, fiend beasts were the most numerous, so fiend pellets were the easiest to get. Ghosts and monsters were few in number, so ghost essences and monster marrows were the most difficult to find.


    Items were expensive because of their rarity, and so the price of ghost essences had soared. It was said that the lowest level of ghost essence could easily sell for tens of thousands of coins.


    But ghosts were rare, and ghosts with ghost essence were even more rare and even more difficult to deal with.


    This was precisely why cultivators had developed the ck Taurus Yin Bead.


    When imnted in a ghost, the ck Taurus Yin Bead could artificially create ghost essences.


    Several thousand years ago, this had been a very popr method, and the sect most well known for this was the Ghost Raising Sect.


    The Ghost Raising Sect had been the one that had developed the ck Taurus Yin Bead.


    As this ck Taurus Yin Bead absorbed human essence, even a cultivator could be affected. This was precisely why the girl had told him not to touch it.


    But raising ghosts took too many lives and was exceptionally cruel, so the other cultivators quickly began to protest. The Ghost Raising Sect had a brief moment in the limelight before gradually vanishing into the river of history. The ck Taurus Yin Bead also became a forbidden tool for cultivators.


    He hadn¡¯t expected to run into one today.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t know?¡± That Miss Xu turned to look at Tang Jie. ¡°And I thought that you had already noticed back then.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°That ghost was possessing a cat when it fought with me, andter on, when it manifested and ran, I was only able to get a brief glimpse of it, and then you took it away. When do you think I would have the opportunity to confirm it?¡±


    ¡°Then why did you stay?¡± The girl¡¯s smile turned cold.


    Tang Jie was taken aback by this attitude, but he quickly understood. This girl had probably misunderstood in the same way Yiyi had, so heughed and said, ¡°Although I didn¡¯t know that this ghost was being raised by someone, this Abbot Fuyu is very suspicious. He¡¯s clearly a cultivator, but he failed to notice this ghost and did nothing about it. Moreover, he only struck right when I was about to capture that ghost, and his actions only served to make it run away faster. These are already very suspicious points. After you captured the ghost, he seemed far too concerned about the ghost¡¯s condition, and then he even had you stay the night. What would be bizarre is if I didn¡¯t notice anything fishy.¡±


    Tang Jie loudly added, ¡°Am I right, Abbot Fuyu?¡±


    There was a light from the hall behind him, and the shadow of a figure emerged.

 Chapter 139: Working Together (2)

    Chapter 139: Working Together (2)


    A raspyugh came from the dark corner. ¡°I knew that you little cubs weren¡¯t that easy to fool. As expected, you found me out. Rather than cultivating like good little girls and boys, you insisted on getting into my business. That being the case, then both of you should be vengeful spirits under my Yellow Springs Ghost Dao.¡±


    An evil gust of wind howled.


    The Yellow Springs Ghost Dao?


    Tang Jie and Miss Xu both paled at these words.


    Tang Jie snorted, ¡°Sure enough, remnants of the Ghost Raising Sect. Even after several thousand years, they still haven¡¯t been cleaned up?¡±


    As he spoke, Tang Jie thrust out his palm, sending that evil wind back where it came from.


    The abbot sinisterlyughed. ¡°The Ghost Dao is eternal, and the Ghost Sect is undying. What do you juniors know? Just obediently hand over your lives.¡±


    His sleeves curled up, and a skull emerged from that dark corner, its jaws cking open as it took a bite at Tang Jie¡¯s arm.


    Tang Jie was presently drawing the wicked ghost from before back into the bells, and that skull moved so quickly that Miss Xu¡¯s cry of ¡°Watch out¡± only reached him when the skull had already bitten his arm.


    The girl paled when the skull bit onto Tang Jie¡¯s arm. ¡°Oh no! A Bracelet Fiend Skull! Its teeth are venomous! Hurry up and cut off your hand, and you can still be saved!¡±


    Daoist Fuyu chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s toote! The venom has entered the blood and traveled with blood energy. Unless you¡¯re at Nine Revolutions and can resist poison, your death is certain! I really didn¡¯t think that a single fiend skull would be enough to get rid of one of you. Basking Moon student, my ass! He was nothing at all!¡±


    He loudlyughed.


    What he had feared the most was Tang Jie¡¯s status as a Basking Moon student. After all, Basking Moon signified a faction of extraordinary power, and many of the students that emerged from it were talented individuals. But to his surprise, he had poisoned one to death with a casual blow. He felt that he had been too focused on this detail and had been a little too scared of the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s reputation.


    Tang Jieughed and threw the string of bells back to Miss Xu. ¡°Is that so? But if the poison can¡¯t enter the blood, it should be useless, right?¡±


    He pulled the skull off his arm. There were tooth imprints on his arm, but the skull had failed to even break the skin.


    ¡°How?¡± Daoist Fuyu was dumbfounded.


    Although Bracelet Fiend Skulls weren¡¯t known for their offensive power, he was rather shocked that it had failed to even break the skin. Even Miss Xu stared at Tang Jie in shock, like she was looking at a monster. <em>How strong is this guy¡¯s constitution? Is he already at the Hundred Refinement Tier?</em>


    But judging by his age, he couldn¡¯t be any more than a student who had spent about seven or eight years at Basking Moon Academy.


    It hadn¡¯t been that long, so how had he already reached the Hundred Refinement Period?


    Tang Jie threw the skull to the ground and stomped it to pieces.


    Daoist Fuyu threw something out of his hand. This time, it was a flying sword, and at the hilt of the sword was a skull.


    This was clearly some possession of the Ghost Raising Sect connected to ghosts.


    The flying skull sword shot at Tang Jie, and just when Tang Jie was about to strike back, Miss Xu gave a shout, raising her right hand. The golden bracelet on her wrist flew out, expanding in the air and crashing into the flying sword.


    <em>ng!</em> The flying skull sword was sent flying back. A rice-sized chunk had been chipped out of the de.


    Daoist Fuyu seemed to be in great pain. ¡°You damaged my magic tool!¡±


    He pointed a finger, upon which the skull sword turned around in the air. The skull aimed at Tang and Xu, opened its mouth, and began to spew out poison gas.


    ¡°Watch out!¡± Miss Xu hastily retreated, producing a silk handkerchief that she used to cover her mouth and nose.


    Tang Jie shook his head and smiled.


    He had spent one hundred thousand coins to refine his body, and his constitution had been strengthened from the outside to the inside. His body was like diamond and his organs had been tempered to be impervious to poison. Although they weren¡¯t at the level where they could regrow after being pulverized, a puny poison like this would have no effect on him.


    The Bracelet Fiend Skull had failed to bite through his skin, but even if it had seeded, the corpse poison would have done nothing.


    Just as Daoist Fuyu had said, a Nine Revolutions Period cultivator would be able to withstand it, and his body was actually even stronger than that of a Nine Revolutions cultivator.


    In the face of this poisonous gas, he did not run. He formed a spell with his hands, and a jade-white light gradually began to form on one of his fingers.


    This was a sign that the Jade Shattering Finger was about to activate.


    He wasn¡¯t very proficient in the Jade Shattering Finger, so it took him too long to cast it each time. It was simply no good against powerful foes. This Daoist¡¯s poison techniques were obviously powerful, but they were of little use against Tang Jie. Thus, in this poison fog, he could take his time casting this spell.


    Miss Xu and Daoist Fuyu were both dumbfounded by his actions. As he made various hand signs in the mist, he suddenly pped himself and said, ¡°Shit, mistake. Let me start over.¡±


    They found themselves feeling rather dizzy from the sight.


    Daoist Fuyu was rmed, knowing that he had run into a tough enemy. Casting aside all his apprehensions, he began to cast a spell. A dark cloud appeared behind him, and from this cloud emerged a savage ghost, asrge as an ape and possessing long arms and a crimson maw. It noiselessly screeched in the direction of the two, and when it opened its mouth, it actuallypletely concealed the rest of its head.


    ¡°A Hearteater Ghost? You even managed to raise a Hearteater Ghost?¡± Tang Jie gasped in surprise.


    Unlike that wicked ghost from before, the Hearteater Ghost was a truly savage being. It was a ghost with a solid body, and it liked to eat human hearts. It was one of the cruelest kinds of ghost.


    The refining process of the Hearteater Ghost required human hearts, and given the ratherrge size of this ghost, it must have consumed numerous hearts. It seemed that Daoist Fuyu had killed more than just a few people.


    At this moment, the Hearteater Ghost lunged at the pair, two pitch-ck ws reaching out at them.


    Miss Xu waved her bracelet, striking the Hearteater Ghost¡¯s sharp ws with a metallic ng. The Hearteater Ghost¡¯s body was as tough as steel, and it was Miss Xu who was forced back this time.


    ¡°Use your bells!¡± Tang Jie shouted. He had decided to directly take the Hearteater Ghost¡¯s blow. The ghost had managed to w open his skin, but he had seeded in pushing it back.


    This meant that while the Hearteater Ghost wasn¡¯t as strong as he was, it had the ability to wound him.


    ¡°The Soulfear Bells can only subdue low-grade ghosts, but the Hearteater Ghost has already reached the point of substantialization. I can¡¯t subdue it!¡± Miss Xu loudly replied. A pennant appeared in her hand and flew toward the Hearteater Ghost. It seemed that she intended to use softness to conquer strength.


    Daoist Fuyu strangelyughed, and he pointed at the skull sword in the air. The sword sliced at the pennant, forcing Miss Xu to take it back.


    Stillughing, Daoist Fuyu produced a ck banner that he waved in the air. Arge number of ghosts surged out of the banner and swept toward the two.


    ¡°The Soulmass Banner,¡± Tang Jie grunted, not finding it strange.


    The Soulmass Banner was one of the signature magic tools of the Ghost Raising Sect. In its prime, almost every one of its disciples had a Soulmass Banner that was used to gather up ghosts.


    But ghosts gathered by the Soulmass Banner couldn¡¯t grow and wouldn¡¯t be able to develop ghost essences, and powerful ghosts like the Hearteater Ghost could not be collected. Thus, the banner¡¯s strength was limited, and it relied purely on numbers for victory.


    Even so, the dark mass of ghosts that emerged from the Soulmass Banner was truly frightening. In low-level battles, it was a very practical tool.


    As a Spirit tform Realm student, Tang Jie didn¡¯t have any goodrge-area spells, so even he couldn¡¯t do anything to this vast crowd of ghosts. And these ghosts were cunning and erratic. Rather than fighting Tang and Xu to the death, they hit and ran. The two of them soon had their hands full dealing with the ghosts.


    Although Daoist Fuyu had average strength, he truly had a lot of evil spirits. After using the Soulmass Banner and releasing the Hearteater Ghost, he cast another spell, shouting, ¡°Bluefang Ghosts, go!¡±


    Five fanged ghosts with blue faces appeared. They were about the size of infants, but they held steel forks in their hands. Chattering incessantly, they thrust their forks at the two.


    Daoist Fuyu was a sinister person. Seeing that Tang Jie had formidable defenses and wasn¡¯t easily hurt, he decided to have his ghosts attack Miss Xu. For a moment, she was run ragged defending herself, and she couldn¡¯t help but shout, ¡°Hey! Hurry up and help me!¡±


    Before this, she had appeared calm and self-assured, and only with this shout did she expose her nature as a young girl.


    Tang Jieughed and rushed in, moving up to Miss Xu¡¯s side and blocking those small ghosts that were lunging at her.


    At the same time, Miss Xu threw out that pennant, which made a long arc as it cleaved through several ghosts.


    Their eyes lit up at the sess of this attack. At this moment, the Hearteater Ghost lunged again. Tang Jie shouted, ¡°I¡¯ll deal with it!¡±


    He once more ced himself in front of Miss Xu while she attacked with her golden bracelet. The bracelet curved around him and mmed into the Hearteater Ghost¡¯s head. Even though the ghost had a body like steel, it was still dizzied from the blow and staggered backward a few steps.


    The two of them smiled at each other.


    Complementing each other perfectly, they began to turn the tables. Tang Jie used his body to fend off the small ghosts while Miss Xu attacked again and again. Her pennant was capable of sweeping throughrge groups while her golden bracelet could attack from afar and defend up close.


    Daoist Fuyu saw the situation worsening. In shock and anger, he pointed at the skull sword, which flew around Tang Jie and shot at Miss Xu.


    Tang Jie grabbed Miss Xu and ced her behind him. At the same time, he thrust his finger at the skull sword. <em>Crack!</em> The sword exploded into pieces, leaving behind a golden point of light.


    ¡°My sword!¡± the Daoist cried out in pain.


    Already ustomed to these cries, Tang Jie reached out and grabbed the golden grain.


    ¡°What spell art is that?¡± Miss Xu asked in surprise.


    Tang Jie turned around and went back to dealing with the small ghosts, at the same time pulling the girl back behind him. ¡°It¡¯s not a spell art, just brute strength.¡±


    ¡°Then what about your spell arts? Why were you making hand signs that entire time without casting a single spell?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s face reddened. ¡°I¡¯m still not that good at them yet.¡±


    In the end, the Hearteater Ghost had interrupted him before he could finish casting the Jade Shattering Finger, and he hadn¡¯t had any more opportunities to use it afterward.


    The girl chuckled. Her smile was like the dawn across clean snow, or ripples across a clear autumnke. Tang Jie was momentarily entranced.


    Daoist Fuyu was even more enraged that these two still had the time to joke around while fighting with him. He threw out another item and roared, ¡°Die! My nine children, take their lives!¡±


    Nine skulls appeared in the air, ck and red. All nine skulls opened their mouths and attempted to bite at the two.


    ¡°Nine Infant Ghost?¡± Miss Xu recognized this ghost, and herplexion turned ghastly pale.

 Chapter 140: Fiend Woman (1)

    Chapter 140: Fiend Woman (1)


    The Nine Infant Ghost was different from the Bracelet Fiend Skull. The fiend skull primarily relied on poison to kill, and its actual attacks were mediocre, but the Nine Infant Ghost was far more vicious. It could prate through Astral energy barriers, and those it attacked would have baneful energy enter their bodies and attack their organs. This was one of the killing weapons of the Ghost Raising Sect, and when they were cultivated to high levels, they could kill even Celestial Heart and Violet Pce cultivators.


    Daoist Fuyu¡¯s infant ghost clearly wasn¡¯t at this level, but as it manifested as nine skulls, it clearly had the basic form. Even a Mortal Shedding Realm Nine Revolutions body might not be able to take an attack from it.


    As the Nine Infant Ghost attacked, Tang Jie roared and used the Formless Golden Body and the Aquagel Shroud. He stood in front of Miss Xu and used his own body to take the attacks of the ghost.


    The Nine Infant Ghost let out a shriek as it attacked. It broke through the Aquagel Shroud, all nine skulls biting down on Tang Jie¡¯s back. Tang Jie felt like someone had stabbed into his back with nine knives, and he groaned in pain. At the same time, baneful energy entered Tang Jie¡¯s body.


    ¡°Raaa!¡± Tang Jie bellowed as he activated the Blood Refining Spirit spell, putting a halt to the baneful energy attack. He circted his blood energy, expelling the baneful energy and neutralizing the attack.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Miss Xu shouted.


    Tang Jie bared his teeth. ¡°It hurts a lot.¡±


    Miss Xu was somewhat dumbfounded.


    ¡°It hurts a lot¡±?


    This was his reply?


    This was what he felt from the Nine Infant Ghost¡¯s attack?


    The two of them looked at each other, neither of them talking. Time seemed to freeze for a brief second, as if someone had pressed the pause button for the world.


    In that brief second, Tang Jie¡¯s rxed and confident image was deeply branded in the girl¡¯s heart.


    She looked at Tang Jie and said, ¡°My name is Xu Miaoran.¡±


    Hmm?


    What did she mean by giving him her name?


    Tang Jie froze, and then Xu Miaoran shouted, ¡°Dodge!¡±


    Tang Jie hugged Xu Miaoran and rolled to the side. <em>Boom!</em> The Hearteater Ghost¡¯s sharp ws thrust into the ground where they had just been standing.


    Tang Jie pushed Xu Miaoran away and then grabbed one of the infant ghost skulls gnawing at his back, hurling it at the Hearteater Ghost.


    He charged forward, his fingertip shing with golden light as he thrust it into the Hearteater Ghost¡¯s eye.


    The Hearteater Ghost wailed, and then its savage body began to melt like snow. At the same time, Xu Miaoran threw out her golden bracelet, which struck the Soulmass Banner and pulverized it.


    Having lost their anchor, the remaining ghosts wailed and began to run around like headless flies. Xu Miaoran took out her Soulfear Bells and began to suck these ghosts in.


    Daoist Fuyu was aghast.


    His trump cards had been the Hearteater Ghost, the Nine Infant Ghost, and the Soulmass Banner. He had used all three of these treasures, yet all of them had been neutralized. Having nothing else to fight with, he took several steps back in fright, and then with a scream, he turned and ran.


    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going!?¡± Xu Miaoran shouted. The pennant in her hand expanded and then tightly wrapped around Daoist Fuyu. Meanwhile, Tang Jie threw out his Silver Cloud Needles, finishing off those Bluefang Ghosts.


    Their battle had already rmed those staying in the monastery, and all of them ran over to see what was going on. Young Lady Li took only one nce at the scene before fainting with a groan.


    Tang Jie found this very strange. ¡°Haven¡¯t we cleaned up all the ghosts? Why did she faint after seeing someone tied up?¡±


    Xu Miaoran rolled her eyes and pointed at his back. Tang Jie looked behind him, but he didn¡¯t see anything.


    ¡°Your back!¡± Xu Miaoran bluntly said.


    Tang Jie finally got it. It turned out that there were still eight skulls hanging from his back, and Young Lady Li had fainted after seeing the sight.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t reach them with his hands, so he pointed at his back and asked, ¡°Could you help me out?¡±


    Xu Miaoran chuckled and helped to pull them off. The Nine Infant Ghost had left its body and was not being controlled by anyone, so it had lost its power. Xu Miaoran was able to easily pull off the skulls and crush them.


    Seeing that all eight of the infant ghost skulls had been pulled off, Tang Jie said, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°I should be thanking you.¡± Xu Miaoran smiled. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect this Daoist Fuyu to be so troublesome to deal with. I would have never been able to deal with him alone. I didn¡¯t think that you would be able to even withstand a Nine Infant Ghost. The techniques of the Basking Moon Sect are truly vast and profound.¡±


    She didn¡¯t know that this had nothing to do with the Basking Moon Sect, but Tang Jie couldn¡¯t exin, so he decided to let the Basking Moon Sect take the credit.


    As Tang Jie was about to say something else, Xu Miaoran said, ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡±


    She turned Tang Jie around, took out some medicine, and began to treat Tang Jie¡¯s wounds.


    Tang Jie was about to say that he was fine and that the wounds would heal on their own in little time, but in the end, he kept silent and allowed Xu Miaoran to apply the medicine.


    The medicinal paste was cool and refreshing, and the sensation of those soft hands gently moving across his back was indescribably pleasant.


    While these two busied themselves with their own matters, the bystanders were all stunned.


    While the Rosecloud Domain had a history spanning ten thousand years and was developed in many ways, there was still an extremely feudal vor to its society. Let alone applying medicine to a man, this woman going around with a short blouse and exposed arms was rather offensive to public morals.


    To take Liu Hongyan and Ping Jingyue as an example, while they normally mixed with the other students, there was actually a sharp line between men and women. Until a rtionship was confirmed, even simply taking a hand would incite much gossip.


    But this man and woman had only gotten to know each other earlier in the day, yet the woman was already applying medicine to the man.


    A particrly closed-minded individual in the crowd started to go on about what a scandal this was and how society was falling apart, not caring about what had happened.


    Fortunately, there were still those who understood what was important and asked about what had happened. Tang Jie, while enjoying the pleasure of a beauty treating his wounds, gave a general summary of what had happened.


    When everyone found out that Abbot Fuyu was the culprit behind these murderous ghosts, they became indignant and began to curse him. But out of fear of ghosts, few of them dared to kick him. Instead, they seized the Daoist boys, who all proimed their innocence and said that what Daoist Fuyu did had nothing to do with them.


    Daoist Fuyu refused to give in, shouting, ¡°What do any of you understand? The Immortal path is difficult to climb, and as cultivators who cultivate the Great Dao, is there any of us who does not have hands stained in blood, who has never killed anyone? What does killing a few people matter?¡±


    ¡°Bullshit!¡± One of the Li n servants helped up his youngdy as he rebuked, ¡°The Basking Moon Sect is the brilliant orthodox school, and it has never done anything so low and filthy. If this Basking Moon student hadn¡¯t intervened, we would have all been deceived by you and died here.¡±


    Agitated, the man worked up his courage and kicked the Daoist.


    ¡°The Basking Moon Sect?¡± The Daoist burst out inughter. ¡°The same shitty Basking Moon Sect!? Among the cultivators of the world, the six major sects have killed the most people! It¡¯s simply the way of the world that the winners are kings while the losers are bandits. It¡¯s just that you nobodies are ignorant and allow yourself to be bound by ethics. You think that the Basking Moon Sect is full of good people? In reality, they¡¯re nothing but a bunch of sanctimonious hypocrites. No matter how many people I kill with my ghosts, I could neverpare to your Basking Moon Sect, which can kill tens of thousands with a single thought! Hahahaha!¡±


    ¡°You dare to nder this country¡¯s Immortal sect? Damn you!¡± Everyone rushed up.


    Only a few people noticed that Tang Jie hadn¡¯t spoken up for the Basking Moon Sect, instead falling silent.


    At that moment, he recalled the massacre that had taken ce in the Cloud Marsh.


    The Heavenly Extinction Sect!


    Simply by tolerating the conduct of the Heavenly Extinction Sect, the Basking Moon Sect had indirectly killed countless people of the Sageheart Kingdom!


    Fortunately, this thought onlysted for a second, and Tang Jie replied, ¡°Spell arts are a knife. A knife can be used to kill people, and it can also be used to save people, and you cannot pin the crime on the knife just because of that. But the Ghost Raising Sect started sacrificing human lives from the moment it started forging the knives, creating countless hateful souls with its spells. Is there anything wrong with calling you a pack of heretical evildoers? If you think that the Basking Moon Sect is doing evil, then you should try to stop the evil, notmit even more evil. You¡¯re clearly guilty of monstrous crimes, yet you¡¯re full of grand excuses, as if you¡¯re burning with righteous indignation. It¡¯s not my first time seeing people like you, and it certainly won¡¯t be myst.¡±


    The Daoist was still unrepentant. Tang Jie ignored him and said to a few people in the crowd, ¡°The culprit has been captured. Find someone who can get down the mountain in the middle of the night and report this matter to the local Basking Moon branch so that they can handle this matter. We¡¯re going to take a look around this Daoist¡¯s residence and see if he left behind anything harmful.¡±


    While they imed to be looking for anything harmful, they were actually looking for treasure. The Daoist didn¡¯t have a Mustard Seed Bag, so if he had anything good, it was probably in his room.


    The Li n sent someone down the mountain while Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran headed to the Daoist¡¯s residence. It was very clean and devoid of anything good, but after searching for a while, they finally managed to find a hiddenpartment.


    The two of them were delighted, thinking that there might be some treasure inside. But when they opened it up, all they saw were several hundred spirit coins and a few bottles of extremely average medicine. There weren¡¯t even a few decent magical tools inside. Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran were so angry that they blurted out in unison, ¡°This was worth hiding?¡±


    They nced at each other andughed.


    After killing so many people and hurting numerous others, this was all he had. The Daoist had probably put all his effort and money into raising ghosts and cultivating.


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s also this.¡± Tang Jie took a book out from thepartment. On it were written the words ¡°Ghost ssic¡±.


    When he opened it up, he saw that it recorded various secret methods for raising ghosts. It appeared that this was a book of the Ghost Raising Sect, and it even recorded many methods that had not survived to the present day.


    ¡°Strange,¡± Xu Miaoran said, taking the Ghost ssic. ¡°Aren¡¯t all higher-level techniques passed down through non-paper means? Why does this book exist, then?¡±


    ¡°When the sect exists, techniques can naturally be passed down through non-textual means to prevent others from stealing them, but when there¡¯s no sect and the lineage has been cut off, there¡¯s no time for such things. Thus, they¡¯re recorded and left for anyone lucky enough to chance upon them. Finally, you just add a few words about how ¡®if you work hard, you can bring yourself greater social status and revive my sect¡¯,¡± Tang Jiemented.


    Xu Miaoran just so happened to flip to thest page. When she looked at the words at the end, sheughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s really as you said. Take a look!¡±


    She passed over the book, and Tang Jie saw that words simr to what he had said really were written there.


    This Daoist Fuyu had happened upon this Ghost ssic, opened his Jade Gate, and followed this book to reach his current cultivation.


    s, he had started cultivating toote and had poor aptitude, so he had never been able to reach the Mortal Shedding Realm. He wasn¡¯t very strong himself and relied entirely on his ghosts.


    Even so, he had left the two rather flustered, and they couldn¡¯t help but sigh in wonder at the spell arts of the Ghost Raising Sect.


    For Tang Jie, this battle was in the mode that Tang Jie had always thought cultivators most frequently fought in¡ªhis opponent had relied almost entirely on spell arts.


    Suddenly, Tang Jie realized that he was sorelycking when it came to spell arts.


    The only thing praiseworthy about him was his tough body. In a battle of spell arts, he might not even be able to beat Xu Miaoran.


    Xu Miaoran took the Ghost ssic and asked, ¡°What do we do about this book?¡±

 Chapter 141: Fiend Woman (2)

    Chapter 141: Fiend Woman (2)


    Tang Jie casually said, ¡°There¡¯s no benefit to learning these harmful teachings. Just burn it.¡±


    ¡°These aren¡¯t allpletely harmful to others,¡± Xu Miaoran said as she flipped through the small book. ¡°There are some spell arts here that don¡¯t require sacrificing human lives to practice. Like this Ghost Control spell that lets youmand ghost soldiers. All you need is to catch a ghost¡­¡±


    Tang Jie countered, ¡°To get a ghost essence, you only need to catch ghosts that have ghost essences, but what did the Ghost Raising Sect do?¡±


    Xu Miaoran froze.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Moreover, while the Ghost Control spell might not harm others, it¡¯s still a secret spell of the Ghost Sect. If you learn this spell, you¡¯ve essentially branded yourself with the Ghost Sect¡¯s insignia, making yourself an enemy of the rest of the world. Even if you don¡¯t feel you¡¯ve done anything wrong, are you going to exin yourself to the entire world?¡±


    Xu Miaoran nodded. ¡°I suppose that makes sense, so¡­¡±


    She tossed the Ghost ssic into Tang Jie¡¯s hand. ¡°You can deal with it.¡±


    With the book in hand, Tang Jie was just about to burn it when he took a nce and immediately realized that the Ghost Raising Dao recorded within it was rather profound. This was a rather valuable secret text of the Ghost Sect, something that couldn¡¯t be found wherever one looked. Thus, he began to hesitate, muttering, ¡°But this Ghost ssic is rather valuable. Burning it would be somewhat of a waste.¡±


    Xu Miaoran pursed her lips, pointed at Tang Jie, andughed. ¡°Look at you! What did you say just now?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything about learning it. I just think keeping it around might be useful,¡± Tang Jie said, putting the Ghost ssic away in his Mustard Seed Bag. He then gave the pile of spirit coins and medicines to Xu Miaoran. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t say that I¡¯m taking everything for myself. This is all for you.¡±


    Xu Miaoran was helpless as to what to do with him. She took the spirit coins while cutely rolling her eyes. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that a student of the mighty Basking Moon would have such a shameless side.¡±


    ¡°I also didn¡¯t think that a fiend woman of Horizon Ocean Pavilion would be so naive and charming,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    Xu Miaoran was bbergasted. ¡°Eh? You know who I am?¡±


    In saying this, she had essentially admitted who she was.


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion!


    Tang Jie casually said, ¡°The Diamond Bracelet and the Aquacloud Silk, coupling strength with gentleness. If I wasn¡¯t able to guess the truth, there would be something wrong with my head.¡±


    Xu Miaoran pouted. ¡°So you guessed a long time ago. And here I was tiring myself out with all that acting.¡±


    The girl wasn¡¯t afraid that Tang Jie had exposed her. Grinning, she said, ¡°Hey, if you knew that I was a fiend woman from Horizon Ocean Pavilion, why didn¡¯t you raise a fuss and try to fight me?¡±


    ¡°Is that necessary?¡± Tang Jie smiled as well. ¡°I just found out the truth, but that¡¯s no reason to treat you like a monster. In the end, that¡¯s just nder from your enemies.¡±


    ¡°But that enemy of mine is a very good friend of your Basking Moon Sect!¡± Xu Miaoran giggled.


    ¡°The Thousand Passions Sect is the Thousand Passions Sect, the Basking Moon Sect is the Basking Moon Sect, and Tang Jie is Tang Jie,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    Rosecloud was home to six major sects, and they had varying rtionships with each other. Some were friends and some were enemies.


    Of these six, the Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion were enemy sects that had been at loggerheads for a thousand years.


    Some people said that this was because the sect masters of these two sects from a thousand years ago loved the same man, and so they turned hostile against each other and began a feud that had nowsted for one thousand years.


    There were also others who said that it was because the guiding principles of the two sects were poles apart. The Thousand Passions Sect sought illusive emotions, seeking the Dao through sentiment. Meanwhile, Horizon Ocean Pavilion sought the truth that pointed at the original Dao. Their arts and mantras were totally different, as were their attitudes, and as the saying went, people who walked different paths could not make ns together.


    There were also those who said that outstanding women were naturally opponents. Horizon Ocean Pavilion and the Thousand Passions Sect were both primarily female sects, and so it was in their nature to dislike each other.


    There were all kinds of theories, and no one could decide which one was right, which one was true, or even if multiple were true. But there was no doubt that the two sects did not get along. Horizon Ocean Pavilion criticized the Thousand Passions Sect for false affections and called them ¡°demon women¡±. The Thousand Passions Sect said that Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s women werepletely without restraint and called them ¡°fiend women¡±.


    The two sects had been criticizing each other and using each other of various crimes for one thousand years now.


    The Basking Moon Sect was best friends with the Thousand Passions Sect, so in the end, it was obligated to speak up for the Thousand Passions Sect. Thus, it also often called the people of Horizon Ocean Pavilion ¡°fiend women¡±. Fortunately, the squabble remained restricted to themon people, like with Godhead Pce. It wasn¡¯t so bad that they would start fighting as soon as they met. When necessary, they would even work together.


    In normal circumstances, the Basking Moon Sect had its own mortal foe¡ªnot Godhead Pce, but the Beast Refining Gate. Meanwhile, Godhead Pce¡¯s real foe was the Seven Absolutions Sect. When it came to these three pairs of mortal foes, even if there wasn¡¯t a war, they would never cooperate with each other.


    Xu Miaoran pped her hands andughed. ¡°Good words! I didn¡¯t think that Basking Moon Academy also had people that weren¡¯t so inflexible.¡±


    ¡°You talk as if all the Basking Moon students are inflexible,¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Right, what is a student from Horizon Ocean Academy doing in my Sageheart Kingdom?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m seeing the sights, of course.¡±


    Tang Jie was dizzied by her answer. ¡°Seeing the sights?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Xu Miaoran boldly affirmed. ¡°What else would I be doing?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you need to cultivate?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    All of the Basking Moon students put forth their best effort upon entering the academy. Even the young masters from various esteemed ns would seriously cultivate, and they rarely left the school.


    In this year since they had entered the academy, the only day they had really been able to rx was that day after the exam, and even this had felt rather extravagant.


    But Xu Miaoran hade over to the Sageheart Kingdom to see the sights?


    For students, this was absolutely absurd.


    Xu Miaoran replied, ¡°Of course I¡¯m cultivating, but cultivating every day might not achieve the best results. My Horizon Ocean Pavilion seeks to move with the Heavenly Dao, to understand the truth in nature, and to do as the heart desires. If we feel like going out to y, then we do so. There is no need to suppress our natures and bitterly cultivate. On the contrary, that ispletely contrary to the style of the sect.¡±


    Tang Jie was shocked by what he was hearing. It seemed that in Horizon Ocean Pavilion, it was totally fine if one wanted to y every day rather than cultivate. Of course, he didn¡¯t say this out loud.


    ¡°I¡¯m starting to envy Horizon Ocean Pavilion,¡± he said with augh.


    ¡°Just because we can go out and y?¡±


    ¡°Precisely!¡±


    The two nced at each other andughed.


    Once they were doneughing, Xu Miaoran asked, ¡°Then if the heavens gave you one chance, would you choose Horizon Ocean Pavilion or the Basking Moon Sect?¡±


    After some thought, Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°I would still choose the Basking Moon Sect.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Why is that?¡± Xu Miaoran asked in surprise. She had received an unexpected answer to her casual question.


    Tang Jie nonchntly replied, ¡°Because for me, truth in nature and doing as my heart desires¡­ is a kind of luxury.¡±


    Xu Miaoran was stunned.


    She suddenly sensed that this youth was seemingly carrying an extremely heavy burden.


    After chatting a little more, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran went back to their rooms to rest.


    Yiyi was soundly asleep. The sounds of fighting had failed to wake her up.


    Sitting down next to Yiyi, Tang Jie closed his eyes, but when he tried to cultivate, the image of Xu Miaoran appeared in his mind. Unable to dispel this image, he failed to circte even one Major Circuit Heaven.


    He felt rather bewildered.


    He felt that he wasn¡¯t someone who was tempted by beautiful people, and it wasn¡¯t as though Basking Moon Academycked for them. Liu Hongyan and Ping Jingyue were gorgeous, and An Rumeng was even more a woman who did not lose out to Xu Miaoran in terms of appearance. But he had felt nothing from these people, so why did the smiling face of this Xu Miaoran, whom he had only gotten to know today, constantly appear in his mind, her melodious voice in his ear?


    Was it because Gu Changqing was dead and his n had seeded, and with the danger resolved, he now had time to think about romance?


    Or was he just at that age where biological urges were gradually beginning to affect his mental state?


    Perhaps it was because he had been too wary and paranoid in school, which rendered him unable to develop an interest in anyone, and it was only this chance encounter that made him open up?


    Or was it her sincere smile and words that had moved him?


    For a moment, Tang Jie himself didn¡¯t know the answer.


    In the end, he decided that he was overthinking things, that perhaps he had been dazzled by her charm. He decided to just not cultivate and went to sleep.


    What he did not know was that Xu Miaoran had also restlessly tossed and turned in her bed, unable to sleep.


    The next morning, Yiyi was still sound asleep.


    Tang Jie left his room and saw Xu Miaoran sitting in a corner of the monastery¡¯s main hall, sipping on some tea.


    The tea had a thick aroma, and there was little chance that it was the low-quality tea of the monastery. She had probably brought it herself.


    Xu Miaoran sweetly smiled when she saw Tang Jie. ¡°Good morning!¡±


    ¡°Good morning.¡± Tang Jie walked over and sat across from Xu Miaoran. He sniffed the tea and asked, ¡°Iceflower tea?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s jade turquoise,¡± Xu Miaoran replied. She took out a small spice bag, and from it, a tea cube that looked like a little stone. She ced it in a cup, poured in boiling water, and then ced the cup in front of Tang Jie. The little stone bloomed in the water and began to release a faint aroma.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Tang Jie said as he took the cup.


    The two of them very naturally began to hold a conversation.


    After fighting alongside each otherst night, they had gone from strangers to acquaintances, and they gradually grew more and more talkative.


    One was from Endsea and the other was from Sageheart. Two people from distant countries had been brought together, so they naturally began to talk about their local customs and entertaining cultivation stories. They both had something to contribute, and there was no fear about ack of topics.


    Without the pressure of the Hawk Hall, Tang Jie appeared much more rxed, and he showed quite a lot of humor and wit as they chatted, even bursting intoughter on asion.


    ¡°¡­Just like that, I became a servant student of the Wei n, and then I joined my young master ining to Basking Moon Academy.¡±


    ¡°It truly wasn¡¯t easy. What about after that?¡±


    ¡°After that¡­ I realized my great aspiration. For the sake of a free and unrestrained life, I stood up and walked the dangerous path¡­¡±


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t hide the story from her as he recounted what had happened. Of course, the version he used was the one where he deceived the Basking Moon Sect.


    ¡°No wonder I found your name to be so familiar. So you¡¯re the one that has all of Sageheart in an uproar, that student who caused Godhead Pce and the Basking Moon Sect to be openly hostile to each other.¡±


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect myself to be the subject of tales.¡±


    Xu Miaoran found his words rather amusing, and loudlyughed.


    She cared little for the fact that women shouldn¡¯t show their teeth when they smiled. Sheughed freely, her mouth wide open, and this made her seem all the more enchanting.


    Once she was doneughing, Xu Miaoran asked, ¡°Then are you the person Godhead Pce is after or not?¡±


    After some thought, Tang Jie asked, ¡°If I was, what would you do?¡±


    Xu Miaoran was taken aback, and she was unable to give a swift reply.

 Chapter 142: Farewell

    Chapter 142: Farewell


    ¡°Then I would arrest you and take you back to Horizon Ocean Pavilion to be interrogated, forcing the location of Godhead Pce¡¯s treasure out of you,¡± Xu Miaoran shouted, waving her fists around, but the look on her face didn¡¯t seem that wicked and fierce at all.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°Alright, then; I am. Arrest me and take me to Horizon Ocean Pavilion.¡±


    ¡°Tsk, not even the slightest sincerity,¡± Xu Miaoran pouted. ¡°But since two major sects are looking for you, why are you wandering around here?¡±


    ¡°After Gu Changqing died, I¡¯ve been making my way back to the academy. Because of the Heavenly Extinction Sect, they should know that Gu Changqing is dead, so they aren¡¯t in a rush to find me.¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t seem too in a hurry before this. It¡¯s been more than a month, and they have a loan receipt, yet they still haven¡¯t rescued you. The Basking Moon Sect either is too ipetent or has no intention of saving you,¡± Xu Miaoran snorted.


    ¡°If the Basking Moon Sect is ipetent, then what are the other five sects that it stands on the same level as?¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that the Basking Moon Sect doesn¡¯t want to save you?¡±


    Tang Jie lowered his voice. ¡°It¡¯s not that they don¡¯t want to save me, but that everyone benefits if I¡¯m still in Godhead Pce¡¯s hands.¡±


    There were some things that everyone understood even if they weren¡¯t stated openly.


    Why had the Basking Moon Sect been unable to get back Tang Jie all this time?


    Was it really because Gu Changqing possessed such divine abilities?


    Not necessarily!


    Perhaps at the start, the Basking Moon Sect had been earnestly trying to save Tang Jie.


    But as they pursued and turned up more and more Godhead Pce spies, the Basking Moon Sect realized that this process benefited them, so they naturally began to change their ns.


    Gu Changqing needed time, Tang Jie needed time, and the Basking Moon Sect needed time. Everyone was willing to make themitment to get what they wanted, and so the three parties hade to a tacit agreement to keep the pursuit going, never using their full strength.


    Xu Miaoran was a clever girl, and she understood his meaning when he sighed.


    This made her rather angry. ¡°Isn¡¯t this making you into a chess piece?¡±


    ¡°I always was,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°Then you don¡¯t resent the Basking Moon Sect?¡±


    ¡°¡®Resent¡¯? Why should I resent it?¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°In your view, it might be extremely repulsive to be made into a chess piece, but don¡¯t forget: this is something that I¡¯ve been wanting this whole time.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Why?¡± Xu Miaoran was confused.


    ¡°¡®Why¡¯? Heheh, if you don¡¯t be a chess piece, how can you prove your value? Perhaps in your view, bing a chess piece is amentable thing, but don¡¯t you know? There are many who want to be chess pieces but never get the opportunity to. I was born to a poor family, so if I didn¡¯t bet my life, how could I possibly gain the attention of others? Rely on the heavens? Moreover, affairs of the world are like a chess game, and the heavens and earth are simply the board. All of us are really just pieces on that board. It¡¯s just that some pieces are more useful than others.¡±


    Xu Miaoran was stunned by what she was hearing.


    She had grown up in a different environment from Tang Jie and had not imagined that it was so difficult to cultivate Immortality in this world. Tang Jie¡¯s tale was a deep shock to her.


    ¡°No wonder¡­¡± she muttered. ¡°No wonder you said that ¡®truth in nature¡¯ and ¡®doing as your heart desires¡¯ is a luxury.¡±


    She now keenly understood Tang Jie¡¯s words fromst night.


    The solemn topic made the mood heavy, and the two fell silent.


    After a few moments of silence, Xu Miaoran suddenly stood up and began to walk out.


    ¡°Hey, the ducktail flowers down below are very pretty. Want to apany me on a walk in the sea of flowers?¡± she asked.


    ¡°How can I dare to refuse the invitation of a beauty?¡± Tang Jieughed as he stood up.


    The two of them went down the mountain together.


    They strolled around, gradually making their way back to the ce where they had met yesterday, in front of a forest awash with flowers.


    Xu Miaoran had been walking through this sea of flowers when she had seen that evil ghost.


    The two of them walked through, stepping on the petals covering the ground. asionally, a ducktail petal would drift down onto their shoulders.


    Xu Miaoran walked in the front, and as those petalsnded on her face and shoulders, they appeared like little blushes of red clouds, making her face as beautiful as a painting.


    Xu Miaoran continued to walk forward, and she soon passed through the sea of flowers, arriving at a small brook.


    When she saw the brook, she gleefully rushed over and took off her shoes, revealing her exquisite feet.


    Carrying her shoes in her hand, she stepped on the smooth stones at the bottom of the brook. She walked through the brook while shouting, ¡°Our Horizon Ocean Pavilion was on the shore, and when I was at the beach, my favorite thing to do was to run barefoot on the shore. Unfortunately, Grandma never let me, saying that this was too udylike and too unsightly!¡±


    Tang Jie asked, ¡°Doesn¡¯t Horizon Ocean Pavilion emphasize the truth and sincerity? Why does it also have rules fordies?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no ce under the heavens that truly has no rules!¡± Xu Miaoran shouted back. ¡°My Horizon Ocean Pavilion emphasizes truth and sincerity, but if there were really no rules, then wouldn¡¯t it be a madhouse where everything is allowed? So Horizon Ocean Academy actually has tons of rules! Grandma said that only when the rules seep into one¡¯s heart such that rulese from one¡¯s heart can one truly do as one¡¯s heart pleases!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. It¡¯s the same for Basking Moon Academy. It sets up rules, but it encourages breaking them. Now that I think about it, they seem like different approaches to the same destination. I¡¯m guessing that this is what the Great Dao is about. In the end, everything in the world is about creation and destruction. With creation, there must be destruction, and that is the only proper path.¡±


    ¡°You seem to have understood everything,¡± Xu Miaoran chuckled. ¡°But I¡¯m annoyed to death by all those rules, so I ran off¡­¡±


    She made a slip of the tongue and immediately made a face and turned around. She saw that Tang Jie was standing on the shore and looking at her, apparently not noticing her slip of the tongue at all. Sighing in relief, she shouted, ¡°Hey, youe too.¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head.


    ¡°So inflexible.¡± Xu Miaoran pursed her lips. ¡°You must be another one of those who think thiscks elegance.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°It has nothing to do with inflexibility. I just don¡¯t like ying around in water.¡±


    ¡°Then what do you like?¡±


    ¡°A lot of things. For example, while you like to run with bare feet in the water, I like to watch beautiful girls wash their feet.¡±


    ¡°You pervert!¡± Xu Miaoran shouted. She grabbed a stone and threw it at Tang Jie, a look of disgust on her face.


    ¡°And while you like to y around downstream, I like to take a piss upstream.¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡± Xu Miaoran shrieked, jumping out of the water and ring at Tang Jie.


    ¡°Crude! Disgusting! Shameless!¡±


    Tang Jie innocently spread apart his hands. ¡°And here I thought you really didn¡¯t care about all that.¡±


    ¡°How could that be!?¡± Xu Miaoran pouted. She found arge stone to sit down on, but she swung her bare feet over the water¡¯s surface, not daring to put them in for now. She probably really was afraid that someone had done their business upstream.


    Suddenly, she said, ¡°The women of Horizon Ocean Pavilion have always done what they pleased, acting ording to their true nature. Themon people are ignorant and call us people without restraint, fiend women. Here in Sageheart, most of the men I¡¯ve met are like this. They only have eyes for my flesh, yet they speak grandly and y at being proper gentlemen. You¡¯re the first man I¡¯ve met in Sageheart that¡¯s not like this.¡±


    ¡°I suppose I should feel honored.¡±


    ¡°Then why do you feel that this is okay?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s just a matter of individual opinion. In my eyes, you¡¯re a good girl.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Well, I can¡¯t do needlework. What do you think about that?¡±


    ¡°As cultivators, can we not even buy a few suits of clothes?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to cook.¡±


    ¡°Who cultivates Immortality to cook?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t keep the distance between men and women.¡±


    ¡°Battle involves the meeting of fists and feet, and we can barely keep our lives, so why should we worry about propriety? Those who cultivate Immortality are not mortals, so we should not be bound by the unreasonable rules of mortals.¡±


    ¡°My clothes don¡¯tpletely cover my body, hurting my elegance and grace.¡±


    ¡°I find you gorgeous beyond words, a sight for sore eyes.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡± Xu Miaoran still wanted to say more, but Tang Jie interrupted her. ¡°I don¡¯t find a problem with anything that you¡¯ve said so far. Not only is there no problem, I think it¡¯s very good, that it is as it should be.¡±


    Xu Miaoran was astonished. She red at Tang Jie. ¡°You¡¯re being sincere?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never been more sincere in my life,¡± Tang Jie sternly said.


    He suddenly understood why he found this girl so attractive.


    It was precisely because she had a sincerity to her that otherscked.


    Xu Miaoran stared in surprise at him, and after a while, sheughed. ¡°You¡¯re quite the interesting person, not at all like a Basking Moon student. You¡¯re more like one of Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s students, but even the students from there have never been as well-spoken as you.¡±


    Tang Jie earnestly said, ¡°Then Horizon Ocean Pavilion should invite me to be a teacher so that they can find out how precious and rare their senior and junior sisters are. Trust me when I say that I can guide them on the Great Dao. They¡¯ll ascend like the sun rises in the morning!¡±


    Xu Miaoran heartilyughed. ¡°You¡¯ve really got thick skin, but it seems more to me like you¡¯re daydreaming.¡±


    ¡°How else could I take the bites of a Nine Infant Ghost? Because my skin is thick.¡±


    Xu Miaoran found his words amusing andughed even harder.


    As they talked andughed, time flew by.


    In the distance, a multicolored cloud flew out at high speeds.


    Xu Miaoran spotted it and said, ¡°That should be someone from the Basking Moon Sect.¡±


    ¡°Mm,¡± Tang Jie grunted, barely reacting.


    Xu Miaoran was a little taken aback, and then she realized. ¡°You¡¯re going to leave soon, right?¡±


    Tang Jie indifferently answered, ¡°I have to return to the academy eventually.¡±


    Since the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s person was here, that meant that it knew what had happened, and that naturally meant that it knew about Tang Jie.


    It was no longer possible for him to casually saunter back to the academy.


    ¡°Ah, I see,¡± Xu Miaoran said, her voice suddenly growing much softer.


    After a few moments of silence, she said, ¡°What a pity. We just became friends, and we already have to part. Well¡­ after being out for so long, I suppose it¡¯s time I headed back too. Let¡¯s just both return to our schools.¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Mm, you should also be heading back. I¡¯m sure that your parents are starting to miss you now that you¡¯ve been out for so long, right? Don¡¯t wait until True Lord Xu gets here. The Sageheart Kingdom has just been through a storm, and it certainly can¡¯t take another one so soon.¡±


    ¡°You know I¡¯m¡­¡± Xu Miaoran gasped, and then she realized and dejectedly said, ¡°Yes, the Sageheart Kingdom is across the sea, so I must have been out for at least half a year now. No matter how much Horizon Ocean Pavilion is about doing as one pleases, a student can¡¯t just neglect their studies for this long. My surname is Xu, and I¡¯m someone who dares to just run away from school, and I¡¯m carrying so many treasures. It¡¯s practically written on my face that I¡¯m Xu Guanghua¡¯s daughter! Given how freakishly smart you are, it¡¯s no wonder you were able to guess who I am.¡±

 Chapter 143: Going Back

    Chapter 143: Going Back


    Tang Jie silently smiled.


    Xu Miaoran stood up. ¡°I don¡¯t want to meet the people from your Basking Moon Academy, as I might get angry. So we might as well part ways here.¡±


    She sounded rather sad when she said ¡°part ways¡±.


    Tang Jie indifferently said, ¡°Since we met, we must have some connection with each other, so I¡¯m sure we will meet again in the future.¡±


    ¡°Is that so¡­?¡± Xu Miaoran looked around, and then she suddenly ced an item in Tang Jie¡¯s hand.


    Tang Jie looked down and saw that it was a paper crane, and with it was a small jade pendant. The pendant still carried a sliver of warmth from Xu Miaoran¡¯s hand.


    ¡°This is¡­?¡± Tang Jie looked at Xu Miaoran.


    ¡°The paper crane is the long-distance message talisman my mother gave to me. It can only be used once, and you can write your message on it. The jade pendant can receive messages. Sageheart and Endsea don¡¯t havemunication lines with each other, so we¡¯ll have to use this as a substitute. One day, if you get to Endsea, you just need to burn the paper crane for me to get the message. And while you¡¯re here, you can get any information that I send to you. Of course, you can only receive and not send.¡±


    Xu Miaoran began to back away. Waving her hand at Tang Jie, she said, ¡°I hope that it¡¯s as you say and that we meet again someday.¡±


    With a p of her sleeves, she floated into the distance, leaving in a graceful and elegant fashion.


    Tang Jie watched as her figure disappeared, and for a moment, he felt rather disappointed and frustrated.


    After a long while, he saw that the rainbow cloud hadnded on Fairy Peak, and he began to make his way back.


    A dark-faced, middle-aged man stood in White Rose Cloud Monastery. Xin Yue hade, and with him were two cultivators from the local Basking Moon branch. Tang Jie did not recognize them.


    Upon seeing Xin Yue, Tang Jie cupped a fist in his hand and said, ¡°Paying respects to the esteemed teacher. Esteemed Teacher Xin, why did youe to Fairy Peak?¡±


    ¡°The Nankou Branch received news early this morning from Fairy Peak, and when they learned that you were here, they immediately reported it to the sect. The sect sent the news to the academy, and the headmaster ordered me to bring you back,¡± Xin Yue coldly answered.


    As he looked at Tang Jie, there was a sh of surprise in his eyes. ¡°It seems that not only did Gu Changqing not do anything to you, you even experienced a breakthrough. Have you already broken into Spirit Lake?¡±


    ¡°Esteemed Teacher, this student truly has entered Spirit Lake.¡±


    Xin Yue was momentarily speechless.


    A student who had been kidnapped by Godhead Pce had not only managed to escape safe and whole from his captors, he was even seeing the sights and had broken into the Spirit Lake Tier. This was truly¡­


    Xin Yue stared at Tang Jie and finally said, ¡°I see. Pack your things ande back with me. You can save anything you have to say for once we get back to the academy.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Esteemed Teacher,¡± Tang Jie respectfully replied.


    Finally, he was returning to Basking Moon Academy!


    Basking Moon Academy.


    Westwatch Pavilion.


    This was where the office of the headmaster was located.


    Xie Fengtang didn¡¯t like his office at Westwatch Pavilion. Those who cultivated Immortality valued freedom, and a fixed office always felt like a restriction to him. Thus, Westwatch Pavilion was empty most of the time.


    But today, in a rare sight, Xie Fengtang was sitting on that chair of his in Westwatch Pavilion.


    Across from him stood Tang Jie, his arms hanging by his sides.


    As he looked at Tang Jie, Xie Fengtang suddenly smiled.


    At the very start, he had felt furious over Tang Jie¡¯s actions, but as time passed, his anger had diminished, to be reced by admiration for Tang Jie¡¯s daring and willingness to go all-out to seed.


    ¡°Tell me: how did you manage to kill Gu Changqing? Why did you not immediately return after killing Gu Changqing, instead choosing to wander about?¡± Xie Fengtang leisurely asked.


    Tang Jie knew that the Heavenly Extinction Sect had probably reported everything to the Basking Moon Sect. Thankfully, he was ready. He gave a basic summary of all that he had encountered while with Gu Changqing, emphasizing Gu Changqing¡¯s serious injuries in his battles with the Pine Tree Gate and the Hawk Hall disciples, and also about he had stayed around Gu Changqing for a long while before finally seizing the chance to turn the tables and kill him.


    In any case, since the Heavenly Extinction Sect had seen none of this, he could say whatever he wanted.


    Xie Fengtang looked suspiciously at Tang Jie. ¡°Even if Gu Changqing was heavily injured, he should have sealed your spiritual energy, yes? Given his superhuman abilities, so long as he still drew breath, you shouldn¡¯t have been able to kill him.¡±


    ¡°Then I probably owe it to a sprite that this student discovered while hiding out in the Cloud Marsh.¡±


    ¡°A sprite?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Jie went with the flow and brought up Yiyi. He essentially said that he had luckily encountered a sprite in the Cloud Marsh, and Yiyi had assisted him by providing him with spiritual energy. Gu Changqing was heavily injured and hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie¡¯s sudden explosion of strength, allowing the sneak attack to seed. After this, Tang Jie discovered that he was about to break through, so he immediately began to cultivate and entered Spirit Lake. He then took Yiyi and began to make his way back to the academy, and while he was passing by Fairy Peak, he took care of a remnant of the Ghost Dao.


    It was a recount that mixed both truth and fiction. It made sense, and there were no living witnesses to say otherwise, so not even Xie Fengtang suspected there to be anything wrong.


    In truth, he was more concerned about something else.


    He took out the letters from the box Tang Jie had sent off, and he threw them in front of Tang Jie. ¡°So how do you exin these letters?¡±


    Tang Jie paled, and he immediately dropped to his knees. ¡°This student is guilty. I should not have deceived the academy!¡±


    ¡°Bastard! Now you understand your crimes? Did you know? Because of your actions, Godhead Pce and the Basking Moon Sect have almost broken out into open hostilities!¡± Xie Fengtang bellowed.


    No matter how much he admired Tang Jie, at least when he spoke these words, Xie Fengtang¡¯s anger was real.


    ¡°If this student had known this, he would have never done such a thing.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the point in saying that now? What I don¡¯t understand is who gave you the guts to do this!¡±


    ¡°It was this student himself! This student knew that his aptitude was mediocre, of humble talent and shallow learning. To be an Immortal, I needed to seize every opportunity I had!¡±


    ¡°Did you never think of the consequences?¡± Xie Fengtang sinisterly said.


    ¡°I would die at worst¡­ In the cultivation world, is it only Tang Jie who dares to take risks in order to advance?¡± Tang Jie pronounced.


    Xie Fengtang¡¯s heart trembled. As he looked at Tang Jie, he felt like he was seeing his younger self.


    There was a time when he also had once been willing to give up everything to sprint forward on the path of cultivation and be an Immortal!


    At that time¡­


    Xie Fengtang sighed.


    ¡°¡®You would die at worst¡¯¡­ Death is easily talked about, but only when it¡¯s there do you realize how frightening it is. You¡¯ve fallen into the hands of the Hawk Hall, and I¡¯m sure that you tasted a little of death. You must realize that to say that ¡®dying at worst¡¯ isn¡¯t as easy to say anymore.¡±


    ¡°Yes, in that time, this student truly did feel remorse, but remorse is useless. The mistake has been made, so all this student can do is calmly bear it.¡±


    ¡°Calmly bear it? I¡¯m afraid that you might not be able to take the consequences!¡± Xie Fengtang¡¯s voice turned harsh and cold. ¡°Since you dared to deceive the academy, I trust that you have prepared to receive the punishment.¡±


    ¡°Why isn¡¯t he out yet?¡± Wei Tianchong rubbed his hands and anxiously paced back and forth outside of Westwatch Pavilion. Next to him was Shi Meng.


    Besides them, Cai Junyang, Shu Mingyang, Liu Hongyan, and Ping Jingyue were also present. Besides them, even those who had rather shallow rtionships and those who had no rtionship with him at all were here. In fact, the courtyard in front of Westwatch Pavilion was packed with people. The news of Tang Jie¡¯s return had already spread throughout the academy.


    From the day he had been kidnapped by the Hawk Hall, Tang Jie¡¯s name had resounded throughout Basking Moon Academy, and even the most secluded cultivation maniac had learned his name.


    A string of incidents had followed. The Basking Moon Sect had mobilized with thunderous momentum, the Hawk Hall had fled and counterattacked like madmen, and the Basking Moon Sect had put the entire country on watch for them, further stimting everyone¡¯s nerves and making Tang Jie¡¯s name impossible to forget.


    Not long after that, Godhead Pce received word that imed that the Basking Moon Sect had fabricated a Tang Jiye to entrap Godhead Pce. The Basking Moon Sect naturally couldn¡¯t ept this charge and believed that Godhead Pce was making up false charges. The two of them had engaged in a verbal war, and Godhead Pce had even sent emissaries to the Basking Moon Sect to demand an exnation. The two sides had their daggers drawn at each other, and the Beast Refining Gate was stirring the pot in the shadows, and so a war had almost started. In the end, though, they didn¡¯t actually fight. Both sects expelled the opposing side¡¯s students, and they were still on their way back. Meanwhile, the rtionship between Godhead Pce and the Basking Moon Sect was rapidly worsening.


    It had only been forty-some days, but the political situation in the Rosecloud Domain had abruptly be tense, and the trigger behind all of this was Tang Jie.


    One could say that this one minor character had affected the course of the Rosecloud Domain¡¯s entire history. Future history books were certain to emphasize his name.


    For this reason, some people even envied Tang Jie, saying, ¡°If I cultivated Immortality like Tang Jie, even if I couldn¡¯t reach the apex of the Immortal path, I would at least be known throughout the world.¡±


    But after causing all this trouble, Tang Jie hade backpletely fine!


    How could the students of the academy not care about this?


    They had gathered in front of Westwatch Pavilion to await the decision.


    Wei Tianchong and the others were anxious over Tang Jie¡¯s fate, but there were also people who were there to delight in his misery.


    You Shaofeng smuglyughed. ¡°Pretending to be Tang Jiye and deceiving the school! Such audacity means that even if he was able to escape Godhead Pce¡¯s Hawk Hall, the Basking Moon Sect won¡¯t let him go! In my view, this sort of person will probably have their cultivation crippled and then be expelled from the academy!¡±


    ¡°The hell are you saying?¡± Wei Tianchong turned furious and tried to beat up You Shaofeng. But Shi Meng held him tight and shouted at his young master to calm down.


    On the side, Hua Yang sneered, ¡°Wei Tianchong, you can¡¯t escape punishment either. Tang Jie is your servant student, and it¡¯s only because of your ck discipline that this sort of thing happened. The entire Rosecloud Domain almost fell into war because of you two, and you still have the face to criticize me? In my opinion, Tang Jie deserves to get his cultivation crippled, and you should be expelled from the academy too!¡±


    ¡°Fuck you!¡± Wei Tianchong cursed, but before he could say more, Cai Junyang stopped him.


    He coldly nced at Hua Yang and said, ¡°Hua Yang, you¡¯re still a member of the Freedom Society, so why is it that you speak up for them rather than supporting members of your own club? How has Tang Jie offended you, that you would treat him like this? Yue¡¯er has no interest in you, and that won¡¯t change no matter how much you nder Tang Jie.¡±


    Hua Yang became so angry that his face turned red. He nced at Ping Jingyue, who angrily told him, ¡°Hua Yang, you¡¯ve gone too far!¡±


    ¡°Good, good! So you¡¯re all ming me,¡± Hua Yang angrilyughed. ¡°I¡¯d like to see what good standing up for Tang Jie does for all of you. Tang Jie, don¡¯t think that I don¡¯t know your ns. This Tang Jie isn¡¯t Tang Jiye, so you can put away that affection of yours now! As for the Freedom Society, I¡¯m leaving the club!¡±

 Chapter 144: Punishment

    Chapter 144: Punishment


    Ping Jingyue¡¯s face shed with rage, and Liu Hongyan barked, ¡°Hua Yang, what nonsense are you saying?¡±


    Hua Yang loudlyughed. ¡°Liu Hongyan, you should stop pretending to be some good person. How many of you actually had good intentions when approaching Tang Jie? Wasn¡¯t it all because of his false identity of Tang Jiye? Now that he¡¯s been exposed, what¡¯s the point in putting on these false airs? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to go and find the real Tang Jiye? Hahahaha!¡±


    He walked away.


    Wei Tianchong was stunned. ¡°What¡¯s going on here? Could it be¡­ Could it be that you¡¯re also Godhead Pce spies?¡±


    Liu Hongyan took in a breath of cold air. ¡°This matter has nothing to do with you, so there¡¯s no need for you to ask so many questions.¡±


    She shared a nce with Ping Jingyue, and then the two turned their heads and left, but not together.


    ¡°Hongyan! Jingyue!¡± Shu Mingyang shouted as he went after them.


    Wei Tianchong was baffled. He looked at Cai Junyang and asked, ¡°Big Brother Cai, what¡¯s going on here?¡±


    Cai Junyang was also astonished. He thought about it for a while, but then he shook his head. ¡°I still don¡¯t quite understand, but¡­ Forget it. It¡¯s best if you don¡¯t know. Sometimes, it¡¯s best to let bygones be bygones and not bring them up anymore.¡±


    He sighed. ¡°Tang Jie¡¯s fate is a little more important right now.¡±


    ¡°But there¡¯s no telling what the academy will do to Tang Jie,¡± Shi Meng worriedly said.


    He had once had his objections about Tang Jie.


    But ever since Tang Jie had gifted him medicine and spoken up for him, his opinion of him had greatly improved. He hoped that Tang Jie came out okay.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know either.¡± Cai Junyang shook his head. ¡°I hope it¡¯s not like what those guys said.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s possible, right?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    Cai Junyang couldn¡¯t answer.


    At this moment, another voice spoke.


    ¡°He will be fine.¡±


    Everyone turned in shock and saw An Rumeng standing behind them.


    Wei Tianchong was astonished at first, but then he excitedly said, ¡°It¡¯s Senior Sister An! Are you telling the truth when you say that Tang Jie will be okay?¡±


    An Rumeng lightly nodded.


    She took a few steps forward, and the packed crowd automatically opened the way for her.


    She came up to Wei Tianchong¡¯s side and said, ¡°He will be fine. Basking Moon Academy will discipline him, but it will not cripple his cultivation or expel him from the academy.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because this is Basking Moon Academy,¡± An Rumeng said.


    Because this was Basking Moon Academy!


    This was An Rumeng¡¯s reply. She did not give any more reasons, as it seemed like this reason was enough.


    What sort of ce was Basking Moon Academy?


    A ce to instruct students, a ce of indoctrination, and a ce being watched by everyone. Everything done here required a sensible exnation, for everything that happened here might be something that others learned from and influence the entire country.


    Although Tang Jie had deceived Basking Moon Academy, he had never once imed that he was Tang Jiye. He had only represented himself as Tang Jiye.


    As he had not made any substantial action, he had not dealt any substantial harm, nor had he broken any rule of the academy!


    The disciples¡¯ rules said nothing about point deductions or expulsion for appearing like Tang Jiye.


    To punish and expel him for this reason did not agree with the rules of Basking Moon Academy, or even the rules of the Basking Moon Sect.


    No matter how dissatisfied one was, at least on the surface, Tang Jie¡¯s mistakes were very small, so small that they were hardly worth investigating!


    Once he understood what An Rumeng meant, Wei Tianchong sighed in relief. ¡°That¡¯s great. So Tang Jie¡¯s going to be okay, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not for certain. He still did use the Basking Moon Sect, so he will be disciplined, or else the Basking Moon Sect will have essentially permitted his actions. It¡¯s just that the punishment will be a little lighter,¡± someone else chimed in.


    Wei Tianchong turned in the direction of the voice and saw a handsome young man standing nearby, but he didn¡¯t recognize who he was.


    But the crowd mored, ¡°It¡¯s Bei Canghan.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect him to return.¡±


    ¡°He came just in time to catch the show.¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s head buzzed when he heard this name.


    He had naturally heard this name before.


    A student of Basking Moon Academy¡¯s 1814th ss, an eighth-year student.


    Nine-cycle Jade Gate, Mortal Shedding Realm.


    When the Hawk Hall kidnapped Tang Jie, Basking Moon had dispatched experts from both the sect and the academy to pursue the Hawk Hall and had issued a bounty mission. Bei Canghan had joined this bounty mission as a student.


    In terms of fame, Bei Canghan far surpassed Qi Shaoming.


    Although he was nominally a Basking Moon Academy student, he was essentially a Basking Moon disciple already. He spent most of the year outside, following the teachers in carrying out missions together. This could be considered his internship period.


    He was using thesest two years purely to solidify his cultivation and gather resources.


    No one had expected to see him here.


    ¡°Greeting Senior Brother Bei!¡± All of the students respectfully bowed. Although he was a student, he could be considered a teacher¡¯s assistant. Considering his aptitude and potential, he had a limitless future. Even some of the teachers had a lower status than him now.


    Bei Canghan simply lowered his head a little in reply, but nobody found him impolite.


    Even An Rumeng came forward and said, ¡°Senior Brother Bei, dare I ask how Tang Jie will be punished so as to maintain the dignity of my Basking Moon and serve as a warning to themon people?¡±


    Bei Canghan answered, ¡°The academy has missions every year. These are rather risky but also very rewarding. Normally, only eighth- or ninth-years can take part in them. Since he was willing to vie for the Immortal path even at the cast of his own body, then he will be given his wish and granted the opportunity to wipe away his errors through merit. If he can seed, everyone will benefit. If he fails and dies, the academy cannot be med for not giving him a chance.¡±


    The crowd exchanged nces of surprise.


    Wei Tianchong hesitantly said, ¡°They wouldn¡¯t really do such a thing? This carries lethal risk.¡±


    If he had to choose, then rather than take on a mission that only the higher-year students could take part in, he would rather have his cultivation crippled and be expelled. At the very least, he would be able to stay alive. The other choice simply carried too much risk.


    Cai Junyang muttered, ¡°I feel¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too possible,¡± An Rumeng finished for him.


    Finally!


    Tang Jie came out.


    The students instantly gathered around him.


    Cai Junyang pushed aside the others and charged up. He was originally going to ask if he was okay, but when he saw Tang Jie, he forgot about everything and just stared.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Long time no see!¡±


    Cai Junyang froze for a moment and decided to reply back, ¡°Long time no see.¡±


    He remained dazed for a little longer before erupting inughter and hugging Tang Jie. ¡°No matter what happened, you¡¯re back, and that¡¯s what counts!¡±


    A mumbling Wei Tianchong came forward.


    He had been nning to grumble andin to Tang Jie for a while, ranting about all the trouble he had gone through and criticizing him for doing something so risky, but when he saw Tang Jie, he found that he couldn¡¯t say anything.


    He hugged Tang Jie and simply said, ¡°You¡¯re back, and that¡¯s what counts!¡±


    Shi Meng then hugged Tang Jie. ¡°You¡¯re back, and that¡¯s what counts!¡±


    In the distance, An Rumeng smiled. ¡°You¡¯re back, and that¡¯s what counts!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re back, and that¡¯s what counts!¡± Those students on good terms with Tang Jie rushed up and shouted in unison.


    Nobody cared about Basking Moon Academy¡¯s punishment anymore. All they felt was joy at the return of a friend, and countless greetings and congrattions resounded through the school. The students cheered as if they were celebrating a victory.


    Those people who had wanted to see Tang Jie¡¯s downfall departed in a huff. Only the good friends remained to cheer, theirughter resounding through the Clear Sky Mountains.


    From Westwatch Pavilion, Xie Fengtang looked at the youths below, a relieved smile on his face as he muttered, ¡°These brats.¡±


    That night, the students of the Freedom Society held a feast at the Thousand Taste Garden to celebrate Tang Jie¡¯s return.


    Of course, Hua Yang wasn¡¯t there.


    He had already withdrawn from the club, expressing all his dissatisfaction in his own way.


    Liu Hongyan, Ping Jingyue, and Shu Mingyang once more appeared to receive him, and they also apologized to Tang Jie for not being there to meet him. Of course, Tang Jie didn¡¯t mind.


    ¡°So Senior Brother Bei was right and you¡¯ve really been told to make up for your errors with your achievements?¡± Ping Jingyue asked from her seat.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The one who replied wasn¡¯t Tang Jie, but Cai Junyang. As one of the group of people who had been there to wee Tang Jie, he already knew everything. He then imitated Xie Fengtang¡¯s tone and loudly said, ¡°Student Tang Jie, for your audacious action of pretending to be a wanted fugitive in order to derive benefit, you deserve a heavy punishment! But out of consideration for the ignorance of your young age and your redeeming achievements¡­¡±


    ¡°Achievements? What achievements?¡± Liu Hongyan interrupted.


    ¡°Drawing out the Hawk Hall spies and killing Gu Changqing,¡± Tang Jie answered.


    ¡°Don¡¯t interrupt me,¡± Cai Junyang impatiently said. He continued in his loud voice, ¡°We shall be lenient with you and permit you to make up for your errors through achievements. Starting from today, your score on the academy contribution board is: -100!¡±


    ¡°-100!¡± All of the Freedom Society students erupted inughter.


    ¡°-100?¡± Liu Hongyan and Ping Jingyue yelped in surprise.


    The academy contribution board was the measure of contribution in missions for students of Spirit Lake and above. Academy contribution points were obtained frompleting missions, but those below Spirit Lake did not have the right to be ranked on this board.


    The contribution points for this board were not easy to obtain. Each mission would only give a few points to ten-some points, and to get more points, one needed to take riskier missions.


    And -100 meant that Tang Jie, without doing anything, owed the academy one hundred points.


    ¡°Correct!¡± Cai Junyangughed. ¡°Not only is it -100, there¡¯s 20% interest every year, and he has to take part in a mission at least once a year, and must take on enough missions to pay back the interest. The interest will start umting starting from the official start of your second year. In other words, in one more month, Tang Jie will be at -120!¡±


    Heughed in delight at the massive debt Tang Jie was in. When Liu Hongyan and the others understood, they nodded. ¡°In other words, Headmaster Xie is being rather considerate of Tang Jie.¡±


    Cai Junyang and the others were happy, not because he was unfortunate, but because he had not been too unfortunate.


    At least Tang Jie had the power to choose his missions.


    At least Tang Jie had the ability to repay in batches.


    In these aspects, Xie Fengtang truly had been rather considerate of Tang Jie.


    If this were anyone else, they would have been thrown into some suicidal mission to settle the matter.


    ¡°Is there anything else?¡± Shu Mingyang asked.


    ¡°I have to write a self-criticism,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    The eyeballs of the other students almost popped out of their sockets. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±


    Tang Jie thought it over and added, ¡°It has to be at least three thousand words, and I have to be sincere. I have to deeply acknowledge my mistakes.¡±


    ¡°Nothing else?¡±


    ¡°Nothing else.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Liu Hongyan and the others shared looks, and then they erupted inughter.


    Xie Fengtang had raised his hammer of judgment high, but he had brought it down with a gentle tap. Surely, so long as you liked someone, you could forgive them for any mistake they made.

 Chapter 145: Windcleaver

    Chapter 145: Windcleaver


    The first light of early dawn passed through the window and illuminated the Carefree House.


    Stimted by the ray of light, Tang Jie opened his eyes and looked out the window.


    It was a clear day.


    He smiled.


    The formation that had been ced around the Carefree House had been removed.


    From this moment forward, Tang Jie was no longer Tang Jiye.


    He had truly made a break with the past.


    Several days had passed since his return from Fairy Peak.


    The room was the same as before and didn¡¯t seem to have been turned over at all. ncing at the Heartbreak Saber hanging from the wall, Tang Jie got up and took it down. He walked into the courtyard and began to practice the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword.


    But the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword was a sword art, and practicing it with the saber didn¡¯t feel very right to Tang Jie.


    Unless it was a spell art that was made for using all kinds of different weapons like the Divine Court Thousandshift, sword arts were sword arts and saber arts were saber arts. Every weapon had a different method of moving energy, and it wasn¡¯t possible to just mix them together. A normal spell art not only was limited in the number of weapons it could be used with, it even had specific requirements when it came to the attributes of the weapon.


    It was precisely because the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword wasn¡¯t a real spell art, making it simple and universal, that Tang Jie could asionally use a saber in ce of a sword. This would be very hard to do with any other kind of art.


    Even so, Tang Jie still found it rather awkward.


    ¡°I should find a suitable saber art,¡± he muttered.


    He was now in Spirit Lake, and he had exchanged for the next level of his mantra a few days ago. He had yet to redeem his spell art.


    He immediately put away his saber and headed off for Heaven One Pavilion.


    Many students gawked at him, but all of them had looks of scorn, and some people even pointed at him.


    The wind delivered their words to his ears.


    ¡°He¡¯s Tang Jie?¡±


    ¡°Right, that¡¯s him. To stand out, he didn¡¯t even mind pretending to be a wanted fugitive.¡±


    ¡°How audacious.¡±


    ¡°But he was still exposed in the end.¡±


    ¡°So no matter how you scheme, your plot will eventually be exposed.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that there¡¯s no rpense. It¡¯s just that it takes time to arrive!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly it.¡±


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled.


    This was a side effect ofundering his identity.


    Once the matter of his ¡°deceiving¡± the academy had been exposed, many students no longer looked at him the same way. Their eyes were filled with scorn and disdain, and even joy at his suffering.


    Tang Jie had once been a very illustrious figure in the academy, but now, he had plunged from heaven to hell, and everyone rolled their eyes at him. It was probably only his friends from the Freedom Society that still treated him warmly.


    Even so, the Freedom Society¡¯s reputation was also not what it had been, and many students had withdrawn, clearly unable to take the pressure. Fortunately, Ping Jingyue had managed to hold the fort, so Tang Jie hadn¡¯t beenpelled to withdraw from the club.


    Tang Jie had mentally prepared himself for this, so he didn¡¯t mind and continued forward.


    When he arrived at Heaven One Pavilion, the supervising student sneered, ¡°Oh, isn¡¯t this Tang Jie? What brings you to Heaven One Pavilion today?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Greeting, Senior Brother. I have entered Spirit Lake, so I would like to redeem a spell art.¡±


    ¡°A spell art?¡± The student snorted as he moved in front of the entrance. ¡°Haven¡¯t you already redeemed a spell art from the ninth floor of Heaven One? You¡¯ve already learned from the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, so how can the ordinary spell arts of the third floor earn your attention? I think you should forget it.¡±


    ¡°It is not up to Senior Brother whether I should forget it or not,¡± Tang Jie said. ¡°Senior Brother should permit me to go up upstairs.¡±


    ¡°And what if I don¡¯t?¡± That student raised his chin and proudly said, ¡°As a student, you deceived the academy. The headmaster should have expelled you, and you still have the face to redeem a spell art from here?¡±


    Tang Jie grew angry and was just about to teach this guy a lesson when someone behind him said, ¡°Senior Brother, are you questioning the academy¡¯s decision?¡±


    The two of them turned in shock and saw a person standing behind Tang Jie.


    An Rumeng.


    She was wearing a silver dress decorated with butterflies, and her hair was tied up in a tall bun in which a phoenix hairpin had been thrust. She was standing there and looking at the two.


    The supervising student was taken aback. ¡°An Rumeng? Junior Sister, what are you saying? How could I dare to do such a thing?¡±


    ¡°If that is so, there is no need to block our way,¡± An Rumeng said, stepping forward.


    The student instinctively moved to the side. As An Rumeng made her way up, Tang Jie followed. The student wanted to stop him, but he didn¡¯t have the guts. All he could do was stomp his feet and say, ¡°You got off easy this time.¡±


    In truth, he never had the authority to stop Tang Jie and was just trying to make trouble.


    As the two of them went upstairs, Tang Jie said to An Rumeng, ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that Senior Sister was also redeeming a spell art and was there to help me out. Thank you. Right, I also have to congratte Senior Sister on entering Spirit Lake.¡±


    An Rumeng lightly said, ¡°We are schoolmates, so there is no need to be so polite. You may simply call me An Rumeng. In addition, I didn¡¯te to choose a spell art. My Thousand Passions Sect has given me spell arts to cultivate. I havee here only to learn the Heart Questioning Origin Dao of the Basking Moon Sect. Moreover¡­ I have yet to enter Spirit Lake.¡±


    Tang Jie froze. ¡°If you haven¡¯t entered Spirit Lake, then why did youe?¡±


    ¡°I came to find you.¡±


    Tang Jie was taken aback. ¡°¡®Find me¡¯? For what?¡±


    The two of them stopped.


    An Rumeng slowly turned her head, her bright eyes focusing on Tang Jie. After a long while, she finally said, ¡°I want to know: how did you manage to resist Godhead Pce¡¯s Soulscour spell?¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s what it was about,¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°How could I have the ability to resist Soulscour? It was just that Gu Changqing felt the Soulscour was too risky, so he refused to use it until thest moment and relied solely on torture. I already exined this to the headmaster.¡±


    ¡°But Zhao Xinguo, who escaped the Hawk Hall and returned to Godhead Pce, said that they used the Soulscour spell, yet you somehow managed to resist it.¡±


    ¡°They also im that I¡¯m bait put out by the Basking Moon Sect to frame Godhead Pce. If they didn¡¯t say that I could resist Soulscour, how could they prove that I¡¯m bait? The Hawk Hall got the wrong man, so they could only find some excuse to offer as an exnation to Godhead Pce, but in the end, it¡¯s just another trumped-up charge.¡±


    He knew that there was no one to confute him, so briskly denied it.


    An Rumeng raised one of her thin eyebrows. ¡°Do you think I would believe that?¡±


    Tang Jie spread apart his hands. ¡°Whether you believe it or not, those are the facts.¡±


    An Rumeng looked deep into his eyes, and then she slowly said, ¡°Tang Jie, there¡¯s no one else here. If you are willing to tell me the truth, I promise that I will tell no one else. Not only that, you and I can be good friends.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Strange. Why are you so concerned about this matter?¡±


    An Rumeng lowered her head. ¡°Because I have a need for this kind of secret art.¡±


    Tang Jie was startled. ¡°You need a secret art that can resist Soulscour? But you¡¯re not¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true that I¡¯m a genius student of the Thousand Passions Sect, but I also have my own secrets. If I don¡¯t want others to know them, I must find a solution,¡± An Rumeng said. She looked again at Tang Jie. ¡°Tang Jie, if you really have this kind of secret art, I hope that you can teach it to me. I, An Rumeng, can swear an oath on my Heart Demon that I will never divulge this matter to anyone else. So long as you are willing to teach me¡­¡±


    Her voice suddenly dropped, bing a whisper. ¡°I can agree to any request of yours.¡±


    When a girl said that she would ¡°agree to any request¡±, the meaning was obvious.


    The temptation of this sort of promise from someone of An Rumeng¡¯s status was clear.


    At this moment, even Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but imagine An Rumeng under his body, softly moaning. This was a thought that would have every man¡¯s blood pumping, the fire of desire burning in their hearts.


    But this thought passed by in a sh, and Tang Jie smiled and shook his head. ¡°It is a very tempting suggestion, but s, I don¡¯t have it.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t believe me?¡± An Rumeng nced at Tang Jie.


    ¡°It¡¯s you who doesn¡¯t believe me,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    An Rumeng looked in surprise at Tang Jie, and Tang Jie stared right back, his eyes clear and confident.


    After a long while, An Rumeng whispered, ¡°Forget it, forget it. In the end, you can¡¯t trust me, so let¡¯s drop the matter.¡±


    With this said, she began to walk away.


    As she walked past Tang Jie, she suddenly smiled at him. ¡°You can reject me today, but one day, you will be willing to teach me that secret art. Remember: my offer is always on the table.¡±


    Her smile was like a blooming flower, bathing the entire room in the light of spring.


    Tang Jie was dazed in fascination as An Rumeng dropped her head and left.


    As she passed him, Tang Jie was able to see the profile of her face.


    In the faint light, she appeared like a fragile flower, a pitiable existence that could be blown away by a strong gust of wind.


    For a moment, Tang Jie felt like he had seen the most beautiful thing in the mortal world.


    As she raised her feet and lowered her head, she exuded endless temptation and warmth, an impression that was deeply branded on Tang Jie¡¯s mind.


    The charming sight that he had suppressed rushed out again, and Tang Jie felt like he could see that fair body syed out on his bed, the most primal mes of youth roaring up in his body, and he instinctively moved to lunge forward¡­


    But a momentter, another graceful figure appeared in Tang Jie¡¯s mind. Like a gust of wind, it blew away that image of An Rumeng.


    Tang Jie felt his heart tremble, and then he calmed back down. He wondered why he had been so easily tempted.


    What he did not know was that as An Rumeng turned the corner to the stairs, she suddenly groaned, a little blooding out of her mouth.


    Her beautiful face had paled!


    After saying goodbye to An Rumeng, Tang Jie calmed down and began to search for the saber art he needed.


    He already had an idea of the saber art he wanted, so he quickly found it.


    The Windcleaver!


    The Windcleaver Saber, as could be seen in its name, was an extremely swift saber art.


    Unlike the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword, the Windcleaver Saber was a real spell art that emphasized attacks as quick as lightning and as nimble as the wind, able to cleave through the wind itself. It was rather simr to Cai Junyang¡¯s Pilewave Sword.


    But the Pilewave Sword emphasized constant and unending attacks that came again and again. Meanwhile, the Windcleaver Saber, other than attacking quickly, could also break through armor.


    This was an important reason behind this choice of saber art. Now that Godhead Pce¡¯s Hawk Hall had been dealt a devastating blow, Tang Jie could finally choose normal techniques.


    There were many spell arts that went with the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra. He had chosen the Windcleaver for two reasons. First, his Violet Lightning Lunge fulfilled one of the other requirements of the Windcleaver and would allow him to maximize its power. Secondly, the Windcleaver was a closebat spell art, and all of its power was focused on breaking through armor and increasing one¡¯s speed. While it was strong and fast, it could not be used on distant targets.


    But this was actually what Tang Jie needed.


    Only in closebat could he use his powerful body to its full effect.

 Chapter 146: Shortsighted

    Chapter 146: Shortsighted


    For Tang Jie topete purely with spell arts would be like a berserker drawing a bow,pletely wasting his advantages.


    In truth, the part of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic that Tang Jie had stolen had even better saber arts than the Windcleaver, but those spell arts were far too profound and vast. The Violet Lightning Lunge, Formless Golden Body, and Divine Court Thousandshift alone took far too much of his energy.


    He had so far only managed to reach the first level of the Formless Golden Body and almost to the first level of the Violet Lightning Lunge. As for the Divine Court Thousandshift, it was in far worse condition.


    As for the Jade Shattering Finger, it was barely at a usable state.


    Thus, he didn¡¯t have the energy to learn any more.


    While the Windcleaver Saber was ordinary, it was easy to cultivate and could produce obvious results in short order.


    After one year of cultivation, Tang Jie was gradually beginning to understand that things weren¡¯t better just because they were more advanced and more profound. The more profound the spell art, the more difficult it was to cultivate and the slower it was to see an effect.


    He had learned so many profound spell arts, so why had it been so difficult for him to beat Daoist Fuyu? It was precisely because he couldn¡¯t really use those profound spell arts to their fullest extent.


    Tang Jie chose another spell art in addition.


    The Nullight spell.


    This was a support spell that could block out light rays and momentarily turn the surroundings pitch-ck. It could also be used on an item to make it so that it wouldn¡¯t reflect light.


    He was learning this spell art in preparation for future battles.


    The golden needle¡¯s luster was rather conspicuous, and with this spell, he could cover it. Moreover, if he wanted to use another spell art of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, he could use this spell to hide it from others. In this way, Tang Jie would have much more freedom in his battles.


    ¡°Unfortunately, this spell has two drawbacks. One is that it¡¯s easily broken, a single Dimlight spell able to undo it. The other is that I¡¯m also affected. To resolve the former, I can only learn a profound art from the Sword ssic, and to resolve thetter, I¡¯ll have to learn the Night Vision spell¡­ but I don¡¯t have the energy to learn all this,¡± Tang Jie muttered to himself, then shook his head, a bitter smile on his face.


    He discovered that cultivating spell arts was like fabricating lies. Each new ability came with numerous requirements that you constantly had to satisfy, and there was simply no end to it.


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart shivered, and he reminded himself that he could not lose himself in the endless pursuit of perfection.


    He was a student, so his first priority was to increase his cultivation level. No matter how many spell arts he learned now, they wouldn¡¯t be that useful in the future. Without the pressure of Godhead Pce, he was no longer in a rush to increase his fighting power. Besides, with his current constitution, few average Spirit tform Realm students could beat him.


    With this thought in mind, Tang Jie left with the two spell books. He decided to not learn any more spell arts until he reached Spirit Sea.


    He hadn¡¯t gotten far from Heaven One Pavilion when he spotted Wu Xing.


    Wu Xing and Tang Jie¡¯s rtionship had warmed somewhat after that gift of medicine, and he was going to call out to Wu Xing. To his surprise, Wu Xing¡¯s face twisted, and he pretended to not see Tang Jie and walked away in the other direction.


    Tang Jie froze, and then he saw Wu Xing throw something at him.


    Tang Jie grabbed it and saw that it was a balled-up piece of paper. A few words had been hastily written on it: ¡°Hurry to the third young master¡¯s ce.¡±


    But it didn¡¯t say why.


    Tang Jie pondered these words for a few moments, and then he quickly set off for the Meditation Garden. When he arrived, he saw that the gate was ajar and there was an argument going on inside.


    ¡°No matter what, I can¡¯t agree!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted.


    Pushing open the gate and going in, Tang Jie saw that Wei Tianchong was shouting in the courtyard.


    Across from him were Wei Tianzhi and Wei Ming.


    Wei Tianchong yelled in delight, ¡°Tang Jie, you came at the perfect time. Big Brother is talking about driving you out of the house!¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Tang Jie finally understood why Wu Xing had told him toe quickly.


    This appeared to be something rather serious.


    Wei Tianzhi shouted, ¡°Little brother, you still persist in your misguided ways? Tang Jie was willing to risk everything to stand out. Such extreme measures will eventually bring cmity on the Wei n. I¡¯ve already written a letter to our parents. I¡¯ve onlye over to inform you so that you can keep your distance from him.¡±


    ¡°This is my own business. I don¡¯t need you to interfere!¡± Wei Tianchong roared.


    Wei Tianzhi grew furious. ¡°This is the Wei n¡¯s business, not your personal affair. If you continue to protect him like this, he will inevitably drag you down!¡±


    The two brothers were like two red-eyed roosters, angrily ring at each other. Wei Ming tried to mediate, saying, ¡°Is this really necessary? Tang Jie is still Brother Chong¡¯s servant student. Big Brother wrote a letter back home without informing him, so it¡¯s no wonder he¡¯s angry.¡±


    ¡°From how he¡¯s acting now, do you think he would have agreed? I knew that he would be like this, so I hid it from everybody and did it first. This is for your own good!¡± Wei Tianzhi aimed hisst words at Wei Tianchong, and then he viciously red at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°It seems that the first young master is very dissatisfied with me.¡±


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Wei Tianzhi snorted. ¡°As a servant student, you should have known your ce and carried out your duties, but look at what you¡¯ve done! Pretending to be Tang Jiye, breaking thew, and stirring up this tempest! If I let you keep this up, you¡¯ll drag down my Wei n with you one day!¡±


    ¡°How is he dragging us down?¡± Wei Tianchong shouted. ¡°The punishment has alreadye out, and I wasn¡¯t implicated in the slightest.¡±


    Wei Tianzhi¡¯s face darkened. ¡°This is purely because we got lucky, but next time? If he causes more trouble, how will it end next time? Tang Jie doesn¡¯t know his ce, and someone like him is bound to bring disaster. I¡¯ve already sent the letter, and all I¡¯vee here to do is inform you. That¡¯s it! It doesn¡¯t matter what you say!¡±


    ¡°You bastard!¡± Wei Tianchong bellowed in anger.


    ¡°Third Young Master,¡± Tang Jie reminded, ¡°the first young master is your older brother. You can¡¯t be this rude to him.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re speaking up for him!¡± Wei Tianchong jumped up and down in anger. ¡°You shithead! I¡¯ll kick you out of school myself!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°One: I¡¯m simply speaking up for reason. You can¡¯t treat your older brother like this, regardless of any other circumstances. Two: the master and thedy haven¡¯t driven me out yet. The letter being sent doesn¡¯t mean that everything will go as the first young master says.¡±


    Wei Tianzhi snorted, clearly scornful of Tang Jie. Given his understanding of his father, he trusted that with this letter, Tang Jie would not be allowed to remain as a lurking disaster of the n.


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°Three: the Wei n might no longer be able to decide if I stay or leave Basking Moon Academy now.¡±


    Wei Tianzhi was startled. ¡°What did you say?¡±


    Tang Jie turned to Wei Tianzhi. ¡°First Young Master, the major ns can decide who gets into the school, but once the students are in, the ns can no longer casually decide who can stay and who can remain. If Basking Moon Academy doesn¡¯t want to let me go, then not even the Wei n will be able to drive me out.¡±


    The major ns handled everything before the students actually entered the academy, but many of their privileges in this aspect were stripped away once the students were part of the academy.


    Tang Jie was registered as a student under the Wei n¡¯s name. If the Wei n no longer supported his studies, it did have the right to request the school that Tang Jie withdraw.


    But the academy could refuse their application.


    Given Tang Jie¡¯s current situation, how could Basking Moon Academy expel him?


    Thus, while Tang Jie was surprised to hear of this development, he quickly brushed it off.


    When an eaglet grew up, its wings hardened. No matter how much someone didn¡¯t want to ept this fact, this was an inevitable rule of development.


    For Tang Jie, if he really did separate from the Wei n over this, it would also resolve all the karmic debt he owed the Wei n. Thus, he didn¡¯t mind the first young master¡¯s actions at all.


    Wei Tianzhi froze for a moment, and then he harrumphed. ¡°The academy will keep you? It looks to me like you¡¯re dreaming. Moreover, even if the academy wants you, my Wei n will halt all subsidies!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I owe the academy one hundred thousand coins, and there¡¯s even monthly interest. First Young Master does not need to concern yourself over the tuition.¡±


    Everyone was scared out of their wits by this sum.


    Few people knew about the enormous debt Tang Jie owed, and even Wei Tianchong had only learned about it afterward.


    After hearing this number, Wei Tianzhi finally understood why Tang Jie was so confident.


    No one would let a debtor go this easily!


    Wei Tianzhi furiously said, ¡°My Wei n might not be one of the illustrious ns, but it still has some influence¡­¡±


    ¡°First Young Master!¡± Tang Jie¡¯s face suddenly turned stern. ¡°I can understand if you are unhappy about me, and if you want to drive me out, I have noints. But to mobilize all your resources to drive out a single servant student is not normal at all¡­ We have no personal grudges between us, so is this really worthwhile? So long as the Wei n announces that I¡¯m removed from its register, our rtionship is over, and then whether the academy keeps me or not will have nothing to do with the Wei n!¡±


    ¡°You dare to speak to me this way?¡± Wei Tianzhi barked.


    Tang Jie coldly said, ¡°I¡¯m on the verge of ceasing to be a Wei n servant student, so why do I need to be so courteous with you?¡±


    ¡°Youuu!¡± Wei Tianzhi was so angry that he couldn¡¯t speak.


    The situation had entered a stalemate.


    What shocked everyone was that Tang Jie wasn¡¯t at all afraid of Wei Tianzhi.


    Wei Tianzhi suddenly howled in anger, ¡°Tang Jie, don¡¯t forget that you¡¯re still a servant student of my Wei n!¡±


    Tang Jie sneered, ¡°But not yours!¡±


    Furious, Wei Tianzhi looked at his younger brother.


    Wei Tianchong straightened up and said, ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it! I already said that I¡¯m not letting Tang Jie go. Without him, I would still have to take sses every day and wouldn¡¯t be anything.¡±


    Wei Tianchong truly had been making remarkable progress as ofte.


    Tang Jie¡¯s initial n was gradually taking effect. As Wei Tianchong honed himself on the battleground, he had begun to change from someone who was always at a loss in every battle to someone who was willing to take on any sort of challenge or danger.


    Besides that, Tang Jie¡¯s renting of the puppet had also brought Wei Tianchong a lot of benefit.


    Renting had benefited both sides. While Tang Jie used the puppet toplete his n in Tiger Roar Valley, Wei Tianchong had taken in revenue of more than one thousand coins.


    These thousand-some coins could be used to buy medicine to help him cultivate or increase his strength.


    A few days ago, the Wei n had also bought him a spell weapon, the Watersplit Sword, making him strong enough that he had finally managed to reach the top one hundred among the students of his ss.


    Although he still hadn¡¯t ranked yet, if he kept this up, ranking was inevitable.


    Moreover, as Tang Jie and the other outstanding students entered Spirit Lake, hispetition would shrink. Wei Tianchong¡¯s golden age wasing soon.


    Tang Jie¡¯s help had been vital to all this. How could Wei Tianchong not be grateful to him?


    Wei Tianzhi felt helpless, so he pointed at Tang Jie and shouted, ¡°Fine! Let¡¯s see how long your arrogance canst. Once the letter from my parents gets here¨C¡±


    Tang Jie cut him off. ¡°Once the letter from the master anddy arrives, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll be even more disappointed.¡±

 Chapter 147: Counterattack

    Chapter 147: Counterattack


    ¡°What?¡± Wei Tianzhi was stunned by Tang Jie¡¯s words.


    Tang Jie walked up to him and slowly said, ¡°First Young Master, I don¡¯t me you for wanting to drive me out, and I can understand that you¡¯re doing it for the sake of the Wei n, but it won¡¯t go as you hope. Let me tell you what will happen in the Wei n once your letter arrives.¡±


    Tang Jie raised a finger. ¡°Firstly, the master will be furious over your letter and decide to expel me from the n, but thedy will stop him. She will tell the master that I am currently the first student of our ss to enter Spirit Lake, and the only one in one thousand years to create a new record at the Celestial Defense Hall. Expelling me from the n would be giving up on the hope of the Wei n¡¯s prosperity, and also rendering all their earlier investment for naught.¡±


    Wei Tianzhi took in a deep breath.


    Tang Jie raised a second finger. ¡°Secondly, the academy won¡¯t let me go, and even if the Wei n uses every method at its disposal and seeds in expelling me, ording to the school¡¯s rules, my cultivation will not be crippled. Once I leave the academy, I can still cultivate on my own, but it would be difficult for me to avoid some resentment toward the Wei n. The Wei n went to so much effort to send a servant into school, but rather than obtaining an ally, it raised a hidden enemy. A wise person would not do this!¡±


    Wei Tianzhi trembled.


    Tang Jie raised a third finger. ¡°Thirdly, the third young master has experienced amazing progress as ofte, and once he enters Spirit Lake, he will begin to participate in missions. Missions are dangerous, and he will be down a servant student¡ªone that is decently strong and is rather loyal to the young master. First Young Master understands what that means, yes?¡±


    Wei Tianzhi was finally silenced.


    Tang Jie drew back his three fingers. ¡°Thus, while this matter will cause some turmoil in the Wei n, in the end, the master will take back his order. He will write a letter to you praising you for your actions, but in the end, he will sincerely tell you that the matter with Tang Jie is settled and that all you need to do is keep a close eye on him and make sure that he doesn¡¯t cause any more trouble. Thedy will also write a letter to you, but this letter will contain a torrent of abuse, rebuking you for not paying more attention to your own business and properly cultivating. Of course, this is more for me to see. I will also receive a letter written personally by thedy. The letter will attempt to soothe me, saying that the Wei n believes in me, and I will even be given money to support my continued cultivation. With that, this matter will finally be settled.¡±


    Wei Tianzhi was trembling all over, and he shook his head in denial. ¡°No! That¡¯s impossible!¡±


    Tang Jie patted him on the shoulder. ¡°You don¡¯t need to believe, but you¡¯ll find out eventually. An earnest personality doesn¡¯t mean that you have a good view of the big picture¡­ Try and do better.¡±


    Wei Tianzhi was utterly gobsmacked as Tang Jie turned to leave.


    Wei Tianchong hastily came up and said, ¡°Tang Jie, don¡¯t me my big brother. That¡¯s just how he is¡­¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°From his standpoint, he did everything correctly.¡±


    ¡°As long as you understand,¡± Wei Tianchong sighed in relief. ¡°But those words of yours were marvelous. You scared my brother silly.¡±


    ¡°¡®Scare¡¯? You think I was trying to frighten him?¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    Wei Tianchong was taken aback. ¡°You¡¯re saying that was the truth?¡±


    ¡°You¡­ you really don¡¯t understand your mother!¡± Tang Jieughed. He put an arm over Wei Tianchong and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°To where?¡±


    ¡°You need to ask? The Divine Battleground! I¡¯ve been gone for more than a month, so I have to see if you were cking.¡±


    ¡°Not going! You¡¯re at Spirit Lake now. You think I can do anything to you?¡±


    ¡°You can issue a challenge to me.¡±


    ¡°Pah! Screw that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to do anything bad to you. We¡¯re just sparring. And besides, this means you¡¯ll have experienced fighting a student above your tier, which has to have some bragging rights.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that seems rather reasonable, but you have to promise to go easy on me.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying? You¡¯re my young master¡­ Rx. I promise that I won¡¯t hit your face.¡±


    He fought a match with Wei Tianchong and confirmed that he hadn¡¯t been cking. After giving him a few pointers, Tang Jie left the battleground and headed to Spirit Wonder Market.


    Madam Shui was present, and she smiled when she saw Tang Jie. ¡°And here I thought you wouldn¡¯t have the guts to see me.¡±


    Tang Jie returned a smile. ¡°Madam, how could you say that? Do I look like someone who runs away from my debts?¡±


    He took out an item from his bag: Gu Changqing¡¯s Soul-Seizing w. He ced it in front of Madam Shui and said, ¡°Madam, please look at this. How much is it worth?¡±


    This was the sole treasure that he had not stashed away.


    Although he had feared Basking Moon Academy confiscating everything he had, he hadn¡¯te backpletely empty-handed. So long as he didn¡¯t bring back too much, Basking Moon Academy wouldn¡¯t quibble with him over such things. Thus, it was known that Tang Jie had this Soul-Seizing w and the Mustard Seed Bag.


    Madam Shui didn¡¯t even look at the Soul-Seizing w on the counter. She casually asked, ¡°You killed Gu Changqing, and this is all you got?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°The Hawk Hall members used numerous art relics in their escape, so when I killed him, this was all he had left. If he had more treasures, I would have never been able to beat him with my level of strength.¡±


    Madam Shui shot him a look. ¡°Kid, you¡¯re trying to be clever with me? Do you really think Basking Moon Academy wants to take your spoils?¡±


    Tang Jie dropped his head and replied, ¡°This student would not dare to think of such a thing.¡±


    Madam Shui replied, ¡°What you think is your business, and I have no desire to argue with you. This Soul-Seizing w was one of Gu Changqing¡¯s famous art relics, and it¡¯s worth about fifteen thousand coins. I can take it for ten thousand. Do you have any objections?¡±


    ¡°This student would not dare. Ten thousand it is. I will pay back three months of interest first.¡±


    ¡°Alright, then.¡± Madam Shui was very easy to work with, not even asking what Tang Jie nned to do. She took the Soul-Seizing w and gave Tang Jie 5500 coins.


    With this money, rather than going to buy medicine, Tang Jie went to the Forging tform.


    Dan Xin was still managing the Forging tform, but when he saw Tang Jie, he was no longer as polite. After coldly ncing at him, he snorted and turned away.


    Tang Jie was already used to this treatment and didn¡¯tin.


    Dan Xin still had some grace, but the lower students certainly did not.


    They looked at Tang Jie with scorn and began to mouth off.


    ¡°He still has the face toe.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! If not for the consideration from the academy, how could he have entered the Forging tform without even taking the test?¡±


    ¡°Now that his identity is exposed, he should have just left.¡±


    ¡°Exactly! Right, did all of you hear? Tang Jie is a rare good-for-nothing in the Dao of Tools. He destroyed nearly a hundred broken tools, but he didn¡¯t manage to extract even the smallest bit of material!¡±


    ¡°Is that true?¡±


    ¡°Those two trashes Zhou Jiahui and Liu Zihan talked about it, so it should be true.¡±


    ¡°Someone even more trash than those two? Haha, that¡¯s funny.¡±


    ¡°True. If not for all his swindling, how could he have ever gotten this far?¡±


    ¡°Now we see his real form.¡±


    All of them brazenly talked, not caring about whether Tang Jie heard. Some of them even raised their voices higher.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯tin. He just felt a faint helplessness, surprised that there would be a day when even he would be called trash.


    But that was life. Buying the rises and selling the dips was a normal fact of life, and people became particrly unhappy and resentful of others who relied on ¡°special methods¡± to obtain resources and advantages.


    He could understand this emotion, and so all he could do was smile and ignore them.


    s, even if he ignored them, there were always some people who tried to cause him trouble.


    As he was heading to the extraction region, a student stopped him, sneering, ¡°Tang Jie, where are you going?¡±


    Tang Jie coldly looked back. ¡°I don¡¯t recognize you.¡±


    ¡°Yang Yuhao,¡± the student said, pointing his thumb at himself. ¡°A third-year student, Spirit Lake Tier.¡±


    ¡°And what about it?¡±


    Yang Yuhaoughed. ¡°¡®What about it¡¯? Tang Jie, you¡¯re the disgrace of my Basking Moon Academy. Letting you stay will only tarnish the academy¡¯s reputation. I rmend that you tactfully withdraw from school!¡±


    Tang Jie looked around and saw that all the other students were sneering at him.


    Fighting wasn¡¯t allowed in the academy, and those who broke the rule would lose points. These people would never choose to attack him, but they could use their words to mock him.


    In a war of words, even an Immortal tform Titan might be heavily outnumbered.


    Yang Yuhao made cutting remark after cutting remark, speaking in a malicious tone and insulting Tang Jie as much as he pleased.


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°One hundred coins.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Yang Yuhao froze.


    Tang Jie repeated, ¡°One hundred coins. In return, you won¡¯t bother me anymore.¡±


    ¡°Are you joking?¡± Yang Yuhao snorted.


    ¡°Two hundred.¡± Tang Jie raised the price.


    ¡°Bastard, I¡¯m reprimanding you because I¡¯m a righteous student. Trying to bribe me¡­¡±


    ¡°Five hundred,¡± Tang Jie continued.


    Five hundred coins?


    Yang Yuhao hesitated, but then he shook his head. However, his tone was no longer as harsh, and he somewhat weakly said, ¡°Don¡¯t think about using money to¡­¡±


    ¡°One thousand!¡± Tang Jie took a spirit jade from his Mustard Seed Bag.


    The spirit jade shone in Yang Yuhao¡¯s eyes, and the sight of it made his heart tremble.


    This was a spirit jade!


    It was the same as a bottle of spirit medicine, able to save him several dozen days of cultivation.


    Yang Yuhao swallowed.


    Staring at the spirit jade, he finally nodded. ¡°Deal!¡±


    He reached out to grab the spirit jade.


    To his surprise, Tang Jie drew back his hand and put the spirit jade away.


    Yang Yuhao snatched at air and furiously said, ¡°Tang Jie, what¡¯s the meaning behind this?¡±


    Tang Jie coldly stared. ¡°Do you really think you¡¯re worth one thousand spirit coins? You were putting on a righteous air, saying I was the disgrace of the academy, but it turns out that one spirit jade was enough to buy you off. You¡¯re pretty cheap.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ you tricked me!¡± Yang Yuhao trembled in rage.


    ¡°So what?¡± Tang Jie¡¯s eyes focused as he whispered into Yang Yuhao¡¯s ears, ¡°I even dared to trick Basking Moon Academy, so why not you? Trying to provoke me? You really have no idea. I could y around with you and crush you like an ant if I wanted! A third-year? Ptoo! I even killed Gu Changqing! Who are you, to dare act cocky in front of me?¡±


    ¡°You!¡± Yang Yuhao could almost vomit blood from the anger he was feeling. Unable to suppress his rage, he punched Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t move, allowing the fist to strike him.

 Chapter 148: Duel (1)

    Chapter 148: Duel (1)


    As the punch hit Tang Jie in the face, Yang Yuhao immediately knew that he had made a mistake.


    <em>Shit!</em>


    He hadn¡¯t appeared today by coincidence. This was the result of several days of discussion between everyone.


    He hade out to provoke Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie would either have to endure all of the ridicule, or else strike back and lose points. After a few rounds of this, Tang Jie would be running off with his tail between his legs.


    But to his surprise, Tang Jie had beenpletely unmoved, and he had even easily managed to provoke Yang Yuhao into irrationally striking first.


    The monitor students certainly didn¡¯t care. As far as they were concerned, the one who struck would lose points.


    In a rush of air, a monitor student charged over, shouting, ¡°In the academy, it is not allowed¡­¡±


    Before he could finish, he saw Tang Jie kick Yang Yuhao in the belly.


    It was a savage kick that sent Yang Yuhao flying into a furnace. <em>Boom!</em> Sparksnded on Yang Yuhao¡¯s body and immediately set his clothes on fire. Yang Yuhao howled in pain and hastily tore off his clothes, but arge swath of his body had already been burned.


    The injuries could be healed by a teacher, but the humiliation was eternal. Moreover, he had stripped off all his clothes, making him look like a naked pig. He furiously roared, ¡°Monitor, he hit me! He hit me!¡±


    The spectating students were bbergasted, and even the monitor looked in a daze at Tang Jie. Tang Jie slowly replied, ¡°The disciple rules allow anyone who did not strike first to defend themselves until a monitor arrives and calls the fighting to stop, but the defender cannot injure the attacker.¡±


    He looked at the monitor.


    The monitor realized that Tang Jie had struck before he could call them to stop.


    But a momentter, he realized something and pointed at Yang Yuhao. ¡°But you injured him!¡±


    ¡°I did not injure him. I kicked him away to protect myself, and he crashed into a furnace and got burned all on his own,¡± Tang Jie answered.


    Who was more familiar with the disciple rules than him?


    Tang Jie saw Yang Yuhao looking at him and chuckled, saying in disdain, ¡°A third-year¡­¡±


    What he meant was ¡°What bullshit third-year student? You can¡¯t even block my kick, you absolute ipetent.¡±


    After wagging his finger at Yang Yuhao, Tang Jie left.


    The students had not expected to fail at disciplining Tang Jie, and they had even been disciplined back. They could only silently watch Tang Jie leave.


    Dan Xin came over to see what was going on, then he grunted, ¡°A pile of trash!¡±


    He walked away.


    The students nced at each other, then they shook their heads and dispersed.


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Yang Yuhao didn¡¯t dare to believe it. ¡°All of you, say something! That bastard hit me!¡±


    Everyone had encouraged him to give Tang Jie a hard time, but in the end, he had been the one to take the fall while Tang Jie had emergedpletely unscathed. He couldn¡¯t help but feel indignant.


    s, everyone ignored him.


    No.


    There was one person.


    The monitor student came over and took Yang Yuhao¡¯s card. ¡°You attacked first, so ording to the rules, I must deduct ten points. My apologies, schoolmate.¡±


    After passing through the fiery furnace of the Forging tform, Tang Jie arrived at the extraction region.


    Zhou Jiahui and Liu Zihan were both present at the extraction region. When they saw him, they both averted their gazes. Tang Jie knew that they had sold information on him to the other students and felt guilty.


    He didn¡¯t care, and he went to the storage to get some broken-down tools.


    The student managing the storage didn¡¯t know what had happened outside. When he saw Tang Jie, he grunted and said, ¡°You actually came.¡±


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t bring himself to care about his attitude, simply saying, ¡°I want two broken weapons that have been through the blood ceremony. The bigger, the better.¡±


    ¡°None,¡± the studentzily replied.


    Tang Jie sighed, realizing that these guys had all agreed to make things hard for him.


    He looked at that student and said, ¡°Yang Yuhao just got turned into a roast pig.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± the student blurted out in shock.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t believe it, you can go out and take a look for yourself,¡± Tang Jie callously said. ¡°I will repeat myself. Two broken tools that have been through the blood ceremony! You find them for me now, or I break your arm and go and find them myself!¡±


    ¡°You¡­ you wouldn¡¯t dare¡­¡± the student stammered out.


    Tang Jie grabbed the student by the cor and pulled him over. ¡°I even dared to deceive Basking Moon Academy. You think there¡¯s something I wouldn¡¯t dare to do?¡±


    Tang Jie pushed the student back to his ce and walked back to the extraction region.


    Several minutester, the student obediently delivered those two broken tools.


    The look of panic on his face made it clear that he had found out what happened to Yang Yuhao and was extremely afraid of Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie could only helplessly sigh.


    Reason didn¡¯t always work against these self-righteous students who didn¡¯t know what was good for them. Using fists was the best way to deal with them.


    It was a pity that he had always preferred to use his brain to solve problems. s, he was now walking the path of the tyrant.


    But it was no big deal. Life was like a y, and only by ying various roles could one be a shadow emperor.


    Since Basking Moon Academy required him to be a bully, why not be a bully?


    As he thought this, he thrust his finger down.


    The weapon shattered, and a golden grain floated in the air.


    While being mocked and ridiculed, Tang Jie calmly began his new life.


    Every morning, Tang Jie would cultivate spell arts, and in the afternoon, he would go to the Forging tform to break down weapons. At night, he would cultivate the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra to increase his cultivation level.


    This cycle went on for half a month.


    It was a peaceful and simple life, and also a tedious one. As time passed, so did the controversy he had stirred, and this was exactly what Tang Jie wanted. Only after the tsunami had passed would one realize how precious a calm and boring life was.


    But a beautiful figure still flitted about his mind, stirring up ripples.


    There had been no message from the jade amulet.


    Tang Jie was rather disappointed.


    Had Xu Miaoran forgotten him so quickly after giving him the jade amulet?


    At times, Tang Jie thought about sending a message to ask how she was, but he only had the one paper crane, so he wasn¡¯t very willing to use it.


    Those students who looked down on him still looked down on him, but after Tang Jie had taught them a lesson and made them suffer, they decided to keep away from him for the time being. But Tang Jie knew that they woulde back eventually.


    They were waiting for the right moment.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t care much. He spent every day cultivating, and his life was carefree and peaceful.


    s, without any of the conveniences provided by the academy, his cultivation speed began to officially slow down. Fortunately, he still had the foundation of the Parting ssic, and he was still advancing much faster than the average five-cycle student, though it was no longer as crazy. As his cultivation realm increased, the difficulty would presumably increase as well, and the advantages of his formidable constitution when it came to cultivation would also begin to dwindle.


    Right now, Tang Jie could still enjoy the benefits of his body, but by the Mortal Shedding Realm, the effects wouldn¡¯t be as significant.


    But in another aspect, Tang Jie was making a lot of progress.


    This was in the cultivation of the Weapon Mantra.


    The long time he had spent extracting was making his golden grain bigger and bigger.


    What had been a small needle was now a little golden ball. If it were shaped, it could be made into a golden ruler.


    But it was still too smallpared to real weapons. Tang Jie still hadn¡¯t decided whether it was best to use it as a needle or a thread.


    When shaped into a thread, it was extremely tough and as sharp as a sword, capable of catching the enemy off guard.


    Its sole disadvantage was that the golden thread was too difficult to control and didn¡¯t respond well to strength, so it wasn¡¯t good in direct battle. It was only because Gu Changqing had been tired from battle that he had been able to use it. If he had to fight that battle again, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t sure about his chances.


    What truly gave Tang Jie a headache was that five-thousand-some spirit coins, even when used on broken tools, still wasn¡¯t a lot.


    Ack of resources was an eternal problem in the cultivation world, and even Immortal tform Titans would never say that they had more than enough.


    When it came to this problem, all Tang Jie could do was decrease his usage of the Weapon Mantra. While breaking down weapons, he would also actually perform extraction on some of the broken tools so that he could get some materials to sell off and maintain the cycle.


    Regardless, this half-month had been very simple and in.


    His cultivation was steadily advancing, his proficiency in spell arts was gradually increasing, and the potential brought by one hundred thousand coins was still developing. Tang Jie was now much stronger than he was before.


    It was just that he didn¡¯t go to the battleground and only asionally went to the Seven Celestial Halls to hone himself. As he didn¡¯t show his strength, nobody knew just how strong he really was.


    Today was another afternoon spent at the Forging tform.


    When night fell, Tang Jie rose to leave.


    Just when he returned to the Carefree House, Tang Jie spotted someone standing at the entrance.


    He wore a drifting white robe.


    ¡°Qi Shaoming?¡± Tang Jie was surprised.


    Why was he standing in front of his house?


    He appeared to have been waiting for a while.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Upon seeing that Tang Jie was back, Qi Shaoming shouted, ¡°I want to have a fight with you.¡±


    Tang Jie frowned. ¡°What do you mean by that? Do you also think I¡¯m despicable and n to discipline me¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t put me together with those idiots!¡± Qi Shaoming cut him off. ¡°I didn¡¯t find you because of your past conduct. I just want to fight you so we can see which of us is stronger!¡±


    ¡°Mm?¡± Surprised, Tang Jie asked, ¡°You want a duel?¡±


    Qi Shaoming replied, ¡°That¡¯s right! Since I entered this academy, I have held no other student in high opinion other than An Rumeng. Other people think that my outstanding aptitude should be focused on cultivation, but I choose to do the opposite. With every step, I train in spell arts to increase mybat prowess. I will never be some empty shell who only has cultivation and no strength.¡±


    ¡°Is that why you have yet to enter Spirit Lake?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    Someone of Qi Shaoming¡¯s talent should have entered Spirit Lake ages ago, but he had yet to do so. This had to be because he had focused too much of his energy on other pursuits.


    ¡°Correct! I was originally nning to rank first in all seven of the Seven Celestial Halls before entering Spirit Lake!¡±


    ¡°¡®Ranking first in all seven of the Seven Celestial Halls¡¯?¡± Tang Jie was bbergasted.


    Wasn¡¯t Qi Shaoming a little too ambitious? Tang Jie had the Martial Lord¡¯s techniques and had managed to extract many other benefits, yet he had only ranked first in one hall, setting a record. But Qi Shaoming wanted to get all seven?


    But at this moment, Tang Jie got it. ¡°So the first one you wanted to defeat was me?¡±


    Qi Shaoming had been hot on Tang Jie¡¯s heels for the Celestial Defense Hall record this entire time. Tang Jie had once wondered why he was focusing so hard on defensive spell arts, but now that he knew Qi Shaoming¡¯s aim, he finally understood.


    And he also understood that he had been Qi Shaoming¡¯s first target.


    But on the day he had broken the Celestial Defense Hall¡¯s record, Qi Shaoming had utterly despaired. No matter how he worked, he would never be able to ovee Tang Jie, and so his dream of ranking first in all seven had been shattered, and all of his confidence had been lost.


    But today, he hade to find Tang Jie.


    ¡°I want to fight with you and see how strong you really are,¡± Qi Shaoming sternly said.


    Tang Jie realized that he was now essentially a Heart Demon for Qi Shaoming, the first threshold on his path of cultivation that he couldn¡¯t get around.


    Since he couldn¡¯t beat him in Celestial Defense Hall grades and his cultivation speed had also slowed down, he could only get a victory in an actual battle, and through this victory, he would reaffirm his confidence.

 Chapter 149: Duel (2)

    Chapter 149: Duel (2)


    While Tang Jie was at Spirit Lake and Qi Shaoming was at Spirit Spring, the actual difference wasn¡¯t very big. Given Qi Shaoming¡¯s talent and his one year of bitter cultivation, it waspletely possible that Qi Shaoming could win.


    The thought of fighting with the number one genius of the academy had Tang Jie¡¯s heart burning with fighting intent.


    He nodded. ¡°Okay!¡±


    Since they had agreed, they both set off for the Divine Battleground.


    There were few people around, and this was someone challenging another above their tier, so they were immediately matched against each other.


    In the sparring room, Qi Shaoming pulled out his sword, which shone with a watery light as he pointed it at Tang Jie. ¡°This sword is known as Autumn Water, and it is a treasured sword passed down through my family. Though it is a spell weapon, its edge is extremely sharp. I will use all my strength in this battle to attain victory. Tang Jie, fight me with everything you have!¡±


    ¡°Of course. Since we¡¯re fighting, let¡¯s fight to our heart¡¯s content!¡± Tang Jie replied, raising the Heartbreak Saber.


    The two of them stared at each other, and then they shouted in unison. Qi Shaoming swung his arm, and Autumn Water released a cold beam of light that shot at Tang Jie while radiating a watery light.


    The Chill Phantom Clone Sword!


    Qi Shaoming was truly the greatest genius of his ss. In his hands, the Chill Phantom Clone Sword was brimming with sword energy and as sharp as could be. He had clearly grasped the true essence of the Chill Phantom Clone and utilized this spell to its maximum. Tang Jie roared, swinging the Heartbreak Saber and unleashing a sharp beam of saber energy that collided with the sword light.


    As saber and sword energies collided, the Autumn Water Sword pulsed with light, which somehow allowed it to prate through the Heartbreak Saber¡¯s energy and continue toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was forced to retreat. Qi Shaoming went on his tiptoes andunched himself into the air, then twelve beams of sword energy issued from his sword, each one targeting a different ce on Tang Jie¡¯s body.


    This was the true essence of the Chill Phantom Clone Sword.


    When others released multiple sword beams, the majority of them would be illusions.


    But the Chill Phantom Clone Sword spell allowed spiritual energy to condense within the sword to form attacks. Each attack was real, which was why this spell had the name of ¡°Phantom Clone¡±.


    These twelve sword beams covered Tang Jie from all angles, sword energy flooding in from all sides. This one attack disyed the formidable power of Basking Moon¡¯s number one genius.


    Tang Jie bellowed, the Heartbreak Saber slicing through the air, and an eerie sh collided with one of the sword beams.


    The sword beam was formed from spiritual energy that had been conducted through the sword, and when Tang Jie¡¯s saber made contact, it immediately evaporated into countless particles of light. A gap appeared in Qi Shaoming¡¯s array of twelve swords, and the saber energy shot straight at Qi Shaoming himself.


    The Windcleaver Saber!


    Countering attack with attack!


    <em>Boom!</em>


    An explosion.


    The twobatants shed and separated.


    Tang Jie was surrounded with explosions of light, the eleven sword beams erupting against his Formless Golden Body and Aquagel Shroud. Qi Shaoming had also produced a small ck shield at the crook of his arm, and there was a silver barrier made from spiritual energy around him.


    ¡°The ck Turtle Shield and the Silver Shroud,¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    Tang Jie had already figured out from Qi Shaoming¡¯s second ce in the Celestial Defense Hall that he must have learned some powerful defensive spells.


    While this exchange had seemed fruitless for both sides, a momentter, they both grunted in pain.


    While eleven rice-sized wounds had appeared on Tang Jie¡¯s body, a crack had appeared on Qi Shaoming¡¯s ck Turtle Shield, and there was a bloodstain on his chest.


    The Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra!


    All attacks made with the foundation of the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra would be able to pierce through armor to a certain extent, which was why it had always been known for its sharp attacks.


    Both of them cultivated the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra, and they both used spell arts that matched it. Thus, they had seeded in piercing through the other side¡¯s defenses and inflicting some damage.


    But in terms of damage, Tang Jie¡¯s Windcleaver Saber was clearly stronger. As Qi Shaoming had taken the more serious wound, he was the one who had lost out in this exchange.


    The two of them looked at each other and shouted again.


    Qi Shaoming vanished as he rushed forward at high speeds.


    The Passing Shadow spell!


    As a movement art, Passing Shadow couldn¡¯tpare to the Violet Lightning Lunge, but when Qi Shaoming used it, the entire room was awash with his figure as he produced countless afterimages. He had clearly practiced this spell art until he had mastered it, and not only was he no slower than Tang Jie using the Violet Lightning Lunge, he even surpassed him in some aspects.


    In this sea of afterimages, the countless Qi Shaomings swung their swords in unison, each one unleashing twelve sword beams. The room exploded with sword light, the deluge of sword energy rming even Tang Jie.


    It had to be understood that each of these sword beams was a real attack!


    He really hadn¡¯t believed Qi Shaoming to be this capable,bining the Passing Shadow and Chill Phantom Clone spells into such a powerful ultimate technique.


    As the deluge swept toward him, Tang Jie knew that he couldn¡¯t keep holding back. He swung the Heartbreak Saber, releasing a wave of saber energy at Qi Shaoming¡¯s sword deluge.


    Divine Court Thousandshift!


    While the Windcleaver Saber was a fierce attack, it wasn¡¯t good at defending. Inparison, the Divine Court Thousandshift¡¯s numerous variations allowed it to be used in various ways.


    The collision of saber and sword energies created a spiritual shockwave, but the sword deluge engulfed the light of the saber energy and continued to surge toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie knew that this wasn¡¯t good. While the Divine Court Thousandshift had many uses, he simply wasn¡¯t proficient enough in it. Meanwhile, Qi Shaoming was so proficient in the Passing Shadow and Chill Phantom Clone that he was able to produce this formidable sword deluge.


    At least when it came to function, the real deal could overwhelm the knockoff.


    Tang Jie had utterly lost in this exchange. The sword deluge swept him up and tossed him into the air.


    In an explosion of light, Tang Jie¡¯s body waspletely covered in bloody wounds.


    Even with his Formless Golden Body, the sword delugebined with the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra was still able to deal significant damage to him.


    In the second round, Tang Jie had suffered a bitter defeat.


    Qi Shaoming somersaulted in the air andnded on the floor. He looked at Tang Jie and proudly said, ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Not bad!¡± Tang Jie said, wiping away the blood at the corner of his lips. ¡°You deserve your status as the number one student of our ss. To think that you were able tobine your movement art and sword so perfectly, essentially creating clones that could unleash numerous attacks at once to create an explosive blow¡­ Butpared to an actual clone spell, it must consume much more spiritual energy, right?¡±


    Qi Shaoming froze for a moment, and then he nodded. ¡°Yes. While this move is extremely powerful, all of the spiritual energyes from my body, and there are many other costs besides. With this one attack, I used up 180 drops of spiritual liquid.¡±


    The Chill Phantom Clone used up ten drops of spiritual liquid each time it was used, and Passing Shadow used six and could produce nine afterimages at most.


    With his afterimages, Qi Shaoming was able to unleash ten Phantom Clone shes, and this massive boost in power came with a corresponding cost.


    He was still a Spirit Spring student, so he had to have one thousand or fewer drops of spiritual liquid. This one attack had taken two hundred drops, so at full strength, he would only be able to use this attack five times.


    ¡°Impressive! Truly impressive!¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°There are probably few students in our ss who can take this kind of attack. Qi Shaoming, you are truly our ss¡¯s number one genius. I don¡¯t admire you for your nine-cycle Jade Gate, but I submit to your ability to cultivate your spell arts to this level!¡±


    Tang Jie gave him a thumbs-up.


    His words came from the bottom of his heart and left Qi Shaoming startled.


    But he quickly turned angry. ¡°Are you mocking me? I still haven¡¯t won.¡±


    Although Tang Jie was injured, he was still standing. There was naturally no victory unless he could be brought down.


    Tang Jie chuckled and shook his head. ¡°Is there any need to knock me down to consider yourself victorious? Does it not count if I concede?¡±


    Qi Shaoming¡¯s clone shes were frightening, but they were stillckingpared to Gu Changqing¡¯s Golden Eagle Talon.


    With Tang Jie¡¯s current body, let alone one strike, he could take all five and still recover in only a short while.


    While Qi Shaoming was capable of holding down Tang Jie at the start of this battle, by the end, he would inevitably be the loser.


    One hundred thousand coins was far more powerful than Qi Shaoming could imagine. Properly beating Tang Jie would require him to improve for at least another two years.


    s, Tang Jie could say none of this. All he could hope for was that Qi Shaoming would gracefully ept the concession.


    Unfortunately, he was bound to be disappointed.


    Qi Shaoming clearly wasn¡¯t on the same wavelength.


    Raising the Autumn Water Sword, he shouted, ¡°Are you trying to humiliate me? Fight me with everything you have!¡±


    <em>Motherfucker.</em>


    Tang Jie inwardly cursed.


    He didn¡¯t mind winning or losing, but he couldn¡¯t let himself be beaten ck and blue. He pointed at Qi Shaoming and said, ¡°You really are hopelessly stubborn. Forget it. Some people need victory to encourage themselves, and some people need defeat to clear their minds. Qi Shaoming, you might be a genius, but you¡¯re too proud, so proud that you¡¯ve already started to stray in your cultivation. If so, let me clear your mind.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes erupted with fighting intent, his blood energy seething as his strength began to climb.


    Qi Shaoming instantly sensed that Tang Jie was changing.


    There was something different about him now. He stood there as quietly as a mountain and as unfathomable as an abyss. It was no longer possible to see his true self.


    His heart trembling, Qi Shaoming drew back his sword and began to make hand signs. A wave of light appeared as Qi Shaoming shouted, ¡°Windwalk Form! Iceberg Palm!¡±


    Qi Shaoming moved again, even faster than before. He thrust out his left hand, an icy energy radiating from it.


    ¡°Windwalk Form, I see,¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    Windwalk Form, just like Formless Golden Body, was a body-strengthening spell. This one focused on speed, and Windwalk Formbined with Passing Shadow would make one even faster. At the same time, it also dispersed strength, giving it rather decent defensive effects. It was one of the best of the lower-ss spell arts, but it was extremely difficult to cultivate.


    Qi Shaoming must have put in a lot of work to get it to this level.


    Qi Shaoming¡¯s attacks were sharp, his movements were nimble, his spell arts were numerous, and his casting times were also fast. Truly, he was skilled in every aspect, so it was no wonder he was so conceited and wanted to get the top rank in all of the Seven Celestial Halls before entering Spirit Lake.


    s, though he was a genius, what he wanted was beyond his power. In the end, while he was in the top ten of every leaderboard, he had failed to snatch a single first ce.


    Reality had strayed so far from his ideals, so it was no surprise he hade to find Tang Jie for a duel.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know whether he had gone to find anyone else before this, but trying to fight him today was undoubtedly a mistake.


    As the Iceberg Palm shot forward, freezing the entire room, Tang Jie¡¯s speed dropped. Qi Shaoming once more shot up, his sword glinting with a cold light.


    ¡°Starfall Strike!¡±


    This time, he didn¡¯t use the Chill Phantom Clone Sword.


    The Chill Phantom Clone Sword favored group battles andnding hits, but its greatest problem was that it dealt too little damage. The harm inflicted by sword wounds was rather limited.


    The Starfall Strike was simr to the Windcleaver in that it was a powerful single-target offensive spell that could also utilize the armor-piercing attribute of the Grotto Metal Mantra.


    Facing down that starry light, Tang Jie swung the Heartbreak Saber and unleashed the Windcleaver.


    Saber light shed against starlight, and then that falling star dissipated, destroyed by Tang Jie¡¯s attack.

 Chapter 150: Duel (3)

    Chapter 150: Duel (3)


    Qi Shaoming was startled, but the Heartbreak Saber was swinging at him. Aghast, Qi Shaoming hastily turned, just barely avoiding the saber.


    But as he dodged, Tang Jie rushed up, raised his left hand, and fired a needle at Qi Shaoming¡¯s arm.


    Energy Needle!


    And he was using only the Silver Cloud Needle, as he felt that this wasn¡¯t some battle wherein lives were on the line.


    If he used the golden needle, Qi Shaoming probably wouldn¡¯t have an arm right now.


    Still, Qi Shaoming felt a throb of pain, and he roared in anger and used another Starfall Strike.


    ¡°Useless!¡± Tang Jie roared, once more unleashing a Windcleaver, which obliterated Qi Shaoming¡¯s attack with an unstoppable momentum.


    While he didn¡¯t have as many spell arts as Qi Shaoming, nor could he use them as quickly and as flexibly, his Windcleaver Saber could utilize the entirety of his strength, each swing carrying with it his majestic power.


    With his absurd strength backing the Windcleaver Saber, he truly could cut down any attack that came at him. It was probably only Qi Shaoming¡¯s Passing Shadow/Phantom Clonebination attack that he couldn¡¯t deal with.


    <em>Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!</em>


    As the two of them fought, Qi Shaoming realized to his horror that all of the attacks he used did nothing to Tang Jie while that berserk saber intent surged through the heavens. The frost created by the Iceberg Palm was incapable of slowing Tang Jie even half a step.


    With every step, it was possible to hear the sound of ice cracking.


    Tang Jie was like a tigering down the mountain, his saber swinging out again and again, Windcleaver Sabers going left and right. It was such a simple and straightforward move, yet Qi Shaoming just couldn¡¯t stop it.


    The freezing ice didn¡¯t seem to exist, nor did the falling stars. No matter how fast the Windwalk Form was, there was no escaping the limited confines of the sparring room. While the Passing Shadow was dazzling to behold, Tang Jie hacked at the illusions like they were the real deal, holding nothing back.


    His strength seemed endless, his will to fight overflowing. The winds stirred up by Tang Jie¡¯s saber tore through the room. It was just one saber, but it weighed down on him like a mountain, causing Qi Shaoming to struggle to breathe.


    rmed and dismayed, he finally used hisbination attack, the Passing Shadow Phantom Clone sh.


    The sword deluge finally managed to stop Tang Jie¡¯s momentum and knock him into the air.


    But when hended, Tang Jie simply threw up some blood, chuckled, and stood back up.


    He looked at Qi Shaoming and asked, ¡°How many more times can you use that? Two times? Three times?¡±


    Qi Shaoming trembled and shook his head. ¡°No! How is this possible?¡±


    He rarely used thisbination move because it was far too powerful. Using it against a student was liable to cause a death.


    But to his surprise, Tang Jie was still standing after two of them.


    This made him almost go crazy.


    He no longer cared about the consequences, once more using the Passing Shadow Phantom Clone sh, striking Tang Jie with a thunderous blow.


    Twice in a row!


    These were hisst two attacks. He had now used everything, and any other student would have died on the spot.


    But Qi Shaoming didn¡¯t care.


    He didn¡¯t hate Tang Jie. He just couldn¡¯t ept a loss.


    He only thought about winning!


    Though he was a genius, he was also a very proud young man.


    He wasn¡¯t convinced!


    The oue would be decided with this blow, and all he cared about was beating this guy!


    <em>I want to win!</em>


    Qi Shaoming mentally roared as he moved his sword and utilized his spiritual energy to their limits. His figure could be seen in every part of the sparring room, the sword deluge unleashing a frenzied rain of sword beams that even carried a tinge of the Mortal Shedding Realm¡¯s power.


    In this terrifying flood of attacks, even Tang Jie was knocked into the air and violently threw up blood.


    The Aquagel Shroud was generated and destroyed over and over, and even the Formless Golden Body reached its breaking point, crazily drinking spiritual energy from his body to maintain itself.


    Once all those afterimages finally dissipated and the sword deluge had ebbed, Tang Jie¡¯s body crashed to the ground.


    His entire body was covered in sword wounds, not a single inch of his flesh left intact.


    Even Qi Shaoming was shaken. Only now did he realize that he was capable of killing someone.


    But a momentter, that frightening thought disappeared.


    Tang Jie jumped to his feet and charged at Qi Shaoming like a frenzied bull.


    He charged so quickly that he was mming into Qi Shaoming before he had evene to his senses.


    A savage punch sted through the Silver Shroud and Windwalk Form that Qi Shaoming no longer had the power to sustain, making direct contact with his nose. Blood flowed out as his body went flying.


    ¡°Noooo!¡± Qi Shaoming angrily howled, like a man despairing as he was about to die.


    Tang Jie¡¯s punch had totally shattered his hopes of victory, shattered thatst shred of dignity he had.


    Tang Jie rushed up, grabbed him, and punched him again. ¡°Bastard thing, using your best move twice! Don¡¯t you realize you could have killed me? Or did you not care what happened so long as you could win?¡±


    <em>Bang!</em>


    He punched Qi Shaoming flying again, but he was already holding back, knowing that Qi Shaoming couldn¡¯t take the full force of his blows.


    He then charged up and kicked Qi Shaoming in the waist. ¡°Qi Shaoming, it¡¯s true that you¡¯re a genius, but you¡¯re too proud, so proud that you think you¡¯re the world! First ce in all Seven Celestial Halls? What do you think other people are? Do you think people will look down on you just because you didn¡¯t get first ce? But who in this academy is really looking down on you? While you might not have first ce in any of them, you¡¯re in the top ten of all the Celestial Halls. Is there anyone other than you capable of that? Everyone knows of your genius, and no one has ever dared to underestimate you, but you continue to look down on yourself. If you can¡¯t reach the goal you set for yourself, you won¡¯t be satisfied, and failing to reach the next cultivation tier faster than me has made you feel even more ufortable. You¡¯re not striving to get ahead! You¡¯re just insufferably arrogant, believing everyone else to be mud dirtying the soles of your shoes, refusing to let others surpass you.¡±


    Qi Shaoming furiously replied, ¡°What do you understand? You don¡¯t know that the title of ¡®genius¡¯ is itself an enormous burden. Do you know how many people are watching me? How many people are waiting for me? The moment I mess up, they¡¯ll be on me like locusts, insulting and calling me some dogshit genius. You¡¯ve never heard those voices, the mockery. You would never understand!¡±


    ¡°How could I have not heard it? Do you think I haven¡¯t received my fair share of ridicule over thest several days?¡± Tang Jie countered. He grabbed Qi Shaoming and punched him in the belly. ¡°What¡¯s the point in taking to heart the jeers of the ignorant? There are plenty of idiots under the sun, and there¡¯s no time to settle things with every one of them! If you¡¯re acting like this after a few insults, that doesn¡¯t mean that you have some unyielding character. It just means you¡¯re a sore loser!¡±


    ¡°¡®A sore loser¡¯?¡± Qi Shaoming asked in shock.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t answer, punching Qi Shaoming instead and causing him to bend over in such pain that he couldn¡¯t even talk. Tang Jie grabbed him and pinned him to the wall.


    Qi Shaoming squeezed out, ¡°I¡¯m not a sore loser. I just don¡¯t want to let down my n¡¯s hopes¡­¡±


    ¡°Wanting to advance is a good thing, and wanting to live up to the title of genius and your n¡¯s expectations is also a good thing! But any good thing taken to the extreme will be a bad thing! You¡¯re too extreme, so extreme that you won¡¯t tolerate the slightest w. This is your problem!¡±


    Qi Shaoming trembled at these words.


    Tang Jie finally stopped punching him and let him down.


    He said, ¡°If you don¡¯t want to let down your n, you have to work harder, not get angry when other people insult you¡­ That just makes you unhappy and makes your enemies rejoice. You¡¯re a genius with a nine-cycle Jade Gate. This talent is best suited for rapidly increasing your cultivation level, not fighting. You¡¯re putting the cart before the horse by focusing all your energy into spell arts. Even if you¡¯re a genius, if you go down the wrong path, you¡¯ll still end up as trash.¡±


    ¡°Even a genius will end up as trash if they go down the wrong path?¡± Qi Shaoming repeated, his mind dazed.


    Tang Jie looked at Qi Shaoming and sighed. ¡°Just focus on cultivating and stop seeking out these momentary advantages. At your current level of strength, you don¡¯t need to cultivate any more spell arts and would still be able to dominate the other students for a while. Once your cultivation level is higher and your spiritual power more plentiful, your Passing Shadow Phantom Clone sh alone would be enough to set Spirit Lake students running. If you were at Spirit Lake and able to unleash one more of those shes, I might not even be standing right now.¡±


    He was naturally just trying tofort Qi Shaoming.


    At Qi Shaoming¡¯s current level of strength, he would need to use the Phantom Clone sh five times in a row to slice Tang Jie up enough that he couldn¡¯t stand. But Tang Jie wouldn¡¯t say this. People needed hope to drive them forward.


    He didn¡¯t have any grudge against Qi Shaoming. He just thought that he was too proud and refused to acknowledge others.


    Since they had met, fought, and talked about so much, he didn¡¯t mind bing Qi Shaoming¡¯s friend.


    After all, Qi Shaoming still had a nine-cycle Jade Gate. He had just unwittingly gone in the wrong direction. If he were returned to the proper course, he would quickly shine once more.


    After spending a long time in an organization, Tang Jie had realized some time ago that if a person wanted to stand out, hard work alone wasn¡¯t enough. They also needed to grab onto someone else¡¯s leg.


    He had first grabbed Xu Muyang¡¯s leg, and then he had grabbed the Wei n¡¯s leg, and after that, he had grabbed the academy¡¯s leg.


    He couldn¡¯t rely on these anymore, so he could only grab onto Qi Shaoming¡¯s leg.


    Though his leg was thinner than the others, at least it wouldn¡¯t leave any side effects. At least this could be considered making friends with the son of the local tycoon.


    Of course, Qi Shaoming¡¯s reckless attack had still infuriated Tang Jie somewhat, so he had beaten him up first to teach him a lesson.


    Qi Shaoming¡¯s mind was much clearer now, so Tang Jie patted him on the shoulder and said, ¡°It¡¯s only been a year, so you still have time if you work hard. With your talent, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll get to Spirit Lake soon, and once you¡¯re brimming with energy and able to make ten of those Passing Shadow Phantom Clone shes in a row and have me begging at your feet, wouldn¡¯t that be a pleasant sensation?¡±


    Tang Jie began to walk out of the room.


    As he was about to leave, Qi Shaoming shouted, ¡°Tang Jie!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Tang Jie turned his head to look at him.


    Qi Shaoming struggled to his feet.


    He stared at Tang Jie, and after a while, he finally said, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Tang Jie knew that he had epted his suggestion and had seen the truth, so he smiled and walked out.

 Chapter 151: True Inheritance

    Chapter 151: True Inheritance


    Once Tang Jie got back to the Carefree House, he pushed through the pain and changed his clothes. As he looked at the wounds that covered his body, he shivered in fear.


    While he had won this battle with Qi Shaoming, this was the worst he had ever been injured in a battle at the academy. Purely in terms of offensive power, Qi Shaoming¡¯s Passing Shadow Phantom Clone sh was probably the strongest attack among all students of his ss. It was only the limitation of his spiritual energy that prevented him from using it several times in a row.


    Once Qi Shaoming rose in cultivation level and had more spiritual energy, Tang Jie would no longer be any match for him.


    Thus, cultivation was simr to rowing a boat upstream. To not advance was to fall back, and the slightest neglect would have others hot on one¡¯s heels.


    s,undering his identity hadundered away his advantages as well, and he also owed a big debt. Advancing by leaps and bounds in a short period of time was now impossible.


    But all Tang Jie could do about this problem was sigh at his helplessness.


    In the middle of his mncholy, the jade amulet on his waist suddenly shed.


    Startled, Tang Jie hastily grabbed the amulet. A line of graceful words appeared: ¡°I¡¯ve returned to Horizon Ocean Pavilion.¡±


    These simple words felt like they had seized Tang Jie¡¯s heart, and he shuddered.


    At that moment, he understood why he had not received a message from her in so long.


    This was because, having given him her paper crane, she could only return to Horizon Ocean Pavilion to reestablishmunications.


    Half a month¡­ She was rather fast.


    Tang Jie felt his heart heat up.


    After the battle with Qi Shaoming, Tang Jie¡¯s life returned to its normal track.


    Every day involved simple and tedious cultivation.


    Ten dayster, Tang Jie received some news.


    Qi Shaoming had entered Spirit Lake.


    When he learned this, he smiled. He knew that Qi Shaoming had epted his suggestion and would no longer be so anxious for momentary achievements.


    With his talent, effort, and family circumstances, he would probably soon be the talk of the entire academy.


    Thirty dayster, Tang Jie used up hisst True Essence Pill. His Spiritual Space could now hold 2200 drops. The four bottles of True Essence PIlls had saved Tang Jie half a year, but now, Tang Jie no longer had any medicines to assist him in cultivation.


    Forty dayster, Tang Jie used up thest of the five-thousand-some spirit coins he had.


    His golden grain had doubled in size and now appeared like a golden ss marble. s, it had little other use than bing a needle that was somewhat thicker and longer.


    Fifty dayster, a letter arrived from the Wei n.


    It had been personally written by Zheng Shufeng to Tang Jie.


    It was a very long letter, written with the refinement befitting a great n, but it could be summarized thusly: ¡°Don¡¯t make any more trouble, but what¡¯s past is past. I support you.¡±


    Just as Tang Jie had predicted, Wei Tianzhi had received a letter from Zheng Shufeng that scolded him harshly.


    Besides that, Tang Jie was sent one hundred spirit coins.


    It was a significant sum, but s, for Tang Jie, it was like a cup of water on a burning cart, gone after buying just a few broken tools.


    He also received some news from Xu Miaoran through the jade amulet from time to time.


    But they were mostly unimportant topics or helplessints.


    For example: ¡°Grandma had me learn etiquette today. I hate it.¡± ¡°Have you been doing well? Please don¡¯t send me a reply. You only have that one, and it will be gone once it¡¯s used.¡± ¡°I took a liking to some clothes, but my dad won¡¯t let me wear them.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve finally seeded at learning the Seash Gale. I¡¯m so happy¡­¡± ¡°Hey, if you have the time, remember toe to Endsea to see me.¡±


    In Tang Jie¡¯s rather monotonous cultivation life, these messages were like dazzling moments of beauty.


    Sixty dayster, Tang Jie had to deal with another imminent problem.


    It was time to pay the interest.


    The interest was calcted from the time he had taken the loan. After being kidnapped by Godhead Pce, he had been out for forty-some days. It had been two months since his return, which meant that his interest payment had run out, and his next interest payment woulde in twenty days.


    It was time to get back that money and pay off the debt. Otherwise, the monthly interest would eventually crush him.


    But what sort of reason could he use?


    <em>Nah, I don¡¯t need a reason!</em>


    Rather than saying that the other party was being deceived, it was better to say that the other party just didn¡¯t want to ask.


    Madam Shui had never asked where the one hundred thousand spirit coins had gone.


    So Basking Moon Academy would also not ask about how the one hundred thousand spirit coins were repaid.


    The matter of Godhead Pce¡¯s kidnapping had already been settled, so the Basking Moon Sect would not confiscate any money that Tang Jie took out after the fact.


    So long as the academy¡¯s interest was not harmed, Basking Moon Academy would not ask too many questions.


    Moreover, even if they didn¡¯t ask, everyone could still guess.


    Since it was this way, why act insincere?


    There was no need to speak a lie that no one would believe. It was better to just take everything in stride.


    It was normal for a person to be selfish, and Basking Moon Academy would presumably understand.


    With his mind made up, Tang Jie decided to head off in the next few days to take those items.


    It would take several days to get to the hiding spot and back. Fortunately, Tang Jie had already passed the examination, and Spirit Lake students could go out on missions. He just needed to take a mission to solve that problem.


    With this thought in mind, Tang Jie headed to the Bounty tform on the same day.


    The Bounty tform was where the academy issued contribution missions to students.


    Any student that had reached Spirit Lake could take missions from the academy for contribution points.


    Contribution points could be exchanged for certain rewards, even secret arts from the Divine Firmament Sword ssic. Of course, this would require many contribution points, and besides that, one would need to take a loyalty test and have their identity verified.


    This was precisely why the secret arts of the Basking Moon Sect were not some far-off dream for Basking Moon Sect disciples. It was just that lower-level students didn¡¯t have the ability to get the contribution points to obtain these secret arts.


    Tang Jie currently owed 120 contribution points, so he had no hope of getting rewards. Paying back the debt came first. Fortunately, he had never hoped to get any rewards. He just needed a chance to get out and pay back his debt.


    As he arrived at the Bounty tform, Tang Jie saw a group of students circled around something.


    The Bounty tform was where missions were picked up. People normally left after taking a mission, andpleting a mission would often take ten days to half a month. Thus, not many people gathered here.


    So it was rather strange for there to be so many people gathered around.


    As Tang Jie was wondering what was going on, he spotted Cai Junyang in the crowd.


    Spotting Tang Jie walking over, Cai Junyang chuckled. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that you would alsoe to join in on the fun.¡±


    The other students spotted Tang Jie and moved away, but Cai Junyang strode right up to him.


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. ¡°You should keep your distance. I happen to stink right now, so be careful not to get my smell on you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about what others think about you. After all, I¡¯m your friend,¡± Cai Junyang chuckled.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°Right, what¡¯s this fun you¡¯re talking about?¡±


    ¡°How do you still not know?¡±


    Tang Jie spread apart his arms. ¡°How could I know what happened? I came over to see if there are any missions I can do¡­ I still owe the academy contribution points.¡±


    Cai Junyang erupted inughter. ¡°I forgot you were so badly in debt. It seems like you won¡¯t have a chance at this True Inheritance.¡±


    ¡°True Inheritance?¡± Tang Jie was stunned when he heard this term. ¡°You¡¯re saying that one of the esteemed masters of the Basking Moon Sect is looking to take a disciple?¡±


    An esteemed master of Basking Moon¡¯s taking a disciple was a rare event indeed.


    When Tang Jie had talked about the subject with Wei Tianchong, he had mentioned a special status above the top ten disciples: True Inheritors!


    True Inheritors were not under the rules of the academy. They were decided by esteemed masters of the Basking Moon Sect, and no one could say when they would be appointed.


    As cultivators had long lives, they did not lightly take disciples. It was something that usually happened only once every few years.


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t expected to run into such a situation after only one year in the academy.


    ¡°Correct!¡± Cai Junyang replied. ¡°The news has already begun to spread. It¡¯s almost certain that there will be a True Inheritor chosen this time.¡±


    ¡°Which esteemed master is it?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°True Person Changfeng.¡±


    Yan Changfeng?


    Tang Jie was stunned again when he heard this name.


    He was far too familiar with this name.


    The record holder for the Celestial Pivot Hall¡¯s Spirit Sea Tier.


    A Celestial Heart True Person.


    He was the Hall Master of the Service Hall, his status higher than Xie Fengtang¡¯s.


    The Basking Moon Sect had eight inner halls and eight outer halls. The inner halls were: Storehouse, Selection, Instruction, Law, Agriculture, Formation, Medicine, and Tool. The eight outer halls were: Ritual, Tribute, Combat, Commerce, Service, Canon, Search, and Secret.


    The Combat Hall was also known as the Combat Department. It was the only one organized as a department, and it had three halls under it. The master of the Combat Department was Xiao Biehan, the number one fighter of the Basking Moon Sect and the Sword of the Basking Moon Sect. He held the supreme weapon of the sect: the God-Conquering Merak Sword.


    Yan Changfeng was the master of the Service Hall of the eight outer halls. He was primarily charged with providing protection and being paid for these services. Every year, the Basking Moon Sect took in tribute from the various sects of the kingdom, so it naturally needed to provide some protection to ensure that the interior of the country was stable. The Service Hall had the responsibility of protecting outsiders. Of course, they charged for their services. From a certain perspective, the Service Hall was an escortpany, but the ruling sect couldn¡¯t go around calling itself an escortpany. Rather, this was considered a service, so it was called the Service Hall.


    Yan Changfeng¡¯s taking a disciple was a major event for Basking Moon Academy, and it was no wonder so many people had gathered here.


    When Tang Jie heard this news, he asked Cai Junyang in shock, ¡°How is it going to be done?¡±


    True Persons had different standards when it came to taking disciples, and the method would differ every time. But most of them required some sort of test rather than relying on the academy to rmend someone.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about the details. Can¡¯t you see that everyone is waiting?¡± Cai Junyang replied. ¡°It won¡¯t be long before the specificse out.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°I guess there¡¯s no harm in me taking a look.¡±


    Someone sneered, ¡°True Person Changfeng would never pick someone as treacherous as you. Stop daydreaming.¡±


    Others voiced their agreement.


    This again.


    Was there really no end to it?


    Cai Junyang angrily said, ¡°Shut your mouths! Is it up to you what sort of person True Person Changfeng picks as his disciple? You¡¯reughing now, but you¡¯d better not hope that Tang Jie actually bes a True Inheritor. You¡¯ll all be suffering then.¡±


    These words carried some intimidating power, and the crowd was instantly silenced.

 Chapter 152: Taking a Disciple

    Chapter 152: Taking a Disciple


    An eagle-nosed man sporting a long beard and wearing a gray robe appeared before the crowd. He scanned the people and said in a deep and dignified voice, ¡°My name is Nan Baicheng. Following Master True Person Changfeng¡¯s orders, I havee to announce that True Person Changfeng will be taking another disciple.¡±


    This Nan Baicheng was none other than the branch master of Basking Moon¡¯s Anyang Prefecture Branch from back then.


    He had originally been a registered disciple under Yan Changfeng, not a True Inheritor. After the Shi Wunian incident, where he had done his utmost to dy Shi Wunian, Xiao Biehan had personally praised him. Thus, Yan Changfeng had promoted him to a True Inheritor disciple, at the same time freeing him from his post as Anyang Branch Master and allowing him to return to cultivate.


    For Nan Baicheng, this was a gift from the heavens.


    While Branch Master seemed like a rather lucrative post to a normal person, for those of Immortal sects, spending every day handling trivial matters meant that there was no time for cultivation, so it was not very valued. Moreover, no matter how much secr money one made, it could not be exchanged for Immortal resources. It was normally only people who didn¡¯t have much hope of cultivation that would take this sort of job.


    In the Rosecloud Domain, political power was important, but cultivation was even more important. So long as one possessed heaven-shaking powers, then even if onecked any sort of political post, no one would dare to look down on them. At most, they would be restrained by the rules and would be unable to go beyond their authority, but they would still have extraordinary status that most people could only hope for.


    Thus, Nan Baicheng had truly ascended to the heavens, bing Yan Changfeng¡¯s disciple. From now on, he was not an outer disciple of Yan Changfeng, but one of his actual disciples.


    But as he had be a disciple ratherte, he was still at the Mortal Shedding Realm, and he could only be considered a Tier 1 junior disciple. Yan Changfeng was seeking a student to take as a disciple, so his junior disciple hade personally to select an excellent talent for his master.


    Everyone became agitated upon hearing Nan Baicheng, and nobody dared to speak loudly as they looked up at the tform.


    Nan Baicheng began to speak about how the disciple would be selected.


    Yan Changfeng had permitted any Basking Moon Academy student in their sixth year or less to participate in the disciple selection.


    Participating students had toplete the three missions Yan Changfeng had issued.


    He would select only one person from each mission.


    Ultimately, these three would be True Inheritor reserves, and Yan Changfeng would personally select the student he most favored to be let in through the gate.


    Nan Baicheng would oversee the initial selection, and Yan Changfeng would only appear to pick from the final three.


    After stating the conditions, Nan Baicheng looked around. Seeing that all the students were quiet and somber, he nodded in satisfaction. ¡°For this disciple selection, all students that fit the condition may take the mission. There will be no contribution points uponpletion of the mission, only the right to be a True Inheritor reserve. I will now issue the first mission. Once this mission isplete, I will issue the second.¡±


    He waved his hand, and a mission appeared at the very top of the academy¡¯s bounty board.


    ¡°Target: Lin Lang, 18 years old, the son of former Minister of Personnel of the Sageheart Kingdom Lin Yuanming, a sixth-year student of Cloudflow Academy, Spirit Sea Tier.


    ¡°Former Minister of Personnel Lin Yuanming of the Sageheart Kingdom colluded with Godhead Pce, selling out his country, and his entire n was executed. Only Lin Lang, who was studying in the academy, was able to hear the news and flee. He is currently a fugitive in the area of the Yan Province.


    ¡°The students of Basking Moon are ordered to capture him and bring back his head. The reward is the status of a True Inheritor reserve!¡±


    Barring extraordinary circumstances, the Basking Moon Sect normally sent out people corresponding to the tier.


    Since Lin Lang was a sixth-year student, it only sent those in their sixth year or less after him.


    There was a picture at the bottom that showed what Lin Lang looked like. Unlike Tang Jie, Lin Lang¡¯s appearance had been made public.


    Yan Changfeng¡¯s True Inheritor mission matched the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s style, only asking for the result and not the process.


    Anyone who handed over the head couldplete the mission. The students could also fight each other so long as it was outside the school. After all, the school didn¡¯t care once they were out of the grounds.


    Of course, killing each other was still not allowed.


    Upon seeing the mission, Cai Junyang winced. ¡°A pursuit mission. There¡¯s so many people out there in the world, so how in the world is someone supposed to find a single fugitive?¡±


    The students chatted to each other, wondering how toplete this mission.


    Someone mentioned how Tang Jiye had escaped pursuit and had still not been found. The same was true for Lin Lang, so the chances ofpleting the mission seemed slim.


    Compared to finding him, killing Lin Lang wasn¡¯t a problem. What did it matter that he was at the Spirit Sea Tier? The Basking Moon Academy students were on a higher level, and anyone who went after him would undoubtedly be confident in their abilities.


    Tang Jie chuckled.


    This was an interesting mission. He had also been a fugitive fleeing from the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s pursuit once. He had never expected to be the hunter all of a sudden.


    Someone said, ¡°It¡¯s not like everyone can be like Tang Jiye. Look there! It says that Lin Lang is in the Yan Province region.¡±


    Another person snorted, ¡°The Yan Province has seven prefectures and twenty-six counties, holding a poption of tens of millions. There¡¯s no use in knowing that.¡±


    ¡°Haa, I think that this mission is just to make things hard for us,¡± a student muttered. Quite a few of them immediately decided to withdraw.


    Even Cai Junyang sighed and pessimistically shook his head.


    But Tang Jie narrowed his eyes, seemingly with something on his mind.


    Cai Junyang saw the strange look on his face and asked, ¡°Hey, you have an idea?¡±


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°I¡¯m wondering if True Person Changfeng is actually thinking about taking a disciple.¡±


    ¡°Mm? What do you mean by that?¡± Cai Junyang asked in confusion.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°If he wanted to take a disciple, why would he give out such a difficult mission?¡±


    Cai Junyang was bbergasted. ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­¡±


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°Unless the True Person doesn¡¯t want to take a disciple, there must be a way to quickly find him. Thus, Lin Lang isn¡¯t Tang Jiye. There¡¯s no way he will be able to escape.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the method?¡± Cai Junyang urgently asked.


    Tang Jie chuckled, ¡°So you really want to be True Person Changfeng¡¯s disciple?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Cai Junyang frantically said. ¡°Everyone does.¡±


    Tang Jie solemnly said, ¡°Then we are rivals, my brother.¡±


    Cai Junyang fell silent.


    Tang Jie patted Cai Junyang on the shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I can¡¯t tell you.¡±


    Tang Jie left.


    Cai Junyang was so angry that he was shaking, shouting, ¡°Alright, Tang Jie! Don¡¯t me me for not saying hello! Brothers are brothers, but a True Inheritance is a True Inheritance! I¡¯ll keep a close eye on you. Even if you can find Lin Lang and kill him, I¡¯ll steal his head from you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wee to! The Immortal Path is rife with struggle, and one must walk the Great Dao alone. The fights that should be fought must be fought, and you have to take responsibility! Brother Cai, if you can steal the head from me, you must have been better at stealing than the other students, so I will have noints!¡± Tang Jie loudly replied without looking back.


    ¡°Alright! Then it¡¯s settled! If I take the head, you can try to steal it from me!¡± Cai Junyang shouted back.


    Their conversation had drawn the attention of everyone else. The crowd looked back and forth between the two, but more gazes were focused on Tang Jie¡¯s back.


    Perhaps this guy, who was so cunning that he could even fool the academy, really had a way of finding Lin Lang?


    Everyone had the same idea.


    After leaving the Bounty tform, Tang Jie went straight to the Inkscent Parlor.


    The Inkscent Parlor was where students went to study. Tang Jie had not been there in some time, as he had already passed the examination. No one had expected this to be his first destination after leaving the Bounty tform.


    Some students trailed him, and they were all confused. Someone said, ¡°This kid must be trying to fool us. Keep a close eye on him, and we¡¯ll soon find out what¡¯s up.¡±


    Everyone else agreed.


    But Tang Jie really wasn¡¯t trying to fool anybody.


    Upon entering the Inkscent Parlor, he went to the library and asked the student manning it if he could borrow a book to read.


    The books kept in this library were ordinary books that covered a variety of topics, though there was nothing rted to cultivation among them.


    Students came to the academy to cultivate, not to read books in their free time. Thus, the library was a very empty ce, and even the books on the shelves were covered in dust.


    Tang Jie began to look, and when he saw a book regarding the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s history, he pulled it out, wiped off the dust, and began to read.


    He had understood much about the Basking Moon Sect through his sses, but because of his cultivation, his understanding was ultimately limited.


    As he flipped through this history of the Basking Moon Sect and came to understand how it worked, he gradually began to develop an image of it in his mind.


    As he read through the book, Basking Moon Academy was already in an uproar.


    The news spread at an rming rate, and everyone soon knew that Yan Changfeng was looking to take a disciple and had issued a mission.


    Countless students became anxious to try their luck and hunt down the mission target.


    But that elusive target gave everyone a headache, and nobody knew where to start.


    The more impatient ones immediately applied to take the mission, and once they received permission, they rushed off to the Yan Province in the hopes that they would get lucky.


    The sneakier ones were in no rush. They began to gather friends and form teams, nning on seeking out a chance to steal from other students.


    Some quick-witted ones went straight to Heaven One Pavilion and bought tracking spell arts. Although this was ast-minute effort, it was better than no effort at all.


    There were even extremely wealthy people who offered a high price for Lin Lang¡¯s head.


    The academy was in turmoil as all the students began to move, employing their own methods to prepare for this hunt of Lin Lang.


    Only Tang Jie had decided to go to the library in the Inkscent Parlor, where he read book after book.


    After one entire day, he finally left the parlor.


    When he arrived at the Carefree House, he found that Liu Hongyan, Ping Jingyue, and Cai Junyang were waiting for him.


    Liu Hongyan angrily red at him. ¡°You onlye back now? We¡¯ve been waiting an entire day! And that little brat of yours is really something, saying that she wouldn¡¯t open the door unless you came back.¡±


    With Tang Jie¡¯s return, Yiyi could now show her face in public. She was cute and innocent in contrast to Tang Jie¡¯s brusque attitude, so she was rather popr. There were even students who offered to buy Yiyi, though they were all refused. She was smart and clever, and when it came to these people who wanted to buy her, whether it was because they actually liked her or wanted to use her in medicine, she would nastily scowl.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I taught her to do that. All of you know that Yiyi is a sprite, and there are always people in the academy eying her. That¡¯s why I forbid her from interacting with anyone else alone.¡±


    The real reason was that while Yiyi was a known entity, the little tiger was still a secret.

 Chapter 153: Factions (1)

    Chapter 153: Factions (1)


    Tang Jie had forbidden the little tiger to show itself to anyone, so the Carefree House had be the only ce where it could hide. Whenever there was a visitor, Tang Jie or Yiyi would put the cub in the beast talisman.


    As the space inside the beast talisman was dark, the tiger cub couldn¡¯t be kept in there for very long, so Tang Jie and Yiyi were reluctant to do this.


    Tang Jie now asked, ¡°Right, so what business do you have with me?¡±


    ¡°The matter of True Person Changfeng, of course. So, what¡ªyou n to discuss this with us outside?¡± Ping Jingyue asked.


    Even if Ping Jingyue didn¡¯t say anything, Tang Jie could guess at what they wanted.


    As expected, Ping Jingyue and the others were nning to use the Freedom Society to form an alliance. They would work together to find Lin Lang, after which they would fight among themselves for the head.


    The best advantage of this method was that no matter whose hands the head fell into, it would remain within the Freedom Society. It would also increase the chances for the members of the Freedom Society as a whole.


    Cooperating with thepetition andpeting while cooperating was all it was.


    Unfortunately, he was going to have to disappoint them.


    Tang Jie had no choice but to knock on the gate. ¡°Yiyi, open the door.¡±


    A few momentster, Yiyi opened the gate and blinked at Tang Jie. From this, Tang Jie knew that Bao¡¯er had been taken into the talisman already.


    Yiyi rushed over to Ping Jingyue and hugged her neck. She then waved at Liu Hongyan and said, ¡°Hello, Big Sis Hongyan, and Big Sister Jingyue, and Big Brother Junyang, and Big Brother Shuyang¡­¡±


    She greeted all of the other students in one go.


    She had a sweet mouth and immediately had Liu Hongyan and the others smiling, no longer angry that she had refused to open the gate.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°Let¡¯s go in so we can talk inside.¡±


    Yiyi had already climbed down from Ping Jingyue and run off somewhere.


    Ping Jingyue couldn¡¯t stop her, so all she could say was, ¡°This child¡ªshe¡¯s so sly. I wonder what she¡¯s up to.¡±


    Tang Jiemented, ¡°Children have their secrets. Big people like us shouldn¡¯t try and butt in.¡±


    ¡°What about you? What sort of secrets do you have?¡± Liu Hongyan casually said as she followed Tang Jie into his house.


    ¡°That depends on what you¡¯re asking about.¡± Tang Jie invited everyone into the courtyard, had them sit, and served them tea.


    ¡°What else could it be?¡± Shu Mingyang replied. ¡°It¡¯s public knowledge that True Person Changfeng is taking a True Inheritor, so everyone is thinking of what to do. Tang Jie, you¡¯ve been gone for an entire day, so can I presume that you¡¯ve thought of something?¡±


    ¡°Me? I spent the entire day in the Inkscent Parlor reading books,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    The Inkscent Parlor?


    They nced at each other in surprise.


    Cai Junyang asked, ¡°What did you go there for?¡±


    ¡°If I want to be a True Person¡¯s disciple, I naturally have to understand the Basking Moon Sect first. To hunt down Lin Lang, I have to understand the Sageheart Kingdom, even understand Cloudflow Academy. Any of these reasons is enough to make me go and study up.¡±


    ¡°So what did you find out?¡± Ping Jingyue asked.


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°I¡¯ve determined that True Person Changfeng really is looking to take a disciple.¡±


    <em>Pfft!</em>


    Everybody spat out their tea.


    Liu Hongyan red at him. ¡°This is what you found out after an entire day of reading?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    They rolled their eyes, nobody believing him.


    But Tang Jie really wasn¡¯t lying.


    While reading books in Inkscent Parlor, the first thing he had wanted to confirm was whether or not Yan Changfeng actually wanted to take a disciple!


    Everything had a major objective, and if the major objective was wrong, then it was all pointless no matter how much effort one put in.


    The Hawk Hall had suffered such grievous losses precisely because it had failed to understand Tang Jie¡¯s major objective.


    Qi Shaoming¡¯s mistake was also that he had chosen the wrong direction!


    After all his experience, how could Tang Jie possibly make the same mistake?


    One day of time was rather valuable, but in Tang Jie¡¯s view, using it to confirm that he had the right objective was extremely worthwhile.


    Working in the wrong direction, no matter how passionately, was pointless.


    Besides, this hadn¡¯t been his only harvest.


    After one day of studying, he now had a greater understanding of the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s structure and internal circumstances, and also those of the various sects of the Sageheart Kingdom.


    This had allowed him to finallyprehend many things that had previously escaped him, and it also had allowed him to make up his mind.


    He took a drink of tea, and then he slowly said, ¡°This disciple selection¡­ I¡¯m giving up on it.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Everyone stared in gobsmacked wonder at Tang Jie.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Cai Junyang couldn¡¯t help but ce a hand on Tang Jie¡¯s forehead.


    Tang Jie swatted Cai Junyang¡¯s hand away. ¡°My head is fine. I have my reasons for giving up.¡±


    ¡°What reason is that?¡± Liu Hongyan asked.


    Sighing, Tang Jie said, ¡°All you know is that this disciple selection is an opportunity, but do you know about the problem behind this disciple selection?¡±


    ¡°The problem behind it?¡± The others were all confused.


    Ping Jingyue asked, ¡°Is there some sort of plot behind this disciple selection?¡±


    ¡°Not a plot, but there is a faction behind it,¡± Tang Jie answered.


    Anyrge organization would never be able to remainpletely united over the long term.


    Different people would have different thoughts, different viewpoints, and different ideals, so they would inevitably make different choices and form various organizations and powers.


    The Basking Moon Sect and Godhead Pce were both the same in this aspect.


    As factions were not supported by the Rosecloud Domain, these factions were not publicly known existences. They took the form of groups of various sizes led by specific individuals. Outsiders normally divided them into the conservatives, the radicals, and the centrists, and there were finer divisions within these groups.


    The conservative faction upied the mainstream in the Basking Moon Sect. As it was led by Basking Moon Sect Master Ling Xiao, it considered itself the orthodox school. This was also the inevitable result of anyrge faction holding power for a long time, or else this would be an era of great strife, not an era of great peace.


    The radicals were led by the Sword of the sect, Xiao Biehan, and so they drew many young talents.


    In truth, the radicals didn¡¯t go around fighting and killing every day. It was just that they were more radical and shy than the conservatives when it came to dealing with things.


    For example, when Xiao Biehan had gone against Shi Wunian, he had chosenbat to keep his guest.


    But if Basking Moon Sect Master Ling Xiao had been present, it would have been a show of hospitality, cups of wine raised in a toast to the moon.


    They both would seed at keeping Shi Wunian, but the methods were poles apart.


    The difference in how they handled this minor matter, if reflected in their administrative methods, would truly embody the saying ¡°a centimeter¡¯s error leads to a w of one thousand kilometers¡±!


    As for the centrists, they were also known as the academy faction, which was centered on Basking Moon Academy. On the surface, because Basking Moon Academy appeared too small, it seemed incapable of matching up against the two other factions, but Basking Moon Academy produced countless disciples that could be found throughout the other factions, so it actually wielded considerable influence.


    The academy faction was the typical traditionalist faction, believing that cultivators should pursue the Heavenly Dao, focusing more on cultivation and less on worldly affairs.


    It should be said that the academy faction represented the original mainstream thought of the cultivation world.


    s, when a person was in a high position, they no longer hadplete freedom. When it came to dealing with theplicated struggles of the cultivation world and controlling the cultivators of the world, no one could truly be aloof and transcendent, paying no attention to worldly affairs.


    If that were possible, why was there even a need to establish a sect?


    Would it not be far more free to wander the world as an unaffiliated cultivator, as unbound as the clouds and the cranes?


    Sects were established for the sake of obtaining resources, and control was required to obtain resources, and control required administrative methods.


    It was akin to how in the endless history of the evolution of life, not every species had the ability to reproduce and thrive. Only those species that understood how to thrive and reproduce were qualified to persist for generation after generation.


    The same was true for the cultivation world. It wasn¡¯t every cultivator that needed to y around with and control others, but only those who could y around with others and control them could stand at the apex of the cultivation world.


    This was precisely why, even though the academy faction had the traditional and correct mindset, it had always fallen behind.


    The three factions struggled against each other behind the scenes, and while it wasn¡¯t at a level where they couldn¡¯t coexist, many other matters would inevitably be dragged into the struggle, which would cause many decisions to have unexpected results.


    Why was it that Tang Jie had been able to use the ¡°impersonation strategy¡± to deceive the Hawk Hall while the Basking Moon Sect couldn¡¯t do the same? Why was it that the Basking Moon Sect was so apprehensive about a single student, not simply seizing and interrogating them? This was all connected to these factional struggles. With these factions suppressing each other, there were many things that they couldn¡¯t do.


    The same was true for Godhead Pce.


    Yan Changfeng¡¯s disciple selection was also connected to the struggle between the three factions.


    The conservatives had had the upper hand in the Basking Moon Sect, but after the Tang Jie incident, the rtions between the Basking Moon Sect and Godhead Pce had suddenly be tense. With their swords drawn against each other, the radicals immediately rose to the asion.


    Yan Changfeng was a member of the radicals, and this disciple selection was an expression of the radical faction¡¯s rising power.


    Both major factions had always been actively trying to recruit the students of Basking Moon Academy. Young people were hotblooded and impulsive, so they were easily drawn to the radical faction¡¯s ideals.


    Thus, every disciple selection was actually a promation the two major factions made to themselves. It served both to recruit talent and to rally the people to their side.


    Although nothing had been inly written about these things, there were at least some rumors. Bybining these rumors with the history of the Basking Moon Sect and a string of recent incidents, Tang Jie had naturally been able to spot something fishy in this incident and thus obtain a conclusion.


    Thus, Yan Changfeng¡¯s disciple selection was actually having the students choose a side!


    ¡°I see¡­¡± The Freedom Society students had never thought about this matter from this angle, and they were all rather dazzled after hearing Tang Jie exin it all.


    They would have never imagined that a disciple selection would be soplicated.


    ¡°So you¡¯re giving up on this disciple selection because you don¡¯t want to join the radicals?¡± Cai Junyang asked.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m that sort of person who choosesbat as his number one solution?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Cai Junyang scratched his head. Now that he thought about it, Tang Jie really didn¡¯t like fighting that much. When someone tried to cause trouble for him, he would just casually smile and let it go.


    He really didn¡¯t seem like the sort to join those Basking Moon Sect extremists in sweeping over the world, crushing the other major sects, and uniting the Rosecloud Domain.


    Since he wasn¡¯t that sort of person, it was best if he didn¡¯t join them.


    ¡°Then which faction do you prefer?¡± Ping Jingyue giggled and prodded Tang Jie with her elbow as she charmingly inquired.

 Chapter 154: Factions (2)

    Chapter 154: Factions (2)


    ¡°Do you even need to ask?¡± Liu Hongyan pouted. ¡°For someone like him, it doesn¡¯t matter what sort of view they hold. What matters is which faction can give him the most. He¡¯s a born member of the fence straddling faction!¡±


    Everyone erupted inughter.


    Tang Jie also threw back his head andughed. ¡°You really do understand me.¡±


    The academy faction was a faction that was also not a faction. It served as a mediator, helping out whoever offered the most benefits.


    For Tang Jie, the academy faction truly was the best fit. Thus, he had no interest in bing Yan Changfeng¡¯s disciple and joining the radicals. Moreover, some of the administrative ideals of the radical faction truly did not sit well with him.


    For example, some people in the radical faction supported the idea of the strong eating the weak, survival of the fittest, and the one with the bigger fist being the king.


    The thought of how the world would change if this sort of person gained power made him shiver.


    This was like having the Heavenly Extinction Sect rece the Basking Moon Sect!


    Although he was happy to incite war between the Basking Moon Sect and Godhead Pce, he had no desire to see the radicals be the mainstream or for ughter to be normalized.


    If that happened, death would bemonce, the world would stink of blood, thendscape would be changed, the earth would be painted red, and the sun and moon would lose all light¡­


    Of course, he was the only one thinking this. Youths normally did not have that many concerns.


    In truth, for most students, no matter which faction they joined, they mostly cared about getting stronger.


    Growing youths normally didn¡¯t have too many choices. Just like a drowning man, they could only try their best to grab any passing rope. They didn¡¯t have the leisure to pick and choose.


    Tang Jie had the Martial Mirror, and with this treasure of the Martial Lord, he didn¡¯t have a strong need for a master. On the contrary, being watched by a True Person would increase his chances of being exposed. Thus, his reason for giving up would only really work for him.


    For the majority of people, standpoint really didn¡¯t mean anything and would do nothing to affect their fervent desire to be a True Inheritor.


    When everyone saw that he had made up his mind, they gave up on joining hands with him. After chatting for a little longer, they took their leave.


    Not long after they had gone, Yiyi and the little tiger appeared next to Tang Jie.


    ¡°Big Brother, do you really not n to try and be True Person Changfeng¡¯s disciple?¡± She hadn¡¯t gone off far, so she had been able to hear their conversation clearly.


    ¡°Mm, I don¡¯t n to. But this doesn¡¯t mean that I¡¯ve given up. This is still an opportunity, and even if I don¡¯t want it, I have to make sure that my own people get it, right?¡±


    ¡°Then who do you n to get it?¡± Yiyi asked.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°You need to ask? My young master, of course.¡±


    ¡°What? Make me Yan Changfeng¡¯s disciple?¡±


    In the Meditation Garden, Wei Tianchong almost jumped thirty feet into the air as he stared in disbelief at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Yes. This is an opportunity. If you can be True Person Changfeng¡¯s True Inheritor disciple, then you won¡¯t even need topete for the top ten anymore. But you¡¯ll need to fix that loose mouth of yours¡­ It¡¯s ¡®True Person Changfeng¡¯! You had best remember that. If you end up calling him ¡®Yan Changfeng¡¯ in front of his face, you had best not me me for your suicidal conduct!¡±


    ¡°Me? Are you joking?¡± Wei Tianchongughed and waved his hand. ¡°No way, no way. That¡¯s impossible.¡±


    Among the students of his ss, he had barely squeezed his way into the top one hundred.


    This was a mission that all students up to the sixth year werepeting over. In terms of strength, Wei Tianchong ranked in the thousands. Even if Wei Tianchong were crazy, he would never think about trying for this True Inheritor opportunity. It was better to use that time on cultivation.


    His immaturity made Tang Jie so angry that he could hardly speak. But he could only patiently exin, ¡°Even if you can¡¯t get it, you have to at least try. As a cultivator, you should bravely press forward and not easily speak of retreat. To not be able to oupete others is one thing, but to give up without even trying is another. The struggles on the Immortal Path are such that to not advance is to fall back. Whether or not you seed, you at least have to make an effort, to just try your best at least once. Even if you fail, at least you¡¯ll be fair to yourself, fair to thedy, fair to everyone! If you try your best, at least you¡¯ll have an exnation for thedy, and when thedy finds out, she¡¯ll be happy that you tried your best. Isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    Wei Tianchong grinned. ¡°You¡¯ve made it sound very pleasant, but isn¡¯t that just so you can make me put in all I have? But I don¡¯t think that there¡¯s anything impressive about this True Inheritor business. Don¡¯t we have everything we need to learn in the academy? Why go through the trouble of getting a master? It doesn¡¯t seem that different to me.¡±


    Tang Jie got so angry that he jumped to his feet and pointed a trembling finger at him. ¡°¡®Doesn¡¯t seem different¡¯? How could it be any more different!? If you be a True Inheritor, you won¡¯t be an ordinary student. Bing a True Inheritor is the same as directly entering the Basking Moon Sect! You¡¯ll have the guidance of a master, someone who can hold your hand and teach you so that you don¡¯t need to figure things out yourself, someone who can open the way for you and answer any questions you have. Even if you suffer from energy corruption, your master can personally correct it for you. Every step you take will be correct, and you¡¯ll never take a wrong turn! Do you get it? Qi Shaoming is a nine-cycle genius, but because he didn¡¯t have a master, he went down the wrong path for an entire year! And you can also learn secret arts. And the spell arts you learn won¡¯t be just single books that you can redeem one of at every tier, or books that you have to buy yourself. It all depends on whether your master is happy and how much he wants to teach you. If your master likes you, he¡¯ll even pass on his secret teachings to you, and these won¡¯t be much worse than the Divine Firmament Sword ssic. Finally and most importantly, you¡¯ll have a backer! Do you get it? A backer! In the future, whenever anything goodes up, you¡¯ll be the first person to be thought of, you¡¯ll get off lightly if you make a mistake, and you¡¯ll always be a cut above everyone else wherever you go. Haven¡¯t you wondered why I wasn¡¯t heavily punished despite causing such a mess? Isn¡¯t it because Headmaster Xie likes me? And I¡¯m not even his disciple yet! You¡¯re asking me what¡¯s so good about it? There¡¯s nothing bad about it! How could it not be different?¡±


    Tang Jie was practically bellowing when he got to hisst few sentences.


    Wei Tianchong was scared out of his wits.


    He had just been looking for a reason to back out. He hadn¡¯t expected to provoke such a reaction from Tang Jie.


    For Tang Jie, another important reason for giving up on bing Yan Changfeng¡¯s disciple was that if Wei Tianchong could be a True Inheritor, he would make huge progress inpleting his Heart Demon Aspiration and would be free to roam the world much sooner.


    This was rted to his dream life, so how could Tang Jie not be anxious?


    He knew that he had been a little too rash just now, so he took a deep breath and changed his tone, sincerely saying, ¡°Third Young Master, this is for your own good!¡±


    Wei Tianchong found it hard to adapt to his sudden change of tone. Scratching his head, he said, ¡°But it¡¯s not like I¡¯ll be able to beat out the others. I¡¯ve only been studying for a year, and while I have a good background, it¡¯s only a local n. In terms of talent, I don¡¯t have any, and in terms of cultivation time, I don¡¯t have that either. When ites to family background, I¡¯m also not strong enough. I really don¡¯t have any hope.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s fine. Other people have talent, but you have servant students!¡±


    After going back and forth for quite a while, he finally managed to convince Wei Tianchong.


    Tang Jie called over Shi Meng so he could take part in the discussion over how they could help the young master take the target¡¯s head. The spells Shi Meng had learned had almost all been support spells, and while they weren¡¯t strong, they were very useful.


    When Shi Meng heard that Tang Jie wanted Wei Tianchong to be a True Inheritor, he began to tremble.


    But Wei Tianchong was actually rxed now that the decision was made. After all, he just needed to do whatever Tang Jie told him to do.


    ¡°But it¡¯s rather strange,¡± Wei Tianchongmented. ¡°Isn¡¯t this just a disciple selection? He should just select the most outstanding person. Why go through this test?¡±


    In Wei Tianchong¡¯s mind, if someone wanted a disciple, why would they not just choose the person with the best aptitude?


    Qi Shaoming had a nine-cycle Jade Gate, so wouldn¡¯t choosing him save a lot of trouble?


    His words hinted that he still wasn¡¯t confident about his ability topete.


    Tang Jie red at him. ¡°You think everyone is like you? The greatest advantage of this approach is that everyone has a fair chance. After all, talent isn¡¯t the sole criterion for a cultivator¡¯s sess.¡±


    ¡°Then why are there three tests?¡± Shi Meng asked.


    ¡°Perhaps one isn¡¯t enough?¡± Wei Tianchong replied.


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s probably because what fairness really means is a loss of control. If you use a test to select a disciple, while it¡¯s certainly fair, how can you ensure that the person who gets selected is the one you like, the one you want?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­¡± Shi Meng and Wei Tianchong blurted out in unison.


    Tang Jie raised three fingers. ¡°Three tests means three ces, which means three candidates. True Person Changfeng can choose the one he likes out of the three candidates¡­ Not only is this fair, giving everyone a chance, he also leaves himself the power to choose.¡±


    Wei Tianchong blurted out, ¡°Isn¡¯t this being a prostitute while also establishing a memorial arch?¡±


    (TN: This is a Chinese saying that means someone whomits crimes while pretending to be a good person.)


    Tang Jie red at him, but a momentter, he chuckled and said, ¡°That¡¯s how it¡¯s always been. Outstanding and important figures don¡¯t have to be prostitutes, but they definitely have to set up memorial arches!¡±


    Wei Tianchongughed. ¡°Then it¡¯s over. True Person Changfeng definitely won¡¯t pick me. It seems to me that it won¡¯t be any good even if you do help me get a spot.¡±


    ¡°Correct. In normal circumstances, that truly would be the case,¡± Tang Jie confirmed, not at all getting angry.


    Given how this kid was acting, it would be far stranger if Yan Changfeng ended up liking him out of the three candidates.


    ¡°So¡­¡± Tang Jie trailed off.


    This familiar tone made Wei Tianchong¡¯s sphincter clench. He could vaguely sense that something bad was about to happen.


    He said in a trembling tone to Tang Jie, ¡°So what?¡±


    ¡°So there¡¯s only one way to guarantee that you be Yan Changfeng¡¯s disciple: we have to take all three spots so that he doesn¡¯t have a choice!¡±


    <em>Thump!</em>


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng both fell down.


    The n was set, and whether or not Wei Tianchong was willing or wanted it, events were sprinting in the direction of making him into a True Inheritor.


    On the same night, Tang Jie gave Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng their missions.


    Wei Tianchong began to spread around money in an attempt to buy information on Lin Yuanming¡¯s family. Meanwhile, Shi Meng went off to Heaven One Pavilion and bought a tracking spell and an identification spell. This mission was testing everyone¡¯s ability to investigate, and a tracking spell was of utmost importance.


    The identification spell was mainly to determine if the target was real or fake and whether or not the target had modified their appearance. It was of no use for tracking down the target. ording to the information provided by the academy, Lin Lang most likely had a spell art that could change his appearance, so an identification spell was still extremely important.

 Chapter 155: Shangquan City

    Chapter 155: Shangquan City


    Tang Jie continued to spend his days in Inkscent Parlor, gathering data, including records of past incidents and correspondences. He spent every day researching, often onlying out at night.


    All the students in Basking Moon Academy who wanted to be a True Inheritor had started to move, leaving the academy for Yan Province. Even the students of the Freedom Society had already formed teams and set off.


    Among the outstanding students, probably the only one who showed no interest in bing a True Inheritor was An Rumeng. As a student of the Thousand Passions Sect, she didn¡¯t need to worry about the problem of bing a True Inheritor. The fact that she had even been sent here foreordained that she would be a True Inheritor.


    Only Tang Jie continued to do nothing.


    Even Wei Tianchong had had his appetite for True Inheritor stirred up by Tang Jie, and seeing him do nothing made him rather anxious, so he asked about it several times.


    Tang Jie would always reply in an unhurried tone, ¡°What are you in such a rush for? Everyone understands to make ns before setting out first. How is it that when the timees to make the n, you suddenly can¡¯t contain yourself?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that we¡¯ll bete and Lin Lang will be captured!¡± Wei Tianchong helplessly said.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that exactly what you wanted?¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    Wei Tianchong was rendered speechless. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to fight over it, but you forced me to, yet now you¡¯re hardly in a rush at all. What does that mean?¡±


    Tang Jie patted Wei Tianchong on the back. ¡°Rx. Since I¡¯m having you be a True Inheritor, I would never give up so easily. Lin Lang isn¡¯t that easy to capture, and those who run the fastest at the start might not be the first to reach the end. While we still have time, you should go and cultivate. Do your best to improve your Mis Step and Evilhook Shadow Soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Rx. I¡¯ve been practicing this entire time and I¡¯m very proficient in them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±


    Another several days went by.


    Almost all the students who were going to leave the academy had already left when Tang Jie finally sent Wei Tianchong a message: ¡°Prepare to set out.¡±


    Upon receiving this message, Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng hastily began to pack up.


    The three of them got together, but Tang Jie went to the Bounty tform first.


    ¡°Why are we going there?¡± Wei Tianchong asked in confusion.


    ¡°To take a mission,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°Since we¡¯re going out anyway, I might as well get a few contribution point missions to do. I still owe the school points.¡±


    The two of them felt dizzy upon hearing this.


    <em>You¡¯re still in the mood to take other missions?</em>


    But Tang Jie really did go to the Bounty tform to take a mission.


    Since he was going out anyway, there was little difference between doing one mission and doing two.


    After looking around the Bounty tform, Tang Jie finally decided on a mission to exterminate foxes that were guing Wanxin Vige.


    Wanxin Vige was located in Pingtai County of Cang Province. The vige had been troubled by foxes as ofte, and it was said that this was the work of a fiend fox.


    The Basking Moon Sect received tribute from the kingdom, so it naturally had to resolve the various harms afflicting it. Controlling rivers, adjusting the weather, and disposing of cmities were missions that the Basking Moon Sect would receive throughout the year.


    Wanxin Vige was under the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s Pingtai branch, and the local cultivators should have handled it. But while fiend foxes were on the weak side, they were naturally cunning, and the Pingtai branch didn¡¯t have the energy to y around with it. Moreover, it would always send a few missions out every year to the academy so that the students could train, and so this mission had been left to the academy.


    The missions received by the Basking Moon Sect and Basking Moon Academy could normally be divided into three types.


    One kind were missions that the local branch couldn¡¯t deal with, so experts from the sect were sent out.


    Another kind was the sort where the problem could be handled, but there was ack of manpower, so an application would be made for additional help.


    The third kind were opportunities given to the school so its students could train themselves.


    This mission had a time limit of three months. If a student could notplete it in three months, the Pingtai branch would deal with it on its own.


    It had now been a month and a half. Tang Jie took the posting down, and a student was there to verify that he had taken the mission.


    If hepleted the mission, he could get two contribution points, and if he failed, he would lose one.


    Tang Jie wasn¡¯t worried about being in even more debt and cared little about the penalty, so he took the mission and left.


    Wei Tianchong found it strange and asked Tang Jie, ¡°Wanxin Vige is in Cang Province! Why are you taking a mission in Cang Province? This isn¡¯t on the way to Yan Province!¡±


    Tang Jie asked as he walked, ¡°Why do we need to go to Yan Province?¡±


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng felt their heads ache at this question.


    Wei Tianchong almost blew his top. ¡°Lin Lang is in Yan Province! We¡¯re not going to Yan Province to catch him?¡±


    Only now did Tang Jie ¡°understand¡±. He replied, ¡°Oh, we¡¯re not going to Yan Province.¡±


    ¡°Then where are we going?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Cloudflow Academy. To capture Lin Lang, we have to find out about him!¡±


    This was a simr situation to his own, and so Tang Jie was using the same method that Gu Changqing had once used.


    Fortunately, at least in Cloudflow Academy, there was far more information about Lin Lang than there had ever been on Tang Jiye!


    After leaving Basking Moon Academy, Wei Tianchong¡¯s group of three rushed off to Cang Province. They were naturally much faster than before, so they needed only a few days to get to Cang Province.


    Cang Province was located in the southern part of Sageheart. The climate was humid and warm, and the area was abundant with spiritual energy. This was and rich in spirituality and talent within Sageheart, and there were twenty-some cultivation sects of various sizes in the region.


    Cloudflow Academy was located in Cang Province¡¯s Shangquan City. It was under the Cloudflow Sect, which was one of the more famousrge sects. Its current master, the fourth to hold the title, was Celestial Heart Realm True Person Lin Xudu.


    Upon reaching Cang Province, Tang Jie¡¯s group picked up the pace, and after one day, they managed to reach Shangquan City before nightfall, where they found an inn to rest for the night.


    The next morning, Tang Jie woke the others up. ¡°Pack your things and get ready to meet someone.¡±


    ¡°To Cloudflow Academy?¡± Shi Meng asked as he helped Wei Tianchong wash his face.


    ¡°No, we¡¯re going to the Shangquan City branch first. We just got here, so we¡¯re unfamiliar with the area. We should first visit the local branch first. The branch master should be more familiar with the Cloudflow Sect, and they should be on good terms. Having them speak up for us will save us some trouble.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    The Basking Moon Sect¡¯s Shangquan branch was in the eastern part of the city, the most bustling area. From a distance, Tang Jie¡¯s group could see the extravagant courtyard, overflowing with luxury. Even Wei Tianchong couldn¡¯t help but sigh at the outstanding boldness of this Immortal sect.


    This was only a small branch. There was no telling how glorious the main headquarters of the Basking Moon Sect would appear.


    When they got to the entrance of the branch, they saw two guards at the gate.


    These guards were both mortals, but their figures clearly marked them as experts. Yet all they could be were guards at the gate of a small branch.


    Even so, they appeared extremely proud, considering this a kind of honor.


    To be a dog in front of an Immortal sect¡¯s gate was still more glorious than being a mortal.


    At this sight, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but sigh. In the academy, they might not have been able to feel anything different, but once they left the academy and entered the mortal world, they would immediately understand what was different.


    Not even mentioning anything else, simply the fact that they were wearing moon-white robes was enough to have everyone nce at them, and as they walked on the road, even high nobles and officials would stop their carriages and move to the side.


    People believed that the disciples of Immortal sects were arrogant bullies. However, it wasn¡¯t necessary for them to actually act this way, as anyone with eyes already understood what to do. Of course, if they trulycked tact, the students wouldn¡¯t mind teaching them a few lessons. In truth, the reputation for arrogance had gradually developed through this imperceptible influence.


    Whether it was students, Immortals, or mortals, they had all grown used to this strict hierarchy.


    The two guards spotted Tang Jie¡¯s group, and before Tang Jie could say anything, the guards respectfully bowed. ¡°Might I ask if the three of you are Basking Moon students?¡±


    Wei Tianchong grunted, but just when he was about to speak, Tang Jie stopped him and shook his head. He then said to the two, ¡°Second-year Basking Moon students Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong, and Shi Meng would like to see Branch Master Chang Xinkuan. Please inform him of our arrival.¡±


    ¡°Please wait a moment.¡± One of the guards hurried inside.


    A few momentster, a fair-faced, middle-aged man came out and inspected their student tokens. Once he confirmed that they were real, he said, ¡°Branch Master Chang is already waiting in his room. Please follow me.¡±


    They followed the middle-aged man inside, passing through the luxurious main courtyard and along a twisting corridor. They were soon led to a small, secluded courtyard.


    There was a perg in the courtyard, and a stone table and a bamboo recliner had been set up beneath the perg.


    A man was lying down on the recliner. He appeared about forty years old and was rather fat. He held a y teapot in his hand that he waved around while he reclined on the chair.


    The fair-faced schr led the three up and then bowed to the fat man. ¡°Sir, the three students have arrived.¡±


    ¡°Mm,¡± the fatty said, his eyes closed. He waved his hand, dismissing the schr.


    Only then did he slowly sit up and look at the three.


    Although he was fat, when he opened his eyes, they exuded a sharp and intimidating light.


    ¡°You three are the Basking Moon students who wanted to see me?¡± this Branch Master Chang said in a deep voice, his voice like steel as it resounded in the depths of their minds.


    Tang Jie shot the other two a look, and all three of them came forward and saluted. ¡°Students Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong, and Shi Meng pay respects to the esteemed master!¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see you know how to be polite.¡± That Branch Master Chang leisurely took a drink of tea, then he waved his hand. ¡°Sit. If you have something to say, say it slowly.¡±


    A beautiful maid came forward with chairs for them.


    In terms of status, Chang Xinkuan, as Shangquan Branch Master, had a much higher status than Tang Jie¡¯s group, but the students of Basking Moon had limitless potential, and no one could say what achievements they would have in the future. Thus, Branch Master Chang remained rather polite.


    Once the three had sat down, Branch Master Chang said, ¡°What are you three students doing in my Shangquan Branch instead of properly cultivating in the academy?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like this¡­¡± Tang Jie exined how Yan Changfeng was taking a disciple, and then he added, ¡°To catch Lin Lang, we have to first understand him.¡±


    Chang Xinkuan understood. ¡°I see. So you came here to ask around Cloudflow Academy?¡±


    ¡°Precisely.¡±


    ¡°But was not all the information on Lin Lang already given to you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still not enough,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°The files only contained information on Lin Lang, but what about the people Lin Lang was on good terms with? What sort of people was he close to? What sort of status did they have? But there was nothing. We only have surface-level information of Lin Lang, without any grasp of the details.¡±


    ¡°So¡­¡±


    ¡°So I would request Branch Master¡¯s help in getting us into Cloudflow Academy so we can go through the student files.¡±


    Chang Xinkuan froze, and then he erupted inughter.


    Heughed as loudly as a bell, causing their eardrums to vibrate. Wei Tianchong covered his ears, but Tang Jie was unmoved, enduring it all.


    Once he was doneughing, Chang Xinkuan asked, ¡°Are you joking? Inspecting Cloudflow Academy¡¯s student files? Lin Xudu won¡¯t agree.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we need Branch Master¡¯s help. If Branch Master asks, True Person Lin will undoubtedly give you face.¡±


    ¡°Impudent!¡± Chang Xinkuan pped his recliner and roared, causing them to jump a little in their chairs.


    Chang Xinkuan pointed at the three of them. ¡°Three puny things like you dare to ask this branch master to work for you? To ask me to request that they open their student files to you so you can look through them? Absolute nonsense!¡±


    Tang Jie remained unmoved. ¡°In other words, Branch Master Chang is not willing to help?¡±


    Chang Xinkuan rudely replied, ¡°Don¡¯t waste your time! If you want me to act, take out an official letter! Without an official letter, this matter ends here!¡±

 Chapter 156: Coercion

    Chapter 156: Coercion


    Tang Jie sat in the small courtyard, staring unblinkingly at Chang Xinkuan. ¡°If Branch Master Chang wants an official letter, I do not have it.¡±


    ¡°Then what are you still here for?¡±


    ¡°But everyone knows that the Basking Moon students have received the mission to pursue Lin Lang.¡±


    ¡°And what does that have to do with me?¡±


    ¡°It truly seems to have nothing to do with you,¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°But Lin Lang¡¯s escape might not be entirely unrted.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying?¡± Chang Xinkuan was shaken, killing intent appearing in his eyes.


    Tang Jie casually took a sip of tea. ¡°Former Minister of Personnel Lin Yuanming colluded with Godhead Pce, selling out subordinates of my Basking Moon Sect. I am sure Branch Master Chang knows about this. After this incident, Headmaster Xie personally issued the order to eradicate Minister Lin¡¯s n. This is not the first time such a thing has happened, so there is already a set process. Surprisingly, the news somehow got out, allowing Lin Lang to get wind of it and run. After the escape, quite a few people began to wonder how Lin Lang managed to escape.¡±


    Chang Xinkuan felt his heart seize up.


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°Lin Yuanming was a spy, so there¡¯s not much chance his sons could escape. What do spies normally do? They normally make connections, gather information, and secretly bribe people. Now, it wouldn¡¯t be strange if Lin Lang made a few good friends in Shangquan City, yes?¡±


    The mention of ¡°secret bribes¡± was like a needle jabbed through Chang Xinkuan¡¯s heart.


    When he had received the order to capture Lin Lang, he hadn¡¯t expected that Lin Lang had already run off. At that moment, he knew that someone in his organization must have leaked the information. Tang Jie was right. Someone like Lin Lang had to have made some ns beforehand. Lin Yuanming was the center of the case, so no one dared to save him, but it seemed like someone had risked themselves to let Lin Lang escape.


    As the supervisor of Shangquan City, Chang Xinkuan had been incapable of exining how this had happened, and even if he was unconnected to the incident, he had still gained a reputation as an ipetent.


    He had never imagined that Tang Jie would have the guts to bring it up.


    His eyes shed with killing intent, but not because he wanted to silence witnesses or anything of the sort. He was simply angry and wanted nothing more than to give this little bastard a good p.


    Of course, he didn¡¯t have the guts to do this. He simply sighed and said, ¡°The public will decide what¡¯s right or wrong. My Basking Moon Sect has countless people with great abilities and sharp eyes. They will not be fooled by a few simple rumors.¡±


    Tang Jie casually said, ¡°Branch Master Chang is naturally a loyal soul, a supporting pir of the sect. But now that we¡¯vee to request Branch Master¡¯s help, if someone hears that you¡¯ve refused us, perhaps they might think that Branch Master doesn¡¯t want Lin Lang to actually be captured¡­¡±


    ¡°Absolute nonsense!¡± Chang Xinkuan loudly said in anger.


    But at this time, he understood what Tang Jie was trying at.


    It was obvious that if Chang Xinkuan didn¡¯t help out, Tang Jie might say something once he got back.


    A student¡¯s words naturally couldn¡¯t do much to him. But if one considered that he had let a fugitive escape and was now refusing to help the students pursuing him, the nature of the incident would be much more serious.


    It had to be said that even if Chang Xinkuan hadn¡¯t been bribed by Lin Lang, Lin Lang had still escaped under his watch, and if he didn¡¯t try and cooperate with the pursuit, he would appear to be extremelyzy and negligent¡­


    The rumor would be reality!


    Chang Xinkuan took in a deep breath and said in a trembling voice, ¡°Although my Basking Moon Sect is a prestigious sect, standing above all other sects, this does not mean we can do as we please. Lin Xudu is still a Celestial Heart Realm True Person. He normally only calls me Brother out of respect for the Basking Moon Sect, not because I¡¯m at the Mortal Shedding Realm! If we really end up angering him, I might not be able to protect myself.¡±


    His stance had clearly softened.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°I understand Branch Master Chang¡¯s difficulties, but we never intended to coerce anyone. We simply want Cloudflow Academy¡¯s help in investigating this traitor to the country. This has nothing to do with Cloudflow Academy itself. So long as we speak kindly, Sect Master Lin is certain to be reasonable and not reject us. Moreover, if we are able to capture Lin Lang because of Branch Master¡¯s help, the sect will undoubtedly be satisfied.¡±


    That was true.


    The best way of dispelling the rumors was to help Tang Jie capture Lin Lang.


    But Chang Xinkuan still felt ufortable about this, vaguely feeling like he was being threatened.


    It was an extremely disconcerting feeling.


    But Tang Jie had him dead to rights.


    This was because he keenly understood the sort of person Chang Xinkuan was.


    This person had been Branch Master of the Shangquan Branch for twenty years, and his ambitions had long ago been worn away. He now only sought a peaceful life.


    Some other cultivator might have been so angered by Tang Jie¡¯s threats that he would have killed him on the spot, not caring that Tang Jie was a student of his sect.


    But Chang Xinkuan would not.


    He had a family and children, so he needed to act cautiously.


    A person like this wouldn¡¯t be affected by bribes. Threats were far more effective.


    Ever since that incident with Wei Lanxin and the warning from thedy, Tang Jie had begun to understand more and more the importance of the differences between people.


    So long as one could understand the pulse of the target, many things became much simpler.


    Of course, if one got the wrong pulse, many seemingly good ns would be rendered ineffective.


    But Tang Jie had gotten a good grasp of Chang Xinkuan¡¯s pulse.


    Chang Xinkuan¡¯s plump face shifted around, but in the end, he said, ¡°The problem is that you don¡¯t have an official letter, so you don¡¯t represent the will of the sect!¡±


    The Basking Moon Sect had only ordered them to catch the criminal, not cause trouble in Cloudflow Academy. The two were entirely different things.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t say anything, how would they know?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    Chang Xinkuan was stunned.


    It was true. If he didn¡¯t say anything, how could Lin Xudu possibly know?


    Chang Xinkuan could demand that Tang Jie¡¯s group present an official letter, but Lin Xudu couldn¡¯t demand the same.


    So long as Chang Xinkuan said that this was the will of the Basking Moon Sect and said a few more polite words and then gave Lin Xudu face, perhaps making a few local concessions, Lin Xudu would probably give the nod.


    But all of these required him to go personally and act as the guarantor.


    This kid¡­ had he really calcted things out this carefully?


    Chang Xinkuan couldn¡¯t help but nce at him again.


    He suddenly asked, ¡°You said your name is Tang Jie?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Student Tang Jie,¡± Tang Jie nodded.


    ¡°What a familiar name¡­¡± Chang Xinkuan softly muttered. Suddenly, his eyes widened in realization, and he stared at Tang Jie. ¡°Godhead Pce? Shit, so you¡¯re that one!¡±


    Chang Xinkuan¡¯s fat body jumped to its feet.


    Once they were out of the branch hall, Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng could hold themselves back no longer. Throwing their heads back, they loudlyughed.


    ¡°The mighty master of the Shangquan Branch, an esteemed Mortal Shedding Realm master, was jumping around in fear because of you and was ultimately forced to lower his head and work for us! Tang Jie, you¡¯re incredible!¡± Wei Tianchong said, patting Tang Jie on the shoulder.


    Before this, he had always felt that Tang Jie was just someone with a good head on his shoulders, always able toe up with various ideas.


    But today, when facing a Mortal Shedding Realm expert, when Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t even dare to fart, he finally understood that it was easier said than done to be neither meek nor arrogant, and he admired Tang Jie¡¯s abilities even more.


    He had appreciated and liked Tang Jie in the past, somewhat relying on him, but now, the buds of admiration were finally beginning to sprout.


    But Shi Meng was rather worried. ¡°I still feel that this matter is rather improper. Branch Master Chang is still an esteemed Mortal Shedding Realm master. If we force him like this, won¡¯t he resent us and try to get revenge in the future?¡±


    Tang Jie indifferently said, ¡°That makes it even more necessary for us to make Young Master a True Inheritor. So long as Young Master bes a True Inheritor, he¡¯ll instantly be an influential character with limitless potential. What do you think Chang Xinkuan will dare to do then? You could even beat him to death and he still wouldn¡¯t hit back.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Wei Tianchong stroked his chin and began to imagine his glorious future as a True Inheritor.


    ¡°But bing a True Inheritor is still something we¡¯re working at, so we have to ount for what might happen if we fail,¡± Tang Jie said, changing the topic. ¡°Thus, when we get back, we must report this to those above and praise Branch Master Chang for all the help he gave us. It would be best if we could even get him a few praiseworthy remarks or even a pill as a reward. No matter what happens afterward, Chang Xinkuan will be tied to our boat. If he wants to get anything good, he¡¯ll have to let go of any resentment he has. If Young Master really does be a True Inheritor in the future, not only will he not have done anything wrong, he will have achieved a meritorious deed in assisting in the ascent of a dragon. He¡¯ll be overflowing with gratitude to us!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s words dumbfounded the other two.


    Shi Meng couldn¡¯t help but raise a finger. ¡°High. It¡¯s way too high.¡±


    But Wei Tianchong was confused. ¡°Hold on; ¡®report¡¯? What does that mean?¡±


    In this era, there wasn¡¯t a custom of writing a summarized report. Usually, when students finished their missions, those above rarely asked about the process, and any such questions were answered orally. Thus, Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t know what Tang Jie meant.


    ¡°Mm, I mean a written report,¡± Tang Jie said, giving a basic run-down of what he meant.


    ¡°But I don¡¯t think the sect has such a rule.¡± Wei Tianchong said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no rule in the sect, but that only makes it even more necessary for us to do it. If you were an esteemed master, who would you prefer: a disciple who sorted everything out and did their best to make sure you understood the situation, or a disciple who just dropped off the head, gave a few words of exnation, and then just left?¡±


    Wei Tianchong scratched his head. ¡°This¡­ The former, of course.¡±


    Tang Jie dered, ¡°That¡¯s why, when ites to a good thing, the more other people don¡¯t want to do it, the more we should do it. Youck talent, and as for your figure and demeanor¡­ ahem, so we can only focus our efforts on the details.¡±


    No matter how dumb Wei Tianchong was, he could tell that Tang Jie was badmouthing him.


    He looked around and then looked at himself. After repeatedly inspecting himself, he red at Tang Jie. ¡°Tang Jie, what do you mean? Is there something wrong with my figure? Is my demeanorcking? Do I really look that bad?¡±


    Tang Jie walked away, refusing to answer.


    Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t let up, chasing after him and shouting, ¡°Tang Jie, stop right now and tell it to me straight! What¡¯s wrong with my figure? How is my demeanorcking? Aren¡¯t I just a little fat? I¡¯m your young master! Stop right now and talk to me clearly¡­ Shi Meng, tell me: is my figure bad or not¡­ Hey, hey, Shi Meng! Get back here! Don¡¯t run! You two bastards, I¡¯m your young master!¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s shouts resounded through the streets.

 Chapter 157: Chase (1)

    Chapter 157: Chase (1)


    The next morning, Chang Xinkuan came to find Tang Jie, bringing good news.


    Lin Xudu had agreed.


    Guided by Chang Xinkuan, the three of them headed straight to Cloudflow Academy.


    Cloudflow Academy was located at the base of the Cloudflow Mountains, on the outskirts of Shangquan City. The Cloudflow Sect was located atop the mountains, and it was from them that it got its name.


    Carrying on the usual style of Immortal sects, Cloudflow Academy did not mix with themon folk, though it was much less impressive than Basking Moon Academy, which had created an entire mountain range for its school. It had simply upied a field at the base of the mountain for its school grounds.


    When the trio arrived, they saw an estate of gray bricks and zed tiles. It couldn¡¯tpare to the grandeur of Basking Moon Academy, but it had the delicate refinement of a small sect. Arge field of spirit grains had been nted around the academy, and only invited farmers were allowed to farm these fields.


    In front of the academy was a towering archway upon which the name ¡°Cloudflow Academy¡± had been written.


    A teacher from the academy was already waiting under the archway. Upon seeing the trio, he sped his fist in his hand and said, ¡°Sun Baoran pays respects to the students from the upper sect.¡±


    Chang Xinkuan said to Tang Jie, ¡°This is Sun Baoran, a Mortal Shedding Realm Nine Revolutions expert. He is the headmaster of Cloudflow Academy.¡±


    When Tang Jie learned this, he stepped forward. ¡°I pay my respects to Headmaster Sun. Please forgive us for the trouble.¡±


    Sun Baoran chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s fine, fine. Although Lin Lang was a student of my academy, treason can never be tolerated. If there is any ce you need to investigate, please say so, and we will do our utmost to cooperate.¡±


    After exchanging pleasantries, Sun Baoran led them into the academy.


    As they passed through the archway, they followed a path of gray bricks deep into the school. There were countless small buildings concealed on the sides, and the ce was rather quiet and peaceful.


    Several students sauntered on the main avenue of the academy, wearing the azure robes of the academy, with a white cloud embroidered on their sleeves and cors.


    When they saw the trio wearing moon-white robes, they couldn¡¯t help but gawk and point. In terms of atmosphere, it was rather peaceful.


    Once they arrived at a small, ck building, Sun Baoran stopped. ¡°This is where the records of our Cloudflow students are stored. Please enter.¡±


    As they entered the record pavilion, Sun Baoran pped his hands. A female student came over and asked, ¡°Headmaster, what do you need?¡±


    ¡°These are students from Basking Moon Academy. Mo¡¯er, take out all the information on the students of the same ss as Lin Lang for them to review.¡±


    The female student nced at Tang Jie¡¯s group before assenting and going to get the information.


    Chang Xinkuan saw that everything was going fine, so heughed and said, ¡°Old Sun, let these kids get on with their business. Let¡¯s go and share a drink.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, a good idea!¡± Sun Baoran chuckled. After telling that student Mo¡¯er to take good care of Tang Jie¡¯s group, he walked off with Chang Xinkuan.


    As Chang Xinkuan left, he shot a nce at Tang Jie, as if he was saying, ¡°I¡¯ve done my job. The rest is up to you.¡±


    A few momentster, Mo¡¯er came back with the files.


    Shi Meng was rather dazzled when he saw the thick stack of papers. He asked Tang Jie, ¡°We¡¯re looking through all of them?¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. Let¡¯s pick out the files of the students who were on good terms with Lin Lang first, then anyone who had a grudge against him. In any case, we need to check everyone that had a rtionship with him.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s group already had some understanding of Lin Lang, so they started with his close rtions.


    After a little while, Wei Tianchong started to feel dizzy. He finally shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, let¡¯s take a break.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve hit your limit?¡± Tang Jie asked, raising his head.


    ¡°This is really too boring. I can¡¯t stand it,¡± Wei Tianchong said with an apologetic smile.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do this,¡± Tang Jie said after some thought. ¡°Since you¡¯re tired, why not leave this to me while you two go and do something else?¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay!¡± Wei Tianchong excitedly said. ¡°I¡¯ll do whatever you say.¡±


    He was willing to do anything as long as it wasn¡¯t reading all these files.


    ¡°Then, Young Master, please take a trip to Wanxin Vige and look into that fox problem for me. What about it?¡±


    ¡°No problem! Leave it to me.¡± Wei Tianchong thumped his chest. Although Tang Jie was the one who had taken the mission, Tang Jie was working so hard for his sake that he didn¡¯t feel right not helping him out.


    ¡°Then it¡¯s settled. Just go over there and gather some information, but don¡¯t strike! If there¡¯s danger, just run and have the puppet hold the rear for you. Nothing is more important than your life,¡± Tang Jie ordered.


    ording to the reports, that fiend fox had just entered the lower grade, so Wei Tianchong was strong enough to deal with it. But Tang Jie still couldn¡¯t rest easy and didn¡¯t want him to do it alone. He was having him head off to Wanxin Vige primarily so that he could temper himself.


    After giving Wei Tianchong his task, Tang Jie turned to Shi Meng and said, ¡°Shi Meng, take a walk around the academy and get in touch with students from Lin Lang¡¯s ss. Question these people. They were all once good friends of Lin Lang.¡±


    Tang Jie gave Shi Meng a list.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Shi Meng took the list and left.


    Once the two of them were gone, Tang Jie continued to peruse the files alone. That student called Mo¡¯er sent over lunch, and he continued to read in the study as he ate, asionally jotting a few things down.


    Mo¡¯er finally couldn¡¯t restrain her curiosity and asked, ¡°Will you really be able to find out where Lin Lang is with this? Or is this how all the students of Basking Moon Academy do things?¡±


    Tang Jie raised his head and saw that girl curiously blinking at him.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°This is just my own habit. To catch someone, it¡¯s not enough to just know him¡­ You also have to understand the people around him.¡±


    ¡°And why is that?¡± Mo¡¯er didn¡¯t get it.


    ¡°Because nobody can survive alone¡­ especially¡­ someone young, who suddenly had their n massacred. These people will very naturally seek out people who they can trust to help them. I would like to see if I can find out who this person is.¡±


    ¡°Then did you find anything?¡±


    Tang Jie sighed and shook his head. ¡°These files primarily record information on the students, but they don¡¯t say anything about the rtions between them. It seems like I¡¯ve picked the wrong method.¡±


    ¡°So doesn¡¯t that mean you wasted an entire day?¡± Mo¡¯er asked in shock.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°It can¡¯t be considered aplete waste. Useful clues are founded on a base of numerous useless clues.¡±


    He stood up. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s it for today.¡± He peered into the inner room and asked Mo¡¯er, ¡°Right, is there other information stored here?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Mo¡¯er answered.


    ¡°Can I go in and take a look?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°This¡­¡±


    Tang Jie added, ¡°All these students share the same academy, and their circle of acquaintances isn¡¯t necessarily restricted to students of the same year. Lin Lang might also have friends in another ss that know where he is.¡±


    ¡°But you said just now that there was nothing¡­¡± Before she could finish, Tang Jie had already entered the inner room.


    The girl didn¡¯t know how to handle him. She wanted to call him back, but she ultimately didn¡¯t dare and just followed him in.


    Tang Jie was strolling around the record pavilion.


    This was where the records of Cloudflow Academy were stored, and this wasn¡¯t restricted to just student files. There were also secret incident reports and correspondences. Outsiders usually weren¡¯t allowed in, but Tang Jie had waltzed right in.


    Mo¡¯er was frantic. As she anxiously peered outside, she said, ¡°Young Master Tang, you can¡¯te inside here. If you need something, I can get it for you, but if the headmaster sees you here, it will be bad.¡±


    ¡°I can only know what I want when I see it. How can I make myself clear with just words?¡± Tang Jiezily replied as he pulled out a book and flipped through it.


    He didn¡¯t find anything interesting in it, so he put it back and pulled out another.


    Mo¡¯er anxiously said, ¡°You should hurry and get out. If the headmaster finds out, I¡¯ll also get in trouble.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it fine if he just never finds out? Keep an eye on the entrance, and if the headmasteres, just let me know. Rx; I won¡¯t cause you any trouble,¡± Tang Jie casually replied.


    He took out another book, his eyes flying across the pages.


    The girl was at a loss. All she could do was stand at the door and keep watch, fearful that the headmaster really woulde back.


    Tang Jie continued to browse, and finally, his gaze was drawn to a certain book.


    Tang Jie took out the book, flipped through it, and muttered, ¡°Finally found it!¡±


    At this moment, Mo¡¯er shouted, ¡°The headmaster ising back with more people.¡±


    Tang Jie quickly put the book back, came out of the inner room, and looked out the entrance.


    What he saw rmed him.


    The people with Sun Baoran were wearing the clothes of Basking Moon students, and they seemed to be several years above him. They quickly walked over, and while he found the face of their leader rather familiar, he couldn¡¯t quite remember who it was.


    It turned out that there were other people who hade here to find the truth.


    But as they hade a stepter, they had been able to use the road Tang Jie had paved to gain ess to Cloudflow Academy. For Cloudflow Academy, letting in one was the same as letting in a few more, so it had not made things difficult.


    Tang Jie immediately knew that this was bad. He went back to his desk, grabbed a book from the thick stack, and ripped out a few pages.


    Mo¡¯er was scared out of her wits. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I have other business, so I¡¯ll be going!¡± Tang Jie replied, and then he opened the window and jumped out.


    Just as Tang Jie was running away, Sun Baoran arrived. He smiled at Mo¡¯er and said, ¡°Mo¡¯er, this is Young Master Ye Tianshang, a student of Basking Moon, a senior of the fifth year who is at the Spirit Sea Tier. These are his ssmates. They¡¯ve alsoe investigating Lin Lang¡¯s case. Why don¡¯t you call out Young Master Tang¡¯s group so they can introduce themselves?¡±


    He looked inside the pavilion and found the ce empty. ¡°Where are Young Master Tang and the others?¡± he asked in surprise.


    Mo¡¯er answered, ¡°Young Master Wei and the other one had business, so they left first. Young Master Tang was here just moments ago, but when he saw youing over, he inexplicably pushed open the window and ran off.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± the Basking Moon students blurted out in unison.


    Their leader was a tall man with a cold and aloof face, fitting into the archetype of the cool and stylish young man. This was the Ye Tianshang that Sun Baoran hade to introduce. When he heard Mo¡¯er¡¯s words, he pushed her aside and strode into the room. He looked around and noticed that one of the books had pages torn from it. He grabbed that book and inspected it, and then he sternly said, ¡°He took away some pages. He must have found something!¡±


    A student pointed at the window and shouted, ¡°Senior Ye, he left through there!¡±


    ¡°After him!¡± Ye Tianshang shouted, and his group immediately jumped out of the window in pursuit.

 Chapter 158: Chase (2)

    Chapter 158: Chase (2)


    Mo¡¯er¡¯s jaw dropped at what she was seeing. ¡°He¡­ headmaster¡­ aren¡¯t¡­ aren¡¯t they all Basking Moon students¡­ how¡­¡±


    ¡°Haa, silly girl, you don¡¯t understand,¡± Sun Baoran sighed. ¡°On the Immortal path, the struggles are fierce, with no quarter given. What does it matter that they¡¯re from the same school?¡±


    ¡°But Tang Jie stole our school records and that Ye Tianshang has dered that he¡¯s going to chase him through our academy. Headmaster, are you not concerned?¡± She was rather angry over having been gruffly pushed aside by Ye Tianshang.


    ¡°The records are a small matter, and we just need to rece what was lost. Let them do what they want. Some things just aren¡¯t our business. Haaa, True Person Changfeng¡¯s mission has truly given us a lot of trouble.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re at the Mortal Shedding Realm. Can you not even control them?¡± Mo¡¯er asked in disbelief.


    Sun Baoran bitterly chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s true that I¡¯m at the Mortal Shedding Realm, but they¡¯re from the Basking Moon Sect. It¡¯s not like we¡¯re those crazies from the Heavenly Extinction Sect. When visitorse from the upper sect, who among us would dare to show disrespect? So long as they don¡¯t go overboard, we just have to tolerate it. These students arepeting against each other, not with us, so there¡¯s no point in wasting that strength.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean that my Cloudflow Academy is just of a lower ss than Basking Moon Academy, that even its esteemed masters are lower than Basking Moon Academy¡¯s students? I don¡¯t believe it!¡± Mo¡¯er shouted.


    ¡°Silly girl.¡± Sun Baoran sympathetically nced at her. ¡°Why else do you think other people try so hard to get into Basking Moon Academy? Everyone knows that, besides the people from the other five major sects, only the people of the Basking Moon Sect can deal with the Basking Moon Sect! Forget it, forget it. You¡¯re still young, so it¡¯s best if you don¡¯t think about such things.¡±


    The girl was still unconvinced, and loudly said, ¡°I won¡¯t ept it! I won¡¯t¡­ I¡­ I, Lin Mo¡¯er, vow that if I have a chance to achieve the Great Dao, I will bring glory to my sect and raise the prestige of my Cloudflow!¡±


    Sun Baoran shook his head and chuckled. This girl was young and had ambition, but he didn¡¯t take her words to heart.


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that this is all you know.¡±


    Elsewhere in the academy, Shi Meng was asking about Lin Lang while earnestly taking notes as Tang Jie had ordered him to.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve told you everything I know,¡± that student helplessly said. ¡°That¡¯s really all I know, so let me go already. I still have things to do.¡±


    ¡°Mm, then be on your way.¡± Shi Meng let the student leave, and just when he was going to find the next person, he saw Tang Jie running out.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Shi Meng shouted. ¡°I was just about to find you! I¡¯ve basically asked everyone¡­¡±


    ¡°Run!¡± Tang Jie rushed over, grabbed Shi Meng, and ran.


    ¡°Hey, what happened?¡± Shi Meng asked in confusion.


    He heard a rush of air behind him. Turning around, he saw that several people wearing moon-white robes had appeared in the distance.


    ¡°Basking Moon students?¡± Shi Meng yelped in rm, even his tone changing. It was as if these Basking Moon Academy students were actually vicious enemies.


    The students noticed them and shouted in unison, ¡°Over there!¡±


    ¡°Run!¡± Tang Jie shouted, pulling Shi Meng along.


    Only now did Shi Meng realize what was happening, and he quickly took off after Tang Jie.


    As they rushed out of the academy, Tang Jie pointed ahead. ¡°Get on a horse!¡±


    The two of them made flying leaps andnded on two horses that were standing outside the academy.


    With two slices, Tang Jie cut the ropes tying them down and then kicked them into a gallop. At the same time, he threw out some needles, killing all of the other horses.


    When Ye Tianshang¡¯s group came out and saw the two of them riding away, a student shouted, ¡°Senior Brother Ye, they killed all our horses!¡±


    Anger erupted in Ye Tianshang¡¯s eyes. ¡°They won¡¯t escape!¡±


    Forming hand signs, Ye Tianshang barked, ¡°Windcloud Step!¡±


    Winds and clouds stirred beneath his feet!


    Ye Tianshang began to run in pursuit of Tang Jie and Shi Meng, and a tornado rose up beneath his feet.


    The other students looked at each other and nodded. ¡°After them!¡±


    They unsheathed the swords on their backs, and all the students mounted their swords and flew off, catching up to Tang Jie and Shi Ming by air.


    Shi Meng nced backward and fearfully said, ¡°They¡¯ve caught up!¡±


    ¡°I see it. Shit, they¡¯re all veteran students with a few years under their belt. They all know how to fly,¡± Tang Jie sullenly said. ¡°Shi Meng, use the Windwalk spell!¡± he yelled.


    ¡°Understood!¡± Shi Meng began to form the hand signs for the Windwalk spell.


    The Windwalk spell was rather simr to Qi Shaoming¡¯s Windwalk Form. The only difference was that the Windwalk Form affected only the user, but this was in return for smaller cost and greater effect. The Windwalk spell could be used on other targets.


    Tang Jie had decided that Shi Meng should be a support specialist from the start, so he had really learned a variety of support spells.


    As their horses galloped forward, Shi Meng used Windwalk twice, increasing the speed of their mounts.


    s, this eleration had a limit. While the horses were running faster, Ye Tianshang was getting closer and closer.


    The howling of the tornado grew louder and louder. Though it was traveling on the ground, it was moving much faster than those students on their swords.


    ¡°He¡¯s catching up!¡± Shi Meng shrilly cried out.


    With his level of strength, any one of those students could have him bowled over and looking for his teeth on the ground with a single blow.


    Tang Jie sighed, ¡°Truly troublesome.¡±


    He swung his hand, sending out a sh of silver: the Silver Cloud Needles.


    ¡°Puny tricks!¡± Ye Tianshang bellowed. The sword in his hand unleashed a gale that sent all the needles flying.


    ¡°The Galefury Sword? Fuck, it¡¯s Ye Tianshang!¡± Tang Jie was in such a panic that he even cursed.


    Just like Tang Jie and Qi Shaoming, Ye Tianshang was a celebrity student of Basking Moon Academy. He had a seven-cycle Jade Gate, and while this wasn¡¯t the best talent, he was still an incredible fighter. He was particrly formidable when it came to closebat, his attacks incredibly sharp and vicious. Hisbat prowess was unsurpassed among the students of his ss.


    His Galefury Sword was simr to Cai Junyang¡¯s sword technique in that they were both fast and unrelenting. But when he used the Galefury Sword, the surge of wind he created had all the force of a solid attack.


    He had blocked the needles purely through spiritual pressure.


    They were both celebrities, but one was a celebrity who had just entered his second year while the other was a celebrity who had entered his sixth year. This difference in years had created a clear difference in strength.


    Even in a duel, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t confident that he could win.


    ¡°Shit, I¡¯m not afraid of someone who¡¯s smart or someone who¡¯s strong, but someone who¡¯s both smart and strong!¡± Tang Jie cursed.


    Who could have imagined that he would run into this spot of trouble while he was still in the clue-gathering stage?


    After knocking away the needles, Ye Tianshang charged out, instantly catching up to the two. His sword shed as he unleashed lightning at the two. ¡°As we¡¯re from the same school, I won¡¯t kill you if you leave behind the clue!¡±


    In response, Tang Jie jumped into the air, turned around, and shed at him.


    <em>Bang!</em>


    As their attacks shed, Ye Tianshang paused in the air. Meanwhile, Tang Jie borrowed the momentum to fall back andnd on his horse, shouting, ¡°Keep running and don¡¯t stop! They¡¯re using spell arts to pursue, so they¡¯ll run out of spiritual energy eventually!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll catch you before that!¡± Ye Tianshang bellowed, his left hand striking the ground.


    <em>Rumble!</em> The earth began to quake, halting the two horses and causing the riders atop them to sway.


    This dy allowed the students in the air to catch up.


    One of them pointed downward and shouted, ¡°Flying sword, go!¡±


    A sword on the student¡¯s back flew out and shed at the pair.


    Tang Jie swung the Heartbreak Saber, striking the sword and knocking it back with a ng.


    But at this moment, another student cast out a gray to enclose the pair.


    The studentughed as if he could already see Tang Jie and Shi Meng being caught in his.


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes erupted with light. As the descended, he leaped right into it.


    Just when the was about to enclose him, Tang Jie flicked his left hand, and a golden light flew out from between his fingers. This was the golden grain, worn on his hand in the form of a ring. It had now be a de that sliced through the.


    <em>Sssst!</em> The tore apart like paper, cleaved in half by Tang Jie.


    ¡°My Earth Net!¡± The student groaned.


    This was the most valuable treasure this student owned, and it excelled at capturing people, but Tang Jie had destroyed it in a sh.


    Tang Jie jumped through the, but the moment he did, two more swords shot toward him. All Tang Jie had time to do was raise his saber to block, upon which he was knocked back down to the ground.


    Despite this, the horse wouldn¡¯t wait for him and had run off on its own. Tang Jiended on the ground, and Ye Tianshang was lunging at him before he could get to his feet.


    He didn¡¯t intend to kill, so he simply ced the tip of his sword at Tang Jie¡¯s throat to threaten him into talking. But to his surprise, Tang Jie punched the sword tip, bending Ye Tianshang¡¯s Autumn Leaf Sword into an arc.


    Ye Tianshang was aghast at what had happened to his beloved sword and quickly drew it back. Tang Jie jumped away and used the Violet Lightning Lunge to rush off to the side. At the same time, he shouted, ¡°Shi Meng, take that thing to the young master! And don¡¯t let them catch you!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Shi Meng was rmed, thinking to himself, <em>When did you give me anything? I don¡¯t even know what the hell you got.</em>


    But as Tang Jie shouted, Ye Tianshang called out, ¡°I¡¯ll go after that one. The rest of you, go after this guy!¡±


    He didn¡¯tpletely believe Tang Jie¡¯s words, but regardless, there was a chance.


    Moreover, with Tang Jie serving as a distraction for a moment, Shi Meng had managed to create some more distance. Thus, he was only the one who would be able to catch him, so he tasked the other students with holding down Tang Jie.


    Seeing Ye Tianshanging after him, Shi Meng understood what Tang Jie was doing. He shouted in anger, ¡°Tang Jie, you¡¯re not human!¡±


    ¡°¡®Tang Jie¡¯?¡± Ye Tianshang was startled at the mention of this name. He finally realized who he had been chasing. ¡°So it was him!¡±


    But he didn¡¯t stop, continuing to madly pursue Shi Meng.


    Tang Jie shouted as he ran, ¡°What are you so angry about? We¡¯re all Basking Moon students, and we¡¯re just fighting for an opportunity. He won¡¯t kill you. If you die, I¡¯ll report it to the academy!¡±


    ¡°But the problem is that he¡¯ll beat me!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯ll die. Experiencing the power of a fifth-year senior will be good for your growth¡­¡± Tang Jie irresponsibly shouted as he gradually began to draw away from Shi Meng, such that Shi Meng wasn¡¯t able to hear the rest of what he had to say.


    Looking back, Shi Meng saw that Ye Tianshang was getting closer and closer. Clenching his teeth, he took out a dagger and stabbed the horse in the buttocks, spurring the horse to run even faster.

 Chapter 159: Chase (3)

    Chapter 159: Chase (3)


    All Tang Jie sought was to hold down Ye Tianshang. Without Ye Tianshang interfering with him, the other students wouldn¡¯t have an easy time dealing with Tang Jie.


    As Shi Meng ran, he didn¡¯t forget to form a few spells to throw at Ye Tianshang. Although they couldn¡¯t do anything to harm him, they could at least dy him.


    Ye Tianshang grew angrier and angrier when he saw how stubborn Shi Meng was being. Anxious to capture him, he pushed his Windcloud Step to the maximum, the clouds howling as he elerated. A few momentster, he drew alongside Shi Meng and snatched at him.


    Shi Meng threw his head back, dodging this snatch, and then he threw something out. ¡°Essence Seal Needle!¡±


    The Essence Seal Needle was an extremely insidious low-level spell art of the Basking Moon Sect, and Ye Tianshang was given a fright by this needle and instinctively drew back. But then he realized that what had been thrown was a cloth bag, not some Essence Seal Needle.


    Enraged, Ye Tianshang shot off in pursuit again, upon which Shi Meng threw something else out. ¡°Watch out for my Extinction Flying Dagger!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make you extinct, you fool!¡± Ye Tianshang shot back, thrusting out his hand. But he felt a sharp pain as a dagger brushed past his hand, leaving behind a long and bloody streak.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Ye Tianshang was so furious that he could vomit blood.


    ¡°I told you to watch out!¡± Shi Meng shouted. He pped his horse to go even faster, and when he saw that Ye Tianshang was still chasing, he shouted, ¡°You¡¯re still chasing me? Isn¡¯t that enough? I really don¡¯t have any clues! What you want is on Tang Jie!¡±


    ¡°Let me search you first!¡± Ye Tianshang rudely shot back.


    Shi Meng didn¡¯t dare to let himself be captured.


    It was true that Ye Tianshang didn¡¯t dare to kill him, but that didn¡¯t mean that he couldn¡¯t be tied up and tortured.


    So long as the students of Basking Moon Academy didn¡¯t kill, they could fight as much as they wanted while they were outside. Most importantly, if Ye Tianshang really captured him, then he would be essentially removed from the mission until he was brought back to the academy.


    Although Tang Jie had already found a clue, Shi Meng didn¡¯t want to go back without aplishing anything. What would he do when someone asked what he had done on this mission?


    Would he tell them, ¡°I was responsible for being bait¡±?


    Seeing that Ye Tianshang was still dogged in his pursuit, Shi Meng gritted his teeth and said, ¡°I said that I don¡¯t have anything, but you won¡¯t believe. Will you believe if I strip myself so you can look?¡±


    He tore off his school uniform and threw it at Ye Tianshang.


    Ye Tianshang shed the uniform to pieces with his sword. Meanwhile, Shi Meng stood up on his horse, tore off his pants, and threw them at Ye Tianshang.


    Ye Tianshang instantly dodged to the side, and what he saw was a naked Shi Meng, wearing only his underpants, atop the horse. Shi Meng shouted, ¡°You see it? You see it? You see that I have nothing, right? I already said that I have nothing! Are you still going to chase me?¡±


    ¡°Shit!¡± Ye Tianshang knew that he wasn¡¯t lying, so he could only wave his sword and bellow, ¡°Tell me where you agreed to meet up and I¡¯ll let you go.¡±


    ¡°Pingchong County City,¡± Shi Meng shouted.


    ¡°Are you trying to trick me?¡±


    ¡°No way! We agreed to head to Yan Province once we found clues, and you have to pass through there to get to Yan Province!¡± Shi Meng was a long-time servant, but he was actually very sharp. At least when he lied, he did so without hesitation.


    ¡°I¡¯ll teach you a good lesson if you dare to deceive me.¡± He wanted to take Shi Meng as a hostage, but on second thought, he realized that since he couldn¡¯t kill him, even if he was lying, there wouldn¡¯t be much he could do to him. Since he had already missed out on the chance of getting a clue and dragging Shi Meng along would just add to his burdens, he decided to leave him be.


    Once he saw that Ye Tianshang was leaving, Shi Meng exhaled and had the horse slow down.


    When he looked at the horse, he saw that it was so tired that it was frothing at the mouth.


    Ye Tianshang hadn¡¯t had a problem with this chase, but the horse was almost done for. That man¡¯s speed and endurance had Shi Meng clicking his tongue in wonder.


    After treating the horse, he led the horse back to get back the things he had thrown away.


    As he searched, he suddenly paled and began to curse, ¡°Ye Tianshang, you motherfucker! What did you destroy my clothes for? What am I supposed to wear?!¡±


    Ye Tianshang hastily went back and saw his schoolmates standing in the distance.


    His face darkened. ¡°You let Tang Jie escape?¡±


    They shamefully dropped their heads, one of them replying, ¡°He used the Violet Lightning Lunge. He was too fast.¡±


    ¡°A fifth-year can¡¯t catch up to a first-year¡­¡± Ye Tianshang snorted.


    The others were too ashamed to speak. Although it was true that Tang Jie had used a spell from the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, it was truly shameful for fifth-year students to lose a first-year.


    One of them asked Ye Tianshang, ¡°Senior Brother Ye, what about your end?¡±


    Ye Tianshang replied, ¡°It wasn¡¯t on that kid.¡±


    ¡°Then what do we do?¡±


    Ye Tianshang turned his head and walked away. ¡°We¡¯re going back to Cloudflow Academy. Tang Jie took away the clue, believing that we wouldn¡¯t be able to find it, but the people in the academy must know. We¡¯ll go and ask Sun Baoran. We should be able to find out what Tang Jie took.¡±


    He didn¡¯t believe a word of what Shi Meng had said.


    Not long after they had gone, Tang Jie reappeared. He looked in the direction that Ye Tianshang had gone andughed. He took out those papers, threw them into the air, and let them fall.


    Wanxin Vige.


    Wei Tianchong arrived here alone, and when he saw this shabby vige, he was momentarily left speechless.


    Unlike in Shangquan City, the vigers here couldn¡¯t tell who he was from his clothes, nor did they know that they should greet him. They just stood at the entrances of their homes, watching Wei Tianchong as he walked by like he was some bizarre creature.


    Wei Tianchong initially didn¡¯t know what to do. After some thought, he decided to go and find the vige chief.


    ¡­Just like how Tang Jie had gone to find Chang Xinkuan first.


    The vige chief¡¯s home wasn¡¯t hard to find. It was the home located on the very easternmost edge of the vige. When Wei Tianchong knocked on the door, a white-haired old man tottered out, holding a cane in one hand.


    When he saw Wei Tianchong, the old man said in a quavering voice, ¡°Who might you be looking for?¡±


    ¡°This one is Basking Moon Student Wei Tianchong. Hearing that Wanxin was gued by a fox, I came here to exterminate this catastrophe,¡± Wei Tianchong elegantly said.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± the old man shouted. ¡°I¡¯m a simple man, and I don¡¯t understand a thing you¡¯re saying.¡±


    It seemed like it wasn¡¯t solely a problem of understanding. He was also somewhat deaf.


    ¡°¡­Vige chief, I¡¯m from the Basking Moon Sect, an Immortal! You know what an Immortal is, right? I¡¯vee to kill the fox!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted.


    ¡°Oh, an Immortal!¡± The old man finally understood. But when he saw Wei Tianchong¡¯s white and chubby face thatcked any sort of Immortal aura whatsoever, he didn¡¯t feel very awed. He loudly said, ¡°Then just go already. That damn fox has eaten a lot of our chickens!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ Am I not here to ask about where it is?¡±


    The old man rolled his eyes. ¡°How the hell would I know? Ites out when it¡¯s dark and disappears before daybreak. It¡¯s quite the speedy scoundrel, so you¡¯ll have to look for it! Two Immortal masters came here before, but they looked around and then left, saying that this fox was crafty and couldn¡¯t be found, so they weren¡¯t going to catch it. The vige loses chickens every day!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Wei Tianchong immediately erupted with sweat. After some thought, he asked, ¡°Wasn¡¯t it a fox disaster? But you¡¯ve only lost chickens? Are there any injuries?¡±


    ¡°Injuries? How could there not be? Everyone that tried to capture it got injured! Quite a few people have been hurt!¡± the old man shouted.


    ¡°Has anyone died?¡±


    ¡°You want people to die?¡± the old man furiously said.


    Wei Tianchong nodded and backed up a few steps, after which he went on his way.


    It was no wonder that Shangquan City hadn¡¯t taken this fox disaster seriously and had left it to the academy. Since no one had died, it naturally wasn¡¯t a big deal.


    Wei Tianchong had no other option than to ask around. All he managed to find out was that the fiend fox came from the east.


    Wei Tianchong felt helpless.


    Suddenly, he discovered that when he was separated from Tang Jie, from Shi Meng, from the academy, he had no idea what to do.


    The mission had been stated very clearly: resolve the fox disaster in Wanxin Vige.


    But how it was resolved was all up to the student. He had to think of a way and make his own choice!


    Without someone to direct him, Wei Tianchong really didn¡¯t know what to do.


    It was a realization that left Wei Tianchong very ufortable.


    Even though he knew that he wasn¡¯t a particrly capable person, knowing this and knowing that he was actually so ipetent that he couldn¡¯t do anything on his own were twopletely different matters.


    Wei Tianchong had never truly understood his ipetence. Actually, when he had been winning victory after victory on the battleground, even managing to get into the top one hundred, he thought that he was pretty good.


    But today, when he stood in this shabby vige in the middle of nowhere and looked around at all these dull gazes, he felt helplessness well up within him. Only now did Wei Tianchong realize that he was good for nothing.


    In this mission, he didn¡¯t even know where to start.


    What did being in the top one hundred matter?


    He was the scion of a wealthy n who got money sent to him every month, so he was born to be in the top 1500 students. But it was only with Tang Jie making a puppet for him and making him spirit coins by renting it, and then even giving him medicine and a n designed for him, that he was able to get into the top one hundred.


    What did that show about him?


    It didn¡¯t show anything.


    The day he was without a servant was the day he became nothing!


    And this day had finallye.


    Wei Tianchong looked around in confusion. Those vigers saw him standing around like an idiot and then left, shaking their heads.


    Perhaps they didn¡¯t intend to mock him, but Wei Tianchong felt his heart ache all the same.


    He began to somewhat resent himself.


    Wei Tianchong was actually a rather stubborn person.


    Or perhaps it could be said that anyone with some self-esteem would have a little stubbornness and pride in their bones.


    Although Tang Jie had only asked him to gather information and not take action, since he couldn¡¯t find any information, how was he going to exin himself to Tang Jie?


    Yes, Tang Jie was his servant student, so it was fine even if he did a poor job.


    But Wei Tianchong was a man! He had his dignity!


    If he couldn¡¯t even do something like this, wasn¡¯t he just too useless?


    ¡°It¡¯s just a little fiend fox, a lower-grade at most. I¡¯m sure I can deal with it. You like to steal chickens at night? Then I¡¯ll stand guard tonight. If you dare to steal a chicken, I¡¯ll catch you!¡± Wei Tianchong viciously said.


    He had decided to use the stupidest and simplest method to deal with this fiend fox!


    He had to catch this fox before Tang Jie and Shi Meng arrived so that they could all see that he could seed in life without the help of others!


    Wei Tianchong felt a heroic passion rising up in his heart.

 Chapter 160: Trap

    Chapter 160: Trap


    Night quickly fell.


    Wei Tianchong stood guard inside a bush that was as tall as a man. He stared ahead while his puppet loyally stood guard at his side.


    As the minutes went by and the darkness deepened, the fox was still nowhere to be seen.


    Wei Tianchong was growing more and more tired. He had never been through much hardship before, so he only found all this waiting very boring and annoying. His eyelids gradually began to sag.


    At first, he still struggled to stay awake. But drowsiness continued to assail him, and a thought gradually began to form in his mind¡­ <em>I have a puppet protecting me, so it should be fine if I sleep a little.</em>


    Just like that, he fell asleep.


    After sleeping for some time, he felt a gust of wind that made him shiver.


    He opened his eyes and found that he was still in the bush. All was quiet, without the slightest sign of activity.


    <em>Whew!</em> ¡°Nothing happened,¡± Wei Tianchong sighed in relief.


    He suddenly felt that something wasn¡¯t right. Wei Tianchong turned his head to the side and saw a cute little red-furred fox squatting to his right, looking at him with beautiful blue eyes. It had a long and slender mouth and a bushy tail.


    The eyes of the man and fox met.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Wei Tianchong shrilly screamed, his yowl tearing through the serenity of the night.


    ¡°C-c-catch it!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted.


    The puppet strode over.


    When the fox saw this, it turned around and ran off.


    ¡°After it!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted.


    The fox ran quickly, jumping out of the shrub. From time to time, it turned to look back at Wei Tianchong, who was still doggedly chasing it together with his puppet. In the blink of an eye, they were out of Wanxin Vige and running through the mountain forest.


    Wei Tianchong shouted as he ran, ¡°Don¡¯t even think about escaping!¡±


    But it seemed like he couldn¡¯t catch up, and he was already panting for breath. He began to slow down.


    The fox saw that Wei Tianchong was slowing down and actually stopped.


    It turned around and looked at Wei Tianchong, faint derision in its eyes.


    Wei Tianchong grew furious. ¡°Shit, it even has the guts to wait for me.¡±


    He resumed the chase.


    The fox saw that he was chasing again and turned back around to run into the forest.


    Running and stopping, the two of them ventured deeper into the forest.


    Every time Wei Tianchong became unable to run, the fox would stop and look at Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong was helpless and furious, scowling, ¡°You won¡¯t be able to run away forever!¡±


    As they ventured deeper and deeper into the forest, Wei Tianchong found himself next to a mountain stream.


    The water flowed rapidly, and the stream was broad enough that the fox couldn¡¯t jump across. It stopped next to the stream and turned to look at him.


    Wei Tianchong smuglyughed. ¡°So? Where are you going to run now? I knew I would catch you!¡±


    He strode forward with the puppet, and the fox continued to just sit there, watching Wei Tianchong.


    Just when he was ten steps from the fox, Wei Tianchong felt the ground beneath his feet give way.


    Arge hole appeared beneath him.


    Wei Tianchong screamed as he fell into the pit along with his puppet.


    The bottom of the pit was made of soft soil, and Wei Tianchong had been through training before, so he wasn¡¯t injured by the fall, merely a little sore around the rear. When he raised his head, Wei Tianchong discovered that the pit was at least five meters deep. He hadn¡¯t learned any leaping spells, so he was unable to jump out.


    The fox¡¯s head appeared at the entrance to the hole. It looked down the hole and tilted its head as if it was appreciating the sight. Wei Tianchong could see the ridicule in its eyes.


    His heart trembled as he sat himself on the ground. ¡°It¡¯s over! I fell for a trap¡­ I can¡¯t believe I fell for a fiend beast¡¯s trap!¡±


    While Wei Tianchong couldn¡¯t be said to be thest to be captured by a fiend beast¡¯s trap, he was probably the first.


    The thought that he might die because of this filled him with remorse, and he covered his head and began to cry.


    But the lethal blow he was expecting never came. The little fox nced at him a few times before disappearing.


    Wei Tianchong waited around for the fox to appear, but he soon got bored and fell asleep.


    Wei Tianchong began to dream.


    In his dream, hepleted the mission and became Yan Changfeng¡¯s True Inheritor. From then on, his cultivation increased by leaps and bounds, and he was soon able to order around the academy, the Basking Moon Sect, the Rosecloud Domain, the Great Ster Chiliocosm¡­


    At his left and right were his trusted generals, Tang Jie and Shi Meng, and behind him were countless beauties like An Rumeng, Liu Hongyan, and Ping Jingyue. All of them prostrated at his feet and shot him flirtatious nces. There was also a heavenly pce atop the clouds that wandered freely across the world, and wherever he went, he was worshiped and adored.


    Content with his achievements, Wei Tianchong stood at the apex of life and loudlyughed.


    But¡­ hold on. Why was it raining?


    Wei Tianchong angrily pointed at the heavens. ¡°I didn¡¯t let you rain, but you still dared? Put it away!¡±


    But the rains only grew stronger, instantly drenching Wei Tianchong¡¯s face.


    Face?


    Wei Tianchong froze, and the world before him changed, all of the gorgeous sights vanishing, to be reced by the face of a fox that was licking him.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted in rm. Jumping up, he struck a rock wall, and only now did he realize that this was a cave.


    He tried to grab a weapon in panic, but he discovered that his weapon wasn¡¯t on him. As for the puppet, for some reason, it wasn¡¯t answering his summons.


    In the middle of his shock, he heard a voice call out, ¡°Little friend, do not panic¡­¡±


    As his horse had died and he had been chased by Ye Tianshang¡¯s group for a while, Tang Jie didn¡¯t manage to get to Wanxin Vige until the morning of the next day.


    When he arrived, he saw that Shi Meng was already there, wearing the clothes of a farmer.


    Tang Jie chuckled, took a school uniform out of his Mustard Seed Bag, and threw it over. ¡°What? Did Ye Tianshang chase you so hard that you couldn¡¯t even keep your clothes?¡±


    In the past, Shi Meng would definitely have vented his anger, but he was uncharacteristically solemn. ¡°The young master has gone missing.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Tang Jie was startled. ¡°You said the young master has gone missing?¡±


    ¡°Mm, I¡¯ve looked all over, but I can¡¯t find him,¡± Shi Meng replied. While his horse had been so tired that it was frothing, it hadn¡¯t died, so he had arrived a little before Tang Jie. He had looked around the entire vige but had found no sign of Wei Tianchong.


    ¡°Could he have note here?¡±


    ¡°I asked around, and he apparently came yesterday and asked for information on the fiend fox. But no one has seen him sincest night. And someone also mentioned hearing someone yellst night. Do you think¡­¡± Shi Meng said no more, but Tang Jie understood what he meant.


    Sighing, Tang Jie said, ¡°It seems he went to find the fiend fox on his own¡­ This is a problem. I shouldn¡¯t have let him go out alone. It was to temper him a little, and now look at what¡¯s happened!¡±


    He stomped his feet and cursed, ¡°Shit!¡±


    He was clearly furious.


    ¡°That fiend fox is weak, so the young master should be strong enough to deal with it,¡± Shi Meng consoled himself.


    ¡°The problem is that this isn¡¯t a world where fists can solve everything!¡± Tang Jie angrily said. ¡°There are examples of the weak oveing the strong to be found all throughout this world. Someone like him is bound to be the target of someone else pulling off the miracle of the weak oveing the strong!¡±


    ¡°Then what do we do now?¡± Shi Meng anxiously said.


    ¡°What else can we do? Find him!¡± Tang Jie quickly walked over.


    Following the instructions of the vigers, Tang Jie soon came to the area near the shrub where Wei Tianchong had been hiding.


    Looking around, Tang Jie said, ¡°The young master was probably here, looking out for that fiend fox.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that he was looking out instead of something else?¡± Shi Meng asked.


    Tang Jie retorted, ¡°Do you think he coulde up with a better idea?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Walking forward, Tang Jie inspected the area while using his spirit identification techniques. ¡°There are no intense spiritual energy ripples, so it doesn¡¯t seem like any high-power spell arts were used. Of course, a night has passed, so they might have dispersed. But since it doesn¡¯t seem like shrubs have been knocked down, there was probably no battle here. Shi Meng, go over there and see if there are any tracks.¡±


    Shi Meng hurriedly ran over, and the two began to search for clues. Shi Meng soon shouted, ¡°Tang Jie,e and look over here!¡±


    Tang Jie ran over and saw Shi Meng standing atop a trampled bush.


    Tang Jie carefully examined the bush and muttered, ¡°It wasn¡¯t caused by a fight. It¡¯s more like someone was lying here for a long time, not moving at all¡­ Shit, did he fall asleep?¡±


    The two of them looked at each other.


    Someone of Wei Tianchong¡¯s personality really might have done such a thing.


    Tang Jie looked at the sides and found some crushed des of grass. ¡°The traces are deep and heavy, but they don¡¯t cover much of an area, so these were left by the puppet. This should be the ce.¡±


    The puppet weighed more, so it left more obvious marks.


    Tang Jie plucked a de of grass from the ground and gave it to Shi Meng. ¡°Use the Tracking spell!¡±


    The Tracking spell allowed one to track down the target, but it would only work on something that the target had interacted with before, and there was a limit to how long the time between interaction and the usage of the spell could be. If it had been too long, the aura on the item would have disappeared, rendering it unusable for tracking.


    This was why, even though the two of them had always been close with Wei Tianchong, they had been unable to use the Tracking spell. They had to first find out where Wei Tianchong had been.


    Although that de of grass wasn¡¯t his, as he had been lying on it for a long while, it had been stained with his aura. It also hadn¡¯t been too long ago, so it was perfect to use for Tracking.


    Shi Meng took the de of grass and activated the Tracking spell. A faint trail of energy soon appeared before Shi Meng¡¯s eyes, leading into the distance.


    ¡°He went that way!¡± Shi Meng shouted.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Tang Jie shouted, and the two swiftly rushed forward.


    They followed the trail all the way to a mountain stream, where they spotted thatrge hole next to the stream.


    Shi Meng pointed at the hole. ¡°Oh my god! He fell into the hole.¡±


    The two of them looked at each other and bitterly chuckled. Wei Tianchong was probably the only person that this could happen to.


    Tang Jie nced inside. ¡°He¡¯s not there. Shi Meng, keep tracking him!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no good.¡± Shi Meng shook his head. ¡°The spiritual energy has been thrown into disarray here. Someone seems to have done something here so that they can¡¯t be tracked.¡±

 Chapter 161: Following the Trail

    Chapter 161: Following the Trail


    ¡°A fox knows how to disrupt the Tracking spell?¡± Tang Jie felt shocked.


    Was Wei Tianchong really chasing a fox?


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Shi Meng frantically asked.


    Tang Jie looked around. Suddenly he walked to a nearby tree and carefully examined it.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Shi Meng asked.


    ¡°We can¡¯t use spell arts, so we¡¯ll just use our eyes to see, our heads to think, and our ears to listen¡­¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°Don¡¯t blindly believe in spell arts. We¡¯re people, and we have many crude methods that might even be more effective than lofty spells.¡±


    These weren¡¯t his words. He was just repeating what Gu Changqing had said.


    When Gu Changqing had been on the run, Gu Changqing had taught him this sort of Tracking spell that wasn¡¯t a Tracking spell.


    Gu Changqing¡¯s method was simpler and more practical than a spell art, and while it may have been less effective, the traces weren¡¯t as easily concealed in this era where cultivators were used to solving everything with spells. The more primitive the method, the less likely it was to be targeted.


    As he carefully examined that tree, he stroked the bark and muttered, ¡°This bark is freshly peeled and shows signs of being bound¡­ and over here¡­¡±


    Tang Jie walked over to another tree and examined it. ¡°The same here.¡±


    ¡°And what about it?¡± Shi Meng didn¡¯t get it.


    Tang Jie went back to the hole and carefully measured the distance between the hole and the tree. He tossed out the golden ball from his left hand, which turned into a golden thread and wrapped around the tree twice.


    This was the first time Shi Meng had seen Tang Jie¡¯s golden thread, and he asked in shock, ¡°What is this?¡±


    ¡°Golden Silkthread, a spell weapon, my secret trump card. I got it from Gu Changqing,¡± Tang Jie casually lied. ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone else.¡±


    He couldn¡¯t keep things a secret forever. Only by letting others know would he have the opportunity to use them in the future, and Golden Silkthread was an exnation that made sense.


    As he answered Shi Meng, Tang Jie dropped one end of the golden thread into the hole. After testing a few things, he nodded. ¡°He was pulled up on a rope.¡±


    ¡°And what about it?¡±


    ¡°I can understand a fiend fox digging this kind of hole, and I can ept that it can use spiritual energy to muddy the trail, but using a rope to pull someone out of a hole¡­ Don¡¯t you find that rather strange?¡±


    Shi Meng¡¯s mouth opened. ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re saying¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a human!¡± Tang Jie solemnly said.


    Even though he didn¡¯t want to admit it, Tang Jie had still realized that this wasn¡¯t something a fiend fox could pull off alone. A human had to be involved.


    ¡°So what do we do?¡±


    ¡°Regardless of who this person was, since they needed a rope to pull him out, they must have limited strength. We should be able to deal with them. The key is to find out where the young master is.¡± Tang Jie turned around and took several steps. He looked at the dirt and said, ¡°They should have gone this way.¡±


    He ran ahead.


    Shi Meng ran after him, and as the two followed the trail through the forest, they quickly arrived at a cliff face.


    The trail ended here, and Tang Jie could find no more clues. He started to get worried, saying, ¡°Shi Meng, let¡¯s split up and search. They must be nearby, so the cave entrance might be well-concealed or hidden using a spell art.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Shi Meng shouted as he ran off in another direction.


    As Shi Meng ran off, Tang Jie¡¯s eyes shed with killing intent. He loudly dered, ¡°I don¡¯t care who you are. Immediately hand over my young master, or else I won¡¯t be merciful!¡±


    His voice echoed through the valley, but there was no reply.


    A vicious streak emerged in Tang Jie¡¯s mind as he formed hand sign after hand sign, sending out pulses of spiritual energy that threw his surroundings into turmoil. He shouted, ¡°Formations have rules. The Life Gate must emerge first!¡±


    In a rush of spiritual energy, in the Gen position (northeast), the spiritual light of the Life Gate appeared.


    Tang Jie made another hand sign. ¡°The wind enters through the Xun position (southeast), and the Stop Gate is born!¡±


    The winds howled as the Stop Gate was formed.


    Tang Jie reached into his Mustard Seed Bag and pulled out an item.


    The rm Gate Banner!


    Thrusting the rm Gate Banner into the ground, Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Thews have no boundaries! rm Gate, emerge!¡±


    As the rm Gate appeared, strange clouds began to gather.


    He wasying down the Four Seas Storm Formation. It was an extremely powerful,rge-range offensive formation. When facing an unknown enemy, it was the best choice. Although he didn¡¯t have the materials, with the rm Gate Banner, it still possessed considerable power.


    Tang Jie thrust out his hands, and the earth trembled. ¡°Earth returns to the Zhen position (east); the Injury Gate rises!¡±


    With four gates created, Tang Jie shouted, ¡°The wind and earth have no borders, and all the world is beneath my eyes. If you don¡¯te out, I will summon the wind and clouds to sunder the earth and topple this mountain!¡±


    With this shout, a cave suddenly and silently appeared on the side of the mountain. It was too dark to see what was inside.


    Finally, he had provoked a reaction.


    After some thought, Tang Jie made a grabbing motion in the air, snatching up the rm Gate Banner and putting it back in his bag. The clouds dissipated as everything calmed back down.


    Shi Meng hurried back and shouted, ¡°What happened?¡±


    He had been searching for a cave when he had heard Tang Jie shout. He hadn¡¯t paid it much attention at first, but as he began to feel surges of spiritual energy, he had finally hurried back in rm.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s just that what should have appeared has finally appeared,¡± Tang Jie nonchntly replied.


    Only now did Shi Meng notice the cave entrance.


    He looked at Tang Jie and cautiously asked, ¡°Could it be a trick?¡±


    Tang Jie was just about to reply when a figure suddenly rushed out of the cave at them.


    ¡°Watch out!¡± Panicked, both of them thrust out their palms at this approaching figure.


    ¡°Tang¡­ agh!¡± They heard a familiar scream.


    ¡°Young Master!¡± The two of them hastily stopped attacking as they watched that figure collide with the side of the mountain and fall back to the ground.


    Who else could it be besides Wei Tianchong?


    He grimaced as hey on the ground. ¡°Shit, you¡¯re trying to kill me!¡±


    Tang Jie and Shi Meng exchanged a nce and sighed in unison. It seemed like he was fine.


    Helping Wei Tianchong up, Tang Jie asked, ¡°So, tell us what happened.¡±


    Wei Tianchong awkwardly chuckled. ¡°Nothing, really¡­ I¡¯ll tell youter. Let me take you to see someone first.¡±


    He walked back into the cave.


    Shi Meng angrily said, ¡°We know even if you don¡¯t say anything! You fell into the fiend beast¡¯s trap, right? I¡¯ve only heard of peopleying traps to deal with fiend beasts, never about a fiend beastying a trap to deal with a human. You¡¯re really something else!¡±


    Wei Tianchong became frantic. Jumping up and down, he said, ¡°It was different! Different! I just got careless!¡±


    ¡°Forget it. It seems to me that you¡¯ll be careless for the rest of your life,¡± Shi Meng gruffly said. After spending so much time together, Shi Meng had gradually begun to gain confidence.


    ¡°Alright, alright,¡± Tang Jie said, acting as the mediator. ¡°Save whatever you have to say for once we get inside.¡±


    The three of them went into the cave, and as they got deeper, they suddenly saw a ball of light. This was the light radiated by a pearl that had been embedded in the wall.


    In the innermost depths of the cave, the three of them saw an elder sitting on a stone tform.


    The elder was skeletal, his head sagging as he sat, but he actually didn¡¯t have a body below the waist. A little fox nervously stood guard next to him, looking at the three.


    ¡°This is¡­?¡± Tang Jie asked Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong replied, ¡°He¡¯s Divine God Luo.¡±


    Divine God Luo?


    Tang Jie and Shi Meng were scared out of their wits by this name, instinctively taking up defensive postures.


    Divine God Luo had been an infamous tyrant of the Rosecloud Domain. He had been a Grand Elder of the Five Divines Faith, possessing outstanding strength and a ferocity that reached the heavens. But after the Basking Moon Sect joined with the other sects to heavily injure him, he vanished without a trace.


    After that battle, the Five Divines Faith suffered a massive fall in prestige, waning for generation after generation until it had ultimately be a third-rate sect.


    Tang Jie and Shi Meng hadn¡¯t expected to meet Divine God Luo here. This was a Celestial Sovereign from several thousand years ago!


    Wei Tianchong hastily said, ¡°Don¡¯t panic. He¡¯s already dead.¡±


    ¡°Dead?¡± Tang Jie and Shi Meng exchanged a nce, and then they looked at the old man. He was just sitting there, not even breathing. He really was dead.


    But when he died, there had been no change in the weather or pulse of spiritual energy. Presumably, this man had been so severely injured that he didn¡¯t have even one percent of his former cultivation when he died.


    Seeing that he didn¡¯t have legs and recalling how Wei Tianchong had been pulled up using a rope, Tang Jie gradually began to form an image of what had happened.


    ¡°So he just died?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°Mm, right when you came,¡± Wei Tianchong replied.


    ¡°Really? So conveniently?¡± Shi Meng asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that much of a coincidence. Actually, when he was injured long ago, he hid here and used some secret of his religion to heal himself. But the secret art ended up failing, causing him to sleep for a thousand years. If not for his aspiration, he would have died, but he continued to stubbornly cling to hisst breath. The fox disaster was really because he had recently trained a little fox, and once he had trained it enough, he used it to lure people¡­¡± Wei Tianchong sighed.


    Sitting next to a stone table, Wei Tianchong exined what had happened to him. ¡°¡­Just like that, when I woke up, I found myself in this cave, and next to me was Divine God Luo.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that after you were taken to the cave, he didn¡¯t do anything to you, and so you fell asleep again?¡± Tang Jie asked in shock.


    This bastard could sleep even in this situation?


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s face turned red. ¡°That¡¯s not important! What¡¯s important is that I encountered a Titan from several thousand years ago. After sleeping for several thousand years, he finally woke up, and then I ran into him. Do you get it? This is a lucky encounter! A lucky encounter!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that he was waiting here for thousands of years, unwilling to die, just to wait for someone, to give someone a lucky encounter? And once he had had this lucky encounter, he could die in peace?¡± Tang Jie asked, pointing at the corpse of Divine God Luo seated on the stone tform.


    He didn¡¯t dare to believe his ears. Was this really true?


    Did this sort of stuff of legends really exist?


    Of course, this wasn¡¯t what was most important. <em>The most important thing is: why wasn¡¯t it me?</em>


    <em>Oh heavens, are you joking around with me?</em>


    Tang Jie was about to go crazy. <em>I¡¯m the transmigrator here, you know?</em>


    <em>Wait; didn¡¯t I give Wei Tianchong my mission toplete?</em>


    His face twitched.


    Wei Tianchong chuckled. ¡°Whether you believe me or not, it really happened.¡±


    ¡°What did he give you? Magic treasures? Spirit medicines?¡± Shi Meng asked.


    Wei Tianchong sighed. ¡°He was utterly defeated by the Basking Moon Sect, his treasures either used up or destroyed. Do you really think there would be any magic treasures or spirit medicines left for me? And look at him. He¡¯s in such a bad state, so how could he have any medicine left? Even if he had any left over, they would have all gone bad after two thousand years!¡±

 Chapter 162: Lucky Encounter

    Chapter 162: Lucky Encounter


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°So did he give you all of his cultivation so that your strength suddenly soared?¡±


    The Rosecloud Domain was not the world of martial arts novels. The Spiritual Space could only be expanded through one¡¯s own power. Spirit transfer was possible, but this was merely giving one¡¯s spiritual energy to someone else. It was impossible for someone to get stronger by leaps and bounds upon receiving spiritual energy from another. Moreover, to reach the Mortal Shedding Realm, one had to build the Heaven-Earth Bridge, the Celestial Heart Realm required the Heart Foundation, and the Violet Pce Realm required opening the Violet Pce. Each realm had its own qualitative evolution that had nothing to do with spiritual energy quantity.


    Thus, while it was theoretically possible for Wei Tianchong to go from Spirit Spring to Spirit Sea, it was impossible for him to have ascended to a new realm.


    But he was just joking, and Wei Tianchong understood. He bitterly said, ¡°His injuries caused his Heaven-Earth Bridge to be severed, his Celestial Heart to copse, and his Violet Pce to be annihted. His cultivation fell all the way until he only had his Spirit Eye left. It¡¯s a miracle that he even survived, and it takes ages for him to use a spell art. I could have knocked him over with a p. You think he had the strength to boost me?¡±


    ¡°Then it must be some divine secret art!¡± Shi Meng¡¯s eyes shed like stars. Even if there were no treasures, getting a secret art from the likes of a Titan like Divine God Luo was still wonderful.


    After all, Tang Jie¡¯s current level of strength was closely connected to the Divine Firmament Sword ssic.


    Even Tang Jie felt that this was the greatest possibility.


    Wei Tianchong covered his face. ¡°He was nning to teach me¡­¡±


    ¡°¡®nning to¡¯?¡± Tang Jie and Shi Meng felt their hearts thump. ¡°What happened after that?¡±


    Wei Tianchong exined, ¡°When he woke up, because his injuries hadn¡¯t healed, all of his cultivation had dispersed. Originally, he thought that the Five Divines Faith would have been doomed without him there, so he might have had no descendants, causing the legacy of the Five Divines Faith to end. Too ashamed to face his ancestors, he decided to struggle in order to pass down his secret arts¡­¡±


    Tang Jie grimaced. ¡°Oh god; don¡¯t tell me. You let him know that the Five Divines Faith hadn¡¯t been exterminated?¡±


    Wei Tianchong silently nodded.


    ¡°Ugh!¡± Tang Jie and Shi Meng pped their foreheads.


    There was no need to ask about what had happened next.


    This old man had been under the impression that the Five Divines Faith had been wiped out during his millennia-long sleep, so he had been determined to find someone who could inherit his teachings. He didn¡¯t dare to find anyone that was too formidable for fear that they would betray him. After great difficulty, he had managed to find this fatty who was easy to deal with, but the moment he started asking questions: ¡°What? The Five Divines Faith is still around? Its legacy is there, but it justcks talented individuals? Oh, then forget it. I don¡¯t have any more business with you¡­¡±


    Tang Jie and Shi Meng sighed.


    If a person didn¡¯t know how to grasp an opportunity, then they could even waste spirit coins raining down from the heavens.


    But on the other hand, if he had been the one to do the mission, he would have never met Divine God Luo, for he would have never fallen for the fox¡¯s bait.


    Divine God Luo had been a fierce tyrant and was bound to not lightly trust anyone he raised. For him, only the people that could be controlled could be trusted, and in that situation of his, finding someone he could control had been far too difficult.


    He had chosen Wei Tianchong not because of his good character, but because he didn¡¯t have much ability and was easy to deal with.


    But he hadn¡¯t expected that the Five Divines Faith would still exist. With this load off his mind, he breathed hisst.


    He died very simply and cleanly.


    This thought made Tang Jie feel a lot better. Waving his hand, he said, ¡°Forget it. Even if you didn¡¯t get anything, what¡¯s important is that you¡¯re okay.¡±


    ¡°Who said I didn¡¯t get anything?¡± Wei Tianchong jumped up. ¡°I already said that I had a lucky encounter! A lucky encounter!¡±


    ¡°Without any magic treasures, spirit medicines, or arts, what else could he have left you?¡±


    ¡°That!¡± Wei Tianchong said, pointing at the stone tform.


    Tang Jie and Shi Meng looked at where he was pointing and saw the little fox cutely looking back.


    ¡°Just that?¡± the two of them asked in unison.


    ¡°Mm!¡± Wei Tianchong excitedly nodded. ¡°A fiend fox! What do you think? I now have a fiend beast pet!¡± Fiend beasts had a wild nature and weren¡¯t easy to tame. Thus, few people in the cultivation world were able to raise fiend beasts. In this aspect, the Beast Refining Gate did the best job, but they mostly used refined beasts that didn¡¯t have any rationality.


    It was a miracle that Tang Jie had Yiyi, and it was a great surprise that Wei Tianchong now had one of his own.


    This fiend fox shared a deep affection with Divine God Luo, and Divine God Luo was unwilling to leave it in the wilderness, ignorant of the human world. He saw that Wei Tianchong was a rather honest and straightforward person, so he entrusted it to Wei Tianchong such that their meeting was not a waste. The fiend fox was obedient to Divine God Luo, so it epted Wei Tianchong. If not for Divine God Luo¡¯s order, the fiend fox probably would have already run off.


    But this little fox was a fiend fox that had only just entered the lower grade, and Divine God Luo had inadvertentlye across it in the mountains, so it might not have a very good bloodline. To call this a ¡°miracle¡± would be abusing the term too much.


    Wei Tianchong appeared excited, as if he was waiting for everyone to be envious.


    Tang Jie and Shi Meng nced at each other, sighed, and began to walk out.


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s face instantly fell. ¡°Hey, hey, what are you doing? It¡¯s still a fiend fox! A lower-grade fiend fox! One that followed Titan Divine God Luo! I don¡¯t mind if you¡¯re not envious, but you should at leastpliment me a little!¡±


    ¡°True¡­¡± Shi Meng did not slow down. He leisurely replied, ¡°It is a fiend fox that managed to fool you into walking into a pit!¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s face turned red. As the two of them walked farther and farther away, he grabbed the fox and ran after them. As he rushed out of the cave, he went up to Tang Jie and Shi Meng and said, ¡°I need to discuss something with the two of you.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± they asked in unison.


    ¡°Uh¡­ just, don¡¯t say anything about how I fell for that trap,¡± Wei Tianchong said awkwardly, dropping his head.


    The two of them were rendered speechless.


    Regardless, the fiend fox of Wanxin Vige had been dealt with.


    Once they were out of the cave, the three of them departed the small mountain together.


    ¡°So where are we going now?¡± Shi Meng asked Tang Jie.


    ¡°Fengyin,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°We¡¯re finally heading to Yan Province this time.¡± Shi Meng smiled.


    Fengyin was a county city in Yan Province. After going here and there, they were finally headed to where all the other students were going.


    ¡°Why are we going to Fengyin?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    ¡°To find a woman, Xu Mujun.¡±


    ¡°Who is Xu Mujun?¡± Shi Meng asked.


    ¡°A fourth-year student of Cloudflow Academy.¡±


    Wei Tianchong curiously asked, ¡°What¡¯s her rtionship with Lin Lang?¡±


    ¡°Lovers,¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    Shi Meng¡¯s eyes glinted. ¡°Lin Lang¡¯s woman? So she wasn¡¯t at Cloudflow Academy?¡±


    ¡°Mm, she¡¯s at Yan Province¡¯s Fengyin. That¡¯s her hometown. Not long after Lin Lang escaped, she left the academy for a mission. Lin Lang must be with her. If we find her, we find Lin Lang,¡± Tang Jie exined.


    ¡°How do you know all this?¡± Wei Tianchong was even more curious now.


    This information seemed simple, but finding it couldn¡¯t have been easy. How had Tang Jie managed it? Moreover, why was he so certain that they would find Lin Lang if they found Xu Mujun?


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°On the day True Person Changfeng issued his mission, I went to Inkscent Parlor to do some research. Do you know what conclusion I reached on that day?¡±


    ¡°True Person Changfeng truly did want to take a disciple!¡± Shi Meng and Wei Tianchong blurted out in unison.


    Tang Jie had said this to Cai Junyang and the others, and he hadter told Shi Meng and Wei Tianchong the same thing.


    But neither Cai Junyang¡¯s group nor Shi Meng and Wei Tianchong had paid much attention to these words. They had only taken it for the simplest and most boring conclusion Tang Jie had reached when searching for clues.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t think so.


    This was because the first thing Tang Jie had said when True Person Changfeng¡¯s mission hade out was: ¡°If he wanted to take a disciple, why would he give out such a difficult mission?¡±


    Yan Province was too big and had too many people. Lin Lang also knew a spell to change his appearance. Let alone students, even Basking Moon Sect disciples might not be able to hunt down Lin Lang.


    If True Person Changfeng really wanted to take a disciple, he wouldn¡¯t have issued such a difficult mission.


    And now, Tang Jie had repeated himself.


    Shi Meng and Wei Tianchong nced at each other and then asked Tang Jie, ¡°You mean¡­?¡±


    Tang Jie casually replied, ¡°Once the general direction is confirmed, the rest bes much easier. Since I¡¯m sure that True Person Changfeng wants to take a disciple, there could only be one reason that this mission would be given out¡­ Lin Lang is already within the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s reach!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Shi Meng and Wei Tianchong blurted out.


    ¡°Tang Jie, you¡¯re saying that the Basking Moon Sect has been able to track down Lin Lang the entire time? That they¡¯ve always been able to find him?¡± Wei Tianchong was astonished.


    ¡°Correct.¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°The Basking Moon Sect issued this mission precisely because they could already track Lin Lang down. From the very beginning of this mission, there existed definite clues that could be used to track down Lin Lang.¡±


    ¡°Then why doesn¡¯t the Basking Moon Sect catch him?¡±


    ¡°There are two reasons. The first is to test the students. The second is to leave him behind to draw out other spies. This matter was probably inspired by what happened with the Hawk Hall. The Basking Moon Sect threw out the fishing line to try and bait out the big fish. But as time passed and all the fish that could be caught were caught, Lin Lang lost his purpose as a chess piece, so they let the students go after him, to test and temper the students and give him onest purpose.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Shi Meng nodded. ¡°In other words, the Basking Moon Sect intentionally let Lin Lang go?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°Lin Lang escaping definitely was not the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s intention.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because of the rumors! If the Basking Moon Sect had intentionally let him go, Chang Xinkuan wouldn¡¯t be in such a passive position. His situation proves that Lin Lang really did manage to escape because someone on the inside leaked information to him. It¡¯s just that the Basking Moon Sect managed to find him and proceeded to use him as bait for their own ns.¡±


    ¡°Since it wasn¡¯t intentional, how could the Basking Moon Sect have been able to track down Lin Lang?¡± Wei Tianchong was confused.


    ¡°That¡¯s the problem!¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°The Basking Moon Sect initially didn¡¯t know that Lin Lang would escape, so how did they find him? Think about it!¡±


    Shi Meng froze for a moment, and then he shouted, ¡°The clues that you found? I see¡­ So you were just doing what the people from the Basking Moon Sect did?¡±


    ¡°Haha, you finally get it,¡± Tang Jieughed. ¡°To find Lin Lang, how could the Basking Moon Sect not start with Cloudflow Academy? And how could Cloudflow Academy not cooperate? The only difference is that they didn¡¯t need to use Chang Xinkuan as a go-between. Once I confirmed that the Basking Moon Sect had a firm grasp of Lin Lang¡¯s trail, all I needed to do was look through the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s investigation record and then follow their trail, walking the same path!¡±


    ¡°But you don¡¯t have the authority to inspect that record!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted. How could Tang Jie inspect the activity records of the Basking Moon Sect?


    ¡°Correct! But the problem is that I did manage to see them¡­ They were in Inkscent Parlor for anyone to read!¡± Tang Jie dered.


    At that moment, Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng understood everything.

 Chapter 163: Spell Mark

    Chapter 163: Spell Mark


    True Person Changfeng¡¯s mission had left everyone an obvious trail of clues from the very beginning.


    The students had no need to blindly search the sea of people like headless flies. All they needed to do was calm down and find out how the Basking Moon Sect had found Lin Lang, upon which they would immediately realize that something was amiss.


    In the record pavilion, Tang Jie had found information rting to Lin Lang. Those records had been ced in the most obvious spot and had even been brightly marked so that the students would find them.


    The person the records mentioned most frequently was the most important one: Xu Mujun.


    The records also stated that Xu Mujun had gone to Fengyin.


    Together with the location of Yan Province, Tang Jie was almost certain that Lin Lang was with Xu Mujun.


    As for the records he had taken, they belonged to other students and had nothing to do with Xu Mujun, and he had taken them simply to fool Ye Tianshang. If Ye Tianshang had managed to catch up to him, he would have used those records to deceive Ye Tianshang.


    But he hadn¡¯t expected Ye Tianshang to not chase after him, instead going back to question Sun Baoran.


    He just didn¡¯t know if the Basking Moon Sect had said anything to Headmaster Sun. Was he to remain tight-lipped? Closely cooperate? Or perhaps only give limited cooperation?


    But Tang Jie wasn¡¯t worried about any of this.


    The other twoughed when they heard about how Tang Jie had fooled Ye Tianshang.


    ¡°Alright, our first order of business is to buy some horses and then make our way to Fengyin. Once we get Lin Lang¡¯s head, the mission will be done!¡± Tang Jie loudly said.


    ¡°Go! Go! Go!¡± With hopes of sess right before their eyes, Shi Meng and Wei Tianchong were brimming with energy and confident in their sess.


    Yan Province.


    Zhongbing Prefecture.


    In a teahouse within the city, Liu Hongyan sipped on a cup of fragrant tea as she sat next to a window on the second floor. She looked out the window, lost in thought.


    Thumping came from the stairs as several young students came up.


    It was none other than Cai Junyang, Shu Mingyang, and Ping Jingyue.


    Liu Hongyan nced at them and pursed her lips. ¡°Still not right?¡±


    Cai Junyang sighed. Seating himself across from Liu Hongyan, he poured himself a big bowl of wine and drained it. Only then did he say, ¡°Don¡¯t even talk about it. We asked the government to put up posters and look around, but it was still no good. We found two people who looked simr, but neither one was him.¡±


    ¡°He might not be in the city at all. The information only said he went in this direction. If I were him, I would have left ages ago. Why would I wait here to be found for all this time?¡± Ping Jingyue as she sat down.


    Shu Mingyang chuckled. ¡°It would be far stranger if he were that easy to find. Perhaps he might not even look the same as the portrait. Don¡¯t forget that he knows the Illusiform spell.¡±


    ¡°Illusiform can change the appearance, but only for a moment. He can¡¯t maintain that state forever,¡± Liu Hongyan replied. ¡°In the end, our method of finding him just isn¡¯t right. We haven¡¯t even gotten close to him. This portrait alone is no good.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not hunting dogs like Gu Changqing, and this isn¡¯t our field of expertise. I really don¡¯t know what the True Person is thinking, giving such a mission,¡± Cai Junyang sighed.


    They had followed the trail to Zhongbing Prefecture, but after searching for a long while, they hadn¡¯t found a single hair of their target¡¯s head. It was hard to me them for venting a little.


    ¡°In truth, it¡¯s fine to solve a problem by changing your way of thinking. Since you can¡¯t find him yourself, why not see if someone else can find him?¡± Liu Hongyan casually said. ¡°A senior of mine once said that if you don¡¯t know what you should do, you should just follow someone that knows what to do.¡±


    ¡°Mm?¡± Everyone¡¯s interest was piqued by her words.


    Shu Mingyang asked, ¡°Hongyan, you mean¡­?¡±


    ¡°The rules of Basking Moon Academy stick to their word! Anyone whoes back with the head will be considered to have done the deed. If we can¡¯t find Lin Lang, we just forget about finding him. When someone else finds the head, we just take it from them,¡± Liu Hongyan casually said.


    ¡°Then who do you think will find it?¡± Cai Junyang asked.


    Liu Hongyan giggled and looked at Cai Junyang.


    Cai Junyang¡¯s heart thumped. ¡°Are you going to say ¡®Tang Jie¡¯?¡±


    Liu Hongyan answered, ¡°If there were only one person in Basking Moon Academy that can find Lin Lang, I would not be able to say for certain that it was Tang Jie. But Tang Jie is among the people with the highest chance of finding Lin Lang.¡±


    ¡°How can you be so certain?¡± Ping Jingyue asked.


    Liu Hongyan softly chuckled in reply.


    Everyone was rendered helpless by her air of mystery. After some time, Liu Hongyan finally said, ¡°Not too long ago, Qi Shaoming went looking for him.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± They didn¡¯t get what she meant.


    ¡°Qi Shaoming challenged him and lost,¡± Liu Hongyan indifferently said.


    Everyone was aghast at this news, blurting out in unison, ¡°That really happened?¡±


    As Qi Shaoming and Tang Jie had fought in the middle of the night, not many people knew about it, especially because neither of them had announced it. But unexpectedly, Liu Hongyan knew of the battle.


    Cai Junyang paled.


    He had fought Qi Shaoming before, and Qi Shaoming had used only one Chill Phantom Clone sh to defeat him. The power of that attack had left a deep impression on his mind.


    He could have never imagined Qi Shaoming losing to Tang Jie.


    Didn¡¯t that mean that Tang Jie stood at the undisputed peak of his ss? That even An Rumeng might not be able to beat him?


    Liu Hongyan slowly said, ¡°That senior also told me that if you find it impossible to judge a person, then use the simplest method to appraise him¡­ Look at his achievements. It¡¯s not a precise method, but it¡¯s enough to answer many problems. That someone with a five-cycle Jade Gate and no family has reached this level already says a lot about him. He was able to deceive Basking Moon Academy and kill Gu Changqing. As someone who has experienced that process of pursuit and counter-pursuit, he should have more experience than us when ites to finding Lin Lang.¡±


    Everyone nodded.


    ¡°But didn¡¯t he say that he had already given up on the mission?¡± Cai Junyang asked.


    Liu Hongyan shook her head. ¡°He gave up on being True Inheritor, not the mission.¡±


    Cai Junyang was taken aback. ¡°You¡¯re saying he¡¯s helping someone else try for the True Inheritor position? Who?¡±


    Ping Jingyue replied, ¡°Who else could it be? Tang Jie once swore a Heart Demon Aspiration that he wouldn¡¯t leave the Wei n until Wei Tianchong reached Celestial Heart.¡±


    Cai Junyang scratched his head. ¡°Ooooh¡­ Why does it sound like the two of you pay a lot of attention to him? So you¡¯re saying that Tang Jie is definitely going to try and help Wei Tianchong get the head?¡±


    ¡°Correct,¡± Shu Mingyang replied. ¡°So as long as we keep an eye on Tang Jie, we¡¯ll actually be able to find Lin Lang.¡±


    ¡°But how do we do that?¡± Cai Junyang spread apart his hands. ¡°We don¡¯t even know where he is.¡±


    Liu Hongyan smiled. ¡°Do you know about spell marks?¡±


    ¡°Spell marks?¡± Cai Junyang froze for a moment, and then he shouted, ¡°You used a spell mark on Tang Jie?¡±


    Liu Hongyan chuckled. ¡°Not Tang Jie. He¡¯s too cautious and meticulous. He would have probably noticed if it had been used on him. Fortunately, he has a weakness next to him¡­¡±


    The other three nced at each other and shouted, ¡°Wei Tianchong!¡±


    It was no wonder Liu Hongyan was soposed. She had already made a back-up n.


    Fengyin.


    This was a small county city of Yan Province, under the administration of Twin River Mouth.


    Twin River Mouth was a city located at the confluence of the Sangshui River and the Sanli River.


    If one went west from here and followed the course of the Sangshui south, one would reach High Maple Pass in just one day. Past High Maple Pass was the Wastnd of No Return. Thesends were no longer under the domain of the Sageheart Kingdom.


    Tang Jie¡¯s group arrived at dusk.


    Wei Tianchong asked Tang Jie, ¡°Should we find an inn to rest for the night and then go to find Xu Mujun?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not necessary. Speed is of utmost importance in war. Let¡¯s go looking now, as there¡¯s no telling what will happen if we¡¯re a step too slow,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Shi Meng nodded.


    At some point, Tang Jie hade to lead the discussion in this group of three.


    The Xu n was arge n in Fengyin, so it wasn¡¯t hard to find.


    Tang Jie¡¯s group quickly found thatrge estate on Shuangfu Street, at the northern edge of the county city.


    The estate walls were high and covered in fragile zed tiles. At every ten meters along the wall was a hole through which one could look outside.


    As they walked along the wall, they soon saw a cinnabar gate guarded by two stone Qilins and decorated by two bronze beast-head knockers.


    The three of them dismounted, and Tang Jie went up the steps and knocked on the gate.


    A few momentster, the door opened, and a white-haired old man peeked out. ¡°Who are you looking for?¡± he asked Tang Jie.


    ¡°Xu Mujun. Is she in right now?¡± Tang Jie politely asked.


    ¡°And who are you lot?¡±


    ¡°Basking Moon students.¡±


    These words caused the old man to tremble, and he instinctively shut the gate.


    Tang Jie stuck his foot in to hold the gate. ¡°What? Are we not wee?¡±


    His attitude was very refined, and his tone was gentle, but to the old man, they were like the whispers of a devil. He shuddered, but in the end, he opened the gate. ¡°Esteemed masters, wee!¡±


    Tang Jie strode in. ¡°Where is your n¡¯s youngdy?¡±


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng followed him in. Tang Jie gave them a furtive gesture, and Shi Meng nodded and used a detection spell.


    The old man stood at Tang Jie¡¯s side and said, ¡°The youngdy is inside. Gentlemen, please follow me.¡±


    Tang Jie followed the elder, looking around as they walked and taking in every detail. He casually asked, ¡°From the look of it, can I assume that you knew that we Basking Moon students woulde?¡±


    The elder sighed. ¡°The Xu n already knows what happened with Lin Lang, and another esteemed master came asking questions a few days ago. It¡¯s just that our youngdy and that scoundrel are no longer together, so we have no idea where he went.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Tang Jie smiled.


    As they followed the elder, a page boy had already tactfully informed the patriarch. Before they had even entered the room, the servants had lined up in the courtyard to greet them.


    Leading this assembly was an elder, who bowed upon seeing Tang Jie¡¯s group. ¡°Xu Xi¡¯an, apanied by the sixty-seven members of the Xu n, greets the high Immortal. For what reason has this high Immortale? And please forgive us for not going out to greet the high Immortal.¡±


    ¡°Elder Xu, you are too polite. We are simply Basking Moon students, not yet deserving to be called esteemed masters. Young Lady Xu of your noble n is still studying at Cloudflow Academy, so she is on par with us in terms of status,¡± Tang Jie casually replied, but he still epted the wee of this n.

 Chapter 164: Questioning

    Chapter 164: Questioning


    Students were students, but those of Basking Moon Academy were naturally of a higher status. Tang Jie¡¯s words were for etiquette¡¯s sake, but actually forsaking this wee would be lowering the prestige of the academy.


    Hierarchy was omnipresent, as was abuse of this hierarchy. It was just that oppression was not something that needed only be expressed through words and facial expressions. The everpresent ss differences were the greatest representation of the nobility of Immortals and the lowliness of mortals.


    Elder Xu invited the three into the room, and Tang Jie immediately seated himself at the head seat. ¡°We havee here to ask you about Lin Lang.¡±


    ¡°High Immortal, please ask as many questions as you please. This lowly one and his daughter will tell you everything we know.¡± Xu Xi¡¯an pointed at himself and then at the young girl next to him.


    The young girl was probably Xu Mujun. She was very beautiful, but she kept her head bowed and seemed unwilling to speak.


    Tang Jie thoughtfully nced at her and then sipped his tea. ¡°I have heard that when Young Lady Xu was at Cloudflow Academy, she was on good terms with Lin Lang. Is this true?¡±


    Xu Mujun softly nodded and answered, ¡°Young Master Tang, this truly is the case. I had been away from home for the first time and had nobody around me upon entering the academy, leaving me very difited. At that time, Lin Lang appeared and helped. As time went on, I began to develop feelings for him. I did not think¡­ I did not think that he would be so ambitious that he would be a spy for Godhead Pce¡­¡±


    The girl began to sob.


    Tang Jie corrected, ¡°To be more precise, his father was a spy for Godhead Pce. As for the man himself, we cannot know until we catch him.¡±


    The girl was taken aback by his words. ¡°Young Master Tang, are you saying that Lin¡­ he isn¡¯t a member of Godhead Pce?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t said that he is or is not, only that we have to catch him first to confirm it,¡± Tang Jie indifferently said. ¡°Right, Young Lady Xu, might I ask where you were when Lin Lang escaped?¡±


    ¡°I was cultivating in my residence.¡±


    ¡°Did hee to find you before running?¡±


    The girl shook her head.


    ¡°How long was it after he left that you decided to go home?¡±


    ¡°Three dayster. Young Master Tang, I will not lie to you. Although I left to carry out a mission, the mission was only an excuse. After the incident, I became extremely afraid that I would be implicated, so I quickly returned home.¡±


    ¡°You said that the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s people came to find you not long after that?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°How long exactly?¡±


    ¡°Around ten days after.¡±


    ¡°Lin Lang has never tried to contact you after escaping?¡±


    ¡°No, absolutely not!¡± the girl firmly said. ¡°This lowly woman can swear on her Heart Demon that this lowly woman had no contact with Lin Lang after the incident!¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Tang Jie nced at the girl, and even Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng exchanged a nce.


    Although swearing an oath on the Heart Demon wasn¡¯t an absolute guarantee, the attention it had been given for such a long time had caused the majority of cultivators to take Heart Demon oaths very seriously.


    If what Xu Mujun said was true, then didn¡¯t this mean that Tang Jie¡¯s conjectures werepletely wrong? The trail left by the Basking Moon Sect might not mean that they already had a firm grasp of Lin Lang¡¯s location. It was more likely that they had yet to verify their findings.


    Tang Jie narrowed his eyes. ¡°I see. Then tell me what you do know.¡±


    Xu Mujun began to tell them everything she knew about Lin Lang.


    Perhaps because she wanted to clear herself of suspicion, Xu Mujun was extremely detailed, recounting everything about Lin Lang¡¯s interests, hobbies, and lifestyle, hiding nothing.


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng were rather disappointed at theck of results from this questioning.


    It was alreadyte in the night, so Tang Jie said, ¡°Miss Xu, thank you for your cooperation. Please, ept my apologies for disturbing your estate at this hour.¡±


    ¡°Not at all, not at all!¡± Xu Xi¡¯an hastily said. ¡°Since the three of you are here, why not stay and have dinner before leaving?¡±


    The Xu Estate had already prepared dinner for the three of them.


    Tang Jie dly epted, and the three of them partook in dinner.


    With the questioning done, the dinner conversation was much more rxed and natural. The Xu Estate was particrly courteous, serving up good foods and wine, with even numerous precious spirit foods.


    Tang Jie and the others feasted without courtesy, using this chance to chow down. As he ate, Tang Jiemented, ¡°Mm, not bad, not bad. The Xu Estate deserves its ce as a great n of Fengyin, serving such delicacies. Yet it¡¯s a pity¡­¡±


    ¡°What is Young Master Tang sighing about? If possible, we will do our utmost to serve the young master,¡± Xu Xi¡¯an replied.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that there are no redfruits from Yueyang. This is the best food for dissipating the effects of alcohol. There¡¯s also no white lotuses from Linchuan, which are great for whetting the appetite, and I don¡¯t see any of the honey lotuses from Sanjiang. That¡¯s a true delicacy of the mortal world.¡±


    Xu Xi¡¯an was startled. ¡°Is that so? Yueyang, Linchuan, and Sanjiang all border Fengyin. This old man is ipetent to not know of such things. In the future, I will certainly have them prepared for the young master.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no big deal. Right, does this estate have any Jade Pine Tea? Taking this after a meal is excellent for clearing the mind.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, there is none,¡± Xu Xi¡¯an said, starting to sweat.


    ¡°Ah, then forget it.¡± Tang Jie smiled.


    He turned to Xu Mujun. ¡°Right, there is something I would like to ask Miss Xu.¡±


    ¡°Young Master, please speak.¡±


    ¡°Not too long ago, I became acquainted with a female cultivator. I would like to get on better terms with her, so I would like to send her an embroidery to express my feelings. I have heard that Fenglin Park and Meijian Workshop have the best needlework in Yan Province, but I don¡¯t know which is better. Miss Xu, as the daughter of a distinguished n, must know more than me on this matter. I would like to hear Miss Xu¡¯s opinion on the matter.¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Xu Mujun frowned, and then softly replied, ¡°In the end, Fenglin Park¡¯s work is a little better.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Thank you.¡± Tang Jie grinned.


    Once he was full of wine and food, Tang Jie finally stood up. ¡°Miss Xu, thank you for your cooperation. It¡¯s gettingte, so we won¡¯t trouble you anymore.¡±


    As he showed his intent to leave, everyone in the Xu n sighed in relief, and they all went to the gate to send him off.


    As they were walking through the estate, Tang Jie casually asked, ¡°Right, thest time the Basking Moon Sect sent people, who came?¡±


    Xu Mujun was surprised by the question and nced at her father, who replied, ¡°It was Esteemed Master Chang Yuping of the Basking Moon Sect and two of his subordinates.¡±


    ¡°Chang Yuping?¡± Tang Jie muttered. He still wasn¡¯t part of the Basking Moon Sect, and his understanding of its internal structure was limited. He had more of an understanding of illustrious figures like Yan Changfeng, but the Basking Moon Sect had many Mortal Shedding Realm Spirit Masters, so he didn¡¯t know much about them.


    ¡°Which hall did he belong to?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°The Law Hall,¡± Xu Xi¡¯an replied.


    ¡°The Law Hall?¡± Tang Jie muttered. ¡°What did Esteemed Master Chang say?¡±


    ¡°Esteemed Master Chang asked us questions and then searched the entire Xu Estate, only leaving once he confirmed that there was nothing. I thought the matter was over there, not expecting¡­¡±


    Xu Xi¡¯an did not continue, but it was easy to deduce that he wanted to say, ¡°Your Basking Moon Sect has already confirmed that my Xu n has no connection to Lin Lang, so why did youe again?¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Tang Jie suddenlyughed. ¡°I presume that the Xu n already spent a lot from that, yes?¡±


    Xu Xi¡¯an was stunned, and then he smiled. ¡°Not at all. The Sageheart Kingdom is protected by the Immortals so that we might enjoy fine weather and bountiful harvests every year. This old man has nothing but admiration for the Immortals. High Immortals, it must have been hard toe such a long way. The Xu n must present a meager gift to express our gratitude, and if you should ept, you would be giving my Xu n much face.¡±


    He waved his hand, and servants came forward, presenting to them several sillk boxes.


    Tang Jie opened the box and nced inside. Inside were spirit coins, not silver taels, and each box had at least one thousand.


    When he saw this money, Tang Jie¡¯s gaze darkened, but Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng seemed delighted.


    It had to be understood that even though Wei Tianchong came from a great n, when it came to spirit coins, he also felt that he never had enough.


    It was easy to talk the talk, but when temptation was truly presented before one¡¯s eyes, the vast majority of people would fail to resist the temptation.


    Wei Tianchong couldn¡¯t help but reach out to those three silk boxes, but to his surprise, Tang Jie pped his hand away, after which he lightly pushed the silk boxes back.


    Xu Xi¡¯an was stunned by the sight. ¡°Young Master Tang, what do you mean by this?¡±


    Tang Jie slowly said, ¡°The students of Basking Moon have undertaken a mission to hunt down Lin Lang, and we came here to investigate his whereabouts. So long as the Xu n obeys thew, it does not need to worry about anything.¡±


    Xu Xi¡¯an angrily smiled, ¡°Is Young Master Tang saying that my gesture is out of a guilty conscience? If Young Master is dissatisfied, you may simply use my Xu n of harboring a fugitive!¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary,¡± Tang Jie lightly said. ¡°I am only saying that we are only carrying out an impartial investigation and will not rashly use innocents. Sir, there is no need for you to be anxious.¡±


    ¡°Then this old man will put his worries to the side.¡±


    At this time, they had reached the gate.


    Just when they were about to leave, just when Tang Jie was about to step through the gate, he suddenly asked, ¡°Miss Xu is in your fourth year. Can I presume that you are at the Spirit Lake Tier?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am at the Spirit Lake Tier,¡± Xu Mujun replied.


    ¡°I have heard that the Xu n has only the one daughter, so all its hopes are on your shoulders.¡±


    ¡°Mujun is ipetent,cking in virtue when meeting others and failing in my studies, and now, I have only ced a great burden on my n,¡± Xu Mujun answered, lowering her head.


    ¡°So you are the only cultivator of the Xu n?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°How strange. Why do I remember the Xu n also having a servant student, then?¡± Tang Jie abruptly remarked.


    Xu Mujun¡¯s body shuddered.


    Tang Jie chuckled and strode out of the gate.


    Once he was out of the Xu Estate¡­


    Tang Jie¡¯s face instantly sank.


    Wei Tianchong saw that his expression wasn¡¯t right and asked, ¡°Are you frustrated that you weren¡¯t able to confirm anything? That¡¯s not necessary¡­¡±


    He was about tofort Tang Jie when Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°Lin Lang is in the Xu n!¡±


    He spoke with such confidence that the other two were startled.


    Shi Meng hastily said, ¡°But that Xu Mujun swore a Heart Demon oath. She did it so confidently that I don¡¯t think it was fake.¡±


    Tang Jie countered, ¡°The problem is this: is she actually Xu Mujun?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± The two of them were dumbstruck.


    Wei Tianchong pointed at Tang Jie and said in a quavering tone, ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re saying that that girl, she¡­ she¡­ She wasn¡¯t Xu Mujun?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Tang Jie spat at the ground. ¡°Her acting was so bad that if she was Xu Mujun, then I¡¯m True Person Changfeng!¡±


    Shi Meng asked, ¡°How do you know that she isn¡¯t Xu Mujun?¡±

 Chapter 165: Choice

    Chapter 165: Choice


    Shi Meng began to recall everything that had transpired in the estate.


    ¡°She was too anxious to show off. When I asked her about Lin Lang, she talked non-stop, giving out every detail, but actually, a normal person would have to look through their memories and think a little while talking. The fact that she could say so much so smoothly clearly means that she memorized all of that. But the moment I asked her questions that she hadn¡¯t prepared for, her original self was exposed!¡± Tang Jie sneered.


    ¡°You¡¯re talking about¡­¡± Shi Meng began to get it.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Correct. During dinner, I tested her. Yueyang redfruits don¡¯t dispel alcohol at all. Rather, they¡¯re for nourishing the skin. Linchuan white lotuses also have a beautifying effect, and Sanjiang honey lotuses are a sweet adored by women. It¡¯s not strange that Master Xu didn¡¯t know, but for the youngdy of the Xu n to not know? That doesn¡¯t make any sense. As for Jade Pine, don¡¯t even talk about it. Jade Pine stone is a famous tea of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and female cultivators love its refreshing taste. As ites in tea stones and not tea leaves, it doesn¡¯t require rinsing and just needs to be steeped to be enjoyed. Thus, while it is a good tea for drinking on the road, it¡¯s not a tea for the dinner table. But as a youngdy of a noble n, she knew nothing about it!¡±


    He had only learned about these things from spending time with Xu Miaoran. Xu Miaoran had traveled all over the ce and enjoyed much of what Sageheart had to offer. As for Jade Pine tea, Tang Jie had drunk it together with Xu Miaoran, and the topic had been brought up during their conversation.


    It was normal for Xu Mujun to not know about one or two of these things, but to not know any of them was rather suspicious.


    ¡°Could it be that she just doesn¡¯t like these things?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    ¡°Correct,¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Thus, I finally asked her which had better embroidery, Fenglin Park or Meijian Workshop, and she actually said Fenglin Park¡­ hah!¡±


    Tang Jie began to eerily chuckle.


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng were still rather confused. Wei Tianchong replied, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with saying that Fenglin Park is better? Everyone has their preferences, so even if Meijian Workshop is better, you can¡¯t really conclude anything from that.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that Meijian Workshop is a brothel, not an embroidery workshop!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The two were shocked once more.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°That was an official brothel in Wanquan City¡¯s pleasure district. I passed through there when we were sightseeing around the city after the exam. If she were really a youngdy of the Xu n, she should have simply said that she had never heard of Meijian Workshop. She clearly didn¡¯t know, but she insisted on pretending to know, earnestly saying that Fenglin Park had better embroidery. There¡¯s clearly something fishy about her!¡±


    ¡°I get it now!¡± The other two finally understood.


    ¡°This person pretending to be Miss Xu should be Xu Mujun¡¯s servant student. This Xu n has be very bold, actually harboring a criminal. Where did they get the guts!?¡± Shi Meng angrily snorted.


    He had originally thought that Xu Mujun had been the only person harboring Lin Lang, but it now appeared that the entire estate was in on it. This made the incident much more serious.


    Even Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°Yes, even I didn¡¯t dare to believe that they would actually do such a thing. Regardless, they still did it.¡±


    ¡°What are we waiting for, then? Let¡¯s go in there and drag Lin Lang out,¡± Wei Tianchong shouted.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Young Master, are you sure you want to do that?¡±


    ¡°Mm? What do you mean?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    Hadn¡¯t theye to capture Lin Lang? Since Tang Jie had already confirmed it, why was he still saying such things?


    Tang Jie casually said, ¡°In truth, while that girl pretending to be Xu Mujun didn¡¯t act very well, even if she had been an incredible actor, she would have found it difficult to keep a perfect disguise against a cultivator, even if they were only a student. Although the Xu n is a big n, it is still a mortal n. Trying to deceive the eyes of a cultivator is simply absurd¡­ Young Master, don¡¯t you find it strange? How did they manage to fool that Esteemed Master Chang Yuping?¡±


    Wei Tianchong and Wei Tianchong nced at each other, but it was Shi Meng who said, ¡°It was probably the spirit coins, right?¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°The Xu n never hoped to fool anybody, so they used money.¡±


    Shi Meng seemed to understand. ¡°You¡¯re saying that since Esteemed Master Chang already confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the Xu Estate, if we drag out Lin Lang now, Esteemed Master Chang will appear negligent?¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°For some things, the more you do them, the worse things get! Some achievements are established upon the failure and humiliation of others, making it so that if you want to achieve something, you¡¯ll have to offend someone.¡±


    Shi Meng and Wei Tianchong both shivered.


    Wei Tianchong said in a panic, ¡°That Chang Yuping is still an Esteemed Master, so there¡¯s no need for us to offend him. Completing the mission doesn¡¯t necessarily mean I¡¯ll be a True Inheritor, but offending a Basking Moon Master will make life difficult for me in the future.¡±


    ¡°Why else do you think True Person Changfeng would give this mission?¡± Tang Jie casually asked.


    ¡°Huh?¡± The two of them were thoroughly stupefied. ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­¡±


    Tang Jie firmly said, ¡°Chang Yuping is an Esteemed Master of the Law Hall. Among the eight inner halls of the Basking Moon Sect, the Law Hall is primarily responsible for internal punishment andw enforcement. As Lin Yuanming¡¯s case involves external affairs, it isn¡¯t actually under the Law Hall¡¯s purview. It should be the responsibility of the Search Hall, which is responsible for seeking out fugitives. It¡¯s already a problem that the Law Hall¡¯s people havee over. Do you recall what I told you about factional struggles?¡±


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng looked at each other, and then Wei Tianchong cautiously said, ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­ this matter concerns a struggle among the higher-ups?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m sure that the Search Hall has already noticed Chang Yuping¡¯s corruption and taking of bribes. The Law Hall is primarily controlled by the conservatives, so if they can raise a fuss over this matter, they might be able to strike at the Law Hall¡¯s authority. They intentionally didn¡¯t cause a stir and instead made it into a True Inheritor mission, having everyone go after Lin Lang and leaving behind a trail of clues, precisely so that we would expose Chang Yuping¡¯s deeds¡­¡±


    ¡°I get it,¡± Shi Meng shouted. ¡°By having the students expose Chang Yuping, they¡¯re actually pushing the academy to True Person Changfeng¡¯s side!¡±


    ¡°Correct!¡± Tang Jie firmly nodded. ¡°As for Lin Lang, he¡¯s just the bait, a dog with no home that can¡¯t escape. How could he affect the Basking Moon Sect in any way?¡±


    After this incident, whether or not Lin Lang was captured, Chang Yuping was doomed. And the students who had sought to be Yan Changfeng¡¯s True Inheritor would inadvertently end up damaging the conservatives. Even if they didn¡¯tplete the mission, because they had participated in it, they wouldn¡¯t be particrly wee, so they would be forced to rely on Yan Changfeng.


    With this one move from Yan Changfeng, he would force the conservatives to suffer in silence while gathering numerous talents to his side.


    Of course, the conservatives could have one of their own True Personse out to recruit their own True Inheritor, but this was a very low-ss move, and it was too brazen and obvious. The most important part about internal struggles were that they could never be out in the open. Once the quarrels came into the public eye, they were no longer so easy to resolve.


    And it was Chang Yuping who was corrupt. Others could not be med for being unforgiving of his conduct.


    If he couldn¡¯t stand what had happened to him, then he could slowly seek out an opportunity to regain his standing. Regardless of the world, anti-graft measures were always excellent weapons in internal struggles!


    Now that they understood the real meaning of the True Inheritor mission, Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng felt like they were seeing a whole new world. Although Wei Tianchong was rather wet behind the ears, when everything was hand-fed to him like this, he was able to understand what was going on.


    This was his first real experience with the treacheries of the Immortal path. Not only did he have to face innumerable savage fiend beasts, he also had to deal with countless backstabbers hidden in the shadows. For a moment, he hesitated. He had once innocently muddled his way through the deceit-ridden Immortal path, but his mind was finally beginning to clear.


    He said, ¡°In other words, True Person Changfeng is forcing us to take a stand?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Jie confirmed. ¡°To be a True Inheritor, you must pick a side. No matter how talented a disciple you are, it doesn¡¯t matter if you¡¯re not loyal. While disys of loyalty seem rather repulsive, they are still necessary and valuable. Young Master, this mission might be the most important of the three missions. If you can seed, then even with your form and temperament¡­ ahem, even if other outstanding peopleplete the other missions, so long as the gap between you and them isn¡¯t too great, you still have an extremely high chance of being chosen.¡±


    ¡°So you want me to choose going in there?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a habit of giving up halfway,¡± Tang Jie coolly said.


    Tang Jie had told Wei Tianchong the truth not so that he could back down, but so that he would understand what he would face after he made this choice.


    He didn¡¯t want Wei Tianchong to resent him in the future because he had concealed the truth from him.


    ¡°But if I do that, I¡¯ll offend¡­¡± Wei Tianchong was still indecisive.


    ¡°How can anyone live in this world without offending somebody? The only fear is that you offend someone meaninglessly, forming a grudge to no benefit! The struggles of the Immortal path mean that if you don¡¯t advance, you retreat. Young Master, has anyone who reached the Great Dao not done so on a pile of bones? Stop hesitating!¡±


    Surprisingly, it was Shi Meng who said these words.


    At that moment, Tang Jie and Shi Meng shared a nce, and both could see the smile in each other¡¯s eyes.


    To advance along the Great Dao, one needed to bravely press forward and cut down all obstacles.


    Fiends, sprites, ghosts, and monsters were obstacles, and so were dangerous people.


    Wei Tianchong looked around and finally clenched his teeth. ¡°Alright, then let¡¯s charge in there and get him!¡±


    He spoke with a vigorous tone and had clearly made up his mind.


    Just as he was about to charge in, Tang Jie stopped him. ¡°Hold on.¡±


    ¡°What else is there?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I would just like to take some precautions in case they escape,¡± Tang Jie said, pressing down his finger. He formed several hand signs, and winds began to stir!


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Wei Tianchong was startled.


    ¡°A minor illusion formation, used to hold enemies!¡± Tang Jie exined. ¡°Since the Xu n dares to harbor a fugitive and deceive an Immortal sect, it has broken thew, so all of them must be arrested! Shi Meng, release the Detection Spirit Eye to make sure that outsiders don¡¯t disturb us.¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡±


    Tang Jie no longer hid his ability to draw formations from Wei Tianchong, using a low-level imprisoning formation to ce the entire Xu Estate under his control.


    The rm Gate Banner reappeared, flying into the Xu Estate. The banner erupted with light as it took its ce as the core of the formation, creating a befuddling maze. Cries of rm came from within the estate.


    Once this was done, Tang Jie called out, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    With one punch, he sted the gate into smithereens.

 Chapter 166: Novice

    Chapter 166: Novice


    <em>Bang!</em>


    Wood chunks went flying into the air as the trio strode into the Xu Estate.


    In the courtyard, the servants had all lined up, and held cudgels and knives as they warily faced down the trio. They were led by a youthful woman, none other than the fake Young Lady Xu. It appeared that they had been expecting this.


    Xu Xi¡¯an stood nearby. As he saw the three burst through the gate, he sighed, ¡°In the end, you came back.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°I gave you the time to run, but you chose to resist until the end. Who gave you all this daring? True, Lin Lang is still a sixth-year student of Cloudflow. But do you think that Lin Lang and Xu Mujun, plus this servant student and the rest of your estate, will be enough to deal with us?¡±


    ¡°Pah!¡± the fake Xu Mujun spat. ¡°We don¡¯t need that many people to deal with you. My n¡¯s son-inw is enough to deal with you!¡±


    ¡°¡®Son-inw¡¯?¡± Tang Jie narrowed his eyes.


    Xu Xi¡¯an shouted, ¡°Mo Xiang, quiet!¡±


    He then turned to Tang Jie and anxiously said, ¡°Young Master Tang is truly wise, and this old man knew that there would be no deceiving you. But my Xu n has no intention of opposing the Immortal sect. It¡¯s just¡­ it¡¯s just what the situationpelled us to do. Young Master Tang, please be gracious and spare this n!¡±


    The old man had lost hisposure and was now tearfully begging such that even Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but be a little moved. But he still said, ¡°¡®Compelled by the situation¡¯? None of the people here seemedpelled at all. Tell me Lin Lang¡¯s location, and you will still have a chance.¡±


    ¡°Young Master!¡± Xu Xi¡¯an shouted. ¡°Please give me three more days¡­ no, no, just one day. After one day, I will hand over Lin Lang to you!¡±


    ¡°Master!¡± Mo Xiang shouted.


    ¡°Shut your mouth!¡± Xu Xi¡¯an roared. ¡°In the first ce, I should have just hardened my heart and in that beast! Do you really want my Xu n to be wiped out just for him? For all the loyal servants of the n to die just for him?¡±


    The servants nced at each other and shouted, ¡°Master, we are willing to sacrifice our lives for the Xu n. Now is the crucial moment, and we cannot hand over Sir Son-in-Law.¡±


    Xu Xi¡¯an trembled, unable to speak.


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°One day¡­ My apologies, but I don¡¯t have that time. Many other students are fighting toplete this mission, and no one can say when someone else might arrive. For my young master to be a True Inheritor, I do not care about what difficulties the Xu n is facing. Since you are not willing to hand over Lin Lang, I will have to force him out. Young Master, Shi Meng, go!¡±


    As he spoke, Wei Tianchong waved his hand, and his puppet charged at Mo Xiang.


    The girl called Mo Xiang was Xu Mujun¡¯s servant student, a Spirit Lake student who had cultivated at Cloudflow Academy for four years. She was unafraid of the charging puppet, shouting as she thrust her sword at it.


    Wei Tianchong had invested an enormous amount of time and money into that puppet, and it was much stronger than the average puppet. While Mo Xiang was a fourth-year student, her talent and resources were bothcking. In terms of development, she was like Shi Meng, and her strength was very limited.


    As the sword struck the puppet, the puppet seemed to not feel it and surged forward, its bowl-sized fist smashing at Mo Xiang.


    Mo Xiang took several steps back, but just when she was about to cast a spell, there was a gust of cold wind. It formed a wind cave, and a little shadow soldier jumped out from the wind cave.


    This shadow soldier was about a foot tall, about the same size as one of Daoist Fuyu¡¯s Bluefang Ghosts. It had no weapons and could only use its ws to scratch, so it possessed pitifulbat power. This was none other than Wei Tianchong¡¯s Evilhook Shadow Soldier.


    Shadow soldiers were not creatures of spiritual energy. Rather, they were summoned from the Shadow Domain.


    The Shadow Domain was one of the domains of the Great Ster Chiliocosm. It was a cold and barren world where only natural shadow creatures could survive. There were no barriers around this domain, and countless evil winds blew out from it across the other domains, so it was extremely easy to summon its creatures.


    This Evilhook Shadow Soldier was one of the most ordinary and lowest-ss beings of this domain.


    Wei Tianchong had cultivated the Evilhook Shadow Soldier for a little more than half a year and was proficient with the spell. Several more Evilhook Shadow Soldiers followed the first out of the wind cave. Shouting at Mo Xiang, they began to fly toward her.


    Although they didn¡¯t have the attack power of Bluefang Ghosts, they were born with the ability to fly. Moreover, they had a cold and icy nature, so the moment they attached themselves to a human body, while they might not be able to actually bite or w anyone, the cold energy in their bodies would cause serious headaches.


    Mo Xiang immediately felt her body stiffen and grow heavy.


    rmed, she instantly fired off a gust of wind at Wei Tianchong.


    To her surprise, Wei Tianchong took a slight step to the side and dodged the attack. Meanwhile, Mo Xiang received a punch from the puppet.


    Seeing that his attack had worked, Wei Tianchong pointed at Mo Xiang and shouted, ¡°Baobao, go and get her!¡±


    These words were aimed at his new fiend fox.


    To his surprise, the little fox looked at Mo Xiang and then looked at Wei Tianchong, after which it turned around and ran off to take a nap.


    Wei Tianchong furiously called out, ¡°Hey, you¡¯re my fiend beast!¡±


    The fox ignored him, causing him to stomp his feet in anger.


    Seeing that her wind de had been no good, Mo Xiang produced an azure cloth belt and shouted, ¡°Kiloweight Satin!¡±


    The azure belt transformed into countless strands of silk that shot at Wei Tianchong. Wei Tianchong covered his head in fright and shouted, ¡°Holy shit!¡± as he took to his heels.


    But as he ran, he dodged using the Mis Step, and though those countless cloth belts attempted to seize him, his plump figure always managed to wriggle its way through an opening, much to Mo Xiang¡¯s shock.


    She didn¡¯t know that Wei Tianchong had been tempered in the Divine Battleground. He was now well-versed in kiting tactics, holding down the enemy with shadow soldiers, attacking with the puppet, and evading with the Mis Step.


    While he was being run rather ragged, his steps weren¡¯t frantic at all, moving agilely as if there was wind beneath. He was truly as slippery as a mudfish.


    Those who were experienced with dealing with this fatty all knew that pursuit wasn¡¯t the right choice. Instead, one had to kill his shadow soldiers and exhaust his spiritual energy, rely on even greater speed such that Wei Tianchong¡¯s puppet and shadow soldiers were no longer effective, or use spell arts to attack arge area¡­


    But Mo Xiang didn¡¯t know any of this. With her sword and belt, she had Wei Tianchong running for his life and seemed to have the upper hand, but she was never able to turn this advantage into a victory.


    As the two of them fought, the Xu Estate servants hadn¡¯t been standing around. They charged forward with a bellow.


    Shi Meng sneered as he took out a bamboo flute and put it to his mouth. With a blow, a soundwave swept over the crowd as if it was solid.


    Although he had taken Tang Jie¡¯s advice and learned primarily support spells, he had to have some way of protecting himself. This Sonic Flute was hisbat spell art.


    Before being sold to the Wei Estate, he had been an ox herder boy. When he had nothing to do, he would blow on a shepherd flute. He yed rather well, and Wei Tianchong enjoyed listening.


    Tang Jie had told him to learn skills based on his interests, so he had chosen the Sonic Flute spell.


    However, while the Sonic Flute attacked arge area, it dealt limited damage. It was barely useful against cultivators, but it was more than enough against servants of a mortal n.


    As the sound of the flute drifted out, the servants all covered their ears and moaned. Shi Meng flipped around the flute in his hands, and his right thumb pressed down on one of the air holes, firing off a jet of wind from the flute that was aimed right at Mo Xiang.


    This was known as the Sonic Sword. Spiritual energy was funneled into the flute and then ejected from the end of it. It was essentially a way of condensing spiritual energy into a sword, just by using the Sonic Flute to make the art manifestation easier.


    Each hand sign for a spell art had a unique purpose, and the special forms of weapons would often enhance certain spells in different ways, mostly by making them stronger. But Shi Meng, by using the flute to condense energy into a sword, could skip the casting step and make the art manifestation faster.


    The Sonic Sword caught Mo Xiang off guard, and with a bark, she created a blue barrier around her that stopped the attack.


    But in doing this, she opened herself up to Wei Tianchong.


    He stopped running.


    Turning around, he produced a small axe made from refined steel and hacked at Mo Xiang.


    There didn¡¯t seem to be anything special about this axe swing, but as the axe made impact with Mo Xiang¡¯s watery barrier, it passed right through as if it wasn¡¯t there. Her barrier tore apart like a sheet of paper, and Mo Xiang instantly jumped back in fear, not daring to take the axe directly. But she instantly felt a pain at her back as the puppet punched again.


    ¡°Young Master, good job!¡± Shi Meng shouted.


    Wei Tianchong chuckled. Hefting his axe, he made a face at Mo Xiang. ¡°A fourth-year? You don¡¯t seem like anything much.¡±


    What he had used just now was none other than the Ghost Axe spell. Though he had originally learned this spell for making puppets, it was a spell that was capable of cleaving through metal, one that excelled at prating through armor. Thus, using it in closebat was perfectly eptable. However, unlike the Windcleaver, it wasn¡¯t as fast, instead unleashed through heavy and decisive axe swings. In battles, it was difficult to continuously use such an attack.


    As for the small axe, that had been on Tang Jie¡¯s advice, and he had traded in the Watersplit Sword the Wei n had given him for it. Its name was the Bonecrush Axe.


    Fitting its name, it was a weapon that excelled at breaking through tough defenses.


    Wei Tianchong was mostly a summoner, so he didn¡¯t desire long-range attacks, only that his close-range attacks could deal effective damage. Thebo of the Bonecrush Axe and the Ghost Axe spell dealt substantial damage. For someone who relied on a puppet to attack while he ran around to have this move was truly surprising.


    And with Shi Meng supporting Wei Tianchong, the two of them had seeded in taking the upper hand against Mo Xiang.


    Her face shed with savagery. ¡°You dare to look down on my Cloudflow?¡±


    She threw her sword into the air. ¡°Go!¡±


    The sword erupted with light and then shed at Wei Tianchong.


    ¡°Oh shit! The Flying Sword spell!¡± Wei Tianchong blurted out. After spending so long with Tang Jie, he had begun to learn how to curse from him.


    The Flying Sword spell was basically the standard for Spirit tform students. To go from wielding a weapon in one¡¯s hands to freeing up the hands was itself a qualitative change. This meant that the student was less restrained in battle and could attack more effectively.


    The flying sword howled through the air, gleaming with a sharp light. Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t dare to show off any longer, shrinking back and using the Mis Step once more. As he ran around, all of his grace and elegance vanished.


    Mo Xiang had learned her lesson fromst time, so when she saw that the flying sword wasn¡¯t able to catch him, she pointed her finger and sent the sword at Shi Meng.


    Shi Meng panicked and began to form a spell. ¡°Concealment!¡±


    He wanted to hide himself.


    But he had focused on quantity, not speed, when it came to spell arts, and so even though this was the lowest-level Concealment spell, it was still ratherplicated for him. As that flying sword shot over and he still hadn¡¯t finished casting the spell, he began to panic. But at this moment, a figure appeared in front of him. It was none other than Tang Jie.

 Chapter 167: Pointers

    Chapter 167: Pointers


    Tang Jie had been letting Shi Meng and Wei Tianchong fight while he watched from the side. Now, he had finallye to block the attack for Shi Meng, chortling in disdain at the flying sword. Without using any sort of spell, he simply reached out and grabbed the sword. The sharp de frantically struggled in his hand, but it failed to even cut through the skin, leaving Mo Xiang dumbfounded.


    Was this the strength of a second-year student?


    Tang Jie casually said, ¡°While this Mo Xiang is a fourth-year student, her strength is very limited. Young Master, you and Shi Meng should be enough to deal with her. You were just caught off guard by the flying sword. When dealing with this kind of attack, it¡¯s best if you call your puppet to block it, Young Master. Shi Meng, you shouldn¡¯t be using Concealment, but the simpler Windcall. While it¡¯s not powerful, it can disrupt spiritual energy. Given what this girl is capable of, Windcall should be enough to disrupt her control over the sword, and then Young Master can attack with Ghost Axe and break her offensive!¡±


    He waved his hand, tossing the sword back to Mo Xiang, and coolly said, ¡°Let¡¯s try that again.¡±


    Everyone shared looks of surprise.


    Mo Xiang was so angry that she clenched her teeth. This scoundrel was actually treating this ce as a training ground for his young master?


    But in Tang Jie¡¯s eyes, this truly was the best time to train Wei Tianchong¡¯s and Shi Meng¡¯s ability to adapt to the situation.


    Realbat had always provided the best progress.


    In the future, Wei Tianchong might face even tougher enemies. If he didn¡¯t start from this girl who was essentially a foot soldier, where would he start?


    Hearing Tang Jie¡¯s words, Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng nced at each other. They suddenly chuckled and shouted at Mo Xiang, ¡°Thene at us, little girl!¡±


    It was two second-years versus a fourth-year, but they were unafraid, a sense of heroism rising up within them.


    This was all because of the confidence Tang Jie had given them.


    As the flying sword came back into her hand, Mo Xiang once more began to battle with Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng. The servants wanted to help, but Tang Jie was still standing there, his hands held behind his back. He had just revealed the ability to grab a flying sword barehanded, and everyone knew that he was the strongest of the three. For a moment, they couldn¡¯t gather the courage to charge in, so all they did was watch as Mo Xiang fought.


    Tang Jie avidly watched, asionally giving them advice on how to deal with various situations.


    ¡°This girl has a light and nimble movement technique, making her difficult to pin down. Young Master, increase your shadow soldiers¡¯ pressure on her so that she can¡¯t build up speed. Shi Meng, use Windwalk on yourself.¡±


    Shi Meng didn¡¯t know why Tang Jie was suddenly having him use Windwalk, but he just did as he was told.


    On the other end, Mo Xiang was beginning to have a tough time. Wei Tianchong¡¯s shadow soldiers were truly annoying, and Tang Jie was continuing to give advice. Just as she was about to falter, Tang Jie suddenly said, ¡°Mo Xiang, your fighting style is too conventional. What¡¯s the point in only aiming for the main body? My young master has the Mis Step and Shi Meng on the side to heal him, so killing him would be extremely difficult for you. It would be best if you used the Cloudflow Sleeve to quickly kill the shadow soldiers. While shadow soldiers are difficult to deal with, their power is limited. If you kill the shadow soldiers and force him to summon more, you can exhaust him of spiritual energy while also alleviating the problem of your speed being limited. No matter how continuous the flow of energy provided by the Spiral Essence Mantra is, you¡¯re a fourth-year Spirit Lake student, so how could you be worse than him?¡±


    These words finally enlightened Mo Xiang.


    <em>True! Why am I just chasing this slippery fatty around?</em>


    With this thought in mind, she drew back the Cloudflow Sleeve and cast it on the shadow soldiers, and a gale instantly erupted.


    A furious Wei Tianchong began to summon more as he shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, what are you doing?¡±


    Tang Jie casually said, ¡°Shi Meng has a lot of spells but isn¡¯t proficient in any of them, and he has nothing to protect himself, so he¡¯s the weakness of the pair. Focusing your attacks on Shi Meng, using your speed against him, will ensure that he won¡¯t be able to use any of his spells.¡±


    As he spoke, Mo Xiang cast her flying sword at Shi Meng¡¯s head.


    A shocked Shi Meng immediately jumped and rolled away. Fortunately, he had used Windwalk on himself, allowing him to evade. Only now did he understand why Tang Jie had instructed him to use the spell on himself. He angrily shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, have you gone crazy?¡±


    Tang Jie coolly said, ¡°If you want to improve, you need a threatening enemy to stimte your potential¡­ Young Master, if you don¡¯t protect Shi Meng, he¡¯s really going to die.¡±


    Seeing that the flying sword was still chasing after Shi Meng, Wei Tianchong rushed in and pushed Shi Meng aside. The flying sword ended up opening a bloody wound on his body.


    He was using Fearless, so he didn¡¯t feel any pain, allowing him to turn his hand over and bring the Bonecrush Axe swinging down on the flying sword. But the flying sword was agile, and Mo Xiang called it back, causing the axe to miss.


    The Ghost Axe had failed to hit, and it couldn¡¯t be activated for a brief period of time, so the flying sword came back and shed at Wei Tianchong¡¯s neck. Wei Tianchong was startled, but fortunately, the puppet got back in time and punched the sword. But a momentter, the Cloudflow Sleeve came sweeping back, wrapping up the puppet and throwing it to the side. The flying sword came shing down again, scaring the two of them witless.


    With Tang Jie¡¯s pointers, Mo Xiang, who was still a fourth-year student, gradually began to take back the initiative.


    Wei Tianchong angrily red at Tang Jie and shouted, ¡°Tang Jie! Why aren¡¯t you helping?¡±


    Tang Jie casually said, ¡°Young Master, your control of the puppet is stillcking. The most important part about controlling puppets is to be able to move it as one wishes. Spirit control spells aren¡¯t merely spells used to control puppets, but the foundation for a close connection between the user and the puppet. Otherwise, what would be the point of spirit control spells once the puppet bes advanced enough to move on its own? But in reality, all the real puppet masters have the best spirit control spell arts!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s words were like pearls of wisdom, and Wei Tianchong seemed to understand, muttering, ¡°You mean¡­¡±


    ¡°Only by properly using spirit control spells can the puppet be a true weapon,¡± Tang Jie indifferently exined.


    At this moment, Mo Xiang¡¯s sword shed again. In normal circumstances, the first thing Wei Tianchong would have done was to turn and run.


    But after hearing Tang Jie¡¯s words, he suddenly decided to do the opposite.


    He pointed at the puppet that Mo Xiang had tossed away. ¡°Pull!¡±


    The puppet suddenly grabbed the Cloudflow Sleeve that had swept it up.


    This Cloudflow Sleeve was attached to Mo Xiang¡¯s hand, and this abrupt pull caused Mo Xiang to be dragged off. This sudden disruption caused her control over the sword to falter, and the sword brushed past Wei Tianchong¡¯s face.


    Wei Tianchong raised his hand and then brought it mming down. ¡°Fall!¡±


    The puppet fiercely smashed the Cloudflow Sleeve to the ground, like it was throwing a chain hammer, and Mo Xiang was brought crashing to the ground with it.


    All of this happened so suddenly that Mo Xiang didn¡¯t have time to avoid it, and the impact with the ground dazed her.


    Before she could move, the puppet jumped off the ground and shot like a cannonball into Mo Xiang¡¯s chest.


    This girl had never experienced such a savage fighting style before, and she immediately spat out blood as she was thrown back. At the same time, Shi Meng was finally free enough to send another Sonic Sword at Mo Xiang, after which he hastily began to heal Wei Tianchong¡¯s wounds.


    Seeing that Mo Xiang had been injured and wasn¡¯t able to get up, Wei Tianchong smugly chuckled. He was about to stop his attack when Tang Jie said, ¡°Compassion has no ce on the battlefield. There¡¯s no stopping until your enemy haspletely lost the ability to resist¡­ Keep attacking!¡±


    <em>Boom!</em>


    The puppet violently swung both fists at Mo Xiang.


    It was a savage attack, and Mo Xiang paled at the intimidating power of the puppet. She knew that there was no escape, and she closed her eyes and awaited death.


    At this moment, a shout erupted from the forest within the Xu Estate: ¡°Stop!¡±


    A sword beam flew out of the forest and collided with the puppet.


    The powerful puppet was knocked flying by the sword beam. Fortunately, with its protective formation, it did not sustain lethal damage.


    A person walked out of the forest.


    He wore white martial robes. He was clearly a young man, but he had some stubble on his face and hisplexion was haggard. However, it was brimming with indignant rage, and as the man stepped out of the forest and faced down Tang Jie¡¯s group, he appeared like a man who had been through many trials and tribtions.


    ¡°Son-inw!¡± Everyone shouted upon seeing this man.


    Tang Jie smiled as he muttered, ¡°The main character has finally emerged.¡±


    There was no need to ask to know that this man was Lin Lang.


    He really had been hiding in the Xu n this whole time.


    Tang Jie immediately called out, ¡°Shi Meng!¡±


    Shi Meng had already used the identification spell, after which he nodded at Tang Jie. ¡°It¡¯s him. It¡¯s not someone else in disguise.¡±


    The moment Lin Lang appeared, he went to help up Mo Xiang. ¡°Mo Xiang, I¡¯ve put you through a lot these past few days.¡±


    ¡°Young Master, it was because this servant was ipetent and unable to deceive them,¡± Mo Xiang sobbed.


    It was clear that this master and servant had a rather good rtionship.


    Lin Lang shook his head. ¡°This wasn¡¯t your mistake. What wille wille. I just didn¡¯t think that it would be so fast¡­ Time truly isn¡¯t on my side.¡±


    He sighed, the sorrow on his face growing even deeper. He turned to Tang Jie¡¯s trio, ring at them before stopping at Tang Jie. ¡°You are that Basking Moon student, Tang Jie?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled and nodded.


    Now that he thought about it, Lin Lang¡¯s present circumstances were inextricably connected to Tang Jie.


    If not for the Hawk Hall¡¯s kidnapping, if not for the knowledge of Tang Jie¡¯s location, the Basking Moon Sect never would have realized that Lin Yuanming was a Godhead spy, nor would the Lin n have been annihted.


    It wouldn¡¯t be exaggerating to say that there was a deep-seated grudge between Lin Lang and Tang Jie.


    Seeing that Tang Jie had admitted it, Lin Lang heartilyughed. ¡°Good, very good! Truly, the heavens have eyes, giving me the chance to run into you. So what are we still waiting for?¡±


    He waved his hand, and the sword he had cast at the puppet came flying back into his hand, and he swung.


    It was a casual swing, but it was brimming with sword essence. It instantly cut off all of Tang Jie¡¯s paths of escape. It was an extremely powerful attack, one that was certain to be top-ss, even back in the academy.


    ¡°Back away!¡± Tang Jie shouted, not daring to be careless. The Heartbreak Saber appeared in his hand, and he unleashed a chilling wave of saber energy.


    As saber and sword shed, there was an explosion of dazzling sparks. Both of them trembled, and then Tang Jie lunged forward and thrust the Heartbreak Saber at Lin Lang¡¯s waist.


    The Heartbreak Saber had a hooked barb on it, making its thrusts more powerful than its swings. Normally, in spars, Tang Jie relied on swings, but at this moment, he made a lethal thrust.


    Lin Lang rapidly backed away and turned his body, allowing the Heartbreak Saber to brush past his body. At the same time, he thrust his own sword: ¡°Catkin Breeze Sword!¡±

 Chapter 168: Absolute Strike

    Chapter 168: Absolute Strike


    The Catkin Breeze Sword was the sword spell that Lin Lang excelled in, an extremely wondrous sword technique that was both a sword spell and a movement spell.


    Cloudflow Academy¡¯s spell arts were noted for their lightness and agility, for integrating the body with the tool. Thus, in battle, defense and offense came hand in hand, and its students were often able to counterattack from the most absurd positions.


    Lin Lang was an elite student of Cloudflow, and he had grasped the essence of its spells. His dodges and thrusts were all exquisitely chosen, and he fully exhibited the maximumbat prowess a low-level student could have.


    As he thrust his sword, a sharp light appeared on the tip, aimed straight at Tang Jie¡¯s throat.


    Tang Jie thrust out his left hand, pping the sword away. As the two of them passed by each other, Lin Lang and Tang Jie attacked each other.


    <em>Bang! Bang!</em> Ice erupted on Tang Jie¡¯s body. This was Lin Lang¡¯s Frozen Palm, which had chilled Tang Jie to such an extent that his skin had turned blue. Lin Lang¡¯s face flushed with blood¡ªa sign that the overexertion of strength had caused his blood energy to fall into turmoil.


    But a momentter, the two of them turned around and attacked again, not willing to let their opponent even catch their breath.


    Windcleaver Saberpeted against Catkin Breeze Sword, and explosions of light erupted in the air. Saber and sword shed numerous times in only a few moments, and the sound of shing metal resounded through the air.


    They briefly shed and then broke apart again.


    When they parted again, Lin Lang was sporting a deep saber wound, but Tang Jie had sword wounds on his face, chest, and arm. However, his injuries were much lighter than Lin Lang¡¯s.


    But after exchanging nces, the two of them roared and charged at each other for a third time¡ªthis time, with even greater speed.


    ¡°Formless Golden Body! Violet Lightning Lunge!¡±


    ¡°Godhead Armor! Cloudless Shroud! Windchase Step!¡±


    ¡°Godhead Armor! You really are a member of Godhead Pce!¡±


    ¡°I learned my Godhead Armor from my father, not from Godhead Pce! But it¡¯s pointless to say such things! Whether I am or not, the Basking Moon Sect won¡¯t let me go!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right! Since you already knew what would happen, why did you still try!?¡±


    ¡°Before then, I¡¯ll kill you and avenge my father!¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if you can!¡±


    The two of them traded blows at high speeds as they shouted at each other, instantly kicking the fight into overdrive. Though Tang Jie had a tough body, Lin Lang had cultivated for many years and possessed a sea of spiritual energy and numerous spell arts. As he used various spell arts, a giant cloud began to form on the ground.


    The onlookers felt powerful winds stirring up that pushed them away, and they couldn¡¯t even see what was going on, let alone take part in the battle. Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng were also amazed by what they were seeing.


    They had known that Tang Jie was stronger than them, but they didn¡¯t think it was to such an absurd level.


    And they had taken Lin Lang to be some yboy who was dependent on his father, but his astonishing strength had their eyeballs almost falling from their sockets. And the fact that Tang Jie was able to fight against an elite sixth-year student almost had their jaws dropping.


    Was this the strength of a second-year student? Not even a fourth-year genius would be this strong, right?


    They were shocked, and Mo Xiang on the side didn¡¯t dare to believe what she was seeing.


    It wasn¡¯t rare for underssmen to beat out upperssmen who just muddled around, but her master was in the top ten in his ss in Cloudflow Academy. For this sort of thing to happen was a rarity among rarities.


    The two of them fiercely exchanged blows, Tang Jie¡¯s saber swings heavy and powerful. Meanwhile, Lin Lang had numerous spells, an abundance of spiritual energy, and light and nimble movements. In the midst of this battle, blood would asionally gush into the air. Once they were totally engrossed in the battle, Tang Jie suddenly shook his saber and shouted, ¡°Thousand Rupture sh!¡±


    It was the Divine Court Thousandshift once again.


    Lin Lang knew that this was a powerful attack, so he didn¡¯t dare to take it directly. He first used the Catkin Breeze Sword to reduce its power, and then he used the Windchase Step to dodge. Lastly, he used the Cloudless Shroud to take the aftershocks. As he did all this, he thrust out a finger and shouted, ¡°Shooting Star Finger!¡±


    Tang Jie thrust out his own finger and countered, ¡°Energy Needle!¡±


    The two of them parted with a bang.


    Lin Lang¡¯s Godhead Armor now had a rice-sized hole, while Tang Jie¡¯s steely skin sported a finger-sized hole.


    They had bothe away injured again.


    They were now both covered with wounds, but they both red at each other, the fires within their bodies burning stronger and stronger.


    This was particrly true for Lin Lang. His face had gradually begun to twist into a scowl.


    For him, a sixth-year versus a second-year, let alone a tie, even having only a small advantage was a sort of disgrace.


    As he inwardly seethed, he barked, ¡°You really do have some skill. It¡¯s no wonder you were able to stir up such a storm. But do you think that this is enough?¡±


    He drew back his left hand and started to form hand signs while at the same time muttering strange sybles.


    As Tang Jie heard these sybles, he grimaced. ¡°An incantation?¡±


    Spell arts were primarily cast using hand signs, through which art cirction and art manifestation were performed, but some moreplicated spells would use auxiliary methods to boost the art manifestation speed, such as Shi Meng¡¯s Sonic Sword.


    Incantations were actually the ssic example. These powerful spell arts often required a spoken chant to support the activation.


    Powerful cultivators would often shout the names of spells or read out some inexplicable words while fighting. While some people might have just been pretending, there were more who needed to do this cast their spell arts.


    For Tang Jie, who mostly relied on physical strength inbat, this sort of spell art that required hand signs and incantations was something that he wouldn¡¯t learn now, nor in the future. But this didn¡¯t mean that he didn¡¯t like this kind of spell art.


    After all, once this kind of spell art was used, the kind of strength they had previously disyed would seem insignificant. These spell arts usually possessed an awesome power that truly exhibited the power of Immortal spells.


    From a certain perspective, this kind of ¡°spell¡± was alreadyparable to the ¡°arts¡± that could draw on the spiritual energy of the world. The only difference was in the consumption of spiritual energy.


    As Lin Lang began to chant, Tang Jie stopped hesitating. Activating the Violet Lightning Lunge, he swung the Heartbreak Saber at Lin Lang.


    Lin Lang didn¡¯t move, but the jade amulet hanging from his neck suddenly erupted with light. As the saber shed at his head, it struck the light and could proceed no farther.


    ¡°A protective jade amulet!¡± Tang Jie grunted as he brought his other hand around and punched at the light. But the primary purpose of this punch was its impact, with which he sent Lin Lang flying.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t break through the protective barrier provided by the jade amulet, and Lin Lang¡¯s spell could finish at any time. Thus, his first priority was to interrupt the art manifestation.


    But while Lin Lang had been sent flying, his hands were still moving, and this shock had done nothing to affect him. Posture wasn¡¯t important so long as he wasn¡¯t using some spell art that drew on the power of the earth. What was important was that the cirction of energy in his body remained uninterrupted.


    ¡°Ha!¡± With a furious roar, Tang Jie swung his saber.


    <em>Bang! Bang! Bang!</em> Light exploded with each saber sh, and Lin Lang painfully grunted and fell back, but no matter how savagely Tang Jie attacked, Lin Lang did not stop casting.


    His casting time was so long that the pressure he released as he continued to cast became terrifying to behold.


    Lin Lang instantly became the center of attention, everyone waiting in fearful anticipation for that spell to be unleashed.


    As Lin Lang¡¯s hands moved and his mouth chanted, Tang Jie could see the special silver glow of art manifestation appearing on him, and his sword began to crackle with lightning.


    ¡°Thunder Lightsear Sword!¡± Tang Jie grunted. He had finally recognized the spell art that Lin Lang was casting.


    The Thunder Lightsear Sword!


    It was one of the strongest spell arts a Spirit tform Realm student could use, many times stronger than ordinary spell arts. It could be considered one of the single strongest spell arts one could use, its effect almost on par with the spell arts used by Mortal Shedding Realm Spirit Masters. Even Tang Jie, with his current constitution, didn¡¯t dare to receive the attack directly.


    Lin Lang couldn¡¯t be allowed toplete this spell!


    He had to be stopped!


    Tang Jie had only one thought in mind. He roared, a golden light shooting out from his fingertip. Activating the Nullight spell as a cover, he shot the golden light at Lin Lang.


    But at this moment, Mo Xiang rushed up to ce herself in front of Lin Lang.


    The golden needle prated into Mo Xiang¡¯s body.


    <em>Thud!</em>


    Mo Xiang¡¯s body erupted with blood.


    This sudden sight left everyone stunned.


    Even Tang Jie was dumbfounded.


    He had never imagined that Mo Xiang would suddenly make a move and ruin his counterattack.


    Thest opportunity had passed, and Lin Lang¡¯s body radiated light, his sword crackling with lightning. He had finished casting this terrifying sword spell.


    ¡°Raaaa!¡± He bellowed, his sword seething with ten thousand lightning bolts, his thunderous roar pressuring the entirety of the Xu Estate.


    ¡°Oh no!¡± Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng paled in fear. Lin Lang¡¯s attack was bound to rm the heavens.


    But it was toote to run. Lin Lang raised his sword high and then aimed it at Tang Jie. ¡°You must die!¡±


    Sword light shed downward.


    At this moment, Tang Jie focused his eyes.


    Not only did he not try to dodge, he elerated forward.


    Just when that sword light was about to touch him, he grabbed Mo Xiang and ced her in front of himself to take Lin Lang¡¯s lightning sword!


    If this sword continued downward, it was certain to strike Mo Xiang first.


    Tang Jie stared at him.


    <em>Lin Lang!</em>


    <em>Are you going to strike or not?</em>


    That lightning-imbued sword in the sky froze.


    Lin Lang looked at the girl in Tang Jie¡¯s hand, and his heart trembled.


    He couldn¡¯t help but recall the times in Cloudflow Academy when she and her master walked through the flowers and chatted under the moonlight.


    At the time, she had been an ignorant and rather stubborn girl. She had always been trying to protect her master from being tempted by some heartless young master. Lin Lang had gone through a lot of trouble when dealing with her, and he had once found her rather annoying.


    But as they spent more time in the academy, that ignorant girl gradually matured, and as she came to understand, she stopped interfering in his rtionship with Xu Mujun.


    Yet asionally, Lin Lang would be able to sense that girl¡¯s admiring gaze.


    He understood that Mo Xiang also liked him.


    s, his heart belonged to Xu Mujun, so he could only feign ignorance when it came to Mo Xiang¡¯s affection.


    Half a year ago, he had discussed Mo Xiang¡¯s future with Xu Mujun. He had proposed to Xu Mujun that they find Mo Xiang a good partner.


    s, Mo Xiang had begun to weep, saying that she would never leave her youngdy, and she eventually ran off in a huff.


    At that time, he understood that he had wounded her heart.


    When the Lin n fell and its members were wiped out, Mo Xiang hade out even earlier than Xu Mujun to announce that she wouldn¡¯t abandon him.


    If not for that incident, then perhaps¡­ perhaps he would have already fled far, far away?


    ¡°Mo Xiang¡­¡± Lin Lang muttered.


    ¡°Young Sir¡­¡± Mo Xiang softly muttered, dully gazing at Lin Lang.


    Holding Mo Xiang, Tang Jie was still charging over. He was so close, yet he also seemed like he was at the other end of the world. At that moment, Lin Lang was at a loss.


    Could he strike or not?


    Countless thoughts ran through his mind.


    Tang Jie charged up to his side.


    Lin Lang sighed.


    The lightning on his sword dissipated.


    In the end, he couldn¡¯t unleash that heaven-shaking blow.


    Mo Xiang¡¯s figure disappeared, reced by Tang Jie¡¯s callous face.


    A palm struck Lin Lang¡¯s chest.


    <em>Thud!</em>


    Lin Lang flew into the air and then struck the ground, vomiting blood.


    ¡°Young Sir!¡± everyone shouted in unison.


    This palm strike had contained almost all of Tang Jie¡¯s power, and it had broken several of Lin Lang¡¯s ribs, rendering him incapable of rising.


    ¡°Nooo!¡± Mo Xiang shrieked. She rushed over to Lin Lang¡¯s side to help him. Tang Jie let her be and made no attempt to stop her. Retrieving the golden needle, he stared coldly at Lin Lang.

 Chapter 169: Wrapping Things Up

    <h1>Chapter 169: Wrapping Things Up</h1>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325Edited by: Michyrr


    "Good! Good! The students of Basking Moon truly deserve their reputation. I, Lin Lang, cultivated for five years, but I couldn''t even beat a student who had cultivated for only one year. You win this battle!" Lin Lang coughed up blood andughed.


    His face gloomy, Tang Jie replied, "There is no honor in a victory won by taking a hostage."


    "But it was her interference that rendered yourst attack ineffective, no? Did you think I couldn''t tell? That final attack could prate through metal and shatter jade. If Mo Xiang hadn''te to my rescue, I would have lost right then," Lin Lang bitterly chuckled.


    Tang Jie felt a deep admiration.


    Regardless of anything else, this was a real man. He was unwilling to strike a loyal servant, and he frankly admitted to his loss. In this situation, Tang Jie couldn''t help but sympathize with Lin Lang.


    Mo Xiang wailed, "Young Sir, you''re so stupid! So stupid! What''s the point of mercy? You have to live! The youngdy and the little master still need you!"


    <em>"Little master"?</em>


    Tang Jie was startled by this term.


    If he remembered correctly, the Xu Estate only had Xu Mujun as its sole progeny!


    <em>Could it be¡­</em>


    He shivered.


    Lin Lang affectionally stroked her head. "Silly girl, Basking Moon Academy has already found this ce. Even if we kill them, more wille in the future¡­ There''s no way to kill everyone from the Basking Moon Sect."


    "But¡­" Mo Xiang wanted to say more, but Lin Lang pushed her aside.


    He staggered to his feet and said to Tang Jie, "You want to use my head in exchange for resources to ascend the Immortal path? Alright then; take it!"


    Tang Jie frowned and was about to say something when an old nanny ran out of the forest, shouting, "Young Sir, Young Sir! The young miss and the little master¡­ it''s bad!"


    "What?" Lin Lang shuddered, and a momentter, he who had been ready to boldly face death suddenly rushed into the forest.


    "Don''t even try to run!" Wei Tianchong shouted. But as he went to chase after him, he was stopped by Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie looked around at the crowd, pausing for a few moments on the figure of Master Xu, noticing how the man was trembling in agitation. Only then did Tang Jie follow Lin Lang into the forest.


    Following the little path through the forest, he made his way through the trees and past a field of flowers, then spotted a little wooden hut in the distance.


    The door to the hut was open, and Lin Lang was standing in front of the bed inside the hut. On the bed was a haggard woman, but despite her wan appearance, it was easy to tell that she was a beauty. Her face was rather simr to Xu Xi''an, so this was presumably the real Xu Mujun.


    In her arms was a baby. The baby was wailing, but their face was a strange blue-green shade.


    Lin Lang ced a hand on the baby, and as he constantly stroked, the blue-green energy faded, and the baby slowly stopped crying.


    After some time, the baby fell back to sleep.


    Lin Lang sighed in relief.


    "The Yi Wood Azure Essence Palm¡­" Tang Jiemented, his voice ringing out behind Lin Lang. "Is this the reason you refused to leave the Xu n?"


    Lin Lang trembled, but he finally said, "When I was running, a Basking Moon disciple caught up to me. Together, Mujun, Mo Xiang, and I managed to kill him, but that man was too powerful. Before dying, he used the Yi Wood Azure Essence Palm and injured Mujun. She was about to give birth then, so when the Wood poison attacked her, it affected the child¡­"


    As he spoke, he turned to face Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong, and Shi Meng stood next to each other.


    Outside the hut, Xu Xi''an, helped along by the servants, had arrived, but though he was worried, he did not dare to step into the hut.


    This old man had also suffered a lot, no?


    On one side was the intimidating pressure of the Basking Moon Sect while on the other was his grandson whose life was in dire peril and who needed treatment.


    And they couldn''t find anyone else to help.


    Traitors to the country were all enemies, their entire families to be executed!


    This was not just thew of the Sageheart Kingdom, but of the entire Rosecloud Domain!


    ording to thews of the Sageheart Kingdom, only the direct line of the n was under the scope of thisw, not inws and distant rtives. But the child born between Lin Lang and Xu Mujun had to die.


    While Xu Mujun herself might not need to die, she would assuredly be imprisoned.


    But this was something that this old man couldn''t ept. After all, this was his only daughter and his only grandson. This was why he was willing to take such a big risk of sheltering his son-inw and granting treatment.


    "No wonder I felt like you had already been through a big battle when I fought you, and you werecking in both spiritual and physical energy. You must have tired yourself a lot for this child," Tang Jie muttered.


    While Tang Jie''s strength had yed a role in the ability for a second-year to draw with a sixth-year, there was also the fact that Lin Lang had exhausted himself too much. Otherwise, even if Tang Jie had won, it would have been after an arduous battle that involved relying on his formidable healing powers to exhaust his opponent to death, not a proper battle that resulted in a draw.


    Tang Jie''s true expertisey in protracted battles.


    "What''s the point in saying that now?" Lin Lang bitterly smiled. "If you had just given me a few more days, I could havepletely expelled the Wood poison from the child''s body, but s, you still came¡­"


    Tang Jie walked over and picked up the child.


    Xu Mujun nervously looked at him.


    As Tang Jie held the infant and looked at his sweetly sleeping face, he sent a strand of spiritual energy into his body.


    He soon confirmed that Lin Lang had not lied. The Wood poison in this child''s body had mostly been cleaned out, leaving only a small remainder. If they hadn''te, perhaps he would have been entirely clear of the poison after only a few days.


    He then grabbed Xu Mujun''s arm and frowned. "The poison in your body hasn''t been cleared up much at all. It has already prated into your organs, so even if you survive, you won''t be able to cultivate anymore."


    Xu Mujun simply smiled. It was clear that she already knew and didn''t care.


    Lin Lang answered, "Mujun sacrificed much more than me for this child¡­"


    He suddenly got on his knees and knocked his head against the floor. "Tang Jie, I beg you. You can kill me, but please don''t kill my wife and child."


    He began to kowtow over and over, his head striking the floor so hard that the impacts were audible. Mo Xiang shouted, "Young Sir¡­"


    And then her voice dissolved into sobs.


    Only the supine Xu Mujun continued to affectionately gaze at the child in her embrace, and when she nced at Lin Lang on the ground, there was no regret in her eyes, only a tinge offort.


    It was as if she was saying, "I didn''t find the wrong man."


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng were both rather taken aback by this sight.


    They were still novice Basking Moon students who had never experienced the dangers of the world before. They still had some kindness in their nature, and when confronted by this situation, they didn''t quite know what to do.


    As Lin Lang continued to kowtow, Tang Jie sighed, "Even if I don''t kill your child, the poison in his body hasn''t been neutralized. If you die, won''t they still die as well?"


    Lin Lang shuddered.


    Tang Jie slowly said, "Fortunately, there''s not much poison, so if the method is right, it can still be removed. Lin Lang, you cultivate a Water mantra, right? It''s no wonder you found it difficult to clear the Wood poison. Metal counters Wood, so my Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra should be more effective at clearing this Wood poison."


    He stroked the child''s body with his palm and activated his spiritual energy, sending it swimming over his body.


    This baby was too fragile, so Tang Jie had to carefully control his energy, letting it slowly seep through his skin and across his body.


    Under the powerful Metal energy of the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra, the remaining Wood poison was quickly neutralized. After one Circuit Heaven, most of it was cleared away, and the baby''splexion became a healthy red.


    Once it was about done, Tang Jie drew back his hand and said to Wei Tianchong, "Essence Supporting Powder."


    "What?" Wei Tianchong was startled.


    Tang Jie rolled his eyes. "The medicine! Give me a bag of Essence Supporting Powder!"


    Wei Tianchong took out a bag of Essence Supporting Powder and handed it to Tang Jie.


    Essence Supporting Powder was used by cultivators to regte their energy flow, and had little use in cultivation itself. However, for ordinary people, it was a miraculous spirit medicine.


    Tang Jie had a Xu Estate servant pour him a cup of water, and then he poured the powder into the cup and began to let the baby drink the mixture through a spoon. He then threw out two more bags. "One bag a day. Once these two bags are used up, there should be no problem."


    At this point, everyone understood what he was doing.


    <em>Whoosh!</em> All the members of the Xu Estate prostrated at Tang Jie''s feet.


    Xu Xi''an excitedly said, "This old man will never forget Young Master''s kindness!"


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "As a cultivator, I have things that I want to do and don''t want to do. I have done what I want to do, but I must also do what I don''t want to do. I can let the child go, and I can spare the life of the youngdy of the Xu n, but from now on, this child cannot carry the surname of Lin, cannot be raised with resentment and hatred, and cannot leave Sageheart¡­ and he certainly cannot cultivate! There will be no forgiveness for any of this!"


    Xu Mujun and Lin Lang took a deep breath, but they understood that Tang Jie would never allow someone he had let go to be an enemy of the Basking Moon Sect.


    Even if this child had no chance of toppling a major sect like this, if he were to seed in cultivation and resent the Basking Moon Sect, even take revenge, then this would be Tang Jie''s mistake.


    He could let the person go, but he could never nt the roots of an enemy!


    Xu Xi''an prostrated to Tang Jie. "This old man will take care of the child and will report to Young Master Tang. I would not dare to raise him with resentment and hatred. From now on, his father will be said to have died in an ident."


    Tang Jie nodded. "The Xu Estate harbored a fugitive, which is a treasonous action that must be punished. I don''t need you all to die, but starting from now, the Xu n is no more. The people can remain, but the assets must all be sold off. From now on, the Xu n will cease to exist in Fengyin. Am I understood?"


    Xu Xi''an trembled and rapped his head against the ground. "My utmost gratitude for the Immortal''spassion!"


    He knew that Tang Jie was already being particrly generous. ording to regr procedure, while everyone didn''t need to die for harboring a fugitive, they would all have to be arrested and handed over to the government. And once they were in jail, they might suffer fates worse than death!


    In truth, by doing this, Tang Jie was taking on a lot of responsibility. As a student, he had no authority, so doing all this was overstepping his bounds.


    But he had alreadymitted outrageous crimes, so he didn''t take a small matter like this to heart. Once Wei Tianchong became a True Inheritor, nobody would hold a small matter like this against him.


    As for Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng, they looked at each other and decided to support him.


    If it had been for the sake of profit or some other reason, they would have been willing to see the entire Xu n executed. But this was clearly not the situation. All the people of the Xu Estate were righteous people who protected their youngdy and young master despite the risks. This sort of loyalty was exactly what society valued and admired, so they were unwilling to mistreat this sort of people.


    No matter what, they did not want to cause this kind of tragedy.


    Young people were very sentimental, so doing a good thing at times made them even morefortable than obtaining an Immortal art.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, taking back the rm Gate Banner and dispersing the formation. He waved his hands and said, "All right, everyone, disperse. I will give you time to sort out your valuables, bute daybreak, this ce will no longer belong to you."


    The servants nced at each other, reluctant to leave. Xu Xi''an shouted, "Why aren''t you leaving? Do you really n to just wait here for death?"


    The servants had no other option than to prostrate along with Xu Xi''an and kowtow a few times before dispersing.


    Only that old man who had opened the gate refused to leave. He helped Master Xu and said, "Master, you still need a few people to take care of you."


    A mighty n had been turned to nothing in a single night. Everyone was ovee with sorrow, and sobbing could be heard throughout the estate.

 Chapter 170: Human Head

    Chapter 170: Human Head


    It was still not over.


    Tang Jie looked at Lin Lang and slowly said, ¡°I can let some people off, but there are some people who can never be let go.¡±


    Lin Lang tragically smiled and nodded his head. ¡°Yes, I understand. Young Master Tang, thank you for your magnanimity. Since you have spared my wife, I, Lin Lang, have no fear of my death.¡±


    He raised his hand to p it against his head.


    ¡°Lin Lang!¡± Xu Mujun shouted.


    Just as he was about to strike his head, he stopped and smiled at Xu Mujun. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I couldn¡¯t be with you for all your life.¡±


    Xu Mujun began to weep.


    Just when he was about to bring his palm down, Tang Jie stopped him, grabbing his arm.


    Lin Lang froze. ¡°What do you mean by this?¡±


    Hope appeared in everyone¡¯s eyes. Was Tang Jie feeling merciful and even letting Lin Lang go?


    s, Tang Jie shook his head and said, ¡°Young Master, you kill Lin Lang.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t dare to believe his ears.


    ¡°I said¡­ I don¡¯t want him tomit suicide. I want you to do the deed, to kill him!¡± Tang Jie firmly dered.


    Wei Tianchong shivered and stared at Tang Jie. ¡°You¡­ you want me to kill¡­ kill him?¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Tang Jie sternly nodded. ¡°Even if he¡¯s a fierce tiger, he¡¯s a tiger that¡¯s given up. What are you afraid of? Go on¡ªkill him.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ but why does it have to be me? Can¡¯t you just let him end things himself?¡± Wei Tianchongined.


    But Lin Lang understood what Tang Jie was doing.


    He looked at Wei Tianchong and smiled. ¡°You¡¯ve never killed anyone before?¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s mouth opened, but no words came out.


    Yes.


    From the moment he had entered school, he had been focused on cultivating. When had he ever had the time to kill someone?


    He hadn¡¯t even seen a proper ughter yet. Even today¡¯s battle hadn¡¯t resulted in death.


    Lin Lang nodded. ¡°Then you should try. Killing someone actually isn¡¯t easy, especially for your first time. It will leave an extremely deep impression on you. Many people will experience an unbearably enormous pressure when killing for their first time, causing their minds to break¡­ If this happens in a duel, then it¡¯s okay, as there¡¯s time to adapt. But in a melee, this sort of breakdown could cause you to lose your life.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was stunned.


    Lin Lang turned his sword around and offered the hilt to Wei Tianchong. ¡°You have a good servant student who has fought to get this chance for you. Nothing could be better than killing me in this sort of situation and getting your first kill.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ but I can¡¯t¡­ I¡­ I don¡¯t want to kill you. I think you¡¯re actually a pretty good person,¡± Wei Tianchong frantically said. His words were a little silly, but they were extremely sincere.


    Tang Jie coolly said, ¡°That makes it even more vital that you kill him. On the Immortal path, there are many times when the person you kill isn¡¯t someone you want to kill. The first person you kill will make you ufortable, and the first time you kill someone you don¡¯t want to kill will also make you sad. Young Master, your first time will include both scenarios. This is also a sort of lucky opportunity. At least you won¡¯t have to experience this pain twice.¡±


    After this was said, Wei Tianchong no longer had a choice.


    He raised the sword with a trembling hand, and Lin Lang smiled at him. Tang Jie had resolved his greatest concern, so all of his will to fight had naturally dissipated. All he sought now was death, and he was surprisingly calm.


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s hand swayed, and Tang Jie impatiently said, ¡°Hold it steady and just thrust¡­ It¡¯s very simple.¡±


    ¡°Si-¡­ simple¡­ just thrust,¡± Wei Tianchong repeated. Finally, he managed to gather the courage to thrust.


    <em>Thud!</em>


    The sword stabbed into Lin Lang¡¯s body, and the pain made Lin Lang¡¯s muscles instinctively constrict and hold the sword fast, preventing it from going too deep.


    ¡°Not enough strength.¡± Tang Jie frowned. ¡°Circte energy into your shoulders, and you need to be steady when you exert your strength. No matter what state your mind is in, you have to swing with all your strength!¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡± Wei Tianchong swung the sword.


    This time, he aimed at Lin Lang¡¯s neck, but hecked aim and ended up striking Lin Lang¡¯s shoulder. As blood sttered, the others could no longer bear to look.


    ¡°Young Sir!¡± Mo Xiang wailed.


    Xu Mujun fainted with a soft sigh.


    Only Lin Lang continued to hold fast. ¡°Again!¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted again, swinging the sword three times and leaving three wounds on Lin Lang¡¯s body. But inexplicably, none of the three was fatal.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t keep looking, shouting, ¡°Do you want to torture him? Do you realize that a soft hand only means greater pain for him? Finish it in one stroke! Stop hesitating!¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s heart trembled. ¡°Understood! Ghost Axe!¡±


    His sword shed with light, and Wei Tianchong jumped in the air and swung the sword at Lin Lang¡¯s neck.


    At this moment, there was no enemy, no Lin Lang, not even a target, in his mind. What stood in front of him was a statue that he had not finished carving.


    He put all his energy into the blow, and the sword fell on the neck of the ¡°statue¡±, leaving a trail of blood.


    Blood gushed into the air!


    The head rocketed into the air in a geyser of blood before falling to the ground.


    Lin Lang¡¯s face still carried a contented smile.


    Upon seeing this, Mo Xiang fainted, her eyes rolling over.


    Xu Xi¡¯an fell to his knees and began to weep.


    ¡°It¡¯s over¡­¡± Wei Tianchong put down the sword and panted for breath, suddenly feeling weak all over.


    Tang Jie walked over and took Lin Lang¡¯s head.


    He closed Lin Lang¡¯s eyes and wrapped it in the cloth strips he had prepared before handing it to Shi Meng.


    Shi Meng somberly took it.


    This killing had been a test and tempering for Wei Tianchong, but wasn¡¯t it also one for him?


    That geyser of blood had stained his heart, awakening him from the childhood fantasies he had of cultivation. The gruesome reality had finally brought light to the truth.


    The Immortal path was dangerous!


    As Shi Meng looked at the head, he had to control the impulse to throw it away.


    Seeing that Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng had only paled and not shown any greater signs of disgust, Tang Jie nodded in satisfaction. He then said to Xu Xi¡¯an, ¡°This matter is done with, so we¡¯re leaving. Everyone¡­ make sure to behave.¡±


    He also took Lin Lang¡¯s sword and protective jade amulet. After all, they were both decent spell weapons and worth some money.


    ¡°High Immortals, I bid you farewell!¡± Suppressing his sorrow, Xu Xi¡¯an and the few loyal servants that refused to leave kneeled.


    The trio left the Xu Estate.


    But after walking out only a few steps, Shi Meng grimaced. ¡°The Detection Spirit Eye I deployed outside the estate has sensed spiritual pulses.¡±


    Wei Tianchong and Tang Jie turned in rm. ¡°How many?¡±


    ¡°A lot, and they¡¯reing this way, quickly!¡± Shi Meng hastily said.


    ¡°It must be the other Basking Moon students,¡± Wei Tianchong anxiously said.


    ¡°They came rather fast,¡± Tang Jie grunted.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Shi Meng somewhat anxiously asked.


    The moment they ran into other Basking Moon students, they would undoubtedly try to take Lin Lang¡¯s head.


    Just as Sun Baoran had said, only Basking Moon students could deal with Basking Moon students.


    After some thought, Tang Jie grabbed the head from Shi Meng¡¯s hands and began to whisper his orders.


    The other two nodded. Tang Jie made his preparations, and then he ced a bundle in Wei Tianchong¡¯s hand and ordered, ¡°Split up!¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± Without hesitation, Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng ran off in separate directions while Tang Jie himself turned back.


    Just as the three separated, several figures flew out of the estate¡¯s forest. Their leader wore floaty red robes, and as she stood atop a tree branch, it was clear that it was Liu Hongyan who had arrived.


    Looking down from the tree, she saw Tang Jie walking over.


    Their eyes brightened, and Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°It was you?¡±


    Liu Hongyanughed. ¡°As expected, Tang Jie, you really dide. I knew that you wouldn¡¯t give up, but I didn¡¯t think that you would actually find out where Lin Lang was.¡±


    Lin Lang¡¯s headless corpse was still on the ground, and the simple fact that he was missing his head was proof that Tang Jie hadpleted the mission. There was no need to ask for evidence.


    Liu Hongyan and the others had no interest in the Xu Estate. They simply wanted the head. However, they still admired Tang Jie for being able to find Lin Lang first despite leavingst.


    Another figure emerged, Cai Junyang jumping onto the tree. He pointed his sword at Tang Jie andughed. ¡°Good Brother, I didn¡¯t think our little joke woulde true. It seems like I¡¯m really going to have to take that head from you. Hand it over and I can promise you that you won¡¯t be beaten.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°You think you can beat me?¡±


    Cai Junyangughed even harder. ¡°In a one-on-one, I¡¯m no match, but we outnumber you!¡±


    As he spoke, Shu Mingyang and Ping Jingyue appeared.


    Behind them were Yang Zhiyuan and the others. There were seven students in all, tightly surrounding Tang Jie.


    There was no killing intent from them, but Tang Jie understood that they wouldn¡¯t go easy with the True Inheritor position on the line.


    This was a struggle on the Immortal path, a struggle of the Great Dao, a struggle over a cultivator¡¯s aspirations!


    Companionship and camaraderie had no ce here!


    As he looked around at the people surrounding him, Tang Jie backed up a few steps and slowly raised his saber. ¡°If it¡¯s like this, I won¡¯t go easy either.¡±


    As everyone¡¯s faces turned glum and the mood became tense, Liu Hongyan suddenly said, ¡°You don¡¯t have the head, right?¡±


    Tang Jie froze, and the atmosphere immediately became awkward.


    Liu Hongyan swiftly said, ¡°You said that you didn¡¯t want to be a True Inheritor, and I believe that. You must havee for your young master, right?¡±


    ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean that I couldn¡¯t be holding it for the moment,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°But you also might have stayed to hold us down while the other two left with the head.¡±


    ¡°Correct. There are many possibilities, so which one of you is going to chase them?¡± Tang Jie countered.


    All seven of them froze.


    Although they had all agreed to work together to get the head, there was only one True Inheritor spot. A struggle between the seven was inevitable.


    Given how indifferent Tang Jie was, there was an 80% chance he didn¡¯t have the head. There was a higher chance that it was with Wei Tianchong, but now, it became a problem of who was going to chase Wei Tianchong.


    All of them wanted to go, but all of them were also afraid that they would lose out.


    What would they do?


    Liu Hongyan gritted her teeth and said, ¡°Three targets! It could be on Wei Tianchong, on Tang Jie, or on Shi Meng. Chase whichever one you think it is! I choose to stay to deal with Tang Jie.¡±


    It was no longer appropriate to choose who chased whom. The best method was to let everyone decide on their own.


    As for Liu Hongyan, she had chosen to stay primarily because she had the spell mark. Wherever Wei Tianchong ran, she would be able to find him. Thus, it was naturally better to deal with the difficult-to-find person first.

 Chapter 171: Obstruction

    Chapter 171: Obstruction


    ¡°I¡¯ll also stay,¡± Cai Junyang said.


    He stayed, however, because he was itching to fight and see if all of them working together could defeat Tang Jie.


    Shu Mingyang said nothing, but he extracted a stack of talismans, indicating that he was also choosing to stay.


    Li Yijing and Yang Zhiyuan nced at each other and simultaneously said, ¡°We¡¯ll chase after Wei Tianchong!¡±


    Rather than saying that they believed that Wei Tianchong had the head, it was better to say that they were more willing to deal with Wei Tianchong than Tang Jie.


    Ping Jingyue looked at Tang Jie and took a step back. ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight you, so I¡¯ll fight Wei Tianchong. I hope he has the head.¡±


    Thest one, a student going by the name of Liang Shengxian, said, ¡°I¡¯ll go after Shi Meng.¡±


    He was the weakest of the students and guessed that even if Wei Tianchong or Tang Jie had the head, he wouldn¡¯t be in contention for it. Thus, he decided to take a gamble and go after Shi Meng, who was also the weakest and for whom he had nopetition.


    He was essentially cing his bets on a dark horse.


    s, though they wanted to divide their forces, Tang Jie chuckled, ¡°Did I let you leave? Even if you want to chase after them, you have to get past me first. Thousand Rupture sh!¡±


    He swung the Heartbreak Saber, unleashing a thousand waves of light aimed at all seven of the people surrounding him.


    The waves of saber energy engulfed the area, and the one who took the brunt of the attack was Liang Shengxian.


    Liang Shengxian was one of the weakest members of the Freedom Society, and he had never expected Tang Jie to target him. Aghast, he raised his sword to block.


    But Tang Jie was so powerful that the wave of saber energy pushed back the sword, striking Liang Shengxian¡¯s body with it and sending him flying. Tang Jie smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Ping Jingyue shouted as she ran out.


    Liu Hongyan, Cai Junyang, and Shu Mingyang also began to attack.


    The Pilewave Sword, Palm Lightning, and a Flying Sword talisman all flew at Tang Jie, the lightning illuminating the area.


    ¡°Raaa!¡± Tang Jie bellowed as he activated the Formless Golden Body. He decided to take on all three attacks, swinging his saber three times at Ping Jingyue¡¯s group, not giving them the slightest chance to escape.


    Durability-oriented warriors couldn¡¯t actually disy all their strength and attributes in a one-on-one battle. Only in these battles against multiple opponents did their formidable defenses prove their worth and importance.


    The sight of him enduring three attacks while attacking the other group stunned Liu Hongyan and the others.


    Cai Junyang roared, ¡°Do you not care for your life?¡±


    While he wanted to get the head, he had no intention of killing anybody, so he couldn¡¯t understand Tang Jie¡¯s insane actions.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°You need to have the ability first!¡±


    He elbowed Cai Junyang¡¯s sword, and when elbow collided against sword, Cai Junyang¡¯s sword actually bent! <em>Bang!</em> The two of them parted as Cai Junyang rapidly retreated, but Tang Jie used the impact to lunge forward, shing at Yang Zhiyuan. ¡°Arm!¡±


    He aimed his saber at Yang Zhiyuan¡¯s hand, and Yang Zhiyuan raised his saber to block. Their sabers shed, after which Tang Jie thrust out his hand. ¡°Thigh!¡±


    Yang Zhiyuan once more raised his saber to block, and Tang Jie drew back his saber and thrust it forward. ¡°Chest!¡±


    <em>Bang! Bang! Bang!</em> All three blows were blocked, but Yang Zhiyuan was forced three steps back, and his arms were numb. His mind was as shaken as his body when Tang Jie raised his saber and swung down. ¡°Head!¡±


    Yang Zhiyuan raised his saber to block, but then Tang Jie drew back his saber and gave a flying kick that sent Yang Zhiyuan rolling on the ground.


    Yang Zhiyuan furiously said, ¡°Tang Jie, you trickster!¡±


    Tang Jie heartilyughed as he turned to Ping Jingyue and swung at her. At the same time, he sent a Silver Cloud Needle from his left hand flying at Li Yijing¡¯s lower leg.


    He was fighting in earnest right now.


    The needle prated through Li Yijing¡¯s leg, leaving a bloody hole. Li Yijing yelped and staggered. He tried to run, but he was now much slower.


    ¡°Mingyang, use an Immortal Bind Talisman on him!¡± Liu Hongyan shouted.


    Shu Mingyang waved his hand, and a talisman became an Immortal-Binding Rope that sought to wrap around Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie swung at it, but the rope was made from spiritual energy and unexpectedly difficult to cut. In a sh, Tang Jie was bound up.


    Tang Jie¡¯s arms quivered as he roared, ¡°Break apart!¡±


    His body erupted with energy, and the rope created by the talisman began to fray apart under Tang Jie¡¯s exertions, spiritual energy dissipating from it.


    ¡°Damn!¡± Liu Hongyan shouted. She pointed a finger at Tang Jie and shouted, ¡°Evesting Lightning Snake!¡±


    A lightning snake shot out from her hands and struck Tang Jie, rendering his entire body numb.


    The Evesting Lightning Snake was of average strength, but it had an extremely powerful numbing effect. Just like Shu Mingyang¡¯s Immortal Bind talisman, it was excellent for suppressing foes.


    They didn¡¯t want Tang Jie dead, so they used restraining methods during battle.


    With Tang Jie¡¯s body numbed, his strength began to fade, and the Immortal-Binding Rope once more bound Tang Jie. Cai Junyang rushed up and shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, stop struggling. With so many of us here, there¡¯s no way you can beat us!¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    A golden light emerged between his fingers as a little golden knife formed. He swept the golden knife upward, and because he also used the Nullight spell, nobody was able to see it. All they saw was Tang Jie raising his arm up and then the rope falling into pieces.


    The three were rmed. ¡°What is this?¡±


    They had never heard of Tang Jie having a spell like this.


    Ping Jingyue¡¯s group had taken the chance to pursue Wei Tianchong while Tang Jie was bound. The moment Tang Jie broke free, he jumped at and kicked a nearby tree, shouting, ¡°Stay right there!¡±


    A broken tree branch descended toward Yang Zhiyuan.


    Yang Zhiyuan had no choice but to dodge to the side.


    Tang Jie activated the Violet Lightning Lunge, rushing up to the wounded Li Yijing. He grabbed him and threw him at Ping Jingyue.


    Li Yijing had split up from the others to escape, but Tang Jie had now ruined this n.


    Tang Jie then caught up to Liang Shengxian and threw him backward.


    At this time, the attacks of Liu, Cai, and Shu arrived, but when they saw Liang Shengxian being used as a shield, they withdrew their attacks. Meanwhile, Tang Jie continued to charge up ahead.


    Liang Shengxian fired off mes from his hands, but Tang Jie didn¡¯t feel a thing, fully exhibiting the power of having a thick skin. So long as Tang Jie willed it, even if he couldn¡¯t win, he could stillst for a long time.


    And the Violet Lightning Lunge was incredibly fast, his sprint kicking up gravel and shattering the paving stones beneath his feet. Tang Jie kicked several times, sending some of these stones at the three who were trying to flee.


    These stones imbued with Tang Jie¡¯s strength were something that Ping Jingyue¡¯s group didn¡¯t want to experience, even with protective spells.


    Ping Jingyue fired off an attack in return, a wind vortex sending the stones flying. At the same time, she shouted, ¡°You guys are doing a fine job of holding him down!¡±


    Shu Mingyang waved a hand, sending out a talisman. ¡°Ice Soul talisman!¡±


    Frost shot toward Tang Jie, and at the same time, Cai Junyang used the Pilewave Sword, throwing the surroundings into turmoil and causing the air to solidify. Liu Hongyan also used her Evesting Lightning Snake again.


    All three of them had chosen to use methods that would slow down Tang Jie.


    And with the three of them working together, Tang Jie really did slow down. Delighted, Ping Jingyue¡¯s group hastened to flee.


    But to their surprise, Tang Jie howled like a tiger, ¡°Raooo!¡±


    His body bulged with muscle, strength flooding through him.


    He punched at the ground.


    <em>Kaboom!</em> A powerful shockwave traveled along the ground, causing the surrounding earth to quake.


    Ping Jingyue¡¯s group¡¯s footing became unsteady, so they jumped into the air.


    Tang Jie waved his left hand, sending out another wave of Silver Cloud Needles.


    ¡°Wind Vortex!¡± Ping Jingyue hastily waved her hand, and a vortex blocked all the needles.


    But a momentter, Tang Jie jumped into the air and swung his Heartbreak Saber at Ping Jingyue¡¯s Wind Vortex.


    Ping Jingyue hadn¡¯t expected him to move this quickly and was struck by the saber. Fortunately, Tang Jie had used the back of the saber, but even so, she was still sent flying, her blood energy thrown into turmoil. She shouted in frustration, ¡°Tang Jie, can¡¯t you give it a rest!?¡±


    ¡°Let me dy you for just a little longer!¡± Tang Jie heartilyughed as he turned around and threw out a roof tile.


    He didn¡¯t seek to keep all seven here, only to slow them down so that Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng would have more time.


    But at this moment, Ping Jingyue suddenly erupted with light, and a hurricane swept her high into the sky, elerating her into the clouds!


    ¡°Hurricane Sweep?¡± Tang Jie was startled.


    Hurricane Sweep was a true flight spell, but it wasn¡¯t easy to cultivate. He hadn¡¯t expected Ping Jingyue to havepletely mastered it.


    High in the sky, Ping Jingyue was no longer restrained. With augh, she dered, ¡°I¡¯m going first!¡±


    She flew into the distance.


    Tang Jie could no longer keep her, nor did he try to force the matter. He simply chuckled bitterly and went to intercept the others.


    As they battled in the Xu Estate¡¯s courtyard, they rmed countless people. Spiritual light exploded within the estate, lightning crackled, mes burned, and winds collided, and in the midst of the pursuit, countless trees and buildings were felled.


    In any case, this ce would cease to be the Xu n¡¯s after tonight, so Tang Jie destroyed as much as he pleased. They maneuvered among the roofs, moving up and down and exchanging blow after blow.


    Although this battle was rming, it wasn¡¯t gruesome. Small wounds were sustained, but nothing fatal.


    Beginning to panic, Cai Junyang shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, don¡¯t force me to get serious!¡±


    ¡°Do it if you¡¯re going to do it! No need to be polite! I¡¯m already using everything I have!¡± Tang Jie said as he swung his saber.


    ¡°You wanted this! Raging Wave sh!¡± Cai Junyang¡¯s sword transformed into a sharp beam that shot at Tang Jie. He truly did get serious this time.


    Furious waves of sword energy swept through the area.


    Blood gushed out from Tang Jie¡¯s arm.


    Liu Hongyan¡¯s finger cracked with electricity. ¡°Lightning Finger!¡±


    The finger thrust at Tang Jie, sting a bloody hole in him. Tang Jie groaned and backed away. Even with his tough body, it was still rather hard for him to take all this. He grinned and said, ¡°You¡¯ve made a lot of progress.¡±


    While he had been making progress in this time, the other students hadn¡¯t stopped either. While he had been held hostage by Gu Changqing, everyone else had been training hard, their strength soaring.


    As Liu Hongyan unleashed her Lightning Finger, Shu Mingyang also threw out a Heaven Sword talisman.


    This talisman transformed into a giant flying sword. Tang Jieughed, and his body shed with a bloody light as he activated the Blood Refining Spirit spell.


    His strength swelled once more, and Tang Jie swiftly swung his saber at it. ¡°Break!¡±


    His roar resounded through the area. His saber swing obliterated the Heaven Sword, and with the remaining power, he charged at Shu Mingyang.


    Liu Hongyan and Cai Junyang both shouted in rm.


    ¡°Mingyang, dodge!¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie, no!¡±

 Chapter 172: Luck with Women

    Chapter 172: Luck with Women


    The saber was about to hit and potentially kill Shu Mingyang, or at least heavily injure him. Suddenly, Shu Mingyang brought his hands together and caught the saber between them.


    <em>Pa!</em>


    This determined strike was caught between his palms, and the two of them were fixed in ce for 0.01 seconds.


    A momentter, in an explosion of light, Shu Mingyang¡¯s palms unleashed a spiritual torrent that pushed Tang Jie away. Shu Mingyang also retreated several steps, grunting as blood seeped out of his mouth.


    He made several hand signs, forsaking his talismans, and then thrust his palms skyward. ¡°Elephant Subduer spell, suppress!¡±


    In Beicang, there was once a giant elephant that stood one kilometer tall and was so powerful that it could uproot mountains. When True Lord Miao Fengzi of Basking Moon passed through Beicang, they fought for ten days, and through a boundless divine connection, the Dracodemon Elephant Subduer Art was created, which suppressed the giant elephant and transformed it into Divine Elephant Mountain.


    The Elephant Subduer spell was the basic spell one needed to cultivate the Dracodemon Elephant Subduer Art. Though it was called Elephant Subduer, it was a profound spell art that used skill to break through power.


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t expected Shu Mingyang to know this spell. As he thrust his palms at the heavens, an enormous pressure descended that held Tang Jie fast. This was the forerunner of the Elephant Subduer, which specialized in suppressing the prodigiously strong.


    At the same time, Liu Hongyan and Cai Junyang attacked from the nks, the three of them encircling him and robbing him of any chance to interfere. Liu Hongyan shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, stop struggling! You¡¯re no match for us!¡±


    ¡°You have to beat me before you can say that!¡± Raising his saber, Tang Jie unleashed a wave of saber energy. He no longer cared about stopping Yang Zhiyuan and the others, allowing them to leave.


    ¡°Is this really necessary? Wei Tianchong is nothing but a pile of mud who can¡¯t hold up a wall. Even if you have him be a True Inheritor, the opportunity will probably just go to waste!¡± Cai Junyang hollered as he swung his sword.


    Tang Jie raised his saber vertically to block the blow, at the same time thrusting his left palm at Liu Hongyan. ¡°He has to try first! I¡¯ve received the kindness of the Wei n, and I must pay it back. Not being able to do it is one thing, and whether or not to do it is another!¡±


    ¡°If you hand over the head, then we will support Wei Tianchong in the future!¡± Shu Mingyang shouted as he pressed a hand down, upon which Tang Jie felt the pressure on his shoulders drastically increase.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never been a passive actor in my life. Rather than handing over the head to you so that I can beg for scraps in the future, I¡¯d rather take it for myself so I can carry out my great aspiration. In the future, if any of you need assistance, you simply need to call and I will rush to assist you! Ha! Out of the way!¡±


    The Heartbreak Saber unleashed a dark energy that billowed like a cloud. <em>Boom!</em> The energies of the four collided, and then they explosively separated, each retreating to their own side.


    While Tang Jie was powerful, thebined power of the trio had sent him far away, and he looked like he had been run over by a carriage.


    But he executed a roll on the ground and jumped to his feet. Putting his saber away, he said, ¡°My mission is done, so I¡¯m leaving first!¡±


    He ran out of the Xu Estate.


    Aghast, Cai Junyang shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t let him run!¡±


    He was just about to give chase when Liu Hongyan grabbed him. ¡°There¡¯s no need to chase him!¡±


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Cai Junyang asked in confusion.


    Liu Hongyan answered, ¡°When we shed just now, I used a secret art to inspect his Mustard Seed Bag. There was no head in there.¡±


    ¡°A secret art? What secret art lets you probe the contents of a Mustard Seed Bag?¡± Cai Junyang asked.


    Liu Hongyan knew that Cai Junyang didn¡¯t believe her, and she sighed. She raised her hand and a red light appeared.


    As the red light shed, an outline of Tang Jie¡¯s Mustard Seed Bag appeared. Its contents were visible only as shadowy silhouettes, but it was possible to see that there was no head here.


    ¡°So it was the Spiritual Light Shadow spell,¡± Shu Mingyang blurted out.


    The Rosecloud Domain did have spells that could use spiritual light to probe something and then produce images of what was there, but these were mostly very difficult to learn, had little practical use, and didn¡¯tst for long. Students normally didn¡¯t study this spell in their early days.


    But Liu Hongyan had actually mastered this spell.


    Cai Junyang¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°When did you learn this spell? Why didn¡¯t I know?¡±


    Liu Hongyan brusquely replied, ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask Shu Mingyang when he learned the Elephant Subduer? Or when Ping Jingyue learned Hurricane Sweep? Or how Tang Jie broke out of the Immortal Bind talisman? Everyone has their secrets. What¡¯s the point in asking so many questions?¡±


    Cai Junyang angrily said, ¡°I don¡¯t have that many secrets!¡±


    Liu Hongyan rolled her eyes. ¡°Then you¡¯re brainless!¡±


    She turned to leave. Cai Junyang was dumbfounded by her insult, and he turned to Shu Mingyang and said, ¡°Did you hear her? Did you hear that? That girl said I was brainless!¡±


    Shu Mingyang shrugged. ¡°You really are rather brainless.¡±


    He walked away.


    Cai Junyang was left alone, hopping mad as he shouted, ¡°Fuck your ancestors!¡±


    A fierce gale swept across the skies.


    Ping Jingyue was like the goddess of storms as she drifted through the skies, her long hair flying behind her and her robes fluttering.


    The darkness couldn¡¯t block her sharp gaze, and she quickly spotted a little fatty galloping away on a horse. From his shape, she could tell that it was Wei Tianchong.


    Smiling, Ping Jingyue muttered, ¡°Let¡¯s see where you run now!¡±


    She turned her body and shot down like a bolt of lightning.


    Wei Tianchong felt a gust overhead and looked up. Spotting a tornado in the distance, he immediately shouted, ¡°Oh my god!¡±


    He spurred his horse into a full gallop, but no matter how fast a horse galloped, it couldn¡¯t outrun a person flying through the sky.


    Giggling, Ping Jingyue flew over and grabbed at Wei Tianchong. ¡°Hurry up and get down from that horse!¡±


    Wei Tianchong swung his axe, but a little hand popped out of the vortex and grabbed the axe. Before the Ghost Axe spell could take effect, Ping Jingyue had seized the axe.


    rmed, Wei Tianchong tried to let out his puppet, but a fair foot kicked out of the tornado, striking him right in the face and off his horse.


    The masterless horse kept galloping for a while beforeing to a stop.


    Wei Tianchong rolled on the ground and sat up. Covering his nose, he shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t kick me in the nose!¡±


    The vortex disappeared, and Ping Jingyue walked out of the wind. ¡°I really didn¡¯t think that the mighty Young Master Wei wouldn¡¯t be able to take even one blow from me. You¡¯re a little too useless.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit. I cultivate the Dao of Puppetry, not self-strengthening,¡± Wei Tianchong shouted. As he waved his hand, the puppet appeared next to him to protect him.


    ¡°The Dao of Puppetry?¡± Ping Jingyue looked at the puppet and shook her head. ¡°You¡¯re really unfortunate. I cultivate the Crouching Rabbit Thousand Meter Mantra, which is all about speed, control, and group battles. While your puppet is strong, I happen to exactly counter it. The moment you release your puppet, I can use Windbind to separate you from your puppet, and with your connection to your puppet disrupted, you be much weaker. Moreover, with my extreme speed, your puppet will find it very hard to hit me with its heavy strike, as I can easily avoid them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not for certain!¡± Wei Tianchong got to his feet. ¡°Don¡¯t forget that my Evilhook Shadow Soldiers can slow you down.¡±


    Ping Jingyue remained unperturbed. ¡°It¡¯s true that shadow soldiers are problematic, but they¡¯re too weak and need to rely on numbers. But my Dao of Gale Dancing happens to be suited more for group battles than single duels. In a one-on-one, I would be worse than Liu Hongyan and the others, but my wind spells can easily take care of your shadow soldiers.¡±


    Her argument was so solid and reasonable that Wei Tianchong had nothing he could say.


    Looking left and right, he suddenly lifted up the little fox in his embrace. ¡°I also have this. Don¡¯t underestimate it. It¡¯s very formidable. Once¡­ once¡­¡±


    He wanted to say that the little fox had once captured him, but considering how humiliating it was, he ultimately kept silent.


    In any case, the little fox simply flourished its tail and continued to sleep in his bosom, ignoring him. It was as if everything that was happening had nothing to do with it.


    Wei Tianchong felt bitter and frustrated over this scene, and even Ping Jingyue couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°I don¡¯t know where you managed to get a fiend beast, but it seems to have already entered the lower grade, which is rather lucky for you. It¡¯s lucky for me, though, that it doesn¡¯t really listen to you, or else it would be a real headache.¡±


    Ping Jingyue¡¯s face chilled. ¡°Alright, hand over the head. Since we¡¯re ssmates, I won¡¯t make things hard for you.¡±


    ¡°The head isn¡¯t on me!¡± Wei Tianchong swiftly replied.


    Ping Jingyue¡¯s beautiful face grew even colder. ¡°You dare to lie? Tang Jie came on this mission for you, so who else would he give the head to? If you won¡¯t hand it over, I¡¯ll have to search you!¡±


    She was just about to make her move when Wei Tianchong jumped up and patted down his body. ¡°I really don¡¯t have it. Look, look! I don¡¯t even have a Mustard Seed Bag, so where would I even put it!?¡±


    Ping Jingyue really didn¡¯t know if Wei Tianchong had a Mustard Seed Bag or not.


    While Mustard Seed Bags were convenient, they were ultimately only a convenience. For students who were so desperate for resources, they rarely had the money to spend on a Mustard Seed Bag. For example, Tang Jie sold off the first Mustard Seed Bag he got, andter on, when he had three, he kept only one at his side.


    It was very normal for Wei Tianchong to not have one.


    As she watched Wei Tianchong pat himself down, she confirmed that it didn¡¯t seem like he had a Mustard Seed Bag. Ping Jingyue thought it over and shook her head. ¡°No, you might not be able to hide the head, but you could be hiding a bag. Perhaps it¡¯s hidden under your clothes? Open up your clothes and let me take a look.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Wei Tianchong yelped.


    Ping Jingyue blushed, but the head was too important for her to care about such things. Pointing a slender finger at Wei Tianchong, she shouted, ¡°Hurry up! Or do I have to do it myself?¡±


    Helpless and knowing that he couldn¡¯t beat Ping Jingyue, Wei Tianchong began to undo his clothes.


    It was the intersection between summer and autumn, so the weather was rather warm, and Wei Tianchong wasn¡¯t wearing a lot. He was also a rather straightforward and honest person who didn¡¯t know to cover himself. After taking off his long robe and then the tight-fitting shirt beneath, he exposed his shining white belly.


    Ping Jingyue was a youngdy who had never seen a man¡¯s bare body before, so she immediately blushed and instinctively looked away.


    When Wei Tianchong saw her turn her head, he was taken aback. <em>Weren¡¯t you the one who wanted me to take off my clothes?</em> Just when he was about to ask what was going on, he had a sudden thought: <em>Isn¡¯t this the best opportunity to strike?</em>


    He immediately acted on the thought, and without considering the consequences, he lunged at Ping Jingyue.


    Ping Jingyue had not expected this move at all, and they were already standing very close, so by the time she noticed, he had already gotten up in her face.


    But at this moment, Wei Tianchong froze.


    He discovered that he didn¡¯t know what to do next!

 Chapter 173: Betrayal (1)

    Chapter 173: Betrayal (1)


    If this were Tang Jie, he would have given Ping Jingyue a chop of the hand to knock her out.


    But this was Wei Tianchong. He had puppets and shadow soldiers, but his only close-range spell was the Ghost Axe.


    And because he had been taking off his clothes, he had even thrown his weapon to the side. Thus, even though he had gotten close to his foe, he had no spell that he could use.


    Panicking, Wei Tianchong opened his arms and gave Ping Jingyue a big hug.


    Ping Jingyue had never expected a move like this. Unable to dodge, she was seized in his embrace. The two of them rolled to the ground, Wei Tianchong¡¯s white and plump belly pressing on Ping Jingyue¡¯s body. Ping Jingyue was both embarrassed and angry, wanting nothing more than to kill this scoundrel with a single chop of her palm.


    She still had some sense, so she immediately gathered wind in her hand to send Wei Tianchong flying.


    It had been hard for Wei Tianchong to get into this position, and he wasn¡¯t going to give her the chance to send him flying. Lowering his head, he rammed it into her chest.


    Ping Jingyue grunted, and her wind sweeping spell was interrupted before it could be cast. Gnashing her teeth, she shouted, ¡°Shameless!¡±


    She brought her knee mming into Wei Tianchong¡¯s abdomen.


    The pain from this blow was so great that Wei Tianchong¡¯s face twisted.


    But he knew that this was an important moment and that he couldn¡¯t rx. Otherwise, if he gave Ping Jingyue time to cast, he would be in for great suffering.


    Rather than letting go, he tightened his embrace.


    Seeing Ping Jingyue¡¯s face turn savage as her hands began to form more signs, Wei Tianchong panicked and kneed her, but this blow struck the inner side of her thigh.


    To his surprise, Ping Jingyue also grunted from this blow, and the spell was interrupted again. Her face turned ghastly pale from what seemed like spiritual energy bacsh.


    Wei Tianchong was startled, but then he understood. He had struck her Crouching Rabbit point.


    Ping Jingyue cultivated the Crouching Rabbit Thousand Meter Mantra, and the Spirit Eye was located at the Crouching Rabbit point. This was the nexus of spiritual energy cirction, and the Crouching Rabbit belonged to the Bright Yang Foot Meridian and was located on the inner thigh. Thus, when the Spirit Eye circted energy, spiritual energy would first flow through the legs, advantaging Wind-type spells and kicks.


    The Spirit Eye was a crucial node for any cultivator, and it would remain a weakness until one cultivated their way to Celestial Heart.


    It was just that cultivators normally kept the mantra that they cultivated a secret, and their opponents were usually outsiders, with neither side knowing who cultivated what, allowing their weaknesses to remain hidden. Moreover, cultivators would also pay attention to their own safety, and the Spirit Eye was itself extremely small, and there were few who specifically targeted it¡­ Those capable of such a feat were better served just cutting off the head.


    But this situation was different. Ping Jingyue and Wei Tianchong were not mortal enemies, and they didn¡¯t need to kill each other. Attacking the Spirit Eye was much more effective than attacking other lethal points.


    Wei Tianchong delightedly realized this and began to heedlessly attack Ping Jingyue¡¯s Crouching Rabbit point. In his haste, he couldn¡¯t pin down exactly where it was, so he decided to reach down with his hand.


    The Crouching Rabbit point was on the inner thigh, and Ping Jingyue realized to her horror that Wei Tianchong¡¯srge hand was fumbling around between her legs¡ªa fact that left her both enraged and humiliated.


    She wanted to fight back, but to her surprise, Wei Tianchong really did manage to find the Crouching Rabbit point. With a press of that fat hand, spiritual energy surged out, rushing into Ping Jingyue¡¯s body and upsetting her cirction.


    The turmoil was such that Ping Jingyue couldn¡¯t cast a single spell and her entire body felt weak. She was renderedpletely powerless while the half-naked Wei Tianchong continued to straddle her body, his hand tightly holding her inner thigh.


    It was a sight that could make one vomit in disgust.


    Wei Tianchong still didn¡¯t realize what was going on and continued to struggle atop Ping Jingyue¡¯s body. Afraid that she might break free and deal with him at any moment, he put his everything into it, his body even asionally arching, like he really was working a woman¡¯s body.


    After a few moments, he suddenly realized that there was no reaction.


    In shock, Wei Tianchong looked down at Ping Jingyue and saw that she was crying.


    Crying!


    She was crying?


    Wei Tianchong was dumbfounded.


    Despite his enormously slow reaction speed, he had finally realized how inappropriate this scene was.


    After some thought, he tried to draw back his hand. ¡°Uh¡­ sorry¡­ I didn¡¯t do it on purpose. I¡­ I¡¯m going to take away my hand now, but you have to promise to not hit me.¡±


    Ping Jingyue stared at him, not saying a word.


    Wei Tianchong cautiously stood up and slowly withdrew the hand that had groped around between Ping Jingyue¡¯s thighs for so long. Ping Jingyue moved a little, and Wei Tianchong instinctively grabbed again in fear, pressing his hand down on her inner thigh.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Ping Jingyue furiously stared at him.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t on purpose!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted. ¡°You have to promise not to hit me!¡±


    ¡°Let¡­ go!¡± Ping Jingyue shouted between clenched teeth. ¡°Do you think you can hold it for the rest of your life?¡±


    Wei Tianchong thought about it and realized that this was true, so he helplessly took back his hand.


    He had by now epted his fate, thinking to himself, <em>Hit me if you want. I have the Fearless spell if I need it.</em> Thus, he squatted down while covering his head, muttering, ¡°Just don¡¯t hit me in the face.¡±


    But despite waiting for a while, he got no reaction.


    Raising his head, he saw that Ping Jingyue had stood up and was frostily ring at him.


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s heart trembled as Ping Jingyue coldly said, ¡°Mention what happened today to no one.¡±


    Wei Tianchong dumbly nodded, and then there was a sh as Ping Jingyue flew into the sky and left.


    ¡°Are you really not hitting me?¡± Wei Tianchong muttered, baffled.


    He suddenly realized something. Raising his hands, he recalled the sensation of grabbing Ping Jingyue¡¯s inner thigh and instantly became intoxicated.


    ¡°It really felt nice.¡± Wei Tianchong became lost in his fantasies, dumbly standing there and giggling to himself.


    Ping Jingyue burned with rage as she rushed back in the direction she hade.


    She had thought more than once about going back and killing that damned bastard.


    But when she thought about the duty she had been burdened with and the consequences her sudden impulse might trigger, Ping Jingyue managed to restrain herself.


    She could only run as fast as possible to flee that ce of her humiliation. She had nowhere to vent her rage, so she could only express it by running as hard as she could.


    Until three people appeared in front of her.


    It was Yang Zhiyuan, Li Yijing, and Liang Shengxian.


    Yang Zhiyuan and Li Yijing had originally nned to chase Wei Tianchong, but because of Tang Jie¡¯s interference, Ping Jingyue had been able to leave first. She was already faster than them, and now that she had left early, they had decided that since they couldn¡¯t catch up to Ping Jingyue, they should go after Shi Meng.


    Seeing that the three of them wereing back, Ping Jingyue stopped and shouted, ¡°What about Shi Meng?¡±


    The three of them were scared by her intimidating appearance. They exchanged nces before Yang Zhiyuan replied, ¡°We caught him just now and searched him, but we didn¡¯t find the head. What about you?¡±


    Ping Jingyue red. ¡°Bullshit! You need to ask? There was nothing!¡±


    ¡°So it has to be on Tang Jie then.¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie didn¡¯t have it,¡± Liu Hongyan said as her group of three ran over, reuniting the seven of them.


    ¡°How could that be?¡± Li Yijing asked in shock. ¡°It wasn¡¯t on any three of them? Then where¡¯s the head?¡±


    ¡°They must have hidden it somewhere, probably close by,¡± Shu Mingyang said.


    ¡°That will make things difficult.¡± Liu Hongyan frowned. If Tang Jie¡¯s group had really hidden the head, then it could have been hidden anywhere within the surrounding one thousand meters. Searching this area would not be easy.


    And in that time, Tang Jie¡¯s group could pick up the head and flee.


    Privately, Liu Hongyan wondered if one of the other four had found the head and imed that they hadn¡¯t found it.


    But Yang Zhiyuan¡¯s group had moved as three, so it would be hard for them to hide anything from each other. Ping Jingyue, however, hade back alone, and had a rather strange look on her face. Could it be¡­


    As she thought this, she looked at Ping Jingyue.


    Seemingly thinking the same thing, the others all turned to look at Ping Jingyue.


    Ping Jingyue¡¯s mind was still lingering on that incident. When she realized that everyone was weirdly staring at her, she asked in surprise, ¡°What are you all looking at me for?¡±


    She instantly realized, and she sharply said, ¡°You think I¡¯m hiding Lin Lang¡¯s head? Are you crazy?¡±


    Liu Hongyan hurriedly said, ¡°Little Sis Jingyue, don¡¯t misunderstand. I just want to ask: when you caught up to Wei Tianchong, did you search him thoroughly? After all, he¡¯s a man, so it¡¯s not very proper for a woman to search him, and there are inevitably some ces that can¡¯t be searched¡­¡±


    She had been trying to give Ping Jingyue a way out, but her words ended up agitating Ping Jingyue, who instantly paled and backed away. ¡°I said before that that stubborn fatty didn¡¯t have the head. If you don¡¯t believe me, go and find him yourself. Don¡¯t go asking me. If I wanted to fool you, I would have just left. With my speed, do you really think any of you could have caught me?¡±


    Snorting, she turned and left.


    Li Yijing muttered, ¡°That¡¯s what you say, but marathons aren¡¯t just about speed, but endurance too.¡±


    Ping Jingyue grimaced. ¡°Li Yijing, what are you trying to say?¡±


    Li Yijing replied, ¡°Your reaction is strange. You must be hiding something!¡±


    Ping Jingyue shuddered and then shouted, ¡°Bullshit!¡±


    When she saw that no one was speaking up for her, her heart went cold. ¡°You don¡¯t believe me?¡±


    Liang Shengxian grunted, ¡°If you want us to believe you, it¡¯s simple. Don¡¯t you have a Mustard Seed Bag? Let us take a look at it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t!¡± Ping Jingyue shrieked.


    ¡°No, you do!¡± Li Yijing sneered. ¡°Ping Jingyue, don¡¯t think that you¡¯re so good that you¡¯re able to keep it from everybody. You normally don¡¯t use a weapon, making everyone think that you¡¯re poor and don¡¯t have the extra resources to buy spell weapons, but what you don¡¯t know is that I¡¯m on good terms with a student who works at Heaven One Pavilion. I found out half a year ago that one of the spell arts you picked out was a weapon art, the Heart Questioning Sword! If you didn¡¯t have a weapon, why would you take the Heart Questioning Sword? And if you have a weapon, why don¡¯t you use it? And where are you hiding it?¡±


    This string of questions had Ping Jingyue shaking. ¡°You were spying on me?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not something you need to worry about. First, take out your Mustard Seed Bag so we can take a look,¡± Li Yijing smugly said.


    Ping Jingyue furiously shot back, ¡°In your dreams!¡±


    Her Mustard Seed Bag held many secrets, and there was no way she could show it to the others.


    Fortunately, Yang Zhiyuan stepped forward and said, ¡°Jeez, we¡¯re all on the same side, so why are we arguing? We don¡¯t even have the head yet, but we¡¯re already starting to fracture. That¡¯s simply no good. Moreover, when we agreed to work together, didn¡¯t we say that while we would fight against each other, we wouldn¡¯t try to hurt each other¡¯s feelings? There¡¯s no need for us to get upset over something like this; am I right?¡±


    He turned to look at Ping Jingyue.


    Ping Jingyue sighed in relief and nodded. ¡°Whether you believe me or not¡­¡±


    Before she could finish, Yang Zhiyuan suddenly shot up to her and thrust his palm into her back.

 Chapter 174: Betrayal (2)

    Chapter 174: Betrayal (2)


    The aghast Ping Jingyue was unable to dodge Yang Zhiyuan¡¯s vicious palm, and immediately vomited blood. At the same time, Li Yijing and Liang Shengxian attacked her from the left and right, grabbing her arms so that she could not cast a spell. Yang Zhiyuan then waved a hand at her chest, and invisible spiritual power pulled a small Mustard Seed Bag from out of Ping Jingyue¡¯s clothes.


    This abrupt development left Liu Hongyan¡¯s group dumbfounded.


    ¡°Yang Zhiyuan, you¡­¡± Ping Jingyue was so furious that her eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.


    ¡°My apologies,¡± Yang Zhiyuan coldly said. ¡°The Great Dao does not permit a merciful hand.¡±


    Cai Junyang frowned. ¡°What are you three doing? Yang Zhiyuan, you were even saying such nice things about making sure to not hurt each other¡¯s feelings when fighting against each other.¡±


    Yang Zhiyuanughed. ¡°My ass! Cai Junyang, you idiot, you really think we won¡¯t hurt each other¡¯s feelings when we start fighting each other? There¡¯s only going to be one True Inheritor, and we¡¯re all going to be backstabbing each other in the bid to get it. How can you say that we won¡¯t hurt each other¡¯s feelings? Are you joking? Only naive fools like you and Ping Jingyue would believe such things.¡±


    Cai Junyang was dumbfounded by these words. Meanwhile, Yang Zhiyuan suddenly changed his tone and said, ¡°Of course, back to the main topic, we agreed on what methods should be used. So long as we don¡¯t hurt each other¡¯s feelings, there¡¯s no need for all of you to get angry. Look here. I haven¡¯t gotten angry yet, so if Little Sis Jingyue is willing, I¡¯m still willing to be her friend after she hands over the head.¡±


    ¡°Yang Zhiyuan, you¡¯re dreaming!¡± Ping Jingyue roared.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m saying that the one hurting feelings isn¡¯t me, it¡¯s you guys. Not hurting each other¡¯s feelings¡­ hmph, naive!¡± Yang Zhiyuan chortled as he withdrew with the Mustard Seed Bag.


    Cai Junyang now grew visibly angry. ¡°Good, good! Yang Zhiyuan, you¡¯ve got guts! Even if the head was in that bag, do you really think your group would be able to take it with you?¡±


    ¡°They can¡¯t take it away, but what about us?¡± Another voice rang out from the distance.


    Two tall and thin students who looked extremely alike emerged from the darkness, leading a group of students. These were clearly twins, but one was slightly taller and the other was slightly fatter.


    Liu Hongyan¡¯s sharp eyes instantly recognized these neers, and her body trembled. ¡°Chen Naixing, Chen Naian! It¡¯s you two bastards!¡±


    Chen Naixing and Chen Naian were fourth-year students, and they were rather famous figures in the school.


    But rather than calling the brothers ¡°famous¡±, it was better to say that they were infamous. It was said that the brothers were willing to resort to all sorts of evil deeds, including arson, murder, and robbery. But they were also very cautious and never did such things in the academy, only abusing people when they were outside.


    Though Basking Moon Academy had strict rules, even the strictest rules had loopholes.


    After a thousand years, a major sect¡¯s empty doctrines and stiff hierarchies had long ago be nothing more than a grandiose sham. Beneath the grandeur, the dark waters that flowed in the shadows had be disgustingly turbulent, with some of these aspects even floating up to the surface, such as in the Heavenly Extinction Sect.


    Liu Hongyan and the other students hadn¡¯t experienced as much. One reason was that they had only recently entered the academy, and hadn¡¯t had many opportunities to interact with the ugly side of the world. The second reason was that the academy was and of indoctrination, and so it was part of its nature to stubbornly conserve thatst trickle of purity and prevent that filth and pollution from overflowing.


    But when they came to the outside world, there was no longer a need to hide these vulgar acts, and the filthy truth would gradually be evident.


    Today, they had witnessed the simplest and mostmon sort.


    Liu Hongyan and the others didn¡¯t need an exnation to understand what had happened.


    The Chen brothers had bought out Yang Zhiyuan¡¯s group.


    Yang Zhiyuan, Li Yijing, and Liang Shengxian fell back while still holding Ping Jingyue. Moreover, the Chen brothers had a group of five, so with the addition of Yang¡¯s group, it was now eight versus three.


    Cai Junyang furiously said, ¡°Yang Zhiyuan, you think you can get the True Inheritor position by relying on the Chen brothers?¡±


    ¡°True Inheritor?¡± Yang Zhiyuan guffawed. ¡°I¡¯ve never even thought about bing some True Inheritor. I¡¯ve got a clear head on my shoulders! There can be only one True Inheritor, but there are too many people after it. I have neither talent nor resources, so how am I going to get that True Inheritor position? So I took a step back and instead sought to serve someone who has a chance of bing a True Inheritor. And I¡¯ve chosen the Chen brothers! They¡¯ve already promised me that if I can bring them the head, the three of us will each get three thousand coins! Rather than taking a gamble on the True Inheritor position, I¡¯d rather have a solid three thousand spirit coins!¡±


    ¡°From them? These two wicked evildoers?¡± Liu Hongyan angrily pointed at the Chen brothers. ¡°I fear that you¡¯ll be silenced before you can get your hands on a single coin!¡±


    The slightly taller older brother, Chen Naixing,ughed. ¡°While we brothers aren¡¯t good people, we know the ways of this world and understand the value of reputation. We¡¯ve robbed and killed a lot of people, but go back on a promise? Never.¡±


    The fatter younger brother, Chen Naian, took out a bag and threw it at Yang Zhiyuan.


    Yang Zhiyuan grabbed the bag and looked at the contents, upon which he beamed in delight. ¡°Senior Brothers, thank you.¡±


    ¡°You can now bring over the Mustard Seed Bag,¡± Chen Naian said.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Yang Zhiyuan hesitated. ¡°Senior Brothers, this Mustard Seed Bag itself is worth a lot of money, and if there¡¯s something more inside¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut your mouth!¡± Chen Naixing¡¯s face darkened. ¡°Those are Ping Jingyue¡¯s! How do you think you¡¯re going to get those things unless you kill her? And without our help, would you dare to kill her? You were hired only for your information. The spoils of war have nothing to do with you!¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± The three members of Yang Zhiyuan¡¯s group exchanged nces of dissatisfaction.


    They had never imagined that they would capture Ping Jingyue, so they had only discussed the price for selling out the group¡¯s location and not the distribution of the spoils. It now appeared that the Chen brothers intended to give them nothing.


    They were angry, but there was nothing they could do.


    The Chen brothers truly weren¡¯t people who casually broke promises, but it was impossible to get any more out of them than what they had promised.


    The three of them had no choice but to hand the Mustard Seed Bag over to the Chen brothers.


    The sight had Ping Jingyue seething with rage.


    Taking the bag, Chen Naixing nced at Ping Jingyue and chuckled. ¡°Despicable girl, you thought you were something else just because you set up some Freedom Society? A little underssman dares topete with her seniors for a True Inheritance? Reckless things! To tell you the truth, I don¡¯t care if there¡¯s no head in here. Even if I don¡¯t get anything, I can just go and find Tang Jie. But now that you¡¯re in my hands, you can just sit there and wait for me to enjoy you!¡±


    His words were dripping with murderous intent.


    Liu Hongyan was stunned by what she was hearing. ¡°Chen Naixing, you wouldn¡¯t dare! We¡¯re all Basking Moon students, and the academy won¡¯t overlook murder against another student!¡±


    ¡°Bullshit!¡± Chen Naixing shouted. ¡°Silly girl, do you really think the academy knows everything? Or have your delusions gone to your head? You think that the rules of Basking Moon Academy have any power on the outside?¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Liu Hongyan was shaken.


    But Chen Naixing was right!


    The rules of Basking Moon Academy had no power outside of it!


    While Basking Moon Academy constantly emphasized that the students couldn¡¯t kill each other, these rules were only effective within the academy. The disciples¡¯ rules only had binding power inside the academy, but outside of it, the effects were purely psychological.


    The only things that could truly stop the students from killing each other were their camaraderie, the academy¡¯s warnings, and thews of the Sageheart Kingdom.


    But for the truly wicked and pernicious, camaraderie was meaningless and warnings were useless.


    As for Sageheart¡¯sws, they still carried some threat, but which official would dare to strike at a disciple of an Immortal sect?


    The only exception was if they did something truly terrible. Otherwise, Immortal disciples were left to settle their own disputes.


    Thus, and that abided by thew was often a paradise for thewless.


    Of course, they needed to understand what they could do and couldn¡¯t do.


    Evildoers like the Chen brothers were able to wander free and uninhibited for so long precisely because they understood the principles at y here. Let alone them, even the Heavenly Extinction Sect knew when it should show its head and when it should go into hiding.


    If the Basking Moon Sect didn¡¯t like it when they did something, they would never take the risk.


    As for this True Inheritor struggle, so long as too many people didn¡¯t die and there wasn¡¯t too much of a mess, the academy wouldn¡¯t care very much.


    Even if it did care, it might not levy too hard of a punishment.


    To be frank, Liu Hongyan and the others believed in the rule that Basking Moon students couldn¡¯t kill each other because they had spent far too long in a nice and beautiful world and were not used to the cruelty of reality. For them, school rules had be ironws, but they had forgotten that even ironws could be broken.


    It was like how only a student who had just entered society could understand that the people of the world were not their parents, and that there was no one here who would spoil them. This was an understanding that couldn¡¯t be understood through careful thought, but by experiencing it through one¡¯s bones.


    In terms of actions, it was the difference between being reckless and giddy versus steady and cautious.


    When Cai Junyang and the others understood, their hearts turned cold.


    Chen Naian added, ¡°None of these guys is allowed to escape, particrly Liu Hongyan. You must capture her! We brothers need to get a good taste of the Misty Moon that joins Stem and Flower¡­¡±


    The students around him chuckled.


    They were all fourth-year students, so no matter how weak they were, they were still enough to deal with Liu, Cai, and Shu, and this wasn¡¯t even considering that they had numbers on their side.


    Cai Junyang was just about to curse them out when Ping Jingyue coldlyughed, ¡°¡®Enjoy me¡¯¡­ I¡¯m afraid that you might not be good enough for that.¡±


    Chen Naixing was startled, and on the other end, Chen Naian began to look through the Mustard Seed Bag. He sighed, ¡°No head¡­ Hold on. What¡¯s this?¡±


    He took out a silk belt from the Mustard Seed Bag.


    As he drew the silk belt from the Mustard Seed Bag, it soon became evident that it was dyed in seven colors, its brilliant colors dazzling in the darkness.


    The Chen brothers stared at it in a daze. Chen Naian remarked in a strange tone, ¡°Why does this look so familiar?¡±


    With a whistle, another item flew out of the Mustard Seed Bag on its own. It was a thin sword.


    The sword flew through the air, as did the seven-colored rainbow silk in Chen Naian¡¯s hand. It wrapped around the small sword, creating a rainbow sword with a tassel that danced in the wind, illuminating the night sky.


    ¡°The Yearning Willow Leaf Sword!¡± Chen Naixing yelped.


    ¡°The Seven Emotion Soul Chain!¡± Chen Naian shouted, his voice quavering.


    Cai Junyang and the others were also startled when they heard these words.


    Liu Hongyan looked at Ping Jingyue and blurted out, ¡°The Seven Emotions Killer? So you were part of the Thou¨C¡±


    Before she could finish, Ping Jingyue let out a long whistle.


    As the whistle resounded, the winds exploded!


    The slender sword flying through the sky suddenly thrust down at Li Yijing and Liang Shengxian, who were still holding Ping Jingyue.


    The two of them wanted to resist, but the dazzling rainbow tassel suddenly unleashed an explosion of light that obscured the sword¡¯s location.


    They felt a sharp pain at their arms, and then two arms went flying through the air.


    Blood gushed into the air as Ping Jingyue flew into the sky on a tornado, rainbow sword in hand and hair unbound. She cried out, ¡°You were the ones who forced my hand¡­ Seven Emotions Absolution Sword, kill!¡±

 Chapter 175: The Seven Emotions Killer

    Chapter 175: The Seven Emotions Killer


    The seven colors of the rainbow illuminated the night sky, revealing the shocked expressions on everyone¡¯s faces.


    The slender sword in Ping Jingyue¡¯s hand suddenly began to expand, and the tassel swept back around and fused with the de. The sword became a giant rainbow sword that spanned the heavens.


    Ping Jingyue stood proudly atop the sword, exuding such majesty and light that no one dared to meet her eyes.


    The Seven Emotions Absolution Sword!


    ¡°The Thousand Passions Sect¡­ You¡¯re a part of the Thousand Passions Sect?¡± Chen Naixing blurted out as he stared in disbelief at the dancing sword light in the sky.


    It wasn¡¯t strange for the Thousand Passions Sect to have students in the Basking Moon Sect.


    An Rumeng was one, after all.


    But the problem was that the Thousand Passions Sect had a spy in the Basking Moon Sect!


    This was a very serious problem.


    The Basking Moon Sect and the Thousand Passions Sect had an excellent rtionship and were extremely friendly to each other.


    It wasn¡¯t strange for enemy countries to infiltrate each other, and even if this caused a mess, it could easily be exined away. In any case, nobody had any expectation of their enemy being merciful. But for friends to spy on each other was something else entirely. This sort of thing would undoubtedly deal severe damage to the rtionship between the sects, and it would present a major strategic issue that could easily result in the destruction of the country!


    It was no wonder Ping Jingyue was so unwilling to hand over her Mustard Seed Bag. She knew the consequences of being exposed.


    But the betrayal of Yang Zhiyuan¡¯s group of three had caused all her efforts to go to waste. As she floated in the air, her sword energy rocketed into the heavens, and her eyes radiated killing intent. ¡°All of you¡­ must die!¡±


    Her tone was as cold as the winds of winter, blowing across the heads of Chen Naixing and Chen Naian.


    ¡°Jingyue!¡¯ Liu Hongyan shouted in shock.


    Ping Jingyue ignored her, pointing a slender finger at Yang Zhiyuan. ¡°Seven Emotions Killer, Heart Questioning Sword, Joyful Parting!¡±


    As she shouted, sword light emerged beneath her feet, and red light swept toward Yang Zhiyuan.


    Aghast, Yang Zhiyuan tried to flee, but he somehow couldn¡¯t muster even a shred of resistance in his heart. In the face of this fearful red tide, he actually felt some delight.


    He knew that this was because of the spell art of the Thousand Passions Sect.


    The fighting style of the Thousand Passions Sect had never been about killing someone. First, they tempted the heart, confused the mind, and upset the soul.


    Partings were sorrowful.


    But for the Thousand Passions Sect, sorrowful partings became joyful partings.


    In the face of this parting sh, Yang Zhiyuan felt no resistance, and he could only watch as he was engulfed by the red flood.


    A momentter, a head flew into the air, brilliant colors in the eyes. It was as if he had witnessed the most beautiful sight in the world before dying.


    Before the head couldnd, Ping Jingyue swept it up in her sleeve and threw it at the Chen brothers. ¡°The head you wanted!¡±


    She hated this group of people down to the bone, so she decided to deal with them first. With a wave of her sleeve, an orange light leapt out, apanied by Ping Jingyue¡¯s callous voice shouting, ¡°Galestorm spell, Immortal¡¯s Wrath!¡±


    When the Son of Heaven was moved to anger, millions would die and blood would flow in rivers.


    What, then, was the wrath of an Immortal like?


    As the orange light descended, countless sword beams rained down on the group, apanied by the rumbling of thunder. Vast surges of spiritual energy rocked the heavens and earth.


    Ping Jingyue appeared like a Mortal Shedding Master, unleashing the strongest of spells and transforming her surroundings. The area for several kilometers around became engulfed in clouds, with rainbow light lighting up the sky and orange mes seething in the clouds.


    ¡°Run!¡± Chen Naixing cried out in panic.


    Chen Naixing had given up all hope of fighting back against Ping Jingyue¡¯s terrifying Seven Emotions Killer and the imposing power of the Seven Emotions Absolution Sword. All he could think about was escaping.


    But it was impossible for him to escape.


    The furious wave of orange light engulfed the disarmed Li Yijing and Liang Shengxian first. The two of them had only managed to run a few steps before the orange light caught up to them, and then their bodies dissolved like melting snow, leaving nothing behind.


    The orange light continued forward, quickly catching up to the Chen brothers¡¯ group and sweeping up thest person.


    The rest of them stared in rm at the approaching orange cloud. One of them shouted, ¡°Senior Brother, save me!¡±


    The Chen brothers exchanged a nce and suddenly aimed their palms behind them, each at a different student. ¡°Gustfire Shot!¡±


    <em>Boom! Boom!</em> One of the students exploded with wind while the other exploded with mes, the mixture of the two producing a massive secondary explosion. The Chen brothers borrowed the power of the explosion to speed their escape while the orange cloud faltered and began to dissipate.


    Ping Jingyue was still a student, so her power was limited and she could not use the true power of the Seven Emotions Killer. And the Chen brothers had also reacted swiftly to the situation, escaping certain death by using the lives of two students. But their actions had also caused them to lose four people.


    Seeing that the attack had been stopped, the Chen brothers looked at each other again and shouted, ¡°Sun-Moon Flight!¡±


    Their bodies shed with the radiance of the sun and moon¡ªa sign that their escape spell was about to activate.


    Sun-Moon Flight was a practical and decent escape art avable to the students of Basking Moon Academy. With basic mastery of this spell, one could instantly flee several dozen kilometers. But it needed two people to use, and they needed to be very synchronized with each other.


    The Chen brothers were twins, so their understanding of each other was far greater than average, and this Sun-Moon Flight was one of their ultimate techniques. It was only with this escape spell that they were able tomit so much evil without fear of being captured.


    Now that Ping Jingyue had disyed her might, the two of them were in no mood to battle and took to their heels!


    Ping Jingyue raised her eyebrows. ¡°You want to run? Stay right there! Mad Dance! Laughter of No Return!¡±


    The Seven Emotions Killer: Joyful Parting, Immortal¡¯s Wrath, Grieving Fields, Laughter of No Return, Love of a Thousand Passions, Unpardonable Evil, and Heart¡¯s Desire.


    Joy, wrath, grief,ughter, love, evil, and desire were known as the Seven Emotions, and each had their specialty.


    To be more precise, this was not a singr spell art. Rather, these were special effects that could be applied to a spell art, granting them different effects. This was why Ping Jingyue would use one of her own spell arts before using the Seven Emotions Killer,bining the two for a stupendous power.


    The Six Desires Mantra and the Seven Emotions Killer were the foundational arts of the Thousand Passions Sect,parable to the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s Violet Jade Mantra and Divine Firmament Sword ssic.


    But while the Divine Firmament Sword ssic was the result of the effort of countless Titans of the Basking Moon Sect over its long history, the Seven Emotions Killer and Six Desires Mantra were left behind by the founder of the Thousand Passions Sect.


    It was said that even the founder had only managed to reach the level of Love of a Thousand Passions, never able to truly break through the delusion of emotions and dying with regret. This was why the Thousand Passions Sect had taken its name, swearing to break through this threshold.


    While Ping Jingyue had the Seven Emotions Killer, she only understood it on the surface level, so her Seven Emotions Absolution Sword was far weaker than if it had been used by a true master of the Thousand Passions Sect.


    Even so, the Seven Emotions Absolution Sword enhanced by the Seven Emotions Killer was still enough for Ping Jingyue to beat everyone silly. A simple Galestorm spell was able to be a lethalrge-scale spell.


    Laughter of No Return was the part of the Seven Emotions Killer that specialized in undoing escape spells. It could both pursue enemies and hinder them!


    If she were fighting a Mortal Shedding Realm Master, her Laughter of No Return would be useless, but it was more than enough for the Chen brothers.


    A green light shed, and then the green waves rippled out, an endless paradise of amusement reflecting within them.


    When the Chen brothers brought their palms together, nothing happened. There was only the dancing of the spiritual torrent that seemed to mock them for not knowing their own strength.


    Their Sun-Moon Flight spell had dissipated all on its own.


    The two of them instantly began to run in panic.


    Ping Jingyue coldly stared at the remaining four. ¡°You think you can run? Hurricane Sweep, Unpardonable Evil!¡±


    As she spoke again, her Hurricane Sweep activated, and that rainbow sword shed with blue light and flew down.


    Hurricane Sweep was a flight spell that could also be used to neutralize attacks, but Ping Jingyue was using it now as a flying sword spell, sending her sword slicing down.


    The two brothers saw that this wasn¡¯t good and began to form spells as they ran. They cast the spells at the same time, and then their bodies blinked away. Through some method, they had somehow switched positions with the other two Basking Moons students.


    The giant sword gracefully flew down and made a circle, upon which two fountains of blood gushed into the sky, Ping Jingyue taking down two with one sh. Just as she was about to continue her pursuit, the two brothers suddenly made weird faces. They formed hand signs and then raised their palms up to the sky. ¡°Rise!¡±


    <em>Boom! Boom!</em>


    The two headless corpses exploded simultaneously, causing Ping Jingyue to stagger, vomit blood, and fall from the sword. It was clear that this sneak attack had badly wounded her.


    The two brothers heartilyughed. ¡°Despicable woman, you thought that you were something else just because of your Seven Emotions Absolution Sword? I have to thank you for killing off all those burdens and saving us some money. Don¡¯t worry. Once we kill you, we¡¯ll take away your Seven Emotions Absolution Sword and make sure that nobody hears about any of this. The Basking Moon Sect will remain good friends with the Thousand Passions Sect for the rest of time!¡±


    The two brothers attacked in unison, one with a saber and one with a sword.


    At this moment, someone roared, ¡°Pilewave Sword!¡±


    Sword light shed! <em>Bang! Bang!</em> The attacks of the brothers were blocked.


    The Chen brothers realized with a start that Cai Junyang was now standing in front of Ping Jingyue.


    The Chen brothers were furious. ¡°Have you gone crazy? She¡¯s a Thousand Passions Sect spy! With her identity exposed, she has to silence all of us. If we don¡¯t kill her now, you think you can escape her Seven Emotions Absolution Sword?¡±


    Cai Junyang grunted, ¡°That¡¯s for me to worry about. Anyway, I won¡¯t let you do this to her.¡±


    Chen Naixing¡¯s face shed with murderous intent. ¡°You¡¯re seeking death!¡±


    Although Ping Jingyue had killed until only the brothers were left, they were still fourth-year students, two people who had cultivated more than two years more than Cai Junyang, and they were also brothers. Even as two versus three, they still had a very high chance of victory.


    But this was likely to end with both sides badly injured, and if Ping Jingyue managed to exploit this to her own ends, then it wouldn¡¯t be worthwhile.


    Chen Naian swiftly said, ¡°Cai Junyang, don¡¯t be a fool! This woman won¡¯t let any of us go! Let¡¯s work together and kill her, and then we can deal with the matter of the head. What about it?¡±


    Cai Junyang pursed his lips. ¡°Working with human trash? I have no interest in that. I haven¡¯t forgotten how those idiots from just now died.¡±


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Chen Naixing wanted to vomit blood. ¡°If you stop us now, you¡¯ll know remorse once you die under Ping Jingyue¡¯s hand!¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Liu Hongyan suddenly spoke up. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s so certain. There are actually a lot of things that aren¡¯t necessarily secrets. And she might not be the only one with secrets. And some secrets aren¡¯t as valuable as you think they are.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± The Chen brothers were taken aback.


    Liu Hongyan began to hover in the air, lightning crackling around her body.


    With thunderclouds holding her aloft, she reached into her bosom and took something out.


    It was a small token upon which was written the word ¡°ÂÉ¡± (Law)!


    Beneath the ¡°ÂÉ¡± was a hooked silver moon, the tips as sharp as des and stained in blood.


    ¡°The Basking Moon Law Emblem!¡± the Chen brothers shrieked in unison.

 Chapter 176: The Basking Moon Law Emblem

    Chapter 176: The Basking Moon Law Emblem


    Liu Hongyan¡¯s eyes crackled with electricity as she spoke. ¡°Basking Moon students Chen Naixing and Chen Naian, you are guilty of robbing your schoolmates, killing innocents, selling out yourrades-in-arms, and framing your ssmates. There is no atoning for these crimes, and thew decrees that you be executed. Law Hall outer disciple Liu Hongyan will act as executor of thew and apply the punishment. Three Treasures of the Law Hall,e forth!¡±


    As she spoke, the Law Emblem erupted with light, and three phantoms appeared in the air: a saber, a sword, and a hook.


    The Demon-Punishing Saber!


    The Evil-Executing Sword!


    The Soul-ying Hook!


    ¡°They are wicked beyond redemption, and the punishment is to have their souls in so that they can never enter the cycle of reincarnation and cease to exist forevermore! The punishment of Soul Execution!¡± As Liu Hongyan loudly spoke, she pointed at the half-moon hook in the sky. The hook became solid and began to descend toward the Chen brothers.


    The Soul-ying Hook was the most severe tool of punishment of the Law Hall¡¯s Three Treasures.


    The saber wounded, the sword killed, and the hook exterminated the soul.


    Those killed by the Soul-ying Hook would never be able to enter the cycle of reincarnation and be reborn.


    Of course, given the strength of the brothers, even if they hadn¡¯t been killed by the Soul-ying Hook, they probably weren¡¯t worthy of reincarnation. But this did not mean that the prospect wasn¡¯t horrifying.


    They had not expected that, after Ping Jingyue, another sect member would appear in that group of four.


    Of course, unlike Ping Jingyue, Liu Hongyan was a true member of the Basking Moon Sect, so even if she was exposed, she could continue to walk around without fear.


    At this time, the brothers realized that they had kicked a steel te and had run out of luck.


    When it came to Ping Jingyue, they could still silence witnesses, but such a thing was useless when it came to the Law Hall. Anything they did was pointless, for Liu Hongyan¡¯s words had already been recorded in the Law Emblem and sent back to the Law Hall.


    It was precisely because she had obtained the Law Hall¡¯s permission that she could use one of the Three Treasure Phantoms.


    All Three Treasures were weapons graded as divine treasures, and merely the power transmitted through their phantoms was enough to kill any Mortal Shedding Realm expert.


    The two brothers cried out and began to flee into the distance.


    ¡°Where are you running!?¡± Liu Hongyan shouted as she pointed at the pair. The Soul-ying Hook¡¯s tip let out a dazzling light that shot at the pair.


    At this moment, the Chen brothers exchanged a nce, upon which Chen Naian shouted, ¡°Big Brother, survive for me! Sun-Moon Flight!¡±


    He thrust out his palms at the back of his older brother as he prepared to use the Sun-Moon Flight. Without Ping Jingyue¡¯s Laughter of No Return restraining them, the pair could once more use this escape spell.


    But the Sun-Moon Flight needed time to activate, and with the Soul-ying Hook chasing them down, they didn¡¯t have that time. The only option was to sacrifice one of them to elerate the process and ensure that one of them lived.


    Chen Naixing was deeply grateful. ¡°Brother, I¡¯ll¡­ shit, you!¡±


    Chen Naian ced his hands on Chen Naixing¡¯s back, and his face turned cold. ¡°Let me live for you instead!¡±


    His body shed as he pushed Chen Naixing down, and then he was gone.


    ¡°Aaaah!¡± Chen Naixing furiously roared in unwillingness. The Soul-ying Hook circled around his head, after which Chen Naixing exploded. A wisp of smoke emerged from his carcass and vanished into the hook phantom.


    The Soul-ying Hook circled around for a little longer, but when it failed to find its target, it disappeared together with the saber and sword.


    Liu Hongyan slowly descended from the sky. She took out a Mustard Seed Bag and put the token in it.


    Just like Ping Jingyue, she had been hiding a Mustard Seed Bag on her person.


    After doing all this, she looked at Ping Jingyue.


    As their gazes met, Ping Jingyue spoke, herplexion wan. ¡°So you were already watching me.¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it the same for you?¡± Liu Hongyan countered.


    Ping Jingyue bitterly smiled. ¡°Yes, I also noticed a few things, but I didn¡¯t think¡­¡±


    She paused, and then she loudly said, ¡°I¡¯m a member of the Thousand Passions Sect, but I didn¡¯te to spy on the Basking Moon Sect.¡±


    Liu Hongyan nodded. ¡°I know. You came for Tang Jiye. The Xu Muyang incident rmed all six major sects, and too many people wanted to know what happened with Godhead Pce. The Thousand Passions Sect also wanted to know, but the matter had nothing to do with you, and as the Basking Moon Sect was allied with the Thousand Passions Sect, you couldn¡¯t resort to tough measures, so you had to investigate secretly. I was on orders from my master, True Person Yuliu, to enter the academy to observe you.¡±


    ¡°So you were True Person Yuliu¡¯s disciple?¡± Cai Junyang blurted out.


    True Person Yuliu was Deputy Hall Master of the Law Hall, her status on par with Xie Fengtang¡¯s. Though she was a woman, she was known for being impartial and incorruptible.


    Liu Hongyan replied, ¡°Yes. When I walked the Fiend Demon Path, Master True Person Yuliu took a liking to me and directly took me as a disciple. But ording to the rules, I still had to go through the motions and enter the academy, so my master decided to give me this mission as well.¡±


    There were many cultivators with children, but the vast majority of cultivators would still send their children to the sect academies to temper them rather than keeping their children at their side for the rest of their lives simply because they already possessed Immortal arts.


    One reason was that they didn¡¯t have the energy to teach them, and another was that they needed to build rtionships with other students.


    Unless one had a heaven-reaching cultivation that could allow one to gaze proudly upon the world, defeat all enemies, and ignore allws, one had to pay attention somewhat to human rtions and learn how to conduct oneself in society. Even Immortals were no exception.


    Thus, even the children of True Lords would be sent to school to study, like with Xu Miaoran.


    Although Liu Hongyan had had her value recognized and been epted as a disciple, she was only an outer disciple and not an official one, so it was very normal for her to enter the academy.


    True Person Yuliu had personally promised her that if she could find Tang Jiye in her school term, she would be made a True Inheritor.


    s, she had failed to aplish this mission, and in the meantime, Xie Fengtang had ryed to her another mission: watch Ping Jingyue. And this, she had done very well.


    In truth, even before Ping Jingyue had been exposed, Liu Hongyan had already guessed at her identity.


    This was also why she had exposed her own identity. This was the only way of ensuring that Ping Jingyue didn¡¯t go crazy.


    Ping Jingyue finally sighed in relief, and with a flick of her wrist, the Seven Emotions Absolution Sword split back into the Yearning Willow Leaf Sword and the Seven Emotion Soul Chain, which she ced in her bag. ¡°So in other words, this little business won¡¯t cause too much of a stir?¡±


    Liu Hongyan smiled. ¡°Master once said that ying dumb is a trait that everyone of some stature should possess.¡±


    The Basking Moon Sect and the Thousand Passions Sect had been friends for many years, and no one wanted this rtionship to be ruined over a small matter like this. So long as it wasn¡¯t too big of an incident, everyone was quite happy to pretend it had never happened.


    Of course, this was only if it didn¡¯t cause too much of a stir. Otherwise, there would always be those people whocked understanding of the overall situation and became indignant with rage, raising so much of a fuss that it became difficult to clean up.


    As the two of them looked at each other, they felt like a great burden had been lifted off their shoulders, and they started tough. Everything that had happened in the past had be unimportant and ephemeral.


    But deep down, whether it was Ping Jingyue, Cai Junyang, or Liu Hongyan, all of them still had a problem gnawing at their mind.


    Some things were like window paper, bound to be punctured at some point.


    Once it was punctured, there would be embarrassment, grudges, and even suspicion.


    For Ping Jingyue, having been exposed by today¡¯s incident was very difficult to ept.


    As for Cai Junyang, the fact that his good friends were all shrewd schemers made him feel the humiliation of being hoodwinked.


    As for Liu Hongyan, there was something she had lied about.


    At the beginning, she had not been so certain that Ping Jingyue belonged to the Thousand Passions Sect.


    She thought that Ping Jingyue was more likely to be part of Godhead Pce.


    But reality proved that she was wrong.


    Then did that mean that Godhead Pce didn¡¯t have any other spies? Or was there no spy among them? Or¡­ though she was unwilling to believe, could it be one of the other two? Or perhaps they were spies belonging to some other sect.


    There were too many answers!


    Too many possibilities!


    She swept her gaze over Cai and Shu. Cai Junyang was still baffled and was seemingly trying to work through everything that had just happened. As for Shu Mingyang, he was emotionless. Book in his hand, he looked up at the heavens in thought as if he had nothing to do with all that had taken ce around him.


    Liu Hongyan couldn¡¯t find the answer, and she momentarily hesitated.


    After a while, Cai Junyang suddenly shouted, ¡°Shit!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Everyone looked at him.


    ¡°Tang Jie! With this dy, those guys have definitely run off by now,¡± Cai Junyang sternly said.


    With Yang Zhiyuan¡¯s group of three dead and the identities of Ping Jingyue and Liu Hongyan exposed¡ªtheir identities ruling out the possibility of their receiving the True Inheritor position¡ªCai Junyang stood a much better chance, so he was the first one to bring up the head again.


    ¡°What does it matter if we find them? We¡¯ve already searched all three of them. None of them had the head,¡± Liu Hongyan replied. Although she had no interest in the True Inheritor position, Yang Zhiyuan and the others had been right. Trading the head to someone else was very valuable.


    ¡°It¡¯s weird. Where did they hide the head?¡± Ping Jingyue wondered. ¡°When I was chasing Wei Tianchong, he was running away so frantically that it seemed like he had no intention of turning back. If they had hid it somewhere in the area, then how can they get it if they don¡¯te back? But their group doesn¡¯t have any other people, so who could have taken the head?¡±


    ¡°Who said that they didn¡¯t have any other people¡­? It¡¯s just that we never paid attention to them,¡± Shu Mingyang suddenlymented.


    All three were taken aback, and then they shouted in unison, ¡°The Xu Estate!¡±


    In a sh, Chen Naian appeared on a wide avenue.


    Looking back, he saw that the site of the battle was several hundred meters behind him.


    As he was escaping alone, the effects of the Sun-Moon Flight had been greatly cut down, and it had only been able to carry him a few hundred meters.


    But this was already enough. So long as he could keep running, he would soon throw off his pursuers.


    He didn¡¯t know that Liu Hongyan and the others weren¡¯t giving chase. At this moment, all he could think about was getting away from those terrifying students as quickly as possible.


    Just when he was about to keep running, Chen Naian saw someone sitting on a nearby tree.


    This person wore a veiled bamboo hat and was seated atop a branch as they looked into the distance. They appeared to be observing the battlefield he had just left.


    <em>Someone who was drawn by the light of the Seven Emotions Absolution Sword and came to see what was going on?</em> Chen Naian wondered.


    He originally nned to ignore this person, but when he looked again, he saw that this person had a horse tied to the base of the tree.


    He immediately got greedy, thinking to himself that if he had a horse, he would be able to get away even faster. Thus, he ran over to the tree.


    That person saw that someone wasing over, so they hugged the tree and slid down,nding right next to the horse.


    ¡°Out of my way!¡± Chen Naian violently waved his hand, trying to p to death that person who barred his path to the horse.


    And then he inexplicably felt an immense pain.


    He stopped.


    He looked down and saw a saber with a barb thrust into his belly.


    The man in the veiled hat whispered, ¡°Your older brother is dead, so as his little brother, how can you live alone in good conscience?¡±


    Through the veil, Chen Naian saw a clean and handsome face.


    ¡°Tang¡­ Tang Jie¡­¡± he groaned. ¡°Don¡¯t kill me. I can tell you a secret¡­ Ping¡­ Ping Jingyue¡¯s and Liu Hongyan¡¯s secrets¡­¡±


    ¡°I already knew,¡± Tang Jie indifferently replied.


    He drew back the Heartbreak Saber, taking out Chen Naian¡¯s organs with it.


    This lethal blow had Chen Naian weakly grasping at air a few times before finally copsing.


    Sheathing his saber, Tang Jie turned around and saw Mo Xiang standing behind him.


    ¡°Is it done?¡± he asked, no surprise in his voice.


    ¡°Everything is as Young Master ordered.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s in return for saving my little master and letting the Xu n go,¡± Mo Xiang replied before leaving.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but smile as he watched her leave.


    If he had not elected to let the Xu n go, the Xu Estate¡¯s people would have never been willing to do this for him.


    What could feel better than being a good person and being rewarded in kind?


    The thought made Tang Jie feel pleasant and warm.


    He took onest nce at the distant battlefield before adjusting his hat, jumping onto his horse, and riding away.

 Chapter 177: Apricot Pavilion

    Chapter 177: Apricot Pavilion


    Three dayster.


    Yan Province, Pingyuan City.


    A horse casually trotted into the city.


    It went east along the road, and it was only when it reached the entrance of a certain inn that the rider raised his head, revealing Tang Jie¡¯s energetic face.


    ncing at the inn¡¯s name, he muttered, ¡°Three Rivers Inn¡­ This is the ce.¡±


    He dismounted and entered the inn, and was greeted by the sight of a bored Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng sitting in front of a table, waiting around for something.


    When Tang Jie came over, the two of them jumped to their feet.


    Wei Tianchong anxiously said, ¡°Why did you only get here now? We¡¯ve been waiting for two days.¡±


    ¡°I took a detour to get something,¡± Tang Jie replied as he sat down and poured himself some tea.


    He had gone out this time firstly to help Wei Tianchongplete the mission, and secondly to get the Mustard Seed Bag he had hidden, so that he could sell off the goods and get money to pay back his debt. Thus, after leaving Fengyin, he had headed for the Cloud Marsh, but this had made the two of them wait for two days.


    ¡°How is that matter going?¡± Wei Tianchong nervously asked.


    Tang Jie casually sipped his tea before saying, ¡°Everything has been taken care of. Xu Xi¡¯an is personally delivering the goods and is already on the road.¡±


    Liu Hongyan and the others would have never thought that Tang Jie had no intention of bringing the head back to the academy himself. Instead, he had entrusted it to a shippingpany.


    No matter how bold the students were, they would never dare to steal the goods of Basking Moon Academy. All Tang Jie¡¯s group needed to do was return to the academy, receive the package, and thusplete the mission.


    It was as simple as could be!


    ¡°Wonderful!¡± Wei Tianchong punched the air, unable to contain his excitement.


    Although he had not had any hope of bing a True Inheritor before this, the mission was now almostplete and sess was right before his eyes, so Wei Tianchong couldn¡¯t help but start to fantasize.


    Shi Meng excitedly said, ¡°Then what are we waiting for? The sooner we get back to the academy, the sooner we can hand in the mission.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the rush?¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s not like we get out very often, so it¡¯s fine if we y around for a few days, and we can also guard the convoy to ensure that any idents don¡¯t happen. It would be awful if some brain-dead bandit decided to cause trouble and ruin our ns¡­¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng nodded.


    They were nowpletely obedient to Tang Jie¡¯s orders.


    That afternoon, the three of them went to y around in the city.


    At the same time, Tang Jie disposed of some of the contents of his Mustard Seed Bag, trying his best to convert it all into spirit coins.


    But Pingyuan City was a small city, and he would only get a good price for art relics in big cities. Fortunately, they would be going through numerous cities on their way back, so he was in no rush.


    They began to see the sights as they leisurely made their way back to Basking Moon Academy.


    Tang Jie had already gone on a little outing, but Shi Meng and Wei Tianchong rarely got a chance to go out. Thus, they specifically chose famous scenic spots and fully enjoyed the best sights the country had to offer.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t try to stop them, joining them in the fun.


    Intelligence came from experience. Wei Tianchong wasn¡¯t born an idiot. It was just that his family situation meant that hecked experience in how to handle affairs. Whether ying or fighting, they were all a kind of life that would allow him to more authentically see the world and gradually understand.


    Anyone who only knew cultivation, no matter how profound their level, would still be a fool.


    Tang Jie deliberately guided Wei Tianchong, and as they traveled thend, he described for him the history, products, terrain, and customs of the various ces they visited, broadening Wei Tianchong¡¯s mind.


    On this day, the three of them arrived at Fangshan City.


    Fangshan City was arge city of Sageheart, two-hundred-some kilometers from Wanquan City. This ce was rather close to the academy.


    There was a famous building in Fangshan City known as Apricot Pavilion. From its heights, one could see the entire city, and to the south was a gorgeous sea of apricot flowers.


    Tang Jie had been through here with Gu Changqing, but s, they had been in such a rush that there had been no time to enjoy the scenery. He aspired to freedom, and seeing the sights was one of the most fundamental parts of roaming without a care. Thus, he advised Wei Tianchong that the three of them should visit Apricot Pavilion as soon as they entered the city.


    Apricot Pavilion was seven floors tall, one of the taller buildings in the city.


    On this subject, it had to be said that the building style of the Rosecloud Domain was rather strange.


    This was partially because the technology level meant that buildings were usually no taller than three floors. But there were also divine spell arts that were able to create magnificent sights.


    Apricot Pavilion was a ssic example.


    This pavilion had seven floors, but only its central part was rooted into the earth. The rest floated high off the ground. It was built like a pagoda in that it spiralled upward, and eighteen winged pythons were carved onto its surface. From a distance, it appeared like a closed umbre.


    As soon as they entered the pavilion, Tang Jie felt spiritual energy pulses traveling through the pavilion in some special circuit.


    It couldn¡¯t be seen, but it could be felt.


    ¡°A formation¡­¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    As expected, Apricot Pavilion was supported by a formation.


    The fact that a spirit formation was supporting a building was indicative of many things. The simplest was that this pavilion¡¯s master was an Immortal and that anyone with too much free time on their hands probably wouldn¡¯t want to cause trouble here.


    Looking around, Tang Jie took in the entire structure of the tower. ¡°Heartbirth Wood in the Gen (northeast), which makes the focus peace and quiet. Clearroot Stone in the Li (south), favoring a clear heart and vision¡­ This is a rather docile formation.¡±


    Apricot Pavilion¡¯s main door and reception were at the Life Gate, and it used Heartbirth Wood as its foundation. Staying here would be beneficial for one¡¯s body. The center had Clearroot Stone used as the tower foundations, forming the View Gate.


    The View Gate¡¯s primary focus was concealment and disguise, but under the arrangements of the pavilion¡¯s master, it had truly be a ce for taking in the view. Once one ascended to the top of the tower and looked out, they would be able to see much more, thus making this a true View Gate.


    As for the various painted pirs in the tower, Tang Jie could see that they were covered in formation carvings, each one with its own special purpose.


    Tang Jie could tell by the direction the formation lines were going that the top floor of Apricot Pavilion was probably where the primary control, the Stop Gate, was.


    As for the central node, the Open Gate, it was probably hidden somewhere, and the Death Gate was located underground.


    This was not a formation meant for killing, so the Death, rm, and Injury Gates had all been hidden and set aside.


    But Tang Jie suspected that if someone really dared to cause trouble, they would probably face the illusions of the rm Gate, the lethality of the Death Gate, and the attacks of the Injury Gate.


    Regardless, this formation had been perfectly melded with the building¡¯s structure, indicating that the master of Apricot Pavilion was a true master of formations.


    The three of them began to make their way to the top floor.


    Apricot Pavilion had a rule. The seventh floor wasn¡¯t a floor that just anyone could go up to. One needed the proper status.


    Fortunately, they were wearing the uniform of Basking Moon, so no one dared to stop them, and a page boy even came to show them the way.


    Tang Jie continued to take in the structure of Apricot Pavilion as they moved up, and he was so taken by its exquisite structure that he began to draw it out.


    The page boy guiding them was about sixteen years old. When he saw Tang Jie jabbing at the air, he chuckled. ¡°So Young Master knows formations.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve learned a little. I really didn¡¯t think that I would run into such a marvelous formation here. The building and the formation are perfectly integrated as if they were naturally one. It¡¯s truly amazing! Who could have designed such a formation?¡± Tang Jie said with sincere admiration. Let alone him, even Zhao Xiliang of the Basking Moon Sect had probably yet to reach this level.


    The page simply smiled in reply.


    The three of them soon arrived at Apricot Pavilion¡¯s seventh floor.


    It was extremely spacious, and in the center was arge inscription stele. Literati would sometimes pass through this area and leave behind their calligraphy.


    There were some people already here, looking at the scenery and pointing into the distance.


    Tang Jie saw that there were three groups of people..


    One was a muscr man with a curly beard who was sitting upright and guzzling wine.


    He had arge sword at his side which was evenrger than Cai Junyang¡¯s, like the nk of a door.


    On the other end sat a young man.


    This man¡¯s skin had the luster of jade, and he was so handsome that he could be mistaken for a woman dressed as a man at first nce.


    But the lump at his throat indicated that he truly was a man.


    However, he appeared so enchanting that even a man might be tempted by his appearance.


    There was a group of people next to the railing.


    This was a group of richly-attired young masters. Their clothes were luxurious and the swords at their waists shed with the spiritual light of spell weapons. These were probably also cultivators who had left their school in in clothes to go and see the sights.


    Tang Jie¡¯s group of three found a ce to sit and called for some tea. Shi Meng carried out his duty as a servant and served Wei Tianchong tea while Wei Tianchong looked out the window. As for Tang Jie, he stood in front of the inscription stele and studied the calligraphy, but in actuality, he was once more observing the structure of the tower.


    This inscription stele was clearly a formation gate. Given that it was the central anchor, it was probably the formation core.


    The person whoid down this formation had to be an incredible character to ce the formation core in such an obvious location.


    As he was admiring the formation, he heard someone say, ¡°Wasn¡¯t it said that you could see a sea of flowers from the top? So where is the sea of apricot flowers?¡±


    One of that group of young masters had spoken.


    ¡°Brother Lin, you¡¯re so focused on cultivation that you don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on in the outside world. Apricots bloom in early spring, but we¡¯re now entering autumn. The season isn¡¯t right, so how could you still see the apricot sea? To see it, you¡¯ll have toe next year,¡± one of hispanions said.


    That Brother Lin raised an eyebrow. ¡°Who has the time toe next year? Since we¡¯re here, we can¡¯t go back empty-handed. Let¡¯s have this sea of flowers bloom for us again.¡±


    The young man who had spoken before was taken aback. ¡°Brother Lin, you mean¡­¡±


    That Brother Lin didn¡¯t reply. He simply pointed several times at the air, and spiritual energy shot out from his fingertips and into the distance.


    This action caused everyone on the floor to raise their heads. The curly-bearded man suddenly put down his wine bowl and looked at the group.


    The bewitchingly handsome young man also turned to look.


    Even Tang Jie¡¯s attention was drawn to that Brother Lin, his brow furrowing.

 Chapter 178: The Wuwang Character

    Chapter 178: The Wuwang Character


    Brother Lin¡¯spanion was shocked, grabbing his hand and saying, ¡°The Life Spring Art? Brother Lin, you can¡¯t!¡±


    The young man surnamed Lin was vexed that his spell art had been interrupted by someone from his own party. ¡°Why can¡¯t I? As a cultivator, don¡¯t I seek exactly what my heart desires? Moreover, it¡¯s autumn, when all things go into hibernation. My using the Life Spring Art to make the flowers bloom will not only make our journey worth it, but also bring beauty to the gloomy autumn of Fangshan City, giving them an extra ce to go for their leisure. It¡¯s a gracious deed, so there¡¯s no need for Brother Chen to stop me.¡±


    ¡°Right, right, Brother Lin is right on,¡± several other young men agreed. It appeared that they were rather fearful of this person.


    ¡°Absurd!¡± A bowl mmed on the table, sshing wine into the air.


    The speaker was none other than the curly-bearded man.


    ¡°Oh?¡± The young men by the railing turned their heads.


    That Lin youth grew angry. ¡°Are you talking to me?¡±


    The muscr man grunted, ¡°Exactly! Pulling on sprouts to help them grow might give you a moment of glory, but how can those flowers continue to survive? After today, it won¡¯t be three months until the apricot forest bes nothing but dead wood!¡±


    The Lin youth grunted, ¡°If they die, they die. Just nt some more. Why is that any of your business? I¡¯ll just pay somepensation if I need to.¡±


    This Lin youth came from a powerful n and was a rather stubborn and proud person.


    In his view, the apricot trees were just nts without any intelligence, so why did they need to be cherished? And didn¡¯t he usually do whatever he wanted back at home?


    He didn¡¯t consider himself a tyrant. He just wanted to see the blooming sea of flowers and unt his power, yet he was being reprimanded over something so minor? He naturally felt unhappy, and his expression turned dark.


    But s, what he considered minor, others considered major.


    The man shouted, ¡°Bastard thing, is the apricot forest your home? To be destroyed at your word? Don¡¯t think that just because your family has some status, you can do whatever you want.¡±


    The Lin youth grew furious. ¡°Bastard, you¡¯re trying to humiliate me.¡±


    He ced a hand on his sword and was just about to strike when Tang Jie suddenlymented, ¡°Apricot Pavilion receives tens of thousands of tourists every year.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Everyone looked at him.


    Tang Jie casually continued, ¡°The apricot forest has stood for a hundred years now.¡±


    That Lin youth stared at Tang Jie. ¡°What are you trying to say?¡±


    He could tell from Tang Jie¡¯s uniform that he belonged to Basking Moon Academy, so he wasn¡¯t so arrogant as to try and start a fight with him.


    Tang Jie muttered, ¡°The apricots bloom for only a short twenty days, so most tourists won¡¯t be able to see the sea of flowers, right? Over a hundred years, I am sure that many people of prodigious ability have been through this ce, so were they idiots? Or were they ipetent? Not one of them thought to use Immortal arts to make the apricots bloom.¡±


    The Lin youth was taken aback. He somewhat understood what Tang Jie was getting at.


    Tang Jie softly ced his hand on the stele and moved his fingers over the grooves. ¡°Titans can be found in the marketce. Apricot Pavilion has stood for one hundred years, untroubled by rain or storm. Was this out of luck? Gentlemen, if you don¡¯t want to be chased out of Apricot Pavilion and be made intoughingstocks, you should know some restraint.¡±


    The lines he stroked were the veryst lines on the stele, a warning written by the master of Apricot Pavilion:


    ¡°Guests, please sit quietly and do not move about. Vitors will be chased (Öð) out!¡±


    ¡°Do not move about¡± had many meanings here.


    This was a warning to not write on the stele if one did not have the ability, and it was also a warning to not start fights.


    The muscr man looked at Tang Jie and chuckled. ¡°As expected of a Basking Moon student! Excellent words!¡±


    He nced at the Lin youth and jeered, ¡°I have to wonder which n this guy is from, for him to be socking in tact. Even Basking Moon students are humble when theye to Apricot Pavilion, yet he¡¯s so arrogant and bossy! Howughable!¡±


    This man was a very crude person, and his tongue was very harsh. Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but frown.


    He had just been nning to give a gentle reminder and let the matter go. What was the point in being so relentless?


    Sure enough, that Lin youth became incensed, shouting, ¡°Bastard! For humiliating my Lin n, die!¡±


    He pped his waist, and his sword flew into the air and thrust at the muscr man. It was a flying sword spell.


    At the moment he attacked, Tang Jie suddenly stepped back. The inscription stele suddenly glowed golden, and arge ¡°Ö𡱠(chase) character flew out of it and struck the youth, knocking him out the window.


    There were countless pedestrians down below, and they immediately began to shout.


    ¡°Another one has fallen!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve seen someone flying out of Apricot Pavilion. It¡¯s just as wonderful as I remember it to be.¡±


    ¡°It seems like a cultivator, to be fine after falling from so high up.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Who would dare to cause trouble in Apricot Pavilion if they didn¡¯t have the ability?¡±


    It seemed like people falling out of Apricot Pavilion were amon sight in Fangshan City.


    But at this moment, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t in the mood to worry about that Lin youth.


    When that word had leapt out of the stone stele, he had felt a sudden shift in the pavilion.


    A surge of spiritual energy had silently flowed through the building, with every corner and every formation line moving in tune with thews of the world.


    In the middle of it all, Tang Jie felt like the world around him had changed.


    It was a bizarre sensation that was impossible to describe.


    Everything seemed perfectly fine on the surface, but Tang Jie¡¯s mind was a raging tempest.


    Almost entirely out of instinct, he stepped forward.


    He ced himself exactly in the middle of the golden character¡¯s return route.


    After striking that Lin youth, the golden character flew back, but as Tang Jie was in the way, it had to fly around him to get back to the stele.


    Tang Jie stepped out again, stepping onto a flowery pattern on the floorboards.


    This was one of Apricot Pavilion¡¯s formations. As Tang Jie stepped on it and released spiritual energy into it, the pattern erupted with light, and the golden character froze in the air.


    Tang Jie stepped back again, his feetnding on the center of a floorboard. The golden ¡°Ö𡱠immediately began to fly around the air in search of another target.


    Everyone finally noticed that something was off.


    Wei Tianchong shouted in rm, ¡°Tang Jie, what did you do?¡±


    The curly-bearded man gaped at Tang Jie, still trying to understand what was happening. ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡±


    The bewitching man merely nced at Tang Jie, an appreciative smile in his eyes.


    Tang Jie suddenly took three rapid steps back and mmed a palm on a railing. Apricot Pavilion boomed and shuddered, and then the dancing golden character let out a <em>ding</em> and dropped to the floor.


    Tang Jie immediately rushed out and grabbed the golden character.


    The moment Tang Jie touched it, the character tried to fly back to the empty spot on the stele.


    Tang Jie shouted, ¡°I think you should stay right here!¡±


    He slightly opened his left hand, seizing the golden character with his energy and preventing it from going back. Meanwhile, he pointed at the inscription stele with his right hand and fired off spiritual energy from his finger.


    This was exactly when the Apricot Pavilion formation was circting energy through the central node, and with this thrust of his finger, Tang Jie hastily wrote a ¡°Ö𡱠character and imprinted it on the stele. But he had written in such haste that it was very messily written.


    <em>ng!</em> The golden ¡°Ö𡱠character struck the ¡°Ö𡱠that Tang Jie had written and failed to merge back into the stele.


    The magpie makes the nest and the turtledove dwells in it! The character that Tang Jie had written had reced the original ¡°Ö𡱠character!


    The golden ¡°Ö𡱠didn¡¯t know where to go, at which point Tang Jie grabbed it and began to draw out lines of spiritual energy. As his arm moved, a spiritual enclosed the character.


    Finally, under this of spiritual energy, the golden character began to settle down, quietly lying in Tang Jie¡¯s hand. It shed for a moment, and then it disappeared.


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng were gobsmacked. Shi Meng pointed at Tang Jie and asked, ¡°This¡­ What¡¯s going on here?¡±


    Tang Jie simply pensively stared at his palm.


    After a while, he suddenly bowed to the stele. ¡°This lowly one was inspired by your work and was itching to try his hand. Senior, please forgive me!¡±


    A few momentster, a golden eye appeared on the stele.


    It looked around, briefly pausing on that bewitching man, before looking at Tang Jie. A voice said, ¡°At such a young age, you were able to see through the secrets of my Formless Celestial Heart Formation, and you were then able to rece the truth with the false and break my secret art, seizing the moment to capture a Wuwang Character¡­ Good, excellent! Your strength is clearly average, yet you are able to get so far with clever tricks. It is truly not easy, and Basking Moon Academy truly has many talents. That being the case, I will gift you this Wuwang Character.¡±


    ¡°My utmost gratitude, Revered One!¡± Tang Jie kowtowed.


    ¡°A Wuwang Character? The Formless Celestial Heart Formation?¡± The muscr man, the young masters, Wei Tianchong, and Shi Meng instantly shuddered upon hearing these names. They instantly prostrated before the stele and shouted, ¡°Our respects to Reverend Wuwang!¡±


    Reverend Wuwang was a famous cultivator of the Sageheart Kingdom. He was a True Lord, one of the few in Sageheart who had achieved this level while remaining unaffiliated.


    No one had imagined that it was he who had built Apricot Pavilion. It was no wonder no one dared to cause trouble here.


    It was said that this man idolized the Evil-Executing Sovereign, Zhang Shuhan, and he was also skilled in calligraphy, using a brush in ce of a sword.


    But his calligraphycked the vast and righteous aura of Zhang Shuhan¡¯s, and it had yet to grasp a Dao Will, nor was it able to make the formed formless. But this was precisely why every one of his characters had a solid form.


    The Wuwang Characters!


    Reverend Wuwang was a formidable formation master, and the Formless Celestial Heart Formation was the formation he was most well known for. In his hands, it had endless variations and could be used in all sorts of incredible ways.


    Of course, the reverend clearly wasn¡¯t here and was probably traveling somewhere. This stele was the node for the formation, and he was linked with it. The warning written upon this stele had been written by his own hand, and these were the Wuwang Characters. The characters operated along with the formation, and whenever anyone vited the rules, the Wuwang Characters would automatically attack the vitor and chase them out.


    Of course, they only chased vitors out and had no killing intent.


    Even so, that Tang Jie would steal a Wuwang Character from True Lord Wuwang was truly amazing.


    This had nothing to do with ability, only with experience and daring.


    Fortunately, True Lord Wuwang was a tolerant sort. Rather than being angry, he admired Tang Jie¡¯s conduct and had gifted him this Wuwang Character.

 Chapter 179: Falsely Accused

    Chapter 179: Falsely used


    Reverend Wuwang was a True Lord, so his little golden characters were even more valuable than art relics.


    Tang Jie had once more inexplicably gained a big treasure.


    Now that everyone knew that this was True Lord Wuwang¡¯s territory, nobody dared to cause any more trouble, and they all kowtowed on the floor. Only that bewitching young man refused to prostrate, simply bowing from a distance.


    That True Lord Wuwang didn¡¯t mind, simply chuckling and saying, ¡°But the character you left on my stele is truly too ugly¡­¡±


    The ¡°Ö𡱠character that Tang Jie had written gradually disappeared, and recing it was a new ¡°Ö𡱠character that was written with vigor and style, exactly the same as the one that Tang Jie had captured.


    Tang Jie blushed in shame. ¡°When this student returns, he will work hard on his calligraphy.¡±


    True Lord Wuwang grunted, and the golden eye faded away as he took his leave.


    With the matter over, the muscr man wasn¡¯t willing to linger, and those young masters needed to go down to find that Young Master Lin, so they all took their leave. Only that bewitching man remained seated.


    Tang Jie saw that nothing else was happening, so he called over Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng so that they could go down.


    As they went down, Wei Tianchong couldn¡¯t help but grumble, ¡°You¡¯re really too bold, even stealing Wuwang Characters. Are you not worried about causing trouble?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s rare to get such chances, so how can I miss out on one? Whether I seed or not, I have to try first,¡± Tang Jie said with a smile.


    ¡°Were you not worried that he would send his Divine Will to tear you apart in a fit of rage?¡± Shi Meng asked.


    ¡°Maybe, but True Lord Wuwang has an excellent reputation, and he is also known for his tolerance. I dared to do such a thing naturally because I believed that the True Lord wasn¡¯t this sort of person. Even if he wasn¡¯t willing to give me a Wuwang Character, the most he would do is take back the Wuwang Character and give me a small punishment. My life wouldn¡¯t have been in danger. Moreover, I¡¯m still a Basking Moon student, so the True Lord has to give a little face.¡±


    Wei Tianchong resentfully said, ¡°You really know how to exploit your Basking Moon student status.¡±


    Tang Jie lightly said, ¡°You have to grasp opportunities on your own. If there are no lucky encounters, you have to work to create your own. If you were me, even if meatcakes fell from the heavens, you would still somehow miss out on it.¡±


    He was naturally referring to what had happened with Divine God Luo.


    Wei Tianchong grumbled, ¡°We already agreed to not talk about it, but you still bring it up. Besides, I¡¯ve also managed to make use of opportunities, just not the kind you think. I¡¯ve managed to get something that you haven¡¯t,¡± he smugly said.


    ¡°Oh? What is that?¡± Tang Jie curiously asked.


    Wei Tianchong tilted his head back andughed. As he sauntered down the stairs, the image of Ping Jingyue¡¯s alluring body appeared in his mind.


    Once they were at the bottom, a page came to send them out.


    As they were about to leave, Tang Jie asked the page, ¡°Right, upstairs, we saw this young man who was so beautiful he was like a woman. Little Brother, do you know who that was?¡±


    ¡°A man as beautiful as a woman?¡± The page blinked. ¡°I didn¡¯t see anyone like that.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t see him?¡±


    The page thought it over again and firmly shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t see him!¡±


    Startled, Tang Jie turned around and swiftly went back up.


    At the top floor, he saw that the room was empty, and there was no trace of the bewitching man.


    After leaving Fangshan City, Tang Jie¡¯s group hurried back.


    They finally reached Wanquan City, and as they arrived at the Student Forest, they saw that arge crowd of people had gathered outside the ferry.


    They were all wearing the moon-white uniforms of Basking Moon, and there had to at least be five hundred of them.


    ¡°Why are there so many students gathered here?¡± Wei Tianchong said in shock.


    ¡°You need to ask?¡± Tang Jie coldly said, ¡°The news of Lin Lang¡¯s death has already gotten here. Someone has gotten the head, so everyone is naturally thinking about stealing it.¡±


    These people hadn¡¯t given up after failing to find the head. They knew that any student who had the head would have to return to the academy, so they had decided to stand guard and wait, blocking the main entrance.


    It was a rather silly method, but it worked.


    Wei Tianchong was aghast. ¡°Then aren¡¯t they waiting for us?¡±


    Tang Jie put a hand on Wei Tianchong¡¯s mouth. ¡°Shush! I¡¯m still not sure about how much information has gotten out. They know that Lin Lang is dead, but they might not know that it was us who did it.¡±


    ¡°But Ping Jingyue¡¯s group knows.¡±


    ¡°But they might not tell others.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but we¡¯ll have to test it out to know,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    If he were Ping Jingyue, he would never let this news get out. This was partially because this might not do her group any good. Stealing food from three people would always be easier than stealing from five hundred. Secondly, Tang Jie was still their friend, and while they might fight with each other, it would at least be one of their friends that benefited. They had to at least have a bottom line.


    They were most likely hiding somewhere, waiting for the opportune moment to strike and take the head.


    ¡°This is thest trial. If we get through it, we will havepleted the mission,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°Then what are we waiting for? Let¡¯s go!¡± Shi Meng heroically urged.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie had ounted for this scenario, and they didn¡¯t have Lin Lang¡¯s head. Thus, he had nothing to fear.


    Even so, the stares of countless students were a heavy weight. Wei Tianchong felt an inexplicable pressure that made his legs shake.


    He found it easy to imagine the sight of all these people converging on them once they learned that they hadpleted the mission.


    Tang Jie put an arm on his shoulder and said, ¡°Don¡¯t panic. It¡¯s just for show. They don¡¯t dare to actually do anything. After all, we¡¯re in front of the school, and even if we¡¯re not inside the academy, the school won¡¯t like it if someone is killed right at the entrance.¡±


    ¡°Do you think things will be like with the Chen brothers?¡± When they wereing back, Wei Tianchong had been told about what had happened with the Chen brothers, but Tang Jie had kept the matter of Ping Jingyue and Liu Hongyan a secret.


    ¡°It won¡¯t! Of course, if things get messy, it will be hard to guarantee anything. And there¡¯s always a possibility that someone causes trouble.¡±


    Wei Tianchong shivered again.


    Tang Jie smiled and pushed him forward. ¡°Look at how scared you are! Whether it¡¯s a cultivator or a man, they have to experience all kinds of trials and tribtions. Regardless of the situation, you have to experience it first in order to mature. You¡¯re only being stared at by hundreds of people, so why are you so scared? In the future, when we go out adventuring, we might face countless enemies. Maybe it will be tens of thousands of fiend beasts, and if their looks alone are enough to rob you of the will to fight, then you can forget about cultivating Immortality. You don¡¯t need to be polite. They¡¯re looking at you, so look back at them. Isn¡¯t it just meeting eyes with eyes? It¡¯s just a question of who¡¯s afraid of whom!¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Wei Tianchong nodded. Straightening his back, he angrily looked around while muttering, ¡°I don¡¯t have the head. I don¡¯t have the head¡­¡±


    Once they got closer, a somewhat older student blocked their path. ¡°Stop! You can¡¯t enter the academy unless you¡¯re searched.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Tang Jie raised an eyebrow. ¡°Why should we let you search us?¡±


    The student was angry, grunting as he pointed with his thumb at therge number of people behind him. ¡°Because of them. Is that enough?¡±


    Tang Jie looked at the wolfish stares around him and then shook his head in feigned helplessness. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then search away. Young Master, you first.¡±


    Wei Tianchong stepped forward, already ready to let himself be searched.


    That student searched Wei Tianchong thoroughly and appeared disappointed, shaking his head at the people behind him.


    All the students sighed helplessly.


    Wei Tianchong asked, ¡°Can I go yet?¡±


    ¡°You may, but why doesn¡¯t Junior Brother stay with us and guard the entrance to see if anyone brings back Lin Lang¡¯s head?¡± the student offered.


    This person was called Lu Fei, and he was a rather conniving and sly fellow. He had used the same method to recruit more than half of the students at the ferry.


    His idea was that even if he couldn¡¯t seed, he wouldn¡¯t let anyone else seed easily.


    Wei Tianchong shook his head. ¡°Forget it. With all these people and all these upperssmen here, I don¡¯t think I have any chance. It would be better if I got back to the academy and started cultivating again.¡±


    Lu Fei wasn¡¯t surprised. Many people had shared the same thoughts as Wei Tianchong. After a fruitless search, they had given up on the chase.


    Since Wei Tianchong wasn¡¯t willing, Lu Fei stood aside and let him through.


    Wei Tianchong boarded the boat while Shi Meng was searched.


    After another fruitless search, Lu Fei let Shi Meng go.


    The next to be searched was Tang Jie.


    As Tang Jie handed over a Mustard Seed Bag, Lu Fei¡¯s eyes shed with greed. As he was about to take it, Tang Jie drew his hand back. ¡°Just look at it from there.¡±


    Lu Fei snorted in anger, but he let Tang Jie open the bag and looked inside.


    With one nce, Lu Fei shuddered.


    There was naturally no head in the Mustard Seed Bag, but it was stuffed with money.


    There were seventy to eighty spirit jades in there, and also arge number of spirit coins that had yet to be traded in. Lu Fei was almost instantly dazzled.


    ¡°So much money?¡± he blurted out.


    ¡°It has nothing to do with you. You¡¯ve seen the bag and seen that there¡¯s no head. Can I go now?¡± Tang Jie said as he put away the bag.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Lu Fei shouted. ¡°Leave me your bag. I need to inspect it again!¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Tang Jie was startled, but when he saw the greedy look in Lu Fei¡¯s eyes, he understood.


    There was no doubt that this was a greedy fellow who had decided to rob him.


    Tang Jie put away the bag and quickly fell back.


    Lu Fei saw that Tang Jie was absconding and instantly panicked. He shouted, ¡°The head is in his bag! Don¡¯t let him run!¡±


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Tang Jie cursed.


    He had made an intricate n toplete the mission by shipping the head to the school, and all that was needed was to enter the school to get the head. He had never expected this sort of misfortune to ur at the final moment.


    He could naturally try to clear his name, but one hundred thousand spirit coins could tempt Lu Fei, so why couldn¡¯t it tempt the others?


    When everyone benefited from chaos, the truth was no longer important. What was important was action and how much one could gain from action.


    As Lu Fei shouted, the crowd surged at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie knew that this was bad and immediately turned to flee.


    Wei Tianchong became anxious and wanted to go and help him. Thankfully, Shi Meng grabbed him and said, ¡°Young Master, don¡¯t. Going over there won¡¯t do any good.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°Hurry! Once we get back to the academy and hand over the head, the message arrow will immediately be sent out, and all of the storms will be pacified!¡± Shi Meng hurriedly said.


    Wei Tianchong finally came to his senses and began to run toward the ship. The moment he stepped onto the deck, he shouted, ¡°Hurry up and set sail!¡±


    The boat unhurriedly set sail toward the center of theke.

 Chapter 180: Fierce Tiger

    Chapter 180: Fierce Tiger


    The ship wasn¡¯t actually very slow, but in Wei Tianchong¡¯s eyes, it was like a crawling turtle. When he turned around, he saw a human flood of students chasing after Tang Jie, and he became so anxious that he stomped his feet and hollered, ¡°Faster! Faster!¡±


    On the other end, Tang Jie fled for his life from several hundred students chasing him.


    They were already sick of Tang Jie, so all of them called out, ¡°Beat him up! Beat him up!¡±


    The cries came from all around.


    The first spell shed as it hurtled toward Tang Jie¡¯s back.


    No matter how fast Tang Jie¡¯s Violet Lightning Lunge was, it couldn¡¯t outrun a spell. That light struck Tang Jie and caused him to stagger, allowing many more students to catch up and fire spells at him.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± Tang Jie knew that this was a dire situation.


    These students didn¡¯t even think about what might happen if too many people attacked at once.


    They might not have wanted to kill anyone, but when enough people threw rocks, even an elephant would get pummeled to death.


    Tang Jie had heard of incidents like this more than once!


    As those countless spells shot toward him, Tang Jie was infuriated.


    He considered himself a rather tolerant and inconspicuous person who never engaged in meaningless fights, and this was precisely why he had earned the favor of Xie Fengtang and the others. But when facing these brainless brutes, it didn¡¯t matter how smart he was. At this moment,bat was the only way to solve his problems.


    ¡°Alright! If you want a fight, let¡¯s fight!¡± Tang Jie bellowed.


    For the first time in his life, Tang Jie had been thoroughly enraged by all these scoundrel students. He charged into the fray and began to attack the students.


    The Aquagel Shroud activated!


    The Formless Golden Body activated!


    The light wave of a spell struck him and exploded. At the same time, Tang Jie shot into the pack of people like a lightning bolt.


    As this group was already madly charging at him, Tang Jie was almost instantly in the thick of it, the Heartbreak Saber shing with cold mes as he shed at a student.


    That student had never imagined that Tang Jie would counterattack and was caught off guard. He was struck by Tang Jie¡¯s Windcleaver Saber and howled in pain as he was sent flying.


    Tang Jie continued to attack the students.


    There were five hundred students here, and if all of them cast spells, or even just one spell each, even Tang Jie wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand it. But now that he was in the middle of the students, they didn¡¯t dare to recklessly cast spells for fear of harming their own. But there were also those who didn¡¯t care and randomly fired off spells, but rather than hitting the target, they only hurt the people around Tang Jie.


    Yet those people around Tang Jie also didn¡¯t seem to care.


    There were students of various years in this crowd, those who knew only one or two spells and those who were considerably powerful¡­


    Tang Jie was like a charging tiger, and at this moment, all of them tacitly agreed to work together. As all of them unleashed their strength, a savage battle of metal and me yed out on the shore of Jade Belt Lake.


    Spiritual energy surged while wind and fire mixed, creating the most resplendent colors of the mortal realm and fully disying the greediest passions of humanity.


    In this torrent of attacks, Tang Jie was like a tiger shark in the ocean, rushing here and there and fighting against the waves. All around him were people, and the waves of light created by numerous spells were like savage ocean waves. With his formidable body, Tang Jie vigorously charged, his will to fight at a boiling point. He swung his Heartbreak Saber again and again, stirring up showers of blood.


    ¡°Aroooo!¡± With a violent cry, Tang Jie unleashed his wild side, imbuing the edge of his saber with all his emotions.


    ¡°Thousand Rupture sh!¡±


    Saber energy danced!


    ¡°Go!¡±


    Before the ship could get close to the shore, Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng jumped off the deck and ran toward the mountain. But before they could get very far, another person blocked their path.


    ¡°Ye Tianshang?¡± Shi Meng cried out in rm.


    The one blocking their path was none other than their pursuer from Cloudflow Academy, Ye Tianshang.


    Sword in hand, Ye Tianshang grunted, ¡°It seems that you guys really did manage to kill Lin Lang. Talk! Where did you put the head?¡±


    After losing Tang Jie at Cloudflow Academy, he had gone back to look at the files, but he had fallen for Tang Jie¡¯s feint and ended up wasting time going around in circles.


    After Lin Lang was killed, Ye Tianshang guessed that Tang Jie¡¯s group had likely seeded, bing the only one besides Liu Hongyan¡¯s group to be so certain of this. Thus, he hastened back, but rather than waiting with the others, he chose to stand guard in the academy, where fighting was not allowed.


    Though he was on the mountain, he had been observing the activity on theke shore this entire time. He had watched the two of them get searched, so he knew that they didn¡¯t have Lin Lang¡¯s head. But when the two of them rushed back to the mountain as the battle started, Ye Tianshang became even more certain about his conclusion. He knew that their group must have found some way of sending the head into the academy, so he had moved to intercept them.


    Wei Tianchong angrily said, ¡°It has nothing to do with you! Stand aside!¡±


    He rushed off to the side of the road, but to his surprise, Ye Tianshang confidently swung his sword at Wei Tianchong, causing Wei Tianchong to back away in fear. ¡°Ye Tianshang, you dare to attack me? This is the academy! Students aren¡¯t allowed to fight here!¡±


    ¡°Wrong!¡± Ye Tianshang replied, unperturbed. ¡°Rather, if students fight each other, the offender will lose points.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying?¡± Wei Tianchong was shaken.


    Ye Tianshang casually replied, ¡°In other words, if you can ept the penalty of ten points, getting into a fight is no big deal. In the past few years, I¡¯ve spent every day in the academy cultivating and haven¡¯t done much wrong. I have ny-some points on hand, so I can fight seven or eight bouts.¡±


    These words were like a bolt of lightning, mming into Wei Tianchong¡¯s head.


    This was why Ye Tianshang had dared to intercept them. He had refused to fight with the rest of the crowd and quietly waited here precisely for a moment like this.


    Only by thinking outside the box could one make outstanding ns. Ye Tianshang had been waiting for this moment for ages.


    Pointing his sword at Wei Tianchong, Ye Tianshang grimly said, ¡°In truth, even if you didn¡¯t say anything, I could still make a guess. You must have shipped the head here, right? It¡¯s a very simple and practical method. The item must be at the post station, right? s, only the designated individual can take an item from the post station. Wei Tianchong, so long as you write a letter appointing me as your designated receiver, I¡¯ll let you go.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it!¡± Wei Tianchong angrily replied.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Ye Tianshang smiled and looked into the distance. ¡°You came rushing back to get the head andplete the mission to get Tang Jie out of danger, right? But with me here, don¡¯t even think about going anywhere. If this goes on, I really wonder how long that guy canst.¡±


    With his sharp eyes, he could easily see what sort of situation Tang Jie was in. Tang Jie was exploiting the melee to move through the crowd and doing his best so that he only took the attacks of three to five people at once. But this sort of frenzied assault was taxing on his physical and spiritual energy. If his luck was bad and he ran into one or two of the stronger ones, a single attack would badly wound him. If not for his astounding constitution and the Formless Golden Body¡¯s origins in the Sword ssic, he would have already beenid out on the ground.


    But no matter how able he was, he would eventually be brought down at some point.


    Ye Tianshang¡¯s calm words had hit the two right in the weak point, and Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng were rendered speechless.


    The two of them exchanged a nce, and then Wei Tianchong stomped his feet and said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll write the letter, but you have to promise that when you get the head, you have to immediately turn it in and then go to save Tang Jie.¡±


    At some point, Tang Jie¡¯s life had be more important than the True Inheritor position in Wei Tianchong¡¯s eyes.


    This naturally wasn¡¯t anything difficult for Ye Tianshang. Just when he was about to agree, Shi Meng shouted, ¡°No! Tang Jie worked hard to make this n for you, Young Master, and would never ept you giving up at this juncture. Young Master, get the item and then head to the Bounty tform. I¡¯ll stop him!¡±


    Before Wei Tianchong could answer, he pushed him forward while the flute in his hand fired off an energy sword at Ye Tianshang.


    Ye Tianshang hadn¡¯t expected his opponent to attack first, and he moved to dodge. Wei Tianchong was also taken aback.


    Shi Meng shouted, ¡°Go!¡±


    Wei Tianchong grunted and pped his puppet token, summoning his puppet.


    Wei Tianchong pointed at Ye Tianshang and shouted, ¡°Hold him down!¡±


    He ran off.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Ye Tianshang was furious that Wei Tianchong was trying to run. He flicked the fingers of his left hand, sending a bolt of wind shooting at Wei Tianchong.


    But the puppet instantly shot out and blocked the blow for Wei Tianchong. Meanwhile, Wei Tianchong activated the Mis Step, wind appearing under his feet as he rushed up the mountain.


    Ye Tianshang snorted and was about to chase after Wei Tianchong when Shi Meng rushed over and spread out his arms in front of Ye Tianshang. He didn¡¯t have any other abilities, so he decided to use himself to hold down Ye Tianshang.


    Ye Tianshang¡¯s eyes shed with anger. ¡°Seeking death!¡±


    He prepared to swing his sword!


    But Shi Meng didn¡¯t try to dodge, shouting, ¡°Kill me, then!¡±


    Ye Tianshang instantly froze.


    He could fight in the academy and only lose some points, but if he killed someone, it wouldn¡¯t end with just losing some points.


    Shi Meng was sharp. When he saw that Ye Tianshang didn¡¯t have the guts to kill him, he heedlessly moved to tackle him.


    ¡°Bastard, you think that you¡¯re enough to stop me?¡± Ye Tianshang gruffly said. He flew into the air, jabbing his sheathed sword at Shi Meng while kicking away the puppet.


    <em>Bang! Bang!</em> Shi Meng was knocked down while the puppet was kicked away. Ye Tianshang once more took to the skies, his sword flying out and dragging his body behind it as he chased after Wei Tianchong.


    An approaching monitor student was just about to stop him when Ye Tianshang threw out his student token and shouted, ¡°Stand aside! Don¡¯t block the road!¡±


    The monitor saw that it was Ye Tianshang, and he had his student token regardless, so he hesitated over what to do. By that point, Ye Tianshang had already flown past him and caught up to Wei Tianchong.


    Just when he was about to catch Wei Tianchong, Wei Tianchong suddenly thrust a hand at the ground and shouted, ¡°Tremble!¡±


    Ye Tianshang was rmed as he heard rumbling beneath his feet. The puppet had raised its arms and then thrust them at the ground, creating a shockwave through the earth that shook Ye Tianshang out of the air.


    At the same time, Shi Meng lunged over andtched onto Ye Tianshang. ¡°Young Master, go!¡±


    Ye Tianshang elbowed Shi Meng in the back so hard that Shi Meng vomited blood, but he still kept shouting, ¡°Young Master, go!¡±

 Chapter 181: Fury

    Chapter 181: Fury


    Wei Tianchong clenched his teeth and sprinted forward, shouting, ¡°Ye Tianshang, for daring to hurt my servant student, once I be a True Inheritor, I won¡¯t spare you!¡±


    ¡°Bullshit!¡± Ye Tianshang shouted. ¡°The True Person can decide who he picks as his disciple, and your talent and personality are both inferior to mine, so what makes you think you¡¯re worthy of bing a True Inheritor? Out of my way!¡±


    With one knee to the abdomen, Shi Meng was sent flying off.


    Activating the Windcloud Step, Ye Tianshang once more went after Wei Tianchong.


    In the end, he was a student who had been cultivating for more than five years, and with the speed of his Windcloud Step, he closed the distance in the blink of an eye. Wei Tianchong mentally cursed, but at this moment, he had made up his mind to not disappoint Tang Jie. shing out with his Bonecrush Axe, he hollered, ¡°Ghost Axe spell!¡±


    Ye Tianshang seized the axe in his hand, smiling savagely. ¡°A puny trick! It¡¯s no use against me.¡±


    ¡°Then what about this one?¡± A sword shed out of the forest, heading straight for Ye Tianshang¡¯s face.


    Ye Tianshang hadn¡¯t expected a development like this. The flying sword was moving incredibly fast, so he instinctively drew back his hand, his right hand bringing up his sword to block. <em>ng!</em> Ye Tianshang was forced back by the impact.


    Three people appeared in the forest. Their leader waved his hand, and that flying sword turned around in the air and flew back into his hand.


    ¡°Big Brother!¡± Wei Tianchong cried out in delight.


    This neer was none other than Wei Tianchong¡¯s big brother, Wei Tianzhi.


    ¡°Wei Tianzhi?¡± Ye Tianshang¡¯s pupils constricted. When it came to strength, he didn¡¯t fear Wei Tianzhi, but Wei Tianzhi was still an eighth-year student, two years above him. Even if he had only muddled his way to reach this point. an eighth-year could still fight against a sixth-year, and Wei Tianzhi also had his two servant students.


    But a momentter, Ye Tianshang shouted, ¡°Wei Tianzhi, students above the sixth year can¡¯t participate in the struggle for True Inheritor. Why did you attack me?¡±


    Wei Tianzhi indifferently replied, ¡°I know that, so I haven¡¯t left the academy. If you tried to intercept my little brother outside of the academy, I would have never intervened. But since we¡¯re inside the academy, bullying my little brother is something that I will never agree to¡­ I don¡¯t care who bes the True Inheritor. I only know who can¡¯t attack my little brother.¡±


    He then nced at Wei Tianchong. ¡°Hurry and get going! The two of you, help him out!¡±


    Wei Tianchong realized what was going on and sprinted off. Wu Xing and the other servant student, Xiao Zhe, both moved simultaneously, cing their palms on his back and using their strength to send Wei Tianchong flying up the mountain.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think about running!¡± Enraged, Ye Tianshang wanted to pursue, but he now had several people hindering him, and he wasn¡¯t strong enough to push through four people. At this moment, he regretted his excessive greed. He had believed that he could resolve this matter alone, so he hadn¡¯t asked for anyone else¡¯s help.


    As he watched Wei Tianchong disappear up the summit, he knew that he had lost his chance. He could only resentfully sigh, ¡°He got lucky this time, but there are three chances in all. Just wait! No one except me can be Changfeng¡¯s True Inheritor!¡±


    Wei Tianchong charged up the mountain, rushed through the academy gate, and madly barged into the post station, shouting, ¡°Basking Moon Student Wei Tianchong hase to pick up his shipment!¡±


    An employee took out a silk box and ced it in Wei Tianchong¡¯s hand.


    Wei Tianchong took the box, but just when he was about to leave, he turned around and saw Liu Hongyan, Cai Junyang, Ping Jingyue, and Shu Mingyang standing behind him.


    Paling, Wei Tianchong muttered, ¡°No¡­¡±


    His mood instantly plunged to rock bottom.


    Fight!


    Fight!


    Fight!


    At this moment, Tang Jie was frenzied with the will to fight, swinging his saber at everyone who attacked him.


    There was no longer affection between brothers or camaraderie between schoolmates, only an endless struggle on the narrow path of Immortality!


    All kinds of spells were being unleashed at Tang Jie every moment. There was no time to dodge, so Tang Jie could only resist with his tough body.


    The Aquagel Shroud shattered again and again.


    The Formless Golden Body was also falling to this flood of spiritual energy.


    His body was constantly battered and broken under the wild barrage, and Tang Jie had now been entirely drenched in blood.


    Some people became scared, some people backed away in fear, and others became even crazier.


    The cadence of the battle began to gradually go out of control. Just as everyone knew, battles only grew more and more frenzied. No one had ever be more rational the more they battled.


    A few of the more ruthless students had even started to use powerful spells without regard for human life.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    A snow-white saber energy shed at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie dodged to the side and swung his saber at his assant¡¯s shoulder, but the de didn¡¯t go very deep. Tang Jie felt dizzy, and he knew that he was getting tired.


    A momentter, a palm mmed into his chest, and Tang Jie punched back, sending both him and his attacker flying away at the same time.


    Another two students rushed up and started to attack Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes shed, and he thrust his right hand forward. ¡°Chase!¡±


    Arge golden character emerged from his hand and struck a student, sending him over the crowd and into theke.


    Everyone was stunned by this move, not knowing whether that student was alive or dead. Meanwhile, Tang Jie swept out with his saber again, and a golden light shed in his palm again as the Chase Character appeared and struck another student.


    ¡°A Wuwang Character!¡± A student who had once heard of it finally recognized it for what it was and cried out in rm.


    ¡°All of you, out of my way!¡± Tang Jieshed out with his hand as he angrily roared.


    The Wuwang Character pressed down, creating a giant windstorm that instantly swept up several dozen students and sent them skyward.


    This was the power of a True Lord, and even if it was only 1% of the True Lord¡¯s power, it was enough to sweep through everyone.


    As the Wuwang Character activated, Tang Jie¡¯s fighting spirit swelled once more. His exhausted body seemed to gain new life, and as he swung the Heartbreak Saber, frightening gales howled around him. With one strike, he broke the legs of a student.


    His sudden surge startled all of the students.


    No one had expected a mere second-year student tost so long against theirbined onught. Even if their excessive numbers made it difficult for them to fully exploit their advantage, this person¡¯s strength was still astonishing.


    Tang Jie charged at Lu Fei and shouted, ¡°Lu Fei, you tried to take my money and incited this fight by framing me, and you must die for that!¡±


    Lu Fei was shaken to his soul by this roar, and he felt his legs go soft and weak.


    At this moment, a snow-white brilliance shot at Tang Jie and pushed him away.


    A snow-white arrow had prated through Tang Jie¡¯s chest and nailed him to the ground.


    ¡°Senior Brother Long!¡± someone in the crowd shouted.


    After this arrow was loosed, everyone stopped pursuing Tang Jie and turned to look at the nearby archer.


    This was a tall and muscr young student with a rather proud expression. With a longbow in hand, he coldly red at Tang Jie. ¡°You¡¯re rather talented to hold out against so many students. But I¡¯d like to see you try to keep hopping around now that you¡¯ve been struck by my Starseize Arrow.¡±


    Tang Jie viciously red at the young man. ¡°Long Dao!¡±


    This was a sixth-year student of Basking Moon Academy, a person on par with Ye Tianshang and a genius.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°What you want isn¡¯t here. All of you are just wasting your strength.¡±


    Long Dao proudly raised his head. ¡°Won¡¯t that be easily proved by looking at your Mustard Seed Bag?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°You want proof? You¡¯ll see it soon. But before that, I¡¯ll be taking the life of the person who framed me.¡±


    ¡°Impudent!¡± Long Dao¡¯s face darkened. ¡°You think you can just kill anyone you want? Who do you think you are? If you don¡¯t hand over the Mustard Seed Bag, I¡¯ll take it myself!¡±


    He strode over to Tang Jie and reached for Tang Jie¡¯s bag.


    At this moment, Tang Jie flipped his wrist, and a dim light struck the Starseize Arrow. The arrow was sliced in half and the seal dissipated. Tang Jie jumped to his feet and punched Long Dao, a lusterless piece of golden metal clenched between his fingers.


    Long Dao instantly raised his head in rm, and the fist punched him in the throat. Blood instantly gushed out from Long Dao¡¯s throat.


    He held his throat and backed away, staring in disbelief at Tang Jie. ¡°You¡­¡±


    Tang Jie had already gotten to his feet and lunged at Lu Fei.


    While surrounded by hundreds, he did not seek to exin himself, only to kill Lu Fei.


    Lu Fei retreated in rm while several students lunged at Tang Jie, countless cloth threads shooting at him. Someone shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, this isn¡¯t a ce where you can do what you want!¡±


    ¡°If I want to kill someone, no one can stop me!¡± Tang Jie bellowed. He elerated, pushing the Violet Lightning Lunge to the limits. <em>Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!</em> The threads that sought to wind around him were all obliterated.


    Several figures leapt at Tang Jie, but he knocked them all away.


    There was another sharp shout as a silk was cast at Tang Jie, but a momentter, with the sound of tearing cloth, Tang Jie broke free, not one bit slower as he instantly closed the distance with Lu Fei.


    After bitterly fighting for so long, he was being supported by purely his guts and thest bit of his strength. He knew that if he missed this chance, he would never get a chance to kill Lu Fei again.


    He understood that once this matter was reported, the academy would punish Lu Fei.


    But Tang Jie did not want this, was not willing!


    This was the first time Tang Jie had ever had the urge to kill someone.


    He didn¡¯t need the academy to speak up for him. He only sought to gain justice for himself through himself.


    He did not need to borrow the hand of the academy to punish someone.


    <em>It¡¯s my enemy, so I¡¯ll take care of him!</em>


    His entire body was seething with blood energy, all of his power unleashed. He heedlessly charged at Lu Fei, ignoring all obstacles.


    He wanted everyone to know that anyone who dared to frame him would die!


    And their death would be swift!


    He activated the Blood Refining Spirit, his strength rocketing to its limit.


    He rammed his way through everyone who tried to bar his path, a fierce tiger ughtering its way through a crowd.


    His energy rapidly dwindled in his charge. Lu Fei¡¯s body was already shining with the light of his protective barrier. He was so close, yet he felt so far. Another student attacked, unleashing chilling light that sent his body flying away.


    Tang Jie appeared to be out of options and strength, and Lu Fei gave a savage and satisfied smile.


    A momentter, he saw Tang Jie lightly flick his hand at him.


    But there was nothing there.


    A momentter, he felt something go around his neck.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    His head went flying into the air!


    And as his head soared upward, all the students saw a firework shoot up from the Clear Sky Mountains.

 Chapter 182: Tempered Will

    Chapter 182: Tempered Will


    Blood gushed into the air as the firework dazzled the skies!


    As the countless students watched that firework streak upward, their hearts sank.


    The mission wasplete!


    Everyone had be like wooden chickens, not daring to believe their eyes.


    The morous battlefield and the spells that everyone was still in the middle of casting were instantly frozen in time, as if someone had pressed the pause button for the entire world.


    Looking at the firework in the sky, Tang Jieughed.


    He said in a raspy voice, ¡°Anyone else?¡±


    Nobody answered.


    A pointless battle!


    A foolish battle!


    A greedy battle!


    Greed and desire made far too many people lose their rationality, lose their judgment, and lose the virtue and ethics that had been taught to them. It was only when the firework shot into the sky that everyone realized what was going on.


    At the same time, they were also stunned by Tang Jie¡¯s strength, savagery, and resolve. He had somehow managed to withstand the attack of several hundred people and even kill Lu Fei?


    Was this the strength of a second-year?


    Could even Bei Canghai do better?


    Everyone stared at Tang Jie with fear in their eyes.


    No one understood just how much strength Tang Jie had exhausted in this battle.


    If not for his incredible recovery ability, if not for the Wuwang Character, if not for his stubborn and unbending will to fight, he might have already fallen.


    But in these circumstances, he had still managed to persevere.


    Coldly ncing at the crowd, Tang Jie strode forward, and with that, this meaningless battle came to an end.


    As Tang Jie walked forward, the crowd automatically parted for him.


    He strode forward, leaving bloody footprints in the mud as he made his way to the ferry.


    At the shore, the ship had anchored.


    Tang Jie slowly boarded the ship.


    A student saw that there was nothing left to do here, so he wanted to follow him onto the boat.


    Tang Jie shot him a nce, and the student trembled and drew his foot back.


    The ship set off to the opposite shore with Tang Jie alone.


    Long Dao didn¡¯t dare to believe everything that had happened.


    He looked at Tang Jie standing at the prow of the ship, looking back at him with mocking and scornful eyes. Unable to hold himself back, he shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, this isn¡¯t over! You killed Lu Fei!¡±


    Tang Jie raised his head, pointing his chin at Long Dao and fully exhibiting the disdain in his eyes.


    ¡°Ba-bastard!¡± Long Dao wanted nothing more than to crush the bow in his hand.


    The ship sailed forward and was soon in the middle of the waters.


    Tang Jie only went below the deck once the people on the shore had faded out of sight.


    He got down on one knee and vomited blood.


    His eyes went dizzy as exhaustion, weakness, and pain swept over his body, and the powerful recovery ability he had relied on all this time seemed ineffective. As time went on, Tang Jie felt himself getting weaker and weaker.


    Was this the limit of the Parting ssic¡¯s body refining? Or was it because he had overdrawn more strength than his current cultivation could handle, resulting in a bacsh of weakness?


    Yes, a human body was still human. How could it possibly recover endlessly? All of this strength was ultimately another expression of energy. When the energy ran out, even the most powerful body would be weak and powerless, right?


    ¡°Good kid, I didn¡¯t expect you to grow to such an absurd level after only a year.¡± A deep voice rang out in his ears.


    Tang Jie forced open his eyes and saw the blurry figure of a muscr man standing in front of him. It was none other than the fiend carp, Li Yu.


    ¡°Senior¡­¡± Tang Jie struggled to speak.


    ¡°Don¡¯t move! You used Tempered Will just now and need to take a powerful restorative. Here; drink this!¡±


    <em>Boom!</em> Arge jar of wine was mmed down in front of Tang Jie.


    ¡°¡®Tempered Will¡¯?¡± Tang Jie said in surprise.


    ¡°What? Have you forgotten your lessons so quickly?¡± Li Yuughed as he raised the wine jar and began to pour wine into Tang Jie¡¯s mouth.


    Large amounts of wine rushed into Tang Jie¡¯s body, serving as a wellspring of energy. Tang Jie instantly felt as if all the cells in his body were purring in unison.


    This was an extreme thirst being satisfied, a deep desire his body and heart had for spiritual power.


    An irresistible hunger surged up from the depths of his heart, and Tang Jie grabbed the wine jar and began to drink from it greedily.


    The wine entered his stomach and traveled through his meridians. Rather than intoxicating Tang Jie with its high alcohol content, it actually made his muddled mind grow clearer and clearer.


    Tempered Will¡­ So he had inadvertently entered the Tempered Will state in the middle of battle.


    In the process of cultivation, cultivators would umte spiritual power and cast spells, during which the entire body would get stronger as it was steeped in spiritual energy, creating an unusually powerful body. When this steeping reached a certain point, one could modify the body. These were known as Hundred Refinement and Nine Revolutions.


    Thus, even Spirit tform Realm students who had never practiced body-refining spell arts would still have bodies much stronger than average, and that was why they could have their throat cut and still not die. So long as it wasn¡¯t a fatal strike, there was always a chance to recover.


    At Nine Revolutions, like Gu Changqing, one could even survive one¡¯s heart being torn apart. Only cutting off the head could kill them.


    As for Celestial Heart, so long as the Celestial Heart was not destroyed, one could survive having one¡¯s head cut off.


    And when one opened the Violet Pce, one would truly break free from the shackles of the physical, and they would be able toe back even if their body were turned to dust.


    This was also why cultivators had blood energy. Blood energy was actually when spiritual energy entered the blood and began to alter one¡¯s entire physical body.


    Tempered Will was actually the stimtion of all of one¡¯s blood energy, brought upon by a cultivator¡¯s intense will to fight.


    At this moment, the will would gain form and guide the body into triggering all of its hidden strength, allowing the user to explode with several times theirbat power. Cultivators called this ¡°Tempered Will¡± because the will was guiding the spiritual power into a massive explosion.


    Tempered Will was both good and bad for cultivators.


    It was good because it could offer them a temporary boost in power to defeat a powerful foe.


    It was bad because it was essentially draining the pond to get at the fish. The entire body was emptied of spiritual energy, even the spiritual energy that nourished the organs. This would cause the body to rapidly deteriorate, and in serious situations, one might even fall to a mortal level.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know what stage of Tempered Will he had reached, but he truly had entered the Tempered Will state. This was precisely why his recovery ability had failed to work.


    And it was also why his entire body was in a weakened state.


    But he was certain that he wouldn¡¯t be like other people and be stuck in this weakened state. The power of the Parting ssic would ensure that this weakness would only be temporary.


    But Li Yu clearly didn¡¯t know this, which was why he continued to give him spirit wine. ¡°Tempered Will is a trap, but it¡¯s also an opportunity. After Tempered Will, the body is empty of spirit, like a white sheet of paper. Taking a restorative at this time can widen the blood vessels. So long as enough nutrition is provided, the body can be strengthened in a way akin to a single Hundred Refinement. Some extremists rely on this to refine their bodies, but entering the Tempered Will state is easier said than done. It requires a powerful will in desperate straits, and such situations can only be encountered, not created. Trying to enter Tempered Will will only lead one down the wrong path, and ultimately, it will be harder to reach the state even as the situation bes more dire, causing one to die a violent death. When I saw you fighting just now, I was originally intending to help, but when I saw that you were getting stronger the more you fought, I knew that you might enter the Tempered Will state, so I waited. I didn¡¯t think that you would really do it¡­ wonderful, wonderful, hahaha!¡±


    He heartilyughed.


    Only now did Tang Jie realize that Li Yu had been watching his battle the entire time.


    But this fellow didn¡¯t feel any duty to save him. When he had seen that Tang Jie might enter Tempered Will, he had decided to just sit back and watch the show.


    Tang Jie felt speechless.


    Tempered Will had always been dangerous. Just as Li Yu had said, only when someone was in desperate straits but refused to concede, when they struggled to survive while clinging to one final hope, did it have a chance of appearing.


    Tang Jie had been able to enter Tempered Will mostly because of the Parting ssic. This had given him a constitution far stronger than his peers and had filled his organs with spiritual energy.


    This was akin to mining. One would always stand to extract more ore from a high-grade ore vein than a low-grade ore vein, Thus, Tang Jie found it easier to enter Tempered Will and also suffered lesser side effects.


    The fiend carp had actually not saved him for the sake of that minuscule chance, choosing instead to just watch. He really didn¡¯t know if this guy cared about him or not.


    But regardless, at least Li Yu was generously pouring jar after jar of spirit wine down Tang Jie¡¯s mouth.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t even guess how much spirit wine he had consumed, but he could feel that his stomach couldn¡¯t take any more. Li Yu ced a palm on Tang Jie¡¯s body and said, ¡°Absorb the spiritual energy and discharge the remainder. Hurry; absorb the spiritual energy! This is the perfect time to refine your body!¡±


    Tang Jie did as ordered and began to absorb the medicinal power of the spirit wine.


    When he had first drunk spirit wine, he had yet to cultivate, so he could only allow the medicinal powers of the wine to work on their own, causing half of it to be wasted. This time, however, he could absorb the wine on his own, so the effects were very different.


    He absorbed all the spiritual power while expelling the alcohol through his pores. In a sh, he was utterly drenched in sweat.


    Li Yu didn¡¯t seem to care. He instantly pulled out arge b of meat and shouted, ¡°This is the meat of a hundred-year-old red shark. Eat it! Hurry!¡±


    Upon seeing this meat, Tang Jie felt incredibly hungry and immediately began to tear into the meat. It was only a few bites before the red shark meat was all gone.


    Li Yu had already magically produced the meat of various other fiend beasts he had hunted, and he gave it all to Tang Jie while shouting, ¡°Hurry, hurry, eat! Eating right now will have a much better effect, and after this battle, your body is certain to grow a lot! I can tell that you already have an excellent constitution, and it will be even better in the future. Moreover, you¡¯re already showing rare signs of spirit-blood fusion. Not bad, not bad! You have a bright future ahead of you! Hahaha!¡±


    He once more heartilyughed.


    As hisughter reached hysterical levels, he suddenly said, ¡°All right! Let me give you something else nice.¡±


    Suddenly, he tore something red from his body and thrust it, still dripping with blood, at Tang Jie. ¡°Hurry! Eat this!¡±


    ¡°What is this?¡± Tang Jie was startled. The food he had eaten before this had all at least been prepared. Where had this meat that was still dripping with bloode from? He hadn¡¯t seen Li Yu go hunting.


    Li Yuughed. ¡°This is the best restorative food, the meat of a three-thousand-year-old golden carp! Other people can¡¯t even hope to get their hands on it!¡±


    ¡°A three-thousand-year-old golden carp?¡± Tang Jie was dazzled at first, but then he shuddered and pointed at Li Yu with a trembling finger. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Isn¡¯t that your¡­¡±


    ¡°Correct! It¡¯s my meat!¡± Li Yuughed.


    Tang Jie was almost scared witless by his madness.


    The essence of a three-thousand-year-old golden carp truly wasn¡¯t something that just anyone could hope to eat.


    Hunting would always outpace reproduction. Once humans reached the peak of the cultivation forest, the fiend beasts were bound to face cmity. Thus, without even considering whether one could beat these fiend beasts or not, one would have to find them first!


    While the marketce had many kinds of spirit foods and spirit meats, most of them were from nts and beasts that were a few years or ten-some years old.


    Twenty years was already a top-quality product, fifty years was a treasure, and one hundred years could only be found among wild fiend beasts.


    As for thousand-year fiend beasts, nobody dared to even consider such a prospect. Not even Celestial Heart Realm cultivators could eat those whenever they pleased.


    Tang Jie had never imagined that a piece of meat from a three-thousand-year-old golden carp would appear in front of him, and he instantly felt dizzy.


    He was used to getting everything for himself rather than having gifts delivered to his door.


    But sometimes, things just happened that way.

 Chapter 183: Serves Him Right

    Chapter 183: Serves Him Right


    Tang Jie looked at the golden carp flesh and asked Li Yu, ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Why? Because I like you. Kid, you¡¯re courageous and daring, a real impressive person. I already took a liking to youst time, and I like you even more now. Moreover, even after entering Tempered Will, you¡¯re still able tost until now. You¡¯ve got tough bones and are truly a good block of jade, so I have to carve you into something good. As they say, seeing someone go hunting inspires one to go hunting as well!¡± Li Yu stuffed the carp meat into Tang Jie¡¯s mouth. ¡°What are you still jabbering about? Hurry and eat! Every moment this flesh is away from my body, its essence dwindles away. Don¡¯t go wasting it now. It will take this old man ten days to half a month to recover from such arge chunk of flesh!¡±


    Ten days to half a month of cultivation for him was as much as an entire year of cultivation for Tang Jie!


    As the golden carp meat was stuffed into Tang Jie¡¯s mouth, it instantly transformed into a rush of spiritual energy that nourished Tang Jie so much that he moaned in pleasure.


    Li Yu shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t rx! Hurry and cultivate!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Jie firmly said.


    He stopped hesitating around Li Yu and sat cross-legged on the ground to begin cultivating the Parting ssic, trying to absorb as much medicinal power as possible.


    The Parting ssic originally required a bath to absorb medicinal power, but after entering Tempered Will, his entire body had been emptied out so this process was not required. The medicinal power would naturally enter his body to swiftly restore Tang Jie¡¯s lost power. Tang Jie felt his exhaustion beginning to fade, reced by unprecedented energy and limitless strength¡­


    ¡°Eh? This kid doesn¡¯t seem to be cultivating a mantra of the Basking Moon Sect,¡± Li Yu remarked as he watched. ¡°It seems like Old Xie was right. This guy really is quite strange. But what does it matter? What cultivator doesn¡¯t have a secret? Without secrets and without killing, it will be difficult to live through the storms. Whatever! Not my business, not my business!¡±


    As he was thinking, he felt a sharp pain, upon which he realized that he had torn away a little too much of his flesh in his excitement. But as Tang Jie had already consumed the flesh, it wasn¡¯t like he could open up Tang Jie¡¯s mouth and take it back. <em>Ah, forget it. I¡¯m happy today and drank a little too much. I won¡¯t be so haphazard next time.</em>


    After taking onest nce at Tang Jie, he jumped into theke and left. Truly, he embodied the phrase ¡°Disappearing without a trace once the deed is done¡±.


    (TN: A line from Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai¡¯s poem, ¡°Ode to Gantry¡±.)


    The ship made several circuits around theke, and only when Tang Jie finished cultivating did it casually approach the shore.


    ¡°Tang Jie! Tang Jie!¡± Two people ran down from the mountain.


    It was none other than Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng. When he saw how spiritless the two of them looked, Tang Jie felt his heart sink.


    Jumping onto shore, he sternly asked, ¡°Did something happen? Tell me if you finished the mission or not.¡±


    ¡°Haaa, don¡¯t even talk about it,¡± Wei Tianchong sobbed. ¡°The moment you got into trouble, I wanted to go and save you, but Shi Meng insisted that Ie back and turn in the mission. But the moment we arrived on shore, we ran into Ye Tianshang¡­¡±


    ¡°Ye Tianshang took the mission from you?¡± Tang Jie was stunned. Had he been the one who had ultimatelypleted the mission? If true, that would be a huge problem.


    Given his talent, there was basically no chance for Wei Tianchong, even if hepleted both of the remaining missions. Even if Yan Changfeng was blind, he would never pick Wei Tianchong.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that. The first young master managed to arrive in time and fend off Ye Tianshang,¡± Shi Meng replied.


    ¡°And after that?¡±


    ¡°And then, just when I had gotten the head, I suddenly ran into Cai Junyang¡¯s group,¡± Wei Tianchong sobbed.


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that it was Cai Junyang¡¯s group that got the head?¡± Hearing that it was Cai Junyang andpany who had taken action made Tang Jie feel a little better. ¡°If it¡¯s like that, then at least it¡¯s still among friends, so there¡¯s nothing to feel bad about.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Wei Tianchong unexpectedly replied. ¡°They wanted to take it from us, but then they talked about how you were fighting down there and that the slightest dy might cause you to lose your life. So that you wouldn¡¯t die, they decided to not waste time fighting¡­ thus, I still managed toplete the mission!¡±


    Wei Tianchong suddenly shouted.


    Tang Jie was startled. ¡°What? They let you go¡­ Hold on. Then why were you crying just now?¡±


    ¡°I was teasing you! I wanted to see what you looked like when you heard I failed the mission. You always seem so self-assured that some people are sick of it and want to see what it¡¯s like when you¡¯ve failed!¡± Together with Shi Meng, Wei Tianchong threw his head back andughed.


    ¡°Bastards¡­ ying a trick on me!¡± Tang Jie was seething mad at these twoughing at his expense, and aimed a kick at Shi Meng.


    Shi Meng hastily dodged to the side, shouting, ¡°Hey, hey, this wasn¡¯t even my idea! It was Cai Junyang who said he wanted to y a trick on you. He wanted to see if your reaction was worth him giving up.¡±


    <em>What?</em>


    Tang Jie looked up the mountain in surprise.


    Midway up the mountain, Cai Junyang, Ping Jingyue, Liu Hongyan, and Shu Mingyang were smiling as they looked at him.


    A talisman in Shu Mingyang¡¯s hand was glowing. It was obvious that the four of them had been listening in on the conversation this entire time.


    From a distance, Cai Junyang gave Tang Jie a thumbs-up.


    That was saying that he had been satisfied by Tang Jie¡¯s words.


    A resounding voice drifted about the mountains. ¡°Tang Jie, you owe us a favor! We let you go this time, but in the next two missions, I¡¯ll definitely still fight with you over it! When that timees, I won¡¯t be standing aside again!¡±


    It was Cai Junyang¡¯s voice.


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes started to get moist.


    He nodded and shouted back, ¡°I will return this favor, I swear!¡±


    Cai Junyangughed, and then the four of them waved at Tang Jie and left.


    At this time, Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong, and Shi Meng looked at each other. One of them suddenly shouted, ¡°We did it!¡±


    ¡°We did it!¡± all three of them shouted, hugging each other.


    On the Clear Sky Mountains, Wei Tianzhi quietly watched from behind a tree.


    He finally said, ¡°Mother was right¡­ You have an excellent little brother.¡±


    ¡°Young Master, you¡¯ve changed your mind?¡± Wu Xing asked.


    ¡°No¡­ it¡¯s just that you win some and you lose some. But this is only the beginning. The path to bing a disciple is still very long,¡± Wei Tianzhi sighed.


    ¡°Yes. After all, there are still two more missions. Those students won¡¯t give up.¡± Wu Xing also sighed.


    The struggle of True Inheritor was a heavy burden carried over a long journey. Who would give up on it so easily?


    But Wei Tianzhi shook his head and replied, ¡°No, they don¡¯t have to face only the other students.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Wu Xing was taken aback. ¡°Young Master, do you mean¡­¡±


    ¡°There are some other people that might not let them seed.¡±


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Wu Xing didn¡¯t understand. Wei Tianchong¡¯s character was pretty good, and he hadn¡¯t really offended anyone in the school. Other than the schoolmates he waspeting with, there shouldn¡¯t have been anyone who deliberately wanted to make him fail.


    ¡°Who else¡­¡± Wei Tianzhi chuckled and whispered a name into Wu Xing¡¯s ear.


    Upon hearing this name, Wu Xing was aghast. ¡°How could that be? He¡¯s¡­¡±


    But he realized something and then whispered, ¡°Ooooh¡­ I get it. Yes, for him, the younger master seeding would be bad news. Young Master is truly wise!¡±


    Wu Xing bowed to Wei Tianzhi.


    ¡°Me?¡± Wei Tianzhi scoffed. ¡°How could I have thought of any of this? My mother wrote a letter specifically mentioning it.¡±


    ¡°So it was thedy.¡± Wu Xing was enlightened. It was no wonder the first young master had seemingly be so smart and understanding. Thedy had been giving him pointers.


    ¡°But this will be a problem. Shouldn¡¯t we warn the younger master?¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. Mother said that if she could see it, then Tang Jie must have noticed it even earlier. Since he¡¯s made this choice, it naturally means that he¡¯s not afraid. Let¡¯s just let him do what he wants. Regardless, my younger brother has be one of the True Inheritor reserves. This alone is an enormous honor for our Wei n, and it won¡¯t be long before the Canglong Prefecture Weis take another step upward.¡±


    With onest nce at his excited little brother, he departed.


    Down below, the excited trio were gradually calming down.


    Wei Tianchong energetically said, ¡°Now, we wait for the second mission to be issued. Tang Jie, with you here, I¡¯ll definitely be a True Inheritor!¡±


    He had gone from being hopeless to being sure of sess. His mental state hadpletely changed.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Just bing a candidate is enough to make you the center of attention. The future missions will be even harder¡­ Many people won¡¯t want to see us seed.¡±


    ¡°What can those people do when you¡¯re around?¡± Shi Meng excitedly said.


    ¡°You¡¯re wrong there. Some people¡­ are truly beyond my abilities,¡± Tang Jie coolly replied. ¡°I can only hope that you work hard from now on, because I might not be able to help you that much.¡±


    The two of them were stunned by what they were hearing and were mystified as to why Tang Jie was speaking in this way.


    They wanted to ask, but Tang Jie simply shook his head and began to walk up the mountain. Too much had happened, and had exhausted Tang Jie in both body and mind. While thatrge amount of spirit food had restored his physical strength, it had done nothing for his mental state.


    He really wanted to go back to his house and rest, bearing little interest in anything else.


    Pushing open the door, Tang Jie entered his house.


    ¡°Big Brother!¡± A voice ted at their reunion came from the courtyard.


    A momentter, a little figure jumped into Tang Jie¡¯s embrace.


    And then a wolfhound-sized figure lunged at Tang Jie and began to madly lick his face with a barbed tongue, almost tearing off his skin.


    ¡°Bao¡¯er?¡± Tang Jie looked at the tiger that had lunged at him and cried out in surprise, ¡°Heavens, you¡¯ve gotten big!¡±


    Westwatch Pavilion.


    Long Dao and arge number of students anxiously waited in front of the gate.


    After a long while, the gate opened.


    A student came out from the pavilion.


    The other students rushed up and began to question him.


    ¡°Senior Brother, what did the headmaster say?¡±


    ¡°Has the headmaster issued his judgment?¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie killed someone, so he must be punished!¡±


    ¡°A life for a life!¡±


    The students were all in a tizzy.


    The messenger student swept his gaze over the others, his gaze so cold that their hearts shivered.


    Long Dao stepped forward. ¡°Senior Brother Li, could it be¡­¡±


    The messenger student raised a roll of white silk. ¡°The headmaster¡¯s words are within.¡±


    He threw the white silk into the air, and it unrolled and manifested threerge words:


    ¡°Serves him right!¡±


    Serves him right!


    This was Basking Moon Academy¡¯s reply.


    Everyone felt their hearts sink to rock bottom.


    Long Dao stared in shock at the words, crying out in unwillingness, ¡°No, I won¡¯t ept this! Even if Lu Fei made a false usation, Tang Jie killing a student in public goes against the school¡¯s rules. Headmaster Xie is protecting him! I¡¯ll tell my father and have him report this to his superiors!¡±


    The messenger student looked pityingly at Long Dao. ¡°Then you had best look more carefully. Those words¡­ were not written by Headmaster Xie.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Everyone raised their heads again.


    Those words gradually dissipated into countless dots of light. Suddenly, they gathered together into a fiery phoenix. With a boom, it began to explosively expand.


    ¡°Headmaster Feng (Phoenix)!¡± Long Dao shouted as he dropped to his knees.


    All the other students prostrated, not daring to even nce up.


    In the Carefree House, Tang Jie hugged Yiyi. As he yed with the little tiger, he told her about his journey.


    A look of longing appeared in Yiyi¡¯s eyes as she listened to this adventure. ¡°Big Brother, can¡¯t you bring me with you next time?¡±


    ¡°I wanted to, but Bao¡¯er needs someone to take care of him. It¡¯s still not proper for him to appear in public.¡±


    ¡°But you promised me that we would always be together.¡±


    ¡°I know. Just wait a little longer. I will think of a way to allow him to appear in public.¡±


    ¡°What would that be?¡±


    ¡°One will turn up eventually,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°At worst, I¡¯ll just buy a tiger and switch it out.¡±


    Suddenly, Tang Jie sensed something.


    Raising his head, he saw a fiery phoenix opening its wings above the Clear Sky Mountains.

 Chapter 184: Fiend Fox

    Chapter 184: Fiend Fox


    Tang Jie got up early in the morning and first went to Spirit tform Pavilion to find Madam Shui and pay off that loan of one hundred thousand spirit coins plus interest.


    Of course, he didn¡¯tpletely pay it off, leaving behind a bnce of ten thousand spirit coins.


    When you didn¡¯t have the money to repay a debt, the lender might even want to take up residence in your home.


    But once you had the money to repay the debt, the lender would want you to keep borrowing.


    Money would never end up in the hands of the people who really needed it.


    For Tang Jie, maintaining the appropriate amount of debt would benefit his future actions. Gu Changqing and Wei Tianzhi were the most obvious examples. Tang Jie had gradually begun to realize that he was naturally a very restless person. That being the case, he might as well use this debt to buy himself some insurance.


    With this insurance, he could more boldly strike out and generate a greater profit.


    At this moment, what he was borrowing wasn¡¯t money, but power and privilege!


    Even so, Madam Shui was still shocked to see that he was paying off ny thousand coins of the principal in one go.


    ¡°It seems like that one-hundred-thousand-spirit-coin puppet of yours has helped you make quite a lot of money,¡± Madam Shui chuckled.


    She used that puppet that had never once existed to tease Tang Jie, and Tang Jie blushed in embarrassment and dropped his head. ¡°Without Madam¡¯s firm support, Tang Jie would not have been able to get this far.¡±


    Madam Shui chuckled, looking at Tang Jie as if he was her own nephew. ¡°In the end, it was through your own efforts that you got this far. But it was still very risky, and this was simply a time where the risk happened to luckily pay off. Walking too long on the edge of the cliff will inevitably mean that you slip one day. In the future, it would be better if you solidly walked the proper path.¡±


    Tang Jie blushed. He knew that Madam Shui was reminding him and warning him that he shouldn¡¯t think that the Basking Moon Sect was really unaware, that it would only let so many things pass.


    He immediately replied, ¡°Madam, thank you for your pointers. This lowly one understands.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Madam Shui pointed at Tang Jie¡¯s Mustard Seed Bag. ¡°How much money do you still have left in there?¡±


    After some thought, Tang Jie decided to be honest. ¡°Twelve thousand coins.¡±


    Madam Shui chortled. ¡°So clever when ites to such small things¡­ but that¡¯s fine. If anythinges up in the future, I¡¯ll at least have an exnation and won¡¯t have to be used of being biased. Right, is there anything in your bag that you weren¡¯t able to take care of? Let me take a look. Since you¡¯re selling it all the same, if you give it to me to handle, we can save ourselves the trouble of letting someone else profit.¡±


    After some thought, Tang Jie replied, ¡°There is something that I was not able to dispose of. I don¡¯t know what it is or its value. Madam, please offer me your guidance.¡±


    He presented the pearl that he had obtained after killing Gu Changqing.


    Tang Jie had examined it in his free time, but he had yet to find out anything.


    Was it a treasure? But no matter how much spiritual energy he sent inside, there was no reaction.


    Was it not a treasure? But how could something that Gu Changqing had so solemnly hidden in his Mustard Seed Bag be an ordinary item?


    When selling the other treasures, he had asked the merchants, but none of those renowned merchants recognized it, and some had even said that it was worthless.


    At this point, Tang Jie didn¡¯t want to keep it a secret from Madam Shui, so he just handed it over.


    Sure enough, when Madam Shui saw the pearl, she gasped in surprise. ¡°There¡¯s something fishy about this thing.¡±


    She took the pearl and carefully examined it, furrowing her brow.


    ¡°Madam, do you see anything?¡±


    Madam Shui silently frowned. After some time, she said, ¡°This item is very strange. I¡¯ve never seen this material, and there¡¯s no reaction when I send in spiritual energy. I can¡¯t tell what it is. It will probably take at least a True Lord to appraise it.¡±


    She looked at Tang Jie and asked, ¡°You got this from Gu Changqing?¡±


    Tang Jie nodded.


    After some thought, Madam Shui said, ¡°If you trust me, then leave this pearl with me. I will go and find someone to identify what this pearl is.¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Since I have already given it to Madam, I naturally trust you.¡±


    Madam Shui smiled in satisfaction. ¡°No matter what this pearl is, it¡¯s no ordinary item. That you can trust me so much means that I wasn¡¯t wrong to treat you so well. Let¡¯s treat those ten thousand coins as a security deposit, and I won¡¯t ask for any interest. You can go and focus on cultivating.¡±


    Tang Jie was delighted, and he deeply bowed to Madam Shui. ¡°Madam, thank you for your generosity.¡±


    Madam Shui waved her hand and sent him away.


    After leaving Spirit tform Pavilion, Tang Jie went to the Meditation Garden.


    Wei Tianchong was practicing hard in his courtyard. Thepletion of the Lin Lang mission had made him see hope, and he had redoubled his cultivation efforts and was training hard every day. This had resulted in excellent progress.


    Seeing Tang Jiee over, Wei Tianchong excitedly shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, take this!¡±


    The Bonecrush Axe swung, unleashing a howling wind at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie took a step forward to grab Wei Tianchong¡¯s wrist, but to his surprise, Wei Tianchong turned his hand around and unleashed a fireball at him.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Tang Jie hadn¡¯t expected this development. He hurriedly withdrew his hand, and the fireball exploded in front of him. Wei Tianchong drew back his axe and smiled. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve made progress with your Fireball spell?¡±


    ¡°Mm. I was practicing it while we were on the road,¡± Wei Tianchong excitedly replied.


    He had started cultivating Fireball some time ago, but he had never been very proficient in it, so he couldn¡¯t use it in battle. Meanwhile, because of his puppet, he had been constantly using the Ghost Axe spell, so he was much more proficient in it than Fireball.


    In the battle at the Xu Estate, Wei Tianchong had realized this problem and had begun to make up for this. Slowly and steadily, he had grown more proficient with Fireball.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t we say that you shouldn¡¯t be in a rush to improve your spell arts and instead focus on increasing your cultivation realm?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    Wei Tianchong scratched his head. ¡°I know, but I can¡¯t get to the next tier of cultivation in just one day, and there¡¯s no telling when the second mission wille. I¡¯m thinking about improving myself a little earlier so that I can take more load off your shoulders.¡±


    Was that so? Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Young Master, you are much more thoughtful than before.¡±


    Wei Tianchong felt embarrassed by thisment.


    ¡°But while you have good ideas, you¡¯re not approaching them in the correct manner. Ultimately, Fireball is a little weak, so practicing it more will do little good.¡±


    Wei Tianchong chuckled. ¡°I know, but isn¡¯t this wind assisting fire¡­¡±


    This was an incoherent sentence, and Tang Jie didn¡¯t understand what wind assisting fire had to do with Fireball, nor did he care. He lightly said, ¡°Whatever you want. But Fireball will have a limited effect on your strength. You¡¯ll need to find another way if you want to experience a breakthrough in a short amount of time.¡±


    ¡°Oh? You have an idea?¡± Wei Tianchong was delighted to hear this.


    ¡°Did you forget that you have another treasure in your possession that you have yet to fully utilize?¡± Tang Jie¡¯s gaze rested on the nearby little fox.


    Wei Tianchong realized what he was talking about, but he soon huffed, ¡°It¡¯s pointless. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong with this stupid fox, but it doesn¡¯t listen to me. I ran into so many dangers on the road, but it never did anything. I don¡¯t even know what it can do. It seems to me that it¡¯s good for nothing and can probably only serve as a pet.¡±


    ¡°Good for nothing?¡± Tang Jie coldlyughed. ¡°If it¡¯s good for nothing, there are probably no good beasts in this world.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Wei Tianchong was startled. ¡°Tang Jie, are you saying¡­¡±


    ¡°What sort of person was Divine God Luo? Anything at his side, even if it was trash, could be turned into gold by him. I initially scoffed when you called it a lucky encounter, but now that I look at it, I find that this little fox really does have some unusual properties. It doesn¡¯t listen to you not because itcks abilities, but because it¡¯s too capable¡­ It¡¯s looking down on you!¡±


    As Tang Jie spoke, that sleeping little fox suddenly raised its head and looked at Tang Jie, its eyes shing with human intelligence and the spark of life.


    Even Wei Tianchong could understand what was going on here, blurting out, ¡°Tang¡­ Tang Jie¡­ It can understand you!¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s voice hit a new octave as he shrieked.


    A fiend beast that hadn¡¯t reached Mind Opening wouldn¡¯t be humanized and so wouldn¡¯t be able to understand humans.


    The fiend tiger of Tiger Roar Peak could understand humans because of its bloodline legacy. For this little fox to be humanized was truly very rare.


    ¡°What¡¯s so strange about it? If it wasn¡¯t sapient, how could it have lured you into a trap?¡± Tang Jie sneered.


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s face turned red. ¡°We said we wouldn¡¯t talk about that already.¡±


    Tang Jie frowned. ¡°Young Master, when you look at an incident, you can¡¯t just look at the surface. You have to understand the meaning behind it.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t understand.


    Tang Jie exined, ¡°I just said that this little fox has great abilities. So why is it that it still used a trap to catch you despite its great abilities? Have you not thought about that question?¡±


    Wei Tianchong was dumbfounded, but while he was honest and straightforward, he wasn¡¯t a fool. Now that Tang Jie had pointed it out, he blurted out, ¡°Could it be that this little fox¡¯s abilities aren¡¯t meant for battle?¡±


    ¡°It also might be the exact opposite¡­¡± Tang Jie profoundly said.


    The fox suddenly bristled, standing up and backing away while warily staring at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°What? Now you know to be afraid? Then show me your true ability, or else don¡¯t me me for dissecting you and making you into a stew.¡±


    He reached out to grab the little fox.


    The fox hissed and jumped up, its paws running across the air as if it was t ground.


    Seeing this mid-air sprint, Wei Tianchong¡¯s eyes flew open. ¡°The Highsurge Step talent!¡±


    He was still a Basking Moon student, and even if he had cheated his way through the exam, he still understood a little. The fiend fox had clearly used that rare natural fiend beast spell art, the Highsurge Step, which allowed one to innately fly, striding through the air as if it was t ground.


    Poor Wei Tianchong had gone back and forth across half of Sageheart,pletely unaware that this little fellow could fly. Moreover, fiend beasts had powerful bodies, and even one that didn¡¯t specialize in strength could still carry Wei Tianchong without a problem.


    It was no wonder it had been so unwilling to reveal its ability. This was a natural flying mount!


    ¡°That¡¯s not all!¡± Tang Jieughed as he stomped on the ground and made a leap at the fiend fox.


    The fiend fox remained nimble in the air, rapidly turning its body to avoid Tang Jie¡¯s grasp.


    Though he hade up empty, Tang Jie simplyughed and took out the Heartbreak Saber.


    Wei Tianchong frantically shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t kill it!¡±


    This was a fiend beast that could fly, which made it extremely valuable. It had to be understood that while students could learn flying spells, their limited spiritual energy meant that a Spirit Sea Tier student would normally only be able to fly for one hour before running empty.


    This was precisely why, despite having flying spells, students still needed to ride horses. As for why Tang Jie and students like him had yet to even learn flying spells, this was because the spells they could learn at this stage were rather slow and not suited for battle. They were more meant for showing off.


    This fiend fox¡¯s natural talent to fly in the air far exceeded the average spell in both speed and duration. It was truly a rare treasure.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°If it doesn¡¯t listen, what does it matter how valuable it is? It either dies or submits!¡±


    He savagely swung the Heartbreak Saber, kicking up a merciless wind.


    As the fiend fox saw the Heartbreak Sabering, its eyes shed, and then its body blinked away like a ghost, just barely dodging the saber. It rapidly moved higher into the air, coldly looking down at Tang Jie from above. There was a bloody light in its green eyes now. It had clearly been angered.


    It opened its mouth and let out a noiseless screech in Tang Jie¡¯s direction.


    A crescent moon appeared in its mouth, shining with a silver luster as it shot at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie seemed to be terrified of this attack. Rather than taking it on his body, he rapidly dropped and executed a roll.


    The crescent moon arc flew over Tang Jie¡¯s head and struck a fake mountain behind him.


    It smoothly swept past. The fake mountain seemed unharmed at first, but a momentter, the upper half of the mountain slid off, leaving behind a mirror-like surface.

 Chapter 185: Meeting

    Chapter 185: Meeting


    Wei Tianchong was left utterly gobsmacked. He muttered, ¡°Void de¡­ That¡¯s Void de. Dear heavens, it can use Void de!¡±


    When Wei Tianchong looked at the fiend fox again, his eyes held the ecstasy of picking up a precious treasure.


    Void de was an extremely rare space-type spell. Attacks that could tear through space were essentially unstoppable and possessed horrifying strength. However, they were limited in their range and moved very slowly.


    Although it had various ws, Void de was still an extremely useful spell.


    He hadn¡¯t expected this fiend fox to be capable of using such a powerful spell, and it was no wonder it hadn¡¯t used it on Wei Tianchong. One strike would have separated his head from his body, which wasn¡¯t what Divine God Luo wanted.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie looked at the shorn fake mountain behind him and then looked at the little fox.


    The little fox was clearly much more listless after making this attack. Tang Jie sighed, ¡°So it was a mixed-blood fiend fox, probably the offspring of some fiend Titan¡¯s affair. As its bloodline isn¡¯t pure, it can only make three Void des at best.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s still not bad!¡± Wei Tianchong happily said.


    But Tang Jie unhappily shook his head. ¡°Are there assassins without ordinary moves? That would be no good. Come and let me see how sharp your ws are.¡±


    The fiend fox angrily bared its teeth at Tang Jie. It rushed at Tang Jie, thrusting out a forew which gleamed under the sunlight.


    Tang Jie thrust out his palm in response, and as it met the w, he sent the fiend fox flying.


    ¡°Too weak!¡± Tang Jie shouted as he punched.


    The fiend fox blinked around in the air, running on its four feet in arge arc to get around to Tang Jie¡¯s back and w at him again. But Tang Jie punched at it without turning his head.


    At this moment, there was another sh from the fiend fox¡¯s mouth, and it unleashed another crescent moon.


    Wei Tianchong cried out, ¡°Watch out!¡±


    This was a close-range Void de, and if it cut at Tang Jie¡¯s head, it would instantly kill him.


    But Tang Jie simply executed a roll, the Void de passing over his head and slicing into the ground. At the same time, he threw out arge number of needles.


    The fiend fox hissed and waved its tail. Its body instantly became nine.


    <em>Thudthudthud!</em> Five of the phantoms were pierced through and dissipated by the needles. The remaining four came together and lunged at Tang Jie, eight ws striking at his body.


    <em>Boom!</em> Tang Jie flew into the air with several bloody wounds on his body.


    But after this attack, the little fox had be even more listless. It dropped from the sky, unable to maintain its flight.


    Once the smoke had scattered, Tang Jie stood back up.


    He smiled as he looked at his wounds. ¡°So you even had a clonebination attack spell. Not bad, not bad. Although you can only use your attacks a few times, they have enough power. And you also have a cunning personality that knows how to make sneak attacks. You have a lot of potential.¡±


    Rather than being angry, he was actually happy to have fallen into the fiend fox¡¯s trap. He looked at Wei Tianchong and chuckled. ¡°Young Master, congrattions on obtaining this fiend beast with so much potential. Young Master will be like a tiger with wings with this fiend beast at your side!¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, it still doesn¡¯t seem willing to listen to me,¡± Wei Tianchong regretfully said as he watched the little fox run out of his embrace again.


    Tang Jie¡¯s face turned grim. ¡°A good bird knows how to choose its perch. This small fox was born intelligent, and it only follows you because of Divine God Luo¡¯s order, so it¡¯s normal for it to not obey you. But if you defeat it, it will naturally listen to your orders.¡±


    ¡°That probably won¡¯t happen.¡± Wei Tianchong shook his head.


    While Tang Jie had an easy time fighting the little fox, the fox¡¯s speed alone was enough for Wei Tianchong to feel sure that he could never beat it. For a person like him who relied on puppets to fight, their greatest fear was nimble opponents.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. So long as Young Master is prepared to listen to me, I can guarantee that you¡¯ll be able to get much stronger in very little time,¡± Tang Jie beamed.


    ¡°Oh? And what¡¯s that?¡± Wei Tianchong asked. For some reason, whenever Tang Jie started grinning, he would always get a bad feeling.


    ¡°Get rich on Tiger Roar Peak,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    Wei Tianchong felt his vision go ck as he almost fainted.


    As they stood at the entrance to Tiger Roar Valley, Wei Tianchong¡¯s legs trembled.


    His scared appearance had the vigersughing. Sitting on Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder, Yiyi raised a finger and made an embarrassing gesture at Wei Tianchong.


    Tang Jie had to remind him, ¡°Don¡¯t be like this. Act like a man. Look at the other students. Is there anyone going up ahead all shaking like this?¡±


    ¡°But they¡¯re not going to Tiger Roar Peak!¡± Wei Tianchong replied from between clenched teeth.


    He really hated himself for agreeing to Tang Jie¡¯s suggestion and going to Tiger Roar Peak.


    Was it for the little fox? Or was it because Tang Jie was just that good with words?


    He was saying that if they went along with his wondrous n, they were certain to seed.


    What did he consider a wondrous n?


    Let out his puppet and have it draw the tiger away so that he could go into its cave and take the fiend beasts that it hadn¡¯t eaten¡­


    What sort of wondrous n was that?


    <em>Do you really take that tiger for a fool? You think it will fall for the bait a second time? And what sort of value could a fiend tiger¡¯s left-overs have?</em>


    If some other person had told him this, Wei Tianchong might have immediately pped them.


    But the one who had said it was Tang Jie!


    Tang Jie had never deceived him or swindled him, and he probably wouldn¡¯t even have gotten this far without Tang Jie, so he really didn¡¯t even have a choice. Rather than believing in this lie, he believed in Tang Jie, believed that Tang Jie would never hurt him.


    But even so, as they stood in front of the valley, Wei Tianchong felt an inexplicable fear.


    ¡°Trust me.¡± Tang Jie patted Wei Tianchong and said, ¡°Once you take this step, you¡¯ll have an even brighter future.¡±


    ¡°Or maybe no future at all,¡± Wei Tianchong tearfully said.


    Tang Jie saw that he wasn¡¯t moving a muscle and was speechless from anger. He decided to just kick Wei Tianchong in the butt, saying, ¡°Just go in already.¡±


    ¡°Aaaah¡­¡± Wei Tianchong shouted, his arms iling as he fell into the valley.


    Once Wei Tianchong had disappeared into the valley, Tang Jie walked over to the supervising Spirit Master and said, ¡°Student Tang Jie would like to request entry into the valley from the esteemed master.¡±


    The Spirit Master raised his head and looked at Tang Jie. ¡°You want to go into the valley?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Jie replied. After some thought, he smiled and said, ¡°This student has already entered Spirit Lake and should not be able to enter the valley anymore, but as the esteemed master has just seen, my young master has entered the valley to temper himself. I cannot rest easy, so I would like to enter the valley to serve him.¡±


    ¡°If a Spirit Lake student enters the valley, they cannot attack any fiend beast, cannot pick any herbs, and cannot help any student in any form or through any words. Do you understand these rules?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Vitors will lose five points, and severe vitors who cause too much loss will be stripped of all their profits and expelled from the academy,¡± Tang Jie sternly said. ¡°This student would not dare to lie. I havee this time only to protect my young master. But so long as my young master is safe, I will never strike first. And if I do strike, I am willing to take the punishment.¡±


    The rules of Basking Moon Academy had always been simple and straightforward, and those who epted the price could simply ignore the rules. It was just like how Ye Tianshang could throw over his student token and essentially publicly ignore the rules. Thus, Tang Jie did not attempt to conceal his goal.


    The Spirit Master wasn¡¯t surprised either. Nodding, he said, ¡°That being the case, I will give you an observation mission. Follow the map and see how the fiends, sprites, and monsters of the valley are doing, and then note it down and make me a report. If you do it well, you can even get a few contribution points. If you break the rules, however, you will lose points, so behave yourself. Your young master has the jade talisman for protection and won¡¯t easily fall into danger. If you recklessly attack, you will do more harm than good.¡±


    He gave Tang Jie a token and ordered, ¡°This token cannot leave your person, or else it will be considered a breach of the rules!¡±


    This jade token had the ability to conceal one¡¯s breathing and spiritual energy. It also recorded a student¡¯s actions. If a student used an offensive spell, it would immediately be recorded.


    After handing over the token, the Spirit Master searched Tang Jie and made sure that he wasn¡¯t bringing in anything to the valley that he shouldn¡¯t be before letting him in.


    The Spirit Master was very thorough, and he soon found a little talisman. When the Spirit Master was about to take a closer look, Tang Jie covered it up and softly said, ¡°It¡¯s just a small thing that doesn¡¯t do anything.¡±


    ¡°Mm?¡± The Spirit Master nced at Tang Jie.


    ¡°Esteemed Master, please overlook it,¡± Tang Jie said, coolly stuffing a small bundle into his hand.


    The Spirit Master felt the bag and immediately had a good guess as to how much was inside. He whispered, ¡°The audacity, bribing an esteemed master!¡±


    Despite his words, he kept a tight grip on the bundle.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°This student promises that the valley will suffer no loss and that I am only going to ensure the safety of my young master.¡±


    The Spirit Master gave Tang Jie a long look before growling, ¡°Remember what you¡¯ve said. When you get back, I¡¯m going to search you. I won¡¯t forgive you if I find anything.¡±


    ¡°Esteemed Master, thank you!¡± Tang Jie deeply bowed and then entered the valley.


    Once they were in the valley, Tang Jie said, ¡°Yiyi, go and find the young master and have him head over to Tiger Roar Peak without dy.¡±


    ¡°And if he doesn¡¯t listen to me?¡± Yiyi asked, tilting her head.


    ¡°Then draw out some fiend beasts to chase him and force him toe,¡± Tang Jie said with a smile.


    ¡°Alright, I like that!¡± Yiyi pped her hands and jumped, instantly covering a vast distance.


    For her, this was an extremely amusing mission.


    ¡°Remember to take note of the direction and make sure he doesn¡¯t run the wrong way!¡± Tang Jie shouted.


    ¡°I know!¡± Yiyi¡¯s reply came from the distance.


    Tang Jie chuckled as he watched Yiyi leave, and then he headed for Tiger Roar Peak. As he had the energy concealment talisman, he was not impeded by any fiend beasts and was able to smoothly make his way to Tiger Roar Peak.


    Not seeing the fiend tiger, Tang Jie headed up the mountain path. He passed the stele, went into the formation, and stepped onto the blood-colored stones like he was walking through his own garden. There was no more murderous intent with every step, only boundless leisure and rxation.


    He arrived at the summit and went up to thatrge rock upon which the fiend tiger had always perched before.


    Tang Jie sat down and sighed. ¡°When west parted, I thought it would be a very long time until we met again¡­ perhaps even never. I didn¡¯t think we would meet again so soon.¡±


    ¡°It seems like your n seeded,¡± a low tiger growl came from behind him.


    Tang Jie said without turning his head, ¡°Mm, there were a few twists, but everything went smoothly overall.¡±


    ¡°Congrattions¡­ How is my child doing?¡±


    Tang Jie finally turned his head.


    Arge tiger had appeared behind him.


    Its dark green eyes carried irrepressible longing and concern.


    Tang Jieughed.


    ¡°You want to know? Why not see for yourself?¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Wang Poguan said in shock.


    Tang Jie raised the beast talisman.


    In a sh of light, little Bao¡¯er appeared on the ground.


    The little tiger was furious after being penned up for half a day, and he wanted to lunge at Tang Jie.


    But he was soon left dumbstruck by what he was seeing.


    A giant tiger identical to him was standing next to him, both strange and familiar.


    Their bloodline connection made it so that he didn¡¯t fear this enormous existence. On the contrary, he felt a vague affection. But in his hazy memories, he could find no such figure.


    The little tiger was rather at a loss.


    He looked at Tang Jie and then looked at Wang Poguan. With his limited intelligence, he couldn¡¯t understand what was going on, so he let out a strange growl.


    When Wang Poguan saw the little tiger appear before him, he began to tremble all over in excitement.


    After sending out his child, he had thought that he would never see him again.


    Perhaps that cunning human had tricked him again and enved his child.


    Perhaps Tang Jie had failed, his secret had been exposed on death, and the little tiger had been seized by the Basking Moon Sect.


    There were countless scenarios, most of them ending in tragedy. He was so afraid of failure that he didn¡¯t even dare to imagine the possibility that he might one day meet his child.


    But at this moment, his child really had appeared before him again, those innocent andrge eyes looking at him with that confused expression, and Wang Poguan was so excited that he could no longer control himself.


    ¡°You¡­ Why did you bring him back?¡± Wang Poguan asked Tang Jie in agitation. ¡°This is too risky!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I just wanted you to see him and know that he¡¯s doing well. I think this is more useful than anything I could say,¡± Tang Jie chuckled. He then awkwardly said, ¡°I can¡¯t let other people see him, so he spends the majority of time locked up in my house¡­ He¡¯s gotten a little fat and has a fear of strangers. I hope you won¡¯t mind too much.¡±


    Wang Poguan looked back at the little tiger and said in a trembling voice, ¡°My child¡­ you¡¯ve grown bigger!¡±


    Unable to control himself any longer, he rushed over and began to lick the tiger.


    The little tiger hadn¡¯t adjusted to this tempo and desperately struggled, but he could never break free of his excited father.


    Tang Jie felt like he was about to tear up.


    He slowly took a step back and softly said, ¡°Let¡¯s not rush things. You two will have the rest of the day to get to know each other.¡±


    In shock, Wang Poguan raised his head and looked at Tang Jie.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± he said.

 Chapter 186: Comprehending the Dao

    Chapter 186: Comprehending the Dao


    Tang Jie stood at the mountain summit, breathing in the wind and exhaling fog.


    He closed his eyes and felt the energy of the world surging around him. With each inhtion and exhtion, he controlled the beating of his heart.


    Drawn-out and powerful!


    Wang Poguan was meeting his son, and as an outsider, Tang Jie didn¡¯t want to disturb them. Thus, he practiced breathing cultivation on his own.


    A cultivator had to diligently cultivate at every chance they had.


    In the battle at the Student Forest, Tang Jie had felt like he was verging on a breakthrough. Putting aside the boost to his constitution, most importantly, he had an inexplicable feeling that he couldn¡¯t quite describe.


    It was like there was a thin membrane in front of him, and he just needed to break through it to reach a vast world, but the membrane refused to break.


    This feeling left Tang Jie frustrated and momentarily distracted.


    This distraction caused Tang Jie to lose control of his spiritual power somewhat, and his body would asionally erupt with spiritual light, and a golden character would appear and disappear in his palm. This was none other than the Wuwang Character, ¡°Chase¡±!


    Butpared to before, the character had clearly lost much of its luster.


    ¡°Oh? What is this?¡± Wang Poguan¡¯s voice came from behind him.


    Looking back, Tang Jie saw one big tiger and two small tigers affectionately gathered together. Bao¡¯er¡¯s older brother had arrived at some point, and the two tigers had quickly begun to y with each other.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Wuwang Character,¡± Tang Jie indifferently said as he looked away. ¡°It¡¯s a treasure left behind by a True Lord of great power. To tell the truth, even I¡¯m not sure what it really is. As a spell art, it¡¯s somehow able to persist for a long time. As an art relic, it¡¯s made purely of spell arts.¡±


    Tang Jie gave a rough summary of how he had obtained the Wuwang Character.


    When he heard that Tang Jie had actually gotten the Wuwang Character from a True Lord, Wang Poguan clicked his tongue in wonder.


    Getting a lot of nice things became really straightforward when one became this bold, but Tang Jie was unprecedented when it came to this audacity, and even Wang Poguan had to admire his courage.


    Only someone with sufficient daring would do such a thing.


    But now that he knew what this item was, Wang Poguan stopped being polite.


    ¡°Let me take a look!¡±


    Tang Jie opened his hand, and the Chase Character gradually appeared, floating up and down in Tang Jie¡¯s hand.


    Wang Poguan¡¯s head bobbed up and down with it. After some time, he sighed, ¡°What an exquisite Dao Will!¡±


    ¡°A Dao Will?¡± Tang Jie was startled. ¡°Was this Wuwang Character formed from a Dao Will? But isn¡¯t Reverend Wuwang yet to enter the Dao?¡±


    ¡°Idiot!¡± Wang Poguan said in disdain. ¡°The path of the Dao is profound and boundless. There is observing the Dao,prehending the Dao, entering the Dao, and grasping the Dao. Only those who have entered the Dao can call themselves Celestial Sovereigns. This Reverend Wuwang might not have entered the Dao, but he has clearlyprehended the Dao. This is precisely why he has such a refined Dao Will and can form it into a Wuwang Character.¡±


    ¡°Then what is the Dao?¡± Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    Wang Poguan froze at this question.


    After a long while, he intoned, ¡°Daos are the rules of the world.¡±


    <em>Daos are the rules of the world.</em> Tang Jie had heard this in ss before.


    To his understanding, the rules of the world were simply thews, principles, and definitions by which the world operated.


    But only understanding this was meaningless, simr to how understanding Newton¡¯s Three Laws didn¡¯t mean you could break free of gravity.


    If understanding wasprehending the Dao, then the Dao was just a little too simple.


    In reality, over tens of thousands of years, the Rosecloud Domain had never been able to make a good description of the Dao. Even those Dao-Controlling Titans only left behind a few sentences here and there.


    All those lofty ones who attained the Dao had only this to say: the Dao was indescribable.


    The Dao could not be described, onlyprehended!


    This was something that could not be described with words, a realm that could only beprehended on one¡¯s own. This was precisely why it was impossible to record, pass down, or teach.


    But today, Wang Poguan had told him that the Wuwang Character in his possession was formed from Dao Will!


    The shock to Tang Jie was immense.


    He stared at the Wuwang Character and muttered, ¡°Could it be that if I see through this Wuwang Character, I will be able toprehend the reverend¡¯s Dao Will?¡±


    ¡°¡®Comprehend¡¯?¡± Wang Poguan broke into a smile, which looked savage to behold. ¡°No, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re thinking, then you will never be able toprehend the Dao.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Tang Jie was confused.


    ¡°Because that is not your Dao!¡± Wang Poguan replied.


    ¡°¡®Not my Dao¡¯?¡± Tang Jie shuddered.


    He suddenly seemed to understand, blurting out, ¡°One¡¯s nature is a gift, and my Dao is the Great Dao!¡±


    Wang Poguan chuckled. ¡°You finally get it. The Dao isn¡¯t something you can grasp just because you¡¯ve grasped the principle and understood its meaning¡­ It will be a vista you will behold only when you¡¯ve reached a certain level of cultivation and reached the apex. The Dao of the Martial Lord was one of battle, and through constant battle, he seeded in every endeavor, but even with the Weapon Mantra, you cannotprehend his Dao. The same is true for the Wuwang Character. That is Reverend Wuwang¡¯s Dao and has nothing to do with you. If you want a Dao, you first need a path! This is the Way! Only when you have reached the end of the path will you find the Way!¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Tang Jie breathed in and looked at Wang Poguan. ¡°Do you know all this because of your bloodline legacy?¡±


    Wang Poguan nodded.


    Although he was only an upper-grade Spirit Sensing fiend beast, he had the memories of his bloodline, which allowed him to understand many things that not even those of the Mortal Shedding Realm couldprehend.


    He could not tell Tang Jie what the Dao was, but he could at least let Tang Jie know how he could possess his own Dao.


    ¡°My own path¡­¡± Tang Jie looked at the Wuwang Character and muttered, ¡°Then¡­ what is my path? What is my style? How is it that I can see my own Dao?¡±


    That haze in his mind gradually began to clear up, and the memories he had produced since he hade to this world began to flow through his head: his life in Little River Vige, his determination to leave home, his chance encounter with Xu Muyang, his entry into the Wei Estate, his counterattack on Godhead Pce, the struggle for True Inheritor¡­ All of these scenes rushed through his mind as if he was watching his life y back. Tang Jie closed his eyes and softly muttered, ¡°Since I¡¯vee to this world, I¡¯ve experienced many bumps on the road, but while it¡¯s been hard, I¡¯ve never given up. That¡¯s because I believed. I believed that this world would not abandon those who worked hard. I believed that while this world was emotionless, people had emotions. And I believed that while the world hadws, humans also hadws. Laws are like a river, and I am a fish. When I struggle bravely against the current, I cannot forget about what is happening on shore¡­


    ¡°That is precisely why the Dao of the Martial Lord is not suitable for me, for it is only about advancing and never retreating. As for me, I advocate for both advancing and retreating, for sometimes, retreating one step might allow one to advance three steps. The heavens and earth are like a and the Daos are thews of the heavens. If that is so, that means that I should advance along the path instead of mindlessly rushing around¡­ Taking the correct path will always be more important than speed. To do this, formidable strength is not enough, nor is astounding courage. Only by clearly understanding the affairs of the world can one see the correct path through the world.


    ¡°Thus, my Dao does not seek to be unrivaled throughout the world, only to understand the world. What I seek¡­ is insight!¡±


    As he spoke this final word, Tang Jie felt his entire body rxing, and that dark shadow over his heart melted away like thawing snow. He felt a light shining in the depths of heart, rising like the sun. Tang Jie felt a hint of enlightenment.


    It was a wondrous feeling. Tang Jie had no idea what exactly he had understood, yet he had managed to understand it anyway.


    No spoken words could describe it, nor could it be put to writing. There was only that wondrous feeling lingering in his mind. Itpletely contravened thews governing spiritual energy, existing in Tang Jie¡¯s mind in an indescribable and iprehensible fashion.


    A momentter, the Wuwang Character in Tang Jie¡¯s hand suddenly cracked apart, dissolving into golden particles of light.


    But as Tang Jie watched it disappear, he suddenly sensed something and confidently waved his hand, upon which another ¡°Ö𡱠character appeared.


    That character radiated light and then struck a nearby tree. The tree was pulled up by the roots and disappeared down the mountain.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Wang Poguan was shocked. He had clearly seen the attack just now, and Tang Jie had clearly not used any sort of spell art. He had simply conjured up an attack akin to the Wuwang Character out of thin air.


    Even divine connections were just manifestations of spell arts. It was just that the Divine Will could directlymune with spiritual energy and skip the art manifestation phase. But Tang Jie¡¯s action truly had nothing to do with spell arts.


    The only exnation was¡­ Dao Will!


    ¡°You¡¯ve actuallyprehended the Dao!¡± Wang Poguan didn¡¯t dare to believe his eyes.


    Tang Jie had so easily managed toprehend the Dao.


    He did not know that Tang Jie had once observed the Heavenly Dao Stele and observed the Dao.


    For him, the Heavenly Dao was no illusion. It was an authentic existence.


    It was a shock that couldn¡¯t be described with words, an existence that demanded veneration.


    It was precisely because he had seen the Heavenly Dao and because his personality was not one that sought to go against the natural order that he had chosen to follow the will of the Heavenly Dao and embark on the path of insight as his Way.


    And the Wuwang Character condensed from a sliver of Reverend Wuwang¡¯s Dao Will just so happened to elerate the process.


    Though it was a different kind of Dao Will, it was still a Dao Will. Tang Jie had made it his own will andprehended the Dao in a day. Enlightened, he had almost instantly understood a part of the mystery of the Wuwang Character.


    With a casual snap of the fingers and the wave of a brush, he had created one.


    But this feelingsted only for a brief moment. As that Chase Character disappeared, Tang Jie¡¯s understanding of the Wuwang Character gradually began to fade. He knew that this was not his own Dao, so he could only copy it, not own it.


    Even so, with this sudden breakthrough, Tang Jie had reaped a rather rich harvest.


    Tang Jie let out a long breath. Looking at Wang Poguan¡¯s disbelieving gaze, he smiled and said, ¡°It was only a minorprehension, a glimpse through a crack in the door. I was only able to perform that feat just now thanks to Reverend Wuwang¡¯s Dao Will. I¡¯m still quite far from actuallyprehending the Dao. As you said, only when you reach the end of the path can you find the Way¡­ and I¡¯ve only just started on my path.¡±


    ¡°At least you¡¯re on the correct path and won¡¯t be lost or confused any longer,¡± Wang Poguan said with an emotional sigh. ¡°Some people spend their entire lives cultivating but might ultimately walk into a dead end, but you will never experience this. Different¡­ From now on, you will be different!¡±


    Wang Poguan was correct.


    For Tang Jie,prehending the Dao was now just a question of time, while others would have to depend on luck.


    In truth, if he just mentioned this, he wouldn¡¯t need to do any missions to have countless True Persons and True Lords pleading for him to be their disciple.


    Geniuses were easy to find, but the Dao realm was difficult to reach!


    ¡°This is all thanks to Big Brother Wang¡¯s instruction!¡± Tang Jie sincerely thanked the tiger.


    ¡°You were only able to pull it off through your own ability.¡±


    ¡°But it seems like it hasn¡¯t done much to make me stronger,¡± Tang Jie said as he looked at himself. The membrane in his heart had disappeared, but he hadn¡¯t gotten any stronger. He just felt an intangible sense of understanding, and the things around him felt somewhat different.


    But he couldn¡¯t even say how they were different.


    Therefore, while one membrane had disappeared, it had been reced by many other membranes that made him feel ufortable, anxious to see through them.


    This just so happened to coincide with another principle he had understood much earlier: the more you understand, the more you don¡¯t understand. The more you can do, the more you need. It was an ever-expanding circle.


    Wang Poguan didn¡¯t understand the state he was in, but he did understand something else: breaking through the threshold of the Dao Will did not help one to increase their strength.


    He chuckled. ¡°No rush, no rush. Carefully sense the things around you, and you might discover something new. Since you have taken the Dao of Insight, then¡­ try and look into the distance!¡±


    <em>¡®Look into the distance¡¯?</em>


    After some thought, Tang Jie focused his eyes and peered into the distance.


    He had never practiced any long-distance vision spells, but as he looked down from this height, he realized that he could see far into the distance. His vision had gotten several times stronger.


    Far off in a clearing, a white and plump figure was running this way. Behind him was arge pack of wolves.


    It was Wei Tianchong!

 Chapter 187: Instruction

    Chapter 187: Instruction


    Wei Tianchong had finallye.


    Compelled by Yiyi.


    He was running for his life!


    ¡°Save me! Save me!¡±


    Wei Tianchong hollered as he ran.


    s, nobody paid any attention to him.


    Actually, there was someone.


    Yiyi was seated on Wei Tianchong¡¯s puppet, running alongside Wei Tianchong and chuckling at him. No matter whatmands Wei Tianchong gave, the puppet refused to throw off Yiyi. Tang Jie had helped him build this puppet, and it wouldn¡¯t have made sense for him to not leave behind some backdoors that he could exploit.


    Seeing that he couldn¡¯t throw off Yiyi and the pack of wolves was continuing to chase him, Wei Tianchong angrily cursed, ¡°Stubborn sprite! Foul sprite! Once I¡¯m free of danger, I won¡¯t spare you!¡±


    Yiyi wasn¡¯t angry at all. Tilting her head, she giggled, ¡°What¡¯s the point in telling me what I already am? Rx. If you go into Tiger Roar Peak, those wolves won¡¯t dare to chase you.¡±


    ¡°Like hell I¡¯m doing that. If ites to it, I¡¯ll just use my jade token and teleport out,¡± Wei Tianchong shouted.


    He had alreadypletely given up on the idea of entering Tiger Roar Peak. If he weren¡¯t still sore about those 200 spirit coins, he would have already run off.


    ¡°Are you talking about this?¡± With a flourish, Yiyi revealed a jade token in her hand.


    Wei Tianchong felt his body and, sure enough, he found that his jade token was not on him. Paling in fright, he frantically asked, ¡°When did you steal my jade token?¡±


    ¡°Tsk!¡± Yiyi pouted. ¡°I think you should run a little faster. The wolf pack has almost caught up.¡±


    Wei Tianchong looked back and saw that the wolves had gotten closer. Yelping in fear, he pushed the Mis Step to the limit, mist appearing under his feet as he sprinted away.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help butugh at the sight.


    ¡°Is that your friend?¡± Wang Poguan asked upon seeing Yiyi on the puppet.


    ¡°My young master,¡± Tang Jie answered. ¡°I had hime to Tiger Roar Peak to steal away your treasures.¡±


    Wang Poguan understood. ¡°You want to raise him?¡±


    Tang Jie lightly said, ¡°I owe a lot to the Wei Estate for being able toe this far. When I left the estate, I swore an oath that I would not stop being a servant until the young master shed his mortality, and I would only leave the register when the young master reached Celestial Heart.¡±


    ¡°I see. But he seems to have too weak of a personality. Training him up will be very difficult!¡± Wang Poguan said with a shake of his head.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Would it be any fun if it were easy? And isn¡¯t it rather amusing for a servant student to instruct his young master?¡±


    Wang Poguan was taken aback, and then he raised his head back andughed. ¡°It¡¯s amusing, truly amusing!¡±


    Theugh of a tiger was the roar of a tiger, and the roars soon resounded through thend, causing Wei Tianchong to shudder.


    He was no ignorant fool. From this vigorous roar alone, he could tell how strong the tiger on the summit was. It appeared that it was even scarier than all the wolves behind him put together.


    His heart filled with fear, he slowed down and quietly said, ¡°My good sister, why don¡¯t you let me go this one time¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it! If you don¡¯t go to Tiger Roar Peak, you can just die here.¡±


    Wei Tianchong said in panic, ¡°You¡¯re sending me to my death! If you have the skill, why don¡¯t you go up yourself?¡±


    To his surprise, when Yiyi heard this, she jumped off the puppet and said, ¡°You¡¯re saying that you would go if I went? Then just watch me!¡±


    She rushed up the mountain.


    Seeing Yiyi fearlessly charge up the mountain, Wei Tianchong mentally trembled. It was as if something had been stuffed into his chest, causing him to freeze.


    As he watched Yiyi run, he muttered, ¡°She really did go¡­ Am I really not evenparable to a little girl?¡±


    In the end, he was still a man.


    The fire in his heart had been stoked by Yiyi¡¯s actions, and he shouted, ¡°Shit, what¡¯s the big deal? If you can go, then I can go!¡±


    He began running toward the mountain.


    Unlike the sorry state he was in when fleeing the wolf pack, Wei Tianchong now had a heroic air about him, as if he was a tiger intent on devouring the world. On the summit, Wang Poguan was taken aback. ¡°Oh? This young master of yours seems to have changed?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s probably been motivated. Even the most timid person is hiding a beast inside them,¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    ¡°¡®Even the most timid person is hiding a beast inside them¡¯¡­¡± Wang Poguan pondered these words, his eyes brightening. ¡°It seems like this young master of yours isn¡¯tpletely hopeless.¡±


    ¡°Big Brother Wang is interested in trying your hand?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no harm in ying around with him for a little,¡± Wang Poguanughed.


    The wolf pack retreated before it had gotten even halfway up the mountain.


    But there was no going back for Wei Tianchong.


    This wasn¡¯t about fleeing the pursuit of the wolf pack. It was all about his dignity as a man.


    Standing in front of the boundary stele of Tiger Roar Peak, Wei Tianchong shivered.


    He saw Yiyi¡¯s nimble form ahead of him and clenched his teeth, finally stepping over that line of life and death to stand on the blood-colored paving stones.


    He gathered his courage and advanced step after step.


    There was no noise at all.


    Was Tang Jie right? Was the tiger really sleeping at this time?


    He could just rush in and steal everything?


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s heart began to sing.


    Yiyi appeared in front of him. She made a ¡°shush¡± gesture and waved at him, indicating he should follow her.


    Wei Tianchong hastily went up, following Yiyi and soon arriving at a cave.


    Arge pile of pelts had been left in the cave¡ªclearly the remainder of the fiend tiger¡¯s meals.


    Moreover, the pelts were well preserved, and some of them even hadplete skeletons with horns. These were all excellent items to be used in medicines, and they were all neatly piled up on the ground, easily within reach. Even Wei Tianchong started to get excited. He scanned the area and instantly felt his heart freeze, his breath almost stopping.


    Unable to restrain himself, he blurted out, ¡°Fiend pellet!¡±


    A red pearly atop the skin of a giant grass python, shining with a bloody luster and overflowing with fiend energy. What else could it be besides a fiend pellet?


    Fiend pellets were where the life and essence of a fiend beast aggregated. In the eyes of high-realm cultivators, only fiend beasts with fiend pellets could be considered true fiend beasts. Ordinary fiend beasts just had some fiend energy and could use a few spells.


    But while fiend pellets were a nexus of life and essence, any fiend beast with a fiend pellet was bound to be very strong regardless of its level. Students would find it very hard to kill such beasts.


    It waspletely unexpected for there to be a fiend pellet on Tiger Roar Peak. How could Wei Tianchong not be excited?


    He lunged forward, opening the Mustard Seed Bag that Tang Jie had given him and madly stuffing things inside, all the while muttering, ¡°Rich¡­ rich¡­ I¡¯m rich¡­ hahahaha!¡±


    A mad smile had appeared on his lips.


    Yiyi covered her face. ¡°This idiot¡­¡±


    Hisugh just now was enough to awaken even a pig.


    Fortunately, Wei Tianchong quickly realized what he had done and shut his mouth. He looked around, and only when he saw that there was no danger did he get back to shoveling items into the bag.


    It was only once he had taken everything in the cave and reluctantly looked around for a little longer that he finally decided to leave.


    But he had only made it a few steps when he heard the roar of a tiger.


    Scared out of his wits, Wei Tianchong turned his head and saw that a tiger had appeared in the distance, standing atop a rock and looking at him.


    The tiger opened its maw and furiously roared.


    ¡°Oh gods!¡± Wei Tianchong yelled, and then he immediately turned and ran.


    <em>Raaaa!</em>


    The tiger lunged, fiendish gales rising around it as a tiger w swiped at Wei Tianchong.


    When Wei Tianchong realized that he couldn¡¯t dodge, he heard a voice speak into his ear. ¡°Mis Step, to the left.¡±


    Wei Tianchong instinctively moved to the left, and the w swept past him and struck the ground, sending up a shower of stone.


    As the blow missed, Wei Tianchong recognized the voice and shouted, ¡°Tang Jie! Tang Jie! Where are you?! Hurry and save me!¡±


    ¡°Block with the axe!¡± the voice said again.


    Wei Tianchong instinctively raised his axe in front of him, just in time for the tiger¡¯s tail to sweep into it. The Bonecrush Axe mmed into his body and made Wei Tianchong drop his jaw in pain.


    Tang Jie swiftly said, ¡°Use the puppet to block it!¡±


    Wei Tianchong hastily let out the puppet to block as he tearfully cried out, ¡°Hurry and save me!¡±


    As he spoke, <em>boom!</em> The fiend tiger sent the puppet flying with a swat of its palm.


    Aghast, Wei Tianchong began to run away.


    ¡°Keep using the puppet to block and use the Evilhook Shadow Soldier to slow it down!¡±


    ¡°No! I can¡¯t do it!¡± Wei Tianchong desperately shouted.


    The spells that he was so proficient in normally now came slowly and clumsily.


    ¡°You can¡¯t panic in battle. Control your breathing and calm down. You have to believe in yourself!¡±


    ¡°Believe in myself¡­ believe in myself¡­¡± Wei Tianchong muttered.


    But he found it impossible to calm down in the face of such a terrifying threat. His mind was empty and his limbs were so soft that he could barely stand.


    As the fiend tiger swatted away the puppet and was about to lunge again, another figure appeared. It was Yiyi, raising her small hand and conjuring a bunch of thorny flowers to hold down the fiend tiger.


    The fiend tiger struggled against the flowers, but it couldn¡¯t break free and furiously roared.


    Wei Tianchong was dumbfounded.


    The image of the little fox scorning him appeared in his mind. When he saw how bravely Yiyi was acting, he was momentarily stupefied.


    Purely through instinct, Wei Tianchong circted the spiritual energy in his body and gathered the power for a spell. The form of a shadow soldier began to appear.


    The highest level of proficiency in a spell was when one could cast it purely through instinct.


    Wei Tianchong hadn¡¯t reached this level yet, but after more than a year of practicing only a small number of spells, he was so proficient with the casting process that once he got started, the rest could go smoothly.


    The first shadow soldier soon appeared and lunged at the fiend tiger.


    This was followed by a second, a third¡­


    His nk mind finally began to regain some of his senses. Wei Tianchong seemed to realize something and shouted, ¡°Yiyi, hurry and get back. This is an upper-grade fiend tiger. Your flower formation can¡¯t hold it for long!¡±


    Yiyi seemed to not get it, ncing at Wei Tianchong and curiously tilting her head.


    Panicking, Wei Tianchong ran over, grabbed Yiyi, and turned to flee.


    The fiend tiger vigorously struggled. <em>Snap! Snap! Snap!</em> The flowers began to break.


    rmed, Wei Tianchong ran even faster, at the same time pointing at his puppet and shouting, ¡°Lunge!¡±


    The puppet lunged forward and grabbed the fiend tiger¡¯s legs.


    Wei Tianchong raised his hands. ¡°Lift!¡±


    The puppet raised the fiend tiger up high.


    ¡°Throw!¡± Wei Tianchong made a throwing movement with all the strength in his body, and the puppet vigorously threw the fiend tiger.


    The fiend tiger hadn¡¯t expected this attack at all, and it furiously roared as it tumbled through the air. The puppet had thrown the tiger several dozen meters, creating a lot of distance for Wei Tianchong.


    The moment the fiend tigernded, it made a jump of several dozen meters, hurtling toward Wei Tianchong.


    ¡°Block!¡± At this dangerous moment, Wei Tianchong pointed at the fiend tiger, and the puppet jumped up and punched the tiger, altering its trajectory.


    Meanwhile, Wei Tianchong ran off while holding Yiyi. As the boundary stele grew closer and closer, the fiend tiger angrily roared and wed at the air in front of it.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    Spikes jutted out of the ground, several of them stabbing through the sole of Wei Tianchong¡¯s foot.


    Caught unawares, Wei Tianchong howled in pain.


    He didn¡¯t have the time to use the Fearless spell. He could only hobble forward. At the same time, he grabbed several brightly-colored fruits from the Mustard Seed Bag and threw them out. ¡°For you!¡±


    These were dogwood fruits, the favorite of fiend beasts.


    Wei Tianchong had thrown them out to distract the fiend tiger.


    As expected, the fiend tiger rushed at a dogwood fruit. Wei Tianchong used the chance to roll all the way down to the bottom of the mountain.


    The sole of his foot had been injured, so rolling was faster than running.


    He also didn¡¯t forget about his puppet. As he left the domain, he extended a hand and summoned back the puppet.


    As the puppet flew back, the fiend tiger swiped a w, striking it.


    <em>Bang!</em> The puppet trembled as the sharp ws swept over it, damaging its exterior.


    Still, the puppet managed to return to Wei Tianchong¡¯s side.


    Wei Tianchong grabbed the puppet and rolled out of the domain, shouting, ¡°Yiyi!¡±


    Yiyi handed over the jade token, and Wei Tianchong activated it, upon which he was instantly whisked away.

 Chapter 188: Fiend Pellet

    Chapter 188: Fiend Pellet


    Once Wei Tianchong was gone, the fiend tiger chuckled. ¡°He¡¯s gone now, so why haven¡¯t youe out yet?¡±


    Tang Jie appeared from behind a rock and grinned at the tiger. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    Wang Poguan stuck out his tongue and said with disdain, ¡°First, he¡¯s all panicky and jittery, recklessly making noise, and then he¡¯s ovee by greed and reluctant to leave, and finally, he¡¯s cowardly and bewildered. Absolutely ipetent¡­ but he still has some redeeming traits. He didn¡¯t abandon hisrades and run, and in the face of death, he still knew to save the little sprite, showing that he¡¯s not a heartless sort. Finally, his reactions and judgment were also pretty good, especially that act of rolling down Tiger Roar Peak¡­ haha, rolling down¡­ wonderful! Truly wonderful! That¡¯s the first time I, Wang Poguan, have ever seen someone flee in this manner. It¡¯s truly a first.¡±


    He once more heartilyughed, but his resounding tiger roars sounded like ones of fury.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°Although it was rather unsightly, it was still very practical. In dangerous moments, people will often be very quick-witted. Not bad, not bad. There was also that ploy to bait you with dogwood. Although it doesn¡¯t work on you, it¡¯s still a very normal decision.¡±


    ¡°But it means that you¡¯ve lost a lot of dogwood fruits.¡±


    ¡°A few dogwood fruits are nothingpared to more growth in personality,¡± Tang Jie indifferently said.


    Resources were for a moment, whereas one¡¯s nature wouldst for a lifetime.


    So long as Wei Tianchong could be firm and determined, let alone a few dogwood fruits, even throwing away all of his harvest from Tiger Roar Peak would be worth it.


    ¡°But I have to say: stabbing his feet is one thing, but why hit the puppet? Don¡¯t you know how much work I put into that thing? It was quite expensive.¡±


    Wang Poguan rolled his eyes. ¡°What do you take Tiger Roar Peak for? You think people can just go in and out when they please? Anyone thates has to pay a price. Rx; I controlled my strength. Repairing it won¡¯t be too expensive.¡±


    ¡°If so, then I must thank Big Brother Wang,¡± Tang Jie said to Wang Poguan.


    ¡°You¡¯re leaving?¡± Wang Poguan looked back. On the distant summit, two little tigers were happily ying.


    ¡°I have to leave eventually,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    Yes, he had to leave eventually.


    Wang Poguan sighed and stomped his feet. ¡°Go, then. I¡¯m happy enough to see Bao¡¯er.¡±


    His tone was depressed and helpless.


    With this parting, he did not know when he would be able to see his child again. Perhaps this would be an eternal parting!


    When Tang Jie arrived at the valley entrance, he saw Wei Tianchong lying on the ground, panting for breath, his unfocused eyes looking up at the sky. It was clear that he hadn¡¯t recovered from the ¡°stimtion¡± just now.


    The vigers of Tiger Roar Vige were used to the sight, and nobody paid him any attention.


    Tang Jie first let the Spirit Master search him, after which he walked over with a smile. ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡±


    Upon seeing Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong jumped up and pointed at him. ¡°You¡­ you¡­ you¡­ you were there! Why didn¡¯t you help me?¡±


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°I felt uneasy letting you go in alone, so I asked the esteemed master for a mission so I could follow you into the valley, but I couldn¡¯t attack without breaking the rules.¡±


    ¡°But I barely escaped with my life there!¡±


    Tang Jie whispered, ¡°That¡¯s why I had Yiyi help you, but that¡¯s the absolute limit of what I can do. And didn¡¯t you wonder why the fiend tiger wasn¡¯t in the cave?¡±


    Wei Tianchong was startled. ¡°Could it be that you¡­¡±


    ¡°Shush!¡± Tang Jie covered Wei Tianchong¡¯s mouth. ¡°Don¡¯t say it out loud!¡±


    Wei Tianchong was instantly on his guard. He knew that Tang Jie was certain to be punished if word of this got out.


    In truth, Tang Jie wanted to use this opportunity to ensure that he didn¡¯t go around bragging about his gains in Tiger Roar Valley.


    No one would suspect Tang Jie if he killed the mother tiger and took her body from Tiger Roar Peak, but this was because of his past performance. No student would believe that Wei Tianchong could steal the treasures of the fiend tiger on Tiger Roar Peak.


    One¡¯s daily performance was the most important standard by which people judged each other. One¡¯s impression of someone wasn¡¯t usually based on some major incident, but more on the minutiae they saw in daily life, the small details.


    This was precisely why Tang Jie didn¡¯t want Wei Tianchong to tell anyone about his intrusion into Tiger Roar Peak.


    Fortunately, there was no need to hand over the harvests from Tiger Roar Valley to the vigers, and Wei Tianchong could secretly dispose of them himself. As for the origins, he was a young master of a big n, so he could just say that his family had given them to him.


    Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t understand the real reason, but it was fine for him to believe that Tang Jie had yed a part in this mission, diminishing his resentment toward Tang Jie.


    The two of them went back, with Tang Jie reminding him multiple times of the mistakes he had made in his response back there.


    Wei Tianchong hade to understand a lot of things through his battle. He hade to understand the dangers of the cultivation world, that he couldn¡¯t be as carefree as before. Moreover, now that he had personal experience, he was gradually beginning to understand orders that had previously left him baffled. This had truly been a fruitful battle.


    Once they returned to the Meditation Garden, Wei Tianchong opened the Mustard Seed Bag and counted his spoils, growing more excited as he did. ¡°Five thousand¡­ Tang Jie, the items in this bag are worth at least five thousand coins!¡±


    For the Wei n, handing over five thousand spirit coins was a rather difficult task. Wei Tianchong was overjoyed to have received so much all at once, and he instantly felt that the journey had been worth it.


    Let alone him, even Tang Jie found it very hard to get more than a thousand spirit coins at one time in his current state. Now that he had returned to his normal life, money had once more be hard toe by. Capital was bound to be used up, but cultivation was boundless.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t forget about this. This alone is worth three to five thousand coins.¡±


    He raised the giant python¡¯s fiend pellet.


    Wang Poguan had specifically left this for Tang Jie. Compared to the sprite core that Yiyi had consumed back then, this fiend pellet was even more brimming with energy and was also undamaged. This was why it had been able to be kept for so long.


    Wang Poguan had gone to great lengths to get the fiend pellet intact, even sustaining an injury in his battle with the python.


    s, after the battle with Gu Changqing, Tang Jie had entered Spirit Lake, rendering him unable to enter Tiger Roar Valley. Thus, it was only now, by borrowing Wei Tianchong, that he had been able to take it.


    Wei Tianchong looked at the fiend pellet, a look of admiration on his face. But after some thought, he unexpectedly said, ¡°I¡¯ll give this fiend pellet to you.¡±


    ¡°Mm?¡± Tang Jie was startled.


    Wei Tianchong said, ¡°I was only able to get so much because you helped me from the shadows. Without you, I wouldn¡¯t have seeded. I don¡¯t know what you did, but, Tang Jie, I¡¯m not an idiot. I know how frightening an upper-grade fiend tiger is. I can¡¯t even beat a lower-grade fiend fox, but I can steal from an upper-grade fiend tiger¡­¡±


    He shook his head, his eyes appearing much clearer.


    Even Tang Jie was dumbfounded.


    Wei Tianchong said, ¡°Rx. I won¡¯t ask about your secrets. I just need to know that you sincerely wanted to help me. You can consider these things as my gift to you. I won¡¯t monopolize them.¡±


    He pushed some of the items in the Mustard Seed Bag to Tang Jie. ¡°I¡¯ll give you the fiend pellet, and I¡¯ll also give you half the items so that we split it. Is that okay?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled.


    After some thought, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll take the fiend pellet, but you should keep the rest. Our first priority is getting you to Spirit Lake. Five thousand spirit coins all converted to medicine should be enough. Once you reach Spirit Lake, you should be able to defeat the little fox, and you¡¯ll have such a massive boost in strength that I won¡¯t need to worry about you anymore.¡±


    Wei Tianchong wanted to say more, but Tang Jie stopped him. ¡°Enough. I¡¯m already very grateful for your kind intentions. But I¡¯m helping you to help myself. The faster you enter Mortal Shedding, the faster I¡¯m free from the status of a servant student and get back my freedom.¡±


    Wei Tianchong blurted, ¡°Tang Jie, do you still not get it? You stopped being my servant student a long time ago. You¡¯re my friend!¡±


    Tang Jie was moved. He nodded. ¡°I know¡­ but there are times when one¡¯s status is still very important.¡±


    Wei Tianchong could not treat him like a servant student, but what about others?


    For some things, it was better for one¡¯s status to be true in both name and reality!


    Wei Tianchong had nothing to say to this.


    He muttered, ¡°In other words, you¡¯re helping me so much so that you can eventually forget about me?¡±


    The thought of Tang Jie leaving one day made Wei Tianchong extremely reluctant to see him go.


    Tang Jie saw how sad he was and put an arm over him. Chuckling, he said, ¡°Rx. Even if there¡¯s a day where I¡¯m no longer a servant, I¡¯ll still help you out.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to that, Tang Jie!¡± Wei Tianchong cried out in joy.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Tang Jie firmly replied.


    Seeing the serious look on his face, Wei Tianchong smiled in satisfaction.


    Leaving Wei Tianchong to handle the resources himself, Tang Jie took Yiyi back to the Carefree House.


    After letting out the little tiger, Tang Jie threw the fiend pellet at Yiyi. ¡°This is for you.¡±


    Yiyi grabbed the fiend pellet and asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t this very useful to you, Big Brother?¡±


    ¡°It is useful, but it will be even more useful to you,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°Yiyi, your big brother is helping his young masterplete the True Inheritor mission, butpleting the next two missions will probably be very difficult. Thus, it¡¯s also very important to me that you get stronger.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that I will also participate in the next mission?¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°But you¡¯ll be with the young master.¡±


    Yiyi wasn¡¯t happy to hear that she would be with Wei Tianchong, pursing her lips and saying, ¡°Hmph, that idiot! I¡¯m not following him!¡±


    ¡°Listen to me, Yiyi!¡± Tang Jie sternly said. ¡°The next mission won¡¯t be as easy toplete. If my guess is right, there will be someone out there specifically trying to target me and prevent me from helping the young master. When the timees, your big brother will be up to his ears in work, and then the young master will find it very hard to stand alone. Thus, I need you to lend the young master your strength. After thinking it over, I¡¯ve determined that this is the only way.¡±


    ¡°Someone will deal with you?¡± Yiyi was shocked. ¡°Are you talking about those students?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°No, I¡¯m not worried about them, but about some other people.¡±


    ¡°Who is it?¡±


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t answer her, saying, ¡°Just use your brain and think, and you¡¯ll find the answer one day¡­ It¡¯s actually not that difficult to guess. People are usually motivated by their own profit. So think. If the young master seeds, who will stand to lose out? And then you¡¯ll get it. If you find the answer, then congrattions for escaping innocence¡­ or perhaps I shouldn¡¯t congratte you,¡± Tang Jie said, his voice dropping.


    A momentter, he stuffed the fiend pellet into Yiyi¡¯s mouth.

 Chapter 190: Letter

    Chapter 190: Letter


    With thepletion of the first True Inheritor mission, Basking Moon Academy returned to normal.


    No one knew when the second mission woulde, so everyone seized the chance to diligently cultivate.


    But beneath the calm surface of the academy, a massive storm was building up power.


    An overt change, however, was that after thepletion of the first mission, Wei Tianchong became a rising star in Basking Moon Academy. His status as a True Inheritor reserve was enough to blind all the people who didn¡¯t know the real story. As for those who did know the truth, they could only envy the Wei n¡¯s luck for finding such an outstanding servant student.


    Fortunately, after returning from Tiger Roar Peak, Wei Tianchong buried himself in cultivation and was unaffected by what was going on outside. He had no idea that he had be a celebrity.


    The numerous materials had been exchanged for various bottles of precious cultivation medicine. Wei Tianchong tirelessly cultivated and worked to improve himself.


    Even though there were still many ces where hecked understanding,pared to the bossy and arrogant young master he was in the past, Wei Tianchong had truly matured a lot.


    asionally, Wei Tianchong would go with Shi Meng to Tiger Roar Valley, but rather than reaping rewards, they mainly went to increase theirbat experience.


    Although they mostly didn¡¯t make back their money, with these battles, Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng gained a lot more practicalbat experience and were no longer caught unawares when running into danger.


    Half a monthter, Wei Tianchong broke through and officially entered Spirit Lake.


    By this time, a hundred-some students had gotten there ahead of him, including An Rumeng, Cai Junyang, and the other exceptionally talented students.


    For his four-cycle self to close the distance with these geniuses made Wei Tianchong feel very proud of himself.


    When the news reached the Wei n, the entire estate celebrated!


    Following Tang Jie¡¯s arrangements, Wei Tianchong chose a new spell for himself: Darkwind Warrior.


    Darkwind Warriors were elite warriors among the countless lower-ss evil spirits of the Shadow Domain. They were much stronger than the Evilhook Shadow Soldiers, and they even had their own Darkwind spell arts. When moving, they turned into gusts of wind, and only in battle would they solidify. In terms of both speed and strength, they were superior.


    The only disadvantage was that it wasn¡¯t possible to summon multiple Darkwind Warriors at once, unlike with the Evilhook Shadow Soldiers, and they took more time to summon. Even so, this was still an enormous boost to Wei Tianchong¡¯s strength.


    Besides that, Wei Tianchong learned a protective spell, the Windshroud.


    Unlike other spells, the Windshroud spell required sacrificing a shadow soldier, and the defensive strength of the Windshroud would depend on the strength of the shadow soldier sacrificed. Its greatest advantages were that it could be cast extremely quickly, didn¡¯t require much special training, and consumed little spiritual energy.


    After the battle at Tiger Roar Peak, Wei Tianchong kept thinking about how he had been unable to cast any spells because his mind had been nk. This was precisely why he had chosen such a spell.


    Tang Jie was very understanding about this and approved of his decision.


    After learning these two spells, Wei Tianchong continued to diligently cultivate night and day.


    Besides that, he also worked to improve his rtionship with the little fox.


    As he got stronger and continued to assiduously attend to the fox¡¯s needs, the little fox gradually began to adjust its opinion of him. It was no longer so aloof, and while it still didn¡¯t takemands, at least it was more affectionate.


    As for Shi Meng, he had limited talent and alsocked resources, so he was still some distance from Spirit Lake. But he wasn¡¯t discouraged because of this, continuing to practice the spells he had so that he could help out his young master during the mission.


    He had been nning to learn some offensive spells to help his young master, but to his surprise, Tang Jie had him learn an escape spell and also told him to diligently cultivate it.


    Though Shi Meng didn¡¯t get it, just like Wei Tianchong, he followed Tang Jie¡¯s advice and did as he was told.


    As for Tang Jie, he continued to cultivate every day. It was just that he had moved his focus to the Violet Lightning Lunge.


    The Violet Lightning Lunge was a formidable spell art of the Basking Moon Sect, and at the highest level of cultivation, one¡¯s body would be like lightning and could move as swiftly as the wind. Whether in battle or flight, it was extremely effective. In the past, Tang Jie had relied on his powerful body, so he was clearlycking in his cultivation of the Violet Lightning Lunge. This time, he devoted eighty percent of his energy into the spell, leaving the remaining twenty percent for the Divine Court Thousandshift.


    He cultivated the Divine Court Thousandshift to strengthen his golden bullet.


    With ten-thousand-some spirit coins left, Tang Jie didn¡¯t let this money sit idle and continued to purchaserge numbers of broken tools.


    As his body grew stronger and he grew more proficient in the Weapon Mantra, the number of times he could use the Weapon Mantra every day increased, and so he needed more and more broken tools.


    In two short months, with Tang Jie spending several hundred spirit coins on extracting various tools, he quickly spent ten-thousand-some coins, and his golden bullet was finally the size of a ping-pong ball.


    The golden ball had consumed countless weapons to finally reach this state, which caused Tang Jie to emotionally sigh.


    Today, he destroyed his final broken weapon and became utterly destitute. All he had left were a few dozen spirit coins, but his golden ball was now the size of a chicken egg.


    Tang Jie yed around with the golden ball in his hand, turning it over. With a sudden thought from him, the golden ball began to lengthen, turning into a slender dagger.


    Tang Jie smiled at the dagger in his hand. With a twitch of his fingers, the dagger began to spin between his fingers like it was dancing, but it did him no harm. Finally, it made a graceful arc and shed with cold light before vanishing.


    Anyone would have undoubtedly been shocked by this disy of skill and believed that Tang Jie had practiced for many years. But this was actually the work of the Divine Court Thousandshift. With the power of the spell art, he was able to rapidly grasp the form of every weapon and how to use it.


    The dagger disappeared, and Tang Jie¡¯s arm trembled. A golden light appeared on his right hand, and then a golden gauntlet covered it.


    This was also made from that golden ball.


    Tang Jie tested the gauntlet and found that even the Heartbreak Saber couldn¡¯t hack through it. But the gauntlet could only prevent direct damage and was powerless at stopping the special effects of spell arts. Even so, it was still a treasure that could both attack and defend.


    Finally, Tang Jie¡¯s hand trembled again, and the golden ball turned into little finger covers.


    The five sharp protrusions seemed to be ordinary, but with one punch, they could shatter stone without a need for activating spiritual power!


    As the golden ball grewrger and it gained more transformations, the Weapon Mantra¡¯s power gradually began to show itself. It was no longer so difficult to use.


    With this item, Tang Jie felt his confidence rising. He felt like he could even fight against a Mortal Shedding Realm Spirit Master now.


    As he was brimming with confidence, he heard a <em>ding</em> from his belt.


    Looking down, he saw that the jade amulet had made the sound.


    It was Xu Miaoran.


    Tang Jie felt his heart grow hot.


    Examining the jade amulet, he saw that a line of elegant words had been written on it: ¡°In the major tournament a few days ago, I got fourth ce, losing to Senior Sister Tai, Senior Sister Shen, and Senior Brother Lan. I¡¯m so angry. Ugh, why did they have to be geniuses? But a loss is a loss. What about you? How did your tournament go? Ah, forget it. I know that you can¡¯t say, so you don¡¯t need to answer me. I wish that everything goes well for you. Grandma is looking for me again, so I¡¯ll stop here. Goodbye.¡±


    Tang Jie really wanted to tell her that he hadn¡¯t taken part in the academy¡¯s major tournament. Everyone was so busy vying for the True Inheritor position that no one had any interest in fighting over that little medicine and ranking. And with some students hiding their strength, the academy¡¯s major tournament this year had be a feast for those with no hope of vying for the True Inheritor spot.


    s, he couldn¡¯t tell any of this to Xu Miaoran, so he could only look at the jade amulet and sigh.


    The inability to reply tormented him. Time after time, he had picked up the paper crane, only to put it down with a sigh.


    This sort of feeling of only being able to watch from a distance and not y was somewhat like looking at pictures of beautiful women on the inte. It was an unbearable feeling that only filled him with more longing.


    Sageheart was too far away from Endsea. Even if he sent a letter, it would take half a year to arrive at the minimum.


    <em>Wait¡­</em>


    Tang Jie was shaken.


    <em>That¡¯s right!</em>


    <em>Write a letter!</em>


    Why couldn¡¯t he write a letter?


    Sageheart and Endsea were still trading partners. Even if a letter would take half a year to arrive, he could still write one!


    Why did he have to keep sighing over that paper crane he couldn¡¯t use?


    Even the tardiest letter was still a letter. So long as the other side was willing to wait, it didn¡¯t matter how long it would take to deliver.


    Tang Jie pped his forehead. ¡°I¡¯m such an idiot. I can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t think about such a simple thing.¡±


    He immediately went into his house and began writing a letter.


    He spent the entire afternoon writing it.


    It was a very, very long letter.


    He recounted everything that had happened since their parting. He wrote things that he could say and even some things that he shouldn¡¯t say onto the letter, and pages began to pile up.


    Only when the stack had reached twenty-some pages did Tang Jie realize that it was dusk.


    Putting down his brush, he read over the letter. Upon seeing that there was nothing too blunt here that a girl¡¯s family wouldn¡¯t ept, Tang Jie put the papers into an envelope and went to the post station.


    He passed the letter to the student there, who nced at the address and said in surprise, ¡°Horizon Ocean Pavilion?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Horizon Ocean Pavilion. I have a friend there.¡± Tang Jie smiled.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± the student chuckled. Looking at the name of the recipient, he said, ¡°Xu Miaoran¡­ So it¡¯s a girl. But Horizon Ocean Pavilion is rather far away. It will take a while for your letter to arrive.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but it will get there eventually.¡±


    After mailing off the letter, Tang Jie inwardly rejoiced. He felt like he could see the letter being ced on a cart, then on a boat, all the way into Xu Miaoran¡¯s hands. He felt like he could see Xu Miaoran smile as she opened the letter, felt his pages and pages of letters crossing the sea to convey his thoughts to his beloved¡­


    As he was lost in his fantasies, he heard someone urgently shouting, ¡°Tang Jie! Tang Jie!¡±


    Turning his head, he saw Shi Meng sprinting toward him.


    Shi Meng looked like he was flying¡ªa result ofbining Windform with the new running spell he had learned, the Rapid Step spell. He came up to Tang Jie and shouted, ¡°I was looking for you! Why are you here?¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°The second mission hase out!¡± Shi Meng shouted, not a sliver of joy on his face.


    ¡°What sort of mission is it?¡± Tang Jie hurriedly asked.


    ¡°The Valley of No Return!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Tang Jie shuddered. ¡°It¡¯s the Valley of No Return?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the Valley of No Return. Anyone whoes out with the Iceme Red Lotus is the winner!¡± Shi Meng said, a bitter look on his face. ¡°I really didn¡¯t think it would be there¡­ Tang Jie, did you predict this? Is that why you wanted me to learn an escape spell?¡±


    ¡°I knew that the next mission wouldn¡¯t be easy to get through¡­ but I didn¡¯t think it would be there.¡± Tang Jie also bitterly smiled.


    He looked at Shi Meng. ¡°I hope that you haven¡¯t been cking off on your cultivation of that spell.¡±


    Shi Meng winced.


    He naturally hadn¡¯t been cking off. The problem was that he hadn¡¯t been cultivating the spell for very long, and the Valley of No Return was a far more dangerous ce than they had imagined.

 Chapter 189: The Second Mission

    Chapter 189: The Second Mission


    A faint red light radiated from Yiyi¡¯s body. She seemed like a transparent light-up doll, her skin bing so translucent that it was almost possible to see inside her.


    Unlike the sprite core, the fiend pellet was the reservoir of spiritual essence within the flesh of a fiend beast, not simply a pure collection of spiritual power. This was why, after consuming the fiend pellet, Yiyi had entered this semi-illusory existence. She no longer needed Tang Jie¡¯s blood for sustenance and could gradually grow while nurtured by the power of the pellet.


    Once the medicinal power was finally spent, Yiyi was now the size of a three-to-four-year-old child, no longer as delicate as before.


    ¡°Big Brother!¡± Opening her eyes, Yiyi jumped onto Tang Jie.


    ¡°You¡¯ve gotten heavy,¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°If this keeps up, your big brother won¡¯t be able to hug you any longer.¡±


    ¡°No! No!¡± Yiyi shouted, twisting her body and refusing toe down.


    ¡°Be good! Now tell your big brother: what sort of new abilities do you have?¡± Tang Jie was more concerned about Yiyi¡¯s growth.


    At present, Yiyi still hadn¡¯t left the range of the lower grade, but her strength had clearly grown. She was no longer just barely at the threshold of the lower grade.


    This also meant that she was close to the level of that tree sprite from before. Considering that she wasn¡¯t a closebat type, she was probably stronger when it came to spells.


    ¡°Watch!¡± Yiyi jumped onto Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder and pointed at the ground. ¡°Rise!¡±


    Countless green rose vines erupted from the ground.


    It was the same flower formation from before, but they grew in swaths rather than needing to be grown one by one as before.


    Besides that, the vines of these green roses were clearly much stronger and thicker than before.


    The moment these green roses appeared, they opened theirrge mouths and bit at Tang Jie. Tang Jie let them bite, and the poison in the petal teeth caused Tang Jie to feel a twinge of pain.


    ¡°The poison hasn¡¯t gotten stronger, but their biting force has gotten a big boost. I see,¡± Tang Jiemented, somewhat understanding what had happened.


    The fiend pellet hade from a giant python, which had an impressive biting strength. When used on Yiyi, it majorly boosted the green roses¡¯ closebat strength, in addition increasing the firmness and length of the vines.


    ¡°Is there anything else?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Yiyi waved her hand, and arge cloud of mist appeared around Tang Jie.


    ¡°An illusion formation?¡± Tang Jie¡¯s eyes brightened.


    It was still that small bewildering formation from before, but it was clearly much stronger. The past illusion formation could only imprison a mortal, but this one could even work on Spirit tform Realm students.


    ¡°Not bad, not bad. s, it still only messes up direction and can¡¯t influence the mind into producing illusions,¡± Tang Jie said as he nodded.


    The greatest ability of an illusion formation was to induce the mind to see things. Those in the formation would feel like they were transported to another world, and everything they thought and felt would be controlled by the formation. Their actions would be controlled through the illusion, and it could have amazing effects if used properly. As for Yiyi, her illusion formation was still stuck at the disorientation level, unable to influence others in any way. Even so, it was enough for holding down an enemy.


    ¡°Is there nothing new?¡± Tang Jie wasn¡¯t satisfied with just enhanced spells. Tang Jie urgently needed Yiyi to get stronger. Moreover, Yiyi¡¯s current level of strength didn¡¯t fit her status as a peak lower-grade sprite.


    ¡°There¡¯s also this.¡± Yiyi jumped into the air, and then like the fiend fox, she began to freely glide about in the air.


    Unlike the fiend fox, which appeared to be treading the air like t ground but was actually using a kind of spatial shifting spell, Yiyi was swimming through the air like a fish in the water, freely traveling where she pleased.


    ¡°The Snakeslither spell?¡± Tang Jie seemed to understand.


    This was clearly an additional power granted by the fiend pellet. It had made her movements much more agile and free.


    Although it wasn¡¯t some powerful offensive spell, it was a huge upgrade to Yiyi¡¯s self-preservation abilities. Moreover, Tang Jie could tell that Snakeslither could even avoidrge-area spiritual flood attacks when trained to a high level. It was a practical kind of defensive spell.


    ¡°Not bad, not bad!¡± Tang Jie was delighted.


    The illusion formation could hold enemies, the flower formation could attack, and Snakeslither could keep her safe. It was an all-aroundbination that could even let her defeat some of the weaker students.


    Little Yiyi had finally grown up.


    Seeing how happy Tang Jie was, Yiyi glided back into his embrace and giggled. With her growth, she had gained a lot of spiritual power, so even casting spells had be easier.


    ¡°Unfortunately, while the flower formation is decently powerful, it can¡¯t move, so it can only be used for positional battles and isn¡¯t suited for hit-and-run tactics.¡± Tang Jie was still looking for Yiyi¡¯s shorings.


    As a flower sprite, Yiyi had inherited the usual style of sprites, which excelled in positional battles and were weak at hit-and-run tactics.


    In the future, inplicated situations where one had to face numerous experts, excelling only in positional battles was certain to be suicide.


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°This is no good. We still need to add onto your abilities.¡±


    ¡°What ideas do you have?¡± Yiyi curiously asked.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, and a screen of light appeared. These were the countless secret arts he had stolen from the ninth floor of Heaven One. ¡°Since I¡¯ve stolen so many secret arts from the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, I can¡¯t just let them go to waste. Let¡¯s look for a secret art that you can cultivate.¡±


    ¡°But it would be terrible if the Basking Moon Sect found out!¡± Yiyi shouted.


    ¡°We just need to find one that they can¡¯t identify. Don¡¯t worry. There are plenty of secret arts to choose from¡­ Which ones do you want to learn?¡± Tang Jie asked with a smile.


    South Mountain House.


    This ce was located on the southern end of Rising Star Peak.


    Proceeding into South Mountain House and following the courtyard, one would see a tall and straight pine tree growing out of the rocks, its top in the clouds.


    Beneath the tree were a stone table and a little reclining chair positioned on the edge of the cliff. It was facing the sea of clouds and was witness to the rising mists and the rose-tinted clouds.


    Nan Baicheng lightly rocked on the reclining chair as he gazed at the clouds.


    He enjoyed this feeling of looking down on the world from atop the mountains. Only cultivators could enjoy this unique sensation.


    Standing high above, without any peers.


    But at the same time, one was positioned on a cliff and could fall at any time!


    Nan Baicheng would be fine if he fell from Rising Star Peak.


    But to fall from the Basking Moon Sect would put him through even more suffering than just killing him.


    There were always some things that did not go the way one wanted!


    A man wearing tight ck clothes paced over. He quietly stood not far from Nan Baicheng, his hands at his sides.


    Nan Baicheng slowly opened his eyes. ¡°Have you finished your investigation?¡±


    The man replied, ¡°Yes, we¡¯ve finished investigating. Wei Tianchong was able toplete the mission this time entirely because of that servant student, Tang Jie. He was the one who found Lin Lang and also the one who defeated him. He was also the one who reported the matter of Chang Yuping taking bribes and viting thew.¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie¡­ Tang Jie again,¡± Nan Baicheng muttered as he pondered this familiar name.


    He had be far too familiar with this name as ofte.


    Four years ago, it was precisely this name that had let him into paradise.


    But now, the same name was on the verge of sending him to hell.


    This thought caused a vicious look to appear on Nan Baicheng¡¯s face. ¡°Why? Why doesn¡¯t he seek the True Inheritor position for himself?¡±


    The man in ck hastily replied, ¡°Apparently, it is because Tang Jie swore an oath to the Wei n before entering school that he would not leave the family register until he helped his young master enter Celestial Heart. That is why he is doing everything in his power to get this chance for his young master.¡±


    ¡°For the sake of leaving a family register, he wants to make this clumsy oaf into a disciple for my master?¡± Nan Baicheng stood up and furiously roared, ¡°If Master sees how I¡¯ve served him, ultimately selecting such an ipetent and craven oaf as his disciple, what do you think Master will think of me?¡±


    The man in ck did not dare to reply to these words.


    Nan Baicheng¡¯s face twisted into a savage snarl.


    The path of Immortality was rife with struggles. Every benefit had to be gained through one¡¯s own efforts.


    He needed not only toplete the mission his master had given him, but to do a good job!


    Toplete this mission, Nan Baicheng had refused the requests of numerous Immortal Masters and refused numerous benefits. All of this was to maintain his status in the eyes of his master.


    Even though he had average talent, he was at least ¡°able and efficient¡±.


    But if he ended up choosing a clumsy oaf as Yan Changfeng¡¯s disciple¡­


    Nan Baicheng didn¡¯t even dare to imagine the consequences.


    While Yan Changfeng might not say anything, in his mind, Nan Baicheng would essentially be banished.


    Without the ¡°able and efficient¡± reputation, he would cease to have any purpose as Yan Changfeng¡¯s disciple.


    How could he ept this?


    As he raged, the man in ck gathered his courage and said, ¡°There are still two more missions. That Wei Tianchong isn¡¯t guaranteed to seed.¡±


    ¡°You think I don¡¯t understand that?¡± Nan Baicheng roared. ¡°But since Tang Jie has already decided to make Wei Tianchong a True Inheritor, he would never let the other two chances pass by. If he actually manages to seed, Master will have no one else to choose. Wouldn¡¯t this be an absolute joke?¡±


    Nan Baicheng took in a deep breath, suppressing his anger. ¡°No matter what, Wei Tianchong can¡¯t be allowed to seed!¡±


    ¡°Yes, this lowly one understands. In the next mission, I will not allow Tang Jie to seed!¡± The man in ck thrust his fist into his other hand as he replied.


    ¡°No, you can¡¯t do it. You¡¯re my man, so if you¡¯re exposed, you¡¯ll ruin it. As the overseer of the disciple selection, I have to be fair and impartial, so I can¡¯t leave behind such an obvious clue,¡± Nan Baicheng immediately said.


    ¡°Then, Master Nan, you mean to¡­¡±


    Standing at the edge of the cliff, Nan Baicheng paced back and forth several times before sternly saying, ¡°Tang Jie isn¡¯t a simple person. He hasn¡¯t beenpletely ruled out as being Tang Jiye, and the academy is still treating him rather favorably and keeping a close eye on him. Trying to deal with him will only make a mess of things. Thus, for the next mission, what we need to do isn¡¯t to stop Tang Jie, but to separate him from Wei Tianchong. Wei Tianchong isn¡¯t able enough toplete the mission without Tang Jie at his side.¡±


    The man in ck understood. ¡°Master Nan is wise. But if that¡¯s the case, we will have to alter the mission.¡±


    ¡°Mm. Fortunately, we haven¡¯t issued the second mission. That being the case, let¡¯s give them a little stimtion,¡± Nan Baicheng chuckled.


    The man in ck felt his heart chill at these words. ¡°Master Nan, you mean¡­¡±


    ¡°Have them go to the Valley of No Return,¡± Nan Baicheng dered.


    ¡°The Valley of No Return is too dangerous. It¡¯s not suitable for students to adventure in!¡±


    Nan Baicheng coldly replied, ¡°And what about it? There can be only one True Inheritor, and I only need to select one person. Moreover, the Valley of No Return has abundant resources and is rarely opened. The students should be thanking me for the opportunity to go inside. Go and make the preparations!¡±

 Chapter 191: Sealed Ground

    Chapter 191: Sealed Ground


    ¡°¡®The Valley of No Return¡¯? What ce is that?¡± Wei Tianchong asked from his seat in the Meditation Garden, the little fox in his embrace.


    Surprisingly, Tang Jie and Shi Meng didn¡¯t mock Wei Tianchong for his ignorance.


    Tang Jie firmly said, ¡°The Valley of No Return is a mission area for students.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s just a mission area. Why are all of you so uptight about it?¡± Wei Tianchong chuckled.


    He was at Spirit Lake now, so he now had the ability to take part in missions. Since the Valley of No Return was a mission area, it appeared to him that the second mission was meant to assess the abilities of students through missions.


    ¡°The Valley of No Return is different,¡± Tang Jie said. ¡°It¡¯s a sealed mission area.¡±


    ¡°¡®Sealed¡¯? Why is it sealed?¡± Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t get it.


    Shi Meng sighed. ¡°Young Master, you should really study more.¡±


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s fine,¡± Tang Jie casually said. ¡°The young master has a limited amount of energy, so he should focus all of it on cultivation. If there¡¯s anything he doesn¡¯t understand, we can just help him out. As for why it¡¯s sealed, it has to do with the spiritual energy cycle.¡±


    The so-called ¡°spiritual energy cycle¡± referred to how, when a cultivator died and became Returned Remnants, their spiritual energy returned to the earth.


    The spiritual energy cycle was precisely how the Rosecloud Domain¡¯s spiritual energy was able to persist for tens of thousands of years, producing generation after generation of heroes.


    But if one looked back on the past, they would discover that the earliest period was still very different from the present.


    In Remote Antiquity, thend was untamed, civilization had not yet begun to thrive, and the various races battled against each other.


    The humans of that time were all capable of cultivating. This was because spiritual energy was abundant. While spell arts were few and far between, there were no obstacles on the path of cultivation.


    It was said that humans of that era didn¡¯t even have such a thing as the Jade Gate sealing the heavens. They automatically broke through and began to absorb the essence of the world.


    But over thousands of years, the number of people who could automatically achieve this feat dwindled.


    The Rosecloud Domain gradually went from being a ce where everyone could cultivate to having a divide between mortals and Immortals. Though cultivators shared the same heaven and earth with mortals, they lived in two different worlds.


    ¡°¡­The biggest reason for this is that the amount of spiritual energy in the domain has been shrinking, and it¡¯s no longer enough to support mortals automatically being able to cultivate,¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    ¡°The amount of spiritual energy in the domain is shrinking?¡± Wei Tianchong was bbergasted. ¡°Is it because too many Immortal tform Titans are breaking out of the domain and taking their spiritual energy with them?¡±


    Tang Jie and Shi Meng exchanged a nce and shook their heads.


    Shi Meng exined, ¡°While it¡¯s true that Immortal tform Titans take their spiritual energy with them, the power of a single Immortalpared to a domain is like a stalk of millet in the ocean. Even tens of thousands of years of Titans breaking through the domain would only be able to take a sea¡¯s worth of water at most, but not so much that the spiritual energy of the domain would be so thin.¡±


    ¡°So what¡¯s the reason?¡± Wei Tianchong was confused.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s not evenly distributed,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°¡®Not evenly distributed¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Yes, not evenly distributed¡­¡± Tang Jie solemnly said.


    When a cultivator died and their Returned Remnants sank into the earth, just because spiritual energy could flow didn¡¯t mean it would evenly distribute itself across the world.


    It was like how the dryness of the air in Beijing wouldn¡¯t have any effect on the air in Guangzhou.


    Thus, after death, a cultivator¡¯s spiritual energy could influence thend based on their strength. If a Spirit tform Realm student like Wei Tianchong died, he wouldn¡¯t even be able to influence thend and would simply dissipate.


    But this gave lone humans a chance to extract spiritual energy from the world.


    What if a cultivator chose a ce to die and sealed the area so that spiritual energy couldn¡¯t escape?


    Just like the Martial Lord¡¯snd of Returned Remnants, the sealed area would be a hidden paradise. The ce would be overflowing with energy, all of the nts and trees brimming with essence. This made it the best ce for cultivating!


    And what if this practice were carried out over the long term?


    It wasn¡¯t like every cultivator would die in a foreignnd.


    There were always some people who reached the end of cultivation, found it hard to advance any further, and saw that the heavens would not give them any more time, so they decided to pick a ce to die. And if this ce where they died was a spiritual paradise, they would essentially be leaving the energy they had umted throughout their life in this ce.


    This was the initial meaning behind the formation of sects!


    No one knew who was the first toe up with this method, but almost every major sect was established on some person¡¯s death bed, paradises of some form or another.


    These ces were where most of the Rosecloud Domain¡¯s spiritual energy was concentrated. One could say that nearly forty percent of the Rosecloud Domain¡¯s spiritual energy was gathered in these paradises, with the rest spread throughout the world.


    ¡°Long-established history¡± wasn¡¯t just a phrase in the Rosecloud Domain. It signified deep resources and the difficulty of nurturing talent. And a major sect¡¯s resources firstly depended on the concentration of power in its paradise.


    Why was it that the Five Gods Faith had gradually weakened after its major defeat despite the fact that its arts were still being passed on? It was because they had lost their paradise, and without it, they found it difficult to raise top-ss experts.


    What was the true significance of a True Inheritor?


    Besides a powerful master, there was one other important advantage: the disciple had the privilege of entering a paradise to cultivate.


    All of this was necessary to seize and divide up the resources of this world!


    It was for the same reason that the Rosecloud Domain¡¯s spiritual energy had be so thin. It wasn¡¯t because it had lost spiritual energy. It might have lost ten percent, but at least forty percent of it had been divided up.


    With only half of its spiritual energy, the Rosecloud Domain became a ce where it was no longer easy to break through the shackles of the Jade Gate and the world became divided into Immortals and mortals.


    Besides that, the various major sects sought to gain even more and used various methods to prevent spiritual energy from scattering so that they could use it for themselves.


    One method was the Millenium Field.


    The Millenium Field existed to supply sects with various kinds of nts.


    Everyone knew that the older the nt was, the better.


    But there were genius cultivators every year, and all of them needed thousand-year spirit nts, yet how many thousand- or ten-thousand-year spirit nts were in the world for them to use?


    Let alone thousand-year, even hundred-year spirit grass was extremely rare.


    As for farming, no one had that patience.


    The Millenium Field ensured that the major sects would have an endless supply, and was one method sects used to ensure their longevity.


    And rich with spiritual energy would be divided into one thousand spirit fields. These would be divided by year and have various spirit nts nted in them. Every year, one field would be harvested and rented, and the constant cycle would satisfy both the needs of the present and the future.


    It was impossible for one person to do this. Only a major sect could carry out a long-term project like this.


    At present, the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s paradise, the Moonlight Pond, had 1800 spirit fields. It had an upper limit of 1800 years, and one field was harvested each year. The spirit nts raised here were used for the sect¡¯s disciples, and the paradise served as one of the most important ces in the sect.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Wei Tianchong clicked his tongue in wonder.


    An 1800-field spirit farm, set in a paradise where countless Titans had be Returned Remnants, was certain to produce incredibly valuable spirit nts.


    This was the power of a major sect, the power of time, the umted power of countless generations. No unaffiliated cultivator couldpare.


    ¡°But what does that have to do with the Valley of No Return?¡± Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t quite understand.


    ¡°Moonlight Pond provides rare and precious spirit nts, and the only ones who have the privilege of enjoying those nts are at Celestial Heart or above. So what about the middle- and low-ss disciples?¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s heart thumped as he suddenly understood. Jumping up, he shouted, ¡°So was the Valley of No Return sealed up to provide a paradise for the middle- and low-ss disciples?¡±


    ¡°Correct.¡± Tang Jie and Shi Meng nodded.


    ¡°Then that¡¯s great!¡± Wei Tianchong grew agitated. ¡°There must be vast fields of spirit nts inside. Even if there aren¡¯t any thousand-year nts, there must be quite a few hundred-year nts. If we can get them, we¡¯ll be rich.¡±


    ¡°Correct,¡± Tang Jie and Shi Meng said in unison.


    Wei Tianchong finally realized that something was off. ¡°Your tone isn¡¯t right. Why do you look so stressed over something so good?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Unlike the farnd of the Basking Moon Sect, the Valley of No Return isn¡¯t about captive farming, but free-range farming.¡±


    ¡°¡®Free-range farming¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Yes. In other words, besides hundred-year nts, there are also hundred-year¡­ fiend beasts!¡±


    Wei Tianchong shuddered, as he finally understood why the two of them had such weird expressions.


    ¡°Hundred-year fiend beasts¡­¡± Wei Tianchong trembled. ¡°I recall that when a fiend beast reaches a hundred years of age, even the worst one will reach Mind Opening, right?¡±


    ¡°Correct!¡± The two of them said in unison.


    ¡°Apparently, Mind Opening isparable to the Mortal Shedding Realm, right?¡±


    ¡°Correct!¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯ve also heard that fiend beasts are normally stronger than cultivators of the same level, right?¡±


    ¡°Correct!¡±


    Wei Tianchong continued to ask, and Tang Jie and Shi Meng continued to answer, and the endless chorus of ¡°correct¡± made his legs start to tremble.


    He hadn¡¯t forgotten the terror of that fiend tiger of Tiger Roar Peak.


    This was an upper-grade Spirit Sensing fiend tiger that had yet to reach Mind Opening, but that was already enough to overwhelm him.


    And now, he was going treasure-seeking in a valley full of Mind Opening fiend beasts.


    This was no different than suicide!


    Wei Tianchong jumped up and said, ¡°I¡¯m not going! I won¡¯t!¡±


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t find Wei Tianchong¡¯s reply strange at all. Smiling, he said, ¡°I can understand what Young Master is feeling, but you don¡¯t need to worry that much. While the Valley of No Return has Mind Opening fiend beasts, it¡¯s not like they¡¯re everywhere.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit! That¡¯s a sealed ground, and if it¡¯s sealed for one hundred years, then the entire valley should be packed with Mind Opening fiend beasts. How can there not be a lot?¡±


    Tang Jie calmly replied, ¡°Because the Valley of No Return was already opened ten years ago and twenty-five years ago. Those were for Mortal Shedding Realm student missions, andrge numbers of fiend beasts were killed at the time. Since only ten years have passed, most of the fiend beasts inside probably haven¡¯t reached Mind Opening.¡±


    ¡°I see. So you¡¯re saying it¡¯s being opened early?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that. A free-range breeding ground like the Valley of No Return isn¡¯t considered one of the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s important grounds. While the cycle needs to be maintained, there¡¯s no hard and fast rule. Thus, the Valley of No Return does not need to be sealed for a fixed one hundred years, but can be adjusted as the situation calls for it.¡±


    ¡°Then that¡¯s fine.¡± Wei Tianchong began to count with his fingers. ¡°Ten years¡­ This isn¡¯t that long of a time, so there shouldn¡¯t be that many fiend beasts that have reached Mind Opening, right? But there should be a lot of middle-grade and upper-grade fiend beasts, which is still rather dangerous.¡±


    ¡°It truly is dangerous,¡± Tang Jie casually said, ¡°but to think that there are no Mind Opening fiend beasts just because of that is mistaken. Although it¡¯s almost impossible for a fiend beast to naturally grow to Mind Opening in only ten years, don¡¯t forget that this isn¡¯t some peaceful realm. Fiend beasts will fight each other, meaning that a savage one might appear among them before its time. Besides that, when the Valley of No Return was opened ten years ago, while the Mortal Shedding Realm students hunted down many of the fiend beasts, some of them managed to escape. The ones that escaped might not have reached one hundred years, but they would still have cultivated for a very long time, and there¡¯s an extremely high chance that they reached Mind Opening, perhaps even the middle grade or upper grade of Mind Opening.¡±


    Shi Meng coldly continued, ¡°If there were a few cunning fiend beasts who reached Mind Opening but knew that they weren¡¯t strong enough and chose to go into hiding, they could have lived through several hunts and lived for more than a hundred years. Even several hundred years isn¡¯t impossible.¡±


    Wei Tianchong shivered again after hearing this. ¡°Could there even be form shifters among them?¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°That won¡¯t be the case. When fiend beasts transform, the heavens and earth will experience an immense transformation that is difficult to conceal. The Basking Moon Sect also has people watching. If there were a beast that could transform, the sect would send a True Person to hunt it down. When students go on missions, there has to be a limit on the difficulty. They would never permit a Mortal Shedding student to go against a form shifter. In Tiger Roar Valley, upper-grade Spirit Sensing was the limit, and in the Valley of No Return, the limit is upper-grade Mind Opening, and there won¡¯t be many of those.¡±


    ¡°Upper-grade Mind Opening¡­ I can¡¯t even beat an upper-grade Spirit Sensing yet!¡± Wei Tianchong frowned in dejection.


    ¡°That¡¯s why, in this mission, what we need to do is think not about how to kill fiend beasts, but how toplete this mission and survive,¡± Tang Jie casually said.


    ¡°You have a way of getting me back alive, right?¡± Wei Tianchong asked, clutching Tang Jie¡¯s arm.


    ¡°Of course. Young Master, do you still not trust me?¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    After hearing this, Wei Tianchong rxed a lot.


    The three of them chatted for a while, and then Tang Jie and Shi Meng departed.


    The moment they were out the door, Shi Meng grabbed Tang Jie and said, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell the young master that the Valley of No Return is a sealed ground, so we can¡¯t just go in, but have to enter through a random teleportation formation?¡±


    A random teleportation formation meant that the person was teleported into a general area, not an exact location.


    In other words, people sent into the valley would enter alone. Teams couldn¡¯t hope to go in together.


    Nan Baicheng intended to separate Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong, so how could he let them enter the valley together? He had chosen the Valley of No Return precisely because of the random teleportation formation.


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°Right now, he has the courage to enter the Valley of No Return, but if you told him about the random teleportation, wouldn¡¯t you scare him to death? Don¡¯t forget that anyone who doesn¡¯t dare to go in essentially gives up on the mission. He¡¯s already a True Inheritor reserve. If he voluntarily gives up, that would make our previous work go to waste.¡±


    ¡°True,¡± Shi Meng sighed, stroking his chin. ¡°Why do I feel like this mission is targeting us?¡±


    Tang Jie raised his head back andughed. ¡°How could that be!? You¡¯re overthinking it. Regardless, we can¡¯t give up that easily. When ites to the young master, I can actually rest a little easier. He has the puppet and the fiend fox, and I¡¯ll also have Yiyi keep himpany. With all three of them, while he might becking in offense, he should be able to protect himself. But I¡¯m rather worried about you.¡±


    He gave something to Shi Meng.


    ¡°This is¡­¡±


    ¡°Silver Cloud Needles, a decent spell weapon,¡± Tang Jie indifferently said. ¡°Consider it a gift.¡±


    With the growth of the golden ball, Tang Jie no longer needed to fire it off in the form of a needle, reducing the usefulness of the Silver Cloud Needles. Giving them to Shi Meng was perfect.


    ¡°But I don¡¯t use needles.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter. Just throw them out and the needle gauntlet can call them back. Even without the reinforcement of a spell, the needles pack quite the punch on their own. Right, if you have some extra money, you can buy some poison to apply onto them.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t using poison a little improper?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I told you to use them on people. Just use them on the fiend beasts. You can choose a powerful numbing medicine to paralyze your enemies. It¡¯d also be best if you got some protective talismans. In any case, you should take out anything that you¡¯ve been saving.¡±


    ¡°Mm, if that¡¯s the case, then I¡¯ll ept them,¡± Shi Meng happily said.


    This was the first time in his life he had a spell weapon to call his own, and he hadn¡¯t expected to get it from Tang Jie. He once more felt grateful to Tang Jie.


    After some thought, he said, ¡°But I¡¯m still a little worried about the young master.¡±


    ¡°Rx. An uncut gem does not sparkle. I believe that the young master can pass this trial,¡± Tang Jie soothed. ¡°Right, before we enter the valley, keep a close eye on him. Don¡¯t let him talk with anyone else, lest he hear something he shouldn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡±


    In the Meditation Garden, Wei Tianchong felt his ears growing hot. He felt like something was wrong, but he didn¡¯t understand what. Shaking his head and putting the thought aside, he went back to ying with the little fox.

 Chapter 192: Preparation

    Chapter 192: Preparation


    After saying farewell to Shi Meng, Tang Jie returned to the Carefree House.


    As he pushed open the gate, he saw a shower of flower petals. Tang Jie confidently snatched out with his hand, and as a petal drifted past his hand, it made a bloody scratch.


    The other petals began to assail him.


    Tang Jie used his hands to protect his face, and there was a thudding as his hand was turned into a pincushion.


    He saw Yiyie out from a flower bush and giggle. ¡°What do you think? Big Brother, my Petal Rain is pretty good, right?¡±


    Tang Jie looked at the back of his hand and nodded. ¡°Not bad. You¡¯ve made a lot of progress. But Yiyi, starting from now, you can¡¯t practice it anymore.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Why?¡± Yiyi was confused.


    ¡°Use this time to learn another spell,¡± Tang Jie said as he opened up the copy of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic.


    ¡°Another spell? Are you saying that the second mission hase out?¡± Yiyi immediately sensed that something was wrong. Though she was still young, under Tang Jie¡¯s tutge, she was much sharper when it came to considering problems, and she quickly realized that Tang Jie was taking an ad-hoc action.


    ¡°Mm, it¡¯s in the Valley of No Return.¡± Tang Jie gave her a rough summary of the Valley of No Return.


    Yiyi was scared out of her wits once she learned about how dangerous it was.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°While the Valley of No Return is dangerous, with the Weapon Mantra, I¡¯m not afraid. My only worry is the young master. Even with you at his side, and with the fiend fox, he might be able to escape any Spirit Sensing beasts, but he¡¯ll be out of luck if he runs into a Mind Opening fiend beast. Thus, our most urgent priority is to get a way to establish amunication link with each other so that I can find you as soon as we enter the valley. Fortunately, the Divine Firmament Sword ssic has just such an art.¡±


    He pointed at one of the spell arts.


    ¡°Heart Consonance?¡± Yiyi called out.


    Heart Consonance was a very special spell art.


    It needed at least two people to cultivate it for it to work.


    Once it was used, regardless of distance, one person could talk and the other could hear. This was Heart Consonance.


    This spell consumed spiritual power while it was being used. The farther apart the two were, the more energy was consumed. But as it wasn¡¯t abat spell, it didn¡¯t have very high proficiency requirements.


    Tang Jie firmly said, ¡°The second mission starts tomorrow. Tonight, you need to focus on this spell, and you mustpletely memorize it. Once you¡¯re in the Valley of No Return, you have to immediately use the spell to get in contact with me.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Yiyi earnestly nodded.


    Even so, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t rx.


    After thinking it over, he left the house and headed for Spirit Wonder Market.


    Along the way, he ran into someone going the other way. It was none other than Qi Shaoming.


    ¡°Tang Jie,¡± Qi Shaoming shouted. ¡°It¡¯s sote. Where are you going?¡±


    For the usually proud Qi Shaoming to call out to him gave Tang Jie pause, and he replied, ¡°To Spirit tform Pavilion. I have some things that I would like Madam Shui to help me get.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Can you tell me what it is? I might be able to help you,¡± Qi Shaoming replied.


    Tang Jie froze.


    To tell the truth, he was going to Madam Shui to borrow some money.


    But he still owed ten thousand coins, and while Madam Shui had said that she wouldn¡¯t take interest, borrowing some money now made things rather awkward.


    He hesitated for a moment before finally saying, ¡°I was going to borrow some money from the madam.¡±


    ¡°How much?¡± Qi Shaoming asked.


    ¡°¡­One thousand.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll lend it to you.¡± Qi Shaoming opened up his Mustard Seed Bag and threw over a spirit jade.


    He loaned the money so easily that Tang Jie was dumbfounded. ¡°You¡­¡±


    ¡°In my battle with you, while I may have lost, you opened my eyes, and I was finally able to walk away from the wrong path. Consider this a sign of my gratitude.¡±


    ¡°How could I ept this?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be polite. I¡¯m just loaning it to you. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m asking you to take it for free. Right, are you borrowing money for the trip to the Valley of No Return?¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Yes. If you¡¯re going to the Valley of No Return as well, isn¡¯t loaning money to me helping your enemy?¡±


    To his surprise, Qi Shaoming shook his head. ¡°I have no interest in the True Inheritor position.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Qi Shaoming hadn¡¯t taken part in thest mission, which had rather puzzled Tang Jie. In his view, Qi Shaoming had no reason to let this opportunity pass by, so to hear this answer from him was rather unexpected.


    Qi Shaoming exined, ¡°My n has already cleared the way for me and found a master. It won¡¯t be long before he takes me as his disciple.¡±


    <em>So that¡¯s what was going on.</em>


    Although the academy route was the proper path to entering a sect, there was never just one road.


    Just like how the children of True Persons could enter the sect despite being unable to get into the top ten, there were always special routes that people could exploit.


    The Qi n could be considered one of the major ns of Sageheart, and Qi Shaoming was a genius who was very hardworking. So long as one was willing to spend money, it wasn¡¯t hard to find a master. There was naturally no need to fight with everyone for the True Inheritor position.


    For him, making up for lost time to cultivate was the right path.


    ¡°But I¡¯m still going to the Valley of No Return,¡± Qi Shaoming added.


    ¡°And why is that?¡± Tang Jie didn¡¯t get it.


    ¡°One: I want to temper myself. Two: I want to get some resources. I¡¯ve heard that there¡¯s darkswamp grass there. If I manage to get it, it will be very useful for my Chill Phantom Sword, so I¡¯d like to try it out.¡±


    ¡°I see. That being the case, if Brother Qi enters the valley and we get the chance to meet, I will lend you a hand!¡± Since Qi Shaoming wasn¡¯t fighting with him over the True Inheritor spot, he didn¡¯t mind helping Qi Shaoming if he had the chance.


    ¡°Then I thank you,¡± Qi Shaoming epted. While he was proud, he wasn¡¯t a fool. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to get darkswamp grass, and if he had Tang Jie¡¯s help, his chances would be much better. He had also had some ulterior motives when he had been so straightforward just now. He said, ¡°Right, An Rumeng might go into the Valley of No Return this time as well. You should be careful.¡±


    ¡°An Rumeng?¡± Tang Jie was amazed.


    An Rumeng was clearly a student of the Thousand Passions Sect and had no chance of obtaining the True Inheritor spot. Why was she going to the Valley of No Return? At this thought, Tang Jie asked, ¡°Is she also going into the valley for resources?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Qi Shaoming unexpectedly replied. ¡°She was hired.¡±


    ¡°¡®Hired¡¯?¡± Tang Jie¡¯s eyes constricted. ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°Long Dao.¡±


    ¡°So it was him.¡± Tang Jie understood now. It appeared that Long Dao was hiring soldiers to go against him in the second mission. He couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°The proud daughter of Heaven is starting to bend at the waist for spirit coins?¡±


    Qi Shaoming didn¡¯t find this strange. ¡°If there was enough money, I would also bend at the waist.¡±


    Tang Jie was startled at first, and then he loudlyughed.


    Qi Shaoming was normally as cold as an iceberg, but even he had times when he could say things like this. A rather passionate heart beat beneath that refined exterior.


    As Tang Jie loudlyughed, a hint of a smile appeared in Qi Shaoming¡¯s eyes. ¡°Good luck.¡±


    ¡°Same to you,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    Only then did Qi Shaoming leave.


    After walking another few steps, he suddenly stopped and said, ¡°Tang Jie!¡±


    ¡°Mm?¡±


    ¡°Be careful of the people around you.¡±


    Qi Shaoming finally turned and left.


    With the money, Tang Jie went to Spirit Wonder Market. The ce was bustling with activity, even though it was the middle of the night.


    Everyone would be battling it out in the Valley of No Return tomorrow, and all the students after the True Inheritor spot hade to the market in search of treasures to be used in battle.


    This inted the cost of goods.


    Fortunately, the prices of the things Tang Jie needed weren¡¯t too unreasonable. He quickly bought what he needed and returned to the Carefree House.


    Opening the formation diagram, Tang Jie dumped in the materials he had bought and started toy down a formation. After finishing the diagram, Tang Jie passed it to Yiyi and exhaled in relief.


    With this chain of ns in ce, unless Wei Tianchong and Yiyi were unlucky enough to be teleported right in front of an upper-grade Mind Opening fiend beast, they would be able to protect themselves, even from upper- and middle-grade Spirit Sensing fiend beasts.


    After doing this, Tang Jie practiced the Heart Consonance spell with Yiyi.


    On this night, almost none of the students after the True Inheritor spot were able to rest.


    In the Refined Pavilion, Shi Meng flew back and forth in the courtyard, constantly shifting positions as he threw out the Silver Cloud Needles.


    <em>Thudthud!</em> The needles mmed into the target with such force that they trembled.


    Seeing how far the silver needles were from hitting the center of the target, Shi Meng grumbled, ¡°How could I possibly master this spell weapon in a single night? I can¡¯t even fire them urately, so what would be the point of coating them in poison? I have to think of a way¡­¡±


    He twirled his bamboo flute in his hand. Suddenly, his eyes shed. ¡°I¡¯ve got one!¡±


    <em>Bang!</em>


    A silver arrow mmed into a mountain rock, sending debris into the air.


    ¡°Beautiful shot!¡± A student pped. ¡°Young Master¡¯s Dragon Roar has gotten even stronger. On this trip to the Valley of No Return, Young Master is certain to get the Iceme Red Lotus!¡±


    Long Dao coldly put away his longbow. ¡°I don¡¯t care if I get the Iceme Red Lotus or not. What I want¡­ is to kill Tang Jie.¡±


    He massaged his throat.


    In Long Dao¡¯s carelessness, Tang Jie had attacked his throat in the battle of the Student Forest. Though he hadn¡¯t died, he considered it the humiliation of a lifetime.


    He was the son of a True Person and cared little about the True Inheritor position. Rather, he had just wanted to get famous through this battle, but in the end, the one who had gotten famous was Tang Jie.


    In the battle of the Student Forest, he had gone one versus one hundred and disyed a terrifying savagery. He had in Lu Fei in front of everyone and had been simply unstoppable. There were already some people calling him ¡°Fierce Tiger¡± in private.


    He considered himself a proud dragon that reigned over the nine heavens, so he naturally couldn¡¯t stand the sight of this fierce tiger.


    Moving his hand away from his throat, he clenched his fists and viciously said, ¡°In this battle, Tang Jie must die!¡±


    Autumn Wind Home.


    <em>Bang!</em>


    A palm shattered arge tree, and leaves drifted down.


    In a sh of sword light, a gale stirred up that tore through the world.


    Once the storm had settled, the sword light faded and the sword returned to the owner¡¯s hand. Countless sliced leaves drifted down, and if one looked carefully, one would find that each leaf had been evenly sliced into ten pieces, as if someone had cut them with scissors.


    This attack had been both powerful and urate.


    Ye Tianshang made a shy move with his sword, organizing the fallen leaves into a single word: ¡°Tang¡±!


    Dragonsoar House.


    A storm had just been through here.


    A muscr student in tight and dark clothes solemnly stood. Everything within three meters of him had been cleaned away, and beyond three meters were shattered stones and the remnants of various kinds of weapon energy.


    The muscr student nodded in satisfaction. Clenching his steely fist, he said, ¡°I¡¯ve heard that there¡¯s an up-anding student called Tang Jie who cultivates the Formless Golden Body and set a new record in the Celestial Defense Hall, possessing formidable defensive abilities. Is this true?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Senior Brother!¡± a student answered.


    ¡°Very good. Then I¡¯d like to see which is stronger, his Formless Golden Body or my Apex Combat True Astral!¡±


    Frost Pavilion.


    A girl with peach-colored cheeks and a rosyplexion, wearing a purple gown, was seated idly, arge ck wolf lying at her feet.


    Her hands propping up her head, she was lost in thought for some time. It was only when the wolf snorted that she stirred from her stupor.


    Looking at the giant wolf, she suddenly smiled. ¡°Alright, Baobao, don¡¯t be impatient. Once we¡¯re in the Valley of No Return¡­ there will be plenty for you to eat.¡±


    The Meditation Garden.


    Wei Tianchong was carrying the little fox and feeding it its favorite food.


    He lovingly said, ¡°My baby, we¡¯ve been together for so long, and I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve treated you poorly. In the Valley of No Return, you have to help me. You can¡¯t treat me like you did before¡­¡±

 Chapter 193: Plotted Against

    Chapter 193: Plotted Against


    Early in the morning, the students headed to the Bounty tform to pick up the trial mission.


    While the mission to the Valley of No Return was a True Inheritor mission issued by Nan Baicheng, it was issued in the form of a trial mission. The True Inheritor reserve position was simply an additional award offered by the trial.


    Thus, on the surface, this was still a trial mission.


    This was also the first trial that Wei Tianchong and the others were taking part in, arge-scale and dangerous trial.


    When they arrived at the Bounty tform, they saw that arge crowd was already standing in the square.


    Nan Baicheng stood on a high tform, and when he saw that just about all the students had arrived, he began to loudly speak.


    ¡°Everyone here already knows the details of this trial, so I won¡¯t say any more about it. I will now speak about the trial¡¯s rules.


    ¡°One: This trial willst for thirty days. During the trial period, no one is allowed to leave.


    ¡°Two: The Valley of No Return is dangerous, so the academy has prepared a shelter for all students. A student in danger can flee into the shelter, but entering the shelter will be considered giving up on the mission, and everything gathered in the valley must be handed over.


    ¡°Three: On this journey to the Valley of No Return, thirty percent of all that is gained must be handed to the academy. This is the fee the academy takes for protecting you and for sealing the valley. Anyone who attempts to hide anything will be severely punished. Of course, the academy will assess what you bring in and assign them a contribution value. Depending on what you bring, you will receive varying numbers of contribution points.


    ¡°Four: The one who hands over the Iceme Red Lotus will be the True Inheritor reserve for this mission.


    ¡°Has everyone understood my words?¡±


    ¡°We understand!¡± all the students roared.


    ¡°Very good.¡± Nan Baicheng nodded and flicked his hand. Countless parchment scrolls flew over to the hands of the students¡ªone for each of the several thousand students.


    Nan Baicheng announced, ¡°This is a map of the Valley of No Return. The basic terrain and the location of the shelter are marked there, but no other information will be provided. Everyone will be searched before entering the valley. Refining tools like pill furnaces are not allowed, andrge-scale damaging spell weapons and art relics are banned. If there are any vitors¡­ you still have time to put those things away!¡±


    Several students ran out of the crowd. It was clear that they had such items.


    The Basking Moon Sect had always been strict in its management of sealed grounds like the Valley of No Return. It wanted to make a profit, so it forbade refining tools like pill furnaces so that students couldn¡¯t immediately use their gains and prevent the academy from turning up anything. As for those items that could be directly consumed, the academy would turn a blind eye, but items that could refine many things were not allowed.


    Large-scale damaging spell weapons and art relics could destroy the terrain of the Valley of No Return, so they were banned.


    The Basking Moon Sect had been strict about these rules for many years, and it was precisely through these strict rules that it had ensured a constant cycle of resources for the sect. Otherwise, even a vast sea of resources would eventually run out.


    A few momentster, once everything that needed to be said had been said, Nan Baicheng said, ¡°Now, all students, board the boat.¡±


    As he spoke, a massive junk broke through the cloudyer above the mountain peak and appeared before everyone.


    This tower junk was seven floors tall and nearly a thousand meters in length. It was such a magnificent sight that it seemed enormous even from the ground. The students sighed in wonder as they looked at it floating in the air.


    While studying at Basking Moon Academy, they learned only spells, not arts. For them, the abilities of Immortals to cruise through the clouds, travel a thousand kilometers in an instant, and produce clouds and rain with a wave of the hand were still too distant. Even their fighting styles still carried many mortal attributes.


    Only when this giant ship appeared did all of them realize that they were true Immortal cultivators, possessing abilities far above the capabilities of ordinary people!


    ¡°Truly magnificent.¡± Squeezed together with Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong looked admiringly at the ship. ¡°It would be great if we could have a ship like this one day.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Then work hard. So long as you¡¯re willing to work hard, you¡¯ll get one eventually.¡±


    ¡°Mm!¡± Wei Tianchong waved a fist around. ¡°Rx. Just watch me.¡±


    Tang Jie secretly mused, <em>I wonder. If you¡¯re still so courageous when you discover that we have to enter the valley alone, then I¡¯ll be convinced.</em>


    The giant ship parked in front of the peak, and an enforcer student shouted, ¡°All students, board the ship on your own! Be quick about it!¡±


    ¡°How is there not even a gangnk?¡± a student shouted.


    The ship was hovering about thirty meters away from the summit, yet there was no gangnk provided for boarding. There was only a cliff with a sharp drop between them and the ship.


    The enforcer student grunted, ¡°That all depends on your ability. If you can¡¯t even board the ship, then it¡¯s best if you don¡¯t go to the Valley of No Return.¡±


    It felt as if the test had already begun.


    Thirty meters was neither too near nor too far, and it wasn¡¯t hard for the majority of the students. But that frighteningly steep cliff made their hearts quail. Without a flying spell, there was a high chance that a fall would result in death.


    Students began to board the boat,nding safely on the ship and looking back with challenging stares.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°If that¡¯s all, what are we still waiting for? Let¡¯s go.¡±


    The three of them walked toward the ship.


    In the past, Wei Tianchong might have been afraid of the steep drop, but after training in Tiger Roar Valley, he had grown bolder. He activated the Mis Step, lightening his body, and he easily made his way onto the boat.


    Shi Meng was next. His Rapid Step spell was designed for leaping and sprinting, so he easily boarded the ship.


    Once the two of them were aboard, Tang Jie was just about to jump when someone suddenly pushed him.


    This push caused Tang Jie to stagger, his cirction was thrown into disarray, and he could no longer activate the Violet Lightning Lunge.


    He had been positioned next to the cliff, and his foot immediately struck empty air. He fell off the cliff, but at the veryst second, Tang Jie thrust his foot backward, mming it into the cliff face. <em>Boom!</em> A giant footprint appeared in the tough rock as Tang Jie used the force to make a flying leap, thrusting his left foot out behind him at the same time.


    That person who had pushed him hadn¡¯t had time to move away yet, and this kick¡¯s immense force immediately shattered all his ribs, and Tang Jie used the force of the kick to soar upward.


    This time, he wasn¡¯t using the Violet Lightning Lunge to fly. He was relying entirely on his body¡¯s leaping strength.


    The cliff was several dozen meters from the ship, and it was impossible to cross that distance with his own strength. In this dire moment, Tang Jie once more used the Violet Lightning Lunge to pull himself up right before he was about to start falling again.


    There was a loud shout!


    It was like a p of thunder in Tang Jie¡¯s ears, and it made his heart tremble and his spiritual energy freeze. The Violet Lightning Lunge that he had just managed to cast once more dissipated, and he once more fell from the cliff, cries of rm ringing in his ears.


    At this moment, Tang Jie threw out his hand, a golden light flying out from it and deeply burying itself in the railing of the junk. Tang Jie vigorously pulled on the golden line, which sent him flying into the air, whereupon he executed a somersault andnded on the deck.


    All of this had happened very abruptly and quickly, but it had been filled with so many twists and turns that everyone was utterly gobsmacked.


    When Tang Jiended on the deck, he looked back and saw a student copsed on the ground, vomiting blood. This was the person who had pushed him, but Tang Jie didn¡¯t recognize him.


    As for that person whose shout had interrupted his spell, he couldn¡¯t find them.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s plotting against you!¡± Shi Meng yelled.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Tang Jie said, his face grim.


    It wasn¡¯t like he had never expected someone to try to deal with him.


    But he hadn¡¯t expected them to strike so quickly and viciously.


    ncing into the distance, he saw Nan Baicheng with a calm look on his face, as if none of this had anything to do with him.


    Wei Tianchong jumped and pointed at the injured student. ¡°That guy pushed Tang Jie! He pushed him! I saw it! He¡­¡±


    He wanted to shout for the monitors to seize that student, but Tang Jie grabbed him and shook his head. ¡°Forget it.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Wei Tianchong was bbergasted.


    Tang Jie whispered, ¡°There are a lot of people near the cliff, and in such packed conditions, it¡¯s natural to instinctively push. It¡¯s not necessarily intentional.¡±


    Wei Tianchong frantically said, ¡°How could it not be intentional? You really think that wasn¡¯t intentional? Someone was clearly trying to kill you.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t important. What¡¯s important is a convincing exnation,¡± Tang Jie indifferently said.


    A monitor student had already taken that student away, but Tang Jie didn¡¯t even need to look to know that the student woulde out fine.


    Just as Tang Jie said, there were a lot of people by the cliff, so bumping into someone was to be expected. There just needed to be a mediator to step forward and that student wouldn¡¯t suffer any punishment.


    ¡°Are we really just letting the matter go?¡± Shi Meng raged.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s bound to be called an ident, so even if we don¡¯t let the matter go, what can we do? But¡­¡±


    His tone changed, his face turning ruthless.


    He suddenly shouted, ¡°I¡¯ve remembered his face!¡±


    He spoke so loudly that most of the people on the ship could hear him, and their hearts quivered.


    I¡¯ve remembered his face!


    This was Tang Jie¡¯s response.


    Everyone understood what that meant.


    Hearing this, Shi Meng and Wei Tianchong bothughed. ¡°True. I¡¯ve also remembered it.¡±


    Wei Tianchong viciously added, ¡°Once I be a True Inheritor, I¡¯ll have him yed.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary,¡± Tang Jie softly chuckled. ¡°We don¡¯t need to do anything. He¡¯ll be dead in a few days.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± The two of them were taken aback. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because I remember his face,¡± Tang Jie giggled. ¡°If the one behind him isn¡¯t too stupid, they should understand how to silence witnesses¡­ unless he doubts my resolve to take revenge.¡±


    The two of them were enlightened.


    Tang Jie¡¯s words just now had been no different from a death sentence for that student.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t even need to do the deed himself.


    ¡°But if we don¡¯t know who that schemer is, they¡¯ll cause trouble again,¡± Shi Meng worriedly said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to know. They just don¡¯t want us to seed,¡± Tang Jie lightly replied. ¡°Thus, who is behind it is no longer important. Anyone who blocks my Immortal path must die, and that person naturally won¡¯t escape!¡±


    He spoke with such intense murderous intent that Shi Meng and Wei Tianchong shivered.


    Most of the students had boarded the ship by this point. Once it was confirmed that no one else was going to try and board, the ship slowly departed the peak, flying upward and onward into the clouds.

 Chapter 194: Entering the Valley

    Chapter 194: Entering the Valley


    The majestic tower junk flew through the air. Beneath it was a boundless sea of clouds, the seething mists like roaring waves. It was a gorgeous and astonishing sight that had the students gasping in wonder.


    Even students who had learned flying spells would not fly to such altitudes. After all, spiritual energy was limited, and if they ran out of spiritual energy and fell from these heights, they would almost assuredly die.


    This was precisely why the students all chose to stand on the deck and look down. In standing high above the clouds, they felt like they were gazing down on the rest of the world.


    <em>Perhaps this is what those Immortals who can freely traverse the heavens feel? When one bes powerful, all living beings inevitably appear like ants,</em> Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but think.


    The ship flew very quickly, but the protection of a formation reduced the force of the wind. As Tang Jie stood at the bow of the ship, he began to examine the design of the ship¡¯s formation as was his habit.


    This ship could be considered arge art relic, a rarity even in the Basking Moon Sect. The formation applied to it was extremelyplex, formations built atop formations, all of which were bursting with mystery. It was impossible for him to grasp its design, let alone understand it in the little time avable to him.


    In his moment of helplessness, he suddenly sensed something. Peering inside the ship, he saw that it was crisscrossed with barely distinguishable lines. These lines that thickly covered the interior of the ship were none other than countless formation lines.


    Spiritual energy thrummed within them, gathering up at certain points and creating brilliant stars, a beautiful gxy that entranced Tang Jie.


    A momentter, this beautifulndscape disappeared, the countless stars dissipating into nothing.


    The ship was still a ship and the people were still people, walking around the ship and conversing with each other.


    Tang Jie knew that the scene he had witnessed had probably been due to his Dao of Insight, which had allowed him to inadvertently glimpse a hint of the secrets behind the ship¡¯s formation.


    s, this ship¡¯s formation was too powerful, and he had made too little progress on his own Dao. That glimpse had been too difficult to sustain.


    Even so, that one glimpse had been enough to leave Tang Jie thoroughly shaken. Many problems that had confused him in the Dao of Formations had been instantly resolved. He was bound to have a breakthrough soon.


    The ship flew for only half a day before arriving at a rather deste and mountainous region.


    These were the Nimbus Mountains, located in the far western regions of Sageheart.


    The mountain range ran from north to south for a thousand kilometers and consisted of a thousand mountains of various sizes. Countless savage birds and beasts lived in the mountains, including formidable fiend beasts. The Valley of No Return was located on the eastern end of the Nimbus Mountains, covering a vast area, and it was one of the seven protected areas the Basking Moon Sect had in the Nimbus Mountains.


    The ship arrived at its destination and began to descend. As it broke through the clouds, they could see a mountain that had had its top shorn off and a resplendent golden pce put in its ce. This was the branch hall the Basking Moon Sect had set up in the area.


    The hall had a teleportation formation inside through which one could ess the Valley of No Return, and the teleportation formation was also used toe back.


    The ship anchored in front of the hall, and the students disembarked and filed into the hall, making their way toward the formation.


    The branch hall¡¯s teleportation formation was one of enormous size, able to send several hundred people at once. But as there were several thousand students, they had to be teleported in batches.


    Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong, and Shi Meng were in the third batch. Once the first two batches had been teleported off, as they entered the formation, Tang Jie gave Yiyi to Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong was very curious. ¡°Isn¡¯t this your baby? Why are you giving her to me?¡±


    ¡°To take care of you.¡±


    ¡°With you at my side, why would I need this little girl?¡± Wei Tianchong chuckled.


    A student next to them heard this and said, ¡°What? Do you still not know that the Valley of No Return is essed through random teleportation? How is he going to take care of you?¡±


    Wei Tianchong was startled. ¡°What random teleportation¡­ Hold on! Are you saying that we¡¯re going to be separated when we go in?¡±


    The student pursed his lips. ¡°It feels like you don¡¯t understand anything.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was aghast. ¡°I¡¯m not going!¡±


    He rushed to leave the formation, but Tang Jie grabbed him and shouted, ¡°Young Master! There¡¯s no going back at this point!¡±


    ¡°Shit! Tang Jie, you tricked me¡­¡± Wei Tianchong fearfully hollered, but in a white sh of light, everyone disappeared.


    His vision blurred, and Tang Jie discovered that he was in a world of birdsong and fragrant flowers. A tall mountain towered in the distance while white clouds drifted in the sky.


    A bird flew past, seeminglying from far away. It passed over the valley, and as it fluttered its wings, it seemed to run into something, and there was an explosion of rainbow light in the air.


    A bird corpse dropped from the sky.


    ¡°Sealed ground,¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    This was the sealed Valley of No Return. The entire valley was sealed by a giant formation, making it inessible from the skies above and the earth below. All he could sense here was the abundant spiritual energy in the air.


    Even though Basking Moon Academy was also a ce abundant with spiritual energy, it was an open area, so it was far inferior to this ce.


    The moment he entered, Tang Jie felt a soothing warmth spread throughout his body. A single Major Circuit Heaven was incredibly easy to perform, and a Minor Circuit Heaven recovered much more energy than usual.


    One could see that whether one cultivated or fought here, the effects would all be much better.


    Before this, he had felt that thirty days of trial in the Valley of No Return was rather long, but now, after feeling the thick spiritual energy around him, he felt that thirty days was too short.


    If possible, he wanted to spend the rest of his time here cultivating.


    Fortunately, this desirested only for a moment. He quickly got ahold of himself and cast Heart Consonance.


    He had only learned this spellst night and had barely managed to memorize it. Thus, it took him nearly three minutes to sessfully cast it. Fortunately, Yiyi quickly replied.


    A voice resounded in Tang Jie¡¯s heart: ¡°Big Brother!¡±


    ¡°Yiyi, it¡¯s me. How are you right now?¡±


    ¡°Good, but that stupid pig is cursing you,¡± Yiyi scornfully said.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°If he still has the energy to curse, I guess you haven¡¯t run into any danger yet.¡±


    ¡°Mm, we haven¡¯t run into any fiend beasts yet.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good. Where are you right now?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. There are mountains and trees everywhere.¡±


    Tang Jie nced at the map. While the map had descriptions of the various terrains in the valley, there was no secret art to show where the student currently was. Thus, not even Tang Jie knew where he was at the moment.


    After some thought, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s try and determine where we are first, and then I¡¯ll go and find you. If we really can¡¯t find each other, go to the Thousand Leaf Forest. I arranged to meet with Shi Meng there.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    ¡°Remember to be careful. If you run into a fiend beast, don¡¯t fight it if you have to. Safety is your first priority.¡±


    ¡°Big Brother, rx. This stupid big has already found a ce to hide. Even if you told him to fight right now, he would refuse¡­ Hey! I told you to get up already! What¡¯s the point in hiding now? We have to find out where we are first so that Big Brother cane and find us!¡±


    Thetter words were shouted at Wei Tianchong.


    Tang Jie shook his head, a bitter smile on his face. Heart Consonance consumed quite a lot of spiritual energy, which he needed to save, so he cut off the spell and took out the beast talisman to let out the little tiger.


    As Yiyi had alsoe out for this battle, and Tang Jie couldn¡¯t leave the little tiger alone in his house, he had to bring it with him.


    The little fellow had seemingly gotten used to being penned up and didn¡¯t make his characteristic roar of fury. He curiously examined his surroundings while also searching for Yiyi. He blinked his big eyes as if he was asking, ¡°Where did you take me this time?¡±


    Tang Jie petted him on the head. ¡°Enough. Your big sister Yiyi isn¡¯t going to be with us for now. Let¡¯s go and take a look around.¡±


    He advanced with the little tiger and soon came upon a dense forest, the tree branches festooned with bright red fruits.


    Tang Jie looked at the map and found that there were no records of this forest, so he could only sigh and keep moving forward. Suddenly, he grabbed the tiger and put him back into the beast talisman, after which he lunged behind a nearby boulder.


    Not long after he had hidden behind the rock, two figures sprinted out of the distance¡ªa man and a woman.


    The female student looked around and then looked at her map. ¡°No, this isn¡¯t the Floral Forest¡­ This Valley of No Return is too big.¡±


    The male student replied, ¡°There¡¯s no need to rush it. We¡¯re going to be in the Valley of No Return for thirty days, so we can just slowly search. We¡¯ll eventually run into Senior Brother and the others.¡±


    The female student red. ¡°I worry that we¡¯ll be in the belly of a fiend beast by then! The Valley of No Return is dangerous, and only by gathering the strength of many people can we fight back.¡±


    The male student proudly replied, ¡°With me, Zhang Chengyun, around, you don¡¯t need to fear any fiend beast.¡±


    As he boasted, the girl smiled and said, ¡°Yes, yes, Senior Zhang is great. With you around, this junior sister is much more at ease.¡±


    This female student was rather pretty and knew how to talk, ttering Zhang Chengyun so that he felt pleased. She looked around and soon noticed the bright red fruits hanging from the trees. She said in delight, ¡°Senior Brother, look! Fruit! The Valley of No Return has been sealed for many years, and spirit nts abound. These might be a kind of valuable fruit.¡±


    Tang Jie frowned at these words.


    While the Valley of No Return was abundant with spiritual energy, spirit nts didn¡¯t suddenly be like cabbages. Unless the Basking Moon Sect specifically raised them, how could so many spirit nts be growing in one ce?


    Moreover, the Valley of No Return was swarming with fiend beasts, and if these red fruits were really spirit nts, countless fiend beasts would have already seized them for themselves. For these red fruits to bepletely unharmed would be simply bizarre.


    Zhang Chengyun didn¡¯t think so much about them. Hearing the female student¡¯s words, heughed and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go and get some for Little Sister Wan¡¯er.¡±


    He flew forward.


    From his hiding spot, Tang Jie saw the female student¡¯s eyes sh with disdain as she looked at Zhang Chengyun, and his heart trembled. He knew that this woman probably wasn¡¯t a kind sort, nor was she innocent and ignorant.


    Zhang Chengyun went to a tree and plucked a red fruit. He took a bite and found it to be extremely sweet and brimming with spiritual energy. He cried out in delight, ¡°It really is a spirit fruit! Sister Wan¡¯er,e over!¡±


    But at these words, this Wan¡¯er girl retreated, a solemn look on her face.


    Zhang Chengyun froze, and then he heard hissing.


    This hissing came from none other than the fruit in his hand.


    Zhang Chengyun looked down and saw red juice flowing out of the fruit.


    There was so much juice that it instantly flooded into Zhang Chengyun¡¯s hand, making it seem like it was covered in blood.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Zhang Chengyun yelled in shock.


    The remainder of the fruit suddenly twitched, and a pair of eyes appeared, coldly looking at him with a red gleam. The fruit became a little person in red clothes, the size of a palm and with its arm missing, clearly bitten off by Zhang Chengyun. The other hand pointed at Zhang Chengyun as the little red man jabbered something at him.


    ¡°A sprite?¡± Zhang Chengyun was startled, and then his face turned ecstatic.


    He hadn¡¯t expected the fruit he had plucked to be a sprite turned into a fruit. It was no wonder it was so rich with spiritual energy. Just when he was about to seize the sprite, he heard a whistlinging from all around him.


    Turning his head, he saw that all the red fruits in the forest had turned into little red people, all of them angrily staring at Zhang Chengyun.


    All of the red fruits in the forest were sprites!


    Zhang Chengyun was aghast, and he finally realized the terrible situation he was in.


    One sprite was a treasure.


    A group of sprites was a problem.


    Tens of thousands of sprites was a cmity!

 Chapter 195: Cruel Reality

    Chapter 195: Cruel Reality


    A momentter, the little red-clothed people raised their heads back and howled. As they howled, their white and adorable little faces darkened and their expressions turned savage.


    They opened their mouths, revealing their sharp fangs. Innocent and cute children had instantly turned into monstrous and savage imps.


    ¡°Agh!¡± Zhang Chengyun shouted as he threw away the sprite and tried to run, but those countless child-like sprites jumped out of the trees, making red streaks in the air that gathered into a crimson beam extending toward the heavens.


    A momentter, Zhang Chengyun was covered in little red men.


    Zhang Chengyun¡¯s body shed with spiritual light as he used his barrier, but those little men didn¡¯t care. They mbered over the barrier and gnawed at it, their sharp teeth leaving visible marks on the invisible barrier, and as it was scored all over, it soon dissipated into light.


    Before Zhang Chengyun could activate a second barrier, the little sprites bit at his body. In pain, he desperately thrust out his palm, but there were so many sprites, and they didn¡¯t let go once they bit down.


    <em>Bang! Bang! Bang!</em> He knocked away several of the sprites, but each one came away with arge chunk of flesh. They greedily devoured it like it was the greatest delicacy in the world.


    Sprites sucked blood!


    And those empty spots created were instantly filled by new sprites, and they continued to tear chunks of flesh off Zhang Chengyun¡¯s body. Zhang Chengyun desperately shouted, ¡°Junior Sister, help me¨C¡±


    He couldn¡¯t go on, for when he opened his mouth, a sprite rushed into his mouth and bit off his tongue.


    Even though Zhang Chengyun immediately closed his mouth and bit that sprite in two, he had still lost his tongue.


    ¡°Mrmm¡­ mrmmm¡­¡± Zhang Chengyun ran out of the forest as quickly as he could, trying to get away from these terrifying sprites, but even more sprites rushed out like bees and crowded every inch of exposed flesh. There was even a little man hanging from his cock, munching away at it.


    He moved slower and slower, blood gushing out from every part of his body. His bones had already been exposed in some ces.


    Tang Jie and that girl, Wan¡¯er, were both horrified by the sight, but neither of them moved. They simply stared at Zhang Chengyun.


    They had both recognized what these were.


    Beefruit sprites!


    A very special kind of sprite that lived in packs.


    These sprites weren¡¯t very powerful and had little growth potential. The greatest problem they presented was that there were tons of them,rge groups bing sprites in one go.


    Moreover, these sprites had a special fighting style. So long as no one else attacked them, they wouldn¡¯t attack anyone else, instead hurling all their strength into incessantly attacking a single target.


    This was the wisdom that these weak lifeforms had evolved over tens of thousands of years. They were well aware that they didn¡¯t have the strength to fight back against stronger existences. They could only rely on incessant battle to the death.


    This was precisely why beefruit sprites had always been known for never letting their opponent go.


    Even if there had been a group of students sweeping through this fruit forest, if any one of them got involved with the beefruit sprites, few would survive. This made it so that any cultivator who wanted to fight them had to weigh the pros and cons, and prepare for themselves for death while receiving little in return.


    With this intimidating fighting style, the beefruit sprites had managed to survive until now.


    It was precisely for this reason that Tang Jie and the female student were in no rush to escape. They knew that if they didn¡¯t attack, the beefruit sprites wouldn¡¯t attack them.


    After walking ten-some steps, Zhang Chengyun finally copsed and stopped moving.


    The little men continued to madly brutalize his body, gnawing away at it until only a white skeleton was left. Only then did they withdraw into the forest, turning back into swaying little red fruits.


    They never even nced at that female student.


    Once the red tide had receded, the girl coldly snorted, ¡°An idiot who thought he was something else, with only strength and no wisdom! Who would die if not you?¡±


    She gracefully walked over, picked up the Mustard Seed Bag from the skeleton, and put it away.


    It appeared as if she had been after Zhang Chengyun¡¯s Mustard Seed Bag from the start and had intentionally let him die.


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart trembled. Just when he was about to strike and end this sinister girl¡¯s life, the girl suddenly retreated a few steps, looked around, and then sprinted off into the distance, extremely vignt throughout.


    After that girl ran off, Tang Jie shook his head and came out.


    While he could have given chase, this adventure in the Valley of No Return had only just begun. There was no need to start killing each other so quickly. His most urgent task was to determine where he was and then find Wei Tianchong.


    He made his way around the forest and continued on his way,ing upon a pond.


    The pond was clear, and there were a few lotuses floating in the center. The surroundings were quiet and still.


    Tang Jie was nning to observe the situation when the little tiger impatiently rushed out to the pond.


    ¡°Bao¡¯er!¡± Tang Jie wasn¡¯t able to stop him in time, and the little tiger began to thirstily drink from the pond. Tang Jie had been worried that the pond was poisoned, but seeing how much the tiger was drinking, he saw that it was fine and didn¡¯t stop Bao¡¯er. He was just about to drink some himself when he saw a shadowy figure flitting beneath the surface.


    His caution levels soared, and he immediately grabbed the little tiger and rolled to the side.


    A giant silhouette rushed out of the pond but encountered only empty space. It was clearly a giant crocodile.


    The giant crocodile rolled, swinging its thick tail at the man and tiger.


    Tang Jie thrust a palm on the ground and jumped to his feet, bringing the little tiger with him as he dodged the tail. At the same time, he kicked at the crocodile¡¯s tail, but he found it to be like steel. The crocodile was unmoved, and even turned its head to bite at Tang Jie¡¯s foot.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie withdrew his foot quickly, or else he would have lost half of it.


    Neither side could get the upper hand in the battle, the man and crocodile being in a stalemate. Tang Jie now had the time to look at his opponent. This crocodile waspletely ck, its body ten-some meters in length. The scales that entirely covered its body were like tough rocks, and its cold crocodile eyes coldly stared at him as if it was appreciating its dinner.


    ¡°Spirit Sensing¡­ middle grade,¡± Tang Jie muttered as he massaged his foot.


    That kick just now hadn¡¯t only failed to injure the fiend crocodile, the bacsh had made his foot ache. Although this was because he hadn¡¯t used anything like the Formless Golden Body, he could determine that only a middle-grade fiend beast could possess scales of this toughness.


    The little tiger seemed to know that he was responsible for this, and he buried his head in Tang Jie¡¯s chest and refused to move. Tang Jie looked at the fiend crocodile and decided that he could deal with it. He put the little tiger to the side and pulled out the Heartbreak Saber. ¡°Bao¡¯er, be good and don¡¯t run around. Watch as your big brother kills this foul crocodile and treats you to some roast crocodile meat.¡±


    Fiend crocodiles were a weird sort of fiend beast, possessing the body of a warrior and the fighting style of an assassin. They possessed impressive strength, speed, defenses, and offenses, and considering that this was a middle-grade fiend beast, it was so strong that an average student would have to carefully consider their options when encountering one.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t care. One year ago, he had only been able to run off when encountering a middle-grade fiend beast, but now, he no longer worried about such things.


    When the fiend crocodile saw Tang Jie pulling out his saber, it roared, stepped back, and then charged out again with its massive body.


    While its body was huge, when it charged, it truly wasn¡¯t slow. Its giant maw opened to bite at Tang Jie, but Tang Jie twisted his body, the Heartbreak Saber shing as it shed at the crocodile¡¯s scale armor, creating a resounding ng.


    The giant crocodile tail swept out, and Tang Jie jumped to dodge. But as he dodged the tail, the crocodile twisted its head around, and three water arrows shot out of the pond.


    Most fiend beasts knew spell arts, though the kinds they knew differed depending on their innate talents. As the water arrows flew out, Tang Jie activated the Aquagel Shroud to take the attack rather than dodging. His body slowed down, and the fiend crocodile jumped into the air, its massive bodying down on Tang Jie like a mountain.


    ¡°Raaa!¡± Man and crocodile furiously roared in unison. The Heartbreak Saber was raised to meet the fiend crocodile, the Windcleaver Saber unleashed. <em>Boom!</em> Tang Jie was sent flying back, blood spilling out from the area between his forefinger and thumb. The fiend crocodile rolled on the ground with a bloody line on its head.


    Both of them hade away injured from this sh. The fiend crocodile was furious, and the moment itnded, it charged at Tang Jie again. With its body covered in tough scales, it did not fear Tang Jie¡¯s attacks.


    Tang Jie saw the fellow charging over at him again and mentally calcted. He knew that while he could kill this guy with the Heartbreak Saber, it would probably take more than a hundred swings of the de. Putting aside how much physical and spiritual energy this would take, he would also damage many of the scales. Thus, to save time, he flipped his wrist, a golden de appearing in his hand. It turned into a golden streak that was aimed straight at the crocodile¡¯s head.


    The fiend crocodile was confident in its peerless defense, so it didn¡¯t dodge. <em>Thud!</em> The golden de disappeared into the crocodile¡¯s head, piercing right through it and into the ground.


    The fiend crocodile hadn¡¯t expected to be so severely wounded. It howled and jumped, twisting its body around in a whirlwind, its thick tail swatting at the surrounding rocks and crushing them like they were tofu, instantly creating a giant hole around itself.


    No matter how strong it was, it was pointless if it didn¡¯t hit anyone. Tang Jie simply watched from a distance as the crocodile unted its strength, not moving a muscle.


    The crocodile was truly tenacious. Even after struggling around for a while, it still didn¡¯t die. Tang Jie lost his patience and fired off several Energy Needles at the wound in the crocodile¡¯s head. Only then did the fiend crocodile cease its iling and lie twitching on the ground.


    As he watched the crocodile die, Tang Jie casually said, ¡°I love meatshield opponents.¡±


    With one swipe of his de, he sliced off the crocodile¡¯s head and threw it at the little tiger. ¡°Eat it. This is yours.¡±


    Fiend beast flesh was very nourishing, and the little tiger immediately lunged at it and began to gnaw away. He couldn¡¯t bite through the tough scales, so he started to eat from the neck cavity. He had soon burrowed halfway into the crocodile¡¯s head, causing Tang Jie tough. Putting the tiger to the side, he began to remove the scales from the crocodile and slice off the meat attached to them.


    This meat couldn¡¯t be kept, and even if he stored it in his Mustard Seed Bag, the spiritual energy on it would gradually dissipate. Fortunately, the little tiger was here, so he didn¡¯t have to worry about wasting it.


    It took quite a while for him to dispose of the crocodile, but just when he was about to leave, he nced over at the pond and saw several small ck grasses swaying in the wind.


    ¡°Darkswamp grass?¡± Tang Jie called out in surprise.


    Wasn¡¯t this the darkswamp grass that Qi Shaoming was looking for?


    This nt grew in ponds and was pitch-ck, and it had the natural ability to divide itself by using the shadows it cast on the water. If it were used in a medicine, it would be extremely beneficial to the cultivation of illusionary shadow clone spell arts. He could see four darkswamp grasses, but there was actually only one. The rest were just created from the shadows it cast.


    The fiend crocodile that Tang Jie had just killed had probably been guarding this darkswamp grass. With the crocodile dead, the darkswamp grass had revealed itself, so Tang Jie threw out his golden thread to grab the darkswamp grasses.


    One darkswamp grass left the water while the other three disappeared. The shadows apanied the main stalk, creating three blurry shadows around it.


    Tang Jie took out a jade box and ced the grass inside.


    This jade box was a necessary item for gathering herbs, and most of the students had brought these boxes with them.


    After putting away the darkswamp grass, Tang Jie continued forward with the little tiger. But even by the time night fell, he still hadn¡¯t been able to confirm his position. As for Wei Tianchong, with Yiyi around, he hadn¡¯t run into danger. When they ran into one or two fiend beasts, if they couldn¡¯t win, they would just flee.


    What was truly noteworthy was that Wei Tianchong had run into two students. When they had seen Wei Tianchong, they had offered to work together, but then they had tried to backstab him. Fortunately, Yiyi was cautious and had been able to promptly use her illusion formation to hold them down, allowing Wei Tianchong to escape.


    After that experience, Wei Tianchong was no longer able to so easily trust others, and he could only hope that Tang Jie would quickly find him.


    About this, Tang Jie could only sigh.


    The world of the Valley of No Return waspletely different from the outside world. Without the binding of the sect, the academy,ws, and rules, some people would start to grow brash, unbridled, even insane.


    They didn¡¯t hunt just beasts, but people as well. Thew of the jungle broke out from their inner nature and rose to the surface, and some people chose to discard even that final fig leaf.


    There were thirty days of adventure, and this was only the first day. Tang Jie had no idea what would happen next. The trial of the Valley of No Return was a trial of bounty, but it was also a trial of blood.


    From here, students would begin to truly experience the dangers of the cultivation world. The camaraderie of schoolmates and the beauty of life would gradually fade into the distance.


    At this thought, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but recall that scene in the restaurant back in Wanquan City, the students raising their cups and toasting to each other as they made heroic derations.


    ¡°Young we were, schoolmates, at life¡¯s full flowering¡­ nothing more than a passing dream,¡± Tang Jie sighed as he leaned against a tree. He looked at the little tiger on the ground, his bulging little belly exposed as he snoozed away at Tang Jie¡¯s feet.


    Today, youthful ignorance would be reced by cruel reality. And what would happen to this little guy when his bloodline awoke?


    The little tiger didn¡¯t know of Tang Jie¡¯s worries, only felt something warmly and gently caressing him. With hazy eyes, he crawled into Tang Jie¡¯s bosom and continued sleeping.


    Tang Jie looked at the little tiger and smiled. Closing his eyes, he began to circte Circuit Heavens and absorb energy, quickly entering a cultivation state.

 Chapter 196: Encounter

    Chapter 196: Encounter


    When Tang Jie awoke the next morning, he was brimming with energy and understood the benefits of cultivating in this sealed ground. Last night, he had used only eight hours toplete fifteen Major Circuit Heavens¡ª20% more than he could do in the past. While this was only 20%, over the days, this umted into an impressive number. Even spirit medicine used across the entire process of cultivation would normally result in only a 20 to 30% increase. This was only a small blessednd, but it was enough for many students to break through their thresholds and achieve their dreams.


    By understanding this principle, one could even more understand the value of the Martial Lord¡¯s Land of Returned Remnants.


    But this thought disappeared in a sh. Tang Jie still wasn¡¯t qualified to seek out the treasures of the Martial Lord. He focused himself and continued on his way with the little tiger.


    After walking for some time, he spotted a small mountain in the distance.


    Tang Jie rejoiced on seeing the mountain. ¡°This is great!¡±


    He just needed to get on top of the mountain and look at the terrain from above to determine where he was.


    Tang Jie rushed toward the mountain.


    But when he was only halfway there, he spotted three students fighting in the distance: a woman and two men. The female student was fending off the two men alone, waving around a gauze scarf that released golden particles to block the attacks of the pair.


    But she was just one person and was finding it difficult to hold out, and her body was covered in wounds.


    Upon seeing Tang Jieing over, she shouted in delight, ¡°Senior Brother, hurry and help me!¡±


    She put away her scarf and ran toward Tang Jie.


    The two male students chased after her while shouting, ¡°Scram, or you¡¯ll die with her!¡±


    Tang Jie said nothing, pulling out his Heartbreak Saber and coldly staring at them.


    The girl quickly ran over, and as she reached Tang Jie¡¯s side, she frantically shouted, ¡°Senior Brother¡­¡±


    <em>Thud!</em>


    The female student froze and then looked at her body, finding that the Heartbreak Saber had plunged into her abdomen.


    ¡°You¡­¡± She struggled to speak.


    Tang Jie coldly said, ¡°The next time you y this sort of game, remember to make your wounds more realistic¡­ if you do get a ¡®next time¡¯.¡±


    He stepped back and pulled out the Heartbreak Saber, dragging out the girl¡¯s intestines with it. Tang Jie swung the saber, slicing off her head.


    ¡°Ruyu!¡± the two male students cried out in unison, angrily ring at Tang Jie.


    Sure enough, the three of them had been conspiring to entrap others. They hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to see through their ploy with a single nce. His Dao of Insight had gradually allowed him to feel out his surroundings, and he was now able to tell whether something was real or fake at a nce. But even without the Dao of Insight, these three weren¡¯t good enough actors to fool him.


    However, this was all the students were capable of. In the end, they were just a group of youths. They weren¡¯t capable of the more devious schemes.


    The gruesome death of their schoolmate shocked and infuriated them, and they lunged at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie blinked away, shooting toward them as a violet light. The three of them instantly passed each other by.


    Blood gushed out. While Tang Jie was sporting two bloody lines on his body, one of the two students swayed, and then half of his body slid away, and he copsed into the dirt in two pieces.


    Tang Jie slowly turned around, and those two barely perceptible wounds on his chest swiftly healed.


    The remaining student was aghast, and he finally recognized his opponent, shouting, ¡°Tang Jie! You¡¯re Tang Jie! Fierce Tiger Tang Jie!¡±


    In the battle of the Student Forest, Tang Jie had faced down five hundred students and killed Lu Fei, earning a fierce reputation for himself. The other students, even those of higher years, did not dare to provoke him. This student hadn¡¯t expected to be so unfortunate. They had only just started to plot against others and they had run into Tang Jie. In shock, he turned and ran off.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t chase him, but the student only ran a few steps before he suddenly froze, his head flying into the air.


    HIs eyes were wide open,pletely unaware of what had happened even at the moment of death.


    Tang Jie casually walked over and grabbed at something, and a thin line appeared. With the Nullight spell removed, it shone with a golden radiance.


    After killing the female student, Tang Jie hadid down this golden thread. He had passed those students precisely so he could have that student run in the direction he hade from.


    The greatest advantage of this method was that there was no warning about it and it was difficult to guard against.


    There wasn¡¯t any need to use every trick in his arsenal to deal with this student. Tang Jie really wanted to try out newbat tactics.


    He decided that it was pretty good. It just required that he force his opponent into the route he had prescribed. Besides that, the golden line couldn¡¯t distinguish between friend or foe, so it didn¡¯t favor melees, as one was liable to hurt the people on one¡¯s own side.


    While weighing the pros and cons, Tang Jie remembered to pick through the belongings of the trio. s, they were all poor, as they had only begun their life of thievery. They didn¡¯t even have a Mustard Seed Bag on them.


    They did have a single spell weapon, but it was of low grade. Since Tang Jie had limited space in his Mustard Seed Bag, he decided to simply shatter the weapon with the Weapon Mantra to save space.


    Seeing that there wasn¡¯t anything else, he continued toward the mountain.


    At the summit, he saw a vast wilderness of thick trees that extended on into the horizon. He wanted to fly higher, but he had yet to learn a flying spell. The Violet Lightning Lunge was an eleration spell that could be used on the ground and in the air, but it couldn¡¯t let Tang Jie fly by itself.


    In the middle of his mncholy, he suddenly saw a sh of light in the distance. It seemed like someone was fighting, and one of the sword lights was very familiar. It was clearly the radiance of the Pilewave Sword.


    <em>Cai Junyang?</em>


    Tang Jie was delighted, and he rushed down the mountain toward the source of the light.


    From the mountain, the light hadn¡¯t seemed very far, but when he got to running, he realized that it was really quite far and that the saying ¡°riding toward the mountain can run a horse to death¡± wasn¡¯t a lie. Tang Jie wasted nearly half of his spiritual energy sprinting before he was finally able to see that familiar sword light again.


    The sword light was much dimmer now, and it was clear that Cai Junyang was running out of power.


    ¡°Junyang!¡± Tang Jie roared.


    As he roared, the distant sword light erupted with light as if the one who had unleashed it had been stimted. At the same time, Cai Junyang shouted, ¡°I¡¯m over here!¡±


    The figure of Cai Junyang shot toward him.


    He was holding his big sword, his hair was in disarray, and blood stained his body. No longer was he the energetic self of the past.


    Behind him, a giant rhino with a thick horn sprouting from its head rumbled after Cai Junyang. Its body was covered in sword wounds, and it was clear that it had been rather badly hurt.


    ¡°Another heavy and clumsy type?¡± Tang Jie chuckled as he raised the Heartbreak Saber, the golden thread already ced on the edge. Tang Jie charged out, brushing past Cai Junyang and shing at the giant rhino.


    ¡°Tang Jie, be careful! This is a Berserk Earth Rhino! It¡¯s incredibly powerful, a middle-¡­¡±


    Before Cai Junyang could finish, there was a bloody sh of light, and the Berserk Earth Rhino groaned as its massive body was sliced in two. Half of its body continued forward on its inertia and crashed into a bush.


    ¡°A middle¡­ grade¡­ fiend¡­¡± Cai Junyang was utterly bbergasted by the sight.


    Tang Jie turned his head and asked, ¡°What were you saying just now?¡±


    ¡°¡­No-nothing.¡± Cai Junyang swallowed and looked at Tang Jie, saying to himself, <em>This kid is really a monster.</em> He had wasted half a day on this Berserk Earth Rhino and still failed to kill it, but Tang Jie had killed it with one strike.


    Silently taking back the golden thread, Tang Jie went up to the rhino and dug out its horn, throwing it to Cai Junyang. ¡°Yours.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Cai Junyang didn¡¯t refuse. The most valuable part of the rhino was its horn, as its hide would soften after death. Although it was still useful, it was not as tough as scales.


    The little tiger lunged over and began to eat.


    Cai Junyang found this very interesting. ¡°Where did you get this little tiger from?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I ran into a fiend tiger right after I came in. After I killed it, I saw this small one and found it rather cute, so I took it for my own.¡±


    Hiding it forever wasn¡¯t a solution. Tang Jie had been intending to show the tiger eventually, and this journey to the Valley of No Return was a perfect opportunity. No one would suspect anything if he said that he had found one here.


    But the Heavenly Extinction Sect had seen Tang Jie once with the little tiger, which would remain a problem. They hadn¡¯t paid any attention to this matter, and given their style, their reports probably didn¡¯t contain much detail, so Tang Jie hadn¡¯t cared too much. But it seemed like he would eventually have to find a chance to resolve all these loose ends.


    ¡°It¡¯s rather obedient to you,¡± Cai Junyang said with a smile.


    ¡°It¡¯s young, so it will listen if you just give it something to eat. Right, did you happen to see Shi Meng or the others on the way here?¡± Tang Jie said, intentionally changing the subject.


    ¡°No.¡± Cai Junyang shook his head. ¡°I did run into a few other students, but most of them weren¡¯t good sorts. Before entering the valley, everyone was a good student who followed the rules, but after entering the valley, they¡¯ve all bewless.¡±


    ¡°Then do you know where we are now?¡±


    ¡°Not sure. This Valley of No Return is too big, and everywhere looks the same, just mountains and trees. Moreover, since this is a sealed ground, you can¡¯t see the sun, moon, or stars, so trying to make out what¡¯s north or south, east or west, is¡­ difficult. I was going to that mountain to get some higher ground, but I ran into that Berserk Earth Rhino instead.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to go. I came from that summit, and I came over when I saw your sword light.¡±


    ¡°Did you see anything?¡±


    Tang Jie pointed into the distance. ¡°From the mountain, I saw arge gathering of dark clouds in the distance, lightning shing within them. I could also make out some cliffs. I suspect that that¡¯s Thunderbird Cliff.¡±


    ¡°Thunderbird Cliff?¡± Cai Junyang looked at his map. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, we should be on the western end of the Valley of No Return. If we want to get to the Ice Cave, we¡¯ll have to go through more than half of the Valley of No Return.¡±


    The Ice Cave was where the Iceme Lotus was located.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°We should confirm our location first.¡±


    ¡°What are you waiting for? Let¡¯s go.¡± Cai Junyang waved his hand and headed off first.


    Both of them were more rxed now that they had apanion. It wasn¡¯t easy to find a trustworthypanion in the Valley of No Return, and two people working together would be much safer.


    As the pair continued forward, they ran into several other students. Some wanted to join them, but the two refused. Not everyone in the Valley of No Return was harboring ill intentions, but no one was willing to believe in another unless they were already good friends.


    In truth, even good friends could attack each other. That Zhang Chengyun who had gruesomely died not long after Tang Jie had entered the valley had been been killed by that Wan¡¯er¡¯s machinations.


    Thunderbird Cliff was very far away, and the two of them ended up traveling for more than half a day. They ran into a few fiend beasts, but most were of average strength and were easily dealt with by the two. Cai Junyang found this very strange. ¡°Wasn¡¯t it said that the Valley of No Return had quite a few Mind Opening fiend beasts? How have we not run into a single one?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Mind Opening fiend beasts have intelligence, so they¡¯ll be cautious in their actions and won¡¯t recklessly make their move. The Valley of No Return is always opened for a month, and fiend beasts with intelligence won¡¯t be in a rush and will observe the situation first.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°But there¡¯s no need for you to worry. They¡¯ll show up eventually.¡±


    Cai Junyang rolled his eyes. ¡°You think I¡¯m worried? I would prefer nothing more than for them to not show up. But I was already prepared to flee for my life in the Valley of No Return. I didn¡¯t think that these formidable fiend beasts wouldn¡¯t appear, so I¡¯m somewhat unable to adapt.¡±


    ¡°Oh, then you can adapt now¡­ We need to run for our lives now,¡± Tang Jie lightly said.


    ¡°What?¡± Cai Junyang was startled. He then noticed that a giant centipede had appeared in the distance.


    This centipede was three meters long and as big as a person, and a silver line ran down its back. At this moment, it raised the forward part of its body and stared at the pair, wielding its two forelimbs like giant scythes.


    ¡°Shit, a Quadeye Mantipede!¡± Cai Junyang shouted.

 Chapter 197: Pair Battle Against an Upper Grade (1)

    Chapter 197: Pair Battle Against an Upper Grade (1)


    The Quadeye Mantipede was a particrly vicious kind of fiend beast of the Rosecloud Domain. It was born with one hundred feet, and the two nearest to the head had mutated into what appeared to be extremely sharp giant mantis legs, which was why it was called a ¡°mantipede¡±.


    As its one hundred feet were no longer of equal size, the mantipede usually moved with its lower body and raised its upper body like a snake.


    While this made it look bizarre, anyone who underestimated it was seeking death.


    The mantipede was naturallyrge and normally grew one meter every ten years. This mantipede was three meters long and had a silver line along its back, indicating that it was an upper-grade Spirit Sensing fiend beast. When the line turned from silver to gold, it meant the mantipede had entered Mind Opening.


    Cai Junyang hadn¡¯t expected his words to be prophetic, yet an upper-grade fiend beast had appeared the moment he had talked about not needing to run. He was rather dumbfounded and looked at Tang Jie. ¡°What do we do now?¡±


    ¡°You need to ask? Run!¡±


    The two of them shouted and immediately ran off to the side. They still hadn¡¯t given up on the idea of going to Thunderbird Cliff, so they wanted to get around the fiend beast.


    The mantipede saw the two of them running, and shrieked as it gave chase.


    Its lower feet began to move in unison like countless hooks digging into the earth. They were like mighty oars, stirring up countless motes of dust and producing a magnificent dust storm.


    It flew along, instantly catching up to the two and jamming its body in between Tang Jie and Cai Junyang.


    The two of them jumped away from each other, and the mantipede mmed into a small tree. Its mandibles opened and closed. <em>Crack!</em> The small tree was cut in half.


    The mantipede didn¡¯t just possess de-like legs. Even its mandibles were extremely powerful.


    Having missed its lunge, the Quadeye Mantipede swung one of its forelegs at Cai Junyang.


    Cai Junyang leaped, and the ded leg brushed past his body and mmed into arge stone, which was immediately cut in two. The sliced surface was so smooth that Cai Junyang¡¯s heart trembled in fear.


    He struck back quickly, thrusting his sword at the mantipede, upon which he heard a crisp ng.


    While the mantipede wasn¡¯t a defensive fiend beast, it was still of upper grade. Even an average defense wasparable to a defensively-minded middle-grade fiend beast.


    One strike had been insufficient, so the mantipede turned its body and shed its second de leg at Cai Junyang with a terrifying speed, but Cai Junyang raised his sword to block. Since his sword was so big, it could serve as a shield in critical moments. <em>ng!</em> The blow sent him flying. Fortunately, Tang Jie made a timely thrust to draw the mantipede¡¯s attention. Otherwise, the mantipede could have made a follow-up attack and heavily injured Cai Junyang.


    Even so, Cai Junyang looked at the small hole punched through his sword and was both shocked and enraged. The mantipede had damaged the Tsunami Sword with only one strike.


    He called out, ¡°Watch out! This guy¡¯s attacks are very vicious!¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± Tang Jie called out as he fell back, creating distance between him and the beast. As he used the surrounding trees to evade, he began to estimate this mantipede¡¯s strength.


    He had only battled an upper-grade fiend beast once before: Wang Poguan of Tiger Roar Peak. When Wang Poguan had chased him, the strength and ferocity he had disyed had left a deep impression on Tang Jie. Even now, with his golden ball, he still felt like he had no chance of victory against Wang Poguan.


    This was precisely why Tang Jie had instinctively ced all upper-grade Spirit Sensing fiend beasts on the same level as Wang Poguan, so he had chosen to run upon seeing the mantipede.


    But when they actually got to fighting, he found that while the mantipede truly was vicious and powerful, it was far less than Tang Jie had expected. In terms of speed, technique, or strength, it was a level below Wang Poguan.


    This made him somewhat understand that he had probably wrongly estimated the strength of upper-grade Spirit Sensing beasts.


    Wang Poguan was a fiend beast with a bloodline legacy. This bloodline hadn¡¯t given Wang Poguan only memories and hatred, but also strength.


    Such as the Blood Refining Spirit!


    Ordinary upper-grade Spirit Sensing beasts were not likely to be as strong as Wang Poguan.


    This was precisely why Tang Jie began to think to himself, <em>Perhaps we can kill this fiend beast.</em>


    If he were alone, he didn¡¯t think too highly of his chances, but with Cai Junyang along, their hopes were much better.


    Thinking this, Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Junyang, don¡¯t try to hit and run. Fight it directly!¡±


    ¡°Fight it directly?¡± Cai Junyang was scared out of his wits. ¡°Have you gone crazy? This is an upper-grade fiend beast!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly why!¡± Tang Jie shouted. ¡°This mantipede is fast, so hit-and-run won¡¯t be as effective. I can break through its scale armor, but a bug of one hundred feet won¡¯t go down easily. Fiend beasts are extremely tenacious, and while I can wound it, I might not be able to kill it. I need someone else to help me!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll know once we start fighting!¡± Tang Jie roared back as he activated the Formless Golden Body, the Aquagel Shroud, and the Blood Refining Spirit.


    He instantly activated all of his defensive abilities, cing his golden thread along the edge of the Heartbreak Saber and shing out at the mantipede.


    The Windcleaver!


    The mantipede raised its legs to block, and as the saber touched the leg, there was a shriek as green blood sttered out from the mantipede¡¯s leg.


    The saber had left a deep wound on the mantipede¡¯s de leg, but failed to cut it off. Tang Jie was disappointed and knew that this was a disadvantage of the golden thread¡¯s length.


    While the golden beam was sharp, the area it covered was limited, as was its prative power. Winding the golden thread around the de made it easy to use, but it wasn¡¯t as good for damage.


    Tang Jie drew back the golden thread, but as he was about to change his mode of attack, the mantipede spat out a poisonous gas.


    ¡°Watch out!¡± Cai Junyang shouted as he covered his eyes and fell back.


    The poison gas was the Quadeye Mantipede¡¯s other trump card. While it wasn¡¯t as frightening as the poison of poisonous centipedes like the Skytoxin Centipede, it was still a very vicious poison.


    As the poison gas spread out through the forest, the nts began to wither. The effect wasparable to that of the mottled snake from before, just covering arger area.


    Tang Jie identally breathed in some of it and immediately felt dizzy. Fortunately, he had the Jewel Body and was much more resistant to poison than the ordinary person. One cycle of energy had him feeling much better. On the other end, Cai Junyang took out an antidote pill and swallowed it. He didn¡¯t know what type of poison the Quadeye Mantipede had, so he used the antidote with the widest rage, which was also the one with the most outrageous price.


    Suppressing the urge to vomit, Tang Jie turned the golden thread into a knife and threw it at the mantipede.


    But surprisingly, after being wounded by Tang Jie, the mantipede knew how formidable Tang Jie¡¯s attacks were, and stopped using its de legs to block, instead raising another leg to swat at it.


    The golden de shed and instantly cut the leg in two, but the force it had encountered changed its direction, and it failed to hit the mantipede¡¯s body. The mantipede had one hundred legs and didn¡¯t care about the loss of one. It furiously charged over and swung its two des at Tang Jie.


    The mantipede was incredibly fast, and the two des only shed briefly before they were upon him.


    Tang Jie barely managed to dodge one, but he had to take the other de with his defenses.


    The de leg shed through the Aquagel Shroud and hacked into the Formless Golden Body, burying itself in his flesh.


    And this was because it was him. Any ordinary student would have been sliced in two.


    ¡°Aaagh!¡± Tang Jie hollered as he grasped onto the de leg. The mantipede shrieked and swung its de leg into the air, carrying Tang Jie up with it.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Cai Junyang shouted in rm and roared, ¡°Raging Wave sh!¡±


    He shed at the mantipede¡¯s back with all his strength.


    But to his surprise, the mantipede turned its upper body around and red with its four eyes, which sent out four rays of light that struck Cai Junyang. As the sword light made impact, Cai Junyang was also sent flying back, his body momentarily paralyzed.


    The beams fired by the eyes weren¡¯t strong, but they had a paralyzing effect and had seeded in rendering Cai Junyang temporarily immobile.


    This temporary distraction allowed Tang Jie to call back the golden de, and he turned it into a gauntlet that he used to punch at the de leg that was embedded in his body.


    With this punch, blood gushed, the five golden spikes smashing into the joints of the de leg. This de leg had already been injured, and with this second heavy blow, <em>ck!</em> It snapped off at the joint, leaving behind tendrils of blood.


    The mantipede screeched so sharply that it almost broke the ear drums of the pair. Meanwhile, the mantipede¡¯s left de leg flew at Tang Jie¡¯s throat.


    Tang Jie thrust out his hands, catching the de leg between them. The sharp de plunged into his chest, burying itself one centimeter in before being unable to go any farther.


    There was a sudden exertion of strength, and Tang Jie went flying out, half of the insect¡¯s de leg still embedded in the left side of his chest.


    Rolling on the ground, Tang Jie quickly grabbed some medicinal powder and spread it on the wound. This was a blood-stopping pain disperser. While he had a formidable body, these two des had inflicted wounds that were too severe, and he really couldn¡¯t wait for his own recovery powers to work.


    But this medicine wasn¡¯t cheap. A single little bag cost more than a hundred coins, and so using it made Tang Jie¡¯s heart twist in pain, even if his flesh no longer hurt.


    The mantipede went crazy, screeching as its entire body turned red.


    The two were stunned, and Cai Junyang shouted, ¡°Fiend pellet! Fiend pellet! Shit, this thing is a fiend beast that¡¯s formed a fiend pellet!¡±


    A fiend beast at Mind Opening was bound to have a fiend pellet, and an upper-grade Spirit Sensing beast had a one-third chance of forming one, the chance being even smaller at middle and lower grades. The exact chances would depend on the type and talent of the beast in question. Some fiend beasts would actually get weaker after forming a fiend pellet, as they had stored a significant part of the power in their physical flesh into the pellet, but not all fiend beasts were like this.


    Regardless, any fiend beast with a fiend pellet was extremely difficult to deal with.


    This mantipede was very strong, but it had never used any lethal attacks, so it probably belonged to the former kind. It had stored much of its energy in its fiend pellet, resulting in it being weaker.


    But now that the power of the fiend pellet had been activated, the situation had changed.


    As expected, as it glowed red, the Quadeye Mantipede¡¯s injuries began to stop bleeding. It rushed over to its severed limb, and that de leg went back to its position and began to heal. Even the minor leg that Tang Jie had chopped off was beginning to grow back.


    The fiend pellet¡¯s number one use was to release energy to heal the body.


    A fiend beast with a fiend pellet essentially had the power to heal itself.


    Of course, this would consume the fiend pellet, and it would take a long period of cultivation to recover.


    ¡°We can¡¯t let it recover!¡± Tang Jie roared.


    He had sustained heavy injuries to sever one of its de legs. If this fiend were allowed to reconnect its leg, the two of them would have no hope.


    Tang Jie rushed up and swung the Heartbreak Saber.


    Another Windcleaver!


    At the same time, having shaken off the paralyzing effect, Cai Junyang charged forward, unleashing the Raging Wave sh with his giant sword.


    The two of them both targeted the mantipede¡¯s severed leg.

 Chapter 198: Pair Battle Against an Upper Grade (2)

    Chapter 198: Pair Battle Against an Upper Grade (2)


    Viciously attacking the wound was a sort ofbat wisdom that only humans possessed. Even a fiend beast at Mind Opening might not understand the concept.


    And from the actions of the mantipede, it seemed that while it could regrow its ordinary legs, its most formidable de legs could only be reconnected. It was clear from this that if one wanted to regrow a more formidable power, it woulde at a higher price and greater difficulty.


    The two of them were attacking the mantipede¡¯s strongest point. The mantipede knew that Tang Jie¡¯s attacks were fierce, and it hastily waved its left de, sessfully blocking the Heartbreak Saber. But it couldn¡¯t block Cai Junyang¡¯s Tsunami Sword.


    The recovering de leg was at its weakest point, and the protective scales had yet to emerge. The Raging Wave sh sshed green blood into the air as it cut off the unfortunate de leg once more.


    <em>Hisss!</em> The mantipede was verging on madness. It curled its upper body back and swatted at Cai Junyang with the remainder of its leg, throwing him back. Meanwhile, its lower body thrust itself into the ground like a spear, and its entire body radiated red light.


    Tang Jie knew that this was a bad sign and shouted, ¡°Get back! It¡¯s about to use its ultimate!¡±


    Cai Junyang didn¡¯t understand what ¡°its ultimate¡± meant, but he knew that the situation was bad. Pushing through the pain, he rolled on the ground and ran. He saw the mantipede with half its body buried in the ground and madly spinning around, its single de leg iling around and creating 360 degrees of shing de light. It was a ded tornado that spat out saber energy in all directions.


    ¡°Get down!¡± Tang Jie roared as he lunged to the ground and covered his head. The golden thread turned into a gauntlet that he used to protect his face. A momentter, he felt countless sharp saber energies howling overhead, the trees behind him creaking as they tumbled to the ground, and the fields cut down as if the grass was being given a haircut.


    The forest was instantly turned into a in.


    Once the winds had died away, Tang Jie raised his head and saw that the Quadeye Mantipede was still where it had been, but the red light had faded and its eyes were dim. It no longer appeared as savage as before.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t immediately charge in. He cautiously examined the fiend beast, and while the fiend beast didn¡¯t move, it continued to stare at Tang Jie with its two pairs of eyes.


    ¡°Junyang! Junyang! Are you okay?!¡± Tang Jie cautiously called out.


    With the mantipede in the middle, he couldn¡¯t see how Cai Junyang had fared.


    ¡°Shit, my butt¡­¡± Cai Junyang painfully groaned.


    Tang Jie tilted his head and saw Cai Junyang lying on the grass. His giant sword that he had ced in front of his face was now full of holes, and his butt was a bloody mess. It appeared as if some of its flesh had been shaved off.


    ¡°Don¡¯t raise your butt so high next time.¡± Tang Jie shrugged.


    ¡°You think I can¡¯t think of that? I really didn¡¯t think that guy would be hiding a move like that,¡± Cai Junyang continued to groan.


    The explosive attack just now had probably been the Quadeye Mantipede¡¯s strongest move, supremely powerful and covering a vast range. This was already beyond the domain of a ¡°spell¡± and in the realm of ¡°art¡±, and among real arts, it ranked quite well.


    Fortunately, Cai Junyang had cut off one of its de legs, and the mantipede¡¯s de tornado had clearly been based on two de legs. Without one, it was somewhat weaker, allowing the two of them to survive.


    Otherwise, even if they had been lying on the ground, they might not have been able to avoid the attack. Even if they didn¡¯t die, they would still be heavily injured.


    But the attack had also been a very heavy load for the mantipede to take. The red light around its body had faded¡ªa sign that it had consumed much of the fiend pellet¡¯s power. Even much of the energy of its body had been consumed.


    Seeing that Tang Jie and Cai Junyang were okay, it stopped attacking and began to back away.


    It seemed like it was nning to run.


    Tang Jie held his wound and stood up, pointing the Heartbreak Saber at the mantipede. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be a waste if we let you run? How can a cultivator shed blood in vain?¡±


    The mantipede shrieked at Tang Jie as if it was about to put up onest struggle, but then it turned around and ran.


    It moved very quickly and had soon fled beyond their attack range. Suddenly, it screeched as its body was sliced in two, the standing half separated from the running lower half as it plunged into a bush. All that was left was a red line in the air, dripping blood.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Cai Junyang stared in shock at that bloody line.


    ¡°My secret spell weapon. Don¡¯t tell anyone.¡± Tang Jie waved his hand, taking the golden thread back.


    When swinging his saber just now, he had silently thrown out the golden thread, and the Nullight spell had prevented the mantipede from noticing.


    ¡°So sharp! Where did you get it?¡± Cai Junyang was so surprised that he didn¡¯t even feel the pain in his butt anymore.


    Tang Jie had pierced through the mantipede with the golden de, which could be written off as the effect of a spell art, but now, he had used the golden thread separately. At Tang Jie¡¯s cultivation level, there was no way he could control weapons from a distance. This could only mean that the weapon itself was extremely sharp.


    ¡°Everyone has their secrets.¡± Tang Jie smiled.


    Cai Junyang bitterly said, ¡°This isn¡¯t the first time I¡¯m hearing such things¡­¡±


    The two of them went up to the mantipede, which still wasn¡¯t entirely dead. It twisted its body, and as the two came over, it thrust its de leg at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie casually blocked it with his saber and then stomped on the mantipede¡¯s head. The mantipede madly opened and closed its mandibles, but it couldn¡¯t bite at Tang Jie. Gradually, it ceased to move.


    Cai Junyang had by now found a small red pearl in the lower half of the mantipede¡¯s body. This was the mantipede¡¯s fiend pellet. He looked at it and sadly said, ¡°It already used the majority of the essence, leaving only a little. It¡¯s worthless¡­ This was a loss.¡±


    He looked at his Tsunami Sword as he painfully said this.


    Let alone getting anything from this battle, his weapon had been severely damaged.


    Even Tang Jie¡¯s Heartbreak Saber was sporting several small dents.


    If a spell weapon had minor damage, if it had a recovery seal, it would normally be able to heal on its own.


    The Tsunami Sword had arge de and was often used as a shield, so it undoubtedly had a recovery seal. The problem was that the Tsunami Sword had been too badly damaged, and even if it could recover, it would take some time. And in this period of time, unless Cai Junyang decided to use his beloved sword with abandon, he wouldn¡¯t have a weapon to use.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be done,¡± Tang Jie sighed. Unlike what many people imagined, challenging something above one¡¯s level was rather unprofitable.


    When confronting a more powerful opponent, one would have to pay two thousand coins to get one thousand coins back.


    This was what had happened when Tang Jie went against the fiend tiger, and now, the same had happened against the mantipede.


    Combat was no game, and death showed no mercy. True profit was made by bullying the weak.


    When the weak fought against the strong, surviving was already a good deal, drawing even was a victory, and making money was a miracle!


    Fortunately, the Tsunami Sword hadn¡¯t beenpletely destroyed, so this wasn¡¯t strictly a loss. It was just that it would have a rather major effect on them for the next few days.


    Tang Jie snapped off the mantipede¡¯s de leg, got the other one, and threw them to Cai Junyang. ¡°Make do with these for now.¡±


    Cai Junyang waved one around. While it was rather ugly, he could ept it. ¡°Look at me. I¡¯ve gone from a broadswordsman to a dual wielder.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s also this,¡± Tang Jie said as he dug out the mantipede¡¯s four eyes.


    These four eyes could fire paralyzing eye beams, which could be rather effective at crucial moments. It was just that the mantipede wasn¡¯t smart and didn¡¯t know when to use them, or else there would have been no saying how that battle would have ended.


    Tang Jie looked at the four eyes and said, ¡°There¡¯s still some lingering fiend energy, so they can be used for the next three days. If you activate them with spiritual power, you can paralyze a person once. As for the power¡­ it depends on the opponent. We split it fifty-fifty.¡±


    He gave Cai Junyang two eyes.


    Cai Junyang took the eyes and handed over the fiend pellet. ¡°I have the de legs, so you can have this. You contributed more to this battle, so fifty-fifty is already too much for me.¡±


    Tang Jie was just about to express his thanks when the little tiger rushed over and ate the fiend pellet.


    Tang Jie was left dumbfounded.


    Cai Junyang blurted out, ¡°I say, this little tiger you¡¯re raising is really something else. It doesn¡¯t do anything in battle, but it seems very anxious to share in the spoils, doesn¡¯t it?¡±


    Tang Jie spread apart his hands. ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can do. After all, I owe his dad.¡±


    He was referring to Wang Poguan, but Cai Junyang thought he was talking about the big tiger he had supposedly killed. Heughed, ¡°You¡¯re rather generous. Even if this fiend pellet isn¡¯t worth a lot, it would have still gone for several hundred at least.¡±


    The little tiger had finished eating the fiend pellet and was now circling around the mantipede.


    But the mantipede had green blood and its flesh was slightly poisonous. The little tiger sniffed a few times before giving up on eating the flesh. He began to work on the legs, which had no poison, and crisply snapped.


    Tang Jie looked over and frowned. ¡°Junyang, take a look at this guy. Don¡¯t you think he¡¯s gotten bigger?¡±


    Cai Junyang looked over and shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    Tang Jie knew that this was because Cai Junyang had only met the little tiger recently, but he recalled what the little tiger had been like right when they had entered the valley andpared it to his current state. He felt as if the little tiger really had grown bigger.


    For him to have changed so much in a day and a half, it was clear that the little tiger was benefiting enormously from the fiend beast meat he had consumed.


    As no one could bring pill furnaces or other such tools with them, much of the material from the fiend beasts in the valley was bound to be wasted. The little tiger¡¯s presence actually avoided this waste.


    <em>Perhaps it won¡¯t be long before this guy starts getting useful?</em> Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but think.


    As he pondered, Cai Junyang came over with a small bundle and said, ¡°Hey, help me out.¡±


    ¡°With what?¡±


    ¡°Applying medicine,¡± Cai Junyang said, pointing at his butt.


    He didn¡¯t have Tang Jie¡¯s outstanding recovery ability. He needed to apply medicine to this wound for it to recover quickly.


    But Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but inhale sharply when he looked at the position of the wound, and he instinctively looked aside.


    ¡°Hurry up! What are you thinking about?¡± Cai Junyang impatiently said as he leaned on a tree with his hands.


    A pure child didn¡¯t think about too much. Tang Jie had no choice but to take the medicinal pouch.


    A conversation was carried deep into the forest.


    ¡°Lighter! I said to not use too much force.¡±


    ¡°Just bear with it. I¡¯ll be done soon¡­ What are you shrinking back for? Keep your butt there.¡±


    ¡°It hurts, duh! Shit, this is all because of you. I won¡¯t be able to sit for the next few days.¡±


    ¡°What does it have to do with me?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say to fight it directly? If not, I would have never¡­ AGH¡­¡±

 Chapter 199: Hiring Help

    Chapter 199: Hiring Help


    Once the wound was bandaged, Cai Junyang realized what had happened and cried out in surprise, ¡°Tang Jie, didn¡¯t we just kill an upper-grade fiend beast?¡±


    Tang Jie gave him a weird look. ¡°Yes. What about it?¡±


    ¡°Upper grade! Spirit Sensing upper grade! That¡¯s a peak Spirit Sea existence. We¡¯ve only been students for a little more than a year, but we killed it!¡± Cai Junyang excitedly said.


    He hadn¡¯t been thinking about it too much during the battle, but now that he recalled, he realized that he and Tang Jie had set a record.


    Fiend beasts were fierce, and fighting one of the same level anding out victorious wasn¡¯t easy, much less fighting one beyond one¡¯s level.


    He and Tang Jie had only recently entered Spirit Lake, so fighting against a fiend beast of the same level was already pretty good. He had never expected to kill a fiend beast that was one entire tier higher. As he thought about it, the look Cai Junyang gave Tang Jie turned even stranger.


    He was well aware of his own strength, so it was only now that he realized how strong Tang Jie was.


    Even though he was rather slow to realize, it wasn¡¯t toote. As he looked at Tang Jie, he felt unable to meet his eyes. He thought to himself, <em>Does this guy already have the strength of a peak Spirit Sea?</em>


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t feel anything. ¡°In the end, it was a difficult victory. This Quadeye Mantipede is far from what can be considered a formidable fiend beast of the Valley of No Return. Even if we won, that doesn¡¯t mean that we can strut around this ce.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. If only we could convert our harvest here into power,¡± Cai Junyang said somewhat bitterly.


    His words gave Tang Jie an idea, but it was such a brief thought that it was gone before he could catch it.


    With the medicine applied, the two packed their things and started back on their journey.


    Following their original path, they arrived at the ce the mantipede had first appeared. They were just about to go over when the tiger growled and ran off to the side of the path.


    Tang Jie called out, ¡°The tiger has noticed something. Follow me.¡±


    The two of them hastily followed the little tiger, and it wasn¡¯t long before they reached a grassy clearing and saw the little tiger excitedly circling a tree.


    There was nothing unusual about the small tree, but there was a strange nt growing under it. It had violet petals, three to a flower, and six flowers had bloomed, a little purple fruit in the middle of each of them.


    ¡°This is¡­ a spirit nt?¡± Cai Junyang was very uncertain.


    He looked at Tang Jie, who replied, ¡°Yes, purpearl fruit. It¡¯s no wonder the mantipede appeared here. It was guarding the purpearl fruits.¡±


    ¡°Purpearl fruits! Haha! Rather than losing money, we made money!¡± Cai Junyang was ecstatic.


    Purpearl fruits were mainly used to increase blood energy, and they were the main ingredients in muscle creation, blood cirction, and explosive strength pills. The exact effects depended on the age of the fruit.


    As the nt was three feet high and had a faintly purple luster, it was probably around thirty years old and had only started growing after thest time the valley had been sealed. Even though it was far from reaching the ideal age of at least one hundred years, it was still a rare superb material. It was hard to me Cai Junyang for smiling so much.


    ¡°Half for you and half for me.¡± Cai Junyang lunged over, and as he plucked the six fruits, he added, ¡°These purpearl fruits are thirty years old, so one can sell for at least three hundred, so three is nine hundred coins. This is nearly a thousand coins, haha¡­ Oh, wait, we also have to give one to the sect.¡±


    Cai Junyang sighed. ¡°I really wish I had snuck in a pill furnace so that I could refine on the spot.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Keep dreaming! The Valley of No Return is only opened once every few decades, and there are countless valuable resources within. The sect is already being extremely generous by having students hand over only thirty percent. Do you realize that smaller sects have only one or two ces like this? While the treasures might be priceless, students can risk their lives and end up having to hand over eighty percent of their gains to their sects. It¡¯s only Basking Moon Academy that takes so little, and you want to enjoy it on the spot¡­¡±


    As he spoke, his mind suddenly trembled.


    That sh of insight from before reappeared, and Tang Jie finally realized what he had almost missed.


    Digesting on the spot!


    Yes, while others couldn¡¯t, he could.


    The vast majority of spiritual materials needed processing and had the best effect when refined into pills, but this wasn¡¯t a problem for him.


    The Parting ssic¡¯s body refinement used the base material and had never needed any finished products. This was because it extracted the energy from spiritual materials for use.


    Tang Jie had not noticed this before, nor had he felt there to be anything good about this, but now, he realized its advantage.


    This meant that he could use all of the harvests from this ce to strengthen his body and that he didn¡¯t need to take anything out.


    Although the Parting ssic also required boiling water to serve as the medium, that simply called for a wooden basin.


    There were trees all over the ce, so he just needed to find arger one and hollow it out to make a basin, after which he could put some water in and heat it. He couldn¡¯t bepared at all to other people, who needed to bring pill furnaces and other support tools.


    This also meant that Tang Jie didn¡¯t need to pay the sect thirty percent of his harvest.


    And this wasn¡¯t even considering the bigger advantage. He could use his harvests to improve himself and could truly get stronger throughbat.


    As the Valley of No Return was sealed, there were far more spiritual materials here than in the outside world, most of which were thirty years or older. By gathering many resources and using them, he could go through another leap in power and start up a cycle.


    Right now, he could just barely manage to beat an upper-grade Spirit Sensing fiend beast on his own, but after a round of strengthening, he would have a much easier time with them. He might even be more capable of surviving against a Mind Opening fiend beast.


    These six purpearl fruits were hugely beneficial for blood energy and were ideal materials for body refinement.


    Tang Jie found it hard to contain his excitement, but he managed to restrain himself and said, ¡°Junyang, why don¡¯t you make a deal with me?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Cai Junyang was startled.


    ¡°I want all six purpearl fruits.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Cai Junyang was bbergasted.


    Tang Jie took out the crocodile scales and the things he had taken from those three students he had killed from his Mustard Seed Bag. ¡°I¡¯ll use all these things to trade for them with you.¡±


    The crocodile scales were materials for defensive tools and those three students had left behind a spell weapon. These two together were definitely enough to trade for three purpearl fruits.


    Cai Junyang hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to trade with him, and after calcting the value of the goods, he realized that he was even making a small profit. He suspiciously asked, ¡°Have you found some hidden benefit of these purpearl fruits?¡±


    Tang Jie was rendered speechless. ¡°Hidden benefits, my ass! I want them because I n to use them. You know that purpearl fruits are beneficial to blood energy, and my constitution¡­¡±


    Cai Junyang understood. ¡°I get it. You want to make them into pills. If so, then we have a deal.¡±


    After trading for the purpearl fruits, Tang Jie continued with Cai Junyang on their journey.


    With a new n, Tang Jie stopped focusing on fiend beasts and began to look out for spirit nts. After all, the Parting ssic mostly used spirit nts and only an extremely small number of fiend beasts.


    They killed the asional low-level fiend beasts they came across, and Tang Jie traded what spoils he received for materials from Cai Junyang.


    In this way, the two of them finally reached that cliff Tang Jie had seen before. Before they were even close to it, they could already see the flocks of Thunderbirds in the air.


    These Thunderbirds had a golden luster and had three blue-feathered plumes at the tops of their heads. They had wingspans of nearly four meters, and with each p, lightning would dance around them.


    Each Thunderbird had its own nest on the cliff, and the nests were intricately constructed from branches, dirt, and saliva, much like a swallow¡¯s nest. The nests even used withered pieces of wood and fallen leaves as roofs to shelter against the wind and rain.


    They flew up and down into the cliff, entering and exiting their nests while asionally crying out in pleasant tones. asionally, when something rmed them, they would all take flight. There were less than a hundred of them, but their enormous forms made the sight magnificent, their wings capable of blocking out the clouds and casting a shadow over the world.


    Even without asking, one would know that this was Thunderbird Cliff.


    Each of these Thunderbirds had the strength of lower-grade Spirit Sensing, and a few of them had reached middle grade. As for the Thunderbird King, it was of Spirit Sensing¡¯s upper grade. But their numbers meant that even Mind Opening fiend beasts didn¡¯t lightly provoke them. Thus, Thunderbird Cliff was one of the most dangerous areas in the Valley of No Return.


    In truth, the map of the Valley of No Return had been marked ording to the strength of fiend beasts. Any location that was marked meant that this area had a powerful existence, or a powerful group.


    Thunderbirds were a ruthless kind of fiend beasts, and they were extremely aggressive. Considering that they were birds of prey that flew at high speeds, few students chose to mess with them.


    As they looked at the distant flock of Thunderbirds, they stopped. Cai Junyang said, ¡°It really is Thunderbird Cliff¡­ At least we know where we are now.¡±


    ¡°We know where we are, and where we need to go. I presume that you¡¯re headed to the Ice Cave?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°Of course. That¡¯s where the Iceme Red Lotus is. Where else would I be going?¡± Cai Junyang gave Tang Jie a strange look. ¡°You¡¯re not going to tell me that you don¡¯t want to go, are you?¡±


    ¡°I need to head to Megastone. My young master is there,¡± Tang Jie replied. One hour ago, Wei Tianchong had confirmed his position. Megastone was on the northern end of the Valley of No Return.


    As for the Iceme Red Lotus, he was in no rush.


    To get to the Ice Cave, one first had to pass through the dangerous and unfathomable Floral Forest. The Floral Forest was one of the danger zones of the Valley of No Return, and even if one managed to get through, when one got to the Ice Cave, one would have to deal with the Frost Fairy, a Mind Opening sprite. This was an old monster that had lived through several openings of the valley and could be considered one of the big bosses of the Valley of No Return.


    Only by oveing this threshold could one obtain the Iceme Red Lotus. Thus, for now, he wasn¡¯t too worried about it.


    ¡°So we¡¯re splitting up,¡± Cai Junyang sighed. He didn¡¯t ask how Tang Jie knew, for he was sick of being told that everyone had their secrets.


    ¡°But I really don¡¯t want to go there right now¡­ Junyang, there¡¯s something I would like your help with,¡± Tang Jie lightly said as he looked at the distant Thunderbirds.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Go to Megastone and help me protect my young master.¡±


    ¡°Wei Tianchong?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I have some business to take care of here and can¡¯t leave, so I want to entrust you with that task.¡±


    ¡°What business could you have?¡± Cai Junyang asked in confusion.


    He noticed that Tang Jie was looking at Thunderbird Cliff, and trembled in realization. He said in a shaky voice, ¡°You¡¯re not thinking about dealing with those Thunderbirds, are you? Tang Jie, don¡¯t go crazy on me. There are too many Thunderbirds, and their attacks are too vicious. Even a Mortal Shedding Realm expert wouldn¡¯t dare to challenge them. This giant flock of Thunderbirds is even more threatening than a Mind Opening fiend beast!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I know what I¡¯m doing. It¡¯s just that if I do this, I won¡¯t have time to help the young master. That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking for your help.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Cai Junyang immediately refused. ¡°Tang Jie, I consider you my good brother, which is why I helped youst time and didn¡¯t take the head. But I have no intention of giving up on this True Inheritor opportunity this time. If you want to help Wei Tianchong be a True Inheritor, one reserve slot simply isn¡¯t enough. Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re nning. You have to get all three reserve slots in order to make it work. You and I are bound to be rivals. Even if I help you as a friend, that depends on what you ask of me. In letting you gost time, I already did my utmost duty. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a bit much to ask me to go and help out Wei Tianchong?¡±


    ¡°Thirty lower-grade thunderplumes will be your reward for helping me.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Cai Junyang felt like he had been struck by lightning as he stared at Tang Jie in disbelief.


    Thunderplumes were the three blue plumes on the crowns of the thunderbirds¡¯ heads. This was where the essence of the thunderbird¡¯s power was gathered, and one could say that eighty percent of their value was gathered in those three plumes. The remainder was in the flesh. Of course, this didn¡¯t count Thunderbirds that had formed fiend pellets.


    Thunderplumes had many uses. They could be made into lightning-type spell weapons or they could be used to support the cultivation of lightning-type spells.


    A single thunderplume of a lower-grade Thunderbird was worth one hundred coins, a middle-grade one was worth three hundred coins, and an upper-grade was worth six hundred coins.


    Thirty lower-grade thunderplumes equaled three thousand spirit coins.


    From a student¡¯s perspective, such a gesture could only be considered generous.


    At the same time, it also meant that Tang Jie was really nning to attack the Thunderbirds. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be promising thirty thunderplumes.


    Cai Junyang was badly shaken by these words. ¡°You¡¯ve gone fucking crazy! These Thunderbirds aren¡¯t something you can provoke! Even ten of you put together wouldn¡¯t be enough to deal with them!¡±


    ¡°I have my ways of resolving this problem. You just need to make a decision.¡±


    ¡°I refuse!¡± Cai Junyang shouted.


    ¡°Forty.¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie, don¡¯t try that on me. There¡¯s no way you¡¯ll seed.¡±


    ¡°If I don¡¯t seed, I¡¯ll give you my Mustard Seed Bag and the Heartbreak Saber. In any case, so long as I don¡¯t die, you don¡¯t have to worry about me running on my debt.¡±


    ¡°Then I still won¡¯t agree. I¡¯m getting that True Inheritor position.¡±


    ¡°You have a one-in-several-thousand chance of getting the True Inheritor position.¡±


    ¡°Then I still want to try!¡±


    ¡°Fifty.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    ¡°Eighty!¡±


    Cai Junyang stared in shock at Tang Jie, not daring to believe his ears. ¡°Are you crazy? You n to take down the entire Thunderbird nest?¡±


    ¡°One hundred,¡± Tang Jie coldly said. ¡°I would only offer this deal to you. No one else is worth this much. I¡¯m asking for your help, but I¡¯m also repaying you for what you didst time! Brother, you should cherish this opportunity. If you protect Wei Tianchong for me, then so long as he doesn¡¯t die, you can essentially get ten thousand coins as a reward. Moreover, you still retain the right to go after the Iceme Red Lotus yourself. You should know that without me at his side, he can¡¯t pose much of a threat to you. On the contrary, he might even help you out.¡±


    Cai Junyang looked dumbly at Tang Jie. After a while, he said, ¡°You know what you¡¯re doing, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°Alright, deal!¡± Cai Junyang gritted his teeth and finally agreed.


    Ten thousand coins might notpare to the value of a True Inheritor, but it was definitely far more valuable than a one-in-one-thousand chance at bing a True Inheritor. No matter how much Cai Junyang desired the True Inheritor post, he had still fallen to Tang Jie¡¯s lucrative deal.


    This was the difference between ten thousand dors and a lottery ticket. Anyone could see which was more valuable.


    Cai Junyang looked at Tang Jie and sighed. ¡°If you can really do it¡­ I can only say that when the Wei n selected you as a servant student, they really found the right person.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Only a deal that can make the investor money can be considered a good deal¡­ and that¡¯s the only way to draw in more investors.¡±


    Cai Junyang couldn¡¯t understand these words no matter how he thought about them.

 Chapter 200: Stealing Grass

    Chapter 200: Stealing Grass


    With the deal done, Tang Jie and Cai Junyang separated, Cai Junyang going north to find Wei Tianchong while Tang Jie went to Thunderbird Cliff.


    He didn¡¯t charge straight into Thunderbird Cliff. He circled around it, carefully avoiding the warning line of the Thunderbirds and making his way around to the rear of the cliff.


    After making his way through a thick forest, Tang Jie finally arrived at a spacious valley that was awash in blue grass.


    This blue grass was found throughout this valley and grew to a height of half a meter. Each de of grass had a little blue flower, and when they danced in the wind, it appeared like the waves of the ocean. asionally, a spark of electricity would jump out from the flowers.


    Once night fell, the sparks would be particrly dazzling in this field, weaving an enchanting tapestry.


    Tang Jie chuckled and muttered, ¡°Thunderspirit grass¡­ It really is thunderspirit grass!¡±


    Thunderspirit grass was a special kind of lightning spirit nt. It didn¡¯t have much medicinal use, but it was very important to Thunderbirds. This was because Thunderbirds drew their lightning powers from the thunderspirit grass. This was precisely why thunderspirit grass had to exist wherever Thunderbirds lived.


    For Tang Jie, taking on so many Thunderbirds on his own clearly wasn¡¯t a smart idea. But with this thunderspirit grass, everything changed.


    This was because if he picked enough thunderspirit grass and used it to refine himself, he could nurture a resistance to electricity.


    As he cultivated the Parting ssic, he deepened his understanding of it.


    The growth provided by the Parting ssic depended not only on how he trained after taking the bath, but also on the medicinal materials he used, as different ingredients would lead to different directions.


    In the past, he had bought all sorts of ingredients, so he had developed in a bnced fashion and had be unable to see the difference that came from different types of baths.


    But this time, things were going to be different.


    To kill the Thunderbirds, Tang Jie needed to improve his resistance to electricity, and this thunderspirit grass was his best choice.


    Vast swaths of thunderspirit grass grew before him, and what Tang Jie needed to do was take them and bathe in them.


    This was the greatest problem famous fiend beasts faced: because they were famous, much of the information about them wasn¡¯t a secret.


    While the areas the maps had marked all yed host to fiend beasts that were extremely difficult to deal with, they were also the most exposed fiend beasts. Anyone with the intention and sufficient conditions could develop countermeasures against them.


    Fiend beasts like the Quadeye Mantipede, which nobody knew about, were far more difficult to target inparison.


    Of course, stealing thunderspirit grass from under the Thunderbirds was itself a major test.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie was ready for this.


    He didn¡¯t immediately pick the grass. He first retreated to the forest and began to look around.


    Fortunately, after looking around, he managed to find what he was looking for: an unluckyrge turtle that had just emerged from a small river nearby.


    The turtle had lived for some time, but its progress was extremely slow. For it, the rule that fiend beasts that lived one hundred years would reach Mind Opening didn¡¯t seem to apply. Even after three hundred years, it was still at Spirit Sensing¡¯s lower grade, and an extremely awful lower grade at that. When Tang Jie grabbed it, it immediately drew its head into its shell in fear.


    Raising the turtle, Tang Jie tested the toughness of its shell using the Heartbreak Saber. He estimated that it was about as tough as him when he used the Formless Golden Body, which was perhaps the only praiseworthy thing to be said about this old turtle.


    Tang Jie carried the turtle back to the thunderspirit grass field. ncing at the distant Thunderbird Cliff, he chuckled and then threw the old turtle with all the strength he had.


    This full-strength toss had the turtle sailing like a shot ball toward Thunderbird Cliff.


    Although it waste at night, the electricity of the thunderspirit grass lit up the ce as brightly as day, and the turtle itself wasn¡¯t small. As it flew over, it immediately drew the attention of the Thunderbirds. With a shriek, ten-some Thunderbirds flew at the turtle.


    The turtle stopped hiding in its shell, its head and feet emerging and iling around in the air to no avail.


    Lightning gathered in the air, and then shed as it mmed down on the turtle.


    Tang Jie focused his vision and watched as the lightning struck the turtle, producing a shower of sparks. The electricity hissed as it traveled through the turtle¡¯s body, roasting its flesh. The turtle¡¯s neck extended as it hissed in pain. It wanted to draw its exposed limbs back into its shell, but the electricity hadpletely paralyzed it.


    More lightning soon fell, and with a rumble, the old turtle was sted into chunks of flesh that rained down on the area.


    The Thunderbirds rushed up and began to peck at the turtle¡¯s flesh, and there was soon nothing left. The birds cried out as if they were announcing that this was their territory before returning to their nests.


    <em>Thirty-four bolts,</em> Tang Jie silently counted. <em>Their strength is average, but that paralyzing effect of the electricity is very annoying¡­</em>


    The Thunderbirds weren¡¯t particrly powerful. Twelve Thunderbirds had flown out, and they had made three attacks in a row, and the turtle had shattered in between thest two salvos.


    While the turtle shell was tough, it didn¡¯t have any recovery ability. This meant that if he had been in its ce, he would probably be able to endure fifty bolts. These attacks were far less powerful than he had thought. Of course, this was only for Tang Jie. Anyone else probably couldn¡¯t evenst through twenty.


    The real headache was the paralyzing effect of the lightning bolts.


    After being struck by lightning, the turtle had stiffened up, bing incapable of even drawing back its head. As a result, it had died before its shell had even shattered.


    Tang Jie knew that with his constitution, he wouldn¡¯t be as affected by the lightning as the turtle, but even being slightly slowed down would have severe consequences.


    Worst of all was that his Aquagel Shroud only had a weakening effect and couldn¡¯tpletely block an attack. In this aspect, it was much worse than other defensive spells.


    Another student could rely on spell arts to take the attacks. So long as their barrier didn¡¯t break, the electricity would find it difficult to paralyze him. But Tang Jie couldn¡¯t do that.


    With all those lightning boltsing down, there was simply no way he would be able to endure.


    Understanding this point, Tang Jiepletely gave up on the idea of using his body to take all the attacks. ¡°I¡¯ll just have to sharpen my spear right before battle. Fortunately, I still have this.¡±


    Tang Jie flipped his hand over, and a light floated up from his palm. It was none other than the copy of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic he had made.


    This copying spell was something he had learned from the Divine Firmament Sword ssic. It stored the copy in the body, allowing it to be hidden and used at any time. It was truly an exquisite spell art.


    As the night deepened, the Thunderbirds gradually fell asleep.


    The world was quiet and serene, the asional sh from the thunderspirit grass casting shadows nearby.


    A figure furtively crept toward the thunderspirit grass field.


    Cautiously ncing at the distant cliff, Tang Jie didn¡¯t immediately take action. He first carefully released some spiritual energy toy down a minor bewildering formation.


    Minor bewildering formations were too low of a level to fool the Thunderbirds, but it waste at night and they were far away, so the Thunderbirds would already have a difficult time noticing him. With the help of this minor bewildering formation, he would be able to hide from the Thunderbirds.


    Once he was done with the formation, Tang Jie slowly extended a hand toward a nearby thunderspirit grass.


    <em>Bzzt!</em> A sh of electricity struck his hand.


    Tang Jie seemed to not notice as his fingersnded on the little blue flower. He pinched his two fingers, plucking the flower, and with a flick of the wrist, he threw it into his bag.


    The thunderspirit grass immediately dimmed.


    Tang Jie continued forward, carefully moving around the field and plucking the flowers of the thunderspirit grass. Just when he had picked his twelfth flower, an animal suddenly popped out of the ground. It looked like a small squirrel, with arge pair of eyes. It red at Tang Jie and then let out a loud shriek.


    It was so intive that it instantly tore through the night sky.


    Thunderbird Cliff instantly erupted with electricity.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± Tang Jie cursed.


    This squirrel was known as the Warning Mouse. It had little ability of its own, but it was an expert at noticing movement and sending out warning signals, and it was naturally born with the ability to see through illusion spells. By relying on this talent, Warning Mice were able to coborate with all kinds of fiend beasts. The fiend beasts protected the Warning Mice, and the Warning Mice would serve as sentries. It was a ssic example of a symbiotic fiend beast.


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t expected there to be a Warning Mouse here. He crushed the little squirrel to death, and then a golden light shed out of his hand as he cut down arge swath of the thunderspirit grass, sweeping up their flowers with the golden thread and bringing them back.


    Tang Jie opened his bag to receive them, and then, heedless of whether he had managed to get all the flowers or not, he turned and ran.


    Shrieks came from Thunderbird Cliff as two squads of Thunderbirds went after him.


    Lightning was already shing in the skies.


    Tang Jie activated the Violet Lightning Lunge and rushed into the forest, using the trees to obstruct the vision of the Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds continued to chase him down, lightning bolts cracking down at Tang Jie as they screeched.


    Tang Jie continued to desperately sprint forward as pir after pir of lightning mmed down behind him. As he ran, a wall of lightning wasid out behind him.


    Tang Jie felt like he was a soldier fleeing amid bombers and machine guns. Lightning struck down all around him, tossing up dirt and felling trees.


    At the very front of the chase were two middle-grade Thunderbirds. They both screeched and pped their wings, and the plumes on their heads shed. Two thick lightning bolts appeared in the sky and cracked down.


    Just when they were about to strike Tang Jie, Tang Jie leaped, brushing past a tree. One lightning bolt struck the tree, instantly chopping it in half, while the other struck him.


    At this moment, Tang Jie¡¯s body shed with light, and he managed to block the lightning bolt.


    The Darkice Barrier!


    This was a defensive spell recorded in the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, and the strongest. It excelled in defending against all attributes and persisted the longest.


    Tang Jie had naturally never learned it before, but there was no harm in learning it on the spot and using it.


    Ad-hoc learning like this would soon vanish if it were not trained any more, but it was just like cheating to get the answer on the test. Even if these answers wouldn¡¯t be knowledge that the student would keep for the rest of their life, it was fine for passing the test.


    Before stealing the grass, Tang Jie had wasted a significant amount of time following the diagrams and learning the Darkice Barrier, and he wouldn¡¯t even be able to cast it once without looking at the copy. But at least his Darkice Barrier was real and had seeded in blocking the thunderbolt.


    After enduring this vicious blow, Tang Jie continued forward. He specifically sought out forests to hide, using the trees as cover as he rushed forward, his Darkice Barrier asionally shing.


    As the Thunderbirds continued their assault, the Darkice Barrier began to reach its breaking point.


    Finally, a small river appeared in front of him.


    Tang Jie jumped out of the forest and flipped into the river. At the same time, several thick lightning bolts came down, making direct contact with Tang Jie. This time, there was no dodging. The Darkice Barrier shattered, and then Tang Jie¡¯s body went stiff.


    A momentter, he dropped into the water and disappeared.


    The flock of Thunderbirds circled in the air, but they couldn¡¯t find any sign of that damned human. They vented their rage by firing a salvo of thunderbolts at the river and throwing up vast waves before leaving.


    After a little while, Tang Jie appeared at the other end of the river.


    Letting out a long breath, Tang Jie looked up at the sky and muttered, ¡°The numbing time is a little less than two seconds. Pretty good.¡±


    Tang Jie had intentionally taken that attack to test his ability.


    Massaging his sore body, Tang Jie walked over to a nearby tree.


    He now needed to bathe his body using the thunderspirit grass to increase his resistance to lightning. Even though he still had far too little thunderspirit grass to resist the attacks of the Thunderbirds, Tang Jie didn¡¯t care.


    So long as he persevered, many little things would add up to something great.

 Chapter 201: The Siege of Thunderbird Cliff

    Chapter 201: The Siege of Thunderbird Cliff


    The second night after Cai Junyang left, Tang Jie received a message from Yiyi.


    Wei Tianchong had met with Cai Junyang.


    With Cai Junyang¡¯s protection and Wei Tianchong¡¯s improved self, they were now much safer, and they were now working together to find Shi Meng, Liu Hongyan, and the others.


    With this news, Tang Jie could finally focus entirely on the flock of Thunderbirds.


    From this day forward, Tang Jie began to steal grass like a madman.


    As the Thunderbirds were diurnal creatures, Tang Jie mostly stole grass at night. Late at night, Tang Jie would sneak over and seizerge amounts of grass.


    The Warning Mice caused Tang Jie to be discovered almost every time, but Tang Jie didn¡¯t care. All he cared about was stealing as much grass as he could before the Thunderbirds attacked.


    Starting with the second grass raid, Tang Jie stoppedying down illusion formations in the thunderspirit grass field. Instead, heid down the illusion formation on his path of retreat, even using the rm Gate Banner. Although the Thunderbirds could break the illusion formation, each time they did, they would be slowed down, giving Tang Jie more time to escape.


    Each night, he would raid three to five times.


    Sometimes he was lucky and able to gather a lot before the Warning Mice noticed. Other times, he was unlucky and walked into the guard perimeter of the Warning Mice on his first step.


    What followed was a frenzied flight and pursuit.


    It went on and on.


    After several incidents, the Thunderbirds began to realize that they had encountered a troublesome foe.


    On Tang Jie¡¯s fourth day trying to steal grass, they began to stationrge numbers of Warning Mice on the perimeter to prevent Tang Jie from approaching.


    The warning cries resounded on that night, lightning shed, and thunder rumbled. Tang Jie¡¯s efforts that night were essentially fruitless.


    But in the day, Tang Jie captured several Nightshade Cats.


    Nightshade Cats were natural enemies of Warning Mice, and one of the few existences that Warning Mice couldn¡¯t sense. Thus, the Warning Mice faced disaster, and there were always a few unfortunate ones who ended up being eaten by the Nightshade Cats. Tang Jie used the openings to rush in and take some grass before running off.


    The Thunderbirds were forced to adjust their tactics and send out some Thunderbirds to keep guard at low altitudes.


    Tang Jie had an even simpler method to deal with these low-altitude Thunderbirds.


    He used a substitute spell to make a fake target for the Thunderbirds, who had low intelligence. Once the Thunderbirds chased after the substitute, Tang Jie used the opening to seize as much grass as he could, making for one of his most fruitful nights.


    On the eighth night, the Thunderbird King personally took part in the pursuit of Tang Jie.


    That was the most dangerous night for Tang Jie.


    The Thunderbird King was at the upper grade of Spirit Sensing and was incredibly strong, and it also had twelve middle-grade Thunderbirds with it. They weren¡¯t fooled by the substitute and chased after the main body, and the Darkice Barrier was incapable of blocking the attacks of all these powerful Thunderbirds, shattering before he was even halfway through. If Tang Jie hadn¡¯t already gone through repeated refining to be much more resistant to electricity such that he wouldn¡¯t be paralyzed, he would already be dead.


    Even so, Tang Jie was still left battered all over by the lightning.


    But after just one night, Tang Jie was back to being as lively as ever.


    He became even more cautious and prudent, but he also began to more frenziedly gather the thunderspirit grass.


    This was apetition of tactics and spells, a siege battle of Thunderbird Cliff pitting a cultivator against fiend beasts.


    There was only one attacker, but through his tenacity, agility, and ever-persevering mindset, he gradually seized the initiative.


    Tang Jie had even nned for the Thunderbirds toy down ambushers to strike at him from behind, but in reality, the limit of the Thunderbirds¡¯ intelligence was to not fall for feints.


    Thus, they could only screech anxiously as they watched the thunderspirit grass fields dwindle, but they didn¡¯t have the slightest clue as to how to deal with it.


    Tang Jie used his actions to give the Thunderbirds a lesson, to let them know that victory didn¡¯t always rest in the hands of the strong, but in the hands of the one with initiative.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t waste the daytime either.


    He would clear up the surroundings, searching for herbs that he could use and fiend beasts he could hunt.


    The flock of Thunderbirds meant that there weren¡¯t any fiend beasts that were too strong around Thunderbird Cliff. Tang Jie could sweep through the area and take whatever he needed.


    Such limited plunder couldn¡¯t be underestimated. True profit often came from long-term umtion. Those cultivators who imagined striking it rich from killing high-level fiend beasts were like people who deluded themselves into thinking that their business would experience explosive growth and profit. They were foreordained to have poor prospects.


    Only by constantly umting resources and strength could one get the capital for the big deals.


    Tang Jie spent ten days in this calm yet dangerous struggle against the Thunderbirds.


    As he gathered more thunderspirit grass and the fields shrank, it also became more difficult for Tang Jie to gather grass. It was small enough that the flock of Thunderbirds could detect Tang Jie without the help of the Warning Mice.


    But all the thunderspirit grass Tang Jie had gathered in that back-and-forth struggle meant that Tang Jie¡¯s resistance to lightning grew stronger and stronger. Even while the battles and pursuits increased in frequency, Tang Jie became safer and safer.


    Through these various battles, Tang Jie also began to activate the potential of all that spirit food Li Yu had given him, and he grew stronger and stronger.


    As time went on, the Thunderbird flock stopped trying to chase Tang Jie. They simply drove him away before returning to their cliff, like humans chasing away sparrows trying to get at their rice.


    The only difference was that this sparrow was getting stronger the more rice he stole.


    The situation slowly began to shift.


    On the eleventh day, Tang Jie came out in the day for the first time.


    On this day, he went from theft to robbery.


    He rushed up right under the eyes of the Thunderbirds, enduring the lightning to take the thunderspirit grass and run.


    The pursuits went from happening at night to urring throughout the day.


    Tang Jie was like a tireless sparrow, constantly prowling around the perimeter, looking for a chance to steal, snatch, and rob.


    The thunderspirit grass fields shrank once more.


    The thirteenth day.


    Tang Jie had been in the Valley of No Return for half a month.


    He once more appeared today.


    He smiled at the distant Thunderbirds and waved at them. ¡°Hey! Good day! I¡¯m back again.¡±


    The Thunderbirds furiously stared at him, but they didn¡¯t call, nor did they chase. They simply circled in the air.


    After greeting them, Tang Jie strode over. As he approached the thunderspirit grass, the Thunderbirds cried out and swooped down.


    Tang Jie threw out his golden thread, grabbing arge bundle of grass before turning and running.


    The lightning cracked down, and several bolts struck Tang Jie. But Tang Jie only swayed a little before continuing forward.


    A particrlyrge Thunderbird rushed forward and sent out an extremely thick lightning bolt. This was the Thunderbird King, the only upper-grade Thunderbird.


    Tang Jie leaped, moving as quickly as lightning. After avoiding this bolt of lightning, he rushed up to the river and jumped in.


    Everything was as if he was following a textbook.


    Another robbery, and another escape.


    The Thunderbird King could only angrily screech in the face of this vexing hoodlum and lead its flock away.


    But as the flock was about to depart, a light shot out of the water.


    Water gushed up as a sharp saber light whistled through the air and struck one of the departing Thunderbirds.


    The saber light swept across the Thunderbird¡¯s head, instantly cutting it off.


    <em>Cree!</em> The flock instantly gathered together in anger, sting lightning at Tang Jie. But in the dazzling light, Tang Jie simply trembled before grabbing the bird¡¯s head and sinking back into the water, gone in the blink of an eye.


    The Thunderbird King sted the river bottom with lightning, and water sshed into the air and formed restless waves.


    But no matter how it vented its rage, it could do nothing to Tang Jie within the water. On the contrary, a momentter, Tang Jie shot out of the water and killed another Thunderbird with his saber.


    The Thunderbird was vignt this time, and a steely w came up and blocked the de.


    But a momentter, there was a sh of golden light, and the golden thread wrapped around the Thunderbird¡¯s head. With a sharp tug, the thread cut through the head like tofu.


    With two Thunderbirds in, Tang Jie sank back into the water, shooting a yful nce at the Thunderbird King.


    The Thunderbird King¡¯s heart trembled. Even with its limited intelligence, it began to sense a new threat. This was the first time this annoying adversary had counterattacked.


    The situation had changed again!


    Enormous unease drowned out the anger it felt over the loss of itspanions, and the Thunderbird King threw its head back and screeched, after which it led its flock back to Thunderbird Cliff.


    Tang Jie once more emerged from the water.


    His scorched body let out a few sparks before returning to normal.


    ncing at the distant flock, Tang Jie removed the plumes from the two bird heads and then threw out the corpses. He whistled, and the little tiger came running out of the distance.


    This little guy was quite the clever rascal now. When he saw a battle, he would run, and when there was no battle, he woulde back. And when Tang Jie ran into a fiend beast he couldn¡¯t kill, meaning that there would be no lunch, the tiger would even angrily roar at Tang Jie. He was the ssic spoiled brat.


    He rushed over like lightning and began to eat away at the two Thunderbirds. His body was clearly even bigger than before. Tang Jie saw that the little guy was happily eating and was just about to go and take one of his refinement baths when he suddenly noticed something strange and turned to look at the tiger.


    He was happily eating away and had apparently not noticed Tang Jie¡¯s gaze.


    Tang Jie looked at him and suddenly grabbed the bird corpse.


    The little tiger jumped up in panic, swatting his paw at the corpse. Tang Jie took a step back and threw the corpse away. The little tiger jumped into the air, twisted his body, bit down on the Thunderbird, andnded back on the ground, executing all of his movements with grace and elegance.


    ¡°The Wind God Step?¡± Tang Jie blurted out.


    The little tiger had clearly used the Wind God Step that Wang Poguan had used before.


    Tang Jie embraced the tiger and shouted, ¡°You¡¯ve finally awakened your fiend power!¡±


    <em>Grr¡­</em> The little tiger stubbornly bit down on the Thunderbird flesh, growling in dissatisfaction.


    <em>I hate it when others disturb my feeding time!</em>


    ¡°Don¡¯t focus only on eating. What else do you know?¡± Tang Jie forcefully pulled the meat away from the tiger, and the tiger swept his paws at him and roared.


    The roar shook Tang Jie¡¯s soul. This was none other than the Tiger King Roar.


    What followed was a wind de, which sliced off a chunk of the Thunderbird meat that Tang Jie was holding. The little tiger jumped and caught the meat, swallowing it in a single gulp. This was none other than the Galetiger de.


    The Gale de of the Basking Moon Sect had actually been obtained from the fiend tiger race.


    But this Galetiger de used by the little tiger was much faster and stronger than Wu Xing¡¯s Gale de.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie knew that the little tiger had truly managed to awaken his fiend power.


    The awakening of fiend power meant that the little tiger could use spell arts, meaning that he had be a real fiend beast and entered the lower grade. Now, he just needed enough time to mature.


    Unlike the bloodline awakening, the fiend power awakening only meant that a fiend beast had the ability to cast spells.


    Spells were just a method of circting spiritual energy, so spells normally weren¡¯t inherited. Fiend beasts normally developed spells based on their surrounding environment and their own bodies.


    Sometimes, the influence of their bloodlines meant that some fiend beasts could obtain the abilities of their fathers, but this was because they were often taught them.


    This was simr to how the children of an engineer could be engineers, but this was greatly influenced by the guidance and nurturing of the household, having little to do with bloodline. At the very least, bloodline did not y a decisive role.


    Only fiend beasts with particrly powerful bloodlines could transfer spell arts intact through bloodlines, allowing their children to possess powerful spell arts from the start, and even without their fathers by their side, they could still develop these abilities.


    Only these spell arts that were passed down through generations could be called true natural spell arts.


    Very few fiend beasts possessed true natural spell arts, and only a small number of fiend beasts were capable of passing down one or two.


    Tang Jie had long ago known that the fiend tiger lineage of Tiger Roar Peak wasn¡¯t simple, but he hadn¡¯t expected it to be this strong. This little tiger had inherited three natural spell arts.


    In other words, only Wang Poguan¡¯s earth-element spells, such as the Earth Spike, were spells that he had learned on his ownter on, and the others were natural abilities.


    This wasn¡¯t a good thing!


    Having a fiend tiger wasn¡¯t a problem, but having a fiend tiger with the same natural abilities as the fiend tiger of Tiger Roar Peak was a serious problem.


    At this thought, Tang Jie¡¯s heart sank. ¡°Shit, this is a predicament!¡±

 Chapter 202: Heavenly King Maras Incantation

    Chapter 202: Heavenly King Mara¡¯s Incantation


    Bao¡¯er¡¯s fiend power had awakened, putting Tang Jie in an awkward spot.


    If this had been before the tiger had been exposed, Tang Jie still could have hidden him.


    But by now, Bao¡¯er had shown himself to quite a few people.


    Cai Junyang was the first to know of Bao¡¯er¡¯s existence, but over thest few days, Tang Jie had met several other students who had also seen Bao¡¯er.


    As Tang Jie had been intending to reveal Bao¡¯er to the world, he hadn¡¯t made any attempts to hide him. On the contrary, he had encouraged the misconception that he had acquired the little tiger in the valley.


    But Bao¡¯er¡¯s natural spell arts made all the lies tant and created a clear problem.


    This was particrly because Bao¡¯er¡¯s bloodline had yet to awaken, and he had yet to achieve intelligence, so he still didn¡¯t understand many things. Thus, having him hide his abilities was basically impossible¡ªhe would even use all his abilities for the sake of a chunk of meat.


    Once he got back to the Basking Moon Sect, being discovered was only a matter of time.


    Even if he were left in the valley, at his current level of strength, he wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up and would most likely die.


    Moreover, Wang Poguan had not had him take the little tiger out just so his son could be put in another cage.


    What was he going to do?


    Tang Jie racked his brain for ideas.


    The little tiger had no idea of Tang Jie¡¯s troubles, and continued to excitedly devour the Thunderbird meat.


    As he watched the cub chomp away, Tang Jie muttered, ¡°Three natural spell arts. Even one would make the Basking Moon Sect very suspicious, and it¡¯s impossible for him to not use them, unless¡­ unless the spell arts mutated. Since what¡¯s natural can¡¯t be changed, I can only artificially alter them¡­ Yes, there might still be a chance.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes brightened.


    But fiend beasts were different from sprites. As they were not born with intelligence, they couldn¡¯t learn spell arts. Only by hunting and absorbing fiend power could they obtain spell arts.


    However, this also meant that their learning process was extremely simple.


    By constantly attempting to use their powers while hunting, they gradually mastered them.


    Until they were able to transform, almost all fiend beasts used this method to strengthen themselves.


    This little guy was able to so quickly awaken his fiend power precisely because he had consumed too much fiend beast flesh over thest few days.


    But as this meat came from various sources, it didn¡¯t grant him any new spell arts, only increased his fiend power.


    But if he ate enough of the same kind of fiend beast essence, he might obtain a new spell or mutate one of his current spells from the essence he derived from this fiend beast.


    This was simr in principle to the refinement that Tang Jie went through in his baths.


    And before him was precisely such an opportunity¡­


    Upon thinking this, Tang Jie cast his gaze over at the distant Thunderbird Cliff.


    If he only wanted to harvest this region, victory or defeat wasn¡¯t important. But now, he had no choice but toplete this campaign.


    ¡°Shit¡­¡± Tang Jie viciously said, ¡°Little thing, I¡¯m hunting for your sake, so you had better step up! If you don¡¯t go from a wind tiger to a wind and lightning tiger, I won¡¯t serve you any more.¡±


    The little tiger growled, but it was hard to say for sure that he actually understood what Tang Jie had said.


    Thus, the protracted siege battle of Thunderbird Cliff continued.


    Unlike before, Tang Jie¡¯s intrusions were much more savage, audacious, and brash.


    In the past, he would rest between his raids, at times clearing the surroundings, adjusting his body and mental state, and changing things up. But now, he spent all twenty-four hours in a tireless assault, stealing from and provoking the Thunderbird flock.


    He seemed to have be addicted to Thunderbird flesh and had lost interest in anything else.


    In one day, he attacked the Thunderbird flock seven to eight times, and this pace only picked up, essentially fighting once every two hours.


    Yes, fighting!


    Tang Jie had stopped running for his life, instead countering as he fled, seeking out opportunities to kill the Thunderbirds and giving all of the in Thunderbirds to the little tiger to eat.


    This insane method caused the number of Thunderbirds to rapidly plunge.


    On the sixteenth day in the Valley of No Return, Tang Jie attacked seven times and killed six Thunderbirds.


    On the seventeenth day, he attacked eight times and killed eight.


    On the neenth day, he attacked nine times and killed eleven, obtaining one fiend pellet.


    On the neenth day, he attacked eleven times and killed sixteen.


    With each passing day, Tang Jie¡¯s attacks and the number of Thunderbirds he killed rose in number. In just a few days, he had wiped out a third of the Thunderbird flock.


    As the bnce in strength slowly tipped and Tang Jie¡¯s resistance rose, the pace of the ughter elerated.


    On the twentieth day, Tang Jie attacked thirteen times and killed twenty-four Thunderbirds.


    The Thunderbird flock that had once dominated the western end of the Valley of No Return was no longer as brash. In the face of the unkible Tang Jie, they began to back away in fear, like a turtle drawing its head into its shell.


    But by shrinking away, they gave Tang Jie even more opportunities to bathe himself in thunderspirit grass, and with more baths, he was able to pick up the frequency of his attacks even more.


    Tang Jie could no longer even remember how many baths he had taken with thunderspirit grass, how many times he had thrown those blue flowers into the water so that they could turn into medicinal fluid and seep into his body, enhancing his resistance as he basked in the steam.


    Now, the lightning bolt of the upper-grade Spirit Sensing Thunderbird King could only slightly scorch his skin, not heavily injure him like before. As for paralyzing, that was simply impossible.


    The only thing that Tang Jie was still somewhat afraid of was the concentrated salvo of countless Thunderbirds, but as Tang Jie grew more and more proficient in the Violet Lightning Lunge, this sort of salvo also grew less effective. Besides his lightning resistance, Tang Jie was experiencing the greatest growth in the Violet Lightning Lunge which he used to run for his life.


    Ten-some days of constant use had led Tang Jie to experience a breakthrough in the Violet Lightning Lunge, and he was finally able to feel the threshold of truly moving his body like lightning. And the special attributes of a spell of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic finally began to make themselves manifest.


    Hunting down several dozen Thunderbirds had given the little tiger an ample source of meat, such that the tiger was filled to the bursting every day with their flesh. Later on, he couldn¡¯t even eat anymore and Tang Jie had to force him to eat. For the first time in his life, the little tiger learned that even eating meat was a sort of suffering.


    Even so, the little tiger showed no abnormalities. Tang Jie had even given the tiger the fiend pellet, but all that did was make himrger and stronger.


    Of course, this might have been because Tang Jie had only killed lower-grade Thunderbirds.


    The twenty-first day.


    Tang Jie once more arrived at Thunderbird Cliff.


    He had picked all the thunderspirit grass beneath the cliff, so he had finally turned his target to the Thunderbirds atop the cliff.


    Standing at the bottom of the cliff, he pointed his finger at the sky.


    Several dozen Thunderbirds circled in the sky, and their leader, the Thunderbird King, screeched in anger.


    It understood this human¡¯s intent. He nned to kill them all.


    The flock screeched as it circled in the air to higher altitudes in order to avoid this terrifying human.


    Tang Jie simply chuckled and pointed at the nests on the cliff.


    A few newborn chicks were cheeping in the nest. They extended their necks and cried out, like invisible ropes that pulled on the wings of every Thunderbird.


    A momentter, Tang Jie drew back his hand.


    The copy of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic appeared before him.


    Tang Jie began to open and close his hands, holding his middle fingers opposite to each other, and he began to chant, ¡°I impose infinite dharmas, and my body is one with the heart of the world. The unrestrained heart of the Great Mara is without me. This is the incantation of Heavenly King Mara¡­¡±


    Heavenly King Mara¡¯s Incantation!


    This was an extremely powerful spell art recorded in the Divine Firmament Sword ssic. It was a spell art that originated from the Buddhist school of another domain. Just like the Thunder Lightsear Sword Lin Lang had used, it was at the apex of spells and already embodied some of the power of an art.


    While Heavenly King Mara¡¯s Incantation was more powerful, it also consumed more spiritual energy. Tang Jie only had the spiritual energy of the Spirit Lake Tier, so he could barely use this spell a single time.


    This spell was extremely difficult to cast, and it was only because thest few days had scared the Thunderbird flock into not attacking Tang Jie that he had the time to cast it.


    Thus, as the incantation was chanted, clouds began to gather over Thunderbird Cliff.


    A massive human figure appeared in the sky. It had Tang Jie¡¯s face, but it was so handsome and dignified that it appeared like a god descending. This was the Heavenly King manifestation formed from the Heavenly King Mara Incantation.


    This was his first time using this incantation, so the manifestation was only a hundred meters tall. A true Heavenly King manifestation at the peak could reach a height of ten thousand meters and obliterate all with one strike. Even so, this was enough to deal with the Thunderbird flock.


    The phantom in the air slowly extended a hand and mmed it down at the Thunderbird flock.


    The flock instantly scattered in panic, but the Thunderbird King swooped down straight at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie simply grunted. His left hand continued to maintain the Heavenly King manifestation while his right hand swung. The giant hand in the air suddenly changed directions like someone swatting at flies. <em>Whoosh!</em> Numerous Thunderbirds were struck, their bones snapping.


    Tang Jie pressed his right hand down, and the giant hand hurtled down toward the nests on the cliff.


    The Thunderbird King could no longer attack Tang Jie. It flew toward the giant hand and rammed against it. As it let out a sharp shriek, a thick lightning bolt descended from the heavens and struck the manifestation.


    The manifestation flickered and gradually began to show signs of copse.


    This was a sign that Tang Jie was running out of spiritual energy to maintain such a powerful spell, and Tang Jie didn¡¯t try to force it. He simply bent his finger and flicked, sending out a bolt of wind.


    Energy Needle!


    It was a simple spell, but when unleashed through the Heavenly King Mara Incantation, it became a spear of lightning that could prate the firmament.


    There was a blinding explosion of light as ten-some Thunderbirds were pierced through by the Energy Needle, and even one of the steely wings of the Thunderbird King had a hole punched through it.


    At the same time, the Heavenly King manifestation finally dissipated.


    <em>Creee!</em> The Thunderbird King angrily screeched as it swooped at Tang Jie.


    Though it had yet to reach Mind Opening, it knew that this cultivator had undoubtedly consumed a lot of energy to cast such a powerful spell and was certain to be unable to escape in the short term. This was precisely the moment for the Thunderbirds to attack with everything they had.


    All of the surviving Thunderbirds attacked in unison, the sky once more shing with electricity.


    Tang Jie truly didn¡¯t have much spiritual energy left.


    But what did that matter?


    His real strength wasn¡¯t in his spells. If one didn¡¯t consider his powerful body, his strength was that of a third-year student at best, but with his powerful body, he could sweep through the vast majority of the students at the Spirit tform Realm.


    As the flock swooped down at him, Tang Jie took a spirit recovery pill before slowly pulling out the Heartbreak Saber.


    After the bombardment, it was time for des to sh. Saber light exploded and blood sshed as a gruesome battle began!

 Chapter 203: Flight

    Chapter 203: Flight


    Tang Jie swayed, and then he weakly copsed to the ground.


    In front of him was a sea of blood.


    Blood drenched his body, making it seem like he had bathed in it, and even his hair had twisted together in clumps. Blood dripped from the tips onto his chest, where five long w wounds had almost dissected him.


    His face and body were peppered with holes left by the beaks of the Thunderbirds. With their lightning attacks rendered ineffective, the Thunderbirds had used the most primitive method to fight against Tang Jie: their beaks to peck and bite and their ws to scratch. Even with Tang Jie¡¯s formidable constitution, these frenzied attacks had managed to brutalize his entire body.


    But in the end, he had won.


    Not far from him, the Thunderbird King was copsed in a pool of blood.


    Although it was already dead, it was still staring at Tang Jie as if it was saying, ¡°What grudge did we have between us? Why did you so desperately want to wipe us out?¡±


    But this was the cultivation world.


    The apex of cultivators had been established on a foundation made of countless deaths!


    Panting for breath, Tang Jie used his saber as a crutch as he struggled to his feet.


    He first plucked the plumes from the heads of all the Thunderbirds, and then he whistled, upon which the little tiger came rushing over.


    But unlike before, the little guy didn¡¯t immediately start eating. Instead, he looked in horror at the ground covered in bird corpses and then raised his head to look up at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°It¡¯s all for you to eat. The longer you wait, the more the spiritual power dissipates.¡±


    <em>Wooo¡­</em> The little tiger sorrowfully moaned and turned to run.


    Tang Jie reached out and grabbed him, and despite how he iled his paws, he couldn¡¯t resist Tang Jie¡¯s strength. He was pushed to the ground and forced to start eating the bird flesh.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie began to dissect the Thunderbirds in search of fiend pellets.


    While the battle had been dangerous, it hadn¡¯t been long. Almost all of the killing had been done with the golden thread. He had sought to kill his enemies in one blow precisely so that the Thunderbirds didn¡¯t have time to draw on their fiend pellets.


    There were so many Thunderbirds, and ten-some of them were of middle grade. With the addition of the upper-grade Thunderbird King, there had to at least be one or two fiend pellets.


    Sure enough, his search turned up four Thunderbird fiend pellets, with three being from middle-grades and one being from a lower-grade.


    With the one he had gotten from the Thunderbird King, he had five fiend pellets in all.


    Tang Jie held them in his hand as he looked at the little tiger picking at his food. Sighing, he said, ¡°Ah, forget it. After all that I¡¯ve been through, you¡¯re the one benefiting from it all.¡±


    He began to feed the fiend pellets to the little tiger.


    The fiend pellets contained the greatest concentration of the Thunderbirds¡¯ spiritual power. If eating all of them still didn¡¯t cause any change in the tiger, then Tang Jie could only ept that he was extremely unlucky.


    After eating the fourth fiend pellet, the little tiger¡¯s body finally began to sh with lightning.


    It started off very weak, only a little spark traveling along its body, but the light gradually brightened until it formed a massive ball of lightning.


    Within this ball of lightning, the little tiger grewrger once more. He was now about the size of an adult tiger, and two wings of flesh began to grow from his back.


    Tang Jie was shocked when he saw the wings.


    <em>Little Bao¡¯er actually grew wings?</em>


    One wing was green and enveloped in green wind, while the other was blue and crackled with lightning. When the two of them intersected, they created a lightning storm that brought the little tiger flying into the air, but his flight appeared to be very unstable.


    The flesh wings were still growing, and they eventually grew to more than a meter in length, and the lightning storm also increased in strength. The little tiger¡¯s body eventually stabilized, and he happily growled as he flew around in the sky, moving faster and faster, creating lightning bolts in his wake.


    ¡°The Wind God Step¡­¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    It was still the Wind God Step, but the influence of lightning had made it faster and more vicious, and also more difficult to identify.


    Delighted, Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Bao¡¯er, try this!¡±


    He threw out a stone.


    The little tiger opened his mouth, and a de crackling with electricity shot out and struck the rock. The original Galetiger de would have only sliced the rock in two, but with the addition of lightning, the rock exploded into debris.


    Tang Jie finally sighed in relief. These two spell arts had both mutated, and even the tiger¡¯s form had changed. Even if Xie Fengtang were standing in front of the tiger, he wouldn¡¯t think it had anything to do with the fiend tiger of Tiger Roar Peak.


    The little tiger also seemed extremely excited, throwing back his head and roaring.


    After eating so much Thunderbird meat and the fiend pellets, the little tiger had risen from lower grade to middle grade, but this roar contained an intimidating force that not even an upper-grade fiend beast could match, causing all the birds in the surroundings to take flight in rm and the nearby fiend beasts to flee.


    Upon hearing this, Tang Jie paled. ¡°Shit!¡±


    Two spell arts had changed, but the tiger roar had not. It had only gotten stronger and more intimidating.


    This wasn¡¯t too strange. The Tiger King Roar was an ability that had little to do with the attribute of one¡¯s spiritual energy, only with one¡¯s bloodline and the strength of one¡¯s body. Although it wasn¡¯t like the fiend tiger of Tiger Roar Peak had exclusive rights to the tiger roar, and concluding anything from it alone was too arbitrary, suspicion was unavoidable. But at this point, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t do anything except to try and make it so that the tiger roared as little as possible.


    After roaring, the tigernded back on the ground. The wind died away and the lightning stopped, but the two wings remained exposed. The tiger furled the wings and squatted down, indicating that Tang Jie should get on.


    Ecstatic, Tang Jie put away the Thunderbird corpses and got on the tiger. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    The tiger opened its wings and took to the skies.


    This was Tang Jie¡¯s first time in the skies, and he hadn¡¯t expected that it would be because of the little tiger.


    Amid turbulent winds, the tiger carried Tang Jie through the air, and as the world opened up around him, he felt a heroic feeling welling up from within.


    It was only at this moment that Tang Jie truly experienced what those Titans of the cultivation world felt. Their lives might have been like him in the clouds, looking over the entire world. This was not something that some hick from a small town could understand.


    But this heroic sensation quickly faded. It was still not time for him to think too far ahead.


    The tiger flew around Thunderbird Cliff, where several chicks were still calling out. With their parents gone, they were bound to find it very difficult to live in such a dangerous ce.


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart trembled, and he couldn¡¯t help but regret killing all of this ce¡¯s Thunderbirds.


    After some thought, he had the tiger fly him to the cliff, and he caught all the little chicks. ¡°Since I killed your parents, I¡¯ll find you new ones. Let¡¯s see if anyone is willing to raise you.¡±


    After taking some thunderspirit grass seeds, he nned to leave, but at this moment, Yiyi¡¯s voice resounded in his mind. ¡°Big Brother!¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve met with Big Sister Liu and Big Sister Ping¡¯s group. Big Brother Cai wants to go with them, but the stupid pig wants to wait for you, and wanted me to ask you when you woulde over.¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t ask you in front of anyone else, did he? You can¡¯t let anyone else know about Heart Consonance.¡±


    ¡°No. Nobody else besides the stupid monkey knows.¡±


    ¡°The stupid monkey¡± referred to Shi Meng. In Yiyi¡¯s eyes, they were just a stupid pig and a stupid monkey.


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Tang Jie thought it over and asked, ¡± How many people does Liu Hongyan¡¯s group have?¡±


    ¡°Fourteen. They¡¯ve grouped up to try and get the red lotus.¡±


    In this period of time, numerous battles had taken ce in the Floral Forest, but just as Tang Jie had predicted, the students had no chance against the dangerous floral forest and the Frost Fairy. After repeated failures, the various students who were after the True Inheritor spot finally started to work together.


    But it was for this reason that Tang Jie was in no rush. He pondered the problem and said, ¡°Tell the young master that you can¡¯t get in touch with me, so he should go with Liu Hongyan¡¯s group for now.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    He had just cleared out Thunderbird Cliff and reaped a rich harvest. This was the best time to improve himself, so how could he just let the opportunity go?


    Having Wei Tianchong go with Liu Hongyan would be like putting a spy in the group. Through Yiyi, Tang Jie could have up-to-date information on the situation on the battlefield. So long as it wasn¡¯t the day of the decisive battle, he was in no rush to hurry over and could look around and strengthen himself as much as possible.


    Only Tang Jie was capable of doing this.


    After giving his orders to Yiyi, Tang Jie went off to look for a suitable target.


    With the little tiger serving as his legs, Tang Jie was able to get around much faster, and he soon came upon a forested area awash with flowers.


    As he was admiring it, he heard someone shout, ¡°Look! Someone¡¯s flying up there!¡±


    Tang Jie turned in the direction of the voice and saw a group of students to the west, curiously looking at him.


    It wasn¡¯t strange to see someone flying, as many students in Basking Moon Academy could fly. What was rare was to see someone flying on a tiger.


    As the students pointed, clearly curious as to who could be so capable, Tang Jie had an idea. He patted Bao¡¯er on the neck, ordering him to descend.


    The students saw that Tang Jie was descending and immediately put up their guard. They had evidently suffered a lot in their time in the valley. But their actions were a relief to Tang Jie.


    The people who truly wanted to hurt you would act friendly rather than put up their guard. These students were clearly not that kind of murderous scoundrels.


    Tang Jie stopped ten-some meters away from the group. One of the students got a clear look at him and shouted, ¡°It¡¯s Tang Jie!¡±


    Tang Jie recognized an acquaintance in the crowd: Li Huanian.


    Li Huanian was a year higher than Tang Jie, but he had been suppressing his cultivation. Back then, he had kept at the Spirit Spring Tier so that he could vie with his underssmen for resources. He was one of Tang Jie¡¯s old foes and had even defeated him several times.


    But that was only early on. Li Huanian had long ago been left in Tang Jie¡¯s dust.


    Upon seeing Li Huanian, Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°So it was Senior Brother Li. Senior Brother Li, good day. Why are all of you still here? I thought that everyone would have gone off to the Ice Cave by now.¡±


    Li Huanianughed. ¡°The Ice Cave is packed with people, and there are fights happening there every day. I gave up on the True Inheritor fight ages ago, so I¡¯m just trying to use this chance to get as much stuff as possible. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve partnered up with a few schoolmates to look around. I thought that you weren¡¯t giving up on the True Inheritor opportunity, so what¡¯s this? Have you also given up on the struggle and chosen to look around for actual benefits?¡±


    In the end, there would only be one True Inheritor. In the face of the enormouspetitive pressure, many students would consider giving up on that puny chance and seek to make their fortunes in the Valley of No Return. Li Huanian was only one of them.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Just because I¡¯m here doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ve given up. I was just dyed by some matters.¡±


    Li Huanian looked at the tiger he was seated on and asked, ¡°Is it because of this tiger? Seeing how this tiger had the power of wind and lightning as it flew and it can also fly, it must be incredibly powerful, at least at the middle grade, yes? To get the service of a middle-grade fiend beast, Brother Tang has profited from this trip to the Valley of No Return no matter what else happens. Truly formidable!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°It wasn¡¯t entirely because of it. I¡¯ve spent thest few days at Thunderbird Cliff and managed to get a few nice things.¡±


    Tang Jie took out some Thunderbird plumes.

 Chapter 204: Power

    Chapter 204: Power


    The students were all shaken when they saw the Thunderbird plumes.


    A single Thunderbird plume wasn¡¯t too expensive, but Thunderbird Cliff was one of the danger zones of the Valley of No Return, so getting them was extremely difficult.


    Since Tang Jie had plumes, didn¡¯t that mean that he had killed Thunderbirds?


    Everyone looked at Tang Jie in a somewhat new light, beginning to think that his reputation as the fierce tiger wasn¡¯t false. He had even seeded in killing Thunderbirds.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t need to exin to all of you the uses of these Thunderbird plumes. Since all of you are hunting out on the periphery, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve gotten some nice things. I happen to have extra plumes butck spirit nts¡­¡±


    He didn¡¯t finish, but it was clear that he wanted to trade plumes for spirit nts.


    This was exactly why he hade.


    Exterminating the Thunderbird flock had given Tang Jie three benefits: the thunderspirit grass baths, the plumes, and the fiend pellets.


    Unfortunately, the little tiger had eaten most of the fiend pellets, and while the thunderspirit grass had increased his resistance to lightning, it had had a limited effect on his other attributes. He urgently needed to get stronger so that he could fight for the Iceme Red Lotus. After all, this wasn¡¯t the Student Forest. Once a fight started, there would be no mercy. It would be impossible to reenact that one-versus-one-hundred battle as in the Student Forest.


    This was precisely why he had decided to trade the plumes for spirit nts.


    At most, he would take a small loss, but at least by using up all his harvest here to make himself stronger, not needing to pay the thirty percent would essentially make all of that money back.


    The students exchanged looks. As expected, they were tempted to take the deal.


    One student took out the various spirit nts he had and asked which ones Tang Jie wanted.


    Tang Jie immediately replied that he needed nts that would nourish his blood energy or could resist the cold. Everything would be calcted ording to market prices, and if there was still some small remainder, he would just take the loss to make the trade.


    When everyone saw how straightforward he was being, they dropped their guard and began trading with him. Tang Jie produced plume after plume, as if he had an endless supply.


    Li Huanian was dumbfounded, asking, ¡°How do you have so many? Did you manage to kill all the Thunderbirds of Thunderbird Cliff?¡±


    He was only idly asking. After all, Tang Jie was only a Spirit Lake student, and even a Mortal Shedding Realm student wouldn¡¯t be able to deal with all the Thunderbirds. Those several hundred lightning boltsing down were no joke, and no person could possibly endure such a barrage.


    But to his surprise, Tang Jie nodded. ¡°That I did.¡±


    He wanted to trade the plumes for strength, so there was no hiding this matter, so he decided to just confess.


    This simple reply left all of the students bbergasted.


    He had really killed all of the Thunderbirds?


    ¡°This¡­ How? How did you manage to do it?¡± Li Huanian asked in shock.


    ¡°Fiend beasts are fiend beasts, all strength and no brains. If you target their weak points, there¡¯s always a way.¡± As he spoke, he took out a chick.


    ¡°A baby Thunderbird?¡± Li Huanian froze.


    A thought shed through the minds of the students: Tang Jie had shamelessly kidnapped the chicks, using them to threaten, bait, and kill the Thunderbird flock.


    All of the mentally cursed in unison, <em>Shameless!</em>


    The cultivation world had its own rules of conduct, and threatening someone¡¯s progeny was the least epted method.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t care what they were thinking. He just needed an excuse so he could finish trading for spirit nts. Tang Jie added, ¡°I still have a few chicks. If any of you want one, you can trade for one. If you take good care of it, it will be a powerful ally in the future.¡±


    Everyone once more mentally cursed Tang Jie¡¯s shamelessness. After killing the adults, he wasn¡¯t even sparing the young.


    But chicks were difficult to get, and if they raised one properly, it really would be a good ally, so all of them were tempted.


    In the end, it was Li Huanian who spoke. ¡°I have a fiend pellet. If you want it, I can trade it to you.¡±


    But Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t want a fiend pellet. Only spirit nts.¡±


    Li Huanian frowned. ¡°I¡¯ve already traded you all my spirit nts. How could I have any more?¡±


    After some thought, Tang Jie said, ¡°I¡¯ll also take spiritual materials.¡±


    The spiritual materials he was talking about were things like Violet Gold Sand and Starfell Stone, materials that could be used to set up formations.


    Tang Jie had spent all his money before entering the valley, which was why he could only use the lowest level of illusion formation against the Thunderbirds. Moreover, the Valley of No Return wasn¡¯t rich in spiritual materials. Thus, he was willing to trade for them if people had any.


    Sure enough, Li Huanian sighed in relief. ¡°A few days ago, I managed to gather some Thornwood Roots.¡±


    Thornwood Root was a type of sturdy wood. It counted as a spirit nt, but as it had the Metal attribute, it could be used as a substitute for some spiritual materials. It was considered one of the more broadly useful materials.


    The Valley of No Return primarily produced fiend beasts and spirit nts, and the spiritual materials that were ideal for formations were few and far between. Thus, materials from this area would primarily be things like Thornwood Root.


    But for Tang Jie, trading Thornwood Root for a chick wasn¡¯t a fair trade at all. Frowning, he said, ¡°Do you have nothing else?¡±


    Li Huanian hastily said, ¡°I really don¡¯t. But if you¡¯re willing, I could also add a bottle of spirit recovery pills.¡±


    Spirit recovery pills were a necessary recovery item for students in battle. Tang Jie had used a lot in his battle with the Thunderbirds and basically didn¡¯t have any left. Upon hearing this offer from Li Huanian, he finally nodded. ¡°Alright, then.¡±


    Once he was done trading, Tang Jie got back on the tiger and left.


    Looking at the herbs in his Mustard Seed Bag, he felt that he wouldn¡¯t get much from taking a bath with them. Thus, he decided to give up on going to the Ice Cave for now and continue wandering around the perimeter to find students to trade with.


    He truly did manage to find a lot of students with items he wanted. Since he had plenty of Thunderbird plumes, he freely traded them away.


    Once he had traded for enough herbs, he found a ce to boil a basin of water and take his bath.


    But Tang Jie felt that it was truly easy to burn money when cultivating the Parting ssic. When other people got so many herbs, they would have enough to keep them for an entire month, but as for him, no matter how much he spent, he would use it all in a single bath. It was an extravagant expense, akin to the revenue of ten thousand households being thrown away for a single bath.


    Of course, with each bath, Tang Jie¡¯s body grew stronger and stronger.


    While he was still at the second phase, the Jewel Body, his skin was glossy and smooth, his breathing long and deep, and his body brimming with strength. His pulse was calm, steady, forceful, and vigorous, like a piledriver.


    He tested his strength and found that he could easily crush a boulder as tall as a man without the use of any spell arts.


    Unfortunately, hecked an ideal target to test his strength. But Tang Jie felt that if he really needed to measure his strength, he could easily lift something weighing five thousand kilograms.


    Lifting five thousand kilograms after using spell arts was rather normal, but it was extremely rare through purely physical means. Even a Mortal Shedding Realm Nine Revolutions cultivator wouldn¡¯t be able to do it. There was no telling what terrifying level he could reach with the power of spell arts.


    At this stage, Tang Jie was really a beast in human form, though he didn¡¯t look like it. On the contrary, he had a refined and elegant aura.


    This was a clear sign of the Jewel Body, which improved one from the outside to the inside. Tang Jie even found it easier to absorb energy now, and a Circuit Heaven now circted much faster than before.


    Tang Jie was pleasantly surprised. He hadn¡¯t expected that the Jewel Body¡¯s ability to work from the outside to the inside would both strengthen his body and boost his cultivation speed. After more than a year of training and constant adventuring, he was finally able to reap the fruits of his harvest. Tang Jie felt like he could see the light at the end of the tunnel.


    To test his strength, Tang Jie mounted the little tiger and went to find an upper-grade fiend beast.


    After a bitter battle, with his powerful fists, he managed to beat that fiend beast into a pulp. Although he had been forced to use the Formless Golden Body, he hadn¡¯t needed to use the golden thread.


    Ten days ago, he had needed to work with Cai Junyang to kill the Quadeye Mantipede. His progress was truly frighteningly fast.


    ¡°So now, as long as I don¡¯t run into a Mind Opening fiend beast, I should be able to run rampant in the Valley of No Return.¡± Clenching his fists, Tang Jie muttered, ¡°I still have a few days, so I can make some preparations for the big battle¡­ Frost Fairy, haha!¡±


    Brimming with a desire to fight, Tang Jie mounted the tiger and cried out, ¡°Bao¡¯er, let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s fight together, fighting to keep on fighting, using the flesh and blood of our targets to strengthen ourselves!¡±


    <em>Raaa!</em> The fiend tiger roared as he soared into the sky with Tang Jie.


    On this day, Tang Jie officially began his rampage through the valley.


    On the 22nd day in the valley, Tang Jie encountered a Gigantoscythe and defeated it, obtaining some cloudscape grass.


    On the 23rd day, Tang Jie ran into a Toxiblossom Moth and won after a bitter battle.


    On the 24th day, Tang Jie encountered a Mind Opening fiend beast and ran for his life.


    On the 25th day, he ran into two upper-grade Horned Electropythons. With his resistance to electricity, he was able to beat them both and skin their hides.


    On the same day, he traded with a student for icegrass, which he used to take a bath.


    The 26th day.


    In a clearing in a forest, Tang Jie faced off against a giant ape.


    The giant ape was four meters tall and had arms as thick as tree trunks. White steam came from its nostrils as it stared at Tang Jie.


    Apes were probably the most difficult to deal with of all fiend beasts.


    They weren¡¯t just strong and nimble. What was most difficult to deal with was their natural intelligence and theirbat techniques. Intelligence was its natural ability and had nothing to do with Mind Opening. Thus, students usually weren¡¯t willing to fight them unless it was absolutely necessary.


    But Tang Jie was fearless. He faced down this savage upper-grade beast. Curling his finger, he said, ¡°Come on!¡±


    <em>Raaa!</em> The giant ape roared at Tang Jie, thumping its chest with its arms before leaping into the air and lunging at Tang Jie.


    This one jump covered several dozen meters and stirred up a howling gale. An enormous fist hurtled through the air.


    This fist grewrger andrger in Tang Jie¡¯s eyes, but those eyes burned with fighting intent as he threw his own punch in response.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    The fists of human and ape shed, sending out a powerful shockwave.


    Man and ape parted, both sides having been pushed back. Tang Jie¡¯s feet dug two deep furrows through the earth while the giant ape was sent hurtling through the air in the direction it hade.


    In this exchange, the two of them had drawn even.


    The giant apended, roared, and charged again. Tang Jie didn¡¯t back down. Pushing down his left foot to stop his backward momentum, he charged back into the fray.


    The ape wasrge, but Tang Jie was more nimble, and the two had soon exchanged several blows.


    <em>Bang! Bang!</em> The man and ape separated again. Tang Jie raised his head, blooding out of his nose. The giant ape staggered back a few steps, a trickle of blooding from the corner of its mouth.


    The two of them panted for breath as they red at each other.


    For Tang Jie, this was perhaps the most enjoyable battle in his life. This ape was the ssic example of a brute-type beast, and he himself relied on his formidable constitution in battle. Neither side used a spell or a scheme, just battled it out to the death. The sensation of fist striking against fist was truly enjoyable.


    Unfortunately, while he enjoyed this sensation, the ape didn¡¯t seem to like it so much. The giant ape looked at Tang Jie, bared its teeth, and then suddenly punched at a tree next to it.


    With a creak, the tree copsed, and the giant ape grabbed it and began to wave it around like a truncheon.


    As it waved it around, the leaves it cast off were like countless sharp needles.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie grumbled, ¡°Hey, hey, this is shameless! We said that we wouldn¡¯t use spell arts!¡±


    <em>Oraaa!</em> The giant ape furiously roared in response.


    The giant tree became a metal truncheon, creating a howling gale as it savagely swung at Tang Jie¡¯s head.

 Chapter 205: Ghost Guard

    Chapter 205: Ghost Guard


    ¡°Shit! Formless Golden Body!¡± Tang Jie roared. His body briefly shed with golden light, and then Tang Jie wed at the tree that was swinging toward him.


    There was a massive boom as dust plumed into the air.


    When the dust settled, the giant ape stared in shock as it realized that Tang Jie was holding the tree in his hand and coldly staring at the ape.


    The ape tried to pull back the tree, but it realized that it couldn¡¯t.


    Tang Jie pulled hard on the tree as he angrily said, ¡°We said that we wouldn¡¯t use spell arts, but you used one anyway. As an ape, you¡¯re a closebat king, but you¡¯re trying topete against a cultivator in spells? Have you grown tired of living? I¡¯ll show you what happens when you try to y tricks!¡±


    Pulling his right arm back, he seized the tree from the giant ape and swung it around at the ape.


    The ape wailed as it raised its arms to block. Meanwhile, Tang Jie began to hammer the giant ape so hard with the tree that it could barely move. The barbed thorns stabbed into its arm, causing it to howl in pain.


    But the giant ape clearly had more cards to y. It howled and once more took to the skies, thrusting a palm at a tree next to it. The tree immediately withered, and in return, the injuries on the giant ape¡¯s arm rapidly healed.


    ¡°Is this considered ¡®eating tree¡¯?¡± Tang Jieughed. This giant ape was able to absorb nutrients from a nt to heal itself, which was rather like DOTA.


    Who said that cultivating Immortality was all about flying sword energy?


    In the lower levels of the world, the multivarious and bizarre nature of spell arts was more evident.


    ¡°I¡¯m wondering if that can be interrupted!¡± Tang Jie roared as he tossed the tree in his hand.


    The ape furiously swung a fist, striking the tree. Its immense strength instantly reduced the tree to splinters.


    But a momentter, a saber shed.


    The Heartbreak Saber swept across the giant ape¡¯s body, leaving a bloody line.


    ¡°Windcleaver!¡± Tang Jie howled as he swung the saber at the giant ape again. The ape punched right at the de, sending the Heartbreak Saber flying out of Tang Jie¡¯s hand.


    But rather than trying to get his saber, Tang Jie lunged forward, and his right fist, now covered in a golden gauntlet, smashed into the ape¡¯s nose.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    This thunderous blow almost pulped half of the ape¡¯s face, and the ape threw back its head and howled in pain.


    A momentter, rather than countering, it turned and ran off. It finally understood how powerful Tang Jie was and had lost the will to fight.


    ¡°You think you can escape?¡± Tang Jie snorted and then whistled.


    There was a sh of lightning in the distance, and then a lightning bolt came soaring through the sky, viciously mming into the ape¡¯s chest.


    Lightning gathered into a giant sphere that exploded, sending the giant ape flying.


    It was the little tiger.


    This Galethunder de had struck the giant ape head-on, and even though the ape was an upper-grade fiend beast, it was unable to take the blow. Its skin was sted apart as its final chances of escaping were cut off.


    The little tiger saw that his attack had struck and excitedly started to howl.


    Tang Jie was scared out of his wits and quickly took a chunk of meat from his Mustard Seed Bag, throwing it into the tiger¡¯s mouth. The tiger was unable to roar, and he looked in surprise at his master before running off to the side to eat this unexpected meal.


    The giant ape wanted to use this chance to attack the tiger, but Tang Jie caught up to it, grabbed it by the tail, and began to smash the ape against the ground.


    With its tail in the hands of its enemy, the giant ape immediately lost the ability to resist, and Tang Jie smashed it over and over like it was a ragdoll.


    Even the giant ape¡¯s thick hide and muscles couldn¡¯t resist this torture, and as the smashing continued, it gradually lost consciousness.


    Tang Jie finally let go. Looking at the tiger, he pointed at it and said, ¡°Really, can you not use the tiger roar the next time we fight?¡±


    <em>Wooo¡­</em> The little tiger looked in confusion at Tang Jie.


    Looking at his lost expression, Tang Jie felt helpless. Waving his hand, he said, ¡°Forget it. I¡¯ll just try to slowly make it a habit for you.¡±


    He turned to the unconscious ape. As he was thinking about how to deal with it, he had a sudden idea.


    ¡°A dying beast with lingering blood energy and still holding life essence¡­ Doesn¡¯t this match the conditions for that spell art?¡±


    As he carefully pondered, his eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°The Ghost Control spell!¡±


    He hastily took out an item from the Mustard Seed Bag: the Ghost ssic. However, to hide it from others, Tang Jie had reced its cover with that of the ¡°Treatise on Human Order¡±.


    He flipped through the book and then carefully opened a slightly sticky page. This page contained none other than the method for the Ghost Control spell.


    ¡°An inextinguishable will that dominates life and death, sealing the heavens and earth, shackling the infinite¡­ It really is like this¡ªseizing the moment when vitality has not extinguished to turn life into death and create a Ghost Guard!¡± Tang Jie excitedly said.


    The Ghost Control spell was a spell that the Ghost Raising Sect of High Antiquity had used to turn living souls into ghosts, which could then be used for cultivation, battle, or other uses. As the ghosts could be used for many things and were also loyal and cheap, the spell had been extremely popr once.


    And if the Ghost Raising Sect had only refined the dead into Ghost Guards, perhaps things would have been fine.


    But for the sake of getting stronger Ghost Guards, the Ghost Raising Sect had thrown itself into research and discovered that when the host still had vitality and will, more of the power it had in life could be preserved in death.


    Many of the cultivation methods the Ghost Raising Sect had used hadn¡¯t initially been meant to harm others, but because these shortcuts existed, there would always be people who were willing to take them.


    Some Ghost Raising Sect disciples determined to seed began to ughter innocents in order to get stronger, and the harm they dealt to the people ultimately drew the anger of the masses and caused the annihtion of the sect.


    This was normally how things went. Anything that was connected to one¡¯s personal interest but also wasn¡¯t properly monitored would gradually go out of control, and it would either get stronger or perish.


    Fortunately, the Rosecloud Domain was a world that emphasized justice and order. Thus, this sect had been annihted before it could truly gain dominion.


    And Tang Jie now had such an opportunity before him.


    To be honest, refining a giant ape into a Ghost Guard didn¡¯t go against the ethics of the present. In the heyday of the Ghost Raising Sect, it had also primarily used fiend beasts. But as it developed, the process gradually changed, and those anxious for quick results began to reach out their demonic ws toward humans.


    Thus, refining the giant ape was not hical.


    But just as Tang Jie had said to Xu Miaoran, the ghost-raising spells had all been forbidden. Once something was banned, it didn¡¯t matter the motive and methods by which one obtained them. Simply getting involved with them was a crime!


    It was for this reason that Tang Jie was somewhat hesitant.


    Should he take this chance and refine the giant ape?


    It had to be understood that refining something into a Ghost Guard primarily preserved its physical strength. Spell art power was very difficult to preserve. Thus, this powerful giant ape was an ideal target for refinement.


    Moreover, fiend beasts had violent natures and would often fight to the death, so capturing them alive was difficult. Now that he had managed to catch one alive and it was also a perfect refinement target to be a Ghost Guard, giving it up would truly be a pity.


    But on the other hand, the domain-wide ban deeply concerned him.


    He keenly understood the consequences of revealing the Ghost Guard in front of others.


    After thinking it over and weighing the pros and cons, he finally gritted his teeth and said, ¡°I became a cultivator because I wanted to do as my heart desired. Doing this does not go against my Origin Heart and will be a huge boon to mybat strength. Since the opportunity is before me, how could I miss out on it? At most, I can¡¯t use it in front of others and can only take it out in times of peril. If it can save my life when I¡¯m in danger, what does it matter that it¡¯s exposed?¡±


    He had finally decided to refine a Ghost Guard.


    While there were idiots who wouldn¡¯t take advantage of the opportunities presented to them, he was the kind of person who probably wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep at night if he let such an excellent chance pass him by.


    As for those words just now, that was merely another application of the supreme self-consoling art, and there was no need to take it seriously. If he really hadn¡¯t wanted it, he probably would have said to himself, ¡°I¡¯m a cultivator, so there are things I can do and things I can¡¯t do. Although this matter doesn¡¯t go against my Origin Heart, with the tide of the times against me, I must give something up. I can¡¯t destroy my future prospects for the sake of a small advantage¡­¡± or something of the sort.


    Since he had made up his mind, Tang Jie had the tiger guard the area while he began to follow the instructions in the book to refine the giant ape.


    As he chanted, a ck beam of energy emerged from his fingertip and flew toward the giant ape.


    As the ck energy spread, the giant ape¡¯s body began to rapidly decay.


    The immense pain woke the giant ape up, and it roared and tried to fight back.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Tang Jie cursed. Only now did he realize that he hadn¡¯t knocked the giant apepletely out.


    This was his first time using the Ghost Control spell, and he hadn¡¯t even tried to familiarize himself with the process, so he didn¡¯t know anything about the spell that wasn¡¯t written down. This was like a doctor-in-training only reading his texts before heading into surgery, and only when he sliced open the patient¡¯s chest did he realize that he had forgotten to apply anesthetic.


    But there was no time to learn the spell now. Tang Jie simply thrust his hand at the giant ape and said, ¡°Just consider yourself unlucky.¡±


    He swung, punching the giant ape back into unconsciousness.


    He continued to use the Ghost Control Spell, and it slowly began to eat away at the ape¡¯s flesh. In the process, the giant ape woke up from the pain multiple times, but Tang Jie would always knock it out again, like some unfortunate patient was having coronary bypass surgery performed on them without anesthetic.


    By the end, when the giant ape¡¯s flesh had almostpletely rotted away, the giant ape finally couldn¡¯t resist any longer and died.


    The decay of flesh continued. Through the power of the spell, all of the life essence and thatst shred of imperishable will entered the bones. In the end, all that was left was a giant ape skeleton, a ghostly me burning within the skull and the entire skeleton radiating a frightening ghost energy.


    Tang Jie let out a long breath, knowing that the Ghost Control spell had finally seeded.


    Unlike true ghosts, which were undying souls that attached themselves to living beings, Ghost Guards had physical form and used the skeleton to carry their will. Ordinary ghosts, who existed as souls, were more ethereal existences, and while they could attach themselves to human bodies, theyckedbat power.


    The type of Ghost Guard Tang Jie had refined was none other than the Hearteater Ghost that Daoist Fuyu had used before. But Daoist Fuyu¡¯s strength had been limited, and after all his effort, he had only been able to refine a lower-grade fiend monkey. Meanwhile, Tang Jie had used an upper-grade giant ape, and so though it was also a Hearteater Ghost, its strength was on an entirely different level.


    Tang Jie looked at the ape Hearteater Ghost. Wanting to test its strength, he pointed at it and said, ¡°Attack me.¡±


    The Hearteater Ghost shot over like a bolt of lightning and scratched at Tang Jie¡¯s chest. Tang Jie raised an arm to block, and the blow sent him flying and sent pain traveling through his arm. He hurriedly shouted, ¡°Stop!¡±


    The Hearteater Ghost stopped. Tang Jie looked down and saw five holes in his arm. Its attacks were even more vicious than they had been in life, which made Tang Jie gasp.


    After bing a Ghost Guard, the giant ape had lost its spell arts, but its essence and blood energy had be more concentrated. Thus, its attacks were fiercer, but its defenses had fallen in equal measure, making it still not as powerful as it was in life. However, when fighting together with a cultivator, its terrifying attacks were certain to cause headaches.


    It was no wonder the Ghost Raising Sect had killed so many people to get good Ghost Guards. Their strength was truly impressive.


    But while making them was easy, controlling them wasn¡¯t. It required the use of a secret art, and without sufficient strength, it was difficult to control many Ghost Guards. This was why Daoist Fuyu had only had that single Hearteater Ghost.


    Of course, Tang Jie didn¡¯t care. For him, the Hearteater Ghost was an extraneous existence, and he really didn¡¯t need any more than that.


    After putting away the Ghost Guard using the secret art, Tang Jie nned to leave, but then he heard Yiyi¡¯s voice.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Yiyi?¡±


    ¡°Everyone is going to the Floral Forest together!¡± Yiyi shouted.

 Chapter 206: Formation Battle (1)

    Chapter 206: Formation Battle (1)


    It was finally time for the general assault!


    Upon hearing the news, Tang Jie immediately mounted the tiger and set off for the Floral Forest.


    Tang Jie quickly spotted a forest of profuse colors in the distance. Countless flowers bloomed within it, turning the forest into a rainbow ocean, a gorgeous sight beyond words.


    But Tang Jie knew that innumerable dangers were hidden beneath all the splendor.


    The Floral Forest was the Ice Cave¡¯s defense line. As it was located in the central zone of the Valley of No Return, it was and abundant with spiritual energy and hosted many spiritual nts. But it was also a ce that was crawling with fiend beasts.


    The Floral Forest was also a giant formation. While it was just a small forest, there was a vast space contained within it. A student had left behind records about it, and it was said that it was the work of True Lord Tianshu of the Basking Moon Sect. He had set up a formation in line with the local terrain¡ªone with numerous secrets and countless variations. Thus, it could be considered a semi-artificial formation.


    Zhao Xiliang was the disciple of True Lord Tianshu¡¯s disciple, Lu Yuanzhen, so he could be considered a granddisciple of True Lord Tianshu.


    Seeing that no one was around, Tang Jie presumed that the students had already entered the forest, so he went in as well.


    The moment he entered the Floral Forest, his surroundings suddenly shifted.


    The rows of trees, flowers, and shrubs suddenly became sparse.


    The forest was still the forest, and the flowers were still flowers, as bright and multicolored as ever, but the distance between them had increased. What was once a space of three steps between trees was now thirty steps. The space had opened up, and the ce had also be much brighter. It was as if the Floral Forest had been expanded by a factor of ten. Even the distant trees now seemed to tower into the heavens, the crowns of the flowers growing asrge as human heads.


    Harmless nts now became bizarrely terrifying, and what had been a beautiful world instantly became one crawling with danger.


    ¡°A Meru Space?¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    A Meru Space was a method of exploiting space.


    In his past world, Tang Jie knew that space was a real thing that manifested as the void.


    In the Rosecloud Domain, cultivators had also confirmed this fact through Immortal spells, and they had developed countless powerful spatial spells. This Meru Space was a practical example, as was the Mustard Seed Bag.


    From a certain perspective, the Floral Formation was just arger Mustard Seed Bag, able to hold so much that it could be considered a miniature world. Probably only Titans like True Lord Tianshu were capable of such a feat.


    Tang Jie had only taken a few steps when a vine as thick as a python swept toward him. As Tang Jie raised his head, the vine brushed past his face and then suddenly curled back around. Tang Jie grabbed the vine and pulled, and a giant flower stem was pulled out of the ground, the flower coro biting at Tang Jie like a giant maw.


    Just when Tang Jie was about to attack, the little tiger spat out a ball of lightning that obliterated the coro. The vine twitched like a dead snake a few times before falling quiet.


    Tang Jie looked at the flower on the ground and shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not some monstrous nt that became a sprite, only an ordinary flower. It seems that the formation has infused all objects with a fiendish nature.¡±


    The Floral Formation had made everything in the forest aggressive. Tang Jie cautiously advanced, and even the little tiger grew more vignt.


    At certain intervals, they would see the bodies of students.


    They wereid out on the sides of the path, together with the bodies of various fiend beasts and the remains of fiend nts. Some of them had died while still holding their weapons, their eyes wide open in fear. It was clear that they had not imagined that they would end up dying in this ce. All sorts of heroic ambitions and grand ideals had vanished together with the ends of their lives.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but sigh.


    These students had once been full of hope, carrying the expectations of countless people, but now, they had all died while out on campaign.


    The Immortal path was callous, and to step on that path was to step on the path of no return.


    Tang Jie continued to cautiously advance. asionally, some dangerous existence would charge at him. Monsterized nts and savage fiend beasts had made the Floral Forest a deadlynd with thorns and brambles wherever one walked.


    Yiyi¡¯s voice asionally rang out in his mind, telling him how the students were progressing, and Tang Jie followed at a pace that was neither too fast nor too slow.


    ¡°Oh no!¡± Yiyi suddenly shouted.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s an illusion formation up ahead. Everyone has been separated. Big Brother, you need to be careful!¡±


    ¡°An illusion formation? What kind?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. There¡¯s fog everywhere, and I can hardly see anyone. Ugh, I hate it!¡±


    ¡°Even you can¡¯t see through it?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t!¡± Yiyi cried out in frustration.


    Tang Jie frowned.


    Yiyi had been born in an illusion formation, and she had the natural ability to see through illusions. Normal illusion formations had no effect on her, and if she couldn¡¯t see through this one, it meant that it was of an extremely high level.


    Although it was True Lord Tianshu who had set down the formation, the Floral Forest was meant to test students, so it shouldn¡¯t have been too high of a level.


    There had been so many casualties before this because the past tests had been for the Mortal Shedding Realm. The students this time still weren¡¯t strong enough, leading many of them to lose their lives.


    Even so, it shouldn¡¯t have be any more difficult. It had to be understood that if they were no longer able tomunicate with each other, the students would lose much of their advantage. Unable to pass the trial, they would die, and they would die inrge numbers, which carried apletely different significance. Unless¡­


    ¡°Unless it wasn¡¯t True Lord Tianshu who set down this illusion formation!¡± Tang Jie realized with a start. He yelled, ¡°Yiyi, is there anything else unusual around you?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. It¡¯s just a little cold,¡± Yiyi replied.


    ¡°¡®Cold¡¯?¡± Tang Jie was aghast, blurting out, ¡°Not good! It¡¯s the Frost Fairy! Be careful! She might be in the Floral Forest right now! She was the one whoid down this illusion formation!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Yiyi was rmed. ¡°Wasn¡¯t she in the Ice Cave?¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean she can¡¯te out! Don¡¯t forget that this is a Mind Opening sprite!¡± Tang Jie grimly said.


    Whether fiend or sprite, once they entered Mind Opening, they would no longer be ignorant and unaware, nor could they bepared to ordinary fiends. Not only would they grow much stronger, even their judgment and fighting styles would change. Existences like this would not sit around in one ce to wait for death. For them to move around waspletely normal.


    As Tang Jie called out, there was a sharp scream in the distance.


    This scream was miserable and filled with pain. It was clearly the cry of despair of someone dying. And what followed was a cold and icyughter that echoed through the forest.


    It was bizarreughter, so cold that it chilled everyone¡¯s hearts.


    ¡°Yiyi, watch out! She¡¯s nearby and using the illusion formation to split us apart and hunt us down one by one!¡± Tang Jie called out as he rushed forward.


    With intelligence, sprites and fiends could hunt down targets just like cultivators!


    As the cruelughter rang out, the fearful cries of students began to rise from the Floral Forest, and the light of spells began to sh. Screams could be heard near and far, fading in and out, as the terrifying sprite began to hunt down the students.


    The hundreds of students had been split up by the formation into countless small chunks, and the mist prevented them from seeing anyone. The unknown enemy had be their worst nightmare, and worst of all was that they couldn¡¯t even retreat.


    The illusion formation had thrown their surroundings into chaos and cut off the way back!


    At this moment, a sword light shed, and a student ascended upon a flying sword. As he emerged above the trees, he looked around and said in delight, ¡°This illusion formation has no effect in the air!¡±


    ¡°No! Hurry and get down!¡± Tang Jie called out.


    A stream of ice shot out of the formation, striking the student and turning him into an ice statue. The student dropped to the ground and shattered into pieces.


    Tang Jie closed his eyes, unable to watch.


    The Frost Fairy had clearly intentionally left the skies free of illusions to bait students into flying.


    These students, even if they could fly, wouldn¡¯t be able to fight as agilely as they did on the ground. Taking flight would just make them living targets.


    Fortunately, most of the students were on their guard, and when they saw what happened, none of them dared to try and fly.


    Tang Jie rushed out and finally saw the foggy area in front of him. To be more precise, it wasn¡¯t fog, but turbulent water vapor infused with chill and ice.


    Stopping in front of the fog, Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Yiyi, do you know where you are right now?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure! Oh no, oh no! Big Sister Hongyan and the others are gone! Two monsters charged out and attacked us, and once we finished fighting them, the others were gone. Now it¡¯s just the stupid pig, the stupid monkey, and the dumb ox!¡±


    Tang Jie was startled. ¡°Who¡¯s the dumb ox?¡±


    ¡°That Cai fellow!¡±


    Upon hearing that Cai Junyang was still at Wei Tianchong¡¯s side, Tang Jie rxed a little. He knew that Cai Junyang was holding up his end of the deal and had not abandoned Wei Tianchong.


    But so long as the illusion formation was present, the students would not hold the initiative in this battle.


    He needed to find a way to destroy this illusion formation.


    Tang Jie thrust out his palm, and as icy winds howled, a small area was cleared in front of him.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t go in. He fired off some spiritual energy into the ground in front of him, followed by several bolts fired from his fingers. As the fog roiled and the chilly air seethed, a small chunk of the fog was pushed back.


    But the icy mist quickly gathered back, impossible topletely disperse.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t try to force it. He continued to fire off bolts of energy at certain points, at the same time grabbing a handful of dirt and tossing it at the formation. ¡°Rich earth and scattered soil, return to your positions!¡±


    As he threw out the dirt, Tang Jie focused his eyes. He saw the dirt spinning around in the air and then sprinkling down in little balls of dirt that were evenly distributed across the surroundings, and he felt his heart sink.


    This illusion formation used the mist created by frost and water energy to obscure vision and confuse one¡¯s sense of direction, and there was also some spatial disruption added in.


    As Water was in the Kan position (North), the critical point of this illusion formation was probably the Rest Gate. To break the formation, one needed to find the Rest Gate first.


    Earth countered water, so Tang Jie had thrown in dirt to see how the formation would react. The slightest abnormality from the formation would give him a clue that he could use to find the formation¡¯s weakness and break it.


    But the illusion formation had been entirely unaffected, and he hadn¡¯t been able to notice a thing.


    Of course, this was because he was using ordinary soil. If he had used spirit soil like Fragrant Pond Mud, things might have turned out differently, but where would he find such things on short notice?


    High-level formations required the corresponding materials toy down, and breaking them had the same requirements.


    Even the cleverest housewife couldn¡¯t cook without rice. As he was frantically wondering what to do, Yiyi shouted, ¡°She¡¯s here!¡±


    ¡°Yiyi!¡± Tang Jie anxiously cried out.


    But there was no reply.


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart went cold.


    Fortunately, a few momentster, Yiyi finally said, ¡°That was close, but we managed to escape. But Big Brother Cai isn¡¯t here! Big Brother, you have to hurry and help us!¡±


    Tang Jie breathed. He was truly beginning to somewhat regret his greed, which had prevented him from joining up with Yiyi and the others earlier.


    It was impossible for everything to go ording to n, and the more intricate the n, the more liable it was to be upset by even the smallest mishap.


    But there was no point in regret. Breathing in, Tang Jie took out a chunk of wood.


    Clearroot Wood.


    This was a material that Tang Jie had found while looking around. It wasn¡¯t too valuable, but it was still a spirit nt that could be used in a formation. Its attribute was Wood.


    Tang Jie threw the Clearroot Wood into the formation and shouted, ¡°Powerful Water generates Wood, thus discharging its power! Zhen position (east), manifest!¡±


    The Five Elements had theirplements and opposites. Since he had no soil to counter the element, he decided to use the generative method.


    Water generated wood, and Tang Jie had thrown out the piece of wood to determine his location in the formation. Since he couldn¡¯t find the Rest Gate, he would first seek the Zhen position in order to find the Injury Gate.


    In any case, a formation had eight gates, and if he found one position, the other seven would be obvious.


    But the moment he threw out the Clearroot Wood, the formation shifted again, and the piece of wood floated in the air, unable tond.


    An icy gust of wind howled out of the distance, striking the Clearroot Wood. <em>Boom!</em> The piece of wood exploded, and as its debris flew through the air, it budded with jade leaves. Once theynded on the ground, they quickly grew into numerous small trees, sprouting vines that waved around like dangerous snakes.


    Tang Jie was rmed by this sight. He knew that the Frost Fairy had gone with the flow and taken possession of the Clearroot Wood. Not only had he failed to find any one of the eight gates, he had helped the illusion formation nt a monsterized nt.


    In Tang Jie¡¯s first exchange with his unseen opponent, he had been utterly defeated.

 Chapter 207: Formation Battle (2)

    Chapter 207: Formation Battle (2)


    Coldughter came out of the formation. ¡°You want to break my great formation with those little tricks? Keep dreaming!¡±


    It went without saying that this was the Frost Fairy.


    Sprites were born with intelligence. It was just that feasting on flesh and drinking blood made them sink back into ignorance, and it was only at Mind Opening that they regained their humanity. It wasn¡¯t strange for her to be able to speak.


    But this sprite had disyed an abnormal intelligence, much to the misfortune of the students.


    Screams continued to rise and fall from the formation as the Frost Fairy continued to hunt down her prey.


    At this moment, a furious roar came from within the formation. ¡°Sprite, get out here!¡±


    <em>Boom!</em>


    There was an explosion of light in the distance, and the shockwave unsettled the icy fog.


    ¡°Senior Brother!¡± various students within the formation cried out.


    ¡°It¡¯s Peng Yaolong?¡± Tang Jie was also startled.


    He knew who this Peng Yaolong was. He was a sixth-year student at the Spirit Sea Tier, but his strength was infinitesimally close to the Mortal Shedding Realm, and it was said that it wouldn¡¯t be long until he reached that realm. Among the students vying for the True Inheritor spot, he was considered the strongest and the one with the highest chance.


    But in the mission to find Lin Lang, he hadn¡¯t been able to make use of his prodigious strength. This expedition to the Valley of No Return was the perfect opportunity to disy his skills.


    While the illusion formation didn¡¯t break under Peng Yaolong¡¯s attack, it shed with multicolored light as the fog was thrown into turmoil, and its effectiveness dwindled.


    Another voice called out, ¡°All schoolmates skilled in formations, seek out an opportunity to break the formation!¡±


    It was An Rumeng!


    In the face of this strong foe, the students finally put aside their divisions and attacked in unison. Various lights erupted from all parts of the formation, sending ripples through it.


    Even so, the illusion formation managed to barely hold on. Even with all the students working together, they could only weaken it, not destroy it.


    A cold and sinister voice rang out in the fog, carrying a frightening and smug growl and tinged with murderous joy. ¡°Ast-ditch and pointless struggle¡­ Is the Basking Moon Sect on the decline? There isn¡¯t even one Mortal Shedding Realm among you. Or are they hiding in the shadows, waiting for the right time to strike?¡±


    ¡°Sprite!¡± someone roared. ¡°We didn¡¯te this time for you. While you¡¯re strong, you can¡¯t possibly deal with the more than one thousand students here. Let us go at once, and we¡¯ll spare your life!¡±


    ¡°Oh? So you¡¯re saying that you didn¡¯te to kill me?¡±


    ¡°Correct, we¡­¡±


    Tang Jie roared, ¡°Don¡¯t tell her!¡±


    But the student ignored him, shouting, ¡°We came for the Iceme Red Lotus!¡±


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Tang Jie stomped his feet in anger.


    The icy wind carried along a mournfulughter. ¡°The Iceme Red Lotus? So it was for that¡­ In other words, the valley was not opened this time for the purpose of ughter? It was no wonder I didn¡¯t see any Mortal Shedding cultivators. I see, I see! Haha, I can rest at ease!¡±


    Herughter became crazed as it resounded through the Floral Forest, and everyone¡¯s hearts shivered.


    This Frost Fairy had be cautious ever since it had reached Mind Opening, fearing that some expert could be hiding in the shadows. Now that that student had revealed the truth, she understood that this valley opening was different from the previous ones. In her delight, her killing intent rose.


    She shrilly said, ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, all of you can stay here!¡±


    As she spoke, the icy fog within the formation intensified, and the cold winds surged, bringing forth even greater waves of cold.


    Countless snowkes danced within the cold waves, condensing together in the sunlight and formingrge chunks of ice that glistened like crystals.


    First, a giant wall of ice rose up in all directions, and following that, giant pirs of ice flew out of the walls. There were eighteen in all, extending in the air and forming a giant ring of ice.


    Frost continued to dance as the cold wave surged. More ice continued to form on the ice ring, ice walls rising, ice windows opening, and ice flowers blooming with enchanting light.


    In this resplendent light, a pce of ice began to take shape. Supported by eighteen pirs, a pavilion of ice floated in the air, glistening with a jaw-dropping beauty in the sunlight.


    The Frost Fairy had constructed an ice pce right before everyone¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Heavens¡­ This is an art!¡± someone couldn¡¯t help but mutter.


    This was a true spell art, singlehandedly harnessing the powers of the world to create an incredible ability.


    Compared to an art, the spells the students had were pathetic.


    When it came to spells, all that couldpare to the ice pce was a top-ss spell like the Heavenly King Mara Incantation, but a single use of the Heavenly King Mara Incantation couldpletely drain a Spirit tform Realm student of spiritual energy. Mind Opening arts were connected to the world and could draw upon its energy. Thus, this pce of ice would never take as much energy.


    A majestic staircase of ice, covered in beautiful patterns, extended from the ice pce all the way to the ground like an arched bridge.


    At the end of that bridge, a sprite wearing the robes of a princess made from ice and snow appeared in front of the pce.


    She appeared around a meter tall, held a scepter of ice, and wore a crown of ice. Her cold and beautiful face was tinged with savagery and radiated a murderous energy.


    This was an emotion that would inevitably appear on the face of a sprite who had spent most of their life evading humans. They had never experienced the warmth and kindness of the human world, only its endless greed.


    The hatred nourished in this evasion gradually produced a desire for vengeance, and now, the moment hade for it to alle out.


    Logically speaking, no matter how strong the Frost Fairy was, she couldn¡¯t possibly fight against more than a thousand students, for numerous ants could ultimately bite an elephant to death. Unless the gap between the two was particrlyrge, it was very difficult to ignore the difference in numbers.


    But for her, if she had any real chance, it was in this fog formation that had cut and peeled apart the students¡­


    She raised her ice scepter high and ordered, ¡°Go; kill all the intruders!¡±


    As she spoke, snowkes danced, turning into countless ice sprites. They were like little butterflies, wings growing from their backs as they rushed out in all directions.


    Cries of rm rang out from the formation as the battle began.


    The Frost Fairy pointed down, and a pir of ice shot out from her body and began to rampage like a giant ice dragon. She intended to use her advantage in terrain to massacre all the students.


    ¡°Watch out!¡±


    ¡°Dodge!¡±


    ¡°Strike back!¡±


    As people shouted, beams of light were fired at the Frost Fairy.


    What followed were numerous explosions of rainbow light around the ice pce. Flecks of ice flew in the air, reflecting a rainbow of colors, but this gorgeous sight only made everyone¡¯s hearts sink.


    This ice pce wasn¡¯t just a pretty sight. It also served as a powerful defensive system for the Frost Fairy. All attacks aimed at her had to first get through the ice pce.


    Though the students had numbers, because they were all split apart, they found it difficult tobine their powers, and with the numerous little sprites disrupting them, they were too busy with their own problems to counterattack.


    The Frost Fairy still wasn¡¯t satisfied. She once more thrust out her ice scepter, and snow began to pile up on the ground. A momentter, giant snow monsters emerged.


    This was the Frost Fairy¡¯s Frost Summon, an ability to produce monsters from snow and ice.


    ¡°Big Brother, hurry and help us! So many monsters!¡± Yiyi shouted into Tang Jie¡¯s ear.


    Tang Jie was perhaps the only person not in the formation, and so he was not being distracted by the various snow monsters.


    ¡°Raaa!¡± Tang Jie raised a rock and threw it at the distant Frost Fairy.


    The Frost Fairy simply raised her hand, and the rock struck the ice pce¡¯s stairs with a boom, sending shards of ice shooting into the air. This enormous force surprised the Frost Fairy, but she still sneered.


    In her view, this was just a student who was lucky enough to not be in the formation, who understood a little about formations but had limited ability. While he was unaffected by the illusion formation, he alone could do little damage to her. She ced her real focus within the formation, where some of the stronger students were putting up a dogged resistance, gathering the scattered students so that they could join their powers. She had no choice but to devote most of her energy into constantly dispersing them.


    But a momentter, severalrge trees smashed into the ice pce, the immense power within them causing the ice pce to shudder. Tang Jie called out, ¡°Destroy the ice pce! This ice pce is created from the fog of the formation. Its destruction will have a huge effect on the formation!¡±


    Even more attacks howled at the ice pce.


    A hint of annoyance appeared on the Frost Fairy¡¯s face. ¡°Damn! You lot want to destroy my illusion formation? Absurd!¡±


    She whistled, and frost surged out, forming into countless ice bats, with several hundred of them charging at Tang Jie. It was clear that she was rather worried about him.


    Although Tang Jie couldn¡¯t break her illusion formation, his every move had yed a pivotal role. The Frost Fairy now considered him a threat.


    An ice tornado rushed out, turning into fog as it moved to envelop Tang Jie, and the range of the illusion formation expanded to enclose Tang Jie. The Frost Fairy had decided that even if she had to reduce the power of her illusion formation, she would get Tang Jie in her formation and stop him from watching from the side.


    Yet while Tang Jie had predicted this move, he didn¡¯t fall back.


    He allowed the fog to engulf him and the ice bats to fly toward him. He looked up at the Frost Fairy and snorted, ¡°If you¡¯re so nervous, it must mean that your formation has a w and you¡¯re afraid that I¡¯ll find it, right? I can¡¯t me you for that. You¡¯re just an amateur sprite, so how can the formations youy down surpass those of cultivators!? There are two reasons your illusion formation is so sessful. The first is that you have the frost attribute, and water can turn into fog, which makes it a natural fit for illusion formations. The second is that the Floral Forest already possesses a spatial dislocation attribute. All you¡¯re doing is borrowing its power.¡±


    The Frost Fairy immediately paled. ¡°And what about it? The Floral Formation wasid down by True Lord Tianshu. You think you can break it?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I naturally can¡¯t break it, but even if I could, I wouldn¡¯t. After all, doesn¡¯t this formation exist to hold you? You¡¯re just borrowing the tiger¡¯s prestige, but it¡¯s never going to be yours¡­ Just because I can¡¯t break your illusion formation, it doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t deal with you!¡±


    He raised his head and looked at the Frost Fairy, and then he roared, ¡°Since I can¡¯t break your illusion formation, I¡¯ll just add on ayer!¡±


    He smashed his right arm into the ground, and spiritual light radiated outward. At the same time, he called out using Heart Consonance, ¡°Yiyi, use the formation diagram!¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± Yiyi raised her hand, and the formation diagram appeared in her palm. The ice fog immediately swept outward and thickened. The formation¡¯s range increased even more, even encroaching upon the sky and swallowing up more than half of the ice pce.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± The Frost Fairy was aghast.


    ¡°Eight Destions Illusion Formation!¡± Tang Jie took out the rm Gate Banner and thrust it into the ground. At the same time, he took out all the materials that he could use toy down an illusion formation.


    Fighting a formation with a formation!


    <em>Since I can¡¯t break your illusion formation, I¡¯ll just set up another illusion formation in your formation so that you can¡¯t know what¡¯s going on around you!</em> This was Tang Jie¡¯s thought process.


    He had the rm Gate Banner while Yiyi had the formation diagram and her talent. With the two of them working together, a new illusion formation that borrowed the spiritual energy of the world was formed.


    Laying down a formation within a formation required some degree of resonance, or else the formations would get in the way of each other and simultaneously fail.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t care.


    They would either coexist or perish. Either result was fine for him!


    Just as he had predicted, while the Frost Fairy was at Mind Opening, shecked instruction. She didn¡¯t actually understand formations. All she had were her natural gifts and what she had learned from her environment. Although she was truly formidable, shecked the ability to adapt.


    The ice fog had swept back on her and now prevented her from seeing what was going on around her. Hunting down the other students now became very difficult.


    With a roar, Tang Jie charged forward. His Heartbreak Saber shed with an icy light, and then he savagely unleashed a wave of energy at the ice pce!

 Chapter 208: Charge

    Chapter 208: Charge


    The Heartbreak Saber¡¯s saber energy unleashed a frenzied storm.


    Shards of ice flew as the pce trembled.


    With this saber sh, a long crack appeared on the ice wall, creeping along the surface of the ice.


    Tang Jie soon unleashed another sh, and with a boom, the ice wall copsed.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless!¡± the Frost Fairy sharply cried out. With a wave of her hand, another ice wall appeared to fill the gap.


    But Tang Jie continued to heedlessly sh.


    One wave of saber energy after another appeared, creating countless shadows with their light.


    The Frost Fairy was dumbstruck by Tang Jie¡¯s frenzied attack. <em>Is this kid an idiot? Trying to fight it out with me like this.</em>


    It had to be understood that she was at the Mind Opening level. Creating ice walls took a minuscule amount of spiritual energy for her. There was no way his strength couldpare to hers. He was just wasting his strength.


    But Tang Jie did it anyway!


    Savage saber light cut into the walls, releasing frightening mes and creating a dazzling light show on the ice pce. Even those within the illusion formation were able to tell from the nging that someone was in the middle of attacking the ice pce.


    The Frost Fairy finally realized that something was wrong.


    Within the illusion formation, beams of light began to fire off in the direction of Tang Jie, exploding around him in balls of me.


    Tang Jie himself shouted, ¡°Aim your attacks in my direction!¡±


    More lights of various colors gathered together, erupting around him. A few would asionally hit Tang Jie, but he would endure it with his prodigious constitution.


    Someone suddenly roared, ¡°Which brother is it over there?¡±


    ¡°Basking Moon Student Tang Jie!¡±


    ¡°Alright! I, Peng Xiaolong, have remembered your name. Be careful! Dragonme Break!¡±


    A dragon roar rang out, and a massive dragon phantom appeared in the formation, crashing into the ice wall next to Tang Jie. It was an abnormally fierce collision that caused the ice wall to splinter and the ice pce to totter. Even the Frost Fairy¡¯s art power could not restore it!


    The Frost Fairy paled in shock.


    She finally understood what Tang Jie was trying to do.


    While his shes weren¡¯t dealing too much damage to the ice pce, the mor he produced was like war drums, encouraging everyone and raising their morale.


    Without vision, this sound became the sole source of guidance, and the chaotic attacks were now concentrated on a single point, their offensive power instantly swelling.


    With Peng Yaolong¡¯s Dragonme Break, the ice wall shattered, and Tang Jie charged into the pce, rushing up the ice steps.


    He was charging right at the Frost Fairy!


    Now that he was in the air, everyone could see him charging at the Frost Fairy, and the other students couldn¡¯t help but cheer!


    The Frost Fairy pointed at him with her scepter, and just when a tongue of icy me was about to spit out, an arrow of light flew out of the distance.


    There was no ice wall to block for her, and the Frost Fairy wasn¡¯t willing to take the attack directly, so she went back on the defensive, creating an ice wall.


    The light arrow struck the wall, instantly sting through it and continuing on to the sprite.


    The Frost Fairy¡¯s eyes shed with a cold light as she stared at the arrow. In flight, the arrow was swiftly covered with ayer of frost, growing heavier and heavier. Finally, one meter away, the arrow ran out of strength and fell to the ground.


    This had been the closest attack to reach the Frost Fairy in this entire battle!


    Countless students erupted with cheers! ¡°An excellent Sirius Arrow! Good job, Brother Long!¡±


    Long Dao proudly grunted as he put away his bow, but his face briefly shed green. It was clear that loosing this arrow had taken a lot out of him.


    Tang Jie continued charging forward!


    He sprinted up the steps like he was taking the stairway to heaven. He broke out of the fog, appearing before everyone, presenting himself as a fearless brave who was facing down a terrifying foe.


    Everyone was somewhat dazzled by this sight.


    Only on the Frost Fairy¡¯s face was there a sh of vexation.


    As she stared at Tang Jie, she growled, ¡°Seeking death!¡±


    She thumped her ice scepter, and a halo radiated outward.


    The ice stairway instantly began toe apart. Tang Jie¡¯s foot struck empty air, and he immediately began to fall.


    This ice pce was constructed from the Frost Fairy¡¯s art power, and it could transform at her will. To step into the ice pce was to step into her territory!


    The students gasped in rm as Tang Jie fell.


    With a roar, the little tiger shot out and picked up Tang Jie, causing everyone to sigh in relief.


    But a momentter, the dismantled ice stairs became spikes that shot at Tang Jie.


    There was no way to dodge, so Tang Jie nned to just take the spikes with his body. But at this moment, a brilliant sword light rose up from the ground, unleashing a rainbow wave of sword energy. There was a pleasant ring as the energy fended off those countless spikes.


    ¡°Ye Tianshang?¡± Tang Jie was startled.


    Even though he couldn¡¯t see, he knew that only Ye Tianshang could have done this.


    Only his Galefury Sword could substantialize his attack and block the ice spikes.


    Down below, Ye Tianshang gave Tang Jie a thumbs-up. ¡°Tang Jie, good job!¡±


    The air was the Frost Fairy¡¯snd, and the ice pce was the Frost Fairy¡¯s territory. There were many students who could take flight, but only Tang Jie dared to charge at her.


    Whether it was Ye Tianshang, Peng Yaolong, or the other students, they all felt only admiration for Tang Jie. No matter how much they resented him or wanted the Iceme Red Lotus, they understood the importance of cooperating when dealing with this lethal foe.


    Kill the Frost Fairy!


    Only by killing her could they think about the future.


    With Ye Tianshang blocking the attack for him, Tang Jie could soar into the air once more.


    The Frost Fairy¡¯s eyes shed with killing intent, and with a wave of her hand, countless ice bats appeared around her, swooping at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s pointless.¡±


    The fog surged!


    It rose up from the ground into the air.


    It was none other than the Eight Destions Illusion Formation.


    The fog enveloped Tang Jie, and he vanished from sight.


    The Frost Fairy¡¯s eyes chilled as she pointed and eximed, ¡°Disperse!¡±


    The Eight Destions Illusion Formation was built on the basis of her ice fog, so she could forcibly take control over it if she tried. This was precisely why Tang Jie hadn¡¯t used it to conceal himself at the start, instead waiting until he was close to use it at the critical moment.


    The ice fog scattered, but before the ice bats could surround him, Tang Jie charged out of the fog. Behind him, the little tiger began to deal with the bats.


    He activated the Violet Lightning Lunge, bing a lightning bolt shooting through the air.


    The Frost Fairy let out a long growl, her eyes glinting with cold light. Under her stare, frost began to build up on Tang Jie¡¯s body. Just like that Sirius Arrow, Tang Jie had turned snow-white, and he began to slow down and lose altitude.


    There was a sudden rush of air.


    ¡°Hurricane Sweep!¡±


    The hurricane wrapped around Tang Jie and rapidly spiralled him upward. The frost melted, and Tang Jie¡¯s rapidly falling body once more flew upward, carried by the winds.


    Two talismans flew out, turning into fireballs that exploded on the Frost Fairy.


    Ping Jingyue!


    Shu Mingyang!


    Countless spells shed out. Some of them were aimed at the sprite while othersnded on Tang Jie, creating a resplendent riot of colors.


    In the middle of this splendor, the Frost Fairy finally paled.


    She whistled and thrust out her hands. An icy wind gathered around her and surged forward.


    This icy vortex swept through everything, clearing away the remnants of all the spell arts and mming into Tang Jie, turning him into an ice statue.


    Everyone¡¯s hearts turned cold at this sight.


    In the end, had they still failed?


    But at this moment, a crackle came from the ice statue, a crack appearing on it.


    More cracks appeared and soon began to spread out.


    Finally, with a bang, Tang Jie broke out of the ice, jumping back into the air before he hit the ground.


    ¡°Impossible!¡± the Frost Fairy shrieked.


    She had done everything in her power to deal with this single puny student, yet even this had not been enough to kill him.


    Was his body cast from steel?


    With a furious shriek, the Frost Fairy pressed her left hand down, and an icy wind howled toward Tang Jie. She knew what sort of threat this student presented her and would not allow him to get close.


    But at this moment, there was a sharp shout, and the ice carried in the wind gathered together intorge blocks of ice. They assembled themselves in the air, forming stairs that led straight to the ice pce and the Frost Fairy!


    ¡°This¡­¡± The Frost Fairy¡¯s eyes froze.


    An icy voice said, ¡°Ice¡­ I know how to use it, too!¡±


    An aloof and beautiful face appeared in the distance.


    Someone shouted, ¡°Senior Sister Meng!¡±


    Meng Shixue was a fifth-year student of Basking Moon Academy, a prodigy in her ss and an expert in ice spells.


    The ice steps soared upward.


    Tang Jie flew up them.


    As courageous and fierce as a tiger while as nimble as an assassin, he danced among the frost, bravely pushing through the murderous winds.


    With all of the students helping him, there was nothing that could hold him down!


    ¡°Arrrgh!¡± The Frost Fairy furiously screamed. She once more gathered icy mes on her scepter, pointing it at Tang Jie.


    A vortex of ice shot out like a dragon.


    At the moment of collision, a soft and gentle voice murmured, ¡°¡­hence, to execute this art is to conceal one¡¯s desire and move without a trace, and so it is called ¡®action without a trace¡¯¡­¡±


    An Rumeng!


    A momentter, Tang Jie¡¯s body shed to the side. He became as nimble as the wind, and a light twist was enough to have that ice dragon brush past him. The stream of ice flowed past him, flecks of frosting off it, but they did not affect Tang Jie in any way.


    He once more shot up the ice stairs!


    In the space of a single leap, he reached the Frost Fairy, his Heartbreak Saber held high up in the air!


    The Frost Fairy stared in a daze at Tang Jie, seemingly stupefied.


    The tip of the de reflected cold light in the sun, and then it swung down.


    <em>Bang!</em>


    Light exploded as the de struck the sprite¡¯s petite body, going all the way through before striking the floor of the ice pce.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Shouts rang out.


    But then they saw that the body that the saber had cleaved in two had turned into countless flecks of ice, and there was no sign of the sprite.


    That saber had clearly struck nothing but a block of ice.


    <em>Failure?</em> Everyone thought the same thing at the same time.


    They had gathered up all their strength to send Tang Jie to the sprite, but was that still not enough?


    Was the Mind Opening level that hard to deal with?


    Despair appeared in their hearts.


    At this moment, Liu Hongyan shouted, ¡°While frost and ice are transparent, the light casts a shadow. These are the signs of someone fleeing in the snow!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes shed. ¡°Understood!¡±


    He swung the Heartbreak Saber, sending a mottled streak of energy at an empty space three feet to his side.


    ¡°Aaaagh!¡± A bitter scream tore through the air.

 Chapter 209: Strong Offensive

    Chapter 209: Strong Offensive


    A petite figure staggered out of the void, her pearlescent and wless body now sporting a long and bloody wound that extended from her shoulder straight down to below her chest.


    What flowed out of the wound wasn¡¯t red blood, but a white liquid like snow.


    This icy blood soaked half of the Frost Fairy¡¯s body as it bloomed into little snowkes.


    Even so, there was no wiping away the pain and savagery in the Frost Fairy¡¯s eyes.


    She raised her head and angrily red at Tang Jie. ¡°How did you find me?¡±


    Although Liu Hongyan had given him a tip on how to break through the spell, she had not offered any kind of detection spell. How had Tang Jie managed to find her so quickly?


    She didn¡¯t understand it.


    But in response, Tang Jie simply shed at her again.


    Thoughts of mercy had vanished the moment the battle had begun. Unlike with other opponents, Tang Jie did not dare to be distracted around Mind Opening existences, so even answering a question wasn¡¯t something he wanted to do.


    With one strike havingnded, he now attacked relentlessly with the Heartbreak Saber, saber energy creating a vicious tide of death.


    The Frost Fairy shrieked as she backed away, an ice shield appearing in front of her to block this savage offensive. Killing intent appeared in her eyes as she asked, ¡°You really think you can kill me with just this?¡±


    After dodging Tang Jie¡¯s first attack, she hadn¡¯t believed that he would be able to find her so quickly again, and her carelessness resulted in her being wounded. She was now furious and was determined to kill this brat.


    Liu Hongyan shouted, ¡°Attack the ice pce!¡±


    Hundreds of kinds of spells, a thousand rays of light, erupted from the ground and exploded on the ice pce, and the entire pce tottered under the fierce salvo.


    The offensive made the Frost Fairy panic.


    It had to be understood that the ice pce was the foundation of her casting. It wasn¡¯t just for attacking and defending. Its most important advantage was that it greatly elerated her casting.


    The greatest difference between a spell and an art was consumption.


    Upon entering the Mortal Shedding Realm, cultivators could link with the heavens and earth, substantially reducing the time it took to cast spell arts, and bing able to use spell arts of much greater power.


    To take the Heavenly King Mara Incantation as an example, it consumed all of a student¡¯s spiritual energy. As spiritual energy was limited, Tang Jie was only able to maintain it for a few seconds.


    But once he erected the Heaven-Earth Bridge, the same Heavenly King Mara Incantation could be enabled by using his own power to draw in the power of the world, greatly reducing the amount of energy needed.


    This was precisely why the Divine Firmament Sword ssic could be used all the way to Violet Pce. Almost every one of its spell arts had the ability to turn from a spell into an art, having their costs minimized and their power boosted.


    But arts had one problem. Drawing in the power of the world took even more time than preparing a spell. Thus, even Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators didn¡¯t rely solely on arts when they did battle.


    For example, when Gu Changqing fought with Tang Jie, he had used mostly spells, for spells could be cast more quickly. Of course, at his level, even spells were stronger than those that ordinary students could use.


    The Lightning Secret Art that Zhao Xinguo had used in that internal strife, the Thunderstorm Hand, was an actual art, but it could only be cast when working with others.


    Spells and arts represented the two attributes of speed and power. Neither could becking.


    It was only at the Violet Pce Realm, when one could connect to the world with a single thought, that one could unleash major spell arts with a raise of the hand, easily cleaving apart mountains and splitting the seas.


    As for this ice pce that the Frost Fairy had created, its greatest benefit was that it massively increased her casting speed. This was precisely how she could cast so many spell arts in a row, each of them considerably powerful.


    In terms of spell arts, while in the ice pce, the Frost Fairy could cast with almost the same speed of a Celestial Heart cultivator, but the power of her closebat spells was stillcking.


    One could say that this ice pce was the core of her strength, the foundation of her spell arts. Without the ice pce, the Frost Fairy¡¯s strength would plunge, even struggling to match a Spirit Sea student.


    The students attacking the ice pce were far more threatening to her than Tang Jie. Liu Hongyan was a member of the Law Hall and a sharp observer, so she had been able to identify the Frost Fairy¡¯s weakness.


    ¡°Go!¡± The Frost Fairy waved her hand, and a stream of ice shot out from her scepter. At the same time, she waved her left hand, sending a surge of ice at Tang Jie.


    The icy fog instantly enveloped Tang Jie, andrge chunks of ice practically turned him into a statue. But a momentter, the ice cracked apart, and Tang Jie charged out of the fog even faster than before. His entire body was white and his hair and brows were frosted over, but the ice couldn¡¯t hold him.


    Before this battle, Tang Jie had bathed himself using ice-resistant herbs. While the effect was far from what he had gotten with all the thunderspirit grass, it was enough to deal with this kind of freezing!


    The Frost Fairy hadn¡¯t expected that Tang Jie would be able to charge out, and she backed away in rm, ice blooming beneath her feet. While a beautiful sight, there was a dangerous chase ying out here, one person backing away while the other advanced. Their flicking figures reflected throughout the ice pce.


    Sheets of ice covered Tang Jie, but under his high-speed charge, they broke off, unable to deal any damage to him.


    In thisnd of ice and snow, Tang Jie charged like a tiger, roaring as he hacked the Heartbreak Saber at the sprite¡¯s right shoulder.


    ¡°Aagh!¡± The Frost Fairy howled in pain.


    Though she was at Mind Opening, she was a sprite, not a fiend beast. Sprites were skilled in spell arts, not in physical brawls. In dealing with the thousand students below and Tang Jie before her, her strength was finally showing its limits.


    Being struck by the saber again stoked the sprite¡¯s anger. Just when she was about to lunge out and kill this scoundrel, rm bells rang out in her mind.


    As a sprite, she was extremely sensitive to danger, and this sense for danger had saved herself many times over the years.


    Spurred on by her intuition, she whistled, and frost appeared in front of her, encasing her in a giant coffin of ice.


    There was a golden sh of light that cut through the ice coffin as if it wasn¡¯t even there.


    Aghast, the Frost Fairy put aside all her apprehensions and unleashed all her power. Frost power surged out inyers, an endless furious torrent. There was so much spiritual energy that it was clear that she was not some lower-grade, but a middle-grade Mind Opening sprite.


    In other words, this sprite was on Gu Changqing¡¯s level, perhaps even surpassing him when it came to spell arts. But even the freezing power of all this frost could only slow down the golden thread. The sprite was rmed that her endless frost power couldn¡¯t stop this golden thread, and she suddenly opened her mouth. There was a blue sh of light from her body, and a tiny cone of ice shot out of her mouth.


    It was a puny little cone that seemed tock any power, but when it struck the golden thread, there was a bang and an explosion of light. The chill unleashed at that instant almost froze Tang Jie in his steps, and even the golden thread was stopped.


    ¡°A sprite core¡­¡± Tang Jie cried out in surprise.


    He had a clearer view than anyone else, and he could see that the sprite had been forced to use part of her sprite core¡¯s power just now.


    Not even Tang Jie could resist this freezing energy. The sprite¡¯s eyes exploded with savagery as she yelled, ¡°You must die!¡±


    Another ice cone was fired, this one containing 80% of her power. No matter what, she had to kill Tang Jie.


    ¡°Keep dreaming!¡± Tang Jie roared. He knew that this was a critical moment. While the golden thread was sharp, it was difficult to attack with it several times in a row. Since this attack had failed, he would have to rely on himself for a bit. All of his strength surged and his body erupted with the crimson light of the Blood Refining Spirit.


    Bloodline energy gathered into his saber tip and transformed into a furious wave that rose to meet the ice cone.


    As the saber energy and ice cone collided, frost energy exploded outward, sending Tang Jie flying back, and Tang Jie violently spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with ice.


    This was the worst injury he had received yet in his battle with the sprite, and he felt like almost all of his blood had been frozen. If not for the Blood Refining Spirit spell protecting him, even his bone marrow might have frozen.


    The sprite was about to make a follow-up attack when there was a sharp yell, and a small figure flew up and waved a hand at the sprite. Flowers erupted from the ground and made to wrap around the Frost Fairy. It was none other than Yiyi.


    ¡°Bastard! A sprite helping a human!¡± The Frost Fairy was furious. She pressed her left hand down, and a biting wind froze the flowers rock-solid.


    In her rage, she was using all the strength she could muster. Her ice storms were ideal for dealing withrge numbers, and her freezing spells truly made one¡¯s blood run cold.


    The flowers instantly turned into ice statues, but a momentter, a silver crescent moon appeared, silently gliding toward the Frost Fairy.


    Just like the golden thread, it filled the Frost Fairy with fear, and she hastily moved to dodge. As she looked over, she saw a little fox floating in the air, coldly looking at her. It was clearly this little fox that had unleashed that crescent de just now.


    ¡°A Void Fox?¡± The Frost Fairy¡¯s voice trembled.


    On the ground, Wei Tianchong stomped his feet in anger. ¡°I¡¯m your master here!¡±


    This little fox had treated him in an indifferent manner ever since it had started following him. Even after Wei Tianchong rose to Spirit Lake Tier and became much stronger, it only became a little more polite. It was still unwilling to act on his behalf.


    But to his surprise, when Tang Jie was injured, the little fox took action without prompting. Wei Tianchong couldn¡¯t help but be sad. He wasn¡¯t angry that the little fox had saved Tang Jie, only that this cold reception to his affection was far too damaging to his dignity.


    As the little fox attacked, the little tiger also unleashed his own lightning de, forcing the Frost Fairy to protect herself.


    These three attacking finally gave Tang Jie some space to breathe. He raised his left hand and tossed something out.


    This was the eye from the Quadeye Mantipede, one of the few fiend beast items Tang Jie had kept. This eye should have onlysted for three days, with the fiend energy within it dispersing after that. Fortunately, Tang Jie had found an herb that allowed him to extend the storage time, but if he kept it any longer, the energy would scatter. This was the perfect time to use it.


    As he threw out the eye, it let out a weak beam of light that struck the Frost Fairy, instantly paralyzing her.


    At the same time, Tang Jie flew back and swung down with his saber.


    But rather than the Frost Fairy, he hacked at the frozen flowers. ¡°Yiyi!¡±


    <em>Boom!</em>


    As the saber came down, ice and flowers went flying into the air.


    Countless flowers danced in the air, and they shone with a deadly light, turning around, opening their maws, and rushing at the Frost Fairy. This was the Petal Rain that Yiyi had learned, but when used on her green rose formation, it was even more powerful!


    The Frost Fairy was caught off guard, and as the monsterized flowers gnawed on her body, icy liquid flew into the air, and she screamed in pain. Icy energy erupted from her body, instantly freezing the flowers. A momentter, they crashed to the ground and fell to pieces.


    Down below, Yiyi¡¯s small face turned ghastly pale.


    But as the flowers shattered, Tang Jie swung his de again.


    A third strike!


    He prated through the fog and savagely hacked at the Frost Fairy¡¯s arm.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    The arm went flying into the air.


    ¡°Aaaah!¡± The sprite let out a heart-rending screech as icy blood flew into the air.


    Tang Jie was about to chase after her, but when he raised his foot, the ice pce shuddered, and he began to fall.


    It turned out that the Frost Fairy had been so focused on attacking Tang Jie that she didn¡¯t have the power to protect the ice pce.


    Under the concerted attack of the students, the ice pce finally copsed.


    The resplendent ice pce that had manifested from nothing instantly copsed into great streams of ice, and light appeared on the horizon as the fog began to disperse.


    It turned out that the ice pce was linked to the illusion formation, and its destruction led the illusion formation to copse as well. But although the frost formation had dissipated, the Eight Destions Illusion Formation Tang Jie hadid down was still in ce, preventing the students from escaping.


    This caused many students to curse, ¡°Damn it! There¡¯s still an illusion formation? Whoid it down? Hurry and remove it!¡±


    Tang Jie ignored them.


    The copse of the pce had caused Tang Jie to lose out on an excellent opportunity. As he fell, he could only watch as the Frost Fairy executed a roll and then turned into a beam of ice that fled into the distance. He roared, ¡°Bao¡¯er!¡±


    The little tiger picked up Tang Jie, and Tang Jie called back the rm Gate Banner with a wave of his hand and took off after the Frost Fairy.


    There was a high chance that the Frost Fairy was fleeing back to the Ice Cave¡ªthe location of the Iceme Red Lotus, the Frost Fairy¡¯s birthce, and also the source of her power. This was the perfect chance to chase after her and seize her treasures.


    All the students saw what he was doing.


    ¡°Chase!¡±


    ¡°After her! Kill the Frost Fairy and take the Iceme Red Lotus!¡±


    ¡°Watch out for Tang Jie! Don¡¯t let him take the Red Lotus!¡±


    ¡°Everyone, work together and destroy this damned illusion formation!¡±


    All of the students began to shout.


    Nearby, Peng Yaolong, Long Dao, Ye Tianshang, and Meng Shixue turned on Tang Jie with shining eyes, and several people began to break down the formation. Without the ice fog and the rm Gate Banner, and without anyone to maintain it, the Eight Destions Illusion Formation was much weaker. It was only a matter of time until the more than one thousand students broke it down.


    When everyone was facing down the Frost Fairy, they fought together asrades. Now that theirmon foe had been defeated, internal conflicts once more took the forefront!

 Chapter 210: Icecloud

    Chapter 210: Icecloud


    Mounted upon the tiger, Tang Jie flew through the forest of flowers. Suddenly, a pitch-ck cave mouth appeared in front of him.


    Sinister and chilling winds blew out of the cave.


    This was the Ice Cave.


    The Frost Fairy¡¯s figure vanished into the cave mouth. Tang Jie was just about to go in when a call came from behind him: ¡°Tang Jie, wait for me!¡±


    Turning around, he saw Wei Tianchong, Shi Meng, Cai Junyang, and Yiyiing up behind him.


    As Yiyi was with them, they hadn¡¯t been affected by the Eight Destions Illusion Formation, so they had been the first to get out.


    Yiyi was the first to rush out, throwing herself at him. They had not seen each other in many days, and she dearly missed him. She mbered on his body and refused to leave him, even giving Tang Jie a kiss.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°You finally caught up.¡±


    Now that brothers had been reunited after so long, Wei Tianchong¡¯s eyes were red. ¡°Do you even realize¡­ You ignored us for so long, even handing us over to Cai Junyang.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°And aren¡¯t you just fine?¡±


    He could tell that Wei Tianchong had been through a lot, having lost a lot of weight.


    He hadn¡¯t been too fat in the first ce, and his skin had been white and fair. Now, he was much thinner, and his skin had a somewhat bronzed tone, making him seem much more energetic.


    It was actually Cai Junyang who was upset, ring and demanding, ¡°What? You¡¯re not happy about my protection service? Hey, where are the plumes you promised me?¡±


    Thest words were aimed at Tang Jie.


    Wei Tianchong shrank his neck back, not daring to speak. It was true that Cai Junyang had protected him. The problem was that he wasn¡¯t a servant student, so he had no need to speak politely or with Tang Jie¡¯s gentle andforting tone.


    Tang Jie took out the plumes from his Mustard Seed Bag and handed them over. ¡°I¡¯ve always kept my promises.¡±


    Wei Tianchong and the others were dumbfounded by all these plumes. Although they knew that Tang Jie had agreed to hand over one hundred plumes, they were still shocked when they saw Tang Jie take them out.


    Even Cai Junyang was startled. ¡°You really killed all the Thunderbirds?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t leave a single one,¡± Tang Jie replied. He shed a fiend pellet for a moment¡ªthe one that had belonged to the Thunderbird King.


    Everyone¡¯s eyes widened.


    Tang Jie put it away. ¡°Alright, less chit-chat. While the Eight Destions Illusion Formation is still holding them back, let¡¯s go in there, kill the Frost Fairy, and take the Red Lotus!¡±


    Cai Junyang¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°You really were the one whoid it down. When did you learn formations?¡±


    ¡°When did you be so talkative? Let¡¯s go! We can ask questions while we¡¯re walking!¡± Tang Jie led the way into the cave, but in reality, he was thinking about what sort of lie he was going to concoct.


    Cai Junyang and the others shared a nce before running after him.


    The inside of the Ice Cave was pitch-ck, and a sinister wind would asionally howl out of the cave.


    Even worse was that there were several different passages, and it was hard to tell which one was right.


    Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Shi Meng!¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± Shi Meng activated a tracking spell and then pointed at one passage. ¡°This way!¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Everyone went in the direction Shi Meng had indicated.


    As they madly pursued, they felt a greater and greater chill.


    ¡°It should be just ahead!¡± Cai Junyang excitedly said.


    At this moment, a silhouette rushed out of the darkness and fired a dim beam of energy at the group.


    Tang Jie had sharp eyes and a quick hand, and he quickly stepped forward. The dim energy exploded on his body, but by this time, Tang Jie was already swinging his saber down, striking the silhouette. The silhouette howled as it was sliced in two.


    With the light unleashed by the saber, Tang Jie was able to see the attacker. ¡°It¡¯s a fiend cat. Be careful; this ce has quite a few fiend beasts.¡±


    Whether it was the Floral Forest or the Ice Cave, neither was only upied by the Frost Fairy. The Frost Fairy was simply the ruler, so there wasn¡¯t anything of a higher level than her.


    ¡°Let the puppet charge ahead!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted. He waved his hand, sending the puppet forward.


    Having the puppet open the way was actually ideal.


    What surprised everyone was that Wei Tianchong had made the proposal on his own, and even Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but nce at him. <em>This guy has really made some progress. Truly, a person needs to be tempered to mature.</em>


    As the puppet charged forward, it drew out many hidden fiend beasts. Everyone followed behind the puppet, killing the fiend beasts that popped up. Fortunately, most of these fiend beasts were of average strength, and Tang and Cai working together easily destroyed them. So that they could quickly catch up to the Frost Fairy, they didn¡¯t harvest any of these fiends. As they continued forward, their field of vision soon opened up.


    At the end of the cave passage was a wide and open space, like a hidden paradise.


    In front of them were countless trees of ice. They were like rime-covered trees in winter, appearing to be weeping. The rimed figures amidst the misty snow presented a beautiful sight, like numerous statues of ice.


    At the end of this forest of ice was a cold pool of blue water. The chill radiating off this pond was enough to freeze someone down to the bone.


    This was the Frigid Pond.


    Several little white flowers floated in the pond, andrge clumps of water grass grew next to the petals. In the very center of the pond, a red lotus bloomed. This blooming red lotus appeared like a me, and its lower half had a luster like a white me, making it appear as if the red lotus was floating atop a me that burned on the water.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Iceme Red Lotus!¡± Cai Junyang, Wei Tianchong, and Shi Meng shouted in unison.


    The Iceme Red Lotus was a rare spirit nt of the Rosecloud Domain with miraculous effects. It was one of the main ingredients of the Heaven-Opening Pill, and the Heaven-Opening Pill was one of the most important spirit medicines for creating the Heaven-Earth Bridge.


    The cultivation of Immortality consisted of five major realms, with each realm serving as a threshold. Entering the Spirit tform Realm required breaking through the Jade Gate, which necessitated a Spirit Master¡¯s help. Entering the Mortal Shedding Realm required creating the Heaven-Earth Bridge, which was extremely difficult without the Heaven-Opening Pill.


    The importance of the Iceme Red Lotus went without saying. It could be considered the most important and most valuable herb in all of the Valley of No Return.


    But this was precisely why the Basking Moon Sect did not permit students to obtain it. Any student who took it would have to hand it over to the sect.


    Many people thought that when outer disciple students went adventuring, they could keep any of the major spoils they found, but this was a grave misunderstanding.


    Sects existed to control resources.


    The world was currently well-ordered, and every region had been divided, with eighty percent of the areas rich in resources under control of the six major sects and the remaining twenty percent controlled by the minor sects.


    The sects strictly controlled their resources and would not easily give them to others.


    Thus, while the Basking Moon Sect was so generous as to only ask for the students to hand over thirty percent of their gains, this was only if those items were not considered valuable or important by the sect.


    The truly valuable things were simply impossible to divide up. The students could only rely on their efforts to eventually redeem such rewards from the sect, but they could never hope to keep such nice things for themselves.


    The Iceme Red Lotus was one of those items that could not be divided.


    Everyone grew excited upon seeing the Iceme Red Lotus.


    But while Cai Junyang, Wei Tianchong, and Shi Meng looked excitedly at the Iceme Red Lotus, Tang Jie was focused on the little white flowers and ck water grass growing next to the Iceme Red Lotus.


    Icecloud Flowers and Chillshade Grass.


    These were both spirit nts that they grew together with the Iceme Red Lotus, and were quite valuable.


    But what was most important was¡­


    As a thought shed through Tang Jie¡¯s mind, Cai Junyang rushed at the red lotus while shouting, ¡°Tang Jie, this Iceme Red Lotus is mine!¡±


    He rushed onto the pond, and with the Ripplewalk, he walked across the water like it was t ground and made his way toward the lotus.


    The mission was to get the Red Lotus, so chasing down the Frost Fairy was no longer important.


    At his rashness, Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Junyang, be careful!¡±


    Cai Junyang was anxious to get the lotus, and he rushed up to it in the blink of an eye. But as he got close, a cold gale exploded.


    A frigid wave formed on the pond as a surge of cold swept toward Cai Junyang.


    Cai Junyang was rmed. He was still on the water, and while the Ripplewalk let him stand on water, it made it difficult for him to exert his strength.


    But he was still a Spirit Lake student, and he reacted quickly to the situation. He thrust his palm several times at the shore.


    The winds created by his attacks managed to hold off the cold wave for a bit while also pushing him toward the lotus. He clearly hadn¡¯t given up on it yet.


    At this moment, countless ice spikes shot out of the water next to the lotus, whistling toward Cai Junyang.


    Cai Junyang hastily waved his Tsunami Sword, creating a sword to protect himself.


    Thankfully, the Massing Wave Mantra and Pilewave Sword he cultivated favored swift and continuous attacks, and with a great tter, he fended off the ice spikes.


    Even so, twenty-some spikes managed to get through the and jab into Cai Junyang¡¯s body.


    A momentter, Cai Junyang¡¯s barrier shattered, and three spikes struck Cai Junyang¡¯s body without resistance, striking him in the left arm, left leg, and right chest.


    ¡°Aagh!¡± Cai Junyang yelled. Unable to keep up the Ripplewalk, he fell into the pond.


    ¡°Bao¡¯er!¡±


    The tiger growled and shot forward like a bolt of lightning, his wings opening as he reached out with his paws and grabbed Cai Junyang out of the water.


    Tang Jie raised his hand, sending three golden lights flying out. These were three golden needles, but they were aimed at one of the little white flowers in the pond.


    This attack seemed pointless, but as the golden needles flew out, the white flower shook and flew into the air, taking a human form. It was none other than the Frost Fairy.


    But she had already recovered her arm. Given how quickly she had healed her injury, she had probably used the power of her sprite core.


    She looked at Tang Jie in shock, shrieking as she dodged the golden needles, ¡°How did you know¡­¡±


    This was now the second time Tang Jie had so quickly found her hiding spot.


    She really didn¡¯t understand how this was done.


    Sprites were nts that had gained spirituality. Under the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s control, the Redme Ice Lotus wasn¡¯t allowed to gain spirituality. This was because if this nt gained spirituality, the sprite core it formed would be valuable, but its effects in the Heaven-Opening Pill would be greatly reduced. Thus, the nt with the greatest chance of achieving spirituality was the Icecloud Flower that grew near the lotus.


    This was also a spirit nt, and as it was nurtured by the Iceme Red Lotus¡¯s spiritual energy and absorbed the freezing energy of the Frigid Pond, it became an ice sprite.


    When Tang Jie arrived and saw that the ice sprite was nowhere to be seen, he knew that she might have transformed to hide herself, but there was no stopping Cai Junyang from letting his impatience get the better of him and falling into her trap. But this gave Tang Jie the chance to track down her spiritual energy pulses and find her body.


    He originally didn¡¯t have this skill, but after glimpsing the Dao Realm at Tiger Roar Peak andprehending the Dao of Insight, Tang Jie found that he had be rather sensitive to the spiritual energy pulses around him. So long as he was given a clue, he could track it down to the source.


    This was how he had found the Frost Fairy¡¯s first hiding spot, and also how he had found the second.


    Upon seeing that his golden needles had missed, Tang Jie charged out, flitting across the water like a bolt of lightning and swinging his saber at the Frost Fairy. ¡°Little sprite, you could have only be a sprite through the nourishment of the Iceme Red Lotus¡¯s spiritual energy. Who do you think you were fooling?¡±


    He sprinted out with uncanny speed, only striking the water¡¯s surface three times to reach the Frost Fairy and swing his saber. This was the Violet Lightning Lunge pushed to the maximum.


    The saber savagely struck the Frost Fairy, and she bitterly screamed as she flew back and raised her hands. A giant silhouette jumped out of the water¡ªa huge fish that attempted to bite Tang Jie.


    A Megabone Fish!


    This was a rare fiend beast that innately possessed a huge size and a savage personality.


    Judging by its size, this Megabone Fish was at least upper-grade Spirit Sensing.


    No one could have expected the Frigid Pond to be hiding an existence like this.


    But Tang Jie was fearless, swinging his saber with his right hand at the Megabone Fish¡¯s lip, causing the fish to hiss.


    ¡°Useless!¡±


    He punched with his left hand, releasing a powerful shockwave that sent the fish flying.


    He had tempered himself through baths many times after entering the valley, and his strength was prodigious. With a single full-force punch, he had smashed away this giant upper-grade Spirit Sensing fish that was renowned for its strength.


    The Frost Fairy had thought that her ambusher would be able to pose a threat, never expecting Tang Jie to be so unstoppable, and her heart shuddered in shock.


    She didn¡¯t understand how a Spirit Lake Tier student could possess such a formidable constitution, but Tang Jie didn¡¯t give her time to think, rushing up using the Violet Lightning Lunge and unleashing the Windcleaver Saber.


    ¡°Yaaa!¡± With a bitter scream, the sprite produced another ice shield. The Heartbreak Saber shattered the shield into chunks, and the sprite behind it was sent flying backward.

 Chapter 211: Chaotic Battle

    Chapter 211: Chaotic Battle


    In terms of strength, even when heavily injured, the Frost Fairy was much stronger than Tang Jie, but Tang Jie didn¡¯t want to kill her, only use this chance to steal the Red Lotus. In the end, the true specialty of warriors that focused on toughness was seizing things.


    Thus, what he wanted was precisely that the Frost Fairy retreat.


    Tang Jie¡¯s golden thread swept out, coiling around the Iceme Red Lotus.


    The ice sprite panicked. The Red Lotus was the base of her power, the foundation of her Dao. If it were stolen, advancing any further would be excruciatingly difficult. Her eyes shed, and two dark beams of energy struck Tang Jie to freeze him once more.


    ¡°Out of my way!¡± Tang Jie bellowed. He turned around and punched at the dark beams of energy, his body momentarily shing red. With brute strength, he somehow managed to resist the freezing power, but one arm was nowpletely covered in frost.


    Distracted for a moment, Tang Jie moved to draw back the golden thread which had coiled around the lotus, but at this moment, <em>boom!</em> An arrow of light came streaking out of the distance, striking him in the back, and he crashed into the water with a bang.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Wei Tianchong and Cai Junyang cried out in rm at this sudden development.


    Turning their heads, they saw Long Dao proudly standing there with his bow. ¡°The Iceme Red Lotus is mine!¡±


    A group of students stood behind him, An Rumeng among them.


    He once more drew his bow back, and an arrow flew straight at Cai Junyang andpany.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Cai Junyang cursed. He pushed Wei Tianchong, and the party of three leaped aside.


    As the arrow pushed them back, Long Dao shouted to the students following him, ¡°Get the Red Lotus!¡±


    These students rushed out to get the Red Lotus in the pond, leaving only An Rumeng waiting in the rear.


    Seeing more studentsing, the Frost Fairy shrieked, and a surge of cold emerged from the pond toward them.


    ¡°Watch out!¡± the leading student shouted in fright.


    Long Dao drew back his bow. ¡°Let me¡­ Dragon Roar!¡±


    As he shouted, the silver arrow on the bow shot out. A me zed up on the silver tip, and then the arrow transformed into a massive fire dragon that charged at the cold wave.


    Long Dao¡¯s face dimmed as the arrow flew out, and he took out a pill and consumed it.


    This Dragon Roar wasparable to the Heavenly King Mara Incantation. Fortunately, it was just a one-time attack and didn¡¯t constantly consume spiritual energy like the Heavenly King Mara Incantation. Moreover, as he was a Spirit Sea student, he didn¡¯t use up all his spiritual energy, but it was still an enormous burden.


    With an enormous expense came terrifying strength.


    Fire and ice shed, and the explosion sent mes and ice flying everywhere. The fire dragon almost instantly sted through the cold wave, and with the rest of its strength, it made a circle in the air and then lunged at the Frost Fairy.


    The Frost Fairy was shocked, and she shrieked again. As she did, the rime-covered trees in the distance swayed, unleashing a great shower of snowkes. These snowkes instantly turned into countless ice bats, rushing at the fire dragon like moths to the me.


    Ice and fire reacted against each other in a frenzy, and innumerable ice bats melted into clean streams of water. But the fire dragon began to weaken under all this ice power, and it grew smaller and smaller, ultimately bing an ember that vanished without a trace.


    Long Dao paled at this sight.


    He had thought that the Frost Fairy was too severely injured to fight, but to his surprise, she could still put up a fight.


    Tang Jie could resist the Frost Fairy¡¯s attack to seize the Red Lotus, but the others didn¡¯t have that ability.


    The Frost Fairy shrieked, unleashing an even greater explosion of frost.


    This sprite truly possessed terrifyingly powerful spells, and only in her hands did Immortal arts have the majesty and power they were expected to have.


    This tide of icy energy caused all the students to grimace.


    Fortunately, at this moment, someone roared.


    ¡°Break!¡±


    A storm-like boom resounded through the caverns like thunder exploding in the nine heavens, causing everyone¡¯s ears to buzz. Even the wave of ice was forced back.


    Only now did everyone see a persone out from a passage on the side: Peng Yaolong.


    These passages were all linked to each other.


    This upperssman of Basking Moon Academy walked out barechested, his body rippling with muscle and a powerful energy coiled around him, and he radiated a wild power.


    The icy winds blowing against his body were like a light breeze on a boulder, not moving a single hair.


    Long Dao sneered at Peng Yaolong¡¯s appearance. ¡°I knew that Senior Brother Peng possessed divine and peerless strength, but I didn¡¯t expect you to also be able to see through illusions and get out of the illusion formation so quickly.¡±


    Long Dao had been able to get out of the formation because a treasure his father had given him had the ability to see through illusions. It was no good against the Frost Fairy¡¯s illusion formation because he hadn¡¯t been strong enough to break it, but it was more than enough to deal with Tang Jie¡¯s cheap and shoddy Eight Destions Illusion Formation, and that was how he had been able to break out ande here straight away. He was very surprised that Peng Yaolong had also been able to get out so quickly.


    Peng Yaolong indifferently said, ¡°Being a Basking Moon student is all about focusing on the Origin Heart and not being misguided. If I am fooled by a puny illusion formation, how can I walk the Dao? Is that not so, Junior Sister Meng, Junior Brother Ye?¡±


    Laughter came from another passage, and a man and woman appeared, leading several other students. The man was Ye Tianshang, and the woman was a refined and puredy dressed in robes whiter than snow. It was none other than that Meng Shixue who had assisted Tang Jie earlier.


    Ye Tianshang said, ¡°I¡¯ve long heard of Senior Brother Peng¡¯s outstanding talent, but your will is resolved, your Origin Heart set on the Great Dao and unperturbed by illusions. You truly deserve your reputation. As for me, I had topletely rely on Sister Shixue here.¡±


    In Basking Moon Academy, Meng Shixue was rather well known for her attainments in the Dao of Formations.


    Meng Shixue chuckled and said nothing, but many more students appeared behind her.


    Three parties were now in a stand-off, with the Frost Fairy in the center. While there weren¡¯t too many people, the Frost Fairy had lost her formation, so she could not deal with them so easily anymore.


    Long Dao swept his eyes over the crowd. ¡°In other words, this struggle for the treasure will be between the three of us?¡±


    He didn¡¯t even nce at Cai Junyang¡¯s group, not considering them a threat at all. As for Tang Jie, he had yet to emerge from the Frigid Pond and was probably sleeping with the fishes, so Long Dao had put him aside. Only An Rumeng continued to stare pensively at the water.


    He had barely spoken when another voice piped up, ¡°Senior Brother Long, aren¡¯t you underestimating the talents of my Basking Moon too much?¡±


    Startled, Long Dao turned and saw another grouping out of a passage.


    ¡°Liu Yuan?¡± Long Dao snorted.


    Liu Yuan was a fourth-year student and could be considered the representative of his ss.


    But Long Dao didn¡¯t take him seriously.


    While Liu Yuan was also at the Spirit Sea Tier, he had only just entered Spirit Sea and was far inferior to the others.


    Long Dao simply snorted at this new group of students and proceeded to ignore him. He whispered to An Rumeng, ¡°When the fight starts, you¡¯ll be responsible for getting the Red Lotus while I hold the rest of them down.¡±


    The spell arts of the Thousand Passions Sect had always been known for their speed and agility, and the Six Desires Mantra¡¯s ¡°action without trace¡± was also known as the ¡°ethereal ghost¡±.


    Long Dao had asked for An Rumeng¡¯s help firstly because her background meant that she had no reason to go against the contract and take the Red Lotus herself, and secondly because her speed was rare even among the upperssmen, making her a powerful ally when taking the treasure.


    An Rumeng lightly nodded. ¡°Remember your promise.¡±


    Long Dao chuckled. ¡°Rx. I will have my father teach you the spell art you desire, but you had best remember the other condition we agreed on.¡±


    Anger shed on An Rumeng¡¯s face, and she clenched her silver teeth. ¡°Rx. So long as you can teach me, I will not go back on my word.¡±


    She cultivated a secret art of the Thousand Passions Sect that emphasized confusing the hearts of others while remaining unperturbed. She instantly realized that her anger was getting to her and mentally recited the mantra, circting energy ording to its method, and emotion disappeared from her face.


    Peng Yaolong saw the batch of neers andughed. ¡°Good, another group! This should be enough to kill this Frost Fairy. So what are we still waiting for? Let¡¯s work together and kill this sprite, and then we can fight over the Red Lotus!¡±


    He was a pugnacious fellow, even more excited about killing the Frost Fairy than fighting over the Red Lotus.


    In truth, the students all had different goals.


    Long Dao wanted the Red Lotus to get famous. An Rumeng was after the lotus to get the art she desired. Peng Yaolong wanted the Red Lotus for the sake of the battle it would stir.


    It was probably only Ye Tianshang, Meng Shixue, and Liu Yuan who actually wanted to be a True Inheritor.


    But regardless of their goals, their target was the same.


    Once Peng Yaolong was done talking, he fiercely punched.


    It was an energetic punch that instantly created a whirlwind of energy. The Frost Fairy shrieked and unleashed a wave of ice.


    As the two energies collided, everyone discovered to their shock that Peng Yaolong¡¯s iron fist had the upper hand, pushing through the icy wave.


    Peng Yaolong charged and bellowed, ¡°That¡¯s all you have!?¡±


    His body surged with energy and shed with mes of light. The Frost Fairy immediately backed away in fright.


    Seeing that Peng Yaolong had the upper hand, Liu Yuan and Ye Tianshang shouted in unison, ¡°Senior Brother Peng, let me help you!¡±


    They both rushed out, but they were actually making their way to the Red Lotus.


    Peng Yaolong furiously said, ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it!¡±


    He punched with his left and right hands, sending two gusts of wind at Liu and Ye.


    The savage winds immediately blew the two of them away.


    Ye Tianshang angrily shouted, ¡°Peng Yaolong, you bastard!¡±


    Liu Yuan waved his hand and shouted, ¡°Hurry and get the Red Lotus!¡±


    The other students began to charge forward.


    The Frost Fairy¡¯s moment of weakness was the perfect time to get the treasure.


    Long Dao¡¯s eyes glinted with a vicious light. ¡°An Rumeng, go and get the Red Lotus.¡±


    ¡°The time isn¡¯t right. Wait a little longer,¡± An Rumeng replied. ¡°That ice sprite hasn¡¯t reached the end of its rope yet. She¡¯s scheming something!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Long Dao was taken aback, and when he looked back at the Frost Fairy again, he saw a cunning light in her eyes.


    He instantly realized that An Rumeng was right. The Frost Fairy was clearly acting weak, drawing the students into fighting each other.


    Long Dao wanted to shout a reminder, but then he realized that this was a chance and decided to shut his mouth and just stare at the Frost Fairy. Nearby, Meng Shixue also didn¡¯t move, clearly waiting for the right moment as well.


    The students that followed Peng, Ye, and Liu charged forward, but they were stopped by the Frost Fairy. Meanwhile, Peng Yaolong had begun fighting with Ye Tianshang and Liu Yuan.


    It was one versus two, but he got stronger and stronger as the fight went on. As he battled without abandon, he shouted, ¡°Divine Firmament Secret Spell, Apex Combat True Astral!¡±


    Energy rushed out of his body and formed a protectiveyer of Astral energy.


    Ye Tianshang thrust his sword at Peng Yaolong¡¯s arm, stirring up a fierce gale. But rather than prating into Peng Yaolong¡¯s arm, all he managed to do was bend his sword.


    The Apex Combat True Astral was a secret spell of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic.


    But while Tang Jie had connived his way into the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, Peng Yaolong had gotten this spell through his own hard work. He had franticallypleted many missions for the academy in order to get this spell, umting enough contribution points to finally exchange for the prize. In the process, he had sustained many wounds and almost died many times.


    Perhaps this was exactly why he had chosen a powerful protective spell, the Apex Combat True Astral, which was on par with the Formless Golden Body. It was just that Tang Jie was learning too many things and hadn¡¯t cultivated for very long, so he had yet to fully exhibit its power. As for Peng Yaolong, he had cultivated the Apex Combat True Astral to a proficient level. Now that he had used it, Ye Tianshang and Liu Yuan felt like they were attacking steel. Various lights exploded on his body, but he waspletely unharmed. Meanwhile, his every punch and kick carried enormous strength that managed to suppress the two.


    Ye Tianshang saw that Peng Yaolong was keeping him from the treasure, and he frantically said, ¡°You forced me to do this! Sunthrust Godshaker!¡±

 Chapter 212: The Sandpiper and Clam Fight

    Chapter 212: The Sandpiper and m Fight


    The sword in Ye Tianshang¡¯s hand erupted with light, a red sun appearing on its tip and shooting at Peng Yaolong.


    While the Sunthrust Godshaker wasn¡¯t a secret art of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, it was an immensely powerful spell art, and even Peng Yaolong had to take it cautiously. His body surged with power as he thrust out his palm.


    As their powers shed, a shockwave rippled through the cave. Ye and Peng separated, and while Ye Tianshang yelled as he jumped away, Peng Yaolong only staggered back a few steps.


    In terms of strength, Peng Yaolong was clearly superior.


    But as Ye Tianshang drew back in defeat, Liu Yuan silently came up and thrust out his finger.


    As the finger struck Peng Yaolong, Peng Yaolong furiously roared and swung a punch at Liu Yuan. The two of them separated, and while Liu Yuan threw up blood, a geyser of blood shot out from Peng Yaolong¡¯s back. It was clear that he had been rather badly injured.


    At this moment, the Frost Fairy suddenly made her move.


    Sheughed and waved her hands, summoning another wave of ice.


    This wave was muchrger than the previous, the entirety of the Frigid Pond sloshing with ice and water. In the distance, the ice trees also began to unleash great clouds of ice bats at the students.


    In a sh, the cave was engulfed in a blizzard, and everyone who had been fighting just now was swept up in it.


    ¡°Now!¡± An Rumeng called out. ¡°Protect me!¡±


    Long Daoughed, putting an arrow on his bow and loosing it.


    But rather than at the ice sprite or the students, he aimed the arrow at the distant Red Lotus.


    An Rumeng moved at the same time.


    She moved with incredible speed, following right behind the arrow.


    The arrow created sparks in the air as it flew, aimed at the air above the Red Lotus. It melted the ice wherever it went, opening a passage through this world of ice.


    An Rumeng moved so quickly behind the arrow that she seemed like an illusion, a streak of white.


    Among Spirit tform Realm students, this was simply unbelievable. This speed was something that even few at the Mortal Shedding Realm could match!


    But An Rumeng was doing it.


    She chased the arrow, flying along the passage its fire had created.


    As the arrow passed over the Red Lotus, An Rumeng appeared on the surface of the pond.


    She turned around, her slender fingers moving to grab the Red Lotus.


    With a single tug, she easily plucked it.


    She had moved so quickly that everyone was stunned. Before anyone could react, the Red Lotus was in An Rumeng¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Sess!¡± Long Dao was ecstatic.


    <em>Hiss!</em> The Frost Fairy angrily hissed, her eyes shining as she fired two freezing beams at An Rumeng.


    An Rumeng turned around, dodging those dark beams of light, and as her feet lightly tiptoed on the water, they didn¡¯t create a single ripple.


    At the same time, she moved to ce the Red Lotus in her Mustard Seed Bag.


    But just as the Red Lotus was about to enter her bag, a figure exploded out of the water, grabbing An Rumeng and shooting into the air.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Everyone cried out in surprise.


    Tang Jie had not been seen since he had been knocked into theke, so everyone had forgotten about him. It was only when he suddenly appeared that everyone realized that there was another party here after the Red Lotus.


    Tang Jie was drenched in blood, and the body of a fish that had had its belly sliced open floated up to the surface. As he hugged An Rumeng, he shed a smile of shiny white teeth and said, ¡°So sorry!¡±


    He grabbed the Red Lotus out of An Rumeng¡¯s hand.


    ¡°You!¡± An Rumeng tried to struggle free, but her specialty was speed, not strength, so she naturally couldn¡¯t ovee Tang Jie¡¯s brute strength.


    As Tang Jie stole the Red Lotus, Long Dao frantically said, ¡°Tang Jie, go and die!¡±


    He loosed another arrow. In his panic, he didn¡¯t even care about what happened to An Rumeng.


    At the same time, An Rumeng struck Tang Jie in the belly with her knee.


    Tang Jie took the attack head-on, embracing An Rumeng and falling back into the water.


    The arrow brushed past both of them, and just as the pair was about to hit the water, Meng Shixue suddenly charged out and pointed at the pond. ¡°Freeze!¡±


    Arge swath of the pond surface instantly froze.


    Tang Jie and An Rumengnded on this ice and failed to enter the water, instead rolling.


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t expected to not enter the water, and a momentter, An Rumeng thrust a palm at Tang Jie¡¯s hand, sending the Red Lotus flying.


    ¡°Get the Red Lotus!¡± everyone shouted in unison.


    A momentter, the Frost Fairy, Peng Yaolong, Ye Tianshang, Liu Yuan, and all the other students rushed out.


    The spectating Cai Junyang also joined the fray, his sword erupting with light.


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s puppet, the fiend fox, the little tiger, and Yiyi also took action, and the cave grew even more chaotic.


    The Iceme Red Lotus danced amid the spell arts, but it was not destroyed. However, it didn¡¯t even get the chance to hit the ground.


    Countless people were going back and forth, reaching for the Red Lotus.


    Ye Tianshang was rather fast, but just when he was about to grab the Red Lotus, Peng Yaolong grabbed him. And as Liu Yuan was about to charge out, the Frost Fairy forced him back with a stream of ice.


    Long Dao loosed arrow after arrow. The spell arts he cultivated weren¡¯t suited for this kind of battle, so he could only try and create a chance for An Rumeng. But An Rumeng was in a struggle with Tang Jie and was unable to use her peerless movement techniques. In contrast, Tang Jie was able to use his body to its full extent, exhibiting his fine physique. s, at this critical juncture, no one was in the mood to admire it.


    As everyone battled, a figure suddenly rushed out.


    ¡°Qi Shaoming!¡± everyone cried out.


    This person who had rushed out at high speeds was none other than Qi Shaoming.


    No one knew when he hade. He might have just arrived or have been lying in wait for ages and only chosen this moment to rush out.


    His sword shed as he called, ¡°Passing Shadow Phantom Clone sh!¡±


    Qi Shaoming instantly turned into ten people, all of them lunging at the Red Lotus!


    ¡°Stop him!¡± Long Dao screamed.


    But just like how Tang Jie had his tough constitution and An Rumeng had her supreme speed, Qi Shaoming relied on his phantom clones to gain victory amid the chaos.


    The illusions shattered under the concentrated attack, but two of them still managed to reach the lotus.


    One of them grabbed the lotus and stuffed it into a bag while the other illusion covered it. As it broke apart under a concerted attack, Qi Shaoming was already fleeing into the distance.


    He hade and left so suddenly that everyone was caught off guard. Just as it seemed like Qi Shaoming was about to seed, Tang Jie shouted, ¡°I have darkswamp grass!¡±


    Qi Shaoming trembled.


    He had entered the Valley of No Return for the sake of darkswamp grass, with the Red Lotus being a secondary goal. s, darkswamp grass was difficult to find, and he had searched the entire valley and found nothing, so he had decided to settle for the Red Lotus.


    He hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to say this just as he was about to seed.


    Turning around, Qi Shaoming looked at Tang Jie and said, ¡°For real?¡±


    Tang Jie immediately stuck a hand in his Mustard Seed Bag and threw something at Qi Shaoming. ¡°For you!¡±


    It was truly darkswamp grass.


    This was truly the perfect time to throw it out.


    Qi Shaoming had helped him before, so he didn¡¯t want to directly fight with him, and it wasn¡¯t like this was a situation where they could negotiate. Moreover, the value of the darkswamp grass couldn¡¯t match that of the Red Lotus.


    So he decided to just throw the darkswamp grass.


    The moment it appeared, Qi Shaoming had no choice but to grab it.


    And if he grabbed it, it would mean that he would have a much harder time escaping.


    And a deal didn¡¯t matter. All that mattered was a chance!


    Sure enough, Qi Shaoming¡¯s brief pause allowed the students and the Frost Fairy to attack Qi Shaoming.


    Gritting his teeth, Qi Shaoming shed as he once more used the Passing Shadow Phantom Clone sh.


    Nine figures appeared, rushing at the crowd, while the original body grabbed the darkswamp grass.


    No one fought him over it, so Qi Shaoming was able to grab it easily, but this meant that it was toote to escape, and everyone rushed up, unleashing spell arts.


    With no other choice, Qi Shaoming decisively chose to throw the Red Lotus at Tang Jie. ¡°For you!¡±


    He wasn¡¯t after the lotus anyway, and he had taken it mainly in order to trade for resources. Now that he had the resource he wanted, he decided to pass the hot potato to Tang Jie.


    As the Red Lotus flew out, everyone lunged at it. This little lotus was the heartstring of desire, pulling at everyone¡¯s hearts.


    As the Red Lotus flew over, Tang Jie finally broke free from An Rumeng.


    He had embraced this beauty for long enough, and he reached out toward the Red Lotus.


    Qi Shaoming used his phantoms to spread out enemy attacks, but Tang Jie relied on his powerful body to just take them all. With the Formless Golden Body bolstering him, Tang Jie shot toward the Red Lotus like a cannonball, disregarding all the spell arts shooting at him.


    Just as he was about to close his hand, another hand grabbed his wrist.


    It was Peng Yaolong.


    With the Apex Combat True Astral, Peng Yaolong could endure attacks just like Tang Jie.


    This collision of two musclemen instantly created a powerful shockwave.


    Tang Jie¡¯s Formless Golden Body couldn¡¯t defeat Peng Yaolong¡¯s Apex Combat True Astral, and it instantly shattered. But as the Formless Golden Body disappeared, Peng Yaolong bounced back like he had run into an iron board.


    ¡°How could that be?¡± Peng Yaolong roared.


    His spell art was clearly better than Tang Jie¡¯s, but he had lost to Tang Jie in apetition of strength. This was simply too absurd.


    Tang Jie punched at the ice.


    His powerful strike instantly opened arge hole in the surface.


    Tang Jie instantly disappeared into the water.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± In a panic, Long Dao began to loose arrow after arrow into the water, and An Rumeng dived in.


    But just as she entered the water, she felt a powerful force that instantly pushed her back out.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Long Dao frantically asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± An Rumeng was also confused. The attack hade too quickly, and she wasn¡¯t able to maintain her normal agility in the water, so she was sent flying out before she could even tell what was going on.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± Long Dao stomped his feet.


    The Frigid Pond epassed the entire cave, and Tang Jie coulde out anywhere and flee as fast as he could. Chasing him down was impossible.


    Liu Yuan suddenly said, ¡°The servant student has run off, but the young master is still here.¡±


    Everyone turned to look at Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong paled, and Cai Junyang shouted, ¡°Run!¡±


    It would be reasonable to say that he had alreadypleted the mission Tang Jie had given him, but he didn¡¯t think so. In his view, since he had been paid by Tang Jie, he would carry out this protection mission until the very end.

 Chapter 213: The Fisherman Finds It Hard to Profit

    Chapter 213: The Fisherman Finds It Hard to Profit


    As the Pilewave Sword activated, Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng turned and ran.


    ¡°Cai Junyang, this is none of your business!¡± Ye Tianshang rushed up and shed at Cai Junyang. He was much stronger than Cai Junyang, pushing back Cai Junyang with one strike. At the same time, in the distance, Meng Shixue threw out a wave of frost to try to stop the other two from fleeing.


    Yiyi waved her hand,ying down an illusion formation.


    Even if these people broke through the illusion formation, they would have to waste some time, giving the two a chance to escape.


    But to her surprise, the Frost Fairy howled, and an icy fog surged, sting apart the illusion formation she had justid down.


    At this moment, it felt like the sprite was working with the students.


    The little tiger grew furious and unleashed a Galethunder de at the ice sprite. This time, the ice sprite failed to dodge. While she had powerful spell arts, her defensive abilities were average. She screamed as the spell knocked her flying, the attack unexpectedly knocking her out.


    But with the illusion formation broken, it seemed like Wei Tianchong wouldn¡¯t be able to escape. At this moment, however, a wave of saber energy swept out from the Frigid Pond, attacking the other students. It was none other than Tang Jie.


    ¡°Tang Jie, you still came out!¡± Long Dao crowed in delight.


    Everyone turned around and attacked Tang Jie. Wei Tianchong wanted to go back to try to save him, but all he got was a re from Tang Jie. ¡°You guys still aren¡¯t gone?¡±


    Cai Junyang ran over and shouted at Wei Tianchong, ¡°Hurry and go! You¡¯re just preventing him from retreating by staying here!¡±


    <em>¡®Preventing him from retreating¡¯?</em>


    Wei Tianchong was startled by these words.


    <em>Even after cultivating up to this point, I¡¯m still just a burden?</em>


    At that moment, as he watched Tang Jie being attacked from all sides, having reappeared because of him even though he could have safely escaped after getting the Red Lotus, Wei Tianchong felt deeply ashamed.


    Cai Junyang and Shi Meng pulled him along, but he suddenly shook off their hands and yelled at Tang Jie, ¡°Tang Jie, do you remember everything that you¡¯ve done for me? Rx! In the future, I will work hard to make myself stronger! I won¡¯t disappoint you!¡±


    At this moment, he was filled with resentment, hating his ipetence and furious at his inability. Never before had he so ardently desired to get stronger.


    Tang Jie was slightly taken aback by this deration.


    But the result of this slight daze was a savage chop from Liu Yuan.


    Yet he still smiled and nodded at Wei Tianchong, epting these words.


    Wei Tianchong wiped his tears and turned around, running off with Cai Junyang.


    Even Cai Junyang couldn¡¯t help butment as he watched Tang Jie in the middle of the brawl, ¡°Tang Jie, you¡¯ve already gone too far past me. But just wait. One day, I¡¯ll catch up to you!¡±


    His heart erupted with an endless will to fight.


    In the cave, Tang Jie was still fighting with all the other students.


    Without the threat of the ice sprite, the students could finally go all-out.


    In the face of their attacks, Tang Jie showed neither happiness nor sorrow. ¡°Fighting with each other is one thing, but to strike so viciously at your own people makes it no longer a simple fight, you bastard!¡±


    With the Red Lotus in hand, he could have safely left, but Liu Yuan¡¯s words had forced him back out, so he made Liu Yuan the main target of his ire.


    ¡°You n to kill me by yourself?¡± Liu Yuan angrily replied.


    ¡°You would just be another Lu Fei!¡±


    Sweeping his saber around, Tang Jie charged through the students like a beast. As Liu Yuan raised his own saber to block, the force of the impact was so great that his weapon went flying.


    Ye Tianshang thrust out his sword from the side, striking beneath the armpit and sinking the de three inches into Tang Jie¡¯s flesh. With a roar, Tang Jie countered with a palm, sending Ye Tianshang flying with one strike.


    Meng Shixue rushed up and shot an ice spike at Tang Jie, causing him to stagger. But Tang Jie instantly rushed up and kicked Meng Shixue.


    There was a howl at his ear, and Tang Jie reached out and grabbed the iing arrow. The trembling of the arrow tail left long and bloody scratches on his hand.


    While he was distracted by the arrow, Peng Yaolong was able to thrust a palm at Tang Jie¡¯s back. Tang Jie wasn¡¯t able to endure this powerful blow and coughed up a mouthful of blood. Several other students used this chance to hack at him, but there was a sh of golden light from Tang Jie¡¯s hand as he flipped it over. He hacked at Peng Yaolong¡¯s shoulder, the golden light slicing right through and almost lopping off his arm.


    Peng Yaolong howled in pain as he kicked out, striking Tang Jie in the abdomen.


    Liu Yuan was delighted. ¡°Tang Jie, just you can¡¯t even think about trying to kill me!¡±


    A momentter, he saw Tang Jie rushing forward at him like a cannonball, instantly elerating up to Liu Yuan. Tang Jie thrust out the saber with his right hand, stabbing it deep into Liu Yuan¡¯s abdomen.


    ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Liu Yuan screamed in disbelief.


    Countless lights exploded behind Tang Jie, and he rolled and brought Liu Yuan to the ground with him.


    The numerous spells caused spiritual energy to seethe within the cave. The two of them rolled several times on the snowy ground and then stopped moving.


    Long Dao cautiously walked over and kicked Tang Jie. Seeing that Tang Jie wasn¡¯t moving, Long Dao kicked him aside and went to grab the Mustard Seed Bag.


    Tang Jie turned over, his saber shing.


    Long Dao knew this was bad and hastily retreated, but the Heartbreak Saber had already left a bloody hole in his body.


    Thankfully, that hook hadn¡¯t entered his body and dragged out his organs. A momentter, Meng Shixue thrust out her Ice Palm while Ye Tianshang used his Galefury de. Tang Jie was sent flying while drenched in blood, and his Mustard Seed Bagnded on the ground.


    The Mustard Seed Bag had barelynded when An Rumeng drifted over to grab it. But just as she was about to take it, Peng Yaolong suddenly punched.


    This punch was aimed at the ground, causing a wave to travel through the earth. It struck An Rumeng, sting her into the air.


    At the same time, Meng Shixue and Ye Tianshang nced at each other and attacked simultaneously, a palm and a sword aimed at Long Dao.


    ¡°You two¡­¡± Long Dao was shocked and furious, but he was instantly knocked flying by the attacks.


    Meng and Ye nced at the remaining students at Long Dao¡¯s side. ¡°You guys still want to fight?¡±


    Long Dao was heavily injured, so the others nced at each other and immediately fell back, An Rumeng also flying out of the cave.


    As for those students who had been with Liu Yuan, when they saw that he was dead, they immediately took to their heels.


    Only the Peng Yaolong and Ye-Meng group were left.


    Ye Tianshangughed. ¡°Senior Brother Peng, I admit that you possess divine strength, but at this point, if we put aside the other two students, it¡¯s two versus one, and you¡¯re injured. You don¡¯t have a chance of winning. In my view, the Iceme Lotus is bound to be mine.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Peng Yaolongughed, looking at the arm that Tang Jie had wounded.


    It was a powerful blow, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to use his arm for a short time.


    Sighing, Peng Yaolong said, ¡°I admit that in a one versus two, I¡¯m no match for you two. Thankfully, fortunately, I¡¯m not the one in a one-versus-two situation.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Ye Tianshang was startled, his wariness rising. With a hiss, he charged forward.


    s, he was a step too slow.


    Slender, jade-white fingers stabbed into his back, a chill erupting. <em>Bang!</em> Ye Tianshang vomited blood mixed with countless bits of ice.


    ¡°Meng Shixue!¡± Ye Tianshang howled as he fell to the ground.


    Meng Shixue drew back her hand. ¡°My apologies. I was actually with him.¡±


    ¡°You were with him? What can he give you?¡± Ye Tianshang furiously shouted.


    ¡°Much more than you. A good bird knows how to pick its perch. Ye Tianshang, whether it¡¯s strength, promise, trust, or affection, I¡¯m far better than you. Why shouldn¡¯t Junior Sister Meng pick me?¡± Peng Yaolong smuglyughed.


    Many people assumed from his fierce fighting style that he was a brainless brute, but if he were so brainless, how could he have possibly lived this long?


    He and Meng Shixue had helped each other many times over the years and were on extremely friendly terms, but very few people knew of it. This was all so that it could be used precisely for a day like this.


    Now that Liu Yuan was dead, Tang Jie and Ye Tianshang were heavily injured, and Long Dao and An Rumeng had fled, Peng Yaolong was the master of the Ice Cave. The Iceme Lotus was at hand, and Peng Yaolong couldn¡¯t help but get excited, striding over and reaching out toward the Mustard Seed Bag.


    At this moment, someone icilyughed, ¡°Heh, ha, haha! Amusing, amusing. What an excellent show.¡±


    Peng Yaolong¡¯s hand froze.


    Turning around, he saw that the ice sprite that had fainted from the tiger¡¯s Galethunder de had stood back up.


    Peng Yaolong¡¯s eyes shed. ¡°So it¡¯s true that sprites are cunning. It seems that you were feigning weakness so that we would fight each other.¡±


    ¡°Even if you guessed at what I was up to, didn¡¯t you go ahead and do it anyway?¡± the ice sprite proudly shot back.


    Peng Yaolong pursed his lips.


    Yes.


    The students weren¡¯t fools. They had already realized the ice sprite¡¯s scheme.


    But just realizing it didn¡¯t mean that they could do anything about it.


    There was a very simple reason for this: if the ice sprite got the Red Lotus, she would just put it back in the pond to absorb its essence. But if the students got the Red Lotus, they would take it away, depriving everyone else of the chance to get it.


    Thus, when it came to the ultimate victor, the students would prefer that the ice sprite won over any of their number.


    Because if the ice sprite won, they still had a chance.


    But if another student won, they wouldn¡¯t have another shot.


    It was precisely for this reason that the students chose to fight each other, even though they knew that this aligned with the sprite¡¯s n.


    Peng Yaolong grabbed the Mustard Seed Bag and coldly said, ¡°It¡¯s true that when the mantis stalks the cicada, the oriole lurks behind. But who the oriole is depends on whose fists are stronger. Sprite, while you baited us into internal strife, the injuries you sustained are real. Your body isn¡¯t that strong at all, and those injuries are probably having a lot of effect on you, right? This area is cramped and not suitable for casting spells, and you can¡¯t use your ice pce. Thus, the oue of this battle is not certain.¡±


    The ice sprite froze at these words.


    Peng Yaolong was right. To have the students believe that she was no match, she had sustained real injuries.


    And in the Floral Forest, her ice pce had been destroyed, consuming immense amounts of spiritual energy, and this terrain wasn¡¯t suitable for her style ofbat. At present, she couldn¡¯t even use thirty percent of her full strength.


    But the Red Lotus was connected to her cultivation, and she could not let an enemy take it.


    With a savage light in her eyes, she viciously said, ¡°You think that you can deal with me just because you destroyed my ice pce?¡±


    A halo shed in her body and the ice scepter in her hand transformed into a sword that she thrust at Peng Yaolong. But she was strong in spells and weak in body, and this sword thrust seemed to have little strength.


    But Peng Yaolong was cautious. As the sword came over, he fell back rather than taking the attack directly, at the same time shouting at the other students, ¡°Kill her!¡±


    The students rushed up, one of them evenughing, ¡°A sprite ying with swords? How rare!¡±


    He raised a sword to meet the sprite¡¯s ice sword, and they shed. While the ice sword was knocked away, the student¡¯s sword erupted with frost that traveled along the sword and instantly froze the student.


    The sprite thrust a palm at the student, and with a bang, the student was sted to pieces!


    ¡°Little Tu!¡± a student shouted in shock. In his fury, he cast a spell at the ice sprite.


    But to his surprise, the sprite didn¡¯t dodge, simply snorting and saying, ¡°Frost and snow, congeal into a divine body!¡±


    Ice gathered on her body, and she gradually grew from a little person only one meter tall to the height of an adult, and her body also grew more agile.

 Chapter 214: Who Shall Be the Oriole?

    Chapter 214: Who Shall Be the Oriole?


    ¡°This is the Aquaglory Incarnation spell! Watch out!¡± Meng Shixue shouted in shock.


    She primarily cultivated ice and snow, so she had a deep understanding of the Aquaglory Incarnation spell. Water had no fixed form and was famed for being soft and pliable, able to take on any shape. The Aquaglory Incarnation was a way to use magic power to convert what was as soft as silk into well-tempered steel, harnessing the power of ice and snow to reforge the body and greatly boost one¡¯s closebat ability.


    The Frost Fairy had lost the ice pce, and the students would not give her a chance to cast any spells, so she had opted for a more forceful approach.


    As her body expanded in size, her speed also increased, and she began to flit around like a ghost. She drew back her sword and howled as she rushed at another student. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you first!¡±


    The student raised his sword to block, and ice rapidly spread along the sword and froze him solid. The Frost Fairy thrust out a palm and obliterated the ice statue.


    Numerous weapons hacked at the Frost Fairy, and she rapidly backed away. Two giant ice wolves emerged from behind her. She had summoned these and hidden them before using the Aquaglory Incarnation.


    As the ice wolves rushed out, the Frost Fairy turned attention to another person. ¡°And now I¡¯ll kill you!¡±


    In a sh of icy brilliance, another person was in.


    Her arrogance and savagery buoyed by her sess, she pointed her sword at none other than Peng Yaolong.


    Peng Yaolong roared and punched, producing gusts so strong that the ice sword couldn¡¯t get near his body.


    He was proficient in both spells and the body, and possessed incredible strength. If it weren¡¯t for Tang Jie, there would be no one else in Basking Moon Academy that cultivated the body to such a level. While the sharpness of the ice sword could do nothing to him, as the sword shed, a sliver of its icy and sharp energy flicked across Peng Yaolong¡¯s skin. With a shift of his blood energy, its traces were instantly wiped away.


    Even so, Peng Yaolong still felt his entire body go stiff, and he inwardly marveled at the power of the ice sword. He rapidly backed away, and two ck gauntlets appeared on his hands.


    With these gauntlets, Peng Yaolong had finally revealed all of his strength. As he punched, two powerful gusts of wind shot at the Frost Fairy like pirs.


    The Frost Fairy paled at the impact. ¡°Drawing on energy to achieve substantialization! So you¡¯re already capable of entering Mortal Shedding!¡±


    ¡°Of course! I was waiting for exactly this day!¡± Peng Yaolong crazilyughed.


    It turned out that Peng Yaolong was already capable of substantializing energy. All he needed was to erect his Heaven-Earth Bridge to enter Mortal Shedding. At this stage, he was essentially one step away.


    He naturally couldn¡¯t have attained this level just today. Peng Yaolong must have reached this level long ago but had been suppressing himself the entire time.


    For Peng Yaolong, while the Spirit tform Realm and Mortal Shedding Realm were two different realms, entering Mortal Shedding meant ascending to a new level, and Peng Yaolong was far too weak to dominate that level.


    Suppressing one¡¯s power level temporarily to ensure one¡¯s advantage wasn¡¯t rare at all.


    Li Huanian had done it before, as had many other students.


    Until they reached a certain level of strength, many people were willing to be a chicken¡¯s head rather than a phoenix¡¯s tail, and only those whocked strength would desperately pursue higher realms. As for people like Peng Yaolong, they always pursued what was to their greatest advantage.


    It was precisely because he hadn¡¯t entered Mortal Shedding that he could vie for the True Inheritor position and be the strongest of the contenders.


    Even so, he had still called Meng Shixue over to help him, showing just how cautious andposed he was.


    He now attacked with all his power, drawing energy into seething spiritual storms. While he couldn¡¯t link with the heavens and earth, he was already capable of moving the spiritual flows and wielding them like extensions of his limbs. Moreover, he was a closebat expert, and with these storms he stirred up, he managed to block the Frost Fairy¡¯s attack.


    Meng Shixue and the others assisted from the side, and for a moment, the Frost Fairy was unable to counterattack.


    While the Frost Fairy was strengthened by the Aquaglory Incarnation, she was still not innately skilled in closebat. In a fight against Peng Yaolong, she was still at a disadvantage, even with the ice sword.


    Peng Yaolong grew stronger and stronger, but at this moment, Ye Tianshang flew out, thrusting his sword at Peng Yaolong¡¯s back.


    Meng Shixue paled, ¡°Yaolong, watch out!¡±


    Peng Yaolong immediately turned around and punched, striking the tip of Ye Tianshang¡¯s sword. His sword bent, and the enormous blow sent Ye Tianshang flying.


    But this distraction gave the Frost Fairy a chance, and her ice sword sent out a white ray that struck Peng Yaolong.


    Not even Peng Yaolong¡¯s Apex Combat True Astral was able to stop the intrusion of icy power. He was sent flying, and as ice began to form on his body, he was rendered incapable of standing.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Peng Yaolong yelled in fury.


    He had never imagined that Ye Tianshang would still have the strength to ambush him. A single mistake had caused aplete loss.


    Icy winds stirred, and with another sh, another student was in.


    By now, almost all the students had been in, and there was almost no one left who could stand. Only Meng Shixue had not been seriously wounded, and it was impossible for her to fight the Frost Fairy alone.


    Seeing that everyone had been felled, the ice sprite madlyughed. ¡°You humans are so strong and intelligent, but you have one problem: you can¡¯t work together. I¡¯m still the winner of this battle!¡±


    After defeating all these elites, she didn¡¯t fear any more students, no matter how many came.


    At this moment, a voice said, ¡°Is that so? I wouldn¡¯t be so certain.¡±


    A person slowly stood up.


    ¡°Tang Jie?¡± Peng Yaolong and Meng Shixue cried out in rm.


    The speaker was none other than Tang Jie.


    He was covered in blood, but he was standing up like he was perfectly fine and coldly staring at the ice sprite.


    ¡°With just you? After being so badly injured, can you still even move?¡± The ice sprite hystericallyughed.


    Tang Jie looked at his body and shook his head. ¡°If you had these injuries, you might already be dead. But¡­ I¡¯m different.¡±


    He had truly been rather badly injured, but after faking death for a while, he was much better. Although he was still injured, if he went all-out, he could still fight.


    The Heartbreak Saber whistled as it was swung, proving that he still had the strength to fight.


    Meng Shixue was delighted, yelling, ¡°Junior Brother Tang, let¡¯s work together and kill this ice sprite first.¡±


    Just like the ice sprite, while she had powerful ice spells, she wasn¡¯t good at closebat. Her usual fighting style was to have Peng Yaolong cover her while she attacked with spell arts.


    But now that Peng Yaolong was injured, she immediately tried to get Tang Jie¡¯s help, showing her quick wits.


    Moreover, Peng Yaolong was also a body refiner, like Tang Jie to a certain extent. So long as he was given time, he could rapidly recover, and by then, it was hard to say who would win.


    ¡°Alright!¡± Tang Jie shouted. He fired an Energy Needle at the Frost Fairy while rushing up in front of Meng Shixue.


    Meng Shixue was ecstatic to see that he had agreed to cooperate and hurried to move behind Tang Jie.


    But the moment she got behind Tang Jie, Peng Yaolong shouted, ¡°Shixue, watch out!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Meng Shixue was startled as she saw Tang Jie turned around and thrust a palm at her chest.


    <em>Bang!</em>


    This palm shocked her organs, and Meng Shixue vomited blood as she flew backward. She crashed to the ground and was unable to get back up. ¡°Tang Jie, you¡­¡±


    Meng Shixue¡¯s eyes were almost bursting out of their sockets. She truly couldn¡¯t understand why Tang Jie had attacked her.


    ¡°My apologies, Senior Sister Meng, but I won¡¯t be needing you for this battle,¡± Tang Jie coldly said as he slowly drew back his hand.


    ¡°Hahaha!¡± the ice spriteughed as she charged up. Tang Jie had his back to her, and all she needed to do was stab him. With her freezing power, it wouldn¡¯t matter how formidable he was.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t turn around, only coldlyughed.


    As this coldughter rang out in the Frost Fairy¡¯s ears, she felt an intense sense of danger welling up within her.


    She knew that this was bad, but she no longer had time to dodge.


    <em>Thud!</em>


    A pitch-ck hand suddenly reached out and grabbed her by the chest, holding her aloft.


    ¡°Aaah!¡± the Frost Fairy screamed.


    She tried to turn around and strike with her sword, but she couldn¡¯t no matter how hard she tried.


    Turning her head, she saw a particrlyrge being wrapped all over in ck cloth that concealed its face.


    ¡°This¡­ how¡­ could it be¡­¡± the Frost Fairy muttered.


    She had only seen studentsing in.


    Why?


    Why was there something like this in the Frigid Pond?


    And how had it been hiding in the Frigid Pond for so long?


    As the questions flitted through her mind, Tang Jie swiftly turned around and swung the Heartbreak Saber down, lopping off her arm.


    ¡°I won¡¯t die here!¡± the sprite screamed. Heavily injured, she used the strongest power she had. A momentter, an icy light exploded from her body, sweeping through the area and throwing back both Tang Jie and the mysterious being behind her.


    The winds tore away the ck cloth, allowing the sprite to see what was underneath. ¡°So it was a ghost¡­¡±


    ¡°RAAA!¡± Tang Jie furiously roared, drowning out the ice sprite¡¯s words. At the same time, he sent out two bursts of wind with his palms, knocking out Peng Yaolong and Meng Shixue.


    The being covered in ck cloth was none other than the Ghost Guard that Tang Jie had created. Long before this, when Long Dao had ambushed him, he had summoned this ghost and ordered it to hide underwater and look for a chance to make a sneak attack. When An Rumeng had pursued him into the water, it was the ghost that had forced her back out.


    Now, the Ghost Guard charged up and wed at the sprite.


    The ice sword shed down, striking the Ghost Guard in the arm, but a momentter, the other w stabbed into her body.


    The Ghost Guard had been refined from an ape fiend, and as a Ghost Guard, its attacks were so sharp and vicious that even Tang Jie¡¯s Formless Golden Body found it difficult to block them. The sprite was simply helpless.


    One strike was enough to pulp all her organs.


    The sprite screamed as she stabbed the ice sword again into the ghost¡¯s body. <em>Click! Crack!</em> The ghost waspletely frozen.


    But as she thrust out the sword, an arm thrust into her body.


    This time, the hand belonged to Tang Jie.


    ¡°Ugh!¡± The sprite threw up blood as Tang Jie¡¯s arm pierced through her body. This hand had seized at the greatest weak point in her body: the sprite core.


    ¡°No¡­¡± The Frost Fairy moaned in despair.


    With a pull, he extracted the sprite core from her body.


    Tang Jie threw the ice sprite aside, and the light in her eyes rapidly dimmed. Before she could even hit the ground, she had dissolved into ice and snow, leaving only that ice sword ttering on the ground.


    The Frost Fairy was dead!


    Once this was done, Tang Jie exhaled.


    The Frost Fairy had truly been difficult to deal with. Even in these circumstances, she had made onest counterattack, her ice sword severely damaging the Ghost Guard.


    If Tang Jie had the time, he could have repaired the Ghost Guard.


    But after thinking about it, he decided to give it up.


    He walked up and lightly pressed a palm on the ghost¡¯s ice statue. <em>Bang!</em> The ghost exploded into little bits that disappeared into the Frigid Pond.


    The ghost hadpleted its mission.


    Seeing that there was no one conscious around, Tang Jie threw out the golden thread and collected the Icecloud Flowers and Chillshade Grass, after which he got back his Mustard Seed Bag and softly said, ¡°It¡¯s over.¡±


    He turned and left through another passage.

 Chapter 215: Reward

    Chapter 215: Reward


    The light of the rising sun cast its resplendent rays over the roof of the Carefree House. Tang Jie was fast asleep until the pounding on his door woke him up.


    Wei Tianchong was knocking at his gate as he frantically shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, open the door!¡±


    He very reluctantly opened his eyes and saw the little tiger lying on his body and licking him like a dog.


    ¡°Alright, alright, Bao¡¯er, be a good boy and stop messing around.¡± Tang Jie patted the tiger and had him go and y with Yiyi. He then casually stood up and opened the door for Wei Tianchong.


    ¡°What are youing here so early for?¡±


    ¡°¡®Early¡¯? It¡¯s already the Si Period (9-11 am)!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted. ¡°Did you just get up?¡±


    Tang Jie turned to look at the hourss on the table and found that it really was the Si Period. He couldn¡¯t but shake his head and smile bitterly. ¡°Truly, a day without danger makes a person¡¯s mind rx. That was a really good sleep.¡±


    Since he had started cultivating, it had been a long time since he had a period likest night, where he did nothing except just sleep.


    He had returned from the Valley of No Returnst night.


    After the battle in the Ice Cave, since there had been a few more days until the day of departure, Tang Jie had spent some more time in the valley. This was partially to gather resources to hand to the sect¡ªhe had to hand over something or else find himself in a very difficult spot. It was also to prepare for Wei Tianchong¡¯s departure.


    After learning the lesson fromst time, after Tang Jie seeded, Wei Tianchong immediately applied to leave the valley, returning to the academy before the others. As he didn¡¯t have the Red Lotus, nobody stopped him, instead scouring the valley for Tang Jie.


    Once thest day arrived, Tang Jie finally left the valley. The moment he emerged, he mounted the little tiger and flew off toward Basking Moon Academy.


    Those students who had wanted to intercept him midway had forgotten that Tang Jie could fly, and those who could fly couldn¡¯t catch up to the lightning tiger. They could only watch him fly off, bing utterly dejected.


    After handing the Red Lotus to Wei Tianchong, Tang Jie had gone back and flopped into his bed, sleeping all the way until now, when Wei Tianchong knocked on his door.


    ¡°So what? Did you turn in the Red Lotus?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°Haha, naturally. You should have seen the look on Esteemed Master Nan¡¯s face. He was practically green,¡± Wei Tianchong chuckled.


    He understood by now that the person who hoped that he wouldn¡¯t seed was none other than Spirit Master Nan.


    He had wanted to turn it inst night, but Nan Baicheng had said that it was toote and refused to see him. But s, it didn¡¯t matter how long he dyed. The first thing Wei Tianchong did this morning was to rush to Nan Baicheng¡¯s door and turn in the Red Lotus.


    In the face of this situation, no matter how unwilling Nan Baicheng was, he had to ept it.


    ¡°That¡¯s good, so why have youe to bother me?¡± Tang Jie red.


    This was a rare day off he had given himself, and he was very unhappy that Wei Tianchong had disturbed it.


    Wei Tianchong scratched his head. ¡°Well, uh, there¡¯s something I need to tell you.¡±


    ¡°What was it?¡±


    ¡°After the mission was finished, Esteemed Master Nan pulled me to the side and had a talk with me.¡±


    ¡°¡®A talk¡¯? What did he say?¡± Tang Jie was startled, and then he instantly realized. ¡°Was he advising you to give up on the True Inheritor spot?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Wei Tianchong nodded.


    ¡°What did he promise you?¡± Tang Jie said, starting to grow nervous.


    ¡°Thirty thousand coins,¡± Wei Tianchong replied.


    Even for a Spirit Master, thirty thousand coins was rather generous.


    Tang Jie grabbed Wei Tianchong¡¯s shoulder and shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you agreed!¡±


    He hadn¡¯t gone through such great pains to get the True Inheritor spot for Wei Tianchong to sell out the mission for some spirit coins.


    He was truly somewhat worried that Wei Tianchong had agreed to Nan Baicheng¡¯s request. Even though Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t say anything about it, Tang Jie found it easy to imagine that Nan Baicheng had also sprinkled in some threats and benefits with his promise of thirty thousand coins.


    For example: ¡°If you don¡¯t agree with me, I can guarantee that you won¡¯t seed and that you will ultimately end up with nothing; and if you agree, you will immediately gain thirty thousand spirit coins and a good rtionship with this Spirit Master.¡±


    Attempts at bribery were always mixtures of threats and benefits, but so long as they were used on the right person, they would usually seed.


    For someone of Wei Tianchong¡¯s personality to falter under Nan Baicheng¡¯s threats wouldn¡¯t be strange at all, and Tang Jie grew frantic just thinking about it.


    Wei Tianchong softly smiled. ¡°In the past, I really might have been intimidated by him.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­¡± Tang Jie was startled.


    Wei Tianchong sternly said, ¡°I came to tell you about this. I¡¯ve decided toplete the True Inheritor mission no matter what, regardless of what methods our enemies use!¡±


    ¡°You refused?¡± Tang Jie didn¡¯t dare to believe his ears. When had this guy be so resolved?


    ¡°Yes, I refused,¡± Wei Tianchong replied. ¡°In the battle at the Ice Cave, rather than helping you, I was only a burden, forcing you toe back for me when you could have run. Tang Jie, while I¡¯m your young master, I know that you¡¯re doing your best for my sake! You¡¯ve ced your life on the line for this mission, so I don¡¯t have the right to give up on it.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Tang Jie was utterly amazed. He hade out to save Wei Tianchong because the situation was dire and it had been needed, little knowing of the immense psychological impact his actions had had on Wei Tianchong and Cai Junyang. Only when he heard these words from Wei Tianchong¡¯s mouth did he truly understand.


    Wei Tianchong went on, ¡°I came over to tell you this. That Nan Baicheng threatened me, saying that if I didn¡¯t agree, he would make me fail in the third mission. I confess that I really was rather afraid, and I really did want to agree to him for a moment. But I thought about it, wondering: what would you do if you were in my ce?¡±


    Tang Jie coldly said, ¡°I would tell him, ¡®What you want to do is your business, and what I want to do is mine. If you¡¯ve got the skill, just go ahead and do what you can. I¡¯ll take on everything you¡¯ve got.''¡±


    Wei Tianchong stuck out his tongue. ¡°I didn¡¯t speak as viciously as you, but I knew you wouldn¡¯t agree. So, if it¡¯s something you wouldn¡¯t agree to, I wouldn¡¯t agree to it either.¡±


    ¡°So you refused?¡±


    ¡°Right!¡± Wei Tianchong firmly said, patting his chest. ¡°I might still be a little fearful and afraid, but if you give me time, I¡¯ll definitely be like you. Tang Jie, I want everyone to know that I, Wei Tianchong, am not some good-for-nothing that has to be helped up the wall! If you¡¯re willing to help me, then I must excel!¡±


    He spoke with such force and power that Tang Jie felt his heart shake.


    Looking at the determination on Wei Tianchong¡¯s face, Tang Jie muttered, ¡°Young Master, you¡¯ve finally matured.¡±


    There might be many more pitfalls in the future, but Wei Tianchong¡¯s maturation gave Tang Jie confidence. One¡¯s insides were key to one¡¯s power, and a mature heart would always be better than some sort of rare talent.


    The two of them spoke a little longer, and Tang Jie inquired as to how his cultivation was going and told him about some things to watch out for, after which Wei Tianchong left. Before leaving, Wei Tianchong gave Tang Jie a bag. ¡°I almost forgot about this.¡±


    ¡°What is this?¡± Tang Jie asked as he looked at the bag. It was a silk bag that seemed to be holding something rather heavy.


    Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t answer directly, simply shooting Tang Jie a mysterious nce and saying, ¡°My mother wanted me to give it to you. Take a look and you¡¯ll know.¡±


    He hastily ran off.


    ¡°Thedy?¡± Tang Jie was baffled. Once Wei Tianchong was gone, he opened the bag and saw that there were ten whole spirit jades inside.


    <em>Ten thousand spirit coins?</em>


    Tang Jie was bbergasted.


    Even for the Wei n, ten thousand spirit coins was no small number. If this was a reward from Zheng Shufeng, then it was a little too much.


    But after some thought, Tang Jie understood.


    These ten thousand coins weren¡¯t just meant as thanks for helping Wei Tianchong get the True Inheritor position, but also an attempt to keep him.


    If one person could really help a n¡¯s disappointing young master attain the Great Dao, then that person had to have enormous potential.


    Tang Jie had once said to Cai Junyang that the more he did for Wei Tianchong, the more investment he would receive, but he hadn¡¯t expected to be proven right so quickly. It was just that the investor was still the Wei n. It appeared that Zheng Shufeng had an extremely high opinion of Tang Jie and wanted to tie him to the Wei n¡¯s chariot. Even if there came a day when Tang Jie carried out his promise and gained his freedom, the affection that Zheng Shufeng hadid down with her deeds would mean that Tang Jie would not be able to ignore the Wei Estate.


    Considering that the trial in the Valley of No Return had just ended and Zheng Shufeng could not possibly have received the word of his sess there so quickly, these ten thousand coins were probably sent over after the first mission waspleted¡ªa sign of just how determined she was.


    Zheng Shufeng had probably also arranged for the money to arrive at this time.


    If the second mission had failed, the ten-thousand-coin reward might have shrunk to one thousand.


    Only after the second mission waspleted would all ten thousand coins end up in Tang Jie¡¯s hands.


    Two True Inheritor reserve spots meant that even if Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t be True Person Changfeng¡¯s disciple, his reputation alone would make the Wei Estate¡¯s prestige rise. And with these ten thousand coins, Tang Jie could get even stronger so that he could do even better in the third mission.


    It could be said that the Wei n was investing a lot in Wei Tianchong¡¯s bing a True Inheritor.


    Thus, these ten thousand coins were to reward and recruit Tang Jie and also to increase their young master¡¯s chances of sess.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but smile at this sight. ¡°One who has mastered the hearts of the people might be so weak that they can¡¯t even truss a chicken, but they are still capable of controlling the world¡­ The Wei n has a bright future with thedy at the helm!¡±


    He decided to simply ept the money and take an ount of how much he had made so far.


    Tang Jie had reaped a rather rich harvest from the Valley of No Return, but he had spent most of it on strengthening his constitution, and little of it had been brought out of the valley. After the sect had taken its 30% cut, he basically had nothing left. In his Mustard Seed Bag were currently the fiend pellet from the Thunderbird King, the sprite core from the Frost Fairy, and that ice sword.


    These were all extremely valuable items, with the Frost Fairy¡¯s sprite core being the most valuable of all. Even though the Frost Fairy had used some of the sprite core¡¯s power in battle, it still contained far more energy than the Thunderbird King¡¯s fiend pellet. For the sake of these three things, Tang Jie had paid up almost everything else he had. As for the Iceme Red Lotus, he didn¡¯t have to pay ¡°tax¡± on that, since it didn¡¯t belong to him in the first ce.


    Tang Jie nned to give the sprite core to Yiyi. She was now at the peak of the lower grade, and after using the sprite core, she could probably enter the middle grade. The little tiger hade back from the Valley of No Return as a middle-grade, meaning that Yiyi was no match for him. She had been upset for quite some time,ining that Tang Jie was biased.


    With the sprite core, both of them would be at middle grade and would serve as powerful allies.


    As for the fiend pellet, Tang Jie nned to sell it.


    He urgently needed resources to improve himself and deal with the third mission, which would probably be even more difficult.


    With this thought in mind, Tang Jie headed off to Spirit tform Pavilion.

 Chapter 216: The Cosmic Breeze Pearl

    Chapter 216: The Cosmic Breeze Pearl


    Tang Jie was a frequent customer of Spirit tform Pavilion, so when he arrived, a student immediately brought him to Madam Shui.


    Madam Shui emerged from the rear courtyard and smiled when she saw Tang Jie. ¡°I guessed that you mighte. I¡¯m sure that you got a lot of good things from this trip to the Valley of No Return, yes?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°This student is ipetent and expended all his strength on seizing the Red Lotus, so my harvests elsewhere were limited. In thirty days, I was only able to get this.¡±


    He took out the fiend pellet.


    Madam Shui¡¯s eyes brightened upon seeing it. ¡°This is a Thunderbird fiend pellet. For you to have this, could it mean¡­¡±


    ¡°I was luckily able to obtain it.¡±


    ¡°How did you manage it?¡±


    ¡°It was nothing more than creating diversions and repeatedly hunting them down. While the fiends might have reached Spirit Sensing, they are still foolish creatures. Given enough time, it¡¯s possible to slowly grind them down.¡±


    Madam Shui gave him a profound look. ¡°Everyone understands the method of slowly grinding down. If a single person could grind down the Thunderbirds, Thunderbird Cliff wouldn¡¯t be one of the most dangerous ces in the Valley of No Return. Forget it. It¡¯s all your own business, so I won¡¯t ask too many questions.¡±


    She took the fiend pellet and looked it over. ¡°Mm, it¡¯s of excellent quality and preserved very well. It can¡¯t be the Thunderbird King¡¯s fiend pellet, could it?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled and said nothing.


    ¡°Really?¡± Madam Shui could tell what Tang Jie meant, and looked at him in shock. This kid was truly bizarre. That he was able to kill the Thunderbird King meant that he had most likely wiped out the entire flock. She couldn¡¯t help but sigh. ¡°What a pity. It took many years of careful nurturing to develop the Thunderbirds into a flock, but you¡¯ve killed them all in one go. Ten thousand beings must perish for a single person to seed!¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s not like more can¡¯t be born,¡± Tang Jie said as he took out four small Thunderbirds¡ªone male and three females.


    He had gotten these Thunderbird chicks after exterminating the flock at Thunderbird Cliff. He had gotten six in all, but he had traded away two males. He had kept these four for precisely this moment.


    Madam Shui was taken aback by the sight of these four chicks, and then she realized, ¡°You kept them alive on purpose?¡±


    ¡°To sell them back to the sect.¡±


    Madam Shuiughed and pointed at Tang Jie. ¡°Clever kid, you¡¯ve got a good head on your shoulders. In killing the Thunderbirds and then keeping their chicks to sell back to the sect, you¡¯re basically hoarding a rare product to drive up the price!¡±


    Sealing the valley was far from enough to keep the ecology of the Valley of No Return in bnce, and a significant investment was still required. Since the Thunderbirds on Thunderbird Cliff had been wiped out, if one wanted to keep the name of Thunderbird Cliff, the sect would have to send people out to find some Thunderbirds.


    Finding Thunderbirds wasn¡¯t exactly easy, and if the sect had to send an Immortal, the costs would be even higher. While this was probably nothing for the Basking Moon Sect, it was best to save where one could, and it was even better if someone offered them up.


    Selling these four Thunderbird chicks to students wouldn¡¯t make much money, and their value would be very different if they were sold to the sect, saving some important figure a lot of trouble.


    To be more precise, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t selling Thunderbirds, but the time of these important figures. This was especially so because he had sold off two males, keeping all the females. Fiend beasts were usually polygynous creatures, so he had perfectly matched them. There was no way somebody else would be able to take this business from him.


    Madam Shui didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. The Valley of No Return had existed for many years, with the students responsible for harvesting and the Spirit Masters responsible for sowing. It was already the custom for predecessors to nt the trees so that their descendants could enjoy the shade. This was the first time she had met someone who reaped with the left hand and sowed with the right.


    But even she had to admit that this was truly a clever ploy, and she really didn¡¯t know how Tang Jie had managed to think it up.


    She didn¡¯t know of the modern world that Tang Jie hade from, where it wasmonce to dismantle a house one day and build up a house the next to destroy and build a road at the same time. Business could only be called business when it was created from nothing. Tang Jie had worked in the government for many years and was used to this trick, so he was able to y it like a professional.


    Taking the four chicks, Madam Shui said, ¡°Four chicks with that fiend pellet should be able to mature quickly. What¡¯s your price?¡±


    Tang Jie respectfully replied, ¡°Madam can set it.¡±


    Madam Shui rolled her eyes. ¡°If that¡¯s what you want, I can give you 5500 spirit coins for these two. Don¡¯t take this to be too small. A thousand kilometers from here, you can find Thunderbirds on Westwatch Mountain. A Nine Revolutions Spirit Master can go to get them ande back in a month, and the total costs will be close to ten thousand. I¡¯m valuing you at half the work of a Spirit Master, which is an incredibly good deal. As for this fiend pellet, while it¡¯s upper-grade, some of its energy has been extracted. If I want to make some profit, I can only give you five hundred at most.¡±


    ¡°My utmost thanks, Madam.¡±


    Madam Shui took out ten spirit jades and five hundred spirit coins, handing them to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was startled. ¡°Why is there an extra five thousand?¡±


    Madam Shui flipped her hand over, revealing the pearl that Tang Jie had given to her some time ago.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Tang Jie nkly stared at it, and then he realized, ¡°The sect found out what it was?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Madam Shui replied. ¡°This is the Cosmic Breeze Pearl.¡±


    ¡°The Cosmic Breeze Pearl?¡± Tang Jie frowned. ¡°What is that?¡±


    He considered himself rather well-read in the academy, but he had never heard of some Cosmic Breeze Pearl.


    Madam Shui replied, ¡°It¡¯s not strange if you don¡¯t know, because this isn¡¯t from the Rosecloud Domain.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not from the Rosecloud Domain?¡± Tang Jie was bbergasted.


    It was no wonder he wasn¡¯t able to figure out the pearl¡¯s background. It wasn¡¯t even from this world.


    Madam Shui nodded. ¡°Titans of old wandered the myriad domains, asionally bringing back what they found. The six major sects all have Titans who wandered the universe, going between the various realms, so it¡¯s not strange for the six major sects to have otherworldly objects. This Cosmic Breeze Pearl is something that a Titan of Godhead Pce found in their travels and brought back to Godhead Pce to research.¡±


    ¡°Something that an Immortal tform Titan would bring back to research must be good,¡± Tang Jie hastily said.


    Madam Shui knew what he was thinking and chuckled. ¡°Naturally, but if a little Nine Revolutions Mortal Shedding expert could carry it, its value must be limited.¡±


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. ¡°Madam is teasing me.¡±


    Madam Shuiughed. ¡°This Cosmic Breeze Pearl has two uses. The first is to store spiritual energy, and the second is to detonate spiritual energy.¡±


    ¡°¡®Store spiritual energy¡¯?¡± Tang Jie¡¯s eyes brightened.


    In the end, the cultivation world was no game. Excepting miracle medicines like Jade Serum, normal recovery medicines merely elerated recovery rather than instantly healing the person.


    The fact that this pearl could store spiritual energy made it very valuable.


    ¡°Correct!¡± Madam Shui replied. ¡°But s, the amount of spiritual energy it can store is limited to about two thousand drops of spiritual liquid, and every day, some of it will automatically dissipate. Moreover, the energy can be stored for only three days at most. After three days, all of the spiritual energy will leak out.¡±


    <em>Then it¡¯scking in watertightness,</em> Tang Jie thought to himself, but he said, ¡°That¡¯s still wonderful. But two thousand drops is rather low. It¡¯s no wonder the Titans didn¡¯t consider them useful.¡±


    ¡°Precisely.¡±


    ¡°Then what about detonating spiritual energy?¡±


    ¡°Have you heard of Heavenbane Lightning Pearls?¡±


    ¡°The Heavenly Extinction Sect?¡± Tang Jie was aghast. ¡°Do you mean that ¡®detonating spiritual energy¡¯ means¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, like the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl, it will detonate all its spiritual energy, the power depending on how much spiritual energy was stored in it at the time. The sect has done some tests, and if it¡¯s full of spiritual energy, a single explosion will have powerparable to a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl.¡±


    <em>That strong?</em> Tang Jie breathed in, but then he saw the indifferent look on Madam Shui¡¯s face. It appeared that she didn¡¯t consider the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl to be very strong at all.


    Considering that the Basking Moon Sect was even selling Domain Astral mes to the Heavenly Extinction Sect, Tang Jie immediately realized that Heavenbane Lightning Pearls really weren¡¯t anything much in the eyes of true Titans.


    Sure enough, Madam Shui said, ¡°While Heavenbane Lightning Pearls might be strong, they can only unt their strength below Celestial Heart, so my Basking Moon Sect does not view them in high regard. As for the Cosmic Breeze Pearl, it is no Heavenbane Lightning Pearl. An explosion will damage the pearl, and after only a few detonations, the pearl will be destroyed. I gather that it leaks spiritual energy precisely because it was detonated before. A pearl that has never been detonated before would probably be able to preserve spiritual energy for even longer. Thus, if you want to use this pearl to store spiritual energy, it shouldn¡¯t be detonated unless there is no other choice.¡±


    ¡°Since this item is so ordinary to a Titan, why did they bring it back?¡±


    ¡°An excellent question!¡± Madam Shui approved. She raised the small pearl to the light, and a cloud pattern appeared on its surface. ¡°This pearl is able to store and detonate spiritual energy primarily because of the formation carved into the pearl and the material it is made from. This material is extremely rare in my Rosecloud Domain, and the technique used to carve the formation into the pearl is sublime. That Godhead Pce Titan brought this pearl back probably for these two reasons¡­ For Immortal sects, a rare item can¡¯t be considered a treasure. Rather, a genius way of thinking, an intricate design, or a spell art that can be passed down are far more worthwhile!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s mind was opened by these words.


    Yes, while students might always seek treasure, for the major sects, a spell that could ensure the legacy of the sect was far more valuable.


    It was precisely because their needs were different that this pearl had fallen into Gu Changqing¡¯s hands, and through him, Tang Jie¡¯s.


    Madam Shui smiled. ¡°The sect has researched the material and the formation-installing technique, so this pearl isn¡¯t very useful to us any longer and can be returned to you. The extra five thousand can be considered a reward for your contribution to the sect.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s true, isn¡¯t that too little?¡± Tang Jie smiled mischievously.


    He had offered up this pearl, and the formation technique within it might have raised the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s Dao of Formations to a whole new level. This was an enormous contribution, so only giving five thousand was being rather cheap.


    The four Thunderbird chicks alone were valued at five thousand.


    Madam Shui rolled her eyes. ¡°If you had offered up this pearl when that Titan had brought it back, let alone five thousand, we could have even given you fifty thousand or five hundred thousand. But the problem is that this Cosmic Breeze Pearl has been around for ages. It¡¯s no secret in Godhead Pce, and even my Basking Moon Sect has managed to gather a lot of information about it. It¡¯s just that we¡¯ve never seen the real thing. How else could we have given you an answer so quickly?¡±


    Tang Jie understood.


    ¡°However, besides these five thousand coins, the sect has also given you eighteen contribution points. Don¡¯t you currently owe the sect 118 contribution points? These points mean that you won¡¯t have to worry about this year¡¯s interest.¡±


    Madam Shui covered her mouth andughed.


    Tang Jie felt helpless, but considering how hard contribution points were to get, this was actually pretty good.


    Madam Shui ced the pearl in his hand and also gave him a piece of fabric. ¡°This cloth has the instructions on how to use it. Whether it¡¯s storing or detonating spiritual energy, you need to act on the formation inside the pearl. Once you learn the method, you¡¯ll essentially have a trump card. This can be considered the sect¡¯s third reward for you, so know when to be content.¡±


    ¡°Many thanks, Madam!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so hasty to thank me,¡± Madam Shui casually replied, and she snatched the money back. ¡°Don¡¯t forget that you still owe me ten thousand. It¡¯s about time you settled that debt. This five hundred can be considered interest, and I don¡¯t need any more than that.¡±


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. ¡°Madam, is there any need to so quickly settle the debt?¡±


    But to his surprise, Madam Shui¡¯s face turned cold. ¡°You think I don¡¯t understand what you need? But this time, I have no choice but to collect the debt.¡±


    Startled, Tang Jie quickly understood. ¡°Nan Baicheng?¡±


    Madam Shui lightly nodded. ¡°As expected, you already know. I don¡¯t really care too much about him, but he represents Yan Changfeng. He came asking me for help in collecting your debt, and it¡¯s not like I can disrespect Yan Changfeng.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart turned cold.


    He knew that Nan Baicheng was truly anxious to not let Wei Tianchong be the True Inheritor.


    But this only spurred Tang Jie to fight even harder.


    If Yan Changfeng were toe and choose for himself, Tang Jie would have nothing to say about who he chose. But since he had decided on thispetition, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t content to let him try and rig the results.


    The more Nan Baicheng didn¡¯t want them to seed, the more Tang Jie wanted to test his limit.


    At this thought, Tang Jie sternly said, ¡°Master Nan is truly giving a lot of thought to selecting a disciple for the True Person, but his methods are rathercking in fairness. And it¡¯s not like I¡¯m someone who backs away in the face of difficulty. Even if an Immortal blocked my way, I would still bravely press forward. I¡¯m afraid that he¡¯s bound to be disappointed.¡±


    Madam Shui pped her hands andughed. ¡°Excellent words. Then let me see how you do on this third mission. If you can really help Wei Tianchong get the True Inheritor spot, I will give you a chance at a gift from the heavens!¡±

 Chapter 217: Yellow Springs Talisman

    Chapter 217: Yellow Springs Talisman


    ¡°¡®A chance at a gift from the heavens¡¯?¡± Tang Jie was surprised by Madam Shui¡¯s words. ¡°What chance?¡±


    Madam Shui simply chuckled. ¡°You don¡¯t need to ask so many questions. Finish off this True Inheritor business first.¡±


    Tang Jie saw that there was no point in asking, so he took out eight thousand spirit coins and said, ¡°If that¡¯s so, then I would like Madam¡¯s help.¡±


    She looked at the money and nodded. ¡°As expected, you did have some money. If you want something, say it inly, and I¡¯ll try my best to give you a discount.¡±


    ¡°I want spell weapons or art relics that can instantly boost my strength,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    He had used all his money from before on the Parting ssic and the Weapon Mantra, and his body¡¯s toughness had reached a level where continuing to advance would not have a very obvious effect. As for the Weapon Mantra¡¯s golden essence, it was now the size of a pigeon egg, and getting anyrger wouldn¡¯t increase its lethality much.


    Rather than continuing to throw money into these, it was better to turn to other aspects, where the effects would be more visible. And equipment was faster than any spirit medicine when it came to a boost in power.


    He had gifted the Silver Cloud Needles to Shi Meng, leaving him with the Heartbreak Saber as his only spell weapon. He direly needed something to make up for the shoring.


    As for the remaining two thousand, one thousand was to repay Qi Shaoming while the other one thousand was kept just in case.


    Madam Shui nodded. ¡°Please wait a moment. I will have someone attend to you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need armor, and offensive kinds would be best¡­ Support kinds are also fine. As for offensive kinds, it¡¯s best if they can attack from a distance and attackrge groups, and the stronger, the better. I don¡¯t need any closebat types,¡± Tang Jie added.


    Madam Shui gave him a profound nce. ¡°That being the case, I suppose I should personally attend to you.¡±


    She went to the rear courtyard, and after a while, she returned with a few silk boxes.


    As they were opened, Tang Jie saw that they respectively held a pair of boots with purple lightning patterns, a fiery ring decorated with numerous me crows, and three talismans.


    Pointing at the boots, Madam Shui said, ¡°These are the Violet Lightning Boots. The formation carved into them assists the Lesser Yang Foot Meridian and Lesser Yin Foot Meridian in circting energy, reducing the time needed for art manifestation and improving energy cirction.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes shed as he blurted out, ¡°The Violet Lightning Lunge?¡±


    ¡°Correct!¡± Madam Shui gave him a praising nce. ¡°The Violet Lightning Lunge¡¯s energy cirction utilizes the Lesser Yang and Lesser Yin Foot Meridians. When you wear these boots, you will find it easier and less taxing to use this spell, which is why they were known as the Violet Lightning Boots. It was made for people who cultivate the Violet Lightning Lunge.¡±


    Tang Jie quickly put the Violet Lightning Boots on and then activated the Violet Lightning Lunge. He felt the energy smoothly circting through his body like never before. The formation in the boots was perfectly in tune with the cirction method of the Violet Lightning Lunge, saving the cultivator from having to circte energy through specific pathways. It was no wonder it reduced the cost and improved the effect of this spell.


    Tang Jie tested the boots out and found that he was 30% faster than before and could cast the spell for 20% less. He was ted and said, ¡°These are wonderful.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good that you like them,¡± Madam Shui chuckled as she pulled out the fiery ring. ¡°This is the upper-grade spell weapon, the zeraven Ring. Once thrown out, it will release one hundred zeravens that will attack the target. It is excellent at attacking groups and attacking from a distance, and it can even work in one-on-ones, fitting your requirements exactly.¡±


    The zeravens had the offensive power of an ordinary Fireball, but one hundred of these ravens attacking represented a formidable force that could even surpass the level of an upper-grade spell weapon.


    Tang Jie tried it out, but he found that the meraven Ring used up quite a bit of spiritual energy. One use consumed around five hundred drops of spiritual liquid, and it onlysted for around three minutes.


    Madam Shui had taken this out most likely because he had the Cosmic Breeze Pearl and could store spiritual energy. With two thousand drops of spiritual liquid, he could use the ring four times, which was far better than other students.


    Besides that, the zeravens that were released could be eliminated. The ring imprisoned the souls of the zeravens, and so long as the souls did not disperse, the zeravens could be reborn, but the ring could be weakened in this manner.


    Even so, the zeraven Ring was still a rather impressive spell weapon, its power approaching that of a low-value art relic, so Tang Jie once more voiced his thanks.


    As for the three talismans, they were clearly three art talismans, each one containing a powerful spell on par with the Heavenly King Mara Incantation.


    Art talismans were rather valuable in the cultivation world. While all those at or above the Mortal Shedding Realm could use arts, talismans that could hold arts required many rare and valuable materials to produce, and creating talismans was a profession all on its own in the cultivation world.


    The materials for creating the three talismans alone were so expensive that inviting someone to actually make the talismans was barely anything. And with these art talismans, Tang Jie could unleash a powerful art without any casting, but he would have to provide the spiritual energy consumed.


    These three talismans used leather as their paper and blood as their ink, making them of a much higher ss than ordinary talismans. Besides the power of their arts, they could also be used multiple times.


    The three talismans Madam Shui had offered were the ¡°Heavenly Pearl sh Talisman¡±, the ¡°Fiend-Sealing Mountain Talisman¡±, and the ¡°Minor Five Elements Escape Talisman¡±, all of which were very practical and powerful arts. The Heavenly Pearl sh Talisman could create a massive sword to attack the target, and it could be used twice. The Fiend-Sealing Mountain Talisman had a suppressive power against the majority of fiends and could be used three times. With this talisman, Tang Jie could have suppressed the fiend tiger without needing to waste all the materials on that Fiend-Conquering Demon-Executing Formation.


    Of course, the Fiend-Sealing Mountain Talisman had a time limit, and even two uses of the talisman might not have been enough for the negotiations with the fiend tiger. This was why Tang Jie had opted to not use it.


    As for the Minor Five Elements Escape Talisman, as it said in the name, it was an escape art. While its ability to escape and break through barriers was inferior to the Great Five Elements Escape Art, it was a very usable art below Mortal Shedding. This talisman could be used five times.


    Each of these talismans had to cost more than eight hundred coins, and the set of three cost twenty-five hundred.


    As for the two spell weapons, the zeraven Ring was upper-grade and the Violet Lightning Boots were middle-grade. All together, their value was exactly eight thousand.


    Madam Shui said, ¡°I chose these three ording to your needs. I said I would give you a discount, and I¡¯m not going to go back on my words. You can select one more that is not over eight hundred.¡±


    She was essentially giving him a 10% discount.


    After thinking it over, Tang Jie replied, ¡°Madam is truly generous, and this lowly one will not reject this kindness. Does Madam have a Nine Nethers or Yellow Springs Talisman?¡±


    ¡°A Nine Nethers Talisman? A Yellow Springs Talisman?¡± Madam Shui furrowed her brow. ¡°What do you want Ghost Dao items for?¡±


    These two talismans were both Ghost Dao spells. The Dao of Ghost Raising was a banned art in the Rosecloud Domain and was forbidden from being transmitted, but there were still some spell arts of the Ghost Dao unrted to raising ghosts that were passed down and were not banned.


    The Nine Nethers Link spell and the Yellow Springs Ghost Refiner were two of them.


    There were people in the Basking Moon Sect who knew how to use these spells, but as they weren¡¯t weed and were rarely valued, these talismans were rather rare.


    Madam Shui was shocked that Tang Jie had brought it up and couldn¡¯t help but wonder why Tang Jie wanted them.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°When this lowly one wasing back from his dangerous trek, he came across a ghost. The ghost had a green face and fangs, and half its body was missing. Though I consider myself bold, I was scared out of my wits upon first seeing a ghost. Later on, I realized that since we students cultivate the proper path, we rarely encounter ghosts. Suddenly using the spells of the Ghost Dao might easily take one by surprise and upset them.¡±


    He had naturally just made this reason up. The truth was that after getting a taste of the power of a Ghost Guard in the Valley of No Return, he wanted to use them some more, but as he was afraid that others might see it, he hade up with an idea.


    He would get a ghost talisman from the academy to use Ghost Guards with, and it would be fine so long as he didn¡¯t use it in front of anybody. And if there were any problems, he could just push the me onto the school.


    Madam Shui didn¡¯t think that far. She found his argument reasonable and smiled. ¡°Is that so? Let me go and see if we have any.¡±


    She looked around the rear courtyard for a while and really did manage to find two Yellow Springs Talismans.


    She handed them both over and said, ¡°These don¡¯t sell very well, so you can take both.¡±


    Tang Jie hastily thanked her.


    The Yellow Springs Talisman could draw in all lingering souls within a hundred kilometers, forming them into a ghost soldier to attack the target. The effect depended on the environment, and it was best used in a graveyard.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t care about this. He just needed it to summon ghosts, upon which he could mix a Ghost Guard he had refined in with the others, allowing it to exhibit its prodigious might.


    Other people would think that he had just gotten lucky, that perhaps some cultivator had died and be a vicious ghost that he had summoned.


    Each Yellow Springs Talisman could be used four times, so he had eight attempts in all.


    So long as he didn¡¯t throw himself into gruesome battles every day, it waspletely possible to use them all the way to the Mortal Shedding Realm.


    After purchasing these things, Tang Jie went to Qi Shaoming and returned the one thousand coins, and after speaking with him for a little longer, he headed to Heaven One Pavilion.


    This time, he chose the Trace spell, the most basic scouting spell in the cultivation world.


    Afterprehending the Dao of Insight, Tang Jie had been pretending that he could use this spell. As the saying went, at the end of the road was the Way. If he didn¡¯t even learn the spell, how could he possibly reach the end of the road?


    But the Trace spell was not his path. The Divine Firmament Sword ssic had an even more powerful observation spell art: the Eye of Heaven.


    It was said that at higher levels, this spell art couldn¡¯t just track someone down, but even peer through the void and see through illusions, glimpsing the boundless heavens and theherworld below. It could even disy prodigious power, sweeping through fiends and monsters.


    Tang Jie nned to use the Trace spell as a cover for the Eye of Heaven. While it would be of no help to him in the short term, it could let him get the jump on enemies hiding in the shadows.


    After doing all this, Tang Jie went back to his house and gave the sprite core to Yiyi, who sessfully advanced to the middle grade of Spirit Sensing.


    Perhaps because the attributes didn¡¯t match, while Yiyi did absorb the frost attribute of the sprite core, she didn¡¯t inherit any spell arts. But Water generated Wood, so all of Yiyi¡¯s spell arts received a big boost in power, particrly her flower formation. Its power became even more terrifying, and even someone as strong as Tang Jie could be trapped in it for a while. Yiyi also gained a new ability. She could freely transform into a flower and back within her flower formation, which would allow her to hide herself within it.


    Tang Jie had used up most of his resources and received a significant boost of power in return.


    Putting aside his formidable body, the level of his equipment had also risen. All hecked was proficiency in cultivation. But there was nothing to be done about that. He just hadn¡¯t had enough time.


    In the following days, Tang Jie diligently cultivated, sparring with Wei Tianchong in his free time.


    After his bold deration, Wei Tianchong had begun to work much harder, diligently cultivating every day, going to the battleground every day and returning covered in wounds. As time passed, his strength increased, and he managed to get into the top fifty of his ss.


    And this was without the little fox participating.


    There were other students who were also diligently practicing, and the one progressing the fastest was probably Cai Junyang.


    Cai Junyang had progressed so quickly mostly thanks to Tang Jie.


    In the battle of the Valley of No Return, Tang Jie had given Cai Junyang ten thousand coins, and with the addition of his own efforts, even after subtracting the thirty percent cut, he still had thirteen thousand coins after leaving the valley.


    This was the most money he had had since entering the academy.


    He had gotten into the school based on his talent, and he had no family background and no resources to speak of. He had relied entirely on his strength and training to get this far, and it was only because the likes of Liu and Ping had backers that they were able to slowly surpass him. This enormous fortune could be considered a huge boon to him.


    And this wasn¡¯t all.


    ording to the school¡¯s rules, the students who had handed over the most to the school could get contribution points based on their ranking.


    No one had harvested more than Tang Jie, but he had used up all his gains in the valley, so he was near the bottom of the list and had no hope of getting any contribution points.


    Cai Junyang had handed over six thousand coins¡¯ worth of goods and was ranked first among the students. Instead of giving him any contribution points, the academy had given him an opportunity to learn from the Divine Firmament Sword ssic.


    This was undoubtedly an enormous gesture of kindness.


    He became the second in the ss, after Tang Jie, to enter the ninth floor of Heaven One.


    No one knew what he had obtained, only that Cai Junyang had not left his house after leaving Heaven One Pavilion, and spent every day cultivating!

 Chapter 218: The Third Mission

    Chapter 218: The Third Mission


    South Mountain House.


    Nan Baichengy on the rattan chair, gazing up at the sky. The man in ck martial attire stood silently behind him, his hands at his side.


    It was a while before Nan Baicheng finally said, ¡°Speak.¡±


    The man in ck bowed and answered, ¡°Tang Jie went to Spirit tform Pavilion, and Madam Shui collected his debt, but the Wei n gave him some additional money. With this money, he bought the Violet Lightning Boots, the zeraven Ring, and four spell talismans. In addition, he took back the Cosmic Breeze Pearl.¡±


    ¡°It seems he¡¯s gambling it all on this one throw and won¡¯t rest until he gets all three missions,¡± Nan Baicheng muttered. ¡°Such a superb child. You clearly know what I want, yet you still dare to try. This daring alone deserves praise. If he were willing to be my junior brother, I, Nan Baicheng, would dly wee it, yet he insists on giving it up for Wei Tianchong¡­ the wretch!¡±


    ¡°Actually¡­¡± The man in ck hesitated.


    Nan Baicheng asked, ¡°What do you want to say?¡±


    The man in ck said, ¡°For thest thousand years, the True Inheritor selections in the sect have mostly been done through missions rather than looking at a student¡¯s talents and achievements. This is because the process is mostly meant to test theprehensive ability of the students, exemplifying the principle of putting into practice what one learns. Andprehensive ability includes talent, family background, personality, intelligence, and even luck.¡±


    ¡°Mm, continue,¡± Nan Baicheng said, closing his eyes. The man in ck was right. The heavens could bestow one with peerless cultivation aptitude, and it could also bestow one with endless cultivation resources. For what reason did it have to be the case that only a nine-cycle Jade Gate was considered to be talent, while being born to a powerful n was considered to be outside help?


    In the eyes of cultivators, what was important was the result, not the process.


    In the cultivation world, there was only sess and failure.


    This was precisely why, in the eyes of the Basking Moon Sect, a nine-cycle Jade Gate and a good family background were all simply a part of a student¡¯s talent.


    Arguing was pointless. Whoever was more valuable, whoever was more useful, would have to show it themselves.


    The struggle over True Inheritor tested this multifaceted ability, looking only to the result to see who the real hero was. Otherwise, why go through all the trouble?


    The man in ck continued, ¡°While Wei Tianchong has relied on his servant student Tang Jie, a servant student is also one of his resources. Since my Basking Moon Sect can regard family as talent, why not¡­¡±


    ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is that since Tang Jie is Wei Tianchong¡¯s servant student, we might as well consider Tang Jie as aponent of Wei Tianchong¡¯s strength, a manifestation of hisprehensive ability, just like his puppet. If the puppet is strong, the master is naturally strong, so why refuse him?¡±


    ¡°That is this subordinate¡¯s foolish opinion.¡±


    Nan Baicheng snorted. ¡°It is truly a foolish opinion. You think yourself to be smart, but it¡¯s all a fantasy!¡±


    ¡°Sir, please instruct me!¡±


    Nan Baicheng casually said, ¡°In truth, your argument is not entirely without reason. As Wei Tianchong¡¯s servant student, Tang Jie loyally serves his master, so he can be considered a part of Wei Tianchong¡¯s strength. The cultivation world is one of cruel reality, and so long as you have the ability, then it doesn¡¯t matter if your strength manifests through your subordinates or through yourself. The problem is that not everything in this world is done based on reason. You must understand that I¡¯m not here to work for the public, but for my master. What my master likes is the most important!¡±


    The man in ck was instantly enlightened.


    True Person Changfeng wasn¡¯t a simple person. As the Hall Master of the Service Hall, he was one of the neen Celestial Chiefs of the Basking Moon Sect, a peak existence among True Persons, his statusparable to that of an unaffiliated True Lord. A normal True Person would move to the side upon seeing him, and his words carried great weight.


    Nan Baicheng was an old hand in the Dao of attending upon others, and he knew thatprehending the will of his superiors would always be more meaningful than exploring the truth.


    Yan Changfeng had been born in poverty and had been of average talent, but he had been a resolved spirit who had been through countless bloody battles in his pursuit of the Great Dao, and one could understand a lot about him from his nickname: ¡°Bloodbath Changfeng¡±.


    A man¡¯s path to sess was often his ability to pick talent.


    In his eyes, the brave and tenacious who were not willing to retreat were potential True Persons. When it came to a personality like this, other things like talent and resources would have to stand to the side.


    When Nan Baicheng had refused to stand down in front of Shi Wunian¡¯s pressure, he had showed exactly the personality Yan Changfeng preferred, so Yan Changfeng had taken him as his disciple.


    What of Wei Tianchong?


    A timid coward who feared death and was overly cautious. It could be said that he had an extremely weak personality. It would be far stranger if Yan Changfeng liked this sort of disciple. The man in ck¡¯s argument that Tang Jie was aponent of Wei Tianchong¡¯s strength would be of no use on him.


    Understanding this, the man in ck hastily said, ¡°Your subordinate was ignorant. Since that is the case, we cannot let Wei Tianchong seed in the final mission!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine as long as you know. So, then, what solutions do you have?¡±


    The man in ck thought it over and said, ¡°Wei Tianchong has been able to seed twice entirely because of Tang Jie. And Tang Jie is able to y a role because of the missions that we gave out. These two missions both had the condition that whoever handed over the mission item would be the victor. This meant that whoever ultimatelypleted the mission was not necessarily the one who contributed the most, which gave Tang Jie room to maneuver. The original goal of this method was to measure a student¡¯s overall strength, to see if they could use their family, resources, mind, and other factors to the maximum, and because of Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong benefited. In my view, to make Wei Tianchong fail, we mightpletely cut off Tang Jie from being a part of his strength. In truth, we actually did this somewhat in the Valley of No Return mission, but we didn¡¯t go far enough.¡±


    ¡°You mean¡­¡±


    ¡°In the next mission, there can be no transfers. The student must rely on their own strength toplete it.¡±


    Nan Baicheng nodded. ¡°Correct. That¡¯s all we can do now. But a mission like that is hard to find.¡±


    He deeply sighed.


    The human head and the Red Lotus had served as specific items that led to victory. Besides their greatest advantage, which was that they tested the overall ability of the students, there was one other important advantage they had: they were simple.


    As many students were participating, aplicated mission would greatly increase the difficulty of administering the test and blur the standard of judgment, which could even lead to usations of unfairness.


    If, as the man in ck had said, the third mission had to bepleted by only one person, things gotplicated.


    Firstly, the target of the mission could not be a specific item, or else in the struggle, it would be very difficult to determine who was the winner.


    To take the struggle over the Red Lotus as an example, An Rumeng had been the first to touch the Red Lotus, followed by Tang Jie and then Qi Shaoming. In this process, none of them had truly possessed it, so it was impossible to decide a victor from there. And if one determined the victor by who had touched it most, then it was too much like a game. Thus, the victor was determined by who possessed it at the very end.


    Secondly, victory could not be won through killing.


    It was the same reasoning. If the Valley of No Return mission had been decided based on who killed the Frost Fairy, then in the battle against the Frost Fairy, the students would have united to kill the Frost Fairy rather than fighting each other. And when all of their weaponsshed out together, and spells were thrown out pell-mell, how could it be decided who ultimately killed her?


    The basic standards of the test were as follows: the judgment conditions had to be clear and precise and the solution had to be unique. Only this way could it earn the people¡¯s trust.


    The third condition was that the mission had to be something that already existed.


    The Basking Moon Sect wouldn¡¯t set up a stage solely for a True Inheritor selection, as the costs were too great. He could only select from the avable missions, and the mission would have to meet all his requirements.


    The fourth condition was that this mission would be able to test all the one thousand students, and they all had to have the same goal. Different targets would inevitably lead to unfair circumstances and thus unfair assessments.


    Finally, the mission had to have some sort ofpetitive factor to it. The True Inheritor position was to be fought over, and the students needed topete against each other for it. Andpetition necessitated interaction, which was precisely why Nan Baicheng couldn¡¯tpletely separate Tang Jie from Wei Tianchong, only do his utmost to keep them apart.


    These various conditions made it difficult toe up with a True Inheritor mission. It was just like how students stressed over their examinations, forgetting that the examiners were racking their brains to write questions before the examinations could be held.


    The man in ck smiled. ¡°If it¡¯s within Sageheart territory, then it¡¯s truly difficult to find.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Nan Baicheng was taken aback. ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­¡±


    ¡°Wind Devil Ind.¡±


    ¡°Wind Devil Ind?¡± Nan Baicheng¡¯s eyes brightened, but then they dimmed. ¡°Wind Devil Ind does meet all the conditions, but it¡¯s in the territory of Horizon Ocean Pavilion.¡±


    ¡°Then we just rent it. Azulwind Jades are excellent materials when one cultivates Wind-type spell arts, and the sect happens to be facing a shortage of them as ofte and was nning to buy some from Horizon Ocean Pavilion. It¡¯s not easy to get Azulwind Jades, so we can have the students gather them and pay them ording to the market price. Horizon Ocean Pavilion will save on manpower, which is exactly what it wants, and if the talks go well, we can even rent at a cheaper price. In this way, we test the students, save resources for the sect, and improve rtions with Horizon Ocean Pavilion. It¡¯s three birds with one stone.¡±


    ¡°But the victory condition cannot be the Azulwind Jades!¡±


    ¡°Naturally. The Heart Ring of the Nine Pces will be the victory condition. The first to reach the Nine Pces, enter the Celestial Heart Ring, and touch the Ocean Heart will be the victor. As for the Azulwind Jades, they will have their own ranking, with the number of jades deciding one¡¯s ce. The one who contributes the most will receive an additional reward. Wei Tianchong isn¡¯t strong enough to be the first to enter the Heart Ring of the Nine Pces. If Tang Jie is smart, he will use this chance to gather more Azulwind Jades rather than wasting time on this pointless venture, reaping a solid profit. This is a chance for him and also a chance for us.¡±


    ¡°Impede with difficulty and bribe with benefits¡­ It¡¯s a pretty good idea.¡± Nan Baicheng carefully thought it over and finally nodded in approval. ¡°But Tang Jie is a persistent person who won¡¯t be so easily swayed by small profits. If he refuses to take the bait, he will still be a problem.¡±


    ¡°Then we will have to ask for help from the people of Horizon Ocean Pavilion so that they mess with the Nine Pce Illusion Formation a little.¡±


    ¡°A good idea!¡± Nan Baicheng nodded. ¡°If my memory is correct, Wind Devil Ind is currently under the management of Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s Ji Wujiu. I¡¯ve never met this person before, but I recall that they have worked together with our sect¡¯s Lin Shangyun a few times, and Lin Shangyun is on good terms with my third senior brother. It seems like I¡¯ll have to ask Third Senior Brother for help¡­ haa, this damn Tang Jie. Just because of him, I have to ask so many people for help!¡±


    Nan Baicheng spoke with deep anger and frustration.


    He both admired Tang Jie and hated him.


    He still thought that this wasn¡¯t enough. ¡°There are too many rtionships involved here, so it¡¯s not too reliable. But there can be no mistake allowed in thisst mission. Let¡¯s do this. Qinan, you will go to Wind Devil Ind as well.¡±


    ¡°Me, too?¡± The man in ck was startled. ¡°Sir, I am not a student, and if I take action, and someone notices, it will affect your reputation as an impartial judge!¡±


    Nan Baicheng sternly said, ¡°I will take care of your identity. You will be going as a supervisor, and Ji Wujiu will send you in. As for reputation¡­¡±


    Nan Baicheng exhaled. ¡°So long as I don¡¯t disappoint my master, what does my reputation matter? I¡¯ll take the consequences, whatever they are. Moreover¡­ why don¡¯t you just make sure they don¡¯t fucking find out?¡±


    Nan Baicheng almost roared thesest words.


    The man in ck¡¯s heart trembled, and he knew that Nan Baicheng was going for broke this time. He hastily bowed. ¡°Yes, this subordinate will strive toplete this task to his dying breath!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to die. I just need you to stop Wei Tianchong from being the first to enter the Heart Ring!¡±

 Chapter 219: Getting Ready

    Chapter 219: Getting Ready


    ¡°Like this, the second mission was finallyplete. The third mission has yet to arrive, and I don¡¯t know when it wille, but I think that by the time you get this letter, the struggle over the True Inheritor position will have been settled. Thus, Miss Xu, don¡¯t spend every day grumbling about what your master is making you learn. Look at us unfortunate souls, giving up our lives just so someone can force us to cultivate. As for you, oh fortunate one, you should know what sort of fortune you enjoy.


    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s it for today. I wish you early sess in cultivation and your name to be known throughout the world and across the myriad domains. I know that you don¡¯t care about such things, but it is truly the dream of countless students. Only when you have it can you disregard it.¡±


    Once he was done writing, Tang Jie carefully looked it over. He recalled the amusing expressions he had used in inte chatting in the other world, so he drew a little smiling face at the end before putting down his brush.


    He went over to the post station, where the supervising student was already familiar with him. He smiled and said, ¡°What? Sending a letter to Miss Xu again today?¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Tang Jie said, handing over the letter.


    As the student took the letter, he said, ¡°Someone who has earned the ardent affection of Fierce Tiger Tang Jie must be a beauty, but s, while the falling flower has a desire, the flowing waters are callous. This girl seems to not care about you, as I have yet to see a reply.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it hasn¡¯t gotten here yet,¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    As the days had gone by, his first letter had finally reached Horizon Ocean Pavilion, but Xu Miaoran¡¯s reply had been sent through the jade amulet. This student would never see the reply.


    ¡°Then I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to give you some more bad news,¡± the student said. ¡°A caravan from Horizon Ocean Pavilion arrived just a few days ago. This is a caravan directly under Horizon Ocean Pavilion, so it travels much faster than mortal caravans. If she really had a letter for you, it would have been sent through this caravan.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Is that caravan still here?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°It is, but it¡¯s basically finished with its goods and might be heading back tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Then can I have them carry the letter for me?¡±


    The student hesitated, and after thinking it over, he said, ¡°It¡¯s doable, but the price will be a little more expensive¡ªan extra five spirit coins.¡±


    Five spirit coins to send a letter was truly an expensive price, and it didn¡¯t seem worth it for the letter to get there a little earlier.


    ¡°I¡¯ll pay it,¡± Tang Jie said, taking out five spirit coins and then adding in an extra. ¡°The same rules.¡±


    By ¡°the same rules¡±, he meant that he was asking this student to keep the matter of sending a letter a secret.


    ¡°Still not giving up,¡± the student chuckled as he took the money.


    In his view, since Xu Miaoran hadn¡¯t sent a reply, Tang Jie was suffering from a hopeless unrequited love.


    But since Tang Jie was willing to pay him, he was happy to help.


    After sending off the letter, Tang Jie returned to the Carefree House. When he pushed open the gate, he saw a vast garden of flowers, all of them exuding an alluring aroma. Tang Jie strolled through the sea of flowers, his hands behind his back.


    As he passed by a small flower bush, a petal slowly drifted up behind him. Just as it was about tond on his shoulder, Tang Jie suddenly strode forward, causing the petal to just miss his shoulder.


    In a sh, countless petals erupted and swept over Tang Jie.


    Tang Jieughed, abruptly turning around and thrusting his finger gently at one of the flowers.


    There was a gasp of surprise as Yiyi appeared beneath Tang Jie¡¯s finger, falling into his arms and receiving a hearty hug.


    The sea of flowers disappeared.


    ¡°Ugh!¡± Yiyi shouted. ¡°Why were you able to find me so quickly again? You haven¡¯t even been cultivating the Eye of Heaven for that long!¡±


    Ever since Yiyi had be able to hide herself among the flowers and Tang Jie had started cultivating the Eye of Heaven, this hide-and-seek had be their favorite game, though it was on a much higher level than the hide-and-seek they used to y with illusion formations.


    ¡°You forgot again,¡± Tang Jie said, giving Yiyi a light spank. ¡°You can¡¯t call it the Eye of Heaven. It¡¯s Trace!¡±


    Yiyi stuck out her tongue. ¡°Oh, understood.¡±


    And then she realized something and jumped to her feet, yelling, ¡°Ah! You¡¯re not allowed to spank me! Not allowed!¡±


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help butugh at how adorable Yiyi was.


    It had to be said that cultivating the Eye of Heaven was going extremely smoothly. It felt like he had been traveling a thousand kilometers every day in thesest few days.


    This wasn¡¯t to say that the Eye of Heaven was simple. In reality, the Eye of Heaven was one of the highest-ss spell arts of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, incrediblyplex and difficult to cultivate.


    But afterprehending the Dao on Tiger Roar Peak, Tang Jie had be rather enlightened to the Dao of Insight. Even without learning any sort of observation spell art, he had been able to find the Frost Fairy with only a few pointers from Liu Hongyan. It could now be said that he possessed some talent in this aspect.


    Only at the end of the road could one find the Way. What did it mean when oneprehended the Way first and then walked the road?


    It could only mean that one was outrageously talented, a genius when it came to insight, the equivalent of a nine-cycle Jade Gate!


    Thus, after only a few days, Tang Jie had gotten a basic grasp of the Eye of Heaven, and ordinary concealment spells were now ineffective against him. Yiyi¡¯s methods would have worked on the Trace spell, but they would never work on him.


    Yiyi was still jumping around, so Tang Jie picked her up and said, ¡°Alright, the game¡¯s over. It¡¯s your turn now.¡±


    ¡°Again!¡± Yiyi angrily shouted, but she still obediently put her hands in front of her chest and began to softly chant.


    A momentter, a shower of petals appeared, slowly circling around Yiyi andyering themselves around her body, protecting her in a giant flower cocoon.


    Once the cocoon had formed, Tang Jie punched, unleashing a powerful gale that instantly sent Yiyi flying.


    ¡°Aaaah!¡± Yiyi screamed, her petals scattering as she tumbled through the air. Fortunately, the tiger promptly appeared and caught the falling Yiyi.


    ¡°Seventy percent,¡± Tang Jie coolly said. ¡°You¡¯re able to take an attack at 70% of my power, but this still isn¡¯t enough. Yiyi, have you been cking off again?¡±


    The flower cocoon was a new spell art that Tang Jie had made Yiyi learn, the Blossom Shell. It turned falling flowers into a protective barrier. What was so special about it was that it could be used at the same time as Petal Rain, allowing for both attack and defense.


    As a sprite, Yiyi was extremely capable when it came to spell arts, but her body was too fragile. Tang Jie had had Yiyi learn this spell so that she could protect herself.


    The Blossom Shell was not a weak spell, but this girl clearly hadn¡¯t cultivated the spell enough, allowing Tang Jie to dispel it with one strike.


    Hearing Tang Jie¡¯s scolding, Yiyi pursed her lips and said, ¡°Not at all! I just don¡¯t like it!¡±


    Yiyi had a rather carefree and yful personality, and though she had gradually matured through all the dangers she had been through, she was still young, and natures were hard to change. Passive defensive spells were simply too boring, so she wasn¡¯t diligent when cultivating them. In contrast, she was growing increasingly proficient with Heart Consonance, which allowed her to mentallymunicate with Tang Jie.


    s, this support ability didn¡¯t require proficiency, and Tang Jie felt very helpless about this situation.


    Seeing that she was angry, he soothed, ¡°Alright, be a good girl. This is all for your sake. We might encounter many dangers in the future, and your big brother needs your protection.¡±


    Yiyi had a habit of mostly ignoring Tang Jie whenever he said that such-and-such was for her own good or her sake. But when Tang Jie said that it would benefit him, she would start putting in more effort.


    In her eyes, there was no one more important than her big brother. She didn¡¯t need to work hard for herself, but she was willing to give her life for Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie¡¯s words immediately motivated Yiyi, and she looked at Tang Jie and said, ¡°Big Brother, are we going to run into more trouble in the future?¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Tang Jie firmly nodded. ¡°The young master now has two spots, so these people are definitely getting restless. They already tried once with the Valley of No Return, and since that failed, they¡¯re going to go all-out this time. Methods that they were too afraid to usest time will probably be used this time. Whether it¡¯s you or me, we have to work hard so that we can deal with any potential problems. Yiyi, your Blossom Shell is extremely effective, and what¡¯s really good about it is that if you have enough petals, you can use it on many people. When the timees, your big brother will depend entirely on you to protect me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I understand!¡± Yiyi seriously nodded.


    Tang Jie smiled infort when he saw that cute and serious look on her face.


    But in the following days, there was no news whatsoever about the third mission, as if it didn¡¯t even exist. Several months went by, but the third mission was still not issued. No matter how the students investigated, they received no clues. Many people even began to wonder if True Person Changfeng had given up on taking a disciple.


    Only Tang Jie understood that the mission had not been abandoned. This long wait more probably meant that this mission had many more things to get ready.


    And all of these arrangements were probably intended to deal with Wei Tianchong and Tang Jie.


    Time swiftly went by, and as the days of cultivation built up, the majority of the students in his ss began to reach Spirit Lake.


    In the third month after returning from the Valley of No Return, Shi Meng sessfully broke through into the Spirit Lake Tier.


    In the same month, Wei Tianchong had a string of good luck, avoiding the strong opponents on the battleground and expressing his prodigious might. He managed to defeat numerous opponents in a row and finally rank, getting fourth.


    This was Wei Tianchong¡¯s first time on the ranking, and what had aided him in this struggle wasn¡¯t the now-rather-famous puppet, but that Fireball spell that he had yet topletely master before the first mission.


    While the puppet held down his opponent and the Mis Step let him evade his opponent, he was able to repeatedly cast Fireball, allowing him to defeat several decently-strong opponents.


    Not even Tang Jie understood what was going on there.


    The upperssmen were also continuing to advance.


    He had received some news not too long ago.


    Peng Yaolong had shed his mortality!


    He was the first and only person in the struggle for True Inheritor to have entered the Mortal Shedding Realm.


    The first thing he did after entering Mortal Shedding was to announce that he was going to savagely beat Tang Jie in the next mission. But his attention was quickly drawn to another matter.


    In the waiting period, Meng Shixue had left the academy on a contribution point mission and had been ambushed and heavily injured by Ye Tianshang.


    Furious, Peng Yaolong immediately went off in pursuit of Ye Tianshang, and Ye Tianshang fled, knowing that he was no match. After running all over the ce, he finally managed to escape back to the academy.


    Now, whenever these two met in the academy, they would re at each other. But the academy¡¯s rules prevented Peng Yaolong from doing anything to Ye Tianshang.


    Lastly, Cai Junyang had finally emerged from seclusion.


    The first thing he did was to go and find Tang Jie for a match.


    The battle didn¡¯t end up being recorded, so nobody knew the oue.


    Everyone only knew that Tang Jie hade out covered in wounds while Cai Junyang had immediately headed back to his home to enter seclusion again.


    Early summer approached, almost an entire year having passed.


    On this day, the mission that everyone had been anticipating was finally announced.


    The words ¡°Wind Devil Ind¡± hanging above the Bounty tform left all the students stunned.

 Chapter 220: The Nine Palace Illusion Formation

    Chapter 220: The Nine Pce Illusion Formation


    Surging waves beat against the reefs of Tigersand Ind, filling the air with froth. Sunlight turned the waves silver while clouds of mist churned.


    The sea waters flowed over the reefs and onto the sand, washing over a line of shallow footprints.


    This line of footprints led straight to an eight-sided pavilion, where it was possible to see a pair of petite and bare feet waving around in the air.


    Xu Miaoran was seated in the pavilion, a hairpin in the shape of a cloud thrust in her hair and her body garbed in a light gown colored vermillion. She sat on the bench within the pavilion, lost in thought. On the jadeite table in front of her was a letter.


    She would asionally grab the letter and look at it before putting it back down again.


    She gazed into the distance, where the azure sea melded into the heavens, and the hazy splendor of the ocean appeared in her eyes.


    She muttered, ¡°ck hair, passionate eyes, and cherry-red lips surface in my mind. The path is unclear, the memory difficult to forget. The fear that we will not meet again makes my heart grow numb with panic¡­¡±


    She grabbed the letter and looked at it again.


    Not far behind her stood a maid in a green gown. Looking at how Xu Miaoran behaved, she couldn¡¯t help but cover her mouth and chuckle. ¡°Young Miss, you¡¯ve already read this letter so many times. If you like him, just say it. What¡¯s the point in thinking about it so much? The women of my Horizon Ocean Pavilion have never been so coy before.¡±


    Xu Miaoran propped up her chin with a hand and said, ¡°The problem is that I don¡¯t know if I like him or not¡­¡±


    She was still young and had little experience with romance, so she didn¡¯t understand her own feelings.


    She hadn¡¯t spent many days with Tang Jie, and she felt that falling in love with him just because of that wasn¡¯t taking the matter seriously enough. Yet after that chance encounter, his form kept appearing in her mind, and she couldn¡¯t forget him.


    If Tang Jie hadn¡¯t written letters, then perhaps that impression would have faded with time, and she would gradually forget him and perhaps even cut offmunications with him.


    But it was exactly the opposite. He kept sending letters, and while they normally just asked if she was doing well and spoke about his life in the academy, she could tell that there was another emotion imbued in them.


    Thus, Xu Miaoran¡¯s mind was unsettled.


    She pondered as she looked out at the sea, her expression ck. For a time, she waspletely lost in her thoughts.


    Suddenly a maid dressed in red came running over, shouting, ¡°Young Miss! Young Miss!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s got you so excited?¡± Xu Miaoran asked as shezily stretched.


    The maid came up to the pavilion and said, ¡°I just heard some news that Young Lady Xu might be interested in.¡±


    Xu Miaoran frowned while the maid in green pushed the maid in red a little. ¡°Hong Yuan, if you have something to say, don¡¯t hem and haw. Just say it.¡±


    The girl called Hong Yuan stuck out her tongue and said, ¡°I just heard that the Basking Moon Sect will be renting Wind Devil Ind.¡±


    ¡°The Basking Moon Sect is renting Wind Devil Ind?¡± Xu Miaoran was startled. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Apparently, it¡¯s to gather Azulwind Jade and temper the students.¡±


    ¡°¡®Temper students¡¯?¡± Xu Miaoran was confused. ¡°Wind Devil Ind is primarily known for its pce illusion formation, and the strength of its fiend beasts is limited, so what¡¯s there to temper with¡­ Wait. Could it be the True Inheritor mission?¡±


    Xu Miaoran stood up.


    Hong Yuan didn¡¯t answer, instead cing a hand on her chest and groaning, ¡°Oh my, I¡¯m so tired after running. Young Miss, let me rest a bit before I go on.¡±


    She nced at Xu Miaoran, and Xu Miaoran understood what she wanted and snorted. ¡°Stubborn girl, this again.¡±


    She threw a pill into Hong Yuan¡¯s hand, and Hong Yuan grinned as she took it. ¡°Young Miss, thank you for the gift. This lowly one asked around, and Young Miss is correct. It really is about the True Inheritor mission. I don¡¯t know how the Basking Moon Sect thought of it, renting our Wind Devil Ind to test its students.¡±


    ¡°You need to ask?¡± the maid in green sneered. ¡°Wei Tianchong has won twice, so that Nan Baicheng is probably getting nervous. It¡¯s difficult to make tests for students. Wind Devil Ind is mostly about illusions obscuring one¡¯s path, so it¡¯s difficult for others to help. This is presumably meant to target Wei Tianchong and Tang Jie. I would even wager that the objective of this test isn¡¯t to gather the most Azulwind Jades.¡±


    The maid in green had almost instantly conjectured most of the truth.


    The two maids were Xu Miaoran¡¯s close aides, and Xu Miaoran had never hidden anything from them. Thus, they knew all about her rtionship with Tang Jie, and in Horizon Ocean Pavilion, they were the only two.


    Hong Yuan pped her hands andughed. ¡°Senior Sister Xian Tao is always so formidable. The victory condition this time is to be the first person to enter the Nine Pce Heart Ring and touch the Ocean Heart!¡±


    Xu Miaoran grunted, ¡°What a considerate n. Hong Yuan, do you know when this trial will take ce?¡±


    ¡°The tenth of the next month.¡±


    ¡°So soon¡­¡± Xu Miaoran thought it over and said, ¡°Come on. We¡¯re going to Wind Devil Ind too!¡±


    ¡°Alright!¡± Hong Yuan pped and jumped to her feet. ¡°I can finally go out and y with the young miss!¡±


    It appeared that this had been another motive for rying the news so quickly to Xu Miaoran. Hong Yuan had a yful personality, and she had considered it a great pity that Xu Miaoran hadn¡¯t brought her to yst time. Now, she finally had a chance.


    ¡°Wind Devil Ind?¡±


    ¡°How could it be there? Isn¡¯t that the territory of Horizon Ocean Pavilion?¡±


    ¡°It is! How can the True Inheritor mission be held in another sect? What are those above thinking?¡±


    ¡°Shush! Be quiet. Is it your ce to question the will of the Esteemed Master?¡±


    ¡°Hey, hey, does anyone know what Wind Devil Ind is like?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not too sure either.¡±


    On the Bounty tform, numerous students were chattering. They had heard of Wind Devil Ind before, but few of them knew what it was really like. After all, it was in another sect, so their studies weren¡¯t focused on it. Even the teachers in ss had only mentioned it in passing. While the conditions for sess had been given, the vast majority of students were baffled as to what the Nine Pce Heart Ring and the Ocean Heart were.


    Quite a few students had already run off to gather information. Tomorrow was the day of departure, so everyone had less than a day to prepare.


    Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong were also at the Bounty tform. Wei Tianchong was confused as he looked at the details of the mission. ¡°How strange! Why are we going all the way to Wind Devil Ind? Tang Jie, is that ce even more dangerous than the Valley of No Return?¡±


    Having learned from his mistakes, he was now extremely concerned over how safe Wind Devil Ind was.


    Tang Jie indifferently said, ¡°Wind Devil Ind is where Azulwind Jades are produced and is one of the mining regions under Horizon Ocean Pavilion. While the ind is inhabited by fiends, ghosts, and monsters, there are few formidable existences, and probably not a single Mind Opening one.¡±


    Because of Xu Miaoran, Tang Jie had a rather deep understanding of Horizon Ocean Pavilion and knew a great deal about its notable figures and locations. He was probably one of the few present who knew about Wind Devil Ind without having to look it up.


    ¡°Whew, then it¡¯s fine,¡± Wei Tianchong exhaled.


    ¡°That being the case, could there be some other motive for making Wind Devil Ind the location of the third mission?¡±


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t answer, simply staring at a specific sentence on the board: ¡°The first to enter the Nine Pce Heart Ring and touch the Ocean Heart will be the victor.¡± After a while, he coldlyughed. ¡°Wind Devil Ind isn¡¯t very dangerous, but as one of Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s primary mining areas, it has arge formation called the Nine Pce Illusion Formation. The entirety of Wind Devil Ind is under this formation.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that the third mission will test our ability to break through formations?¡± someone said from behind Tang Jie. It was none other than Cai Junyang.


    Next to him were Shu, Liu, and Ping.


    Liu Hongyan frowned. ¡°If it¡¯s testing our ability to break formations, wouldn¡¯t that benefit the students of the Heaven Circuit tform? It¡¯s a little too unfair for students like us who have never studied formations.¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°It¡¯s not entirely testing the ability to break formations. The Nine Pce Illusion Formation primarily focuses on distracting and confusing illusions. Once you¡¯re on the ind and the formation activates, the ind will be its own world, manifesting all kinds of illusions. While there are few monsters, it¡¯s an extremely vast ce, so the formation is all about buying time and hampering powerful foes¡­¡±


    As Tang Jie went on, everyone gradually began to understand what was going on with the Nine Pce Illusion Formation.


    While Wind Devil Ind belonged to Horizon Ocean Pavilion, it was located rather close to Sageheart and rather far from Horizon Ocean Pavilion. The Basking Moon Sect would not permit Horizon Ocean Pavilion to establish a formation that was too strong close to Sageheart¡¯s borders, so after several rounds of negotiations, the Nine Pce Illusion Formation had been chosen. While itcked offensive and defensive capabilities, it was extremely effective at dying enemies and buying time for reinforcements.


    Once the Nine Pce Illusion Formation activated, intruders wouldn¡¯t be able to tell north from south, and every ce would be covered in illusions. It was basically impossible to run into anyone, and an intruder would have to rely on their own ability to get through.


    As the Nine Pce Illusion Formation was meant to dy and hold enemies, there were many methods of breaking it. One could rely on one¡¯s understanding of formations to find the correct path, or one could rely on brute strength to break through, and the fast ones could rely on their speed to make it through these trials.


    Thus, oveing the formation wasn¡¯t difficult. So long as one was strong enough, even those who did not understand the Dao of Formations could defeat it. The only difference was the time used.


    The test of Wind Devil Ind was to see who could ovee the formation in the shortest time possible.


    ¡°In other words, what¡¯s being tested is the ability to break through the formation?¡± Ping Jingyue asked, somewhat getting it.


    Since it was testing one¡¯s ability to break through, individual ability became extremely important. No matter how strong Tang Jie was, he wouldn¡¯t be able to help Wei Tianchong.


    This mission was clearly targeting Wei Tianchong.


    Many people could already guess that those above didn¡¯t exactly hope for Wei Tianchong to be a True Inheritor.


    After all, one person monopolizing all three spots would make it seem like Basking Moon Academy didn¡¯t have any talented individuals, and this wasn¡¯t even considering the kind of person Wei Tianchong was.


    ¡°Correct,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°In truth, when the Nine Pce Illusion Formation is operating at full power, students like us could probably spend a few years without seeing the end of it, perhaps even living out the rest of our lives in there. But since it¡¯s a test, I¡¯m sure only the first fewyers will be activated, giving all of us a chance. The Nine Pce Illusion Formation has countless variations, and only some minor guidance is needed for it to produce countless images. Thus, Wind Devil Ind has always been an important testing ground for the students of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. I didn¡¯t think that we would get the chance to go there.¡±


    ¡°Since it has countless variations and can be controlled, doesn¡¯t that mean that the difficulty of breaking through the various checkpoints of the formation can also change?¡± Liu Hongyan suddenly asked.


    Tang Jie faintly smiled. ¡°Naturally.¡±


    Everyone looked sympathetically at Tang Jie.


    Since the formation¡¯s power could be adjusted, it went without saying that Nan Baicheng needed to only apply a little force to apply maximum pressure to Wei Tianchong and Tang Jie.


    But Tang Jie wasn¡¯t worried about this.


    While the formation¡¯s power could be altered, there was a limit to it.


    The Nine Pce Illusion Formation had nine levels in all, with each level having its corresponding power. No matter how the formation was adjusted, it could not be adjusted past its current level.


    It was impossible for Tang Jie to be fighting against the power of Level 9 while everyone else was only dealing with Level 3.


    Thus, even if the formation controller harbored ill intentions, the most they could do was exert the maximum power of the formation¡¯s current level on him.


    Put simply, there was a localized upper bound.


    Tang Jie was confident in his own strength, and a minor adjustment wouldn¡¯t be able to stop him. But the same couldn¡¯t be said for Cai Junyang and the others.


    Cai Junyang heartilyughed. ¡°Tang Jie, it seems to me that there¡¯s no chance of you helping Wei Tianchong this time. In truth, as a servant student, you¡¯ve already done a lot for your young master. Why not give up on that pursuit and help me instead?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°The path of life has always been difficult. But that¡¯s precisely why victory tastes so sweet. I¡¯m still confident that I can help the young master take victory in this test!¡±

 Chapter 221: Resolve

    Chapter 221: Resolve


    On the way back, Wei Tianchong finally asked Tang Jie, ¡°This mission is clearly targeting me. Tang Jie, are you really confident that you can help me get number one?¡±


    ¡°What? You don¡¯t believe me?¡± Tang Jie asked back.


    Wei Tianchong awkwardly scratched his head. ¡°It¡¯s not like that. It¡¯s just that this foray into the formation won¡¯t give us a chance to run into each other like with the Valley of No Return. We¡¯re really going to be fighting on our own. Even with divine abilities, you¡¯ll find it very difficult to help me¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong,¡± Tang Jie said, patting him on the shoulder. ¡°While the Nine Pce Illusion Formation makes us fight all on our own, it doesn¡¯t mean that we won¡¯t have a chance to meet up.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What do you mean?¡± Shi Meng was also surprised. ¡°Are you saying that we can somehow run into each other in the formation?¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Correct, though the chances are tiny. Don¡¯t ask so many questions right now. Go and have a good rest, and do some research on ways to deal with illusion formations. Leave everything else to me. I¡¯ll tell you the exact details once the time hase.¡±


    The others saw that he was certain, so they couldn¡¯t help but believe that Tang Jie had a n and left in peace.


    It was only once they were gone that Tang Jie¡¯s face finally darkened.


    Only he knew that he actually had no idea how to handle Nan Baicheng¡¯s mission. Nan Baicheng had isted him from Wei Tianchong as much as humanly possible. In this situation, he could do very little for Wei Tianchong.


    But he couldn¡¯t say that.


    If he said it, Wei Tianchong would lose his confidence, and giving up confidence meant giving up hope and giving up on victory.


    Tang Jie could ept defeat, but he couldn¡¯t ept giving up!


    ¡°Nan Baicheng¡­¡± He stood there and muttered this name, a me burning in his eyes. ¡°The more you don¡¯t want me to seed, the more I want to beat you. Separating us¡­ but separating us isn¡¯t enough!¡±


    Tang Jie resolutely set off for Spirit Wonder Market.


    Spirit Wonder Market was currently a hive of activity.


    Now that the third mission had been announced, all the students had rushed over to buy various spell weapons and talismans that could see through or break formations. As everyone prepared for this final battle, the price of goods had also risen.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t buy any such things. On the contrary, he bought materials for illusion formations like Fantasy Grass and Bafflescent. No one was buying these materials, so their price wasn¡¯t too unreasonable.


    Once he spent all his money, Tang Jie returned to the Carefree House.


    As he put the materials into the formation diagram, he said, ¡°Yiyi,e here and help your big brother. I might have to trouble you with something.¡±


    ¡°Do I have to pee again?¡± The obedient Yiyi could tell that Tang Jie was preparing some sort of formation.


    ¡°No¡­¡± After a pause, Tang Jie replied, ¡°I need your blood this time.¡±


    The next morning, the students headed for the Bounty tform, where an Immortal ship from the sect was waiting for them.


    The students boarded the ship just likest time, though there were no sneak attacks this time.


    Once they boarded the ship, it set off for Wind Devil Ind.


    Wind Devil Ind was a great distance away, and even an Immortal ship would need three days of flight to arrive. Fortunately, the Immortal ship was huge and had many cabins, so the students didn¡¯t need to worry about not having a ce to rest.


    Unlike in the past, since everyone had toplete the mission on their own, there wasn¡¯t as much of a mood of cooperation. Everyone was making their own ns, and things were rather awkward.


    Some of the weaker students who were proficient in the Dao of Formations even dreamed that they had a chance of ascending to the heavens in one go.


    For Wei Tianchong, these might have been the worst days of all.


    This was because Tang Jie had yet to tell him how he was going to help in any way. Two days went by, but Tang Jie remained locked up in his room, refusing toe out. No matter how much Wei Tianchong pressed him, he only said that the time wasn¡¯t right and to just keep waiting.


    This made Wei Tianchong wonder if Tang Jie really didn¡¯t have a way and was just buying time.


    But when he thought about how Tang Jie had performed in the past, he ultimately told himself that he needed to trust Tang Jie.


    Time quietly passed.


    On the third day, the Immortal ship entered the Endless Sea Zone.


    The Endless Sea Zone was located to the south of Sageheart and was incredibly vast, covering almost the entirety of the Rosecloud Domain.


    Unlike Earth, the Rosecloud Domain wasn¡¯t a sphere, but a half-sphere. Though the sea zone was an extension of thend zone, it had its own border.


    The Domain Astral Winds.


    This was a fact proved by countless Titans: the world had an end!


    This left Tang Jie with many questions.


    If he was still in his universe, then he shouldn¡¯t have been on a half-sphere. If he was on the t surface of this half-sphere, where was the other half?


    If he wasn¡¯t in the same universe, then why could he still see the sun, stars, and moon in the sky?


    Where exactly were they?


    In what sort of state did they exist?


    Tang Jie waspletely clueless about all these things. Even in ss, the teachers had not given any answers on these things.


    All Tang Jie knew was that the stars and moon were all beyond the Astral Winds.


    The Astral Winds were the boundary of this world!


    The Immortal ship flew across the ocean, and the students all went onto deck to get a rare sight of the raging waves together with the restless sea of clouds.


    Tang Jie gradually focused his thoughts. Turning around, he headed into Wei Tianchong¡¯s room.


    Wei Tianchong was in the middle of ordering the puppet to serve him tea, though it wasn¡¯t because Shi Meng wasn¡¯t there to attend upon him, as he was sitting on the side and keeping himpany. Wei Tianchong was training his precise control over the puppet.


    Tang Jie felt veryforted by this sight.


    In the past, in the face of this dire problem, might Wei Tianchong have already given up?


    He truly had matured a lot in the battle of the Valley of No Return, bing much more thoughtful.


    As Tang Jie came in, Wei Tianchong said in delight, ¡°Tang Jie, you¡¯re finally here. Have youe to tell me what I need to do?¡±


    He was so excited that he lost control of the puppet, causing it to drop the cup.


    Tang Jie reached out and ced his hand below the cup, smoothly raising his hand and catching it. Smiling, he said, ¡°You must remain calm in the case of any major event. Young Master, whether it¡¯s good news or grievous news, even if the sky is falling, you must keep your heart as cold as ice.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I understand.¡± Wei Tianchong earnestly nodded.


    But a momentter, he still walked over and said, ¡°We¡¯re about to reach Wind Devil Ind, so shouldn¡¯t you be telling me how you n to get me first ce? I¡¯ve been so restless thesest two days that I can hardly eat or even focus on cultivating.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I wanted you to experience,¡± Tang Jie said. ¡°I haven¡¯t told you this entire time because what I wanted you to experience first of all is this sort of suffering.¡±


    ¡°¡®Experience suffering¡¯?¡± Wei Tianchong was startled.


    ¡°Correct!¡± Tang Jie replied, ¡°The Nine Pce Illusion Formation is an illusion formation, and when dealing with illusion formations, one must start with the heart. To break the illusion formation, you must first focus your mind! Your nature is too restless and can be easily taken advantage of by the illusion formation. I¡¯m not just saying that your heart should be as cool as ice and that you should remain unflustered even if the sky is falling purely as life advice.¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s face turned cold. ¡°I understand!¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Tang Jie sat down and said, ¡°I will now tell you the n.¡±


    The Nine Pce Illusion Formation was a massive illusion formation that had the Nine Pce Heart Ring as its core. The Ocean Heart was a treasure simr to the Heavenly Dao Stele, and it served as the node around which the entire formation turned. Entering the Nine Pce Heart Ring meant that one had seeded in breaking through the formation.


    But the formation was not exactly closely linked to the Nine Pce Heart Ring. In reality, there was a road between the two, one that wasn¡¯t too long: the Devil Crushing Path.


    Strictly speaking, the Devil Crushing Path wasn¡¯t a part of the Nine Pce Illusion Formation, only an ess path. It was like the steps one took to get through a front door, and in itself, it had little meaning.


    Entering the Devil Crushing Path could be considered a sessful breakthrough on its own. The Devil Crushing Path was just incidental and was barely worth mentioning.


    The problem was that the Devil Crushing Path was the only road in.


    All the students that emerged from the formation would have to go through this road¡­


    ¡°In other words, while the students might have a hard time running into each other in the formation, once they¡¯re through the formation and on the Devil Crushing Path, then students still have a chance to interact with each other before entering the Nine Pce Heart Ring?¡± Shi Meng understood what Tang Jie was getting at.


    ¡°Correct!¡± Tang Jie confirmed. ¡°But the chances of interaction are extremely low.¡±


    The students were bound toe out of the formation at different times, and no one would wait for other students after reaching the Devil Crushing Path. Thus, meeting on the Devil Crushing Path was only theoretically possible. Realistically, the chances were extremely low.


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°The True Inheritor missions test a student¡¯s overall ability. There must exist a chance for students to fight against each other. Not even Nan Baicheng could do anything to change that. But where there¡¯s fighting, there¡¯s collusion. Thus, to prevent me from helping the young master, he has to minimize interaction as much as possible. That¡¯s the point of the Devil Crushing Path¡­ With this road, he satisfies both ¡®students might be able to fight against each other¡¯ and ¡®minimize the ability for students to help each other¡¯.¡±


    The two of them were enlightened, and Wei Tianchong grumbled, ¡°No wonder he chose Wind Devil Ind as the testing ground. Given Tang Jie¡¯s strength, even if he¡¯s the first to emerge from the formation, so long as I haven¡¯te out, he can¡¯t help me. And if he wants to find us in the formation, it¡¯s so difficult that he¡¯ll just be wasting time. If another student gets onto the Devil Crushing Path, he¡¯ll only be able to watch!¡±


    ¡°Correct. That¡¯s exactly it!¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°Nan Baicheng has made up his mind to not give me a single chance to help you by isting me outside. It doesn¡¯t even matter to him if I get the spot. It¡¯s all fine so long as it¡¯s not you.¡±


    Wei Tianchong felt a tinge of bitterness. In truth, he knew that hecked ability and that no one viewed him positively, but being so targeted hurt his pride and left him extremely sad.


    He looked at Tang Jie and gritted his teeth. ¡°If it¡¯s really no good, Tang Jie, you should go ahead and take the spot from the third mission. I know that you¡¯re doing this for me, but it seems like those above don¡¯t like me. You getting it is better than anyone else.¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°If I wanted to be a True Inheritor, I would have already taken it instead of going through all that effort. They might not be optimistic about your chances, but I am.¡±


    <em>You¡¯re optimistic about my chances?</em>


    Wei Tianchong was bbergasted.


    Tang Jie ced a hand on Wei Tianchong¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You don¡¯t believe me? As master and servant, we¡¯ve pushed through so many challenges together. How could we fail at the final stretch? Rx. I¡¯ll definitely make you a True Inheritor. Not only am I going to make you a True Inheritor, I intend to let everyone know that the young master of the Wei n is no piece of trash. One day, you will be a bigshot whose name is known throughout the heavens!¡±


    Wei Tianchong was utterly stunned by his words, nkly staring at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Believe in me, and believe in yourself.¡±


    Wei Tianchong breathed in. ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll listen to you this one time, so tell me: what should I do?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very simple. Just do your best to get through. You can leave the others to me,¡± Tang Jie answered.


    ¡°¡®Leave the others to you¡¯?¡± Wei Tianchong was startled, and then he realized, jumping up and pointing a trembling finger at Tang Jie. ¡°Tang Jie, you¡­ you aren¡¯t thinking about¡­ stopping them all on your own?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the only solution,¡± Tang Jie casually replied. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to disappoint me, do your best to get through and don¡¯t make me wait for too long.¡±


    Being the fastest to get through the formation and then sealing off the Devil Crushing Path, permitting no one else to go through.


    This was Tang Jie¡¯s solution.


    But it was easier said than done.


    Shi Meng shouted, ¡°You can¡¯t possibly do it. No one can go one versus one thousand, not even if you were at Mortal Shedding.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no guarantee of that,¡± Tang Jie breezily replied. ¡°Did you forget about the battle with the Frost Fairy in the Valley of No Return?¡±


    In the Valley of No Return, the Frost Fairy had fought against more than a thousand students, but this hadn¡¯t been because she was so strong that she could ignore numbers. It was because she had utilized the terrain well and used her illusion formation to divide the students and prevent them frombining their powers.


    If Tang Jie could get to the Devil Crushing Path first and use the terrain properly, he stood a fighting chance.


    ¡°But the Frost Fairy was a Mind Opening sprite, whereas you¡¯re still at the Spirit Lake Tier. If all the students work together, you won¡¯t be able to stop them!¡± Wei Tianchong shook his head. ¡°This isn¡¯t the Student Forest. They won¡¯t show mercy.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I need you to work hard, Young Master¡­ The faster you get out, the fewer opponents I¡¯ll have to face and the less time I¡¯ll have to hold out. If you don¡¯t want me to hold out against one thousand, then get out as fast as you can!¡± Tang Jie firmly said.


    He raised a finger and said, ¡°One hundred! Young Master, through your own power, you have to be in the first one hundred to get out no matter what. You can leave everyone ahead of you to me. So long as Tang Jie still stands, they can¡¯t even think about getting through the Devil Crushing Path.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was stunned at how forcefully Tang Jie was speaking.


    After a long while, he finally said, ¡°Tang Jie, be at ease. No matter what, I will be in the first one hundred to charge out of the illusion formation!¡±


    Tang Jie smiled in satisfaction.


    Besides tempering his focus, he had waited this long to tell Wei Tianchong to rush straight on through without thinking.


    If he had too much time to think about things, he would grow overly cautious and lose his ferocity.


    As the three of them spoke, the ship came to a stop with a boom.


    They had arrived at Wind Devil Ind.

 Chapter 222: Tracking

    Chapter 222: Tracking


    An egg-shaped ind stood atop the azure ocean surface.


    From the sky, it appeared like a giant duck egg on the water. A thick fog covered the ind, hiding its surface from view, and only the fact that the fog was tightly sealed onto the ind exposed the ind¡¯s form.


    This was Wind Devil Ind.


    Wind Devil Ind was a fairly small ind in the Endless Sea Zone, with an area of 5400 square kilometers. It was long from north to south and narrow from east to west, and at its longest point, it was one hundred kilometers.


    Two thirds of the ind was covered in dense forest, and in the southern part of the ind was a small mountain called Hurricane Peak. The summit of the mountain was beset by a hurricane year-round. Unlike in other ces, as this hurricane spun day in and day out, it substantialized into a unique material known as Azulwind Jade. 40% of the Rosecloud Domain¡¯s Azulwind Jade was produced here.


    The value of 40% could not be underestimated. If the grain harvest were reduced by 40%, that would be a year of great famine, with starvation reigning over the world.


    On the world stage, for any item, someone who had the ability to produce at least 10% of that item would have some ability to set the price. The only people capable of fighting back against this authority were those with stronger production and stronger fists.


    The cloud-traveling Immortal ship paused over the ind for only a few moments before beginning its descent. As the ship passed through the mist, the students immediately had a clearer view. All of the students immediately focused their vision so that they could memorize as much of the ind as they could. This would be their only chance to get a look at the real face of the ind, while the Nine Pce Illusion Formation was still not turned on.


    Tang Jie was also carefully studying the ind.


    An area of 5400 square kilometers wasn¡¯t possible to see entirely, even from the sky.


    But on the ship, Tang Jie¡¯s vision could pierce through all obstacles, the Eye of Heaven revealing every detail of the ind.


    As he focused his vision, he spotted a pceplex standing near the center of the ind. This was most likely Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s base here, and a pir of light rose from the pce, projecting the image of a giant stone.


    The Ocean Heart!


    ¡°I see now¡­¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    ¡°What?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    Tang Jie pointed at the pir of light. ¡°Young Master, do you see that pir of light? That is where the Nine Pce Heart Ring is. This pir of light is a signal for all the students. Once we¡¯re on the ind, we¡¯ll probably be split up. When the timees, the first thing you need to do isn¡¯t to run around, but to confirm your surroundings and head in the direction of the pir of light.¡±


    Shi Meng worriedly said, ¡°Once we¡¯re on the ind, the formation will be activated, at which point illusions will surround us. Space will be expanded and even our positions might be changed up. Finding the right direction is easier said than done.¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°That¡¯s true, but while some things might change, some things won¡¯t. That mountain, that water, that pce, and that pir of light. Mark down their positions on your heart. These are thendmarks that you can use to determine your position. Didn¡¯t I already teach you a few methods before this? Remember: no matter where you are or what sort of illusion you are facing, so long as we can find the truth in the illusion, we can always find a way out!¡±


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng nodded as Tang Jie swiftly pointed out the most important points of the ind.


    Finally, after a brief pause, Tang Jie said, ¡°From what I know, we don¡¯t have to worry about the Nine Pce Illusion Formation affecting space. What¡¯s most important is its ability to manifest all kinds of things. It can manifest fiends and monsters, but it can also manifest charming and beautiful sights. Young Master, you must remember at all times that no matter what sort of scene youe across, you can¡¯t be moved. Harden your Origin Heart and walk upon the Great Dao. That is the best method to get out of this illusion formation as quickly as possible.¡±


    Wei Tianchong earnestly nodded. ¡°Tang Jie, rx. I won¡¯t disappoint you.¡±


    The Immortal ship was still descending, only stopping when it was several dozen meters from the ground. In the mists, one could faintly make out a teleportation formation on the ground.


    A stern voice said, ¡°All students, please disembark from the ship! Only twoyers of the Nine Pce Illusion Formation will be activated this time. All students must find their own way, and the first to enter the Nine Pce Heart Ring will be considered the victor! I will be waiting in the Nine Pceplex for the good news!¡±


    It was none other than Nan Baicheng.


    He had personallye for this test.


    With this roar, the students began to call on their energy and jump off.


    After a year of cultivation, this fall of several dozen meters wasn¡¯t much for the students. Even the weakest student could be as light as a swallow with a slight exertion of spiritual energy.


    Countless people jumped from the ship, and the moment they hit the ground, they were whisked away by the formation and vanished.


    Wei Tianchong looked at Tang Jie. ¡°I¡¯m going.¡±


    He jumped off.


    Following him was Shi Meng.


    Only Tang Jie continued to stand at the bow of the ship.


    He quietly stood there, looking into the distance.


    When the first student jumped down, the Nine Pce Illusion Formation had activated, and as the fog came down, the surroundings became clouded.


    But Tang Jie was unmoved. Wherever he looked, though the fog obscured previous vistas, his mind automatically produced the corresponding image.


    Every de of grass and tree appeared in his eyes, marked on his heart.


    Fewer and fewer people stood around him as more entered the formation, but Tang Jie still didn¡¯t move.


    A voice said, ¡°Why haven¡¯t you gone down yet?¡±


    Tang Jie turned around and saw none other than Nan Baicheng standing behind him.


    Tang Jieughed.


    He said, ¡°Esteemed Master, is there any need to be in such a hurry? Can¡¯t I just go once all the other students have gone?¡±


    Nan Baicheng¡¯splexion darkened, but just as he was about to say something, he saw Tang Jie looking around.


    There were only a few students left. With a nce, Tang Jie was able to look over everyone else left, and his gaze stopped on the figure of Qinan, who was now wearing a student¡¯s uniform.


    Nan Baicheng immediately knew that this wasn¡¯t good, and he barked, ¡°If you don¡¯t go down now, I¡¯ll remove your right to participate!¡±


    Tang Jie looked away andughed. ¡°I would not dare to defy an order from an esteemed master!¡±


    He jumped down, but his eyes remained fixed on Qinan as if he was marking him in his memory.


    ¡°He noticed me,¡± Qinan said, his face dark.


    On Nan Baicheng¡¯s orders, he had been nning to mix in with the students and enter the formation to act as the situation called for. There were too many students for Tang Jie to note all of them down.


    They hadn¡¯t expected this move from Tang Jie, right before they were about to enter the formation. As the students were fighting over every second, none of them wanted to dy. Only Qinan, who wasn¡¯t fighting over the True Inheritor spot, was in no rush, but this had allowed him to be easily discovered by Tang Jie.


    This would make any sneak attack on him difficult.


    Nan Baicheng also nastily scowled. Taking in a deep breath, he said, ¡°I didn¡¯t think that he would be this cunning. He found you out before you even did anything. Fortunately, over thesest few days, I¡¯ve thought over this problem repeatedly, and I know that the only way he can help Wei Tianchong is to get to the Devil Crushing Path as quickly as possible and block it off. That being the case, Qinan, I need you to get through the formation even faster and enter the Devil Crushing Path. If another student gets there first, let them through. If Tang Jie gets there first, then¡­¡± Nan Baicheng made a chopping motion with his hand.


    Qinan was bbergasted. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a little too improper? This isn¡¯t the Valley of No Return¡­¡±


    ¡°But it has fiend beasts!¡± Nan Baicheng sinisterly said. ¡°They¡¯re weak fiend beasts, but that doesn¡¯t mean they¡¯re not dangerous, right?¡±


    Qinan¡¯s heart trembled. He knew that Nan Baicheng had panicked and had be like a crazed gambler that could not ept failure. All he could do was bow and reply, ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°Remember, you¡¯re at the Mortal Shedding Realm, so if you get thereter than Tang Jie, then you don¡¯t need to follow me in the future.¡±


    Qinan¡¯s heart trembled as he loudly said, ¡°This subordinate will obey!¡±


    He jumped off.


    Once all the students had disappeared into the formation, Nan Baicheng shouted, ¡°Start up the ship! To the Nine Pceplex!¡±


    The first thing to be seen uponnding was the churning fog.


    The scenery around him changed, and Tang Jie found that he was in a wide space. Under his feet was green grass and nearby was a dense grove of trees. He could make out a small mountain in the distance: Hurricane Peak.


    But Tang Jie knew that he was in the formation, so everything around him could be an illusion.


    The basic function of an illusion formation was to produce images. It couldn¡¯t make things that did exist disappear, but it could make things that didn¡¯t exist exist, thus mixing the real with the false into an indistinguishable mess.


    Top-ss illusion formations couldn¡¯t only produce various illusions. They could even produce cultivators that could think and talk, generate fiend beasts that could attack, and even shift space around, creating their own worlds.


    Thus, even though he was standing on Wind Devil Ind, all the spatialndmarks he could see might be fake, so it was difficult to find the right direction.


    For cultivators who didn¡¯t understand the Dao of Formations, the best method was to find andmark that they were certain of to get a sense of direction and have spiritual energy point the way toward the direction they should charge in.


    An illusion formation had a border, and if one persisted, one would be able to get out eventually.


    But this was the stupidest and slowest method. The best illusion formations could muddle the senses to a certain extent, and even spiritual energy guidance might gradually deviate and cause one to go around in a circle. This meant that cultivators constantly needed to find newndmarks and adjust their route.


    The vast majority of students would find it impossible to walk out of this formation that formation experts of the Seven Absolutions Sect hadid down on behalf of Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    Fortunately, for this trial, only two levels of the formation had been activated. If the students worked hard, they could still break through. The only difference would be in how much time it took.


    Tang Jie looked around. Instead of immediately setting off, he squatted down and grabbed some grass on the ground.


    As spiritual energy surged through the grass, it let off a green light, telling Tang Jie that this grass actually existed.


    He threw the grass into the air, where the wind blew, yet the grass drifted in the opposite direction, ultimatelynding to Tang Jie¡¯s left.


    ¡°The winds blow from north to south, so this direction is the south,¡± Tang Jie muttered, adjusting the direction he was facing.


    While the Nine Pce Illusion Formation could produce false images, it couldn¡¯t hide the truth, much less hide everything real about the ind, such as the air and the grass.


    Tang Jie had been tracking the direction of the wind before entering the formation, so by finding which way the wind was blowing, he could get a rough idea of which direction was where.


    But knowing the direction wasn¡¯t enough. He also needed to know where he was.


    He grabbed a rock and tossed it into the air, firing an Energy Needle at it.


    This Energy Needle flew at the rock, yet it brushed past it, which didn¡¯t surprise Tang Jie at all.


    In an illusion formation, all objects would suffer from deviation, with only items abundant in spiritual energy being unaffected. He had fired off the Energy Needle to test how great the deviation was. A momentter, he began to calcte.


    This was basic homework in the Dao of Formations. To be more precise, this was the only method that could be considered truly defeating a formation.


    The Nine Pce Illusion Formation was a major formation of an Immortal sect. Unorthodox thinking would get one nowhere. Calcting ording to the proper methods was the only correct path.


    As Tang Jie¡¯s fingers rapidly moved, he finished calcting the angle of deviation for the formation and raised his head to look at the distant Hurricane Peak.


    Although this Hurricane Peak was an illusion, it was a projection of the real mountain. Following his calctions, Tang Jie found that the real Hurricane Peak was actually behind him and to the side.


    Hurricane Peak was the most conspicuousndmark of Wind Devil Ind, and so it was the perfectndmark. After estimating the distance between him and thendmark, Tang Jie determined that he was somewhere on the western part of the ind and not at all far from the center of Wind Devil Ind.


    ¡°My luck is pretty good,¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    Calling out Yiyi and the tiger, Tang Jie pointed out a direction and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    He charged ahead.

 Chapter 223: The Waxen Sea

    Chapter 223: The Waxen Sea


    Tang Jie was like a gust of wind as he sprinted through the wilderness of Wind Devil Ind, the trees flying past him.


    Tang Jie had already pushed his speed to the maximum with the Violet Lightning Lunge, and with the Violet Lightning Boots, Tang Jie was like an arrow.


    If he kept up this pace, it wouldn¡¯t be long before he reached the boundary.


    But things clearly weren¡¯t that simple.


    After running for a moment, Tang Jie saw a valley appear in front of him. This valley diverted his original course, but there were three other paths that led off into the distance.


    Tang Jie knew that he had encountered the Paths of Reincarnation.


    The Paths of Reincarnation was one of the most basic structures of the Nine Pce Illusion Formation, a choice that everyone who entered the formation had to deal with. It could be said that it was only from here that one truly began to ovee the formation. Selecting the direction was merely a small test.


    The Paths of Reincarnation offered three paths, indicating close, medium, and far. The right side was the farthest, but there was no danger. Upon entering it, one would have a long run ahead of them, but someone who ran fast enough would get through eventually. The left gave a medium distance, but there were many fiend beasts blocking the path, so it would be a path forged through blood.


    The middle path was the shortest, but it was the true path of illusion. Upon entering it, one would feel as if their world had been flipped upside down, and there were countless lethal threats. Only the strong could survive, and only those proficient in formations could walk out.


    Although they differed in length, that didn¡¯t mean that one would arrive the soonest by taking the short path.


    The middle path was unpredictable, and once chosen, there was no going back. If one couldn¡¯t break through the formation as quickly as possible, one would end up being the slowest, or perhaps fail to break it at all and even die.


    The left path was difficult, and choosing this road meant a bloody battle. Thosecking in strength would also make no progress.


    The right path was smooth and open, but it was long. While one would make steady progress, there was basically no hope of ranking highly.


    Three paths and three choices, like three fates, presented themselves before each person.


    It was up to the person to choose what difficulties they faced.


    As for Tang Jie, fate had already chosen his path. Without even needing to think, he strode into the middle path.


    At the same time, across Wind Devil Ind, countless students were choosing their own path of reincarnation.


    On the eastern end of Wind Devil Ind, Wei Tianchong looked somewhat absentmindedly at the paths before him.


    In the past, he would have chosen the right path without hesitation, but today and now, Tang Jie was fighting for his sake. Wei Tianchong could not make this choice.


    Taking in a deep breath, Wei Tianchong stroked the little fox on the head and said, ¡°While there are three paths, there is only one choice for me. I don¡¯t dare to walk the middle path¡ªnot because I fear death, but for fear that I¡¯ll be trapped inside and let Tang Jie down. While the left path is dangerous, I promised Tang Jie that I would be in the first one hundred to reach the Devil Crushing Path, so I can¡¯t disappoint him. Little fox, I know that you look down on me, but I can promise you that no matter what dangers I encounter this time, I won¡¯t back down! Not only will I take the left path, I¡¯ll kill my way through as quickly as I can to meet up with Tang Jie!¡±


    The little fox looked at Wei Tianchong, its green eyes shing, but there was no telling what it was thinking.


    Wei Tianchongughed as he strode into the path.


    On the southwest corner of Wind Devil Ind, Long Dao stood in front of the Paths of Reincarnation, muttering, ¡°Thankfully, I came prepared this time. Since I¡¯m capable of breaking formations, what formation can stop me? Tang Jie, just you wait! This time, I¡¯ll be the first to reach the formation heart. True Inheritor¡­ With me around, don¡¯t even think about seeding!¡±


    He strode into the middle path.


    To the northwest, Peng Yaolong looked at the three paths, a fiery light in his eyes. Without hesitation, he walked into the middle path. He didn¡¯t understand formations, but that didn¡¯t hamper his self-confidence. He was sure that his fists could knock down all obstructions, crash through all dangers, and force his way through.


    Meanwhile, after carefully weighing his options, Ye Tianshang chose the left path. He was famed for his speed, and he wasn¡¯t as good at forcibly breaking formations as his peers. Thus, choosing the left path and killing his way through might be just as fast as taking the middle path.


    Meng Shixue took the middle path. It wasn¡¯t because she was particrly formidable when it came to breaking formations. Rather, she was confident that her focus and perception would prevent her from being fooled by the illusions.


    Shi Meng took the right path. Heckedbat power, but he was very proficient in the Rapid Step spell. The right path was long, but it was perfect for him.


    Ping Jingyue, An Rumeng, Liu Hongyan, and Qi Shaoming all chose the middle path. This wasn¡¯t because they were confident in their ability to break through the formation. Rather, none of them sought the True Inheritor positions and they were primarily here to temper themselves. The middle path was primarily about illusions, which was the heart of the Nine Pces, so it was only natural that they experience it. Moreover, since they were here, they needed to get some Azulwind Jades so that they hadn¡¯te for no reason. While the middle path was the most difficult, it also had the most Azulwind Jades.


    Cai Junyang chose the left path, his sword humming as it trembled in his hand. He smiled. ¡°Today, I¡¯ll see the results of my several months of cultivation!¡±


    After obtaining an inheritance from the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, Cai Junyang, who had thrown away so much in the past, had finally gotten back his aura of heroism.


    Shu Mingyang casually elected to take the middle path.


    The students chose the path that matched their conditions. This choice was also a self-evaluation of their strength, an acknowledgment of who they were.


    If their judgment was precise and correct, they would progress efficiently. If they were wrong about themselves and made the wrong choice, they would inevitably lose their chance.


    In this aspect, the Nine Pce Illusion Formation was truly an ideal ce for testing students. It not only tested their strength, but also their ability to judge themselves.


    Many people would only understand who they truly were after this battle, how far away they were from what they imagined themselves to be¡­


    With a single step, the surroundings became cloudy.


    The valley disappeared, to be reced with an azure sea. The shore could be faintly seen in the distance, yet it appeared high in the clouds.


    Tang Jie stood on a rock, and behind him stood the little tiger. Yiyi stood on his shoulder and looked around at the silence.


    The blue waves seemed endless, and the path they hade through was gone.


    There was no going back on the middle path!


    Drawing back his vision, Tang Jie tested the water with his feet. The water rippled, and the sole of his foot was soaked.


    Illusion sublimated into reality!


    This was an extremely high level of illusion formations, making illusory objects no different from the real thing. It was when the distinction between truth and fiction within the formation became indistinguishable, for such a distinction was no longer important. Everything in here, including the illusions, had the ability to kill you.


    In this oceanic formation, there was no way to figure out the right direction. With no target to aim for, many people would despair.


    It was a fantasy that surpassed reality that would cause those who entered the formation to be lost in memories and thoughts that were not their own.


    When a cultivator lost sense of both themselves and their surroundings, they would find it hard to escape.


    Fortunately, only twoyers of the Nine Pce Illusion Formation had been activated, so it did not affect one¡¯s mental state. Even the illusions it created only sought realism and not lethality. This was what allowed Tang Jie to focus on the situation at hand.


    Tang Jie looked around and swept his right hand through the air, shooting out spiritual energy. The water in front of him parted as he shouted, ¡°Divide earth into a cage!¡±


    To break a formation, one first needed to steady oneself.


    This act wasn¡¯t to break the formation, but to first protect himself. Once he had a sturdy foundation, he could charge forward.


    Tang Jie once more formed signs with his hands, firing off Energy Needles in all directions. These Energy Needles broke through the water¡¯s surface like bullets, howling through the air and knocking up pirs of water.


    Tang Jie inspected each of these water pirs, using the Eye of Heaven to observe them.


    This was the spirit-trigger method.


    What this meant was to use attacks to trigger a response from the illusion formation, observing these reactions to see how spiritual energy flowed and tracking them to their sources.


    While these illusions seemed real, they were ultimately illusions made by men, and their essence was still fake. No matter how real the illusion was, it could only appear real when not in motion. In the middle of a strong reaction, it was bound to show a flow.


    Breaking a formation usually started with the Eight Gates, but illusion formations specialized in concealment, confusing the directions and hiding the Eight Gates. To break the Eight Gates required carefully observing one¡¯s surroundings to find them first. The spirit-trigger method wasn¡¯t meant to see through the illusion, but to expose all hidden existences and allow one to work from there.


    The spirit-trigger method was one of the mostmon methods for breaking illusions, and even people who didn¡¯t understand formations could use it. But while spirit triggering was simple, tracing spiritual energy through the formation¡¯s reaction and discovering the formation¡¯s secrets was a challenging test of one¡¯s formation knowledge and observation ability.


    Tang Jie had been cultivating the Dao of Formations longer than he had been cultivating Immortality, and he would often set up illusion formations in the Wei Estate when he was bored, so he was familiar with all the basics of illusion formations. Besides that, he cultivated the Eye of Heaven and hadprehended the Dao of Insight, so seeing through these illusions wasn¡¯t hard.


    He had fired off eighteen bolts, creating eighteen pirs of water. His eyes instantly saw countless threads of spiritual energy densely covering the world like motes of dust.


    He stomped forward, his foot striking the surface of the sea but not sinking down. But a momentter, the earth turned, and Tang Jie was returned to the rock. Even moving a step was difficult.


    Tang Jie was not at all discouraged, continuing to step onto the sea three more times. This time, he finally managed to get onto the surface of the water, but when he turned his head, he saw that he was only half a step from the rock.


    Tang Jie barked and thrust out a palm, creating a wave that hurtled toward him. It turned into countless drops of water that passed through him but failed to wet him at all.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Peaceful oceans all around, but even moving forward is difficult. Energy circtes in all directions, yet it continues to linger¡­ This should be the Waxen Sea Illusion.¡±


    The Nine Pce Illusion Formation had countless illusions, and the Waxen Sea Illusion was one of them. In this ce, the surges of spiritual energy became a sea. Cultivators would encounter heavy resistance when trying to push forward, where even raising one¡¯s foot was a challenge. Trying to break through by force was difficult.


    But as Tang Jie had already identified it as the Waxen Sea Illusion, there was no way he would be affected by it.


    ¡°All spell arts in the world have their operating principle. Understanding this principle means that one can walk without fear!¡± Tang Jieughed as he pulled out the Heartbreak Saber and sent out a wave of energy. ¡°Unsheathe the de and part the waters!¡±


    As his saber shed against the ocean, the waters instantly parted. He truly had managed to part the sea with his de.


    Tang Jie continued to send out wave after wave of spiritual energy, aiming at key points in the sea while muttering, ¡°Kan (water) above and Kun (earth) below. Earth contains water! Fall!¡±


    With this ¡°fall¡±, the spiritual sea began to roil with waves.


    A dam appeared in the center of the parted sea, extending into the distance.


    Tang Jie had borrowed the power of the formation and the rtionship between Earth and Water to create a sea-spanning dam, a broad path.


    This method of breaking formations was called using an illusion to suppress an illusion. It did not seek to actually break the illusion, but to rely on the formation¡¯s own shifts to undo the illusion. It was the perfect method for the weak to deal with the strong. But only those who understood the operating principles of formations and could see the lines through which spiritual energy flowed could do it.


    As the dam appeared, Tang Jie heartilyughed. ¡°Illusions were born out of nothing, so if you build a wall, I will make adder. You have your endless sea, so I¡¯ll make an endless dam!¡±


    He jumped onto the dam and began to sprint along it.


    At the same time, in the Nine Pceplex.


    A white-browed elder sat in the center of the Nine Simtions Pce, a heavenly formation simtion diagram carved into the floor in front of him. Around him were 81nterns.


    Eighteen of thesenterns were lit while all the others were dark.


    In the center of the pce was a crystalline object that spun in the air while radiating light.


    The elder was seated beneath the crystal, his eyes closed in meditation. His right hand held a horsetail whisk while his left hand rested on his knee.


    ¡°Eh?¡± He raised his head. ¡°Someone saw through the illusion so quickly? And using a dam to cross the sea? Truly incredible!¡±


    He waved the horsetail whisk and looked up at the six-sided crystal above him.


    The crystal erupted with light, and a fuzzy image began to form within it.

 Chapter 224: Obstruction

    Chapter 224: Obstruction


    Once the Cloudsoarer Immortal ship parked above the Nine Pcesplex, it did not descend.


    Nan Baicheng waved his hand, and a rainbow cloud arrived under his feet and slowly carried him down.


    Countless servants were waiting down below. As Nan Baicheng descended, all of them bowed. ¡°Paying respects to the esteemed master!¡±


    Nan Baicheng waved his hand. ¡°No need. Where is Sir Ji at the moment?¡±


    A bright-eyed page replied, ¡°He¡¯s managing the formation from the Heart Anchor Hall.¡±


    ¡°Take me there!¡±


    The page quickly guided Nan Baicheng to the Heart Anchor Hall.


    Passing through the 81nterns, Nan Baicheng stood on the heavenly formation simtion diagram before the old man and bowed. ¡°Nan Baicheng pays respects to Brother Ji!¡±


    Ji Wujiu waved his horsetail whisk. ¡°Brother Nan is too polite. As Changfeng¡¯s disciple, you have the same seniority as me. There is no need for such courtesy.¡±


    Nan Baicheng smiled. ¡°But I cannotpare to Brother Ji. I can see from Brother Ji¡¯splexion and white hair that your energy and blood are exhausted, meaning that you¡¯ve entered the Three Witherings. This means you¡¯re half a step from Celestial Heart, and is truly worthy of congrattions.¡±


    Ji Wujiu squeezed out a smile. ¡°The Three Witherings are difficult to ovee, and if I don¡¯t do it properly, I will remain at this stage for the rest of my life, perhaps even dying a solitary man.¡±


    ¡°Brother Ji is greatly talented and won¡¯t be hindered by this obstacle in any way!¡± Nan Baicheng promptly ttered him, at the same time presenting a silk box. ¡°A small gift as a show of my consideration.¡±


    Ji Wujiu said, ¡°Brother Nan, is there really a need to be so polite?¡±


    Despite his words, he waved his whisk, putting the silk box away in his sleeve.


    The two of them exchanged pleasantries first. In terms of strength, Ji Wujiu was far above Nan Baicheng, being half-step Celestial Heart, but Nan Baicheng was Yan Changfeng¡¯s disciple, which carried outstanding weight. Let alone half-step Celestial Heart, even an actual Celestial Heart True Person would have to kowtow to True Person Changfeng. Thus, he was also polite to Nan Baicheng.


    Now that they had finished with the courtesies, Ji Wujiu said, ¡°I know of Brother Nan¡¯s reason foring. It just happens that a student broke through an illusion. I wonder if it is one of the two people you had me keep an eye on.¡±


    ¡°Someone has already broken through an illusion?¡± Nan Baicheng shuddered so fiercely that he almost fell over.


    What sort of joke was this?


    The Nine Pce Illusion Formation was an Immortal-level illusion formation. Even if only two of itsyers had been activated, the students of Basking Moon would need three to five days to break through it.


    Breaking through an illusion didn¡¯t mean breaking through the formation, but the illusions were the basis of the formation. If this student had broken through the illusion so quickly, could breaking the formation be far off? If this continued, the formation would be broken in half a day.


    He had only just arrived at the Nine Pceplex, and he was already hearing this news. His shock had reached the maximum level.


    Ji Wujiu waved his whisk, and a figure appeared on the crystal.


    Nan Baicheng saw the person and blurted out, ¡°Tang Jie! It really is him!¡±


    Tang Jie was sprinting through the Waxen Sea Illusion. The dam continued to extend endlessly into the ocean, and he continued to sprint without hesitation, resolve on his face.


    Ji Wujiu couldn¡¯t help but sigh as he watched. ¡°So this child is Tang Jie? He is intelligent and sharp, using illusions to deal with illusions¡­ He¡¯s a real talent.¡±


    Nan Baicheng inhaled. ¡°If he is allowed to get out of the formation first, he will undoubtedly startying traps on the Devil Crushing Path to hinder the other students and buy time for Wei Tianchong. The earlier he gets out, the more traps he cany¡­ Brother Ji, this is the person you must obstruct. Please, act and prevent him from breaking through!¡±


    Ji Wujiu lightly nodded. ¡°Out of respect for Brother Lin, I will assist you in this matter. But while the Nine Pce Illusion Formation is under my control and can change through my will, this is a test, not a defense against the enemy. I cannot casually ruin a student¡¯s attempt to break the formation.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t ruin them, but you can increase the difficulty.¡±


    ¡°That is true, but I have heard of this child¡¯s outstandingbat power. He once went one versus one hundred in the Student Forest, so such methods will most likely be ineffective.¡±


    ¡°In the battle at the Student Forest, none of the students had the intent to kill and they did not use lethal moves, which allowed him to unt his strength. While Tang Jie is fierce, he is only at the Spirit Lake Tier. If Brother Ji acts, you will certainly be able to hinder him.¡±


    Ji Wujiu shook his head. ¡°With only twoyers, the Nine Pce Illusion Formation has limited power. Ah, forget it. I will do all that I can. At least, I will make it harder for him to break the formation. Otherwise, my Horizon Ocean Pavilion would lose face if this got out.¡±


    In truth, while the Nine Pce Illusion Formation belonged to Horizon Ocean Pavilion, it had beenid down with the assistance of people from the Seven Absolutions Sect. If this news actually got out, Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s reputation wouldn¡¯t be damaged at all. Ji Wujiu was simply seeking an excuse for his actions. This wasn¡¯t because he needed to exin himself to anyone, but because he was half a step from Celestial Heart. He needed to start worrying about his Heart Demon, so he had to find an excuse for everything.


    Ji Wujiu waved his whisk again, and the raging sea on the crystal¡¯s surface changed!


    Tang Jie was running on the dam, his hands constantly firing off spiritual energy into crucial points in the sea, allowing the dam to keep rising up all the way until it reached the other side.


    As he was halfway there, he heard a howling, and a massive wave rose up from the ocean¡¯s surface. A massive snake emerged from the top of the wave and lunged at Tang Jie.


    ¡°A sea snake fiend?¡± Tang Jie¡¯s heart trembled as he elerated. <em>Boom!</em> The giant snake mmed into the dam, causing it to crumble. Dirt flew into the air and then dissolved into spiritual light.


    There was no way Wind Devil Ind could have such arge snake, so this sea snake had to be an illusion. But while it was an illusion, it still had some offensive power. If Tang Jie had to actually fight it, he could easily deal with it. The problem was that this was a creature born of illusion, which made it very problematic to deal with. No matter how much one ughtered in this ce, it would all be futile.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t want to get dragged down in a fight, so he charged forward as quickly as he could, and the sea snake pursued, a giant wave rising up from the ocean¡¯s surface.


    But Tang Jie was determined, and he knew that everything before him was an illusion, so he ignored it, sprinting forward using the Violet Lightning Lunge. The sea snake couldn¡¯t catch up to him, and no matter how angrily it roared, it could do nothing.


    At this moment, a dark silhouette appeared in front of Tang Jie and rushed toward him.


    Illusionary attacks were weak, more sound than actual fury, so Tang Jie ignored it and charged straight over. But as he intersected with that silhouette, Tang Jie suddenly paled and pulled out his saber.


    <em>Thud!</em>


    With a boom, Tang Jie collided with the dark silhouette, and while Tang Jie managed to knock it away, he had toe to a stop.


    Worst of all was that he had also stopped casting, so the dam stopped extending.


    Tang Jie stopped and took another look at the dark silhouette. It was a dark bull, and it was taking aim at Tang Jie with its horns, stomping on the ocean as it charged at him.


    ¡°Shit, it¡¯s real,¡± Tang Jie cursed.


    This ck bull had impressive charging power and was clearly no illusion. Rather, it was a real fiend beast of Wind Devil Ind, probably upper-grade Spirit Sensing. This fiend wasn¡¯t actually aquatic, and the appearance of walking on water was just an illusion. But there was nothing fictional about its attacks.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t be careless around an upper-grade Spirit Sensing fiend. He activated the Formless Golden Body and swung his saber at the bull.


    Even the upper-grade Spirit Sensing ck bull couldn¡¯t handle his current level of power, and it howled as it was sent flying. But it had a tenacious life force, and while this swing had hurt it, it was far from ending its life.


    At the same time, the sea snake caught up and bit at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t even dodge, punching out and roaring, ¡°Break!¡±


    His fist exploded on the snake¡¯s head, and then spiritual energy exploded, dispersing the sea snake into countless particles of light.


    But a momentter, the sea surged, and several dozen ck bulls appeared, charging across the waters.


    ¡°How is this possible?¡± Tang Jie was startled.


    While Wind Devil Ind had fiend beasts, this wasn¡¯t the Valley of No Return, where fiend beasts ruled. Most importantly of all, there were no Mind Opening fiend beasts.


    Since there were no Mind Opening fiend beasts, upper-grade Spirit Sensing fiend beasts ruled the roost.


    And when it came to fiend beasts, the kings lived alone while the weak lived in packs.


    The bull fiend was of the upper grade, so it was a king of the ind. Thus, unless there was something even stronger, there was no reason for the bulls to gather into a herd.


    There were now several dozen, and all of them were upper-grade. This was just too unbelievable.


    But with a thought, Tang Jie got it. All of these ck bulls were illusions.


    After all, all of these bulls were sporting wounds identical to the sh Tang Jie had given the first bull, which was clearly intentional.


    The Nine Pce Illusion Formation had illusory beast attacks, true. It had real beasts, also true.


    The problem was that it was very rare for illusory beasts and real beasts to appear at the same time.


    This situation could only mean one thing: someone was presiding over the formation.


    This stage was meant to test the ability of students to break the formation. While the formation was operating on its own, the person presiding over the formation was not to interfere. All shifts should be due to the normal operation of the formation. Yet the current situation was clearly deliberate.


    Someone was targeting him.


    Though he had mentally prepared himself for this, Tang Jie was still angry that the other party was being so brazen about it.


    <em>Nan Baicheng, are you telling me that I will never seed with you around?</em>


    <em>Do you really think these fake bulls mixed with the real one will be able to stop me? You¡¯re wrong!</em>


    Enraged, he stopped holding back, barking, ¡°Yiyi, use the Floral Formation at the weakest level!¡±


    Yiyi opened her hands, and arge formation of flowers appeared out of nowhere, coiling around the illusory bulls. While these bull fiends had been substantialized, they still didn¡¯t actually exist. They were inferior to the real bull in all aspects and were instantly stopped by the flower formation. Only that true bull remained as strong as ever, charging through the flower formation.


    Seeing this, Ji Wujiu couldn¡¯t help but curse, ¡°Idiot!¡±


    The bull fiendcked intelligence and didn¡¯t understand how to use the situation. With this weakest flower formation, Tang Jie had found the real bull, and with another swing of his saber, he heavily injured it. At the same time, a light shot out from the bull¡¯s horn, striking Tang Jie, but Tang Jie only swayed a little before grabbing the bull by the horn, raising it over his head, and then mming it into the ground, causing the bull to moo in distress.


    Back in the Valley of No Return, he could already challenge upper-grade Spirit Sensing fiends with his bare fists, and after several months of cultivation, his potential had been stimted and his strength had increased. Dealing with this bull was truly nothing but y for him, and Ji Wujiu and Nan Baicheng were both gobsmacked.


    But a momentter, the waves roared, and several dozen more illusory bulls appeared.


    s, this time, he wouldn¡¯t give them a chance.


    Tang Jie locked onto the real one, ignoring all these illusions and charging into the herd. He took on the illusory attacks as he grabbed the real bull by the horns and kicked the bull in the head.


    This one kick deformed the bull¡¯s head, and Tang Jie pressed the bull to the ground and began to savagely punch it.


    His fury spurred him to show no mercy, and he beat on the bull as if it was Nan Baicheng, his steel fists pummeling at its flesh, sending blood and gore flying into the air.


    The bull fiend desperately cried out and struggled, but it couldn¡¯t shake off this terrifying human.


    Its strength gradually died away and its cries went silent. It was finally lifeless, the unfortunate bull beaten into a pulp by Tang Jie. As for the illusory bulls, Yiyi and the tiger working together had long ago destroyed them.


    An upper-grade fiend beast coupled with many illusions would present an enormous problem to most students, but Tang Jie easily took care of them, leaving Ji Wujiu and Nan Baicheng stunned.


    Was this still a Spirit Lake student?


    Slowly drawing his hand back, Tang Jie spotted three shing azure lights in the bull¡¯s body. He reached in and pulled three azure jades of varying sizes.


    Azulwind Jades!


    The bull hadn¡¯t produced these in its body. Rather, Horizon Ocean Pavilion had intentionally fed the Azulwind Jades to the fiend beast. The jades were hardy and resisted digestion, but they would absorb the fiend beast¡¯s blood energy and grow richer in spirituality. These were known as glossed jades.


    Thus, Azulwind Jades obtained from the body of a fiend beast were even more valuable than regr Azulwind Jades.


    These three Azulwind Jades had probably been in the fiend beast for some time, and as they glistened in Tang Jie¡¯s hand, he could faintly hear the howling of the wind.


    But Tang Jie was unmoved.


    He looked up at the sky.


    Through the crystal, Tang Jie¡¯s eyes met Nan Baicheng¡¯s, and at that moment, Nan Baicheng¡¯s heart trembled. It was as if he had really met Tang Jie¡¯s gaze, and he inexplicably shivered.


    And then he saw.


    A fog stirred, and Tang Jie disappeared!

 Chapter 225: Pufeng County Lord

    Chapter 225: Pufeng County Lord


    An illusory fog surged up, robbing Ji Wujiu and Nan Baicheng of their sight.


    Nan Baicheng frowned. ¡°Brother Ji, what¡¯s going on?¡±


    Unperturbed, Ji Wujiu casually replied, ¡°That¡¯s what I should ask you. I intervened to shift the formation into attacking him, but this was too targeted, causing him to notice, so he naturally has to hide his tracks so I won¡¯t notice him. This child must possess some sort of illusion spell to do this, but as to how he did it? I¡¯m a distant spectator, so it¡¯s hard for me to tell.¡±


    After some thought, Nan Baicheng nodded and said, ¡°Yes, it was that sprite that kid is raising. It cany down illusion formations to hide tracks¡ªa simple trick that¡¯s easily undone.¡±


    But Ji Wujiu shook his head. ¡°No, no. My mixing in illusory beasts with the real thing is already too much intervention. If I break his spell, then this won¡¯t be a test anymore, but bullying a child.¡±


    Destroying Tang Jie¡¯s spells was the equivalent of directly attacking Tang Jie, and carried an entirely different meaning. He didn¡¯t have much of a rtionship with Nan Baicheng, and it wasn¡¯t worth his time to do so much for him.


    Suddenly, Ji Wujiu trembled, his eyes shining. ¡°The Waxen Sea Illusion has been broken!¡±


    Although Tang Jie had concealed himself with an illusion formation, Ji Wujiu was controlling the Waxen Sea, and so when the illusion broke, Ji Wujiu had immediately sensed it.


    In this little while, Tang Jie had sessfully broken through it.


    Nan Baicheng gasped. ¡°Brother Ji, you can¡¯t just let him push through like this!¡±


    Ji Wujiu sighed. ¡°Since I promised Brother Lin, I have to help you out. This child is strong and understands quite a lot about formations. Level 2 of the Nine Pce Illusion Formation seems to have no effect on him. But raising it to Level 3 will also affect the others, and he will ultimately be the only one to benefit. However, Brother Nan, rest easy. I might not be able to stop him from breaking the formation, but I still have many ways of dying him and preventing him from getting out first. Brother Nan, please look¡­¡±


    Ji Wujiu raised his horsetail whisk.


    Tang Jie had pushed out of the Waxen Sea Illusion and had returned to the wild in from before. Butpared to before he had entered the Paths of Reincarnation, he was now much closer to his goal.


    He had only made it a few steps when the valley reappeared, as did the three Paths of Reincarnation.


    Tang Jie was struck dumb, and Yiyi said in shock, ¡°What¡¯s going on here? Didn¡¯t we already break through the illusion?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°There are many illusion zones in the Nine Pce Illusion Formation, scattered about all over the ce. Even if you break through one illusion zone, if you keep going forward, you might run into a new illusion at any time.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying this is normal?¡± Yiyi sighed in relief.


    Tang Jie snorted. ¡°Encountering new illusions is normal, but the problem is that we just came out of one and barely made it a few steps before running into another. This isn¡¯t normal at all!¡±


    There was a hint of savagery in his tone.


    Wind Devil Ind was vast, and not even an Immortal tform Titan could make an illusion zone every step.


    How many resources would this waste?


    Wind Devil Ind wasn¡¯t worth that much.


    This situation could only mean that he was being targeted.


    Nan Baicheng was truly shameless. Since he couldn¡¯t raise the difficulty of the illusions, he just increased the number.


    If quality wasn¡¯t enough, quantity would fill the gap!


    While the illusion zones seemed vast, as these spaces were semi-independent, forming their own little worlds, running ten kilometers in the illusion might cover only one kilometer on Wind Devil Ind. The spatial scales werepletely off.


    Running into illusion zones at every step meant that several dozen kilometers became hundreds to thousands of kilometers¡­ and this was the shortest path.


    These were methods used against powerful foes to buy time!


    Yet they were being used on a little student. Tang Jie was so enraged that he almost wanted tough.


    There was nothing he could do about this. He just nodded and said, ¡°Good! Good! Since there are illusions at every step, I¡¯ll break them with every step! Let me see what sort of tricks the multitudes of illusion zones of the Nine Pce Illusion Formation can produce!¡±


    He once more charged through the middle path.


    <em>Your valleys can be as dangerous as you want. I¡¯ll still push straight forward!</em>


    The moment he entered the path, he was surrounded by the swirling sands of a vast desert.


    Tang Jie had gone from the ocean to a desert.


    Before Tang Jie could test anything out, a sandstorm howled toward him.


    ¡°A sandstorm? The Mirage Sand Illusion!¡± Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but be surprised by this sight.


    The Mirage Sand Illusion was one of the most dangerous illusion zones of the Nine Pce Illusion Formation. The test that those who entered it faced was none other than a sandstorm.


    Unlike other kinds of formations, illusion formations were not rated on their strength, but their ability to simte objects.


    Low-level formations could produce lifeless objects, and high-level formations could produce living beings, and the best formations could even control the minds of those who entered the formation.


    But this was precisely why controlling objects in an illusion formation was easier than controlling living beings.


    While illusion formations didn¡¯t focus on lethality, that didn¡¯t mean they couldn¡¯t kill. Rather, they achieved this by simting nature.


    Thus, when it came to illusion formations, true attacks didn¡¯te from illusory fiends, but in simtion of nature. They could reproduce natural phenomena, and the stronger the formation, the stronger the natural phenomenon would be.


    It was said that the full power of the most powerful offensive illusion formation could create a world of stars, and those within it would have to deal with the terrifying impact ofets.


    At that level, illusion formations were killing formations.


    The Nine Pce Illusion Formation was meant to dy, so it wasn¡¯t at that level, but this sandstorm blotted out the world, and its power could not be underestimated.


    Upon seeing this sandstorm, Tang Jie knew that Nan Baicheng was anxious to cause him trouble. The Waxen Sea had been a problem, but the Mirage Sand was clearly meant to kill him.


    But Tang Jie wasn¡¯t angry now.


    He couldn¡¯t be bothered to be angry.


    As he looked at the sand sweeping toward him, he chuckled. ¡°You want to kill me with that? You¡¯re looking down on me too much!¡±


    He grabbed some sand and blew on it. The grains of sand drifted in the air and turned into dazzling points of light. Tang Jie thrust out his finger several times, and the sand came together into an arrow that pointed toward the west.


    ncing at the arrow, Tang Jie chuckled and patted the tiger. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    When an illusion formation focused on killing, its illusory power would weaken. It was hard to hide from the Eye of Heaven, and Tang Jie immediately found the correct path.


    There was no need to fight in this zone, only to outrun the sandstorm.


    Suddenly, a light shed on Tang Jie¡¯s waist.


    Looking down, he saw a line of words appear on the jade amulet: ¡°I¡¯m at Wind Devil Ind.¡±


    A light ship sliced through the azure waters.


    Manning the boat was a girl wearing a green dress, holding a long bamboo pole which she used like a punt to push the boat forward, making it seem like the ship was traveling on a little river in a city rather than on the open ocean.


    Xu Miaoran was seated on the ship while the red-garbed Hong Yuan poured her tea.


    The little ship was entirely unaffected by the high winds and surging waves, the tea dribbling into the cup with nary a ripple.


    A paper crane flew out of Xu Miaoran¡¯s hand, pping its wings toward Wind Devil Ind and vanishing in a puff of smoke.


    Xu Miaoran faintly smiled. ¡°He really is on Wind Devil Ind.¡±


    She didn¡¯t need a reply from Tang Jie. She could tell he was there purely from the paper crane¡¯s reaction.


    Hong Yuan smiled. ¡°The young miss is anxious to meet her boyfriend. Xian Tao, why don¡¯t you row a little faster?¡±


    The green-garbed girl red at Hong Yuan.


    But Xu Miaoran wasn¡¯t provoked, coolly saying, ¡°I¡¯m still not even sure if he¡¯s my boyfriend. We just met once, and we exchange letters from time to time, so it¡¯s hard to not be worried about him. I just came to see how he¡¯s doing. If he can truly make me fall in love, then I won¡¯t deny it.¡±


    ¡°But, Young Miss, Horizon Ocean Pavilion can¡¯t be said to have a particrly good rtionship with the Basking Moon Sect, and besides, you¡¯re the daughter of a True Lord while Tang Jie is just a student. How can he match you?¡± Hong Yuan immediately said.


    ¡°The rtionship isn¡¯t good, but we¡¯re not sworn enemies. It¡¯s only because they have to show some respect for the Thousand Passions Sect. Even so, don¡¯t we still work together sometimes? As for matching me¡­ he just needs to work harder. The Immortal path is long and the Great Dao is boundless. Marrying the daughter of a True Lord can¡¯t possibly be harder than ascending to the apex of the Immortal path, right?¡± Xu Miaoran casually replied.


    Only the fiend women of Horizon Ocean Pavilion could say such things. Elsewhere, these words would have been considered offensive to everyone and utterly reckless.


    Hong Yuan was young and carefree, so when she heard these words, she immediately started poking Xu Miaoran¡¯s face,ughing, ¡°No shame, no shame! He hasn¡¯t even said that he likes you yet.¡±


    Xu Miaoran grinned. ¡°If I like him, I¡¯ll pursue him. What does him liking me have to do with it?¡±


    She stood up, waving a silk sleeve, and the boat shot like an arrow toward the ind, kicking up froth. From this one move, it was clear that Xu Miaoran was much stronger than before.


    Someone from Horizon Ocean Pavilion was already waiting on the shore when the boat arrived. Upon seeing the three, a young man came forward and bowed. ¡°Which senior sister from the school has honored us with your presence?¡±


    While this light ship unique to Horizon Ocean Pavilion was small, it was an art relic that crossed the seas like they were tnd, among other wondrous uses. Not just any student of Horizon Ocean Pavilion could own one. Thus, the people of Wind Devil Ind immediately knew that this person was not to be taken lightly.


    Hong Yuan jumped out of the ship and said, ¡°Sorrowgone¡¯s outer disciple, the Pufeng County Lord!¡±


    The group from Wind Devil Ind immediately paled and dropped to their knees. ¡°Paying respects to the Pufeng County Lord!¡±


    ¡°Sorrowgone¡± was the official name of Xu Guanghua, Xu Miaoran¡¯s father. Because of his Sorrowgone Celestial Art, he was known as Sorrowgone Xu.


    As for ¡°Pufeng County Lord¡±, this was Xu Miaoran¡¯s title.


    Xu Guanghua was one of the supporting pirs of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, so his beloved daughter was naturally a big deal. The first thing the King of Endsea had done was grant her thend of Pufeng County. Byw, once she became an adult, 15% of the local tax revenue would be hers, and she would have the privilege to appoint or dismiss any official below the county magistrate.


    She had be a county lord before she was even one hundred days old, so most only knew her as the Pufeng County Lord.


    Most bigshots were known more for their titles than their actual names. Thus, most of Endsea wouldn¡¯t know who you were talking about if you mentioned Xu Miaoran, but everyone would instantly know that you were talking about the Sorrowgone True Lord¡¯s daughter if you brought up the Pufeng County Lord. Compared to secr positions, True Lords were far more deserving of respect.


    But even though Xu Miaoran was Xu Guanghua¡¯s daughter, she could only call herself an outer disciple, not a real disciple.


    The rules of Immortal sects all required True Inheritors to formally take a master, and not even one¡¯s own sons and daughters were exceptions. The reason for this was that the Immortal arts they cultivated might not be suited for their progeny. Thus, it wasmon for their children to be outer disciples of other people. Nothing could be done without rules, which was why rules existed. While Xu Miaoran was the daughter of the Sorrowgone True Lord, she was not Sorrowgone¡¯s True Inheritor.


    It was said that Xu Guanghua hoped to have her enter the tutge of another True Lord, Celestial Miaoyin, and that this was why Xu Miaoran¡¯s name contained the word ¡°Miao¡±.


    This was why the Wind Devil Ind group had immediately prostrated upon hearing this title, not even daring to raise their heads to look at Xu Miaoran.

 Chapter 226: The Prison of Mortal Coil

    Chapter 226: The Prison of Mortal Coil


    Stepping off the ship, Xu Miaoran waved her hand and said, ¡°All of you, rise. I happened to be passing through and saw Wind Devil Ind engulfed in fog, as if the Nine Pce Illusion Formation had been activated, so I came to see if some powerful enemy had attacked.¡±


    Hong Yuan saw how serious her youngdy was being, and thought, <em>You¡¯ve clearlye to see your boyfriend, but you say that you¡¯re just passing through. Really, you might as well put up a sign.</em> She almost wanted tough, but Xian Tao was tactful and pushed her, preventing her from doing so.


    Someone replied, ¡°County Lord, you misunderstand. The Basking Moon Sect has borrowed the Nine Pce Illusion Formation to test its students. The ind master has already reported this matter to those above, and the formation was only activated after receiving permission.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Xu Miaoran seemed enlightened. ¡°It sounds rather amusing. I¡¯ve never tried the Nine Pce Illusion Formation before, so since I¡¯m here¡­¡±


    She dropped and seemed to think. ¡°Xian Tao, Hong Yuan, let¡¯s experience this Nine Pce Formation together. Let¡¯s see if these Basking Moon Sect students are more formidable than Xu Miaoran.¡±


    She stepped into the formation.


    Three girls suddenly appeared on the six-edged crystal.


    Ji Wujiu spotted these three and was taken aback at first. He took a careful look and then shot to his feet, losing all of his transcendent aura as he shouted in shock, ¡°Why is she here?¡±


    Nan Baicheng looked in confusion at Xu Miaoran¡¯s image on the crystal. ¡°Who is this girl?¡±


    Ji Wujiu calmed himself down and answered, ¡°This woman is Xu Miaoran, the daughter of Sorrowgone Xu.¡±


    ¡°That Pufeng County Lord?¡± Nan Baicheng couldn¡¯t help but be shocked. ¡°Why is she here?¡±


    ¡°How would I know?¡± Ji Wujiu shot back. ¡°Maybe she got bored and came out to have some fun. This woman is a restless spirit. In fact, she just recently ran away to go traveling.¡±


    ¡°Will she affect us?¡±


    ¡°Hard to say. Since she¡¯s here, it bes inconvenient for me to do some things. If she finds out and reports it to her superiors¡­¡± Ji Wujiu shook his head.


    Nan Baicheng¡¯s heart sank. These were the words he feared the most.


    Tang Jie was still charging through the formation, breaking through illusion zone after illusion zone. He was simply unstoppable, none of Ji Wujiu¡¯s measures able to stop his advance, only slow him down. Wouldn¡¯t restraining his hand now only allow Tang Jie to push straight through?


    ¡°Brother Ji, this matter is rted to my master¡¯s True Inheritor. Please, help me!¡± Nan Baicheng anxiously said.


    Ji Wujiu sighed. ¡°While the Nine Pce Illusion Formation has many illusion zones, there is a limit. If one ce has many, the other ces will have fewer. Byying down so many illusion zones in front of Tang Jie, I¡¯ve had to shift around the formation and shuffle around its spiritual energy, leaving clues behind everywhere. The Basking Moon students don¡¯t know the secrets of the Nine Pce Illusion Formation, so there¡¯s no fear of them noticing. But Xu Miaoran is the daughter of a True Lord, and her family¡¯s teachings contain some knowledge about the Nine Pce Illusion Formation. Look¡­¡±


    He pointed at the image of Xu Miaoran on the crystal. Xu Miaoran was gracefully leading her two maids through Wind Devil Ind, experiencing little danger.


    Ji Wujiu continued, ¡°Unless someone is presiding over it, the Nine Pce Formation operating on its own will not distinguish between friend and foe, imprisoning anyone that enters it. But look at her go. She¡¯s essentially avoided every illusion zone, traversing the pivotal points. You can see that she has quite some understanding of the formation. If I continue to interfere, she will definitely notice. I still had some tricks to slow down Tang Jie, but it seems I won¡¯t be able to use them.¡±


    ¡°If she notices, fine. My Basking Moon Sect has rented this ind to test the students, and Brother Ji simply did as I instructed. While the Nine Pce Illusion Formation is an imprisoning formation, it is much weaker if no one is around to control it, bing a lifeless formation. Since we came here to test students, I naturally requested Brother Ji to intervene and increase the difficulty,¡± Nan Baicheng immediately said.


    Ji Wujiu chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s what you say, but things are different if all the shifts target only a single person. Isn¡¯t Brother Nan worried about this getting out and being used against you?¡±


    ¡°For my master¡¯s sake, some concerns have to be put aside.¡±


    Ji Wujiu shook his head. ¡°That won¡¯t do at all. Brother Nan, I feel as if you¡¯ve been enraged by Tang Jie, focusing all of your attention on him. But think about it from another angle. Since we can¡¯t stop Tang Jie, why try? Isn¡¯t your real goal to stop Wei Tianchong from bing the True Inheritor?¡±


    As Ji Wujiu spoke, he waved his horsetail whisk, and countless figures shed on the crystal, as if he was flipping through countless cameras, until Wei Tianchong appeared.


    He was currently in a narrow passage. asionally, some savage fiend beast would ambush him. Some were real and some were illusions, and sometimes, they came out together.


    The left path had more fiend beasts than the middle path, and the path was also longer, but at least one could be sure that one was traveling in the right direction and wouldn¡¯t be harried by illusion zones.


    Wei Tianchong was fighting his way through, the puppet and fox guarding his left and right nks. He held a small axe and was swinging it again and again, asionally throwing out a fireball or shadow soldier to pester his enemies.


    He wasn¡¯t moving fast, but his pace was steady and resolved.


    ¡°Wei Tianchong?¡± Nan Baicheng froze for a moment. ¡°Brother Ji, do you mean¡­¡±


    ¡°If you want to stop someone, let¡¯s stop the main character. So long as the main character doesn¡¯t arrive, what does it matter that Tang Jie enters the Devil Crushing Path?¡± Ji Wujiu sinisterly said. ¡°If he wants to hold the Devil Crushing Path against other students, let him. He can hold them off for a moment, but how long can he hold out?¡±


    Nan Baicheng hesitated. ¡°I understand what Brother Ji is getting at. The problem is that Wei Tianchong chose the left path. While the left path isn¡¯t as fast as the middle path, it doesn¡¯t allow for befuddling of direction. So long as he presses forward, he¡¯lle out eventually. Stopping him¡­¡±


    ¡°Brother Nan, you¡¯re looking down on my Nine Pce Illusion Formation a little too much. Just because the Nine Pce Formation focuses on illusions, that doesn¡¯t mean the left path is so easily broken through. I only need to make a slight alteration to hold him down and guarantee that he won¡¯t get out for a bit. Not even Xu Miaoran will be able to say anything about such a small shift.¡±


    Ji Wujiu pointed at one of the 81nterns as he shouted, ¡°Prison of Mortal Coil!¡±


    As he spoke, the path in front of Wei Tianchong suddenly churned with fog. All of the fierce fiend beasts on the narrow path disappeared, reced by a pitch-ck space.


    Countless lights lit up in this space, each of them actually a door.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Wei Tianchong waspletely baffled by what he was seeing.


    He didn¡¯t understand what was going on, so he decided not to think about it. Since the path had changed into this dark space, he would find an exit.


    He pushed open a door.


    The door had just opened when numerous vines rushed out, wrapping around Wei Tianchong like tentacles and pulling him into the door.


    Wei Tianchong was aghast. Although he didn¡¯t know what was behind the door, he knew that it had to be exceptionally dangerous. He hurriedly ordered the puppet to hold him fast so that the vines couldn¡¯t pull him into the door. The situation became a tug of war, both sides pulling against each other and neither making progress.


    Ji Wujiu chuckled. ¡°He managed to run into the Vampire Vine on his first door. This kid has some terrible luck.¡±


    Nan Baicheng¡¯s eyes constricted. ¡°This is the Prison of Mortal Coil?¡±


    The Prison of Mortal Coil was the most famous and most difficult of the Nine Pce Illusion Formation¡¯s illusion zones. Entering this zone was like entering a maze. Behind its countless doors were various dangers, and only one path would lead to the Devil Crushing Path. If the Nine Pce Illusion Formation were operating at full power, the Prison of Mortal Coil could even simte the mortal world. The fantasies that one would encounter there would make one forget one¡¯s past and lose oneself in various different lives.


    Even if one escaped, one would once again be confronted by countless doors, and if one chose the wrong door, one would have to face another illusory life.


    Thus, it was known as the Prison of Mortal Coil.


    Only twoyers of the Nine Pce Illusion Formation had been activated, so there were no mental illusions, only various savage beasts lurking behind the doors. The Prison of Mortal Coil no longer matched its name, but it still served as a befuddling maze.


    The only way to break through this zone was to understand the principles by which the formation operated and find the correct path. Of course, if one couldn¡¯t do that, one could just try the doors one by one.


    There were hundreds of doors, each one concealing a danger. The slightestck of caution might cause one to lose their life in the formation.


    Unlike the other illusion zones, the Prison of Mortal Coil wasn¡¯t a stand-alone illusion zone. Rather, it was an illusion zone made bypacting together all of the zones behind it, like saving up energy so that it could all be unleashed at once. For example, Guan Yu had to pass through five passes one by one and kill six generals, but now, the soldiers from all five passes would be gathered at one spot to deal with Guan Yu. This was one of the normal methods the Nine Pce Illusion Formation used to deal with enemies, and nobody could object to it.


    But this also meant that breaking through this zone would allow one to immediately reach the Devil Crushing Path.


    Ji Wujiu hadn¡¯t used this zone against Tang Jie precisely because Tang Jie was far too strong for any illusion zone of the Level 2 formation to do much to him. Using the Prison of Mortal Coil on him would just be saving him time.


    That was why he had instead elected to slow Tang Jie down using numerous ordinary illusion zones.


    But for Wei Tianchong, someone who would never be able to ovee a difficult trial, this was far more effective than letting him steadily advance. And it would be even better if he died in the formation.


    Wei Tianchong was desperately struggling against the Vampire Vine. The vine¡¯s sharp thorns had jabbed into his flesh and started to suck his blood, and a powerful force was attempting to drag him through the door.


    ¡°Aaah!¡± Wei Tianchong fearfully yelled.


    He couldn¡¯t understand how the Nine Pce Illusion Formation could have such a terrifying being. These vines were like venomous snakes, and even possessed toothy maws that crazily bit at him and tore off chunks of his body. Yet they were also incredibly strong and stood fast against any attempt to shake them off.


    Although he had been through battles before and had even been forced by Tang Jie into killing someone, his life had never truly been in danger.


    Tang Jie knew this, and he knew that it was hard to raise a true talent without making them taste a little of death, but a person had only one life, and who would dare to risk it?


    Thus, no matter how much Tang Jie helped Wei Tianchong, he had never had him face a mortal battle alone.


    While the trip to Tiger Roar Peak had been frightening, it had ultimately been a quick in-and-out, and Wei Tianchong could still run. And while the Valley of No Return had been dangerous, Yiyi and Cai Junyang had been there to help him.


    Surprisingly, the deathly experience that Tiger Roar Peak and the Valley of No Return had not been able to provide had instead been provided by the rtively safe Nine Pce Illusion Formation.


    Wei Tianchong felt like the shadow of death was gettingrger andrger before his eyes as the savage Vampire Vine attacked him.


    His physical strength was gradually being sucked away by the vines, and his body was being dragged into the door, not even the puppet able to anchor him down.


    He thought to himself in fear, <em>Am I going to die?</em>

 Chapter 227: The Gigantes Domain

    Chapter 227: The Gigantes Domain


    <em>Am I going to die here?</em>


    <em>No!</em>


    <em>Absolutely not!</em>


    <em>I haven¡¯t be a True Inheritor yet!</em>


    <em>I haven¡¯t entered Celestial Heart!</em>


    But Tang Jie wasn¡¯t here, and the helping hand that he had always relied on couldn¡¯t aid him. No one else could save him. He was the only person who could save himself.


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s mind suddenly cleared up. That ¡°mortal battle¡± on Tiger Roar Peak had at least given him a little experience, letting him know that when one¡¯s life was at stake, one could not panic no matter what.


    He opened his eyes wide and tried his best to calm himself down. While the stalemate was still going on, he desperately attempted to turn his head so that he could get a look at what was happening around him.


    He saw that the puppet was desperately pulling on him, and even the little fox had joined it.


    The little fox?


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s eyes brightened, and he hollered, ¡°Use Void de on my hand!¡±


    <em>Hmm?</em>


    The little fox looked at Wei Tianchong.


    ¡°Hurry!¡± Wei Tianchong yelled.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    An arc of light flew across Wei Tianchong¡¯s arm, the Void de instantly slicing apart the vines covering it. But it also left a deep wound on his right arm.


    s, there were simply too many vines, and the Void de covered too little area. Cutting off all the vines was impossible.


    Wei Tianchong seized this moment to pull his arm free. Grabbing his axe, he hacked at his left hand.


    The Vampire Vine had coiled around his left hand, but with two strikes of the axe imbued with the Ghost Axe spell, two of the vines broke, and he was able to move around his left hand a little. But in aiming the axe at his left arm, he had almost hacked to the bone, and he was in such pain that he howled.


    But he pushed through the pain and formed a spell with his left hand.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    A fireball appeared out of his left hand and hurtled toward the Vampire Vine.


    mes exploded into the air and the Vampire Vine let out a screech.


    Several vines drew back, and Wei Tianchong leaned forward and swung his axe at the thick stalk of the Vampire Vine.


    As his axe cut through, Wei Tianchong shouted, ¡°Seize!¡±


    The puppet strode forward, letting go of Wei Tianchong and grabbing the vine in front of it.


    This grab was excellently ced, seizing the vine right in the middle.


    Originally, the puppet had been struggling with the vine through Wei Tianchong, and Wei Tianchong was like an object bound by rope pulled from both sides.


    Now that the puppet hade forward and around Wei Tianchong, it had essentially grabbed the middle of the rope, so the bound object behind it was no longer subject to as much force.


    Wei Tianchong seized this chance to raise his axe again, hacking at his left and right legs. As the puppet had seized the vines up ahead, the Vampire Vine could no longer apply force to hold Wei Tianchong fast, and he was finally able to break through.


    Rolling, Wei Tianchong formed a spell and pointed forward. A Darkwind Warrior emerged from the void and rushed at the Vampire Vine.


    Darkwind Warriors were much stronger than Evilhook Shadow Soldiers. While the Vampire Vine was busy with the puppet, the warrior tore at the Vampire Vine with its ws.


    The little fox was just about to use Void de when Wei Tianchong shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t use it!¡±


    The little fox froze as it watched Wei Tianchong get to his feet, his entire body covered in blood. All four of his limbs were injured, and the Vampire Vine had poked several holes in his body. A few severed vines were still iling on his body like snakes. All of this was simply terrifying to behold, but Wei Tianchong¡¯s face was brimming with killing intent as he spoke. ¡°There are so many doors here, and the vast majority of them probably contain some danger. You can¡¯t use your Void de that many times, so it has to be saved for critical moments. Shit, damned thing, I¡¯ll eat you! Fuck you!¡±


    He began to wildly swing his axe at the Vampire Vine.


    He was like a frenzied lumberjack, swinging his axe again and again. The Vampire Vine¡¯s vines were hacked off, and it sttered blood all over Wei Tianchong¡¯s body, but Wei Tianchong continued to hack away. His wounds had not dispelled the will to fight in his chubby body, only stoked it higher. As he hacked, he shouted, ¡°I¡¯ll mince you up! We¡¯ll see how savage you are once you¡¯re nothing but a pile of rotten wood!¡±


    <em>Boom!</em> Another fireball flew out, and the Vampire Vine shrieked as the mes burned it away. Finally, it withered and crumbled, leaving behind only a bright pearl and a piece of azure jade.


    ¡°Whew!¡± Wei Tianchong weakly plopped to the ground, pain rushing in from every part of his body, and he was seized by the desire to sleep.


    But a momentter, Wei Tianchong stood up and muttered, ¡°I can¡¯t fall¡­ I promised Tang Jie¡­ I have to get to the Devil Crushing Path as soon as possible¡­ He¡¯s waiting for me¡­¡±


    He took out a bottle of medicine and took a wound-healing pill, after which he looked again at this dark space.


    The Vampire Vine¡¯s door had disappeared.


    But there were still hundreds of doors twinkling in this space.


    Wei Tianchong felt a surge of helplessness.


    <em>How many doors will I have to open before I can make it out of this damned maze?</em>


    He didn¡¯t know, but he had to keep going.


    He took in a deep breath and opened another door¡­


    ¡°Interesting¡­ He was able to ovee the Vampire Vine, and he¡¯s moving onto the second door so quickly.¡±


    In the hall, Ji Wujiu was looking at the scene on his crystal, and he couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. ¡°Brother Nan, you said this child was foolish andcked resolve, making him unfit to be True Person Changfeng¡¯s disciple. But it looks to me that he¡¯s rather persistent, and he can keep his cool when his life¡¯s on the line and show off a courageous and savage side. He even knows to have his pet conserve its strength to be used forter. This is a decent performance.¡±


    Nan Baicheng¡¯s face was dark as he said, ¡°His life being in danger spurred his will to fight, and he was able to keep calm in the face of danger¡­ This truly is rather surprising. You just don¡¯t know how timid and cowardly this child acted before this. This is also my first time seeing this.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Ji Wujiu understood. ¡°Some people will normally be very brave and fierce, but when their life is in danger, they¡¯ll be timid and falter. And there are some people who are normally cowardly and afraid of death, but when their life is at stake, they erupt with immense potential. It now appears that this child of the Wei n is of thetter sort. He normally might put on an embarrassing disy in his normal life, but at the truly critical moments, he can resolve his Origin Heart and put on a good show.¡±


    ¡°Mm,¡± Nan Baicheng grunted.


    Even Nan Baicheng had to admit after seeing Wei Tianchong¡¯s performance that he had misjudged him somewhat.


    Ji Wujiu chuckled. ¡°Since this Wei Tianchong isn¡¯t as awful as Brother Nan initially thought, does Brother Nan want to change his mind?¡±


    After thinking it over, Nan Baicheng shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s true that Wei Tianchong was able to explode with potential when faced with death, but he¡¯s not the only one in the world who can face down death without fear. While one¡¯s attitude in normal times isn¡¯t as important as one¡¯s attitude when faced with danger, how many times will one be faced with death in a lifetime? Whenever my master meets someone, is he going to have to say, ¡®While my disciple is normally pretty awful, when his life is on the line, he¡¯s actually rather capable¡¯? Since there are already so many students who put on excellent performances normally and in key moments to select from, why should I choose a junior disciple who only shows his worth at key moments?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°Moreover, a disciple often has to represent the dignity of their master. A disciple who is generally ipetent will generally bring shame to their master. My master, True Person Changfeng, has a real temper, and he would prefer you were ipetent at moments of life and death over being ipetent daily. Thus, this child¡­ is ultimately no good.¡±


    ¡°That being the case, then let him stay in the Prison of Mortal Coil and see if he can maintain his resolve and fight his way out,¡± Ji Wujiu chuckled. ¡°In the Prison of Mortal Coil, it is easy to start off brave, but it¡¯s difficult to maintain it. This zone not only tests one¡¯s will, but also one¡¯s confidence, focus¡­ and resolve!¡±


    By now, Wei Tianchong was already battling with the savage creature behind the second door.


    This time, it was a spotted tiger, but it was an illusory beast, so itcked the ferocity of the Vampire Vine and was soon in by Wei Tianchong.


    But the Prison of Mortal Coil had countless dangers. Though he had ovee two, there were still countless more trials waiting.


    He needed to keep opening doors, releasing the dangers behind them and killing them, to have a chance of getting out of this ursed prison.


    There was no telling whether Tang Jie could wait that long.


    He couldn¡¯t even be sure that Tang Jie would be the first to get into the Devil Crushing Path.


    If he couldn¡¯t even do that, Wei Tianchong would be fighting this bitter battle for nothing.


    But Wei Tianchong believed in Tang Jie.


    He believed that Tang Jie could do it more than he believed in himself.


    No matter what, he couldn¡¯t disappoint Tang Jie.


    Just as Ji Wujiu had said, this was a test of fighting will, patience, endurance, resolve, and trust.


    One would be sharp at first, but this sharpness would be ground down with time, and over the long battles, his physical strength would drop, as would his confidence.


    Once one had broken through countless doors and killed numerous fiends, one would have consumed vast amounts of strength, and there was no telling how resolved one would be once one had spent numerous hours in this illusion zone.


    Momentary courage wasn¡¯t rare, but to keep up hope and persevere in the middle of desperate straits constituted true courage.


    This would have been an unimaginably difficult test for even Tang Jie. How could Wei Tianchong endure?


    Run!


    Constant running!


    Running from the ocean to a desert, and out of a sandstorm into an icy mountain.


    Tang Jie ran through countless illusion zones.


    There were dark swamps, mountains of fire, quiet forests, and even the Yellow Springs, dark hells, worlds of evil wind¡­


    The scenes were constantly changing, and as he ran, he saw all the beauty and wonder that the Great Chiliocosm had to offer.


    As he ran, it was like he was traveling through all of the Great Ster Chiliocosm, living out a long life, watching countless movies y in front of his eyes.


    The Nine Pce Illusion Formation had beenid down by an elder of the Seven Absolutions Sect, Reverend Scarlet Brow.


    This man had traveled the world in his early days, and after reaching Immortal tform, he broke through the domain and traveled the Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    Before his death, he returned to the Rosecloud Domain and unleashed his Returned Remnants on a blessednd of the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    The Nine Pce Illusion Formation was hisst product before he returned his remnants to the earth.


    Although this formation did not specialize in killing, it contained all things, including Reverend Scarlet Brow¡¯s understanding of the Great Ster Chiliocosm. Many of the illusion zones were based on his experience in the outer realms, and the formation could be considered apacted form of the Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    This was exactly why many bigshots who sought to ascend and ovee the Astral Winds would first experience the Nine Pce Illusion Formation.


    For the Basking Moon Academy students, a simple excursion like this wasn¡¯t enough for them to truly experience the Great Ster Chiliocosm. But by targeting him, Ji Wujiu had essentially allowed Tang Jie to truly experience the charms of the Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    Even though he was worried about Wei Tianchong, Tang Jie still couldn¡¯t help but take in the magnificent vistas that served as the basis for these illusion zones and express wonder at the countless sights of the universe.


    After running through so many illusion zones that he lost count, he found that there was a giant city up ahead of him.


    This city was enormous, its walls alone rising to a height of five hundred feet, the city gate one hundred feet. As he stood at the base of its walls, he felt like an ant. Over the walls, he could vaguely make out the towering buildings of the city. Even an ordinary house was at least three timesrger than a house in the Rosecloud Domain.


    Although he knew that this was an illusion zone, Tang Jie still couldn¡¯t help but be shaken by the grandeur of this enormous city.


    After some thought, Tang Jie entered.


    The moment he stepped through the gate, the empty city was filled with countless people.


    These people had giant bodies, even the smallest child being the height of a normal adult.


    As they strolled through the streets of the city,ughter and the sounds of peddlers hawking their wares could be heard throughout.


    One of the giants walked over and ran right into Tang Jie, but Tang Jie made no effort to move. The giant passed through his body and continued forward.


    As expected, it was all an illusion.


    ¡°Is this the legendary Gigantes Domain?¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    The ¡°Travelogue of the Wilds¡± said that there was a domain in the Great Ster Chiliocosm known as Gigantes. The cultivators of this domain cultivated blood energy instead of spirit, so their bodies were allrge and powerful.


    The tall and muscr figures of these people matched the descriptions of the Gigantes Domain. For some reason, Tang Jie felt them to be familiar, but he couldn¡¯t understand where he had seen them before.


    However, he was in a rush to reach the Devil Crushing Path, so he threw aside these thoughts and continued forward.


    The illusory giants around him went about their business¡ªloudly talking, confidently striding, hastily running, haggling with vendors¡ªand it was all very bustling and lively.


    Tang Jie knew that Reverend Scarlet Brow had probably seen all this when passing through the Gigantes Domain, and it was now being reyed through his supreme Immortal arts.


    Suddenly, there was a mor in the distance, and a red light erupted on the horizon.


    A momentter, countless giants bellowed in shocked anger and began to shout into the distance.


    A blood-red cloud swept out, drifting over the city. Those giants looked at that red cloud with fear in their eyes.


    Tang Jie then saw countless figures jumping out of the bloody cloud, flying through the air.


    As they got closer, Tang Jie was able to tell that these were fiends and demons in a variety of shapes and sizes.


    Some of them had four arms while others had skin as red as blood. Some had bodies covered in scales while others had horns growing from their heads.


    If there was onemonality, it was that they all had savage expressions and were moving like lightning. They lunged on the city below, screeching as the light of spell arts exploded.


    The Gigantes city was instantly engulfed in innumerable spells. As the light of the spell artsnded,rge swaths of the city were turned into rubble. Tang Jie felt like he had been transported into the past, and he watched as streets were sted to bits and groaning buildings copsed.


    The countless giants in the city roared as they swung their fists at the sky and began to battle with the fiends and demons.


    These giants possessed divine strength, even the weakest of them being countless times stronger than Tang Jie. Under their furious attacks, the fiends and demons descending from the bloody cloud were torn to shreds, vanishing in streams of spiritual light. But there was no end to them, and the fiends continued to fall from the cloud like rain.


    The fiends and demons that came after that were even stronger andrger.


    Tang Jie saw with his own eyes a three-legged, two-horned ck devil wielding a scythe descend from the sky. With a casual swing, it produced a ck wave of energy that sliced a giant into two bloody halves.


    It howled in triumph as even more ck devilsnded.


    A rain of blood soon began to fall over the Gigantes city as the giants desperately battled.


    Giants wearing full armor charged out, wielding giant weapons. These armored giants were stronger than the others, and they instantly pulverized the descending devils.


    As the armored giants appeared, the bloody cloud groaned, and Tang Jie saw a devil of enormous size descend from the cloud.


    This monster had the head of a camel and possessed six giant arms which held a long chain.


    The moment it appeared, the chain flew at an armored giant, wrapping around it. A secondter, the head of the chain turned into a giant snake that bit down, andrge amounts of blood flowed through the chain to the camel-headed devil.


    The armored giant howled in pain, but no matter how he struggled, he was ultimately sucked dry.


    More of the camel-headed devils appeared,nding throughout the city.


    ¡°Raaa!¡±


    A thunderous roar came out of the distance.


    A giant golden fist manifested, streaking like aet toward that bloody cloud.


    Numerous camel-headed devils moved to stop it, but the fist was simply unstoppable, obliterating all the devils in its path.


    Just before it made impact with the cloud, a giant ck hand emerged from the cloud and lightly pressed against the golden fist.


    As the two hands met, the fist dissolved into golden motes of light.


    The ck hand drew back into the cloud, and a blood-colored, lotus-shaped tform began to descend from the cloud.


    This bloody lotus had three petals that slowly rotated in the air. On each petal was a human figure engulfed in ck smoke.


    In the center of the lotus was a single person, a monk. His eyes were closed in meditation, and he held a string of prayer beads in his hands as he chanted. The hands holding those prayer beads were as ck as ink. It was clear that he had unleashed that giant ck hand just now.


    The moment he appeared, the countless devils down below began to cheer.


    Tang Jie suddenly paled as he cried out in rm, ¡°The Jadeblood Lotus Dais, the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk¡­ The Cmity of Primordial Fog!¡±


    He finally understood what was going on in this Gigantes city.


    The invasion of the Primordial Fog Domain!


    This was the Primordial Fog Cmity that had taken ce 1800 years ago, and in this cmity, many powerful demons and devils became known to the people, with the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk being one of the most terrifying Archdevils of the Primordial Fog.


    As he shouted, the fiend monk on the lotus tform suddenly opened his eyes.


    As he did, it felt like those narrow eyes were the only things left in this space.


    Shockingly, those eyes were looking straight at Tang Jie.


    The fiend monk lightly raised a finger, this ck finger prating through spacetime to thrust at Tang Jie.

 Chapter 228: The Primordial Fog Calamity

    Chapter 228: The Primordial Fog Cmity


    The finger from beyond the heavens was like a giant pir descending toward Tang Jie. Under this giant finger, Tang Jie was just a tiny ant.


    Entirely by instinct, Tang Jie formed a spell with his hands, and lightning erupted beneath his feet as he grabbed the little tiger and Yiyi and hastily retreated.


    A momentter, the massive finger mmed down where Tang Jie had been standing, unleashing a shockwave of spiritual energy.


    The spiritual wave engulfed Tang Jie like a hurricane. The impact was so powerful that not even Tang Jie¡¯s body could take it, and arge mouthful of blood shot out of his mouth.


    <em>How is this possible?</em>


    Tang Jie was stunned.


    This was clearly an illusion, so how could the attack be so powerful? The aftershock of the finger attack alone had heavily injured him.


    It had to be understood that even the Nine Pce Illusion Formation at full power might not be able to achieve such a powerful attack.


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes opened wide as he stared at the illusion of the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk in the sky. The Nine Disaster Fiend Monk did not pursue after seeing that his attack had missed, drawing back his hand and looking around with his narrow eyes, muttering, ¡°The Nine Pce Illusion recreates the old world¡­¡±


    He suddenly thrust his palm straight up at the sky.


    As he did so, there was a boom in the distance.


    The golden fist reemerged, hurtling toward the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk, but it struck that giant ck hand instead.


    The giant ck hand closed over the golden fist.


    The Nine Disaster Fiend Monk chanted, ¡°Through a dream, Primordial Fog ventures into the stars¡­¡±


    The golden fist was rendered immobile, ck fog beginning to creep toward it.


    In the air, a giant man wearing golden armor and a crown appeared.


    When this giant man appeared, Tang Jie trembled and blurted out, ¡°Martial Lord!¡±


    This giant man¡¯s appearance was somewhat simr to that of the Martial Lord, but upon getting a second look, Tang Jie knew that this wasn¡¯t the Martial Lord.


    While he had only gotten a glimpse of the Martial Lord when peering into that illusion created by the Martial Mirror, he had been able to see that man¡¯s domineering figure, his majesty that held up the heavens, the sheer power flowing through every one of his moves, and the aggressive and bloodthirsty nature imbued into all of his actions.


    While this giant man was simr, he was not the Martial Lord, having the form butcking the peerless demeanor.


    But as this giant man resisted the giant hand of the infamous Nine Disaster Fiend Monk, he still disyed an astonishing divine might.


    As the ck fog approached, the giant man roared and punched at the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk.


    It was a simple punch, but just like with the fiend monk¡¯s eyes, it instantly dominated the world, making it seem like it was the only thing that existed.


    Tang Jie was utterly shaken when he saw it.


    For he knew this punch well.


    In the Parting ssic, this was the starting form for when one was about to circte energy.


    Tang Jie had always taken this starting form to be a basic move to circte energy, but in the hands of this giant man, it was a move that was packed to the brim with the might of the world.


    Tang Jie was dumbfounded by the sight.


    <em>What¡­ what¡¯s going on here?</em>


    Why was there someone in the Gigantes Domain that knew the Parting ssic?


    How had a cultivation form be an offensive technique?


    Forgetting about the danger he was in, Tang Jie activated the Eye of Heaven and stared at the giant man, hoping to get a clearer understanding of this fist¡¯s foundation.


    s, he had discovered it toote, and the battle proceeded quickly.


    As the fist flew out, atop the three-petaled lotus, the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk chanted, ¡°The glories of the olden days are difficult to recreate¡­¡±


    He raised his hand to protect his face, grabbing the steely fist.


    Dark winds howled, and ck energy exploded.


    A ck energy appeared on the bloody lotus, prating through the illusion¡¯s barrier and piercing into the heavens.


    If someone had been standing on the perimeter, they would have seen a dark pir of energy shoot out of the illusion formation to soar into the skies above Wind Devil Ind!


    A voice resounded through the world: ¡°I have finally returned!¡±


    <em>Bang!</em>


    In the Nine Pceplex, antern exploded.


    The light from the formation patterns on the floor lit up the entire hall.


    ¡°Agh!¡± Ji Wujiu yelled, vomiting blood. He gripped his chest and shouted, ¡°How could this be?¡±


    ¡°Brother Ji, what happened?¡± Nan Baicheng was scared out of his wits.


    Still holding his chest, Ji Wujiu looked up in shock at the crystal above him.


    The crystal was still rotating in the air, but there was now a deep crack on its surface, like someone had shattered the surface of a mirror.


    On the crystal, the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk knocked away that golden-crowned giant and then slightly raised his head, his eyes prating through space to meet Ji Wujiu¡¯s gaze.


    His eyes were as deep as the ocean, and Ji Wujiu was aghast. He bellowed, ¡°No! Qian and Kun, flow in reverse! Reform the illusion zone!¡±


    He formed a spell and threw it at the crystal, and the Gigantes Illusion Zone began to spin. All of the destroyed buildings came back, all of the in giants were reborn, and all of the fiends and devils that had dropped out of the bloody cloud disappeared. Everything was as it had been before Tang Jie entered the zone.


    But the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk was still there.


    He floated in the sky of the illusion, smiling at empty space as if he was looking at Ji Wujiu.


    A momentter, the blood cloud reappeared, as did the fiends and demons, and everything yed out as it had before. But the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk ignored all of the ughter, only thrusting out his finger at empty space.


    As the finger flew out, the golden war gauntlet flew out of the distance, just as before.


    The only difference was that it was destroyed by Nine Disaster¡¯s finger rather than the giant hand emerging from the bloody cloud.


    The fist disappeared, and the giant emerged.


    Thatet fist flew out again, but the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk blocked it even more casually this time, and with a p, he killed the golden-crowned giant.


    ¡°No!¡± Ji Wujiu¡¯s entire body went cold, and he muttered, ¡°How is this possible? How?¡±


    The Nine Disaster Fiend Monk seemed to be able to hear Ji Wujiu¡¯s words, and he chuckled.


    He looked down at the three-petaled lotus dais, shaking his head in dissatisfaction. ¡°Three petals no longer. Five energies is the truth.¡±


    He lightly pointed, and the three-petaled lotus began to spin in the air, growing two more petals and bing a five-petaled lotus.


    ¡°The day of seven petals is the time of return,¡± the fiend monk¡¯s voice rumbled.


    At this moment, the golden fist reappeared, striking the lotus tform.


    It was the same starting form as before.


    But just when the fiend monk was about to casually block it, he paled.


    A momentter, that steely fist sted through the heavens and exploded against the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk¡¯s body, obliterating the illusion and turning it into countless motes of spiritual light.


    A furious howl could be heard amidst these motes of light: ¡°Gigantes King¡­¡±


    A resounding voice responded, ¡°Never think abouting back, Nine Disaster, you damned baldie!¡±


    <em>Bang!</em>


    The illusion zone shattered.


    Ji Wujiu sat on the ground, staring in a daze at the remaining scenes on the crystal as he muttered, ¡°The realm of speak-not, think-not¡­ breaking through the domain and manifesting will¡­ This is a huge leak.¡±


    Here was a dark and gloomy space.


    Deathly energy hung over this world, and sunlight almost didn¡¯t exist.


    ck, red, and purple were this world¡¯s primary colors, found wherever one looked.


    Purple fog lingered over the ck earth, and little red monsters dug away at the soil. When they managed to turn up wriggling little worms, they would immediately stuff them in their mouths, for if they were too slow, they would have to fight with other monsters.


    A purple mountain floated above this ck earth.


    It floated high in the air, looking down at the world.


    At the peak of the mountain was a pce the color of blood, with 3842 steps that extended all the way to the top.


    At each step stood two bizarrely shaped devils.


    At the very top, a giant furnace that burned with an undying me stood on the pce square.


    In front of the furnace, an old man fanned the mes.


    He was like an old corpse that had crawled out of a coffin, his face covered in wrinkles, but countless devils were kneeling around him.


    No one dared to make a sound around this old man.


    Every devil knew who this old man represented.


    As he was lightly fanning the mes, the old man suddenly looked behind him.


    A five-petaled lotus tform floated out of the pce.


    It slowly turned, five pitch-ck figures turning with it.


    A person was lying atop it, with a broad face andrge ears. His feet and head were bare, and he held a string of prayer beads in his hand. It was none other than the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk who had appeared in the Gigantes Illusion Zone.


    His hand holding up his head, the fiend monk had his eyes closed in slumber while the lotus dais floated to the furnace.


    The mes increased in power, and the lotus dais began to radiate light.


    The Nine Disaster Fiend Monk slowly opened his eyes.


    As he opened his eyes, this dark world seemed to light up.


    On the 3842 steps, all of the devils sensed this and prostrated toward the pce, none of them daring to make too much noise.


    The old man fanning the furnace looked up at the lotus. ¡°Venerable One, you have awakened.¡±


    The Nine Disaster Fiend Monk sat up.


    He looked up confusedly at the sky. ¡°Darkshade, how long have I been sleeping?¡±


    ¡°932 years, Venerable One.¡±


    ¡°Is that so¡­ not even one thousand years. I woke up early,¡± the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk muttered.


    After some thought, he said, ¡°I had a dream.¡±


    ¡°What did Venerable One dream about?¡±


    ¡°I dreamed about the Battle of Gigantes, one thousand years ago.¡± Nine Disaster mumbled, ¡°I saw a being¡­¡±


    ¡°A being? What sort of being?¡±


    ¡°A very familiar being¡­ A being that we have been anticipating all this time¡­¡±


    The old man¡¯s eyes brightened, and the wrinkles on his face rxed, throbbing with a frightening demonic might.


    He looked at the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk and said, ¡°Could it be¡­¡±


    The Nine Disaster Fiend Monk did not answer, lost in his musings. ¡°But¡­ why did the Gigantes King appear¡­ and who summoned him¡­ Suspicious¡­ very suspicious¡­¡±


    He closed his eyes and began to think.


    After a long while, he spoke again.


    ¡°Our return will eventuallye, and what will be lost will eventually be lost. There is no rush, no rush. There is still 1200 years until the 3000-year great cmity¡­ Let me sleep a little longer.¡±


    Hey back down.


    The five-petaled lotus dais floated back into the pce.


    With the appearance of that ck pir of energy, several people sleeping in various parts of the Rosecloud Domain began to wake.


    The Zephyr Mountains, the 19 Star Mountains.


    This was a foundational area of the Basking Moon Sect.


    Behind the 19 Star Mountains was an unremarkable little mountain.


    It was very short, and there was only a little thatched hut built on it.


    Within the hut, a white-browed elder sat in meditation. The room was devoid of anything else.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± The elder opened his eyes and gasped. Looking southward, he muttered, ¡°It is not time for the 3000-year great cmity. Have some of the Archdevils already grown restless?¡±


    In the depths of the Endless Sea Zone, a resplendent pavilion floated above the ocean¡¯s surface.


    This was the famous Oceansky Pce of Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    In the deepest depths of the Oceansky Pce, a middle-aged beauty was sleeping upon a jade bed.


    Suddenly, she opened her eyes and looked southward, a hint of confusion in her eyes. ¡°A momentary sh of Primordial Fog fiend energy from the distance¡­ Did something happen at the Nine Pce Illusion Formation?¡±


    The Tetrapole Kingdom, Thousand Passions City.


    This was an important area for the Thousand Passions Sect. A tall tower stood in the center of the city.


    The tower had nine floors, and it served as the residence for important figures of the Thousand Passions Sect. The higher the floor, the greater one¡¯s status was.


    It was said that the ninth floor was the residence of the sect master, Fairy Nichang.


    But only a few people knew that Fairy Nichang lived on only the eighth floor.


    On the ninth floor, an old granny was in meditation, a red sash floating in front of her.


    Suddenly, the red sash descended and drifted onto the granny¡¯s body.


    The granny didn¡¯t open her eyes, only sighing, ¡°s, my heart is still restless.¡±


    With a wave of her hand, the sash flew back into the air and was fixed in ce.


    At the same time.


    In Godhead Pce of Nadir Hill, a golden-armored, middle-aged man appeared shocked.


    On Ethereal Summit of the Seven Absolutions Sect, a blue-robed schr suddenly appeared, looking toward the Endless Sea Zone.


    And far to the west, in the depths of the untamed jungle, a bonfire burned brightly, with countless people dancing and singing around it.


    But upon closer inspection, one would realize that these weren¡¯t humans, but rather animals that had taken human form. Yet the way they talked and moved was no different from humans.


    A giant throne was ced behind the bonfire, standing thirty feet tall.


    A rough and powerful many across the throne, feasting and drinking while two snakes-turned-women attended upon him.


    Suddenly, the man frowned.


    His frown caused all the dancing fiend beasts to pause and look at him.


    The man waved his hand. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Continue amusing yourselves.¡±


    A momentter, the jungle once more resounded withughter and music¡­

 Chapter 229: Breakthrough

    Chapter 229: Breakthrough


    With a heaven-shaking roar, the Gigantes Zone dissipated.


    Tang Jie discovered that he was back on the soil of Wind Devil Ind, and that ck pir of energy had disappeared. Only the chilling fiendish wind in the air reminded Tang Jie of what had transpired here.


    ¡°The realm of speak-not, think-not, manifestation of will¡­¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    This was a manifestation of a supremely high level of cultivation, a realm that only those who had fathomed the Dao could reach.


    In this realm, the cultivation world¡¯s principle that ¡°everything has its rule and principle that can be traced down¡± was finally broken, and many things could not be exined through transformation of spiritual energy.


    This was like the difference between Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry¡ªhigher levels demanded a higher level of rules.


    This rule was the Dao!


    If one insisted on having a detailed breakdown of how the Dao differed from the five major cultivation realms, one could use DOTA as an analogy.


    The Spirit tform Realm was like a hero at the beginning of the game, primarily relying on autoattacks (spells) to get by, with the more talented ones being able to use one or two abilities (arts).


    The Mortal Shedding Realm was when a hero had more of their abilities, and the more talented ones could even use their ultimates (great arts).


    At the Celestial Heart Realm, a hero could more casually use their ultimates, and they could choose from arger variety of them, with more power and quantity. The stronger ones could even elerate the cooldowns of their ultimates.


    At the Violet Pce Realm, the vast majority of ultimates could be used with no cooldown.


    As for Immortal tform, because spiritual energy was turned into Immortal Essence, this was essentially when a hero reached such a high level that they could no longer upgrade any of their abilities, upon which they would realize, ¡°Oh! There¡¯s a yellow plus sign here. Let me see what pressing it will do. Wow! All my attributes went up by three and my ability power went up by one.¡±


    The Nine Revolutions and Hundred Refinement Periods of Mortal Shedding could bepared to boosting one¡¯s passive abilities, and Immortal tform could be considered directly adding to one¡¯s attributes, in addition increasing one¡¯s power and reducing one¡¯s mana costs.


    Thus, there actually wasn¡¯t any sort of qualitative change at Immortal tform. Only those at that altitude would know what was past that. If the legendary Immortal Realm existed, then the greatest probability was that it was a ss change, keeping one¡¯s attributes while one¡¯s level dropped to zero¡­


    It all sounded very uninteresting.


    But regardless of how one leveled, there was a rule and principle that could be followed. There was even a way to defend against, dodge, or even cancel out those terrifying ultimates.


    But the Dao was different.


    This was because it did not follow any principle at all!


    Because the Dao was a cheat!


    It couldn¡¯t exist on the rational side of this world!


    It couldn¡¯t exist on the rational side of any world in the Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    It couldn¡¯t be reasoned out or exined using the rules of a game!


    It had transcended the game, producing a binding power on an even higher ne!


    It might only be an eleration cheat, or a full map cheat, and by relying on this cheat, you might be able to beat a max-leveled Immortal tform cultivator. But you could also lose because you yourself were not strong enough.


    Of course, just like how cheats could differ in nature, Daos also had different levels and categories. The worst of all were those cheats that simply made you invincible.


    Fortunately, this level of Dao only existed in fantasies. Not even legends spoke of them.


    The only difference from a game was that in this game of cultivating Immortality, the yers had a chance of interacting with the higher ne.


    As Wang Poguan had said, at the end of the road was the Way.


    Only by walking to the end of the road could one jump out of the old framework and enter a higher ne to seek out newws.


    The realm of speak-not, think-not was a realm of the Dao.


    It was said that people at this level, no matter where they were, could sense when someone so much as whispered their name. Even if they weren¡¯t in the same world, even if spiritual energy had no means of crossing over, they could still sense it.


    There was no reason orw to it.


    Or perhaps there was aw, but it was just beyond the understanding of mere mortals.


    This was precisely why the cultivation world had developed a custom of referring to people by their titles rather than names. This was not merely out of respect. It was a practical warning.


    Someone unwise enough to badmouth some Titan behind their back would be dead meat once found out.


    Of course, it wasn¡¯t like just anyone could have this ability. Not even Celestial Sovereigns were guaranteed to reach this level. One had to at least be at Immortal tform, and even those legendary Titans of Immortal tform might not be able to do it.


    But at least it was better to have the habit than not, and the eons had shaped it into a kind of cultural custom.


    As for manifestation of will, it was nothing so mysterious. Anyone who reached the Violet Pce Realm could link their Divine Will to the world and borrow its power to manifest their will.


    But the manifestation of will could only work within the domain, and there was also a distance restriction.


    Cross-domain will manifestation,pletely disregarding distance, was on another level entirely. The difference was like that between the speed of a flying swallow and the speed of light.


    As one of the talented students of Basking Moon Academy, Tang Jie understood what would have left other people baffled: in the Gigantes Illusion Zone, the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk had achieved cross-domain will manifestation.


    To sense one¡¯s name being called was merely a concept. It represented a transfer of information, and only the Dao-Controllers who existed on a higher ne could wield such power.


    This information had a specific indicator, and it could be picked up by those possessing receivers that were powerful enough.


    Thus, names were not the only way of triggering a reaction. If one was willing, one could pick up the title as well.


    It was just that titles were disseminated while taboo names were more concealed. Over the long passage of time, mortals often passed down titles, and the names were only known by one¡¯s close friends. Thus, there was rarely a Titan so foolish that they would even want to pick up their title.


    The Primordial Fog Nine Disaster Fiend Monk manifested in the Gigantes Illusion Zone was a detailed information transfer, so it wasn¡¯t at all strange for it to be picked up.


    But over hundreds of years, Nine Disaster¡¯s image had probably been manifested countless times in the Gigantes Illusion Zone, and this Archdevil should have been numb to its calls, perhaps even blocked it. Why had he picked it up today, even carrying out a cross-domain will manifestation to appear? This was rather strange.


    It wasn¡¯t just him. Even the Gigantes King had arrived using a cross-domain will manifestation. What had ultimately sted away the will of Nine Disaster was a sliver of the Gigantes King¡¯s Divine Will.


    Two slivers of the wills of these superpowers had damaged the Nine Pce Illusion Formation, and the Gigantes Illusion Zone had been annihted. Tang Jie¡¯s heart trembled in fear.


    Even now, he could still clearly recall the sensation of the earth copsing under the thrust of the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk¡¯s finger.


    This was the power of a sliver of will attached to an illusion, so how powerful was the real thing?


    But what shocked Tang Jie even more was the Gigantes King.


    Why did the Gigantes King know the Parting ssic?


    Tang Jie had once believed that he was the only one in the world who had the Parting ssic¡¯s cultivation method, but he now realized that he was gravely mistaken.


    In this unfathomably vast world, there was another existence who knew this powerful body-refining spell.


    And they even understood it more than him.


    That hurricane of a punch that was capable of obliterating the stars in heaven was clearly the cultivation method of the Parting ssic.


    Tang Jie¡¯s world had been turned upside down.


    It had to be understood that a cultivation method was not abat method.


    Cultivation methods were about ¡°nurture¡±, and the cycles of energy were beneficial to the body.


    Combat methods were about ¡°explosion¡±, and the energy overflowed to hurt the enemy.


    The two of them werepletely different things, so how could the Gigantes King use a cultivation method as abat method, and with such power?


    Could this not be the Parting ssic?


    No, wait!


    When he carefully thought about it again, he was almost certain that it was the movement of the Parting ssic.


    While many methods appeared to bergely the same and differ in small ways, when one looked carefully, one would realize that they werepletely different, particrly in how energy flowed.


    The Parting ssic refined the blood, and its cultivation method was vastly different from normal cirction methods. When it was activated, the finger joints would bulge out, and the fingers did not entirely close together, leaving a cavity in the fist. This was so that energy could circte.


    This was also the greatest difference between cultivation methods andbat methods. Cultivating allowed energy to cycle and nourish, whereasbat had energy erupt from the energy points.


    Moreover, when the Gigantes King had punched, his muscles had bulged and shed with a crimson light. The blood beneath his skin had surged, as thick as paste, wriggling like snakes in his veins.


    Tang Jie had cultivated the Eye of Heaven and had dabbled in the Dao of Insight, and with the repetitions from the illusion zone, he had been able to confirm that this was the movement of the Parting ssic!


    So where was the problem here?


    Tang Jie instinctively began to go through the motions of the Parting ssic, punching at a rock next to him.


    The rock shattered under his fist, but Tang Jie knew that this had nothing to do with his technique. It was entirely due to the toughness of his body.


    Cultivation methods were meant to bring a person¡¯s strength from 1 to 10, butbat methods brought a person from 10 to 20, or even more.


    Tang Jie was deeply disappointed to find that his punch couldn¡¯t even match the level of one of his ordinary attacks.


    s, no matter how he pondered it, he couldn¡¯t understand it.


    Tang Jie tried many different ways, like going from cycling energy to unleashing energy as he punched, switching from cultivation tobat.


    s, cultivation methods were gentle, emphasizing steady progress that didn¡¯t hurt the body. Combat methods were hard, seeking a fierce explosion that killed the enemy in one strike.


    The two of them were as different as heaven and earth, and no matter how Tang Jie unleashed his energy, the most he was able to do was blow around a leaf. In any case, by changing his movement, he was taking apletely different road from the Gigantes King.


    After trying it a few more times, he found that his energy was in turmoil, and he knew that messing around with his energy cirction in this way had actually managed to hurt his body. Thankfully, these were just little tests, so a few breathing cycles were enough to calm things down.


    His experiments having failed, Tang Jie decided to strengthen the energy cirction and see if that did anything.


    In doing so, Tang Jie found that he had a lot more strength, but unfortunately, it seemed to do nothing for his offensive power. On the contrary, after a few more attempts at this, his energy once more became restless, and his arm ached.


    After trying out several more things to no result, Tang Jie grew discouraged.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t have the time to mess around too much, so he once more started to sprint toward the Devil Crushing Path.


    To Tang Jie¡¯s surprise, perhaps because the shattering of the Gigantes Illusion Zone had wounded Ji Wujiu, Tang Jie encountered no obstructions on his path.


    He made breezy progress through Wind Devil Ind. Suddenly, with a boom and a flurry of fog, he saw that his surroundings had vanished and been reced with a narrow and long ck road that led into the distance.


    At the end of the road, he could see the outline of the massive Nine Pceplex, and arge beam of light shooting into the sky.


    ¡°The Devil Crushing Path!¡± Tang Jie was delighted. He knew that he had broken through all the illusion zones and reached the Devil Crushing Path.

 Chapter 230: Using Scheme Against Scheme

    Chapter 230: Using Scheme Against Scheme


    Surprisingly, the abnormality in the Gigantes Illusion Zone had helped Tang Jie escape the entanglements of Ji Wujiu and smoothly reach the Devil Crushing Path.


    As he stepped onto the road, he looked around, taking in the scenery.


    This Devil Crushing Path was called a road, but it was actually surrounded by dense forests. The forests seemed peaceful, but they concealed numerous savage beasts and birds, traps and mechanisms, mazes and illusions. Thus, stepping onto the Devil Crushing Path did not mean that one was safe.


    However, Tang Jie only cared that the path itself was peaceful and showed no traces of fighting. This meant that no one had gotten here before him and that he was probably the first to reach the Devil Crushing Path.


    Upon confirming this, Tang Jie rxed and confidently strode forward.


    He walked at a measured pace, carefully inspecting the vicinity.


    As he walked along this forest path, a huge spotted beast rushed out from the trees and took a bite at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie grabbed its neck without even looking and threw it aside.


    The fiend beasts of Wind Devil Ind were of average strength and were barely worth Tang Jie¡¯s attention. His true concern was the topography of the Devil Crushing Path.


    As he got closer and closer to the Nine Pce Heart Ring, Tang Jie finally found what he was looking for.


    Twenty meters ahead of him, the Devil Crushing Path abruptly narrowed, two rising mountain walls turning the path into a thin ribbon of a road.


    And in front of this narrow path was a thick forest that concealed unknown dangers.


    It was a natural chokepoint.


    Tang Jie looked around and nodded in satisfaction. ¡°This is the ce. Yiyi, we can start.¡±


    He reached into his Mustard Seed Bag.


    At this moment, a saber swung at the back of Tang Jie¡¯s head.


    This attack was made right as Tang Jie¡¯s right hand was in his Mustard Seed Bag. With one arm upied and the attacking at the back of his head, it could be said that he was powerless to fight back.


    The timing of the attack was simply exquisite, and the ambusher felt like there was no way he could choose a better moment, satisfaction filling his heart.


    The saber flew through the air with a chilling pressure.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    But the expected ssh of blood did not transpire, nor did he hear the predicted howl of misery.


    The edge of the saber brushed past Tang Jie¡¯s body, missing him by a centimeter.


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t even needed to move.


    <em>What¡­ what¡¯s going on?</em>


    The ambusher froze.


    His saber had brushed past Tang Jie as if he hadn¡¯t aimed urately enough and had missed.


    But after a brief moment of shock, he realized what was going on.


    This was clearly the misperception effect of the Nine Pce Illusion Formation. Everyone would suffer from slight vision deviation in the formation, throwing their aim off.


    But the illusion formation did not have an effect on the Devil Crushing Path, so where had this misperception effecte from, and when had it started?


    The ambusher couldn¡¯t understand, nor did he have time to understand.


    As his saber missed, Tang Jie moved.


    He had his back to the attacker, but rather than turning around, he took a step back, crashing into the attacker¡¯s chest. He then raised his left elbow, striking the attacker in the face.


    Since he was just stepping back and raising his elbow, this counterattack was swift, and with a boom, his steel elbow mmed into the ambusher¡¯s face and sent him flying. The force shattered the bridge of the attacker¡¯s nose, stabbing several bone fragments into his face and causing him to throw back his head and howl in pain.


    But he was still an experienced fighter. As he flew up, his saber erupted with light, and he unleashed a saber gale, but instead of Tang Jie, it was aimed at the empty space in front of him.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t chase, standing where he was, and this saber galepletely missed. Meanwhile, the little tiger used this chance to unleash a lightning de at him.


    But while this lightning de was aimed at his face, it instead struck the waist of the attacker, clearly affected by the vision deviation. The ambusher failed to dodge and spat out blood.


    At the same time, Tang Jie finally extracted his hand from the Mustard Seed Bag. In it was a talisman.


    He threw out the talisman, which turned into a giant silver sword that shed at the attacker.


    ¡°The Heavenly Pearl sh Talisman!¡± the ambusher yowled in fear.


    This Heavenly Pearl sh Talisman was an art talisman, a spell art that was used by Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators. Its immense power was something that not even the ambusher dared to take.


    But he was unable to evade this sudden attack, so all he could do was swing his saber, light erupting from its tip.


    As the des shed, the enormous explosion of power created a windstorm on the ground.


    The ambusher screamed as he was sted away by the sword.


    Though he was strong, he had been caught off guard and only able to use thirty percent of his strength. Thus, the Heavenly Pearl sh Talisman had managed to get the upper hand on him and severely injure him.


    He flew several dozen meters before finallynding, but even so, he managed to fire off ten-some waves of saber energy that covered all angles around him so that he wouldn¡¯t be pursued.


    This brief sh had caused the ambusher to be ambushed and heavily injured, and his mind was deeply shaken.


    Tang Jie slowly turned around to face the ambusher.


    The ambusher had a ck cloth on his face so that Tang Jie couldn¡¯t recognize him, but this ck cloth was now dyed red with blood.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like such self-deceiving methods are necessary, yes? If my guess is right, you must be Zhang Qinan, Sir Zhang.¡±


    Yiyi and the little tiger flew up to Tang Jie¡¯s side, protecting his nks.


    The ambusher used his saber to support himself as he stood, and when he heard this, he stopped trying to hide and tore off the ck cloth, revealing that it truly was Qinan. ¡°So you were ready for me!¡±


    ¡°That isn¡¯t weird, right?¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°I was able to find you when everyone was disembarking, so how couldn¡¯t I set up defenses against you? If there was anyone among the Basking Moon students who could get to the Devil Crushing Path before me, it was you. And only you would reach the Devil Crushing Path yet not enter the Nine Pce Heart Ring!¡±


    Qinan¡¯s biggest problem was that he didn¡¯t know that Tang Jie cultivated the Eye of Heaven.


    Under the Eye of Heaven, the vast majority of concealment spells had no effect.


    While Qinan had a high cultivation level, in terms of spell arts, his were far inferior to those of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic.


    If spell arts had priority, the Eye of Heaven had far greater priority over Qinan¡¯s concealment spell. Hiding from Tang Jie was easier said than done.


    Of course, while the Eye of Heaven could see through spells, it couldn¡¯t see through the ck cloth.


    However, the Basking Moon students were after the True Inheritance. If someone else had gotten to the Devil Crushing Path before Tang Jie, they certainly wouldn¡¯t have any interest in sticking around to ambush him.


    Only Qinan would do such a thing.


    He had chosen a sneak attack for the same reason¡ªhe needed to end the battle as quickly as possible to avoid other students noticing him.


    But he hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to use this against him.


    A small illusion formation had caused his attack to miss, and the ensuing counterattack had put him in an awkward spot.


    Qinan almost wanted to vomit blood at this thought, but there was still something that he didn¡¯t understand. ¡°You knew that I was going to ambush you, so you still gave me a chance?¡±


    Although Tang Jie had seeded in using that moment that heavily wound him, he had also put himself in considerable danger.


    The vision deviation of the illusion formation was limited, and so long as Qinan had chosen to swing the saber horizontally rather than vertically, Tang Jie wouldn¡¯t have been able to dodge.


    It was precisely because he had shed vertically that the illusion formation had been able to work its magic and make him miss.


    This was exactly what Qinan didn¡¯t understand. Since he had known that Qinan wasing, why take the risk?


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°There was nothing else I could do. You¡¯re still a Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator. Even if you¡¯re only at the Hundred Refinement Period, you¡¯re still not someone I can deal with. To be a little more presumptuous, even if I used everything I had and managed to ovee you despite being weaker, how much would I have to sacrifice? And how would I deal with the battles after that?¡±


    Qinan finally understood. ¡°So you baited me into attacking you so that you had a chance to severely injure me?¡±


    The problem with concealment spells was that one couldn¡¯t use any other spell art while the concealment was active. After all, concealment spells worked on the body, not on external barriers created from spiritual energy.


    This was precisely why cultivators in stealth were undefended.


    This was exactly what Tang Jie needed.


    In a proper battle, Qinan could use his Mortal Shedding Realm strength to cast a few barriers, and then no matter how strong the Heavenly Pearl sh Talisman was, it wouldn¡¯t be able to injure him to the extent that it had.


    But in a situation where his ambush had failed and he didn¡¯t have time to use a protective spell, the Heavenly Pearl sh would be able to apply the vast majority of its power, something that he couldn¡¯t take.


    An ambusher couldn¡¯t put up defenses!


    If he weren¡¯t at the Hundred Refinement Period, no longer possessing the body of a mortal, that one attack would have killed him.


    He was currently like Gu Changqing in the Cloud Marsh or the Frost Fairy in the Ice Cave, but Tang Jie was no longer the same Tang Jie.


    What Tang Jie wanted wasn¡¯t just to defeat Qinan, but to defeat this interfering fellow at the smallest price possible.


    For this, he did not mind risking himself.


    This was because he had no other choice.


    Upon realizing this, Qinan swayed back and forth as he began tough. ¡°Good! Very good, Tang Jie. My ambush failed, and I fell into your trap instead! You¡¯re ruthless! But even if you¡¯ve heavily injured me, I¡¯m not so easily dealt with. I might have lost this battle, but if you want to reserve strength to deal with the other students, don¡¯t even think about it!¡±


    ¡°Mm. If Sir Qinan were to go all out, this truly would be possible.¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°But, Sir Qinan, if you were to die here, you would be proof that Sir Nan was interfering with the student assessment. Are you sure that you want to fight to the death here?¡±


    Zhang Qinan shuddered.


    Nan Baicheng wanted to stop Wei Tianchong from getting first ce, so why didn¡¯t he try to do anything himself? Why had he ordered Zhang Qinan to not expose himself no matter what? Wasn¡¯t it precisely so as to not leave behind evidence for others to use?


    Factional battles were fierce within the Basking Moon Sect, and no one knew when some incriminating evidence might end up in the hands of another.


    If it became known that there was something fishy going on in Yan Changfeng¡¯s True Inheritor test, True Person Changfeng¡¯s dignity would be dealt a heavy blow.


    A person of high status already had wealth and power, so all they sought was dignity and face.


    Why was Nan Baicheng so dead set on Wei Tianchong not bing Yan Changfeng¡¯s disciple?


    Wasn¡¯t it all because of face?


    Otherwise, what did it matter if he had an ipetent disciple?


    Zhang Qinan could go all out, but if his corpse ended up bing firm proof that True Person Changfeng¡¯s disciple was engaging in fraud, his death would bring him no merit, only condemnation.


    Tang Jie¡¯s one sentence pushed Zhang Qinan into an awkward spot.


    Tang Jie slowly stepped to the side, opening the path to the Nine Pce Heart Ring. ¡°Sir Zhang, you should take this chance while no one has noticed to quickly leave this ce. So long as Sir Zhang promises to not attack me, I, Tang Jie, swear on my Heart Demon that I will reveal nothing about this to the outside world.¡±


    Zhang Qinan began tough. ¡°Junior, you¡¯re actually threatening me. Do you really think that everyone in the world will fall for your schemes?¡±


    His eyes shed with savage killing intent. He drew back his saber and began to form hand signs, and as his hands rapidly shifted, spiritual energy surged, building up into a lethal force.

 Chapter 231: The Heaventopple Stamp

    Chapter 231: The Heaventopple Stamp


    Tang Jie silently cursed. He didn¡¯t actually know much about Zhang Qinan, so he didn¡¯t understand the man¡¯s personality, but it was clear from what this man was doing that he was intent on wagering everything against him.


    As for leaving behind a corpse that would incriminate Nan Baicheng, Zhang Qinan clearly didn¡¯t care.


    These words might be able to fool a child, but they couldn¡¯t fool him.


    Why had Nan Baicheng sent him in?


    Wasn¡¯t it precisely because he could push the me onto him when it was needed?


    Threatening him with this was pointless!


    As he formed his hand signs, a gale stirred, and a giant hand began to form in the sky.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Tang Jie cursed as he shed the Heartbreak Saber at the man.


    In terms of spell art power, there was noparing the Spirit tform Realm to the Mortal Shedding Realm.


    Fortunately, the stronger the spell art was, the longer the art manifestation. While those at the Mortal Shedding Realm could harness the spiritual energy of the world to use powerful spell arts, until they were at the level of Violet Pce where a single thought could connect them to the world, they still needed to spend a lot of time on art manifestation.


    Thus, when a Spirit Disciple went up against a Spirit Master, what they needed to do was take the initiative and fiercely attack, giving the opponent no time to leisurely cast.


    The little tiger and Yiyi attacked with him.


    Countless vines flew out while a lightning de shot at Zhang Qinan.


    Against these three attacks, Zhang Qinan coldly chuckled. ¡°Junior, do you really think attacking me will do you any good?¡±


    He mmed his palms together, and the giant hand unleashed countless motes of light that rained down over the area like a storm of arrows.


    ¡°Starburst Deluge!¡± Tang Jie paled as he swiftly drew back the Heartbreak Saber, giving up on attacking Zhang Qinan and unleashing a wave of energy to fend off those rays of starlight.


    He wasn¡¯t worried about himself, but about Yiyi and the little tiger.


    There was a metallic tter as the starlight struck the Heartbreak Saber, somehow harder than steel and sharper than arrows.


    <em>Thunk! Thunk!</em> Ten-some arrows got through Tang Jie¡¯s defenses and stabbed into his body, causing him to shudder in pain.


    ¡°Big Brother!¡± Yiyi shouted.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡± Tang Jie clenched his teeth, knowing that he had taken Zhang Qinan¡¯s bait.


    No one understood more than Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators what their ws were.


    Even students knew how to deal with Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators, so how could they not have experience in dealing with this problem?


    Zhang Qinan had appeared to be using an art, gathering a powerful force with impressive motions, but he was actually using a spell.


    Thus, when Tang Jie had charged, he had actually already finished the spell, and by charging in, Tang Jie was doing nothing more than running in front of the gun barrel.


    This was one of the mostmon options a Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator would take. They would use spiritual surges to fool the senses, and one would never know what level of spell art they were using.


    If you tried to attack them, you might just be leaping into their jaws.


    But if you didn¡¯t attack, you might have given your opponent all the time he needed to finish casting.


    This was a tactical advantage, and also a level advantage, something that could not be changed through a single person¡¯s will.


    Zhang Qinan madlyughed at his sess, saying, ¡°Junior, take this!¡±


    His right hand formed the hand signs for an offensive spell, and Tang Jie was forced to take evasive maneuvers. But to his surprise, it was a feint, and Zhang Qinan pressed his left hand toward the ground.


    At this time, the flower formation erupted and coiled around him. Light erupted from his left hand, sending a shockwave roaring through the area.


    The flower formation was sted into leaves and debris before it could do anything.


    Yiyi shrieked, her small face turning ghastly pale.


    In just two strikes, Tang Jie had been heavily injured and Yiyi¡¯s spell had been broken.


    As a Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator, Zhang Qinan wasn¡¯t just strong. He was also brimming withbat experience.


    Zhang Qinan broke free of the shattered flower formation and barked, ¡°Spirit Pythons, go!¡±


    He crossed his arms, and three spiritual lines of energy shot out, turning into three pythons¡ªtworge and one small. The tworge ones made to coil around the tiger and Tang Jie while the small one went after Yiyi.


    These three pythons were of average strength, but as they flew out, they instantly wrapped around their three targets, and no matter how Tang Jie exerted his strength, he couldn¡¯t break free.


    Zhang Qinan savagely smiled. ¡°Juniors will be juniors. You really thought that the weak could ovee the strong? What does it matter that you wounded me?¡±


    As he spoke, he made ten-some signs with his hands, and spiritual energy roiled. This time, however, it was a real art.


    This was another option Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators had when dealing with frenzied offensives. They could bind or impede their opponents, after which they could casually cast an art to kill their opponent in one blow.


    Tang Jie sneered as he saw this. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I was waiting for!¡±


    There was a golden sh of light from his right hand, and the Spirit Python binding him was cut into countless pieces and dissolved into nothing. At the same time, Tang Jie pointed with his left hand at Zhang Qinan. ¡°Go!¡±


    A small red ring erupted with astonishing mes.


    Zhang Qinan was aghast as countless zeravens flew out of the ring and attacked him.


    ¡°The zeraven Ring?¡± Zhang Qinan blurted out in surprise.


    He recognized the zeraven Ring, and he knew that the simultaneous attacks of more than a hundred zeravens were not to be underestimated.


    In normal circumstances, the zeraven Ring might not have been able to do anything to him, but he was in the middle of casting, and for the zeraven Ring to be unleashed at this time was lethal.


    Zhang Qinan immediately understood that while he had managed to bait Tang Jie, Tang Jie had used the chance to strike back against him.


    He had intentionally taken the attack to bait him into using an art.


    Powerful spell arts could instantly seal the situation once used, but when used incorrectly, they could bring harm on oneself.


    The zeravens came quickly, and Zhang Qinan had no time to dodge, so he made up his mind and pushed through the bacsh to stop his casting of the Moon-Seizing Hand, instead casting the spell-grade True Essence Barrier. As the True Essence Barrier appeared, he vomited blood.


    But he didn¡¯t even have time to groan. He pped his body, and a jade amulet he wore lit up and produced another shield.


    He then formed another spell, and a third barrier appeared.


    The hundred-plus zeravens arrived with a thunderous crash.


    mes surged and rainbow light exploded as the zeravens threw themselves at the shield. As they impacted against the shield, they dissipated into spiritual light.


    Zhang Qinan¡¯s first barrier blocked twenty-some zeravens before shattering.


    More zeravens continued to throw themselves at the barrier.


    The second barriersted against thirty-some more of them before shattering, but the jade amulet couldn¡¯t take such a heavy load and exploded into powder.


    Fortunately, it had provided enough time for Zhang Qinan to cast his third barrier.


    The remaining zeravens ran into thisst barrier, and only ten-some were needed to break through.


    Seeing that there were still twenty-some zeravens, Zhang Qinan gritted his teeth, spat out some blood, and thrust out his palm.


    Ice Nether Palm!


    This time, he had expended his vital energy, using his blood as a trigger to quickly cast his spell.


    An icy gale erupted, eliminating more than half of the remaining zeravens, but there was nothing left to stop the remaining few zeravens, which crashed into his body and exploded with dazzling mes.


    ¡°Aaaah!¡± Zhang Qinan howled in pain.


    But he was truly a savage character. Despite being heavily injured, he still had the strength to counterattack. He brought his hands together and swung them around in a circle, unleashing a flood of energy at Tang Jie.


    ¡°Useless!¡± Tang Jie bellowed as he rushed at the flood.


    No matter how the tactics of a Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator changed, a Spirit tform Realm student¡¯s only choice was to charge forward.


    When two armies shed, the brave emerged victorious!


    Tang Jie went against the tide, his Formless Golden Body shing against the spiritual energy flood. This flood was like a wind de, creating cuts all over his skin.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t care, lunging out like a real tiger and swinging the Heartbreak Saber with a roar of, ¡°Thousand Rupture sh!¡±


    <em>ng!</em>


    A metallic sh.


    Zhang Qinan had somehow produced his saber again, blocking this vicious attack. The two of them froze for a moment, Tang Jie pushing down with all his might while Zhang Qinan desperately tried to hold on, their efforts producing a stalemate.


    But in this stalemate, Zhang Qinan discovered to his surprise that his Hundred Refinement body actually couldn¡¯t keep up with Tang Jie¡¯s strength, and the Heartbreak Saber was getting closer and closer to his head.


    Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Sir Zhang, I don¡¯t want to kill you. You still have time to go into the Nine Pce Heart Ring!¡±


    ¡°With just you¡­¡± Zhang Qinan squeezed out, and then he bellowed, ¡°Dragon Strength!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s saber stopped moving down.


    At the same time, Zhang Qinan¡¯s left hand shed with light as he thrust it at Tang Jie¡¯s abdomen.


    Tang Jie turned his hand to grab it, and as w met palm, they once more entered into a stalemate.


    ¡°Sir Zhang,¡± Tang Jie angrily said, ¡°don¡¯t force my hand!¡±


    Zhang Qinan chuckled. ¡°My superior has given his orders, and I must carry them out even if I have to venture through a sea of fire!¡±


    As he spoke, he kept vomiting blood.


    He had first been injured by the Heavenly Pearl sh Talisman, then suffered from spell art bacsh, been forced to cast spells, and taken the attacks of the zeravens. The damage dealt to Zhang Qinan had been enormous, and his spiritual energy was churning restlessly.


    Even so, he refused to give up. This was truly a man.


    ¡°You go walking through your sea of fire, but don¡¯t even think aboutpleting your mission!¡± Tang Jie exerted more power, and even though Zhang Qinan had the boost from the Dragon Strength spell, Tang Jie was still just as strong. As the two sabers shed, they produced sparks.


    ¡°Thene and get me!¡± Zhang Qinanughed. ¡°Let me see what you can do!¡±


    At this point, Zhang Qinan had acknowledged Tang Jie¡¯s strength, but he still didn¡¯t think that Tang Jie could do anything to him.


    Seeing how stubborn his opponent was being, Tang Jie turned cold, his eyes growing callous. ¡°You really think I can¡¯t do anything to you? You seem to have forgotten that I¡¯m not alone.¡±


    <em>What?</em>


    Zhang Qinan was startled and instantly knew that this was bad.


    A lightning de struck him right in the waist.


    It was the little tiger.


    The Spirit Python¡¯s binding couldn¡¯tst for long, and the stronger little tiger had broken free first.


    In pain, Zhang Qinan loosened his grip, allowing Tang Jie to push with his left hand and force Zhang Qinan¡¯s left hand into his chest.


    Zhang Qinan suffered another heavy wound in his battle with Tang Jie, the most severe of all.


    Two of his ribs were broken by this push, and he once more vomited blood.


    Another flower formation emerged, twisting around Zhang Qinan, and this time, he had no chance to dodge.


    The little tiger roared, preparing to bite down on Zhang Qinan¡¯s throat.


    ¡°Bao¡¯er, stop!¡± Tang Jie shouted.


    ¡°Wuu¡­¡± The little tiger turned to Tang Jie, clearly wondering why Tang Jie didn¡¯t want to kill this man.


    Tang Jie took in a deep breath. ¡°He¡¯s still Sir Nan¡¯s subordinate. There¡¯s no need to go that far. We just need to deliver him to the Nine Pce Heart Ring.¡±


    He came forward to grab Zhang Qinan.


    Zhang Qinan had suffered wound after wound and had already lost the ability to resist. But as Tang Jie moved to grab him, he sneered, ¡°Tang Jie, do you think you¡¯ve won? Keep dreaming!¡±


    He turned his hand over, revealing a small golden stamp in his hand.


    ¡°The Heaventopple Stamp?¡± Tang Jie grimaced.

 Chapter 232: Support

    Chapter 232: Support


    The Heaventopple Stamp was a famous art relic in the cultivation world. The original had been a divine treasure created after the Grand Elder of the Seven Absolutions Sect, the Bejeweled Venerable, had refined an entire Immortal Mountain, after which many replicas were created, causing art-relic-level Heaventopple Stamps to be widespread.


    Tang Jie had the zeraven Ring, so how could Zhang Qinan not have a treasure? It was just that while his art relic was powerful, it wasn¡¯t right for the situation. But now that he had been defeated, he no longer cared.


    He threw the Heaventopple Stamp in Tang Jie¡¯s direction.


    ¡°Dodge!¡± Tang Jie roared, pulling the little tiger to the side.


    The little square stamp tumbled through the air, growingrger andrger until it was the size of a house.


    It was just that the stamp was seemingly off, tumbling rather far away from Tang Jie.


    Startled, Tang Jie quickly realized what was going on. ¡°Oh no!¡±


    He rushed at that giant stone.


    He had been worried that the Heaventopple Stamp would hit him, and he had even dodged to the side with the little tiger, but now he was charging with all his might at the stamp as if he wanted nothing more than for the stamp to hit him.


    But he was still just a little too slow, and with a boom, the golden stamp mmed into a clearing, releasing a powerful shockwave that sent Tang Jie flying.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Tang Jie furiously roared.


    This Heaventopple Stamp hadn¡¯t hurt him, but it might as well have stabbed him in the heart.


    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Zhang Qinan heartilyughed. ¡°The Life Gate has been blocked, causing the formation to be imbnced. You can now only go in and not out of the Devil Crushing Path. Tang Jie, let me see what you can do now!¡±


    The Heaventopple Stomp had been attacking not Tang Jie, but the most vital Life Gate of the Nine Pce Illusion Formation.


    As the path in the Nine Pce Illusion Formation leading to the Nine Pceplex, the Devil Crushing Path did not have any sort of illusive effect, but this didn¡¯t mean that it wasn¡¯t a part of the formation. Rather, it stood for none other than the Life Gate of the Nine Pce Illusion Formation.


    The Life Gate primarily governed defense, and it also represented the life-saving line. As the saying went, the heavens favored life, and so it left this saving line for humanity.


    This was the meaning of the Life Gate. It was like the brake pad and bumper for a car. It was only because of it that the formation didn¡¯t kill the people it wasn¡¯t supposed to.


    And in Tang Jie¡¯s n, the Life Gate yed an extremely important role: transferral.


    Although Tang Jie had nned to singlehandedly hold the pass against allers, he had never actually nned to face down one hundred all by himself.


    This wasn¡¯t something he could do at his current level of strength, not even with Yiyi¡¯s illusion formation¡ªat least, not for long. His goal was to have Wei Tianchong get first ce, not to show off his own strength.


    Fortunately, the students didn¡¯t all arrive at the Devil Crushing Path at the same time. For example, Zhang Qinan had gotten here first, and then Tang Jie had arrived, and there was no telling who woulde next.


    The fact that they didn¡¯te in at the same time gave Tang Jie the opportunity to defeat them individually.


    He could just stand guard here and defeat each student as they came, avoiding the fate of abined assault.


    The problem was: what would he do with the defeated students?


    Kill them all?


    That was clearly no good. This wasn¡¯t the Valley of No Return, and a Spirit Master was watching.


    Leave them on the Devil Crushing Path? That was also no good.


    That would be the same as watching everyone join together to defeat him.


    And these students weren¡¯t Zhang Qinan. Whether they were stuffed into the Nine Pce Heart Ring or kicked inside, so long as they were able to make it into the Heart Ring, they would win regardless.


    This was where the Life Gate came in.


    Through the operation of the Life Gate, Tang Jie could send these students out of the Devil Crushing Path and back into the Nine Pce Illusion Formation, making them go through it again.


    This was Tang Jie¡¯s real n, and the reason he dared to take on one hundred students all by himself. But he had never dared to mention it, which was why he had constantly told Zhang Qinan that he was going to send him into the Nine Pce Heart Ring.


    Yet despite his best efforts, Zhang Qinan had still seen through him.


    This wasn¡¯t too strange. If he hadn¡¯t understood formations and had relied purely on strength to get here, he wouldn¡¯t have gotten to the Devil Crushing Path first.


    And now, this Heaventopple Stamp had struck the Life Gate position that Tang Jie needed to send the students back.


    With the Life Gate blocked, the students had no way to leave the Devil Crushing Path except through the Nine Pce Heart Ring, and Tang Jie¡¯s n was utterly ruined.


    At this moment, Tang Jie only wished that the Heaventopple Stamp had hit him, and his rage was palpable.


    Zhang Qinan was stillughing,ughing brazenly and loudly.


    Even if he couldn¡¯t defeat Tang Jie, at least he had more than halfwaypleted the mission Nan Baicheng had given him.


    Tang Jie seethed with killing intent as he looked at the smug look on Zhang Qinan¡¯s face.


    <em>Kill him!</em>


    <em>Kill him!</em>


    <em>Kill him!</em>


    A voice howled in Tang Jie¡¯s mind again and again.


    Anger was surging, spurring Tang Jie onward.


    But in this sea of rage, the beacon of rationality still brightly shed.


    He could not do this!


    This was not some life-or-death battle, nor was it worth a deep-seated grudge!


    Killing him would mean earning Nan Baicheng¡¯s enmity!


    Killing him would break the rules of Basking Moon Academy!


    Killing him would turn him from the victim to the victimizer!


    Killing him would mean that even if Wei Tianchong became a True Inheritor, there would be no room for negotiation between him and Nan Baicheng.


    The remnants of his rationality managed to hang on against his emotions that were about to go out of control, slowly pulling them back from the brink.


    Tang Jie took a deep breath and suppressed his anger.


    He looked again at Zhang Qinan, who was stillughing, shouting at Tang Jie, ¡°Come on! Kill me!¡±


    Tang Jie snorted and kicked him in the face, leaving a bootprint upon it. He grabbed Zhang Qinan by the foot and walked over to the Nine Pce Heart Ring. ¡°I won¡¯t kill you, but if you think that is enough to stop me, you¡¯re looking down on me too much. I¡¯ll let you and your master see how I manage to stop all those students!¡±


    He dragged Zhang Qinan to the Nine Pce Heart Ring like he was dragging a dead dog.


    Zhang Qinan shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, do you really think you can still win? What does it matter that you defeated me? You think you can stop all those students forever? So long as you¡¯re here, my master will never let Wei Tianchong break through!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s for me to worry about, not you,¡± Tang Jie coldy replied as he tossed Zhang Qinan inside.


    His anger dissipated with this throw, and as Zhang Qinan disappeared into the Heart Ring, Tang Jie slowly turned around and made his way back to the entrance.


    His gaze paused on that giant golden stone. This stone spanned the Devil Crushing Path, and it also spanned across his heart, making him feel like he was suffocating.


    ¡°Big Brother¡­¡± Yiyi softly said. ¡°Can we not move it?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head.


    This was the art-relic-grade Heaventopple Stamp. Moving it was easier said than done.


    Of course, he might be able to do it if given enough time. The problem was that students could arrive at the Devil Crushing Path at any time, and he needed to preserve his strength and make his arrangements.


    If someone saw Tang Jie shoveling away at this giant rock¡­ not even Tang Jie wanted to ponder this any further.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Yiyi asked.


    After thinking it over, Tang Jie replied, ¡°Lay down the ilusion formation first. Others mighte at any time, so we have to use our time wisely!¡±


    ¡°Mm!¡± Yiyi sternly nodded, and with a raise of her hand, a flower formation emerged.


    The numerous flowers sealed off the road, linking the forests on the two ends. A mist billowed up, engulfing the region and concealing the flower formation. At this time, Tang Jie took out the formation diagram and the rm Gate Banner.


    An Eight Destions Illusion Formation with the rm Gate Banner as its core was soon formed, and it had Yiyi¡¯s flower formation supporting it from within, granting it some offensive ability.


    Once the formation was done, Tang Jie pointed at the forests on both sides. ¡°Little tiger, go and kill all the fiend beasts in the forest.¡±


    The fiend beasts of the Devil Crushing Path weren¡¯t strong, but they would remain atent problem if they were allowed to remain, and no one could say when they might cause trouble. By using this free time to exterminate them, Tang Jie removed any uncertain variables and alsoid down some groundwork for the Yellow Springs Talisman. After all, this talisman required the spirits of the dead, and recently-deceased fiend beasts were the perfect material. And besides that, he could gather some Azulwind Jades.


    The little tiger rushed out to execute this order.


    ¡°Yiyi, find some vines that we can use as rope.¡±


    Since he couldn¡¯t send the students out, he would have to tie them up. Ordinary rope was far from enough for dealing with the students, but it was better than nothing.


    Tang Jie used this time to sit down and absorb spiritual energy to recover what he had lost. He had to use every minute he had and cherish every drop of strength so that he could confront the battles toe.


    But deep in his heart, Zhang Qinan¡¯s words continued to resonate.


    <em>¡°So long as you¡¯re here, my master will never let Wei Tianchong break through¡­¡±</em>


    These words jabbed into Tang Jie¡¯s heart like a needle.


    In truth, he had known from the start that when Nan Baicheng saw that stopping him was ineffective, he would turn to stopping Wei Tianchong.


    But there was nothing Tang Jie could do about that.


    The simplest method was that if Wei Tianchong really wasn¡¯ting, he would find someone even worse to help himplete the mission.


    Like Shi Meng!


    It was apetition not of who was better, but of who was worse!


    Yan Changfeng would remain without any options and would still have to pick Wei Tianchong.


    But his encounter with Zhang Qinan had reminded Tang Jie of something. He realized that he might have neglected a factor.


    Emotion!


    Not everything could be exined through value. Humans were emotional creatures, and their actions were oftentimes prompted by their feelings rather than their rationality.


    If Yan Changfeng knew what had happened in his disciple selection, what would he think?


    Would he grow angry and decide to pick someone worse than Wei Tianchong?


    It was entirely possible!


    Tang Jie asked himself what he would do if he were standing in Yan Changfeng¡¯s spot, and since he would be picking an awful disciple anyway, then who should he choose? You made me unhappy, so don¡¯t even dream about getting your way!


    He had realized this when he was thinking about killing Zhang Qinan.


    His reason was able to defeat his emotions, but he couldn¡¯t hope that Yan Changfeng¡¯s would do the same.


    In truth, emotion was a manifestation of a person¡¯s desires. Why was it that people sought to achieve higher and higher positions? Wasn¡¯t it to satisfy their needs, and didn¡¯t this also include emotional needs?


    I managed to finally make it to the big leagues, but I have to be bullied around by a little snot like you? What joke are you ying? It¡¯s just a disciple. I¡¯ll just take the worst one so that you won¡¯t get your way! This mindset was probably not too strange, yes?


    Tang Jie could ept that Yan Changfeng would not be happy about Wei Tianchong. That wasn¡¯t what he was afraid of. He was confident that if Wei Tianchong could get through Yan Changfeng¡¯s door, he had his ways of helping Wei Tianchong ascend.


    But it was all for nothing if Wei Tianchong couldn¡¯t even get a foot in the door.


    On the contrary, it might breed hostility and cause him to lose more than he gained.


    All these thoughts made Tang Jie warier and even more concerned about this battle.


    If this was the case, he needed Wei Tianchong to get out as quickly as possible.


    The problem was that he couldn¡¯t help this along in any way.


    At this moment, the jade amulet on his waist vibrated.


    It was a message from Xu Miaoran.

 Chapter 233: Devil Crushing Fist

    Chapter 233: Devil Crushing Fist


    Xu Miaoran was a rich youngdy who really didn¡¯t think of money as money, randomly throwing out long-range message talismans, and now, she had sent another message.


    ¡°Hey, have you entered the Devil Crushing Path yet? Have you already blocked it off? If you¡¯re fighting, there¡¯s no rush to reply to me. I¡¯ll be there soon.¡±


    At the end was a little smiley face.


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t had the chance to tell Xu Miaoran his n, but just like Nan Baicheng, Xu Miaoran had already guessed. The only way to get Wei Tianchong first ce in this situation was to hold the Devil Crushing Path.


    Tang Jie was taken aback by the message, and then he realized, <em>That¡¯s right!</em>


    <em>I can have her help!</em>


    He could tell from Xu Miaoran¡¯s tone that she was very familiar with the Nine Pce Illusion Formation.


    Tang Jie saw a sliver of hope. He quickly took from his Mustard Seed Bag his only paper crane. He took a deep breath and then hastily wrote a few sentences on the crane before releasing it.


    Powered by spiritual energy, the paper crane opened its wings and soon turned into a streak of light.


    As the paper crane left with all his hopes, Tang Jie muttered, ¡°It all depends on you.¡±


    He looked toward the distant entrance to the path.


    After him and Zhang Qinan, who would be the first to appear?


    Xu Miaoran casually strode through Wind Devil Ind, but despite her leisurely look, she was moving very quickly. If she hadn¡¯t entered the formationter than the Basking Moon students, she might have been the first to reach the Devil Crushing Path.


    Xian Tao and Hong Yuan panted for breath as they tried to keep up. Finally having enough, Hong Yuan shouted, ¡°Young Miss, please, slow down!¡±


    Xu Miaoran paced as she replied, ¡°Am I fast? I¡¯m already going very slowly.¡±


    She made a little circle on the ground, appearing like she really had juste to take a stroll in the formation.


    Hong Yuan rolled her eyes. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s why you¡¯re using the Oceancrosser Step! Young Miss, if you want to feign calm, this isn¡¯t how you do it. While you appear to be moving very slowly, your strides are huge!¡±


    Xu Miaoran¡¯s face turned red. ¡°Oh, is that so? I must have not noticed. Cultivation involves constant hard work, you know? Making use of every moment. That¡¯s what my father taught me, anyway. Ah, let¡¯s not talk about this. We¡¯re almost at the Devil Crushing Path.¡±


    Hong Yuan pouted and said, ¡°Indeed, indeed, you must be quite anxious to see your boyfriend. Don¡¯t think I didn¡¯t see you secretly sending him a message. Goodness, it¡¯s one thing to send him a message, but you think we can¡¯t see a spirit crane flying off? You want to go and help him, right?¡±


    Xian Tao pushed her and said, ¡°You and your quick mouth. This expedition into the formation is meant to test the students of the Basking Moon Sect, and members of Horizon Ocean Pavilion can¡¯t interfere. Helping him might just ruin things for him.¡±


    Xian Tao was a cautious person, and she was using her words to warn Xu Miaoran that even if she got to the Devil Crushing Path, it wasn¡¯t right for her to openly help Tang Jie. If this went poorly, Tang Jie would be used of colluding with outsiders, which would only hurt his cause.


    Xu Miaoran knew this, and she nodded. ¡°I know. I¡¯m just going over to take a look. And besides, even if I can¡¯t help him in the open, I can at least do so from the shadows, right? With me there, some people will stop overstepping their bounds.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t worried about whether or not Wei Tianchong could be the True Inheritor, only that Tang Jie didn¡¯t offer up his life in this battle. With her around, at least she could guarantee that Tang Jie wouldn¡¯t die.


    As she spoke, there was a sh of spiritual light, and then Xu Miaoran¡¯s jade pendant trembled.


    ¡°Eh? Who on this ind has a long-distance message talisman?¡± Hong Yuan shouted.


    Xu Miaoran looked down. ¡°It¡¯s from Tang Jie. He used the only message talisman he had.¡±


    ¡°What did he say?¡± Hong Yuan curiously looked over, but Xian Tao pulled her back and red, causing Hong Yuan to pout.


    Fortunately, the contents were not particrly intimate. Xu Miaoran said, ¡°He wants me to help him save Wei Tianchong.¡±


    ¡°Wei Tianchong?¡± Xian Tao and Hong Yuan looked at each other.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Xu Miaoran exined, ¡°Tang Jie wrote that Nan Baicheng¡¯s subordinate, Zhang Qinan, ambushed him and was chased off by Tang Jie, but before leaving, Zhang Qinan used a Heaventopple Stamp to seal off the Nine Pce¡¯s Life Gate, which stops Tang Jie from sending the people he¡¯s defeated back into the formation. Right now, Tang Jie has to face thebined assault of the other students, and he¡¯s worried that Wei Tianchong has been hindered and wants me to go and help him.¡±


    ¡°But the Nine Pce Illusion Formation has numerous illusion zones spread over a vast area. Finding Wei Tianchong won¡¯t be easy,¡± Xian Tao said with a frown.


    The Nine Pce Illusion Formation didn¡¯t make it impossible to meet, but it covered an area of several thousand square kilometers. Finding someone here was difficult, and this wasn¡¯t even considering the illusion zones. Even if it were just empty ground, finding a single person would still be hard.


    Xu Miaoran began to think.


    ¡°Young Miss, I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to help him with this. We have no idea where Wei Tianchong is,¡± Xian Tao said.


    Xu Miaoran snorted. ¡°That¡¯s not for certain. You¡¯ve forgotten that there¡¯s a ce where you can see everything that¡¯s going on in the ind, no?¡±


    Xian Tao and Hong Yuan looked at each other and blurted out, ¡°The Heart Anchor Hall?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m off to the Heart Anchor Hall! Xian Tao, Hong Yuan, wait here for my orders.¡± As Xu Miaoran spoke, she threw a message talisman into the sky.


    This was to notify a worker of the ind to go out and meet her. She had given up on making her way through the formation.


    On the Devil Crushing Path, the road was immersed in thick white fog, and within the fog was arge flowery forest that blocked off the path to the Nine Pce Heart Ring. And the floral formation was still growing outward.


    Tang Jie sat within the formation like a meditating monk, but there was no calming his restless mind.


    He knew that this was the nerves that came from an imminent battle. He clearly wanted his opponents to arriveter so he had more time to prepare, but this excruciating waiting period also made him anxious for his opponents to arrive a little earlier.


    Countless thoughts ran through his mind. He wondered who would be the first to arrive at the Devil Crushing Path, and if Xu Miaoran had received his message and what she would do, and he also wondered about the heaven-shaking punch of the Gigantes King.


    As he became lost in thought, his breathing became a little hurried.


    He took a deep breath and told himself, <em>Calm down, calm down¡­</em>


    But the sea of his heart remained tempestuous, and just telling himself to be calm was no solution.


    The stronger he suppressed it, the stronger the pushback was.


    As his mind seethed, Tang Jie could no longer just sit around, so he decided to cultivate the Parting ssic.


    The Parting ssic required an herbal bath to be effective, but Tang Jie just wanted to borrow the cultivation mindset to calm himself down and didn¡¯t actually seek the effect.


    As he guided the energy through his body and followed the moves recorded in the Parting ssic, throwing out those swift punches, he began to calm down. The misceneous scenes in his mind faded away, reced with that image from the Martial Mirror of the Martial Lord standing against thousands of Immortals.


    That domineering aura filled Tang Jie¡¯s mind, and it spurred him on. Without him even realizing it, his punches grew stronger and stronger, producing sharp cracks in the air.


    Suddenly, the image of the Gigantes King sting away Nine Disaster appeared in his mind. Tang Jie seemed to understand something and roared, punching arge tree with the first move of the Parting ssic.


    The tree swayed a little, appearing to be little affected.


    Tang Jie said nothing, only stared at the tree.


    A few momentster, the tree exploded into shrapnel.


    ¡°Eh? What spell art was that? It seems quite powerful.¡± Yiyi rushed over andnded on his shoulder, but she wasn¡¯t too surprised. While a spell art that could st apart a tree in one strike was quite powerful, it wasn¡¯t anything too absurd.


    But Tang Jie¡¯s reply made her jump to her feet.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a spell art.¡±


    ¡°Not a spell art?¡± Yiyi looked at Tang Jie in shock. ¡°How is that possible?¡±


    ¡°Mm, it¡¯s not a spell art.¡± Tang Jie looked at his fist and smiled.


    He smiled because he finally understood what was going on with the Gigantes King¡¯s punch.


    The Parting ssic¡¯s moves were truly moves meant for cultivation, notbat.


    But unlike spell arts, what these moves cultivated was the body, and in the process, they absorbed external spiritual energy into the blood to strengthen the body.


    But what if it were done in reverse?


    What would happen if he absorbed power from his blood energy?


    This was an idea Tang Jie hade up with as he was cultivating the Parting ssic without any herbs and finding it difficult to circte his blood energy.


    And as could be seen, with just one strike, he had obliterated a tree.


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that when the cultivation method of the Parting ssic is used in reverse, it bes an offense technique?¡± Yiyi was in awe after she finished listening to Tang Jie¡¯s exnation. After all, she had never heard of such a thing before.


    ¡°Yes, and you saw it. A casual punch from me, not at full power, unleashed the power of a spell art,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°Then doesn¡¯t that mean that a single punch or kick from you would be like a spell art?¡± Yiyi grew excited.


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s impossible.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Why is that?¡±


    ¡°Because the blood energy consumed cannot be recovered,¡± Tang Jie replied. At this moment, he could tell that although the reverse cirction just now could unleash a great power from his blood energy, this was a consumption that had an upper limit.


    He had been wondering why the Martial Lord had left behind this cultivation art instead of an offensive art, but now, he knew.


    While thisbat art was enormously powerful, it hurt both oneself and the enemy, especially for people who were first learning the Parting ssic. If they recklessly used this art against the enemy, they might never be able to rise any higher for the rest of their life. They might even get weaker, falling below the level of a mortal and being crushed to death.


    ¡°What a great pity,¡± Yiyi sighed.


    ¡°But precisely because it consumes true blood, you can endlessly stack this power,¡± Tang Jie said, clenching his fist.


    ¡°¡®Endlessly stack¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Mm. What¡¯s truly special about the Martial Lord¡¯s Parting ssic is that the refining and absorption process is very crude and simple. With just a bath, one can absorb the spiritual herbs of the world. As for one¡¯s blood energy, because it belongs to oneself, it has no limiter. It ispletely possible to gather all of one¡¯s blood energy into a strike, and the power¡­¡± Tang Jie looked at the giant golden stone. ¡°It would be able to destroy that with no problem.¡±


    ¡°But that would make you back into an ordinary person, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Rx. I¡¯m not willing to sacrifice myself for Young Master Wei.¡±


    Yiyi pped her chest. ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but smile at her cute and innocent appearance. ¡°While the reversed Parting ssic can¡¯t be used carelessly, it can at least serve as a trump card. If my life is in danger, it might be able to save me, and it¡¯s better than nothing.¡±

 Chapter 234: One Man Holds the Pass (1)

    Chapter 234: One Man Holds the Pass (1)


    If Tang Jie had notprehended a sliver of the Dao of Insight, if he did not himself cultivate the Parting ssic, if Ji Wujiu had not yed out the illusion zone repeatedly, if he hadn¡¯t been so restless at this moment, Tang Jie might not have been able toprehend the truth behind the punch so quickly.


    But at least he now understood.


    Moreover, in Tang Jie¡¯s view, this problem of true blood consumption was not totally unsolvable. Otherwise, the Gigantes King would not have made those punches so lightly.


    In the end, it was because he had been cultivating for too little time, and his foundations were too shallow to take much messing around. Perhaps after he broke through, he wouldn¡¯t be consuming true blood anymore.


    Even if it was really no good, he could try to find a solution on his own. While the spell arts of the world took on many forms, they all shared the same root. So long as he was diligent, the vast majority of problems would have a solution.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°Right, I have to give this attack a name. It¡¯s not like I can call it ¡®Reverse Parting ssic¡¯, right?¡±


    ¡°It has to be a domineering name!¡± Yiyi shouted, waving her arms.


    ¡°¡®Domineering¡¯?¡± Tang Jie stroked his chin. ¡°Then what about ¡®Tyrant Dragon Heavensoar¡¯?¡±


    ¡°So crude!¡±


    ¡°¡®Tyrant Ocean Comet¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Crude to the extreme!¡±


    ¡°¡®Tyrant Tide Punch¡¯?¡±


    Yiyi red. ¡°Why do you insist on the ¡®tyrant¡¯ word?¡±


    ¡°You said you wanted something domineering¡­¡± Tang Jie resentfully said.


    After thinking it over, he said, ¡°Iprehended this fist by observing the battle between the Gigantes King and the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk, and the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk is an Archdevil of the Primordial Fog Domain, and I alsoprehended it on the Devil Crushing Path, so I¡¯ll call it the Devil Crushing Fist. It will be in remembrance of this path, and also in remembrance of that war 1800 years ago in which the worthies of the cultivation world worked together to fight back against the fiends and devils of Primordial Fog!¡±


    After saying this, he sat back down and quietly waited.


    Havingprehended the Devil Crushing Fist, he had calmed down his restless mind, and he calmly waited for the students to arrive.


    The flower formation continued to ceaselessly grow, and on asion, the sound of the little tiger hunting could be heard from the forest.


    But the Devil Crushing Path was eerily quiet.


    Time quickly flowed by.


    After some time, a figure finally appeared on the distant path, but it was a girl wearing a purple gown, with arge ck wolf following her.


    The woman who had appeared on the Devil Crushing Path had a cold and beautiful face, showing no sign of fatigue.


    ¡°Eh? Su Xinyue? How could it be her?¡± Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback when he saw this girl.


    While waiting, he had considered multiple times who the first person to step onto the Devil Crushing Path would be.


    In terms of strength, the most likely person was Peng Yaolong. In terms of family background, the one with the greatest hope was Long Dao. In terms of understanding of formations, it was Peng Shaoqing, who was Zhao Xiliang¡¯s disciple. In terms of speed, Ye Tianshang was ced first. An Rumeng was fast, but she was not qualified to be a True Inheritor and wasn¡¯t here for this, havinge primarily to increase her experience and gather resources.


    But none of these people were it. Instead, the rather obscure Su Xinyue had appeared.


    Su Xinyue was part of the same ss as Meng Shixue, but she was far less famous, and she was usually rather low-key. Tang Jie mostly knew about her because of her outstanding beauty. After all, female students in Basking Moon Academy were a minority, and few of them were pretty. Besides that, this girl also raised a giant ck wolf, which was said to be a middle-grade fiend beast. But no one had ever seen Su Xinyue fight before, so no one could confirm if this was true.


    He hadn¡¯t expected her to be the first to appear, and Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but sigh in praise. Basking Moon Academy was truly brimming over with talents. There were always some people who would surprise you in unexpected ways.


    As Su Xinyue arrived at the Devil Crushing Path and saw that fog in the distance, she faintly smiled. ¡°As expected, you were the first to get here, yes? Tang Jie.¡±


    Tang Jie was in the fog, but she seemed to see through it, her eyes resting on his body.


    Slowly standing up, Tang Jie walked out of the fog. ¡°It seems that Miss Su already knew that I would be here, but I did not expect you to be my first opponent. Basking Moon Academy has many students, yet not a single one knew of Miss Su¡¯s real strength. Let me express my admiration for your ability to keep it hidden!¡±


    Su Xinyue slightly raised her head. ¡°Spell arts are to be used in battle, so why use them if one¡¯s life isn¡¯t at stake? Moreover, the world is vast and full of capable people. Better to stay low rather than unt one¡¯s clumsy ability. It¡¯s just that many people still don¡¯t understand this principle.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Miss Su is the youngdy of the Wanquan City Su n and does not want for resources, so you can naturally cultivate in secret and shock everyone with a meteoric rise. But people like us who were born in poverty have to sell our fists and feet for some money to eat.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, why don¡¯t I give you some money, and you can let me through?¡± Su Xinyue smiled.


    Tang Jie shook his head, saying nothing.


    Su Xinyue knew that this wasn¡¯t happening, and her beautiful face darkened. ¡°Tang Jie, I know that you¡¯re very strong such that even Peng Yaolong might not be able to beat you. I might not be able to beat you either, but in this battle, I don¡¯t need to beat you. I just need to get through that road!¡±


    She pointed at the fog-covered road. ¡°I don¡¯t believe that you can stop me.¡±


    Her words were brimming with impressive confidence.


    Tang Jie simply nced at her, and then he looked at the ck wolf.


    He said, ¡°No wonder you didn¡¯t appear at the battle of the Valley of No Return. I¡¯m guessing that you were putting all your energy into raising this Violet Ember Wolf. It looks to me like it¡¯s almost reached Mind Opening.¡±


    Su Xinyue grimaced at his words.


    Just as Tang Jie had said, she had not appeared at the battle of the Valley of No Return because she had been raising her Violet Ember Wolf.


    Tang Jie had found a loophole in the rules by using the spirit herbs on himself, and Su Xinyue had found her own loophole. Using the devouring nature of fiend beasts, she had set her Violet Ember Wolf loose on the Valley of No Return. She had given up on the battle for the Red Lotus because she needed to preserve her strength for the final battle.


    This method maximized her chances ofter sess, and even if she failed, at least she would have a powerful fiend beast. It was an option that allowed for both attack and retreat.


    But Tang Jie had seen through it with a nce, and he indifferently said, ¡°Hiding strength and biding your time for a single strike shows Miss Su¡¯s thought and consideration. Unfortunately, hiding your strength doesn¡¯t mean that you¡¯re stronger than the other party. No matter how much a rabbit hides its strength, it will never be able to fight against a tiger!¡±


    As he spoke, Tang Jie unleashed a frightening power that swept through the area.


    Just how strong was Tang Jie?


    To tell the truth, not even Tang Jie was very sure.


    But he knew that he had far more strength than a Spirit tform student should have.


    If one had to put him somewhere, then he would probably be an expert who was one tier above, or an ordinary cultivator who was two tiers above.


    Zhang Qinan was proof of this. He was average when it came to the Mortal Shedding Realm, so even without all those traps and sneak attacks, Tang Jie was confident that he could beat him. The only problem was how much of a price he would have to pay.


    As for Su Xinyue, she might be strong and hiding her strength¡­


    But just as Tang Jie had said, no matter how much a rabbit hid its strength, it was still a rabbit.


    In a rush of wind, spiritual energy surged.


    Tang Jie stomped forward.


    This one step made Su Xinyue feel a formidable pressure.


    She grimaced and pointed at Tang Jie, ¡°Violet, go!¡±


    The Violet Ember Wolf lunged out and spat a violet demonic me at Tang Jie.


    This Violet Ember Wolf had a reason for its name. Its violet mes could melt metal and were extremely difficult to take on. Even Tang Jie didn¡¯t dare to take the attack directly, instantly avoiding the violet me and swinging his Heartbreak Saber at Su Xinyue.


    The edge was as cold as ice!


    Su Xinyue hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to be this fast, and she hastily retreated in shock. At the same time, her left hand formed signs, throwing out threads of spiritual energy.


    Tang Jie immediately felt his energy cirction fall into turmoil, and it no longer became as easy to use the Violet Lightning Lunge. Grunting, he said, ¡°The Binding Hand, pretty good.¡±


    Binding Hand was a rather famous spell art in the cultivation world. It was all about disrupting energy and interrupting art manifestation. At its highest realms, it could even control a cultivator¡¯s casting, turning the opponent into a puppet. Of course, Su Xinyue wasn¡¯t at this level. She couldn¡¯t even interrupt Tang Jie¡¯s casting, at best interfering with the art cirction. Even so, with her Violet Ember Wolf assisting her, the average student would have suffered a great loss.


    Binding Hand was abnormally difficult to train. It was clear that she had worked hard to reach this level, though no one actually knew that she possessed this ability.


    s, she had picked the wrong opponent.


    While Tang Jie¡¯s energy cirction was affected, he didn¡¯t slow down, stomping with both feet and shooting out like a cannonball.


    Even without the support of a spell art, he was strong enough to deal with this situation. Put simply, his skills were at Level 2 while his equipment, mana, HP, and defense were all at Level 10. This alone ced him above the majority of his ssmates and was the basis on which he had dared to vie for dominance.


    He instantly rushed up to Su Xinyue¡¯s side, the Heartbreak Saber viciously swinging. Aghast, Su Xinyue instinctively swung her sword to block, but the enormous strength sent the sword flying out of her hand while a steely fist rushed at her face.


    A silver light appeared, covering Su Xinyue.


    ¡°Silver Shield?¡± Tang Jie grunted, continuing to punch, not caring that his opponent was a woman.


    The silver barrier could block Tang Jie¡¯s fist, but the hammering impact forced Su Xinyue back.


    She cried out, ¡°Violet, help me!¡±


    The Violet Ember Wolf rushed over and spat arge gout of purple me at Tang Jie while swiping at him with arge paw.


    A watery light shed.


    Tang Jie had activated the Aquagel Shroud and Formless Golden Body to block the me this time, and he punched back, shouting, ¡°Out of my way!¡±


    Fist met with paw, and the giant wolf howled as it flew back.


    This Violet Ember Wolf was of upper grade, but in terms of strength, it couldn¡¯tpare to the giant ape from the Valley of No Return. As even the giant ape had fallen Tang Jie¡¯s steely fist, how could this fiend wolf fare better?


    As it tumbled through the air and crashed to the ground, one of its forelegs was clearly twisted. Its bone had been broken, rendering it unable to rise for the time being.


    ¡°Violet!¡± Su Xinyue cried out in pain. She red at Tang Jie and shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, you¡¯re not a man!¡±


    ¡°My apologies. Rather than dragging things out, I need to settle this battle quickly!¡± Tang Jie coolly replied.


    If he were only facing Su Xinyue, he wouldn¡¯t need to be this vicious, but the next battle mighte at any time. He needed to quickly resolve every battle, for the slightest dy might allow another student to join, which would cast him into a vortex of endless battle.


    Perhaps this was unavoidable, but Tang Jie wanted to dy it as long as possible.


    He swung his saber at Su Xinyue again. ¡°Let yourself be captured and I won¡¯t kill you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it! AAAAH!¡± Su Xinyue let out a shrill scream, like a needle jabbing into one¡¯s ears.


    At the same time, her sword erupted with the light of the Sword Ray spell. She raised her left hand and shot out an energy needle, the Shadowless Needle.


    Sonic Howl, Sword Ray, and Shadowless Needle¡ªin using three spells in a row, Su Xinyue was going all-out.


    ¡°RAAA!¡± Tang Jie roared in response.


    He hadn¡¯t learned any sonic spells, but this tiger roar was like a thunderp exploding next to Su Xinyue¡¯s ears.

 Chapter 235: One Man Holds the Pass (2)

    Chapter 235: One Man Holds the Pass (2)


    Su Xinyue¡¯s Sonic Howl was obliterated by Tang Jie¡¯s roar, and the person herself was dizzied. Tang Jie stepped forward, allowing the Shadowless Needle to strike him as he punched at the sword.


    As sword and fist met, a long gash was scored across his hand, but the surging power of his fist knocked aside the sword, leaving Su Xinyuepletely open.


    Tang Jie rushed up and smashed a fist at her. The Silver Shield appeared, erupting with a dazzling light. It was clearly on the verge of breaking against Tang Jie¡¯s berserk might.


    At this moment, another figure appeared at the distant entrance to the Devil Crushing Path.


    ¡°Not good!¡± Tang Jie mentally cursed. He hadn¡¯t expected the second person toe so quickly.


    ¡°Help me!¡± Su Xinyue shouted.


    It wasn¡¯t possible to see that person¡¯s face from such a distance, but they immediately began to run over upon hearing this call for help.


    Tang Jie knew that this wasn¡¯t a good sign. He punched three times at Su Xinyue¡¯s Silver Shield, and with a bang, the barrier shattered.


    At the same time, Su Xinyue pointed ahead. Tang Jie was ready to take her attack, but to his surprise, she had aimed her finger at the ground behind him.


    Startled, Tang Jie knew that this wasn¡¯t good.


    He heard a wolf howl behind him.


    The Violet Ember Wolf had gotten to its feet and was angrily ring at Tang Jie. With a howl, its fur bristled, and another violet me emerged, but this me engulfed the wolf in a violet radiance. The Violet Ember Wolf howled and shot at Tang Jie like an arrow.


    This attack was bound to be powerful, and in normal circumstances, Tang Jie would have elected to dodge.


    But that other student was approaching at high speeds, and Tang Jie could already tell who it was: Peng Yaolong. He knew that if Peng Yaolong and Su Xinyue could work together, the battle would grow more difficult, so he decided that he couldn¡¯t dodge this blow.


    He rushed up to Su Xinyue and threw her behind him.


    The violet w unleashed a ball of me in the air that managed to stop it hard only three inches from Su Xinyue¡¯s head.


    Su Xinyue was scared out of her wits from the sight of her beloved wolf¡¯s w, and even Peng Yaolong who was rushing over paused for a moment.


    Time seemed to freeze for a moment.


    And then Tang Jie grabbed Su Xinyue by the neck and slowly backed away.


    The fiend wolf red at Tang Jie, but it did not dare to move. Tang Jie thrust a finger at the point where Su Xinyue¡¯s Spirit Eye was located, rendering her helpless. He then threw Su Xinyue behind him, and flowery vines erupted and coiled around her. Yiyi used her countless green roses to bind Su Xinyue and drag her into the formation.


    The fiend wolf was furious and was about to charge over when Su Xinyue shouted, ¡°Violet, don¡¯t!¡±


    The Violet Ember Wolf unwillingly trotted over,y down next to its master, and sorrowfully whimpered.


    Peng Yaolong snorted at this sight. ¡°Su Xinyue¡­ I didn¡¯t think that you would get in here ahead of me. Truly surprising. Tang Jie, it seems that I have to thank you for holding her off.¡±


    ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯ll go easy on me, right?¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    Peng Yaolong grinned. ¡°Correct. That¡¯s what¡¯s most amusing about all this. Everyone thates after you will actually be a loser of this examination. They shouldn¡¯t have had a chance, but because of you, they do have a chance. But they can¡¯t get this chance unless they defeat you¡­¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡± Tang Jie sighed. ¡°In truth, all of you ought to thank me by giving up. Isn¡¯t that fine? It¡¯s not like that spot would have been yours, so why fight with me over it?¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s also not Wei Tianchong¡¯s. Tang Jie, if you walked over and got first ce, nobody wouldin. But if you insist on helping Wei Tianchong get the True Inheritance, then you have to give everyone else a chance. If I don¡¯t make good use of it, won¡¯t I be throwing away an opportunity granted to me by the heavens?¡± Peng Yaolong loudlyughed as the joints in his body cracked and a powerful aura erupted from his body.


    He red at Tang Jie. ¡°Tang Jie! I might have fallen behind you in this test, only getting third, but that¡¯s just because I¡¯m not well versed in the Dao of Formations. In terms of strength, I¡¯m at Mortal Shedding, so you¡¯re no match for me, and your n is bound to fail! Since you¡¯ve already fought a battle, I won¡¯t make things hard for you and will give you onest chance. Stand aside and I won¡¯t beat you up!¡±


    ¡°Great Brother Peng, you¡¯re wrong about one thing.¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°You aren¡¯t the third to reach the Devil Crushing Path, but the fourth.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Peng Yaolong froze.


    Tang Jie pointed at the nearby Heaventopple Stamp. ¡°A fellow who isn¡¯t technically a student was first, and he was also at the Mortal Shedding Realm.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Peng Yaolong was shocked. ¡°Where is he, then?¡±


    He then realized that he had asked a stupid question. Since Tang Jie was here, that other person had naturally been sent running by Tang Jie.


    It was just that he found it too unbelievable for Tang Jie to beat a Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator. After all, he was only at Spirit Lake.


    Sure enough, Tang Jie said, ¡°Where else? I threw him into the Nine Pce Heart Ring. Great Brother Peng, you are one of the talents of Basking Moon Academy, so I want to see the difference between a new Spirit Master and an old one. But I think that no matter what, you shouldn¡¯t be stronger than him!¡±


    Tang Jie shook his arm and unleashed a howling punch at Peng Yaolong.


    He had been talking just to catch his breath. After regaining some of his energy, he immediately attacked before any more students came.


    Peng Yaolongughed. ¡°Just what I wanted!¡±


    He swung a fist in response.


    The two steely fists met in the air, releasing a powerful shockwave that sent both of them back. Peng Yaolong fell back three steps, and Tang Jie fell back four steps.


    In this direct confrontation, Tang Jie was just a little weaker.


    Peng Yaolongughed. ¡°What do you think this time?¡±


    Peng Yaolong was a closebat student just like Tang Jie, and he cultivated his Apex Combat True Astral to a higher level than Tang Jie had his Formless Golden Body.


    In hisst sh with Tang Jie, the difference in constitutions had allowed Tang Jie to get the upper hand, but after he entered Hundred Refinement, he had thought about that painful experience and trained his body every day.


    This was precisely why he hadn¡¯t improved much in the spell art field after reaching Mortal Shedding, but his body was much stronger.


    Though his body was still inferior to Tang Jie¡¯s in many aspects, the Apex Combat True Astral was enough to make up for these ws, and he could now ovee Tang Jie in pure strength.


    Peng Yaolong roared and punched again.


    He wasn¡¯t using his usual gauntlets, simply punching with his bare fists, but their power was nheless frightening.


    Grunting, Tang Jie drew back the Heartbreak Saber and then once again took on the punch directly.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    In another massive boom, the two of them closed and then parted. In the middle of a furious storm, two valiant figures battled.


    Peng Yaolong was admittedly powerful, but Tang Jie¡¯s punches were savage. As the two of them exchanged blows, spiritual energy ran through their flesh, turning them into steelbat puppets. <em>Bang! Bang! Bang!</em> It wasn¡¯t as dazzling as spell arts, only a sh of weapons and flesh. Rather than a battle between cultivators, it was more like two wrestlers battling it out on the stage.


    But this fighting style was even more cruel and intense, with no cheap tricks or lucky flukes allowed.


    <em>Thud!</em>


    Peng Yaolong punched Tang Jie in the face, causing half of his face to swell. At the same time, Tang Jie chopped his hand at Peng Yaolong¡¯s neck, causing his neck to momentarily go numb.


    Peng Yaolong punched Tang Jie in the abdomen while Tang Jie kicked Peng Yaolong in the chest, and the two of them groaned and vomited blood. But the two of them only drew back half a step before lunging at each other again and trading blows.


    It was a gruesome and savage battle, and the two of them were soon covered with wounds, but neither of them backed down. They were like suicide warriors as they punched and kicked, unafraid of death and willing to fight until the end. This was an aura that only battlefield veterans should have, but it was appearing on two students. One could tell at a nce that these were not just normal students. The ferocity of the battle left even Su Xinyue gobsmacked.


    From the time she had entered the academy, she had cultivated quietly, not seeking the attention of all, in order to stun everyone with a meteoric rise. But today, she finally understood how absurd andughable her idea was.


    No one could truly rise up in the space of a single day. In this rise, people would often have to experience countless torments and trials which allowed them to slowly mature.


    Staying hidden and burying oneself in training in the hopes of ascending to heaven in a single day was naught but an absurd dream! It was something that the ipetent who did not dare to vie for the world used to console themselves!


    Whether it was Tang Jie or Peng Yaolong, their student exteriors concealed the numerous trials they had already been through. Tang Jie had his battle of wits and daring against Godhead Pce, but Peng Yaolong had also been through countless bloody trials to obtain his current boldness.


    As the two of them punched and kicked, they red at each other like hungry wolves.


    Tang Jie was as fierce as a tiger, but Peng Yaolong stared at Tang Jie with the eyes of a bull in rage.


    The two of them gasped for breath, and Peng Yaolong suddenly grinned. ¡°Tang Jie, I admire you for your willingness to hold the pass all by yourself, and normally, I would definitely make you my friend. Unfortunately, for the True Inheritance, I can show no mercy. Watch closely. This is an ability Iprehended after reaching the Mortal Shedding Realm. If you can take it, then you win!¡±


    Peng Yaolong¡¯s fist became covered with a ck energy, bursting out at first, but then it quickly receded inside of the fist. As it did, a powerful aura began to swell.


    Peng Yaolong roared, ¡°Dragon-Tiger Fist!¡±


    He swung the punch at Tang Jie, releasing a powerful wave of energy.


    ¡°Raaa!¡± Tang Jie roared as he struck back.


    There was no golden needle and no spell arts, only an endless fighting intent and a dazzling fist energy.


    As the two energies shed, there was a massive boom.


    The storms created by the two fists shed evenly for a moment, and then there was a secondary explosion, and in this surge of energy, Tang Jie groaned and staggered back.


    Peng Yaolong¡¯s Dragon-Tiger Fist continued forward, striking Tang Jie in the face.


    This was a powerful blow, jolting Tang Jie¡¯s mind and causing his vision to go dark. He knew that this wasn¡¯t good, and as he flew backward, he kicked out, striking Peng Yaolong in the chest. He then flew backward and crashed into the ground, unable to get up for a moment.


    Peng Yaolong¡¯s Apex Combat True Astral shed a moment before greatly dimming. It was clear that he could no longer maintain it, but he was still standing.


    ¡°You win,¡± Tang Jie groaned.


    In this sh, Tang Jie ultimately couldn¡¯t defeat the Mortal Shedding Peng Yaolong.


    In terms of spell arts, he might not be able topare to Zhang Qinan, but in apetition of strength, he didn¡¯t lose out in the slightest.


    He truly deserved the title of Great Brother.


    Peng Yaolong held his chest and grunted. ¡°I¡¯ve cultivated for six years and have already entered the Mortal Shedding Realm, but I was only barely able to beat you, who have only cultivated for two years. There¡¯s no glory in this victory.¡±


    Even after using his ultimate move, Peng Yaolong had barely managed to win, so he didn¡¯t feel proud in the slightest.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°A loss is a loss and a win is a win. On the battlefield, the difference between life and death is sometimes only a centimeter. There¡¯s no such thing as barely winning. Great Brother, there¡¯s no need to be humble.¡±


    ¡°Well then, please don¡¯t mind if I don¡¯t keep youpany,¡± Peng Yaolong grunted, and prepared to leave.


    Tang Jie casually continued, ¡°s, Great Brother, while you¡¯ve certainly won, you can¡¯t leave. Bao¡¯er, Yiyi, stop him.¡±


    As he spoke, Yiyi and the little tiger appeared next to him.


    Peng Yaolong was stunned by this sight. ¡°Tang Jie, you¡­¡±

 Chapter 236: Dispute

    Chapter 236: Dispute


    ¡°When did I say that you could leave if you won?¡± Tang Jie decided to just lie down on the ground as hezily replied, seizing every moment he could to recover his energy.


    In truth, with his level of strength, if he really wanted to fight with Peng Yaolong to the bitter end, Peng Yaolong wouldn¡¯t be guaranteed tost against his recovery abilities.


    But this wasn¡¯t necessary. With Yiyi and the little tiger around, he could save both energy and time.


    He had not had them strike earlier primarily because he feared Peng Yaolong¡¯s savage strength. Tang Jie could send an upper-grade fiend beast like the Violet Ember Wolf flying with a single punch, and Yiyi and the little tiger were only of middle grade. Having them carelessly face Peng Yaolong might end with them being heavily injured.


    This was precisely why Tang Jie had gone all-out, using himself to wear out Peng Yaolong. Now, however, Peng Yaolong was no longer as strong. Moreover, Peng Yaolong was usually so strong that the only way to bind him would be to wear him out first.


    The little tiger rushed in first, callously firing a lightning de at Peng Yaolong. Peng Yaolong roared and scattered the lightning de with a punch, and then he roared, ¡°Tang Jie, you scoundrel!¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t a duel, Great Brother!¡± Tang Jie firmly replied.


    The little tiger and Yiyi rushed up, and under the repeated attacks of the two middle-grade creatures, Peng Yaolong began to falter. He bellowed and punched again and again, but despite his intimidating aura, his strength began to wane. Finally, Yiyi saw that the moment was right, and ten-some vines coiled around him and dragged him into the formation.


    Peng Yaolong shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, you can¡¯t hold me!¡±


    But no matter how he struggled, he couldn¡¯t break free, and all it did was make his energy drain away faster.


    Next to him, Su Xinyue weakly said, ¡°It¡¯s useless. Tang Jie was ready for this. He¡¯sid down a chain formation, and one of the formations is an energy-draining formation. These vines that bind us will drain away any energy we manage to recover to power the formation, thus creating a regenerative cycle.¡±


    Peng Yaolong was aghast, and he quickly realized that Su Xinyue was right. Whenever he managed to recover a little energy, the flower vines would drain it away.


    This bastard had made them the formation energy source, draining their energy so that he could imprison more people in the formation.


    ¡°Tang Jie, you bastard!¡± Peng Yaolong furiously roared. ¡°You won¡¯t be able to hold me!¡±


    Tang Jie ignored him and continued to recover.


    For him, the only correct path was to use every free moment he had to rest.


    The most ideal scenario was that he would finish resting right when another person came in.


    Unfortunately, reality rarely went as one wanted.


    The battle with Peng Yaolong had consumed too much of his strength, and after he had recovered only a little, another person appeared in the distance.


    It was Long Dao this time.


    Tang Jie sighed. He didn¡¯t have much of a friendship with Long Dao, so he didn¡¯t mince words and instantly swung his saber.


    ¡°Tang Jie?¡± Long Dao hadn¡¯t expected to be attacked the moment he emerged from the formation. He didn¡¯t have time to use a spell art, so he pped his waist, and a defensive barrier emerged just in time for Tang Jie to st him back with a punch.


    The enormous collision caused Long Dao¡¯s vision to blur as Tang Jie swung his saber again.


    rmed and with no time to cast a spell, Long Dao threw out a small golden bell.


    ¡°The Jade Return Bell,¡± Tang Jie grunted as he swung his saber at the bell, and with a ng, the bell was sent back the way it hade.


    But a momentter, Long Dao took out a piece of jade and threw it at Tang Jie, and this was followed by an array of talismans, a de of ice and a fireball flying at him. Tang Jie was finally forced to dodge, but he also looked at Peng Yaolong and shook his head. ¡°Such a spendthrift.¡±


    As the son of a True Person, Long Dao truly had many excellent possessions, even numerous spell weapons. Despite the fact that he had yet to enter Mortal Shedding, he probably even had a few art relics.


    s, while he had many spell weapons, unlike Tang Jie and the others, he had relied entirely on resources to reach his current level of strength, so heckedbat experience and only had a will to fight. A sneak attack had caught him off guard, and in his panic, he simply threw out everything he had.


    Peng Yaolong needed to watch for only a few moments to know that Long Dao was no match for Tang Jie and that his defeat was only a matter of time.


    Tang Jie was right. While more and more students would appear, it was on a gradually descending scale of strength. As quantity rose, quality was bound to take a dip.


    Was Tang Jie really going to hold the path until Wei Tianchong arrived?


    Peng Yaolong grew frustrated.


    At this moment, Su Xinyue suddenly whispered, ¡°Senior Brother Peng, listen to me. In truth, your junior sister understands a little about formations.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Peng Yaolong looked at Su Xinyue. This girl had hidden her strength this entire time, arriving at the Devil Crushing Path even faster than he had and leaving him surprised. It made sense that she had learned about formations in secret.


    Su Xinyue first nced at Long Dao and Tang Jie battling and then nced at the distant Heaventopple Stamp. She softly said, ¡°That Heaventopple Stamp blocks the Life Gate of the Nine Pce Illusion Formation. Do you know what the purpose of that is?¡±


    Before he could reply, Su Xinyue said, ¡°It¡¯s used to send students back to the Nine Pce Illusion Formation.¡±


    Peng Yaolong¡¯s eyes brightened as he immediately caught on to what Su Xinyue was saying. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that¡­¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie said before that he wasn¡¯t the first to reach the Devil Crushing Path. He isn¡¯t lying, as the Life Gate being blocked is proof. This matter was clearly beyond his expectations.¡±


    ¡°What about it?¡± Peng Yaolong was confused.


    Su Xinyue rolled her eyes and continued, ¡°We¡¯re currently in a chain formation, and I can only recognize two of them. Besides the energy-draining formation, there¡¯s also the Eight Destions Illusion Formation, the one that was used in the Valley of No Return to hold all of us.¡±


    ¡°So he was the one who did that!¡± Peng Yaolong gnashed his teeth.


    Su Xinyue angrily rolled her eyes again. ¡°Great Brother, that¡¯s not important. Don¡¯t you get it? Tang Jie¡¯s original n was probably to use this illusion formation to impede strong foes while sending people he defeated back into the illusion formation through the Life Gate. But has he used this formation in his battles?¡±


    Peng Yaolong finally got it. ¡°You¡¯re saying that he only thought of the energy-draining formationter?¡±


    ¡°Correct!¡± Su Xinyue sternly said. ¡°Unable to do anything about the Life Gate being blocked, he turned what should have been his stronghold into a cage. Do you understand what that means?¡±


    Peng Yaolong seriously pondered this for a while. ¡°It means that he was unprepared for this, so this energy-draining formation is the lowest level, using the vines as the foundation and spiritual energy as the lines.¡±


    ¡°Correct!¡± Su Xinyue confirmed. ¡°It¡¯s precisely because it was made in haste that we still have a chance.¡±


    ¡°What do we do?¡±


    ¡°Calm your energy and circte Circuit Heavens¡­¡±


    ¡°AAAAAH! I¡¯ll chop you up! Chop you up! Chop you to death!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted as he iled his little axe, chopping a gold-and-blue-eyed python into ten-some chunks before weakly dropping to the ground.


    His body was covered in blood, but there were still numerous doors of light twinkling in this space.


    He had already opened ten-some doors. Behind each door was a vicious beast, an insidious nt, or a sinister trap, and several of them had been extremely dangerous.


    More doors of light were still twinkling, and there was no telling which one was the correct door or how much longer this would take.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Wei Tianchong furiously roared into the void, ¡°I chose the left path! The left path! I didn¡¯t want illusion formations, you shameless frauds!¡±


    But there was no reply to his bellows.


    As he looked at the doors of light, Wei Tianchong could no longer restrain himself, hugging his head and bawling, ¡°Tang Jie¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­ I can¡¯t do it¡­ I can¡¯t get out¡­¡±


    As he wept, there was no one around tofort him. There was only the little fox, who silently watched him, its eyes twinkling in thought.


    After crying for a while, Wei Tianchong stood back up, wiped his tears, and walked to another door, mumbling, ¡°Damn you, I¡¯ll have your head!¡±


    He opened the door, and without even looking, he threw in arge fireball. A female ghost charged out of the door and immediately got a fireball to the face, stopping it in its tracks. A momentter, the shadow soldier, puppet, and axe hacked it to death.


    Nan Baicheng was rendered speechless by the sight.


    He thought to himself, <em>This kid¡¯s soft personality hides a hard streak, and he¡¯s quite the fierce sort. Unfortunately, he can¡¯t control his rapidly fluctuating personality. It¡¯s quite unfortunate that he can¡¯t exactly control when he decides to go all-out.</em>


    He turned to look at Ji Wujiu, who had just recovered from the shock given to him by the incident in the Gigantes Illusion Zone and was lost in thought. All Nan Baicheng could say was, ¡°Brother Ji, there is no need to worry. Once this matter is over, I will give a full ount to your superiors and take all the me.¡±


    He wasn¡¯t a member of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and so even if he took the me for Ji Wujiu, he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about Horizon Ocean Pavilion doing anything too bad to him.


    Ji Wujiu shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not that simple. The Nine Disaster Fiend Monk borrowed the illusion to manifest, and his fiend energy soared into the heavens. This can be hidden from some people, but there¡¯s no hiding it from those grand ancestors.¡±


    Nan Baicheng chuckled. ¡°If they found out, they found out. It was just a sliver of will and not some big deal. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s not worth them asking questions.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully,¡± Ji Wujiu sighed. He could only hope that everything went as Nan Baicheng said.


    At this moment, a child entered the room and shouted, ¡°Reporting! The Pufeng County Lord seeks an audience!¡±


    Ji Wujiu was startled. ¡°Wasn¡¯t she outside trying her skills on the formation?¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t fun, so I naturally stopped!¡± a melodious voice replied, and Xu Miaoran came in without an invitation.


    Ji Wujiu hastily got to his feet and bowed. ¡°Ji Wujiu pays respects to the county lord.¡±


    Xu Miaoran strode over and loudly said, ¡°Senior Brother Ji is being too polite. You are Martial Uncle Hong¡¯s disciple, so we are part of the same generation. As both your age and cultivation are higher than mine, I should be bowing to you.¡±


    Despite her words, she showed no sign of bowing. She walked up to the six-edged crystal and nced at the scene ying out on it.


    She had never seen Wei Tianchong before, but she recognized the illusion zone. ¡°Oh? The Prison of Mortal Coil? Which student is so fortunate that they require Senior Brother to use his Prison of Mortal Coil on him?¡±


    Ji Wujiu was just about to reply when Nan Baicheng lightly coughed. ¡°County Lord hase from afar and must be tired. Why not go and rest?¡±


    He didn¡¯t know about Xu Miaoran¡¯s rtionship to Tang Jie, but his many years of experience told him that Xu Miaoran¡¯s visit was suspicious and that it was best that she not be allowed to interfere.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Xu Miaoran raised an eyebrow. ¡°And who are you?¡±


    Ji Wujiu hastily introduced, ¡°This is Nan Baicheng of the Basking Moon Sect. He is the proctor for this contest between the Basking Moon students.¡±


    Xu Miaoran snorted. ¡°No wonder you spoke to me in such a tone, trying to shoo me out the moment I arrived.¡±


    Nan Baicheng smiled. ¡°County Lord, you misunderstand. It is just that this is a test for the students of my Basking Moon Sect, and it is not right for outsiders to intervene.¡±


    ¡°Oh? And here I thought that this Wind Devil Ind belonged to my Horizon Ocean Pavilion.¡±


    Nan Baicheng immediately replied, ¡°Wind Devil Ind naturally belongs to Horizon Ocean Pavilion, but the people inside are part of my Basking Moon Sect, so it is best if County Lord does not interfere. Such an action might damage the harmony between the two sects, which I am sure neither of us want.¡±


    He showed no signs of backing down.

 Chapter 237: Making a Bet

    Chapter 237: Making a Bet


    Xu Miaoran shot Nan Baicheng a nce. ¡°¡®The harmony between the two sects¡¯? Is there any harmony between the Basking Moon Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion to speak of? At best, we have a trading rtionship, each side using the other, no? What? You think that because you¡¯ve borrowed my Wind Devil Ind, you can treat it as your own?¡±


    This was their first meeting, but they were already spitting fire at each other. Ji Wujiu panicked, but there was nothing he could do. He could only shoot nces at Nan Baicheng, but Nan Baicheng seemed blind to his looks and just kept staring at Xu Miaoran.


    When Nan Baicheng had been stationed at Anyang Prefecture, he had been through countless incidents and umted a rich reserve of experience. The more he looked, the more he felt that there was a problem with Xu Miaoran¡¯s arrival. Completely disregarding her background, he said, ¡°Unfortunately, while Wind Devil Ind belongs to Horizon Ocean Pavilion, it does not belong to Lady Xu. This ce already has a manager, and even if mydy is the outer disciple of Sorrowgone, isn¡¯t your range of responsibilities a little too wide?¡±


    He had stopped addressing her as ¡°county lord¡±.


    Xu Miaoran red. ¡°Then it should be the manager speaking, not you. Moreover, it was just a simple question.¡±


    She looked at Ji Wujiu. ¡°Senior Brother Ji, who is this person in your Prison of Mortal Coil?¡±


    She had never seen Wei Tianchong before, but since this person was imprisoned in the Prison of Mortal Coil and had Nan Baicheng so antsy, she could make an educated guess.


    Ji Wujiu looked at Nan Baicheng, who shook his head. After thinking it over, he replied, ¡°This person has the surname Wei, and he is a student of Basking Moon Academy.¡±


    He didn¡¯t dare to offend Xu Miaoran, but he couldn¡¯t break his promise, so he could onlypromise by giving only the surname.


    But when Xu Miaoran got this piece of information, she instantly understood. She snorted and was about to speak, but at this moment, Nan Baicheng said in a sly tone, ¡°Lady Xu, you¡¯ve asked your question, so you can leave now, yes? Mydy, it is best if you avoid interfering with this test of the Basking Moon Sect.¡±


    Xu Miaoran was certainly not intending to leave. She looked around as she tried to think of an idea, and she just so happened to see a crack on the six-edged crystal. Delighted, she sternly asked, ¡°Senior Brother Ji, why is there a crack in the m Mirage Mirror?¡±


    Ji Wujiu¡¯s heart trembled, and he hurriedly exined, ¡°When a Basking Moon student was passing through the Gigantes Illusion Zone, they somehow managed to incite the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk into manifesting his will, and even the will of the Gigantes King manifested. The Gigantes Illusion Zone couldn¡¯t take the burden of their sh and thusly shattered.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s one thing for the illusion zone to be destroyed in a sh of wills, but why is even the m Mirage Mirror damaged?¡±


    Ji Wujiu gritted his teeth and replied, ¡°I was trying to restore the illusion to drive out Nine Disaster, and Nine Disaster fought back¡­¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Xu Miaoran snorted. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that this is because you failed to handle the matter properly?¡±


    Ji Wujiu paled. These were the words he feared the most.


    If it came to be known that his attempt to maintain this small illusion zone just to imprison Tang Jie led to the treasure¡¯s being damaged, he would not have a good oue. And Xu Miaoran could report to his superior without having to go through any procedures.


    Nan Baicheng saw that Xu Miaoran was intent on starting trouble, and his expression darkened. ¡°Lady Xu, you misunderstand. This Baicheng asked Brother Ji to do this. The Basking Moon Sect will paypensation for the damages suffered by Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s treasure.¡±


    Xu Miaoran snorted. ¡°This matter concerns an important treasure of my Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and it¡¯s not something that can be dismissed as merepensation. My Horizon Ocean Pavilion wants one million spirit jades. Can you pay?¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Nan Baicheng was so angry that he was speechless.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t pay, then stay quiet. Is it your ce to arbitrarily make a decision about a valued treasure of my Ocean Pavilion?¡±


    Xu Miaoran insisted on staying using the m Mirage Mirror, and there was nothing Nan Baicheng could do about it.


    A momentter, Xu Miaoran shot a stream of wind out of her finger, which struck the m Mirage Mirror. ¡°I need to see what¡¯s going on here that made my Horizon Ocean Pavilion pay such a heavy price!¡±


    Scenes shed as the entirety of the situation on Wind Devil Ind appeared before Xu Miaoran. As Xu Miaoran flipped through the scenes, she found that Wei Tianchong was located rather close to Xian Tao and Hong Yuan.


    Xu Miaoran inwardly celebrated, and she continued to look for a little longer. Deciding that it was time to leave, she said, ¡°It seems like there are no major concerns. Boring! I¡¯m done.¡±


    She was about to leave when Nan Baicheng grabbed her and sinisterly said, ¡°Mydy, didn¡¯t you have two servants when you arrived? I wonder where they might be.¡±


    Xu Miaoran grimaced. ¡°Are my servants any of your business?¡±


    Nan Baicheng¡¯s suspicions were intensifying. ¡°It¡¯s naturally not any of my business, but I¡¯m sure Lady Xu knows that there are some people in the world who collude with outsiders while also enjoying the benefits of being on the inside. I cannot control Lady Xu, but I can at least control the affairs of the people in my sect. If someone is colluding with an outsider, I think it is best if I strip them of their right to partake in this test.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Xu Miaoran red at Nan Baicheng.


    But Nan Baicheng did not fear her, staring right back.


    Xu Miaoran knew that this was no good, thinking to herself, <em>This stubborn scoundrel is too cunning. I¡¯m being suspected, so if Xian Tao and Hong Yuan do anything, they¡¯ll most likely be discovered. If he really managed to get his hands on evidence, the unfortunate ones would be Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong. I need to think of another idea.</em>


    Xu Miaoran looked around and said, ¡°What a coincidence! I also think there¡¯s something suspicious going on here. The students are all pushing through the formation on equal terms, so why is it that someone who has chosen the left path has encountered the Prison of Mortal Coil? In my view, it truly does seem like someone is colluding with an outsider!¡±


    Ji Wujiu had the wits scared out of him by these words, and he quickly said, ¡°Junior Sister, don¡¯t misunderstand. It¡¯s not what you think¡­¡±


    Nan Baicheng barked, ¡°Brother Ji was simply doing as I said. The students are being tested, and I need to test their ability to adapt.¡±


    Xu Miaoran sneered. ¡°You have say over the affairs of Basking Moon students, but since when were you given say over the affairs of the people of my Horizon Ocean Pavilion?¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Nan Baicheng fumed.


    It appeared that if Nan Baicheng dared to put Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran together, Xu Miaoran would put Ji Wujiu and Nan Baicheng together. In any case, since neither side was being reasonable, why not see who backed down first?


    Ji Wujiu inwardly groaned that he had managed to draw the attention of this girl. He could now tell that Xu Miaoran had some connection to Tang Jie, or else there was no way she would appear at a moment like this. He silently cursed Nan Baicheng for bringing him this huge problem, but he could only try his best to mediate. ¡°The Basking Moon Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion have a peaceful rtionship and frequently interact with each other, so it¡¯s very normal to have a few private friendships. How could this be called ¡®collusion¡¯? The two of you are both being too serious, too serious.¡±


    Xu Miaoran and Nan Baicheng said nothing, continuing to stare at each other.


    Ji Wujiu felt helpless. ¡°Say something, will you?¡±


    In the end, Nan Baicheng broke the impasse,ughing and saying, ¡°Brother Ji is right. The two sects often interact with each other, so calling it ¡®collusion¡¯ is too serious.¡±


    Xu Miaoran grunted, ¡°Perhaps ¡®collusion¡¯ is too serious, but ack of impartiality is reality. Senior Brother Ji, I think it best if you withdraw your Prison of Mortal Coil. Otherwise, if word gets out, my Horizon Ocean Pavilion will be used of interfering in a test for Basking Moon Sect students.¡±


    Since Nan Baicheng had already seen through her goal, she decided to be blunt about it.


    Ji Wujiu was just about to agree when Nan Baicheng replied, ¡°No! If the Prison of Mortal Coil is removed, the student can step straight onto the Devil Crushing Path, and that is extremely unfair.¡±


    Xu Miaoran immediately red, but there was no way Nan Baicheng would agree to this.


    Ji Wujiu grew frantic and knew that he had been swept up into a vortex. He shouted, ¡°Enough! Stop arguing. I have an idea on how to proceed.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± The two of them looked at Ji Wujiu.


    Ji Wujiu gritted his teeth and said, ¡°To just remove the Prison of Mortal Coil would be to let that Wei Tianchong go straight onto the Devil Crushing Path. Since that is the case, I will give that kid a chance and see if he can seize it.¡±


    With a wave of his horsetail whisk, half of the hundreds of doors of light in the illusion zone disappeared.


    ¡°Brother Ji!¡± Nan Baicheng was aghast.


    Ji Wujiu said, ¡°I have removed half of the traps. The rest will depend on how the child does.¡±


    He looked at Xu Miaoran, and Xu Miaoran knew that this was the greatest concession Ji Wujiu could make, so she could only express her approval. She thought to herself, <em>I¡¯ve done all I can do. Wei Tianchong, if you still can¡¯t get through¡­ it would be best if Tang Jie chose another young master to support.</em>


    On the Devil Crushing Path.


    Another figure tumbled through the air.


    ¡°Agh! Tang Jie, let¡¯s talk about thisAAAAA¡­¡± Qin Liang screamed as he flew through the air and crashed into the formation. The moment hended, flowery vines emerged and tightly bound him.


    He was about to raise his head and curse when he saw that there was a whole slew of people inside. He smiled and said, ¡°Great Brother Peng, Senior Brother Long, Senior Sister Su, Senior Sister Meng, Senior Brother Shaqing, Junior Brother Li, Junior Brother Zhang¡­ You¡¯re all here?¡±


    He had read off several dozen names in one go. The flower formation was full of students that Tang Jie had seized.


    Several students hade after Long Dao, and all of them had been captured.


    The most dangerous time had been when three students hade out of the Devil Crushing Path at the same time, forcing Tang Jie to use the zeraven Ring and Heavenly Pearl sh Talisman to deal with them.


    This Qin Liang hade far behind these others.


    These students all looked wordlessly at him, thinking, <em>Kid, what are you ying the fool for?</em>


    Qin Liang was the student that Tang Jie had asked to work on the puppet before. As he understood a little about formations, he hade out earlier than most. He knew that he didn¡¯t have the strength to vie for the True Inheritance, and he had mainlye to experience the power of the Nine Pce Illusion Formation. He had believed that the True Inheritor struggle would be over by the time he arrived at the Devil Crushing Path, but to his surprise, all of the students in front of him had been held up in the flower formation.


    Feeling some hope, he wanted to talk with Tang Jie and see if Tang Jie would let him through, but he had barely said a few words before Tang Jie threw him into the formation.


    He hadn¡¯t had any hope for the True Inheritance in the first ce, so he didn¡¯t care much. But as he looked around and saw all these students who were so much stronger and more famous than him caught in the formation, he couldn¡¯t help but be amused andugh.


    ¡°Bastard! Is it that funny?¡± Long Dao roared, ring at Qin Liang.


    He had been no match in battle and had be Tang Jie¡¯s third captive on the Devil Crushing Path, and he hated Tang Jie so much that he was grinding his teeth.


    Qin Liang instantly shrank back in fear, not daring to say a word.


    But Peng Yaolong said, ¡°You weren¡¯t able to live up to the potential of your abilities, so you lost. Why vent your anger on others?¡±


    Long Dao fumed, ¡°Didn¡¯t you lose too?¡±


    Peng Yaolong chuckled. ¡°Wrong! I won, but Tang Jie used numbers to capture me.¡±


    ¡°But you still lost your chance!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have that chance in the first ce,¡± Peng Yaolong replied as he motioned toward Su Xinyue with his mouth.


    Unlike Long Dao, the moment he saw that Su Xinyue had gotten here before him, Peng Yaolong knew that he wouldn¡¯t have gotten the True Inheritance even if Tang Jie hadn¡¯t been here. Thus, after his initial rage, he had calmed down and grown to ept this fact. Although he was still looking for a chance to break out, there was no resentment in his efforts.


    In truth, the vast majority of the students who hade afterward felt the same. Once they realized that they hadn¡¯t been the fastest, they mostly felt no hatred for Tang Jie. They only pitied themselves for being no match for Tang Jie and failing to ovee him.


    Upon seeing Peng Yaolong gesture at her, Su Xinyue smiled. ¡°I¡¯m fine too. After all, Tang Jie was even faster. But regardless, in this contest, there is no denying the fact that Tang Jie is stronger than all the other students. If he wanted to be the True Inheritor, none of us would have a chance, and I would ept a loss willingly.¡±


    ¡°Hmph, he¡¯s nothing but a shameless scoundrel who got where he is through deception. If the academy hadn¡¯t given him more than a hundred thousand coins and arge amount of medicine, you think he would have gotten this far?¡± Long Dao still wasn¡¯t convinced.

 Chapter 238: Comprehension (1)

    Chapter 238: Comprehension (1)


    Peng Yaolong casually said, ¡°Tang Jie truly was able to get this far because of that deception of his, but, Young Master Long, youe from a great n, your father being a True Person, and you have consumed resources far in excess of one hundred thousand coins, yes? You¡¯ve cultivated for much longer than him, but didn¡¯t you lose to him all the same?¡±


    ¡°Peng Yaolong, what are you trying to say?¡± Long Dao angrily said.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m just saying that there are some people that will only look at the good things a person gets, ignoring the effort they put in behind the scenes. If Tang Jie had only had the resources the school gave him at the start, how could he have gotten this far? Moreover, he paid all one hundred thousand coins back, plus interest. And don¡¯t tell me that you would be able to return all that just by relying on yourself.¡±


    ¡°Peng Yaolong, he¡¯s shackling you and you¡¯re speaking up for him?¡±


    Peng Yaolong snorted, ¡°A hero respecting another hero is all. Of course, a coward would never be able to understand such a thing.¡±


    ¡°¡®Hero¡¯, my ass!¡± Long Dao sneered. ¡°Tang Jie is already at the end of his rope. He¡¯s going to be defeated eventually, and when that timees, not only will he not be able to help Wei Tianchong win, he¡¯ll instead have helped someter take the spot! I¡¯ll see then howposed you can be, Great Brother Peng.¡±


    Peng Yaolong instantly scowled at these words.


    Long Dao was right.


    Tang Jie was no longer as fierce as before.


    The multiple intense battles had left himpletely worn out, and even the powerful constitution granted to him by the Parting ssic was starting to show strain.


    After sending Qin Liang into the formation, he had gone to rest, but no matter how well he used his time, the little bit of energy he recovered couldn¡¯t possibly keep up with his consumption.


    As he looked at Tang Jie, Peng Yaolong couldn¡¯t help but shout, ¡°Tang Jie, there¡¯s no telling when Wei Tianchong will arrive. There¡¯s no way you canst alone. If you really manage to hold out until the end, then you¡¯ll truly win my admiration. But if you can¡¯t hold out that long, then rather than giving it to some useless fellow, you might as well give it to one of us!¡±


    As Tang Jie recovered, he coldly replied, ¡°I will hold out¡­ If I really can¡¯t hold out, I¡¯ll let all of you go so that you can fight among yourselves.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t hold out.¡± Su Xinyue shook her head. ¡°Tang Jie, you probably know that as time passes, more and more students will be entering at one time.¡±


    Su Xinyue¡¯s words instantly exposed Tang Jie¡¯s weakness.


    If strength had a value, then as one¡¯s strength grew, the rtive value would shrink while the absolute value rose. For the weak, it was the opposite. They had better rtive value and small absolute values.


    Compare two weaklings as an example, one withbat power 5 and one withbat power 10. Thetter had twice thebat power, but there was only an absolute difference of five.


    But what if two strong people werepared, one withbat power 3000 and one withbat power 5000? Thetter¡¯s rtive advantage wasn¡¯t sorge, but they had an absolute advantage of two thousand.


    In a duel, rtive advantage was more important.


    But this wasn¡¯t a fightingpetition. Absolute value was more important.


    This was embodied in the students. Peng Yaolong and the other students had mostlye in one by one, giving Tang Jie a chance to individually defeat them. But as time passed, more people would be arriving in groups.


    Tang Jie had already gone through three people entering together, and this would be more and more frequent.


    After thinking it over, Tang Jie replied, ¡°But they will only get weaker.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not for certain. Have you forgotten about two others?¡± Meng Shixue coldly replied. She had entered after Long Dao and had also been defeated and captured.


    Tang Jie frowned and said nothing. Qin Liang butted in and said, ¡°Is it Qi Shaoming and An Rumeng?¡±


    ¡°Idiot!¡± Peng Yaolong and Long Dao roared at the same time.


    Su Xinyue exined, ¡± Qi Shaoming has no desire for the True Inheritance and An Rumeng has no right to it. These two have bothe to the Nine Pce Illusion Formation for Azulwind Jades, so they would nevere in that quickly. Shixue is talking about Ye Tianshang and Cai Junyang.¡±


    ¡°Ye Tianshang? Cai Junyang?¡± Qin Liang was startled, and then he understood. He truly did not see these two among the prisoners of the formation. This meant that they had yet to reach the Devil Crushing Path. There was no need to borate on Ye Tianshang¡¯s strength, and Cai Junyang had also advanced by leaps and bounds after receiving the legacy of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic. There was no reason for them to not be here yet. For a moment, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder what was going on.


    Tang Jie inwardly sighed. He knew that these two hadn¡¯te in simply because they didn¡¯t want to. Nan Baicheng, Peng Yaolong, and the others were able to realize that he was going to block the path, so how could Ye Tianshang not think of it? And Cai Junyang understood what sort of person he was, so he was even more likely to realize what he was going to do.


    They hadn¡¯t appeared because they were waiting for a chance.


    They were waiting until he was tired from fighting with everyone else.


    From a certain perspective, they were making a gamble!


    They were gambling that he could beat Peng Yaolong!


    That he could hold out until now!


    The others also realized this, and Peng Yaolong snorted, ¡°These two bastards seem to believe in you a lot.¡±


    He had also known that Tang Jie would block the path if he got there first, but he had still chosen toe in, as he had been confident in his strength.


    Su Xinyue chuckled. ¡°Interesting. I just wonder which of these two will be more patient. Why don¡¯t we all take bets?¡±


    ¡°I think Cai Junyang will show up first,¡± Peng Yaolong said. ¡°He has a slightly hasty personality and probably won¡¯t be able to hold himself for too long.¡±


    Meng Shixue immediately said, ¡°I wager that it will be Ye Tianshang.¡±


    Long Dao said, ¡°I bet on Cai Junyang.¡±


    The students imprisoned in Tang Jie¡¯s formation were so bored that they started to make bets.


    Tang Jie chuckled and said, ¡°I¡¯m putting my bet on Ye Tianshang.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Everyone looked at Tang Jie.


    Su Xinyue¡¯s eyes shed as she looked at Tang Jie and said, ¡°Junior Brother Tang is that confident? Then if you lose, why don¡¯t you let us all go? What about it?¡±


    ¡°Then if I win?¡± Tang Jie countered.


    Su Xinyue smiled. ¡°We¡¯re all your prisoners. What else is there to give up?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not for certain,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°For example, you can use that formation breaker Senior Brother Long gave you as the wager.¡±


    Su Xinyue and Long Dao both paled.


    While they had appeared to be arguing, they had actually been trying to distract Tang Jie. They had not expected Tang Jie to still be able to sense what they were doing.


    Su Xinyue drylyughed and turned her hand over, revealing the formation breaker. This was a square piece of ck jade that had many formation lines carved into it. It was a valuable treasure that was ideal for breaking formations. If Su Xinyue hadn¡¯t been restrained and found it difficult to use its power, she would have already broken this formation. She could only resentfully say, ¡°Junior Brother Tang is quite the cautious one. But this isn¡¯t mine, so I can¡¯t decide how it is used.¡±


    She looked at Long Dao, who snorted, ¡°If you want a bet, we¡¯ll bet. I bet that it¡¯s Cai Junyang. If I win, you¡¯ll let me go. If I lose, the formation breaker is yours.¡±


    He didn¡¯t say ¡°let us go¡±, only ¡°let me go¡±. It was clear that he wanted the True Inheritance all to himself.


    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s a deal. I, Tang Jie, swear an oath on my Heart Demon that if Cai Junyang arrives first, I will let you go.¡±


    He spoke so solemnly that everyone froze in surprise.


    Peng Yaolong asked, ¡°Tang Jie, why are you so sure that Ye Tianshang will be first?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Because Cai Junyang gets me and trusts me much more than Ye Tianshang. But most importantly¡­ Ye Tianshang is already here.¡±


    As he spoke, he turned to an empty corner and loudly said, ¡°Brother Ye, when exactly do you n to show yourself?¡±


    With resoundingughter, the figure of Ye Tianshang emerged from empty space.


    Everyone paled when they saw Ye Tianshang walk out from the shadow.


    Long Dao paled because he had just lost his formation breaker, as Ye Tianshang¡¯s appearance meant that he had lost the wager. Yiyi immediately took the treasure away, giggling as she yed around with it in her hand.


    Peng Yaolong and the others were stunned because they had no idea when Ye Tianshang had learned a concealment spell, and they were even more astonished that Tang Jie had noticed him.


    Everyone was trying their best to hide themselves. The seemingly open and upright Peng Yaolong was secretly colluding with Meng Shixue, Ye Tianshang had privately learned a concealment spell, Su Xinyue had emerged as a new force to be reckoned with, and even the always-conspicuous Tang Jie had his own secret techniques that had the students secretly expressing their praise. There were even students who came toprehend some things on this trip and would go back to work hard to be even stronger¡­


    Ye Tianshang looked in surprise at Tang Jie. ¡°You already found me out? Do you have some sort of detection spell?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°It has nothing to do with detection spells. While concealment spells are wondrous, it¡¯s not just methods that specifically target them that can work. You have only the lowest level of concealment spell, so while your body is concealed, it¡¯s still actually there.¡±


    He pointed at Ye Tianshang¡¯s feet. ¡°When you step on the grass, the grass will bend. When I was fighting before, the winds stirred by our fists affected all of my surroundings, so you instinctively defended yourself. All the trees except for the one behind you were affected. Breathing, heartbeat, and footsteps all make very soft noises, and even your odor can be picked up by particrly sensitive fiend beasts.¡±


    None of this was a lie, and he had truly not used the Eye of Heaven to discover Ye Tianshang. After all, he couldn¡¯t just use the Eye of Heaven whenever he had the free time, as this wasted precious spiritual energy. It was just that when battling, the range of one¡¯s intuition would expand, and Tang Jie vaguely sensed that someone was watching him. With slightly more focus, discovering the culprit was only a matter of time.


    Upon hearing Tang Jie¡¯s piece, Ye Tianshang sent out a beam of light from his sword, cutting down an unfortunate lower-grade fiend beast that had wanted to eat Ye Tianshang.


    As Ye Tianshang proudly stood, a bitter smile appeared on his face. ¡°I thought that I could fool the world with my concealment spell, but I was still so easily seen through. Right, how could you be so sure that it was me and not Cai Junyang?¡±


    He had been standing here for a while, so he naturally knew about the wager.


    ¡°Because I understand him. He would not learn such a spell,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°It could have been someone else.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Tang Jie said, spreading apart his hands. ¡°We were gambling about whether it was you or him who would arrive first, and so long as Junyang didn¡¯t get here before you, I wouldn¡¯t lose. And since it¡¯s a bet, you have to take a little risk.¡±


    He was actually lying here. At the start, he really hadn¡¯t relied on the Eye of Heaven, but after discovering that someone was spying on him, he had used the Eye of Heaven to take a look. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have taken that bet with Long Dao. However, the Eye of Heaven was a secret skill of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, and unlike the Dao of Formations, it was impossible to learn on one¡¯s own. It was better to hide it if possible.


    Ye Tianshang was taken aback at first, but then heughed. ¡°Good! Very good, Tang Jie! With that said, let¡¯s end this chat. Watch my sword!¡±

 Chapter 239: Comprehension (2)

    Chapter 239: Comprehension (2)


    The Autumn Leaf Sword left its sheath and unleashed a wave of sword light at Tang Jie. Tang Jie didn¡¯t back down, swinging his saber in response, and there was a crisp metallic ng, followed by a tter as if a weapon was being forged. Sword and saber shed numerous times, the twobatants closing and parting multiple times.


    Ye Tianshang had to retreat half a step, but Tang Jie swayed, a bloody wound on his body. This had been inflicted by none other than Ye Tianshang.


    Upon seeing this, all the students cheered, ¡°Good!¡±


    This was the first time since Peng Yaolong that Tang Jie had fallen behind in a sh.


    Ye Tianshang didn¡¯t seem too proud, coldly smiling as he said, ¡°As expected, you¡¯re tired, yes? Tang Jie, as a second-year, you were able to defeat numerous students andst until now. Though you will be defeated, there is still glory in your feat. Unfortunately, while you have the glory, victory will be mine!¡±


    He roared, unleashing a resplendent sword light.


    Ye Tianshang had always been famous for his swift sword, and as this wave of sword energy appeared, it was apanied by numerous sword rays. He was only a Spirit tform student, and his sword light was still restricted to three feet around him. In the future, when his spell arts became more powerful, he would be able to create a vast and majestic sea of swords.


    Against this opponent, it was best to use strength to break through speed, but s, what Tang Jiecked right now was strength.


    As wave after wave of sword energy was unleashed, they turned into a raging river that Tang Jie just couldn¡¯t handle. He was once again struck by Ye Tianshang¡¯s sword and jumped back, his body sporting another wound.


    Ye Tianshang mercilessly pursued, the Windcloud Step making him move as quickly as lightning, and another wave of sword energy howled forth.


    The two of them once more began to battle, sword gales and rains of blood emerging.


    The sword gales belonged to Ye Tianshang, but the rains of blood wereing from Tang Jie.


    The surging sword light left wound after wound on Tang Jie.


    One strike, two strikes, three strikes¡­


    As they umted, Tang Jie soon had barely a single unharmed part of his body.


    Not even the Formless Golden Body could help Tang Jie resist this furious sword offensive.


    Ye Tianshang was one of the stronger students, and even if Tang Jie were in peak form, he would have only been able to beat him after a tough battle. In his current situation, victory was even more difficult.


    Ye Tianshang savagely attacked again and again with wave after wave of sword light. Tang Jie was hit again, and he rolled on the ground like a gourd.


    Ye Tianshangughed. ¡°Tang Jie, you¡¯re no match for me! Just give up!¡±


    Tang Jie raised his head and angrily red at Ye Tianshang!


    He called out, ¡°No, the term ¡®give up¡¯ doesn¡¯t exist in my vocabry.¡±


    ¡°Still so stubborn!¡± Ye Tianshang roared as he swung his sword again.


    As Ye Tianshang¡¯s sword rushed toward him, Tang Jie swung his saber up to meet it. ¡°Windcleaver!¡±


    <em>Boom!</em>


    A sharp saber gale sliced through the sword surge. It was aimed at empty space, but it was like a steel rod shoved into a blender, instantly halting the momentum of the surge. As the sword shed with the saber, all the sword light faded, and Ye Tianshang said in shock, ¡°How is this possible?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s strike had hit the critical point of his sword surge, neutralizing his attack!


    In truth, even Tang Jie was startled.


    He also didn¡¯t know what had happened.


    When Ye Tianshang had been attacking, he had suddenly felt as if there was a critical point in that sword surge, and he had attacked entirely based on instinct.


    He hadn¡¯t expected this attack to have such a miraculous effect.


    But with this sessful blow, Tang Jie suddenly realized something, and he muttered, ¡°Is that how it works?¡±


    The sword and saber once more erupted with light, the Autumn Leaf Sword making waves while the Heartbreak Saber tried to cleave mountains. In a few short moments, Tang Jie had swung the saber ten-some times in a row.


    But unlike before, each swing of his saber was able to block Ye Tianshang¡¯s sword waves, forcing Ye Tianshang back and leaving him both shocked and angered.


    After the battle at the Student Forest, everyone had learned about Tang Jie¡¯s astounding strength and extraordinary constitution, and Ye Tianshang felt like he already had a n to deal with this fierce opponent: constant attacks with his swift sword, a ¡°death by a thousand cuts¡±.


    But now, the tables had turned. At the end of his strength, Tang Jie had somehow found some bizarre trick. Every swing of his saber seemed simple, but they were able to cut off his sword waves at the source and prevent them from building up power. The saber harried the sword wherever it went, making it difficult for him to change things up.


    Once or twice was a coincidence, but not so after it happened multiple times in a row.


    Ye Tianshang was jumping around, but no matter where he went, Tang Jie was always able to cut off his sword wave with a single swing.


    Even Peng Yaolong and Meng Shixue were starting to see the problem, Meng Shixue softly saying, ¡°Senior Brother Peng, doesn¡¯t Tang Jie seem a little strange to you?¡±


    Peng Yaolong¡¯s face was grave. ¡°There truly is something wrong. He¡¯s somehow managed to seal off all the possible trajectories Ye Tianshang¡¯s sword can take, as if he knows what Ye Tianshang is going to do.¡±


    ¡°How is that possible? If he had this ability, wouldn¡¯t he have already won this battle?¡± Meng Shixue said in disbelief.


    ¡°Perhaps he didn¡¯t have it before but has it now,¡± Su Xinyue suddenly said.


    ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­¡± Everyone was shocked.


    ¡°A moment of enlightenment!¡± Peng Yaolong said with extreme reluctance.


    Though he really didn¡¯t want to, Peng Yaolong still had to admit that Tang Jie had quite a lot of talent when it came to battle. It seemed that he had experienced a breakthrough in the middle ofbat.


    Tang Jie truly had experienced a breakthrough, but this was no brief moment of enlightenment. Rather, he had begun to trulyprehend the Dao of Insight.


    The Dao of Insight meant glimpsing the secrets of heaven and grasping its movements!


    This was Tang Jie¡¯s Dao, and though he hadprehended a little of it, he had not been able to really use it.


    Wang Poguan had said before that the Dao was not merely a vague concept. Trulyprehending the Dao would manifest as a certain boost to one¡¯s strength.


    s, no matter how Tang Jie tried, he had never been able to use Insight in battle. Even in the battle against the Frost Fairy, he had only been able to find her after Liu Hongyan had given him the method, so this did not really count. And it would be far too boring if the Dao of Insight could only be used to see through stealth. It would be better to just learn a spell.


    But in today¡¯s battles, Tang Jie had been gradually pushed to the brink, yet this had only cleared his mind. He wasn¡¯t the Martial Lord, and getting stronger the more he fought didn¡¯t suit him. He also wasn¡¯t Wei Tianchong, who would suddenly explode in dire straits. He believed in calm rationality, and so the more dire the circumstances, the more determined his mind became, the harder the look in his eyes, the calmer his mind¡­


    In these circumstances, he discovered that he was starting to see things differently.


    Ye Tianshang¡¯s sword technique, so fast that it was hard to track, was no longer an amalgamation of light and shadow in his eyes. Rather, as the sword thrust out, he could see countless threads of spiritual energy gathering into a sword wave.


    These sword waves all had key points that would cause the wave to copse if they were attacked.


    Tang Jie had found the first point by ident, but now, Tang Jie had truly grasped andprehended the concept.


    To put it simply, he had seen through Ye Tianshang.


    Not only had he seen through Ye Tianshang, with this as his foundation, he could use the foresight provided to understand how Ye Tianshang would even strike with his sword.


    Thus, as Ye Tianshang rained down blows, Tang Jie was able to swing his saber and receive them all, and as the battle went on, the process became easier and easier. He was rathercking in skill at first, but with each additional sword wave, he gained a better understanding of Ye Tianshang¡¯s sword will.


    In contrast, Ye Tianshang was growing more rmed, and he moved his sword faster and faster.


    Eight Destion Sword!


    Universe Cross!


    Rising Dragon Sword Beam!


    Sandstorm Dance!


    He used all manner of sword techniques and spells, putting everything he had into this fight. Even the spectating students were aghast, Peng Yaolong praising, ¡°Universe Cross and Secret Wind Chop! I didn¡¯t think that he would have gone and learned all these spell arts! His true strength is far greater than he lets on!¡±


    s, despite the increasing ferocity of his attacks, Tang Jie was more and more easily blocking them.


    He was no longer staring at the sword lights, but at Ye Tianshang himself.


    Rather than observing the path of the sword, it was better to observe the energy channels.


    With the power of Insight, Tang Jie had moved from observing the sword to the person. Even without using the Eye of Heaven, his eyes had a divine light as they inspected Ye Tianshang, and he felt like he could see the energy traveling through his meridians. Thus, before Ye Tianshang had even moved, Tang Jie¡¯s sword had already arrived.


    He had the initiative every step of the way, his saber always getting there first.


    Ye Tianshang was an adaptable person, but now that all his paths were sealed, he felt a stifling sensation in his stomach that only grew worse as time went on. It was as if he couldn¡¯t even circte energy. He saw that Tang Jie was just standing there and casually waving his saber, even starting to breathe in and absorb energy. Ye Tianshang roared and recklessly swung his sword.


    He had finally given up on changing up his techniques and decided to justpete with strength.


    Unfortunately, he hade to this revtion toote.


    Tang Jie¡¯s saber was there first, lightly tapping on the Autumn Leaf Sword before it could be raised and stopping its momentum cold.


    If it could not be raised, it could not be swung down.


    Unable to unleash his powerful swing, Ye Tianshang felt his energy fall into turmoil, and he threw his head back, vomited blood, and fainted.


    In the end, Tang Jie hadn¡¯t been able to harm a hair on his body, but it was Ye Tianshang who had fainted.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but be surprised by this. After a while, he muttered, ¡°A pity¡­¡±


    He had finallyprehended how to use the Dao of Insight a little and was beginning to put it into practice, but unfortunately, Ye Tianshang hadn¡¯t been able to keep up. It was hard to say if another opponent would give him the same feeling.


    He was disappointed that he could onlyprehend the Dao of Insight up to this point, but in the ears of others, it sounded like mockery.


    ¡°O!¡± Wei Tianchong tumbled through the air as he howled in pain. Since he didn¡¯t have time to get his footing, he decided to just roll on the ground.


    A giant elephant foot mmed down at the ce he hadnded, creating intense shockwaves that caused this space to shake.


    This was an elephant fiend. Its enormous body and terrifying strength all screamed that this was a tough opponent.


    Its foot having missed, the elephant swung its head, flinging its trunk at Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong pushed against the ground and jumped up. While in the air, he pointed at the elephant fiend and shouted, ¡°Defend!¡±


    The puppet rushed up, raising its arms and grabbing the elephant fiend¡¯s trunk.

 Chapter 240: Fox

    Chapter 240: Fox


    ¡°Twist!¡± Wei Tianchong waved his arms as he fell onto his back.


    The puppet pulled on the elephant¡¯s trunk, its body erupting with light as all of its formations operated at the same time. With its immense strength, it managed to raise up the elephant fiend and m it to the ground on its back, just like Wei Tianchong.


    This fiend was heavy, and with this fall, it squealed in pain.


    Wei Tianchong rolled to his feet and charged, swinging the axe at its head.


    The elephant howled in pain and flung its head to the side, trying to gore Wei Tianchong in the chest with its sharp tusks.


    But to its surprise, Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t try to dodge. A fireball flew out of his left hand and into the elephant¡¯s mouth. ¡°Die!¡±


    With a boom, the elephant¡¯s head was blown to pieces. At the same time, a tusk stabbed at Wei Tianchong, there was a pop like a balloon breaking, and Wei Tianchong¡¯s body briefly shed. A momentter, the tusk stabbed into his body, but it was only able to enter three inches before stopping.


    With the elephant dead, Wei Tianchong plopped to the ground, pushing through the pain to pull out the tusk while painfully muttering, ¡°Middle grade¡­ Windshroud can only take three attacks¡­ I¡¯ll remember it next time¡­¡±


    Windshroud had not been entirely able to block the elephant tusk just now. If the elephant fiend hadn¡¯t died just moments ago, weakening the attack, Wei Tianchong probably would have had a hole through his body right now.


    Without Tang Jie at his side, Wei Tianchong could only summarize his experiences and note down the key points himself. The silly fat kid had finally begun to mature now that no one was around to support him.


    When someone waspletely focused on battle and summarizing one¡¯s experiences, one would sometimes forget the result of the battle¡­ He had not realized that he had just killed a middle-grade elephant fiend.


    All on his own!


    In the past, Wei Tianchong would have been ecstatic about such a performance.


    But now that he was actually here, Wei Tianchong understood that the result wasn¡¯t important.


    The people who truly worked hard never cared about the result, for they knew that the result was a natural manifestation of the process of working hard. If the process were carried out properly, the result would naturally be good.


    Wei Tianchong hadn¡¯t understood this principle at first. He had always dreamed about swiftly breaking through and then defeating all of the world, about gazing upon the world and finding the mountains too small. He had fantasized about standing atop of a pile of dead great fiends and madlyughing at the heavens while countless beautiful girls gazed at him in admiration.


    But when he actually got to doing it, he realized that none of this was important.


    What was important was surviving. What was important was to not disappoint the expectations ced upon him. What was important¡­ was to get out of this damned cage.


    Lying on the ground, he panted for breath and looked at the countless doors of light above him.


    There were still so many of these damned doors of light.


    The number of doors of light in the Prison of Mortal Coil had halved for some reason, which had filled Wei Tianchong with hope and fighting intent.


    But in truth, his luck was poor, and after opening so many doors, he still hadn¡¯t found the correct path. All he encountered was battle after battle.


    The passage of time had worn away at both his strength and his will.


    Wei Tianchong could no longer stop that devilish thought from rising up in his mind: <em>Give up¡­ Even if I get out, it¡¯ll be toote¡­ There¡¯s no way Tang Jie canst this long¡­</em>


    The little fox stared at him, saying nothing.


    It knew that it wouldn¡¯t be long before he pulled himself together.


    This was his habit.


    Despair was like a lingering ghost. It would be driven back, only to return and be driven back again.


    After defeating a monster, Wei Tianchong would despair and then pull himself together, and then despair again¡­


    His emotional state would constantly cycle between these two states.


    He couldn¡¯t be med for this. Tang Jie was in a tough battle, yes, but wasn¡¯t Wei Tianchong as well? The grinding of time and the fear of the unknown wore away at the spirit. Not even Tang Jie could have imagined that he wouldst this long.


    If Tang Jie knew how Wei Tianchong was doing, then even if he failed the mission, he would consider it all worth it.


    Amusingly, however, neither side knew what was going on. They only knew that the other party was waiting on them, so they kept holding on.


    Tang Jie only needed tost out with his strength.


    But Wei Tianchong needed tost out with his will.


    After lying down this time, however, Wei Tianchong was seemingly unable to rise.


    His eyes were unfocused, and he seemed to be in a daze.


    The fox bit him, but he didn¡¯t move, simply waving his arm and saying, ¡°It¡¯s no good¡­ it¡¯s really no good this time¡­¡±


    The fox continued to bite him, but Wei Tianchong shook his head.


    He looked at the little fox and bitterly smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t want me to give up? Unfortunately, I really can¡¯t do it. Too much time has passed¡­ perhaps, on that side¡­¡±


    ¡°Whether Tang Jie can hold out is his business. The problem is you¡­ Are you really going to give up like this?¡± a voice suddenly asked.


    ¡°So what if I give up?¡± Wei Tianchong helplessly replied. ¡°I¡­¡± Suddenly, his eyes flew open, and he sat up and looked around. ¡°Who? Who spoke to me?¡±


    ¡°At least you have the strength to sit up,¡± the mysterious voice continued.


    Wei Tianchong shivered and continued to look, but there was nothing else here except doors of light.


    ¡°Silly fool, I¡¯m right in front of you. Where are you looking? I really don¡¯t understand why Divine God Luo had me follow a good-for-nothing like you.¡± The voice seemed rather angry. If one listened closely, there was a tenderness to it, like it wasing from a child.


    Wei Tianchong was startled at first, but then he understood and looked at the little fox.


    The little fox looked at him, its green eyes glinting with a ghostly me.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Wei Tianchong pointed at the fox. ¡°You can talk? You¡¯re already humanized? Have you reached Mind Opening? Ah! Is it you, Divine God Luo? Did you not die, instead possessing this fox to be reborn?¡±


    Wei Tianchong was so agitated by thesest words that he jumped to his feet.


    ¡°Idiot¡­¡± The little fox finally showed an expression of human scorn. It shook his head and said, ¡°If Divine God Luo could possess me, why wouldn¡¯t he just possess you instead? And possession is so dangerous that even a Violet Pce True Lord would be treading on thin ice, and would not dare to take such a decision lightly. He had his Violet Pce utterly destroyed, so how could he be capable of such a thing? He¡¯s probably already entered the cycle of reincarnation and been reborn by now.¡±


    ¡°Then you¡­ you¡­ Who are you?¡± Wei Tianchong asked in shock.


    ¡°I am naturally me,¡± the little fox angrily replied. ¡°Who else could I be?¡±


    Wei Tianchong realized that he had asked a stupid question, but he was used to that, so he ignored it and asked in a trembling voice, ¡°But you¡­ you still haven¡¯t reach Mind Opening, right?¡±


    ¡°Hmph, I haven¡¯t reached Mind Opening, so I can¡¯t talk? Idiot! Mind Opening is simply an inevitable result of a fiend beast getting strong enough, but that doesn¡¯t mean that one can¡¯t talk until one reaches Mind Opening. Divine God Luo once believed that he would not have any sessors, so he ced all his hope on me, using thest of his powers to use the Nirvana Baptism Great Art to open my mind beforehand, so do you still think it¡¯s strange that I can talk?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­ Divine God Luo initially ced his expectations¡­ on you? He hoped for a fiend beast to revive the Five Gods Faith?¡± Wei Tianchong was wide-eyed and ck-jawed.


    ¡°Hmph,¡± the little fox snorted. ¡°It was probably because he also thought that this idea was a little too absurd that heter found you.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say anything earlier?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the point in saying anything to a piece of trash like you?¡± the little fox said, raising its head. ¡°If Divine God Luo had given me to Tang Jie, I would have long ago passed the texts of the Five Gods Faith to him rather than hiding it. A person attending on a person like you will suffer greater burdens the more ability they show. If you were in my ce and had to serve as your servant student, do you think you would die to fulfill your duties?¡±


    It was no wonder it had been unwilling to speak. It had long ago seen through Wei Tianchong¡¯s nature and knew that if Wei Tianchong knew what the fox was capable of, he would order it around to do all sorts of things.


    But Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t mind thisment. He was more focused on something else the fox had said. ¡°You¡­ You¡¯re saying that Divine God Luo left you the texts of the Five Gods Faith?¡±


    ¡°Of course! I¡¯m the first disciple here! You¡¯re the second!¡± the fox said in disdain.


    Wei Tianchong was delighted. ¡°Then you can pass it to me in ce of the master! If I had known about this, I would have never tried to be a True Inheritor!¡±


    The fox was furious. ¡°Ipetent trash! I really don¡¯t understand why Tang Jie treats you so well. A True Inheritance is a True Inheritance while techniques are techniques. How can they even bepared? And those of great ambition want both. You, on the other hand, just think about cking off every day. If I hadn¡¯t been impressed by your performance just now, I wouldn¡¯t have even bothered to talk with you. But after just a few words, you¡¯ve fallen back to your old ways! You can keep dreaming about getting your hands on the texts of the Five Gods Faith!¡±


    Wei Tianchong hastily smiled. ¡°You misunderstand. I just want to get out faster to help Tang Jie. If you teach me the techniques, I can break out of here.¡±


    The little fox wasn¡¯t so easily fooled. Snorting, it looked up and said, ¡°This Nine Pce Illusion Formation is a one of the rare great formations, and there is an overseer at the site of the main formation. The sudden appearance of the Prison of Mortal Coil is clearly targeting you, which is why I did not dare to speak before. But for some reason, half of the prisons suddenly disappeared, and I also discovered that the overseer¡¯s senses have disappeared, allowing me to speak with you. But the overseer cane back at any time. I¡¯m sure you know what will happen if you keep iling around like this and end up exposing me.¡±


    Aghast, Wei Tianchong quickly sat down and began to rest and meditate.


    The little fox grunted, ¡°In truth, it¡¯s actually not important whether you learn the texts of the Five Gods Faith or not.¡±


    ¡°How can it not be important¡­¡± Wei Tianchong fidgeted, but a re from the fox had him sitting back down.


    The fox continued, ¡°The Basking Moon Sect is the orthodox sect, and it has as many spell arts as there are stars in the sky. You can¡¯t even learn all those, so why learn the spells of an outside sect? This is just your greed acting up. The path of cultivation is achieved through hard work. If youck the will, then even the most profound art will be useless to you. Look at the Five Gods Faith. Doesn¡¯t it still have sessors? But how many have actually made a name for themselves? As you can see, a person ultimately has to depend on themself.¡±


    Wei Tianchong shamelessly replied, ¡°While that¡¯s true, each sect also has their own ultimate techniques and unique spells. I can learn proper cultivation methods from Basking Moon, but there are some things that can only be learned from the Five Gods Faith that I might need.¡±


    He thought that he would be rebuked by the fox again, but to his surprise, the little fox nodded. ¡°That is also true. The Five Gods Faith does have some secret spell arts unique to it, with effectsparable to those of the Basking Moon Sect. If the two of them could be merged, they would be of great benefit to Tang Jie.¡±


    ¡°Why is it Tang Jie? You mean me! Me!¡±


    The little fox didn¡¯t even look at him. ¡°Tang Jie seems to have alreadyprehended a little of the Dao of Insight, allowing him to extract the essence of the arts of the two sects and merge them. As for you, it would be good enough if you were able to cultivate them to a usable level. Of course, some of the spell arts of the Five Gods Faith are pretty good. I originally wasn¡¯t nning to teach you, but seeing that you didn¡¯t do too badly while trying to push through this prison, I n to give you a chance. Remember: if you can¡¯t get the True Inheritance, don¡¯t even think about learning anything from me. The scriptures of the Five Gods Faith can be passed down, but not to trash!¡±


    ¡°Rx! I¡¯m going to do everything I can to break out of this Prison of Mortal Coil!¡± Wei Tianchong was once more brimming with hope and resolve.

 Chapter 241: Mass Uprising

    Chapter 241: Mass Uprising


    On the Devil Crushing Path, more and more students were imprisoned, the vines wrapping them up tightly in the forest.


    Some people angrily cursed, some coldly watched, some of them looked with disdain and scorn, and some of them focused entirely on watching the battle.


    Tang Jie was still fighting.


    He no longer remembered what number this opponent was.


    If he hadn¡¯tprehended that secret, he might have already fallen to Ye Tianshang.


    Even so, the students that came after that were endless, and as more time passed, more and more of them came. And no matter how exquisite was the truth of the Dao of Insight he hadprehended, he was still running out of physical strength. As for spiritual energy, with the Cosmic Breeze Pearl and spirit-returning pills, this wasn¡¯t a problem.


    He was currently facing four students working together.


    These four students were of average strength, but when they worked together, even Tang Jie began to falter. If the little tiger hadn¡¯t been taking on two of them, Tang Jie would have already lost. As for Yiyi, the more students that were imprisoned, the greater the pressure on her became, so she could no longer help. She could only watch in deep concern, and it was for this reason that she had failed to take note of Su Xinyue¡¯s actions.


    She looked at Peng Yaolong, who gave her a look of understanding in return.


    ¡°Done?¡± Peng Yaolong mouthed.


    Su Xinyue mouthed back that she would be done soon.


    Peng Yaolong was ted.


    Tang Jie had made this spirit-draining formation in haste, without any materials, so it had already beencking in power. If the people in the formation hadn¡¯t been bound up, Su Xinyue could have broken out of the formation without the aid of a formation breaker. Now, without the formation breaker, Su Xinyue had managed to find the formation¡¯s weakness and was in the middle of breaking it. She had just reached the critical moment.


    Nearby, in a gust of wind, as Tang Jie was still battling the four other students, another figure entered the path.


    Cai Junyang.


    He had finallye.


    When he saw Tang Jie locked in bitterbat, Cai Junyangughed, ¡°It was worth it to wait until now! Tang Jie, as expected, you didn¡¯t disappoint me.¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°You rascal, sure enough, your patience has improved. If I really let you get through, then I admit defeat!¡±


    ¡°Cai Junyang, don¡¯t even think about trying to take what¡¯s ours!¡± One of the four students panicked when he saw Cai Junyang appear, and he quickly withdrew from the battlefield. He brought his arms together, lightning crackling in his palms, and then he unleashed a giant beam of lightning at Tang Jie.


    This lightning struck Tang Jie, and he howled as he flew backward and crashed into the ground.


    The four students were delighted, all of them rushing toward the floral formation.


    Cai Junyang also charged over, and one of the students unleashed a spiritual wave to impede him.


    ¡°Out of my way!¡± Cai Junyang furiously roared. He had waited patiently until this moment so that he could arrive on the scene and settle things with one move, but to his surprise, Tang Jie was already at the end of his tether and had been knocked down with a single bolt of lightning. It was now these four students who blocked his path.


    Deeply unhappy, he unleashed a vicious wave of sword energy.


    The 19 Star Sword!


    19 points of starlight shot at the four. This was none other than the secret art he had learned from the Divine Firmament Sword ssic.


    The creator of this spell was none other than the current Sword of the Basking Moon Sect, Xiao Biehan.


    Xiao Biehan had disyed astounding talent from an early age, and he only favored the sword. Before entering the academy, he had dered that he would take ownership of one of the 19 Star Mountains.


    The 19 Star Mountains were 19 most important peaks of the Basking Moon Sect. Each mountain master was one of the 19 Celestial Chiefs of the Basking Moon Sect, and these 19 chiefs were divided into 18 hall masters and 1 department master.


    The Basking Moon Sect had sixteen halls, but the sixteenth hall, the War Hall, was actually the War Department. It had three halls under it, and together with the leader of the War Department, the Sword of the Basking Moon Sect, there were 19 Celestial Chiefs.


    As for Misty Mountain, where the sect master dwelled, it was not considered one of the 19 Star Mountains.


    Just like Tang Jie¡¯s deration that he would be a disciple, Xiao Biehan¡¯s deration that he would be one of the 19 Celestial Chiefs had earned him much scorn from the students of his ss. But Xiao Biehan had trained diligently, and the first sword spell he had ended up developing was the 19 Star Sword. With this name and the ambition behind it, he had ascended to his current position as Sword of the sect, his status second only to Sect Master Ling Xiao. He had fulfilled his old aspiration and had pped countless people in the face.


    He had honed the 19 Star Sword countless times since then, making it into one of the most powerful spell arts he had created.


    Cai Junyang cultivated the Massing Wave Mantra, which advantaged energy cirction and swift attacks. The 19 Star Sword could make neen swords into one and one sword into neen. It was ideal for applying power over arge area and thus perfect for him.


    As the 19 Star Sword activated, one sword turned into neen, each point of starlight a powerful attackparable to Windcleaver. Under this salvo of neen swords, the four students were heavily injured and sent flying.


    With one strike, Cai Junyang had heavily wounded four students!


    Cai Junyang charged into the flower formation.


    At this sight, Su Xinyue frowned and shouted, ¡°Go!¡±


    Peng Yaolong bellowed, spiritual energy erupting from both of his arms. <em>Bang!</em> A spiritual shockwave traveled through the formation, knocking over the numerous students imprisoned within it.


    At this moment, the vines binding Peng Yaolong began to crack.


    Aghast, Yiyi pped a small hand down, and numerous flowery vines swept toward Peng Yaolong.


    ¡°Hurry!¡± Peng Yaolong shouted.


    Su Xinyue squatted down, and the Violet Ember Wolf next to her spat at the vine.


    A violet me burned the vine on her arm, and under the full focus of the me, the vine was instantly destroyed, and even part of Su Xinyue¡¯s arm was badly injured. But Su Xinyue didn¡¯t care. With her right arm free, she pressed it against the ground and shouted, ¡°Transpose the Qian position onto the Li, moving with the wind and trembling with the earth!¡±


    A fiendish wind stirred as the earth quaked!


    Countless protrusions appeared on the surface of the Devil Crushing Path.


    Panicking, Yiyi tried to stop Su Xinyue, but she was too busy dealing with Peng Yaolong.


    Seizing this chance, Su Xinyue got her left hand free and thrust it against the ground, and there was another boom. A shockwave obliterated the vines on her body, and she broke free together with her fiend wolf.


    ¡°Sess!¡± Peng Yaolong heartilyughed.


    Su Xinyue¡¯s breakout meant that the spirit-draining formation was no longer working. Without this formation, these vines were incapable of holding all the students.


    Peng Yaolong flexed his arms to try and break free of these annoying vines, but he found that his spiritual energy was still restrained.


    ¡°This¡­ What¡¯s going on here?¡± Peng Yaolong froze, and then he looked up at Su Xinyue, who was smiling.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry; I used you. But there can be only one True Inheritor. Great Brother Peng, I will be going first.¡± Su Xinyue giggled and rushed off.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Peng Yaolong now understood what Su Xinyue was up to.


    She had never thought about escaping with everyone. She was just using the distraction created by Peng Yaolong and the others to break free on her own.


    As Su Xinyue rushed out, Meng Shixue raised her head and spat at her.


    A cold air fell on Su Xinyue¡¯s body, and she immediately felt her body stiffen up and her speed drop.


    Su Xinyue snorted, ¡°You think that¡¯s going to work?¡±


    While the cold could slow her down, that was all it could do. Everyone else was still imprisoned, so even if she was running slowly, she would still be able to get out.


    But Meng Shixue said nothing, only looked at her with a mocking gaze. Su Xinyue knew this wasn¡¯t good and dropped to the ground. There was a rush of air as the little tiger flew over her head, pouncing on her fiend wolf and beginning to fight with it.


    In terms of strength, the Violet Ember Wolf was an upper-grade fiend beast, so it was naturally stronger than the little tiger. but the spirit-draining formation had drained more than half of its spiritual energy, and it had used what little was left to help Su Xinyue break free of her restraints. It could now only fight with its body, and this wasn¡¯t enough against the little tiger. A lightning de flew out, striking the Violet Ember Wolf and causing it to howl in pain.


    ¡°Violet!¡± Su Xinyue shouted as sheshed at the little tiger.


    At this moment, there was a sh of sword light behind her, and a voice rang out, ¡°You should just let me be the first to go through!¡±


    It was none other than Cai Junyang.


    Having knocked aside all the other students with one strike, Cai Junyang flew out and thrust his sword at Su Xinyue¡¯s back.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Su Xinyue was so angry that she cursed, and she also silently cursed Tang Jie¡¯s inability, faltering at this critical moment.


    It had to be understood that with her knowledge of formations, she could have broken free of the spirit-draining formation long ago. She had waited until now for Tang Jie to finally fall so that she could break free and escape. Otherwise, even if she escaped, she wouldn¡¯t have the spiritual energy to fight, and she would be defeated by Tang Jie again. But now, Cai Junyang hade out to stop her.


    Su Xinyue only had time to dodge to the side, but this opened up the path to the exit.


    Cai Junyang didn¡¯t push the matter any further, shouting, ¡°Thanks!¡±


    As he ran toward the exit, the vines tried to wrap around him, but there was no stopping someone who was still full of energy. A wave of the Tsunami Sword chopped the vines apart. At best, they were only able to slow him down.


    At this moment, a figure suddenly exploded forward, attempting to strike Cai Junyang in the back.


    Cai Junyang hadn¡¯t expected this development, and with a roar, he leaped forward, breaking free of the vines.


    As he looked back, he and Su Xinyue shouted in surprise, ¡°Peng Shaoqing?¡±


    Nearby, a white-clothed student with a thin and wasted face chuckled. This was none other than the renowned formation genius of Basking Moon Academy, Peng Shaoqing. He looked at Su Xinyue in disdain. ¡°Su Xinyue, you really don¡¯t think that you were the only one who could break that little spirit-draining formation, do you?¡±


    Su Xinyue realized what had happened. Just like her, Peng Shaoqing had decided to wait until Tang Jie was tired out to break free of the formation. But this spirit-draining formation truly wasn¡¯t very difficult to break. Since she and Peng Shaoqing could break free, others probably could as well.


    Long Dao waved his arms and snapped apart the vines. ¡°If I didn¡¯t understand anything about formations, why would I even bother to carry around a formation breaker?¡±


    Sure enough, three of them had broken free at the same time.


    Cai Junyangughed. ¡°You¡¯re all pretty good actors. But what does it matter that you managed to break free? An army will be tired out after a protracted battle. All of you are no match for me, so stand aside!¡±


    He roared, once again snapping those vines that had tried to coil around him and moving toward the exit.


    ¡°Stay right there!¡± Long Dao attacked Cai Junyang.

 Chapter 242: Illusion Spell

    Chapter 242: Illusion Spell


    Cai Junyang raised his sword to block as Peng Shaoqing and Su Xinyue charged in, sessfully halting his advance.


    Cai Junyang now seemed to have three opponents, but he was fearless, roaring, ¡°Third form of the 19 Star Sword, Strike of Unity and Parting!¡±


    The neen sword lights fused into three, attacking his three assants, who were unable to withstand the strike and were sent flying. But Cai Junyang¡¯s face momentarily turned red. The 19 Star Sword was a powerful art, but it consumed a fierce amount of energy. At his current cultivation level, using it was a great burden.


    His attack having worked, Cai Junyang prepared to retreat, but he saw two more smiling students break out of the formation and rush ahead of him.


    ¡°Stay right there!¡± Cai Junyang swung his sword, ¡°Fourth form, Parting sh!¡±


    The two students were instantly blown away, howling in pain.


    But this momentary distraction allowed Long Dao¡¯s group of three to lunge back into the fray, and as they battled, neither side was able to get the upper hand.


    Peng Yaolong¡¯s eyes gleamed with a savage light, and he suddenly turned to look at Qin Liang, whose eyes were roving the battlefield as he pondered something.


    Peng Yaolong whispered, ¡°Kid, I know that you¡¯re also going to break the formation. I¡¯ll remember your kindness if you help me break out.¡±


    Qin Liang mentally shivered as he looked at Peng Yaolong. Peng Yaolong coldly said, ¡°You don¡¯t have the strength to get through. Even Wei Tianchong is better than you. Even if you managed to get in there first, the True Person would probably pick Wei Tianchong over you!¡±


    Qin Liang inhaled and said, ¡°One thousand coins!¡±


    ¡°I swear on my Heart Demon that if I be True Inheritor, I¡¯ll give it to you!¡±


    ¡°Deal!¡± A momentter, Qin Liang really did break free, helping Peng Yaolong as he did.


    The moment Peng Yaolong was free, he rushed over to Meng Shixue and began to pull off the vines binding her,ughing, ¡°This True Inheritance is mine! Shixue, hold them down while I break through!¡±


    ¡°In your dreams!¡± As Peng Yaolong spoke, another person flew out, thrusting their shing sword at him.


    ¡°Ye Tianshang!¡± Peng Yaolong angrily roared.


    But Ye Tianshang didn¡¯t understand the Dao of Formations, so how had he broken free?


    ¡°Out of my way!¡± Peng Yaolong threw a punch in response to Ye Tianshang¡¯s sudden attack.


    The howling fist gale pushed Ye Tianshang back.


    Among the students, Peng Yaolong was the only one at the Mortal Shedding Realm.


    Although he hadn¡¯t been in this realm for long andcked powerful spell arts because he walked the path of the domineering body, the cultivation realm alone came with a huge power boost. Even Tang Jie was no match for him in a duel, let alone Ye Tianshang.


    As he knocked Ye Tianshang back, he snorted, ¡°You¡¯re no match for me.¡±


    He sprinted forward.


    But to his surprise, Ye Tianshangughed, ¡°Then what about bringing in a few more?¡±


    He swung his sword, and light burst forth, snapping the restraints of several other students.


    The moment these students broke free, they charged forward.


    They naturally weren¡¯t Ye Tianshang¡¯s people, so they wouldn¡¯t make trouble for Peng Yaolong for Ye Tianshang¡¯s sake. But they also wanted the True Inheritance and would sprint forward for all they were worth for it, forcing Peng Yaolong to go and make trouble for them.


    Sure enough, when Peng Yaolong saw this, he had to turn around and unleash a salvo at these students, pushing them back. He knew that this would make everyone angry, but the Nine Pce Heart Ring was just ahead, and it wasn¡¯t as though he specialized in speed. He could only push back any person who tried to get past him.


    As he stopped, Ye Tianshang seized the moment to charge.


    But just as he rushed past Peng Yaolong, he heard a rush of wind behind him. Ye Tianshang turned around and swung his sword, cutting down an arrow shot at him by Long Dao. This arrow had forced Ye Tianshang to stop, and Long Dao used the chance to run at the Nine Pce Heart Ring. But he also could only make it a few steps before he was stopped by Cai Junyang, who was in turn stopped by Meng Shixue.


    A chaotic melee ensued.


    Everyone wanted to get through the Devil Crushing Path, but they didn¡¯t want the others to get through, so the battle became like a game of mahjiang. One had to keep an eye on the yer who had gone before, on the yer going next, and also on the opponent on the opposite side, and next to the yers was the crowd, cing bets, causing trouble, even snatching up tiles¡­


    His sword shing, Cai Junyang put on the most dazzling show. He had not had his spiritual energy absorbed by the spirit-draining formation, and was full of both physical and magic power. On top of this, the 19 Star Sword was a secret spell of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, possessing peerless power.


    He was at the very front of the pack,shing out with his sword again and again and filling the air with starlight. He charged out of the flower formation all alone and made his way straight for the Nine Pce Heart Ring.


    His heart surged with excitement as he neared, but at this moment, Long Dao bellowed, and a thunderp exploded in his ears. If Tang Jie had been here, he would have realized that this was none other than the person who had once tried to kill him while he was boarding the flying boat.


    Cai Junyang¡¯s entire body shuddered. His spiritual energy scattered, and his feet no longer moved so agilely.


    But after this roar that had caused Cai Junyang to stop, Long Dao turned white in the face. This sonic attack had also been rather taxing on him.


    Peng Yaolong charged out and hammered a fist into Cai Junyang¡¯s back. Cai Junyang vomited blood and fell to the floor while Peng Yaolong turned around and thrust out a palm, creating a wind that swept everyone back, giving him enough time to jump into the Heart Ring.


    After all, he was the strongest of everyone here, and with his Apex Combat True Astral, he didn¡¯t fear thebined attacks of others. He charged forward while holding out against everyone¡¯s attacks, withstanding even Ye Tianshang¡¯s Galefury Sword without stopping.


    But as he was about to enter the Heart Ring, <em>boom!</em> Peng Yaolong¡¯s stalwart body bounced back.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Peng Yaolong was startled.


    Su Xinyue¡¯s sharp eyes swiftly noticed something suspicious. ¡°There¡¯s a guardian seal! We have to break through it to get in!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of the Nine Pce Heart Ring having a protective seal,¡± a student said.


    ¡°Tang Jie must haveid it down,¡± Peng Yaolong said, grinding his teeth. He was on the verge of sess but had been refused at the door, so his anger was easily imaginable.


    ¡°Then what do we do?¡± a student asked.


    ¡°You need to ask? We destroy it, of course,¡± Su Xinyue replied. ¡°Let me. I can destroy it!¡±


    ¡°Forget about it. Let me do it. You would probably just be opening the door for yourself, right?¡± someone jeered.


    Su Xinyue was furious, but at this moment, Peng Yaolong stood back up and said, ¡°Whatever kind of seal this is, let¡¯s destroy it first!¡±


    He roared, circting energy into his fist, and punched at the invisible seal.


    There was a tremendous bang, but the seal was unmoved. Meanwhile, there was a trickle of blood on Peng Yaolong¡¯s fist.


    ¡°Let me!¡± Cai Junyang came forward and hacked at the seal, but it still didn¡¯t budge.


    The students began to barrage the invisible wall with attacks, and there was a metallic tter as sparks shed, but whatever that seal was made of, it was utterly imprable.


    ¡°What a strong seal! How did Tang Jiey it down?¡± Su Xinyue was stunned.


    She had no idea how Tang Jie would be capable ofying down such a strong seal. A seal of this power would need many materials.


    Where would Tang Jie have gotten so many materials?


    Su Xinyue looked back, but she saw that the ce where Tang Jie had been lying was empty.


    A chill traveled up Su Xinyue¡¯s back.


    He was gone!


    He was actually gone!


    By this time, Peng Yaolong, Long Dao, and all the other students were working together on destroying the seal. It seemed like they wouldn¡¯t be fighting against each other until the seal was undone. Su Xinyue found herself growing more and more rmed. She vaguely sensed that there was a problem, but she couldn¡¯t figure out where.


    ¡°Wrong¡­ wrong¡­¡± Su Xinyue shook her head and stepped back. ¡°There must be a problem here!¡±


    She lowered her head and began to think.


    Countless scenes shed through her mind: Cai Junyang appearing, Tang Jie¡¯s fall, the breaking of the spirit-draining formation¡­


    Wait!


    The spirit-draining formation?


    Su Xinyue¡¯s heart went cold as the words she had told to Peng Yaolong rang out in her mind: ¡°We¡¯re currently in a chain formation, and I can only recognize two of them. Besides the energy-draining formation, there¡¯s also the Eight Destions Illusion Formation, the one that was used in the Valley of No Return to hold all of us¡­¡±


    ¡°The Eight Destions Illusion Formation!¡± Su Xinyue blurted out.


    Yes, they had broken out of the spirit-draining formation, but where was the Eight Destions Illusion Formation?


    Why hadn¡¯t it continued to work on them, imprisoning them?


    Or¡­ was it already working?


    Her pupils widened, and her entire body began to shake.


    But if that was true, wasn¡¯t this all an illusion?


    No, impossible. Tang Jie hadn¡¯t reached that level in the Dao of Formations yet. There was no way his formations could affect the mind!


    Su Xinyue firmly rejected this idea.


    But if not, what was going on here? What was the exnation for that seal?


    Su Xinyue grew more and more puzzled. Growing anxious, she formed a spell. ¡°A clear heart sees the truth! Let nothing hide from my sight!¡±


    Her eyes shone with a divine light as she looked around.


    A formation practitioner had to learn spells to break through illusions, and the Truthseer spell was such a spell. Although it was useless against high-tier illusion formations, it was still quite effective against lower-level illusion spells.


    As Su Xinyue looked around with the Truthseer spell, she should have been able to see through all illusions, but when she looked around, she saw that everything was real.


    How could that be?


    Was this not an illusion formation?


    Or had Tang Jie¡¯s illusion formation reached a level that the Truthseer could no longer see through?


    No!


    There was no way he could have reached this level.


    Peng Yaolong and the others were still attacking the seal, apanied by constant shes of light and the tter of steel. Someone shouted, ¡°The seal is loosening! I can hear it shuddering!¡±


    Everyone cheered and attacked even harder.


    <em>¡°Shuddering¡±?</em>


    Su Xinyue froze.


    <em>Why would a seal shudder?</em>


    <em>Hold on!</em>


    Su Xinyue suddenly realized something. She recalled that when she arrived, there had been a giant golden rock spanning the Devil Crushing Path.


    That was the Heaventopple Stamp!


    But where was the Heaventopple Stamp now?


    Looking around, she couldn¡¯t see it anywhere.


    ¡°Oh no!¡± Su Xinyue instantly realized what was going on.

 Chapter 243: The Final Struggle

    Chapter 243: The Final Struggle


    It was the Eight Destions Illusion Formation that had turned the Heaventopple Stamp into the Nine Pce Heart Ring and the seal. They had been charging in the wrong direction from the very start. Rather than the Nine Pce Heart Ring, they had been running toward the Nine Pce Life Gate!


    The Eight Destions Illusion Formation had confused everyone¡¯s sense of direction and muddled their senses.


    It was no wonder she hadn¡¯t been able to see through any illusion, because all of the illusions had been the real thing.


    This was the special trait of the Nine Pce Illusion Formation, and Tang Jie had learned from it and used it.


    ¡°Nine truths hide one lie¡­ nine truths hide one lie¡­¡± Su Xinyue muttered in a shaky voice.


    A true illusion formation mixed truth in fiction and fiction in truth, making both of them difficult to distinguish.


    This bastard had really managed to pull it off. Rather than using the illusion formation to imprison everyone, he had used it to fool them.


    Shifting one¡¯s position wasn¡¯t something that could be done in an instant. It required a long period of slowly altering one¡¯s vision before finally striking at the veryst moment. It was like a big magic show. When everyone was focused on the prop on the stage, they didn¡¯t notice that the viewing tform beneath their feet was slowly turning¡­


    If Su Xinyue had broken out of the formation earlier, this trickery would not have seeded.


    If everyone had let Su Xinyue deal with the seal, this trickery also would not have seeded.


    And if they had been just a little more rational and taken some time to carefully observe their surroundings, this trickery also would not have seeded.


    But s, they had done none of this.


    With victory right before their eyes, everyone had gone crazy and lost their sense of judgment.


    This truly wasn¡¯t some mental illusion formation, but Tang Jie had used everyone¡¯s desire to go through alone to nt the seeds of his conspiracy and fool all of them.


    Though it was a physical illusion, it had reached the level of a mental illusion!


    She finally understood Tang Jie¡¯s scheme, and her entire body shivered. She shouted with all her might at Peng Yaolong, ¡°Stop hitting it!¡±


    At this moment, a fist howled out, striking Su Xinyue in the back, and she screamed as she was sted away.


    Turning her head, she saw Tang Jie¡¯s callous face growingrger in her vision, soon epassing her entire world¡­


    As the students attacked, the seal finally began to falter.


    With a boom, that invisible screen shattered.


    That illusion that had obscured their vision disappeared, reced by a giant golden stone that flew into the air.


    No one had time to look at what it actually was. As that screen disappeared, everyone charged into the Heart Ring. As for who was first, that was a problem that Nan Baicheng couldbor over.


    Charging into the Heart Ring, Peng Yaolong excitedly cried out, ¡°Sess!¡±


    His eyes went ck. In front of him was an empty ind, Hurricane Peak in the distance. He roared, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Where am I?¡±


    ¡°Where am I?¡±


    ¡°Where am I?¡±


    ¡°Where am I?¡±


    One roar after another resounded from various corners of Wind Devil Ind.


    The illusion on the Devil Crushing Path was finally shattered.


    Those students who had yet to enter saw the world spin. Only now did they see that what they had been charging at wasn¡¯t any Nine Pce Heart Ring, but the Heaventopple Stamp.


    Under their concentrated assault, the golden boulder had finally been forced to transform. It shrank as it tumbled through the air, ultimately bing a little stamp thatnded in the hand of a person in the back: Tang Jie.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± everyone blurted out.


    ¡°It¡¯s an illusion formation!¡± In the distance, Su Xinyue shouted with all the strength she had, ¡°We all took the bait! Tang Jie was ying dead!¡±


    ying dead!


    ying dead again!


    Tang Jie had already yed this trick once in the Valley of No Return, and he had tried it again, yet everyone had still taken the bait.


    With a flip of his wrist, the golden stone was thrown into his bag. Tang Jie smiled and said, ¡°Jumping into the same hole twice, all of you should take a good, hard look at yourselves. Regardless, everyone, thank you for helping me get this treasure and clearing up the Life Gate! To thank you, I¡¯ll send all of you back into the Nine Pce Illusion Formation!¡±


    He took out an item: the Cosmic Breeze Pearl.


    After absorbing all the spiritual energy in the pearl, he took out a talisman.


    The Yellow Springs Talisman!


    The Dao of the Yellow Springs made all ghosts swear fealty.


    A sinister wind stirred, and a dark fog engulfed the area.


    At the same time, Tang Jie charged at a person in the fog!


    A battlemenced on the Devil Crushing Path.


    This was a battle of one versus several dozen, but the one person had the overwhelming advantage.


    Using the ck fog as cover, Tang Jie went to and fro as if he had no opposition, and the corpses of the numerous fiend beasts that had been in earlier became ghostly attacks. As sinister winds howled about the Devil Crushing Path, ghostly wails resounded.


    Not only did this ghostly fog cover his tracks and summon the dead, it also terrified people and wore away at their fighting spirit.


    People began to cry out in fear and rm.


    ¡°What is this?¡±


    ¡°Damn Tang Jie!¡±


    ¡°Let me out!¡±


    In the end, these students stillcked actualbat experience. Their panicked cries made them the best targets in the darkness and drew attacks on their location.


    Tang Jie was like a ghost as he traveled through the darkness, following the voices like a tiger hunting its prey.


    ¡°Come out! Tang Jie, get out here right now!¡± Long Dao bellowed.


    He had been a step too slow, so he had not charged back into the illusion formation with Peng Yaolong, but his fate wasn¡¯t much better. This was because what awaited him was being beaten down by Tang Jie before being thrown back into the formation.


    As he shouted, a dark figure rushed up to Long Dao.


    Long Dao instinctively loosed an arrow, and a Sirius Arrow howled at that silhouette, obliterating it. But when he looked closer, he saw that it was the corpse of a fiend beast.


    Long Dao knew that this wasn¡¯t good and tried to retreat, but at this moment, he heard a cold voice behind him: ¡°You were looking for me?¡±


    ¡°Aaaah!¡± Long Dao shouted as he chopped with his bow.


    This bow was a treasure given to him by his father. It was a long-range spell weapon that could also be used in closebat.


    But as he angrily chopped, a hand lifted up his wrist, which meant that he couldn¡¯t actually bring the bow down. Long Dao thrust out an arrow with his left hand, but Tang Jie swung his head to the side, letting the arrow brush past him, and he used the momentum to ram his head into Long Dao¡¯s face.


    It was a brutal and heavy blow that sent Long Dao flying. Tang Jie didn¡¯t pursue, instead grabbing a fiend beast corpse and throwing it at him. Long Dao¡¯s body shed as some spell art obliterated the corpse.


    Neutralizing a spell art from his opponent, Tang Jie lunged like a tiger, swinging a punch at Long Dao. Long Dao shouted and threw a punch in return, but Tang Jie stepped to the side, dodging the punch while his own struck Long Dao in the belly. Long Dao bent over in pain, and then a knee sted him into the air.


    Before he could rise, Tang Jie grabbed him by the shoulder and pressed him back down, followed by an elbow.


    He began to rain down punches, turning Long Dao into a battered and bloodied mess.


    ¡°This is in return for that arrow of yours!¡± Tang Jie sinisterly said. When it came to closebat, Long Dao was much worse than he was.


    ¡°Raaa!¡± Long Dao lunged at him, unwilling to give up, but Tang Jie grabbed his fist and threw him outward. This time, he threw Long Dao through the Life Gate and back into the formation.


    Su Xinyue was the only person not caught in the ghostly fog. Tang Jie had suppressed her in the early stage of the battle, and Yiyi was currently using the flower formation to hold her while the little tiger was restraining the fiend wolf.


    This was also why she was the only spectator to this battle.


    She watched as Tang Jie moved through the fog, treating the other students as if they weren¡¯t even there. Although he was just one person, he was like a massive wall that spanned the path, and her heart shivered at the sight.


    She had never before imagined that someone could be this strong.


    She had once believed that Tang Jie trying to hold the path was like a mantis trying to stop a carriage, that he had only been able tost this long because the students weren¡¯t united and were plotting against each other. It was only now that she realized how absurdly wrong she had been.


    The screams continued, but their number diminished until there were none at all.


    The ck fog scattered, and Su Xinyue saw Tang Jie standing there.


    All alone.


    He had a few more bruises and wounds, inflicted by the students, and his breathing was rather ragged. It was clear that this battle had been tough on him.


    But Su Xinyue did not underestimate him. No one could say how much energy Tang Jie was hiding behind his exhausted exterior. At least at this moment, Su Xinyue didn¡¯t want to try.


    Looking at Su Xinyue, Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re pretty good, seeing through my illusion formation.¡±


    ¡°But I was ultimately toote,¡± Su Xinyue snorted. ¡°Tang Jie, you¡¯re quite ruthless. To fool us all with an illusion formation, I admit defeat.¡±


    He had been able to win this battle not because of the Yellow Springs Talisman, but because of the Eight Destions Illusion Formation.


    It was this illusion formation that had deceived all the powerful yers, including Ye Tianshang, Peng Yaolong, and Meng Shixue, into going back into the formation, giving Tang Jie a chance to clean up the rest.


    ¡°It was because I had no other option,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°If I had any other choice, I wouldn¡¯t have done this.¡±


    Su Xinyue understood what he meant. ¡°This is yourst trick.¡±


    This really had been Tang Jie¡¯sst trick.


    The spirit-draining formation had been broken, so there was no more binding people. The illusion formation had been broken, so there was no more deception. Even the flower formation that Yiyi had gone to such great lengths to make had been uprooted, and all the fiends summoned by the Yellow Springs Talisman had been used up.


    He had used all of his cards.


    But the students would keep showing up, even those he had thrown back into the formation.


    There was no way he would be able tost long with his current strength reserves.


    ¡°But even so, you¡¯ll still keep holding on, right?¡± Su Xinyue asked.


    Tang Jie looked at his fist and replied, ¡°Of course. So long as I still have strength, I¡¯ll do what is my duty.¡±


    ¡°But you might notst until your young master arrives.¡±


    ¡°Maybe. But a mortal must do all he can and leave the rest up to heaven. All I seek is that when I look back on my actions, I feel no shame or regret.¡± Tang Jie remained calm and rxed as he spoke, as if he didn¡¯t care that all his efforts would be for naught if Wei Tianchong really couldn¡¯t make it.


    Su Xinyue was about to try persuading him some more when a figure appeared on the Devil Crushing Path, their cry shattering the stillness.


    ¡°I¡¯m finally out! Tang Jie, Tang Jie, am I toote?¡±


    It was Wei Tianchong.


    He was finally here!


    Wei Tianchong was covered in blood and grime, in absolute shambles.


    In the past, he might have already been sitting on the ground and moaning, but his only concern at the moment was that he wasn¡¯t toote.


    Tang Jie smiled at Wei Tianchong¡¯s bloodied but energetic person. ¡°No¡­ you came at just the right time. Congrattions, Young Master, you did it!¡±


    ¡°I did it¡­¡± Wei Tianchong looked at Tang Jie in a daze. ¡°I¡¯m going to be a True Inheritor¡­ I¡¯m going to be a True Inheritor! Haha!¡±

 Chapter 244: Buy One, Get One Free

    Chapter 244: Buy One, Get One Free


    Wei Tianchong muttered a few words before he finally lost control and gave Tang Jie a big hug, heartilyughing.


    But to his surprise, when he touched Tang Jie, he ended up knocking Tang Jie to the ground.


    ¡°Tang Jie, Tang Jie, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Wei Tianchong said in fright.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­ just a little tired¡­ rest¡­ I¡¯ll be fine with some rest,¡± Tang Jie said with a smile.


    He finally revealed his long-exhausted self.


    Su Xinyue was startled by this.


    Had this damned bastard really been out of strength?


    He had been bluffing this whole time!


    If she had moved a little earlier, Yiyi and the little tiger really might not have been able to stop her.


    Su Xinyue felt rage and frustration at this thought.


    s, Wei Tianchong had already appeared, and herst chance was gone.


    But she was in a rather strange mood. Tang Jie had clearly tricked her, but she didn¡¯t resent him. On the contrary, she admired his tenacity, and as she looked at him, her eyes shone with praise.


    Meanwhile, Wei Tianchong lifted Tang Jie up and said, ¡°Rx. I¡¯ll take you the rest of the way.¡±


    He began to run toward the Nine Pce Heart Ring.


    At this moment, someone shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t move!¡±


    Another figure appeared on the Devil Crushing Path, lunging at Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong instinctively looked back and saw a sword light flying at him. Behind it was the face of a cold and proud youth.


    ¡°Li Yunfan?¡± Wei Tianchong blurted out.


    This was a student in their ss, eight-cycle-Jade-Gate Li Yunfan.


    Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t have time to dodge this strike, but at this moment, Tang Jie¡¯s eyes erupted with light, and he thrust out his hands and brought his palms together in a cross, catching the sword between them.


    He put all his strength into his move, and Li Yunfan couldn¡¯t keep thrusting. He roared, ¡°Seeking death!¡±


    A bolt of lightning burst out of the tip of the sword, erupting in Tang Jie¡¯s hands and prating into his body.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted.


    ¡°Go!¡± Tang Jie called out. As he spoke, he spat out a mist of blood to obstruct Li Yunfan¡¯s vision.


    Wei Tianchong carried Tang Jie and kept running.


    Li Yunfan moved around the blood mist and kept chasing. ¡°The True Inheritance is mine!¡±


    At this moment, with two howls, Yiyi and the little tiger rushed out.


    ¡°Out of my way!¡± Li Yunfanshed out with his sword twice, pushing them back as he continued the chase. He was faster than Wei Tianchong, and Wei Tianchong was even carrying someone, so he needed only a few steps to catch up.


    Just when he was about to swing his sword, wound Wei Tianchong, and charge into the Nine Pce Heart Ring, he heard a rush of wind. Aghast, he instinctively jumped up and saw a harsh light brush past the soles of his feet.


    He turned his head and saw Su Xinyue standing in the distance. She was clearly the one who had made the attack just now.


    This caused Li Yunfan to lose any chance he had of stopping Wei Tianchong. Wei Tianchong waved his hand, and his puppet lunged at Li Yunfan, joining Yiyi and the little tiger in holding him down.


    As Wei Tianchong sprinted toward the end, Li Yunfan couldn¡¯t help but furiously roar, ¡°Su Xinyue, what do you mean by this?¡±


    This was the closest he had ever gotten to the True Inheritor spot, but Su Xinyue had ruined his chance, so his anger was understandable.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I just felt that it would be much better if he became True Inheritor rather than you!¡± Su Xinyue casually replied as she watched Wei Tianchong carrying Tang Jie and running into the Heart Ring.


    As the two of them disappeared, Su Xinyue smiled.


    In the Heart Anchor Hall, Ji Wujiu sighed as he watched that figure disappear. ¡°In the end, he still got first ce. I let Brother Nan down.¡±


    The matter was now settled, so they could speak more openly now.


    Xu Miaoran lightly snorted and said nothing. But she viciously red at Su Xinyue on the screen, something on her mind.


    As for Nan Baicheng, he was unperturbed, not exploding into the expected tantrum.


    He indifferently said, ¡°Brother Ji did your best, so how could Baicheng me you? Perhaps this is just the will of the heavens.¡±


    ¡°But your master¡­¡±


    ¡°I will exin things to my master. This Nan will take on all the consequences, whatever they are.¡±


    He strode out of the Heart Anchor Hall.


    Ji Wujiu sighed as he watched Nan Baicheng leave, and then he flicked his finger, sending a bolt of air at a jade bell hanging from the ceiling.


    The bell¡¯s ring could be heard throughout the ind, signaling that the fight for the True Inheritance was over!


    Sunwatch Peak.


    One of the 19 Star Mountains of the Zephyr Mountains.


    This mountain was located on the eastern side of the Zephyr Mountains and stood more than three thousand meters high. Its slopes were steep, and ess was difficult outside of the stone stairs leading to the summit.


    But upon this summit stood a great hall as majestic as an emperor¡¯s pce, the Shen Star Pce.


    This was Yan Changfeng¡¯s residence.


    ording to the rules of the Basking Moon Sect, anyone could challenge the lords of the 19 Star Mountains, and the victor would inherit the seat. But ever since Yan Changfeng became the lord of Sunwatch Peak three hundred years ago, the seat had not changed.


    In Shen Star Pce, Yan Changfeng stood in front of the statue of the founder in the hall, looking up at it.


    This was a very young-looking True Person, wearing flowing white robes and a sword on his back. If one looked only at his face, one would take him to be in his twenties. He was handsome and cool, andpared to the kneeling Nan Baicheng behind him, he seemed more like the disciple than the teacher.


    Yan Changfeng slightly frowned as if he was thinking.


    After some time, his brow uncreased, and it was as if the sky had cleared up, the hall bing much brighter.


    Yan Changfeng casually said, ¡°In other words, I no longer have the right to choose, correct?¡±


    It was a gentle tone, devoid of anger.


    ¡°Your disciple was ipetent and unable to find Master a good disciple,¡± Nan Baicheng replied in a trembling tone, his body almost pressed up against the floor.


    ¡°It is for you to say whether or not he is a good disciple,¡± Yan Changfeng breezily replied. ¡°It is not eptable to discuss people based on their talent. Everyone in my Basking Moon Sect knows this, which is precisely why the academy was established, so as to gather talents and give everyone a chance. This being the case, even discussing people based on their personality is also not entirely eptable. Let alone you, even I do not have the right to judge whether or not Wei Tianchong will be a good disciple.¡±


    As Yan Changfeng spoke, he turned around to face Nan Baicheng.


    Nan Baicheng was startled. ¡°Master, do you mean that this Wei Tianchong still has some eptable traits to him?¡±


    ¡°I do not know if that is the case, but I know that you have made a mess of this affair,¡± Yan Changfeng sighed.


    Nan Baicheng felt his soul leave his body in fright, and he hastily dropped to the ground and did not dare to rise.


    He didn¡¯t understand why Yan Changfeng denied that Wei Tianchong was an unsuitable choice yet said that he had made a mess of this affair, but he knew that his master had a reason behind whatever he said.


    Sure enough, Yan Changfeng said, ¡°You erred in that since you hoped that Wei Tianchong would not seed, you should have done everything in your power to stop him. If you had intervened personally, then even if Tang Jie possessed heavenly abilities, he would still not be able to do anything to you. You had clearly already interfered, but you still restrained yourself, with nothing going smoothly. This is your mistake. It wasn¡¯t that you tried to stop him, but that you failed.¡±


    Yan Changfeng sighed. ¡°I once said that my disciples can be ipetent, but they cannot be cowardly. You felt that Wei Tianchong did not have the right personality andcked courage, but did you not fear the rules of the Basking Moon Sect, fear that Xu Miaoran¡¯s power? If you had truly acted without fear, who would have been able to stop you? Or did you think that if you made arge ruckus, you would bring me trouble?¡±


    Nan Baicheng loudly said, ¡°Your disciple knows his mistake!¡±


    ¡°Since you understand your mistakes, go back and give yourself one hundredshes,¡± Yan Changfeng said with a wave of his hand.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Rather than panicking, Nan Baicheng was ted by these words. He knew that a punishment meant that Yan Changfeng had notpletely lost hope in him.


    After passing judgment, Yan Changfeng said nothing more. He lowered his head and continued to think.


    If he said nothing, Nan Baicheng did not dare to talk, so he just prostrated on the floor and waited.


    After some time, Yan Changfeng said, ¡°That Tang Jie¡­ What do you think about him?¡±


    Nan Baicheng focused his mind before replying, ¡°Tang Jie is both bold and cunning, and he has the strength to back it up. He once pretended to be Tang Jiye, garnering arge amount of resources from the school and using this capital to soar in strength, establishing himself as a formidable character. s, he did not seek the position for himself, instead insisting on giving the opportunity to his young master. Otherwise, this disciple would dare to say that if he became Master¡¯s disciple, he would beparable to First Senior Brother.¡±


    His mission had gone poorly mostly because of Tang Jie. He was praising him so much precisely to imply that the failure wasn¡¯t because he was too incapable, but because his foe was too cunning.


    This was why he praised Tang Jie without reservation.


    But Tang Jie¡¯s performance really did deserve praise.


    ¡°Pretending to be Tang Jiye¡­ That might not be the case¡­¡± Yan Changfeng muttered. He suddenly smiled. ¡°To be able to take first ce three times in a row and even help out hiscking young master, he truly is a talent. And he is also loyal and true, making him a talent worthy of raising. Since he is a true talent¡­ Baicheng, when you go back, ask Tang Jie if he is willing to be my disciple.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Nan Baicheng was stunned.


    Yan Changfeng casually said, ¡°If I take one, why not take two? If we just treat this as taking Tang Jie as a disciple with that Wei Tianchong as an extra, isn¡¯t that also very good?¡±


    His thinking was simple: buy one, get one free.


    Nan Baicheng thought it over and replied, ¡°But, Master, since Tang Jie gave up on the True Inheritance back then, I fear that¡­ what if¡­¡±


    He did not dare to say it, but his meaning was clear.


    Since Tang Jie hadn¡¯t fought over the True Inheritance, the True Inheritance probably didn¡¯t have much of a draw to him. If he refused, Yan Changfeng would be humiliated.


    It was one thing to not fight over the True Inheritance, but to refuse it when it was handed over was another thing entirely.


    Yan Changfeng would be aughingstock because of this.


    Yan Changfengughed. ¡°It would be best if he were not foolish. Don¡¯t forget that he handed me his young master.¡±


    Only then did Nan Baicheng understand. With Wei Tianchong in hand, Tang Jie would not dare to offend Yan Changfeng.


    But for Yan Changfeng to resort to threats to take Tang Jie as his disciple? Nan Baicheng felt like something was wrong.


    He had only heard of people begging a master to be a disciple, not of a teacher begging someone to be their disciple.


    Tang Jie might really be a talent, but the Basking Moon Sect had thrived for a thousand years, and were all of the people it had taken as sect members not talents as well?

 Chapter 245: Turned Out It Was a Vixen

    Chapter 245: Turned Out It Was a Vixen


    Over the past 1800 years, out of more than a thousand students every year, only around ten were able to enter the sect. It was simply the truth that the Basking Moon Sect could randomly choose anyone and end up with a sea of talents. Nine-cycle people were less than dogs, and never had a master insisted on taking a disciple.


    But Nan Baicheng did not dare to say such things, only keeping these words in the depths of his heart.


    Yan Changfeng seemed to think that this wasn¡¯t enough, saying, ¡°Go, then, and tell him that if he¡¯s willing to be my disciple, I will pass onto him the Nine Coronal Transformations and the Mind Parting Heart Anchor Art.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± These words truly left Nan Baicheng dumbfounded.


    Wind Devil Ind.


    In a small pavilion on the shore of the ind, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran sat across from each other, but they said nothing. They simply looked out at the ocean as the waves went in and out.


    Two maids, Hong Yuan and Xiaon Tao, stood on the side. They looked at each other and suddenlyughed.


    ¡°What are you giggling about?¡± Xu Miaoran said, rolling her eyes at the pair.


    Hong Yuan replied, ¡°Young Miss, if you think it inconvenient for us to be here, you can just tell us. There¡¯s no need to just sit there and re!¡±


    Xu Miaoran went red in the face, and she grabbed a cup and threw it Hong Yuan, but the maid giggled as she dodged.


    Tang Jie smiled and said, ¡°Sister Hong Yuan is truly understanding of others. Since that is the case, Tang Jie thanks you.¡±


    Hong Yuan hadn¡¯t expected him to so smoothly climb up thedder offered, and she couldn¡¯t help but re. ¡°You¡­¡±


    Xian Tao pulled on her and said, ¡°Oh my, I almost forgot that we still have some work to do. The two of you, please remain seated. Hong Yuan and I will be gone and back in a jiffy.¡±


    She pulled Hong Yuan away. Hong Yuan fumed as she tried to pull her hand away, ¡°What are we acting for?¡±


    But Xian Tao kept a firm grip and dragged her away.


    As they watched the two of them leave, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoranughed.


    Xu Miaoran said, ¡°Those two stubborn girls have no respect for their seniors and no mind for manners. Young Master, please do notugh at me for this.¡±


    ¡°These people are true to their hearts, so why should Iugh about it?¡± Tang Jie replied. After some thought, he added, ¡°I have to thank you for your help on this matter.¡±


    Xu Miaoran saw him changing the subject to the mission with barely a word and rolled her eyes. ¡°After I got your letter, I thought that paper crane would be a memento that you wouldn¡¯t use. I didn¡¯t expect you to use it on your young master.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because I knew that we would get the chance to meet again once this matter was concluded.¡± Tang Jie grinned.


    ¡°Then how can you be so certain that I will give you another long-distance message talisman?¡± Xu Miaoran asked. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ve used them all up.¡±


    ¡°Given how frequently you use them, you must be far away from using all of them, yes? You might even give me a few more this time so that I don¡¯t have to waste so much time sending letters. I even have to pay out a few spirit coins in bribes every time I send one,¡± Tang Jie said, holding out his hand.


    Xu Miaoran couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at how thick-skinned he was. ¡°You really were born in the year of the monkey, climbing up anything you can get a handhold on, but there¡¯s nothing!¡±


    She pped Tang Jie¡¯s hand down.


    But as his hand dropped, he flipped it over and grabbed her hand. As their hands sped, he could just feel how gentle, soft, andfortable it was.


    Xu Miaoran froze, and the two of them stared at each other.


    Xu Miaoran¡¯s face turned red, and she pulled her hand away and softly muttered, ¡°Rude.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just that I saw a fairy¡¯s visage and found it hard to control myself,¡± Tang Jie said with a grin.


    Uponing to this world, he had devoted himself to the Immortal path, thinking every day about how to improve, how to break through, and how to deal with powerful opponents. It was only at times like these when he didn¡¯t need to think about anything, only smile andugh, that he felt truly rxed. And when it came to wooing a woman, how many people couldpare to him, someone who hade from a much more open and unconventional world?


    Xu Miaoran¡¯s face reddened again as he teased. She red at him and said, ¡°What a slick tongue, but I wonder how many people you¡¯ve said the same thing to.¡±


    ¡°Not a single soul,¡± Tang Jie firmly replied. He even added, ¡°Do you need me to swear a Heart Demon Aspiration?¡±


    He spoke his first sentence solemnly, but the second wasn¡¯t serious at all, amusing Xu Miaoran to no end.


    But after some thought, she decided that this wasn¡¯t proper. cing a hand on her waist, she said, ¡°That¡¯s not for certain. That Su Xinyue also looks like quite the beauty to me. You stopped her from advancing, but in the end, she even helped you out of her own will. It looks to me like she might have some feelings for you. Do you need me to be a matchmaker?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    Xu Miaoran¡¯s face instantly darkened.


    Tang Jie added, ¡°But she helped my young master, so it looks to me like she was impressed by my young master¡¯s heroic figure. My young master has thin skin and is in dire need of a service like this.¡±


    Xu Miaoran couldn¡¯t stop herself fromughing, but she quickly stiffened her face and said, ¡°Him? Who would like a piggy guy like him?¡±


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t be like that! Even fatties have their pride!¡± Tang Jie shot back.


    ¡°True¡ªservant students also have their pride!¡±


    ¡°Just pride? Look at your servant students, practically riding on their youngdy¡¯s back already.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    The two of them continued to tease each other, the shore resounding with theirughter.


    Xian Tao and Hong Yuan watched them out of the corner of their eyes, Hong Yuan¡¯s eyes twinkling. ¡°Wow, it seems like the young miss really has taken a liking to this guy. I¡¯ve never seen her as happy as this.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no guarantee of that. The book says that making a womanugh for you isn¡¯t a big deal. The real indicator is if she cries for you.¡±


    Hong Yuan was curious. ¡°What book is that?¡±


    Xian Tao¡¯s face reddened as she whispered into Hong Yuan¡¯s ear. Hong Yuan was aghast. ¡°Oh my! You read books like that? I definitely have to tell the master and youngdy.¡±


    ¡°Shut your mouth, stubborn girl.¡±


    In a corner of the ind, a pair of maids began to quarrel.


    The sky began to darken, clouds covering the sky.


    In the distance, Wei Tianchong called out to Tang Jie. Above Wind Devil Ind, the Immortal ship was taking to the skies, signaling to all students that it was time to go back.


    ¡°You have to go,¡± Xu Miaoran casually said.


    ¡°Mm, I have to go,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°Who knows how long it will be until we can meet again,¡± Xu Miaoran sighed.


    ¡°There will be another chance. Didn¡¯t we sayst time that it would be hard to meet again, and didn¡¯t we still end up meeting again?¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s because this girl came from afar to see you,¡± Xu Miaoran said, kicking him.


    Tang Jie chuckled and held out his hand again.


    Xu Miaoran knew what he meant, and she lightly blushed as she took out a stack of paper cranes from her bag and ced them in his hand. ¡°They¡¯re all here. You don¡¯t need to be too conservative with them. Just tell me when you¡¯ve used them all¡­ I¡¯ll send you some more.¡±


    As she said this, her blush crept all the way to the base of her ears.


    Tang Jie smiled and nodded.


    Xu Miaoran¡¯s heart trembled at his smile, and she pushed him and said, ¡°Hurry and go already, or they¡¯ll leave you behind.¡±


    ¡°Then I can just stay here,¡± Tang Jie said.


    Embarrassed, Xu Miaoran pushed him several more times. ¡°Go! Go!¡±


    Tang Jie reluctantly walked away.


    He didn¡¯t get very far before he heard Xu Miaoran shout, ¡°And stay away from that Su Xinyue!¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± Tang Jie loudly replied.


    The two of them exchanged onest nce before Tang Jie turned and left.


    ¡°In other words, besides the power of the Prison of Mortal Coil weakening, you were also able to get out because of the help of the little fox?¡±


    In the Meditation Garden, Tang Jie sat in a stone chair in the garden pavilion, a cup of hot tea in his hand.


    With the Wind Devil Ind mission over, so was the struggle of the True Inheritance.


    As Nan Baicheng had to go to Sunwatch Peak to report, the disciple ceremony would not take ce immediately, and all the students went back to the academy together.


    As they returned to their normal routine, Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong finally had some time to talk about their experiences in the mission. As for Xu Miaoran, Tang Jie didn¡¯t hide it from Wei Tianchong, which drew Wei Tianchong¡¯s envy and praise for his good fortune. At this time, he was now talking about himself.


    ¡°Yes. If it hadn¡¯t taught me a secret spell of the Five Gods Faith, I would have never been able to get out of the prison that quickly.¡± Wei Tianchong was squatting outside the pavilion, feeding the fox a bowl of meat as he affectionately said, ¡°Come on, sweetie. I made this myself, you know.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What secret spell?¡± He wasn¡¯t at all surprised that the little fox was humanized. When he had been testing its strength, he had already realized that it wasn¡¯t like other fiend beasts. It was just that he hadn¡¯t expected its intelligence to be fully unlocked, making it capable of human speech.


    ¡°ckwater Soul Possession.¡±


    ¡°ckwater Soul Possession?¡± Tang Jie was given a scare when he heard this, jumping to his feet. ¡°One of the five secret divine connections of the Five Gods Faith?¡±


    The Five Gods Faith was so named because the religion had five famous unique arts that were extremely mysterious and profound. The ckwater Soul Possession was one of these.


    The most mysterious thing about this art was that the cultivator could attach a sliver of their will to a designated object and thus control it.


    This sounded no different from ordinary control spells, but the difference was that ordinary control spells consumed spiritual energy, and they were restricted by distance, number, and level. For example, when it came to controlling puppets, Wei Tianchong could control two at most at his current strength, and these puppets couldn¡¯t be at a very high grade and couldn¡¯t be very far away. He also needed to constantly use spiritual energy.


    ckwater Soul Possession had none of these problems. It truly attached a sliver of the cultivator¡¯s will to the object, allowing the cultivator to control it as an extension of the body. It was said that at the divine connection level, one could control tens of thousands of objects from a thousand kilometers away, even control them into using spell arts. It was undoubtedly a top-ss puppet control spell art.


    In the Prison of Mortal Coil, Wei Tianchong had used the ckwater Soul Possession to disy his puppet¡¯s divine might and finally break out.


    ¡°Tang Jie, what do you think? If you want it, I can teach you,¡± Wei Tianchong smugly said.


    But Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°No need. While secret divine arts are good, only diligent study and training can lead to sess. The Basking Moon Sect is the dazzling orthodox lineage, and I barely have the energy to learn all of its spell arts. I probably don¡¯t have the time and energy to learn the secret arts of the Five Gods Faith as well.¡±


    He wasn¡¯t being humble here. He had an imprint of more than a hundred secret spell arts from the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, but he only had a grasp on four, with most of them being purely for disy. The ckwater Soul Possession was undoubtedly a wondrous spell art, but he didn¡¯t care about it too much.


    ¡°Why do you sound so much like the little fox?¡± Wei Tianchong sighed.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°There are no invincible secret arts in the world, only invincible cultivators.¡±


    Wei Tianchong and the little fox were both taken aback by these words, looking at him in a daze. They clearly hadn¡¯t expected something so profound toe from his mouth.


    But Tang Jie was simply reusing the line about there being no invincible yers from his past life. However, in this world, this was a unique understanding that no ordinary student couldprehend. Even the eyes of the little fox shed for a moment.


    After speaking once in the Prison of Mortal Coil, it had not spoken again no matter how Wei Tianchong tried to cajole it, but now, it said, ¡°What if it was the Celestial Treasure Supreme Heart Mantra?¡±


    ¡°The Celestial Treasure Supreme Heart Mantra?¡± Tang Jie was shaken.


    This mantra was no spell art, but the foundational art of the Five Gods Faith,parable to the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s Violet Jade Mantra.


    Spell arts were the surface while principles were the root.


    The sects of the world all had different understandings of the Heavenly Dao, and so they had created countless spell arts.


    When it came to spell arts, the 19 Star Sword was an art for killing, as was the Windcleaver. It really didn¡¯t matter which kind one knew. What mattered were the different Daos embodied in each spell art.


    Most of the secret arts of the Basking Moon Sect had the same guiding principle, the vast majority arising from the Violet Jade Mantra.


    As for the Five Gods Faith, their secret arts had their roots in the Celestial Treasure Supreme Heart Mantra.


    It seemed like the little fox was going to pass on this mantra to Tang Jie, and he couldn¡¯t help but gasp.


    This was the foundational treasure of the Five Gods Faith!

 Chapter 246: The Hellfire Formation

    Chapter 246: The Hellfire Formation


    Wei Tianchong panicked, shouting, ¡°Hey, what about me? What about me?¡±


    The foxzily said, ¡°The Celestial Treasure Supreme Heart Mantra primarily emphasizes understanding the Dao andprehendingws. It is not a spell art, so even if it were passed to you, with your current intelligence, you might as well be reading gibberish. Rather than strengthening you, it might only slow down your cultivation.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was instantly discouraged by these words.


    It seemed like he socked the qualifications that he didn¡¯t even have the right to learn it.


    But after some thought, he realized that this was right. At his current strength, he barely measured up to an elementary school student. If he were given a college textbook, he truly wouldn¡¯t be able to understand it.


    But Wei Tianchong still wasn¡¯t entirely convinced. ¡°And Tang Jie can?¡±


    The fox replied, ¡°Tang Jie alsocks the required strength. But he is intelligent and knows when to give up, so he will not be misguided. Moreover, he has some understanding of the Dao of Insight, is able to grasp a little of the movements of the heavens. Thus, this mantra will be of some benefit to him. Even so, I can only pass to him the first level of the Supreme Mantra. Letting him read too much might do more harm than good.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°If that is so, then I must thank you, young miss.¡±


    ¡°¡®Young miss¡¯?¡± Wei Tianchong was stunned.


    Ever since he had gotten this little fox, the fox had kept its distance, so he had never known if it was male or female. But when he heard Tang Jie, he finally realized, and he instinctively moved to grab the fox and look to see what it had down there.


    Embarrassed, the fox swung its tail into Wei Tianchong¡¯s face with such force that he was sent flying. The fox roared, ¡°Bastard!¡±


    It was a crisp and tender voice, finally carrying somewhat the tone of a little girl. It seemed like she really was a vixen.


    As Tang Jie watched the two of them mess around, he chuckled and said, ¡°My young master is inexperienced and tends to be rather impulsive, so please do not me him, young miss. Right, miss, do you have a name?¡±


    The fox snorted. ¡°Ever since getting me, this guy just calls me ¡®sweetie¡¯ all day. He¡¯s never even thought about giving me a name.¡±


    Tang Jie helplessly shook his head. ¡°It was our mistake. That being the case, why don¡¯t I give you a name?¡±


    ¡°Very well, but don¡¯t make it anything with ¡®Hu¡¯. There are so many foxes in the world, and it is far too vapid for someone to have the surname Hu just because they¡¯re a fox.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Then let¡¯s avoid that. Divine God Luo opened your mind, so you¡¯re almost his adopted daughter, so why not have the surname Luo?¡±


    The fox thought it over and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s fine. Call me Luo Yue (Moon). Since I¡¯m in the Basking Moon Sect, I will name myself after it.¡±


    With this conversation over, Luo Yue passed on the first level of the Celestial Treasure Mantra to Tang Jie.


    For the next few days, Tang Jie studied this mantra every day.


    Just as Luo Yue had said, the Celestial Treasure Supreme Heart Mantra was primarily aboutprehending the Dao, with cultivation being a secondary goal. More than half of the mantra describedprehending the Dao, withrge chunks devoted to Spirit Will and Divine Will. In fact, the ckwater Soul Possession was a spell art established on this foundation.


    Divine Will was a major problem that all high-level cultivators had to deal with, with the Heart Demon Tribtion being the most typical example. The Five Gods Faith had dominated for a time precisely because its cultivation of Divine Will was far superior to others¡¯. Tang Jie had little understanding of this aspect, so as he perused the mantra, he benefited greatly.


    But he was limited by his cultivation and couldn¡¯t cultivate Divine Will yet, so this didn¡¯t confer any obvious boosts to strength. It simply opened his mind and broadened his experience, which was certain to be a big help in the future.


    But the Celestial Treasure Supreme Heart Mantra was a major source of inspiration to him in another aspect: the Dao of Formations.


    This mantra also had some discussion on formations, but unlike Xu Muyang¡¯s formation treatise, it was primarily theoretical rather than practical.


    For Tang Jie, who had been studying formations for many years, this theoretical knowledge enriched his knowledge base and allowed him to understand many questions that had previously puzzled him.


    Thus, after cultivating every day, honing his spells and increasing his cultivation level, he studied the mantra. In this time, Wei Tianchong visited Tang Jie again and gave him five thousand spirit coins.


    These coins were from thedy as thanks for doing so much to help Wei Tianchong get the True Inheritance.


    Once the curtain had closed on the True Inheritor struggle, the news had very quickly gotten back to Canglong Prefecture.


    The entire Wei n puffed up with pride once it found out that it had produced a True Inheritor son, and its reputation soared. Compared to what the Wei n stood to gain, five thousand spirit coins was nothing.


    Besides that, Zhang Qinan also came to find Tang Jie, but he hade to get his Heaventopple Stamp.


    The Heaventopple Stamp was an art manifestation, and Tang Jie didn¡¯t have the ability to use it, so it was a waste in his hands. Of course, he didn¡¯t give it to Zhang Qinan for free. After some negotiation, they ultimately agreed on a price of eight thousand spirit coins.


    With this money, Tang Jie rxed on his cultivation. He could probably enter Spirit Sea in around two years without a problem.


    Long Dao also came to find Tang Jie to get his formation breaker. Unfortunately for him, while the formation breaker was an art relic, it had no restrictions on who could use it. Tang Jie, after going through the Nine Pce Illusion Formation, had felt his understanding of formations deepen, and after studying the Celestial Treasure Mantra, he felt like he was on the verge of a breakthrough. He sensed that it wouldn¡¯t be long before he could grasp Grade 4 spirit formations, so he refused to hand it over.


    Unable to get back his art relic, Long Dao cursed at Tang Jie a little before leaving in a huff.


    Today, Tang Jie was standing in the yard, holding Bai Dan¡¯s crane feather brush as he concentrated on the ground.


    There was absolutely nothing there, but in Tang Jie¡¯s eyes, every inch of this empty space had special meaning. Under his self-induced hypnosis, this little space became a world made of dots and lines. shing spiritual light rose from the ground and created a patchwork of stars in the air.


    And several of these coordinates carried a deeper purpose and meaning.


    Tang Jie began to move his hand.


    He lightly thrust his brush at a certain point in space, spiritual energy traveling through the brush, and a faint turbulence began to fill the space. Tang Jie swept his brush through the air, creating a straight spiritual line that disappeared without a trace. But in Tang Jie¡¯s eyes, that line was still there. If he did not continue to provide it power, it would probablyst only about three seconds, with the crane feather brush improving this to five.


    He swung the brush back and proceeded to draw twelve spiritual lines, creating a smallyout that allowed them tost for much longer.


    ¡°Heaven position is on Xun (Southeast), with the attribute of Wind!¡± Tang Jie called out as he formed seals with his left hand, solidifying this position. At the same time, the brush on his right hand swept across the ground, creating a five-pointed star.


    ¡°Earth position is on Zhen, with the attribute of Earth!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s hand swiftly motioned as heid down spiritual line after spiritual line. As each symbol was created, the spiritual energy in these lines gradually solidified, and the entire area shed with spiritual light. It was like sketches on paper, gradually revealing what the creator was attempting to draw. Each of these countless symbols was rich in meaning, representing countlessmands, and as theybined, they formed a powerful formation.


    Tang Jie moved faster and faster as the process went on, his expression growing more and more solemn as more and more sweat began to drip from his forehead. Not even in his battle with Peng Yaolong had he been so hard-pressed.


    His breathing grew heavier as he consumed more and more spiritual energy. It had only been a little while, but his Spirit Lake reserve couldn¡¯t handle the burden. He had no choice but to have Yiyi stuff a spirit-returning pill into his mouth.


    As he finished drawing, he began to point or swing his hand at various points, creating a blur of afterimages. At this moment, Tang Jie roared, ¡°Hooking above and linking below, thunder and lightning are unmoved as the five energies gather! Form the Yellow Court!¡±


    The crane feather brush thrust out like a bolt of lightning, jabbing at the very center of the formation.


    As the brush came down, spiritual light erupted from the formation, but the light quickly dimmed, everything going back to normal. As for Tang Jie, he threw up a mouthful of blood.


    Despite the blood on his face, Tang Jie smiled and shouted, ¡°The Hellfire Formation! Sess!¡±


    The Hellfire Formation, a Grade 4 spiritual formation!


    With thepletion of this Grade 4 formation, Tang Jie had achieved a breakthrough in formations.


    When it came to spiritual formations, a Grade 4 formation was equivalent to peak Mortal Shedding.


    In other words, theoretically, a Grade 4 formation could deal with a group of peak Mortal Shedding cultivators.


    Of course, as Tang Jie hadn¡¯t used any materials, this Hellfire Formation had probably only a tenth of the power it ought to.


    For Tang Jie, however, just finishing it was good enough. After all, this was a breakthrough in level and strength.


    On this subject, it had to be said that Tang Jie¡¯s growth was rather uneven.


    He was strongest in formations, as he now had the ability toy down a Grade 4 spiritual formation, which was peak Mortal Shedding Realm. Second strongest was his body, which was also equivalent to peak Mortal Shedding Realm, but he was somewhat worse off than those peak Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators who specifically cultivated their body. The worst off was his cultivation level, which was still at the Spirit Lake Tier. Even if he had the Divine Firmament¡¯s secret arts, if he had to fight purely with spell arts, he would only be able to draw with an average Spirit Sea student, not even being able to contend against peak Spirit Sea students.


    Cultivation level was the foundation of everything, but there was no rushing this matter. He had only been officially cultivating for two years, and there was still plenty of time.


    If possible, Tang Jie hoped to spend the remaining eight years peacefully cultivating, without any major incidents. After all, with his current situation and foundation, even if he didn¡¯t use any more resources, he could easily reach Mortal Shedding before graduation.


    As he was thinking, someone knocked on his door.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know who was looking for him, but he hastily dispersed the Hellfire Formation and then went to open the door.


    Standing at the entrance was, unexpectedly, Nan Baicheng.


    Tang Jie hastily said, ¡°I did not know that Master Nan would pay me a visit. Please forgive me for noting out to wee you.¡±


    Nan Baicheng snorted. ¡°You¡¯re quite polite, but you must be thinking about whether I¡¯vee to make trouble for you, yes?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Master Nan, aren¡¯t you being too serious? How could this student possibly dare?¡±


    ¡°Then why haven¡¯t you invited me toe inside and sit?¡±


    Helpless, Tang Jie could only let Nan Baicheng inside.


    The two sat down in the pavilion. Nan Baicheng looked at the yard and nodded. ¡°You keep this ce cleaned up rather well.¡±


    He was in no rush to speak, and neither was Tang Jie. He poured Nan Baicheng some tea.


    Nan Baicheng casually sipped his tea before slowly saying, ¡°You won this True Inheritor struggle. Tang Jie, tell me the truth. Do you resent me?¡±


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t expected him to be so blunt. After a momentary pause, he said, ¡°This student understands that Master Nan has his own troubles. When ites to resentment, I would already feel greatly honored if Master Nan did not resent this student. How could I possibly resent Master Nan?¡±


    Nan Baicheng cracked a smile. ¡°So long as you understand this, it¡¯s fine. For this test, my master should have had toe down from his mountain to select one of the three candidates, but since you¡¯ve helped Wei Tianchong get all three spots, you¡¯ve saved my master from having to take this trip. My master has decreed that Wei Tianchong is Master Changfeng¡¯s eighth personal disciple starting from today. While in school, he can go to Sunwatch Peak once a year and spend one month there, receiving personal instruction from my Master. After ten years, he wille under the Basking Moon Sect. How he will be handled then will depend on his performance.¡±

 Chapter 247: A Chance at a Gift From the Heavens

    Chapter 247: A Chance at a Gift From the Heavens


    Wei Tianchong was still a student of Basking Moon and had yet to go through the full ten years. He could not possibly spend the long term at Yan Changfeng¡¯s side, so the conditions were quite normal. Moreover, while Wei Tianchong had matured, he stillcked experience, so Tang Jie did not dare to leave him at Sunwatch Peak for too long.


    But¡­


    Tang Jie looked at Nan Baicheng. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you tell this directly to Wei Tianchong? Why tell it to me?¡±


    Nan Baicheng replied, ¡°Because my master wishes to ask you: are you interested in bing his ninth inheriting disciple?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Tang Jie was dumbfounded by this question.


    He stared at Nan Baicheng for quite a while before finally saying, ¡°Master Nan must be making a joke. A True Person taking a disciple must do so through a test. How could he¡­¡±


    Nan Baicheng impatiently cut him off. ¡°Who made it a rule that there needs to be a test? The test is merely a way to select for talented individuals. If there is no need to select, why test? Everyone saw how you performed in this struggle for the True Inheritance. My master cannot go back on his word and refuse to take Wei Tianchong as his disciple, but do you think he cannot take another? How he will take a disciple is my master¡¯s business. You only need to say ¡®yes¡¯ or ¡®no¡¯.¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Tang Jie was immediately put in a difficult spot.


    It wasn¡¯t a bad thing to be Yan Changfeng¡¯s disciple. The problem was that Tang Jie had set off on a different path from others when he had started cultivating the Parting ssic, and he was now different from other students in many ways. At school, most of the teachers were at the Mortal Shedding Realm and had limited insight. While Xie Fengtang was at the Celestial Heart Realm, there were more than ten thousand students. No matter how attentive Xie Fengtang was, he couldn¡¯t keep watch on Tang Jie every waking moment.


    But Sunwatch Peak was different. Yan Changfeng had only so many disciples, and he only needed a minor nudge to put Tang Jie under close observation. And once Tang Jie was being watched, it would be difficult for him to do anything in secret.


    This was the main reason Tang Jie wasn¡¯t willing to be a True Inheritor. The other reason was that Yan Changfeng was part of the radicals, and Tang Jie ideologically disagreed with his way of doing things.


    But to refuse him and humiliate a True Person would bring its own problems.


    Tang Jie could only say, ¡°Master Nan, please let me think about it.¡±


    Nan Baicheng frowned. ¡°¡®Think about it¡¯? You still need to think about something like this?¡±


    He could understand it when Tang Jie was fighting to get the True Inheritance for Wei Tianchong, but he couldn¡¯t understand how he could refuse an opportunity that was delivered straight to his door. Only now did he realize that Yan Changfeng¡¯s words had not been entirely unreasonable. He had managed to guess that Tang Jie might refuse.


    ¡°This is an important matter, so I have to think it over,¡± Tang Jie calmly replied. After his initial shock, he had managed topose himself. In any case, he had already offended Nan Baicheng once, so he was more rxed about it now. And his tone clearly indicated that he wasn¡¯t very willing.


    Nan Baicheng was furious, so he could only say, ¡°Master also said that if you are willing to be his disciple, he can pass onto you the Nine Coronal Transformations and the Mind Parting Heart Anchor Art.¡±


    These two arts could be considered secret arts that Yan Changfeng was famous for. They were so profound that even Xiao Biehan had praised Yan Changfeng as a genius after experiencing them. Among Yan Changfeng¡¯s seven disciples, it was said that only the first disciple had inherited these two arts, with the others being less lucky. In Nan Baicheng¡¯s view, if Tang Jie still refused after getting these conditions, then he had truly lost his mind.


    But Tang Jie was unmoved and seemed to still be thinking about it.


    Nan Baicheng felt like he was about to go insane.


    This was an opportunity that would have anyone else ecstatic, so why was this bastardpletely unmoved?


    He wanted nothing more than to pick this guy up and give him a good beating.


    But he had already messed things up with Wei Tianchong, so he couldn¡¯t mess up again. He could only suppress his anger and say, ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you need to think about, but I must remind you before you make your decision that Wei Tianchong is about to be my master¡¯s disciple.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Tang Jie shot Nan Baicheng a profound look as he calmly asked, ¡°Did True Person Changfeng have you say this?¡±


    ¡°And what about it?¡± Nan Baicheng¡¯s face darkened.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I understand what the True Person is thinking.¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s do this. I must trouble Master Nan to return and speak with the True Person. I am naturally happy to take the True Person as my master, but I hope that the True Person can agree to three of my conditions.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Nan Baicheng stood up, not daring to believe his ears.


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°The first condition is that while I wille under his wing, I must be allowed to maintain my freedom and be granted the right to refuse arrangements that I don¡¯t think make sense.¡±


    Coming under a renowned master was great, but masters normally didn¡¯t take disciples for free. Thosecking talent but who came from powerful families had to offerrge presents to their master every year, and the talented from poor families had to carry out tasks for their master. As the saying went, the disciple shouldbor for their senior.


    The 19 Celestial Chief were lofty individuals, so they naturally weren¡¯t impressed by presents or gifts. But this meant that they sought greater ability from their disciples and often sent their disciples to do many things without reward¡ªthe master is making you do work because he thinks highly of you.


    This was the case for Nan Baicheng.


    Tang Jie¡¯s first condition to refuse any arrangements made by his master was essentially saying that he wasn¡¯t going to do anything for free, nor would he work if the pay was poor.


    Nan Baicheng hadn¡¯t expected this condition from Tang Jie, and he became so angry that he shook all over as he shouted, ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you if you had conditions!¡±


    Tang Jie ignored him and went on, ¡°The second condition is that I have the authority to do anything so long as it doesn¡¯t go against the rules of the Basking Moon Sect.¡±


    The first condition was the right to refuse anything, and the second condition was the right to do anything. When put together, they stated that he would do anything he wanted, with no one able to meddle in his business.


    ¡°And for the third condition, I need two hundred thousand coins to support my cultivation.¡±


    Nan Baicheng was so enraged that he towered over Tang Jie, pointed at him, and yelled, ¡°Arrogant! Audacious! Not knowing your ce! Master cherishes talent and gave you a chance, yet you dare to demand a sky-high price. You don¡¯t know when to stop¡­¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°You have to ask the True Person before you can know that.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense! Master will never agree!¡±


    ¡°You are not the True Person. You have no say in this matter.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Baicheng almost threw up blood. He red at Tang Jie before saying, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll convey your words to my master!¡±


    He stormed off.


    As Tang Jie watched him leave, his smile slowly faded. Massaging his temples, he sighed, ¡°I still ended up being suspected, ugh.¡±


    For Yan Changfeng to want to take him as his disciple was problematic enough, but he was even offering bribes with one hand and threats with the other. It was clear that Yan Changfeng suspected him.


    The problem was that he didn¡¯t know deep this suspicion went, so he used these three conditions to try and test Yan Changfeng.


    Someone of Yan Changfeng¡¯s personality would never take such a demanding and arrogant person as his disciple.


    In a situation where he couldn¡¯t refuse Yan Changfeng, his only method was to kick the ball back to Yan Changfeng. At least this couldn¡¯t be considered as Tang Jie refusing Yan Changfeng, but rather that he was so arrogant that Yan Changfeng had no choice but to give up.


    It was better to damage his own reputation than not give the True Person a way to save face.


    If he even agreed to these conditions, then Tang Jie probably needed to run away as far as he could as quickly as he could.


    Three dayster, when Nan Baicheng returned to Basking Moon Academy and did not bring up Tang Jie bing a disciple, Tang Jie sighed in relief, knowing that he had passed this trial.


    The chill autumn rain seeped into the soil beneath his feet.


    The Jade Fruits in the yard were growing greener and exuded the aroma they had when they were ripe, and the spirit grains nted throughout the rest of the yard turned the Carefree House into a golden sea.


    Plucking a Jade Fruit, Tang Jie took a fragrant bite and nodded. ¡°Not bad. It can be considered a regr three-year spirit fruit.¡±


    After two years of work, it was finally harvesting season, and Tang Jie was overjoyed.


    Over thest two years, besides cultivating, he had also put some effort every day into taking care of these spirit nts.


    Without the bitterpetition, without the spying of others, and without the crazy risks, there was only calm and simple cultivation.


    Simple days meant smaller harvests. Fortunately, the poor had their own ways of cultivating, and self-sustenance was Tang Jie¡¯s best choice.


    Though that was what was imed, nting high-quality spirit nts on such arge scale required a significant investment.


    Spirit grains were fine, but the seeds of those other spirit nts didn¡¯te easy and had a high price. Buying the fruits alone had cost him several thousand coins, and raising them afterward had taken so much money that Tang Jie had almost spent all of the money he had gained after winning the True Inheritor struggle.


    He had also used Yiyi¡¯s urine and a spirit-gathering formation to collect spiritual energy. He had invested too much effort into these spirit nts.


    ¡°Can we use them now?¡± Yiyi excitedly asked. In thesest two years, she had clearly grown much taller.


    ¡°No rush.¡± Tang Jie gave Yiyi a flick. ¡°Select some for renting, harvest some of them, and let the rest keep growing.¡±


    ¡°Like the thousand-year fields of the Basking Moon Sect?¡± Yiyi asked.


    ¡°A thousand-year field is impossible, but an eight-year field can work,¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Once I have my own mountain and can cultivate every day, I might even be able to get a hundred-year field.¡±


    Yiyi sighed. ¡°That¡¯s still only one hundred years, and you still have to wait for ages.¡±


    ¡°What else can I do? Any ce a human can go in this world has already been scoured clean. Let alone ten-thousand-year, even a hundred-year nt is extremely rare,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°Ugh! If only we could go to the Celestial Mountains. The Returned Remnants of the Martial Lord must have lots and lots of ten-thousand-year spirit nts!¡± Yiyi longingly said.


    ¡°I also want to go, but unfortunately, we can¡¯t go now. Even if we could, it¡¯s too far away. Rather than think about that, we should focus on the present,¡± Tang Jie said as he began to reap the spirit nts.


    After harvesting the spirit nts, Tang Jie didn¡¯t use them for refinement with the Parting ssic. Instead, he went off to Spirit tform Pavilion, intending to trade these materials for medicines.


    Tang Jie¡¯s most urgent task wasn¡¯t to keep improving his constitution, but to increase his cultivation level as quickly as possible.


    Since there hadn¡¯t been any additional sources of revenue over thesest years, and because he had put the money he had received into nting spirit fields, his cultivation progress had noticeably slowed. Meanwhile, other people had made huge leaps.


    Half a year ago, Qi Shaoming had sessfully entered the Spirit Sea Tier. And a few days ago, he had received word that Cai Junyang and Li Yunfan had also broken through. But Tang Jie was still at peak Spirit Lake. He had tried to get into Spirit Sea several times, but he was always one step away from seeding. Even Wei Tianchong had caught up. Aftering under Yan Changfeng¡¯s wing, Wei Tianchong had been able to richly benefit from the minor blessed ground at the base of Sunwatch Peak.


    The difference in talent started to be obvious.


    Some people were already mocking Tang Jie, saying that the strength he had gotten through deception was finally being exposed, and the former gap was shrinking. They said that it probably wouldn¡¯t be long before that Fierce Tiger Tang Jie, who had held the pass all by himself, became Trash Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie had never imagined that a day woulde where he was written off as trash, and he was rendered speechless.


    But he knew that cultivation level was his greatest weakness, and he nned to fill this gap.


    With this medicine, Spirit Sea would no longer be a problem, and if his luck was good, he might even be able to go a little further beyond that threshold.


    When he arrived at Spirit tform Pavilion, Madam Shui saw him and smiled. ¡°So you still know toe and see me sometimes?¡±

 Chapter 248: The Dream Lingering in Tang Jies Mind

    Chapter 248: The Dream Lingering in Tang Jie¡¯s Mind


    Tang Jie smiled as he replied, ¡°The mountains do not know the passage of time, and the years go by with the snap of a finger. Madam, please forgive me for my oversight.¡±


    Madam Shui rolled her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re in school, not in some secluded cultivation, so what¡¯s all this about the mountains not knowing the passage of time? It¡¯s probably because of what I told youst time that you¡¯re trying to avoid me, right?¡±


    Tang Jie gave an embarrassed grin.


    Upon returning from Wind Devil Ind, as Madam Shui had said that she would give him a chance at a gift from the heavens if he seeded in making Wei Tianchong a True Inheritor, he had gone to hear from Madam Shui what this chance was. He hadn¡¯t expected this chance Madam Shui had spoken of to be participating in the Immortal Fortune Conference at the Wandering Pce.


    When talking about the Immortal Fortune Conference, one had to first talk about the Wandering Pce.


    It was said that the Wandering Pce did note from the Rosecloud Domain. Rather, it was the legacy of an Immortal tform Titan who had broken through the barrier. As this was a sect established by an Immortal tform Titan, the Wandering Pce was an existence with deep reserves.


    The guiding principle of the Wandering Pce was to wander carefree, so it did not have a fixed location. Their headquarters was a floating Immortal pce, and thus, it was called the Wandering Pce. This also made them one of the few unaffiliated factions.


    In the Rosecloud Domain, there was no sect that could surpass the six major sects.


    Every power had to attach itself to another!


    When that Immortal tform Titan still lived, everyone could restrain themselves, but a hundred-some years ago, that Immortal tform Titan finally fell to the callous passage of time, dying and dissolving into Returned Remnants. With the death of the Titan, the now-vulnerable Wandering Pce was put in an awkward position.


    The six major sects immediately used this chance to apply pressure, trying to get the Wandering Pce on their side, thus leading to all kinds of political intrigue.


    The Wandering Pce managed to hold out for a hundred-some years, but it had finally reached its limit, and its days of shifting allegiance were finally over.


    But who to choose remained arge problem for the Wandering Pce.


    Choosing one sect would probably offend the other five.


    Thus, the Wandering Pce decided on the Immortal Fortune Conference. Each of the six major sects would send people to the Wandering Pce, and they would fight each other to decide. In this way, the Wandering Pce had thrown the ball back into the court of the six major sects.


    Of course, the Wandering Pce would suffer a major blow to its dignity if it was said that the sects were fighting over the right to the Wandering Pce. Wouldn¡¯t that mean it was nothing more than goods to be passed around?


    Thus, the Wandering Pce added an extra reward: thispetition was to decide the Daoistpanion for the next master of the Wandering Pce, Shen Qingdan.


    Shen Qingdan was the sole sessor to the Wandering Pce, and when she married someone, the Wandering Pce would very naturallye under the sect of her groom, and since the two sects were bonded by marriage, the Wandering Pce would also have a firm position.


    Thus, the Immortal Fortune Conference was born.


    Of course, as Shen Qingdan was only sixteen, the people sent to the Immortal Fortune Conference couldn¡¯t be more than five years older than Shen Qingdan.


    The age limit meant that basically only students could participate in the Immortal Fortune Conference.


    This was the ¡°chance at a gift from the heavens¡± that Madam Shui was offering him. She hoped that Tang Jie could be one of the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s representatives and take part in this grand asion.


    Tang Jie immediately knew that this was a tournament to decide the groom, so he naturally refused. If Xu Miaoran knew that he was taking part in this Immortal Fortune Conference, she would probablye over and curse him out as a heartless rat.


    Thus, in the face of Madam Shui¡¯s scolding, he could only smile.


    Madam Shui saw his face and sighed. ¡°The Immortal Fortune Conference is truly a rare chance. If you seed, you¡¯ll be the husband of the future pce master of the Wandering Pce, and your status in the Basking Moon Sect is certain to rise as well. This chance is many times more valuable than a chance at a True Inheritance, but you don¡¯t cherish it at all! s!¡±


    Tang Jie awkwardly smiled. ¡°It was this lowly one¡¯s mistake, but as the time has passed, regret is no good.¡±


    ¡°Who said the time has passed?¡± Madam Shui rolled her eyes. ¡°The Immortal Fortune Conference hasn¡¯t started yet.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Jie was startled. ¡°Wasn¡¯t this a matter from two years ago?¡±


    Madam Shui snorted. ¡°There¡¯s naturally someone trying to put it off. The excuse? It¡¯s just that the little lord is still too young, so everyone should just make ready and wait until she¡¯s eighteen.¡±


    Tang Jie finally understood.


    The Wandering Pce wasn¡¯t willing to subordinate itself to any sect and had only bowed its head under pressure. But given its nature, it would dy by as long as it could, even if only a day. But while Shen Qingdan had been sixteen two years ago, she was now eighteen. In other words, there was no more putting it off this year.


    Then didn¡¯t that mean¡­


    <em>Fuck, I walked right into it.</em>


    Sure enough, Madam Shui giggled and looked at Tang Jie. ¡°What do you think? The chance is yours, so are you going or not? Didn¡¯t you say you were regretting it just now?¡±


    Tang Jie thickened his skin and said, ¡°A fairy of the pearl pce, clear as ice and clean as jade, is not something just anybody can be paired with. This lowly one does not find himself worthy, so I think it is best if I continue to regret.¡±


    Madam Shui was stunned by his ¡°shamelessness¡±. She stared at Tang Jie and broke intoughter. ¡°In the end, it¡¯s your own business. It¡¯s just a pity. With your strength, if you were willing to go, you would definitely be able to get into the top ten without a problem.¡±


    ¡°But the top ten still isn¡¯t enough for sess.¡± Tang Jie smiled.


    Madam Shui rolled her eyes. ¡°Are you just acting, or do you really not know? While the Immortal Fortune Conference is meant to fight for the hand of the pce master, it¡¯s not just first ce that¡¯s being selected. Anyone in the top ten gets a chance.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Tang Jie was surprised. ¡°Why is that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s naturally because this will decide the rest of the little lord¡¯s life. If some ghastly student takes first ce, will they marry the little lord to him all the same? Thus, the winner might not need to be some shockingly handsome youth, but he has to have some talent, decent looks, and a good character.¡±


    ¡°Understood. Just like the True Inheritor struggle, while everyone is fighting for the chance, in the end, it¡¯s the Wandering Pce that makes the decision. And with the excuse of the pce master choosing a groom, the other five sects won¡¯t be able toin, even if they¡¯re not chosen.¡±


    ¡°Correct.¡± Madam Shui smiled. ¡°Of course, this is still a chance given to the six major sects. If they have the skill, they can just do what you did and get all of their students into the top ten so that they win no matter what.¡±


    ¡°My reputation in the school isn¡¯t good, and everyone is now calling me Scammer Tang Jie. If I get into the top ten, the pce master won¡¯t be choosing me, so I think I should forget about it,¡± Tang Jie hastily said, trying his best to show that he didn¡¯t want topete. If Madam Shui didn¡¯t know him, she really might have been fooled.


    Madam Shui snorted, ¡°Anyone who enters the top ten, even if they¡¯re not selected, can get a treasure from the Wandering Pce, and the higher your position, the higher priority you have to choose. Are you still not tempted?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head.


    Madam Shui saw that his mind was set and sighed. ¡°Ah, forget it. If you¡¯re not willing to go, I won¡¯t force you. I suppose I¡¯ll have to find someone else to send to the Celestial Mountains.¡±


    Tang Jie felt like he had been struck by a thunderbolt, his body freezing.


    He slowly raised his head and looked at Madam Shui. ¡°Madam, what did you mean when you said ¡®send to the Celestial Mountains¡¯ just now?¡±


    Madam Shui replied, ¡°The Immortal Fortune Conference is going to be held at the Celestial Mountains. What about it?¡±


    Tang Jie took in a deep breath.


    His insincere expression instantly turned solemn, and Tang Jie sternly said, ¡°Of course, now that I think about it, as a cultivator, I should be bravely pressing forward, not shrinking back at the slightest sign of difficulty. Moreover, Madam is being so kind to me, so how can I disappoint you? I¡¯ll go to this Immortal Fortune Conference!¡±


    Celestial Mountains!


    This was a dream that had been lingering in his mind.


    Tang Jie had once believed that he would need a long time to finally realize his dream.


    But today, this dream had suddenly appeared in front of him, leaving him rather dizzy.


    In truth, even if he could go to the Celestial Mountains, Tang Jie had too many problems that he needed to solve. For example, how could he get out of the Immortal Fortune Conference? How would he hide from Godhead Pce¡¯s spies and scouts? And even if he managed to resolve both of these problems, how would he break through the formation¡­? At best, he would be going to take a look around.


    But even if it was just that, he still wanted to go.


    There were some things that he needed to experience to understand.


    And privately, Tang Jie had an idea that if the Martial Lord¡¯s Returned Remnants had been prepared for his reincarnation, there was no reason for it to be only essible to someone of an extremely high cultivation level, as there would be no point in it.


    Tang Jie remembered Xu Muyang saying that the Martial Mirror had been discovered outside the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, and he had found the Visceral Manifestation ssic after breaking through the first level.


    In other words, the Nine Executions Immortal Formation might provide assistance by levels. Perhaps he would find something new after breaking through the second level.


    Of course, the second level of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation wouldn¡¯t be that easy to break through, but if his line of thought was correct, breaking the Nine Executions Immortal Formation probably required both the right method and the right person. It was precisely because the person hadn¡¯t been right that Xu Muyang had only been able to get through the firstyer.


    The Martial Mirror¡¯s imparting of the Parting ssic after recognizing its master probably resolved the question of identity.


    Of course, this was only spection. Until it was verified, Tang Jie wouldn¡¯t know the answer, but that was precisely why he needed to go.


    As for why the Immortal Fortune Conference was being held in the Celestial Mountains, Tang Jie understood.


    This was because it was located in the middle of the six major sects.


    Of the six major sects of the Rosecloud Domain, the Basking Moon Sect was located in the far east, Godhead Pce in the far west, the Beast Refining Gate in the northwest, the Seven Absolutions Sect in the southeast, the Thousand Passions Sect in the north, and Horizon Ocean Pavilion in the south. And the Celestial Mountains were located at the border of the Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion. It was a massive mountain range that ran east to west and formed the border between Tetrapole and Endsea.


    In truth, the Celestial Mountains didn¡¯t just belong to these two countries. They spanned east and west to such great lengths that they even encroached on the territories of the Beast Refining Gate and the Seven Absolutions Sect. But this encroachment was rather small, and the Martial Lord¡¯s Returned Remnants had nothing to do with these two countries.


    In the center of the Celestial Mountains was a mountain called Red Plum Ridge. It wasn¡¯t a particrly tall mountain, but it had decent scenery, and it was located in the center of the Celestial Mountains. To bnce out the six sects, the Wandering Pce had decided to hold the Immortal Fortune Conference at Red Plum Ridge. It was only half a day from where Tang Jie understood the Martial Lord¡¯s Returned Remnants to be, the Ten Direction Valley.


    There was no better chance!


    The Wandering Pce¡¯s Immortal Fortune Conference was to be held in four months, and at that time, all the students selected would head to the Celestial Mountains. Each sect could send twenty students. As for the methods ofpetition, the Wandering Pce would announce them when the time came.


    Thus, Tang Jie was in no rush and continued to cultivate.


    Half a monthter, Tang Jie smoothly entered the Spirit Sea Tier.


    By this time, the matter of the Immortal Fortune Conference had begun to spread through the school. Many students had found out about thising grand asion and begun to chatter. Some people began to sharpen their weapons, nning to show their abilities on the stage and return with a beauty in hand, and if that was no good, they wanted to get into the top ten and receive a treasure.


    Today, Tang Jie was still cultivating in the Carefree House when he heard a knock at the door.


    He opened the door and saw Peng Yaolong. He said in surprise, ¡°Great Brother Peng?¡±

 Chapter 249: Killing a Big Snake

    Chapter 249: Killing a Big Snake


    ¡°What? Am I not wee?¡± Peng Yaolong grinned.


    ¡°I would not dare.¡± Tang Jie hastily opened the door and let him in.


    The moment Peng Yaolong came inside, he looked around and repeatedly nodded. ¡°You keep this ce very clean. I didn¡¯t expect Fierce Tiger to have such a meticulous side. It¡¯s no wonder you were able to y around with the rest of us.¡±


    ¡°Great Brother did note to settle the score, yes?¡± Tang Jie said with a bitter smile.


    Peng Yaolong shook his head. ¡°Not at all, not at all. If I wanted to make trouble for you, I wouldn¡¯t have waited until now. The True Inheritor struggle tested each of our skills, and you were able to make Wei Tianchong True Inheritor because you had the skill. Right, how is Wei Tianchong doing?¡±


    ¡°Very well. He¡¯s currently killing fiends on Westwind Ridge. It will probably be a few days until hees back.¡±


    Ever since Wei Tianchong had be Yan Changfeng¡¯s disciple, while he could only go up the mountain once a year, even when he wasn¡¯t on the mountain, Yan Changfeng still had him running around. In Yan Changfeng¡¯s view, if his disciple was to mature, he needed practicalbat experience. Since Wei Tianchong was now his disciple, he needed to be well-honed. Thus, every few days, he would send Wei Tianchong off on a mission.


    Worst of all was that Yan Changfeng had specifically instructed that Wei Tianchong was allowed to bring anyone except Tang Jie.


    This left Wei Tianchong in a tough spot, but he could only go running around with Shi Meng every day, and thest time he had gone up the mountain, he had received the cruelest of training from his master and senior brothers. He had more than once expressed his remorse over bing True Inheritor.


    But whether he regretted it or not, after bing a True Person¡¯s disciple, there was no going back, no shrinking away. Under these two years of sharpening, Wei Tianchong had gradually matured, that indolent and arrogant air of his had faded away, and he had be much more self-aware. And spending so much time outside honing himself had not slowed down his cultivation. Every True Inheritor disciple was allotted arge amount of spirit medicine, which had allowed Wei Tianchong to dog Tang Jie¡¯s footsteps, and he had almost reached Spirit Sea.


    But in Yan Changfeng¡¯s eyes, this was as slow as a turtle.


    As for Tang Jie, he had used this chance to take quite a few contribution missions and have Wei Tianchong do them for him. Thus, without taking one step out of his door, he had paid back many of the contribution points owed, and he now only owed sixty points.


    ¡°I see.¡± Peng Yaolong chuckled as he sat down in the garden pavilion. ¡°Junior Brother Tang should know of the Immortal Fortune Conference, yes?¡±


    <em>So it was about that?</em>


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Yes, I know of it, and I n to participate.¡±


    ¡°As expected!¡± Peng Yaolong pped his thigh andughed. ¡°I knew that someone with Junior Brother¡¯s performance would be rmended!¡±


    Tang Jie casually replied, ¡°It seems that Senior Brother Peng was chosen as well.¡±


    Pce Master Shen Qingdan was 18, and ording to the Wandering Pce¡¯s requirements, participating students could not be older than 23. The students had entered school at different ages, and so the amount of time they had spent in school also varied. Some of those who had entered school early and were already in their eighth or ninth year still fit the conditions.


    Peng Yaolong had entered the academy when he was fifteen and was now in his eighth year, just managing to meet the conditions.


    It was no surprise that someone of his strength had gotten a spot.


    ¡°Naturally,¡± Peng Yaolong proudly replied. ¡°This is a tournament between the students of the six major sects. How could I miss out on such a grand asion?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°And here I thought Great Brother¡¯s goal was toe back with a wife.¡±


    Peng Yaolong red. ¡°Naturally, but a hundred heroes will vie for the beauty, and only the brave will emerge victorious and reign over the Wandering Pce, enjoying both fame and fortune while also getting the girl. What could be better? What? Is Junior Brother not interested?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°The Immortal Fortune Conference is a rare chance, and I¡¯m mostly going to widen my horizons. I have little interest in getting first ce. Moreover, who can say if Shen Qingdan is a beauty? No one¡¯s seen her before, so she might even be some ugly hag.¡±


    Peng Yaolongughed. ¡°The Wandering Pce excels at maintaining youthful appearances, and you can select any of the numerous women of the pce and find a beauty, as everyone knows. That Shen Qingdan is the revered pce master, so how can she be ugly?¡±


    ¡°Even if that¡¯s the case, it¡¯s not like I can beat the crowd. The six major sects are sending their elites, even numerous Mortal Shedding Realm experts. I¡¯m just a little Spirit tform Realm student, so there¡¯s no need to even mention me,¡± Tang Jie calmly replied.


    With the age restriction set by the Wandering Pce, there were still quite a few Mortal Shedding students. In contrast, few were at the Spirit Sea Tier like Tang Jie. If the selection weren¡¯t being done by teacher rmendation, he would have never been picked.


    Thus, even Tang Jie did not dare to boast that he could get into the top ten. After all, this was a sh of sect elites, who didn¡¯t just have high cultivation levels, but probably also formidablebat abilities.


    ¡°Then what if you couldpete for the top ten?¡± Peng Yaolong asked.


    ¡°I still wouldn¡¯t fight for it,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°Great Brother, be at ease. I¡¯m really only going this time to get some experience, nothing more. And that pce master is the fairy being vied for by all, so I will not pursue her. I¡¯m not even looking for the top ten. I¡¯m just going to see what the fuss is all about.¡±


    Peng Yaolong looked at him weirdly, and when he saw that Tang Jie wasn¡¯t pretending, he finally smiled. ¡°Since Junior Brother has no interest in the pce master, that¡¯s great!¡±


    It seemed that he had taken Tang Jie for a major foe, but since Tang Jie expressed no interest, he could finally rx.


    After speaking with Tang Jie for a little longer, Peng Yaolong left.


    But right after Peng Yaolong left, Qi Shaoming arrived.


    Just like Peng Yaolong, he hade to ask if Tang Jie was participating in the Immortal Fortune Conference and if he had any interest in the pce master, wanting to confirm what Tang Jie¡¯s ambitions were.


    Tang Jie could only exin, again, that he had no interest in the top ten and no interest in the pce master.


    He had barely sent off Qi Shaoming and gotten a little break when Ye Tianshang arrived.


    Tang Jie helplessly smiled, but he could only chat with Ye Tianshang and give him the same exnation before sending him off.


    Given the age limit, the students participating from the academy were eighth-year or under. In other words, it was mostly the same old faces taking part in the Immortal Fortune Conference.


    After sending off Ye Tianshang, Tang Jie decided to just keep his gate open and wait.


    It wasn¡¯t long before Cai Junyang appeared in the distance.


    Tang Jie helplessly called out, ¡°I am participating in the Immortal Fortune Conference, but I have no interest in the top ten and won¡¯t be your rival.¡±


    Cai Junyang was shocked. ¡°What are you saying?¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Tang Jie was surprised. ¡°Are you not participating in the Immortal Fortune Conference?¡±


    ¡°I am,¡± Cai Junyang replied. ¡°I know that you¡¯re participating, but what does that have to do with me? Our rivals this time should be the other five sects.¡±


    ¡°Then why did youe to find me?¡±


    Cai Junyang spread apart his hands. ¡°I came to chat with you and then have a little spar.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Tang Jie rolled his eyes, speechless.


    He had finally found someone that hadn¡¯te with ulterior motives, so he invited Cai Junyang inside. The two of them avidly chatted and then exchanged a few pointers with a friendly spar.


    It was only when night fell that Cai Junyang stood up to say goodbye.


    Before going, Cai Junyang thought of something and said, ¡°Right, when I wasing, you said that you had no interest in the top ten?¡±


    ¡°Mm, I have no ns of marrying a woman I don¡¯t even like solely for the sake of my future prospects.¡±


    ¡°But that has nothing to do with the top ten.¡±


    ¡°What about it? If you¡¯re in the top ten, you might end up being picked by that young pce master. My luck hasn¡¯t been great as ofte, so what if I am chosen?¡± Tang Jie replied. He thought to himself, <em>I¡¯ve already spent three days exining to Xu Miaoran why I¡¯m attending the Immortal Fortune Conference.</em> If he hadn¡¯t said that he was only going to see the sights and not for the beauty, Xu Miaoran probably would have broken up with him already.


    Cai Junyang was very confused. ¡°You¡¯re sure that being selected by the young pce master is bad luck?¡±


    Tang Jie spread apart his hands. ¡°It is for someone that doesn¡¯t want it.¡±


    ¡°Then that¡¯s truly a pity. I thought that you would at least do your best to get into the top ten. After all, the top ten get a treasure from the Wandering Pce.¡±


    ¡°Not interested,¡± Tang Jie calmly replied, sipping his tea.


    ¡°Not even in the Stop Gate Banner?¡±


    <em>Pfft!</em>


    Cai Junyang¡¯s face was covered in tea.


    <em>Hiss~</em>


    A giant fiend snake more than twenty meters long swiftly slithered through a vast wilderness, its bronze eyes glinting with a red light, its tongue constantly going in and out of its mouth. As it moved, it rmed countless beasts and birds.


    A spotted goat ran in the wrong direction in panic, and as it saw the giant snake slither closer, its eyes filled with fear, and it helplessly bleated. But to its surprise, the snake ignored it and slithered into the distance.


    Only now could it be seen that this giant snake¡¯s scales were covered in wounds.


    ¡°Fiend snake, don¡¯t even think about running away!¡± someone energetically yelled.


    With this shout, Wei Tianchong appeared nearby. Looking at the frantically fleeing fiend snake, he snorted, formed a spell with his hands, and thrust it out. ¡°Heavenfire Curse!¡±


    A fieryet descended from the sky and smashed into the fiend snake¡¯s body, causing it to hiss in pain and turn toward a little stream on the other side.


    Wei Tianchong chuckled. ¡°Shi Meng, stop it!¡±


    A person appeared next to the stream. He twirled a flute in his hand, ced it on his lips, and blew. As a melody flowed, the giant snake seemed hypnotized and began to slow down.


    ¡°Young Master, what do you think of my Neverwinter Hypnotic Song?¡± Shi Meng put down his flute and smiled.


    ¡°Not bad. You¡¯re getting closer and closer to mastery.¡± Wei Tianchong smiled and gave a thumbs-up.


    At this moment, the slowing giant snake suddenlyunched itself at Shi Meng.


    Wei Tianchong paled. ¡°Shi Meng, watch out!¡±


    At this perilous moment, Shi Meng held the flute in front of him, and <em>boom!</em> The giant snake knocked Shi Meng away. But just as it was about to enter the water, Wei Tianchong raised a hand and shouted, ¡°Go!¡±


    A figure shot out of the ground. It was his puppet, which grabbed the giant snake and swung it into the ground. <em>Boom!</em> The snake was flipped onto the earth.


    <em>Hiss!</em> The giant snake angrily hissed as it flicked out its tongue at the puppet.


    An insect of a hundred feet could die yet not be vanquished, and this fiend snake¡¯s dying counterattack was truly not something to be underestimated.


    But as it spat out its tongue, an arc of light flew through the air and sliced the tongue in two. A snow-white fox emerged in the air.


    The fiend snake was severely wounded, and it rolled around the ground and hissed, creating a windstorm.


    Wei Tianchong separated his hands and yelled, ¡°ckwater Soul Possession, cleave!¡±


    The puppet erupted with light, and then it charged forward, its right arm turning into a sharp de.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    The de swept down!


    The fiend snake was beheaded at the neck.


    The snake¡¯s eyes glinted with savagery and unwillingness. As the giant snake head flew into the air, it moved toward the little fox, intending to devour it. But at this moment, the fox suddenly increased its weight and smacked the snake head, sending it toward Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong jumped up like a tiger, his war axe exploding with light. ¡°Changfeng Thirteenth Style, Wind-Reversing sh!¡±


    The snake head exploded, its blood drenching Wei Tianchong¡¯s body.


    The fiend snake was dead!


    ¡°Hahahaha!¡± Landing on the ground, Wei Tianchong proudlyughed.

 Chapter 250: How Are You Going to Explain Things to Xu Miaoran?

    Chapter 250: How Are You Going to Exin Things to Xu Miaoran?


    Wei Tianchong couldn¡¯t help but be proud. This was an upper-grade fiend snake close to Mind Opening. Its formidable strength would leave ordinary students helpless, and there had been two of them. While Wei Tianchong had been killing one, this one had used the chance to escape, but Wei Tianchong had managed to catch up to it and y it.


    In the past, a single middle-grade would push Wei Tianchong to the brink of death, but now, he could take care of two upper-grades. It had to be said that thesest two years under Yan Changfeng¡¯s instruction had allowed Wei Tianchong to rapidly advance.


    Afterughing, Wei Tianchong suddenly turned pale, clenching his stomach. ¡°This Changfeng Thirteenth Style is incredibly powerful, but it takes too much. Using it multiple times in a row is forcing it a little.¡±


    Nearby, Shi Meng limped over. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he said, ¡°Shit, it hypnotized the snake only for so little time! Things almost went sour there.¡±


    The little fox snorted, ¡°The Neverwinter Hypnotic Song is still a secret art of the Five Gods Faith. Things only ended up like this because you haven¡¯t trained it enough. It¡¯s one thing for you tock training, but for you to also be so arrogant? You were lucky to not die there. In a battle of life and death, victory or defeat can be decided by centimeters. If this happens again, you might not be so lucky.¡±


    Shi Meng resentfully said, ¡°Understood.¡±


    Tang Jie had the Divine Firmament Sword ssic while Wei Tianchong had been enduring Yan Changfeng¡¯s tutge, so back when the little fox had been passing down her techniques, these both had enough secret arts to learn and didn¡¯t have the energy to study the secret arts of the Five Gods Faith. Thus, after some discussion, they had the little fox teach Shi Meng.


    Thus, in thesest two years, the one with the greatest grasp of the Five God Faith¡¯s spell arts wasn¡¯t Tang or Wei, but Shi Meng.


    But this kid ced quantity over quality. While he had learned thirty to forty spells, he hadn¡¯t truly mastered any of them. The Neverwinter Hypnotic Song was an extremely powerful mind-seizing art of the Five Gods Faith, but in his hands, it could only hold a fiend snake for two or three seconds. If Divine God Luo down below had learned of this, he probably would have crawled out of his grave in anger.


    As the little fox began to scold Shi Meng, Wei Tianchongughed and began to dismantle the snake. He removed a fiend pellet and said in satisfaction, ¡°This trip wasn¡¯t aplete waste.¡± But as he turned to look at his puppet, he paled and yowled, ¡°Fuck!¡±


    He rushed over and grabbed the puppet. Several cracks had appeared on the arm, clearly from damage inflicted in the battle just now.


    ¡°And there¡¯s some internal damage too¡­¡± Wei Tianchong moaned.


    Shi Meng said, ¡°I think this puppet is about to hit its limit.¡±


    Wei Tianchong had taken this puppet everywhere in thesest two years, and it had been through countless battles as Wei Tianchong¡¯s most importantbat ally. In terms of contribution, it had far exceeded Wei Tianchong¡¯s initial investment of five thousand coins.


    But over these battles, the internal damage had gradually built up.


    It probably wouldn¡¯t be long before itpletely fell apart.


    The foxmented, ¡°This puppet was built very well, but your opponents over thesest two years have been getting stronger and stronger, and it can no longer keep up. It¡¯s good that it¡¯s broken. You can make a stronger one. While it still works, you can either sell it or recycle it for resources.¡±


    Shi Meng said, ¡°I think it would be better to sell it. The resources you can get from recycling are limited, but if you sell it, it can still be rather useful for the students in the lower years.¡±


    Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t reply, dumbly gazing at the puppet.


    The puppet had no mind of its own, but Wei Tianchong had used it for ages and was ustomed to its existence. The thought of switching it out unexpectedly left him rather reluctant.


    After a while, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s recycle it. In this way, I can still keep a few things with me.¡±


    Shi Meng froze for a moment before saying, ¡°Young Master is full of passion and loyalty, and Shi Meng acknowledges his inferiority. This being the case, let us do as Young Master says and recycle it.¡±


    Wei Tianchong casually grunted, his good mood from finishing the mission gone. ¡°Shi Meng, go and dismantle the rest of the snake and collect what¡¯s usable. We¡¯ll go and stroll around the streets, selling what we should sell and buying what we need. This time, I¡¯m going to make a puppet that willst me a very, very long time.¡±


    ¡°Young Master, that will take a lot of money.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve managed to save up some money thesest two years. My mom sent me some money a few days ago, and I still haven¡¯t even touched it.¡±


    ¡°But how much could you have possibly saved?¡±


    ¡°Fifteen thousand, I suppose.¡±


    ¡°Wow, Young Master, aren¡¯t you being a little too disloyal here? When I wanted to borrow money from you to get a Green Jade Flute, you wouldn¡¯t even loan me one thousand.¡±


    ¡°Ahem, ahem, as your young master, I don¡¯t have much extra money either. Once I¡¯ve made my new puppet, I¡¯ll be poor again.¡±


    ¡°Hah, who¡¯d believe that?¡±


    ¡°Is this how you speak to your young master?¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do about it?¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright. When we get back, I¡¯ll take you to Tang Jie¡¯s Carefree House. His spirit fruits are almost done ripening, so I¡¯ll help you steal a few to try them out.¡±


    ¡°Young Master¡­¡±


    ¡°Mm?¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie said before that you won¡¯t die if you don¡¯t seek death.¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh, then forget it.¡±


    As they joked, the two people and one fox headed to Sanshan City, which was located near Westwind Ridge.


    Back at the inn, they were going to rest when they saw a familiar person drinking alcohol in the inn¡¯s main hall.


    Nan Baicheng.


    ¡°Seventh Senior Brother!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted, quickly going over to greet Nan Baicheng.


    After bing Yan Changfeng¡¯s disciple, he no longer addressed Nan Baicheng as Esteemed Master, but as his official senior brother.


    Even though this senior brother had once tried to impede his every step, since they were under the same teacher, they left much of the past unsaid. Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t have much else, but at least he wasn¡¯t one to hold grudges. Thus, whenever he met Nan Baicheng, he would be very respectful, and as the days went by, the resentment between them, which hadn¡¯t been very great in the first ce, gradually faded away.


    Wei Tianchong bowed and said, ¡°Senior Brother, what brings you to Sanshan City?¡±


    ¡°To see you, naturally. So, how is the mission Master has given you going?¡± Nan Baicheng asked, putting down his cup.


    ¡°It¡¯s done, and I was heading back to report to Master.¡±


    ¡°Good. There¡¯s no need to report to Master. I¡¯vee this time because Master has given you another mission.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Wei Tianchong grimaced. ¡°Seventh Senior Brother, even a forcedborer doesn¡¯t have it this hard, right? I just finished a mission and haven¡¯t even had time to return to the academy. At least let me rest a few days.¡±


    ¡°But this is good news, something that others can¡¯t even beg for!¡± Nan Baicheng smiled.


    While two years had made Wei Tianchong much more mature, he was still a rather carefree personality. However, he knew about his priorities, and he had finished all of the missions Yan Changfeng had given him in excellent fashion.


    For Nan Baicheng, while this meant that he had somewhatcked judgment and insight, it at least meant that Yan Changfeng would not grow angry at him because of it.


    Of course, this was because Wei Tianchong was constantly fawning and respectful to him. If Wei Tianchong had resented him, Nan Baicheng probably wouldn¡¯t have thought so well of him.


    Wei Tianchong asked, ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°In another three months, the Wandering Pce will be holding the Immortal Fortune Conference. Master hopes for you to go, so he rmended you to the sect.¡±


    ¡°The Immortal Fortune Conference? What is that?¡± Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t understand.


    Nan Baicheng gave a rough summary of what the Immortal Fortune Conference was about.


    ¡°Marrying the young pce master of the Wandering Pce?¡± Wei Tianchong couldn¡¯t help but be startled. He bitterly said, ¡°It¡¯s a gathering of elites from the six major sects. With my puny ability, I probably won¡¯t have much of a chance, right?¡±


    Nan Baicheng snorted. ¡°You¡¯re quite the well-behaved person, but youckpetitive spirit! You think we want you to go? The problem is that despite all the True Inheritors in the world, only a few of them are still students. As Changfeng¡¯s True Inheritor, if you didn¡¯t even have the right to participate in the Immortal Fortune Conference, wouldn¡¯t everyone in the world justugh?¡±


    ¡°So it was for the sake of Master¡¯s dignity,¡± Wei Tianchong mumbled.


    ¡°Correct, for Master¡¯s dignity!¡± Nan Baicheng harshly said. ¡°That¡¯s why you don¡¯t just have to go, you have to put on a splendid show at the Immortal Fortune Conference! Master said that you have to get into the top ten this time!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Wei Tianchong yelped. ¡°What sort of joke is that? I¡¯m not that capable.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry.¡± Nan Baicheng smiled. ¡°Tang Jie will also participate in this Immortal Fortune Conference, and Master has permitted you to seek his help. Since he was able to get you True Inheritor, I¡¯m sure he can get you into the top ten.¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie¡¯s also going?¡± Wei Tianchong exhaled in relief. ¡°That¡¯s good, then.¡±


    Nan Baicheng saw him rxing and chuckled. ¡°Master also said that if you can¡¯t get into the top ten, he¡¯ll drive you out! Don¡¯t think that everything¡¯s smooth sailing once you¡¯re in the door. If you do a poor job, you can be driven out all the same!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Looking at the dejected look on Wei Tianchong¡¯s face, Nan Baicheng felt happy.


    In truth, this was all his own idea. Yan Changfeng hadn¡¯t required Wei Tianchong to get into the top ten, only put on a decent show and at least not bring shame to True Person Changfeng. But Nan Baicheng was still angry about how Tang Jie had stubbornly insisted on supporting Wei Tianchong, and he had yet to forgive Tang Jie for it. Thus, he had given Tang Jie this tough problem, after which heughed and stood up.


    As Nan Baicheng left, Wei Tianchong said, ¡°Farewell, Senior Brother.¡±


    He remained bowed until Nan Baicheng was far in the distance, and only then did he rise.


    Wei Tianchong shouted, ¡°Shit! Threatening me with expulsion again! It¡¯s always the same excuse! If you can really do it, then expel me already!¡±


    This actually wasn¡¯t the first time such words had been said to him.


    But marrying the young pce master wasn¡¯t a bad thing, and he grew lively once more. But he quickly shook his head and rejected the idea. It had to be understood that this was a gathering of elites from the six sects, and every opponent would be stronger than thest.


    If either of them had a chance, it was much more likely to be Tang Jie. While Wei Tianchong had been making tons of progress in thesest two years, Tang Jie always defeated him in their spars. Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t understand how this guy trained, nor had he ever seen him learn any new spell arts, but his strength was so terrifying that Wei Tianchong understood him less and less.


    But hold on.


    Wasn¡¯t there something wrong here?


    Wei Tianchong realized something, and he jumped up. ¡°Xu Miaoran? Tang Jie, good work! I¡¯d like to see how you exin this to Xu Miaoran!¡±

 Chapter 251: Celestial Eye

    Chapter 251: Celestial Eye


    ¡°I swear, I swear an oath on my Heart Demon! I have no interest in marrying some young pce lord.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, I know that I¡¯m going back on my word, but it¡¯s because of that Stop Gate Banner! It¡¯s very important to me!¡±


    ¡°Yes, I could get someone else to get it for me, but who? They have their own things that they want, but I don¡¯t have anything to give them. Moreover, my rm Gate Banner is a secret that only a few people like Junyang and Tianchong know about.¡±


    ¡°¡­This truly is a problem. But the six major sects are sending their elites, and I¡¯m just an ordinary student, and a servant student at that. The young pce master would have to be blind to take a liking to me.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not saying that you¡¯re blind at all. But, wait a second¡­ Are you confessing that you like me?¡±


    ¡°Alright, you¡¯re only concerned as a friend. But as a friend, I don¡¯t think you have the right to object to me participating in the Immortal Fortune Conference, no?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t say if she¡¯s a good match or not. We¡¯ve never even seen her before. This reason is a little too far-fetched.¡±


    ¡°¡­Let¡¯s do this. I promise you that I¡¯ll make sure that young pce master doesn¡¯t like me, alright? I can wipe my nose in front of her, fart, make myself look like a beggar, and so on to make myself look bad.¡±


    ¡°A sex demon? That¡¯s a little too much, yes?¡±


    ¡°Alright, only flirting.¡±


    ¡°What? You¡¯lle yourself? There¡¯s no need for that, is there?¡±


    ¡°Alright. I want to see you!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have many message talismans, so let¡¯s stop here.¡±


    After sending off ten-some message talismans in one go, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but shake his head and bitterly smile.


    These talismans weren¡¯t cheap, and he had essentially burned up nearly a thousand coins. At least when it came to conversing, Tang Jie acted like quite the bigshot.


    After writing a letter, Tang Jie sat in the garden pavilion and proceeded to apparently do absolutely nothing.


    In actuality, he was cultivating the Eye of Heaven.


    In thesest two years, there had been a reason besides the limits of his talent that had caused Tang Jie¡¯s cultivation level to rise so slowly. This was that he had been devoting a lot of energy to researching the Eye of Heaven.


    Or perhaps it was better to say that he was trying to understand the Dao of Insight.


    With the Eye of Heaven, his silent surroundings suddenly became noisy.


    Tang Jie saw the ants crawling along the ground, water dripping from the leaves of the nts he had just watered, a bug trying to drill into a spirit fruit he was growing¡ªTang Jie shot a burst of wind from his finger, knocking down this bug.


    He could even see the grass slowly growing, feel their roots trying to dig into the earth as they greedily drank up the spiritual energy of the world.


    Tang Jie had possessed this insight ability since half a year ago, when he had almost reached perfection with the Eye of Heaven.


    From that point onward, he had started to get a clearer and clearer view of his surroundings. What had been blurry scenes at the start grew more and more distinct until he could now transcend the limits of time and observe everything.


    Wang Poguan was right. Only at the end of the road could one find the Way.


    But all of this was currently established on the fact that he was using the Eye of Heaven, and the greater the distance, the lower the rity, and he couldn¡¯t keep it up for very long.


    This meant that Tang Jie was far from reaching the end of the road of Insight. But even so, the spell arts of ordinary students were already transparent in his eyes.


    In truth, this was also somewhat rted to the fact that the little fox had given him the Celestial Treasure Mantra to study. The ancestor of the Five Gods Faith had also rather deeply understood andprehended Insight, and his own understanding had inspired Tang Jie.


    It was precisely because of this mantra that Tang Jie learned that when one traveled far enough along the road of Insight, one would have to choose a path.


    One choice was to have detailed all-around vision. Those versed in this path would never have to worry about being attacked from behind.


    Another was to prate through all illusions. One¡¯s eyes would only see the truth, making illusions and phantoms powerless, and even lies ineffective.


    Another was to see the weaknesses of all things, including the weaknesses of spell arts and one¡¯s opponents. Tang Jie had utilized this aspect to defeat Ye Tianshang.


    Another was to observe andprehend the intricacies of another party¡¯s spell arts, allowing one to learn the spell arts of others to a certain extent. It functioned simrly to the Hawkeye spell, but one couldn¡¯t learn solely by watching. One had to put in the search and rigorously study it.


    These four paths of Insight all led in different directions, and so, even though they all belonged to the Dao of Insight, they manifested inpletely different ways.


    But as they all belonged to the same Great Dao, developing one did not mean forsaking the others. In truth, focusing on one would also improve the other three to some degree.


    But you had to pick a main focus.


    Tang Jie had not been able to decide on a path until now.


    But once he had decided to participate in the Immortal Fortune Conference, he finally made up his mind.


    All-around vision and never having to worry about sneak attacks? Tang Jie didn¡¯t need it, for such incidents urred far too infrequently. Moreover, Tang Jie was never someone who would easily let someone standing behind him ambush him.


    Seeing through illusions and sensing lies? He didn¡¯t need that either. The Eye of Heaven had the ability to see through illusions, and as for sensing lies, even without the help of the Dao of Insight, very few people could trick him and his rich well of experience. And white lies were fine. Besides, seeing into the hearts of others too well would make one see too much darkness, which would make one lose their sense of trust and forever live in the shadows. At times, people needed the ability to fool themselves.


    As for duplicating spell arts, there was even less of a need for that. Spell arts required constant practice to gain proficiency. Just as the little fox had said, he could barely master the spell arts he already had, so why would he bother stealing the spell arts of others?


    Thus, Tang Jie had chosen the third path.


    The future path was bound to be covered in thorns, and this road gave him the best chance of oveing people stronger than him.


    With the Eye of Heaven working away, Tang Jie took in his surroundings. After some thought, he drew back his gaze and focused his vision and energy on a spider making a web. At this moment, the garden that had been rich with color slowly disappeared, and only that spider was left. It grewrger andrger until it upied his entire field of vision.


    In Tang Jie¡¯s eyes, this spider was a behemoth, and he could even make out every hair on its legs. As Tang Jie observed its actions, he felt a faint hint ofprehension.


    He could sense what the spider was going to do next, could see the liquid flowing through its body, could see the web faintly trembling. He also knew that if a bee were to crash into one particr spot, this seemingly sturdy web would instantly crumble.


    This was the third path, the one of perceiving weaknesses.


    Seizing this moment of insight, Tang Jie began to look around.


    He saw flowers, trees, bugs, fish, birds in the sky, people on the road.


    When he was tired, he would rest, and after rest, he would continue.


    He spent three whole days observing everything in the world at maximum magnification.


    Finally, he heard a soft ¡°pa¡±.


    He felt a sharp pain at his forehead.


    It came so suddenly and fiercely that he dropped to his knees and groaned. Even his formidable constitution found it difficult to withstand this pain. He covered his forehead with his hands as his body trembled in pain.


    But the pain left just as quickly as it hade.


    A momentter, all the pain disappeared as if it had never existed. Only the sweat drenching his body told him that everything he had just experienced was real.


    He put down his hands and saw blood.


    He was bleeding.


    Finding it rather strange, he went up to the pond and looked at his reflection.


    There was a point of crimson on his forehead.


    He wiped away the blood and found that his forehead was smooth and undamaged.


    He was quite confused.


    He once more activated the Eye of Heaven to observe himself in the water, but he didn¡¯t see anything.


    Hold on!


    As he looked at his reflection, he felt like he could see something shifting around on his forehead.


    But he couldn¡¯t make out what it was.


    Wait! Wait!


    Tang Jie shook his head.


    After some thought, he stopped the Eye of Heaven and closed his eyes.


    He then discovered that he could still see everything in the water in his mind.


    The only difference was that there was a vertical eye on his forehead.


    And then it was gone in a sh!


    ¡°Tang Jie! Tang Jie! Open up!¡± Wei Tianchong ran over and hammered on the gate.


    <em>Creeak!</em> The gate opened on its own.


    Wei Tianchong strode in and saw Tang Jie seated in the pavilion, a copy of ¡°Heart Language Writings¡± in his hand and his eyes tightly shut.


    Wei Tianchong immediately burst out inughter. ¡°Tang Jie, when did you learn to act like a bad schr, trying to read a book but getting so bored that you almost fall asleep?¡±


    Tang Jie closed the book and opened his eyes to look at Wei Tianchong. Smiling, he said, ¡°I¡¯vee upon a new understanding recently. I feel that only through the eyes that seek the martial through culture, the path that seeks art through understanding, can oneprehend principles and find the answers that one seeks, can one make sure that they do not grow arrogant through only martial prowess. Thus, in cultivation, there is no harm in reading a few books andprehending their logic. After all, someone with only supreme martial strength is nothing more than a brute.¡±


    ¡°Pah, soplicated! As a cultivator, I only know to uphold the righteous and punish evil!¡±


    ¡°¡®Uphold the righteous¡¯? ¡®Punish evil¡¯?¡± Tang Jie scoffed. ¡°But who decides what¡¯s good and evil, right or wrong? Was Lin Lang good or evil? Is the Basking Moon Sect good or evil?¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Wei Tianchong was rendered speechless.


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°A principle that simple is no principle at all. Forget it. Even if I told you, you wouldn¡¯t understand. Right, so what mission did the True Person give you?¡±


    ¡°Mm. Senior Brother Nan had mee back and prepare to take part in the Immortal Fortune Conference.¡±


    ¡°The Immortal Fortune Conference? You¡¯re participating too?¡± Tang Jie was startled.


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m True Person Changfeng¡¯s disciple, and his venerable self said that it would be too humiliating if his disciple didn¡¯t even have the right to take part¡­¡± Wei Tianchong repeated everything that Nan Baicheng had said.


    ¡°I see. That¡¯s good. You¡¯ve been cultivating for four years, so it¡¯s about time you went out to see the world.¡±


    ¡°I wonder what that young pce master of the Wandering Pce looks like.¡± Wei Tianchong propped his head on his arms and began to daydream.


    Tang Jie looked at the silly look on his face and shook his head. ¡°You should think less about those trivial things. Hurry up and get ready. We¡¯ll be heading off in a few days.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Wei Tianchong was startled. ¡°Isn¡¯t there still three months? Why are we leaving now?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think this is the perfect chance to broaden your horizons? I¡¯ve already requested from the academy to set off on my own for the Celestial Mountains. Doesn¡¯t it sound pretty good to take in the sights and get a feel for how the people live while making our way there?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty good idea!¡± Young Master Wei always supported ying around. But a momentter, his face fell. ¡°No, I¡¯m nning to make another puppet.¡±


    ¡°Buy the materials and make it while we¡¯re on the road. Let¡¯s have Shi Meng go too, so that you have someone to attend you.¡±


    ¡°Him? He¡¯s not participating, so what is he going for?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°He can¡¯t participate, but does that mean he can¡¯t spectate?¡±

 Chapter 252: The Ayia Tribe

    Chapter 252: The Ayia Tribe


    Three dayster, Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong, and Shi Meng officially headed out, setting off from Wanquan City and heading west toward the Celestial Mountains.


    As they intended to see the sights, they didn¡¯t move very quickly and chose to go through beautiful areas so that they could take in all the natural wonders this kingdom had and experience the local customs. They had quite a good time.


    Tang Jie seemed to switch personalities, putting aside cultivating and joining Wei Tianchong in taking in the sights. Even Wei Tianchong had to wonder why Tang Jie had suddenly changed.


    But he had no idea that, in Tang Jie¡¯s eyes, all of this involved the operation of the world, and this was exactly what Tang Jie needed to experience in order toprehend Insight.


    Once one cultivated to a certain point, one would often feel like one had hit a wall. At times like this, cultivation alone was meaningless. One needed to head into the mortal realm and understand the Great Dao of humanity. But it was normally only those at Celestial Heart and above who would do this. Someone like Tang Jie who wasprehending Dao before Mortal Shedding only came around once an eon.


    On this day, the three of them arrived at the Upwater ins.


    Tang Jie pointed ahead and said, ¡°Past the Upwater ins is the Warsong Mountains. Past that is Dusnd, thend of the Seven Absolutions Sect.¡±


    Shi Meng said, ¡°Once we¡¯re there, we¡¯ll no longer be under the protection of the Basking Moon Sect, so we have to be careful with everything we do. When the timees, we should change out of school uniforms to avoid any problems.¡±


    In Sageheart, the student uniforms were their protective umbre and made it so that few people were willing to provoke them. But outside of Sageheart, the status of Basking Moon student was more harmful than beneficial. Although the Basking Moon Sect and the Seven Absolutions Sect were not mortal foes, they weren¡¯t good friends either. In private, the Seven Absolutions Sect was probably quite willing to kill a few Basking Moon students. Otherwise, the Wandering Pce wouldn¡¯t have been so cautious with even the location of the conference, choosing the very center of the Celestial Mountains.


    In the carriage, Wei Tianchong shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s going to be difficult. Even if we change clothes, we¡¯re not Duskers, so we¡¯ll expose ourselves the moment we open our mouths.¡±


    He wasn¡¯t sitting in a carriage because he was spoiled. Rather, he was making a new puppet, and carving couldn¡¯t be done while riding a horse.


    Tang Jie was very satisfied to hear this from Wei Tianchong. It was a sign that he had made a lot of progress.


    He smiled and said, ¡°If it¡¯s about ent, that¡¯s not a big problem. Besides, though we may be traveling, that doesn¡¯t mean that everything will be peaceful.¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie, what do you mean?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°The materials you can buy at Basking Moon Academy are ultimately rather average. Dusnd is rich with products, so if Young Master wants to make a good puppet, we can gather some resources while we¡¯re on the road.¡±


    Wei Tianchong shook his head. ¡°Isn¡¯t that essentially performing missions right under the nose of the Seven Absolutions Sect? Without permission, we¡¯ll be in deep trouble if we¡¯re discovered.¡±


    Territorial divisions weren¡¯t just nominal. In the first ce, they had been made to divide up resources.


    No matter how great one¡¯s background, running to another country¡¯s soil to steal its resources was essentially stealing from another sect. Those wandering warriors who cut down fiends with a sweep of their swords¡­ haha, they could kill fiends, but they had to leave the treasures behind!


    Thus, those warriors who walked thend in search of fortune simply weren¡¯t usible in the Rosecloud Domain, at least in any rational sense.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t dare, saying, ¡°If a cultivator wants to achieve big things, they have to fight a little for it. And if we¡¯re not drawing attention to ourselves, who will know?¡±


    Wei Tianchong seemed to get it. ¡°Oh¡­ you know, I was wondering why you had the sudden urge to head out early. I¡¯m guessing you were intending to go hunting in the other countries from the start? Confess, Tang Jie! Were you not trying to make yourself a little money?¡±


    Tang Jie raised his head back andughed. ¡°That¡¯s a rare show of insight, Young Master!¡±


    But he did not deny his ns.


    He had his ns for this trip to the Celestial Mountains, butpleting this n was bound to be extremely difficult. Thus, Tang Jie had to think of a way that allowed him to make some preparations. Some of this prep work couldn¡¯t be finished in the school, so he had decided to get them done while on the road.


    Tang Jie simply said, ¡°Come on. If you have any questions, let¡¯s wait until we¡¯re past the border!¡±


    He raised his whip and spurred his horse onward while Shi Meng had the carriage closely follow behind him.


    One dayter, the trio had passed through the Warsong Mountains ande upon a vast in. The sky was blue and the grass was a lush green, and the scene was right out of a painting, with clear skies all the way to the horizon.


    It was the middle of winter, a season of ice and snow, but this ce seemed to be in the middle of spring.


    This was the famous Evergreen in of Dusnd.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that this Evergreen in experiences spring throughout the year and is a gorgeous ce. It seems like the rumors were true.¡± Wei Tianchong was so moved by this beauty that he came out of his carriage.


    ¡°Tang Jie, where should we go next?¡± Shi Meng asked.


    ¡°To the Watcher River. There¡¯s a violet gold ore vein there that supplies the Seven Absolutions Sect. We¡¯re going there to see if we can buy any.¡±


    Violet gold was an excellent material for making puppets. Even integrating a small piece would massively boost the grade of the puppet.


    This was a regted resource of Dusnd and was not sold to outsiders without permission. But where there was light, there was shadow, and there were always countermeasures for policies and rules. There would always be a few bold miners who would hide some violet gold to sell.


    A fist-sized piece of violet gold could decide the fate of an entire family, so many people would take the risk.


    Tang Jie knew that there was a ck market near the Watcher River that specifically sold cultivation resources that couldn¡¯t see the light of day. Besides the resources gathered by poachers, illicit goods gained from murder were also sold there. And because it was located on the border between two countries, once these items left the country, they were difficult to trace down and could be sold for greater profit. Thus, the trade was quite profitable.


    But these three were neers and unfamiliar with they of thend. As they were wondering what to do, they spotted a convoy approaching from the distance.


    There were around twentyrge wagons, each one packed with goods and escorted by guards. It appeared to be a merchant caravan.


    When the caravan people saw Tang Jie¡¯s group of three, they conversed among themselves, and a few momentster, three riders broke off from the caravan and came toward Tang Jie¡¯s group.


    Their leader was a girl of sixteen or seventeen, wearing the customary clothes of the border folk, with hair organized into ten-some braids and adorned with all kinds of essories. They came close before stopping, and the girl shouted, ¡°Hey, are you guys from Sageheart?¡±


    Tang Jie and the others exchanged looks, not knowing how to reply. If they said they were, they might suddenly be attacked. While they weren¡¯t afraid of fighting, in a foreignnd, it was best to be cautious.


    The girl seemed to be able to tell how apprehensive they were, and she giggled. ¡°Since you¡¯re not answering, you probably are. Don¡¯t be afraid. We of the Ayia Tribe are the best hosts. There must be some connection between us for us to meet, so you shoulde over and have a cup of kumis. Of course, if you¡¯vee to do trade, if you need any of our goods, we can make a deal.¡±


    Only now did Tang Jie¡¯s group realize that because they also had a carriage, the other party had taken them for traders. Traders and caravans would lose nothing and only gain from interacting with each other. After all, business was business.


    Of course, this also depended on the situation. Tang Jie¡¯s group was richly dressed and small in number, so it was easy to tell that they weren¡¯t bandits. This was why the other party hade out to meet them. If they had been arge group without any wagons or goods, the other side probably wouldn¡¯t have been so proactive.


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to bother you,¡± Tang Jie said, taking the offer. This would also allow them to understand the local customs.


    They followed the girl to meet the caravan master, a middle-aged man who was the father of this Ayia Tribe girl, Cai¡¯er. The Ayia Tribe was small in number, but they were broadly spread over the Rosecloud Domain, found in every country. They mostly lived as traders and shepherds and were known to be people who lived their lives on horseback.


    Through their conversation, Tang Jie learned that this Ayia Tribe caravan was headed over to the Watcher River to do business. As Watcher River had ore veins and was also located near Sageheart, it had a bustling marketce. Whether they were from Sageheart or Dusnd, many traveling merchants came through the area, both big and small.


    As he hade to gather the resources he needed, Tang Jie had brought some of Sageheart¡¯s specialties with him. But as he was a cultivator, he didn¡¯t need to carry these goods on a wagon like ordinary people, and had ced them in his Mustard Seed Bag instead.


    Of course, anything that could be put in a carriage probably wasn¡¯t very valuable in the first ce.


    Sure enough, after asking, Tang Jie found that the caravan didn¡¯t have any materials that were very valuable, but he didn¡¯t mind and asked about the local customs. The Ayia people traveled all over the ce and had broad experiences, and their stories were quite interesting. Conversing with them was quite fruitful for these students who were leaving their homnd for the first time.


    As they walked and talked, they saw quite a few convoys on the road. It turned out that they hade at the perfect time, for it was time for Watcher River¡¯s big market.


    The big market was the annual country fair held in Watcher River. At this time of year, caravans from all around woulde here to trade, so this time of year had the greatest number of business deals.


    The scale of the convoy grewrger andrger, and what had been one convoy became four, several hundred people in all. It was quite the imposing group, and almost everyone was from the Ayia Tribe.


    Cai¡¯er exined that this was the habit of the Ayia Tribe. This also made it easier to coordinate, and if they encountered any bandits, they could work together to fend them off.


    On the evening of the next day, they arrived at ake.


    Theke water was clear, grass faintly visible beneath the surface. There was a mountain in the distance, but it was capped with white snow, making it seem like spring and winter were two neighboring sisters.


    ¡°This is Horserest Lake, and past Horserest Lake is the Watcher River. We¡¯re going to rest here for today so that we¡¯ll be full of energy when we get to the market tomorrow,¡± Cai¡¯er excitedly said to Tang Jie¡¯s group.


    Perhaps because she had grown up in the caravan and rarely had the opportunity to chat with outsiders of the same age, she was quite happy to chat with them. Moreover, Tang Jie¡¯s group was from a school, so they were humble and polite.


    That night, the caravan made camp at the shore of Horserest Lake, the Ayia people lighting a big bonfire to cook their food. After dinner, they circled the bonfire and danced, spreading their enchanting and melodious music throughout the area.


    Of course, with the dancing and singing, there was also a show.


    Twenty riders came out of the crowd, both men and women. Whileughing, they came up to a white line drawn out on the ground.


    There was a shout, and the twenty riders set off, every female rider followed by a male rider. The male riders were saying something as they followed behind, but the female riders ignored them, focusing on riding their horses. Once they had galloped a certain distance, the riders turned their horses around, and it was time for the female riders to pursue the male riders, but rather than talking, they raised their horse whips andshed the men. The men spurred their horses into a furious gallop, but they didn¡¯t dare to strike back, and all the while, the crowd roared with approval.

 Chapter 253: Catcalling Custom

    Chapter 253: Catcalling Custom


    Wei Tianchong was confused and asked Tang Jie, ¡°What is this?¡±


    Tang Jie exined, ¡°This is a custom of their Ayia Tribe. The Ayia are people of the horse and ce the greatest importance on horsemanship, such that even rtionships have to be tested through it. If a boy has a girl that he likes, he can chase her from behind while catcalling her.¡±


    ¡°¡®Catcalling her¡¯?¡± Wei Tianchong was startled. He instinctively said, ¡°Can you say anything?¡±


    ¡°Essentially, and the girl can¡¯t fight back.¡±


    ¡°That seems pretty good.¡± Wei Tianchong¡¯s eyes gleamed. In his view, being able to legallymit indecent actions against a girl was a good thing.


    ¡°Buuuuut¡­¡± Tang Jie said, ¡°When they get to the end and have toe back, the woman chases the man. If the girl likes the man, she¡¯ll be merciful, but if she doesn¡¯t like the man, if she was angered by his words, she¡¯ll whip the man to death. The man can¡¯t fight back, but of course, he can rely on his horsemanship to escape. If your horsemanship is good enough, you can do anything.¡±


    Wei Tianchong looked into the distance and saw the girls chasing the men down, their horse whips constantly cracking as they yed apart the skin of the men. He said in a trembling voice, ¡°Forget it, then.¡±


    The Ayia Tribe horse meet was still ongoing. Cai¡¯er rode at the head of the pack and was whipping two male riders at once, a whip in each hand, and she left bloody wounds all across their bodies.


    It seemed that she didn¡¯t like the two men who had been pursuing her.


    At the finish line, Cai¡¯er was still in the lead and had her horse charge through. The crowd cheered while the girl¡¯s face glowed with pride.


    ¡°Then can you use spell arts?¡± Shi Meng whispered. If he could use spell arts, Shi Meng was confident that the whips of these girls wouldn¡¯t be able to touch him.


    ¡°Of course not,¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Life¡­ does not wee spell arts.¡±


    In the early morning of the next day, Tang Jie lifted his tent p just in time to see the sun rise.


    Tang Jie went up to theke and used his hand to cup some water to drink, after which he washed his face. At this time, he happened to see Cai¡¯er drawing some water from theke.


    Tang Jie walked over and said, ¡°Miss Cai¡¯er, when will we be setting off?¡±


    Cai¡¯er giggled. ¡°There¡¯s no rush. We¡¯ll be setting off once we make our offering to theke.¡±


    ¡°¡®Offering to theke¡¯? What is that?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll know once you see it,¡± Cai¡¯er enigmatically said.


    It wasn¡¯t long before the Ayia people came out from their tents, and after cleaning themselves up by theke, they kneeled on the shore and began to pray.


    Several Ayia youths carryingrge baskets of fruits and vegetables went up to the shore. Cai¡¯er, sumptuously dressed, was chanting something. Suddenly, she grabbed a fruit and threw it into the water.


    Countless more fruits followed.


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng were bewildered and asked Tang Jie, ¡°What are they doing?¡±


    Tang Jie spread apart his arms and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. They said that they¡¯re making an offering to theke, but I¡¯ve never seen fruit and vegetables used as an offering before.¡± This was the first time he was hearing about such a rite.


    ¡°Why make an offering to theke?¡± Shi Meng asked.


    ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s to theke god,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    Wei Tianchong pursed his lips and said, ¡°Lake gods aren¡¯t found just anywhere. It¡¯s probably ake fiend.¡±


    Speak of the devil.


    As Wei Tianchong spoke, a giant wave suddenly emerged from theke.


    This wave crested to a height of several dozen meters, and at its top, one could make out a giant m the size of a house. The shell opened and closed, taking in all the fruits that were tossed its way.


    ¡°A fiend!¡± Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng shouted in unison, instinctively readying to deal with it.


    Fortunately, there were several Ayia nearby. A youth said, ¡°The three of you, don¡¯t panic. This fiend doesn¡¯t hurt people.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± The three of them were startled.


    The wave stopped, the m shell slightly opening. Inside was a bare-naked woman, only a few leaves covering her private parts. She was a beautiful woman, and she smiled and nodded at the Ayia on the shore as if she was thanking them for all the food she had been given.


    ¡°A shape¡­ shapeshifting great fiend?¡± Shi Meng was so scared that he was shaking.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it.¡± Tang Jie shook his head. He could immediately tell that this was no great fiend.


    A shapeshifting fiend was indistinguishable from an ordinary person. If it could shapeshift, there was no reason for it to keep its m shell. Moreover, while this fiend m had quite a showy appearance, with Tang Jie¡¯s Celestial Eye, he could tell that this m fiend had only reached Mind Opening at most.


    The world had many fiends in all shapes and sizes, and it was impossible to epass them all in a single ranking system. There were also some fiends who were able to shapeshift early for a variety of reasons, with some fiends with more powerful bloodlines even being born with this ability. This m fiend presumably had one of these special situations that allowed her to transform halfway.


    Rather than being shocked, the Ayia cheered when the m appeared.


    The m girl smiled and waved her hand, sending a rain of light sprinkling down over their heads. Tang Jie instantly felt his heart rx.


    ¡°It¡¯s spirit rain,¡± Tang Jie said in surprise.


    It wasn¡¯t some incredible spell art to be able to create rain with a wave of the hand, but this rain was very beneficial to the mortals below. Ordinary mortals had not opened their Jade Gates, so they could not cultivate, which was like being in the middle of a mountain of treasure that one could not take. But by condensing into rain, the spiritual energy could directly enter the bodies of mortals, allowing them to benefit. While this would not have long-term effects, it would momentarily strengthen the body and dispel illnesses. If one were lucky, one might even use this chance to break through the Jade Gate and step onto the path of cultivation.


    It was said that this was the case throughout the world in ancient times. Spiritual energy was so abundant that it condensed into rain, and even people who had never cultivated before could benefit from it.


    But after tens of thousands of years of development, through sects and Returned Remnants, blessednds were created while the distribution of spiritual energy thinned. Normal people gradually lost the ability to be cultivators, and the path became closed to those who did not enter sects.


    From this point onward, the vast majority of cultivation resources were in the hands of the minority, thus partitioning the world.


    It was no wonder the Ayia weren¡¯t afraid of the m girl. It turned out that this fiend liked to help people rather than hurt them.


    There were all kinds of fiends in the world, but most of them harmed people. However, there were some with kind natures who liked to help people.


    As the m fiend cast her spell, numerous Ayia grew energetic in the spirit rain. Tang Jie¡¯s group chuckled and put aside any thoughts of killing the fiend, even saluting it.


    At this time, the majority of Ayia had already gotten down on their knees in thanks, but the three of them were still standing, making them like cranes among chickens. The fiend m looked over and immediately paled. It was clear that she had recognized them as cultivators.


    But seeing the three of them salute her and smile, with seemingly no intent to kill her, she rxed and gave them a slight nod.


    Once the spirit rain had passed, the wave sank back down. The m fiend waved to everyone before leaving.


    The Ayia reluctantly watched, clearly wanting her to stay.


    At this moment, a red light shot out of the distance.


    This red light came with incredible speed, and as it got closer, it was possible to see that it was a silver shuttle boat carrying three people.


    With his sharp eyes, Tang Jie could see that the three passengers all had swords on their backs and wore green robes with a seven-petaled lotus emblem on the chest. They weren¡¯t old, so they were probably students.


    ¡°They¡¯re from the Seven Absolutions Sect,¡± he sternly said.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect valued youth, and its symbol was the seven-petaled lotus.


    When he heard that it was people from the Seven Absolutions Sect, Wei Tianchong asked in surprise, ¡°What are they here for?¡±


    Before Tang Jie could answer, the m fiend spotted the distant shuttle boat, hastily closed her shell, and began to sink back into theke.


    At this moment, someone on the boat shouted, ¡°You think you can escape?¡±


    A snow-white light erupted from the boat and struck theke, instantly freezing it and preventing the m fiend from escaping.


    Tang Jie could see that it was the leading Seven Absolutions Sect student who had fired off this snowy light. He had a small mirror in his hand, and it was this mirror that had frozen theke.


    The shuttle boat flew above theke, and a student shouted, ¡°I¡¯ve heard that there was a fiend causing trouble at Horserest Lake, and it seems the rumors were true! Fiend, hurry and submit!¡±


    A was thrown down toward the fiend m.


    The Ayia were all aghast, some of them fleeing in fear while others begged for mercy on behalf of the m fiend.


    As the descended, the m shell opened, the woman inside appearing and blowing at the.


    A dark wind stirred, preventing the from falling.


    The m fiend called out, ¡°Though I am a fiend, I¡¯ve never harmed anybody. There is no need for you to do this!¡±


    A student on the shuttle boat sneered, ¡°Fiends are fiends and must be eliminated! Die!¡±


    He pulled out his sword and flung a wave of sword light down.


    Seeing that words would do her no good, the m woman opened her beautiful eyes, sending out two beams of light that neutralized the sword light.


    Several more objects flew out of the shuttle boat: a bell, a mirror, and a stone. All of them shone with light as they descended with a mighty pressure.


    The m woman was not afraid, and her shell opened, two beams of light holding back these weapons.


    Everyone down below was terrified, with only Tang Jie¡¯s group of three remaining unruffled.


    Shi Meng sighed in wonder, ¡°Now this is a true battle of spells!¡±


    This should be what a true spell arts battle was like, rather than what they were doing, fighting with their fists and feet, swords and sabers.


    But Tang Jie was disdainful, chortling, ¡°So inflexible.¡±


    Inflexible. This was his description of the battle before him.


    In his eyes, trading spell arts was truly inflexible, like two rookies ying a game, insisting on using everything at their disposal before finally being willing to kill each other. But in a true sh of experts, both sides used every moment they had to take the initiative, trying to give themselves a chance to cast a spell while ruining their opponent¡¯s chances.


    It was no wonder the Seven Absolutions Sect was called the weakest of the six major sects. It was clear as day from their fighting style. Their true expertise was in the auxiliary fields: pills, medicine, formations, tools, and talismans.


    But there was still a reason the Seven Absolutions Sect was able to be one of the six major sects. While these students from the Seven Absolutions Sect were of average strength, they had quite a few treasures.


    A student, seeing that things had stalemated, pulled out a stack of talismans, ignited them, and threw them out, upon which a rain of fireballs hurtled at the m girl.

 Chapter 254: Clam Woman

    Chapter 254: m Woman


    The m woman gave a low shout, and the frozen surface of theke instantly broke open, countless shards of ice flying into the air and shining in the sunlight.


    At the same time, theke waters surged upward, threatening to engulf that shuttle boat. As the wave battered the boat, the three passengers couldn¡¯t stand steady.


    Countless ice shards pelted the boat, but this shuttle boat was clearly a treasure, releasing a shield to fend them off. But the surging waters and ice shards were clearly starting to overwhelm it.


    A hint of admiration appeared in Tang Jie¡¯s eyes.


    The m woman lived up to her status as a Mind Opening fiend, her strength being on par with the Frost Fairy. Of the three students, one was at Mortal Shedding while the other two were at Spirit Sea. Despite outnumbering her three to one, they were no match for the m woman, and they were clearly rather shocked at her power.


    But the m woman didn¡¯t want to hurt anyone. When she saw that the three students were faltering, she waved her hand and stopped the attack, loudly saying, ¡°Immortals, while this little sister is a fiend, she came upon a lucky opportunity and was able to gain intelligence early on, and she admires the human world and bears no ill against them. These three Immortals, please show some magnanimity and release this little sister.¡±


    Though she had the advantage, she was asking them to release her, causing the three students to feel humiliated.


    While she wanted to end things here, the three students felt ashamed. They hade with such force and momentum, so how could they go back in defeat? Moreover, since this m fiend had taken semi-human form, she might have eaten some kind of natural treasure. If they could refine it, their strength would undoubtedly soar.


    Upon hearing the m¡¯s words, the leader of the students failed to appreciate her kindness, taking out another item and throwing it down. This time, it was a silver sword, and it lengthened and expanded in the wind. The student pointed at it and said, ¡°Fiendyer Sword, go!¡±


    The sword shot at the m woman.


    Surrounded by such a fierce aura, the sword clearly possessed extraordinary power. The m woman hastily breathed out cold air to try and freeze the sword.


    The freezing air was able to freeze the sword for a moment, but it quickly elerated again, striking the m woman and severely injuring her.


    With her body wounded, she found it hard to keep up her spell arts, and the came down and enclosed her.


    The three students heartilyughed, one of them saying, ¡°It¡¯s still Senior Brother Zhang¡¯s Fiendyer Sword that¡¯s more formidable!¡±


    Their leader smugly said, ¡°Naturally. I put a lot of time and effort into the Fiendyer Sword, and it¡¯s specifically meant to deal with fiends. A puny little fiend that just reached Mind Opening trying to show off in front of me? That¡¯s no different from seeking death.¡±


    In the, the m woman pleaded, ¡°High Immortal, please spare me!¡±


    But those three ignored her pleas, the leading student waving his hand. The Fiendyer Sword returned to his hand, and he raised it high to deal the killing blow.


    Down below, the Ayia saw this and began to shout.


    Cai¡¯er loudly said, ¡°Truly shameless! She spared you, and you still strike at her!¡±


    The m woman had held the upper hand at first, and if she had not shown mercy, these three might not have had the chance to turn the tables.


    Cai¡¯er¡¯s words struck right on their sore point, and the three of them cursed, one of them shouting, ¡°Shut your mouth! A fiend was causing trouble, and we¡¯vee to righteously dispose of it! We¡¯re removing a threat to the people! What do you understand?¡±


    Wei Tianchong could no longer stand it. ¡°I can¡¯t take this anymore. I¡¯ve never seen someone so shameless. She clearly spared them, but they still have the face to try and kill her. Tang Jie, don¡¯t stop me. I¡¯m going to teach these guys a lesson no matter what.¡±


    Tang Jie casually said, ¡°I¡¯m not stopping you.¡±


    Wei Tianchong froze and looked at Tang Jie. ¡°Really? They¡¯re from the Seven Absolutions Sect, you know.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°If you should intervene, you should intervene. Why worry so much?¡±


    Wei Tianchong grinned. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I wanted to hear you say.¡±


    He raised his head and flung out arge fireball.


    The three of them clearly hadn¡¯t expected there to be cultivators down below and were caught off guard. The shuttle boat was struck and the shield shed. The three passengers were knocked about, one of them roaring, ¡°Who dares to interfere with the business of the Seven Absolutions Sect?¡±


    But since Wei Tianchong had already attacked, he wasn¡¯t going to be polite. He flew up, clenching his fists and throwing up several more fireballs, which exploded with tremendous might.


    Those three had to turn away from the m woman. Their leader was the only Mortal Shedding Realm expert among them, and as he began to make hand signs, a majestic spiritual surge began to form.


    At this time, one party was on the ground while the other was in the air, and the airborne party had the protection of the shuttle boat. This was the perfect time to cast a spell art, and arge spell art would undoubtedly ughter any opposition.


    But such arge spell art would probably catch the Ayia people, though it was clear that those three students did not care.


    Tang Jie raised an eyebrow and said, ¡°Shi Meng, go and save that m fiend.¡±


    As for himself, he pointed at a distant spot in the sky.


    A bolt of air shot out, striking a point in the gathering spiritual surge. A momentter, the furious spiritual surge deted like a popped balloon. <em>Plooph!</em> All of the spiritual light dissipated as that powerful spell art was easily undone.


    Tang Jie had sessfully broken this spell art by using the Dao of Insight. He had almost immediately found the weakness of this spell and applied pressure to it, causing it to crumble.


    That didn¡¯t mean that only Tang Jie was capable of this.


    Since ancient times, when those above dealt with those below, the great Titans could often dispel spell arts with a snap of their fingers.


    But those Titans had relied on their centuries of cultivation, experience, and sheer power, whereas Tang Jie had aplished this through his understanding of the Dao.


    Even so, this was also because that student had not cultivated properly. This Seven Absolutions Sect student had clearly only reached Mortal Shedding not too long ago and didn¡¯t have a firm grasp of the art, so he cast it very slowly. He was like a child tracing words, and Tang jie could clearly see every stroke he made. This was what allowed him to easily find the weakness. Someone else, even someone of Zhang Qinan¡¯s level, would have made it much harder for Tang Jie to break the art.


    Regardless, the confident way in which he had undone the art truly shook his opponent.


    ¡°This¡­ How is this possible?¡± The Seven Absolutions Sect student was stunned to the maximum. He had suffered a small bacsh from the failure to cast the art, but the mental blow was even greater.


    If he could break an art with a wave of his hand, was this guy a Celestial Heart character?


    When he saw Tang Jie standing there with his hands behind his back, acting like a transcendent master, the student grew frightened and did not dare to attack again. He shouted, ¡°This lowly one did not know that Senior was here. Please forgive this lowly one for offending you.¡±


    While the Seven Absolutions Sect was the ruling power, distant waters could not ke a nearby thirst. This student might have been proud, but he wasn¡¯t so naive as to believe that the name of the Seven Absolutions Sect could solve everything. Thus, when he saw that his opponent was different from the rest, he immediately became respectful.


    Tang Jie was also startled by these words.


    He had only dispelled the art to test his ability to use the Dao of Insight in battle. He hadn¡¯t expected it to be enough to make this student think of him as a senior. Although he looked young, cultivators often had face-changing spells, and only looking at the face really wasn¡¯t enough to pass judgment. Thus, it was hard to me the student for making this mistake.


    Since this person had taken him for someone that he was not, he decided to simply not exin. He loudly said, ¡°The heavens reward the virtuous. In my view, while this m woman might be a fiend, she has a kind nature and has notmitted any atrocities. What need is there for you to be so vicious to her? I think it would be best if you put this matter aside.¡±


    The three students did not dare to object, saying, ¡°Since Senior has spoken, we will let this little fiend go.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was quite amazed by the sight, wondering to himself, <em>When did Tang Jie be a senior?</em> But he had matured over thest two years, so he didn¡¯t shout out this question, nor did he keep shooting fireballs.


    The three of them pointed down, and the opened and returned to its owner.


    The magic tools of the Seven Absolutions Sect were quite amazing, all of them having the ability to return to their owners. The three students saluted Tang Jie before leaving, not daring to pause for even a moment.


    The Ayia saw the three of them leaving and cheered.


    Cai¡¯er looked at Tang Jie and said, ¡°I did not know that the three of you were cultivators. Please, forgive me for my disrespect.¡±


    Tang Jie quickly said, ¡°Miss Cai¡¯er is too polite. I¡¯m no lofty senior, only a little student. The true master is over there.¡±


    Tang Jie pointed in the air, but Wei Tianchong had already descended. He loudly said, ¡°How boring. I just got started and they already ran off.¡±


    He had been nning to exhibit some of his divine might and teach them a lesson, but to his surprise, Tang Jie¡¯s single move had scared them off.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°This is the territory of the Seven Absolutions Sect, so it¡¯s best if we don¡¯t offend anybody we don¡¯t have to.¡±


    In Tang Jie¡¯s view, scaring them off was better than killing them and drawing over someone even stronger.


    Regardless, their actions immediately made the Ayia look at them differently. They surrounded the pair and prostrated in thanks, calling them seniors, Immortals, masters, Immortal Masters, and other such terms. Tang Jie didn¡¯t mind, but Wei Tianchong had never experienced this treatment before. Surrounded by people who were praising him, he felt like life was wonderful and couldn¡¯t help but throw back his head andugh.


    s, Tang Jie didn¡¯t know how to read the room, and after saying a few words, he had everyone disperse.


    He looked over at the m woman, whose injuries were improving under Shi Meng¡¯s spells. She gracefully walked over and bowed to Tang Jie, her m shell slightly opening like two wings. She said in a delicate voice, ¡°Young Master, thank you for upholding justice and lending a hand. This little m will remember Senior¡¯s kindness for the rest of her life.¡±


    ¡°I just happened to be passing by,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°But you need to be careful. As a fiend, you should be cautious and living in seclusion. While you have kind intentions in condensing spirit to create rain and bless the people, you create arge disturbance in doing so. How could this not attract greedy looks from others?¡±


    It was no coincidence that those Seven Absolutions Sect students had appeared here. They must have heard about the offerings being made to theke.


    Thus, the m woman had mostly brought this on herself.


    She thought that she would be fine since she was a good person, not realizing howughable this mindset was, like people who believed that justice was invincible, love was all-conquering, and power of the people was unrivaled¡­


    While this fiend had human intellect, she was ultimatelycking in experience and thought about the world too simply.


    This was precisely why Tang Jie had bluntly pointed out her mistakes so that she could be aware of them.

 Chapter 255: Softscent Jade

    Chapter 255: Softscent Jade


    The m woman replied to Tang Jie, ¡°Young Master is correct. In the future, I will be watchful and no longer act so recklessly.¡±


    But Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re still too naive. You really think there will be a future? I scared away the Seven Absolutions Sect today, but what about in the future? The matter of theke offering has already gotten out, and just because those three failed to y the fiend doesn¡¯t mean others won¡¯t try in the future, and they might not be the same as those guys. It might even be someone more formidable. Moreover, for you to take on semi-human form, you probably have some special treasure, which is even more likely to draw powerful foes. ¡®Watchful¡¯? And just how are you going to be watchful?¡±


    These words scared the m woman. She had only recently gained intelligence and was still rather simple-minded, acting ording to her nature. She grew frantic and said, ¡°I do not dare to hide anything from the honored Immortal. This lowly fiend has never had any special treasure. I simply happened toe across a drop of Jade Pearl Marrow¡­¡±


    It turned out that this m woman had been an ordinary fiend in Horserest Lake and had only been cultivating for ten-some years, making her about the same age as Tang Jie¡¯s group. But one day, while cultivating, she inadvertently obtained a drop of spirit liquid that made her advance by leaps and bounds, and in just two years, she had entered Mind Opening and was able to take on semi-human form. Later on, the m woman learned that she had obtained a cultivation treasure, Jade Pearl Marrow.


    The name ¡°Jade Pearl¡± shook Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong.


    This was a true treasure of the cultivation world. It was said that in Remote Antiquity, it was a treasure produced from the Returned Remnants of great monsters, the so-called ¡°monster marrow¡±.


    ¡°Monster¡± was the term for lifeless objects that gained intelligence, like sand monsters, rock monsters, metal monsters, and so on.


    In Remote Antiquity, there was a stone known as Jade Pearl, and when it gained intelligence and became a monster, it was known as the Jade Pearl Monster. After death, its essence would congeal into marrow that had the color of green jade. This was a peerless treasure that could instantly make one an Immortal upon consumption.


    Of course, ¡°instantly bing an Immortal¡± was an exaggeration, but it was an indication of how valuable the treasure was.


    The Rosecloud Domain was home to fiends, sprites, ghosts, and monsters. Fiends were born from birds and beasts, sprites from nts, ghosts from deceased souls, and monsters from metal and stone. Of these, birds and beasts had the highest intelligence, and so they had the greatest tendency to gain spirituality. Metal and stone were devoid of life and were incapable of cultivating on their own, and thus, it was difficult for them to gain intelligence. As a result, monsters were the rarest of the four.


    Tang Jie and the others had cultivated for four years, and Wei Tianchong had been honing himself in missions for two years, but none of them had seen a monster. Let alone them, even Celestial Heart cultivators like Xie Fengtang, people who had spent their entire lives traveling the world, had rarely seen a monster, let alone a legendary monster like a Jade Pearl Monster.


    It was quite surprising that this m woman had been fortunate enough to get a drop of a Jade Pearl Monster¡¯s marrow. It was no wonder she was semi-human. If she had gotten the entirety of the marrow, while reaching the level of a shapeshifting great fiend might have still been out of the question, peak Mind Opening wouldn¡¯t have been a problem. Even so, if this fiend didn¡¯t die, she was bound to have a great future, free of obstructions all the way to the Transformation level.


    In truth, Tang Jie had been trying to hoodwink the fiend with his words and see if he could get anything good from her. He wasn¡¯t someone who would kill and steal from others, but he didn¡¯t mind tricking a treasure from a fiend.


    After all, he had saved her, so some reward was normal¡ªor so Tang Jie consoled himself.


    He hadn¡¯t expected toe upon such astonishing news.


    He couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Where did you get it? Is there any left?¡±


    The m woman shook her head. It was clear that there had been only one drop.


    Horserest Lake¡¯s bottom was actually the Returned Remnants of a Jade Pearl. As all of the spiritual essence had retracted into the monster marrow, none of the spiritual energy had leaked out to enrich the area, which was why it had gone undiscovered for hundreds of years. Even so, the Jade Pearl Marrow had gradually dissipated over the eons, and by the time the little fiend had discovered it, there was only a drop left.


    Wei Tianchong and the others couldn¡¯t help but sigh at this news.


    As the only drop of Jade Pearl Marrow had been consumed by the fiend, the only way to extract any benefits would be to kill the fiend and refine her to squeeze out a little of the medicinal power.


    But neither Tang Jie nor Wei Tianchong nned to do this.


    Tang Jie even warned, ¡°The matter of Jade Pearl Marrow is no minor one. You¡¯ve only recently entered Mind Opening, and so youck strength while still having some medicinal power within you. Someone with greedy intentions might choose to kill you and refine you. Thus, in the future, never tell of this matter to anyone, or else you will find it hard to escape your death.¡±


    The little fiend was profuse with gratitude. ¡°Young Master, thank you for your instructions. This lowly fiend will mark these lessons on her heart and not carelessly appear in the future.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Right, do you know where the body of that Jade Pearl Monster is? There might be some things we can use there.¡±


    Wei Tianchong said in surprise, ¡°Why are you asking about the body? In the Returned Remnants of a monster, only the marrow has any value.¡±


    Tang Jie rolled his eyes. ¡°Through refinement, you can turn Jade Pearl Stone into Softscent Jade, a material even more valuable than violet gold and the ideal material for your puppet.¡±


    Wei Tianchong finally understood.


    Jade Pearl Stone was in itself a rare spiritual material, and its processed product, Softscent Jade, was even more valuable. When used in a puppet, it could grant stone-type puppets the ability to self-recover. So long as it was notpletely crushed, it would be able to absorb stone and recover from the majority of injuries, and so its value was obvious. As it had a soft texture and had a faint aroma, it was called Softscent Jade.


    They had been so focused on the Jade Pearl Marrow that they had forgotten about Jade Pearl Stone¡¯s intrinsic value until Tang Jie had pointed it out. Sure enough, one didn¡¯t fear theck of treasure, but theck of the eyes to recognize them.


    The little fiend hid nothing, quickly saying, ¡°It¡¯s in the depths of the center of theke, three kilometers away. It will be the green stone!¡±


    She took out a pearl and gave it to Tang Jie. ¡°This is a m pearl that this lowly fiend produced after many years of cultivation and can repel fire and water. Young Master, please ept this humble gift as thanks to this young master and your noble servants from this lowly fiend for saving my life.¡±


    As a pearl that could repel fire, it was a treasure of sorts, and in the cultivation world, such pearls were called bipearls¡±. Not only could they repel water and fire, but also spell arts of those attributes. This little fiend wished to repay the favor and had nothing else, so she had gifted the pearl, and Tang Jie took it.


    Seeing Tang Jie take the pearl, the m woman left, disappearing into the water.


    Tang Jie watched her leave before smiling and saying, ¡°Come on¡ªlet¡¯s go and look for treasure.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was just about to agree when he realized something and shouted, ¡°Wait! Shi Meng, did you hear what she said? ¡®Noble servants¡¯? When did I be a servant student?¡±


    Shi Meng spread apart his arms. ¡°I wasn¡¯t paying attention.¡±


    Tang Jie ignored them and went ahead. Behind him, Wei Tianchong stomped his feet and shouted, ¡°I¡¯m not a servant student¡­ I¡¯m the young master! I¡¯m the young master¡­¡±


    Borrowing the faint light of thebipearl, Tang Jie¡¯s group advanced through the muddyke bottom. Shi Meng had applied an istion spell to all of them, allowing them to walk while not getting filthy and traverse the mud like it was solid ground.


    It wasn¡¯t long before they saw a green stone in the distance. The m woman had said that this was the Jade Pearl Stone.


    Tang Jie wanted to go over to take a look, but the moss covering the stone suddenly shot a green wave at Tang Jie. Tang Jie hadn¡¯t noticed it and was pushed back a step.


    Wei Tianchong was startled, thinking there was a trap. He was about to cast a spell when Tang Jie stopped him. ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s just that the moss on this stone has gained intelligence and is fighting back.¡±


    Jade Pearl Stone was actually white, but it had spent so long submerged in water that moss had grown over it, turning it green. And as this moss was established on the Jade Pearl Stone, it was no ordinary moss and had gained some small intelligence.


    Tang Jie carefully walked over, took out a knife, and began to scrape off the moss. He suddenly had a thought and said, ¡°This moss has spirituality, so it can be used in medicine. I¡¯ll just take it.¡±


    He stuffed the moss in his Mustard Seed Bag.


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng didn¡¯t mind. They were more focused on the Jade Pearl Stone beneath the moss. It had a slight glow and was covered in grooves that vaguely took the form of a human face. There was no doubt that this was the remnants of a Jade Pearl Monster, and their hearts leaped in excitement.


    But Tang Jie was even more pleasantly surprised.


    It was only when he scraped off the moss that he discovered that it was oneplete piece that had congealed together into a stone canvas that shed with spiritual light.


    Ordinary moss was one thing, and moss that had congealed into a stone canvas was another.


    This had many wondrous effects and uses, and its greatest use was none other than blocking Divine Will.


    If made into a cape, it would be an ideal treasure for concealment, as it could obstruct the observation of Divine Will. Even Titans would find it hard to detect him. But while it could obstruct Divine Will, it couldn¡¯t block Spirit Will. Thus, it would not protect against low-level detection spells.


    Even so, it was truly an excellent treasure.


    On this trip to the Celestial Mountains, Tang Jie nned to enter the formation, so he would need to hide from the eyes of Godhead Pce. Thus, he had been looking for a treasure that would conceal his presence. This was precisely why he was traveling the world to gather resources. But he hadn¡¯t expected the solution to deliver itself to his doorstep in Horserest Lake. However, he chose to keep this matter to himself.


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng were very seriously studying the remains of the Jade Pearl Monster.


    Perhaps because too much time had passed, the Jade Pearl Monster¡¯s body had broken up into countless pieces of stone that were scattered along theke bottom. The piece that Tang Jie had gotten the stone canvas from was thergest, around forty feet in circumference, and it had probably been the monster¡¯s torso. Smaller Jade Pearl Stone pieces were scattered about, but no stone canvas had formed on them. If all of this stone were gathered, it would probably make a giant around eighty feet tall.


    Standing in front of a skull-shaped stone, Tang Jie¡¯s group saw a little hole in the break-off point, created through the erosion of time, and faintly saw a glimmer of green jade.


    This was probably where the jade marrow had flowed out and the m fiend had gotten that one drop.


    Jade Pearl Essence normally wasn¡¯t very soluble, but the passing eons had ultimately caused it to dissipate, leaving only an empty shell.


    Even so, they were quite content with thekebed covered in Jade Pearl Stone.


    ¡°We¡¯re rich,¡± Shi Meng sighed. ¡°With all this Jade Pearl Stone, we should be at least able to get ten-some blocks of Softscent Jade.¡±


    In the Rosecloud Domain, materials like metal and jade were measured in blocks, each block being about the size of an ordinary brick.


    Softscent Jade was a valuable material in the Rosecloud Domain, with numerous uses. Importantly, it was rare, so one block was worth five thousand spirit coins, and ten-some blocks would be nearly one hundred thousand coins.


    But Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s if it were intact. Unfortunately, this monster fell apart after death, and the spirituality has dissipated. It would be amazing if we got three to five blocks out of this.¡±

 Chapter 256: Secret Market

    Chapter 256: Secret Market


    In truth, only a small part of the spirituality in the Jade Pearl Stone had dissipated. Stone monsters found it difficult to gather spirit, but what they did gather would not easily fade.


    The real reason was the stone canvas that had formed on thergest piece of Jade Pearl Stone. It had sucked up all the essence, leaving nothing to be refined into Softscent Jade. Without thisrgest part, there were only small chunks left, and processing used up so much that the amount of Softscent Jade obtained would inevitably drop.


    ¡°That¡¯s good too. One block is five thousand coins, and four blocks is twenty thousand.¡± Wei Tianchong rubbed his hands. ¡°My puppet will be invincible!¡±


    Heughed as he began to daydream about taking his puppet and sweeping through the world.


    Tang Jie bluntly said, ¡°You n on using it all? One block is five thousand! You¡¯re only making one Rank 3 puppet, so even half a block is too much. Leave the rest. I have uses for them.¡±


    Wei Tianchong became frantic. ¡°Why only give me half a block? At least give me an entire block. At worst, I¡¯ll just pay you for the rest of it.¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to give it to you, but Softscent Jade is a high-ss spiritual material that could even be used in a Rank 7 or 8 puppet. Using it on a Rank 3 puppet is too much of a waste, so leaving some for the future will be better. Moreover, Softscent Jade isn¡¯t particrly tough, so using too much will only lower the toughness of your puppet.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± Wei Tianchong said, forced to agree with Tang Jie¡¯s words.


    Shi Meng came up and said, ¡°What about me?¡±


    Looking at the shameless look on his face, Tang Jie chuckled and said, ¡°How is your progress on the Three Corpses Conversion Secret Art that Luo Yue taught you?¡±


    ¡°That secret art is just too difficult, and cultivating it damages the body to little effect. I don¡¯t like it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you half a block, but you have to diligently cultivate the Three Corpses Conversion Art. I will need your help soon.¡±


    ¡°With what?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll know when the timees.¡±


    As the three were talking, they gathered up all the Jade Pearl Stone, and it was only after that was done that they left Horserest Lake and returned to the Ayia.


    The recent incident had made the Ayia very respectful toward Tang Jie¡¯s group, with some of them even offering gifts as a sign of friendship. Tang Jie and the others took them without much ceremony. While they wouldn¡¯t steal, they wouldn¡¯t push away presents either. With this tribute, they managed to make a small profit even before reaching Watcher River, and their financial situation became much morefortable.


    Everyone proceeded toward Watcher River.


    The convoy proceeded west, and not long after leaving Horserest Lake, they spotted a small town, Watcher River Town.


    Past Watcher River Town were the Knob Mountains, where violet gold was mined.


    The Knob Mountains were an extremely barren region where not even trees grew. All that was there were hillocks of dirt, whence came its name. It was onlyter on, when a violet gold vein was discovered, that the Knob Mountains became lively. As many miners came, the ordinary Watcher River Vige developed into a town.


    The discovery of a violet gold vein brought both wealth and bloodshed to the region.


    The Knob Mountains had originally belonged to a small sect of Dusnd, the Minor Essence Sect, not the Seven Absolutions Sect. After all, while the six major sects ruled the world, it wasn¡¯t like they could deny those small sects a ce to put their feet down. In truth, they only upied the best resource production areas, leaving the vast majority of thend to the minor sects. The minor sects would manage thisnd and offer tribute.


    Jealous for the rich source of violet gold but hindered by thews set down by the six major sects, the Seven Absolutions Sect secretly incited other sects into attacking the Minor Essence Sect to steal its wealth, and so battle after battle yed out in this region. The Minor Essence Sect ultimately couldn¡¯t hold out against the pressure and was forced to give a full ount to the Seven Absolutions Sect. It was willing to hand over the ore vein to the Seven Absolutions Sect and take only half of the annual profits.


    For half of the profits, the Minor Essence Sect still had to send people every year to supervise the mines. Perhaps this was precisely why the Minor Essence Sect was not particrly strict in its supervision, causing some of the violet gold to be lost every year.


    Major sects often did such things. When it had business that couldn¡¯t see the light of day, it would just have other people do the dirty work.


    The Heavenly Extinction Sect yed this role for the Basking Moon Sect, or else the Basking Moon Sect would not have tolerated it for so long.


    When the convoy arrived, as it was the big market season, the entire town was quite bustling. But Tang Jie¡¯s group wasn¡¯t worried about this. The public market wouldn¡¯t have what they sought. Only the secret market would have violet gold.


    And to take part in the secret market, they would still have to depend on the merchant convoy.


    On their way, Tang Jie had already conversed with the several Ayia caravan masters, and he had learned that the secret market opened at night. Thus, he was in no rush, choosing to stroll around town and find a ce to process the Jade Pearl Stone.


    Tang Jie had exined that it was probably better to sell off the stone rather than process it. After all, the biggest piece actually couldn¡¯t be processed. But since they were borrowing the Ayia to take part in the secret market, and swindling someone would only bring trouble to the Ayia, they decided to give up on that idea.


    Processing the stone wasn¡¯t difficult, and it was a skill belonging to the material extraction field of the Dao of Tools. Tang Jie had been in the Forging tform for three years, and all he had done was extract materials. Thus, processing this stone was just an appetizer for him.


    After four hours, all the Jade Pearl Stone had been processed into several dozen variously sized chunks of Softscent Jade. Tang Jie made some rough calctions and estimated that there were 4.2 blocks.


    Softscent Jade was white in color and soft in texture, so it seemed more like white y than jade. Unlike other materials, it was not refined through fire. Just cing the chunks together would cause them to merge.


    This substance was attracted to jade and stone, and so it couldn¡¯t be stored in a jade box, only a metal box. This was its greatest w. It was precisely because it could absorb stone that it had a powerful recovery ability, but its defensive properties werecking, so it was only good for puppets that used stone as their primary material.


    Of course, if not for these drawbacks, it would have been worth far more than five thousand coins.


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s puppet used White Radiastone as the main material. This stone was tougher than Violet Sandstone, its toughnessparable to metal, but it was lighter. This meant that it was more formidable on defense while also taking less energy, though spiritual energy flowed less smoothly through it than Violet Sandstone.


    The result of this was that it became too hard to exhibit the power of the refining formation and had higher demands on the controller.


    But these two ws had never been a problem to Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong. For the former, there was Tang Jie, who could nowy down Grade 4 formations, so he could make a refining formation for a Grade 3 puppet without a problem. As for thetter, there was the ckwater Soul Possession, which gave Wei Tianchong sufficient control over the puppet.


    Once the processing was done, Tang Jie gave half a block to Wei Tianchong, who was overjoyed. With some Violet Gold, his Grade 3 puppet would be unprecedentedly strong.


    Night fell, and the secret market that Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong had been looking forward to finally opened.


    To their surprise, the secret market wasn¡¯t actually held in the town, but in a manor on the outskirts. This was the property of the Evil Dragon Gang, and in fact, the entire secret market was operated by this gang.


    Tang Jie¡¯s group followed the Ayia caravan masters to the manor, which was brightly lit. Two stalwart men stood at the gate, but despite their fierce appearances, they were just mortals.


    Yet behind the manor¡¯s ordinary appearance, Tang Jie could still sense faint ripples of spiritual energy from within.


    This was normal. The secret market was a ce where contraband was sold, and the vast majority of the contraband was actually cultivation resources. Tang Jie would never believe that the Evil Dragon Gang could open a secret market here if they didn¡¯t have a cultivator.


    Entering the manor, Tang Jie¡¯s group felt like they were walking into a different world. The manor was vast, and there were stalls set up everywhere. Many things that normally couldn¡¯t see the light of day were on disy, their prices clearly marked, and there were numerous people walking around and looking for the items they wanted.


    The Ayia had their own things that they needed to buy, so Tang Jie¡¯s group split off from them and began to look around the market, seeing many new and interesting items along the way.


    ¡°Tang Jie, look.¡± Shi Meng pointed at a person passing by.


    This man had a face of two colors, split at the bridge of his nose. The left half of his face was indigo while the right half was mauve. It was quite the horrifying face, all in all.


    Tang Jie whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t point. That¡¯s rude. He¡¯s a wandering cultivator.¡±


    In this secret market, second only to the merchant caravans were wandering cultivators.


    These wandering cultivators had no sect or faction and normally cultivated using methods they had found from some ce, with the slightestck of caution bound to send them down the path of energy corruption. If they didn¡¯t die, they would often suffer from various deformities. This was precisely why there were many strange-looking people among wandering cultivators.


    There were some who only reached Spirit Spring after the age of fifty, some were so tall and burly that they seemed more like martial artists than cultivators, and some were horrifyingly deformed. Of course, there were also the richly dressed and fat merchants who were also cultivators¡­


    Shi Meng and Wei Tianchong had been in school for four years and had had barely any chance to interact with wandering cultivators, so this was their first time seeing one. Their understanding of many things was beingpletely overturned, and they couldn¡¯t help but be amazed.


    Wei Tianchong spotted a cultivator in the distance and pointed. ¡°Tang Jie, look! A toad ising!¡±


    In the direction of Wei Tianchong¡¯s finger was a short and fat man, his face covered in many sores from poisons. He was revolting to behold, and it was no wonder Wei Tianchong had called him a toad.


    But Wei Tianchong had clearly spoken too loudly, and that short fatty had heard him.


    He looked at Wei Tianchong and shouted, ¡°Seeking death!¡±


    He pointed his finger, and a green liquid shot at Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong was about to block it when Tang Jie pulled him to the side. The green liquid sttered against the ground with a hiss, melting holes through the paving stones.


    ¡°Poison?¡± Wei Tianchong grimaced.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°Daoist friend, this young master of mine was rude just now. He was wrong to do this, but this is a little too ruthless and a little harsh of a response, no? As it was my young master who started it, I won¡¯t make trouble, so let¡¯s just let this entire thing go. After all, this is the territory of the Evil Dragons. Getting into a fight will benefit none of us.¡±


    The short fatty was clearly fearful of the Evil Dragons, so after ring at Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong, he left in a huff.


    Wei Tianchong pouted. ¡°So intimidating, and for what!?¡±


    ¡°Shut your mouth,¡± Tang Jie shot back. ¡°We only just got here and you¡¯re already starting trouble!¡±


    Wei Tianchong knew that he had done wrong, so he could only mutter, ¡°Hey, I¡¯m still your young master. Is that how you speak to your master?¡±


    Tang Jie ignored him and began to look for the things he needed among the stalls.

 Chapter 257: Clam Mirage Stone

    Chapter 257: m Mirage Stone


    As one could expect from a secret market, there were quite a lot of good things here. For example, there were many stalls selling the violet gold that Wei Tianchong needed, and the price was pretty cheap. A fist-sized piece of violet gold could be sold for two to three thousand coins in the Sageheart Kingdom, and even that price wasn¡¯t enough to guarantee a piece. But here, the starting price was only eighteen hundred coins, and if one haggled, one could even get it for twelve hundred to as low as eight hundred coins.


    This was mainly because although valuable materials like violet gold weren¡¯t forbidden from being exported, the major sects controlled how much was exported, and since the supply was limited, the price was high, and this naturally made it so that the prices would only ever increase. And this secret market was really just a private marketbined with a ck market of the cultivation world. Without all those intermediaries, the price would naturally be much lower.


    In the end, violet gold was just an ore that was extracted from the ground and processed. There was little cost to extracting it, so eight hundred spirit coins was already a massive profit.


    The Evil Dragons had made it a rule that they would take 20%mission on any item sold here. It wasn¡¯t a low percentage, but even so, it was an extremely profitable transaction.


    Wei Tianchong did some counting and found that he had brought ten thousand coins with him. If he used it all to buy materials and then went back to resell them, he could sell them for at least double the price, which was 100% profit.


    He grew excited. After all, he had grown up in a n of merchants. Sensing a path to fortune, he looked at Tang Jie and said, ¡°This is a profitable deal. Tang Jie, we can make back our capital and make a profit. If we had one hundred thousand or one million spirit coins, wouldn¡¯t we be rich?¡±


    Tang Jie coldly looked at him. ¡°Do you have one million spirit coins?¡±


    Wei Tianchong was instantly rendered speechless. Let alone him, not even the Wei Estate had that much.


    Moreover, there might not be a big enough market for this much money.


    ¡°This secret market only happens once a year, and it¡¯s a very risky enterprise. Buying and selling goods also requires manpower and time, but we need to cultivate, so where will we get the energy to haggle? And if you really do put your focus into it, you¡¯ll have made the money, but what about your cultivation? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard of any Titan who made his name through business. Do you really think that once you¡¯ve found a way to make money, you can sit back and watch it happen?¡± Tang Jie said.


    Wei Tianchong awkwardly scratched his head. ¡°You know that I¡¯m trying to think of ways to make money.¡±


    Even though he was a young master of a big n, he was still worried about money.


    After bing a True Inheritor, Wei Tianchong had received less money from the Wei Estate, not more.


    There was nothing to be done. Cultivating Immortality just took too many resources, and not even a major n could support this enormous expenditure over the long term. Thus, they would normally provide their children arge amount of resources in the early stage so they could get a good foundation, but they would reduce their investment in theter stage.


    Normally, once students reached the Spirit Sea Tier, they would have arge number of trial missions they could participate in, so they would have to rely on themselves to make money. At this time, a n¡¯s investment and one¡¯s own revenue would each make up 50%.


    When a student reached Mortal Shedding, the n¡¯s share would shrink again.


    At the peak of Mortal Shedding or Celestial Heart, the cultivator would start paying back the n.


    This was precisely why, of the ten thousand coins Wei Tianchong had brought, only five thousand had been provided by the Wei Estate. The remaining five thousand was what he had saved up over thest two years.


    As they had had a smooth journey and because he was a cultivator with a Mustard Seed Bag, their security and transportation expenses were extremely low, allowing for this potential profit. Moreover, strictly speaking, this wasn¡¯t profit yet, only savings on cost. Turning it into a profit would require returning to Sageheart and spending some time selling the goods.


    As for those caravans, that 100% profit would have additional deductions through payment for manpower and the risk of damage and loss, so achieving 20% to 30% profit through one trip was already a good result.


    Some unfortunate ones were robbed several times, resulting in bankruptcy or worse.


    But despite this, Tang Jie still said, ¡°We can¡¯t do it, but the Wei Estate can. Once we get back, you can exin the situation to thedy and have the Wei Estatee over to make deals. There should be no problem with that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea.¡± Shi Meng offered his support.


    Opening a path of revenue for the Wei Estate was also indirectly giving oneself more cultivation resources.


    While talking, the three of them hadn¡¯t forgotten their business. Wei Tianchong bought a chunk of violet gold and went off to look for other materials.


    Tang Jie was also looking around for the materials he needed.


    As he was walking, Tang Jie saw an item on disy in a nearby stall.


    This was a ck piece of wood, about one foot long, round, and covered in red veins.


    Tang Jie walked over and said, ¡°Can I have a closer look at it?¡±


    The middle-aged stall owner gruffly replied, ¡°This is a thousand-year Bloodvein Tree Core. It costs ten thousand, so if you put up a deposit of ten spirit jades, you can look at it as much as you want.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll use this as a deposit.¡± Tang Jie ced two blocks of Softscent Jade on the counter. The middle-aged man saw the jades, and his eyes immediately started to glow.


    Tang Jie took the wood core and began to carefully look it over.


    Bloodvein Trees were an excellent material in the cultivation world, useful for making puppets,ying formations, or forging tools.


    Thousand-year goods weren¡¯t easy to find, and so Tang Jie didn¡¯t take this ¡°thousand-year¡± adjective to heart. Even a hundred-year would be good enough. But as he examined the Bloodvein Tree Core, he realized that the middle-aged man hadn¡¯t been boasting.


    Bloodvein Wood was an extremely heavy kind of wood, and the weight only increased with time. This small piece of Bloodvein Wood had to weigh at least fifty kilograms, so it probably was a thousand years old, though he had no idea where this man could have gotten it.


    If this was really the case, then ten thousand coins wasn¡¯t expensive at all. But this was precisely why Tang Jie was suspicious.


    As he carefully inspected it, he finally found the problem.


    This Bloodvein Tree Core seemed to be aplete piece, but he managed to discover faint cracks.


    This meant that someone had probably hollowed it out before. It was just that Bloodvein Wood had self-healing properties, and the cut had gradually healed over, leaving a little crack.


    This also meant that this Bloodvein Wood was faked, and someone had probably stuffed metal inside to increase the weight. This forgery was very well done, using actual Bloodvein Wood and only trying to fake the age. The costs couldn¡¯t be low, and even that metal that was used to increase weight was probably of spiritual grade. If Tang Jie hadn¡¯t been proficient in the Dao of Insight, he might not have noticed.


    ¡°A pity¡­¡± Tang Jie sighed, whispering, ¡°To fake a thousand-year Bloodvein Tree Core, you went and ruined a real one.¡±


    ¡°What nonsense are you saying?¡± The middle-aged man paled and angrily red at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie shook his head, put the wood down, and went to take back his jades. The middle-aged man pushed down Tang Jie¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Kid, it¡¯s one thing to not buy, but why the nder? If you don¡¯t give me an exnation, don¡¯t even think about taking back your deposit!¡±


    ¡°What? You like my little preciouses here?¡± Tang Jie chuckled. He leaned over and whispered, ¡°While there aren¡¯t many people around, let¡¯s each go our separate ways. If we really cause a stir, you won¡¯t find it that easy to find a mark.¡±


    The middle-aged manughed. ¡°You trying to scare me? What do you think this ce is? Just tell me! If you don¡¯t give me a good exnation, I really can¡¯t let you go.¡±


    Tang Jie sighed.


    It was actually quite simple for him to prove that the wood was fake. He could just take it and smash it, but this would be like shattering this guy¡¯s rice bowl. After all, a lot had gone into making this fake.


    Killing off someone¡¯s revenue source was like killing their parents. He didn¡¯t want to cause too much trouble, so he once more grabbed the Bloodvein Wood. He had originally thought about pretending to look before admitting that he had made a mistake when he suddenly had an idea. Focusing his eyes on the Bloodvein Wood, he vaguely felt like he could see through it.


    Surprised and delighted, he calmed down and stared at the wood, feeling like he was entering another world.


    The veins of the Bloodvein Wood expanded before his eyes, gradually filling his field of vision. He was in the strange world within the piece of wood, every fiber and pore magnified as if under a microscope, and he continued to venture deeper and deeper within.


    Finally, he managed to pierce through the wood and saw a ck metallic luster, like a dark and sealed space¡­


    ¡°Hey! Kid, say something!¡± the middle-aged man roared.


    Tang Jie could no longer focus, and he was pulled out of that mysterious ck world and into the mortal realm.


    Letting out a long sigh, he smiled and said, ¡°So it was ckstar Iron. No wonder it was so heavy.¡±


    The middle-aged man shuddered.


    <em>How did he know that I filled the Bloodvein Wood with ckstar Iron?</em>


    Tang Jie could tell from the reaction that he was right.


    This made him very excited. He had never realized that his Dao of Insight could be used in this way. If that was true, he could find materials easily and wouldn¡¯t have to be worried about being tricked or missing out on something good.


    Suppressing his delight, Tang Jie coldly looked at the middle-aged man. ¡°Let go!¡±


    The middle-aged man did not dare to stop Tang Jie and could only watch as he took the Softscent Jades back.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Three hundred coins to keep me quiet, or else you had best not even think about trying to sell this off.¡±


    As he spoke, he secretly released some spiritual energy, making the crack on the Bloodvein Wood more obvious. Since this guy had forged this wood and had tried to trick him, he didn¡¯t mind returning the favor.


    Tang Jie continued to stroll around, testing out his new Insight ability.


    He quickly discovered that the Eye of Insight couldn¡¯t be used on all materials. The higher the quality of the material, the more difficult it became for the Eye of Insight to see through. Besides these high-level materials, materials with extremely strong spirituality were also difficult to see through.


    For example, it didn¡¯t work on Softscent Jade.


    But regardless, at least seventy percent of the goods in this secret market could no longer hide their secrets from him. With one nce, he was able to tell whether many things were real or fake, good or bad. s, he didn¡¯t find any secret treasures.


    As Tang Jie was walking around, Wei Tianchong came over and waved his hand. ¡°Tang Jie,e here and take a look.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was holding a small piece of jade.


    Tang Jie took it and looked it over. ¡°Oh? Is this a shard of Soul Jade? Where did you find it?¡±


    Soul Jade was an extremely rare material. One could attach a Divine Soul or nurture a Divine Will with it, and it was a treasure for high-level cultivators. s, Wei Tianchong only had a shard, and most of its effects had faded. Otherwise, there was no way it would have appeared in the secret market.


    ¡°In that stall over there. Eight hundred coins. Not bad, right?¡± Wei Tianchong smugly said.


    ¡°Not bad. It¡¯s the real deal,¡± Tang Jie praised.


    This item, if ced in the puppet, would give a huge boost to the effects of Wei Tianchong¡¯s ckwater Soul Possession.


    ¡°Is there any more?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°There seems to be another piece.¡±


    Tang Jie quickly went over, and sure enough, there was another piece. After inspecting it to make sure it was real, he had Wei Tianchong buy it.


    Wei Tianchong grumbled, ¡°It¡¯s not like you know the ckwater Soul Possession, so what do you want it for?¡±


    ¡°I have my uses for it.¡± Tang Jie smiled.


    He had been looking for something he could attach a Soul Will to, but he had yet to find one. Surprisingly, Wei Tianchong had found one before him.


    As was his habit, he scanned the other goods, and just when he was about to leave, he suddenly stopped and turned around, looking at a m Mirage Stone disyed in the stall.


    The m Mirage Stone came from a giant ocean beast known as the m Beast, and it had the ability to transmit images. Ji Wujiu had used this item to control the Nine Pce Illusion Formation of Wind Devil Ind.


    This piece was much smaller than the one on Wind Devil Ind, probably a fifth of the size, it was unprocessed rock that had never been polished, and its grade was also average.


    What had truly drawn Tang Jie¡¯s interest was that when he used the Eye of Insight, he found that there was seemingly something inside the m Mirage Stone.


    Tang Jie decided to grab the stone and take a closer look. s, when he focused his vision, he found it impossible to see inside. As his vision peered into the depths, it felt like something was devouring it, leaving him bbergasted.

 Chapter 258: Pentavenom

    Chapter 258: Pentavenom


    This was the first time Tang Jie had had this kind of sensation.


    The seller said, ¡°Young Master, if you like, I can give it to you for two thousand.¡±


    Two thousand coins wasn¡¯t a cheap price.


    After some thought, Tang Jie said, ¡°Can you give it to me for any cheaper?¡±


    The seller replied, ¡°As the two of you bought my Soul Jade shards previously, I can give you a two-hundred-coin discount.¡±


    ¡°What about one thousand?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    The seller shook his head, and no matter how much Tang Jie haggled, he was only willing to go down to fifteen hundred.


    Fifteen hundred was arge sum for Tang Jie, and more importantly, he didn¡¯t actually know what was inside the m Mirage Stone. Seeing that the seller wasn¡¯t giving in, Tang Jie pondered what he should do, but he ultimately gritted his teeth and decided to take a gamble.


    He also wanted to see if his newly discovered ability could bring him good fortune, so he went to find Wei Tianchong and have him buy it.


    Wei Tianchong was confused, asking, ¡°Why do you want to buy this?¡±


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t hide it, telling him that he suspected that there was something inside.


    Wei Tianchong also grew excited when he heard that there might be some secret in this m Mirage Stone.


    Youths were rash, and so they immediately put aside the search for materials and went to find a secluded ce to research the stone.


    But at this moment, Wei Tianchong realized a problem. ¡°Tang Jie, you say there¡¯s something inside, but how do we open it?¡±


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. ¡°How else? We have to smash it open.¡±


    Wei Tianchong froze. ¡°No way! I spent fifteen hundred coins on this. If we mess up¡­¡±


    Tang Jie firmly said, ¡°If we mess up, we lose fifteen hundred coins, or else we wouldn¡¯t be taking a gamble here!¡±


    But in truth, not even Tang Jie was too confident.


    Fifteen hundred coins was neither too big nor too small, but using it on cultivation was one thing and throwing it away was another. For people who had never gambled before, the oue had always been more important.


    Thus, he took in a deep breath and said to himself, ¡°It¡¯s fine. At worst, we¡¯ve only lost fifteen hundred coins. It¡¯s the young master¡¯s money anyway.¡±


    Wei Tianchong twitched. ¡°Tang Jie, did you really have to say that?¡±


    Tang Jieughed, but just as he was about to smash the stone, he thought it over and stopped.


    Wei Tianchong asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Tang Jie pensively said, ¡°In truth, my luck hasn¡¯t been that great over thest few years. When I was in the Wildgrain ins, my home was raided by bandits and my family was killed. I ran into someone who treated me well, but he ultimately died too. When I went out to do my first mission, we ran into Divine God Luo, but the one to receive this fortune wasn¡¯t me, but you. And when I finally got you the True Inheritor spot, True Person Changfeng wanted to take me as his disciple, forcing me to use that method to refuse him. It¡¯s like there¡¯s some force in the universe that makes it so that fortune is never on my side. On the other hand, you¡¯re usually much luckier than me.¡±


    He stuffed the m Mirage Stone into Wei Tianchong¡¯s hand. ¡°You smash it.¡±


    ¡°Me¡­¡± Wei Tianchong¡¯s eyes almost popped out.


    Tang Jie grabbed his hand and swung it toward the ground.


    <em>Pa!</em> The m Mirage Stone broke into fragments, and Wei Tianchong trembled, swiftly drawing back his chubby hand. As for Tang Jie, he fixed his eyes on the center of the debris.


    A small ck pearly among the fragmented stone.


    This pearl looked very ordinary, small and ck, but when Tang Jie¡¯s eyes fell upon it, he felt an inexplicable fear.


    When it was the m Mirage Stone, Tang Jie hadn¡¯t been able to see through it.


    It was out now, but Tang Jie still couldn¡¯t see through it.


    Tang Jie reached out to take the pearl and immediately felt a sinister chill travel up his fingers and through his body. Tang Jie shivered and almost threw the pearl away.


    Astonishingly, this chill seemed to only work on the soul, having no substance and thus not affecting his surroundings. At the very least, Wei Tianchong, who was standing right next to him, didn¡¯t feel anything.


    But at this moment, Wei Tianchong pointed at Tang Jie, looking like he had seen a ghost. ¡°You¡­ you¡­¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with me?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°Your face¡­¡± Wei Tianchong said in a trembling voice, as if he had seen the most terrifying thing in the world.


    Tang Jie hastily went over to a nearby pool and looked at his reflection. To his shock, he found that a thick ck smoke had emerged around his face, and even more shocking was that in this ck smoke, his face was twisting, morphing into all sorts of painful expressions, as if he was experiencing the worst pain in the world.


    The problem was that Tang Jie was doing nothing of the sort.


    ¡°Dear gods!¡± Tang Jie jumped in fright and instinctively threw the pearl away.


    A momentter, the reflection of Tang Jie¡¯s face returned to normal.


    Tang Jie felt his face and confirmed that everything was fine before exhaling.


    Looking back at the pearl, he wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, ¡°What a wicked and strange thing. It might be a demon artifact.¡±


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Seeing how Tang Jie was behaving, Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t dare to touch the pearl.


    Tang Jie took some cloth to cover his hand and tried to touch the pearl, and the chill was somewhat lessened. Tang Jie looked at Wei Tianchong, who said, ¡°It¡¯s back again!¡±


    Was not even cloth enough to stop the pearl¡¯s intrusion?


    Tang Jie thought it over and said, ¡°This ck pearl was in the m Mirage Stone before this. Maybe stone can obstruct its powers.¡±


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t have a stone box, but he did have Softscent Jade.


    Softscent Jade was malleable, and though it was a stone, it was as soft as cotton.


    Tang Jie took out a block of Softscent Jade and embedded the pearl in it. He then molded the jade into a ball so that the pearl was no longer visible.


    Sure enough, the ck pearl no longer gave off any chill.


    They both sighed in relief.


    Tang Jie said to Wei Tianchong, ¡°It¡¯s best if we don¡¯t tell anyone else about this.¡±


    Wei Tianchong nodded. This pearl was so weird that he knew that talking about it would cause a lot of trouble.


    Wei Tianchong had a thought and asked, ¡°So did we win or lose?¡±


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t know either. I thought that the worst case would be losing fifteen hundred spirit coins, but now that I think about it, in math, besides positive and zero¡­ there¡¯s also such a thing as negative numbers.¡±


    With this said, he walked away.


    Wei Tianchong was utterly confused, scratching his head and saying, ¡°Sub-spells? Spell arts can be divided into main and sub-spells? I don¡¯t get it.¡±


    (TN: ¸ºÊý, negative numbers, and ¸±Êõ, secondary art, share the same pronunciation in Chinese, hence Wei Tianchong¡¯s confusion.)


    Back at the secret market, the two of them continued to search for materials.


    As daybreak approached, the secret market ended. Wei Tianchong had found all the materials he needed, so they all left.


    They hadn¡¯t gone far from the manor when they encountered someone¡ªnone other than the short fatty that Wei Tianchong had called a toad.


    The man stared at Wei Tianchong and wickedly chuckled. ¡°Kid, you finally came out.¡±


    The short fatty shot two streams of poison liquid at Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong.


    Tang Jie swung his arm, creating a gale. While the fatty¡¯s poison was fierce, it had little prative power and was scattered by Tang Jie¡¯s strike. Tang Jie said, ¡°Haven¡¯t you had enough? A little war of words has you holding such a deep grudge?¡±


    The short fatty savagely smiled. ¡°Anyone who dares to humiliate Wanderer Pentavenom is seeking death!¡±


    He waved his hand, and a venomous scorpion flew out.


    This scorpion was ck and the size of a fist, and its barbed tail was ck and glossy as it thrust toward Tang Jie¡¯s neck.


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng were just about to move when Tang Jie said, ¡°No need; let me. Humiliating you is seeking death? You think you¡¯re the Son of Heaven or something?¡±


    Thisst sentence was aimed at Wanderer Pentavenom.


    Tang Jie threw out an Energy Needle that struck the scorpion. <em>ng!</em> The needle failed to prate the scorpion, but it did knock it away.


    They had barely left the manor, and the crowds had yet to depart. As this fight broke out, those nearby scattered and then began to spectate.


    Someone mocked, ¡°I wonder which young master didn¡¯t know what was good for him and insulted Pentavenom? He¡¯s dead for sure.¡±


    The scorpion turned in the air and flew at Tang Jie again. Tang Jie fired off Energy Needle after Energy Needle. The scorpion hissed, but it was unable to get close.


    That Wanderer Pentavenom sneered, ¡°With this little ability, you dare to try and mess with me?¡±


    With a wave of his robe, he unleashed even more venomous arthropods.


    Though Wanderer Pentavenom was only in the first tier of the Mortal Shedding Realm, his venomous creatures were quite difficult to deal with, and he was rather famous in the Watcher River region. He hadn¡¯t originally looked like this, but improper handling of poison over a long period had left his body covered in welts and sores. What he hated the most was when people called him a toad. Wei Tianchong had touched upon his taboo, and he was a rather petty person from the start. Thus, he insisted on killing Wei Tianchong.


    As arge number of insects flew over, Tang Jie didn¡¯t panic. Creating wind with his palm thrusts so that they couldn¡¯t get close, he shouted, ¡°Does attempted murder no longer matter just because we¡¯re outside the secret market now?¡±


    Nobody said a word.


    Wanderer Pentavenom thought that he was afraid, andughed. ¡°Let¡¯s see how long youst!¡±


    The winds prevented the insects from getting close, but they took spiritual energy, so this wasn¡¯t a long-term solution. That Wanderer Pentavenom continued to release venomous creatures, and as the bugs filled the air, his chubby body became much thinner. Rather than being fat, he had just been hiding all these bugs on his body.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t care, tilting his head and saying, ¡°It seems like no one cares.¡±


    He drew back his hand and charged at Wanderer Pentavenom, no longer caring about the bugs. The insectsnded on his body, and the crowd felt like they could already see him being devoured, dying as tens of thousands of insects burrowed into his body. But a momentter, Tang Jie¡¯s body shed with golden light, and those bugs bounced off. Tang Jie charged up to Wanderer Pentavenom¡¯s side and punched.


    Wanderer Pentavenom savagelyughed as he thrust out his palm.


    This was the Omnivenom Hand that he was so proud of, and his finest poison spell art. A bystander would instantly be poisoned if they so much as touched it, and it would only take a few moments before they died of poison.


    As fist met palm, there was a boom, and Wanderer Pentavenom was sent flying. <em>Crack!</em> His arm was broken.


    The crowd was aghast.


    It wasn¡¯t strange that Wanderer Pentavenom had been pushed back. Messing around with poison for so long had left his body a wreck, but he was still at the Mortal Shedding Realm. A punch that could break his arm was no simple punch.


    Wanderer Pentavenom was shocked and furious that his arm had been broken. Not having expected this kid to be so strong, he suppressed his pain and shouted, ¡°Brat, taking my palm? You¡¯re dead meat!¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°So how long does it take for your poison to kill someone?¡±


    Wanderer Pentavenom froze as Tang Jie opened his hand.


    His fingers were still brimming with energy, showing not even the slightest sign of poisoning.


    ¡°How is that possible?¡± Wanderer Pentavenom cried out in disbelief.


    ¡°Your poison arts aren¡¯t good enough,¡± Tang Jie coldly said. He rushed up to Wanderer Pentavenom and punched him in the abdomen, causing the man to drop to his knees in pain.


    Tang Jie ced a hand on his face, and Wanderer Pentavenom shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t kill me!¡±


    Tang Jie coldly said, ¡°Actually, my young master was right¡­ You really are a toad.¡±


    He unleashed energy through his palm into Wanderer Pentavenom¡¯s head, instantly killing him.

 Chapter 259: Grade 3 Combat Puppet

    Chapter 259: Grade 3 Combat Puppet


    A Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator had been easily in.


    It had hardly taken any effort on Tang Jie¡¯s part.


    Though this was connected to the fact that Tang Jie¡¯s Jewel Body was a natural counter to this Wanderer Pentavenom, Tang Jie¡¯s strength was also quite shocking. The spectators all had shock in their eyes.


    At this moment, the young girl from the Ayia Tribe, Cai¡¯er, came out and saw this sight, gasping, ¡°Wanderer Pentavenom? Tang Jie, you killed him?¡±


    Tang Jie was in the middle of searching Wanderer Pentavenom¡¯s body.


    He wasn¡¯t interested in killing people for their loot, but he didn¡¯t mind taking the possessions of people who had been killed.


    s, all this Wanderer Pentavenom had in his Mustard Seed Bag were poisons. He had bought these poisons at the secret market to feed his bugs, and there were all sorts that were quite expensive. s, no one in Tang Jie¡¯s group had any use of them.


    The six major sects had strict rules that forbade their disciples from using poisons.


    ¡°A pity¡­ I¡¯ll just have to find a ce to sell them,¡± Tang Jie muttered. He then turned to Cai¡¯er and said, ¡°He wanted to kill us, so I had no choice.¡±


    ¡°This is a problem,¡± Cai¡¯er said, stomping her feet. ¡°This Wanderer Pentavenom is a guest elder of the Cloud Mountain Hall. The Cloud Mountain Hall won¡¯t let you go now that you¡¯ve killed him.¡±


    Wei Tianchong curiously asked, ¡°What is the Cloud Mountain Hall?¡±


    Tang Jie replied for Cai¡¯er, ¡°It should be a gang like the Evil Dragon Gang. Some Wanderers without sects will often join a local gang to get what they need.¡±


    ¡°So it was just a local gang. I was worried for nothing,¡± Wei Tianchong said, pursing his lips.


    Cai¡¯er saw that they didn¡¯t seem to care, and stomped her feet in anger.


    She didn¡¯t know that they were from Basking Moon. For the students of the six major sects, local gangs like the Evil Dragon Gang or Cloud Mountain Hall were like ants on the side of the road. They didn¡¯t evenpare to minor cultivation sects.


    In Sageheart, they would just have to wear their uniforms to make those minor sects not even dare to try anything. And even in Dusnd, they wouldn¡¯t concern themselves with organizations like the Cloud Mountain Hall that didn¡¯t evenpare to minor sects.


    It would be fine if the Cloud Mountain Hall chose to not make trouble, but if it dared toe and find them, Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t mind increasing their prestige among the people.


    At this point, Cai¡¯er could only have them get out of here as quickly as possible. As for the other Ayia caravan masters, they saw that Tang Jie¡¯s group had caused trouble, and hastily left without a word, for fear that others would take them as being acquainted with Tang Jie¡¯s group.


    Tang Jie¡¯s group didn¡¯t care. They had bought what they hade for, so they went back to the inn in town to finish the puppet.


    Wei Tianchong had basically finished carving the puppet on the road. What came next was the refining formation, which was Tang Jie¡¯s job.


    Ever since he had revealed his formation knowledge on Wind Devil Ind, Tang Jie had decided to stop hiding it and confess that he had been learning formations in secret. So, why had he been learning in secret?


    Ha! Weren¡¯t Ye Tianshang, Su Xinyue, Liu Hongyan, and Ping Jingyue all experts hiding their ability? A person needed hidden cards so that they could achieve victory at critical moments. Other people could do it, so Tang Jie naturally could, too.


    But this was precisely why Tang Jie wasn¡¯t revealing that he had reached proficiency in Grade 4 formations and only dared to make Wei Tianchong a Grade 3 puppet. Fortunately, Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t have the wealth to make a Grade 4 puppet.


    It had to be understood that a single Grade 3 puppet had used up almost all of Wei Tianchong¡¯s savings.


    The puppet¡¯s primary material was White Radiastone and a certain amount of meteoric iron. This had cost five thousand, and putting together the Softscent Jade and violet gold, the principal material cost rose to eleven thousand. Besides that, the refining formation materials cost five thousand, and they had only gotten around one thousand back by recycling the old puppet.


    In other words, they had invested a total of 16000 coins into this puppet, and this wasn¡¯t even considering the discounted prices they had gotten at the secret market and thebor of Wei Tianchong and Tang Jie. Wei Tianchong had spent more than a month sculpting this puppet, and this was after his strength had greatly increased. In the past, this would have taken three months to finish. And Tang Jie¡¯s refining formation would also take many days toplete, with the services of a Grade 4 formation master only being more expensive.


    Everything added together meant that theplete product would have cost more than thirty thousand spirit coins and could be sold for at least forty thousand.


    On the day they returned to the inn, Tang Jie locked himself in his room and started on the refining formation. He had already finished the design on the road.


    For the next few days, he hardly slept, and even his food and drink were delivered by Shi Meng.


    On the evening of the seventh day, Tang Jie finally came out, his eyes bloodshot and his expression haggard. The impatient Wei Tianchong rushed up and asked, ¡°Tang Jie, how is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°Wonderful!¡± Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng cheered.


    ¡°Shh!¡± Tang Jie ced a finger on his mouth and pointed at the ceiling. ¡°Yiyi is sleeping. She¡¯s been acting as my assistant thesest few days and is tired to death.¡±


    He smiled and said, ¡°Follow me. I¡¯ll show my handiwork.¡±


    Tang Jie strode out of the room and into the courtyard.


    He took out the puppet token and waved it. Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng watched with widened eyes, but they didn¡¯t see anything.


    ¡°Why is there nothing?¡± Wei Tianchong asked in surprise.


    Tang Jie mysteriously smiled and snapped his fingers. Weird ripples appeared in the air, and then an enormous figure abruptly appeared in front of the pair.


    Wei Tianchong was startled, and then he realized, shouting, ¡°A concealment spell art? It¡¯s a concealment spell art!¡±


    Tang Jie had not told Wei Tianchong what sort of refining formation he would use, only that he wouldn¡¯t be disappointed. This had left Wei Tianchong itching with anticipation, but he hadn¡¯t expected such a wonderful surprise.


    It was obvious just how useful a puppet that could conceal itself was, and it would undoubtedly be a very worthwhile ally.


    This puppet was 2.1 meters tall and broad like a strongman. Its body was white tinged with a faint golden gloss. This was the effect from melting down the violet gold and applying it to the puppet. The stone face was well defined, and if one didn¡¯t look closely, one would take it for a real person. Only the two eyes made from Lightning Seeds exposed the truth.


    Paint had been used to draw out strange images on it, likerge tattoos.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Shi Meng said, pointing at the images on the puppet.


    Tang Jie exined, ¡°These images are used to obscure the formation lines. The refining formation was moreplicated this time, soplicated that even I wasn¡¯t able to entirely hide it. The formation lines will sh when the puppet moves around, and a cultivator with sharp eyes can very easily tell the exact location and structure of each refining formation from the shing formation lines and the ability the puppet is using at the time, thus allowing them to find a solution. These images are used to fool the senses. In the future, if we can get it some armor, we¡¯ll be able to hide the lines even better.¡±


    ¡°Formation lines that can¡¯t be hidden?¡± Wei Tianchong immediately noticed a problem with Tang Jie¡¯s words. Even the most ordinary student of formations could hide formation lines. For a ¡°Grade 3¡± formation master like Tang Jie to not be able to hide the formations meant that this formation was more than justplex.


    Sure enough, Tang Jie replied, ¡°Mm, there are somewhat more refining formations this time.¡±


    ¡°How many?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled and said, ¡°Twelve.¡±


    Tang Jie had racked his brains to make a puppet that could be considered truly outstanding.


    This puppet had twelve refining formations in all. Five were basic function formations, responsible for energy supply, operation, order reception, and other such functions. This meant that the puppet¡¯s abilities were better, as was its foundation.


    The previous puppet could only mechanically carry out orders, and its fighting style was rather inflexible. Formidable basic functions meant more flexibility and better execution.


    As a visual example, the previous puppet could bepared to a zombie, only able to walk and wave its arms to attack. This puppet was like a real person, able to run, jump, and do somersaults.


    The other seven refining formations granted the puppet other abilities.


    On the head, there was the ¡°Minor Lightning Fall Formation¡±. It could cast the Lightning Fall spell for long-range attacks.


    On the left arm was the ¡°Demon-Conquering Martial Formation¡±. It could cast the True Martial Divine Strength spell to bolster its strength.


    On the right arm was the ¡°Profound Gate Triple Variation Formation¡±. It could cast the Profound Court Battle Saber spell and allowed for modification of the primary weapon.


    On the left leg was the ¡°Thousand Mile Windchaser Formation¡±. It could cast the Swiftwind spell and allowed for greater sprinting.


    On the right leg was the ¡°Lightscatter Cloak Formation¡±. It could cast a concealment spell to hide the puppet.


    On the chest was the ¡°Evesting Battle Formation¡±. It cast the Evesting Shield, providing defense.


    On the back was the ¡°Sandstir Formation¡±. It could cast the Quicksand spell for self-repair.


    These seven formations covered all aspects: attack, defense, speed, long-distance attacks, and close-distance attacks. Comparing it to Wei Tianchong¡¯s old puppet was likeparing night and day.


    Twelve refining formations on every part of the puppet¡¯s body left even Tang Jie with an enormous challenge, and he also needed to stack some of the formations.


    Fortunately, back in the Celestial Defense Hall, he had thoroughly studied those ckte Soldiers, and learned his method of stacking formations from them.


    Even so, Tang Jie still found that he couldn¡¯tpletely hide the formation lines. In the end, he hade up with apromise, using tattoos to hide the formation lines. This was something he had actually learned from ¡°Prison Break¡±.


    (TN: In the show ¡°Prison Break¡±, the main character¡¯s tattoos actually contain the ns he uses for breaking out of prison.)


    As the Rosecloud Domain didn¡¯t have the concept of tattoos, no one had ever thought about using this method to resolve the problem.


    In this matter, Tang Jie had essentially been a pioneer.


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng were thoroughly stunned when they learned that Tang Jie had carved twelve whole formations into the puppet.


    If it had been a three- or four-meter-tall puppet, ten-some refining formations would have been usible. But they had never heard of a two-meter-tall puppet being able to hold twelve refining formations.


    After listening to Tang Jie¡¯s exnation, Wei Tianchong was so excited that he could barely form sentences. ¡°Twelve refining formations¡­ seven spell arts, seven spell arts, haha! This is huge!¡±


    He was madlyughing and his mouth was watering. He looked like he had gone mad.


    It was eventually Shi Meng who reminded him, ¡°Young Master, what are you still waiting for? Let¡¯s try it out.¡±


    Wei Tianchong came to his senses and said, ¡°Yes, try it out. I should definitely try it out. Tang Jie,e on and fight with my puppet!¡±


    ¡°I had exactly the same idea.¡± Tang Jie smiled.


    The moment he finished the puppet, he had wanted to test its power.

 Chapter 260: Departure

    Chapter 260: Departure


    After formally transferring the puppet to Wei Tianchong, Tang Jie punched at the puppet without a word.


    Wei Tianchong madlyughed. ¡°True Martial Divine Strength! Precious, give Tang Jie a good lesson for me.¡±


    The puppet¡¯s body shed as the Demon-Conquering Martial Formation on its left arm activated. This puppet weighed more than five hundred kilograms, and with the activation of True Martial Divine Strength, it grew even stronger as it punched back at Tang Jie.


    Their fists met, and Tang Jie and the puppet were both forced back. Tang Jie was pushed back an extra step, meaning that this puppet had outmatched Tang Jie in terms of strength.


    Tang Jieughed, the Heartbreak Saber appearing in his hand as he rushed to the puppet¡¯s side and swung his weapon. The puppet didn¡¯t dodge, but its body shed and manifested a barrier that blocked the saber. At the same time, it turned to Tang Jie, its eyes crackling with lightning. A bolt of lightning fell out of the blue and struck Tang Jie.


    But Lightning Fall did nothing to Tang Jie, and he moved as if he had felt nothing and kicked at the puppet¡¯s head. At the same time, he shouted, ¡°Dodge it!¡±


    Wei Tianchong bent his pinky finger, and even though the puppet was clearly made of stone, it bent at the waist and dodged Tang Jie¡¯s kick.


    This was the power of five basic function refining formations, and also the effect of the Softscent Jade. The two of thembined made it so that the puppet was no longer so stiff and inflexible. It could even perform some actions that ordinary people would find hard to do.


    Tang Jie, his kick having missed, turned his body and kicked again.


    Wei Tianchong activated the ckwater Soul Possession and shouted, ¡°Profound Court Triple Variation, Rapid Gale sh!¡±


    The puppet¡¯s arm turned into a long saber, and it jumped ten feet into the air and shed at Tang Jie.


    It seemed like a simple attack, but it required three spell arts to work in concert. The Profound Court Triple Variation could change the puppet¡¯s limbs into weapons, and while Wei Tianchong could do this in the past, he had to cast the spell through the ckwater Soul Possession. Now, the puppet had this ability all on its own, saving him a step. And after the puppet had finished this transformation, it could use Wei Tianchong¡¯s Changfeng Thirteenth Style, which was Wei Tianchong¡¯s own spell art. Through the ckwater Soul Possession, the puppet could use it.


    The ckwater Soul Possession had this ability to have the puppet use the spells of the controller, but Wei Tianchong previously hadn¡¯t the strength to achieve this. But the addition of the Soul Jade fragment into the puppet had greatly boosted the effectiveness of the ckwater Soul Possession, allowing Wei Tianchong to use some of his spell arts through the puppet.


    This Rapid Gale sh was ruthless and fierce, forcing Tang Jie to retreat.


    But a momentter, Wei Tianchong activated the Thousand Mile Windchaser Formation, and the puppet elerated, charging up to Tang Jie¡¯s side and swinging the de.


    Tang Jie grunted under the blow, his Formless Golden Body unexpectedly being unable to fully block it. A long and bloody wound appeared on Tang Jie¡¯s chest, prating rather deep into his flesh.


    Wei Tianchong was scared out of his wits and quickly stopped the puppet. Running over, he shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, are you okay!? I didn¡¯t know it would be this powerful.¡±


    Tang Jie crashed to the ground, and though he was injured, there was an irrepressible smile on his face. ¡°I¡¯m fine. This is exactly what I¡¯m looking for. On the contrary, I would have been disappointed if it couldn¡¯t break through my Formless Golden Body.¡±


    The wound hurt, but Tang Jie was rejoicing.


    The astronomical price had been paid for a huge boost in strength. This puppet was now strong enough to fight on even terms with Tang Jie. Although Tang Jie would win if it really came down to it, it had to be remembered that Tang Jie had invested more than one hundred thousand coins¡¯ worth of resources into his strength, and four years of training besides that.


    This puppet had cost only thirty-thousand-some inparison.


    In terms of cost¨Cperformance ratio, nothing couldpare to a puppet.


    The only regret was perhaps that puppets couldn¡¯t cultivate. As the student got stronger, it was bound to be reced eventually. This had been the case for Wei Tianchong¡¯s previous two puppets.


    But at least this puppet was bound to be very useful.


    A Grade 3 puppet was equivalent to first-tier Mortal Shedding, and through the diligent and meticulous work of Wei Tianchong and Tang Jie, this puppet was stronger than the average Grade 3 puppet. In other words, with this puppet, even if Wei Tianchong faced the likes of Zhang Qinan or Peng Yaolong, he would still be able to put up a fight, maybe even win.


    The strength of this puppet left everyone extremely excited.


    After some thought, Tang Jie said, ¡°There¡¯s still one thing we haven¡¯t tested.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    Tang Jie chuckled and suddenly punched the puppet in the chest.


    The puppet had already stopped, all of its refining formations deactivated. Without the Evesting Shield, the punch immediately created several cracks in the puppet¡¯s tough body.


    ¡°Tang Jie, what are you doing?¡± Wei Tianchong said in rm.


    ¡°What are you so worried about? Did you forget about the Softscent Jade?¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Use the Quicksand spell!¡±


    Only then did Wei Tianchong understand. Tang Jie was testing the puppet¡¯s recovery ability! He hastily ordered the puppet to use the spell.


    The ground the puppet was standing on turned into quicksand, and the softened soil traveled up the puppet¡¯s body and seeped into it. It wasn¡¯t long before the puppet had beenpletely restored.


    This was the effect of the Softscent Jade, absorbing sand and rock to restore the body. The Quicksand spell was used to hasten the recovery process. Besides that, it could also be used to set up traps.


    Tang Jie went up and inspected it, after which he opened it up to look at the Spirit Gate and see how much was consumed. He nodded and said, ¡°Not bad, no internal damage. So long as it¡¯s not broken into pieces, it can heal itself. But too many refining formations means greater consumption of spirit stones, so unless it¡¯s necessary, it¡¯s best not to use all seven formations.¡±


    Shi Meng asked, ¡°How long could itst if it were using all of its abilities?¡±


    Tang Jie did some mental math and replied, ¡°If all seven formations are working, it would probably be able tost fifteen minutes at most.¡±


    This was the only problem with this puppet. Limited space and too many refining formations made upkeep rather tiring.


    And changing out spirit stones was a pretty big hassle, as it required stopping the puppet and opening the Spirit Gate.


    In battle, this would mean a loss ofbat power. This was fine if there was someone else to protect you, but if you were alone, you would have to be more careful.


    Wei Tianchong also understood this, nodding and saying, ¡°Mm, I understand. If I¡¯m on the tournament stage and I still can¡¯t beat my opponent even after using up the spirit stones, I can just concede.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°The problem is that our lives don¡¯t just consist of the tournament stage.¡±


    ¡°Mm? What do you mean by that?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Before participating in the Immortal Fortune Conference, I have to go somewhere.¡±


    ¡°¡®Go somewhere¡¯?¡± Wei Tianchong asked. ¡°To where?¡±


    ¡°You remember how I told you that Dusnd is rich in resources, and that if a cultivator wants to achieve big things, they have to fight a little for it?¡±


    Wei Tianchong realized that Tang Jie was really nning on carrying out missions in Dusnd territory.


    Missions were a necessary part of life for every student. They both grew from battle and profited from it.


    Upon understanding Tang Jie¡¯s n, Shi Meng asked, ¡°So where are you going to carry out this mission?¡±


    ¡°The Transverse Range,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°The Transverse Range?¡±


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng paled at these words.


    Shi Meng shouted, ¡°That ce is crawling with fiend beasts. Are you sure that¡¯s where you want to go?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Jie firmly replied.


    ¡°It¡¯s too risky.¡± Shi Meng shook his head. ¡°With just the three of us, it won¡¯t be any good.¡±


    Past missions had all been arranged by the school and supervised by a teacher to ensure that the students were safe. After all, fiend beasts were fierce and spell arts did not have eyes. No one could say what might happen.


    But this time, it was just the three of them. Going to a ce crawling with fiend beasts for a mission was far too risky.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°That¡¯s why I said I¡¯m going, but you two don¡¯t need toe. Young Master, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m going to have to borrow your puppet again.¡±


    No matter how slow Wei Tianchong was, he was still able to see the problem. ¡°Tang Jie, did you n to go to the Transverse Range from the very start? That¡¯s why you left the academy early, took me to the secret market, and put so much effort into the puppet.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Jie didn¡¯t try to hide anything. ¡°I have business in the Transverse Range, something that I probably can¡¯t do alone.¡±


    All that effort was for the sake of the reward, investment for the sake of profit!


    The Wei n had invested in Tang Jie, and wasn¡¯t all Tang Jie had done for Wei Tianchong also an investment?


    Tang Jie faced far too many difficulties in entering the Returned Remnants of the Martial Lord.


    Putting aside the great formation, Godhead Pce alone presented a formidable barrier.


    This was particrly because there was no hiding the fact that Tang Jie was attending the Immortal Fortune Conference from Godhead Pce. He was not entirely clear of suspicion, so Godhead Pce would undoubtedly be keeping an eye on him, and would perhaps even try to use him or capture him.


    This was precisely why Tang Jie needed to make so many preparations, and going to the Transverse Mountains was part of this. As for the secret market, that was the preparation for the preparation. Without Wei Tianchong¡¯s Grade 3bat puppet, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t confident in his sess.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, we might as well go with you,¡± Wei Tianchong said. ¡°We should just avoid ces that are too dangerous.¡±


    <em>But I need to go to those dangerous ces this time,</em> Tang Jie said to himself.


    But he kept this part quiet, only shaking his head and saying, ¡°Young Master, the greatest help you can give me is loaning me your puppet. As for the Transverse Range, I still hope to go there alone.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was taken aback, suspiciously looking at Tang Jie. ¡°Tang Jie, are you hiding something from us?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Who doesn¡¯t have secrets? In truth, I¡¯m just looking for a few lucky encounters to serve as hidden cards that I can reveal at the Immortal Fortune Conference. But if others found out, they might take precautions. Thus, Young Master, for the sake of all I¡¯ve done for you over thesest few years, can you help me with something?¡±


    ¡°Tell me.¡±


    ¡°I will go alone to the Transverse Mountains. But you and Shi Meng can¡¯t tell anyone. If someone does ask, say that I was with you the entire time.¡±


    ¡°Deal!¡± Wei Tianchong nodded. ¡°Why not take Luo Yue too? Luo Yue recently entered middle grade, and she should get stronger by going with you. In addition, she can also teach you the ckwater Soul Possession, which will let you exhibit more of the puppet¡¯s power.¡±


    ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Wei Tianchongughed, patting his chest. ¡°Rx. I¡¯m still True Person Changfeng¡¯s disciple. I¡¯m not the me of the past who wouldn¡¯t be able to survive without a puppet. Just do what you need to. If you run into danger, don¡¯t worry about anything else. Keeping yourself alive is most important, so you can even throw away the puppet if that¡¯s what you need.¡±


    Tang Jie was deeply moved by these words.


    The Wei Tianchong of the past who had required his support had truly grown up.


    This wasn¡¯t just growth in strength. More importantly, it was growth in mindset.


    It was Yan Changfeng, not Tang Jie, who granted him this maturity.


    He had to admit that there was a reason that renowned teachers produced excellent disciples.


    This wasn¡¯t only because Yan Changfeng knew how to teach disciples, but also because of his illustrious reputation.


    At Yan Changfeng¡¯s side, Wei Tianchong¡¯s status as a scion of a great n no longer mattered. He was just an ordinary ¡°Little Eighth.¡±


    Any person at Yan Changfeng¡¯s side, even one of his servants, would have a statusparable to Wei Tianchong, and Wei Tianchong¡¯s senior brothers were all renowned individuals, with even the worst of them, Nan Baicheng, being a Spirit Master.


    The enormous shift in status had forced Wei Tianchong to change his thinking and begin to consider matters from the angle of a ¡°lower person¡±.


    Lady Wei didn¡¯t need to give him any reminders about this. Any young master with a normal mind would be cautious when standing in front of one of the 19 Celestial Chiefs, not even daring to breathe too loudly.


    Hedonistic wastrels would be obedient children and foolish youths would figure out how to read faces.


    This was the survival instinct the weak had toward the strong, a natural shift that came from an enormous difference in status. Anyone who couldn¡¯t do this would be eliminated.


    Tang Jie could teach Wei Tianchong something one hundred times and still not have Wei Tianchong understand or remember. But Yan Changfeng only needed to say one sentence for Wei Tianchong to remember, for he would not dare to forget.


    His hobbies, his way of doing things, his perspectives on life¡ªhis disciples had to remember all of it, even take it as the highest standard of human achievement.


    This was the importance of one¡¯s overall environment.


    To make a person mature, one needed to give them an environment that could make them mature.


    Compared to Yan Changfeng, Tang Jie might have been able to raise Wei Tianchong to this level, but it would have taken him ten times the effort. This was precisely the reason Tang Jie had been so determined to make Wei Tianchong a True Inheritor.


    Now, he was finally getting repayment for his efforts. Without Wei Tianchong, Tang Jie had no idea where he would get a puppet, and for his n, he direly needed a capable assistant.


    Even so, Tang Jie still decided to refuse the help of the little fox. After all, he really couldn¡¯t let others know what he was going to do next.


    The next morning, Tang Jie said goodbye to Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng, and set off on his own.


    As he watched Tang Jie leave, Wei Tianchong said, ¡°Shi Meng, why do you think it is that Tang Jie went off on his own?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he say it was to seek lucky opportunities?¡± Shi Meng asked.


    ¡°Do you really believe that?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    ¡°Mm?¡± Shi Meng was confused. ¡°Young Master, what do you mean?¡±


    Wei Tianchong casually said, ¡°I admit that I¡¯m not someone who likes to use his head often, but I¡¯m not stupid. Shi Meng, don¡¯t you think that Tang Jie has always been hiding something?¡±


    ¡°This¡­ Young Master,¡± Shi Meng chuckled. ¡°In truth, all of us servants have our own worries.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the same,¡± Wei Tianchong replied as he watched Tang Jie¡¯s distant figure. ¡°I sense that he¡¯s hiding a secret. I don¡¯t dare make a judgment on anything else, but at least this time, I¡¯m sure that he¡¯s not looking for some lucky opportunity. If he were, he wouldn¡¯t have refused Luo Yue. Since he doesn¡¯t want Luo Yue¡¯s help, it means¡­ he has a secret he doesn¡¯t want Luo Yue to know.¡±


    Wei Tianchong paused, and then he firmly said, ¡°Something that he doesn¡¯t want us to know!¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Shi Meng was shocked. ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you just ask him?¡±


    Wei Tianchong chuckled. ¡°Because I¡¯m no longer that person who was socking in tact. He must have a reason he doesn¡¯t want us to know. Maybe it¡¯s because he doesn¡¯t believe in us, or maybe he doesn¡¯t want to implicate us. Regardless, it¡¯s not to hurt us. And if you want to know someone else¡¯s secret, the best method isn¡¯t to argue, but to use your actions to prove that you have the right to share in that secret!¡±

 Chapter 261: Releasing the Tiger

    Chapter 261: Releasing the Tiger


    The Gargantua ins.


    This was thergest in on the western end of the Rosecloud Domain. It was vast and t, and had an amodating climate. West of this ce was the Storm Ocean Zone, also known as the Western Sea.


    At the center of the Gargantua ins was an oceanic passage, forty kilometers wide and nearly eight hundred kilometers long. It divided the coastal region of the Storm Ocean into two, and at the end of this passage was a massive floating ind.


    This was Nadir Hill.


    It was said that long ago, Nadir Hill didn¡¯t exist.


    In High Antiquity, there was a savage tapir that stirred havoc around the Western Sea, making it difficult for people to live. A Titan, the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign, answered the pleas of the people and slew this tapir, turning its corpse into an ind and altering thendscape so that the ind would link the continent and cease to be an ind of the Western Sea. This was why the continent was so vast and why the sea prated so deeply into the interior of the continent.


    The earliest people of Nadir Hill developed on this solitary ind. They prated deep into the continent along this water passage and ultimately seized control over all of the westernnds, including the Gargantua in.


    This was how Nadir Hill developed from a lone ind into an enormous country.


    On the eastern end of the Gargantua in was a solitary mountain. This was Godhead Mountain.


    The headquarters of Godhead Pce.


    Godhead Mountain was not a natural mountain. Rather, it had been created through the supreme magic powers of a Godhead Pce Titan andrge amounts of manpower and craftsmanship.


    Godhead Mountain was made entirely from jade and was about 2800 meters tall. Asrge amounts of metal had been mixed in, the entire mountain shed under the sunlight.


    It was for this reason that Godhead Pce¡¯s color came to be gold.


    At the summit was a dazzling pce, none other than Godhead Pce.


    But few people knew that this pce on the summit was only a small part of Godhead Pce. In truth, all of Godhead Mountain was Godhead Pce. When the mountain was first created, the people of Godhead Pce hadpletely hollowed it out, and the belly of the mountain contained a vast pceplex of five pces and thirteen halls. This was the real Godhead Pce.


    The Pce of No-Thought (Wunian).


    In the Zen Hall, Shi Wunian was seated in meditation, his eyes closed.


    His breathing was long and forceful, and when he breathed out, the entirety of the Zen Hall would groan as if it was expanding. When he breathed in, the Zen Hall would contract as if a tiny vortex had formed with Shi Wunian at the center.


    Following his breathing, the Zen Hall entered a sublime rhythm, like the pulsing of a heart.


    Until a voice spoke. ¡°Hawk Hall¡¯s Deng Yuqing seeks an audience with the Aspirational Master.¡±


    The breathing stopped.


    Shi Wunian cracked open his eyes. ¡°Enter.¡±


    He waved his hand, and a door inexplicably appeared in what had been apletely sealed chamber.


    The door opened, and a middle-aged man with two long whiskers walked in and prostrated before Shi Wunian. ¡°Yuqing pays respects to the Aspirational Lord. May the Aspirational Lord be blessed with eternal health and early entrance to the Immortal tform.¡±


    ¡°Rise and sit,¡± Shi Wunian said, waving his hand. A small stool popped into being within the meditation chamber.


    ¡°This lowly one does not dare to sit in front of the Aspirational Lord,¡± Deng Yuqing hurriedly said.


    ¡°I asked you to sit, so do it. You have had it hard, being on the road this much.¡±


    Deng Yuqing did not dare to keep refusing, and quickly sat down.


    Shi Wunian asked, ¡°How are things on Jin Yu¡¯s end?¡±


    Deng Yuqing swiftly replied. ¡°We can almost confirm that the Great Dao Hall has been colluding with the Seven Absolutions Sect, but we don¡¯t have firm evidence just yet. The hall master is personally keeping an eye on them and will move the moment he notices anything suspicious. But this is also why he wasn¡¯t able to make it back and had this subordinatee instead.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Shi Wunian had little reaction. He grunted and asked, ¡°What of the Celestial Mountains?¡±


    ¡°We have a draft list of names, and we¡¯ve also prepared files for the relevant information. We¡¯re in the middle of gathering the rest of the information.¡± Deng Yuqing took out a small booklet and handed it over.


    Shi Wunian waved his hand, and the book flew up to his face and began to flip through its pages, stopping at the seventh.


    At the top of the page was a name.


    Tang Jie!


    Shi Wunian stared at the name for a while before saying, ¡°What do you think about this person?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s very suspicious,¡± Deng Yuqing replied.


    ¡°After all those years and all that effort, all you can get is ¡®very suspicious¡¯.¡± Shi Wunian¡¯s voice was low and cold.


    Deng Yuqing did not panic. ¡°Yes. The incident from three years ago had far too great of an effect on my Godhead Pce. Although we initially felt that this was the handiwork of the Basking Moon Sect, in the aftermath, we found far too many suspect points. But the greatest suspicion of all was that if Tang Jie was really a person sent by the Basking Moon Sect to confuse the people of my Godhead Pce, then he would be a suicide soldier. But in these three years, rather than rewarding this sort of suicide soldier, the Basking Moon Sect even gave him a minor punishment by docking contribution points from him, which does not make sense. While this might be because they wanted to put on a show for us, even if they didn¡¯t give him any rewards in the open, they should have given him something in the shadows. But ording to our investigations, the Basking Moon Sect has not supported Tang Jie from the shadows either. Instead, two years ago, during the True Inheritor struggle, Tang Jie was desperately trying to get a chance for Wei Tianchong while Nan Baicheng was set on preventing him¡­ This does not at all seem like something a suicide soldier would do, nor is it the treatment he should receive. If the Basking Moon Sect really treated its suicide soldiers like this, they would probably all lose heart.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Shi Wunian had the same indifferent response. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve reexamined Tang Jie¡¯s files and found that he¡¯s very cautious, utterlycking the free spirit a youth should have, but he has a rather cheerful personality. As suicide soldiers use their life to repay the sect, they know that their life has a limit and so often have disagreeable and ruthless personalities, in addition being bold and ruthless. Thus, in terms of personality, Tang Jie does not fit the mold. On the contrary, that he was able to help Wei Tianchong rise above the rest amply proves that he has his own ability. A person like him should not be a suicide soldier, nor would they be one. Putting this all together and working backwards¡­ we can roughly reach a conclusion.¡±


    Deng Yuqing paused before continuing, ¡°I don¡¯t think that Changqing did anything wrong, only that this child was more cunning and ruthless than we anticipated. Of course, we cannotpletely free Changqing of me. His goal had always been to find Tang Jiye and find the Martial Mirror, but he never imagined the possibility that the child could strike back. His wrong assessment of the other side¡¯s goals led him to take the wrong methods. Such things aremonce.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m sure you didn¡¯t misassess his goal this time, yes?¡±


    Deng Yuqing chuckled. ¡°Naturally. If that were not the case, what need would there have been for the Aspirational Lord to pay a personal visit to the Wandering Pce and persuade them to hold the Immortal Fortune Conference at the Celestial Mountains?¡±


    Shi Wunian gave a slight nod. ¡°The bait has been cast, and the fish has begun to nibble at the hook. Whether or not the fish can be caught will depend on your side.¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Deng Yuqing hesitated.


    ¡°What other problem is there?¡± Shi Wunian turned his eyes to Deng Yuqing, and the faint glint within them made Deng Yuqing shiver.


    He hastily cupped his fist in his hand and said, ¡°It is like this. If this child really is Tang Jiye, then everything he did back then was a trap. Someone who could set such a trap would undoubtedly take precautions against us and would not bring the Martial Mirror with him. Changqing captured Tang Jie and interrogated him, even using the method of a thousand cuts, but Tang Jie refused to say a word. This means that he has a stubborn personality that renders torture ineffective. Moreover, he also has a way of resisting Soulscour, so such methods will likely not bear any fruit. The person is easy to capture, but the key is getting back the Martial Mirror. To seize the person but not gain the location of the Martial Mirror is meaningless. Finally, even if we get back the Martial Mirror, in the current situation, we might not be able to open the formation. And if he has a back-up n to expose the secret of the Celestial Mountains if he is captured¡­ we will still get nothing.¡±


    ¡°Then you mean¡­¡±


    ¡°Two solutions. One is to wait for him and then capture him and continue to interrogate him. But the hall master considers this the worst n of all. There is no guarantee of getting the Martial Mirror, no guarantee of opening the formation, and it might even expose the Celestial Mountains. The other solution is probably riskier¡­¡±


    Deng Yuqing stopped speaking, but Shi Wunian understood what he meant.


    He gave a nod. ¡°If Tang Jie is really Tang Jiye, then the Ten Direction Valley must be his true goal for this trip. And to break the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, he needs the Martial Mirror. Thus, if we wait there, there is a high chance that Tang Jie cannot hide the Martial Mirror.¡±


    ¡°Precisely.¡±


    ¡°But this is risky, for if Tang Jie were to enter the formation before we can catch him, we could only look at the formation and sigh.¡±


    ¡°Yes, this is the source of the risk. But this subordinate believes it to be negligible.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Why is that?¡± Shi Wunian asked.


    Deng Yuqing replied, ¡°Because Tang Jie is currently only at the Spirit Sea Tier. Even with the Martial Mirror and Xu Muyang¡¯s instruction, he is still far from capable of breaking through the Immortal formation. But the Visceral Manifestation ssic was discovered after breaking through the firstyer, meaning that the formation probably has manyyers, with something behind eachyer. If this is the case, he only needs to break through the secondyer to get what he wants. Thus, I feel that if Tang Jiees, his real goal won¡¯t be to enter thend of Returned Remnants but to test the waters, breaking through the secondyer at most. If that¡¯s the case, then even if he¡¯s allowed to infiltrate the formation, we won¡¯t lose too much.¡±


    Shi Wunian nodded in agreement. ¡°It makes sense.¡±


    ¡°In truth, this subordinate has an even riskier n.¡±


    ¡°Speak.¡±


    Deng Yuqing replied, ¡°In my view, the matter of the Martial Lord¡¯s treasure is like a war. The key to winning a war isn¡¯t in Tang Jiye or the Martial Mirror, but in who can ultimately obtain the treasure. The oues of all the battles before that do not matter all that much. After all, we once had the Martial Mirror, but weren¡¯t we still unable to get the Martial Lord¡¯s treasure? From this perspective, your subordinate feels that we can be much more tolerant when ites to Tang Jie, with no need to move against him before he enters the core. If necessary, we can even have a formation expert of our side get close to him and instruct him so that he can break through moreyers of the formation, and we can observe him in this time to research the mysteries of the formation.¡±


    Deng Yuqing¡¯s proposal was rather radical. Not only did he not intend to stop Tang Jie from breaking the formation, he wanted to help him, borrowing Tang Jie¡¯s hand to unlock the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. Even if he couldn¡¯t finish the job, they could learn the secret to undoing the formation from Tang Jie.


    Of course, the risk of this n was obvious, and even Shi Wunian couldn¡¯t help but frown. ¡°This is far too risky. We know nothing about what lies within the Nine Executions Immortal Formation or what treasures there might be. What if there is some trap inside that stops us, or what if Tang Jie manages to get his hands on some heavenly treasure first? Even if we managed to capture him, we¡¯ll probably have lost our chance.¡±


    Some treasures weren¡¯t carried around. Given that the Martial Lord¡¯s Returned Remnants had been sealed for ten thousand years, it was only natural that it had spirit fruits and Immortal grasses that were ten thousand years old. Such things were already extinct in the Rosecloud Domain. If Tang Jie were allowed to eat them first, Godhead Pce wouldn¡¯t even have a ce to cry.


    ¡°But it will allow us to resolve the matter in one go. Aspirational Lord, we have been a little too active in the Celestial Mountainstely, and Horizon Ocean Pavilion and the Thousand Passions Sect have already gotten suspicious.¡±


    But Shi Wunian still shook his head. ¡°No, no, it¡¯s too risky.¡±


    ¡°Then let uspromise. The Nine Executions Immortal Formation has nineyers in all, and there is no telling how many years it will take for Tang Jie to break through all of them. Why not help him secretly, at least until the fifthyer? From the spiritual energy leaking out of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, there shouldn¡¯t be any ten-thousand-year nts in the first fiveyers, and the true treasures should be after that. Let¡¯s have him break a fewyers, and once we¡¯ve observed him enough and have a firm grasp of the problem, we can move to seize him.¡±


    ¡°No ten-thousand-year nts, but what about ten-thousand-year fruits?¡± Shi Wunian brusquely replied. ¡°Threeyers at most, and then we must capture Tang Jie!¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Deng Yuqing said, mentally sighing.


    In Shi Wunian¡¯s eyes, the Martial Lord¡¯s Returned Remnants were rightfully Godhead Pce¡¯s. Thus, the thought of Tang Jie taking away anything left him angry and reluctant.


    It was hard to me him. In a ce like this, even the most ordinary spirit grass would have lived ten thousand years. How could he leave such things to Tang Jie?


    But this was precisely why Deng Yuqing wanted the formation to be opened up faster.


    The Martial Lord¡¯s Returned Remnants covered a vast area, so even if they let Tang Jie, how much could he eat?


    So long as the formation was open, wouldn¡¯t the rest all belong to Godhead Pce?


    But this wasn¡¯t because Shi Wunian was being petty.


    It was just that he had no respect for Tang Jie.


    It was just a kid who hadn¡¯t even reached Mortal Shedding. He didn¡¯t even have the right to be Shi Wunian¡¯s enemy.


    Deng Yuqing¡¯s analogy was correct. This was like a war.


    On one side was a powerful kingdom, and on the other was a poor vige.


    If you were to tell the king that you would need a hundred thousand taels of silver readied to go to war against this vige, the king would call you crazy.


    If you looked down on an opponent, you wouldn¡¯t invest too much into dealing with them. It¡¯s an opponent that can be taken care of with one hundred taels of silver, and you insist on using one thousand? It was in itself a sign of ipetence and failure.


    Shi Wunian¡¯s mindset couldn¡¯t be considered wrong. He could ept helping Tang Jie break through twoyers, which was a sign that he thought highly of Tang Jie. But Deng Yuqing¡¯s proposal was too radical and too risky. Young men were always in a rush to make a name for themselves, and Shi Wunian simply couldn¡¯t ept this.

 Chapter 262: The Green Hill Sect (1)

    Chapter 262: The Green Hill Sect (1)


    Tang Jie walked through a lush forest, Yiyi and the little tiger at his side.


    The twisted roots made the ground difficult to traverse.


    Even someone of Tang Jie¡¯s strength was beginning to tire after the long journey.


    He raised his head and peered into the distance. ¡°Yiyi, Bao¡¯er, let¡¯s stop and rest for a bit!¡±


    This was the northeastern region of the Transverse Range.


    The Transverse Range was a famous mountainous region of Dusnd, covering an area of 160,000 square kilometers and spanning three provinces, six prefectures, and forty-two counties. Countless powerful fiend beasts dwelled within.


    The vastness of thend prevented even the Seven Absolutions Sect from fully controlling it. Every year, numerous students, hunters, and Wanderers ventured inside to hunt the fiend beasts and search for spirit treasures. They either got rich or died.


    But for the students of the six major sects, the Transverse Range was not a particrly good mission area.


    While this vast mountainous region did have many fiend beasts and spirit herbs, many years of hunting had resulted in all the easy fiend beasts being killed off and the easy-to-pick spirit nts all being picked. One either had to fight savage fiends or travel across vast distances to find a few spirit nts.


    From a resource-gathering perspective, the Transverse Range was much worse than the Valley of No Return.


    It had to be understood that while there was no entry fee to enter this open mountainous region, there was a time cost.


    It was just like how a bottle of Essence-Refining Pill could save a Spirit Spring student sixty days of cultivation, a Spirit Lake student forty days, and a Spirit Sea student twenty days.


    In other words, if a Spirit Sea Tier student couldn¡¯t make 1200 spirit coins in twenty days, they would have essentially lost money, for they could have achieved the same result with their own cultivation. And this wasn¡¯t even considering the risk andbor involved in exploring such a ce.


    The higher one¡¯s realm, the greater thebor costs, and thus the greater the profit required.


    This was a natural contradiction.


    This was precisely why getting rich in the Transverse Range didn¡¯t only require strength, but luck.


    Tang Jie clearly wasn¡¯t that lucky. This was his fifth day in the mountains.


    He had run into fiend beasts twice in the Transverse Range, and while he had easily handled them with his strength and harvested them, their value was no more than one hundred coins.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t do anything about this.


    Tang Jie stopped and picked some wood to start a fire and cook.


    A wild river deer that he had just caught served as their lunch.


    The golden river deer was roasted on a spit, releasing an alluring aroma.


    Yiyi propped her chin on her hand as she sat by the fire while the little tigery on the ground and stared at the roasting meat. These two had both gotten used to eating cooked food after spending these years with Tang Jie, and Tang Jie¡¯s cooking wasn¡¯t bad and had gotten ahold of their stomachs.


    As the sparks leaped and the meat on the spit cooked, the aroma grew more and more tempting. Watching golden oil dripping from it, the little tiger began to restlessly scratch at the ground.


    Tang Jie found this rather amusing. He tore off a piece and threw it at the little tiger, who began to devour it.


    Yiyi pouted, ¡°Big Brother is biased, feeding the little tiger first.¡±


    Tang Jie scratched her cute little nose and said, ¡°Silly, Bao¡¯er can¡¯t eat food that¡¯s too cooked. What are you fighting with him for?¡±


    Yiyi grunted and turned away, unconvinced.


    ¡°Alright, alright. This piece is almost done, so you can have it,¡± Tang Jie said, handing a piece over to Yiyi.


    The little girl excitedly took it and began to tear away at it.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but shake his head. ¡°You¡¯re not like a little girl at all.¡±


    The little girl made a face at Tang Jie in reply.


    As she was eating, Yiyi suddenly said, ¡°Big Brother, this ce is so boring. When are we going to find that thing you¡¯re looking for?¡±


    Tang Jie patted Yiyi¡¯s little hand and said, ¡°Don¡¯t rush. Patience is the mother of sess. You want to find a lot of fiend beasts? It¡¯s simple. You just keep walking farther in. The farther you go, the more powerful and more numerous the fiend beasts be. You¡¯ll have to worry not about being able to find them, but about whether you can deal with them or not.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s too dangerous!¡±


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t reply for a while. Finally, he said, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s very dangerous, but perhaps that¡¯s the destiny of your big brother. From the moment I arrived in this world, I was foreordained to have danger as mypanion. s, Yiyi, you must apany your big brother in this hardship.¡±


    Yiyi shouted, ¡°Yiyi isn¡¯t afraid! If some bad man tries to bully Big Brother, Yiyi will help you beat him up!¡±


    Tang Jieughed and stroked Yiyi¡¯s head. ¡°Hurry and eat so we can get going again. We should be reaching Old Crow Ridge soon, where we won¡¯t have to worry about fiends.¡±


    At this moment, there was a rustling in the distance.


    It wasn¡¯t particrly loud, but the little tiger stopped eating and turned toward the source of a noise, a low growl of warning in his throat. Yiyi also suddenly became serious, and with a wave of her little hand, some of the surrounding nts began to move.


    Tang Jie remained seated, his right hand gripping the hilt of the Heartbreak Saber while his left hand prepared to pull out the puppet token.


    The three of them had instantly prepared for a battle, and a momentter, the bushes across from them began to rustle, louder and louder until a wild boar charged out.


    This boar was the size of a bull, and its thick fangs were like two inverted hooks. Its body had an earthen yellow sheen to it, indicating that it was a fiend boar.


    The moment this fiend boar appeared, it charged at Tang Jie¡¯s group.


    Yiyi pped her hands andughed. ¡°Finally, another fiend. Unfortunately, we can¡¯t roast it and eat it.¡±


    If beasts that had be fiends were roasted, their essence wouldpletely go to waste, which was why Yiyi had said this. As she spoke, she waved her hand, sending several vines to coil around the boar.


    The boar fiend was an upper-grade Spirit Sensing fiend and quite strong, so when it saw the vines, it immediately tried to break them. But Yiyi had changed over thest two years, and while she was still at the middle grade, her spell arts had swelled in power. These binding vines were many times more tenacious than before.


    The boar fiend struggled a little, but when it saw that it couldn¡¯t break free, it howled, and a yellow light exploded from its body. The fiend boar gigantified, growing to the size of an elephant, and the vines began to give way under its rapidly expanding body.


    Yiyi pursed her lips. ¡°A few more.¡±


    More vines coiled around the boar, wrapping it tightly.


    Even though it was at the upper grade of Spirit Sensing, the boar couldn¡¯t break free, and all it could do was howl miserably.


    Tang Jie and the little tiger did nothing but watch as Yiyi tangled with the fiend boar.


    This fiend boar wasn¡¯t able to get any sort of advantage against Yiyi in a one-on-one, and desperately howled. Yiyi was very happy, pping her hands andughing, ¡°Big Brother, Big Brother, look! I¡¯ve restrained this stupid pig. I¡¯m so awesome!¡±


    But Tang Jie frowned.


    Although Yiyi was a sprite, who relied purely on spell arts, her spell arts were far stronger than those of other sprites, and she had also learned some cultivation methods from Tang Jie. This was why she was much stronger than middle-grade fiends, but that was stillparing her to those of the same grade.


    Against upper grade, victory was possible, but it shouldn¡¯t have been this easy.


    He was about to say something when there was a sh of light in the distance, and a flying sword flew over and stabbed into the head of the boar. With onest howl, the boar fiend dropped to the ground, dead.


    Several young men and women appeared in the distance,ing their way.


    The young man leading the group rushed up to the fiend boar¡¯s side and waved his hand, upon which the flying sword flew back to him. The others in the group then arrived, shouting, ¡°Senior Brother¡¯s divine sword is incredible! It stopped this fiend boar from escaping.¡±


    The manughed, appearing rather happy.


    Yiyi furiously red. ¡°Hey, this fiend boar is ours!¡±


    The man smiled. ¡°Young miss, let me make it clear that we chased this boar to this ce.¡±


    He pointed at the back of the fiend boar, which was sporting several wounds. When Yiyi had been restraining it with vines, she had failed to notice these injuries.


    She was rendered speechless, upon which Tang Jie said, ¡°Since it is yours, then you may take it.¡±


    The man chuckled and said, ¡°Little Brother is truly understanding. Then we will help ourselves.¡±


    He began to dismantle the boar, but he pulled off one of the boar¡¯s tusks and threw it to Tang Jie. ¡°But we have to thank you for stopping it, as we would have had to waste quite a lot of time chasing it otherwise. Take this as a sign of my gratitude.¡±


    Tang Jie saw that this person knew his manners and developed a good impression of him, but he still gave the tusk back. ¡°Thank you, but there¡¯s no need.¡±


    The young man didn¡¯t mind, smiling as he said, ¡°I¡¯m being rude. Anyone who can prate this deeply into the Transverse Range must be someone of some ability and naturally wouldn¡¯t care about such small things.¡±


    A red-robed girl heard this and said, ¡°Senior Brother Qin, aren¡¯t you praising yourself by saying this? We were only able to get this far by relying on you.¡±


    This Senior Brother Qin was taken aback, and then heughed and said, ¡°Naughty girl, you¡¯ve got quite the sharp tongue.¡±


    He turned back to Tang Jie and said, ¡°I am Qin Zhou of the Green Hill Sect, and these are my junior brothers and sisters.¡±


    ¡°My name is Tang Xuan. This is my little sister, Yiyi. We¡¯re both students from Sageheart,¡± Tang Jie replied, giving a fake name.


    He knew about the Green Hill Sect. It was a cultivation sect of Endsea, and while it wasn¡¯t big, it had some reputation. It was most skilled in refining pills, particrly pills for ascending to the next realm. Even the Seven Absolutions Sect couldn¡¯tpare to them in that aspect.


    Pills, talismans, formations, and tools were known as the four auxiliary arts, but they had further subdivisions.


    For example, the Dao of Formations could be divided into fixed formations, refining formations, seal formations, and many other categories. Tang Jie was most skilled in fixed formations, which were formations that were fixed in one location and couldn¡¯t be moved around. He had focused the majority of his energy here because his goal was the Nine Executions Immortal Formation.


    As for pills and medicines, there were cultivation aids that solidified and nurtured one¡¯s foundation, healing medicines that restored blood and muscle, battle supplements that simted spiritual energy and blood energy, and many other kinds of pills with special functions.


    This Green Hill Sect specialized in spirit medicines that could help a cultivator when they were attempting to break into the next realm, while the Seven Absolutions Sect specialized in foundation-solidifying and stimting spirit medicines. The two had oveps, but they also had differences.


    The Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill that the Basking Moon Sect had offered as a reward for Gu Changqing was a spirit medicine for making a charge at Celestial Heart, but this pill only raised the sess rate by 15%¡ªmuch less than the 30% offered by the Anti-Tribtion Celestial Sphere Pill of the Green Hill Sect.


    In the golden age of the Green Hill Sect, it was even able to refine pills that would assist in ascending to the Violet Pce or Immortal tform Realms, but as it declined, these two recipes had been lost. At present, the best pill the Green Hill Sect could refine was the Anti-Tribtion Celestial Sphere Pill, and because itcked materials, it only produced a small number of them. Even the few it refined were all handed over to Horizon Ocean Pavilion.

 Chapter 263: The Green Hill Sect (2)

    Chapter 263: The Green Hill Sect (2)


    As both parties had started talking, the other Green Hill disciples introduced themselves.


    The fatty was called Chen Yao, the somewhat smaller one in a blue robe was called Zhang Chengyun, and the lively red-robed girl was called Luo Yin. There was also a quiet girl who didn¡¯t like talking much called Ling Jing (Quiet Ling), whose name rather suited her.


    (TN: Zhang Chengyun shares an identical name with that poor soul who died in Chapter 195.)


    To meet was to share some fated connection, so Tang Jie decided to invite them to a meal of roast deer.


    Chen Yao was a foodie, and he grabbed a piece of deer meat and began to chow down, nodding andplimenting, ¡°Brother Tang is an excellent cook. This tastes wonderful!¡±


    Zhang Chengyun was bored and went over to the little tiger, who ignored him, so he took a piece of meat from the fiend boar to try and coax him. The tiger didn¡¯t have much of a resolve, so for the sake of this boar meat, he let Zhang Chengyun pet him a few times.


    Luo Yin found Yiyi to be adorable, and given how Yiyi looked like she was six or seven years old, Luo Yin hugged her and yed with her like a kid. Only that Ling Jing quietly sat on the side, saying nothing.


    Tang Jie and Qin Zhou sat next to each other and talked.


    These people hade to the Transverse Range to seek out resources.


    The Green Hill Sect primarily refined medicines, and it needed to search the whole world over for the ingredients. They weren¡¯t like Horizon Ocean Pavilion or the other major sects, which had their own blessednds. At present, the Green Hill Sect had only one minor blessednd which was home to a three-hundred-year spirit field, but this wasn¡¯t even enough to supply the sect. Even Yan Changfeng¡¯s own minor blessednd was superior.


    It wasn¡¯t that they couldn¡¯t do it, but the six major sects had ced an upper limit on the size of blessednds, and each sect had a certain size that they couldn¡¯t go over.


    Those a thousand years and up were called paradises, while those a hundred years and up were called blessednds.


    Only six paradises were permitted, and the rest were divided into major and minor blessednds, whose age limit would vary depending on the sect.


    The Green Hill Sect was a small sect, so it could only have a three-hundred-year spirit field. Any older would break the rules.


    For a pill-refining sect, this was a tragedy.


    From this perspective, one could understand the value of the Martial Lord¡¯s Returned Remnants.


    This was a ten-thousand-yearnd, which was called an Immortal Realm in the cultivation world.


    An intact Immortal Realm was enough to turn a small sect into a super sect like one of the six major sects.


    Theck of blessednds forced the disciples of the Green Hill Sect to go out searching for resources every year, and the Transverse Range was one of the areas they frequented.


    They were official disciples of the Green Hill Sect. As a minor sect, the Green Hill Sect didn¡¯t have as high of a threshold as the Basking Moon Sect, and one only needed to reach Spirit Lake in five years to be a disciple.


    Observing with the Celestial Eye, Tang Jie found that Qin Zhou had the highest cultivation level in the group, at the first tier of Mortal Shedding. The remaining four were all at the Spirit Sea Tier.


    The Green Hill Sect¡¯s main power rested mostly in Mortal Shedding cultivators, and its sole True Person was at the first tier of Celestial Heart. In the Basking Moon Sect, let alone the 19 Celestial Chiefs, even one of Yan Changfeng¡¯s disciples could beat their sect master ck and blue. While this group of five consisted of one Mortal Shedding and four Spirit Sea disciples, Tang Jie estimated that he could probably floor them all with one hand.


    But a group like this was considered an elite force in the Green Hill Sect.


    Perhaps because they were used to lording over their little pond, though theycked the urge to show off that those disciples of major sects did, they were nevertheless full of energy and brimming with confidence. Thus, they had somehow managed to venture all the way into the heart of the Transverse Range.


    While one didn¡¯t encounter fiend beasts the majority of the time one spent in the Transverse Range, this was simply because a danger that was everpresent couldn¡¯t be called danger. There was no telling when one or even more than one Mind Opening fiend beast would emerge and swallow you whole.


    Tang Jie sullenly realized that before he could even finish thinking, Qin Zhou had already decided to apany him. The man said, ¡°Little Brother, since you¡¯re on foot, it doesn¡¯t seem like you came riding on a sword, and you don¡¯t seem like you¡¯ve entered Mortal Shedding. Going in so deep is rather dangerous. While the Transverse Range doesn¡¯t seem that dangerous, no one can say when a Mind Opening fiend beast might appear. Fiends like that won¡¯t be like this fiend boar. Not only are they strong, they¡¯re also frighteningly intelligent. Putting aside the fact that they can run in the face of adversity, they can call for help or even set up traps. It¡¯s rather dangerous for you to adventure this far.¡±


    Flight spells consumed spiritual energy, which was precisely why Spirit tform Realm students normally wouldn¡¯t use them, even if they could, primarily relying on walking. Only at the Mortal Shedding Realm could one harness the spiritual energy of the world to fly for long periods of time. This was why Qin Zhou thought that he was not at the Mortal Shedding Realm yet.


    Tang Jie was rendered speechless by Qin Zhou¡¯s words.


    The fatty Chen Yao suddenly spoke, oil dribbling from his mouth. ¡°Right, Brother Tang, where are you headed?¡±


    ¡°Old Crow Ridge,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°¡®Old Crow Ridge¡¯?¡± the red-robed Luo Yin gasped. ¡°You¡¯re going there!? That¡¯s the territory of an Illusion Fox, an upper-grade Mind Opening fiend that¡¯s established its own cave,manding hundreds of little fiends. Even peak Mortal Shedding experts don¡¯t dare to mess with it, but you¡¯re going there!?¡±


    ¡°Establishing a cave¡± referred to a fiend that had achieved Transformation and was now no different from a human. At this time, it recruited many fiends to serve it, reigning over an area that was known as a fiend stronghold.


    Fiend beasts could also do this at Mind Opening, but as their abilities were limited, they normally made fiend packs that were far from upying an entire area and establishing a cave.


    This Illusion Fox was an exception.


    That was because this fiend fox¡¯s natural ability was illusion, and it could transform into many things, including human form.


    This was different from Transformation, which was a level at which any fiend beast that had achieved it could transform into a human. The Illusion Fox achieved this effect through spell arts, and since Mind Opening fiends were capable of human speech, they appeared to be at Transformation on the surface.


    This was why Illusion Foxes were one of the few existences that could establish caves at the Mind Opening level, and Old Crow Ridge was the territory of this particr fiend fox.


    As it was born cunning, it had gathered many subordinate fiends under it, and it was also naturally fast, allowing it to bully the weak and flee from the strong. Those with ability disdained to deal with it and those without ability had no hope of dealing with it, allowing the fiend fox to live a rather free life on Old Crow Ridge.


    The Green Hill disciples were all bbergasted that Tang Jie was going to Old Crow Ridge.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°I¡¯m trying to see if I can find some zeraven Essence.¡±


    zeraven Essence was left behind when a zeraven died, and it was a spiritual material used in the Dao of Formations that could greatly boost the power of fire formations. Old Crow Ridge was called Old Crow Ridge because it had once been upied by a flock of zeravens. They wereter exterminated by cultivators, after which the Illusion Fox upied the area. Even so, there were still some zeraven Essences scattered around Old Crow Ridge, there for anyone that could get them.


    The Green Hill disciplesughed when they heard that Tang Jie was searching for zeraven Essences. ¡°That¡¯s such a coincidence. We¡¯re also going to Old Crow Ridge, but we¡¯re looking for Whiteroot.¡±


    Whiteroot was one of the main materials for the Green Hill Sect¡¯s Harmonic Threshold Breaking Pills, which was a spirit pill the Green Hill Sect had for breaking into the Mortal Shedding Realm. It was for this material that the Green Hill Sect disciples hade.


    They had alle to gather materials, but even so, stealing right under the eyes of the Illusion Fox would be extremely dangerous.


    This was exactly why Qin Zhou said, ¡°Since we¡¯re all going to the same ce, let¡¯s go together!¡±


    In his view, Tang Jie was just being modest, so he decided to help him out, but Tang Jie inwardly frowned.


    He had big things to do at Old Crow Ridge and didn¡¯t really want outsiders to interfere.


    But it wasn¡¯t like he could stop other people from going. Fortunately, Old Crow Ridge was dangerous, and these people probably wouldn¡¯t take too many risks. In this situation, he agreed, deciding that he would think on his feet.


    Once they were done eating, they all headed off for Old Crow Ridge.


    After around half a day, they arrived.


    Qin Zhou said, ¡°This is Old Crow Ridge. It¡¯s a dangerous ce, so everyone has to be on their highest guard. You¡¯re only allowed to carefully search the nearby area, and if you run into danger, you can¡¯t stay and fight, immediately running if the situation looks bad. We¡¯ve alle here to search for herbs¡ªunderstood?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Senior Brother!¡± everyone replied in unison.


    The group dispersed to search for herbs in the surroundings, but they didn¡¯t wander too far from each other so that they could respond to any mishaps.


    Qin Zhou said to Tang Jie, ¡°Brother, please do as you please. If you find any Whiteroot, please inform us, and we will richly reward you. Of course, we will also watch out for any zeraven Essence.¡±


    ¡°That would be best.¡± Whiteroot didn¡¯t do Tang Jie any good anyway, so if he saw any, he didn¡¯t mind gathering it for them.


    He took his leave from Qin Zhou and headed in the other direction, arriving at a small slope.


    Standing on this slope, he looked around. Once he confirmed that no one was around, he began to form hand signs and chant.


    As his spell was cast, there was a sh, and an eye appeared in front of Tang Jie.


    This eyeball flew into the air, stopping once it was around one hundred feet from the ground. It looked around in the air, and at the same time, images formed in front of Tang Jie: a map of the several dozen kilometers around Old Crow Ridge.


    This spell art was the Illuminating Eye, a high-level scouting spell. Cultivators that were not at the peak of the Mortal Shedding Realm had yet to unlock their Spirit Will, so in order to observe their surroundings, they either had to fly into the air or use a spell.


    Flying into the air in a dangerous zone made one too obvious of a target and also made one easy to discover. As for the Illuminating Eye, it made very small spiritual energy pulses and was the safer choice.


    The Illuminating Eye was a rather profound spell recorded in the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, and it was not easy to learn. But because Tang Jie hadprehended the Dao of Insight, this spell art was extremely simple for him, and he had needed only a few days.


    Under the Illuminating Eye, all of Old Crow Ridge opened up to him.


    Old Crow Ridge was high in the east and low in the west, and there were numerous sharp crags covered in green, providing wonderful scenery. On the eastern side of the ridge, a stream flowed down the mountain in a waterfall. In the mist of the waterfall was a cave, and above the entrance, it was possible to make out a few words: ¡°Fragrant Store Cave¡±.


    Fragrant Store Cave was the residence of the Illusion Fox.


    Tang Jie¡¯s gaze paused on the cave entrance for a few moments, and then he took out a roll of cloth that was about ten feet long and spread it out on the ground.


    He once more cast a spell, and the image of the ridge descended onto the cloth. Faint images began to appear, like an ink painting.


    This image gradually grew more distinct, until finally, theplete map of Old Crow Ridge had appeared.


    This was the Stone Rubbing spell.


    Tang Jie was a poor artist, and sketching out the entire map would take too long, so he needed the Stone Rubbing spell to do the job.


    Once the map was done, Tang Jie ended his spell. He carefully looked over the map, constantly muttering as he calcted something.


    After a while, he took out the crane feather brush and pointed at a ce on the map. A spiritual line appeared on the map, and then Tang Jie began to swiftly stroke the brush, creating numerous spiritual lines all over the map. These formed a giant that divided Old Crow Ridge into countless fine chunks.


    Once he was done, Tang Jie sighed and shook his head. ¡°No good.¡±


    With a wave of his hand, the spiritual lines dissipated, and Tang Jie once more began to make new spiritual lines with his brush.


    A professional would definitely have been able to notice that Tang Jie was doing formation surveying.


    Formation surveying was necessary prep work forrge-scale formations.


    The Eight Gates of the Dao of Formations were the core to a formation, and theyout of any formation first required determining the locations of the Eight Gates. Only once they were linked through formation lines could one think about the rest of the formation.

 Chapter 264: Laying Down a Formation

    Chapter 264: Laying Down a Formation


    In the past, Tang Jie had onlyid down small formations. He could just randomly pick a spot andy down the formation ording to the basic principles of formations. But this time, he wasying down a massive formation, and things were no longer that simple.


    The size of a formation had nothing to do with its grade, only with its range of effect.


    But while that was theory, in truth, therger the formation, the more it required of the formation master. This wasparable to the difference between building a house and building a skyscraper. When the numbers got high enough, there was a qualitative shift, and theplexity became far greater than that of a small formation.


    Setting the locations of the Eight Gates alone involved the several dozen kilometers around Old Crow Ridge. In other words, there would be several kilometers between each of the Eight Gates. Such a distance would undoubtedly affect precision, which would in turn affect strength, and perhaps it would even prevent the formation from sessfully activating.


    Tang Jie had note to Old Crow Ridge for some zeraven Essence. He had arger goal in mind, and this goal required him to set up arge formation that epassed all of Old Crow Ridge.


    This was Tang Jie¡¯s first time setting up such arge formation.


    This was precisely why Tang Jie had first made a map and then begun to perform simtions on the map. Not only did this allow him to make urate simtions, but it also allowed him to observe the terrain and see if he could exploit it.


    Besides the difficulty in finding locations forrge formations, there was also the problem of material.


    Therger the scale, the more resources they consumed. Such a huge formation would cause Tang Jie to go bankrupt, even if he used the most ordinary of materials.


    Tang Jie naturally couldn¡¯t take out that much money. Fortunately, his master, Xu Muyang, had emphasized the path of nature, the melding of formations with nature so as to borrow the power of the world, so he still had some tricks. But this meant that he had high requirements when it came to terrain.


    For example, if he wanted toy down the Hellfire Formation, the Death Gate would have to be established in fire, and this would rule out cing the Death Gate near a mountain spring. Not only that, he needed the Stop Gate to seal off any water sources. And if he wanted to keep the Death Gate far from water, the best location was at the base of the western slope of the ridge. But the Open Gate and Death Gate needed to resonate with each other, so if the Death Gate were located there, the Open Gate would have to be on the slope.


    And upon closer inspection, this location would be right on top of Fragrant Store Cave.


    Tang Jie naturally didn¡¯t think he couldy down a formation in front of the Illusion Fox¡¯s front door without it noticing, so he had to give up on the Hellfire Formation and try another one.


    But no matter what formation he chose, none of them could get around the obstacle that was Fragrant Store Cave.


    It was like a peg, firmly hammered into Old Crow Ridge and preventing Tang Jie from realizing any of his ideas. He was so angry that he couldn¡¯t help but curse, ¡°Shit! It upies thend nexus! It¡¯s no wonder no formation expert has evere to deal with it!¡±


    The Dao of Formations was very demanding when it came to terrain, so it had very specific categories and descriptions for different kinds of terrain.


    The ¡°Formation Treatise¡± that Xu Muyang had given to Tang Jie had a chapter specifically on terrain, discussing how different kinds of terrain would affect a formation.


    Land nexuses were areas where energy converged, and they were the most critical areas in their regions.


    To upy thend nexus was to upy thend¡¯s key location. All formations had to go through this area somehow. But on the other hand, the enemy could also seize this favorable area and evenunch a counterattack.


    It was like a turning point in a war, a deciding move in a chess game, carrying profound meaning and far-reaching effects.


    Fragrant Store Cave had been located precisely on thend nexus of Old Crow Ridge, dealing Tang Jie¡¯s n against the Illusion Fox a heavy blow.


    Yes, Tang Jie¡¯s true goal wasn¡¯t some zeraven Essence, but the Illusion Fox.


    If Qin Zhou or Wei Tianchong had known this, they would have been so scared that their souls would have fled their bodies.


    It had to be understood that this Illusion Fox was none other than an upper-grade Mind Opening fiend, only one step away from Transformation. It was as strong as a peak Mortal Shedding cultivator, and not even Nan Baicheng or Gu Changqing couldpare to it. Besides that, this fiend fox had a gang of fiends under it, many of which were at Mind Opening.


    For someone of Tang Jie¡¯s strength to exterminate this pack of fiends was many times more difficult than singlehandedly holding the Devil Crushing Path.


    This was precisely why Tang Jie had ced his hopes on formations. This was his only way to exceed his level and create a miracle. s, he hadn¡¯t expected an obstacle like this.


    ¡°Is it a coincidence, or is this fiend fox versed in formations? That shouldn¡¯t be the case¡­¡± Tang Jie frowned and looked at the map. There was no reason for a fox to be able to understand formations.


    He once more carefully inspected the map, and his mind began to clear up. ¡°Thend nexus has been upied, but the seat abode is open, the power area still exists, the vital ground is unmanned, and the survival field is cut off¡­ It should be a coincidence, or else it wouldn¡¯t have been just thend nexus upied.¡±


    The terrain chapter had spoken of ten critical regions. Foremost was thend nexus, which gathered energy for the formation. After that was the seat abode, which allowed for aplete view of the surroundings. Third was the power area, which could provide energy to tip the battle in one¡¯s favor. Fourth was the vital ground, which empowered spell arts. Fifth was the survival field, which provided a path of retreat¡­


    At present, the Fragrant Store Cave only upied thend nexus, but all the other important areas were unupied. This caused Tang Jie to conclude that this fiend fox had merely been lucky. The Fragrant Store Cave was surrounded by beautiful scenery, which had probably yed a major role in the fox¡¯s choice.


    But coincidence or not, this was a huge problem for Tang Jie. He began to ponder on how he could resolve this situation, his eyes constantly going over the map. ¡°With thend nexus upied, it will be difficult to set up arge formation. The only solution is to shrink the range and set up the battlefield elsewhere. But if I do that, I have to draw out the fox¡­¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that too risky?¡± Yiyi fearfully said.


    A smaller formation didn¡¯t just add the danger of drawing out the fox. Crucially, it would be difficult to lure all of the targets into the formation. Once the formation was activated, the fiends on the outside would be on their guard and refuse to enter.


    Not only would the formation have captured fewer fiends, the fiends could attack the formation from the outside and destroy it.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t have any other choice.


    Creating a miracle was risky business, and he had never hoped that everything would go smoothly.


    ¡°Risk is unavoidable,¡± Tang Jie lightly said.


    Yiyi was afraid, and she threw herself into Tang Jie¡¯s chest and said, ¡°Big Brother, if it¡¯s really no good, let¡¯s just not do it.¡±


    Tang Jie firmly said, ¡°No, to deceive Godhead Pce, I need an avatar on the outside, and this fiend fox is the only one that can do it.¡±


    For Tang Jie, the greatest difficulty in entering that secret ground in the Celestial Mountains wasn¡¯t the formation, but the surveince of Godhead Pce.


    Ordinary disguise spells wouldn¡¯t be able to fool Godhead Pce. The only solution was an avatar.


    But only those at the Celestial Heart Realm could create avatars, and not even an extra one hundred years would be enough for Tang Jie to reach this level. Thus, he had to seek alternative methods, and the Illusion Fox was his choice.


    The Illusion Fox had the natural talent of Thousandform, so once he killed it and obtained its fiend pellet, he couldbine it with the Soul Jade and obtain an avatar.


    Tang Jie had figured out this method from the Celestial Treasure Supreme Heart Mantra. The Five Gods Faith had specialized in soul arts. They could even attach souls to puppets, so creating a substitute was no problem. Of course, an avatar created by this method was far inferior to a real avatar. It wouldn¡¯t be able to cultivate and would be much weaker than the original. But while it could only serve as a stand-in, there was still very little chance of it being discovered.


    ording to the Heart Mantra, a Violet Pce Titan would have to be on the scene to detect this substitute, or else someone who hadprehended the Dao of Insight. The average Celestial Heart expert wouldn¡¯t be able to tell.


    But getting to this point wasn¡¯t easy. The Illusion Fox was of Mind Opening¡¯s upper grade and not easy to deal with, but this was exactly why he needed to do it.


    A major sect like Godhead Pce might be fooled once, but it wouldn¡¯t be fooled twice by the same trick. Now that Tang Jie had already made them suffer a loss, Godhead Pce would be treating him much more cautiously.


    Logically, it was impossible to fool arge organization if it was being cautious enough. After all, with the power of numbers, they could think of any n that you might think of.


    Mistaken judgments were only created because too many answers essentially meant that there was no answer at all. Thus, the policy makers would normally rule out the answers with little possibility when drafting ns.


    And miracles were often established on these ¡°impossibilities¡±.


    Tang Jie had spent four years in Basking Moon Academy, and he had gradually begun to understand the behavior patterns of this world.


    In terms of mindset, these people were limited by the era they lived in, but in terms of scheming and backstabbing each other, they were on par with the people in the world he hade from.


    Tang Jie was sure that Godhead Pce would never think that he would use a substitute. Thus, since ordinary tricks wouldn¡¯t work against them, he had to resort to an avatar.


    This was because this was ¡°impossible¡± for Tang Jie to do in Godhead Pce¡¯s eyes, and so there was barely any chance that they would take countermeasures against it.


    Thus, to create the ¡°big miracle¡± of defeating Godhead Pce, Tang Jie first had to create the ¡°small miracle¡± of defeating the Illusion Fox. It was only through the umtion of countless small miracles that the foundation for a future big miracle could be created.


    With his mind made up, Tang Jie began to remake his n.


    Things were much simpler now, and Tang Jie quickly found the ce he needed.


    The western slope of Old Crow Ridge.


    This was a steep and thickly forested slope, waterfalls running off the side and zeraven Essences scattered about. Four of the Five Elements were present, and with a recement for the Metal Element, he could create at least a Grade 3 formation. There were no ore veins in Old Crow Ridge, but he could use materials in their ces. In preparation for this, Tang Jie had brought some ore with him.


    Once he had found the location, the appropriate formation instantly came to mind.


    The Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation.


    This was a Grade 3 formation. He had chosen it because it was a formation that suited the terrain and because this formation, while average in terms of lethality, excelled in defense and restraining the opponent. Since it was impossible for him to entrap all his targets in the formation, the defensive abilities of the formation became more important. The third reason was that Yiyi¡¯s flower formation would be more effective in this formation.


    His n set, Tang Jie put away the map and headed for that slope.


    With the Illuminating Eye and his own caution, he didn¡¯t run into any problems and quickly arrived at this destination, upon which he began to set up the formation.


    Green lights began to appear on the slope, thick thorns rising, spiritual energy surging, and water gurgling.


    Tang Jie was like a tourist, wandering across the slope, and when he arrived at certain spots, he would carefully select a location and put all his focus into setting up the formation. As for Yiyi, she was in charge of finding zeraven Essences. She was a sprite and had the natural ability tomunicate with nts, making it easier for her to find things. This together with the Illuminating Eye allowed her to quickly find three zeraven Essences. s, since there was nothing replenishing zeraven Essences on Old Crow Ridge, she ultimately managed to find only these three.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t care. The Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation didn¡¯t require much when it came to fire-attribute materials, only enough to keep the formation running.


    As this formation was muchrger than any he had previously set down,ying it down was rather difficult and time-consuming.


    But his luck this time was pretty good, and he managed to get through his work without much incident. By dusk, the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation¡¯s framework wasplete, and he just needed to add some details to finish things off.


    Of course, this was also because Tang Jie had decided on a smaller formation, one-tenth the size of what he had originally nned. If he had stuck to his original course, he would have needed seven or eight days toy down a formation that would epass all of Old Crow Ridge.


    As the formation nearedpletion, Tang Jie began to rx. At this time, Yiyi ran over, carrying some white grass. She excitedly said, ¡°Big Brother, look! Whiteroot!¡±

 Chapter 265: Business Transaction

    Chapter 265: Business Transaction


    Tang Jie looked over and saw a white grass about three feet long with four cloves, its roots like twisted vines. Nodding, he said, ¡°Correct, it¡¯s Whiteroot, and one that¡¯s been growing for at least thirty years. I can¡¯t believe that there¡¯s so many! Where did you find them?¡±


    Yiyi was holding at least seven stalks. For Old Crow Ridge to be home to a swath of Whiteroot, and thirty-year Whiteroot at that, was practically a miracle.


    Yiyi pointed into the distance. ¡°Over by the spring.¡±


    <em>¡°By the spring¡±?</em>


    Tang Jie was surprised.


    The stream was not hidden away, and it wasn¡¯t far from Fragrant Store Cave. There was no reason for them to have remained for that long.


    He activated the Illuminating Eye and looked where Yiyi was pointing. Mist churned over the stream, and water spruce grew next to it, exuding a white energy. This mixed with the mist from the stream, creating a white fog that obscured all.


    Tang Jie realized what was going on. ¡°Mist of Water and Wood managed to form a natural formation. No wonder!¡±


    There were always some things in the world that implicitly grew in ordance with the principles of formations, resulting in special effects. The stream Yiyi was pointing at had many water spruces growing next to it. This tree excreted a sort of sap that would sublimate on contact with the wind and make people dizzy, and the addition of water would strengthen the effect. This sort of energy fog should have slowly dissipated, but the grove of water spruce had grown up in such a way that they created a formation that locked down the area, filling it with this dizzying mist, and when coupled with the mist from the stream to obscure vision, they created a natural illusion formation.


    A person who went in would lose their sense of direction, so it was no wonder that they wouldn¡¯t be able to find the Whiteroot. Yiyi had been able to find the Whiteroots because she was a sprite and couldmunicate with the water spruces, who had pointed her the way to them.


    This illusion formation wasn¡¯t actually difficult to break through. All it required was spell arts sted at it from a distance to destroy a few of the supporting water spruces. But natural formations were difficult to find, and there was no harm in appreciating the view. Moreover, it was not good to destroy nature without a good reason.


    Tang Jie had an idea when he saw this grove, feeling like he could use it somehow.


    He took out the rm Gate Banner and gave it to Yiyi. ¡°Yiyi, you see that short water spruce? Right, that shortest one surrounded by the others. Stick this banner on top of it.¡±


    Tang Jie took out a block of Softscent Jade. ¡°And then put this Softscent Jade in the stream where it can be closest to the tree that the banner is on.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Yiyi didn¡¯t get it.


    ¡°That¡¯s a natural formation, and if we strengthen it, we can use it as a path to escape. But this illusion formation only has Water and Wood, so it¡¯s too easily broken. It¡¯s only been able tost for so long because nobody can be bothered to deal with it, not because nobody is capable. Softscent Jade represents Earth and can be used to solidify the foundations and grant self-recovery. With this thing, it won¡¯t be that easy to break the illusion formation. Do you get it now?¡±


    When with Yiyi, Tang Jie had never minded teaching her about various things. While she still wasn¡¯t a true expert when it came to formations, under Tang Jie¡¯s guidance, she understood many basic concepts.


    As for Softscent Jade, some materials were consumed and some materials were not. Softscent Jade was the kind of material that wasn¡¯t consumed, so Tang Jie wasn¡¯t worried about losing it. It was just that when the formation activated, some of the spirituality in the jade might be absorbed, reducing the value of the Softscent Jade. But if this could save his life, then it was worth it.


    Yiyi firmly nodded after hearing Tang Jie¡¯s exnation, taking the banner and jade and going.


    After giving Yiyi her mission, Tang Jie turned to inspect his Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation. As he was performing this final inspection, he realized something with a start.


    He hadn¡¯t realized it when he was getting the Softscent Jade, but he now realized that he had apparently seen only two blocks of Softscent Jade in the Mustard Seed Bag.


    Tang Jie had refined 4.2 blocks from the Jade Pearl Stone. One block had been divided into two and given to Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng, and he had sold off the partial block for money that he used to buy ore. Thus, he still had three blocks left unused.


    He hastily opened up his Mustard Seed Bag and looked again. Everything else was there, all except that Softscent Jade. After he had taken out that one block, there was only one block left.


    Shocked, Tang Jie looked again, and he finally found a little white rock in the corner of his bag.


    He took it out and found that it was that missing Softscent Jade, but for some reason, all of its spirituality was gone. This brick-sized block was now nothing more than an ordinary rock.


    Five thousand coins, gone! Just like that!


    Tang Jie thought back, and he recalled how he had stuffed that ck pearl into the Softscent Jade.


    Was it that pearl¡¯s doing?


    This¡­ What in the world was this thing, that it could suck a block of Softscent Jade dry of its essence?


    A chill traveled up his spine and throughout his body.


    Tang Jie knew that he had obtained some incredible treasure, but this treasure was just too bizarre and wicked. He did not dare to mess around with it.


    At this moment, points of starlight appeared in the distance. This was the Green Hill Sect¡¯s signal to gather.


    Tang Jie put away the pearl and headed back down the ridge.


    Down below, Qin Zhou and his disciples were whispering about something. From how animated their faces were, it seemed like they had had a good harvest.


    As Tang Jie came over, Qin Zhou said, ¡°Brother Tang, how did it go?¡±


    ¡°Not bad.¡± Tang Jie turned his hand over, revealing the handful of Whiteroots.


    ¡°So many?¡± the Green Hill Sect disciples cried out in unison.


    They had searched the entire afternoon, and the five of them had only managed to find ten-some stalks, but Tang Jie had, alone, brought back eight.


    ¡°And they¡¯re thirty-year Whiteroots.¡± Even the taciturn Ling Jing couldn¡¯t help butment.


    Whiteroots weren¡¯t easy to find, and thirty-year Whiteroots were even harder to find. The Green Hill Sect disciples were stunned by Tang Jie¡¯s harvest, Zhang Chengyun even saying, ¡°With these thirty-year Whiteroots, we should be able to refine two furnaces¡¯ worth of Harmonic Threshold Breaking Pills!¡±


    He reached for the Whiteroots, but Tang Jie drew his hand back and put the Whiteroots away. Zhang Chengyun snatched at empty air and angrily said, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Qin Zhou lightly coughed. ¡°Junior Brother Zhang, these aren¡¯t ours.¡±


    Zhang Chengyun remembered that Tang Jie wasn¡¯t part of the Green Hill Sect and blushed in shame. On the side, Luo Yin and Ling Jing giggled.


    Qin Zhou asked Tang Jie, ¡°Brother Tang, congrattions on getting so many Whiteroots. This spirit grass is extremely useful to us, as Brother Tang knows. Would you be willing to part with them?¡±


    Tang Jie casually asked, ¡°Did you find any zeraven Essences?¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Qin Zhou exchanged looks with hisrades, but all of them shook their heads. It was clear that none of them had found any.


    It was hard to me them. They were all focused on the things they needed, with no attention to spare for what they didn¡¯t need. If not for Yiyi, Tang Jie wouldn¡¯t have gotten these Whiteroots. Regardless, they didn¡¯t have anything to trade to Tang Jie.


    In truth, Tang Jie didn¡¯t even need more zeraven Essences. He had asked because he was testing to see if they had the ability to trade with him. And if they didn¡¯t, that was wonderful.


    Sure enough, Qin Zhou said, ¡°We don¡¯t have any zeraven Essences, but if Brother Tang is willing to give us the Whiteroots, we are willing to pay in cash or medicine.¡±


    ¡°Right, right!¡± Luo Yin shouted. ¡°Our Green Hill Sect has lots of medicines that we can trade to you!¡±


    Tang Jie immediately said, ¡°That¡¯s good. I want three Harmonic Threshold Breaking Pills.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The Green Hill Sect disciples were aghast.


    Grimacing, Qin Zhou said, ¡°Can Brother Tang ask for something else? The Harmonic Threshold Breaking Pill is a secret medicine of our Green Hill Sect that is not lightly given to outsiders.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°So Horizon Ocean Pavilion doesn¡¯t count as outsiders? ¡®Not giving to outsiders¡¯ is just something one says to raise one¡¯s social status. Moreover, while the Harmonic Threshold Breaking Pill can assist in breaking into the next realm, even without it, it doesn¡¯t mean one can¡¯t enter Mortal Shedding.¡±


    For cultivators, the greater the realm, the harder it was to break into it. While Mortal Shedding wasn¡¯t easy to break into, it wasn¡¯t some enormous barrier, only a matter of whether one spent a long time or a short time. Thosecking the talent might need several years, while those with good talent might only need a few months to half a year. Thus, while the Harmonic Threshold Breaking Pill could muster spiritual energy to assist in breaking into the realm, increasing the chances of reaching the Mortal Shedding Realm by a lot, this was only valuable for ordinary students. It was basically worthless for students like Qi Shaoming. A person like him wouldn¡¯t have much to worry about before Celestial Heart.


    Why else would it be said that someone with a nine-cycle Jade Gate even had a hope at Immortal tform?


    Thus, Qin Zhou¡¯s words were merely an excuse to try to lower the price.


    Chen Yao then said, ¡°While that¡¯s true, a Harmonic Threshold Breaking Pill doesn¡¯t only require Whiteroot. Arge number of materials are also needed, so asking for three in one go is too much.¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°But Whiteroot is the most important, or else you wouldn¡¯t have riskeding here. Twenty furnaces¡¯ worth of pills will be twenty-some pills if you¡¯re lucky. Asking for three isn¡¯t too much!¡±


    To be frank, Tang Jie asking for three pills for the Whiteroots he had on hand truly wasn¡¯t going overboard. It was just that a business transaction without much profit really wasn¡¯t very tempting.


    Tang Jie wanted to make a trade of equivalent value, so the Green Hill Sect had been celebrating just a little too early.


    Zhang Chengyun snorted and said, ¡°He was able to get the Whiteroots because we escorted him here. Without us, where would he have gotten them? Moreover, even if he weren¡¯t here, we might have found these Whiteroots anyway. And he still has the nerve to ask us for three Harmonic Threshold Breaking Pills.¡±


    He almost said out loud, <em>Tang Jie, you¡¯re just a puny student, so you¡¯re lucky that we won¡¯t just steal from you. And you still have the guts to try to take from the lion¡¯s mouth? You really think that the world is full of good people like us? Really, people don¡¯t know the dangers of the world until they experience it for themselves.</em>


    Tang Jie heard what had been left unsaid and smiled. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that you want to take a bodyguard fee for keeping mepany?¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Zhang Chengyun froze up, angrily gesturing at him.


    Qin Zhou frowned. Just when he was about to exin, Tang Jie said, ¡°In truth, taking a little bodyguard fee isn¡¯t too excessive.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Everyone was surprised, wondering what Tang Jie meant.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°But the price needs to be negotiated first. Right, so how many Harmonic Threshold Breaking Pills are you willing to trade for the Whiteroots?¡±


    Qin Zhou was about to speak when Zhang Chengyun impatiently said, ¡°One at most!¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s one life for two pills.¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Not expensive at all.¡±


    Everyone grew excited upon hearing this, as it seemed that Tang Jie had agreed to their conditions. Only Qin Zhou felt like there was something wrong, saying, ¡°Tang Jie, what are you trying to say?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s just that since you¡¯ve agreed to protect me, then please prepare to do so,¡± Tang Jie nonchntly said.


    ¡°¡®Prepare to do so¡¯? Do what?¡± The disciples were bbergasted.


    ¡°To deal with fiend beasts, of course. Have you not noticed?¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    ¡°They¡¯re already here!¡±

 Chapter 266: Soul Refining Pearl (1)

    Chapter 266: Soul Refining Pearl (1)


    Tang Jie had barely finished speaking when softughter drifted out from all around them.


    In the darkness, Old Crow Ridge was cold and creepy. As that sinisterughter rang out, everyone felt an ill wind blow across their hearts, causing their blood to run cold.


    Qin Zhou said in shock, ¡°Fiends! Run!¡±


    ¡°You think there¡¯s still time?¡± A cold and sinister voice chuckled.


    ck smoke erupted from their surroundings, making it impossible to tell north from south as shadowy figures appeared. Numerous fiends were concealed in the smoke, and the Green Hill Sect disciples didn¡¯t know where to go.


    ¡°We¡¯re done for!¡± The five Green Hill Sect disciples were all aghast.


    The fiends of Old Crow Ridge weren¡¯t something they could deal with, so they had been prepared to run away upon encountering a fiend from the very start. But theycked observation and foresight and did not realize that some dangers couldn¡¯t be run from.


    Night had fallen, dark smoke lingered, a sinister wind blew, and ghostly energy filled the air. Strangeughter resounded around them, asionally mixed with frightening bestial howls. These intive and strange sounds couldn¡¯t but instill fear and panic.


    Qin Zhou was the one who reacted the fastest, barking, ¡°What are you standing around for!? Take out the four treasures! We¡¯re fighting our way out!¡±


    The sword on his back flew out, unleashing a dazzling white light that cut down a fiend behind him.


    The four other Green Hill disciples shook themselves out of their shock and began to attack.


    Zhang Chengyun used an Eight Trigrams Token, which let out a light that dispersed some of the ck fog.


    Luo Yin used a pipa. This pipacked any strings, but as she strummed her fingers across it, one could hear the plinking of strings like a clear spring running across stones, the melodious tune suppressing some of the mournful winds.


    Ling Jing brandished a silk waistband, which grewrger andrger as it waved in the air, threatening to fill this entire area.


    That fatty, Chen Yao, had the most interesting move of all. He turned to a pack of fiends and opened his mouth, upon which a furious vortex erupted from his mouth. It was like his mouth had be a wind tunnel, constantly unleashing powerful wind currents.


    As they used their techniques, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but raise an eyebrow, eximing, ¡°Quite interesting.¡±


    The Green Hill disciples had been very coordinated¡ªa sign of repeated training¡ªand the effect was also quite impressive.


    That strangeughter seemed to have been choked off at the source, the voice suddenly stopping.


    The smoke dispersed, as did the ghostly energy, and the fiend beast behind it all was revealed to be a lynx.


    This lynx was standing on its hind legs, which was one of the basic indicators of a Mind Opening fiend. While Mind Opening fiends couldn¡¯t transform into humans, they could sit, stand, and walk like them. This lynx had ten-some fiends behind it, surrounding the group.


    The five Green Hill disciples exhaled in relief upon seeing this. ¡°So it wasn¡¯t the Illusion Fox.¡±


    The lynx shrieked, ¡°The Great King has no need to deal with brats like you. But since you were able to break through the smokescreen art of this general, you must have some ability. Now, why don¡¯t you test my ws!?¡±


    It scratched with a paw, creating five waves of light that shot at the five disciples.


    ¡°Watch out!¡± Qin Zhou yelled. He pointed with his left hand, and the sword flew back into his hand and blocked in front of him. <em>ng!</em> That lynx w wave struck the sword and left it vibrating. The other four used their own spell arts to defend, various colors exploding in the air.


    The lynx saw that the five had blocked its attack and bizarrelyughed. ¡°You have some skill, but that¡¯s all. Hey, kid over there, don¡¯t just sit there¡­¡±


    It was just about to attack Tang Jie, but Tang Jie quickly dodged behind Zhang Chengyun. ¡°This lowly one is of limited abilities and would not dare to strike against the Great King. I ask for mercy.¡±


    The Green Hill Sect disciples were furious at his cowardice, Zhang Chengyun even saying, ¡°What are you doing? Get out from there!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°As you said, without the five of you, how could I have dared to enter Old Crow Ridge? Since the five of you are protecting me, please protect me to the end, and Tang Xuan will hand over the Whiteroots and not take a single coin.¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± They couldn¡¯t help but be angry about how generous he was suddenly being. This was a dangerous situation, and they could barely take care of themselves, let alone look after him.


    The lynx was quite happy to hear Tang Jie¡¯s words, but then it grew rmed and looked around. Frantically waving its paws, it said, ¡°Don¡¯t speak nonsense. I¡¯m the Mountain-Patrolling General, not the Great King.¡±


    ¡°Then you must be the Vice King,¡± Tang Jie said. ¡°General is virtuous and wise, and I am sure that there is no one except the fox king that is above you.¡±


    The Green Hill Sect disciples were furious at his shameless conduct and the ttery he was giving the lynx, but the lynx was happy to hear it. However, it still waved its paws and said, ¡°No, even the position of Vice King is taken. Fragrant Store Cave has two kings and four generals, and there can be no messing around with it, absolutely not!¡±


    ¡°¡®Two kings and four generals¡¯? So Fragrant Store Cave has six Mind Opening fiends in all?¡± Tang Jie suddenly said.


    The lynx was shocked, blurting out, ¡°How did you know?¡±


    Tang Jie exined, ¡°You¡¯re at the lower grade of Mind Opening, and you¡¯re the Mountain-Patrolling General, so the other three generals must also be at the lower grade of Mind Opening. The Illusion Fox is upper-grade Mind Opening, but its talent is the Thousandform, which means it¡¯s not actually a fiend that excels inbat. Thus, the Vice King can¡¯t be upper-grade, as that would put the position of Great King in question. Thus, the Vice King must be middle-grade. Ah, so one upper-grade, one middle-grade, and four lower-grade.¡±


    The lynx was shocked, and it finally realized what was going on. ¡°You were ying?¡±


    Tang Jie shrugged. ¡°It wasn¡¯t a big deal.¡±


    Wisdom was a manifestation of various different factors. While there were natural elements to it, there were also some things that could only be nurtured.


    When a fiend reached Mind Opening, while they would have intelligence equivalent to a human¡¯s, theycked the nurturing environment, so their intelligence was incapable of turning into wisdom, and so they could notpare to humans in this aspect.


    In this aspect, most Mind Opening fiends were actually very stupid, at the level of kindergarteners. They were only smarter than fiends that were not at Mind Opening, and the bloodthirsty life would gradually cause their minds to be clouded. And while they had the ability to speak, theycked the wisdom to adapt to the situation.


    Thus, it wasn¡¯t unusual for Tang Jie to fool this lynx. Since ancient times, the number of times cultivators had emerged victorious in battles of wits with fiends was uncountable. It was just that few could do this under the threat of death.


    The Green Hill disciples looked at each other, but the lynx was incensed, roaring, ¡°ying around with this general!? Troops, go!¡±


    The ten-some fiends lunged forward at itsmand.


    Tang Jie swiftly said, ¡°I¡¯ll lure away the lynx while you guys take care of the rest. Bao¡¯er, help them out!¡±


    These fiends were all Spirit Sensing fiends, and with Qin Zhou, a Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator, and Bao¡¯er, the five Green Hill disciples would probably be able to deal with the situation.


    The five of them were startled, Qin Zhou even looking at Tang Jie and asking, ¡°What did you say?¡±


    ¡°Cut the chatter!¡± Tang Jie didn¡¯t have the time to exin. He flicked an Energy Needle at the lynx while falling back.


    The lynx had already been enraged by him, and when it saw Tang Jie attacking it, it angrily screeched and pounced after him.


    It was a lynx, which specialized in short sprints, and after bing a fiend, it had be even faster. It left behind an afterimage in the air and instantly reached Tang Jie, swiping a paw at him.


    Tang Jie raised his saber to block, catching the ws, but a momentter, the ws erupted with light, and five rays of light stabbed into Tang Jie¡¯s body.


    But Tang Jie had already seen it attack once and had already put up his defenses. The moment the lynx attacked, his body shed with golden light as he activated the Formless Golden Body.


    In two years of diligent cultivation, Tang Jie hadn¡¯t learned a lot of new spells, but he had truly mastered the few that hade from the Divine Firmament Sword ssic. Even without the Dao of Insight, just with his Spirit Sea cultivation and the secret arts of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, he could still fight a battle with an early-stage Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator.


    The five rays of light mmed into his body to a sh of ringing metal, but they failed to wound Tang Jie. However, Tang Jie used the impact to fly back, plunging into the forest. But it looked like the lynx had pushed Tang Jie away.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about running!¡± The lynx pursued, and the man and lynx quickly vanished into the forest.


    The lynx saw how fast Tang Jie was and shrieked, arching its body and making a leap. It shot out like an arrow, reaching Tang Jie and swatting a paw at him. But Tang Jie nimbly turned and vanished.


    The lynx general was startled, and then it saw a tree rapidly growing in its vision.


    ¡°Ah!¡± The lynx instinctively screamed, and then, <em>boom!</em> It crashed into the tree. As the tree toppled over, the lynx saw stars.


    ¡°Why are you fighting with a tree?¡± a voice asked. The lynx general turned its head and saw Tang Jie standing beneath a tree, saber in hand,ughing at him.


    <em>Hiss!</em> The lynx red at Tang Jie. ¡°Kid, you¡¯re seeking death!¡±


    With a screech, the lynx made another flying leap,unching off a tree and wing at Tang Jie.


    The lynx moved extremely fast, and its ws were iparably sharp. As it flew through the air, nine lynxes appeared, rather like Qi Shaoming¡¯s Chill Phantom Clone sh.


    This was the lynx¡¯s skill, the clone illusions.


    These nine lynxes shed with eighteen sets of ws, covering Tang Jie from almost every possible angle.


    Tang Jie sneered. ¡°Is that all you have?¡±


    He raised his head and swung his saber!


    The Heartbreak Saber swung down, but rather than any of the nine clones, it was aimed at the empty space in front of him.


    ¡°Aaaagh!¡± A lynx appeared in that empty space, reeling away from Tang Jie¡¯s saber. At the same time, the eighteen sets of wsnded on Tang Jie¡¯s body and exploded in a dazzling light.


    <em>Crack!</em> Tang Jie¡¯s Formless Golden Body crumbled under the lynx fiend¡¯s assault.


    But while the Formless Golden Body had shattered, Tang Jie himself was unharmed. Meanwhile, the lynx had suffered a long wound on its head from Tang Jie¡¯s saber that had almost cut through its skull. It rolled on the ground and then fearfully looked at Tang Jie. ¡°How did you discover my true body?¡±


    Its Clone Illusion spell was its innate spell art. Not only did it create nine clones to attack the enemy, it concealed the original body so that it couldunch a sneak attack. This lynx fiend had relied on this Clone Illusion spell to kill numerous formidable foes, even a few Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators. It had never expected Tang Jie to see through it at a nce and heavily wound it.


    ¡°You¡¯re quite tough.¡± Tang Jie stroked his de, ignoring the fiend¡¯s questions. ¡°I guess that¡¯s to be expected of a Mind Opening fiend. Even at lower grade, you can still take a blow from my saber and not die.¡±


    ¡°This¡­ this is impossible!¡± the lynx screeched. ¡°You clearly aren¡¯t at Mortal Shedding!¡±


    ¡°Who made it a rule that only a Mortal Shedding could defeat you?¡± Tang Jie pursed his lips. ¡°Mortal Shedding just means that you can cast major spell arts without constructing a Heaven-Earth Bridge, but in battles of life and death, every second matters. Unlike inrge-scale battles, time-consuming great arts are pretty meaningless in one-on-ones. In such a situation, a Mortal Shedding losing to Spirit tform isn¡¯t rare at all. And you¡¯re just a puny lower-grade Mind Opening. What makes you think you can crush a Spirit tform?¡±


    ¡°Nonsense! If you¡¯re not in the Mortal Shedding Realm, your cultivation is insufficient, so in a sh of spells, Spirit tform cannot possibly defeat Mortal Shedding. This general¡¯s Clone Illusion has even taken the lives of Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators, so how could you see through it?¡± the lynx fiend angrily argued.


    ¡°Although youck intelligence, it seems that you have some knowledge.¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°I¡¯m guessing the fiend fox taught you this, but I¡¯m wondering what other tricks you have.¡±


    He swung his saber again.


    The Windcleaver!


    This swing was done with incredible speed. After the first attack, the lynx knew that Tang Jie was no easy opponent and did not dare to try to block. With a strange yelp, it jumped into the air, at the same time forming three wind des that sliced at Tang Jie.


    These three wind des were clearly unusual. They had been substantialized and had a cold and biting light, but Tang Jie ignored them, aside from activating the Aquagel Shroud and the Formless Golden Body. Meanwhile, the sharp light of the Heartbreak Saber sliced at the lynx¡¯s left leg, biting deep into the flesh and almost cutting off its paw.


    The lynx howled in pain, unleashing energy from its body to try to push Tang Jie away.


    But Tang Jie continued to push through, grabbing the lynx and throwing it to the ground, instantly causing the lynx to see stars.


    The lynx was an agility type that relied on its Clone Illusion spell and its incredible speed to essentially be an assassin. But it had run into Tang Jie, who was essentially a tank, its direct counter. Tang Jie didn¡¯t even use many spell arts against it, just grabbing it and beating the life out of it.


    As he beat the lynx down with berserk strength, the lynx screamed long and hard, the sound traveling into the distance.


    ¡°Trying to call reinforcements?¡± Tang Jie coldlyughed. Bringing his fingers together into a de, he stabbed into the lynx¡¯s belly, punching a small hole in it.


    Tang Jie pulled out that mysterious pearl from his bag. With a slight jolt of spiritual power, he broke the pearl out of its stone shell, and he immediately felt a pulse of fear. Fortunately, it was only for a moment, for as he felt this pulse of fear, he threw the pearl into the lynx¡¯s body, after which he cut off the lynx¡¯s legs and rapidly fell back.


    He had drawn out the lynx firstly to eliminate a Mind Opening fiend of Fragrant Store Cave, and secondly to test the power of the pearl. This pearl was just too bizarre, and Tang Jie did not dare to test it on himself, nor could he let other people see him experimenting with it.


    The lynx couldn¡¯t get up with its four limbs severed, and it madly twitched with the pearl inside. Tang Jie saw a shadow rise from its body¡ªclearly that of the lynx. It was constantly struggling, contorting in pain, just like how Tang Jie had appeared back at the secret market.


    As time passed, the lynx¡¯s shadow solidified, until finally, it broke free from the lynx¡¯s body and then, <em>whoosh!</em> It became a plume of ck smoke and entered the pearl, after which the lynx went stiff.


    Tang Jie cautiously grabbed the pearl, and he then realized that the frightening sensation was no longer there. Inside the pearl was a little lynx phantom.


    ¡°A soul-seizing pearl?¡± Tang Jie murmured.


    He had made up this name himself, as the scene just now was very simr to that of a soul being seized.


    But if this was an offensive art relic, then this pearl took too long to seize the soul, and the process could be interrupted. Thus, it was basically useless in battle.


    But it couldn¡¯t be said that it wasn¡¯t a treasure, for this pearl was so weird and mysterious that it could even drain the essence from Softscent Jade. It was truly an unreasonable existence.


    Did it have some other use?


    Tang Jie once more looked at the lynx phantom in the pearl. He suddenly had an idea and sent spiritual energy into the pearl.


    A momentter, the lynx phantom in the pearl moved, charging out of the pearl and lunging at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie threw away the pearl, and saw the lynx soul being dragged back into the pearl. It was unwilling to go, iling its ws at Tang Jie and screeching, but these sounds ceased once it had been pulled back in.


    The lynx soul shed, and Tang Jie saw words appearing in the pearl. As he looked at them, a surprised smile slowly formed on his face. ¡°I get it now¡­¡±


    He finally understood what this pearl was.


    It wasn¡¯t a soul-seizing pearl, but a soul-refining pearl, a Soul Refining Hell!

 Chapter 267: Soul Refining Pearl

    Chapter 267: Soul Refining Pearl


    The Soul Refining Pearl could be considered an illustrious treasure of the cultivation world.


    It originated from High Antiquity, and was said to have been developed by a cultivation sect known as the Soul Sect. The Five Gods Faith oftter days was said to have sprung from the Soul Sect.


    The Soul Sect specialized in raising souls, refining souls, seizing souls, and transnting souls, and their spell arts were strange and bizarre. But this sect was not in itself an evil sect.


    They researched souls primarily in search of eternal life.


    While cultivators could achieve long lives, it was difficult for them to achieve eternal lives. Even those Titans who cultivated to the Immortal tform Realm would at most be able to live for several thousand years, far from true immortality.


    Although there were arts for reincarnation and possession, they all had limitations, and one had to at least be at the Violet Pce Realm to use them.


    But whether it was reincarnation or possession, the physical body was destroyed while the soul remained.


    Without a physical body, a soul found it very difficult to exist for long in the world. It would either dissipate or be a ghost, and thus, at the death of the physical body, the soul had to find something to attach itself to as quickly as possible.


    But such vessels were hard to find. Not only did it require a suitable body, the soul of the body would also resist. Without its original strength, even if the possessor had been a peerless Titan, they were not guaranteed victory against the original owner. As for reincarnation, there was the risk of not getting back one¡¯s memories.


    Thus, no one was willing to use these secret arts unless they absolutely needed to.


    In search of eternal life, the Soul Sect had researched soul transntation to reduce the dangers and requirements for reincarnation and possession. The Soul Hell had been created for this purpose.


    Initially, its purpose had been to store souls, so it had been called the Soulstore Pearl.


    The Soulstore Pearl allowed the Soul Sect to temporarily store the souls of the dying so that they could slowly search for a suitable vessel, thus resolving the problem of the waiting period. Besides that, the Soulstore Pearl could nourish and strengthen the soul, providing better conditions for possession.


    But in the end, the Soulstore Pearl was a failure. While the Soul Sect had seeded in creating the Soulstore Pearl, they found it to be an extremely wicked item. The soul within would go through excruciating pain, and extended torment would have the soul turn into an existence akin to a ghost, devoid of rationality and utterly insane. This was precisely why peopleter on called it the Soul Refining Hell.


    Not long after that, the Soul Sect sealed the pearl and forbade anyone from using it.


    The matter should have ended there, and since it was a failed product, no one paid this object any mind.


    But surprisingly, a traitorous disciple appeared among the Soul Sect. This man was none other than the infamous Soultaker True Lord.


    Of course, the Soultaker True Lord was truly nothing more than a minor disciple of the Soul Sect at the time, only at the Mortal Shedding Realm. But this Mortal Shedding Realm disciple managed to sneak into the Pavilion of Heavenly Foresight and steal many of the Soul Sect¡¯s treasures, including the Soulstore Pearl.


    The Soul Sect sentrge numbers of experts in pursuit, but the traitor managed to escape them, even killing a few of them, one of them being a Celestial Heart elder. The Soulstore Pearl put on a glorious show in all this, bing the Soultaker True Lord¡¯s ultimate weapon. It was from this pearl that the Soultaker True Lord received his name.


    And no one had expected the Soultaker True Lord to improve the Soulstore Pearl and make the Mindseizers.


    Mindseizers were the extremely vicious creatures born from the souls that hadpletely lost their rationality in the long torment of the pearl. Once released, the Mindseizers would instinctively attack any life nearby and attempt to possess them.


    Possession normally required many preparations, but Mindseizers didn¡¯t need this and disregarded all the risks. This was because Mindseizers wouldn¡¯t even mind turning into dust if they could escape the Soul Refining Hell.


    This was precisely why this sort of fiend actually had a very low, almost nil, chance at possession. Their possessions were more like moths rushing at a me.


    But in the possession process, the victim had to fight back to rebuff the Mindseizer. And this meant that they couldn¡¯t focus on external battles.


    When the Soultaker True Lord attacked during this time, it would often be to impressive effect.


    And if the possession seeded, the possessed person would be a devil, a most powerful and savage existence, but also because of their fear of the Soulstore Pearl, they would be obedient to the owner of the pearl.


    From then on, the Soulstore Pearl became the Soul Refining Pearl, a most infamous treasure.


    But while the Soultaker True Lord was ruthless and fierce, he slowly began to lose ground against the pursuit of the Soul Sect and ultimately died while battling on the ocean. His body was lost in the ocean, together with more than half of his treasures, and the Soul Refining Pearl went missing.


    The Soul Sect was also badly wounded after this campaign, and not long after that, its enemies destroyed it, and the method for creating the Soulstore Pearl was lost.


    But today, thousands of years after it had been lost, it had inexplicably ended up in Tang Jie¡¯s hands.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but emotionally sigh as he looked at the Soul Refining Pearl.


    This pearl embodied too much bloodshed and murder, and the gruesome storms it had stirred had be tales told throughout history.


    Not even Tang Jie knew if owning it was a blessing or a curse.


    But regardless, this pearl was bound to be of great help in his current situation. The records on the pearl said that the method for using it was extremely simple. Anyone that could understand how to make spiritual energy flow through one¡¯s meridians could use the pearl.


    Thus, Tang Jie took the pearl and transferred his spiritual power to it. He saw the lynx soul in the Soul Refining Pearl turning around, groaning and screaming. Tang Jie quickly felt a warm current flowing out of the pearl.


    Tang Jie tried to guide this warm current into the fiend soul, and a momentter, the lynx stopped moaning and calmed down. It would asionally twitch a little, as if reminding Tang Jie that the pain still existed.


    After a little while, the lynx soul stopped movingpletely, seemingly frozen. By this time, less than half of the warm current remained, but no more could be forced into the soul.


    Tang Jie stopped controlling the warm current and lightly shook his hand. The lynx soul lengthened like a gel and flowed out of the pearl into Tang Jie¡¯s hand, but it was no longer vicious. It was like a gelified lynx toy.


    Tang Jie knew that this was most likely one of the functions of the Soul Refining Pearl: soul congealing.


    Through the improvements of the Soultaker True Lord, the Soul Refining Pearl possessed the two abilities of soul refining and soul congealing.


    Soul refining was to refine souls, to temper the souls captured within the pearl through demonic fire.


    As the Soul Refining Pearl had been modified by the Soultaker True Lord, the Soul Hell was much more terrifying. So long as sufficient spiritual energy was provided, an endless sea of demonic fire could be produced to melt down and refine the soul.


    After forty-nine days of refining, a soul would either break and be melted into Soul Dew or would hold out and be a fiend.


    The former was a valuable material while thetter were none other than the infamous Mindseizers!


    Soul congealing was the exact opposite. Materials were absorbed and inserted into the soul, creating some strange object. The exact effects would depend on the material absorbed and the soul being refined.


    The Soul Refining Pearl had previously absorbed an entire block of Softscent Jade, which was exactly what was needed for soul congealing. The warm current Tang Jie had felt was none other than the absorbed essence of the Softscent Jade, and so Tang Jie had only needed to apply a little effort to congeal the lynx soul.


    But the pearl had no record for how to use the congealed fiend soul, and Tang Jie didn¡¯t know either. No matter how he messed around with it, the congealed soul did nothing. He ended up spending quite some time, ultimately to no avail.


    And now that it had lost its soul, the pearl had once more entered its previously frightening state, shaking Tang Jie¡¯s soul. Fortunately, he hade ready this time, and he stored the pearl in a jade box.


    As he put away the Soul Refining Pearl, he heard Yiyi call out, ¡°Big Brother, the fiends areing!¡±


    She had been hiding near the mountain stream ever since she had nted the rm Gate Banner, her task being to keep watch on Fragrant Store Cave.


    Tang Jie and the Green Hill Sect disciples had been engaged in a rather fierce battle, and Fragrant Store Cave had heard themotion and was sending reinforcements.


    ¡°How many?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°It seems like all three fiend generals areing, but I don¡¯t see a fox.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Tang Jie turned and left.


    By this time, Qin Zhou¡¯s group¡¯s battle with the fiends wasing to an end.


    While there had been many fiends, all of them fearless and brave, Qin Zhou was a Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator. After a hard battle, he and the fierce little tiger had finally seeded in exterminating all the fiends.


    They were all rather tired from this battle. Chen Yao wasn¡¯t even able to stand, dropping on his butt.


    Zhang Chengyun shouted, ¡°Let¡¯s hurry and get out of here. If that lynxes back, we won¡¯t have any hope of escaping.¡±


    Ling Jing was rmed. ¡°What about Tang Xuan?¡±


    Zhang Chengyun answered, ¡°He went to fight with the lynx, so he might already be dead. What are you still worried about him for?¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Luo Yin loudly protested. ¡°He helped us draw away that lynx fiend. We can¡¯t just sit here and leave him be! We should go and find him!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re crazy! The battle has already started, and the reinforcements from Fragrant Store Cave could arrive at any time! If we don¡¯t leave now, the situation might change for the worse!¡± Zhang Chengyun frantically said.


    ¡°So you n to abandon Tang Xuan?¡± Ling Jing questioned. ¡°Senior Brother, don¡¯t forget that he saved us.¡±


    Qin Zhou was immediately frozen in indecision. He knew that Tang Jie had drawn away the lynx fiend and was probably dead, but trying to go back and help was too dangerous. For a moment, he didn¡¯t know what to do.


    As he hesitated, a howl of wind came from the distant forest.


    Everyone paled, believing that this was the lynx. Having not taken the chance to escape, they would undoubtedly be caught by the lynx. All of them despaired, with only the little tiger excitedly pouncing in the direction of the noise.


    Tang Jie¡¯s figure appeared in the distance, walking toward them.


    His body was covered in many bloodstains from the battle, but he appeared unpanicked, his face calm and collected. It was like he had recently butchered a chicken or a sheep.


    The five of them stared in shock, not daring to believe their eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s him¡­ He¡¯s alive?¡± Qin Zhou murmured.


    ¡°What about the lynx fiend? Where is it?¡± Chen Yao asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re so dumb! You need to ask?¡± Luo Yin pursed her lips. ¡°Look at him! It¡¯s clear that he was chased by the lynx. That being the case, the lynx fiend must be dead.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s that possible? This is a Mind Opening fiend we¡¯re talking about here! Even Senior Brother Qin might not be able to beat it!¡±


    But whether they believed it or not, the truth was right in front of them.


    As Tang Jie casually walked over, Qin Zhou bitterly said, ¡°In the end, we underestimated him. It turned out that we were the ones who didn¡¯t know our strength!¡±


    He asked himself if he could beat the lynx in a one-on-one battle and knew that he stood little chance. Even if he won, he would be severely injured. Seeing how rxed Tang Jie was, there would have to be something wrong with Qin Zhou if he didn¡¯t understand the gravity of his error.


    Tang Jie came over and casually tossed a Whiteroot at Qin Zhou.


    ¡°What do you mean by this?¡± Qin Zhou was startled.


    ¡°One life, two pills,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    Startled, Qin Zhou finally understood what Tang Jie meant.


    It was clear that Tang Jie hade for his reward.


    It was no wonder Tang Jie had said all that before this. It turned out that it wasn¡¯t the Green Hill Sect disciples collecting the protection fee, but him collecting from the Green Hill Sect.


    Once he got what Tang Jie was saying, Qin Zhou couldn¡¯t help but internally sigh at how they had brought this on themselves. He nodded and said, ¡°Alright. If one Whiteroot is three, then since Brother Tang saved our five lives¡­ ten more pills.¡±


    He took out a bottle of pills and threw it at Tang Jie. ¡°This bottle has five Harmonic Threshold Breaking Pills. The remaining eight will have to wait until we return to the sect.¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Five is enough for me. I¡¯ll remove the four that Luo Yin and Ling Jing owe. For the remaining four, you can pay up with something of equivalent value.¡±


    These words let Qin Zhou know that he had probably heard their conversation, including how Zhang Chengyun wanted to abandon him, how Qin Zhou had hesitated, and how Luo Yin had firmly objected. This was why he had removed the pills that Luo Yin and Ling Jing owed.


    Qin Zhou couldn¡¯t help but sigh again.


    He thought of himself as a chivalrous warrior who upheld justice, but his hesitation today was neither chivalrous nor just. He didn¡¯t evenpare to the resolve of a girl. He was filled with remorse and shame, and he proceeded to throw Tang Jie several more pill bottles. ¡°Young Master Tang, thank you for your righteousness. We were blind back then, and I hope that you will not take offense.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just a student, so how could I take offense?¡± Tang Jie lightly said.


    ¡°You¡¯re really just a student?¡± Qin Zhou was bbergasted.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Tang Jie nodded. The Green Hill disciples looked at each other in speechlessness.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°The fiends from Fragrant Store Cave areing. Why aren¡¯t you going already? Or do you want to pay me more protection fees?¡±


    Qin Zhou¡¯s group became fearful and did not dare to linger, immediately turning around and running.


    After running a few steps, Luo Yin turned around and saw that Tang Jie was still standing there.


    She shouted, ¡°Tang Xuan, are you not going?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m taking a different path,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°This will make it easier for you to escape.¡±


    The others didn¡¯t suspect anything and quickly left.

 Chapter 268: Bait

    Chapter 268: Bait


    Once the Green Hill Sect disciples were gone, Tang Jie opened the jade box.


    As the Soul Refining Pearl reappeared, the winds howled, and shrieking came from all around as if something was wailing. Twisted faces appeared¡ªthe faces of those fiends that had been in in battle.


    As they were freshly in, their souls had yet to dissipate. The Soul Refining Pearl seized this chance to absorb them all, and in a sh, ten-some fiend souls had been taken into the pearl.


    Tang Jie did not perform soul congealing again. The essence of the Softscent Jade had not beenpletely used up, but Tang Jie decided that he would first try out soul refining, as he didn¡¯t know how to use the product of soul congealing.


    Demonic fires zed within the pearl, and a mist billowed. The fiend souls miserably howled, and even Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but tremble in fear.


    This Soul Refining Pearl truly lived up to its infamy. It not only refined the soul, but the human mind!


    It had to be understood that the suffering inflicted by the refining of souls did immense psychological damage. Spending too long immersed in this sort of sensation would gradually pervert the mind, turning it bloodthirsty, cruel, and even insane.


    Yet this Soul Refining Pearl was also an excellent item with many uses. With it, rapid growth was no longer just a dream.


    But Tang Jie quickly reminded himself that this pearl couldn¡¯t be used unless absolutely necessary, and it certainly could not be relied on.


    As he pondered this, Yiyi said, ¡°They¡¯re going to be here soon!¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Tang Jie put away the jade box and ran toward the slope.


    He hadn¡¯t run for long when he saw a ck fiend wind in the distance.


    The fiend wind was like a giant tornado, toppling trees and stirring up debris wherever it went. It stopped at the site of the battle, and the tornado¡¯s revolutions began to slow. Once it stopped, countless fiend beasts flew out of the vortex like a rain of dumplings. More than a hundred fiends had arrived on the scene, a menagerie of jackals, wolves, tigers, panthers, insects, and birds.


    They furiously howled toward the heavens and stirred up a great mor.


    ¡°So noisy! Everyone, shut it!¡± A thunderous roar exploded in the ears of the fiends.


    The one who had roared was a golden lion fiend with savage teeth and a raised head. It held a mace in its hand and wore chainmail, cutting a rather majestic figure.


    Three other fiends stood next to the lion fiend.


    One was as stocky as a mountain, with a face as ck as the bottom of a pot, eyes like copper bells, and two horns sprouting from its head: a ck bull fiend. Another had bird ws like iron hooks and a pair of red wings growing from its back: a red eagle fiend. The third had a long mouth and sallow face, darting eyes, and sharp ws: a gray wolf fiend.


    The lion¡¯s roar was like thunder, dizzying most of the fiends, and they did not dare to shout any longer.


    The lion fiend looked around at the scattered fiend corpses. ¡°What reckless humans are making a mess this time? Gray Wolf, see who it was!¡±


    The gray wolf fiend came forward and took in a deep breath, and white mist flowed into its nostrils. After a moment, it said, ¡°Six humans, one at Mortal Shedding. Five of them ran off while one is still in the area.¡±


    They didn¡¯t seem like anyone impressive, so the lion, eagle, and bull all sighed in relief.


    After reaching Mind Opening, these fiends all came to value their lives and did not lightly contend with cultivators. Before attacking, they would always try to understand the situation. When they heard that these humans weren¡¯t strong, they felt like they could rx.


    ¡°But Lynx is dead,¡± Gray Wolf added.


    ¡°That idiot¡ªit never knew what was good for it and purely relied on brawn over brains. It must have gotten careless and been ambushed,¡± the lion fiend roared. ¡°If it¡¯s dead, it¡¯s dead. Let¡¯s find that human first and kill them topensate for its life!¡±


    The eagle fiend opened its wings and took to the skies. It made a small circle in the air and soon spotted running human figures down below. Rather than chasing, itnded and said, ¡°Vice King, the humans went off in two directions: one to the western slope and the rest to the eastern face.¡±


    The lion fiend said, ¡°What are you waiting for? Red Eagle, go after that lone human. The rest of you,e with me to catch the group with more people. We¡¯ll peel off their flesh and cook them into a stew!¡±


    The lion fiend waved its hand, and the fiend wind stirred, sweeping up all the fiends and taking them toward the fleeing Green Hill Sect disciples. Only that eagle fiend once more took to the skies in pursuit of Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was still running to the western slope. He wasn¡¯t running very fast¡ªhis pace was practically a stroll. He seemed more like a tourist than someone fleeing for his life.


    In his mind, Yiyi¡¯s voice rang out. ¡°Oh no! Oh no! Those fiends have split up into two groups. One group is going after Sister Luo Yin and the others while only one fiend is going after you. Big Brother, you have to save them!¡±


    ¡°¡®Save them¡¯? With what?¡± Tang Jie continued to casually jog forward, his tone indifferent.


    Yiyi was startled by these words. ¡°Big Brother, you can¡¯t save them? How can that be?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°In the end, I¡¯m only at Spirit Lake Tier. Winning against a single Mind Opening fiend isn¡¯t easy, let alone one middle-grade and three lower-grades, together with more than a hundred Spirit Sensing beasts. Just how am I going to save them?¡±


    Yiyi was rendered speechless. Only now did she realize that this group of fiends was truly beyond Tang Jie¡¯s power to handle. She had neglected this fact and asked Tang Jie to save the others perhaps because nothing had been able to trouble Tang Jie for quite some time now. She had unconsciously taken Tang Jie to be an omnipotent person and instinctively disregarded the difference in strength. It was only when Tang Jie had mentioned it that she finally realized. ¡°Then¡­ what do we do?¡±


    Stopping, Tang Jie looked up at the sky.


    The red eagle was flying over.


    As he looked at the red eagle, Tang Jie said, ¡°The only method right now is to use this opportunity to cut off their wings, using a strategy of ¡®divide and conquer¡¯. If I kill one, then Fragrant Store Cave will have only two generals left.¡±


    ¡°But that means that Sister Luo Yin and the others will be in danger!¡± Yiyi shouted. She had gotten acquainted with Luo Yin and the others, and she had liked Luo Yin the most, so she was very concerned about her safety.


    Tang Jie was unmoved. ¡°People eat fiends and fiends eat people. So long as they don¡¯t fight to the death and allow themselves to be captured, they still have some hope of survival. If that happens, then I¡¯ll naturally save them. Of course, if they choose to fight to the end, there¡¯s nothing I can do.¡±


    Yiyi suddenly had a thought that she couldn¡¯t keep down.


    She said in a trembling voice, ¡°Big Brother, you knew things would turn out like this, right? You let them be bait so that they would split up the fiends.¡±


    Tang Jie said nothing.


    In the air, the red eagle fiend was descending and getting closer and closer.


    Tang Jie looked at the eagle and muttered, ¡°Yes, I knew. But this wasn¡¯t my n, only a possibility that I saw¡­ It¡¯s not that strange if you think about it, Yiyi. One side has five people and one side has only one. Do those fiends have any reason to not chase after the side with more people? From the moment we chose to escape separately, it was decided that the pursuers would split up. Thus, I didn¡¯t use them as bait. I just didn¡¯t stop them from bing bait.¡±


    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you warn them?¡±


    ¡°And then what?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    Yiyi froze. Tang Jie said, ¡°Let them join me in fighting together? They¡¯re too weak, so weak that they wouldn¡¯t be able to help me handle even one decent opponent. And once a melee starts, I won¡¯t have the ability to protect them.¡±


    Yiyi said nothing.


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°Yiyi, once you can see how things are trending, many things stop beingplicated. But people are toozy to use their brains, or maybe they just don¡¯t want to see it. The problem with the Green Hill Sect is that it¡¯s just too weak, yet they insisted oning to a ce they shouldn¡¯t have. No matter what I do, it will be very difficult to save them. In these circumstances, all I can do is make it so that their deaths are somewhat worthwhile¡­ I won¡¯t randomly turn other people into sacrifices, but if someone is going to die, I don¡¯t mind using their deaths to my advantage.¡±


    In the end, Yiyi was still young, so when she heard this callous argument, she said, ¡°But Big Brother, you just saved them! Are you really going to watch them die? They¡¯re not bad people!¡±


    ¡°And what about it?¡± Tang Jie coldly replied. ¡°Yiyi, this is exactly what I¡¯m trying to teach you. Good or evil isn¡¯t the basis of survival. Your fists are. I know that you like them, but if you don¡¯t have the ability to protect them, then you should first learn how to not like them!¡±


    Tang Jie made his move.


    He pulled out his saber.


    As he pulled out the Heartbreak Saber, he pointed its edge at the sky, and a dazzling wave of light shot out.


    This was precisely when the eagle fiend had chosen to dive. Before it had even reached the ground, it saw a dazzling saber light and shrieked. Its wings opened as it tried to protect itself.


    A momentter, there was a bloody explosion. Red feathers scattered into the air, and the eagle fiend screeched as it went from a dive into a simple fall, crashing into a nearbyrge tree. It clearly hadn¡¯t expected to suffer such a severe wound. When it looked at itself, it found that one of its wings was sagging and difficult to raise, and it became shocked and furious. It had tempered these wings to the toughness of iron, yet a single human had dealt them such a heavy blow. This was simply unprecedented! It shouted, ¡°ursed human! You dare to hurt me! Me¡­¡±


    It lowered its head and bit at one of the feathers on its breast.


    This feather was extremely special. It was all white and at the very center of its breast.


    The eagle fiend tossed the feather out and shrilly said, ¡°My precious, kill him!¡±


    The white eagle feather turned into a white arrow in midair and shot toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie¡¯s face turned serious. ¡°A lifelink eagle feather!¡±


    When a fiend reached Mind Opening, it could refine various parts of its body into weapons, which was the fiend equivalent of art manifestation. Through transformation, these body parts would be imbued with great power, and the more extreme ones would even refine them into lifelink items, which were akin to fiend pellets in nature.


    When a lifelink item was destroyed, the fiend would suffer severe damage.


    The eagle was clearly a Mind Opening fiend who had refined this lifelink eagle feather. It had been injured by Tang Jie from the very outset, causing it to be so enraged that it had immediately used its trump card.


    The eagle feather arrow shot out, leaving behind a long afterimage as it took aim at Tang Jie¡¯s heart.


    Tang Jie did not dare to be careless and swung the Heartbreak Saber at full force.


    The Windcleaver!


    The saber struck the arrow, but the arrow erupted with light and threw back the Heartbreak Saber.


    But at the same time, Tang Jie let go of his saber and backed away, his left hand reaching for the arrow.


    There was a drone of wind. As Tang Jie grabbed the arrow, it exploded with golden light, forcing back Tang Jie¡¯s hand, and continued to shoot toward him.


    Tang Jie¡¯s body rippled with water, shed with gold, and erupted with bloody light.


    He had simultaneously activated the Aquagel Shroud, Formless Golden Body, and the Blood Refining Spirit spell.


    There was an ugly screech as the arrow prated through the Aquagel Shroud and stabbed into his chest. It was like a drill biting into metal, bravely advancing about a centimeter before stopping.


    Blood spurted out of Tang Jie¡¯s body, the arrow head having inserted itself into Tang Jie¡¯s body.


    This sight left both Tang Jie and the red eagle bbergasted.


    The red eagle was shocked by the ferocity of Tang Jie¡¯s defense while Tang Jie was shocked at the sharpness of the lifelink eagle feather.


    This was actually the first time an attack had been able to break through his defenses and deal so much damage to him. If he hadn¡¯t unleashed all his defenses, the arrow would have run right through him.


    Thankfully, he had barely managed to hold it off.


    He grabbed the feather and fiercely swung his saber at the eagle fiend.


    The eagle fiend saw that its best attack had failed and knew that its opponent was formidable, so it tried to take to the skies. The eagle fiend was probably the most difficult to deal with of the four fiend generals. Putting aside its sharp attacks, it could fly. So long as it could fly, even cultivators that could fly on swords could not match its agility, and besides, flying swords consumed spiritual power.


    It had not done this earlier mostly because it had underestimated Tang Jie. But now that it saw how formidable Tang Jie was, it immediately took flight.


    But as it was rising, a figure flew out and rammed into it: the little tiger.


    This attack took it by surprise, and the eagle fiend trembled all over as the little tiger raised a paw and swiped.


    ¡°Aaagh!¡± the eagle fiend bitterly shrieked. It raised its w and struck back, thrusting at the little tiger¡¯s chest as the tiger swiped at it. With its lower-grade Mind Opening strength, it managed to punch five deep holes in the little tiger¡¯s body and then thrust out its other w.


    But the little tiger was quite tough. Rather than trying to dodge, he opened his mouth and unleashed a lightning de.


    ¡°Seeking death!¡± the eagle fiend roared. Its feathers bristled, shining like countless des in the moonlight.


    Tang Jie saw that this wasn¡¯t good and shouted, ¡°Bao¡¯er, dodge!¡±


    The golden thread flew out of his hand, right at the red eagle¡¯s head.


    But they were in the air, and Tang Jie had ultimately been too slow.


    The eagle fiend closed its wings, stabbing the feathers into the little tiger.


    This was the eagle fiend¡¯s other powerful move, the Thousand Feather Eagle Strike.


    The Redfeather Eagle King¡¯s Thousand Feather Strike had astonishing power, and while its prating power might not match up to the lifelink eagle feather, its lethality was greater. The eagle feathers were about to turn the little tiger into a pincushion, and Tang Jie couldn¡¯t bear to watch.


    <em>Raaa!</em> A heaven-shaking roar resounded through the forest, jolting minds.


    This was Bao¡¯er natural ability, Tiger Roar!


    The Thousand Feather Eagle Strike froze, and though the feathers had already stabbed into the little tiger¡¯s body, they were not able to exert their full power. They only managed to puncture several dozen holes in the tiger¡¯s body, from which blood gushed and rained down.


    But this was thest counterattack the eagle fiend could make.


    The golden thread curled around the eagle¡¯s head and, with a pull from Tang Jie, sliced it off.

 Chapter 269: Weapon Soul

    Chapter 269: Weapon Soul


    ¡°Don¡¯t move!¡±


    Holding down the little tiger, Tang Jie tried to treat his wounds as gently as possible. The little guy groaned in pain, and even feeding him the eagle¡¯s meat only soothed him for a little while.


    The battle with the eagle fiend might have ended very quickly, but it had been the most dangerous battle Tang Jie had fought in recent years. Not only had he been injured, the little tiger had almost died.


    They had both been of lower grade, yet the eagle fiend had been much stronger than the lynx.


    There was really no telling how strong the other fiends were. If they were stronger than the eagle fiend, then he was in trouble, and the thought made his heart grow heavy.


    After applying the medicine, Tang Jie had the little tiger rest. He once more opened up the jade box and used the pearl to absorb the eagle fiend¡¯s soul.


    He had originally nned to refine the eagle fiend¡¯s soul using demonic fire, but considering that refining through demonic fire took 49 days, it would be of little help to Tang Jie in the present. Thus, he decided to try soul congealing. Even if he didn¡¯t know how to use it, it was still better than waiting 49 days.


    The Softscent Jade transformed into a warm current. Congealing the lynx soul had taken more than half of the current, and Tang Jie judged that the remainder wouldn¡¯t be enough to congeal the soul of the eagle fiend. Fortunately, soul congealing had no restrictions on materials, though different materials would lead to different attributes. He didn¡¯t know which material would be best, so he decided to feed the Soul Refining Pearl all the other materials except the Softscent Jade, cing the pearl on the pile and sending in spiritual energy so that it could absorb their essence.


    The pearl ignored most of the materials Tang Jie hadid out, but it instantly absorbed thest piece of zeraven Essence. Besides that, a small fiend pellet was also absorbed.


    Finally, it absorbed a bottle of toxin he had gotten from Wanderer Pentavenom and also three spirit coins that he had identally dropped into the pile.


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t expected the Soul Refining Pearl to have such a broad appetite, even eating spirit coins.


    Spirit coins were made by the major sects from materials like Nimbus Metal and Inkcloud Stone, so they were very receptive to spiritual energy. They could be used to make formations and even cast spells, so they had some practical value alongside their mary value. The Soul Refining Pearl had probably eaten the coins because it had sensed these materials.


    Once some of the materials had been absorbed, Tang Jie once more tried to congeal the eagle fiend¡¯s soul. Through his guidance, the eagle soul gradually took form. The other fiend souls in the pearl howled as if they wanted to enjoy the warm current too, but they had no means of obtaining it and could only batter away. This actually caused the eagle fiend¡¯s congealing soul to start to crack.


    Tang Jie grimaced. He knew that he probably made a mistake in refining and congealing souls at the same time, putting him in quite a predicament.


    But at this point, he just had to push through. He quickly circted energy and elerated the congealing.


    The red eagle fiend soul quickly began to transform. As the other fiend souls constantly battered against it and under the light of the dazzling demonic fires, it gradually began to leave the pearl.


    Tang Jie tried to hasten the fiend soul¡¯s progress out, ignoring the fiend souls still within the pearl.


    This clear bias caused the fiend souls in the pearl to howl in anger, unable to ept this. As the eagle soul was slowly pulled out of the Soul Refining Pearl, the remaining fiend souls suddenly roared and charged at the eagle soul.


    This collision caused the Soul Refining Pearl to erupt with light, and a massive energy shockwave radiated from the pearl and sted Tang Jie back.


    Tang Jie tumbled in the air, even throwing up some blood.


    ¡°Shit, I messed up,¡± Tang Jie said in rm.


    He hadn¡¯t expected an ordinary soul congealing to result in something like this. He could only hope that the Soul Refining Pearl hadn¡¯t been destroyed as a result.


    But Tang Jie saw that the Soul Refining Pearl was just sitting on the ground, and the ten-some fiend souls within were beginning to fade away.


    Above the pearl, a phantom of the eagle fiend floated in a mist.


    Unlike the lynx soul, it was notpletely frozen. Rather, its body was a rainbow of colors and covered in mist, and at its core was a point of white light that looked noble and resplendent beyondpare.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Tang Jie was shocked.


    The statuesque rainbow eagle suddenly opened its eyes, cried out, and flew at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie waved his saber to block, and there was a sh of light. The rainbow me collided against the Heartbreak Saber and disappeared in a radiant explosion.


    Tang Jie looked around but found nothing. That eagle soul that had cost him so many materials was just gone.


    Tang Jie was speechless.


    The Soul Refining Pearl was considered a famous treasure of the cultivation world, so why did everything get weird in his hands? First it had turned the lynx soul into a useless popsicle, and then the eagle had exploded and disappeared.


    Tang Jie could only put away the Soul Refining Pearl. There were no more fiends within the pearl, so the Soul Refining Pearl was once more exuding that soul-seizing sensation. Tang Jie knew that this meant that the Soul Refining Pearl was undamaged, and he mentally exhaled in relief.


    At this time, Yiyi said, ¡°Those bad guys have captured the others and areing back for you!¡±


    ¡°Any losses?¡±


    ¡°None.¡±


    ¡°None¡­ Understood. Yiyi,e back. There¡¯s no need for you to keep watching them. I will be waiting for you in front of the formation.¡±


    Tang Jie continued to make his way to the slope.


    The Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation was the true deciding factor in this battle.


    As he was walking, Tang Jie suddenly felt the Heartbreak Saber heating up in his hand. Looking down, he saw that the de was glowing with a red light.


    The red light curled around the saber, which began to tremble and radiate a light akin to the warm glow of sunset.


    ¡°Could it be¡­¡± Tang Jie raised the saber, an ideaing to mind.


    Could it be that the eagle soul hadn¡¯t disappeared, but had instead entered the saber?


    <em>Then wouldn¡¯t that be¡­</em>


    ¡°A weapon soul!¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    The Heartbreak Saber erupted with light and flew out of Tang Jie¡¯s hand. As it flew into the sky, Tang Jie saw a phantom appear on the saber: none other than that of the eagle soul.


    The eagle soul opened its wings and let out a noiseless screech. The Heartbreak Saber droned, its de shing with mes.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, not using any kind of spell to control it, but the Heartbreak Saber seemed to hear its master¡¯s call. It flew back down and into Tang Jie¡¯s hand, and the eagle soul once more disappeared into the de. But there was now an image carved into the de: the figure of the eagle soul.


    And two little wings had grown near the handle, serving as a handguard.


    Tang Jie was dumbfounded by the sight.


    <em>A weapon soul! A real weapon soul!</em>


    Weapon souls were normally created through only two methods. The first was to use rare materials to create an art relic, and after countless months of precipitation, a weapon soul would be born. The second method was for the cultivator to use the art relic over a long period of time, nourishing the weapon with their own sweat and blood and the lives of countless others.


    As for transnting souls to create weapon souls, Tang Jie had never even heard of such a thing. If weapon souls were that easy to make, soul weapons wouldn¡¯t be so valuable.


    Tang Jie could have never imagined that abination of coincidences and errors would end up granting his Heartbreak Saber a weapon soul. He didn¡¯t know if this was a function of the Soul Refining Pearl or because he had been attempting soul refining and soul congealing at the same time, but he knew that he had struck gold.


    A weapon with a weapon soul was no longer the same as a regr spell weapon or art relic. Not only was its power greatly increased, it could move on its own. Most importantly, weapon souls were intelligent existences and could absorb weapon seals on their own. In other words, they could essentially evolve on their own.


    Every soul weapon had different requirements for evolution, but so long as these conditions were reached, it could keep evolving. The level at which its evolution finally stopped would decide the quality of the soul weapon.


    The Heartbreak Saber had been a middle-grade spell weapon, but now that it had a weapon soul, the Heartbreak Saber had been directly promoted to an upper-grade spell weapon, and one of the best of this ss.


    But as Tang Jie had not added any seals to it, it could only exhibit the power of the middle grade for now.


    Seeing the situation, Tang Jie immediately used the Seal Parting spell.


    This wasn¡¯t to remove seals, but to use the surveying effect of the Seal Parting spell to understand the Heartbreak Saber¡¯s current situation.


    The Heartbreak Saber was a middle-grade spell weapon with twenty-four seals. Twelve of these seals focused on breaking armor, eight of them focused on toughness, and four of them focused on recovery. This was the typical example of a closebat weapon, tough andcking in spell arts.


    But upon using the Seal Parting spell, Tang Jie immediately sensed that, after gaining a weapon soul, the Heartbreak Saber now had space for enchantment, and it was particrly amenable to fire.


    Considering that the Soul Refining Pearl had absorbed a piece of zeraven Essence, and considering that the spirit coins the Soul Refining Pearl had absorbed and the Heartbreak Saber both had Inkcloud Stone as part of theirposition, Tang Jie gradually began to realize that the cause of all this might not have been the chaos from earlier, but the materials that had been absorbed.


    As for which was more important, Tang Jie would have to do some more testing to find the answer. But his first priority was to test the power of the Heartbreak Saber.


    Tang Jie threw out a series of seals.


    In thest two years, when he had nothing to do, he would spend time at the Forging tform, removing seals and shattering weapons. He had long ago be familiar with the various seals. Now that the Heartbreak Saber had a weapon soul, he could just directly apply the seals to it rather than worrying about the design.


    He first used the rathermonce Fire Trigram Seal. The Fire Trigram Seal was used in a set of twelve, and once applied, the spell weapon would release mes when it was swung. It was the fire seal that Tang Jie was the most familiar with.


    Once this set of fire seals had been applied, the Heartbreak Saber shed with me, but to Tang Jie¡¯s surprise, the me was green.


    ¡°Green? What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Fire Trigram fire was just ordinary fire. There was no reason for it to produce green mes.


    Tang Jie suddenly recalled the bottle of toxin from Wanderer Pentavenom. His heart trembling, he grabbed the saber and swung it, unleashing a gout of me at arge tree.


    Therge tree was unaffected at first, but then it toppled with a groan, the site of the cut withering away.


    Sure enough, it was a poison me.


    Tang Jie now understood that the attribute of the congealed soul really was closely connected to the materials absorbed. It was very possible that the more attributes, the moreplicated the abilities, and also that the more it absorbed, the stronger it became.


    The problem was that Tang Jie had no antidote for this poison me.


    Since the Soul Refining Pearl had absorbed only one bottle of poison, the poison wasn¡¯t very strong and was useless against Tang Jie, but it would be a problem if the poison me were used on others. He would have to think of a solutionter.


    As for the lynx soul, Tang Jie finally understood what the problem was.


    It had been made entirely using Softscent Jade, so it would probably only work when it came into contact with Softscent Jade.


    In other words, it would best be used on the puppet!


    It was no wonder Tang Jie couldn¡¯t find a use for it. To save on spirit stone energy, Tang Jie had yet to take out the puppet.


    ¡°Big Brother, are you there yet? The fiends are almost here!¡± Yiyi¡¯s voice rang out.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be there soon!¡± Tang Jie shouted back. He ran toward the slope while continuing to apply seals to the Heartbreak Saber¡­ This saber had yet to reach its upgrade limit, after all.

 Chapter 270: Into the Trap

    Chapter 270: Into the Trap


    On the western slope of the ridge, Tang Jie applied a final seal to the Heartbreak Saber, put it away, and quietly looked into the distance.


    He had done everything he needed to do and prepared everything he needed to prepare. All that was left was to bravely confront his foes.


    A tornado appeared in the distance, howling toward him in a whirl of fiendish and bloody energy.


    Yiyi jumped down from a small tree onto Tang Jie¡¯s back. Hugging Tang Jie¡¯s neck, she stared with herrge eyes.


    The fiend wind drew closer and closer, and it was possible to see the savage and terrifying visages of the numerous fiends within.


    As it drew close, the fiend wind turned into a mist and dispersed. The tornado was gone, reced by numerous fiends.


    There were also five humans: none other than Qin Zhou andpany.


    Qin Zhou¡¯s eyes momentarily brightened upon seeing Tang Jie, but they soon dimmed.


    On the other end, Yiyi shouted, ¡°Sister Luo Yin!¡±


    Luo Yin saw Yiyi and shouted with all her might, ¡°What are you guys doing? Run!¡±


    Yiyi shouted, ¡°We¡¯re not running! Sister Luo Yin, don¡¯t worry. We¡¯re going to kill all the bad guys and save you.¡±


    The fiendsughed as if they had heard the best joke in the world. Their leader, the golden lion, heartilyughed and said, ¡°This little sprite is quite amusing. I¡¯ll take her and make her into my maid!¡±


    It opened its mouth and spewed out a stream of white energy that acted like a rope, attempting to wind around Yiyi.


    ¡°Annoying!¡± Yiyi waved her hand, summoning a green rose to confront the white energy. It began to battle with the white energy, like a green snake and a white snake battling it out.


    In a real contest, Yiyi was no match for the lion fiend, but this white energy was just a little trick, and the lion wasn¡¯t really fighting her seriously. Thus, her green rose managed to fight to a draw.


    The gray wolf fiend next to the lion said, ¡°Vice King, be careful. I smell Red Eagle on that kid, so he probably killed Red Eagle. This kid isn¡¯t as simple as he looks.¡±


    The lion fiend¡¯s pupils constricted as it stared at Tang Jie. ¡°You must have some skill to kill two of my Fragrant Store Cave¡¯s generals. Soldiers, go!¡±


    The lion fiend waved its hand, and nearly a hundred fiends charged out.


    While these fiends were of average strength, there were many of them, and even a Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator would be defeated by them. But Tang Jie merely grunted as this beast horde charged at him, and went up to fight them.


    With a swing of the Heartbreak Saber, he unleashed a wave of red energy, and a tremendous shockwave sent two middle-grade and three lower-grade Spirit Sensing fiends flying outward.


    This blow was so powerful that even the lion fiend was shaken. It blurted out, ¡°Such strength! Is he a body cultivator?¡±


    But a momentter, it realized that it was wrong.


    This was because it saw the wounds of the injured fiends turn greenish-ck¡ªa sign that they had been poisoned. Tang Jie was already swinging his saber again. This time, the Divine Court Thousandshift turned it into thousands of des that filled the area in front of him with saber energy.


    Butpared to before, this Divine Court Thousandshift was much more powerful. One swing had unleashed thousands of des, and the Heartbreak Saber¡¯s me was also empowered. The mes swelled, producing an eagle of fire that soared into the sky.


    The wolf, lion, and bull fiend were all startled. A momentter, Tang Jie made a snatching motion in the air with his left hand, and the eagle exploded into a giant torrent of me. It swept down on the beast horde and caused them to howl in pain.


    This was a tactic that Tang Jie had made up on the spot. Bybining the Divine Court Thousandshift with the Heartbreak Saber¡¯s poison me, he created a wide-area attack. He didn¡¯t need to kill them, but at least he wanted the poison mes to weaken them.


    And this attack proved to be a sess. More than half of the nearly one hundred fiends were struck by the mes, and bitterly howled. The rest, while unharmed, had been awed by Tang Jie¡¯s heaven-shaking attack and did not dare toe forward.


    Qin Zhou¡¯s group was gobsmacked. What kind of Spirit tform student was capable of unleashing such a powerful spell art?


    In truth, not even Tang Jie had expected this attack to be so powerful. He had originally estimated that a third of the fiends would be injured by his attack, and that was on the optimistic side. But the power had been double what he had expected.


    Tang Jie was delighted at the effect of his attack.


    But a momentter, the ck bull grunted, ¡°Trying to show off with this puny poison me?¡±


    It opened its mouth, and an item flew out. As it tumbled through the air, it exploded with light, and wherever this light reached, the poisoned fiends began to recover. Tang Jie was left aghast by this sight.


    This poison me was the result of that one bottle of poison that had been absorbed, so its poison effect was rather average, but how could it be so easily undone?


    The ck bullughed. ¡°Was this how you killed Red Eagle and Lynx? Unfortunately, poison is useless against this general!¡±


    It waved its hand, and that item dropped from the sky. It turned out to be a bezoar, and the bull swallowed it back up again.


    Tang Jie shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s not like I was cing my hopes on it.¡±


    He backed away.


    ¡°Trying to escape?¡± The ck bull fiendughed. ¡°Kid, just sit there and wait to be captured!¡±


    The ck bull stepped forward and ced its hands on the ground. The ground trembled, and ten-some small hillocks rapidly rose from the ground behind Tang Jie. In a sh, they had transformed into armored soldiers with sabers.


    The bull fiend pushed its hand forward. ¡°Go!¡±


    The ten-some soldiers lunged at Tang Jie while the hundred fiends came at him from the other side.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°If I want to go, none of you can stop me.¡±


    As he spoke, Yiyi raised a hand, and numerous vines rose out of the earth, winding around the pursuing fiends. There was no way she could hold off all these fiends by herself, but she could hold them for a moment, giving Tang Jie time to create some distance with his speed.


    Sure enough, a momentter, Tang Jie activated the Violet Lightning Lunge and instantly turned into a blur. He rammed into a soldier behind him. Ignoring its swinging saber, he sent the soldier flying and flew off.


    ¡°Impudence!¡± the lion fiend furiously roared, sending a howling gale at Tang Jie.


    At the same time, the gray wolf fiend turned into a streak of light, moving even faster than Tang Jie.


    In a sh, the three Mind Opening fiends and the hundred other fiends were converging on Tang Jie. Even a peak Mortal Shedding cultivator would not dare to face this force.


    But Tang Jie remained cool and collected.


    In the face of this frenzied pursuit, he simply called out in his mind, <em>Closer, closer¡­</em>


    When a formation wasid, it would affect its surroundings. It might cause a shift in spiritual energy flow, alter objects in the area, or perhaps give off indicators unique to the formation, but regardless, they were all visible signs.


    Any intelligent existence, whether fiend or cultivator, would sense these alterations and notice something, even if they didn¡¯t understand formations.


    This meant thatying down a formation didn¡¯t mean that one could easily fool others, particrly in this situation. The more targets there were, the greater the chances of discovery. Luring enemies into the trap would require strengthening the View Gate so as to make the formation stealthier, or employing some other method to confuse the opponent and draw away their attention.


    This was exactly what Tang Jie was doing. For him, the key to victoryy in how many fiends he could lure into the formation.


    He could only hope that the fiends were as he had surmised, that they did not understand formations and that Fragrant Store Cave¡¯s position on thend nexus was just a coincidence. This meant that they wouldn¡¯t have the intelligence to react in time, even if they managed to figure out what was going on.


    So long as these fiends entered the formation, their lives would be in his hands!


    He rapidly fell back and the fiends pursued. Not far from him, on the ground, was a faint line of gray-green grass, and Tang Jie¡¯s gaze was fixed on this line.


    He elerated and crossed over the grass line!


    As he stepped over the line, there was a soft drone, and time and space seemed to freeze for a moment, everything instantly turning calm.


    Tang Jie¡¯s figure seemed to flicker for a moment, dazzling the fiends behind him. The non-Mind-Opening fiends had not noticed anything, and they continued to charge over the grass line.


    Even the lion, wolf, and bull fiends were only momentarily taken aback, not noticing anything either.


    While these guys were fierce, they had limited knowledge and experience. If they saw a problem, they couldn¡¯t understand the nature of it.


    Thus, the three of them charged toward the formation.


    Thirty meters!


    Twenty meters!


    Ten meters!


    Tang Jie barely blinked as he stared at the three fiends. The little fiends were nothing big, but he had to capture these three major fiends.


    The lion, wolf, and bull charged forward without realizing a thing. As they drew close to Tang Jie, fiendish energy stirred, and spiritual light shed in the air as if barely repressed and about to explode.


    The first to enter the formation was the gray wolf. This wolf fiend was known for its speed, and moved even faster than the lion. It was the first over the line, and its vision momentarily blurred, its surroundings changing. It could no longer see Tang Jie, and even the number of fiends around it had dwindled. The world had be a much more open ce.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± the gray wolf said in shock.


    As it was wondering, the lion charged up.


    But it seemed to have sensed that the gray wolf¡¯s behavior was peculiar, and just as it was about to enter the formation, it stopped and looked around.


    <em>Not good!</em>


    Tang Jie knew that this wasn¡¯t good. The lion fiend seemed to have some experience and had noticed something.


    He hastily rushed out of the formation and shot an Energy Needle at the lion fiend. The lion was caught off guard and howled in pain. It swung its mace while roaring, ¡°ck Bull, don¡¯te! There¡¯s a hidden formation¡­¡±


    ¡°Raaaa!¡± Tang Jie roared, drowning out the lion¡¯s voice. At the same time, he swung his saber, releasing a fierce me.


    Despite his shout, the ck bull fiend still managed to notice something. It hastily tried to stop, but its inertia carried it forward. It tottered forward a few steps and almost crossed the grass line beforeing to a stop.


    <em>Whew!</em> ¡°I managed to stop.¡±


    As it saw that shing line of gray-green grass, the ck bull fiend noticed something strange and wiped some cold sweat off its brow.


    But as soon as it stopped, a vine suddenly reached out from the other side of the line, winding around its feet and giving a hard tug. Before the ck bull could react, it was pulled inside the formation.


    ¡°No!¡± the golden lion furiously roared.


    Tang Jie coldly said, ¡°Don¡¯t even think about escaping alone!¡±


    ¡°Seeking death!¡± The lion fiend swiped at Tang Jie¡¯s chest, trying to scoop out his heart. But Tang Jie took the w and opened his arms, embracing the golden lion and rolling into the formation.


    Tang Jie put all his strength into this hug and roll, and not even the golden lion fiend could stop it. It knew that there was no stopping entering the formation, so its eyes surged with murderous intent as it shouted, ¡°Die!¡±


    It swung the mace in its right hand at Tang Jie¡¯s head.


    Given the strength of a middle-grade Mind Opening fiend, if this blow made contact, even Tang Jie¡¯s Jewel Body would probably be smashed into a paste. But at this moment, Tang Jie thrust a palm on the ground and shouted, ¡°Rise!¡±


    The Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation activated!

 Chapter 271: The Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation

    Chapter 271: The Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation


    An incredible sight yed out before the fiends.


    The rather short trees suddenly began to grow high into the sky. Their crowns rapidly expanded as numerous branches sprouted from their trunks, twining together and blotting out the sky.


    Thousands of years seemed to pass in the blink of an eye, instantly transforming this mountain ridge into a primordial forest.


    This was the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation!


    When this formation was activated, the creatures within the formation would immediately be divided byrge numbers of trees and woulde under ceaseless attack. No one could leave unless the formation were destroyed. With the activation of the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation, the mountain range was divided into two different worlds.


    The vast, primordial world within the formation had countless dangers that would devour the fiends, and outside the formation were twenty-some fiends that were mystified by what had happened.


    The lion fiend¡¯s vignce and its astonishing strength had meant that Tang Jie couldn¡¯t wait for all the fiends to enter. Thus, the formation had activated before all the fiends could go inside.


    These twenty-some fiends were the greatest threat to the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation. As this green screen surged up, heaven-soaring trees appearing everywhere, the fiends began to run around like headless flies. Some of the more violent ones even began to ram into the screen.


    All formations shared amon point: they focused on only one direction, whether it was inside or outside, either killing those inside or defending against those outside. Those that did both were either extremely expensive or terrible at both.


    The same was true for the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation. It was mainly a formation that attacked those on the inside and was basically useless against those on the outside.


    Fortunately, these fiends didn¡¯t understand formations, and they didn¡¯t know the method to break the formation, only brute force. But their continued battering and ramming was also a burden on the formation and would hasten its copse.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie had prepared for all of this.


    The moment he activated the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation, two figures rushed out of the formation: Yiyi and the little tiger. Yiyi raised her hand, and arge number of flowers emerged, creating a new barrier between the formation and the outside world. The little tiger flew out, using the flower formation as cover to assail the fiends.


    At the same time, in the world within the formation.


    Just as the golden mace was about to smash into Tang Jie¡¯s head, ten-some thick vines shot out of the ground and carried the lion into the air, causing that strike to miss.


    Grass sprouted out of the ground and tangled around the fiends, creating a prison of thorns. Numerous fiends were bound by these thorns and held aloft, where they furiously roared.


    Not only that, the dense thorned vines drew tighter and tighter, their thorns prating deeper into the bodies of the fiends and beginning to suck their blood.


    As for Tang Jie, as the lion fiend, the bull fiend, the wolf fiend, and their followers were carried into the air, he blinked over to a lower-grade tiger fiend and swung his saber, chopping off its head. He then moved over to a monkey fiend and thrust the Heartbreak Saber into the monkey¡¯s gut. As he pulled out its viscera, he also grabbed the monkey¡¯s fiend pellet. He then moved to another fiend beast¡¯s side, and with a chop of his saber, another fiend was in.


    His attacks were brutal and lethal, and he ughtered the fiends as a butcher wouldmbs. The lion, bull, and wolf fiends all roared in fury and madness.


    The wolf fiend screamed, ¡°Bastard!¡±


    It opened its mouth and fired an azure crescent wind de at Tang Jie.


    While the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation could bind and even kill fiends, it couldn¡¯t stop fiends from casting spells. But fiends weren¡¯t sprites; they mostly cultivated their physical bodies, so they had powerful bodies and average spell arts. Thus, once restrained, their strength was more than halved. This was precisely why Tang Jie could freely move through the forest and hunt down these fiends.


    While this gray wolf was at the lower grade of Mind Opening, it was all about physical cultivation, and it emphasized speed and closebat. The power of its spells was rather average, and purely in terms of spell arts, it might not even be able to beat a Spirit Sea student. Thus, Tang Jie simply moved to the side to dodge the wind de, and then he blinked up to a fiend snake. He swung his saber, sliced the snake open, and extracted a fiend pellet from its body, upon which he left. The fiend snake was notpletely dead, still writhing in pain amidst the thorns. It was a Worm Snake, an extremely tenacious kind of fiend beast that could be reborn even if its head were cut off. But it hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to dissect it and take out its fiend pellet rather than cutting off its head, thus seizing its life force and allowing the formation to extract the rest of its life, which was exactly the method to counter such a fiend.


    In truth, while Tang Jie¡¯s actions seemed simple, his every attack was aimed at the weaknesses of the fiends. Otherwise, the fiends, with their powerful bodies and tenacious life forces, would take many forceful swings of the saber to kill. Such were the benefits of the Dao of Insight. The Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation bound the fiends while the Dao of Insight found their weaknesses, the two of them allowing Tang Jie to instantly kill his foes.


    He needed to kill these fiends in the shortest time possible for fear that some new development might ur!


    Whether it was the attacks outside the formation or the binding going on within it, it was all a burden on the formation. As hecked enough materials and was binding too many opponents, the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation was bound to be a short-lived formation. Tang Jie¡¯s only solution was to squeeze it for all the value it was worth before it copsed, and kill all the fiends.


    Thus, he didn¡¯t waste time talking, flying through the forest with saber in hand and killing all opposition like some formidable demon protecting its territory.


    The three Mind Opening fiends madly roared, their eyeballs almost popping out of their sockets.


    ¡°Damn you!¡± the bull fiend bellowed. ¡°Break!¡±


    It shook its arms, sending a powerful ripple through its body. The ck bull was a naturally strong fiend, and while it was of lower grade, when it came to strength, it was even a little stronger than the middle-grade lion fiend. As it flexed all of its muscles, even the vines created by the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation couldn¡¯t bind it, and snapped with sharp bangs.


    Just as all the vines were about to break, Tang Jie cut down a fiend and turned around, snorting at the ck bull, ¡°If it were that easy to get out, would this still be called a formation?¡±


    Tang Jie slightly raised his left hand and pointed at the ck bull, upon which more vines emerged and coiled around the ck bull.


    <em>You can break them, but I can make more!</em>


    So long as the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation had power, it would continue to produce vines to bind his foes.


    No matter how strong the bull fiend was, it could only fruitlessly struggle against the endless vines.


    As he rebound the bull, Tang Jie rushed up to it and swung his saber.


    He had not attacked these three fiends before because they were too strong and he wouldn¡¯t be able to deal with them in a short time. Thus, it was better to let the formation grind away at them while he killed the smaller fiends and reduced the burden on the formation.


    But this bull fiend had started fighting back, and while it couldn¡¯t escape, every struggle ced an additional burden on the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation. Thus, Tang Jie had decided to kill the ck bull first.


    The Heartbreak Saber unleashed a dazzling me as it struck the bull on the head, releasing a burst of sparks.


    This bull¡¯s head was as tough as iron.


    Tang Jie wasn¡¯t too surprised. In the earlier sh, Tang Jie had been able to tell that of the four great generals of Fragrant Store Cave, the lynx was the worst of all, not even matching up to a standard lower-grade Mind Opening fiend. If not for Old Crow Ridge having only these few Mind Opening fiends, the lynx probably wouldn¡¯t have even been made a general. The wolf fiend was third, one of those who was average in all aspects. Among lower-grade Mind Opening fiends, it was probably the typical kind, and its expertise was in tracking through scent. The eagle fiend was second-strongest, relying on its speed and sharp attacks to dominate.


    The strongest was the ck bull fiend.


    It was strong and tough, and its spell arts were also notcking. Besides summoning soldiers, it also had that art relic bezoar that could cure all poisons. This was a powerful fiend that excelled in all aspects, though when it was removed from the ground, the bull fiend could no longer use many of its Earth spell arts.


    In an actual duel, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t guaranteed to win.


    Killing above one¡¯s level wasn¡¯t just about strengthening oneself, but also weakening the foe. This bull fiend clearly wasn¡¯t someone that could be so easily in by those weaker than it. Even when it was bound up, it wouldn¡¯t allow itself to be bullied.


    With this attack failing to chop off the bull¡¯s head, Tang Jie¡¯s eyes shed with a savage light. ¡°Let¡¯s see how hard you really are!¡±


    Rather than using the golden thread, he used Windcleaver and hacked again.


    While he appeared very impressive, killing with one swing, he actually hadn¡¯t used much spiritual energy. In fact, it was exactly because he wasn¡¯t using much spiritual energy that he was able to act so casually, thus leading to his impressive show of force.


    A true hard and bloody battle wasn¡¯t elegant at all. On the contrary, it would make one more savage, more ragged, more hard-pressed, and more bloody.


    As he faced down the restrained ck bull, his indifference disappeared, to be reced by a sharper and more intimidating aura.


    Activating the Grotto Metal Mantra and circting its mantra, he raised the Heartbreak Saber, which let out a frightening light.


    ¡°Windcleaver!¡±


    He swung down!


    As the Heartbreak Saber empowered by the Windcleaver Saber swung at the bull¡¯s head, there was a <em>plush</em>, and a thin line of blood appeared at the top of the bull fiend¡¯s head.


    Breaking through armor!


    This was none other than the armor-piercing ability of the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra. Paired with the armor-breaking seal on the Heartbreak Saber, it could even break through the bull fiend¡¯s fortress-like defense. The deep wound on its head caused the bull fiend to bellow in rage.


    Tang Jie swung again, still at the same wound. No one could also make their organs as tough as steel, so once he was through the skin, the fatal weakness would be revealed.


    If this were a proper match, it would be basically impossible to strike at the same wound. After all, no one was dumb enough to just sit there and take it. But with the binding power of the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation, everything was possible.


    The second swing came down along the same trajectory, and that wound on the scalp was swiftly widened. Tang Jie pushed a finger¡¯s length deep and then gave it a third swing.


    While the bull fiend was tough, Tang Jie hacked at it as he would a tree. If one swing wouldn¡¯t suffice, then two, and if two wouldn¡¯t suffice, three! With ten-some swings, even refined iron would give way.


    ¡°Old Bull!¡± the lion fiend and wolf fiend shouted in unison.


    A swift crescent de of wind shot at Tang Jie, but Tang Jie casually blocked it with a swing of his saber.


    The lion fiend roared, its maw rapidly widening as an icy torrent surged out.


    The lion fiend was the vice king of Fragrant Store Cave, a middle-grade Mind Opening fiend. While it was weaker than the bull fiend in terms of physical strength, and while its defenses were not as impressive, it had powerful spell arts, as one of the rare fiends that excelled at spells.


    Tang Jie did not dare to take on this torrent of ice directly, and he dodged to the side.


    Using this brief moment, the wind de sliced at the vines covering the bull¡¯s head, creating a crack. The old bull took the opportunity to twist its head and break the vines. With its head free, the bull lowered its head and jabbed its horns at Tang Jie¡¯s belly.


    This sudden development caught even Tang Jie off guard. He was gored on the horns, and yellow light shed as Tang Jie flew up into the air.


    ¡°Good job!¡± the lion fiend excitedly roared. It suddenly raised its head to the sky and roared.


    Lion Roar Valley!


    With this lion king¡¯s roar, a gray phantom emerged from the back of the lion, taking the form of a massive lion the size of a city gate.


    This was the lion fiend¡¯s ultimate move. Once activated, it would bite down on the target, and that mouthful of teeth served as the strongest art relics, with even bones of steel only dying death for a while.


    Let alone Tang Jie, even the bull fiend¡¯s defenses wouldn¡¯t be able to hold.


    It had not used it all this time because Tang Jie had been too fast while the lion fiend couldn¡¯t move. It feared that the target would run off before it could properly use it. But now that Tang Jie had been knocked into the air, it was the perfect chance to strike. That giant lion moved to bite down on Tang Jie, its giant maw slowly drawing shut. Tang Jie had nowhere to hide.


    At this time, the gray wolf shot another crescent wind de at Tang Jie.


    The wind de this time was particrlyrge and shing with a red light. This wind de had absorbed some of the power of its fiend pellet and was brimming with power.


    Several of the smarter fiends also used this chance to cast spells at Tang Jie, and the sky was soon awash with various attacks.


    Tang Jie coldlyughed and flourished a talisman.


    The Fiend-Sealing Mountain Talisman!

 Chapter 272: Execution

    Chapter 272: Execution


    The Fiend-Sealing Mountain Talisman was one of the talismans Tang Jie had gotten from Madam Shui. It was an extremely powerful ¡°art¡± talisman, and was specifically made to vanquish evil and counter fiends.


    The battle at the Devil Crushing Path had involved only students, and the asional minor fiend he had run into had been of average strength, so Tang Jie had yet to use this talisman. But this time, the Fiend-Sealing Mountain Talisman that hadin unused this whole time was bound to y a major role.


    The Fiend-Sealing Mountain Talisman could be used five times in all, and this was Tang Jie¡¯s very first time using it.


    The talisman shed, and a golden mountain manifested, radiating light.


    Everything dimmed under the light of this spell, and the majority of the fiend attacks instantly disappeared. Even the wolf¡¯s fiend-pellet-empowered wind de greatly dimmed, no longer capable of threatening Tang Jie.


    Only the lion king phantom remained as vicious as ever, continuing to bite down at Tang Jie, its massive maw biting down on the small mountain like it was eating a walnut. <em>Crack! Crack!</em> The sh of golden light and teeth produced thousands of sparks that rained down.


    The lion king¡¯s mane bristled as it roared at the heavens, and the giant heaven-spanning phantom continued to bite down. The Fiend-Sealing Mountain Talisman shed as it held off the lion king phantasm.


    At the same time, Tang Jie pointed a finger at the ground.


    A thick vine emerged,ing up to Tang Jie¡¯s feet, holding him up and carrying him toward the lion fiend.


    In truth, this was changing opponents, which was a taboo in battle, but the lion fiend was now even more threatening than the bull fiend. Moreover, this fellow¡¯s spell arts were powerful, and it was currently focusing all of its efforts on the Fiend-Sealing Mountain Talisman. However, the talisman was just a talisman, so in a real fight, even all five uses of the talisman might not be enough topletely exhaust the lion fiend¡¯s magic power. Thus, Tang Jie decided to kill it first. Even drawing away some of its spirit power was good enough.


    The Heartbreak Saber unleashed a pale me as it shed, and while the bull and wolf fiends roared, they were powerless to help. Just when it seemed like this attack would heavily wound the lion fiend, the lion fiend suddenly looked at the golden mace next to its hand.


    The golden mace rose up on its own, and <em>ng!</em> It blocked the saber.


    ¡°Weapon control?¡± Tang Jie was startled.


    He hadn¡¯t expected the lion to be capable of controlling weapons. A momentter, the golden mace created countless phantom maces that pelted at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t dare to take these attacks. He controlled the vine under his feet to take him flying backward. At the same time, several vines went to bind the golden mace, but the mace exploded with light that obliterated them.


    Fiends were mostly stronger in body than in spell arts, so they were weaker once restrained. But in this situation, the lion fiend could fight back against the Fiend-Sealing Mountain Talisman and even control a weapon to strike back against Tang Jie, forcing him to retreat. It was clear that it was probably stronger in spells than in body.


    But with this distraction, there was a burst of golden light, and the lion phantasm in the sky was pushed back. Those teeth that were clearly made of spiritual energy began to copse as the majestic power of the talisman pressed down.


    The lion fiend shouted, and the light behind its back grew even brighter, and only then did it manage to stop the talisman¡¯s assault. But this action caused the mace phantoms to instantly disappear.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, and three golden needles flew at the lion fiend¡ªneedles created using the Weapon Mantra.


    Without the mace to block them, the three golden needles prated into the lion fiend¡¯s head, leaving three small holes. The lion¡¯s head jolted, and not only did it not die, it let out a giant roar and unleashed a swell of power. The golden light of the fiend-sealing talisman was pushed back, and the golden mace flew up to once more attack Tang Jie.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t panic. On the contrary, there was a faint smile in his eyes as he shook his head and pointed at the lion fiend. ¡°Link!¡±


    The three golden needles that had prated through the lion connected into a golden thread and came slicing back.


    The wolf and bull felt their hearts grow cold, and they shouted in unison, ¡°Vice King, watch out!¡±


    But the golden thread swept across the lion fiend¡¯s neck,ing away a thin red line.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    Time seemed to stop. First, that lion phantom in the air iled and flickered before transforming into countless motes of light. Following that, the dancing golden mace plopped to the ground, devoid of its former ferocity.


    Finally, the golden lion king swayed, and then itsrge head slid off its body, and blood fountained out of its neck!


    ¡°No! How could this be?¡± The wolf and bull stared at the lion.


    They did not dare to believe their eyes.


    The bull fiend bellowed, ¡°No! Big Brother, stand up! You can¡¯t die! You¡¯re the Icewind Lion King! Your ice extends for a thousand kilometers and your tornadoes can sweep away all clouds! Your Raging Sandstorm! Your Infinite Ice Armor! You still have so many lethal techniques that you haven¡¯t used yet! You¡¯re so strong, so how could you just die like this!? Hurry and stand up!¡±


    But the Icewind Lion King was no earthworm. No matter how much the bull yelled, it would not stand up again.


    However, this death had been both ignoble and noble.


    It was ignoble because it had some powerful spell arts that it never got the chance to use, yet noble because Tang Jie had used two powerful moves in the fiend-sealing talisman and the golden thread to deal with it, with the former using up two of its uses in this short time and thetter having its existence exposed. While the golden thread was sharp, it had a pliable body and was easily stopped. Thus, it was better for sneak attacks than direct confrontations. This was precisely why Tang Jie had not used it against the ck bull. And to ensure the kill against the lion fiend, Tang Jie had even used the golden thread¡¯s shapeshifting power.


    It could be said that Tang Jie had used two of his trump cards to kill the lion king, and his real opponent, the upper-grade Mind Opening Illusion Fox, was still nowhere to be seen.


    Tang Jie exhaled now that his attack had seeded, and all the fiends trembled. The bull fiend was still bellowing in disbelief while the wolf fiend shrieked, ¡°Great King! Great King! Hurry ande! This kid is too hard to deal with!¡±


    This high-pitched cry prated straight into the clouds, and even Tang Jie was taken aback at the wolf fiend¡¯s range. But in the end, he just chuckled. Just when he was about to say something, he heard a mighty howl.


    Twisting his head, he saw the ck bull bulging with muscle, a massive energy vortex forming around it.


    Within this vortex, the ck bull grewrger andrger. <em>Snap! Snap!</em> The several dozen vines instantly snapped apart.


    The vines snapped so suddenly that even Tang Jie didn¡¯t have time to rebind the bull. The ck bull descended toward the ground, its body still growingrger andrger. The bull that had stood like a man had gone back to being on all fours, and the moment it hit the ground, it pointed its horns at Tang Jie and charged.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Tang Jie cursed. There was no time to have the vines bind the bull, so he could only raise his saber to block.


    <em>Boom!</em> The bull horns collided with the saber, and a giant chunk was knocked out of the Heartbreak Saber while Tang Jie himself was thrown back several dozen meters.


    The bull fiend bellowed, and countless rocks rose off the ground and shot at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie raised a hand, andrge numbers of vines rose up, some of them blocking the stones and others winding around the bull fiend.


    But as the vines wound around it, the bull fiend stomped its hooves, emitting a powerful shockwave that sted apart the vines. Tang Jie knew that this wasn¡¯t good. This bull had seemingly entered some special berserk state and now had the power of a middle-grade. He decided to give up on using the formation to bind the bull, instead having the vines pull him aside to avoid the bull¡¯s attacks. He wound the golden thread around the Heartbreak Saber and stared at the wound on the back of the bull¡¯s head, looking for an opportunity.


    This berserk bull was still charging around, waving its head here and there, its scythe-like horns slicing through the surroundings and destroying any nt or stone unlucky enough to be in their path. But Tang Jie was moved around by the vines, forward and back, up and down, so while the ck bull had the advantage in momentum, it couldn¡¯t harm a hair on Tang Jie¡¯s head.


    The gray wolf was in a panic. ¡°This won¡¯t do anything! Old ck, release me first!¡±


    But the ck bull had already taken leave of its senses and was deaf to the wolf¡¯s cries. It continued to run around, even disregarding the other fiends that were imprisoned. A small fiend was right in front of the ck bull, but the ck bull kept charging, its horns goring the fiend. In a sh, the fiend was sted apart by the fiend energy running through it.


    Even Tang Jie was shaken by this sight.


    He decided to run in the direction of the other fiends, and sure enough, the ck bull pursued, trampling all in its path.


    The screams of countless fiends ensued as they fell under the ck bull¡¯s horns or hooves.


    The ones lucky enough to not die received an Energy Needle from Tang Jie to end their lives.


    In the blink of an eye, there were numerous corpses spread around the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation, and the ck bull was still stomping around, chasing and roaring after Tang Jie, its eyes red and bright.


    But behind this ferocity, Tang Jie noticed that it was gradually weakening.


    The berserk strength was not limitless, and in this endless pursuit, the ck bull was growing tired, rationality returning to its reddened eyes.


    Upon seeing this, Tang Jie pointed at his feet, and the vines sent him above the bull¡¯s head.


    ¡°Old ck, watch out!¡± the gray wolf shouted, unleashing a wind de.


    But Tang Jie simply activated the Aquagel Shroud and the Formless Golden Body while he hacked at the ck bull.


    The ck bull bellowed and stabbed its horns upward.


    But Tang Jie suddenly drew back his saber and shot to the bull¡¯s back. That attack had been a feint. This was the real one.


    The old bull roared and tried to throw Tang Jie off, but more vines had appeared below it.


    While it could break these vines with a single shake, it still required a shake. That split second was enough for Tang Jie to stab the Heartbreak Saber, not swing. The tip of the de prated into the wound from earlier, the golden thread opening the way, and the slender edge was able to pierce all the way, almost running through the bull¡¯s head.


    ¡°Raaaaa!¡± The bull raised its head and let out a heaven-shaking cry, and a yellow light erupted from its body. This was the bezoar¡¯s healing power.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless!¡± Tang Jie grunted and thrust out his left index finger, which now had the appearance of white jade.


    The Jade Shattering Finger!


    He was much more proficient with the Jade Shattering Finger now than when he had battled Daoist Fuyu, and he no longer needed ages to cast.


    His finger stabbed forth and gouged out a bloody wound on the bull¡¯s back.


    This wound wasn¡¯t very wide. After all, the Jade Shattering Finger wasn¡¯t the golden thread, and its slicing ability was limited. But this was enough for Tang Jie.


    For Tang Jie plunged his entire arm into the bull¡¯s back and seized the bezoar inside.


    This was the old bull¡¯s weakness. It was so powerful and vicious because of the power provided by the bezoar. It had refined its fiend pellet into the bezoar, making it its core. By seizing it, Tang Jie had essentially cut off its power source, and all of its energy leaked out while its iron defense instantly dropped.


    Tang Jie started to cut instead of stab with the Heartbreak Saber, starting from its neck and going all the way down its back. The bull was dissected down the middle, with only half of its head still connected.


    With a grunt, the ck bull finally dropped to the ground. Even with its tenacious life force, it could no longer keep up its offensive.


    ¡°Old ck!¡± The gray wolf shut its eyes in sorrow and rage.


    As a fiend, it was a savage fellow, but even it felt its heart chilling at Tang Jie¡¯s methods.


    Tang Jie was covered in blood, and most of the fiends were now dead. Tang Jie had killed some of them, others had been sucked dry or crushed by the formation¡¯s vines, and still others had been in by the ck bull. In this Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation, the only one still in good condition was the gray wolf.


    The gray wolf seemed to know that it didn¡¯t have long to live, but it showed no fear. ring at Tang Jie, it said, ¡°Human, kill me if you want, but my Great King will avenge me!¡±


    ¡°¡®Avenge¡¯?¡± Tang Jie chortled at these words.


    Carrying his saber, he walked up to the gray wolf and said, ¡°You really think that stupid fox cares about your life?¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± The gray wolf was taken aback.


    ¡°Did you not understand me? I¡¯m saying that your Great King, that stupid fox, doesn¡¯t care at all about your lives¡­ On the contrary, it might even be borrowing my hands to get rid of you.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit!¡± the gray wolf roared.


    ¡°¡®Bullshit¡¯?¡± Tang Jie snorted. ¡°You¡¯ve been crying for help for so long, so why hasn¡¯t it appeared to save you?¡±


    ¡°The Great King just hasn¡¯t arrived yet!¡±


    ¡°Or perhaps the exact opposite¡­ It¡¯s been here for a while.¡±


    The gray wolf savagely smiled. ¡°Cunning human, you¡¯re trying to pull me and the Great King apart¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to die soon, so why would I bother doing that?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    The gray wolf was dumbfounded. Tang Jie casually said, ¡°Why don¡¯t we have a bet?¡±

 Chapter 273: Obstruction

    Chapter 273: Obstruction


    Outside the formation.


    If the world inside the formation was Tang Jie¡¯s one-man show, and one-sided ughter that utilized his advantage in location, the world outside was a battle with a very lopsided bnce in strength and an oue that was difficult to predict, a melee with all sorts of ups and downs.


    The lopsided bnce in strength was because the fiends had the numbers. Twenty-some fiend beasts were charging in, overwhelming Yiyi and the little tiger in terms of momentum.


    The battle¡¯s oue was difficult to predict and had all sorts of ups and downs because the offensive and defensive sides were switching so quickly that it was hard to keep up.


    The Fragrant Store Cave fiends, with their vast advantage in numbers, had been caught off guard by Yiyi and the little tiger and received a savage beating.


    The moment the flower formation had emerged, a vast number of green vines just like those of the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation rose up and coiled around the fiends, creating a hell of thorns.


    Yiyi¡¯s flower formation was a spell art that was ideal for locational and defensive battles. Even though it couldn¡¯t match the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation, at least at the moment of activation, it could be said to have achieved the same effect.


    As the fiends were imprisoned, the little tiger lunged out and took a big bite at a lower-grade fiend, lunging out as Tang Jie had.


    The scene was just like what was going on in the formation, both worlds moving in unison at this specific moment in time. The little tiger was crazily tearing through the imprisoned fiends, his teeth and ws serving as the finest weapons. Without using any spell arts, he tore at the veins of the fiends, ripped apart their flesh, and feasted upon them.


    But this fine feelingsted for only an extremely short moment.


    As the little tiger¡¯s sharp ws were tearing open the throat of a second fiend, an upper-grade ck bear broke free of the flower formation, the flower vines snapping under the bear¡¯s freakish strength. The bear strode out and swatted the tiger away.


    The tiger opened its wings, flew a circle in the air, and then shot at the bear like a lightning bolt. But the giant bear took the blow without a problem. It grabbed a vine and swung it through the air, and the dirt on the vine instantly turned into a stone pellet tougher than steel that smashed into the little tiger.


    The little tiger yowled and immediately turned tail.


    Even in a one-versus-one, he was no match for the ck bear.


    <em>Awooo!</em> With a savage roar, the fiends cast various spells. Ice, fire, and light sted apart the vines and sent numerous petals into the air.


    In the space of a few seconds, most of the fiends had broken through. Yiyi¡¯s flower formation had existed for the shortest time in its history before copsing. The fiends surged toward Yiyi, and once they got close, they would need only a few seconds to tear her apart.


    The tables had almost instantly turned!


    Yiyi¡¯s eyes suddenly shed with a white light.


    She looked up at the petals dancing in the air.


    Under her gaze, the petals began to dance,spinning faster and faster. They turned into flying saws, sting at the fiends from all sides and cutting bloody wounds across their tough skins.


    The fiend wolf charging at the very front was the most unfortunate of all. Several hundred petals whistled into its body, throwing it up into the sky.


    Divine Firmament Secret Art: Petal Rain!


    With Tang Jie¡¯s instruction, Yiyi was superior in spell arts to even an average Mind Opening fiend.


    This explosive attack left almost all the fiends wounded, with that fiend wolf dying a gruesome death. But fiend beasts were bold and dauntless. Heavy wounds only ignited their ruthless nature and caused them to charge more savagely.


    But as they lunged, Yiyi¡¯s eyes shed once more. Large amounts of white fog surged up, caused by none other than the illusion formation that she was an expert in.


    She had been born with the ability to cast this illusion formation, and it could be considered her natural spell art. Through years of use and practice, she could use it in an instant. With the emergence of the white fog, the fiendspletely lost sight of her.


    There was a sh of lightning as the little tiger used the cover of the illusion formation to attack again.


    Yiyi provided cover while the little tiger attacked, the fiend and sprite working together wlessly.


    But just like the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation and the flower formation, the illusion formation could also be broken. While these fiends didn¡¯t understand the Dao of Formations, they had brute force and numbers. Just by running around and ramming away, they could increase the burden on Yiyi. It wasn¡¯t long before Yiyi felt her spiritual energy rapidly falling, and she knew that she couldn¡¯t hold the fiends for very long.


    Her little face paled as she shouted, ¡°Bao¡¯er,e back!¡±


    The little tiger roared in reluctance, but he quickly retreated. As he retreated, the white fog began to disperse. Upon seeing a vague silhouette, at least seven of the fiends lunged at Yiyi. One of them, a civet, was as fast as lightning, instantly lunging up to Yiyi and swiping its ws.


    But what awaited it was a flick of Yiyi¡¯s small hand.


    Her fair and tender wrist wore a bracelet of scarlet jade.


    The zeraven Ring!


    Tang Jie had given this treasure to Yiyi for her to use.


    Without these hidden cards, how could he possibly let Yiyi and the little tiger go and deal with twenty-some fiends?


    <em>Boom!</em>


    Though the civet was agile and swift, it couldn¡¯t avoid such a close-range attack. Hundreds of zeravens poured out of the ring and smashed into the civet¡¯s body, instantly obliterating it. Fire leapt into the sky as several dozen pieces of charred civet flesh rained down.


    Yiyi muttered, ¡°It¡¯s so charred that it¡¯s basically worthless. What a pity.¡±


    She had spent long enough with Tang Jie that she had picked up his way of speaking somewhat.


    Meanwhile, more fiends charged.


    Yiyi waved her hand.


    The forgotten petals once more reminded the fiend pack that they existed.


    As they danced, they linked together in a chain and flew toward Yiyi, forming a barrier in front of her.


    The Blossom Shell.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    A massive boar fiend mmed its two thick, stone-shattering tusks into the Blossom Shell. But all it did was cause a few petals to wither and fly away, leaving Yiyi unharmed.


    Yiyi borrowed the force of the impact to float backward, and the boar roared as it gave chase. Suddenly, a small crack opened up in the floral barrier.


    A snow-white sword emerged from the crack, aimed right at the boar. The boar mindlessly continued its charge, and <em>plush!</em> The sword prated through the boar¡¯s head. A momentter, ice bloomed across the boar, quickly turning it into an ice statue.


    The Crystal Ice Sword!


    This was none other than the sword that Tang Jie had taken from the in Frost Fairy. As this sword contained the essence of the Frost Fairy, it was extremely powerful, but its bitterly cold nature made it difficult to use. Yiyi had consumed the Frost Fairy¡¯s sprite core, and though she had not developed an Ice spell art, she had gained some level of ice resistance, which allowed her to barely use the sword. Even so, Tang Jie had had her ustom herself to the sword for two years before allowing her to use it.


    The thrust of the sword killed the boar on the spot.


    Before Yiyi could pull out the Crystal Ice Sword, an ape with arms that were ten-some meters long yowled and reached out to Yiyi. Its arm extended and struck Yiyi¡¯s shield, forcing her back. Then the arm continued to lengthen, chasing Yiyi down and punching at the Blossom Shell several times in a row.


    <em>Kcha!</em> The Blossom Shell exploded into countless motes of pink dust.


    At the moment the Blossom Shell disappeared, a blue-eyed rabbit opened its mouth and fired off a de of ice.


    The ice de wasn¡¯t powerful, but it posed an enormous threat to Yiyi. As the ice de was about to hit, the little tiger rushed out and blocked the ice de with his body. He shivered and then turned his head and roared.


    The Tiger King Roar caused all the fiends to tremble, and their offensive paused for a moment. Only that Earth Bear was unaffected, roaring as it charged over and swung a paw at the little tiger.


    Not even the little tiger could handle the Earth Bear¡¯s prodigious strength, but if he backed away, Yiyi woulde under attack. He stared at the ck bear, ring with madness in his eyes as he refused to give ground.


    Just when that bear paw was about to hit the little tiger, an arm suddenly shot out and stopped the paw cold.


    The Earth Bear froze, and then it saw Yiyi rising up from behind the little tiger, a human-shaped brute beneath her. It was none other than the Grade 3bat puppet.


    Holding the puppet token, Yiyi solemnly pointed. ¡°Go!¡±


    The puppet rumbled out, rushing up to the Earth Bear¡¯s side. It grabbed the Earth Bear¡¯s right shoulder with its left hand and the bear¡¯s chest with its right hand. The Earth Bear instinctively raised its arms to resist, both parties exerting their strength at the same time. The Earth Bear was enormously powerful, one of the strongest among the fiend beasts, but as it flexed its muscles, the puppet¡¯s left arm shed.


    A prodigious strength surged, and then the Earth Bear was thrown into the air with a whoosh. An arm proceeded to grab its leg and smash it into the ground, unleashing a tremendous shockwave.


    <em>Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!</em> Thebat puppet repeatedly hammered the bear into the ground. The poor Earth Bear was an upper-grade Spirit Sensing fiend, a domineering existence of its ss, but thebat puppet savaged it, snapping its bones and muscles as blood sshed. It tried to counterattack, but a Grade 3bat puppet was capable of dealing with Mortal Shedding Realm existences, and the work Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong had invested in it raised the quality of this puppet. It was now the equivalent of a Nine Revolutions Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator, in the same ss as Gu Changqing. There was no way the Earth Bear could fight back. With one brutal punch, thebat puppet killed it.


    The fiends shrieked in fear at thebat puppet¡¯s brutal style of fighting, backing away in fear.


    Yiyi was delighted by this, realizing that the method Tang Jie had taught really had been effective.


    She had waited until now to use the puppet so that she could deliver a painful blow right when the enemy was at the height of its power.


    Tang Jie had ordered her to only release the puppet at the most critical moment, and then to use the cruelest method to kill the strongest fiend. This was guaranteed to give the fiends a massive psychological blow. Even if these fiends hadn¡¯t reached Mind Opening, they still knew to fear for their lives. So long as they sensed that their opponent was more powerful and more terrifying, they would be even more cowardly than humans, and their ranks would crumble.


    This was psychological warfare, and a mostmon tactic used since ancient times for the few to ovee the many. But this was the first time it had been used on fiends.


    As the fiends backed away in fear and she was nning to keep scaring the fiends, there was a sudden gust of wind.


    As the wind rose, the retreating fiends suddenly raised their heads and howled.


    Their eyes turned red, and they began to once more charge at Yiyi.


    Yiyi was scared out of her wits. Whilemanding the puppet to fight back, she shouted, ¡°Big Brother, it¡¯s bad! The fiends are charging instead of running!¡±


    While she was in charge of holding off the enemy outside the formation, the Heart Consonance spell art was still active.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Tang Jie¡¯s voice rang out in her mind.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. They were retreating, but then for some reason, they began rushing in again! It¡¯s so annoying!¡± Yiyi ran around and evaded whilemanding the puppet.


    ¡°Yiyi, don¡¯t panic and listen to me¡­¡± Tang Jie began to give orders to Yiyi.


    The panicked Yiyi¡¯s eyes began to brighten as she listened to Tang Jie.


    She chuckled, ¡°It¡¯s always Big Brother with the smart ideas!¡±


    The little girl turned around and raised her hand. A flower formation rose up, and thebat puppet and the little tiger fought in the formation. Meanwhile, Yiyi went off in the other direction.


    The fiends didn¡¯t pursue when they saw her running. In fact, they even let her circle around the battlefield and get behind them. Her target was Qin Zhou¡¯s group.


    These five Green Hill Sect disciples had been carried along by the Fragrant Store Cave fiends after being captured, and they had been thrown to the ground when the fiends had gone to chase after Tang Jie. A curse had sealed their powers, so none of the fiends paid them any mind.


    Yiyi flew over to the five, cing her hands on her waist as she said, ¡°Hey, can any of you fight?¡±


    ¡°Yiyi, Yiyi!¡± Seeing that Yiyi had finallye, Luo Yin excitedly cried out, ¡°Hurry and help your big sister undo this damned curse.¡±


    Yiyi stood on her tiptoes and wagged her head. ¡°Of course, but you also have to help me. These guys are really vicious, and I can¡¯t beat them without Big Brother.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a promise!¡± fatty Chen Yao replied.


    ¡°Be careful. This will hurt a little.¡± Yiyi took out a pearl from her Mustard Seed Bag. This was the Cosmic Breeze Pearl. As for the Mustard Seed Bag, it had formerly belonged to Wanderer Pentavenom.


    Holding the pearl in her left hand, she aimed her right hand at the five and pushed. The five of them instantly felt a powerful spiritual pressure on their bodies that made their skin go taut.


    This was the inevitable result of undoing a curse through force. Yiyi didn¡¯t know what curse had been used on them, and she wouldn¡¯t be able to undo it even if she did know. Thus, she decided to use the crudest and simplest method. Of course, using force would undoubtedly inflict pain on the victim, but Yiyi didn¡¯t have the luxury of worrying about such things.


    But as they were cultivators, they managed to hold out against Yiyi¡¯s force.


    The moment they broke free, Zhang Chengyun ran off to the side, clearly having no intention of fighting. Yiyi pped her hands andughed. ¡°I knew that you guys couldn¡¯t be trusted.¡±


    A vine surged out of the ground and wrapped around Zhang Chengyun. Before he could break free, it threw him into the fiend horde, forcing him to fight.


    Qin Zhou angrily replied, ¡°Don¡¯t say ¡®you guys¡¯. That was only him.¡±


    Before Yiyi could do anything, he took out his sword and charged toward the fiends. Zhang Chengyun¡¯s actions left him rather ashamed. Soon after, Luo Yin, Chen Yao, and Ling Jing also threw themselves into the fray.


    The entry of these five disciples into the battle instantly turned the tables.


    Qin Zhou was a Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator, while thebat puppet was a Mortal Shedding Realm middle-level existence. As for Yiyi, she had the Crystal Ice Sword, zeraven Ring, Cosmic Breeze Pearl, and the secret arts of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, so herbat power was the equivalent of a basic Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator. Together with the little tiger and the four other Green Hill disciples, they managed to push back the twenty fiends.


    Finally, with a despairing howl, thest fiend was in. Qin Zhou and the others swayed and then flopped to the ground.


    While they had won, they were all rather tired out. Even Yiyi was sitting on the shoulder of the puppet, shouting, ¡°Tired, tired!¡± The little tiger wasid out on the ground, his tongue sticking out.


    The only one who seemed fine was the puppet. It was forever silent and cold, never making the slightest extraneous action. Only the expended spirit stones in its body that provided it power and motion indicated just how burdensome the battle had been.


    Chen Yao looked at the corpses around them and said, ¡°I really didn¡¯t think we would be able to kill this many fiends. There are twenty-some of them, and at least three are upper-grade Spirit Sensing¡­¡±


    Only then did the Green Hill Sect disciples realize that they had inadvertently pulled off a miracle.


    Twenty-some fiends, even if none of them were at Mind Opening, was an unimaginable result for the Green Hill Sect.


    Yiyi said in disdain, ¡°Tsk, this is nothing. If Big Brother were here, he would be able to singlehandedly destroy all of them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible,¡± Zhang Chengyun instinctively said.


    Qin Zhou grunted, ¡°Shut your mouth. Have you forgotten that there are three Mind Opening and seventy-some lower fiends in that formation?¡±


    Zhang Chengyun shuddered. Only now did he remember that there were many times more terrifying fiends in the formation.


    Luo Yin hastily asked, ¡°Yiyi, is Tang Xuan okay?¡±


    Yiyi replied, ¡°Big Brother has almost killed them all, but the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation won¡¯tst for much longer.¡±


    Qin Zhou and the others shared a look.


    Though they had mentally prepared themselves for it, hearing the results being announced still left them dizzy.


    A single student who wasn¡¯t even at Mortal Shedding had killed all the fiends of Fragrant Store Cave?


    This was inconceivable!


    Even if it had been done with the power of a formation, it was still a nigh impossible mission. If formations were this invincible, why hadn¡¯t anyone else done it?


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll go and help him deal with the rest,¡± Chen Yao immediately said.


    Courage always belonged to the victorious side. After hearing about how the battle was going, the fatty immediately volunteered, and even Qin Zhou was tempted. After all, this was more than a hundred fiends. How much money would this be if they were converted to resources? Even a little would be enough. And to get this, they had to show a little effort.


    As for the fact that they had been saved again by Tang Jie, Qin Zhou unconsciously ignored it.


    At worst, it was just another two pills for one life.


    s, Yiyi shook her head. ¡°There¡¯s no need. Big Brother says that he doesn¡¯t need your help.¡±


    These were deting words.


    ¡°But¡­¡± Yiyi said. ¡°There¡¯s something else he needs your help with.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± everyone asked in unison.


    ¡°Hold on. Let me finish listening to what Big Brother has to say.¡± The little girl tilted her head as if she was carefully listening. In truth, with Heart Consonance, the voice was transmitted directly to her mind, so there was no point in doing this. She did it more out of habit.


    As she listened, her face suddenly lit up.


    She raised her head and said, ¡°Big Sister Ling Jing,e here for a moment. Big Brother needs you to do something.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Ling Jing asked, walking over.


    Yiyi replied, ¡°Please¡­ die!¡±


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    The Crystal Ice Sword stabbed into Ling Jing¡¯s belly.

 Chapter 274: Falling for a Scheme

    Chapter 274: Falling for a Scheme


    ¡°Aaaah!¡±


    Ling Jing screamed as she flew into the air.


    This sudden attack left everyone shocked. Luo Yin cried out, ¡°Yiyi, what are you doing?¡±


    She wanted to rush over and stop Yiyi, but a flower vine appeared under her feet, and she and the other three were all held fast to their positions. Qin Zhou tried to rush over as well, but the Grade 3bat puppet ced a hand on his shoulder.


    Ling Jing fell to the ground while clutching her belly, and frost began to cover her body, almost freezing her. She looked at Yiyi in anger and shock. ¡°What is the meaning of this?¡±


    ¡°Still pretending? Let¡¯s see how long you can keep up the act,¡± Yiyi sneered. She shed the zeraven Ring, and arge number of zeravens lunged at Ling Jing.


    ¡°Nooo!¡± Qin Zhou and the others yelled.


    The power of the Crystal Ice Sword had rendered Ling Jing immobile. Just when it seemed like there was no avoiding the raven assault, the ice shackling her suddenly solidified into an ice barrier.


    Hundreds of zeravens smashed into the ice barrier, but while they created a dazzling light show, they were unable to harm the target behind the shield.


    At this moment, Tang Jie suddenly reappeared, his body appearing like a violet lightning bolt as he charged out, the Heartbreak Saber shining with a chilling light as it swung at Ling Jing¡¯s head. At the same time, three golden needles shot out, the Grade 3bat puppet used the Lightning Fall Spell, the little tiger shot out a lightning de, and Yiyi used her Petal Rain.


    In that moment, Tang Jie, Yiyi, the little tiger, and the puppet attacked in unison, forming a lethal encirclement!


    Let alone Ling Jing, even a Mortal Shedding Spirit Master like Nan Baicheng would find it hard to escape.


    Ling Jing suddenly threw her head back and screeched.


    With this sharp howl, the saber energy, golden needles, lightning, and petals struck Ling Jing, but it was like they had struck nothing, only stirring up watery ripples.


    There was a pop as if something had shattered. Ling Jing was motionless at first, and then she exploded into countless motes of light. They drifted in the air before gathering back into a snow-white fox.


    ¡°The Illusion Fox!¡± Qin Zhou and the others blurted out.


    At this point, they finally understood what was going on. It turned out that the fiend fox had arrived long ago.


    But if Ling Jing was the fiend fox, where was the real Ling Jing?


    This thought made their hearts shiver.


    Luo Yin shouted, ¡°Fiend fox, where did you take my senior sister!?¡±


    She still clung to a thin sliver of hope that Ling Jing was fine, that the fiend fox was hiding her somewhere.


    The fiend foxughed. ¡°You still need to ask? I ate her, of course. What¡¯s the point in keeping that little whelp?¡±


    Luo Yin shivered, her eyeballs almost falling out.


    Even though she had known that Ling Jing probably wasn¡¯t alive, until it was confirmed, she had still held onto a little hope. But once it was confirmed, this thought was dispelled, and Ling Jing began to sob, ¡°Senior Sister¡­¡±


    The fiend fox said in disdain, ¡°What¡¯s the point in putting on airs? You humans have taken the lives of countless fiends, so I¡¯m just returning the favor. Or is it that only human lives count as lives while fiends are nothing but dirt? Since you¡¯ve stepped onto the path of cultivation, you already have some measure of life and death. Dead is dead! What¡¯s there to cry about!?¡±


    The white fox red at Tang Jie and shrieked, ¡°Talk! How did you see through my illusion spell?¡±


    The Illusion Fox¡¯s greatest concern was how Tang Jie had seen its true self. It had to be understood that the Illusion Fox¡¯s illusion spells weren¡¯t regr appearance-changing spells. They were extremely mysterious and unbreakable for normal spell arts. Even the Eye of Heaven would find it hard to see through.


    While Tang Jie hadprehended the Dao of Insight, he had focused on seeing enemy weak points, so he wasn¡¯t particrly impressive at seeing through illusions. Thus, he shouldn¡¯t have been able to see through the fiend fox¡¯s illusion.


    Tang Jie pursed his lips at the fox¡¯s questions. ¡°I can¡¯t see through it, but does that mean I can¡¯t guess? You¡¯re the Great King of Fragrant Store Cave, so it doesn¡¯t make sense for you not to be here with such a huge battle taking ce on your doorstep. Besides that, the fiends didn¡¯t flee when they should have. It was easy to guess that you were nearby.¡±


    The fiend fox immediately shot back, ¡°That only tells you I¡¯m nearby, but how did you know that I had taken human form? I could have not changed into anybody and been hiding somewhere instead.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Because we¡¯re ustomed to doing what we¡¯re good at. The Illusion Fox¡¯s natural ability is Thousandform, and do you think it would make sense for an Illusion Fox to hide in a corner like a rat instead of using Thousandform?¡±


    The fiend fox was rendered speechless. Finally, it pped its belly andughed. ¡°That¡¯s good! It¡¯s so simple, so howe I didn¡¯t think about it? Then how did you know I turned into Ling Jing?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Thousandform is a profound spell art, but it can only produce a surface-level illusion. The Green Hill Sect disciples all know each other, so a small slip while talking might expose you. That being the case, you would naturally pick the more taciturn target so as to not be discovered. Miss Ling had a quiet personality and didn¡¯t like to speak, making her the ideal candidate.¡±


    The Illusion Fox sneered. ¡°That¡¯s it? It¡¯s all right, but it¡¯s all spection, without the slightest snatch of evidence. You would be willing to make a killing blow based purely on spection? Aren¡¯t you afraid of making a mistake?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s to be afraid of? There¡¯s no being picky when facing a strong foe. All you can do to survive is to fight with all your strength. If I were constantly looking around and afraid of my own shadow, seeking evidence for every step, only striking the killing blow with solid evidence in hand, you would probably be ready. How could I sneak attack you then?¡±


    He could be like Detective Conan and use questioning and deception to ultimately prove whether or not Ling Jing was a fiend fox, but while he was doing all this, he would inevitably raise the guard of his foe, which would render a sneak attack ineffective.


    In a battle where his life was on the line, victory came first, and everything else would have to stand to the side for the sake of the greater goal. Thus, Tang Jie was willing to strike before he had solid evidence. Even if he made a mistake, he would have only wounded the rather weak Ling Jing. If he was right, he would deal the fiend fox a heavy blow.


    s, while his mind was in the right ce, the fiend fox was far stronger than he had anticipated. The fiend fox had seeded in taking Tang Jie¡¯s ultimate strike, and he had failed in his goal of heavily injuring it. He had only given it some minor injuries.


    The Illusion Fox was rather surprised by what it heard. Finally, itughed and said, ¡°Good, good, you¡¯re quite decisive, using everything you can for the sake of victory. If not for my Shadowflight spell, I would have died at your hands. Such savagery! It¡¯s no wonder Golden Lion and the others died at your hand!¡±


    Qin Zhou couldn¡¯t help but shout, ¡°Since you were already here, why did you let your subordinates die?¡±


    The Illusion Fox ignored him. It only looked at Tang Jie and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you take a guess?¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°You want to use this chance to heal your wounds, and we want this chance to catch our breath. That being the case, let¡¯s keep chatting. You want me to guess, so I¡¯ll guess. You can tell me if there¡¯s anything wrong. In my view, you didn¡¯t save the golden lion and the others because you wanted them to die¡­ That golden lion was about to reach upper grade, right?¡±


    The fiend fox erupted inughter. ¡°I knew that you would guess that. In your view, you must think that I wanted to eliminate them because Golden Lion was after my throne, yes? But if that¡¯s the case, why would I have all my subordinates die?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°That truly is the case. This is something that I don¡¯t get. s, I currently don¡¯t have a better answer.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re not me,¡± the Illusion Fox sighed. ¡°Tang Xuan, if my guess is right, you came here for me, no?¡±


    Tang Jie froze, and then he nodded.


    Qin Zhou and the others were startled when they heard that Tang Jie¡¯s goal was the Illusion Fox.


    Only the Illusion Fox was unsurprised. ¡°It¡¯s been thirty years. I¡¯ve lived on Old Crow Ridge for thirty years. In these thirty years, do you know how many cultivators havee after me, how many battles I¡¯ve been through?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably a lot,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°138. 45 were people who happened to be passing, 59 were people who came to steal resources, and 34 came to kill me.¡±


    ¡°You sound rather busy,¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    The fiend fox asked, ¡°Then do you know which kind was the most dangerous?¡±


    ¡°It should be thest one. Since they¡¯re after you, they probably had some confidence.¡±


    ¡°Precisely,¡± the fox chortled. ¡°Of the 138 battles, my Fragrant Store Cave has won 108 times and lost 30 times. Of those 30 times, 28 were cultivators who came after me. That is also why I have fled for my life a whole 28 times. Fortunately, as an Illusion Fox, I have the Thousandform, which excels at escaping, allowing me to survive until now. Otherwise, after that first pursuit, this king would already be a ve for some cultivator.¡±


    The Illusion Fox¡¯s tone suddenly turned hard.


    Tang Jie seemed to understand. He nodded and said, ¡°The burden of fame¡­ As word of the Illusion Fox spreads, it naturally brings many hunters.¡±


    The Illusion Fox had the Thousandform and was extremely skilled at illusive disguises. Thus, many cultivators wanted to catch the fox. But this fiend fox was cautious and would run whenever it saw a strong foe, and that was how it had survived.


    But it gradually began to suffer from its pain. It knew that if it kept holding onto Old Crow Ridge, while it could gain the help of countless fiend beasts to add to its strength, it would also turn itself into a fixed target and would forever be eyed by powerful cultivators.


    ¡°An Illusion Fox, with its powers, should never be stuck in one ce. Rather, it should be mixing into the human crowd. Hiding among the masses is the true path of kings. This is how my Illusion Fox Race has survived all this time. But hiding in the masses requires diligence and constantly being on one¡¯s guard, to act no different from a human in everyday life, which is simply too difficult. We fiends are born with a carefree nature and a love of freedom. I am not willing to ept these restraints, so I went against the fox¡¯sw of survival and came to this stretch of the wilderness to freely cultivate, call upon friends, and establish a cave. Is a free life like this not enjoyable?¡±


    ¡°But it would also bring about battle after battle,¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re tired after running 28 times, yes?¡±


    The fiend fox turned mncholy. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m tired. How could I not be? But the day you realize you want to change your lifestyle, you realize that there¡¯s a lot of things that aren¡¯t up to you.¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Yes. After all, you aren¡¯t alone. You¡¯re a fiend with a cave, and you have many subordinates. They take your orders and shelter you from storms, but they¡¯ve also be your shackles.¡±


    The fiend fox repeatedly nodded. ¡°Spirit Sensing is fine, but the most troublesome are those Mind Opening bastards. If they knew that I wanted to leave, they would never agree. In thest few years, while they have been willing to work for me, just how many problems has my name managed to resolve for them? Besides that, you¡¯re actually right when you say that I was worried about the golden lion reaching upper grade. If it managed to reach upper grade, it would be even stronger than me, and then I would experience another kind of disaster. With enemies both within and without, I¡¯ve actually wanted to leave for a while. I¡¯ve just been looking for the right chance.¡±


    ¡°And my arrival was your chance?¡±


    ¡°I originally took you for a small thief and really didn¡¯t pay much attention at the start. But when Lynx died, I realized that something was wrong. And when Red Eagle died, I knew that you hade prepared. Thus, when I captured the Green Hill Sect disciples, I switched ces with this girl to see how far you could go. I didn¡¯t think that you would use a formation to kill them, but that was a big help to me!¡± The Illusion Fox began to loudlyugh. ¡°Without those idiots holding me down, I can finally leave and live a free life. I didn¡¯t n on killing you, but since you exposed me and ambushed me, this king can¡¯t be med for showing no mercy!¡±


    The fiend fox whistled, and a powerful energy filled the area, engulfing Tang Jie and the four Green Hill Sect disciples.


    ¡°It seems that your injury is healed.¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°That¡¯s great. I¡¯m also done resting.¡±

 Chapter 275: Battle to the Death (1)

    Chapter 275: Battle to the Death (1)


    Everything that needed to be said had been said. The fiend fox stopped chattering and shot toward Tang Jie as a white streak of light.


    This white light moved so quickly that even Tang Jie didn¡¯t have time to react. He brought his saber up to protect his throat entirely on instinct, and there was a ng as the fox¡¯s w struck the de, forcing Tang Jie to retreat a step.


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart turned cold.


    <em>So fast!</em>


    The fiend fox let out a soft gasp of surprise that Tang Jie had actually managed to block its w. This attack having failed, the fox withdrew as a faint wisp of smoke, and as Tang Jie pursued and swung his saber, it easily dodged.


    As it drew back, the fox howled and shot a wind de at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t thought that it could attack while retreating. Caught off guard, he let the wind de hack into his chest. Fortunately, Tang Jie had activated the Formless Golden Body and Aquagel Shroud before this, and the wind de wasn¡¯t some powerful spell. Thus, it only managed to leave a wound on his chest.


    Just when he thought that he had weathered the assault, the fiend fox suddenly went from rapid retreat to rapid advance, its w once more grabbing at Tang Jie,pletely ignoring inertia. It was such a savage attack that it instantly broke through Tang Jie¡¯s saber and stabbed into his chest, leaving five bloody holes. But at the moment of contact, the fox instantly retreated again.


    Before Tang Jie had time to catch his breath, the Illusion Fox came back from its brief retreat, five ws making its way toward Tang Jie¡¯s face.


    Tang Jie was rmed by the fiend fox¡¯s constant attacks, and he instinctively raised his left hand to protect his face. <em>Plush!</em> The back of Tang Jie¡¯s hand now also sported five w marks.


    A momentter, before Tang Jie even had time to put down his hand, the fiend fox shrieked, turned around in the air, and then once more rushed at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was ready this time, hastily backing up as he unleashed a Windcleaver, halting the fiend fox¡¯s momentum. The fiend fox suddenly flew upward, but its long tailshed at Tang Jie.


    It struck Tang Jie like a whip and caused him to spin like a top.


    ¡°Big Brother!¡± Yiyi shrieked in rm. She raised her hand, and arge number of flowers rose into the air.


    The fiend foxughed. ¡°These things are useless against me!¡±


    It faced the flower formation and charged straight at Yiyi.


    The flower vines shot at the fiend fox like hundreds of tentacles, but the fiend fox moved so quickly that not a single one was able to hold it down, only striking the afterimages it left behind.


    Yiyi was left dumbfounded by the sight. She had never imagined that anyone could travel this fast. As the fiend fox rapidly approached, she couldn¡¯t even muster the thought of fleeing. Just when it seemed like she was going to die under the fiend fox¡¯s w, a figure flew out in front of her: the little tiger.


    <em>Pa!</em>


    The fox¡¯s palm sent the little tiger flying in a spray of blood.


    The fiend fox didn¡¯t give chase, instead flipping onto a distant tree. Itughed, ¡°And here I thought that you had some skill, seeing as you were able to kill my vice king, but you aren¡¯t that impressive at all.¡±


    Tang Jie wiped the blood from his mouth and snorted, ¡°Illusion Fox¡­ you really live up to your reputation.¡±


    This fiend fox bore the name of ¡°Illusion¡± not merely because its natural gift was Illusion Thousandform, but also because its attacks were so fast that it left illusory afterimages in its wake.


    Tang Jie had mentally prepared himself for the Illusion Fox¡¯s speed, but he hadn¡¯t expected ¡°fast¡± to extend to its casting speed as well.


    Not only could it move quickly, it could change speeds quickly and cast quickly. It was fast to an absurd level, so fast that it practically made speed an art, perfectly merging closebat with spell casting and causing Tang Jie¡¯s heart to shiver.


    He had thought that although the fiend fox was of upper grade, it wasn¡¯t naturally gifted in battle and wouldn¡¯t be much stronger than the lion king. Thus, if theybined all their strength, they stood a chance of beating the fox.


    Now, he realized that he was probably wrong. While this fiend fox might not be the strongest upper-grade Mind Opening fiend, it was still an upper-grade Mind Opening fiend. It was an entire realm above him and thus no easy opponent.


    Thus, Tang Jie next said, ¡°What are you still waiting for? Together!¡±


    He spoke these words to Qin Zhou¡¯s group.


    That string of attacks had happened so quickly that they hadn¡¯t even had time to react. It was only when the fiend fox fell back and Tang Jie spoke that they realized, <em>Oh, it seems like this battle is our business too.</em>


    The four Green Hill disciples knew that there was no easy way out of this. When facing the fiend fox, they would die unless it died first.


    Qin Zhou clenched his teeth, and then his flying sword left its sheath and shed at the fox.


    The fiend foxughed and blinked through the air. The flying sword couldn¡¯t keep up. Meanwhile, the fiend fox shed at Chen Yao, tearing off his arm.


    This attack wasn¡¯t that powerful against Tang Jie and could only inflict light wounds, but to the Green Hill disciples, it was terrifyingly lethal.


    ¡°Aaah!¡± Chen Yao yelled in pain as he spat out a mouthful of energy at the fiend fox.


    The fiend fox flitted away like a ghost. Spell arts and weapons from the others came down, but all of them missed.


    It hissed as it flitted around in the air. Up, down, left, right¡ªit traversed air like it was t ground, and for a moment, it was everywhere, its countless afterimages all smuglyughing.


    ¡°My precious, pin it!¡± Zhang Chengyun shouted, throwing out his Eight Trigrams Token.


    The Eight Trigrams Token let out a light, and the high-speed figure of the fox froze for a moment.


    Qin Zhou¡¯s sword, Tang Jie¡¯s golden needle, Yiyi¡¯s vine, the little tiger¡¯s lightning, and the puppet¡¯s iron fist all converged on the fiend fox at the same time. Just when it seemed like there was no dodging this attack, the fiend fox¡¯s body shed with light and rippled like water. It was just like when it had escaped Tang Jie¡¯s previously lethal encirclement.


    Just like before, the fiend fox exploded into countless motes of light and then reformed.


    Shadowflight!


    This was the strongest protective spell art the fiend fox had. Once activated, the body would be a phantom, and all attacks thatnded on it would strike this phantom while the real body fled.


    Shadowflight made all the attacks ineffective, and the fiend foxughed as it shed its w at Zhang Chengyun. Zhang Chengyun had a protective barrier, but to his surprise, it waspletely useless against the w. As the w struck him, Zhang Chengyun became so frightened that his soul practically left his body. But the w simply touched him and drew back without harming him.


    Zhang Chengyun froze for a moment, and when he saw that he was fine, he exhaled in relief. He was about to say something when he was seized by a sudden impulse. As he looked around at the others, he found all their faces hateful and repulsive, so he raised a hand and cast a spell at Qin Zhou.


    This came so suddenly that Qin Zhou was actually hit. Fortunately, he had a protective barrier. He angrily said, ¡°Zhang Chengyun, what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Maddening w. The fiend fox has taken control of him!¡± Luo Yin shouted as she strummed her stringless pipa.


    Fortunately, the fiend fox¡¯s spell arts focused on speed and variety. In terms of power, they couldn¡¯t evenpare to those of a middle-grade fiend like the lion, so Luo Yin¡¯s Clear Heart Melody was effective. As the pipa released its sound, Zhang Chengyun¡¯s eyes began to clear up.


    The fiend fox refused to give her a chance to undo its curse, and with a howl, it thrust a w at Luo Yin.


    Its energy took the form of a giant steel w as it flew at Luo Yin.


    The Shadowrend w!


    Luo Yin was just about to get hit when Chen Yao rushed up in front of her, roaring like a tiger.


    The steel w mmed into his body and instantly shattered his barrier. The five sharp ws pierced through his throat, and a momentter, his head went flying into the air.


    ¡°Senior Brother!¡± Luo Yin bitterly wailed at the gruesome death of Chen Yao.


    ¡°Bao¡¯er!¡± Tang Jie called out.


    The little tiger let out a roar, the Tiger Roar that was his innate spell.


    All fiends would be intimidated by this tiger roar.


    The little tiger was many tiers below the fiend fox, so there was no guarantee that the Tiger Roar would work. Tang Jie was just trying, but to his surprise, the fiend fox really was affected, its high-speed figure freezing again. Tang Jie seized this chance and used the Violet Lightning Lunge to its full extent, swinging the Heartbreak Saber at the fiend fox.


    He was so close this time that the fiend fox didn¡¯t have time to dodge. As the Heartbreak Saber neared, the fiend fox¡¯s eyes erupted with light, and fiend power exploded from its body, sting Tang Jie back.


    Fiend power explosion!


    But as Tang Jie flew back, three golden needles shot at the fiend fox. The fox hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to be able to counterattack while being sted back, and in its haste, it was only able to dodge one needle. Two needles managed to pierce into its body.


    <em>Hiss!</em> In this battle, it had finally been injured.


    Tang Jie calmly said, ¡°I learned it from you.¡±


    As he spoke, he once more tried his earlier trick, the golden needles forming into a thread and slicing back at the fiend fox. Just when it seemed like the fox was about to be cut into, the fox suddenly smiled.


    It was a strange smile that rmed Tang Jie and set off rm bells. A momentter, the fiend fox scattered into a mist.


    The golden thread passed through the mist, not injuring the fox in the slightest.


    The fox said in a ghostly voice, ¡°I saw how you killed that lion.¡±


    It was no wonder it had used Shadowflight to dodge the golden needles the first two times. As expected, it possessed some secret art that allowed it to observe what was happening in the formation.


    It had seen all of Tang Jie¡¯s tricks, so it knew to guard against the golden thread.


    This was the golden needle¡¯s greatest problem. The size limit meant that it could only be used as a concealed weapon, not an actual weapon. Once discovered, it lost much of its efficacy.


    The mist reformed into the fox, which blinked up to Qin Zhou and swung a w. Qin Zhou had barely blocked this attack when the fiend fox rushed over to Yiyi and swung its tail at her. Fortunately, Yiyi dodged it with Snakeslither. But the fiend fox moved on to Luo Yin and assailed her.


    The fiend fox moved quickly and seemed to ignore inertia in how quickly it changed directions. Though it was alone, it seemed to be attacking everyone at once, only ignoring Tang Jie and the puppet.


    While the puppet was powerful, in terms of speed and reaction time, it couldn¡¯tpare to a human. Even the Thousand Mile Windchaser Formation only supplemented its speed, doing nothing for its reaction time.


    The fiend fox¡¯s strong point was precisely reaction time, shifting around so quickly in a small area that it ran circles around the puppet. The puppet iled its fists in the air and hit nothing, only drawing the brazenughter of the fox. ¡°You¡¯re nothing special!¡±


    It casuallyshed out at Luo Yin, who screamed as she was thrown back. The fiend fox didn¡¯t use its Shadowrend w this time, so Luo Yin¡¯s protective barrier saved her from severe injury. Nevertheless, the impact had her throwing up blood.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Qin Zhou clenched his teeth. The flying sword that had been chasing the fox this whole time flew back into his hand, and Qin Zhou shouted, ¡°Brother Tang, help me by holding it down.¡±


    He began to chant while his hand formed signs. It appeared that he was preparing some powerful spell art.


    The fiend fox clearly realized that it couldn¡¯t let Qin Zhou keep casting.


    While Qin Zhou wasn¡¯t as strong as Tang Jie, he had the highest cultivation level, at the Mortal Shedding Realm. If he were allowed to brazenly cast spell arts, he could deal even more damage than Tang Jie and the puppet.


    Thus, with a howl, the fiend fox charged at Qin Zhou.

 Chapter 276: Battle to the Death (2)

    Chapter 276: Battle to the Death (2)


    As the fiend fox attacked, Tang Jie threw out the Fiend-Sealing Mountain Talisman once more.


    The small golden mountain appeared, bathing the fiend fox in its light.


    The fiend fox shuddered, and then it let out a howl.


    Finally, it manifested the strength of an upper-grade Mind Opening fiend. As it howled, fiend energy overflowed out of its body, surging upward and fending off the golden light.


    It turned out that the fiend fox also possessed prodigious magic power. It was just that its opponents had been so weak that it hadn¡¯t felt like unleashing all of its strength.


    Even if it wasn¡¯t a fiend gifted in battle, even if it was a fiend that emphasized speed, it was still an upper-grade Mind Opening fiend. Now that it was going all-out, finally disying the strength that a fiend of this ss should have, it managed to fend off the talisman.


    But with this resistance, it slowed down, allowing the puppet to rush up and stop the fiend fox.


    The fiend fox shrieked, ¡°A dumb object is trying to stop me?¡±


    It immediately tried to move around the puppet.


    But at this moment, Tang Jie threw something at the puppet: the gtinized lynx soul.


    The moment the lynx soul collided with the puppet, it merged like a drop of water into the ocean. The puppet¡¯s eyes suddenly shed red, and it looked at the fox with a look of disdain.


    The fiend fox saw this and instantly sensed an ill foreboding.


    The puppet swiftly grabbed at the fiend fox, and the fox quickly turned to dodge this grab. But to its surprise, the puppet¡¯s arm extended and bent in the air. It was clearly an arm of stone, yet it was as pliable as a snake. This bending and extending arm grabbed onto the fiend fox with incredible speed, and with a mighty roar, the puppet mmed the fox into the ground.


    This massive blow was something that not even the fiend fox¡¯s upper-grade Mind Opening constitution could withstand. It shrieked and threw up blood. Meanwhile, the puppet turned its hand into a w and thrust it at the fiend fox¡¯s face.


    ¡°Lynx!¡± the Illusion Fox instinctively shouted.


    It felt like it could see the lynx¡¯s soul attached to the puppet through its actions, bestowing the puppet with sharp wits and formidable adaptability.


    The clumsy puppet¡¯s greatest w had been filled in, and the puppet unleashed a brutal assault, punching the fiend fox twelve times in a row.


    ¡°Aaagh!¡± With a bitter cry, the fiend fox once more used Shadowflight.


    There was a series of explosions as the substitute illusion was sted into motes of light by the puppet. As the fox was escaping, it heard a gust of wind behind it.


    The fiend fox knew that this wasn¡¯t good, but didn¡¯t have time to use Shadowflight again, so it lunged forward.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    A bloody line swept out as Tang Jie¡¯s golden thread cut away arge chunk of the fox¡¯s flesh. s, the fox had a truly impressive reaction time, and it had once more managed to avoid the fatal attack.


    But in all this running around, Qin Zhou had managed toplete his spell.


    Qin Zhou thrust out his arm and pointed at the air. ¡°Heaven¡¯s Reach Sword!¡±


    The ancient sword in his hand exploded with light and flew into the sky. It began to madly spin, countless sword phantoms appearing in the air. Qin Zhou pointed at the fiend fox and said, ¡°Go!¡±


    The countless sword phantoms instantly merged together and shed at the fiend fox.


    Seeing this, the fiend fox instantly elerated to its maximum speed, leaving behind a blur as it shot into the distance.


    But that light sword seemed to ignore distance, appearing above the fiend fox¡¯s head and shing down.


    The fiend fox once more used Shadowflight and instantly created some distance, but the moment it reappeared, the light sword continued to pursue.


    The fiend fox froze. ¡°How¡­¡±


    <em>Thud!</em>


    The light sword struck the fiend, and it flew back and threw up blood.


    This Heaven¡¯s Reach Sword was unaffected by Shadowflight, targeting its attacks on the main body.


    Once activated, it would not rest until it had reached its goal.


    But for this reason, its power was limited. While the sh had hit the fiend fox, it hadn¡¯t killed it. Even so, it was a serious wound, one of its forews having been almost hacked off. Thisbined with the puppet¡¯s furious barrage had left the fiend fox badly wounded.


    Seizing this chance, Tang Jie, Yiyi, the little tiger, Zhang Chengyun, and Luo Yin charged in.


    The fiend fox¡¯s eyes glinted with a savage light. ¡°You really think this is enough to deal with me?¡±


    It let out a bitter wail and suddenly transformed into a human, but this was a woman wearing white gauze, with her left arm hanging in front of her chest, blooding from her shoulder, and a storage bag tied to her waist.


    Tang Jie was startled when he saw this bag, but he quickly understood and shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t let it touch that bag!¡±


    But his cry hade toote. The fiend fox thrust its hand into the bag and took out a small bottle. It dumped a pill into its hand and threw it into its mouth. As Yiyi and the little tiger lunged, the fiend fox casually tossed out a jade bottle. Water gushed out of the bottle and toward its attackers. Finally, it waved its hand again, but this time, countless talismans came pouring out of the bag, creating a storm of spell arts that made it impossible to get close.


    All of this hade very suddenly, the fiend fox instantly turning into a wealthy spendthrift and catching everyone off guard. These treasures came from the numerous cultivators it had killed over the years, and it had taken human form precisely so it could use them.


    This wasn¡¯t to say that it couldn¡¯t use them in its original form.


    Whether it was art relics or spell arts, there was no absolute barrier between humans and fiends.


    While there was nothing that could be used by everyone, there was also no firm dividing line.


    To be more precise, whether a fiend could use a cultivator¡¯s treasures or learn a cultivator¡¯s spell arts depended on how well the treasure or spell art suited the fiend¡¯s form.


    For example, though the lion had been in fiend form, it could use that golden mace precisely because this item suited the lion fiend¡¯s form.


    And Tang Jie could cultivate the secret Blood Refining Spirit spell of the Tiger Tribe¡ªand Yiyi, the spells of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic¡ªfor the same reason. There was no smooth sailing, but there was also no impregnable fortress. Anyone with a will could make the breakthrough.


    But to use human treasures withplete freedom, the human form was still ideal.


    This was something that could normally only be done at the Transformation Level, but the Illusion Fox had Thousandform and was skilled at disguise. Thus, even though it was only at Mind Opening, it could already do this. This was the main reason it had been able to hold its ground in this spot. While at Mind Opening, it already possessed some of the privileges of Transformation great fiends.


    The fiend fox used its treasures with abandon, simultaneously consuming all kinds of spirit medicines, and its heavy injuries began to heal.


    Tang Jie knew that defeat was certain if this kept up, so he charged through the storm of spell arts.


    The fiend fox sneered and drew back. With its speed, it could exhaust Tang Jie to death so long as it didn¡¯t allow Tang Jie to catch up.


    But at this moment, a gray streak shot out of the ground and hugged its legs.


    The fiend fox blurted out in shock, ¡°Gray Wolf? You¡¯re not dead?¡±


    The one hugging its legs was none other than the gray wolf.


    The gray wolf savagely smiled. ¡°For your own freedom, you didn¡¯t mind letting the vice king, ck Bull, and the others die! Even if it takes my life, I won¡¯t let you go!¡±


    It desperately clutched the fox¡¯s leg, not permitting it to move even half a step.


    ¡°Oh no!¡± The fiend fox was aghast.


    It was known for its speed and had survived because of it. Without this speed, it essentially lost more than half of its power.


    Frantic, it wed at the wolf¡¯s head.


    But the gray wolf had already made up its mind to die, so it refused to let go no matter how much the fiend fox attacked.


    At the same time, Tang Jie charged over, pushing the Violet Lightning Lunge to the maximum.


    The fiend fox knew that this meant trouble, so it instantly hardened its resolve, took out a blue pearl from its Mustard Seed Bag, and tossed it at Tang Jie.


    This item was called the Supreme Lightning Pearl, and it was one of the fiend fox¡¯s most valuable treasures, obtained from someone it had killed at Old Crow Ridge thirty years ago. It could unleash 81 bolts of Celestial Lightning on the opponent, but it would be destroyed on use. At this point, the fiend fox had no other choice than to use it.


    As the little pearl flew out, it shed with lightning, and what seemed like hundreds of bolts of Celestial Lightning descended upon Tang Jie. It was said to be 81, but there appeared to be hundreds, forming a cage of lightning that instantly engulfed Tang Jie.


    Seeing this, the fox smuglyughed, ¡°You lot n to kill me? You¡¯re still far from that level!¡±


    In its eyes, this lot and itself were like the mud and the clouds. It could easily take care of them, with the only problem being the price. It was quite humiliating that it had been forced to use the Supreme Lightning Pearl to take care of them.


    Luo Yin and the others also shivered in fear at this sight.


    Only Yiyi was unconcerned, pursing her lips.


    She was also the only one who knew how freakish Tang Jie¡¯s lightning resistance was.


    Sure enough, as the fiend foxughed, the figure of Tang Jie shot out like a bolt of lightning.


    ¡°How is this possible!?¡± the fox yelled in disbelief.


    But whether it believed it or not, Tang Jie was charging over, pushing through the storm of spell arts and sea of lightning to swing his saber and cast his thread at the fox.


    The fiend fox couldn¡¯t dodge with the gray wolf holding its legs, nor could it use Shadowflight. Thus, it clenched its teeth and moved its head to the side, avoiding the more fatal golden thread. The Heartbreak Saber hacked at its chest, causing it to fly back while throwing up blood. With this strike, many of the injuries that it had just healed from returned.


    With a shriek, it snatched at the gray wolf¡¯s head with its left hand, five ws almost piercing through the wolf¡¯s skull. Meanwhile, its right hand fired off a chilling light at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie heedlessly charged forward, choosing to return attack with attack.


    He resisted his foe¡¯s attack and thrust out his finger at the fox¡¯s left shoulder.


    The Jade Shattering Finger!


    This was a severe wound for the fox, and it screamed as it countered with a Shadowrend w.


    The Shadowrend w ignored barriers and impacted directly against Tang Jie, leaving behind five w marks on his body as it sent him flying.


    But as Tang Jie flew backward, Qin Zhou and Zhang Chengyun pounced.


    Qin Zhou flourished his ancient sword: ¡°Heartyer Sword!¡±


    It stabbed into the fiend fox¡¯s back, injuring it once more. It waved its hand and threw out two streams of light that stopped the attacks of the little tiger and Luo Yin. At the same time, while dragging the gray wolf with it, it dodged thebo attack of Luo Yin and Zhang Chengyun.


    As it dodged these attacks, the puppet controlled by the lynx soul appeared like a ghost behind the fiend fox and punched it in the back.


    The fox hissed in pain, ¡°You push me too far!¡±


    As it cried out, a snow-white fox appeared behind the transformed woman, muchrger than the actual body, dominating the area with its size.


    Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Back away!¡±


    He pointed at the air, and the Fiend-Sealing Mountain Talisman once more released its golden light at the fiend.


    The snow-white fox phantom opened its mouth and spat a wave of me at the golden light, stopping it cold. But the me was different this time, oveing the golden light and beginning to melt down the golden mountain.


    Not even the Fiend-Sealing Mountain Talisman could suppress the fiend fox.


    The golden talisman shed as it unleashed all of its power.


    But after holding out for a few seconds, the golden light dimmed and dwindled, and then with a <em>pa</em>, it exploded into dust.


    In those few seconds, the talisman had used up all of its spiritual energy.


    The power of the fox¡¯s me was not at all reduced. It came roaring back to the ground, sweeping through the area with a frightening momentum.


    The little tiger, Yiyi, Qin Zhou, Luo Yin, and Zhang Chengyun were all blown back by the mes. Luo Yin even cried out, for she was the weakest in this group, and the torrent of me had annihted her defensive barrier and engulfed her in mes. She was heavily burned and could no longer get back up.


    Only the gray wolf and the puppet were unaffected. The gray wolf continued to doggedly hug the fox, and the puppet¡¯s heavy body resisted being swept away. It charged in and punched the fox in the face.


    ¡°Die!¡± the fox furiously cried out, thrusting its left w down into the gray wolf¡¯s head, almost prating through all of the upper half of its body. At the same time, the right w attacked the puppet. <em>Bang! Bang! Bang!</em> In a sh, they had exchanged ten-some blows.


    The fiend fox had drawn on some hidden reserve of strength and was managing to hold off the puppet¡¯s furious assault, but each punch made its face turn whiter, and after ten-some punches, its face had gone snow-white.


    <em>Am I really going to die here?</em> the fiend fox couldn¡¯t help but think.


    At this moment, this puppet that almost had the fox suffocating from the pressure suddenly stopped with a nk.


    Qin Zhou said in shock, ¡°Why did it stop fighting?¡±


    Tang Jie bitterly replied, ¡°It¡¯s out of power.¡±


    Yes, the puppet was out of power.


    It had used up all of its energy.


    The constant battle had been an enormous burden on the puppet, and it had only been able tost this long because Tang Jie had been very conservative in his calctions. However, once the lynx soul attached itself, the puppet now had its own will and no longer conserved power like before. While its power went up, its energy consumption spiked. Thus, the show of strength it had just put on was its final frenzy.


    While this guy appeared clumsy and unable to strike the fiend, its blows were so powerful that each punch was an enormous threat to the fox, forcing the fox to defend with all its might. While the ten-some punches had used up all the puppet¡¯s energy, it had also badly drained the fiend fox¡¯s physical power. However, without the puppet, thebat power on Tang Jie¡¯s side had dropped by a third.


    Upon seeing the puppet stop, the fiend fox also realized what was going on, and it smuglyughed, ¡°Let¡¯s see how fierce you are now! All of you will die!¡±


    It reached out with its left w, smashing at the gray wolf¡¯s head like a pounding pestle.


    The gray wolf¡¯s head was almostpletely pulped, but even so, it still wasn¡¯t dead.


    Wolves had tenacious natures. Its other abilities werecking, but it was truly formidable when it came to life force. Its deformed face savagely smiled as it said, ¡°I will die, but don¡¯t think about getting off easy¡­ Cruel Wolf Strike!¡±


    It gathered all of its power in its ws, erupting with a frightening strength that pierced through the legs of the fox and broke its leg bones.


    ¡°Nooo!¡± The fiend fox hissed in pain. It sent all its fiend energy into its left arm, releasing an explosion that turned the wolf into a rain of gore. No matter how tenacious its life force was, there was no possible way it could survive this.


    But after this, the fiend fox staggered and then fell to the ground.


    ¡°Go!¡± Everyone¡¯s eyes shone upon seeing this chance.


    Zhang Chengyun charged over, his ice saber swinging at the back of the fox¡¯s head. But just when the blow was about to hit, the fox suddenly turned its head, two fingers of its left hand jabbing at his eyes and plucking them out. It proceeded to throw the eyeballs into its mouth and eat them.


    ¡°Aaagh!¡± Zhang Chengyun howled in pain as the fiend fox thrust out its hand again, stabbing into his throat¡­


    ¡°Junior Brother!¡± Qin Zhou cried out in anguish, his ancient sword releasing a bright light.


    This move was the Execution Form of the Green Hill Sect¡¯s 16 Ancient Sword Forms, and the strongest of these 16 forms. He had never been able to master it, though he cared not for this right now.


    The brilliant ancient sword pointed at the fiend fox.


    Just when it was about to be hit, the fiend fox transformed into Ling Jing, who called out, ¡°Senior Brother¡­¡±


    ¡°Junior Sister¡­¡± Qin Zhou¡¯s heart trembled. He had always loved Ling Jing, but he had been too shy to admit it. He had been the one most affected by Ling Jing¡¯s death, and Ling Jing¡¯s sudden reappearance made his mind turn nk. His sword froze for a moment, unable to strike.


    He was just about to say something when Luo Yin shrieked, ¡°Senior Brother, watch out!¡±


    Qin Zhou felt a sudden chill at his chest and saw a snow-white fox w plunge into his body, tug, and pull out something red.


    It was his heart.


    Qin Zhou froze for a moment, but his rigid mind didn¡¯t seem to notice. His sword pressed forward, stabbing into the cunning fox. His life force exploded at this moment, gathering in an astonishing brilliance.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    A sun seemed to rise as the fiend fox shrieked.


    ¡°Execution Form¡­ seeded,¡± Qin Zhou muttered. He looked down at his chest, at the giant bleeding hole, and then he smiled. ¡°Only in desperate straits can one achieve sess. I get it now¡­¡±


    He fell onto his back.


    ¡°Senior Brother!¡± Luo Yin wailed, clutching at her face.


    ¡°Aaaah!¡±


    The Illusion Fox let out a howl of disbelief. Qin Zhou¡¯s move had so heavily wounded it that it could barely stand.


    Tang Jie swung his Heartbreak Saber again, and the fox¡¯s eyes glinted with a savage light. ¡°You can¡¯t kill me!¡±


    The snow-white fox phantom appeared again, but it was much less intimidating than before.


    However, Tang Jie didn¡¯t have the fiend-sealing talisman anymore.


    The fox phantom soared into the sky, staring at Tang Jie with cold eyes.


    Tang Jie coldly said, ¡°What are you looking at?¡±


    He threw away his saber and punched.


    One punch to seal the heavens!


    Devil Crushing Fist!


    A giant golden gauntlet appeared out of nowhere, surging up with a worldly pressure toward that phantom fox.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    Like a meteor crashing into ake, it unleashed a massive shockwave of spiritual energy.


    The snow-white fox phantom shattered like a moon in the water, a flower in the mirror.


    ¡°Aaaah!¡± There was a bitter scream.


    The fiend fox let out an irrepressible wail of sorrow.


    It was finally afraid.


    This punch that had pierced through the heavens had supreme momentum, and not even this peak Mind Opening fiend fox at its full strength could unleash such a move.


    This punch had annihted the snow-white fox phantom and heavily injured the fox. Crucially, it had shattered the fiend fox¡¯s confidence.


    This was by far the most fatal, for it had given up.


    It screamed, ¡°You¡¯re not Spirit tform Realm! You can¡¯t be!¡±


    It turned back from a human into a fox, and then into three white foxes that ran off into the distance.


    It wanted to flee.


    It was an Illusion Fox with the innate spell of Thosuandform, so it was most adept at this kind of phantom clone spell art, with this particr clone spell art being one that it was proud of. Unlike other illusion spells, the white foxes created by this spell art were real, but their strength would decrease in proportion with the number, so it wasn¡¯t suited for battle. But so long as one of the bodies didn¡¯t die, the fiend fox wouldn¡¯t die. At most, it would just drop in grade, but it could cultivate it back, and it would do so at an even faster rate.


    Besides its illusion transformation gifts, this clone spell was one of the other reasons it had been able to escape from the pursuit of cultivators 28 times.


    As it divided into three and fled with all its might, the little tiger and Yiyi each chased after one. The fiend fox was fast, but its legs had been badly wounded, so it was impossible for it to outrun the little tiger and Yiyi.


    But this was precisely why it had turned into three. It had nned to lose two of its clones from the very start.


    As for Luo Yin and Tang Jie, the former could barely get up from her heavy injuries while thetter was still weak after unleashing that punch. If the fiend fox¡¯s confidence hadn¡¯t been shattered, if it had instead elected to not use the clones and fight them to the end, the oue of this battle would have still been uncertain.


    But it was precisely for this reason that the Illusion Fox was confident that it could escape.


    The clone that wasn¡¯t being chased shouted as it ran, ¡°I¡¯ve remembered you! I¡¯ve noted your scent! When Ie back, I¡¯ll kill you! I¡¯ll kill you!¡±


    It was angry, angry that it had lost to a Spirit tform child.


    The Illusion Fox could lose, but not to such a low-level cultivator.


    <em>Just wait.</em>


    <em>Three months!</em>


    <em>In at most three months, I¡¯ll have fully recovered, and then I¡¯ll find you and kill you.</em>


    <em>No one will be able to stop me!</em>


    The Illusion Fox angrily thought to itself.


    Of course, this was precisely why it didn¡¯t notice Tang Jie sympathetically looking at the fox, whispering, ¡°You can¡¯t run.¡±


    And then, the Illusion Fox charged into the illusion formation set up next to the stream.


    Seeing this, Luo Yin dragged herself up and looked at Tang Jie. ¡°That¡¯s the illusion formation youid down?¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    ¡°How did you know it would run there?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. He thought it over and replied, ¡°I naturally didn¡¯t know what direction the fiend fox would run, but I can at least decide to chase down or not chase down the fiend foxes running in any particr direction.¡±

 Chapter 277: Destroyed Face

    Chapter 277: Destroyed Face


    In the illusion formation, the Illusion Foxy on the ground, breathing weakly. It wasn¡¯t dead, but this was itsst body. The little tiger and Yiyi had killed the other two, making them vanish.


    Tang Jie stood near the fiend fox, coldly observing it.


    The fiend foxy there, no longer resisting. It muttered, ¡°I wanted to leave because I knew that this day woulde eventually, when I wouldn¡¯t be able to escape¡­ Sure enough, I couldn¡¯t escape. But I didn¡¯t think that I would die at the hands of a cultivator that hadn¡¯t even reached Mortal Shedding yet.¡±


    ¡°It might have been exactly the other way around,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°It¡¯s precisely because I wasn¡¯t even at the Mortal Shedding Realm that you decided to use me to clear out Fragrant Store Cave and break your own wings. If my level were higher, would you do this? You would probably instead choose to attack en masse or else seize the chance to escape, right?¡±


    The fiend fox froze, and then it softly said, ¡°True, true. If you were some big cultivator, how would I fight with you to the death? It¡¯s precisely because I thought your cultivation insufficient that I was defeated on this day! But if I weren¡¯t so determined to leave, would I have made such a choice? In the end, I was the architect of my demise, and I must bear the results. It is all karma, karma! Haha! Haha!¡±


    The fiend fox looked up andughed.


    ¡°At least you don¡¯t need to run anymore,¡± Tang Jie slowly said.


    The fox suddenly stoppedughing. ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t need to run. After 28 times, I¡¯m tired¡­¡±


    It sighed and closed its eyes.


    And so it died.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but emotionally sigh at the fiend fox¡¯s death.


    He hade to more and more understand why Xu Muyang had said that the Immortal path was callous. On this path, you either ate others or became food. There was no third choice.


    Though he was rather emotional about all this, his hand moved without hesitation.


    With a swing of his Heartbreak Saber, he cut open the fox¡¯s belly, and from it, he extracted a small pellet.


    This pellet was different from the ones before, round and crystalline. In its center was a little red dot that moved around, and in the sunlight, it sparkled with a rainbow of colors.


    This was where the Illusion Fox¡¯s Thousandform attribute was located. With the application of a secret art, this fiend pellet could be the avatar that Tang Jie wanted.


    All of the effort and risk had been for this fiend pellet.


    After solemnly putting the fiend pellet away, Tang Jie turned to the other items.


    There was a little pouch under the fiend fox¡¯s belly, which had appeared after the fox had died. It was the Mustard Seed Bag it had used before, and it contained all the spoils the fox had gathered over the years.


    Although it had used many of the items in the battle, there was still a lot inside. Tang Jie looked inside and saw that it was primarily weapons and armor. There were few pills and talismans, probably because these were consumable items and had mostly been used up. Only things like spell weapons and art relics could be preserved. s, their grades were mediocre, and they weren¡¯t worth much money at all. But they did make up for this in quantity, with there being several dozen of them.


    Tang Jie made some rough calctions and found that these spell weapons and art relics were worth at least seventy thousand coins.


    Besides that, there were numerous fiend beasts littering thendscape.


    This battle had resulted in the deaths of the hundreds of fiend beasts of Fragrant Store Cave, including six Mind Opening fiends and a hundred-some Spirit Sensing fiends. Their corpses were a different kind of bountiful harvest.


    Yiyi and the little tiger swept through and turned up thirty-some fiend pellets alone, as well as various furs, hides, bones, scales, and other such materials. The Mind Opening fiends also offered their own treasures. The soul refining of the lynx and red eagle had even affected their fiend pellets, so these were worth the least. As for the most valuable, this was actually the ck bull. The bull¡¯s fiend pellet was worthless, just an empty shell; its bezoar was the real treasure. It was a material that could be used to create high-level curatives and antidotes. These fiend corpses put together were worth thirty to forty thousand coins.


    Tang Jie took it all without courtesy, not showing the slightest intention of sharing. On the western slope, Luo Yin was still weeping in front of four graves.


    It wasn¡¯t that Tang Jie was being petty. While this had been a bountiful victory, Tang Jie had also paid out a lot for it.


    Not even mentioning the fiend-sealing talisman, the Devil Crushing Fist alone hade with a grievous price.


    This was his first time using the Devil Crushing Fist for real, so he hadn¡¯t been sure about his power. Thus, that one punch had unleashed 30% of his power. He had overdone it.


    30% power didn¡¯t sound like a lot, but it was the result of years of cultivation.


    From the time he had started cultivating the Parting ssic, Tang Jie had invested about 120,000 to 130,000 spirit coins into his body cultivation.


    The 30% strength in his Devil Crushing Fist was essentially nearly 40,000 spirit coins!


    Like he had sted to bits several dozen bottles of cultivation medicine!


    Like he had sted apart aplete Grade 3bat puppet!


    This punch had also brought Tang Jie down from the middle tier of the Jewel Body to the basic tier.


    Thus, without considering the contents of the Mustard Seed Bag and the fiend corpses and only looking at what he had gotten from the fiend fox, this victory of the weak against the strong had resulted in the winner paying a bitter price!


    Tang Jie had actually been rather lucky. The Illusion Fox was one of the rare fiends that could use cultivator equipment without limitation at only the Mind Opening level, so it had kept the majority of its spoils. Other fiends would have been less generous, keeping a few and throwing away most of it.


    This was the case for the lion and bull. Most fiends had no equipment, with even the golden lion having only that mace.


    Of course, if he really had to exploit everything he could, the possessions of Qin Zhou and the other Green Hill disciples could have been considered to have ¡°dropped¡±. s, ¡°regrettably¡±, the Green Hill Sect group had not been exterminated, so Luo Yin was the rightful heir. Tang Jie considered himself a rather shameless and ckhearted soul, but he wasn¡¯t so shameless and greedy as to seek the possessions of the Green Hill disciples after already getting so much. Thus, he had left Luo Yin to handle their things.


    An additional benefit was that the little tiger and Yiyi had both advanced.


    They had both already been close to the upper grade.


    The battle had provided the little tiger with many fiend corpses, and the several Mind Opening fiend corpses alone were a huge boost. Thus, after eating the golden lion, the little tiger had naturally advanced to the next grade. As for Yiyi, Tang Jie gave her a few fiend pellets, after which she easily advanced.


    After sweeping the battlefield, Tang Jie took a trip to Fragrant Store Cave.


    There were still a few minor fiends watching the house inside the cave, and Tang Jie easily took care of them. s, there wasn¡¯t anything very valuable in the cave, though there was a lot of gold and silver useful to mortals.


    Considering that these mortal treasures could still be exchanged for spirit coins, Tang Jie decided to take it all, ying the role of the ssic looter.


    When he came out of the cave, Tang Jie saw that Luo Yin was still weeping in front of the graves.


    For this girl, today was probably the most painful experience of her life, but Tang Jie was sure that if she continued along the path of cultivation, she would have to face incidents that would be even more tragic.


    After some thought, Tang Jie went up behind her and said, ¡°The dead are gone, but the survivors must keep living. When you step on the path of Immortality, you have to be ready to encounter such cmity and view things more open-mindedly.¡±


    The crying stopped, and Luo Yin turned her head and said, ¡°Big Brother Tang, thank you for the advice. Luo Yin understands.¡±


    Tang Jie was slightly taken aback. He had been so focused on dealing with the fiend fox and gathering the spoils that he hadn¡¯t paid too much attention to Luo Yin before this. It was only now that he realized that the right half of Luo Yin¡¯s face had a massive and terrifying burn. It covered such arge area that it basically upied half of her face, even extending down past her neck, and there was no telling how much farther it went¡­


    The white fox phantom¡¯s searing mes had destroyed this girl¡¯s face.


    ¡°Your face¡­¡± he blurted out, not knowing what to say.


    Luo Yin smiled, her smile pulling on the scar and making it indescribably savage and frightening. She felt her face and replied, ¡°Big Brother Tang, there¡¯s no need to be so surprised. As Big Brother Tang said, to step onto the Immortal path, one must be prepared for cmity. It is already very fortunate that I was able to keep my life, so why should I be worried about a mere face?¡±


    ¡°A mere face¡±?


    A face was a woman¡¯s second life, perhaps even more important than her actual life!


    Luo Yin was a little girl with a soft appearance, and while she hadn¡¯t had some impressive figure, she was as cute as a sprite. For such a cute girl to have her face destroyed was something that not even Tang Jie could ept.


    Tang Jie swallowed with some difficulty and sternly said, ¡°The Green Hill Sect is skilled at producing medicines. Are there any that can heal scars and regrow skin?¡±


    Luo Yin shook her head. ¡°This was caused by Fiend Fire, so ordinary medicines are no good. While my Green Hill Sect is skilled at producing medicines, it is mostly for charging at cultivation thresholds. Its understanding of herbs that can heal scars is less profound.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then I¡¯ll help you go to the Seven Absolutions Sect,¡± Tang Jie immediately said. ¡°I remember that they have a pill called the Naturalife Pill that can regrow the skin to divine effect. Paired with some other medicines, it can restore your face.¡±


    ¡°The Naturalife Pill is a Grade 3 secret medicine that is not easy to refine. The Seven Absolutions Sect does not lightly sell them to outsiders. Big Brother Tang¡­¡±


    Tang Jie raised his hand and stopped her. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of that. Whether they sell it or not, so long as they have it, I¡¯ll help you get your hands on one.¡±


    He spoke with such resolve and attitude that it was clear that he didn¡¯t care about the Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s status as a major sect. Luo Yin was surprised for a while, and then she finally said, ¡°Big Brother Tang is a Basking Moon student?¡±


    Tang Jie had only said that he was a Sageheart student, not that he was from the Basking Moon Sect.


    But at this point, even if he didn¡¯t say anything, Luo Yin could tell. Who except Basking Moon Academy had a curriculum that could create such a powerful student? And who except a Basking Moon student could be certain that they could get Luo Yin a Naturalife Pill?


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°But this trip is a secret that no one can know about. I hope that you can help me keep this secret and say that you¡¯ve never met me. Moreover, I hope that you will keep it a secret that I killed the Illusion Fox.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m guessing that ¡®Tang Xuan¡¯ is not Big Brother Tang¡¯s real name?¡± Luo Yin suddenly said.


    She was originally an innocent and naive young girl with a lively personality, but after this incident, she had be much moreposed, and even her intelligence had risen to a new level.


    Tang Jie froze, and then he smiled and said, ¡°Yes¡­ My name is Tang Jie.¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie¡­¡± Luo Yin muttered this name, but it was clear that she had never heard it before. Ultimately, she shook her head and said, ¡°¡®Tang Xuan¡¯ still sounds better.¡±


    She looked at Tang Jie and said, ¡°Whether it¡¯s Tang Jie or Tang Xuan, I don¡¯t know anyone like that. I just came here with Big Brother Qin and the others to pick herbs, but we were chased down by the fiend fox. Outmatched, we fled for our lives, but I was the only one who managed to escape. As for whether the fiend fox lived or died, whether Fragrant Store Cave was destroyed or survived, I have no idea. Perhaps some person cameter and killed the fiend, but it has nothing to do with me.¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    He grabbed a bundle of Whiteroots and ced them in Luo Yin¡¯s hands. ¡°I found these while searching Fragrant Store Cave. Take them.¡±


    As she took the Whiteroots, Luo Yin thought about howing here for these things had resulted in Qin Zhou and the other three all losing their lives, and her own face being destroyed. Sorrow welled up in her heart, and she could no longer maintain herposure and began to wail.


    As she wailed, Tang Jie didn¡¯t know what to say.


    Yiyi crawled onto Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder and whispered, ¡°Big Brother, it¡¯s so sad what¡¯s happened to Big Sister Luo Yin. Can¡¯t we do anything for her?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. He had already promised to get Luo Yin a Naturalife Pill. What more could he do?


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°The Immortal path is callous and not a game. Don¡¯t worry. She¡¯s only recently experienced the cruel side of cultivation and hasn¡¯t adapted to it yet. She¡¯ll get better as time passes.¡±


    ¡°¡®She¡¯ll get better as time passes¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Once enough time passes, she¡¯ll naturally adapt to it, grow used to it¡­ grow numb to it,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°And if she can¡¯t adapt?¡±


    ¡°Then she¡¯ll be eliminated.¡±

 Chapter 278: Black Armor

    Chapter 278: ck Armor


    At daybreak, Tang Jie said goodbye to Luo Yin.


    After leaving the Transverse Range, he headed west toward the Celestial Mountains.


    Of course, on the road, he didn¡¯t forget to dispose of some of his loot.


    Putting aside some items that he left for himself, the spell weapon, art relics, and fiend materials that he had no use for sold for 105,000 coins.


    Tang Jie spent fifty thousand of this to buy materials for refining baths. Not only did he restore his constitution to what it was before, he even improved it somewhat. He left the rest of the money to be spent when he needed it.


    With the Illusion Fox dead, Tang Jie had aplished one of his major goals and felt much more rxed. In no rush to arrive, he decided to see the sights, stopping and going as he pleased.


    49 days quickly went by, and the Soul Refining Pearl finished refining all the hundred-some fiend souls within it.


    Three quarters of the fiend souls had been converted into Soul Dew, a rare material that could be used in medicine to strengthen one¡¯s Spirit Will or Divine Will. The rest had be Mindseizers.


    Tang Jie let one out, and under hismand, the Mindseizer immediately attempted possession on a fiend wolf. This possession was extremely unreasonable. No matter who the target was, even if it was an Immortal tform Titan, the Mindseizer would attempt possession. Of course, sess was another matter entirely. The true benefit was that once a possession began, the victim would enter a dazed state, giving the opponent a chance to strike.


    As for this attempt, Tang Jie had chosen a weak target primarily to experiment. Thus, he did not take this moment to kill the target, instead watching so that he could understand how long this dazed state wouldst.


    To his surprise, after a few moments in a daze, the fiend wolf let out a mournful howl and began to transform, its body groaning as it grewrger.


    <em>Shit!</em>


    The possession had actually seeded.


    Perhaps because this fiend wolf had been too weak and its will too fragile, the Mindseizer, despite its low chances of sess, had seeded on its first try, creating a devil.


    Tang Jie tested its power and discovered that this devil was about as strong as an upper-grade Spirit Sensing fiend, though he didn¡¯t know if this level of strength depended on the host or not. Although this was pretty decent, Tang Jie ultimately decided to kill it.


    Just like the Ghost Guard, this thing could not be shown to outsiders.


    After a few more experiments, Tang Jie slowly began to understand.


    The dazed state was really because the battle for possession caused a momentary loss of control over the body, so the length of the daze was closely connected to the possession battle.


    The closer the strength of the two sides, the longer the battle and the longer the daze. Great disparities meant obvious oues, leading to short battles and short dazes.


    The Mindseizer¡¯s power depended on the strength of the fiend soul in life. The stronger the fiend soul, the stronger the Mindseizer.


    With this, Tang Jie had some measure of the Soul Refining Pearl¡¯s soul refining function.


    Tang Jie began to research soul congealing.


    After numerous experiments, Tang Jie finally confirmed that, by absorbing enough materials, soul congealing really could produce something simr to weapon souls.


    But this wasn¡¯t a real weapon soul, only a fake pseudo-weapon-soul.


    ¡°Pseudo-weapon-soul¡± referred to thepatibility with the weapon. When weapon souls attached to weapons, the greater thepatibility, the greater the effect and the greater the potential would be.


    In normal cases, a soul would need at least 50%patibility with a weapon to be called a weapon soul. Those that couldn¡¯t reach this standard were not called weapon souls, but attached souls, or pseudo-weapon-souls.


    Pseudo-weapon-souls on a weapon were like oil on water. They seemed to mix, but they were still independent existences.


    The result of this was that while pseudo-weapon-souls could increase the power of the weapon, the boost was limited, and it came at the price of consuming itself. After some period of use, they would naturally dissipate.


    To take the lynx soul as an example, while it had greatly boosted the power of the puppet, it would gradually be used up as the days went on until it was nothing.


    As for the Heartbreak Saber, its weapon soul had exceeded 50%patibility and could be considered a true weapon soul. But that waspletely idental. If Tang Jie had to try again, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to do it.


    Moreover, this method of producing weapon souls produced energy shes that were liable to damage the Soul Refining Pearl. Tang Jie did not dare to try a second time.


    But even pseudo-weapon-souls were worth celebrating.


    This alone allowed Tang Jie to create a batch of spell weapons and art relics to be sold.


    He didn¡¯t have to lie about it. Even if a customer were told that these were pseudo-weapon-souls withpatibilities below 50%, the price would still double. After all, the boost in power was very obvious.


    In other words, Tang Jie had inadvertentlye across a way to make money.


    But both weapon souls and Soul Dew were extremely rare, so selling them on arge scale was certain to draw attention. Thus, whenever Tang Jie arrived at a new ce, he would disguise himself, sell a little, and then run. His cautious conduct meant that he encountered little trouble.


    Making money, seeing the sights, beating up monsters, and picking up a few small things, he had a carefree and rxed journey.


    As the date of the conference approached, Tang Jie finally arrived at Red Plum Ridge in the Celestial Mountains.


    Because of the Immortal Fortune Conference, Red Plum Ridge had gone from a deserted area to a bustling cultivator market.


    Cultivators had always had very well-developed informationworks. The fact that the Wandering Pce was picking a side and choosing a groom for its little pce lord through a tournament between the six major sects had caused the Immortal Fortune Conference to be the event of the year.


    Cultivators from all around had gathered. This was the best time to do business, and many cultivators hade here solely to make business deals.


    As the host, the Wandering Pce had decided to ce its Immortal pce on Red Plum Ridge. It then used an Immortal art to turn this ce into a bustling city, after which it began to collect fees. Everyone doing business here had to pay it a fee, even the six major sects.


    At a time like this, the six major sects wouldn¡¯t quibble about such a small thing.


    While this was an impromptu market, the Immortal art had turned all of Red Plum Ridge into a resplendent pce of dazzling pavilions,parable to the grand metropolises of the mortal realm. 80% of the people going in and out were cultivators, with the remainder being mortals that the Wandering Pce had hired as servants.


    When Tang Jie arrived, he saw arge cluster of buildings on the ridge in the distance.


    At the highest point of Red Plum Ridge was a towering Immortal Pce, its majestic silhouette faintly visible among the clouds.


    This was the Wandering Pce.


    Above the Wandering Pce, Tang Jie saw a few shing points of light.


    These points of light were distributed around the area and were very difficult to detect. But when a bird flew past, taking with it a smear of radiance, it would reveal the dense of spiritual lines crisscrossing the sky.


    That was arge formation that covered all of Red Plum Ridge.


    This formation prevented all cultivators below Violet Pce from flying into Red Plum Ridge. They would have to take the path of jade to enter.


    Tang Jie was going along this path, and as he was midway up the mountain, he saw a decorated archway on the path. Beneath it were two disciples with swords on their backs, and next to the archway was a desk with a secretary seated behind it.


    Behind the two disciples were two ck-armored guards holding long-handled war hammers.


    Tang Jie walked up to the archway, and one of the disciples came forward and said, ¡°Please register your name and background here.¡±


    ¡°Basking Moon Student Tang Jie, here to participate in the Immortal Fortune Conference.¡±


    The secretary took out a booklet and read through it. After a while, he said, ¡°One of the students officially registered by the Basking Moon Sect. Spirit Sea Tier, fifth-year student, twenty-one years of age, of handsome appearance, not arrived yet.¡±


    He looked at Tang Jie and decided that the description matched, so he nodded and said, ¡°Everything is correct.¡±


    The other disciple took a card and handed it to Tang Jie. ¡°This card lets you enter and exit Red Plum Ridge. The Basking Moon Sect is set up on the southern side of the ridge, where the red walls are. Don¡¯t go to the wrong ce.¡±


    Tang Jie noticed that the card had the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s insignia on it, suggesting that it had been prepared for the sect. It appeared that the Wandering Pce had considerately split up the sects into different areas.


    The disciple took out two more cards, which he gave to Yiyi and the little tiger. Even pets had them!


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Tang Jie said, taking the card.


    After some thought, he intentionally put the card in his Mustard Seed Bag and went through the archway. One of the disciples said, ¡°Senior Brother, hurry and take out the card. Without this item, the protective formation will attack you. Even when you¡¯re inside, you have to carry the card at all times.¡±


    It was no wonder they had handed over the card after getting his name and not worried about whether he was a fake. This card needed to be worn out in the open at all times. If he wasn¡¯t a member of the Basking Moon Sect, then he would be found out once he was inside.


    ¡°I see now,¡± Tang Jie said, casually taking out the card and tying it at his waist. ¡°Isn¡¯t the Immortal Fortune Conference open to the public? Why is the security so tight?¡±


    The disciple knew that he was an official participant and no sightseer, so he did not dare to be impolite. ¡°There is concern of viins making trouble.¡±


    ¡°Viins making trouble?¡± Tang Jie raised an eyebrow. ¡°This Immortal Fortune Conference is hosted by the Wandering Pce, and the six major secs are participating in a tournament for a beauty. Who would be so bold as to cause trouble?¡±


    The older of the disciples chuckled. ¡°We also don¡¯t expect anyone with this much guts, but these are orders from above, and we disciples can only obey. If there is any inconvenience, please ept our apologies. That said, even if no one dares to make trouble, there are many cultivators gathered here. If one of them loses their temper and starts a quarrel, there will also be trouble. With this formation, we can restrain them and stop them from messing around.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Tang Jie nodded and made his way up the mountain.


    He only made it a few steps before he stopped next to the ck-armored guards. Carefully looking them over, he said, ¡°So it was a puppet! I thought that these were noble scions wearing ck armor to add some majesty to the asion. Wow, it looks like a Grade 3 puppet, too.¡±


    He once more looked up the mountain. His vision was excellent, and he could see that there were many ck-armored guards like this on Red Plum Ridge, guarding various checkpoints. If there were trouble, these ck-armored guards would be enough to settle matters.


    The older disciple smiled. ¡°This grand event is unprecedented, and many cultivators areing. The disciples of the Wandering Pce alone are not enough to maintain order, so these puppets were dispatched to assist us.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the Wandering Pce to have such a high mastery of the Dao of Puppetry. It must have cost a lot to make so many Grade 3bat puppets,¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Moreover, this ck armor is also excellent. My young master also has a Grade 3 puppet, but it¡¯s naked, without any sort of weapon or armor. And even this still cost two years of my young master¡¯s savings. Two years of saving, and it¡¯s not even enough to get a door guard from the Wandering Pce.¡±


    Tang Jie sighed.


    The senior disciple soothed, ¡°One person¡¯s power can¡¯tpare to a sect¡¯s. In truth, not even my Wandering Pce could have this money. Fortunately, we had someone¡¯s help.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Who would be so kindhearted and so able as to help the Wandering Pce?¡± Tang Jie nonchntly asked.


    ¡°This¡­¡± The senior disciple awkwardlyughed. ¡°This is a matter for my superiors. How would I know?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. I was being presumptuous.¡± Tang Jie ended the talk and made his way up the steps. As he did, he muttered, ¡°You think that I wouldn¡¯t recognize you if you changed out your armor? Really¡­ gold looked better.¡±

 Chapter 279: Feast

    Chapter 279: Feast


    Although it was a city that had been set up on the spot, it had restaurants, inns, clothing stores, pharmacies, and all the other ces one might expect. The steps paved with jade sloped up and down in ord with thendscape, and the brick homes and little alleyways made the ce seem like a charming mountain city.


    Red Plum City was set up with four vertical streets and eight horizontal streets. While the buildings seemed to be randomly ced, their locations were all intricately connected to theyout of the formation. The Wandering Pce was the host, so it upied the Heavenly Origin and stood at the summit. Here was the Qian position (northwest), where the Open Gate was located, and was the site of the formation¡¯s core. The six major sects each upied their own direction, taking up six other gates. The Death Gate was untouched, left to the wandering cultivators who came from all around.


    As he made his way along the long streets, Tang Jie came to a courtyard with red walls and white tiles. The signboard dered that this ce was known as Cleansing Sword Garden.


    This was where the Basking Moon Sect was staying.


    Cleansing Sword Garden was located on the southern end of the ridge, which was the Li position of Fire, and the color of Basking Moon was white. Thus, its residence had red walls and white tiles. Besides the Basking Moon Sect, there were also various vassal sects from the Sageheart Kingdom here, forming their own little region in the city.


    There was a worker there to receive Tang Jie when he entered Cleansing Sword Garden. When it was learned that he was a Basking Moon student and an official participant, the worker led him to a ce called Clear Heart Pavilion. This was the residence the academy had arranged for him.


    Clear Heart Pavilion was a quiet and refined ce, and Tang Jie was quite satisfied.


    This was where the Basking Moon students gathered, so it wasn¡¯t long before many people knew that Tang Jie had arrived. A few momentster, Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng rushed over, shouting at him, ¡°Good job, Tang Jie! So you still knew toe back! We almost thought that you had died in some barren patch of wilderness.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled and said, ¡°From the sound of it, you¡¯ve been here a while?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been here for twenty-some days,¡± Shi Meng replied. ¡°The academy sent 20 participants, and you¡¯re thest one to arrive. If you were anyter, Headmaster Xie would have sent someone looking for you. People have been preparing to take your ce.¡±


    Wei Tianchong said, ¡°Forget about that. Hand my puppet over first. Let me see if there¡¯s any damage.¡±


    Tang Jie returned the puppet to Wei Tianchong, and Wei Tianchong began to give it aprehensive check-up, thoroughly examining it for fear of any damage. Tang Jie helplessly said, ¡°It¡¯s like you came for the puppet, not for me. This is very disheartening, Young Master.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Wei Tianchong brusquely replied. ¡°It took ages to make this Grade 3bat puppet, and I didn¡¯t even get to use it once before you took it away and disappeared.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only a Grade 3bat puppet, but look at how nervous you are! Can¡¯t you see that there are Grade 3bat puppets all throughout Red Plum City? And they¡¯re even ck-armored guards with weapons.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s words immediately had a look of infatuation appear in Wei Tianchong¡¯s eyes. It was clear that he had been shaken by these ck-armored guards of Red Plum City. ¡°Tang Jie, what do you think about getting some armor for ourbat puppet?¡±


    ¡°Do you know how much that costs? The weapons and armor together would cost at least ten thousand.¡±


    Wei Tianchong immediately shook his head at this number. Making the puppet had already emptied his pockets, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to muster up this sum in so little time.


    But Tang Jie added, ¡°But if Young Master is willing to take a risk, I might be able to help Young Master get a set.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    ¡°Of course, from those ck-armored guards.¡± Tang Jie grinned.


    Wei Tianchong was scared out of his wits, and firmly shook his head. ¡°You madman, you would even harbor an idea like this? Putting aside what tough opponents they pose, even if you could deal with them, once the Wandering Pce finds out, we¡¯ll suffer even if we¡¯re Basking Moon students.¡±


    ¡°Then what if I could guarantee that I could do it without being discovered?¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Wei Tianchong grew hesitant.


    As he was thinking, several more people rushed in from outside. Their leader was Peng Yaolong, and behind him were Qi Shaoming, Ye Tianshang, and Cai Junyang. There were also some other students who were taking part in the Immortal Fortune Conference, but Tang Jie didn¡¯t know them.


    The moment Peng Yaolong got to the door, he shouted, ¡°A fine show from Tang Jie, going off on his own and seeing the sights. You must have had quite the fun time, to arrive only now.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Aren¡¯t there still a few days until it starts? I made sure to n everything out. I so rarely go out that I naturally have to make good use of my time.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t try that on me. I would even bet that you were tempering yourself rather than sightseeing.¡± Cai Junyang knew Tang Jie, and his words immediately exposed Tang Jie¡¯s secret.


    Ye Tianshang said, ¡°If you want to prove it, it¡¯s simple. Just have him open up his Mustard Seed Bag and we¡¯ll know.¡±


    Everyone rushed up to see what loot Tang Jie had gotten while traveling alone.


    Tang Jie helplessly pleaded for mercy. ¡°Please, no, senior brothers, have mercy. Why don¡¯t I just treat you all to a meal?¡±


    They wouldn¡¯t really try to open his Mustard Seed Bag, so they immediately agreed.


    Even Qi Shaoming said, ¡°There¡¯s a Divine Fragrance Restaurant on the western side of town. I¡¯ve heard the food there is to die for, and I¡¯ve always been meaning to try, but s, I¡¯m short of money. Since Tang Jie is paying, why don¡¯t we go and see?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s face fell. ¡°If even Young Master Qi can¡¯t afford it, I certainly can¡¯t.¡±


    Qi Shaoming firmly replied. ¡°It¡¯s fine. We won¡¯t eat too much¡ªone or two thousand per person at most.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The party chattered as they made their way to Divine Fragrance Restaurant.


    This restaurant was quite the pricey ce, even in Red Plum City. While the food was good, it was astonishingly expensive. Qi Shaoming had only mentioned it as a joke, but to his surprise, Tang Jie had agreed.


    At the restaurant, after Tang Jie had ordered for everyone, even Wei Tianchong had to stick out his tongue and say, ¡°Braised Mask Ox tongue, steamed Ghost Fish, stir-fried Moonshadow Silkworm¡­ Tang Jie, this food has to cost at least three thousand, right?¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°Isn¡¯t it because I was exposed by Junyang, who insisted that I went out adventuring? I truly did make a little from my travels, so I naturally have to show off a little. Everyone, there¡¯s no need to be polite. I can afford this.¡±


    Everyone looked at Tang Jie a little differently.


    That he could casually treat everyone to a meal that cost three to four thousand coins meant that he must have made more than twenty thousand. Making so much in so little time could only mean that Tang Jie had once again gotten stronger.


    For Tang Jie, besides showing off his strength, spending money was also a way to make friends and draw people to his side.


    The people sitting around him were the most outstanding students of Basking Moon Academy. Before this, they had been so upied with their own cultivation that they rarely had the time to get together, and so it was difficult to be friends with them.


    The opening of the Immortal Fortune Conference had let everyone temporarily put aside cultivation and given them the opportunity to know each other from a different perspective.


    This chance to know each other was much better than the one provided by the True Inheritor struggle.


    The backstabbing and fighting of the True Inheritor struggle could easily damage rtionships.


    The Immortal Fortune Conference, on the other hand, was a chance to stand shoulder to shoulder against amon foe. They had ceased to be rivals and were now coborators.


    This was precisely why Tang Jie had utilized this opportunity to improve everyone¡¯s rtionships with each other.


    Treating everyone to a meal was undoubtedly an excellent idea.


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    This would paper over the displeasures caused by the True Inheritor struggle and also let these acquaintances, who had known each other for some time but knew so little about each other, establish a rapport.


    Sure enough, after a few cups of spirit wine, the atmosphere began to thaw.


    At this moment, Tang Jie said, ¡°You know, there¡¯s something that¡¯s been making me feel rather down. Normally, I shouldn¡¯t have been toote ining, but all of you are saying that I¡¯m thestpetitor from the six major sects to arrive. Why did all of youe so early?¡±


    Peng Yaolong and the others looked at each and then erupted inughter, but none of them exined.


    In the end, it was Shi Meng who said, ¡°Tang Jie, even you have your stupid moments. Did you forget why the Immortal Fortune Conference was held?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s naturally to decide which sect the Wandering Pce will choose¡­ The little pce lord?¡± Tang Jie suddenly blurted out in understanding.


    For the six major sects, the most important thing about the Immortal Fortune Conference was naturally the allegiance of the Wandering Pce.


    But for thepeting students, the most important thing was who the little pce lord would marry!


    While strength was needed to marry the little pce lord, it definitely wasn¡¯t enough. After all, fists could only get a student into the top ten, but the one selected from those ten would depend on the little pce lord.


    Thus, almost every young student who hade for the little pce lord had a n in mind.


    The best n was to get to Red Plum City early and seek out an opportunity to get to know the little pce lord.


    If they could be acquainted with and even establish a rtionship with her before the official tournament began, the only problem left was to get into the top ten. If they could capture the little pce lord¡¯s heart, even getting into the top ten might not be a problem.


    This was exactly why all the students hade to Red Plum City early, seeking out a chance to meet the little pce lord. But as Tang Jie had no interest in her, he naturally wouldn¡¯t do such a thing, which was why he had only arrived now.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Now that he understood, Tang Jie smiled and said, ¡°So which of you have met the little pce lord?¡±


    The people at the table looked at each other and shrugged. It was clear that none of them had been that lucky.


    A student called Zhu Fengdao said, ¡°But while we haven¡¯t seen the little pce lord, that doesn¡¯t mean that she hasn¡¯t seen us. The little pce lord is called the Divine Fragrance, and this restaurant happens to have the same name. It might even have been opened by the little pce lord so that she can observe the patrons. She might even be hiding in some secret nook and watching us now.¡±


    His words immediately had several students tidying their clothes and watching their words, and the mood at the table turned solemn.


    But one student scornfully said, ¡°We¡¯re talking about a proud daughter of heaven, a peerless beauty, and she would hide in some corner and secretly watch you? Keep dreaming!¡±


    Zhu Fengdao immediately argued, ¡°So what if she¡¯s a proud daughter of heaven? In the end, won¡¯t she still have to marry a student of one of the six major sects? This is a big thing for us students, and do you think it¡¯s some small matter for her? Do you really think she¡¯s willing to choose one of ten strange men? The little pce lord has probably been scouring the city over thest few days for the ideal groom. Just you wait! Something might even happen that the little pce lord will use to test our character. Mark my words: don¡¯t cower when the timees to be brave, and make sure to brandish your sword when it¡¯s time to uphold righteousness!¡±


    ¡°Ptoo! What a load of bull! Is this called being brave and upholding righteousness? Looks more like fooling the world and faking reputation to me,¡± Cai Junyang unhappily said. His lifelong goal was the chivalrous wandering life, so he was deeply displeased by Zhu Fengdao¡¯s words.


    Zhu Fengdao wasn¡¯t happy either. ¡°It¡¯s your choice if you¡¯re not willing. I¡¯m just offering some advice out of the kindness of my heart, so why am I the bad guy? If this is really how you¡¯re going to be, then if something does happen, it¡¯s best that you don¡¯t do anything for fear that people will use you of trying to get in the little pce lord¡¯s good graces. In any case, there are plenty of cultivators on Red Plum Ridge, so you won¡¯t be missed.¡±


    ¡°So you do know that there are more cultivators than mortals on Red Plum Ridge. And just how much injustice do you think there¡¯s going to be, that you¡¯re going to get a chance to show off?¡± someone jeered.


    ¡°That¡¯s hard to say. Where there¡¯s people, there¡¯s an underworld, and where there¡¯s a gap in strength, there¡¯s injustice. Who says that injustice can only ur between cultivators and mortals?¡±


    As Zhu Fengdao was talking, a mor suddenly erupted from below. Tang Jie rolling in the money now that he can abuse the souls of fiends. That¡¯s okay. It¡¯s not like fiends are people, right?

 Chapter 280: Discourse on Ancient Formations

    Chapter 280: Discourse on Ancient Formations


    One of them was around forty and wore robes of coarse cloth. His hands were calloused and his appearance was honest and frank, looking like an old farmer. He was currently shouting something in agitation. Across from him stood several young men wearing golden robes and sneering at the old farmer.


    The students upstairs needed only a nce to tell where those golden-robed youths were from.


    Cai Junyang snorted, ¡°Those Godhead Pce guys are causing trouble again.¡±


    Though they hadn¡¯t seen the incident, that old farmer was a stall owner and hadid out a carpet on the street. At this moment, he was desperately clutching a book. It was easy to see that this was a business dispute.


    Upon hearing Cai Junyang¡¯s words, Peng Yaolongughed. ¡°The cubs of Godhead Pce have finally left their nests, and the first thing they do is bully kindhearted people? Have they no shame?¡±


    The Godhead Pce disciples looked up and saw the Basking Moon students on the floor above, and they paled.


    The leading Godhead Pce student recognized Peng Yaolong, and he angrily said, ¡°Peng Yaolong, this has nothing to do with you, so keep out of it!¡±


    Peng Yaolong threw his head back andughed. ¡°Kang Guoran, it¡¯s not your ce to say that. I love getting up in your business, so what about it? If you don¡¯t like it, then let¡¯s settle things on the martial arts stage.¡±


    That Kang Guoran instantly fell silent, clearly not willing to take him up on the offer.


    Tang Jie curiously asked, ¡°¡®The martial arts stage¡¯?¡±


    Wei Tianchong exined, ¡°That¡¯s the ce where we¡¯re going topete.¡±


    ¡°Why can we use it now?¡±


    Wei Tianchong chuckled, ¡°You think that the Wandering Pce set up such arge formation and put out so many puppets just for decoration? Tang Jie, I¡¯ll have you know that in thesest few days, the students in Red Plum City have already had more than one hundred private fights.¡±


    ¡°So many?¡± Tang Jie was rmed. ¡°If they¡¯re that strong, then why don¡¯t they just wait until the official tournament?¡±


    ¡°The problem is that some people don¡¯t think that way,¡± Cai Junyang said.


    Wei Tianchong and Cai Junyang exined so that Tang Jie would understand.


    In this Immortal Fortune Conference, the official participants were only 120 people, which were the 20 people from each of the six major sects.


    But this concerned the bnce of power between the six major sects and the hand of the little pce lord of the Wandering Pce. People would always pursue beauty and money, and so tens of thousands of spectators had been drawn to the event. Adding on the numerous ves, servants, merchants, and the additional visitors who were drawn by all the people, the Immortal Fortune Conference became an event of rare size and grandeur.


    What had been a simple problem of the Wandering Pce¡¯s allegiance gradually became a struggle for power between the six major sects.


    The power ranking of the six major sects had been an unsettled question for hundreds of years. This was a matter of survival, so the six major sects had never set up something like a tournament. While being number one would bring benefits, these were far outweighed by the risks that came from beingst.


    In their position, conservatism was the best course of action. They only stood to make it a few steps forward at most, but backing away would send them over the abyss.


    But the Immortal Fortune Conference had inadvertently given them a chance. Through this grand asion, they could test the strength of the students of each side.


    As the students did not represent the strength of the sects, the oue would not deal any longsting harm. Thus, the six major sects had put their all into the venture, encouragingpetition. The less they feared loss, the more willing they were to fight.


    This was the upper echelon factor.


    Besides that, the six major sects had never really gotten along. Just like how the people of the Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion would re at each other whenever they met, the Seven Absolutions Sect had never gotten along with Godhead Pce, and the Beast Refining Gate had never been on good terms with the Basking Moon Sect. This was the emotional factor.


    In addition, there were many students in the six major sects, and there were always some students who had decent strength but had not been chosen. Hungry for fame and acknowledgment but unable to show their prowess at the Immortal Fortune Conference officially, they sought opportunities in private. This was the personal factor.


    Finally, there were a lot of people, and the more people there were, the more quarrels there were. They needed a ce to vent their emotions. This was the management factor.


    For these various reasons, before the Immortal Fortune Conference had even begun, countless good shows had already yed out.


    Some students had even chosen this opportunity to get famous, bing celebrities of Red Plum City.


    There were some from the six major sects, but also some from small sects. There were official participants, and also students who had not been able to qualify.


    Peng Yaolong was one of these celebrities. He had fought many battles on the martial arts stage and had won with overwhelming power. He was currently one of the top picks for the top ten of the Immortal Fortune Conference.


    This was exactly why that Kang Guoran had shrunk back upon hearing Peng Yaolong.


    Upon understanding this, Tang Jie asked Cai Junyang, ¡°What about you? How have you done on the martial arts stage?¡±


    Cai Junyang pursed his lips and replied, ¡°I didn¡¯t go. I don¡¯t want to expose myself that early.¡±


    Most of the official participants didn¡¯t participate in these unofficial matches. They wanted to preserve their strength and keep their aces hidden for the more important official matches.


    Even the people who were participating were only ying around, not showing off their hidden moves. For example, Peng Yaolong¡¯s consecutive victories had been won through his brute strength. Nobody knew what he had besides that.


    By now, Tang Jie and the others hade to understand what had transpired.


    This old farmer had been selling some formationmentary that he had picked up somewhere, and these Godhead Pce students had wanted to buy it.


    This formationmentary wasn¡¯t some rare item. It was most likely some cultivator¡¯s notes on his understanding of the Dao of Formations.


    There were numerous cultivators in the world who understood formations. If they weren¡¯t famous, theirmentaries were usually not of much value.


    But every cultivator would have their own unique understanding. If they were used as an example, something worthwhile could be learned. Thus, they had some reference value.


    The Godhead Pce students clearly wanted to buy the book as a reference, but to their surprise, this old farmercked experience in the world and took this for some otherworldly text, demanding three thousand spirit coins for it.


    These students couldn¡¯t possibly ept this price, but they also didn¡¯t want to give up, so they had started arguing. They were young and full of vigor, spoke with force, and had noble statuses, so whether intentionally or not, they had exerted a threatening pressure. But this old farmer wasn¡¯t afraid of death, so a quarrel had broken out, drawing the attention of the dining Basking Moon students.


    Thus, in terms of wrongdoing, it wasn¡¯t like the Godhead Pce students were bullying the merchants. This old farmer had also been too sensitive. But Peng Yaolong and the others didn¡¯t care about such things. The Gu Changqing affair from three years ago had resulted in a rapid chilling of rtions between the Basking Moon Sect and Godhead Pce, and now that he hade upon this chance, Peng Yaolong wasn¡¯t going to just let it go. He coldly said, ¡°What? Do the people of Godhead Pce only know to bully themon people and cower when facing actual fighters?¡±


    Kang Guoran¡¯s face shifted between green and red. He was clearly enraged by Peng Yaolong¡¯s words, but as his skills were inferior, he could only stomach his anger.


    At this point, a voice called from the distance, ¡°If my Godhead Pce only knows how to bully themon people, then what should we say about Great Brother Peng, who only challenges the weak? You want to go onto the martial arts stage? Fine, then; I¡¯ll keep youpany!¡±


    The Basking Moon Sect students grimaced while the Godhead Pce students excitedly turned their heads and shouted, ¡°Senior Brother Yun!¡±


    A group of people strode over, led by a person holding a book and wearing white robes rather than the golden uniform of Godhead Pce. He had a smoothplexion and appeared like a pale-faced schr.


    Peng Yaolong¡¯s face sank upon seeing this person. ¡°Yun Wuji!¡±


    Tang Jie turned to Wei Tianchong. He was newly arrived and still didn¡¯t understand a lot about the situation. Wei Tianchong exined, ¡°Godhead Academy seventh-year student Yun Wuji, and one of the official participants from Godhead Pce. He¡¯s a genius student of Godhead Academy and has fought two matches with Senior Brother Peng, winning both. He¡¯s also known as the one with the greatest hope of being picked by the little pce lord¡­ as he¡¯s quite handsome.¡±


    Cai Junyang tossed his head, acting confident as he said, ¡°What¡¯s so special about a pretty boy? If you¡¯re a man you¡¯ve got to have the aura of a man, reserved and not showy, but also not making yourself into a big coward or a sissy!¡±


    Qi Shaoming lightly said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I think I fit the description.¡±


    Cai Junyang grunted, ¡°You¡¯re too soft.¡±


    Ye Tianshang asked, ¡°What about me?¡±


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    ¡°Too hard.¡±


    ¡°¡­I guess you¡¯re the perfect fit, then.¡± Qi Shaoming and Ye Tianshang rolled their eyes.


    Cai Junyangughed. ¡°Of course not! I¡¯m saying that Tang Jie is the best fit.¡±


    Tang Jie coughed. ¡°I¡¯ve got nothing to do with this. Don¡¯t try and drag me into your conversation.¡±


    As they joked, Peng Yaolong and Yun Wuji red at each other, the tension rising.


    The two of them kept ring at each other, and while Peng Yaolong was like an ornery donkey, Yun Wuji stood upright and unafraid, not backing down an inch. If looks could kill, the two of them would have already given each other a death by a thousand cuts.


    Finally, Peng Yaolong took in a deep breath and said, ¡°Good, good, very good! Yun Wuji, if you want to fight, I¡¯ll give you a fight!¡±


    With a wave of his sleeve, he shot into the air like a cannonball, flying toward the distant martial arts stage. Yun Wuji snorted, and then he jumped onto his silver sword and flew after Peng Yaolong. The two of them vanished in the blink of an eye.


    The remaining students immediately rushed off to the martial arts stage to cheer for their senior brother.


    ¡°Tang Jie,e on. Let¡¯s go,¡± Wei Tianchong said, pulling on Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°You guys go first. I¡¯lle a littleter.¡±


    He went downstairs and to the old farmer who had been selling the book.


    Tang Jie pointed at the book and said, ¡°Could you let me take a look at this formationmentary?¡±


    The old farmer saw that Tang Jie had been with the group that had broken up the fight, so he quickly said, ¡°Young Master, if you want to take a look, you can. If not for the forthrightness of Young Master¡¯s friends, this old man would have had his treasure stolen by those bastards from Godhead Pce.¡±


    Tang Jie lightly said, ¡°I can only know if it¡¯s a treasure after reading it.¡±


    He flipped it open, and the first words he saw left him deeply shaken.


    ¡°Investigation into Ancient Formations¡±.


    This was amentary on ancient formations?


    Tang Jie immediately knew why those Godhead Pce disciples had been so interested in this book.


    The Nine Executions Immortal Formation was a formation of High Antiquity!


    The Rosecloud Domain had a history of tens of thousands of years when it came to the cultivation of Immortality. As history marched on and the environment changed, so did Immortal spells and arts. For example, the body cultivation that had been so popr in the Rosecloud Domain was now difficult to find. Although Tang Jie and Peng Yaolong cultivated the body, they would have been less than infants back in High Antiquity.


    The formations of High Antiquity were also extremely different from those of the present. Their principles, mysteries, and guiding thought processes differed so greatly that many formation masters found it difficult to break ancient formations. This was because much of their knowledge was not applicable.


    Theoretically, if one could understand the secrets of ancient formations and grasp their guiding principles, it wouldn¡¯t matter if one had the Martial Mirror or not.


    Without the key, you just smash the door open, and if you can¡¯t smash, just pry open a gap.


    This was precisely why Godhead Pce had been searching for knowledge on ancient formations in thest few years. By now, not even the Seven Absolutions Sect couldpare to their knowledge in this field.


    He could now understand why those Godhead Pce disciples had wanted to buy this formationmentary. But they had probably spied it while strolling around and hadn¡¯t brought much money with them, so they hadn¡¯t been able to afford the old farmer¡¯s high price.


    Tang Jie carefully read through the pages. A total of three ancient formations had been recorded here, and so the book was divided into three parts, each part devoted to the process of breaking down a single ancient formation.


    Although there were three ancient formations, this cultivator had ultimately managed to only break one, with the other two ending in failure. But they did record the circumstances, the progress they had achieved, and the reasons for their failure.


    As a reference, this book was a huge boon in Tang Jie¡¯s effort to break through the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. After all, he didn¡¯t know what he would be dealing with once he was in the Ten Direction Valley.


    He hadn¡¯t expected such good luck right after entering Red Plum City, and he softly smiled.


    A test or a lucky encounter?


    Coincidence or a plot?


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know.


    But he did know that if this was bait, then it was very tasty bait, so tasty that he couldn¡¯t help but take a bite.


    He held it for quite a while before saying, ¡°This is pretty good, but it¡¯s a little too expensive. I¡¯m interested in formations, but three thousand coins is just too much.¡±


    The old farmer chuckled. ¡°This three thousand coins is only the opening price. Young Master, if you want it, this old man can give it to you for a little cheaper. What about 2500 coins?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°You¡¯ve really gone mad for want of money. Just how many ancient formations do you think this world has? Moreover, even if there were a lot, do you really think this alone would be enough to undo them? There¡¯s no guarantee of that. And researching it won¡¯t have any benefit against current formations. 2500¡­ 250 is more like it.¡±


    The old farmer grew anxious. ¡°Young Master, this is too little. There are still the studies of three ancient formations there. Just as you said, ancient formations are rare, and a normal person might not run into even one ancient formation, let alone three.¡±


    He grew frantic and was willing to say anything to get a sale. Tang Jie¡¯s eyes shed as he listened.


    He chortled and said, ¡°If that¡¯s so, then one hundred coins for each ancient formation. I¡¯ll give you three hundred coins. If you like the price, then sell it, but if you don¡¯t sell, I¡¯ll leave.¡±


    He acted like he was about to walk away.


    The old farmer panicked. ¡°Sell, sell, I¡¯ll sell!¡±


    Tang Jie threw over three hundred coins, took the book, and left.


    Once Tang Jie was gone, the old farmer¡¯s frantic expression gradually calmed down, and he muttered, ¡°He¡¯s bought the book, but it seems like I was suspected. He proposed three hundred coins to test me. If I were a real seller, I wouldn¡¯t have agreed to such a low price, particrly after I quarreled with the Godhead Pce disciples over three thousand coins. For me to drop my price down to three hundred doesn¡¯t make sense! Milord, I feel like you had me agree to his demands too early. We¡¯ve probably deepened his suspicions.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what we¡¯re looking for,¡± a voice breezily replied. ¡°If he is innocent, why would he suspect us? It¡¯s precisely because he¡¯s hiding something that he¡¯s paranoid, which makes him likely to be Tang Jiye. The chance might originally have been 80%, but now, it¡¯s 99%!¡±


    The old farmer understood. ¡°I see now! Milord is truly wise! Tang Jie would never imagine that his suspicion is exactly what we wanted.¡±


    ¡°No. Whether he took the bait or not is not important. What¡¯s important is the question of whether he has the guts to do what he wants to do. It now seems like he at least has a lot of courage. Even though knows it¡¯s bait, he still gulps it down¡­ Excellent, excellent!¡±


    ¡°Then we now¡­¡±


    ¡°We give him even more chances.¡± Godhead Pce up to its tricks again!

 Chapter 281: Eye Flesh

    Chapter 281: Eye Flesh


    Yiyi hugged Tang Jie¡¯s neck and said in a small voice, ¡°Big Brother, I feel like there was something wrong with that guy. Before, he was saying that he would only sell it at three thousand coins, so why is it that he agreed to sell to you for three hundred? And it¡¯s somementary on ancient formations, which is exactly what we need.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled, ¡°It wasn¡¯t just the person that was problematic. So is this book.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Yiyi was taken aback.


    Tang Jie exined, ¡°You think ancient formations are like cabbages, that you can find them wherever you look? How could a cultivator who¡¯s never even left the Rosecloud Domain encounter three ancient formations in a row? Even the revered master of my Basking Moon Sect has not encountered three ancient formations.¡±


    Yiyi was shocked. ¡°Then is the book fake?¡±


    ¡°The book is definitely fake, but not necessarily the contents. From what I¡¯ve read so far, the descriptions are extremely professional, and many of these experiences aren¡¯t something that can just be imagined. When reading a book, you know when something is made-up, no matter how well it¡¯s written. And some things you can tell are the real deal no matter how awfully they¡¯re written.¡± Tang Jie patted the formationmentary and said, ¡°Thismentary is exactly like that. While the book is fake, the contents are real, and anyone in the field would be able to tell at a nce. If my guess isn¡¯t wrong, Godhead Pce probably collected all of their research on ancient formations into a book with a fake author. This is very considerate of them.¡±


    ¡°In other words, they¡¯re intentionally probing you? Oh no, oh no! They must be suspecting you now!¡± Yiyi yelled, jumping up.


    Tang Jie loudlyughed. ¡°Silly, you think they weren¡¯t suspecting me before this?¡±


    ¡°But now they must suspect you even more! They can capture you!¡±


    ¡°No, Yiyi, they could have captured me long ago. You still remember Gu Changqing? When he made his move on me, he wasn¡¯t absolutely certain that I was Tang Jiye. If he was 100% sure, why did the Hawk Hall fall apart in internal discord? No, Yiyi. Godhead Pce isn¡¯t the court. They don¡¯t need rock-solid evidence. If they suspect me, they can just make their move without any need to gather more evidence.¡±


    ¡°So why don¡¯t they, then?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly the problem¡­ Yiyi, after all that¡¯s urred, why do you think they¡¯re still testing me? Think it over carefully,¡± Tang Jie said, stroking Yiyi¡¯s head.


    Yiyi bit on her fingers as she racked her brain for ideas, but she ultimately stomped her feet and shouted, ¡°Ugh! I hate it! I can¡¯t think of anything!¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°Silly, the reason is very simple. Because this isn¡¯t a test. You have to understand that thismentary took a lot of work to make, and it¡¯s a bit extravagant for mere bait. No one would invest the cost of the real deal on a fake.¡±


    ¡°Then why would they do that?¡±


    After some thought, Tang Jie replied, ¡°Gu Changqing captured me once, but he wasn¡¯t able to get the Martial Mirror. Godhead Pce presumably understands that it doesn¡¯t matter if they capture me or not, for that will not get them the Martial Mirror. Thus, there¡¯s no harm in thinking about things from a different perspective and giving me a chance, and in doing so, giving them a chance as well. I think¡­ they want to borrow me to open up the Nine Executions Immortal Formation.¡±


    ¡°Then what do we do?¡±


    ¡°What can we do?¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°The Ten Directions Valley is under the control of Godhead Pce, and if they don¡¯t want me to go, then I could wait for one hundred years and still not get a chance. But now, they¡¯re looking for me to break the formation, and I also want to get in. Everyone benefits.¡±


    ¡°But if we do that, they might end up capturing you.¡±


    ¡°Correct, but I could also end up using them to break the formation, steal the treasures, and escape.¡±


    ¡°Big Brother, are you confident?¡±


    ¡°No, but I¡¯m not worried. Godhead Pce will give me the confidence,¡± Tang Jie said, raising the formationmentary.


    This was the confidence that Godhead Pce had given him.


    ¡°Why?¡± Yiyi asked.


    ¡°Because in a war, everyone only fights the battles they have a hope of winning.¡±


    Yiyi was finally rendered speechless. ¡°Big Brother, I really don¡¯t get it. The world of adults¡­ is tooplicated.¡±


    ¡°But you have to grow up eventually, Yiyi,¡± Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but say.


    ¡­¡­


    By the time Tang Jie arrived, the battle between Peng Yaolong and Yun Wuji was already over. The winner was Peng Yaolong, who was in the middle of the crowd and loudlyughing.


    Yun Wuji was expressionless. With a snort, he turned and left.


    Private matches weren¡¯t very important anymore, and neither Peng Yaolong nor Yun Wuji had used their trump cards. Thus, they weren¡¯tpeting in strength, but in who would use more trump cards for the sake of momentary pleasure.


    Even so, Peng Yaolong still felt refreshed after beating Yun Wuji and was in an excellent mood. He turned to Tang Jie and unhappily said, ¡°Howe you only got here now?¡±


    It was human nature to want the entire world to bear witness to one¡¯s strength. Thus, before the fight, Peng Yaolong hadn¡¯t cared if Tang Jie had followed, but he did care a lot now that he had won.


    Tang Jie held up a bag. ¡°The food wasn¡¯t finished, so I had the waiter pack it up.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Since the meal was eaten and the fight was fought, everyone chatted with each other before going their separate ways.


    The Immortal Fortune Conference had not officially started, so everyone was still quite free to go where they wanted and do what they wished.


    Tang Jie had nothing to do, so he went to the market.


    Red Plum Ridge had gathered merchants from all around, and the six major sects were presiding, so the market was of a rather high level. Not long did it have a wide variety of goods, it even had high-grade rare herbs, ancient medicines, and high-level fiend pills. It could be considered the highest-level market held within the Rosecloud Domain.


    This was also why Tang Jie had only bought herbs for his tempering baths after leaving Old Crow Ridge, purchasing nothing else. It was because the true high-quality goods were all here.


    As he made his way through the market, he very seriously chose the materials he required, spendingrge numbers of spirit coins.


    A short man watched him from a distance, asionally mumbling to himself. ¡°Three taels of Pigcage Grass, two lobes of Rebirth Crabapple, five hundred grams of ck Saltpeter¡­ How strange. This guy is buying such bizarre things, not at all like materials for breaking a formation¡­ Milord, I think this kid¡¯s guard is up, and he¡¯s randomly buying stuff to throw us off¡­¡±


    Tang Jie continued shopping.


    In a short while, he had spent ten thousand coins on a whole host of bizarre items. In Basking Moon Academy, he would have even attracted a great crowd. Thankfully, this was a grand gathering of the six major sects, and many wealthy and noble personages had gathered. Ten thousand coins wasn¡¯t much here, so he did not draw much attention.


    This was also why that follower had said that Tang Jie was randomly buying stuff to throw them off, forgetting that someone of Tang Jie¡¯s power didn¡¯t have the buying power to just randomly buy things.


    Just like Tang Jie had said, no one would spend the cost of the real thing on a fake.


    Tang Jie dared to so brazenly buy materials mainly because what he needed to do was something that Godhead Pce had no understanding of.


    An avatar!


    An avatar before he had even reached Mortal Shedding.


    This was a secret art of the Five Gods Faith, and it had even been lost in the Five Gods Faith itself.


    Thus, let alone Godhead Pce, even believers of the Five Gods Faith wouldn¡¯t have been able to recognize what Tang Jie was getting all these materials for.


    As Tang Jie was strolling around, his attention was suddenly drawn to something.


    This was a snow-white b of meat the size of a human head. There was an eye growing from it, creepily blinking.


    ¡°Eye Flesh!¡± Tang Jie¡¯s heart thumped.


    Eye Flesh was an extremely rare spiritual material that grew from the world. It was beyond the Five Elements and was neither fiend nor sprite nor ghost nor monster. This flesh did note from any sort of fiend beast, but was instead created in nature. Every one hundred years, it would grow a single eye, which was why it was known as Eye Flesh.


    It was an excellent material when it came to cultivating eye-type spell arts.


    And Tang Jie also knew that it was the best material for making avatars.


    There was no other!


    This Eye Flesh had nine eyes, meaning that it was nine hundred years old, meaning that even its age was superb. If he could use this Eye Flesh as one of the base materials, the avatar he produced would even be capable of cultivating. While it would definitely have a tougher time cultivating than the original body, it wouldn¡¯t be ¡°trash¡± that would be stuck forever at the Spirit tform Realm.


    It had to be understood that having a clone that could cultivate was very important.


    His eyes shed as he inspected the Eye Flesh. Once he had confirmed that it was real, he asked the seller, ¡°How much are you selling it for?¡±


    The seller slowly raised one hand. ¡°Fifty thousand.¡±


    Tang Jie was scared out of his wits by the price. ¡°That¡¯s way too expensive!¡±


    In his years in Basking Moon Academy, he had never seen any material selling for more than ten thousand in the market there.


    A rare stone like Softscent Jade would go for four to five thousand per block, and Violet Gold was in the neighborhood of four thousand. For this Eye Flesh to be fifty thousand coins was truly shocking.


    The seller snorted, ¡°Items are priced based on rarity, and do you really think nine-hundred-year Eye Flesh is easy to get?¡±


    When it came to things like Softscent Jade and Violet Gold, no matter how rare they were, there were always some ore veins to be found. But this Eye Flesh was generated from nature, and it was impossible to raise such things. Thus, it was extremely rare, and if he missed out on this piece, it might be several hundred years before he ran into another.


    This was precisely why the Eye Flesh¡¯s price far exceeded its practical value.


    But this was only for people who didn¡¯t know the actual uses of the Eye Flesh. Since Tang Jie could use this Eye Flesh for an avatar, its actual value far exceeded fifty thousand spirit coins.


    It had to be understood that the avatars of the Five Gods Faith had never been able to cultivate precisely because Eye Flesh was difficult to obtain, and other materials had to be substituted. This process had gone on long enough that the Five Gods Faith had started believing that their avatars simply couldn¡¯t cultivate, and had eventually lost this art.


    Tang Jie had to get this Eye Flesh no matter what, but hecked the money.


    He said, ¡°But it¡¯s still only a supporting material for cultivating eye spell arts. For one supporting material to sell for fifty thousand is too crazy. It¡¯s not even worth five thousand.¡±


    The seller was deaf to his words, impatiently waving his hand and saying, ¡°If you can¡¯t afford it, scram! Don¡¯t bother me.¡±


    He felt this item was worth hoarding and was determined to wait for the right chance, so hepletely ignored Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie¡¯s face darkened.


    It wasn¡¯t that he couldn¡¯t pay fifty thousand, but this wouldpletely empty his pockets. With this Eye Flesh, he was bound to need some other high-level materials tobine with it to get its true effects. Otherwise, he would be throwing away money.


    Tang Jie made a rough calction and found that the most he could pay for the Eye Flesh was twenty thousand. Past this, he wouldn¡¯t have enough to buy the other materials, making buying the Eye Flesh pointless.


    But if he just let it go, he couldn¡¯t possibly forgive himself.


    Eye Flesh was extremely difficult to find, and that he had run into it today was essentially a once-in-a-century miracle.


    At this moment, Yiyi whispered, ¡°That Godhead Pce bastard is still following us.¡±


    <em>Hmm?</em>


    <em>Godhead Pce?</em>


    Tang Jie suddenly realized something, and he had a cunning idea.


    He then said, ¡°Ten thousand coins! What about it?¡±


    The seller red, ¡°Scram! Ten thousand to buy my Eye Flesh? Keep dreaming! Out, out, out! Stop bothering me!¡±


    Tang Jie was furious, yelling, ¡°Aren¡¯t you way too greedy? This Eye Flesh might be rare, but it¡¯s just a supporting material for improving eye spell arts. The most it can do is improve the ability to see through illusions. It¡¯s not even worth five thousand, yet you want ten times that. If I didn¡¯t need an eye spell art that could see through illusions, you really think I would even pay ten thousand?¡±


    ¡°That has nothing to do with me,¡± the seller stubbornly said.


    Tang Jie angrily paced back and forth in front of the stall, clearly wanting to buy the Eye Flesh but unable to afford it. Finally, he stomped his feet and resentfully left. While leaving, he kept looking back, clearly unwilling to let the Eye Flesh go.


    It wasn¡¯t long before the news arrived at the ears of a golden-robed man.


    It was none other than Deng Yuqing.


    Standing at a high point, Deng Yuqing looked down at Tang Jie¡¯s figure in the market and muttered, ¡°The ability to see through illusions¡­ Could he be talking about the Nine Executions Immortal Formation? But the Nine Executions Immortal Formation doesn¡¯t have illusion formations. Ah, while it doesn¡¯t have illusion formations, illusion-piercing eyes can also see spiritual lines, allowing one to find the gates and break the formation. This kid isn¡¯t strong enough to break the formation with brute force. Only by being able to see through all of the formation can he have any opportunity.¡±


    Deng Yuqing asked, ¡°Who was selling the Eye Flesh?¡±


    ¡°Milord, a wandering cultivator,¡± a voice responded from the darkness, no sign of the speaker to be seen.


    ¡°Tell that wandering cultivator to sell to Tang Jie for ten thousand. We willpensate him with twenty¡­ with ten thousand.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Jie once more exploiting Godhead Pce for his own gain!

 Chapter 282: Avatar

    Chapter 282: Avatar


    He now had only ten-thousand-some coins left.


    Rushing back to his residence with the materials, he carefully inspected his surroundings before returning to his room to make the avatar.


    He took out the formation diagram and threw the various materials inside.


    The Celestial Treasure Supreme Heart Mantra recorded the method to create the avatar. In essence, it was a kind of art that only those at the Mortal Shedding Realm or above could cast, and in normal circumstances, even members of the Five Gods Faith would have to wait until then.


    Fortunately, while Tang Jiecked cultivation, he had formations to rece it. This was also why others couldn¡¯t understand what he was doing: it was tooplicated. To reach a greater goal, Tang Jie had used countless little tricks.


    After putting in all the materials andying out the formation, Tang Jie took out the Heartbreak Saber and slit his wrist, dumping outrge amounts of blood.


    This was exactly what he had once done for the Spirit Blood Rebirth Formation.


    What was different was that he let out even more blood, draining himself even more. It was so bad that just once wasn¡¯t enough, and he had to give blood several times. Thus, half a month ago, Tang Jie had already started letting out blood, and the amount of blood in the formation diagram was now more than half the volume in an adult body.


    As blood poured in, the formation diagram finally began to show a change. Bloody smoke rose up and filled the room.


    In the middle of this cloud of blood, a human figure began to form.


    The Sanguine Rebirth spell!


    This was a spell art on a higher level than the Spirit Blood Rebirth. It used flesh and blood to create a new body.


    A true avatar was made starting with a strand of the soul. When starting from the inside out, the body came naturally, so there was no need to go through such a hassle. Tang Jie was only at the Spirit tform Realm, so he needed to make up for it with other methods.


    Thus, the first step for his avatar was creating the body.


    When the body wasplete, it had no features or intelligence, not even sharing the same height as Tang Jie.


    At this time, Tang Jie took out the Soul Jade fragment. He pointed at himself, and a ck phantom emerged from the top of his head.


    Yin Yang Soul Division.


    This was a soul division spell recorded in the secret texts of the Five Gods Faith.


    As the soul left his body, Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Yiyi, quickly!¡±


    Yiyi jumped out and swung the Crystal Ice Sword at Tang Jie¡¯s soul.


    This sh cut off a small portion of Tang Jie¡¯s soul, causing him to groan in pain and his entire body to turn cold. He knew that this was the pain brought from injuring the soul, and if he hadn¡¯t been prepared with some Soulnurture Grass, a Soul Guardian Pill, and some Hanging Fate Medicine, this swing would have killed him on the spot. Even so, he felt dizzy and weakly plopped to the floor.


    On her side, Yiyi took that piece of the soul she had cut off and ced it in the Soul Jade fragment. Together with the fiend pellet from the fox, she threw it into the human figure in the formation diagram, upon which it trembled.


    The figure within the formation diagram had been lifeless, but now that a piece of Tang Jie¡¯s soul had been sent in, it immediately had a will of its own. Meanwhile, the fiend fox¡¯s fiend pellet gave it the ability to subtly change its body, and it began to take the form of Tang Jie. In a mystical disy, it even began to form organs, a Jade Gate, and the Spirit Eye.


    Without the powerful control and the ability to transform granted by the fiend pellet, even with the soul fragment¡¯s guidance, this clone would never have been able to appear exactly like Tang Jie, and so it wouldn¡¯t have been an avatar.


    Tang Jie¡¯s form gradually emerged, and Yiyi took out the Eye Flesh and stuffed it into the clone. As the Eye Flesh was inserted into the body, it began to let off a brilliant glow.


    In a sh of light, the clone Tang Jie slowly opened his eyes. A sharp beam of light shot out, and there was a twinkle of starlight on the center of his forehead. Even Tang Jie¡¯s Celestial Eye had been carried over.


    This was one of the functions of the Eye Flesh: opening the Nine Orifices.


    ¡°The Nine Orifices¡± referred to the seven regr orifices of the eyes, ears, mouth, and nostrils, adding onto them the heart orifice and spirit orifice.


    Of these, the eye, heart, and spirit were the three most important orifices.


    The eyes were the window to the heart and the most difficult to create. Normally, the opening eyes would be lifeless. Only eyes opened with Eye Flesh could inherit that intelligent spark.


    The heart was the window of intelligence, but rather than the actual organ, this referred to the brain. The parts of the Eye Flesh other than the nine eyes were used to create the brain and open the heart orifice.


    Spirit was the window of cultivation, and it was also called the spirit link orifice, and it developed the hundred meridian channels. If the spirit orifice were not opened, cultivation was impossible. People were born with spirit orifices, so normal people never had this concern. It was only these artificial people that were born without spirit orifices. Thus, even with an open Jade Gate, a Spirit Eye, and an understanding of arts, it would still be unable to cultivate.


    This was exactly why only Eye Flesh had the ability to make an avatar capable of cultivating.


    And this was also why a nine-hundred-year Eye Flesh was needed if one wanted to open the nine orifices. Otherwise, the full effect could not be achieved. While one could choose to skip some of the less important orifices, they were all closely linked to each other, and opening one fewer would affect the rest. This was also why Tang Jie had gotten so excited when he saw that it was nine-hundred-year Eye Flesh. It was as if the heavens themselves were helping him!


    As the nine orifices opened, the clone Tang Jie began to shift its appearance to be identical to the original.


    But Tang Jie knew that this still wasn¡¯t enough. He suddenly pulled out three small ck knives and stabbed them into his upper, middle, and lower dantians. Tang Jie was utterly unmoved as he stabbed himself, and smoke began to rise from the knives. A wailing could be heard as the clouds of smoke took the form of three small people.


    These three people were the Three Corpses.


    The human body had three corpses: Greed, Anger, and Foolishness. They governed reckless thoughts and strengthened the Heart Demon.


    Thus, it was said that in the cultivation world, to achieve the Great Dao, one had to first y the Three Corpses.


    But major sects like the Basking Moon Sect did not usually take such methods.


    While the Three Corpses represented reckless thought, they were innate thoughts given form. They could strengthen the Heart Demon, but they could also nurture the Divine Soul. They were the best intermediary for a cultivator to go from the formed to formless, and were not to be recklessly in.


    Moreover, with ack of greed, anger, and foolishness, a person¡¯s nature would reach extreme good, but to walk in a world of darkness with such a nature was no different from choosing death. A wise man would not take such a path!


    Thus, rather than ying the Three Corpses, the major sects sought to use human will and cultivation to control and tame them.


    And in the view of the Five Gods Faith, the Three Corpses had another extremely important use: nurturing the soul!


    The part of Tang Jie¡¯s soul that he had cut off was not even a quarter of his soul. It was too weak for the clone to truly have life. The Three Corpses¡¯ nurturing was required to rapidly strengthen the soul and grant the clone life. As for the Three Corpses, so long as one did not desire their death, they would remain forever. Thus, the Three Corpses Conversion Secret Art was developed to nurture the soul and heal damage done to it.


    The believers of the Five Gods Faith relied on this method to survive to this day.


    As the Three Corpses emerged, Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Yiyi!¡±


    Yiyi once more swung the Crystal Ice Sword. Just like with the soul, she chopped half from each of them and threw the ck substances into the clone Tang Jie within the formation diagram.


    At this moment, the early work for the avatar was basically done. Once the soul fragment was stronger, the clone woulde to life.


    As for Tang Jie himself, he was ghastly pale after this job was done.


    The damage of soul division was equivalent to a long and protracted battle, and he felt tired and dizzy. But Tang Jie knew that he couldn¡¯t sleep. He shakily got up and said to Yiyi, ¡°Clean up. I¡¯ll be back in a bit.¡±


    Leaving his room, Tang Jie went over to Shi Meng.


    Seeing Tang Jie pale as death, Shi Meng said in shock, ¡°What happened to you?¡±


    Tang Jie weakly said, ¡°I was cultivating a secret art and damaged my soul. I need to heal my Three Corpses, so I need you to use the Three Corpses Conversion Secret Art to help me out.¡±


    This secret art was a soul healing spell, but cultivating it was difficult, it had few uses, and it would also damage one¡¯s own soul to a certain extent. Thus, Shi Meng had never really liked to learn it.


    As Tang Jie had damaged his soul, he couldn¡¯t use the spell to heal himself. Thus, he needed Shi Meng to do it for him, which was why he had bribed Shi Meng with half a block of Softscent Jade so that he would diligently learn it.


    Shi Meng hurriedly let Tang Jie into his room. As he cast the spell, he asked, ¡°What secret art were you cultivating? The damage is rather severe.¡±


    ¡°The Soulshatter Strike.¡±


    Shi Meng yelped, ¡°Have you gone crazy? Why were you cultivating such a dangerous spell?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the Immortal Fortune Conference starting soon? I wanted to put in some effort,¡± Tang Jie sighed.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you had no interest in the little pce lord?¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m interested in the rewards.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Once the spell was done, Tang Jie felt much more energetic, but Shi Meng now had a rather ugly look on his face.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    Shi Meng gruffly replied, ¡°I feel terrible and my head hurts like hell.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s self-severing of his soul was considered a grave injury.


    As a result, Tang Jie had left Shi Meng with a rather heavy burden when healing him. But no matter how heavy the burden, it still wasn¡¯tparable to the damage Tang Jie had inflicted on himself, and Shi Meng would be fine after two days of rest.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Tang Jie nodded. He took out some spirit coins and passed them to Shi Meng. ¡°This incident¡­¡±


    ¡°I know. I¡¯ll keep it a secret,¡± Shi Meng replied, but he didn¡¯t take the money.


    After saying goodbye to Shi Meng, Tang Jie went back to his own room.


    Tang Jie looked at the clone lying on his bed, and suddenly shook his head with a bitter chuckle. He raised his hand and ced it on the clone¡¯s forehead.


    There was a burst of dim light.


    Three Corpses Conversion Art!


    For the next few days, Tang Jie holed up in his room.


    This was the most crucial phase of the avatar process. As the soul was still weak and the clone was lifeless and unable to recover, one or two Three Corpses Conversion Arts weren¡¯t enough to bring the clone to life. Tang Jie would have to take things slowly.


    When he was tired out, he would have Shi Meng treat him. This cycle greatly improved his efficiency.


    After the third day, the clone Tang Jie finally began to move.


    He breathed for the first time.


    Tang Jie exhaled at the sight. He knew that the clone finally had life.


    Of course, the life force of the clone was like a candle in the wind. It needed to be carefully protected so that it could rapidly grow.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but be envious of those top-ss Immortal spell arts.


    For example, the Three Purities Substantiation could produce an avatar with a single thought, whereas he had to spend vast sums of money, make countless preparations, bleed out his body, cut at his soul, and even tend to the clone like a nanny, and after bothering himself, he had to bother someone else. Only after all this endless work could he finally get an avatar.


    But this was a necessary price to recreate the miracle of life!


    Every ident, every miracle, and every impossibility concealedrge amounts of work and sacrifice. Only bypleting and subduing one difficult problem after another could he defymon sense and create a miracle!


    And finally, Tang Jie had done it.


    At Spirit tform, he now had a real avatar, linked to him in body, soul, and even destiny.


    When this clone was endowed with life, Tang Jie sensed that he had gained an external extension of his life.


    It was an indescribably bizarre sensation, like having extra hands, feet, and a head. But though they were extra parts, everything worked harmoniously, and there was no impediment to his thinking or movement.


    After another two days, the clone¡¯s breathing grew stronger, and he started to move his fingers and blink his eyes. White smoke began to emerge from his pores¡ªa sign of flowing spiritual energy, and also a sign that the clone had begun to increase his cultivation so that it was closer to the original.


    The sixth day.


    Just like before, Tang Jie used the Three Corpses Conversion Art.


    When the art wasplete, the clone Tang Jie slowly opened his eyes.


    There was a sh of intelligence.


    At that moment, the eyes of the clone and original met.


    Two Tang Jies smiled in unison. Double trouble!

 Chapter 283: Spying

    Chapter 283: Spying


    Twobatants broke away from each other, flying to opposite ends of the arena.


    Tang Jie tumbled on the ground before finally stopping his momentum, his butt striking the edge of the stage.


    On the other end, Cai Junyang jumped to his feet and said in surprise, ¡°Huh? Are you trying to throw? How are you so much weaker?¡±


    ¡°For some reason, I can¡¯t really get worked up when I¡¯m fighting you,¡± Tang Jie replied. He stood up and patted the dust off his body.


    ¡°Tsk, how boring. If I had known this, I would have asked to spar with Senior Brother Peng instead.¡± Shaking his head, Cai Junyang unhappily walked away.


    As Tang Jie watched Cai Junyang leave, there was a sense of strange delight in his eyes.


    Cai Junyang never could have imagined that this Tang Jie that he had fought to a standstill wasn¡¯t the real Tang Jie, but Tang Jie¡¯s avatar.


    Afterpleting the avatar, Tang Jie had discovered that things were somewhat different from what he had initially imagined.


    As the avatar was made through artificial means, its abilities were not the same as those of the original body.


    In terms of strength, the avatar was far weaker than the original.


    Even though it had been made with Tang Jie¡¯s flesh and blood, blood was only blood. Once it left the body, the essence would start to dissipate. How could it possibly preserve Tang Jie¡¯s original power?


    Thus, the avatar had not been able to replicate the power of Tang Jie¡¯s body, though it was much more powerful than the average student. ording to Tang Jie¡¯s calctions, it was around the level of major attainment in the Visceral Manifestation ssic and a basic level of the Parting ssic. Of course, if the avatar continued to cultivate in ordance with the Parting ssic, it could still improve, and the effect would not at all be dampened. But this would also mean a doubling of his expenses.


    For the same reasons, Tang Jie¡¯s original body and his avatar were not one. This was because the second body was basically a puppet made of flesh and blood, not will given form and life. Thus, he could not fuse with it. However, once he reached higher levels of cultivation, this would probably change.


    With loss, there was gain. While the avatar didn¡¯t have his formidable body or the ability to merge, it did gain an extra ability: Illusion Thousandform!


    This was precisely the special ability brought by the Illusion Fox¡¯s fiend pellet, and not even the original body could use it. But this sort of transformation was surface-level, and it was still impossible to replicate such things as aura and cultivation. In this aspect, he was much inferior to the fiend fox. Even so, this was an enormous advantage for Tang Jie. After all, Thousandform came from the avatar¡¯s blood and did not use up any spiritual energy or require any sort of hand sign or incantation, so it could be used as the avatar willed. It was basically a fiend beast¡¯s innate spell art, and he might even be able to use other methods to make up for its shorings, such as the Breath Restraint spell.


    While they were different in body, spiritually, it was no different from a traditional avatar. The souls of the original body and the clone were two sides of the same coin, their minds linked such that they could be considered the same person. As one mind was guiding their actions while they were two separate existences, they could do two things at once. There was no need for anything like Heart Consonance. A thought from Tang Jie would be enough for the Tang Jie on the other end to know everything.


    Thus, while the clone had been fighting with Cai Junyang on the outside, the original Tang Jie was studying the ancient formationmentary in his room. And through their shared mental connection, what he learned could be directlyprehended by the clone.


    Having an avatar was essentially like doubling one¡¯s learning ability. Although this wasn¡¯t much of a help when it came to cultivation, it was very important for understanding spell arts. A cultivator with an avatar could use this method to master spell arts while not hindering their cultivation. But an avatar was considered a secret art, and it wasn¡¯t something that just anyone could easily master. Even someone like Yan Changfeng didn¡¯t have an avatar. From this, one could see just how valuable Tang Jie¡¯s avatar was.


    The clone Tang Jie watched Tang Jie and then walked out into Red Plum City alone.


    Once out of Red Plum Ridge, Tang Jie walked to a stream. After making sure that no one was around, he looked down at the water.


    A reflection of Tang Jie¡¯s face appeared in the water. As it flickered in the water, it gradually began to change. The soaring brows became wide and thick, the eyes grewrger and brighter, the nose bridge sank in, and the handsome ovoid face turned round.


    In the blink of an eye, Tang Jie had turned into an honest-looking youth with bushy brows and big eyes. Tang Jie took out a prepared Mustard Seed Bag, switched into cloth clothes, and then ced his Basking Moon card into the bag. At this point, it was like he had no connection with Tang Jie at all.


    This was a necessary choice.


    As he couldn¡¯t merge with the clone, Tang Jie had to find a new identity for it. After all, it would be quite the problem if people noticed that there were two Tang Jies.


    After changing appearance, Tang Jie returned to Red Plum Ridge, where he got a card as a wandering cultivator before entering the city anew.


    As he came up, Yiyi came from the other direction, looking around withrge eyes as if she was searching for something.


    Tang Jie chuckled and walked up to her. It was only when he was about to reach her side that Yiyi finally noticed something and excitedly stared at him.


    The two of them smiled at each other, saying nothing as they walked toward each other.


    As they brushed past each other, Tang Jie flicked his finger, sending that Basking Moon card into Yiyi¡¯s hand.


    With this, all problems were resolved.


    With a new identity, the Tang Jie clone had nowhere to go and began to stroll around the city.


    As he sauntered about, a familiar figure passed by him.


    An Rumeng.


    Why was she here?


    Now that he thought about it, the Immortal Fortune Conference was most unfair toward the Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion, for these two sects had more women than men. This was precisely why this Immortal Fortune Conference, which was held as a tournament to find a groom, unquestionably put these two sects at a disadvantage.


    Thus, while these two sects had sent people, they were much less proactive than the other four sects.


    As for Basking Moon Academy exchange student An Rumeng, she was a woman herself, so she had no reason toe.


    Of course, there was no problem if she had juste to see the sights and gain some experience. After all, a gathering of the six major sects was an opportunity that was hard toe by.


    The problem was that An Rumeng was in a great rush and didn¡¯t seem at all like she hade to spectate.


    Surprised, Tang Jie began to secretly follow her.


    This was the eighth district of Red Plum City, where the wandering cultivators gathered. For this reason, it wasn¡¯t as heavily guarded as the other seven districts, where disciples not belonging to the respective sects were forbidden entry.


    They had only made their way a short distance before An Rumeng turned into a small alley, came up to a gate, and rapped the door knocker.


    A few momentster, the gate opened, revealing a pretty face.


    When Tang Jie saw this face, he couldn¡¯t help but shudder.


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    Wei Die!


    The one who had opened the door was none other than Wei Die!


    Why would she be here?


    Wasn¡¯t she supposed to be at Heart Severing Academy?


    Tang Jie suddenly understood.


    This house had probably been secretly purchased by Heart Severing Academy. An Rumeng had most likelye here to see someone from this academy.


    Heart Severing Pavilion¡¯s master had originallye from the Thousand Passions Sect, and it wasn¡¯t strange for there to still be some lingering attachments between them. As for Wei Die appearing, it probably meant that she had been performing well as ofte, which had given her the opportunity to follow her master here.


    Upon seeing An Rumeng, Wei Die bowed and said, ¡°Senior Sister An, please enter. Elder Sister is waiting inside.¡±


    An Rumeng strode in. Wei Die looked around to confirm that no one was present before shutting the gate.


    Seeing Wei Die close the gate, after some thought, Tang Jie emerged from his shadowy corner and walked along the wall, spreading out his spiritual energy to inspect the area.


    This house seemed to only have a wall that would not be able to keep out any cultivator, but a little scouting would discover that the area above the walls was covered in spiritual lines. These were warning lines, and any solid substance that struck these lines would set off a warning signal, as one would expect of a warning formation.


    But perhaps for secrecy¡¯s sake, the house¡¯s defenses weren¡¯t very advanced. Tang Jie easily found a w, and with a few applications of spiritual energy, he cut a gap in the warning formation and jumped into the house.


    As he was flying over the wall, Tang Jie used his toes to push off it. When he turned around to look, he saw that, as expected, there were several warning traps at the base of the wall.


    Smiling to himself, he continued into the courtyard.


    He didn¡¯t have to go far before he saw the brightly-lit main hall.


    In front of it, ten-some girls stood in two rows, Wei Die among them. A bamboo curtain was hung across the main hall¡¯s entrance, blocking vision and only presenting a silhouette of the person seated behind it.


    An Rumeng was standing in front of the curtain, saying to it, ¡°The item has arrived. Senior Sister Qin, please inspect it.¡±


    She took out a box and tossed it.


    The box floated toward the curtain, and once it was close, the bamboo curtain flew up, a slender hand reaching out to take the box.


    After opening the box and looking at its contents, the person behind the curtain said in a pleasant voice, ¡°Good, good. This is for you.¡±


    An item flew out of the curtain toward An Rumeng.


    An Rumeng grabbed it, looked, made a satisfied smile, and put it in her bag.


    As he was rather far, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t see exactly what it was. He was able to make out that it was some kind of jade booklet, so it was probably some sort of cultivation method.


    <em>Is An Rumeng still seeking out a method to resist Soulscour?</em> Tang Jie wondered.


    An Rumeng said, ¡°Senior Sister, thank you for your generosity.¡±


    ¡°No need to be polite. This is the result of Junior Sister An¡¯s many years of effort.¡±


    ¡°It was also luck. If I hadn¡¯t run into someone selling Triple Yang Secret Seals at the Immortal Fortune Conference, I might not have been able to unlock the hidden key.¡±


    ¡°How is it that Junior Sister only unlocked it now? I thought that Junior Sister had unlocked it long ago and was just waiting to make the trade.¡±


    ¡°How could it be that simple?¡± An Rumeng chuckled. ¡°I originally came not to make the trade but because Senior Brother Du asked for my help. Coincidentally, I found a way to unlock the hidden key, letting me get my wish first.¡±


    ¡°Du Tianze?¡± The voice behind the curtain snorted, ¡°That perverted scoundrel is still set on the little pce lord? s, no matter what his ns are, he won¡¯t seed!¡±


    ¡°Mm? Senior Sister Qin, what do you mean?¡± An Rumeng was confused.


    The woman behind the curtain replied, ¡°Do you really think Shen Qingdan will ept being married to a stranger? Let me tell you the truth. Shen Qingdan isn¡¯t even in the Wandering Pce right now. The current little pce lord is a fake, a so-called adopted daughter. What a pack of idiots, fighting so hard for a fake pce lord.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± An Rumeng was shocked. ¡°This is deception! Is she not afraid¡­¡±


    ¡°Afraid of what? The six major sects want the Wandering Pce, not the little pce lord. It¡¯s the students who are after the pce lord. The ones being deceived are them, not the six major sects, so why should the Wandering Pce be afraid? These naive fools really think that they can get all that the Wandering Pce has? Wrong! The arts, the texts, and the Immortal pce will all belong to the six sects. As for the medicines and art relics, those will still belong to the Wandering Pce. Until Shen Qingdan chooses her husband, nobody can get any of it. This is the true trade!¡±


    The voice cackled in delight at the frustration and anger that others were soon to experience.


    Tang Jie was shaken by what he had heard.


    It seemed that everything was a fraud from start to finish.


    He had had no interest in the little pce lord, but the truth still left him angry.


    His agitation caused his spiritual aura to fall into disarray, and that slight disturbance was detected.


    The woman behind the curtain yelled, ¡°Who dares to spy on my Heart Severing Pavilion?!¡±


    A palm of white jade shot toward Tang Jie. Tang Jie caught peeping on women!

 Chapter 284: Scapegoat

    <h1>Chapter 284: Scapegoat</h1>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325	Edited by: Michyrr


    As the hand of white jade shot out, Tang Jie made a powerful jump backward while thrusting out his own palm.


    As the two palms shed, Tang Jie''s body shuddered, and he flew back even faster. In a sh, he was over the wall.


    But before he couldnd, a white figure shot out, catching up to him. It was none other than An Rumeng.


    While still in the air, An Rumeng pointed a finger at Tang Jie, and a powerful pressure instantly assailed him.


    Tang Jie grunted and just barely managed to dodge.


    He had disguised himself and wasn''t worried about being recognized, but this was also his disadvantage. He did not dare to use the Formless Golden Body or Aquagel Shroud for fear of exposing himself.


    He had only barely dodged, and An Rumeng''s st of finger wind still managed to strike him in the shoulder, instantly causing blood to fly into the air. Tang Jie groaned as he once more flew out.


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    An Rumeng pursued like his shadow. She moved with incredible speed, and with a few leaps, she greatly shrank the distance between her and Tang Jie. Tang Jie knew that if she managed to catch up, it would be difficult to keep his identity hidden. He could only bend a finger and fire off a st of energy.


    Energy Needle!


    This was the mostmon spell art of Basking Moon Academy.


    Even so, An Rumeng still gasped in surprise, clearly recognizing this spell''s origin. But though she was surprised, she only elerated, instantly reaching Tang Jie and giving him a kick.


    <em>Bang!</em>


    The tip of her foot struck Tang Jie on the chin, causing his head to fly up and reveal a familiar face. An Rumeng froze, a look of disbelief on her face. "You Shaofeng, how is it you?"


    In the night, the young face had an expression of panic. Who else could it be besides that You Shaofeng who had attempted to frame Tang Jie during the exam?


    As An Rumeng beheld the face, "You Shaofeng" instinctively covered his face and charged into a nearby building.


    This building was brightly lit and awash withughter and conversation, marking it as some sort of brothel. Tang Jie quickly stepped in and vanished into the crowd.


    An Rumeng couldn''t possibly give him the chance to run. She rushed in and waved her hands. "Make way!"


    <em>Boom!</em> A powerful shockwave sted through the building, pushing everyone back.


    But Red Plum City wasn''t some ordinary city, and any random passersby might be a Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator. Someone instantly shouted, "Who dares to cause trouble in Flower Pavilion!?"


    With a bang, at least seven powerful energies erupted out of the building and swept toward An Rumeng.


    An Rumeng did not dare to take this head-on, and with no other choice, she fell back.


    In the distance, a figure suddenly jumped away. It was none other than "You Shaofeng".


    An Rumeng was just about to give chase, but those cultivators weren''t about to let her go after having their good time interrupted. Numerous art relics emerged and attacked An Rumeng, forcing her to fall back again.


    Tang Jie was able to use this opportunity to create a lot of distance.


    He knew that even his Violet Lightning Lunge wouldn''t be able to outrun An Rumeng. Thus, after making some distance, he borrowed the narrow opportunity given by the darkness of the night to rush into a nearby estate.


    This was a vast estate that consisted of several dozen buildings. Tang Jiended in front of one of them, and with a thrust of his hand, he opened a window and went inside. As soon as he entered, there was a girlish shriek.


    Tang Jie was also surprised. Many of these buildings had been lit, and only this one had been dark, so he naturally believed that there was no one inside and went in. He hadn''t expected this building to also be upied.


    Tang Jie turned and covered the girl''s mouth.


    But to his surprise, the girl reacted quickly, tilting her head to avoid Tang Jie''s hand while thrusting a finger at his forehead. Tang Jie immediately moved his head to the side to dodge, at the same time stepping forward and throwing a knee at the girl''s head.


    The girl dropped down to dodge and kneed Tang Jie in the belly. Tang Jie used his own knee to block, and the collision caused both of them to grunt. While the girl was shocked, Tang Jie was also surprised at his opponent''s strength.


    Even though this was his clone and not his original body, making it much less tough, it was still at the apex of the Wood Body, much stronger than the body of an ordinary cultivator. But this girl was just as strong as him, neither of them able to get the upper hand in that sh just now.


    It was a small room, and the two were in close-quartersbat, so there was no time to cast any spells. Thus, they kept trading blows, and while they were just ordinary strikes, they were savage blows aimed at vital points. Just one hit striking true, even without any spiritual power, would be enough to paralyze the opponent. But these two were both unreasonably good at closebat. They quickly exchanged several dozen blows with neithering out on top.


    Shockingly, they traded blows in silence. It was clear that neither of them wanted to rm anyone, so much so that after exchanging palm blows one more time, they stopped and looked at each other.


    It was hard to make out features in the darkness, and both of them were dressed in ck, only their two eyes exposed, twinkling as they stared at each other. They both understood that there was some misunderstanding here.


    Tang Jie was just about to say something when a voice came from outside. "Alright, you''re all dismissed. I want to be alone."


    The footsteps of a single person began to draw close.


    Tang Jie and the girl both tensed. They exchanged another nce, and then the girl stepped back and hid behind the door. Tang Jie looked around and then shot up to the roof beam.


    With a creak, the door opened.


    A girl entered the room. Using the light of thenterns outside, it was possible to see that she was rather young and wore a pink robe of light cotton, and that her hair was bundled up in a tall topknot.


    The girl walked straight to the desk and was about to light antern when she shivered and said, "Who''s there? Come out!"


    From these words, it could be seen that this girlcked experience. In these situations, it was best to leave the room before shouting.


    The girl in ck suddenly attacked, grabbing at the pink-robed girl''s shoulder.


    That girl hastily retreated and struck out with her palm.


    But she didn''t have the same apprehensions as Tang Jie and the girl in ck. As she thrust out her palm, there was a sh of starlight, and a cloud of light emerged.


    The girl in ck couldn''t take this palm without using spirit power, so she dropped her body to dodge.


    The girl in pink turned her palm thrust into a chop when another figure came down from the ceiling and struck her right arm. She was about to cry out in pain when another hand covered her mouth. At the same time, two fingers were pressed up against her eyes, clearly saying that if this girl dared to move, he would use these two fingers to scoop out her eyes.


    The girl in pink finally realized that things had gone bad. She was shocked that there were two people in the room, and she hated herself for being careless.


    The girl in ck was delighted, and with a flip of her wrist, she took out a dagger and stabbed it at the girl in pink.


    But to her surprise, Tang Jie turned his body, exposing his back to the girl in ck.


    The dagger stabbed, and Tang Jie''s back shed with golden light. None other than the Formless Golden Body had blocked this stab.


    The girl in ck had clearly not expected Tang Jie to help out the other party, and she froze in shock. A momentter, Tang Jie made a <em>shhh</em> sound.


    This sound left both of the girls startled, and then they heard the ruffling of clothes from outside as someonended on the roof.


    Someone in the estate shouted, "Who dares to intrude on this private residence?"


    There was a soft snort, and then An Rumeng began to speak.


    She said, "My dear You, I know you''re around here. You can''t run. If you have some sense, you should know what to say and what not to say!"


    With a wave of her sleeve, she floated away.


    The girl in ck pointed overhead and then pointed at Tang Jie as if saying, "She came looking for you?"


    Tang Jie nodded.


    The girl in ck pointed at the girl in pink and then pointed at herself, meaning, "Give her to me."


    Tang Jie firmly shook his head, and it was clear that he wouldn''t agree.


    The girl in ck chuckled and said no more. She flew out the window and vanished into the shadows.


    Tang Jie continued to keep ahold of the girl in pink.


    After a while, the girl said, "They''re all gone, so why haven''t you let me go?"


    "My apologies. I came here to avoid danger and do not have anything to do with that other person, let alone harm you, miss. Please forgive me, and don''t shout. I''ll be leaving right now." Tang Jie released his grip and retreated.


    The girl in pink turned to look at him, and though the night was dark, her twinkling eyes seemed to be able to clearly see Tang Jie as they stared. She remained silent as Tang Jie left the building, and only then did the sparkle in her eyes begin to dissipate.


    She then shouted, "Auntie Liu!"


    There was a ck puff of smoke in the building, and when the smoke scattered, a middle-aged woman dressed like a pce maid appeared.


    The moment this woman appeared, she realized that something was wrong. She looked around in fright and said, "Young Pce Lord, just now¡­"


    "It was that scoundrel Wang Yun. Hmph, one day, I''ll personally peel off her skin!" the girl called Young Pce Lord snorted. "This wicked girl is spreading word about us all over the ce, giving us trouble. With her around, my Wandering Pce will never be able to know peace. This ce is no longer safe, so let''s leave first."


    Upon leaving the courtyard, Tang Jie moved quickly, and it was only after he confirmed that there were no pursuers that he changed back into that simple and frank youth from before.


    This was Tang Jie''s first time using the avatar to move, and he hadn''t expected such a surprise on the very first day.


    Although he had used You Shaofeng''s identity to conceal his identity, as he thought about it, he still decided that he had made a misstep.


    It had to be understood that You Shaofeng had alsoe to Red Plum City, and he was with Long Dao''s group.


    Once An Rumeng came to find him and the two of them started asking questions, the truth woulde out. At that moment, it would be known that there was a Basking Moon student skilled in transformation.


    If Godhead Pce found out that there was somebody in Basking Moon Academy with this power, it would only bring more trouble to Tang Jie.


    The Illusion Thousandform wasn''t impervious. Only when it was unknown could it have the maximum effect.


    This was his first time using Illusion Thousandform, and he had made no mental preparations beforehand. Thus, his nning had been sorelycking.


    But after tonight''s incident, he finally realized the usefulness of Illusion Thousandform. He had originally been nning to use the avatar to go to Ten Direction Valley for him, but now that his avatar had Illusion Thousandform, he felt like he had an even better idea.


    As he walked, countless thoughts emerged in his mind.


    How to cover up tonight''s incident, how to use Illusion Thousandform, how to deal with Godhead Pce, how to get what he wanted¡­ One n after another appeared in Tang Jie''s mind, as did the faces of countless people.


    The n was just a jumbled mess of random ideas at first, but as the chaos was tidied up, a new path appeared before him.


    This path led to fortune and was clear of all obstructions.


    His eyes began to brighten.


    Cleansing Sword Garden.


    Tang Jie''s original body, reading the ancient formationmentary, slightly raised his head.


    He put down the book, walked out of his room, and looked up at the sky.


    "Big Brother? What happened?" Yiyi could see that Tang Jie had a lot on his mind.


    "Oh," Tang Jie replied. "My avatar just came up with a new n. It will be safer for me and has a higher chance of getting me the Martial Lord''s treasures."


    "Isn''t that good?"


    "But this n might require killing some people."


    "Bad people?"


    "You can''t call them bad or good. They''re annoying, but not so bad that they deserve death. But for my own sake, I''ll have to send them on their way."


    He left his courtyard and went to another corner of Cleansing Sword Garden, down a long corridor, and into a quiet little alley. Going up to a small room, he knocked on the door.


    The door opened, and a young face appeared.


    It was You Shaofeng.


    "Why is it you?" You Shaofeng was startled. "What have youe here for?"


    "I need to speak with you."


    You Shaofeng grunted, "We don''t have anything to talk about."


    He began to close the door.


    Tang Jie stuck out his foot to stop it.


    "You!" You Shaofeng angrily red at Tang Jie. "What are you trying to do?"


    Tang Jie softly sighed.


    He said no more. He lightly waved his hand, and a golden needle flew out.


    It entered You Shaofeng''s forehead in a sh of blood.


    He instantly went rigid. Staring in disbelief at Tang Jie, he struggled out, "You¡­ dare¡­"


    Tang Jie reached out and stopped his falling body. "Though you''ve caused me trouble time and time again, I''ve never once taken it to heart. Killing you¡­ is nothing personal."


    He swung his palm at You Shaofeng''s head.


    With this strike, he extinguished You Shaofeng''s life.

 Chapter 285: Playing the Tiger

    Chapter 285: ying the Tiger


    Cai Junyang replied, ¡°Not a lot. Ping Jingyue didn¡¯te, but Hongyan and Mingyang did. Besides that, there¡¯s also Lu Yu and Hong Yi.¡±


    ¡°Call them up and let¡¯s all have dinner tonight, together with Senior Brother Peng and the others. It¡¯s about time for the club meeting, so we might as well get together.¡±


    Cai Junyangughed. ¡°What made you think about inviting everyone to a meal?¡±


    ¡°The tournament is beginning soon, and if we don¡¯t get together now, we might not get a chanceter.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Alright, then; Divine Fragrance Pavilion?¡±


    Tang Jie hastily waved his hand. ¡°Let¡¯s not. I can¡¯t afford to go there twice. What about Clearheart Restaurant? It¡¯s a rather refined ce.¡±


    Clearheart Restaurant was set up next to an artificialke created by the Wandering Pce.


    Eating, drinking, and making merry by ake on the mountain was quite the wonderful feeling.


    ¡°No problem,¡± Cai Junyang dly agreed.


    At the same time, a person identical to ¡°You Shaofeng¡± went to see Long Dao. He said to Long Dao, ¡°Tomorrow is the official opening of the Immortal Fortune Conference. Before that, we should hold a big feast and invite everyone to raise morale. It would be like a pre-battle ceremony.¡±


    Long Dao happily agreed.


    That night, Tang Jie¡¯s group arrived at Clearheart Restaurant first.


    A waiter was waiting to lead them inside.


    After walking for a bit, Tang Jie suddenly stopped at a winding corridor. This corridor was different in that it led to the center of theke, ending at an eight-sided pavilion. There was arge table here that could seat ten-some people, and there were floral decorations around it. It was an elegant and natural ce.


    Tang Jie pointed at the flower pavilion and said, ¡°This ce is pretty good. Let¡¯s eat here.¡±


    Everyone agreed. Tang Jie was treating them anyway, so any ce he chose to eat was fine with them.


    The waiter seemed to be in a difficult spot. ¡°Sirs, this pavilion has already been reserved.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Then just let them give it up. Our Basking Moon Sect¡¯s name shouldmand some respect.¡±


    He spoke in a very rxed tone, but his words were arrogant. However, everyone was used to such things and didn¡¯t feel like anything was wrong. When the members of the six major sects were abroad, they always acted like this. They normally didn¡¯t go out of their way to bully others, but if there was anything nice, the six major sects would inevitably get to enjoy it first.


    Surprisingly, the waiter replied, ¡°But this pavilion was reserved by another group from the Basking Moon Sect.¡±


    ¡°Oh? That¡¯s even better.¡± Tang Jie was unconcerned. ¡°Have theye yet? We¡¯ll eat here first and then give up the spot when they arrive. We¡¯re all part of the same sect, so we can just talk things over.¡±


    ¡°Right, right. It¡¯s probably Senior Brother Zhu¡¯s party that reserved it. These guys just love sightseeing and drinking wine, but they never invite us,¡± Cai Junyangmented.


    A Freedom Society student asked, ¡°But you didn¡¯t invite them this time either, right?¡±


    Cai Junyang red. ¡°Nonsense! It¡¯s not like I¡¯m the one who set this up.¡±


    They sat down in the pavilion and began to enjoy themselves, seated on theke and drinking wine while admiring the moon.


    Peng Yaolong said, ¡°The Immortal Fortune Conference starts tomorrow. Tang Jie, do you have any idea how exactly it will be arranged?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know any details. We¡¯ll probably only know when it officially starts.¡±


    Liu Hongyan smiled. ¡°About this, I actually know a little.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Everyone looked at Liu Hongyan.


    Liu Hongyan cleared her throat and said, ¡°ording to the rules, there are 120 people taking part in the Immortal Fortune Conference. They will go through two rounds of examination to ultimately select ten people. The first round is an elimination tournament.¡±


    ¡°¡®An elimination tournament¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Liu Hongyan nodded. ¡°Since this is a struggle between the six major sects, how can there be nobat? Isn¡¯t an elimination tournament very normal?¡±


    ¡°How will they be fought?¡± Peng Yaolong asked.


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    Liu Hongyan thought for a while before replying. ¡°As I recall, we¡¯re divided into six teams, one team for each sect, each team made of twenty people. We all draw lots, with the lots being numbered from 1 to 20. Every person will have to fight the others with the same number. For example, if you¡¯re Basking Moon Sect¡¯s Number 1, you¡¯ll have to fight against the Number 1s from the other five sects.¡±


    ¡°So every person has to fight five matches?¡± Qi Shaoming asked.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Liu Hongyan nodded. ¡°Each victory is one point, and the top 60 with the most points will go into the next round. People who are tied in points will fight an additional match as a tiebreaker.¡±


    ¡°So that means half of us will be eliminated,¡± Ye Tianshang sighed.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Liu Hongyan replied.


    The rules of the Immortal Fortune Conference were simple and cruel. The tournament was actually a points tournament. The maximum number of points was 5 while the lowest was 0, and those without enough points would be kicked out.


    ¡°What about the second round?¡± someone asked.


    Liu Hongyan replied, ¡°From what I know, everyone will gather together and fight in a melee. Remember how the Wandering Pce promised to give ten treasures? That¡¯s proof of the victor. Whoever gets one of the items will be considered part of the top ten.¡±


    Tang Jie frowned at these words.


    From what Liu Hongyan said, anyone who got a treasure would be part of the top ten, which was essentially a way of automatically dividing up the treasures among the students. But didn¡¯t this mean that he would have to specifically target the Stop Gate Banner if he wanted it?


    This undoubtedly increased the difficulty of the task facing him.


    ¡°Then what if you get more than one?¡± Shu Mingyang asked.


    Liu Hongyan giggled. ¡°That, I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve only heard about all this from someone else, so I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s true or not. But who knows? It might be allowed.¡±


    She spoke very sweetly, as if she was just rying hearsay, but Tang Jie knew that she was the disciple of True Person Yuliu, her future True Inheritor, and True Person Yuliu just so happened to also be in Red Plum City.


    The Violet Pce experts of the six major sects had not moved for this Immortal Fortune Conference, but quite a few Celestial Heart figures hade.


    The Basking Moon Sect had sent Xie Fengtang and True Person Yuliu, but the most famous of all was none other than one of the 19 Celestial Chiefs of the Basking Moon Sect, Ming Yekong.


    The Basking Moon Sect highly valued human talent and pursued a course of selecting and training up the best. Ming Yekong was the master of the Selection Hall, which was responsible for selecting human talents, which also involved rmending outsiders to be students of the academy and rmending students of the academy to the sect. Even the promotions of internal figures were under the purview of the Selection Hall. In addition, whenever there were tournaments, it was normally someone from the Selection Hall that presided over them.


    Since the Immortal Fortune Conference was a rather important tournament, Ming Yekong hade to supervise it personally.


    Fortunately, these bigshots were usually reclusive figures who rarely showed themselves. If they casually walked the streets, everyone else would find it hard to even breathe.


    ¡°In other words, if I took all ten of the treasures, wouldn¡¯t I be the only one in the top ten?¡± someone asked.


    ¡°You want to get them all? Are you dreaming?¡± someone scoffed.


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that. In the True Inheritor struggle, didn¡¯t Tang Jie get all three missions?¡±


    ¡°That was Tang Jie, not you. Moreover, those happened one after another, but all ten treasures will be appearing at once this time. If you had Tang Jie try it again, even he wouldn¡¯t be able to get all ten.¡±


    ¡°I probably wouldn¡¯t even be able to get two,¡± Tang Jie firmly replied.


    ¡°It¡¯s more like Brother Tang wouldn¡¯t dare, right? I¡¯ve heard that Brother Tang is on good terms with a certain girl from Horizon Ocean Pavilion,¡± Peng Yaolong chuckled.


    Someone sympathetically said, ¡°You want to enjoy both the bear paw and the fish!¡±


    Everyoneughed and began to tease Tang Jie.


    As they were chortling, someone coldly said, ¡°You guys are sitting in the wrong spot. We reserved this ce.¡±


    As they turned around, they saw Long Dao¡¯s group angrily ring at Tang Jie.


    It was hard to find time to get the friends together for a drink, and to their surprise, an old foe had taken their spots. If he didn¡¯t fear Peng Yaolong and crew, Long Dao might have already attacked.


    Tang Jie raised an eyebrow. ¡°So it was Senior Brother Long who reserved this table. But since we¡¯re already eating here, why not wait for us to finish first?¡±


    ¡°You!¡± Long Dao¡¯s eyes shed with anger, but he was still wary of Peng Yaolong¡¯s presence and couldn¡¯tsh out. But Tang Jie refused to show him any respect, and his words were so angering. Long Dao found himself riding a tiger, but he didn¡¯t know how he was going to get off.


    At this moment, You Shaofeng suddenly stepped forward and said, ¡°s, since this isn¡¯t your table, I worry that you might not be able to eat in peace.¡±


    He stepped forward, and then the entire pavilion swayed. There was a rumble like thunder, andrge clouds of dust came down. The soup and tea on the table all sshed into the air.


    This caught everyone off guard, and Peng Yaolong and the others ended up getting hot water all over them.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Peng Yaolong roared.


    He hadn¡¯t cared about this matter and had onlye because Tang Jie had invited him and he didn¡¯t feel like it was right to reject him. Thus, he had remained silent. But he hadn¡¯t expected You Shaofeng to be so wicked as to use a spell art to shake the pavilion and prevent anyone from eating.


    Furious, he raised a hand and tried to grab You Shaofeng.


    As he extended his hand, You Shaofengughed and said, ¡°We¡¯re already waiting here, but Senior Brother Peng is trying to chase us away! You¡¯re acting a bit too tyrannical here!¡±


    But rather than backing away, he advanced, ramming an elbow into Peng Yaolong¡¯s hand.


    There was a boom as elbow met hand, and Peng Yaolong was unexpectedly forced back into his seat, leaving everyone agape.


    Although Peng Yaolong hadn¡¯t been serious and had probably only used about 40% of his strength, this 40% still wasn¡¯t something that an ordinary person could contend against. But not only had You Shaofeng fought off the grab, he had even pushed Peng Yaolong back.


    Peng Yaolong turned red in the face at being countered, and he was about to attack again when Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Scoundrel!¡±


    He pped the table and set a te flying at You Shaofeng.


    You Shaofeng grabbed the te and sneered. ¡°Let me return your gift.¡±


    He threw the te at Tang Jie, and Tang Jie dodged to the side, but the te turned in the air and struck Peng Yaolong¡¯s extended arm. Peng Yaolong didn¡¯t manage to grab You Shaofeng, but he did grab the te, which shattered under his grip.


    This was an excellent application of strength, neutralizing thebined attack of Tang Jie and Peng Yaolong. The other students couldn¡¯t help but sigh in wonder.


    You Shaofeng didn¡¯t show this kind of strength normally, but he was now revealing an abnormal strength. Was it really the case that everyone had some ability and just hid it?


    As everyone was upied with their wild thoughts, Cai Junyangughed and said, ¡°To think I underestimated Brother You! Try my sword!¡±


    You Shaofengughed. His hand shed with a light, and a sword appeared. <em>Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!</em> He swung three times in a row¡ªone each for Cai Junyang, Peng Yaolong, and Tang Jie.


    There were three booms, and while You Shaofeng was struck by Peng Yaolong¡¯s palm and pushed back, Tang Jie suffered a deep wound on his shoulder.


    Everyone was stunned once more.


    You Shaofeng was fighting against Tang, Peng, and Cai, and he had actually managed to wound one of them. How many people in Basking Moon Academy were actually capable of this?


    Nobody had expected this guy to be hiding so much power.


    But a momentter, You Shaofeng grunted and dropped to his knees, holding his shoulder and twisting his face in pain. It was clear that he didn¡¯t have the strength to keep fighting.


    But this only made people scorn him, for they thought to themselves, <em>This isn¡¯t some battle to the death, and Peng Yaolong didn¡¯t even use his full power, so why did one palm make you like this? If you really couldn¡¯t take this blow, then how is it that you could wound Tang Jie with one swing of your sword?</em>


    It had to be understood that Tang Jie was famously known for his defense.


    If he couldn¡¯t take Peng Yaolong¡¯s palm but could wound Tang Jie with one strike, it could only mean that this guy was still pretending, but after that astonishing show just now, nobody would believe him anymore.


    The faces of Tang Jie and Peng Yaolong were shifting, clearly surprised at the result of this three-versus-one. You Shaofeng¡¯s sudden show of ability had been like a hit to the head, warning everyone that they could never underestimate anyone, that there was no saying who might suddenly erupt with strength and reveal a side that they had never shown anyone else.


    Maybe you thought you understood someone, but you never actually understood them.


    Various thoughts ran through their minds, but none of them could find anything to say.


    Finally, Tang Jie resentfully said, ¡°Brother You put on an excellent show! Regardless, this table was reserved by Brother Long, and it was us who took it, which is truly improper. Forget it. Since we¡¯ve already eaten for this long, let¡¯s end things here. What do you think?¡±


    He looked at Peng Yaolong and the others.


    They all gave You Shaofeng a long look. Finally, Ye Tianshangughed and said, ¡°Yes, we¡¯ve had our fill of wine and food, so it¡¯s about time we left. I didn¡¯t expect to be so fortunate today as to witness the true abilities of my junior brother. For my Basking Moon Sect to be so brimming with talent is truly something worth celebrating. It¡¯s a pity that Junior Brother You isn¡¯t participating in the Immortal Fortune Conference. With your abilities, you would definitely be able to get into the top ten.¡±


    You Shaofeng snorted, ¡°Senior Brother Ye makes a good joke. I can¡¯t even take Senior Brother Peng¡¯s palm strike, so how could I have the right to participate in the Immortal Fortune Conference?¡±


    But the more he said things like this, the less people believed him. In any case, the group left their seats and yielded the table to Long Dao.


    As they were leaving, a figure drifted over from the distance: An Rumeng.


    Nobody understood why she had suddenly appeared. She scanned the area and stopped on You Shaofeng.


    An Rumeng¡¯s eyes brightened, and she paced over and said, ¡°You Shaofeng,e with me. I have something to say to you.¡±


    These words left everyone stunned.


    An Rumeng was known in Basking Moon Academy for being aloof and pure. She didn¡¯t even wear make-up. Why had she suddenly requested to speak with You Shaofeng?


    Considering the show that You Shaofeng had just put on, everyone suddenly realized that this guy was really acting like a pig to eat the tiger. To their surprise, even the cold An Rumeng had taken the bait. If he didn¡¯t have the ability, how could he have made even a woman like An Rumeng look at him in a new light?


    At that moment, countless people began to focus their attention on You Shaofeng. Tang Jie ying both sides now that he has ¡°You Shaofeng¡± on his side.

 Chapter 286: Arrangements

    Chapter 286: Arrangements


    On the summit of Red Plum Ridge, various cultivators from all around had gathered.


    On the martial arts stage, the representative of the host, the Wandering Pce, sat at the highest seat, and at their side were Celestial Heart True Persons from the six major sects.


    The overseer was an elder of the Wandering Pce.


    This man sat upright at the front of the stage, and he spoke with a booming voice¡ªa sign that he was using a voice transmission spell art. But his words were quite standard, going on about how this was a rare grand affair for the Wandering Pce, thanking all the sects for showing their respect and the numerous Immortals for attending. Cultivators became Immortals and prostitution became a grand asion. Thest bid made before the dancing girl had her virginity taken was also thest moment of glory she had on the stage.


    After giving a long and reluctant speech, the elder finally returned to his seat. What came next was the dancing and singing.


    It appeared that there had to be some song and dance before the official battle for the bride could begin.


    The Rosecloud Domain was very advanced when it came to dancing, with the dancers easily being capable of moves that would have been unthinkable back in Tang Jie¡¯s old world.


    A group of fairies flew on a cloud and descended from the sky. As their long skirts unfolded, flowers filled the air. As they gaily danced around, heavenly songs emerged from their cherry lips.


    This music bored straight into the marrow, and the fairy dancing was so dazzling to the eye that even Tang Jie was somewhat entranced.


    Fortunately, after a momentary daze, he cleared his mind. He knew that this probably wasn¡¯t a simple song and dance, but that there was probably some sort of bewitching spell art mixed in. It was no wonder that so many people were intoxicated by a mere performance.


    As he looked around, he saw that most people were staring nkly at the dancing girls on the stage, and only a few people were unmoved. Tang Jie inspected them, marking down the faces of those who had managed to keep their senses. The people able to resist the dancers were all people with hardy wills. Regardless of their actual strength, they needed to be handled cautiously.


    Of course, this didn¡¯t include the Celestial Heart True Persons. Other people had to control their senses in order to resist temptation, focusing their minds to resist, but the True Persons were able to fully enjoy the music and dance, even converse with each other. The enchanting dance and bewitching music were nothing but a light breeze to them, so insignificant that they paid it no attention.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t find this strange. Celestial Heart True Persons had been through the Heart Demon Tribtion, and anyone who could reach this step possessed a firm resolve and would not be distracted by a little illusion dance.


    As he observed these people, he was observed in turn.


    For the major figures on the stage, the conclusions obtained from these observations were perhaps even more valuable than the conclusions drawn from the official matches. As they sat on the stage, they looked around and observed the students with an objective eye,menting as they would on the scenery.


    ¡°This kid¡¯s pretty good, and he possesses impressive focus. The music does not enter his ears and the dancing does not affect his heart.¡±


    ¡°Focusing on resistance is ultimately the inferior choice. I think that kid is pretty good. He appeared to be entranced, but his eyes are actually clear and unmoved. This is an embodiment of ¡®ten thousand flowersnd upon the heart, but not even a petal remains¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Tsk, what¡¯s even the point in pretending? Oh? Look at that kid. He still has the mind to observe his surroundings.¡±


    ¡°To maintain one¡¯sposure in the middle of and of pleasure is not easy. To observe one¡¯s surroundings amid decadent music, determining who is strong and weak, is truly impressive focus, a heart like a bright mirror. Who is this child?¡±


    ¡°His name is Tang Jie.¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie? This name is quite familiar.¡±


    ¡°The incident between the Basking Moon Sect and Godhead Pce two years ago¡­¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    Once the song was over, the dancing and music stopped in unison. Most of the crowd only now broke free of the illusion, cold sweat forming on their foreheads. This was particrly true for the students who were official participants. They knew that they had been taken by the song and dance and lost control of themselves. If the little pce lord was around, then they had probably lost a point.


    The Wandering Pce elder said, ¡°The Mortal Blossom Dance of the Rainbow Butterfly Fairy is known throughout the world. My Wandering Pce is honored by your presence.¡±


    The lead dancer on the stage bowed to the Wandering Pce elder before leading the other dancing girls into the air, where they vanished into the clouds.


    Sure enough, they left in just as extraordinary a fashion as they hade.


    Another few performances followed before it was finally time for the main event.


    The Wandering Pce elder announced that the Immortal Fortune Conference¡¯s martial arts tournament would officially begin, and he began to read the rules.


    Liu Hongyan had beenpletely on the mark yesterday. Sure enough, the Wandering Pce had divided the tournament into two parts.


    Firstly, the 120 students would pull lots, and then those with the same number would fight on stage.


    Every person fought five matches, and the sixty with the most points would advance.


    The tournament would go on for five days, and the matches would proceed from Number 1 to Number 20.


    There would be a total of three hundred matches in this segment, and sixty matches every day. Each sect would have twenty matches per day, and every person would have one match per day.


    The Wandering Pce had arranged for the five days of matches to proceed as follows:


    Day 1: Godhead versus Thousand Passions; Basking Moon versus Horizon Ocean; Beast Refining versus Seven Absolutions.


    Day 2: Godhead versus Seven Absolutions; Thousand Passions versus Basking Moon; Horizon Ocean versus Beast Refining.


    Day 3: Godhead versus Beast Refining; Thousand Passions versus Horizon Ocean; Basking Moon versus Seven Absolutions.


    Day 4: Godhead versus Basking Moon; Thousand Passions versus Beast Refining; Horizon Ocean versus Seven Absolutions.


    Day 5: Godhead versus Horizon Ocean; Thousand Passions versus Seven Absolutions; Basking Moon versus Beast Refining.


    In reality, this was a contest between the various major sects.


    Once the match-ups had been announced, it was now time for all thepetitors to draw lots. The results of the drawing were recorded directly on a Heart Mirror Stone and could not be traded.


    Those with the same number would fight, which meant that so long as one did not get the same number as the various experts from the other sects, one still had a very high chance of going through into the next round. Not being able to trade numbers meant not being able to choose opponents, and the rest was left to luck and strength.


    Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong came up together to pull lots. As they went up to the tube, Tang Jie waved his hand at Wei Tianchong. ¡°You go first.¡±


    ¡°Tsk, what¡¯s so good about going first?¡± Wei Tianchong pouted. He went up and grabbed a lot. ¡°Number 12. Your turn.¡±


    Tang Jie came up and pulled a lot. After looking at it, he smiled. ¡°Number 18.¡±


    They went back, and on the martial arts stage, six Heart Mirror Stones were already beginning to disy the names and numbers of those who had pulled lots for all to see.


    As expected of Great Brother Peng Yaolong, he had even managed to get Number 1. Qi Shaoming was Number 3, Cai Junyang was Number 6, Ye Tianshang was Number 9, and Long Dao was Number 15.


    After checking the numbers of everyone he was familiar with, Tang Jie went to look at who in the other five sects had his number.


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s Min Dong, the Thousand Passions Sect¡¯s Yan Baibing, the Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s Luo Hong, Godhead Pce¡¯s Wei Zifeng, and the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s Jiang Qingsong.


    In other words, these five would be his opponents for the next five days.


    But none of the five was particrly famous. Wei Zifeng of Godhead Pce was probably the only one with some reputation, but he was far from being the most famous in the Godhead Pce group.


    As everyone had had nothing else to do in all this time, had dined together, and even fought matches with each other, and considering that the six major sects all had spies and the True Persons all sought to get the pce for themselves, basically everyone had a set of information covering all 120petitors.


    Let alone the official participants, information had even been provided for people who weren¡¯t participating.


    For this reason, Tang Jie knew after seeing those five names that he had gotten the weak ones.


    Even without having to add a qualifier like ¡°barring any mishaps¡±, Tang Jie knew that he could use only one hand and still get into the next round.


    As Tang Jie was growing satisfied with his own luck, Wei Tianchong shouted, ¡°I have to fight that bastard Yun Wuji.¡±


    Tang Jie looked over and saw that Godhead Pce¡¯s Number 12 on the Heart Mirror Stone really was Yun Wuji.


    Yun Wuji was one of the three talents that Godhead Pce had sent this time, and considering that he was also handsome, many people thought that he would get the first prize. Wei Tianchong was rather unfortunate to get him.


    Tang Jie helped him look and found that the other four sect challengers weren¡¯t particrly strong. It was just Jiang Bin from Horizon Ocean Pavilion who presented somewhat of a problem. But if Wei Tianchong used all his strength, he might be able to win. Thus, Tang Jie patted him on the shoulder and said, ¡°Don¡¯t panic. You still have a chance. At worst, you just lose against him and have to win against the others.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Wei Tianchong could clearly tell that while he was extremely unlucky to get Yun Wuji, he wasn¡¯t the unluckiest.


    As for Cai Junyang, his face had gonepletely glum.


    Wei Tianchong and Tang Jie looked at Number 6.


    Lan Yu of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, Li Zhiping of the Thousand Passions Sect, Liu Jin of the Seven Absolutions Sect, Feng Rudong of Godhead Pce, and Helian Hu of the Beast Refining Gate.


    Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong were dumbfounded upon seeing these five names, and then they began tough.


    They couldn¡¯t help it. Cai Junyang had just been too unlucky.


    Lan Yu was the current top-ranked student of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, top-ranked across the entire sect and not just among the male students of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. He was considered the best genius in the past nearly one hundred years of Horizon Ocean Pavilion and was at the Hundred Refinement Period of the Mortal Shedding Realm.


    Helian Hu was also ranked first in the Beast Refining Gate, and he was also at Hundred Refinement.


    Li Zhiping was ranked third among the students the Thousand Passions Sect had sent, and while he was only third, it was still a strength that could not be underestimated. He had recently entered Mortal Shedding.


    Liu Jin was ranked fourth in the Seven Absolutions Sect students, and he had also recently entered Mortal Shedding.


    Probably the only weak one was Godhead Pce¡¯s Feng Rudong, who was at the Spirit Sea Tier.


    Five opponents, two being ranked first, one ranked third, and one ranked fourth. It was a ssic group of death.


    Only a truly unfortunate soul could have ended up in this group, and Cai Junyang had basically no hope of getting out. How could Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong notugh?


    Cai Junyang¡¯s face hardened as he asked, ¡°Are you very happy that I can¡¯t get into the next round?¡±


    Tang Jie patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Of course not, of course not. But there are only ten spots avable for 120 students to fight for. Junyang, given your strength, do you think you have any hope?¡±


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    Cai Junyang froze, and then he shook his head.


    In terms of strength, all he had was that Divine Firmament secret art. This truly wasn¡¯t enough to be considered one of the strongest ten among the six major sects.


    ¡°Then isn¡¯t it fine? Since you can¡¯t get in anyway, wouldn¡¯t it be better for your pride if you lost to the likes of Lan Yu and Helian Hu?¡±


    Cai Junyang found this rather reasonable, but just when he was about to nod, he realized that something was wrong and angrily said, ¡°Why do you think my loss is guaranteed? Maybe Lan Yu doesn¡¯t live up to his reputation and ends up being a silk pillowcase over a bundle of straw, and I send him flying with one wave of the 19 Star Sword.¡±


    ¡°A dreaming fool,¡± someone suddenly said.


    Tang Jie and Cai Junyang turned their heads and found a short man, dark and thin, standing nearby and looking at them with disdain.


    Cai Junyang furiously said, ¡°What did you say just now?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying that you¡¯re dreaming,¡± the short man said, refusing to back down. ¡°Don¡¯t you know that Lan Yu fought against a Mind Opening fiend two years ago? He had yet to reach Mortal Shedding then, being only at peak Spirit Sea, but he managed to kill two lower-grade Mind Opening fiends. Can you do that?¡±


    Cai Junyang was startled. Given his strength, he could perhaps take on one lower-grade Mind Opening fiend, but two at once was certain defeat, and this was Lan Yu¡¯s strength from two years ago.


    Let alone Cai Junyang, even Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but inwardly frown.


    Although he had killed the upper-grade fiend fox, he had never been one to underestimate the power of Mind Opening fiends. For instance, the ck bull had only been at the lower grade, but if he had to fight two at once without any allies, he would have lost without any suspense.


    If Lan Yu had fought against two lower-grades like the lynx, then it was nothing to brag about. If they had been on the level of the ck bull, then he was simply terrifying. Of course, the fiends had probably been closer to the level of the red eagle and gray wolf.


    But Tang Jie was more focused on the man in front of him.


    For some reason, he found this person rather familiar, but he couldn¡¯t say why.


    The dark man sneered, ¡°As for now, not too long ago, Lan Yu went to the Soulbreak Mountains. With his Hundred Refinement body, he fought against the Phantomsky Wolf and won. Could you do that?¡±


    <em>The Phantomsky Wolf?</em>


    Tang Jie was slightly shaken. This fiend was simr to the fiend fox, a fiend that wasn¡¯t particrly skilled in battle. In other words, it was a weakling among those of its grade.


    For this battle that was above his level, Lan Yu had chosen a weakling. From this, one could see that he wasn¡¯t confident in his ability to beat a real Mind Opening fiend.


    Of course, this Lan Yu was definitely stronger than him. After all, he had beaten the fiend fox with a gang and had even used the Devil Crushing Fist. The two simply weren¡¯t on the same level.


    These two questions left Cai Junyang speechless.


    Feeling ashamed, he decided to drop the matter entirely. Pointing at the dark and thin man, he asked, ¡°Who are you? What are you trying to do,ing over to the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s side?¡±


    But the man looked away and ignored him.


    This somewhat feminine action left Tang Jie surprised, and he felt like he had seen it somewhere before.


    He carefully examined that person¡¯s throat and then the shape of the face. He finally realized something and faintly smiled.


    He said, ¡°What about you? How do youpare to your Senior Brother Lan?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± The man was clearly surprised, and instinctively stepped back, his shing eyes ring at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jieughed as he approached. ¡°If you keep acting, I¡¯ll spank you!¡±


    He grabbed the little man¡¯s wrist and pulled him into his embrace.


    The man blushed and shrieked, ¡°Stop that! Let me go!¡±


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t let go, chuckling, ¡°You came so early but you didn¡¯te to see me and even tried to trick me! You deserve punishment!¡±


    Several Basking Moon Sect students were aghast at this scene of two men embracing each other, thinking to themselves, <em>So this is how Tang Jie swings¡­</em>


    It was, in the end, Wei Tianchong who realized what was going on. pping his thigh and jumping, he said, ¡°Xu Miaoran? You¡¯re Xu Miaoran?¡± Xu Miaoran came to make sure her boyfriend doesn¡¯t get any other ideas! Little does she know¡­

 Chapter 287: Romantic Rival

    Chapter 287: Romantic Rival


    But Tang Jie chose to sit with Xu Miaoran and talk with her. Xu Miaoran had already dropped her disguise and returned to her original appearance.


    Tang Jie was clutching Xu Miaoran¡¯s hand as if he was afraid that she would run away. ¡°Hurry and tell me. Why did you onlye and see me now?¡±


    Xu Miaoran harrumphed. ¡°You think I didn¡¯t want to keep a watch over a lecher like you a little earlier? But the moment I arrived at Red Plum Ridge, Senior Brother Lan and the others caught me and had me train with them. It¡¯s only now that they¡¯ve finally let me go.¡±


    Tang Jie was very unhappy. ¡°When did I be a lecher?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what you are. You already have me¡­ and youe here and try to marry the little pce lord!¡± Xu Miaoran red.


    Tang Jie seemed drawn to the first part of her sentence. Perking up his ears, he asked, ¡°Who did you say I already have just now? I didn¡¯t quite catch it.¡±


    Xu Miaoran blushed in shame and kicked him. Tang Jie threw his head back andughed, his heart rejoicing.


    Although the two of them had been exchanging letters for some time, they were still rather restrained when they spoke to each other. While they both liked each other, neither of them was willing to make thatst step. For Xu Miaoran, it wasn¡¯t that shecked the courage. She just wasn¡¯t sure about her own feelings. The more Horizon Ocean Pavilion emphasized one¡¯s authentic feelings, the more she felt like she didn¡¯t understand herself.


    It was the exact opposite for Tang Jie. He was very sure that he liked Xu Miaoran. Perhaps because of the era he was born in, most of the women here were too rigid and inflexible for him, and those that weren¡¯t were of the conspiring sort. Women like Xu Miaoran¡ªcandid but not depraved, smart but not cunning, fiery but also cognizant of her limits¡ªwere few and far between. But he had made an enemy of Godhead Pce, and his future was hard to predict, and he was only a minor servant student besides. In trying to be with her, he was bound to face stiff opposition, so he had put the matter to the side for the time being.


    But today, with his new n, he saw hope in the future, which was why he was in the mood to tease Xu Miaoran. He was slowly working his way toward taking thatst step during the Immortal Fortune Conference.


    As they talked and exchanged sweet nothings, on the stage, tigers and dragons were fighting.


    On the first day, the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s opponent was Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    As the firstpetitor, Peng Yaolong lived up to his reputation as Great Brother. After only a few moments, he easily defeated the student from Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s victory in the very first match was greeted with thunderous cheers.


    But in the following battles, things weren¡¯t as easy.


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    The students who could participate in this tournament were all elites who had been selected by the six major sects, and they all had some skill. Most of the students had already reached Mortal Shedding, and no matter what level they were at, they were all rich withbat experience.


    In the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s second match, Cheng Fengshan was pitted against Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s Ma Tianguo.


    Cheng Fengshan was of the same year as Peng Yaolong, and he was also at the Hundred Refinement Period of the Mortal Shedding Realm. While he wasn¡¯t on par with Peng Yaolong, he was quite the excellent student among his peers.


    The six major sects had selected theirpetitors starting from the upper limit of age and moving down to the lower limit. Only underssmen withparable strength would be picked over upperssmen, as those who could earn the title of ¡°genius¡± would be more likely to draw the little pce lord¡¯s attention.


    Take Qi Shaoming for example. It was said that though he was a fifth-year, he could even sweep over the seventh- and eighth-years. While it was possible to find several dozen people in the seventh and eighth year that were stronger than him, in situations where the gap in strength wasn¡¯t that obvious, Qi Shaoming¡¯s lower year and his reputation as a genius would allow him to be more easily recognized by the little pce lord. This was why he had been rmended.


    Thus, while Cheng Fengshan wasn¡¯t as famous as Qi Shaoming, in terms of real strength, he was stronger than the likes of Qi Shaoming and Cai Junyang.


    But a student like this fought Ma Tianguo for an entire hour before finally achieving victory.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but sigh in admiration. ¡°Ma Tianguo didn¡¯t look that impressive on paper. I didn¡¯t expect him to be this strong, forcing Senior Brother Cheng to work this hard to finally win.¡±


    ¡°s, he still lost,¡± Xu Miaoran muttered.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be done about that. Horizon Ocean Pavilion is a primarily female sect, after all. This Immortal Fortune Conference is rather unfair to Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Otherwise, our Pufeng County Lord would have swept through Senior Brother Cheng like an autumn breeze sweeping up leaves.¡±


    He was seated among the Basking Moon Sect members, yet he was ttering a girl from Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Everyone angrily red at him.


    Cai Junyang squeezed out, ¡°Shameless!¡±


    Peng Yaolong clenched his fists and barked, ¡°Traitor!¡±


    Ye Tianshang whispered, ¡°Scum!¡±


    Wei Tianchong gave a thumbs-up. ¡°Admirable!¡±


    He was the only one to praise Tang Jie¡¯s actions.


    Qi Shaoming was going to say something, but he didn¡¯t have the time.


    He was Number 3, and he was up.


    Xu Miaoran was the only one to take heart from these words, and she softly smiled.


    Sitting among the Basking Moon students and loudly chatting with Tang Jie, she naturally drew a few looks. Given her status, some of these looks were extremely unfriendly.


    Xu Miaoran wasn¡¯t afraid. She just grabbed Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°Hey, your senior brothers don¡¯t seem to like that I¡¯m sitting with you.¡±


    ¡°Of course. You¡¯re from Horizon Ocean Pavilion and I¡¯m from the Basking Moon Sect. Our two sects are fighting right now on the stage, but we¡¯re avidly chatting in the audience. It¡¯s very normal for them to not like it and would be very weird if they approved. Right, don¡¯t just point at my side. Look at your Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Aren¡¯t there a bunch of people staring at me with looks that could kill?¡± Tang Jie pointed at the other end.


    Xu Miaoran turned to look, and sure enough, there were many male students in the Horizon Ocean Pavilion section that were staring at Tang Jie with eyes that were spitting me. It was almost like they wanted to eat him.


    Xu Miaoran could no longer hold herself back and startedughing, causing even more people to look at her.


    The battle between the Basking Moon Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion stopped holding as much attention, and Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran started to be the focus.


    This might have been Xu Miaoran¡¯s goal.


    Through this method, she was warning that little pce lord that she should give up on Tang Jie if she knew better. <em>Tang Jie isn¡¯ting for you!</em>


    Through this method, she was saying that Tang Jie was hers. <em>Nobody should try and take him from me!</em>


    But she was young and had overlooked something. Sometimes, an object¡¯s value was manifested through how people fought over it.


    Most importantly, her attention raised Tang Jie¡¯s value by itself. It had to be understood that she was the daughter of a Violet Pce True Lord, and her value was on par with the Wandering Pce¡¯s little pce lord.


    To openly disregard gender and sex difference to publicly talk with a student from another sect was very rare. Perhaps only a ¡°fiend woman¡± like Xu Miaoran was capable of such a thing.


    Thus, for a moment, countless students looked over. These were students from all the sects, not just Horizon Ocean Pavilion and the Basking Moon Sect, and not just male students, but female students as well.


    While the men had eyes full of envy, anger, and even hatred, the female students had looks of surprise, admiration, arousal, and even a little desire. A man who could earn the favor of a True Lord¡¯s daughter had to be worth a little attention.


    Like this, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran became the center of attention.


    But the two of them didn¡¯t seem to care. They continued to whisper to each other andugh,menting on the battles taking ce on the stage while ignoring the gazes of everyone else.


    On the stage, Qi Shaoming was in a tough battle. His opponent was Tong Hui of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, who wielded a giant blunt sword. As he swung the sword around, he unleashed furious waves of spiritual energy that mmed at Qi Shaoming from various directions.


    While Qi Shaoming was nimble and his Passing Shadow Phantom Clone sh was sharp, he was gradually tiring out in the face of this Tong Hui¡¯s vigorous blows. He had used the Passing Shadow Phantom Clone sh several times, but it had failed to do anything much besides consumingrge amounts of spiritual energy. He had even started to slow down, and he was no longer as nimble when retreating and advancing.


    Even Xu Miaoran said, ¡°That Qi Shaoming is in trouble now. While his Passing Shadow Phantom Clone sh is powerful, Senior Brother Tong specializes in defense. You have to realize that Senior Brother Tong has already entered Mortal Shedding. If a Spirit-Sea-Tier fights a Mortal-Shedding-Realm and can¡¯t win fast, they will undoubtedly lose in a battle of stamina.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°Shaoming is still a nine-cycle genius of my Basking Moon Academy. While he¡¯s been focusing on improving his cultivation in thest two years, he also hasn¡¯t been cking on his spell arts. He developed the Passing Shadow Phantom Clone sh a few years ago, so that¡¯s not necessarily his only skill.¡±


    ¡°You think he¡¯s still hiding something?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll find out if we keep watching.¡±


    On the stage, Qi Shaoming was gradually losing ground to Tong Hui¡¯s shing waves. As each wave grew stronger than thest, Qi Shaoming¡¯s eyes suddenly shed.


    He fiercely roared, and the Autumn Water Sword exploded with light as it swung. It struck Tong Hui¡¯s giant sword, instantly halting its movement. At the same time, Qi Shaoming lunged forward, and then he seemed to slip as he jumped, almost falling toward Tong Hui. His left hand thrust upward as if he was trying to grab hold of something for support.


    This palm seemed tock strength, but with a bellow, Tong Hui suddenly went flying into the sky and right off the stage.


    This immediately drew an uproar from the crowd, and even the Celestial Heart True Persons were surprised. Someone even stood up and said, ¡°The Vast Sea Trifold Wave!¡±


    Tang Jie also called out, ¡°The Winss Sword, Tumble Rush, and Swelling Ocean Hand¡­ I see.¡±


    Qi Shaoming had blocked, staggered, and thrust out his palm, but these were actually all low-level spell arts. However, in being used just then, they had unleashed a frightening power that had instantly defeated Tong Hui. The key behind this was that Qi Shaoming had used these three low-ss spell arts in abo.


    Qi Shaoming hadn¡¯te up with this method all on his own. Many cultivators knew how to use variations andbinations of spiritual energy to use several spell arts in a row, doing so in the shortest time for the least amount of energy and to maximum effect.


    And the Winss Sword was one of those with a setbination move. This move was one of the ssicbos, known as the Vast Sea Trifold Wave.


    In the Basking Moon Sect, the one most skilled in the Vast Sea Trifold Wave was Li Hongyang¡ªthe same True Person Hongyang who had joined together with Xiao Biehan and Ming Yekong to stop Shi Wunian, one of the 19 Celestial Chiefs of the Basking Moon Sect.


    Tang Jie now understood.


    The master the Qi n had chosen for Qi Shaoming was none other than True Person Hongyang.


    But Qi Shaoming had taken a master in such an inconspicuous manner that nobody knew that he had be Li Hongyang¡¯s disciple until he used the Vast Sea Trifold Wave.


    It was no wonder that he had been able toe up with the Passing Shadow Phantom Clone sh. Perhaps Li Hongyang had already been instructing him in secret. This guy had really hidden it very well, and if not for the Immortal Fortune Conference, Qi Shaoming might have still been hiding it.


    But for Qi Shaoming, this wasn¡¯t really something to celebrate.


    The first battle had forced him to use his ultimate move. Hisck of cultivation timepared to the others was an inescapable weakness.


    Even so, when he returned to his seat, everyone pped and said, ¡°Good job.¡±


    Qi Shaoming bitterly shook his head.


    Even he knew that if this kept up, his path of Immortal Fortune would end at this round. But no matter what, he could lose the match, but not his dignity. Even if he were defeated, he had to live up to his reputation and show off his power.


    In contrast, Horizon Ocean Pavilion was getting rather embarrassed after losing three in a row.


    Since they couldn¡¯t vent their emotions on the stage, they could only seek out a target in the audience.


    A Horizon Ocean Pavilion student appeared at the Basking Moon Sect seats and said to Xu Miaoran, ¡°Senior Sister Xu, Senior Brother has asked me to call you back.¡±


    Without even turning her head, Xu Miaoran asked, ¡°Senior Brother Lan?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Then tell him that it¡¯s not his ce to worry about me. I can sit wherever I want.¡±


    The student said, ¡°Senior Brother knew that you would say this, so he told me that if Senior Sister did say such a thing, I should tell you that this isn¡¯t a personal matter, but a matter of the six sects. The six major sects are vying against each other, and while they are doing their best to not hurt the rtionships between each other, they each have their own principles and standpoints. At this special time, it does not make sense either objectively or emotionally to sit with the disciples of other sects. Senior Sister, please understand.¡±


    Xu Miaoran¡¯s eyes opened wide. ¡°Isn¡¯t it just that he can¡¯t stand to see me sitting with Tang Jie? Just say it, then! There¡¯s no need to call upon such righteous pretexts.¡±


    The student grinned but said nothing. He clearly understood that using the dignity of the sect against Xu Miaoran was still rather effective.


    Just when it seemed like Xu Miaoran would be forced to leave, Tang Jie pushed her back down into her seat.


    ¡°Since it¡¯s for the sake of the sect, it¡¯s even more important that Junior Sister Xu remains here.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± The student was surprised.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Only by staying here can she understand the ins and outs of the enemy. Only by staying here can she gather intelligence. Only by staying here can she use this opportunity to develop herself¡­ Your senior sister was even begging me to go easy just now. Maybe when I go onto the stage, I¡¯ll just concede and let a student of your sect get a point?¡±


    The student froze, not knowing what to say. As for Xu Miaoran, she wasughing so hard that she see-sawed on her seat. Vigorously nodding, she said, ¡°Absolutely right! I¡¯m doing this all for the sect, sacrificing myself to the tiger. The heavens and earth have borne witness to my devotion! Tell Senior Brother to not detain me and give me this chance to serve my sect.¡±


    She copsed into Tang Jie¡¯s embrace and keptughing,pletely devoid of the coyness a noble daughter should have. Some people even red at her for this, with somementing, ¡°As expected of a fiend woman.¡±


    The Horizon Ocean Pavilion student had no choice but to go back.


    Tang Jie watched that student return to the Horizon Ocean Pavilion section and whisper a few words to a tall and slender youth with a handsome face and wearing a blue robe.


    This blue-robed student suddenly turned in Tang Jie¡¯s direction. He first nced at Xu Miaoran before matching eyes with Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie stared back, and sparks practically exploded between them.


    Tang Jie instantly understood.


    He didn¡¯t understand that this person was Lan Yu. Rather, he understood that Lan Yu¡­ also liked Xu Miaoran.


    ¡°You never told me that I had a romantic rival,¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    Resting her face on Tang Jie¡¯s thigh, Xu Miaoran said in a garbled voice, ¡°Senior Brother Lan is a good person, but he¡¯s not particrly open-minded, and I don¡¯t like that, so there¡¯s nothing to talk about.¡±


    With that said, she fell asleep. Xu Miaoran definitely not doing anything to improve the rtionship between Tang Jie and Lan Yu.

 Chapter 288: Treacherous

    <h1>Chapter 288: Treacherous</h1>


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    In the fifth match, Horizon Ocean Pavilion finally managed to get a win.


    In the sixth match, Lan Yu fought against Cai Junyang.


    There was a blue sh as Lan Yu appeared on stage, his hands held behind his back. He cut quite the impressive figure, rather like a hegemon gazing down at the puny mountains from high above. Even Tang Jie had to stop himself from giving a thumbs-up and saying, "Impressive acting!"


    There was a thunderous cheer from the audience. It appeared that Lan Yu had quite a few admirers.


    In contrast, the Basking Moon Sect side was constantly urging Cai Junyang, "Be careful, and don''t try and force it if you can''t beat him."


    Cai Junyang grunted, "Can you not underestimate me so much? Whether it''s win or lose, I actually have to fight to find out."


    He jumped onto the stage.


    With the ring of a bell, the battle began.


    Cai Junyang acted first, spiritual energy surging, and the air suddenly thickened. Cai Junyang became like a fish swimming through water as he shot toward Lan Yu, his sword giving off silver waves. This was none other than the Pilewave Sword he was so skilled at.


    Lan Yu chuckled and casually thrust out a palm. "Break!"


    With this one thrust, the clouds of spiritual energy were pushed back like the ebbing tide.


    This move also left Cai Junyang greatly shaken.


    Realm pressure!


    Realm pressure was a sort of overwhelming pressure that allowed one to render many spell arts ineffective when they came from someone at a lower cultivation realm. Realm pressure was truly a gap that could not be surmounted with numbers¡ªat least not without absurdly high numbers.


    But realm pressure only existed in the higher realms, which made it so that the higher the realm, the more difficult it was to fight above one''s level. But in the lower realms, realm pressure was extremely rare, which was why there were many examples of Spirit Sea beating out Mortal Shedding.


    This was a problem of strength control. For example, if one pitted a high schooler against an elementary schooler, the high schooler could often answer problems with just one look. But an older ss of kindergarteners trying to answer the questions from a young ss of kindergarteners might spend ages staring fruitlessly at the question.


    Lan Yu having realm pressure was truly a surprise. The moment Cai Junyang realized this, he knew that he had no chance of winning.


    But he had a tough personality that didn''t easily concede. As his spiritual wave was broken, he thrust out his sword several times, and the 19 Star Sword emerged in a dazzling burst of starlight.


    The 19 Star Sword was a technique that Xiao Biehan had developed in his early years and modified several times afterward. It was extremely powerful and had many variations, so even Lan Yu didn''t dare to take it head-on, despite his realm pressure. He raised his hand and thrust it at the air.


    As his hand struck the air, a shield of azure light appeared.


    The Azurine Shield was a very ordinary spell art that was taught in many sects.


    But this ordinary Azurine Shield stopped Cai Junyang''s 19 Star Sword cold. The neen points of starlight exploded against the shield, but once the starlight had dissipated, the azure light remained.


    Everyone was stunned by this sight.


    Was this the power of realm pressure?


    It was clearly a stronger spell art, but under realm pressure, it couldn''t even break through the Azurine Shield.


    "How¡­ how is this possible?" Cai Junyang stared in disbelief at his sword.


    He didn''t feel very conflicted about losing to Lan Yu. After all, this was the number one genius of Horizon Ocean Pavilion who had cultivated for many years, surpassing him in both talent and time. Losing to him wasn''t shameful at all. But while a loss was a loss, he at least had to make it exciting, had to show off his pride and dignity.


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    Thus, before going onto the stage, he was determined to go all-out. But Lan Yu had breezily undone everything. The gap in strength was far more immense than he had imagined, and his confidence had been dealt a savage blow.


    Lan Yu clearly didn''t care about what he was thinking, and he thrust a palm at his chest.


    Still lost in thought, Cai Junyang was about to get hit when someone suddenly shouted, "Turn to the left and swing!"


    Cai Junyang acted purely on instinct, dodging to the left while stepping forward with his right foot and swinging his sword down, releasing a crescent of sword energy at Lan Yu.


    This counterattack hade very abruptly, and Lan Yu clearly hadn''t been expecting the dazed Cai Junyang to be capable of striking back. rmed, he frantically thrust out his left hand, releasing a wave of energy to sh with Cai Junyang''s sword energy. But there was no realm pressure this time, and the palm energy and sword energy neutralized each other. Attacking in panic, Lan Yu had failed to gain any sort of advantage in this exchange.


    At the same time, Cai Junyang charged forward, raising his sword and swinging it down again.


    The 19 Star Sword again.


    This time, Lan Yu did not dare to use the Azurine Shield. He quickly backed away while forming hand signs, and moon-white arcs of light shot at Cai Junyang''s star swords.


    <em>Bang! Bang! Bang!</em> Moonlight and starlight collided in a string of resplendent explosions. Cai Junyang heedlessly charged forward like a tiger, swinging his sword over and over, using the 19 Star Sword again and unleashing a brilliant array of starlight.


    Cai Junyang felt like this was the closest he would ever be to defeating Lan Yu. If he could keep up this ceaseless offensive, he might be able to knock Lan Yu off the stage, so he expended all of his spiritual energy into an explosive storm.


    But under the dazzling starlight, Lan Yu was like a storm petrel in a tempest, freely flying around, breaking through waves and riding on the wind. It was a simply stunning sight.


    No matter how fierce the storm, it could do nothing to the storm petrel, and the storm would eventuallye to an end.


    Finally, a small gap appeared in the storm of starlight Cai Junyang had created¡ªa gap that signified Cai Junyang was running out of spiritual power.


    At this moment, Lan Yu finally made his move.


    He pointed at that gap in the starlight storm.


    Karmic Cycle Finger!


    All of the starlight vanished as a fingertip jabbed into Cai Junyang''s chest, punching a hole into his body.


    "Aaagh!" Cai Junyang cried out as he flew off the stage.


    "Junyang!" Everyone rushed up to support him.


    Cai Junyang threw up blood, and it was clear that this single finger had wounded him badly. But he still smiled and said, "I''m fine¡­ I won''t die¡­ Just now¡­ who said that¡­"


    "It was me," Tang Jie said. His leg was serving as Xu Miaoran''s pillow, so he couldn''t go to Cai Junyang''s side. He said, "There''s no pressure if he can''t keep up his act."


    Lan Yu clearly had only a basic grasp of realm pressure, and he could only activate it when he met a certain condition.


    This condition was to be as immovable and imposing as a mountain.


    It was like how some people only seemed to have the majesty of an official when they started acting like one, while the true bigshots exuded majesty without putting on any airs.


    s, he couldn''t fool Tang Jie''s insight.


    Tang Jie''s advice had allowed Cai Junyang to make a counterattack, and while it had been an ordinary strike, it had thrown Lan Yu''s mind into disarray and broken his realm pressure, allowing Cai Junyang to get the upper hand for the moment. Otherwise, in a real battle, Cai Junyang would have had a rather ugly loss.


    "But it was this that caused you to get injured," Tang Jie added.


    "This injury is nothing." Cai Junyang spat on the ground. "An army can''t afford to lose its morale, and his realm pressure just now scared me silly. If you hadn''t told me how to counterattack and I had been pushed off the stage like that, I would probably be traumatized for the rest of my life. From then on, with my confidence destroyed, I would find it hard to advance in cultivation, and I would probably lose any will to fight upon seeing him¡­ This Lan Yu is very vicious!"


    Cai Junyang was no fool. With just a little thought, he had understood why Lan Yu had used such a method on him.


    He wanted to mentally destroy him!


    "It''s probably because of Miaoran," Tang Jie sighed. "This guy is quite tricky. Another person would have been yelling and fighting, or else they would have attacked you more fiercely as a form of revenge. But his move was more inconspicuous and less likely to be noticed. It was no wonder he struck out so swiftly, not even deciding to wait around. If he waited until you were out of spiritual energy to strike, he wouldn''t be able to heavily injure you. While you still have spiritual energy, you still pose a threat to him, allowing him to use that as an excuse to use his full strength¡­ In the end, it was my fault."


    "But you also saved me, so we''re even." Cai Junyang didn''t mind. Someone came up and carried him off to be treated.


    With Lan Yu beating Cai Junyang, Horizon Ocean Pavilion had its second victory, and they all cheered. But his right hand was injured, and his arm had been struck several times by the attacks of the 19 Star Sword.


    Just as Tang Jie had said, he could have waited around until Cai Junyang was even more tired and there were even more openings, allowing him to get away without any injuries.


    But he refused to wait precisely because he sought this danger!


    It was only this way that could let him heavily injure or even kill Cai Junyang!


    Thinking this, Tang Jie looked at Lan Yu, and thetter returned with an icy gaze and naked killing intent.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but say, "Miaoran, your senior brother is quite the insidious sort."


    "Mm, that''s why I don''t like him," Xu Miaoran mumbled out from her ce on Tang Jie''sp. She didn''t seem surprised in the slightest.


    "But there are times when my methods are also quite insidious¡­" Tang Jie replied.


    "Oh, that''s different¡­" Xu Miaoran said, closing her eyes.


    "How is it different?"


    "¡­ugh, it''s just different, okay?" Xu Miaoran kicked him, her face turning red. "You''re not allowed to ask that anymore."


    Tang Jie heartilyughed, and this scene of affection between him and Xu Miaoran only deepened the resentment in Lan Yu''s eyes.


    s, he would not have a chance to take the lives of the Basking Moon Sect''s people again.


    In the seventh match, Horizon Ocean Pavilion was defeated once more.


    In terms of individual strength, Horizon Ocean Pavilion had actually always been high up among the six major sects. But it had a smaller poption, and its vassal sects werecking. If it were only the top three of the young students that were being selected, Horizon Ocean Pavilion could have made aplete sweep, but the twenty-person quota and the limitation to men turned Horizon Ocean Pavilion into the weakest sect.


    Only Lan Yu had been able to win a solid victory, and most of the other Horizon Ocean students lost to their Basking Moon counterparts.


    Eleven matches had now yed out. The Basking Moon Sect had won eight while Horizon Ocean Pavilion had only won three.


    In the twelfth match, it was Wei Tianchong''s turn, and he faced Zhou Weixiao of Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    "Senior Brother Zhou cultivates the Windbreak Divine Gate Mantra. His attacks are formidable, and he could be considered one of the stronger students of Horizon Ocean, ranked ninth. Your Young Master Wei will not be able to win this one." Xu Miaoran had woken up after her nap and was now pointing at the stage.


    "That''s not guaranteed," Tang Jie replied. "In my view, Young Master Wei has a very high chance of winning."


    "Cheh, only neenth among the Basking Moon students." Xu Miaoran pursed her lips. "No matter how weak my Horizon Ocean Pavilion is, it''s not so bad that the ninth will lose to your neenth, yes?"


    Tang Jie casually replied, "Rankings, hmm¡­ You can''t ignore them, but you can''tpletely trust them, either."


    Among the twenty students of the Basking Moon Sect, Peng Yaolong was ranked first. He was at the Hundred Refinement Period of Mortal Shedding, and after two years of cultivation, he was the undisputed rank one. Tang Jie had sparred against him once, and if he didn''t use the golden thread or the Devil Crushing Fist, he would eventually lose after fifty moves.


    Second was Tang Jie. Tang Jie had be very famous after the True Inheritor struggle, and many people had heard about how he had single-handedly held the Devil Crushing Path. Thus, while he was only at the Spirit Sea Tier, people still ced him at rank two.


    Third was Ye Tianshang, who was also in the Hundred Refinement Period. Tang Jie had once fought against him, and they had been evenly matched and fought to a draw.


    In this aspect, the ranking was generally reliable.


    But there were always exceptions.


    Wei Tianchong was an obvious one.


    The strength assessment of Wei Tianchong was based on the spars he had had with a few people upon arriving at Red Plum City. As Wei Tianchong''s most important source of strength, his Grade 3bat puppet, had been in Tang Jie''s possession, much of his power was missing. Even so, he was still at rank neen and had not been beaten so badly that he was the absolute worst. It was clear that he had made huge progress in terms of his personal strength.


    And what was a Grade 3bat puppet?


    That was the equivalent of a typical Mortal Shedding Realm Nine Revolutions expert.


    Without considering the spirit stone expenditure, it could fight against students on Peng Yaolong''s level.


    Without resorting to lethal moves, not even Tang Jie dared to say that he could definitely win against Wei Tianchong and his puppet.


    Zhou Weixiao was clearly unaware. As Wei Tianchong came onto the stage, he said with disdain, "Merely a young master that relies on the work of your servant student. I advise you to concede before it''s toote."


    Wei Tianchong said nothing, only let out his puppet.


    The moment the puppet appeared, it made a booming stomp and punched at Zhou Weixiao.


    Zhou Weixiao raised his sword to block, but he felt a sweeping strength that sent him flying back, and he instantly knew that he was in trouble. But he reacted quickly and flew back onto the stage, thinking to himself, <em>This puppet is strong!</em>


    He hadn''t even finished the thought when the puppet''s body shed, and it charged at him again.


    Zhou Weixiao formed a spell with his left hand and pointed at the puppet. He sought to hold down the puppet with the spell while sending a wave of sword energy at Wei Tianchong. But the puppet was wholly unaffected, and in fact, its eyes shed with electricity, and a bolt of lightning cracked down onto Zhou Weixiao.


    <em>Not good!</em>


    Zhou Weixiao only had time to think about dodging before the lightning bolt struck him.


    At least he had cast his barrier before going onto stage, so he wasn''t too badly injured. But the lightning bolt did seed in paralyzing him.


    It was only a moment of numbness, but it was enough for Wei Tianchong to unleash a surging energy from his sword.


    "Changfeng Thirteenth Style, Wind-Facing sh!"


    A harsh sword light and a wild fist struck Zhou Weixiao, and a brilliant explosion of light announced the end of this battle¡­

 Chapter 289: Mortal Enemy

    Chapter 289: Mortal Enemy


    Wei Tianchong and his puppet had unleashed a storm of blows on Zhou Weixiao. Without even needing to use a shadow soldier, he had overwhelmed Zhou Weixiao with sheer force and dragged him down from the clouds and into the mud.


    But unlike what Tang Jie had imagined, after winning, Wei Tianchong was not jumping with joy. On the contrary, he very calmly walked off the stage.


    This was a maturing of spirit and the budding of self-confidence.


    Just like how an upperssman wouldn¡¯t be celebrating over beating an underssman, Wei Tianchong wouldn¡¯t be feeling too excited about beating one Zhou Weixiao.


    He had forgotten how such an opponent was an existence he could only look up to in reverence in the past.


    The battles continued, with wins and losses on both sides, and things were going rather smoothly. When it was Tang Jie¡¯s turn, he exchanged only a few blows with that Horizon Ocean Pavilion student before sting him off the stage with one punch, ending the battle with little surprise.


    As this was the first day, it was impossible to say which of the six major sects was stronger and which was weaker. But some of the more outstanding students had already begun to show their ability on stage and draw the attention of others.


    Godhead Pce¡¯s Yun Wuji, Fang Shiye, and Lin Changrui; the Thousand Passions Sect¡¯s Deng Xiaoyu, Mu Yu, and Li Zhiping; the Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s Mu Yi, Xiao Wen, and Lin Wang; Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s Lan Yu and Gu Qinghan; the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s Helian Hu, Ye Heizi, and Tian Zhao; and finally, the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s Peng Yaolong, Tang Jie, and Ye Tianshang¡ªeach of them would obtain an unsurprising victory whenever they came onto the stage.


    The day¡¯s battles quickly concluded, and the returning crowd coalesced into various streams.


    Xu Miaoran had no choice but to report back to her sect.


    She looked reluctantly at Tang Jie. ¡°If I don¡¯t go back now, my esteemed teachers will reallye over and take me back.¡±


    ¡°Will you still be able toe tomorrow?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    Xu Miaoran shook her head, indicating that she didn¡¯t know.


    The next morning, when the day¡¯s matches began, as expected, Xu Miaoran did note.


    Tang Jie began to search the crowd for her, and finally, in a corner of Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s section, he spotted her. She was sullenly sitting all alone, her hands propping up her cheeks.


    Tang Jie chuckled at the sight of her. Taking out a message talisman, he wrote something down and burned it.


    As Xu Miaoran was sitting there, she felt her waist warm up. She looked at her jade pendant and saw a line of words: ¡°I see you.¡±


    Her heart warming, she looked in Tang Jie¡¯s direction and spotted him waving at her.


    The two of them amorously gazed at each other, both feeling blessed for a brief moment.


    At this moment, there was a boom from the stage, and then a bitter scream.


    This howl drew the attention of Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran to the stage, and it was only then that they realized that a Seven Absolutions Sect disciple on the stage was holding his throat. With a groan, he copsed, andrge amounts of blood gushed out of his neck and painted the entire stage red.


    He was dead!


    The audience was aghast, but a few people had managed to keep theirposure.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Tang Jie called out. He looked at the Godhead Pce disciple on the stage and saw that his hands were scarlet. He was in the middle of wiping off this blood and didn¡¯t seem panicked at all.


    ¡°What else could it be? This isn¡¯t some school tournament, but a mortal contest between the six major sects. Here, the defeated can die!¡± a student replied.


    ¡°This is impossible!¡± some other students shouted back. ¡°Why wasn¡¯t a rule like this announced yesterday?¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t a rule, but an individual choice,¡± Peng Yaolong loudly replied. He had won his battle, but his opponent had beenpletely fine. The other sects had also been perfectly fine in their battles.


    It was only when Godhead Pce and the Seven Absolutions Sect were on the stage together that the first battle had be bloody.


    Upon seeing this sight, Tang Jie understood. ¡°Mortal foes?¡±


    The six major sects had both friends and enemies amongst themselves.


    These friends and enemies weren¡¯t made in a day, but were the result of gradual umtion and evolution of a thousand years of history, paired with countless battles and immense loss of life and blood. As each generation taught the next, engraving the lessons in the blood, legends developed, even unique cultures.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect and Godhead Pce were mortal foes.


    There were far too many grudges between the sects, such that the youths who became students of these sects would first learn how to hate their foe rather than to cultivate.


    When other sects shed, they would at least consider the pros and cons before trying to make a lethal move. For example, Lan Yu had wanted to kill Cai Junyang, but he had first needed to create an opportunity. But when mortal foes were on the stage, they almost always both chose to kill each other.


    Thus, an incident like this wasn¡¯t strange at all.


    ¡°What about the dead students? If this keeps up, won¡¯t both sects be missing people?¡± a student asked.


    ¡°Given the losses, I¡¯m guessing that substitutes are allowed,¡± Ye Tianshang replied. ¡°But is this really the problem you should be worried about right now?¡±


    ¡°What is it, then?¡± Someone still hadn¡¯t realized what was going on.


    Tang Jie exined, ¡°The Basking Moon Sect has its own mortal foe.¡±


    Peng Yaolongughed. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    Everyone trembled in fear and looked in the direction of the Beast Refining Gate. Over there, a group of fearless students was looking back, the killing intent clear in their eyes.


    Even the worst student of Basking Moon knew who their greatest foe would always be.


    The Beast Refining Gate!


    In the history of the Basking Moon Sect, the two sects had been at war for a thousand years. It had never stopped, and the two sides had never known peace.


    There was no peace between them, no friendship, only a history of blood and a hatred that was carved into the bones.


    If the people of these two sects ever ended up sitting next to each other, it wasn¡¯t because they had be friends, but because they were seeking out the weak points of the other side so that they could better make a lethal thrust with their sword.


    Tang Jie could sit together and talk with a fiend woman of Horizon Ocean Pavilion without the Basking Moon Sect caring, but if it had been someone from the Beast Refining Gate, he would have been banished.


    Even though Tang Jie hated Godhead Pce the most, the history lessons of thest few years had caused Tang Jie to develop a poor impression of the Beast Refining Gate. He had always been good at culture studies, and so he knew by heart that 562 people of the Basking Moon Sect had died to the Beast Refining Gate, including six Celestial Heart Realm experts. And of the disciples and Spirit Masters that the Basking Moon Sect had lost in thest few centuries, half of them had been because of the Beast Refining Gate.


    Of course, the same was true for the other side.


    The hatred between the two sides was long past the point of talking things out. Killing on sight was the only correct path.


    For the Basking Moon Sect, the best reason to kill ten thousand people wasn¡¯t the gravity of their crimes, but because ¡°they were all part of the Beast Refining Gate.¡±


    If not for the rules, formation, and puppets of Red Plum City and the need to participate in the Immortal Fortune Conference, the Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion, the Basking Moon Sect and the Beast Refining Gate, and Godhead Pce and the Seven Absolutions Sect would have fought each other and made the streets flow with blood.


    But even so, everyone was just waiting and biding their time.


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    They were waiting for the chance to kill, to settle the score!


    Today was the day Godhead Pce and the Seven Absolutions Sect settled their score.


    The moment these two sects publicly shed, the rules lost their meaning. Killing became the rule of the day, and eliminating one¡¯s enemy the most worthwhile cause.


    As for the other sects, there was no need to worry about any objection from them.


    They all had their own problems that they wanted to take care of, all had targets that they needed to kill.


    Thus, all six sects permitted this sort of killing.


    The permission of the six major sects was the permission of the world!


    Upon understanding this and then looking back at the murderous looks of the Beast Refining Gate students, everyone understood what they could look forward to.


    Wei Tianchong shivered. ¡°Do the two sects really have to kill each other?¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t kill him, he¡¯ll kill you,¡± Tang Jie warned. ¡°In the rules of Immortal sects, you can¡¯t cause trouble you shouldn¡¯t cause, but you should kill all enemies that you need to kill!¡±


    ¡°Then what if I concede?¡± Wei Tianchong immediately said.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°You can, but then you¡¯ll probably be killed by the esteemed teachers. Oh, right, you¡¯re True Person Changfeng¡¯s disciple, so out of respect for him, the esteemed teachers probably won¡¯t kill you.¡±


    Wei Tianchong exhaled.


    Tang Jie added, ¡°True Person Changfeng wille personally to slice you into ten thousand little bits.¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s chubby face instantly froze.


    Tang Jie whispered into his ear, ¡°This is about ourmon enemy, so you should never hope that someone will tolerate your behavior. Young Master, some mistakes are okay to make, but there are some mistakes that we shouldn¡¯t even think about making! Kill your Beast Refining Gate opponent, or else your life will end here.¡±


    Wei Tianchong shivered several more times before finally calming himself down. ¡°Is that all we can do?¡±


    ¡°It seems to be,¡± Tang Jie indifferently replied. ¡°True Person Changfeng had youe probably not so that you could get into the top ten, but so that you could take a life. If you can do it, then you¡¯ll be worthy of continuing to be his disciple. If you can¡¯t do it, then it¡¯s better that you die so that someone incapable of making his way through the world won¡¯t ruin his reputation.¡±


    Wei Tianchong took in a deep breath.


    Tang Jie added, ¡°Fortunately, the bloody battle between the Basking Moon Sect and the Beast Refining Gate will only happen on the fifth day, so you still have time to study your opponent.¡±


    ¡°Mm, I know.¡± Wei Tianchong nodded.


    But then he suddenly thought of something and paled. ¡°Not good! Junyang¡­¡±


    Cai Junyang¡¯s opponent was none other than the rank one of the Beast Refining Gate, Helian Hu!


    Tang Jie helplessly sighed. ¡°I can only hope that the esteemed teachers will permit concession when facing an opponent that can¡¯t be defeated. I only worry that Junyang¡¯s personality won¡¯t let him do such a thing.¡±


    The two of them looked at Cai Junyang, who was calm and indifferent, apparently not at all afraid of his foe.


    ¡°Is it allowed or not?¡± Wei Tianchong frantically asked.


    ¡°Won¡¯t we find out if we keep watching?¡± Tang Jie breezily replied, his eyes turning to the stage where Godhead Pce and the Seven Absolutions Sect were fighting.


    In today¡¯s battles, these two sects were bound to be the main characters. A gruesome battle was ying out between them, a lesson to all the other students who were about to participate in this bloody struggle. Things are starting to get a little more lethal in this tournament!

 Chapter 290: Getting Drunk

    Chapter 290: Getting Drunk


    Blood fountained.


    A Godhead Pce disciplended off the stage, drenched in blood. His body was swaying, but he had luckily avoided death. He staggered back to his section and got down on his knees in front of a teacher. ¡°This student was incapable and unable to defeat his opponent.¡±


    The teacher simply grunted. Rather than punishing the student, he allowed him to go back and rest.


    As the battles went on, everyone gradually began to understand the rules for this tournament.


    If you weren¡¯t strong enough to beat the enemy, you could lose, but backing away without fighting was not allowed.


    This was a mentality akin to shing one¡¯s sword.


    The two major sects regarded each other as mortal foes, and death was more eptable than humiliation, a loss better than giving up. The students now understood what their teachers sought from them.


    In today¡¯s battles, the desperate struggle between the students of Godhead Pce and the Seven Absolutions Sect became the center of attention.


    Blood spurted, murderous intent roiled, hatred overflowed, and fighting spirit surged.


    One after another, Yun Wuji, Mu Yi, Xiao Wen, Lin Wang, and Fang Shiye, the outstanding students from both sects, took the stage and showed off their power. But they weren¡¯t responsible for the real killing. Just as everyone knew, exciting battles normally took ce against people who were of equal level, and the same was true for killing. The closer the opponents were in power, the more gruesome thebat and the greater the chance of death.


    When the twentieth match had concluded, the students of both Godhead Pce and the Seven Absolutions Sect were almost all covered in wounds.


    Godhead Pce had won twelve matches and lost eight. Six of its group had died, three had been heavily injured, and five had light wounds. The Seven Absolutions Sect had won eight matches. Nine of its group had died, four had sustained severe injuries, and three were lightly wounded. Both sides had paid a heavy price, but in terms of strength, Godhead Pce hade out ahead.


    ¡°Fifteen people died just like that? Is it done now?¡± Wei Tianchong muttered.


    He hadn¡¯t been prepared at all for the brutality he had witnessed today, so he had been taken byplete surprise when the killing started. The blood flowing and lives ending left him deeply shaken.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t me him. There were actually a lot of students like Wei Tianchong.


    They were still students who spent most of their time in the academy. The word ¡°cruelty¡± existed only on paper and in their imagination.


    Today, their teachers were giving them all an advanced lesson, showing them the callous backside hidden behind the world¡¯s warm exterior.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s not over. The dead still need to be reced, inheriting the points and fights of the predecessors,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°You know that¡¯s not what I¡¯m asking about,¡± Wei Tianchong said.


    Tang Jie chuckled and added, ¡°Oh, the surviving students will inherit the hatred and continue the hostility. If that hatred only existed on paper before, they¡¯ve fully experienced it now.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­¡± Wei Tianchong looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie casually said, ¡°Some of the survivors will eventually be part of the mainstream in their sects, and they will not forget the hatred from today, nor will they permit their disciples to forget. When the timees, they will use various methods to arrange bloody struggles simr to this, further inciting and creating new conflicts, causing the hatred to continue through generations, never ending until one side is extinct.¡±


    Wei Tianchong shivered. ¡°Then there will never be peace? Isn¡¯t this intentionally creating hatred?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s how it¡¯s always been.¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°What do you think hatred is? Hatred is a sharp sword. It can hurt you and leave you in pain, but it is also a source of strength, supporting you and encouraging you to fight on. But it is also an addictive drug, making you desire it, rely on it, and never take leave of it. It is also a tool, a cheap and useful tool¡­¡±


    Wei Tianchong didn¡¯t understand the concept of addictive drugs, but he got the gist of what Tang Jie was saying.


    He wanted to ask more questions, but Tang Jie knew what he wanted to ask and patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid. Understanding is one thing, but there are some things that you have no choice but to do. There¡¯s nothing shameful about being a tool. To reach the requirements, even an eight- or nine-cycle-Jade-Gate genius will have to be obediently used when the timees¡­ It¡¯s fine so long as you¡¯re not used for your entire life.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was curious as to where geniuses would be so worthless that they would be willing to be used as tools, but when he considered that Godhead and Seven Absolutions had set up quite a few geniuses of eight cycles or above in today¡¯s fights, he found that he had nothing to say.


    He didn¡¯t know that Tang Jie wasn¡¯t even referring to those people on the stage.


    After speaking with Wei Tianchong, Tang Jie stood up and walked over to the other spectating students: Liu Hongyan, Shu Mingyang, and Shi Meng were all sitting here. Today¡¯s matches were over, and everyone was about to leave. Tang Jie came over to Liu and Shu and said, ¡°Mingyang, hold on a moment. I have something I need to talk to you about.¡±


    Shu Mingyang was surprised. ¡°What about?¡±


    Tang Jie walked alongside him and whispered, ¡°You saw today¡¯s battle.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    ¡°If everything goes as expected, then there will also be brutal battles between the Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion, as well as the Basking Moon Sect and Beast Refining Gate. This isn¡¯t a tournament, but mortalbat,¡± Tang Jie gravely said.


    ¡°I understand.¡± Shu Mingyang nodded. ¡°Fortunately, your opponent isn¡¯t too strong.¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m not worried about myself. It¡¯s Junyang. His opponent is Helian Hu, and you¡¯ve seen how strong he is.¡±


    Yesterday and today, Tang Jie had seen Helian Hu fight twice.


    Today¡¯s fight had been particrly special. While Godhead Pce had been fighting against the Seven Absolutions Sect, Horizon Ocean Pavilion had been engaged in a fierce battle with the Beast Refining Gate, and the most amazing battle of all had been the one between Lan Yu and Helian Hu.


    In twenty battles, Horizon Ocean Pavilion ended up with seven wins and thirteen losses, and in that most crucial battle of prodigies, Lan Yu had won against Helian Hu.


    Helian Hu had also disyed his strength in this battle, and he had not let down his reputation as number one in the Beast Refining Gate. Putting aside his own strength, he also had three lower-grade Mind Opening refined tigers. Unlike Yiyi and the little tiger, the refined beasts of the Beast Refining Gate were considered part of their strength, so they were allowed to be brought onto the stage like Wei Tianchong¡¯s puppet, while Tang Jie had to leave Yiyi and the little tiger behind.


    While Lan Yu had won, it had been an extremely hard-fought victory that had also left him injured.


    This was precisely why everyone in the Basking Moon Sect could tell that Cai Junyang had no chance of beating Helian Hu. Not even ounting for the three lower-grade fiend tigers, Helian Hu¡¯s strength alone was enough to beat Cai Junyang.


    Hearing this, Shu Mingyang sighed. ¡°Yes, he¡¯s extremely powerful. Junyang¡­ has no hope.¡±


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°The problem is that Junyang is too stubborn. You know that he¡¯s always believed that it¡¯s better to die in battle than to surrender. Though he hasn¡¯t said anything, while I was sitting next to him, I could see the fire burning in his eyes¡­ He¡¯s excited.¡±


    ¡°You mean¡­¡±


    ¡°I want you to advise him not to be so impulsive. In the fight against Helian Hu, it¡¯s fine if he loses. He just needs to try his best, and if things start going south, he should quickly leave the battlefield to try and protect himself. From today¡¯s battle, I can see that while the two sects might hate each other, it¡¯s not to the extent where they will leave the stage to chase their opponent down.¡±


    ¡°Why me, though?¡± Shu Mingyang said in surprise.


    ¡°Perhaps because you cherish the world,¡± Tang Jie said with a smile. ¡°Someone like me who utilizes everything to the utmost telling him to survive doesn¡¯t make much sense and probably won¡¯t have much of an effect. It¡¯s only someone like youing forward that will make him understand that, no matter how lofty his aspirations are, he has to be alive to realize them, and so he might heed your advice.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not afraid that I¡¯ll support him?¡± Shu Mingyang asked.


    ¡°You won¡¯t.¡± Tang Jie shook his head.


    ¡°Oh? Why?¡± Shu Mingyang curiously asked.


    ¡°Because you¡¯re not that sort of person.¡± Tang Jie grinned.


    In the end, Shu Mingyang agreed to Tang Jie¡¯s request, and the two of them went to see Cai Junyang.


    At this time, Cai Junyang was drinking in a tavern in Red Plum City. When he saw the two of theme in, he shouted, ¡°If you¡¯re advising me to give up, then you had best shut your mouths now.¡±


    Being silenced before they could even talk, the two of them shook their heads and bitterly smiled.


    Tang Jie brusquely said, ¡°I say, what are you doing, being so stubborn? Human life has its rises and falls, so is losing a match really that much of a big deal?¡±


    Cai Junyang shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t care about losing, but I can¡¯t concede without at least fighting with all I can! No matter how strong Helian Hu is, I can¡¯t just throw away my sword and surrender.¡±


    He thumped his chest and said, ¡°Tang Jie, I understand your kind intentions, but do you recall my battle with Lan Yu yesterday? That guy wanted to hurt me, and even used realm pressure to intimidate me. If you hadn¡¯t called out back then, my will would have been broken, and I would have found it hard to regain my spirit again. Now, no one is trying to keep me down, but we¡¯re trying to keep ourselves down? I can lose this battle, can even die, but I can¡¯t just give up!¡±


    Cai Junyang pped the table so hard that wine flew into the air.


    ¡°Fine. You understand what¡¯s going on more than anyone else. It seems like it¡¯s pointless for us to try and say anything.¡± Tang Jie shook his head and sighed.


    Cai Junyang replied, ¡°So long as you don¡¯t try and tell me to give up, we can still be good friends.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll just watch you die,¡± Shu Mingyang tersely replied.


    ¡°What¡¯s the point in saying all this? Since we can¡¯t convince you, we just won¡¯t try. Come on; let¡¯s drink!¡± Tang Jie very easily gave up, and he grabbed a bowl of wine and drank it down.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what good brothers are about!¡± Cai Junyangughed and raised his own wine bowl.


    The three of them started to drink together.


    The more they drank, the worse the mood became.


    Gradually, their faces became flushed, and their bodies began to sway. All of them had worries on their mind.


    Finally, Tang Jie lost his patience and stood up first. pping the table, he said, ¡°No matter how strong Helian Hu is, is there really no chance of winning? I don¡¯t believe that at all. I think I¡¯m going to help Junyang win this battle!¡±


    He turned and strode out of the tavern.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Shu Mingyang asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me and keep drinking. I¡¯ll be back soon!¡± Tang Jie replied.


    Shu Mingyang hastily got up. ¡°I think you¡¯ve had a little too much. Junyang, let¡¯s go and keep an eye on him so that he doesn¡¯t cause any trouble.¡±


    Cai Junyang drowsily replied, ¡°What sort of problem could he cause¡­?¡±


    But Shu Mingyang picked him up and took off after Tang Jie.


    As the two charged out of the tavern, they saw Tang Jie walking into a small alley.


    Shu Mingyang called out to him, but Tang Jie ignored him, so Shu Mingyang could only drag Cai Junyang and go after him.


    As they walked a few steps, they saw a personing from the other side: You Shaofeng.


    Tang Jie staggered and fell onto You Shaofeng.


    Shu Mingyang instantly knew that this was bad.


    You Shaofeng and Tang Jie had always been on bad terms, as everyone knew. Now that Tang Jie had run into him while drunk, things probably wouldn¡¯t end well for him.


    What happened next astounded Shu Mingyang.


    Not only did You Shaofeng not punch Tang Jie away, he even helped him up.


    Even though he almost immediately let go, at least he didn¡¯t punch Tang Jie. Rather, he nervously looked around as if he was worried that someone might see.


    Shu Mingyang was shaken and quickly moved himself and Cai Junyang to the side. You Shaofeng saw that no one was around and then did something that almost made Shu Mingyang¡¯s eyes pop out.


    He helped Tang Jie up and pulled him into a dark corner, and the two of them started talking.


    How could that be?


    Shu Mingyang¡¯s eyes bulged out.


    Weren¡¯t they mortal foes?


    A few momentster, You Shaofeng left Tang Jie¡¯s side, and Tang Jie continued forward.


    He lurched forward while Shu Mingyang followed, carrying Cai Junyang on his back, until they arrived at a small alley on the edge of the city.


    It was a dark and unfrequented alley. It was alreadyte, and all was quiet. The only presence here was a ck-armored puppet loyally standing guard in a corner.


    Tang Jie came to this small alley, looked around to make sure that no one else was around, and then took out the Heartbreak Saber from his Mustard Seed Bag.


    The eyes that had been turbid from drunkenness brightened in the darkness. He slowly raised his saber and then swung his saber at the puppet.


    The ck-armoredbat puppets of Red Plum City were responsible for keeping the peace and would not attack people without reason. This was precisely why no one could have ever imagined that someone would be so bold as to attack one.


    But this puppet was truly tough, and Tang Jie¡¯s full-strength swing on the puppet¡¯s neck only managed to make a dent rather than taking its head. In terms of toughness, it was above Wei Tianchong¡¯sbat puppet.


    Puppets were not lifeforms, and so long as their structure and formation were intact, they would be fine no matter the severity of the damage. Thus, while a bystander would have suffered a lethal injury from this sneak attack, it was just an insignificant blow to the puppet.


    Even so, the puppet activated its self-defense system. With a ck, it turned around, raised its saber, and swung at Tang Jie.


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    Tang Jie raised his saber to block, and the impact instantly sent Tang Jie rolling away. Tang Jie wasn¡¯t that weak, so he probably was still drunk and not very steady on his feet.


    The puppet strode out in pursuit, reaching out to grab Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie rolled to dodge and sent out the golden thread, which coiled around the puppet¡¯s neck where he had made the dent. With a pull, the thread bit around a third of an inch into the neck before stopping.


    It turned out that the golden thread wasn¡¯t omnipotent and able to slice away everything. This puppet was incredibly tough, and while the golden thread was sharp, it still wasn¡¯t able to cut open the puppet.


    But Tang Jie¡¯s pull caused the puppet to bend over.


    Tang Jie proceeded to do something that made Shu Mingyang¡¯s jaw drop.


    He started to pull off the puppet¡¯s armor!


    Shu Mingyang now understood what Tang Jie was trying to do.


    He was trying to get Cai Junyang a suit of armor.


    These Grade 3bat puppets were all wearing the Godhead Armor of Godhead Pce, and while the color had been changed so that bystanders couldn¡¯t tell, everyone who needed to know understood the quality of this armor.


    If Cai Junyang wore this armor, he truly could boost his chances of survival by a lot.


    The problem was¡­ Was it really a good idea to strip the armor like this?


    Tang Jie held thebat puppet with one hand while kicking it in the belly with a foot, but the puppet didn¡¯t give up, continuing to stab its saber at Tang Jie. Tang Jie did his best to dodge, but he was still stabbed a few times, blood pouring out.


    But Tang Jie refused to give up, continuing to strip armor from the puppet.


    One was a brainless puppet and the other was a guy who couldn¡¯t use his brains because of all the alcohol, so they brawled with each other like children, without any sort of technique at all.


    Shu Mingyang knew that this wasn¡¯t a solution, for the puppet would stab Tang Jie to death once given enough time.


    Just when he was about to go out and help, there was an azure sh of light from the depths of the alley.


    A figure suddenly appeared, holding a brilliant sword that he swung down right on the wound on the puppet¡¯s neck.


    In a sh of sword light, the puppet¡¯s tough head sagged and dropped off. It dropped onto Tang Jie and made him groan in pain.


    The puppetpletely stopped moving.


    It was only then that Shu Mingyang saw that the person who had appeared was none other than You Shaofeng.


    You Shaofeng had clearly used up a lot of strength with this sh. He took a few moments to catch his breath before kicking at the fallen figure of Tang Jie, cursing, ¡°The moment is almost here, so stop making trouble!¡±


    He stripped the puppet of its armor, weapon, and other useful materials before picking up Tang Jie and disappearing into the darkness.


    Shu Mingyang finally understood what had happened, muttering, ¡°So you two weren¡¯t enemies¡­¡±


    A thought urred to him, and he blurted out in realization, ¡°That sword!¡±


    He was suddenly enlightened. Oh? What exactly has Shu Mingyang realized?

 Chapter 291: Primordial Fog Violet Cloud

    Chapter 291: Primordial Fog Violet Cloud


    Even though Cai Junyang had been drunk at the time, he still recalled how Tang Jie had managed to get this suit of armor.


    He looked at Tang Jie as he would an idiot. ¡°I really didn¡¯t think you would be capable of such a thing. You¡¯re normally a pretty smart person, so how does getting drunk make you such an idiot?¡±


    Tang Jie awkwardly said, ¡°Alcohol inspires courage in cowards, and I lost my head for a moment. But I¡¯ve already done it, and it¡¯s not like I can return it. Take it, and I¡¯ll rest easier.¡±


    ¡°Do you really think I can just wear this onto the stage?¡±


    ¡°Just change the color,¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s just a suit of armor. The Wandering Pce won¡¯t really go after you because of it. Staying alive is more important, and if you really end up getting discovered, just say that I did it.¡±


    Cai Junyang was moved by his deeds. Softly punching Tang Jie, he said, ¡°Screw you. Do you really think I¡¯m the type to sell out my friends? You had the guts to steal it, so you think I don¡¯t have the guts to wear it?¡±


    He put on the suit of armor.


    On the third day of the tournament, Godhead Pce was pitted against the Beast Refining Gate, the Thousand Passions Sect was pitted against Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and the Basking Moon Sect was pitted against the Seven Absolutions Sect. There was no doubt that the battle between the Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion would be the center of attention.


    First up was the Thousand Passions Sect¡¯s Shen Cheng versus Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s Wan Quan.


    The moment they came onto stage, Shen Cheng raised his hand and fired off a white light at Wan Quan.


    The Thousand Passions Sect had always been known for its fast casting speed, and it was amon sight for the people of the Thousand Passions Sect to unleash a rain of spell arts.


    Though Shen Cheng had yet to reach this level, he didn¡¯t waste time talking after making his attack, forming another spell. He fired off a golden light, and then he made another spell art. Given that he had fired three spell arts off in a row without a break, it was clear that he had been preparing before getting onto stage.


    Wan Quan didn¡¯t panic. As Shen Cheng cast his first spell, he did one thing.


    He took out a talisman and pped it on his body, creating an Astral me barrier that blocked this attack.


    ording to the tournament rules, the students were only allowed to use spell weapons in battle that were clearly their own. Things like puppets and refined beasts were all clearly personal possessions, so they could participate, but Yiyi and the little tiger weren¡¯t bound by soul or blood contracts, so they weren¡¯t considered personal possessions and couldn¡¯t participate. The same principle applied to talismans. Since they were not explicit personal possessions, they could not be used.


    The tournament had banned them, or else everyone would have been loaning stacks of talismans left and right, and this would ultimately be a contest of money and which sect had the most resources, one with high costs and low rewards. The six major sects would never do something so stupid.


    This was also why someone like Shu Mingyang, a student who was skilled in talisman use, did not participate.


    However, pills, talismans, formations, and tools were the Four Immortal Arts, so aplete ban wasn¡¯t appropriate. Thus, after some discussion, it was permitted for students to bring one talisman into battle. The spell recorded in the talisman could not exceed the student¡¯s cultivation level, and it could only be used three times.


    Thus, a talisman was an ultimate move that students were very cautious about using.


    Shen Cheng hadn¡¯t expected Wan Quan to use a talisman, and his three-spellbo ran into a turtle shell and was rendered ineffective. Instead, it gave time for his opponent to cast a spell.


    While Shen Cheng had been casting, Wan Quan had been chanting, but he was much slower than Shen Cheng when it came to using spell arts. When he was still casting after Shen Cheng had finished casting three spells, Shen Cheng instantly knew that he was in for a bad time and began to put all his strength into casting a fourth spell.


    A ck arrow of wind formed in his hand and howled at Wan Quan¡¯s face.


    Wan Quan just dropped his head and allowed the remaining power of the barrier to block the attack. And then with a roar, he pushed his hands forward, and a violet fog engulfed the stage.


    ¡°Primordial Fog Violet Cloud!¡± Cai Junyang, Tang Jie, and Ye Tianshang gasped. Even Peng Yaolong, who was in battle with a Seven Absolutions Sect student, couldn¡¯t help but turn to look. The Seven Absolutions Sect student seized this chance to kick Peng Yaolong, but Peng Yaolong only shook slightly before punching that student back and continuing to observe what was going on with the Thousand Passions Sect¡­


    The Primordial Fog Violet Cloud was produced by Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s Violet Heart Demon Tempering Secret Art. When unleashed on arge scale, it both obstructed vision and threw spiritual energy into turmoil, making it more difficult and more costly for opponents to use spell arts.


    But the true origin of the Primordial Fog Violet Cloud¡¯s namey in its real birthce, the Primordial Fog Domain. It was said that the Primordial Fog Domain was extremely barren, a world overrun by poverty, with red, ck, and violet forming the primary colors. There was a ce in the Primordial Fog Domain that was engulfed in violet clouds. These violet clouds were extremely poisonous, and just breathing it in would throw one¡¯s spiritual pulse into disarray and make it difficult to use spells. It was a vicious toxin for the cultivators of the world.


    In the Primordial Fog Cmity, an Archdevil brought the Primordial Fog Violet Clouds into the Great Ster Chiliocosm, killing countless cultivators. Once the cmity had passed, some Immortals gathered some of the violet clouds to research them.


    The Violet Heart Demon Tempering Secret Art was one of the secret arts that Horizon Ocean Pavilion had developed from the Primordial Fog Violet Clouds they had gathered back then.


    The violet clouds created by this secret art were not as terrifying as the real Primordial Fog Violet Cloud, but they still made casting difficult. For most cultivators, the greatest effect of this secret art was that it allowed others to experience and adapt to the forces of the Primordial Fog Domain ahead of time.


    Thus, everyone had allowed this Violet Heart Demon Tempering Art.


    Cai Junyang asked Tang Jie, ¡°Who do you think will win?¡±


    After some thought, Tang Jie replied, ¡°In terms of strength, Shen Cheng should be stronger, but Wan Quan¡¯s Violet Heart Demon Tempering counters the Thousand Passions Sect. Horizon Ocean Pavilion has a higher chance of winning this match.¡±


    The Thousand Passions Sect specialized in casting spells quickly, but this also made it so that their control was somewhatcking. It was akin to how a galloping stallion was more likely to get into an ident.


    The Primordial Fog Violet Cloud would also work on other sects, but its threat would not be as great. It was ideal to use against the Thousand Passions Sect, not only restraining their speed, but also introducing the chance of a bacsh if they weren¡¯t careful.


    It was said that the grudge between the Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion was also linked to this secret art.


    Of course, it was always possible to find countless reasons in retrospect.


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    Thus, the actual history was no longer important. What was important was that the Thousand Passions Sect loathed this spell art.


    As Wan Quan used the Primordial Fog Violet Cloud, Shen Cheng¡¯s breathing immediately grewbored, and even the energy flow through his body was hindered. He knew that this was bad, but he clenched his teeth and tried to cast anyway. But before the spell art could emerge, he felt a sharp pain at his chest.


    Aghast, he saw that Wan Quan had already rushed over and chopped a palm at him, hitting Shen Cheng¡¯s shoulder. If Shen Cheng hadn¡¯t suddenly twisted his neck, his head would have been chopped off.


    Shen Cheng furiously roared and fell back. He threw out a talisman, and a white-feathered crane emerged. It screeched before jabbing its long beak at Wan Quan. It was a savage peck, and Wan Quan was caughtpletely off guard. With a groan, he fell back, but at the same time, he unleashed a wave of energy from his saber.


    This saber struck Shen Cheng and almost cut him in half. His body flew off the stage and out of bounds.


    Wan Quan was worried that he still wasn¡¯t dead, so he decided to risk another peck from the crane to chase after Shen Cheng and punch him before he could hit the ground. A fierce gust of wind mmed into Shen Cheng, sending him another several dozen meters. Hended with a bang, and there was no more movement, for he was already dead.


    Wan Quan excitedly shouted, ¡°I won!¡±


    The Horizon Ocean Pavilion students cheered as if they had won some great victory.


    On the other end, the Thousand Passions Sect students had dour expressions as they viciously red at Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    Tang Jie and the others couldn¡¯t help but sigh, ¡°Another bloody day.¡±


    In the face of this situation, nobody could hope for any peace.


    Sure enough, as the two sects sent out their students, each battle was a mortal conflict.


    Both sects had more women than men, so they were weakened by the purpose of the Immortal Fortune Conference. Thus, their strength levels were simr, and they each had their victories and losses.


    The sixth match ended up being the climax.


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s number one, Lan Yu, was pitted against the Thousand Passions Sect¡¯s number four, Li Zhiping.


    Most people weren¡¯t worried about who would win, but about whether or not Li Zhiping would make it out alive.


    Lan Yu entered the ring first, appearing as confident and imposing as ever. But Li Zhiping went up to the stage with very slow steps, and he seemed rather afraid.


    By looking at that young and immature face of his, those who didn¡¯t know his reputation might mistake him for some junior.


    Upon arriving at his corner of the arena, Li Zhiping brought his hands together and bowed to Lan Yu. ¡°Li Zhiping greets Senior Lan.¡±


    Lan Yu cooly replied, ¡°If you want to concede now, you can still live. Once the battle begins, concession won¡¯t be so easy.¡±


    Li Zhiping smiled and said, ¡°As a student, I can lose and die, but I can¡¯t back away before even fighting. I ept Senior Lan¡¯s kindness, but Zhiping is willing to fight, so I must turn this offer down.¡±


    As he parted his hands, a transparent barrier appeared. It turned out that he had been talking and saluting just now so that he could finish his spell.


    This was a rather high-ss diversion among cultivators, using the time to chat and some seemingly irrelevant movements to cast a spell. This barrier was colorless and transparent, so it was difficult to detect. If Lan Yu hadn¡¯t possessed sharp spiritual senses, he might not have noticed. Many of the spectators had not even noticed that Li Zhiping had put up a barrier.


    Lan Yu said in disdain, ¡°A mere trick and nothing more!¡±


    He waved his sleeve, and a surge of wind swept toward Li Zhiping.


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion was a master of the Dao of Wind.


    The Dao of Wind meant to instantly cover a thousand kilometers, to be omnipresent.


    The students of Horizon Ocean Pavilion employed two kinds of tactics. If they were facing someone stronger than themselves, they would use Wind spell arts to increase their speed so that they could hit and run. When they fought against opponents weaker than themselves, they would create sweeping wind storms that would dominate the entire field.


    Lan Yu was definitely the strongest among the students of the six sects, so he fought as the strong would. Not even moving, he waved his sleeve and unleashed raging winds that converged on Li Zhiping from all sides.


    This was Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s Windwall spell, but in Lan Yu¡¯s hands, the walls of winds were everywhere, constantly pushing and leaving no ce to hide. It was many times stronger than the average Windwall.


    A few wandering cultivators spectating the match were instantly lost in admiration upon seeing this spell. ¡°This is the real power of the six major sects. I¡¯ve managed to reach Nine Revolutions after a life of hard cultivation, but not even I can cast a Windwall spell like this. If I were against Lan Yu, I would probably lose after a few exchanges.¡±


    Someone sneered, ¡°Would you even be worthy of challenging Lan Yu? Even Li Zhiping might not.¡±


    ¡°Hold on, hold on. Let¡¯s see how that Li Zhiping deals with this.¡±


    Surrounded by wind walls, Li Zhiping was like a little tree in a storm, on the verge of being toppled over. But this little tree was firmly rooted in the earth and stood tall. Besides that, Li Zhiping cast several spell arts, creating halos of light around him. It seemed like this guy was desperately casting defensive spell arts, leaving everyone bbergasted. A little taste of the new enemy Tang Jie is making.

 Chapter 292: The Art of Deception

    Chapter 292: The Art of Deception


    But some people quickly realized that Li Zhiping had probably realized that he couldn¡¯t beat Lan Yu, so he had decided to give up on a victory and seek self-preservation. After exchanging a few rounds and showing that he had tried, he would leave the stage and concede.


    This was the best n. The Thousand Passions Sect couldn¡¯t just allow one of their outstanding students to die, so they had probably given their tacit approval. In any case, at least they would keep their dignity.


    Lan Yu also realized this, but he wasn¡¯t going to just let Li Zhiping leave.


    He could have epted it if Li Zhiping had conceded the moment he entered the ring, but to let him leave alive now that he had started fighting would be a failure on his part.


    Lan Yu could not ept such a failure, so he thrust out his left hand, and there was a ringing explosion in the air.


    This was the Airst spell, a method of sending shockwaves through the air to impede an opponent¡¯s casting. Li Zhiping was covered in defensive spell arts at this time, so the effects of the Airst were almost negligible. Lan Yu had not used this spell art to stop him from casting. The Airst, by sending vibrations through the air, also disrupted sound waves. While it was normally used to prevent sonic spells, it was being used here to prevent Li Zhiping from saying that he conceded.


    After using Airst, Lan Yu waved at the air, and the wind walls froze and stopped converging on Li Zhiping. Instead, they formed a cage thatpletely locked down the stage, thus stopping Li Zhiping from escaping.


    It was only after cutting off the paths of escape that Lan Yu raised his hand and formed a Wind Needle.


    Yet this was no ordinary Wind Needle, but hundreds to thousands of Wind Needlespressed together. As these azure needles gathered together in front of him, Lan Yu red at Li Zhiping and said, ¡°You will die in this battle. Go, Thousand de Gale!¡±


    The concentrated Wind Needle shot at Li Zhiping, and Li Zhiping yelped and flung out his hand, raising a shield of light. At the same time, he shouted, ¡°I concede!¡±


    Sure enough, after showing some effort on the stage, he had yelled out his concession.


    But the Airst¡¯s effects were still present, preventing his voice from being heard.


    Li Zhiping grimaced and quickly fell back, but he ran into a wind wall, upon which he paled.


    Lan Yu savagelyughed, ¡°You¡¯re only leaving here a dead man!¡±


    He sent out another de of wind, and this de was so fierce that it both shattered Li Zhiping¡¯s shield of light and obliterated his transparent barrier.


    Li Zhiping hastily cast more barriers while punching at the Windwall. It seemed like he didn¡¯t want to fight at all and was thinking only of escaping.


    Lan Yu coldly snorted. ¡°You can¡¯t escape.¡±


    He began to form hand signs, his hands quickly working, and the air began to rumble with thunder.


    It appeared that Lan Yu was preparing a truly powerful spell art that would kill Li Zhiping in one blow.


    At this moment, Li Zhiping¡¯s panicked face turned cold.


    He suddenly turned to Lan Yu and instantly elerated toward him.


    Lan Yu hadn¡¯t expected him to suddenly charge at him. After a moment of shock, he realized that he had fallen into a trap.


    Li Zhiping had been acting precisely for a chance like this.


    He was in the crucial moment of casting an art. He either had toplete the casting and kill his foe, or immediately stop it and suffer a bacsh. While this would hurt him a little, it wouldn¡¯t be too serious.


    He was a rather decisive person, and he knew that Li Zhiping could only have acted at this moment if he felt that he had a chance. He was determined to not give Li Zhiping this opportunity, so he forced a stop to the casting, taking the bacsh. As he threw up blood, he thrust out his hand, creating a barrier of spiritual light.


    This barrier was a minor spell that Lan Yu could cast instantly, but the split second of time this bought him was precious indeed.


    As the spiritual light barrier emerged, Li Zhiping sighed, knowing that the chance of victory that he had so desperately sought had been cut in half. Even so, he still charged at full speed, thrusting his finger at Lan Yu.


    Celestial Rhino Finger!


    As this finger struck Lan Yu, there was a crack. Lan Yu¡¯s barrier shattered, and the fingertip struck him in the chest, instantly drawing blood.


    But while this finger was sharp, it had been greatly weakened by the barrier. What should have been a certain kill now only injured Lan Yu, and Lan Yu quickly punched back, striking Li Zhiping in the face. ¡°Die!¡±


    Heshed out in anger, and his iron fist erupted with light, imbued with all of his strength.


    But Li Zhiping¡¯s body shed, and he surprisingly blocked the attack. It turned out that the barrier he had cast for himself earlier was still present.


    Lan Yu knew that this wasn¡¯t a good sign. It seemed like he had been frantically casting protective spells not to fend him off, but to buy an opportunity at a moment like this.


    As Lan Yu¡¯s punch was blocked, Li Zhiping thrust out his finger again. But rather than the Celestial Rhino Finger, he used the weaker Yang Fire Finger, a spark of me appearing on his fingertip as it jabbed at Lan Yu¡¯s face.


    Lan Yu thrust his own finger in return, but this was to neutralize the attack rather than to counterstrike. He growled, ¡°Even with these lowly methods, you still can¡¯t win!¡±


    He was now showing off the true power of Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s number one student. When facing down Li Zhiping¡¯s formidable offensive, he managed to neutralize it with his own attack, and this was while he was suffering from the bacsh of stopping his art. The audience was roaring with excitement.


    At this moment, Li Zhiping¡¯s eyes shed with a cunning light as he said, ¡°That¡¯s not for certain.¡±


    A talisman appeared in his hand, and he pped it onto Lan Yu¡¯s chest.


    Lan Yu had managed to catch his breath after blocking Li Zhiping¡¯s vicious assault. When he saw Li Zhiping take out a talisman, he did not dare to act carelessly and quickly formed another barrier.


    A momentter, the talisman exploded, and the barrier flickered for a moment before shattering. Lan Yu went flying through the air!


    <em>Oh, no! It was an Explosion talisman!</em>


    Lan Yu was aghast, as he knew that he had fallen for the bait again.


    The Explosion Talisman was a very deceptive talisman. It sounded very impressive and created a big bang, but its actual lethality was extremely low. But this talisman was particrly outstanding when it came to pushing power. Anyone struck by the talisman¡¯s explosion could easily fly several dozen meters.


    When Li Zhiping used this Explosion Talisman, Lan Yu knew what his n was. For him, killing Lan Yu was naturally the best, but if that wasn¡¯t possible, he would use the Explosion Talisman to send Lan Yu out of the arena, which was also a victory.


    For number four of the Thousand Passions Sect to defeat Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s number one was still a glorious feat, even if he didn¡¯t kill him, and it was enough to satisfy the teachers of the Thousand Passions Sect.


    This was the advantage of the weak. They didn¡¯t always seek the best oues, because for them, even making a little progress came with immense profits.


    Li Zhiping sighed in relief as he watched Lan Yu get sted off the stage.


    This had been a hard-fought and dangerous victory.


    But at this moment, the flying Lan Yu suddenly disappeared.


    Li Zhiping froze, unable to react. Meanwhile, all of the Thousand Passions Sect students shouted in unison, ¡°Senior Brother, watch out!¡±


    <em>What?</em>


    Li Zhiping was still trying to understand when he felt a sharp pain at his chest.


    He looked down and saw that a hand had prated through his body.


    Li Zhiping opened his mouth, and blood began to flow out. ¡°Ocean¡­ Oceansh¡­ Zephyr¡­¡±


    ¡°So long as you know,¡± Lan Yu callously said from behind him, his expression dark.


    He had been on the verge of defeat just now, and so he found it impossible to feel proud.


    ¡°A pity¡­¡± Li Zhiping sighed as he copsed onto the stage.


    Lan Yu slowly extracted his hand. ¡°If you hadn¡¯t yed so many tricks, you might not have died. Even the most cunning n is meaningless before absolute strength.¡±


    He proudly raised his head and looked at the crowd as if he was saying, ¡°If you have any tricks, bring it on!¡±


    Sitting on Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder, Yiyi seemed to be affected by Lan Yu¡¯s words, muttering, ¡°Even the most cunning n is meaningless before absolute strength¡­¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled, ¡°Yiyi, let me tell you this: never trust in such foolish words. While these words sound reasonable, they¡¯re actually utterly devoid of meaning¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that he¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Mm, nonsense piled on error,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°Schemes naturally can¡¯t beat absolute strength, but what does it mean to be ¡®absolute¡¯? This in itself is a very shameless term. Back at Thunderbird Cliff, there were nearly one hundred Thunderbirds, with an upper grade among them, and sopared to me who was at Spirit Lake Tier, was their strength absolute? But they still lost to me, and I ughtered them all. You¡¯ll say that they didn¡¯t have absolute strength, so does that render tacticspletely irrelevant? If that¡¯s the case, doesn¡¯t that mean you have to have the strength to dominate the heavens and earth to call it ¡®absolute¡¯? So these are extremely shameless words. So long as they lose, you can just say that it was because those people didn¡¯t possess absolute strength¡­ Isn¡¯t that just nonsense? Besides that, who doesn¡¯t want absolute strength, but who can possess it? There are more than ten thousand cultivators here at this Immortal Fortune Conference, but who here would dare say that they had absolute strength? Nothing but empty words, a fart in the wind. Thus, it¡¯s a whole load of nonsense!¡±


    He spoke in a particrly loud voice, and many people heard him, including Lan Yu, who turned and red at him.


    Tang Jie continued to speak loudly. ¡°That said, schemes exist not to put up a stiff resistance, but to avoid fighting against those people who have absolute strength. If you do it right, you can even have those people who possess absolute strength serve you. Thus, these words are also wrong.¡±


    Finally, Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Clearly almost having the tables turned on himself and just eking out a win, and then speaking such arrogant nonsense after luckily winning, thinking highly of himself¡ªin my view, a person like this will ultimately end up as an idiot who is used by others!¡±


    Lan Yu¡¯s face turned white with rage. Tang Jie is certainly not making any allies in Horizon Ocean Pavilion.

 Chapter 293: Consider It a Small Gift From Me

    Chapter 293: Consider It a Small Gift From Me


    Tang Jie brazenly red back. On the side, the students from the Thousand Passions Sect all cheered Tang Jie on, and their faltering morale surged back up.


    The Basking Moon Sect was on good terms with the Thousand Passions Sect, and for the Basking Moon Sect to speak up for their ally in this mortal sh of sects was as normal as could be. On the other end, the Seven Absolutions Sect spoke up for Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and both sides exchanged barbs.


    Tang Jie had openly taken the wind out of the sails of his romantic rival, but others took this to be him speaking up for the Thousand Passions Sect. Some of the girls from the Thousand Passions Sect even began to look at him differently.


    A message arrived from Xu Miaoran: Why are you provoking him?


    Tang Jie replied: It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to, but even if I don¡¯t, he will make trouble for me anyway. Haven¡¯t you seen how he¡¯s been looking at me thesest two days? He practically wants to eat me alive.


    Xu Miaoran: You¡¯ve given him an excuse now.


    Tang Jie: An excuse only holds meaning for people that care about such things. Rx; I know what I¡¯m doing.


    Xu Miaoran: Understood.


    Tang Jie: If you¡¯re just going to write ¡°understood¡±, there¡¯s no need to waste a whole long-distance message talisman, right?


    In the distance, Xu Miaoran waved at Tang Jie and smiled.


    The battle between Horizon Ocean Pavilion and the Thousand Passions Sect continued.


    Li Zhiping¡¯s death had unquestionably stirred the wrath of the Thousand Passions Sect students. It just so happened that the next match involved the Thousand Passions Sect¡¯s number two, Mu Yu.


    This person was exceptionally brutal, ignoring his opponent¡¯s pleas for mercy and tearing that student apart. He then roared at the heavens, ¡°Zhiping, I¡¯ve avenged you!¡±


    Tang Jie mentally sighed. <em>¡°Avenged¡±, my ass! The one who killed Li Zhiping was Lan Yu, you know?</em>


    After a few more matches, it was time for the Thousand Passions Sect¡¯s number one, Deng Xiaoyu. The opposing Horizon Ocean Pavilion student knew that he was no match, so he conceded as soon as he stepped into the ring, not even giving Deng Xiaoyu the chance to attack.


    But the moment the student got off the stage, a teacher from Horizon Ocean Pavilion flew over and thrust a palm at the student, shattering his skull. It was only then that he sinisterly said, ¡°Those who retreat without fighting will be executed!¡±


    Everyone was aghast at this deed, but Tang Jie only sighed,menting, ¡°On the Immortal path, there is only going forward, not going back. Those who hesitantly look around are chased away! Those who are overly cautious are killed!¡±


    Peng Yaolong nodded in agreement. ¡°This is why the major sects still open their recruitment in the academies, giving everyone an opportunity, even though something like Jade Gate talent exists. Courage is also a sort of talent, and only those with the daring to walk this road to the end can be true cultivators. Though we are students, it¡¯s not enough for us to learn spell arts. We also have to understand how to act as people. Does everyone understand?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Great Brother!¡± everyone replied in unison.


    The matches continued, only ending when dusk fell. Blood had once more stained the arena, with ten-some lives being forfeited on that stage.


    On the fourth day, Godhead faced Basking Moon, Thousand Passions faced Beast Refining, and Horizon Ocean battled Seven Absolutions. There were no mortal foe pairings, so the Immortal Fortune Conference experienced a rare moment of calm.


    The Tang Jiye incident several years ago still left the Basking Moon Sect and Godhead Pce at odds, but as they each had their own mortal foes and didn¡¯t want to add on to their worries, they both restrained themselves.


    Thus, when the sects shed, they were both quite polite.


    In the first battle, Peng Yaolong was still unstoppable, sweeping over his opponent. His methods were quite brutal, breaking several of that Godhead Pce student¡¯s ribs with a kick. While he didn¡¯t kill, he did severely wound his opponent.


    In the second match, Godhead Pce returned the favor. Godhead Pce¡¯s Lin Changrui left Cheng Fengshan badly wounded.


    In the third match, Cai Junyang was paired against Feng Rudong.


    Cai Junyang had already lost three matches in a row. First it was to Lan Yu, then Li Zhiping and the Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s Liu Jin, and his next match was against Helian Hu, where he had no hope of winning. This match was hisst chance at victory.


    He wasn¡¯t afraid of losing, but he couldn¡¯t ept losing all five matches and not gaining a single point.


    Before this, he had been a genius praised throughout Basking Moon Academy, and while his awful luck had yed a part in his consecutive losses, he was also forced to realize that the world was vast and home to numerous experts.


    The elites of the six major sects had gathered, and exciting battles were taking ce every day as everyone showed off their best techniques, enriching everyone¡¯s experiences and broadening their horizons. For Cai Junyang, this was a chance to get out of the academy, a chance to increase his experience, and also a chance to leave his own mark.


    He could lose, but if he did, he had to lose impressively.


    Thus, the moment he took the field, he let out an unprecedented ferocity, lunging at Feng Rudong with all his might. He used the 19 Star Sword repeatedly, covering the area in starlight. His sword energy was everywhere, pressing down on the opponent so hard that it was difficult to breathe.


    If it weren¡¯t for the fact that Godhead Pce excelled at defense the most, Feng Rudong would have been sted off the stage by this barrage.


    But Feng Rudong managed to hold.


    If Cai Junyang was like the raging waves of the ocean, Feng Rudong was like a lighthouse, standing tall no matter how fierce the storm was.


    Peng Yaolong and Tang Jie both frowned at this.


    Peng Yaolong muttered, ¡°It seems like Junyang can¡¯t restrain himself anymore.¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°After losing three in a row, he must be under immense mental pressure. He¡¯s too desperate for a win. Unfortunately, the more he wants to win, the less likely that is.¡±


    Ye Tianshang added, ¡°At the first beating of the drum, morale is stirred, but it begins to run dry on the second beating and ispletely spent at the third. If such a bold assault fails to swiftly take down the opponent, the opponent will have a chance to strike back.¡±


    On the stage, waves of sword energy wreaked havoc, but that golden light refused to be extinguished. Clenching his teeth, Feng Rudong held fast, his eyes cold and determined.


    Although he wasn¡¯t famous in Godhead Pce, that didn¡¯t mean that he wascking in strength. He was able to survive mortalbat against the Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s Liu Jin, which was proof enough of his strength.


    If Cai Junyang was fierce and tough, then he was tenacious.


    When pitting ferocity against tenacity, it was often tenacity that won.


    Finally, as his spiritual energy ran out, Cai Junyang¡¯s attacks began to lose their sharpness. The waves of sword energy began to ebb, and the golden lighthouse began to shine.


    The counterattack from Feng Rudong suddenly intensified, and Cai Junyang slowly began to give ground. Feng Rudong swung his saber at Cai Junyang¡¯s sword, forcing Cai Junyang back several steps. Feng Rudong kicked out, attempting to get Cai Junyang off the stage. In holding out until now, he had expended much spiritual energy and physical energy, so he didn¡¯t have the strength to keep on fighting. Thus, he did not seek to heavily wound his opponent, only defeat him.


    Cai Junyang rolled to the edge of the stage, but he doggedly held on to the edge, refusing to lose.


    Feng Rudong savagely smiled as he walked over and kicked again. ¡°Get down there.¡±


    As his foot kicked Cai Junyang¡¯s face, Cai Junyang suddenly grabbed Feng Rudong and coldly said, ¡°Youe down here with me!¡±


    Feng Rudong froze as a surge of spiritual energy struck his ankle. A momentter, he was in the air, and then he rolled onto the ground with Cai Junyang.


    A draw!


    It was such an absurd development that even Tang Jie was left agape. No one had expected this result.


    Meanwhile, uponnding on the ground, Cai Junyang and Feng Rudong began to brawl with each other. Both of them had been so close to victory, brushing shoulders with it, and the loss left them positively furious. Their rage was such that they refused to rx even though they weren¡¯t on the stage anymore, continuing to punch and kick at each other.


    Fortunately, the order-keeping disciples quickly came over and separated them, and Cai Junyang was dragged back to his seat.


    Once there, the crazy Cai Junyang calmed down. He looked at his worriedpanions and bitterly said, ¡°I¡¯ve disappointed you. In the end, I still didn¡¯t win.¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°What? A minor loss has you feeling this down?¡±


    Cai Junyang looked up at Tang Jie, who smiled and said, ¡°The path of Immortality is long, and which cultivator hasn¡¯t experienced some setbacks and difficulties? A minor setback like this already has you bowing your head? Brother Cai, aren¡¯t you being a little too soft?¡±


    Cai Junyang angrily replied, ¡°Who¡¯s saying that I can¡¯t take a defeat? I¡¯ve never had any ns of getting into the top ten, but I didn¡¯t expect to lose this badly. I didn¡¯t think that I would being with heroic ambitions but fail to get a single win, returning with my head hung in defeat!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Is a nned defeat still even considered a defeat?¡±


    Cai Junyang froze, and Tang Jie continued, ¡°Master Xiao made ten attempts and failed, Meng Feixing had nine encounters and no luck, Zhang Shuhan only cultivated the Dao in his old age, and Tian Jizi destroyed his own Immortal Spirit¡­ Who are you whenpared to them?¡±


    Tang Jie spoke of several famous stories of the Rosecloud Domain.


    Master Xiao was none other than Xiao Biehan. In his early years, Xiao Biehan traveled the world. He came across a boy who offered him a test. Xiao Biehan was told that if he could pass, he would be given a bottle of Immortal elixir, but if he couldn¡¯t, he would have to kowtow to the boy three times.


    Xiao Biehan thought himself rather strong, so he agreed. But after ten attempts, he still failed to pass, and he had to give that boy thirty kowtows.


    Those ten failures took up ten years of Xiao Biehan¡¯s life and were the darkest period of his life.


    But Xiao Biehan had gotten through it.


    He had hardened up and continued to cultivate as if nothing had happened, holding out against all the insults.


    When he came to that boy for the eleventh time and sought to make another attempt, that boy said, ¡°You passed.¡±


    And then that boy gave him a bottle of Immortal elixir.


    As for Meng Feixing¡¯s nine encounters without luck, this was another interesting story.


    Meng Feixing was a current Violet Pce Titan of the Rosecloud Domain, but in his early years, he had only been a wandering cultivator. It was said that he once dreamt of encountering Immortal fortune, and so he followed the clues left by the dream, experiencing countless hardships and setbacks. He traveled every corner of the Rosecloud Domain, and he really did manage to find the Returned Remnants of an Immortal tform Titan and achieve sess. The so-called ¡°nine encounters without luck¡± didn¡¯t refer to nine failures he had experienced, but to nine being the maximal number, as an indication of the numerous challenges he had faced.


    And everyone was familiar with the story of Zhang Shuhan cultivating the Dao at an advanced age and bing a Celestial Sovereign.


    The first three stories all had an encouraging feel, but the fourth was the exact opposite.


    Tian Jizi was a famous Immortal master from two thousand years ago. He was apparently skilled in reading the stars and divination, capable of changing fate. He had calcted the lives of countless people and had never once failed. But when he was at his peak, someone came to find him and said that there was no such thing as luck in the world, that nobody could predict the future, and that all divination was trickery.


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    Tian Jizi was furious and began to argue, even saying that if his prediction was wrong, he would destroy his Immortal Spirit, which was the foundation of his Immortal tform.


    In this contest, Tian Jizi lost. He destroyed his Immortal Spirit and died, and after death, he became aughing stock.


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°I¡¯ve brought up these four examples to tell you that you shouldn¡¯t take failure and dignity too seriously. Since ancient times, what august figure hasn¡¯t suffered a few setbacks? Some people suffer them early in their careers and manage to stage aeback. But others suffer setbacks when they¡¯re at their peak and don¡¯t even get a chance at redemption, their lives being finished. Cai Junyang, you¡¯re nothing more than a minor character, so what does it matter that you¡¯ve lost a few matches? Don¡¯t think too highly of yourself. Other people don¡¯t care one bit about your achievements. Putting aside the fact that you tied, even if you suffered an utter defeat, other people still wouldn¡¯t care. And don¡¯t be too down on yourself, either. Even if you lost today, you didn¡¯t lose your life. This is only an insignificant stop in your life.¡±


    ¡°¡®Don¡¯t think too highly of myself¡¯, but ¡®don¡¯t be too down on myself¡¯?¡± Cai Junyang was dumbfounded.


    In Tang Jie¡¯s former world, these principles were frequently spoken about, but in this world, even Peng Yaolong and Ye Tianshang were effusive in their praise for them.


    Ye Tianshang gave a thumbs-up. ¡°Tang Jie, I don¡¯t like anything else about you, but I truly do admire you for your way of dealing with things.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t just him. Even some of the teachers found these words very insightful and reasonable, allowing for advancing and retreating in equal measure. This was truly a talent that was worth crafting.


    On his high tform, Ming Yekong took a deep look at Tang Jie, a smile appearing on his handsome face. ¡°Fengtang, this student of yours is quite interesting.¡±


    Xie Fengtang smiled. ¡°This Tang Jie is truly a very smart child, always able to say something that makes sense. But he¡¯s quite the senseless child, sometimes capable of doing the most infuriating things.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re referring to how he pretended to be Tang Jiye?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s also the True Inheritor struggle. If not for Hall Master Yan¡¯s tolerance, I would have had no idea how to exin things to him. And just a few days ago, he was openly sitting together with that fiend woman from Horizon Ocean Pavilion. If it wasn¡¯t out of respect for Xu Guanghua, I would have driven her out long ago. This kid makes trouble for me all the time.¡± Xie Fengtang was listing off all of Tang Jie¡¯s faults and appeared very incensed, but there was a sense of protectiveness in his tone.


    Ming Yekong softly smiled. ¡°Capable of doing what others cannot, aplishing extraordinary deeds. Truly wondrous. I surmise that this child has a great future before him!¡±


    ¡°Hall Master Ming seems to have high praise for this child. If so, why not give him a little chance?¡± Xie Fengtang smiled.


    Ming Yekong was startled, and then he shook his head and smiled. ¡°Fengtang, you¡¯re getting on in years, so why are you still so small-minded? But I suppose you¡¯re doing your duty as Deputy Headmaster by trying to bring benefit to your student. Ah, forget it; since you¡¯ve spoken, I have to give a little something.¡±


    Ming Yekong flipped his hand over, revealing a thin booklet within it. ¡°Give this to Tang Jie. Consider it a small gift from me.¡± Tang Jie continues to benefit from Xie Fengtang¡¯s favoritism.

 Chapter 294: Dont Come Out

    Chapter 294: Don¡¯t Come Out


    ¡°It¡¯s from Master Ming,¡± the boy replied, and then he disappeared. His movement technique was so far above the students present that their hearts shivered.


    ¡°¡®Master Ming¡¯¡­¡± Ye Tianshang looked over. ¡°Could he be talking about Hall Master Ming?¡±


    ¡°Who else could it be?¡± Tang Jie said, raising the small book.


    On it was written ¡°An Analysis of the Chaoswind Step¡±, and on the bottom were the words ¡°Ming Yekong¡± in smaller script.


    ¡°The 27 Star Chaoswind Step?¡± Peng Yaolong cried out.


    Ming Yekong had always been known in the Basking Moon Sect for his light and nimble movement techniques. When he was in Basking Moon Academy, he had taken the record for Celestial sh Hall, and there was still no one who had been able to break it.


    Upon entering the Basking Moon Sect, Ming Yekong had gained the moniker of ¡°Gentleman Among the Flowers¡±. This moniker emphasized how his handsome appearance attracted women, but it also referred to how he could pass through a field of flowers without a single leaf touching his body.


    Ming Yekong was one of the 19 Celestial Chiefs now, and no one dared to bring up that name. But his movement techniques remained mystifying, and everyone still knew about his peerless ability to dodge. The Chaoswind Step was the movement technique that he was most proud of, and the one he had used to sweep across the world.


    Everyone nced at each other, utterly dumbfounded.


    While Ming Yekong hade together with them to the Immortal Fortune Conference, he had spent most of his time in private, never speaking with anyone. Even at the conference, he sat alone instead of with the students, so no one had even gotten a chance to speak with Ming Yekong.


    But now, this boy had suddenlye out of nowhere to deliver to Tang Jie the movement technique of Ming Yekong. What was going on here?


    All of the students gawked at Tang Jie, and couldn¡¯t help but grab Tang Jie¡¯s face and say, ¡°Are you really my servant student? Could you be the secret student of some bigshot?¡±


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    Tang Jie pped away his hand and helplessly said, ¡°Get off! And watch your mouth!¡±


    Standing up, he turned to Ming Yekong and bowed. ¡°Master Ming¡¯s favor leaves me dazzled. This lowly one has no achievements and is too ashamed to ept this!¡±


    He did not speak too loudly, but knew the one seated above could hear.


    Ming Yekong said nothing, but Xie Fengtang said, ¡°This is a small gift from Master Ming to you. ept it.¡±


    ¡°Yes. This one does not dare to refuse the gift of an elder!¡± Hearing Xie Fengtang¡¯s words, Tang Jie seemed to understand that Xie Fengtang had helped him get this book.


    From a bigshot like Ming Yekong, a single hair on his head could be as thick as Tang Jie¡¯s thigh. Thus, it wasn¡¯t strange at all for a small gift from him to be so valuable.


    As for why it was a core spell art like the Chaoswind Step, Tang Jie thought he knew.


    The Chaoswind Step was an extremely profound spell art. It wasn¡¯t created by Ming Yekong, but it was Ming Yekong who had made it famous.


    At the very start, the Chaoswind Step was a foot technique that allowed movement in a defined range. Unlike other foot techniques, with every move, there were nine special points. These nine points were like the Eight Gates of formations, each one holding special significance. Through variousbinations, they could create all sorts of mystical effects. They were called the Nine Bases, and they were why the Chaoswind Step was also called the Nine Star Chaoswind Step.


    But in Ming Yekong¡¯s hands, the nine special points became 27, creating a vaster and moreplex system capable of infinite variation.


    There were so many variations that it was said that even Ming Yekong hadn¡¯t fully mastered them and was still in the middle of research.


    This was precisely why the spell art book he had given to Tang Jie wasn¡¯t called ¡°Chaoswind Step¡± but ¡°Analysis of the Chaoswind Step¡±. It was because Ming Yekong didn¡¯t think that it was done and was still in the middle of finishing it.


    For the same reason, whenever Ming Yekong saw a worthy talent, he would give them thismentary of his. Thismentary didn¡¯t actually describe practical applications for the Chaoswind Step. Rather, it described variousbinations of the 27 stars so that the reader could do their own exploring.


    This sort of exploring would be of huge benefit to Ming Yekong and allow him to improve in this aspect as well.


    This was precisely why, while many of Ming Yekong¡¯s disciples were skilled in the Chaoswind Step, each one used it in a different way. It was all the same foot technique, but there were so many variations that it became a school all on its own. And Ming Yekong himself was something else. In borrowing the power of the masses, he had be number one in the Basking Moon Sect when it came to movement techniques.


    Now that Tang Jie had the Chaoswind Step, he quickly immersed himself in theplicated star positions of this foot technique.


    The battles on the stage remained fierce. After Cai Junyang¡¯s match, Basking Moon and Godhead fought several more battles, each side winning some and losing some.


    As before, Ye Tianshang won his battle with little suspense. This was his fourth victory, and he was now essentially guaranteed entry into the next round.


    Wei Tianchong was unfortunate enough to run into Yun Wuji. After a fierce battle, Wei Tianchong was defeated, suffering his first loss.


    But Yun Wuji¡¯s victory hadn¡¯t been easy. The puppet¡¯s strength and Wei Tianchong¡¯s own power and excellent control had made Yun Wuji suffer quite a bit. When Wei Tianchong was finally knocked out of the ring by Yun Wuji¡¯s Cloudreaching Hand, Yun Wuji was wounded by Wei Tianchong¡¯s sword gale. In terms of injuries, Yun Wuji actually appeared worse off.


    This battle amazed many people. It turned out that the unimpressive Wei Tianchong was hiding some formidable strength, and everyone began to talk about it. Sure enough, even a good-for-nothing could be made very powerful when made a True Person¡¯s disciple. They attributed everything to Yan Changfeng.


    Once all twenty matches were over, the Basking Moon Sect had won eleven, lost eight, and tied one,ing out ahead of Godhead Pce. This also temporarily made them number one in the whole Immortal Fortune Conference.


    Everyone was very excited by this, jumping around and cheering. It was up to Tang Jie to pour cold water on them and say, ¡°Don¡¯t celebrate too early. Tomorrow is the battle of life or death. Are all of you ready?¡±


    The mention of the battle of life or death made everyone¡¯s hearts sink, and they looked together toward the Beast Refining Gate.


    In the distance, the students led by Helian Hu looked back.


    Upon seeing the looks of the Basking Moon students, the fierce Helian Hu coldlyughed and raised his right hand, sweeping it across his neck. His threat was obvious, and the Basking Moon students grimaced.


    Someone was about to curse him out when Peng Yaolong stopped him and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go. If you have the strength, use it on the stage. No need to waste it here.¡±


    He turned away and left, and the students followed.


    That night, the Basking Moon students and Beast Refining Gate students didn¡¯t go out to drink after the matches. Instead, they locked themselves in their rooms and studied up on the tactics they would use tomorrow.


    The pressure of the battle of life or death meant that no one could be careless. Even Wei Tianchong was repeatedly going over the situations he might run into and the countermeasures he might take. Although his opponent wasn¡¯t strong, his life was at stake here, so he wasn¡¯t leaving anything to chance.


    Perhaps the only one who still maintained an air of leisure was Tang Jie.


    Sitting in his courtyard, he was reading that ancient formationmentary under the moonlight. He had already reached thest page of the book. In these ten-some days, he had basically memorized the contents of this book, and he was making rapid progress in his understanding of ancient formations.


    As he read thest word, he exhaled and closed the book. ¡°I¡¯m finally done. It seems like Godhead Pce hasn¡¯t been doing nothing thesest few years. They¡¯ve studied ancient formations rather deeply. If I didn¡¯t have their ancient formationmentary, I really wouldn¡¯t be confident in my chances at getting through the Nine Executions Immortal Formation.¡±


    Yiyi lunged over and asked, ¡°Then can you get through it now?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s only the first fewyers, I¡¯m very confident.¡± Tang Jie nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s great.¡± Yiyi excitedly pped.


    ¡°The problem is¡­¡± Tang Jie hesitantly said.


    ¡°What other problem could there be?¡± Yiyi asked.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°From this ancient formationmentary, you can basically tell that ancient formations are extremely proficient at using the power of the world, and they are extremely demanding on the body. In these three ancient formations, several areas require the formation breaker to move aside giant stones without using spiritual energy in order to open the path. This is the simplest way of breaking a formation gate, but in this age, there are very few people who can do it. The Nine Executions Immortal Formation will probably have simr requirements.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that how it¡¯s supposed to be?¡± Yiyi said, pping her hands. ¡°You said before that the Parting ssic was the key to opening the formation.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Body cultivation, formation knowledge, and the Martial Mirror pointing the way¡ªonly these three things put together can open the formation. This is why Godhead Pce and its prodigious strength have not been able to open it after all these years.¡± Tang Jie sighed. ¡°But in other words, this means that the five levels of the Parting ssic correspond to the nineyers of the Nine Executions Formation. With my Jewel Body, I should be able to get into the fourthyer, and with the support of my formation knowledge, I might be able to get into the fifth.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that enough?¡± Yiyi asked in surprise. Tang Jie had initially said that he didn¡¯t n to get through the entire Nine Executions Immortal Formation in one go. Getting into the fourthyer should have been enough, so why was he annoyed?


    ¡°The problem is that only the original body is capable of this,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°If it¡¯s the avatar, it might not even be able to get through the third.¡±


    Yiyi suddenly understood.


    ording to Tang Jie¡¯s original n, it should have been the avatar pretending to be You Shaofeng that would head to Ten Direction Valley to break the formation. Everything Tang Jie had had ¡°You Shaofeng¡± do before this was to inform Godhead Pce of a new piece of information: You Shaofeng was the real Tang Jiye.


    Previously, Tang Jie had given Godhead Pce an alternative exnation by iming that he was a Basking Moon Sect spy. So now, he was giving Godhead Pce a third exnation.


    In this new plot, the story had changed again.


    Tang Jiye, after taking up the identity of You Shaofeng, had infiltrated Basking Moon Academy, after which he had secretly bribed Tang Jie into pretending to be Tang Jiye so as to draw Godhead Pce¡¯s attention.


    This provided another very usible exnation.


    As for whether Godhead Pce believed it or not, this wasn¡¯t important, for Godhead Pce would assign suspicion to You Shaofeng all on its own.


    Back then, Tang Jie had only shouted that he was Tang Jie, and Godhead Pce had gone and attached various reasons to im that he was Tang Jiye. In truth, they still didn¡¯t have any evidence that confirmed that Tang Jie was Tang Jiye. It was all based on guessing and spection.


    The same was true for You Shaofeng.


    If they really suspected that he was Tang Jiye, they could use the same method to find various so-called ¡°suspicious points¡±.


    So long as Godhead Pce believed that You Shaofeng was Tang Jiye, what came next was very simple. Once the avatar was in, it could find a suitable time to throw out You Shaofeng¡¯s corpse. This corpse could be manipted in a way to make it seem like Godhead Pce had killed him, or that the formation had killed him. In any case, Tang Jiye would be dead.


    From then on, his background would be clean, and Tang Jie¡¯s original body could bring his harvest from the formation back to the Basking Moon Sect.


    At that time, with the spoils from the formation, he would be able to rapidly progress in cultivation.


    But all of it had been ruined by the nature of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation.


    Though the avatar had the Illusion Thousandform ability, it couldn¡¯t imitate the formidable power of Tang Jie¡¯s body. It was only at the peak of the Visceral Manifestation ssic and only at the very first part of the Parting ssic. At most, he could get into the secondyer, with chances at the third being rather low.


    After all that effort, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t ept being only able to get through oneyer.


    ¡°In other words, the original body has to go, right?¡± Yiyi asked.


    ¡°Mm, I¡¯m afraid so.¡±


    ¡°But your original body can¡¯t turn into You Shaofeng, so throwing out his corpse won¡¯t do you any good.¡±


    ¡°I know, so I¡¯m going to have to make some changes.¡±


    ¡°What changes?¡± Yiyi asked.


    Tang Jie fell silent.


    After a long while, he said, ¡°If you can¡¯t get a mask of lies, then you might as well take the exact opposite path and make everything as simple as possible.¡±


    ¡°¡®Make it as simple as possible¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Yes, since we can¡¯t deceive them, then we won¡¯t try to deceive them. We¡¯ll just keep them in the dark!¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°We don¡¯t need to give them You Shaofeng¡¯s corpse. He can just disappear. The rest¡­ can be left to their imaginations.¡±


    ¡°And you? How are you going to leave?¡±


    Without You Shaofeng¡¯s corpse to trick them, how could Tang Jie throw off his pursuers and get out of the formation?


    Tang Jie had no answer to this question.


    He looked up to the sky, and after a while, he said, ¡°Yiyi, do you know? To make a miracle, you have to think the absurd. To catch someone by surprise, you have to break the rules. Toplete an impossible task, you have to make a sacrifice that other people can¡¯t make¡­¡±


    Yiyi said in confusion, ¡°Big Brother, I don¡¯t understand.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled, ¡°Go in, and don¡¯te out!¡± Tang Jie on the verge of beginning his big n!

 Chapter 295: Tactics

    Chapter 295: Tactics


    He needed to move.


    To Ten Direction Valley!


    To the Nine Executions Formation!


    To do what he needed to do and not keep waiting at this boring conference, for that so-called better chance.


    There would not be a better chance.


    And he did not need one.


    When Tang Jie decided to go in and note out, his greatest problem, ¡°escaping¡±, ceased to exist.


    As for how to get in, it was now a problem that didn¡¯t need much thought. Godhead Pce would let him in.


    All of his restraints had disappeared, and all the conditions had been met. So what was he waiting for?


    Perhaps his only worry was how to ensure that he could survive in that isted world.


    ¡°That being the case, let¡¯s go and see what we need to prepare,¡± Tang Jie said.


    He spent a busy night racking his brain.


    It was only when the sun rose in the east that Tang Jie and Yiyi finally finished their analysis, getting a rough idea of what they needed.


    ¡°That¡¯s quite a lot of money,¡± Yiyi worriedly said.


    ¡°It can be solved.¡± Tang Jie smiled.


    He whispered something into Yiyi¡¯s ear, and her eyes brightened. Sheughed and ran around Tang Jie while saying, ¡°I like this idea!¡±


    Seeing that it was daybreak, Tang Jie went back to his bed and meditated for a while. Only after recovering his energy did he walk out of his courtyard. All of the other students were also emerging at this time.


    The battle with the Beast Refining Gate was about to begin, and everyone had finished their preparations.


    Everyone greeted each other and then solemnly made their way to the arena.


    They sat down in their seats and quietly waited for the final moment.


    The golden bell on the summit let out a resounding ng, and everyone knew that another day of gruesome fighting was about to begin.


    Peng Yaolong was the first to stand. Before he could walk out, Tang Jie stood up and said, ¡°Senior Brother Peng!¡±


    Peng Yaolong turned to look at him, and Tang Jie loudly said, ¡°I wish for Great Brother¡¯s swift victory!¡±


    All of the students stood up and shouted, ¡°We wish Great Brother a swift victory!¡±


    Their voices resounded through the arena, stirring everyone¡¯s will to fight. Even the distant Ming Yekong nodded in satisfaction.


    Peng Yaolongughed and said, ¡°Junior brothers, thank you for the strong show of support. I¡¯ll be back in a sh!¡±


    He rushed onto the stage.


    He had been one hundred meters from the stage, but with this charge, he became like a meteor and flew up into the sky. He crashed into the ring, stirring up a giant plume of dust. Even the ring which had been made from White Radiastone and protected by the great formation shuddered. This impressive disy caused the distant spectators to cheer in excitement.


    The Beast Refining Gate student that was about to get onto the stage was clearly shaken. For a moment, he was trembling so badly that he didn¡¯t dare to get onto the stage.


    In truth, everyone knew that he had no chance of beating Peng Yaolong, nor did they ask him to win, only to withstand the storm. But with Tang Jie¡¯s encouragement, Peng Yaolong had put on an intimidating show that had bolstered the aura of the Basking Moon Sect. The Beast Refining Gate could not permit this situation. Seeing a student of his own side shrinking back, Helian Hu grabbed him and threw him into the ring.


    This single throw covered a hundred meters¡ªa truly jaw-dropping disy of strength.


    The student iled in the air as he flew toward the stage, finding it difficult to control his body. As he saw Peng Yaolong thrust out his palm, he mentally groaned, <em>I¡¯m done for!</em>


    He closed his eyes and waited for death.


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    But to his surprise, his body turned in the air and smoothlynded on the ground.


    It turned out that Peng Yaolong¡¯s palm hadn¡¯t been meant to kill him, but to neutralize his momentum and help himnd safely on the stage.


    The student confirmed that he was all right and then exhaled in relief.


    Peng Yaolong said, ¡°You haven¡¯t even released your refined beasts. Killing you like that would be an honorless victory.¡±


    Did he want to get a proper and fair win?


    At this stage, this student was no longer afraid, and he gradually began to recover from Peng Yaolong¡¯s intimidating pressure.


    He took a step back and saluted. ¡°Beast Refining Gate¡¯s Qian Hanyuan. Senior Brother Peng, thank you for your mercy.¡±


    He waved his refined beast token twice, and a giant bear and an iron-backed gray wolf appeared on the stage.


    The Beast Refining Gate was best at taming beasts. The beasts they tamed normally didn¡¯t exceed the level of the tamer, and the number of beasts that could be tamed depended on the strength of the tamer.


    As this student could control two refined beasts of the same level at once, it was an indicator that he had reached the second level of the Myriad Beast Union Mantra. As for Helian Hu, he could control three, meaning that he was at the third level.


    The Beast Refining Gate¡¯s Myriad Beast Union Mantra was its strongest technique. It was said that it had thirteen levels and was extremely difficult to cultivate. Once one reached the peak, one could control thirteen refined beasts of the same level at the same time, which was an immensely powerful force.


    In the Beast Refining Gate, mastering the second level in a few short years was no easy task. If he weren¡¯t beingpared to Peng Yaolong, this Qian Yanyuan would have been considered a talent. After all, was anyone who could participate in the Immortal Fortune Conference really weak?


    Upon seeing Qian Hanyuan take out two beasts, Peng Yaolongughed. ¡°Good! Then I won¡¯t be polite. Watch closely!¡±


    He punched out with both hands, creating a powerful shockwave, and a dragon and a tiger manifested on his arms.


    The Dragon-Tiger Fist!


    Peng Yaolong¡¯s Dragon-Tiger Fist was much more powerful than it had been two years ago. Tang Jie could sense that the Dragon-Tiger Fist no longer contained solely Peng Yaolong¡¯s strength, but also the strength of the world. Through the Eye of Insight, Tang Jie felt like he could see countless threads of energy linked to Peng Yaolong¡¯s body, granting him abundant strength.


    The Peng Yaolong of today was not the same Peng Yaolong from two years ago. He had alreadypletely grasped the power of the Mortal Shedding Realm. He could draw on the strength of the world and use it to infinitely increase his power.


    If Tang Jie had to fight with Peng Yaolong again, he would no longer have the confidence to exchange fifty blows with him.


    <em>Raaaa!</em>


    With a roar, Peng Yaolong punched at Qian Hanyuan, the dragon and tiger phantoms charging out as if they were the real deal.


    Qian Hanyuan backed away in fright, his hands moving as he formed hand signs. The iron-backed gray wolf went out first, firing off an azure de at Peng Yaolong. At the same time, the giant bear stood in front of Qian Hanyuan and thrust out a bear paw at Peng Yaolong.


    The two refined beasts were aplementary pair, one on the defense and one on the attack. Qian Hanyuan also had applied a cial Armor barrier onto his body. He was clearly set on defending himself, and once he had endured this wave of attacks, he would immediately concede.


    But Peng Yaolong justughed. ¡°Pointless!¡±


    He let the iron-backed wolf¡¯s azure de strike him, and it only left a white impression on his body. At the same time, his fist plunged into the bear¡¯s body. This giant bear was tough enough to take a blow from Tang Jie¡¯s Heartbreak Saber, but it unexpectedly moaned in pain. As the tiger and dragon phantoms crossed, they punched a bowl-sized hole through the bear and rammed into Qian Hanyuan, sending him flying.


    ¡°Nooo!¡± Qian Hanyuan screamed in fear.


    He wanted to concede.


    But Peng Yaolong¡¯s brazenughter drowned out his cries. At the same time, Peng Yaolong punched at the ground.


    Immense power traveled through the earth, and with a boom, it exploded beneath Qian Hanyuan¡¯s feet, sting him into the air.


    This was the Power Conduction spell. By conducting energy through the ground, a cultivator could make their attacks less predictable, but this would also reduce the lethality.


    Peng Yaolong didn¡¯t care. As Qian Hanyuan was sent flying into the air, he punched with his right fist, sending out a savage gale that mmed into Qian Hanyuan¡¯s body.


    Blood sttered!


    Peng Yaolong¡¯s punch obliterated Qian Hanyuan¡¯s body, not even leaving behind an intact corpse.


    An elite student of the Beast Refining Gate hadn¡¯t even been able tost three exchanges against Peng Yaolong. Everyone shivered in fear at the brutal method of killing.


    Not caring what the crowd thought, Peng Yaolong casually sauntered out of the ring.


    He sat in his seat and said, ¡°The rest will depend on you guys.¡±


    Cheng Fengshan, the second to go, stood up.


    Compared to Peng Yaolong, he wasn¡¯t as strong or as confident. He knew that his life was at stake in this battle, and his face was solemn.


    Just as he was about to step onto the stage, Tang Jie suddenly said, ¡°Senior Brother Cheng, please wait a moment.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What¡¯s this about?¡± Cheng Fengshan looked at him.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°The Beast Refining Gate is skilled at using beasts, so their specialty isbo attacks. But this also makes them far inferior to us in explosive spell arts.¡±


    ¡°What about it?¡± Cheng Fengshan didn¡¯t get it.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Being strong inbo attacks and weak in explosive strength means that theyck the ability to kill. That being the case, it would be better to seize the advantage and attack, and if you can¡¯t win, you can just concede.¡±


    Cheng Fengshan¡¯s eyes shed.


    He instantly understood what Tang Jie was getting at.


    Tang Jie was telling him to not hold back in the battle and attack the Beast Refining Gate with everything he had. He would either crush his opponent or else immediately concede and leave the stage. The Beast Refining Gate¡¯s strength was inbination attacks, not explosive power, so their ability to corner and kill their opponent was greatlyckingpared to the Basking Moon Sect. This greatly increased the survivability of the Basking Moon students.


    Cheng Fengshan didn¡¯t have much of a rtionship with Tang Jie, but after receiving this advice from him, he couldn¡¯t help but nod in gratitude. Only then did he step into the ring.


    In the following battle, Cheng Fengshan really did go all-out, throwing all the spell arts he knew at his foe without any regard for how he would fight the rest of the battle.


    The Beast Refining Gate student didn¡¯t expect the Basking Moon Sect students to be this crazy, and he was instantly caught off guard by Cheng Fengshan¡¯s assault.


    He had actually been rather close in strength to Cheng Fengshan, but this tactical loss immediately resulted in a loss of advantage, and Cheng Fengshan¡¯s barrage sted him off the stage. But Cheng Fengshan had just barely won and didn¡¯t have the strength to give chase, so he had to let his opponent leave alive.


    The six major sects had internal rules. Killing a student of an opposing sect would result in a reward of five thousand coins.


    Cheng Fengshan couldn¡¯t get this money, but for him, keeping his life and winning this battle was already the ideal result.


    Next was Qi Shaoming, and he did as Tang Jie had advised and went on an all-out assault.


    But the Beast Refining Gate student this time was ready. Qi Shaoming was tired out after his furious assault, and the Beast Refining Gate student was able to turn the tables. Fortunately, Qi Shaoming¡¯s Passing Shadow movement technique excelled at escape, and the Beast Refining Gate wasn¡¯t good at chasing down the enemy. Moreover, that student hadn¡¯t been able topletely take control of the situation after weathering Qi Shaoming¡¯s assault, and so although Qi Shaoming lost, he easily managed to survive, not even suffering a flesh injury. On the other hand, the Beast Refining Gate student was covered in wounds.


    Tang Jie said to Cai Junyang, ¡°Junyang, have you noticed yet? The Beast Refining Gate students all use different refined beasts.¡±


    ¡°Mm, yes. Is that weird?¡± Cai Junyang scratched his head. ¡°With different kinds, they have different abilities, so they canplement each other, making them stronger.¡±


    ¡°But if that¡¯s the case, why are Helian Hu¡¯s three refined beasts all tigers?¡±


    ¡°Hm? That¡¯s true.¡± Cai Junyang was taken aback. ¡°I didn¡¯t think of that. Tang Jie, why do you think that is?¡±


    ¡°There are two possible reasons. The three fiend tigers might have some union ability that makes them stronger the more there are. But I don¡¯t think this is the case, because he didn¡¯t use any sort ofbination spell art when he lost to Lan Yu. Then it can only be the second reason: he only has a basic grasp of the third level of the Myriad Beast Union Mantra.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ve never learned the Myriad Beast Union Mantra, so I don¡¯t understand it very well. But I¡±m sure that when ites to taming fiend beasts, taming different kinds of refined beasts must be much more difficult than taming beasts of the same kind. That¡¯s precisely why three refined beasts of the same grade and different species¡­ isn¡¯t something that Helian Hu doesn¡¯t want, but is something he can¡¯t achieve!¡±


    ¡°What about it?¡± Cai Junyang was confused.


    ¡°This means that he has a weakness when ites to control. If you focus on this weakness, even if you can¡¯t win, you can teach him a good lesson. If he handles it poorly, you might even be able to win.¡± Tang Jie went up to Cai Junyang¡¯s ear and whispered some things to him, and Cai Junyang¡¯s eyes glinted.


    After some thought, he said, ¡°It¡¯s an idea, but I don¡¯t¡­¡±


    Tang Jie passed something over. ¡°I¡¯ve already prepared it for you.¡±


    Cai Junyang trembled as he took the item. ¡°Brother¡­¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°No need to be polite. Since you want to go out there like a hero, as your brother, how can I not help you solve this problem? I can¡¯t guarantee that you¡¯ll win this battle, but if you still die to Helian Hu after this, I can only say that it¡¯s because you¡¯re useless and deserve to die.¡±


    Cai Junyangughed. ¡°Rx. This time, I¡¯ll give Helian Hu a good show!¡±


    As he spoke, the fourth match concluded.


    The Beast Refining Gate had won again, but s, they had not been able to kill the Basking Moon student.


    Afterunching a furious assault, that student had run out of strength and backed away while he still had the upper hand. Truly, this was to attack as fiercely as fire and flee as swiftly as the wind. Just like with Qi Shaoming, the loser was unharmed while the winner was all mangled.


    The result was that although he had lost, when the Basking Moon student left the ring, quite a few people patted him and said, ¡°Good job!¡±


    The student smiled and replied, ¡°It¡¯s all because of Senior Brother Tang¡¯s idea, or else I might not have been able to so easily get through this trial.¡±


    He cared little about victory, only about getting out alive, so he was very thankful to Tang Jie for this tactic.


    Peng Yaolong alsoughed. ¡°When ites to weird ideas, nobody can beat him.¡±


    Ye Tianshang worriedly said, ¡°But the Beast Refining Gate is going to notice something if this keeps up and will definitely start taking countermeasures. If we continue with this tactic, our chance of victory will be low.¡±


    If the Beast Refining Gate understood the tactic the Basking Moon Sect was employing, it would inevitably develop a counter, at which point it would be very difficult for the Basking Moon Sect students toe out victorious.


    Tang Jie smiled and replied, ¡°Is there anything in the world thates for free? Brother Ye is right. Once the enemy gets used to this tactic, our chances of victory will inevitably plunge, but this doesn¡¯t mean that they have a way to chase us down. I don¡¯t care what others think. All I know is that nothing is more important thaning out alive.¡±


    Ye Tianshang was rmed by these words. ¡°But this will give victory to the Beast Refining Gate!¡±


    ¡°Correct!¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°The teachers won¡¯t ept it. This is a battle of life or death, and our Basking Moon Sect must win!¡± a student immediately said.


    ¡°No!¡± Tang Jie sternly replied. ¡°This is a battle of life or death for the students, but for the teachers, it¡¯s a struggle of spirit!¡±


    ¡°¡®A struggle of spirit¡¯?¡±


    Tang Jie firmly replied, ¡°Yes! In a struggle of spirit, feeling is more important than victory. Just winning or losing today¡¯s matches has no effect on the overall situation. And if the Beast Refining Gate wins these matches against the Basking Moon Sect but doesn¡¯t manage to kill a single person, who has gained and who has lost will instantly be obvious. Trust me. The teachers will be satisfied by this conclusion. For them, this is a perfect chance to mock the Beast Refining Gate forcking offensive power and being unable to kill anyone.¡±


    All of the other students smiled at these words.


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°Of course, the teachers will still make a show of rebuking, but what does that matter? We¡¯ll still be alive.¡±


    He said to them, ¡°In these battles, just go all-out and try to get victory, but if you can¡¯t win, do your best to keep yourself alive¡­ Let the Beast Refining Gate keep the victory while we of the Basking Moon Sect keep our lives. Isn¡¯t that fine?¡± Tang Jie¡¯s n starts, it seems, with angering the Beast Refining Gate.

 Chapter 296: Spirit Seal

    Chapter 296: Spirit Seal


    ¡°Rx,¡± Helian Hu indifferently replied, stepping into the ring.


    Tang Jie patted Cai Junyang on the back. ¡°Remember what I told you.¡±


    ¡°Rx,¡± Cai Junyangughed. He strode onto the stage.


    Once they were in the ring, Helian Hu stared at Cai Junyang and grinned. ¡°Kid, since you¡¯ve been matched against me, Helian Hu, don¡¯t even think about running!¡±


    Three fiend tigers appeared behind him¡ªnone other than his three lower-grade Mind Opening refined beasts.


    These fiends were above Cai Junyang¡¯s level, and there were three of them. Perhaps Helian Hu only needed to send out a single fiend tiger to eliminate Cai Junyang. This was just how big the difference in strength was.


    But Cai Junyang didn¡¯t care. He took out his big sword and sent a wave of sword light at Helian Hu.


    Surprisingly, he didn¡¯t use the 19 Star Sword.


    This took Helian Hu by surprise. Even so, he swiftly cast a spiritual energy barrier, at the same time ordering his three beasts to attack Cai Junyang from separate directions. He was in no rush to attack, instead choosing to surround Cai Junyang and cut off his path of retreat.


    Cai Junyang didn¡¯t care at all, continuing to swing his sword at Helian Hu. Though Helian Hu was in Mortal Shedding, the w of the Myriad Beast Union Mantra was that controlling refined beasts used up spiritual energy and mental energy. Controlling these three refined beasts took up at least thirty percent of his energy, greatly decreasing his strength.


    ncing at Cai Junyang¡¯s rapid attacks, Helian Hu grunted. His left hand didn¡¯t move, only three of its fingers slightly twitching as if they were pulling on strings, but his right fist made a swinging punch, creating a savage gale.


    This gale was aimed straight at Cai Junyang¡¯s greatsword, and it was so powerful that it managed to bounce it back. Helian Huughed and said, ¡°Even if I don¡¯t use my refined beasts, you will still lose! White Tiger Heart Scooping Fist!¡±


    <em>Boom! Boom! Boom!</em> He punched three times, unleashing fierce tiger phantoms at Cai Junyang and forcing him to go on the defense. Before his offensive could even begin, Helian Hu had pushed it back, and the arena resounded with Helian Hu¡¯s brashughter.


    He really was electing to not use his three refined tigers, only fighting Cai Junyang with his own strength.


    Even Peng Yaolong¡¯s face darkened at this sight. ¡°This Helian Hu¡­ is truly quite powerful.¡±


    ¡°Great Brother, what would happen if you fought him?¡± a student untactfully asked.


    But Peng Yaolong thought it over very seriously before saying, ¡°I would definitely lose, but before losing, I would kill at least two of his refined tigers, making him pay a grievous price. As for Junyang¡­¡±


    He sighed, shook his head, and started to worry over Cai Junyang¡¯s fate.


    But Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Great Brother, don¡¯t underestimate Junyang. There¡¯s no harm in continuing to watch.¡±


    As he spoke, Cai Junyang, who was being pressed hard by Helian Hu¡¯s White Tiger Heart Scooping Fist, suddenly roared, ¡°Don¡¯t think you¡¯re all that, Helian Hu! Watch my sword!¡±


    His sword erupted with starlight.


    Brilliant and enchanting resplendence filled the stage.


    The 19 Star Sword!


    The various stars took aim at Helian Hu¡¯s face, each one threatening to take his life.


    Unlike Tang Jie, Cai Junyang only knew the 19 Star Sword, so that was the sole focus of his practice.


    His understanding of this sword art was engraved in his bones.


    The surging torrent of starlight left Helian Hu feeling slightly threatened, and so he closed his left hand and shouted, ¡°Return!¡±


    The three unmoving refined tigers suddenly leaped into the air, lunging at Cai Junyang, their ws shing with a crimson light.


    The Celestial Heart Tiger w!


    This was the innate spell art of these three fiend tigers, and under Helian Hu¡¯s control, they used this spell art in unison. This wasn¡¯t somebination spell art, but with all three tigers using it in unison, it was still extremely powerful.


    But this was only the beginning. As the three tigers got closer, their tails began to sh with halos of spiritual energy.


    The Tigerchain Tail!


    This was to prevent Cai Junyang from escaping.


    Balls of energy also began to gather in their mouths. This was a sign that they were readying long-range spell arts to give chase.


    Three tigers and nine spells, creating level upon level of suppression. This was the mostmon strategy Helian Hu employed.


    And even he wasn¡¯t just standing idle.


    While his left hand was busy controlling the three tigers, his right hand threw out a talisman.


    Heaven-Earth Jail!


    This sealed off the entire arena as another measure to prevent Cai Junyang from escaping.


    After throwing out the talisman, Helian Hu extracted a foot-long knife from his Mustard Seed Bag.


    The Skinyer Knife!


    Helian Hu swung the knife at Cai Junyang, releasing a dazzling wave of energy.


    Despite the number of actions, Helian Hu finished it all in a split second.


    In this split second, Cai Junyang did only one thing.


    He put away his sword.


    He then took out an item from his Mustard Seed Bag.


    A talisman.


    A talisman that could only be used once in the fight, and one that Tang Jie had given to him.


    Cai Junyang thrust this talisman at the ground. ¡°Rise!¡±


    Light erupted from the center of the stage and proceeded to engulf the area.


    In this wave of light, Helian Hu swayed, and his sharp knife had its momentum stopped cold. At the same time, those lunging fiend tigers fell from the sky, and they raised their heads and let out roars of shock. All the attacks had been instantly neutralized.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Everyone was stunned.


    ¡°The Spirit Seal Talisman Formation,¡± Ming Yekong muttered.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Spirit Seal Talisman Formation!¡± Experienced Spirit Masters of the six major sects also recognized this spell, and they shot Cai Junyang weird looks. How did this kid think of such a thing, and to use it at such a perfect moment? With one strike, he had gotten at Helian Hu¡¯s weakness.


    A talisman formation was a high-level usage of talismans, getting the effect of a formation through the use of a talisman. And the effect of the Spirit Seal Talisman Formation was to seal the surrounding spiritual energy and render the area void of spirit.


    In a spiritual vacuum, it became very difficult to cast spell arts.


    But the ones most affected were those at the Mortal Shedding Realm.


    The greatest difference between Mortal Shedding and Spirit tform was the Heaven-Earth Bridge of the Mortal Shedding Realm that allowed for the usage of the world¡¯s spiritual energy when casting spells. Meanwhile, those of the Spirit tform Realm had to consume their own spiritual energy.


    These two werepletely different.


    But what if the surroundings were devoid of spiritual energy?


    Then Mortal Shedding and Spirit tform weren¡¯t different at all, because there was no worldly spiritual energy to borrow.


    Of course, this alone still left a Spirit tform expert with no chance of dealing with a Mortal Shedding expert, for the Spirit Seal Formation had no binding power. The cultivator only needed to leave the region to start casting spells again.


    But where on this stage was Helian Hu going to go?


    And this wasn¡¯t all.


    If it were just that spiritual energy had been sealed, Cai Junyang still wouldn¡¯t be a match for Helian Hu. After all, even if a Mortal Shedding Realm expert didn¡¯t borrow worldly spiritual energy, they could still store more spiritual energy in their body than a Spirit Sea student could.


    The problem was that the refined beasts of the Beast Refining Gate required spiritual energy in order to control, and only then could the refined beasts work with their master. This was also why they would even go so far as to wipe the intelligence of the fiends when capturing them, so that they wouldpletely obey themands they were given.


    This control required invisible spiritual threads, and with spiritual energy sealed, these threads were severed.


    This was also why those three fiend tigers had dropped to the ground once Cai Junyang had used the talisman: they had gone out of control.


    Helian Hu managed to react quickly, immediately linking with the three tigers and taking back control, or else those three beasts might have turned against him. But in this spiritual void, he could only rely on his own spiritual energy to control them. As his spiritual energy flowed out of his body into the three refined tigers, Helian Hu immediately knew that he was in trouble.


    He red at Cai Junyang. ¡°You!¡±


    Cai Junyang chuckled. Not only did he stop attacking, he fell back and began to put up a wall of sword light, goingpletely on the defensive.


    Helian Hu instantly knew what he was trying. These three refined beasts were consuming his spiritual energy with every passing second, and once his spiritual energy ran out, Helian Hu wouldn¡¯t be able to keep fighting. But he also couldn¡¯t release the tigers. Just as Tang Jie had said, he barely had control over the three, and loosening his control even a little would cause them to rebel.


    What should have been his greatest fighting force had now be his biggest problem.


    In truth, he had another choice. He could call back one or two of his refined beasts. But when he was about to call them back, he found that he couldn¡¯t. His refined beast token was covered in spiritual threads, a spiderweb that hadpletely sealed the token.


    The Lesser Sea Massing Wave Mantra!


    This was the unique effect of the Lesser Sea Massing Wave Mantra. It could thicken the air and make it difficult to move.


    When Cai Junyang had been waving his sword around and not using the 19 Star Sword, he had actually been secretly using the Lesser Sea Massing Wave Mantra, but rather than targeting the surrounding air, he had taken aim at Helian Hu¡¯s refined beast token. As a result, Helian Hu hadn¡¯t noticed anything.


    And when he finally did, Cai Junyang had already tightly sealed it up.


    If Helian Hu were given time, he could break apart this condensed spiritual energy, but Cai Junyang clearly wouldn¡¯t give him this chance. Helian Hu realized that everything had been nned out, and his only option now was to defeat Cai Junyang before his spiritual energy ran out!


    Helian Hu roared and then pointed at Cai Junyang. ¡°Go!¡±


    The three refined tigers lunged.


    As for Helian Hu, he didn¡¯t dare to make his own attacks anymore. He needed to save all his spiritual energy for controlling the three tigers.


    Cai Junyang was just about to face down the three tigers, knowing that this would decide the oue of this battle. At this moment, Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Fall back into the corner!¡±


    Cai Junyang was startled at first, but he instinctively trusted Tang Jie and still did as he was told, retreating to a corner of the stage.


    He was concerned that if the three refined tigers collided into him there, they might just knock him off the stage. But to his surprise, when he arrived at the corner, he found that there was what seemed like a solid wall supporting his back.


    But after his surprise had passed, he realized that this was the Heaven-Earth Jail that Helian Hu had used.


    Cai Junyang¡¯s Spirit Seal Talisman Formation used the ring as its boundary line and only sealed spiritual energy within the ring. And Helian Hu¡¯s Heaven-Earth Jail used the same boundary, solidifying spiritual energy along the edge of the ring to prevent escape, so it was also unaffected.


    With his back against the jail and standing in the corner, he now had an advantage in terrain. The three tigers could not attack him at the same time. There was only space for two at most to attack him.


    Cai Junyang cast a barrier and then began to make sweeping swings with his sword, blocking left and right, putting up a tough resistance with no care for how much spiritual energy he used. In any case, no matter how quickly he used up his spiritual energy, he couldn¡¯t possibly match the speed at which the three refined beasts were draining Helian Hu.


    Helian Hu started to grow frantic. He hadn¡¯t expected his Heaven-Earth Jail to be used like this. One of the refined tigers couldn¡¯t squeeze its way into the corner, and though the other two tigers were giving Cai Junyang a good beating, this guy had clearlye prepared and was defending with all he had, making it difficult to take his life. And all this time, Helian Hu¡¯s spiritual energy was flooding out of his body.


    Growing worried, Helian Hu had the lone refined tiger take a few steps back, where it began to gather energy in its mouth, clearly in preparation to strike with a long-range spell. The fiend tigers had their own spirit power, and Helian Hu didn¡¯t need to conserve it.


    Just when he was about to strike, Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Use Shore-Crashing Hand on Helian!¡±


    Cai Junyang immediately used the Shore-Crashing Hand on Helian Hu, thrusting out his left hand.


    Helian Hu had never anticipated a counterattack from Cai Junyang at a moment like this. To save spiritual energy, he had not cast the slightest defensive spell art on himself. Fortunately, he reacted quickly, and the free fiend tiger was able to block the blow. But this also canceled the fiend tiger¡¯s long-range spell.


    ¡°Keep going! Keep attacking him!¡± Tang Jie shouted.


    Cai Junyang used the Shore-Crashing Hand with one hand to attack Helian Hu while his sword in the other blocked the attacks of the refined tigers. His body shed with rainbow light, and when his barrier shattered, he simply cast another.


    Helian Hu had no recourse against the Shore-Crashing Hand, so he could only cast a defensive spell on himself.


    This was exactly what Tang Jie wanted to see.


    He wanted to elerate Helian Hu¡¯s spiritual energy consumption.


    In terms of strength, Helian Hu was far stronger than Cai Junyang, but in terms of consumption, Cai Junyang used much less than Helian Hu.


    This battle was a contest of who would run out of spiritual energy first.


    Thus, ten Shore-Crashing Hands from Cai Junyang for one barrier was a very worthwhile trade.


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    Helian Hu clearly realized this. Cai Junyang¡¯s Shore-Crashing Hands forced him to use spells to dodge or defend, consuming his limited spiritual energy.


    ¡°Shameless! Despicable!¡± Helian Hu was disgusted and infuriated by these tactics, angrily roaring. His eyes glinted with a harsh light. ¡°You want to use up my spiritual energy? Then I¡¯ll use it up for you! Life or death will be decided with this one blow!¡±


    He threw his head back and howled, raising the Skinyer Knife high into the air and unleashing a blinding light from it.


    ¡°y the earth and weave the heavens into clothes! Heavenly Garment Knife!¡±


    With a roar from Helian Hu, the Skinyer Knife shed at Cai Junyang.


    Even the spectating Spirit Masters paled at this move. Helian Hu had clearly cast all apprehensions aside and put all his power into the move.


    The oue of the battle would be decided by this strike.


    At this moment, Tang Jie¡¯s vexing voice rang out: ¡°Cover your head and squat down!¡±


    Cai Junyang hastily squatted down.


    The two refined tigers saw a chance and instinctively lunged at Cai Junyang.


    The sharp teeth broke through the barrier and bit into Cai Junyang¡¯s back, tearing away arge chunk of his flesh.


    But this also meant that Helian Hu had lost his target.


    ¡°No!¡± He angrily roared.


    What was he going to do with this attack into which he had gathered all his power?


    He didn¡¯t have time to call back his refined tigers.


    His eyes glinted with savagery.


    He could catch another refined tiger, but losing this battle would utterly humiliate him.


    After a moment of hesitation, he continued to swing down his knife.


    He first cut through the refined tigers, creating an explosion of flesh and blood.


    As the tigers miserably howled, the power of the knife cut into Cai Junyang¡¯s body.


    ¡°Go all-out!¡± a voice exploded, resounding through the audience.


    There was a burst of starlight, sword energy meeting saber energy in a shing rainbow light show. Tang Jie¡¯s secret countermeasure against Helian Hues out!

 Chapter 297: Humiliation and Insult

    <h1>Chapter 297: Humiliation and Insult</h1>


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    The immense force of the raging mes of light instantly shattered the Heaven-Earth Jail.


    Two figures flew off in separate directions.


    Cai Junyang tumbled in the air like a stone skipping across ake. The moment hended, he slid ten-some meters.


    "Junyang!" The Basking Moon Sect students rushed up to Cai Junyang''s side.


    Cai Junyang threw up a mouthful of blood and then heartilyughed, "Haha! Feels good! Feels good! Who won?"


    His body was covered in wounds, the tigers had torn up his clothes, and he even had several chunks of flesh missing.


    But most shocking of all was that on his chest, beneath the tattered garments, was a suit of ck armor. This armor was damaged in ces by the fiend tigers, but the most serious damage was a crack in the middle, almost traveling along the entire length of Cai Junyang''s body. This was caused by none other than that Heavenly Garment Knife.


    Without this suit of armor, Cai Junyang would have already been dead. But s, with this much damage, the armor was done for.


    Everyone sighed in relief upon seeing that he was still alive. Ye Tianshang looked into the distance and replied, "It''s a draw. You and Helian Hu left the ring at the same time."


    In the distance, Helian Hu got up off the ground. He was clearly less wounded than Cai Junyang, but the look on his face was much nastier.


    Not only had he failed to win, he had even had to kill two of his most important refined tigers. Despite this grievous price, he hade away empty-handed. The grief and rage he felt could easily be imagined.


    As he looked over at the Basking Moon Sect, his eyes were brimming with murderous intent.


    "Is that so? What a pity." Cai Junyang didn''t seem to care much. After all that careful nning, and even gambling his life, he still hadn''t been able to beat Helian Hu. Truly, the gap in strength was still everything. No matter what tricks you pulled, you were only ever able to close the distance. Getting a victory was excruciatingly difficult.


    As he was sighing, Helian Hu began to walk over.


    Step by step, he drew closer to the Basking Moon students.


    This made everyone nervous, and even the Beast Refining Gate students shouted, "Great Brother, hurry ande back! The match in the ring is already over. Fighting isn''t allowed anymore!"


    No matter how much the Basking Moon Sect and the Beast Refining Gate hated each other, private battles without permission were not allowed, at least in public. This would risk a war.


    The Basking Moon students tensed up as Helian Hu approached, some of them even readying for battle.


    But Helian Hu had no intention of attacking.


    He walked right up to Cai Junyang and looked at him. Cai Junyang was about to say something when Helian Hu suddenly looked past him and turned his gaze to Tang Jie.


    He said, "When I was fighting, were you the one chattering from the audience?"


    Tang Jie shrugged. "I was just cheering him on."


    There was no rule forbidding the audience to talk and give pointers while a match was going on. It wasn''t that the six major sects hadn''t considered this possibility, but that they couldn''t stop it.


    So long as a match had spectators,mentary and cheers of support were inevitable.


    And while cheering, someone excitedly giving a few words of advice was extremely normal. It wasn''t like you could disqualify a contestant just because someone on their side shouted, "Hit his face!" or "Kick his butt!"


    Thus, unless talking was banned, it waspletely imusible to stop the spectators from offering ideas. Moreover, cultivator battles could change in seconds. While a spectator was giving an idea, the fighters might have already exchanged a few blows. Theg was so serious that the effect of this advice was minimal and might even be counterproductive.


    Thus, in matches like this, it was not forbidden for the audience to offer pointers.


    But nobody could have expected Tang Jie to exploit this point.


    He could exploit it partially because he had already thought of all the possible tactical developments, and partially because he had the Celestial Eye. But most importantly, his pointers avoided the need for instant reaction as much as possible.


    For example, Cai Junyang turtling in the corner and utilizing the Heaven-Earth Jail to give himself a terrain advantage had nothing to do with instant reaction and could be used at any time. Having Cai Junyang use the Shore-Crashing Hand against Helian Hu was also a tactical choice that didn''t require an instant response. Doing it early orte would have no difference in effect.


    Only thest piece of advice¡ªto cover his head and squat down, thus using the refined tigers as cover¡ªreally demanded an instant reaction, and that was the only one had thought about carefully beforehand. Even then, he had still lost his cool and, in the end, shouted, "Go all-out!" This was a result of hisck of time to organize his words and think of a countermeasure.


    Helian Hu red at Tang Jie. "The problem is that whenever you cheered him on, I ended up in big trouble. It seems like you were also the one who came up with the Spirit Seal Talisman Formation."


    Compared to Cai Junyang, Helian Hu reserved more hatred for the one giving him orders from the back. Without this person, he would have never ended up in this situation, which was why he hade over to demand evidence.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Oh, that talisman? That was the work of Brother Mingyang."


    He pointed at Shu Mingyang.


    Shu Mingyang froze.


    He really had made this talisman, but it was Tang Jie who had asked him to make it, and the processing that made it into a talisman formation had nothing to do with him. The only possibility was that Tang Jie had done it. But wasn''t Tang Jie being rather disloyal by pushing all the responsibility onto him?


    <em>Aren''t you just selling me out?</em>


    Shu Mingyang was about to exin when Tang Jie said, "The people of my Basking Moon Sect have always worked together, using everything possible to fend off a powerful foe. Brother Helian, if you''re not convinced, you can just work together with the people of your sect to fight against us."


    He had breezily made his "cheering" into a team effort from the sect, leaving Helian Hu feeling both angry and helpless. But as there was no ban on advice from the audience, he couldn''t do anything. And even if he did want to emte this, where was he going to find someone with such sharp vision?


    Shu Mingyang had been about to argue when Tang Jie had brought up the unity of the Basking Moon Sect. If he spoke up now, wouldn''t he be admitting that he wasn''t of one mind with the others? He could only quietly take the me.


    As Helian Hu was ovee by helpless rage, a voice rang out from behind him, "Hu''er,e back."


    As this voice spoke, the mor at the Beast Refining Gate''s side instantly fell silent. Helian Hu gave Tang Jie and Shu Mingyang onest re before reluctantly leaving.


    Arge man wearing beast furs suddenly appeared on the scene and looked at Cai Junyang. An invisible energy instantly engulfed the aura, paralyzing all the students.


    Seated above, Ming Yekong slightly frowned. Just when he was about to move, the beast fur man said, "Brother Ming, don''t be hasty. I just wish to ask some questions as to where this kid got this suit of armor."


    He waved his hand, and the shattered armor flew off Cai Junyang''s body and into the beast fur man''s hand. He nced at it and grunted, "Sure enough, it''s Godhead Armor."


    Cai Junyang could have been wearing anything, but nobody had expected Godhead Armor. Even the distant Godhead Pce students were startled, confused as to how Cai Junyang had gotten it.


    Tang Jie immediately replied, "A gift from a friend."


    "What friend?" the beast fur man immediately asked.


    Tang Jie coldly replied, "None of your business."


    "Impudent!" The beast fur man scowled. "Do you know who you''re talking to? And you dare to act so brazenly?"


    Tang Jie sneered, "Mad Beast Heng Wudi (Forever Unequalled), one of the Seven Primordial War Beasts of the Beast Refining Gate, a peak Celestial Heart only half a step from Violet Pce. You are ranked 16th on my Basking Moon Sect''s kill list, and you''ve killed at least one hundred disciples of my Basking Moon Sect. Am I right?"


    The beast fur man was taken aback, and then heughed. "You know who I am, and you still dare to speak to me this way? Juniors seem to be getting more and more guts nowadays."


    "Idiot," Tang Jie coldly spat out.


    He didn''t say these words very loudly, but they still instantly traveled across the entire venue.


    Heng Wudi paled. "What did you say?"


    Tang Jie pursed his lips. "I''m saying you''re an idiot. You think that people will just step back simply because you sh your title? I''m not your dad, so I don''t have the time to deal with you. But now that I think about it, Heng Wudi, was your dad an imbecile? What was going on in his head, that he gave you such a crude name? You must have been beaten up a lot when you were a kid because of this name. That you survived until now is a miracle!"


    Tang Jie''s mouth was venomous and damaging, and he spoke swiftly. Everyone was instantly left dumbfounded.


    They stared at Tang Jie, not daring to believe their ears.


    He actually dared to insult and humiliate a peak Celestial Heart cultivator? And his insults were so vicious and harsh. He must have gone crazy.


    Heng Wudi trembled a few times before finally roaring, "Kid, you''re seeking death!"


    His body exploded with energy, his fighting intent and mes of anger seeming to take physical form and coil around his body. With a mighty roar, he thrust out his right index finger, sending a surge of wild energy at Tang Jie. Not only was Tang Jie caught up in it, even Peng Yaolong, Cai Junyang, and Ye Tianshang were in range of this blow.


    At this moment, he felt like only killing everyone in the Basking Moon Sect could quench his anger.


    A momentter, with a cold snort, a figure suddenly appeared in front of Tang Jie, thrusting a palm against that furious storm of energy and instantly neutralizing it.


    After blocking the attack, Ming Yekong said, "Heng Wudi, the six sects have agreed to not strike at others while off the stage. You''ve already broken the rules, not even considering that you''re attacking a junior."


    Heng Wudi roared, "Ming Yekong, don''t try that on me! Is this how your Basking Moon Sect teaches your disciples? Did you hear how he insulted me?"


    Ming Yekong shook his head. "Rules are rules. The reasons are not important. What''s important is that you broke the rules, so you must be punished!"


    "Bullshit!" Heng Wudi stomped his feet. "I don''t care about these dogshit rules! Rules exist to be broken! I didn''t cultivate for a thousand years just so that some damn rules could hold me back! Anyone who dares to humiliate me must die!"


    He punched at the students, the surge of energy even greater than before!


    Ming Yekong replied, "Perhaps there are times when the rules must be broken, but not by you, Heng Wudi."


    "Brother Ming is correct, but Brother Heng has his dignity to preserve. There''s no harm in having a match with him to liven things up a little." The one speaking this time was a golden-robed elder of Godhead Pce.


    Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate were allies, so they naturally needed to speak up for them at this time.


    It was true that Heng Wudi had broken the rules, so they might as well drag Ming Yekong in and turn this into a spar between two bigshots to settle things.


    On the Horizon Ocean Pavilion side, a middle-aged woman chuckled and said, "That''s all well and good, but we can''t disturb the children."


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    She waved her hand, casting a forcefield on the area below.


    The golden-robed elder said, "Madam He is right. That being the case, let me lend a hand."


    He also pointed at the area down below.


    The leaders from the Thousand Passions Sect and Seven Absolutions Sect nced at each other before also acting.


    The peak Celestial Heart experts from the other four sects worked in concert to cast a forcefield on the area to protect it.


    Back on the ground, Ming Yekong neutralized Heng Wudi''s attack again. At the same time, he stepped forward, and what seemed like empty air rippled like water.


    Ming Yekong''s body began to blink around in the air. Suddenly, he appeared behind Heng Wudi and thrust a finger at his neck.


    Heng Wudi had already sensed this, and with a roar, a green snake head suddenly appeared at the back of his head and bit at Ming Yekong.


    Ming Yekong drew back his hand and made another step.


    He was clearly stepping forward, but his body appeared on Heng Wudi''s right side, as if there was some sort of tunnel between Heng Wudi''s back and his side that Ming Yekong needed only one step to cross. With a light wave of his left hand, a sharp light shot at Heng Wudi''s neck.


    Heng Wudi let out a strange yelp and flew upward. Ming Yekong stepped to the side, but this one step took him several dozen meters into the air, putting him right in the path of Heng Wudi''s ascent. His movements were truly as unfathomable as a ghost''s.


    "Out of my way!" Heng Wudi bellowed.


    His body erupted with a fierce light. A giant green snake charged out of his body. As it charged, it grew horns and ws, bing a majestic dragon.

 Chapter 298: Reward and Punishment!

    Chapter 298: Reward and Punishment!


    The Immortal Ascension Mantra was a very special Immortal art of the Beast Refining Gate that massively boosted the power of a refined beast. Heng Wudi was the best in the Beast Refining Gate at this art, and his Immortal Ascension Art, refined to the peak, was capable of turning a snake fiend into a terrifying dragon to do battle. But this was also why his refined beasts never relied on numbers for their victory.


    Unlike normal refined beasts, which came out of refined beast tokens, this green-snake-turned-dragon emerged endlessly from Heng Wudi¡¯s body, its enormous form gradually blotting out the sky. Only its dragon tail was wrapped around Heng Wudi¡¯s body, with most of its body sweeping aside the clouds and spitting green mes at Ming Yekong. The sky was turned into a zing prairie, and when the mes crashed into the barrier below, they caused brilliant rainbow explosions.


    But Ming Yekong faced down this terrifying green dragon like he was strolling around in a garden.


    Someone had once said that while Ming Yekong might not have been the strongest of the 19 Celestial Chiefs, he was definitely the most carefree. He seemed eternally rxed when fighting, his pace leisurely. If one only looked at his expression, one might not even realize he was inbat.


    Ming Yekong confidently walked through the fierce mes of the dragon, his body drifting around and always appearing in the most improbable of ces.


    For him, the sky was t ground, and he could freely travel without using any sort of flight spell.


    With each step, the air rippled.


    As he walked around, the ripples grew stronger and stronger, and the backdrop of the green dragon mes made them seem like festival fireworks.


    These footprints continued to appear all around the ce, blinking in and out of existence.


    For most students, these footprints were irrelevant. Ming Yekong¡¯s carefree mood, Heng Wudi¡¯s ferocity, and the majesty of the green dragon were far more worthy of observation.


    A peak Celestial Heart battle was a rare sight for students, which was also why they didn¡¯t actually understand the battle.


    There were a few exceptions.


    While the vast majority of people were focused on Heng Wudi and his green dragon, Tang Jie¡¯s eyes were constantly following those footsteps.


    The Chaoswind Step!


    This was the Chaoswind Step!


    The 27 Star Chaoswind Step!


    After getting the Chaoswind Step booklet yesterday, Tang Jie had browsed through it and gained some understanding of how to use it. The Chaoswind Step¡¯s energy cirction wasn¡¯t difficult. The real meat was in the 27 Stars. Through these 27 Stars, one could freely move around within a certain range.


    As for how free was this movement, one could see from Ming Yekong¡¯s current performance that he could reach any part of the battlefield with just a single step.


    In such circumstances, who could hit him? Not only that, it was extremely effective for attacking.


    But the 27 Stars were the most difficult and mostplicated part of the Chaoswind Step. Putting aside the calction and locating of each Star, there were also countlessbinations.


    Just a look at the list of possiblebinations of the 27 Stars almost had Tang Jie¡¯s brain exploding, let alone actually going through them.


    But as he watched Ming Yekong easily work through the Chaoswind Step, Tang Jie finally began to develop some understanding.


    At that moment, he suddenly felt like he had an unprecedented understanding of the Chaoswind Step.


    As energy circted through his body, his surroundings seemed to freeze.


    He entered a very special state and could sense each breath and each energy source around him.


    In the middle of all this, Tang Jie vaguely felt like he had some sort of connection with Ming Yekong up in the air.


    It was a weak sensation, barely perceptible, in fact, so Tang Jie had to desperately reach out for it.


    The warm spot on his forehead grewrger andrger as he pushed his vision to the absolute limit to try to follow that striding figure in the sky and feel out that strange connection.


    Suddenly, Tang Jie stepped forward and to the side.


    At the same time, Ming Yekong did the same, instantly disappearing and then reappearing behind Heng Wudi.


    Tang Jie did not move, but his left foot followed, taking a step forward just as Ming Yekong did the same.


    Their footwork had reached an astonishing level of synchronization.


    In the air, Ming Yekong gasped in surprise. He looked down, he met Tang Jie¡¯s gaze, and as he continued to confidently walk around, a smile appeared on his lips.


    He didn¡¯t mind that Tang Jie had grasped his footwork and was copying him. On the contrary, he was quite pleased.


    As he continued to step around, he said, ¡°Of the 27 manifestations of Chaoswind, Wind is the foremost, which is why it is called the Chaoswind Step. Energy begins at Xun (Southeast), and if the Xun Wind is taken to the limit, it manifests as the Great Wind. But if you move to the Gen position (Northeast), you manifest the Wind Mountain, and if you go to the Li (South), you manifest Wind Fire. And if you go to the Qian (Northwest), you manifest the Nine Heavens Art. In the same way as you can use arts inbination, you canbine movements, like so¡­¡±


    He suddenly elerated, taking twelve rapid steps that Tang Jie couldn¡¯t keep up with. In the air, a fiery gale manifested, turning the fierce mes of the green dragon against it.


    Ming Yekong casually said, ¡°Like this, you can walk and traverse the air like it is t ground, prating the heavens (Qian) and overturning the earth (Kun). By going through Kan (North), Li, and Gen, you have Wind-Forest-Fire-Mountain!¡±


    He thrust out his hands, sending a wave of vigorous energy at Heng Wudi.


    Heng Wudi furiously roared, and the green dragon swung its body and sent its own energy wave at Ming Yekong.


    Ming Yekong swiftly turned around, creating countless afterimages in the air.


    At this moment, not only Tang Jie, but Qi Shaoming was also enchanted by this sight.


    Ming Yekong¡¯s Chaoswind Step was very instructive for his own Passing Shadow.


    This was a sh of wind versus mountain, of agility versus brute strength. Ming Yekong flitted around like a dancing sword while Heng Wudi rampaged like a dragon, the energies of heaven and earth vying for supremacy.


    If not for the four Celestial Heart expertsying down defenses, the aftershocks from their conflict would have destroyed the entire arena, and even with them, the spectacle alone left everyone shaken.


    For Tang Jie, this was the most fulfilling battle he had ever witnessed.


    Ming Yekong¡¯s instructions had instantly allowed Tang Jie to understand where the secrets of the Chaoswind Stepy. If the stars were words and numbers, the manifestations were diagrams and pictures. When they werebined, they produced countless mysteries.


    As those countless images shed around, Tang Jie could no longer keep up. With a cry, he fell on his butt.


    ¡°Tang Jie, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Ye Tianshang asked, bending down.


    Tang Jie held his forehead and breathed in and out a few times before replying, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    The stimtion had opened up the vertical eye on his forehead a little more, and Tang Jie did not dare to move his hand away until the eye gradually disappeared. As he removed his hand, he wiped off that little bead of blood on his forehead as well.


    When he looked back up, the two experts were still fighting. Ming Yekong was calm and unhurried while Heng Wudi was exploding with energy. It seemed like they could keep fighting for three days and nights.


    But if they kept this up, there was no telling when it would end.


    Madam He of Horizon Ocean Pavilion suddenly smiled. ¡°You¡¯ve had your fight and your anger has been vented, so let¡¯s get back to the main topic.¡±


    She waved her long sleeve and pointed a finger at the distance, the experts of Godhead Pce, the Thousand Passions Sect, and the Seven Absolutions Sect doing the same. Four streams of spiritual pressure instantly quelled the raging storm in the sky.


    Heng Wudi still wanted to vent his rage, but there was no way he could fight against four people, and he reluctantly returned to the ground. Ming Yekong also chose this moment to retreat, returning to the ground first. Unlike Heng Wudi, he had acted to protect a student of his sect, so he had no objection to stopping the fight. In any case, he wasn¡¯t the one who had been insulted.


    Madam He said, ¡°Brother Heng, if you want to keep fighting, then we won¡¯t need to hold this Immortal Fortune Conference anymore.¡±


    With these words, Heng Wudi finally gave up. He angrily red at Tang Jie and said, ¡°I won¡¯t let this brat go.¡±


    Tang Jie pursed his lips. ¡°I¡¯m from the Basking Moon Sect. You really think I ever hoped forpassion from your Beast Refining Gate?¡±


    Heng Wudi¡¯s words were thrown back into his face, and he stormed off in fury. The suppression of the four other experts had put an end to his tantrums.


    The golden-robed elder of Godhead Pce said, ¡°Madam He is right. Wars of words are but mere trifles, and there is no need to waste so much time on them. But the origin of the Godhead Armor needs an exnation. Brother Heng, you were too impatient.¡±


    Heng Wudi grew even angrier at these words.


    The golden-robed elder had no idea that he had inadvertently salted an open wound.


    In his view, barbed insults were minor matters while the background of the Godhead Armor was the real big deal here.


    And in terms of importance, he waspletely right.


    But things were always different for the person involved.


    The origin of the Godhead Armor was irrelevant for Heng Wudi, for Godhead Pce had lost many suits of Godhead Armor to the outside world in thest few years, so it wouldn¡¯t be strange at all if one or two ended up in the hands of the Basking Moon Sect. There was no need for the Beast Refining Gate to think that Godhead Pce was colluding with the Basking Moon Sect just yet. But to be insulted and humiliated by a junior was a huge blow to his pride.


    He could ept the words of Madam He from Horizon Ocean Pavilion because they weren¡¯t friends, but he could never ept the words of the golden-robed elder.


    He had been publicly humiliated, yet his ally had tried to stop him instead of help him, even telling him to not fuss over such a small thing. This was siding with outsiders, and it left him furious.


    For an ally to take a ¡°neutral¡± position was betrayal to Heng Wudi.


    But he had no way to vent his rage and could only stomach it. However, he was now ashamed to be allies with this golden-robed elder, finding his actions utterly revolting.


    At this moment, the pce lord of the Wandering Pce suddenly spoke. ¡°With regards to this suit of Godhead Armor, I think I know a little.¡±


    <em>Oh?</em> Everyone turned to the Wandering Pce Lord.


    The Wandering Pce Lord had their face covered in a veil and sat in a high seat at the very center. ¡°Several days ago, abat puppet guard came under attack, having its head cut off and its armor stolen. Although I ordered this matter to be investigated, as there were countless Immortals present, it was difficult to find the truth. I did not expect to see that missing suit of armor reappear today.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Ming Yekong raised an eyebrow. ¡°Pce Lord, you say that this suit of armor is a lost possession of your revered pce?¡±


    The Wandering Pce Lord replied, ¡°This suit of armor was originally Godhead Armor, but to prevent misunderstandings, it was painted ck to differentiate it. This is precisely why my pce is the only one with this kind of ck Godhead Armor, and it is basically nonexistent in the outside world.¡±


    ¡°Why does it sound like Godhead Pce has some secret treaty with the Wandering Pce?¡± the gorgeous woman from the Thousand Passions Sect snorted.


    The Wandering Pce Lord froze for a moment, but the golden-robed elder quickly chuckled and said, ¡°Fairy Lian, please do not be mistaken. It¡¯s just a change of color meant to deceive ignorant juniors. How could it possibly deceive august figures such as yourselves? It was an action only taken to prevent quarrels and keep the peace.¡±


    ¡°So there was no backroom dealing?¡± Madam He of Horizon Ocean Pavilion asked.


    The golden-robed elder emphasized, ¡°Absolutely not.¡±


    ¡°Very well.¡± Ming Yekong nodded. ¡°Then we will wait to see the oue.¡±


    The golden-robed elder mentally cursed Ming Yekong¡¯s cunning.


    It was clear that if the Wandering Pce chose Godhead Pce after all this, the other sects would use Godhead Pce of having made some under-the-table deal.


    In other words, if Godhead Pce wanted to prove its innocence, it had to be ready to give up on the chance.


    This was removing them from contention!


    The golden-robed elder gnashed his teeth and looked at Heng Wudi, hoping that he would speak up for him.


    But Heng Wudi looked away and said, ¡°That¡¯s true. We can only wait for the oue to find out the truth.¡±


    The golden-robed elder mentally cursed.


    But without Heng Wudi¡¯s help, Godhead Pce was all alone on this matter, so the elder had to restrain himself and say, ¡°Everyone, please, rest easy. Wandering Pce has the freedom to choose on this matter, and their choice is in no way influenced by Godhead Pce.¡±


    These words were basically an admission that Godhead Pce would be withdrawing from this struggle.


    Ming Yekong felt very refreshed, having removed apetitor without breaking a sweat.


    The golden-robed elder said, ¡°So why don¡¯t we ask that child how he managed to get this suit of armor?¡±


    Ming Yekong turned his head.


    Tang Jie stood up and said, ¡°We truly did steal this suit of armor. After that day¡¯s matches, we knew that we would be fighting in death matches against the Beast Refining Gate on the fifth day. As Senior Brother Helian is just too strong and we¡¯re good friends with Junyang, Mingyang and I became worried about Junyang. We decided to find a way of making him stronger and improve hisbat strength¡­¡±


    Shu Mingyang panicked. <em>Why is it me again?</em>


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°As everyone registered their tools and weapons before the tournament so that we couldn¡¯t just lend him our things, we had to think of another way to make Junyang stronger. We went out drinking that night and tried to think of ideas. After we drank a little too much, we lost control of our emotions and decided to take a risk¡­¡±


    <em>It was you! You were the one who decided to take the risk, not me!</em> Shu Mingyang grumbled, but he didn¡¯t even know how to defend himself.


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t said that he, Shu Mingyang, and Cai Junyang had worked together on this incident, only that they were drinking away their worries after the matches. As for afterwards¡­ the puppet was destroyed and the armor was taken. What else was there to say?


    But everyone else essentially took it to mean that Tang, Shu, and Cai had worked together on this.


    Cai Junyang didn¡¯t care. He was even wearing the armor, so it really didn¡¯t matter if he was one of the thieves. But Shu Mingyang was being unjustly used, and he was inwardly ame with worry.


    As Tang Jie spoke, everyone gradually understood the origin of this suit of armor, and they looked at the trio in shock and admiration. These guys were so bold! Even daring to loot abat puppet!


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    Cai Junyang and Tang Jie were used to being the center of attention and were unmoved. Only Shu Mingyang was being dragged along for the ride, squirming ufortably under all those staring eyes.


    Once the story was done, Tang Jie got down on one knee and bowed to Ming Yekong. ¡°For the sake of victory, this lowly onemitted an outrageous crime and ckened the name of the sect. The truth has now been revealed, so please cast your judgment, Venerable Master.¡±


    Ming Yekongughed. ¡°Kid, you¡¯ve truly got some guts. Once this matter is concluded, I will properly punish all of you, but for now, rise.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Jie solemnly stood up.


    The golden-robed elder was gobsmacked. ¡°Ming Yekong, what do you mean by this? He stole a suit of armor. Is the Basking Moon Sect not going to give us an exnation?¡±


    Ming Yekong cut him off. ¡°They stole a suit of armor from the Wandering Pce, so the Wandering Pce is the one that requires an exnation. It has nothing to do with your Godhead Pce.¡±


    Ming Yekong brought his hands together and bowed to the Wandering Pce Lord. ¡°The Basking Moon Sect wascking in discipline and allowed its students to run amok. Ming Yekong represents my academy and students in apologizing to the pce lord!¡±


    The Wandering Pce Lord bowed back. ¡°Brother Ming is too polite.¡±


    Ming Yekong continued, ¡°As it was a student of my sect who caused the Wandering Pce to suffer a loss, my Basking Moon Sect will take full responsibility and paypensation. As for these three troublemakers, I will heavily punish them once we return.¡±


    Everyone was astounded by what they were hearing.


    No one believed that Ming Yekong would actually punish this trio. If he actually nned to, he would not bepensating the Wandering Pce in their ce.


    Solely because of the fact that Cai Junyang had tied with Helian Hu and heavily damaged the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s morale, Ming Yekong could not possibly punish them.


    As for the loss of a singlebat puppet¡­ that wasn¡¯t even a fart to the Basking Moon Sect.


    And that wasn¡¯t even considering how Tang Jie had verbally brutalized Heng Wudi and Ming Yekong had forced Godhead Pce to withdraw.


    After all that, everyone couldn¡¯t help but think that Tang Jie stood to be rewarded, not punished. Shu Mingyang can only suffer in silence as Tang Jie makes him into an aplice.

 Chapter 299: Donation

    Chapter 299: Donation


    Of course, for some people, it was quite the terrifying interlude.


    Sitting next to Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong thumped his chest and said, ¡°You¡¯ve really got a lot of guts, insulting Heng Wudi like that.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so impressive about that?¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Aren¡¯t I still perfectly fine?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because Master Ming protected you,¡± Shi Meng replied. ¡°But since you publicly humiliated Heng Wudi, the Beast Refining Gate will definitely hate you, and they won¡¯t be polite if you run into them again.¡±


    Tang Jie countered, ¡°So you¡¯re saying that if I didn¡¯t insult him, the Beast Refining Gate would let me go in the future?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not very possible, since we¡¯re mortal foes with the Beast Refining Gate,¡± Shi Meng said, scratching his head. The gruesome scene ying out on the stage told him that there was basically no chance of coexistence between the two sides.


    Tang Jie shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s it, then, right? Since we¡¯re mortal enemies anyway, what¡¯s the difference between hating me a lot and hating me a little? Are they going to kill me one hundred times? That being the case, why not use the Beast Refining Gate as a stepping stone to raise my status in the sect?¡±


    ¡°As expected.¡± Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng shared a look.


    They just knew that Tang Jie hadn¡¯t done this for no reason. It now seemed that the more the Beast Refining Gate loathed him, the more the Basking Moon Sect would value him. And no matter how much the Beast Refining Gate hated him, nothing could be worse than killing him. Without any stronger form of retaliation to fear, Tang Jie truly didn¡¯t need to care about what the Beast Refining Gate thought and could solely focus on raising his status in the Basking Moon Sect.


    It was a profitable transaction that came at no cost!


    Of course, while this was theoretically sound, insulting an existence like Heng Wudi was like an ant challenging a dragon, and most others would have been trembling in fear. Perhaps only Tang Jie could ignore this man¡¯s intimidating aura.


    His courage alone was enough to make the Basking Moon Sect regard him highly.


    ¡°That was really impressive,¡± Ye Tianshang said, giving Tang Jie a thumbs-up.


    Tang Jie chuckled. He was just about to say something when he suddenly stood up and shouted at the stage, ¡°Retreat!¡±


    The Basking Moon student fighting in the ring, Zhu Fengdao, heard Tang Jie¡¯s voice and backed away without even thinking. On the other end, a refined beast of the Beast Refining Gate student he was fighting detonated in a powerful explosion.


    Tang Jie¡¯s shout hade a littlete, and Zhu Fengdao was still caught up in the st. But he had managed to retreat far enough that he was able to use the explosion to fly out of the stage, preventing his opponent from dealing the finishing blow. Though he was heavily injured, he managed to survive.


    Several Basking Moon students carried Zhu Fengdao back, and as they passed Tang Jie, Zhu Fengdao gratefully said, ¡°Junior Brother, thank you for saving me. If you didn¡¯t warn me, I would have fallen into that scoundrel¡¯s traps. I really didn¡¯t expect him to be hiding a move like that.¡±


    Tang Jie patted him. ¡°I was still a littlete, but at least you¡¯re still alive.¡±


    Ye Tianshang stood up. ¡°It¡¯s my turn now.¡±


    Zhu Fengdao quickly said, ¡°You should be careful. That Geng Tianzhao is ranked third in the Beast Refining Gate and won¡¯t be easy to deal with.¡±


    Ye Tianshang replied, ¡°With Tang Jie around, I¡¯m confident I can win.¡±


    In almost all of the eight battles so far, Tang Jie had given advice. Although he was a student, his grasp of the battlefield situation and tactical ability had won the admiration of the Basking Moon Sect students. He was like an instructor, giving careful instructions to each student going onto the stage, giving different advice depending on the student, telling them to do everything for the victory or else do their best to stay alive.


    It was because of him that no one from the Basking Moon Sect had died yet, and there were even miracles like Cai Junyang drawing with Helian Hu.


    Ye Tianshang and the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s Geng Tianzhao were both ranked third on their respective sides, and their levels of strength were simr. But with Tang Jie around, Ye Tianshang was confident that he could win.


    At some point, Tang Jie had be the lynchpin¡ªa status that couldn¡¯t have been gained just by winning matches personally, no matter how many.


    Tang Jie chuckled at Ye Tianshang¡¯s words. ¡°Brother Ye is too polite. This junior brother is only doing everything he can. Geng Tianzhao is a veryposed person. He has a Frostmoon Wolf for attack and a ckwater Turtle for defense, so he doesn¡¯t have any obvious weaknesses. But he also doesn¡¯t have any particr strong points. Since you can¡¯t target his weaknesses, just use your advantages. Senior Brother Ye¡¯s offensive abilities are peerless, so if you set the tempo of the battle, you¡¯ll force Geng Tianzhao into a defensive position, gaining an extremely high chance of winning. Finally, you have to watch out for his Ambush Sword, and remember that Geng Tianzhao is tenacious, so don¡¯t try to seek a swift battle. Even if you use a swift sword, you have to be ready for a long battle.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Ye Tianshangughed and jumped into the ring.


    Following Tang Jie¡¯s instructions, he used the Galefury Sword and managed to suppress Geng Tianzhao. But as this was a genius of the Beast Refining Gate, he managed to hold out against Ye Tianshang¡¯s fierce assault, asionally counterattacking. Remembering Tang Jie¡¯s words, Ye Tianshang kept up the pressure, always taking the initiative in their shes, and he slowly began to tip the scales toward him.


    Anyone watching could see that Ye Tianshang¡¯s victory was only a matter of time.


    The illustrious figures present all sighed in praise, envious that the Basking Moon Sect had produced a figure like Tang Jie.


    It was precisely his monstrous advice that allowed the Basking Moon Sect students to either win or escape certain death, such that half of the battles were over and done with without a single student dead, and they had even managed to go 50-50 on wins and losses. Thus, the Beast Refining Gate still did not have an obvious advantage.


    ¡°Someone with such insight is bound for great things!¡± the Celestial Heart cultivator from the Seven Absolutions Sect praised.


    Madam He from Horizon Ocean Pavilion also nodded. ¡°Miao¡¯er seems to have pretty good eyes. However, he¡¯s a little too ambitious, not knowing how to hide his ability.¡±


    Some people praised him, and there were naturally some people who hated him.


    Heng Wudi looked coldly at Tang Jie, a divine light in his eyes.


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    A momentter, he groaned and took a step back, blood flowing out of his nose. Ming Yekong did the same thing, his body swaying a little.


    With barely a noise, the two of them had shed again, but this had been an even more dangerous sh of Divine Wills.


    A momentter, Xie Fengtang pulled out a jade token and sent it flying into Tang Jie¡¯s hand. His voice rang out in Tang Jie¡¯s ear: ¡°Heng Wudi attempted a Divine Will attack on you just now, but Master Ming stopped it. With Master Ming present, he probably won¡¯t attack you with Divine Will again, but that might not be true in the future. This is a Spirit Guardian Jade, and it can block Divine Will attacks three times. Keep it in a safe ce.¡±


    Tang Jie silently put it away and then gave a short bow to Xie Fengtang, indicating that he understood.


    Seeing this, Heng Wudi had no choice but to give up. If he used Divine Will to attack again, Tang Jie would be protected by the Spirit Guardian Jade, and Ming Yekong could seize that chance to attack him.


    Divine Will attacks were the most dangerous of all, and those at peak Celestial Heart only had a basic grasp of them. Heng Wudi did not dare to take this risk.


    While the bigshots were voicing their praises and fighting the shadows, the students down below were celebrating.


    Victory after victory had made everyone look at Tang Jie differently.


    No matter how strong an individual was, they were ultimately the only one who could enjoy this power. Someone who could bring benefits to others was more worth following, was worthy of admiration and worship.


    At this moment, Tang Jie had used his unusual insight to win the admiration of most of the students.


    Of course, there were exceptions.


    Long Dao coldly looked at the crowd that had surrounded Tang Jie. He grunted and looked away, but the hand holding his bow had gone white from how firmly he was gripping it.


    ¡°Young Master, are you troubled by Tang Jie?¡± a voice asked.


    Long Dao turned and saw You Shaofeng standing next to him, grinning.


    Long Dao snorted, ¡°I just can¡¯t stand to see a petty person seed.¡±


    You Shaofeng sighed. ¡°But his advice truly has been very useful. s, Young Master is on poor terms with him, so he probably won¡¯t be willing to give advice.¡±


    Long Dao couldn¡¯t help but be angry now that his worries had been exposed.


    Life was at stake in this war between the two sects. The others had received Tang Jie¡¯s advice and had been able to turn danger into fortune, and Long Dao naturally wanted the same. The problem was that his rtionship with Tang Jie was too awful. Even if he cast aside his pride and begged, Tang Jie might not be willing to help him.


    You Shaofeng said, ¡°In truth, even if he was willing to advise you, who can say if he might not be plotting something to hurt Young Master?¡±


    Long Dao grimaced at these words. He had not thought about this scenario, but now that he did, he realized that it was quite possible.


    He grunted and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t n to get his help anyway.¡±


    You Shaofeng said, ¡°The problem is that Young Master has to deal with Ye Heizi. Ye Heizi is ranked second in the Beast Refining Gate, even stronger than Geng Tianzhao. Now that Helian Hu has lost, the Beast Refining Gate has ced all their hopes on him. Young Master, if you go up there, you will find it very hard to get out unscathed.¡±


    Long Dao¡¯s face shifted. If that hadn¡¯t been the case, what reason would he have had to be worried?


    You Shaofeng said, ¡°In truth, I have an idea. If Ye Heizi wants to kill Young Master, he¡¯ll definitely try to copy Helian Hu and seal the ring with a talisman, preventing Young Master from escaping. But the talisman¡¯s seal is limited, and the Five Elements Escape can break through it. So long as you have a Five Elements Escape Talisman, you can ensure your survival.¡±


    Long Dao frowned. ¡°That¡¯s a Grade 2 art talisman. Putting aside how difficult it is to get, the conference¡¯s rules only permit those at Nine Revolutions to use it. Nobody here can use it!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I came to tell Young Master. Yesterday, while in the market, I saw someone selling a spell-level Five Elements Escape Talisman. This spell talisman only lets you escape a few hundred meters, but on this stage, that¡¯s enough.¡±


    Long Dao was delighted. ¡°Is that for real? Then why didn¡¯t you buy it?¡±


    You Shaofeng bitterly replied, ¡°I did want to buy it, but it¡¯s expensive. The seller was a ruthless merchant. He must have known about the bloody feud between the Basking Moon Sect and Beast Refining Gate, so he demanded two thousand coins for a single talisman, and he would only sell it together with some other weapons and tools. All in all, it was five thousand spirit coins, a price so high that no one is able to afford it. Young Master, you also know that there¡¯s no way I coulde up with this sum of money.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Long Dao hastily said, ¡°Can you still find that person? Go and buy it for me right now!¡±


    He took out five thousand spirit coins from his Mustard Seed Bag and gave them to You Shaofeng. You Shaofeng took the money, but instead of rushing off, he looked at that Mustard Seed Bag and grinned. ¡°This lowly one is such a faithful follower to you, Young Master. Are you not going to give me a little bonus?¡±


    Long Dao angrily smiled, pointing at him and cursing, ¡°You¡¯re also a young master from a wealthy n, so why are you talking like a shameless servant? Ah, forget it. I still have a few hundred coins here. Just take it all and get this done for me.¡±


    Smiling, You Shaofeng took the money and disappeared into the crowd.


    Long Dao waited around for You Shaofeng toe back as the matches continued.


    The Grade 3bat puppet remained powerful, and Wei Tianchong once more defeated his opponent.


    The Basking Moon Sect and Beast Refining Gate continued to trade wins and losses, and Tang Jie continued his n of doing his utmost to keep the sect¡¯s students alive.


    It was the 13th match, but You Shaofeng still hadn¡¯te back. Long Dao started to get antsy.


    When the 14th match arrived and You Shaofeng still hadn¡¯t appeared, Long Dao began to run around like an ant in a heated pot.


    The next match was his, but You Shaofeng still hadn¡¯te back. What did that mean?


    An unbelievable thought suddenly appeared in his mind.


    As the 14th match came to an end, the bell rang to signal the start of the next match. Everyone turned to Long Dao.


    Long Dao shivered.


    With there still being no sign of You Shaofeng, hisst hopes were crushed.


    Despair, fear, and anger caused him to roar, ¡°You Shaofeng, get out here! Come out right now!¡±


    His voice boomed through the arena, transmitted to everyone¡¯s ears.


    Hearing this, Tang Jie could no longer restrain his smile.


    He had to admit that Long Dao had done even better than he had expected.


    Everyone now knew that You Shaofeng had gone missing! You Shaofeng has left the building! But not before scamming Long Dao onest time!

 Chapter 300: Break Out of Despair or Die in Despair!

    Chapter 300: Break Out of Despair or Die in Despair!


    Tang Jie was quite happy if Ye Heizi couldpletely resolve the problem that was Long Dao.


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    Through You Shaofeng¡¯s identity, he now understood how much Long Dao hated him. Even though Tang Jie felt like he hadn¡¯t done much to Long Dao, in truth, Long Dao had been conspiring to kill him all this time.


    Since he wanted him dead, Tang Jie didn¡¯t mind sending Long Dao on his way first.


    s, Long Dao still managed to survive.


    After discovering that he had been tricked, he had very reluctantly gone onto the stage to have his showdown with Ye Heizi.


    Facing this powerful enemy, assaulted while being trapped in a cage, this guy didn¡¯t lose spirit. On the contrary, at the final moment, he erupted, even experiencing a small breakthrough, breaking the wall of his cage with a single Sirius Arrow and escaping.


    In the end, Long Dao seeded in not bing a mere walk-on character, instead developing more in the direction of a side character. This left Tang Jie feeling rather helpless.


    But as a price, Long Dao¡¯s leg had been jabbed by the fang of Ye Heizi¡¯s Multivenom Spider. The poison had caused his leg to swell grotesquely, and though the Spirit Masters of Basking Moon had applied treatment, there was no saying how much they could do.


    As a result, Long Dao was the Basking Moon student who hade away with the greatest injury in the match between the two sects.


    In the next five battles, as the Beast Refining Gate had discovered that the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s targeted strategy made it difficult to kill them, it finally changed its n to self-preservation. Thus, all five battles ended without deaths on either side.


    Thus, this became the deathmatch with the fewest deaths so far.


    On this day, the Beast Refining Gate lost five people while the Basking Moon Sect had one heavily injured and the rest essentially unharmed. The Beast Refining Gate had won ten matches, drawn one, and lost nine, thus winning a small victory which waspletely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.


    As he was leaving, Heng Wudi red at Tang Jie as if he hoped that his looks would kill. Helian Hu was also viciously staring at him, but he also had a few more targets, ring at Cai Junyang and Shu Mingyang as well.


    But Shu Mingyang wasn¡¯t concerned about Helian Hu¡¯s stare at this time.


    Standing in a corner of the crowd, he was focused entirely on his book, even muttering words, perfectly ying the role of a bookworm. The cheering crowd, the victory congrattions, and Helian Hu¡¯s hateful gaze seemed to have nothing to do with him.


    He flipped to the 73rd page and looked at the 6th line.


    What had originally been a discourse on human nature faded away, and a new line of words appeared: ¡°You Shaofeng has gone missing. Tang Jie must be making a move. Keep a close eye on him!¡±


    Shu Mingyang softly sighed.


    The orders given to him were bing more and more direct. It seemed like Godhead Pce was also starting to lose patience.


    After a few moments, the words disappeared, and the original contents of the book returned.


    Putting down his book, Shu Mingyang looked into the distance.


    Tang Jie wasughing in the crowd, epting everyone¡¯s thanks. His experience, insight, and judgment had won him the respect of most of the crowd.


    Shu Mingyang found Tang Jie to be rather admirable. It had to be said that Tang Jie had paid too much to reach this point as an ordinary person. At times, Shu Mingyang thought to himself that if he didn¡¯t have this ursed identity, he might have been able to be real friends with Tang Jie. s, there were no ¡°if¡±s, and there were some things that would have to be settled eventually.


    He couldn¡¯t help but sigh.


    Tang Jie was still talking with everybody. Only once almost everyone was gone did he tactfully reject any further celebrations and leave alone.


    Shu Mingyang activated an Energy Cloak Talisman, concealing his aura before following him.


    He followed as Tang Jie confidently strode through the city and to the outskirts.


    He actually dared to leave the city at this juncture?


    Shu Mingyang was shocked. Did Tang Jie not realize that he had offended Heng Wudi and Helian Hu, making the Beast Refining Gate anxious to kill him?


    But Tang Jie really was making his way out of the city, sauntering through the main gate of Red Plum Ridge and straight out.


    ¡°Bastard!¡±


    In All Beast Garden, Helian Hu was acting like an enraged lion, thrusting out his palm and obliterating the stone table next to him.


    Though the matches were over, Helian Hu¡¯s anger had yet to subside. On the contrary, it was only intensifying.


    The mere thought of what he had experienced today almost consumed Helian Hu with frustration. All he could do was madly break things around him to control his emotions, and so, his residence suffered from a great purging. The peaceful little garden had been turned into a scene of devastation.


    s, no raging could change the facts of the matter. The tragic deaths of his refined tigers, his lost victory, and his humiliated sect made him clench his fists and mutter, ¡°Tang Jie, Cai Junyang, Shu Mingyang¡­ I won¡¯t let you go!¡±


    At this moment, someone rushed in and bowed to Helian Hu. ¡°Senior Brother Helian!¡±


    Helian Hu turned his head. ¡°Qingsong? How are your injuries?¡±


    This person was called Jiang Qingsong, and he was a student of the Beast Refining Gate. His number was 18, making him Tang Jie¡¯s opponent. In his battle against Tang Jie during the day, the two of them had shed for a while, and Tang Jie had ultimately won out. But Jiang Qingsong had taken a punch from Tang Jie to break out of Tang Jie¡¯s lockdown, jumping out of the ring and keeping his life.


    Hearing this from Helian Hu, Jiang Qingsong chuckled and said, ¡°It¡¯s much better. Everyone says that Tang Jie is skilled at body refining, possessing a Hundred Refinement body despite only being at Spirit Sea Tier, but I think it¡¯s all talk. I took one of his punches directly, but aren¡¯t I still basically fine?¡±


    ¡°It seems like Junior Brother¡¯s body tempering has improved,¡± Helian Hu said, squeezing out a smile. ¡°Right; why did youe to find me?¡±


    Jiang Qingsong said, ¡°Does Senior Brother Helian hate that Tang Jie?¡±


    Helian Hu¡¯s face darkened. ¡°Of course!¡±


    Jiang Qingsong said, ¡°In this martial exhibition, our Beast Refining Gate has suffered a lot, and more than half of it is because of Tang Jie. Thus, when I was leaving, I found a few guys to keep a close eye on him to find the right time to kill him. But to my surprise, the opportunity came right after the matches ended.¡±


    Helian Hu was startled. ¡°What did you say?¡±


    Jiang Qingsong replied, ¡°Tang Jie has left the city.¡±


    Helian Hu immediately stood up. ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely! Two people in total: him and Shu Mingyang.¡±


    ¡°Just the two of them?¡±


    ¡°Correct!¡±


    ¡°Alright; let¡¯s go and kill them. Qingsong, go and notify our other brothers and Elder Heng. We can¡¯t let him escape,¡± Helian Hu said as he walked out.


    Jiang Qingsong replied, ¡°I¡¯ve already been to Elder Heng¡¯s ce, but he¡¯s in meditation and is not to be disturbed. I left a message, so I¡¯m sure that he¡¯lle over once he sees it. As for the other martial brothers¡­ Senior Brother Helian, do you really think it¡¯s okay to let too many people know of this? If the news leaks and the Basking Moon Sect finds out, Tang Jie might get a chance to escape. Moreover, the two of us should be enough to deal with them. You don¡¯t want to split the spoils between too many people, right?¡±


    Helian Hu thought it over and finally nodded. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go!¡±


    They left All Beast Garden and sprinted out of Red Plum Ridge.


    Helian Hu looked at the mountains around him and asked Jiang Qingsong, ¡°Do you know which way they went?¡±


    Jiang Qingsong mysteriously smiled. ¡°Senior Brother Helian, there¡¯s no need to worry. Our people left tracking marks on them. Follow me. I¡¯ll definitely take you to Shu Mingyang.¡±


    Helian Hu didn¡¯t care that he had only mentioned Shu Mingyang and not Tang Jie. In his view, the two of them both needed to die.


    Outside Red Plum Ridge, Tang Jie was still leisurely strolling.


    It was as if he was really just out for a rxing walk. After walking for a while, Tang Jie stopped by a brook, finding arge stone to sit down on and looking at the scenery.


    Shu Mingyang felt sullen. <em>Did this guy really go outside just to see the scenery?</em>


    <em>Does he really have no fear of death?</em>


    <em>Does he not realize that the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people coulde at any time to hunt him down?</em>


    Shu Mingyang suddenly realized, <em>The Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people would also probably attack me if they ran into me, right?</em>


    After all, Tang Jie had implicated him twice during the matches.


    <em>Wait!</em>


    An rming thought urred to Shu Mingyang.


    First, he had implicated him during the matches, and after the matches were over, he had suddenly left the city. If all of this wasn¡¯t a coincidence¡­


    Shu Mingyang shivered. He sensed that a scheme targeting him was unfolding.


    But¡­ this could only have happened if Tang Jie already knew who he was.


    But how could he know? How could he have possibly known?


    Shu Mingyang couldn¡¯t understand, nor did he dare to believe it.


    As he was hesitating in shock, Tang Jie suddenly stood up.


    Standing on that rock, he looked back.


    His gaze fell directly on Shu Mingyang¡¯s hiding spot, prating countless obstructions to fall on his body, and Shu Mingyang instantly felt like he had been dropped into an ice house.


    And then, Tang Jieughed.


    Shu Mingyang saw him move.


    His hands blurred through the air, instantly forming countless hand signs. Spiritual energy surged toward him, creating a violet glow.


    The Violet Lightning Lunge!


    Peak Level 2 Violet Lightning Lunge!


    Shu Mingyang didn¡¯t know why Tang Jie was using the Violet Lightning Lunge at this time, but as that violet energy shot into the air, he saw Tang Jieugh, turn around, and shoot off into the distance.


    Leaving behind a zing trail of violet lightning, Tang Jie covered a vast distance in the space of a few seconds and vanished from sight.


    Just like that, he had run off!


    As Shu Mingyang was bbergasted by the sight, there was a roar of, ¡°He¡¯s over there!¡±


    <em>Not good!</em>


    Shu Mingyang instantly felt an ill omen and instinctively jumped to the side. <em>Boom!</em> A giant crater now existed where he had been standing.


    Two people stood nearby: Helian Hu and Jiang Qingsong. Helian Hu was clearly unhappy. If Jiang Qingsong hadn¡¯t shouted, he really would have killed Shu Mingyang with that palm strike just now.


    Looking at Shu Mingyang, Jiang Qingsong shouted, ¡°Senior Brother Helian, that kid Tang Jie is really sharp and ran off first!¡±


    Helian Hu smiled. ¡°Then we¡¯ll kill this one first!¡±


    Tang Jie had run off too quickly. The mere sight of that violet blur let Helian Hu know that he wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up. Thus, he decided to not chase at all and turn his attention to Shu Mingyang.


    ¡°Yes. Senior Brother, act freely. Your junior brother will support you!¡± Jiang Qingsong saluted and stood to the side.


    Helian Hu hadn¡¯t expected him to not do anything, but after some thought, he decided that this was appropriate. One Shu Mingyang wasn¡¯t worth the two of them working together. This guy respected him, so he decided to give him the opportunity, which Helian Hu greatly approved of. Without another word, he released his sole remaining refined tiger.


    Though he only had one refined tiger, he himself was not weak, and with only one refined beast left now, he had even better control. Thus, although his strength had been affected, it wasn¡¯t as bad as imagined. He was confident when facing down Shu Mingyang. He savagelyughed and said, ¡°Scoundrel, you were also one of those who schemed against me, right? Hand over your life!¡±


    The Skinyer Knife swung, unleashing a sharp wave of energy at Shu Mingyang.


    Aghast, Shu Mingyang took out a talisman to block, at the same time shouting, ¡°Senior Brother Helian, please show mercy. This junior brother has never thought about making you an enemy. I did make the Spirit Seal Talisman, but I did not know that it would be used against you. Moreover, I only created the talisman, but Tang Jie was the one who made it into a talisman formation¡­ This has nothing to do with me.¡±


    ¡°Cut the chatter. Since you¡¯re here, you might as well die!¡± Helian Hu bellowed as he fired off several more waves of energy at Shu Mingyang.


    Helian Hu was truly formidable. Even without using his refined beast, he was strong enough to fight against a school genius like Shu Mingyang.


    Shu Mingyang threw out talismans as if they were free, desperately trying to defend himself while trying to argue his case. s, Helian Hu ignored all his arguments. He loathed Tang Jie for all the tricks that had been yed on the tournament grounds, and he was intent on tormenting Shu Mingyang. His every strike could be blocked by Shu Mingyang, but they required all of his strength. At the same time, his lower-grade Mind Opening fiend tiger lunged out and wed at Shu Mingyang, opening up wounds on his body.


    It wasn¡¯t long before Shu Mingyang waspletely covered in wounds, as if he was being given a death by a thousand cuts.


    Shu Mingyang gradually began to fail. He cried out in despair, ¡°Helian Hu, don¡¯t push me too far! I already said that none of this had anything to do with me!¡±


    ¡°Nonsense! Whether you¡¯re involved or not, you must all die! The Beast Refining Gate and Basking Moon Sect get along like water and fire. Even if we have no past grudges, even if that was all Tang Jie¡¯s doing and nothing to do with you, since I¡¯ve run into you, just count yourself unlucky that your life was used to temper my rage!¡±


    The Skinyer shed with light.


    He had had enough torturing, so this strike was intended to kill.


    With no other choice, Shu Mingyang finally shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t kill me! I¡¯m not part of the Basking Moon Sect!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Helian Hu was startled, and his knife stopped.


    Shu Mingyang roared, ¡°Godhead Pce spy, Fierce Ape Shu Mingyang, pays respects to Senior Brother Helian!¡±


    He took out an item and threw it at Helian Hu: a small card that had the words ¡°Hawk Hall¡± carved into it. It was none other than an identity card of the Hawk Hall.


    ¡°You¡¯re part of Godhead Pce?¡± Helian Hu looked at Shu Mingyang in shock.


    Shu Mingyang brusquely replied, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m a spy of Godhead Pce, on orders to infiltrate the Basking Moon Sect¡­ I really didn¡¯t think that I would be forced to expose myself to you before the Basking Moon Sect could even find me¡­ Shit!¡±


    Helian Hu was deeply ashamed. ¡°How could I have known that this would be the case¡­ Junior Brother Shu, I¡¯ve wronged you, and for that, I am deeply sorry. Rx. I definitely won¡¯t let this matter get out.¡±


    Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate relied on each other. If Shu Mingyang was part of Godhead Pce, then he was really someone that shouldn¡¯t be killed.


    ¡°Then hurry up and leave!¡± Shu Mingyang dropped to his knees and coughed up blood.


    He had been wounded by Helian Hu and had only exposed himself because he had no other choice. His injuries were so severe that he couldn¡¯t even stand.


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving right now,¡± Helian Hu quickly said. He knew that spies were involved in serious business, and if he really managed to hurt one of Godhead Pce¡¯s ns, he would be punished by his sect.


    Just as he was about to leave, Jiang Qingsong stopped him and said, ¡°Senior Brother Helian, wait a moment. This token from this Godhead Pce spy is something we¡¯ve never seen before. We can¡¯t just take it at face value, right?¡±


    Helian Hu froze. ¡°Your meaning is¡­?¡±


    ¡°He might be a member of the Basking Moon Sect using this n to try and survive.¡±


    Shu Mingyang was furious. ¡°So you think I knew that you were going to kill me and prepared this token for just that scenario?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s hard to say. Besides, admitting to being a spy isn¡¯t something that you just do casually, right?¡± Jiang Qingsong firmly replied.


    Shu Mingyang mentally cursed, <em>¡°Casually¡±, your mother! If I had been a little slower, Helian Hu would have taken my life!</em>


    But he said out loud, ¡°Then what else do you want?¡±


    ¡°We need to verify it first. Since you¡¯re a Godhead Pce spy, you should have some understanding of the situation in Godhead Pce. I¡¯ll ask you a few questions, and if you can get it right, I¡¯ll believe you.¡±


    ¡°Alright. But as a spy, I only understand the Hawk Hall. I won¡¯t be able to answer any questions about the other halls.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s keep it to the Hawk Hall. First, who is the Master of Hawk Hall, his deputy, and who is yourmander?¡±


    ¡°The current Hawk Hall Master is Zhu Jinyu, the first Deputy Eagle Master is Bai Liqiu, and the second Deputy Eagle Master is Deng Yuqing. I was originally under Deputy Eagle Master Gu Changqing. Once Gu Changqing died, I went into hiding for two years. It was only recently that I received new orders and was ced under themand of Eagle Master Deng Yuqing.¡±


    ¡°How many spies does the Hawk Hall currently have in the Basking Moon Sect? And who are they?¡±


    Shu Mingyang was furious. <em>You ask too much! And even if I made it all up, how could you tell if it was true or not? Or is a Beast Refining Gate student like you running around with a list of spies from my Godhead Pce?</em>


    But his life was in peril, so he could only drop his head and reply, ¡°After Gu Changqing¡¯s death, the spies that Godhead Pce stationed in the Basking Moon Sect took a heavy blow. Many people were lost, and they are still in the middle of rebuilding. I do not know too many details, only the few people I¡¯ve been in touch with¡­¡±


    He gave a few names.


    Even so, Jiang Qingsong still wasn¡¯t satisfied, asking Shu Mingyang several more things about Godhead Pce. Even Helian Hu couldn¡¯t stand it anymore, saying, ¡°Isn¡¯t that enough? Given what he knows, there¡¯s no doubt that he¡¯s a Godhead spy, and one with a very high rank at that.¡±


    ¡°Mm, it¡¯s enough.¡± Jiang Qingsong nodded. ¡°Senior Brother Helian, it¡¯s not good to linger here. Let¡¯s head back.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Helian Hu nodded and left.


    But Jiang Qingsong was rather conscientious, throwing Shu Mingyang a bottle of pills before leaving. ¡°We did not know of Junior Brother¡¯s identity, and deeply offended you. Please ept our apologies.¡±


    He left with Helian Hu.


    Shu Mingyang grabbed the bottle, poured out the pills, and threw them into his mouth before plopping to the ground, panting for breath.


    His tracking mission had failed and Helian Hu had forced him to reveal his identity. He had utterly failed and had no idea how he was going to report this.


    But at least those two hadn¡¯t asked about his mission, as mentioning Tang Jie would inevitably involve the matter of the Ten Direction Valley formation. If word reached the ears of the Beast Refining Gate, there would probably be even more trouble.


    Shu Mingyang suddenly felt a chill.


    <em>Hold on!</em>


    That Jiang Qingsong had asked about everything, even the methods by which the Hawk Hallmunicated within the Basking Moon Sect, but why had he not asked about the mission?


    ¡°As a spy, what is your mission?¡± This question might not have been the most important, but it was undoubtedly the most obvious. Anyone would ask this question, so there was no reason to skip over it.


    Unless¡­


    ¡°Unless he already knew,¡± Shu Mingyang muttered. The chill intensified, pervading his entire body.


    And then he discovered¡­ he couldn¡¯t move.


    ¡°The medicine was poisoned!¡± Shu Mingyang couldn¡¯t help but cry out.


    He raised his head and saw someone standing nearby, coldly looking at him.


    Jiang Qingsong! Shu Mingyang has revealed that he¡¯s a spy! But not before Helian Hu managed to do some serious damage. All ording to Tang Jie¡¯s n¡­

 Chapter 301: Starting from Today, Because of You

    Chapter 301: Starting from Today, Because of You


    He looked at Shu Mingyang, his eyes cold but unthreatening. On the contrary, they were tinged with derision.


    He said, ¡°I told Helian Hu to go back first while I stayed to look for Tang Jie¡¯s trail. Thus, you don¡¯t need to put any hopes on himing back.¡±


    Shu Mingyang red at Jiang Qingsong. ¡°Who are you? Why are you doing this to me? Are you the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s spy in the Beast Refining Gate?¡±


    Jiang Qingsong chuckled.


    A momentter, Shu Mingyang bore witness to a shocking sight.


    In the blink of an eye, Jiang Qingsong¡¯s face changed.


    It wasn¡¯t just his face, but his hair, skin, and even his height.


    Jiang Qingsong disappeared, to be reced by the more familiar face of Tang Jie.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Shu Mingyang shrieked. ¡°This is impossible. I clearly saw you leave¡­¡±


    He had seen Tang Jie leave using the Violet Lightning Lunge with his own eyes, so how could he have instantly turned himself into another person and apanied Helian Hu?


    Shu Mingyang felt like his brain was no longer working, unable toprehend what was going on. But when he saw Tang Jie¡¯s face change into You Shaofeng¡¯s, he trembled in realization.


    ¡°Illusion¡­ an illusion spell¡­ So you already know an illusion spell, and a very high-level one, too¡­ Just who are you?¡±


    The person¡¯s face changed once more, this time going back to Tang Jie.


    Shu Mingyang was startled. ¡°If you¡¯re Tang Jie, then the one who left just now was¡­¡±


    Tang Jie walked forward a few steps and sat down next to Shu Mingyang. ¡°On Old Crow Ridge, there¡¯s a fiend fox known as the Illusion Fox. If you kill it, take its fiend pellet, and use a secret processing method on it, it can be used to create an avatar with the ability to transform.¡±


    These words were enough to exin everything. Shu Mingyang said in realization, ¡°I see¡­ I see¡­¡±


    He looked at Tang Jie. ¡°This should probably be your biggest secret, right? By telling me this, it seems that you don¡¯t intend to let me survive.¡±


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying my best to avoid this, but s¡­ I couldn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been trying to avoid this?¡± Shu Mingyang was shocked. ¡°In other words, you already knew that I was Fierce Ape?¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Tang Jie nodded.


    ¡°Was it Gu Changqing?¡± Shu Mingyang felt like he had been careful, so he concluded that only Gu Changqing could have exposed him.


    To his surprise, Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°Even before dying, Gu Changqing never said who Fierce Ape was. But just because he didn¡¯t say it doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t guess.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Actually, if you change your perspective, some things be very easy to surmise. For example, what sort of spy would a master of the Hawk Hall remember to safeguard in that situation? It could only be a spy with great potential, a spy that¡¯s hard toe by.¡±


    Shu Mingyang¡¯s face went stiff.


    He had never expected this sort of reasoning!


    In the battle between them, Gu Changqing truly had died without revealing who Fierce Ape was, but Gu Changqing could have never imagined that his refusal to talk to the point of death was a hint to Tang Jie in its own way: Fierce Ape was a spy that was hard toe by, a spy with great potential. Otherwise, Gu Changqing would not have cherished him so.


    And what did it mean to be hard toe by and to have great potential?


    It meant someone with high-grade aptitude, a seven-cycle Jade Gate or higher.


    ording to the rules of Basking Moon Academy, those of high-grade aptitude could enter the academy without regard for the quota. This meant that those outstandingly talented students of the Sageheart Kingdom did not need to sell out the Basking Moon Sect to someone else in exchange for their help in entering the academy.


    This was why Godhead Pce tended to recruit from lower-level students for its manpower needs. Trying to get a man of their own among those geniuses was excruciatingly difficult.


    Such people had a far greater hope of bing the backbone of the Basking Moon Sect in the future.


    This was exactly why Fierce Ape was different from all the other spies. He existed for far more than just dealing with Tang Jie. He was intended for long-term infiltration, eventually bing a core member of the Basking Moon Sect, so he could not be exposed lightly.


    Thus, the mission Godhead Pce had assigned to Shu Mingyang was to observe and report, but not do anything concrete. It was precisely to protect him.


    Having him participate in this operation was solely to get him ustomed and habituated to the feeling. After all, the typical modus operandi of a sleeper agent, to remain inactive for decades for the sake of causing trouble for a single day, was the most unreliable method of all. The vast majority of sleeper agents who had to remain undercover for decades to a century would turn traitor the moment they reached a high position.


    Ensuring the loyalty of a spy involved keeping them in a constant state of activity, creating inertia. This was the reasoning behind having Shu Mingyang take part.


    But it was this excessive protection that had indicated to Tang Jie Fierce Ape¡¯s importance. He could easily deduce that Fierce Ape was highly likely to be a genius student with a seven-cycle or greater Jade Gate.


    Thus, with the assessment of ¡°hard toe by¡± and ¡°great potential¡±, Tang Jie had dered that he had seen through the heart of the matter, and Shu Mingyang instantly understood.


    But he was still somewhat unwilling to give up, saying, ¡°But I¡¯m not the only one with a seven-cycle or greater Jade Gate. Why were you so sure that it was me?¡±


    ¡°Naturally, it was based on your everyday behavior.¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°In truth, I actually started to suspect you even before I killed Gu Changqing.¡±


    ¡°Before that?¡± Shu Mingyang was shocked.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Do you remember that time we met at Spirit tform Pavilion?¡±


    ¡°Which time?¡±


    Tang Jie coolly said, ¡°That one time I had received the Heartbreak Saber and was nning to head into Tiger Roar Valley. I happened to run into you at Spirit tform Pavilion back then.¡±


    Shu Mingyang thought it over and finally remembered. ¡°I remember now. I was going to Spirit tform Pavilion to sell talismans and ran into you. You even bought a few talismans from me at the time.¡±


    ¡°Correct.¡±


    ¡°Did I make a mistake that time?¡± Shu Mingyang couldn¡¯t think of any errors he had made back then.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°This incident happened after the Lin n invited me to their party. If my guess is correct, you were the one behind the scenes whomanded Lin Dongsheng to invite me, yes?¡±


    Shu Mingyang sighed. ¡°Yes. On Gu Changqing¡¯s order, I mobilized the spies in the academy. Gu Changqing¡¯s mission was to draw you out of the academy, and to protect myself, I naturally couldn¡¯t do this out in the open, so I gave the task to Lin Dongsheng. But what does that have to do with Spirit tform Pavilion?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s just that before then, I set a new record at Celestial Defense Hall, using that as a pretext to have Cai Junyang find Lin Dongsheng and ask for an increase in pay for me to attend the banquet.¡±


    ¡°I know of that.¡±


    ¡°But after that, I went to the Forging tform and didn¡¯te out. Lin Dongsheng sent Junyang a reply, and Junyang wanted to find me and tell me the news, but he was never able to find me. Only after I returned from Tiger Roar Valley did he manage to find me and inform me of the matter. But do you know what he said to me back then?¡±


    Tang Jie looked at Shu Mingyang and said clearly and firmly, ¡°He said: ¡®He agreed a few days ago, but you were holed up in the Forging tform for thest few days, so I didn¡¯t get the chance to tell you. I even had everyone I knew try and pass on the word to you, but in the end, the message never reached you. Lin Dongsheng is beside himself with anxiety. And right after I heard that you came out, you go and kill the mother tiger. You really are something else!''¡±


    Shu Mingyang trembled. ¡°I get it!¡±


    Back then, Cai Junyang had been looking all over for Tang Jie but had been unable to find him, so he had notified others to pass on the message to him. But only one person had encountered Tang Jie in between his departure from the Forging tform and his trip to Tiger Roar Valley: Shu Mingyang.


    Yet he hadn¡¯t mentioned it at all!


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°When I heard this from Cai Junyang, I was truly stunned. Why? Why was it that you didn¡¯t mention the matter despite knowing that Cai Junyang was looking for me? You forgot? Impossible! My setting a record in the Celestial Defense Hall and increasing my social value wasn¡¯t some small event in the school. Even for our current selves, several hundred spirit coins isn¡¯t something we can just ignore¡­¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say it because I wanted to distance myself as much as possible¡­¡± Shu Mingyang muttered.


    ¡°Yes. It was a habit, a habit to keep yourself out of the vortex. A habit to keep yourself uninvolved and protect yourself no matter what happened. This sudden increase in price originally wasn¡¯t a good thing, but I did it so that I could force out the schemer behind the scenes. To keep yourself safe, you naturally wouldn¡¯t implicate yourself, but in doing so, you forgot about Cai Junyang¡¯s request¡­ a cover-up that only made matters worse!¡±


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°Of course, it¡¯s a little arbitrary to pin you as Fierce Ape based on just that. But once my guard was up, I naturally began to notice many other things. For example, when Gu Changqing captured me, why didn¡¯t he kill you guys? He wanted to use you guys to force me to hand over the Martial Mirror, but even though I didn¡¯t ask, he still spared your lives. This only made me even more certain that Fierce Ape was among you four. During the True Inheritor struggle, I found out that Liu Hongyan was part of the Law Hall and Ping Jingyue belonged to the Thousand Passions Sect. While there were problems with both their identities, none of it had to do with Fierce Ape. And that just left you and Junyang as the most suspicious. After Gu Changqing died, you lost yourmander and stayed low for two years. In fact, in that period of time, you became a lot more distant with me, though you didn¡¯t notice it yourself. Cai Junyang, meanwhile, continued to be as friendly as usual. And when the Immortal Fortune Conference was about to start, you received new orders and began to frequentlye and see me¡­ Your interactions with me were almost entirely in line with the attention Godhead Pce paid toward me.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I don¡¯t have any direct evidence to prove that you¡¯re Fierce Ape, but when you put together all this indirect evidence, these various hints, it would be very difficult not to guess at your true identity. To tell the truth, isn¡¯t that how Godhead Pce decided it was me? It was just that I prepared new evidence for them to make them look at things in a whole new light. But youcked the same method to overturn my judgment.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ That¡¯s how it was¡­¡± Lying on the ground, Shu Mingyang weakly looked up at the sky. ¡°Since you already know that I¡¯m Fierce Ape, why haven¡¯t you killed me?¡±


    Tang Jie hesitated, and then he slowly said, ¡°You have an eight-cycle Jade Gate, so even without any secret support from Godhead Pce, you would have a great future in the Basking Moon Sect so long as you properly cultivated¡­ The risk of joining Godhead Pce is too great. I presume that you wouldn¡¯t do it unless you had some reason.¡±


    A smile finally appeared on Shu Mingyang¡¯s face. ¡°You want to know?¡±


    ¡°I just feel like you should have some reason that forced your hand.¡±


    Shu Mingyang exhaled.


    He silently looked up at the sky for a while before finally beginning to speak.


    ¡°I¡¯m from Mengmen Gully, a little vige located in the Ling Province, administered by Yangmen County. The vige wasn¡¯t very rich, but it also wasn¡¯t very poor. With cultivators around, the weather was good every year, and there were no natural disasters. Though the taxes were a little high, it was a passable life.¡±


    Tang Jie quietly listened.


    Shu Mingyang went on, ¡°Next to Mengmen Gully is a river called the Numb River. When I was little, I loved to y on its shore. When I was nine, a turtle fiend came to the Numb River, causing trouble and creating a flood. In one night, the waters of the river rose several dozen meters, engulfing many of the homes. The vigers sent someone to seek aid from the county, but to their surprise, the presiding cultivator refused to move, iming that it wasn¡¯t convenient to move at night, putting things off until the next day.¡±


    Tang Jie frowned. ¡°That¡¯s a dereliction of duty!¡±


    Shu Mingyang chortled. ¡°So what? You think everyone in the world faithfully carries out their duty? In the academy, we¡¯re taught to abide by the rules, so we consider thew to be as great as the heavens. But once we leave that small ce and enter the world of the unknown, there are far too many ces that the sect can¡¯t see, and so there is bound to be too much darkness. Dereliction of duty? It¡¯s nothing much, a small trifle. But this small trifle caused half of the fields of Mengmen Gully to be flooded and sixteen people to be swept away in the river waters. But this would have been fine. While the people of my Mengmen Gully had suffered from a disaster, they did not dare to use an honored master of anything. That master simply needed to give a truthful ount of the matter so that the vige¡¯s taxes could be reduced for the year. But to our shock¡­¡±


    Shu Mingyang¡¯s voice suddenly turned cold. ¡°I don¡¯t know what that bastard got from that turtle fiend, but he didn¡¯t want to hand it over, so he didn¡¯t want to report it. Thus, he covered up the entire matter of the flood. As a result, the court sent someone to collect the usual taxes, and our vige had nothing to give. The quarreling of the two sides went from verbal to physical, and the royal court decided that it was a rebellion and had 248 vigers executed!¡±


    Shu Mingyang¡¯s eyes were almost popping out, red with endless anger.


    Even Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but sigh. ¡°This simply chills the blood! What¡¯s the name of that bastard?¡±


    ¡°Bai Tanzhen.¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve remembered it. If I have the chance, I will definitely take vengeance for you!¡±


    Shu Mingyang smiled. ¡°Thank you!¡±


    Tang Jie said, ¡°After that incident, you joined Godhead Pce?¡±


    Shu Mingyang replied, ¡°Mm. At the time of the incident, my Jade Gate hadn¡¯t been opened, so nobody cared about this vige. And Godhead Pce needs spies, and it loves to find refugees from ces like this. After the incident, Godhead Pce came to find me and opened my Jade Gate. When they discovered that I had an eight-cycle Jade Gate, they regarded me as a supreme treasure and were simply ecstatic. They immediately mobilized considerable manpower to pave a path for me. I was a Sageheart native, and my background was clean, and then they helped in wiping away everything that had happened at Mengmen Gully. Currently, besides me, there are probably few people who know what happened at Megmen Gully,¡± Shu Mingyang said.


    He looked at Tang Jie and said, ¡°When I came to know that I had eight cycles, I swore an oath on my Heart Demon that I would kill all evil beings so long as I lived, to return peace and justice to this world! Although I am a Godhead spy, the heavens and earth have borne witness to my heart of justice!¡±


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°In the end, you¡¯re just finding an excuse for yourself.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Shu Mingyang was stunned.


    Tang Jie exined, ¡°Do you really think there is some spotlessnd in this world? There are evil people in Sageheart and Nadir Hill alike. You can kill the people of Basking Moon, but can you kill the people of Nadir Hill too? It¡¯s one thing to join Godhead Pce because of your personal grudge, but why drag in justice and righteousness?¡±


    Shu Mingyang snorted, unwilling to be persuaded. Although he had joined Godhead Pce, he still felt like he was standing on the side of justice. He was naturally unhappy that Tang Jie was saying that he only had his personal grudge on his mind and not any sort of justice.


    Though he wanted to argue, Tang Jie changed the subject. ¡°That said, your situation is truly worth sympathizing over. When I realized that you might be Fierce Ape, I guessed that something like this might have happened that would make you sell your life to Godhead Pce. With this in mind, I didn¡¯t want to try and deal with you, and your ount today has confirmed my thoughts.¡±


    ¡°But in the end, you still decided to kill me,¡± Shu Mingyang said.


    ¡°Yes, because killing you benefits me more,¡± Tang Jie sighed. ¡°That¡¯s why I said that you shouldn¡¯t try and find reasons to justify your behavior. We¡¯re all self-interested creatures. A conscience only works simply because it hasn¡¯t been tested enough.¡±


    ¡°Then what sort of benefit would make you decide to kill your conscience and kill me?¡± Shu Mingyang asked.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°You¡¯re wrong about one thing. Killing you doesn¡¯t go against my conscience. After all, in thesest few years, everything you¡¯ve done has caused me trouble, even almost killed me. I didn¡¯t kill you because I was being generous, but I¡¯m taking back my generosity now. As for the benefits¡­¡±


    Tang Jie cast his gaze onto Shu Mingyang¡¯s body. ¡°You fought with Helian Hu, and then you died right after Helian Hu left¡­¡±


    Shu Mingyang¡¯s eyes erupted with light as he stared at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie casually went on, ¡°Thus, everyone will know that you died at Helian Hu¡¯s hands. And that isn¡¯t even the most important part. Importantly, you already told Helian Hu who you were before your death. Helian Hu knew that you were a Godhead spy, and he still killed you, all because¡­ you participated in the creation of the Spirit Seal Talisman.¡±


    Tang Jie took out that token proving that Shu Mingyang was a Godhead Pce spy and pressed it onto his body.


    ¡°This is the physical evidence,¡± he said. ¡°Besides that, there¡¯s the witness, which is me. Helian Hu and Jiang Qingsong pursued you, and you died at Helian Hu¡¯s hands while I killed Jiang Qingsong.¡±


    Shu Mingyang red at Tang Jie. ¡°Helian Hu won¡¯t admit to it.¡±


    ¡°Of course, but no matter how much he denies, he won¡¯t be able to exin the wounds on your body. This ce is covered with the marks of your battle against Helian Hu, and many of your wounds were created by tiger ws. I used medicine to poison you not because I couldn¡¯t beat your injured self, but in order to avoid ruining this most natural and real battlefield. Whether it¡¯s the Beast Refining Gate or Godhead Pce or anyone else, they wille here and will be able to see that you fought with Helian Hu¡­ It¡¯spletely real and not fabricated at all. Of course, the same will be true for your death.¡±


    He snapped his fingers, and little Bao¡¯er came out of the forest.


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°s, no matter how sharp their eyes are, they can¡¯t possibly tell the difference between the ws of different fiend tigers.¡±


    The little tiger came over and extended a paw.


    Tang Jie grabbed his forew and carefully ced it on one of the w wounds on Shu Mingyang¡¯s body.


    <em>Fwish!</em>


    The ws extended, prating into Shu Mingyang¡¯s chest through the original wounds. Shu Mingyang trembled as blood once more flowed out of his body.


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    His heart had been pierced.


    Tang Jie softly removed the w, and the little tiger pped his wings and flew off.


    Tang Jie went on, ¡°The evidence is all here. No matter how Helian Hu argues, he can¡¯t remove the fact that he killed you. Even he might suspect that he was too heavy in his blows, leaving behind some fatal injury that caused your death. But no matter what the truth is, he¡¯s the genius with the greatest potential in the younger generation of the Beast Refining Gate, so the Beast Refining Gate could not possibly hand him over. And that¡¯s exactly what I want.¡±


    Shu Mingyang¡¯s body was trembling.


    This wasn¡¯t the final spasms before his death, but trembling at the shock he felt from Tang Jie¡¯s n.


    Tang Jie callously said, ¡°Godhead Pce¡¯s most valuable spy, the one with the greatest potential, did not die at the hands of the Basking Moon Sect, but at the hands of its greatest ally¡­ The animosity between Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate will begin to grow starting from today, all because of you!¡± Tang Jie brings down Fierce Ape, and another part of his grand n against Godhead Pce begins!

 Chapter 302: Ten Direction Valley

    Chapter 302: Ten Direction Valley


    Thest of his life had leaked out from his punctured heart.


    Tang Jie felt an inexplicable sorrow as he looked at that bodyid out on the rocks.


    He actually held no hatred against Shu Mingyang. If possible, he would have even liked to turn him from an enemy into an ally.


    But he hadn¡¯t been able to do it.


    Such was the way of the world. When you did everything in a way that maximized your own profit, you had to wipe away all emotional factors and silently endure everything.


    As he looked at Shu Mingyang, Tang Jie felt his heart slowly grow cold.


    He sighed, shook his head, and left.


    Deep in the mountain forest, he ran into a white-clothed girl ying among the trees: Yiyi.


    She was responsible for spreading the rumors.


    Upon seeing Tang Jie, Yiyi happily ran over and leaped into his embrace. She excitedly asked, ¡°Is it all done?¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    ¡°What do we do next?¡±


    ¡°Next¡­¡± Tang Jie thought it over before answering, ¡°Naturally, we¡¯ll take a break. Right now, there¡¯s no need for there to be two Tang Jies.¡±


    He went to a clearing and punched at the ground, creating a pit.


    Tang Jie jumped inside and ced the stone canvas over his body. (See Chapter 255)


    Large amounts of soil automatically began to converge, slowly covering Tang Jie and leaving only a small space so that Tang Jie could breathe.


    The stone canvas would block Divine Will while the soil would block Spirit Will and eyes. In this way, Tang Jie temporarily disappeared from the world. Even a Violet Pce Titan would find it difficult to find him.


    Yiyi giggled and transformed into a little white flower that grew atop Tang Jie¡¯s ¡°grave¡±, swaying in the wind. As for the little tiger, he just roared and ran off into the forest.


    If one stood at the highest point of Red Plum Ridge and looked into the distance, one would see arge swath of mountains rising and falling within a sea of clouds. At this distance, its mysterious, winding form was like that of a dragon.


    This was the famous Ten Direction Valley.


    Ten Direction Valley was one of the forbidden grounds originating from High Antiquity and was known as a ce from which there was no return. It was said that those at Violet Pce or below went in and never came out, and even Immortal tform Titans found it hard to keep themselves alive. Breaking through it was simply impossible.


    The lives of countless people had verified these legends. Eons had gone by without its secrets being revealed.


    Until the present day!


    The one who had discovered the secret of Ten Direction Valley was no bigshot, but some minor figure of Godhead Pce. While adventuring, he identally wandered into Ten Direction Valley. He had considered himself doomed, but to his surprise, he had miraculously emerged alive.


    Not long after getting out, he made his report to Godhead Pce.


    Not paying much mind to this report at first, Godhead Pce took it as nonsense. An Immortal tform Titan found it hard to get out of Ten Direction Valley, so how could a puny Mortal Shedding Realm expert do it?


    But that disciple persisted, so the sect eventually sent someone along with him.


    To verify his discovery, that expert recklessly entered Ten Direction Valley again.


    This was extremely dangerous, for doing it once didn¡¯t mean he could do it twice. But this person was truly quite capable, actually remembering the path he had taken. By taking this same path, he was able to make it in and back again.


    The follower had believed that he wouldn¡¯t see the man again, so when he did, he hastened back to Godhead Pce to report it.


    This time, they finally had Godhead Pce¡¯s attention.


    It waster proved that the initial discoverer had been extremely lucky.


    This was because a second and third wave of explorers had been sent in¡ªseven people in total¡ªbut in the end, all of them had be lost in the valley, with no survivors!


    With no other choice, Godhead Pce had that first explorer lead the way, but this time, he wasn¡¯t so lucky.


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    On his third trip into Ten Direction Valley, he only made it halfway before disappearing into the valley.


    Just like that, the first discoverer of the Martial Lord¡¯s secret ground had offered up his life without enjoying any of the benefits of his find.


    But before dying, he had left a rough outline of the path he had taken.


    With this, Godhead Pce was able to determine one thing: there was a great formation in Ten Direction Valley, and the passing eons had caused a w to appear in the formation.


    The Godhead disciple who had returned alive from Ten Direction Valley had inadvertently walked through that gap, which was how he was able to survive.


    In the past, Ten Direction Valley was a ce where death was guaranteed, but now, there was hope, albeit a slight one.


    This sliver of hope gave Godhead Pce a chance to solve the secret.


    From then on, Godhead Pce began to investrge amounts of manpower into solving the mystery of Ten Direction Valley¡¯s formation. By repeatedly studying the route that had been left behind and sending numerous low-level disciples in to explore, resulting in a loss of twenty-some lives, Godhead Pce was able to find a safe route through Ten Direction Valley.


    The outer perimeter of Ten Direction Valley was an illusion formation. Those who entered would be immersed deep into the maze and find it difficult to get out. Finding the safe path was essentially solving the perimeter illusion formation.


    After the illusion formation fell, the Martial Mirror appeared.


    In front of the first formation wall of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, Godhead Pce discovered the Martial Mirror. It was then that it began to suspect that this might be the location of the Martial Lord¡¯s Returned Remnants, and that what they were facing was the Nine Executions Immortal Formation that could kill even the Boundless True Immortal.


    The first formation of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation was the illusion formation. The damage to the formation had caused it to lose effect, leaving only the formation wall. Once one had broken through this wall, one could enter the second formation.


    But this harmless formation wall had left Godhead Pce at a loss, and in the end, it had needed Xu Muyang¡¯s help to get through.


    The second formation of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation was the Weakwater Formation. After heavy losses, Godhead Pce had managed to get through this formation and find the Visceral Manifestation ssic in front of the formation wall.


    s, before the second formation wall had fallen, Xu Muyang had resigned and left. Ever since then, Godhead Pce¡¯s progress had been stopped at the second formation wall.


    There was a rustling sound as Tang Jie walked through the woods.


    Tang Jie advanced through the forest, vignt of his surroundings.


    After getting about twenty kilometers into Ten Direction Valley, he stopped using the Violet Lightning Lunge and switched to normal speed so as to avoid being noticed because of the spiritual surges.


    Godhead Pce had installed Spirit Light Pirs in the valley. These were a kind of surveince spell art that surveilled an area by assessing spiritual energy pulses. Stealth spells were no good against them, and even top-ss spell arts like Illusion Thousandform would be seen through, though this was only possible if one got too close.


    Before his death, Xu Muyang had recorded all the arrangements that Godhead Pce had made in Ten Direction Valley within his formation treatise. Thus, Tang Jie was extremely familiar with all their defensive measures.


    Of course, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t sure what had changed after Xu Muyang¡¯s death.


    But Tang Jie thought that the change probably wasn¡¯t big.


    This was due to the limitations of the era.


    When it came to the ancients, people often fell into two extreme lines of thought. One school of thought believed that the limited experience of the ancients meant that they were doomed to be ythings for transmigrators. The other school believed that any figure of high status was bound to be extremely intelligent and capable, not easily dealt with by a man from modern times.


    Both schools were actually biased.


    The powerful figures of ancient times definitely weren¡¯t stupid, but they had their own limitations in terms of thought, knowledge, experience, and many other fields. Thus, they were quite smart, and if you were ying in their yground, they could definitely y you to death. But beyond this yground, if you used methods and lines of thought they had never seen before, they would be left groping around in the darkness, perhaps even worse off than a modern-day middle-schooler. Moreover, because they were adults, their ways of thinking were hardened, and they found it nigh impossible to ept new ways of thinking, particrly those that went against their current understanding of the world. In their eyes, themon sense of modern society could be heretical. Let alone learn it, they would consider it sphemous to their ears.


    Thus, when fighting against these people, one had to fight them beyond the circle defined by their rules rather than inside.


    Society and reality tell us that even the smartest person would have circles run around them by someone of lower intelligence if they were in a field that they didn¡¯t understand.


    Zhuge Liang might have been a strategic genius, but he could never dream ofpeting in the finance field with someone who had majored in finance. In this field, he was just, just¡­ an idiot!


    The same was true for the Rosecloud Domain. While the people here had their own systems and rules, they just weren¡¯t good at using thempared to the people of Tang Jie¡¯s former era. If one looked at the Rosecloud Domain from a modern perspective, their systems and rules were actually quite impractical and unreliable.


    To take Godhead Pce as an example, while it had a system of spies simr to the spies of the modern era, their methods of managing and training spies were far inferior. Theycked almost all professionalism, and all they essentially did was: find a person that would definitely serve them, send them into the enemy base, and then issue them missions.


    Passwords, code words, ways to keep secrets¡­ What did these all mean?


    In truth, they had none of it.


    Everything was done on an individual basis, and had nothing to do with the upbringing they had had in the system.


    Although Shu Mingyang had been the most valuable spy, his value was only linked to his talent and future prospects. It had nothing to do with ¡°professional course grades¡±. In truth, Godhead Pce¡¯s Hawk Hall didn¡¯t really have any ¡°professionals¡±.


    This was why Shu Mingyang had seemed unprofessional¡­ because there was no such thing as professionalism!


    The same applied to the arrangements in Ten Direction Valley.


    Substantially adjusting one¡¯s defenses and countermeasures because of a possible information leak was both extremely troublesome and absurd to Godhead Pce.


    Of course, there was an even more important reason: Godhead Pce wanted Tang Jie to go inside and serve as their vanguard. Thus, even if they had thought of it, they wouldn¡¯t change anything, or would have changed things back if they had changed anything.


    While they wanted him to have free reign, they didn¡¯t want to make it too obvious. It wasn¡¯t as though they could have the Godhead Pce disciples guarding Ten Direction Valley yield the path as soon as they saw Tang Jie.


    In a y, both sides needed to do their best to put on a good show.


    Tang Jie avoided possible traps and pitfalls as he advanced, eventually stopping beneath arge tree.


    In front of him was the entrance to Ten Direction Valley.


    The valley entrance was notrge¡ªabout fifty meters wide. A white fog roiled within the valley, churning like the waves of the ocean. But it remained within the valley, only a little of it leaking out. These cloudy tendrils would make it ten-some meters before dissipating, draping a light gauze over the valley entrance.


    Tang Jie knew that this was a phenomenon created by the damage done to the formation, permittingmingling in what had once been absolute istion.


    It was precisely this point that allowed Godhead Pce to go into the valley and study the formation. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have even been able to get through the outermost illusion formation.


    Countless cultivators had once gathered in front of this entrance, but none of them had seeded in breaking through the formation, and countless Titans had died.


    Forbidden grounds had reputations that were created with the lives of countless people.


    No one was interested ining to Ten Direction Valley now, which was precisely why Godhead Pce had the opportunity to carefully research the formation.


    But no matter how remote the location, people would inevitablye.


    Godhead Pce could hold it for a while, but not forever, especially because this wasn¡¯t their territory.


    This was precisely why Godhead Pce was extremely anxious to get the Martial Mirror back. Each day of dy was another day where they risked discovery.


    Even now, after a few years, some people had already discovered that there was something not quite right about this region.


    Tang Jie focused his vision, but s, his Celestial Eye was not focused on prating through illusions, and the illusion formation of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation was not some minor formation. Thus, even though he stared until his eyes were sore, all he could see in the fog was a faint red light.


    Tang Jie knew that these were Netherred Wolves.


    Netherred Wolves were not native to the valley, but were bred by the Beast Refining Gate. Netherred Wolves were born with Nether Eyes, which could see through illusions, making them ideal fiends for breaking through illusion formations. In order to break through the formation, Godhead Pce had purchased a pack of Netherred Wolves and released them into the valley. Unfortunately, the illusion formation of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation wasn¡¯t that easy to break, and even the Netherred Wolves had found it a difficult task, many of them bing lost.


    But Netherred Wolves were different from humans, as they subsisted on spirit. Thus, though they became lost in the formation, they didn¡¯t die, instead bing creatures of the formation, adding another dangerous element to this formation. But regardless of what abilities they had, they faced the same fate as all other lives lost in the formation, ending their lives in the valley with all their fiend power converting into spiritual energy and returning to the earth.


    With the Netherred Wolves around, Tang Jie knew that there wouldn¡¯t be anyone guarding the valley entrance for the moment.


    Now that he thought about it, since ¡°You Shaofeng¡± had gone missing, Godhead Pce had probably moved away all of its disciples to give Tang Jie a chance to enter the valley. Of course, to prevent this from seeming too obvious, they had used a spell art to draw some Netherred Wolves here to patrol the area. It was like Godhead Pce was beingzy, using the defenses already in the valley to keep out any outsiders.


    Tang Jie had thought countless times about how he was going to get through Godhead Pce¡¯s defenses and enter the valley.


    To his surprise, when he actually came, it turned out that all his effort had been for nothing.


    Tang Jie felt a deep sense of helplessness.


    Laughing, he tightened his clothes and then boldly strode into the valley. Godhead Pce is inviting Tang Jie toe on in!

 Chapter 303: Infinite Illusion Zone (1)

    Chapter 303: Infinite Illusion Zone (1)


    The phantom shifted, slightly wrinkling as the wind blew against. It then gradually smoothed out, extending toward the rat, an invisible power pushing at it.


    The frightened mountain rat nimbly fled into the ground.


    It only had time to get its little head inside.


    Two fingers lightly gripped it, snatching it and raising it into the air.


    In a series of ripples, a man¡¯s face appeared.


    The man ced the rat close to his face to examine. He muttered, ¡°A decent snack.¡±


    He threw the rat into his mouth and started chewing.


    Blood trickled from his mouth, and a satisfied look appeared in the man¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Duan Fourth, after all these years, you still haven¡¯t fixed that habit of yours,¡± said a man behind him. It was none other than Deng Yuqing, the Hawk Hall¡¯s second Deputy Eagle Master.


    The rat-eating Duan Fourth eerily chuckled. ¡°¡®Fix¡¯? Why fix it? This is the source of power!¡±


    He lightly waved, and a glob of blood flew from his fingertip. Mid-flight, it turned into a bloody cloud that descended on a boulder. <em>Hiss!</em> The bloody cloud instantly corroded arge hole into the boulder.


    The blood continued to eat away at the stone, ultimately piercing all the way through it and leaving it riddled with holes.


    There was a gust of wind, and the boulder instantly dissolved into dust that scattered in the wind.


    Deng Yuqing was shocked. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that your Blood Corrosion Art would have already reached the substantiation phase.¡±


    In Godhead Pce, the Blood Corrosion Art was a most insidious art. It turned the blood into a poison that could eat away at all things. Those who cultivated this art were essentially immune to poisons.


    Initially, this art wasn¡¯t very powerful, just the average poison blood. But in the substantiation phase, one drop of blood could create a corrosive cloud with dreadful power. And if one could reach the spiritualization phase, even Celestial Heart and Violet Pce experts wouldn¡¯t dare to touch it.


    The rat-eating Duan Fourth just smuglyughed.


    The two of them stood on the mountain for a while, until finally, a golden-robed disciple rushed up the mountain and kneeled in front of Deng Yuqing. ¡°The target has appeared.¡±


    Deng Yuqing asked, ¡°Is it Tang Jie or You Shaofeng?¡±


    ¡°The target is wearing a veiled hat to cover his face, so we can¡¯t confirm.¡±


    Hearing this, Deng Yuqing waved his hand, and a scene depicting the situation in front of Ten Direction Valley appeared before him.


    A student in moon-white robes stood in front of Ten Direction Valley. Sure enough, he was wearing a veiled hat to cover his face.


    Deng Yuqing grunted. ¡°Already in front of the valley and still acting all mysterious.¡±


    He thrust a finger, releasing a surge of spiritual energy.


    As this spiritual energy touched the picture, a wind kicked up in the valley below, sweeping out and blowing hard on Tang Jie¡¯s veiled hat.


    But while the wind was strong, Tang Jie held the hat firmly on his head. Beneath the veil, that obscured face mysteriously smiled.


    Once the storm had passed, he strode into the valley.


    As he stepped into the valley, his surroundings instantly changed. Tang Jie found himself on a vast and empty in.


    He knew that this was the first formation of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, the Infinite Illusion Zone.


    Befitting its name, the Infinite Illusion Zone was a vast and borderless realm. No matter in which direction you went, you would never reach its end, nor would you see any person.


    This was one of the most wondrous properties of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. The vast majority of illusion formations befuddled the senses to keep the victim running in circles. But the Infinite Illusion Zone was different. It seemed to actually exist, and no matter how many creatures you threw into Ten Direction Valley, you would never be able to fill this illusion. The people in the valley would never be able to meet each other, unless they were able to get out of the illusion zone and reach the formation wall.


    This was the apex of illusion formations, and it was only here, within the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, that Tang Jie could truly experience the power of top-ss formations.


    Without Xu Muyang¡¯s guidance, Tang Jie feared that he might not have been able to get through even this first trial.


    As he stood on the grass, he formed a spell, but it was a simple Illuminate spell that he tossed into the air.


    The Infinite Illusion Zone¡¯s natural time was day, so this Illuminate spell should have been useless. But under its light, a faint golden line appeared in the dark grass, extending into the distance.


    This was the safe path Godhead Pce hadid down by using the weakness in the formation.


    After finding the safe path, Godhead Pce had paved it with Roselight Stone. Through special processing, the Roselight Stone was made to only appear under the light of Illuminate.


    Thus, if an outsider came into the illusion zone, as they didn¡¯t know this secret, they would still end up trapped in the formation.


    For Tang Jie, getting through this formation was very simple. Just by following this path, he could reach the formation wall, and past the formation wall was the second formation, the Weakwater Formation. Godhead Pce had also managed to break through this formation, but the formation wall was still present. Thus, when he arrived at the second formation wall, he would have to use his brain.


    But at this moment, Tang Jie had an idea.


    <em>Why do I have to take the safe route?</em>


    While the path of Roselight was the safe path, it wasn¡¯t the solution. It was only a path that had emerged due to ws in the formation.


    This was like an old house. Though the house had a door, many years of disrepair had caused a hole to appear in the wall. The person breaking through the formation had merely widened the hole into a door to get inside the house.


    But it still wasn¡¯t the real door!


    The first formation of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation had never been truly solved!


    In thesest few years, Godhead Pce had spent night and day studying how to break the second formation wall, but it had never even thought of going back and studying the first formation.


    What better way was there to understand the Nine Executions Immortal Formation than this?


    Wasn¡¯t this much better than researching other ancient formations throughout the world?


    As this thought emerged, even Tang Jie was in disbelief.


    He quickly realized that it wasn¡¯t that Godhead Pce hadn¡¯t thought of this, but that it might have needed the Infinite Illusion Zone.


    In the end, Ten Direction Valley didn¡¯t belong to Godhead Pce, and it had only been able to keep this ce a secret because of the formation itself. Once the illusion formation was undone, no one would be able to predict what might happen. There was a high chance that the illusion zone wouldpletely dissipate, and Ten Direction Valley would experience momentous changes. At that time, if Godhead Pce couldn¡¯t break through the Nine Executions Immortal Formation in short order, it would be very difficult to keep it a secret.


    But just because they couldn¡¯t undo it didn¡¯t mean that they couldn¡¯t research it. Godhead Pce was clearlycking in this aspect, indicating that even without the above reason, Godhead Pce might not have actually seriously studied the Infinite Illusion Zone.


    The limitations of mindset foreordained that they would not pay much attention to something that they already possessed.


    Only Tang Jie understood that truly solving the Nine Executions Immortal Formation would probably involve starting from the beginning.


    Only by truly solving the first formation could he understand the mindset of the person who hadid down the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, could he truly understand and grasp the mysteries of this formation.


    Moreover, the Infinite Illusion Zone already had a safe route, so no matter what Tang Jie did, he didn¡¯t have to fear being trapped. With such an excellent chance, wouldn¡¯t he be a fool if he didn¡¯t use it?


    At this thought, Tang Jieughed. He reached into his Mustard Seed Bag and took out a handful of sand that he threw into the air. Just like with the Nine Pce Illusion Formation, to break this illusion formation, he needed to get his bearings first¡­


    Arge number of golden-robed people had blocked up the entrance to Ten Direction Valley.


    The moment Tang Jie had gone in, Godhead Pce had taken backplete control of Ten Direction Valley, and he could no longer even hope to get out.


    Even though he had yet to get the Martial Mirror, Deng Yuqing still sighed in relief when he saw Tang Jie enter the valley, his heart rxing.


    He had gone through far too much effort to try and capture this kid, paying a most grievous price.


    But in this Immortal Fortune Conference, this kid had thrown himself into the.


    Victory hade so easily and simply that Deng Yuqing didn¡¯t feel like it was real.


    And as time passed, the unrealness intensified.


    Standing on the mountain, Deng Yuqing gravely said, ¡°He still hasn¡¯te out?¡±


    ¡°Eagle Master, the target has not been seen at the formation wall.¡±


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    Deng Yuqing frowned. ¡°Fourth Brother, how long would it take at most to get from the Infinite Illusion Zone to the formation wall?¡±


    Duan Fourth replied, ¡°If sprinting, fifteen minutes would be enough. If taking a casual stroll, an hour.¡±


    He was the supervisor sent by Godhead Pce to this ce, so he was very familiar with the site.


    ¡°But it¡¯s been two hours,¡± Deng Yuqing impatiently said. ¡°Why hasn¡¯t that Tang Jiyee out of the formation yet?¡±


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be.¡± Duan Fourth scratched his head. ¡°Could Xu Muyang have not told him the correct way to get through the Infinite Illusion Zone?¡±


    ¡°Impossible!¡± Deng Yuqing shouted. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be the same as sending him to his death?¡±


    He was essentially saying, ¡°Kid, if you didn¡¯t know the path, what did youe here for? You could have just asked us!¡±


    But no matter how long they waited, Tang Jie wasn¡¯ting out.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Duan Fourth ndly asked Deng Yuqing.


    Deng Yuqing¡¯s face was shifting between green and red.


    ording to their n, if Tang Jie could open up theter formations, they would let him open them and only capture him once they understood his methods. If the situation changed, they could also take action early.


    They hadn¡¯t expected things to go awry so quickly.


    Duan Fourth looked at Deng Yuqing, and after a long while, Deng Yuqing finally said, ¡°Let¡¯s keep waiting, using no change to respond to all possible change. No matter what sort of scheme he¡¯s trying, this is still the territory of my Godhead Pce. Since he¡¯s gone in, he should rid himself of any thought of causing trouble!¡±


    Deng Yuqing clenched his fists, his eyes glinting.


    He wanted to see what sort of trick Tang Jiye could y. Let¡¯s see if this n will actually work, or if Deng Yuqing was a little too clever for his own good.

 Chapter 304: Infinite Illusion Zone (2)

    Chapter 304: Infinite Illusion Zone (2)


    Tang Jie moved his face over and drank in the scent. There was still the faint aroma of grass mixed into it.


    The illusion was so realistic that there had been a brief moment where he had even believed that he had transmigrated again.


    But this had only been for a split second. As the soil fell, Tang Jie felt a faint hint of the illusion formation¡¯s power in the soul. This energy extended into the distance, and Tang Jie used this to orient himself and start running.


    As he sprinted through the great ins of the Infinite Illusion Zone, he would asionally stop to grab some soil and feel the wind, after which he would keep running. He was like a man chasing the wind, running here and there.


    But this illusion zone was not entirely deserted.


    As he ran, a creature suddenly appeared in the distance. It was a giant ck bear that bellowed at Tang Jie.


    It was a wild roar, and the ck bear instantly swelled in size, bing asrge as a mountain.


    Given that it could grow asrge as a small mountain, this fiend had to be at least peak Mind Opening, if not Transformation. Tang Jie would be doomed against a creature like this.


    The giant bear red at Tang Jie, and an enormous paw swept toward him.


    Tang Jie simplyughed and ran straight at the paw.


    He punched at that giant paw.


    As his fist met the paw, there was a bang. The iron fist sted through the giant paw, and the bear disappeared.


    It turned out that this giant bear was an illusion creature.


    But at that moment, Tang Jie suddenly grimaced and crossed his arms in front of him.


    <em>Boom!</em> Tang Jie was sent flying.


    Another creature appeared on the ins.


    A Netherred Wolf.


    ¡°Shit. I let you get an attack on me,¡± Tang Jie cursed.


    There were wolves in the valley, so there were naturally wolves in the illusion zone. It was just that meeting was rare. But to his surprise, while this Netherred Wolf couldn¡¯t break out of the formation, it was still quite capable of tracking him down by following the trail of spiritual disturbances.


    They were actual living creatures of the valley, so they could naturally hurt Tang Jie. And because of the isting effect of the formation, they were practically undetectable. Thus, it had managed to inflict a light wound on Tang Jie.


    But Tang Jie swiftly charged, mming the wolf to the ground with his right hand while his left hand plucked out the wolf¡¯s eyeballs. Netherred Wolves could see through illusions, so their eyes were quite valuable, especially for cultivating his Eye of Heaven. Tang Jie was not willing to let this prize go.


    After killing the wolf, Tang Jie threw its corpse aside and continued running.


    Although he was running around, it wasn¡¯t without purpose. Each sprint was actually meant to track the spiritual energy circuits, thus understanding how this formation ran and changed. His main purpose right now wasn¡¯t solving the formation, only having a try at it.


    It would be best if he could solve it, but if not, he could go back to the safe route and get through it that way.


    After all, Godhead Pce wasn¡¯t going to do anything to him until he breached the second formation wall, so why should he rush himself?


    Thus, while he did intend to break the Infinite Illusion Zone, he was more in a learning mode. As he ran around, he focused on observing andprehending what he was observing.


    There was no telling howrge the Infinite Illusion Zone was. If he took the correct path, he would need only a few moments to get out, but if he didn¡¯t take that path, he could run for his entire life while making little progress.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t care.


    He ran, studied, and observed from dawn to dusk¡­ caring not at all about what the people outside the formation felt.


    Deng Yuqing¡¯s face was getting uglier and uglier.


    Things had been out of control from the start, and Godhead Pce had considered many possibilities.


    They had thought about Tang Jie trying to force his way through the formation and getting caught, thought about Tang Jie noting at all, thought about Tang Jie bringing a Titan of the Basking Moon Sect with him¡­ but they had never thought about Tang Jie going alone into the formation and proceeding to vanish without a trace.


    It was a depressing development that they were powerless to change. It hadn¡¯t been in their control from the beginning, and it still wasn¡¯t in their control. Thus, even though their target was in the formation, Deng Yuqing still felt like there was not even the slightest hope of victory.


    This vexed him all the more.


    ¡°This bastard¡ªjust what is he doing in the formation?¡± Duan Fourth was also angry, his face flushed scarlet. This was the result of him suppressing his blood energy. ¡°Could he have died in the formation?¡±


    Deng Yuqing frowned.


    The illusion formation wasn¡¯t a lethal one, and while many people had died within it, they had starved to death, not been killed.


    Tang Jie had only been in there for a day, so he was a long way from starving to death.


    But it wasn¡¯t like the illusion zone waspletely without danger. While the danger wasn¡¯t great¡­ in short, it was hard to say.


    Fortunately, at this moment, a voice rejected this notion: ¡°No, he¡¯s still alive.¡±


    Duan Fourth and Deng Yuqing were shaken, and they immediately got on their knees. ¡°Paying respects to True Person He!¡±


    A person came flying out of the sky, instantly appearing in front of the pair. It was none other than He Chong.


    He Chong looked down for a brief moment before sighing. ¡°I was only a littlete, and things ended up like this! The spiritual energy within the Infinite Illusion Zone is in turmoil, meaning that somebody is causing trouble inside. Thus, he should be fine.¡±


    He Chong understood formations the most in Godhead Pce, so he could ascertain the situation within the formation at a nce.


    ¡°Then, Master He, what do you think that kid is doing inside?¡± Deng Yuqing cautiously asked.


    He Chong grunted, ¡°It seems to me like he wants to ignore the safe path and solve the illusion formation on his own.¡±


    ¡°¡®Solve the illusion formation on his own¡¯? How is that possible?¡± Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth blurted out in unison.


    Deng Yuqing added, ¡°This is a formation from High Antiquity, something that countless Immortal tform Titans have failed to solve. Why does he think he can solve it?¡±


    Ten Direction Valley had stood for eons. If it were that easy to solve, it wouldn¡¯t have been around for Tang Jie to solve it.


    ¡°Perhaps he feels that it would be a better choice to try and solve the formation while still in a situation where he can back out,¡± He Chong said with a chuckle. He understood formations, and so he could guess at his mindset, and he really had managed to divine Tang Jie¡¯s intentions.


    Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth seemed to get it.


    Duan Fourth sneered, ¡°In other words, he needs to ram his head into the wall until it¡¯s bloody, realizing that a High Antiquity formation isn¡¯t something an ignorant nobody like him can break, beforeing out?¡±


    ¡°Probably.¡± Deng Yuqing nodded.


    ¡°Then how long do we have to wait?¡± Duan Fourth raged.


    ¡°Who knows? It will depend on how stubborn he is¡­ Forget it. We¡¯ve already waited this long, so waiting longer is no big deal,¡± He Chong casually said.


    Duan Fourth said, ¡°True Person is right. If that¡¯s the case, I think that thetest he wille out of the formation is tomorrow morning.¡±


    ¡°Why tomorrow?¡± Deng Yuqing asked.


    Duan Fourth smiled. ¡°Brother Deng, you don¡¯t spend much time here, so you don¡¯t know. In reality, the true dangers of this Infinite Illusion Zone are at night. That kid probably thinks he¡¯s fine so long as he¡¯s inside the Infinite Illusion Zone, but he¡¯s forgotten that this is an illusion zone that has existed for eons, so it can¡¯t bepared to those ordinary illusion formations. Once he¡¯s suffered through the night, he¡¯ll naturally want to leave.¡±


    Night fell.


    A moon rose in the illusion zone.


    Tang Jie continued to make his way through the ins, but his speed was much slower.


    There was a gust of wind, and Tang Jie felt a chill at the back of his neck.


    He quickly turned around and punched behind him.


    Where there had once been nothing, a white phantom appeared, letting out a soul-shaking shriek.


    Tang Jie red at that white phantom, opened his mouth, and angrily roared in response.


    While roaring, he used the Blood Refining Spirit spell, blood energy surging into a lethal sea of blood. The white phantom was struck by this wave of blood and instantly dissipated into several motes of spiritual light.


    Tang Jie took in a deep breath and continued his cautious advance.


    This was not the first ghost that Tang Jie had run into.


    Tang Jie had run into his first ghost as soon as dusk had fallen, and as the night deepened, more and more ghosts appeared.


    In the pitch-ck night, the beautiful sights of daytime were gone, and a sinister ghostly energy creeped through the world.


    The Infinite Illusion Zone originally didn¡¯t have any ghosts.


    Illusion formations were illusion formations. Their goal was to impede the enemy, not kill them.


    But sometimes, for various reasons, in the process of carrying out its functions, a new effect would be achieved.


    Just like how someone imprisoned in the illusion formation for too long would starve to death.


    Such was the case with the Infinite Illusion Zone.


    This was a rare illusion formation that had existed for thousands of years. It was only because of it that people found out what happened to an illusion formation that existed for so long.


    Ghosts!


    Over the thousands of years, countless people had died, bound within the formation. As their souls did not dissipate after death, the chances that they became ghosts greatly increased.


    These ghosts weren¡¯t anything to worry about initially, but as time passed, their numbers grew, and through feeding on each other, they grew stronger. After thousands of years, they had be vicious and terrifying beings.


    This was not what the creator of the formation had sought, but they were an inevitable part of the process, like by-products in a factory, rust on metal, leftovers from a meal, or trash in a city. People didn¡¯t like them, but they existed nevertheless.


    And after thousands of years of existence, the Infinite Illusion Zone had umted a pile of trash as high as a mountain, almost filling it to the bursting!


    They hid away during the day, but when night fell, they started to move.


    When first trying to break the formation, Godhead Pce had gotten a taste of this. Quite a few cultivators hadn¡¯t starved to death in the formation but had instead died to the ghosts. It was only when they understood what was going on and stopped going into the formation at night that they were able to avoid these ghosts.


    After the safe route had been made, the Fierce Ghosts, Malicious Spirits, and Ghost Kings began to escape the formation through the crack. While the formation ceased to have powerful ghosts, there was still an endless number of ordinary ghosts.


    Though they were ordinary in strength, their eeriness was iparable. Ghosts were always the most iprehensible existences of the world, and illusion zones were also famed for their unfathomable and bizarre natures. When these two werebined, they pushed the bizarreness to the maximum. The ghosts in the formation seized upon the fact that this was a world made of spiritual energy to break free of their restraints and possess anything.


    Thus, in the illusion zone, whether it was a gust of wind, a flower, or a leaf, there could be a ghost there, and that was exactly what made the Infinite Illusion Zone so terrifying at night. There was simply no defending against it all!


    Moreover, as these ghosts were born within the formation, they werepletely unaffected by it. They attacked and retreated like the wind and were extremely difficult to kill. s, they were simply too unintelligent and innately fierce, so they refused to be tamed. Otherwise, one could simply catch a ghost to get through the formation.


    For all these various reasons, even Godhead Pce was helpless against them. After killing some and realizing that they were endless and the effort would cost too much, they gave up.


    In the end, no one liked picking up trash.


    But this trash now presented a huge problem for Tang Jie.


    An endless number of ghosts flitted about this in, attacking him in countless unexpected ways while beingpletely indistinguishable from the surroundings.


    Worst of all was that Tang Jie truthfullycked a way of killing ghosts.


    It was difficult to kill ghosts, whichcked physical bodies, through ordinary means. As Tang Jie had nned to spend a long time here, he hadn¡¯t brought anything except the Azure Light Sword. After all, he couldn¡¯t bring back out anything he brought in.


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    The Blood Refining Spirit spell actually countered the ghosts, the powerful blood energy exterminating them. The problem was that Blood Refining Spirit used excessive amounts of blood energy, and even with Tang Jie¡¯s constitution, he was starting to tire out. He could only use this to protect himself, not kill ghosts.


    Even so, He Chong and the others would have certainly been shocked to see all this.


    It had to be understood that even the people of Godhead Pce could only light torches and defend when assailed by countless ghosts. Meanwhile, Tang Jie continued to advance.


    He chased the wind, chased the spiritual energy, tirelessly advancing. His body glowed with a bloody light that prevented the ghosts from getting close. All they could do was circle around him and shriek.


    Sometimes, they would do something more.


    For example, a rock would suddenly jump up and open up a mouth to attack Tang Jie. Or maybe a few stalks of grass would wind together and float into the air. And sometimes, a ghost would manifest in the wind, revealing their horrifying face. But these ghosts were done for, for anyone who dared to block Tang Jie¡¯s path would have their existence obliterated by a Blood Refining Spirit punch from Tang Jie.


    The seething blood energy was like antern in the night, both instilling fear in the ghosts and drawing them in. Once the Blood Refining Spirit spell could no longer be kept up, the cultivator who possessed this formidable blood energy would serve as the finest food for the ghosts.


    As a result, more and more ghosts gathered around Tang Jie, and the shrieking and wailing intensified. So many ghosts had gathered around him that even a Netherred Wolf came to see what was going on.


    Unfortunately, it was possessed by a ghost and became a means of attacking Tang Jie, for which Tang Jie punched it into meat paste.


    But with all these ghosts gathering around him, Tang Jie found it difficult to advance. Some of the powerful ghosts were even using their ghost energy to create ill winds to impede Tang Jie.


    This wind revolved around Tang Jie, grinding away at his blood energy.


    Even He Chong and Deng Yuqing managed to sense what was going on.


    As the fog within the valley roiled, different sorts of sounds emerged, mixed with the faint shrieks of ghosts.


    ¡°A night parade of ghosts?¡± He Chong said in shock. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Deng Yuqing¡¯s face shifted. ¡°What is this kid doing in the formation that created a parade of ghosts? Does he have something on him that can lure ghosts?¡±


    Duan Fourth coldly said, ¡°Ghosts feed on Yang energy. This person must be rich in blood energy, drawing numerous ghosts to him.¡±


    Deng Yuqing nodded. ¡°Yes, Tang Jie is a body refiner and possesses a formidable physical body, but this is far more formidable than we anticipated. Your average blood energy can¡¯t stimte so many ghosts into following him. Could it be¡­¡±


    He Chong coldly picked up where he left off. ¡°The Martial Lord¡­ Back then, I thought that the Martial Mirror was hiding a secret, and it seems like I was right. The Martial Lord had a body that could withstand a hundred battles. Only someone who has inherited his Immortal Art could disy such ability.¡±


    This could be considered getting the answer right by ident.


    The outflow of blood energy due to the Blood Refining Spirit spell was what had drawn over so many ghosts. Of course, without the formidable body conferred by the Parting ssic, Tang Jie could never have kept up the Blood Refining Spirit for this long.


    It was thebination of the two that had created this scene, and it had allowed He Chong to mistakenly develop some correct conclusions.


    s, no matter what he spected, it was of no help to the current situation.


    Numerous ghosts had gathered in the formation, and Tang Jie had inadvertently walked into dangerous territory. Even if he wanted to now go back to the safe route and get out, he might not have enough time.


    ¡°Shit; this is a problem. This brat better not die in there,¡± Deng Yuqing said, clenching his fist.


    Duan Fourth snorted, ¡°So what if he dies? Ghosts only feast on flesh and blood, not metal. At worst, we just need to send people into the formation to find the Martial Mirror.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that the n to have Tang Jie open the way for us will have failed,¡± Deng Yuqing said.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be done about that,¡± He Chong sighed. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like Tang Jie will be able to escape the ghosts. He¡¯s an idiot, recklessly thinking that he can break a High Antiquity formation all on his own. It¡¯s really¡­ Huh? What¡¯s that?¡±


    As he was cursing, the situation down in the valley suddenly changed.


    A giant storm took form in the valley, rotating within the valley like a tornado.


    Large amounts of fog poured out of the valley entrance, scattering the Godhead Pce disciples that were guarding it.


    The storm continued, and only when it got several hundred meters away from the valley entrance did it draw back. At this time, the storm took the form of a giant man in the middle of the valley.


    As it was the middle of the night, it was only possible to see that this giant was wearing a veiled hat.


    ¡°Tang¡­ Tang Jiye?¡± Deng Yuqing called out.


    The appearance of the fog giant was clearly that of the Tang Jiye who had entered the valley. That giant veiled hat was bothical and surprising.


    As if it could hear Deng Yuqing, the fog giant raised its head and revealed a blurry face that showed a hint of youth.


    ¡°You¡­ Shao¡­ Feng¡­¡± Deng Yuqing squeezed out.


    The giant¡¯s face was clearly that of You Shaofeng.


    The giant smiled. Suddenly, it thrust a finger at the summit, the giant fingertip aiming at the group gathered on the mountain.


    He Chong let out a strange shout and brought his hands together, quickly forming signs before thrusting out his hands to create a giant finger that flew toward the giant.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    The two fingers collided.


    He Chong groaned and took a step back, and the fog giant dissolved back into the fog it hade from. The storm howled back into the valley while the giant disappeared. Everything went back to normal.


    After blocking the attack, He Chong cried out in shock, ¡°He¡¯s taken control of the Infinite Illusion Zone!¡±


    ¡°How is that possible?¡± Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth simultaneously yelled.


    This was a High Antiquity formation that even Immortal tform Titans had failed to solve. Suddenly, a single person had inconceivably taken control of it. This waspletely beyond their expectations.


    Down below in Ten Direction Valley, You Shaofeng¡¯s face appeared, speaking in Tang Jie¡¯s cold voice. ¡°I see¡­ sure enough¡­ fortunately¡­ haha, haha, Godhead Pce, you were wrong from the very start¡­ Fortune is sometimes a trap, setting you off on the wrong path¡­¡± Godhead Pce¡¯s n seems to be going awry much faster than anticipated.

 Chapter 305: Entering the World Behind the Formation Wall

    Chapter 305: Entering the World Behind the Formation Wall


    But behind this calm, Duan Fourth cried out in fear, ¡°We¡¯ve lost connection with the first formation wall¡­¡±


    Hearing this, He Chong waved his hand, and the image of a wall of spiritual energy appeared in front of them. This was the location of the first formation wall.


    As Godhead Pce had managed to reach all the way to the end of the second formation, they could observe all the parts of the formation up until then, barring the illusion zone, due to its special attributes.


    But as this image formed,rge amounts of fog rushed in, covering it up until nothing at all could be seen.


    rmed, He Chong waved his hand again, and the sight of crashing waves appeared.


    This was the Weakwater Formation.


    But he once more saw white fog sweeping out, like a fog over the sea. It engulfed the ocean, and the scene was also quickly turned white.


    ¡°We¡¯ve also lost connection to the second formation wall¡­¡± Duan Fourth stiffly said.


    He Chong¡¯s heart shivered.


    Duan Fourth¡¯s words meant that they could no longer stand here and see everything that was going on within, and that they had lost control over the situation.


    Deng Yuqing had turned ghastly pale. ¡°How? How is this possible?¡±


    Not only had Tang Jie broken the formation, he had taken control over the illusion zone and expanded it, preventing Godhead Pce from tracking him.


    Right now, any part of the formation that had been opened up before this had now been engulfed by the illusion zone. The Nine Executions Immortal Formation had changed, but it had changed in a way that was iprehensible to them.


    They didn¡¯t even know how this change hade about.


    ¡°How could he do something that not even Immortal tform Titans were capable of?¡± Even He Chong shook his head, not daring to believe his eyes.


    Deng Yuqing said, ¡°For ten thousand years, no one has ever been able to break this formation, and not even Godhead Pce mobilizing all of its strength and searching the world for information was able to do it. So how could a single Tang Jiye so quickly break through it, even take control over it? It doesn¡¯t make sense. Is the formation actually targeted, and it was waiting for him this entire time?¡±


    Duan Fourth angrily roared, ¡°Buillshit! Even the wheel of the Heavenly Dao can¡¯t see ten thousand years into the future, so how can the formation possibly be targeted toward someone? Besides, this kid is quite the schemer. Someone with that personality can¡¯t possibly be the Martial Lord¡¯s reincarnation, let alone be designated as his sessor!¡±


    These words made He Chong shudder. ¡°I see now!¡±


    Duan Fourth and Deng Yuqing both turned their heads to see He Chong trembling, his eyes glowing. He said in a shaking voice, ¡°¡®Fortune is a trap, setting you off on the wrong path¡¯¡­ no wonder¡­ no wonder¡­ Yes, we should have thought of that ages ago.¡±


    He Chong thumped his chest and howled, ¡°Wrong! We werepletely wrong!¡±


    ¡°True Person!¡± Duan Fourth and Deng Yuqing yelled in unison.


    He Chong sat on his butt, mming the ground with his hands as he wailed, ¡°It was so simple! Why did I think of it earlier?¡±


    Deng Yuqing helped up He Chong and said, ¡°True Person, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    He Chong was a Celestial Heart True Person, yet he was crying and dripping mucus like a child.


    He wasn¡¯t crying because the formation had been broken, but because of his own ¡°stupidity¡±. As Deng Yuqing supported him, he cried out, ¡°We were wrong¡­ that formation¡­ We shouldn¡¯t have tried to break it that way¡­ shouldn¡¯t have done it that way!¡±


    ¡°Which formation?¡± Deng Yuqing asked in confusion.


    He Chong sat on the mountain and pointed a trembling finger down below. ¡°The Infinite Illusion Zone¡­ the safe route¡­ that wasn¡¯t the correct path¡­ We were on the wrong path from the very start¡­ The formation didn¡¯t require being broken at all!¡±


    Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth finally got what he was saying.


    Godhead Pce had gotten into the second formation entirely by relying on the safe path, which was a w in the formation. But Tang Jie hadn¡¯t taken this route, instead choosing to find his own solution.


    Could it be that the correct path was only to properly find the solution to the formation?


    But it had been thousands of years without anyone finding the solution to the Infinite Illusion Zone.


    The two of them didn¡¯t get it.


    He Chong shouted, ¡°Because this is an inheritance!¡±


    Inheritance!


    He Chong finally understood.


    The Martial Lord¡¯s secret ground had been left behind for someone with a goal in mind.


    As an inheritancend, it had the special property of allowing in anyone who fit the requirements rather than trying to get in through brute force.


    He Chong didn¡¯t know what those conditions were, but he knew at least one: start from the beginning.


    Godhead Pce¡¯s problem was that it hadn¡¯t gone through the proper process.


    The damage to the formation had made it so that Godhead Pce had never taken the correct path.


    They had skipped past it!


    True, the damage to the Nine Executions Immortal Formation had given Godhead Pce the chance to take control of this Immortalnd, but it had also led them down the wrong path.


    ¡°But, True Person, this Infinite Illusion Zone is dangerous and unpredictable, and nobody has ever been able to solve it. If we had insisted on solving it in the proper way, we still might not have even reached the first formation wall!¡± Deng Yuqing quickly said.


    Some things were easier said than done.


    Perhaps Godhead Pce had thought of this possibility before, but starting from the first step?


    How many lives had already been lost in this first step?


    He Chong thumped his chest again. ¡°So there must be some problem in here, a problem! But s, I don¡¯t know what it is.¡±


    He shouted at the valley below, ¡°Tang Jiye, how did you see through it?¡±


    He didn¡¯t expect an answer.


    But the fog churned, and a few momentster, Tang Jie really did reply. ¡°All I can tell you is that the true use of the Visceral Manifestation ssic was to charge at the Jade Gate. The rest will depend on your ownprehension.¡±


    He Chong was taken aback. ¡°Charging at the Jade Gate?¡±


    He sat on the ground and stroked his chin in thought, but he struggled to find anything useful.


    On the other hand, Deng Yuqing frowned and said, ¡°The reward given at the second formation wall was only a method to charge at the Jade Gate? Isn¡¯t that too cheap? Whether it¡¯s the Infinite Illusion Zone or the Weakwater Formation, they took a lot of work from us to get through. What¡¯s the point in giving a simple method for charging at the Jade Gate?¡±


    But these words made He Chong shudder, and he cried out, ¡°I get it!¡±


    ¡°True Person?¡± Duan Fourth and Deng Yuqing looked at him.


    He Chong shouted, ¡°Think! Think! The first formation wall had the Martial Mirror, which was the key! The second formation wall gave the Visceral Manifestation ssic, which was a method for charging at the Jade Gate. What does this mean? Think about the concept of using everything to its limits and progressing step by step!¡±


    Deng Yuqing paled, ¡°Using everything to its limits, step-by-step progress¡­ Could the Martial Lord have arranged things so that a mortal could reach the end of the second formation?¡±


    ¡°Correct!¡± He Chong hugged his head and wept. ¡°We were unable to break the formation not because we weren¡¯t strong enough, but because we weren¡¯t weak enough!¡±


    ¡°Heroism welling in my chest, a tide of ghosts hidden beneath the green seas, I ride the wind while striding atop the silver waves and jade oceans!¡±


    A giant dragonboat was sailing through an azure ocean. Around it were countless sea fiends, unleashing frenzied attacks on the dragonboat, but despite all the explosions of spiritual energy, the boat was unharmed.


    Tang Jie hugged his knees and sat on the prow of the ship, loudly singing the little song he hade up with, his heart brimming with joy.


    The dragonboat had been created by Tang Jie from the illusion powers of the Infinite Illusion Zone. He had brought it into the second formation, and by riding it, he could easily break through the Weakwater Formation and reach the formation wall. This was the protection conferred by the formation onto the ¡°weak¡±.


    If one did not discover the secret of the Infinite Illusion Zone, one would never be able to get this dragonboat, and so they would not be able to break through the Weakwater Formation in the correct manner. Error piled on error would ultimatelypel one to break through by force.


    But what truly left him overjoyed was the object under his feet.


    Crouched at his feet was none other than a small ghost, only a foot tall and translucent. It was currently trembling in fear.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but sigh as he looked at that little ghost. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that the correct method to get out of the illusion zone would be you¡­ The Martial Lord¡¯s reputation for having an unsurpassed treasury is truly not feigned.¡±


    In that parade of ghosts, Tang Jie truly had hit a dead end.


    But this had only made his mind clearer.


    Under the pressure of all these ghosts, Tang Jie¡¯s first thought was, <em>How is it that all these ghosts are having no effect on the formation¡¯s spiritual energy cirction?</em>


    His second thought was, <em>It must be that the formation¡¯s cirction took into ount the existence of these ghosts, so the means of avoiding them were implemented from the very start.</em>


    His third thought was, <em>If a mortal really can get through this ce, how could they do it?</em>


    He then saw that Netherred Wolf that had been possessed by a ghost.


    When a Netherred Wolf was possessed by a ghost, the other ghosts would cease attacking it, treating it as a member of the horde.


    Although it was sted to bits a momentter by Tang Jie¡¯s punch, at that moment, Tang Jie suddenly remembered something.


    This was the time he discovered the secret of the Martial Mirror: the remaining power of Soulscour had carried his mind into the Martial Mirror.


    Very early on, Tang Jie had thought of something.


    If the Martial Mirror was the key, why had the key been ced behind the illusion zone?


    If every level of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation had a purpose, with the Visceral Manifestation ssic serving to temper the body and the Martial Mirror serving as the formation key, what meaning did the Infinite Illusion Zone have other than serving as a blockade?


    Tang Jie had never found the answer to the question.


    Only when he recalled that scene with the Martial Mirror did he finally understand. Perhaps, besides serving as a barrier, the Infinite Illusion Zone did have another purpose: it told you how to use the Martial Mirror!


    In other words, getting out of the illusion, using the Martial Mirror, and obtaining the inheritance as a mortal were all linked.


    In normal circumstances, Tang Jie would have never been able to find themonality.


    But in the middle of this ghost parade, when that ghost-possessed wolf had attacked him, Tang Jie had seen it.


    Possession by a ghost!


    Yes.


    Possession by a ghost!


    Only ghosts could truly be ustomed to this world, and only they could bring one out of this ce.


    In the same vein, only weak mortals would let a ghost possess them. A cultivator would rather die than give a ghost this chance.


    Finally, once one was possessed, to break free of the ghost, one would need the Martial Mirror.


    Using Soulscour on the Martial Mirror was actually just sending one¡¯s Soul Will into the Martial Mirror. From this, one could see that the Martial Mirror was a treasure that was extremely useful for the soul. The moment the possessed person reached the Martial Mirror, they would probably have the ghost take the ce of the Soul Will in entering the Martial Mirror, thus removing the possession while also taking ownership over the Martial Mirror.


    Of course, all of this had only been spection for Tang Jie at the time.


    If his theory had been wrong, Tang Jie¡¯s life would have been done right there.


    But Tang Jie had ultimately decided to risk it.


    Of course, not just any ghost would do for possession, and Tang Jie had taken some time finding one. He felt like the Martial Lord would definitely have left a reliable method.


    And then he saw that translucent little ghost.


    This was a ghost he had never seen before, and the moment he saw it, he had a strange feeling.


    It was like it was the key to everything.


    Thus, when that little ghost came over, he intentionally opened up his blood energy barrier, letting that ghost crawl into him. He saw it¡­ enter his heart.


    An indescribable feeling instantly spread throughout his entire body.


    What truly shocked him was that when this ghost entered his body, he found that he still had control over his body and could think for himself. All that changed was that his vision became ck and white and his walking became somewhat unsteady.


    Looking down, Tang Jie found that he could see his bones and organs, the blood flowing through his body, and all his muscles and sinews, which scared the wits out of him.


    And a set of special memories appeared in his mind. The experience of wandering this world for thousands of years and the long sense of loneliness made Tang Jie break out in tears.


    Besides the bleakness and loneliness as deep as the seas, there was only that most profound understanding of this world.


    At that moment, he finally understood what this self that had a ck-and-white vision was.


    It was his soul!


    It flitted about in his body, even felt like it was going to leave it.


    In normal circumstances, the moment his soul left his body, it would be evaporated by the zing Yang energy of the sun.


    But in this pitch-ck night, this world of ghosts, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t worried at all.


    His soul drifted around, half of it in the air while the other half remained in his body. The half in his bodymanded the body to move forward like a zombie while the half in the air felt the fog around him.


    He felt like he could grab it, fuse with it,mand it.


    Most shocking of all was that his soul could also sense some hidden energy within the Infinite Illusion Zone.


    This energy entered his soul, and he could feel himself grow more powerful.


    Delighted, he began to absorb this energy. At the same time, the endless ghosts followed him as if he was their king. Rather than trying to divide up Tang Jie and eat him, they were seemingly prostrating to him.


    His body continued forward while his soul flew through the fog.


    His Spirit Will grew stronger and stronger, gaining a deeper and deeper understanding of the Infinite Illusion Zone.


    This was and of inheritance!


    Study and research was the proper responsibility of those who entered this ce.


    Those who forced their way in were all intruders!


    As this thought resounded in Tang Jie¡¯s mind, the fog churned, and a giant roared¡­


    His mind remained lost in thought until, finally, a light appeared in the distance. It was at this point that Tang Jie stopped.


    The dragonboat drew closer and closer.


    The scene gradually cleared up.


    He finally saw that spiritual wall.


    This was the second formation wall.


    It was called a formation wall, but it was actually a spiritual membrane.


    Though it was a membrane, it was as tough as steel, and Godhead Pce had wasted several decades without breaking through it.


    The dragonboat kept going, showing no intent of stopping.


    Tang Jie slowly got up, grabbed the little ghost, and stuffed it into the Martial Mirror. Chuckling, he said, ¡°All right, since we¡¯ve gotten the chance to know each other, you can follow me from now on. The Martial Mirror will be your home.¡±


    <em>Keekee!</em> The little ghost cried out like a monkey.


    As Tang Jie put away the Martial Mirror, he said, ¡°None of that from you. I already have twopanions: one a fiend tiger and the other a grass sprite. You¡¯re the third, and you¡¯re a ghost, so I¡¯ll call you Little Three. Fiends, sprites, ghosts, and monsters¡ªhaha, I wonder if I can collect all four. If I do, then I might take a trip to the Primordial Fog Domain to collect a demon!¡±


    He jumped off the dragonboat, making a long arc through the air andnding in front of that membrane. His right arm bulged with muscle, a vortex of power forming around it.


    There were no pulses of spiritual energy in this vortex, only the purest and wildest strength, the most primitive and barbaric power of all.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    Tang Jie sent that power mming at the membrane like aet. His steely fist struck, and the membrane cracked like ss, a few barely perceivable cracks appearing.


    But the membrane simply flickered, and the cracks began to heal.


    ¡°Haha, it works, so it must be right!¡± Tang Jie didn¡¯t mind,ughing as he punched again.


    A momentter, he began to crazily punch at the membrane, andrge ripples pulsed across the membrane under his assault.


    These ripples were so powerful that they could even be noticed from a distance.


    Duan Fourth paled, and he cried out, ¡°Oh no! He¡¯s attacking the second formation wall. The formation wall¡­ the formation wall is being damaged!¡±


    ¡°How?¡± Deng Yuqing cried out.


    Not even Immortal tform Titans had been able to break the formation wall of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation!


    ¡°If it¡¯s the strength that the Martial Lord required, then it might work,¡± He Chong drily said.


    ¡°Then what are we waiting for? After him! Kill Tang Jie and take back the Martial Mirror!¡± Deng Yuqing roared.


    At this moment, Deng Yuqing had actually already seeded in understanding the mindset which Tang Jie used to get through the formation.


    Through Tang Jie¡¯s methods, Godhead Pce had found out what their own problems were.


    Thus, all they needed to do now was get back the Martial Mirror and follow that line of thought, upon which getting through the formation would only be a matter of time.


    The three of them rushed to the formation wall.


    At the same time, Tang Jie began to punch at the membrane even more crazily.


    The membrane seemed soft, but it had a seemingly endless power to repulse.


    Tang Jie¡¯s fists were beginning to crack and bleed under this furious barrage.


    Blood sttered onto the membrane and was sucked in, and then, the membrane¡¯s recovery speed actually began to slow.


    Tang Jie madlyughed. ¡°I¡¯m the owner of the Martial Mirror, the inheritor of the Parting ssic! I¡¯ve finished with the Visceral Manifestation ssic and have reached the Jewel Body of the Parting ssic, meeting the conditions of the third formation! You want strength, so I¡¯ll give you strength! You want blood, so I¡¯ll give you blood! Open up for me!¡±


    He punched out with both fists, hammering at the membrane. The crack on the membrane instantly expanded with a deafening screech.


    Tang Jie grabbed the edges of the crack and tore them apart as if he was tearing apart the fabric of space itself, creating a gaprge enough for one person to squeeze through.


    He jumped through, entering the world behind the formation wall. See youter, suckers!

 Chapter 306: Kill the Most Handsome

    Chapter 306: Kill the Most Handsome


    Emerging from the shallowyer of soil, Tang Jie stood up, shaking off the dirt.


    ¡°Big Brother, how are things?¡± The little flower next to him turned back into Yiyi, hugging Tang Jie¡¯s neck.


    ¡°Everything is fine. The original body has entered the third formation,¡± Tang Jie replied as he petted Yiyi. ¡°Tang Jiye¡¯s movements have been confirmed, so I can move now and clear my name.¡±


    ¡°Wonderful!¡± Yiyi excitedly shouted. She whistled, summoning the little tiger back.


    The little tiger would need some time to get back, but the pair were in no rush. They casually strolled back up the mountain the same way they hade.


    They came to where Shu Mingyang had fallen.


    There was nothing there.


    It was clear that the sects had discovered the deaths of Shu Mingyang and Jiang Qingsong.


    After standing by the stream for a while, Tang Jie sighed. ¡°The three sects should have argued up a storm by now, right?¡±


    Yiyi covered her mouth andughed. ¡°Isn¡¯t that for the best? It will let us be free and clear from now on.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°¡®Free and clear¡¯? Where did thate from? I n to use this chance to counterattack.¡±


    There was a hint of savagery to these words.


    As he was speaking, Tang Jie suddenly sensed something. He nced at Yiyi and then pointed behind him, using his body as cover.


    Yiyi immediately understood. While looking around, she loudly said, ¡°Big Brother, I¡¯m tired. Let me down so I can rest a little.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Tang Jie agreed. Holding Yiyi, he left the stream and went over to a nearby rock.


    As he drew close, Tang Jie suddenly threw Yiyi into the air, at the same time taking out the Heartbreak Saber and swinging at the area behind the rock. At the same time, Yiyi waved her hand, summoning her flower formation.


    There was a cry of rm, and there was a sh of pink¡ªa girl in pink clothes.


    The moment this girl appeared, she waved her hand, sending out a shower of silver lights.


    These silver lights gathered in front of her in a mottled belt of light that blocked Tang Jie¡¯s vicious blow.


    She rapidly retreated, her body as graceful as a willow catkin. Those vines that tried to catch her not only failed to entangle her but also sent her higher into the sky. She was like a fairy being held aloft by the flowers, sent skyward.


    But a momentter, Tang Jie jumped out, the zeraven Ring on his wrist shing. Arge number of zeravens charged out at his opponent.


    That saber attack had been a feint. The hundred ravens were the real attack, and if this was no good, he could add the golden thread.


    But when Tang Jie got a good look at that girl in pink and her familiar face, he realized with a start, ¡°It¡¯s you?¡±


    This was clearly that girl he had encountered when fleeing into that estate the one night he had been chased by An Rumeng.


    She clearly couldn¡¯t be someone who hadin here in wait to ambush him, and Tang Jie knew he had made the wrong call. But the zeraven Ring had been activated, and that girl in pink paled in shock as those one hundred zeravens charged at her.


    Tang Jie knew that he couldn¡¯t call back his attack in time, so he lunged forward, grabbing the girl.


    <em>Boom!</em> Numerous zeravens crashed into his back.


    This left Tang Jie quite badly wounded.


    Although he had already used the Formless Golden Body before this, the power of more than one hundred zeravens could not be underestimated. Let alone shattering his Formless Golden Body, the following zeravens even dealt harm directly to him.


    It had to be understood that the avatar¡¯s constitution was not as good as that of the original body. His body was at the equivalent of Tang Jie when he had finished cultivating the Visceral Manifestation ssic and was entering Basking Moon Academy for the first time. While it was a little stronger than an ordinary human, it didn¡¯tpare well to the body of a cultivator.


    Thus, even if it was only the remainder of the zeraven assault, he was still battered so badly that his vision momentarily went dark. But that girl in pink saw him lunging at her and, not realizing that he was trying to save her, instinctively thrust out her palm.


    The palm shed with starlight, imbued with a powerful strike, and Tang Jie was sandwiched between these two attacks, causing Tang Jie to groan in pain.


    ¡°Big Brother!¡± In the air, Yiyi cried out in rm.


    Throwing up blood, Tang Jie raised his saber and ced it on the girl¡¯s neck.


    The girl cried out in shock. It was only after attacking that she realized that Tang Jie was trying to save her, but just as she was hesitating and full of regret, Tang Jie ced his saber on her neck. She didn¡¯t understand what Tang Jie was trying to do, so for the time being, she simply stood there and stared at Tang Jie with her beautiful eyes.


    Tang Jie coughed up blood. ¡°Don¡¯t move! What are you doing here?¡±


    The girl looked at him. ¡°You know me?¡±


    Tang Jie was taken aback. Only then did he realize that he had met her in the form of You Shaofeng, and he was currently wearing his own face. It was no wonder the girl was confused.


    Sure enough, multi-tasking easily led to mistakes. Wasn¡¯t this little mishap a perfect example? Snorting, he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know you, but you know me?¡±


    The girl replied, ¡°The Tang Jie who insulted Heng Wudi of the Beast Refining Gate in broad daylight. Anyone who went to the tournament grounds would know you.¡±


    ¡°Damn!¡± Tang Jie pped his forehead.


    This girl didn¡¯t know You Shaofeng, but she did know who Tang Jie was, and he had shown that he had seen her before. This had revealed a w, and he needed to think of a way to make up for it!


    Sure enough, the girl looked at him suspiciously. ¡°Your voice¡­ I seem to have heard it before.¡±


    Tang Jie was internally shaken, and he hastily said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear it when I was cursing out Heng Wudi during the day?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± The girl shook her head. The saber was ced on her neck, so in shaking her head, she caused a thin line of blood to appear on her delicate skin. Tang Jie was forced to take back his saber, and he sternly said, ¡°What¡¯s with all these questions? You still haven¡¯t answered me! What were you doing here?!¡±


    The girl quickly replied, ¡°I was just passing through.¡±


    ¡°¡®Passing through¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Right, passing through!¡± she firmly replied. ¡°That¡¯s how it is, whether you believe it or not!¡±


    Tang Jie hesitated.


    The girl said, ¡°I say, how long do you n to keep pushing me down like this?¡±


    Only now did Tang Jie notice that he was on top of her body while questioning her.


    After thinking it over, he finally sheathed his saber. ¡°My apologies for the offense. You know that I am Tang Jie, so you know that I¡¯ve offended a lot of people recently. Thus, I tend to react rather intensely.¡±


    The girl in pink stood back up and looked at Tang Jie. ¡°Since it was a misunderstanding, let¡¯s forget about it.¡±


    She inspected Tang Jie like she would a rare object. The more she looked, the more she found him interesting and strange.


    Tang Jie felt his hairs rise, and he did not dare to linger here. After apologizing, he took Yiyi and left.


    The girl watched him leave, her eyes growing more and more suspicious. She couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that she had seen him somewhere before. Suddenly, she shouted, ¡°I know who you are!¡±


    Tang Jie shivered, but he restrained himself and slowly turned around. ¡°What did you say?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± the girl grinned. ¡°I¡¯m saying that I know that you¡¯re Tang Jie, but you don¡¯t know who I am.¡±


    Tang Jie casually said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to get to know each other off a chance meeting. It¡¯s fine if I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Upon this, he left.


    The girl¡¯s smile grew even wider as she watched him go. ¡°Launching a sneak attack the moment you realize that someone is nearby¡­ holding back the moment you saw me¡­ How could you be here¡­ That¡¯s the tone of someone who¡¯s met me before¡­ pretending to be fine even after being so heavily injured, and that reaction just now. He¡¯s definitely got something on his mind. ¡®No need to know each other off a chance meeting¡¯¡­ hmph! What a joke!¡±


    The girl in pink could tell from Tang Jie¡¯sst words that he was hiding something.


    There were few young cultivators who would say something like ¡°no need to know each other off a chance meeting¡± after seeing her face. Most of them would tend to say, ¡°Since we had the fortune to meet, even the other end of the world seems close at hand.¡±


    If Tang Jie knew what this girl was thinking, he would undoubtedly plead innocence. He truly didn¡¯t have any lustful thoughts about her, but he hadn¡¯t expected that this would be proof that he was hiding something. But if he had to ask himself, he would have to admit that this argument was not without reason.


    As the girl muttered to herself, she stopped paying attention to Tang Jie. Inspecting the ground, she murmured, ¡°Shu Mingyang died here, and Tang Jie appeared here at a time like this. Coincidence¡­ or something else?¡±


    A silver light appeared in her hand, illuminating the entire area. Even tiny clues were revealed by this silver me.


    Tang Jie returned to Red Plum City and went to the Cleansing Sword Garden.


    The guarding Basking Moon Academy student saw Tang Jie and said in delight, ¡°You¡¯ve finally showed up! The headmaster is looking for you.¡±


    ¡°I will go and see him now,¡± Tang Jie said with a smile. He knew why Xie Fengtang was looking for him.


    He went through the Cleansing Sword Garden to where the masters were staying and saw that Xie Fengtang was already waiting for him in the courtyard. Ming Yekong was not present.


    Stopping near Xie Fengtang, Tang Jie said, ¡°Student Tang Jie pays respects to Headmaster.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Xie Fengtang didn¡¯t even raise his head. ¡°Shu Mingyang is dead. Do you know of this?¡±


    ¡°Is that so¡­¡± Tang Jie hesitantly said, his tone that of someone who was both surprised and unsurprised. He sighed. ¡°So he really is dead¡­ It was my fault.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What do you mean?¡± Xie Fengtang turned around and looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie sighed, ¡°During the day, after the matches ended, I went walking around. When I was strolling around outside the city, I ran into Mingyang.¡±


    ¡°You left the city at this time? Don¡¯t you know that the Beast Refining Gate is furious and looking for a chance to kill you?¡±


    ¡°This student understands, which is even more reason that this student had to leave the city. The Beast Refining Gate wants to kill me, and don¡¯t I want to kill them?¡± Tang Jie lightly said. ¡°Killing the people of the Beast Refining Gate rewards contribution points, and as you recall, Headmaster, I still owe points to the academy.¡±


    Killing a member of the opposing sect offered contribution points. This alone was proof of the grudge between the two sects. If not for the pact between the six sects that forbade conflict outside of the arena, there would have been a huge battle already.


    Xie Fengtang narrowed his eyes. ¡°In other words, you were baiting the Beast Refining Gate into attacking you.¡±


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°Yes, but I didn¡¯t think that Shu Mingyang would be around, which got him involved.¡±


    ¡°Who was chasing you?¡±


    Find the original at Hosted Novel.


    ¡°Helian Hu and Jiang Qingsong.¡±


    ¡°So it was the two of them.¡± Xie Fengtang was unsurprised. ¡°We found Jiang Qingsong¡¯s body in the mountains. Did you kill him?¡±


    ¡°Yes? Back then, Helian Hu and Jiang Qingsong were against me and Mingyang. I saw the chance and ran first, and Jiang Qingsong chased me down, but I turned the tables and killed him. However, I was injured in the effort, so I found a hiding spot to treat my wounds. It¡¯s only now that they¡¯re better that I coulde back. On the way back, I had already guessed that Brother Mingyang¡¯s chances of survival were slim, but I didn¡¯t think¡­¡±


    A look of helplessness and resentment appeared on Tang Jie¡¯s face.


    Xie Fengtang coldly snorted, ¡°Yes, I didn¡¯t think that Shu Mingyang would be a spy of Godhead Pce! His death was wonderful and deserved!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Tang Jie feigned shock as he looked at Xie Fengtang.


    Xie Fengtang wasn¡¯t interested in his ¡°surprise¡±. He grabbed Tang Jie¡¯s hand and sent energy through it to inspect his injuries.


    He managed to find out a lot, and he frowned and said, ¡°Your injuries truly are severe. Shadow energy has assailed your internal organs.¡±


    Xie Fengtang could tell with this inspection that Tang Jie couldn¡¯t have possibly inflicted these injuries on himself, and also that his wounds were quite severe.


    But he furrowed his brow and said, ¡°But the Beast Refining Gate isn¡¯t skilled at shadow energy. Why does it seem like you were struck by the Shadow Star Hand of the Wandering Pce?¡±


    ¡°¡®The Shadow Star Hand of the Wandering Pce¡¯?¡± Tang Jie was shaken. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a secret art of the Wandering Pce that¡¯s only passed down in that sect?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve never seen it, though I¡¯ve heard that it¡¯s a powerful art that¡¯s brimming with shadow energy. Those struck by it will seem fine on the outside, but their insides will be in tatters. You¡¯re still alive, so you naturally didn¡¯t get hit by the Shadow Star Hand. It must be some spell art from the Beast Refining Gate.¡±


    There were many spell arts in the world, and the Shadow Star Hand wasn¡¯t the only one that used shadow energy. The Beast Refining Gate was one of the major sects, so even if it wasn¡¯t their specialty, it would still have one or two shadow energy spell arts. Thus, Xie Fengtang didn¡¯t overthink things too much.


    But this made Tang Jie finally realize who he had run into.


    He was still alive not because the Shadow Star Hand was ineffective, but because the other party hadn¡¯t been proficient enough in it.


    The Shadow Star Hand was passed down exclusively through the Wandering Pce, and it was provided to only four people in total. One was the current pce lord, and it was impossible for them to not have properly cultivated it. The second was the father of the young pce lord, but this was a man. The third was a venerable senior of the Wandering Pce, and that could not be a little girl either.


    Thus, the girl¡¯s identity became obvious.


    The little pce lord of the Wandering Pce, Shen Qingdan!


    Now that Tang Jie knew who she was, Tang Jie rxed.


    Meanwhile, Xie Fengtang ced his fingers on Tang Jie¡¯s wrist and sent some True Essence into Tang Jie¡¯s body. As the energy cycled, the internal injuries throughout his body were pacified, and it wasn¡¯t long before Tang Jie was healed.


    In the meantime, Tang Jie used this opportunity to ¡°understand¡± how Shu Mingyang¡¯s and Jiang Qingsong¡¯s bodies had been discovered.


    Sure enough, not long after he had gone, the Basking Moon Sect and Beast Refining Gate had separately noticed that their students had gone missing and started to search for them.


    In truth, before finding the two corpses, the two sects had already fought one battle, but they had both restrained themselves, so nobody had died.


    When the bodies of Shu Mingyang and Jiang Qingsong were found, both sides became enraged.


    Both of them were geniuses of their respective sects. Shu Mingyang had had an eight-cycle Jade Gate, but Jiang Qingsong had been able to participate in the Immortal Fortune Conference, so was he not a highly capable student in his own right?


    Both sides were ready to start fighting over their death, but then, the spy emblem had been found on Shu Mingyang¡¯s body.


    The situation grewplicated.


    Godhead Pce had been dragged in.


    When the Basking Moon Sect found out that Shu Mingyang had been a Godhead spy, its tone changed. Rather than being angry at his death, it celebrated, and Godhead Pce could only suffer in silence. While openly denying that Shu Mingyang was a spy, they sent people to question Helian Hu as to why he had killed Shu Mingyang.


    The surface conflict had been put aside, and the hatred between the Basking Moon Sect and the Beast Refining Gate evaporated, with both sides ceasing to seek out chances to kill each other. On the other hand, the mood between Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate instantly turned strange.


    Since then, the bigshots from Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate had been in talks, and even now, the conference hall was brightly lit.


    It was clear that they were quarreling over the custody of Helian Hu.


    The Beast Refining Gate could not possibly ept such a thing.


    ¡°Now that you¡¯re back, we have further evidence regarding the incident. The Beast Refining Gate is in trouble now. Good job, good job!¡± Xie Fengtang stroked his beard andughed.


    ¡°It truly was quite the coincidence.¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°The best part is that the second round of the tournament is about to begin. That¡¯s a free melee where sixty students will all be in the same ring to determine who¡¯s the best. Originally, the sects would have paired off into their alliances, but it seems like it will be difficult now.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re so short-sighted! This is hardly anything,¡± Xie Fengtang teased. ¡°If the alliance between those two sects falls apart because of this, the entire framework of the Rosecloud Domain¡¯s cultivation world will be shaken.¡±


    Tang Jie grinned. ¡°It¡¯s precisely because it¡¯s a big event that could affect the framework of Rosecloud that this student thinks that such a thing will not happen. No matter how wronged Godhead Pce feels, I believe that it will grin and bear it. But in a minor affair like the tournament, they can give vent to their emotions and use their actions to strike back at the Beast Refining Gate.¡±


    Xie Fengtang was taken aback. ¡°Hearing you say it like that, it makes sense.¡±


    ¡°Godhead and Beast Refining are at odds, so they will find it difficult to work together. Horizon Ocean and Thousand Passions are both disadvantaged due to the gender of the participants, so they can¡¯t utilize their maximum strength. And the Seven Absolutions Sect has always been the weakest of the six sects. So in this tournament, my Basking Moon Sect has the best chance of being the greatest victor. Of course, whether we¡¯re the final victor is still up for discussion,¡± Tang Jie said.


    ¡°¡®Greatest victor¡¯? ¡®Final victor¡¯? Is there a difference?¡± Xie Fengtang asked.


    ¡°Yes. ¡®Being the greatest victor¡¯ means the sect that has the most students in the top ten, in this way showing off its strength and firming up its status. The final victor is naturally the sect of the student that the little pce lord chooses as her husband, but that¡¯s not something we can decide.¡±


    ¡°It makes sense.¡± Xie Fengtang nodded. ¡°Then what idea do you have to make my Basking Moon Sect the final victor?¡±


    Tang Jie thought it over and replied, ¡°There is one¡­ Kill the most handsome ones!¡± Make sure that only the ugly people are left! (And also make sure that Tang Jie doesn¡¯t get picked)

 Chapter 307: The Third Formation

    Chapter 307: The Third Formation


    There were corpses scattered across the battleground, consisting of both humans and fiends, and also of species that Tang Jie had never even seen before and about which he had no idea what they could be. They upied Tang Jie¡¯s entire field of vision, stretching into the horizon, leaving him aghast.


    Was this an illusion or real?


    If it was an illusion, fine, but if it was real, then this battlefield was farrger than Ten Direction Valley, so was he still in the valley?


    Tang Jie was rather at a loss.


    He grabbed some soil from the ground and threw it into the air.


    Spiritual energy blew the soil away, then it balled up and fell toward a nearby corpse.


    This was the corpse of a bull-headed fiend, around thirty feet tall and holding a halberd. It was looking up and howling at the heavens, two trails of blooding from its eyes. There was no telling who this roar of fury had been aimed at, but the lethal wound was therge hole in its abdomen. From its shape, it appeared to have been inflicted by a fist.


    The ball of soil dropped toward the bull man corpse, but as it got close, it was suddenly blown apart.


    ¡°A Spirit Essence Barrier¡­¡± Tang Jie blurted out, shivering.


    Spirit Essence Barriers were an extremely special phenomenon that only urred with cultivators at the Violet Pce Realm or above. Due to various special circumstances and factors, some cultivators would not turn into Returned Remnants upon death. Their physical bodies would remain, and they would still possess powerful abilities. It was said that this was all in preparation for the body to wee back the soul. Their bodies would spontaneously protect themselves, rejecting all possible intrusions and external objects until the soul finally returned.


    This was precisely why the corpses couldst for thousands of years without rotting. Their powerful physical bodies resisted all dposition and erosion. They existed in the world, but they were isted in an absolute vacuum, thus resisting the erosion of time.


    But most importantly, this meant that it was real!


    An illusion zone would not have had such an effect on the formation in the form of a ball of soil that Tang Jie had tossed out.


    An ancient battlefield!


    This was an ancient battlefield!


    Tang Jie suddenly understood.


    He turned around and no longer saw the membrane of light he hade in through. There was only a vast battlefield that was covered in bodies.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    The first two formations could be said to select for a sessor, and now, after someone had received the Visceral Manifestation ssic and the Martial Mirror, they would enter the third formation, and only then was the door of inheritance opened to the sessor. Most shocking of all was that it was not in Ten Direction Valley.


    Ten Direction Valley was simply the outer door of thend of inheritance. Tang Jie was clearly in another space, another world. But he didn¡¯t know exactly what sort of ce it was.


    All he could see were corpses.


    One had to at least be at Violet Pce to exhibit a Spirit Essence Barrier, and he could see that there were tens of thousands of corpses on this battlefield. In other words, tens of thousands of experts at Violet Pce or above had died in this battle. As for those below Violet Pce, who hadn¡¯t left behind any corpses, there was simply no telling how many of them had died.


    Tang Jie was somewhat dizzied by this revtion.


    What sort of war could create such a scene?


    These beings had died ten thousand years ago, but they still exuded a majestic aura that made Tang Jie¡¯s soul tremble. And there were also countless treasures scattered across the vast earth.


    Various art relics glimmered, simrly under the protection of Spirit Essence Barriers.


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes brightened.


    These art relics alone were enough to make him rich.


    Not far from him, a spear was thrust into the ground. It was around four meters long, the pole winding and covered in golden scales, making it appear like a dragon. One could tell at a nce that this was no ordinary item.


    Tang Jie went to grab the spear, but a barrier of spiritual light stopped him.


    But Tang Jie was no clump of soil, and this Spirit Essence Barrier was incapable of stopping him. With a slight exertion, he broke the barrier and grabbed the spear.


    There was a loud ng from the spear.


    The spear exploded with golden light, and then a golden dragon phantom emerged from the spear and lunged at Tang Jie.


    rmed, Tang Jie brought his palms together, activating the Formless Golden Body as he fell back. <em>Boom!</em> The dragon phantom collided into Tang Jie and sent him flying.


    The Formless Golden Body had been instantly shattered, and even with his Jewel Body, several of his bones had almost been broken.


    Tang Jie was aghast, but rather than pursue, the dragon phantom circled around the spear and let out a furious roar.


    As it roared, countless phantoms appeared out of the various Immortal weapons, both of humans and fiends. Their howls, roars, and wails resounded through the world, leaving Tang Jie utterly stunned.


    They were all weapon souls!


    These weapon souls howled at Tang Jie the moment they appeared. It appeared that they might all be able tomunicate with each other.


    Even worse was that the more violent ones rushed at Tang Jie.


    Firstly, the golden dragon phantom went back into the spear, and then the spear pulled itself out of the ground, its tip shing with a golden light, and stabbed at Tang Jie.


    ¡°Damn!¡± Tang Jie was given a good fright.


    This dragon spear appeared abnormally powerful. He did not think he could handle it, so he turned and ran.


    The golden dragon spear doggedly pursued. A golden figure appeared on the horizon, instantly elerating and aiming straight for Tang Jie¡¯s back.


    Tang Jie was aghast at how dangerous the third formation was. He threw an arm back, and an energy sword flew at the tip of the spear. The force of the impact sent Tang Jie flying, but this actually created distance between him and the spear.


    It was only his sole art relic, the Azure Light Sword, that was able to stop his blow, and it was also the only treasure he had brought with him into the formation. After all, Xu Muyang had left this art relic to him, and leaving it outside was pointless. All it would do was draw Godhead Pce¡¯s attention.


    He hadn¡¯t expected it to save his life.


    Only an art relic could fight against an art relic, and while the Azure Light Sword wasn¡¯t on the same level as the dragon spear, at least it had an operator.


    Even so, in this sh, Tang Jie had still been sent flying. This showed just how high-tier the dragon spear was. If it wasn¡¯t a divine treasure, it was at least a peak art relic.


    And this one use of the sword had drained Tang Jie of a third of his magic power. In other words, at the Spirit Sea Tier, he could only use the Azure Light Sword three times at most.


    After being stopped by the Azure Light Sword, the dragon spear continued its pursuit, refusing to let Tang Jie go.


    ¡°Truly a pestering ghost!¡± Tang Jie cursed.


    Weapon souls were souls that used magical tools as their vessels, so to call it a ghost wasn¡¯t exactly wrong.


    The dragon spear chased Tang Jie down.


    A single masterless art relic had Tang Jie at his wits¡¯ end and with nowhere to run. It was only now that Tang Jie realized how vast the gap was between them. Let alone him, even if Godhead Pce¡¯s people hade, they probably wouldn¡¯t have fared much better against these tens of thousands of weapon souls on this ancient battlefield.


    And this was only the third formation!


    If the third formation was this terrifying, what about the ones that came after it?


    <em>Hold on!</em>


    Tang Jie¡¯s mind suddenly cleared.


    The previous difficulties and dangers of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation had always targeted the non-sessors.


    The Infinite Illusion Zone and Weakwater Formation were such that even the likes of Godhead Pce had to pay in blood to get through.


    But for the person with the right method, it was actually very simple. Only the second formation wall had required someone to cultivate the Visceral Manifestation ssic and Parting ssic to get through.


    And the order of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation had been that the first formation gave the key and the second formation required a charge at the Jade Gate and the cultivation of the Parting ssic to get through. Thus, the third formation should be doable for someone at the Spirit tform Realm!


    With the right method, a Spirit tform cultivator could get through!


    Since someone officially at the Spirit tform Realm could get through, someone of Tang Jie¡¯s strength should be able to do it easily.


    If he found it difficult, it meant that he wasn¡¯t going about it the correct way.


    The golden dragon spear was still giving chase, so Tang Jie pushed his Violet Lightning Lunge to the limit. His panicked mind began to calm down, and as he regained rity, his mind began to spin.


    Now that he thought about it, to get through the first formation, he had relied on the little ghost, which had been provided by the formation. As for the first formation wall, Godhead Pce had broken through it, so he hadn¡¯t needed to do anything. However, Xu Muyang had said that the Martial Mirror had been the key.


    As for the Weakwater Formation, he had easily passed through by relying on the dragonboat created by the illusion zone.


    He had gone through the formation by relying on the body tempering of the Parting ssic.


    In other words, the method to get through each formation was in some way rted to the previous formation.


    As there was nothing before the Infinite Illusion Zone, nothing had been needed, but starting from the formation wall, everything had been connected.


    If this was the case, to get through the third formation, he would have to start from what he had gained from the previous two formations.


    With this thought in mind, Tang Jie looked at the pursuing dragon spear, and then he suddenly had an idea.


    <em>The Weapon Mantra!</em>


    This idea appeared just when the dragon spear was about to stab into his back.


    His mind moving at lightning speed, Tang Jie clenched his teeth. Instead of using the Azure Light Sword to block, he thrust his finger at the golden spear.


    This was his first time using the Weapon Mantra on an art relic, and he was using it on a very high-ranking art relic. Tang Jie didn¡¯t know what would happen, whether or not the weapon would actually shatter, or if the enormous burden would suck him dry, but he was past caring.


    Finger tip touched spear tip.


    Time seemed to stop, with spear and finger frozen in the air.


    A momentter, a golden light exploded between the two, sting both Tang Jie and the dragon spear away.


    A powerful storm swept Tang Jie back, and a bacsh of power traveled through Tang Jie¡¯s finger to every part of his body, feeling likeva. Blood instantly erupted from every one of his pores, carrying with it a scalding energy that instantly turned the blood into a fog.


    ¡°Aaaagh!¡± Tang Jie cried out as hended in a rain of blood.


    Not even his powerful constitution was able to endure the powerful reverse surge of energy.


    Even more astonishing was that his energy wasn¡¯t being sucked out.


    It waspletely different from when he had first used it. It was more like the bacsh from a failed spell cast.


    <em>The bacsh from a failed spellcast?</em>


    This thought briefly lingered in Tang Jie¡¯s mind.


    Hey on the ground, raising his head with a great struggle to look into the distance.


    As the fog of blood dissipated, there was a golden sh.


    The golden dragon spear was still floating in the air,pletely unharmed.


    The Weapon Mantra had been ineffective!


    This was the first time Tang Jie had encountered a situation like this.


    He stared nkly at the dragon spear. At this moment, the spear only needed to deliver a finishing blow.


    But in these circumstances, the dragon spear started to shiver.


    Using the word ¡°shiver¡± to describe its action was somewhat strange. After all, it was a spear.


    But at this moment, Tang Jie could clearly tell that it was shivering.


    Shivering in fear.


    Rather than stabbing at Tang Jie, it backed away.


    Tang Jie felt like he could see that dragon phantom inside the spear stepping back, practically walking on tiptoe, its face stricken with fear and its neck shrunken back, its entire body shaking¡­


    As if it actually had legs, it shifted itself back bit by bit, but not too quickly, as if it felt like somebody was watching it.


    Tang Jieughed.


    ¡°Want to try again?¡± he said.


    He propped himself up with one arm and aimed a finger at the spear with the nother.


    A momentter, the golden dragon spear seemed to pale, and a noiseless shriek resounded in the depths of Tang Jie¡¯s soul.


    The dragon spear swiftly turned around and vanished into the distance, leaving faster than it hade and vanishing without a trace.


    Tang Jie was dumbfounded.


    Looking at his finger, he shook his head and bitterly chuckled. ¡°It seems like they¡¯re really afraid of you.¡± Fear the almighty finger!

 Chapter 308: The Revival of the Dead

    Chapter 308: The Revival of the Dead


    It was a silent warning that scared away all of the weapons around him.


    The Martial Lord had been the master of all weapons.


    The moment the Weapon Mantra was used, all these weapons did not dare to confront it.


    It was only on this ancient battlefield haunted by tens of thousands of weapon souls that Tang Jie was able to truly experience the power and majesty the Martial Lord had once enjoyed, that awe-inspiring aura with which he had dominated the world.


    In front of this august figure, no weapon dared to take a stab at him.


    By utilizing the lingering fear for the Martial Lord and the power of the Weapon Mantra, Tang Jie was able to walk the battlefield without any weapon daring to cause him trouble for the time being.


    This ancient battlefield was huge and empty. It was hard to tell which direction he needed to go in to get through the formation.


    But if one calmed down, one would discover that this ce was dense in spiritual energy, the flows of spiritual energy moving like water. Their flows followed some sort of principle, and this battlefield was replete with special nodes. From this, one could see that this ce was stillid out in ordance with the rules of the formation. It was just harder to detect.


    Tang Jie focused his vision and looked up at the sky, observing how the spiritual energy shifted and the direction in which it flowed and scattered. The spiritual energy was like the wind, just blowing around without rhyme or reason, but Tang Jie stared with absolute focus, his fingers twitching as he constantly calcted.


    He was like those people who told fortune by counting fingers, but rather than fate, he was trying to calcte the rules of the world.


    After calcting for quite a while, Tang Jie finally stopped moving his fingers. His eyes gleamed as he shouted, ¡°Found it! The energy nexus!¡±


    He rushed out to one side of the battlefield. It wasn¡¯t long before he spotted a small mountain in the distance.


    Excited, Tang Jie ran even faster. That mountain was the energy nexus of the formation, and also thend nexus.


    As he ran up the mountain, Tang Jie saw that five giant stones were standing atop it, mysterious inscriptions carved between them. Even the passage of thousands of years had not been able to dispel the mystical energy they exuded. Rainbow light flowed through the carvings, and Tang Jie was momentarily enchanted by the sight.


    These carvings extended like spiderwebs across the ground, and in the very center of it all was a book.


    Tang Jie immediately understood that this was the checkpoint for this Profound Weapon Formation.


    With the Weapon Mantra, he could travel through this formation with essentially no obstruction, and he just needed to get through this checkpoint to enter the fourth formation. As for the book in the middle of the formation, it was probably the reward for passing the third formation.


    With this thought in mind, Tang Jie waved his hand, and the book in the middle of the formation flew into his hand.


    The Ninedark Mantra.


    As expected.


    Tang Jie smiled when he saw the name.


    The first formation had the Martial Mirror key, the second formation had the Visceral Manifestation ssic, and the third formation would naturally give the technique to be cultivated once one had opened one¡¯s Jade Gate.


    The Martial Lord¡¯s n for steady progress was akin to a game. And based on what he had seen so far, the fourth formation should also be doable for someone at the Spirit tform Realm.


    The first and second formations of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation were for mortals, and the third and fourth were for Spirit tform. Continuing on this line, the fifth and sixth were for Mortal Shedding, the seventh and eighth for Celestial Heart, and the ninth for Violet Pce. In other words, based on the strength requirements, he would have to wait until Violet Pce to fully unlock the formation and inherit the legacy.


    The thought of needing to be at Violet Pce to get the entire legacy made Tang Jie sweat.


    Did the Martial Lord believe that only someone at Violet Pce just barely reached the minimum standard to be his disciple?


    Flipping through the Ninedark Mantra, Tang Jie found that it truly was a cultivation mantra.


    As he read more of it, Tang Jie began to develop an idea of what it did.


    As to be expected from a text from the Martial Lord, the Ninedark Mantra emphasized boundless strength. Sessful cultivation entailed vast and endless strength, and crucially, before cultivating this mantra, one needed a powerful body as the foundation. Otherwise, one was liable to hurt one¡¯s body.


    It was no wonder the Martial Lord had ced the Martial Mirror and Visceral Manifestation ssic before this. Before they became a cultivator, his sessor needed a stronger body than normal. This was one of the key aspects in which the Martial Lord differed from others.


    The body first, and then cultivation!


    As a supreme technique passed down from High Antiquity, the Ninedark Mantra inherited that era¡¯s all-embracing and vigorous power. But this was precisely why cultivating it was quite difficult. Besides that, itcked any special properties.


    This was like a formidable existence who was strong in every aspect. While they did well in everything, theycked any sort of special abilities. When it came to sharpness, detail, and the speed of spiritual energy cirction, it was actually inferior to the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra.


    Upon understanding this, Tang Jie decided to use the Ninedark Mantra as his primary technique and the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra as his support technique. After all, he was in the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, where spiritual energy was abundant, which was perfect for cultivating the Ninedark Mantra.


    As for his clone, it could also cultivate the Ninedark Mantra, but unless he had arge amount of resources, the Ninedark Mantra was only useful in making up for shorings. Cultivating it too much would only slow down the avatar.


    Tang Jie put away the Ninedark Mantra and looked at the five stone pirs. Now that he had a better look at them, he found that the five stone pirs were arranged in the manner of the Five Elements. One only needed to find the correct position and ce the appropriate elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth to activate the mechanism in the formation.


    Since the next formation was also doable for someone at the Spirit tform Realm, Tang Jie naturally didn¡¯t hesitate.


    Though this battlefield was deste, it wasn¡¯tpletely devoid of everything. The dense greenery in the distance indicated that there was a jungle around here, and there were also a few small trees growing on the battlefield. Thus, Tang Jie was very quickly able to gather objects pertaining to the Five Elements.


    But after he ced down the Five Elements objects, the formation still didn¡¯t activate. Tang Jie was at a loss, wondering what he had missed.


    He thought about it for a while, and then his eyes shed in realization.


    He went back down the mountain and looked around the battlefield. After a long while, he found a half-buried art relic in the sand.


    This was a scimitar art relic. It seemed at about the same level as the Azure Light Sword, perhaps even worse. Its owner had probably been at the Celestial Heart Realm and be Returned Remnants after death, leaving behind only this weapon buried in the earth. The blessing of the Titans who had died in this ce managed to preserve this weapon until now, but it did not have any sort of weapon soul.


    Tang Jie flicked the de, which let out a discordant ng.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it will actually work.¡±


    The scimitar broke apart, and a golden mote of light floated in Tang Jie¡¯s hand.


    With this golden grain, Tang Jie went back up to the mountain and ced it on the Metal Element position.


    The Metal Element pir let out a light, but it still seemed unmoved.


    ¡°It seems like it¡¯s not enough.¡± Seeing that light, Tang Jie knew that he was on the right track.


    The Weapon Mantra¡¯s intimidating power allowed him to move freely in the formation without being attacked, and the golden grains from the Weapon Mantra would open the path to the fourth formation.


    Sure enough, the formation was designed so that every step was interlinked. Someone who wasn¡¯t the Martial Lord¡¯s sessor couldn¡¯t hope for even the slightest chance.


    Tang Jie went down the mountain again to look for weapons that he could break down. At his current level of strength, destroying a single low-tier art relic would consume more than half of his physical energy, so he didn¡¯t even look at those art relics of middle tier and above. He only wanted to find a few spell weapons to break down.


    But while this ce had plenty of weapons, it was sorelycking in low-tier weapons. After searching for a while, he was only able to find a few low-tier art relics and not a single spell weapon, which almost left him in tears.


    Tang Jie took more than half a day to destroy these low-tier art relics.


    After five golden grains had been ced on the Metal Element Pir, all five pirs finally lit up.


    Find the original at Hosted Novel.


    The entire battleground shuddered, and then arge mist engulfed it, starting from the area around the mountain.


    What was going on here?


    Tang Jie was surprised that he hadn¡¯t been transported somewhere else. Instead, it was the battlefield itself that had changed.


    After a moment of confusion, Tang Jie realized that the fourth formation was probably still the ancient battlefield, but that some hidden danger had most likely been unleashed.


    As the mists churned, Tang Jie felt like he could hear something wailing. As he took a closer look, he found that there were ghosts flitting down below.


    ¡°I thought it was something else, but it was just ghosts,¡± Tang Jie sighed in relief.


    With ¡°Little Three¡±, he no longer feared ghosts.


    But a momentter, Tang Jie saw that these ghosts weren¡¯t making trouble for him, instead wandering around as if they were looking for something.


    A ghost circled around a corpse for a while and then tried to charge at it. Unable to get in, it wailed and flew off.


    Tang Jie paled at this sight. ¡°Could it be¡­ Oh, no!¡±


    A chill emerged in Tang Jie¡¯s heart.


    At this moment, a ghost in the distance found its target. Howling, it lunged at the body of a human cultivator down below.


    That deceased cultivator tottered to its feet and then turned its eyes to Tang Jie, a cold brilliance within them.


    Tang Jie groaned, knowing that he was in trouble.


    Ghosts were naturally skilled in possession, and there were countless intact bodies on this ancient battlefield, now ready for these ghosts to use. It had to be understood that only Violet Pce cultivators could have left behind these corpses, so each one possessed prodigious power.


    As the ghost had the corpse move toward him, Tang Jie took a few steps back and then turned to run.


    The corpse swayed and then raised a hand toward Tang Jie. A wind vortex shot out of its hand and began to suck Tang Jie back. Tang Jie waspletely caught off guard, and the corpse grabbed Tang Jie¡¯s back and took a big bite toward his neck.


    In panic, Tang Jie elbowed the corpse right in the mouth. The corpse closed its mouth and tore a chunk of flesh from his arm. His steely body had been like tofu to the corpse.


    But with this strike, Tang Jie now had the time to kick back his foot into the corpse¡¯s chest, pushing it several steps back.


    Tang Jie threw a fist at the corpse¡¯s face, forcing it to the ground.


    ¡°So you weren¡¯t that big of a deal after all,¡± Tang Jie said in relief upon seeing how easily he had seeded.


    While the ghost could control this Violet Pce corpse, it clearly couldn¡¯t use the strength of the Violet Pce Realm.


    Violet Pce cultivators were capable of linking their minds to the world.


    But with the death of the cultivator, the Divine Will had ceased to exist, so there was no mind to link with the world.


    Even if the ghost could control the body, at best, it could only use the remaining spiritual energy in the body to cast a few spell arts. Even then, as the corpse¡¯s meridians had stiffened and be unsuitable for spiritual energy cirction, their power would be greatly reduced.


    This was why that Dragon Vortex Hand had only been able to pull Tang Jie to its side. In normal circumstances, the vortex would have made his entire body explode, killing him on the spot.


    Upon understanding this, Tang Jie stopped being afraid. The corpse was about to get back up, so he kicked it back down again.


    With his strength, the kick should have destroyed the head of the corpse, but to his surprise, the corpse¡¯s head only swayed a little before it stood back up,pletely unaffected.


    Tang Jie was somewhat dumbstruck.


    Only then did he remember that these were the bodies of Violet Pce Titans, able to remain intact through the passage of thousands of years. With nowhere else for the spiritual energy in the body to go, it had fused with the flesh and organs, making them absurdly tough.


    They would have a hard time killing Tang Jie, yes, but Tang Jie would also find it very difficult to destroy them.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, try my sword,¡± Tang Jie snorted. His Azure Light Sword erupted with a brilliant light as he swung it at the corpse¡¯s neck.


    He had truly put all his strength behind this blow. He had the Jewel Body, and the art relic Azure Light Sword had been imbued with Windcleaver, so the power was immense. As itnded on the corpse¡¯s neck, there was a loud ng and a shower of sparks.


    Even an attack like this hadn¡¯t managed to cut off the corpse¡¯s head, only getting a third of the way through.


    Tang Jie was aghast at the toughness of the corpse.


    If he had to use the ranking of the Parting ssic, it would probably be a Diamond Body.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe it!¡± Tang Jie grunted. Taking advantage of how slowly the corpse moved, he jumped up, raising the Azure Light Sword overhead and circting the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra as he once more swung his sword.


    The powerful impact left his arm numb, but he swiftly followed with a third strike.


    After three attacks in a row on the same ce, he finally managed to hack at the neck until there was only a thinyer of bloody skin connecting the head to the body.


    The corpse turned and grabbed Tang Jie¡¯s leg, tearing off another chunk of flesh. At the same time, Tang Jie gave a flying kick at the corpse¡¯s head, and thatst sliver of flesh snapped.


    No blood gushed out of the skull cavity. The headless body simply stopped moving, and after a bit, it swayed and then crashed down.


    Tang Jie wiped the sweat off his forehead and spat out, ¡°I don¡¯t believe I can¡¯t deal with you.¡±


    The three attacks just now hadpletely emptied him of spiritual energy, and all he felt was extreme exhaustion.


    He had barely spoken when he heard rustling from behind him.


    Tang Jie grimaced.


    He slowly turned around and saw countless corpses turning toward him, their necks swaying. It was like countless statuesing to life.


    ¡°Really¡­ Fucking hell!¡± Tang Jie was gobsmacked for a moment, and then he cursed.


    These corpses getting to their feet could be seen all the way to the horizon. It was like an ocean of spirits of the dead, engulfing his field of vision.


    The normally fearless Tang Jie shivered.


    He stopped hesitating and ran for his life, and behind him, the heavens shook with the furious roars of ghosts! Zombies¡­cultivator super zombies! The Martial Lord really knows how to design his tests!

 Chapter 309: The Return of the King

    Chapter 309: The Return of the King


    Run for all he was worth!


    Tang Jie sprinted away, and arge number of ghost-possessed corpses gave chase.


    The corpses didn¡¯t run very quickly, and Tang Jie could certainly outrun them, but the corpses had some unknown method of catching up to him no matter how far he ran. Tang Jie would frequently run until he couldn¡¯t see any corpses behind him, but when he sat down to rest for a while, arge pack of corpses would appear in the distance, and Tang Jie would have to continue running for his life.


    In the short term, this was nothing, but if this kept going, and if Tang Jie didn¡¯t even get any time to rest, he would ultimately be exhausted to death.


    This thought made Tang Jie want nothing more than to give himself two ps.


    In the end, his joy had made him lose his sense of reason.


    Tang Jie had only considered that the fourth formation could be passed by someone at the Spirit tform Realm, forgetting that it was actually ¡°someone at the Spirit tform Realm who meets the conditions¡± that could pass.


    As for those who didn¡¯t meet the conditions, even if they were at the Immortal tform Realm, they still wouldn¡¯t be able to pass.


    The legacy left behind by the Martial Lord actually required the sessor to spend a lot of time studying and mastering each part before continuing.


    This had been the case for the Parting ssic, the Martial Mirror, and the Visceral Manifestation ssic.


    Tang Jie had already learned all the things provided by the first two formations, so he had passed straight through, not needing to wait.


    But he had not learned anything concerning the Ninedark Mantra of the third formation. He had thought that the Ninedark Mantra¡¯s method of entering the Spirit tform Realm wasn¡¯t different from other methods, but it was now clear that it was this mistaken idea that had led him into danger.


    The Ninedark Mantra was the Martial Lord¡¯s supreme technique, focusing on boundless strength. If one cultivated the Ninedark Mantra, then one could possess immense strength, even while one was at the Spirit tform Realm. When breathing out and making noise, one could shake the world. With the Jewel Body and the Sonic Quake spell, he would need only a few roars to jolt the ghosts out of these corpses and resolve the danger.


    But he had yet to cultivate the Ninedark Mantra, so he couldn¡¯t use this kind of sonic spell.


    Looking back at that lingering pack of corpses, Tang Jie took out the Ninedark Mantra and began to study as he ran.


    But the Ninedark Mantra was profound, and in normal circumstances, it would be read after bathing and amidst the smell of calming incense. It wasn¡¯t something that one could just dive into, and this wasn¡¯t even considering that he was currently running for his life.


    As he was failing to make any headway in the text, he spotted several figures in the distance.


    ¡°Chase!¡±


    When He Chong saw Tang Jie attacking the second formation wall, he knew that the critical moment in Godhead Pce¡¯s dream hade.


    If they could capture Tang Jie and get back the Martial Mirror, Godhead Pce¡¯s grand designs had some hope. On the other hand, if Tang Jie were allowed to leave, everything woulde to an end.


    His long sleeves unfurled, and He Chong produced a small boat.


    This boat grewrger in the wind, instantly bing the size of a real ship. He Chong pulled Duan and Deng onto the ship, and the ship set off for the formation wall, moving as quickly as lightning.


    But no matter how fast it was, it couldn¡¯t be faster than the speed at which Tang Jie broke through the formation wall.


    They could see Tang Jie crazily smashing away at the spirit wall, tearing open the spiritual membrane and going through.


    Duan Fourth shouted, ¡°He¡¯s broken the wall!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about running!¡± He Chong snorted, pointing a finger at Tang Jie¡¯s back.


    A light pursued Tang Jie, but just when it was about to hit him, it collided with the rapidly healing spirit wall.


    ¡°The formation wall is automatically healing!¡± Deng Yuqing cried out in rm.


    Upon seeing this, the three of them stopped holding back and threw all kinds of spell arts at the damaged spirit wall.


    But the spirit wall was made of some material that made it nigh impervious, and it continued to heal.


    The damaged area continued to shrink. In panic, He Chong let out a crazy shout and threw something at it: a copper coin.


    The copper coin expanded in the air, and it flew into the gap, surprisingly stopping the spirit wall from healing.


    ¡°The Unfixed Coin!¡± Deng Yuqing cried out in shock. ¡°True Person, that¡¯s your life-saving treasure!¡±


    ¡°Shut it!¡± He Chong roared. ¡°If we can¡¯t get the Martial Mirror, everything ends!¡±


    He pped the boat, which picked up speed.


    The coin was made of some incredibly tough metal that prevented the spirit wall from making any headway, keeping the gap open. As the coin radiated light, it gradually began to deform.


    The boat got closer and closer.


    He Chong grabbed Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth, and yelled, ¡°Go!¡±


    The three of them turned into puffs of smoke and flew through the hole in the middle of the coin.


    (TN: Traditional Chinese coins have a square hole in the middle of them.)


    Right after the three of them flew through, there was a bang! The spirit wall crushed the coin into countless shards.


    When the three of themnded, they found themselves on a battlefield. When they turned back, they saw that the spirit wall was no longer there.


    ¡°Sir!¡± Duan Fourth shouted in panic.


    He Chong exhaled and closed his eyes. After a long while, he finally said, ¡°I see now¡­ The true formation wasn¡¯t in Ten Direction Valley. Ten Direction Valley is just a path to the Immortal Realm.¡±


    ¡°So where are we now?¡± Deng Yuqing asked.


    He Chong looked at the sky, which was gray and cloudy, devoid of any identifying features.


    He shook his head and replied, ¡°I¡¯m currently not sure. However, while this ce is rich with spiritual energy, it flows rather slowly. Seeing as how these corpses have gone ten thousand years without decaying, while this is partially because of the Spirit Essence Barriers, it is also an indicator that the seal on this ground is extremely strong. I¡¯m guessing that we are most likely no longer in the Rosecloud Domain.¡±


    ¡°¡®Not in the Rosecloud Domain¡¯?¡± Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth gasped. ¡°How is that possible?¡±


    ¡°Nothing is impossible.¡± He Chong smiled. ¡°Although only Immortal tform Titans can resist the Domain Astral Winds and ascend beyond the domains, that doesn¡¯t mean that only those of the Immortal tform can break the domain, nor is there only one solution. The Martial Lord was a sovereign of his generation and had formidable methods. It is nothing strange if he was able toy down a formation in a boundary crack.¡±


    ¡°¡®A boundary crack¡¯? True Person, are you saying that the Nine Executions Immortal Formation is not set up in any domain, but in a boundary crack?¡±


    ¡°Mm. Look at the sky. That gray and overcastyer is suffused with a faint gold, which is a circumstance unique to the void outside of domains. Only someone in the void and close to a domain boundary can see it. In addition, while this ce is not in Ten Direction Valley, it has a path linking it to Ten Direction Valley. The dispersion of spiritual energy outside of Ten Direction Valley is proof that these two areas are linked and can exchange spiritual energy.¡±


    He Chong was a Celestial Heart True Person, and he was also Godhead Pce¡¯s formation expert. He might have been confused at first, but once he jumped beyond the limits of his mindset, he was no longer so easily tricked. He had far more experience and insight than Tang Jie.


    For this reason, not long after he arrived, he had a basic understanding of where he was.


    s, no matter how much he understood, he would have to suffer what he needed to suffer.


    While they had been speaking, Duan Fourth had seen the treasures littering the ground, and he delightedly went to pick them up.


    He was greedier and also more discerning than Tang Jie, and so he spotted a treasure in the distance: the Vermillion Bird Hoop.


    As he tried to seize it, there was a resounding bird cry, and a bird of mes appeared over the Vermillion Bird Hoop.


    This firebird was even fiercer than the golden dragon. The moment it appeared, it created a vast sea of mes that surged toward the trio.


    The countless art relics in the surrounding area immediately cried out, unting their power in unison and stunning the world.


    Even though this trio consisted of one True Person and two Spirit Masters, they were so scared that they immediately turned and ran.


    But while the three of them didn¡¯t have the Weapon Mantra like Tang Jie, their strength was not to be underestimated. When He Chong saw that the Vermillion Bird Hoop wasn¡¯t giving up, he hardened his heart and decided to turn around and fight.


    Though this Vermillion Bird Hoop was an Immortal weapon from High Antiquity, it had been slumbering for ten thousand years, and much of its energy had been consumed. It lost in this battle and was subdued by He Chong.


    He Chong was delighted at the unexpected gain of an Immortal weapon. He thought to himself, <em>This Nine Executions Immortal Formation really is something else. I was able to just randomly run into a treasure like the Vermillion Bird Hoop. While the bird sealed in here isn¡¯t a real Vermillion Bird, given its power, it must be a divine bird soul with the bloodline of a real Vermillion Bird.</em>


    But while he was excited, the three of them didn¡¯t dare to provoke the rest of the treasures scattered around.


    As they began to roam the battlefield in search of Tang Jie, they felt the formation shudder¡­


    ¡°He Chong!¡± Tang Jie saw the three figures in front of him and locked onto He Chong¡¯s figure.


    It was this person that had chased Xu Muyang down and inflicted heavy injuries on him. It was also this person who had brought over Shi Wunian, causing Xu Muyang¡¯s death.


    Without him, he might not have had a chance to get to know Xu Muyang, nor would he have had a chance to stand here, and for this ¡°assistance¡±, all Tang Jie could do was kill him to avenge Xu Muyang.


    Tang Jie was actually delighted that his foe had chased him into the formation. Laughing, he turned into a bolt of violet lightning and charged in He Chong¡¯s direction. At the same time, he threw out several punches, sending bolts of wind at the ground in front of him and stirring up a cloud of dust.


    The sand obstructed their vision, and they could only see someone running at them, but not who it was.


    But as the figure got closer, they were finally able to make out Tang Jie¡¯s figure. Duan Fourth shouted, ¡°It¡¯s Tang Jiye!¡±


    The three of them were delighted, and went to confront him.


    Tang Jie saw theming, andughed. ¡°Perfect!¡±


    He threw out several more punches, creating a furious sandstorm in the area for several hundred meters around him as he turned in the other direction.


    Find the original at Hosted Novel.


    He Chong thought that he was taking this chance to run, and snorted, ¡°A lowly trick! I would be disgracing my Celestial Heart if I let you run today!¡±


    He reached out his hand, and a giant w phantom appeared to seize Tang Jie.


    The Azure Light Sword erupted, shing with the w in a loud ng, and then Tang Jie flew backward like a stringless kite.


    He Chong bellowed, ¡°Hand over the Martial Mirror!¡±


    ¡°You want the Martial Mirror?¡± Tang Jieughed and took it out. ¡°You¡¯re talking about this?¡±


    ¡°The Martial Mirror!¡± The eyes of He Chong and the other two glowed.


    He Chong made a snatch at the mirror.


    But despite his speed, he couldn¡¯t move faster than Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie flipped his wrist. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it!¡±


    The Martial Mirror went sailing out behind him.


    Grabbing only at empty air, He Chong roared, ¡°Bastard!¡±


    As he went to find the Martial Mirror, he heard an intense tremor.


    Startled, he focused on the horizon and saw hazy ck silhouettes in the distance.


    He Chong grunted, ¡°I see now. Is that what you¡¯re relying on? Hmph, just some ghosts trying to unt their power.¡±


    He was sure that Tang Jie had lured over something, and out of caution, he did not want to draw its attention. But since Tang Jie had now thrown out the Martial Mirror, he had no choice but to concern himself with it.


    In any case, given how Tang Jie was running for his life, it probably wasn¡¯t anything formidable. If Tang Jie could flee this pursuit, then he, He Chong, could run from it as well.


    In this aspect, He Chong actually wasn¡¯t wrong.


    The corpses couldn¡¯t catch Tang Jie, so they naturally couldn¡¯t catch He Chong.


    The problem was that Tang Jie wasn¡¯t intending for the ghosts to catch He Chong.


    A momentter, He Chong took out his new treasure, the Vermillion Bird Hoop, and threw it forward. The vermillion firebird erupted from the hoop and spat out arge ball of me that swept forward like a flood.


    There was a bitter screech as the mes ignited the corpses. Blood and flesh popped and crackled, but the movement of the corpses was unaffected.


    One burning corpse after another ran out of the sea of mes and angrily jumped at He Chong.


    These corpses had simple mindsets with no intelligence. They would attack anyone who attacked them.


    They had first attacked Tang Jie because Tang Jie was the only living person. Now that He Chong had suddenly appeared and let out arge-area attack, he had basically taken the heat off Tang Jie, instantly bing the target of their hatred. The corpses charged in en masse,pletely ignoring Tang Jie.


    Not even Tang Jie had expected He Chong to strike with such power and range. He stared in shock for a few moments before giving a big thumbs-up. ¡°Such self-sacrifice.¡±


    This attack had helped to draw the vast majority of the corpses away from Tang Jie.


    He Chong¡¯s group hadn¡¯t realized how terrifying these corpses chasing them were. Upon seeing the corpses approach, Duan Fourth and Deng Yuqing attacked. As there were many targets, they used wide-area attacks. Countless lights descended upon the corpse horde, and the ghosts wailed amidst the explosions.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but cover his eyes. ¡°You brought this on yourself!¡±


    Furious cries arose from the corpse horde.


    Spell arts emerged from the corpse horde, and many of the corpses picked up speed, abandoning their leisurely pace.


    This was the inevitable result of increased hatred. These corpses had the ability to cast spell arts, but their spell arts would be much weaker than normal. Tang Jie had already learned this. But other than spells meant for capture like the Dragon Vortex Hand, they would not cast spells unless they were driven by sufficient hatred.


    When someone truly provoked them, they would unleash unprecedented strength, even growing faster. This speed came from spell arts, so it was no good for pursuit. It was, however, enough for a charge.


    One possessed corpse threw back its head and roared, and then it charged out of the horde. In a sh, it appeared in front of Duan Fourth, wing at him.


    Duan Fourth smiled. ¡°Scram!¡±


    He thrust out a palm, his Blood Corrosion Palm causing that corpse¡¯s hand to melt with a hiss. But Duan Fourth¡¯s palm was now sporting five bloody holes from the strike of the corpse.


    Duan Fourth was startled by this surprise wound, and then he howled in immense pain.


    The corpse wed at Duan Fourth¡¯s eyes.


    Fortunately, Deng Yuqing gave a timely kick, knocking the corpse back, but this left his own foot in terrible pain. He paled in shock at the toughness of the corpse.


    Even more corpses charged out.


    They pushed through the sea of mes, the corrosive blood, and the sandstorm, and while all these things hurt them, they lunged at the three nheless. The chilling power they radiated filled the world, forming a tide of terror.


    This pressure made even He Chong pale in shock.


    Only now did he finally see what these things were.


    These were clearly figures from High Antiquity who had died ages ago on this battlefield, but now, they hade back as if they were reenacting the Return of the King!


    Even more corpses surged forward.


    He Chong sent one flying with a chop of his palm, and he saw that corpse flip to its feet and continue charging at him as if it was perfectly fine.


    ¡°Fire in the ten directions, the heavens and earth wither: Immovable True me!¡± He Chong formed signs with his hands, and then a dark blue me shot out from his palm. Uponnding, it created a great mass of blue mes that attached itself to the corpses. The stench of burning flesh instantly filled the air.


    At the same time, the Vermillion Bird Hoop¡¯s firebird reappeared, spitting me at the corpses down below.


    The corpses finally reached their limits under the twin mes. They staggered a few times in the sea of fire before finally copsing into ash.


    Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth sighed in relief, saying in unison, ¡°True Person He¡¯s Immovable True me¡¯s power is without peer!¡±


    He Chong¡¯s face twitched. Despite their praise, his heart still winced in pain.


    He had spent fifty years scrounging up this little ember of Immovable True me, and that attack just now had consumed 5% of it¡ªtwo and half years of effort.


    For some reason, these corpses were so extremely tough that only an Astral me like the Immovable True me was able to kill them.


    He Chong was deeply pained by the heavy price he had to pay, and he red at the nearby Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie had already taken off his veiled hat, revealing his face.


    He Chong grunted, ¡°Tang Jie¡­ it really was you. I can¡¯t believe you even had the idea of disguising yourself as You Shaofeng. Now, I will¡­¡±


    Before he could finish, Tang Jie waved his hand and said, ¡°Hey, hey, you don¡¯t think everything is over, do you? In the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, each formation is more dangerous than thest. I¡¯m sure you understand this, yes? I¡¯ve already opened the fourth formation, and these possessed corpses are the guardians of this formation. And when did the fourth formation be something a single Celestial Heart True Person like you could contend against?¡±


    He Chong was startled as Tang Jie went on, ¡°These corpses can move because ghosts have entered them. Where do you think these ghosts came from?¡±


    He Chong was stunned. ¡°Could it be¡­ the souls of these deceased?¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°The Infinite Illusion Zone can preserve souls, and after death, they be ghosts, so why can¡¯t the same happen with this ancient battlefield? But there¡¯s one thing that¡¯s different. The bodies of these corpses are still around.¡±


    He Chong paled, having a vague idea of what Tang Jie was getting at.


    Sure enough, Tang Jie said, ¡°I saw for myself how they acted. As they floated around, they didn¡¯t choose just any random corpse to possess, instead searching through them before picking one. I¡¯m thinking that they¡¯re looking for their own corpses. But as theyck intelligence, most of them can¡¯t find it, so they rely on feeling. Most of them find the wrong one, instead possessing a corpse that had a cultivation simr to theirs. But there are so many corpses and so many ghosts that some of them will inevitably get it right by chance.¡±


    He Chong shivered.


    Tang Jie casually went on, ¡°These corpses were mostly Violet Pce in life, and if their souls were to return to their bodies, even if they couldn¡¯t use the strength they had in life, Celestial Heart presumably wouldn¡¯t be much of a problem for them. They¡­ are the real attack force here.¡±


    As Tang Jie spoke, the dust settled.


    Another group of possessed corpses appeared in the distance.


    Unlike the previous corpses, these ones were clearly more nimble.


    They stood like humans, their eyes glinting with intelligence. As they looked at He Chong, two of the corpses opened their mouths, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.


    This was a threat, a warning.


    And in the distance, even more possessed corpses were gathering from all around, gathering behind these corpses in an awesome horde.


    Compared to this army, the several dozen corpses that He Chong had destroyed just now were just a small vanguard.


    He Chong¡¯s trio felt their bodies grow cold.


    Tang Jie backed away a few steps. ¡°Good luck.¡± Yes, the author really just decided to reference Lord of the Rings for some reason.

 Chapter 310: Peace Negotiations

    Chapter 310: Peace Negotiations


    He Chong had killed nearly one hundred of their brethren with a single move, causing these corpses to loathe him and make him their first target.


    At the same time, Tang Jie backed away, clearly nning to use this chance to flee.


    ¡°Conspiring against me? Seeking death!¡± He Chong roared as he thrust a palm at Tang Jie.


    Now that he was in the formation and the Martial Mirror had appeared, he showed no mercy on Tang Jie.


    Just when he was about to attack, Tang Jie shouted, ¡°So you don¡¯t want to know the secret of the Martial Mirror?¡±


    <em>¡°The secret of the Martial Mirror¡±?</em>


    He Chong was left shocked by these words.


    Yes, there was still one thing that hadn¡¯t been addressed.


    The Martial Mirror had a secret. Xu Muyang had known it, and He Chong had sensed it, but he still didn¡¯t know how to decipher it.


    But it seemed like Tang Jie had already solved it.


    Only by understanding this secret would he be able to freely travel through the formation.


    The thought of this made He Chong pull back on his blow, only using thirty percent of his strength.


    Tang Jie crossed his arms and met the blow in the air, his body shing with golden light.


    It seemed like a simple block, but he had actually concentrated all of his power into it. <em>Boom!</em> Tang Jie was smashed through the air, the skin on his arms cracking apart as blood gushed out.


    Borrowing the power of this strike, Tang Jie retreated in the direction of the corpse horde. Heughed and said, ¡°The power of an enraged Celestial Heart True Person really isn¡¯t something a lowly junior like me can fight against. This Tang Jie does not dare to take a blow of True Person¡¯s heavenly might, so I will take my leave first.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even try to run!¡± He Chong furiously bellowed, manifesting two ws.


    One w went for the distant Martial Mirror. Now that the dust had settled, He Chong was able to see where it hadnded. The other w was aimed at Tang Jie. He had learned his lesson and gone from a palm to w, thus not giving Tang Jie a chance to use the impact to retreat.


    But to his surprise, the Martial Mirror avoided his w.


    He Chong was shocked, and then he saw a translucent little ghost chirping like a monkey as it ran off with the mirror toward Tang Jie.


    At the same time, Tang Jie punched at He Chong¡¯s approaching w.


    It appeared like a simple fist, and there was no way that a mere Spirit Sea student would be able to resist the w created by a Celestial Heart True Person.


    Suddenly, Tang Jie¡¯s eyes shed with a divine light. ¡°Devil Crushing Fist!¡±


    <em>Boom!</em>


    An astonishing power exploded from his fist, manifesting into a giant fist that collided with He Chong¡¯s w.


    Fist and w froze in the air for a moment, much to He Chong¡¯s shock.


    He had stopped looking down on Tang Jie with this w, using his real power, and he was a Celestial Heart True Person, two whole realms above Tang Jie. This was likeparing a giant to a dwarf. How could Tang Jie possibly stop it?


    But Tang Jie had managed to pull it off.


    The fist phantom and w phantom created a resplendent light with their collision, and when the light faded, the fist phantom flickered before breaking apart. As for the w phantom, though it trembled, it managed to maintain its form.


    He Chong had still won this match.


    But Tang Jie wasn¡¯t at all disappointed. On the contrary, heughed and retreated even faster. The w phantom fell on Tang Jie¡¯s body, but as it hit the Formless Golden Body, it fell apart, unable to take Tang Jie away.


    Compared to when he had first used the Devil Crushing Fist on Old Crow Ridge, Tang Jie was more experienced in how to distribute its power. After getting an urate assessment of He Chong¡¯s power, Tang Jie had used only a quarter of his body¡¯s constitution, which was just enough to block a fatal strike from this w, without the slightest bit of energy wasted.


    By sessfully stopping the w, he had also removed any hope He Chong had of catching him. As Tang Jiended on the ground, arge number of corpses surged over him before he even had a chance to get up.


    Seeing the countless corpses approaching, He Chong had no choice but cry out in frustration, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    The three of them retreated into the distance.


    On his end, Tang Jie covered his head with his arms and curled up on the ground.


    The corpse horde trod over him like a passing army, each of their stomps dealing Tang Jie a heavy blow. Ever since he had reached the Jewel Body, ordinary attacks had barely felt like anything to him. But as these thousands of corpses trampled over him, he felt like his bones were about toe apart.


    Once the corpse tide had subsided, Tang Jie crawled out of the soil. He felt like the world was spinning around him, and he barely managed to open his eyes a crack. It was then that he saw that the ck flood was now off in the distance.


    A strangeughter rang out in his ears.


    Turning his head, he saw the ghost, ¡°Little Three¡±, sitting on top of the Martial Mirror, pointing at him andughing so hard that it had almost tipped over.


    As if it felt like this wasn¡¯t enough, the little guy picked up the Martial Mirror and aimed it at Tang Jie.


    The Martial Mirror flowed with light and became like a real mirror, reflecting Tang Jie¡¯s face, but what appeared was the image of arge head that was swollen up like a pig.


    Tang Jie saw that he had been beaten into an inhuman shape, and softly cursed.


    Fortunately, he possessed incredible recovery power, and wounds of this level would take only half a day to heal.


    The little ghost continued to point at Tang Jie andugh, clearly enjoying his suffering.


    Tang Jie grabbed it and stuffed it into the Martial Mirror.


    The Martial Mirror was no storage tool, but it could be used to store souls. Thus, it became the storage house for the little ghost.


    With the little ghost inside, a little ghost carving appeared on the dark side of the mirror. But the little ghost still wouldn¡¯t sit still, constantly looking around within the mirror.


    Tang Jie ignored it and began to read through the Ninedark Mantra. Using He Chong was only treating the symptoms. Only mastering the Ninedark Mantra would allow him to ovee this crisis.


    Find the original at Hosted Novel.


    But the Ninedark Mantra was vast and multifaceted, not something that could be mastered just because he wanted to.


    Upon opening the book, he was greeted with the line: ¡°The Ninedark Mantra, the truth of the Heavenly Dao. By observing the origin of the Heavenly Dao, you can create all arts of the world!¡±


    Observing the origin of the Heavenly Dao and creating all arts in the world!


    Such a domineering and boastful line! Even though Tang Jie had already read this line before, he still couldn¡¯t help but sigh in admiration.


    This was the Ninedark Mantra.


    The Ninedark Martial Lord had lived a life of dominance, and he cultivated both the body and Immortality. The Parting ssic was the foundation of his powerful body, and this mantra was the origin of his Immortality.


    The Parting ssic had been domineering and unreasonable, but the mantra was more resplendent, seeking the Heavenly Dao and pursuing the cultivation of the Dao Will, thus resulting in grandiose ims like ¡°cultivate this mantra to create all arts¡±.


    It was naturally rather hyperbolic. After all, the Ninedark Mantra was no treatise on the Heavenly Dao, so it could not possibly describe it, nor would the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel permit this sort of book to exist. But the Ninedark Mantra truly did contain a broad and deep sea of knowledge. This was particrly true with blood energy, where it could be said to have reached the apex of the cultivation world.


    Thus, by cultivating this mantra, one would greatly benefit when it came to blood energy and other rted aspects, and would have an easy time learning body-strengthening spell arts.


    While the Martial Lord had been a hegemon who had dominated the world, he hadn¡¯t been some brainless brute.


    Only his fighting style had been wild and untamed. His tyrannical exterior had hidden a profound intelligence.


    Tang Jie scanned the book, marking down every word and sentence of the mantra in his memory.


    He didn¡¯t have the time to put it into practice. All he could do was memorize everything first.


    The mantra had a lot of content, and he had a hard time remembering it all. Thus, he had his avatar help him memorize and record.


    The avatar and original body were two souls sharing the same mind, granting them the natural ability to multitask, and they were also faster at memorizing.


    Both Tang Jies began to memorize the contents of the Ninedark Mantra, not caring at all about whether they actually understood it. Once they had memorized everything, they began to work together to try andprehend the words.


    Cultivation was aplex and dangerous affair, and cultivating beforepletely understanding the text was suicidal. Thus, anyone lucky enough toe upon a mantra would spend many months trying to understand its meaning. Having a teacher made things much easier.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t have much time, and he soon felt like the air was filled with wriggling characters, leaving him dazed and confused.


    The more panicked one was, the less one would be able to focus onprehension.


    At this moment, dust appeared in the distance. The horde of corpses had returned, and leading them were none other than He Chong, Deng Yuqing, and Duan Fourth.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t find this strange.


    He Chong¡¯s group definitely didn¡¯t like being forced back by the corpse horde. So long as the corpses weren¡¯t going berserk, they were much faster than them, and so they could use their speed to circle around toe and make trouble for Tang Jie.


    And it seemed like it was about the right time for that, as well.


    As the three of them ran over, Tang Jie put away the mantra, took a few steps back, and shouted, ¡°True Person He, I admit that you have heavenly strength that this lowly one cannot defeat no matter what, but I can at least guarantee that you¡¯ll never take me alive!¡±


    He waved his fist, and the phantom of the Devil Crushing Fist appeared.


    Of course, this wasn¡¯t a real attack, so it used a minuscule amount of energy.


    He Chong stared.


    He had a deep impression of this punch. A mere Spirit tform student had been able to block his w, like a mouse blocking the paw of a lion.


    He grunted, ¡°I don¡¯t believe you can keep on using that punch!¡±


    Although he didn¡¯t know that Tang Jie¡¯s spell art had his constitution as its upper limit, He Chong could tell from experience that this wasn¡¯t an attack Tang Jie could use lightly.


    Tang Jie chuckled, ¡°Why not? This is the Martial Lord¡¯s Starshatter Fist, recorded in the Martial Mirror. At the apex, it can destroy stars. Ick the foundation, so this is all the power I can produce, and I have to rest for a while after using it. Fortunately, with this corpse horde around, I can use the time bought by this punch to enter the corpse flood, at which point you won¡¯t be able to do anything to me.¡±


    Tang Jie was the only one who knew what the Martial Lord had actually hidden in the Martial Mirror, so He Chong couldn¡¯t refute anything he said. As for the Martial Lord¡¯s abilities, this was a lord who had wandered across the myriad domains, so shattering stars and seizing moons really wasn¡¯t out of the question for him. If this was the spell art he had left in the Martial Mirror, its power waspletely believable.


    Tang Jie¡¯s mixture of lies and truths left He Chong speechless.


    Tang Jie began to run off to the side, saying, ¡°But while the Starshatter Fist can stop you from taking me, it won¡¯t stop the attacks of the corpse horde. If True Person He dies, these corpses will definitely go after me. Thus, if True Person doesn¡¯t mind, why not work together with me to deal with the corpse horde first?¡±


    He Chongughed in anger. ¡°You think you¡¯re worthy of working together with me?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that. True Person, when you entered, you should have realized that this formation is thend of inheritance, and only the person who has received the inheritance can freely move through it. I¡¯m only in this awkward situation because I got impatient and didn¡¯t cultivate the inheritance from the third formation before entering the fourth. If True Person buys me some time and lets me understand what the Martial Lord left behind, I can naturally resolve this crisis.¡±


    As he spoke, Tang Jie gradually drew even with He Chong, but there was still a long horizontal distance between them. Tang Jie¡¯s left fist glowed as he prepared to punch at any time.


    If He Chong wanted to try and catch him, he would use the Devil Crushing Fist to escape and repeat the scene from before.


    ¡°The third formation¡­ I see.¡± He Chong almost instantly understood. While he found it hard to distinguish the truth from the fiction of the first half, he could tell from Tang Jie¡¯s tone that there were no lies in the second half.


    He Chong coldlyughed. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I can just kill you. Why should I¡­¡±


    Before he could finish, Tang Jie said, ¡°One: you can¡¯t kill me, because I can escape with the Starshatter Fist. Two: cultivating the secret art of the Martial Lord requires someone to draw away the corpse horde so that there¡¯s time and space to cultivate. Three, and most importantly¡­¡±


    Tang Jie smiled.


    This smile made He Chong¡¯s heart leap.


    Tang Jie waved around the Ninedark Mantra. ¡°See this? This is the Ninedark Mantra left behind by the Martial Lord in the third formation. s, you won¡¯t get the chance to hold it.¡±


    The title of the mantra shed before the eyes of He Chong¡¯s group, and Deng Yuqing realized what was happening and cried out, ¡°No!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s hand shook, exploding with spiritual energy that obliterated the book.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Duan Fourth roared in fury. ¡°You¡¯ve gone crazy! Without the mantra, how are we going to resolve this crisis?¡±


    ¡°I memorized it, of course,¡± Tang Jie said, pointing at his head.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe it. How could you have memorized it in so little time!?¡± He Chong cried out.


    ¡°You had best believe it,¡± Tang Jieughed.


    ¡°I see now. I didn¡¯t realize that you also had a memory-retaining ability. But I¡¯m guessing that this sort of retained memory won¡¯tst long, yes? Aren¡¯t you afraid that the secret art will be lost if you forget it?¡± Deng Yuqing grunted.


    Rapid memorization¡¯s greatest fear was time. Even with the best ability to memorize, as time went on, something would be forgotten.


    ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s best that you take up my suggestion. If I were to forget something, I guess we¡¯ll die to those corpses,¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    Despite his words, back at Red Plum Ridge, in the Cleansing Sword Garden, the avatar Tang Jie was writing like a madman in his room, even shouting, ¡°Energy descends to the Nine Governors, flooding the Five Kilometers, lurking within the Cyclic Gate, stirring up the Sea of Blood¡­¡±


    (TN: Five Kilometers, Cyclic Gate, and Sea of Blood are all acupuncture points.)


    Yiyi was next to him, sweating as she scribbled down the words Tang Jie was shouting, lest he miss something.


    On the other end, He Chong saw the book being destroyed and knew that he didn¡¯t have any hope. All he could say was, ¡°Tang Jie, how can I believe that you won¡¯t use the corpse horde to kill us once you¡¯re done cultivating the mantra, only protecting yourself?¡±


    ¡°I can swear an oath on my Heart Demon that when I learn the method to take care of the corpse horde, I will immediately save you,¡± Tang Jie immediately replied.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t enough. You¡¯re only at Spirit tform. So long as you don¡¯t enter Celestial Heart in this life, a Heart Demon Oath won¡¯t do anything to you,¡± Duan Fourth immediately said.


    ¡°Bullshit!¡± Tang Jie cursed. ¡°Did I spend so much time and effort getting into this formation just to not enter Celestial Heart? If that were the case, I could have sold the Martial Mirror to Godhead Pce, and what I could gain in return would probably get me more than just Celestial Heart, right?¡±


    The three of them were rendered speechless.


    Tang Jie added, ¡°As for you three, how can I guarantee that you won¡¯t do anything to me after I save you?¡±


    He Chong vaguely said, ¡°We can also swear Heart Demon Oaths.¡±


    ¡°Forget about it, True Person He.¡± Tang Jie grinned. ¡°You don¡¯t think I can tell that you¡¯ve been through the Heart Demon Tribtion, entering the Soul Transformation Period? The power of a Heart Demon is greatly reduced against you. So long as you cultivate a mind-focusing spell art like the Immovable Will Foundation and do your utmost to protect your Celestial Heart, a Heart Demon will find it difficult to invade. Even if you killed me one hundred times, a Heart Demon wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything to you.¡±


    He Chong¡¯s face reddened. ¡°It seems like you know a lot.¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°If I need to fight against you guys, I need to be quite sharp. There was a time when I was even dreaming about how I would use my life to oppose you guys.¡±


    ¡°Then what do you need us to do?¡± He Chong asked.


    ¡°Simple. I need you to offer your Celestial Heart as a blood soul offering and ce the True Celestial Heart Curse on yourself, tying your life to mine. If I die, then you¡¯ll die. If you do that, we¡¯ll have a deal.¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°If you dare to kill me, you¡¯ll die. And if you dare to capture me, I canmit suicide.¡±


    ¡°What? Doesn¡¯t that mean that this old man will have his life bound to yours for the rest of my life!?¡± He Chong was enraged. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it!¡±


    ¡°Stop ying dumb. There are no such things as eternal curses. Unless you put energy into keeping it up, it wille apart on its own. I¡¯m two realms weaker than you, so I can¡¯t maintain it even if I want to. So long as you don¡¯t maintain it, the True Celestial Heart Curse wille apart in two months at most. Our lives will be bound for only two months, certainly not your entire life.¡±


    Tang Jie had once more exposed him, and He Chong¡¯s face went red. But inwardly, he rejoiced. <em>Kid, there¡¯s still something you don¡¯t know.</em>


    The True Celestial Heart Curse truly couldst only around two months without anyone maintaining it, but that didn¡¯t mean that he didn¡¯t have ways of ending it early. This method couldn¡¯t be used by himself, but it could be used by his colleagues.


    While Tang Jie had been watching out for such things, his time in cultivation was ultimately short, and even though he was a top student, he couldn¡¯t possibly know everything, so he really didn¡¯t know about this. With Duan Fourth and Deng Yuqing around, He Chong was sure that he could have the curse undone in fifteen days.


    When the time came, he could easily kill Tang Jie.


    With this thought in mind, he put on a reluctant face and helplessly shook his head. ¡°Fine. I agree to your terms!¡±


    He stabbed a finger into his heart and began to chant. A few momentster, he flung out his finger, a crimson drop of blood flying toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie grabbed it. The drop of blood was like a jewel, but it did not stain his hand in any way. Knowing that this was He Chong¡¯s heartblood essence, heughed and said, ¡°Thank you very much, True Person He.¡±


    He tore open his chest and ced that bead of blood in his body.


    As the bead of blood circted through his body, it transformed into a warm current of spiritual power. Tang Jie¡¯s eyes shed with a bright light, his body radiating a bloody aura.


    He Chong was startled. ¡°I see! No wonder you made that proposal. Seeking my heartblood¡­ You¡¯ve already dabbled with the Dao of Insight?¡±


    Heartblood essence was the essence of He Chong¡¯s cultivation, containing all that he hadprehended. Unless he handed it over, it was impossible to get one¡¯s hands on it.


    He Chong hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to have a basic grasp of the Dao of Insight, using this substance to analyze him.


    In this way, Tang Jie gained much of He Chong¡¯s cultivation experience and understanding, even some of hisprehension of the Dao.


    Of course, the heartblood essence was limited, so what Tang Jie obtained was also limited. Even so, He Chong had cultivated for several hundred years, so even a few years or a few decades of experience was a rich harvest for Tang Jie.


    If this went poorly, Tang Jie might have even gained the experience that would expose his n to have Deng and Duan undo the curse.


    But Tang Jie was seemingly satisfied and did not seem frightened or uneasy, so he clearly hadn¡¯t obtained this piece of information. Relieved, He Chong barked, ¡°Is it fine now?¡±


    ¡°Mm, it¡¯s fine. Draw away the corpse horde and buy me three days, after which I can resolve the problem.¡± After experiencing part of He Chong¡¯s cultivation experience, Tang Jie felt enlightened.


    At this moment, the avatar had basically finished writing down the Ninedark Mantra, and Tang Jie passed his understanding to the avatar so that they could both enjoy the advantages.


    This was also one of the greatest advantages of two Tang Jies. All the knowledge that they experienced andprehended could be instantly shared. One person studied and two people benefited.


    ¡°Three days?¡± He Chong sneered. ¡°The monumental work of the Martial Lord is so profound thatprehending it will probably take ten months. Three days¡­ Is that enough for you?¡±


    ¡°Wanna make a bet?¡± Tang Jieughed. ¡°If I can do it, all of you will be my ves. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not!¡± He Chong wasn¡¯t taking Tang Jie¡¯s bait.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s change the terms. If I can do it, you will have to help me with one thing. If I can¡¯t do it, then I will give you the Martial Mirror.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you when the timees. In any case, it¡¯s not like there¡¯s a contract. If I make things too difficult, you can just refuse to admit that you lost.¡± Tang Jie grinned. Tang Jie about to scam He Chong!

 Chapter 311: Transmitting Scripture

    Chapter 311: Transmitting Scripture


    Inside Tang Jie¡¯s room.


    The frenzied rapid memorization had finally ended, and only some floating flecks of paper served as evidence of the insanity of recitation that had urred.


    Tang Jie held the newly-written small booklet in his hand, going over every word and sentence. Only when he was sure that nothing had been left out did he sigh in relief.


    He put down the book and looked at Yiyi, who had fallen asleep from exhaustion. He put a nket on her before leaving the room.


    It was bright and cheery outside.


    With the first round concluded, there was a break of a few days until the second round. In these few days, those students who had gone on to the next round were all cultivating in preparation for theing battle, and even those who hadn¡¯t qualified were dragged in to help with training.


    Exiting his room, Tang Jie walked along a tree-shaded path to a stone house. He called out, ¡°Senior Brother Peng, are you there?¡±


    The door opened to reveal Peng Yaolong¡¯s big head, his hair looking like a bird¡¯s nest.


    He looked at Tang Jie and sullenly said, ¡°Kid, what are you doing?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Senior Brother Peng, if energy travels through the Hidden Gate down to the Abdominal Passage, can it skip over the Yin Metropolis to enter the Stone Gate?¡±


    Peng Yaolong was startled, instinctively replying, ¡°How could that be possible? Energy must travel through the meridians in sequence. How could it skip over one?¡±


    ¡°What if it merged with the blood, traveling through blood energy?¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Peng Yaolong was rendered speechless. He considered the prospect for some time before saying, ¡°Difficult, difficult, absurd. It would be very hard to pull off. But most importantly of all, why are you even asking this?¡±


    ¡°By strengthening both energy and blood, you can stimte them both and create a steady and smooth flow of energy!¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°Keep dreaming!¡± Peng Yaolong scoffed. ¡°Unless you have the appropriate mantra and the corresponding method, this is nothing more than wishful thinking.¡±


    ¡°Then if I gave you the mantra, would you be willing to try?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Peng Yaolong froze.


    Tang Jie spat out a mantra and the corresponding energy cirction path.


    Peng Yaolong was left rather confused. He blurted out, ¡°It sounds like a real thing. Where¡¯d you get this mantra from?¡±


    Tang Jie ignored the question and said, ¡°Once you¡¯veprehended it, tell me if it actually works. You don¡¯t need to thank me, only tell me what you¡¯veprehended.¡±


    He turned and left.


    Peng Yaolong wanted to call him back, but as he pondered the cultivation mantra that Tang Jie had given him, he found it extremely profound and felt like there was actually a chance of sess. He was itching to try his hand, so he quickly went back into his room.


    After leaving Peng Yaolong, Tang Jie went to Ye Tianshang.


    Upon seeing Ye Tianshang, he directly asked, ¡°If energy is circted through the Lesser Yang, can some of the energy be split off into the Greater Yin?¡±


    Ye Tianshang looked at him like he was an idiot. ¡°How is that possible? If you could really do that, then I could use my Windcloud Step with my Galefury Sword, at least doubling the power of my sword arts!¡±


    ¡°You can just circte energy through both channels.¡±


    Ye Tianshang grew angry. ¡°You idiot! The result of circting energy through both channels is a weakening of the flow such that you won¡¯t even be able to cast a little spell, and if you do manage to pull it off, all you¡¯ll get is a little gust!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not for certain. With the method of the energy whirlpool, circting energy through the Twelve Hidden Whirlpools and gradually building up energy, let alone two, you can even circte energy through three to four energy channels.¡±


    Ye Tianshang was gobsmacked. ¡°What¡¯s this Twelve Hidden Whirlpools? How have I never heard of them before?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a vortex method of circting energy. Through this method, the energy flow will gradually get stronger, but it is difficult to control. Thus, it¡¯s not suitable for when you¡¯re only circting energy through one channel, as the excess power will hurt the body. If you want to learn it, I can teach you.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ really have something like that?¡±


    Tang Jie recited the mantra. It wasn¡¯t too long, and Ye Tianshang quickly remembered it.


    Tang Jie patted Ye Tianshang and said, ¡°You have three days¡­¡±


    After saying words simr to what he had said to Peng Yaolong, he left.


    His next visit was to Wei Tianchong, but he also brought Shi Meng into the conversation this time.


    But he was much more direct with the two of them.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°Young Master, I will teach you a method that, upon sess, will clear your mind and allow you to send spiritual energy wherever you want it to go. But you mustprehend it within three days. If you do well, I will teach you another section.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was confused. ¡°What¡¯s the use of it?¡±


    ¡°You will have greater reaction speed and have a stronger intuition,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    Wei Tianchong had a slow personality, and even if Yan Changfeng had made him understand this, understanding had nothing to do with dealing with it. Tang Jie was teaching him the Bright Heart Art of the Ninedark Mantra, making him more intelligent and his reactions sharper.


    Besides that, the Bright Heart Art also helped inprehending the Dao, and it made learning spell arts more efficient. The mantra book said that cultivating the mantra would allow one to understand all arts. To tell the truth, this part could be considered the most valuable part of the Ninedark Mantra.


    Wei Tianchong had always trusted Tang Jie, so he nodded in agreement.


    Tang Jie said to Shi Meng, ¡°I will also teach you an art. It is called ¡®the Eight Destions Spirit Gathering Art¡¯. It will allow you to maximize the amount of spiritual energy you can gather from the surrounding world to improve yourself. Do you want to learn it?¡±


    Shi Meng said in delight, ¡°Of course I¡¯ll learn it!¡±


    He had average aptitude, came from a poor family, and had limitedbat abilities. In this life, he couldn¡¯t expect tomand the winds and storms as Tang Jie and the others could. Even if he put all his focus into advancing in cultivation realm, as time passed, he would ultimately fall behind Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong.


    For Shi Meng, just keeping up in cultivation realm was a luxury. As for actualbat ability, he had long ago given up on that.


    And now, Tang Jie was giving him a chance to keep up.


    From start to finish, he had never said anything about keeping the mantras a secret.


    Once everyone had understood the advantages of these methods, they wouldn¡¯t even need prompting from Tang Jie. All on their own, they would regard the mantras as treasures and stow them away.


    After leaving the pair, Tang Jie went to see Qi Shaoming.


    Qi Shaoming was a rather taciturn character, so when Tang Jie saw him, he directly said, ¡°I have a method that can activate the radiance of the Violet Temple Point, allowing you to get as long as nine breaths. It¡¯s just that it will use quite a lot of spiritual energy. Do you want it?¡±


    Qi Shaoming¡¯s Chill Phantom sh was getting stronger and stronger, the power of the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantrabined with the nine phantoms unsurpassed. For Qi Shaoming, other than therge consumption of power, the only problem was that the technique did notst for very long, the nine phantoms quickly dissipating. If they did not hurt the target at the moment they appeared, the energy would essentially be wasted. But it was also a closebat spell art, so there were frequently obstructions.


    The phantoms depended on one¡¯s ability to congeal spiritual energy, and in this aspect, the Violet Temple Point was the best. s, Qi Shaoming cultivated the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra, which didn¡¯t focus on the Violet Temple Point. Thus, if he relied on himself, he could probably go an entire lifetime without resolving this problem.


    But today, Tang Jie had told him that he could help Qi Shaoming extend the time his clonessted to nine breaths!


    Nine breaths meant that Qi Shaoming¡¯s clones couldst for nine seconds!


    What did this mean?


    It had to be understood that Qi Shaoming¡¯s clones could onlyst for one second at present. Even if he cultivated to Celestial Heart, he could only increase thebat power of the clones, not the time that theysted.


    Just how big of a boost was this for Qi Shaoming?


    Of course, this wasn¡¯t something that could be done instantly, but no matter how difficult it was, Qi Shaoming felt that it was worth it.


    Qi Shaoming looked in shock at Tang Jie. ¡°Are you ying a joke on me?¡±


    ¡°Memorize the mantra. I¡¯m only going to say it once. You¡¯ll know whether it¡¯s true or not once you try it for yourself. I¡¯lle and find you again in three days.¡± Tang Jie couldn¡¯t be bothered to exin, and he began to recite the mantra.


    Qi Shaoming didn¡¯t give it much credence at first, but as he listened, he found it more profound and unusual. By the end, he was sweating profusely as he wrote everything down. By the time he had confirmed that everything was there and looked up, Tang Jie was nowhere to be seen.


    Although he had yet to actually cultivate it, Qi Shaoming had no doubt about the mantra¡¯s effects. Looking in the direction Tang Jie had disappeared with eyes full of gratitude, he muttered, ¡°Why¡­ Why do you want to help me?¡±


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t have time to ponder Qi Shaoming¡¯s gratitude. He was rushing off to his next target, Cai Junyang.


    What he taught to Cai Junyang was the Hundred Tribtion Passage Art.


    This spell had the ability to temporarily protect the body if one sustained heavy injury. But this was only the surface effect. In reality, every time the user experienced death, it would stimte some of their potential, not only improving theirbat power, but borrowing the terror that came from being at the precipice of death to help the cultivatorprehend the ways of the world and understand the Dao Will.


    The Ninedark Mantra was aplete mantra and not a set of small mantras, but because it had so many powerful effects, Tang Jie had been able to divide it into unrted parts, give them names, and call them secret arts. But in reality, these were actually many cultivation methods.


    As their interlinking parts had been removed, let alone putting them together, even if his fellows really did start talking with each other, they would still not get theplete Ninedark Mantra. Besides, Tang Jie had never nned to give out all the cultivation methods.


    These methods had different values, and the most valuable were the Bright Heart and the Hundred Tribtions Passage.


    Bright Heart had the best effect for cultivating spell arts, and the Hundred Tribtions Passage was superior to even Bright Heart when it came toprehending the Dao.


    As for Peng Yaolong, he had been given the Energy-Blood Simulflow, a secret art to cultivate and utilize spiritual energy and physical power in concert. It was extremely strong when it came to actualbat, and it was on par in value with Bright Heart and Hundred Tribtions Passage. But Tang Jie had removed the parts of this mantra concerningprehension of the Dao, making it inferior in these aspects.


    Ye Tianshang¡¯s Twelve Hidden Whirlpools and Qi Shaoming¡¯s Violet Temple Radiance each had their own standout points. One amplified an existing advantage while the other made up for a shoring, but they both boosted one¡¯s explosive power. Thus, when it came to greatest benefit in the shortest time, it would be these two.


    Besides these six, Tang Jie had ten-some other split-off mantras. More than half of them concerned higher levels, so not mastering them for now was no problem. As for those that needed to be grasped, these were the Boundless Return to Truth, the Cloud Canopy, and the Dark Lightning.


    The Boundless Return to Truth was the core cultivation method of the Ninedark Mantra, and its function was to guide spiritual essence andbine secret arts. Let alone the secret arts of the Ninedark Mantra, it could also incorporate, absorb, and use other cultivation methods. This was the most important central node, so Tang Jie did not give it to anybody.


    The Cloud Canopy was a method that sped up the cirction of the Minor Circuit Heaven, and to put it bluntly, it sped up recovery speed. It actually had the same mantra as the Eight Destions Spirit Gathering Art. The only difference was that one worked on the Major Circuit Heaven, increasing cultivation speed, and the other worked on the Minor Circuit Heaven, increasing recovery speed. They had manymonalities, but Tang Jie had still split them into two secret arts based on their functions.


    Dark Lightning was a method for elerating energy cirction, allowing for faster art manifestation.


    These three cultivation methods were methods that he needed to grasp in this period. Tang Jie had assigned himself the task ofprehending the Boundless Return to Truth and the random snatches that he had removed from everything else, so he still needed to find someone to assign the other two methods to.


    Tang Jie had chosen Xu Miaoran for the Cloud Canopy.


    Xu Miaoran was the child of a True Lord, so she naturally had countless secret arts at her disposal. The vast majority of powerful spell arts shared inmon one thing: they used excessive amounts of spiritual energy. Thus, Xu Miaoran had always beencking in magic power. The increased recovery of the Cloud Canopy would be very helpful for her. Once Tang Jie had ovee this trial, he would also pass on the Bright Heart and Eight Destions Spirit Gathering to her, which would make her strength soar.


    Thest one was Dark Lightning, but when he thought about his acquaintances, he found that he couldn¡¯t find a suitable target.


    As he was thinking it over, the original body sent over a thought.


    ¡°To break the corpse horde, we need fierce Yang energy to create an opening with which we can use righteous energy to dispel the corpses. This requires us to achieve minor sess in the cultivation of simultaneous blood and energy cirction. Getting a basic grasp of this method is far from enough.¡±


    ¡°The Ninedark Mantra is vast and infinite, and just studying it requires everyone¡¯sbined effort. Cultivating it to minor attainment will probably take a year and half at least.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for minor attainment. A sound wave secret art will be enough.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that the Ninedark Mantra is a mantra, not a spell art. There is no such secret art.¡±


    ¡°Then create it. Let¡¯s focus on the Bright Heart chapter first, and then grasp the Energy-Blood Simulflow. The rest will serve as extra.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s less reliable than minor attainment.¡±


    ¡°If we have someone¡¯s instruction, it will be more reliable.¡±


    ¡°No one among our peers can instruct us.¡±


    ¡°That truly is the case.¡±


    The conversation with himself held in the depths of the soul faded away, and within his room, Tang Jie¡¯s eyes shed.


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    He knew who to give the final secret art to.


    In a small courtyard within a forest, Xie Fengtang was seated beneath a tree, one hand holding a teapot which he used to pour himself tea.


    Down below, Tang Jie respectfully bowed.


    Once Xie Fengtang had poured himself a cup of tea, he asked, ¡°Why have youe to find me?¡±


    ¡°This student was fortunate enough to obtain an art that can hasten energy cirction. Sensing that it is a supreme treasure and remembering all the kindness Headmaster has shown me, I havee to present it to you!¡±


    Yes, thest person he had found was Xie Fengtang.


    Who said that he had to pick a student to transmit the scripture to?


    If necessary, a student could also teach the teacher.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Xie Fengtang was taken by surprise by Tang Jie¡¯s words, and then he smiled.


    He didn¡¯t think that Tang Jie could give him some ¡°supreme treasure¡± of an art, but there was no need to reject a student¡¯s kind intentions. Thus, he waved his teacup lid and said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, let¡¯s have a listen.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Jie began to recite, ¡°When energy is at the Heaven Projection, circte in ordance with the Wind Return Stamp Art, anchoring upon the Jade Rotator¡­¡±


    Xie Fengtang¡¯s calm and rxed face suddenly froze, and he stared at Tang Jie.


    As Tang Jie continued to recite, his expression turned more and more serious.


    He gradually stood up from his seat, the teapot in his hand bing motionless.


    ¡°Thus, energy is like thunder, breath like the me, evening rains and morning stars, dew and violet lightning¡­¡±


    Tang Jie continued to recite, and Xie Fengtang felt like great waves were raging in his mind.


    With his rich experience, he could instantly tell that this was a top-ss mantra. s, it was iplete, and all that was left was the method of hastening energy cirction. Where had this kid gotten it from?


    Xie Fengtang¡¯s disbelief grew as he stared at Tang Jie.


    ¡°¡­This is the Dao of Cirction!¡± After reciting thest line, which had been of his own creation, Tang Jie finished.


    He looked at Xie Fengtang and said in a soft voice, ¡°This student has finished reciting. Headmaster, do you have any advice to offer?¡±


    Xie Fengtang was in a stupor for a while before finally putting down his teapot.


    He took out a small cup, filled it, and then said, ¡°Sit¡­ Have some tea!¡±


    Hearing this, Tang Jie smiled. Make everyone else do the work for you while making yourself seem like the good guy! It¡¯s win-win!

 Chapter 312: The Four-Nine True Word Mantra

    Chapter 312: The Four-Nine True Word Mantra


    Xie Fengtang personally poured tea for Tang Jie. After thinking for some time, he said, ¡°Where did you get this mantra from?¡±


    ¡°Headmaster, this student left early to take part in the Immortal Fortune Conference, embarking on a long journey of one hundred days. This mantra is something I came across on my journey.¡±


    Xie Fengtang nced at Tang Jie and casually said, ¡°Once the students of the sect have reached a certain level, they will often go out to temper themselves and seek their fortunes. But while the world is abundant with fortune, cultivators still outnumber such fortune by a thousandfold. The vast majority will go their entire lives without encountering fortune. But you, even though you have yet to officially start your tempering, have alreadye across a fortune on your way to the conference. The heavens truly favor you.¡±


    What he really meant was that he didn¡¯t believe Tang Jie¡¯s exnation.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°This lowly one does not know if the heavens favor me or not, but this lowly one is very certain about how the headmaster has cared for me all this time.¡±


    Xie Fengtang understood what he was getting at, and chuckled. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s rare to see you so considerate. When obtaining a treasure, you know to pay respect to me. But it seems to me that this mantra is notplete.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is iplete. When this student obtained it, it was in disarray. It was only after organizing it that I obtained this mantra, but there are many loose pieces.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Then there¡¯s no harm in listening to these loose pieces,¡± Xie Fengtang said, growing excited.


    Tang Jie recited several random snatches of mantra.


    These mantras were random and in no way connected, but from their style, they were clearly part of the same text.


    Xie Fengtang found himself more entranced the more he listened. At this point in his life, he found it hard to find a mantra that interested him so much, and so as he listened, he began to circte energy ording to the mantra in order to experience its wondrous properties.


    Upon confirming that it was all real, he was delighted, but because the mantra was iplete, he loudly sighed.


    Tang Jie used this chance to say what he had understood about this mantra, and Xie Fengtang, not considering that he might have some ulterior motive, answered his questions.


    He was a Celestial Heart True Person, with a broad and deep store of knowledge. Those problems that students would waste ages over, even having to go through the process themselves, were easily answered by him. And that Dark Lightning Art needed only half a day for Xie Fengtang toprehend.


    But Tang Jie did not leave after that, instead continuing to ask Xie Fengtang about those ¡°random¡± pieces of mantra.


    ¡°Breath exits the Central Courtyard; energy returns to the Violet Temple. With the Triple Whirlpool as the basis, the Sword of Righteousness can be formed¡­ Headmaster, does this mean that when spiritual energy reaches the Central Courtyard Point, it should reverse back to the Violet Temple, and then when you¡¯ve cultivated the Twelve Whirlpools to three whirlpools, energy that issues from the Violet Temple can condense into a sword of righteous energy to take the heads of demons and monsters?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Xie Fengtang pondered the question, and then he tested it out. A white light appeared at his chest, spiritual energy surging out into a small white sword. But while the energy sword had appeared, it was horribly weak, dissipating as soon as it appeared.


    Xie Fengtang shook his head. ¡°While the Central Courtyard¡¯s strong point is righteous energy and the Violet Temple¡¯s strong point is energy condensation, and sending energy from the Central Courtyard back to the Violet Temple truly is the fastest way to form a sword of righteous energy, the energy is too weak, so it¡¯s difficult to maintain its form. The Twelve Whirlpool Art the mantra speaks of should be a method of fortifying the energy, but unfortunately¡­ I do not have this method, so I cannot use it. But righteous energy is only meant for banishing ghosts, so it is no big loss.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that this is the only offensive method provided in this entire mantra,¡± Tang Jie calmly said. ¡°In other words, this mantra can¡¯t only be used to cultivate, but also in battle. But the excessive number of gaps means that all the fighting arts have been lost.¡±


    Xie Fengtang chuckled. ¡°You want to use this opportunity to find thisbat method?¡±


    Tang Jie calmly said, ¡°The second round of the tournament is about to begin, so the more options I have, the better.¡±


    Xie Fengtang shook his head. ¡°Difficult, very difficult. Based on the words of this mantra, it is primarily intended for cultivation. Minor attainment in this mantra will be a great boon to many other cultivation methods, but using it directly in battle is extremely difficult. As for that righteous sword, it¡¯s just a manifestation of energy and not an actual way of fighting.¡±


    Tang Jie thought, <em>Do you think I don¡¯t know that already?</em>


    The Ninedark Mantra was a cultivation mantra, and the Righteous Sword was the only offensive method in the entire mantra, and its target was limited only to ghosts. This was precisely why Tang Jie had immediately marked it out as the way to get through the trial.


    The problem was that the Righteous Sword could only be cultivated afterpleting the first level of the Ninedark Mantra.


    Tang Jie couldprehend the contents of the entire book in three days, but he wasn¡¯t capable of cultivating the first level of the mantra in three days.


    This was precisely why he had sought a shortcut and found a spell art. The mantra could not be cultivated in three days, but if he wanted to, it was enough time to gain a basic grasp of a spell art.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°I have to at least try in order to ept it. While this mantra is profound, itcks a method to disy the power of the spell art, which is a great pity. This student is untalented but still wants to make an attempt.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Then where do you n to start?¡±


    ¡°I n to start from righteous energy. Headmaster, do you think it would be usible to send energy back to the Saliva Container to create a sound wave?


    ¡°Condensing energy isn¡¯t enough to form a powerful sword.


    ¡°So instead of using an energy sword, gather energy in the chest to create a lion¡¯s roar. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°That would require more spiritual energy. Putting aside how hard it would be to maintain, it will also disperse energy too much, creating all sound and no fury. But now that you bring up sound waves, the lion¡¯s roar is actually too simple. I happen to have a 9-9 True Word Mantra, which creates edicts through the Word Law Art. If youbine these two, you might seed,¡± Xie Fengtang said, stroking his chin.


    Delighted, Tang Jie saluted and said, ¡°Headmaster, please teach me!¡±


    Xie Fengtang didn¡¯t really know how to deal with someone so polite, so he simply nodded and said, ¡°Ah, forget it. Since you want to learn, I¡¯ll teach you.¡±


    Thus, starting from that noon, Tang Jie started to learn this True Word Mantra from Xie Fengtang.


    This True Word Mantra was a secret art that cast spell arts through words. Each time it was used, one would simply need to say a word to create a corresponding effect. It was an extremely profound art with countless forms. It could be considered the most adaptable and most multifunctional secret art.


    But it could not be a spell art that could support an entire sect, or even be entered into the Divine Firmament Sword ssic.


    The reason was simply that it was too weak.


    While the True Mantra had 9-times-9 words for 81ws, 81 different spell art effects, their power wasn¡¯t even half that of the corresponding spell art. It was a mantra that was only useful for bullying the weak.


    But the True Word Mantra was exactly what Tang Jie needed toplement the Ninedark Mantra.


    Three days went by in a sh.


    The first to finishprehending their mantra was Peng Yaolong.


    This wasn¡¯t because he was incredibly talented, but because among all the people that mantras had been distributed to, his had suited him the most.


    In the morning, Tang Jie went to find Peng Yaolong. He asked about how Peng Yaolong had managed toprehend the mantra, tried it out for himself, had Peng Yaolong correct any errors, and once he had confirmed that everything was correct, he left.


    Peng Yaolong didn¡¯t let him leave, pulling on him and asking, ¡°Why did you teach me this?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Don¡¯t you already know? I don¡¯t have time toprehend it myself, so I had you help me.¡±


    There was no way Peng Yaolong would believe this.


    There was a practically endless amount of time to cultivate. How much of a rush could someone be in, that they couldn¡¯t even wait a few days before passing such an important mantra to someone else?


    Thus, he red at him and said, ¡°Don¡¯t try that on me! You think I don¡¯t know how valuable the Energy-Blood Simulflow Mantra is? If you need help with something, just go and tell me. I don¡¯t take advantage of others.¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t need you to help me with anything. We¡¯re all brothers, and when I saw that Energy-Blood Simulfow fit you, I gave it to you. All that you needed to do was tell me what youprehended.¡±


    ¡°¡®We¡¯re all brothers¡¯¡­¡± Peng Yaolong pondered these words, and then he threw his head back andughed. ¡°Good! Very good, Tang Jie! You¡¯re right! We¡¯re all brothers, so I¡¯m actually being unreasonable by arguing with you. Since that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll take this mantra. Starting from today, I am your brother!¡±


    He heavily patted Tang Jie several times on the shoulder and then headed back into his room to cultivate.


    Seeing how excited he was, Tang Jie left, shaking his head with a bitter smile on his lips.


    After leaving Peng Yaolong, Tang Jie went to Ye Tianshang. Sure enough, Ye Tianshang was looking at him strangely.


    Tang Jie raised a hand and stopped him. ¡°We¡¯re all brothers, so I don¡¯t need your thanks. I don¡¯t like using my head too much, so hurry and tell me what you¡¯ve understood.¡±


    Ye Tianshang breathed in and slowly said, ¡°The Twelve Hidden Whirlpools Mantra does allow energy to be sent through many different channels, allowing multiple arts to be used together, but it has different effects on different channels. In my testing over thest few days, I¡¯ve gotten a rough idea of what¡¯s going on. But this mantra is very mysterious, and I still haven¡¯t found all of its secrets. In the short time avable, this is all I¡¯ve been able to grasp¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s enough.¡± Tang Jie was very satisfied with Ye Tianshang¡¯s results.


    As he was leaving, Ye Tianshang shouted, ¡°Tang Jie!¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Tang Jie turned around and looked at Ye Tianshang.


    This novel is avable on Hosted Novel.


    Ye Tianshang said, ¡°I know that you were looking for an excuse to give me this mantra, and though I don¡¯t know why you have such a high opinion of me¡­ I¡¯ll remember this.¡±


    Tang Jie simply smiled and nodded his head before going to find Qi Shaoming.


    Compared to the forthrightness of Peng Yaolong and Ye Tianshang, Qi Shaoming was much more taciturn. He didn¡¯t say anything like ¡°Thank you¡±, ¡°We¡¯re all brothers¡±, or ¡°I¡¯ll remember this¡±. He just stared at Tang Jie, an extremely profound look in his eyes. It was such that when it was time to say goodbye, Tang Jie was suddenly afraid to meet his gaze.


    Wei Tianchong was much more thoughtless.


    He hadn¡¯t recognized at all how precious the mantra Tang Jie had given him was.


    Bright Heart increased one¡¯s intuition andprehension power, and wouldn¡¯t show effect in the short term. Thus, he spoke about it carelessly, even saying that Tang Jie owed him a favor when telling him about what he hadprehended from the mantra.


    Tang Jie grabbed his hand and very sincerely said, ¡°Work hard on cultivating it. It will be good for you!¡±


    Shi Meng was more normal, repeatedly thanking Tang Jie. As for Cai Junyang, he was very bold about it. ¡°Sure enough, good brothers are loyal to each other. Rx; once I get a peerless mantra, I will definitely share it with you.¡±


    It was as if peerless mantras were weeds that grew on the side of the road.


    Xu Miaoran was the most excited, hugging Tang Jie around the neck.


    ¡°Where did you get this mantra?


    ¡°It¡¯s naturally wonderful.


    ¡°But what about me!¡±


    It was only after numerous exhortations that Tang Jie finally managed to escape from this beauty.


    Returning to the Cleansing Sword Garden, he saw that he still had four hours until the appointed time.


    The Nine Executions Immortal Formation, the ancient battlefield.


    Tang Jie¡¯s original body was seated cross-legged on arge stone, his hands forming various signs. As his hands moved, blood-colored patterns appeared on his skin, wriggling like worms, and Tang Jie¡¯s face turned somewhat more savage. This was the result of his studying the Boundless Return to Truth and putting his body through the processid out within.


    Not far from him, arge pack of corpses was being led around by He Chong¡¯s group of three. When they got close, they would rush away again, only leaving behind a trail of dust. This was the setting for Tang Jie¡¯s cultivation, but it did not stir the slightest ripple of emotion on his face.


    The sky darkened and brightened, and the corpse tide ebbed and flowed. In this fashion, three days quickly went by.


    Tang Jie cultivated for three days, and He Chong¡¯s group dragged around the corpse horde for three days. Although it was said that cultivators could go without sleep or rest, this sort of constant running was still rather painful over the long term.


    On this day, Tang Jie continued to sit cross-legged on his rock. In the distance, He Chong¡¯s group suddenly appeared and ran over to his side. He Chong shouted, ¡°Kid, three days is up! What¡¯s your progress on the Ninedark Mantra?¡±


    Tang Jie raised his left hand, bent his ring and pinky fingers, and then formed a sword sign and pointed at He Chong¡¯s chest. ¡°If there is no issue from the Central Capital, how can one travel through the Yin Metropolis?¡±


    After a moment of shock, He Chong blurted out, ¡°umte energy in the point, issue it from the Five Fullnesses, and perform the North Star Sign. Why are you asking me this?¡±


    Tang Jie stopped making the sword sign and made the North Star Sign instead, the ring finger of his left hand hooking onto the pinky finger of his right hand while the ring finger of the right hand hooked the pinky finger of the left hand. Meanwhile, his two thumbs pressed on the ring fingers while the index and middle fingers extended straight. A shing image of his palms immediately appeared.


    <em>Pop!</em> A powerful stream of energy erupted from his hands.


    Tang Jie then asked, ¡°What is the ideal method to make a thunderous roar akin to that of a tiger if issuing energy from the chest?¡±


    ¡°Issue the energy from the Jade Hall,¡± He Chong sternly replied.


    ¡°Why does the Basking Moon Sect prefer the Jade Rotator?¡±


    He Chong immediately said, ¡°The Basking Moon Sect emphasizes the Great Dao, and the Jade Rotator allows for both attack and retreat. Godhead Pce focuses on defense, and at the Jade Hall, we cover all approaches. Energy issued from the central point is always the most solid.¡±


    Tang Jie brought his palms together, and his bones creaked. ¡°Tell me Godhead Pce¡¯s most powerful and reliable mantra for holding energy at the Jade Hall!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± He Chong was startled.


    ¡°Hurry!¡± Tang Jie called out.


    He Chong stomped his feet, but he knew that this situation wouldn¡¯t let him have his way. With onest stomp, he recited a mantra.


    Godhead Pce focused on defense, and out of a desire to guard their foundations, their methods for guiding energy to the central axis were the strongest of all.


    Upon receiving this secret mantra of Godhead Pce, Tang Jie suddenly stood up and threw out his arms. His arms blurred as he began to make various movements, energy rampaging around his chest while his face shed white and red. He Chong¡¯s heart was pounding at this sight as he wondered what had happened to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie¡¯s movements only got faster and faster, and his frenzied hand signs gradually began to develop an order. At this moment, those things he hadn¡¯t understood before were now understood, and those random cultivation mantras were gathered together into a single cohesive whole.


    Tang Jie¡¯s hand movements began to slow down, but each movement was now brimming with strength.


    Even He Chong¡¯s group had to admit that Tang Jie¡¯s every movement was now imbued with a mysterious and grandiose power.


    Was this the secret of the Ninedark Mantra?


    Tang Jie had made such a breakthrough in only three days?


    He Chong had to suppress his envy and control the urge to seize Tang Jie and force him to say everything.


    In the distance, the corpse horde reappeared, surging forward like a tidal wave.


    He Chong andpany were about to lead the corpse horde away when Tang Jie casually said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to run. Leave it to me.¡±


    He rushed forward, his left hand opening upward. On his right, the index, middle, and ring fingers bent while the thumb and pinky extended, pressing on the left hand¡¯s wrist, forming the Ghost-Subduing Fan Sign.


    Tang Jie mmed his left hand at the ground. ¡°Shake!¡±


    As he spoke this single word, the air pped with thunder that resounded in everyone¡¯s ears. Even He Chong felt like a peal of thunder had exploded at his ear, shaking his mind slightly. As for that horde of corpses, it shrieked in misery.


    The target of their hatred instantly shifted to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t move. He formed signs with his left and thrust at the air. ¡°Back!¡±


    This ¡°back¡± word was seemingly spoken by a king ordering about the world, causing all others to look up in fear and reverence. Even these brainless corpses backed away in fear.


    s, these majestic words had a brief effect. As the True Word faded and the light retreated, Tang Jie¡¯s true form was revealed, and that tide of corpses surged.


    Deng Yuqing frowned.


    Personally, he had found Tang Jie¡¯s ¡°Shake¡± and ¡°Back¡± to be quite impressive. s, the True Word Laws had always been extremely weak, and using them to push back the corpse horde was just ying around.


    Tang Jie was undeterred. He took half a step back, drew a circle with one hand, and then extended his right hand out t and made a War Heaven Sign. As energy flowed through his meridians, he spat out, ¡°Break!¡±


    This True Word Law instantly filled the air with a somber energy that stimted the horde into shrieking. Even He Chong couldn¡¯t help but frown.


    He could now see what Tang Jie was doing. This was abination technique, a new True Word spell art he had created using the Ninedark Mantra as the basis.


    This True Word spell art had a righteous energy that was able to intimidate ghosts, so it was able to restrain the corpse horde somewhat. But as he was still getting used to this new spell art, its power was limited.


    In the future, he might be able to break his enemy with a single True Word, but that was absolutely impossible for now.


    Sure enough, the corpse horde grew more enraged after that sudden stimtion, lunging at Tang Jie. It seemed like Tang Jie was about to be buried in the sea of corpses, and He Chong was just about to save him so that he wouldn¡¯t die and doom the rest of them.


    Tang Jie stepped back another half-step, his hands forming more signs. He cried out, ¡°Leave!¡±


    This was a gentle-sounding True Word, devoid of power.


    But as this word left his mouth, there was a chill wind and a terrible howling. The corpse horde was wailing in unison. Countless ghosts appeared in the air, clearly having emerged from the corpses. His single ¡°Leave¡± word had jolted them out of the bodies.


    The three of them were amazed by this sight.


    How was this possible? How had he done it?


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t stop there, his hands instantly forming even more signs.


    There were so many signs and they changed so quickly that not even He Chong¡¯s group could keep up. Some of these signs were unheard of, and they wondered where Tang Jie had even learned them from.


    After all of theseplex hand signs, Tang Jie¡¯s body erupted with energy, and he thrust his hands upward and cried, ¡°Exterminate!¡±


    With this word, the world exploded with light, and those ghosts that had been trying to retreat into the corpses were engulfed. With sharp screeches, they melted away like ice.


    With the death of the ghosts, the corpses dropped to the ground like blocks of wood, and Tang Jie was left alone on the battlefield.


    He Chong¡¯s group was in shock, asking Tang Jie, ¡°This¡­ What is this?¡±


    Tang Jie just stood motionless on the battlefield for quite a while before finally saying, ¡°I used the Ninedark Mantra as the basis and the True Word Mantra as the vessel. Bybining the mantras of Basking Moon and Godhead, I was able to create a True Word Order Law¡ªfour orders to aw, and with thirty-six orders, there are ninews. I call it¡­ the Four-Nine True Word Mantra.¡± Tang Jie wins the bet! But is He Chong actually going to keep his word?

 Chapter 313: Art Transmission

    Chapter 313: Art Transmission


    This was Tang Jie¡¯s creation, and it was also the method he had employed to make up for hisck of cultivation time and strength.


    This four-True-Wordbination of Shake-Back-Break-Leave seemed powerful, but it was actually all just a framework meant to set the stage for the final word of ¡°Exterminate¡±.


    This was precisely why, in order to get the maximum amount of power, Tang Jie had given up on the specialty of the True Word Orders of quick casting. Fortunately, his opponent had been a stupid corpse horde. The five orders he had spoken had needed ten-some seconds in all, which was an absolute joke for cultivators, as a simple roar would be enough to make everything fall apart.


    But it was precisely this ¡°joke¡± that had allowed Tang Jie to take care of that terrifying corpse horde.


    Thebination of orders had allowed Tang Jie to unleash that little bit of righteous energy he had umted over thest four hours, magnified by the Four-Nine True Word Mantra so that it could destroy the corpse horde in one blow and leave He Chong and his tworades utterly agape.


    Even though they quickly realized the limits of this method, they were still stunned by Tang Jie¡¯s handiwork.


    He Chong asked in shock, ¡°Did you create this yourself?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡± He Chong shouted.


    Putting aside the fact that a Spirit tform kid hadprehended the Ninedark Mantra in three days, he had even had the time to create a method that could maximize the power of the mantra and counter the enemy. It was truly unbelievable.


    Even a one-in-ten-thousand-years genius wasn¡¯t capable of this!


    But no matter how much he denied the possibility, the facts were right in front of him. The shock from this far exceeded the sense of defeat from losing the wager.


    Tang Jie looked at him sympathetically. ¡°If there¡¯s nothing else, please stand a little farther away. I still need to find the checkpoint to the fifth formation.¡±


    By ¡°checkpoint to the fifth formation¡±, he actually meant the treasure the Martial Lord had left in the fourth formation.


    Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth weren¡¯t fools, and their eyes brightened at his words. ¡°There¡¯s no corpse horde, and you still dare to act cocky in front of us? You don¡¯t think that shitty Four-Nine True Word Mantra will do anything to us, do you? Even if we can¡¯t kill you, we can at least seize you first!¡±


    Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth lunged at Tang Jie.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie lightly pursed his lips, and then the sword in his right hand shed with azure light as he stabbed it at his own chest.


    It was a ruthless stab, going right into his body and piercing his heart!


    At the same time, He Chong cried out, blood trickling out from the corner of his mouth.


    Their lives were linked, and one stab would hurt both!


    ¡°You!¡± He Chong angrily red at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie sneered, ¡°If you dare to take another step forward, I¡¯ll kill myself and take True Person He down with me!¡±


    Duan Fourth¡¯s eyes shed with a savage light. ¡°I don¡¯t believe you!¡±


    They just needed to take control of Tang Jie and not kill him. Tang Jie¡¯s threat of murder-suicide was really just gambling that they wouldn¡¯t want to take the greater loss. Theoretically, his chances of actually doing the deed were rather low. After all, if he were controlled, he still had a chance to survive, whereas suicide would mean that everything was over.


    This was precisely why Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth were willing to take this wager.


    As Duan Fourth spoke, the two of them stepped forward.


    Seeing the two of theming forward, Tang Jie pped the pommel of his sword.


    The Azure Light Sword dug in deeper, gouging arge hole in his heart.


    He Chong¡¯s heart throbbed in pain, and he threw up blood and roared, ¡°Bastard, don¡¯t go over!¡±


    He thrust out his palms, aiming at Deng and Duan.


    Those two were willing to gamble, but He Chong certainly wasn¡¯t.


    The palm strikesnded, and Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth groaned and flew up. He Chong raised his hands and formed countless signs, after which he thrust his hands at the two. Two Lightning Hand Marks flew out and severely wounded the pair.


    He Chong rebuked, ¡°Beasts! Daring to gamble with my life! If you dare to be so presumptuous again, I¡¯ll kill you first!¡±


    Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth trembled in fear, and it was only now that they realized how grave was the taboo they hadmitted as subordinates. They did not dare to speak, but when they turned to Tang Jie, they saw him smiling. They were aghast as they thought to themselves, <em>Could this have been part of his n?</em>


    Tang Jie saw that those two had been scared straight, after which he slowly pulled out the Azure Light Sword. ¡°True Person He, our coboration ends here. As there¡¯s no need for us to be around each other for now, I will take my leave first. The battlefield is veryrge, but the world is very small. Once the True Celestial Heart Curse is undone, True Person cane to kill me whenever you want.¡±


    ¡°And if you¡¯ve already entered the fifth formation?¡± He Chong asked.


    Tang Jie looked up at the sky. ¡°The danger of the corpse horde has shown that once I obtain the Martial Lord¡¯s legacy here, I will have to diligently cultivate before proceeding to the next formation, or else my life might be in grave peril. Thus, for the time being, I will not be entering the next formation. If True Person He is worried that I will, then you should find the method to enter the fifth formation before me. If you can find the Martial Lord¡¯s legacy in the fourth formation before me, then I will have toe to find you on my own.¡±


    He Chong realized that this was true.


    ording to what Tang Jie said before, entering a level required obtaining the treasure left in the previous level. Thus, rather than constantly hunting Tang Jie, it would be better to find the hidden treasure first. He Chong was also skilled in formations, and in terms of formation knowledge, Tang Jie was definitely inferior. Thus, there was a very high chance that he would find out where the checkpoint was before Tang Jie.


    Even if he hadn¡¯t cultivated the Ninedark Mantra and couldn¡¯t enter the fifth formation, so long as he had the Martial Lord¡¯s legacy, he would have the key that Tang Jie needed to enter the next formation.


    He nodded. ¡°Alright!¡±


    Tang Jie added, ¡°Right¡ªdon¡¯t forget that you lost the three-day wager to me.¡±


    He Chong¡¯s face darkened. ¡°You really think I¡¯ll follow your orders?¡±


    It was clear that he nned to go back on his word. Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Why not? No one can shirk my debts.¡±


    No one can shirk my debts!


    This was an open threat!


    A Spirit tform student threatening a Celestial Heart True Person!


    He Chong scowled. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll wait for you to collect on your debt!¡±


    Tang Jie casually said, ¡°That¡¯s fine. A final reminder: there are costs to holding a loan, and repaymentes with interest!¡±


    Tang Jie turned his head and left.


    He Chong clenched his fists in anger as he watched Tang Jie leave, but he did not strike.


    Deng Yuqing came over. ¡°True¡­ True Person.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± He Chong red at Deng Yuqing, clearly still angry at the two.


    Deng Yuqing dropped his head and said, ¡°With the formation sealed, we have nowhere to go. We might be stuck here.¡±


    ¡°And what about it?¡± He Chong¡¯s eyes chilled. ¡°The Martial Lord couldn¡¯t haveid down a formation with no way back. There should be a way out once we enter the core.¡±


    ¡°But that will probably take a very long time, and we¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Deng Yuqing said nothing, looking to Duan Fourth. Duan Fourth had no choice but to harden his resolve and say, ¡°We don¡¯t have that much food.¡±


    He Chong¡¯s face froze.


    As a Celestial Heart True Person, he possessed a profound cultivation that could abstain from eating.


    But even abstaining from eating meant that one used spiritual energy as one¡¯s form of energy to keep oneself alive. Cultivation required spiritual energy, but life required more than that.


    Or perhaps it was better to say that there were some things that spiritual energy couldn¡¯t rece.


    This was precisely why True Persons who had reached the level of abstinence would still bring a little food and drink with them, though much less than a normal person would. In normal circumstances, they could go ten days to half a month without touching a grain of rice.


    But not even a Celestial Heart True Person could go an entire year without water or rice.


    He Chong¡¯s heart tightened at Duan Fourth¡¯s words.


    Duan Fourth asked, ¡°True Person, what do we do?¡±


    He Chong¡¯s chest rose and fell, and after a while, he finally said, ¡°Let¡¯s wait until we undo the True Celestial Heart Curse first, and then we should focus on finding the Martial Lord¡¯s treasure. We have to get the legacy before Tang Jie.¡±


    Seeing how confident He Chong was, Deng Yuqing sighed, thinking to himself, <em>What we should be doing first is keeping a close eye on Tang Jie.</em>


    Even if they couldn¡¯t capture Tang Jie, they could at least follow him. It wasn¡¯t like Tang Jie couldmit suicide over something like that, right?


    They needed to go wherever Tang Jie went. That was the best way to prevent Tang Jie from carrying out his schemes.


    s, He Chong had been provoked by Tang Jie¡¯s words and nned to find the Martial Lord¡¯s treasure before Tang Jie did.


    Even if he had a shocking level of attainment in the Dao of Formations, this was still a ce the Martial Lord had left for his sessor. Trying to get in front of Tang Jie was essentially impossible.


    Tang Jie was probably already on the road to the fifth formation¡¯s checkpoint, right?


    Deng Yuqing wanted to give chase, but he was afraid of defying He Chong and also wary of Tang Jie¡¯s schemes. He thought to himself, <em>If I really follow, he might have some trick to use against me.</em> After a moment of hesitation, he gave up on the idea.


    What he didn¡¯t know was that while he had been hesitating, he had lost out on the ideal opportunity to deal with Tang Jie.


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    Tang Jie was standing atop a small mountain.


    This had been the means by which he had entered the fourth formation from the third formation, and it was also the key for going from the fourth to the fifth.


    The spiderweb of patterns once more appeared between the five boulders on the mountain top.


    Compared tost time, the patterns were even moreplicated and deeply carved.


    There was no expected treasure in the center of the web, indicating that there was still a key step missing.


    After thinking it over, Tang Jie stepped onto the center of the web.


    The patterns began to light up, and countless motes of light rose out of the ground, floating around Tang Jie like a sea of stars.


    Standing in the center of the stars, Tang Jie looked somewhat nkly at the countless stars flying around him.


    He reached out and touched one of the stars, which cracked open. Out jumped a little man, holding a sword as it danced around. In a sh, it had reenacted an exquisite sword art.


    Tang Jie¡¯s spirit was rxed by the sight, and he wanted to see more, but then the man and sword fused together into a mote of starlight and flew to his side.


    Tang Jie realized then that if he received this ball of light, he would probably ept the legacy granted by this formation.


    Unlike the Parting ssic or the Ninedark Mantra, the fourth formation¡¯s reward was clearly a spell art that could be used inbat, and one that was selected from tens of thousands of spell arts.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know why the Martial Lord had done such a thing. If this person was to be his sessor, shouldn¡¯t he have passed all the spell arts to him? Why only one?


    He didn¡¯t know the answer, but he had to make a choice. He looked at the star before shaking his head in refusal.


    The star circled around him once before flying back into the sea of stars.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but frown.


    There were countless stars in this space, and that star going back was like a drop of water returning to the ocean, indistinguishable from the others. In other words, he could end up picking it again.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t want to waste time on a repeat choice. He carefully nced at that light¡¯s position before reaching out and touching a nearby star. The star cracked open, and this time, it was a man wielding a golden spear, performing a sharp and powerful spear art.


    Tang Jie shook his head, rejecting this spear art, and chose another. This one was weaponless, a barefisted practitioner unleashing a zing palm that tore through the firmament.


    It should have been the case that eachbat spell art here was extremely powerful, worthy of being entered into the Divine Firmament Sword ssic.


    But it was exactly for this reason that Tang Jie wasn¡¯t satisfied.


    He had more than enough secret arts from the Divine Firmament Sword ssic. His greatest worry had been time, not the number of spell arts. For Tang Jie, he needed something with higher demands on hisprehension and short cultivation time, a spell art appropriate for his current situation.


    Besides, he also didn¡¯t think that someone of the Martial Lord¡¯s abilities would leave behind a spell that could only ¡°be entered into the Sword ssic.¡±


    Thus, he needed to find that most dazzling pearl hidden within this sea of stars.


    He kept on picking stars, piling them up by the hundreds and thousands, but Tang Jie didn¡¯t tire, looking through every one.


    Yet no matter how he searched, Tang Jie didn¡¯t find that ¡°pearl¡± he was looking for, which left him rather dejected.


    Had the Martial Lord really left only this trash in the fourth formation?


    No, impossible!


    As Tang Jie spected, he selected another star.


    A silver sword emerged from the star.


    Tang Jie had seen this silver sword three times, for it tended to easily get lost in the crowd. Seeing ite out again, Tang Jie brusquely pushed it away with his finger, but for some reason, he inadvertently used the Weapon Mantra.


    The Weapon Mantra was meant for shattering weapons, and had always done well against weapons and art relics. This silver sword had been created by a spell art¡¯s illusion, so there was no reason for the Weapon Mantra to destroy it.


    But as his finger thrust out, the silver sword shattered, fading away in countless motes of light and leaving Tang Jie stunned.


    And to his disbelief, the shattering of the silver sword even left behind a little golden grain.


    ¡°This¡­ how?¡± Tang Jie was dumbfounded.


    How could the Weapon Mantra have an effect on a weapon created by a spell art?


    He raised his hand, and the golden grain fell in and rolled around on his palm. It felt real, no different from the golden grains he had obtained in the past.


    Tang Jie grew more and more shocked.


    Could it be that the Weapon Mantra really did work against weapons created by spell arts?


    No!


    This was impossible!


    Cultivating Immortality didn¡¯t mean cultivating the unfathomable. At least in this world, all the Immortal arts followed certain rules!


    0 + 0 could not possibly create something so real.


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes chilled. ¡°I don¡¯t believe this is real!¡±


    He flicked his finger, sending the golden grain at a nearby stone pir.


    If this golden grain was real, then even if it didn¡¯t pierce through the pir, at least it would leave an indent.


    The golden grain mmed into the pir, and with a pop, it turned into smoke.


    Tang Jie froze for a moment, and then heughed.


    It really had been the result of an illusion!


    But what level of illusion was it? After creating the assigned weapons and spell arts, it could also evolve ording to the situation, creating the correct illusion.


    If he didn¡¯t know that the Weapon Mantra¡¯s golden grains were indestructible and Tang Jie hadn¡¯t been so confident in himself, he really would have been fooled by the illusion.


    <em>Wait!</em>


    <em>Illusion!</em>


    Tang Jie took a new look at his surroundings.


    These countless stars would automatically produce tens of thousands of spell arts once activated, and that deceiving effect that could adapt to the actions of the cultivator¡­


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes brightened.


    Yes!


    This was what he was looking for.


    This was the real treasure left behind by the Martial Lord!


    But¡­ how could he get it?


    Tang Jie began to think.


    A little whileter¡­


    He looked down at the pattern that covered his surroundings.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°So you were here all along.¡±


    He began to inspect those formation lines, and as he looked through them, he began to get an idea.


    He raised his head and once more looked at the surrounding stars.


    This time, he no longer saw the spell arts represented by the stars, but the arrangement of these motes of light themselves.


    They twinkled in the air, brightening and darkening ording to a special tempo, forming a strange cadence with the formation lines on the ground.


    Tang Jie gradually became immersed in this cadence, and his heart began to beat to the rhythm, strongly and vigorously.


    Finally, after another strong pulse, Tang Jie felt like he heard something breaking.


    The formation and the stars all erupted with blinding light.


    A vast torrent of information surged into Tang Jie¡¯s mind.


    Paperless art transmission.


    It turned out that this was paperless art transmission.


    Tang Jie only had time to sigh before he became lost in the sea of information.


    ¡°It¡¯s done.¡±


    In the little room in the Cleansing Sword Garden, Tang Jie sighed.


    ¡°Big Brother, what¡¯s done?¡± Yiyi asked as she scooted over.


    ¡°Over at the Nine Executions Formation,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°The fourth formation¡¯s treasure has been obtained. Only someone at the Mortal Shedding Realm can enter the fifth formation. Until I¡¯ve mastered the spell arts left by the Martial Lord and entered the Mortal Shedding Realm, I can put aside any thoughts of going. What a pity. The fifth formation is the All-Blossom Formation. There are many natural treasures in there, but I can only look at them.¡±


    The paradise created by the Martial Lord¡¯s Returned Remnants only began with the third formation, but the third formation was a barrennd. It was within the Immortal Realm, but it did not have soil suitable for the growth of spiritual nts, making it aplete waste of a dimension. Only by getting through the ancient battlefield and entering the All-Blossom Formation could one truly enter the Immortal Realm. s, Tang Jie still couldn¡¯t enter.


    ¡°What about He Chong? Once the True Celestial Heart Curse is undone, won¡¯t theye and make trouble for you?¡±


    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s no need to worry about that,¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I was actually having a headache thinking about how to deal with them. Although they don¡¯t want to kill me because they also want to get through the formation, they can at least capture me. Thus, I had readied myself to enter the fifth formation if I had to. But now¡­ I don¡¯t need to worry.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Yiyi asked.


    ¡°What you should be asking is what I actually got in the fourth formation,¡± Tang Jie said, blinking.


    He extended a hand, spiritual energy gathering in his palm.


    As spiritual energy surged, a new ¡°Yiyi¡± appeared in front of Yiyi.


    Yiyi shrieked. ¡°An illusion clone?¡±


    ¡°No¡ªan illusion copy.¡± Tang Jie smiled. It seems like Tang Jie has settled things over at the formation. It¡¯s time for the avatar to get to work!

 Chapter 314: The Langya Blessed Land

    Chapter 314: The Langya Blessed Land


    After several days of rest, the list ofpetitors for the next round was finally released.


    In truth, there was no need for a list. Everyone could just calcte their standing from their performance in the first round. After all, the points and rules were all there for everyone to see.


    There were sixty people participating in total: seven from the Thousand Passions Sect, seven from Horizon Ocean Pavilion, ten from Godhead Pce, fourteen from the Beast Refining Gate, thirteen from the Basking Moon Sect, and nine from the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    It wasn¡¯t strange that the Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion had the smallest number of people participating. This Immortal Fortune Conference had inherently put them at a disadvantage.


    Among the other four sects, Godhead Pce and the Seven Absolutions Sect had smaller numbers of contestants because they were the mortal foes that had been pitted against each other first. As their battle to the death had taken ce on the second day, some of the students had been reced by substitutes, which wasn¡¯t favorable to the following matches. Thus, their total scores had suffered.


    As for the Beast Refining Gate and Basking Moon Sect, they had had their grudge matchst, and through Tang Jie¡¯s n, the Basking Moon Sect had exchanged victory for life. The result was that the Beast Refining Gate had won the most and also suffered the most deaths. While they had fourteen spots, most of them were substitute students, so in terms of overall strength, they were weaker than the Basking Moon Sect. s, even though the Basking Moon Sect had thirteen people, Cai Junyang hadn¡¯t qualified, as he had lost too many matches.


    But for the major sects, this was irrelevant. After all, only the top ten students were truly important. Thus, so long as the top-ranked students of the major sects were okay, nothing else mattered.


    But it wasn¡¯t entirely right to say that they didn¡¯t care at all.


    At least those people who would never be able to enter the top ten could help the others.


    In a melee where sixty people were present, while the strength of a single person could be a crucial factor in one¡¯s victory, supporting one¡¯s friends would also affect the final oue.


    If someone thought that he was the strongest and could ignore the other students, he would be rejected and would find it difficult to get others on his side when the time came.


    This was another reason the Wandering Pce had arranged for a melee.


    All public appearances were faked. Only this sort of melee could help others see who knew how to work human rtions. Unless one had reached the Immortal tform Realm and was able to freely roam the heavens and ignore all other beings, even the most capable person would end up alone if they didn¡¯t know how to manage human rtions.


    This was precisely why those within the six major sects were privately arranging their own alliances.


    This was particrly true for the leading students, like Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s Lan Yu, Godhead Pce¡¯s Yun Wuji, the Thousand Passions Sect¡¯s Deng Xiaoyu, and so on. When they had the free time, they would spend time with other students to establish rtionships.


    Those students who were fortunate enough to get into the second round butcked the strength to hope at the top ten instantly became celebrities. Those aloof geniuses who normally didn¡¯t even nce in their direction were sending them invitation cards and treating them to meals or inviting them to spar, even giving them pointers. If they had a question, they could just ask their senior brothers, and there would undoubtedly be an answer.


    This was the case within sects, and there were also cases where different sects allied with each other.


    The six major sects each had friends and enemies. The Thousand Passions Sect and the Basking Moon Sect, Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate, Horizon Ocean Pavilion and the Seven Absolutions Sect¡ªthe students of these respective alliances drew closer together, each with their own ns, and all kinds of teams and alliances popped up. And at times, there would be a student in multiple alliances, reaping benefits from multiple parties.


    The more extreme would try to recruit from more sects than just their sect¡¯s ally.


    Tang Jie had received a private letter from a student of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. He called himself Xu Miaoran¡¯s senior brother, and someone of some status in Horizon Ocean Pavilion who had numerous patrons. If Tang Jie wanted to win the affection of his girl, he would have to give this guy a hand in the second round, or else he would definitely ruin a good thing, and so on¡­


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know whether tough or to cry as he tore up the letter.


    Compared to the other sects, while the Basking Moon Sect students were doing their own recruiting, things were much calmer.


    Peng Yaolong, Tang Jie, and Ye Tianshang¡ªthis batch of the most outstanding students¡ªwere unexpectedly rather quiet. They spent most of their time cultivating alone in their rooms, asionallying out to chat with their fellows.


    These were the top-ranked students, so their attitude left many students who were waiting for an offer very disappointed.


    Of course, this gave a chance for others, like Long Dao, who had also passed, to run around and make connections, promising rich rewards.


    The days went by like this, and finally, the day of the second round arrived.


    On this morning, sixty students gathered at Red Plum Ridge, and the representatives from the Wandering Pce and the six major sects were seated. Besides that, spectators hade from all around.


    On one side of the ridge was and engulfed in clouds and fog. Tang Jie and the others hadn¡¯t seen these clouds here before.


    A master of the Wandering Pce stood up and went up to the cloud-coverednd. ¡°In the previous round, all the students of the major sects put on sterling performances and brought pride and dignity to the six major sects. After some discussion, it has been decided that in this second round of the tournament, the young geniuses will be given an opportunity, and the match is to proceed within the Langya Blessed Land.¡±


    Everyone was in an uproar over this news.


    ¡°The Langya Blessed Land! The Langya Blessed Land!¡±


    ¡°I really didn¡¯t think that we would be so fortunate as to enter a blessednd. Even if I don¡¯t get into the top ten, this trip will still have been worth it.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡±


    The Langya Blessed Land was the Wandering Pce¡¯s own blessednd. It had been operated by the Wandering Pce for many years and was home to countless wondrous nts and rare fiend beasts. It was an eight-hundred-year blessednd, and the Wandering Pce¡¯s strength was clear from its value. If one excluded the six major sects, it was quite the wealthy sect.


    For them to offer the blessednd as the site of thepetition was paying a rather hefty price. As the Wandering Pce would no longer be independent after this, there was no harm in being a little generous and building up a good rtionship with the other sects. Since the groom, and thus the ultimate winner, had not been decided, they decided to spread the love a little and make everyone happy.


    The master said, ¡°I will now announce the rules of thepetition. Only participating students are allowed in the blessednd. The pce has already ced ten treasures in various ces throughout the blessednd for the students to seek out. Note that all the treasures have had the Treasure Light spell applied to them. When taken, they will let out a radiant glow that will be visible for several dozen kilometers around. A student that has obtained a treasure must hold onto the treasure for twelve hours, regardless of method. Uponpletion, they will be teleported out. Remember that the treasures cannot be ced in Mustard Seed Bags, or else the timer will not run.¡±


    Everyone immediately understood what was going on.


    It was clear that the students not only needed to find the treasure ahead of the others, they also needed to guard the treasure for a day to achieve victory.


    A student raised his hand, and the master nodded and said, ¡°What is your question?¡±


    The student said, ¡°Esteemed Master, what happens if one obtains a treasure, puts it in a Mustard Seed Bag, and then takes it out again?¡±


    The master replied, ¡°The timer will restart. Only keeping the treasure at one¡¯s side for twelve hours straight will count.¡±


    The student asked, ¡°Then what if it leaves your hand in the middle of a fight? Stolen by your opponent?¡±


    ¡°Temporarily being relieved of it is fine, but if it is out of your possession for more than three seconds, the timer will restart. The treasure itself will analyze everything and disy the appropriate time.¡±


    Another student asked, ¡°Can you leave early if you find yourself not up to the task?¡±


    ¡°Each student will have an escape jade talisman that will allow them to leave early, which will be considered a concession. If all students are defeated, thest ten remaining will automatically win. If no treasures were obtained in this time, then even if one is a winner, one will not receive a treasure as a reward. In addition, the jade talisman requires time to activate. You cannot attack while escaping, and if you are attacked during this time, the escape will fail.¡±


    These final words left everyone rmed.


    In other words, the jade talisman could not be used to escape from battle.


    Basking Moon Academy¡¯s Tiger Roar Valley didn¡¯t have this problem. Was this because Wandering Pce was too incapable, or did it have other motives?


    Tang Jie raised his head. ¡°Esteemed Master, what happens if you take more than one treasure?¡±


    The master replied, ¡°If you have the ability to take all ten, then you will be the only candidate.¡±


    The crowd exploded.


    The master¡¯s exnation was different from before. It turned out that ten people weren¡¯t needed. There could be even fewer.


    ¡°But¡­¡± the master added, ¡°if you wish to gain all ten treasures, you must keep them all outside. It is not allowed to try and gain them by hiding some and showing others. The Wandering Pce will take back all the ones that you have hidden.¡±


    ¡°This student understands,¡± Tang Jie respectfully said.


    Several more students asked questions, clearing up the rules of thepetition.


    Finally, that master said, ¡°If there are no more questions, thepetition can begin. There is danger inherent to this tournament, and all gathered will have to seek out fortune or peril on their own. I wish you all good luck.¡±


    He blinked to the side, and a path appeared behind him, leading into the clouds.


    An attendant came forward and distributed jade talismans, and the students went in as soon as they received a talisman. This Langya Blessed Land had been set up with random teleportation, so the students didn¡¯t know where they would end up once inside. The rest would be left to their own abilities.


    Once all the students were inside, that master shouted, ¡°Close the passage!¡±


    The passage into the clouds disappeared.


    At the same time, a giant dome appeared in the sky, disying the scene within the blessednd and the students within it.


    It had to be noted that the master had not mentioned this when answering everyone¡¯s questions.


    On the contrary, the master from the Wandering Pce had lied, saying that the formation over the Langya Blessed Land prevented outsiders from knowing what was going on inside, with all time being tracked by the treasures themselves.


    In reality, unless it was a treasure with a weapon soul, there was no spell art that could keep track of so muchplicated information. The ones truly making the calls were the observers on the outside. The various spell arts applied to the treasures were merely used to ry information.


    But the six major sects all supported this deception.


    Only when they believed they were unobserved would the students show their true personalities and abilities, assisting the various sects in understanding their own students.


    This would serve as proof that the various sects would use to decide which students to promote, and it would also serve to assist the Wandering Pce in making its choice. Now, let¡¯s hope that the students don¡¯t do anything too embarrassing. I¡¯m thinking about a particr young master here¡­

 Chapter 315: Difficulties

    Chapter 315: Difficulties


    His surroundings were pitch-ck, and after he had been walking for some time, his field of view finally opened, and Tang Jie found himself in an empty forest.


    This ce was rich in spiritual energy. After all, this was the Langya Blessed Land. Cultivating here for a day was worth several days on the outside.


    But this wasn¡¯t the most important thing about thisnd.


    Tang Jie saw Mandarin Duck Flowers growing not far from him, each one with enormous pink petals. The size of the coros indicated that they ranged from six hundred to seven hundred years old. The Mandarin Duck Flower¡¯s roots were an extremely valuable herb, and if he were able to gather them all, he would be able to get quite the nice sum.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t n to pick them.


    The rules the Wandering Pce had set down decreed that the students could only collect twelve kinds of resources in the Langya Blessed Land, regardless of age, and they only gather up to three of the same kind of resource, and these resources could not be discarded once gathered.


    In other words, all the students could, at most, gather thirty-six herbs in the Langya Blessed Land, and once they made their choice, there was no changing it. After all, it wasn¡¯t like they could put back the herbs they had picked.


    While Mandarin Duck Flowers were nice, Tang Jie didn¡¯t consider them worth it.


    What he didn¡¯t know was that almost every student had been teleported near a rare herb.


    While some students ignored these herbs and left, others fell to the temptation.


    Of course, it was fine to pick them so long as one kept to the rules, but there were some people who immediately broke the rules and seizedrge handfuls, not caring at all about the rule that restricted them to only three per type. They looked around, and when they confirmed that no one was around, they patted themselves on the back.


    They didn¡¯t know that the esteemed masters outside were seeing their repulsive attitude, the mes of anger burning in their hearts.


    Xie Fengtang pped his armrest and grunted, ¡°Bastards, idiots, good-for-nothings!¡±


    The Basking Moon Sect was, unfortunately, no exception to ying host to rulebreakers, and the rulebreaker was none other than Wei Tianchong.


    This stubborn fatty had been teleported near some Violet Thorns, which had a wood that was as tough as metal, making it ideal for making puppets and also as a support for cultivation. Upon seeing these treasures, he took out his axe and immediately cut down six, angering Xie Fengtang so much that he wanted nothing more than to pick Wei Tianchong up and give him a good beating, asking him if he had ever taken the advice of his seniors to heart.


    But all six major sects had some good-for-nothings among their ranks, and nobody wasughing at anybody else. Moreover, thepetition had just begun, and breaking the rules didn¡¯t mean losing your chance. To tell the truth, all the rules were merely used as reference material for the Wandering Pce. So long as the Wandering Pce wished it, nobody could say anything, even if their little pce lord chose a student that had destroyed the entire Langya Blessed Land as her groom.


    As for the loss sustained by the Wandering Pce because of the rule-breaking, the six major sects would naturally paypensation. But those students couldn¡¯t hope to get off scot-free. No matter which goodies they got now, they would have to hand it all over at the end, perhaps even losing out on what should have been their share.


    ¡°At least those kids didn¡¯t show any weakness.¡± Xie Fengtang nced at Peng Yaolong, Tang Jie, and the others, sighing in relief.


    This was also true for the other five sects. Their elite students had not broken the rules.


    This didn¡¯t mean that they were of better character. It was just that they had the best chance of getting into the top ten, and though they didn¡¯t know that they were being observed, they didn¡¯t want to lose their chance for the sake of some meager profit.


    The higher one went, the more cautious one had to be.


    Ignoring the temptation of the Mandarin Duck Flower, Tang Jie continued forward, activating his Celestial Eye to search for treasures. Actually, he would have had a much easier time finding the ten treasures if he used the Illuminating Eye, but that spell¡¯s use was too obvious to observers. Although the Wandering Pce had said that nobody could look inside, Tang Jie did not dare to ce his hopes on his opponents. Thus, he did not dare to use this spell.


    An eight-hundred-year blessednd was an eight-hundred-year farnd. Together with the apanyingndscape, the Langya Blessed Land upied quite arge area. In no rush, Tang Jie walked for half a day without running into a single student.


    As he strolled through the forest, he heard a howl, and then a pungent wind assailed him.


    His face tightened as he pulled out the Heartbreak Saber. A momentter, arge snake slithered out of the distance.


    The snake was pure white and more than a hundred feet long. Its body was as thick as a barrel, and its wide-open eyes were staring at Tang Jie. Suddenly, it hissed and lunged at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie raised his saber to block. The snake ran its head right into the de, and with a bang, Tang Jie went flying.


    The white snake continued forward, rushing at Tang Jie. Thankfully, Tang Jie managed to activate the Violet Lightning Lunge, and he instantly elerated to avoid the white snake. The white snake mmed into the ground, digging out a giant hole.


    The giant body lifted up, and the white snake angrily hissed at Tang Jie. A fiendish wind stirred up, blowing Tang Jie back several steps with its force.


    The white snake used this chance to swing its giant tail at him.


    Unable to dodge, Tang Jie activated the Formless Golden Body and Aquagel Shroud to take the blow. A momentter, Tang Jie was pped around like a basketball, but at least he had be more skilled in the Formless Golden Body now and managed to endure the blow.


    Not giving him a chance to stand, the fiend snake rushed at him with a hiss, its scales erupting out and turning it into a saw. Just a brush past would cut Tang Jie in half at the waist.


    Tang Jie hastily backed away while extending one hand. Arge flock of zeravens erupted from the zeraven Ring to assail the fiend snake.


    The fiend snake hissed in pain from the burns, but this only provoked it further. It began to swing around itsrge body like a giant cudgel.


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    Just when it seemed like the snake would m into Tang Jie, Tang Jie disappeared like a ghost, and when he next appeared, he was behind the fiend snake.


    ¡°The Chaoswind Step!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Master Ming¡¯s Chaoswind Step!¡±


    Outside the Langya Blessed Land, a group of spectating Basking Moon students cried out in recognition of the foot technique that Tang Jie was using.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think he would master it so quickly,¡± a student said in shock.


    The Chaoswind Step was used rather elegantly, putting Tang Jie right behind the snake. The moment Tang Jie appeared, he swung his saber with a great bellow.


    Thousand Rupture sh!


    The power of this Thousand Rupture sh was not to be underestimated, the de sinking into the snake¡¯s body. The white snake let out a long hiss and turned to face Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie once more blinked away, appearing where he had been before.


    ¡°So he could only move between two stars,¡± someone noticed, sighing in relief.


    The 27 Star Chaoswind Step was simply 27 special star coordinates in a certain region that the cultivator could freely and instantly move between. The stronger one was, the greater the range that could be covered by the star coordinates.


    Tang Jie had only mastered 2-star movement, meaning that he could only move between two fixed points, which was the simplest level of the Chaoswind Step. A cultivator would easily be able to realize this and exploit it to deal a blow.


    But 2-star movement was enough to deal with a brainless fiend beast.


    After getting behind the white snake again, Tang Jie fired off an Energy Needle.


    The needle jabbed into the white snake¡¯s wound, causing it to turn around once more, upon which Tang Jie once more went behind it.


    The pattern continued, like the white snake was a ything in Tang Jie¡¯s hand. It began to weaken, Tang Jie¡¯s repeated attacks having almost cut its enormous body in two.


    The white snake could no longer resist and finally moved to the side, its body shing with red light. This was its fiend pellet activating, beginning to heal the wound.


    But the fiend snake was nning to run.


    Tang Jie obviously wouldn¡¯t let it escape. ording to the rules set by the Wandering Pce, when encountering a fiend beast, there were four things that were not allowed. The first was looting the nest. Under no circumstances was one allowed to attack a fiend beast¡¯s den. The second was killing the young. The killing of juvenile fiend beasts was forbidden. The third was poison. When facing fiend beasts, it was not permitted to use poison in any way. The fourth was extermination. When facing packs of fiend beasts, one had to preserve a breeding stock.


    So long as a student did not break those four conditions, they could hunt and kill as they pleased.


    Since there was no limit to the number of fiend beasts that could be hunted, Tang Jie naturally wouldn¡¯t let any go.


    As the fiend snake fled, he activated the Violet Lightning Lunge and unleashed a Windcleaver Saber at the snake¡¯s wound, almost cutting it in half. He followed it up with a punch at the glowing red spot.


    It was a well-ced blow, scattering the red light. At the same time, Tang Jie made another Thousand Rupture sh, and these two savage blows finally managed to cleave apart the snake.


    Not even the fiend pellet could heal this, and the two sections of the snake¡¯s body crazily convulsed on the ground. One section struck Tang Jie and sent him flying as he threw up blood.


    Wiping away the blood on his mouth, Tang Jie blinked again, once more moving to a star coordinate. He stabbed the Heartbreak Saber down and then dragged it along the length of one half of the snake¡¯s body. Without the defense of the scales, the white snake¡¯s body was extremely soft and vulnerable around the wound. Tang Jie¡¯s saber sliced along the length of the body, and Tang Jie himself ended up inside the snake, finally erupting out from the head.


    The snake let out onest hiss before dying.


    Tang Jie finally had time to breathe.


    While the spectating Basking Moon students outside cheered, those who knew Tang Jie, like Xie Fengtang and Cai Junyang, frowned.


    Though Tang Jie had killed the white snake, it was clear that it hadn¡¯t been easy.


    He had used almost everything he had: both techniques from the Divine Firmament Sword ssic like the Formless Golden Body, Violet Lightning Lunge, and Divine Court Thousandshift; and the Chaoswind Step, which no one knew that he had learned yet. He had been forced to use what should have been his trump card.


    This shouldn¡¯t have happened for someone of Tang Jie¡¯s strength.


    Cai Junyang was particrly suspicious. As someone who had shed with Tang Jie countless times, he was well aware of how strong Tang Jie was.


    But in today¡¯s battle, Tang Jie had seemingly be another person. Putting aside the fact that he had been knocked away by the snake, he had taken seventeen blows to take down that white snake. While this was normal for other people, it was extremely unusual for Tang Jie. This was no longer the Tang Jie that he knew.


    <em>Is this guy pretending?</em> Cai Junyang couldn¡¯t help but think.


    But he didn¡¯t know that he was being watched from the outside, so who was he pretending for?


    <em>Yes, this guy has always been very crafty. He must have guessed that something like this could happen, so he¡¯s acting,</em> Cai Junyang couldn¡¯t help but think.


    In the blessednd, Tang Jie was strenuously dismantling the snake.


    It was only when one lost something that one realized how precious it was. Without the powerful constitution granted by the Parting ssic, Tang Jie now realized how weak he was. He once had the strength to brutalize a lower-grade Mind Opening fiend, but he now found it hard to deal with a single upper-grade Spirit Sensing one.


    In other words, with his avatar, he had lost the ability to fight above his level.


    But in this blessednd, the vast majority of students had already entered the Mortal Shedding Realm.


    Unless he entered the Mortal Shedding Realm himself, it was basically impossible for him to get anything from this battle. s, avatar Tang Jie isn¡¯t as strong as OG Tang Jie. But getting to the Mortal Shedding Realm in the middle of a tournament? Doesn¡¯t sound doable.

 Chapter 316: Duplication Spell

    Chapter 316: Duplication Spell


    To say it was difficult would be wrong, but so would be calling it easy. One needed to satisfy only two conditions.


    The first was that the Spiritual Space needed to berge enough to hold ten thousand drops of spiritual liquid. The second was to erect the Heaven-Earth Bridge.


    The former required umtion while thetter required a determined attack.


    For Tang Jie, the determined attack needed to erect the Heaven-Earth Bridge actually wasn¡¯t very difficult. The true problem was umtion.


    In thesest few years, despite Tang Jie¡¯s diligent cultivation, he had only entered Spirit Sea four months ago. At a normal pace, he would need at least four years to maximize the size of his Spirit Sea.


    The only way to skip these four years was arge number of resources.


    And that was basically impossible in normal circumstances.


    But he was currently in the Langya Blessed Land, which was rich in resources, so he had some hope.


    The only problem was that the herbs needed to be made into pills to have an effect, and just like the Valley of No Return, the Langya Blessed Land did not allow pill furnaces to be brought in, not even mentioning the fact that Tang Jie didn¡¯t know how to refine pills.


    Tang Jie had a headache thinking about how to deal with this problem.


    Within the Langya Blessed Land, Tang Jie looked into the distance.


    Various flowers and herbs were growing everywhere.


    They swayed in the wind, strongly tempting Tang Jie into pulling them all out.


    If not for the problem of refinement, he really might have done such a thing. He really didn¡¯t care about the Wandering Pce¡¯s rules.


    He obeyed the rules because he wanted to leave a good impression on all the esteemed masters, but if breaking the rules reaped him greater benefits, he would instantly transform into the worst rulebreaker.


    Men didn¡¯t care much about loyalty, only about whether the temptation was great enough.


    The fact that he could only look at all these rare nts left Tang Jie in pain. If not for that vague sense that he was being watched, he might have given up on his original n and chosen to cultivate the Parting ssic, using everything in the Langya Blessed Land for his baths.


    But even if he wasn¡¯t using the Parting ssic, he still didn¡¯t give up on his desire for thisnd¡¯s resources.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe that this world doesn¡¯t let me eat things raw!¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    There had to be some sort of herb that could be used without processing!


    The problem was that Tang Jie had never heard in any of his sses of herbs that could directly increase spiritual energy without processing.


    Was there none?


    Or were his teachers just not telling?


    Tang Jie thought back to the Valley of No Return.


    If the students knew which herbs could be used on the spot, such herbs would probably be wiped out from the Valley of No Return.


    It was not appropriate for the students to learn of such things at this point.


    Upon realizing this, Tang Jie chuckled.


    ¡°You won¡¯t tell me, so I¡¯ll go and ask.¡±


    The Nine Executions Immortal Formation.


    He Chong sat cross-legged on arge stone.


    He sat motionless, two white slivers emerging from his nostrils and coiling in the air like little snakes before going back into his nostrils. There was a thunderous boom from within He Chong¡¯s body, like countless little explosions were taking ce.


    Not far from him, Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth stood, not daring to disturb him.


    This cycle continued for some time until He Chong finally concluded his cultivation session.


    Opening his eyes, he asked, ¡°You still haven¡¯t found the kid?¡±


    The two of them replied in unison, ¡°We¡¯ve looked everywhere, but we¡¯ve found no sign of him!¡±


    He Chong scowled. ¡°Hmph, useless trash!¡±


    Not long after they had split up, He Chong had realized that he had fallen for Tang Jie¡¯s provocation and lost the best chance to take control of the situation.


    When he failed to find the checkpoint, He Chong realized that this probably wasn¡¯t because of ack in his mastery of formations, but because somebody was causing trouble in the shadows. And there was no doubt that the troublemaker was Tang Jie.


    But it was now difficult to find Tang Jie. While He Chong focused on breaking the True Celestial Heart Curse, Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth searched everywhere for Tang Jie, but they ultimately failed.


    Of course, in He Chong¡¯s eyes, this wasn¡¯t his error, but the ipetence of Deng and Duan.


    Duan Fourth was somewhat unconvinced. ¡°True Person, we¡¯ve looked everywhere, but we still haven¡¯t been able to find Tang Jie. He must have entered the fifth formation already.¡±


    He Chong raised an eyebrow and turned to Deng Yuqing. ¡°Yuqing, what do you think?¡±


    Duan Fourth was much stronger than Deng Yuqing, but the Hawk Hall¡¯s Deng Yuqing had the more nimble mind.


    Even though He Chong called them ¡°useless¡±, he was just venting. He still wanted to hear what Deng Yuqing had to say.


    Deng Yuqing answered, ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s very possible. This Myriad Corpse Formation already had us running for our lives, and Tang Jie is no suicidal idiot. He won¡¯t dare enter the fifth formation until hepletelyprehends the Ninedark Mantra and this formation¡¯s legacy!¡±


    Duan Fourth said in confusion, ¡°Then where is he hiding? Brother Deng even used the Heavenly Art Eye to try and find this kid. Even if this kid was invisible, he shouldn¡¯t have been able to escape Brother Deng¡¯s Art Eye.¡±


    Deng Yuqing shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. We understand too little about him. We don¡¯t know what he learned in Basking Moon Academy thesest few years, what advantages the Martial Mirror gave him, or what sort of legacy was left behind in the fourth formation. Any one of these unknowns could y a part in his ability to evade us.¡±


    He Chong couldn¡¯t help but sigh.


    Deng Yuqing was right, and precisely because he was so right, He Chong felt very helpless.


    Ever since he had entered the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, He Chong had been restrained and repressed. He was clearly dealing with a child who hadn¡¯t yet entered Mortal Shedding, but a Celestial Heart True Person still couldn¡¯t do anything. Now that he couldn¡¯t even find Tang Jie, he felt even less confidence than before.


    As the three of them wallowed in their helplessness, Duan Fourth suddenly pointed into the distance and said, ¡°True Person, look!¡±


    He Chong raised his head and saw someone making their way over. Who else could it be but Tang Jie?


    They couldn¡¯t find him, but he instead delivered himself to their doorstep?


    From Tang Jie¡¯s attitude, this didn¡¯t seem to be a coincidence. Rather, he had sought them out on purpose.


    Killing intent appeared on Duan Fourth¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯ll seize him right now and see how he gets away this time.¡±


    Deng Yuqing stopped him. ¡°What are you in such a rush for? Don¡¯t you see he¡¯se to visit us himself? Let¡¯s wait until we hear what he has to say first.¡±


    Duan Fourth stomped his feet. ¡°This kid is too cunning. I¡¯m worried that we won¡¯t be able to do anything once he¡¯s done talking!¡±


    He had struck upon the truth with these words, but s, sometimes, there just wasn¡¯t anything that could be done.


    In truth, the three of them had sighed in relief when Tang Jie had appeared.


    At least Tang Jie hadn¡¯t entered the fifth formation, so they still had a chance.


    They hadn¡¯t noticed at this time that Tang Jie¡¯s presence orck thereof already had a massive psychological effect on them.


    Tang Jie casually walked over with a smile on his face, as if he didn¡¯t realize that he was facing down three enemies who could easily obliterate him.


    As he came over, he even waved. ¡°Hey, are you guys doing well? Long time no see!¡±


    Their faces twitched.


    He Chong snorted, ¡°Since you dared toe, you must have something to back it up. I¡¯d like to see what you¡¯re going to use to escape my grasp!¡±


    As too little time had passed, he still hadn¡¯tpletely undone the True Celestial Heart Curse, but with his profound cultivation, He Chong had managed to minimize the True Celestial Heart Curse¡¯s power to the smallest possible. Right now, even if Tang Jiemitted suicide, he would only injure He Chong at worst, not bring down both of them.


    Thus, He Chong was now confident that he could deal with Tang Jie. If this kid was still relying on the True Celestial Heart Curse, then he would quickly find out the consequences of underestimating a Celestial Heart True Person.


    Tang Jie shrugged. ¡°What¡¯s the rush? If I really let you experience it now, there won¡¯t be a need to talk afterward.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to talk about?¡± Deng Yuqing asked.


    ¡°I just want to ask you guys a few questions,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°¡®Questions¡¯?¡± The three of them were taken aback.


    ¡°Mm,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°I¡¯d like to ask about Thousand Bell Grass, Mandarin Duck Flower, Red Tear Mushrooms[¡­] Among these herbs, which ones can be directly consumed to increase spiritual energy and which ones need to be processed?¡±


    Tang Jie had named several dozen herbs in one go, all of them spiritual grasses found within the Langya Blessed Land.


    The three of them looked at each other, and then Deng Yuqing frowned and asked, ¡°Why are you asking this? Have you found these herbs?¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± Duan Fourth scratched his head in confusion. ¡°A massive war urred here, and some supreme art was applied on thend, sucking out all of its essence and turning it into worthless soil. Unless one nurtures the soil essence once more, no spirit nts will grow here, even with all this spiritual energy around. Where could this kid have found rare herbs?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my problem. I just need your answer,¡± Tang Jie coolly said.


    He Chong¡¯s face darkened. ¡°Brat, who do you think you¡¯re talking to?¡±


    A Godhead student who dared to talk to him like this would have been killed on the spot for his crime of disrespect.


    Tang Jie pursed his lips. ¡°You guys probably don¡¯t have much food, right?¡±


    The three of them grimaced.


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    Tang Jie took out a bag. ¡°This food can keep you three up for two to three months.¡±


    Deng Yuqing grunted, ¡°Who do you think we are, actually¡­¡±


    Tang Jie cut him off. ¡°If you don¡¯t want it, forget it.¡±


    He made a motion to destroy the bag.


    The three of them shouted in unison, ¡°No!¡±


    He Chong red out at him, and then he sighed and said, ¡°Red Tear Mushrooms. Cut off the red spots on the cap and then boil it in water, after which it can be directly consumed. It can increase your spiritual energy a little upon consumption, but the effects are very limited. You would need to eat a lot for an obvious effect.¡±


    ¡°Anything else? Tell me everything you know.¡±


    ¡°What are you trying to do?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to get from the start of the Spirit Sea Tier to the Mortal Shedding Realm as quickly as possible.¡±


    He Chong froze, and then he exploded inughter. ¡°Kid, you¡¯ve really got some ideas! But this will require a lot of resources on your part, and where are you going to find these herbs in a barrennd like this?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just preparing for the fifth formation.¡±


    He Chong grunted, ¡°Thinking too far into the future isn¡¯t necessarily a good thing. You want to know? Fine; then double the amount of food.¡±


    ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll send it over in a little while.¡±


    ¡°¡®Send it over in a little while¡¯?¡± He Chong was startled.


    He realized that something was wrong and took a good, hard look at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie had a calm expression, and He Chong could tell from how the muscles on his mouth moved that he felt no fear in front of He Chong¡¯s powerful pressure. His eyes were also brimming with confidence, as if he cared not for the danger his opponents represented.


    He held that cloth bag in the air so calmly that it was frightening.


    He Chong¡¯s heart suddenly leapt.


    He attacked, pointing a finger at Tang Jie¡¯s left leg. He held back, looking only to wound, not kill.


    The st of energy punched a hole through Tang Jie¡¯s thigh, and blood flowed out of the wound.


    He Chong¡¯s mind calmed down at this sight.


    But then he realized that some of the blooding from the wound was actually flowing upward.


    His heart trembled.


    At the same time, Tang Jie looked down at his injured leg and muttered as if he couldn¡¯t feel anything, ¡°So you still couldn¡¯t help yourself?¡±


    The ice-cold voice made He Chong¡¯s heart grow cold, and an absurd idea popped up in his mind.


    He looked at Tang Jie in shock and shook his head. ¡°How? How is this possible?¡±


    He howled and waved his right hand, sending a wave of energy from his palm to cut off Tang Jie¡¯s legs.


    Blood flew, and Tang Jie¡¯s legs went flying into the air, causing Tang Jie to drop to the ground.


    Even so, Tang Jie was unmoved. He simply looked at his stumps and sighed. ¡°s, I told you not to rush things. Now I have to make this run again.¡±


    As he spoke, the gushing blood turned into spiritual fog that dissipated in the air. Tang Jie¡¯s body began to burn up into spiritual energy at the stumps, the mes rapidly creeping upward, rendering his body into spiritual fog until he waspletely gone.


    ¡°No! Duan Fourth cried out in despair.


    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    ¡°Sure enough¡­¡±


    Deng Yuqing and He Chong instantly understood what was going on.


    It was no wonder they couldn¡¯t find Tang Jie. He had somehow mastered an extremely high-level duplication illusion spell.


    This duplication illusion spell was no clone spell. The human created couldn¡¯t be used for battle and possessed zerobat ability. It couldn¡¯t even block attacks.


    It simply authentically duplicated the targeted item. The human form was simply what had been ordered to be duplicated. Thus, rather than saying that it created a clone, it was more urate to say that it had recreated an ¡°object¡± with a human form.


    Through this method, Tang Jie was able to make an illusory self, but he could also turn himself into a stone or a corpse. Deng and Duan naturally wouldn¡¯t be able to find him then.


    As for why it could speak, this had nothing to do with the duplication spell. He was just using some other spell art he had learned from the Divine Firmament Sword ssic.


    This duplication spell art was of such an extremely high level that even the Heavenly Art Eye, which was intended to see through illusions, couldn¡¯t prate it. It could even react ording to the situation. Tang Jie bleeding from his injury was a sign of the spell¡¯s adaptive ability.


    The ability of the illusion to react depended on the cultivator¡¯s proficiency in the spell. The higher the proficiency, the greater the ability to react.


    Tang Jie had only started learning this spell, so he was far from reaching the standard. A single bolt of energy from a finger had been enough to make it fall apart. His facial expression had been stiff, the blood effects had been awful, even flowing upward¡­ The artistry was terrible to behold, and those severed legs had been difficult to maintain and had simply disappeared.


    While the Heavenly Art Eye hadn¡¯t been able to see the truth, poor craftsmanship had exposed Tang Jie.


    But regardless, this duplication spell still left He Chong¡¯s trio stunned.


    He Chong had seen many illusion spells, and there were countless ways to create the human form through illusions. But none of these created humans could react. Whenever a spell art flew over, the human illusion would keep acting as usual, unaffected by external factors.


    None of them could actually start bleeding like the illusion Tang Jie had created.


    This was the most formidable illusion spell He Chong had seen in his life. He had never even heard of an illusion spell capable of this.


    Not long after the illusion had dissipated, another Tang Jie came strolling over. Tang Jie has endless Tang Jies for He Chong to kill! Not that it will do He Chong any good¡­

 Chapter 317: Plunder

    Chapter 317: Plunder


    Within the Langya Blessed Land, Tang Jie sat on a small slope, roasting arge Ghostface Ginseng on a spit.


    This Ghostface Ginseng was asrge as a human thigh and was probably six to seven hundred years old. It had a mind of its own and was extremely wary, so Tang Jie had wasted a lot of time trying to catch it. Now tied to a spit with the golden thread, it asionally shrieked, the face on the ginseng twisting in pain.


    Tang Jie was unmoved, constantly turning the ginseng on the spit. The Ghostface Ginseng¡¯s cries began to fade, upon which he suddenly reached out and twisted the root, squeezing out a golden drop of liquid.


    Tang Jie used his mouth to receive it, upon which a thunderous rumbling came from his belly that took some time to calm down. Tang Jie nodded in satisfaction. He saw that the Ghostface Ginseng had shriveled up, so he threw it away.


    The liquid he had squeezed out just now could be considered the condensation of all the Ghostface Ginseng¡¯s essence. It was called Golden Jade Liquid, and one drop was worth one hundred drops of spiritual liquid, several dozen days of cultivation, or a bottle of Essence-Refining Pills.


    Tang Jie¡¯s ginseng was six to seven hundred years old, and while he was still only able to get one drop, it was very energy-dense, one drop able to expand his Spiritual Space by more than 130 drops of spiritual liquid,parable to more than half a bottle of True Essence Pills. If he could get seven or eight of them, Tang Jie could easily reach the peak of Spirit Sea, but even the Langya Blessed Land probably didn¡¯t have that many Ghostface Ginsengs of this level.


    But Tang Jie was in no rush. This Langya Blessed Land had plenty of nice things. Even if there were no more Ghostface Ginsengs, there were other things. Therge amount of information He Chong had provided him had resolved Tang Jie into plundering the Wandering Pce.


    He didn¡¯t know that the Wandering Pce and the six major sects were all watching him, and even if he did, he probably wouldn¡¯t care. He only wanted to use this chance to quickly ascend to Mortal Shedding so that he could contend against the others.


    Meanwhile, outside, the crowd was in an uproar.


    The middle-aged beauty presiding for the Wandering Pce pointed at Tang Jie¡¯s image and said, ¡°Headmaster Xie, please give an exnation from your Basking Moon Sect on this matter.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Heng Wudi of the Beast Refining Gate stood up and roared. ¡°Why does that kid know the secret extraction method for Ghostface Ginseng? All knowledge on raw extraction of herbs is not to be taught to students. This is aw that has been upheld for one thousand years!¡±


    Xie Fengtang frowned and loudly replied, ¡°Elder Heng, please calm yourself. Basking Moon Academy has never broken this rule and has never taught that which should not be taught. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can look at the other students of Basking Moon Academy. Have any of them used this secret method?¡±


    Everyone looked, and sure enough, none of the other Basking Moon Academy students were using simr secret processing methods.


    Xie Fengtang went on, ¡°Basking Moon Academy has never illegally taught these methods. As for how Tang Jie managed to learn it, I am also very curious. When this matter is concluded, I will definitely ask him about it.¡±


    Heng Wudi unhappily replied, ¡°It will be toote by then! This guy is using the resources of the blessednd to improve himself! This isn¡¯t fair!¡±


    ¡°Right, right!¡± people in the crowd shouted in agreement.


    Ming Yekongzily replied, ¡°Nothing is unfair. Everyone has their own fortune, and so long as Basking Moon Academy did not break the rule and teach the method, it is not the fault of my Basking Moon Academy, but something arising from that Tang Jie¡¯s own ability. Moreover¡­ even if we taught it, it would not be that big of a deal.¡±


    Heng Wudi angrily red at Ming Yekong. ¡°Ming Yekong, what do you mean by this?¡±


    Ming Yekong didn¡¯t even raise his eyelids, simply raising a finger and replying, ¡°The secret extraction method for raw herbs isn¡¯t taught to students in order to protect sealednds and prevent students from using these methods to inflict severe damage and pointlessly waste resources. Once students graduate, the secret extraction methods are no longer kept hidden. Thus, this rule simply exists to protect our own sects and has nothing to do with other sects.¡±


    Everyone was rendered silent by these words.


    Ming Yekong was right. The major sects had this rule primarily to prevent students from scouring thend in their training and consuming everything. Once they had joined their respective sects and started traveling the world, they would be plundering thends of other people, so it was naturally up to them to do the best they could. Thus, there was little reason to keep the methods hidden.


    Thus, whether this knowledge was passed down or not was each sect¡¯s own business and truly had nothing to do with others.


    Even if Basking Moon Academy did teach this, it wasn¡¯t anyone else¡¯s business.


    Heng Wudi grunted, ¡°The problem is that this is the territory of the Wandering Pce!¡±


    Ming Yekong didn¡¯t even frown. ¡°The Basking Moon Sect will simply pay the appropriate price.¡±


    ¡°Then the unfairness that results from the increase in strength?¡±


    ¡°As was already said, this was his own good luck,¡± Xie Fengtang replied. ¡°This Xie can swear on the ancestors of the Basking Moon Sect that no secret methods were taught for the sake of victory!¡±


    Since Xie Fengtang had sworn on the ancestors, it was difficult for anyone else to say anything.


    The gorgeous woman from the Thousand Passions Sect said, ¡°It¡¯s only a Ghostface Ginseng. Is there a need for Elder Heng to be so troubled about it?¡±


    ¡°Indeed. It¡¯s only a Ghostface Ginseng. There¡¯s truly no need to quibble over it.¡±


    ¡°It was that Tang Jie¡¯s fortune to obtain this secret method. Since he was this lucky, we can let him have this.¡±


    Other people chimed in to agree.


    Heng Wudi had nned to argue his case more, but after hearing everyone say this, he ultimately grunted and fell silent.


    But they would quickly realize how much of a joke ¡°only a Ghostface Ginseng¡± was.


    In the Langya Blessed Land, Tang Jie was picking arge swath of ripe Red Tear Mushrooms. He was using a golden needle to carefully remove the red dots on the caps and then throwing them in a pot to boil. Besides Red Tear Mushrooms, there was also Congealed Jade Incense and Heavenly Aroma Grass, which had already been processed. These were all treasures that could increase spiritual energy, and Tang Jie had also ced in the fiend pellet from the white snake and the meat of several other fiend beasts he had hunted.


    Slowly boiled by a gentle fire, a pot of aromatic liquid gradually formed. Tang Jie flicked a bamboo tube made from Verdant Jade Bamboo into the pot, which had been filled with thoroughly cooked Thousand Bell Grass. He then began to chow down on the spiritual medicine in the pot.


    As he devoured the medicine, he could feel his spiritual energy growing more abundant, so he began to meditate, arge white cloud beginning to circle over his head.


    This was a manifestation of abundant spiritual energy.


    The Langya Blessed Land was a gathering ground of spiritual energy, so even if Tang Jie hadn¡¯t eaten all these spiritual nts, just cultivating here normally for a day would have the effect of three to five days on the outside. After taking such arge supplement, he reaped an even greater harvest. Tang Jie¡¯s Spiritual Space rapidly expanded, the spiritual liquid gathering within, and what was once the tide of ake gradually began to strengthen into the tide of a sea.


    But this was only the beginning. He was still some distance from actually reaching greater attainment in Spirit Sea. Tang Jie was in no rush. After a single Major Circuit Heaven to stabilize his spiritual energy, he got up and headed back down the mountain.


    ¡°Thousand Bell Grass, Congealed Jade Incense, Heavenly Aroma Grass, Red Tear Mushroom¡­ Look, look, all of it! He knows how to use all of it! You still want to say he came across these methods by luck?¡± Heng Wudi¡¯s expression had turned nastier and nastier.


    The members from the other major sects had also frowned, and even Xie Fengtang asked in shock, ¡°Just who taught him all this?¡±


    But Ming Yekong¡¯s reaction was different. His eyes brightened as he sat up and looked at the mess Tang Jie had left behind. ¡°No! Cooking Congealed Jade Incense, Heavenly Aroma Grass, and Red Tear Mushrooms together is one thing, but what is with the white snake¡¯s fiend pellet and the fiend meat?¡±


    The six major sects actually had slightly different methods for handling herbs.


    Cooking Congealed Jade Incense, Heavenly Aroma Grass, and Red Tear Mushrooms together was a traditional method, but adding a fiend snake pellet and fiend meat was extremely unusual.


    This required a deep understanding of fiend beasts and their uses so as to not cause medicinal conflict that would ruin everything. And in this aspect, nobody could outdo the Beast Refining Gate.


    The Beast Refining Gate had always been masters of mixing in fiend beast meat and pellets into their herbal concoctions, and no one was more familiar with the special attributes of fiends.


    Ming Yekong¡¯s words prompted the other representatives of the six major sects to turn to Heng Wudi.


    Heng Wudi panicked. ¡°What are you all looking at me for? You really think this matter has to do with me?¡±


    Ming Yekong replied, ¡°At least when ites to adding in a white snake¡¯s fiend pellet and fiend meat, this Ming Yekong knows nothing.¡±


    <em>Could Tang Jie be the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s spy in the Basking Moon Sect?</em> everyone thought in unison.


    But considering how Tang Jie had cursed out Heng Wudi, they simultaneously rejected the idea. No spy would dare to do such a thing.


    For this reason, the origin of Tang Jie¡¯s methods became a point of suspicion, but nobody could think of where he could have gotten them.


    Heng Wudi, after a brief stupor, suddenly cried out in realization, ¡°Gu Changqing! Shit! I get it! It must have been Godhead Pce who taught him! It must have been that Gu Changqing!¡±


    The Beast Refining Gate and Godhead Pce were closely connected, and Godhead Pce knew some of the secret methods of the Beast Refining Gate.


    Many people knew that Gu Changqing had kidnapped Tang Jie, and Tang Jie had apanied Gu Changqing in his flight around the country. For him to have picked up some special knowledge in this time wouldn¡¯t be strange.


    Heng Wudi had unwittingly helped Tang Jie find an answer.


    Xie Fengtang grunted, ¡°So it was a present my friends at Godhead Pce gifted to my Basking Moon Sect. No wonder this kid knows these tricks.¡±


    His simple words casually pushed the responsibility on Godhead Pce, causing that golden-robed elder from Godhead Pce to turn red and green in the face. He thought, <em>Heng Wudi, you idiot! Why¡¯d you go and say that?</em>


    Godhead Pce was already very angry at the Beast Refining Gate over the death of Shu Mingyang. They had even gone and questioned the Beast Refining Gate over this, but Helian Hu denied responsibility, admitting that while he had sought out Shu Mingyang and caused him trouble, he had never killed him.


    In order to avoid the charge of idental killing, he had even denied making the fatal wound on Shu Mingyang¡¯s chest.


    While he had strenuously denied, because he didn¡¯t totally deny responsibility, he became the target of suspicion. Moreover, when he was confronted, he was clearly looking around and speaking insincerely¡ªthe signs of a liar¡ªmaking Godhead Pce even more suspicious.


    Most infuriating of all was that Helian Hu admitted that he knew Shu Mingyang was a spy.


    This made them so suspicious of Helian Hu that they wanted to bring him back for questioning, but the Beast Refining Gate refused toply.


    As the two sects needed to cooperate, the golden-robed elder of Godhead Pce had stomached his anger, but he was extremely unhappy about Heng Wudi. He hadn¡¯t expected Heng Wudi to act out again today, pushing the responsibility onto them. He cried out, ¡°Just as Brother Ming said, so long as the sect did not teach it, then it was gained by fortune. Since it was good fortune that brought it about, who cares about him? Just let him be!¡±


    ¡°Old Ke, aren¡¯t you being too selfish?¡± Heng Wudi angrily red at the golden-robed elder.


    The elder replied, ¡°I just don¡¯t want too much trouble. The Immortal Fortune contest has only just begun, and the students are all vying against each other, so why are we paying attention to some kid who hasn¡¯t even reached Mortal Shedding? Even if he has all this fortune and plunders the blessednd, how far can he get¡­? The struggle over the ten treasures has already begun.¡±


    A rainbow light shot up from the Langya Blessed Land.


    In the seventh hour after entry into the blessednd, the first treasure had emerged! Tang Jie causing quite a stir with all of his secret knowledge. If only they knew¡­

 Chapter 318: The Taiyi Profound Clarity Cup

    Chapter 318: The Taiyi Profound rity Cup


    Pinching open its plump body and squeezing that repulsive green liquid into his mouth, Tang Jie felt a warmth flowing through his body. Pushing through his disgust, Tang Jie felt that warmth in his body and guided it so that he could absorb every bit of energy.


    The spiritual energy brought by the Earth Silkworm needed to be guided and absorbed as quickly as possible, as it would quickly dissipate.


    Tang Jie only rxed when he had absorbed thest bit of spiritual energy. He had expanded his Spiritual Space by almost ten drops of spiritual liquid just now¡ªthe equivalent of a day of cultivation. While he was still far from reaching the maximum size, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t discouraged.


    Even though he was in the Langya Blessed Land and had numerous secret methods by which to extract the essence of spiritual nts to strengthen himself, getting the items that fit the requirements still wasn¡¯t easy.


    Themonality between all nts that could increase spiritual energy was that they rarelysted long. Even in blessednds and paradises, they were hard toe by, and they would often be scattered about. And when Tang Jie was looking around, he didn¡¯t pick everything, leaving some to keep growing, so he was having a hard time getting everything he needed.


    Even so, Tang Jie felt his body surging with spiritual energy. The Spirit Sea in his Spiritual Space frothed, already showing signs of developing majestic waves.


    In this one day, Tang Jie had increased his spiritual energy by essentially two months of cultivation. Although this wasn¡¯t enough to achieve a qualitative change, the overall increase in spiritual energy had also boosted Tang Jie¡¯sbat power.


    In the middle of his delight, a rainbow beam of energy rose up from the distance.


    Startled, Tang Jie frowned. ¡°We¡¯ve only entered the seventh hour, and the first treasure has already appeared?¡±


    For him, it was naturally best if the struggle over the ten treasures in the Langya Blessed Land dragged on as long as possible. The more time that passed, the greater he could improve himself, and with greater strength came more opportunities.


    This was precisely why the first treasureing out so quickly displeased him. What displeased him even more was that he didn¡¯t know if the treasure was the Stop Gate Banner, so he had to go over and take a look. He didn¡¯t even have the privilege of giving up on it.


    ¡°I hate it when things are like this,¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    Despite his reluctance, Tang Jie still rose and headed in the direction of that rainbow cloud.


    In the northwestern region of the blessednd, the barechested Peng Yaolong had just torn a Mind Opening fiend wolf in half. Just as he was taking out the pellet, he saw the rainbow light in the distance. Smiling, he said, ¡°Already getting so lively? That¡¯s perfect. I needed an excuse to stretch my muscles.¡±


    He pushed off the ground, rocketing into the air as the ground beneath trembled. His entire body surged with blood energy¡ªa clear sign that he was circting energy and blood simultaneously.


    On the southern end of the blessednd, Ye Tianshang sheathed his sword and proudly stood before two students of the Seven Absolutions Sect. One had a wound on his shoulder while the other had a severe wound on his leg, and both of them were trembling in fear as they looked at Ye Tianshang.


    The rainbow light soared upward, and Ye Tianshang peered into the distance before coldly saying, ¡°I¡¯m only letting you two bastards off because there¡¯s no grudge between my Basking Moon Sect and the Seven Absolutions Sect. If you try this again, I won¡¯t be so polite.¡±


    Saying that, he threw his sword into the air, stepped on it, and flew off toward the rainbow light.


    The two Seven Absolutions Sect students looked at each other and saw the shock in each other¡¯s eyes. They had run into Ye Tianshang by ident, and when they saw that he was alone, they thought that they could win with their numbers and thus remove a formidable adversary from the Basking Moon Sect. But to their surprise, they had lost to Ye Tianshang. If not for the treasure¡¯s rainbow light drawing Ye Tianshang¡¯s attention, the two of them would be dead. As for Ye Tianshang¡¯s talk about the two sects not having grudges toward each other, they didn¡¯t believe it for a second.


    One of them bitterly said, ¡°I really didn¡¯t think that Ye Tianshang would be hiding his strength all this time. His Galefury Sword is at least 30% stronger than it was in the arena.¡±


    The other student replied, ¡°This Ye Tianshang is probably the real number one of the Basking Moon Sect. I think Peng Yaolong and Tang Jie are far inferior. It¡¯s no good. We have to hurry and tell Senior Brother Mu.¡±


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    He took out a smallpass from his Mustard Seed Bag. Once he wrote a message on it, all the Seven Absolutions Sect students would receive it at the same time.


    While the Seven Absolutions Sect was weaker than the other five sects, it had always excelled when it came to the auxiliary fields. Each of their students had a specialmunication tool like this. This was precisely why it was very easy for them to work together.


    On the eastern end of the blessednd, arge ape swung a tree trunk at Wei Tianchong. Wei Tianchong dodged to the side while shouting, ¡°Don¡¯t think that I can¡¯t beat you just because you¡¯re at Mind Opening! I don¡¯t want to fight you.¡±


    <em>Boom!</em>


    The tree trunk swung down, and Wei Tianchong swiftly dodged again. He pointed at the ape and shouted, ¡°You¡¯re still fighting! Let me tell you: I have an ambush in waiting! If you keep chasing me, you¡¯ll die!¡±


    ¡°Raaaa!¡± The giant ape bellowed at Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong took another step back, and the giant ape gave chase. Just when it was about to swing that giant log at Wei Tianchong¡¯s head, it sensed something and looked up.


    There was nothing at all above it, but the giant ape felt like some enormous threat wasing. It cried out and tried to back away, but it was toote.


    It felt a sudden pain at its head, and arge figure appeared out of thin air. One arm morphed into a drill was stabbed into its forehead, intending to dig straight through its head.


    ¡°Awoooo¡­ shameless!¡± the ape roared. It still wanted to strike back, but that stubborn fatty who had been shrinking back this entire time had changed out his fearful expression for a murderous one.


    Sword light shed, engulfing the giant ape, and the sandwiched fiend ape died on the spot.


    Sheathing his sword, Wei Tianchongughed, ¡°I told you there was an ambush, but you refused to believe me.¡±


    He suddenly gasped as a rainbow light rose in the distance.


    Wei Tianchong scratched his head. ¡°The first treasure hase out. Should I go? Or not go? Ah, whatever; I¡¯ll go and take a look first. If things look bad, I¡¯ll just let it go.¡±


    On the northern end of the blessednd, Lan Yu, mounted on his sword, flew over a small forest, his eyes constantly searching the trees. Unable to find anything, he frowned and shouted, ¡°Qi Shaoming, get out here! Aren¡¯t you the nine-cycle genius of Basking Moon Academy? It doesn¡¯t look like it, seeing how you¡¯re hiding like this!¡±


    His deep voice resounded through the forest, but there was no response, leaving Lan Yu furious.


    Ever since Tang Jie had made fun of him, he had had a poor impression of the Basking Moon Sect, and he was itching to unleash this pent-up anger on the Basking Moon Sect in this contest. He hadn¡¯t been able to find Tang Jie, but he had found Qi Shaoming, so he was looking to kill him to show that he meant business.


    As Qi Shaoming had yet to enter Mortal Shedding, he had felt confident in his chances, but Qi Shaoming had ended up escaping regardless.


    This had happened because Qi Shaoming¡¯s Chill Phantom Clone sh had miraculously managed to go on for half a second longer than expected. This minor miscalction had caused Lan Yu to be unable to dodge in thatst half-second, allowing Qi Shaoming¡¯s nine phantoms to encircle him. If not for Lan Yu¡¯s formidable strength, he might have died on the spot, which would truly have been a most unjust death.


    This mishap had made Lan Yu less bold, which in turn gave Qi Shaoming the chance to escape.


    By the time Qi Shaoming hade to his senses and resumed the chase, he had already lost the best chance to kill Qi Shaoming.


    Now, he had no idea if Qi Shaoming was hiding in this lush forest or had seen that his chances were poor and used the jade talisman to run.


    As he was looking around, he saw a rainbow light in the distance. He harrumphed and said, ¡°Count yourself lucky.¡±


    He turned and flew into the distance.


    Some time after he had gone, a figure appeared in the forest: Qi Shaoming.


    He was no longer pure and unsullied, but rather ragged and tattered, his snow-white uniform covered in blood and one arm sagging. There was even some blood on the corner of his mouth that he hadn¡¯t wiped away yet.


    Even so, his eyes were focused and confident.


    Although he was no match for Lan Yu, he had been able to escape from Lan Yu and his Oceancrosser Step. This was its own sort of glory.


    Looking in the direction Lan Yu had left, Qi Shaoming muttered, ¡°Lan Yu¡­ One day, I¡¯ll personally defeat you!¡±


    The treasure light was like a gathering cry.


    Within the Langya Blessed Land, the students converged from all around.


    The rainbow treasure light was not fixed in ce, but was constantly shifting north and south. Yet no matter how it moved, it was like a firefly in the night, drawing countless greedy gazes.


    As Tang Jie got closer to the treasure light, he slowed his approach. From a distance, he saw two groups of students locked inbat, their de shes crossing the sky.


    One side was the united forces of Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate for a total of seven people. Their leader was Yun Wuji, who was leading them in a fighting retreat.


    On the other side was a motley group consisting of the Thousand Passions Sect, the Basking Moon Sect, and Horizon Ocean Pavilion. There were ten people in total, and they were pushing back the Godhead Pce party.


    Behind Yun Wuji, a student was holding a small jade cup, and the treasure light wasing from this cup.


    ¡°So it was the Taiyi Profound rity Cup,¡± Tang Jie sighed in relief.


    The Taiyi Profound rity Cup was a pretty decent treasure. It was said that when the cup was presented to the morning dew, one could get a cup of liquid every day. This liquid had the effect of restoring blood and spiritual energy, so it was an excellent treasure when it came to healing. At present, the Taiyi Profound rity Cup even had half a cup of clear dew swishing around inside it.


    Looking at the situation, Tang Jie knew that although the Godhead¨CBeast-Refining party was outnumbered, they didn¡¯t really have their backs to the wall. Meanwhile, the joint party on the other side had more numbers, but they were all worried about their party members having ulterior motives, so a long battle would be to their disadvantage.


    It was hard to me them. The Thousand Passions Sect was sworn enemies with Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and it was rare to see them fighting alongside each other rather than the opposite. And how much energy could they really devote to actualbat in this battle? It might be that one third would be devoted to attacking the enemy while the other two thirds of it was devoted to defending oneself against one¡¯s purported allies. Those two Basking Moon Sect students were, on the other hand,pletely fearless and putting their all into attacking. But just the two of them wouldn¡¯t be able to alter the situation.


    As the seven people in the Godhead Pce party were pushed back and seemed on the verge of falling, Yun Wuji suddenlyughed coldly. Sheathing his sword, he formed a sword sign with his left hand pointed forward. At the same time, three Godhead Pce students behind them thrust their palms at his back.


    A powerful shockwave emitted from Yun Wuji¡¯s finger, sweeping up all the students that were attacking him.


    Those students were powerless to stop this furious wave, their barriers shattering as they were sent flying.


    The three Beast Refining Gate students charged into the fray. Although there were only three of them, they had two refined beasts each, meaning that they had a force of nine. Those ten people on the other end were too injured to fight back and were utterly defeated.


    Tang Jie was just about to intervene when he noticed that these people didn¡¯t strike to kill, so he drew back into hiding. The three Beast Refining Gate students charged around, quickly scattering the joint force. On the other end, the four Godhead Pce students took out Immortal-Binding Rope and tied up the wounded students.


    Is that what they were doing? It wasn¡¯t a bad idea.


    Tang Jie understood what was happening.


    The emergence of the treasure had filled the heavens with a rainbow glow, which was certain to draw many attackers. Trying to hold the treasure for twelve hours under these circumstances wouldn¡¯t be easy.


    While they had chosen to work together, an even better idea was to take hostages.


    Among students that came from the same sect, some of them had to have good friends among the rest. So long as they controlled some, they would be able to control the rest.


    Yun Wuji¡¯s group had intentionally acted weak precisely for this moment.


    This sudden attack had half of the ten students tied up in the blink of an eye. The remainder saw that the situation wasn¡¯t good and immediately moved to retreat.


    Yun Wuji coldlyughed. ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going!?¡±


    He thrust out his palm twice, bringing down two more. Three managed to escape in panic, leaving the remainder to be captured alive.


    The Godhead Pce students celebrated with the three Beast Refining Gate students. ¡°Congrattions, Senior Brother Yun, for sessfully taking hostages. This will buy us a lot of time.¡±


    Yun Wuji chuckled. He first took the Taiyi Profound rity Cup from the student behind him and then said, ¡°It is all thanks to the help from you junior brothers, and I must also thank the junior brothers from the Beast Refining Gate for faithfully helping us out.¡±


    A Beast Refining Gate student said, ¡°So long as Senior Brother Yun does not forget the reward you promised us.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Yun Wuji smiled. His face suddenly went white, and he plopped to the ground.


    Two Godhead students quickly went to help him up. ¡°Senior Brother Yun, are you okay?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Yun Wuji shook his head. ¡°The joint attack just now put a lot of burden on me, and I was somewhat unable to take the strain. I¡¯ll be fine after a little rest. Forget about me and watch the hostages.¡±


    He walked off to the side and found a ce to meditate. He ced the Taiyi Profound rity Cup on his palm, and it shed with an alluring light.


    As the other students were watching the hostages, there was no one at Yun Wuji¡¯s side. If someone made their way around and made a sneak attack, it might seed.


    Tang Jie stared at the jade cup. The water in the cup rippled.


    He chortled. ¡°I¡¯m already discovered? Interesting.¡±


    He took a few steps back, and then ran off without looking back.


    In the forest clearing, the meditating Yun Wuji suddenly opened his eyes. Looking into the distance, he muttered, Not taking the bait¡­ Someone so wary can only be a problemter on. Should I take this chance to remove him?¡±


    His eyes shed with killing intent.


    ¡°Senior Brother.¡± Several students saw that Yun Wuji had opened his eyes and went over to see how he was doing.


    Yun Wuji said, ¡°Someone was watching from the woods. Two of you, go over and take a look. Capture him if you can, and if you can¡¯t¡­ kill him!¡± Yun Wuji doesn¡¯t know to mind his own business!

 Chapter 319: Counterattack

    Chapter 319: Counterattack


    He heard the familiar sound of whistling wind, and his eyes turned sharp. ¡°Chasing after me! Sure enough, he has praiseworthy courage.¡±


    With a treasure in hand, they were bound to be encircled and attacked. When dealing with an opponent who chose to run, rather than avoiding them, they chose to attack. Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but admire Yun Wuji somewhat.


    If Tang Jie were in Yun Wuji¡¯s position, he would have made the same choice.


    This was because in Yun Wuji¡¯s position, he could not say for sure that the person leaving was actually leaving. Rather, it was more likely to be someone who saw how poor the situation had be and was beating a temporary retreat but coulde back at any time.


    In this situation, passively waiting around was worse than striking out and defeating the enemy individually before they had time to team up.


    The treasure light was a rallying cry, but when and how they rallied depended on the students.


    The students that gathered up first would have the advantage of waiting the opposing side out. Yun Wuji clearly wanted to exploit this advantage to the utmost.


    He was taking hostages and defeating lone students to create various chances at victory for himself and also to burnish his image. Although he didn¡¯t know that he was being watched by countless cultivators outside, he also knew that his actions and attitude were not meaningless in this contest.


    When there could be as many as ten winners in a contest, the process became just as important as the result.


    The person who could get first ce in the most beautiful fashion while surrounded by enemies would be the closest to the ultimate victory.


    This was what Yun Wuji thought, and so he strenuously worked to show himself off¡­


    Two students swiftly pursued, rapidly closing the distance with Tang Jie.


    In a sh, Tang Jie determined their level of strength.


    Both at the Mortal Shedding Realm!


    Tang Jie wouldn¡¯t have been willing to take on even one of them in his current form, and even if the original body were here, he still would have found it difficult to win against the two of them.


    No student who could take part in the Immortal Fortune Conference was a weakling. Back in the academy, a single outstanding student could sweep through his ssmates, but at the Immortal Fortune Conference, it was a hard task to defeat two people working together. This was exactly why Yun Wuji felt confident sending two people off in pursuit. In his view, even if they ran into someone like Peng Yaolong or Lan Yu, the two of them would still be able to protect themselves.


    One of the pursuing students wielded a ck sword while the other held a red wheel. As they flew through the air, they saw Tang Jie running through the forest down below.


    As they got closer, the two students were able to make out the face of the runner. The ck sword studentughed, ¡°So it was Tang Jie from the Basking Moon Sect! Weren¡¯t you very cocky before this? Why are you running?¡±


    He pointed a finger, and a beam of sword energy flew at Tang Jie¡¯s head.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t turn his head, but he seemed to know what was happening behind him, his right leg pushing off a tree next to him. His sprinting figure suddenly flew off to the side as the sword energy chopped into the tree trunk with a boom, splintering it apart.


    The student turned red in the face after his attack missed. Next to him, the red wheel student also shot a bolt of sword energy at Tang Jie. This time, Tang Jie suddenly ducked, and the bolt of energy flew past his head, not even injuring a hair.


    The two of them were both startled, and then they grew furious and swiftly gave chase. Their hands shed as they threw out bolt after bolt, leaving a dazzling trail of explosions in Tang Jie¡¯s wake.


    Tang Jie continued to run with his head down, using the terrain as cover. Sometimes, he would run up a tree, and at other times, he would duck into a nearby bush, and still at other times, he would switch ces with a tree. Of course, most of the time, he simply used the trees as shields.


    He was like a desperate rat, not even turning his head yet always able to dodge most of the attacksing from behind him. asionally, he couldn¡¯t avoid one, so he would use the Formless Golden Body and Aquagel Shroud to endure the attack. As he ran, sts urred around him, knocking uprge clouds of dust and soil. He really was like a fugitive running away in the middle of a bombardment.


    But it wasn¡¯t like everything could be the same. Even in this situation, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t one to just let them keep attacking.


    As he sprinted, Tang Jie would asionally say a word.


    ¡°Shake¡±, ¡°Back¡±, ¡°Leave¡±, ¡°Scatter¡±¡ªwith each word, his pursuers would freeze for a moment, allowing Tang Jie to create a little more distance.


    This made the pursuing students even angrier.


    ¡°Tang Jie, don¡¯t be a coward! Turn around and fight!¡± the ck sword student furiously roared.


    Tang Jie ignored him and continued to run, going in circles around this forest, leaving his footprints next to the massive trees while calling out.


    The ck sword student pointed his sword, and a frigid energy emerged and swiftly engulfed the surrounding area. Tang Jie¡¯s feet trembled, and he began to slow down.


    At the same time, the red wheel student began to chant, his hands forming signs. Streams of spiritual energy flowed around him, gathering at his side, and his red wheel began to glow.


    The red wheel student pushed out his red wheel. ¡°Go!¡± The red wheel became a giant fireball that howled toward Tang Jie.


    ¡°Tang Jie, you can¡¯t escape!¡± the red wheel student savagelyughed.


    His zing Sun Wheel gave a huge boost to me spell arts, and he had also gathered Yang energy on the me. The fireball tumbled through the air, radiating a blinding light as if a new sun was rising. Such was its power that it instantly disintegrated a boulder that stood several dozen feet tall. This was the power of an ¡°art¡±.


    As the fireball approached, Tang Jie suddenly turned around and raised his left hand. The hundred ravens of the zeraven Ring emerged and collided with the fireball.


    The air was instantly set ame. As the hundred zeravens rushed at the fireball like moths to a me, while the intense mes couldn¡¯t destroy them, the tremendous force instantly turned them into countless motes of light.


    The force was so great that the zeravens were almost instantly wiped out, and there was a soft <em>crick</em> from the zeraven Ring as a small crack appeared on the ring.


    The hundred zeravens had managed to halt the fireball for a moment, and it was clearly slower and even smaller.


    Tang Jie swung his saber.


    This time, he used all his strength, empowered by the Formless Golden Body as he chopped at the fireball. The de itself shed with green fire, forming into a majestic eagle.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    There was another fierce collision, and while Tang Jie shuddered all over and the Heartbreak Saber flew from his hand, the zing Sun Wheel was also sent up into the air.


    ¡°My zing Sun Wheel!¡± the red wheel student yowled in pain. He had been able to clearly see that Tang Jie¡¯s saber had taken a chunk out of his zing Sun Wheel.


    ¡°A soul weapon?¡± The ck sword student had his attention on Tang Jie¡¯s saber, a greedy glint in his eyes.


    He had clearly seen that eagle unfurl its wings, unleashing green mes. Tang Jie¡¯s saber was a soul weapon!


    Not only that, even though the zeraven Ring had managed to weaken the zing Sun Wheel somewhat, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t possibly have held off an art with a spell.


    But in this sh, the Heartbreak Saber had been unharmed while the zing Sun Wheel had been damaged¡ªa sign of just how powerful the Heartbreak Saber was. Although it was only a spell weapon, once it evolved into an art relic, it would undoubtedly be extraordinarily powerful!


    In that moment, the two of them madepletely opposite decisions.


    The red wheel student charged after Tang Jie with all his strength, but the ck sword student backed away, flying in the direction of the Heartbreak Saber.


    He wanted to take it for himself!


    As the two of them split up, Tang Jie smiled and spat out, ¡°Change.¡± The war saber that the ck sword student had seen abruptly disappeared.


    <em>Where¡¯s the saber?</em> The ck sword student was stunned.


    When he turned his head, he could no longer see Tang Jie and the red wheel student.


    He was still in the woods, surrounded byrge trees, short bushes, and the asional rare nt. Only the target of his pursuit was missing.


    ¡°An illusion formation¡­¡± the ck sword student gasped. He realized that he had fallen for Tang Jie¡¯s trap and entered an illusion formation.


    But when had Tang Jie found the time toy down a formation while running around like this?


    But when he recalled how Tang Jie had been running with his head down while softly saying something, the ck sword student¡¯s eyes shed. ¡°I see! He was using the True Word Mantra to fool our eyes and ears. So rather than an illusion formation, this is an illusion spell? If it¡¯s an illusion spell, it must have some sort of spell vessel. Yes, the saber¡­¡±


    As part of a major sect, the ck sword student quickly realized the solution. He only needed to find the Heartbreak Saber to undo the illusion spell. The saber was probably nearby, though the illusion spell befuddled his senses and prevented him from seeing it. However, he could sense it using spiritual energy, so this illusion spell would only keep him upied for half a minute at most.


    He immediately calmed down. He was very confident in the red wheel student¡¯s strength, so he didn¡¯t think that anything would go wrong in half a minute.


    Meanwhile, on the other end of the battlefield.


    The red wheel student and Tang Jie had both been stripped of their weapon. The red wheel student charged forward, forming a sword sign with one hand and pointing at Tang Jie: the Energy Sword Finger.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t dodge, activating the Formless Golden Body as he thrust out his own finger in response: Energy Needle.


    The Energy Sword Finger was strong, but the defense of the Formless Golden Body was stronger.


    <em>Thud! Thud!</em> The two attacks each struck the barrier of the other, creating shes of light.


    The two of them stopped, and then they charged at each other.


    ¡°ze de!¡±


    ¡°Thousand Form Hand!¡±


    ¡°Die! I¡¯ve been cultivating for eight years! I¡¯m already at Mortal Shedding Hundred Refinement, a genius among my peers! A puny Spirit Sea shouldn¡¯t even think about fighting against me!¡± the red wheel student roared, fiercely unleashing ze des.


    ¡°Cut the chatter and just fight,¡± Tang Jie tersely replied.


    The two of them exchanged several spells, locking each other in a fierce melee in which neither side could dodge.


    While Tang Jie¡¯s Divine Court Thousandshift managed to deal a heavy blow, the red wheel student¡¯s ze de covered Tang Jie¡¯s chest in mes. After one exchange, their bodies both erupted with dazzling light as their barriers shattered in unison.


    The red wheel student hastened to apply another barrier, from an instinct born out of many years of cultivation. In his view, Tang Jie was bound to do the same.


    But as he was casting, he saw Tang Jie chopping a hand at him, showing no sign of trying to protect himself.


    Even though this student had tried to adapt and used the fastest defensive spell he could cast, he couldn¡¯t move faster than Tang Jie¡¯s sharp and fierce hand chop. Just when the barrier was about to form, Tang Jie chopped at the bridge of his nose, dizzying him and stopping the spell.


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    Tang Jie then kneed the student in the stomach, leaving him in so much pain that he couldn¡¯t stand.


    But he was at Mortal Shedding Hundred Refinement, his constitution far superior to that of an ordinary human. These two heavy blows hadn¡¯t been fatal, so he pushed through the pain and threw a knee at Tang Jie¡¯s face, the impact making Tang Jie¡¯s body tremble.


    Tang Jie no longer had his Jewel Body, but he still had the body-refining effect of the Visceral Manifestation ssic, meaning that he had a body much stronger than the average human. As that student had the body of a Mortal Shedding Hundred Refinement cultivator, the two of them were evenly matched.


    They quickly began to exchange punches and elbows. There was no time for technique, only for thebat style of gangsters and hoodlums.


    Fights like this were contests in who was the most ruthless, but while this student had cultivated for many years, he was stillcking in this aspectpared to Tang Jie.


    As the two of them crazily battered away and blood flowed, that student finally began to panic.


    He could no longer endure this sort of battle, so he sent a hand into his Mustard Seed Bag and grabbed a talisman.


    ¡°Die!¡± the student howled, preparing to take out the talisman and p it on Tang Jie.


    This was the best choice when one didn¡¯t have time to cast.


    But just as he was about to take out the talisman, his hand froze. He saw that Tang Jie¡¯s right hand had grabbed his left arm, keeping it in the Mustard Seed Bag and not letting it out.


    Tang Jie stared at him and smiled. ¡°I can¡¯tpare to you in strength, but when ites to killing people, you can¡¯tpare to me.¡±


    The student¡¯s pupils widened.


    He saw Tang Jie drop his head and headbutt him in the face.


    The two of them continued to fight, Tang Jie battering with his head as if he didn¡¯t care for his life.


    ¡°Is this all you have? You¡¯re looking down on Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators too much. zing Sun Wheel, rise!¡± the student shouted, a white light in his eyes.


    As this light emerged, the distant zing Sun Wheel flew up and began to spin toward Tang Jie, radiating sparks.


    The red wheel studentughed, ¡°Go and die already!¡±


    Just when the zing Sun Wheel was about to slice into Tang Jie¡¯s head, there was a brief glint of golden light.


    A momentter, time seemed to stop.


    Tang Jie and the red wheel student suddenly froze, and even that zing Sun Wheel suddenly stopped and plopped onto the grass.


    The red wheel student¡¯s eyes widened as blood began to spread out, painting his back like red ink dripping onto paper, creating a giant red curtain.


    The golden needle silently drew back.


    Even at the moment of death, this student didn¡¯t know what had happened. He didn¡¯t know how he had died, nor where hispanion had gone. Why had he been left alone to fight with Tang Jie?


    Outside the blessednd, Xie Fengtang frowned.


    He whispered to Ming Yekong, ¡°Hall Master Ming, did you see how Tang Jie killed that person just now?¡±


    Ming Yekong stared at the student¡¯s corpse for a while before saying, ¡°Look at the blood.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Xie Fengtang didn¡¯t understand.


    Ming Yekong casually replied, ¡°He¡¯s bled so much, and it¡¯sing from the back and spreading outward¡­ The heart was attacked, and the wound was made in the back.¡±


    Xie Fengtang was shaken.


    The students of Godhead Pce all had Godhead Armor, and thus, unless it was that sort of high-intensity spell art bombardment that made no distinction between areas of attack, the people of Godhead Pce least feared being attacked at the chest and the back. This was also why the other sects would usually attack the limbs and the head of Godhead Pce cultivators. The mostmon method of death for the people of Godhead Pce was having their head cut off, so their defenses around this area were also very tight.


    But now, a Godhead Pce student had died to a heart wound without his Godhead Armor being shattered.


    This was very rare.


    Xie Fengtang whispered, ¡°In other words, this kid has at least one other weapon besides the Heartbreak Saber¡­ one that can prate through Godhead Armor.¡±


    Ming Yekong added, ¡°It can¡¯t be veryrge if it¡¯s so easy to hide. Even though it¡¯s a trump card, he¡¯s reluctant to use it. Even in that situation, he did his best to attack from the back so that it couldn¡¯t be seen.¡±


    ¡°That truly is the case.¡±


    ¡°But there¡¯s something else that¡¯s strange,¡± Ming Yekong hesitantly said.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s be much weaker,¡± Ming Yekong replied.


    While Xie Fengtang and Cai Junyang had been fooled by his ¡°clumsy act¡±, Ming Yekong had been able to tell that Tang Jie¡¯s strength had truly plunged.


    Fortunately, even his sharp eyes hadn¡¯t been able to see the difference between the two Tang Jies. If a Violet Pce True Lord had been sitting there, they would have been able to see the problem so long as they had seen the two different Tang Jies before.


    ¡°This is truly rather strange. Perhaps it¡¯s the result of a secret cultivation method, and it also might exin how he pierced through the Godhead Armor. So long as he hasn¡¯t betrayed the sect, it¡¯s fine to let him be. Every person has their own secrets.¡± His fondness for Tang Jie made Xie Fengtang try to find excuses for him, making one question into the answer to another, thus resolving both.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Ming Yekong nodded, agreeing with Xie Fengtang¡¯s words. ¡°If he keeps fighting, we might be able to see what he¡¯s doing. But in Tang Jie¡¯s circumstances, winning won¡¯t be easy¡­ Strange¡ªwhat is he doing?¡±


    Ming Yekong suddenly sat up and looked in disbelief at Tang Jie.


    In the blessednd, after catching his breath, Tang Jie sat back down.


    The first thing he did was grab the fallen red wheel, stuff it into the dead student¡¯s hands, and then grab the student¡¯s hand and punch it into his own chest.


    Blood gushed out of his body, and Tang Jie swayed and copsed into a pool of blood, lying together with the red wheel student like two corpses.


    As the spectators gasped, a cry of joy resounded through the forest.


    ¡°I¡¯m out!¡±


    A figure swiftly flew out of the forest. It was none other than the ck sword student.


    Holding the ck sword in his right hand and the Heartbreak Saber in his left hand, he ran out while shouting, ¡°Tang Jie, you think your puny illusion spell can hold me¡­ What the hell happened here?¡±


    The ck sword student was utterly stunned by the sight of the fallen red wheel student and Tang Jie.


    He felt like he had only used half a minute to break out of Tang Jie¡¯s illusion spell. Something like this shouldn¡¯t have happened in so little time.


    It appeared that the two of them had killed each other in this extremely brief amount of time.


    ¡°Junior Brother Fei!¡± he shouted as he ran forward. At that moment, everyone realized what was going on.


    Elder Ke of Godhead Pce panicked and shouted, ¡°Idiot! He¡¯s ying dead!¡±


    But the ck sword student couldn¡¯t possibly hear him.


    He walked up to the red wheel student and squatted down to see if he was breathing.


    Behind him, Tang Jie opened his eyes¡­ s, poor naive ck sword student. You¡¯ve got to check to make sure he¡¯s dead first!

 Chapter 320: Using a Siege to Bait Reinforcements

    Chapter 320: Using a Siege to Bait Reinforcements


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    Tang Jie had used the zing Sun Wheel to strike him from the back, severing his spine.


    He didn¡¯t even have time to struggle before dying. It was a death that was neither heroic nor hotblooded.


    Butpared to the death of the red wheel student, the death of the ck sword student drew the greater reaction.


    In this battle of one versus two, Tang Jie had truly illustrated everything he had besides his cultivation, leaving those illustrious figures watching deeply moved.


    ¡°Using a soul weapon as bait to divide the enemy, fighting to the death with his life on the line, and then ying dead for a final sneak attack, thus defeating two Mortal Shedding students at Spirit Sea! He truly has both wits and courage!¡± Madam He of Horizon Ocean Pavilion nodded in praise. ¡°The Basking Moon Sect has another genius!¡±


    This Madam He was known in Horizon Ocean Pavilion for being very proud. Even Lan Yu and his nine-cycle Jade Gate had only earned the evaluation of ¡°a talent worth working on¡±, not a genius. Unexpectedly, Tang Jie¡¯s performance today had earned this appetion from her.


    Despite this, her words drew no objection. Even the elder from the Thousand Passions Sect, Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s longtime foe, Dazzling Demon Li Qiuyue, nodded in agreement. ¡°Remaining calm in the face of a foe is a sign that he has wits, and fighting to the death is a sign that he has courage. But besides that, he can also hurt himself to fool the enemy, showing that he is ruthless. Unconventional nse with their own risks. If his feigned death didn¡¯t work, with the heavy injuries he had inflicted on himself, his death would be certain. But this kid did it without hesitation, showing that he has resolve. There are many people in the world with wits and courage, but few that have such ruthlessness and resolve. He truly is a genius!¡±


    Ming Yekongughed. ¡°A brat who doesn¡¯t cultivate his realm and focuses only on deception. This is no long-term n. I¡¯m afraid that the two of you overpraise him.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that. If cultivation level was everything, what would we all bepeting for? We could just stand together and state our cultivation levels to settle things. True geniuses can only be identified through realbat,¡± the green-robed elder of the Seven Absolutions Sect chuckled. ¡°Regardless, in a one versus two, weak versus strong, he was able to win. In my view, this battle is something that should be taught in ss.¡±


    There were ulterior motives to these words.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect was sworn enemies with Godhead Pce. Now that two of Godhead Pce¡¯s Mortal Shedding students had fallen for Tang Jie¡¯s scheme and been in, suffering a most unworthy death, if this were turned into a ssic case study, wouldn¡¯t it have to be passed on every day at school?


    From then on, Godhead Pce would have one more thing the entire world could jeer at them about.


    Elder Ke of Godhead Pce snorted, an unhappy look on his face.


    s, on this matter, Godhead Pce could, at best, persuade the other four sects. It had no control over the actions of the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    In other words, Tang Jie was bound to end up in the textbooks of Seven Absolutions Institute.


    Elder Ke grew angrier and angrier at Tang Jie.


    Such was the reaction of the six major sects. The wandering cultivators from all around had their own opinions.


    While the Immortal Fortune Conference was an opportunity for the six sects to vie for the Wandering Pce, it was also for the six sects to present their students to the world. Whoever stood out would be bound to enjoy greater status and attention. From a certain perspective, these students represented the potential of the various sects. The more outstanding the student, the greater the sect¡¯s potential. Perhaps there was even a chance of breaking the current power bnce.


    Tang Jie¡¯s victory against two opponents had finally caused a stir within the audience.


    Though he had already drawn eyes before, no previous incident drew more eyes than this one. Battles of life and death were always of utmost importance to cultivators. All other outstanding traits only meant something if one could survive.


    Tang Jie had won a battle that everyone had thought unwinnable, and he earned the crowd¡¯s praise. At this moment, he had finally been acknowledged, an acknowledgment that made no regard for realm or tier. Even a Celestial Heart True Person would nod and smile at him in praise.


    ¡°This kid isn¡¯t simple. If he doesn¡¯t die, great things lie ahead of him.¡±


    ¡°If you run into this guy, you can only make friends with him, not enemies. If you do make an enemy of him, you had best put your all into it. You absolutely can¡¯t underestimate him!¡±


    ¡°With this kid¡¯s personality, once he graduates, he¡¯ll be known throughout the cultivation world!¡±


    The crowd was in an uproar withmentary.


    Tang Jie¡¯s name had truly entered the minds of most cultivators, thus entering the Rosecloud Domain!


    Tang Jie knew nothing about the outside world¡¯s reaction. He was currently digging through the Mustard Seed Bags of the two students.


    ording to the rules, the Wandering Pce ced no im on the items taken from in students. Thus, everything those two students had left behind was his.


    Tang Jie hopefully searched through the bags for spirit nts that could boost spiritual energy, but as this was only the first day in the blessednd, the students were limited in what they could have gathered. In contrast, there were quite a few life-saving items here.


    Tang Jie emptied the two bags and found two upper-grade art Gold Bell Talismans, one escape art talisman, and two high-level Clear Heart Talismans. Besides that, there were two bottles of Energy-Blood Restorative Pills, a decent medicine for treating injuries that was meant for Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators to use. Using them on a Spirit Sea Tier student like Tang Jie was clearly a waste.


    s, there was not a single medicine linked to cultivation.


    The most valuable were the two weapons.


    The zing Sun Wheel was secondary, as it was only an upper-grade spell weapon. That student had probably taken it because hecked money.


    But the ck sword was called the Profound Yin Sword, and it was a lower-grade art relic. When it was activated, a chill wind would stir that would affect everything within several hundred meters. The body would feel like it was in a snow-riddennd and find it difficult to move.


    Tang Jie¡¯s Heartbreak Saber was actually far more valuable than the Profound Yin Sword, for it was a soul weapon. But in terms of strength, as the Heartbreak Saber was still a spell weapon, it could notpare to an art relic.


    That student hadn¡¯t been satisfied with his own treasure and had sought Tang Jie¡¯s soul weapon, and in the end, he ended up giving away his treasure, which drew many sighs. There were already people in the crowd pointing at the ck sword student and telling their juniors to take this as an example and not be too greedy.


    As for Tang Jie, as he hadn¡¯t reached Mortal Shedding yet, he still couldn¡¯t use the full power of the Profound Yin Sword, so in his hands, he could only swing it around like an ordinary weapon. As he was ruefully sighing about this, he saw someone flying through the air. His eyes brightened, and he shouted, ¡°Tianshang!¡±


    A sword shed, and Ye Tianshang flew over.


    The sword stopped next to Tang Jie, and Ye Tianshang dismounted in front of him andughed, ¡°I¡¯ve finally run into arade! Why are you here?¡±


    Tang Jie pointed at the bodies.


    Ye Tianshang nced over and sneered, ¡°So it was Godhead Pce¡¯s people? Daring to try and kill you with just two people? It seems like they got tired of living.¡±


    The mantra he had learned from Tang Jie had caused his strength to soar, allowing him to defeat two Seven Absolutions Sect students. Thus, in his view, it was only natural that Tang Jie could defeat two students from Godhead Pce.


    Tang Jie inwardly grumbled, <em>You have no idea how hard it was for me to win. I even wagered my life!</em>


    But he could only say, ¡°You can¡¯t say that. These two were quite strong, and I was even injured.¡±


    He pointed at the wound on his body.


    This was the worst wound he had suffered in this battle, but amusingly, it was the one he had inflicted on himself.


    Ye Tianshang casually waved his hand. ¡°You think I don¡¯t know you? A little injury like this is nothing to you. Hasn¡¯t it already gotten much better?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s wound truly was much better, but this was because he had used medicine and not because of his freakish constitution.


    Ye Tianshang added, ¡°Right, did you get anything from killing these two bastards?¡±


    Tang Jie waved the sword around. ¡°This was the only decent thing.¡±


    Ye Tianshang¡¯s eyes glowed. ¡°An art relic?¡±


    He was in the Mortal Shedding Realm, but as he was diligently cultivating, he used all his money on improving himself, leaving none for buying an art relic. Thus, just like the red wheel student, he was forced to use a spell weapon.


    Now that he saw an art relic in Tang Jie¡¯s hand, his heart began to tremble in excitement.


    Tang Jie threw the Profound Yin Sword to Ye Tianshang. ¡°Want to see if it suits you?¡±


    Ye Tianshang spun the sword over his head, unleashing a chill over the area that was even greater than that unleashed by its former owner. This was a sign of how strong Ye Tianshang was.


    Ye Tianshang nodded in satisfaction. ¡°It¡¯s not bad. Though it¡¯s not something like the Sandstream Sword that can raise sword energy and increase the sword¡¯s speed, the cold wind and Yin energy give it a different kind of power.¡±


    While the Profound Yin Sword didn¡¯t exactly suit him, it was still an art relic.


    When Ye Tianshang used it, while it might have a weaker illusory effect, the damage would only be greater. In sum, the Profound Yin Sword would still be a boost for him, so he was somewhat unwilling to give it back to Tang Jie.


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    Tang Jie knew what he wanted and smiled. ¡°If you like it, I can give it to you!¡±


    ¡°¡®Give it to me¡¯?¡± Ye Tianshang was shocked. ¡°This is an art relic, worth a lot of money.¡±


    After getting the Twelve Hidden Whirlpools from Tang Jie, to now receive an art relic would leave Ye Tianshang with a burden that was too much even for him.


    Tang Jie shrugged. ¡°If you think it¡¯s too much, help me pick some spirit nts!¡±


    ¡°What do you need?¡± Ye Tianshang hastily asked.


    ¡°Thousand Bell Grass, Congealed Jade Incense, Yellow Vigor Fruit, Jade Return Grass, Heavenly Aroma Grass, Ghostface Ginseng¡­¡± Tang Jie recited a list of nts.


    His goal was now clear. He was trading Ye Tianshang¡¯s blessednd quota for the art relic.


    Although Tang Jie could break the rules and gather on his own, he knew how important it was to not overdo things. Picking an extra one or two, picking an extra several dozen, and scouring thend clean all had different consequences.


    This was simr to how the punishments levied on a pickpocket werepletely different from those levied on a bandit.


    Tang Jie needed too much, and with his quota, the amount he needed would be akin to a bandit looting a vige. That being the case, it would be better to share the me. Moreover, good nts were hard to find, and even Tang Jie would need some time to find them.


    Ye Tianshang quickly nodded. ¡°Deal. I¡¯ll get you three of each.¡±


    He immediately agreed to give three of each, but spirit nts like Ghostface Ginseng and Yellow Vigor Fruit were rarities even in the Langya Blessed Land, their value far above the Profound Yin Sword. Ye Tianshang had subconsciously ignored the value of these nts. Inparison, the Profound Yin Sword could boost hisbat strength and allow him to put on a better performance in this contest, so he liked it more.


    The two of them were both satisfied by this deal.


    Ye Tianshang said, ¡°Given the situation, it seems like it was someone from Godhead Pce who got the first treasure.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Tang Jie gave a summary of what happened.


    When he heard that some Basking Moon Academy students had fallen into Yun Wuji¡¯s hand, Ye Tianshang couldn¡¯t help but frown. ¡°Who were they?¡±


    ¡°Qian Hanjiang and Yang Qiu,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°Those two good-for-nothings!¡± Ye Tianshang stomped his feet in anger. Qian Hanjiang meant little to him, but Yang Qiu was a schoolmate in his year, someone he was on pretty good terms with. He couldn¡¯t just watch as they were taken captive by Godhead Pce.


    Moreover, from a moral perspective, it wasn¡¯t right to ignore a ssmate that he was on good terms with.


    Ye Tianshang pointed at the corpses and said, ¡°It would have been better if you had left them alive.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°You have a really high opinion of me, expecting me to fight against two people and even leave them alive.¡±


    Ye Tianshang thought about it and realized that not even he would have been capable of such a feat. He resentfully said, ¡°Then what do we do now?¡±


    ¡°Unless you want Hanjiang and Yang Qiu to die, even going over is pointless.¡±


    ¡°So are we going to just let them use our people to threaten us?¡± Ye Tianshang red.


    Tang Jie indifferently said, ¡°They didn¡¯t capture anyone from the Seven Absolutions Sect.¡±


    ¡°The Seven Absolutions Sect?¡± Ye Tianshang froze. ¡°Did none of them show up?¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°None.¡±


    Ye Tianshang narrowed his eyes. ¡°When I wasing, I ran into two members of the Seven Absolutions Sect. They tried to use their numbers to beat me, but I took care of them. I didn¡¯t think much about it at the time, but those two guys were together even though they had entered the blessednd not too long ago. It might not be a coincidence. They seemed to be in a rush, as if they were heading somewhere. Perhaps¡­¡±


    ¡°Perhaps they were meeting up,¡± Tang Jie continued. ¡°The Seven Absolutions Sect is of average strength, but they have nevercked for schemes and tricks. I wouldn¡¯t find it strange if they had some way tomunicate. If I were in the Seven Absolutions Sect, I definitely wouldn¡¯t try to fight on my own. Rather, I would use all the advantages I had at my disposal, including terrain and manpower, which means moving together.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very possible.¡± Ye Tianshang nodded. ¡°So what are you implying?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°So long as the Seven Absolutions Sect finishes assembling, it will definitely use its advantage in numbers to attack Godhead Pce. They don¡¯t have any of their people taken as hostages and so have nothing to fear.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, but does that mean we can only watch?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Of course not. Now that the treasure light has appeared, everyone will being this way. Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate are also gathering their people, and when ites to numbers, Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate have more people when put together¡­¡±


    Ye Tianshang¡¯s eyes glowed as he understood what Tang Jie was getting at. ¡°So what we actually need to do isn¡¯t to cause trouble for Yun Wuji, but to intercept his reinforcements!¡±


    ¡°Correct!¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Besiege a point to lure out reinforcements. If we can get hostages of our own, we can make an exchange. Even if we can¡¯t get any, we will create an opportunity for the Seven Absolutions Sect.¡±


    ¡°Then if the object falls into the hands of the Seven Absolutions Sect?¡±


    ¡°What about it?¡± Tang Jie casually said. ¡°The treasure can easily change hands, and the timer resets, so the Seven Absolutions Sect won¡¯t be able to take it away that quickly Moreover, in this contest of the six sects, the sects are not of equal strength. At present, the strongest are the Beast Refining Gate and the Basking Moon Sect. Godhead Pce has joined hands with the Beast Refining Gate. Our strategy of getting at the reinforcements should focus on getting at the stronger of these two sects, and then when we go against the Seven Absolutions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion, we stand a better chance of emerging victorious. As for the Taiyi Profound rity Cup, what does it matter if the Seven Absolutions Sect really manages to take it away? There are ten treasures, and this is only the first. Isn¡¯t it worthwhile to sacrifice the first to buy a better position?¡±


    Ye Tianshang nodded in agreement. He pointed at Tang Jie andughed, ¡°You¡¯re really good at this!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s strategy of striking at reinforcements was truly vicious. Not only did it break Yun Wuji¡¯s hostage strategy, it also greatly weakened the two sects.


    But this wasn¡¯t what was most important. What was most important was that his goal had never been the treasure, but the people!


    He was borrowing the appearance of the Taiyi Profound rity Cup to clean out Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate, after which he would then think of a way to deal with Horizon Ocean Pavilion and the Seven Absolutions Sect. It was only then that he would seek out a confrontation with the Thousand Passions Sect.


    As for fighting over the treasure, Tang Jie didn¡¯t care one bit.


    When the students from all the other sects had been defeated, there would be no need to search for the remaining treasures. It would naturally all belong to the Basking Moon Sect.


    This was like a war; the students, soldiers; and the treasures, cities. Soldiers besieged cities to seize them, but it was oft forgotten that soldiers were the foundation. Eliminating the army would always be of greater strategic significance than taking a city.


    Of course, in this process, some treasures would inevitably fall into the hands of the students from the other five sects, giving other people a chance.


    Thus, what Tang Jie sought to do was to prevent the other outstanding students from getting treasures if he couldn¡¯t have them for himself.


    Like Lan Yu.


    ¡°Then¡­ Senior Brother Ye, let¡¯s split up and contact the other four sects to have them assist with this n.¡±


    ¡°Naturally,¡± Ye Tianshang agreed.


    Just as he was about to leave, Tang Jie called out, ¡°Right, Senior Brother Ye.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    Tang Jie said, ¡°If you run into Lan Yu¡­ let him through.¡±


    Ye Tianshang narrowed his eyes.


    He chuckled, ¡°Understood.¡± Time for Tang Jie to have a mano-a-mano with Lan Yu? To decide who will get Xu Miaoran¡¯s hand once and for all?

 Chapter 321: Scheming

    Chapter 321: Scheming


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    All nine members of the Seven Absolutions Sect who had entered the blessednd had assembled.


    Once the nine had gathered, they headed off to the treasure light together. But rather than flying on swords, they sprinted on the ground.


    It was a slower method, but it minimized the chances that they would be discovered. After all, flying on swords was a rather showy method of transportation. Even so, after running a certain distance, the students would stop and observe their surroundings before continuing, showing a high level of caution.


    As the weakest of the six major sects, the Seven Absolutions Sect found it hard to match thebat power of the other sects. But this was also why they were more cautious and united. After entering the blessednd, rather than finding treasure, the first thing they did was unite.


    These nine were all running, and as the treasure light drew closer and closer, the leading student suddenly raised his right arm, upon which the eight others behind him stopped in unison.


    The leading student was coarse-skinned, wore a green uniform, and had a bamboo flute on his back. He had the inness of a farmer and seemed very average and uninteresting, but from how strictly his orders were followed, it was clear that this student had a very high status in the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    This person was Mu Yi, the most talented student of the Seven Absolutions Sect and its leading figure in the Immortal Fortune Conference.


    It was said that Mu Yi had originally been a shepherd boy for a farming family. A wandering Celestial Heart elder of the Seven Absolutions Sect had discovered his talent in his travels and brought him to the institute.


    Where Mu Yi stood out wasn¡¯t in his Jade Gate. In fact, his Jade Gate was only six cycles, not even high aptitude. Where he truly excelled was in his Spiritfire Meridians, which made him a genius in the Dao of Pills. Thus, that elder had brought him back with the hopes that he would be an expert in the Dao of Pills for the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    But while in the institute, Mu Yi had disyed jaw-dropping ability. Putting aside the fact that he entered Mortal Shedding in his sixth year despite having only a six-cycle Jade Gate, he had also cultivated the Cyclic Mantra and the Third Secret Transmission, the Music of Animitta. In the institute¡¯s major tournament, he had singlehandedly swept through several dozen students of his ss and be an instant celebrity. He was the Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s most outstanding genius in recent times.


    Even in this Immortal Fortune Conference where the six major sects vied for power, Mu Yi had singlehandedly swept aside the reputation of the Seven Absolutions Sect as ¡°the weakest¡±, overwhelming his opponents and winning five matches in a row. Of course, this also had to do with the fact that he hadn¡¯t run into the elite students from the other sects, but the strength he had disyed had drawn a lot of attention.


    As the party of nine stopped, Mu Yi peered into the distance and sternly said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what sect Senior Brother is from, but pleasee out.¡±


    Laughter came from the forest. ¡°Junior Brother Mu is truly quite cautious. Let alone the nine of you, you alone would be enough to have me running for the hills, but you¡¯re still so cautious. Thankfully, I have no ns to be your opponent.¡±


    Tang Jie emerged from the forest.


    Mu Yi was actually a sixth-year, so he had been in school longer than Tang Jie, but he had entered school early, so age-wise, he was actually younger than Tang Jie. Moreover, he had a natural baby face and had a humble personality, calling others ¡°Senior Brother¡±. As time passed, people grew ustomed to calling him ¡°Junior Brother¡±, and Tang Jie was just joining them.


    Tang Jie stood underneath a tree and grinned. ¡°Gentlemen, I mean no ill will. I just have something to discuss with you.¡±


    ¡°So it was Tang Jie.¡± The Seven Absolutions Sect students rxed when they saw him.


    One student smiled and said, ¡°Senior Brother Tang, you¡¯re not here to tell us that we can¡¯t go through this road, are you?¡±


    The Seven Absolutions Sect students started tough. They had no grudge against the Basking Moon Sect and had the advantage in numbers, so they were very rxed.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°How could I have this ability? It¡¯s impossible for me to stake a im to this plot ofnd. I was just waiting here to tell you what¡¯s happened up ahead.¡±


    ¡°Something happened up ahead?¡±


    ¡°Correct. I just came from there. The first treasure to emerge is the Taiyi Profound rity Cup, and it¡¯s currently in the hands of Yun Wuji of Godhead Pce. They have five people in all: two from Godhead Pce and three from the Beast Refining Gate.¡±


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    Godhead Pce!


    A murderous look shed across the faces of the Seven Absolutions Sect students.


    Just like how the Basking Moon Sect hated the Beast Refining Gate, the Seven Absolutions Sect held a deep grudge against Godhead Pce.


    ¡°Since Godhead Pce got the treasure, we have to take it from them,¡± one student said.


    ¡°But can you actually do it?¡± Tang Jie countered.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect students scowled.


    Someone angrily said, ¡°Tang Jie, are you making fun of my Seven Absolutions Sect? In terms of individualbat strength, my Seven Absolutions Sect might be inferior, but we have many methods that you don¡¯t know about¡­¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°I have no intention of making fun of you. It¡¯s just that Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate have joined together.¡±


    ¡°Then we can join up with Horizon Ocean Pavilion¨C¡±


    ¡°They can¡¯t help you,¡± Tang Jie cut him off. ¡°Yun Wuji took some of their people hostage, and also people from the Thousand Passions Sect and Basking Moon Sect. They will find it hard to make any moves without hurting the hostages.¡±


    Everyone paled. Without the help of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, the Seven Absolutions Sect was no match for the alliance of two sects.


    Only Mu Yi remained unperturbed, calmly saying, ¡°Senior Brother Tang isn¡¯t telling us this just to persuade us to turn back, right?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Of course not. I¡¯ve juste to make a deal with you.¡±


    ¡°What sort of deal?¡±


    ¡°If you pay me enough, I¡¯ll help you hold off the reinforcements from Godhead and Beast Refining.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s intentions were finally revealed. He wanted to use this chance to get some money out of the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    Besieging a point to draw out reinforcements was actually a n that required cooperation. The Seven Absolutions Sect was the main force, while the other sects were primarily there to intercept the enemy forces.


    But in Tang Jie¡¯s view, this cooperation didn¡¯t need to be out in the open. It only needed to be cooperation in practice.


    Thus, Tang Jie didn¡¯t need to tell Mu Yi, ¡°Let¡¯s work together.¡± That would only make the Seven Absolutions Sect feel like it was in the bargaining position and perhaps even demand a sky-high price. He wanted to exploit the Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s desire to get the treasure, and take the role of an assistant.


    So long as the Seven Absolutions Sect moved against Godhead Pce, the rest would naturally follow.


    And Tang Jie wasn¡¯t worried about the Seven Absolutions Sect getting the treasure because of it. He had nned on giving it up anyway.


    In a situation where he couldn¡¯t get all the treasures, his best choice was to choose who got the treasure and who didn¡¯t.


    And Tang Jie had chosen Mu Yi to be the one to get the treasure.


    The reason was very simple. Mu Yi, while powerful, didn¡¯t have a particrly handsome appearance, and he wasn¡¯t muchpetition for the hand of the young pce lord.


    While young men always grumbled about how girls had various reasons for disliking them, most young girls had yet to be involved in worldly affairs and weren¡¯t thinking too long-term. In this age group, they usually didn¡¯t like a man for a very simple reason: he was too ugly.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know who that fake young pce lord would ultimately choose, but he knew that the best means of getting rid of thepetition was killing off the most handsome.


    Lan Yu could not get a treasure.


    The same applied to Yun Wuji.


    Thus, the Taiyi Profound rity Cup could end up in anyone¡¯s hands except theirs.


    Tang Jie wasn¡¯t worried that his motives would be guessed at. These students weren¡¯t dumb, but they also weren¡¯t very old and hadn¡¯t involved themselves in worldly affairs too much. As they spent most of their time cultivating, their actual experience was limited, and one had to add onto that the limitations of their era. They had never heard about ¡°choosing winners¡±, so they couldn¡¯t see through Tang Jie¡¯s motives.


    In truth, let alone them, even many of the spectators couldn¡¯t understand what was going on. Some people had to think the matter over several times before they finally got it.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect students were truly surprised at Tang Jie¡¯s suggestion. One of them asked, ¡°How can you stop the reinforcements by yourself?¡±


    Sure enough, rather than Tang Jie¡¯s goal, they were more confused about how Tang Jie was going to pull it off.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°That¡¯s my problem. You don¡¯t need to worry about that, only about the price you¡¯re going to offer.¡±


    They began to think.


    The people at Red Plum Ridge could only see the students move around and couldn¡¯t hear them talk. The esteemed masters had their ways to get around this, but they needed to focus on a particr scene to do this.


    Tang Jie had put on a good show so far, so most of the people were paying attention to him, and quite a few had noticed what he was saying.


    The green-robed schr from the Seven Absolutions Sect angrily said, ¡°Don¡¯t listen to that bastard! He¡¯ll help you even if you don¡¯t give him anything!¡±


    s, just like with Godhead Pce¡¯s Elder Ke, his words couldn¡¯t be heard by his students.


    After some thought, Mu Yi replied, ¡°We can give you five bottles of True Essence Pills, but you must promise that once we seed, the Basking Moon Sect won¡¯t try to take the treasure from us.¡±


    Five bottles of True Essence Pills was close to the value of a low-grade art relic. Of course, the Taiyi Profound rity Cup was no low-grade art relic, and besides its inherent value, it was also proof that its bearer held one of the ten spots, making it much more important than a regr art relic. But as the Seven Absolutions Sect still needed to fight for it, this price was reasonable.


    Mu Yi was a very honorable and honest person. Another person might have started negotiating from one bottle, but he offered five from the start. However, it would be impossible to get him to add any more.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°It truly is refreshing to work with Junior Brother Mu. That being the case, I won¡¯t quibble with you. I¡¯ll take it. For five bottles of True Essence Pills, the Taiyi Profound rity Cup belongs to your Seven Absolutions Sect.¡±


    Mu Yi waved his hand, and the Seven Absolutions Sect students behind him opened their bags, and really did collect five bottles of True Essence Pills to hand over to Mu Yi.


    Mu Yi threw the bottles toward Tang Jie, saying, ¡°If you¡¯re deceiving me¡­¡±


    Tang Jie caught them. ¡°The Seven Absolutions Sect lives up to its reputation, really managing to put together five bottles of True Essence Pills. Rx. I don¡¯t n on making enemies with the Seven Absolutions Sect for just a few bottles of pills. I can¡¯t say anything about the others, but I can guarantee that no Godhead or Beast Refining Gate student will get past me.¡±


    Mu Yi nodded. ¡°That¡¯s good enough.¡±


    Tang Jie turned and disappeared into the forest.


    That green-robed schr saw that the deal was done and that Tang Jie really had managed to swindle his students out of five bottles of True Essence Pills. He stomped his feet in fury and pointed at Xie Fengtang. ¡°Such a cunning and despicable student! Truly, the apple doesn¡¯t fall far from the tree!¡±


    Xie Fengtang innocently said, ¡°What does it have to do with me?¡±


    Ming Yekong smiled and nodded. ¡°Not bad, not bad. I¡¯m liking this kid more and more.¡±


    It almost sounded like he wanted to take him as his disciple.


    Tang Jie swiftly retreated, and it was only once he was deep in the forest that he said, ¡°Come out.¡±


    The person who emerged was Wei Tianchong, surprisingly. He scratched his head and said, ¡°As expected, I couldn¡¯t hide from you.¡±


    He had encountered Tang Jie after the meeting with Ye Tianshang. After hearing Tang Jie¡¯s n, he had worked with Tang Jie to intercept people and set up defenses.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°It¡¯s not like you cultivate stealth and concealment, so it¡¯s very normal that you couldn¡¯t hide from me. What¡¯s the situation?¡±


    ¡°We ran into one from the Beast Refining Gate. Senior Brother Peng has already gone off in pursuit of him.¡±


    ¡°Senior Brother Peng is also here?¡±


    ¡°He just got here.¡± Wei Tianchong grinned. ¡°Other than Shaoming, basically everyone else is here. Senior Brother Deng from the Thousand Passions Sect is also here. That idiot Yun Wuji is still holding his position, not realizing that we¡¯vepletely surrounded him.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Tang Jie was very satisfied. ¡°I¡¯ve met up with the Seven Absolutions Sect and finished negotiating with them.¡±


    As time passed and more students arrived and met up, the noose that Tang Jie had drawn around Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate drew tighter and tighter.


    Basking Moon, Thousand Passions, and Horizon Ocean each upied one side of the treasure light area, intercepting the iing students from Godhead and Beast Refining. At the same time, Mu Yi led his men in an attack on Yun Wuji¡¯s group.


    Under Tang Jie¡¯s guidance, the battle became a four versus two, with the defeat of Godhead and Beast Refining being inevitable. Even Elder Ke and Heng Wudi couldn¡¯t help but despair.


    In this Immortal Fortune Conference, Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate were bound to be the greatest losers, and their loss was entirely due to Tang Jie.


    The two Celestial Heart elders stared at Tang Jie, their eyes brimming with hostility. They both had the same thought: <em>If this kid is allowed to mature, he will be a major foe.</em>


    Even though the news from Ten Direction Valley had mostly proved that Tang Jie wasn¡¯t Tang Jiye, his performance today had given new reason for Godhead Pce to pay attention to him, and now, the Beast Refining Gate was with them.


    In the forest, Wei Tianchong grew excited after hearing that Tang Jie had settled things with the Seven Absolutions Sect. ¡°Then what are we waiting for? Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°¡®Go¡¯? Go where?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°To intercept the Godhead Pce and Beast Refining Gate people, of course.¡± Wei Tianchong gave him a weird look. ¡°Wasn¡¯t this your n?¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°In total, Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate sent only twenty-four people into the blessednd. If we take seven off of that, then there can only be seventeen people who cane as reinforcements, but these have to be divided among the Thousand Passions Sect, the Basking Moon Sect, and Horizon Ocean Pavilion. If we divide them evenly, we¡¯ll end up with two of our people for every one of theirs, and this is only if the other side sends everyone. When it reallyes down to it, even a 3-to-1 ratio might be too generous. So what¡¯s the point?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Wei Tianchong was stunned. ¡°So what are you trying to say?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°The Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s people have already gone to take the treasure. As it¡¯s nine versus five, Godhead Pce has no chance of victory. Given the rtionship between the Seven Absolutions Sect and Godhead Pce, if circumstances permit, the Seven Absolutions Sect would never let Yun Wuji go. With someone else serving as the target of all the hostility, the three from the Beast Refining Gate might try to escape.¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°We¡¯re going in together with the Seven Absolutions Sect to kill those three guys from the Beast Refining Gate. Wouldn¡¯t that be much better than waiting around like fools? If our luck is good, we could also catch one or two guys who managed to break through our.¡±


    Wei Tianchong understood. If this was really the case, then it was much more pleasing than waiting around to intercept. Moreover, those people from the Beast Refining Gate would probably be weakened by their escape attempt, so even if they had to go two-versus-three, they would still be able to easily do it.


    But after thinking it over some more, he still couldn¡¯t rest easy. ¡°But what if they don¡¯t manage to escape?¡±


    ¡°We make a profit if even one of them manages to escape, so what are you afraid of? Besides, if it¡¯s really no good, we can just help one of them escape.¡± Tang Jie smiled.


    The esteemed masters gathered at Red Plum Ridge all cursed at Tang Jie for his shamelessness.


    Even Xie Fengtang shivered. Looking at Ming Yekong, he said, ¡°Isn¡¯t he just a little too cunning?¡±


    Ming Yekong¡¯s face darkened. This kid¡¯s style of calcting everything for maximum value truly was rather frightening. If he were taken as a disciple, it was hard to say that he wouldn¡¯t one day sell Ming Yekong out, and his desire to take Tang Jie as his disciple somewhat faded. Tang Jie¡¯s a little too devious and utilitarian for his own good.

 Chapter 322: Ambush

    Chapter 322: Ambush


    They had been lying there for some time.


    For Wei Tianchong, this sort of dull watch was pure torture. He finally couldn¡¯t stand it and said, ¡°Hey, how long do we have to keep watch here?¡±


    Tang Jie ignored him.


    Wei Tianchong panicked a little. Pushing Tang Jie, he said, ¡°Say something! The Seven Absolutions Sect people went over a while ago, so why is there still nothing?¡±


    Tang Jie finally answered, ¡°I also don¡¯t understand why they haven¡¯t done anything yet, but it¡¯s not like you can control everything in this world. Everyone is fighting for victory, so neither you nor I know if Yun Wuji has some sort of trick that he¡¯s used to dy the Seven Absolutions Sect. But no matter what methods they use, what should happen will happen¡­ Be a little more patient.¡±


    Helpless, Wei Tianchong could only keep lying in the bush.


    Perhaps because he was bored, Wei Tianchong turned over and used his arms as a pillow. ¡°Tang Jie.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°What do you think the young pce lord looks like?¡±


    Tang Jie turned his head to Wei Tianchong. ¡°What?¡±


    Wei Tianchong grinned. ¡°I was just thinking: what if, after we were all done fighting each other, we discovered that the young pce lord was some ugly freak. Wouldn¡¯t that be very funny?¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°The young pce lord of the Wandering Pce, Shen Qingdan, is a renowned beauty. How could she be an ugly monster?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly the problem!¡± Wei Tianchong said. ¡°Everyone says that Shen Qingdan is a beauty, but who has ever seen her before? No one! Isn¡¯t thatplete nonsense? Everyone knows that she¡¯s a great beauty, yet few people have ever seen her, so where did her reputation as a beautye from? There¡¯s something wrong here. There¡¯s an eighty percent chance that someone was intentionally spreading these rumors.¡±


    Tang Jie looked at Wei Tianchong in surprise. ¡°Pretty good, Young Master. You even managed to consider things to that level! It seems like you¡¯ve been pondering this problem thest few days whenever you¡¯re free, huh?¡±


    Wei Tianchong replied, ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m the only one thinking it. You have to realize that if I identally end up getting into the top then and somehow gain that young pce lord¡¯s favor, wouldn¡¯t I be in big trouble if she ended up being some ugly girl?¡±


    Tang Jie sincerely said, ¡°Young Master, as a person, you have to know your limits!¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie, are you looking down on me?¡±


    Tang Jie threw his head back andughed, ¡°Of course not! How could I possibly?¡±


    Wei Tianchong said nothing.


    Tang Jie thought that he had angered him and awkwardly said, ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s not like you¡¯re that bad¡­¡±


    Wei Tianchong shook his head. ¡°I truly don¡¯t have a chance.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Tang Jie froze.


    Wei Tianchong continued, ¡°If not for you, I wouldn¡¯t have even had the chance to participate in this Immortal Fortune Conference. I¡¯ve only been able to get this far, participate in the conference, and even get through the first round and enter this blessednd, all because of you. I¡¯m already very satisfied to have gotten this far.¡±


    He looked at Tang Jie with eyes brimming over with gratitude.


    Seeing how serious Wei Tianchong was being, Tang Jie smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m only trying to fulfill the Heart Demon Oath I made back then. Don¡¯t forget that if the young master doesn¡¯t shed mortality, I will never shed my status as a servant, and if the young master does not reach Celestial Heart, I will never leave the family registry.¡±


    Wei Tianchong replied, ¡°You should know that I stopped treating you as a servant long ago.¡±


    Yes.


    After bing a True Inheritor, Wei Tianchong had actually stopped treating Tang Jie as his servant student. In his eyes, Tang Jie was his most reliable friend.


    Tang Jie simply chuckled. ¡°A person¡¯s status¡­ still has some meaning.¡±


    <em>A person¡¯s status?</em>


    Wei Tianchong chewed over these words for a bit, and then he nodded. ¡°I see. Very well. Tang Jie, for your sake, your young master will work hard to cultivate. I will reach Mortal Shedding early so that you can shed your servant status early.¡±


    ¡°I look forward to it.¡± Tang Jie lightly punched him on the shoulder, and the two of them smiled as brothers would.


    At this moment, a shockwave erupted in the distant forest.


    Shaken, Tang Jie shouted, ¡°It¡¯s here!¡±


    The long-awaited battle had finally begun. In the distance, spiritual energy converged, clouds gathered, and thunder rumbled. One could tell from the shifts in spiritual energy alone that an intense battle was taking ce.


    Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong both began to gather energy for battle.


    It wasn¡¯t long before three figures appeared in the distance, running their way. It was none other than the three Beast Refining Gate students.


    Wei Tianchong was delighted at the situation. ¡°It really was them. Tang Jie, your ability to predict is simply divine.¡±


    But Tang Jie simply frowned.


    The clothes of the three Beast Refining Gate students were very neat, and it didn¡¯t appear like they had been through battle. While the Seven Absolutions Sect would primarily focus on Godhead Pce, there was no reason for them topletely ignore the Beast Refining Gate. Had Yun Wuji been so formidable that he was singlehandedly holding back the Seven Absolutions Sect party?


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know the exact details, but he did know that these threeing toward him were doomed.


    As the three Beast Refining Gate students ran over, they simply didn¡¯t think that they could be ambushed. When the three of them passed the ambush point, Tang Jie barked, ¡°Strike!¡±


    The two of them jumped up. Wei Tianchong waved his left hand, and a cyclone flew out from his side. As it approached the trio, it turned into a humanoid soldier that blew a chilling wind at the targets: a Darkwind Warrior. At the same time, a bolt of lightning flew out from the axe in Wei Tianchong¡¯s right hand, unleashing the Changfeng Thirteenth Style.


    The trio reacted quickly, realizing that something was wrong the moment they felt a shift in the wind, and tried to move to the side. Unfortunately, they were just one step too slow. The Beast Refining Gate student at the front was struck by the Darkwind Warrior¡¯s chilling wind and went stiff, after which Wei Tianchong¡¯s attack struck him in the back.


    With a cry, the student threw up blood and was sent flying, but he wasn¡¯t cut in half as expected. If one looked at his back, one would see a glint of gold: Godhead Armor.


    Regardless of where this Beast Refining Gate student had gotten it, this Godhead Armor had managed to block Wei Tianchong¡¯s formidable strike, but the force of the Changfeng Thirteenth Style still prated through his body, inflicting serious wounds.


    Just as he was trying to dodge to the side, a saber swept across his neck, slicing off his head. This time, it was Tang Jie.


    As his blow struck true, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but mentally sigh.


    ording to their original n, so long as the ambush seeded, they would have needed barely any strength at all to kill these three, but s, the Godhead Armor had caused Wei Tianchong¡¯s attack to fail¡ªa small mishap.


    But it wasn¡¯t a fatal mishap, simply making things a little more troublesome.


    The two remaining Beast Refining Gate students were aghast at the sight and tried to run, but they only made it a few steps before a chilling arc flew through the air and struck one of the students in the head. The student¡¯s head came apart like a watermelon, sttering white and red matter everywhere.


    The attacker¡¯s form was revealed: the Grade 3bat puppet. It stood in front of them, blocking the escape path of the remaining student.


    The third student saw that he couldn¡¯t escape and looked in despair at Tang Jie. ¡°Let me go, and I can give you everything I have and withdraw from thepetition.¡±


    Tang Jie took the Mustard Seed Bags and weapons of the deceased students before shaking his head and replying, ¡°My apologies. The possibility of peace does not exist between Basking Moon and Beast Refining.¡±


    Someone else might have let them go, but this wasn¡¯t possible between mortal foes.


    The Beast Refining Gate student¡¯s eyes showed a hint of despair.


    ¡°But if you can tell me what happened in there just now, I might consider letting you go,¡± Tang Jie added.


    He was somewhat confused as to why the Seven Absolutions Sect had tarried for so long before finally making its move, and he also wanted to know why the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people were seemingly unharmed.


    The student immediately hesitated.


    He preferred not to die, but he was worried that Tang Jie was deceiving him. As he was considering his options, there was a roar in the distance.


    It was a resounding roar that Tang Jie was extremely familiar with. He cried out, ¡°It¡¯s Lan Yu!¡±


    This guy had finallye, and with great sound and fury. Making a warning bellow, he was charging straight toward the treasure light.


    The surviving Beast Refining Gate student heard this roar and immediately ran in its direction.


    This novel is avable on Hosted Novel.


    It was clear that, due to the grudge between the two sets, he had chosen to use Lan Yu¡¯s arrival to try and escape rather than trust in Tang Jie. Everyone knew that Tang Jie had publicly ridiculed Lan Yu, so if Lan Yu came over, he would definitely cause trouble for Tang Jie, allowing him the chance to escape.


    ¡°Trying to run?¡± Wei Tianchong roared. He pointed at the student, and the eyes of the Grade 3bat puppet crackled. A bolt of lightning came down and struck the student, causing his body to shudder.


    Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong charged out, each firing a bolt of energy from his finger, punching two bloody holes through the student. But this student was quite tenacious, enduring the pain to apply a barrier and then pushing off the ground. There was a rush of wind, and then arge tiger manifested and lunged at the pair.


    This was the student¡¯s best move, the White Tiger Gale.


    It was a pretty decent spell, and with enough casting time, it could create a tiger of three times the size, from which a cultivator would find it hard to fend off even a single swipe.


    Of course, he had been in a rush and had no time to maximize its power, only to create a phantom to throw off his foe so that he had time to escape.


    Now that Tang Jie thought about it, it was rather strange. None of the three Beast Refining Gate students had let out their refined beasts. Perhaps the first two hadn¡¯t had time, but the third did, yet he was choosing not to, instead using a spell to fight.


    As that tiger lunged, Tang Jie coldlyughed. Wei Tianchong simply pointed his finger, and thebat puppet rushed at the tiger, the impact instantly dispelling it. It then rammed into the student, breaking almost all his bones as it sent him flying.


    Wei Tianchong snatched at the air as he shouted, ¡°Stab!¡±


    The puppet¡¯s left arm transformed into a long spear that extended through the air. As it thrust into the student¡¯s belly, there was a ng. He was also wearing a suit of Godhead Armor.


    With death staved off once more, the student tumbled onto a tree and borrowed the impact to fly through the air again.


    At the same time, a figure appeared in the distance: Lan Yu.


    He had seen the battle taking ce in the distance, and when he saw Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong, his eyes shed with murder. ¡°Tang Jie, I¡¯ve finally found you!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the time to deal with you!¡± Tang Jie fired off an Energy Needle, bringing that other student back down to earth.


    Lan Yu¡¯s murderous intent became even more obvious. ¡°Savage brute, trying to kill someone in front of me?¡±


    He didn¡¯t feel anything for the Beast Refining Gate, nor did he have any interest in upholding justice, but he didn¡¯t mind showing off in front of Tang Jie, waving around the g of righteousness while ruining his foe¡¯s ns.


    As he flew over, he pointed a finger, sending a bolt of wind at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie raised his saber to block, and with a ng, Lan Yu¡¯s bolt of wind hammered into the Heartbreak Saber like a nail.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°I¡¯ve received a mission from the Seven Absolutions Sect to not let anyone approach. Senior Brother Lan, please go back!¡±


    The outside spectators once again couldn¡¯t help but curse at Tang Jie for his shamelessness.


    It was no wonder he had allowed Lan Yu to go through. He was once again trying to shift the me and sow dissent.


    But Lan Yu clearly wasn¡¯t that easily fooled. In truth, he cared far more about Tang Jie than the treasure, and he charged right at him.


    Tang Jie fired off an Energy Needle while shouting, ¡°I¡¯ll hold off this annoying guy. You go and finish him off!¡±


    ¡°Alright!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted. He pointed a finger at the student, and a chilling wind howled through the air, countless savage little ghosts emerging. These were Wei Tianchong¡¯s Evilhook Shadow Soldiers.


    They lunged at the student, instantly rendering him immobile.


    The Grade 3bat puppet strode over.


    The true ferocity of this puppety in its strength, which was even greater than that of Tang Jie¡¯s original body. A smash from this puppet was akin to that of a giant stone hammer weighing several dozen tons, and not just any cultivator could take this sort of blow.


    Lan Yu¡¯s eyes coldly glinted. ¡°Impudent!¡±


    A vigorous energy surged out of his body. It was none other than Lan Yu¡¯s realm pressure.


    Lan Yu was truly capable, cultivating realm pressure at such a young age.


    s, this wasn¡¯t his first time using it. He had already used it once on the stage, allowing Tang Jie to mentally prepare himself for the realm pressure, and he wouldn¡¯t be so easily affected by it. Just as Lan Yu was about to unleash his pressure, Tang Jie grunted and spat out, ¡°Fog!¡±


    As he spoke this word, white fog surged up around him.


    This was the ¡°Fog¡± word of the Four-Nine True Word Mantra, creating illusory fog to obscure vision. Though its power was mediocre, it could be cast very quickly.


    But the Fog word was not what he was actually using to resist the realm pressure, only to conceal the real secret. Tang Jie felt more and more like he was being watched, so he had to be careful.


    As the white fog surged up, his body shed with a bloody light.


    The Blood Refining Spirit spell!


    This was the divine spell he had learned from Wang Poguan. It stimted blood energy, leading to an enormous boost in strength and even resistance to Soulscour. In truth, it could be considered Tang Jie¡¯s most powerful spell art. It was just that the limitations of his constitution had prevented him from using its real power, and with this avatar¡¯s weaker constitution, he could use even less of its power.


    But there was no better method of resisting Lan Yu¡¯s realm pressure.


    As the bloody light erupted, Tang Jie charged Lan Yu, swinging the Heartbreak Saber at him.


    Lan Yu hadn¡¯t expected his realm pressure to bepletely useless against Tang Jie. rmed, he grunted, then raised a finger and pointed it at Tang Jie.


    His fingertip exploded with light, as if energy was gathering at its tip.


    Karmic Cycle Finger!


    This was one of Lan Yu¡¯s strongest spell arts.


    Entirely because he hated Tang Jie, Lan Yu was using a lethal move, ensuring that Tang Jie didn¡¯t have the slightest chance.


    Just as he was about to thrust the finger, Tang Jie¡¯s eyes shed.


    He sheathed his saber and backed away.


    His right hand reached into his Mustard Seed Bag, grabbing something inside and clenching his hand into a fist.


    His left hand passed over his right as if they were exchanging something, but no one could see what it was because of the white fog.


    Lan Yu¡¯s Karmic Cycle Finger had gathered into a brilliant light, and he thrust it at Tang Jie, surging with killing intent.


    Even Wei Tianchong could feel the terrifying power in this finger, and he paled and yelled, ¡°No!¡±


    But Tang Jie was fearless, raising his left hand, a ck smoke leaking out from his palm.


    This ck smoke was very strange, wriggling around as if it had actual substance, even faintly screaming. If one looked closely, one would see the savage and distorted appearance of a beast face within the smoke.


    A Mindseizer!


    This was one of the most infamous creatures in the world, created by Tang Jie from the Soul Refining Pearl: the Mindseizer.


    This creature was so infamous that Tang Jie did not dare to use it lightly. Even though he had made one, he kept it in reserve until now, when facing Lan Yu.


    He understood how powerful Lan Yu was, and in a real fight, he had no chance of victory. Even if he were in Mortal Shedding with his original body, he still would find it hard to win.


    But at least he had a trump card in the Mindseizer.


    The billowing white fog wasn¡¯t obscuring the Blood Refining Spirit spell, but the Mindseizer.


    In this sh, both parties had actually used their most powerful moves. A showdown between love rivals!

 Chapter 323: Joining Together Against the Enemy

    Chapter 323: Joining Together Against the Enemy


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    Four words exploded through the air, creating a dizzying sight.


    This four-wordbination was the Soulshaker Art of the Four-Nine True Word Mantra, but as Tang Jie had only recently created this mantra, the actual effects were very weak¡ªthe equivalent of smacking an ordinary farmer on the head with a cudgel. It was far from sufficient for a cultivator.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t care. He used this not to injure Lan Yu, but to provide an exnation.


    This exnation was for Wei Tianchong, Lan Yu, and all those spectators that he didn¡¯t even know existed.


    As the power of the True Words erupted, the Mindseizer lunged at Lan Yu, swiftly entering his body.


    Lan Yu¡¯s Karmic Cycle Finger thrust at Tang Jie¡¯s chest in a torrent of power like a heaven-piercing spear, breaking through the Aquagel Shroud, shattering the Formless Golden Body, and sting a hole in Tang Jie¡¯s body.


    Tang Jie threw up blood and flew backward, the finger mming into his body like a giant hammer and dispersing all of his power. The power was utterly terrifying, and if Lan Yu thrust out his finger again, Tang Jie¡¯s fate would have been sealed.


    But Lan Yu couldn¡¯t follow up.


    The Mindseizer entered his body, and his eyes unfocused. His body, floating in the air, ckened and instantly dropped to the ground.


    As Tang Jie flew through the air, he stared at Lan Yu. As Lan Yu fell, he threw out the Heartbreak Saber. The red eagle phantom appeared on the de and guided the saber straight toward Lan Yu¡¯s head.


    This was the advantage of a soul weapon. So long as the weapon soul was around, it could automatically pursue the enemy for a set amount of time.


    <em>Thud!</em>


    The Heartbreak Saber flew through the air, stabbing into Lan Yu¡¯s belly in a burst of blood.


    Even in the white fog, this burst of blood from Lan Yu¡¯s body told everyone that Lan Yu had been injured!


    This left all the spectators stunned.


    The one hailed as the strongest of the students of the six major sects had been inexplicably injured.


    Two figures plummeted from the sky. One was Tang Jie with a hole through his chest; the other, Lan Yu with a saber in his belly. They crashed to the ground in a plume of dust.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted. He swung the axe in his right hand at the Beast Refining Gate student.


    After that onest bit of resistance, this Beast Refining Gate student was powerless to fight back. His head flew into the air in a fountain of blood.


    Wei Tianchong rushed at Lan Yu, chopping his axe at Lan Yu¡¯s head.


    Just when it seemed like Lan Yu was going to die, there was a crack from a ce near Lan Yu¡¯s neck, a small wooden card shattering.


    As this wooden card shattered, Lan Yu opened his eyes.


    He immediately stared at Wei Tianchong, and Wei Tianchong felt a chill engulfing his body that made him pause. Lan Yu thrust out his hand and grabbed the axe while his left hand thrust at Wei Tianchong¡¯s chest, the green bangle on his wrist shing.


    As the palm made contact, a majestic energy exploded, and Wei Tianchong was sent flying while throwing up blood.


    ¡°Young Master!¡± Among the spectators, Shi Meng stood up in panic.


    ¡°Bastard¡­¡± Lan Yu got to his feet, his eyes zing with rage.


    In the end, he was young andcking in experience. He didn¡¯t know what sort of trick Tang Jie had used, but just now, he had been gravely threatened, and if not for his n¡¯s treasure, the Meditation Wood, letting him break free of the danger early, he would have died to Wei Tianchong¡¯s axe.


    Even so, to beat back Wei Tianchong, he had been forced to use his strongest card, the Jade Bangle. The greatest advantage provided by this treasure was that it elerated energy cirction and allowed him to instantly cast a spell.


    As Wei Tianchong was thrown back, he gathered a giant fireball in his left hand and shot it at Lan Yu.


    Fireball was the lowest level of spell, but when Wei Tianchong used it, it was as big as a millstone and carried an intimidating force as it hurtled toward Lan Yu. Lan Yu hadn¡¯t expected this counterattack, and was struck and sent flying backward.


    This fireball dealt immense damage, the st scorching Lan Yu¡¯s entire body and covering his handsome face in burns. While someone with his constitution wouldn¡¯t need long to heal these injuries, the destruction of his face still shattered the hearts of many of his admirers.


    Worst of all was that when the fireball exploded on Lan Yu¡¯s body, it knocked the Heartbreak Saber free.


    Unlike other weapons, the true damage from the Heartbreak Saber didn¡¯te from its stab. When the de stabbed into the body, it meant that the barbed hook would embed itself into the target¡¯s organs, so once the saber was pulled out, it would inflict terrible damage.


    As the Heartbreak Saber flew out, blood gushed out from Lan Yu¡¯s belly, along with his intestines.


    ¡°Awooo!¡± Lan Yu let out a howl of unprecedented pain.


    But he was truly quite the fierce fellow, still having some strength even after such a severe wound. He formed a sign with his hands, putting his thumbs together and intersecting his index and middle fingers, after which he punched with both fists. With a thunderous boom, a furious storm swept up Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong.


    The raging of the storm also scattered all the white fog.


    Lan Yu didn¡¯t know if Tang Jie had any more Mindseizers, but he knew that since Tang Jie had released this white fog before daring to use it, the best way to deal with it was to scatter the white fog.


    This wasn¡¯t difficult, but doing it in such a short time wasn¡¯t easy at all.


    In truth, this move really had struck right at Tang Jie¡¯s weak point. Without the white fog to cover him, Tang Jie didn¡¯t dare to use Mindseizers anymore, even though he did have some more.


    Lan Yu didn¡¯t waste the energy used to make this storm. He formed another sign, and the air coalesced into countless green needles that shot at the pair.


    This was the Thousand de Gale.


    But this Thousand de Gale was even stronger than when it had been used on Li Zhiping, carpeting the entire area.


    Just when the two were about to be filled with holes, Tang Jie raised his hand, and arge number of zeravens rushed out to cover them. The Wind Needles pierced through the zeravens, creating dazzling fireworks. While the Wind Needles were numerous, their power was average. Most of the Wind Needles were eliminated, and the few that managed to strike the two had little effect.


    At the same time, the figure of the Grade 3bat puppet flew at Lan Yu at high speed.


    But Lan Yu easily dodged the puppet¡¯s attack, and then he created countless illusions of himself, making it hard to identify which was the real him. Unlike Qi Shaoming¡¯s clones, which were made from spiritual energy, these were afterimages created by the high speed at which he was moving. This was the Oceancrosser Step.


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion was the fastest of the six major sects of Rosecloud. Even the Thousand Passions Sect and its ¡°action without trace¡± of the Six Desires Mantra could only vie with Horizon Ocean Pavilion in a short sprint, and it focused more on bizarre and varied movement. When it came to pure speed, there was really no one that could beat Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    But he had just started moving when Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Break!¡±


    Blood burst out from the wound on Lan Yu¡¯s belly, making him tremble in pain. His speed dropped, Tang Jie¡¯s simple action breaking the Oceancrosser Step.


    The Four-Nine True Word Mantra wasn¡¯t strong, but Tang Jie had targeted it at Lan Yu¡¯s wound. No matter how formidable Lan Yu¡¯s cultivation was, so long as he didn¡¯t have a constitution like the Jewel Body, this wound would always be his weak point, and even a single finger would leave him in unbearable pain. And while the Oceancrosser Step was powerful, it needed Lan Yu to concentrate all his power to maintain it. The slightest gap would lead to its failure. This was why a single ¡°Break¡± from Tang Jie had been enough to ruin it.


    Lan Yu swayed and dropped from the sky, and thebat puppet pursued. Unable to dodge, Lan Yu pped his body, and his body shed with light as he applied a spiritual barrier to himself. A momentter, fist met barrier in an explosion of rainbow light.


    Lan Yu borrowed the impact to rise, and as he thrust out his hand again and again, one wind wall after another appeared, pushing toward Tang Jie. What had been a defensive spell became an attack through his hands¡ªa sign of his richbat experience.


    ¡°Young Master, break the walls!¡± Tang Jie shouted. He called the Heartbreak Saber back into his hands and chopped, green mes spreading along the de and streaking toward Lan Yu. At the same time, Wei Tianchong threw out anotherrge fireball. In Wei Tianchong¡¯s hands, this low-level spell disyed tremendous power, and even Tang Jie was shocked at how powerful it had be.


    The two of them together seemed unstoppable, breaking through three wind walls and charging up to Lan Yu.


    Lan Yu knew that this was the key moment, and his eyes glinted as a vortex suddenly formed in his hand. In a sh, it became a little green sword, its tip thrusting straight at Wei Tianchong.


    This sword was about one foot and three inches long, with a green tassel hanging from its handle. It seemed unremarkable, but the moment it appeared, Xu Miaoran, who had nervously been watching the battle, stood up in shock and shouted, ¡°Senior Brother, don¡¯t!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart tightened when he saw this sword.


    Tang Jie had seen Lan Yu fight in many battles in the Immortal Fortune Conference, but he had never seen him use this weapon. He normally used his hands to cast spells and his high speed to easily achieve victory. Even against Helian Hu, he had never used a weapon.


    But now, Lan Yu had taken out a weapon, and Tang Jie immediately had a bad feeling.


    Lan Yu had targeted Wei Tianchong.


    Tang Jie was actually weaker than Wei Tianchong right now. After all, Wei Tianchong wasn¡¯t fighting alone, but had his puppet to help. Thus, Lan Yu had chosen to kill Wei Tianchong.


    Lan Yu¡¯s green sword thrust forward, first striking Wei Tianchong¡¯s fireball. With a light touch, the giant fireball burst into sparks, dispersing like a firework. The energy from the sword continued unimpeded, digging out a furrow in the earth as it swept forward.


    Tang Jie lunged forward with all his strength, pushing the Blood Refining Spirit and Violet Lightning Lunge to their limit. Grabbing Wei Tianchong, he rolled.


    But he was still a little slow, and the sword energy brushed over his butt, shaving off a chunk of meat and exposing the bone. Even the Formless Golden Body had failed to reduce its power by even a little. The sword energy kept going, felling countless trees and creating a fissure in the ground that extended for three-hundred-some meters before finally stopping.


    Lan Yu¡¯s face turned ghastly white after he made this strike. It was clear that this blow had taken much of his energy.


    Even so, after seeing that Tang Jie was injured, Lan Yu snorted and then smugly smiled. Although he hadn¡¯t been able to kill Wei Tianchong, wounding Tang Jie was fine too. Having sustained multiple severe wounds, Tang Jie would find it very difficult to move.


    Lan Yu was confident that his next strike could kill Tang Jie, and he raised the small sword again.


    But just as he raised his sword, Wei Tianchong pped a chubby hand on the ground and eximed, ¡°Rise!¡±


    That puppet that had been clumsily chasing Lan Yu suddenly elerated to a speed that Lan Yu hadn¡¯t even thought possible, mming into his shoulder and sending him flying. The second strike naturally missed its mark, striking at empty ground several meters away from Tang Jie.


    Lan Yu was going to make a third strike, but Tang Jie turned around and waved a hand at Lan Yu.


    There didn¡¯t seem to be anything at all in his hand, but Lan Yu¡¯s sharp senses told him there was immense danger, and he hastily moved to the side.


    Lan Yu felt something pierce through his arm. The intense pain caused his grip to loosen, and the green sword dropped from his hand.


    Lan Yu hastily went to pick it up, but as he bent down, a fireball from Wei Tianchong mmed into him.


    Even though Lan Yu had a barrier, the powerful impact sent him flying. Meanwhile, the puppet grabbed the little sword.


    ¡°Oh no!¡± Lan Yu paled.


    This green tassel sword had cost him all he owned and could not be lost. He quickly made a sword sign and pointed at the sword, trying to get control of it and bring it back to him.


    ¡°Get the sword!¡± Tang Jie shouted.


    The puppet¡¯s eyes shed, and a Lightning Fall crashed onto Lan Yu. The effect of this lightning was limited, but it slowed Lan Yu¡¯s act of getting back the sword.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, and the golden needle flew out again, this time aimed at Lan Yu¡¯s throat.


    Lan Yu raised his head, and the golden needle flew past his face. Tang Jie was startled, thinking to himself, <em>I already used the Nullight spell to hide the golden glint, so how did he notice?</em> When he looked at the needle, he understood. At some point, it had been stained with a few drops of blood, which had allowed Lan Yu to notice this fatal attack.


    But this dodge had given Wei Tianchong enough time to grab the sword, and he began to try to remove the control spell that had been left on the sword.


    Art relics like this green tassel sword weren¡¯t like ordinary spell weapons. Even among art relics, they were very valuable, and because of their value, cultivators would often pay an extra price to apply special spells that would make them easier to control, to even call them back if they were taken away.


    What Wei Tianchong wanted to do was wipe away this spell and take control of the sword.


    But when the small sword was in his hand, he froze.


    He looked at Tang Jie. ¡°How do I remove it?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± Tang Jie asked in shock. ¡°The teachers taught us!¡±


    Wei Tianchong looked aggrieved. ¡°I didn¡¯t hear it. Did you forget? I passed the test because you helped me cheat.¡±


    Tang Jie felt his vision go dark.


    The spectators gasped, ¡°He doesn¡¯t even know this?¡±


    Ming Yekong looked at Xie Fengtang, who pped his forehead and ruthlessly said, ¡°For the next exam, I¡¯ll increase the surveince by ten times!¡±


    But for Lan Yu, this was a pleasant surprise. Heughed and pointed at the sword. ¡°Return to me!¡±


    The green tassel sword flew out of Wei Tianchong¡¯s palm and back to Lan Yu, and Lan Yu¡¯s eyes shed with killing intent. Once the small sword returned to his hand, he would be the winner of this battle.


    Tang Jie red at him and sternly said, ¡°You won¡¯t be getting it back!¡±


    He suddenly leapt at Lan Yu.


    Time seemed to freeze, a single frame fixed eternally in the minds of the spectators.


    In this scene, the little green sword was flying through the air in a green streak of light.


    The edge of the sword was brushing past Tang Jie, slicing across his body anding away with a sh of red blood.


    Lan Yu had a smug smile on his face.


    Wei Tianchong was staring, gobsmacked, at the sky.


    And in the center of this frame, Tang Jie was heedlessly charging forward!


    He charged up in front of Lan Yu and punched.


    At the same time, the little green sword flew back as if time was flowing backward, returning to Lan Yu¡¯s palm.


    One secondter, the iron fist smashed into the sword.


    Lan Yu saw the most magnificent scene in his life.


    The green tassel sword shattered.


    Small shards filled the area, obscuring Lan Yu¡¯s vision and shaking his soul.


    His morale plunged to rock bottom.


    He muttered, ¡°No, no, how is this possible?¡±


    He looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was looking at him, his eyesposed as ever.


    Lan Yu panicked.


    He who had been through countless battles and won every one had finally panicked.


    His confidence had shattered along with the sword.


    He floated back a few steps, cried out, and then fled more quickly than he hade.


    Wei Tianchong was stunned. He looked at Tang Jie in the air and said in disbelief, ¡°He ran? We won?¡±


    The number one genius of the six major sects had been defeated by thebination of him and Tang Jie. Even Wei Tianchong found it difficult to believe.


    Tang Jie smiled and nodded. ¡°Yes¡­ We won.¡±


    He suddenly threw his head back, threw up arge mouthful of blood, and fell from the sky. Lan Yu is defeated! But only for now¡­and it seems like Tang Jie paid a heavy price for this victory.

 Chapter 324: Trade

    Chapter 324: Trade


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    Aghast, he quickly took out some medicine and fed it to Tang Jie.


    But Tang Jie¡¯s lips were shut, so Wei Tianchong had to pry open his mouth and pour it in. As he poured in the medicine, he wept like a widow, ¡°Tang Jie, you can¡¯t die! You absolutely can¡¯t die! What will I do if you die?¡±


    But no matter what he did, Tang Jie didn¡¯t wake up. Some of the medicine even trickled out of his mouth.


    In panic, Wei Tianchong checked that Tang Jie was breathing and then checked for a pulse. When he found neither, he hugged Tang Jie and cried out, ¡°Tang Jie, you can¡¯t die!¡±


    When he thought about all the ways Tang Jie had helped him over the years, the tears began to freely flow.


    As he mourned, Tang Jie suddenly moved. He threw up blood and squeezed out, ¡°Don¡¯t, don¡¯t shake me¡­ If you keep shaking me, I¡¯ll really die.¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie? You¡¯re okay?¡± Wei Tianchong said in delight.


    Is there anything to eat¡­?¡± Tang Jie said with difficulty.


    ¡°Mm, here.¡± Wei Tianchong offered Tang Jie some medicine.


    But Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°Not this¡­ something to eat¡­ so hungry¡­ I need spirit food.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Wei Tianchong was taken aback. But he did as Tang Jie asked and took out all the food he had.


    A momentter, Tang Jie was on it like a tiger, shoving all the food down his gullet.


    The students had brought a lot of food with them, and as spiritual food had a restorative effect, everyone had amply prepared themselves for this Immortal Fortune Conference. Wei Tianchong had readied half a month of rations, but it was almost instantly devoured by Tang Jie. Even this still wasn¡¯t enough. Tang Jie ate up all the food in his own bag before finally burping and saying, ¡°Whew¡­ it¡¯s finally enough¡­ I almost died.¡±


    Wei Tianchong looked at him in shock. ¡°You almost starved to death?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Tang Jie didn¡¯t know what to say.


    This battle with Lan Yu was the most dangerous battle Tang Jie had been in to date. Its danger level was on par with his battle versus Gu Changqing, and the riskiest moment hade with thatst shattering of the weapon.


    The Weapon Mantra consumed his physical strength.


    Initially, Tang Jie could only use the Weapon Mantra once before fainting. But as he slowly grew more proficient with it and his constitution improved, he was able to use the Weapon Mantra more and more. Even so, he had never used it on an art relic. In the True Inheritor struggle, Tang Jie hadn¡¯t dared to use it on Zhang Qinan¡¯s Heaventopple Stamp, as he had been trying to save strength.


    The original body had headed into the formation, and the avatar had a weaker constitution, so he was even less willing to use the Weapon Mantra.


    With his current constitution, destroying an art relic like the green tassel sword involved both a decrease in strength and an increase in difficulty, so the risks naturally soared. If not for the increase in proficiency he had gained with the Weapon Mantra over the years, allowing him to grow ustomed to the power, he would definitely have died on the spot.


    Even so, shattering the weapon had made him faint on the spot, his body having been squeezed of all its power. If not for Wei Tianchong¡¯s cries, he might have slept for three days and three nights.


    But the immense strain had also put Tang Jie¡¯s body back into Tempered Will state, which was precisely why Tang Jie needed so much spiritual food, to restore his body and sate the starving sensation that came from the depths of his bones. The food before him had only barely satisfied Tang Jie¡¯s hunger. An additional step would require more.


    Fortunately, this was the Langya Blessed Land, and the one thing it had in abundance was a variety of spirit nts. Tang Jie began to n out how he was going to extract benefits from this ce. Most importantly, this would also benefit his cultivation realm, providing an extra boost when he was making his charge at the threshold.


    Seeing that Tang Jie was fine, Wei Tianchong sighed in relief, upon which he felt incredible pain all over his body and remembered that he had also been injured.


    But rather than using the Fearless spell, he simply felt the paining from all over his body, grimacing as he chuckled, ¡°So refreshing! I¡¯ve never fought a battle this refreshing before.¡±


    This was Wei Tianchong¡¯s first time truly working together with Tang Jie in a do-or-die battle, and it was precisely because of the difficulty that Wei Tianchong was particrly enjoying the sweetness of victory¡ªso much so that he didn¡¯t even want to conceal the pain.


    This was because this pain had been the price of victory. Happiness came at a cost, and without this pain, even the joy of victory would have been reduced.


    His wounds were like an old soldier¡¯s scars. While they brought Wei Tianchong pain, they also conferred upon him a sense of glory and honor. He could point at these scars and tell others, ¡°This is the proof that I defeated the number one genius of the six major sects, a medal forged from blood!¡±


    This was also why Wei Tianchong had made the unprecedented choice to enjoy this pain, the immense psychological satisfaction breaking through all barriers and letting him taste the fragrant sweetness that came after hard work.


    ¡°It truly was refreshing,¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Now that I think about it, this is the first time we¡¯ve fought alongside each other.¡±


    ¡°Huh? You¡¯re right.¡± Wei Tianchong also realized that this was the first time he had truly fought alongside Tang Jie. In the past, it had mostly been training.


    Wei Tianchong couldn¡¯t help but sigh when he thought about how he had actually fought alongside Tang Jie. It wasn¡¯t just him. Even the spectators outside felt like these two had had a hard-won victory, and cheered for them. While talking, both of them began to apply medicine to each other. Tang Jie¡¯s butt had been sliced open, so Wei Tianchong applied arge amount of paste to his behind. Cai Junyang was quite familiar with this sight and was crying warm tears of sympathy. In the distance, Xu Miaoran could also finally rx.


    Once the medicine was applied, Wei Tianchongmanded his puppet to bring over the Mustard Seed Bags of the three Beast Refining Gate students.


    It was time to split the spoils.


    Splitting the spoils was always a happy asion.


    No matter how poor these three students had been, each one was able to offer over ten thousand coins in resources, and their Mustard Seed Bags and weapons alone represented a significant sum.


    Wei Tianchong gleefully dumped out the bags, dividing the weapons, talismans and medicines into three piles: one for Tang Jie, one for himself, and one to negotiate over, showing off his merchant background.


    Tang Jie saw how serious he was being, and smiled. ¡°There¡¯s no need to split them up. You can take all of it; I don¡¯t want any.¡±


    ¡°Huh? How could that do?¡± Wei Tianchong replied.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°Give me that art relic and your blessednd quota in exchange.¡±


    The most valuable of all the spoils was the low-grade art relic, the ck Cloud Banner.


    As an art relic, when used, it could engulf the surrounding several kilometers in dark clouds, blotting out the sunlight.


    It was rather powerful, but its power was limited in a sh of cultivators. In the current situation, the ck Cloud Banner actually wasn¡¯t very useful. Tang Jie guessed that the student he had gotten it from had probably gotten it from killing someone as well. But for Tang Jie, this object had the use of obscuring vision.


    Against Lan Yu, he hadn¡¯t dared to use multiple Mindseizers because he feared exposure. The ck Cloud Banner would make things much easier.


    The art relic and Wei Tianchong¡¯s blessednd quota could probably reach half the value of the items here. With both Wei Tianchong¡¯s and Ye Tianshang¡¯s quotas, Tang Jie would be able to gather many more nts and take anotherrge stride toward Mortal Shedding.


    Wei Tianchong naturally had no objection.


    As Tang Jie took the banner, he furtively nced at a gleaming gold object in the dirt nearby.


    He calmly moved a few steps to the side, cast Nullight, and then moved his foot away. Sure enough, there was a golden grain in the ground.


    It was much bigger than the golden grains from before. Tang Jie lightly nudged it with his foot, upon which the golden grain merged with his body and fused with his own grain.


    The golden grain was getting bigger and bigger, and it was now the size of a pigeon egg, able to take the form of a small dagger.


    Tang Jie had used exactly this dagger to stab that red wheel student in the back.


    But the transformed dagger was extremely small and had no handle, so he was liable to hurt himself. As a result, Tang Jie hadn¡¯t used it in a head-on fight. The golden egg grewrger again with the addition of this golden grain, and he knew that it wasn¡¯t long before he could properly use it against an enemy.


    As he pondered, Tang Jie heard Wei Tianchong say, ¡°But it¡¯s rather strange. Why are there no refined beast tokens?¡±


    Startled, Tang Jie asked, ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    Refined beast tokens were necessary for the Beast Refining Gate to control their refined beasts. Not using the refined beasts could simply mean that they had died in battle, but the fact that the refined beast tokens weren¡¯t here made things very suspicious.


    Wei Tianchong pointed at the ground. ¡°Everything is here, but there are no refined beast tokens. On the contrary, there are two suits of Godhead Amor. In fact, a bystander would think that we had killed two Godhead Pce students.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s pupils constricted. ¡°This truly is rather strange.¡±


    ¡°Could the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people have given their refined beasts to Yun Wuji to hold the rear while they used the chance to escape?¡±


    Tang Jie thought it over and shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not entirely impossible, but the problem is that Yun Wuji and the others don¡¯t know the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s mantra, so how could the two of them control the refined beasts of three people?¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Wei Tianchong thought it over. ¡°What if they didn¡¯t control them and let them run free?¡±


    ¡°Then there would be no reason to leave behind the refined beast tokens.¡±


    ¡°Then I don¡¯t get it.¡± Wei Tianchong scratched his head in confusion.


    As they wondered what was going on, a group of people rushed over, led by none other than Mu Yi.


    When he saw Mu Yiing over, Tang Jie knew that the matter on the other end was settled. In truth, the Taiyi Profound rity Cup was already in the hands of the Seven Absolutions Sect. However, the one holding it wasn¡¯t Mu Yi, but another Seven Absolutions Sect student called Lin Wang. This person was ranked third in the Seven Absolutions Sect and had a decent level of strength, but he was far from reaching Mu Yi¡¯s level.


    Mu Yi¡¯s group was startled upon seeing Tang Jie, blurting out, ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    Tang Jie should have been on the perimeter beating back the reinforcements. Why had hee here into the inner circle?


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Lan Yu didn¡¯t heed my words and charged through the blockade into the forest. In fulfillment of my promise, I pursued him into the forest and beat him back.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Mu Yi looked at the bodies of the three Beast Refining Gate students. ¡°Why do I think that Senior Brother Tang came for the Mustard Seed Bags of these three guys, then?¡±


    Tang Jie threw his head back andughed. ¡°I just happened toe upon them.¡±


    Looks of disdain appeared on the faces of all the Seven Absolutions Sect students. They clearly didn¡¯t believe him. Everyone knew that Horizon Ocean Pavilion was in alliance with the Seven Absolutions Sect. Even if Lan Yu had gotten in, he wouldn¡¯t have done anything to them. Thus, the Seven Absolutions Sect had only requested that the Basking Moon Sect keep out Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate, saying nothing about Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Tang Jie had appeared here because he had been hunting down the Beast Refining Gate students, at the same time attempting to ruin the rtionship between Horizon Ocean Pavilion and the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    But while everyone understood, nobody said it out loud.


    Tang Jiemented, ¡°Right, what happened to Yun Wuji?¡±


    ¡°Dead, of course,¡± a Seven Absolutions Sect student replied. His name was Xiao Wen, and he was ranked second in the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    ¡°Dead? Just like that?¡± Tang Jie was startled. Although he knew that the Seven Absolutions Sect would never let Godhead Pce go, he was still taken aback by the news of Yun Wuji¡¯s death.


    Yun Wuji was still a genius of Godhead Pce, yet he had been the first to fall in this struggle over the ten treasures, creating no waves at all. Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but sigh. Sure enough, even if you were some peerless prodigy, if you died, you were nothing at all.


    The six major sects controlled all the manpower and resources of the world, so they had geniuses and elites crop up every year and were numb to such things. Only Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but ruefully sigh at the difficulty of the Immortal path and how geniuses were nothing more than grass.


    In the middle of his sighing, Mu Yi asked, ¡°Right, Senior Brother Tang, when you killed these three, did you find any Godhead Armor on them?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    Mu Yi nodded. ¡°No wonder! When we killed Yun Wuji, we found that they weren¡¯t wearing Godhead Armor, so we wondered where it had gone. It turns out that it was on these three escapees.¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t run into any refined beasts when we killed them,¡± Tang Jie immediately said.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Mu Yi nodded. ¡°We killed them. Yun Wuji wasmanding them around.¡±


    ¡°Oh? So they really traded. Did they know the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s mantra?¡±


    Mu Yi shook his head. ¡°They didn¡¯t, so those refined beasts were extremely weak in their hands, and we easily killed them. I really have no idea what they were thinking.¡±


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. ¡°I was going to ask you what was going on, but it seems like you don¡¯t know either. Ah, forget it. They¡¯re all dead now, so it¡¯s pointless to ask.¡±


    ¡°Truly. The living have their own concerns, like this.¡± Mu Yi pointed at the Mustard Seed Bag which Wei Tianchong had yet to put away.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°Junior Brother, are you thinking of robbing us?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand,¡± Mu Yi replied. ¡°I simply want to ask what my two senior brothers obtained. As the two of you know, not everything gained is needed. There are some things that may be valuable but can¡¯t be used by oneself. In those situations, it would be better to see if any other people need it and then trade with them for what one does need. Isn¡¯t that better? I happen to have some True Essence Pills that Senior Brother can trade for if you are willing. If there is anything else you need, please tell me. So long as my Seven Absolutions Sect can provide it, we will not be stingy.¡±


    Mu Yi took out three bottles of True Essence Pills and looked at Tang Jie.


    This action took Tang Jie aback. He seemed to realize something and began to think.


    Wei Tianchong chuckled, ¡°Is that what¡¯s happening? Then go and see if there¡¯s anything you need in here.¡±


    He opened his Mustard Seed Bag.


    Several Seven Absolutions Sect students looked inside together, but they only looked for a moment before withdrawing, one of them even furtively shaking his head at Mu Yi, causing him to frown.


    Tang Jie finally understood.


    Mu Yi said, ¡°It seems like there¡¯s nothing that good. Senior Brothers, do you have anything else that you want to trade?¡±


    Tang Jie narrowed his eyes. ¡°Junior Brother Mu didn¡¯t like what my young master had to offer?¡±


    Mu Yi replied, ¡°I¡¯ve already entered Mortal Shedding, so spell weapons and spell talismans aren¡¯t very useful to me. I might reconsider if there were any art relics.¡±


    Tang Jie chortled. ¡°¡®Art relics¡¯? Speaking of art relics, I do have one here.¡±


    The disappointed Seven Absolutions Sect students perked up at this, that Xiao Wen even asking, ¡°Then could Senior Brother Tang take it out so that we could see it?¡±


    To their surprise, Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°The problem is that I have some use for this art relic and don¡¯t n to trade it away.¡±


    Everyone paled at these words.


    Lin Wang stepped forward and said, ¡°Tang Jie, you know that my Seven Absolutions Sect excels in the auxiliary fields. While we don¡¯t dare to make ims in any other fields, I can say without a doubt that we have a better assortment of items than the other sects. Brother Tang, if you have some sort of treasure, why not take it out and let us take a look?¡±


    Tang Jie ignored him, coolly saying to Mu Yi, ¡°Junior Brother Mu, in our earlier trade, I got five bottles of True Essence Pills from you. If I recall correctly, you only had two bottles with you at the time, so you got the other three bottles from the others, right?¡±


    Mu Yi said in surprise, ¡°Yes, but what about it?¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, how can you now take out three bottles from your Mustard Seed Bag?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    Mu Yi grimaced. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±


    Tang Jie interrupted him, ¡°Because you were ready to make a trade, right? That¡¯s why you gathered together your remaining True Essence Pills, because you knew that I needed it. Unfortunately, while my young master is willing to trade, he doesn¡¯t have what you want. And of the possessions of the three Beast Refining Gate students, only one is in my hand. In other words¡­¡±


    Mu Yi took in a deep breath and finally nodded. ¡°In the end, I was not able to keep it from you, Senior Brother Tang. Yes, we already knew that you killed these three. I said all that just now because I wanted to trade for the ck Cloud Banner in Senior Brother Tang¡¯s hands.¡±


    Tang Jie asked, ¡°What do you need it for? And how did you know that the Beast Refining Gate had the ck Cloud Banner? Why didn¡¯t you stop them earlier?¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t know that they had the ck Cloud Banner, and only found out after the fact. As for the exact details¡­¡± Mu Yi hesitated. ¡°My apologies. This involves the sect¡¯s internal matters, so I cannot speak about it. All I can tell you is that the ck Cloud Banner originally belonged to my sect.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Jie was stunned.


    Mu Yi replied, ¡°Senior Brother Tang, if you don¡¯t believe me, you can take out the ck Cloud Banner. You will find that the mark of my Seven Absolutions Sect is on it.¡±


    Tang Jie quickly took it out, and, sure enough, in an inconspicuous corner, he saw the seven-petaled lotus symbol of the Seven Absolutions Sect, indicating that it had been made by them.


    ¡°So how did it end up in the hands of the Beast Refining Gate?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    Mu Yi sighed, ¡°This matter concerns the private affairs of my Seven Absolutions Sect, so I do not wish to say too much. In short, it has nothing to do with the Immortal Fortune Conference. If Senior Brother Tang is willing, I am willing to trade for it three bottles of True Essence Pills and one art relic.¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t need an art relic. I can trade, but I will need your Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s blessednd quotas.¡±


    He had a lion-like appetite, asking for nine quotas all at once.


    One art relic was worth only one person¡¯s quota at most, so this was nine times the original offer, and Mu Yi¡¯s group grimaced.


    Xiao Wen grunted, ¡°Tang Jie, don¡¯t push us too far!¡±


    Tang Jie said nothing and looked at Mu Yi, who darkly said, ¡°Tang Jie, don¡¯t forget that we outnumber you.¡±


    Murderous intent appeared on the faces of all the Seven Absolutions Sect students.


    Tang Jie chuckled, ¡°At least before then, I can destroy the ck Cloud Banner.¡±


    ¡°You dare!¡± Lin Wang barked.


    Tang Jie said nothing and just kept staring at Mu Yi. The two of them stared at each other for a while before Mu Yi finally said, ¡°Three quotas.¡±


    ¡°Seven.¡±


    ¡°Five is the highest I¡¯ll go.¡±


    ¡°Plus the three bottles of True Essence Pills.¡±


    Mu Yi took a deep breath. ¡°Deal!¡±


    A single art relic had been sold for five people¡¯s blessednd quotas¡ªfive times the normal price¡ªand Tang Jie knew to be content with what he had. With this, Wei Tianchong¡¯s, Ye Tianshang¡¯s, and Tang Jie¡¯s own quotas, he had eight quotas¡¯ worth in all. With the eight bottles of True Essence Pills, he had enough to get all the way to the peak of Spirit Sea.


    With the negotiations done, Tang Jie handed Mu Yi the ck Cloud Banner. Mu Yi kept his word and left as soon as he got the treasure.


    As he watched Mu Yi¡¯s party leave, Tang Jie deeply frowned.


    Wei Tianchong looked enviously at Tang Jie. ¡°Selling a ck Cloud Banner for such a price! You¡¯ve made a huge profit again.¡±


    Tang Jie casually replied, ¡°It could also be the exact opposite.¡±


    Wei Tianchong said in surprise, ¡°You think that the ck Cloud Banner was some treasure?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve already checked over the ck Cloud Banner multiple times, and it¡¯s nothing more than an ordinary art relic. But if Mu Yi values it so much, there must be something weird about it.¡±


    Wei Tianchong smiled. ¡°That has nothing to do with us. It belonged to the Seven Absolutions Sect, so that¡¯s their own business. So long as it has nothing to do with this battle, just let him be.¡±


    ¡°It might not bepletely unrted,¡± Tang Jie sighed. ¡°He¡¯s still our rival, and so long as he¡¯s our rival, no matter how frank and honest he seems, you can¡¯tpletely believe what he says.¡±


    ¡°Then why did you sell it to him?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°I don¡¯t have the ability to ount for all the unknowns. I can only try my best to hold onto what I do know.¡±


    Wei Tianchong pursed his lips. ¡°Enough! Just say that the win or loss of a sect can¡¯tpare to the win or loss of the individual.¡±


    This really was the truth. This entire situation is very suspicious, but it seems that not even Tang Jie can figure out what¡¯s going on.

 Chapter 325: Improvement

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    In a distant part of the forest, the battle was still ongoing.


    But regardless of how it was fought, it was already decided that the oue would be the defeat of Godhead and Beast Refining. Without their strategic advantage, any effort they put in was pointless.


    This had nothing to do with who the first treasure belonged to. The moment Tang Jie''s n toy a siege and attack the reinforcements began, foreign rtions became the decisive factor, rather than strength. Those who lost out in the battle of human rtions would lose the entire battle.


    After resting in the forest, Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong had recovered much of their strength.


    Wei Tianchong shook his body and stood up. "Let''s go and see how Senior Brothers Ye and Peng are doing. We might even be able to get something more."


    This was his first time on the battlefield, and rarely had he obtained such spoils, so he was in high spirits, all of his cowardice swept away.


    Tang Jie shook his head. "If you want to go, go. I won''t be heading over."


    "Huh? Then where are you going? It was so hard to get everyone together, so why split up again?" Wei Tianchong was confused.


    The members of other sects couldn''t contact each other whenever they wanted like those of the Seven Absolutions Sect, so they had only been able to get together by using the treasure light. Now that they had finallye together, there was naturally no need to split up again. Thus, Wei Tianchong had thought about having all of them move together.


    Tang Jieughed. "I''m naturally going to look for a chance to improve myself. Why else would I ask for so many blessednd quotas?"


    Tang Jie''s first priority was to advance in cultivation realm, waiting until he was in the Mortal Shedding Realm to exert himself. Thus, he was in no rush to meet up with everyone else.


    In any case, Godhead and Beast Refining had already been eliminated, and what came next was a sh between the Absolutions-Ocean alliance and the Moon-Passions alliance. This would naturally be a stalemate, which was exactly what Tang Jie hoped to see.


    The longer thispetition dragged on, the greater his chances of reaching Mortal Shedding became.


    He now had Ye Tianshang''s, Wei Tianchong''s, and the Seven Absolutions Sect''s quotas, which was eight extra quotas, and he had eight bottles of True Essence Pills besides that. Together with the more concentrated spiritual energy of the blessednd, if he were given a month, he could reach the peak of Spirit Sea.


    Of course, it would be very difficult for thepetition to go for another month in this state, but Tang Jie had a n.


    Wei Tianchong was very reluctant to see Tang Jie go off on his own, but Tang Jie was right. Cultivation was very individualistic, and it wasn''t right to do it with everyone else around. He could only say, "Then what do we do if we need to find you?"


    Tang Jie thought it over and pointed at a distant mountain. "We passed that mountain on the way here. See that outcrop on the mountain? The one that looks like fish lips? It is located in a position of extreme Qian, at the intersection of Li and Geng, making it the perfect ce to absorb spiritual light. I will go there to improve myself. If you guys have anything to say to me or have gotten anything, you can send a message to me by flying sword. If the other senior brothers have found Ghostface Ginseng or other nts, they can also sell it to me there. Of course, I will have to pay them once we get out of the blessednd. Right¡ªif there is any news of the Stop Gate Banner, inform me as soon as you can."


    When it came to cultivation resources, Tang Jie''s attitude was "the more, the better."


    Tang Jieughed. "Actually, it''s not easy toe to a blessednd, so why rush to decide the oue? If I had any say, I would have everyone put down their arms and use this opportunity to cultivate for a few days to get stronger before having the final battle. That''s the best way, in my view."


    Wei Tianchong scratched his head. "That''s true, but once the treasures emerge, battles are inevitable. They wouldn''t be able to stop themselves even if they wanted to."


    Tang Jie smiled. "This is very simple. Once the treasures are found, immediately put them in Mustard Seed Bags."


    "Huh?" Wei Tianchong was shocked.


    Tang Jie exined, "Think about it. The moment the treasure enters the bag, the treasure light will stop, so there naturally won''t be any battles. Of course, this would mean that the twelve-hour limit isn''t met and that the treasure doesn''t belong to anybody, but what does that matter? Put it to the side and cultivate. Once you''re basically done cultivating, you can take out the treasure and get everyone together for the final battle. Do you know what Yun Wuji''s greatest mistake was? It wasn''t that he took the first treasure, but that he didn''t join up with the rest of his team after getting the Taiyi Profound rity Cup. If he had gotten everyone together and then taken hostages, we wouldn''t have been able to pull off our n of besieging him and targeting his reinforcements."


    The people outside cursed at Tang Jie for acting too far out of line.


    If things went as he said, these days were bound to be calm and peaceful for a time. Nobody would show the treasure light until they were satisfied with the cultivation progress they had made. But once they appeared, there was bound to be treasure lighting from all corners, followed by a frenzied melee until everything was settled.


    But the days in between would be insufferably boring and in.Even Wei Tianchong was shocked by this suggestion. "Isn''t this going too far? The Wandering Pce provided this ce for us to battle, not cultivate."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "I know that. The problem is that this is a cultivation ground being used for battle. Not cultivating here would be too much of a waste!"


    Wei Tianchong couldn''t help but be tempted by these words.


    After some discussion, Wei Tianchong finally agreed to Tang Jie''s n. He would go to find the others while Tang Jie went off on his own.


    Tang Jie walked along the edge of the forest, memories of his battle with Lan Yu still going through his mind.


    This was the first time that he had used spell arts to fight rather than relying on his powerful constitution, and in this situation, he realized howcking he was in strength when it came to cultivation.


    Even though he was a student with three secret arts from the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, he still couldn''t take even one blow from Lan Yu.


    This had to do with the power of his opponent, yes, and also with how long he had spent plotting instead of cultivating. Otherwise, the level of his Formless Golden Body should have been on par with the Karmic Cycle Finger. And if Lan Yu''s cultivation level had not been higher than his, how could it have so easily prated his defenses and heavily injured him?


    A person''s energy was limited, and sometimes, plotting too much meant actually doing less. Given all that he had gained thesest few years, he should have made more progress in cultivation than he actually had, and the core problem behind his average performance rested in this excessive focus on plotting.


    Of course, it was hard to me him. At that time, Tang Jie had been fighting back against the enormous organization that was Godhead Pce. No matter how much he cultivated, he couldn''t possibly fight against it, so he had to resort to plots and schemes.


    Now that his original body had entered the formation and Godhead Pce had mistakenly believed that Tang Jiye was You Shaofeng, all of the surface conflicts had faded away, and Tang Jie had gained the initiative. Now was the time topletely focus on improving himself. Until he reached a certain level of strength, he didn''t need to get into too many conflicts with Godhead Pce.


    And Tang Jie had realized that he had another natural advantage: the existence of an avatar.


    Though the original body and avatar were not together and would find it difficult to help each other, they shared a mind and had the power to think at double the speed of normal people.


    This thinking speed seemed to have nothing to do with cultivation, but it could not be forgotten that cultivating spell arts required familiarity and constantly looking over one''s memories.


    This novel is avable on Hosted Novel.


    When improving their cultivation realm and cultivating spells, students always had to worry about how to allot their time. When Qi Shaoming had focused onbat spell arts, he had neglected improving his cultivation and lingered at the same realm for some time. It was only after his battle with Tang Jie that he had heard the wake-up call.


    But now, Tang Jie had two minds, so many things became much easier. When it came to cultivating spell arts, he could let his original body do the familiarizing and memorizing while the avatar focused entirely on improving its cultivation realm. When the original body had bepletely familiarized with the spell art, its insights would naturally be shared with the avatar. All that was needed was for the avatar to go through a brief period of adaptation to quickly grasp a spell art.


    In this way, he wouldn''tck in either cultivation orbat.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but get excited at the prospect.


    Although his original body''s cultivation would undoubtedly be affected by this, it had to be remembered that his original body was in the formation. There was no need for battle there, and there was also the prospect of entering the fifth formation, the All-Blossom Formation, in the near future. In there would be countless resources for his original body to use, and the sheer amount of resources would be enough to create a master. There was no need to rush things.


    Time was given to the avatar while resources were left to the original body, so both bodies could improve in some aspect. This was Tang Jie''s n.


    If he hadn''t gotten the Eye Flesh, allowing his avatar to cultivate, then Tang Jie might not have chosen to do this. But the fact that it could cultivate had filled Tang Jie''s mind with ideas. He really wanted to know what his future would be like if this kept up.As dusk fell, Tang Jie finally arrived at the fish lip rock.


    It was at the very end of a precipitous cliff, its huge body extending outward, its insides hollowed out like a fish head. Spiritual energy circled around it like clouds. Just as Tang Jie had said, this ce was a nexus of spiritual energy and ideal for cultivation.


    In truth, this was the cultivation tform provided to Wandering Pce students in this blessednd. Only those who had obtained sufficient contribution points were allowed to cultivate here for a set amount of time.


    The Wandering Pce had opened up this ce for the six major sects, and Tang Jie had made the unprecedented decision of cultivating in someone else''s blessednd. It was quite the amusing idea.


    Standing on the fish lip stone and looking at the spiritual energy coiling around him, Tang Jie felt carefree and cheerful.


    Looking down, he could see a stone forest below. These were numerous stone steles¡ªthe ancestral tforms of the Langya Blessed Land.


    "Ancestral tform" was nothing more than another name for the sect ancestors'' cenotaphs.


    When the ancestors of sects became Returned Remnants, most of them left no body, as their essence returned to the earth. Any remains left behind would be regarded as valuable treasures and collected by the sects. As there needed to be a ce to pay homage to these ancestors, cenotaphs were set up and called "ancestral tforms".


    This was the most important ce in the various paradises and blessednds belonging to the sects. Although it had no practical value, it did have immense symbolic value.


    It was precisely due to these ancestors that these paradises and blessednds could exist for theter generations.


    Thus, in thispetition, the most important rule, the one that could not be broken, was that it was forbidden to damage an ancestral tform. Anyone who dared to break this rule, even someone from the six major sects, would die!


    Tang Jie gazed at the stone forest and bowed.


    This was his respect for the selfless sacrifice these ancestors had made toward their sect, and also his gratitude to them for providing this blessednd to them. To reside in this blessednd was essentially to live in their body, and Tang Jie couldn''t help but be respectful.


    He was unaware that the people outside were watching him, and he was unaware that this bow massively improved the impression the Wandering Pce had of him, but he might not have cared even if he knew.


    Starting from this day, Tang Jie took up residence on this summit and began cultivating.


    Tang Jie''s cultivation didn''t involve him just sitting there. On the contrary, he was very busy.


    Every night, at around 11pm, he would enter the hollow in the fish lip rock and use the Illuminating Eye. This was when the night was at its deepest and most people were asleep, and in this deep darkness, basically no one would be paying attention to Tang Jie.


    After using the Illuminating Eye to observe his surroundings, Tang Jie would go down the mountain the next morning and take an hour to pick the spirit nts he needed. The previous night''s observation provided him with an understanding of his surroundings.


    The early morning was when the spiritual flows of the blessednd converged. At this time, Tang Jie would take the spirit nts he had gotten and process them ording to the proper methods, after which he would consume the product and absorb as much energy as he could.


    These spirit nts became precious True Essence that umted in Tang Jie''s body, expanding his Spiritual Space, widening his meridians, and purifying his body. And with the abundant spiritual energy around him, each Major Circuit Heaven allowed Tang Jie to get ten to twenty drops of spiritual liquid.


    The improvement speed was frightening. Tang Jie''s level rose crazily, boosted by therge amount of medicine he was consuming. With every passing day, he showed an obvious improvement in strength, and his Spiritual Space expanded from the initial level of Spirit Sea all the way to the middle level. He umted more and more spiritual energy, his cultivation growing more and more profound. He became immersed in cultivation, and there were times when his body would show visible signs of taking in spiritual energy.


    At this stage, even a fool could see what he was trying to do.


    "Advancing to the peak of Spirit Sea? So he wants to use this opportunity to reach the peak of Spirit Sea?" Xie Fengtang couldn''t help but sigh in praise. "It''s really a good idea, and this really is a rare opportunity."


    Unless one became a True Inheritor, students had few opportunities to enter a blessednd. Blessednds were rich with resources, and if they were used well, one could truly improve oneself greatly. But there were few like Tang Jie who used these resources to the maximum.If Tang Jie could reach the peak of Spirit Sea before the end of thepetition, then this trip couldn''t be considered a waste.


    It had to be understood that Tang Jie had only been cultivating for four and a half years. It wasn''t rare for someone to reach the peak of Spirit Sea in four and a half years¡­ if they had a nine-cycle Jade Gate. It was extremely rare for someone with a five-cycle Jade Gate.


    Ming Yekong replied, "I don''t think that''s the extent of his ambitions."


    Xie Fengtang was startled. "He''s not thinking of making a charge at Mortal Shedding, is he?"


    Charging at Mortal Shedding couldn''t be done just because one had reached the peak of Spirit Sea. Erecting the Heaven-Earth Bridge was no easy task, often requiring the guidance of a wise teacher and ording to the situation at hand. The slightestck of caution could lead to failure, which could lead to energy corruption or death in the worst cases. Tang Jie using arge number of resources to make a charge at peak Spirit Sea had the side effect of an unstable foundation. He needed to take time to stabilize this foundation, or else he would facerge risks.


    This was also why even students from great ns couldn''t rapidly advance in a short amount of time. It wasn''t that their seniors didn''t give them enough resources, but that giving them all those resources had no meaning, only increasing the risk they faced and hurting them. Thus, when it came to resources, they were granted ording to one''s ability.


    "Ability" here did not refer to one''s financial power, but to a junior''s potential.


    It wasn''t that Tang Jie couldn''t rapidly advance to peak Spirit Sea using resources, but this came at increased risk. But with his resources, he wouldn''t be able to be anything great if he didn''t take a risk, so Xie Fengtang could understand. A small risk was understandable, and Xie Fengtang was sure that Tang Jie could control it. But if Tang Jie made a charge at Mortal Shedding, the risk would be maximized.


    Charging at Mortal Shedding didn''t have arge risk initially, but with the way he was doing things, Tang Jie was raising the risk from 1% to 20%, which was why Xie Fengtang had paled.


    Ming Yekong replied, "I think there''s a very high chance."


    Xie Fengtang said, "Master Ming, how are you so sure?"


    Ming Yekong softly chuckled. "This is your student, so how do you not know him? I wouldn''t dare say this about anyone else, but this child is different. He is bold and ckhearted, daring to think and daring to do! In thesest few days, he''s already given us many shocks, and the greatest impression I have of him is his daring. While charging at peak Spirit Sea is praiseworthy, it''s something that the two of us can still ept. Since it''s something the two of us can ept, it''s clearly not Tang Jie''s limit."


    Xie Fengtang was left utterly speechless.


    He had known Tang Jie for some time, but to his surprise, Ming Yekong seemed to understand him even more.


    His understanding of Tang Jie''s decision-making was so simple, yet so reasonable.


    This really was something that Tang Jie could do.


    Xie Fengtang stomped his feet. "If he wants to erect a Heaven-Earth Bridge, he needs to sense the will of the heavens and earth. Understand the will to open the path, andprehend the divine to attain the Dao! This is why the one who erects the Heaven-Earth Bridge can experience both risk and fortune. This is the closest one can get to the Great Dao, and if one is prepared enough, one will get a chance toprehend the Dao for the first time. He''s doing this now with no knowledge whatsoever and without the guidance of a teacher. For the sake of a momentary happiness, he''s adding to risk and missing out on an excellent opportunity!"


    Xie Fengtang dropped his head and pounded his chest in regret, as if Tang Jie was already doomed.


    Ming Yekongughed. "There is no need to worry. While this Tang Jie is bold in action, he is not rash. He must have some confidence if he dares to do such a thing."


    "What sort of confidence can he have? He doesn''t even have someone to give him instructions. Don''t even mention Peng Yaolong or the others. Those guys have barely entered Mortal Shedding, and while they have some experience, it is shallow. Someone who can truly help himprehend the Dao must be at the Celestial Heart Realm and have already experienced the Heart Demon Tribtion, entering the Soul Transformation Period where they have already developed a Celestial Heart and gained a basicprehension of the Divine Will. I myself have not reached this point and was even thinking about requesting the aid of Master Ming. He''s currently in the blessednd, so where is he going to find a person like this to instruct him?" The thought left Xie Fengtang so angry that he was shaking.Even Ming Yekong was momentarily speechless. In the end, he could only sigh, "This is all about fortune. What should be his will naturally be his, and what shouldn''t be his won''t be his no matter how much he tries for it. Perhaps this is the will of the heavens. This is a shooting star, brilliant for but a brief moment."


    The two of them fell silent.


    On the fish lip stone, Tang Jie had no idea of these worries and continued to cultivate. His earlier n had already taken effect, and ever since he had made his proposal, treasure light had ceased to illuminate the sky of the blessednd.


    There was one day when Tang Jie had just finished cultivating and saw a rainbow light shoot into the sky, but it was only for a moment. Tang Jie knew that someone had gotten the treasure and stuffed it into a bag.


    This was also why Tang Jie didn''t know if the Stop Gate Banner had appeared or not, nor did he know how many of the ten treasures had appeared.


    But he was in no rush.


    As the days dragged on, Tang Jie''s strength soared. Every day, he shrank the distance between himself and the others.


    At the same time, in the formation, the original Tang Jie was also working hard.


    He had put aside the Ninedark Mantra for now and was studying other spell arts. He first focused on the Jade Shattering Finger.


    Just as he had initially nned out, his original body served his avatar, spendingrge amounts of time every day on cultivating spell arts.


    asionally, his original body would create a duplicate to go and see He Chong to talk with him whenever he was bored.


    Initially, He Chong wasn''t interested in talking with Tang Jie, and any conversations usually devolved into arguments.


    But in this formation, he had no conversation partner besides Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth, who were both too afraid of him to get an interesting conversation from. But Tang Jie never treated him like a True Person, addressing him by his real surname and with an impolite tone.


    He Chong had been angry about this at first, even destroying Tang Jie''s duplicate. But as the days went by, he knew that this was pointless and stopped. As more days went by, He Chong grew ustomed to Tang Jie''s tone and started to find this kid more interesting than Deng and Duan.


    He gradually started to ignore these two and even started to enjoy his conversations.


    He Chong didn''t even mind when Tang Jie called him "Old He".


    Today, Tang Jie''s duplicate came over again to see He Chong, casually sitting down next to him and saying, "Old He, when charging at Mortal Shedding, what should I pay attention to?"


    "You? Charging at Mortal Shedding?" He Chong chortled in disdain. "Shouldn''t you still be far from that step?"


    "I''m just asking. Don''t be so petty."


    He Chong thought it over and finally nodded. "Fine. If the fifth formation is as you say, requiring Mortal Shedding, then you might need to cultivate to that stage before entering. If you have any questions, go ahead and ask."

 Chapter 326: Charge

    Chapter 326: Charge


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    This was the third day he had been meditating, and his longest meditation session yet since he had started cultivating. The constant cirction of Major Circuit Heavens made Tang Jie almost forget the passage of time. The raging of the Spirit Sea in his Spiritual Space upied all of his sensory capacity.


    He had digested and absorbedrge amounts of medicinal power, sending it into his Spiritual Space, where it became spiritual liquid that fell like rain, provoking his Spirit Sea into a fury, waves storming about. And in this way, the walls of this ¡°world¡± were constantly pushed outward by the waves.


    After three days of honing and absorption, the final moment hade.


    As thest bit of medicinal power, mixed with spiritual energy from the blessednd, dripped into the Spiritual Space, the raging Spirit Sea that had been constantly expanding suddenly calmed down. The Spiritual Space suddenly shed with a silver luster, the entire space bing smooth and glossy as if it had been ted in metal. At the same time, it became solid and stable.


    This meant that Tang Jie had finally run into the first major threshold of his life. At this stage, the Spiritual Space had expanded to its limit and could no longer expand.


    Spiritual liquid was still raining into the Spiritual Space, but it no longer fused into the Spirit Sea, instead drifting around like a white mist. It seeped out of the Spiritual Space and began to circte through Tang Jie¡¯s body, emerging from the Baihui Point on his head and forming white wisps like those of the distant sea of clouds.


    This was a sign that one was full of spiritual energy, and also a sign that one had reached the peak of Spirit Sea. Once the Spirit Sea had been expanded to its limit, as cultivators breathed in and out, they could no longer stockpile more spiritual energy, so it became a spiritual fog and drifted out of the body again. This white fog around Tang Jie¡¯s head was called the Crown Haze.


    The moment the Crown Haze emerged was the moment a cultivator knew their Spirit Sea was full.


    <em>Whew!</em> Tang Jie exhaled and stopped cultivating, and the fog over his head dissipated.


    Gazing at the Spirit Sea in his body, Tang Jie felt very satisfied. After twenty-some days, he had finally reached the peak of Spirit Sea. To have gotten this far after only four and a half years of cultivation was something he could be proud of. What was truly rare was that Tang Jie hadn¡¯t wasted much medicinal power, going to the veryst drop.


    This wasrgely thanks to He Chong. Without the methods he had provided, Tang Jie wouldn¡¯t have been able to so easily calcte the amount of energy he needed and use everything to its maximum. Even so, he had also used up all the resources from the quotas of Wei Tianchong, Ye Tianshang, and the Seven Absolutions Sect students, and even exceeded it by quite a bit. He would probably have to pay more than ten thousand coins inpensation once he was out.


    Butpared to the achievement of reaching the peak in four and a half years, a penalty of more than ten thousand spirit coins was barely anything. At most, when he got back to the academy, he would have to run a few missions, umting some contribution points on the way.


    Someone else would have celebrated upon reaching the peak of Spirit Sea, but for Tang Jie, who was aiming at Mortal Shedding, this was only preliminary work. Rather than celebrating, he felt like a great burden had been lifted. He felt like he had made it to the veryst step.


    While this was thest step, the faster people would need more than a month to take it, the slower would need half a year, and those whocked the ability might waste the rest of their lives on it.


    This was precisely why each charge at Mortal Shedding was a test, and just like before a big examination, one needed to make a lot of preparations.


    Looking toward the distant sky, Tang Jie muttered, ¡°Still fourteen hours until dawn. It should be enough.¡±


    He came down from the fish lip rock and ran down the mountain.


    He went to a spring at the foot of the mountain, pulled out the Heartbreak Saber, and made a cut on his arm. Blood flowed out and dripped into the spring.


    The blood in the water soon drew over a Shortmouth Sicklew.


    This was a lower-grade fiend. It walked over with tottering steps, and as it approached, Tang Jie chuckled and flourished his saber.


    It was naturally easy for Tang Jie at his current level of strength to deal with a lower-grade fiend. It wasn¡¯t long before he had subdued it, but rather than killing it, he captured it alive and carried it back up the mountain.


    Back on the fish lip rock, Tang Jie stabbed his saber into the fiend¡¯s neck. As blood flowed, Tang Jie used the corpse as a brush to begin drawing a strange diagram on the rock.


    When he saw this, Xie Fengtang¡¯s final hope was snuffed out. pping his forehead, he said, ¡°It¡¯s over.¡±


    In response, Heng Wudiughed in amusement.


    Any cultivator, even a student who hadn¡¯t reached the Mortal Shedding Realm yet, could tell from this scene that Tang Jie was nning to charge at the Mortal Shedding Realm, for what he was doing was the most important prep work for this.


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    He was drawing a receiving formation to link the heavens and earth!


    The receiving formation¡¯s purpose was to trigger a response from the heavens and earth, producing a sliver of special energy. This energy would enter the body and draw in outside forces to create a passage in the Spiritual Space that would link the heavens and earth. This passage was the so-called Heaven-Earth Bridge.


    With this Heaven-Earth Bridge, cultivators would no longer need to waste their own energy when casting spell arts. The power in their body would serve as the primer, but it was the natural power of the heavens and earth that would create the truly powerful spell arts.


    But drawing in the energy of the heavens and earth wasn¡¯t easy. One first needed to convert the nature of the energy so that it could be epted by the human body. Thus, while drawing with fiend blood was needed, many other supplementary methods were also required, and caution was needed in the receiving and erection of the bridge.


    The Langya Blessed Land was rich in resources and spiritual energy, so there was no need to worry about preparing the resources. Tang Jie went down and up the mountain, tirelessly catching fiend beasts and picking spirit nts to take back to the summit. Slowly, the receiving formation approachedpletion as he brought in all the various items needed. It was clear from how neatly everything was arranged that he hade prepared. Just like that, the preparatory work for charging at Mortal Shedding was swiftlypleted.


    Out of shock from the rush Tang Jie was in, many people stayed to watchte into the night. After twenty-some days of silence for the spectators, this unprecedented event was drawing thousands of eyes. Countless cultivators of the Rosecloud Domain were observing Tang Jie as he prepared to charge at Mortal Shedding¡ªa rather grand asion for the man in question. And even more people wanted to know if Tang Jie would actually seed.


    If he could do it, then he would undoubtedly set a new record: the fastest to go from peak Spirit Sea to Mortal Shedding.


    Nobody believed that he would actually seed. While the Mortal Shedding threshold was not a lethal one, it was still a major threshold. Without the guidance of a teacher or the support of medicine, without sufficient preparation and umtion, the charge was just too difficult. Tang Jie had undoubtedly taken the path with the greatest chance of failure.


    Heng Wudi sneered, ¡°Reckless and arrogant thing! Rushing to charge at the threshold like this is nothing short of suicidal. It seems like Tang Jie won¡¯t exist tomorrow. I suppose that¡¯s karma for insulting me.¡±


    Ming Yekong cracked open his eyes. ¡°Brother Heng is so certain that Tang Jie will fail?¡±


    ¡°Naturally,¡± Heng Wudi grunted. ¡°Charging at Mortal Shedding is a difficult task in any circumstance, and failure is very normal. If I had to assign a probability to it, then with ample preparations, it would only be around 30%. No matter how you look at it, this kid is sorelycking in preparation, so he doesn¡¯t even have a 10% chance. Given that he has no one around to save him, he¡¯s basically doomed.¡±


    ¡°If that is so, then Brother Heng would not mind making a wager with me, yes? I bet that he will seed. If I lose, I will give my Bloodweeping Fiend Lotus to Brother Heng. What about it?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Heng Wudi looked in disbelief at Ming Yekong.


    The Bloodweeping Fiend Lotus was a real treasure that had miraculous effects when it came to opening the Violet Pce. It was said that it could boost one¡¯s chances by 10 to 20%. Ming Yekong had found this item more than one hundred years ago on some ind. He had nted it inside his body and watered it with his heartblood every day. Its effects had gradually improved to an astonishing level, and nobody knew when Ming Yekong would use it andplete the grand feat of charging at the Violet Pce Realm.


    How could Heng Wudi not be shocked that Ming Yekong was wagering this precious nt?


    Ming Yekong indifferently said, ¡°Of course, if I win, I want nothing other than Brother Heng¡¯s Nightwraith Cat.¡±


    The Nightwraith Cat was a special fiend beast that Heng Wudi had raised at enormous cost. It was exceptionally agile and ferocious. Most unusually, it could fuse with Heng Wudi¡¯s snake,bining into a powerful dragon tiger.


    Thus, while Ming Yekong didn¡¯t have much use for the Nightwraith Cat, it would be a huge loss for Heng Wudi.


    Heng Wudi gave Ming Yekong a profound nce before finally grunting, ¡°Fine. Since Ming Yekong is willing to make this wager, I¡¯ll y along.¡±


    In terms of value, the Nightwraith Cat couldn¡¯tpare to the Bloodweeping Lotus, which could increase one¡¯s chances of reaching Violet Pce. For the sake of his desire to reach Violet Pce, Heng Wudi could only grind his teeth and ept the deal.


    Ming Yekong chuckled. ¡°Good. Then I, Ming Yekong, swear on the ancestors of the Basking Moon Sect that I will uphold my wager with Brother Heng. My fellow immortals, please bear witness to this.¡±


    Heng Wudi recited a simr oath.


    At their level, Heart Demon Oaths were useless. On the contrary, oaths made on the honor of their ancestors had more binding power. After all, anyone who shirked such an oath would be betraying their sect.


    Xie Fengtang was rmed at how easily these two had made this wager, whispering, ¡°Master Ming, are you so certain that kid will seed?¡±


    Ming Yekong indifferently replied, ¡°I can see whatever Heng Wudi can. If I were certain, do you think Heng Wudi would take this bet?¡±


    These words meant that he wasn¡¯t sure, which scared Xie Fengtang out of his wits. ¡°And you still made the bet?¡±


    Ming Yekong smiled. ¡°Can gambling when you¡¯re certain really be called gambling?¡±


    ¡°But Master Ming, the Bloodweeping Lotus¡­¡±


    Ming Yekong sighed. ¡°I am a cultivator, so when have I ever ced my fate on a single external object? I¡¯ve been watering the Bloodweeping Lotus for more than a hundred years now, and I should have made the charge at the Violet Pce Realm long ago. Do you know why I¡¯ve kept putting it off?¡±


    Xie Fengtang didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Is it not because Master Ming wanted to raise it until it reached its maximum value?¡±


    Ming Yekong chuckled. ¡°The problem is that the Bloodweeping Lotus matured ten years ago.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Master Ming, then why haven¡¯t you¡­¡± Xie Fengtang wanted to ask, but then he understood and shut his mouth.


    Ming Yekong hadn¡¯t used it because the Bloodweeping Lotus could only boost the chances of sess by 20%, which still wasn¡¯t enough for him.


    Worried about whether he would gain or lose, he did not dare try.


    Ming Yekong looked at him and said, ¡°You understand now. Before this conference, I was still searching for even better treasures to raise my chances at getting to Violet Pce. But today, I finally understand. I understand that even if I obtained those things, I would still fail at reaching Violet Pce¡­ because Ick the confidence.¡±


    Ming Yekong took a sip of his tea and looked at Tang Jie on the screen. Tang Jie was still preparing for the charge at Mortal Shedding, and Ming Yekong¡¯s eyes began to lose focus. ¡°This kid feels unfathomable to me. I don¡¯t know what he¡¯s doing or how far he¡¯s going to go, but I can see his eyes¡­ resolved, focused, and brimming with confidence.¡±


    Ming Yekong chuckled. ¡°The shrewdness of the adult and the vitality of youth have appeared on the same person. This is something new. I see him unafraid of the consequences, bravely pressing forward. The path forward is difficult, but he is fearless and never doubts his steps. He is cautious when he should be and brave and bold when he should be. So long as there is hope, he fights with all his might¡­ He has confidence, which gives me confidence, which makes me realize that I¡¯ve wasted these one hundred years.¡±


    Xie Fengtang sighed and fell silent. He understood why Ming Yekong was gambling the Bloodweeping Lotus. On the summit, Tang Jie was readying to charge at Mortal Shedding, and on the spectators¡¯ seats, Ming Yekong was using this chance to step onto the road to Violet Pce.


    When Tang Jie seeded, he would pass his confidence to Ming Yekong, at which point Ming Yekong would begin his preparations to charge at Violet Pce. If he failed, then Ming Yekong would lose his confidence, at which point the Bloodweeping Lotus would no longer be important.


    With the Bloodweeping Lotus, he might not seed at charging at Violet Pce. Without confidence, anything he did would end in failure.


    Upon understanding this, Xie Fengtang understood why Ming Yekong dared to make this wager, and he couldn¡¯t help but look at Ming Yekong and sigh. The curtain was finally closing on the Violet Pce threshold that had troubled Ming Yekong for a hundred years. Would the Basking Moon Sect lose a Celestial Chief, or gain a True Lord? All of it depended on that distant young student, which Xie Fengtang found to be quite ironic.


    On the fish lip stone, Tang Jie¡¯s preparations continued to proceed in an orderly fashion.


    Using copious amounts of fiend blood as ink, a profound and mysterious receiving formation gradually took form. As Tang Jie made the final stroke, the sky of the Langya Blessed Land brightened.


    Clouds gathered into a vortex, thunder rumbled, and lightning crackled. But rather than enter the formation, Tang Jie quietly sat on the side and studied the lightning.


    Xie Fengtang¡¯s face grew excited. ¡°He knows to adjust his condition and wait for the right moment. It seems like he¡¯s very ready for this, but I can only hope that he¡¯s prepared a little more.¡±


    As time continued to pass, the lightning continued to dance in the clouds.


    As the sky began to brighten and the first ray of rosy dawn light broke through the sea of clouds, Tang Jie finally stood up.


    He formed a sword sign with his left hand and the unmoving stamp sign with his right hand, and then he stepped into the formation.


    Upon seeing these signs, the eyes of Xie Fengtang and Ming Yekong glowed, and even Heng Wudi¡¯s face tightened.


    ¡°He knows the Heaven-Guiding Immovable Mantra!¡± someone in the audience remarked.


    There were different methods for guiding the energy of the heavens and earth, and the Heaven-Guiding Immovable Mantra was one of them, the most dangerous and most vicious. But this method was also the quickest way to erect the Heaven-Earth Bridge, and the one that was most liable to lead toprehension of the Dao in the process.


    For Tang Jie to choose the most dangerous Heaven-Guiding Immovable Mantra without the guidance of a teacher had Ming Yekong sighing in admiration at his boldness. What should have been a rather safe process had instantly be a life-or-death moment. The slightest mishap would lead to a violent death.


    As Tang Jie entered the formation, the energy that had umted in the heavens and earth exploded out in the form of a powerful lightning bolt. On the surface, Tang Jie seems like the bold and audacious shonen protagonist who seeds through pure passion, but he¡¯s actually a sneaky little schemer.

 Chapter 327: A True Immortal Cultivator

    Chapter 327: A True Immortal Cultivator


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    Tang Jie didn¡¯t resist, pointing upward with the sword sign in his left hand and firing off an Energy Needle.


    It struck the golden bolt of lightning, causing light to explode. This was ¡°Sword Finger rming Lightning¡±, a method for intensifying energy.


    The intensified golden lightning bolt cut down like a sword, and as it crashed down on his head, the receiving formation around him exploded with a dazzling light. Upon contact with this light, the golden lightning bolt turned into a stream of energy that poured into Tang Jie, and then Tang Jie started shaking.


    ¡°Focus your mind, calm yourself, and guide the energy in a circuit through your body and then into the Spiritual Space! You can¡¯t rush things!¡± Xie Fengtang cried out entirely on instinct. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to fly to Tang Jie¡¯s side and yell into his ears.


    This was the first key point of the charge at Mortal Shedding. One needed to borrow this energy to clean one¡¯s body, achieving an effect simr to that of the Parting ssic. This was the moment to strengthen the constitution, and it was the first qualitative change a Mortal Shedding cultivator would experience. It was meant to prepare the body for the even greater surges of energy toe.


    Xie Fengtang was filled with regret. If Tang Jie had a pill meant for charging at the Mortal Shedding Realm to take right now, the efficiency of the absorption could be increased, strengthening the constitution and increasing the margin of safety.


    In the middle of hismentations, Tang Jie suddenly pped out with his left hand, and a small bottle flew out of his bag. The round yellow pill inside it flew out and floated in the air.


    ¡°What is that?¡± Xie Fengtang didn¡¯t immediately recognize it.


    But Madam He of Horizon Ocean Pavilion did, gasping, ¡°A Harmonic Threshold Breaking Pill?¡±


    Xie Fengtang and the others instantly realized that this was one of the Green Hill Sect¡¯s famous Harmonic Threshold Breaking Pills, but how had Tang Jie gotten his hands on one?


    Everyone turned toward Horizon Ocean Pavilion. The Green Hill Sect had also sent a representative to this conference: a deputy sect master. But this deputy sect master seemed baffled. It was clear that he didn¡¯t know where Tang Jie had gotten it.


    But Xie Fengtang didn¡¯t rx after learning what this pill was, and pounded his chest in frustration. ¡°A waste! What a waste!¡±


    It truly was a waste. The Harmonic Threshold Breaking Pill had the dual purpose of both harmonizing energy and breaking through the threshold, and of these two, breaking through the threshold was more important. After all, the charge at Mortal Shedding was meant to erect the Heaven-Earth Bridge.


    That Tang Jie was using it so early meant that the energy-harmonizing effect was maximized but the threshold-breaking effect was basically irrelevant.


    Everyone saw a golden radiance flow around Tang Jie¡¯s body as the energy circted and strengthened his constitution. But while an ordinary person would simply have their skin slightly glow in this process, Tang Jie was practically translucent¡ªa rare sight.


    This was the power of the Parting ssic.


    Although Tang Jie¡¯s avatar didn¡¯t have the formidable constitution imparted by the Parting ssic, this body was still made from the original Tang Jie¡¯s flesh and blood, so it had inherited the immacte quality of Tang Jie¡¯s original body. Together with the effects of the Harmonic Threshold Breaking Pill and the Heaven-Guiding Immovable Mantra, he experienced the maximum risk and the maximum reward. He epted this energy running through his body without restraint, and at this moment, his body grew stronger as if it had taken a Parting ssic bath worth twenty thousand coins. Although he was far from reaching the strength of the original, it was still an enormous boost.


    Once his entire body had been washed, the power of the formation guided the golden torrent toward Tang Jie¡¯s Spiritual Space. As gold mixed with silver, the most important step of the charge to Mortal Shedding began.


    Xie Fengtang shook his head. ¡°What a pity, what a pity that he didn¡¯t use that pill now¡­¡±


    As he was speaking, another Harmonic Threshold Breaking Pill flew out of that bottle and into Tang Jie¡¯s mouth.


    Xie Fengtang¡¯s face twitched as he fell silent.


    He now fully understood that Tang Jie was far more well-prepared than he had imagined. He even had an exquisite grasp of when to use the pills. It was as if he had a Celestial Heart True Person at his side, guiding him in what to do.


    Tang Jie¡¯s hand signs changed, and spiritual light gushed out of his body, turning him into a being of light. The light was so intense that even some of the respected masters thought that they were seeing things.


    A Mortal Shedding master asked his friend, ¡°I don¡¯t think my radiance was this strong when I was charging at Mortal Shedding, right?¡±


    His friend looked at him and jeered, ¡°Did you have radiance back then? I didn¡¯t see any.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    In the middle of this radiance, a beam of energy shot out from the top of Tang Jie¡¯s head and into the sky, causing everyone¡¯s hearts to tremble.


    This was the most important part of the process. At this stage, everyone knew that Tang Jie had smoothly finished the Heaven-Earth Bridge. Although there were many important points to keep in mind in this process, it now seemed like all these problems were nonexistent. Tang Jie had finished receiving and guiding the energy, clearing thend, and building the bridge. What came next was linking the bridge to the heavens and earth.


    The difficulty wasn¡¯t too great at this stage¡ªat least, it was not as hard as clearing an area in the Spiritual Space. Theoretically, someone who could so quickly build the bridge would have no problem linking the bridge to the heavens and earth.


    But this step was also where one couldprehend the Dao.


    When the cultivator¡¯s energy linked with the energy of the heavens and earth, their mind would also prate deep into the world, giving them a chance toprehend the Dao of the world. As for which Dao one wouldprehend, it depended on the person. Someone overflowing with talent mightprehend an entire Dao, while those a little lesspetent might get a glimpse through the door. But most people wouldn¡¯t even be able to get to the door and would ultimatelyprehend nothing.


    This was precisely why it was best for the time to erect the Heaven-Earth Bridge to be as short as possible, and the linking process to be as long as possible.


    The longer the linking process was, the more chances one would have toprehend the Dao, and the more one wouldprehend.


    ¡°What a pity. If only he had another Harmonic Threshold Breaking Pill,¡± Xie Fengtang helplessly sighed. The effects of the Harmonic Threshold Breaking Pill when used a third time would be even more profound and wouldst even longer.


    Xie Fengtang then saw a third pill fly out of the bottle and into Tang Jie¡¯s mouth.


    Xie Fengtang was rendered speechless. All he could manage was, ¡°Son of a bitch!¡±


    The sky of the Langya Blessed Land was awash with light, the rays of the morning sun seeming dim inparison to that pir of light.


    Tang Jie went from sitting to standing. Standing in the receiving formation, standing on the fish lip rock, he faced the rising sun, his entire body radiating a supreme energy.


    His Spiritual Space had already gone through a momentous transformation. While the bottom was still a vast Spirit Sea, ayer of clouds had formed above it, and on these clouds was a golden pagoda that was crisscrossed with golden chains. The pagoda thrust upward, up from Tang Jie¡¯s body into the sky and the unseeable vastness beyond.


    This was the Heaven-Earth Bridge Tang Jie had built with that golden energy.


    Every person¡¯s Heaven-Earth Bridge was actually a recreation. As its purpose was to link to the heavens and earth and harness their energy, most people elected to create a simple passage.


    Perhaps because of his preparation and his excellent constitution, Tang Jie had absorbed far more of the golden energy than he had anticipated, so he had the leeway to make a very special Heaven-Earth Bridge: the Heaven-Reaching Pagoda.


    The form of the Heaven-Reaching Pagoda was based on that of the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, Li Jing, from his original world. As for the chains, they were used for stabilization. The reason for this was that the energy he had released had shot into the sky and was still going, causing his pagoda bridge to sway. Thus, Tang Jie had been forced to use the golden energy to create chains to stabilize the tower.


    This energy was his mind, and as it soared up, it broke through the blessednd, broke through the Domain Astral Winds, broke through the Rosecloud Domain, and arrived in the vast sea of stars. Countless motes of light twinkled in the distance, and the resplendent light of treasures drifted about.


    Tang Jie knew that this was the Boundless Sea of Stars.


    This was no illusion, but a region that really existed somewhere in the depths of the infinite void.


    When a cultivator charged at Mortal Shedding, their energy would link with the heavens and earth and their mind would plumb the depths of the void. So long as one¡¯s energy vein was long enough, one could reach this ce. The energy would serve as a rope, tying the mind to this ce, thuspleting the final step.


    Thus, no matter where one was, so long as there was spiritual energy, one could use the power in one¡¯s body to harness the power of the world, allowing for the use of powerful spell arts. Only then could one be considered a true Immortal cultivator.


    But the Boundless Sea of Stars was not the terminus of the Heaven-Earth Bridge. If one¡¯s energy vein was even longer, it could keep going deeper into the Boundless Sea of Stars and see countless resplendent treasure lights. These were real treasure lights, divine artifacts naturally formed from the immense power of the world over the eons in the sea of stars.


    If one¡¯s mind could settle here, and if one¡¯s luck was good, one might be able to lock onto one such treasure. In the future, if one was able to reach a certain level, one could utilize this treasure light. And if one was so fortunate as to venture into the sea of stars, one could use the treasure light as a beacon and seek out this divine artifact.


    But this still was not the end of the Heaven-Earth Bridge.


    These divine weapons were naught but ordinary items in Tang Jie¡¯s eyes, unable to draw his attention. His mind continued forward as if it would never stop.


    As he passed through that dazzling region, a haze appeared before him.


    In this haze, Tang Jie saw an enormousw wheel, simple and unadorned, imbued with a timeworn bleakness, brimming with an immense and enigmatic majesty.


    The Heavenly Dao Law Wheel!


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart fiercely pulsed.


    Compared to that brief glimpse from when he was in front of the Heavenly Dao Stele, Tang Jie had a much clearer view this time.


    It was so vast that it seemed to epass the entire world, as if it held the entire universe. Something this enormous should have already been beyond the ability of the physical eye to observe, just like how one couldn¡¯t observe an entire mountain while on top of it.


    But Tang Jie could see it. He felt the vastness of the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel and could clearly see it in its entirety.


    It was like a giant gear clock. Its outermost edge had countless gears while its center had twelve giant needles that pointed in twelve different directions. Each direction was associated with a character, but these characters were too blurry to see clearly. And down below, a giant pendulum swung back and forth.


    Strangely, what should have been thergest and clearest, the twelve clock hands, were the blurriest to Tang Jie, but the smallest and what should have been least visible, the edge gears, were clearly visible to him.


    He could see that those gears weren¡¯t gears at all, but ck needles made from smoke and formed into gears.


    If one looked even more closely, one would realize that even this smoke was fake, consisting of countless interweaving rays of light. These rays of light seemed like words and pictures, dancing around in the air and winding around each other. They all seemed to have some unique meaning, with no repetition. These were the Dao Inscriptions.


    It was these Dao Inscriptions that formed the various Daos of the world, creating the entire universe.


    The Dao was divided into the Heavenly Dao, the Great Dao, and the minor Dao.


    There was only one Heavenly Dao, whereas there were twelve Great Daos, and countless minor Daos. Whether it was a Great Dao or minor Dao, they were all beneath the one and only Heavenly Dao.


    The Heavenly Dao could not beprehended!


    The saying that the superiorprehended the Heavenly Dao was actually hyperbole. Only the Great Daos and minor Daos could actually beprehended.


    Those gears were the minor Daos, and the twelve clock hands were the Great Daos.


    His ample preparations, the abundant resources, and the ideal location of the Langya Blessed Land had made Tang Jie¡¯s energy strong enough to break through the sea of stars and glimpse the Heavenly Dao. If he concentrated and observed any single Dao, he would be able toprehend a minor Dao. As for how much heprehended, that would depend on how many Dao Inscriptions he could understand.


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes flitted over the countless minors before turning to the twelve Great Daos in the center.


    For him, these were the only ones worth pursuing.


    He tried to get closer so that he could get a better look, but his energy refused to advance another step no matter how he pushed it.


    Worst of all was that the energy was weakening and slowly drawing back.


    Each second of dy would shorten the time Tang Jie had toprehend the Dao, and if he dyed too long, he would miss his chance.


    ¡°No!¡± Tang Jie looked up at that Heavenly Dao Law Wheel far off in the distance and roared, ¡°I¡¯ve observed the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel before,prehending Insight, and now that I¡¯m shedding my mortality, I should be able to glimpse the secrets of the heavens andprehend a Great Dao.¡±


    As he mentally roared, it resounded through the heavens, striking that Heavenly Dao Law Wheel like a giant mallet.


    A momentter, the vertical eye emerged from the center of his forehead, and Tang Jie¡¯s body was engulfed with light, preventing outsiders from glimpsing his appearance.


    In the depths of the void, his mind swelled with power and advanced forward another step. His eyes moved like lightning, prating through the thick haze and falling on one of the clock hands.


    And then, Tang Jie saw that this Great Dao clock hand was also made from countless Dao Inscriptions. As Tang Jie¡¯s gaze fell upon them, these Dao Inscriptions came alive. As if they could sense that someone was looking at them, they exploded with golden light.


    As this golden light fell on Tang Jie¡¯s mind, this mind that was linked to the world suddenly drew back as quickly as lightning, swiftly retreating into the horizon.


    ¡°Agh!¡± Tang Jie cried out, his body suddenly jumping up.


    That powerful will followed his energy back and thundered into his brain. Tang Jie going after another Dao! But has he bitten off more than he can chew?

 Chapter 328: Wisdom

    Chapter 328: Wisdom


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    The spectators all looked at each other in confusion. This was the first time they had seen a situation like this.


    By that beam of energy, they could tell that the charge at Mortal Shedding had seeded, and that return of the energy and the fading of the light meant that the final step had beenpleted. But why was he suddenly howling in pain?


    Usually, when a cultivator seeded, they would feel refreshed and energetic, not suffering any side effects. Someone lucky enough toprehend the Dao would even be meditating.


    What was happening here, with Tang Jie copsing after his sess?


    In Tang Jie¡¯s mind, a golden light resplendently shone over his mental sea.


    The Dao Will was like a sun over the sea, threatening to entirely consume him.


    This sun-like Dao Will was a reflection of what Tang Jie had glimpsed from the countless Dao Inscriptions in that Great Dao clock hand, formed within his body. It was precisely because it wasn¡¯t the raw Dao Will that Tang Jie hadn¡¯t been instantly turned into ash.


    Glimpsing the secrets of the heavens truly could allow one to ascend to the heavens in one step, but it could also make one die a violent death. The might of the heavens infused into that sliver of Dao Will could pulverize a cultivator and was not something any ordinary person could obtain.


    Someone who wanted toprehend a Great Dao had to at least have reached Celestial Heart, where their Origin was fortified and their soul was more tenacious. As for the next step, that was not something that even Violet Pce and Immortal tform figures dared to mess with lightly.


    But for most cultivators, what they needed to consider was whether they could everprehend it, not whether they wereprehending it too early. Someone like Tang Jie, who hadprehended a Dao before reaching Mortal Shedding and had evenprehended the Dao of Insight, was extremely rare. Thus, it could be said that someoneprehending a Great Dao at Mortal Shedding had never happened before, so no one had ever seen what it was like.


    Even though this was a Dao Will formed in reaction to glimpsing the secrets of the heavens, this reaction was enough to leave Tang Jie half-dead. The intense light and heat radiated by the red sun wreaked havoc in Tang Jie¡¯s mental sea, and Tang Jie felt like his entire body was evaporating.


    Tang Jie would have truly died an unworthy death if he died like this.


    s, this was something happening on the level of the soul. There was nothing he could do about this.


    <em>No, wait!</em>


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up.


    In the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, Tang Jie¡¯s original body suddenly went stiff.


    An identical red sun appeared in the mental sea of his original body, and at the same time, the temperature of the red sun Dao Will in the avatar Tang Jie¡¯s mental sea plunged.


    With the power of two minds, Tang Jie had sessfully divided the Dao Will, which allowed him to finally endure this terrifying Dao Will pressure.


    On the fish lip rock, Tang Jie finally stopped groaning. Lying on the rock, he gasped for breath.


    And this was only the Dao Will that had formed in reaction to glimpsing the Heavenly Dao. If this feeble reflection was this powerful, how terrifying was theplete Great Dao? Tang Jie shivered, knowing that he had been too rash.


    After a few moments of rest, Tang Jie had recovered enough to start inspecting himself.


    He first needed to see how his charge at Mortal Shedding had gone.


    The golden pagoda still stood tall in his Spiritual Space, a pir of energy linking it to the sky. A single thought from Tang Jie was enough to cause ripples in the Spirit Sea.


    The pagoda erupted with light, drawing in more energy. Spiritual energy flowed in from outside as if crossing a world-spanning bridge.


    At the same time, Tang Jie cast a spell art. A breeze stirred under his feet, lifting him into the air.


    The Flight spell.


    Upon seeing this, everyone in the spectator stands cheered, ¡°He seeded!¡±


    The Flight spell wasn¡¯t the specialty of the Mortal Shedding Realm, and Spirit tform Realm students could also use it. But the Flight spell consumedrge amounts of spiritual energy to maintain, and the power in one¡¯s body was far from enough. Even a Spirit Sea student wouldn¡¯t be able to fly for long until they erected their Heaven-Earth Bridge. Thus, while Spirit tform Realm students could fly in theory, they basically didn¡¯t use the Flight spell.


    For the same reason, the first thing a Spirit tform student would do after advancing to Mortal Shedding was fly, as, starting from today, they truly had the ability to fly. While they could fly before, it was only for a limited time, so it was often jokingly called ¡°gliding¡±.


    Thus, when the spectators saw that Tang Jie made flying the first thing he did, they immediately knew that he had seeded in shedding his mortality.


    Ming Yekong chuckled and looked at Heng Wudi. ¡°It seems like I¡¯ve won our wager.¡±


    Heng Wudi said nothing, only ring at Tang Jie as if he could use his stare to bring Tang Jie back to earth and prove that he had not entered Mortal Shedding.


    s, Tang Jie didn¡¯t fall. He continued to casually fly through the air. As he wasn¡¯t very familiar with the spell, he didn¡¯t fly very quickly, but it was quite stable, and as he grew more proficient, he picked up speed.


    He flew a circle around the mountain, his moon-white uniform pping in the wind, making him seem like a proud wanderer striding through the world and leaving Xu Miaoran momentarily smitten.


    Heng Wudi had nothing more to say. He only stomped his feet, took out a violet leopard cat, and gave it a few reluctant looks before throwing it to Ming Yekong. Ming Yekong grinned as he received it, after which he passed something to Xie Fengtang. ¡°Once Tang Jiees out, give it to him. Tell him that this is my thank-you gift for helping me win a Nightwraith Cat.¡±


    Xie Fengtang smiled. ¡°Master Ming, why not give it to him yourself?¡±


    Ming Yekong shook his head. ¡°I am about to leave soon.¡±


    ¡°¡®Leave¡¯?¡± Xie Fengtang was startled, and then he understood.


    Ming Yekong was preparing to charge at Violet Pce.


    Tang Jie¡¯s sessful charge at Mortal Shedding had been a massive shock to Ming Yekong. This Celestial Chief had felt Tang Jie¡¯s courage and had finally decided to take that long-dyed step, was even impatient to.


    ¡°But that Heng Wudi¡­¡± Xie Fengtang warned.


    ¡°He is no problem. When I leave, I will drag him away with me,¡± Ming Yekong indifferently said.


    Only then did Xie Fengtang rx.


    At this time, after flying around for an hour, Tang Jie finally stopped.


    Before entering Mortal Shedding, even at peak Spirit Sea, he would have only been able to fly for around fifteen minutes, but he could now fly for one hour while only using up around eight hundred drops of spiritual liquid. If he put his all into flight, he could probably keep it up for twelve hours.


    Of course, this was also because Tang Jie hadn¡¯t learned any higher-quality flight spell arts. Tang Jie recalled that there were many different kinds of flight spells back at the academy, spell arts that could make him fly faster while using less spiritual energy.


    The most suitable one for him was the Wandering Celestial Peng Art. When cultivated to a high level of proficiency, it could reduce the amount of spiritual energy consumed by half and double the speed. Crucially, this art could bebined with the Violet Lightning Lunge. When used together, they could boost the overall speed by 2.4 times. If he added on the Life Breath Mantra, which could boost the recovery speed of the Minor Circuit Heaven, he could fly for three days and nights without a problem.


    <em>Wait.</em>


    Tang Jie froze. He had never learned the Wandering Celestial Peng Art before, so why did he understand it so well? It was one thing to know that it could bebined with the Violet Lightning Lunge, but to know how much it could boost it by, up to the first decimal ce?


    And what was this about the Life Breath Mantra?


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    Tang Jie was baffled.


    Could it be¡­


    Tang Jie sent his mind into his mental sea.


    At this time, the red sun had finally burned out, the heat and light dissipated. All that was left was a golden ¡°Ê®¡± character, and in the mental sea of his original body, there was a golden character in the shape of ¡°ÐÄ¡± (Heart).


    These two characters floated in Tang Jie¡¯s mental seas. Tang Jie didn¡¯t need an exnation to know that these characters were originally part of the same whole. They originated from ¡°Öǻۡ± (Wisdom).


    Wisdom!


    Each of the Twelve Great Daos had its own domain, each paired with another. These domains were ¡°ÉúÃü¡± (Life), ¡°Âֻء± (Reincarnation), ¡°Òò¹û¡± (Karma), ¡°ÃüÔË¡± (Fate), ¡°ÒõÑô¡± (Yin Yang), ¡°ÎåÐС± (Five Elements), ¡°Öǻۡ± (Wisdom), ¡°ÕæÀí¡± (Truth), ¡°É±Â¾¡± (ughter), ¡°»ÙÃ𡱠(Destruction), ¡°Ê±¹â¡± (Time), and ¡°¿Õ¼ä¡± (Space).


    Of these, Wisdom and Truth were paired Daos. The Dao of Insight was subordinate to Wisdom, which was why Tang Jie had ultimately obtained this Dao. It wasn¡¯t because he had chosen Wisdom, but because Insight had found its master.


    Worth noting here was thatprehending the Dao of Wisdom did not mean that someone would be smart.


    In the Heavenly Dao, Wisdom did not have the narrow definition that humans had.


    Wisdom had an even broader definition here. It existed for discovery, understanding, and summarization. Once summarization wasplete, it created Truth. Thus, Wisdom was the origin of Truth, and once oneprehended Wisdom, one couldprehend Truth.


    Wisdom was all-epassing, including Insight, Calction, Deconstruction, and Knowledge. But Deduction did not belong to Wisdom and had nothing to do with it.


    Afterprehending the Dao, Tang Jie had a chunk of abstruse knowledge in his brain. This knowledge was immense, varied, andcking in organization, containing all sorts of profound mysteries. This was where Tang Jie¡¯s understanding of Wisdom and the Twelve Great Daos came from. If he hadprehended some other Dao, he might not have known what the Twelve Great Daos were. This was the Knowledge of the Wisdom Dao, as Wisdom without Knowledge was naught but false wisdom. Often was it said, ¡°This person is so smart, but he just doesn¡¯t want to study,¡± but no matter how well-developed this smartness was, it would never reach the level of Wisdom.


    But the Knowledge in the Dao of Wisdom was only the most fundamental knowledge. There was even more knowledge that the cultivator needed to discover, understand, incorporate, and summarize on their own, turning it into Truth.


    Besides that, Tang Jie also found that his calctive abilities were much stronger and his lines of thought much clearer. Many questions that used to take him a while to find the answer to were now easily solved.


    This was the boost to calctive ability brought by Wisdom. Worth noting was that Calction was not without limit. If there was something that he couldn¡¯t calcte before, he still wouldn¡¯t be able to calcte it. At best, it would be like going from needing to use an entire day to determine ¡°I can¡¯t calcte it¡± to only using ten minutes to determine ¡°I can¡¯t calcte it.¡±


    Deconstruction allowed Tang Jie to more clearly analyze andprehend the driving principles behind many things. The upper limit was the guiding principles of the world, thews and the Great Daos, and the lower limit included divine connections, spell arts, and magical weapons. Tang Jie could deconstruct all of them, but of course, the moreplicated and abstruse the target was, the more difficult it was to analyze it. This was the most important ability of Wisdom. At profound levels ofprehension, one could even sense how the Heavenly Dao operated and grasp the secrets of the heavens, possessing foresight and insight that allowed one to neutralize fate.


    Of course, he wasn¡¯t at that level yet, but this was extraordinarily helpful for formations.


    Formations were a manifestation of Daos, and the Dao of Wisdom was the number one tool for deconstructing the world. Thus, Tang Jie¡¯s mind was instantly full of knowledge concerning formations. His mind was opened, and he immediately was able to understand and put into practice many things he found iprehensible before.


    Tang Jie¡¯s proficiency in the Dao of Formations instantly went from Grade 4 to Grade 5. So long as he had enough materials, he could make a formation that could even imprison an early-stage Celestial Heart cultivator.


    In the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, Tang Jie¡¯s original body opened its eyes and reinspected the formation.


    But the most obvious improvement was still with Insight.


    Tang Jie had already attained a basicprehension of Insight before entering Mortal Shedding, but his grasp of the Dao of Insight was very scattered, and the effects were limited.


    But now, everything was different.


    Wanting to test the effects of Insight, Tang Jie stood atop the fish lip rock and looked around. He wanted to see if he could look through that previously imprable cloudyer and find the students scattered across the blessednd.


    The Langya Blessed Land was dense with spiritual energy. As spiritual energy was not a substance with real form, when it was highly concentrated, it appeared like clouds or fog, a majestic sea of clouds when looked at from a distance.


    While it looked nice, it provided no benefits when it came to observation. Even with the improved vision fromprehending Insight, Tang Jie still hadn¡¯t been able to see through those clouds.


    But things were different now.


    With the power of Insight, he could see it all: the flow of the wind, the shifts in the clouds, the rise and fall of spiritual waves.


    These were all natural movements, like water flowing downstream from its source and sshing. All Tang Jie needed to do was follow the flow back to the source, which was the location of the Dao.


    In his eyes, every shift in the sea of clouds, every flow, had special significance. Tang Jie constantly analyzed the most fundamental principles that made up all of this, trying to understand them.


    This was an extremelyplex and vast undertaking. In normal circumstances, a cultivator could waste hundreds of years, even as many as a thousand.


    But for Tang Jie, it was as simple as water flowing down a canal.


    All things had their operating principles. Behind the chaos and theplexity, they all followed age-old and specificws, and thesews were the Daos.


    The Dao of Insight was for discovering them. The Dao of Calction was for analyzing them. The Dao of Deconstruction was forprehending them. And the Great Dao of Truth was for incorporating them, refining them, and using them.


    In this process, the truths of the world were understood and its secrets uncovered. Everything else would develop naturally.


    Tang Jie¡¯s gaze moved upward, and his vision expanded more and more, gradually taking in all of the blessednd.


    His eyes traveled between the clouds, going higher and higher. His mind whirred as he went higher and higher, not even stopping when he struck a rippling wall of rainbow light: the blessednd¡¯s formation.


    His gaze once more felt the edge of the world, and then he continued, breaking out of this world and observing it from an even higher point of view.


    And then, he saw it.


    In a backdrop of a sea of clouds and a canopy of the azure heavens, he saw an assembly of heroes gathered on Red Plum Ridge. Tang Jie really about to spectate on the spectators.

 Chapter 329: Rejoining the Team

    Chapter 329: Rejoining the Team


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    <em>So there really were people watching from outside of the blessednd?</em> Tang Jie mentally remarked in surprise. He quickly thought back, trying to remember whether he had done something that could have exposed him.


    Fortunately, he had been cautious enough and acted with restraint. It now appeared that while his actions had drawn shock and surprise, incidents like using the Mindseizer to befuddle Lan Yu and the Weapon Mantra to shatter the art relic all had other usible exnations. The former had the Four-Nine True Word Mantra while thetter had simple brute strength. This wasn¡¯t enough for someone to think that something was wrong, right? Was it not allowed to suddenly explode with hidden potential?


    On the contrary, so quickly reaching Mortal Shedding was the bigger shock, particrly because he had done it without the guidance of a teacher. In truth, it was even more unbelievable than the shattering of Lan Yu¡¯s weapon.


    This point was Tang Jie¡¯s least worry. After all, no matter how much attention was paid to him, he couldn¡¯t possibly be linked to Tang Jie and He Chong in the faraway Nine Executions Immortal Formation. All that could be said was that Tang Jie had been amply prepared and possessed astounding talent.


    After organizing his thoughts and confirming that he hadn¡¯t done anything without a usible exnation, he finally sighed in relief.


    Ignoring the people outside, Tang Jie drew his gaze back and saw a small sword flying out from the horizon.


    This was the messenger sword used specifically by the Basking Moon Sect. The de had no edge, it was small and nimble, and the seals upon it were all designed for flight.


    As the small sword flew close, Tang Jie grabbed it and removed the letter that was tied to it. He saw that it was Ye Tianshang who had written it. It turned out that he had seen the rainbow light that came from Tang Jie¡¯s charge, and was asking if a treasure had appeared.


    As everyone was storing the treasures, it had been some time since a rainbow light had appeared over the blessednd, and any that did appear would be gone in an instant. The rainbow light from Tang Jie¡¯s charge at Mortal Shedding hadsted for quite a while, so there were naturally people who asked what was going on, if someone was trying to use this chance to run off with a treasure.


    As for a charge at Mortal Shedding, the thought hadn¡¯t even entered their minds. It was simply too absurd given the time that had passed, and no one had ever seen a scene like this during the Mortal Shedding process.


    Reading the letter from Ye Tianshang, Tang Jie thought about it before replying, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Let¡¯s meet up and talk in person.¡±


    He threw out the small sword, having it go back the way it hade.


    Since he had reached Mortal Shedding, he naturally didn¡¯t need to waste any more time.


    In a clearing on the eastern end of the blessednd, Peng Yaolong and Ye Tianshang were having a spar. Nearby, the other Basking Moon Sect students were sitting around and cheering.


    Wei Tianchong was the most energetic. ¡°Hit him! Hit him! Hit him! Great Brother, good job! Kill that turtle Ye Tianshang!¡±


    In the True Inheritor struggle, in the first mission, Ye Tianshang had had him running around willy-nilly, and Wei Tianchong still felt resentful about it. Peng Yaolong used his steely fist like a hammer, pushing Ye Tianshang back, and Wei Tianchong cried out in excitement.


    Ye Tianshang coldlyughed. ¡°You think it¡¯s that easy? Out of my way!¡±


    The Sandstream Sword sent a wave of light at Peng Yaolong, but Peng Yaolong charged at it with a roar, his fist radiating energy. As fist met sword energy, there was an explosion of light.


    This was Peng Yaolong using the Energy-Blood Simulflow Art. This ovepping allowed him to erupt with greater power that dissipated the sword wave with a single strike, the shockwave sending Ye Tianshang flying with some blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. At this moment, another sword suddenly appeared in Ye Tianshang¡¯s left hand.


    The Profound Yin Sword.


    He shed the Profound Yin Sword against the ground, and in an eruption of light, a frigid energy engulfed the area. Besides that, a sharp sword phantom sliced at Peng Yaolong¡¯s arm, cutting open a wound.


    Physically, Peng Yaolong was actually somewhat stronger than Ye Tianshang, but Tang Jie had passed to Ye Tianshang the Twelve Hidden Whirlpools Art, which had faster and more obvious results. Ye Tianshang had been diligently cultivating this art as ofte, and his strength had soared. Together with his new sword art relic boosting his strength even more, he was able to fight evenly against Peng Yaolong.


    Ye Tianshangnded, and when he saw that he had injured Peng Yaolong, heughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s a shame that this Profound Yin Sword doesn¡¯t mesh with my cultivation mantra, so I can¡¯t use it too well and can only do something like this once in a while. Otherwise, you definitely would have lost.¡±


    ¡°Tsk.¡± Peng Yaolong scowled. ¡°You¡¯ve missed your chance. Don¡¯t even dream about beating me in the future.¡±


    He had already reached a minor level of attainment in the Energy-Blood Simulflow and was already seeing some small boosts to his strength. In a few more days, he would be able to fully express this strength, and his every move would be brimming with power. No matter how fast Ye Tianshang¡¯s sword was, one punch would be enough to st them away.


    As the two were having a war of words, a shining sword flew out of the horizon.


    Ye Tianshang grabbed it and then gleefully said, ¡°Tang Jie ising.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s finally willing to show himself?¡± Peng Yaolong joyfully said.


    He hadn¡¯t seen Tang Jie since entering the Langya Blessed Land. He had been nning to help Tang Jie out during thispetition, not expecting this kid to leave behind a few orders before running off to cultivate.


    While the blessednd was rich in resources, and cultivating here was several times more efficient than cultivating outside, how much could one really benefit from cultivating here for twenty-some days? Moreover, everyone would be making the same amount of progress. While you were cultivating, others were cultivating as well, and when one considered talent, those with lower talent would not benefit as much as those with high talent. Thus, Peng Yaolong cared little about such ast-minute way of doing things.


    But since everyone else supported Tang Jie¡¯s idea, Peng Yaolong couldn¡¯t just go out on his own, so he had joined the others.


    Everyone else grew excited once they heard that Tang Jie wasing, Wei Tianchong saying, ¡°He¡¯s finallying. I wonder how much progress he¡¯s made in his cultivation.¡±


    ¡°How much progress could he have made?¡± a student retorted. ¡°It was only twenty-some days. Even if the blessednd¡¯s spiritual energy is so concentrated that you can get five days¡¯ worth of cultivation in a single day, that¡¯s only three months of hard cultivation. With his aptitude, he wouldn¡¯t even be able to make it to the middle of Spirit Sea.¡±


    ¡°Qing Yuan, aren¡¯t you looking down on him?¡± another student jokingly asked.


    ¡°Of course not. I admire Tang Jie¡¯sbat power a lot, but cultivation isn¡¯t something you can do in a day. I¡¯m just being realistic. When ites to cultivation, he¡¯s ultimately still the weakest,¡± the student called Qing Yuan swiftly replied.


    ¡°Exactly. I would even wager that no matter how hard he cultivates, he can¡¯t be faster than Shaoming,¡± Long Dao added. He had never had a good impression of Tang Jie and always took the opportunity to insult him. Qi Shaoming had been in Spirit Sea for nearly a year and was currently in the middle stage of Spirit Sea. He had benefited greatly from his time cultivating in the blessednd and had almost reached thete stage. Among all the Spirit tform Realm students participating, his cultivation level was the highest.


    But surprisingly, Qi Shaoming, who was standing all alone beneath a big tree, holding his sword, coldly replied, ¡°There¡¯s no guarantee of that.¡±


    ¡°Hm? Shaoming, what do you mean by that?¡± Long Dao said in surprise.


    Qi Shaoming replied, ¡°I know Tang Jie. He never does anything meaningless. He would only decide to do such a thing if he stood to make the greatest gain. While all of us have improved while cultivating in this time, I would bet that no one has improved more than he has.¡±


    Long Dao sneered, ¡°What? Qi Shaoming, you¡¯re an illustrious nine-cycle-Jade-Gate genius. Are you saying that you would lose out to a five-cycle Jade Gate when ites to cultivation?¡±


    Qi Shaoming replied, ¡°I don¡¯t feel bad about losing to Tang Jie. At least I¡¯m not losing to you.¡±


    ¡°You!¡± Long Dao was speechless with anger.


    He wanted to say more when Qi Shaoming added, ¡°Just now, a rainbow light shot up from the fish lip rock, and then Tang Jie said that he was rejoining us. I wouldn¡¯t believe it if you said that these two had no connection.¡±


    Everyone shared a nce, clearly noticing the implication behind these words.


    As they were looking at each other, a figure flew toward them. Who could this be except Tang Jie?


    ¡°He¡¯s flying over?¡± Ye Tianshang was the first to understand the significance of this action. His eyes bulged out as he said, ¡°He couldn¡¯t have¡­ no¡­¡±


    He was so shocked that he couldn¡¯t finish, but everyone already understood what he meant.


    Mortal Shedding!


    Tang Jie had shed his mortality!


    This was too unbelievable.


    Long Dao red. ¡°No, this isn¡¯t possible! He couldn¡¯t have done it so quickly! He must have gotten close before flying.¡±


    Everyone looked at him in disdain, Peng Yaolong even snorting, ¡°Idiot, the messenger sword only just arrived, and then Tang Jie came. Who can actually run that fast?¡±


    Long Dao¡¯s mind was left buzzing by these words.


    Yes, the messenger sword had just arrived, and now Tang Jie was here. That could only mean that Tang Jie had followed the flying sword. He would never be able to do this unless he had reached Mortal Shedding.


    Tang Jie had really shed his mortality.


    But how could he have done it so quickly?


    Let alone him, even Qi Shaoming and Wei Tianchong were looking at the distant figure of Tang Jie in shock. While Qi Shaoming had mentally prepared himself for this, he was still utterly stunned by the fact that Tang Jie had gone from the early stage of Spirit Sea all the way to the Mortal Shedding Realm in the span of twenty-some days.


    This went against allmon sense.


    Tang Jie flew over,nding nearby and saluting them. ¡°Tang Jie pays respects to his senior brothers.¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie, you¡¯ve shed your mortality?¡± Peng Yaolong shouted.


    Even though they had already guessed it, Peng Yaolong still decided to ask.


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Mm. Thanks to the blessednd, I was fortunate enough to shed my mortality.¡±


    Everyone was in an uproar over these words.


    ¡°Wonderful!¡± All of them cheered, and Wei Tianchong even rushed up and hugged him. Only Long Dao and the two students he was on pretty good terms with had dour looks, upset by this news.


    Peng Yaolong came up and also gave Tang Jie a hug. ¡°Good job! While reaching Mortal Shedding in a year and a half can¡¯t be considered an academy record, no one with a five-cycle Jade Gate has ever been faster. What¡¯s even more incredible is that you did it in the middle of thepetition. This boost inbat power will increase our chances of winning this contest.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Godhead and Beast Refining have already lost, and thebination of the Seven Absolutions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion shouldn¡¯t be able to beat us and the Thousand Passions Sect, right? Even without me, I think everyone is strong enough to win the day.¡±


    ¡°An extra bit of strength is still an extra bit of hope,¡± Ye Tianshang chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s no wonder you insisted on cultivating here. You probably nned all this out, right? Be honest! Was this all because of the blessednd quotas we gave you?¡±


    Tang Jieughed and confessed, ¡°I was fortunate enough to know some methods for processing spirit nts and absorbing their energy in the field, so it would be a great pity if I didn¡¯t use them.¡±


    ¡°So there really was something going on!¡± Ye Tianshang gave Tang Jie a light punch. ¡°You were keeping this treasure all to yourself and not telling us.¡±


    Tang Jie helplessly said, ¡°I can teach you anything except that! If I do, the teachers will probably tear me apart.¡±


    The academy¡¯s rules treated personal acts as being based on one¡¯s own fortune, but casually teaching this technique would be viting the taboo, so while Tang Jie could do it himself, he couldn¡¯t teach others. Fortunately, everyone understood this, and once they understood how he had improved himself, they praised his good fortune in obtaining this sort of method. Even the pitiful Long Dao, the son of a True Person, didn¡¯t know of this method for processing spirit nts.


    Having not seen Tang Jie for twenty-some days, everyone was now happy andughing, and Tang Jie got a chance to understand what had happened in the blessednd in these twenty-some days.


    After the battle on the first day, things didn¡¯t end up as calm as Tang Jie had anticipated.


    While Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate had withdrawn, there were still a few of them who weren¡¯t willing to leave the blessednd and wanted to try for a miracle. And after beating these two sects, the two remaining sect alliances switched from coborators topetitors. The members of the four sects didn¡¯t dare to split up, so they each upied their own corner of the blessednd. Basking Moon was in the east, Thousand Passions in the north, Horizon Ocean in the west, and Seven Absolutions in the south. They were positioned such that they could each go to the aid of their ally.


    There had been a few shes between the two sides as they tested each other¡¯s strength. In most of them, the Basking Moon/Thousand Passions alliance hade out ahead. But as they weren¡¯t in a rush to leave the blessednd, Peng Yaolong and the others hadn¡¯t killed anyone.


    ¡°Have the ten treasures alle out? Do we know if the Stop Gate Banner ended up with anyone?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    Qi Shaoming replied, ¡°Not sure. The ten treasures should have all appeared, but we can¡¯t be sure about the details, as everyone is very careful and no one has taken it out. Thus, other than the fact that Lin Wang has the Taiyi Profound rity Cup, we don¡¯t know how many treasures have appeared or who has them.¡±


    ¡°Lin Wang still hasn¡¯t left?¡± Tang Jie asked in surprise.


    Everyoneughed. ¡°His Seven Absolutions Sect has only nine people in all, so one person gone makes them that much weaker. How could he dare to leave? But that¡¯s perfect for us, as it gives us an opportunity.¡±


    The rules set by the Wandering Pce stated that when students had held a treasure for twelve hours, they could leave, thus confirming their spot as part of the top ten. They could stay in the blessednd instead, but this would mean that the treasure could be stolen.


    Of note was that a treasure stolen in this situation was not subject to the twelve-hour time restriction. This was because it already had an owner, and when it was stolen, it was no longer an objective of thepetition, but a possession being taken from a contestant. This was also why the person who stole it would not be considered part of the top ten.


    Thus, if Lin Wang didn¡¯t leave, everyone could try to take the Taiyi Profound rity Cup from him. Of course, the top ten spot belonging to the Taiyi Profound rity Cup had already been assigned to Lin Wang, and nothing could change that. Even killing him would only mean that the top ten would be the top nine.


    ¡°Then how many do we have?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°Two,¡± Peng Yaolong replied. ¡°I¡¯m protecting one, and we haven¡¯t decided about the other one. Are you interested in it, Tang Jie?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m only interested in the Stop Gate Banner. You guys can decide how to handle it.¡±


    ¡°But we don¡¯t even know who has the Stop Gate Banner,¡± a student said.


    ¡°This is very simple,¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Just take out the treasure.¡±


    ¡°¡®Take out the treasure¡¯?¡± Peng Yaolong¡¯s eyes shed. ¡°You mean¡­ start the war?¡±


    Tang Jie grinned. ¡°Yes, start the war!¡±


    For Tang Jie, as he was in Mortal Shedding now, there was no point in dying any longer. As the stronger side, he naturally wanted to be proactive in seeking out the decisive battle.


    Peng Yaolong erupted inughter. ¡°I was waiting for you to say that.¡±


    Peng Yaolong was already sick of these days. If not for the fact that the one cultivating was Tang Jie, and that Tang Jie had done him a favor by giving him that art, Peng Yaolong would have already rallied everyone into an attack.


    All of the Basking Moon Sect students grew excited, and as they were about to reveal their treasures, a beam of rainbow light shot up from the distance.


    The rainbow light came from the south, prating into the heavens like a spear.


    Everyone understood what this meant:


    Seeking out a decisive battle! Tang Jie is done cultivating, so now it¡¯s time for the main event to begin!

 Chapter 330: Secret Plan

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    As the treasure light appeared in the south, several pirs of light also shot up from the north and the west.


    A count revealed that the south had one, the west had three, and the north had two. Including the Basking Moon Sect''s two, there were eight in total. The ninth was the Taiyi Profound rity Cup, meaning that there was still one treasure missing.


    But this wasn''t important. So long as they could defeat the other teams, thest one would end up in the hands of the victor.


    Upon seeing the three sides each releasing their treasure lights, Peng Yaolongughed and said, "Let''s show our own!"


    He took out a bronze mirror from his Mustard Seed Bag. This was the Water Diffraction Mirror, which could be used to defend againstrge-scale spell arts, but it only worked on purely spiritual energy attacks. It meant little for Peng Yaolong, but it was still better than the other art relic.


    On the other end, Zhu Fengdao took out a vase of white jade. This jade vase was the Sundew Vase. If it were used to water a spirit field, the nts would grow better. If one watered it every day, a two-year spirit nt would have the medicinal power of a three-year nt. But there was too little dew to cover much of an area. And while the vase was nice, it had no use in battle, so it was no wonder that Peng Yaolong had chosen the Diffraction Mirror.


    The radiance unleashed by thel eight treasures indicated that the war had begun.


    Of course, everyone could choose to defend their positions, not attack each other, and leave with what they had.


    But this was basically impossible.


    The first reason was that thispetition was a game where the strongest won, where the victor was king. The stronger side would never be able to ept a situation that wasn''t to their advantage. The alliance of the Basking Moon Sect and Thousand Passions Sect had twenty people, clearly stronger than the sixteen people of the Horizon Ocean Pavilion/Seven Absolutions Sect alliance, but they only had four treasures. They had no reason to let the other side be. Secondly, a treasure protector was different from a discoverer. For example, Yun Wuji hadn''t been the one to find the Taiyi Profound rity Cup. Rather, a Godhead Pce student had found it and handed it to him. If Yun Wuji had seeded in guarding the treasure, he would have given the discoverer a reward. The same was true for the Basking Moon Sect''s Water Diffraction Mirror and Sundew Vase. The former had been found by Qing Yuan and given to Peng Yaolong, while thetter had been found by Zhu Fengdao, and he had not given it to anyone yet. If everyone just held their positions and didn''t attack, Zhu Fengdao could keep the treasure and be one of the top ten. For elites like Peng Yaolong, this was uneptable, and it was liable to end up in internal strife.


    Battle against others was the best choice to avoid this internal strife.


    Thus, whether it was for the sect or the individual, everyone would choose to go on the attack.


    Zhu Fengdao took out the white jade vase and looked at Ye Tianshang. Ye Tianshang thought it over and finally epted it. His original n had been to abandon this item and seize a more suitable one, but since Tang Jie was set on the Stop Gate Banner, Ye Tianshang decided to leave that chance for him.


    With the ownership of the Sundew Vase decided, Peng Yaolong shouted, "Since nine of the ten treasures have appeared, what are we waiting for? Go!"


    "Let''s go!" all the students bellowed, taking to the sky. Only Wei Tianchong and Qi Shaoming were left on the ground.


    These were the only Spirit tform students left in the Basking Moon Sect group. One had been rmended because of his nine-cycle Jade Gate, while the other had been allowed in as an exception because he was Changfeng''s True Inheritor. Tang Jie should have been with them, but now that Tang Jie had shed his mortality, the two of them had to rely on themselves.


    "Hey, hey, don''t forget us!" Wei Tianchong jumped frantically once he saw his senior brothers take flight.


    Tang Jieughed and pointed at Wei Tianchong''s feet, and a vortex bore Wei Tianchong aloft. On the other end, Ye Tianshang threw out his Sandstream Sword, which took Qi Shaoming into the air.


    At the same time, the treasure lights of the other three sects moved, beginning to approach each other.


    The difference in strength caused the students to fly in different directions.


    The Thousand Passions Sect moved from the north to the east, clearly nning to group up with the Basking Moon Sect so that they could fight together.


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion to the west pursued the Thousand Passions Sect. For them, a joint battle wasn''t beneficial. As the Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion had around the same number of people, and Horizon Ocean Pavilion had Lan Yu while the Thousand Passions Sect had lost Li Zhiping, Horizon Ocean Pavilion had the slight advantage. Besides that, the two sects were opposed to each other. Thus, Horizon Ocean Pavilion sought a one-on-one battle with the Thousand Passions Sect.


    The Basking Moon Sect moved straight toward the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    As the strongest side, Peng Yaolong andpany preferred to attack the Seven Absolutions Sect while the Thousand Passions Sect fought with Horizon Ocean Pavilion, rather than joining together in battle. The greatest benefit of this was that once Horizon Ocean Pavilion defeated the Thousand Passions Sect, the Basking Moon Sect, which would have defeated the Seven Absolutions Sect, wouldn''t have to attack the Thousand Passions Sect, nor would it have to split the spoils.For the side with the absolute advantage, even dividing the spoils based on strength still wasn''t fair. For Peng Yaolong, the best ending was for them to defeat the Seven Absolutions Sect, Horizon Ocean Pavilion to defeat the Thousand Passions Sect, and the Basking Moon Sect to clean up and take all the treasures. If they seeded, the Wandering Pce would belong to the Basking Moon Sect.


    When it came to strength, this was entirely possible. Even if Horizon Ocean Pavilion didn''t defeat the Thousand Passions Sect and had the tables turned on it, the Thousand Passions Sect wouldn''t have many people left after eking out a victory, and the Basking Moon Sect had sufficient reason to not give the Thousand Passions Sect a chance, or perhaps give them one treasure for the sake of their dignity.


    No matter what the result was, it was still better than joining together.


    This was precisely why Peng Yaolong''s group was ignoring the "pursuit" of the Thousand Passions Sect and chasing only after the Seven Absolutions Sect.


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    The only thing surprising was the Seven Absolutions Sect''s reaction.


    They should have immediately joined together with Horizon Ocean Pavilion. After all, splitting up and fighting separately was extremely disadvantageous to the Seven Absolutions Sect, as they had to face the strongest faction, the Basking Moon Sect.


    But the Seven Absolutions Sect didn''t do this, instead moving to the southwest, with a slight turn to the north. This direction was neither toward Horizon Ocean Pavilion nor toward Basking Moon and Thousand Passions. It was more like they nned to move around on their own.


    "Huh? Weird. What are those guys of the Seven Absolutions Sect doing?" As he flew, Peng Yaolong was deeply confused as to the direction the treasure light was moving.


    "Perhaps they know that they''re no match and n to run around and buy time," a student said.


    Qi Shaoming shook his head. "Then it would be better to just join up with Horizon Ocean Pavilion. The four sects are unequal in strength. The Thousand Passions Sect is closer in strength to Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and our Basking Moon Sect is stronger than most. If they worked together, at least Horizon Ocean Pavilion would be able to share some of the burden."


    Tang Jie replied, "Don''t forget that the treasure light can only confirm the direction the treasure is moving, not the people. If I were Mu Yi, I would use the treasure light to make a feint. One Seven Absolutions Sect student would run off with the treasure while the rest of the Seven Absolutions Sect students would secretly meet up with Horizon Ocean Pavilion, after which they could take down the Thousand Passions Sect, leaving us the disadvantaged side."


    Everyone was rmed by this suggestion.


    If this really happened, the Basking Moon Sect would be in trouble. The Thousand Passions Sect was no match for the two sects. If the two sects were allowed to eliminate the Thousand Passions Sect, the Basking Moon Sect would go from having the advantage to the disadvantage.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie added, "But this n is founded on us not going to help the Thousand Passions Sect. Otherwise, it''s just a joke. Senior Brother Peng, I recall you saying that you fought with them a few times. At that time, did you ever avoid working together with the Thousand Passions Sect?"


    "Not at all," Peng Yaolong immediately replied.


    As it hadn''t been the final battle, everyone hadn''t been as cautious, so they hadn''t avoided working together with the Thousand Passions Sect. It was only when the treasure lights went up all around, heralding the final battle, that such a situation had appeared.


    "Then this possibility isn''trge," Tang Jie immediately replied.


    Everyone sighed in relief. Wei Tianchong said, "Then why do you think they''re doing this?"Tang Jie thought it over and replied, "The other possibility is that they''re baiting us and buying time so that Horizon Ocean Pavilion can fight with the Thousand Passions Sect. Horizon Ocean Pavilion is a little stronger than the Thousand Passions Sect, so if they can beat the Thousand Passions Sect and maintain an advantage of three people, then turn around and aid the Seven Absolutions Sect, they have a chance at turning the tables."


    The way of war was to use the strong to bully the weak, to use strength to strike at weakness. It wasmon to turn a local advantage into aplete advantage. For the Seven Absolutions Sect, the second option was the preferable one, and if they handled things well, they could rece the Basking Moon Sect as the biggest winner.


    In truth, Tang Jie could use the Celestial Eye to go and look, but he still couldn''t use the eye while flying, and stopping to look would definitely draw attention. Of course, things were entirely different now that he knew that people outside were watching. Tang Jie naturally wasn''t willing to take this risk now.


    As Tang Jie spoke, everyone nodded in agreement.


    Now that they knew the Seven Absolutions Sect''s ns, they chased them down with everything they had.


    While the Langya Blessed Land wasrge, the treasure lights meant that no matter how one ran, the pursuer would always be able to find the shortest route, and once someone was forced into a corner, there was no retreating. Perhaps for this very reason, after they had flown for a while, the Seven Absolutions Sect''s treasure light finally stopped. It was clear that they had given up on avoiding battle.


    The treasure light wasing from the summit of a small mountain.


    As Tang Jie''s group flew over, they saw all nine of the Seven Absolutions Sect''s students standing on the mountain, coldly looking at them.


    The Basking Moon Sect students cheered when they saw that all nine students were here.


    Peng Yaolongughed when he saw that the Seven Absolutions Sect people weren''t running. "Mu Yi, you''ve had your fill of the fruits of the Langya Blessed Land. There''s no point in staying around. It''s time to settle things."


    Standing on the peak, Mu Yi coldly snorted, "That truly is the case. My Seven Absolutions Sect was already sick of waiting. Both of the treasures are here. Senior Brother Peng,e and get it if you can."


    He pointed at therge boulder in front of him, upon which the Seven Absolutions Sect had ced two treasures. One was the Taiyi Profound rity Cup, and the other was the Wind Dragon Firepart Fan. s, there was no Stop Gate Banner, so was it in the hands of Horizon Ocean Pavilion or the Thousand Passions Sect?


    Peng Yaolong''s eyes shed. "Then I won''t be polite. Go!"


    As he shouted, the Basking Moon Sect students charged. It was their thirteen to the Seven Absolutions Sect''s nine, and the Seven Absolutions Sect was the weakest in terms ofbat power. It seemed like the victory was decided.


    All of the Seven Absolutions Sect students except Mu Yi moved in unison, eight swords taking to the sky. Each sword became two, two became four, and four became eight, constantly growing in number. Countless tiny swords collided in the air, creating a of swords.


    This was the Seven Absolutions Sect''s famous Many Mountain Sword Formation. Each of the small swords that made up this formation was real. They had countless variations, and they would increase in power with the number of people.


    While there were only eight people, there were thousands of swords flying around in the air, their sharp sword radiance engulfing the entirety of the mountain.


    This was the Seven Absolutions Sect''s most defining attribute. In a one-on-one situation, the Seven Absolutions Sect didn''t have an advantage against the other sects, but in battles with more people, the Seven Absolutions Sect was often able to disy strength greater than usual, making it so that one plus one ended up being greater than two.


    Peng Yaolong simplyughed when he saw this sword formation, and he shouted, "Let me!"


    Standing in front of the mountain, he began to form various hand signs.


    Tang Jie was rmed when he saw these hand signs, almost crying out.


    Heavenly King Mara''s Incantation!Peng Yaolong was using none other than the incantation that Tang Jie had once used.


    But the incantation was a secret art of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, so how did Peng Yaolong know it? Didn''t he only know the Apex Combat True Astral?


    A momentter, Tang Jie understood that Peng Yaolong must have umted enough contribution points over thest two years that he had gotten another chance to read the ssic. It was just that he had kept it a secret this whole time, only to reveal it now.


    As Peng Yaolong activated this secret art, a giant appeared in the sky¡ªan image of Peng Yaolong that was majestic and dignified. It was so huge that it stood taller than the mountain, and the moment it appeared, it brought down a giant hand toward the mountain.


    "Rise!" a Seven Absolutions Sect student shouted.


    The sword formation over the summit erupted with light and moved to meet the giant hand. There was a blinding explosion of light as the giant hand was obliterated.


    Peng Yaolong was clearly the weaker side of this sh, but he didn''t care. His Heavenly King Mara Incantation was much stronger than when Tang Jie had used it, and as he made another hand sign, a new hand manifested and pressed down toward the sword formation.


    At the same time, Ye Tianshang threw out his Sandstorm Sword, which immediately grew in size and charged at the sword formation, unleashing a giant wave of azure energy.


    The other students followed up, aiming various spell arts at the mountain. Compared to the unity of the Seven Absolutions Sect, the Basking Moon Sect side was much more disorderly, but their power was not to be underestimated. In a sh, both sides were engaged in a spectacr battle.


    This was the true way Immortals fought. Compared to this battle, Tang Jie felt like his previous battles were nothing more than child''s y.


    In these circumstances, the spell arts that the likes of Wei Tianchong and Qi Shaoming could use weren''t very helpful. While Wei Tianchong''s Fireball was fierce, it was only usable in closebat. In long-distance battles, it immediately became pitifully weak. Even Qi Shaoming''s phantom clones couldn''t contribute much.


    The same was true for Tang Jie. Though he had entered the Mortal Shedding Realm, as he hadn''t returned to the academy, he hadn''t officially cultivated an art. Thus, all he had was the cultivation realm, without any powerful arts.


    Of course, it wasn''t like he waspletely bereft. For example, he knew the Heavenly King Mara Incantation, but s, this was part of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, so he couldn''t use it openly.


    But this was fine. Tang Jie was happy to sit on the sidelines, and he fell back to the rear. In actuality, he was using Insight to look around.


    For some reason, he found this battle very strange.


    Seeking out a decisive battle and using a sword formation to fight in the open was already above the strength that the Seven Absolutions Sect should have.


    After his previous interaction with them, Tang Jie had already be suspicious. But he was so focused on charging at Mortal Shedding that he had ignored it. Now that the war had begun, the suspicion returned, and he could no longer ignore it.


    His vision gradually widened, and he took in everything on the periphery of the battlefield, but he didn''t see anything wrong.


    The shes in the sky continued. While the Seven Absolutions Sect''s Many Mountain Sword Formation was powerful, it was gradually giving way under the relentless attacks of Peng Yaolong and Ye Tianshang.


    The sword light began to weaken under the explosions, and all that could be seen in the sky was Peng Yaolong''s phantom battering away. Once the sword formation broke, the Seven Absolutions Sect students would be powerless to fight back and would be utterly routed. Peng Yaolong could already see the light of victory, and hisughter resounded across the sky.


    But the more this was the case, the greater the unease in Tang Jie''s mind grew.


    On the summit, Mu Yi was still proudly standing, his boyish and honest face cold and emotionless. He simply observed the battle while exuding an inexplicable self-confidence.


    This self-confidence made Tang Jie uneasy, but he couldn''t find out where the problem was, which left him vexed.Gritting his teeth, he decided to seek a higher vantage point. Since he couldn''t find the problem, he would just expand the map!


    But this was extremely dangerous for Tang Jie. While he was observing the battle from above, his consciousness would have essentially left his body. If someone made a sneak attack on him, Tang Jie wouldn''t be able to strike back.


    As his vision drew higher, almost all of the Langya Blessed Land appeared before him.


    He saw the western and northern ends of the blessednd. Horizon Ocean Pavilion was on the verge of catching up to the Thousand Passions Sect, and the two sides were both flying as quickly as they could with their treasures, drawing out dazzling arcs in the air.


    But this glimpse allowed Tang Jie to notice that none of these five treasures was the Stop Gate Banner.


    <em>No way! This unlucky?</em> Tang Jie was speechless.


    He hadn''t expected that thest treasure that had not appeared would be the Stop Gate Banner that he was so desperately after.


    <em>Wait!</em>


    Tang Jie suddenly realized something.


    Countless images appeared in his mind.


    The exchanged refined beasts and Godhead Armors.


    The ck Cloud Banner that was bought at a heavy price.


    Mu Yi''sposed gaze despite the desperate straits he was in.


    The Stop Gate Banner which had yet to appear¡­


    An idea suddenly urred to him, and his heart trembled.


    It was an unbelievable idea, but his reason told him that it was the closest to the truth.


    A momentter, Tang Jie''s perception shot off into the horizon. If someone used this time tounch an all-out assault on Tang Jie, then he would die for sure. But Tang Jie didn''t care. His mind shot upward, breaking out of the cage and leaving the Langya Blessed Land, once more looking down over the world at the spectator stand.


    This time, Tang Jie turned in the direction of Godhead Pce.


    He finally found that familiar figure.


    "Aaaah!"


    Tang Jie suddenly cried out and threw up blood.


    Wei Tianchong and Qi Shaoming, who were spectating along with him, were aghast. Helping him up, they asked, "Are you okay?"


    Tang Jie raised his head, a bloody light in his eyes as he bitterly cried out, "It''s a trap! The Seven Absolutions Sect hasid down a great formation here! We need to retreat!"


    Peng Yaolong frowned. "Tang Jie, what nonsense are you saying? The Wandering Pce forbade anyone to bring in formation materials. Even if the Seven Absolutions Sect excels in the four auxiliaries, they can''ty down a formation that could threaten us."


    Tang Jie grabbed Wei Tianchong and Qi Shaoming and ran, shouting, "They didn''t use materials that they brought in toy down formations! They used materials that they found here! They have the Stop Gate Banner, and they''re using it to control the formation! Run! Run!"


    As Tang Jie spoke, there was a boom, and the entire world darkened!

 Chapter 331: Cooperation

    Chapter 331: Cooperation


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    Mu Yi silently watched as Tang Jie left.


    Xiao Wen came up and protested, ¡°Junior Brother Mu, Tang Jie alone can¡¯t possibly hold off the reinforcements from Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate. This is clearly the will of the Basking Moon Sect, trying to use us to save their people. Even if we didn¡¯t give them True Essence Pills, they would still do it.¡±


    Mu Yi was unperturbed. ¡°I know. Actually, if things really are as Tang Jie says and Yun Wuji has taken hostages from three sects, this blockade isn¡¯t just the action of the Basking Moon Sect, but of all three sects.¡±


    Xiao Wen and Lin Wang were all shocked. ¡°¡®The action of three sects¡¯? Doesn¡¯t that make it a four versus two?¡±


    Mu Yi nodded. ¡°Correct. If I were Tang Jie, I would definitely make this choice. In this contest, the six sects are of unequal strength. The strongest are the Beast Refining Gate and the Basking Moon Sect. If the four sects work together to first eliminate Godhead and Beast Refining, the Basking Moon Sect would be left as the strongest of the four.¡±


    Lin Wang realized what was going on. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then this matter is of huge benefit to the Basking Moon Sect. No wonder they¡¯re being so nice. Junior Brother Mu, since you saw through it, why did you give him the True Essence Pills? They should be giving stuff to us.¡±


    Mu Yi shot Lin Wang a cold nce. ¡°Is your objective limited only to a few bottles of pills?¡±


    Lin Wang froze as Mu Yi continued, ¡°Though my Seven Absolutions Sect ranks as one of the six major sects, it has always been rankedst of the six. In every contest, the Seven Absolutions Sect has to sit at the very end, drawing theughter of others. In this Immortal Fortune Conference, while everyone knows that the six sects are taking part, the vast majority of people think that the winner will be the Beast Refining Gate. Are you guys willing to just sit back as Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate are eliminated?¡±


    A Seven Absolutions Sect student grunted, ¡°Isn¡¯t this because the other sects fear the power of our formations? Whenever they draft the rules, they always ban formations.¡±


    While the Seven Absolutions Sect was weak inbat power, it was very formidable when it came to the operation of formations. If they were given the chance toy these formations down, they could easily ovee the strong as the weak. Among the cultivators of the Rosecloud Domain, those of the Seven Absolutions Sect were the ones who most frequently defeated foes above their level.


    s, they were only allowed to use these methods in normal times. In these joint tournaments, the rules drafted by the six major sects would always ban the formations they relied on, preventing them from using their full power. The people of the Seven Absolutions Sect had always been frustrated by this, but there was nothing they could do.


    But the Seven Absolutions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion weren¡¯t just going to take things lying down. Through their vigorous struggles, they had managed to turn the ban on formations into a ban on formation materials. It was now eptable for the Seven Absolutions Sect toy down formations that did not require materials. In everyone¡¯s view, the power of material-less formations was limited, so there was no need for a harsher ban. And every generation of disciples in the Seven Absolutions Sect, when researching formations, would also research ways ofying down formations whilecking materials.


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    Mu Yi casually said, ¡°This is also why I gave him the True Essence Pills. Don¡¯t you think this is an opportunity?¡±


    ¡°What sort of opportunity?¡± everyone asked in unison.


    ¡°The Fire Beacon Smoke Net Formation!¡±


    All of them were startled by these words.


    The Fire Beacon Smoke Net Formation was a special formation the Seven Absolutions Sect had developed in recent years precisely to work around the rules set down by the six major sects. Its most defining attribute was that it required very few materials and mostly needed spirit nts. In a blessednd like this, they could simply gather the materials.


    But the research on this formation wasn¡¯t done, and while most of the materials could be reced with spirit nts, there were still a few key areas that required specific formation materials. This prevented it from bing the Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s ultimate weapon.


    Xiao Wen said, ¡°Junior Brother Mu, while the Fire Beacon Smoke Net Formation doesn¡¯t require many materials, it still requires them. And we brought none of these materials, so how will wey it down?¡±


    Mu Yi replied, ¡°If we don¡¯t have the materials, we¡¯ll make them ourselves! Rules are dead while people are alive. Of the several key materials required by the Fire Beacon Smoke Net Formation, there are two that aren¡¯t banned, and I brought them in with me. There is one other that can be obtained from here through a secret processing method. The rest are the Windworm Silk, Golden Roar Blood, and Darkcloud Sand, which will be more difficult to acquire. But the Windworm Silk is primarily for control, so while the formation might not run smoothly without it, or might even injure us, there happens to be the Stop Gate Banner within this blessednd. This is an even better formation-controlling treasure than Windworm Silk.¡±


    <em>The Stop Gate Banner?</em> Everyone¡¯s eyes glowed.


    When the Wandering Pce had been deciding on the ten treasures, it had done everything possible to avoid useful treasures so as to avoid the treasure guardian relying on the treasure itself to protect it. This was precisely why most of the ten treasures had little use inbat.


    Even so, there were always loopholes that people could exploit.


    Mu Yi had had his attention on the Stop Gate Banner since a long time ago, a grandiose n forming in his mind around it.


    ¡°What of the Golden Roar Blood and Darkcloud Sand?¡± Lin Wang asked.


    Mu Yi casually replied, ¡°These two are both rather troublesome, but it¡¯s not impossible¡­ Actually, these two things are right in front of us. You guys just haven¡¯t noticed yet.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s hearts trembled.


    Xiao Wen stared in disbelief at Mu Yi. ¡°Does Junior Brother mean¡­¡±


    Mu Yi silently nodded.


    Lin Wang shouted, ¡°But the ancestral teachings¡­¡±


    Mu Yi waved his hand. ¡°I¡¯ll bear any consequences. The people of my Seven Absolutions Sect are individually weak, so if we want to aplish extraordinary things, we must take an extraordinary course¡­ Miracles have always been established on the breaking of the rules.¡±


    Everyone breathed in and nodded. ¡°We will do as Junior Brothermands!¡±


    Deep in the dense forest, Yun Wuji suddenly became nervous.


    The forest was frighteningly quiet. After he had taken the hostages, no one hade after the treasure, but no reinforcements hade, either.


    There was also no sign of the two junior brothers he had sent off after that intruder.


    He vaguely sensed that he might have rushed things a little too much. He felt like a storm wasing, and he was very tense.


    Like a voracious tiger sensing danger lurking to the side, Yun Wuji suddenly called out with a harsh and murderous light in his eyes, ¡°Since you¡¯re here, why are you still hiding?¡±


    There was a sigh.


    Nine figures appeared around them, surrounding Yun Wuji¡¯s group of five.


    ¡°The Seven Absolutions Sect¡­¡± When he saw who it was, Yun Wuji¡¯s pupils constricted, and his heart fell to rock bottom.


    Truly, whatever one was afraid of was often what showed up.


    Yun Wuji held hostages from three sects, so the people he least wanted to run into were those from the Seven Absolutions Sect, but it was these people who had appeared in front of Yun Wuji.


    Yun Wuji knew that this wouldn¡¯t end nicely. Yun Wuji gestured at the students around him, telling them to get ready to break out. At this moment, Mu Yi ced his bamboo flute on his mouth and blew a special tune.


    Yun Wuji¡¯s mind shook, and the scene in front of him changed. He discovered that he was no longer in a forest, but on a vast in. His four juniors and the nine from the Seven Absolutions Sect seemed to have been simrly transported.


    ¡°The Animitta Music Illusion?¡± Yun Wuji said in shock. ¡°Be careful! This isn¡¯t a real battlefield, but an illusion created by Mu Yi¡¯s Animitta Music to attack the mind sea! Don¡¯t be fooled.¡±


    Mu Yi said, ¡°Everyone, there¡¯s no need to be nervous. I didn¡¯t pull you into the illusion to fight. I am not skilled in illusions, and this illusion wouldn¡¯t be able tost long if you tried to break out. I¡¯ve used this spell to make it easier to negotiate.¡±


    <em>¡®Easier to negotiate¡¯?</em>


    Yun Wuji froze, instantly realizing that Mu Yi must have been referring to the students he had taken hostage. Mu Yi should have used the Animitta illusion to iste them, but rather than just imprisoning the five of them, he had taken in everyone. Those hostages had simply been ced in another illusion.


    But what did Mu Yi have to negotiate that required this?


    Yun Wuji coldly snorted, ¡°My Godhead Pce doesn¡¯t have anything to negotiate about with you lot!¡±


    Mu Yi chuckled. ¡°You had best understand the situation before saying anything more. Senior Brother Lin!¡±


    Lin Wang stepped forward and told Yun Wuji everything that Tang Jie had told them.


    When Yun Wuji heard that Tang Jie had already gotten together the other four sects to deal with him, Yun Wuji turned ghastly pale.


    Only now did Mu Yi say, ¡°Senior Brother Yun¡¯s n to use hostages as a means to get a spot in the top ten wasn¡¯t wrong, but s, Tang Jie used this same fact to join everyone together against you. It is now four versus two, and the Basking Moon Sect and the other two sects are on the perimeter hunting down your reinforcements. The defeat of Godhead and Beast Refining in this contest is already decided.¡±


    Yun Wuji was ashen-faced. ¡°So that¡¯s what was going on! Good job, Tang Jie, you ruthless scoundrel! But why are you telling me this?¡±


    Mu Yi indifferently said. ¡°No reason except that if you lose, the Basking Moon Sect will dominate. I don¡¯t like this oue, so I would like to change it.¡±


    Yun Wuji was confused. ¡°What are you trying to say?¡±


    Mu Yi replied, ¡°The Seven Absolutions Sect has a formation called the Fire Beacon Smoke Net Formation, a formation that only requires a limited number of materials toy down. Even so, we stillck a few required materials for this formation. While I¡¯ve thought of ways to make up for these gaps, we currentlyck two main materials. If we can get them, I am confident that I cany down this formation, and then not even the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s heaven-soaring strength will be a match for us.¡±


    ¡°What materials?¡± Yun Wuji asked.


    Mu Yi answered, ¡°Golden Roar Blood and Darkcloud Sand.¡±


    Yun Wuji had no reaction at first, and then he blurted out, ¡°¡®Darkcloud Sand¡¯?¡±


    The three Beast Refining Gate students shouted in unison, ¡°¡®Golden Roar Blood¡¯?¡±


    Their faces were rich with emotion at this moment.


    ¡°Correct!¡± Mu Yi firmly nodded. ¡°If my memory is correct, Senior Brother Yun¡¯s ckbone Fan is made from Darkcloud Sand. And Senior Brother Jin¡¯s refined beast is a Jade Golden Roar.¡±


    Yun Wuji said in shock, ¡°You want my ckbone Fan and Junior Brother Jin¡¯s Jade Golden Roar?¡±


    Mu Yi replied, ¡°That¡¯s not all. The Darkcloud Sand has been made into a ckbone Fan, changing its nature. I need Senior Brother Yun to use your Brahma Fire in concert with my Fireparting Meridian to process and restore the Darkcloud Sand. In addition, the Stop Gate Banner is also required for this formation. I know that Godhead Pce has a secret art that can leave a mental tracker on treasure you¡¯ve seen before. This is why your Godhead Pce was the first to find the Taiyi Profound rity Cup. I need Senior Brother Yun to help me find the Stop Gate Banner to ensure that it does not fall into the hands of another. As for Senior Brother Jin¡¯s Jade Golden Roar, it has lived for too little time and willck in efficacy. But I know that you have a secret method that can coalesce the essence of a refined beast, but it requires sacrificing other refined beasts.¡±


    Yun Wuji and the others breathed in after hearing all this. The other Godhead Pce student shouted, ¡°Mu Yi, do you know what you¡¯re saying? You¡¯re asking us to help you! Godhead Pce and the Seven Absolutions Sect get along like water and fire. There¡¯s no possibility of us working together!¡±


    Mu Yi indifferently replied, ¡°You don¡¯t have any other choice. Cooperate with me or die. While you will sustain a loss from cooperating, you will at least still be alive, and you can even borrow our hand to get revenge on Tang Jie and teach a lesson to the Basking Moon Sect. Yun Wuji, while the Seven Absolutions Sect and Godhead Pce are mortal foes, Tang Jie can¡¯t be said to be on good terms with Godhead Pce, yes? Three years ago, Godhead Pce¡¯s Hawk Hall suffered a heavy blow in Sageheart, and wasn¡¯t that because of Tang Jie? Even Gu Changqing died at his hands. As for Senior Brother Jin¡­¡±


    He looked at the three from the Beast Refining Gate. ¡°You are not mortal foes with my Seven Absolutions Sect, but you are mortal foes with the Basking Moon Sect. Senior Brother Jin, would you rather see the Basking Moon Sect win or my Seven Absolutions Sect win?¡±


    The three from the Beast Refining Gate said nothing.


    Mu Yi added, ¡°Don¡¯t forget that Tang Jie was the architect behind your current situation. You only have two options: die or cooperate!¡±


    Mu Yi¡¯s words were like a needle stabbed straight into their hearts.


    Mu Yi said, ¡°Right, I¡¯ve heard that Senior Brother Cen has a ck Cloud Banner, so it¡¯s best if we can use it as well. I need the Stop Gate Banner to take the ce of Windworm Silk in controlling the formation, but the Stop Gate Banner has the problem of treasure light. This will make it easily discovered, which will make people raise their guard. I want to use the ck Cloud Banner to cover the Stop Gate Banner.¡±


    That ¡°Cen¡± from the Beast Refining Gate grunted, ¡°I do have the ck Cloud Banner. I initially brought it to hide the treasure light, but when we tried it, we found that it didn¡¯t work. Otherwise, we would have already used it and would have never ended up in this state.¡±


    Mu Yi replied, ¡°I have a secret art that can stimte the ck Cloud Banner and allow it to temporarily cover the treasure light.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think that I don¡¯t know it. But that onlysts for four hours, and the ck Cloud Banner will be destroyed.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not enough to guard the treasure, but it¡¯s enough to hide the formation.¡±


    Mu Yi had thought of everything, leaving Yun Wuji¡¯s group no room to pick on this crossroad of cooperation and death.


    Finally, Yun Wuji spat out, ¡°How can I trust that you won¡¯t kill us after using us?¡±


    There were simply too many grudges between Godhead Pce and the Seven Absolutions Sect. If the Seven Absolutions Sect were to learn that Mu Yi had worked with Godhead Pce in order to win, it might not be happy about it. Rather, the Seven Absolutions Sect would probably be more satisfied if Mu Yi used Yun Wuji and then killed him.


    And not even a Heart Demon Oath could solve this. A small Heart Demon was nothingpared to a sect grudge. Perhaps it was even the opposite, and keeping the oath would produce a Heart Demon while breaking the oath would not.


    This was a difficult problem that Mu Yi had to deal with. If he didn¡¯t resolve the matter of trust, Yun Wuji¡¯s group would never help him.


    Mu Yi gave the problem some thought and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t we do this? The three senior brothers from the Beast Refining Gate will first help me process the Golden Roar Blood, after which you will leave with the ck Cloud Banner. I will then have Senior Brother Yun help me find the location of the treasure and process the ckbone Fan. Once this matter is done, Senior Brother Yun can leave. If I go back on my promise and kill him, Senior Brother Yun can send out a warning, and then the three senior brothers from the Beast Refining Gate will naturally no longer have to deal with me. If Senior Brother Yun leaves safely, then the three senior brothers from the Beast Refining Gate can trade with me. There is no grudge between my Seven Absolutions Sect and the Beast Refining Gate, so there is no need for us to go back on our word. Of course, in case these three senior brothers change their mind, we must first be allowed to nt tracking marks on you. In addition, you must hand over your return tokens.¡±


    The five of them nced at each other.


    In a situation of mutual distrust, Mu Yi¡¯s suggestion seemed like the only way.


    The three Beast Refining Gate students winced as they reluctantly took out their refined beasts and began to process the Golden Roar Blood.


    Once they finished and were about to leave, Yun Wuji thrust two suits of Godhead Armor into their hands. ¡°While there is no hatred between the Seven Absolutions Sect and the Beast Refining Gate, in this world, you don¡¯t have to hate someone to kill them. The two junior brothers from my sect that I sent out have vanished without a trace, so they have presumably died at the hands of the other sects. When ites to the Seven Absolutions Sect, you can¡¯t be careless either. While you guys are still around, Mu Yi probably won¡¯t kill me. Keep these two suits of Godhead Armor and use them to defend yourselves. Your stupid senior is ipetent and can¡¯t bring our two sects to victory. This is all I can do for you.¡±


    ¡°Senior Brother Yun!¡± The three of them were deeply moved by his words.


    Once the three of them had left, Yun Wuji started to help to find the treasure and process the ckbone Fan.


    Mu Yi quietly waited on the side.


    Until he suddenly received a signal: his tracking marker had disappeared. Tang Jie was right to be suspicious about how quiet the battle between Godhead Pce and the Seven Absolutions Sect was! A shame he didn¡¯t act on his suspicions¡­

 Chapter 332: Escape

    Chapter 332: Escape


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    With a massive boom, the mountain that Mu Yi¡¯s group was on exploded in a cloud of smoke.


    A ck pir of smoke shot straight into the heavens.


    This ck pir of smoke painted the sky like ink on paper, instantly turning it pitch-ck, converting day to night.


    Moreover, this invasive ck smoke divided into countless thinner pirs of smoke that spread through the air, instantly descending across arge region.


    It appeared like an enormous bird cage had appeared. The thick ck piring from the center of the mountain served as the central pir, providing an endless stream of energy to the surrounding pirs. As for Peng Yaolong and the others, they were the birds in the cage.


    The Fire Beacon Smoke Net Formation!


    ¡°Hurry!¡± Tang Jie was so rmed by this sight that his blood ran cold.


    No one understood the significance of this bird cage more than him.


    A Smoke Net Formation!


    Though he didn¡¯t understand what kind of Smoke Net Formation this was, the most defining trait of these formations was their ability to attack and imprison, and they were excellent for group battles. Smoke Net Formations also had the weakness in that the central smoke pir could be attacked and broken. but the Seven Absolutions Sect had meticulously chosen the mountain to be the center of the formation, so more than half of the pir was actually in the mountain. In this way, they protected the crucial part while using the sword formation to battle against the Basking Moon Sect.


    That battle had consumed much of the Basking Moon students¡¯ magic power, and the terrain of the mountain served as its own form of defense. With this doubleyer of protection, destroying the central pir was basically impossible.


    Thus, Tang Jie instantly understood that the Basking Moon Sect no longer had any hope of victory while inside the formation, so he continued to flee while dragging along Wei and Qi.


    More smoke pirs wereing down, engulfing the small mountain and the surrounding area in a flood of ckness. Peng Yaolong and the others also realized that something was wrong and began to fly away. The best option was to flee the Smoke Net Formation before it had finished manifesting.


    But the Seven Absolutions Sect wasn¡¯t going to let them go so easily after going through all the trouble ofying down this formation.


    As Peng Yaolong andpany flew away, Mu Yi suddenly squatted down and struck the ground with his right palm. A smoke pir instantly changed direction and flew toward a student.


    These pirs were clearly made of smoke, but as it mmed into the student, it fractured bones as if it was an iron whip, causing the student to vomit blood as he was thrown back.


    Tang Jie saw the situation and shouted, ¡°That¡¯s the Heaven-Weave Net! Don¡¯t let it touch you, or else it will tie you up.¡±


    Smoke Net Formations were known for their formidable binding power, using their smoke pirs to create a heaven-earth.


    In the distance, more smoke pirs were still descending, turning into the arced iron pirs of a cage. Peng Yaolong and the others were still flying toward an opening in the cage, but Tang Jie knew that while this opening seemedrge, an invisible barrier had already sealed off everything.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect had gone to such lengths for this n, so they naturally couldn¡¯t let the Basking Moon students escape that easily. Even though Tang Jie had gotten an early start, it was still impossible for him to leave the effective range of the formation.


    Seeing that there was no hope of escape, a student pulled out a talisman, to which Tang Jie cried out, ¡°Don¡¯t!¡±


    The student turned into a yellow light and shot into the earth.


    But the moment he entered the ground, a pir of energy shot out of the earth, pushing him right back out and sending him howling into the air.


    Tang Jie covered his eyes.


    Smoke Net Formations were known as heaven-earths, for above was the Heaven-Weave Net and below was the Silk-Sickle Web. The Heaven-Weave Net imprisoned foes while the Silk-Sickle Web hurt them, making it the more dangerous of the two. Anyone who dared to enter the earth would be lucky to get away alive.


    <em>Wait¡ª¡±alive¡±?</em>


    Tang Jie suddenly stopped and looked around.


    ¡°Tang Jie, what are you doing? Hurry and run!¡± Wei Tianchong frantically shouted.


    ¡°Something¡¯s wrong!¡± Tang Jie looked at the sky and muttered. ¡°The heavenly captures while the earth web kills, so why is there no capturing or killing going on¡­? Yes, skimping on materials ultimately weakens the power of the formation.¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Qi Shaoming shouted.


    Tang Jie ignored him, staring at the ground where the student had tried to go through, a film of light covering his eyes. He murmured several characters, but he was speaking so softly that no one could tell what he was saying.


    Only that green-robed elder of the Seven Absolutions Sect in the spectator stands grunted, ¡°I can¡¯t believe it! He saw through the formation¡¯s w and is analyzing it! Unfortunately, with so little time¡­¡±


    Before he could finish, Tang Jie suddenly shouted, ¡°Found it!¡±


    These words were spoken so forcefully and clearly that the green-robed elder was easily able to tell what he was saying. ¡°How?¡±


    At the same time, Peng Yaolong¡¯s group had reached the edge of the cage and were battering away at the barrier, a powerful repulsive force knocking them back.


    The Basking Moon students were already birds in the cage of the Fire Beacon Smoke Net Formation. There was a series of explosions as countless small energy pirs shot out of the ground like gushing fountains.


    The encirclement wasplete, and the offensive had begun!


    As everyone despaired, Tang Jie charged at a certain spot and shouted, ¡°Great Brother, help me out!¡±


    Peng Yaolong shouted, ¡°What do you need me to do?¡±


    ¡°Use the Heavenly King Mara Incantation! Watch my hands and strike where I strike!¡±


    ¡°Alright!¡± Peng Yaolong once more used the Heavenly King Mara Incantation.


    Tang Jie pointed at a distant spot and fired off an Energy Needle. ¡°Here!¡±


    <em>Boom!</em>


    A massive palm mmed into the ce the Energy Needle hadnded, digging out arge crater.


    ¡°And here!¡± Tang Jie fired off another needle, and another giant hand came down.


    Tang Jie continued to fire off needles, and Peng Yaolong followed with palm after palm. The other students also attacked, as they had no choice right now except to trust Tang Jie.


    As these attacks thundered down, one crater after another appeared, and as the number of craters increased, the pirs of energy shooting out of the ground began to disappear. Gradually, a safe zone was being created in the formation.


    On the mountain, Xiao Wen and Lin Wang grimaced, Xiao Wen saying, ¡°How is this possible? How could Tang Jie so quickly identify the locations of the formation nodes?¡±


    The Fire Beacon Smoke Net Formation had many formation nodes, which were key to maintaining the formation. A formation node that was damaged would affect the formation in some way.


    But formation nodes weren¡¯t fatal weaknesses. Putting aside how difficult they were to find, even if they were damaged, if only some of them were destroyed, it would be of no harm to the general situation. On the contrary, finding them took far too many calctions, so people normally didn¡¯t go about undoing formations this way.


    Tang Jie dared to do this because he had noticed an innate w of this formation and because his mind moved quickly. Thus, he was using his amazing calction abilities to destroy the formation nodes and get everyone a ce to take shelter.


    Mu Yi was moreposed. ¡°If the is broken, it should be mended. No matter how strong a fish is, it can¡¯tpete against the!¡±


    He pressed his right hand against the ground, and a wind stirred within the formation. A momentter, the craters began to miraculously heal.


    At the same time, Mu Yi turned his bamboo flute with his left hand and blew hard. Tang Jie instantly felt like a needle had been stabbed into his brain, and cried out, which disrupted his calctions at a crucial moment.


    Tang Jie immediately lost the position of the formation node, and he was unable to fire his Energy Needle.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Ye Tianshang shouted.


    Tang Jie held his head and shouted, ¡°Mu Yi is repairing the damage! He can control the changes with the Stop Gate Banner and can use the Animitta Music to interrupt us! With all these advantages he has, I can¡¯t beat him!¡±


    ¡°Then what do we do?¡± Peng Yaolong frantically said.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t reply, turning around and heading toward the smoke pirs on the horizon.


    While these smoke pirs had already formed, there was still more smokeing from the center, making the pirs thicker and thicker.


    Tang Jie grimly said, ¡°Shatter the heavens to bind the dragon¡­ Mu Yi, I really underestimated you! You know how to leave an opening while sieging a city!¡±


    There were many escape spell arts in the world, but they could generally be categorized into flight, escaping into the earth, and teleportation. Thus, a binding formation that could seal the heavens and earth was still not foolproof. Only by also locking down space and cutting off teleportation could one prevent any mishaps.


    The Fire Beacon Smoke Net Formation also had this function. That dark curtain nketing the sky could render all teleportation ineffective. But Tang Jie saw that Mu Yi was sacrificing this spatial istion function to bolster the seal on the sky and the earth.


    This meant that one could escape if one had a teleportation spell art that was powerful enough.


    Did the Basking Moon students have such a method?


    They did!


    The teleportation token!


    Mu Yi¡¯s objective was now in to see. He was actually giving the Basking Moon students a choice: wait here until they died, or concede and escape.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect had no grudge against the Basking Moon Sect, and while Mu Yi had used vengeance to get Yun Wuji to work with him, he himself did not actually want to anger the Basking Moon Sect. He gave the Basking Moon Sect a chance to survive while at the same time weakening its counterattack. After all, the Fire Beacon Smoke Net Formation had been formed with very few materials, so it wasn¡¯t very solid. His worst fear was a desperate counterattack.


    Tang Jie despaired when he realized this. But he was an extremely tenacious person, and the more dire the situation, the more decisive he became.


    Resolve shing in his eyes, Tang Jie raised his head and said, ¡°Senior Brother Peng, Senior Brother Ye, everyone, listen up.¡±


    All the students looked at him.


    Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Mu Yi hasid down a Smoke Net Formation, but he¡¯s allowed teleportation. Right now, you just need to activate your teleportation token to leave the blessednd. But this would mean that we¡¯ve lost! We will lose the right to vie for the treasures, and we¡¯ll even lose the two treasures we have on hand because we haven¡¯t held them long enough, meaning that they¡¯ll ultimately belong to the final victor. In other words¡­ we won¡¯t get anything.¡±


    He looked at everyone and shouted, ¡°Is that the ending you want?¡±


    Peng Yaolongughed. ¡°Of course not! Tang Jie, hurry up and tell us your n already.¡±


    Tang Jie went on, ¡°I can¡¯t break his Smoke Net Formation from within it, but I do have a chance outside of it. I have a means of getting myself out of the formation, but I will need your help. Not only that, I will need you to help me hold off the Seven Absolutions Sect within the formation. In addition, no matter how difficult things get, you have to persevere and not teleport!¡±


    Everyone fell silent.


    Peng Yaolong said in a low voice, ¡°And if you can¡¯t do it?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Then you all might die in the formation.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Peng Yaolong nodded. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, what are we still hesitating for? Hurry and get out of the formation, tear it down, and rescue us!¡±


    ¡°Right!¡± everyone shouted in unison. ¡°Hurry and get out to break the formation!¡±


    ¡°Break the formation!¡±


    ¡°Break the formation!¡±


    ¡°Break the formation!¡±


    The students roared in unison three times.


    The energy pirs continued to rise while the dark curtain continued to spread.


    The Basking Moon students stood in the wind, countless plumes of smoke rising up behind them.


    At this moment, they seemed like a squad of soldiers prepared to die.


    Tang Jie breathed in deeply and nodded. ¡°Alright!¡±


    He first activated the Formless Golden Body and Aquagel Shroud, and then he pointed on the ground. ¡°Concentrate all your power right here!¡±


    Twelve people fired at the ground in unison.


    As the crater appeared, Tang Jie took out an item and thrust it at the ground.


    A Minor Five Elements Escape Talisman!


    It was precisely the art talisman he had bought from Madam Shui.


    He had bought four art talismans from Spirit tform Pavilion at the time: the Heavenly Pearl sh Talisman, the Fiend-Sealing Mountain Talisman, the Yellow Springs Talisman, and the Minor Five Elements Escape Talisman.


    He had already used the other three, with the battle against the Illusion Fox at Old Crow Ridge havingpletely used up the Heavenly Pearl sh and Fiend-Sealing Mountain Talismans. The Minor Five Elements Escape Talisman was a lifesaving talisman, and since Tang Jie had never needed to run, he had kept it until now. But today, it was finally seeing some use.


    A powerful light wrapped around Tang Jie and carried him into the ground.


    A pir of light sted out of the ground, savagely striking him. But before any blood could appear on Tang Jie¡¯s body, the talisman whisked him away. Peng Yaolong and the others saw energy pirs crazily shooting out of the ground, starting near them and extending all the way out of the formation, disappearing into the forest.


    ¡°This¡­ this is¡­¡± The students were all gobsmacked.


    Tang Jie¡¯s method of escape was extremely simple. By weakening the formation by attacking the formation node and exploiting its innate w, he would force his way out with the escape talisman. The Smoke Net Formation¡¯s primary means of sealing the earth was the Silk-Sickle Web, which favored lethality over sealing power. But as its lethality was too great, very few people had the guts to go against the Silk-Sickle Web.


    But Tang Jie had the guts. By exploiting the w and adding on some destructive power, Tang Jie had torn a gap open in the formation, after which he relied on his own body to push through.


    It was a bold wager. If he got out, the sky would be the limit, but if he failed, at least he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about digging a hole for his grave.


    For this reason, this method not only required sharp eyes and impressive calction abilities, but a fearless personality and formidable self-confidence. The formation node was only at its weakest when it was initially broken, and at this life-or-death moment, every second of hesitation drew the escapee closer to death.


    As Tang Jie was borne away by the escape talisman, even Mu Yi couldn¡¯t help but mutter, ¡°Tang Jie truly possesses both guts and wisdom!¡±


    ¡°But Junior Brother Mu, Tang Jie will be trouble now that he¡¯s escaped. What do we do now?¡± Xiao Wen asked.


    Mu Yi said nothing.


    He nkly looked at the ground, as if he was watching ants fight.


    After a while, he finally said, ¡°Tang Jie won¡¯t leave. He wille back to break the formation, and the best way of breaking the formation from outside is the Stop Gate Banner.¡±


    Lin Wang cautiously said, ¡°Tang Jie might not know where the Stop Gate Banner is¡­¡±


    Mu Yi firmly said, ¡°He definitely knows!¡±


    The Seven Absolutions Sect students nced at each other, and then Xiao Wen nodded. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then let me go and protect the Stop Gate Banner. I was nning on having a spar with him anyway.¡±


    Mu Yi said, ¡°Liu Jin, Sun Yi, you go with him.¡±


    Xiao Wen frowned. ¡°Junior Brother Mu, you don¡¯t believe in me?¡±


    Mu Yi looked at his palm and muttered, ¡°I just want to be extra sure.¡± Tang Jie just barely manages to escape, but everyone else in the Basking Moon Sect is trapped in the formation! Is this curtains for the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s chances in the Immortal Fortune Conference?

 Chapter 333: Counter Control

    Chapter 333: Counter Control


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    It was followed by a human figure, which crashed into a tree before dropping to the ground.


    It was Tang Jie.


    But Tang Jie was covered in so many wounds that he hardly seemed human.


    Most frightening of all was his back, which had had arge chunk of flesh shorn off, causing Tang Jie to bare his teeth in pain. But he still threw his head back andughed, ¡°A fish that breaks out of the doesn¡¯t care if it lost a few scales, only that it survived.¡±


    Upon seeing this, even Heng Wudi couldn¡¯t help butment, ¡°This kid¡¯s pretty tough.¡±


    Cultivators had always valued courage, and while Tang Jie might not have been admirable in other aspects, this boldness drew the admiration of the crowd.


    Jumping off the ground, Tang Jie waved a hand, and a small red flower growing beneath a tree in the distance flew into his hand. He plucked off the petals and then squeezed white liquid from its roots into his mouth. He then opened up his Mustard Seed Bag and took out some medicine to treat his wounds.


    The liquid squeezed out of the root of the Redcrown Flower could greatly increase the speed at which a cultivator could recover from wounds. But a single Redcrown Flower could be made into an entire bottle of medicine. Taking it directly like Tang Jie had done was a terrible waste. Thus, the academy had never taught such wasteful methods to the students, so it was surprising that he knew this. Of course, he was able to get He Chong to teach him ways of boosting his spiritual energy, so it was naturally easy to learn other things from him as well.


    After applying the medicine, Tang Jie flew into the air to see where he was. The Minor Five Elements Escape Talisman had taken him pretty far, far out of the range of the formation. If not for the blessednd¡¯s area restriction, he might have been taken straight out of Red Plum Ridge.


    He saw dark clouds gathered on the western end, pirs of smoke rising to the heavens. This was the location of the formation. Tang Jie knew that he didn¡¯t have time to waste, so he flew over.


    There were many ways to break a Smoke Net Formation, but for Tang Jie, there was only one: stealing the Stop Gate Banner.


    The Stop Gate Banner, as befit its name, naturally needed to be ced at the location of the Stop Gate.


    The Smoke Net Formation had been formed around a mountain, and it covered a huge area. Peng Yaolong and his group were located at the Injury Gate, but the Stop Gate was located at the rear of the mountain, so Tang Jie began to make his way there.


    When he arrived, he saw that thick ck smoke had engulfed the entire area, making it impossible to tell direction. While the Smoke Net Formation had some role in this, this was primarily the work of the ck Cloud Banner. The two of thembined had managed to blot out the treasure light of the Stop Gate Banner, preventing it from being discovered.


    But this was no trouble for Tang Jie. With a slight exertion of his eyes, he was able to pierce through the smoke and spot that rainbow light.


    Tang Jie stepped into the darkness.


    The smoke at the back of the mountain was even thicker than the smoke at the front. He couldn¡¯t even see the hands in front of his face, so the spectators outside certainly couldn¡¯t see anything. But Tang Jie walked aroundpletely unaffected, like he had natural night vision.


    He hadn¡¯t gotten far before there was a howl of wind.


    Tang Jie quickly stopped, and a de of wind brushed past his face.


    While this area wasn¡¯t where the formation¡¯s power was focused, it was still within the formation¡¯s defensive radius. As he got deeper, the formation¡¯s various defensive measures would start to activate.


    But for Tang Jie, who was adept in observation and the Dao of Formations, counterattacks of this level couldn¡¯t hurt him. As he ventured deeper, the formation howled with wind and burst with the light of various spell arts, but none of them was able to hurt him.


    The deeper he went, the more frequent the attacks became, and they slowly increased in power. Even Tang Jie had to slow down so as to avoid identally walking into some danger zone and dying.


    He felt like he had slowed down, but for Xiao Wen¡¯s group, Tang Jie was approaching at an incredibly high speed.


    It had to be understood that when Mu Yi determined that Tang Jie wanted to steal the Stop Gate Banner, he had strengthened the defenses at the rear of the mountain, even sacrificing some of the power of the inner formation for it. The formation¡¯s defensive system had already been quite formidable, and with these additional arrangements, it now crawled with danger. But all of this seemed useless before Tang Jie, not even making him slow down.


    The path Tang Jie had already taken would have taken a Seven Absolutions Sect disciple proficient in formations at least half a day to get through, but Tang Jie hade through like a gust of wind, so fast that it was like he had practiced it countless times before.


    ¡°How¡­ how is this possible?¡±


    Next to the Stop Gate Banner, Xiao Wen, Sun Yi, and Liu Jin stood in front of arge rock. This rock¡¯s glossy surface was unaffected by the ck smoke, and it disyed Tang Jie as he charged through. All three of them were gobsmacked, with Sun Yi even crying out in surprise.


    Xiao Wen was also aghast at Tang Jie¡¯s performance. ¡°If this keeps up, it won¡¯t even be fifteen minutes before he gets here.¡±


    Sun Yi and Liu Jin were rmed by the prospect. ¡°Senior Brother Xiao, what do we do?¡±


    Xiao Wen fell silent.


    Tang Jie was far, far faster than they had anticipated, leaving them with no time to activate many of their ns. The only ones who could make up for this gap were themselves.


    From Xiao Wen¡¯s perspective, he currently had two options.


    The first was that they would guard the Stop Gate Banner and let Tang Jiee over. The other was to go out and intercept Tang Jie.


    The advantage of the first choice was that there was no need to divide their men. When Tang Jie arrived, they could concentrate the power of three people against him. The danger was that the Stop Gate Banner would be vulnerable to Tang Jie¡¯s attacks.


    The Stop Gate Banner could not be moved while it was in use. If Tang Jie got here and insisted on pushing through the attacks of the three to pull out the Stop Gate Banner, the entire formation would be affected. With Tang Jie¡¯s strength and the defensive power of the Formless Golden Body, it would not necessarily be difficult for him to break through the trio. After all, Tang Jie was famous for his tough body, and it was through this ability that he had been able to take part in this tournament of Mortal Shedding students as a Spirit tform student.


    The second choice flipped the pros and cons around. By going out to intercept Tang Jie, they might end up being defeated one by one. This was because, once they entered the formation, they would also find it hard to orient themselves, and the power of the formation could easily separate them. Tang Jie would have a much easier time and could simply charge in the direction of the treasure light.


    Xiao Wen grew troubled by this dilemma.


    Sun Yi and Liu Jin watched as Xiao Wen mulled over what to do. Finally, Xiao Wen said, ¡°Standing guard is waiting for death, while going out to attack is seeking death. I would rather die in battle than let that kid in here. Besides, what does some kid who hasn¡¯t even entered Moral Shedding have that makes him act so arrogantly? Come on¡ªlet¡¯s go and greet him!¡±


    With their minds made up, the trio moved out.


    In the ck smoke, Tang Jie was still moving forward. Suddenly, he cocked his head to the side as if he was listening to something, upon which he smiled. ¡°They¡¯reing.¡±


    He strode to the side and began to head in another direction.


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    Sun Yi suddenly stopped and looked at the Starstone in his hand. ¡°Tang Jie changed directions! Damn it! This bastard is trying to get around us.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Xiao Wen and Liu Jin cried out in unison.


    They had gone out in order to stop Tang Jie, not expecting Tang Jie to exploit the terrain to y cat-and-mouse. The movement on the Starstone indicated that Tang Jie was moving around them, but his trajectory still put him on the Stop Gate Banner. It was clear that he had realized that they wereing and was avoiding them.


    Xiao Wen shouted, ¡°After him! We have to stop him.¡±


    The three of them changed directions, but they hadn¡¯t gotten far before Sun Yi shouted, ¡°He¡¯s changed directions again, and he¡¯s faster than us¡­ He¡¯s about to draw even with us.¡±


    With his ability to move quickly through the formation, Tang Jie was constantly changing his position. And since Xiao Wen¡¯s group wasing to head him off, their positions were quickly about to be even with each other. If this kept up, Tang Jie would end up closer to the Stop Gate Banner than them, and when that happened, Tang Jie could just ignore them and sprint forward, leaving them behind.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Xiao Wen grew nervous at these words, stomping his feet and saying, ¡°Sun Yi, use the Formation Break Mantra to open the way for us. Liu Jin and I will go and intercept him!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± the other two replied in unison.


    Sun Yi waved his hand, and an icy sword flew from his back and in Tang Jie¡¯s direction, radiating light.


    The light from this sword pierced through the darkness and stabbed a path through the ck smoke of the formation. And while clearing the way, it could also draw the attacks of the formation. Xiao Wen and Liu Jin used this opportunity to follow the sword, cutting down the distance between them and Tang Jie.


    The sword flew over Tang Jie¡¯s head, illuminating him for Xiao Wen and Liu Jin to see, and also his confident and assured face.


    He swung his saber, a me rising from the Heartbreak Saber to sh with the sword. There was a ng, and Tang Jie retreated using the impact, once more entering the darkness. But the light sword didn¡¯t back down, circling in the air and giving off light. Under Sun Yi¡¯smand, it constantly flew around, searching for Tang Jie. It wasn¡¯t long before he was revealed again.


    A momentter, Liu Jin raised his palm and thrust it at the air. Arge handprint solidified in the air and surged toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie punched back in response, and borrowed the force of the impact to shoot off to the side.


    ¡°Tang Jie, fight me!¡± Xiao Wen angrily bellowed.


    He was ranked second in the Seven Absolutions Sect and possessed outstanding strength, but few people paid him any attention. Among the six major sects, the individual strength of the Seven Absolutions Sect had always been looked down on. Despite his second rank and his having swept through his matches, he received no response, and even Mu Yi wasn¡¯t taken very seriously.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect had gone so far as to collude with its sworn enemy to gain victory not only to gain glory for the sect, but also to prove themselves. Tang Jie was right here, and Xiao Wen wanted to use him to prove his own strength!


    As Tang Jie backed away, Xiao Wen shouted, ¡°Liu Jin, protect me!¡±


    Xiao Wen started to mutter, his hands waving around and forming talisman signs in front of him. As his fingers danced through the air, motes of light were left behind, gradually forming a strange diagram simr to the Eight Trigrams, but upon closer look, there were a few areas that differed.


    This was the fifth secret legacy of the Seven Absolutions Sect, the Wuji Diagram.


    It was extremely powerful, but the casting time was rather long. Xiao Wen was relying on Liu Jin to protect him while he boldly cast his strongest secret art. As Xiao Wen was casting, there was a burst of starlight from the darkness, aiming straight at Xiao Wen.


    Liu Jin roared and punched, sting apart the starlight.


    As the starlight dispersed, the figure of Tang Jie flew out of the darkness. His face seemed rather sinister in the contrast of saber light and smoke, and his eyes were fixed on the casting Xiao Wen.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it!¡± Liu Jin bellowed, thrusting his palms forward. A wall of yellow earth appeared in front of Tang Jie and moved toward him, and behind Liu Jin, a rainbow light appeared that covered the entire region.


    So long as Liu Jin stopped Tang Jie, Xiao Wen would be done soon. This was all that Liu Jin was thinking about, so he had used his two strongest defensive methods.


    But Tang Jie simply smiled in response.


    He quickly came to a stop and then shot off to the side, once more disappearing into the darkness. But this time, he changed directions and began to work around to their rear.


    Liu Jin was startled, and then he realized what was going on, shouting, ¡°Oh no, Sun Yi!¡±


    Tang Jie was no match for the three of them, so he had to think of a way to divide them, but Xiao Wen¡¯s group was trying its best to avoid being separated.


    But s, despite their best efforts, Tang Jie had managed to seize a brief moment, using that gap created by Xiao Wen casting and Liu Jin protecting him to make a move at Sun Yi. Sun Yi had no treasure to protect him, was focused on casting, and was all alone, so if Tang Jie were allowed to get close, his defeat was inevitable.


    Realizing this, Liu Jin went out to intercept. But he quickly realized that if he left, what would Xiao Wen do if he were attacked?


    He hesitated, but he decided that Xiao Wen was strong enough that he would be fine even if Tang Jie managed to interrupt the casting. On the other hand, Sun Yi was the weakest of the trio andcked his weapon, so he was in the greatest danger. Thus, he charged out.


    But his hesitation had cost him, and besides that, when he wanted to leave, he was obstructed by the own wall he had cast. In the end, by the time he had gotten out, Tang Jie was already streaking away like a bolt of lightning.


    How could he be this fast? They were in a formation!


    Liu Jin was rmed at first, and then he realized what was happening: Tang Jie was heading down the path they had taken to get here. He immediately shouted, ¡°Oh no!¡±


    This was the worst part about having the sword open the path. When it had triggered all the traps, it had created a free passage that could be used by anyone, whether it was Xiao Wen¡¯s group or Tang Jie. Xiao Wen could use the path to pursue Tang Jie, but Tang Jie could also go back along the same path to attack Sun Yi. And another advantage to this approach was that it created distance between him and Xiao Wen.


    He couldn¡¯t move rapidly around in the formation to dodge the Wuji Diagram, but he could on this path!


    So he charged!


    Activating the Violet Lightning Lunge!


    elerating to maximum speed!


    This wasn¡¯t all. As he reached Sun Yi¡¯s side, rather than attacking Sun Yi, he turned around, aimed a palm behind him, and spat out, ¡°Life!¡±


    With this word, the winds in the formation stirred.


    As Liu Jin pursued Tang Jie, icy winds, clouds of fire, booms of thunder, and crackling lightning erupted around him.


    A lightning bolt came out of nowhere and struck him head-on. Though Liu Jin had a defensive barrier and wasn¡¯t instantly in, the electricity momentarily paralyzed him.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Liu Jin cursed.


    All of the traps in the opened path had suddenly been activated again. It went without saying that this was probably Tang Jie¡¯s handiwork.


    While the Fire Beacon Smoke Net Formation had the ability to repair and move traps¡ªor else a single flying sword wouldn¡¯t have been allowed to open the path¡ªgetting through the formation still wasn¡¯t that simple. What Tang Jie had done was stimte the formation¡¯s ability to move traps, sending other traps to this path to hinder Liu Jin.


    Tang Jie wasn¡¯t the controller of the formation, so he shouldn¡¯t have been able to do this. But while formations had countless variations, they all operated on the same principles. Changing out traps was considered a variation, and it was under the control of the Stop Gate, which was exactly where they were, giving Tang Jie a natural advantage in controlling it.


    Tang Jie had then used a small trick to stimte the formation. While the Four-Nine True Wordscked in power, they had arge number of variations, and while the Life word was not an offensive True Word, its vitality boost could strengthen a formation. Coupled with Tang Jie¡¯s palm strike, thebined effect had sessfully triggered the formation¡¯s own self-recovery response.


    In this way, the opened path was closed off again, and Liu Jin would find it excruciatingly difficult to catch Tang Jie.


    Worst of all was that Liu Jin found that he was cut off at both ends, prevented from both going to Sun Yi and heading back to Xiao Wen. The power of the formation had been used to iste him within the formation.


    Of course, he could use his own understanding of formations to make his way, but it wouldn¡¯t be very fast. Moreover, while he was much stronger than Sun Yi, he did not know the Formation Break Mantra.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Liu Jin knew he had taken the bait. Though they had tried their best to not get separated, Tang Jie had managed to use the formation itself to split them up.


    The Fire Beacon Smoke Net Formation was a secret creation of the Seven Absolutions Sect, so there was no way Tang Jie could have known about it. If he had known about it, he would have never let the Basking Moon students walk into this trap. But he currently seemed more familiar with this formation than the students of the Seven Absolutions Sect. In other words, he had grasped an understanding of the formation in the short time he was inside it.


    How was this possible? Liu Jin couldn¡¯t bring himself to believe this answer, for it was just too absurd.


    Meanwhile, after cutting off Liu Jin, Tang Jie turned to Sun Yi.


    Sun Yi had turned pale.


    He nkly stared at Tang Jie, one hand forming into the sword sign as he tried to summon back his sword.


    s, no matter how fast the sword was, it couldn¡¯t move faster than Tang Jie.


    He rushed up and savagely punched Sun Yi in the nose.


    The one punch sent Sun Yi flying, and the flying sword dropped to the ground, having lost its controller.


    Before he could hit the ground, Tang Jie ran up and grabbed him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t kill me!¡± Sun Yi shouted.


    Whether it was in sect rank or individual rank, Sun Yi was far weaker than Tang Jie, and Tang Jie was also famous for being a body refiner and invincible in closebat. Thus, the moment Tang Jie got close, Sun Yi gave up. He didn¡¯t know that this was the avatar Tang Jie, not the original Tang Jie, and that the reputation for being invincible in closebat was actually now false. If it really came down to a fight, even if he might not win, he could at least buy time¡ªperhaps enough time for Liu Jin and Xiao Wen to save him.


    s, having lost his confidence, he didn¡¯t even have the courage to exchange blows.


    ¡°Be good and you won¡¯t need to die,¡± Tang Jie replied, pressing on the jade token tied to Sun Yi¡¯s waist. He sent in spiritual energy, activating the token¡¯s teleportation function.


    Upon seeing that Tang Jie was forcing him to teleport out, Sun Yi sighed in relief.


    At least he didn¡¯t have to die.


    The jade token¡¯s teleportation needed time to activate. As white light gathered and formed a pir to the sky, Sun Yi¡¯s body began to rise. It almost looked like he was ascending.


    He suddenly realized something, and paled. ¡°My sword!¡±


    ¡°My sword now.¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°The loser has to leave behind something.¡±


    He reached out and grabbed that fallen sword. Tang Jie using the Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s formation against them! But he¡¯s in a race against time¡­

 Chapter 334: Weak Point

    Chapter 334: Weak Point


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    Down below, amidst smoke and lightning, Peng Yaolong¡¯s group was bitterly holding on.


    Through the power of the Fire Beacon Smoke Net Formation, the insides of the formation had been turned into a frightening death zone, ridden with poisonous gas, lightning, mes, and des of wind. Without Tang Jie giving orders, this area was beginning to flex its power. Each pir of energy that emerged from the ground morphed into various threats to wear away at the strength of the Basking Moon students.


    Of course, there was no consumption in the world that was one-way. While the formation wore out the Basking Moon students, it wore away at its own strength¡ªthe strength of the Seven Absolutions Sect students who were providing the spiritual energy that kept the formation in operation. Even so, the Seven Absolutions Sect was expending much less energy than the Basking Moon Sect.


    In this situation, the Basking Moon students were gradually giving ground.


    At this moment, a white light shot up from the back of the mountain.


    This white light was different from the treasure light. One could tell at a nce that it was the light of teleportation.


    Lin Wangmented, ¡°It¡¯s from the back of the mountain. Tang Jie must have been defeated and is running.¡±


    He didn¡¯t believe that Xiao Wen¡¯s trio couldn¡¯t deal with Tang Jie.


    Mu Yi indifferently said, ¡°It¡¯s not Tang Jie.¡±


    The Seven Absolutions Sect members all paled.


    ¡°Junior Brother Mu!¡± a student shouted.


    Mu Yi raised his head and watched as that light disappeared. ¡°I heard¡­ Senior Brother Sun shouting.¡±


    If Tang Jie had heard this, he would have been shocked.


    The two sides were separated by a great distance, and there was the din of thunder, wind, and rain going on. For Mu Yi to be able to hear Sun Yi shouting could mean only one thing: he hadprehended a Dao.


    The Dao of Sound, Wind Listening!


    One could filter all created things to hear the sounds one wanted to hear.


    The Dao of Sound, like Tang Jie¡¯s Dao of Insight, had many avenues in which it could develop, but there were even more variations that covered an even wider range: True Words, Roaring, Music, Wind Listening, and so on. Of these, Wind Listening had an effect rather simr to Insight.


    As with the Dao of Insight, choosing a direction to develop didn¡¯t mean that one was blocked from the other avenues, only that this particr direction would be better than the others.


    Mu Yi had chosen Music. Wind Listening had juste with it.


    Even so, he had still instantly heard Sun Yi¡¯s cry and thus determined that Sun Yi had lost.


    ¡°So useless!¡± Lin Wang angrily punched a tree. It was hard to say whether he was cursing Sun Yi or the trio as a whole.


    A Seven Absolutions Sect student said, ¡°Senior Brother Li, don¡¯t be worried. Senior Brothers Xiao and Liu will definitely defeat Tang Jie.¡±


    Another person was just about to reply when Mu Yi casually replied, ¡°I¡¯m afraid they won¡¯t.¡±


    <em>What?</em>


    Everyone looked at Mu Yi, who remained emotionless as he said, ¡°Even when their power was at its peak, they were still unable to dull the enemy¡¯s sharpness. The opportunity has been lost, and it will note again. Xiao and Liu stand a very high chance of losing this battle.¡±


    Lin Wang was perhaps the only one who was unconvinced. ¡°Senior Brother Xiao might just have been careless. They¡¯re still in the Fire Beacon Smoke Net Formation, so they have the terrain on their side, and the numbers! Their chances of victory are still extremely high, so I don¡¯t believe they can¡¯t beat Tang Jie in these circumstances.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that they are inside the Fire Beacon Smoke Net Formation,¡± Mu Yi replied. ¡°Do you still not see it? Tang Jie¡¯s understanding of this formation is rapidly increasing, and he will probably be able to use it better than Senior Brother Xiao.¡±


    Even though he hadn¡¯t seen how Tang Jie had defeated Sun Yi, Mu Yi could already guess at the methods that Tang Jie had employed: exploiting his surroundings by utilizing his stronger understanding of the Dao of Formations.


    Upon hearing this from Mu Yi, everyone immediately felt their hopes of Xiao Wen¡¯s group winning dying out. Lin Wang scowled and finally said, ¡°I¡¯ll go and help them.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Mu Yi firmly rejected the idea, speaking with extraordinary swiftness. ¡°You can¡¯t go. You are already one of the top ten. Although you don¡¯t need to fear the Taiyi Profound rity Cup being stolen, don¡¯t forget that our goal is the Wandering Pce. In order to win the heart of the young pce lord, you can¡¯t lose! Otherwise, your being one of the top ten will be pointless.¡±


    Lin Wang instantly fell silent.


    Mu Yi was right. At this moment, Lin Wang couldn¡¯t put on any sort of negative performance. They didn¡¯t know that people were watching them on the outside, but they did know that once they left this ce, at the very least, their battle record would end up on the desk of the Wandering Pce. The Wandering Pce might not know who was doing all the nning and strategizing, but it would at least be able to see who had won and who had lost.


    In this situation, Lin Wang couldn¡¯t suffer a loss!


    Of course, the same was true for Mu Yi, but he didn¡¯t have much of a hope that the young pce lord would choose him. It was just that his looks were too ordinary, like those of a simple and honest farmer boy. Almost anyone who saw him would unconsciously ignore him.


    If it weren¡¯t for the fact that so many cultivators were spectating this blessednd battle, he might have beenpletely forgotten in a few years.


    Among the Seven Absolutions Sect students, Mu Yi¡¯s looks were sorelyckingpared to those of Xiao Wen and Lin Wang. This was why the first treasure had been given to Lin Wang. Even though they weren¡¯t as bold as Tang Jie in wanting to eliminate the most handsome first, at least they knew to preserve their most handsome members.


    Sighing, Lin Wang said, ¡°Then let the other junior brothers go?¡±


    Mu Yi still shook his head. ¡°If three people can¡¯t deal with him, then sending more will be pointless. Moreover, we need people here too.¡±


    ¡°Then what do we do?¡± Everyone started to panic.


    If they really let Tang Jie get to the Stop Gate Banner, he would pull out the banner, break the formation, and save everyone, meaning that the Seven Absolutions Sect would have suffered aplete loss.


    Mu Yi¡¯s gaze remained calm. He gazed at that distant smoke-covered ground and said, ¡°It is still difficult to predict the oue in the back mountain, but I trust that even if Senior Brother Xiao loses, he won¡¯t lose too quickly. The key to winning this contest is not in the back mountain, but still here¡­ so if Tang Jie wants to attack, let him. So long as we beat the Basking Moon Sect before he gets the Stop Gate Banner, won¡¯t things turn out fine?¡±


    Mu Yi stood up and said, ¡°Notify Senior Brother Xiao that if he can¡¯t win, he should try and dy the enemy. Everyone else, stop reinforcing the formation and let it attack on its own. Take medicine to recover your spirit. We attack in fifteen minutes. We¡¯re looking for a swift battle. We¡¯re a strong force with the advantage of terrain against an exhausted force. If we don¡¯t win this battle, we don¡¯t need to show our faces in the future.¡±


    Tang Jie looked at the sword.


    <em>Not bad¡ªan art relic.</em>


    Before he had time to get a closer look, a fist wind howled toward him.


    Tang Jie tilted his head and dodged this savage st of wind. In the distance, Liu Jin strode over, punching again and again at Tang Jie. Although he couldn¡¯t rush to Tang Jie¡¯s side, Sun Yi¡¯s ¡°ascension¡± had let him know Tang Jie¡¯s position, so he began to unleash salvo after salvo, using the sts of wind from his fists to clear the smoke. This was an extremely exhausting method that didn¡¯t favor a protracted battle, but Liu Jin did this because he was sure that Xiao Wen would join him soon. Once he hadpleted the Wuji Diagram, Xiao Wen¡¯s strength would reach a terrifying level.


    It had to be said that Liu Jin still had a rather sharpbat sense, having realized all this so quickly.


    s, with Tang Jie, who was essentially cheating, his actions were pointless.


    This thick smoke was useless against Tang Jie¡¯s eyes, and his gaze prated through the darkness and saw basically everything Liu Jin was doing. Even if he just raised his hand, Tang Jie would know where he was going to attack and easily dodge. Liu Jin¡¯s attacks basically posed no threat to him at all. Meanwhile, with his seemingly random counterattacks, even if Liu Jin managed to dodge them, they would often trigger formation traps.


    Just as Mu Yi had said, by exploiting the environment of the smoke formation, Tang Jie had absurdly gotten the upper hand over the party that hadid the formation, using it against them.


    Several lightning bolts sted Liu Jin¡¯s body, causing him to howl in pain.


    In truth, he had his defensive barrier, so he didn¡¯t actually need to cry out that loudly. Rather, he was using his voice to call out to Xiao Wen toe and save him. But no matter how he shouted, Xiao Wen didn¡¯t appear.


    Liu Jin immediately realized that something was wrong. It had been quite some time since Xiao Wen had started casting the Wuji Diagram, enough time to cast two or three, so why hadn¡¯t he appeared?


    Tang Jie seemed to be able to tell what he was thinking, and said with a smile, ¡°Do you really think I was triggering the formation just now only to interfere with you?¡±


    Liu Jin was shocked as Tang Jie continued, ¡°Although I¡¯m not sure about the exactyout of this smoke formation, all formations of the world share the same underlying principles. So long as you understand one part, you can infer something about the rest. And given how the Stop Gate controls change, I can cut off Xiao Wen.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible for you to grasp the formation¡¯s operations so quickly!¡± Liu Jin bellowed.


    Tang Jie casually replied, ¡°The power of the Moon-Gazing Golden Toad and the setting of the Nine Tunes and Seven Cycles¡ªam I right?¡±


    Liu Jin paled. ¡°How can that be? How could you so quickly see through the formation? No, even if you manage to cut off Xiao Wen, he¡¯ll still make it here!¡±


    Tang Jie tilted his head. ¡°This isn¡¯t important. What¡¯s important is where you are right now.¡±


    Liu Jin froze and looked down.


    With the help of a weak ray of light, he was able to see that he was standing on a gray stone.


    Liu Jin naturally understood what this gray stone meant. It represented one of the most dangerous regions in the formation, one that had a high chance of taking someone¡¯s life. The Seven Absolutions Sect students had gathered these gray stones from around the blessednd so that they could be used as markers for these danger zones.


    He hadn¡¯t expected that Tang Jie had not only not stepped on it, but had lured him onto it. As he spoke, the stone let off a green light, and countless green leaves shot at Liu Jin. The power of the formation turned these leaves into the most terrifying of weapons, able to turn Liu Jin into Swiss cheese if they hit him.


    In this moment of peril, Liu Jin disyed his true abilities. The moment he saw the gray stone, he tore off his green robe, revealing a gray suit of armor beneath.


    Unlike Godhead Armor, this suit of armor was drab and inconspicuous, but the moment it appeared, it emitted a yellow light, andrge amounts of soil began to cover him. It became a sturdy armor that rippled with yellow energy. Liu Jin also cast a Sandstorm Barrier, covering himself with a total of three barriers.


    The green leaves struck the Sandstorm Barrier and instantly obliterated it, and then struck the yellow energy on the armor in a surge of spiritual energy. Finally, theynded on the soil encasing the armor, but their power was spent, and whilerge amounts of soil were sent flying into the air, Liu Jin was unharmed.


    As Liu Jin fended off this terrifying assault, Tang Jie charged at him.


    This was his first time charging at Liu Jin in this battle, his saber unleashing a zing light in the darkness.


    Liu Jin knew that this wasn¡¯t good. He had used all of his defenses on the green leaves, and there was no time for him to dodge. But as he was a participant in the Immortal Fortune Conference, there had to be something special about him. Seeing that he couldn¡¯t dodge, he suddenly roared, which shook Tang Jie¡¯s soul like a p of thunder and weakened the power of his saber energy. At the same time, Liu Jin punched at the saber light.


    There was no way the st of air created by his fist couldpare against the saber¡¯s energy, but this punch weakened the saber energy once more. Thus, when the saber energy finally struck the armor, his shell of rock and soil fell apart, but he himself was unharmed.


    Tang Jie¡¯s determined strike had been neutralized.


    Tang Jie rushed up and threw his left fist at Liu Jin¡¯s face. Liu Jin leaned his head back to dodge the punch, at the same time pping his Mustard Seed Bag. A fire talisman flew out and mmed into Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie¡¯s body shed with light, thebined power of the Aquagel Shroud and Formless Golden Body fending off the talisman while he used the chance to elbow Liu Jin.


    Liu Jin swayed only a little before regaining his bnce. Another thickyer of soil had appeared on his armor, absorbing the impact.


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    This fellow truly had a formidable defense.


    After taking this elbow, Liu Jin had managed topletely recover from this disadvantageous situation.


    The favorable scenario that Tang Jie hadbored so hard to create had been undone, and even Tang Jie had to admit that Liu Jin was no weakling. He was extremely strong in both casting speed and adaptability, and this wasn¡¯t even considering his outstanding defense. It was on par with the original Tang Jie using the Formless Golden Body and Peng Yaolong using the Apex Combat True Astral.


    It was only then that he remembered that this Liu Jin was ranked fourth in the Seven Absolutions Sect, beneath only Mu, Xiao, and Lin. His defense was on par with the upper two, and only his attacks and speed were inferior.


    In a sh, the two of them had exchanged several attacks.


    Tang Jie was anxious to end the battle early, so he focused on attacking, while Liu Jin focused solely on defense, the two of them managing to form a stalemate.


    Even so, Liu Jin was gradually beginning to grasp Tang Jie¡¯sbat cadence. He realized that Tang Jie¡¯s closebat prowess wasn¡¯t as fierce as the tales said it was, and so while he was dodging, he also made a few counterattacks. From this, one could see how strong his defenses were. He was constantly absorbing nearby soil to neutralize Tang Jie¡¯s attacks. Not only were these defenses strong, they were thick, and thickness was the bane of the golden grain.


    Tang Jie had tried to use the golden thread to break through the defenses, but he was only able to get partway through before the golden grain could go no further. It was unable to harm his opponent to the extent that Liu Jin wasn¡¯t even aware that such a formidable attack had been used on him. And the constantly replenishing defense also meant that Tang Jie had no chance to use a Mindseizer.


    Unable to use his two trump cards, Tang Jie was the one who was gradually losing ground.


    Although he was in the Mortal Shedding Realm, when it came to actual strength, he still couldn¡¯t match up to the original.


    The original Tang Jie might have beencking in cultivation, but he had the Jewel Body, which made his body equal to a Mortal Shedding one, and this became more evident in closebat. Thus, he could fight with those of the Mortal Shedding Realm so long as it wasn¡¯t in long-distancebat.


    Now, while the avatar Tang Jie had entered Mortal Shedding, his battle power was still lower. This was because he had yet to cultivate the spell arts of this realm and had yet to adapt to thebat style of Mortal Shedding. He was essentially still fighting as a Spirit tform student.


    Liu Jin was far more ustomed to this environment, and he was emerging from his initial ragged state and starting to objectively observe his surroundings.


    Liu Jin grunted, ¡°And here I thought you had some incredible ability! You¡¯re nothing at all! ¡®Immense strength¡¯? You¡¯re clearly only a little stronger than a normal person, and you dare to call yourself a body refiner? My sect¡¯s Great Brother Wang is far superior! If not for the age limit keeping him out, you would have been able to find out what a true body refiner is like!¡±


    He chopped with his hand, sending yellow energy slicing at Tang Jie.


    It struck Tang Jie¡¯s Formless Golden Body, and while it wasn¡¯t able to hurt him, it did push him back.


    This was the first time Tang Jie had fallen back in this battle.


    Liu Jin grew even more confident upon seeing this,ughing, ¡°As expected, you¡¯re no good! Watch my fist!¡±


    He made another strong punch with his left hand.


    It seemed like a simple punch, but as his left and right fists punched, the entire area seemed engulfed by the subsequent air st, and there was a feeling of immense pressure. This was the unique point of Liu Jin¡¯s Deepsoil Fist, growing more powerful as it umted soil. It was also why Liu Jin didn¡¯t use any weapons. His Deepsoil Fist¡¯s umtion attribute would be enough to inflict damage.


    He was skilled in defense and specialized in prolonged battles, so the method of attack he had chosen was also one that got stronger the longer the battle dragged on. Many people who had been stronger than him would start out overwhelming him but would gradually be toppled.


    As for Tang Jie, he was just another idiot he would topple.


    Liu Jin¡¯s fists were like hammers,ing down again and again, and even his air sts appeared like hammers. Liu Jin boomed, ¡°Tang Jie, my Deepsoil Fist only grows stronger with time! You can still hold on for now, so if you immediately activate your return token, as our two sects have no grudge against each other, I won¡¯t kill you. Otherwise, don¡¯t me me for being impolite!¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°That was exactly what I was going to say. Senior Brother Liu Jin, I¡¯ve already seen through your weakness. I¡¯ll give you a chance to immediately activate your jade token and leave. If not, then don¡¯t me me for being impolite.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Liu Jin was startled, and then he erupted inughter. ¡°Tang Jie, do you take me for a fool? Trying to trick me¡­ Out of my way!¡±


    His steely fist unleashed a shockwave.


    ¡°I admit that your yellow earth armor is a pretty good treasure thatbines with your Sandstorm Barrier to form threeyers of defense that are hard to break down. But rather than having no w, it¡¯s rather that the w is at a point on your chest. Am I right?¡±


    Liu Jin paled. ¡°How can that be¡­ how could you know¡­¡±


    He suddenly stopped andughed. ¡°Tang Jie, you really are cunning, and it seems like you still haven¡¯t given up yet. The human body has a head, a chest, and the hands and feet. Of these, the chest is the most important. You see that I¡¯ve focused all my defenses around my chest, so you said that on purpose to try and get me to reveal my weakness. You truly are a low-down scoundrel!¡±


    Liu Jin had a keen understanding of his situation. His defense system naturally had a weakness, but there was no such thing as a spell art without a weakness. But was it really that easy to discover? Even the same spell art would have a different position and different effect between users. And while Liu Jin¡¯s defense had a weakness, it was far from fatal. Even if he let Tang Jie beat at him, Tang Jie might not be able to break through.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but sigh. ¡°While I do lie a lot, when I tell the asional truth, no one believes me. If that¡¯s the case¡­¡±


    He turned his right hand into a de, blocking Liu Jin¡¯s shockwave, and then charged at Liu Jin.


    Liu Jin casually swung a fist. At worst, it would just be a contest of toughness.


    But rather than meeting his punch, Tang Jie rushed into his bosom, the index finger of his left hand radiating a glossy light of white jade.


    The Jade Shattering Finger!


    He thrust the finger at Liu Jin¡¯s chest, at the Stone Pass Point.


    This finger made Liu Jin¡¯s soul leave his body in fright.


    The Stone Pass Point truly was the most fragile part of his defensive system. Tang Jie had really seen through it!


    <em>But how did he do it?</em>


    Liu Jin didn¡¯t understand.


    He didn¡¯t know that Tang Jie hadprehended Wisdom, and his Insight had benefited the most from it. The Dao of Insight had several paths of development, and one of these was the ability to see weaknesses. This was exactly the path Tang Jie had chosen to develop.


    This was the first time Tang Jie had used Insight to find his opponent¡¯s weakness, and as it was his first time, he wasn¡¯t too proficient with it. But Liu Jin had given him the time and opportunity.


    As the battle had been dragged into Liu Jin¡¯s tempo, it was actually giving Tang Jie a chance to carefully observe, analyze, and ultimately find Liu Jin¡¯s weakness.


    While Liu Jin¡¯s steely fist did m into Tang Jie¡¯s chest, causing him to throw up blood, Tang Jie¡¯s Jade Shattering Finger plunged into the soil armor atop the Stone Pass Point.


    The sharp finger sted through the rock, prated through the armor, and punched a hole into Liu Jin¡¯s body.


    Gushing blood, Liu Jin went flying. Tang Jie manages to find Liu Jin¡¯s weakness, meaning there¡¯s only one more opponent left to deal with!

 Chapter 335: The Heavenly Animitta Music

    Chapter 335: The Heavenly Animitta Music


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    Peng Yaolong chopped with his palm again and again, and even though he was at the Mortal Shedding Realm and possessed a formidable body, he was panting for breath from exhaustion. But he did not stop.


    Various traps were constantly rotating through the formation, unleashing their might. An energy pir shot out of the earth and turned into a sharp de of wind that whistled toward the group. Lightning would asionallye out of nowhere and crack down. Worst of all were the constant waves of fire that came in from all sides. The callous mes roasted the Basking Moon students while poisonous fumes made it more and more difficult for them to breathe.


    The Basking Moon students had to group up, forming a defensive circle to fend off the surrounding traps. In this situation, even Peng Yaolong, who was ustomed to pushing through everything with sheer force, had to abandon his domineering style and take targeted countermeasures.


    When wind des came, he would dodge what he could rather than striking every one of them down. When lightning cracked down, he would share whatever burden he could share rather than bearing it all. In the face of the inextinguishable fire and the poisonous fumes, using sts of wind from his palms to sweep them away was much better than just enduring it all with his body. When numerous spell arts came his way, he had to consider the pros and cons of using this or that spell art. A barrier that would shatter after taking exactly such-and-such number of attacks couldn¡¯t be considered to have maximized its value. Rather, true value was when the barrier shattered after the attack and the remnants of the attack hit him but only caused pain, dealing no injury.


    Peng Yaolong had never liked this sort of calctingbat style, but now, he had to do it. Every sliver of magic power saved was a little longer he couldst, a small boost to their chances of turning the tables.


    Even so, everyone was slowly being worn out by the formation.


    Wei Tianchong and Qi Shaoming, who had yet to enter Mortal Shedding, were the first to run out of spiritual energy, so they had to retreat into the center of the circle to recover. After them, two of the weaker students also gave out.


    ¡°Great Brother, if this goes on, we won¡¯t be able tost for much longer!¡± Zhu Fengdao shouted.


    ¡°Save it!¡± Peng Yaolong bluntly replied. ¡°Even if you can¡¯tst, you must! My Basking Moon¡¯s students aren¡¯t that easily brought down! If you¡¯recking spiritual energy, retreat into the inner circle to recover. I¡¯ll hold this ce!¡±


    He shook his arms, sending out a mighty wave of energy that pushed the circle of fire back several meters.


    This was a rather wasteful move, but Peng Yaolong understood that battle didn¡¯t involve only calction. There was something even more important, something that wasn¡¯t based on cold reason: morale!


    The retreat of the circle of mes energized everyone a little, and even those furious mes no longer seemed as frightening.


    But at this moment, the sound of a flute came from the distance, and following this sound, they noticed a sharp energy and six figures moving through the sea of smoke and fire.


    ¡°Mu Yi!¡± Peng Yaolong madlyughed. ¡°You turtle, you¡¯re finally willing to show yourself! Eat my punch!¡±


    He had a lot of pent-up frustration, and now that Mu Yi wasing, he was delighted. Peng Yaolong punched at Mu Yi, but Mu Yi simply raised his hand, and a palm emerged in the air and caught the punch. He breezily said, ¡°Senior Brother Peng, I know that you¡¯re waiting for Tang Jie, but he will never be able to break the formation. You can see that there were nine of us, but there are only six now, so you can immediately understand that we¡¯ve sent three of us after Tang Jie. Just give up, Senior Brother, and avoid adding to your injuries.¡±


    Peng Yaolongughed. ¡°Mu Yi, you turtle, if you want to fight, just fight. There¡¯s no need for all this chatter. I¡¯ve already promised Tang Jie that I would hold out until the end. Whether he seeds or not, we have to wait until the final oue first.¡±


    He punched two more times.


    Mu Yi snapped his fingers twice to neutralize these savage sts of energy, sighing, ¡°If that is the case, then I am afraid I must offend you.¡±


    He pulled out the bamboo flute, put it to his mouth, and began to y a tune.


    The moment this tune began to y, Peng Yaolong and the others turned grave, saying in unison, ¡°Watch out! It¡¯s the Heavenly Animitta Music!¡±


    The Seven Absolutions Sect was called the Seven Absolutions Sect because it had seven secret arts that were all profoundly mystical. In terms of power, they wereparable to the supreme arts of the other six major sects. What truly restrained them wasn¡¯t theirck of powerful secret arts, but that all the things that they could learn divided their attention.


    The Heavenly Animitta Music was one of these seven great arts. When music entered the ear, the art entered the heart. It was said to be a most treacherous and most ineluctable spell art.


    As Mu Yi blew on the flute, a melody like the singing of birds wafted through the air. The Basking Moon students paled and immediately covered their ears.


    A Seven Absolutions Sect student snorted. ¡°If Senior Brother¡¯s Animitta Music could be blocked by just covering your ears, it wouldn¡¯t be the Animitta Music.¡±


    The Basking Moon students instantly noticed that something was wrong.


    Zhu Fengdao called out, ¡°My spiritual energy is draining away at a faster rate!¡±


    ¡°The same for me!¡±


    ¡°And also me!¡±


    The students all began to cry out.


    They were already in difficult straits, and each drop of spiritual energy was more valuable than before. But now, Mu Yi¡¯s Animitta Music was inexplicably increasing the consumption of their spiritual energy.


    Mu Yi put away the flute and casually said, ¡°This is ¡®River of Sorrows¡¯. The music enters the organs and affects the Lower Yang, which governs energy, thus exhausting the enemy. This serves as the opening act.¡±


    Ye Tianshang snorted, ¡°First you use the formation to exhaust the enemy, and then you drain us of our energy. Is this how the people of the Seven Absolutions Sect fight?¡±


    Mu Yi wasn¡¯t angry, smiling and saying, ¡°The people of the Seven Absolutions Sect don¡¯t fight like this, but I do. I cultivate the Revolution Mantra and the Heavenly Animitta Music, neither of which favors swift individual battles. They are more favorable for group battles, so before every battle, I must do everything in my power to weaken the enemy. Now, it is time for ¡®Splendid Moon¡¯.¡±


    Mu Yi blew on his flute, and another tune drifted through the air, but as they listened to the music, they found their minds growing hazy, and casting became difficult.


    Just like Mu Yi had said, his Animitta Music was best in group battles. No matter how many the opposing side had, his song could reach them all, and it was difficult to block. Even blocking one¡¯s ears would not shield one from the effects.


    Peng Yaolong and Ye Tianshang were shocked and enraged. If Mu Yi were allowed to keep ying, there would be no point in fighting, for Mu Yi would have basically crippled them.


    Peng Yaolong roared, ¡°Everyone, charge! Kill him!¡±


    He rushed at Mu Yi.


    Mu Yi was focused on ying, but the other five Seven Absolutions Sect students came forward. Lin Wang sneered as he pulled out a jade ruler and pointed it ahead. ¡°One Pointer to Measure the Heavens!¡±


    Peng Yaolong and the others felt the distance between them and Mu Yi suddenly increase, as if they could never reach the end.


    At the same time, the other four students attacked, making the following signs in unison: the Firedraw Sign, the Lightning Guide Sign, and the Sudden Gale Sign. Fire, lightning, and wind des assailed Peng Yaolong¡¯s group.


    At this moment, the twelve Basking Moon students became like furious waves while the five Seven Absolutions students became like a great dam to fend off the waves. As for Mu Yi, he was the final attacker, and as his flute yed, killing power umted.


    ¡°Splendid Moon¡± made it difficult for the Basking Moon students to cast, forcing them to turn their focus onto using their spell arts and preventing them from controlling their surroundings. Mu Yi then said, ¡°¡®Three Offenses of the Silk Garden¡¯.¡±


    As the music yed, the twelve Basking Moon students were gripped by an endless warmth that made their bodies tire and their will to fight wane.


    A student shouted, ¡°Let¡¯s go back! We can¡¯t win. There are only six of them, and I don¡¯t see Xiao Wen. They must have been sent to stop Tang Jie. He can¡¯t seed!¡±


    ¡°Bullshit!¡± Peng Yaolong roared. ¡°I trust in Tang Jie. He won¡¯t disappoint us. Didn¡¯t you see someone from the other side get teleported out just now? That was definitely Tang Jie¡¯s work.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it was Tang Jie who was teleported away. He can¡¯t beat all three of them,¡± Long Dao grunted.


    ¡°Bullshit! Bullshit!¡± Wei Tianchong cursed. ¡°Tang Jie won¡¯t lose that easily.¡±


    ¡°Then if he has the skill, he should send off another one. If a second one goes, it should prove that the first one wasn¡¯t him! So why is there nothing yet?¡± Long Dao angrily said.


    At this moment, another pir of light lit up the sky.


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    ¡°This is¡­¡± The Basking Moon students felt a hint of excitement and confusion.


    Mu Yi sighed, ¡°It¡¯s Liu Jin. I really didn¡¯t think that he would be able to beat two of the three people sent to stop him. Only Xiao Wen is left.¡±


    ¡°Hahahaha,¡± Peng Yaolongughed. ¡°As expected, he¡¯s putting on a good show. Aren¡¯t you the ones worse off now?¡±


    ¡°Not at all,¡± Mu Yi indifferently replied. ¡°We can just defeat all of you before that¡­ Four Laughs of the River Plum!¡±


    The flute began to y again.


    After sending off Liu Jin, Tang Jie caught his breath and hastened toward the Stop Gate Banner.


    But he hadn¡¯t gotten far before the figure of Xiao Wen blocked his path.


    Xiao Wen was simply furious.


    It was hard to me him. This bastard Tang Jie had capitalized on the time he had taken to cast to defeat Sun Yi and Liu Jin, exploiting the darkness and the terrain. Tang Jie had really gotten one over on him. If he hadn¡¯t suddenly realized what was going on and gone to intercept him in time, Tang Jie might have left him behind, perhaps even pulled out the banner.


    Xiao Wen was no fool, but everyone was a fool at the moment they were yed. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.


    In front of him floated a strange diagram made from spiritual energy, shing with brilliant light.


    <em>The Wuji Diagram?</em>


    Tang Jie naturally knew what this was.


    The Heavenly Animitta Music was characterized by variation, making it difficult to defend against, and every cultivator would have a different specialty in it. But the special attribute of the Wuji Diagram was fixed¡ªor perhaps it was better to say that its variation was limited.


    The image on the Wuji Diagram was actually an energy cirction route, each stroke possessing a profound meaning.


    It had only three reasons for existing: to circte energy on behalf of the body, making art manifestation faster; to extend energy cirction, making spells more powerful; and finally, to do both of these things at once.


    Xiao Wen had never used the Wuji Diagram in the tournament, so Tang Jie didn¡¯t know which path Xiao Wen had chosen, but he knew that anyone who hadpleted the Wuji Diagram was an opponent best avoided, as it meant that his strength had risen by a whole tier.


    He looked at Xiao Wen and smiled. ¡°So it was Senior Brother Xiao! Senior Brother Xiao has such profound strength, so why are you seeking out a lowly junior like me? You should just let me pass.¡±


    He turned to move to the side, clearly nning to get around Xiao Wen.


    Xiao Wen angrily said, ¡°Don¡¯t even think about running!¡±


    He formed a sign and pointed, and an arc of light shot at Tang Jie. Not daring to take this attack, Tang Jie dodged it. He saw that arc of light strike the stone that was behind him, and in a burst of light, all that was left on the ground was an unimaginably huge crater.


    Tang Jie was scared out of his wits. ¡°The Arclight sh!¡±


    The Arclight sh was on the level of an art. While its power was on the weaker side of arts, its art manifestation was rather fast, and with the power of the Wuji Diagram, Xiao Wen could use it like a spell. The speed made Tang Jie¡¯s blood turn cold.


    He then understood that Xiao Wen had clearly chosen the quicker casting path for his Wuji Diagram.


    This was the path with the biggest boost early on. The offensive power that came from casting arts at the speed of spells could easily be imagined.


    Xiao Wen saw that his first attack had missed, so he formed signs with both hands, an Arclight shing from his left and his right.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Tang Jie yelped in fear. Xiao Wen could cast with both hands!? It was no wonder he had chosen the Arclight sh. This spell art really was a spell art that could be cast in parallel.


    Two arcs of light swept toward Tang Jie, fast and powerful. Even Tang Jie couldn¡¯t dodge them, so he could only focus on dodging one while letting the other strike him. Thankfully, he had activated the Aquagel Shroud and Formless Golden Body beforehand.


    <em>Bang!</em> The Formless Golden Body didn¡¯t break, but Tang Jie was still sted back while throwing up blood.


    ¡°Again!¡± Xiao Wen roared. Before Tang Jie couldnd, he unleashed two more Arclight shes.


    ¡°Screw you!¡± Tang Jie cursed. He swung the Heartbreak Saber several times. <em>Bang! Bang!</em> The Heartbreak Saber struck both Arclight shes, but the immense power was notpletely neutralized and still sent Tang Jie flying. Tang Jie realized that he wouldn¡¯t be able tond.


    Xiao Wen arrogantlyughed as he attacked again. Now that he had activated the Wuji Diagram, he didn¡¯t need to use any other spells. Simply by firing off the Arclight shes from both hands, he became a human-shaped mobile cannon, constantly pouring out firepower. The Wuji Diagram in front of him constantly shed, and each sh indicated that an Arclight sh was rapidly manifesting through its power.


    In the face of this frenzied salvo, all Tang Jie could do was dodge, block, and endure.


    He dodged what he could, blocked what he couldn¡¯t dodge, and endured what he couldn¡¯t block.


    Blood erupted from his mouth again and again as his body flew through the air. Rather than jumping into the air himself, he had been sted and blown into the air, never able tond.


    Tang Jie wanted to strike back, but Xiao Wen¡¯s attacks were so fast and wild that he simply didn¡¯t have the chance. Whether it was the golden thread or the Mindseizer, Tang Jie didn¡¯t have the time to use them. If Tang Jie rxed for even a moment, several Arclight shes could turn him into a corpse.


    As for Xiao Wen, his anger had made himpletely disregard any mercy, nor would he care about any sort of sect rtions.


    ¡°Hahaha, Tang Jie, let¡¯s see how savage you are now! Die!¡± Xiao Wenughed, his face somewhat distorted in rage. Arclight shes crazily swept out with incredible speed, so fast that one pair of Arclight shes hadn¡¯t even reached the target before another pair erupted. The whistling of Arclight shes was all around, and the formation was in tatters, all traps, fire and smoke having been obliterated and torn to shreds by Xiao Wen¡¯s berserk attacks.


    ¡°Fuck you! When have I ever been a savage?¡± Tang Jie felt deeply helpless. Uh oh, it seems like Tang Jie has met his match. Is Mu Yi really going to pull one over the Basking Moon Sect?

 Chapter 336: Defeat

    Chapter 336: Defeat


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    An Arclight shnded in front of him, the shockwave of the st sending Tang Jie a little higher.


    The fierce explosion worsened Tang Jie¡¯s wounds, and a few cracks appeared on the Heartbreak Saber.


    Xiao Wen was growing more and more immersed in the assault, his heart leaping with joy.


    Only the person experiencing it could know how refreshing it was to just brainlessly st away. For Xiao Wen, each time he used the Wuji Diagram to st his opponent was a joyous moment in his life.


    What he didn¡¯t know was that Tang Jie¡¯s mind was working away during this time, trying to think his way out of this unfavorable situation.


    The Wuji Diagram truly was formidable, but there was no spell art in the world that was invincible. Wasn¡¯t the Seven Absolutions Sect still the weakest of the six major sects after all this time? The Wuji Diagram alone wasn¡¯t enough for them to turn the tables.


    But how exactly had his seniors dealt with the Wuji Diagram?


    Tang Jie racked his mind.


    But he had never paid attention to cases like these before, and he momentarily couldn¡¯t think of any examples.


    Unable to find an answer, Tang Jie clenched his teeth and bluntly asked, ¡°Xiao Wen, have you ever used the Wuji Diagram against anyone else?¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Xiao Wen was taken aback by his question. ¡°What¡¯s the point in asking that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just asking. You seem so happy just sting me everywhere, it¡¯s like you¡¯ve never done this before.¡± Tang Jie swiped his saber to block an Arclight as he tumbled through the air.


    ¡°Hmph, of course not. Everyone runs as soon as they see me finish the Wuji Diagram! So boring!¡± Xiao Wen gruffly said.


    ¡°In other words, you¡¯ve never seen a target as good as me?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°¡­I guess,¡± Xiao Wen casually replied, finding such a question pointless.


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°I see. It¡¯s no wonder I can¡¯t see the weakness of the Wuji Diagram. It¡¯s because its weakness is that you slow down while it¡¯s being maintained.¡±


    Xiao Wen was aghast.


    As Tang Jie tumbled through the air, heughed, ¡°Yes, yes, that must be the case. The reason you can st me around like this is that I¡¯m in the formation.¡±


    The Fire Beacon Smoke Net Formation was awash with traps, making movement difficult. Even though Tang Jie had already seen through the formation, he still needed to be careful of all the traps as he moved around.


    This was exactly why Tang Jie hadn¡¯t really been able to speed up. His so-called divine formation-breaking speed was only true in a rtive sense, likeparing the divine speed of a turtle to that of a snail. In the end, they couldn¡¯tpare to a human.


    Tang Jie¡¯s speed had been restrained by the formation, so Xiao Wen couldn¡¯t show the Wuji Diagram¡¯s w of lowered speed. It was no wonder he seemed so invincible. If Tang Jie hadn¡¯t had such a profound understanding of the formation and Xiao Wen himself hadn¡¯t had to pay attention to the workings of the formation, Tang Jie would have been sted to the high heavens by Xiao Wen long ago.


    Even so, he would never beat Xiao Wen like this.


    But now that he knew the problem, Tang Jie understood what to do.


    He dodged an Arclight sh andughed. ¡°You hate speed, right? Then did you know? Speed can be used to escape, but it can also be used to attack.¡±


    Xiao Wen¡¯s heart shivered, and he instantly felt like something bad was going to happen.


    Tang Jie suddenly stopped, arched like a leopard at Xiao Wen, and then roared, ¡°Try this!¡±


    Activating the Violet Lightning Lunge, he shot at Xiao Wen like an arrow.


    This time, he didn¡¯t use his understanding of formations to avoid the traps, instead forcing his way through with sheer speed. As he passed through seemingly empty ground, mes, sharp leaves, lightning, and wind des came to life and barraged him.


    But Tang Jie¡¯s speed at that moment was just too fast, so fast that those traps couldn¡¯t keep up and could only follow him like a shadow, creating an enormous wave.


    At the same time, two powerful Arclight shes shot toward him.


    The Heartbreak Saber flew out of Tang Jie¡¯s hand, striking one of the arcs, and his body charged at the other.


    In a bang, the Arclight sh broke through the Aquagel Shroud and tore apart the Formless Golden Body, leaving a long and bloody wound on Tang Jie. But Tang Jie wasn¡¯t pushed back, continuing to charge. In a sh, he had covered the long distance between the two. He grabbed Xiao Wen and shouted, ¡°If you want to die, we¡¯ll die together!¡±


    <em>Boom!</em>


    The vast wave of wind, fire, and lightning crashed into them, and blood erupted from their bodies.


    Both of them groaned as they were sent flying and crashed into the ground. For a moment, neither of them could move.


    The traps of the smoke formation weren¡¯t powerful, mostly relying on numbers, but with all of the traps that Tang Jie had drawn over, even the weak became strong.


    They were both badly injured and momentarily unable to stand.


    Lying on the ground, Tang Jie gasped for breath. ¡°Count it as a draw?¡±


    Xiao Wen turned his body up to the sky andughed. ¡°¡®A draw¡¯? Tang Jie, I acknowledge that you¡¯re ruthless, thinking of this way to break my Wuji Diagram, but if you think this is a draw, you¡¯re gravely mistaken. Did you forget what sort of sect my Seven Absolutions Sect is? You¡¯re no match when ites to formations, and also when ites to medicines!¡±


    He pulled out his Mustard Seed Bag with some difficulty, took out a bottle of pills, and poured out a red pill.


    Holding this pill, Xiao Wenughed, ¡°This Naturalife Pill is a secret product of my sect, able to restore even the worst of wounds, let alone wounds like these. Tang Jie, you¡¯re quite something to force me to use this.¡±


    He made to swallow it.


    Tang Jie tossed something out of his hand, and Xiao Wen froze.


    ¡°A Mindseizer, a treasure that can possess minds. A lot of people need to die in order to refine a single one. It¡¯s just as valuable as yours, you know, so let¡¯s trade,¡± Tang Jie mumbled as he got up and grabbed the bottle out of Xiao Wen¡¯s hand.


    He poured out a pill and had one himself. He looked inside and saw that there were still two, so he kept them. Luo Yin¡¯s destroyed face could only be healed with this pill, and now that he had it, he could finally dispel this worry.


    Looking back, he saw that Xiao Wen was still in a trance, so he pped Xiao Wen on the head, sending in spiritual energy that slew the Mindseizer. Xiao Wen immediately came to his senses, but before he could do anything, Tang Jie gave him a chop to the back of his head, knocking him out.


    ¡°This should be enough to trade.¡± Tang Jie exhaled and then activated Xiao Wen¡¯s teleportation token.


    If the Basking Moon students were still around, they would see the teleportation beam, which would increase their confidence and convince them to carry on.


    Now, he just needed to make his way to the Stop Gate Banner, seize control, and thus sessfully break the formation.


    Tang Jie felt much more rxed when he thought this. Getting to his feet, he began to stride toward the Stop Gate Banner.


    Elsewhere in the smoke formation, a battle continued.


    Even though Peng Yaolong andpany were attacking with everything they had, the five Seven Absolutions Sect students were as tough as bedrock, creating an impassable zone.


    Ye Tianshang charged over and shouted, ¡°Great Brother, this can¡¯t continue! Mu Yi¡¯s Animitta Music gets stronger the more time passes. If he finishes ying that song, we¡¯ll be finished. We have to stop him!¡±


    ¡°But how?¡± Peng Yaolong tersely replied. ¡°We can¡¯t get at him.¡±


    Ye Tianshang looked ahead and suddenly whispered, ¡°Mu Yi is good at group battles, not duels. Use your Apex Combat True Astral to send me over so I can make a sneak attack on him.¡±


    Peng Yaolong frowned. ¡°While that¡¯s true, don¡¯t forget that he still won five matches on the stage. This guy¡¯s flute sword is pretty good.¡±


    ¡°He just didn¡¯t get apetent opponent.¡± Ye Tianshang was confident that he could defeat Mu Yi so long as he got up close, but he also knew that this was an important battle, so he added, ¡°But I¡¯m tired from prolonged battle, and it won¡¯t be easy to deal with Mu Yi, who¡¯s still fresh. Let¡¯s do this. Have Wei Tianchong use his puppet to help me. When I get close, have Long Dao fire his Sirius Arrow. The three together should be able to beat him.¡±


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll do it!¡± Peng Yaolong gave a fierce nod and then turned to give orders to Wei Tianchong and Long Dao. He shook his arms, his entire body surging with wild strength as he once more used his old stand-by, the Apex Combat True Astral. This art endowed him with a formidable defense, but it also took a lot out of him. After using it, Peng Yaolong charged at the Seven Absolutions Sect like a bull.


    Lightning and mes battered him, but they barely made him itch, as if they were nothing more than shes of light.


    ¡°Join together!¡± Lin Wang shouted.


    Four Seven Absolutions Sect students fell back in unison and ced their hands on Lin Wang¡¯s back. Lin Wang¡¯s jade ruler fired off a dazzling light at Peng Yaolong. With the power of five people aimed at Peng Yaolong, Lin Wang believed that this had to be enough to knock him away and that this guy would dodge if his brain was still working.


    But Peng Yaolong was unafraid. In the face of this joint attack, Peng Yaolong threw his head back and roared, all of his muscles bulging and even his eyes popping out of their sockets. A berserk fighting intent stirred up the world¡¯s mightiest power, and Peng Yaolong punched at the beam of light unleashed by the jade ruler. The two powerful energies collided in a resplendent light show, and while Peng Yaolong was sent flying back, Lin Wang¡¯s group of five also staggered back a few steps.


    The tight defense finally showed signs of loosening.


    Ye Tianshang instantly shot past the defense line like a bolt of lightning, his Sandstorm Sword surging with light. At the same time, Wei Tianchong¡¯sbat puppet suddenly emerged from the darkness, attacking Mu Yi from the side. As for Long Dao, he pulled back his bow and unleashed a mighty Sirius Arrow.


    Even Lan Yu could only fall back in the face of such an offensive. Even original-body Tang Jie with the Formless Golden Body wouldn¡¯t dare to receive these attacks.


    The exposed Mu Yi was instantly in mortal peril, and it would not have been surprising if he were in here.


    Mu Yi, who had been ying on his flute the entire time, finally raised his head.


    He looked at Ye Tianshang, his eyes calm.


    But this calmness made Ye Tianshang¡¯s heart tighten.


    He saw Mu Yi raise the bamboo flute and swing it at him.


    Using the bamboo flute against the Sandstorm Sword!


    The small flute seemed to be made of steel, and Ye Tianshang¡¯s sword could go no farther.


    Ye Tianshang was aghast. How had Mu Yi been able to spot the real sword among all the illusions?


    This method of breaking an art was unheard of!


    Fortunately, this still wasn¡¯t enough. Ye Tianshang used his left hand to pull out the Profound Yin Sword, and he swung it at Mu Yi. But as he raised the sword, Mu Yi suddenly rushed up and shouldered Ye Tianshang in the belly, dodging the sword and battering Ye Tianshang in the same move.


    Ye Tianshang hadn¡¯t expected his reaction to be this quick, and he was pushed back. Mu Yi quickly turned around, and a bolt of energy shot out from his flute and urately struck Long Dao¡¯s Sirius Arrow, causing it to explode in a burst of light. Just like that, Mu Yi had neutralized this strike.


    But while he had been able to take care of the attacks from Ye Tianshang and Long Dao, he couldn¡¯t avoid the third wave. Wei Tianchong¡¯s Grade 3bat puppet came up behind Mu Yi and gave him a savage blow that sent him flying.


    The simple punch mmed into Mu Yi, causing Mu Yi to groan. Shockingly, Mu Yi had no barrier, so this punch caused him to throw up copious amounts of blood.


    ¡°Junior Brother!¡± Lin Wang cried out.


    No one understood Mu Yi¡¯s situation more than him. If Mu Yi had a weakness, it was hisck of defense.


    But as Mu Yi flew out, he ced his flute on his lips and blew.


    The tune started to y again, and Wei Tianchong felt his mind buzz, as if something had been stabbed into it. His mind trembled in pain, and he was no longer able tomand the puppet.


    Meanwhile, Ye Tianshang lunged out again, but Mu Yi continued to y, firing energy arrows from the end of the flute that were aimed straight at Ye Tianshang¡¯s face.


    Ye Tianshang roared as he swung his sword, his heart ovee with wrath. He was proud of his strength and had cared little about the Seven Absolutions Sect. In his eyes, while Mu Yi was ranked first in his sect, he wouldn¡¯t even rank third in the Basking Moon Sect. Moreover, this person was good at group battles, a supporter rather than an attacker, so Ye Tianshang had been certain that he could capture Mu Yi.


    He had never expected Mu Yi to put on such a show, fending off three people all by himself. Even though they were tired from battle, the gap shouldn¡¯t have been this big. Shocked and enraged, he used the Galefury Sword to the maximum, cutting down Mu Yi¡¯s energy arrows. But Mu Yi continued to y his flute, bereft of any sort of barrier to defend against the sword energy. He was so focused on ying that it was like Ye Tianshang didn¡¯t exist.


    Just when it seemed like the sword energy was about to touch him, Lin Wang charged out and raised the jade ruler, striking Ye Tianshang¡¯s sword energy. The two of them were instantly blown back by the impact.


    Lin Wang¡¯s chest was now sporting twelve holes from which blood gushed, while Ye Tianshang only had an injured wrist. Though his injury wasn¡¯t serious, he waspletely bereft of strength. Thatst attack had squeezed him for almost everything he had.


    They both copsed and were collected by theirrades.


    Only Mu Yi remained unperturbed, continuing to y the flute. First came ¡°Five Blessings of the Heavens¡±, and then it was ¡°Songs of the Six Provinces¡±, and as the music yed on, the pressure from the Heavenly Animitta Music grew stronger and stronger. The Basking Moon Sect students found it difficult to move, as if there was a mountain atop them. They were still fighting back, but it was getting harder and harder, and they were getting weaker and weaker.


    At this moment, a teleportation beam appeared in the distance.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Everyone was uncertain.


    ¡°It¡¯s Tang Jie.¡± Mu Yi took the flute from his mouth and softly said, ¡°He lost.¡±


    He blew on the flute. In the beam of light in the distance was clearly the form of Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie had lost.


    Everyone despaired.


    After they hadsted for so long, had it really been for nothing?


    All of their minds went nk.


    Their strength rapidly drained away, and they suddenly felt like they couldn¡¯t stand. Whether it was Peng Yaolong, Ye Tianshang, Wei Tianchong, or Long Dao, whether they believed it or not, they had all been fighting tost until Tang Jie broke the formation.


    But Mu Yi¡¯s words had been the straw that broke the camel¡¯s back, snuffing out their hopes and draining them of all their power.


    Mu Yi¡¯s expression was cool and indifferent. ¡°He lost, so you¡¯ve lost. Everyone, go back. If we keep fighting, someone is really going to die.¡±


    The Basking Moon students paled.


    A student sighed and activated his teleportation token.


    And then another.


    One beam of light after another illuminated the heavens.


    Even Peng Yaolong and Ye Tianshang activated their jade tokens. They were out of strength, so there was no way they could win if they kept fighting.


    There was one exception.


    Wei Tianchong.


    He saw everyone turning into beams of light and shook his head. ¡°This can¡¯t be. How could Tang Jie lose? He can¡¯t lose!¡±


    ¡°Forget it. Give up. Tang Jie is one person, so why can¡¯t he lose? That he could beat two out of three is quite incredible.¡± Qi Shaoming patted Wei Tianchong on the shoulder and teleported away.


    Only Wei Tianchong was left in the formation.


    At this moment, the formation boomed, and the smoke, fire, lightning, and wind des all disappeared. The Heaven-Weave Net that had imprisoned them rapidly dissipated.


    ¡°Di-disappeared?¡± Wei Tianchong cried out in surprise. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Tang Jie must have gotten the Stop Gate Banner,¡± Mu Yi calmly replied. He looked at Wei Tianchong andughed. ¡°My apologies. I tricked you¡­ The one who lost was Senior Brother Xiao. But this is fine. I managed to fool you all into leaving.¡±


    Upon hearing these words, let alone Wei Tianchong, even the other Seven Absolutions Sect students were dumbfounded.


    ¡°Then¡­ you guys should be able to handle the rest.¡± Mu Yi opened his mouth, threw up arge mouthful of blood, and weakly plopped onto the ground. s, it seems like Tang Jie¡¯s fellow students are just a little too gullible.

 Chapter 337: The State of Affairs

    Chapter 337: The State of Affairs


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    Were his injuries already that serious?


    But he had managed to hold it in until now, and even deceive everyone while he was at it.


    Tang Jie had once said to him that the difference between sess and failure was that the one who seeded was good at persisting. They would never give up until the veryst moment.


    Tang Jie was definitely this sort of person, as was Mu Yi. No matter how difficult the situation was, they would keep struggling, not for the sake of the oue, but for that singr opportunity.


    Wei Tianchong had also once thought he was that sort of person, but hecked that persistence.


    Until now, until this very moment!


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s eyes shed.


    Wasn¡¯t this the best opportunity to persist until the very end?


    <em>Who said my Basking Moon Sect has lost?</em>


    <em>I¡¯m still here!</em>


    <em>Tang Jie is still here!</em>


    <em>What does it matter that there are still four of them?</em>


    <em>I won¡¯t give up until the veryst moment!</em>


    As Wei Tianchong¡¯s eyes gleamed, his fighting will zed to life.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect students could see everything that was going on on Wei Tianchong¡¯s face.


    They all saw the look on his face, and one of them snorted, ¡°What? Still not giving up?¡±


    Wei Tianchong scratched his head and chuckled, ¡°Actually, I was wondering from the start how Tang Jie had been defeated and didn¡¯t really believe it, so I sort of forgot to leave. I didn¡¯t think that¡­ But since things are like this, I can¡¯t just give up.¡±


    The looks on the faces of the four Seven Absolutions Sect students somewhat improved.


    One of them nodded. ¡°If that¡¯s what you want, we¡¯ll give you a chance. Watch my sword!¡±


    A brilliant sword was thrust at Wei Tianchong¡¯s face. Wei Tianchong stepped to the side and dodged the blow, swinging his axe and unleashing a wave of energy at the other three.


    These three students hadn¡¯t expected Wei Tianchong to be so bold, provoking all four of them, and they rushed at him.


    These four were all Mortal Shedding Realm students, so even in a one-on-one, they wouldn¡¯t lose to Wei Tianchong. With all four of them attacking, Wei Tianchong felt the pressure soar. But to their surprise, while this fatty was normally quite timid, he was quite bold, holding out against the four and refusing to back down.


    Wei Tianchong first used the shadow soldiers to hold them, after which he proceeded to a fighting retreat, dodging with his footwork, using Windshroud for protection, Fireball for long-distance attacks, and the Changfeng 13th Style for counterattacks. His performance was actually pretty decent, and the four soon found that Wei Tianchong wasn¡¯t as easy to take down as they thought.


    One Seven Absolutions Sect student grew impatient and drew back to cast an art, after which a cloud of red mes rushed at Wei Tianchong.


    This red cloud was quite powerful, instantly smashing through the Windshroud and sending Wei Tianchong flying while throwing up blood.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect student drew back his hands and smugly smiled. ¡°You can give up now, right?¡±


    The four of them looked at Wei Tianchong, who was syed out on the ground. ¡°Actually, I think it¡¯s you guys who should give up.¡±


    <em>What?</em>


    The four of them were startled, and then they heard a sound behind them and paled. Turning around, they saw that Wei Tianchong¡¯s puppet had seized the heads of Mu Yi and Lin Wang.


    ¡°Junior Brother Mu!¡±


    ¡°Senior Brother Lin!¡±


    The four of them cried out in shock.


    No one had expected Wei Tianchong to take hostages. It wasn¡¯t that they hadn¡¯t noticed Wei Tianchong¡¯s puppet before, but rather that the puppet had automatically stopped in the middle of fighting Mu Yi.


    As the puppet needed spirit stones to operate, almost everyone had believed that the spirit stone in the puppet¡¯s body had been sucked dry, and based on how long the puppet had been used, it was also about the right time for it to run out. And Wei Tianchong had not given it an additional spirit stone.


    But after fusing with the civet fiend¡¯s soul, thebat puppet consumed much less energy than usual. It had not participated in battle not because its spirit stone had run out of energy, but because Wei Tianchongcked the spiritual energy tomand it. While recovering, in order to conserve the spirit stone¡¯s power, he had stopped its movements.


    This had given everyone the misconception that the puppet was out of energy.


    At the start of the battle, Wei Tianchong had also not thought about using the puppet in a sneak attack. He truly had been nning to do everything he could and fight until thest moment. But when the four of them were chasing him down and beating him up, Wei Tianchong spotted the figures of Mu and Lin lying on the ground, and the idea of taking them hostage suddenly urred to him.


    Of course, Yun Wuji might have inspired him.


    Regardless of the reason, at the crucial moment, Wei Tianchong had thought of it and had the ability to carry it out. The result was that the Seven Absolutions Sect, which clearly had the upper hand, was now at Wei Tianchong¡¯s mercy.


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    The four of them were shocked and enraged at the sight of the puppet holding Mu Yi. One of them pointed his sword at Wei Tianchong and said, ¡°Release Junior Brother Mu, or else¡­¡±


    Wei Tianchong made a smile so big that his eyes narrowed. ¡°The puppet is linked to my mind. If you try and kill me, it will act at the moment of my death and crush their heads. One life for two? That¡¯s perfect for me.¡±


    The student froze, and then he angrily said, ¡°Despicable!¡±


    Wei Tianchong moved back, away from the tip of the sword. ¡°The same to you! Didn¡¯t your Seven Absolutions Sect also win through a scheme?¡±


    A student immediately replied, ¡°Wei Tianchong, Basking Moon and Seven Absolutions are not mortal foes. Aren¡¯t you afraid of creating a grudge through your actions? You don¡¯t have the guts to kill Junior Brother Mu!¡±


    Wei Tianchong curled his lip. ¡°I would already be dead, so why would I care about the rtionships between sects? In any case, if you¡¯ve got the guts toe at me, then I¡¯ve got the guts to kill them.¡±


    He walked around the four and toward Mu Yi and Lin Wang.


    The four of them shared a nce, not knowing what to do. They had pretty decent strength, but they were used to obeying Mu Yi¡¯s orders. Now that Mu Yi was unconscious, they fell into chaos at the slightest mishap.


    One of the older students said, ¡°You¡¯re ruthless, Wei Tianchong! Why don¡¯t we do this? If you let Junior Brother Mu and Senior Brother Lin go, then we can give you one treasure to take away. I swear an oath on the ancestors of the Seven Absolutions Sect that we won¡¯t chase you down. What about it?¡±


    Being tough wasn¡¯t working out, so they immediately resorted to pleas and bribery.


    Mu Yi¡¯s scheme had made the Basking Moon Sect withdraw, and their two treasures now belonged to the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect was willing to give up one of the treasures to ensure Mu Yi¡¯s safety.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Wei Tianchong hesitated.


    To tell the truth, these were good conditions. He was the only one left of the Basking Moon Sect, so it wasn¡¯t like they could get more than a single spot. Considering that Tang Jie had also gotten the Stop Gate Banner, it now seemed like, even if the Basking Moon Sect had been defeated, they could at least keep two treasures, which was an unexpected surprise.


    With this counterattack from Wei Tianchong, he could save the Basking Moon Sect from the fate of being a loser and get it a decent cing.


    But for some reason, Wei Tianchong wanted to keep waiting.


    He lowered his head and pondered, saying nothing.


    The older student saw his silence and grew somewhat frantic, saying, ¡°What are you still thinking about?¡±


    Wei Tianchong hesitantly replied, ¡°I want to keep waiting.¡±


    ¡°Wait for what?¡± The four of them didn¡¯t get it.


    ¡°Wait for me,¡± someone casually said.


    The four of them paled. ¡°Tang Jie!¡±


    Turning their heads, they saw a student flying toward them. Who else could it be but Tang Jie?


    The moon-white uniform was in tatters from the battle, but when Tang Jie wore it, he still seemed rather elegant and carefree. He didn¡¯t appear at all like someone who had been through a gruesome battle.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Wei Tianchong excitedly shouted.


    He finally understood what he was waiting for.


    Yes, he was waiting for Tang Jie!


    When he had seized that opportunity, he didn¡¯t actually know what he would trade it for, but now that Tang Jie was here, he understood that he had actually been waiting for Tang Jie this whole time.


    Unable to restrain his emotions, Wei Tianchong shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, Mu Yi managed to trick Senior Brother Peng and the others into leaving!¡±


    There was a sense of great injustice in his voice.


    ¡°I know,¡± Tang Jie said,nding next to Wei Tianchong.


    This side could see Xiao Wen ¡°ascending¡±, so how could Tang Jie not see Peng Yaolong and the others ¡°ascending¡±?


    When he saw therge number of light pirs rising up from that side of the mountain, Tang Jie knew that things had gone wrong. Without the other Basking Moon Sect students, not even if Tang Jie had undone the formation could he salvage the situation.


    But he saw only eleven pirs of light, even though there were twelve students. One pir of light never appeared.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know if it was because this person was dead or because they hadn¡¯t left, but this gave him a boost of confidence.


    The Basking Moon students had needed confidence, so why wouldn¡¯t Tang Jie?


    It was this confidence that had allowed Tang Jie to arrive so quickly.


    He looked at Wei Tianchong and said, ¡°You did very well. Leave the rest to me.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Wei Tianchong vigorously nodded. He failed to notice that his attitude was more like that of a subordinate to his superior than that of a young master to his servant student.


    Tang Jie walked over to Mu Yi.


    The four Seven Absolutions Sect students grew nervous and wanted to stop him. Tang Jie loudly said, ¡°You still haven¡¯t fought enough? If you don¡¯t want all the efforts of Junior Brother Mu to go to waste, obediently stand aside and don¡¯t get in the way!¡±


    The four of them froze as Tang Jie moved up to Mu Yi. He grabbed Mu Yi¡¯s wrist and felt his pulse. Gasping in surprise, he gave Mu Yi a gentle pat and then sent spiritual energy into him. Mu Yi gradually stirred.


    He froze when he saw Tang Jie¡¯s face, and when he looked around and saw the puppet that was holding him hostage, he began to understand what was going on. ¡°So I fell into your hands?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Your body is very weak. A cultivator, even one who doesn¡¯t focus on body tempering, will have a much better constitution than the ordinary person, so why are your energy and blood in such a sorry state? If I didn¡¯t know you aren¡¯t that sort of person, I would really think that someone had hollowed you out.¡±


    Mu Yi bitterly smiled. ¡°It¡¯s a symptom from when I fell into corruption in order to seek the Dao when I was cultivatingst year.¡±


    ¡°¡®Seeking the Dao by falling into corruption¡¯?¡± Tang Jie was startled. ¡°Do you cultivate the Dao Seeking Yellow Springs Scripture or the Heavenly Demon Revolution Scripture?¡±


    ¡°Both,¡± Mu Yi replied.


    Tang Jie was given a huge scare, saying, ¡°You¡¯re seeking death!¡±


    The Dao Seeking Yellow Springs Scripture was part of the Ghost Dao, but it belonged to the Ghost Dao texts that were difficult to get permission to cultivate. The Heavenly Demon Revolution Scripture was a text of the Demon Dao, and it was also difficult to get permission to cultivate this. The defining traits of both these texts were that they achieved fast results through falling into corruption to seek the Dao. And unlike other Demon Dao texts, there was no risk of losing one¡¯s Origin Heart when cultivating these two texts. This was why one could get permission to cultivate them.


    But the symptom of losing the Origin Heart was reced with the eroding of the bones and the rotting of blood. This was why Tang Jie had asked Mu Yi which of these two texts Mu Yi had studied. But Mu Yi¡¯s reply was simply horrifying: he cultivated both!


    Mu Yi smiled, ¡°Three years ago, when I was cultivating the Heavenly Demon Revolution Scripture, I invited a demon into my body. With no other option, I decided to cultivate the Dao Seeking Yellow Springs Scripture. A year ago, I had my spirit wander the Yellow Springs, battling with the demon there. I managed to survive, and even use that opportunity toprehend the Dao. But that spiritual battle still used my body as the battleground, and it was left in tatters. Thankfully, the sect granted me many herbs, and Senior Brother Wang even went to Celestial Gate Mountain and stole a thousand-year Fiend Lotus for me, allowing me to keep my life¡­ Ever since then, the slightest injury is liable to cause me to faint, and even eating medicines doesn¡¯t do anything for me. Thus, I¡¯ve developed a habit of only attacking and never defending.¡±


    Tang Jie sighed and gave Mu Yi a pat. ¡°I might be able to help you with your condition.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± The one who spoke wasn¡¯t Mu Yi, but the four Seven Absolutions Sect students and the recently awakened Lin Wang.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget what I¡¯m best at.¡± Tang Jie smiled.


    Yes, Tang Jie was famous for his strength. It was said that he was even better at body refining than Peng Yaolong.


    Surprisingly, Mu Yi shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s useless. My sect¡¯s Senior Brother Wang walks the path of Tyrant Body. In terms of physical strength, he¡¯s much stronger than you, but even he couldn¡¯t solve my problem.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes shed, and then he smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s hard to be certain if I don¡¯t try.¡±


    Mu Yi replied, ¡°But the chances aren¡¯t good.¡±


    The situation had changed again. Two sides that had been fighting each other to the death were now sitting together and chatting.


    Wei Tianchong and the four Seven Absolution students exchanged nces, not knowing how to proceed.


    In the end, Lin Wang coughed and said, ¡°Then¡­ why don¡¯t we talk about thatter, alright?¡±


    Tang Jie and Mu Yi seemed to wake from a dream, realizing what was going on, and when they looked at each other again, they were unable to say anything.


    Lin Wang saw their state and knew that he had probably said the wrong thing again, and he inwardly sulked.


    He was unaware that Tang Jie and Mu Yi had actually been testing each other.


    Tang Jie¡¯s promise was a sort of temptation, trying to add on more chips, and Mu Yi¡¯s rejection was telling Tang Jie that he didn¡¯t know if Tang Jie had the ability to do it now, so it could not serve as a bargaining chip in this negotiation.


    The two of them had wanted to keep testing each other, but Lin Wang had messed things up. They looked at each other for some time before Tang Jie finally said, ¡°Fifty-fifty.¡±


    Mu Yi shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t go through all that effort just to split the profits evenly. Moreover, there are five treasures, so we can¡¯t split them evenly.¡±


    ¡°The Stop Gate Banner doesn¡¯t count.¡± Tang Jie smirked. ¡°Regardless, both Junior Brother Mu and Senior Brother Lin are still in my hands.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m awake, so I¡¯m no longer in your hands,¡± Mu Yi coolly said. ¡°No one can control me when I¡¯m awake.¡±


    Tang Jie shrugged. ¡°I know, but when Junior Brother Mu was waking up, I actually poisoned you.¡±


    Everyone paled at these words.


    Only Mu Yi frowned.


    Tang Jie was lying!


    He knew his body best, and he knew that he wasn¡¯t poisoned at all. Moreover, to tell the truth, he didn¡¯t have the ability to silently poison him.


    So why had he made such a grant lie?


    Tang Jie nudged his body over, sitting next to Mu Yi. Using his body as cover, he began to write on the ground with his finger.


    He wrote: ¡°They¡¯re watching.¡±


    Mu Yi¡¯s pupils constricted. With a light movement from his hand, he wiped the words away and said, ¡°The people of the Seven Absolutions Sect won¡¯t give in to threats, even if we have to die for it.¡±


    Tang Jie immediately said, ¡°Is that really necessary? Our sects aren¡¯t mortal foes, so there¡¯s no need to go that far.¡±


    ¡°The reputation of the sect stands above all. No matter what, the Seven Absolutions Sect cannot back down.¡± Mu Yi unyieldingly stared at Tang Jie.


    He didn¡¯t know why Tang Jie was telling him that people outside were observing them, but Mu Yi knew that he wasn¡¯t being tricked, for he himself had felt this. It was impossible for their masters to not be observing apetition like this, and he also asionally felt like someone was staring at him. It was just that he had never had any evidence. But since Tang Jie had said as such, he didn¡¯t mind disying a little of his sect¡¯s self-sacrificing boldness.


    ¡°The problem is: do you really think you can make the Seven Absolutions Sect the ultimate victor like this?¡± Tang Jie countered.


    Everyone was taken aback.


    Tang Jie raised his hand. ¡°Five art relics! There are five art relics here in total. Even if they all belonged to the Seven Absolutions Sect, you would only have half of them. Why are you so sure that you would end up as number one?¡±


    Mu Yi¡¯s eyes chilled.


    He now understood why Tang Jie had told him that people outside were watching.


    He asked, ¡°What do you want?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled and peered into the distance.


    On the other end of the blessednd, five treasure lights were shing and constantly moving around.


    The distance meant that it was difficult to surmise their trajectories as they moved around over small distances, but in Tang Jie¡¯s eyes, these five beams of light were the clearest indicator of what was happening over there.


    Pointing into the distance, he said, ¡°The Thousand Passions Sect is about to break. Once they¡¯re defeated, Horizon Ocean Pavilion will have five treasures, and given Lan Yu¡¯s handsome appearance, even if he was the only one among them all to enter the top ten, the Seven Absolutions Sect wouldn¡¯t have a chance.¡±


    Mu Yi¡¯s eyes shed.


    Tang Jie was right. In terms of looks, Lan Yu stood above the rest of the six major sects. Even Yun Wuji wascking. In all honesty, Yun Wuji was a little too effeminate.


    With Lan Yu around, the Seven Absolutions Sect had no chance.


    Mu Yi looked at Tang Jie. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Tang Jie threw the Stop Gate Banner at Mu Yi. ¡°I can give all the treasures here to the Seven Absolutions Sect, including the Stop Gate Banner, but you will have to hand me this treasure once everything is settled. The Seven Absolutions Sect will have five treasures, so it will definitely be number one. As a price, you must all leave after the twelve hours pse.¡±


    ¡°And then you and Wei Tianchong will go and help the Thousand Passions Sect?¡± Mu Yi understood Tang Jie¡¯s n.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°The Thousand Passions Sect will get what the Thousand Passions Sect has, and the Basking Moon Sect will get what Horizon Ocean Pavilion has.¡±


    With the help of Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong, the Thousand Passions Sect, which had only been a littlecking, would definitely crush Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    There was no doubt that Tang Jie was having Mu Yi give up on Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    That lie about the poison was to give Mu Yi an excuse. For the sake of ¡°self-protection¡± and for the sake of the Seven Absolutions Sect, Mu Yi had to agree to Tang Jie¡¯s request.


    Mu Yi lightly nodded. ¡°It seems we¡¯ll have to do that.¡±


    He was just about to agree when Tang Jie stopped him and said, ¡°Right, Horizon Ocean Pavilion has three treasures, but my Basking Moon Sect has only two people.¡±


    Mu Yi was startled, looking questioningly at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie casually said, ¡°Don¡¯t you think this extra treasure would be somewhat of a waste?¡±


    Mu Yi¡¯s pupils constricted. ¡°And what about it?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°There happen to be six members of the Seven Absolutions Sect, but only five treasures. And five treasures can¡¯t be considered an absolute advantage¡­¡±


    Mu Yi fell silent.


    After a long while, he said, ¡°The Seven Absolutions Sect will not attack its friends.¡±


    Tang Jie casually replied, ¡°One person is enough. So long as the others don¡¯t show their face, this can be considered a personal action, unrted to your sect.¡±


    He got closer to Mu Yi and said, ¡°If you still don¡¯t feel good about it, they can cover their face too.¡± Tang Jie arrives to salvage the situation, and it seems he wants to cut a deal with Mu Yi¡­

 Chapter 338: The Last Trump Card (1)

    Chapter 338: The Last Trump Card (1)


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    Lan Yu rode the wind, a pir of energy spiraling around him and making his hair dance. He appeared like someone out of a painting: proud, cold, and carrying the self-confidence of the victor.


    Behind him were two Horizon Ocean Pavilion students, the three of them forming a triangle. Opposed to them were two Thousand Passions Sect students.


    And at the feet of these five people were five bodies.


    As these sects were mortal foes, they weren¡¯t as polite as Basking Moon and Seven Absolutions. In this battle, five had died and four had escaped, the fatalities outnumbering the escapees.


    ¡°Deng Xiaoyu, the Thousand Passions Sect¡¯s defeat is certain. Why don¡¯t you concede already?¡± Lan Yu coldly said, folding his arms. There was still a vivid red stain of blood on the corner of his mouth.


    In the sh just now, Lan Yu had allowed himself to be injured in order to finally kill a member of the Thousand Passions Sect, causing the bnce of battle to weigh in the favor of Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    Now that it was two versus three, the Thousand Passions Sect basically had no chance.


    Lan Yu was simply too powerful, and if Tang Jie hadn¡¯t destroyed his green tassel sword, he might not have even needed to be injured.


    Standing atop a tree, Deng Xiaoyu, who seemed like a general in his silver armor, smiled and twirled his silver spear. ¡°There is no such word as ¡®retreat¡¯ in the nws of the Deng n. No matter how formidable Senior Brother Lan¡¯s cultivation is, this Deng is still willing to fight to the death.¡±


    In terms of talent, Lan Yu was number one, but in terms of family background, Deng Xiaoyu, a prince of Tetrapole, left everyone behind by an entire city block.


    Although this was an era of magic where Immortals reigned supreme, where mortals set up their kingdoms and yed the roles of stewards under the name of kings, these revered mortals still received some special treatment. The status of a prince was still above that of ordinary people.


    The six major sects had decreed that one could not benefit from both secr authority and Immortal sect status. Deng Xiaoyu had been the crown prince, but to get into the Thousand Passions Sect, he had given up his right of inheritance. This seemed somewhat unbelievable for ordinary people, but for Immortals, this was as normal as could be.


    While Crown Prince was a noble title, for some people, it might be better to have a ce in an academy.


    Thus, there were many simr examples to be found throughout history.


    After joining the Thousand Passions Sect, Deng Xiaoyu still enjoyed the various resources provided by his royal family. He himself was a diligent worker, so even though he had only six cycles, he was still the strongest in his ss, bing one of the leader figures of the Thousand Passions Sect. This was also why Deng Xiaoyu brought up his nws.


    s, he wasn¡¯t like Lan Yu. Lan Yu was truly the strongest in his ss in Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and while Deng Xiaoyu was a ¡°leader figure¡±, he was also a ¡°male student¡± in the Thousand Passions Sect. The two weren¡¯t on the same level.


    As Deng Xiaoyu had spoken, Lan Yu didn¡¯t waste words, simply grunting and saying, ¡°If that¡¯s what you want, I¡¯ll send you on your way!¡±


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion and the Thousand Passions Sect were sworn foes, so there was little to be said between them. He had only been asking for surrender to buy time to adjust his energy. After all, his abrupt burst to kill had ced a heavy burden on him.


    Lan Yu thrust out his palms, sending a giant vortex spinning at Deng Xiaoyu. At the same time, the two other Horizon Ocean students lunged at the other Thousand Passions student, the bald Mu Yu. This person was ranked second in the Thousand Passions Sect and possessed outstanding strength.


    The five of them battled once more.


    They were the most elite of their respective sects, possessing formidable strength and numerous weapons. For a moment, the sts of spell arts and the cold shing of weapons filled the air.


    Although the Thousand Passions Sect was disadvantaged in numbers, Lan Yu had heavy injuries and couldn¡¯t dominate the battlefield as he pleased. Moreover, the Thousand Passions Sect had always been known for having fast and unexpected spell arts. Thus, if they went all out, they could just barely hold on.


    But as time passed and they used uprge amounts of spiritual energy, the two of them started to falter.


    Deng Xiaoyu was keeping up. He was in a duel against Lan Yu, and while he was no match for his foe, he was still holding his own. But Mu Yu was in a one-versus-two, and he was slowly tiring out.


    The two students attacking him were called Gu Qinghan and Shen Zhong.


    Shen Zhong was somewhat unimpressive, in the lower end of the power ranking of Horizon Ocean students, but Gu Qinghan was decently strong. Just like Mu Yu, he was ranked second in his sect. This was why Mu Yu was giving out first.


    ¡°Retreat! Get to the Basking Moon Sect!¡± Deng Xiaoyu shouted upon seeing this.


    ¡°You¡¯re not going anywhere!¡± Shen Zhongughed. He raised his hand and thrust out several sts of wind from his palm, cutting the pair off.


    At the same time, he formed a spell, and a tiger made from fog and clouds appeared and lunged at Mu Yu.


    Mu Yu grunted and swung a small wooden mallet, scattering the cloud tiger.


    But as he was destroying the cloud tiger, the delicate and thin figure of Gu Qinghan shot up to his side and thrust a palm at his chest. Mu Yu was sent flying, but his mallet left his hand and mmed into Gu Qinghan, sending him flying as well.


    In terms of injuries, Gu Qinghan had suffered the greater wound, but as a price, Mu Yu had thrown away his most important art relic.


    Holding that wooden mallet, Gu Qinghan wiped away the blood on his mouth and said, ¡°There¡¯s no honor in beating you like this, but the Wandering Pce is too important for that. My apologies for the offense, Brother Mu.¡±


    He stepped forward with his left foot and suddenly disappeared, and when he next appeared, it was right next to Mu Yu. From the look of it, it was a technique rather simr to the Chaoswind Step. But while the Chaoswind Step imed to be a footwork technique, it was essentially spatial teleportation. Gu Qinghan¡¯s Celestial Stride Mantra was an actual footwork technique, its transformations only serving as a diversionary tactic.


    As he appeared, Gu Qinghan thrust a finger at Mu Yu. At the same time, Shen Zhong attacked from the other side with his sword.


    Mu Yu had no choice but to try to stop Gu Qinghan¡¯s finger. He was well aware of the power of this Bluestar Finger. While Gu Qinghan appeared unarmed, he had actually fused an art relic into his body to imbue himself with greater strength. While the power would be affected somewhat, it made it more flexible to use.


    As palm met finger, blood gushed. Gu Qinghan¡¯s finger had shed with starlight and pierced through Mu Yu¡¯s palm. At the same time, Shen Zhong¡¯s sword had hacked at Mu Yu¡¯s back, and his barrier had shattered, resulting in another wound on Mu Yu¡¯s back.


    But he was a tenacious fellow, not even grunting as he thrust a palm at Shen Zhong.


    Shen Zhong didn¡¯t think there would be anything to this palm, and left his barrier to take the blow, but a momentter, the palm pierced through the barrier and made contact with his body. He was sent flying away in a shower of blood.


    ¡°How could this be?¡± Shen Zhong cried out in rm. But Mu Yu paled, and his body tottered. Gu Qinghan once more rushed up to him, and the two of them exchanged palms once more. Gu Qinghan grunted, but Mu Yu tumbled from the air and was no longer able to get back up.


    Gu Qinghan¡¯s face momentarily flushed red before going back to normal. He sighed, ¡°An excellent Mistdrift Hand, and an excellent Immortal¡¯s Wrath. I didn¡¯t think that Senior Brother Mu had already entered the Formless Realm of the Seven Emotions Killer. Truly, your attacks are strange and hard to stop.¡±


    Just now, Mu Yu had paired Immortal¡¯s Wrath of the Seven Emotions Killer with his Mistdrift Hand to instantly break the barrier. Compared to the great ruckus when Ping Jingyue had used it, Mu Yu had produced a much smaller stir¡ªso small that his opponent didn¡¯t even know that he had used this ultimate move until after it was done.


    This was the true essence of the Thousand Passions Sect¡¯s mantras. The Thousand Passions Sect had always been known for its unexpected, fast, and varied spell arts. If every spell art were cast with as much sound and fury as Ping Jingyue, then they wouldn¡¯t be unexpected and fast at all. But getting to this level wasn¡¯t easy. One first had to cultivate to the third realm, the Formless Realm.


    As Mu Yuy on the ground, he smiled. ¡°I didn¡¯t. I just forced it.¡±


    Gu Qinghan nodded. ¡°Yes, I understand.¡±


    If Mu Yu had really cultivated to the Formless Realm, not even Lan Yu would be able to beat him.


    When it came to talent, Mu Yu was actually better than Deng Xiaoyu, possessing an eight-cycle Jade Gate. s, he came from an average family andcked material support.


    Gu Qinghan continued, ¡°If you were given time, you would definitely be an illustrious figure. s, the hatred between our two sects means that I cannot show mercy.¡±


    Mu Yu seemed to know this. He simply smiled and closed his eyes to await his death.


    ¡°Mu Yu!¡± Deng Xiaoyu shouted from nearby. He thrust his spear, sending a bolt of energy at Gu Qinghan, but Lan Yu intercepted it.


    Gu Qinghan thrust a finger at Mu Yu¡¯s forehead.


    Mu Yu seemed doomed, but at this moment, there was a st of air from the distance, and a green bolt of energy shot at Gu Qinghan. Behind this green bolt of energy was a familiar face.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Gu Qinghang was aghast. He was quite the decisive person, immediately backing away, using the Celestial Stride Mantra to move to the side.


    But the moment he dodged, Tang Jie also disappeared.


    The Chaoswind Step!


    He appeared right next to Gu Qinghan.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    A saber wind struck Gu Qinghan¡¯s barrier, breaking through and sending him flying.


    ¡°Aaagh!¡± Gu Qinghan howled in pain. But he was also a fierce sort, not forgetting to counterattack by thrusting a Bluestar Finger at Tang Jie¡¯s face.


    Tang Jie raised his saber to block. Meanwhile, a fireball came howling out of the distance.


    In this dire moment, Gu Qinghan mustered all his strength and thrust out his palm, the powerful st of energy forming a wall of air in front of him. The fireball collided with the wall and exploded, and Gu Qinghan used the opportunity to fall back. But as he retreated, a figure suddenly appeared from nowhere and punched him in the back: thebat puppet.


    Thebat puppet could render itself invisible, making it an excellent ambusher.


    Gu Qinghan threw up blood as he was sent into the air. Tang Jie rushed up to grab him. For Xu Miaoran¡¯s sake, he didn¡¯t n to kill, so he was going to take him alive. But just when he was about to seed, Lan Yu appeared and thrust his palm at Tang Jie. It was done with incredible speed, and Tang Jie hastily brought up his palm to counter. In his haste, he wasn¡¯t able to put in enough strength. As their palms met, Lan Yu overpowered Tang Jie and struck Tang Jie in the chest, sending him away.


    This was followed by a punch that blocked the pursuing Deng Xiaoyu¡¯s spear thrust. It was then that he grabbed Gu Qinghan and fell back, his eyes shing with anger as he stared at Tang Jie.


    The moment Tang Jiended on the ground, he cursed, ¡°Shit, the Oceancrosser Step again!¡±


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s Oceancrosser Step was extremely annoying, so fast that it allowed for both offense and rescue, and while running, one could also increase the power of one¡¯s palm strikes. Lan Yu¡¯s palm had almost broken Tang Jie¡¯s arm bone there, and it had also ruined Tang Jie¡¯s hostage-taking n.


    If he couldn¡¯t get the big one, at least he could get the small fry. As he jumped back, he stomped on the just-waking Shen Zhong, knocking him out again. He kicked him like a ball to Mu Yu¡¯s side so that the two of them were lying next to each other.


    Wei Tianchong ran over, keeping an eye on Shen Zhong while feeding Mu Yu a pill.


    Mu Yu gratefully said, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Wei Tianchong smiled. ¡°No need for that. We¡¯re allies.¡±


    Mu Yu thought, <em>You were doing everything you could to avoid us, having us face Horizon Ocean Pavilion alone while you bullied the Seven Absolutions Sect. Were we allies then?</em> But he knew that he could only ept this situation.


    Seeing that no one else was appearing, Mu Yu said in surprise, ¡°Is it just you two?¡±


    Wei Tianchong awkwardly replied, ¡°Mm, the others have all gone.¡±


    Everyone was stunned.


    They didn¡¯t know how the battle on the other side had gone, but they had all believed that the Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s defeat was certain.


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion was so desperately pursuing the Thousand Passions Sect because they wanted to finish the battle before the Basking Moon Sect finished off the Seven Absolutions Sect, and then run off with the five treasures. Horizon Ocean Pavilion was the best when it came to speed. If they wanted to run, nobody would be able to catch them easily.


    But things had turned outpletely differently from how they had expected. Only Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong were left from the Basking Moon Sect, forcing Lan Yu to reconsider whether there was any chance of turning the tables.


    Deng Xiaoyu said, ¡°Two is enough. Senior Brother Tang, Senior Brother Wei, let¡¯s work together to take down Lan Yu!¡±


    Tang Jie and Wei Tianchongughed, Wei Tianchong directly saying, ¡°Naturally. Senior Brother Deng, you can rx. We¡¯re confident that we can beat up this Lan Yu kid!¡±


    Lan Yu grimaced at these words.


    He had already been humiliated once after losing to this pair. He barked, ¡°Seeking death!¡±


    He pushed his arms forward, and a wall of air surged at the trio.


    Wei Tianchong was about to meet the attack when Tang Jie saw something wrong and pulled him to the side. The wall of wind surged forward, and as it got closer, it suddenly exploded into a shower of energy bolts.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie had noticed it early and was able to put up a defense, or else Wei Tianchong would have been in danger.


    Wei Tianchong paled at the sight. ¡°It seems he¡¯s gotten more cunning since west saw him.¡±


    ¡°Stronger too,¡± Tang Jie grunted.


    While Tang Jie had managed to go from Spirit Sea Tier to the Mortal Shedding Realm in twenty-some days, everyone else had also made some progress. After being defeated by Tang and Wei, Lan Yu had cultivated hisbat arts, and this spell that made his wall of air turn into countless arrows was a new fighting method he had developed, capable of both attack and defense.


    Lan Yuughed when he saw that Tang Jie had avoided the attack. ¡°Then try this one!¡±


    He thrust out his hands again and again, sending more walls of air hurtling toward them.


    Wei Tianchong was about to counterattack when Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Use Evilhook Shadow Soldiers!¡±


    Wei Tianchong was startled. <em>Why use them?</em>


    The attacks of the Evilhook Shadow Soldiers were pitifully weak. As he got stronger himself, Wei Tianchong used this spell art less and less.


    But he had always listened to Tang Jie, so he immediately released arge number of Evilhook Shadow Soldiers to pester Lan Yu.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie stood in front of Wei Tianchong, his Heartbreak Saber dancing with energy as he blocked the mass of energy arrows. He shouted. ¡°Senior Brother Deng, Stiir, Laughter of No Return!¡±


    Deng Xiaoyu was startled for a moment. Unlike Wei Tianchong, he couldn¡¯t possibly obey every order Tang Jie gave. But as Tang Jie had rescued them, he felt obligated to obey.


    Thus, even though he didn¡¯t understand why he was doing it, he still used Still Airbined with the Laughter of No Return on Lan Yu.


    Stiir was a spell art that sealed the air, preventing flight within a specified region, and the Seven Emotions Killer¡¯s Laughter of No Return gave this effect a powerful boost, affecting even ordinary speed eleration spells. But this spell required constant maintenance and was a ratherrge burden on the caster. Thus, it wasn¡¯t good for one-on-one battles.


    Find the original at Hosted Novel.


    The moment Stiir was cast, everyone dropped to the ground.


    This didn¡¯t seem like a big deal, but Lan Yu suddenly paled.


    When it was one versus three, he had still been brave and intimidating, but now, he was showing a shocked face. He simply pushed out an air wall before retreating.


    He was making a run for it!


    Tang Jieughed as he blocked the attack with his saber. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Have you lost your confidence now that the Oceancrosser Step doesn¡¯t work?¡±


    Lan Yu was so angry that he couldn¡¯t reply.


    It was true that thebination of Stiir and the Evilhook Shadow Soldier neutralized the high speed and flight abilities of the Oceancrosser Step. And without the Oceancrosser Step, he had lost an importantbat support. He could no longer be as agile and flexible in battle, dodging whatever he pleased. This would undoubtedly have a huge effect on hisbat power.


    Of course, while the Oceancrosser Step was important, it wasn¡¯t his sole support. The problem was that he had dared to go one versus three and even take the initiative precisely because of the speed granted by the Oceancrosser Step. Even if he couldn¡¯t win, he would at least teach Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong a lesson before leaving. With the flight speed of the Oceancrosser Step, no one would be able to catch him.


    Thus, while the Oceancrosser Step was his tactical lynchpin, it was his strategic lynchpin, the key for his retreat, and also the lynchpin of his confidence.


    At this moment, Tang Jie had given his self-confidence a grievous blow.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Lan Yu shouted and thrust a finger of his right hand at Tang Jie.


    Karmic Cycle Finger!


    Tang Jie made a sword sign and shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s useless.¡±


    He countered with a thrust of his finger.


    There was an explosion of spiritual light, and Tang Jie¡¯s body surged with such an intense light that not even the Karmic Cycle Finger could prate through it.


    ¡°Formless Golden Body!¡± Lan Yu cried out in rm.


    It was the same Formless Golden Body, but this strength was unprecedented,pletely blocking Lan Yu¡¯s Karmic Cycle Finger.


    How could that be?


    When he hadst used this finger spell art, it had easily pierced through Tang Jie¡¯s Formless Golden Body.


    Lan Yu had a sudden thought and shrilly said, ¡°Art-grade! This is the art-grade Golden Body! You¡¯ve shed your mortality! How?¡±


    Everyone turned to Tang Jie in shock.


    Tang Jie¡¯s shedding his mortality was actually a secret that only those of the Basking Moon Sect knew about. Even the Seven Absolutions Sect hadn¡¯t known that Tang Jie had shed his mortality. This was primarily because Tang Jie had only recently shed his mortality, so he didn¡¯t have time to study and had not used any spell arts that only those at the Mortal Shedding Realm could use.


    But the Divine Firmament¡¯s secret arts were different.


    Most of the spell arts of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic had ¡°spell-grade¡± and ¡°art-grade¡± distinctions.


    Before this, as Tang Jie had not reached Mortal Shedding, he had not been able to use the true power of the Formless Golden Body. Even though he had shed his mortality now, he hadcked the time to make proper use of it.


    But Tang Jie had used it now for this attack. He had applied the art-grade Golden Body ahead of time, so he was able to easily block Lan Yu¡¯s Karmic Cycle Finger.


    While he had blocked it, he had used uprge amounts of spiritual energy. The Karmic Cycle Finger was on the same level as the Formless Golden Body, and Lan Yu¡¯s cultivation level was higher, so blocking his attack would cost him more. But regardless, Lan Yu¡¯s unstoppable technique had been stopped.


    Tang Jie lunged out, chasing after Lan Yu as he roared, ¡°That¡¯s not all!¡±


    Saber light danced, and a mighty wave of energy surged at Lan Yu.


    Thousand Rupture sh!


    Not even Lan Yu dared to take his attack directly, but he didn¡¯t have the Oceancrosser Step to dodge it. His only choice was to grit his teeth and thrust out his palm several times.


    The saber light spun like the teeth of a cog, grinding down the air walls and smashing into Lan Yu¡¯s defensive barrier in a burst of light. Lan Yu borrowed the impact to retreat, but he had barely made it a few steps before a fireball shattered his barrier.


    A stalwart figure, thebat puppet, charged at Lan Yu and punched.


    Lan Yu saw that he couldn¡¯t dodge, and his eyes crackled with electricity as he shouted, ¡°Are you really going to just watch as I die here?¡±


    There was a rush of air.


    A figure emerged from the forest, lunged at the puppet, and sent it flying with a single strike. It¡¯s the rematch between Lan Yu and the pair of Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong! But Lan Yu doesn¡¯t have his special sword this time!

 Chapter 339: The Last Trump Card (2)

    Chapter 339: The Last Trump Card (2)


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    The one who had saved Lan Yu was surprisingly the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s Helian Hu.


    Tang Jie was moreposed, saying, ¡°I knew that it was impossible to clean all of them up. Some remnants are inevitable. Hey, don¡¯t tell me there¡¯s only one of you! If there¡¯s anyone else,e out too.¡±


    Another figure appeared nearby.


    ¡°Fang Shiye.¡± Tang Jie¡¯s eyes shed.


    Fang Shiye was a member of Godhead Pce, ranked only behind Yun Wuji. He was definitely a troublesome opponent on par with Helian Hu.


    He was no longer wearing the traditional golden clothes of Godhead Pce, but green robes. Lightly waving a feather fan, he chuckled and said, ¡°Greetings, Senior Brothers. Shiye pays his respects. As expected, being thest yellow oriole isn¡¯t easy. Senior Brother Tang still managed to see through it.¡±


    Deng Xiaoyu asked in shock, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why are the people from Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate still around?¡±


    In the battle over the Taiyi Profound rity Cup, Tang Jie had formed an alliance against Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate, leading to their defeat first. The vast majority of them had been in or retreated, and the four parties had also searched their respective areas in order to ensure that there was no one left.


    Given that everyone had made assurances, there shouldn¡¯t have been anyone left from these two sects.


    Tang Jie pursed his lips and said, ¡°You need to ask? Naturally, someone is leaving a final trump card as a y for victory.¡±


    After two of the six major sects were eliminated, the Basking Moon Sect became dominant, with the highest chance of winning. The Thousand Passions Sect, as the ally of the Basking Moon Sect, would naturally benefit from this, but the other two sects would be left out. The Seven Absolutions Sect hade up with a way to deal with the Basking Moon Sect, so how could Horizon Ocean Pavilion have not?


    The Seven Absolutions Sect had chosen a formation, but Horizon Ocean Pavilion had chosen to misreport and recruit defeated soldiers.


    In the battle of four versus two, Horizon Ocean Pavilion had appeared happy to kill, but in secret, it had gotten in touch with Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate, fabricating reports and hiding some of their people. In any case, Horizon Ocean Pavilion had no grudge against these two sects, so there was no psychological burden from doing such a thing. Even the Seven Absolutions Sect could work with Godhead Pce, so there was no problem whatsoever with Horizon Ocean Pavilion doing it. Moreover, since the Seven Absolutions Sect had gotten away with working with Godhead Pce, such actions had essentially been given tacit approval.


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t realized this at first, but after being fooled by the Seven Absolutions Sect, Tang Jie gradually began to realize that Horizon Ocean Pavilion wasn¡¯t going to just sit around and wait for death. From then on, he began to think about what Horizon Ocean Pavilion might do, and this current n was one of the ones with the highest possibility.


    The only thing he hadn¡¯t thought of was that Helian Hu would be one of those that remained.


    While Helian Hu was number one in the Beast Refining Gate, that was before Cai Junyang had killed two of his beasts. Without his two tigers, his strength had plunged, and he was no longer on par with Ye Heizi.


    If Tang Jie had to choose, he definitely would have chosen Ye Heizi to remain and not Helian Hu.


    It seemed like Helian Hu had umted too much prestige within his sect, so even though he had been dewed, no one in the Beast Refining Gate dared to defy him, and thest opportunity had ultimately been given to him.


    As Tang Jie spoke, Deng Xiaoyu and Mu Yu came to understand.


    Deng Xiaoyu¡¯s face darkened. ¡°I see. But if that¡¯s the case, why didn¡¯t theye out earlier? If that had happened, Horizon Ocean Pavilion would have sustained fewer losses.¡±


    Before Lan Yu could answer, Deng Xiaoyu answered his own question. ¡°True, why would these two be willing to be used by others? They were probably anxious for us to kill each other so they could pick over the remains.¡±


    Helian Hu and Fang Shiye wouldn¡¯t just let other people use them. For them, this was also a chance for their two sects to stage aeback. Thus, unless it was absolutely necessary, they wouldn¡¯t act. Of course, Lan Yu knew this, which was why he didn¡¯t recruit more of these defeated soldiers, rather taking only one from each of the two sects. Otherwise, he risked the guest turning into the master.


    ording to Lan Yu¡¯s n, after defeating the Thousand Passions Sect and taking two treasures, they would give two treasures to Helian Hu and Fang Shiye so that they would hold down the victorious Basking Moon Sect. The hatred between the Basking Moon Sect and the Beast Refining Gate ensured that the two wouldn¡¯t be spared. While Helian Hu wasn¡¯t willing to be used, he couldn¡¯t change the situation. Meanwhile, Lan Yu would be able to run off using the Oceancrosser Step, dragging out the remaining twelve hours anding away with five treasures.


    Of course, as Horizon Ocean Pavilioncked the numbers, they would never be able to im five spots.


    But what did that matter?


    This would only further exemplify Lan Yu¡¯s abilities. It would be best if he were the only one from Horizon Ocean Pavilion toe out with all five treasures. If the young pce lord wasn¡¯t a fool, she would definitely pick him.


    As a proud prodigy, Lan Yu didn¡¯t feel satisfied by getting the spot or even winning thepetition for his sect. What was most important for him was getting the young pce lord and the Wandering Pce.


    But things hadn¡¯t gone how he had expected. The fact that the Basking Moon Sect had only two people left made Lan Yu reconsider whether he could turn the tables, which gave him pause.


    Now that Helian Hu and Fang Shiye had appeared, Helian Hu licked his lips and chuckled, ¡°It¡¯s three versus three, perfect.¡±


    He stared at Tang Jie.


    The grudge between the Beast Refining Gate and the Basking Moon Sect took first priority, and this bitter defeat was thanks to Tang Jie. Helian Hu naturally wouldn¡¯t let him go, so he proimed, ¡°Tang Jie is mine.¡±


    Fang Shiye chuckled. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll take Young Master Wei. But, Brother Helian, don¡¯t forget that Tang Jie is also an enemy of my Godhead Pce. If I leave this guy to you, Brother Helian will owe me a favor.¡±


    Helian Hu mentally grumbled, <em>Cunning scoundrel, taking the easy target and then saying that I owe you a favor!</em> Of this generation of Godhead Pce students, Fang Shiye was the one with the most ideas, but s, he was small-minded andcked greater wisdom, only knowing to provoke others. If he weren¡¯t part of Godhead Pce, Helian Hu wouldn¡¯t have bothered with him. With a simple grunt, he charged at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie sent a de of wind slicing at Helian Hu while shouting to Wei Tianchong, ¡°Don¡¯t try and fight him head-on! Run and fight!¡±


    He tilted his head at Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong seemed to get it, shouting ¡°Understood!¡± before turning and running.


    Seeing Wei Tianchong run, Fang Shiye sneered, ¡°How absurd! Trying to run in front of a Mortal Shedding cultivator? Isn¡¯t that just giving me a chance to show my power?¡±


    The ideal tactic for a Spirit Disciple when against a Spirit Master was always to attempt closebat, using swift and incessant attacks to rob the opponent of a chance to cast, limiting them to spells. In this way, one still had a small chance of winning. Tang Jie had done this to beat Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators while at the Spirit tform Realm, relying on the toughness of his body to take the initiative and go on the offensive. The losers often had no time to use their ultimate moves before they were defeated.


    But turning to run was really nothing more than giving the opponent a chance to unt their power.


    Fang Shiye formed hand signs as he prepared to unleash a powerful art on Wei Tianchong.


    But surprisingly, without turning his head, Wei Tianchong made a gesture.


    Fang Shiye heard a rush of wind from behind him and instinctively lunged forward. The steely fist of thebat puppet just barely brushed past his head.


    While Wei Tianchong had failed to hit Fang Shiye, he had interrupted his casting, and there was a sh of green on Fang Shiye¡¯s face. He charged forward, waving his feather fan and sending green light shooting toward Wei Tianchong¡¯s back.


    Wei Tianchong yelped and applied a Windshroud to himself, enduring Fang Shiye¡¯s attack as he continued to run. He clearly had no ns to fight Fang Shiye.


    Fang Shiye sneered as he thought to himself, <em>This n is no different from suicide.</em> After all, he was chasing Wei Tianchong while Wei Tianchong couldn¡¯t even strike back. Thus, he was in no rush and leisurely chased Wei Tianchong down, not even applying a defensive barrier to himself. As he attacked again and again, rainbow light exploded around Wei Tianchong.


    Suddenly, Wei Tianchong stopped and turned around.


    Fang Shiye saw that he had stopped running, so he stopped andughed. ¡°Keep running! Why did you stop? I wanted to see how much spiritual energy you had left and how long you could keep going.¡±


    ¡°Not much,¡± Wei Tianchong truthfully replied. ¡°I had already bottomed out from fighting the Seven Absolutions Sect. While running over, I took some medicine and recovered a little, but there¡¯s not much left now.¡±


    Fang Shiye hadn¡¯t expected Wei Tianchong to be this honest, and was taken aback. When he looked at Wei Tianchong¡¯s face, he found that there was no fear on it, despite his dire circumstances.


    Fang Shiye instantly realized that something was wrong, and when he turned around, he saw a figure running at him from the distance. A familiar face quickly appeared before Fang Shiye¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Lin Wang!¡± Immense fear caused Fang Shiye¡¯s voice to rise several octaves.


    The jade ruler glowed as it mmed into Fang Shiye, striking so hard that his sternum caved in¡­


    <em>Raaaa!</em>


    The roars of a tiger resounded as saber light shed!


    Helian Hu swung his Skinyer Knife again and again, joining with his refined tiger in a fierce assault on Tang Jie.


    Even though he had only one refined beast, Helian Hu was still able to put up a savage offensive.


    This guy¡¯s fighting style shared some simrities with Peng Yaolong¡¯s, both with the boldness of a body refiner. Even though he wasn¡¯t as tough as Peng Yaolong, he was still just as daring.


    Inparison, Tang Jie seemed to be having a tough time of it.


    Just like Wei Tianchong, Tang Jie had exhausted himself greatly in his battles until now. While he had recovered somewhat on the way here, he was still far from his peak. Meanwhile, Helian Hu was still brimming with energy, so heshed out with all his power and pushed Tang Jie back.


    Helian Hu heartilyughed, ¡°Tang Jie, aren¡¯t you good at giving instructions? You consider yourself a tactician, yes? So why is it that you¡¯re so helpless now that it¡¯s your turn? Come on; let me see how you¡¯ll deal with me!¡±


    Tang Jie snorted, ¡°Since you like it so much, I¡¯ll let you experience it.¡±


    He struck the ground with his left hand, stirring up arge cloud of dust to obscure him. At the same time, he threw out a Mindseizer. He wanted to use the time bought by the Mindseizer to kill Helian Hu in one blow.


    But the moment Tang Jie threw out the Mindseizer, Helian Hu took out a refined beast token. A bull fiend appeared, standing in front of Helian Hu. The Mindseizer entered the bull fiend, which bitterly shrieked.


    Tang Jie was left dumbfounded by this sight. He hadn¡¯t thought Helian Hu would be hiding another refined beast.


    Yes, while Helian Hu¡¯s refined beasts had been killed, who said he couldn¡¯t get any more? And the Langya Blessed Land happened to be a ce with fiend beasts, so Helian Hu waspletely capable of catching one and refining it for use. He had intentionally not used it so it could serve as a back-up n, and it had seeded in getting in the way of Tang Jie¡¯s Mindseizer.


    The worst of all was that this bull fiend was a refined beast, so it didn¡¯t have a mind.


    The Mindseizer was not a soul attack, but an attempt at possession. It was just that it had the side effect of making the possessed temporarily lose control of their body. As Mindseizers had an extremely low chance of sess, they were mostly used as a means of dazing someone.


    But with refined beasts, things were different.


    With no soul around, the Mindseizer could easily take control of the refined beast.


    This should have been a good thing, except that it would expose the nature of Tang Jie¡¯s Mindseizers.


    In the middle of the dust, the bull fiend¡¯s veins began to bulge outward, and it seemed to be in great pain, as if its body was being distorted. Tang Jie knew that this was a result of the bull fiend being possessed by the Mindseizer, and it was in the middle of turning into a devil. And as devils had unique appearances, he would be exposed the moment it transformed.


    Helian Huughed. ¡°I heard from Lan Yu that you had a method of dazing the mind, so I prepared a countermeasure. y the earth and weave the heavens into cloth! Heavenly Garment Knife!¡±


    A savage wave of saber energy sliced toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie knew that he didn¡¯t have a choice. He threw the Heartbreak Saber into the air, and the eagle soul appeared, making the Heartbreak Saber circle in the air before chopping down on the head of the bull fiend.


    He had to kill the bull fiend before it had a chance of turning into a devil.


    But this meant that he gave up any chance of fighting against Helian Hu.


    The band of saber energy swept up to Tang Jie with a radiant splendor.


    ¡°No!¡± Xie Fengtang and Xu Miaoran cried out in rm.


    At this moment, Tang Jie suddenly raised his head and thrust out his right hand.


    Under the sunlight, a dazzling, golden splendor appeared on his palm, the light flowing like liquid across his hand andpletely encasing it.


    ¡°What is that?¡± someone called out.


    In the dust cloud, no one could get a clear view of it, but they were at least able to see that golden liquid-light.


    The manifesting golden hand thrust toward Helian Hu and his knife!


    <em>Bang!</em>


    Time seemed to stop as knife met palm.


    A thin line of blood appeared on Tang Jie¡¯s hand, but Helian Hu¡¯s knife was sent flying into the air.


    ¡°How is this possible?¡± Helian Hu cried out.


    His strongest move not only hadn¡¯t been able to kill his opponent, it hadn¡¯t even been able to cut through his hand.


    A momentter, Tang Jie rushed up to Helian Hu, clenched his golden hand into a fist, and punched Helian Hu in the face.


    ¡°Aaagh!¡± Helian Hu held his nose as he was sent flying back.


    At the same moment, a fireball came out of the forest and sted him.


    This worsened Helian Hu¡¯s injuries.


    Helian Hu shrieked, ¡°Wei Tianchong? How could that be? How?¡±


    He found it impossible to believe that Fang Shiye would be no match for Wei Tianchong, or that he would be taken care of so quickly. He felt the sudden chill of death casting its shadow over him.


    Throwing aside everything else, he ordered his surviving refined tiger to hold down Tang Jie while he fled into the forest.


    ¡°Helian Hu, don¡¯t even think about running!¡± Lan Yu said in rm.


    While he had been beating down Deng Xiaoyu, the situation had gotten far worse than he had expected.


    He knew that this was bad and was about to give up on Deng Xiaoyu and run, but at this moment, Helian Hu suddenly shot a bolt of energy from his finger, striking Lan Yu in the leg.


    It was so sudden that Lan Yu staggered, and Deng Xiaoyu was able to seize the moment to stab his spear at Lan Yu.


    Blood gushed as Lan Yu threw his head back and roared, ¡°Helian Hu!¡±


    Helian Hu snorted, ¡°Brother Lan, please hold them back for me. I will go first.¡±


    He ran into the distance without turning his head, and once he was out of sight, he activated his teleportation token.


    He had truly chosen his moment perfectly.


    Lan Yu wasn¡¯t dead yet, and so if they wanted to stop Helian Hu from teleporting, the others would have to let Lan Yu escape. Furthermore, letting Helian Hu teleport away openly in front of everyone meant that he could no longere back and threaten them.


    Weighing the pros and cons, everyone could only let him go.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but sigh in admiration. In truth, everyone here had some skill. It was just that some people had been unlucky and some people had been lucky.


    And Lan Yu clearly belonged to the ranks of the unlucky.


    He already had an injured leg, and to add insult to injury, Deng Xiaoyu even remembered to cast Stiir again.


    Tang Jie grabbed his Heartbreak Saber and began to fight with Lan Yu. In the distance, Wei Tianchong ran over with his puppet, his Darkwind Warrior going ahead to join the fray.


    Even then, Lan Yu didn¡¯t give up. He shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, there¡¯s no grudge between us, so why do you press me so hard? I know that you like Xu Miaoran, so why fight with me? If I be the pce lord¡¯s groom, wouldn¡¯t you no longer have to fight me for Xu Miaoran?¡±


    Tang Jie sneered, ¡°Firstly, your words are bullshit. Even if you seed, you wouldn¡¯t let Miaoran go. Let me tell you what you would do. You would first use your advantages to marry the young pce lord, and then you would go to Miaoran and tell her that you only did this for Horizon Ocean Pavilion, for the sect, for the Wandering Pce. You would say that you didn¡¯t have any interest in the young pce lord and that your true love was Miaoran, and other such things. Am I right?¡±


    Lan Yu froze.


    Tang Jie really had said his ns out loud.


    The biggest reason he had for marrying the young pce lord was that the sect required it. But in Lan Yu¡¯s mind, what could be better than taking two beauties for himself in the name of a virtuous cause?


    But Tang Jie clearly wasn¡¯t going to give him this chance. He went on, ¡°Secondly, I don¡¯t like you, just like how you¡¯ve never liked me. In any case, since we¡¯re enemies, we have to be enemies to the end. If you¡¯re not happy, I¡¯ll be happy. I won¡¯t give you Xu Miaoran, and I won¡¯t give you the young pce lord either. I haven¡¯t fallen so far that I would give my romantic rival a woman just to pass.¡±


    Lan Yu was both shocked and enraged.


    At this moment, Wei Tianchong threw over another fireball. Lan Yu barely dodged it before the puppet and Tang Jie attacked him from his nks.


    Unable to use the Oceancrosser Step, Lan Yu couldn¡¯t dodge, so he blocked Tang Jie¡¯s saber, allowing the puppet to smash him to the ground.


    Before he could get up, Tang Jie pointed his saber at his face.


    In the face of death, Lan Yu finally felt fear. He shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t kill me! I can concede and leave!¡±


    Deng Xiaoyu chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re dead for sure.¡±


    To his surprise, Tang Jie said, ¡°Senior Brother Deng, can you let me decide his fate?¡±


    Deng Xiaoyu was taken aback, but he ultimately nodded. ¡°It was Senior Brother Tang who saved our lives, so you can make this decision.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled, and then he turned to Lan Yu. ¡°¡®Kill you¡¯? No, I don¡¯t want to kill you. You¡¯re still a genius of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Fighting with you here can be exined as each of us fighting for our own side, but if I kill you, Horizon Ocean Pavilion might not let me go so easily. I also wouldn¡¯t kill you for Miaoran¡¯s sake.¡±


    Lan Yu breathed more easily at these words.


    ¡°But you almost made it so that Junyang wouldn¡¯t be able to advance for the rest of his life. As his brother, I have to vent his anger in his ce.¡± Tang Jie pped Lan Yu¡¯s face with the t of his saber. ¡°Your recovery speed is pretty good. Have your injuries fromst timepletely healed? It seems like surface wounds don¡¯t affect you that much. Perhaps we should use this opportunity to test this out.¡±


    He carved a cross on the left side of Lan Yu¡¯s face, and then he took out a bottle of poison from his Mustard Seed Bag and dripped it into the wound.


    This poison wouldn¡¯t kill Lan Yu, but once it got into the marrow, it could create a scar on his face that could never be healed.


    The scalding pain made Lan Yu scream. As white smoke rose from his face, Tang Jie casually said, ¡°Just go and be a genius. No need for you to be handsome too.¡± Tang Jie offending all the young maidens of Horizon Ocean Pavilion right now (except the only one that counts, of course).

 Chapter 340: Recommendation

    Chapter 340: Rmendation


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    When that cross scar had been drawn on Lan Yu¡¯s face, everyone knew that the contest was over. All that was left was garbage time.


    For Ming Yekong, it was time to leave.


    As Ming Yekong vanished into the sky, Xie Fengtang sighed.


    There was no telling when he would next be able to see Ming Yekong.


    Twelve hourster, the rest of the students left the blessednd.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect was the clear dark horse, bing the final winner, with six out of its nine people surviving to the end, each one holding a treasure¡ªone of Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s treasures had been sold to the Seven Absolutions Sect. After all, there were only two people left for the Basking Moon Sect, so keeping it around was a waste. It was better to sell it to the Seven Absolutions Sect to give them an extra spot and fatten Tang Jie¡¯s pockets.


    In this way, the contest ultimately became the Seven Absolutions Sect having six treasures, the Basking Moon Sect and Thousand Passions Sect each having two, and Godhead Pce, the Beast Refining Gate, and Horizon Ocean Pavilion not getting a single one.


    Of course, even though the Seven Absolutions Sect had six spots, this didn¡¯t mean that the Wandering Pce would choose them. In truth, in terms of strength, the Seven Absolutions Sect was still the weakest of the six sects. Rather than fighting for the Wandering Pce, Mu Yi¡¯s efforts had really been striving to gain glory for the Seven Absolutions Sect. At the very least, the Seven Absolutions Sect finally had a chance to stand at the peak of Rosecloud. If they could keep this up, their reputation would rise, and the sect would flourish.


    Mu Yi received ardent cheers from all members of the Seven Absolutions Sect. It was clear that his actions had received the approval of the Seven Absolutions Sect, and no one made trouble for him for colluding with Godhead Pce.


    But Yun Wuji wasn¡¯t that fortunate. As someone who had worked with the enemy to escape with his life, he was bound to be punished. If not for the fact that he was also a genius of Godhead Pce, he might have been executed on the spot.


    The moment Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong came out of the blessednd, Xie Fengtang came to wee them, his face grim. Behind him were the dejected figures of Peng Yaolong and the others. It was clear that Xie Fengtang had already given them a good tongueshing.


    Xie Fengtang stared at Tang Jie for a while before saying, ¡°Only someone like you could think of shedding your mortality in the Langya Blessed Land.¡±


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t expected this to be the first thing Xie Fengtang would say to him. Tang Jie awkwardly chuckled, but just when he was about to speak, Xie Fengtang added, ¡°Let¡¯s wait untilter to talk. First, let¡¯s discuss rewards and merits.¡±


    <em>So direct?</em> Tang Jie was startled.


    Xie Fengtang said, ¡°Wei Tianchong,e here.¡±


    Surprisingly, he chose to call over Wei Tianchong first.


    Wei Tianchong came forward, and Xie Fengtang gave him a hard look. ¡°I bore witness to all your actions. While you are usually mediocre, you¡¯re quite steadfast at key moments. I don¡¯t care what your reason was, but since you were able tost until the end and get a spot for my Basking Moon Sect, you have managed to preserve some of the dignity of my Basking Moon Sect. As such, you deserve a reward.¡±


    Xie Fengtang took out three bottles of True Essence Pills and gave them to Wei Tianchong. ¡°Any herbs that you gathered from the blessednd that are within your quota are yours, and any extra can be handed over without punishment. In addition, the art relic you obtained is also yours, and you are also rewarded three bottles of True Essence Pills and the chance to select a treasure that has a value of three thousand spirit coins or lower. Once you¡¯ve decided on your choice, you can tell me.¡±


    Wei Tianchong had received the Lampbearer Pagoda. When this pagoda was taken out, it could illuminate the underworld and paralyze ghosts. It was a formidable treasure for dealing with creatures of the Ghost Dao, and it was considered Wei Tianchong¡¯s official reward.


    As for the academy¡¯s reward, after some consideration, Wei Tianchong decided on a Seal Partition Stone. The Seal Partition Stone was an important material for upgrading a spell weapon into an art relic, but Wei Tianchong was getting it for Tang Jie. After getting the Seal Partition Stone, Wei Tianchong gave it to Tang Jie along with the Lampbearer Pagoda, saying, ¡°You¡¯re at Mortal Shedding now, so it¡¯s not right for you to not have a proper art relic. Since I¡¯m not at Mortal Shedding, you might as well use it.¡±


    The Lampbearer Pagoda was no big deal, but Tang Jie truly did require the Seal Partition Stone. With it, he could upgrade the Heartbreak Saber into an art relic. After all, he had gotten used to using this saber, and if he changed weapons, he would take some time to get used to it. Thus, he took them, giving Wei Tianchong the zeraven Ring in return.


    Now that Wei Tianchong had been rewarded, it was Tang Jie¡¯s turn.


    Xie Fengtang turned to Tang Jie and smiled. ¡°You put on an excellent performance in this battle, and you should have been richly rewarded. But the Seven Absolutions Sect was able toy down its formation and deal a major blow to my sect because you sold the ck Cloud Banner and dragged out the time. You cannot escape responsibility for this!¡±


    Tang Jie nodded in agreement.


    Xie Fengtang said, ¡°So you can ept being neither punished nor rewarded?¡±


    Tang Jie did not dare to say that he did not ept, hastily saying, ¡°It was all this student¡¯s error.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be in such a hurry. I¡¯m not done yet,¡± Xie Fengtang casually said. ¡°Although I¡¯m neither punishing nor rewarding you, you plundered the blessednd for the sake of advancing, far exceeding your quota. The Basking Moon Sect must pay for all of this. ording to the initial agreement, those who dare to exceed the quota must pay double the excess. Your exemption from punishment has been canceled out by your errors, so¡­¡±


    Xie Fengtang chuckled, hisughter giving Tang Jie goosebumps.


    He heard Xie Fengtang say, ¡°The value of the excess herbs you collected in the blessednd totals 16,300 spirit coins. I¡¯ll remove the tail for you, so if we double that, your penalty is 32,000 coins.¡±


    The number almost made Tang Jie ck out.


    <em>Fuck! This advance to Mortal Shedding increased my debt by more than thirty thousand?</em>


    Fortunately, Xie Fengtang added, ¡°Considering that you can¡¯t return all this money at once, why don¡¯t we do this? Didn¡¯t you bring back an art relic with you? We can use that art relic to repay your debt.¡±


    Tang Jie quickly agreed. In any case, this art relic was a support treasure that wasn¡¯t very useful for him.


    A master saw this and quietly reminded Xie Fengtang, ¡°Headmaster Xie, this art relic is worth far less than thirty thousand spirit coins.¡±


    Xie Fengtang nced at the master andnguidly replied, ¡°Mm¡­¡­ Did you say something?¡±


    The master was rmed, and then he realized what was going on. He quickly backed away while saying, ¡°No, I didn¡¯t say anything. This lowly one was merely saying that Headmaster Xie is doing a fine job, handling things with such fairness!¡±


    Xie Fengtang waved his hand and dismissed Tang Jie.


    He turned his gaze back on Peng Yaolong andpany. They all shivered and lowered their heads. Xie Fengtang said, ¡°When ites to effort, I supposed that you¡¯ve worked hard, but all of you made a grave error in being deceived into going back. Thus, I have decided that none of you will get any rewards, and you must hand over everything you gathered in the blessednd!¡±


    The students didn¡¯t dare to talk back, nodding in agreement.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t stand to watch this. Scooting up to Xie Fengtang, he said, ¡°Headmaster, the situation this time is ratherplicated¡­¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Xie Fengtang said. ¡°I admit that they had reasons for being deceived, but don¡¯t forget what ce this is.¡±


    Xie Fengtang suddenly raised his voice. ¡°This is the Immortal Fortune Conference, a gathering ce of the elite students of the six sects! Since you are elites, how can we ask the same of you as ordinary students? This choice might have beenmon for an ordinary student, but for you people, it is failure! Failure does not require a reason. When you go back, carefully think over your mistakes and learn how to use your heads!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± everyone responded in unison.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°I think that this error doesn¡¯t stem from ack of intelligence, but ack of ability. That Mu Yi was able to sense from an extremely long distance who had left, but we could not. If we were able to observe the enemy from a long distance, then Mu Yi wouldn¡¯t have been able to deceive us. Thus, in the future, everyone should devote themselves more energetically to cultivation.¡±


    His words twisted Xie Fengtang¡¯s words somewhat, and Xie Fengtang red at him. But after thinking them over, he found that they weren¡¯tpletely wrong. Perhaps from the perspective of a cultivator, many things were like this. Ack of intelligence could be made up entirely by ability, so there was no need to waste time trying to be a master schemer. Of course, on the same principle, ack of ability could only be made up for with trickery.


    For example, Tang Jie currently needed his head to make up for hisck of ability, but as he advanced and gradually built up an advantage, Tang Jie was sure that he would soon wee an era where he could resolve problems with ability.


    Tang Jie¡¯s words didn¡¯t have much significance to Xie Fengtang, but they were quite important to Peng Yaolong and the others, for it salvaged the confidence they had in their intelligence.


    Xie Fengtang felt helpless about Tang Jie, only saying, ¡°Don¡¯t just say only good things about them.¡±


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. ¡°Headmaster, I have Tianshang¡¯s quota that he traded to me. He doesn¡¯t have a quota for you to take away.¡±


    Xie Fengtang grunted, ¡°Don¡¯t try that on me. You¡¯re just finding excuses!¡±


    But once he thought about it, he decided that it was true. Tang Jie had already used up Ye Tianshang¡¯s quota. If he really got rid of everyone¡¯s quotas, Tang Jie and Ye Tianshang were both already broke, so he would be pushing both of them to the brink.


    Realizing this, Xie Fengtang finally said, ¡°Forget it. You can keep whatever you got from the blessednd within your quota, but anything over the quota must be repaid twice over!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Everyone sighed in relief when they heard that they could keep the quota, and they looked gratefully at Tang Jie.


    Once he had announced all the rewards and punishments, Xie Fengtang gave Tang Jie an item. ¡°For you.¡±


    ¡°What is this?¡± Tang Jie said in surprise.


    ¡°It¡¯s from Master Ming. See for yourself,¡± Xie Fengtang replied.


    ¡°¡®Master Ming¡¯?¡± Tang Jie was startled.


    He looked around, but he didn¡¯t see Ming Yekong anywhere.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to look,¡± Xie Fengtang sighed. ¡°He¡¯s off to prepare to charge at Violet Pce.¡±


    ¡°¡®Charge at Violet Pce¡¯?¡± Tang Jie was aghast at this news. Ming Yekong charging at Violet Pce was big news for the Basking Moon Sect. From a certain perspective, it was even more important than the ownership of the Wandering Pce.


    Xie Fengtang nodded. ¡°You know, his resolve to do it actually has to do with your Mortal Shedding. He thanks you for allowing him to understand the meaning of bravely pressing forward, so he had me give this gift to you.¡±


    When he heard Xie Fengtang¡¯s exnation, Tang Jie understood that Ming Yekong¡¯s charge at Violet Pce was actually connected to him. The problem was that he had dared to do this because he actually had He Chong giving him instructions in secret. It had nothing to do at all with an attitude of confronting mortal danger and pressing forward when everyone else would not.


    He simply wasn¡¯t that sort of person!


    The thought of his ¡°courage¡± causing Ming Yekong to make this decision made Tang Jie sweat. If Ming Yekong failed and his life was endangered, Tang Jie would be guilty of a grave crime.


    But with things being as they were, he didn¡¯t dare to say anything. He could only nod and say, ¡°Master Ming is both wise and courageous, so he will definitely be able to recover from any dire situations and turn misfortune into fortune. As they say, the heavens help the worthy.¡±


    While his words sounded nice, what he really meant to say was that this was an inherently dangerous affair and that he shouldn¡¯t be med if anything happened. Xie Fengtang understood what he was getting at and grinned. ¡°I really don¡¯t understand how a sly fellow like you managed to do something as courageous as that.¡±


    Tang Jie shamelessly replied, ¡°A gentleman has things he should do and things he should not do.¡±


    Xie Fengtang angrily replied, ¡°If you¡¯re a gentleman, then there are no lowly people in the world! Ah, forget it. Just see what Master Ming gave you.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Tang Jie opened the bundle and found a metal card inside. On the upper part of the card was a silver moon, the symbol of the Basking Moon Sect, and on the lower part was a hand holding it up. At the very bottom, a ¡°Ã÷¡± (Ming/Bright) had been carved, though its meaning was not clear.


    ¡°This is¡­?¡± Tang Jie looked questioningly at Xie Fengtang.


    Xie Fengtang replied, ¡°This is the rmendation card of the Selection Hall.¡±


    ¡°¡®Rmendation card¡¯?¡± Tang Jie was shocked by this revtion.


    Those rmended by the rmendation card could be disciples of the sect.


    Ming Yekong was the master of the Selection Hall, and his duties involved all selection matters within the sect, including the promotion of subordinates and selection of students. All of this had to go through the approval of the Selection Hall, and if Ming Yekong did not give the nod, even the most outstanding genius could not enter the sect, bing a wandering cultivator the moment they graduated.


    As for the rmendation card, it was a special privilege of members of the Selection Hall. Only the Hall Master, the Deputy Hall Masters, and the few Celestial Heart executors had the right to distribute them. Their purpose was to indicate ahead of time that the designated person could enter the sect, in addition taking some level of responsibility over them. It was essentially a rmendation letter.


    This also meant that Tang Jie had be a provisional disciple from the moment Ming Yekong had issued the rmendation card. Once the ten years were up, he could enter the sect, bing an official inner sect disciple without needing to take any additional tests.


    Although it seemed like there were no immediate benefits to being a provisional disciple, in reality, things were entirely different.


    A provisional disciple no longer needed to seek the top ten and could also enjoy the treatment and privileges that disciples enjoyed.


    For example, he could take sect missions¡ªsect missions, not school missions. And as an example of the disciple privileges he could enjoy, where before he needed the permission of the local hall master to go to Cloudflow Academy, once he was a disciple, he could pay a visit without this permission. Of course, looking through the records was still not something an ordinary disciple could do. And while a student didn¡¯t have the right to order around local officials, disciples could. Of course, that depended on the rank of the official. And disciples could even earn more contribution points than students when taking school missions.


    Finally, and most importantly¡­


    A disciple represented the Basking Moon Sect while a student represented Basking Moon Academy. There was a yawning chasm between the two!


    Thus, bing a provisional disciple meant a huge increase in status.


    To take Wei Tianchong as an example, as a True Inheritor, he only had an extremely high chance of bing a disciple, but so long as he wasn¡¯t officially a provisional disciple, he could not enjoy some of the conveniences. Other people might be polite to him out of respect for Yan Changfeng, but that had to do with courtesy. There was no rule that made it so.


    Xie Fengtang replied, ¡°Yes, this is the rmendation card of the Selection Hall, and yours was issued personally by Master Ming, so it carries a different meaning. It signifies Master Ming¡¯s dignity.¡±


    Xie Fengtang sighed. ¡°The Selection Hall has always been careful about issuing rmendation cards, with many years going by without their issuing a single one. Ever since Master Ming became master of the Selection Hall, he¡¯s only personally issued two cards in total. Yours is the third. It¡¯s not just a symbol of status, but also honor. It is also an art relic, carrying some of Master Ming¡¯s power. At a critical moment, it can unleash a full-strength attack from Master Ming, but it can only be used once. Once it is used, the bestower must recharge it. I really didn¡¯t think that Master Ming would give such a thing to you.¡±


    Tang Jie was amazed to hear of this marvelous ability, but he noticed that Xie Fengtang didn¡¯t seem very happy about this, and was left confused. He asked, ¡°It seems like Headmaster isn¡¯t very happy about my new status.¡±


    Xie Fengtang sighed again. ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want this for you, but I¡¯m a bit conflicted. This is truly an opportunity for you, as you were born in poverty andck resources, but you¡¯re able to rely on yourself to create opportunities and gain resources again and again¡­¡±


    Tang Jie went red in the face. Wasn¡¯t he saying that he was good at swindling people?


    But Xie Fengtang didn¡¯t seem to be ming him for it. On the contrary, his voice was full of praise. He had experienced a lot in his life, and he no longer quibbled over such things. When it came to people who had tricked him, so long as they stood on his side, he appreciated them. He continued, ¡°I¡¯m happy that you were able to obtain this card. The problem is that when you took this item, you were branded¡­ with Master Ming¡¯s mark.¡±


    At that moment, Tang Jie finally understood why Xie Fengtang wasn¡¯t happy.


    Factional strife again.


    Just like Yan Changfeng, Ming Yekong belonged to the radicals.


    Of the 19 Celestial Chiefs of the Basking Moon Sect, six belonged to the radical faction: the Service Hall¡¯s Yan Changfeng, the Search Hall¡¯s Liu Letian, the Tribute Hall¡¯s An Yinglong, the Selection Hall¡¯s Ming Yekong, and the Combat Department¡¯s two Hall Masters. Finally, there was the head of the Combat Department, Xiao Biehan. These seven formed the top of the radical faction¡¯s pyramid.


    Once the news got out that Tang Jie had obtained Ming Yekong¡¯s rmendation card, he would be a member of the radical faction.


    What? You said that you got their rmendation card but you don¡¯t belong to them? Don¡¯t joke around. Brother, this is called a traitor!


    Tang Jie took in a deep breath. He looked at Xie Fengtang and said, ¡°Do I have to take it?¡±


    Xie Fengtang sincerely said, ¡°Of course not, but for Master Ming¡¯s rmendation card to be refused by a mere student¡­¡±


    He paused before continuing, ¡°Master Ming might not care, but for those who follow him, this might be considered a great humiliation!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Tang Jie was at a loss. All he could say was, ¡°I would like to hear Headmaster¡¯s opinion.¡±


    Xie Fengtang thought it over and said, ¡°Originally, after we got back, I was nning to have Headmaster Feng take you as her disciple, but Master Ming was a step ahead of me and gave you his rmendation card. While my academy factioncks in strength and numbers, we firmly hold to our neutrality, so it is no longer proper for us to intervene. In the past, I would have advised you to refuse, but two years ago, when all of you attempted the Nine Pce Illusion Formation, you rmed the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk and shook the realms. The world is already showing signs of instability, and in an era of chaos, the Combat Department is king. Joining it early might not be bad for you.¡±


    ¡°An era of chaos ising?¡± Tang Jie was clearly shaken by Xie Fengtang¡¯s words.


    Xie Fengtang chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s only a possibility. The world goes between unity and division, times of great peace and of great war. After a long period of peace, it wouldn¡¯t be strange if a few wars happened. It¡¯s just that no one can be sure when that day wille. For a cultivator like me, a thousand years go by in the blink of an eye, so everything can be said to being.¡±


    He might as well have said nothing, and Tang Jie was left speechless. After some thought, he said, ¡°My ambition is to live a free life, not to kill.¡±


    Xie Fengtang replied, ¡°While you desire a free life wandering the world, that doesn¡¯t change the fact that the world is rife with terror, your path covered in thorns. If you don¡¯t have the strength to cut through the brambles, you won¡¯t be able to freely wander around at all. Take the Wandering Pce as an example. All it had was its wandering, but as itcked the strength, isn¡¯t it ultimately bing the vassal of someone else?¡±


    Tang Jie had nothing more to say. He brought his hands together in a salute and replied, ¡°This student understands. Thank you for your instruction, Headmaster Xie.¡±


    Xie Fengtang grabbed Tang Jie¡¯s hand that was holding the rmendation card and closed it, firmly saying, ¡°Starting from today, you can call yourself a disciple.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Jie firmly replied.


    A Basking Moon masterughed and said, ¡°Now that I think of it, before Tang Jie entered the academy, he boasted that he would get into the top ten, shaking the entire academy. And now, those words have actually be true, and he really has be a disciple of Basking Moon. As we can see, this grand aspiration was no empty boast!¡±


    Another Basking Moon master said, ¡°This is called amazing the world with a magnificent feat while heroic words of the past still ring in the ears! Congrattions, congrattions!¡±


    All the masters and students shouted in unison, ¡°Congrattions to Tang Jie, for entering the ranks of the sect. My Basking Moon Sect has gained another heroic talent!¡± Unfortunately, Tang Jie has been forced to enter the messy world of sect politics!

 Chapter 341: Choosing a Husband

    Chapter 341: Choosing a Husband


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    The Wandering Pce announced that everyone should first return to their quarters to rest and treat their injuries, and that in three days, the Wandering Pce would hold a grand feast for its guests, during which they would announce the young pce lord¡¯s choice and the Wandering Pce¡¯s allegiance.


    Everyone went back upon hearing this. As he was leaving, Tang Jie saw Xu Miaoran looking at him with a resentful gaze. He knew that she was unhappy that he had gotten a spot, particrly a spot that wasn¡¯t from the Stop Gate Banner. Chuckling to himself, he took out a paper crane and messaged, ¡°I didn¡¯t have any other options. Rx; the young pce lord won¡¯t choose me.¡±


    Tang Jie truly had no other choice. Horizon Ocean Pavilion had three treasures while the Basking Moon Sect had only two people. Tang Jie could let one treasure go to the Seven Absolutions Sect because of theck of manpower, but he couldn¡¯t let two of them go. This would be letting down the Basking Moon Sect.


    And so long as there were two treasures, ording to the rules, they would be automatically divided between the two. There was no such thing as Wei Tianchong taking both for himself, unless there were more treasures than people.


    Tang Jie originally could have given his spot to someone else, but everyone had run off, and then Horizon Ocean Pavilion just so happened to have three treasures. Everything had happened in such a way that Tang Jie had to take a spot. The situation had forced his hand.


    Xu Miaoran¡¯s reply came back quickly: ¡°Why?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ve used up my message talismans, so I¡¯ll tell you next time. In any case, you can rx.¡±


    Xu Miaoran rxed upon seeing this message, and she went back with the masters from Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Tang Jie watched Xu Miaoran as she left, until someone blocked his view.


    Lan Yu.


    He still had that cross-shaped scar on his face, and he was staring at Tang Jie with eyes brimming with resentment.


    Tang Jie simply chuckled in the face of this fiery gaze, not taking it seriously, and he left with Yiyi and the little tiger.


    Everyone had free time after this, free from the shadow of death and battle, but most of the students shut themselves in their rooms rather than seeking amusements on the streets.


    This life-or-death contest was actually a rare experience for all the surviving students, signifying huge growth in cultivation,bat, personality, and experience. These students were now seizing this opportunity to meditate on what they had learned, digesting their experiences. It wasn¡¯t just them. Even those students who hadn¡¯t participated, like Cai Junyang or Ping Jingyue, had profoundly benefited from spectating thepetition.


    In contrast, Tang Jie didn¡¯t have much toprehend.


    He had experienced far more life-or-death battles than the other students, and this battle¡¯s intensity wasn¡¯t worth thinking over. As he had nothing else to do, he yed around with Yiyi and the little tiger, making up for how he hadn¡¯t been with them in this period, and also used the time to solidify his cultivation.


    When he returned that night, as agreed, Mu Yi handed over the Stop Gate Banner to Tang Jie, in addition giving him twelve thousand spirit coins¡ªthe price for selling the sixth art relic. Tang Jie had nned to use this money to pay his debt, but thanks to Xie Fengtang, he could save it for a rainy day.


    On the third night, a grand banquet was held within the Wandering Pce.


    As the Wandering Pce floated in the air, for a moment, the cultivators from all around the world filled the air above Red Plum Ridge as they flew up to the pce in a magnificent spectacle.


    Tang Jie and the others apanied Xie Fengtang and the other masters up above the clouds, and only when they were inside the clouds did they realize how resplendent this celestial pce was.


    Numerous pce halls floated in the clouds, flowing with golden light. In the front was a giant gate made from white jade bricks, and lined up in front of it were two rows of golden-armored guards. These were actual disciples of the Wandering Pce, however, and not puppet guards.


    Xie Fengtang led the group in, and Tang Jie and the other students discovered that these clouds were solid. It seemed that the white fog was hiding what was truly beneath, endowing the entire ce with a heavenly mystique.


    ¡°It¡¯s quite impressive. Someone not in the know might take it for a supreme Immortal pce, the court of a cultivation realm king,¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    ¡°¡®An Immortal court¡¯?¡± Xie Fengtang scoffed. ¡°With just this? Compared to a real Immortal court, it¡¯s only a toilet at best.¡±


    The Wandering Pce guards were infuriated by these words, but they didn¡¯t dare to speak.


    Tang Jie was quite curious. ¡°Hm? Headmaster, does the Rosecloud Domain really have an Immortal court?¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Xie Fengtang hesitated for a while before saying, ¡°It did in the past, but now, it¡¯s no longer just the Rosecloud Domain, but the Court of Myriad Domains.¡±


    ¡°¡®The Court of Myriad Domains¡¯?¡± everyone eximed. ¡°A royal court that leads all the myriad domains? How can that be?¡±


    The domains of the Great Ster Chiliocosm were all like solitary isles in the ocean, and it was difficult to go between them. Even if Immortal tform Titans could do it, how could Immortal tform Titans cross all the myriad domains to lead them all?


    If the Court of Myriad Domains was really capable of this, didn¡¯t that mean that it had tens of thousands of Immortal tform Titans under itsmand?


    The number alone gave everyone chills.


    Xie Fengtang firmly nodded. ¡°Yes, but it doesn¡¯t exist now.¡±


    ¡°¡®Doesn¡¯t exist¡¯? How did that happen?¡± everyone asked.


    Xie Fengtang shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know either. It¡¯s a secret matter from far in the past. Too many truths have been lost in the river of time. Unless you canprehend the Dao of Time and trace things back to the origin, you will never know the answer to countless riddles.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Tang Jie suddenly recalled the scene he had seen when unlocking the Parting ssic¡ªin the infinite void, a giant person spanned the heavens, furiously bellowing at a supreme pce¡­


    As they were talking, the group passed through the gate. A long bridge appeared before them.


    This bridge was carved from jade and was about one hundred meters long. Atop the bridge were three beautiful viewing pavilions. The rails of the bridge were carved with animal heads¡ª128 to each side. On the left were birds while on the right were terrestrial beasts, and each head was unique.


    As they stepped onto the bridge and looked down, they saw a ck river slowly flowing beneath.


    ¡°This is the Yin River, the Wandering Pce¡¯s guardian river. If this water touches your skin, at your current level of cultivation, it won¡¯t take forty-five minutes until you¡¯repletely shriveled up,¡± Xie Fengtang said.


    He looked at Tang Jie and added, ¡°You mightst for fifteen minutes more.¡±


    Everyone trembled, and Ye Tianshang sighed, ¡°Beneath all the splendor is boundless lethality. This is the real face of Immortals.¡±


    Xie Fengtang chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s good that you understand.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was looking at the animal heads on the bridge, finding them very lifelike. As he was walking, he met the eyes of a monkey head and then gave it a p. The monkey head slowly turned and stared at him.


    Wei Tianchong said in rm, ¡°It¡¯s looking at me!¡±


    Everyone turned to look, but Xie Fengtang kept walking. ¡°These are the Yin River Nether Beasts, guardian beasts that the Wandering Pce has refined to protect the Yin River. Each one has the power of a peak Mortal Shedding cultivator.¡±


    They thought about what would happen if some unlucky soul tried to walk across this bridge and was ambushed by these 256 Nether Beasts. Even a Celestial Heart True Person might die on the spot.


    Tang Jie saw those Nether Beasts standing still like statues. He had a sudden idea, and pressed his hand on the leg of a Nether Beast as if he was admiring it. The golden needle emerged from his palm and silently pierced into the Nether Beast. Bound by a formation, the Nether Beast couldn¡¯t attack, but it suddenly scowled and angrily red at Tang Jie. Tang Jie didn¡¯t care. Through his will, the needle became hollow, and a drop of blood flowed out and fell into the bottle Tang Jie had hidden in his sleeve.


    cing the needle under his nose and sniffing, Tang Jie immediately confirmed that the Nether Beast blood was a superb spiritual material, though he wasn¡¯t sure what it was good for yet. Thus, he began to gather drops of blood while walking.


    By the time they were at the end of the bridge, Tang Jie had taken the blood of several dozen Nether Beasts, getting almost an entire bottle of blood. Tang Jie was nning to go back in a while for more when Xie Fengtang suddenly said, ¡°Nether Beast blood can¡¯t be replenished, so you should stop here. Haaa, you need to control this habit of yours of trying to pluck feathers from every passing goose. After all, this ce isn¡¯t the Basking Moon Sect.¡±


    Tang Jie went red in the face and silently dropped his head.


    The others only then realized what Tang Jie had been doing. Wei Tianchong curiously asked Tang Jie, ¡°Why were you getting Nether Beast blood? What does it look like? Let me see.¡±


    Tang Jie wiped the blood on the needle onto Wei Tianchong. ¡°Oh, this is it.¡±


    There was a hiss as white smoke erupted from Wei Tianchong¡¯s hand, causing Wei Tianchong to wince in pain. He wanted to cry out, but he didn¡¯t dare, so he endured it.


    Tang Jie was given a fright from his reaction. Fortunately, he had been careful and hadn¡¯t touched it. Forcing back his smile, he dropped his head and obediently followed behind Xie Fengtang.


    After stepping off the bridge, they walked some more and finally arrived before a resplendent pce. Tables made from white jade had been arranged in front of it,den with various fruits in dishes of colored crystal. Countless maids went to and fro, and when the guests were seated, they would be liberally served drinks. There were also dancing girls singing and dancing.


    ¡°This is extravagant to the extreme,¡± a student blurted out.


    A feast of such scale and magnificence was rare to see, even in the cultivation world.


    Tang Jie casually said, ¡°It¡¯s not strange. This feast is thest feast the Wandering Pce will hold as a free state. It¡¯s basically like a banquet being held to send off a daughter. They¡¯re both marrying off the young pce lord and also marrying off themselves. That being the case, why shouldn¡¯t they have onest moment of glory?¡±


    Everyone froze. Only then did they realize that behind this grandeur was the misery of a curtain about to fall on a major cultivation organization. Perhaps they were simply using the resplendence to cover up the pain in their hearts.


    Recalling Tang Jie¡¯s conduct just now, would they have allowed him to act so brazenly if they were still a dignified free sect?


    They were ultimately going to be married off and take shelter under someone else. They no longer cared about such external things.


    Realizing this, Tang Jie suddenly felt like he had taken too little.


    He would find another time to get something else. The Wandering Pce was probably at its most generous and most uncaring. If he didn¡¯t take advantage of it now, when would he?


    Everyone had no idea of the petty thoughts running around in his head. They followed Xie Fengtang to their assigned seats.


    The feast hadn¡¯t started yet, so Tang Jie made the excuse of ¡°looking around¡± to leave. He then began to stroll around the Wandering Pce, acting as if he was taking in the sights.


    As he was looking around with his thieving eyes, he suddenly heard a snort behind him.


    He turned around and saw that Xu Miaoran was standing there.


    ¡°Miaoran?¡± Tang Jie said in delight. He was about to embrace her when Xu Miaoran backed away and pointed at him.


    ¡°You still haven¡¯t exined to me why you got into the top ten.¡±


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. ¡°I ran out of long-range message talismans, so I couldn¡¯t finish exining.¡±


    Xu Miaoran snorted. ¡°Then you had best exin everything now, or else you won¡¯t need any more message talismans.¡±


    Helpless, Tang Jie could only say, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you right now.¡±


    Looking around to make sure that no one was around, Tang Jie got closer to Xu Miaoran and said, ¡°The young pce lord is a fake.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Xu Miaoran looked at Tang Jie in shock.


    Tang Jie firmly nodded, telling Xu Miaoran what he had heard that night.


    Xu Miaoran didn¡¯t get it. ¡°Even if the young pce lord is fake, what does that have to do with you? How can you be so sure that the young pce lord won¡¯t choose you?¡±


    ¡°Silly.¡± Tang Jie tapped her nose. ¡°If the true pce lord were choosing a groom, the Wandering Pce might consider her feelings, as her love might influence the future of the Wandering Pce. But the influence of the fake pce lord?¡±


    Xu Miaoran froze for a moment, and then she said in realization, ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re saying¡­ It¡¯s still the Wandering Pce that¡¯s making the decision?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s grin grew wider. ¡°Correct.¡±


    The Wandering Pce, in order to push off responsibility and avoid being squeezed between the six major sects, had given the power to choose in the Immortal Fortune Conference to the young pce lord. But at the time, Tang Jie had found it rather absurd that the sessor would decide something so significant, and through the method of choosing a husband. It was irresponsible for both the young pce lord and for the Wandering Pce.


    But when he found out that the young pce lord was a fake, all the questions were answered. Since the one being presented was a fake pce lord, the nature of the eventpletely changed. It was not the young pce lord¡¯s choice deciding the future allegiance of the Wandering Pce, but the Wandering Pce¡¯s allegiance deciding the choice of the fake pce lord.


    The cause and effect werepletely flipped around.


    ¡°So what about it?¡± Xu Miaoran still didn¡¯t understand.


    Tang Jie answered, ¡°An individual has their own thoughts and a sect has its choice. If the pce lord were choosing a husband, she would definitely choose the handsomest and most capable, like Lan Yu. But if the Wandering Pce is choosing a sect, it won¡¯t do this. It will definitely choose the one that offers the most benefits.¡±


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    ¡°And who would that be?¡±


    ¡°From the look of it, Godhead Pce made them quite a few promises, and the Wandering Pce would probably have chosen them. But none of them got into the top ten, so that puts an end to that. The Wandering Pce can only choose from the remaining three sects. If I were the lord of the Wandering Pce, I would choose the Seven Absolutions Sect.¡±


    ¡°¡®The Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Jie firmly nodded. ¡°For the Wandering Pce, the best choice isn¡¯t necessarily the strongest sect, but the one that gives the most. In this aspect, the Seven Absolutions Sect is the better choice. While their individualbat power is truly the weakest among the six sects, theirprehensivebat power isn¡¯t weak at all. They¡¯re weak in tournaments because of the rules, but in actual battle, the Seven Absolutions Sect doesn¡¯t have so many limitations. Thus, when ites to the strength of the backer, the Seven Absolutions Sect isn¡¯tcking. And when ites to wealth, the Seven Absolutions Sect tops the six major sects. At the Seven Absolutions Sect, the same mission will pay out much more. Most importantly, since the Seven Absolutions Sect is weaker, it would value the Wandering Pce more than the other sects.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Xu Miaoran appeared enlightened. ¡°No wonder you made a deal with the Seven Absolutions Sect. You knew that the Seven Absolutions Sect would win so long as it had a single treasure, right?¡±


    ¡°Right!¡± Tang Jie confirmed. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize it at first, but I gradually came to understand. When the Taiyi Profound rity Cup fell into the hands of the Seven Absolutions Sect, the Seven Absolutions Sect had actually already won. It was just that they themselves didn¡¯t realize it. Once I understood, I knew that there was no point in fighting with them, so I moved to working with them. Otherwise, when I had Mu Yi at my mercy that day, why would I have woken him up? Just because of those four Seven Absolutions Sect students? I was confident that I could take them all on my own!¡±


    These words were backed by a powerful self-confidence.


    Xu Miaoran red at Tang Jie and whispered, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, why did you scar my Senior Brother Lan¡¯s face? Do you know how many junior and senior sisters are heartbroken because of him?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Who made him fight over a woman with me? And not only that, he tried to hurt my brother. I couldn¡¯t just let that be.¡±


    Xu Miaoran kicked him. ¡°He hates you to death for this.¡±


    Despite her rebukes, deep down, she was touched by his words.


    Tang Jie calmly replied, ¡°I¡¯m not afraid. I did this for the sake of the Basking Moon Sect. If the heavense down, the Basking Moon Sect will be there to hold them up.¡±


    He had personally promised Xie Fengtang that he would eliminate the most handsome, so the face-scarring was clearly to take care of an opponent of the sect. Thus, Tang Jie didn¡¯t need to do anything. The Basking Moon Sect would ensure that Lan Yu had no chance to take revenge. Moreover, even if the Basking Moon Sect didn¡¯t do anything, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t afraid of him.


    Xu Miaoran still couldn¡¯t rest easy, asking, ¡°Then what if the Wandering Pce chooses the Basking Moon Sect for another reason?¡±


    The Basking Moon Sect had only two students, and there was no way the fake pce lord would choose Wei Tianchong.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Quite a few people know about our rtionship. I¡¯m sure that no matter what sort of developments are taking ce in the Wandering Pce, they wouldn¡¯t be so stupid as to pick me. If they really do that, then they can¡¯t me me for being heartless and exposing their fake. I¡¯ll use that as an excuse to withdraw from the struggle, and then let¡¯s see what they do!¡±


    He spoke rather loudly, such that a maid was able to hear it.


    The maid quietly walked past Tang Jie, made a turn, and vanished.


    Xu Miaoran noticed that Tang Jie had been staring at the maid. After some thought, she understood and asked, ¡°So your message was passed on?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled and pinched her chest as he said, ¡°If my senior brothers had been more capable, I wouldn¡¯t have been forced to bring back a spot. Rx. It will be fine.¡±


    Looking at the sincere look on Tang Jie¡¯s face, Xu Miaoran felt an inexplicable sense of confidence.


    As they chatted, the banquet finally began.


    Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran returned to their seats. The Wandering Pce Lord had already taken her seat on the raised tform, and seated a little lower down was the young pce lord, her face covered by a veil.


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart thumped when he saw the figure of the fake young pce lord. For some reason, he found her familiar.


    The Wandering Pce Lord raised her hand, and the lively conversation died away.


    The pce lord thanked everyone foring to offer their congrattions, and spoke about other customary things, like how this Immortal Fortune Conference was an immense sess. When the time was right, she finally got to the point.


    ¡°In this struggle over the ten treasures, my Wandering Pce witnessed the talents of the students from the six major sects. All of them are bursting with talent, dragons among men. For a young maiden to pick a husband from among them is truly a blessing of three lifetimes. But this is ultimately the decision of the young maiden, and it is not right for us to make the choice for her. Thus, we will allow the young maiden herself to announce the rest.¡±


    Everyone looked toward the veiled young pce lord.


    The young pce lord was quiet for a moment, and then she began to speak. ¡°In this struggle over the ten treasures¡­¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart jumped when he heard this voice.


    The young pce lord went on, ¡°Those who performed the best were the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s Tang Jie, the Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s Mu Yi and Lin Wang, and the Thousand Passions Sect¡¯s Deng Xiaoyu and Mu Yu. This noble self has carefully selected from among these talented men, and the one chosen to be my husband for the rest of my life is¡­¡±


    She suddenly looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart dropped, and he blurted out, ¡°No!¡±


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡±


    A voice like the warbling of an oriole resounded through the venue. Ah, poor little Tang Jie, so confident that things would work out. Little did he know¡­ He¡¯s definitely sleeping on the couch tonight.

 Chapter 342: Excuse for Putting Off

    Chapter 342: Excuse for Putting Off


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    As these two words were announced, there was first silence, and then there was ardent apuse.


    Only Tang Jie sat in a daze on his seat, staring in shock at the young pce lord.


    Shen Qingdan!


    It was the real Shen Qingdan!


    But wasn¡¯t the Wandering Pce supposed to push out a fake?


    Why had it suddenly used the real one?


    Turning his head, he saw Xu Miaoran also staring in shock.


    Their eyes met, and then Xu Miaoran moved her mouth. Tang Jie could clearly tell that she was saying, ¡°Let¡¯s see what you do about this!¡±


    Panicking, Tang Jie stood up and said, ¡°How could Tang Jie ever be virtuous or capable enough to match with the Wandering Pce¡¯s golden child? Young Pce Lord, could you have said the wrong name?¡±


    The venue instantly fell silent. Everyone looked at Tang Jie, even Xie Fengtang staring at him in shock.


    The Wandering Pce Lord snorted, ¡°Tang Jie, what do you mean by this? Is it that my daughter isn¡¯t good enough for you?¡±


    Tang Jie ced a fist in his hand and replied, ¡°I would not dare. But Tang Jie is currently a servant student, and this lowly status does not match that of the young pce lord and may hinder her.¡±


    ¡°¡®A servant student¡¯?¡± The Wandering Pce Lord¡¯s pitch rose. It was clear that she didn¡¯t know that Tang Jie was actually a servant student.


    Tang Jie saw a way out. He had just been trying to stall and lower his status, but seeing that it had worked, he quickly said, ¡°Yes, my master is Wei Tianchong. Pce Lord may ask someone else if you do not believe me.¡±


    The Wandering Pce Lord looked around and saw everyone nod, and even Xie Fengtang had nothing to say. It was clear that Tang Jie had not been lying, and she grimaced.


    It was not proper for a groom to be another person¡¯s servant. More importantly, the Wandering Pce would fall in status, and the Wei n would theoretically be the master.


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    A mortal n bing the master of a cultivation organization? Others would be guffawing at the Wandering Pce¡¯s expense if this got out.


    The Wandering Pce Lord turned to the young pce lord and said, ¡°Qing¡¯er, I think we need to reconsider this.¡±


    But surprisingly, the young pce lord replied, ¡°My choice has already been announced to the world, so how can it be so easily changed? Even if he is marked down as a servant, that does not mean he cannot escape this status. So long as he works hard, there will be a solution.¡±


    The Wandering Pce Lord considered these words.


    She had also seen Tang Jie¡¯s performance, and she had initially had no objections to her daughter¡¯s choice. And by not using the fake, they avoided leaving an opening to exploit. The Thousand Passions Sect had already hinted that they knew of that matter and were going to threaten them over it for some advantages, which had only confirmed the Wandering Pce Lord¡¯s decision to switch back in the real one. But she hadn¡¯t expected that Tang Jie would be a servant student, putting her in a dilemma.


    The Wandering Pce Lord said, ¡°My Wandering Pce emphasizes talent, not background. There is no harm in being a servant student. As your master is present, we can simply have him relieve you of your servitude. If there is any loss suffered, my Wandering Pce can paypensation.¡±


    Wei Tianchong quickly said, ¡°I don¡¯t have a problem with it. Actually, I really haven¡¯t been treating Tang Jie as a ser¡­ Hey, why are you kicking me?¡±


    Wei Tianchong grabbed his leg in pain while Tang Jie callously said, ¡°Young Master, don¡¯t talk nonsense. Did you forget about the oath I made to thedy?¡±


    ¡°¡®Oath¡¯? What oath?¡± Wei Tianchong said in surprise.


    Shi Meng answered, ¡°When thedy was selecting servant students. Young Master, you were unconscious at the time. In order to get into the academy, Tang Jie swore on his Heart Demon that he would not shed his status as a servant until Young Master shed your mortality, and that he would not leave the family register until Young Master reached Celestial Heart.¡±


    Wei Tianchong finally remembered, and Tang Jie sighed in relief, mentally giving Shi Meng a thumbs-up for speaking up for him. These words carried more weight than if Tang Jie had exined it himself.


    Sure enough, the Wandering Pce Lord grimaced. ¡°How could he have made an oath like this?¡±


    Since Tang Jie had a Heart Demon Oath, not even the Wandering Pce Lord could force the issue.


    The Heart Demon Oath that had once bound Tang Jie had now saved him, and Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but sigh in relief. Bowing, he said, ¡°How could a lowly servant student like mepare to a phoenix like the young pce lord? I presume that the Wandering Pce intends to join my Basking Moon Sect, thus allowing Tang Jie this immense kindness. In truth, besides Tang Jie, there was another person more suitable for the young pce lord: my young master.¡±


    He pointed at Wei Tianchong, who froze as his chubby and dumbfounded face became the center of attention.


    Tang Jie proudly said, ¡°My young master is intelligent and gifted. He was born with a precocious nature, learning to read at three and studying martial arts at five¡­¡±


    He began to make all sorts of exaggerated boasts about Wei Tianchong, turning Wei Tianchong into a genius not seen even once every three thousand years, exaggerating to an absolutely shameless level.


    Wei Tianchong was dizzy, asking Shi Meng, ¡°Is this me?¡±


    Shi Meng sneered, ¡°Is this even a human?¡±


    Of course, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t hoping that his words would deceive anyone, but this was the only way he could make the other side understand that he had no interest in her daughter. Whether it was in terms of status or emotions, they weren¡¯t a match for each other, so it would be best for everyone if she withdrew.


    Tang Jie had to do this to make his thoughts in, even if he ended up offending the Wandering Pce.


    Sure enough, the Wandering Pce Lord slowly turned angry as he went on, finally saying, ¡°Who to choose is the Wandering Pce¡¯s business. Your input is not required!¡±


    She turned to her daughter to advise her, but the young pce lord said, ¡°Young Master Tang, are you saying all this because you don¡¯t want to marry me, or because you can¡¯t marry me?¡±


    Tang Jie was about to speak when Xie Fengtang chimed in, ¡°Young Pce Lord, do not misunderstand. Tang Jie is saying all this for the Wandering Pce. If you asked him if he personally had any objections, how could he possibly not be willing?¡±


    He gave Tang Jie a look.


    Tang Jie mentally groaned.


    The young pce lord¡¯s choice wouldn¡¯t just decide her lifelong partner, but also the allegiance of the Wandering Pce. But this was exactly why it really wasn¡¯t up to Tang Jie. If Tang Jie really dared to say, ¡°I don¡¯t want to marry you! I just came here for the Stop Gate Banner!¡±, then he would be dead for sure, despite his new status as a provisional disciple.


    Xie Fengtang was speaking up as a warning to Tang Jie to stop making excuses.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie¡¯s status was a real problem, and Tang Jie could only hope that the young pce lord would change her mind.


    The young pce lord nced at Tang Jie and suddenly removed her veil, revealing her delicate and beautiful face. It was none other than the girl he had met at the site of Shu Mingyang¡¯s death, a natural beauty.


    The crowd below sighed in wonder at the sight of her face. The young pce lord dered, ¡°Since Young Master Tang is a registered servant and is temporarily bound by an oath, then we can first set down an engagement.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Jie was taken aback.


    The young pce lord continued, ¡°As cultivators, we spend many years in cultivation and care little about the passing of time. I sought a person of my age simply so that I could have a kindred spirit that I could grow old together with. In truth, given our ages, there is no need to rush for achievements. Since it is currently not convenient for Young Master Tang, then we can first set up an engagement contract. We can then hold the wedding once you are no longer a servant. Of course, once the engagement is set, the Wandering Pce will belong to Sageheart.¡±


    ¡°Nothing could be better!¡± Xie Fengtang pped his hands and shouted upon hearing thosest words.


    He was only concerned about the Wandering Pce¡¯s allegiance. When he first heard the young pce lord¡¯s words, he initially thought that she was going to use this as a chance to dy, his face growing glum. But when he heard thosest words, he sighed in relief. So long as the Wandering Pce joined Sageheart, he really didn¡¯t care what happened with Tang Jie and the young pce lord.


    When Xie Fengtang voiced his approval, Tang Jie knew that he was finished. The young pce lord¡¯s proposal had left him no reason to refuse, nor did he have the right to refuse. He turned to Xu Miaoran, whose face had already turned into a sheet of ice.


    The young pce lord smiled. ¡°I have not yet heard Young Master Tang¡¯s opinion.¡±


    Tang Jie knew that she probably really was just asking to hear his opinion, but he still couldn¡¯t help but break into a sweat. But as everyone was watching, he could only nod. ¡°This¡­ is perfect.¡±


    His agreement was so pained that it seemed like someone was forcing his head down. Countless students privately grumbled, <em>I¡¯ll take it if you don¡¯t want it!</em>


    The matter was ended there.


    The students and masters from the various sects offered their congrattions. Many of them were envious of Tang Jie, but when they saw his sorrowful appearance, they secretly rejoiced, and their envy was somewhat reduced. On the contrary, they came up and gave him well wishes like ¡°May husband and wife share loving affection,¡± ¡°May you have marital bliss,¡± ¡°May you have a blissful life,¡± and ¡°May you have a son soon.¡±


    Wei Tianchong giggled as he came up, and Tang Jie red at him. ¡°You also find this funny?¡±


    Frightened, Wei Tianchong was unable to say any sort of congrattory words. After a long while, he finally squeezed out, ¡°Then I suppose¡­ restrain your grief and ept your fate, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Pfft!¡± Peng Yaolong and Cai Junyang spat out their drinks.


    Tang Jie¡¯s face swelled into an eggnt.


    After all the well-wishers had finally left, Tang Jie found some time to quickly walk over to Xu Miaoran.


    Xu Miaoran saw himing and turned to leave.


    Tang Jie frantically grabbed her and said, ¡°Miaoran, listen to me!¡±


    Xu Miaoran continued walking without turning her head. ¡°If you want to say that you don¡¯t love her, I already know. Do you still remember what you said to Senior Brother Lan? I don¡¯t want those words toe out of your mouth again.¡±


    Tang Jie wanted to give himself a p on the face, but he could only chase Xu Miaoran down, exining, ¡°Miaoran, the Wandering Pce has already joined Sageheart, but the engagement is far in the future. Trust me! I¡¯ll find a way to solve this!¡±


    Xu Miaoran stopped.


    A female student walked by and red at Tang Jie. She said to Xu Miaoran, ¡°Miaoran, just ignore him. This Tang Jie isn¡¯t some good person. He¡¯s already the groom of the Wandering Pce, and now he¡¯sing to make trouble for you.¡±


    ¡°Right, right! And he even ruined Senior Brother Lan¡¯s face. This is a humiliation to my Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and once today is past, we definitely have to seek justice for him!¡± another female student said.


    Surprisingly, Xu Miaoran turned and said to her, ¡°Scarring his face is ¡®a humiliation to Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯? When did Senior Brother Lan¡¯s face be the face of Horizon Ocean Pavilion? Ji Miaoting, I know that you have a crush on Senior Brother Lan. It¡¯s your business if you want to have a crush on Senior Brother Lan, and if you want to seek justice for Senior Brother Lan, seek Tang Jie yourself. Why use me as your shield? I don¡¯t need you to give your opinion on my rtionship with Tang Jie.¡±


    ¡°You!¡± The female student scowled. But Xu Miaoran had a special status, and this girl didn¡¯t dare to anger her, so she could only stomp off in a huff. The other female student saw the situation and knew that attempts at provocation would have only the opposite effect, so she fell silent.


    But all this made Xu Miaoran finallye to a stop, and when she looked at Tang Jie, she suddenly startedughing.


    This sudden turn from anger toughter left Tang Jie baffled. As he stared at Xu Miaoran in a daze, he heard Xu Miaoran gently say, ¡°Actually, all your excuses proved your sincerity. Hearing you say all that in front of so many people, offending the Wandering Pce and the Basking Moon Sect, actually made me quite happy.¡±


    She spoke thosest words very softly, and Tang Jie was left stunned.


    It turned out that she had understood what he was trying to do.


    Xu Miaoran added, ¡°But that doesn¡¯t change the reality. This was all due to your carelessness, and it seems like I believed in all your promises in vain. You¡¯re such a schemer normally, making everyone dance to your tune, but at a crucial moment like this, you just so happened to miscalcte. Truly, a pointless joke, and you made me lose face as well as you.¡± She gave Tang Jie a kick before saying, ¡°I¡¯m annoyed, so I don¡¯t want to talk to you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll definitely take care of this matter. An engagement can be set, but it can also be removed!¡± Tang Jie solemnly said.


    They were still at the venue and being watched by countless people. If it weren¡¯t formon courtesy, these people would have been so close to the pair that their ears would have been pressed right up to their faces.


    For Tang Jie to set an engagement with the Wandering Pce¡¯s young pce lord and then immediately go to speak with a fiend woman of Horizon Ocean Pavilion was extremely disrespectful to the Wandering Pce. But the young pce lord didn¡¯t seem angry. She had put her veil back on, preventing others from seeing her face, and whenever her exposed eyes took an asional nce at Tang Jie, they were devoid of emotion.


    Xu Miaoran was still listening to Tang Jie talk. She turned to look and saw that everyone else from Horizon Ocean Pavilion seemed to have no intention of waiting for her, the masters having already left. She whispered, ¡°Let¡¯s save anything else you have to say forter. I trust you, so don¡¯t disappoint me.¡±


    She stuffed a stack of message talismans into Tang Jie¡¯s hand and left.


    Once Xu Miaoran was gone, Tang Jie became absentminded, not even knowing how he had returned to his seat.


    The celebrants gradually dispersed. Whether their intentions had been sincere or faked, they were ultimately just guests. Tang Jie found that all the other guests in the Wandering Pce had gone, even those of the Basking Moon Sect. And nobody had told him that they were going, leaving him here all by himself.


    Tang Jie knew that this was intentional, creating an opportunity for him and the young pce lord¡ªthe engagement was set, but they hadn¡¯t even had a proper conversation yet.


    Before leaving, Xie Fengtang gave Tang Jie a sharp re, a warning to Tang Jie. It appeared that if Tang Jie dared to say once he exited the hall that the engagement had been undone, he would be in for a nasty time.


    Even the Wandering Pce delegation had few people left. The Wandering Pce Lord had already left, leaving only the young pce lord and four maids.


    The two of them exchanged a nce, neither of them saying a word.


    After a while, the young pce lord waved her hand. ¡°All of you, withdraw.¡±


    The four maids withdrew, and Shen Qingdan once more removed her veil. ¡°Qingdan pays respects to her husband!¡±


    Tang Jie coldly replied, ¡°We¡¯re only engaged, so I can¡¯t be considered your husband yet. You don¡¯t need to be so polite about it.¡±


    Disrespectful from the start! It turns out that Tang Jie¡¯s first foray into sect politics is a political marriage! One that he is desperately trying to avoid. But at least Xu Miaoran has bought his exnation for now.

 Chapter 343: Ending

    Chapter 343: Ending


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    Shen Qingdan¡¯s eyes glinted, and she said in an aggrieved tone, ¡°It seems that Young Master Tang really doesn¡¯t like me one bit. And here I thought that Young Master actually liked me when you saved me that one time outside of Red Plum Ridge.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Then I truly regret that time when I foolishly helped you stop that attack,¡± Tang Jie rudely replied. The best way to end a woman¡¯s romantic pursuits was to shatter her delusions.


    Seeing that she couldn¡¯t make Tang Jie recall his empathetic heart, Shen Qingdan changed her tone, smiling and saying, ¡°But I was very happy about it. If not for that incident, I would not have chosen Young Master Tang. Who asked you to be so impulsive, pressing me underneath your body? Now that we¡¯ve shared a physical rtionship, it¡¯s not proper for me to be with anyone else.¡±


    When Tang Jie had saved Shen Qingdan, he really had pressed her under his body, though he hadn¡¯t expected her to im it as the reason to choose him as her husband. But despite her soft tone, her eyes were clear and resolved. She clearly had her own thoughts on the matter, not at all like a woman who wanted to be with a man for the rest of her life simply because she had been hugged once.


    Realizing this, Tang Jie replied, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, since we¡¯re already that intimate, let¡¯s deepen our rtionship!¡±


    He strode toward Shen Qingdan.


    Shen Qingdan was clearly rmed by Tang Jie¡¯s actions, and there was no way she could really let Tang Jiee over and embrace her. She waved her jade-like hand, and a cloudy sleeve floated up to form a wall between the two of them.


    Tang Jie used the Chaoswind Step to bypass the sleeve wall. Appearing in front of Shen Qingdan, he reached out to grab her while saying, ¡°Young Pce Lord, there¡¯s no need to be so distant.¡±


    Shen Qingdan was aghast. She raised her arm to thrust her palm at Tang Jie, her palm shining with a jade-like luster.


    But Tang Jie was ready, sneering as Shen Qingdan made ready to attack, ¡°The Jade Pearl Hand? That¡¯s perfect. I have a Jade Shattering Finger.¡±


    He thrust out a finger, striking Shen Qingdan¡¯s palm. She cried out, her face wincing in pain, and this was only because Tang Jie was holding back. A momentter, Tang Jie grabbed her wrist while the other hand reached for her waist, coldly saying, ¡°If a beauty wants it, then I should grant her wish and grow a little closer.¡±


    He moved his mouth toward Shen Qingdan¡¯s face.


    ¡°No!¡± Shen Qingdan shouted.


    Tang Jie¡¯s mouth stopped one centimeter from Shen Qingdan¡¯s face, and he calmly stared at her.


    The girl¡¯s chest heaved up and down a few times before she finally said, ¡°Let me go, and I¡¯ll tell you why I chose you.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to say anything. I already understand,¡± Tang Jie coldly said. ¡°The Immortal Fortune Conference hassted for about a month, and over such a long period, there¡¯s no reason the Wandering Pce shouldn¡¯t have found everything about all the participating students. You should have realized my servant student status long ago. For you to still choose me despite the circumstances can only mean that you were aiming at exactly this status, yes?¡±


    While they might have been able to deceive Tang Jie initially, Tang Jie would have had to be a fool if he couldn¡¯t understand after being given some time. The other party had clearly prepared for this. They wanted nothing more than to use Tang Jie¡¯s status to dy, which was why the young pce lord had made a decision so quickly after learning his status to change to an engagement. If one considered how natural and unrestrained her words had been and considered all the other abnormalities, there was no doubt that they hade prepared. This was how Tang Jie had noticed that something was wrong.


    The only thing he didn¡¯t get was¡­


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you dy the Wandering Pce joining a faction along with it?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    The young pce lord coldly replied, ¡°Do you really think the six major sects would allow that? It¡¯s not like you didn¡¯t see Xie Fengtang¡¯s expression when I talked about putting off the engagement, like that of a ravenous dog. Mother has already given up on thoughts of freedom and is only thinking about me.¡±


    ¡°Then why pick me? Even if you wanted to dy, others would do just fine. As for a reason, you can just find one, and if you really can¡¯t find one, you can just create one. So long as you¡¯re willing to pay, are you really worried about not finding a suitable person?¡±


    The young pce lord arched her brows. ¡°You think that thisdy didn¡¯t try? My Wandering Pce got in touch with Godhead Pce long ago, and so long as any one person from Godhead Pce got one of the ten treasures, thisdy would select him, even preparing a fake young pce lord for them so that they could really get married. But because of you, Godhead Pce waspletely wiped out, not a single person making it through!¡±


    It turned out that the fake young pce lord had been prepared for Godhead Pce. It was no wonder the Wandering Pce hadn¡¯t feared discovery, for Godhead Pce understood this. They only wanted the Wandering Pce, so they didn¡¯t mind the fake young pce lord. As for Godhead Pce and the Wandering Pce privately colluding with each other, this was made obvious by all those Goldte Soldiers across Red Plum City.


    ¡°If there¡¯s no Godhead Pce, there¡¯s still the Thousand Passions Sect and the Seven Absolutions Sect,¡± Tang Jie replied. He could understand why the young pce lord hadn¡¯t chosen Wei Tianchong, for Wei Tianchong¡¯s image really didn¡¯t put him in thepetition, at least whenpared to those of the other two sects.


    To his surprise, the young pce lord sneered, ¡°I can¡¯t believe you can even say that! The remaining two sects are the ones I hate the most. The entire thing about the fake young pce lord was found out by the Thousand Passions Sect, but while it was fine for them to know, they only knew half the truth and thought that they could use it to threaten us, so they gave us the very lowest bid. They really thought that they could get whatever they wanted from us! My mother couldn¡¯t possibly agree to their terms.¡±


    ¡°Then the Seven Absolutions Sect?¡±


    ¡°¡®The Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯? I, Shen Qingdan, would rather die than join with someone from the Seven Absolutions Sect!¡± Shen Qingdan¡¯s reaction was far more intense than Tang Jie had anticipated. It appeared that she utterly loathed the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    But the Seven Absolutions Sect itself didn¡¯t seem aware of this, or else Mu Yi wouldn¡¯t have fought so hard. Even if he wasn¡¯t the most handsome, he might have still privately hoped that the young pce lord was someone who thought that it was what was inside that counted.


    Tang Jie was astonished by Shen Qingdan¡¯s stance, asking, ¡°Why is that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all because of those damn Wang siblings,¡± Shen Qingdan spat.


    ¡°¡®The Wang siblings¡¯?¡± Tang Jie was confused.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Shen Qingdan replied. ¡°The Wang siblings are the most infuriating of people. The younger sister, Wang Yun, is a student of Heart Severing Pavilion and is a most petty and conniving person, always spying on other people and trying to learn their secrets, relying on the power of her strong older brother to do as she pleases. Her big brother is called Wang Juemie, and he¡¯s the most outstanding genius in the younger generation of the Seven Absolutions Sect. He¡¯s already reached peak Mortal Shedding and cultivates both energy and blood. When ites to body refining, he¡¯s on par with you. In a situation like this, do you really think I should choose the Seven Absolutions Sect and throw myself into the?¡±


    Tang Jie found the description rather familiar, and then he remembered how, in his battle with the Seven Absolutions Sect, Xiao Wen and Mu Yi had been talking about their Great Brother Wang being a body refiner even stronger than Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°Could this Wang Juemie be the Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s ¡®Great Brother Wang¡¯?¡±


    The young pce lord nced at him. ¡°So you also know of him. Yes, it¡¯s that Great Brother Wang. This person is unimaginably strong, and it¡¯s said that the Seven Absolutions Sect has already entrusted him with the ascendancy of the sect. This is precisely why this guy has an unruly and ruthless personality. He uses his name as his title, the Annihtion King (Juemie Wang). In the younger generation, only he dares to call himself a king. It¡¯s said that though he¡¯s at Mortal Shedding, he¡¯s bold enough to battle against Celestial Hearts! Two years ago, I met him once, and he¡­ he¡­¡±


    Her voice trailed off.


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    Tang Jie understood what she was getting at.


    The young pce lord was an astounding beauty, her lookspletely on par with Xu Miaoran¡¯s. It wasmonce for people to take a liking to her, but this Wang Juemie had presumably tried to force himself on her.


    ¡°Yet he didn¡¯t participate in this Immortal Fortune Conference?¡± Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but remark. But he soon realized, ¡°The age limit?¡±


    Shen Qingdan nodded. ¡°Precisely! I loathe this man, so I intentionally lowered the age limit to be within five years of me. This man is nearing thirty, so he didn¡¯t have the right to participate. Moreover, if he did participate, none of his peers would be able to win. Compared to him, your Basking Moon Sect¡¯s Bei Canghan and Wu Xianguang are nothing but y dolls!¡±


    Tang Jie only now understood why the age limit had been made to be within five years. It was precisely so that Wang Juemie wouldn¡¯t have a chance.


    The young pce lord continued, ¡°s, even then, the Wang siblings wouldn¡¯t give up. And that Wang Yun was petty to the extreme, actively plotting against me. This woman has all sorts of tricks and is adept at stealing and infiltration. One night, she snuck into the Wandering Pce and heard of our ns, after which she began to brazenly spread rumors, putting us in an extremely passive position. There was even one night where she infiltrated my room to eavesdrop on more secrets and almost ended up capturing me.¡±


    Tang Jie immediately recalled the woman he had met that night, blurting out, ¡°So it was her!¡±


    Tang Jie instantly regretted saying that.


    Shen Qingdan¡¯s bright eyes stared at his face as she slowly said, ¡°That night¡­ So it really was you?¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Silence!


    A deathly stillness.


    After a long while, Tang Jie exhaled. ¡°I really didn¡¯t think that you were still scheming, even now. Did you say all that on purpose? Trying to test me again?¡±


    Shen Qingdan grinned. ¡°Young Master Tang must be joking. Young Master disyed farsight, decisiveness, and adaptability in the blessednd, and Shen Qingdan bore witness to it all. A little ploy like this is nothing but a clumsy trick in front of a master. Please forgive me for this discourtesy. But everything I said just now was true, and there was no intent to deceive.¡±


    Tang Jie coldly said, ¡°I also don¡¯t think someone of your intelligence is capable of ying these tricks. But there¡¯s still a difference between the prepared and unprepared. You had the initiative in the selection of the groom, leaving my mind in panic and unsettled. Being taken advantage of while one¡¯s mind is in disarray is unavoidable.¡±


    Shen Qingdan was somewhat displeased about how he had said that shecked intelligence for such schemes, but she had had a good upbringing, and she managed to restrain herself. Smiling, she said, ¡°Young Master is correct. As the prepared party versus the unprepared party, thisdy has the advantage. In truth, thisdy also wished to verify who the hero was that saved thisdy that day. Now that it has been confirmed to be Young Master Tang, a great burden has lifted from my heart. I was saying, ¡®How could that You Shaofeng be someone capable of saving me?''¡±


    She grinned at Tang Jie, but her words carried a dangerous undertone. The words ¡®You Shaofeng¡¯ alone let Tang Jie know that she had a firm grip on him.


    At the very minimum, his ability to transform into other people had been exposed.


    Although this secret itself didn¡¯t mean too much and couldn¡¯t be linked to the Tang Jie within Ten Direction Valley, at times, only a few clues were needed.


    Since Tang Jie could somehow gain the ability to transform, why couldn¡¯t he also gain the ability to form an avatar before he should be able to? And if one also considered the fox that had disappeared from Old Crow Ridge, some answers would be evident.


    For Godhead Pce, there were still many far-fetched circumstances surrounding You Shaofeng¡¯s entering the valley, too many things that didn¡¯t make sense. While they thought that they had their answer, there were still many lingering questions.


    If someone added some fuel to the fire at this moment, the me would once more lead Godhead Pce back to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie could not, nor was he willing to, take this risk.


    He looked at Shen Qingdan for a while before finally saying, ¡°It seems like you think that you can do whatever you want to me now that you¡¯ve gotten a hold of my weak spot.¡±


    Shen Qingdan smiled. ¡°Young Master Tang, you¡¯re the one who seems like he wants to do whatever he wants with someone else right now.¡±


    Tang Jie remembered that he was still holding Shen Qingdan¡¯s hand.


    Grunting, he let Shen Qingdan go, took a few steps back, and sat down. ¡°You clearly know that I¡¯m on good terms with Lady Xu, yet you still insisted on jumping out and ruining things. You clearly know that whoever you pick will be that Wang Juemie¡¯s enemy, but you still picked me¡­ Now that I think about it, I saved you twice. Is this how you reward your savior?¡±


    ¡°You were clearly attacking me in the forest. Does that count as saving me, too?¡± Shen Qingdan asked with a re.


    ¡°You were hiding and refusing to show yourself, so what¡¯s wrong with me taking you for an enemy lurking in ambush and striking first? Regardless, without this young master sacrificing himself to save you, even if you didn¡¯t die, you certainly wouldn¡¯t have been able to keep your face intact,¡± Tang Jie replied, waving his finger.


    Shen Qingdan red, clearly angered by Tang Jie¡¯s words. ¡°You still can¡¯t count that as one time. Half, at best.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine¡ªhalf. So it¡¯s one and a half times. I¡¯ve saved you one and a half times, and you repay me by throwing me into a trap?¡± Tang Jie asked back.


    Shen Qingdan fell silent.


    She wasn¡¯t stupid, but she was still inferior to Tang Jie. The reason she had been able to get one over him was precisely that, as Tang Jie said, the prepared had the advantage over the unprepared. If Tang Jie had been ready, she would have been unable to take control of the situation.


    Tang Jie had dropped the matter of the engagement and was now speaking about gratitude and righteousness. Shen Qingdan hadn¡¯t expected him to try this avenue, and momentarily didn¡¯t know how to respond. She wasn¡¯t someone who had spent many years acting shamelessly in inte forums, and she had rather thin skin. Additionally, this was an era that valued loyalty and camaraderie. Tang Jie¡¯s words had left her feeling rather embarrassed, and finally, she timidly said, ¡°It can¡¯t be called a real trap. I just didn¡¯t get your approval. But you also can¡¯tpletely me me for this. Those who took part in the Immortal Fortune Conference knew that they were in contention to be selected as a groom. You had your own ulterior motives, and who can you me except for yourself that you failed to get away?¡±


    Tang Jie groaned, ¡°If I knew that this would be the result, I wouldn¡¯t havee even if I had to be beaten to death!¡±


    Shen Qingdan raised an eyebrow. ¡°What do you mean by that? Am I really not on par with that Xu Miaoran in any aspect?¡±


    She was starting to feel a little envious.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°It¡¯s just that my heart already belongs to someone else. Regardless, your business has left me in a very passive position. You have to give me an exnation.¡±


    Shen Qingdan replied, ¡°What¡¯s there to exin? We¡¯re just going through the motions. If that Wei Tianchong needs to reach Celestial Heart, he might go his entire life without being able to do so. If he doesn¡¯t reach Celestial Heart, you and I might never get married. After a hundred years, we can find any random reason to end the engagement.¡±


    Tang Jie sneered, ¡°So that really is what you were nning. One doesn¡¯t want to marry and the other doesn¡¯t want to be married off, so they¡¯re just ying a game, and you have my secret to threaten me into ying along.¡±


    Shen Qingdan immediately replied, ¡°Your words are a little too ugly. ¡®Threaten you¡¯? This Qingdan was curious and tried to test you a little. Since you¡¯re unhappy about it, I¡¯ll keep it to myself. If you keep to your duty, I won¡¯t make trouble for you.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Tang Jieughed. ¡°It seems you¡¯re afraid I¡¯ll use my status as the Wandering Pce¡¯s groom to make trouble for you all. Truly, reaping all the profits for yourself while making me take all of the me and trouble! You¡¯ve really thought things through.¡±


    Shen Qingdan went red in the face. ¡°I know that Young Master is being somewhat wronged in all this, and as Young Master truly did save me, you may select several treasures from the pce. While the Wandering Pce is not the six major sects, it does have its own wealth.¡±


    Tang Jie coldly replied, ¡°There¡¯s no need. If I want something, I¡¯ll go get it myself rather than selling off my body. Since we¡¯re all just ying a game, then in the future, let¡¯s just stay out of each other¡¯s business. After a few years, we¡¯ll just find an excuse to cancel the engagement.¡±


    He stood up and walked out of the pce.


    Shen Qingdan watched him leave, aplicated expression on her face.


    Ever since that meeting, she had actually been paying a lot of attention to Tang Jie. And while she had selected Tang Jie partially because he had fit all the conditions, it also partially had to do with his outstanding attributes. After all, since it was all fake anyway, what was wrong with picking Wei Tianchong? So long as he was promised rich rewards, they could find any random reason to put off the marriage. Why did she have to pick Tang Jie?


    Privately, Shen Qingdan had a rather good impression of Tang Jie.


    But she hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie¡¯s stance to be so unyielding and him to bepletely unwilling to put up a front.


    As the young pce lord of the Wandering Pce, she had grown up ustomed to authority, and while her upbringing had been decent such that she did not grow tyrannical, she couldn¡¯t help but consider herself above others.


    She was naturally left ufortable by Tang Jie¡¯s rejection, unsatisfied and humiliated. As her beautiful eyes wandered, she came up with an idea and muttered, ¡°Since you refuse to ept me, I¡¯ll do everything I can to seize your attention, hooking your soul before throwing it away, making you resent your decision for the rest of your life! I don¡¯t believe that I can¡¯tpare to Xu Miaoran!¡±


    She had revealed she knew Tang Jie¡¯s secret for fear that Tang Jie would abuse his status as the groom to bother and extort the Wandering Pce, but now that Tang Jie wasn¡¯t bothering her, she chose to bother him.


    Truly, the affairs of the world were like a game of go. Who could predict everything?


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    That night, Tang Jie returned to his residence and held a conversation with Xu Miaoran through message talismans. After he exined everything to her, Xu Miaoran was finally able to rx.


    Rather than breaking up over this matter, the two of them actually grew closer.


    Xu Miaoran had long since known that Tang Jie was a servant student, which was why she had insisted that he work as hard as possible. If Tang Jie was able to enter Celestial Heart within one hundred years, there was some hope for their rtionship, but the question of Wei Tianchong would remain a problem. Fortunately, so long as Wei Tianchong reached Mortal Shedding, Tang Jie would cease to be a servant. Even if Wei Tianchong couldn¡¯t reach Celestial Heart, Tang Jie would only belong to the Wei n and would not have a lowly status. So long as Tang Jie performed well, Xu Miaoran believed that she could persuade her father.


    This left Tang Jie rather conflicted. He hoped that Wei Tianchong would shed his mortality early so that he could be free of one of his fetters, but he also feared that if Wei Tianchong shed his mortality too early, the external pressure wouldpel him to get together with Shen Qingdan, which would be hard to get out of.


    As he thought about it all and grew internally conflicted, he ultimately realized that none of this was his problem and that there was no point in him thinking about it. It was best to let nature take its course.


    Understanding, Tang Jie threw his head back and heartilyughed before finally falling asleep.


    The next morning, the cultivators began to leave Red Plum Ridge. After more than a month, the Immortal Fortune Conference was finallying to a close.


    The Basking Moon Sect delegation, led by Xie Fengtang, boarded a giant ship and set off back home, and with them was the Wandering Pce. This time, when the Wandering Pce entered the territory of the Sageheart Kingdom, it would not be leaving easily. The Basking Moon Sect had already found a good cultivation location for them: Qiong Province¡¯s Kingpass Mountain. Kingpass Mountain was a beautiful area with talented individuals and rich spirituality. It had everything one could need, except freedom.


    The giant ship parted ways with the pce upon entering Sageheart, and it needed only one day and a night to arrive at Basking Moon Academy. Awaiting them was a passionate and grandiose wee, and on the same night, a celebratory feast was held for them.


    The Basking Moon Sect students hadpleted their mission and obtained the Wandering Pce, and Tang Jie had even be the groom to the young pce lord. This was a victory for the Basking Moon Sect, so it was naturally everyone¡¯s victory. Thus, while the person in question was still a little sullen, everyone else was in a good mood.


    During this feast, Tang Jie drank himself into a stupor. Tang Jie walks away from the Immortal Fortune Conference with a new bride and a new enemy! And also his original body locked up in an ancient formation with his sworn enemies.

 Chapter 344: An Epilogue

    Chapter 344: An Epilogue


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    The students continued to go to ss and cultivate every day, monotony and peace repeating day after day.


    The rtionship between Peng Yaolong and Ye Tianshang, which had ruptured during the struggle for True Inheritor, had slowly begun to heal after they had fought alongside each other at the Immortal Fortune Conference. But while they no longer secretly plotted each other¡¯s deaths, on the surface, theirpetition was even fiercer than before. Whenever the two of them crossed paths, they would immediately ask each other to spar.


    Qi Shaoming was formally announced as Li Hongyang¡¯s True Inheritor and taken back to his mountain to cultivate. Wei Tianchong could only go to the mountain for one month per year, but Qi Shaoming spent half a year on the mountain, and he spent three months of the remaining half of the year carrying out missions. The remaining three months he spent in the academy were essentially for building a socialwork. The difference in treatment was as different as heaven and earth.


    Long Dao had also been called back by his father to properly cultivate. His father, Long Ruohai, though not one of the 19 Celestial Chiefs, was still a Celestial Heart True Person. Even an ordinary Celestial Heart was still a Celestial Heart. Most importantly, he was willing to pay up for his child¡¯s upbringing. Thus, Long Dao¡¯s strength had been soaring as ofte.


    Not long after returning from Red Plum Ridge, Cai Junyang began to take numerous missions. Other people thought that he was dejected from his defeat at the Immortal Fortune Conference and was in no mood to cultivate, but Tang Jie knew that Cai Junyang was tempering himself. He was someone who sought the path of chivalry, and cultivating throughbat benefited him more than staying in the academy. His experience in the Immortal Fortune Conference had not made him depressed. In fact, it had made him even more proactive toward his life and cultivation.


    As for Wei Tianchong, his performance at the Immortal Fortune Conference had managed to pass Yan Changfeng¡¯s test. As a reward for not bringing shame on his master, Yan Changfeng had made an exception and taught him the Nine Coronal Transformations. But the first thing this guy did after inheriting this secret art was to rush to the Freedom Society and confess his love to Ping Jingyue, frightening quite a few people. In the face of Wei Tianchong¡¯s ardent pursuit, Ping Jingyue reacted by violently driving him off, chasing him for a whole three blocks.


    But this violent refusal didn¡¯t make Wei Tianchong give up.


    This guy who was normally rather immature about how he did things was surprisingly stubborn on this. Unafraid of the mocking of his ssmates or the cold gaze of his goddess, he continued to pursue Ping Jingyue, even though he was beaten back by Ping Jingyue every time.


    Tang Jie did not care much about this.


    He didn¡¯t think there was anything wrong about it. Was a young man still a young man if he didn¡¯t have any romance? When he thought about his time back in the old world, who hadn¡¯t first known love before knowing their job?


    And it was precisely because he didn¡¯t care that Wei Tianchong dared to so vigorously pursue her. He even received some guidance and encouragement from Tang Jie. After all, Wei Tianchong couldn¡¯t possibly havee up with the idea of giving flowers to Ping Jingyue all on his own¡ªeven though those flowers were thrown into the streets so that passersby could stomp them into the mud.


    But as he was a young man, there were also times when he crossed the line.


    Today, as Tang Jie was cultivating in his room, he heard a banging at his door.


    It was Shi Meng.


    He desperately shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, Tang Jie, it¡¯s bad!¡±


    Tang Jie went out and opened the door. ¡°What are you shouting about?¡±


    He didn¡¯t speak in a loud tone, but it was imbued with dignity.


    Shi Meng frantically said, ¡°The young master, he¡­ he¡­¡±


    Tang Jie frowned. ¡°Speak properly. What happened to the young master?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s about to fight with someone to the death!¡± Shi Meng finally shouted.


    ¡°What?¡± Tang Jie jumped. ¡°With who?¡±


    ¡°Du Bin.¡±


    ¡°The eighth-year Du Bin?¡±


    ¡°Who else could it be?¡±


    ¡°¡­He really is something else.¡± Tang Jie was speechless.


    Although Wei Tianchong was someone who had taken part in the Immortal Fortune Conference and was under the tutge of Yan Changfeng, he was still a fifth-year student and far from dominating the entire academy. In the academy, there was still a group of students that could crush him.


    This Du Bin hadn¡¯t participated in the Immortal Fortune Conference, but that didn¡¯t mean that he wascking in strength. As an eighth-year student, he was also a Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator, and he possessed above-averagebat power. Moreover, the Five Energies Cold sh Art and the Refined Phantom Mantra he cultivated were the counter to Wei Tianchong¡¯s puppet. Wei Tianchong had little chance of victory against him.


    ¡°Where?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°The plum forest at the back of the mountain.¡±


    Tang Jie grabbed Shi Meng and flew to the back of the mountain. While flying, he questioned Shi Meng, and it was only then that he learned that Wei Tianchong was fighting a mortal battle over Ping Jingyue. Du Bin also liked Ping Jingyue, and the two were romantic rivals. It would be difficult for them to not argue if they ran into each other.


    For the sake of his woman, Du Bin wouldn¡¯t back down, even though Wei Tianchong was a True Inheritor. The two of them had already argued several times, but this time, things had developed into a lethal fight.


    Hearing that they were fighting to the death over something like this made Tang Jie want to throw up blood.


    As he flew near the clearing in front of the plum forest, he saw arge group gathered, and in the middle of them were Wei Tianchong and Du Bin.


    They were still in a stand-off, their eyes seemingly aze as they stared at each other.


    In the distance, Ping Jingyue had folded her arms and was helplessly staring up at the heavens. Two female students next to her advised, ¡°Jingyue, try and talk them out of this.¡±


    Ping Jingyue rolled her eyes. ¡°What does it have to do with me? I¡¯ve already said my piece to them, but what do they do? They demanded that I choose between them! ¡®Choose¡¯, my ass! These two idiots can just go and die!¡±


    Their behavior had seemingly angered her so much that she had started cursing.


    Du Bin and Wei Tianchong were still ring at each other. In the end, it was still Du Bin who broke the stalemate and grunted, ¡°Wei Tianchong, even if you¡¯ve taken part in the Immortal Fortune Conference, even if you¡¯re True Person Yan¡¯s inheriting disciple, that doesn¡¯t mean you can do what you want in Basking Moon Academy. Today, this Du will let you know that not everything will go your way, that some people will always¡­¡±


    Wei Tianchong curled his lip. ¡°Cut the chatter and start fighting.¡±


    He waved his hand, and the puppet moved to his front. At the same time, he summoned a shadow soldier while a giant fireball formed in his hand.


    This fireball was so big that Wei Tianchong had to use both hands to hold it up, like he was raising arge cauldron. Even Du Bin was taken aback by the sight. How much did you have to practice a spell art to have a simple Fireball reach this level?


    Wei Tianchong held up that ¡°Fireball¡± as he savagely said, ¡°Watch closely! This is a spell art I created myself, the Explosion Ball! No one can defend against it! Watch this!¡±


    He ¡°tossed¡± out that giant Fireball.


    As he threw it out, Du Bin¡¯s sword unleashed a light at the fireball.


    Just as they were about to fight to the death, a figure flew out. Completely ignoring the power of the Fireball, he sted it away with a single punch and then grabbed Wei Tianchong and flew off.


    Wei Tianchong was shocked at first, but when he saw that it was Tang Jie, he shouted, ¡°Let me go! Let me go! I still need to fight that guy!¡±


    Tang Jie roared back, ¡°Shut up! It¡¯s not like this is some deep grudge! Is it really worth fighting to the death? This is a school. Whether you kill him or he kills you, do you think anything good will happen to the survivor? Settle down!¡±


    Wei Tianchong iled around and shouted, ¡°I don¡¯t care! I don¡¯t care! Tang Jie, didn¡¯t you say that being a cultivator is all about struggles along the Immortal path? How could I just yield the path?¡±


    Tang Jie was so angry that he rolled his eyes. He sealed off Wei Tianchong¡¯s meridians so that he would stop making trouble and said, ¡°You say this kind of stuff now? But were you struggling over the Immortal path? No, you were struggling over a woman!¡±


    He flew all the way back to the Meditation Garden and threw Wei Tianchong into his room. ¡°You¡¯re grounded for three days. You cane out when your mind finally clears up.¡±


    Wei Tianchong rushed up to the door and shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, you can¡¯t do this to me! I¡¯m your young master!¡±


    Tang Jie crossly replied, ¡°Shut your mouth! Starting from now, I¡¯m your young master!¡±


    Three dayster, a letter came from Yan Changfeng ordering Wei Tianchong toe up the mountain.


    The woman-chasing crisis finally came to an end.


    Tang Jie¡¯s life remained simple, spending every day in secluded cultivation, as if he was still an ordinary student and not a disciple. That he was the groom of the Wandering Pce also had no effect on him.


    He would asionally receive a letter.


    These came from Xu Miaoran, Cai Junyang, Qi Shaoming, or even Mu Yi.


    He had formed a friendship with Mu Yi in the blessednd. It could be considered a friendship that had formed from fighting with each other, as Tang Jie and Mu Yi hade to appreciate each other¡¯s talents. After the Immortal Fortune Conference, they left each other message talismans so that they could keep in touch. Of course, it was impossible tomunicate as frequently with him as with Xu Miaoran.


    Time went by quickly, and it was soon half a yearter.


    Today, as usual, Tang Jie was in that little forest at the base of the Clear Sky Mountains, walking by himself.


    A gust blew through, bringing down arge number of leaves.


    Amidst the falling leaves, several rays of starlight shot toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie slightly raised his head, his eyes shing, and the saber in his hand instantly unleashed a chilling wave of energy.


    This energy created a pir of wind that cut a hundred-meter-long fissure into the ground. In terms of power, it wasparable to a blow from Lan Yu¡¯s green tassel sword.


    Tang Jie exhaled and slowly sheathed his saber. Yiyi dropped from the air and pped her hands. ¡°Good job! Good job! This is a sign of major attainment!¡±


    ¡°s, I only hit a single leaf,¡± Tang Jie indifferently said, his face devoid of pride.


    Yiyi pursed her lips. ¡°This is already pretty good. You only needed three months topletely master the Matchless sh, and another three months toplete the Eclipsed Star. Any bystander that heard this would be so shocked that their mouth would be agape.¡±


    The first day he hade back, Tang Jie had gone to Heaven One Pavilion to redeem a spell art, at the same time getting rid of the awkwardness of having the cultivation realm without the appropriate spell art.


    As he had his original body to help himprehend, Tang Jie had chosen five spells in total: the Matchless sh, the Dragonlike Hand, the Star Finger, the Wandering Celestial Peng Art, and the Life Breath Mantra. He had chosen thest two because he had learned whenprehending the Dao that these could greatly improve his flight speed, but they weren¡¯t very useful in battle.


    The Matchless sh was an extremely powerful offensive spell art. If a Spirit tform Realm spell wasparable to a bullet, a Mortal Shedding Realm spell was a cannon, and the Matchless sh was a most typical example. Moreover, the Matchless sh was a long-range spell art, so Windcleaver could still serve as an effectiveplement and not go to waste.


    The Dragonlike Hand and Star Finger were to be used as a cover for the Divine Firmament Sword ssic. These two spell arts shared amonality in that they could be ovepped with other spells. The Dragonlike Hand differed from the Star Finger in that it could mask other spell arts but could not be masked itself, whereas the Star Finger could only be masked. It was precisely because of this trait of the Star Finger that it was often called ¡°the Eclipsed Star¡±.


    Tang Jie had chosen these two precisely for this masking effect.


    But while the Dragonlike Hand and Star Finger did have these effects, not many people could actually realize them. It required much diligent cultivation.


    Just now, Tang Jie had unleashed the Matchless sh and fired off nine Star Fingers with it, which was the strongest manifestation of the Eclipsed Star: the casting of two spell arts at once, the Matchless sh attacking in the open while the Star Finger attacked from the shadows. s, while he had managed to fire them off, his uracy was awful. Of the nine leaves he had targeted, he had only struck one.


    But regardless, it was shocking enough to achieve the basicbination after only three months. A normal person would often need three years, and many people wouldn¡¯t be able to keep their patience and would give up midway. Tang Jie had been able to do this partially because he hadprehended Wisdom, allowing him to learn faster, and also because he had his original body helping himprehend.


    Thus, in terms of cultivation realm, Tang Jie might have been average, but when it came to spell art cultivation, he was an iparable genius.


    Tang Jie sighed, ¡°But I¡¯m still relying on the help of the original body. s, for the next few days, the original body won¡¯t be able to help out.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Yiyi didn¡¯t get it.


    ¡°Because the original body is about to make the charge at Mortal Shedding, and shedding mortality there is rather troublesome and will require some preparation,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    ¡°Wonderful! Isn¡¯t that another opportunity toprehend the Dao?¡± Yiyi excitedly said.


    ¡°That truly is the case.¡± Tang Jie mysteriously smiled.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The Nine Executions Immortal Formation.


    In a corner of the ancient battlefield, Tang Jie was seated cross-legged in meditation, his eyes closed.


    His breathing was even and powerful. Whenever he exhaled, his nostrils would form two little tornadoes. And whenever he inhaled, a small vortex would appear around him, the nearby dust floating around him like so many little fish.


    This statested for a long while. Suddenly, all the dust froze in the air and fell down, nketing Tang Jie in dust.


    Tang Jie nced around and let out a light puff of air. A breeze stirred up and scattered all the dust.


    Tang Jie contentedly smiled. ¡°I¡¯m finally at peak Spirit Sea.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s original body hadn¡¯t been wasting time, and through hard cultivation, he had finally pushed his body to the peak of Spirit Sea.


    This wasn¡¯t strange. The Nine Executions Immortal Formation was rich with spiritual energy, and it was far more concentrated here than in the Langya Blessed Land. One day of cultivation here was equivalent to five or six days on the outside.


    In the outside world, without using any sort of spiritual medicine, Tang Jie would need three and a half years to reach the peak, but in the formation, seven months was enough. Although the avatar had used many medicines, the original body wasn¡¯t much slower.


    Tang Jie sighed in relief now that he had reached Spirit Sea¡¯s peak.


    He now needed to prepare to charge at Mortal Shedding.


    Of course, there was a problem with that.


    He Chong.


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    Charging at Mortal Shedding created too much of a stir that would linger for some time. The moment He Chong realized what was happening, he would rush over and capture him. The best way of solving this was to find He Chong and negotiate with him, making him understand that his charge at Mortal Shedding would also benefit He Chong. After all, only by reaching Mortal Shedding could Tang Jie open the fifth checkpoint. Besides that, he would use his Duplication spell to make some additional preparations.


    Given Tang Jie¡¯s understanding of He Chong, if he were made to understand that a duplicate was observing his movements and that the best He Chong could do was make Tang Jie fail his charge and not capture him, he would most likely give up.


    Besides that, charging at Mortal Shedding required drawing out the formation, which required the necessary materials. s, the ancient battlefield had only corpses and art relics. There weren¡¯t even ants, let alone fiend beasts.


    Fortunately, since the Martial Lord required the cultivator to reach Mortal Shedding before entering the fifth formation, he naturally had left behind a solution.


    The five giant stones where he had gotten the mantra and received a spell art formed a special formation. Other than passing down spell arts, it also had the ability to link the heavens and earth, and its effect was far above that of the average linking formation. After all, the Nine Executions Immortal Formation was its own dimension, so linking with the heavens and the earth required the ability to prate through this space.


    Tang Jie had researched these five stones for a long time and had a basic grasp of how the formation worked. The more he understood, the more he was astounded by the Martial Lord¡¯s strength. Every one of the Martial Lord¡¯s spell arts seemed simple, but behind the scenes, they were bursting with secrets. Of these, the Weapon Mantra concerned the Martial Dao in the Dao of ughter, the Duplication spell concerned the Illusion Dao of the Dao of Wisdom, and this formation concerned Space. In other words, based solely on what he knew, the Martial Lord¡¯s power epassed three Daos, and at the Dao-controlling level. Otherwise, it was impossible to create those divine spell arts.


    After understanding this, Tang Jie came to understand exactly what the Martial Lord had left behind.


    It wasn¡¯t some spell art at all.


    These spell arts were only for show. What he had really left behind was his understanding of the Great Dao.


    These spell arts were keys that led one toward that boundless and mysterious world.


    When he looked at the stone formation once again, Tang Jie felt like he could see things differently.


    He carefully examined the patterns and images on the ground.


    When looking at these pictures before, he had only recognized them as lines and points, had only seen the image and not understood their meaning. But now that he looked at them again, he found that each stroke was imbued with the principles of the world and contained infiniteplex and profound meanings.


    There were so many varied meanings that trying toprehend them would make one realize that there were tens of thousands of ces to start, and the mind would be barraged with so many random bits of information that it would feel like it was going to explode.


    Tang Jie knew that he ultimately knew nothing about this particr Dao, so he did not have the ability to trace this formation all the way back to the Great Dao. And this was even after he hadprehended Wisdom and its ability to analyze. Someone who hadn¡¯tprehended Wisdom wouldn¡¯t even be able to see all those thousands of clues.


    ¡°It seems I will have to return to the origin to understand the secret,¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    This was the benefit ofprehending the Great Dao from the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel.


    On the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel, the Great Daos were very simple, all of their variations reflected on them. Going straight to the core rather than working one¡¯s way backward was a much easier way to understand the Great Dao.


    Originally, he hadn¡¯t decided which Great Dao toprehend for this Mortal Shedding, whether he should deepen his understanding of Wisdom orprehend another Great Dao.


    This spatial formation before him gave Tang Jie an opportunity.


    There was no better choice.


    This spatial formation was like a model that wasid out in front of Tang Jie.


    He could learn the basic theory from the textbook that was the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel, and this spatial formation was a practical example. What could be better?


    Most importantly, Tang Jie discovered that a control over space was what he needed the most in this phase.


    If he could set up a teleportation formation before passing through the ninth checkpoint, allowing him and his avatar toe in and out, the resources within this formation might no longer be purely to look at. His original body might even be freed from this ce.


    But the spatial seals on the Nine Executions Immortal Formation were extremely powerful, and setting up a teleportation formation between here and Sageheart would not be easy. He needed either a vast amount of resources or a sufficiently profound understanding of the Dao of Space.


    Tang Jie could put aside any thought of the former, so his only hope was with thetter.


    Standing in the formation, Tang Jie looked up at the sky andughed, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then let¡¯s make it the Dao of Space!¡±


    With the guidance of the Dao of Wisdom, Tang Jie already knew which of the twelve Great Dao clock hands represented Space.


    On this day, a beam soared through the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, prating through the world and vanishing into the void.


    Upon seeing this beam, He Chong couldn¡¯t help but be shocked.


    <em>This kid¡­ really did manage to sessfully shed his mortality on this barrennd.</em>


    His will soared upward, past the nine heavens.


    It passed through the Boundless Sea of Stars, passed through the sea of dazzling lights. As he looked at that distant Heavenly Dao Wheel, Tang Jie chuckled and said, ¡°Hey, how are you doing? I¡¯m back.¡± Tang Jie gets the rare chance to glimpse the Dao twice! And it seems like he might have a n to get out of the formation¡­

 Chapter 345: Thinking of Home

    Chapter 345: Thinking of Home


    The garden of the Carefree House was awash with the aroma of peaches and plums and bursting with fruits and melons.


    Yiyi sat on the swing in the orchard, freely swinging back and forth. Though several years had passed, the impression Yiyi gave off hadn¡¯t changed at all. Even though she was now at Mind Opening, she still looked like a little girl. As sprites originated from nts, they had long lives and extremely long maturation periods. Thus, after growing to a certain point, their growth speed would greatly slow down. For a sprite, a few years was as much time as it took to snap a finger.


    In contrast, the little tiger was growing stronger andrger.


    He had grown to adulthood and reached the peak of the upper grade. However, as he had yet to awaken his bloodline or enter Mind Opening, he still lived a muddleheaded life, opening his mouth whenever a meal wasing.


    On the swing, Yiyi wore a flower crown she had made herself. While hanging her feet over the edge of the swing, she pointed her finger at a distant bud. Little tufts of grass sprouted out from the dirt, putting out green leaves and swiftly forming a grassy area. It appeared that she had elerated their growth.


    This was an ability Yiyi had gained after reaching Mind Opening, capable of rapidly elerating the growth of nts. But this eleration woulde at a heavy cost to the medicinal effect of spiritual nts, and to use it on valuable spiritual nts would just ruin a good thing. It was more suitable for ordinary nts so that they could be used as fodder.


    Several horned bulls immediately began to gnaw away at the newly grown grass while the little tiger hungrily looked on.


    Tang Jie had hired several underssmen to get these horned bulls from Tiger Roar Valley. He raised them here so that he could feed them to the little tiger, which was much better than buying food from the outside. After all, food with spirituality wasn¡¯t cheap, and the little tiger¡¯s appetite wasn¡¯t small. It wasn¡¯t like Tang Jie could spend all his time hunting for it, so he had to keep around a few meat sources at home. These horned bulls were rather frightened of the little tiger at first, but as the days dragged on, they grew ustomed to his presence.


    What confused Tang Jie was: how had this guy still not evolved despite eating so much spirit food?


    He had even made a trip to ask Wang Poguan about this, but to his surprise, Wang Poguan was ted, saying thatter was better. In fact, he felt like it would be wonderful if the little tiger went a hundred years without reaching Mind Opening.


    A fiend beast that couldn¡¯t reach Mind Opening after one hundred years would essentially have no future prospects, so Tang Jie was baffled at how happy Wang Poguan was. Tang Jie didn¡¯t believe that Wang Poguan was the sort of tiger that would think ¡°let the child live a peaceful life as an ordinary tiger¡±, and considering that the Wind Tigers of Tiger Roar Mountain were different from other tigers, Tang Jie somewhat understood what was happening.


    The talents of Wang Poguan¡¯s n most likely required a long maturation time.


    Tang Jie recalled that there were some great fiends in Remote Antiquity and High Antiquity who had extremely long maturation periods, some even with juvenile stages of one hundred years. Once they matured, they would be at the Violet Pce or Immortal tform level. He didn¡¯t have any hope that the little tiger would have this sort of bloodline, but given that this little guy had three innate spell arts before his bloodline had awoken, there was truly no telling how far he could go.


    After growing the grass, Yiyi didn¡¯t stop. She had some of the grass grow longer and taller, winding it together into a grass hut.


    This was a ssic waste of energy. Grass grown this long had no use at all, wasting the tiny bit of spirituality it had and turning it into nothing more than a weed. Yiyi didn¡¯t care, continuing to vigorously weave the grass into a hut, and not just that. The grass spread outward into a base, as if she intended to erect an entire pavilion.


    s, she met with failure halfway. The grass hut abruptly copsed, sending pieces of grass flying everywhere.


    Yiyi stomped her feet in anger. ¡°Aaaagh!¡±


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    ¡°What, failed again?¡± Tang Jie said,ing out of his room.


    Four years had gone by, and Tang Jie seemed more mature than before. He wore a long robe and exuded dignity with every move.


    This was a dignity that came naturally when one reached a certain level of cultivation, from the same source as Lan Yu¡¯s realm pressure. Now, Tang Jie was finally manifesting his own, butpared to Lan Yu¡¯s energetic aura, Tang Jie¡¯s was much more restrained.


    Tang Jie came up behind Yiyi and smiled at her as she sullenly pouted.


    After reaching Mind Opening, she had developed a dream of making a pce of nts like the one the Frost Fairy had made. In this way, she could take up residence in this pce and be a queen of nature.


    s, no matter how hard she worked, she couldn¡¯t create a pce like the Frost Fairy.


    Seeing how frustrated Yiyi was, Tang Jie smiled and said, ¡°Each sprite has its own specialty, so why do you have to imitate her? You can¡¯t create a flower pce, but could that ice sprite have made a Silkheaven Net?¡±


    The Silkheaven Net was a spell art Yiyi had learned after reaching Mind Opening. It was an extremely powerful offensive spell that covered a vast area, and even Tang Jie using the Matchless sh found it hard to defend against.


    ¡°But I like flower pces,¡± Yiyi cutely replied. ¡°I don¡¯t believe that I can¡¯tplete this spell art¡­ my Jade Blossom Pce.¡±


    As she muttered, grass once more began to grow.


    Seeing that Yiyi was serious, Tang Jie stopped trying to persuade her.


    In Tang Jie¡¯s view, Yiyi was still far from creating her own spell art, and all she was doing was wasting time. But Tang Jie also knew that some things simply couldn¡¯t be judged purely ording to what was lost and gained.


    When someone was focused on pursuing a goal, they would often explode with extreme passion, high focus, and deep wisdom.


    Yiyi was no longer young, and the self-created spell art she sought might just have been a dream, but in this process of pursuit, she would benefit mentally. This was precisely why Tang Jie only tried to persuade her a little before letting her be.


    Putting aside Yiyi, Tang Jie left his house and took a stroll around the campus. But on this walk, many familiar faces were no longer present.


    Four years had gone by as quickly as lightning.


    Peng Yaolong and Ye Tianshang had graduated long ago. As leadership students and as people who had put on outstanding performances at the Immortal Fortune Conference, they had naturally be official disciples of the Basking Moon Sect.


    Peng Yaolong had entered the Blood War Hall of the Combat Department while Ye Tianshang had entered the Service Hall, bing Yan Changfeng¡¯s subordinate. As for Long Dao, he had followed his father, Long Ruohai, in joining the Tribute Hall.


    The Tribute Hall was the department of the Basking Moon Sect that was tasked with gathering tribute from all over.


    This was different from the Service Hall, which provided protection and received payment for its services, thus functioning as a somewhatrger-scale bodyguard business. The Tribute Hall was specifically in charge of managing the tributes from various areas, especially important mining and farming areas.


    The Service Hall could be described as an arms merchant, selling weapons to external parties, and the Tribute Hall could be described as the tax department. Together with the Commerce Hall, these three were the three financial pirs of the Basking Moon Sect, and the posts here were extremely lucrative.


    Qi Shaoming was still studying under Li Hongyang. Two years ago, it had been announced that he had entered Mortal Shedding, and he was currently using his talent to rapidly close the distance with Tang Jie.


    Wei Tianchong had only reached Mortal Shedding at the beginning of this year. Although his aptitude was average, his performance at the Immortal Fortune Conference and his status as Changfeng¡¯s True Inheritor meant that Wei Tianchong had sessfully advanced within eight years, living up to the hopes of the Wei n. Unfortunately, his big brother, Wei Tianzhi, had not managed to reach Mortal Shedding in ten years. He had already returned home to studymerce and inherit the family business. Like Wei Tianzhi, Wu Xing had failed to shed his mortality, but he was very calm about it. He returned home with his young master to manage the Wei Estate¡¯s business. He was responsible for the trade from the Watcher River¡ªafter returning from Red Plum Ridge, Wei Tianchong had rmended that his n set up a road between the Ling Province and Watcher River to facilitate the transport of goods.


    Tang Jie was now free of his status as a servant student. He was still part of the Wei n, his status on par with a cousin of the Wei n.


    Shi Meng was worse off. His aptitude was worse, and he had no resources, so he was currently in the same spot as Wei Tianzhi, between sess and failure. Fortunately, Tang Jie had promised to help him get to Mortal Shedding within ten years, thus allowing him to breathe easy.


    But there was no news of Cai Junyang. He rarely spent time at the academy and was always wandering about. Nobody knew exactly when he came back or whether he had even entered Mortal Shedding, But given his aptitude, he was probably fine.


    As for Tang Jie himself, he had left the initial stage of Mortal Shedding and was in the Hundred Refinement Period. Every muscle and bone in his body was being refined as he went through the first conversion of a cultivator¡¯s body from mortal into spiritual.


    In the cultivation world, many people thought that this was actually when a cultivator became a real cultivator. Everything before this was nothing more than pacing back and forth in front of the gate of cultivation. When a cultivator reached this stage, many problems could no longer be resolved simply by umting spiritual energy. Comprehension, experience, cultivation, spiritual energy, secret arts, and medicines were all required. The requirements wereplicated and the changes were numerous. Ordinary methods would not suffice to solve them.


    As he strolled through the little paths between the academy¡¯s forests, Tang Jie ended up at the Bounty tform.


    For a time after reaching Mortal Shedding, Tang Jie hade frequently to this ce to take missions in exchange for resources.


    With these resources and what he had gotten from the Immortal Fortune Conference, Tang Jie had managed to bring his constitution to the initial level of the Jewel Body. But it was at that time that Tang Jie found it was very difficult to bring his constitution any higher.


    In the end, this body of his was the result of a secret art, and there were still some hidden ws. The biggest problem was that it was difficult to strengthen the physical body any more than this, but at least this did not affect his cultivation. But now that he had entered Hundred Refinement, spiritual energy was no longer the only standard for improvement, and money could no longer solve everything. Thebination of these two meant that Tang Jie gradually came less and less.


    When the students saw Tang Jie, they bowed and shouted, ¡°Great Brother!¡±


    Tang Jie was currently a ¡°Great Brother¡± character of Basking Moon Academy. Let alone him, even Wei Tianchong was being called ¡°Senior Brother¡± when he walked around.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t but bitterly smile and shake his head when he thought about how an ignorant kid like him who was all take and no give had somehow be a ¡°Senior Brother¡±. He couldn¡¯t help but sigh and say, ¡°The vast sea has yet to turn into mulberry fields, but the affairs of humans are no longer what they once were.¡±


    The moment these words left his mouth, Tang Jie thought about the elderly Wu couple.


    When doing missions these past few years, Tang Jie had gone to see them a few times. After eating the medicine that Wu Xing had sent back, the two elders were much healthier and more energetic. But Tang Jie hadn¡¯t been able to fool the two of them, and they had actually guessed that it was Tang Jie who had bought the medicine. After spending some time in the Ling Province keeping thempany, Tang Jie had gone back to continue cultivating, but in a sh, two years had gone by.


    Now that he thought about them, he felt an inexplicable desire to go back and see the two.


    Once this thought had a hold on him, he found it impossible to suppress. As he was at the Bounty tform, he went up to the supervising student.


    The student saw Tang Jieing and respectfully said, ¡°Great Brother, good day.¡±


    Tang Jie nodded in reply and then directly asked, ¡°Are there any missions to the Ling Province?¡±


    The student flipped through the missions and shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m afraid not.¡±


    The academy had set down rules for student excursions. Going out with no business was usually not allowed, and so school missions presented the perfect opportunity. Anyone who wanted to go out to see their family would essentially always take a mission first. Cai Junyang, who spent most of his time training outside, was also able to do so because he had taken missions. But this guy was quite shameless, taking these missions and notpleting them, using the opportunity to go out and adventure. But the school didn¡¯t care so long as he was following the rules.


    This was precisely why even Tang Jie had to take a mission in order to return home to see his family. The one day per month of vacation he had truly wasn¡¯t enough.


    Tang Jie was deeply disappointed to hear that there weren¡¯t any. Just when he was nning to request an official vacation from Xie Fengtang, the student said, ¡°But there is a C-level mission from the sect for Ling Province.¡±


    ¡°¡®A C-level sect mission¡¯?¡± Tang Jie immediately became excited.


    C-level sect missions were missions issued by the Basking Moon Sect, and provisional disciples could take these missions. As for the higher levels, provisional disciples could not take them. As these missions came from the sect, they rewarded sect contribution points.


    Ming Yekong¡¯s rmendation had made Tang Jie a provisional disciple a long time ago, and he had taken quite a few sect missions over the years, piling up some sect contribution points. As for his debt, he had paid that off long ago.


    Tang Jie was delighted to hear that there was a C-level mission to Ling Province. He said, ¡°Take it out and let me see.¡±


    The student passed a paper to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie took it and found that it was a spirit stone vein investigation mission.


    In the northern part of Ling Province was a mountain called Mount Eternal.


    Thirty years ago, someone found a spirit stone vein on Mount Eternal. Spirit stones were an energy resource for the cultivation world, and while their value wasn¡¯t particrly high, they were of utmost importance.


    When the spirit stone vein was found, nothing like what happened with the violet gold vein in Dusnd happened. The local minor sect, the Stone Gate, immediately reported it to the Basking Moon Sect.


    When the Basking Moon Sect sent someone to inspect it, it confirmed that it was a small spirit stone vein. The local hall master was tasked with supervising while the Stone Gate was tasked with mining the vein. The split was 20:80, with the Basking Moon Sect getting the 80%. And this was only because the Basking Moon Sect was being generous due to how self-aware the minor sect had been.


    The mine had been operating for thirty years now, and the Eternal vein was beginning to run out.


    The Stone Gate had sent a messenger not too long ago to convey that the Eternal vein had basically been mined out and that someone from the Basking Moon Sect shoulde to confirm that this was the case. After all, the Stone Gate would have a tough time if they still needed to keep sending spirit stones.


    After thirty years, it was, truthfully, about time that the vein was mined out, so there were essentially no problems. Thus, the Basking Moon Sect had made it a mission, giving the lower disciples a chance to achieve some merit. It only offered a measly two sect contribution points, but for Tang Jie, what was more important was that it gave him a chance to go home.


    Mount Eternal wasn¡¯t far from Canglong Prefecture. If flying by sword, he could get there in two hours.


    After looking through the mission, Tang Jie nodded and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take this one.¡±


    ¡°If that is the case, this junior brother will seal up this mission for Senior Brother. Senior Brother, remember that this matter must bepleted before the end of next month,¡± the student said, grinning.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Thank you for the reminder. Right, give me two more mission certificates. I would like to invite Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng toplete this mission with me.¡±


    Those who epted Tang Jie¡¯s invitation to work with him would not get any contribution points, but Tang Jie only needed the certificates. Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng hadn¡¯t been home in a while, so they were probably homesick as well.


    The student watched as Tang Jie left with the certificates. Suddenly, he took out a talisman, wrote ¡°Tang Jie took the Eternal Mine mission¡±, then burned the talisman, turning it into a puff of smoke. It seems like there¡¯s going to be some trouble waiting for Tang Jie at Mount Eternal. But first, a trip back home.

 Chapter 346: Relatives

    Chapter 346: Rtives


    The annual Upper Night Festival was held here, and the festivities wouldst for three days.


    These three days were a joyous asion for themon folk, and a time of harvesting wealth for merchants.


    This was the busiest time for the Wei n, as its shippingpanies, restaurants, inns, clothing stores, and other businesses were all on fire with business. The various managers would stand in line in front of the Wei Estate¡¯s main house in order to report to thedy.


    The Wei Estate had prospered in recent years, gaining two more streets of stores within Canglong Prefecture, opening up three more shipping routes, and adding at least twenty caravans under its g.


    All of this had started from the day the youngest master had be the True Inheritor of Sunwatch Peak.


    A True Inheritor of one of the 19 Celestial Chief was a status that most people would never be able to achieve in their wildest dreams.


    A n¡¯s development was often closely linked to the future prospects of the cultivator. The cultivators in the direct line of descent were like protective umbres for the n, and therger the umbre, the greater the distance the n could stretch out its hand.


    The umbre provided by Wei Tianchong and Tang Jie was currently enough for the Wei n to boldly expand for quite some time.


    In the Wei n¡¯s Resplendent Courtyard, Zheng Shufeng was seated at her desk.


    The desk had been moved into the courtyard, where arge number of people were lined up and kneeling.


    Zheng Shufeng was reading through various books on her desk. asionally, she would call out a name, and someone below would respond and be questioned by Zheng Shufeng.


    At times, Zheng Shufeng was displeased and would crease her brow, upon which the people below would tremble. At times, Zheng Shufeng would nod in satisfaction, and the people down below would exult.


    As Wei Tianchong had ascended, Zheng Shufeng¡¯s status and authority had risen with him. She not only had power over the household but also had the right to inspect and intervene with the n businesses. Even some personnel appointments could only be made with her approval. The master was now mostly responsible for dealing with outside merchants.


    Zheng Shufeng finally finished reading through the ount books. She waved her hand and said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ve seen what there is to be seen and asked what needed to be asked. It seems like that¡¯s the extent of this year¡¯s harvest. But this is rather strange. Even if the Wei n didn¡¯t add a lot this year, it was still at least eighteen stores, so why is there not much added business? And it seems like the market situation is even worse thanst year!¡±


    The people down below dropped their heads and did not dare reply.


    Zheng Shufeng began to tap a finger on her desk. ¡°Perhaps we¡¯ve gotten into too many deals, putting some pressure on our personnel and allowing some hoodlums in. If the threshold to get into the Wei n bes too low, some people will start to disrespect it and not value their jobs, and it¡¯s only a matter of time until they start trying to y tricks while on the job. What they don¡¯t know is that there¡¯s no hiding from cold, hard numbers.¡±


    Steward Qin, who had been sitting on the side this entire time, smiled and said, ¡°Mydy is correct. In the past, the Wei n would test someone for three to five years before putting them in important positions. We¡¯re currently expanding too fast andck manpower, so we inevitably give more people chances. An expansion like this that adds stores but little profit is simply no good.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we need to act quickly. If there are those who perform poorly, they should hurry up and resign rather than simply loafing off on our generosity.¡± Zheng Shufeng took several books and pointed at them. ¡°These stores in particr must be given a close look. Their monthly revenues are getting worse and worse. Examine them closely. If it¡¯s a problem with the shop assistants, get rid of them. If it¡¯s a problem with the manager, then send the manager packing.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Steward Qin replied. ¡°I will personally handle it.¡±


    Zheng Shufeng replied, ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. You¡¯re getting old, so you should rest properly. Just send one of the young ones that you trust.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m afraid that they might not do it properly.¡±


    Zheng Shufeng chuckled. ¡°I trust your eyes. Now that I think about it, without you, the Wei n wouldn¡¯t have even been able to reach this level.¡±


    Steward Qin hastily replied, ¡°Mydy, don¡¯t start with this again! The Wei Estate has been able toe this far ultimately because of thedy¡¯s wisdom and judgment, and the efforts of the young master and Tang Jie. Qin Yuan is fortunate to have the small merit of rmending them, which must be a result of the umted karma of my ancestors.¡±


    Zheng Shufengughed and waved her hand. ¡°Fine, fine, I won¡¯t push it. You know, it¡¯s been some time since Chong¡¯er hase back. Haa, I wonder how he¡¯s doingtely? This kid never knows to write home.¡±


    Steward Qin quickly said, ¡°A letter from Little Jie came a few days ago saying that everything was going well and that mydy should rest easy.¡±


    ¡°With him around, I have nothing to worry about. I just can¡¯t help but feel somewhat concerned. Just call it a mother¡¯s illness.¡± Zheng Shufeng raised her arm and stretched. ¡°After all this talk, I¡¯ve grown tired. Let¡¯s end things here for today. Right, Steward Qin, as the Upper Night Festival ising, help me pick some gifts from the estate and deliver them to the Wu couple¡¯s home as a holiday gift.¡±


    ¡°Yes, mydy.¡± Only then did Steward Qin rise and lead the people down below in bidding thedy farewell.


    These guys didn¡¯t even dare to fart inside the courtyard, but the moment they were out, they immediately started pleading to Steward Qin.


    ¡°Steward Qin, you have to speak to thedy for me! While my business is small, I¡¯ve been doing my utmost. The market situation this year is really just too poor¡­¡±


    As they spoke, they stuffed various bundles into Steward Qin¡¯s hands.


    Steward Qin smiled and refused them. ¡°Everyone, rx, rx. This Qin knows that everyone has had it hard, and I certainly won¡¯t make anyone resign for no good reason. Please rx. So long as you are doing a good job, you will continue to be valued¡­¡±


    As Tang Jie did better and better in Basking Moon Academy, Steward Qin¡¯s status in the Wei Estate rose. While he was still the chief steward as before, his words held much more weight. Even Zheng Shufeng spoke to him as a peer and would even allow him to sit while conversing with her rather than having him stand or kneel.


    Seeing that it was gettingte, Steward Qin gave a few orders and then went straight back to his home.


    He currently had his own house outside the Wei Estate, one that the Wei Estate had given him. It was next to the Wu couple¡¯s new house, which had also been given by the Wei Estate. As for the old house, it was empty and unupied. The Wu couple didn¡¯tck money at the moment, so they were unwilling to sell it.


    Humming to himself, Steward Qin walked into a small alley, carrying in his hands a gift for the elderly couple. As he was walking, his back suddenly went tense as something was pushed up against it. A hand gripped his neck as a voice whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t turn around. This is a robbery! Hand over all the money you have!¡±


    rmed, Steward Qin didn¡¯t dare to move. ¡°The silver is in the pouch on my right. Friend, take what you want.¡±


    A hand took the pouch of silver, and then the voice said, ¡°So little? You¡¯re as poor as a ghost.¡±


    Steward Qin helplessly said, ¡°I¡¯m just a servant, so how much silver could I be carrying? Friend, I advise you to take the silver and run. Nearby is the Wei n. If you¡¯re spotted by the Wei n¡¯s guards, it will be toote to run.¡±


    The voice behind him said in disdain, ¡°Tsk, just some measly guards. Nothing to be afraid of.¡±


    Steward Qin was angered by these words. ¡°You¡¯re not afraid of the guards, but what about Immortal Masters? The Wei Estate has Immortals, and these Immortal Masters are no ordinary characters. They can fly on clouds and summon wind and rain.¡±


    ¡°¡®Flying on clouds and summoning the wind and rain¡¯? You think Immortal Masters grow on trees? It looks more to me like you¡¯ve been duped.¡±


    Steward Qin angrily said, ¡°You fool! I was only offering some sincere advice, but it seems like you don¡¯t know what¡¯s good for you. I¡¯ll have you know that the Wei n has a son who¡¯s studying in the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s Basking Moon Academy right now. He¡¯s overflowing with talent and has already reached the Soaring Heaven Tier. He¡¯s even be True Person Changfeng¡¯s first disciple. And there¡¯s Protector Tang Jie, whose saber arts are simply exquisite¡­¡±


    He was about to keep going whenughter erupted behind him.


    This sound was rather familiar, and Steward Qin froze a moment before blurting out, ¡°Young Master?¡±


    Turning his head, he saw Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng bowled over inughter while Tang Jie stood in the distance, a little girl on his shoulder and a big tiger lounging at his feet. As for Wei Tianchong, he was holding a little fox.


    Tang Jie pointed at Wei Tianchong, indicating that this had been Wei Tianchong¡¯s idea and there was nothing he could do about it.


    ¡°Young Master, Tang Jie, Shi Meng¡­ how is it you three? You¡¯re back?¡± Steward Qin said in delight.


    Wei Tianchong held his belly andughed, ¡°I was missing Mother, so I naturally came back. But when we arrived at the gate, we saw youing out, so I wanted to give you a little scare. I didn¡¯t think¡­ haha, Steward Qin, you really know how to talk! ¡®Soaring Heaven Tier¡¯? When did cultivators get a Soaring Heaven Tier?¡±


    Shi Meng pointed at Wei Tianchong andughed. ¡°First disciple! Young Master, you became the True Person¡¯s first disciple, and you¡¯re overflowing with talent!? And Tang Jie, ¡®Protector Tang Jie¡¯¡­ hahahaha!¡±


    Wei Tianchong unhappily said, ¡°Hold on! I don¡¯t think there was anything wrong with saying that I have overflowing talent.¡±


    Shi Meng smirked. ¡°That was the biggest error.¡±


    ¡°Oh my, you seem to have gotten pretty bold. You think you¡¯re Tang Jie and I don¡¯t dare to beat you up. Your young master is about to give you a beating enough for three¡­¡±


    Steward Qin went red in the face, and he grabbed Shi Meng by the ear. ¡°You foul kids, after cultivating for a few days, you suddenly lose all respect and even try and y tricks on me! Trying to rob me! A young master robbing a steward! Do you still have any sense for the rules? I¡¯m reporting all this to thedy!¡±


    Shi Meng yelped, but he didn¡¯t dare to strike back. In the end, it was Wei Tianchong who grabbed Steward Qin¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Don¡¯t, don¡¯t! We were wrong, okay? We were just ying a joke on your venerable self. You¡¯re taking this too seriously. We¡¯ll pay you back what we took, even double it!¡±


    Wei Tianchong returned Steward Qin¡¯s silver with one hand while taking out a bottle of medicine with another. He solemnly poured out one pill and ced it in Steward Qin¡¯s hand. ¡°Oh, this is a Lifespan Extending Pill. Tang Jie prepared it for you, and I¡¯m giving it to you now.¡±


    ¡°¡®A Lifespan Extending Pill¡¯?¡± Steward Qin was shocked.


    He knew about this medicine. A few years ago, the Wu couple had taken this medicine and be much healthier and more energetic. He had been rather envious at the time and had once hoped that Tang Jie would get him one. But he knew that this medicine couldn¡¯t be cheap, and he still wasn¡¯t at the age where he needed it. Thus, in the end, he had put the matter aside. He hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to really get him one, and he immediately grew excited.


    He looked over at Tang Jie, who was standing next to the wall and smiling at him.


    Steward Qin suddenly realized something and gave Wei Tianchong a kick. ¡°Go on, hurry up! Since you¡¯re back, you need to go to your mother instead of wasting time with a servant like me.¡±


    Wei Tianchongughed as he dodged the kick. ¡°I know. Steward Qin, Tang Jie, I¡¯m off to see my mother.¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°I will go and see my adoptive parents, and then I will visit the master and thedy.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Wei Tianchong agreed. Rather than going through the front gate, he and Shi Meng jumped over the wall, upon which someone in the estate roared, ¡°Who dares to intrude upon the Wei Estate!?¡±


    A bolt of energy flew out from the estate, and there were several bangs. Wei Tianchong brazenlyughed, ¡°Hm? Is there a new Immortal Master in this estate? Come,e! I¡¯m the Soaring Heaven Bandit of Mount Mingliang! Does this new Immortal Master dare to fight three hundred rounds with me¡­¡±


    As Wei Tianchong shouted, the estate fell into chaos.


    Tang Jie and Steward Qin looked at each other andughed. Ignoring the trouble this brat was causing, Tang Jie waved his hand, sending off Yiyi to go and y with the tiger. He then came forward and walked with Steward Qin toward his home.


    On the way back, Steward Qin asked, ¡°How long are you staying this time?¡±


    Find the original at Hosted Novel.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°I took a mission that I have toplete by the end of next month. Removing the time I need to get back, I can probably stay for twenty days.¡±


    ¡°That sounds good,¡± Steward Qin said in satisfaction. ¡°You can stay a little longer in the estate, keeping your adoptive parentspany and increasing the prestige of the Wei Estate.¡±


    ¡°The Wei Estate still needs more prestige?¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    ¡°Upper Night ising, which is the perfect time to show one¡¯s talents. At times, strength needs to be unted to increase prestige and scare off thieves.¡±


    Tang Jie squinted. ¡°It sounds like the estate has run into some problems recently?¡±


    Steward Qin shook his head and sighed. ¡°You can¡¯t consider them problems. But some things won¡¯t be problems if they¡¯re handled properly, but will be big problems if they¡¯re handled poorly.¡±


    ¡°What is this all about?¡±


    ¡°No rush, no rush. Go and see your adoptive parents first,¡± Steward Qin unhurriedly said, leading Tang Jie to his home.


    At the home of the Wu couple, Steward Qin knocked on the gate. A boy in his teens answered the door, and when he saw that it was Steward Qin, he quickly weed him in. But when it came to Tang Jie, the boy closely inspected him.


    Steward Qinughed and patted him. ¡°This is your house¡¯s second young master. Hurry and inform the elders that their dear younger son has returned.¡±


    The boy servant shivered, immediately understanding who this was, and he shot back into the house.


    Tang Jie asked, ¡°The house has a servant?¡±


    Steward Qin smiled. ¡°Thedy arranged for one two years ago. His name is Ban¡¯er. In the end, they¡¯re getting on in their years. Even with the Lifespan Extending Pills, it¡¯s not right to have elders in their seventies and eighties doing housework.¡±


    ¡°I must thank thedy for being so considerate,¡± Tang Jie sighed in praise. While he was concerned about the elderly couple, as he was in the academy, he was ultimately unable to think of everything.


    The two of them went in and saw the boy servant ushering in the couple.


    When she saw Tang Jie, Granny Wu immediately cried out in joy, ¡°Little Jie really hase back!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes became moist. He took two steps forward and dropped to his knees. ¡°Dad! Mom!¡±


    The couple came forward and hugged Tang Jie. The three of them stared at each other, so excited that they couldn¡¯t talk.


    In the end, Steward Qin helped Tang Jie up, and the two of them helped the two elders sit down.


    Once they were seated, the two elders began to question Tang Jie about his life at school. ¡°How are you eating? How is your cultivation going? Have you offended anyone? You should focus on cultivation and not get into any quarrels. And have you been attending to the young master well? You must repay kindness done to you, and even if you¡¯ve fulfilled your promise and left your status as a servant behind, you must still treat the young master with respect.¡±


    Various questions, worries, advice, and orders, endless chattering that contained an indescribable concern, left Tang Jie feeling rather helpless.


    Fortunately, Steward Qin was there to help. ¡°The two of you should rest easy. It¡¯s not like you don¡¯t know how smart Little Jie is. I already asked him these things on the way here, and Little Jie is doing great. He¡¯s at Hundred Refinement of Mortal Shedding, the same as a grade 4 official, meaning that he doesn¡¯t need to bow around officials!¡±


    The two elders were gratified to hear this, shouting, ¡°The heavens have eyes!¡±


    Tang Jie asked, ¡°How have the two of you been doing?¡±


    The couple replied, ¡°Good, better than ever! The Wei Estate has given us a plot ofnd that they farm for us without our having to do anything. The Wei Estate also gave us this house, and the servant. Ban¡¯er is a rather quick-witted child, diligent and capable, a little like you. Xing¡¯er came back a few years ago, and he¡¯s out working with the first young master. He¡¯s bing more and more thoughtful, sending back silver every year. Actually, the Wei Estate pays for all our food and expenses, so we don¡¯t have anything to do with this silver. In the future, we¡¯ll just leave it to you two.¡±


    The old couple described everything in their in and simple fashion, making Tang Jie feel all warm inside.


    After they had talked for a while, someone knocked on the gate.


    Ban¡¯er went to open the door and saw that it was the second steward of the Wei Estate, Yan Chen.


    Yan Chen came into the reception hall, first bowing to the old couple before bowing to Tang Jie. He then smiled and said, ¡°I just learned that the young master and Young Master Tang returned. Thedy is in an excellent mood and has ordered the servants to set out a feast. I havee to invite the two venerable elders to this feast. As Young Master Tang is present, you are invited as well.¡±


    He took out an invitation card from his sleeve.


    Tang Jie knew that the estate had immediately sent Yan Chen to invite the elderly couple after hearing the news to show its respect.


    He looked at Steward Qin, who immediately understood what he wanted to ask and quickly said, ¡°For thest few years, your parents have been invited whenever a feast is held at the estate.¡±


    His parents chimed in, ¡°Yes, yes. We have noints about how the Wei Estate has treated us.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± Tang Jie firmly said. ¡°I have remembered the Wei Estate¡¯s kindness. If thedy has any tasks that she requires my aid for, she may freely ask me.¡±


    Yan Chen knew how to talk. He said with a smile, ¡°The estate understands Young Master Tang¡¯s intentions, but there is no need to rush. Young Master should focus on cultivating Immortality. The estate will handle these domestic affairs.¡±


    Tang Jie was greatlyforted to hear these words.


    They chatted for a while, and once they saw that there was little time left, they headed to the Wei Estate. Even before they arrived, they could hear the mor of music, the banging of drums, and the cracking of fireworks.


    It still wasn¡¯t dark yet, but fireworks were already shooting into the sky.


    In this way, the estate announced to the world that the Wei n¡¯s Immortal young master had returned! Mortal lives are so short. Got to spend as much time with the family as you can before you enter secluded cultivation and emerge one hundred yearster only to find out everyone is dead.

 Chapter 347: To Take a Concubine

    Chapter 347: To Take a Concubine


    Though the visit had been sudden, the servants of the estate were very experienced and had managed to swiftly arrange everything.


    Third Steward Zhu Qing personally weed them at the gate. After passing through two more gates, they entered the reception pavilion, where Zheng Shufeng was waiting with Wei Tianchong, Shi Meng, and the other high-ranking members of the estate. As for Wei Danbai, he wanted to seem more impressive, so he was seated with the venerable master and venerabledy at the main table in the back of the pavilion.


    This maintained his dignity as the current master of the Wei Estate while also disying his respect toward Tang Jie. It had all been carefully thought out.


    Upon seeing Zheng Shufeng, Tang Jie came forward and bowed. ¡°Tang Jie pays respects to thedy.¡±


    He then bowed toward Wei Danbai¡¯s group. ¡°I pay my respects to the venerable master, the venerabledy, and the master.¡±


    ¡°Oh my, hurry and rise. Why so polite?¡± Zheng Shufeng quickly stepped forward and helped Tang Jie up. ¡°You are no longer a servant, and you are also a master who cultivates Immortality. We mortals cannot ept this from you. We don¡¯t deserve it.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Mydy tters me. Tang Jie has been able to get this far because the Wei n gave me an opportunity. No matter what, I would never dare to forget this, so I could not possibly dare to show disrespect toward the master and thedy.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all in the past. Starting from now, we are family.¡± Zheng Shufeng smiled as she pulled Tang Jie toward the dining table. As for Wei Tianchong, she just left him there. She seemed more affectionate with Tang Jie than her own son.


    Of course, Tang Jie knew that Zheng Shufeng did this on purpose in order to get into Tang Jie¡¯s good graces. But he still couldn¡¯t help but be a little moved.


    She took Tang Jie to the main table, and the Wei Estate¡¯s feast began. Servants flowed in with various gourmet dishes, and Zheng Shufeng began to busy herself with pampering Tang Jie, and even the inflexible Wei Danbai grabbed a few chopsticks of food for Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie noticed that Wei Tianzhi and Wu Xing were not present, so he inquired as to where they were. Zheng Shufeng smiled and said, ¡°They¡¯ve gone to do business at Watcher River. They¡¯ll probably be back in a few days.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see Sisters Yanzhi and Shi Yue, either.¡± Tang Jie noticed that Zheng Shufeng had changed out her personal maids.


    Zheng Shufeng chuckled. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a rather sillyment? Girls eventually have to be married off, and keeping them at my side will only hinder them. Now that you mention it, I rather liked Yanzhi and Shi Yue, but I can¡¯t hurt other families simply for my own sake. Come, eat. Try this fresh turtle and stewed eggnt. These are top-ss products that were sent over from Xiacun a few days ago, and what little was avable is all here¡­¡±


    Tang Jie took a soft bite, and it truly was delectable.


    Yes, he had been gone from the estate for eight years.


    In the eyes of cultivators, eight years went by in the blink of an eye, but for mortals, eight years was a long time, so long that many things would have changed upon his return.


    That Old Man Niu who had first weed him into the estate had passed away a few years ago. As for Wen Qing, he had gone out and be a minor steward and was married.


    Wei Tianzhi had gone and gotten himself a wife not long aftering back: a daughter of Canglong Prefecture¡¯s Zhou n. The Zhou n was one of the five big ns of Canglong Prefecture, their status a perfect match for the Wei n. With these two ns bonded in marriage, the Wei n¡¯s power grew even more.


    Inparison, Yanzhi and Shi Yue were very normal people. Unless Tang Jie said something so that Zheng Shufeng would keep them around, their families would marry them off when the time came.


    Tang Jie asked about how the two of them were doing, and it seemed like Zheng Shufeng had been keeping tabs on them, as she had a keen understanding of their situation. ording to her, Yanzhi had been rather lucky. While she hadn¡¯t married some wealthy n, it was considered middle-ss. Most importantly, her husband treated her very well.


    Shi Yue¡¯s luck had been worse. Her husband was a gambling addict who had gambled away all their property. Zheng Shufeng sighed when she spoke of this, ¡°When a husband was being chosen for her, that family had been rather thriving, and it didn¡¯t seem like it would let her down. Who could have imagined¡­ Ha!¡±


    Tang Jie pondered these words before saying, ¡°Mydy, could you tell me where Shi Yue is living? When I have the time, I will go and take a look.¡±


    Shi Yue was someone who had treated him well in the past. As he was now a person of some power and wealth, he had to go and help her out.


    Zheng Shufeng could see what he was thinking, so she gave him the address. ¡°It¡¯s good that you want to help her, but remember to know your limits. Don¡¯t go involving yourself too much. In some matters, it¡¯s not proper for outsiders to meddle too much in someone else¡¯s business. Over the years, I¡¯ve given her some silver, but that gambling addict of a husband always managed to spend it all. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to help her, but that I can¡¯t.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I understand. I am sure there is no one in the Wei n who does not ept mydy¡¯s way of doing things.¡±


    Zheng Shufeng rolled her eyes, and then she covered her mouth and smiled. ¡°The problem is that there are always people who think a woman¡¯s ce is in the home, that womenck the experience and courage needed to do great things.¡±


    Oh? Tang Jie was startled by these words.


    Who dared to say this about thedy?


    Following Zheng Shufeng¡¯s gaze, he saw Wei Danbai turning pale. Tang Jie instantly understood that there was some marital strife going on. When he thought about it, he realized that Wei Danbai was the only person in the Wei n who would dare to say such things about his wife. The venerable master and venerabledy currently did not interfere with Zheng Shufeng.


    Wei Danbai said nothing in response to Zheng Shufeng¡¯s words, but the venerabledy sighed, ¡°This again! The two of you are husband and wife, but you spend every day arguing. Even after Chong¡¯er hase back for a rare visit, you still quarrel. Ah, forget it. In any case, this house is yours to manage, so we won¡¯t ask any questions. Old man, let¡¯s go back.¡±


    The venerable master did not like to talk. With the support of their maids, the old couple departed.


    Wei Danbai grunted, ¡°Look at yourself! What¡¯s the point in doing all this during a wee banquet?¡±


    Zheng Shufeng raised an eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯re even trying to control what I can say?¡±


    Wei Danbai was left speechless with anger. After taking a few more bites, he left, and the mood of the wee banquet turned sullen.


    Zheng Shufeng didn¡¯t seem to care, continuing to serve Tang Jie and diligently attend to him. Even Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but feel admiration for Zheng Shufeng¡¯s patience. In this situation, he couldn¡¯t remain silent, so he asked, ¡°What is it that troubles the master anddy so?¡±


    Zheng Shufeng casually replied, ¡°It¡¯s nothing, only the matter of Chong¡¯er¡¯s marriage.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± Wei Tianchong, who had been mindlessly shoveling his food into his mouth, was startled. <em>Why am I being mentioned here?</em>


    Steward Qin whispered something to him.


    It turned out that even if Wei Tianchong hadn¡¯te back this time, the Wei n had been nning on having someone go and call him back. The reason was that Wei Danbai nned to find a woman for him.


    Of course, Wei Tianchong was a cultivator, so he was bound to find a Dao Companion to serve as his main wife in the future. Thus, he could only take a concubine right now. The primary reason for this was so that he would leave behind a descendant. After all, the Immortal parth was dangerous, and there was no telling what might happen in the future. It was best for Wei Tianchong to leave behind a child while he was still in his ascending phase so that it could be raised up.


    For a great n, it was always better to have more sons. So long as a single son among many was talented, the entire n had hope. For the Wei n patriarch to have only two sons was quite rare.


    This was precisely why they needed Wei Tianchong to quickly take a concubine and father many sons that could be raised into more cultivators, thus solidifying the foundations of the n.


    In short, Wei Tianchong was being treated as a stud horse.


    This had originally been a simple matter of finding someone to pair with Wei Tianchong so he could get his business done. But the Gu n of Canglong Prefecture somehow managed to hear of it.


    The Gu n was one of the five great ns of Canglong Prefecture, their status even slightly higher than the Wei n. It was only after Wei Tianchong became True Inheritor that the Wei n¡¯s prestige had managed to catch up within thest two years. After hearing the news, the Gu n immediately sent someone with a marriage proposal. The Gu n proposed for Wei Tianchong to take one of their daughters as a concubine and offered a rich dowry.


    Wei Danbai had been rather tempted by the offer. In his view, this would give the Wei n another natural ally, and for great ns, the more allies, the better.


    But this matter received Zheng Shufeng¡¯s fierce opposition.


    She felt that the Gu n¡¯s reputation in Canglong Prefecture was just too awful.


    Of the five great ns of Canglong Prefecture, the Jin n were sea traders, the Zhang n were officials, and the Wei n and Zhou n owned businesses. Only the Gu n relied on sucking the blood of others for its wealth. Though it was said that no local power managed to reach its level without sucking some blood, there were levels to it. A gangster n like the Gu n, which ran casinos and pawn shops, made high-interest loans, and charged protection fees, was simply shameless and had probably driven numerous people to their death. Zheng Shufeng would never respect such a n.


    It wasn¡¯t just her. Even the Jins, Zhangs, and Zhous did not respect the Gus.


    A n like this wanted to give their daughter to Wei Tianchong as a concubine? How could Zheng Shufeng possibly ept it?


    It wasn¡¯t that Wei Danbai didn¡¯t know these things, but the Gu n¡¯s conditions were so good that he couldn¡¯t help but consider the offer. The two escortpanies and the pawn shop they had offered alone were enough to tempt him. These were business fields the Gu n had kept a firm grip on, letting no one else touch them, but it was now offering the Wei n this opportunity.


    Other people had to spend money to get a concubine, but his son could make money from taking a concubine and could even open up a new line of revenue. What could be better than that?


    Husband and wife had argued over this for many days, and Wei Tianchong and Tang Jie had returned just in time to throw themselves into the vortex. This matter had been brought up now in the hopes that they would give their opinion.


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s opinion was the most important, and Tang Jie¡¯s opinion could directly influence Wei Tianchong.


    Now that he understood what was going on, Wei Tianchong jumped and said, ¡°I¡¯m not marrying her!¡±


    Zheng Shufeng was extremely happy to hear this.


    ¡°I¡¯m not marrying anyone!¡±


    Zheng Shufeng¡¯s face fell.


    Steward Qin quickly came up and cautioned, ¡°Youngest Master, don¡¯t decide things based on emotion. As a member of the Wei n, you have a duty of leaving behind a descendant for the Wei n.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there still Big Brother? Why do I need to do it?¡±


    Zheng Shufeng replied, ¡°That is different. Your elder brother¡¯s aptitude is limited, and the Immortal path is not his destiny. You have currently shed your mortal body, so the children you father will only have a better aptitude. If the Wei n wishes to turn into a cultivator n, it will need to depend on you.¡±


    The Rosecloud Domain¡¯s thousands of years of history had long ago proved that the children of cultivators had a better chance at a higher aptitude than mortal children.


    A mortal n that wanted to be a cultivator n would need many workable talents.


    Zheng Shufeng was undoubtedly treating Wei Tianchong as the cornerstone of the Wei n¡¯s future, so she needed him to have many children.


    But Wei Tianchong was still at the age where he enjoyed viewing the flowers but not plucking the fruit. He had no interest in bing an outstanding stud horse.


    Zheng Shufeng saw that he was determined, so she didn¡¯t force him, only indifferently saying, ¡°The n expended quite a lot of silver for your cultivation. We ask for nothing else, only that you leave behind your bloodline to the Wei n, but I didn¡¯t think that you wouldn¡¯t agree to even this. Ah, it¡¯s really as they say. Since ancient times, Immortals have always been the most callous. Once someone bes an Immortal, they often cut off all emotions and desires, ceasing to care about their mortal families. Just like that flower on the tree, believing itself to be a noble existence and thus no longer caring about the mud of the mortal world or remembering the people who allowed it to be so high up.¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s face turned red. ¡°Mom, what do you mean by this? I¡­ I¡­¡±


    That was all that he was able to say.


    Zheng Shufeng rose. ¡°There is no rush on this matter. Take your time to carefully think about it.¡±


    With Zheng Shufeng gone, the other members of the Wei n began to disperse, and it was soon only Wei Tianchong¡¯s group left in the courtyard.


    Wei Tianchong was still in a gobsmacked daze, unable to understand how a visit home had turned into this. In the end, Tang Jie came and gave him a pat. ¡°The meal¡¯s over, so why are you still standing around?¡±


    ¡°Where¡­ where do I go?¡± Wei Tianchong muddleheadedly asked.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just take a walk around. After all, we¡¯ve been away for many years. You don¡¯t n to go around and take a look? A lot of things have changed in the Wei Estate, you know,¡± Tang Jie profoundly said.


    ¡°Yes, a lot of things have changed,¡± Wei Tianchong sighed.


    Thus, the three of them began to stroll around the estate.


    The Wei Estate was veryrge, and there were pavilions and verandas wherever one looked. asionally, as members of the estate passed by them, they would bow to the group, and sometimes, they would speak among themselves in whispered tones.


    ¡°That¡¯s the youngest master of the Wei n! I¡¯ve heard he¡¯s already shed his mortality and be an esteemed master! You really can¡¯t tell.¡±


    ¡°Right, right! Those two next to him were apparently his servant students, but they¡¯ve be esteemed masters too.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean that they¡¯ve essentially ascended to be nobles?¡±


    ¡°Naturally. I¡¯ve heard that the master and thedy are seeking out wives for them, but they still need to find someone to their liking.¡±


    ¡°Then you had better work hard. If that Young Master Tang takes a liking to you, you can just mention it to thedy, and thedy will definitely take you as her adopted daughter.¡±


    ¡°There you go with that smooth tongue of yours, you naughty girl. How could he possibly like me?¡±


    But these words exposed her real thoughts, and all of them startedughing.


    Wei Tianchong was very sullen. ¡°It seems like it¡¯s not just me. You two are also involved, but my parents won¡¯t go against your will and force it on you¡­ Hey, this isn¡¯t right! I¡¯m the young master, so why is it that I don¡¯t get a choice while you can pick who you like?¡±


    Shi Meng chuckled. ¡°Who made the master and thedy your parents? Parents are supposed to arrange marriages for their son. There¡¯s no ce for you to make a decision here.¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s face alternated between green and red. ¡°In other words, I have to agree to my parents¡¯ decision?¡±


    ¡°Not at all,¡± Tang Jie casually replied.


    The two of them looked at Tang Jie, and Wei Tianchong urgently said, ¡°Tang Jie, you aren¡¯t saying that I should publicly defy my parents, are you? That simply won¡¯t do!¡±


    Tang Jie did not answer.


    Standing beneath a mulberry tree, Tang Jie looked into the distance. There, lit up bynterns, was the garden where he used to work.


    As he looked there, he asked, ¡°Young Master, have you ever thought about why you cultivate Immortality?¡±


    ¡°¡®Why I cultivate Immortality¡¯?¡± Wei Tianchong was startled.


    Yes, why did he cultivate Immortality?


    This was a question he had never really thought about before.


    Long ago, he had once envied Immortals for their numerous powers and their ability to fly through the air and travel through the earth.


    Once he started cultivating Immortality, this envy faded and receded, and at some point, even Wei Tianchong forgot why he wanted to cultivate Immortality.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°When it alles down to it, the pursuits of cultivators boil down to only a few things. Whether it¡¯s bing famous throughout the world and enjoying the reverence of themon people, living as long as the world and gaining eternal life, or living a free life and roaming the world to one¡¯s heart¡¯s content, in the end, cultivators really cultivate Immortality for one thing¡­ to follow one¡¯s heart¡¯s desire.¡±


    ¡°¡®To follow one¡¯s heart¡¯s desire¡¯,¡± Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng muttered in unison.


    Yes!


    Bing famous or living an eternal life? Weren¡¯t they all basically the same thing?


    If one sought eternal life, did that mean that one did not seek freedom?


    Tang Jie sought freedom, but did that mean that he wouldn¡¯t like to live forever?


    The essence of cultivating Immortality was ultimately to cultivate so that one could follow one¡¯s heart¡¯s desire!


    If one became an Immortal but was still subject to the restraints andws of the mortal world, what was the point?


    Only by transcending mortal conventions could one be an Immortal!


    Wei Tianchong finally understood what Tang Jie was getting at.


    Cultivators had to do as their heart desired. How could they be bound by mortal rules!?


    Zheng Shufeng had never cultivated Immortality before, so no matter how smart she was, she would never be able to understand this change in mentality. Most importantly, Zheng Shufeng was a woman, and more than that, a mother!


    Thetter decided her position toward Wei Tianchong. This was why she disyed respect for Tang Jie¡¯s status but did not treat her son like a cultivator. For while Zheng Shufeng was clear-minded when it came to everything else, she had yet to wake from her mentality as a mother.


    And Wei Tianchong had also not mentally shed his mortality. In his mind, Mortal Shedding was just a term, and so he failed to realize the power of his words.


    To put it simply: the son had grown up and could already control the fate of others, but neither parents nor child had adapted to this change.


    Tang Jie¡¯s reminder had finally woken Wei Tianchong up.


    His eyes suddenly shed with a sharp light.


    He nodded. ¡°I know what I have to do.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The Wei Estate¡¯s main hall.


    Wei Danbai and Zheng Shufeng sat across from each other, neither of them saying a word.


    They had just had an argument, and both of them were currently too angry to speak.


    The two maids down below trembled in fear, not daring to say a word.


    At this moment, a gust blew outside the hall, causing thenterns to flicker.


    It was a suspicious gust of wind, and as Wei Danbai and Zheng Shufeng were wondering what was going on, they heard a giant boom from outside.


    The two of them saw that arge man made of stone had dropped from the sky.


    The stone man¡¯srge figure was currently down on one knee, and the gray paving stones had cracked under the impact.


    It slowly stood up, turned its back to the hall, and then it kneeled. There was a sinister howl of wind, and then countless savage little monsters jumped up, jibbering and jabbering. Their appearance caused Wei Danbai and Zheng Shufeng to back away in fear.


    But those little monsters moved to the sides of the path, forming two rows as if they were weing someone.


    Something drifted out of the distance, like a tornado with a head and a face. This bizarre form had two arms made of wind that held aloft a rainbow cloud.


    Standing atop this cloud was none other than Wei Tianchong. He was wearing a wide-sleeved robe and had a somber expressionpletely at odds with his unruly expression from before.


    ¡°Chong¡¯er!¡± Wei Danbai and Zheng Shufeng shouted in unison.


    Wei Tianchong waved his left hand, and the stone person walked forward and squatted down.


    Wei Tianchong stepped off the cloud, using the stone man as a staircase to reach the ground. But his feet did not touch the floor, instead hovering three inches above it as he floated into the hall.


    His parents were dumbfounded. Not even the esteemed masters hired by the household had ever used such methods or appeared like this.


    It was only then that they realized that their son was no ordinary person, but someone who hade out of Basking Moon Academy. He was an existence many times stronger than those Mortal Shedding masters hired by the n.


    Wei Tianchong floated straight up to the principal seat in the hall, sitting down where his father had been seated before. He brought his hands together and saluted his parents, upon which he said, ¡°Your son has considered Mother¡¯s words from before and finds this matter to be improper.¡±


    He didn¡¯t use this grandiose arrival to reject his parents, but to unt his power and reset the impression he gave off. He then said, ¡°To leave behind descendants to carry on the lineage of the Wei n is not wrong. However, as my elder brother still lives, the Wei n does not need to worry about not having descendants. Moreover, even if I must leave descendants, it must be someone that I have an affinity with. It cannot be hastily done through a word from my parents. As a cultivator, I have transcended mortal affairs and ced my heart on the Great Dao. The most important thing about my actions is that they cannot go against my Origin Heart. If a trifling affair like this leads me down the wrong path in cultivation, then my parents would havemitted a grave sin.¡±


    His parents were aghast.


    Zheng Shufeng wanted to exin, but Wei Tianchong raised a hand and stopped her. He waved his hand, and two chairs automatically flew under his parents, upon which he said, ¡°Sit!¡±


    His parents immediately sat down.


    Wei Tianchong went on, ¡°I know that my parents are thinking of the long-term foundation of the n, and the idea is not going too far. Thus, I have decided to use this visit home to take a good look at Canglong Prefecture. If there is a girl that I find likable, I will inform the two of you and make a marriage proposal. When the timees, I will take good care of her, and if there is a child, that would naturally be wonderful. But if I do not find a woman to my liking, my parents, there is no need to worry. As I have already reached Mortal Shedding and entered through the Immortal Gate, my lifespan has increased such that it would not be strange if I lived for two or three hundred years. There will naturally be an opportunity to leave behind descendants.¡±


    Wei Tianchong pped his Mustard Seed Bag, and a bottle flew out.


    Wei Tianchong pointed at the bottle, and two pills flew out of it and to his parents. The two of them took the pills as Wei Tianchong said, ¡°Tianchong is deeply grateful for all that you have done to raise me. But on the Great Dao, there are many things that are not up to me, so I must ask for your forgiveness if I disobey you. These pills are Lifespan Extending Pills, which I have brought so that my parents may benefit from an extended lifespan and that I might live up to my filial duties. Please ept this humble gift. I have two other pills for my grandparents, which I will personally deliver.¡±


    Wei Tianchong waved his hand, and the pill bottle flew back into his hand.


    Wei Danbai still wanted to speak up, but Wei Tianchong was already rising to leave. ¡°As for that Gu n, I know that you must have received some gifts from them. I will personally pay them a visit to exin the situation and withdraw from this engagement. Alright, let¡¯s leave it here for now. If you have anything else to say, we can discuss itter.¡±


    He floated out of the hall.


    His parents were still in shock, blurting, ¡°Farewell, Honored Immortal!¡±


    It was only after these words left their mouth that they realized they were talking to their own son. In the cultivation world, your parents can¡¯t marry you off anymore. It¡¯s your sect that marries you off!

 Chapter 348: Beyond the Saving of Gods and Immortals

    Chapter 348: Beyond the Saving of Gods and Immortals


    This novel is avable on Hosted Novel.


    The matter of taking a concubine passed.


    Whether it was Zheng Shufeng or Wei Tianchong, they had both had a profound experience.


    Zheng Shufeng started to understand what it meant to be a true Immortal.


    To put it frankly, while she had been somewhat proud to see her son riding the clouds andmanding shadow soldiers, she was more frightened by his transcendent power. None of the masters hired by the n had ever shown such power.


    This made her understand that there were some powers that mortals would never be able to control. As a cultivator got stronger, they would grow more and more distant from mortals. While bloodline could serve as a connection between Immortals and mortals, it ultimately could not endure that endless distance¡­


    This understanding would make her more clear-minded when it came to handling Immortal-mortal rtions in the future.


    As for Wei Tianchong, he also came to understand something: acting aloof wasn¡¯t just a pursuit, but a necessity.


    Officials had their officious way of speaking, and Immortals had their Immortal aura!


    A person in a certain position needed to speak and act ording to the standards of that position. After all, if you didn¡¯t take yourself seriously, how could you hope that others would take you seriously?


    Why did Zheng Shufeng believe that she could make decisions for her son? Because he was as carefree and cheeky as usual,pletelycking the demeanor of an Immortal.


    If you yourself did not cultivate an Immortal demeanor, you could not me others for not respecting you.


    After understanding this, Wei Tianchong would act much more restrained and mature in the future.


    The next morning, Wei Tianchong went to the Gu n to end the engagement while Tang Jie decided to take a walk on the streets.


    Early morning was when Canglong Prefecture¡¯s day started, and the streets were thronged with people and carts.


    On this side, a y doll seller was waving around various dolls to try and attract children, and on that side, several male and female martial artists were unting their skills. Several strongmen loaded down with heavy bags were seemingly energized by this sight, asionally shing their muscles and gesturing at the martial artists. Here, a middle-aged man wearing a long, wide-sleeved robe was standing behind a desk. Clearing his throat, he dered, ¡°My honored listeners!¡± And here, an olddy was using a trembling hand todle jellied tofu out for a customer¡­


    It was a joyous and bustling scene.


    Tang Jie had grown ustomed to bitter cultivation, and his asional trips out were usually for missions, so he hadn¡¯t paid attention to other things. Now that he was on a rare vacation, he could finally rx and take a look around.


    It wasn¡¯t long before he arrived at an alley.


    Tang Jie recalled that this was where Yanzhi lived since being married off. After asking around, he went up to a gate and knocked. After a while, someone said, ¡°Who is it?¡± and began to walk over.


    The gate opened with a creak, revealing the familiar face of Yanzhi.


    However, she now had her hair tied up over her head in a bun with a phoenix hairpin, and wore a flowery red dress and shoes with mandarin ducks embroidered on them. She was not at all like that quiet and exquisite little girl from back then and was clearly a married woman who ran the house.


    Yanzhi stared in shock at the person standing at her door, and then she blurted out, ¡°Tang Jie! You¡¯re back?¡±


    Her face showed both surprise and delight.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Big Sister Yanzhi, long time no see. Have you been doing well?¡±


    Yanzhi stared at Tang Jie for a while before finallyughing. ¡°You really haven¡¯t changed at all, still knowing how to talk. But the current you no longer has to be so polite. As for me, I have to respectfully address you as ¡®Immortal Master Tang¡¯.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Big Sister Yanzhi, if you call me that, I¡¯ll turn around and leave right now.¡±


    Yanzhi was moved by these words, and she pulled Tang Jie inside. ¡°Come on in. We can¡¯t just stand outside and talk! Husband! Husband! Come out! A guest hase¡­¡±


    A few momentster, Tang Jie sat together with the master of the house.


    Yanzhi¡¯s husband was called ¡®Kong Lao¡¯er¡¯. He was a docile man with a plump head and big ears, appearing a little stupid. But just like Zheng Shufeng had said, he doted on Yanzhi, doing whatever she said.


    With this Immortal Master in Tang Jie around, he didn¡¯t know whether he should sit or stand. He was so cautious that Yanzhi red at him and said, ¡°Look at how useless you are! Go out and buy some vegetables or something! I want to apany my brother and share a drink.¡±


    She turned to Tang Jie and smiled. ¡°My husband is just a little too docile, and his behavior is rather silly. Please do not take it to heart.¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°If he weren¡¯t this docile, how could he allow you to just bully him around like this?¡±


    Yanzhi covered her mouth andughed, a smug look on her face.


    Tang Jie added, ¡°It seems like you¡¯ve had a good time thesest few years.¡±


    Yanzhi tilted her head and replied, ¡°¡®A good time¡¯? That depends on how you think about it. If we¡¯re talking about looks and background, then this husband is extremelycking. But if it¡¯s about his treatment of me, then there¡¯s nothing toin about. I¡¯m different from Shi Yue. Shi Yue had high ambitions, always looking for a man with both money and power, but all I wanted was to find someone that treated me well. When ites to money, while my man doesn¡¯t have money, his family has a few acres ofnd, and he¡¯s also strong enough to keep a handle on the house. And I¡¯ve saved up some money from my time at the Wei Estate¡­¡±


    Yanzhi¡¯s face turned red as she giggled at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie knew what she wasughing about.


    Yanzhi had made quite a lot of money over the years. Everyone knew that thedy¡¯s maid had been the greediest of all.


    But surprisingly, when it came to choosing a husband, she didn¡¯t use wealth as a standard at all.


    It was truly quite shocking.


    ¡°But is it true that Shi Yue hasn¡¯t been doing very well?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    The mention of Shi Yue had Yanzhi shaking her head and sighing. ¡°You can only say that she had bad luck. Who could have guessed that she would pick a gambling addict for a husband, who¡¯d gamble away all of the family¡¯s property?¡±


    ¡°I am going to see her in a little while.¡±


    Yanzhi silently nodded.


    After chatting for a little longer, Yanzhi led Tang Jie out.


    Passing through various streets, they arrived at a home. This had once been a proper courtyard, but it was now in a very shabby condition. As they approached, they could hear the sounds of cursing.


    The door opened, and a young man stormed out, a bundle in his hand. Meanwhile, sobbing came from within.


    It was easy to tell what had happened. Yanzhi was so angry that her body was trembling, and she wanted to rush out and give the man a few ps. After all, she had Tang Jie with her, so she didn¡¯t need to fear anything.


    But Tang Jie stopped her, shook his head, and walked into the courtyard.


    Entering, they saw a woman crouching on the ground and wailing. It was Shi Yue, wearing a blue gown of coarse cloth, her appearance no longer refined. Her stomach was also bulging out¡ªa clear sign that she was pregnant.


    Her eyes clouded with tears saw two pairs of feet appearing in front of her.


    Shi Yue raised her head in shock, and when she saw the face of someone she had not seen for so long, she froze as if she had been struck by a lightning bolt.


    Tang Jie smiled at her. ¡°Hey, long time no see.¡±


    She stared at Tang Jie in a daze, and then she lunged at him. Not caring what onlookers might say, she hugged Tang Jie¡¯s neck and wept. She was so agitated that she actually fainted after a while.


    When she woke, she found herself on her bed.


    Tang Jie was standing in the room and looking around.


    This house was ratherrge, but there was nothing in it. All that was left was the building itself, and it seemed like even that wouldn¡¯t be around for much longer.


    They were so poor that the only thing in the house was four walls!


    Yanzhi came in with a bowl of medicine. Looking at Shi Yue, she smiled and said, ¡°Awake? That¡¯s perfect. I just brewed up some medicine. If you¡¯re pregnant, you shouldn¡¯t be crying like that. It might hurt the baby.¡±


    Hearing this and then looking at Tang Jie again, Shi Yue once more began to weep.


    She was a very ambitious person, and when Yanzhi had been married off to Kong Lao¡¯er, she had privatelyughed, believing that Yanzhi had married the wrong person, and been determined to find a good man for herself. Her husband had been a talented man at the time, a schr with decent property. Afterparing him to multiple other candidates, she decided on him, not expecting him to be a gambling addict. His parents had been able to restrain him while they still lived, but a few years ago, they had passed, causing him to be utterly uncontroble.


    In these years, he had already gambled off more than half of their property, forcing Shi Yue to get a few jobs to maintain their lifestyle.


    When she looked at Yanzhi now, she found herself extremely envious.


    Yanzhi soothed, ¡°Alright, alright, don¡¯t cry. Tang Jie is back now, and he knows all about this matter. He can definitely help you.¡±


    Shi Yue excitedly looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°My apologies. On this matter, I might not be able to help much.¡±


    Yanzhi shouted, ¡°But you¡¯re an Immortal! How can an Immortal not be able to help her?¡±


    Shi Yue cried out, tears pouring from her eyes, ¡°Tang Jie, I¡¯m begging you! On ount of our past friendship, please help me! I don¡¯t need you to give me money, only to make my husband reform so that he stops gambling!¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°Reforming sounds simple, but it involves the mind, and the mind is the most mysterious part of the human. Even those at Celestial Heart or Violet Pce do not dare to say they can control it, let alone someone like me. While I cultivate Immortality, I cultivate that which has form. If you were to have me heal wounds and injuries, I could do it.¡±


    Tang Jie slowly raised a hand. A white ball of light appeared in his palm, which he pressed at Shi Yue¡¯s belly. Shi Yue immediately felt the slight pain from her belly disappear.


    ¡°Turning old into new and reviving all things is also within my capabilities.¡±


    Yiyi appeared on Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder, releasing shing motes of light, and the shabby furniture in the room became glossy and new. And outside the house, in the courtyard, the withered flowers were also revived, sprouting out of the ground and lifting the deathly aura that had hung heavy over the ce.


    ¡°I could even try my hand at turning stone into gold.¡±


    Tang Jie waved his sleeve, and arge amount of spirit coins rained down in front of Shi Yue¡¯s bed, leaving the two women stunned.


    ¡°But reforming someone¡¯s heart and making them a new person¡­ I can¡¯t do it,¡± Tang Jie earnestly said. ¡°Let alone me, even a great Immortal of the Violet Pce or Immortal tform Realm, a divine emperor or sage, would not be able to save the life of an addicted gambler.¡±


    These words left Yanzhi and Shi Yue stunned.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, and the money was sent to Shi Yue¡¯s side. ¡°Out of consideration for our past friendship, I am gifting this money to you. Perhap it can let him lose money for a few more days.¡±


    He turned to leave.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Yanzhi shouted.


    Tang Jie stopped.


    Yanzhi asked in a trembling voice, ¡°Is there really no other way?¡±


    After thinking it over, Tang Jie replied, ¡°A person¡¯s conduct ultimately depends on themselves. I can help her once, but I can¡¯t help her for the rest of her life. My apologies.¡±


    Yanzhi paled at these words.


    ¡°But while I can¡¯t save anyone, that doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t harm anyone. I can¡¯t pull that gambling addict out of the swamp, but I can clean up the swamp itself.¡± Tang Jie strode away.


    Yanzhi didn¡¯t understand what Tang Jie was getting at at first, but after chewing over the words for a bit, she finally realized, shouting, ¡°Tang Jie¡¯s going to the casino!¡±


    Yanzhi hugged Shi Yue in delight. ¡°Shi Yue, did you hear it? Tang Jie¡¯s going to help you by cleaning up that ursed casino!¡±


    Shi Yue grew energized, grabbing Yanzhi¡¯s hand and saying, ¡°Take me there! I want to see him finish off those bastards with my own eyes!¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Fate¡¯s Casino.


    Casinos were always bustling and noisy ces.


    Tang Jie walked through the crowd and finally found Shi Yue¡¯s husband. He was ying Big and Small, which was the simplest and most exciting game.


    Holding a silver piece, he stared at the board. The dealer impatiently said, ¡°Hurry up! Stop dawdling!¡±


    The man hesitated before finally cing the silver on ¡°Small¡±.


    As he made the bet, Tang Jie waved his hand, a silver ingot flying from his sleeve andnding on the opposite end.


    Everyone turned their heads in shock. Tang Jie casually walked over and said, ¡°If you don¡¯t want to lose, then you should bet with me.¡±


    Everyone curled their lips in disdain.


    The dealer sneered and removed the dice cup, shouting, ¡°Big!¡±


    Those who had bet on Small moaned while those who had bet on Big smiled.


    Several people saw that Tang Jie had won, turning one silver tael into two, upon which they grunted and mentallyined that this kid had gotten lucky.


    The dealer once more began to shake the dice cup, and Tang Jie continued to bet on Big.


    With little suspense, he won again, turning two taels into four.


    For the third round, Tang Jie bet on Small, and he won again, turning four taels into eight.


    People finally began to pay attention to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie bet on Big for the fourth round, and people started to follow him.


    Another win.


    Just like that, Tang Jie won seven wagers in a row, turning a single tael of silver into more than a hundred.


    The dealer responsible for shaking the dice started sweating.


    If this kept up, in another ten-some wagers, Fate¡¯s Casino would be bankrupt.


    In fact, that was an overestimate, for some gamblers were already looking over and betting with Tang Jie.


    The dealer felt his hands be extremely heavy, and he was reluctant to stop shaking the cup.


    ¡°Show the dice!¡±


    ¡°Hurry up!¡±


    ¡°What are you waiting around for?¡±


    The dealer stared at Tang Jie, and Tang Jie coldly looked back.


    Fortunately, at this moment, a blue-robed individual appeared, which caused the dealer to sigh in relief.


    The blue-robed man saluted Tang Jie and said, ¡°Brother is truly skilled. Would you be willing toe inside? The Gu n has always wholeheartedly weed experts of your caliber.¡±


    Tang Jie ignored him, pointing at the dice cup.


    ¡°Show the dice!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s got no time for you.¡±


    The gamblers started to grow restless, but for fear that Tang Jie had been cowed by the Gu n¡¯s power, they stopped betting. But at least they wanted to make some money while they still could.


    The blue-robed man saw that Tang Jie was ignoring him, and after grimacing a little, he took the cup, shook it a few times, and ced it on the table.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, and arge amount of silver was ced on ¡°Big¡±.


    The blue-robed man slowly ced his hands on the cup, furtively sending in spiritual energy to manipte the dice within.


    Just when he was about to take off the cup, Tang Jie said, ¡°Hold on.¡±


    He moved his silver to ¡°Small¡±.


    The blue-robed man¡¯s face fell. ¡°Brother, you can¡¯t just change your bet like that.¡±


    Tang Jie slowly said, ¡°If you hadn¡¯t touched the cup, I wouldn¡¯t have changed my bet.¡±


    The moment he said this, everyone understood what had happened and began to curse at the blue-robed man.


    The man went pale. Pointing at Tang Jie, he said, ¡°You dare to y dumb! As a cultivator, you¡¯ve already broken the rules by daring to enter the casino, and you still act so insolently!?¡±


    <em>A cultivator?</em>


    Everyone instantly understood what was happening.


    It was no wonder he was able to win every wager! He was a cultivator.


    But casinos had existed in the Rosecloud Domain for several thousand years, and they had long ago developed a system to ensure that no one had the chance to strike it rich. Cultivators could enter casinos to gamble, but they were not allowed to use any spell arts, as that would be considered cheating. Every casino had a way of sensing spiritual energy, and if any sort of strange spiritual activity was detected, someone would notice. Even Celestial Heart True Persons might not be able to escape this surveince. As for those casinos without this kind of surveince, they could only hope that they were lucky enough to not encounter a cultivator that would ruin their day.


    And if a cultivator broke the rules, ording to the rules of the six major sects, the casinos could seize the rule breaker. If they couldn¡¯t beat the cultivator, they could seek help from nearby sects, including branches of the six major sects. In short, it was not allowed for just anyone to break the rules.


    Of course, in normal circumstances, if a cultivator came to make some money, so long as they didn¡¯t go too far, the casino wouldn¡¯t take these measures. Normally, they would treat them like some expert and give them the VIP treatment before sending them off.


    As for someone like Tang Jie, they were considered bandit cultivators in the eyes of people like the blue-robed man.


    The only difference was that this cultivator didn¡¯t trigger any sort of spiritual energy detector and alsocked tact.


    Tang Jie heard the man¡¯s rebuke and calmly replied, ¡°I am a cultivator, but I did not use any spell arts, so I have not broken the rules.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± the blue-robed man roared, pointing at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie coldly replied, ¡°You know that I¡¯m not saying nonsense. Doesn¡¯t the casino have a spiritual energy detection formation? If I remember right, anyone who uses spiritual energy in this formation would appear red, correct?¡±


    The blue-robed man trembled in shock, but Tang Jie had already grabbed the cup and thrown it into the air in a beautiful arc.


    As it flew through the air, countless rays of light appeared in the casino.


    These rays of light didn¡¯t show anything when theynded on other people, but when theynded on the blue-robed man, they made him an eerie red.


    How could everyone not know what this meant?


    Everyone howled, ¡°So you were the cheater!¡±


    They charged at the blue-robed man.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± This man was also a cultivator, so he didn¡¯t fear these gamblers. Just when he was about to strike, he saw Tang Jie coldly staring at him. His heart trembled in the realization that if he tried to move, he would die.


    He didn¡¯t know where this sensation came from, but when he met Tang Jie¡¯s gaze, he felt inexplicably threatened, shocking him so much that he didn¡¯t dare to move a muscle.


    Running a casino in the cultivator is rough business. You never know when some hidden expert will rough up the ce and ruin your day.

 Chapter 349: Chaotic Battle

    Chapter 349: Chaotic Battle


    The blue-robed man was a Spirit Lake Tier cultivator. While he was on the weak side, in normal circumstances, this was more than enough to keep a handle on the casino. As the gamblers rushed him, he knew that he was in trouble, so he ignored Tang Jie¡¯s threats and prepared to cast a spell.


    Tang Jie suddenly snorted.


    It wasn¡¯t loud, but it was right when the blue-robed man had circted his energy and was about to unleash it. This snort boomed like a p of thunder in the man¡¯s ear drums, dazzling him and preventing him from casting the spell.


    At this moment, somebody identally bumped the dice cup on the table, sending the dice to the ground. The gamblers, who had only nned to teach the blue-robed man a lesson, considered this act to be a stab to the heart.


    All of them believed that this man had done it on purpose so as to ruin the wager and prevent them from winning any money.


    Their seething emotions instantly exploded, and the crowd began to heedlessly attack the blue-robed man, not caring that he was a cultivator. The blue-robed man couldn¡¯t handle the rapid turn of events, and his actions only made the gamblers go even crazier. Some of them even started stealing money.


    Gamblers had no morals or bottom line and couldn¡¯t be trusted in the slightest. Having a gambler follow the rules was like trying to make a weasel not eat chickens, trying to make an inte troll intelligent, or trying to make Clinton not have an affair. It was simply impossible.


    This was particrly true for those gamblers who had lost money. The moment they saw this chaotic scene, they began to seize whatever money they could, whether it had belonged to them or not.


    Amid the chaos, the casino¡¯s guards began to step in, and the scene only grew more chaotic.


    The Gu n had operated in Canglong Prefecture for many years, and they ran casinos, escortpanies, pawn shops, and high-interest loans, all of which could easily empty a person¡¯s pockets. Thus, they naturally had some capable people in their employ. When it came to number of cultivators, they possibly had as many as Canglong Prefecture¡¯s number one n, the Jin n.


    A rush of wind could be heard outside as people began to arrive in response to the incident.


    A middle-aged man wearing a long robe was the first to arrive, roaring, ¡°Reckless fools, daring to make trouble in my Gu n!¡±


    He formed a sword sign, and the sword on his back flew out and unleashed several dozen waves of sword energy. This attack was more meant to scare than wound, so they only flew back and forth over everyone¡¯s heads. This was enough to have the gamblers weeping and howling as they remembered that the Gu n¡¯s establishments were protected by cultivators, and they wondered what hade over them, that they had the guts to do something like this.


    Just as they were about to escape, augh like silver bells rang out. ¡°These sword waves are quite pretty, but they¡¯re bound to be prettier with these.¡±


    Countless petals drifted in, blooming with dazzling colors under the sword light, appearing like the perfectplement.


    As the petals danced, theynded on the sword lights, upon which the sword energy dissipated. In a sh, all that was left was a single sword spinning in the air.


    The middle-aged man said in shock, ¡°Who broke my Immortal art?¡±


    It would have been fine if he hadn¡¯t said anything, but by shouting it out, he told everyone that his spell had been undone by someone else. The fleeing gamblers instantly regained their courage. Some of them realized that they had a cultivator on their side, shouting, ¡°The Gu n is heartless and cheats us gamblers. A cultivator has finally gotten sick of them and hase to clean them up, taking from the rich and giving to the poor!¡±


    This guy didn¡¯t mind being shameless, even talking about taking from the rich and giving to the poor, but he won many cries of approval. After all, they had all clearly heard that blue-robed man calling Tang Jie a cultivator.


    A little girl dressed in white appeared on the roof of the casino, waving her feet in the air as she looked at the middle-aged man. It was none other than Yiyi, that blue-robed man from before bundled up with vines at her feet.


    She propped her face up with her hands and looked at the middle-aged man. ¡°Hey, if you have any other spell arts, take them all out so I can take a look.¡±


    The middle-aged man scowled. ¡°So it was a sprite! Evildoer, die!¡±


    He pointed at his sword, and the sword in the air sliced down at Yiyi, shining with a sharper light than before. It was no feint this time.


    Yiyi tilted her head and pointed a finger. A vine flew out and began to battle with the sword, and then countless vines erupted from the ground and lunged toward the middle-aged man. This was Yiyi¡¯s frequently used green rose formation. As Yiyi grew stronger, this green rose formation also became fiercer.


    This middle-aged man had entered Mortal Shedding and had some strength. Seeing that the situation was poor, he formed a sign and took the skies. The vines werendbound, so he flew up in order to render the vines ineffective.


    But the moment he flew into the sky, countless petals howled at him, instantly blotting out the heavens. And they continued to expand like a giant cloud of petals, epassing several blocks.


    Numerous people saw this sight. Yanzhi and Shi Yue, who were hurrying over, saw this cloud of petals above them and muttered in unison, ¡°So beautiful!¡±


    Even the middle-aged man was shocked by this gorgeous disy.


    But a momentter, he came to his senses. With no time to make an attack, he hastily cast his strongest defensive spell art.


    Yiyiughed. ¡°No rush, no rush! I¡¯ll wait for you.¡±


    As the middle-aged man strengthened his defenses, Yiyi lightly waved her hand, causing the petals to spin into a vortex.


    The flower cloud began to condense, each petal beginning to spin so fast that it whistled. The moment the middle-aged man finished his defenses, Yiyi pushed out with her hands and shouted, ¡°Go!¡±


    Silkheaven Net!


    Tens of thousands of petals, each one like a dart, formed together into a giant flower dragon that surged toward the middle-aged man. It mmed into the spell art barrier, unleashing a burst of rainbow light and raining down the fiercest rain of petals.


    Not even a fifth of the flower flood was needed to shatter the middle-aged man¡¯s defensive barrier. At the moment it shattered, the middle-aged man took out a Diamond Talisman, which applied a Diamond Barrier to himself. Yet this defense so tough that it was called a Diamond Barrier swiftly fell under the attack of the Silkheaven Net. The flower flood seemed endless, continuing to charge toward the man, and despair appeared in his eyes.


    He had never imagined that there could be a spell art this fierce.


    Just when the flower flood was about to engulf him and tear him apart, it suddenly stopped and swam past him. Only a few petals struck him, knocking him from the sky.


    Countless vines coiled around him, and with the flower dragon still floating above him, the middle-aged man didn¡¯t dare to move. The vines wrapped around him tightly, and several thorns jabbed into his body, draining his spiritual energy so that he wouldn¡¯t have the chance to counterattack.


    Just before he waspletely bound, the middle-aged man shouted, ¡°I get it! No wonder this spell art was so strong! It can be attacked while taking form! You put on an impressive show so that I would only focus on defending myself.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Tang Jie turned to the middle-aged man, not having expected him to say such a thing.


    Even more surprisingly, he had identified the weakness of the Silkheaven Net.


    The most terrifying aspect of the Silkheaven Net was its powerful attack.


    Of course, this was only whenpared to spell arts of a simr level. A spell art like Heavenly King Mara¡¯s Incantation was still stronger than the Silkheaven Net, but it had a very long casting time, and casting an art had many restrictions, like the inability to move. Besides that, it had less explosive power than the Silkheaven Net and consumed more spiritual energy.


    Yiyi¡¯s Silkheaven Net didn¡¯t have these problems, which made it one of the strongest arts of its level.


    Its only problem was that it could be destroyed, and as petals were soft and tender, each petal didn¡¯t have much defensive power. Thus, the best way to deal with the Silkheaven Net was to attack it before it had a chance to attack. Usingrge-area spells, even if one couldn¡¯tpletely eliminate the cloud of petals, one would at least be able to cut down the number.


    The fewer the petals, the smaller the power.


    Yiyi had given the middle-aged man the chance to cast a defensive spell art partially because she was looking down on him and partially because she didn¡¯t want to give him a chance to identify the weakness. Surprisingly, the man had only needed to see it once to figure it out.


    Tang Jie asked in surprise, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    The middle-aged man knew that he was in trouble for revealing the w of the Silkheaven Net, and he turned ghastly pale. Upon hearing Tang Jie¡¯s question, he timidly replied, ¡°This one¡­ this one is Lu Chengfeng. I pay my respects to the Honored Immortal.¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°To be able to think about the weaknesses of the enemy while in danger shows that you are focused and serious. I like you.¡±


    He proceeded to ignore the man.


    Lu Chengfeng didn¡¯t know what Tang Jie¡¯s ¡°I like you¡± meant. Did it mean that he was going to be let go because of his hard work, or was he going to be killed for his hard work, or was he going to be raped because of his hard work¡­ With his back to the wall, he inevitably started to get a little wild with his thoughts. As all sorts of spections popped up in Lu Chengfeng¡¯s mind, he found it hard to calm down.


    With Lu Chengfeng taken care of, three more people from the Gu n soon arrived, but s, they were worse than him¡ªthree Spirit tform disciples.


    Tang Jie still did nothing, allowing Yiyi to capture them with vines.


    The Gu n casino waspletely ruined by now. The ceiling had been torn off, and the surroundings were devastated. If Tang Jie hadn¡¯t been restraining himself, the entire street might have been wiped out.


    The pedestrians who had been fleeing in fear saw that the damage was limited to the casino¡¯s environs, and gradually built up enough courage to stick around to spectate.


    Even some gamblers who had run off with money began toe back after stowing away their money back at home, standing on the street and pointing at the casino.


    While Tang Jie didn¡¯t do anything, he was the only person present, so it would be difficult to not realize that he was behind this mess. As for Yiyi, who was seated atop a shattered wall, she became the center of attention.


    A toothless olddy saw the white and tender Yiyi and enviously said, ¡°What a beautiful little girl! I almost want to take her back to be my granddaughter.¡±


    Someone else remarked in fright, ¡°That¡¯s an Immortal Master! While she looks young, she¡¯s probably lived countless years. I¡¯ve heard of Immortal Masters who¡¯ve lived tens of thousands of years without aging. ¡®Take her to be your granddaughter¡¯? You might not even be old enough to be her granddaughter!¡±


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    Two more people from the Gu n arrived, and they were also captured. Yiyi currently had seven people bound up in her vines, so Yiyi decided to make a disy, hanging them up in the air like seven dolls.


    Perhaps realizing that they were dealing with a tough customer, the Gu n stopped sending people.


    After a while, ten-some people appeared in the air. It appeared that they had gathered their forces first before setting off.


    Their leader was a whiskered Daoist holding a horsetail whisk, and behind him were nine men and five women, for fifteen people in all. Adding on the seven that had already been captured, the Gu n had a rather impressive twenty-two cultivators under itsmand.


    But it didn¡¯t have many Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators. Of the fifteen, four were at the Mortal Shedding Realm, and with the Lu Chengfeng that Tang Jie had already captured, there were five in all. The one with the highest level was the whiskered Daoist. Tang Jie saw that he was at the Nine Revolutions Period.


    But Tang Jie would wager that this guy didn¡¯t even have the strength of Gu Changqing, who had also been at the Nine Revolutions Period.


    The fifteen of them flew over, and when they saw Tang Jie and Yiyi with the seven bound-up cultivators, the whiskered Daoist¡¯s face shed with rage. But he restrained his rage and brought his hands together in a salute to Tang Jie. ¡°Daoist Brother, what crime has the Gu nmitted that has earned this visit from you?¡±


    Tang Jiezily replied, ¡°No crime at all. I just came to gamble some money, but your people didn¡¯t like seeing me win and used me of cheating. And to prove myself, I have yet to use a single spell art or even attack anyone. Daoist Brother, if you don¡¯t believe me, you can check it with a spell to confirm that I haven¡¯t used any spell arts.¡±


    <em>He didn¡¯t use any spell arts?</em>


    Everyone was stunned.


    <em>So he didn¡¯t capture those seven people?</em>


    The whiskered Daoist thought it over and then made some hand signs, applying a detection spell on Tang Jie to see if he had utilized spiritual energy. Sure enough, the spiritual energy flowed through Tang Jie, and as none of it had leaked out, it showed that he had not used any spell arts recently.


    Everyone was in an uproar, not knowing what to do.


    They had thought that this man hade to settle a grudge, but in the end, it turned out to be their casino¡¯s fault. They would be humiliated if this got out.


    Tang Jie had reason on his side, so let alone the casino, he could tear down the Gu n without anyoneining.


    The whiskered Daoist was thinking about what to do when someone behind him whispered, ¡°Master, why are you still wasting words on him? Since he dares to destroy our Gu n¡¯s casino, he has to pay the price. As for who was trying to scam whom, isn¡¯t it only the words of the winner that count?¡±


    The one speaking was called Gu Hao. As a member of the Gu n, he naturally didn¡¯t have as many misgivings as the whiskered Daoist.


    The Gu n had always been involved in unpopr shady business. For them, trust, reason, and rules were just tools. They would use them if they were useful, but they would be thrown to the side once they stopped working.


    In normal circumstances, they would naturally follow the rules, but when it was time to fight, they would be faster than anyone else. All they were doing now was doing openly what had once been done in private, and this wasn¡¯t the first time the Gu n had done such a thing. A rabbit pushed into a corner would bite, let alone a vicious dog.


    The whiskered Daoist knew that things would be hard to settle peacefully now that Gu Hao had spoken. If he really let Tang Jie go, the Gu n would still suffer a loss. He could only say, ¡°Since that is the case, please return with me to clearly exin yourself!¡±


    He waved his hand, seeking to grab Tang Jie.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°Sure enough, starting to act unreasonable, huh?¡±


    He dispersed the Daoist¡¯s palm of energy with a single punch.


    He had proved himself in front of countless people already, so he no longer hesitated in striking out.


    As he dispersed the energy palm, Tang Jie took out the Heartbreak Saber and gave it a powerful swing.


    The wave of saber energy was peerless, cleaving through all, but as it was aimed at the sky, it didn¡¯t strike any of the buildings below.


    The cultivators on the other side hastily dodged to the side in shock.


    The whiskered Daoist flew into the air while shouting, ¡°Don¡¯t hurt themon folk! Let¡¯s fight in the air!¡±


    He knew enough to try to act like a good person and recover a little of his dignity.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°Fine!¡±


    He flew upward.


    As he flew up, the whiskered Daoist¡¯s eyes shed, and he shot a bolt of energy from his finger.


    At the same time, the three other Mortal Shedding Realm experts, two men and one woman, attacked Tang Jie in unison.


    The four of them had attacked in concert, and it was right when Tang Jie was flying upward and had let down his defenses. It was the perfect ambush, and the four of them mentally exulted at their sess.


    But at this moment, Tang Jie¡¯s body suddenly disappeared.


    ¡°What?¡± The four of them were stunned.


    From above, they heard Tang Jie coldly say, ¡°Chaoswind Step!¡±


    A chilling saber wind shed at one of the Mortal Shedding men, the sharp energy instantly cleaving through his barrier and striking his arm. But the man was at Hundred Refinement and Tang Jie¡¯s blow had been weakened by the barrier, so he managed to keep his arm. However, it now hung limply in front of him.


    The man howled in pain, rming the other three. The whiskered Daoist felt like he had heard about the Chaoswind Step somewhere, but he couldn¡¯t remember where. Meanwhile, the other two attacked Tang Jie.


    But Tang Jie disappeared again, and when he next appeared, he was behind the whiskered Daoist.


    ¡°Behind you!¡± the female Mortal Shedding cultivator shouted.


    The whiskered man reacted swiftly, dropping his head and lunging forward. Behind, a wave of saber energy struck his back in an explosion of light.


    The remaining eleven Spirit Disciples finally came to their senses and began to attack Tang Jie. Tang Jie appeared behind one of them, punching him in the back. This single punch shook the Spirit Disciple¡¯s barrier so badly that he threw up blood.


    After making this strike, Tang Jie disappeared and reappeared elsewhere.


    While this group had numbers, Tang Jie was like a ghost, impossible to catch and easily ying around with them.


    The whiskered man shouted, ¡°You¡¯re no match for him! Go and seize that girl and save Chengfeng and the others! Zhou Hua, Tang Hong, and Huang Shi, help me hold him down!¡±


    The best strategy was to rescue Lu Chengfeng and the others. The whiskered Daoist could be considered to have made the correct choice.


    The eleven Spirit Disciples descended, and Yiyiughed as she waved her hands, sendingrge numbers of vines and petals to meet them.


    ¡°You hold down that girl! Xu Qing and Xie Qiang,e with me to save the others!¡± Gu Hao shouted.


    He was quite clever and knew that this wasn¡¯t the time to fight. Using their numbers advantage to save the others was the best choice.


    Sure enough, as eight people began to unleash various spell arts at Yiyi, even though Yiyi was a Mind Opening sprite, she still found it difficult to deal with all of them.


    Gu Hao rushed over and began to pull at the vines. ¡°Master Lu¡­¡±


    But he saw that Lu Chengfeng appeared shocked rather than happy.


    Gu Hao was startled, his heart chilling. Turning his head, he saw a giant tiger lunging toward him. A paw pped him in the face, instantly sending him flying and mangling his face.


    A student of the Basking Moon Sect is far superior to these randoms who couldn¡¯t even properly graduate!

 Chapter 350

    Chapter 350: Man in ck


    Everyone was surprised by the sudden development.


    After knocking away Gu Hao, Bao¡¯er turned to Xu Qing and Xie Qiang.


    Unless one was an elite student like Tang Jie, a Spirit Sensing fiend beast was usually stronger than the average student. Moreover, Xu and Xie were both shaken by the sudden appearance of Bao¡¯er and didn¡¯t have the will to fight, so Bao¡¯er easily sent them flying.


    He was thest to enter the battle, but he was the quickest to end his side of things.


    The three disciples had barely put up any resistance.


    The second fastest was Yiyi.


    The Silkheaven Net reappeared. The flower flood was capable of fighting against one or a group, and it now turned into eight flower snakes that rushed at the eight disciples. But as it had been split up too much, the eight disciples were able to work together and fend off the eight torrents. However, from how they were gasping, it was clear that the effort had badly tired them out.


    One of themughed, ¡°Let¡¯s see what other tricks you have now!¡±


    Yiyi tilted her head. ¡°You stopped it? So it really wasn¡¯t strong enough. Let¡¯s try it again.¡±


    With a wave of her little hand, another sea of petals appeared.


    ¡°How could this be?¡± The eight of them looked up in shock at the cloud of petals. Such a powerful spell could be cast again so quickly?


    They didn¡¯t know that this was Yiyi¡¯s innate spell art. Just like the Frost Fairy¡¯s pce, it was the strongest she had. Spellcasting sprites didn¡¯t know as many spell arts as cultivators, but they had outstanding innate spell arts, far above those of the average person. On many asions, they could rely purely on their innate spell arts to end battles. This was true for the Frost Fairy, and it was also true for this green rose sprite.


    A momentter, eight more snakes frenziedly attacked, and the eight disciples began to throw out whatever they had, whether it was talismans or medicines, in order to fight back. While the strikes of the flower snakes left them in great pain, the talismans and medicines allowed them to miraculously hold on.


    ¡°Stopped it again?¡± Yiyi was angry.


    The little girl once more summoned a flower sea and eight flower snakes.


    Perhaps because they knew they couldn¡¯t stop it this time, the eight of them despaired. Casting aside all apprehensions, they began to throw out fire talismans and the like. A cloud of fire erupted, and it actually managed to neutralize a significant number of petals.


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    The remaining petals battered them, and while they put on some pressure, it wasn¡¯t that mountainous pressure from before.


    It was only then that the eight of them realized that offense was the better method, and they all cheered.


    Yiyi was extremely angry now.


    Her stubbornness started to show, as another flower flood appeared, eight snakes dancing.


    The eight disciples joined together to resist.


    Layer afteryer of petals appeared and disappeared, dancing across the sky like mes and enchanting the spectators.


    Yiyi stood up and raised her hands high, summoning another torrent of petals.


    Bao¡¯er had finished cleaning up his three, but as he was about to go and help, Yiyi shouted, ¡°Don¡¯te over! You think I can¡¯t deal with them!?¡±


    From above, Tang Jie asked, ¡°Yiyi, why don¡¯t you split them up and deal with four of them first?¡±


    Everyone was stunned by these words. He was right! This little girl only needed to decrease the number of targets by one or two, or perhaps focus her attacks a little more, and the disciples she focused on would never be able to hold out against the Silkheaven Net. The four Mortal Shedding cultivators couldn¡¯t help but think to themselves, <em>This kid can face down attacks from four people and still have time to observe the battle below?</em>


    But Yiyi replied, ¡°No! I¡¯m going to do it like this!¡±


    It seemed she was throwing a tantrum.


    The flower flood rose, continuing to crazily smash down. The eight disciples were able to hold out at first, but they gradually began to lose ground. Worst of all, they realized that while they could weaken the petal attacks with their attacks, this led to a drop in their defenses, meaning that even the decreased number of petals striking them still had an effect.


    After several rounds of this, the eight of them were covered in wounds.


    The little girl crazily continued her flower torrent assault as if she had suffered some great injustice.


    And from her perspective, this was true. The eight of them had managed tost so many rounds against the strongest innate spell art of this sprite? It was just uneptable!


    A disciple finally faltered under Yiyi¡¯s frenzied assault and shouted, ¡°I concede!¡±


    The flower snake attacking this disciple suddenly stopped, and then it dispersed into seven small torrents to attack the remaining seven.


    This level of control dumbfounded the Mortal Shedding cultivators. The seven disciples hadn¡¯t expected this attack from behind, and blood gushed as the seven of them fell from the sky.


    It turned out that they had been only a paper¡¯s thickness away from defeat.


    Yiyi finally drew back her hand in satisfaction, turning to the disciple who had shouted his concession.


    The disciple looked at Yiyi, looked at the people fallen on the ground, and realized what he had to do. Taking his sword, he struck himself on the head with the hilt and fainted.


    The battle in the second zone hade to an end, and all that was left was the battle involving Tang Jie and the four Mortal Shedding cultivators.


    Tang Jie looked down and muttered, ¡°I¡¯m the only one not done yet. Fine, I¡¯ll be a little faster. Blink!¡±


    He blinked away, appearing in another region of the sky.


    His position this time was rather strange, not close to any one cultivator. However, three Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators were within ten meters of him, in a straight line, and thest one, while slightly farther away, was still on this line.


    The moment he appeared, the Heartbreak Saber unleashed a dazzling band of light at the four.


    Matchless sh!


    The moment this wave of saber energy appeared, it engulfed the three in front. Its power was so great that even the fourth cultivator seemed to be in its range. The four of them were so frightened that they immediately threw up their barriers.


    The whiskered Daoist took out something and threw it at Tang Jie. It was a golden hoop that expanded as it flew, aimed at Tang Jie¡¯s head. The female cultivator threw out a silk belt, and the other two separately threw out a sword and a golden stamp.


    At this key moment, they had all taken out their strongest abilities.


    Tang Jieughed loudly. ¡°Go!¡±


    A golden light shot toward the hoop: a tiny golden pellet.


    Tang Jie swung the Heartbreak Saber at the golden stamp, blocking it, and as for the golden hoop, the moment the golden pellet made impact, it shattered into pieces. The whiskered Daoist howled in pain, ¡°My baby!¡±


    The female cultivator¡¯s silk belt flew over, trying to wrap around Tang Jie, and the other cultivator¡¯s magic sword cleaved through the air.


    Tang Jie once more blinked away, easily dodging the silk belt and magic sword.


    ¡°How could this be?¡± the female cultivator shrieked.


    Her silk belt had a sealing effect and should have rendered instant movement spell arts ineffective. But Tang Jie hadpletely ignored it.


    She didn¡¯t know that Tang Jie hadprehended a part of the Great Dao of Space three and a half years ago when making the charge at Mortal Shedding, in addition making great progress in the Chaoswind Step.


    The Dao of Wisdom allowed Tang Jie to grasp the Chaoswind Step much more quickly. In just three and half a years, he had reached twelve stars in the Chaoswind Step, attaining what could be considered a divine speed.


    The Dao of Space, on the other hand, greatly improved the Chaoswind Step¡¯s range, effect, and variation. Let alone the auxiliary sealing effect of a low-grade art relic like the silk belt, even a middle-grade art relic made specifically for sealing wouldn¡¯t be able to hold Tang Jie.


    After dodging the silk belt and magic sword, Tang Jieughed and threw a punch.


    This punch unleashed a dazzling golden light.


    It struck the golden stamp cultivator first, causing him to throw up blood and fall. It then struck the pursuing magic sword, which shattered into a resplendent golden star. Finally, it struck the female cultivator, causing her to fall into the clouds.


    One punch had wounded two people and destroyed a treasure. The strength was simply absurd!


    The Heartbreak Saber¡¯s saber energy swept around and mmed into the magic sword cultivator, knocking him from the sky. Finally, Tang Jie made twelve consecutive punches against the whiskered Daoist.


    The whiskered Daoist lived up to his Nine Revolutions cultivation, managing to resist the twelve punches. But Tang Jie¡¯s wild strength had left him feeling like his body was going to break apart.


    ¡°What spell art is this?¡± the whiskered Daoist yelled in shock.


    He could tell that those twelve punches had actually consisted of six heavy punches and six light punches. The six heavy punches hade from Tang Jie¡¯s shing golden right hand, while the six light punches hade from the normal left hand. This meant that the golden light was what truly made the punches so terrifying.


    Tang Jie stopped punching, and the golden pellet that had destroyed the golden hoop returned to his hand. As it impacted with his left hand, it turned into golden liquid that flowed over his hand, forming a thin golden gauntlet.


    Only then did the whiskered Daoist realize that the golden light had actually been a gauntlet.


    In these three and a half years, while cultivating, Tang Jie hadn¡¯t forgotten to go to the Forging tform and break down broken tools. Although he no longer toiled away at it night and day like before, as the days passed, the golden pill grewrger andrger. It was now big enough that it could form a pair of gauntlets, and if they were flying needles, there would have been several dozen.


    His hands shing golden, Tang Jie smiled and asked, ¡°Again?¡±


    The six heavy punches from before had already broken this old Daoist¡¯s bones, and twelve heavy punches after that? The whiskered Daoist didn¡¯t dare to try. Seeing that he was the only one left standing, he sighed and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need. I concede!¡±


    With his concession, the battle naturally came to an end.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°So, can we leave now?¡±


    The whiskered Daoist hastily said, ¡°Daoist Brother, please state your name!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes shed with killing intent. ¡°What? Still not satisfied?¡±


    The whiskered Daoist said in fright, ¡°That¡¯s not it! This one serves the Gu n and must give an exnation. But if Daoist Brother is not willing, then it¡¯s fine.¡±


    He knew that asking for a name at this time would cause him to be suspected of trying to plot revenge, so he quickly gave up on the idea.


    Tang Jiended and said to Yiyi, ¡°Give the people back to him and then we¡¯ll go.¡±


    Yiyi tossed a vine toward the Daoist. ¡°Here¡¯s your grapes back!¡±


    She had somehow managed to bind all 21 cultivators with a single vine, even stacking them with three or four to a level. From a distance, they really did look like a big bundle of grapes.


    Holding these ¡°grapes¡± in hand, the whiskered Daoist didn¡¯t know whether he should put them down or not. As for the other cultivators, as normally aloof and proud existences, they had never been so humiliated, and they were so ashamed that they wanted to die.


    Tang Jie prepared to leave, but just as he was about to go, a sinister voice said, ¡°Going to leave after you¡¯re done fighting? You think things are really that easy?¡±


    Hmm?


    Tang Jie looked in the direction of the voice and saw a man in ck standing in the distance, coldly staring at him. He had a yellowish and deathly-looking face that was devoid of expression, like a particrly life-like mask.


    The whiskered Daoist spotted that man in ck as well, and a look of joy appeared on his face. ¡°Sir Qiu!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°So it was someone else from the Gu n.¡±


    Despite hisugh, he was on his guard. While the man in ck was just standing there, Tang Jie could sense danger from him.


    The man in ck coldly said, ¡°I¡¯m not part of the Gu n. I only do some business with them. But since I¡¯m a guest of Gu n, I don¡¯t mind helping the Gu n take care of a few problems so that they owe me a favor.¡±


    He waved his hand, and a dark cloud instantly appeared and started to fly toward Tang Jie. Upon closer inspection, it was actually a swarm of ck bees.


    These ck bees had spherical bodies and were a purplish-ck color. In the sunlight, they had a metallic luster. Tang Jie rapidly retreated and fired off an Energy Needle. This struck one of the ck bees, which instantly erupted with green blood. But before dying, it fired a sharp stinger that was aimed right at Tang Jie¡¯s face.


    Tang Jie waved his saber, and there was a ng as the stinger was sliced in two and dropped to the ground.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t feel any happier.


    ¡°Arrowtail Bees,¡± he coldly said, finally recognizing these insects.


    Arrowtail Bees were an extremely vicious kind of venomous bees. They were called Arrowtails because they could shoot out their stingers to attack the enemy.


    An Arrowtail Bee could only ever fire off a single venomous stinger in its life, and it would die after firing it. As they were only single-use, they weren¡¯t especially valuable, but if they were gathered together and unleashed all their essence at once, they could exhibit a power far above their level.


    The sharp stingers were quite solid, and arge number fired at once could even pierce through an art-level barrier. While the venom wasn¡¯t strong, if umted, even the Jewel Body might not be able to withstand it.


    In short, this was a special consumable item that could use quantity to increase quality.


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t expected his foe to have something like this. He knew that dealing with these venomous beas required annihting them before they could attack, so he stopped hesitating, unleashing a st of wind with the Heartbreak Saber.


    But the bee swarm dispersed, flying off into the crowd before continuing forward.


    If Tang Jie fired off another st of wind, he would be able to kill the bees, but he would also hurt innocent civilians.


    ¡°Shit!¡± He hadn¡¯t expected this tactic. Unable to use his saber, he swiftly retreated. The man in ck saw that he didn¡¯t attack and sighed as if he had actually hoped that Tang Jie would strike.


    The bee swarm rushed at Tang Jie, and as they got close, they fired countless stingers, dying in the same moment.


    Tang Jie was just about to activate the Chaoswind Step when he heard a soft grunt from the man in ck.


    This grunt made Tang Jie¡¯s Chaoswind Step freeze for a moment.


    This freeze allowed several dozen stingers to strike. Tang Jie grunted, and then he disappeared, appearing several meters away.


    The man in ck and Tang Jie were both in disbelief, looking at each other and almost saying in unison, ¡°How?¡±


    The man in ck hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to still be able to use the Chaoswind Step after his casting had been interrupted and he had been left shaken. Tang Jie was also bbergasted at his foe¡¯s ability to break the Chaoswind Step. Although he had managed toplete it, it had been extremely forced. He had originally been nning to move right next to his opponent, but some inexplicable strength had forced him to settle for dodging the swarm of bees.


    Most importantly, if this man was ready for the Chaoswind Step, he had to know that Tang Jie was from the Basking Moon Sect.


    Knowing that Tang Jie was from the Basking Moon Sect and still daring to attack him¡­


    Tang Jie looked at the man¡¯s yellow and emotionless face, somewhat understanding what was going on.


    Coldly snorting, he blinked away, this time sessfully getting behind the man in ck. But as he appeared, the man in ck abruptly threw an elbow behind him, as if expecting Tang Jie to appear there.


    But as Tang Jie appeared, he threw out his left hand, grabbing his opponent¡¯s arm. He had expected his opponent¡¯s attack, too!


    The two of them instantly began to grapple with each other, the man in ck turning his palm and firing a bolt of lightning. Tang Jie dodged to the side and swept the Heartbreak Saber at the man¡¯s throat. The man in ck leaned his head back to dodge, and as he did, a bone-piercing needle left his hand and shot at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie¡¯s left hand shed with golden light as he blocked the needle, his palm continuing forward into his opponent¡¯s chest. The man in ck twisted his body to the side, brushing past Tang Jie. As they passed each other, he chopped his left hand, glinting with the sharp light of the Wind Cutter spell, at Tang Jie¡¯s neck.


    Tang Jie¡¯s body shed with golden light as he relied on the Formless Golden Body to take the strike. At the same time, he thrust out his palm, but the man¡¯s barrier appeared and stopped the attack.


    The two of them swiftly exchanged many more blows.


    Unlike with the whiskered Daoist, the two of them were locked in such close quarters and so anxious to gain the initiative on each other that they employed both spell arts and martial arts! Each spell art was mixed with a punch or a kick, and each one emphasized swift casting rather than power. Thus, in this closebat, they exchanged several blows per second. There was simply no time to cast anything like an art.


    This was a situation that Tang Jie had created on purpose. The man in ck was extremely cunning and had challenged Tang Jie while standing in the crowd.


    He wasn¡¯t like the whiskered Daoist, who had taken to the skies to avoid involving civilians. He had never left the crowd, fully intent on using civilians as a shield.


    With no other choice, Tang Jie had decided to fight him in closebat.


    As they fought, Tang Jie sensed that this man had unusual strength, but there appeared to be something holding him back, and he only used very ordinary spell arts like Wind Cutter or the Bone-Piercing Needle.


    But it was also for this reason that the man in ck gradually began to lose ground.


    As the man in ck was pushed back, Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Since you decided to show up, why hide your strength?¡±


    The Heartbreak Saber flew from his side, and as it spun in the air, an eagle appeared and flew at the man in ck from above. As for Tang Jie, he punched with both fists, thus nking the man in ck.


    If the man in ck wasn¡¯t willing to use all his strength, Tang Jie would force him to.


    When he saw that eagle phantom appear, the man in ck knew he was in trouble and cursed at himself for butting in.


    He had actuallye a littlete and only knew that Tang Jie had defeated the Gu n cultivators, not how he had done it. He only knew that Tang Jie had some sort of instant movement spell, knowing nothing about some Chaoswind Step. Of course, he had guessed that Tang Jie might be from the Basking Moon Sect, but he hadn¡¯t taken it seriously. All he needed to do was take care of this person and have the Gu n owe him a favor.


    He had taken a rather safe option of mixing into the crowd. If this kid were rash and killed innocents, he would be signing his own death warrant.


    But this kid was far stronger than he had imagined, actually choosing to fight him in closebat, and verypetently at that, forcing him back.


    As the saber approached, the man in ck could no longer dodge, so he pped his body. A ball of light appeared and blocked the eagle saber, holding it in the air.


    Tang Jie¡¯s steel fists arrived, and the man in ck roared as he threw his own punches in response.


    Four steel fists collided. Tang Jie wasn¡¯t using his golden gauntlets, only relying on his own strength and the Formless Golden Body, but the man in ck still found it hard to hold on. He knew that this was bad and bellowed, the veins on his arm bulging. It seemed like something was swimming in his arms, and then they traveled out from his fists and into Tang Jie¡¯s fists.


    <em>Plush! Plush!</em> Tang Jie¡¯s fists erupted with geysers of blood.


    ¡°Urgh!¡± Tang Jie grunted as he staggered back a few steps.


    The man in ck¡¯s eyes gleamed with murderous intent. ¡°Die!¡±


    For forcing him to use such methods, this young man had to die!


    A dark energy gathered in his palm, pointed at Tang Jie.


    At this moment, Tang Jie raised his head and looked at the man, a light spinning on the center of his forehead.


    The man in ck was momentarily dazed, upon which Tang Jie opened his mouth. A golden light shot out of his mouth and struck the man in ck, piercing right through his body and causing the man to scream as he fell back.


    The two of them broke apart, and this battle that had left everyone¡¯s eyes spinning finally came to a stop. Both Tang Jie and the man in ck were heavily wounded.


    Tang Jie looked down at his hands.


    Blood was gushing from his fists, and there still seemed to be some creatures running rampant in both his arms. He was forced to use spiritual energy to suppress them, which also rendered his arms unusable for the time being.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°Even if I don¡¯t use my hands, I can still kill you.¡±


    The man in ck held his chest as heughed. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve run into such a tough kid. I¡¯m even more interested in killing you now.¡±


    The two of them stared at each other, murderous mes zing in their eyes.


    Just as a new battle was about to begin, Wei Tianchong¡¯s voice came from the distance. ¡°Who dares to bully around the Gu n? You had best ask this Wei Tianchong about it first!¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s chubby figure rapidly flew out of the distance.


    A mysterious cultivator getting all up in Tang Jie¡¯s business! And Wei Tianchonging to¡­save the day?

 Chapter 351

    Chapter 351: Departure


    Wei Tianchong arrived with a whole host of people, probably people from the Gu n.


    As Wei Tianchong flew closer and saw the people in a stalemate below, he shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, why are you here?¡±


    Tang Jie coldly looked at the man in ck and said, ¡°I¡¯m the guy you were talking about, the one who smashed up a Gu n casino.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was scared out of his wits. Casting aside the Gu n people, he ran over to Tang Jie¡¯s side and asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡±


    Tang Jie gave him a rough summary of Shi Yue¡¯s situation, and then he exined what had happened at the casino, after which he asked, ¡°So why are you helping them out?¡±


    Wei Tianchong grinned. ¡°Isn¡¯t this just being sensitive to the other party¡¯s feelings?¡±


    No matter how awful the Gu n¡¯s reputation was, they had made a marriage proposal with good intentions. It would have been fine if they had been rejected from the start, but rejecting them after his father had already epted some gifts was rather impolite.


    Thus, even though Wei Tianchong could force the Gu n to lower its head, it was somewhat unreasonable. If he didn¡¯t want people to criticize him and hurt his reputation, he had to do something. It just so happened that the Gu n was in trouble, so Wei Tianchong naturally offered to help out.


    ¡°In order to reject the proposal, I had originally agreed to loan the Gu n one of our trading routes, but then I heard that it was having a problem with one of its casinos. I originally thought I could use this as a chance to unt my power and also take back the trade route, so I requested toe, but I didn¡¯t think it would be you,¡± Wei Tianchong regretfully said.


    Tang Jie also felt like it was a great pity. ¡°If only I had known! You could have just not called me out, and then we could have pretended to not know each other and fight each other until you had me running for the hills. Wouldn¡¯t that be fine?¡±


    ¡°How could I have anticipated this situation?¡± Wei Tianchong replied. ¡°It seems like we¡¯ll have to learn some sort of mind linkage spell art in the future.¡±


    ¡°That truly might be necessary,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    The Divine Firmament Sword ssic had the Heart Consonance spell art, but this name had romantic connotations. Tang Jie had no ns of teaching it to Wei Tianchong. He certainly didn¡¯t want any sort of consonance with Wei Tianchong¡¯s heart.


    As the two of them openly discussed how they might pull off a fraud, the bystanders all blushed in shame. How could people who cultivated Immortality be so shameless?


    The Gu n¡¯s people and the man in ck joined up with the whiskered Daoist and began to release the cultivators from the grape vine.


    Seeing how ardently Wei Tianchong and Tang Jie were chatting, they could guess who this person was. A Gu n elder came up and said, ¡°Might you be Basking Moon Academy¡¯s Fierce Tiger Tang Jie?¡±


    Tang Jie nced at the old man and asked, ¡°Gu Liangde?¡±


    The elder smiled. ¡°This unworthy one is none other. Truly, by failing to recognize an acquaintance, our ns ended up fighting each other.¡±


    ns like the Gu n actually had the sharpest eyes, always knowing who could be provoked and who could not. As the patriarch of the Gu n, Gu Liangde was wise. So rather than asking about why Tang Jie had wrecked the casino, he instead tried to get on better terms with him.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t even look at the old man, instead staring at the man in ck. ¡°Considering the disciple of the White Bone Divine Lord as part of your n? It seems that Master Gu thinks very highly of me.¡±


    As he spoke, two white bones were slowly forced out from the wounds on his fists. These were the bizarre objects that the man in ck had shot into his arms.


    These bones were as thin as willow branches, but they were densely covered with such intricate patterns that one could tell at a nce that they were extraordinary items. After pushing them out, Tang Jie grabbed them and put them away.


    The man in ck saw what was happening and said, ¡°You know that I¡¯m the Divine Lord¡¯s disciple, so why aren¡¯t you returning it?¡±


    Tang Jie smirked. ¡°You¡¯re trying topete with me in terms of backers?¡±


    The man in ck froze.


    Trying topare backers against the Basking Moon Sect while in the Sageheart Kingdom? What a joke!


    The White Bone Divine Lord was a rather famous figure in the Rosecloud Domain, the master of Endsea¡¯s White Bone Faith. Although he was the Titan of a sect, he couldn¡¯tpare to the six major sects. The man in ck could use the name of the White Bone Divine Lord to scare people, but it was useless against those of the Basking Moon Sect.


    The man in ck grunted, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then consider those two Jade Bones a gift. Patriarch Gu, this one has business and will leave first.¡±


    The man in ck disappeared without waiting for Gu Liangde¡¯s reply.


    Now that the man in ck was gone, Tang Jie turned to Gu Liangde and said, ¡°I was ying a few rounds in your casino, but I identally caused some misunderstandings, which led to this fight. Master Gu, please forgive me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, nothing.¡± Gu Liangde saw that Tang Jie was finally willing to speak with him and was overjoyed. ¡°Since it was a misunderstanding, it¡¯s all water under the bridge now.¡±


    But to his surprise, Tang Jie simply nodded and said, ¡°With these words from Master Gu, I can rest easy.¡±


    He turned and left.


    Gu Liangde saw that he was leaving and frantically said, ¡°Honored Master Tang, why not stay to have a meal?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not necessary.¡± Tang Jie turned to Wei Tianchong and asked, ¡°And you? Do you still have business with the Gu n?¡±


    Wei Tianchong shrugged. ¡°We¡¯ve discussed everything that there is to discuss, so what else could there be?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, then.¡±


    Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong left.


    Patriarch Gu watched them leave, wanting to keep them but not daring to. A perfectly fine casino had been ruined by Tang Jie, but it wasn¡¯t like he could take revenge against him. As Gu Liangde watched Tang Jie leave, there was a vicious glint in his eyes.


    Several Gu n juniors came over and began to speak.


    ¡°Grandfather, are we just leaving things there? This Tang Jie has humiliated us!¡±


    ¡°My Gu n has been able to survive in the Canglong Prefecture precisely because of pride! He¡¯s destroyed our casino and made our Gu n eat the cost, and he isn¡¯t even willing to have a meal with us! He¡¯s clearly treating our Gu n like an enemy!¡±


    ¡°Exactly! And that Wei Tianchong has rejected the marriage proposal. Who can¡¯t see what the Wei n¡¯s attitude is toward us? Once this incident gets out, many people wille to beat us while we¡¯re down.¡±


    Gu Liangde sighed. ¡°The problem is that Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong are part of one of the six major sects. We can¡¯t afford to offend them.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s not like Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong are the only ones from the six major sects,¡± a Gu n youth sinisterly said.


    Patriarch Gu¡¯s eyes shed. ¡°Zhong Xuan, you¡¯re saying¡­¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there that saying? Only the six major sects can deal with the six major sects!¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Once he was off the main street, Tang Jie quickly strode forward.


    Wei Tianchong followed behind and shouted, ¡°Tang Jie! Tang Jie! Wait for me! Where are you going, that you¡¯re walking so fast?¡±


    Tang Jie ignored him and kept going. Finally, after entering a small alley, he grunted and crashed into the wall, his entire body twitching.


    Horrified, Wei Tianchong eximed, ¡°Tang Jie! What¡¯s wrong?¡±


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    Tang Jie said in a scratchy voice, ¡°Those Jade Bones had the tyrannical True Essence of a peak Mortal Shedding expert. It was so fierce, shit, I almost broke back there¡­ Help me out.¡±


    He tore off his clothes, exposing his back to Wei Tianchong.


    ¡°What do I do?¡± Wei Tianchong said in fright.


    ¡°The Heart Transporter Point!¡± Tang Jie barked. ¡°Use the Seven Essence Partitioning Spirit! Yiyi, Luo Yue, keep watch for me.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Wei Tianchong thrust a finger at the Heart Transporter Point.


    Yiyi quickly sprinkled flower seeds over the area and began to keep guard over the area with the fox and tiger.


    ¡°Kidney Transporter, Liver Transporter, Galldder Transporter, Spleen Transporter¡­¡± As Tang Jie called out point after point, Wei Tianchong¡¯s fingers flew across Tang Jie¡¯s back. At the same time, Tang Jie thrust his own finger at his body, inserting True Essence.


    This True Essence that had infiltrated Tang Jie¡¯s body was truly tyrannical, running rampant throughout. At the start, Tang Jie thought that it hade from the man in ck, so he hadn¡¯t paid it much mind. But as time passed, he gradually sensed that something was wrong, and then he realized that he had fallen for a trap. Those Jade Bones had clearly been refined by some other expert before being handed to the man in ck, which made them far more powerful than Tang Jie had anticipated.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t catch it at first, so he fell victim to the move. If it weren¡¯t for the Jewel Body and his Hundred Refinement body, he would have died on the spot. Even with them, he needed to work together with Wei Tianchong to slowly neutralize it.


    As that domineering True Essence was finally neutralized, Tang Jie guided it into his Energy Cave Point, where it finally stopped moving. Tang Jie had originally been intending topletely neutralize this energy, but he had ultimately decided to keep it around.


    This True Essence was extremely strong and had to havee from a peak Mortal Shedding expert. s, in Tang Jie¡¯s body, it was water without a source, a tree without roots. If he refined it, he could use it for his own purposes.


    Wei Tianchong saw that Tang Jie was okay and sighed in relief, saying, ¡°I didn¡¯t think that the White Bone Faith would have an expert like this.¡±


    ¡°Pah!¡± Tang Jie spat on the ground. ¡°If he¡¯s part of the White Bone Faith, then I¡¯m a True Inheritor of Horizon Ocean Pavilion!¡±


    ¡°Eh? He¡¯s not?¡± Wei Tianchong was startled. ¡°Then why does he have the Jade Bones of the White Bone Faith?¡±


    Tang Jie coldly replied, ¡°The two of us have the secrets of the Five Gods Faith, so does that make us part of the Five Gods Faith?¡±


    While he had a limited understanding of the White Bone Faith¡¯s situation, he knew that this sect walked the path of the bizarre and sinister. And while this man in ck had used covert methods and such things as bee swarms, he was far from being sinister and bizarre. Moreover, the White Bone Faith had its own famous spell arts, but while the man in ck had ultimately used the Jade Bones, he had used none of the famous spells. This made it more likely that he was intentionally constructing this false image.


    ¡°Then where did hee from?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    This question made Tang Jie fall silent.


    After thinking it over, he shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t be certain for now. But I can be sure that he¡¯s not from Sageheart.¡±


    Wei Tianchong snorted. ¡°He¡¯s not from Sageheart and he acts so arrogantly? If we run into him again, we had best thoroughly investigate him.¡±


    Tang Jie indifferently said, ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. If he manages to leave Sageheart alive, then he¡¯ll have to thank the umted merit of his ancestors for it.¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s eyes shed. ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­¡±


    Tang Jie callously replied, ¡°Since he dared to wound me, he has to pay an even greater price.¡±


    Tang Jie put on his clothes, his eyes brimming with confidence.


    Several kilometers away, in a small house, the man in ck was lying on a bed while howling in pain.


    Blood gushed out of his chest. White medicinal powder had been sprinkled over the wound, but it was quickly washed away by the blood. No matter how much medicine he applied, the wound refused to close, glittering golden motes shing in the wound. Through the wound, one could even see his beating heart, which also shed with little golden flecks of light.


    ¡°Aaaagh! What is this? What is it! Tang Jie, I¡¯ll kill you! Kill you!¡± the man in ck crazily howled.


    He found it impossible to understand what it was that Tang Jie had inserted into his body and he couldn¡¯t force out.


    He didn¡¯t know that he had run into one of the methods of using the golden pellet that Tang Jie had been researching as ofte.


    The moment the golden pellet had passed through the man, it had released several extremely small golden grains that attached to the wound. As these golden grains were innately unaffected by spiritual energy, and cultivators recovered almost entirely through spiritual energy, these golden grains were very difficult to expel from the wound. The only solution was to take a knife and cut away the affected parts.


    The problem was that Tang Jie had deviously attacked the man in ck¡¯s heart. Cultivators at Mortal Shedding had tenacious life forces, and even a damaged heart wasn¡¯t enough to kill them. But this didn¡¯t mean that they could remove their heart, cut away at it, and then put it back.


    Those golden grains on his heart were like bone-gnawing ghosts, leaving the man in ck in immense pain. But this wound also wasn¡¯t enough to kill him, only constantly torturing him to the point of madness.


    Of course, as a price, unless Tang Jie could run into the man in ck again while those golden grains were still present on his body, he would never be able to get them back. And while there weren¡¯t a lot of them, it was a number that would take destroying several dozen spell weapons to get back.


    Back in the alley, after resting and confirming that his injuries were improving, Tang Jie prepared to leave with Wei Tianchong and Yiyi.


    As he was about to go, he spotted Yanzhi and Shi Yue standing at the entrance to the alley.


    Upon seeing Tang Jie, Shi Yue immediately wept tears of gratitude, came up to him, and prepared to kneel.


    Tang Jie stopped her. ¡°This isn¡¯t necessary at all. While I have intervened, it is unable to resolve your predicament, only vent your emotions for a moment.¡±


    Shi Yue had tears in her eyes as she looked up at Tang Jie and smiled. ¡°I know¡­ I only wanted to thank Young Master for acting for my sake. I¡¯ve already decided that when I go back, I will request a divorce!¡±


    The mention of divorce left Tang Jie startled.


    In this era, the woman could request a divorce, but one first had to use the husband of misdeeds to the authorities, and only a judgment on awsuit could approve the divorce. As Rosecloud still favored men over women, a woman using the husband would be imprisoned whether or not they seeded, with terms that could be as long as three months.


    For Shi Yue to use her husband indicated that she had gathered an immense amount of courage.


    Tang Jie blurted out, ¡°You¡¯re sure that you want to take this step?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve made up my mind,¡± Shi Yue firmly said. ¡°Just as you said, while you have given me a lot of money, it can¡¯t sustain his gambling. And though you¡¯ve destroyed one casino today, he¡¯ll go and find another casino tomorrow. That being the case, it would be better to just give up on him and leave.¡±


    She spoke those final words with utmost resolve and determination.


    Wei Tianchong pped his hands and said, ¡°Good words! I support you. You don¡¯t need to worry about the officials. I¡¯ll order the estate to help you put things in order.¡±


    After learning that Shi Yue¡¯s husband was a gambling addict, he had been anxious to do something about it. Since Shi Yue had made up her mind, he was willing to help. Given the Wei n¡¯s power, this trifling task would be easily handled.


    But Tang Jie had grown quiet.


    To him, whether Shi Yue left or stayed, it was all her own business. He had just been helping her out for a moment, but he couldn¡¯t look after her forever. On the contrary, to avoid Shi Yue having any sort of fantasies, he had remained cold and indifferent. And now that Shi Yue had said that she was going to leave, he needed to be even more cautious with his words and actions so that Shi Yue would not have any unrealistic ideas.


    Fortunately, Shi Yue was a smart girl who knew that she couldn¡¯t overly rely on Tang Jie. Thus, she only softly thanked Wei Tianchong. For her, leaving her husband without paying any sort of price was already extremely fortunate.


    The two parties talked for a while longer before Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong took their leave.


    Shi Yue watched them leave. She knew that after today¡¯s parting, she probably wouldn¡¯t have a chance to meet him for the rest of her life.


    She suddenly shouted with all her might, ¡°Tang Jie!¡±


    Tang Jie turned his head.


    Shi Yue shouted, ¡°Although I married the wrong person, it wasn¡¯t like my eyes were wrong the entire time! I also once saw the right person!¡±


    Tang Jie froze for a moment, and then he cracked a smile.


    He nodded at Shi Yue and disappeared.


    As Tang Jie vanished from her sight, Shi Yue finally broke down, dropping to the ground and weeping¡­


    Seems like Tang Jie and his mysterious opponent were quite vicious to each other. And farewell Shi Yue. s, she was never able to seize Tang Jie¡¯s heart like Xu Miaoran was.

 Chapter 352

    Chapter 352: Heavenly des in the Clouds


    Upon returning from his trip, Tang Jie went to the Wu home.


    In the following days, he didn¡¯t go out very much, spending every day with the Wu couple and doing his utmost to fulfill his duty as their son.


    asionally, thedy would send someone to invite him to a meal, and Tang Jie would ept. When he was free, he would also spar with the Spirit Masters of the Wei Estate. While these Spirit Masters had average strength, in their younger years, they had traveled the world. In interacting with them, Tang Jie heard about things that he wasn¡¯t able to hear about back at the academy.


    Ten-some days quickly went by, and Tang Jie calcted that it was about time to head to Mount Eternal.


    Although he was reluctant to leave, Tang Jie ultimately bid farewell to the Wei Estate and his parents. As for Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng, they stayed at the Wei Estate. After all, the mission was simple and didn¡¯t require them to go. But Tang Jie also left Yiyi with Wei Tianchong so that Yiyi could contact him if anything happened.


    After leaving the Wei Estate, Tang Jie flew on the little tiger to Mount Eternal.


    After around half a day, Tang Jie arrived at a mountain. From its steep sides and beautiful scenery, he knew that this was Mount Eternal.


    Mount Eternal was the second most famous mountain range of Ling Province. The mountain range covered an area of around one thousand square kilometers. It extended from north to south and had more than one hundred peaks. Of these, forty-six had a name, with the primary peak being known as Glory Peak, at a height of nearly four thousand meters. Not far from the main peak was another peak called Stone Gate Peak. This was the base of the Stone Gate Sect, which had discovered the ore vein.


    At Mount Eternal, before heading to the Stone Gate Sect, Tang Jie dropped by the local branch hall.


    The Basking Moon Sect¡¯s branch hall was located in a small vige at the base of the mountains. Its remote location meant that this hall was much smaller than those in the big cities, and the personnel consisted of one steward, two disciples, and four servants. It was primarily for receiving guests and supervising affairs.


    The steward Spirit Master was called Zhang Taixu, a cultivator at the Hundred Refinement Period. He was in his old age, his hairpletely white. When Zhang Taixu learned that Tang Jie had arrived, he personally came out to wee him. Once Tang Jie told him that he hade about the ore vein, he led Tang Jie to Stone Gate Peak.


    At Stone Gate Peak, Zhang Taixunded at the foot of the mountain and said, ¡°This peak is protected by the Stone Gate Sect¡¯s protective formation, so flying is not permitted. We must notify the sect and then walk our way up the mountain, but this is not intended as any sort of disrespect to my Basking Moon Sect.¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°I see.¡±


    All sects had their protective formations. They were like the city walls of old or border walls, keeping enemies out. It was no easy task to set up these protective formations, so they had powerful functions while being extremely costly and time-consuming to set up. As they were connected to the welfare of the sect, they were also reinforced and upgraded over the years. Thus, to see how powerful a sect was, other than looking at their blessednds or paradises, one could also look at their protective formation.


    Thus, Tang Jie didn¡¯t mind that the Stone Gate Sect¡¯s protective formation prevented flight.


    The receiving disciple of the Stone Gate Sect at the base of the mountain saw that the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s people hade, so he quickly opened up the formation and led the two of them inside.


    As Tang Jie made his way up the mountain path, he saw all sorts of strange herbs and grasses blooming, and Immortal cranes could be seen flying about. Stone Gate Peak was a lofty mountain cloaked in green and awash with all kinds of phenomena, giving off the aura of an Immortal abode. He couldn¡¯t help but sigh in praise, ¡°It¡¯s a pretty nice ce.¡±


    The guiding disciple smiled in reply. ¡°It is only a small ce on the border. Please forgive us for making you see such aughable sight.¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Though it¡¯s a small ce, it has an imposing aura. It looks to me like this mountain is half-concealed, seemingly open but actually closed. I can see manifestations of the Jade Court¡¯s Heavenly des, so this should be the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation, which is quite appropriate for a sect called Stone Gate.¡±


    The receiving disciple quickly said, ¡°Honored Emissary truly possesses sharp eyes. It really is the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation.¡±


    This was a Grade 7 formation that excelled at keeping enemies out. It started off as an extremely powerful formation, and considering that the Stone Gate Sect had been constantly pouring resources into it for several hundred years, it had only grown more powerful.


    The stone steps Tang Jie¡¯s group was walking up were the anterior part of the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation, called the Jade Court, and it was the strongest point of the formation. shing lights could be seen flowing across the steps, and by activating his Celestial Eye a little, Tang Jie was able to see that sharp des were concealed among the clouds. These were the Heavenly Vortex des. They appeared like guillotines suspended in the air, their sharp edges pointed downwards. They had no handles, only two thin chains that led into the clouds. If an enemy tried to force their way through the formation, these des would drop, and these were not ordinary attacks, but weapons capable of killing True Persons. If someone just tried to barge their way in, even a True Lord might be sliced into little chunks.


    These were the Jade Court¡¯s Heavenly des, a powerful attack that could even kill True Immortals.


    For Tang Jie, this was truly a learning opportunity. It was very rare for one to get an opportunity to enter an unguarded formation. As he walked through it, his thoughts began to extend into his surroundings.


    Those des in the clouds were particrly inspirational for Tang Jie. As his mind floated among the clouds and examined the Heavenly Vortex des, they did not appear like des, but as countlessplex designs made from spiritual energy, each one inscribed with the principles of the world.


    Tang Jie almost lost himself in these designs, and his mind rapidly worked as it tried to deconstruct the mysteries behind all of this.


    This was the power of Wisdom. It could deconstruct thews of the world and theposition of secret arts. It was just that he had never really tapped into the power of this deconstruction ability, as it was no easy task.


    He hadn¡¯t expected toe across an opportunity like this today. He had originally just wanted toprehend the secrets of the formation, but this caused the Wisdom within him to go to work and start deconstructing those des suspended in the heavens, leaving him very surprised.


    But there was no time for him to be emotional, surprised, or shocked.


    In front of him, the curtain over a vast and mysterious world was slowly being lifted.


    Tang Jie absorbed these secrets like he was starving and thirsty. Bit by bit, as the secrets of the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation opened up to him, he absorbed and mastered them, leaving almost nothing out.


    Just like that, the secrets behind the formation that had protected the Stone Gate Sect for centuries were revealed, absorbed, and digested by Tang Jie.


    And this still wasn¡¯t enough!


    For Tang Jie, there was nothing special aboutprehending the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation. After all, he had already gotten some basic understanding of this formation through Xu Muyang¡¯s formation treatise, which was what allowed him toprehend it so quickly.


    What truly interested him was the construction of the Jade Court¡¯s Heavenly des.


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    Those powerful guillotine des suspended in the air, and those thin chains that extended into the heavens¡ªwhat would happen if he could cast a spell art like this?


    This wasn¡¯t some unrealistic fantasy. Everyone knew that formations were actually just methods for using the world as a vessel to cast spell arts. While formations were somewhat less flexible in their usage and had higher costs, as they were free from the limitations of the human body, they were also more powerful.


    This was precisely why spell arts that a formation could use could also be used by cultivators, so long as one could find the correct method.


    For example, the Heavenly King Mara Incantation had actually been born from the Heavenly King Mara Formation. This formation was a famous Grade 7 formation. Anyone who intruded on this formation woulde under attack by the formation, and the formation¡¯s attacks would take the form of none other than the Heavenly King Mara Incantation, though the power would be even fiercer. Later on, someone had been inspired by the formation and researched the structure of the formation to ultimately develop the Heavenly King Mara Incantation.


    One could also have a spell art and then have the formation.


    Tang Jie acted on this sudden inspiration, his mind surging toward those heavenly des in the clouds. The majority of his focus was ced here, only a small part of his mind left in his body to control it, but not enough to say a single word. The guiding disciple had hoped to get on Tang Jie¡¯s good side in this time, but found himpletely unresponsive.


    There were 81 Heavenly Vortex des in the clouds, exactly nine times nine.


    For Tang Jie¡¯s purposes, he only needed to deconstruct one. The rest were just an exercise in repetition.


    He focused all of his mind on deconstructing theposition of the Heavenly Vortex de. That enormous number of thin spiritual lines and thatplex design were like countless spirits whispering into his ear, leaving Tang Jie dizzy and his head feeling swollen. But he pressed on, analyzing, memorizing, digesting, andprehending the meaning behind their existence.


    He needed to not onlyprehend them, but also evolve them into a spell art that he could use.


    This was no simple process. Even a Celestial Heart expert would need several years or even several decades to turn an offensive formation into a spell art, and this was on top of the needed perception.


    But with the deductive power of reason, Tang Jie was able to greatly shorten this process. If one were able to see what he was seeing, one would see scenes rapidly flying past his eyes like flowing water, and while a bystander might not be able to make out anything, Tang Jie was able to memorize it all and rapidly calcte.


    ¡°Mmph,¡± Tang Jie grunted. The burden from the numerous calctions caused him to bleed from his nose, so he decided to just stop moving.


    ¡°Sir Emissary!¡± The guiding disciple saw that something was wrong and cried out in rm.


    Zhang Taixu stopped him. He had abundant experience and knew that Tang Jie was in some sort of enlightenment state. He couldn¡¯t but sigh in praise, ¡°As expected of someone given a rmendation card by Master Ming, achieving enlightenment as easily as one might eat a meal.¡±


    The guiding disciple was dumbfounded and looked at Tang Jie like he was seeing a ghost. And what would he think if he knew that Tang Jie wasprehending the Stone Gate Sect¡¯s supreme Jade Court¡¯s Heavenly des?


    Tang Jie¡¯s distant mind was currently in the tensest phase.


    A single Heavenly Vortex de was made of 1312 individual patterns. If one removed the identical designs, there were 456 left. Tang Jie didn¡¯t need to just memorize these designs, but remember how they were put together and what function they served. Moreover, he ultimately needed to modify them so that he could cast the spell art on his own.


    While Tang Jie could memorize everything and go back to slowly study them, it wasn¡¯t like he could memorize everything forever. Tang Jie could feel a very strange will as he floated among the clouds.


    It was precisely this will that had allowed Tang Jie to enter this state and deconstruct the Jade Court¡¯s Heavenly des, and it was precisely this will that allowed him to so quickly achieve breakthroughs and find what he needed to find. If he left this environment, it would probably take him years to achieve his current results.


    Thus, Tang Jie didn¡¯t let up, continuing to keep his mind in the clouds.


    Finally, something seemed to open up in his mind, and he understood many things which had previously been iprehensible. An impulse welled up, an energy spreading throughout his entire body, and Tang Jie itched to test his abilities.


    But he knew that this wasn¡¯t the time. There was still onest thing to be done.


    His mind extended outward, once more taking in the entirety of the Jade Court. Tang Jie memorized how the 81 Heavenly Vortex des were organized.


    Compared to the individual structure of each de, the 81 des had a much simpler arrangement. With a single nce, Tang Jiepletely grasped the structure of the Jade Court¡¯s Heavenly des.


    As he wasprehending it all, an ancient and dignified energy erupted from the clouds.


    Tang Jie knew that this was created from the knowledge the Stone Gate Sect had umted over the centuries. As his mind floated amidst this energy, he felt like he could sense the will of this sect¡¯s ancestors.


    Under the influence of this will, the floating des shook and shed against each other, ringing out like wind chimes.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± The guiding disciple and Zhang Taixu raised their heads in shock.


    ¡°Celestial music to wee the guest¡­ truly an honored emissary of a great sect, able to casually walk in the Jade Court andprehend the Dao. Congrattions!¡±


    As this voice rang out, a party descended from the summit of Stone Gate Peak, their leader a man with a purplish skin tone and long whiskers, exuding the aura of an Immortal.


    Zhang Taixu whispered to Tang Jie, ¡°This is Sect Master Qiu Shuyu.¡±


    Tang Jie quickly brought his hands together in front of him. ¡°Basking Moon Disciple Tang Jie pays respects to True Person Qiu.¡±


    Although he was an emissary from the Basking Moon Sect, the other party was a Celestial Heart True Person whomanded a sect. His status was undoubtedly higher than Tang Jie¡¯s, so he did not dare to be impolite.


    Someone of Qiu Shuyu¡¯s status had no need to wee Tang Jie, but he knew when Tang Jie had arrived at the base of the mountain and had wondered what was taking him so long. When he used a spell art to check what was going on, he discovered that Tang Jie wasprehending the Dao in the middle of his sect, so he had rushed out. But before he had even seen Tang Jie, he had heard celestial music, indicating that the ancient will slumbering in the formation had acknowledged Tang Jie. Thus, Qiu Shuyu did not dare to be negligent.


    Upon hearing Tang Jie state his name, Qiu Shuyu replied, ¡°So it was Fierce Tiger Tang Jie, the one even Celestial Chief Ming has taken a liking to. It is no wonder you are so outstanding.¡±


    As they were both at Celestial Heart, Qiu Shuyu found it more respectful to call Ming Yekong ¡°Celestial Chief¡± rather than ¡°True Person¡±.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°This lowly one was rude and lost himself in the delight ofprehending the art of the Jade Court. Please forgive me for my discourtesy.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine,¡± Qiu Shuyuughed. ¡°Sure enough, talents are emerging from the cultivation world with every generation, and there has never been ack of geniuses. A few years ago, Bei Canghan appeared in the Basking Moon Sect, and I thought that he would be the leader of the students that joined the academy within thest ten years, but now there is a Tang Jie! For a genius junior like this, this old man is only too happy to make your acquaintance.¡±


    He grabbed Tang Jie¡¯s hand, seemingly very happy. But the people around him seemed rather displeased.


    A tall and thin young man with a hawkish nose bluntly said, ¡°Young Master Tang, what art were youprehending just now?¡±


    There was a critical tone to his question.


    Tang Jie was startled, and Qiu Shuyu introduced, ¡°This is my third junior brother, Shi Jingzhai.¡±


    He pointed at a rather white and plump man who asionally wiped sweat off his face with a handkerchief and a pink-clothed beauty with ck eyebrows and said, ¡°These two are my second junior brother, Liang Xingbang, and my fourth junior sister, Yu Wanniang.¡±


    Tang Jie bowed and said, ¡°So it is the Wind Return True Person, the Deep Earth Reverend, and the Jewel Madame. Tang Jie pays his respects.¡±


    He had already heard about the Stone Gate Sect from Zhang Taixu. He knew that there were four power holders in the sect. Qiu Shuyu was the Great Brother and called the Mountain Water True Person, and the other three were these people before him.


    Shi Jingzhai, the one who had questioned him, was different from the others, for he was the son of the Stone Gate Sect¡¯s previous sect master. Before this, the Stone Gate Sect had been passed down from the Shi (Stone) n from generation to generation, but in this generation, the previous sect master had handed the sect to Qiu Shuyu. Even so, Shi Jingzhai still had an extremely high status in the sect.


    Tang Jie pondered his answer and replied, ¡°This one has a fondness for formations, so upon entering the Jade Gate Heaven Seal, this one felt something and thus managed to greatly improve this one¡¯sprehension of the Dao of Formations.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re lying!¡± Shi Jingzhai barked. ¡°Onlyprehending formations would not invite the celestial music. You must have learned some of the secrets of my sect¡¯s Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation!¡±


    ¡°Jingzhai, be silent!¡± Qiu Shuyu roared. ¡°You cannot be rude to the emissary!¡±


    Liang Xingbang snorted, ¡°Even emissaries cannot casually steal the secret arts of my sect, no? Moreover, Young Master Tang only came to ask about the ore vein. He is far from an official emissary.¡±


    Tang Jie frowned. ¡°I admit that I did learn some things from the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation, but I was onlyprehending throughparison and did not truly solve some vital secret. Since the Stone Gate Sect has opened the door, it naturally cannot me others for this conduct. Why is it that the Stone Gate Sect is charging and keeping secrets for things that are out in the open?¡±


    Shi Jingzhai and Liang Xingbang both froze, unable to retort.


    Tang Jie was right. It wasn¡¯t like he had stolen into the Stone Gate Sect¡¯s library. He was justprehending what he had seen around the entrance. Over the tens of thousands of years of the cultivation world¡¯s existence, it had developed a system of rules, and a situation like Tang Jie¡¯s was not considered to be stealing secrets. As for those Heavenly des, though he had relied on the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation toprehend them, even the Stone Gate Sect didn¡¯t have such a spell art, so how could it be considered stealing?


    Of course, it was no lie that Tang Jie had benefited, so to be polite, he naturally had to give something to show his gratitude. This had been his intent, but Shi Jingzhai¡¯s questioning had displeased him.


    He was just about to say something when he suddenly sensed something and turned to the silent Jewel Madame, Yu Wanniang. There seemed to be something in her hand, which shed for the briefest of moments.


    Yu Wanniang saw that she was looking at him and warmly smiled, and to be honest, her smile was quite enchanting.


    Tang Jie put the matter aside and said, ¡°Of course, I did gain something from the Stone Gate Sect, so Tang Jie is willing to show his gratitude. How does five thousand spirit coins as a thank-you gift sound?¡±


    Shi Jingzhai sneered, ¡°Five thousand coins? Young Master Tang, what do you take my Stone Gate Sect to be? Are you giving alms to a beggar?¡±


    Tang Jie coldly replied, ¡°Five thousand coins is not a lot for a sect, but for me as an individual, five thousand coins is the limit of what I can give. In truth, even this amount of money is something that I will have to wait a few days to pay.¡±


    ¡°Haha!¡± Shi Jingzhaiughed. ¡°You need to put a measly five thousand coins on a tab! Tang Jie, it seems like I should give you five thousand coins so that you can leave.¡±


    ¡°Jingzhai, shut your mouth!¡± Qiu Shuyu roared. He quickly said to Tang Jie, ¡°Young Master Tang, please don¡¯t take this to heart. My junior brother has always had problems with his temper, and he never knows how to talk. It is precisely for this reason that Master gave me the position of Sect Master.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai¡¯s eyes shed with rage.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I gained from the Stone Gate Sect, but I refuse to express my gratitude. It is only natural for True Person Shi to be unhappy.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai grunted, but since Tang Jie had been humble throughout, he finally fell silent.


    Just a nice happy little sect out in the boonies, nothing happening here¡­

 Chapter 353

    Chapter 353: Xi Canhen


    After conversing, Qiu Shuyu led Tang Jie and Zhang Taixu up the mountain.


    The Stone Gate Sect had prepared a sumptuous lunch for the two of them, and diligently attended to their needs.


    After three rounds of drinks, Tang Jie slowly came to understand the local situation.


    Mount Eternal originally had three sects in the area, but after the discovery of the ore vein, the Stone Gate Sect rose in power and gradually suppressed the two other sects, one of them even choosing to just leave the area. But once the ore vein ran out, the Stone Gate Sect¡¯s good days woulde to an end.


    During the banquet, Qiu Shuyu was very mncholy, saying to Tang Jie, ¡°The Stone Gate Sect truly did benefit a lot from the ore vein, but in protecting the ore vein, it also offended no small number of small-minded people. Back then, the Jade Radiance Sect tried to steal the mine, and my Stone Gate Sect fought three battles with them. Countless disciples were killed, and even I was heavily wounded, but we barely managed to hold the mine. The heavens and earth have borne witness to my Stone Gate Sect¡¯s loyalty to the Basking Moon Sect!¡±


    The Jade Radiance Sect was the sect that the Stone Gate Sect forced out of the area. Tang Jie knew that the Stone Gate Sect did have several battles with the Jade Radiance Sect, though he didn¡¯t know if they were actually to defend the mine. Judging based on the actual situation, they were probably more for control over the Mount Eternal region as a whole.


    From the perspective of the Basking Moon Sect, it was the same regardless of who was protecting the mine, so long as they handed over eighty percent of their profits. Even if the Jade Radiance Sect seized the ore vein, it would only be taking the Stone Gate Sect¡¯s cut. No matter how bold it was, it would never dare to try and take the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s portion. Thus, the Stone Gate Sect¡¯s battle to defend the mine wasn¡¯t for the sake of the Basking Moon Sect, but for itself. Qiu Shuyu was just saying all this to express his loyalty and increase his asking price.


    Sure enough, Qiu Shuyu said, ¡°But recently, I¡¯ve heard that the Jade Radiance Sect has yet to give up and is seeking an opportunity to take revenge. Now that the ore vein is about to run dry, the Stone Gate Sect will find it very hard to maintain its current territory and will have to constrict. When the timees, those bandits will get the chance to strike.¡±


    He sorrowfully sighed.


    Tang Jie inwardly found this all rather amusing. ¡°A defeated army can¡¯t be called courageous, and I presume that they are no match for the Stone Gate Sect. Sect Master Qiu is being too humble.¡±


    He didn¡¯t use any words that Qiu Shuyu could seize upon.


    Qiu Shuyu saw that he was unmoved and awkwardly chuckled, saying no more.


    Once they were done eating, Tang Jie wiped his mouth and said, ¡°The meal is done, so let¡¯s get down to business. Sect Master, please bring me to the mine.¡±


    Qiu Shuyu hastily said, ¡°Young Master, is there a need to be in such a rush? There is plenty of time to y around in our Stone Gate Sect for a few days before going over to look.¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°Let¡¯s not. I still have business to do, so it¡¯s best if I can get this done today.¡±


    He stood up.


    Qiu Shuyu saw how determined he was, so he could only agree. Before they left, Qiu Shuyu gave Tang Jie a Mustard Seed Bag. Tang Jie opened it up to look inside and found that it was stuffed with spirit stones. A rough estimate of their value put it at around one hundred thousand.


    Tang Jieughed and returned the Mustard Seed Bag.


    Qiu Shuyu hastily said, ¡°This is merely a small gift from the Stone Gate Sect, nothing like a bribe.¡±


    Tang Jie firmly shook his head, so Qiu Shuyu could only take it back and take him to the ore vein.


    The spirit stone vein was located at the Hundred Joy Peak of Mount Eternal, only five kilometers from Stone Gate Peak. Qiu Shuyu and Tang Jie¡¯s party reached the mine very quickly by air. From a distance, they could see that quite a crowd had gathered.


    Qiu Shuyu was going tond there, but Tang Jie smiled and said, ¡°We don¡¯t need to rm them. Let¡¯s see what the situation is.¡±


    Qiu Shuyu could only nod in agreement, and the partynded in the distance and approached by foot.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The entrance to a mine was always the liveliest of ces.


    A middle-aged schr with three prongs of whiskers was seated behind a desk, and in front of the desk was a long line of people. These were all miners, carrying picks and wearing shabby clothes. There were unexpectedly even a few teenagers among the group.


    Each person had a basket on their back, and the miners took out jade stone chunks of various sizes from these baskets: spirit stones. This was the raw ore, and it could only be used after polishing and processing. Even so, through the thin rockyer, one could still sense the energy pulses from within.


    The miners handed the rocks to the schr, and someone on the side came up to weigh them.


    ¡°24 catties of low-quality ore, and 1 catty of average-quality ore. That¡¯s two silver coins and nine cents,¡± the schr said, counting out coins and handing them over.


    The miner shouted unhappily, ¡°There are clearly two catties of average-quality ore, so how did it be one catty?¡±


    The middle-aged schr snorted, ¡°Shut your mouth, you useless thing! If you keep causing trouble, I¡¯ll have you kicked out!¡±


    Spirit stone ore was divided into different levels of quality. ording to the standards set by the six major sects, these qualities were ¡°best¡±, ¡°high¡±, ¡°average¡±, and ¡°low¡±, and the ore was received based on this standard. Low quality was the cheapest, with every ten catties only going for one silver coin. Average-quality ore went for five coins per ten, high-quality was three taels, and best-quality was twenty taels.


    In the cultivation world, ten catties of low-quality raw ore could make a single low-quality spirit stone, which was about two hundred spirit coins. Not considering the ck market price, the exchange rate was one to two thousand.


    This was the difference between cultivators and mortals. In this rtionship, the former would always be the exploiter and thetter would always be thebor.


    Seeking our spirit ores was an extremelyborious and dangerous task. Mines were never safe and often had many lurking dangers. Even cultivators would often encounter misfortune in these ces, which was exactly why mining ore was left to mortals. And for mostborers, while mining was dangerous, the rewards weren¡¯t low. If their luck was good, they could get one or two pieces of good ore that could help them escape their fate of hardbor. This made them willing to risk their lives in the mines, but even then, they were still exploited by others.


    The middle-aged schr took his own cut, and the mine foreman also took his own rather significant cut.


    Normally, a miner could make five silver coins in a day without a problem, but after giving other people their cuts, there would often be only two or three coins left.


    The miner saw that he couldn¡¯t do anything and stormed off. The miner after him was a youth with a basket on his back, and when he dumped out the basket, there turned out to be a surprising amount of ore inside.


    While the kid was rather scrawny, he had managed to mine quite a lot.


    The schr saw this and let out a loudugh. ¡°Canhen, you¡¯ve brought back a pretty good haul today.¡±


    The youth coldly looked at the schr.


    The schr¡¯s face suddenly sank, and before the weighing person on the side could say anything, the schr said, ¡°Ten catties of low quality, so one silver coin.¡±


    The crowd exploded.


    The young man had dumped at least thirty catties of raw ore onto the desk, and two of them had a special luster that indicated that they were clearly of at least average quality. Yet this schr had wiped it all away and said that there were only ten catties of low-quality ore. This was brazen corruption.


    A miner in the back resentfully said, ¡°This isn¡¯t even enough to survive.¡±


    ¡°Who said that it isn¡¯t enough to survive?¡± the schr snorted. ¡°One silver coin is enough for his brothers and sisters to eat for three days without worry. There are already few people who are able to live this long after offending Young Master Jin. Xi Canhen, you should go back and carefully think things over. If you hurry and send over your little sister to Young Master Jin, there¡¯s still a chance to turn things around. Otherwise, while you might be able to get one silver coin for your ore today, you might not even get a cent tomorrow!¡±


    The youth coldly red at the schr and said, ¡°ckheart Wu, you¡¯re dreaming.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± The schr grew enraged.


    While supervising the mine, he had frequently cheated the miners out of their efforts and had long ago gained the name of ckheart. But nobody had ever dared to say it to his face. He hadn¡¯t expected this youth to say it, and he was furious and wanted to teach him a lesson. But he recalled that the youth had a reputation for being bold and fearless. In the mine, he had already fought with the foremen several times, earning him this reputation. At present, even the professional exploiters that were the foremen weren¡¯t willing to provoke him, taking only the absolute minimum from him. This was also why he was able to hand over more ore than the other miners.


    He was currently too close to this kid, so he would be disadvantaged in a real fight. He could only restrain himself for the time being.


    The schr red at the youth, who grabbed his coin and left.


    Once the youth was farther off, the schr finally shouted, ¡°Are you useless things blind? Didn¡¯t you see that kid insulting me? Seize him at once!¡±


    Several burly men immediately lunged at the youth.


    That Xi Canhen saw what was happening and immediately ran off, and those strongmen pursued. Just when they were about to catch up, the youth suddenly grabbed an iron bar next to him, spun around it, and kicked one of the burly men in the face.


    The force of the spinning kick was so great that the man was instantly knocked to the ground.


    The youthnded lightly on his feet and ran off. Suddenly, he grabbed a small stone b next to him and threw it backward, smashing another burly man in the foot. The four pursuers had been cut down to two, but these two managed to block the youth off, putting him in danger.


    One of them grabbed at the youth while savagely smiling. ¡°Kid, let¡¯s see where you run off to now!¡±


    But before he could even finish speaking, the youth turned around and thrust his fingers at the man¡¯s eyes. It was a swift and vicious move, almost like the youth wanted to dig out the man¡¯s eyes. The man screamed as he covered his eyes and fell back.


    At the same time, the other man punched at the young man¡¯s back.


    The youth staggered, blood trickling out from the side of his mouth. The dark-skinned strongman gave the youth a bear hug, his steely arms preventing the youth from moving and squeezing hard.


    The other two injured men arrived, furiously ring at the youth as if they wanted to tear him apart. At this moment, the youth¡¯s body shed. As this light burst out, the arms of the man holding him were knocked away, and the youth flew out and kicked out at the bodies of the two approaching men. Two more flying kicks brought them to the ground. He threw his head back, striking the nose of the man who had hugged him and causing the man to yowl.


    All four people had been struck in the face and were now covering their faces and screaming in pain, leaving everyone dumbfounded.


    The young man walked back to the schr and icily said, ¡°ckheart Wu, before Young Master Jin kills me, I could actually kill you. So¡­¡±


    He waved his hand at the schr, and the schr trembled and presented the silver that was owed.


    The youth looked at the silver and nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Seeing as you still need to ept the ore, I won¡¯t knock you out.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The schr was shocked, but the youth had already punched him in the stomach, causing his face to twist in pain.


    Schr Wu stammered, ¡°You¡­ you little¡­¡±


    He shrilly cried out, ¡°Guards! Guards!¡±


    Several miners began to push at the youth. ¡°Canhen, hurry and go. You¡¯re already a criminal for hitting ckheart Wu. The guards will be here soon!¡±


    The youth nodded and ran off.


    Two ck-armored puppets had already appeared at the entrance. These were none other than the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s ckte Soldiers.


    Appearing with them was a Stone Gate Sect disciple. He looked at the youth and snorted, ¡°Xi Canhen, it¡¯s you again! You really know how to cause trouble.¡±


    He waved his hand, and the two ckte Soldiers pursued the youth.


    The youth immediately turned to run, and he was so fast that the two ckte Soldiers actually couldn¡¯t keep up.


    The Stone Gate Sect disciple gradually lost patience. Taking out a blunt greatsword, he formed a hand sign and pointed at the youth. ¡°Go!¡±


    The sword whistled off in pursuit.


    While the sword was blunt, it had great weight and momentum. Upon impact, it could shatter stone, so this youth would definitely not survive.


    The youth was rmed, but there was simply no way he could dodge. Just as the sword was about to strike him, his vision blurred, and someone appeared in front of him.


    A strong and steady hand grabbed the sword, which nged and ttered in unwillingness, but it could not escape the hand.


    The youth, having escaped death,y on the ground and panted for breath.


    It was only now that he noticed that the one standing in front of him was a young man who was smiling at him.


    ¡°Who goes there!? Such audacity!¡± The Stone Gate Sect disciple saw that someone had blocked his spell and angrily shouted.


    Just as he was about to go up and teach this person a lesson, several more people appeared, and their leader instantly caused the disciple to freeze.


    He first rubbed his eyes to make sure that he wasn¡¯t seeing things, and then he dropped to his knees and shouted, ¡°Disciple Zhu Junyu pays respects to Sect Master, Second Martial Uncle, Third Martial Uncle, and Fourth Martial Aunt!¡±


    His cry scared everyone out of their wits.


    The Stone Gate Sect Master himself hade?


    For mortals, a sect master like Qiu Shuyu was a god-like existence.


    There was a whoosh as everyone dropped to their knees.


    <em>Bang! Bang!</em>


    The puppets were still pursuing the youth, so Tang Jie had punched them away, at the same time shutting down their control formations so that they couldn¡¯t move. It was only then that he said, ¡°Next time, remember to shut off what needs to be shut off before kneeling.¡±


    Zhu Junyu went red in the face, angrily saying, ¡°Who are you, to dare¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut your mouth!¡± Qiu Shuyu rebuked. ¡°This is an honored emissary from the Basking Moon Sect, Young Master Tang Jie! Hurry and pay your respects.¡±


    ¡°A Basking Moon Sect emissary!¡± Zhu Junyu was startled and hastily said to Tang Jie, ¡°Paying respects to Young Master Tang.¡±


    Tang Jie casually walked over and said, ¡°No need to be too polite. It seems like you¡¯re quite busy.¡±


    Zhu Junyu quickly said, ¡°I would not dare. It¡¯s just that thesemoners like to cause trouble. If you don¡¯t act with enough force, they might easily repeat their actions.¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°I acknowledge the principle of acting with force to prevent repeated crime, and it is also true that the more people there are, the easier it is for trouble to ur.¡±


    Zhu Junyu was delighted to hear his praise.


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    Zhu Junyu¡¯s heart instantly dropped.


    Tang Jie casually said, ¡°To not ask about right or wrong and investigate the root of the matter¡ªis that really the correct way to solve problems?¡±


    Zhu Junyu and the middle-aged schr were so scared that they started shaking. It was clear that Tang Jie was saying that the schr was the true source of the problem.


    Sure enough, some of the smarter miners started shouting, ¡°Right! It¡¯s this ckheart Wu! He¡¯s heartless, taking money from us every day!¡±


    ckheart Wu was aghast, thinking to himself, <em>I¡¯m doomed!</em>


    Just when he was about to ask for mercy, Tang Jie raised a hand and said, ¡°I am not the divine heavens, nor did Ie here to investigate the livelihood of the miners. If you are facing some injustice, there is no need to shout it at me.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s hearts went cold while ckheart Wu mentally sighed in relief. Even Qiu Shuyu couldn¡¯t help but praise Tang Jie for his way of handling things, not usurping authority.


    In truth, the miners having their earnings embezzled was amon urrence.


    Insects were bound to be found in granaries, and full granaries were bound to be home torge rats.


    For Immortal sects, there was no honesty among those below, and corruption was inevitable. Even so, rather than finding the uncorrupt, it was better to find the useful people. Moreover, this sort of corruption could be useful at key moments.


    This Schr Wu was a quick thinker, making him rather useful, and he never forgot to offer gifts to his superiors. Thus, he had remained in his post until now.


    While Tang Jie didn¡¯t take responsibility for this matter, as he was an emissary, Qiu Shuyu wouldn¡¯t offend Tang Jie for the sake of a mortal and would definitely fire Schr Wu. However, he would definitely look down on Tang Jie for being overly righteous.


    That Tang Jie hadn¡¯t done such a thing greatly improved Qiu Shuyu¡¯s impression of him.


    ¡°Buuuut¡­¡± Tang Jie said.


    ckheart Wu was rmed, and even Qiu Shuyu couldn¡¯t help but bitterly smile. <em>Can¡¯t you speak properly? Do you really have to keep everyone in suspense like this?</em>


    Tang Jie went on, ¡°Putting aside other considerations, these miners are still subjects of Sageheart, under the protection of my Basking Moon Sect. If the people are living tough lives, would my Basking Moon Sect be considered incapable?¡±


    These words made everyone pale.


    Tang Jie added, ¡°Moreover, this lowly person must have embezzled a significant amount. I am sure that if someone were sent to investigate, they would find him to possess immense wealth¡­¡±


    He didn¡¯t need to go on, for Qiu Shuyu already understood what he was getting at. Heughed and said, ¡°Young Master Tang is right. In truth, at times, an exnation must be offered to themon people. When I go back, I will assign someone else the task of receiving the ore. As for this person, we will investigate to see how much he has actually taken and give him the appropriate punishment.¡±


    He then said in a whisper, ¡°Young Master has done a great deed for my sect in discovering such a wicked embezzler, and we must thank you for this.¡±


    He showed three fingers, indicating that after they had seized Schr Wu¡¯s assets, thirty percent would go to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie chuckled and said nothing.


    But he happily epted this money.


    Schr Wu paled. ¡°Sect Master Qiu, you can¡¯t do this!¡±


    In receiving the ore for the Stone Gate Sect over the years, while he had taken a lot for himself, he had passed on a significant portion to the Stone Gate Sect and Zhang Taixu. Qiu Shuyu, by taking everything, was essentially putting all the me on him.


    What he didn¡¯t know was that the Stone Gate Sect regarded him as nothing more than a pig. Now that he had been fattened up, he could be ughtered. As for the output from the mine, eighty percent had to be given to the Basking Moon Sect, but the Stone Gate Sect could take everything that Schr Wu had obtained.


    In this aspect, Schr Wu was just a useful tool. Through his corruption, he had sucked the essence from themon folk and allowed the Stone Gate Sect to benefit. However, the most that the Stone Gate Sect would be charged with was poor supervision, rather than embezzling what should have belonged to the Basking Moon Sect.


    Tang Jie¡¯s arrival had only hastened Schr Wu¡¯s downfall. Even without him, this pig would be ughtered eventually.


    After taking care of Schr Wu, Tang Jie went up to the miners and loudly said, ¡°This one is Tang Jie. I havee on orders of the Basking Moon Sect to inspect the mine, and I require a guide. Anyone who understands the situation in the mine, please step forward. If you do well, I can offer a reward of one hundred taels of silver.¡±


    Quite a few people immediately stepped forward to offer their service, that youth among them. He was right next to Tang Jie, making it convenient for him to speak with him. He directly said, ¡°No one is more familiar with the mines with me, but if you want me to be your guide, I have a condition.¡±


    Tang Jie looked at the youth. ¡°I just saved you, and you want to negotiate conditions with me?¡±


    The youth went red in the face. ¡°I don¡¯t need your silver. I just want you to agree to do something for me. This mine has many branching paths and many dangers. No one knows them more than me. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can ask them who has mined the most ore in thesest few years!¡±


    If he told Tang Jie to ask whether or not he was the one most familiar with the mines, those miners would probably say, ¡°I¡¯m just as good as him!¡± But by asking who mined the most, he silenced all the miners. It was clear that nobody couldpare to the youth on this.


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°It seems that you really do have some ability. What is your demand?¡±


    The youth worked up his courage and said, ¡°The young master of the Jin n has taken a liking to my little sister, wanting to take her as a concubine. You must be some incredible person, so I want you to help me deal with the Jin n.¡±


    Tang Jie turned his head and loudly asked, ¡°What sort of people are the Jin n?¡±


    Zhang Taixu replied, ¡°A mortal n in the area. The nearby town has many stores that they operate, and they retain several fighters, including a Spirit Master. They have some power and could be considered a local tyrant.¡±


    While he had somewhat exaggerated thisst part, it was aimed at what Tang Jie needed.


    Tang Jie nodded. He then turned to the youth and said, ¡°I can guarantee that they won¡¯t touch your little sister, but you must also agree to a condition from me.¡±


    It seemed like they had taken a liking to offering conditions to each other.


    The youth asked, ¡°What¡¯s the condition?¡±


    Tang Jie took the youth to the side and whispered to him, ¡°That treasure or secret manual that let you open your Jade Gate.¡±


    The youth paled, and he immediately realized that he had shown something suspicious when breaking the encirclement of the four strongmen. If someone found out that he could cultivate, he might be callously stolen from or even killed. This thought made him look at Tang Jie in fear.


    But Tang Jie continued to smile at him, as if telling him that he wasn¡¯t trying to steal the treasure, only make a trade.


    The youth calmed himself down and said, ¡°Then I have to add a condition.¡±


    The number of conditions was starting to get excessive.


    Tang Jie asked, ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Teach me to cultivate.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t hard, but that will depend on the value of the item. The greater the value, the more I can do for you.¡±


    The young man stuffed something into Tang Jie¡¯s hand.


    Tang Jie trembled upon receiving the item. He asked, ¡°Where did you get this?¡±


    ¡°In the mine,¡± the youth replied. ¡°But only I know where that ce is.¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. Calmly putting the item away, he said, ¡°You can leave the matter of cultivation to me.¡±


    ¡°Then the Jin n?¡±


    ¡°There won¡¯t be any Jin n after this.¡±


    Is Tang Jie going to get a disciple? Feels a little too early for it, but who knows.

 Chapter 354: Crystallized Sandworm

    Chapter 354: Crystallized Sandworm


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Once the negotiations were over, Tang Jie followed Xi Canhen into the mine. As for Qiu Shuyu and the others, the rules prevented them from following him in.


    Some miners were still carrying baskets back and forth in the mine, the narrow tunnel extending into the unfathomable depths of darkness.


    It was said that the Stone Gate Sect had practically excavated out the belly of the mountain for this spirit stone vein. Currently, the outer edge of the mine had already been mined out, and was so spacious that it seemed like a great hall. The miners had to walk quite a stretch of tunnels to mine a sufficient number of spirit stones.


    The walls of the mine were reinforced by Earth spell arts from cultivators. Once they had confirmed that the ore in an area had been mined out, the cultivators would use their spell arts to solidly seal everything so that it wouldn''t copse. But the rules also made it so that an opening was left between the seals so that Spirit Masters could inspect the area.


    As Xi Canhen took several steps into the great hall, Tang Jie went up to a stone wall, ced his hand on one of these openings, and inserted his spiritual energy. Slivers of spiritual energy entered through the opening and began to seek out any energy pulses that might be behind this wall.


    After sensing for a few moments, Tang Jie could only feel extremely weak pulses. He could tell that these were from worthless dregs and that this wall truly had been mined out.


    This wasn''t strange. This was the entrance to the cavern and the least likely ce for something to be missed. Tang Jie inspected here primarily to get a feel for the soil quality and the spiritual energy feedback of this ce.


    After performing this test, Tang Jie took out a map of the mine, made a few strokes on it, and said to Xi Canhen, "Let''s go."


    This was an early version of the map. As the tunnels branched, the map gradually lost its usefulness. Thus, even with a map, Tang Jie still needed a guide.


    He wasn''t afraid of getting lost. However, if he lost his bearings and couldn''t even remember where he had gone and ended up missing a spot, and that spot just so happened to have a batch of ore, the Basking Moon Sect would lose out.


    Tang Jie''s order to Xi Canhen was this: take me through every tunnel in the mine using the shortest path.


    As the two of them proceeded, Tang Jie would stop at intervals and carefully inspect a wall, not leaving any spot.


    The two of them made their way in the dim light of thenterns.


    The deeper they went, the more difficult the path became, the more numerous the branches, and the fewer people they ran into. At the start, they could still see some miners squatting over piles of debris and flipping through them for ore. Whenever someone got close, they would view them with cautious gazes. But the number of miners dwindled, and on asion, they could hear the sounds of picks striking rocks in the distance.


    "Shouldn''t it be that there''s more ore the deeper you go? Why are most of the miners concentrated in the middle and there are so few deeper in?" Tang Jie asked.


    The youth replied without turning his head, "Because there are fiends in the depths."


    "''Fiends''?" Tang Jie was rmed. "There are fiends in the mine? Then why didn''t you have a Spirit Master of the Stone Gate Sect take care of them?"


    "They did," Xi Canhen replied. "But it was no use. Those fiends disappear the moment theye. They don''t show up at all, as if they can sense the Spirit Masters."


    As Xi Canhen continued to speak, Tang Jie came to understand what was going on.


    The fiends had started causing trouble around two years ago.


    That day, the miners were mining away in the depths of their tunnels when they heard a scream. By the time the miners arrived at the site of the scream, all they saw was a bloodstain. The miner had disappeared.


    Not long afterward, another three miners disappeared.


    The Stone Gate Sect sent someone to investigate, and this was their first visit.


    But the Stone Gate Sect''s people turned up nothing.


    Once the Stone Gate disciple was gone, the fiends started causing trouble again, and with even greater ferocity.


    This time, they showed themselves¡ªsomeone saw a fiend with their own eyes.


    Tang Jie asked, "You''re saying someone saw the fiend and didn''t die?"


    "Mm." The youth nodded. "And it wasn''t just one person. Ten-some people saw it. It was long and covered in long, dense fur. It was about three meters tall and incredibly powerful, possessing sharp ws that could tear through rock. It could dig through the earth, right, and it also ate ore."


    "Long fur, three meters tall, sharp ws, powerful, able to dig, eats ore¡­ What fiend is this?" Tang Jie pondered this question, but he couldn''t recall any fiend like this. But the world was host to all sorts of strange things. nts could be sprites and stones could be monsters. It wouldn''t be strange if this was something he hadn''t seen before. Let alone him, even a Basking Moon Titan wouldn''t dare to say that they had seen all there was to be seen in the world.


    "And after that?" Tang Jie asked.


    The youth shrugged. "What else? We informed the Stone Gate Sect again. But that fiend was truly cunning. So long as the Stone Gate Sect sent someone, it would immediately hide. This is a big mountain, and it can burrow wherever it wants. If it doesn''te out, the Stone Gate Sect wouldn''t be able to do anything unless it flipped over all of Mount Eternal. Later on, the Stone Gate Sect decided to have its disciples pretend to be miners, concealing their energy to lie in wait for the fiend. It turned out that one really did show up, and a Stone Gate disciple battled with the fiend. s, the fiend wasn''t killed, and by the time reinforcements arrived, the fiend had run off. But from that battle, the disciple came to understand that this fiend had an ability to mark its territory and detect any lifeform that entered it. This was exactly why eliminating this fiend was so difficult. And given that the disguise strategy had already been used and the fiend had tasted some bitterness, it probably wouldn''t fall for the trap a second time, making it basically impossible to catch again. But so long as one stayed outside of that fiend''s territory, the fiend wouldn''t move against them."


    "Is that why the miners stopped going deeper to mine ore?"


    "Yes. Fortunately, this fiend showed up ratherte, when most of the ore deeper in had been mined out, and its territory isn''trge. Thus, while we miss out on some ore, the loss isn''t too great. Moreover, some of the bolder miners sneaked in to mine some ore. So long as they don''t make too much noise, the fiend doesn''t mind."


    Xi Canhen turned to Tang Jie and said, "I''m able to get more ore because I''ve sneaked in the most times. Perhaps because I''m too small, the fiend doesn''t try to eat me."


    "I seeeee¡­" Tang Jie''s voice trailed off, his eyes narrowing.


    After walking some more, Tang Jie and Xi Canhen arrived at the deepest part.


    The end of the tunnel was a bottomless abyss. Looking down, it was impossible to see anything but ckness.


    "This is the end," Xi Canhen said. "The ore vein stops there. There''s still some ore in the walls, but down below is that fiend, so the miners don''t daree here lightly. If you weren''t here, I also wouldn''t be standing around. Normally, I stay on the edge of its territory and mine a little before running off."


    The walls here hadn''t been sealed, so Tang Jie extended a hand and surveyed the area. He found that there truly were arge number of energy pulsesing from behind the wall, proving that there was still a lot of ore here.


    This was thest area of plenty in the ore vein.


    The Stone Gate Sect had said that once the ore in the other areas had been mined out, it would send disciples to stand guard here while the rest of the ore was mined out. Tang Jie''s job was to report the amount of the remaining ore. Once the Basking Moon Sect received its due from this remainder, it was free to ignore the ore vein.


    Confirming that there was some remaining ore was simple, but getting the exact amount took a cultivator''s full focus. But Tang Jie had grasped Wisdom and Insight, so surveying the ore was a trifle. After a simple sweep, he already had a rough estimate of the ore behind the wall.


    After noting down the number, Tang Jie produced a ck rock and asked, "So what about this?"


    This ck stone was the item that Xi Canhen had given him earlier, the key to the youth''s ability to unlock his Jade Gate, and the crux of Tang Jie''s motivation to help him.


    Xi Canhen pointed at a nearby wall. "It''s over here. When I was secretly mining some ore, I saw some exposed ore over here. For a miner, exposed ore is like a gold coin on the ground. Thus, ignoring the danger, I went over and grabbed the ore, and it ended uping out with this stone. I found this stone rather weird, so I brought it back with me. But that night, my entire body became hot, as if something was rampaging in my body. Later on, I found that I had gotten much stronger¡­"


    "Just as expected," Tang Jie muttered.


    "You know what this is?" Xi Canhen asked. Ever since getting the ck stone, he had felt a substantial change in his body, and he became curious to know what it was. But he knew that he didn''t have the ability to keep this secret forever, so he didn''t dare to speak about it. It was only when Tang Jie saw through him that he confessed. And since Tang Jie knew, he naturally wanted to get this question answered.


    Tang Jie didn''t hide it from him. "This is Crystallized Sandworm."


    "''Sandworm''? So it''s not a rock, but a creature?" Xi Canhen said in surprise.


    "Mm." Tang Jie nodded. "To be more precise, it''s a sandworm that turned into rock, a rare material in the cultivation world."


    The actual name of the sandworm was the Spiriteater Sandworm, an extremely rare kind of fiend insect. Its greatest attribute was that it ate spirit stones. A sandworm normally lived around five hundred days, and in these five hundred days, it devoured spirit stones at the rate of two catties per day. In a lifetime, it normally ate around one thousand catties of raw spirit stone ore, which was the equivalent of one hundred pieces of processed spirit stone.


    It was such a terrifying appetite, but the sandworm didn''t waste any spiritual energy. Other than some negligible dregs, each point of spiritual energy remained in its body. The reason for this was that the sandworm had the special ability to crystallize spiritual energy. But as the sandworm ate more and more, the crystallized spiritual energy grew fiercer and fiercer, and ultimately, the sandworm''s entire body would be crystallized, turning into the ck rock in Tang Jie''s hand.


    For a cultivator, it was a supreme treasure.


    This was a vital material for improving a cultivator''s ability to store spiritual energy.


    A cultivator had the natural limitation of only being able to use spiritual energy in liquid form.


    For example, a peak Spirit Sea had ten thousand drops of spiritual liquid, which was a form of liquefied spiritual energy. Even a Mortal Shedding cultivator was simply able to use the spirit in his body to draw on the spirit of the world. The amount their Spiritual Space could hold was still exactly the same as that of a peak Spirit Sea student. This was just the limit of the human body.


    If spiritual energy could be crystallized, a cultivator would be able to hold much more power. s, the limitations of the human body meant that cultivators found it basically impossible to crystallize spiritual liquid.


    Crystallized Sandworm was a treasure that could make up for this w, helping a cultivator develop structures in their body that could crystallize spiritual energy. By crystallizing some of the spiritual liquid, one could increase one''s spiritual energy reserve.


    Of course, a cultivator couldn''t crystallize all their spiritual liquid because of this. This would be like a mortal consuming gold, causing a copse of the Spiritual Space and subsequently death. Thus, the Spirit Sea remained the foundation, with the crystallization as a support, an iceberg in the ocean.


    Even though it was a limited boost, it was still a total increase in spiritual energy, which was of incredible value!


    This was why Crystallized Sandworm was an existence a hundred times rarer than spirit ore. Each piece sold for an astronomical price on the market.


    The Crystallized Sandworm in Tang Jie''s hand, if used properly, could help Tang Jie crystallize around three hundred drops. A cultivator could tolerate about 30% of their spiritual energy being crystallized, which meant that ten pieces of Crystallized Sandworm could increase his total amount of magic power by 30%, which was simply amazing.


    Given the shocking quality and quantity of spiritual energy in this rock, that Xi Canhen had been able to break through his Jade Gate because of it was quite normal. But this kid had also been lucky. While the Crystallized Sandworm had helped him charge through the Jade Gate, the danger level hadn''t been lowered at all. He hadn''t died only because he was lucky. Yet without anyone''s guidance, this kid had managed to reach six cycles. Tang Jie had questioned him and found that this kid was naturally stubborn. Even though his entire body had been wracked with pain, without anyone instructing him, he had managed to not make a sound, wasting none of his innate talent. Tang Jie couldn''t help but sigh in praise.


    After hearing about the sandworm''s use, Xi Canhen said in shock, "Then isn''t this thing very valuable?"


    This was the first thing that urred to him.


    "Yes. In the cultivation world, a piece of Crystallized Sandworm couldmand a price of one hundred thousand or more, but there''s simply no product to satisfy the demand," Tang Jie replied. "But you didn''t preserve this piece well, and since you were absorbing energy from it night and day, its value has dropped a lot¡­ Using Crystallized Sandworm to charge at the Jade Gate is a rather extravagant use, but it wasn''t aplete waste. At least your constitution is much stronger."


    Xi Canhen didn''t practice any cultivation mantras, so the excess spiritual energy had nowhere to go except to nourish his body, making him much stronger. Otherwise, there was no way he could have beaten four strongmen on his own.


    "One hundred thousand spirit coins." The youth stared at the ck stone, his eyes almost spitting me.


    "What? Feeling some regret?" Tang Jie smiled.


    The youth thought about his answer before he replied, "Only a little, but it''s nothing. I wouldn''t have known if I didn''t tell you, so I would have just ended up wasting a good thing."


    "You''re quite sensible." Tang Jie nodded in satisfaction, and then he tossed the Crystallized Sandworm back to Xi Canhen.


    Xi Canhen looked at Tang Jie in confusion, to which Tang Jie exined, "So long as one lives, one cannot live alone. If there is one, there will often be two. Thus, if there is one Crystallized Sandworm, there will be a second, a third¡­ I only needed their locations. As for this piece, you can have it back so that you don''t think a mighty cultivator like me would want to take from a kid like you."


    Xi Canhen shouted, "I''m not a kid!"


    But he quickly put away the Crystallized Sandworm, gratitude in his eyes.


    Tang Jie continued to search the mine wall for the Crystallized Sandworms.


    But despite his best efforts, he couldn''t find a single one.


    This left him baffled. Crystallized Sandworms rarely leaked energy because of the crystallization, and there were spirit stones to be found all throughout this wall that could further interfere with energy pulses, but Tang Jie hadprehended Insight and was confident that he could find any sandworms that were in this area.


    Could there really only be the one sandworm?


    This wasn''t impossible. Sandworms were good at burrowing through the earth and could often travel one hundred kilometers in a day in pursuit of spirit ore. If it was just one sandworm that had found this ore vein ande to eat, though the chances were small, it wasn''tpletely without precedent.


    Or had someone already taken them?


    This also wasn''t impossible.


    In the cultivation world, it was alsomon for supervisors to steal from their workce. Even the Basking Moon Sect didn''t think that the Stone Gate Sect was clean. But everything had its tolerance level, and so long as one didn''t go overboard, the Basking Moon Sect would close its eyes. It was just like how the Stone Gate Sect had overlooked the actions of that Schr Wu.


    But sandworms were much more important. If news got out that someone had stolen them for themselves, the entire sect could be exterminated.


    And such a thing would be very difficult to keep secret. After all, once one had the Crystallized Sandworms, one either used them or sold them. Regardless of the choice, it would be major news if it got out, and if there were no clear origin to them, the major sects would investigate, and the Stone Gate Sect would find it hard to keep things under wraps.


    But once the fiend had started causing trouble here, nobody had mined this area, and the wall was unharmed. If someone had furtively mined out the Crystallized Sandworm, the walls wouldn''t be this intact, and besides, the miners would have realized that something was going on.


    Then¡­ could this not be the sandworm nest?


    Tang Jie looked over to the abyss at the end of the tunnel.


    He slowly walked to the abyss and thrust out his right hand. An eyeball manifested in his hand: the Illuminating Eye.


    The eyeball flew over the abyss and began to inspect the area. While the Illuminating Eye offered a 360-degree view, it couldn''t see through obstructions. All it could see was darkness and sturdy stone walls, with no clues to speak of.


    Tang Jie furrowed his brow, standing still and pensively thinking.


    Finally, a light appeared on the center of his forehead, a vertical eye gradually revealing itself.


    The moment the eye appeared, a pir of light shot out from it. It lit up the opposite wall and then began to randomly whiz around like a shlight.


    s, even the Celestial Eye couldn''t find anything. Tang Jie couldn''t help but reconsider. Perhaps he was wrong and the sandworm was alone.


    At this moment, he heard a cry of shock behind him.


    Xi Canhen!


    The vertical eye disappeared as Tang Jie turned his head and saw Xi Canhen flying toward him.


    Tang Jie reached out and grabbed Xi Canhen, upon which he heard a furious roar and saw a giant silhouette lunging at him.


    Long fur!


    Tall!


    Sharp ws!


    In the dim light, Tang Jie saw that the silhouetteing at him was none other than the fiend that Xi Canhen had spoken of.


    It had really appeared.


    But as Tang Jie had grabbed Xi Canhen, his hands were upied. Of course, he could have lifted up Xi Canhen and used him as a shield to block the w, but at that moment, Tang Jie let Xi Canhen go so that he wouldn''t get hit.


    At the same time, the fiend''s sharp w savagely struck Tang Jie in the belly. With one strike, it sent Tang Jie sailing into the abyss.

 Chapter 355

    Chapter 355: Deand Venomoth


    Standing on the edge of the cliff, the long-furred fiend looked down.


    Tang Jie¡¯s body plummeted downward and gradually faded from sight.


    The fiend nodded in satisfaction, its giant body turning around to head back.


    After walking a few steps, the fiend suddenly stopped, turned around, andshed out with a w.


    The savage w struck a sharp de, creating a furious shockwave of energy in the dark tunnel. The fiend howled as it was pushed back. In front of it, Tang Jie appeared, striding through the air with Xi Canhen in his left hand and his saber in his right, pointed at the fiend as he coldly spoke.


    ¡°What an idiot creature. It doesn¡¯t even know that cultivators can fly.¡±


    The fiend roared at Tang Jie, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth. It then flung its sharp ws at the rock walls, scratching out arge number of stones and flinging them at Tang Jie.


    A barrage of stones deluged him.


    As these ordinary pieces of stone flew out, they shed with energy. Tang Jie¡¯s gaze chilled, and he began to wave around the Heartbreak Saber, creating a fierce gale.


    With a great din, Tang Jie used his saber to shatter each stone. In a rare sight, Tang Jie paled, clearly hard-pressed by the barrage. He blurted, ¡°Earth Devil Ape!¡±


    The long-furred fiend howled in response, looking at Tang Jie with eyes tinged with derision.


    The Earth Devil Ape was a rarely-seen kind of fiend.


    The Earth Devil Ape was innately inclined to Earth, and it had a tough hide and immense strength. Itsbat style was extremely simple: throwing stones. But this most simplebat method exhibited its extremely aggressive nature.


    Every time the Earth Devil Ape threw a stone, it would apply Earth-type spiritual energy to it. This was an innate gift that didn¡¯t require any sort of spell art orprehension, nor was there a need to think about how many stones there were or howrge they were. Just by holding a stone in its hand, the process urred as naturally as breathing.


    When the stones wrapped in spirit power were thrown out by the ape, they were so powerful that they could overwhelm all spell arts of the same level. It was a strong sort among its peers.


    But this fiend had a fatal w: its intelligence was not affected by its level. Apes were extremely smart creatures, and at Spirit Sensing, they were much smarter than average fiends, and the Earth Devil Ape was a standout in this aspect. But while other fiends could speak upon reaching Mind Opening, the Earth Devil Ape was the exact opposite. Mind Opening increased their strength, but it had no effect on their intelligence. Just like before, they were nothing but a pack of smart monkeys.


    This Earth Devil Ape was a Mind Opening fiend, unable to talk, only able to angrily re at Tang Jie. When it saw that Tang Jie had fended off its first salvo, it crazily roared and once more pped the rock wall. Countless stones showered down, and with a single palm, the big monkey set those stones flying at Tang Jie.


    The saber shed as it once more crushed that rain of stones.


    The Earth Devil Ape angrily roared and began to grab and throw again.


    It was in the tunnel while Tang Jie was floating over the abyss at the end of the tunnel, but this short distance was enough for the Earth Devil Ape to unt its power. Countless stones spat out of the tunnel like the fire of a heavy machine gun. The air was filled with streaking stones, and the powder of shattered stones formed a white fog. Tang Jie was forced to fall back.


    Tang Jie was also starting to get angry.


    In truth, while he was being pushed back partially because the Earth Devil Ape was strong, it was also because of Xi Canhen.


    As he was carrying around Xi Canhen, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t use the Chaoswind Step. For the same reason, Tang Jie also couldn¡¯t risk injury to go blow for blow. After all, a single stone would be enough to take Xi Canhen¡¯s life. This forced him to do nothing but defend. And he couldn¡¯t throw Xi Canhen back into the tunnel either, as they were in the middle of a deluge of stones. Doing so would be the same as killing him.


    The Earth Devil Ape¡¯s salvo increased in intensity, and it seemed like it had no ns to stop until Tang Jie was dead. Tang Jie knew that this wasn¡¯t going to work out, so after some thought, he began to descend.


    As the Earth Devil Ape was in the tunnel, it lost sight of Tang Jie and instinctively moved forward.


    Uponing to the edge, it saw Tang Jie still floating in the air with Xi Canhen in tow, but he had put away the Heartbreak Saber. His right hand was forming some bizarre hand sign that was creating strange ripples in the air.


    The Earth Devil Ape was startled. It seemed to realize something and swiped at the stone walls next to it, grabbing arge number of rocks. But rather than attacking with them, it lined them up in front of it as a stone shield.


    Tang Jie looked up at the ape and whispered, ¡°You¡¯re defending the wrong direction.¡±


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    A snow-white de lit up the air over the abyss like a lightning bolt, banishing the darkness.


    The Earth Devil Ape raised its head in shock, and saw a handleless crescent de flying through the air, long chains trailing behind it as it descended.


    The ape howled in fear.


    A momentter, the Heavenly de swept through the Earth Devil Ape¡¯s enormous body in a gusher of blood.


    After circling in the air, the Heavenly de was pulled back up on the chain and disappeared. It was like it had never appeared, only leaving a few drops of blood on the ground.


    The Earth Devil Ape¡¯s body swayed, and then it fell into two parts.


    The lower half fell in the tunnel while the upper half toppled over and into the abyss.


    Tang Jie raised his hand and grabbed the Earth Devil Ape. This was still a Mind Opening fiend and could be dismantled and sold.


    As he grabbed it, he found the hide of the ape to be very tough, suitable for leather armor.


    From this, one could see the power of the Heavenly des. It had been capable of killing this ape in one strike, so it was no wonder it was said that it could even kill Celestial Heart experts.


    The Heavenly de that Tang Jie hadprehended was still far from the Heavenly Vortex des of the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation, but even this basic version could kill a Mortal Shedding expert without a problem. As he deepened his understanding of the Heavenly des, its power would rise, and one day, it would reach the level of the Jade Court¡¯s Heavenly des.


    This was precisely why the Heavenly de wasparable to the spell arts of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic in power, perhaps even exceeding many of them.


    Of the three spell arts that Tang Jie had learned, the Formless Golden Body covered defense, the Violet Lightning Lunge covered speed, and the Divine Court Thousandshift was an all-around spell art, but he had alwayscked a powerful offensive art. This was exactly why he didn¡¯t particrly stand out when it came to power. But now that he had the Heavenly de, he finally had an extremely powerful spell art, resolving this major weakness. Tang Jie was very satisfied with the results.


    He returned to the tunnel with the corpse and Xi Canhen. After cing Xi Canhen on the ground, he realized that the youth hadn¡¯t made a single sound.


    He hadn¡¯t fainted, simply watched with wide eyes as Tang Jie fought, not even crying out.


    Tang Jie was rather surprised. ¡°You¡¯ve got a lot of guts.¡±


    Xi Canhen dropped to his knees. ¡°Young Master, thank you for saving this life. If Young Master does not mind, Canhen is willing to serve Young Master for the rest of his life!¡±


    This youth knew that in that situation just now, most cultivators would have given up on him. It had been very righteous of Tang Jie to go so far, so Xi Canhen was deeply grateful. After speaking, he kowtowed three times.


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t expected rescuing this youth would cause him to want to serve him. Frowning, he said, ¡°It was no trouble at all, so there¡¯s no need for this.¡±


    Xi Canhen replied, ¡°Young Master saved my life twice, helped me with my grudge, guided me to the Dao, and even granted a treasure to me! How could I not repay all this kindness? Young Master is an Immortal cultivator, so if I follow Young Master, I might be able to bask in a little of your light.¡±


    With thisst sentence, he mischievously smiled.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°You¡¯re quite the clever kid.¡±


    The youth spoke about repaying kindness, but he actually wanted to use this chance to get a rich backer and escape this life of hardship.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t mind. In any case, he found this child to be smart, a workable talent. After all, he himself was this sort of person, so he naturally understood the mindset of a youth like Xi Canhen.


    After some thought, he said, ¡°Get up. Let¡¯s see how you do first.¡±


    Although he hadn¡¯t agreed, his words indicated that he was somewhat amenable to the idea, which left Xi Canhen overjoyed. He quickly cleared part of the tunnel with his hands and pointed at the ground. ¡°Young Master, please sit.¡±


    Then he began to massage Tang Jie¡¯s back.


    He had never been a servant before and didn¡¯t know how to attend on someone, so he just tried his best to be polite and attentive. As for whether or not Tang Jie wanted to sit here or needed a back massage, he never even considered these questions.


    But Tang Jie felt an indescribable pleasure from being addressed as ¡°Young Master¡±. In the past, he had to attend Wei Tianchong and call Wei Tianchong ¡°Young Master¡±, but now, he was being called that.


    s, this young master was still part of the Wei n, and he would remain part of the n until Wei Tianchong reached Celestial Heart. Thus, he could not set up his own n. In this aspect, it was not exactly proper to call him ¡°Young Master¡±. Of course, it would be okay if this youth were a Wei n servant.


    <em>Oh, I¡¯m getting a bit ahead of myself,</em> Tang Jie realized.


    At this moment, he happened to hear Xi Canhen say, ¡°Young Master, this fiend normally goes into hiding whenever a cultivator appears, so I don¡¯t know why it suddenly appeared this time. However, we really owe Young Master for removing this threat to the mine. But what do we do now?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to rush. Let me handle this fiend first.¡± Tang Jie had Xi Canhen stop massaging him and began to leisurely dismantle the fiend.


    Once he had finished dismantling and packing up the fiend, Tang Jie stood up and casually said, ¡°Let¡¯s go and take a stroll around the other tunnels.¡±


    ¡°Young Master, are you not searching for Crystallized Sandworms anymore?¡± Xi Canhen asked.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°We didn¡¯t find any, so I was probably wrong about it.¡±


    Xi Canhen scratched the back of his head. After some thought, he said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then Young Master should take mine.¡±


    He offered the ck stone, though there was great reluctance in his eyes.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ve already given it to you, so how can I take it back? Let¡¯s go. There¡¯s not much time left, and the sooner we¡¯re done, the sooner we can head back.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    Tang Jie continued to make his way around the mine.


    Following the youth, Tang Jie quickly traversed all of the mine¡¯s many crisscrossing tunnels. Wherever he went, he would make a mark on the ground so that he could keep track of where he had been.


    He arrived at thest tunnel, a small tunnel located in the depths of the mine. Standing in the narrow tunnel, Tang Jie looked around and said, ¡°This is thest one!¡±


    ¡°Mm, it¡¯s also where the first miner went missing. Once a fiend appeared in the mine, this ce was sealed off, and no one has been here since,¡± Xi Canhen replied.


    Tang Jie inserted spiritual energy into the wall and sensed for a few moments before shaking his head. ¡°There¡¯s not much spirit stone, nor are there any sandworms. It seems like my luck isn¡¯t too good.¡±


    Though he said that his luck wasn¡¯t good, there was no vexation on his face. He simply stood there, seemingly pondering something.


    He suddenly took out his beast token and let out the little tiger.


    While the little guy was still trying to understand what was going around, Tang Jie grabbed the back of his head.


    This was a hint that he should roar loudly.


    Up until now, Tang Jie had banned the tiger from roaring, but he had made an exception this time. Delighted, the tiger let out an energetic roar.


    This kingly tiger roar echoed through the entire mine. The miners still inside immediately threw down their picks and ran away.


    Tang Jie quietly stood there, seemingly waiting for something.


    A few momentster, Tang Jie suddenly turned around and looked behind him, his face abnormally grim.


    He looked into the depths of the tunnel, in the direction of the abyss. A strange buzzing could be heard from there.


    ¡°Shit,¡± Tang Jie muttered as he took a few steps back. Grabbing the tiger and stuffing him back into the beast token, he turned and shouted, ¡°Go!¡±


    Xi Canhen was still dazed, so Tang Jie grabbed him and ran.


    The youth finally saw arge swarm of moths rising up from the abyss.


    These moths were each asrge as a leather ball, their abdomens bulging. When flying, their wings releasedrge amounts of gray dust that engulfed the entirety of the tunnel. Their mouths had sharp suckers that were more appropriate on mosquitoes than moths.


    The youth was scared out of his wits by this giant swarm of fiend moths, crying out, ¡°What is that!?¡±


    ¡°These are Deand Venomoths. They¡¯re too venomous to approach. Come on, let¡¯s go! Guide me instead of looking behind you!¡± Tang Jie shouted.


    Deand Venomoths were a terrifyingly venomous kind of fiend. Putting aside the fact that he had only the basic Jewel Body, even greater attainment in the Jewel Body wouldn¡¯t let him resist their venom. This was a savage poison that could even kill Celestial Heart experts. They got their name because their poison turned wherever they went into a deadnd.


    The youth turned his head and pointed. ¡°Turn this way!¡±


    Tang Jie made a right turn, the pack of venomous moths continuing to chase him.


    These moths were rather fast and approaching rapidly. The leading moth had already locked onto Tang Jie, and its abdomen suddenly deted as green liquid shot out of its long sucker.


    Tang Jie suddenly kicked against a wall, changing direction and charging into another tunnel. The green liquidnded on the rock wall behind him, instantly melting it away in arge cloud of smoke, leaving Xi Canhen trembling in fear.


    If this liquid hit a human, wouldn¡¯t that person instantly melt!?


    He hadn¡¯t known that the most terrifying thing about Deand Venomoths was the venom in their abdomen. Let alone rock walls, it could even dissolve a cultivator¡¯s spiritual barrier. One or two moths weren¡¯t much of a problem, but with so many gathered here, if they all ejected their venom, even a god would find it hard to resist.


    Tang Jie continued to sprint away, and behind him, green liquid continued to shoot out, striking the rock walls around him and melting them away.


    Tang Jie was like a hero running away amid a hail of bullets.


    Dodging left and right, zigging and zagging!


    Xi Canhen frantically shouted. Tang Jie was running too fast, so Xi Canhen could no longer worry about getting to the exit, only that they didn¡¯t run into a dead end. But at least he hadn¡¯t been lying about his familiarity with the tunnels, as none of his directions led Tang Jie astray.


    After they had run for a long time, the shing green lights behind them finally stopped.


    The moths had stopped chasing.


    <em>Whew!</em>


    Xi Canhen finally sighed in relief. He plopped onto the ground, fear still on his face.


    While the flight had been brief, the stimtion it had provided was no less than that of the Earth Devil Ape. After all, these were existences that had made his young master run.


    He looked at Tang Jie and said, ¡°Young Master, you used that tiger of yours to draw out those moths, right? You knew that there were other fiends around!¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head and smiled. ¡°I didn¡¯t know. I was just bored and let out my tiger so he could get some air. I didn¡¯t think that he would roar so loudly.¡±


    Xi Canhen was dumbfounded by what he was hearing. Tang Jie grabbed him and said, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go. This matter is done, and we¡¯ve checked everything we needed to check. We can go back and report now.¡±


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    ¡°But the moths!¡±


    ¡°Forget about the moths, Canhen. They won¡¯te out if they¡¯re not disturbed. There¡¯s no need to worry.¡±


    ¡°But they came out just now.¡±


    ¡°You have to get a tiger to provoke them first.¡±


    He walked out of the mine with Xi Canhen. Qiu Shuyu and the others were waiting outside.


    Upon seeing Tang Jie, Qiu Shuyu strode over. ¡°Young Master Tang, are you okay? Arge number of miners ran out just now, saying that a tiger had suddenly roared inside and that a fiend might have appeared. I was frantic with worry, but s, the rules of the Basking Moon Sect prevented me from entering the mine and going to your aid.¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I just ran into an Earth Devil Ape. The ape was at the Mind Opening level and had the terrain advantage. I couldn¡¯t beat it alone, so I let out my pet fiend tiger to help me fight it. But it was so engrossed in fighting that it managed to scare off the miners.¡±


    He let out the little tiger.


    Everyone saw that it really was Tang Jie¡¯s pet fiend tiger and sighed in relief.


    Qiu Shuyu¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°So Young Master is saying that you¡¯ve already found and killed that Earth Devil Ape?!¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s wonderful!¡± The Stone Gate Sect elders were delighted.


    Yu Wanniang said, ¡°This fiend was crafty, always hiding whenever a cultivator showed up. It took numerous lives while in that cave. Now that the honored emissary has intervened and eliminated this fiend, the miners no longer need to worry. This is truly something worth celebrating.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right!¡± But while the others voiced their congrattions, Shi Jingzhai seemed glum. It appeared that he had some objection toward Tang Jie, but he wasn¡¯t willing to say it.


    Tang Jie was very considerate, taking out the hide, bones, and fiend pellet of the Earth Devil Ape. ¡°In the end, this fiend was found on the territory of the Stone Gate Sect. While I killed it, the Stone Gate Sect should have a share. Moreover, Tang Jie is grateful for all the consideration these True Persons have shown me, so please, take the remains of the fiend as a sign of my gratitude. I hope that you can ept this meager gift from me.¡±


    He wanted to present the Earth Devil Ape as a gift to them.


    Qiu Shuyu and the others were stunned. Meanwhile, Tang Jie gave Qiu Shuyu the bones, Liang Xingbang the ws, Yu Wanniang the hide, and the most valuable fiend pellet to Shi Jingzhai. He respectfully said, ¡°Iprehended the art of your esteemed sect¡¯s formation, but I had no gift to express my gratitude. I seek forgiveness for my ignorance and rude words, so I present this fiend pellet to True Person as a gift, seeking a pardon from True Person for my earlier discourtesy.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai looked at Tang Jie in shock, and then he looked at the fiend pellet in his hand. Only then did he finally squeeze out a response: ¡°Oh.¡±


    It looks like Tang Jie killed Shi Jingzhai¡¯s little pet. Though why did Shi Jingzhai have an ape running around in the mines in the first ce? And how do the moths factor into all this?

 Chapter 356

    Chapter 356: Stealing Fruit (1)


    That night, the Stone Gate Sect held a sumptuous feast for Tang Jie.


    There were quite a few toasts throughout the meal.


    Qiu Shuyu sat at the head of the table. Raising up a wine jar, he poured wine into Tang Jie¡¯s cup. ¡°This is Seven Rainbow Sunset Wine. Wanniang makes it using the special spirit millet of the ckwater ins, and the water of the Heavencaller Spring on Heavenlink Mountain. Afterrge amounts of spiritual energy are added in to ferment it, it is buried for sixty years. There are only ten jars, and we normally don¡¯t take it out for guests. But after witnessing the heroic feats of Young Master Tang, Wanniang decided to take it out to treat you, and the three of us are also allowed to enjoy some. Young Master, you must not pass up this opportunity.¡±


    This Rainbow Sunset Wine had five enchanting colors, appearing like a rainbow in the light of the sun. But upon drinking it, one found it to be rich in alcohol, with a powerful dyed effect.


    And it was spirit wine, so even cultivators could get drunk from it. Tang Jie had already drunk severalrge cups, and the world was spinning, his speech slurring. ¡°No¡­ I can¡¯t¡­ drink more¡­ Any more¡­ and I¡¯ll really get drunk.¡±


    The short and fat Liang Xingbang replied, ¡°Young Master Tang, don¡¯t be a stranger! What does it matter if you get drunk? You¡¯ll just have to sleep a while. We¡¯re all family here, so we¡¯ll take care of you. And there are some things that only be easy to do once you¡¯re drunk.¡±


    As he spoke, several pretty women surrounded Tang Jie, calling him ¡°Young Master¡± while diligently filling his cup.


    Tang Jie was young and full of energy, so with all these beautiful women around him urging him to drink, he gradually lost his restraint and drank more and more. In the blink of an eye, thatrge jar of spirit wine was all in his belly and he was so drunk that he couldn¡¯t even stand. In the end, he copsed onto the table and snored away.


    When Yu Wanniang saw him copse, she dismissed the maids and said, ¡°My Rainbow Sunset Wine can even fell Celestial Heart True Persons. For this Tang Jie tost this long with his Hundred Refinement body is quite impressive.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai sneered, ¡°So what? He was still brought down in the end.¡±


    He looked at Tang Jie with contempt.


    Qiu Shuyu replied, ¡°Don¡¯t be careless. He¡¯s a smart and clever kid, not someone who easily takes the bait. He might be pretending to be drunk.¡±


    Yu Wanniang covered her mouth andughed. ¡°Senior Brother, you¡¯re looking down on us too much. He¡¯s only a puny Mortal Shedding. You think we can¡¯t tell if he¡¯s pretending to be drunk or really drunk? In his view, everyone here is stronger than him, so we could have easily dealt with him without resorting to such methods, so he wouldn¡¯t have his guard up.¡±


    She grabbed Tang Jie¡¯s wrist and felt his pulse. ¡°His pulse is disorderly, his spiritual energy is running amok, and his blood energy is in turmoil and difficult to control. And the Intoxication Powder I added in has traveled throughout his body. If this is fake drunkness, then no one in the world has ever really been drunk.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Qiu Shuyu seemed very confident in Yu Wanniang¡¯s judgment.


    Just as Yu Wanniang said, if four Celestial Heart True Persons couldn¡¯t tell if a Hundred Refinement kid was drunk or only pretending to be drunk, they might as well hang themselves. This was precisely why Qiu Shuyu, despite telling them to be careful, had said such things in front of Tang Jie.


    Qiu Shuyu said, ¡°Since he¡¯s drunk, use the secret art to ask him what he saw.¡±


    ¡°Watch me.¡± Yu Wanniang smiled. She used her fingers to open Tang Jie¡¯s eyelid and looked into his eyes. ¡°Tang Jie, wake up!¡±


    Her eyes shed with a strange light.


    Under this light, Tang Jie¡¯s eyeball moved around.


    Yu Wanniang let her fingers go, and Tang Jie¡¯s eyes opened on their own, but they were dull and unfocused.


    Yu Wanniang asked, ¡°Tang Jie, what did you see in the cave?¡±


    ¡°An Earth Devil Ape,¡± Tang Jie answered.


    ¡°What about the ore? How much spirit stone ore did you find?¡±


    ¡°The spirit ore is almost out. There are only around a thousand tons left.¡±


    Qiu Shuyu was delighted. ¡°Do you have anything you¡¯re confused about?¡±


    After a pause, Tang Jie answered, ¡°Why did the Earth Devil Ape suddenly attack me? Wasn¡¯t it supposed to avoid cultivators?¡±


    Qiu Shuyu nodded at Yu Wanniang, who immediately said, ¡°The Earth Devil Ape didn¡¯te out to attack you. Rather, as it was a scourge on the mine, as a disciple of the Basking Moon Sect, you took it on yourself to protect your homnd and remove this disaster. You ventured deep into the mine, drew out the Earth Devil Ape, and did what the Stone Gate Sect could not. The Stone Gate Sect was extremely grateful to you and full of admiration for your prowess.¡±


    Tang Jie woodenly nodded. ¡°Yes, I went to find the Earth Devil Ape and killed it. I¡¯m a hero¡­¡±


    Yu Wanniang added, ¡°The spirit ore is on the verge of running out, and you killed the Earth Devil Ape, so everything here is settled.¡±


    ¡°Yes, everything here is basically settled,¡± Tang Jie mechanically repeated.


    Qiu Shuyu exhaled and said to Yu Wanniang, ¡°The job¡¯s done. Send him back to rest.¡±


    Yes,¡± Yu Wanniang replied. After some thought, she said, ¡°Senior Brother, what are we going to do with this?¡±


    A crystalline stone appeared in Yu Wanniang¡¯s hand. On the stone was the scene of Shi Jingzhai criticizing Tang Jie forprehending the art and invoking the celestial music.


    This was a Photo Stone, an extremely valuable treasure in the cultivation world. It could record conversations and scenes. When Shi Jingzhai had been making trouble for Tang Jie, Yu Wanniang had been recording the entire thing.


    Qiu Shuyu looked at the stone and shook his head. ¡°This was going to be our back-up in case Tang Jie found out our secret and refused to take a bribe. We can¡¯t kill him, so we would have used this as evidence to use Tang Jie of being biased against us and trying to frame us. Since he didn¡¯t find the secret, there¡¯s no point in keeping it around. Give it to me and I¡¯ll remove the scene. This is a rare item, and it would be a pity to waste it.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Yu Wanniang gave the Photo Stone to Qiu Shuyu.


    Qiu Shuyu left with the Photo Stone, leaving behind Shi Jingzhai, Liang Xingbang, Yu Wanniang, and Tang Jie.


    The three of them watched Qiu Shuyu leave, upon which they smuglyughed.


    Yu Wanniang fired off several bolts of energy from her finger into various ces in the hall, after which she said, ¡°We can talk now.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai snorted, ¡°I didn¡¯t think things would go so smoothly. Everything is ready, and that idiot Qiu Shuyu will cover for us, so we don¡¯t have to worry about any consequences.¡±


    Liang Xingbang smiled. ¡°This is all thanks to Junior Sister and her peerless schemes. Some ore was enough to drag that old thing down, and he actually thinks that he gained from all of this! He has no idea about the even more valuable Crystallized Sandworms. Once we dispose of this batch, our Stone Gate Sect will have arge stockpile of resources and is bound to thrive!¡±


    ¡°And there¡¯s that mantra for advancing to Violet Pce!¡± Yu Wanniang added.


    At the mention of this, the eyes of Shi Jingzhai and Liang Xingbang began to burn with a fervent me.


    Yes!


    A mantra for advancing to Violet Pce!


    With this mantra, this Stone Gate Sect would no longer be a minor sect, but would jump into the middle tier of sects. And once they reached Violet Pce, they would be the major figures behind the Stone Gate Sect¡¯s ascendance.


    As for Qiu Shuyu, so what if he was a little older than them?


    Once the excitement had passed, Yu Wanniang looked at Tang Jie and finally released the hand that had been holding his wrist. ¡°Nothing strange.¡±


    The conversation just now had been a test. A normal person would have been shaken after hearing such heaven-shaking secrets, allowing Yu Wanniang to confirm whether Tang Jie was really pretending or not.


    But it was clear that Tang Jie wasn¡¯t faking it.


    He was really drunk!


    Aplete mess of a drunk that knew nothing of the world, so drunk that he was no different from a corpse and could sleep through the end of the world.


    No matter what Yu Wanniang had asked him, he wouldn¡¯t know and wouldn¡¯t remember.


    This secret art would make a person forget the memories they had of the time. In normal circumstances, this gap in memory would draw suspicion, but drunkenness served as a cover to exin this missing period.


    After several more tests to make sure that nothing was wrong, Yu Wanniang had a maid carry Tang Jie to his room.


    In the small room, Tang Jie was inelegantly syed out on his bed. Eyes continued to watch him from the darkness, but no matter how they watched, they felt that he was no different from someone who was drunk.


    Of course, they couldn¡¯t have known about what was happening far away, in another dimension.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    A vast range of towering mountains extended into the distance.


    White clouds drifted above and birds flew back and forth. Farther above was an invisible energy barrier that enclosed the mountain range like an overturned bowl.


    On the northern end of the mountain range was a vast valley. Numerous flowers grew across the valley, as did treesden with fruit, and green grasses and strange stones could be seen throughout.


    Someone with an eye for goods would soon realize that these weren¡¯t ordinary flowers. Every existence in this valley was a special flower, a strange grass, a precious fruit, a spiritual tree, or a jewel.


    Nine Heavens Phoenix Grass, ten-thousand-year Violet Sandalwood, thousand-year Fiendwhite Lotus, Heavenly Secret Stone, Yellow Rebirth Fruit, Jade Feather Red Treasure¡­ There were several dozen varieties, and they were all at the thousand-year or ten-thousand-year level.


    Numerous rare and exotic fruits grew in this valley. In the outside world, they would have made the world go crazy, the six major sects dropping any semnce of dignity to grab at them. The entire Rosecloud Domain would have fallen into turmoil.


    In the back of the valley was a red mountain which burned with me all year. Lava flowed from the summit and formed a pool ofva at the base, yet this pool never overflowed.


    The terrifying heat of theva pool distorted the light and air above it, but there seemed to be something stopping it from terrorizing the valley. Thus, the valley was divided into two different worlds: one which was in eternal spring and brimming with life, while the other was a deste hellscape.


    On the other end of the valley, in a grass clearing.


    Tang Jie stood at the entrance to the valley, staring at a distant stalk of grass.


    The grass grew on arge rock. It was about half a meter tall and pure white. A little ball grew on the top of it, swaying in the wind.


    This was Jade Return Grass, a rare kind of spirit grass that grew atop rocks. Its greatest function was that it could be refined into a medicine that could increase spiritual energy. The Langya Blessed Land had also had this kind of spirit grass, but the oldest had been eight hundred years old. The one in front of Tang Jie was an incredible ten-thousand-year-old spirit grass.


    While it seemed small, its roots had infiltrated the entirety of the rock, perhaps even extending several dozen meters into the ground.


    Tang Jie stared at the grass while cautiously ncing at his feet.


    At his feet was a white line that someone had drawn. Tang Jie was currently standing at the edge of this line.


    He breathed in and out a few times, and then he charged at the spirit grass at maximum speed.


    As he crossed the white line, a giant bird of me suddenly emerged from the pool ofva on the other end of the valley.


    This bird was so enormous that when it unfurled its wings, mes swept through the sky like a cloud of fire.


    <em>Creee!</em> A bright cry resounded through the mountains.


    The bird of me spat me down below.


    This me shot at Tang Jie like an arrow, creating a zing line in the sky. It almost instantly pierced through Tang Jie¡¯s body, and before he even had time to scream, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The remaining mesnded on the ground, where they disappeared without harming a single de of grass on the ground.


    Of course, the Stone Gate Sect elders turned out to be hiding something. It¡¯s a good thing Tang Jie has that other self of his¡­wait.

 Chapter 357

    Chapter 357: Stealing Fruit (2)


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    This was the fifth formation of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation.


    Tang Jie had thought that he could get arge number of valuable resources the moment he got inside, but the reality had taken himpletely by surprise.


    The fifth formation truly was a paradise that nurtured countless things, an Immortal Realm. But these precious resources weren¡¯t randomly scattered about, but concentrated in this valley. As for the few spiritual items outside of the valley, they were mostly average. While they had a foundation of ten thousand years, there was nothing rare about them. And as for the valley, it was guarded by that giant bird of me in theva pool.


    This me bird possessed terrifying strength. Tang Jie had once tried to get He Chong to try and defeat the giant bird, but to his surprise, He Chong had taken one look before turning and leaving, knowing that he was no match.


    Unable to sit back and watch tigers fight, Tang Jie relocated, as did the Godhead Pce trio.


    But as this ce wasn¡¯t as deste as the ancient battlefield, they didn¡¯t need to worry about food. However, Tang Jie had never given up on getting something good from the valley, and today had been another attempt.


    As Tang Jie died a miserable death, another two figures appeared: clearly two more Tang Jies.


    Duplication!


    These two Tang Jies didn¡¯t charge at the Jade Return Grass, instead lunging to the sides.


    To the left was a giant skeleton.


    The skeleton was nearly one thousand feet tall and sat in a corner of the valley like a small mountain. It was covered in red vines that coiled upward, culminating in a blood-red fruit over the head of the skeleton. There were two more of these giant skeletons, making for three of the fruits in all. The skeletons belonged to members of the God Giant Race of High Antiquity, which had been known for their abundant blood energy and boundless strength.


    The God Giant Blood Fruit used their bodies as nourishment, and they were superb treasures for strengthening the constitution and refining the body.


    To the right was a small pool, and in the pool grew sixteenrge white lotuses. In the center of each blooming lotus flower was a little bald and naked person, about the size of a finger. They sat, stood, walked, and jumped in their respective flowers. They would sometimes be silent in thought and sometimes be giggling. Sometimes, they would lie on their back, and at other times, they would sit cross-legged in meditation. They had voices like children, but their faces were old, and there were both men and women among them.


    Thousand-year Whitefiend Lotus!


    The little people growing in the flowers were the souls of the fiend lotuses. If one ate them, one could increase one¡¯s lifespan, strengthen the body, liven up the meridians, and increase one¡¯s aptitude. As a means of correcting ws, it was an extremely valuable cultivation treasure. Three thousand years was considered the upper limit. Past this limit, a lotus would divide into two.


    There were sixteen white lotuses in the pool, meaning that this formation had been put in ce twelve thousand to fifteen thousand years ago, which was essentially around the time of the Martial Lord.


    The two Tang Jies lunged at two different locations, and the giant firebird angrily screeched and fired two more arrows.


    As these two Tang Jies were obliterated, four Tang Jies appeared, this time lunging at the Jade Return Grass, the Fiend Lotus, the God Giant Fruit, and a Lightning Fruit.


    Four fire arrows appeared, urately striking the four Tang Jies without harming any nt in the valley.


    At this moment, a golden light appeared, sweeping toward the distant God Giant Blood Fruit. At the same time, another Tang Jie appeared from the feet of one of the earlier Tang Jies. It turned out that there had actually been three Tang Jies in the second wave. It was just that one of them had been hidden.


    The moment this Tang Jie appeared and threw out the golden thread, the firebird screeched andunched another fire arrow, obliterating him.


    But it was toote. The golden thread sliced off the blood fruit, wrapped around it, and started to fly out of the valley.


    A ninth Tang Jie appeared in the air, heedlessly jumping out, grabbing the blood fruit, and then jumping back.


    Another fire arrow arrived and sted apart this Tang Jie, but it was just another illusion. As this illusion dissipated, the blood fruit was flying away, and this time, it was flying straight out of the valley.


    The real Tang Jie finally appeared. Activating the Chaoswind Step, he appeared in the air, grabbed the blood fruit, and then blinked out of the valley.


    Half a secondter, a fire arrow mmed into where Tang Jie had been standing, creating a fierce explosion.


    Outside the valley, Tang Jie swayed a little before sprinting away.


    <em>Creee!</em> The giant firebird angrily screeched.


    But for some reason, it didn¡¯t attack Tang Jie. It simply flew in a circle and returned to theval pool.


    Tang Jie continued to madly sprint away. At the same time, arge number of duplicates ran out of the forest with him, running off in every direction.


    A few momentster, three more people arrived.


    <em>Bang! Bang!</em> One duplicate Tang Jie after another was destroyed, but none of them was the real one.


    When He Chong saw that they had only killed duplicates, and the real Tang Jie was nowhere to be found, he angrily roared, ¡°Shit, he escaped again!¡± ncing at the valley, he paled. ¡°He got the God Giant Blood Fruit.¡±


    ¡°With this fruit, Tang Jie¡¯s going to get even stronger,¡± Deng Yuqing worriedly said.


    He Chong grunted, ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of that. What¡¯s more important is that he can go into hiding for a long time again. There¡¯s no telling how long we will have to wait until he strikes again.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we stand guard here?¡± Duan Fourth said.


    Deng Yuqing bitterly smiled. ¡°What would be the point? We¡¯re still stuck here. If he doesn¡¯te over, we can never get out.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Duan Fourth was speechless.


    It wasn¡¯t that they didn¡¯t want to give Tang Jie the chance, but that if they didn¡¯t, they would also have no chance.


    The problem was that Tang Jie was very cautious. He had managed to get quite a few items from the valley so far, but they had gotten nothing.


    But who could they me but themselves for not having some sort of duplication spell?


    The firebird was extremely powerful, and not even He Chong could beat it. Rushing in was easy, but getting out was basically impossible. They had attempted to tire it out by running in and out repeatedly, but this only ended up enraging the bird so much that it even left the valley to pursue them.


    They had tried every possible method, but they hadn¡¯t been able to get anything from the valley. The only method was Tang Jie¡¯s Duplication spell, which could fool the firebird and allow him to steal fruits and grasses.


    And even this required many preparations from Tang Jie.


    He was also rather unlucky in that the Martial Lord¡¯s n had only required deceiving the giant bird, yet Tang Jie also had to ount for He Chong¡¯s group.


    This was exactly why Tang Jie did not lightly take action, only acting when he could ensure sess. In these four years, he had only acted three times, and he had seeded three times. In the first two attempts, he had cleared the area around the valley entrance, which had pushed his Jewel Body to greater attainment. This time, after all of his careful nning, he had only gotten one item, but it was one of the most valuable.


    Tang Jie¡¯s operation had seemed simple, but each step had been fraught with danger, and the slightest mistake could have ruined everything.


    The Duplication spell the Martial Lord had passed down created copies that were considered objects and not living beings, and there was no upper limit to how many could exist. The real problem was that controlling all of them at once required an incredible ability to multitask.


    Wisdom covered many fields, and multitasking was among them. s, Tang Jie had never focused on this aspect. He could do two or three things at once, but any more than that was no good. Thus, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t control many duplicates at once and could only control them in batches. He designed his n around this and trained himself to get used to it. The key was the two hidden duplicates. He didn¡¯t want to trick the firebird, only to use those two hidden duplicates to create two checkpoints between the blood fruit and the valley entrance. With Tang Jie himself, that made for three checkpoints.


    These three checkpoints became like three stepping stones in a pool, linking the God Giant Fruit to the outside of the valley. By passing it among his duplicates, he was able to steal the fruit.


    As for that golden thread, Tang Jie had made it from shattering weapons on that ancient battlefield. Although he still couldn¡¯t destroy those powerful art relics, he was able to break down some of the lower-level ones.


    Tang Jie had prepared for this operation for two years. This seemingly very simple breakthrough was something he had practiced hundreds of times, taking into ount all the possible variations and possibilities. He could not ept failure in this operation. After all, each operation came with enormous risk.


    The risk didn¡¯te from only the firebird, but He Chong as well.


    And with the taking of the God Giant Blood Fruit, the number of treasures near the valley entrance had decreased by one, increasing the danger and risk of getting any more.


    Fortunately, the blood fruit was a key part in Tang Jie¡¯s n.


    He had long ago seen through the Martial Lord¡¯s intentions. After seeing He Chong look at the giant firebird and walk away, he had thrown aside any hopes of defeating the firebird. He still had to rely on the Parting ssic and the Duplication spell.


    Since the Martial Lord had left behind everything here, he would not give away anything to those who came after. It was just that one needed to know where to find the solution.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie had understood the solution many years ago: the flowers blooming like brilliant mes at the base of that zing mountain.


    They were the key to increasing his fire resistance, in the same way Tang Jie had dealt with those Thunderbirds.


    The problem was that these fire flowers on the mountain weren¡¯t easy to pick. The intense temperatures weren¡¯t something that Tang Jie could take, even with his greater-attainment Jewel Body.


    But once he consumed the God Giant Blood Fruit and cultivated to the Diamond Body, he would probably have the ability to venture onto the mountain to pick those fire flowers. He had finally endured the difficult starting period and could now look forward to the dawn.


    In a dense forest twenty kilometers from the valley, Tang Jie ate the God Giant Blood Fruit. This fruit didn¡¯t need to be used through the Parting ssic, but could be simply eaten in order to strengthen his constitution.


    Warmth flowed into Tang Jie¡¯s body, stirring up his blood energy and making him feel like he was bursting with power. Tang Jie knew that this was the power of the fruit, and he calmed down and began to guide the energy as directed by the Parting ssic, distributing the medicinal power throughout his body, moving it from inside to outside as he cleansed and refined himself.


    The blood energy let out a faint red light, and his body¡¯s jewel-like luster gradually began to seem more metallic, like the bronzed appearance of a muscr man. Moreover, all over his body, his muscles began to bulge out.


    Shockingly, even the shape of Tang Jie¡¯s body began to change. He had originally been a tall and muscr youth, though his looks hadn¡¯t been too amazing. But now, his body was getting even taller, gradually reaching a height of about two meters. At the same time, his muscles became firm and hard, so tough that not even striking them with a hammer could move them. The shape of his face also subtly changed because of this.


    If one were to put avatar Tang Jie next to original Tang Jie, one would discover that they were no longer identical, only somewhat simr. They seemed more like brothers than two bodies of the same person.


    This power hidden in the body of this little giant seemed to grow with every breath he took. Even Tang Jie didn¡¯t dare to believe the transformation his body was experiencing.


    He stroked his arms and chest muscles for a while before finally saying, ¡°And this is only the basic level of the Diamond Body. What¡¯s going to happen when I reach the high level?¡±


    At this point, Tang Jie understood that the previous two stages were only the foundation for a mortal to convert to a body cultivator. It was the Diamond Body that truly possessed the powerful constitution of a body cultivator.


    And this was only the most basic level, yet it was already so powerful. Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but think of that enormous figure he had seen in the Martial Mirror. What level of ferocity had that person achieved?


    At this moment, Tang Jie blurted out in surprise, ¡°¡®A mantra to advance to Violet Pce¡¯?¡±


    Oh no, Tang Jie is bing a muscle bro. Now he¡¯s going to be swole.

 Chapter 358

    Chapter 358: n Extermination


    Upon waking, Tang Jie found himself in an elegant little room.


    He was lying on a bed carved from fragrant wood, his body covered in arge red nket of silk. On one wall was a masterful painting while on the other was an exquisite bookshelf. A dark green curtain had been hung over the opening leading to the veranda, and two slender figures could faintly be seen standing behind the curtain.


    Tang Jie sat up. The two maids behind the curtain saw that there was movement inside, so they raised the curtain and entered. Bowing to Tang Jie, they said, ¡°Young Sir, you¡¯re awake.¡±


    Rubbing his face, Tang Jie said, ¡°I seem to have drunk too muchst night.¡±


    One of the maids covered her mouth and chuckled. ¡°Yes. Young Sir was very intoxicatedst night, and it was with great difficulty that the two of us managed to bring you back.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? My thanks.¡±


    The maid shot Tang Jie a charming nce and then grumbled, ¡°Is a ¡®thanks¡¯ all we get? That wasn¡¯t what Young Sir saidst night.¡±


    Tang Jie was startled. ¡°¡®Last night¡¯? What did I say?¡±


    The maid lowered her head and answered, ¡°Last night, Young Sir¡¯s hands were not exactly obedient¡­¡±


    The other maid chuckled.


    Tang Jie was taken aback as he thought to himself, <em>What beastly thing did I dost night?</em> But no matter how he racked his brains, his thoughts came up empty, and he couldn¡¯t think of what he had done.


    At this moment, the memories from his original body arrived, and yesterday¡¯s scenes appeared before his eyes. The conversation between the four, their cheerful talk, and their schemes reyed themselves.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Tang Jie muttered, a sharp light in his eyes.


    The truth had been that simple and so easilye by. Tang Jie¡¯s heart felt light.


    As for that maid¡¯s words, it was all nonsense. He had slept like the deadst night and hadn¡¯t even touched the two maids. It was just that someone wanted to do a little social climbing and try their hand at seduction.


    What a person in high ces had to deal with the most wasn¡¯t challenges, but temptations.


    As a provisional disciple of the Basking Moon Sect, Tang Jie had limitless potential, and even Celestial Heart True Persons had to be polite when meeting him. These maids, even if they weren¡¯t taken as the main wife and could only be his servants, would still experience a meteoric rise in status. Thus, so long as Tang Jie gave the nod, many beautiful women would throw themselves into his embrace.


    Ignoring the two women, Tang Jie stood up and started putting on his clothes. ¡°I don¡¯t need you to attend on me right now. You¡¯re dismissed.¡±


    The two girls saw how callous he was and red at him, but they had no choice but to retreat.


    Tang Jie suddenly thought of something and shouted, ¡°Wait.¡±


    The two women turned around in glee. Tang Jie asked, ¡°Where¡¯s the servant that I brought with me?¡±


    The two of them both appeared disappointed. One of them replied, ¡°Young Sir Xi went down the mountainst night. He said that he was going to get his little sister and that he would be back by morning.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Tang Jie nodded and waved his hand. ¡°Then you may go now.¡±


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    Once the two women had left, Tang Jie finished putting on his clothes and left the room. He found that he was in a garden located behind the main temple of Stone Gate Peak. This ce had a special environment and was elegantly arranged. It was probably an area the Stone Gate Sect used for feting guests.


    He emerged from the small garden just in time to see the rise of the morning sun in the distance, shining off the clouds in a sea of fire. Together with the green mountains and the sea of clouds, it was truly a pleasing and rxing sight.


    On one side of Stone Gate Peak, a group of disciples were cultivating on a square in front of the Stone Gate Sect¡¯s main temple.


    These were all the most basic disciples, weaker than even most of the students of Basking Moon Academy. Thus, their cultivation method, rather than teaching each student to their ability, was mass cultivation. A middle-tier disciple stood at the very front, looking down on the people below and asionally shouting. Rather than cultivating Immortality, it seemed more like they were cultivating martial arts.


    On the back side of the mountain wererge numbers of herb gardens and spirit grain fields. As a small sect in a remote mountain range, the Stone Gate Sect had few people. Thus, it had no subsidiary academy or any mortals to dobor for them. The spirit fields and herb gardens were the responsibility of the disciples to tend to.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t want to disturb the disciples, so he decided to take a casual stroll on the back side of the mountain. While appreciating the natural scenery of Mount Eternal and seeing how the Stone Gate Sect worked its fields, he began to think about what he should do next.


    The Stone Gate Sect¡¯s corruption had been exposed, and the proper course of action was to report.


    But there was a problem here: he didn¡¯t have any evidence.


    In the mine yesterday, Tang Jie thought that he could have found some, in the meantime increasing his observation abilities.


    But after encountering the Earth Devil Ape, Tang Jie gave up on the idea.


    This wasn¡¯t because he thought that there was no problem with the Stone Gate Sect, but exactly the opposite. Because he knew that there was a problem, he could not keep investigating, for if he really found something, that would be the moment of his death. Tang Jie certainly didn¡¯t want to discover a Celestial Heart True Person waiting for him when he found out where the sandworms really were. And if there really was a problem, then the true gathering ce of the Crystallized Sandworms had probably been mined out already. It was precisely because it had been mined out that they had notified the Basking Moon Sect toe and check the mine. It was just that they hadn¡¯t expected Xi Canhen to have identally obtained a piece of Crystallized Sandworm.


    In other words, even if he found the ce, he might not be able to turn up any evidence. And Xi Canhen¡¯s piece alone could not serve as evidence.


    Now that he thought about it, these old foxes were truly very cunning, leaving no openings in their n. Even if he noticed something, he couldn¡¯t do anything to them.


    But if that was really the case, why were they still so nervous?


    Tang Jie suddenly couldn¡¯t understand it.


    Logically, the Stone Gate Sect should have already readied everything andpletely mined out the Crystallized Sandworms. There should have been no reason to worry about someone noticing anything. So why had they added on all these embellishments?


    Tang Jie suddenly felt like he could see a little hope.


    Everything that had happened before reyed in fast forward in his mind: Qiu Shuyu¡¯s smiling face, Shi Jingzhai¡¯s cold treatment, the danger in the mine, the cheerful looks on the four martial siblings of the Stone Gate Sect and their words¡­


    ¡°A mantra for advancing to Violet Pce?¡± Tang Jie muttered, mulling over these words.


    A thought suddenly urred to him.


    He suddenly understood.


    He chuckled, ¡°If this really is the case, then things are getting interesting. Hm, perhaps I still have a chance. But I first need to find an excuse to stay here¡­¡±


    As he was thinking about an excuse, he heard Xi Canhen shouting in the distance, ¡°Young Master, Young Master¡­¡±


    Turning his head, he saw Xi Canhen running over to him, his face fraught with panic and fear.


    ¡°What happened? Didn¡¯t you go to get your little sister?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    Xi Canhen rushed up and kneeled in front of Tang Jie. ¡°Young Master, hurry and save my little sister! The Jin n¡¯s people took her away!¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Tang Jie raised an eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯re talking about that eldest son of the Jin n?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Justst night, that bastard came himself to seize my little sister.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s really impatient to impregnate her,¡± Tang Jie snorted. He hadn¡¯t expected that Jin n young master to act before he had a chance to intervene.


    But as he thought about it, he realized, <em>Isn¡¯t this the perfect excuse to stay here?</em> Smiling, he said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, what are we still waiting for?¡±


    He grabbed Xi Canhen and went over to the mining area.


    After flying for around half a day, Tang Jie and Xi Canhen arrived at a small vige. This was the mining region¡¯s Jubao (Gathering Jewels) Vige. Originally, its name had been Baile (Hundred Joys) Vige, but after the spirit stone vein was discovered, numerous miners immigrated to the region, causing this rather deserted vige to thrive. Many merchants benefited from this influx, the Jin n being a ssic example.


    With their unreasonable power, they had bullied their rivals and dominated the market, which had riled up public discontent.


    Upon arriving at the vige, Tang Jie asked, ¡°Do you know where the Jin Estate is?¡±


    Xi Canhen replied, ¡°It¡¯s thergest house on the eastern side of the vige.¡±


    Tang Jie brought Xi Canhen over to the Jin Estate. Once he arrived at the gate, rather than announcing himself, he simply sted through the gate with a single palm. He then shouted, ¡°Jin n, all of you get out here and ept your death!¡±


    A bunch of hired servants rushed out and shouted, ¡°Who dares to cause trouble for the Jin n?¡±


    Tang Jie sternly said, ¡°Where is the girl your young master kidnapped?¡±


    The servants saw that it was Xi Canhen and erupted inughter. The steward leading them said, ¡°So it was you again, kid! Your little sister is getting a higher status by being with my young master, so what are you so unhappy about? If you keep babbling, I¡¯ll break your legs!¡±


    The servants all erupted inughter.


    Theughter was still going when a sharp st of wind from a palm struck the steward and instantly sted him to pieces, sending blood sttering everywhere and leaving everyone dumbfounded.


    ¡°Scum!¡± Tang Jie coldly said.


    Although he had said that there wouldn¡¯t be a Jin n in the future, he actually hadn¡¯t been nning to ughter the entire n. But now, it appeared that everyone in the Jin n, from the master all the way down to the servants, was a bad sort. Killing them all wouldn¡¯t inflict any sort of psychological burden on him.


    Eight years ago, Tang Jie wouldn¡¯t have thought this way. At that time, he had firmly believed that even if someone hadmitted a crime, they shouldn¡¯t be so easily executed but should be punished ording to their crime.


    But with Shi Mo¡¯s death, he gradually began to understand that this seemingly thriving civilization actually acted on the principle that human lives were like grass.


    Cultivators were the judges of this world, and they decided the lives of others based on what they felt, not on any sort of reason orw. So long as there was a convincing excuse, even exterminating an entire n wouldn¡¯t be particrly noteworthy. As for punishing ording to the crime, cultivators did not consider these problems. For them, it was already quite amazing that they were willing to carry out justice.


    Nobody went through the hardships of cultivation just so they could uphold thews!


    Countless thoughts passed through his mind at that moment. He cast his former pity, hesitation, and questioning to the side, caring not for what was right or wrong. All he cared about was that he had a clear conscience. This was the path of a cultivator.


    There was no meaning to right or wrong. In different worlds, there were naturally differentws.


    Uponprehending this, he stopped showing mercy.


    After ying the steward, Tang Jie summoned the little tiger. ¡°Bao¡¯er, go. Today, you can kill as you please.¡±


    The little tiger excitedly pounced out, and in a sh, the Jin n¡¯s courtyard was turned into a ughtering ground.


    ¡°Who dares to cause trouble in the Jin Estate?¡±


    A blue-robed man rushed out from the back of the courtyard. It was none other than the Mortal Shedding Spirit Master retained by the Jin n.


    The moment the man appeared, he saw the courtyard sttered with blood while a fiend tiger massacred everyone. In the middle of all of this, a young man was standing with his hands held behind his back. The blue-robed man was shaken.


    The young man slightly turned his head to him, and his gaze seemed to pierce straight into his heart, causing the man to shiver.


    He blurted out, ¡°Sir, who are you?¡±


    ¡°The one who will take your life,¡± Tang Jie casually said.


    The callous answer left the blue-robed man aghast. Just when he was about to move, the young man thrust a palm at him. The blue-robed man yelped and jumped, his hands forming signs. Before the attack struck, he barely managed to throw up a barrier.


    A momentter, the energy palm mmed into his chest like a mountain, sending him flying. The barrier he had formed instantly shattered on impact.


    The blue-robed man was terrified, knowing that this person who could shatter his barrier with one strike wasn¡¯t someone he could go up against directly. Just when he was about to retreat, he saw that Tang Jie wasn¡¯t chasing him, instead stopping and asking, ¡°Where is the girl from the Xi family?¡±


    The blue-robed man froze for a moment, and then he realized and saw a sliver of hope. He quickly said, ¡°So Sir came for the girl! She is in the side house in the rear courtyard. If Sir wants her, then you may take her.¡±


    He mentally cursed the young master of the Jin n for being an absolute fool, kidnapping people before he had figured out who was backing them. He didn¡¯t know that the Jin young master had actually done his due diligence. It was just that Xi Canhen had only met Tang Jie yesterday, so the young master couldn¡¯t possibly have known about him.


    But to his surprise, Tang Jie replied, ¡°In other words, you knew about your Young Master Jin raping vige girls? So you¡¯re an aplice.¡±


    The blue-robed man froze, getting a bad feeling from those words.


    Tang Jie indifferently said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, you can go die now.¡±


    As he spoke, his saber shed.


    As his saber shed, a gout of blood shot into the air.


    Just like that, Tang Jie had easily in a Mortal Shedding Spirit Master.


    The Spirit Master had been one of the strongest in the Jin n, and his death threw the n into panic. The Jin n people charging out saw the situation and took to their heels in fear. Tang Jie didn¡¯t chase them, simply handing Xi Canhen the Heartbreak Saber and saying, ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± Xi Canhen looked at Tang Jie and then looked at the saber in his hand. The Heartbreak Saber was an art relic soul weapon and had its own intelligence. Thus, unlike the Azure Light Sword, it would not crazily suck away at the user¡¯s spiritual energy, but would change ording to the user.


    ¡°Correct. The Immortal Path is dangerous, and no one can say who will live or die. Since you have decided to be an Immortal, you should start from killing people. In any case, the one who the Jin n offended was you, so it is best if you are the one who kills them.¡± Tang Jie called back the little tiger and had him keep guard over the area and prevent anyone from running.


    Xi Canhen took in a deep breath and looked at the fleeing members of the Jin n. He recalled how these people had run rampant in the town and bullied everyone.


    Yes, since it was his own grudge, he should be the one avenging himself.


    At this thought, Xi Canhen roared and swung the Heartbreak Saber at one of these people. The Heartbreak Saber didn¡¯t have the impressive strength it did when Tang Jie wielded it, only shing with a weak light. But this light was enough to put it on par with the best of mortal weapons. As the saber struck the head of that servant, half of his head was sliced off, blood and brains gushing out and sttering on Xi Canhen¡¯s face.


    Xi Canhen was dumbfounded. He hadn¡¯t been scared into dumbness when his life had been in danger yesterday, but cutting off the head of this servant had scared him witless.


    At this moment, life seemed so insignificant. With just the wave of his hand, he had easily taken a person¡¯s life.


    Although this person deserved death, at the moment he took the man¡¯s life, Xi Canhen felt hesitant, panicked, and even afraid.


    ¡°Scared? Lost your guts?¡± Tang Jie casually asked.


    Xi Canhen turned to look at Tang Jie. Seeing how calm and assured he was, Xi Canhen gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Young Master took vengeance for me, so how could this lowly one shrink back in fear? All of the Jin n¡¯s people deserve death!¡±


    He bellowed, and the light of the Heartbreak Saber grew stronger, unleashing a fiery me.


    Other than the blue-robed man, everyone else in this group from the Jin Estate was an ordinary person, and they stood no chance against the power of this art relic. Even a little spark was enough for them to explode in poisonous mes, their lives to be instantly devoured. Xi Canhen couldn¡¯t help but be frightened.


    But he clenched his teeth and continued forward, bing like a god of death as he wielded the Heartbreak Saber.


    Without the blue-robed man to stop him, the Jin n¡¯s people were helpless against Xi Canhen. Even the stronger guards were too intimidated by Tang Jie to strike back, allowing Xi Canhen to easily cleave them in two. In the blink of an eye, Xi Canhen had created a river of blood in the Jin n¡¯s courtyard.


    ¡°Jin Yue¡­ Jin Changfu¡­ Jin Haoyun¡­ Jin Shisan!¡± Xi Canhen called out names as he strode through the Jin Estate, opening up rooms. With each person he saw, he gave a stab, and almost everyone of the Jin n died to his de.


    <em>Bang!</em>


    Xi Canhen kicked open a door, and shrieks came from inside. It turned out that a group of women had been hiding in the room.


    Xi Canhen was stunned when he saw that it was women. He wanted to swing his saber, but he ultimately couldn¡¯t and said, ¡°Scram!¡±


    The women ran away as if they had been given a pardon.


    He turned to Tang Jie, who shrugged. ¡°This is your business.¡±


    Though he said that he didn¡¯t care, there was a hint of admiration in his eyes.


    Only someone who could remain calm in the midst of rage, who understood what limits they shouldn¡¯t go past, was someone that Tang Jie could admire and trust.


    After getting Tang Jie¡¯s approval, Xi Canhen rejoiced.


    At this moment, a trembling old granny attempted to get past Xi Canhen, but Xi Canhen suddenly grabbed her and said, ¡°You¡¯re Jin Changfu¡¯s mother, no? Your son, Jin Changfu, took a liking to the three acres ofnd owned by Old Man Geng of Xiaoyu Vige, but he tried to buy it for only three taels of silver. Old Man Geng refused to sell, so your son sent people to break his legs and abandon him out in the wilderness, where he starved to death. His daughter came to seek justice, but when you met her, you said that it wasn¡¯t your son that killed Old Man Geng, but that he had starved to death and that it was the will of the heavens, and after that, you even ordered someone to rape her. That night, the girl threw herself into a well andmitted suicide, to which you only said, ¡®That ruined a perfectly good well.''¡±


    The old granny shuddered, shrieking, ¡°It wasn¡¯t me!¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t kill you,¡± Xi Canhen said.


    The old granny sighed in relief, but then the de shed. There were no sparks, only four white streaks. The old granny¡¯s four limbs were sliced off, and she copsed in a pool of blood while wailing.


    Xi Canhen said, ¡°Young Master, please¡­¡±


    Before he finished speaking, Tang Jie understood what he wanted. His fingers flew, and four streams of spiritual energy stopped the granny¡¯s bleeding.


    Xi Canhen callously said, ¡°Just wait here to starve to death. This is the will of the heavens.¡±


    At this moment, there was a thud as the door of the side house was kicked open.


    Two people came out: a man and a woman. The girl was thirteen or fourteen, and though her face was not fully developed, one could already tell that she was a blooming beauty. The man had a knife to the girl¡¯s throat.


    ¡°Sister!¡± Xi Canhen shouted, ring at the man. ¡°Jin Shaoqiu! If you dare to hurt my little sister, I¡¯ll tear you to pieces!¡±


    This Jin Shaoqiu was the one who had kidnapped his little sister.


    Jin Shaoqiu gripped the knife and shouted, ¡°Let me go, or else¡­¡±


    Before he could finish speaking, there was a metallic tter of chains.


    Looking up, he saw that a handleless crescent de suspended along two chains was dropping from the sky onto his head.


    It sliced straight through his skull, cleaving him into a front half and back half in a shower of blood.


    Tang Jie drew his hand back and casually finished, ¡°Or else you¡¯ll die for us to watch!¡±


    Good, good, Xi Canhen, let the hate flow through you!

 Chapter 359

    Chapter 359: The Youth¡¯s Mission


    The tyrannical Jin n was gone.


    The Jin n had needed fifty-some years to establish itself in Baile Vige, but it had taken only one hour to wipe it out.


    What had Tang Jie feeling emotional was that they had perished not because of their evil acts, but because they had offended a cultivator. In fact, they hadn¡¯t even really done that, only offending a cultivator¡¯s servant.


    Thus, the root of their destruction was not their evil crimes, but their having offended the wrong person.


    ¡°Thus, in this world, not having power is the original sin,¡± Tang Jie muttered as he stood in front of the Jin Estate. Even though he had understood this long ago, he had never felt it as deeply as today.


    Xi Canhen didn¡¯t understand what Tang Jie meant. He was entirely focused on his little sister. Once he learned that the Jin n young master hadn¡¯t had the time to do anything to her, he sighed in relief.


    The extermination of the Jin n drew attention from the government, but once they learned that it was a cultivator who had done the deed, particrly one from the Basking Moon Sect, they just waved it off as ¡°Upon investigation, it was found that Jubao Vige¡¯s Jin n was colluding with bandits to plunder trade routes and ughter innocents. Upon confirmation, Revered Immortal Tang Jie of the Basking Moon Sect acted to remove this cmity.¡± There was even Tang Jie¡¯s handprint at the end.


    This was a methodmonly employed by the government, ignoring the truth and seeing the essence behind it. At least they knew when the Jin n had been exterminated and by whose hands, so that it would be easy to look up the case and gather clues in the future.


    Cultivators knew this, but though they knew that they couldn¡¯t be arrested, they had to at least agree to be recorded.


    Tang Jie wasn¡¯t too happy about this¡ªnot because his name and deeds were being recorded, but because he found the government suspiciously efficient. The time from the destruction of the n to its recording didn¡¯t even take half a day.


    But at least the official in charge of the vige had some tact. After noting down the events, he asked Tang Jie, ¡°This Jin n owned a lot of property in the vige. Honored Master, this property¡­¡±


    Tang Jie coldly said, ¡°Note it all down and give the ledger to me.¡±


    What he meant was that he wanted it all.


    ¡°This lowly one understands,¡± the official fawningly replied.


    Tang Jie added, ¡°Remember to audit all their ount books.¡±


    The official grimaced upon hearing this. ¡°Everyone in the Jin n is dead, and without them, auditing their ounts won¡¯t be very easy and will take some time.¡±


    ¡°Then use a few extra days and slowly work at it. I can wait,¡± Tang Jie breezily replied.


    The official had no choice but to ept, thinking to himself, <em>This kid must be a miser, only worried that other people might swindle him. That¡¯s why he even wants to audit the ounts when taking someone else¡¯s property! He¡¯ll probably even take over the Jin n¡¯s loan business. Even a person like this can cultivate Immortality? If he actually seeds, he¡¯ll probably be something like an Iron Rooster Immortal.</em> The thought of a giant rooster pping into the distance had the official inwardly chuckling to himself, but then he remembered that Immortals had the ability to read minds, and if this Immortal found out how he was grumbling, he would be in deep trouble. Chiding himself for being rash, he put aside these thoughts and decided to get to work.


    (TN: Iron rooster is a Chinese way of saying ¡°cheapskate¡±, as you cannot pluck a feather from an iron rooster.)


    After finishing up affairs with the Jin n, Tang Jie called over Xi Canhen and his sister. As instructed by her brother, the sister bowed to Tang Jie and said, ¡°Xi Shangyue pays respects to Young Sir Tang. My utmost gratitude to Young Sir Tang Jie for saving my life.¡±


    Her voice was cute and pleasant to hear.


    ¡°¡®Canhen¡¯ and ¡®Shangyue¡¯? You two were given rather interesting names. Your parents must have read a lot,¡± Tang Jie chuckled at these names.


    (TN: ²Ð, Can, and éä, Shang, share the same radical of ´õ. The names are also rather grim, meaning ¡°Ruin Scar¡± and ¡°Dead Moon¡± respectively.)


    The girl blushed and dropped her head. It seemed like she had a rather quiet personality.


    Tang Jie asked Xi Canhen, ¡°Your little sister has been saved. What ns do you have for the future?¡±


    Xi Canhen replied, ¡°Since Young Master saved my little sister, Xi Canhen swears to follow Young Master to the death, to remain ever faithful!¡±


    He pulled on his little sister so that they both got on their knees.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t insist that he get up. He just looked up at the sky and casually said, ¡°¡®Swear to follow me to the death, to remain ever faithful¡¯? Some things are easier said than done.¡±


    Xi Canhen was startled, and then he dered, ¡°The heavens can bear witness to Canhen¡¯s heart! I would not dare to deceive you!¡±


    ¡°Is that so¡­¡± Tang Jie lowered his head and thought for a few moments. Finally, he said, ¡°Then, if I gave you something to do right now, could you do it? Let me warn you that it is very risky and that your life might be in danger!¡±


    Xi Canhen immediately replied, ¡°Young Master, give me the order! Xi Canhen will feel no regret even if I die a hundred times. I only ask¡­ ask¡­¡±


    He looked at Xi Shangyue and gritted his teeth. ¡°I only ask that if I die, Young Master takes care of my little sister.¡±


    ¡°Big Brother!¡± Xi Shangyue anxiously grabbed her big brother¡¯s hand.


    Xi Canhen smiled at his little sister. ¡°Shangyue, Young Master saved both our lives. Let alone a mission from the young master, if he asked for my life, I would hand it over without hesitation. Before passing, Father said that only a man who keeps his promises can be a true hero, a real man. While I¡¯m not some hero, I¡¯m still a man, not someone who can forget the kindness that is done to me.¡±


    He pushed away his little sister¡¯s hand and looked with resolve at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie nodded in agreement. ¡°You can be at ease. If you really do suffer the misfortune of death, I will take care of your little sister, passing down Immortal arts to her and ensuring that she leaves a peaceful life until the end.¡±


    Xi Canhen sighed in relief. ¡°Young Master, pleasemand me!¡±


    Tang Jie quietly spoke a few words to Xi Canhen.


    Upon hearing Tang Jie¡¯s order, Xi Canhen¡¯s face froze. ¡°It¡¯s that simple?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Once you¡¯re done, you can go straight to Canglong Prefecture. So long as you survive, you can officially be part of the Wei n. Right, and there¡¯s also your little sister. I will request thedy to give the two of you spots for Basking Moon Academy.¡±


    Xi Canhen put on a solemn expression, loudly saying, ¡°Canhen will not let you down. I willplete Young Master¡¯s mission!¡±


    Tang Jie waved his hand, calling over the nearby napping little tiger. He then gave Xi Canhen the beast token, saying, ¡°I will have the little tiger protect you. Although he still isn¡¯t at Mind Opening, he¡¯s still quite smart and can understand a lot of what you say. He doesn¡¯t like being locked up in the beast token, so when you¡¯re not in front of other people or fighting, you should let him out to get some air. Each time you let him out, you must prepare a big bowl of meat. Oh, now that I think of it¡­¡±


    Tang Jie grabbed a bunch of spirit coins and gave them to Xi Canhen. ¡°Consider this your travel expenses.¡±


    Xi Canhen took them both. As he looked at thatrge tiger which could eat up two of him with one bite, he inwardly rejoiced.


    <em>This tiger ising with me?</em>


    <em>Could I have it eat anyone that displeases me on my journey?</em>


    The little tiger curiously looked at Xi Canhen and the token in his hand. He understood the significance of the token: whoever had the token was the person he listened to.


    In the past, Tang Jie and Yiyi had switched ces ordering him around using this method, so he had gotten used to it. So why was it this little kid who was ordering him around today? <em>He doesn¡¯t seem like much,</em> the tiger thought to himself,zily yawning.


    Tang Jie ordered, ¡°Do your best to keep the little tiger¡¯s existence a secret. This will make you much safer. In addition, though the little tiger can fly, you must get to Canglong Prefecture on your own two feet. Remember: while I¡¯m having him protect you, since he¡¯s not familiar with you and is a naughty sort, he probably won¡¯t go all-out for you. As for the degree to which he fights for you, that will depend on how you do with him over these few days. Try and develop a good rtionship with him. But given how little time there is, no matter how much you try to cozy up to him, you can be sure that he won¡¯t fight to the death for you. Personally, I also wouldn¡¯t want to lose the little tiger for your sake. Thus, if you run into an existence that even he can¡¯t deal with, you have to mentally prepare yourself to be thrown away.¡±


    Xi Canhen solemnly said, ¡°Young Master, be at ease. This lowly one understands.¡±


    After some thought, Tang Jie took out two medicine bottles and two talismans, which he gave to Xi Canhen. He then tapped the center of Xi Canhen¡¯s forehead, sending a sliver of spiritual light into his mind. Xi Canhen felt like some memories had been inserted into his mind.


    Tang Jie exined, ¡°The medicine is for treating injuries, but rather than for you, it¡¯s for the little tiger. The talismans are things I made while I was bored and ying around. I¡¯m terrible at drawing talismans, and I was only able to make five out of a stack of one hundred¡ªa disastrous loss. Of the two I gave you, one is for Energy Needle and the other is for Violet Lightning Lunge. With your constitution, there isn¡¯t much that you can use. The others are simply too powerful, and using them would suck you dry. In addition, I¡¯ve also passed the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword to you. This is basically the only thing you can learn right now. Go to the vige and buy yourself a sword to defend yourself. Finally, I will do my utmost on my end to reduce the burden on you. While I¡¯m making you face danger, I¡¯m not having you go and die. This matter is half a mission and half a test. Given your cleverness, I¡¯m sure that you will seed. I will wait to hear the good news.¡±


    Xi Canhen took the items and bowed to Tang Jie. ¡°Young Master, be at ease. Canhen will definitely survive and reach Canglong Prefecture!¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Tang Jie rose in satisfaction. ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, the two of you can go now.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The siblings bid farewell to Tang Jie.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The massacre of the Jin n caused quite a local stir. Everyone knew that the Jin n had offended someone it shouldn¡¯t have and had been exterminated for it. But while the storm was great, it wasn¡¯t able to touch Tang Jie in the slightest.


    An esteemed emissary of a major sect had simply ughtered a small n. What was so special about that? Putting aside the fact that the Jin n had tyrannized its town, even if it had done good throughout the province, no one would do anything if it had been massacred.


    This was hierarchy! This was special privilege!


    So long as Tang Jie didn¡¯t be so insane as to destroy n after n, no one would seek him out.


    The only thing surprising was that Tang Jie, despite having finished his mission of inspecting the mine, had decided to stick around and take ownership of the Jin n¡¯s property.


    This was rather rare. Normally, when a cultivator exterminated some family, they normally only took the gold and silver, showing no interest innd and businesses. But Tang Jie was so avaricious that he even wanted all these.


    But since he wanted them, no one could take them from him, and they could only let him do as he pleased.


    Using the excuse of the ounts being audited, Tang Jie stayed in the Mount Eternal region, spending his time cultivating or seeing the sights. He came from an upper sect and was normally very humble, which made him very likable. Thus, it was only a few days until he had made friends with most of the people on Stone Gate Peak.


    Tang Jie also seized this chance to brazenly inspect the Stone Gate Sect¡¯s Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation.


    This was a rather famous formation, and even Xu Muyang¡¯s formation treatise had noted it down. But it hadcked the method forying down this formation, so Tang Jie used this chance to try and find out how.


    In truth, regardless of the field one studied, one would ultimately have to travel the world to gain experience. Even the disciples of major sects had to eventually roam about to broaden their horizons.


    Time quietly passed, and as the storm caused by the Jin n incident faded away, Mount Eternal regained its usual calm and harmony.


    In Jubao Vige, the people continued to busy themselves about their own business.


    As everyonezed under the noon sun, in Treasure Appraiser Boutique on the eastern end of the vige, the shopkeeper listlessly manned the storefront, his eyes staring outside while his mind wandered.


    A man dressed in ck and wearing a veiled bamboo hat entered the store. ¡°Shopkeeper, do you take treasured objects here?¡±


    From the voice, he was clearly a youth.


    The shopkeeper nced at the youth and coldlyughed. ¡°Didn¡¯t you see the sign? Treasure Appraiser Boutique doesn¡¯t take treasured objects, but what ce does? Whether it¡¯s curios of the four gentleman arts, those magic tools cultivators use, or rare natural treasures, so long as you have it, this ce can appraise it and buy it. But there¡¯s no need to take out shabby pieces of metal to try and fool me. Save yourself the time and just leave.¡±


    While he seemed to be rather boastful, he actually wasn¡¯t, for the Treasure Appraiser Boutique was run by the Stone Gate Sect.


    Any cultivation sect had this sort of treasure appraisal store in its territory. They existed primarily to find any treasures among themon people that might have been missed. Immortals often fought against each other, and no matter how omnipotent they were while alive, when they died, they would return to the earth. But while they would return to the earth, the treasures that they once owned would not.


    While most of these treasures would be collected, for various reasons, there were always some that couldn¡¯t be gotten back, particrly those treasures that had been broken. To the major sects, these were no longer valuable enough to waste the time searching for them. But for the small sects, even a fragment of an art relic might be a rare material to be used in making something, so they were worthwhile to gather.


    This was what the various treasure appraisal stores did. They might not get anything good in the space of ten years, but if they got even one, the investment would be worth it.


    Of course, these stores also sold curios and paintings so as to make some additional revenue and to make sure the people in the store actually had something to do. If one really had to wait for the magic tools used by Immortals, a worker could go a decade without executing a single transaction.


    This was precisely why stores like this one were also considered direct representations of a sect¡¯s power. The vast majority of local sects could only one-up these treasure appraisal stores in their own territory. Only the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s Basking Moon Boutiques could be opened up throughout Sageheart, with some even opened in the other five countries.


    But there was no Basking Moon Boutique in Jubao Vige¡ªnot because the Basking Moon Sect couldn¡¯t open one, but because it saw no value in this location.


    Even so, as someone who could look after a store for an Immortal, this shopkeeper was an extremely powerful existence in the vige.


    Thus, he looked at the ck-clothed youth with his nose turned up.


    Someone else wouldn¡¯t have minded suchments, but the ck-clothed youth was somewhat angered, shouting, ¡°Your tone is quite rude! You haven¡¯t even seen my treasured object, so how dare you call it some piece of shabby metal? This is a real treasure, one I¡¯m afraid you can¡¯t afford.¡±


    The shopkeeper sneered. ¡°Hah! You think there¡¯s a treasure that my Treasure Appraiser Boutique can¡¯t buy?¡±


    The young man turned his head away and said, ¡°That¡¯s hard to say. Who knows what sort of people run this store of yours? After all, you guys are the ones who set the price. If you encounter something valuable, you might just say it¡¯s worthless and buy it at a low price.¡±


    The shopkeeper was furious. ¡°Such audacity! What is this baseless nder!? Get out right now!¡±


    The youth shouted back, ¡°I came to do business, so why should I leave? It¡¯s not your ce to make decisions here. Call out your manager!¡±


    Before they could even talk business, the two of them had started quarreling.


    This quarrel drew many spectators, who surrounded the store and gawked. The youth seemed to have lost his head, shouting louder and louder, even drawing out Manager Ding, who unhappily said, ¡°What¡¯s all this ruckus about?¡±


    Manager Ding was a man that the Stone Gate Sect had appointed to supervise the store. Though he was a mortal, he had worked at a few stores owned by major sects and had seen quite a few spell weapons and art relics before. He had sharp eyes, and even the most bizarre of treasures found it hard to escape his eyes. In thesest few years, he had collected quite a few treasures for the Stone Gate Sect, earning him the sect¡¯s favor.


    The shopkeeper saw that Manager Ding hade and quickly said, ¡°Old Ding, what¡¯s brought you out? It¡¯s all this kid¡¯s fault for being rude and disturbing your rest.¡±


    The ck-clothed youth unhappily said, ¡°You were the one who was rude. I came to sell a treasure, but you said I came with shabby metal.¡±


    The shopkeeper felt unjustly used, silently fuming, <em>When did I ever call your treasure a shabby piece of metal? I said that you shouldn¡¯t take out such things and waste my time.</em>


    Fortunately, Manager Ding didn¡¯t mince words. He smiled and said, ¡°Whether it¡¯s a treasure or not, I have to take a look at it first.¡±


    The ck-robed youth hardened up and said, ¡°I¡¯m not selling. Remember: this was a big deal you missed out on, all because of this shopkeeper.¡±


    When everyone heard that this youth wasn¡¯t selling after arguing for such a long time, they couldn¡¯t help but jeer.


    Even Manager Ding frowned. ¡°It¡¯s up to you whether you sell or not, but since you¡¯re already here, it¡¯s unreasonable to not even show the treasure before leaving.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! If you¡¯re leaving, you at least have to show us what you have!¡± the spectators heckled.


    With all these people trying to get him to show the treasure, the youth shrank back.


    Manager Ding coldly said, ¡°Young man, I¡¯ll say it one more time. The treasure is yours, and you can decide to sell it or not. But since you¡¯ve already caused such a ruckus, you at least have to show it, or else I¡¯ll have to use you of messing around with my Treasure Appraiser Boutique.¡±


    This was a serious crime, and Manager Ding¡¯s words alone were enough to have the government office¡¯s bailiffs arrest him.


    With no choice, the youth said, ¡°If you¡¯re going that far, then I¡¯ll show you, but let me repeat it again: I¡¯m not selling. I¡¯m going to Canglong Prefecture to sell this Crystallized Sandworm!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Manager Ding was aghast.


    He saw the youth take out a ck rock, which was clearly a Crystallized Sandworm.


    Hm, I wonder where this young man with a Crystallized Sandworm could havee from, hmmmmm¡­

 Chapter 360

    Chapter 360: A Thief¡¯s Guilty Conscience


    ¡°What did you say?¡±


    In the main hall of the Stone Gate Sect, Shi Jingzhai¡¯s eyes grew so wide that they almost came out of their sockets as he red at Liang Xingbang.


    ¡°I¡¯ve just received word that someone was selling Crystallized Sandworm down in the vige,¡± Liang Xingbang repeated.


    ¡°How could this have happened?¡± Shi Jingzhai hollered.


    ¡°I also don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on. Some kid came out of nowhere and said he wanted to sell Crystallized Sandworm.¡±


    ¡°Can you confirm this?¡± Yu Wanniang hastily said. The matter of the Crystallized Sandworms was of utmost importance, and they couldn¡¯t help but feel nervous.


    Liang Xingbang replied, ¡°Old Ding confirmed that it was a Crystallized Sandworm, but it was a little small. It was probably used.¡±


    ¡°Can we identify where it came from?¡± Yu Wanniang asked.


    Their back and forth was almost like an interrogation. Thankfully, Liang Xingbang¡¯s mind was in chaos, and he wasn¡¯t in the mood to argue about such things. He just shook his head and replied, ¡°No. That youth showed his sandworm and then left, saying that our store¡¯s shopkeeper was too proud and that he was too angry to sell to us. As they had a rather loud quarrel, quite a few people know about this.¡±


    ¡°This appraiser is killing me!¡± Shi Jingzhai erupted with astonishing power. If that shopkeeper had been here, he probably would have been shocked to death by this intimidating power!


    Yu Wanniang paled. ¡°This is a problem. How could this have urred? We¡¯ve had control over the sandworm mining area for ages, and we¡¯ve already mined everything out. How could one have gotten out? Or was it not from the mine and purely a coincidence?¡±


    Shi Jingzhai red at Yu Wanniang. ¡°This isn¡¯t what¡¯s important! It doesn¡¯t matter where the sandworm came from. The moment it gets out that a sandworm appeared in the Mount Eternal area, trouble will inevitably follow. What do you think the Basking Moon Sect will do once they learn of this matter?¡±


    The three elders turned fearful when they thought about what would happen when the Basking Moon Sect learned of this affair.


    This was an understanding that came from a difference of perspective.


    From Tang Jie¡¯s perspective, he not only needed to discover it but also have evidence of it. But for these three elders, even a rumor of a sandworm out on the market had them feeling like they were on the edge of a cliff.


    It was precisely this difference that made the three of them react in exactly the way Tang Jie had predicted.


    Liang Xingbang said, ¡°The first thing we need to do is to put a stop to the rumors so that no more people learn of this.¡±


    ¡°How do we do that?¡± Yu Wanniang asked.


    Liang Xingbang and Shi Jingzhai nced at each, and then they both made chopping motions.


    Yu Wanniang was shocked. ¡°¡®Kill them all¡¯?¡±


    The chubby Liang Xingbang, who seemed like a perfect mediator, grimly said, ¡°What else can we do? The situation is urgent, so we don¡¯t have a lot of options.¡±


    ¡°How do you n to exin the massacre of an entire vige? Too many people know, and it¡¯s difficult to pick them all out, so how can you ensure that word doesn¡¯t get out regardless?¡±


    Shi Jingzhai coldly said, ¡°Is an exnation needed? This was done by bandits. As for how to prevent word from getting out, the sandworm incident took ce in the day, and word is just getting around. Tonight, the bandits will raid the vige, and so we have the exnation and resultant disaster. To prevent this disaster from happening again, even if there are survivors, they¡¯ll keep the matter of the sandworm to themselves. Otherwise, the vigers who had died would have died in vain. Our Stone Gate Sect can even use this matter to restrict any rumors to ensure that the vige is no longer harmed.¡±


    Yu Wanniang trembled. ¡°Senior Brothers, rethink this! This is several hundred lives! How can this conduct be worthy of our status as cultivators of Immortality?¡±


    ¡°¡®Cultivators of Immortality¡¯? Until we cultivate ourselves into Immortals, we¡¯re still human!¡± Shi Jingzhai solemnly replied.


    Human nature was evil!


    Liang Xingbang added on, ¡°Junior Sister, there¡¯s no need to think that you¡¯re dirtying your hands. None of us needs to do anything. We can just have the people below us do it.¡±


    Yu Wanniang coldly replied, ¡°If you don¡¯t kill them yourself, you won¡¯t feel any shame?¡±


    Shi Jingzhai snorted, ¡°Woman! A true man has to be fierce and decisive! What do puny mortal lives matter? Yu Wanniang, let me tell you: when faced with danger, let alone several hundred vigers, I could even kill thousands or tens of thousands and still feel no shame, still be true to my heart!¡±


    ¡°You!¡± Yu Wanniang red. ¡°You¡¯re not human!¡±


    ¡°You had best remember that you¡¯re in together with these two inhuman guys!¡± Shi Jingzhai gruffly said. ¡°You¡¯re also guilty of hiding the Crystallized Sandworms. All of us will have to take responsibility if this gets out!¡±


    Yu Wanniang angrily ignored him.


    In the end, Liang Xingbang soothed, ¡°Let¡¯s not argue among us. Don¡¯t forget that it¡¯s not just the vigers. There¡¯s another person who¡¯s the cause behind all of this!¡±


    ¡°Yes, that youth.¡± Yu Wanniang¡¯s eyes shed. ¡°We have to eliminate this person. If he gets to Canglong Prefecture, the troubles will be endless. It¡¯s not like we can kill everyone in Canglong Prefecture, yes?¡±


    This time, it was Yu Wanniang who proposed silencing witnesses first.


    Without that youth causing trouble, the Stone Gate Sect wouldn¡¯t be in such hot water. Yu Wanniang loathed this young man.


    ¡°So there are no objections, then? Good. I think we should have Lu Dong take care of this,¡± Liang Xingbang said.


    ¡°¡®Lu Dong¡¯?¡± Yu Wanniang was surprised.


    Lu Dong was the leader of a gang in the Mount Eternal region, and he was also an outer disciple of the Stone Gate Sect, responsible for taking care of the seedier missions for the sect. Thus, very few people knew about his connection to the Stone Gate Sect. However, as this man was usually on the outside, he wasn¡¯t exactly the ideal candidate, whether it was in terms of strength, personality, or loyalty. Whether it was pretending to be bandits and ughtering the town, or killing the ck-clothed youth, these weren¡¯t small matters. Why give this person the responsibility?


    But after some thought, Yu Wanniang knew what Liang Xingbang wanted. He clearly nned to get rid of Lu Dong through this matter so that there would truly be no witnesses left.


    Shi Jingzhai giggled. ¡°That would be wonderful.¡±


    Yu Wanniang sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t care anymore. You guys decide on this. I¡¯m going to find Tang Jie.¡±


    She began to walk out.


    ¡°What are you going to Tang Jie for?¡± Liang Xingbang and Shi Jingzhai both became nervous.


    Yu Wanniang replied in a huff, ¡°What? You paranoid fools, you think I¡¯m going to tell on you? I¡¯m going to find him so that I can drag him to Stone Gate Peak. Because of that damned Jin n, Tang Jie is lingering around. We can¡¯t have him run off to the vige at a time like this.¡±


    The two of them sighed in relief.


    ¡°Moreover¡­¡± Yu Wanniang hesitated before saying, ¡°Something doesn¡¯t feel right. I need to see if Tang Jie is connected to this, or if he already knows something.¡±


    While that night¡¯s interview under intoxication had already proved that Tang Jie hadn¡¯t found anything, now that something like this had happened, Yu Wanniang couldn¡¯t help but be apprehensive.


    The two of them found this reasonable, so they headed off with Yu Wanniang to Tang Jie¡¯s residence. But they were told that Tang Jie had gone to the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s branch hall to y some go with Zhang Taixu¡ªbored from waiting for the audit to be done, Tang Jie was seeking amusement wherever he could.


    The three of them went to the vige to seek out Zhang Taixu, but they learned from Zhang Taixu that Tang Jie was in an ill mood after losing two games and had gone out to clear his mind. Shi Jingzhai asked where he had gone, to which Zhang Taixu rolled his eyes and replied, ¡°How should I know? We cultivators wander about like wild cranes. Those of high cultivation level could easily cover ten thousand kilometers in a day. If Tang Jie isn¡¯t worried about tiring himself out, he could have even run off to Dusnd.¡± He looked at Shi Jingzhai like he was an idiot, and Shi Jingzhai knew that panic had caused his intelligence to fall somewhat, so he could only stomp his feet and leave.


    At the same time, in a mountain forest on the way to Canglong Prefecture, Xi Canhen had a bundle on his back as he made his way along the uneven path. He was still wearing those ck clothes, but he had taken off that veiled hat. Next to him was little Bao¡¯er.


    After showing the Crystallized Sandworm in Jubao Vige, Xi Canhen had set off for Canglong Prefecture.


    It took about three days to get to Canglong Prefecture from Jubao Vige by foot. Xi Shangyue had already arrived at the Wei Estate, but Xi Canhen¡¯s journey was foreordained to be more difficult than his sister¡¯s.


    The Stone Gate Sect would not let him so easily reach Canglong Prefecture, and there was no doubt that he would be pursued. But how long could Xi Canhenst against this pursuit? Was it a few days? Or would he die before even seeing the first night?


    No one knew the answer, and not even Tang Jie had been able to give him a hard answer.


    For the same reason, no one knew how long Xi Canhen needed to endure this pressure, for this all depended on Tang Jie. All Xi Canhen could do was survive until Tang Jie finished doing whatever he needed to do!


    Under this immense pressure, the youth¡¯s expression remained calm.


    What was any of this to him?


    Whenever he had been stealing the ore in the mine, when had he not been walking on the precipice of death? It had been a miracle that he had already been able to live this long.


    Without Tang Jie, he would have already died to the flying sword of that Stone Gate disciple at the entrance to the mine. Compared to that dark time, at least Tang Jie had given him a life, given him hope. For this youth who had just escaped those extremely impoverished circumstances, this was already a sort of blessing.


    It was difficult to make one¡¯s way through the dark mountain forest, but Xi Canhen pressed on. Only when it was getting dark did he find a tree to sit under. He took out some rations and began to eat them. At the same time, he took out arge b of meat and said to the tiger, ¡°Bao¡¯er,e here!¡±


    The little tiger looked at him, sat on the ground, and proceeded to ignore him.


    Xi Canhen shouted again, ¡°I¡¯ll give you something tasty.¡±


    The little tiger licked his lips, but he continued to ignore him, appearing to care nothing for that piece of meat.


    Xi Canhen could only sigh at this.


    Although Tang Jie had given him the little tiger and told the tiger to protect him, as a fiend tiger, Bao¡¯er was extremely arrogant. While he had yet to reach Mind Opening, he knew how to act ording to the person. Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng were both cultivators, so it was okay if these peoplemanded him. But Xi Canhen was a mere mortal, so what right did he have to order him around? Even if Tang Jie had ordered him to protect this kid, that would be by his will and not by themand of others.


    Trying to bait him with meat? He was being looked down on too much.


    In thesest few days, Xi Canhen had tried his best to improve his rtionship with the little tiger, but Bao¡¯er had ignored him, leaving Xi Canhen feeling extremely helpless.


    After another failure, Xi Canhen could only put the meat down.


    At this moment, Bao¡¯er suddenly ran a few steps, opened up his wings, and took off into the depths of the forest.


    Xi Canhen was stunned. ¡°Bao¡¯er! Don¡¯t run off! Wait for me!¡±


    Xi Canhen panicked and tried to chase after the little tiger, but there was no way he could keep up. In the blink of an eye, the tiger was gone.


    The tiger¡¯s sudden flight left Xi Canhen dumbfounded.


    He had known that he couldn¡¯t control the little tiger, but he had tried his best to get on good terms with him, doing his utmost to attend to the little tiger¡¯s needs over thest few days. In order to prevent the little tiger from being discovered and to maximize the time the tiger could spend outside the beast token, he had even chosen this small path through difficult terrain. <em>Even if you don¡¯t appreciate my efforts, at least I didn¡¯t offend you, right?</em>


    But even this hadn¡¯t been enough to stop the little tiger from abandoning him.


    Xi Canhen¡¯s heart ached at the thought.


    Serving as bait for the enemy pursuit didn¡¯t make the youth afraid, but he felt aggrieved over how the little tiger hadn¡¯t appreciated his kindness. In these three days, he had bathed the tiger, fed him, kept himpany, and taken him out for walks, but it had all been futile. Without the little tiger, how was he going to make it the rest of the way? Any random killer sent by the Stone Gate Sect could probably take his life, no?


    As he dejectedly stood in the forest and despaired over his fate, a tiger roared in the distance.


    Startled, Xi Canhen turned in the direction of the sound and saw the little tiger flying back.


    In his ws was an adult Blossom Deer.


    ¡°Bao¡­ Bao¡¯er?¡±


    Xi Canhen looked at the little tiger in surprise. It turned out that the tiger hadn¡¯t abandoned him. He had just gone hunting.


    He then saw the little tiger make a beautiful circle in the air, and as he passed overhead, the Blossom Deernded in the ground in front of him.


    The little tiger made another circle beforending in front of him. He bit into the Blossom Deer and tore off a big chunk of meat. He then raised his head and looked at Xi Canhen as if he was saying, ¡°<em>This</em> is fresh meat!¡±


    Was this a response to the fresh meat he had been trying to lure the tiger over with before?


    Xi Canhen couldn¡¯t help butugh.


    Tears streaked down his face: tears of joy from the fact that the little tiger hadn¡¯t abandoned him.


    But these tears confused the little tiger.


    He didn¡¯t understand why his catching a deer had made this kid start crying.


    <em>Was I bullying him? Oh no! If ¡°Daddy¡± finds out, he¡¯ll scold me!</em>


    The little tiger nervously watched as Xi Canhen wept in joy, thinking that he had to do something to salvage the situation.


    Thus, he went up to Xi Canhen and put that piece of meat in his mouth down. He looked at Xi Canhen as if he was saying, ¡°You can eat it.¡±


    Xi Canhen was once more dumbfounded by the little tiger¡¯s actions, staring at him in a daze.


    The human and tiger stared at each other.


    As the little tiger looked at this kid, whose face was still wet with tears, he started to get annoyed. <em>Why don¡¯t you wipe your tears already? Are you still not satisfied?</em>


    He turned around and tore off another piece of meat for Xi Canhen.


    Xi Canhen still did nothing. The little tiger panicked, and he ran off and ate that piece of meat that Xi Canhen had tried to give him earlier. He then looked back at Xi Canhen.


    When Xi Canhen saw this, he finally understood what was going on, excitedly shouting, ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great! Bao¡¯er, you¡¯ve finally epted me!¡±


    He rushed over, embraced Bao¡¯er, and began to kiss him.


    Bao¡¯er was annoyed by this affection, but as he had finally cheered this kid up, he could only endure, helplessly growling as he thought to himself, <em>Just hurry up with your kisses and leave already.</em> But Xi Canhen thought that he was purring in joy, so he kissed the tiger a few more times.


    It was night, and the tired Xi Canhen decided to pass the night in the woods.


    He slept very soundly. In his dreams, he protected the little tiger, attended to the little tiger, and ultimately received the tiger¡¯s acknowledgment, bing extremely good friends with the tiger.


    Inparison, the little tiger¡¯s sleep was somewhat restless.


    The light of the numerous stars in the night sky prated through the leaves.


    In the starlight, Bao¡¯er looking at the sleeping Xi Canhen, finding him to be just like a sleeping child.


    This was different from when he was with Tang Jie, where Tang Jie took care of him. When Bao¡¯er was with this youth, he suddenly felt like he was the one who had to be the caretaker. It was a very strange feeling, like the instinct strong lifeforms had toward weak lifeforms.


    It was an instinct that could manifest as disregard, ridicule, or murder, but it could also manifest as sympathy, consideration, and even a desire to help.


    For Tang Jie¡¯s sake, the little tiger obviously couldn¡¯t do anything in the former category, only in thetter.


    A gust of wind blew off the nket over Xi Canhen¡¯s body.


    After some thought, the little tiger grabbed the nket with his mouth and put it back on. He then quietlyy down and closed his eyes, like a mother protecting her child.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    It waste at night, the darkness like ink.


    After the mor of the daytime, Jubao Vige was all quiet.


    The only people about at this hour were the night watchmen.


    Fifty-some people, all dressed in ck, silently appeared in front of the vige entrance.


    Their leader, a man with a ck scarf wrapped around his head and a steel saber in his hand, pointed several times at the people behind him, made a few gestures, and then pointed at the vige. He made a vigorous chopping motion with his right hand, after which he said in a raspy voice, ¡°Kill everyone! No survivors!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± the men in ck called out before rushing into the vige.


    These men were all well-trained and disciplined, moving in unison, each toward a different house. In the darkness, their des gleamed with a cold light. A massacre was about tomence.


    At this moment, all of them suddenly heard a sigh.


    This sigh came out of nowhere and made all of the men in ck freeze in shock. But when they looked around, they couldn¡¯t see anyone.


    Their leader suddenly turned to a nearby alleyway. ¡°Who¡¯s sneaking around over there?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the ones sneaking around?¡± a voice casually replied.


    A person walked out of the alley, standing in the shadows so that their face was obscured.


    The leader¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°The brothers of the Changshan Society are doing business here. People who have nothing to do with this should leave at once.¡±


    This visitor was suspicious, and the man in ck didn¡¯t want any unnecessary fights, so he yielded first.


    But the man in the shadow sighed. ¡°The scum of the Changshan Society are based several hundred kilometers from here. You could pick anywhere else to rob, but you run all the way to these remote mountains? Or are you pretending to be the Changshan Society for some reason? Moreover, the Changshan Society is a group of horse bandits. When did they get a Mortal Shedding Spirit Master?¡±


    The leader was stunned and knew that he was in trouble. He took a few steps back and said, ¡°Kill him!¡±


    He was still cautious, having his men strike first.


    The men in ck surrounded the man in the shadows and attacked.


    Tang Jie softly sighed.


    He pulled out his saber and swung it horizontally.


    A line of fire gushed out of the edge.


    Unlike before, this was not a violet me that raged like a sea of fire. It was concentrated and solid.


    This line of me swept through the men in ck like saber energy. A momentter, all of the charging men in ck swayed, and then their bodies fell into two halves, turning to ash upon striking the ground.


    Several dozen lives had been instantly taken!


    Only their leader was still standing there in shock.


    Although his men had been ordinary people, killing several dozen people had to have required some enormously powerful spell art. Otherwise, he could never have pulled it off so easily.


    This single swing of the saber had shown the gap between them, and the leader of the men in ck knew that he was in dire straits.


    He stared in shock at the ash on the ground, and then he fell back while shouting, ¡°Senior, this one knows his errors and is willing to hand over everything and immediately retreat! Please, show mercy!¡±


    He took out his Mustard Seed Bag.


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°If I show mercy to you, who will show mercy to the innocent vigers of Jubao Vige? What crime did theymit, that they all had to be exterminated?¡±


    The man in ck groaned in despair. ¡°We are all cultivators of Immortality. The path is long and arduous, so we should assist each other. Senior, why go to such great lengths for some mortals?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°¡®Cultivators of Immortality¡¯? Until we cultivate ourselves into Immortals, we¡¯re still human!¡±


    Human nature was good!


    Tang Jie has sessfully baited out a reaction from the three Stone Gate Sect elders. What will they do next?

 Chapter 361

    Chapter 361: Suspicions


    The first ray of the morning sun prated through the forest canopy, motes of dust dancing in the beam. As it fell on Xi Canhen¡¯s face, the youth shook his head and turned over to keep sleeping, but he felt something prodding into him.


    He opened his eyes and saw arge tiger lying next to him, its bristly whiskers stabbing into his face like needles.


    Xi Canhen smiled. Unable to control himself, he reached over and petted the tiger on the forehead.


    Perhaps because he didn¡¯t like it, Bao¡¯er turned over. He turned in the direction of Xi Canhen and instantly rolled right on top of him.


    Several hundred catties of tiger body pressed down Xi Canhen, and he yelled, ¡°Bao¡¯er¡­ Bao¡¯er¡­ you¡¯re crushing me!¡±


    The cries stirred the little tiger, and when he woke up and saw Xi Canhen under him, he tilted his head as if curious as to how this kid had gotten under him.


    Xi Canhen started to find it hard to breathe.


    He waved his hand and weakly pped the tiger.


    The little tiger finally realized that there was something wrong with Xi Canhen, so he slowly stood up, shook his body, and moved over a little to keep sleeping, apparently caring little about how weak Xi Canhen was.


    Xi Canhen held his chest and sat up. Pointing at the tiger, he said, ¡°You¡­ you little¡­ The assassin from the Stone Gate Sect hasn¡¯t even arrived, and the one who was supposed to protect me almost killed me.¡±


    The little tigerzily nced at him and then kept sleeping.


    Helpless, Xi Canhen muttered, ¡°Ruthless thing.¡±


    Since he was already awake, Xi Canhen stood up, took out his sword, and started to practice.


    The sword form that Tang Jie had passed to him automatically appeared in his mind, and Xi Canhen swung the sword ording to his memories.


    As he had opened his Jade Gate, even without a Spiritual Space, he could still circte spiritual energy through his body. The sword whistled through the air, somewhat imbued with the aura of sword energy.


    Even though he wasn¡¯t an official cultivator, he at least had some of the aura of a martial arts expert.


    After he had finished one sequence, Xi Canhen put away the sword and said to the little tiger, ¡°Bao¡¯er, what do you think?¡±


    The little tigerzily yawned and swatted at a tree. This swipe scraped off some bark that flew at Xi Canhen, and Xi Canhen raised his sword to block.


    He had practiced the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword for three days and had a basic grasp of its forms. At this moment, he very naturally tried to use a sword form to slice apart the bark, but to his shock, when the edge of his sword made contact with the bark, he felt like he was trying to cut into iron. It was Xi Canhen¡¯s sword that was knocked back, striking Xi Canhen and sending him flying.


    Fortunately, the strength had been applied exquisitely, only enough to send him flying and not wound him. All that ended up happening was that he rolled on the ground a little.


    Sitting on his butt, Xi Canhen said in surprise, ¡°So powerful! Is this an Immortal art?¡±


    The little tiger looked at him in disdain.


    Xi Canhen rushed up and grabbed the little tiger. ¡°How about you teach me?¡±


    <em>Grrr¡­</em> The little tiger¡¯s fur was bristling from how eager this kid was, and for the first time, he took a few steps back.


    <em>A human taking a tiger as his master? Have you no dignity?</em>


    The little tiger turned his head, no longer willing to look. No matter how Xi Canhen begged, the tiger steadfastly ignored him.


    ¡°Fine. Don¡¯t teach me, then.¡± Seeing that the tiger was ignoring him, Xi Canhen had no choice but to give up.


    As he was backing away, the little tiger suddenly looked at him, a sharp light in his tiger eyes.


    Xi Canhen looked at him in surprise, and then he felt a chill in his heart. Getting a bad feeling, he ran forward without looking back.


    At the same time, a dark silhouette suddenly appeared not far away from Xi Canhen¡¯s back, rushing at Xi Canhen while unleashing a wave of sharp sword energy.


    Xi Canhen had reacted quickly, but he was still just an ordinary person. This attack made from a cultivator¡¯s spiritual energy flew straight at him, and there was no way Xi Canhen could dodge it.


    <em>Raooo!</em> The little tiger bellowed.


    The Tiger King Roar resounded through the air, and that sword light froze for a brief moment.


    Xi Canhen executed a roll, and the sword light brushed over his back and struck a tree.


    The ambusher had missed, so with a grunt, he swung his sword and unleashed another wave of sword energy at Xi Canhen.


    However, having missed the first attack, the ambusher had already missed the ideal moment. As soon as Xi Canhen had dodged the first strike, the little tiger rushed out, swatting a paw at the assant¡¯s sword.


    The sh of power had the assant howling as he staggered back.


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    As he was pushed back by the tiger, the ambusher said in disbelief, ¡°An upper-grade fiend tiger? How?¡±


    Only now did it be clear that the assant was a muscr man.


    His name was Hong Antao, and he was a third-generation disciple of the Stone Gate Sect, at the Spirit Lake Tier. He had been a hunter before entering the Stone Gate Sect and was skilled in pursuit, which was why he had been tasked with pursuing Xi Canhen. He had thought that killing an ordinary youth would be a trifle, but to his surprise, the youth had an upper-grade fiend tiger protecting him, much to Hong Antao¡¯s horror.


    With his strength, let alone an elite upper-grade fiend tiger like Bao¡¯er, even an average middle-grade fiend was possibly too much for him.


    The moment the fiend tiger acted, Hong Antao turned and ran. Not willing to let him go that easily, the little tiger chased after him with a roar. The tiger opened his wings, stirring up wind and lightning. He was many times faster than Hong Antao, so with a single charge, he managed to get behind Hong Antao and swat at him with a paw.


    If this blow struck true, Hong Antao would be doomed no matter how many lives he had.


    But at this moment, Hong Antao suddenly shouted, turned around, and fired a green wind de.


    The little tiger nced at it with scorn, but just when he was about to ignore it, he discovered that it wasn¡¯t actually aimed at him, but at Xi Canhen behind him.


    Aghast, he stopped chasing Hong Antao, turning around and firing off a lightning bolt: his Galethunder de. It mmed into the wind de, and the two of them exploded in a burst of light.


    Hong Antao seized this chance to flee.


    Enraged, the little tiger wanted to give chase, but then Hong Antao did exactly the same thing again, turning around and attacking Xi Canhen, forcing the little tiger to turn around and go to his aid.


    Two unsessful attacks was very rare for the little tiger.


    But this was the limit of what Hong Antao could do.


    His biggest problem was that he didn¡¯t have Xi Canhen close at hand. The two failed attacks had given Xi Canhen enough time to roll behind a big tree, robbing Hong Antao of any further chance to attack.


    Without the target of Xi Canhen, Hong Antao¡¯s life quickly reached its end.


    The tiger came with a roaring wind, reaching him in the blink of an eye.


    The giant tiger ws swiped at Hong Antao¡¯s face, obliterating the hunter¡¯s face with a single blow.


    The little tigernded on the ground and furiously roared at Hong Antao.


    While he had sessfully killed the assassin, he wasn¡¯t happy at all.


    This person had only been at the Spirit Lake Tier, yet the tiger had failed to get him several times. It was simply uneptable.


    He turned to look at Xi Canhen, who peeked his head out from his hiding ce.


    The little tiger suddenly realized that this youth was pitifully weak, so weak that his existence dragged the tiger down.


    <em>Hm, I guess I should teach him a few things, </em>the little tiger proudly thought to himself.


    At least this kid would be able to protect himself the next time there was a sneak attack.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Stone Gate Peak.


    Liang Xingbang and Shi Jingzhai anxiously paced back and forth across the room. When Yu Wanniang entered, they went up to her and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the situation?¡±


    Yu Wanniang shook her head, her face pale.


    Their hearts sank. Shi Jingzhai anxiously asked, ¡°What does that mean? Can¡¯t you talk?¡±


    Yu Wanniang replied, ¡°Lu Dong didn¡¯te back. He and his men have disappeared.¡±


    ¡°¡®Disappeared¡¯?¡± The two of them were startled. ¡°What of the vigers?¡±


    Yu Wanniang replied, ¡°Nothing happened to the vige. When the sun rose, everything was going on as normal. Only Lu Dong and his men were gone.¡±


    The two of them gasped.


    At this point, both Shi Jingzhai and Liang Xingbang realized that something was wrong.


    If someone had found a piece of Crystallized Sandworm inadvertently, then the mass disappearance of Lu Dong and his men shouldn¡¯t have happened. This meant that this matter was no coincidence, but that someone had instigated it.


    Thispletely changed the nature of the situation, and all three of them became uneasy.


    Who exactly was opposing them from the shadows?


    Spreading news, creating rumors, and even killing the people of the Stone Gate Sect from the shadows?


    After some thought, Shi Jingzhai said, ¡°This matter is highly suspicious. After all, all of this happened after Tang Jie arrived, and his mission was to inspect the mines. Could he have discovered something in the mines?¡±


    Yu Wanniang asked, ¡°If that was the case, why didn¡¯t he ask about it that night? Moreover, if he had noticed anything, why didn¡¯t he tell the Basking Moon Sect rather than do all this?¡±


    Shi Jingzhai couldn¡¯t answer this question, so he gruffly said, ¡°How could I know? We should just seize him and interrogate him.¡±


    Liang Xingbang coldly snorted. ¡°We still don¡¯t even know if Tang Jie has anything to do with this, but I do know that if we seize Tang Jie, it won¡¯t be three days before a True Person from the Basking Moon Sect arrives and purges the Stone Gate Sect so thoroughly that not even the chickens and dogs will be spared.¡±


    ¡°I worry that that will happen even if we don¡¯t seize him!¡± Shi Jingzhai roared. ¡°We couldn¡¯t find him yesterday, and then something like this happens on the very same night. I won¡¯t believe it if you say that this has nothing to do with him.¡±


    But to his surprise, Yu Wanniang¡¯s face suddenly lit up. ¡°This matter might truly have nothing to do with Tang Jie.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± The two of them turned to look at Yu Wanniang.


    Yu Wanniang exined, ¡°The maids I posted at Tang Jie¡¯s side told me that Tang Jie returnedst night, and upon his return, he spent all his time in cultivation and didn¡¯t go out again.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say that earlier?¡± Shi Jingzhai asked.


    Yu Wanniang brusquely replied, ¡°I only learned about it this morning. That kid spends the daytime ying around and seeing the sights, and uses his nights to cultivate. You think I have so much free time that I can keep an eye on him every day?¡±


    ¡°Can we confirm that that was the real Tang Jie?¡± Shi Jingzhai uneasily said.


    Yu Wanniang replied, ¡°There¡¯s no doubt. I had arranged for those two girls to try and seduce him whenever they had the chance, but s, that kid¡¯s heart is set on the Dao, and he is immune to their temptations. But this means that they interact with him every day and won¡¯t be tricked by just anybody.¡±


    ¡°But that kid isn¡¯t just anybody,¡± Liang Xingbang vaguely said.


    ¡°Senior Brother, are you saying that you¡¯re certain it is Tang Jie?¡±


    Liang Xingbang hesitated, but he ultimately shook his head. ¡°Not at all. Actually¡­¡±


    In truth, without him needing to even say anything, a momentter, the three of them all had the same thought.


    If Tang Jie was uninvolved, then who else could it be?


    The three of them looked at each other, their hearts going cold, but none of them said a word.


    The mood suddenly became awkward. After a while, Shi Jingzhai chuckled and said, ¡°Senior Brother, if I¡¯m not mistaken, weren¡¯t you the one holding all the Crystallized Sandworms?¡±


    Liang Xingbang¡¯s face darkened. ¡°Junior Brother, what¡¯s the meaning of this question?¡±


    ¡°I was just asking. Second Senior Brother doesn¡¯t need to be so sensitive about it,¡± Shi Jingzhai said with a smile.


    Liang Xingbang grunted, ¡°I don¡¯t think that I¡¯m the one being sensitive here, hm? I¡¯ve been keeping the Crystallized Sandworms very well, but whatever I have stored away is as much as there is. If you two don¡¯t believe me, you can check if a piece is missing. But, Junior Brother Shi, you were the one in charge of extracting it, and our knowledge of how much was extracted was based only on your word alone. It¡¯s not impossible for you to have extracted one or two pieces and not recorded it.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai roared, ¡°Bullshit! I basically had to strip myself naked any time I went in there, and you were able to see everything I took out. Where exactly do you think I could have hidden such things? Up my ass? You think I put myself in so much danger to get that sandworm just to tarnish myself like that? It¡¯s absurd!¡±


    Liang Xingbang grew angry. ¡°Weren¡¯t you the one who used me first?¡±


    Yu Wanniang hastily mediated. ¡°Alright, enough. We¡¯re all on the same side here, so what are we fighting for?¡±


    Shi Jingzhai grumpily said, ¡°Yu Wanniang, don¡¯t stand on the side and pretend that you didn¡¯t do anything. You¡¯re also involved here. You were the one in contact with the other side, and you were also the one who took the samples. We gave you five pieces, and you didn¡¯t bring back a single one. What if this piece was one of those pieces?¡±


    Yu Wanniang was infuriated by this usation. ¡°Hey, why are you ming this on me? I used those pieces of Crystallized Sandworm to win the trust of the other side and open things up, did I not? You think it was easy for me to pull all that off? There¡¯s a lot that goes into working with those ruthless fellows while not leaving behind any incriminating evidence that could be used against us. At times, you even have to let them get a little advantage over you and work with some cruel and greedy sorts who would eat you up without leaving anything behind. After all that work I put into settling everything, you turn around and use me? Truly, working hard only to get nothing out of it.¡±


    The three of them stared at each other, and they all sat down in a huff and began to ignore each other.


    After some time, they felt like this wasn¡¯t going to get them anywhere. Liang Xingbang ultimately said, ¡°Do you think that this matter could be rted to those guys?¡±


    ¡°Them?¡± Shi Jingzhai dropped his head and thought it over. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be. We¡¯ve already given them a very cheap price.¡±


    Yu Wanniang¡¯s eyes shed. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. People are always greedy, always trying to get as much as they can. We can¡¯tpletely rule them out. For example, they could use this matter to apply more pressure on us and make us drop the price again¡­¡±


    Shi Jingzhai and Liang Xingbang gasped. ¡°They wouldn¡¯t be this ruthless, would they?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say,¡± Yu Wanniang worriedly said. ¡°This incident happened right after Tang Jie arrived. This might not be a coincidence, but someone using the chance to pressure us. In the end, Tang Jie is only a student, not even an official disciple yet. Do you really think he has the ability to n all this out? And even if he found anything, what reason does he have to do it? And I even used my secret art to plumb the depths of his heart. But those guys have the intelligence and the ability. They¡¯re the only ones capable of cleaning up Lu Dong¡¯s group without a sound.¡±


    ¡°If this really is the case, then we¡¯re in trouble,¡± Liang Xingbang worriedly said.


    Yu Wanniang shook her head. ¡°It might not be that bad. If it was them, then things be simple. At worst, they¡¯ll just ask us to drop the price. So long as we¡¯re willing to do that, it should resolve the problem.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai angrily said, ¡°It sounds easy, but do you know how many goods we¡¯re talking about here? It took the sect thirty-some years to umte it all! And it¡¯s not just Crystallized Sandworms. There¡¯s also the spirit stones and other treasures we¡¯ve umted over the years. There¡¯s so much that you can¡¯t even fit it all in a Mustard Seed Bag. We¡¯ve already given them a sixty percent discount from the market price on these things, and you want to give them more? Just how low do you want it to go?¡±


    Yu Wanniang retorted, ¡°What else can we do? Can¡¯t you see how they¡¯re already beating us over the head?¡±


    Shi Jingzhai bellowed, ¡°That¡¯s your problem! In the end, it¡¯s all because you found the wrong person!¡±


    Yu Wanniang was crazy from anger. ¡°Alright, then you find one! You find a sect with the ability and daring to take these goods worth tens of millions of coins!¡±


    Shi Jingzhai wanted to keep going, but Liang Xingbang stopped him. ¡°Alright, enough. Why are we arguing again? Let¡¯s stop and end the matter here. We still have to find a solution. And we still haven¡¯t figured out what¡¯s going on, right? Wanniang, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll have to take another trip. You were the one who contacted those people, so it¡¯s up to you to ask them if they were behind this, and if it was them, how we should handle it.¡±


    The short and chubby Liang Xingbang normally wasn¡¯t as imposing as Shi Jingzhai, but he had always been the brains of the group, proposing most of its ideas. Since he had spoken, Yu Wanniang and Shi Jingzhai were willing to listen.


    Yu Wanniang sternly nodded. ¡°In a little while, I¡¯ll go and contact them.¡±


    Liang Xingbang continued, ¡°In addition, after this incident, we can¡¯t keep the goods around. We need to conclude this deal as soon as possible. For the next few days, I¡¯ll sleep in the storehouse and keep constant watch over them so that there¡¯s no mishap. Old Shi, you keep an eye on Tang Jie.¡±


    ¡°What for?¡± Shi Jingzhai was confused.


    Liang Xingbang replied, ¡°Although those maids said that Tang Jie was there the entire night, the word of those lowly people isn¡¯t enough. It¡¯s best to be cautious around someone like Tang Jie.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Shi Jingzhai reluctantly replied.


    Yu Wanniang asked, ¡°What about the vige?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no stopping the news, so we can only let it spread. Anyway, there¡¯s no evidence, so we can just treat it like a baseless rumor.¡± Liang Xingbang¡¯s mind had cleared, and he knew that panic was useless. Even if the Basking Moon Sect really came to ask questions, it had no evidence, so they just had to insist that it was a rumor. The key here was to clean up all the evidence so that it wouldn¡¯te back to bite them.


    ¡°Finally, that kid who wanted to sell the sandworm. Although Manager Ding swore that he was just an ordinary person, Antao has yet to return, meaning that he might not have been as simple as he looked. We have to send a capable member of the sect to kill him,¡± Liang Xingbang said.


    Yu Wanniang frowned. ¡°If he¡¯s really someone from that side, isn¡¯t it somewhat inappropriate to kill him?¡±


    Liang Xingbang sinisterly smiled. ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry about that. Since they¡¯ve dared to stir trouble, they should be prepared to ept the consequences. Anyone who dares to harm our Stone Gate Sect¡­ shall be killed without mercy!¡±


    Surely nothing bad will happen to the boy and the tiger that he¡¯s starting to bond with. Surely¡­

 Chapter 362

    Chapter 362: Sounding Out


    When Shi Jingzhai arrived at Tang Jie¡¯s residence, he found that he wasn¡¯t in. Upon asking the maids, he learned that Tang Jie had gone out to Goldpool Peak to fish.


    Goldpool Peak was a mountain on the western side of Mount Eternal. But its original name had actually been Gold Apex Peak. Around one thousand years ago on Gold Apex Peak, a Celestial Heart True Person had engaged in a battle that darkened the heavens, shaved off the top of the mountain, and cratered the summit, and ake ended up forming in it. When the sun illuminated theke on the summit, it shed golden, and so it was called the Golden Pool, and Gold Apex Peak became Goldpool Peak.


    But while Goldpool Peak had a pool, it was one without fish. What had gotten ahold of Tang Jie, that he was running off to the Golden Pool to fish? Fortunately, cultivators often did many absurd things. So long as they wanted it, they could make the Golden Pool have fish.


    Upon learning that Tang Jie was at Goldpool Peak, Shi Jingzhai flew over to find him.


    Goldpool Peak was covered in white snow, and the surface of theke shone with a rosy light. For these two opposite scenes to appear in the same ce was both bizarre and harmonious, a unique sight.


    A wooden raft floated in the center of theke.


    Tang Jie casually sat on the raft with a wooden fishing pole in his hand, very much like a wandering and rxed Immortal. Arge school of koi swam back and forth in the water. A slender sewing needle had been dropped among the fish as Tang Jie¡¯s fishing hook.


    Such a hook naturally wouldn¡¯t be able to hook a single fish, but Tang Jie didn¡¯t care, just quietly waiting.


    Shi Jingzhai flew out from the distance, and when he called out to Tang Jie, Tang Jie finally smiled.


    The fish had bitten on the hook.


    He looked up and said, ¡°Is that True Person Shi? Why note down to fish with me, share a few drinks?¡±


    He raised the wine jar next to him into the air.


    Shi Jingzhaiughed and said, ¡°Young friend, you truly are in good spirits. If that¡¯s the case, there¡¯s no harm in keeping youpany.¡±


    He spoke as if he was just passing through.


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    He took out a piece of paper from his Mustard Seed Bag and folded it into a paper boat. He blew on the paper boat, which swelled in size, bing asrge as a real boat and resting on the surface of the water.


    Shi Jingzhai descended from the sky andnded at the prow of the boat. He waved his hand at Tang Jie and said, ¡°Young friend, why note on my boat? Your vessel is a little small.¡±


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but sigh in admiration.


    While Shi Jingzhai¡¯s turning paper into a boat seemed simple, this was truly the ability to transform objects, an ability that only those at Celestial Heart could grasp. Xu Muyang had used the same method to use a paper horse to send off Tang Jie.


    Upon receiving Shi Jingzhai¡¯s invitation, Tang Jie jumped onto the boat and praised him for his prowess. He took out a cup from his bag, poured some wine for Shi Jingzhai, and presented the cup to him.


    Shi Jingzhai sniffed the wine andughed. ¡°Twenty-year-old ginkgo flower wine! Tang Jie, did you rob the Chen n at the base of the mountain? You managed to get the only fine alcohol in all of the Mount Eternal region. And the fish in thiske! These are clearly the embroidered gold carp from Prince Jing¡¯s estate in Pearl City, yet they¡¯re here. It seems that you disappeared yesterday to run off to Qiong Province.¡±


    True Persons had sharp and formidable eyes, so formidable that Tang Jie brought his hands together in a salute. ¡°In the end, Tang Jie¡¯s little trick could not deceive the True Person¡¯s wise eyes.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai looked at the koi in theke, shaking his head and sighing. ¡°It¡¯s said that embroidered gold carp have a delectable taste, each one being the apex of gourmet in the mortal world. Prince Jing¡¯s estate has only raised around one thousand. For you to have brought over so many at once, you must have emptied out all the ponds in his home.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°That Prince Jing was far too petty. I only asked for one hundred from him, but he refused and said that he could only sell me ten at most. In a fit of rage, I sneaked in and emptied out his entire pool. That Prince Jing is probably about to explode from anger.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai frowned. ¡°Young friend, I know that you enjoy much favor from the Basking Moon Sect, being someone who has even personally received a rmendation card from Chief Ming. As Prince Jing is a mere mortal, taking a few of his fish is nothing much. But the Basking Moon Sect decreed long ago that only a True Person can sit on the same level as a mortal prince. Young friend, you are merely a Spirit Master, so your conduct was somewhat excessive.¡±


    Tang Jie indifferently replied, ¡°It¡¯s fine. At most, it is only the crime of disrespect, no big deal. Making a few small mistakes does nothing to harm one¡¯s greater dignity. One merely has to have a firm grasp on the major problems. After all, messing up on those could lead to the destruction of one¡¯s entire household.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai was shaken by these words.


    What sort of major affair could lead to the destruction of one¡¯s entire household?


    Now that he thought about it, there really was one.


    Had Tang Jie said these words on purpose, or were they just a passingment?


    Shi Jingzhai didn¡¯t know, but he grew more apprehensive.


    Drylyughing, he said, ¡°Young friend, you are right. So long as one keeps a firm grasp on major affairs, a few minor trifles will have no effect on one¡¯s dignity.¡±


    Tang Jie sat on the prow of the boat and threw his fishing rod back into theke. ¡°True Person, do you want to fish with me?¡±


    Shi Jingzhai looked at his ¡°hook¡± andughed. ¡°This is very interesting, young friend, using a straight hook to try and fish.¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°There¡¯s nothing else to do, so I¡¯m just ying around. True Person, don¡¯t look down on these embroidered gold koi. While they seem ignorant, they are actually very wary. If I truly managed to fish one out, they would probably immediately scatter, and this sight of the koi all gathered around would be no more.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai ruefully said, ¡°But doesn¡¯t that mean that I won¡¯t get to eat any embroidered gold koi?¡±


    Tang Jie heartilyughed. ¡°If that¡¯s what True Person wants, then even if Tang Jie must destroy this beautiful scene, I must catch a few fish.¡±


    He shook his rod, and the straight hook pierced through ten-some fish, skewering them together andnding on the deck, where the fish flopped around. The remaining koi saw what had happened and, sure enough, they instantly scattered. Even with his eyes, Shi Jingzhai couldn¡¯t see where all these fish had swum off to.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°This should be enough.¡±


    He took out a small knife and began to scrape off the scales.


    Shi Jingzhai saw him getting to work, so he took out a small stove and began to boil water. Tang Jie washed the in fish inke water and then threw them into a pot. Cultivators normally carried around a bottle of seasoning with them, so with a little chopped onion from one and some ginger slices from another, the two of them soon got to cooking up some fish soup on the boat. asionally, there werements like ¡°Don¡¯t make it all into soup! There are more than ten of them! Leave some to braise or to steam! If you don¡¯t have a wok, you can just create one!¡± ¡°We¡¯re cultivators, so if we don¡¯t have soy sauce, we can just make some! You can¡¯t? Then forget it. We¡¯ll just saut¨¦ it. That¡¯s also pretty tasty.¡± ¡°Do you know what a steamer basket is? I¡¯ll make the base while you create the rest.¡± ¡°The fire on this side is pretty strong. Old Shi, this pot of yours is pretty bad. One poke and I managed to break it! Yes, yes, I know it¡¯s made from paper.¡±


    Most of the time, it was Tang Jie speaking and Shi Jingzhai listening. His background and his past history meant that Tang Jie was rather well-qualified when it came to cooking such that he could be Shi Jingzhai¡¯s teacher. As he busied around, a feast of fish gradually began to form.


    Looking at this sumptuous fish feast, even Shi Jingzhai couldn¡¯t stop his fingers from twitching. Tang Jie said in satisfaction, ¡°Not bad! At least our mouths will be delighted today. Right, True Person, why not invite Sect Master Qiu, True Person Liang, and True Person Yu? These embroidered gold koi are hard toe by, so it¡¯s a little improper for the two of us to enjoy them alone.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai could only say to this, ¡°Old Liang has business and can¡¯t leave. As for Wanniang, she¡¯s not in the sect, so we can¡¯t call her over. But I can send a message to the sect master and invite him.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Is Miss Yu out?¡± Tang Jie casually said, ¡°That¡¯s a great pity. The Jin n¡¯s ounts will probably be done in a few days. I wonder if I will be able to see her before I leave.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai smiled. ¡°She¡¯s just gone to see a few friends and will be back by tomorrow night. It should be just in time to eat your embroidered gold koi.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Tang Jie smiled.


    Liang Yu couldn¡¯te, and Sect Master Qiu sent back a reply that he had business to do and couldn¡¯t free up any time. In the end, none of the three coulde, and the two were left alone to gorge themselves.


    After they had their fill of wine and food, Shi Jingzhai said that he had to leave. Although he had been told to keep an eye on Tang Jie, it wasn¡¯t like he could stay around Tang Jie twenty-four hours a day. In any case, so long as Tang Jie didn¡¯t leave the Stone Gate Sect, he couldn¡¯t make any trouble, so there was no need to pay him too much attention.


    Tang Jie grinned as he sent Shi Jingzhai off. But once Shi Jingzhai was gone, his eyes turned sharp.


    With a light wave of his hand, the fish that had fled swam back and began to circle Tang Jie¡¯s little raft.


    Tang Jie pointed, and one of the koi popped like a bubble. Clearly, it had been a fish made through Duplication. More pops could be heard as the numerous koi exploded into nonexistence. Apparently, the nearly one thousand fish here had all been duplicated. It was no wonder they had moved in such unison.


    Fortunately, they were fish. If they had been humans, Shi Jingzhai would have seen through them.


    He could have never imagined that, besides the ten-some fish he had eaten, all of the fish were fake. Tang Jie truly had gone to Prince Jing¡¯s estate to buy ten-some embroidered gold koi, but no matter how arrogant he was, he couldn¡¯t possiblypletely flip over a person¡¯s house.


    He had done all this to test whether Shi Jingzhai could see through his Duplication spell.


    Though he had managed to fool the two maids with his duplicate while ambushing Lu Dong¡¯s men, he hadcked the confidence to fool the True Persons with it, which was why he disappeared during the daytime. But after today¡¯s test, where he learned that Shi Jingzhai had not seen any problem with the fish, Tang Jie finally had the confidence to carry out his ns.


    For example, if Tang Jie wanted to go somewhere, he could have a duplicate drink and chat with Shi Jingzhai so that no one would suspect him.


    Besides that, Tang Jie had made an even greater discovery.


    Looking down, he muttered, ¡°She¡¯ll return tomorrow night. A round trip, flying at full speed¡­¡±


    Tang Jie estimated the distance Yu Wanniang could fly and took out a map of the Rosecloud Domain.


    The oceansy to the east and south of Sageheart, so it was basically impossible to fly in those directions. To the north was the Basking Moon Sect, and getting close to there was suicidal. Thus, the only direction Yu Wanniang could have gone was west. As it was only a one-day trip, it put her right in Dusnd.


    He finally understood who these people were selling their goods to.


    ¡°The Seven Absolutions Sect,¡± Tang Jie coldly said.


    The mine at night was still busy.


    This had always been a world without day or night¡ªor perhaps it was better to say that light had never existed in this ce.


    Haggard miners walked around the mines with their heavy baskets, picks in hand as they sought out any possible ore locations and dug away at them. asionally, when they spotted a sh of spiritual stone, they excitedly shouted and then hastily covered up the light for fear that others might notice.


    As the ore vein gradually ran dry, it became harder and harder to find high-grade ore. At times, one could mine for an entire day without finding anything. And with the withering of the mine, struggle and murder became more frequent.


    asionally, one might see a dark silhouette running past, and left behind would be a fallen corpse and an empty basket.


    Tang Jie walked in the dark and chaotic world, no one noticing his existence.


    He was like a ghost as he ventured deeper and deeper into the mine.


    Unlikest time, he didn¡¯t need a guide.


    As he got deeper, the number of miners dwindled.


    When he came to where he had encountered the Earth Devil Ape, he stopped.


    He took out some silver kernels from his Mustard Seed Bag, crushed them, and then sprinkled the powder over the ground. He then took out ten-some kinds of items and began to arrange them on the ground.


    Tang Jie hade much more prepared this time.


    As the materials were put down, spiritual energy flew from his fingertip, forming spiritual lines. Finally, Tang Jie punched at the wall. Sifting through the stone, he picked out several pieces of spirit ore, and after crushing them, he found a small piece of spirit stone that he ced on the ground.


    Light emerged, and silver motes danced in the air and began to spread. In a sh, they had swept over the tunnel, and even the area below the cliff was lit up in starry splendor.


    Tang Jie¡¯s vertical eye emerged. Borrowing the power of the starlight, it released a bright light that swept over the bottom of the cliff like a shlight.


    With the power of the formation, Tang Jie had strengthened his vision enough that he could pierce through the darkness and see what was at the bottom of the cliff.


    Down below was a withered forest, dead trees rising from purplish-ck soil. Their desated branches were covered in Deand Venomoths so motionless that they seemed to be asleep.


    All of the soil was cloaked in the powder from the moths, and a purple gas floated about.


    These venomous creatures that could kill even True Personsy silently in the bottom of the mine. So long as no one disturbed their rest, they wouldn¡¯t move. This was perhaps one of the better ces for a venomous creature to be.


    Looking past this decayednd, Tang Jie very patiently continued his search. If the sandworm source was near the territory of the moths, there had to be a way to get in nearby.


    Tang Jie trusted that he could find it.


    s, besides moths and withered trees, the only other thing on this poisoned earth was an underground river, which had been rendered a dark green by the poison.


    And Tang Jie received a jolt to his mind.


    He jumped off and flew down,ing to the very edge of the starlight. This spot was still under the effect of the formation while bringing him close to the underground river. At this distance, he could see that there were several unusual marks on arge boulder near the river.


    These marks weren¡¯t clear, but he could tell that they were footprints.


    There were few ces in this dead forest that one could set foot on, and thisrge boulder at the very edge was probably a good ce.


    Upon seeing this stone, Tang Jie had an idea: Could they have swum over through the river?


    Tang Jie decided it wasn¡¯tpletely impossible.


    The river flowed, meaning that it would not be poisoned long-term like the rest of this ce. The moths had two kinds of venom: powder and liquid. Their liquid venom was very powerful while their dust was a long-term, slow-acting venom.


    The withered forest had been created by the powder from the moths. As for the underground river, while it was green, this waspletely different from the liquid venom of the moths. It was nothing more than diluted powder venom.


    A Celestial Heart True Person was definitely strong enough to resist this venom.


    But on the other hand, swimming in this underground river long-term without a means of removing the poison would cause this poison to slowly umte, which would eventually affect the body.


    To this, Tang Jie could only say that a person could die for money and a bird could die for food.


    Compared to the immense fortune they were about to receive, two years of hardbor mattered for nothing.


    Tang Jie sighed and went down.


    He was much more careful this time. As hended on the stone, he didn¡¯t dare to make a single sound for fear of rming the moths.


    He quietly stripped and then slowly dipped his body into the water.


    Although he wasn¡¯t at Celestial Heart, Hundred Refinement plus his Jewel Body granted him around the same level of poison resistance as a Celestial Heart cultivator. Moreover, he wasn¡¯t nning to do this over a long period of time, so he didn¡¯t have much to worry about.


    Upon entering the water, Tang Jie felt cold all over, and his skin felt numb and itchy, as if tens of millions of ants were gnawing at him. He knew that this was in reaction to the poison, and he could only bear it. After a while, his skin somewhat adapted to the intensely corrosive river water, and the itching faded.


    Tang Jie began to swim downstream.


    He had originally kept on his underwear, but as he swam, his underwear tore apart. Reaching out to feel it, he discovered that the poisoned water had made the cloth extremely brittle, causing it to crumble apart at a touch.


    It was a good thing Tang Jie was no longer mortal. A normal person would only have to be in this water for a little while before dying. This weakened poison still had a power that could not be underestimated.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but shake his head and mentally sigh. In the end, he decided to just keep swimming while naked.


    After he advanced some more, he saw a thin tunnel appearing in front of him, its inside pitch-ck. Without the assistance of the formation, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t see what was inside. This left Tang Jie hesitant about pressing forward.


    This tunnel was so narrow that someone even slightly fat wouldn¡¯t be able to get in. Tang Jie could squeeze in, but once he was in, even turning around would be difficult. If he wanted to go back, he would have to slowly inch his way out. If he encountered any danger in this tunnel, he would basically be dead.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t immediately make his decision. He first took stock of his surroundings and confirmed that there were signs of someone being here before. Recalling Shi Jingzhai¡¯s tall and thin body, he gradually pieced together what had happened, so he stopped hesitating and swam into the tunnel.


    He slowly advanced through the tunnel for some time. Fortunately, cultivators had excellent breath-holding techniques, and they could go two hours without breathing with little problem. Finally, Tang Jie emerged from the tunnel, and with a ssh, hended in arge pool.


    He was now able to see that this tunnel came out in the middle of a rock wall, and below it was a paradise.


    Compared to the withered forest upied by the moths, this ce of gurgling streams and standing rocks was an Immortal wondend. Even rarer was that it had those moths standing guard outside, making it a highly defensible area.


    But when he saw what was inside this cave, he was left utterly stunned.


    It¡¯s finally time to find out what the Stone Gate Sect elders are hiding!

 Chapter 363

    Chapter 363: Undercurrent


    In front of Tang Jie was a vast underground limestone cave. Water poured down from the cliff, and for some reason, as this poisoned water flowed down, all the poison disappeared, leaving behind only a clear spring.


    Beyond the pool of water was a forest of countless standing stones.


    White jade stctites exuding cold energy hung from the top of the cave: Icestone Bamboo.


    Icestone Bamboo was a rare kind of spiritual material. Though it had a tough texture, if it were refined under True me, it would be soft and gel-like. In this state, it was consumable and tasted like bamboo, hence the name of Icestone Bamboo. But its true use was in pill refining. When added into a mixture, it could raise the chance of sessful refinement and the grade of certain pills.


    The value of a spiritual material depended on the value of the pills that could be made from it. Icestone Bamboo could be made into three kinds of high-grade medicine, so it was rather precious.


    But Icestone Bamboo wasn¡¯t too rare, and it could even be farmed. Thus, its price wasn¡¯t too unreasonable. However, there were quite a lot of them in this cave, which would fetch quite the sum when added together.


    All of these Bamboo had their tips cut off, leaving only the base. There was no doubt that this was Shi Jingzhai¡¯s handiwork. The stone bamboo had all their value in the tips, and the bases were worthless.


    On the ceiling were Icestone Bamboo, and on the ground was a giant pit. If one jumped into the pit, one would be able to see tunnels running off in every direction. These tunnels naturally weren¡¯t dug out for fun, and even though they had been mined out, Tang Jie could still see shes of gold.


    These gold shes were somewhat simr to his golden grains, and they were scattered about the tunnels. Tang Jie picked up one and looked it over, and he soon confirmed it to be Goldite. Goldite was a kind of metal ore that was mostly used for weapons. Weapons made from it were primarily known for being tough and difficult to destroy, but it was somewhat inadequate for use in art relics. Even so, this wasn¡¯t anything that couldn¡¯t be made up for with quantity. Tang Jie looked at the tunnels and estimated that this was a tiny ore vein. Ifpletely mined out, it could have a value on par with the Icestone Bamboo.


    Shi Jingzhai had probably spent the past two years doing nothing but mining away at this ce.


    Besides the stone bamboo on the ceiling and the ore veins below, there was also something to be found on the rock walls to the sides.


    Tang Jie finally found the Crystallized Sandworms he had sought.


    To be more precise, he had found traces of their existence.


    There were little ck holes all along the rock walls.


    These were the marks left by sandworms. They were like earthworms, burrowing through the rock and leaving little holes. But he could not see any sandworms in these rock walls.


    There were oncerge quantities of spirit stone in this rock wall, probably of the same vein as the spirit ores above, but they had been parted by the cliff, leaving only a small part on this side. It was this small portion that the sandworms hadpletely eaten out. The venomoths prevented the sandworms from burrowing any farther, and so, unable to reach the top, they had died in this ce.


    Only one sandworm had relied on its ¡°stubborn will¡± and desire for spirit stone to open a long path to the rest of the spirit ore vein. After eating its fill of spirit stone there, it had ultimately crystallized and died.


    But none of this was the source of Tang Jie¡¯s shock.


    What truly shocked him was that ck curve in the depths of the limestone cave.


    This ck curve was suspended over the rock wall, appearing at a nce like a fissure. But upon closer inspection, one would realize that it was softly wriggling like a snake. And when Tang Jie looked at the ck fissure, he felt like he was peering deep into it, like this was an endless abyss that was worth exploring and researching.


    A spatial fissure!


    It was actually a spatial fissure!


    Tang Jie almost yelled.


    To prove his conjecture, he picked up a rock and threw it into the fissure. As the rock struck the fissure, it was silently sliced into three. The left and right chunks bounced off the wall while the slender middle part was swallowed up by the fissure.


    Yes, it really was a spatial fissure.


    Tang Jie now understood why this limestone cave had such existences as Icestone Bamboo and Goldite.


    Spatial fissures were a kind of outer dimension, vast and profound, difficult to describe. They had all kinds of unimaginable properties, and even now, not even those Immortals who could transcend domains could properly describe outer dimensions. But there was one sure thing about them. Each spatial fissure had an energy different from that of the original world and would alter the terrain to a certain degree.


    This alteration could be good and it could be bad. It could create and rich in resources, but it could also create a cmity.


    From the look of it, this was a pretty good spatial fissure. It was its existence that had turned this limestone cave into a treasurend.


    Besides that, the spatial fissure would often bring its own things, though exactly what was hard to say. It could be trash or treasure. It all depended on what dropped out of the fissure. That there was nothing there now didn¡¯t mean that nothing had dropped out of it before. It was more probable that Shi Jingzhai had taken it away.


    Tang Jie estimated the value of the resources here. The Crystallized Sandworms had been of the greatest value and the fewest number while the Goldite had been the least valuable and most abundant. When these three resources were put together, and if one added on the spirit stones the Stone Gate Sect had secretly stockpiled, the total value definitely broke one hundred million.


    Of course, as this was under the table, the Stone Gate Sect definitely couldn¡¯t sell it all for that much. It would be pretty good if they could fetch a price in the tens of millions for all of it.


    But the idea of intion didn¡¯t exist in the Rosecloud Domain. Tens of millions of spirit coins was enough to utterly transform a small sect, pushing it into the middle tier, or even higher.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect also benefited. It had to be understood that some things couldn¡¯t be measured with money. The Icestone Bamboo and Goldite were not bad, but if the Crystallized Sandworms had been put up for auction, their value might have risen by another ten million. The Seven Absolutions Sect might benefit even more than the Stone Gate Sect from this transaction.


    This sort of behavior was undoubtedly providing aid to the enemy.


    This was a grave crime, but before enormous temptation, they had done it, even if they risked the execution of their entire sect.


    A scene yed out in Tang Jie¡¯s mind:


    After years of mining, the miners gradually reached the end of the vein, a cliff overlooking an abyss.


    The miners continued to mine day and night, and they were happy toe across this cliff, for they thought that they could simply throw the debris over the cliff rather than haul it out.


    This would save a ton of manpower.


    But they had no idea that a swarm of vicious poisonous moths slumbered at the unseen bottom of the cliff.


    Stone tumbled from the heavens.


    Some of the moths were awakened.


    They did not mobilize en masse, perhaps because they didn¡¯t sense any danger. Only a few of the venomoths flew up the cliff into the tunnel.


    Here, they found the culprits who had disturbed their sleep, and so they dragged these mortals off the cliff. These moths didn¡¯t even need to use their venom to deal with these mortals.


    This was the earliest missing persons case in the mines.


    The Stone Gate Sect came to investigate.


    Things proceeded very naturally after that. They discovered the venomoths, and since they were difficult to deal with, the three True Persons came to personally deal with them. And then these three True Persons found some clues to the limestone cave.


    Thus, they swam down the river, venturing into the cave, and found a fortune.


    Things be even more predictable after that.


    Tempted by this immense fortune, the three True Persons decided to take it all for themselves. They first eliminated the disciple who had discovered the secret, and then they released an Earth Devil Ape in the mines.


    Shi Jingzhai had raised the Earth Devil Ape, and it followed hismands to frighten and kill the miners. In this way, the miners naturally did not dare to venture into the depths of the mines.


    The venomoths would not fly up unless they were disturbed, and so the matter was kept a secret.


    The three True Persons used the venomoths as natural protectors to further ensure that this matter was kept secret, and over the next two years, they frequently entered the cave to extract all that they could from it. Finally, they began to send out feelers so that they could sell these goods.


    Of course, besides money, they would want something that could bring them a glorious future.


    Like a mantra for advancing to Violet Pce.


    This was also why, after learning that Yu Wanniang had gone to Dusnd, Tang Jie became sure that they were working with the Seven Absolutions Sect and not some other sect. This was because only the six major sects could produce this kind of mantra.


    The only thing that left Tang Jie confused was that they had somehow not sold any goods until now. After all, it was very hard to hide when someone suddenly became very rich.


    This was particrly true for cultivators. Perhaps they could resist buying things like art relics, but resources that could improve their cultivation speed were a necessity. Yet Yu Wanniang andpany had not done this. While they were at Celestial Heart, they were only in the middle tier of Celestial Heart, the Heart Demon Period. Yu Wanniang hadn¡¯t even reached that tier, still being at the Spirit Ring Period.


    Yesterday, when Tang Jie had gone out, he had turned up everything there was to know about this trio. The only person in thest ten years to have increased his cultivation level was Shi Jingzhai, going from Spirit Ring to Heart Demon. But even that had only happenedst year.


    This was ample proof that this wealth had yet to be converted into the resources that they all needed to get stronger. The only one who could have possibly benefited was Shi Jingzhai.


    This didn¡¯t make sense. The resources had taken two years for the three of them to slowly dig out, so there was no need to wait until the very end to sell it all.


    Unless¡­


    Tang Jie once more recalled his previous theory.


    ¡°They¡¯re not united,¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    On the night of that drunken banquet, Tang Jie hade to know that the three of them were not on the same page as Qiu Shuyu. It now appeared that the three of them didn¡¯tpletely trust each other either. This was precisely why all of these illogical things had happened.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, that¡¯s an opening I can exploit,¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    Upon discovering this ce, Tang Jie now had evidence, and his mission was done. But at that moment, he realized that he could do more, could do better.


    His natural risk-taking inclinations pushed him to keep going, and he was to start with Shi Jingzhai.


    He needed to find evidence that Shi Jingzhai was keeping some of the goods for himself.


    However, this wasn¡¯t for the Basking Moon Sect, but for the other two.


    Tang Jie activated Heart Consonance.


    Yiyi called out, ¡°Big Brother, so you still know to talk to me sometimes?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I miss you, of course. Your big brother has never forgotten about you. How are thingstely?¡±


    ¡°Very good! Very happy!¡± Yiyi piped in her childish voice.


    Yiyi had probably been the most free in her time at the Wei Estate. Her appearance was very charming, and Tang Jie had trained her into speaking very well and being very tactful. The adults in the estate liked her and weren¡¯t afraid that she was a sprite. The venerable master and venerabledy were even treating Yiyi like their granddaughter, giving her good food and toys every day.


    And when Zheng Shufeng noticed the affection between Yiyi and Tang Jie, she gave Yiyi a personal courtyard, treating her like an official child of the n.


    Thus, Yiyi was definitely in the running for the happiest in this period of time.


    Upon hearing this, Tang Jie replied, ¡°It¡¯s fine so long as you¡¯re happy. But right now, your big brother needs your help with something.¡±


    ¡°Tell me, Big Brother!¡±


    ¡°Tell Young Master Wei to help me get a transaction record of materials sold on the cultivator markets in thest two years.¡±


    ¡°¡®A record of materials sold on the cultivator markets¡¯?¡± Yiyi repeated these words in her childish tone.


    ¡°Yes, primarily for Crystallized Sandworms, Icestone Bamboo, and Goldite. See how much was sold in thest two years. This is a rather tedious task, and the young master alone won¡¯t be able to do it. You might need to ask for the help of the Wei n and thedy. It has to be done quickly!¡±


    ¡°Oh, I understand.¡± Yiyi quickly ran off to find Wei Tianchong.


    At times like this, it became evident how useful it was to have the backing of a n. The Wei n had numerous people and a sophisticated informationwork. It would definitely have a much easier time examining the transaction records for thest two years than if Tang Jie had tried to do it by himself.


    Checking the transaction records for the materials market of the entire kingdom was no small matter. Moreover, from Tang Jie¡¯s tone, it sounded like he wanted it done in a few days. But after learning of this matter, Zheng Shufeng only hesitated slightly before deciding to help Tang Jie.


    This was not merely because she trusted Tang Jie, but because Zheng Shufeng had realized that this was a time to show the meaning of mortals. Only this way could the two parties grow closer together and mortals improve their status.


    Zheng Shufeng personally managed the project, and the enormousmercial machine that was the Wei n got to work. The first thing Zheng Shufeng did was to get in touch with the other three great merchant ns of Canglong Prefecture: the Jin n, Zhou n, and Zhang n. With all four ns united, the Wei n would reduce its own workload. Next, Wei Tianchong, borrowing Tang Jie¡¯s name, sent a flying sword message back to the academy to seek the help of Qi Shaoming, Liu Hongyan, Ping Jingyue, and the other students.


    When these students heard that Tang Jie needed help, they immediately took missions and left the academy. This was particrly the case for students who had benefited from Tang Jie¡¯s instruction at the Immortal Fortune Conference. There were some people who asked to help even without being notified by Wei Tianchong.


    Interestingly, even the already-graduated Peng Yaolong and Ye Tianshang came over to help, tipped off by Qi Shaoming. His reason for this was that things would be much easier if they had official Basking Moon Sect disciples helping them out.


    Peng Yaolong and Ye Tianshang naturally agreed immediately. Not only that, they called out some disciples in the sect that they were on good terms with.


    With Wei Tianchong as the core information ry and Zheng Shufeng nning everything out, a vast operation proceeded in an orderly fashion.


    The Basking Moon Sect disciples, led by Peng Yaolong, were responsible for checking the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s transaction records. As the powerholding sect, it hadrge amounts of this kind of information at hand. Besides that, they were also able to check the more high-ss cultivator markets, where high-grade items were more liable to appear. Ordinary people didn¡¯t have the right to enter these ces. Only official Basking Moon Sect disciples like Peng Yaolong could freely enter and exit such ces.


    As for the students, led by Qi Shaoming and Liu Hongyan, they checked the lower-ss markets and auction houses. These were ces where Immortals and mortals mixed, and things like Crystallized Sandworm asionally appeared here.


    As for the Wei n and the other ns, they were responsible for checking the mortal stores. But valuable items like Crystallized Sandworm couldn¡¯t possibly show up here. Their more important duty was analyzing all the information. The Basking Moon disciples and students were only tasked with gathering the ount books, but seeing which of these ount books were real or forged, important or irrelevant, required the examination of professional shopkeepers.


    Just because of Tang Jie¡¯s sudden idea and Zheng Shufeng¡¯s ad-hoc nning, an ounting storm inexplicably swept over the Sageheart Kingdom. Tang Jie had never expected Zheng Shufeng to put on such a show, and Zheng Shufeng had never imagined that Tang Jie would have so many connections. Extraordinary assistance led to extraordinary execution, and this auditing operation began to have hints of an anti-corruption storm¡­


    While a storm swept over Sageheart, beneath Mount Eternal, an undercurrent surged.


    Tang Jie, who still knew nothing about what was transpiring, after contacting Yiyi, had gone back through the underground river. When he arrived at the base of Stone Gate Peak, the duplicate Tang Jie was waiting there, having used the excuse of a stroll to leave. The moment Tang Jie appeared, the duplicate disappeared, and Tang Jie sauntered back to his room and went to sleep.


    This adventure had been peaceful and without suspense. Tang Jie had lost nothing except a pair of underpants.


    He slept soundly through the night.


    What Tang Jie needed to do next was very simple.


    Having found out what Shi Jingzhai andpany were up to, all that Tang Jie needed to do was stay here and do his utmost to draw the main force of the Stone Gate Sect, giving it no chance to chase after Xi Canhen.


    Thus, Tang Jie went around walking every day, doing his utmost to get to know every Stone Gate disciple, particrly those at Mortal Shedding or above. What they didn¡¯t know was that Tang Jie was furtively nting objects on them whenever he interacted with them.


    They might be a leaf, a pebble, or even some dust.


    Theirmonality was that they were all actually duplicates.


    Through these duplicates, Tang Jie could understand what every disciple was doing and determine which one was being sent out by the sect to hunt down Xi Canhen.


    At these times, Tang Jie would promptly appear as if by coincidence, saying in surprise, ¡°Huh? Why are you here?¡± ¡°What a coincidence!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s take a stroll together!¡± ¡°If you¡¯re busy, I can help you. We¡¯re all friends. There¡¯s no need to be polite.¡±


    asionally, he would meet someone whocked tact.


    At those times, these tactless friends would lose their lives before they even found Xi Canhen.


    Of course, before doing this, Tang Jie could find one hundred people who could testify that he wasn¡¯t at the scene.


    On the night after Tang Jie¡¯s adventure, Yu Wanniang returned.


    The three elders of Stone Gate Peak gathered once more.


    Looking at Shi Jingzhai and Liang Xingbang, Yu Wanniang gravely said, ¡°They¡¯ve confessed that this matter was their doing.¡±


    One hundred million spirit coins! Is Tang Jie going to be rich?

 Chapter 364

    Chapter 364: ying


    ¡°Yah!¡±


    A slender branch thwacked at an approaching stone, shing with white light and sending the stone flying. As Xi Canhen received this attack, his face paled.


    So he was stillcking in spiritual energy?


    He hadn¡¯t cultivated a mantra, so even though his Jade Gate was open and he could absorb spiritual energy and use it, his Spiritual Space wasn¡¯t open, meaning he couldn¡¯t store it. This meant that he was left weak and helpless after every strike.


    Even so, after repeated training, Xi Canhen was growing more and more familiar with the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword.


    The little tiger wasn¡¯t training him in offensive ability, but in how to dodge and block. This was so the little tiger didn¡¯t need to be distracted by having to protect this guy in the middle of battle.


    As the stone was knocked away, the little tiger lunged at Xi Canhen and swatted at him.


    Xi Canhen only saw a blur, but thesest two days of bitter training had allowed Xi Canhen to gradually grow ustomed to this sort of situation. The moment the little tiger attacked, Xi Canhen dived to the ground.


    The tiger w whooshed over Xi Canhen¡¯s head, but at this same moment, the tiger¡¯s tail swatted at him. But before Xi Canhen had even hit the ground, he had rolled off to the side. As the tail struck the ground, Xi Canhen turned, throwing out some dirt as he got to his feet and ran behind a tree.


    As the little tiger was about to lunge again, a sword emerged from behind the tree. This sword had been very well hidden before this, and it was positioned just right so that if the tiger jumped, the sword would thrust right into his stomach.


    The little tiger froze and looked at Xi Canhen, who smugly chuckled.


    The little tiger tilted his head and let out a difficult-to-understand growl. Although he didn¡¯t know what the real meaning of this growl was, Xi Canhen could sense that the tiger looked at him with very warm and gentle eyes.


    The tiger¡¯s tail stroked Xi Canhen¡¯s head like it was a hand, and then the tiger turned around, settled down under a tree, and went to sleep.


    Did this mean that he had graduated?


    Xi Canhen happilyughed.


    He walked over and stroked the little tiger, saying, ¡°Bao¡¯er, thank you.¡±


    The little tiger looked at him. Xi Canheny down, using the tiger¡¯s stomach as a pillow.


    Looking up at the sky, he said, ¡°It¡¯s truly a good feeling¡­ I¡¯m talking about not having to mine ore. In the mines, I had to be careful every day, careful of that terrifying monster that might eat me and careful of people who were bigger than me stealing from me. I remember the first time someone stole from me. It was my third day in the mines. I had dug up a high-grade piece of ore. It was big, at least ten catties. I was so happy that I shouted ¡®I¡¯m rich!¡¯ Then some extremely wicked guy came over, pped me, and stole my ore.¡±


    The tiger quietly listened.


    Xi Canhen continued, ¡°That was the first time I was robbed. Later on, I learned that this wasn¡¯t anything rare. Things like this happened every day in the mines. From that point on, I became cautious and no longer let people get close to me. I would often think to myself, ¡®Will I still be alive tomorrow?¡¯ Perhaps I would be mining today and a body at the bottom of a pit tomorrow. No one would care about me. No one except my little sister would care¡­¡±


    Xi Canhen¡¯s voice faded away, and the little tiger nudged him with his head. He couldn¡¯tpletely understand Xi Canhen¡¯s words, but he could sense the intense emotions and Xi Canhen¡¯s deep sorrow.


    He found it somewhat strange. Why was this youth suddenly so sad? Was it because the tiger was ignoring him?


    He looked curiously at the youth, but a momentter, the youth¡¯s mood clearly improved, for he hugged the tiger¡¯s head and muttered, ¡°Until I met all of you. Young Master saved me and my little sister, and he even instructed me. And there¡¯s you¡­ You¡¯re a good tiger. Everyone says that fiends are bad, but I think that you¡¯re a hundred times better than humans. It¡¯s a pity that you¡¯re not at Mind Opening and can¡¯t talk, but that¡¯s fine. You can understand what I¡¯m saying, right?¡±


    He stroked the tiger¡¯s face as he cheerfully spoke.


    The little tiger looked at him in a daze.


    A gust of wind stirred up the leaves covering the ground.


    Xi Canhen suddenlyughed.


    He said, ¡°Do you know what happened to the guy who stole from me? One night, I sneaked into his home and gave him a stab while he was sleeping.¡±


    The tiger¡¯s eyes suddenly turned sharp.


    Xi Canhen looked at the tiger and chuckled. ¡°So¡­¡±


    Before he finished, he suddenly turned around and chopped at a vine next to him. The vine snapped, and then there was a boom as a wooden board covered in nails crashed into a nearby clearing.


    <em>Bang!</em>


    Sword light erupted, slicing the wood into pieces, and a Stone Gate disciple appeared. The moment he appeared, the little tiger exploded forward, swinging a paw at the disciple.


    The disciple jumped away in pain, and Xi Canhen chopped at another vine. <em>Whoosh! Whoosh!</em> Several wooden spears flew out of the forest at the disciple.


    The disciple had pretty good reaction speed, still being able to get back up and dodge the spears. But as hended on the ground and was about to get up, <em>plush!</em> A sword emerged from his chest.


    The disciple shuddered, blood seeping from his mouth as his body came to a stop.


    Xi Canhen coldly said, ¡°So this actually isn¡¯t my first time killing someone!¡±


    He pulled out the sword and stepped back.


    ¡°Aooo!¡± The disciple crazily howled as he turned around and shed at Xi Canhen, trying to kill him. But Xi Canhen executed a simple roll and easily dodged.


    The disciple wanted to pursue, but the little tiger rushed out and swatted a paw at his head, ending his life.


    Xi Canhen walked over and kicked the body to make sure it was dead. He then began to search the disciple¡¯s Mustard Seed Bag. There hadn¡¯t been anything good from Hong Antao, who had been so poor that he hadn¡¯t even had a Mustard Seed Bag. This one was clearly different.


    His clothes were luxurious, and he had a Mustard Seed Bag. The spoils had to be better this time.


    Opening up the Mustard Seed Bag and looking inside, Xi Canhen smiled and said, ¡°My luck¡¯s pretty good. Bao¡¯er, see what I found!¡±


    What he took out was a cultivation mantra.


    On it was written ¡°Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra.¡±


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s a cultivation mantra!¡± Xi Canhen happily said. ¡°I didn¡¯t think this idiot would gift me a cultivation mantra before the young master even gave me one.¡±


    Leaving behind the callousness of a murderer, Xi Canhen went back to being an ordinary youth.


    ¡°But wasn¡¯t it said that such things are all transmitted mentally? Since this mantra was recorded in a book, it can¡¯t be worth a lot. So should I learn it or not?¡± Xi Canhen carefully thought it over, but after a while, he suddenly said, ¡°What¡¯s the point in thinking about all this? Those assassins will keeping. Let¡¯s get through all this first. At worst, I just have to go back and learn itter.¡±


    He put away the book and continued looking through the bag, finding a few bottles of cultivation medicine.


    These weren¡¯t particrly good medicines, but for Xi Canhen, they were an extremely rare find.


    Xi Canhen then took out several green robes. These robes were in a different style from those worn by the Stone Gate Sect¡¯s disciples. The cloth was of high quality, the workmanship was exquisite, and there was even some sort of seven-leafed grass embroidered onto it. Xi Canhen found this symbol rather familiar, and it was only after a while that he realized that this was the symbol of the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    He said in realization, ¡°Bao¡¯er, I think we killed the wrong person. This guy isn¡¯t from the Stone Gate Sect.¡±


    Bao¡¯er looked at him in confusion, but then Xi Canhen added, ¡°Ah, whatever. Since he had changed his clothes and was hiding nearby, he probably had ill intentions; he¡¯s either a spy or a thief. Besides, he¡¯s not from Sageheart, so there¡¯s no need to be nice to him.¡±


    With a wave of his hand, Xi Canhen put the matter to the side.


    Thest thing he took from the Mustard Seed Bag was some glistening yellow object. He wasn¡¯t able to immediately recognize it.


    As Xi Canhen turned the object over in his hands, Bao¡¯er fervently stared.


    He lunged, ripped the item from Xi Canhen¡¯s hand, and gobbled it down in a few bites.


    ¡°Bao¡¯er!¡± Xi Canhen looked at the little tiger in shock.


    After eating that glistening yellow object, the little tiger began to radiate a gentle light.


    The light enveloped the tiger, making him seem hallowed and pure, a transcendent. Xi Canhen¡¯s eyes grew wide.


    A few momentster, the light disappeared. The tiger yawned and then walked off to the side and fell asleep.


    As he slept, his hide had a glossiness as if there was something flowing underneath it.


    Xi Canhen got close to look and found that the tiger¡¯s veins were bulging, blood flowing like a torrential river. If he focused and listened, he could vaguely hear the roar of a tigering from the blood vessels¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The Stone Gate Sect had clearly lowered its surveince of Tang Jie.


    This left Tang Jie very confused.


    Were they trying to make him drop his guard and lure him into a trap? Or was it some other reason?


    But Tang Jie could feel his host¡¯s attitude cooling by the day, and he could sense that the Stone Gate Sect wanted him to leave.


    This left Tang Jie bbergasted, for if this was true, it meant that the Stone Gate Sect did not suspect him of being involved in that earlier affair.


    The problem was that Tang Jie had never nned to clear himself of suspicion, but suspicion had instead inexplicably cleared itself from him. What was going on?


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but be baffled.


    But no matter how much the Stone Gate Sect wanted him to leave, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t leave. He could be more shameless than anyone, ignoring the jeers and ridicule of others and taking up residence in the Stone Gate Sect.


    Today, as Tang Jie was strolling about the mountain, he saw several Stone Gate Sect disciples walking out of the distance.


    These people spotted Tang Jie, but they simply snorted and left on their own business.


    But as they passed each other, the wind delivered some unpleasant words to his ears:


    ¡°Is that the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s Tang Jie?¡±


    ¡°Pay attention to your words! He¡¯s not Tang Jie, but the honored emissary.¡±


    ¡°¡®Emissary¡¯, my ass! He¡¯s only at the initial tier of the Mortal Shedding Realm, around the same as us. What¡¯s there to be proud of about that?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. He doesn¡¯t look like much to me. He¡¯s only able to be so brazen because of his background. In terms of strength, he might not be any better than Senior Brother Lin. In a fight, I¡¯m sure Senior Brother could send that kid flying in one p.¡±


    ¡°Right, right,¡± others sounded off in agreement.


    These voices were so clear that it was clear that none of them feared Tang Jie. In fact, as they walked farther away, their voices grew even louder, as if someone was intentionally delivering them to Tang Jie¡¯s ears.


    Tang Jie could only helplessly chuckle at this.


    <em>Mm, while the method is a little low-ss, it¡¯s still quite effective.</em>


    The moment he fought with those Stone Gate Sect disciples, regardless of who won, Tang Jie had no reason to remain in the Stone Gate Sect.


    Thus, in the face of this ridicule, Tang Jie could onlyugh and ignore it.


    But a momentter, one of them said, ¡°Sure enough, he¡¯s a good-for-nothing. ¡®Honored emissary of a major sect¡¯? What bullshit! He¡¯s clearly just trash. Trash parents have trash children, and trash teachers produce trash disciples. This person probably has nothing but useless people around him.¡±


    Everyone heartilyughed.


    Tang Jie¡¯s face darkened.


    The level of their ridicule had clearly increased, even insulting his parents and teachers. Tang Jie was reaching his breaking point.


    He turned around and took a good look. There were four people talking, and their leader was a youth with a rather insidious face.


    Tang Jie recognized him. His name was Lin Fan, and he was Shi Jingzhai¡¯s personal disciple. He was at Mortal Shedding Nine Revolutions, one tier higher than Tang Jie. As for the other three, they were only at the first tier of Mortal Shedding, around Tang Jie¡¯s level.


    As Tang Jie looked at the four, Lin Fan fearlessly red back.


    Before, these guys wouldn¡¯t have the guts to speak rudely about an emissary from the Basking Moon Sect, but now that they had been ordered to drive Tang Jie off the mountain by any method, they had decided that the best method was to incite a fight.


    But young men often went too far.


    It wasn¡¯t like they couldn¡¯t insult him as a means of provocation, but insulting one¡¯s parents was clearly a bridge too far, especially because they were the ones provoking this challenge. Such targeted insults were nothing short of suicidal, and Tang Jie couldn¡¯t possibly endure them no matter how good his upbringing was.


    He looked at Lin Fan and said, ¡°After eating and drinking at the host¡¯s house for a few days, I didn¡¯t expect to run into a dog protective of its food. Out of respect for the host, I won¡¯t beat the dog for now, but once I leave the yard, if the dog dares to give chase, I can¡¯t be med for defending myself.¡±


    He made his way down the mountain.


    Of course, that line about the dog daring to give chase actually meant, ¡°Come down the mountain and fight me if you¡¯ve got the guts.¡±


    The four looked at each other, and then Lin Fan viciously said, ¡°Let¡¯s go. What? Are we scared of him?¡±


    What did it matter that he was an honored emissary? Since they were carrying out their master¡¯smand, they were happy to use this chance to take care of Tang Jie.


    The four of them went down the mountain, and upon leaving Stone Gate Peak, they saw Tang Jie flying off into the distance at an incredible speed with no intention of slowing down.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Lin Fan barked.


    Tang Jie looked back and sneered. ¡°You idiots, I can¡¯t believe you went down the mountain just because I told you to. If you¡¯ve got the skill, try and catch me first.¡±


    He proceeded to elerate.


    ¡°Trying to run?¡± Lin Fan growled, killing intent in his eyes.


    ¡°After him!¡± The four of them went off in pursuit, the five figures drawing out five beams of light in the sky as they shot off into the horizon.


    Lin Fan was the fastest and was far ahead of the rest of the pack, closing the distance with Tang Jie. But this also meant that he was gradually separated from his junior brothers.


    Lin Fan saw what Tang Jie was up to, using his speed to split them up and avoid being surrounded. Heughed and said, ¡°Tang Jie, is using these lowly tricks all you know how to do? This divide-and-conquer strategy isn¡¯t anything to crow about! If you¡¯ve got the guts,e and fight me right now!¡±


    ¡°Who said that I was trying to divide and conquer you lot?¡± Tang Jie¡¯s lip curled in disdain. ¡°You guys think you¡¯re worthy?¡±


    Lin Fan was startled. ¡°Then what are you running for?¡±


    Tang Jie narrowed his eyes, replying as he continued to fly along, ¡°Why am I running? So I can be farther from Stone Gate Peak, of course. That old dog Shi Jingzhai is probably watching from somewhere, right? With him around, this battle would be nothing more than children quarreling, totally boring. I¡¯m no longer interested in those battles where my life isn¡¯t on the line. Since you were the one who provoked this challenge, humiliated my parents and teachers, and even chased me¡­ I naturally have to ughter you!¡±


    Tang Jie suddenly turned around andnded on a nearby mountain. Proudly standing, he pointed the Heartbreak Saber at the air and said, ¡°If this were the past, I might not have done things this way, but in thest two years, I¡¯ve gradually adapted to this world. Since the Rosecloud Domain is a ce where the strong eat the weak, then as one of the weak, you should know to obediently listen, and to challenge me is to seek death. This is the custom of the Rosecloud Domain, and to kill you contravenes now or principle of this world! Thus, I should kill who ought to be killed!¡±


    He swung the Heartbreak Saber, unleashing a vicious de of wind that swept toward Lin Fan.


    Matchless sh!


    Lin Fan had never expected Tang Jie to be so decisive, attacking at the drop of a hat. He cried out in rm and began to form hand signs. Mighty waves of energy swept out, and with just that, Lin Fan managed to stop the Matchless sh.


    The greatest difference between Nine Revolutions and Hundred Refinement was the substantialization of their spiritual energy.


    Hundred Refinement mainly strengthened one¡¯s bones and muscles, a major change to one¡¯s physical body. Nine Revolutions, on the other hand, mostly worked to improve the organs. This boost was simr to that of the Jewel Body, but also different.


    The Jewel Body purely strengthened the major organs and provided a constant stream of vitality. For example, with greater attainment in the Jewel Body, Tang Jie could now have his heart pierced without dying and was immune to most poisons. The Nine Revolutions body wasn¡¯t as impressive as the Jewel Body in these aspects, but it worked on the spiritual energy in the heart, liver, spleen, stomach, kidney, lungs, intestines, galldder, and head, fusing the spiritual energy with the body. This greatly improved the flow of spiritual energy, allowing for greater force with every movement.


    As for that Nine Revolutions cultivator from the Gu n, he had only just barely stepped over the Nine Revolutions threshold. Let alone the tempering of the spiritual space in the nine major weak points, he hadn¡¯t achieved tempering in any part of his body. He was only nominally in the Nine Revolutions Tier.


    But Lin Fan was a real Nine Revolutions cultivator, achieving fusion of spiritual energy and body in four of his nine major weak points. Thus, he moved nimbly, and even a casual swing of his sword had the effect of a spell art.


    The farther one got in cultivation, the more obvious the gap between tiers became, and the greater the difficulty in challenging those above one¡¯s level.


    This was precisely why, even though Lin Fan had been taken by surprise and didn¡¯t have time to properly cast a spell art, he could rely purely on his spiritual energy to fend off the Matchless sh. A Spirit Master at the Hundred Refinement Period would have found it much harder.


    But as he blocked this attack, several cold stars that had been hiding in the shadow of the saber energy flew at Lin Fan¡¯s face.


    The Eclipsed Star!


    After four years of diligent training, Tang Jie had mastered this move.


    Lin Fan hadn¡¯t expected this development, and the nine stars shot toward his eyes, ears, and nose. He twisted his head in panic, but he was only in time to dodge some of the stars, the rest smashing into the side of his face.


    The sensation of these stars striking the face was not a pleasant one as they punched bloody holes through him. But as he was at Nine Revolutions, substantialized spiritual energy had the ability to automatically protect the user and reduce damage. Besides, these stars were famed for their stealth, not their offensive power. This was why his head wasn¡¯t prated all the way through, but even so, he had been badly wounded, one of his eyes almost blinded.


    ¡°Aaagh!¡± Lin Fan roared in anger.


    Not even in his dreams could he have imagined that he would be so heavily wounded by Tang Jie after only their first exchange.


    Just as he was about to turn around and attack Tang Jie, he saw Tang Jie standing below him and thrusting a palm at him.


    This palm rumbled like thunder, with shades of a draconic roar.


    This naturally wasn¡¯t a real dragon roar, but when this spell art was used, the wind it created made a sound like a dragon roar, hence the name:


    Dragonlike Hand!


    Lin Fan angrily roared as he shed his sword

 Chapter 365

    Chapter 365: Borrowing a Road


    The three Stone Gate disciples saw how easily Tang Jie had killed Lin Fan and were momentarily too shocked and horrified to speak.


    Tang Jie was seething with murderous energy and clearly didn¡¯t n to let them go. One of them shouted, ¡°This has nothing to do with me!¡±


    He turned and flew off.


    Another one of them shouted, ¡°Idiot, we¡¯re only strong when we¡¯re together! You want to give him the chance to take us down one by one?¡±


    As he spoke, he attacked with the other remaining person, two waves of sword energy sweeping toward Tang Jie. But the scared disciple didn¡¯t care and fled for his life. Although he was a Spirit Master, he spent most of his time cultivating in the sect and had little experience in the outside world. Hecked theposure and resolve of the other two.


    If all three of them had attacked, Tang Jie might have had some trouble. After all, the Stone Gate disciples weren¡¯t wandering cultivators and were actually quite strong. In a three-versus-one, even Tang Jie would have had a lot to deal with.


    But one of them running off, leaving him in a two-versus-one, saved Tang Jie a lot of effort.


    ¡°Want to run? Fixate!¡±


    The fleeing disciple froze in the air.


    Tang Jie had already activated the Formless Golden Body and rushed at the remaining two disciples. The Formless Golden Body was much stronger than before, finally exhibiting the power of a spell art of the Sword ssic. The two waves of sword energy struck his body in an explosion of rainbow colors, but they weren¡¯t able to injure even a hair on Tang Jie¡¯s body. Meanwhile, Tang Jie had swung his saber, releasing a wave of fire that forced the two of them to back away.


    Ever since it had been upgraded to an art relic, the Heartbreak Saber had only be fiercer. As Tang Jie swung it, it unleashed a raging sea of fire that appeared from a distance like a seething cloud of mes.


    The two Stone Gate disciples tried to resist, but the difference in the strength of their spell arts now made itself evident.


    Even though the two of them were working together, the damage they could do to the Formless Golden Body was limited, and even if they finally managed to break it down, Tang Jie simply needed to cast it again. As for Tang Jie¡¯s attacks, they were all extremely powerful. Whether it was the Matchless sh, the Dragonlike Hand, the Divine Court Thousandshift, or even the weakest Eclipsed Star, they could all threaten the defenses of these two disciples. It was often the case where one or two moves was enough to break the barriers they had cast, and what awaited them was a barrage of painful blows.


    The two of them tried their best, but as the waves of me raged and the attacks from Tang Jie intensified, they began to break.


    Amusingly, while Tang Jie was fighting, he also asionally used ¡°Fixate¡± of the Four-Nine True Word Mantra.


    He couldn¡¯t fix that fleeing disciple in ce, but he could affect the disciple¡¯s ability to fly. If this guy had had a stronger will, he could have resisted, but he was so focused on running away that just when he was beginning to pick up speed, the ¡°Fixate¡± would throw his energy into disarray, causing him to stop. Once he recovered, he started flying again, only to have to stop, and in this way, he hobbled through the sky like a cripple.


    One of the Stone Gate disciples saw this and shouted in rage, ¡°Sun Yu, you coward! Can¡¯t you see that this bastard has no intention of letting us go? He¡¯s going to kill us all! Whether or not he¡¯s some honored emissary, we need to quickly kill him, or else we¡¯ll be the ones who are dead! We can win if it¡¯s three versus one!¡±


    The fleeing Sun Yu trembled, and he finally turned around.


    Tang Jie¡¯s constant Fixates had finally made him realize that he needed toe back and fight for his life.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Unfortunately, it¡¯s toote.¡±


    The moment Sun Yu turned around, Tang Jie swung the Heartbreak Saber in a furious sh.


    Matchless sh!


    Another Matchless sh was unleashed, and as that disciple who had spoken blocked this attack, the Eclipsed Stars appeared again, striking the disciple, followed by the Dragonlike Handbined with the Thousand Rupture sh. Four attacks in a row beat upon the disciple like the merciless tide, causing him to throw up blood. While the other disciple unleashed two of his own spell arts against Tang Jie, the most they could do was make him grunt and spit a little blood.


    With another swing, Tang Jie¡¯s saber left his hand, catching up to that disciple and slicing down, cutting him in half!


    It was at this moment that Sun Yu flew over, but this shocking sight made him pause.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°It¡¯s still two versus one.¡±


    He turned around and thrust out a palm, blocking the attack of the other disciple. He unleashed more waves of saber energy, but in doing so, hepletely opened his back to Sun Yu.


    ¡°Sun Yu, hurry, kill him!¡± the other disciple roared as he desperately blocked Tang Jie¡¯s attacks.


    The disciple called Sun Yu froze in the air, hesitantly looking around while the hand holding his sword trembled.


    The disciple knew that there was no hope, so he furiously roared, ¡°Only cultivating arts and not the mind! Even if you were at Violet Pce, you would still be a weakling! Tang Jie, don¡¯t go too far! You know what will happen to you if you kill us!¡±


    ¡°What will happen is that you will be dead and I will be fine,¡± Tang Jie callously said as he swung his saber.


    Mighty saber energy mmed into his opponent¡¯s sword, breaking it into two. The remaining power sliced into that disciple¡¯s body, cutting him in two.


    At this moment, Sun Yu finally seemed to wake up. Shaking, he fired off a stream of cold light at Tang Jie, but Tang Jie casually blocked it, and then he rushed up, cing his saber on Sun Yu¡¯s neck. Sun Yu was so scared that his face was ghastly white and his legs were shuddering.


    Tang Jie coldly said, ¡°There¡¯s no ground here, so you don¡¯t need to kneel. Answer my questions and I can consider letting you go.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay,¡± Sun Yu replied.


    ¡°Was it Shi Jingzhai¡¯s idea to have you provoke me with insults?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Elder Shi felt like your lingering here was getting in the way of business, so he wanted us to think of a way to get you into a fight. When the time came, whether it was a win or loss, the elder would appear to drive you away,¡± Sun Yu replied in a trembling voice.


    It had been a pretty good n, but to his surprise, Tang Jie had run out and taken the battle outside of Stone Gate Peak.


    If Shi Jingzhai followed, he would have to show himself, and he had no good excuse for not stopping the fight. But if he didn¡¯t follow, he wouldn¡¯t be able to control the situation. After all, a Celestial Heart True Person wasn¡¯t omnipotent.


    Of course, in Shi Jingzhai¡¯s view, so long as they were willing to fight, it didn¡¯t matter who won or lost. What was important was that he could use this opportunity to drive Tang Jie away, which was why he chose to not follow them, which led to the deaths of Lin Fan¡¯s group.


    From another perspective, Shi Jingzhai¡¯s n had seeded.


    Now that Tang Jie had killed someone, even if the Stone Gate Sect couldn¡¯t punish him, it could at least drive him out.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t care.


    He coldly looked at Sun Yu. ¡°¡®Getting in the way of business¡¯? What business?¡±


    Sun Yu shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I only know that Senior Brother Lin Fan was tasked with driving you out, and this lowly one was only here to offer support.¡±


    ¡°Do you know who does know?¡±


    Sun Yu thought it over and answered, ¡°Only the senior brothers close to the elders are likely to know, like Senior Brothers Lin, Zhang, and Jiang. But I¡¯ve heard that the one most likely to know is probably Senior Brother Qian.¡±


    Tang Jie knew all the people Sun Yu had spoken of. He suddenly frowned and said, ¡°¡®Senior Brother Qian¡¯? Are you talking about Qian Jiangchao? I remember that he¡¯s Elder Liang¡¯s disciple, but his strength is average.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Sun Yu replied. ¡°In the past, Senior Brother Qian never received much attention, but he was suddenly promoted a few days ago, bing a steward of the sect and endowed with great authority, able to mobilize anyone in the sect.¡±


    ¡°Oh? When did this happen?¡±


    ¡°Four days ago.¡±


    ¡°Four days ago¡­ Was that when the Jewel Madame returned?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the day after the Jewel Madame returned, Senior Brother Qian was promoted and givenmand over the personnel affairs of the sect, sending us off every day to do strange things.¡±


    ¡°How are they strange?¡±


    Sun Yu gave a brief summary. It was nothing but going around hunting for fiends that might or might not exist, strengthening surveince over various areas, and so on. The only unusual thing was that Senior Brother Qian was particrly passionate. He wasn¡¯t just managing his own area, but the areas of others as well.


    ¡°¡®The areas of others¡¯?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°Yes. Senior Brother Qian said that it was our duty to take care of all themon folk of the world. The moment he heard of some sort of evil taking ce, he sent members of our sect out to do good and umte merit.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Tang Jie softly chuckled.


    He could tell from what Sun Yu had said that the Stone Gate Sect was preparing to ship the goods.


    Some unknown factor had caused Tang Jie to be cleared of suspicion, and so his presence in the sect was now nothing more than an obstacle. The Stone Gate Sect naturally wanted him to get out so that they could carry on with their own business. That Senior Brother Qian¡¯s actions were simply a diversion while the preparations for the trade were being carried out.


    s, there were still no details on the time of the shipment and the route it would take. Even that Senior Brother Qian was protected by the Stone Gate Sect, so trying to get close to him would be far too difficult.


    Thinking of this, Tang Jie asked, ¡°Do you know anything about that Senior Brother Qian?¡±


    Sun Yu shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not too sure. I just know that he¡¯s a distant rtive to some rich n in Canglong Prefecture and has some connections. Originally, he didn¡¯t have much status in the Stone Gate Sect, but for some reason,st year, he suddenly received a lot more attention and became Elder Liang¡¯s disciple.¡±


    ¡°¡®A rich n of Canglong Prefecture¡¯?¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m quite familiar with Canglong Prefecture. Which n was it? Or did he make up a n?¡±


    Sun Yu considered the question and replied, ¡°I don¡¯t quite remember. I think it was Du, or maybe Gu.¡±


    Tang Jie was startled. ¡°What did you say? The Gu n? Could it be that Gu n that runs casinos?¡±


    Sun Yu shouted, ¡°Right, right, right! The Gu n that runs casinos!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s face instantly sank.


    Countless ideas emerged in his mind as he recalled everything that he knew about the Gu n.


    One thing suddenly burst into Tang Jie¡¯s mind!


    Aghast, he activated Heart Consonance: ¡°Yiyi!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s up? I¡¯m here,¡± Yiyi replied.


    ¡°Young Master Wei once told me that the Gu n had asked to borrow a trade route from him. Immediately go and ask him if this trade route was the one between Canglong Prefecture and Dusnd.¡±


    A few momentster, Yiyi replied, ¡°Yes, it was the trade route leading to the Watcher River Town secret market.¡±


    Tang Jie gasped.


    He instantly understood everything.


    The Stone Gate Sect had so many goods that it couldn¡¯t possibly stuff it all into Mustard Seed Bags, so it had to use the most primitive method of caravans to transport them. In these circumstances, they had worked through the Gu n to borrow a trade route from the Wei n.


    This trade route was none other than the one that Wei Tianchong had opened up using his status as True Inheritor. No one would dare to inspect the goods on this route!


    Such audacity!


    Using the trade route of a Basking Moon Sect disciple to ship illicit goods! If this matter were exposed, Wei Tianchong would find it hard to escape the me.


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart chilled, and he shouted, ¡°Has the trade route been lent out yet?¡±


    Although he had shouted this question out loud, Yiyi still received the question, replying in a cute voice, ¡°It¡¯s already been lent out. Elder Young Master and Wu Xing are personally escorting the convoy, and the first batch of goods is already on the road.¡±


    <em>What? The Wei n is personally escorting the goods?</em>


    Thick murderous intent gathered on Tang Jie¡¯s face. ¡°Gu n¡­ you deserve death!¡±


    Sun Yu was scared silly by his expression, shouting, ¡°You promised to let me go!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s face turned pensive.


    A few momentster.


    A saber swung and a head flew.


    Looking at that pir of blood, Tang Jie callously said, ¡°I¡¯ve considered it, and I still think it¡¯s best if I don¡¯t let you go.¡±


    Those sneaky Gu n guys are up to no good!

 Chapter 366

    Chapter 366: Robbery


    In a dense forest at the base of a mountain, a small road made by human hands extended into the distance.


    A convoy was making its way through the forest. There were sevenrge wagons in all, each one carrying fourrge crates. Around twenty people were guarding this convoy.


    The head and tail wagons each had arge g flying from them. On one side was written ¡°Wei¡±, and on the other side was written ¡°Gu¡±, indicating that this was a convoy of the Wei and Gu ns.


    At the very front, four people mounted on horses were leading the way. Two of them were none other than Wei Tianzhi and Wu Xing.


    Upon returning from the academy, these two had begun to manage the n business. This trade route was newly opened, and so the most important thing besides making connections with the various local governments and sects was to guard against bandits and fiends. Sufficient guards were needed, and so Wei Tianzhi and Wu Xing had been entrusted with this task.


    The Wei n had gone to great lengths to open up this route, and it was quite valuable. If not for the matter of Wei Tianchong¡¯s engagement, the Wei n would have never let the Gu n use it for its goods.


    Seated on his horse, Wu Xing pointed into the distance and said, ¡°Through this forest is the Warsong Mountains, and past the Warsong Mountains is Dusnd. There, the status of our sect will have no meaning, so everyone will have to rely on their fists.¡±


    The youth next to him said, ¡°And here I thought that we would have to rely on our fists once we were through the Lotus Pass.¡±


    Everyoneughed.


    The youth was called Gu Changan, a member of the Gu n¡¯s direct line of descent. He had a scheming personality and was considered quite the shrewd one among his peers, earning him the favor of the patriarch. The partnership between the Gu n and Wei n was of great significance, so the Gu n had sent this person to serve as the connection with the Wei n.


    The middle-aged man next to him said, ¡°It¡¯s difficult to make one¡¯s way through this forested and mountainous region. It must have taken you significant resources to open up this road, no?¡±


    This man¡¯s name was Zhu Kaishan, and he was the leader of the Gu n¡¯s escortpany. He had abundant experience in this field and was a very sly person. His primary duty was managing the caravan.


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    ¡°Indeed,¡± Wu Xing replied. ¡°There are far too many checkpoints on the Upwater ins. It would be fine if it were just us, as Basking Moon students, but if we were carrying so many goods with us, we would have to subject ourselves to exploitation far too many times. To save on expenses, we had no choice but to find another path, so we opened a road through this forest. Elder Young Master and I busied ourselves for more than a hundred days on this road.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been through a lot.¡± Gu Changan nodded. ¡°An illustrious cultivator, even if not a Spirit Master, still has a noble status beyondpare, yet you had to run off to this forest to open a road. You¡¯ve truly been greatly wronged. But I¡¯ve heard that the Wei n has heaped even greater praise on the second young master for this trade route?¡±


    Wei Tianzhi and Wu Xing grimaced.


    Wu Xing fawningly said, ¡°This is understandable. He was the one who came up with the idea. When they went to participate in the Immortal Fortune Conference, they passed through the secret market at Watcher River Town and discovered that there was a lot of potential there. Later on, the second young master requested permission from thedy to open a trade route to there, and also to make a friendship with the Ayia there¡­ The second young master has done a lot for our sake.¡±


    ¡°But he was mostly just using his mouth, right?¡± Gu Changan smiled. ¡°The world has never been fair. Those who haven¡¯t done much of anything or have done very little stand above and enjoy everything while those who put in all the work end up with none of the fame or fortune.¡±


    Wei Tianzhi snorted, ¡°It was all for the sake of the n, so there¡¯s no need to try and haggle over who did what. Moreover, if we really had to do that, in the future, this Wei will inherit the Wei n, while my little brother has potential on the Immortal Path and will have to keep working on that in the future. He is bound to be the protector of the Wei n, and he certainly won¡¯t try and struggle with me over the family property. Now that I think about it, I would be the one owing him. Since that is the case, is there any problem with allowing him to have a little fame and fortune?¡±


    Hearing this, Gu Changan quickly smiled and said, ¡°Ah, this one is ignorant and rarely considers things this far.¡±


    Wei Tianzhi coldly replied, ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s not a matter of thinking too little, but of thinking too much.¡±


    Gu Changan froze, and in the end, it was Zhu Kaishan who smiled and said, ¡°Changan has a forthright personality and says what¡¯s on his mind. If he offended you, it was purely unintentional. But Elder Young Master is wise and virtuous, disying such affection for your brother. With such descendants, the Wei n has a prosperous future before it!¡±


    It was hard to strike a smiling man, and with Zhu Kaishan¡¯s praising words, Wei Tianzhi could only shoot a nce at Gu Changan before falling silent.


    Before setting off, he had been reminded by Zheng Shufeng multiple times to be wary of the Gu n¡¯s people, and it now appeared that his mother was right. These guys harbored ill intentions and were trying to pull apart him and Wei Tianchong. But while Gu Changan could try to sow discord, this wasn¡¯t the ce to try it. Wei Tianzhi and Wei Tianchong had shared fraternal affection and had never quarreled over wealth and power. Gu Changan¡¯s attempt was more like the instinct of a petty person rather than some calcted n.


    The convoy slowly rolled forward in the middle of the dark and quiet forest.


    Nobody knew that the convoy was being watched by three people from a bunch of shrubs in the distance.


    It was Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong, and Shi Meng. On Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder was Yiyi, and Wei Tianchong was holding the little fox.


    Upon learning that the Gu n had already borrowed the Wei n¡¯s trade route, Tang Jie headed straight for Canglong Prefecture. Shi Jingzhai had already achieved his goal of getting Tang Jie to leave. As for what sort of thunderous rage he would disy after discovering the corpses, Tang Jie didn¡¯t even think about it.


    Upon arriving at Canglong Prefecture, Tang Jie found Wei Tianchong and took him and Shi Meng to this ce. On the way, they conversed and exchanged information on what had been happening. When Wei Tianchong learned that the Stone Gate Sect had embezzled resources with a total value of more than one hundred million, he was blown away, and Tang Jie himself was startled by the scale of the Wei Estate¡¯s investigation into the materials market.


    But the past was the past, and there was no preventing it. As for the matter before them, they needed to resolve it as quickly as possible.


    They rushed to Lotus Pass, where they finally caught up to the convoy. Any farther and they would have been in Dusnd.


    Looking at the convoy, Shi Meng asked, ¡°What do we do now?¡±


    Wei Tianchong snorted. ¡°You need to ask? No matter what, these goods can¡¯t enter Dusnd while still in the hands of our Wei n, as that would be aiding the enemy. Even if we didn¡¯t know beforehand, we would still be guilty of not checking the goods. This damn Gu n¡ªI¡¯ll y off their skin!¡±


    Just as he was about to rush out, Tang Jie held out a hand and stopped him. ¡°Wait.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was startled. ¡°Why?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°The Stone Gate Sect is still in the middle of preparing to ship the goods. This should only be a preliminary test. If wee out now, the enemy will get an early warning.¡±


    ¡°So what do we do?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°We can¡¯t act openly, but we can still act covertly.¡±


    He took out a ck head cover and ced it over his face, upon which Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng understood.


    ¡°Robbery?¡± Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng shivered. Even the normallyzy little fox raised her head.


    Yiyi was the only one who excitedly pped her hands and shouted, ¡°Great! Great!¡± Her face was the picture of someone whose only fear was that the world was not in chaos.


    Wei Tianchong looked at Tang Jie in disbelief. ¡°You¡¯re asking me to rob my own caravan?¡±


    Tang Jie firmly nodded. ¡°Do you have a better idea?¡±


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng racked their brains, but they really couldn¡¯t think of anything better.


    Tang Jie handed over the prepared head coverings, saying, ¡°Remember: you can¡¯t say a word. Don¡¯t let Elder Young Master hear your voices. Secondly, don¡¯t use any weapons or spell arts in case they find out what¡¯s going on. Thirdly, don¡¯t kill anyone, and if you run into a troublesome foe, retreat and lure them farther before fighting. In short, concealment is the number one priority. Yiyi, Luo Yue, the two of you should stay out of this.¡±


    The little fox nodded while Yiyi sat down on the ground in a huff.


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng put on the head coverings so that only their eyes and mouth were showing. They also changed their clothes.


    Tang Jie looked them over and saw that there was nothing that might expose them, but he still couldn¡¯t rest easily. Turning to Wei Tianchong, he whispered, ¡°Your body isn¡¯t very easy to hide.¡±


    He took out a strip of cloth and bound it around Wei Tianchong¡¯s belly before saying in satisfaction, ¡°That¡¯ll do.¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s face twitched while Shi Meng and Luo Yue tried their best to notugh. As for Yiyi, she heartlesslyughed.


    With their preparations done, the three of them exchanged looks and shot toward the convoy. They didn¡¯t reveal themselves, concealing themselves with spiritual energy before approaching. This wasn¡¯t some particrly advanced spell, but it was enough to deal with Spirit Disciples like Wei Tianzhi and Wu Xing. But as they drew close, one of the twenty-some escorts suddenly looked up and shouted, ¡°Someone is approaching!¡±


    Upon hearing this, Wei Tianzhi and Zhu Kaishan immediately turned to look.


    Tang Jie immediately knew that things had gone awry. Zhu Kaishan¡¯s eyes glinted with a savage light as he shouted, ¡°Who¡¯s sneaking around out there? Get out right now!¡±


    He chopped with his palm.


    This palm chop unleashed a st of wind that disturbed the air currents. While it couldn¡¯t harm Tang Jie¡¯s group, it did force them to appear.


    Three masked and ck-clothed people appeared. Before everyone else could understand what was going on, Wei Tianzhi, Wu Xing, and Gu Changan attacked in unison, various spell arts flying out. The twenty-some escorts attacked after them, throwing out caltrops, flying knives, and poisonous darts. Although these things were of little threat to Tang Jie¡¯s group, they served to conceal the spell arts from Wei Tianzhi¡¯s group. It was often the case where there was no time to pick out the spell arts from the weapons, so one had to sweep aside all of the attacks rather than allowing any of them to get close, wasting spiritual energy.


    Tang Jie simply grunted and threw out a palm. Spiritual power rippled out, blocking all these attacks. At the same time, he said in a raspy voice, ¡°Leave behind your money and goods and we can spare your lives. Otherwise, all of you will be in without mercy!¡±


    ording to the usual script, Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng should have repeated ¡°in without mercy!¡± to make the threat more intimidating, but they had been ordered by Tang Jie to not speak, so they simply nodded to acknowledge Tang Jie¡¯s words.


    Without the additional intimidating factor, the scene became ratherical.


    Not exactly the best acting performance. Good thing it¡¯s not their day job.

 Chapter 367

    Chapter 367: True Face


    Looking at thisical trio of bandits, Wei Tianzhi and Wu Xing looked at each other and smiled in disdain.


    Wei Tianzhi said, ¡°We were the ones who opened up this road, and we ran into quite a few bandits, but it¡¯s my first time seeing ones all covered up like this, refusing to show their real faces. I¡¯d like to see who¡¯s under that face scarf of yours that dares to touch a convoy of my Wei n.¡±


    As he waved his hand, green threads flew out to entangle the trio.


    This was Wei Tianzhi¡¯s Threading Hand, which excelled in transformation and control. As the green threads coiled toward Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong rushed in and chopped his hand down, dispelling all the threads.


    Meanwhile, Wu Xing began to fight with Shi Meng.


    On the other end, Gu Changan wanted to help, but Tang Jie confronted him, punching at Gu Changan and Zhu Kaishan whileughing, ¡°You two are mine!¡±


    The seven of them were soon locked inbat. As for the escorts, they were just ordinary people and couldn¡¯t be of much help, so they just stayed by the wagons to make sure that other people didn¡¯tunch a sneak attack.


    When it came to strength, while it was three versus four, Wei Tianchong alone could have taken care of all four of them.


    But being unable to use their weapons and spell arts greatly limited their abilities. It was only when Wei Tianchong was fighting his older brother that he realized that he didn¡¯t really have any spell arts that could be used on him.


    The Changfeng Thirteenth Style? No, his big brother had seen it before, when he had been sparring with him and Wu Xing a few days ago.


    Fireball? No, he had also seen that.


    The puppet? Absolutely not! He was already famous for it.


    Though he racked his mind, he still couldn¡¯t think of a spell art that Wei Tianzhi had never seen before, so in the end he could only use popr sword techniques like the Swiftwind Sword to fight him.


    Shi Meng was in the same situation. As a servant student, he had privately sparred with Wu Xing before.


    As a result, the two of them were pushed back.


    Tang Jie was in a somewhat better state.


    He had many spell arts, like the Matchless sh and Star Finger, that Wei Tianzhi and Wu Xing had never seen before. Although he couldn¡¯t use the Matchless sh because he couldn¡¯t use the Heartbreak Saber, and the Heavenly de was too powerful to be used here, he could handle the situation well enough with only the Star Finger and Dragonlike Hand.


    He also had his Jewel Body, so even in a one-versus-two, he still had the upper hand, such that he could asionally help out Wei Tianchong a little.


    In this way, this somewhat uneven battle was fought to a draw, with neither side able to get the upper hand over the other.


    As the main overseer of the Gu n¡¯s escortpany business, Zhu Kaishan, though only a Spirit Disciple, had a rather sharp gaze. He immediately saw that Tang Jie was the leader of the trio, with more than half of the attacks from their side being neutralized by him, so he shouted, ¡°Split them up! All of you, help Young Master Wei attack those two!¡±


    The escorts began to throw their darts and knives at Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng, with someone even taking out a powerful bow and taking aim at Wei Tianchong. Aghast, Wei Tianchong was forced to retreat. Without a barrier, if he were struck by an arrow from such a bow, he would be heavily injured if not killed.


    The battlefield was split in two. Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help Wei Tianchong, and Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng were forced to dodge around as Wei Tianzhi, Wu Xing, and the escorts deluged them with attacks. The tables had instantly turned.


    An arrow flew through the air, and Wei Tianchong had barely dodged it when Wei Tianzhi threw a punch into his chest, giving a jolt to his heart. He threw up blood, staining his head covering red.


    Tang Jie knew that this wasn¡¯t good, so he finally said, ¡°Clear the mind and see the true nature, linking the spirit to the will¡­¡±


    Wei Tianchong was startled, and then a mantra appeared in his mind. It was none other than the Bright Heart Art from the Ninedark Mantra that Tang Jie had taught him.


    Tang Jie was clearly reciting part of the mantra, but it had apletely different meaning in Wei Tianchong¡¯s ears. As the mantra shed through his mind, the scene before him no longer appeared as simple.


    He had experienced something like this a few years ago. Every time he entered this state, he would learn things very quickly. But he had always felt like these were sudden bursts of enlightenment, that he had just been in particrly good condition on that day. It was only now that he truly understood.


    But the situation didn¡¯t give him time to celebrate. As Wu Xing unleashed a Gale de at him, he snorted and sliced with his hand. He chopped right between Wei Tianzhi and Wu Xing, cutting an opening between the two. At the same time, he formed a sword sign with his left hand and pointed, unleashing a brilliant wave of sword energy.


    Changfeng Thirteen Moves, Sword Transformation!


    Turning his finger into a sword, he unleashed awesome sword energy.


    Up until now, Wei Tianchong had only ever been able to grasp the first move of the Changfeng Thirteen Moves. But in this sudden burst of insight, he had been able toprehend the spell art that had eluded him all this time. As he unleashed the waves of sword energy, they howled through the air and left Wei Tianzhi and Wu Xing in a panic as they were pushed back.


    Tang Jie softly chuckled.


    He drew back his fists and charged out, mming into Zhu Kaishan and Gu Changan. When the three had previously shed, though Tang Jie had his Jewel Body, he was still only at minor attainment while the other two were fighting back with spell arts, so they had drawn. But in this collision, Tang Jie¡¯s fists erupted with spiritual light, and then there was a boom. The other two were sent flying, this one strike causing them to throw up blood.


    Energy-Blood Simulflow!


    After four years of cultivation, Tang Jie had managed to both cultivate to proficiency the arts of the Basking Moon Sect and also make remarkable progress in the Ninedark Mantra.


    After pushing them back, Tang Jieughed and said, ¡°I already said you guys were no match, but you didn¡¯t believe me. That being the case, don¡¯t me me for being merciless!¡±


    As he spoke, he reached out and snatched a sword from the hand of an escort. He thrust the sword at Gu Changan and Zhu Kaishan. As the sword tip struck empty air twice, it created two energy vortices that flew at the two.


    The Twelve Hidden Whirlpool Art.


    If these vortices were to make contact, the two of them would die on the spot.


    At this moment, a voice called out, ¡°Shameless boasting!¡±


    A figure charged out, thrusting their palms at the energy vortices. <em>Bam! Bam!</em> The two vortices disappeared.


    An escort was standing in front of the two¡ªthe one who had first noticed Tang Jie¡¯s group approaching.


    This escort was seemingly in his thirties and looked like a farmer. His w-like hands were shriveled but vigorous, and his eyes were bright with energy.


    ¡°Cao Jiyuan?¡± Zhu Kaishan said in surprise.


    Cao Jiyuan was an escort that the Gu n had introduced a few days ago. At the start, Zhu Kaishan had taken him to be a rtive of the Gu n and had treated him very well. But when he found Cao Jiyuan to be not much of a talker, and then he also learned from asking some powerful individuals in the Gu n that even they didn¡¯t know who he was, he gradually started to ignore the man.


    He hadn¡¯t expected Cao Xuyuan toe out of nowhere like this, first discovering these bandits and then saving them.


    As he stood in front of Zhu Kaishan, Cao Jiyuan coldly said, ¡°Friend, where do youe from, that you would dare to touch the goods of the Basking Moon Sect?¡±


    ¡°¡®The Basking Moon Sect¡¯?¡± Tang Jie threw his head back andughed. Dropping his head, he said in a dark and raspy voice, ¡°Other people might be afraid of your Basking Moon Sect, but not my Seven Absolutions Sect.¡±


    ¡°The audacity!¡± Cao Jiyuan¡¯s face darkened, and a cold white energy gathered in his hand. He suddenly grabbed at Tang Jie¡¯s face as he bellowed, ¡°You¡¯re clearly using the Star Finger and Dragonlike Hand, yet you dare to say you¡¯re from the Seven Absolutions Sect! Hurry and reveal yourself!¡±


    Tang Jie raised his arms to block, and he felt a chill entering his arms, almost freezing his blood. But it was only a momentary sensation. Tang Jie simply circted his blood energy to neutralize the chill.


    ¡°What about you? Isn¡¯t this the Freezing Nether w of the Seven Absolutions Sect?¡± Tang Jie smiled. ¡°So it was actually Sir who was a member of the Seven Absolutions Sect! Why have youe to Sageheart to be an escort?¡±


    Cao Jiyuan grunted, ¡°Being able to use the Freezing Nether w doesn¡¯t make me a member of the Seven Absolutions Sect!¡±


    He wed at Tang Jie again.


    ¡°Sounds good! Then my using the Star Finger doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m from the Basking Moon Sect,¡± Tang Jieughed.


    One was part of the Seven Absolutions Sect and pretending to be part of the Basking Moon Sect, and the other was from the Basking Moon Sect and pretending to be part of the Seven Absolutions Sect. Just like that, they began to fight.


    But it was clear that Cao Jiyuan was no longer holding back now that he had been exposed, using the Freezing Nether w again and again¡ªeach one fiercer than thest.


    ¡°Astral Guardian Winds, Seven Star Mooncrosser, the 79 Coldlight Chain Swords¡­ and you still say you¡¯re not from the Seven Absolutions Sect? Have you no shame!?¡± Tang Jie rolled his eyes.


    After being exposed, Cao Jiyuan had begun to grantly use his sect¡¯s spell arts, but Tang Jie elected to continue keeping his cover.


    They were both at the Hundred Refinement Period, but Tang Jie couldn¡¯t even use 30% of his power while Cao Jiyuan was able to go all-out. And this wasn¡¯t even considering that Gu Changan and Zhu Kaishan were asionally making opportunistic attacks on Tang Jie. It wasn¡¯t long before Tang Jie was on the back foot.


    Cao Jiyuan moved like lightning, rushing up to Tang Jie and thrusting a wed hand at Tang Jie¡¯s chest. Without the protection of the Formless Golden Body, Tang Jie was sent flying, five bloody holes appearing on his chest.


    ¡°Not daring to use your full strength?¡± Cao Jiyuan crazilyughed as he unleashed a wave of sword energy at Tang Jie.


    While flying through the air, Tang Jieughed and said, ¡°You have to have the ability to force my hand first.¡±


    He raised his head, and his eyes shed white. A light exploded in the air, and then a curved de plummeted toward Cao Jiyuan, dragging two long chains behind it.


    The Heavenly Cloud de!


    Cao Jiyuan paled. In truth, he had been ready for Tang Jie to use some powerful spell art, but he had never even heard about this particr spell art.


    Could he be not a Basking Moon Sect disciple, but a disciple of another sect pretending to be one?


    Cao Jiyuan couldn¡¯t help but think this.


    As this thought was running through his mind, Cao Jiyuan dodged to the side. With the Seven Star Mooncrosser, he became like a wisp of smoke, dodging the Heavenly de.


    This was the first time someone had dodged the Heavenly Cloud de.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t care.


    With a light wave of his finger, the curved de, rather than disappearing after missing, changed directions and continued to pursue Cao Jiyuan.


    This wasn¡¯t a power of the Heavenly de, but the effect of the Ninedark Mantra. Violet Temple Radiance actually allowed all spell arts made from condensed spiritual energy tost for a little longer.


    Tang Jie had never done this before because he had never run into a proper opponent and also because he hadn¡¯t been skilled enough in the Heavenly Cloud de.


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    But now, both conditions had been met.


    Cao Jiyuan was aghast at the pursuit of the de. While the Seven Star Mooncrosser was nimble, it couldn¡¯t outrun the Heavenly de. With no other choice, Cao Jiyuan bellowed and swung his sword.


    A wave of sword energy struck the Heavenly de, causing it to freeze.


    A momentter, the Heavenly de started to crumble.


    Cao Jiyuan sighed in relief and then snarled, ¡°What other tricks do you have?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes coldly glinted. ¡°Then take a look at this one.¡±


    He formed signs with his hands and then pointed, upon which another light burst out in the air.


    But this light was even brighter than thest, and the Heavenly de appeared again, but this time, there were two.


    ¡°How?¡± Cao Jiyuan cried out in shock.


    He didn¡¯t know that there were originally 81 Heavenly des. The Heavenly Cloud de spell art that Tang Jie had developed from the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation had precisely sought a rapid increase in power by boosting their number. Thus, after making the first one, he didn¡¯t just stop, continuing to put his effort into creating more Heavenly Vortex des.


    But as this had been based on a formation, it wasn¡¯t easy for one person to do it all. However, Tang Jie had the Ninedark Mantra, and the Twelve Hidden Whirlpools and Violet Temple Radiance specialized in ovepping spell arts. In this urgent situation, he had made a sudden breakthrough and had gone from one Heavenly Vortex de to two.


    These des plummeted down, the four chains behind them ttering in the air.


    Cao Jiyuan let out a frightened yelp and flew into the air, unleashing wave after wave of energy from his sword. At the same time, he used the Seven Star Mooncrosser to constantly evade this powerful attack.


    He was still a Seven Absolutions Sect disciple, and while he wasn¡¯t an elite, he also wasn¡¯t trash. With all of his power, he ultimately managed to avoid this offensive.


    But those two Heavenly des weren¡¯t willing to go back empty-handed. Since they couldn¡¯t catch Cao Jiyuan, they turned around and flew toward Gu Changan and Zhu Kaishan.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t have any good impression of these two, so he showed them no mercy.


    The curved des swept past their bodies, and then two people became four chunks, blood fountaining into the sky.


    Only then did the chains pull the des back into the sky.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Cao Jiyuan looked at Tang Jie in shock. He hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to be so ruthless.


    With Gu and Zhu dead, he suddenly realized that this was no ordinary bandit, but someone who was aiming for the special goods in this convoy.


    Cao Jiyuan immediately knew that he was in trouble and that this deal was not going to go well. He rushed off into the sky, attempting to escape.


    Tang Jie snorted at this escape attempt. ¡°Trying to escape to the skies after seeing my Heavenly des?¡±


    He pointed at the air, and another Heavenly de formed. He didn¡¯t use two this time. Having only recently gained this ability, he found it easier and less tiring to use only a single de.


    Seeing this, Cao Jiyuan rushed back to the ground before the de could form.


    Unable to escape, he gritted his teeth and took out a small bottle from his Mustard Seed Bag, throwing a pill into his mouth.


    He moved so quickly that even Tang Jie grimaced at the sight.


    Even now, he hadn¡¯t forgotten about that Demonblood Pill that Zhuang Shen had used.


    Cao Jiyuan was from the Seven Absolutions Sect, so he was bound to have even more such things.


    As Cao Jiyuan downed the pill, his body began to rapidly grow. At this time, the Heavenly Vortex de finished forming, and it chopped down at Cao Jiyuan. Cao Jiyuan simplyughed and punched.


    This one punch instantly obliterated the de.


    Cao Jiyuan¡¯s body was still growing in size, only stopping when he had reached a height of around five meters. Standing in front of Tang Jie, he was like a giant as heughed, ¡°Just die already!¡±


    He brought arge hand down on Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes shed with a harsh light. ¡°A Multiplier Pill? Then perhaps I can still try.¡±


    The Multiplier Pill was different from the Demonblood Pill. The Multiplier Pill simply increased the strength of the body by increasing its size. Therger one¡¯s body was, the more strength one could draw on.


    Cao Jiyuan¡¯s body was three times the size of a normal person, so his strength was about six times greater. He made for a frightening figure, but it wasn¡¯t enough to make Tang Jie afraid, which was why he said that he wanted to try.


    As Cao Jiyuan¡¯s hand pressed down, Tang Jie punched, his fist shing red and white.


    White was the color of spiritual light, and red was the color of blood energy.


    Energy-Blood Simulflow, Blood Refining Spirit!


    Tang Jie¡¯s body seethed with energy and blood, and as he infused his fist with spiritual energy, he unleashed the strongest blow he was capable of!


    <em>Boom!</em>


    In a fierce collision, Tang Jie was swatted away like a fly, but Cao Jiyuan wasn¡¯t much better off. Tang Jie¡¯s punch had sted arge hole in his palm, causing him to howl in pain.


    Both sides had been injured in this exchange.


    A momentter, Cao Jiyuan charged at Tang Jie, his feet stomping forward. Tang Jie didn¡¯t back down and countered with a swinging punch.


    Everyone else was dumbfounded by this battle.


    Wei Tianchong and Wei Tianzhi stopped fighting and watched Tang Jie battle the giant.


    Trees toppled beneath the giant while the earth groaned.


    Fists infused with spiritual energy unleashed a frightening light that tore apart everything in their path!


    Tang Jie¡¯s ck clothes were torn apart, and the covering around his face could no longer hide him, revealing some of his face.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see how long you can keep this act up! Show your true form!¡± Cao Jiyuan roared as he punched at Tang Jie.


    He no longer had any hopes of killing Tang Jie, but he was determined to tear off Tang Jie¡¯s mask and see who this was. Perhaps he even had a chance of sending word back to his senior brother¡­


    <em>Boom!</em>


    A powerful current of air ripped forward like a tornado.


    Tang Jie raised his arms to block his face.


    But the all-prating wind got through the openings between his arms and tore away Tang Jie¡¯s face scarf.


    ¡°Oh no!¡± Upon seeing this, Wei Tianchong couldn¡¯t help but cry out in rm.


    Wei Tianzhi shuddered upon hearing his voice, looking at Wei Tianchong in disbelief.


    Tang Jie¡¯s face was still hidden behind his arms.


    Cao Jiyuanughed. ¡°Still trying to hide it? Given your abilities, you must have been sent by the Basking Moon Sect. If my guess is right, you should be¡­¡±


    Before he could finish speaking, Tang Jie put down his arms and looked at Cao Jiyuan. ¡°You know me?¡±


    The shriveled yellow face of a middle-aged man appeared before everyone¡¯s eyes.


    Cao Jiyuan was dumbfounded. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Go and ask that question in the underworld,¡± Tang Jie said, unleashing a thunderous punch.


    Whoops, that isn¡¯t Tang Jie at all! Also boy those Gu n dudes got wrecked.

 Chapter 368

    Chapter 368: Great Brother


    Thepletely unfamiliar face had left Cao Jiyuan stunned, and also Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng.


    They stared nkly at that man with the unfamiliar face, watched as he pummeled Cao Jiyuan with his fists, watched as his body swelled with power, and for a moment, they were rather dumbfounded.


    Was this Tang Jie?


    Under Tang Jie¡¯s flurry of fists, even the Multiplier-empowered Cao Jiyuan began to lose ground.


    Under the beating, his body began to shrink, his strength waning with it. Meanwhile, Tang Jie remained as strong as ever, smashing fist after fist into the Seven Absolutions Sect disciple and causing him to wail.


    At the same time, Tang Jie turned around and nced at Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng, saying in an icy tone, ¡°What are you still waiting for? They¡¯ve seen my face! Kill them all! No survivors!¡±


    These words made everyone wake up. Wei Tianzhi was the first to retreat, shouting, ¡°Run!¡±


    Wei Tianzhi no longer cared about protecting the convoy. After all, keeping his life was the most important thing. Moreover, they were transporting the Gu n¡¯s goods, and the loss would have no effect on the Wei n. What reason did he have to risk his life for the Gu n?


    Everyone cried out, abandoning the wagons and running off. Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng also seemed to wake from a dream, pretending to give chase and killing two of the Gu n escorts, leaving the rest to go back and report. Anyway, they had put on rather awful performances, so it made sense if they weren¡¯t able to chase down the escorts.


    Meanwhile, under Tang Jie¡¯s frenzied beating, Cao Jiyuan finally broke, his body returning to normal.


    The moment he returned to normal, a leaden fist from Tang Jie knocked him to the ground.


    ¡°Who are you? Who in the world are you, that you dare to oppose my Seven Absolutions Sect?!¡± Cao Jiyuan crazily yelled.


    Tang Jie coldly snorted, upon which he released a small spell art, Crushrock.


    Crushrock was the Stone Gate Sect¡¯s unique art. Though weak, it was the signature spell art of the Stone Gate Sect. Tang Jie had learned it from the inner sect disciples of the Stone Gate Sect while wandering around Stone Gate Peak thesest few days. Its simplicity made it extremely easy to master.


    Upon seeing Crushrock, Cao Jiyuan was startled, and then he shouted, ¡°So it was you lot¡­ you¡­ bastards¡­ daring to go back on your words¡­ even trying to steal our money. You¡¯re dead! Dead!¡±


    His legs went rigid, and then, he died.


    ¡°He¡¯s dead?¡± Wei Tianchong walked over and checked to see if he was breathing. Still not able to rest easy, he hit the corpse a few more times, and only then did he turn to Tang Jie, who had returned to his original appearance.


    Wei Tianchong curiously asked, ¡°How did you turn into someone else just now?¡±


    ¡°It was just a human face mask,¡± Tang Jie casually said.


    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Wei Tianchong dumbly nodded. He then asked, ¡°What did he mean by ¡®going back on your words¡¯? And about ¡®even daring to steal their money¡¯?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Mm, from his tone, it seems like they¡¯ve already paid. The money is probably already with Shi Jingzhai.¡±


    As Tang Jie talked, he relieved Cao Jiyuan of his Mustard Seed Bag and then searched the body, taking anything that he found. His movements were extremely smooth and well-practiced.


    Meanwhile, Shi Meng began to open up the crates. After opening up ten-some crates, he finally found what they were looking for. ¡°Tang Jie, look.¡±


    Tang Jie walked over and saw that the crate was packed with Icestone Bamboo.


    ¡°This should be the wagon.¡± Tang Jie opened another crate and, sure enough, it contained Goldite.


    There were fourrge crates. One had Icestone Bamboo and the other three had processed Goldite. But there was no sign of the most valuable Crystallized Sandworms.


    Tang Jie searched the bodies of Zhu and Gu. Finally, on Gu Changan¡¯s body, he found a small box. Inside the box were ten Crystallized Sandworms.


    ¡°Here it is.¡± Tang Jie nodded in satisfaction. Doing some quick mental math, he said, ¡°One million of each kind, so with three types of resources, there¡¯s a total of three million spirit coins here.¡±


    ¡°¡®Three million¡¯?¡± Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng jumped in fright.


    The contents of these crates and the ck stones in that small jade box were worth three million?


    In all the time they had cultivated, they had never even seen this much money before.


    ¡°Mm,¡± Tang Jie confirmed. ¡°And this is only a small part, probably only a thirtieth or fiftieth of the whole thing. The bulk of the shipment hasn¡¯t been moved yet.¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s and Shi Meng¡¯s eyes began to twinkle.


    Shi Meng muttered, ¡°With this much money, aren¡¯t we rich?¡±


    Tang Jie swiftly rebuked him with a sharp p, ¡°¡®Rich¡¯, your ass! This all belongs to the Basking Moon Sect. You think that you can take it all? Anyone who dares to try and take it all for themselves will die!¡±


    These words cleared Shi Meng¡¯s mind, and he awkwardlyughed while scratching his head.


    Wei Tianchong felt it was a great pity, and Tang Jie couldn¡¯t stand to see him like this. He finally said, ¡°However, while taking it all isn¡¯t possible, it might be okay to take a little.¡±


    Shi Meng¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°You¡¯re saying that we should hide some of it first, right?¡±


    Tang Jie gave Shi Meng another p. ¡°¡®Hide it¡¯, your sister! Would you rather have money or your life? There are plenty of ways to make money, so why do you always think about the shady ways?¡±


    Shi Mengined, ¡°How can I know what sort of method you¡¯re thinking of?¡±


    ¡°The ¡®method¡¯? The method is very simple.¡± Tang Jie suddenly threw the small box back onto Gu Changan¡¯s corpse, and the little ck stones rolled off the body and onto the ground.


    He then used his saber to hack open the boxes, letting the Goldite and Icestone Bamboo spill out.


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng were dumbfounded by the sight, shouting, ¡°Tang Jie, what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Cut the chatter and help me out. Take all the silver on the bodies and then take these crates with us,¡± Tang Jie said, pointing at several crates of goods. The crates he had indicated were some of the more valuable goods the Gu n had brought this time, but they were greatlyckingpared to cultivation resources like Goldite and Icestone Bamboo.


    Tang Jie¡¯s actions left Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng rather dumbfounded. It took a while for Wei Tianchong to finally understand. ¡°You want us to pretend that we don¡¯t know what these things are? To not take them with us?¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°This is the only way to remove the suspicion of exposure so that the deal can continue. These three materials are not frequently seen on the market, and a normal bandit wouldn¡¯t recognize them. It¡¯s verymon to make the wrong judgment in this situation.¡±


    ¡°So we have to give up on this money?¡± Shi Meng said with great heartache.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°This is bait. With it, we can draw out the Seven Absolutions Sect, and we can use that chance to understand their motives.¡±


    ¡°Three million in bait!¡± Even Wei Tianchong couldn¡¯t stand it.


    Three million!


    Did they really have to throw it away?


    Wei Tianchong raised a trembling finger. ¡°Why don¡¯t we take just a little?¡±


    ¡°Not a single thing,¡± Tang Jie tersely replied. ¡°¡®Not knowing what they are¡¯ means not knowing what they are. Taking any would be exposing ourselves.¡±


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng sighed in sorrow, but they followed Tang Jie¡¯s orders and quickly left with the goods he had pointed out.


    Before leaving, Tang Jie suddenly stopped, bent down, and picked up a piece of Goldite.


    He looked at this stone, and then his left hand shed with spiritual light, creating an item identical to the piece of Goldite in his right hand.


    Tang Jie threw the one in his left hand to the ground before catching up to Wei Tianchong. ¡°Hey, here¡¯s the little bit you wanted.¡±


    Wei Tianchong speechlessly took it.


    Of course, Tang Jie could have duplicated a more valuable Crystallized Sandworm, but the sandworms were small and easy to carry around. If it were put into a Mustard Seed Bag, he wouldn¡¯t be able to observe the outside world. He used Duplication on a piece of Goldite precisely so he could spy on the Seven Absolutions Sect. He still had some questions, and perhaps the Seven Absolutions Sect had the answers.


    The three of them didn¡¯t go far before hiding themselves in the vicinity and beginning to wait.


    As this was a rather remote area, they had to wait for quite some time until someone finally appeared from the Dusnd direction.


    This person sped out of the distance. Stopping in the air, he grunted, took out a talisman, wrote a few words on it, and then burned it.


    The next visitors came much more quickly.


    After a little more than an hour, a group of people flew over.


    Ten-some peoplended in the clearing.


    Through the duplicated Goldite, Tang Jie could see that their leader was a tall and muscr man.


    One could tell at a nce that he was different from others. The others all wore the standard green robes of the Seven Absolutions Sect while this big man wore a tiger skin. This tiger skin was pure white, and the fur had a gloss to it that instantly identified it as an extraordinary item. The tiger skin could notpletely cover the man¡¯s body, and his exposed copper skin and rippling muscles showed that he was brimming with strength.


    As hended, the ground trembled as if some giant beast had stomped down.


    The big man looked around with a majestic gaze and sternly said, ¡°Who can tell me what the hell is going on here!?¡±


    His voice wasn¡¯t loud, but it was bursting with energy.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect disciple who hade first said, ¡°It should be passing bandits, but they couldn¡¯t see the value of the goods, only taking some of the worthless goods with them. They took a total of four crates, which implies that there couldn¡¯t have been more than four.¡±


    ¡°It was three people,¡± said a voice that made Tang Jie shiver.


    Mu Yi!


    The wooden voice carried an indifferent self-confidence. The tiger skin man turned to Mu Yi and said, ¡°Talk.¡±


    Mu Yi pointed nearby. ¡°The battlefield was split into two parts. One was over there. The escorts gathered together and aimed throwing knives, darts, and arrows at this area. Based on where they fell, their attacks were concentrated at two locations. But there are no dead around, so while it seems lively, there wasn¡¯t any intensebat. But over here¡­¡±


    Mu Yi pointed at another area nearby. ¡°This was the true battlefield. Cao Jiyuan joined together with Gu Changan and Zhu Kaishan against a foe, and from the shared cause of death of Gu and Zhu¡­ they were both cut apart by a single de. Thus, the other site was probably where Wei Tianzhi and Wu Xing were fighting with the enemy, two versus two, and with the help of the escorts, they managed to draw.¡±


    The big man nodded, and Mu Yi continued, ¡°Let us look back at where Cao Jiyuan is. This is where the battle was truly decided. The battle was particrly intense, Cao Jiyuan even using a Multiplier Pill¡ªas can be seen by those fallen trees¡ªbut he still lost. This is precisely what I find so strange about the situation.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so strange about it?¡±


    Mu Yi exined, ¡°If it was passing bandits, as Senior Brother Cheng said, then these were bandits that could defeat Senior Brother Cao while he was empowered by the Multiplier Pill. This isn¡¯t the strength of some ordinary bandit.¡±


    That Senior Brother Cheng smiled. ¡°Junior Brother Mu¡¯s words make sense, but it¡¯s not impossible for such a person to exist. The world is vast, and there are countless wandering cultivators. Let alone Mortal Shedding, there are even wandering cultivators at Celestial Heart, even Violet Pce. These people look just like everyone else normally, but because theyck cultivation resources, they¡¯re secretly willing to do anything to get what they need. It¡¯s not strange for a wandering cultivator to y the part of a bandit. And because they don¡¯t belong to any particr sect, they have limited experience and can¡¯t recognize real value. How else can you exin how the goods are just scattered about on the ground, untouched?¡±


    The other disciples nodded in agreement.


    Mu Yi replied, ¡°But there are also those who can forsake the small to gain even greater profit.¡±


    ¡°Then they never should have made a move. How could someone with great ns lose their patience? They should have waited in hiding for the right moment, striking and taking everything at once.¡±


    Mu Yi finally found a question he couldn¡¯t answer. After thinking it over for a long while, he shook his head and said, ¡°Senior Brother Cheng is right. I cannot find an exnation for this. Perhaps it really was as Senior Brother Cheng said and just a coincidence. But I still think it would be better to adjust the n. Of course, the exact details are up to Great Brother.¡±


    <em>¡®Great Brother¡¯?</em>


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart jumped at the term.


    The title of Great Brother was not lightly used in the six major sects. Those called Great Brother had a certain amount of prestige andmanded the servitude of their peers.


    This wasn¡¯t an honor granted by the sect, but a title of respect that the students gave all on their own. This was precisely why they were even more rare than the members of the top ten.


    In Basking Moon Academy, over thest ten years, it had only been Bei Canghan, Peng Yaolong, and Tang Jie who had held this title. And once one was in the sect, the title of Great Brother became even more rare. At the very least, Bei and Peng were no longer addressed this way.


    This tiger skin man had an intimidating appearance that oozed majesty. His aura was even greater than Peng Yaolong¡¯s, and from how respectfully Mu Yi treated this man, Tang Jie almost instantly realized who he was.


    Wang Juemie!


    Through the duplicate, Tang Jie memorized the appearance of this tiger skin man who had unsessfully pursued Shen Qingdan and led this young pce lord to choose Tang Jie as her groom.


    Upon hearing Mu Yi¡¯s words, Wang Juemie turned to that Senior Brother Cheng and said, ¡°Cheng Qi, I want to hear your opinion.¡±


    Senior Brother Cheng immediately replied, ¡°In my view, this matter was a coincidence, so we should not react at all and continue with the original n. In fact, even if there was some scheme afoot, we wouldn¡¯t need to be afraid of anything. Our costs in this deal were always limited. So long as we take these goods with us, we¡¯ll have recovered the capital and even made a small profit. Whateveres next, we won¡¯t suffer any loss. Since that¡¯s the case, what do we have to fear?¡±


    <em>There wouldn¡¯t be a loss?</em>


    Tang Jie was shaken by these words, and he finally understood some of the questions that had left him confused.


    If he weren¡¯t observing things from a distance using the duplicate, and if this Duplication spell art the Martial Lord had left behind hadn¡¯t been one of the most amazing illusion spells in the world, the emotional turmoil he was experiencing might have exposed him.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect people continued to speak with each other.


    After listening to Senior Brother Cheng, Wang Juemie let out a low and raspyugh. ¡°Cheng Qi, you still like to argue with Mu Yi on everything. You really think that this was all a coincidence?¡±


    Senior Brother Cheng was startled, and he dropped his head and didn¡¯t dare to speak.


    Wang Juemie looked at the wreckage of the convoy and the goods spilled out over the ground and shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think things can be this much of a coincidence. Based on how we usually do things, we should be avoiding all potential risks.¡±


    Senior Brother Cheng¡¯s face dimmed.


    ¡°But¡­¡± Wang Juemie suddenly said, ¡°I, Wang Juemie, seek to dominate the world. When have I ever feared a little risk? I would even dare to battle a Celestial Heart True Person. Even if there is a trap, so what?


    ¡°I¡¯ll just trample over it,¡± he coolly said.


    These five simple words overflowed with a tyrannical aura!


    A momentter, Wang Juemie raised his head and dered, ¡°Inform the Stone Gate Sect that the trade was a sess and that everything went smoothly. We¡¯re keeping to the original n and holding the final exchange in three days at Sunset Valley!¡±


    It¡¯s time for a confrontation with Wang Juemie! No hard feelings about the stolen fiance, right?

 Chapter 369

    Chapter 369: Greed


    The Seven Absolutions Sect people left, but Tang Jie remained where he was, lost in thought.


    Wei Tianchong saw how he was acting and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    After a while, Tang Jie chuckled and shook his head, muttering, ¡°Motherfucking¡­ so ruthless!¡±


    His words were inexplicable, leaving Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng baffled.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°I know why the trade was dragged out until now, and it was only conducted after I showed up.¡±


    The greatest question on Tang Jie¡¯s mind until this point had been why this trade was only proceeding now. The mining had been going on for two years, and the trade could have happened at any time in this period, but basically nothing had happened.


    Although this was partially because those three elders had ulterior motives, that wasn¡¯t an entirely persuasive argument. It was only now that Tang Jie fully understood.


    ¡°Why is that?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    Tang Jie stood up and looked in the direction of the departing Seven Absolutions Sect disciples. ¡°It was Wang Juemie who was dragging things out.¡±


    ¡°¡®Wang Juemie¡¯?¡± the other two said in unison. They had been too far and didn¡¯t have Tang Jie¡¯s Duplication spell, so they had no idea of what had happened.


    ¡°Oh, he¡¯s the Great Brother of the Seven Absolutions Sect.¡± Tang Jie gave a summary of what the Seven Absolutions Sect disciples had discussed.


    Upon hearing what Mu Yi had said, Wei Tianchong turned grave. It was this kid that had made Tang Jie taste defeat for the first time in history in the Immortal Fortune Conference, and Wei Tianchong did not dare to underestimate him. If Mu Yi respected Wang Juemie this much, then Wang Juemie had to be a terrifying individual.


    ¡°Tang Jie, you¡¯re saying that Wang Juemie dragged things out until the Basking Moon Sect sent people? What¡¯s the meaning of that? Does the Seven Absolutions Sect not actually want to do business with the Stone Gate Sect?¡± Shi Meng asked.


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°No. Wang Juemie just wanted to take all the goods.¡±


    ¡°¡®Take all the goods¡¯?¡± Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng nced at each other in shock, and then Wei Tianchong blurted out, ¡°You¡¯re saying that Wang Juemie never nned to pay?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Jie definitively replied. ¡°I didn¡¯t think things would be this way, so I never understood why the Stone Gate Sect hadn¡¯t shipped off its goods until now, nor did I understand why this sort of big transaction would have a small trade before it. You have to realize that if you can make a small trade once, you can make it many times. Over two years, even if there were ten times as many goods, it still could have all been shipped off by now. So why wait until now? Fortunately, we were standing guard here today, and through a certain item I nted there, I was able to hear what they were saying. This is what enlightened me.¡±


    The words he was referring to were that Senior Brother Cheng¡¯s ¡°Our costs in this deal were always limited. So long as we take these goods with us, we¡¯ll have recovered the capital and even made a small profit. Whateveres next, we won¡¯t suffer any loss.¡±


    These words were inly telling Tang Jie that the Seven Absolutions Sect had nned to betray the Stone Gate Sect from the start.


    Once he understood this, he understood much of what had puzzled him before.


    He began to understand why the deal had been dyed until his arrival.


    This was probably a plot of the Seven Absolutions Sect from the very start. They wanted to use the pressure of the Basking Moon Sect to force the Stone Gate Sect into agreeing to some conditions.


    Sunset Valley was within Dusnd, so if the Seven Absolutions Sect wanted to go back on their word, they wouldn¡¯t let a single member of the other party escape and most likely intended topletely wipe them out. The Stone Gate Sect¡¯s people weren¡¯t fools, and they knew that holding the trade in Dusnd would be putting their lives in the hands of others. After all, this was the other party¡¯s territory, where it was much easier for the Seven Absolutions Sect toy down any traps.


    The members of Shi Jingzhai¡¯s little group naturally wouldn¡¯t be able to rest easy if someone else went to do the deal while they stayed behind. After all, there was a concern that someone could just take the money and run.


    If they had to go, they needed to go together, but they didn¡¯t dare to enter Dusnd. The Seven Absolutions Sect would also use the same reason to refuse entering Sageheart. With neither side being able to trust the other, the talks began to drag on.


    The Stone Gate Sect sincerely wanted to trade, so it had made many concessions, like splitting up the transaction into multiple small trades. But Wang Juemie had other ideas. For some reason, he had refused this transaction method and insisted on a one-time trade.


    In this way, the deal had been dyed until it was time for the Basking Moon Sect to send someone to inspect the mine. The pressure on the Stone Gate Sect rose, and it was finally forced to agree to some conditions. Thus, before the main trade, this one-time small probing trade took ce.


    Tang Jie almost instantly figured out the entire sequence of events. The man in ck who had appeared in the Gu n, the borrowing of the trade route from the Wei n¡ªall of this had probably been nned out by someone. And there was also the name Cao Jiyuan had been about to shout during their battle. If not for his face-changing spell, Cao Jiyuan probably would have called out Tang Jie¡¯s name, no?


    If he didn¡¯t know about Tang Jie¡¯s involvement in this business, how could he have been so certain?


    That Great Brother Wang might have even hoped that he would be able to follow the trail all the way back to Tang Jie! It was clear from his tone when speaking that he was a very proud person, and the matter of the Wandering Pce had probably irked him greatly!


    That damned Shen Qingdan had really caused him a whole lot of trouble.


    Tang Jie was almost certain that the Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s experts in surveince had used all of their detection methods the moment they appeared. If not for the mystical abilities of the Duplication spell left by the Martial Lord and his having been far enough away, Mu Yi probably would have found him out using his exceptional hearing.


    Wei Tianchong was somewhat dumbfounded by what he was hearing. ¡°It can¡¯t be, right? If word got out, it would have a huge effect on the Seven Absolutions Sect. Even if they couldpletely exterminate the Stone Gate Sect party, who could say that everyone who was in the know participated in the deal? If one of them didn¡¯t go and leaked the news¡­ the gains don¡¯t outweigh the losses!¡±


    ¡°Not even that!¡± Shi Meng said. ¡°If the other party notices something is off, the deal might not even go through. These goods were already priced lower because they were illicit goods, and if the Seven Absolutions Sect does things right, they could get the goods at not even half the actual value, at which point they could get several times their original profit. But instead of taking this safe deal for a big fortune, they would take a risk and try to get everything? The damage to their reputation would be devastating! This isn¡¯t a choice a wise person would make.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°You¡¯re right. From the perspective of the Seven Absolutions Sect, giving up on an extremely profitable deal just to act like bullies would be forgetting what they are. In the end, the Seven Absolutions Sect isn¡¯t a gang of bandits, so it has no reason to make this sort of choice. Unless¡­¡±


    ¡°Unless what?¡± the two asked in unison.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Unless they couldn¡¯t pay.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng were baffled.


    After the initial shock, Wei Tianchong exploded inughter. ¡°Tang Jie, are you making a joke? ¡®The Seven Absolutions Sect can¡¯t pay¡¯? This is one of the six major sects here, and the one with the most money!¡±


    In terms of strength, the Seven Absolutions Sect might have been at the bottom of the six major sects, but in terms of wealth, they were probably the big brother.


    More than a hundred million spirit coins was probably an immense fortune for the individual, but for the six major sects, it was just a number on paper, not even a number that a Celestial Chief would have to waste time thinking about.


    Not being able to pay? What an absolute joke.


    But Tang Jie appeared serious, like he wasn¡¯t joking at all.


    He said, ¡°I didn¡¯t say that the Seven Absolutions Sect couldn¡¯t pay. I was talking about them¡­ Wang Juemie¡¯s crew!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± Shi Meng was confused. ¡°Aren¡¯t Wang Juemie and Mu Yi part of the Seven Absolutions Sect?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°They¡¯re naturally part of the Seven Absolutions Sect, but that doesn¡¯t mean that everything they do has to be connected to the Seven Absolutions Sect. Tianchong, Shi Meng, when we went over to Watcher River¡¯s secret market, did our dealings there have any connection to the Basking Moon Sect?¡±


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng paled.


    They finally understood what Tang Jie meant. ¡°Could it be that Wang Juemie¡¯s group is¡­¡±


    ¡°Correct!¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°This trade is probably one that Wang Juemie¡¯s group is carrying out without the knowledge of the Seven Absolutions Sect. The Stone Gate Sect thought they were dealing with the Seven Absolutions Sect, but they were actually always negotiating with a group of disciples who were simply from the Seven Absolutions Sect, with no connection to the Seven Absolutions Sect itself.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any evidence of that?¡± Wei Tianchong urgently asked.


    ¡°Not any direct evidence, but there is plenty of indirect evidence. Firstly, this is the only exnation for how the deal didn¡¯t happen in thest two years. This was because Wang Juemie was dragging things out until the mine had beenpletely excavated, allowing him the opportunity to take everything at once. Secondly, while Wang Juemie is Great Brother, he still belongs to the younger generation. Such arge transaction could only be overseen by an elder. The Stone Gate Sect was sending three Celestial Heart True Persons to negotiate, so how could a True Person not be sent to meet them? But the Seven Absolutions Sect did nothing of the sort, which is a clear problem. The third reason is that when I was probing them just now, they said that they wouldn¡¯t be paying anything more. It¡¯s clear from the start that they nned to renege on the deal.¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°In the end, the Stone Gate Sect is still a small sect. They could find someone from the Seven Absolutions Sect to deal with, but in the end, they couldn¡¯t find the person they wanted to meet. It¡¯s far too easy for someone from the Seven Absolutions Sect to trick them. Even though they¡¯re Celestial Heart True Persons, they can only obediently be deceived. And things get even trickier if one of those people is harboring ulterior motives.¡±


    ¡°You think one of those three is scheming something?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°That poisoned water and narrow passage leading to that secret lode prevented Liang Xingbang and Yu Wanniang from mining, so Shi Jingzhai had to go and mine alone. There¡¯s almost no doubt that he secretly took some of the goods for himself, which was why he was able to rise to another tier. If he hadn¡¯t been afraid of the other two, he might have pushed himself all the way to half-step Violet Pce. If Shi Jingzhai was doing this, who¡¯s to say what Liang Xingbang and Yu Wanniang did? While busy scheming against others, it¡¯s very normal to forget about outsiders and fall into traps.¡±


    Tang Jie sighed in praise, ¡°But regardless, this Wang Juemie has a lot of guts for daring to scheme against Celestial Heart True Persons.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was quite rmed. ¡°But that¡¯s still three Celestial Heart True Persons. No matter how strong Wang Juemie is and how many junior brothers he has, he couldn¡¯t possibly win against one True Person, let alone three, right?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Did you forget how the Seven Absolutions Sect won in the Immortal Fortune Conference?¡±


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng now understood.


    A formation!


    There was no doubt that Wang Juemie was using a formation to trap the Stone Gate Sect.


    But unlike with the Immortal Fortune Conference, the Seven Absolutions Sect had a meticulous n this time¡ªone that was two years in the making. It was easy to imagine that the Seven Absolutions Sect had turned Sunset Valley into a tiger¡¯s den by this point.


    So long as Shi Jingzhai¡¯s group dared to step into Sunset Valley, they would have to face a formation that was capable of killing even True Persons!


    Of course, Shi Jingzhai andpany would take precautions, but under the pressure of Tang Jie¡¯s mine inspection, the encouragement of someone in their group, the initial trust achieved through this small deal, the lobbying and scheming of Wang Juemie¡¯s group, and the promises of rich rewards, they would ultimately step into this trap.


    Once they stepped into the trap, their fates would no longer be theirs to decide.


    Upon realizing this, Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng reeled in shock at the skill of this Great Brother.


    At least when it came to daring, appetite, and greed, Wang Juemie had truly exhibited the aura of the strong. It was an awesome appetite without a doubt.


    After some thought, Wei Tianchong said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, there¡¯s still something I don¡¯t understand.¡±


    Tang Jie said, ¡°Do you want to say that concealing this matter from the Seven Absolutions Sect is, in itself, a traitorous act?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Wei Tianchong frankly nodded. ¡°Wang Juemie is hiding this matter from the Seven Absolutions Sect, but he is carrying out the deal in the name of the Seven Absolutions Sect. If he kills them, the Seven Absolutions Sect will be the one taking the risk, but the one reaping the benefit will be Wang Juemie. Given the profit from this deal, it could be said that Wang Juemie is stealing from not just the Stone Gate Sect, but also his own sect. His selfishness has no consideration for his sect¡¯s reputation and could even be considered embezzlement.¡±


    Tang Jie was very satisfied with what he was hearing, saying with a smile, ¡°Very good. Sure enough, you¡¯re getting smarter and smarter. You¡¯re right. Wang Juemie¡¯s actions are extremely traitorous to the sect, but this is exactly why the Stone Gate Sect took the bait. Wang Juemie is the disciple of the Seven Absolutions Sect with the most potential, and he ispletely capable of defying the Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s reputation as the weakest of the six sects. With his potential, he simply has no need to take such a big risk. And it¡¯s precisely because of his endorsement and the pressure from our side that the Stone Gate Sect decided to take the risk. But they hadn¡¯t expected that this matter isn¡¯t actually one that can¡¯t be backed out of.¡±


    ¡°¡®Back out¡¯?¡± Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°Yes, ¡®back out¡¯!¡± Tang Jie exined, ¡°Actually, the method for handling this is very simple. First, use the formation to kill the Stone Gate Sect at Sunset Valley, and then take all the goods and hand them over to the Seven Absolutions Sect.¡±


    ¡°What would be the point?¡± Shi Meng still didn¡¯t get it. After going through all that effort to steal all these things, they were just going to hand over everything to the Seven Absolutions Sect? Wouldn¡¯t it have been easier to just let the Seven Absolutions Sect handle the deal from the start?


    Tang Jie coldly chuckled. ¡°It matters a ton! Think about it. If you don¡¯t do things this way, then it could have gone like this: you notify the sect, telling the Seven Absolutions Sect that there¡¯s a small sect in Sageheart that the Seven Absolutions Sect can do business with, and that the sect stands to make a lot of money from it. Thus, the Seven Absolutions Sect would send its elders and disciples and ultimatelyplete this deal. In this process, as a disciple of the Seven Absolutions Sect carrying out a mission, you might gain three or five contribution points, at which point you would have nothing to do with what came next. Would you prefer this method?¡±


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°If I eliminated the Stone Gate Sect myself and handed over the goods to the sect, with the sect having to do no work, then I would make a huge number of contribution points. As a bigshot who created astounding value for the Seven Absolutions Sect, I would be rewarded thousands of contribution points, right?¡±


    Shi Meng also got it. ¡°That¡¯s right. And that might not be all. ording to the rules of the sect, getting tribute from these ces that aren¡¯t under the authority of the sect means you can get twenty to thirty percent of the cut. Back when the Stone Gate Sect handed over the ore vein, it was able to keep twenty percent of the ore. Even when the Minor Essence Sect tried to not hand over the violet gold vein to the Seven Absolutions Sect and was eventually forced to hand it over, it still got 5% of the revenue. For eliminating the Stone Gate Sect, obtaining such valuable goods, and handing them over, based on precedent, Wang Juemie will get¡­ at least twenty percent!¡±


    Shi Meng¡¯s voice went high-pitched at thesest words.


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Yes, this is probably Wang Juemie¡¯s n: baiting and killing the enemy using the name of the Seven Absolutions Sect, then handing over the goods for a percentage of the profits, making all his gains legal and obtaining reputation, contribution points, money, and goods. What¡¯s there toin about?¡±


    ¡°Holy shit! They¡¯re really too bold, and they¡¯ve got the appetite to match.¡± Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng clicked their tongues in awe. These guys were really something else, to think of a n like this.


    ¡°I suppose that makes two of us.¡± Tang Jie was rather unflustered.


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng were taken aback. Wei Tianchong asked. ¡°What do you mean by ¡®that makes two of us¡¯?¡±


    Tang Jie casually replied, ¡°How do you think I guessed at their thought process through just those few words? And even if I could guess at it, how do you think I did it so quickly?¡±


    We are Hosted Novel, find us on google.


    Wei Tianchong froze for a moment, but as he slowly began to realize, he looked at Tang Jie in shock. ¡°You¡­ you aren¡¯t thinking about¡­¡±


    Tang Jie looked up at the sky. ¡°If I found a problem with the mine and that the Stone Gate Sect was hiding goods for itself, if I reported back on the matter, I would just get a few contribution points. If I found the embezzled goods and then notified the sect, I could get some contribution points as a reward along with some money. If I were able to bring back the embezzled goods, I would be given an even richer reward. If I were able to seize embezzled goods with a value of over a hundred million from the enemy¡¯s hands, I would have achieved just as much as that Wang Juemie would have¡­ Presumably, twenty percent of the profit and more than a thousand contribution points would bepletely reasonable.¡±


    Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng were terrified by what they were hearing. ¡°From the very start, you nned to take the goods from the hands of these three Celestial Heart True Persons?¡±


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t directly answer, instead casually saying, ¡°That¡¯s why I, Wang Juemie, and Mu Yi are the same kind of person¡­ We even think the same.¡±


    Maybe this is just a sect¡¯s way of encouraging disciples to be proactive rather than going to get the sect¡¯s help for everything.

 Chapter 370

    Chapter 370: Coming Storm


    In a small grove of trees, Xi Canhen sat on arge rock. Steam was rising from all over his body. As spiritual energy circted through his body, various images appeared, appearing vaguely like soaring dragons and leaping tigers.


    But whenever the energy reached the Central Courtyard Point, it became difficult to go through andplete the circuit.


    At this moment, in a sh of spiritual light, the energy stopped cold at the Central Courtyard Point and dissipated. Xi Canhen stopped his meditation and resentfully waved a fist. ¡°It¡¯s still no good!¡±


    After several days of cultivation, Xi Canhen had still made no breakthrough. Let alone opening a Spirit Eye, he hadn¡¯t even been able toplete a basic Major Circuit Heaven.


    Frustration only further motivated him. ¡°I don¡¯t believe it! Today, I¡¯m going to push through this obstacle no matter what!¡±


    He once more sat down and started again.


    As the spiritual light in his body grew stronger, spiritual energy surged at the Central Courtyard Point again and again, each time bringing with it a burst of pain. He pushed through the pain, and when he felt the Central Courtyard Point actually loosening up, he became delighted and pushed with all his power.


    He was no student of an academy, nor did he have the guidance of a teacher, so he knew nothing about the risks of cultivation. Thus, he felt no fear and simply pushed through any obstacles he encountered.


    The Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra was an extremely dangerous cultivation method, and many people had died while cultivating it. Although one would be able to reach Violet Pce without a problem once one sessfully cultivated it, with a potential for enormousbat power, only an extremely small number of people had actually managed to cultivate it.


    Wang Juemie¡¯s group harbored mysterious motives, and in order to avoid their sect¡¯s secret arts leaking out, they had gone to great effort to find this Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra.


    If some outsider obtained this mantra, they would most likely be cautious, electing to not force their way through if they ran into any difficulties. But the Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra actually required courageous advance and a mind free of extraneous thoughts. Thus, even if the three elders of the Stone Gate Sect had gotten their hands on this mantra, they wouldn¡¯t be able to cultivate anything out of it, nor was there any fear of them passing it around.


    But nobody could have expected that this Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra which had been given as early payment would end up in Xi Canhen¡¯s hand.


    And this kid just so happened to start cultivating the mantra without knowing a single thing, inadvertently aligning with the requirements of a courageous advance and a mind free of extraneous thoughts.


    Xi Canhen had a tenacious personality, and though the process of pushing at the Central Courtyard Point was extremely painful, Xi Canhen endured it all. Just like that, the restrained Central Courtyard Point was gradually pushed open.


    A momentter, spiritual energy rushed through like flood waters out of a sluice gate.


    ¡°Sess!¡± Xi Canhen excitedly shouted.


    As he shouted, he threw up blood.


    His body swayed, and then he tumbled from the rock and fell onto the sleeping tiger¡¯s body.


    The little tiger woke up in a daze and saw Xi Canhen lying on him, blood flowing from his mouth.


    The tiger froze.


    He had just woken up, and he didn¡¯t know what Xi Canhen had been through that left him so severely wounded. He instinctively believed that they were being chased and looked around, but he didn¡¯t see any sign of anyone. The little tiger didn¡¯t know what to do, only that he couldn¡¯t let Xi Canhen die. Thus, after some thought, he decided to bite a small wound in his foreleg and move it up to Xi Canhen¡¯s mouth, delivering a drop of his blood into Xi Canhen¡¯s mouth.


    Fiend tiger blood was a powerful supplement that could restore lost energy and blood, and ever since he had eaten that glistening yellow object, the little tiger¡¯s blood and energy had grown stronger. The problem was that Xi Canhen wasn¡¯tcking in energy and blood. He was just suffering from rampant spiritual energy.


    The mostmon way of dying from the Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra was spiritual energy going out of control, causing the cultivator to die a violent death. Adding more blood and energy only made the spiritual energy run wilder, like adding oil to a fire!


    This man and tiger bothcked experience, one cultivating without understanding a thing and the other giving treatment without a clue. As a result, Xi Canhen¡¯s blood energy began to erupt out of his body. Xi Canhen¡¯s life now stood at the precipice of death.


    The ignorant little tiger saw him overflowing with blood energy and didn¡¯t seem to care at all. On the contrary, smug with satisfaction, hey back down and went to sleep.


    After some time, Xi Canhen gradually woke up.


    He sat up and found himself to be full of energy and vitality. When he attempted to circte spiritual energy, he found that everything flowed smoothly without the slightest obstacle, even when it flowed through the Central Courtyard Point. ¡°Sess! I really did it!¡±


    Xi Canhen had no idea that he had probably experienced the greatest miracle in the world on that night.


    The Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra was an extremely dangerous cultivation technique, and the little tiger had only increased the risk.


    But in these situations, the rampant spiritual energy, rather than tearing him apart, had widened his meridians. This was truly a one-in-ten-thousand situation.


    Xi Canhen had managed to ignorantly force his way through an almost certain-death situation, and because of the tiger blood expanding his meridians, Xi Canhen would face much less risk when cultivating the Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra in the future. Not even Xi Canhen realized that he had just set off on a cultivation path that was unique to him¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The back of Stone Gate Peak, Shi Jingzhai¡¯s residence.


    Liang Xingbang said, ¡°We¡¯ve found him. He¡¯s in a forest about a hundred kilometers away. He received a stab to the back and died on the spot, and his possessions were taken.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai asked, ¡°Do we know who did it?¡±


    Liang Xingbang replied, ¡°No, but based on the situation at the time, it was probably someone who was rather weak.¡±


    ¡°Someone weak was able to kill a courier of the Seven Absolutions Sect?¡± Shi Jingzhai snorted.


    Liang Xingbang bitterly smiled. ¡°It was because this courier was nothing more than a meager Spirit Disciple. It¡¯s very normal to fall prey to a sneak attack.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai rapped on the table. ¡°That¡¯s the problem. When exactly did the Seven Absolutions Sect decline so much that they couldn¡¯t even send out a Spirit Master? Such an important shipment, but they only used a Spirit Disciple to send it over?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps they didn¡¯t take it very seriously.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t take three million seriously?¡±


    Liang Xingbang opened and closed his mouth a few times, but all he ultimately said was, ¡°We don¡¯t have too much time left.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai fell silent.


    The death of Lin Fan¡¯s group was undoubtedly an rm bell for Shi Jingzhai andpany. Although Tang Jie was gone, this had only increased the pressure from him.


    No one knew when a True Person from the Basking Moon Sect would arrive, and in the face of a behemoth like the Basking Moon Sect, the Stone Gate Sect was powerless to resist. Let alone the entirety of the Basking Moon Sect, any one of the 19 Celestial Chiefs could massacre the entire Stone Gate Sect.


    And given how the Basking Moon Sect worked, it was entirely possible that the three of them could be captured and interrogated, perhaps even have Soulscour used on them.


    This was precisely why they needed to send off the goods before this happened. Otherwise, if it stayed with them, not only would they not get the profit they expected, it would serve as evidence that would sign their death warrants.


    Shi Jingzhai gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Yes, we don¡¯t have time. Since we¡¯ve already started, we have to work until the very end. No matter what the Seven Absolutions Sect is thinking, we just have to let them take the goods. Hah, it seems we¡¯ll have to let someone else enjoy that mantra and that ten-thousand-year bezoar.¡±


    This time, the Seven Absolutions Sect had prepaid three million, and besides the Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra, the most valuable thing had been the ten-thousand-year bezoar.


    This was a bezoar left behind by a fiend bull who had lived for more than ten thousand years, equal to a peak Violet Pce existence, the essence it had collected over its lifetime and a true supreme treasure. Back then, the Seven Absolutions Sect had gathered three of its Violet Pce Lords and chased the bull fiend for three years before finally killing it. They had obtained 108 catties of ten-thousand-year bezoar, a truly priceless treasure.


    Wang Juemie had joined together with eighteen disciples in paying out arge sum of contribution points and spirit coins to get six catties, but no one could have expected that it would ultimately be eaten by the little tiger. In eating it, he had saved decades to perhaps a century of cultivation, and also made it so that the Stone Gate Sect had made nothing from this initial deal.


    ¡°We have to track it down. If it¡¯s as I expect, it was that kid with the Crystallized Sandworm who did it,¡± Liang Xingbang harrumphed. ¡°He¡¯s the only one in that region.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai nodded, and then he suddenly grimaced. ¡°Old Liang, about that kid: don¡¯t you think he¡¯s rather suspicious? Last time when Wanniang went to see if the Seven Absolutions Sect knew anything, she came back and said that the matter of the Crystallized Sandworm really was the Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s doing. If that¡¯s the case, this kid should also be from the Seven Absolutions Sect. But if he was, why did he attack the courier?¡±


    Liang Xingbang was startled. ¡°That¡¯s true. It doesn¡¯t make sense. Could it not be him, then?¡±


    Shi Jingzhai shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m still not sure, but I feel like something strange is going on. If it¡¯s really the Seven Absolutions Sect using the Basking Moon Sect to make us lower the price, they wouldn¡¯t have so frankly confessed, as that would be bullying us too much. Also, that kid said he was going to Canglong Prefecture, but it¡¯s been many days now, and he¡¯s still in that area in the middle. What¡¯s going on there? His mission is done, so even if he¡¯s not going to Canglong Prefecture, he should be turning around and heading back to Dusnd. What¡¯s the point in lingering in the area? And some days ago, Tang Jie was here and meeting with many of our disciples, impeding our actions again and again and preventing our people from pursuing that kid. Rather than that kid having a connection to the Seven Absolutions Sect, it¡¯s more like he has a connection with Tang Jie. How can we exin that?¡±


    This salvo of questions made the color slowly drain out of Liang Xingbang¡¯s face, and his plump face became somewhat grave. ¡°Old Shi, you¡¯re right. It looks to me like something really is going to go wrong with this deal.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­¡± Shi Jingzhai prompted.


    Liang Xingbang grunted and quietly said, ¡°When strange things are happening, evil is afoot. I¡¯m sure that someone is lying here. The key here is that we first have to find out who our opponent is.¡±


    ¡°Is it not the Seven Absolutions Sect or the Basking Moon Sect?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps we have to add one more.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai was startled, and then his face became rich with expression. ¡°Yu Wanniang?¡±


    Liang Xingbang sinisterly said, ¡°She was the one who brought back the news, she was the one who contacted the Seven Absolutions Sect, and she is the one with the most outside connections. She¡¯s the one who¡¯s doing all the talking, so if this woman sold us out¡­¡±


    Shi Jingzhai gasped. ¡°She wouldn¡¯t dare!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not for us to say. I think that we should make a few back-up ns.¡±


    The two of them got together and engaged in a whispered discussion.


    A few momentster, Shi Jingzhai said, ¡°Let¡¯s do that. Whether we live or die, it will all be decided when we meet at Sunset Valley in three days!¡±


    ¡°Right, what do we do about that kid with the Crystallized Sandworm?¡± Liang Xingbang asked.


    Shi Jingzhai impatiently said, ¡°What else? Just send a Spirit Master over to exterminate him.¡±


    It looks like Xi Canhen and the little tiger ended up swiping all the stuff the Stone Gate Sect was supposed to receive! But it looks they¡¯re also going to have to deal with a tougher opponent now¡­

 Chapter 371

    Chapter 371: Seeking Out


    Sunset Valley was located in the Taicang Mountains, on the eastern end of Dusnd.


    The Taicang Mountains were an unbroken chain of mountains covering an extensive area, creating a natural barrier between Dusnd and Sageheart. Sunset Valley was located on the western end of the mountains. From a distant perspective at sunset, the entire valley would be filled with a rosy-red color, as if the sun was setting in the valley, hence the name. The Rose Sunset Valley was one of the famous sights of the Taicang Mountains.


    Thirty kilometers from the valley was a cave on the side of a small mountain.


    A young many on arge stone b in the cave. This was the young man in ck who had pretended to be part of the White Bone Faith and fought with Tang Jie.


    His chest had been opened up, exposing his beating heart. Wang Juemie was holding two slender needles and picking out golden grains from the young man¡¯s heart. Next to him was a stone bowl which already contained ayer of fine golden grains.


    Finding these golden grains wasn¡¯t easy. Every time a needle prated into his heart, the young man¡¯s body would tremble in pain. His body was being restrained and his blood had already run dry. If it weren¡¯t for the ten-some Seven Absolutions Sect disciples standing nearby taking turns to send him spiritual energy and feed him medicine, he would have died long ago.


    Even so, day after day of torment had left him nothing but bones and on hisst breath.


    Lying on the stone bed, the young man said in a trembling voice, ¡°Great Brother¡­¡±


    ¡°Hold, Junior Brother!¡± Wang Juemie said without raising his head. ¡°I¡¯ll definitely save you.¡±


    Junior Brother Li smiled. ¡°It¡¯s useless¡­ Great Brother¡­ Even if you save me¡­ I¡¯ll probably¡­ be a cripple¡­¡±


    ¡°Nonsense! Back when your Junior Brother Mu sought the Dao from the Yellow Springs and turned his physical body into a battlefield, almost making his body fall apart, didn¡¯t I save him all the same? True, he still has some lingering ailments, but does anyone dare to look down on him because of it? Your senior brother won¡¯t give up on you, so believe in your senior brother. Once I¡¯m done with this deal, we¡¯ll all be rich, and you will only be stronger than before!¡± Wang Juemie sternly said.


    Junior Brother Li teared up as he shook his head. ¡°Great Brother¡­ I believe in you¡­ but I don¡¯t¡­ believe in myself¡­ I can¡¯t hold on¡­¡±


    Wang Juemie shuddered. He realized something and roared, ¡°No, you have to hold on! Li Chun, you can¡¯t die! There¡¯s no way you can die!¡±


    But Junior Brother Li¡¯s eyes were already starting to lose focus.


    He weakly looked up at the ceiling, muttering, ¡°It hurts¡­ I¡¯m finally free¡­ Great Brother¡­ I miss home¡­¡±


    He slowly closed his eyes, not opening them again.


    ¡°Nooo!¡± Wang Juemie roared in fury.


    He mmed a fist into the cave wall, unleashing an explosive power that seemed to make the entire mountain shake.


    But no matter how angry he was, his junior brother was still dead.


    He knew that he had actually been the one to kill his junior brother, for if he had not insisted on saving him, Li Chun¡¯s injuries wouldn¡¯t have been fatal at all. He would have simply been confined to a sick bed.


    But it was precisely because he couldn¡¯t stand to see his junior brother tormented like this and because he was unconvinced by Tang Jie¡¯s methods that he tried to save Li Chun.


    Li Chun was dead, and Wang Juemie had failed.


    Two opponents who had yet to even meet had had their first sh, and Wang Juemie had suffered aplete defeat.


    Wang Juemie was enraged and in pain, not only at the death of his junior brother, but because of the humiliation of defeat.


    Not since he had embarked on the Dao had he ever felt such humiliation.


    He slowly stood up and walked out of the cave.


    Mu Yi shouted, ¡°Great Brother¡­¡±


    Wang Juemie raised a hand and stopped him from speaking.


    His hands were drenched in blood.


    He said, ¡°Contact the local officials to collect Li Chun and send him back to his hometown for burial. The rest of you, rest up. We¡¯ll be setting off for Sunset Valley for the trade the day after tomorrow. We can talk about anything you have to say then.¡±


    Although he was angry, his words right now were extremely calm. It was as if the one who had shaken the mountain with a single punch had been someone else.


    A junior brother said, ¡°Great Brother, what about Tang Jie?¡±


    ¡°¡®Tang Jie¡¯?¡± Wang Juemie¡¯s eyes shed. ¡°Forget about him. He¡¯lle to us himself.¡±


    ¡°¡®He¡¯lle to us¡¯?¡± Everyone was startled.


    Wang Juemie coolly said, ¡°The bandit attack was far too strange. Although we searched the area, there are people with all sorts of abilities in this world, and it wouldn¡¯t be strange if someone was able to hide from our surveince techniques. I sense that Tang Jie was connected to this matter. If this is the case, he¡¯s probably already guessed at what we¡¯re up to, and he will probably be showing himself the day after tomorrow.¡±


    Everyone was rmed to hear this. ¡°If Tang Jie really does know, could he bring the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s people with him?¡±


    They weren¡¯t afraid of a single Tang Jie, but the Basking Moon Sect that he represented was something else.


    Wang Juemie looked at his bloody hands and muttered, ¡°No matter whoes, I¡¯ll meet you with these two fists¡­ and pummel you to death!¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    An eagle soared in the skies above Sunset Valley.


    A dormouse cautiously appeared in the valley and was spotted by the eagle.


    The eagle made a spiraling descent and then suddenly plunged, snatching the dormouse in its ws.


    The sudden attack left the dormouse terrified, and it instinctively kicked its legs, but there was simply no way it could have the power to push away the eagle. But as it kicked at the eagle, a light shed across the eagle.


    A momentter, the eagle dissolved into streams of light and vanished in the wind.


    Free of its restraints, the dormouse fell to the ground and rolled. Looking around in fear, it ran toward its hole. After this episode, it probably wouldn¡¯te out again for some time.


    On a distant mountain, Tang Jie sighed and massaged his aching forehead with his fingers.


    Long-distance control of this level was a significant burden for Tang Jie.


    s, he still hadn¡¯t been able to decipher the mysteries of the formation in Sunset Valley.


    To be more precise, he couldn¡¯t even confirm that there was a formation in Sunset Valley.


    No matter how much he probed the valley, he couldn¡¯t find anything special about it. It was just an ordinary valley.


    To test every part of the valley, Tang Jie even inspected small lifeforms like the dormouse. Unfortunately, he still hadn¡¯t been able to find any clues.


    Were they really not nning to use the terrain and a formation to deal with the Stone Gate Sect?


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t believe it.


    No matter how strong Wang Juemie was, there was no way he could defeat someone at Celestial Heart. A formation was the only method he could use to defeat a stronger opponent. That Tang Jie couldn¡¯t find it could only mean that Wang Juemie¡¯s group was being cautious. After learning that the deal was being held at Sunset Valley, the Stone Gate Sect could send some people in advance to scout the area.


    Thus, this formation had to have superb concealment properties.


    Besides that, this formation couldn¡¯t be too expensive. In the end, Wang Juemie¡¯s group wasn¡¯t the Seven Absolutions Sect, only a union of ten-some disciples. Their capital was limited.


    Finally, this formation had to be strong enough to deal with a Celestial Heart expert, meaning it had to at least be a Grade 5 formation.


    Tang Jie mentally checked every Grade 5 or 6 formation he knew, but none of them fit the requirements. It could only be said that the Seven Absolutions Sect deserved its reputation as the sect of the four auxiliaries. Tang Jie was considered quite a prodigy when it came to formations, but even he couldn¡¯t find out what sort of formation the disciples of the Seven Absolutions Sect hadid down.


    Starting from yesterday, Tang Jie had searched for the formation for an entire day. No matter what he did, he couldn¡¯t trigger the formation. If he couldn¡¯t find the formation, he couldn¡¯t draft a n or develop countermeasures, and there was certainly no way he could try and exploit the formation for himself. He might even end up finding the formation toote.


    He had already wasted a day. There were only two days left until the battle at Sunset Valley.


    Even Tang Jie was starting to get worried.


    Taking in a deep breath, Tang Jie formed a light on his finger. Gradually another eagle formed and flew off to Sunset Valley. Ever since he had realized that Duplication could be used for scouting, he had gotten more and more proficient in using Duplication to simte various things.


    But while this eagle had been formed well, it couldn¡¯t find the formation.


    Borrowing the eagle¡¯s vision, Tang Jie looked over the earth. All he could see was verdant greenery, but not even the slightest trace of a formation.


    As he was moping, the jade token on his waist vibrated.


    Tang Jie broke out of the eagle¡¯s vision and looked down. He saw that Xu Miaoran had sent a message.


    ¡°Hey, Honored Master Tang, what are you up to?¡±


    Ever since Tang Jie had ascended to Mortal Shedding, Xu Miaoran had been calling him ¡°Honored Master Tang¡±. Tang Jie hadn¡¯t been used to it at first, but he gradually adapted.


    He sent back, ¡°Wang Juemie arranged to make a trade with the Stone Gate Sect at Sunset Valley, so I came there to look for a formation he might have set down.¡±


    He would asionally exchange messages with Xu Miaoran, so he didn¡¯t hide this matter from her.


    ¡°Did you find it?¡± Xu Miaoran asked. This girl was quite the spender, these four words consuming one long-distance message talisman.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°I searched for an entire day and didn¡¯t find a thing. I¡¯ve never heard of a formation that can be this well concealed.¡±


    ¡°Could they have not finished the formation, leaving out a few steps so that it wouldn¡¯t activate? This could prevent it from preemptively triggering and having people discover it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve considered this possibility, but I¡¯ve searched the entire valley and not even found any materials that could be used in a formation.¡±


    ¡°Please wait a moment.¡± Xu Miaoran sent off this message and ceased to make any more.


    After a long while, Xu Miaoran sent a message. ¡°I asked Father, and Father said that unless the formation¡¯s purpose was concealment, ordinary formations could not possibly achieve this level and must have left behind some trace. If you can¡¯t find it, the problem might be outside the formation, and you must think outside the box.¡±


    Xu Guanghua was a True Lord, and though his expertise was not in formations, he had a broad and profound range of experiences to draw on.


    If he said that such a formation could not exist, then it couldn¡¯t exist.


    ¡°¡®Think outside the box¡¯¡­ outside the box¡­¡± Tang Jie looked at the message on the talisman and muttered.


    He recalled the conversation Wang Juemie¡¯s group had that day, as well as their expressions.


    Suddenly, Tang Jie realized that something wasn¡¯t right.


    Since Wang Juemie¡¯s group had decided to make Sunset Valley their ambush site, how could they so lightly speak about such an important location?


    While Tang Jie had done his best to salvage that bandit attack, even he knew that there were many suspicious points about it. It was impossible for his opponent topletely believe in it. He had only hoped to lure out his opponent and find some clues leading to the truth through their words.


    He hadn¡¯t expected them to be so cooperative as to even say that they were having the deal in three days at Sunset Valley.


    Now that he thought more about it, the other party had been a little too careless.


    Unless¡­


    ¡°Shit! I fell for it!¡± Tang Jie cursed as he stood up.


    He suddenly understood that Wang Juemie had never nned on having the decisive battle at Sunset Valley.


    Sunset Valley had always been a smokescreen. It existed only to fool the Stone Gate Sect.


    The Stone Gate Sect would also probably think that if the meeting point was at Sunset Valley, they would need to watch out for a formation that the Seven Absolutions Sect might haveid in Sunset Valley to ambush them. Thus, they would scout out the valley first.


    Of course, they wouldn¡¯t find anything.


    For that ce had never been the ambush site decided on by the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    They had set up their trap midway!


    The moment he realized this, Tang Jie took out a map and started to examine the route one had to travel between Lotus Pass and Sunset Valley.


    Finally, his finger stopped at a nameless valley.


    This nameless valley was very small and deviated off to the side of the road, but the high mountains meant that a convoy would have to pass through it. However, a scout from the Stone Gate Sect would be flying, so they wouldn¡¯t need to go through this valley. In this way, the valley naturally avoided the attention of cultivators, and coupled with the concealment spell applied to it, it truly was very easy to miss.


    The Stone Gate Sect¡¯s True Persons had put their focus on Sunset Valley, so they would not think that they would be ambushed while on the road.


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart shivered.


    ¡°What a clever n!¡± Even though his eagle had yet to arrive, Tang Jie was basically sure that the formation he had been seeking out was there!


    ¡°Hey, why aren¡¯t you saying anything?¡± The jade token transmitted Xu Miaoran¡¯s words. It was clear that she was wondering why Tang Jie was suddenly ignoring her.


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    Tang Jie chuckled and replied, ¡°I was being dumb for a whole day. Thankfully, you were there to open my eyes, my precious. Mwah, a kiss.¡±


    The reply went, ¡°Shameless! Obscene! Ptooh! Ptooh!¡±


    Tang Jie could imagine Xu Miaoran¡¯s bashful look on the other end, and his heart grew hot. He replied, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m shameless and vulgar. Do you still like me?¡±


    There was no reply from the other side.


    After a long while, Xu Miaoran replied, ¡°Wang Juemie is very strong, and Celestial Heart True Persons are unfathomable. If you can¡¯t win, don¡¯t try and force it. While cultivation requires resources, you need a life to enjoy them. If you have an urgent need for money, you can tell me. I know that you¡¯re proud and won¡¯t lightly ept the help of others, so you can just treat it as a loan.¡±


    Although this wasn¡¯t a face-to-face conversation, the sincerity in her words revealed the affection she had toward him.


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart burned with passion, and he replied, ¡°I know. This adventure really is because what I need to do next requires a lot of money, but once it¡¯s done, things will be much easier. After this, the skies will be open for me to fly them, and I won¡¯t need to keep taking risks.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s so, then do as you please. I will wait for the good news. If you have any questions, you can ask me. If I don¡¯t know, I can ask my father for you. It¡¯s not bad having a True Lord to answer your questions, right?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Then I¡¯ll take full advantage of that! I just so happen to have some issues in cultivation that I don¡¯t quite understand¡­¡±


    They continued chatting for some time, all the way until the eagle arrived above the skies of that nameless valley.


    The valley appeared deserted, and there appeared to be nothing strange about it, but as an expert in formations, Tang Jie only needed to apply a little pressure to identify the abnormalities.


    The formation he had been searching for really was here.


    Under the Illuminating Eye, the concealing curtain was pulled away, and the formation was slowly revealed to him.


    ¡°So it was this formation¡­ The cunning, the daring, the imagination!¡±


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but sigh in praise.


    Now that he knew what formation his opponent had set up, Tang Jie knew what to do next.


    After some thought, Tang Jie developed a n. He took out a talisman, wrote some sentences on it, and burned it.


    The message this time was for Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong, who had already returned to Canglong Prefecture, took out his own talisman and burned it.


    In the Ling Province branch hall, Shi Meng received the message and took out a stack of talismans that he began to burn. Like this, the news traveled like lightning across Sageheart¡­


    The Stone Gate Sect elders and Wang Juemie are plotting against each other, and Tang Jie is plotting against both of them¡­

 Chapter 372

    Chapter 372: Formation


    Early in the morning, a convoy set off from the vige in Mount Eternal, heading in the direction of Dusnd.


    The convoy wasrge, forty-some wagons extending into the distance.


    Shi Jingzhai was wearing coarse clothes and seemed like some docile man from the countryside, even holding a pouch of tobo. Next to him were Liang Xingbang and Yu Wanniang, who were dressed as a wealthy old man and his concubine.


    Several dozen Stone Gate disciples had dressed up as escorts and were guarding the convoy.


    This operation was of enormous scale and cost, unprecedented for the Stone Gate Sect. Failure might mean the destruction of the sect, so even the three Celestial Heart True Persons were extremely cautious about any mishaps. Some of the Stone Gate Sect disciples didn¡¯t even know what was being held inside the wagons.


    After the convoy left the vige, it continued toward Dusnd. Once they were in a deserted area, Liang Xingbang suddenly unrolled a sleeve. A cloud emerged, which lifted up the forty-some wagons into the air.


    Even if they couldn¡¯t use Mustard Seed Bags to hold the goods, a Celestial Heart True Person still wouldn¡¯t have a hard time transporting goods. But there was another risk that prevented them from flying for too long.


    The wagons and their escort took to the skies and rapidly flew in the direction of Dusnd. But as they approached a city, Liang Xingbang waved his hand, and the convoynded and continued to slowly move forward as a regr convoy would.


    There was a sh of light in the clouds above the city.


    A few momentster, a Spirit Master peeked his head out of the clouds and looked around, muttering, ¡°Strange¨Cthere was clearly arge-scale spiritual energy pulse just a moment ago. Why did it disappear?¡±


    This was one of the various inspectors the Basking Moon Sect had stationed all around the kingdom.


    There were countless more of these inspectors, cultivators who specialized in surveince. In thesest two years, while the secret mining had been going on, the Stone Gate Sect had done everything possible to get a grasp of all the inspector cultivators in Ling Province, as this was the only way they could speedily move their cargo. A normal cultivator probably would have run right into the hands of the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s inspectors and been made to spill their secrets.


    Once the convoy was through the city, Yu Wanniang said, ¡°We¡¯re good.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai unrolled his sleeve, picking up the convoy and flying into the sky, onlynding when they reached another inspection point.


    Repeating this process, they managed to reach the border of Sageheart by the afternoon.


    Yu Wanniang pointed at therge gates ahead. ¡°Past the Lotus Pass is the border between the two kingdoms. Struggles are most frequent there, so that is the ce under heaviest surveince. We¡¯ll have to walk the rest of the way.¡±


    As Yu Wanniang frequently crossed the border to negotiate with the Seven Absolutions Sect, she was most familiar with how much this area was under surveince, which was much tighter than within the country. She was often alone, so she usually wasn¡¯t troubled when flying here and there. Even so, formations would still sh as they scanned her Mustard Seed Bag. Just bringing around those five Crystallized Sandworms had been a huge problem for her.


    Inparison, transporting goods like mortals on the ground was much more convenient, and the Basking Moon Sect usually didn¡¯t go out of its way to inspect them. This was precisely why illicit goods were usually smuggled throughnd-based routes.


    This was understandable. Immortals that could fly were few in number, and one could go half a month without running into one. As a result, they were closely examined. But there were numerous mortals on the ground, and not even Immortals had the energy to question them all.


    The convoynded back on the ground and made its way to Lotus Pass.


    Ten-some soldiers stood in front of Lotus Pass, inspecting the merchants who wereing and going.


    As the convoy approached, their captain came up and asked, ¡°Where did youe from and where are you going?¡±


    A Stone Gate disciple came up and answered, ¡°Sir, we¡¯re a caravan from Canglong Prefecture, belonging to the Gu n. We n to do business at Watcher River Town.¡±


    ¡°Another one to Watcher River Town?¡± the soldier grunted. ¡°Watcher River Town belongs to an enemy kingdom. All of these people heading off to enemy territory¡­ I have to wonder if they¡¯re spies.¡±


    The Stone Gate disciple paled. ¡°Sir, this lowly one doesn¡¯t understand what you¡¯re saying. While Dusnd is a foreign country, it has never been at war with Sageheart. When did it be an enemy country? There is free trade between the two countries, which is a rule set down by the two major Immortal sects, Basking Moon and Seven Absolutions. Why does frequently going there make one a spy?¡±


    The soldier red. ¡°Oh my, what tone is this? Is it your ce to speak? I don¡¯t think an ordinary person has the ability to dare argue against a captain. With this tone of yours, maybe you really are a spy.¡±


    The Stone Gate disciples were furious.


    What sort of people were they?


    Cultivators!


    High and mighty cultivators!


    Although the Stone Gate Sect lowered itself in front of the Basking Moon Sect, how could they not act arrogantly in front of these mere mortals?


    Normally, they would only need to reveal that they were cultivators to have these soldiers groveling like dogs, but today, they were being bullied around by these dogs.


    If not for their mission, that Stone Gate disciple would have unleashed a spell and massacred this squad of soldiers.


    Fortunately, an older disciple came forward and stuffed something into the soldier¡¯s hand, whispering, ¡°Sir, we¡¯re all honest merchants. Please, be lenient on us.¡±


    The soldier weighed the item in his hand and then grinned. Waving his hand, he said, ¡°Let them through!¡±


    The convoy finally gained entry.


    As that Stone Gate disciple was leaving, he red at the soldier, silently fuming, <em>When Ie back, I¡¯ll catch you and y your hide!</em>


    The soldier watched the convoy leave with a big smile. Once it was off in the distance, he stopped smiling, waited a little longer, and then strode into the city.


    He walked for some time, finally arriving at a residence. Knocking on the door, he said, ¡°Honored Immortal, I seek an audience.¡±


    The door opened, revealing a man clothed in ck.


    ¡°Did you find them?¡± the man in ck said in a raspy voice.


    ¡°Yes,¡± the soldier respectfully replied. ¡°There are forty-some wagons, escorted by fifty to sixty people. Their leaders are a white fatty, a thin, dark-skinned man, and a woman who is rather beautiful. This lowly one probed them as Honored Immortal instructed, and sure enough, their tones were haughty, instantly exposing that they were not ordinary people. Otherwise, no matter how unjustly they had been used, they would not dare to argue with a soldier.¡±


    The man in ck took out a talisman and burned it. He said, ¡°Good job. The people you were watching were all traitors to the Basking Moon Sect, possessing immense magic power. I could not approach them for fear of alerting them, so I required your assistance. You have achieved great merit, and when this matter is done, you will be richly rewarded.¡±


    The soldier was delighted. ¡°Honored Immortal, you said that you would take me into the Basking Moon Sect.¡±


    The man in ckughed. ¡°Naturally, but there is a problem with that¡­ I¡¯m not actually from the Basking Moon Sect.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The soldier reeled in shock as the man in ck ced a hand on the man¡¯s head. The soldier swayed a little before dropping dead to the floor.


    The man in ck giggled as he looked at the corpse, and then he walked out of the room and shut the door.


    Not long after he left, another person appeared.


    It was Shi Meng.


    Opening the door, Shi Meng looked at the body and sighed. ¡°So ruthless! Thank you for your sacrifice to the country. The Basking Moon Sect will take care of your family.¡±


    Shi Meng burned a talisman, closed the door, and walked off in the other direction.


    After leaving Lotus Pass, the convoy proceeded along the trade route that the Wei n had opened up. As they couldn¡¯t fly, their speed was much slower, and by night, they were still in the forest. Fortunately, they had left a day early, so they wouldn¡¯t bete.


    That night, the convoy camped out in the forest.


    Although they didn¡¯t need to, they still lit campfires, which twinkled like stars.


    Liang Xingbang stood next to a campfire, hands held behind his back. After a while, he said, ¡°Strange¡ªthe wind isn¡¯t that strong, so why do I suddenly feel rather cold?¡±


    ¡°Even if the wind was strong, it still wouldn¡¯t make you feel cold, no?¡± Shi Jingzhai stared into the fire as he spoke. ¡°What makes us cold isn¡¯t the wind, but people!¡±


    A smile appeared on Liang Xingbang¡¯s face. ¡°True. Look at this fire, at how freely it crackles and sparks. I have to wonder how many eyes it has attracted.¡±


    Next to him, Yu Wanniang sighed. ¡°The more we go on with this, the less confident I feel. Too many people watching¡­ Maybe we really were wrong?¡±


    ¡°¡®Wrong¡¯?¡± Shi Jingzhai raised an eyebrow. ¡°As cultivators, we struggle against the heavens, struggle against other people. If we don¡¯t have the courage to even take a little risk, why are we even cultivating Immortality in the first ce? Look here. With things having gone this far, if someone had really gone and told the Basking Moon Sect, you really think they would have waited this long? From this, we can see that everyone has their selfish desires. Since that¡¯s the case, what do we have to fear? If they dare toe at us, we¡¯ll destroy them all!¡±


    After all, he was a Celestial Heart True Person. When he spoke, he had a heroic and bold aura.


    Yu Wanniang saw Shi Jingzhai¡¯s attitude and could only sigh.


    That night, the three True Persons simply meditated rather than sleeping, but all was peaceful and without the slightest danger.


    Early next morning, the convoy set off again, winding its way toward Sageheart¡¯s border.


    The border between the two countries was mountainous, with high mountains and thick forest wherever one looked. If not for the fact that the ones escorting the convoy were all cultivators, they would have found the rough journey alone unbearable. Fortunately, cultivators cared not about such things, and they moved rather quickly and soon emerged from the mountain forest. Gradually, they neared the nameless valley that Tang Jie had spotted.


    The convoy slowly proceeded through the valley, everything seeming peaceful.


    But as they went farther in, the scowls on the faces of Liang Xingbang and Shi Jingzhai grew nastier and nastier.


    With their strength, they could already sense that someone was spying on them.


    They had realized by now that they had fallen into a trap. They had expected the danger to be at Sunset Valley, but to their surprise, the ambush hade midway there.


    A contest of schemes was sometimes very simple, a matter of whether one fell for the scheme or not. When one made a miscalction, falling into a trap was simply par for the course.


    But the three True Persons maintained theirposure. Instead of sounding the rm, they had the convoy keep going.


    Finally, a muscr man wearing a tiger skin appeared on the road in front of them.


    ¡°Wang Juemie!¡± Shi Jingzhai narrowed his eyes.


    Even though this was his first time meeting Wang Jiuemie, Shi Jingzhai still recognized the most talented disciple of the Seven Absolutions Sect within thest thousand years with a single nce.


    He stood in the center of the road, smiling at the convoy. ¡°True Persons, I trust that you have been well.¡±


    Yu Wanniang¡¯s face darkened. ¡°Wang Juemie, didn¡¯t we agree to make the trade at Sunset Valley? What are you doing here?¡±


    Wang Juemie chuckled. ¡°Oh, I changed my mind. Sunset Valley is too far, so it¡¯s best to take the goods here.¡±


    Yu Wanniang snorted. ¡°Oh, is that so? Then where¡¯s the money?¡±


    Wang Juemie replied, ¡°The money is in Sunset Valley. You hand the goods over to me here, and then you head to Sunset Valley to get the money.¡±


    The reply had all three True Persons scowling.


    Wang Juemie had basically announced that he wasn¡¯t going to pay. Even though they had mentally prepared for this, the three True Persons were enraged.


    Shi Jingzhai took in a deep breath and then angrily smiled. ¡°Good! Good! I didn¡¯t think that a sect like the Seven Absolutions Sect would break its word over a few million spirit coins.¡±


    Wang Juemie sighed. ¡°The Seven Absolutions Sect has vast wealth, but it also has vast expenses, so it¡¯s best to save where one can. And didn¡¯t the three of you already guess at it? I¡¯m sure that you three True Persons are strong enough to have sensed the existence of my brothers.¡±


    As he spoke, the Seven Absolutions Sect disciples emerged from their positions around the valley. They coldly looked at the valley floor,pletelycking the fear they should have had toward the three Celestial Heart existences.


    Perhaps because she had been the contact, Yu Wanniang was furious at this development, her body trembling. ¡°Good, good! If that¡¯s the case, then call your master! I¡¯d like to see which master of the Seven Absolutions Sect dares to carry out such ruthless actions!¡±


    Wang Juemie tilted his head. ¡°As you say, the seniors of my Seven Absolutions Sect disdain to do such ruthless things and naturally would not show themselves. Thus, I am responsible for this matter.¡±


    ¡°Wh¡­ what?¡± Shi Jingzhai andpany were so shocked that their eyeballs almost dropped out from their sockets.


    It was true that the Stone Gate Sect feared the Seven Absolutions Sect, but what they feared was those illustrious figures at the Celestial Heart Realm or above, not someone at the Mortal Shedding Realm like Wang Juemie.


    Even if he was at the peak of Mortal Shedding, it was impossible for him to beat a Celestial Heart True Person. Those battles where someone defeated a person above their level more frequently happened at Mortal Shedding and below. For thest ten thousand years, one could count with one hand the number of Mortal Shedding cultivators who had defeated Celestial Heart cultivators, and there had not even been one in thest several thousand years.


    And that wasn¡¯t even considering that there were three Celestial Heart True Persons here.


    How could Wang Juemie be so arrogant and self-assured?


    Shi Jingzhai red at Wang Juemie. ¡°Say that again!¡±


    Wang Juemie¡¯s face darkened. ¡°As I said, my seniors don¡¯t need toe out to deal with a small sect like yours. I alone am enough!¡±


    ¡°Audacious!¡± Shi Jingzhai furiously roared, thrusting out a palm.


    A giant palm the size of a small mountain hurtled toward Wang Juemie.


    Wang Juemieughed. He looked at the approaching palm and suddenly roared, unleashing a furious punch.


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    As fist met energy palm, there was a thunderous boom, and then the palm disappeared. Wang Juemie had actually managed to dispel it with a single punch!


    Shi Jingzhai was taken aback by the sight. ¡°I have long heard that the Great Brother of the Seven Absolutions Sect cultivates the Nebulous Heaven Origin Mantra and the Indestructible True Demon Body Refiner Art, that he specializes in body refining, turning his body into an art relic, and possesses incrediblebat power without external aid. I now see that your strength truly is extraordinary, resisting my palm with your fist. But that palm just now was not a serious strike. If you can take this attack, I¡¯ll be convinced!¡±


    Shi Jingzhai bent his finger and flicked, firing a bolt of wind into the sky. This bolt curved in the air and descended toward Wang Juemie like an arrow.


    The Heavenly Arrow Finger!


    Wang Juemieughed as this finger bolt came down. ¡°I¡¯ll take it! Nothing to be afraid of!¡±


    He shook his arms, leaped into the sky, and punched at the finger bolt.


    The fist mmed into the bolt, releasing a powerful shockwave. Wang Juemie¡¯s fist exploded with spiritual light, and he really did seed in blocking the finger strike.


    Whether he won or lost this battle, the fact that he, a peak Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator, could block the spell arts of a Celestial Heart True Person was proof enough of his terrifying strength.


    As he blocked the finger, Shi Jingzhai¡¯s eyes suddenly shed with a cunning light. ¡°What about this one?¡±


    He moved his left hand, and the earth trembled. A momentter, a giant stone hand emerged from the ground, reaching for the airborne Wang Juemie.


    The Earth Soul Hand!


    Shi Jingzhai¡¯s Daoist title was ¡°Deep Earth¡±, indicating that his actual expertise was in Earth spell arts. This Earth Soul Hand was one of his most proficient spell arts, and he knew it so well that he could cast it with a raise of his hand.


    Although he was surprised that the Seven Absolutions Sect hadn¡¯t sent a True Person, Shi Jingzhai did not get careless. He wanted to end this battle quickly using overwhelming force, not even caring for his dignity or pride.


    At the same time, Liang Xingbang and Yu Wanniang, as his colleagues of many years, struck at the valley sides in unison.


    Liang Xingbang raised his hand and unleashed a powerful wave of wind, which twisted into a ck dragon that lunged toward one mountain.


    Yu Wanniang took out a string of bells, and as the bells shook in the air, they released a strange sound that dizzied the mind.


    The power of the three Celestial Heart True Persons attacking in unison was truly something else.


    But the moment the Earth Soul Hand emerged, Wang Juemieughed and said, ¡°I knew you guys would try a trick like this! You dogshit Celestial Hearts, go die!¡±


    With this bellow, the entire valley quaked, and then countless golden pirs of light emerged from all around the valley.


    These golden pirs of light exuded a powerful aura as they extended across the sky.


    These golden pirs appeared like the Fire Beacon Smoke Net Formation that Mu Yi had used in the Immortal Fortune Conference. Just like that formation, the pirs gathered together in the sky, forming a giant golden cage, like a golden version of the Fire Beacon Formation.


    But it wasn¡¯t actually a Smoke Net Formation.


    As the golden pirs emerged, Shi Jingzhai watched in shock as his Earth Soul Hand silently dissipated.


    It wasn¡¯t just his Earth Soul Hand. Liang Xingbang¡¯s dragon and Yu Wanniang¡¯s bells lost their effect.


    The wind dragon dissolved into spiritual light while the golden bells dropped to the ground.


    A storm stirred within the valley.


    This wind hadn¡¯te from outside the valley, but had started from the inside, like something had exploded. In a sh, the wind had engulfed the valley.


    A momentter, the entire valley had transformed.


    Although the valley was still the same valley, apparently unchanged, any cultivator could sense that a most important thing was now missing.


    Spiritual energy!


    The golden cage still spanned the world.


    And within the cage, there was not a single trace of spiritual energy.


    ¡°The Heaven Earth Spirit Istion Formation!¡± Shi Jingzhai cried out.


    It¡¯s time for the showdown! But Wang Juemie taking on three True Persons? Seems a bit much.

 Chapter 373

    Chapter 373: Fierce Warrior


    The Heaven Earth Spirit Istion Formation.


    As indicated by its name, it was a formation that cut off spiritual energy.


    Whether Spirit Master or True Person, or even Violet Pce True Lord, they all needed spiritual energy to cast arts.


    Without spiritual energy, a True Person was like a fish out of water, unable to express their might.


    Shi Jingzhai¡¯s group hadn¡¯t expected Wang Juemie to be so vicious, using this kind of formation, and they were momentarily stunned.


    If the Seven Absolutions Sect had used some other kind of formation, Shi Jingzhai¡¯s group might have been able to deal with it. If the formation had been somewhat weak, the three Celestial Heart experts were strong enough to perhaps force their way out of the formation.


    After all,ying down a formation took resources, andying down a formation that could kill three Celestial Heart True Persons and have it epass an entire valley had to have a cost in the millions. There was no way Wang Juemie¡¯s group could pay such a price, and even if they could, they might not be particrly willing to do so.


    But the Heaven Earth Spirit Istion Formationcked many of these problems.


    A formation¡¯s cost normally depended on its strength, defensive power, ease of control, and many other factors.


    The Heaven Earth Spirit Istion Formation didn¡¯t require strength, as it only needed to disperse all spiritual energy within a certain range. It didn¡¯t require defensive power, because the cultivators within the formation would have their strength greatly affected and would have greatly weakened counterattacks, so they would find it hard to pose a threat to the formation. It did not require any sort of control, as it was a formation that did not differentiate between friend and foe.


    Thus, the Seven Absolutions Sect had chosen this formation, nning on using Wang Juemie¡¯s formidable physical body to fight. One could say that this got down to the very essence of the principle of dragging an opponent down to your level and then beating them with your abundant experience.


    As Wang Juemiended back on the ground, heughed and said, ¡°Correct¡ªthe Heaven Earth Spirit Istion Formation! True Persons, wee!¡±


    He sted off the ground and swung a punch at the trio.


    A world without spiritual energy belonged to body refiners. He dared to challenge three True Persons all on his own precisely because of his tough body.


    As he punched, he stirred up a gale, and while itcked the sh of spiritual light, it was intense and surging, exhibiting a peerless grace.


    As the iron fist thundered, Shi Jingzhai¡¯s eyes shed with murderous intent. ¡°You think that this is enough?¡±


    He raised his left hand, andrge amounts of gravel surged up from the ground into a giant stone fist that blocked Wang Juemie¡¯s punch and smashed into his body.


    While the Heaven Earth Spirit Istion Formation could cut off the world¡¯s spiritual energy, it could not cut off the spiritual energy within the cultivator¡¯s body, which was why Shi Jingzhai andpany could still cast. It was just that they couldn¡¯t borrow the spiritual energy of the world, so using extremely powerful spell arts was very difficult. For example, a spell art that would have only needed ten drops of spiritual liquid to harness the spiritual energy of the world would now take all the spiritual liquid in one¡¯s body. A single spell art might require hundreds to a thousand drops of spiritual liquid.


    Even a Celestial Heart cultivator couldn¡¯t support this sort of expense more than a few times.


    Even so, a Celestial Heart was a Celestial Heart!


    For Shi Jingzhai¡¯s group, their only chance was to kill Wang Juemie before the spiritual energy in their bodies ran out, or else things would get difficult.


    The stone fist flew out, thundering toward Wang Juemie.


    Liang Xingbang and Yu Wanniang attacked at the same time, each firing off a bolt of energy from their fingers. For the sake of saving spiritual energy, they had chosen to use ordinary spell arts. It was a pitiful state they were in. They had been at Celestial Heart for many years now, and such small spells hadin unused for ages. They had never imagined that they would have to use them again.


    Even so, the attacks from these three Celestial Heart cultivators contained immense power and were not something an ordinary person could block.


    After sting apart Wang Juemie¡¯s attack, the stone fist shot into the sky, carrying a peerless aura. It was as if it was saying that even a tiger without its ws wasn¡¯t something that could be contended against.


    But Wang Juemie brazenly dered, ¡°Break for me!¡±


    He raised his head and punched with both hands at the air. In the face of this spell art from a Celestial Heart True Person, he fearlessly took it head-on, just like that monkey who once dared to equal the heavens.


    But unlike that monkey, he wasn¡¯t squashed underneath a mountain. Rather, he seemed to be saying, ¡°If the mountain dares to squash me, I¡¯ll make that mountain shatter!¡±


    Amid wild gusts of air, the giant stone fist mmed down. Powered by that gust of wind, Wang Juemie¡¯s two fists punched at the descending stone arm. With a bang, that huge stone arm trembled and stopped.


    <em>Awooo!</em>


    As his two arms held back the stone fist, Wang Juemie¡¯s body bulged with muscle. Power flowed through his body, seeming to radiate outward as if it had actual mass and substance.


    To the shock of the three True Persons, Wang Juemie actually managed to lift up the stone arm.


    This heavy stone arm created from Shi Jingzhai¡¯s spiritual energy hadn¡¯t been able to shake his foe. This was a simply mindblowing feat that left all of the Stone Gate Sect disciples bbergasted.


    Such heroism! Such power!


    Wang Juemie looked at Shi Jingzhai andughed. ¡°Is that all you have? Up!¡±


    ¡°Up¡­¡±


    ¡°Up¡­¡±


    ¡°Up¡­¡±


    His brazen roar echoed through the valley. Not only had Wang Juemie lifted up the stone arm, he had thrown it back at Shi Jingzhai!


    If this arm came down, the Stone Gate Sect would end up suffering by its own hand.


    Aghast, the three True Persons joined together to stop the huge stone arm.


    At the same time, Liang Xingbang waved his arm, sending a furious wave of wind at Wang Juemie.


    This was no ordinary wind, but the Eonic Yin Wind from the Nine Nethers, whose cold chilled to the bone.


    Liang Xingbang had taken one hundred years to gather this Yin Wind and use it for his own purposes, and he had also employed a spell art to conceal countless wind des within this wind. Anyone struck by this Yin Wind gale would be sliced to bits.


    For Liang Xingbang to deal with Wang Juemie in this way was showing him incredible respect. As the Yin Wind gust swept over Wang Juemie, his skin began to ke off like porcin tiles, but also like a rotting body, exposing the blood and flesh underneath.


    Wang Juemie crazily howled as he sustained these wounds. Liang Xingbang smiled. ¡°Junior, did you really think that the Heaven Earth Spirit Istion Formation was enough to defeat three Celestial Hearts? A foolish dream! This old man will handle you!¡±


    Find the original at Hosted Novel.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Wang Juemie suddenly raised his head and looked at Liang Xingbang, and his cold and cruel gaze made Liang Xingbang¡¯s heart inexplicably pulse in fear.


    Wang Juemie shook his arms. ¡°Ha!¡±


    With this shout, he began to push through the Yin Wind and make his way, step by step, toward Liang Xingbang.


    His flesh constantly ked off as the Yin Wind ate away at it, but with every bit that sloughed off, a little grew back.


    The Indestructible True Demon Body Refiner Art could be said to be the most mystical and most powerful body refining spell art in all of the Rosecloud Domain. Cultivating this art was extremely painful, with a chance of dying nine times out of ten, but each level greatly strengthened one¡¯s constitution and bestowed divine strength. Even the body¡¯s ability to recover received a huge boost.


    Another person would have been blown into nothing but blood by the Yin Wind, but Wang Juemie was constantly being eaten away at and constantly recovering. He was like an unkible war god, leaving Liang Xingbang stunned.


    Was this still the Mortal Shedding Realm?


    Not even Celestial Heart or Violet Pce cultivators might possess such an unkible body!


    While he reeled in shock, he forgot that Wang Juemie was getting closer and closer.


    When they were several meters away from each other, Wang Juemie suddenly rushed up to Liang Xingbang and punched.


    Fortunately, Shi Jingzhai was able to intervene in time, applying a barrier of thick earth around Liang Xingbang.


    The iron fist smashed down, turning that barrier into powder, and Liang Xingbang was sent flying by the immense force of the blow. Thankfully, the earth barrier had saved him from suffering any actual injury, or else this would have been the first time in several thousand years that a Spirit Master had killed a Celestial Heart True Person in a head-on battle.


    Although there was the factor of the formation, it could not be denied that Wang Juemie was far stronger than the average cultivator of his level. If he had been facing a wandering Celestial Heart True Person at only the first tier, he really might have been able to achieve this dazzling feat.


    But Celestial Heart was Celestial Heart, and brute strength wasn¡¯t enough to achieve victory.


    A momentter, as Liang Xingbang was being sent flying, Yu Wanniang¡¯s eyes shed, and a stream of will stabbed into Wang Juemie¡¯s mind like a needle.


    Wang Juemie suddenly threw his head back, two streams of blood flowing from his nostrils. A momentter, Shi Jingzhai thrust his hands at Wang Juemie¡¯s chest. Yellow light burst out, sending Wang Juemie flying.


    Wang Juemie threw up blood and took a tumble on the ground.


    This Great Brother of the Seven Absolutions Sect who had seemed invincible had been undone by a single nce from Yu Wanniang and a palm strike from Shi Jingzhai.


    The Stone Gate disciples cheered, except for Yu Wanniang, who had suddenly gone pale white, though it quickly became a healthy red once more.


    Shi Jingzhai looked at the fallen figure of Wang Juemie and then turned to Yu Wanniang. ¡°You made quite the sacrifice.¡±


    Yu Wanniang snorted. ¡°My cultivation level is inferior to my two senior brothers. This guy can even take spell arts from the two of you, so my spell art might not be able to do anything to him. Since that¡¯s the case, what¡¯s the point in continuing to hold back? We can¡¯t let people think that a Celestial Heart True Person without spiritual energy can be killed by anyone, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Celestial Hearts are Celestial Hearts because you already possess a Spirit Will, or even a Divine Will¡­¡± Wang Juemie suddenly spoke.


    Yu Wanniang froze as she saw Wang Juemie slowly sit back up.


    Wiping the blood from his nose, heughed and said, ¡°Not bad, not bad. A Spirit Will attack really is something else. s, Lady Yu, you are only at the first tier, and your Spirit Will is not a Divine Will. This attack is still a little weak, a little weak¡­¡±


    He threw his head back andughed like a madman. Streams of power erupted from his body, forming fierce gales that howled around him.


    The three True Persons were taken aback by this sight.


    Liang Xingbang said in disbelief, ¡°You¡¯re fine!?¡±


    The energy around Wang Juemie continued to strengthen.


    He lowered his head and looked down at the three. ¡°Of course! You idiots! You have to seek out alms from my Seven Absolutions Sect for a method to advance to Violet Pce, and you think I, the Great Brother of the Seven Absolutions Sect, don¡¯t even know what sort of tricks a Celestial Heart can employ? A Spirit Will attack? You really think I would have dared to fight you if I had no way to defend against it!?¡±


    He shook his arms, and his body erupted with such power that the three True Persons shivered in fear.


    This Wang Juemie truly had astonishing strength, but what was even more exceptional was how hard he was to kill. In normal circumstances, the three True Persons would have gone all out to st him to bits, and they would have ultimately been able to ovee Wang Juemie. But in these circumstances, the power they had in their body was truly somewhatcking.


    Liang Xingbang shouted, ¡°Cease your arrogance! Divine Will, take form and seize his soul!¡±


    He pointed a finger at Wang Juemie, and a stream of Divine Will stabbed into Wang Juemie¡¯s mind.


    Divine Will killed without leaving a trace, acting directly on the cultivator¡¯s soul. No matter how formidable one¡¯s defenses or vitality were, one would find it difficult to block it. This was also the greatest difference between Celestial Heart and Mortal Shedding, and the key reason that Mortal Shedding found it impossible to contend against Celestial Heart.


    No matter how overflowing with talent and magic power one was, a Celestial Heart True Person who had cultivated a Divine Will could still kill you with a thought.


    But while killing with Divine Will was efficient, it was not intended to be used as a weapon, but a means of melding with the world.


    The Heaven-Earth Bridge linking with the world allowed the borrowing of spiritual energy, and the Divine Will melding with the world allowed cirction of energy without casting. This was precisely why those at Violet Pce were said to be capable of manifesting ten thousand arts with a single thought. At greater attainment, a Divine Will would be a Divine Soul, and a Divine Soul was connected to the world and could produce ten thousand arts with a single thought.


    As for using Divine Will to kill, there was only one word to describe that: a waste.


    Divine Will that was used up was used up. Unlike magic power, it wasn¡¯t something that could be recovered simply by resting and taking a few breaths. The price was so high that the average person couldn¡¯t bear it. And if it were used too many times such that one¡¯s Divine Will waspletely spent, one wouldn¡¯t even be able to turn it into a soul and would thus have to bid farewell to the hope of ever reaching Violet Pce in this lifetime.


    This was exactly why True Persons didn¡¯t use Divine Will in battle unless it was absolutely necessary.


    Liang Xingbang was quite willing to make this sacrifice. Even though it was three versus one, the moment he sensed that something was wrong, he attacked with Divine Will. Even Wang Juemie was surprised by this level of resolve.


    Wang Juemie seemed to sustain a heavy blow from this Divine Will attack, his head once more being thrown back and blood flowing from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth in a horrifying sight.


    The spell arts from the two True Persons hadn¡¯t been able to deal him this sort of damage, but a single Divine Will attack had dealt his soul a heavy blow. Such was its terrifying power.


    There was nothing to be done about it. The soul was formless, so it could not be defended.


    Until one formed a Violet Pce, the only means of defending against Divine Will attacksy in supreme treasures!


    But after taking such a heavy blow, Wang Juemie was stillughing.


    He raised his head and brazenly said, ¡°Good! Good! I can get used to this!¡±


    Staring at Liang Xingbang with his bleeding eyes, Wang Juemie roared, ¡°You¡¯re willing to make the sacrifice, but s, you haven¡¯t sacrificed enough. If you had used a little more Divine Will, I would already be dead! But since I¡¯m not dead, my Indestructible True Demon Body has absorbed your Divine Will, which can be used to strengthen my own soul. In the future, when I reach Celestial Heart, I¡¯ll have an easier time entering Violet Pce. I really have to thank you!¡±


    His Indestructible True Demon Body had a special trait of growing more resistant to the same kind of attack the more it received them, and this even applied to Divine Will attacks. But nobody would waste precious Divine Will solely to raise his resistance a little, so Wang Juemie rarely had the chance to experience such an attack.


    Liang Xingbang coldly grunted, ¡°I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t get the chance. You¡¯re injured, so you won¡¯t be able to block our follow-up attack.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Wang Juemieughed. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. You¡¯ve already lost the best chance I gave you!¡±


    Wang Juemie shook his head and shouted at the air, ¡°Come!¡±


    With this roar, seven people emerged from the group of Seven Absolutions Sect disciples on the two mountains. They sat on the ground and raised up their hands.


    Seven spirit pirs shot up from their bodies, cutting across the formation. One end pointed to Wang Juemie while the other end pointed to the wall of the formation.


    At the same time, seven pirs of light emerged from outside the cage.


    The moment these seven pirs of light appeared, they flew toward the formation. They passed through the walls of the Heaven Earth Spirit Istion Formation and connected to the spirit pirs created by the seven disciples, following those streams of spiritual energy to Wang Juemie.


    In the pirs of light were a helmet, armor, and other such things.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± The pupils of the three True Persons widened.


    Wang Juemieughed as he jumped into the air, allowing the seven pirs to strike his body. In a sh, he was covered in a suit of extravagant armor, radiating light brighter than the sun.


    This suit of armor consisted of a helmet, a breastte, a pair of armguards, a pair of legguards, and a pair of war boots. Finally, there was a shield and a sword. Wang Juemie had equipped all of them, for a total of seven items.


    Yu Wanniang shrieked, ¡°It¡¯s the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures!¡±


    In front of them was none other than one of the precious Dao armaments of the Seven Absolutions Sect, the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect was the sect in the Rosecloud Domain with the greatest number of treasures, and among these numerous treasures, the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures had the greatest renown.


    This wasn¡¯t because they were the strongest, but because they had been refined from cultivators.


    Dao armaments were the most powerful treasures in the world. To describe them in two phrases, they would be the concentrated essence of the world, the vessels of the Great Dao.


    For this reason, any Dao armament was made with a naturally-urring divine object that then received the supreme Dao Will of a mighty cultivator and was diligently worked on for thousands of years. They had the power to slice open the heavens, cleave open the earth, and throw back the seas, and they were considered the guardian treasures of their sects.


    From a certain perspective, they were what determined whether a sect could be one of the major sects. As for things like academies and blessednds, while these were the foundation of a major sect, they were not the supporting pirs.


    For its ascendance, the Seven Absolutions Sect had taken countless years to gather up rare resources and expended all of its manpower to refine these resources into treasures, ultimately creating the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures. In the process, it had lost one Violet Pce cultivator and six Celestial Heart cultivators¡ªa horrifying price.


    It was precisely because these were artificial Dao armaments that the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures were not a single piece, but rather seven divine-treasure-level items that were a Dao armament as a set. As far as Dao armaments went, it was of the lowest level.


    Even so, the Seven Absolutions Sect had been able to create a major stir with these seven treasures, leaving the world stunned by their ability to forge weapons.


    No one had expected Wang Juemie to have the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures, and Shi Jingzhai andpany froze in shock.


    But a momentter, Liang Xingbang shouted, ¡°That¡¯s not the real Dao armament! It¡¯s a projection!¡±


    The real Dao armament would require cultivation of the Violet Pce level at the minimum to use, not the Mortal Shedding level that Wang Juemie was at. Thus, what had appeared on Wang Juemie¡¯s body was not the actual Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures, but part of their power somehow being projected onto Wang Juemie¡¯s body, just like how Liu Hongyan had used the three treasures of the Law Hall.


    As they were in the formation, it was not possible to form the spiritual energy passage that would project the power of the seven treasures.


    But the Seven Absolutions Sect had used a simple method to solve this. Seven disciples would expend their own spiritual energy to establish seven paths in the formation, allowing for the transmission.


    In this way, the three True Persons were weakened because of the formation while Wang Juemie was stronger because of the seven treasures.


    As one side weakened and the other strengthened, the oue became less certain.


    Most infuriating was that Wang Juemie could have done this from the start, but he insisted on fighting the three True Persons himself first.


    If Liang Xingbang¡¯s Divine Will attack just now had been a little stronger, Wang Juemie might have died, but this guy had been willing to take that risk for that little bit of Divine Will resistance. And he had also urately surmised that Liang Xingbang would want to be conservative and only make a Divine Will attack that would heavily injure him rather than kill him, hoping to finish the deed with spell arts.


    It was all about the thrill!


    Now, he had the seven treasures, and the helmet defended against Divine Will attacks. Liang Xingbang, no matter how frustrated he was, no longer had a chance to make another.


    Wang Juemieughed. ¡°I don¡¯t need the real thing! This virtual projection is enough to kill all of you!¡±


    He mmed the shield in his left hand into the ground, setting off tremors across the valley.


    He was a born fighter, so even when he was holding a shield, he used it as a weapon. As for that sword, he didn¡¯t like it much, so he put it away. He simply punched into the distance, unleashing a powerful shockwave that swept up all the Stone Gate Sect disciples.


    Wang Juemie really likes to walk the line of life and death. One of these days, he might slip¡­

 Chapter 374

    Chapter 374


    The Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures


    On the southern mountainside of the nameless valley, around two hundred meters up from the valley floor, was a small forest.


    Several burial mounds were scattered around the forest. They had seemingly been here for countless years, some of them evencking grave stones.


    The sounds from the battle were much quieter here, but this would not impair anyone with an intent to spy. In front of a small mound all by itself near the northern corner, an eyeball floated in the air, looking down.


    After quite some time, a hand suddenly emerged from the earth, grabbing the eyeball. With a slight squeeze, the eyeball dissipated in spiritual light.


    A momentter, in arge surge of dirt, Tang Jie emerged from the burial mound.


    pping the dust off his body, Tang Jie slowly stood up.


    In the valley, the battle continued. With the Dao armament, Wang Juemie had exploded in strength, easily handling his three opponents and even forcing them back.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t find this strange. When he saw what sort of preparations had been made in the valley, he knew that the Stone Gate Sect wouldn¡¯t stand a chance.


    Wang Juemie¡¯s group had set up more than just the Heaven Earth Spirit Istion Formation to deal with the three True Persons of the Stone Gate Sect.


    The spirit istion formation was only the most core formation. On the outer edge of this formation was a wall formation to prevent the three True Persons from escaping.


    Beyond that formation was a transmission formation used to project the power of the seven treasures, and there was perhaps even another formation beyond it.


    Theyers of formations essentially meant that the Stone Gate Sect was doomed the moment it stepped into the valley.


    The only surprise was how Wang Juemie had decided to y around by fighting the three True Persons using just his physical strength. While it was impossible for him to defy the heavens and achieve victory, his formidable performance against thebined power of these three Celestial Hearts was praiseworthy. It was no wonder so many disciples of the Seven Absolutions Sect were devoted to him, and it was no wonder Shen Qingdan feared him. His daring alone was enough to win the admiration of others.


    But although the Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s n was meticulous, it could still be undone.


    As he looked at the curling smoke in the distance, Tang Jieughed and formed a guiding energy sign with his hand, saying, ¡°The seven treasures are being transmitted using the Heavenly Vortex Cyclic Light Art. This method of transmission doesn¡¯t cost much, but it requires constant maintenance of spiritual light. Attacking the seven Seven Absolutions Sect disciples maintaining the channels will be enough to remove the power of the seven treasures.¡±


    He said this very softly, but down below, one of the several dozen Stone Gate disciples suddenly shouted, ¡°Destroy the channels, and the seven treasures will disappear!¡±


    The three Stone Gate elders all heard this.


    Shi Jingzhai was the first to react, pressing a hand on the ground. The mountains on the side quaked, and the entire valley swayed. His greatest expertisey in Earth element spell arts, and if not for the spirit istion formation requiring him to conserve spiritual energy, he could have flipped over the entire valley.


    The earth trembled, the mountains swayed, and the seven disciples maintaining the transmission channels lost their foothold. The channels flickered, and the seven treasures on Wang Juemie¡¯s body immediately grew faint.


    The Stone Gate Sect disciples were delighted by this, but at this moment, Mu Yi snorted and threw out a red gauze veil.


    It would seem quite embarrassing for a man to have something like a red gauze veil, but as he tossed it out, the flickering channels instantly stabilized.


    Upon seeing that veil, Yu Wanniang shrieked, ¡°The Rinsing Stream Gauze¡­ they even prepared that! I should have thought of that possibility.¡±


    With spiritual energy cut off, the factors that would decide victory were body refining and spiritual reserves.


    Humans could store spirit, as could objects.


    The Rinsing Stream Gauze was a tool for storing spiritual energy, simr to Tang Jie¡¯s Cosmic Breeze Pearl. It was said that it was actually a product that came from the research done on that item.


    This gauze floated in the air, unaffected by the quaking of the earth, and stabilized the channels.


    Wang Juemieughed. ¡°Die!¡±


    He charged into the crowd like a gale.


    He was a famed body refiner maniac who disliked spell arts, so almost all the spell arts he used were meant for strengthening his body. Inbat, he normally fought with pure strength, fist versus flesh. His fighting style was more like that of a martial artist than of an Immortal.


    He was in the mood right now, so he immediately exhibited the full breadth of his style. His warboots shed with light, causing him to elerate, and in a blink, he appeared next to a Stone Gate disciple.


    Before this disciple could react, Wang Juemie grabbed his throat and pulled down.


    The armguards shed with golden light, and then Wang Juemie obliterated the protective barrier around the disciple, snapping his neck while he was at it.


    ¡°Bing Si!¡± Yu Wanniang cried out in pain. The disciple who had died was her personal disciple. Before he had even had a chance at any sort of bright future, he had died.


    With augh, Wang Juemie threw aside this disciple and turned to another. With one punch, he prated through the disciple¡¯s chest.


    Twenty-some spell arts struck him, and there was a burst of golden light. Wang Juemie slowly turned around and sneered, ¡°Even without the seven treasures, I could take this level of power.¡±


    He shot over to another disciple, exploding the disciple¡¯s head with a punch.


    He intentionally ignored the three elders, only attacking the Stone Gate Sect disciples and ughtering them as he pleased. The three elders were so enraged that their eyeballs almost popped out, but there was nothing they could do. No matter what sort of attack they used, they couldn¡¯t break through the astonishing defenses of the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures.


    The lines on the armor formed strange and ancient characters. These were Dao Runes, and they reduced the power of all the attacks that struck Wang Juemie by more than half. Unless one had a Dao armament on par with the Inferno Heaven Treasures, it was impossible to ignore them.


    This alone was enough to allow Wang Juemie to run rampant.


    In truth, this Dao armament was so strong that an ordinary person couldn¡¯t endure even its projection. Only a formidable body refiner like Wang Juemie could endure it. All of his strength was actually being used to resist the pressure from the Dao armament. The one truly doing the killing was the Dao armament projection.


    After this sessful attack, Wang Juemie moved onto another foe, waving the shield and pulverizing a disciple. His opponents simply weren¡¯t strong enough to warrant him using the shield for defense. If it weren¡¯t required to wear all seven of the treasures to use their Dao Will, he would have only used the helmet, breastte, armguards, and legguards forbat, for both improved performance and reduced burden.


    The three Stone Gate elders panicked as Wang Juemie rampaged like a tiger among sheep.


    But they couldn¡¯t stop him. Liang Xingbang¡¯s erupted with murderous intent. ¡°Kill the others first!¡±


    Since they couldn¡¯t stop Wang Juemie, they could only trade pieces.


    The three simultaneously attacked the Seven Absolutions Sect disciples stationed on one of the mountains.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie could only shake his head and sigh.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect disciples wouldn¡¯t have dared to so brazenly appear before the three True Persons unless they had a way to protect themselves. In fact, this might even be bait to lure them into wasting spiritual energy.


    The three elders unleashed a zing tide of light.


    To kill their target, the trio no longer cared about conserving energy.


    But as the spiritual tsunami washed over the mountain, rather than seeing the mountain scoured clean of people, they saw that the Seven Absolutions Sect disciples were still standing there.


    They froze in shock. What was going on?


    Crazedughter rang out through the air.


    The people on the two mountains faded away. Instead, that group of Seven Absolutions Sect disciples appeared atop the bird cage.


    Liang Xingbang cried out in realization, ¡°It was an illusion.¡±


    ¡°No, not an illusion, but a reflection,¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect didn¡¯t have the Duplication spell, and it was impossible to create an illusion of this level, nor could the illusions have created spiritual energy channels. But without these things, they could use reflections of light to cause the opponent to misunderstand.


    Tang Jie recalled that the Seven Absolutions Sect had something known as the World Reverse Mirror, which could invert locations. When the mirror was used, while one could appear to be at the fore, in reality, one could be at the fore, back, left, or right.


    At even higher levels, the World Reverse Mirror could create multiple inversions.


    In other words, this position of the Seven Absolutions Sect disciples could still be false. These Seven Absolutions Sect disciples were probably hiding somewhere in the valley, using precalcted positions to constantly reflect themselves into new positions.


    Tang Jie was so certain of this because Shi Jingzhai had used a spell art that had covered the entire valley in order to disrupt the channels, and the channels had been affected. It was clear from how unsteadied the disciples had been and the flickering of the channels that this hadn¡¯t been faked.


    Thus, the Seven Absolutions Sect disciples had to be somewhere in the valley.


    And upon further thought, this had to be right. These disciples had to use their spiritual energy to maintain the channels. How could they waste it on flight?


    But where exactly were they?


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t figure out the answer.


    The battle in the valley continued, and Wang Juemie continued to rampage through the Stone Gate Sect¡¯s forces. If all went as expected, the Stone Gate Sect¡¯s defeat was set in stone.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t want to see the Stone Gate Sect lose like this. They could lose, but they at least had to make a contribution first.


    Upon thinking this, he softly said a few things. The eyes of a fleeing disciple suddenly lit up, and then he shouted, ¡°The Dao Will of the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures is Tenacity, which is subordinate to ughter! Strong attacks are not effective on it, but using a soft touch will be remarkably effective!¡±


    These words made Wang Juemie¡¯s confident and brash expression grimace.


    Yu Wanniang was startled at first, and then she fired a bolt of energy from her finger at Wang Juemie.


    This bolt of energy was like a willow catkin, drifting lightly on the air. As it attached itself to the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures, it unexpectedly prated through the Dao Runes and struck Wang Juemie, causing him to stagger.


    Although it was not a significant injury, this stagger made everyone see hope.


    ¡°It really works!¡± Yu Wanniang blurted out.


    They knew that something was fishy, as that disciple had no reason to see the w, but there was no time to ask questions. Even if the Basking Moon Sect wasing to kill them, they would have to finish this battle first.


    The Stone Gate Sect forces all attacked, firing off various weak spell arts at Wang Juemie, and even Wang Juemie started to find it hard to push through them all.


    ¡°The audacity! The puny disciples of Stone Gate dare to challenge the majesty of a Dao armament?¡± Wang Juemie furiously roared.


    He shook his right hand, and a sword appeared within it. It was none other than the sword of the seven treasures which he had yet to use.


    Upon seeing the sword, Yu Wanniang cried out, ¡°Watch out!¡±


    Wang Juemie stabbed the sword at the air.


    It was not pointed at any particr person, but at the sky.


    But as he stabbed, mes coiled up the sword and into the air, spreading out and almost instantly setting the skies ame.


    Heavenfire Congration!


    Although the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures had the Dao Will of Tenacity, it was an artificial one made from seven divine treasures. Its greatest problem was itsck of purity.


    Lack of purity meant that it was easily suppressed, which was why the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures was considered the lowest level of Dao armament, and it was known as the worst Dao armament. But it was also thisck of purity, the seven divine treasures that made it up, that allowed this Dao armament to have many functions, which made it more useful for the battle at hand.


    The Heavenfire Congration was the unique power of this Heavenfire Sword. The Heavenfire Sword was the foremost of the seven treasures, and even if it had not entered the Great Dao, as a divine treasure, it possessed considerable power. It was from the Heavenfire Sword that the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures derived their name.


    As Heavenfire danced in the sky, the Stone Gate elders panicked.


    Shi Jingzhai shouted and threw out a small item, a stone pestle.


    The stone pestle exploded with light, stopping the Heavenfire for a moment. But as the Heavenfire burned, the stone pestle began to shrink.


    Liang Xingbang threw out his own item, a small jade bottle. Large amounts of water poured out of the bottle, contending against the mes. Water counteracted me, and magnificent clouds of steam began to form. But Liang Xingbang had a very pained look on his face. The water in this bottle was Heavy Water that he had spent many years condensing. Though it was just a single bottle, it actually contained ake¡¯s worth, allowing it to be used for many spell arts. The Heavenfire from the Heavenfire Sword was simply a spell art from a projection. To use Heavy Water to cancel out Heavenfire was a huge loss, but in this dire situation, he had no other choice.


    Yu Wanniang took out a water-blue band of silk. With each wave of this band, she released a wave of water, and these sessive waves managed to dampen the mes. But the searing might of Heavenfire began to scorch holes in her silk band, which left her heart wincing in pain.


    Find the original at Hosted Novel.


    The Stone Gate Sect was a small and poor sect. Although they were Celestial Heart experts, upper-grade art relics were their limit. And though they had managed to privately embezzle quite a lot in thesest two years, they mostly exchanged these resources for boosts to cultivation level rather than trading them for a new treasure. Most importantly, if they had traded for a peak-level art relic or even a divine treasure, they would essentially be announcing that they had been embezzling goods. Only by trading for medicines that could be eaten could they ensure that they went undetected.


    Thus, the three of them didn¡¯t have any excellent items.


    While the Heavenfire was powerful, this one¡¯s divine treasure was still ultimately a projection.


    Yet it was this divine treasure projection¡¯s Heavenfire that was able to melt away the stone pestle, steam up the Heavy Water, and burn up the silk band. In the end, however, the three of them working together managed to weather the storm.


    Wang Juemie had also expended a lot with this attack, and he was no longer as fearless as before. The battle entered a stalemate.


    Tang Jie was happy to see this.


    While these two tigers wrestled, he began to observe the Seven Absolutions Sect disciples in the air.


    There were sixteen disciples, seven of them responsible for maintaining the spiritual energy channels while seven more were substitutes who switched with them at set intervals. At each switch, they would eat spirit pills and meditate to recover energy, caring not for how much they used. Thest two were responsible for observing the situation and responding to new developments. One of these was Mu Yi, who had earlier thrown out the Rinsing Stream Gauze. The other was a girl.


    She was of average appearance and wore rather gaudy clothes, but as Wang Juemie had tasked her with responding to the situation, she had to be extremely strong.


    As they didn¡¯t need to worry about the spiritual energy channels, Mu Yi and this girl had much more freedom than the other fourteen people. They focused on the battle in the valley while Tang Jie stared at them.


    ¡°Their gaze is level. As expected, they aren¡¯t in the sky,¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    If they were in the air, they would have been looking down instead of having an almost level gaze. This meant that the distance between them and Wang Juemie was far lower than expected. From the angle of their gaze, Tang Jie estimated that they were at a height of two hundred to three hundred meters. In other words, they were at about the same altitude as him.


    On second thought, he realized this had to be the case. This distance was ideal for Mortal Shedding Realm students to observe the situation. So long as they focused, they could still hear what was being said. If they were a little farther, this might not be possible at their current level of strength. And this distance was also ideal for both joining the fray and retreating.


    But where exactly were they in this circle of mountains?


    Tang Jie looked around, but the sea of trees gave no clues. As for the reflection, they were surrounded by nothing but empty whiteness.


    But Tang Jie knew that this was the concealment of a spell art so that the Stone Gate Sect would believe all the more that they were up in the air. All they needed to do was use a spell art to cover up their surroundings and then reflect their location.


    But¡­


    Tang Jie stared hard at Mu Yi and the girl.


    Mu Yi seemed unconcerned. In that scene in the sky, he wasn¡¯t moving at all.


    But the girl was anxiously pacing back and forth.


    Tang Jie carefully studied her steps and the direction she was facing.


    s, even with his Dao of Wisdom, he couldn¡¯t decipher their location from these clues.


    After some thought, he had an idea and softly muttered.


    The Stone Gate Sect disciple from before suddenly turned around and fired a spell art at the distant mountain. A lightning bolt cracked down midway up the mountain, letting out a thunderous boom and toppling a tree.


    The girl turned to the sound in shock.


    Tang Jie noted the direction she looked and made some calctions. He cursed, ¡°Shit, they¡¯re nearby!¡±


    Great minds think alike. This ce had the best line of sight and terrain, making it a perfect lookout.


    Tang Jie had chosen this ce, and so had Mu Yi¡¯s group.


    Fortunately, to avoid the eyes and ears of others, Tang Jie had chosen this somewhat lower burial mound. Mu Yi had probably chosen an area that was a little higher up.


    This was also lucky, for if Tang Jie had emerged from the earth, only to see a bunch of people standing around him, saying something like, ¡°Oh my, Tang Jie, you came too?¡± things would get messy.


    Now that he knew the general direction, he grew more cautious. He whispered, ¡°Yiyi!¡±


    A small tree next to the mound transformed into Yiyi.


    The little girl waved her hands, and the wind delivered her will, swaying the grass and trees.


    Yiyi listened, and then she shook her head. ¡°Not there.¡±


    Tang Jie grabbed Yiyi and moved one hundred metersterally. ¡°Try again!¡±


    Yiyi listened to the messages from the nts again. Finally, she smiled and said, ¡°A group of people passed through here¡­ They¡¯re over there!¡±


    Yiyi pointed at a spot midway up the mountain.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Then what are we waiting for? Let¡¯s go and say hello to some old friends.¡±


    The Seven Absolutions Sect disciples have been found out! Time for Tang Jie to throw them a surprise party!

 Chapter 375: One Versus Sixteen

    Chapter 375: One Versus Sixteen


    Tang Jie didn''t immediately go over now that he knew the direction. Instead, he first changed himself into Wang Juemie''s appearance.


    This wasn''t to fool everyone, but to deal with Mu Yi, who possessed the Celestial Ears.


    Mu Yi''s Celestial Ears could protect him against concealed weapons, surpassing even Tang Jie''s Insight in some ways. But it had its own ws, such as how it could not distinguish between sources of sound.


    If it was already a target he was sure about, then Mu Yi could pick it out beforehand, but things got difficult if there were targets he wasn''t sure about. This was also why Tang Jie was even closer thanst time but was still undiscovered: Mu Yi didn''t know if Tang Jie had arrived or not, or which direction he wasing from. When he received all sound, he had theplex and weighty task of analyzing and filtering all this sound. When one considered that he also had to keep an eye on the battlefield, some gaps were inevitable.


    This was exactly why the best way to deal with Mu Yi wasn''t to make sure that he didn''t make any sound, but to alter all the sounds that he made so that Mu Yi would automatically ignore them.


    This was why he had used the Illusion Thousandform. This was an extremely high-level illusion ability, not just imitating appearance, but height, weight, sound, and even heart rate.


    When Tang Jie turned himself into Wang Juemie''s form, he acted in every way like Wang Juemie. Mu Yi, in order to not be confused by the numerous sounds within the valley, would undoubtedly be automatically filtering out the people or objects that he did not need to defend against, and Wang Juemie was definitely one of these filtered people.


    In this way, the sounds Tang Jie made would naturally be filtered out.


    This was the solution Tang Jie had developed against Mu Yi after the Immortal Fortune Conference.


    After he turned into Wang Juemie, Tang Jie and Yiyi quietly made their way up the mountain path.


    After going some two hundred meters, Yiyi pointed at a distant clearing and mouthed to Tang Jie, "They''re right there."


    There was nothing in the clearing, only a few stumps that indicated that this clearing was man-made.


    But if one looked carefully, one would realize that a few des of grass would inexplicably tten from time to time, as if someone was stepping on them.


    Tang Jie smiled.


    He looked at the clearing and then looked up at the sky in order to confirm the positions of each person. The pacing girl in particr was essentially a moving target. Using her, Tang Jie was able to very quickly pinpoint where everyone else was.


    After grasping their position, Tang Jie didn''t immediately strike. Instead, he used Heart Consonance to transmit orders to Yiyi.


    Yiyi repeatedly nodded, smiled at Tang Jie, and made a gesture that meant "rx". She transformed into a vine and burrowed into the ground.


    Tang Jie stealthily circled around to the rear and began to wait.


    Down in the valley, the battle continued. Wang Juemie was like a tireless war god, continuing to dauntlessly y his foes, and the Stone Gate Sect disciples had already suffered heavy losses from his rampage.


    That Stone Gate disciple who had previously received mysterious instructions expectantly looked around, waiting for a miracle, but Wang Juemie ended up pulverizing him, turning the previous incident into an unsolved case without witnesses.


    No, not an unsolved case.


    As Wang Juemie killed that disciple, heughed and said, "Tang Jie, you''re here, aren''t you? If you''re a man, get out here right now! Don''t go slinking around like some rat!"


    This shout resounded into the horizon and made the three Stone Gate elders pale in shock.


    Tang Jie smiled, but he ignored Wang Juemie''s challenge and continued to wait.


    Although Wang Juemie had been able to deduce that Tang Jie had arrived from the performance of the Stone Gate disciples, a deduction was ultimately a deduction. There was no telling what the numbers were until the dice cup was removed. The true idiot would be the person who appeared when called out.


    The battle intensified, and the three elders gradually began to lose ground.


    Yu Wanniang was the weakest, so she was the first to falter. Wang Juemie swung the shield in his left hand¡ªa simple strike imbued with immense power. Yu Wanniang was able to dodge, and the shield mmed into the ground with such force that the valley trembled. The shrapnel from the impact smashed into Yu Wanniang.


    As the spray of stones struck her, she threw up blood and was sent flying.


    Shi Jingzhai and Liang Xingbang attacked from the sides, but with a shake of Wang Juemie''s left hand, the shield left his grip and spun toward Shi Jingzhai. This shield was the Earthbane Shield, an item capable of both attack and defense. The shield face could defend the body, and the edge was sharp, its spinning action able to wound the foe.


    As the shield flew out, Shi Jingzhai roared, and giant rocks appeared in front of him, forming walls, armor, shields, and spears. In a sh, he had used so many spells, truly living up to his title as the Deep Earth True Person. But despite this variety of spell arts, the shield pressed forward.


    It flew toward Shi Jingzhai, smashing through stone walls, snapping stone spears, prating through stone shields, and finally mming into Shi Jingzhai''s earthen armor.


    With a piercing wail, stone fragments fell to the ground, the Earthbane Shield slicing away at Shi Jingzhai''s armor like a saw. Shi Jingzhai suddenly spat out blood at the shield, and the shield stopped for a moment, allowing Shi Jingzhai to fall back.


    But he was at the end of his tether. Wang Juemie threw a punch from a distance, striking the shield and causing it to suddenly elerate. Shi Jingzhai tried his best to dodge, but the Earthbane Shield still brushed past his body.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    In a fountain of blood, his arm flew into the air.


    "Aaaaah!" Shi Jingzhai screamed.


    This was a serious wound.


    Worst of all was that the shield released a sinister energy that prated into his blood, preventing him from healing the wound.


    At Celestial Heart, a severed arm was no longer an unheble wound, but there would be no regrowing the arm until he removed this sinister energy.


    Shi Jingzhai pulled out medicine and began to take it so as to remove this energy.


    After taking down Shi Jingzhai with the shield, Wang Juemie shed at Liang Xingbang with the Heavenfire Sword.


    He was also limited by his spiritual energy, so he could only use the Heavenfire Congration once. But with this divine sword and his own formidable constitution, his vigorous moves wereparable to any spell art.


    No matter how Liang Xingbang dodged, Wang Juemie shed again and again, leaving behind scars in the air like ink across paper. The sword energy lingered in the air, creating a terrifying of swords.


    In this of swords, Liang Xingbang found it harder and harder to keep up.


    But he still had a sliver of hope. Wang Juemie, who was battling with the seven treasures, was covered in blood, and he was moving more and more slowly.


    This wasn''t because he had been injured, but because of pressure from the seven treasures.


    Even if they were just projections, Dao armaments were not meant to be used by Mortal Shedding cultivators. One had to at least be in the Celestial Heart Realm to endure the pressure of a Dao armament, and the time they could use it for was limited. Wang Juemie was able to do so because of his incredible constitution, which was about on the first tier of the Diamond Body¡ªthe level the original Tang Jie was currently at, or perhaps even a little stronger. This was the only reason he had managed tost this long.


    But after all this time, Wang Juemie was finally beginning to weaken.


    It was like he was holding up a mountain, blood seeping out of every pore, his appearance savage to behold.


    Liang Xingbang shouted, "Wang Juemie, why don''t you stop already? If we continue fighting, you''ll be dead before us!"


    Wang Juemieughed. "Give up? What a joke! Ever since I set out upon the Dao, I forgot the meaning of ''giving up''!"


    He punched again, creating a powerful gust of air that forced Liang Xingbang to use some of his precious spiritual energy to dodge.


    Wang Juemie was running out of steam, but so was the Stone Gate Sect.


    Under Wang Juemie''s ferocious assault, they were forced to use up their precious spiritual energy. If not for the trio''s various hidden cards, even the use of a Crystallized Sandworm to boost their spiritual energy reserves, Wang Juemie would have already squeezed them dry.


    Even so, after this bitter battle, the three of them were burning out.


    While Liang Xingbang was asking Wang Juemie to stop, he was actually trying to buy time to catch his breath. But Wang Juemie was crazy and didn''t know the meaning of the word "stop". Liang Xingbang raged, "We have no grudge against you, so why push us so far? If you want these goods, we can just give them to you. All we ask is that you let us go."


    If this were Tang Jie, he might have said in response to Liang Xingbang''s proposal, "If I let you go, then once you leave thisnd bereft of spiritual energy, you''ll recover your true strength, and when youunch a counterattack, how will I stop you then?"


    But Wang Juemie did not.


    He loudly replied, "Battle and bravery take precedence, and there is no need for hatred to battle to the death! I want both the goods and your lives!"


    His resounding battlecry shook the entire valley!


    "Raaa!"


    Roaring like a tiger, Wang Juemie punched, punched, and punched again!


    The blood seeping from his body hadpletely drenched him, but he didn''t care.


    In the sky, Mu Yi couldn''t help but sigh. "It''s always like this. Whenever he starts fighting, he no longer cares for his life. Sometimes, I truly find it strange how Great Brother has managed to live this long."


    Liang Xingbang felt like Wang Juemie should have been reaching his limits, but those who knew him understood that this only symbolized that he was starting to get excited.


    The wounded Great Brother was the real Great Brother!


    But as Mu Yi was speaking, he suddenly stiffened up and cocked his head to listen. He paled and cried out, "Behind¡­"


    "Haa!" Tang Jie sighed.


    As Mu Yi paled, Tang Jie removed his transformation and charged out with the Violet Lightning Lunge, shooting forward like a purple bolt of lightning.


    "Someone¡­" Mu Yi had just barely sounded the rm.


    Tang Jie lunged into the clearing. The moment he entered the clearing, the surroundings changed. The sixteen disciples all appeared around Tang Jie, and at the same time, Tang Jie''s figure appeared in the sky above the golden cage.


    "Tang Jie! You really dide!" Wang Juemieughed, not afraid at all that someone might ambush him.


    The three Stone Gate elders turned ghastly pale when they saw Tang Jie, not happy at all that they had been saved.


    Within the forest.


    The moment Tang Jie appeared, he fired off a Star Finger at nine targets. Meanwhile, his right hand unleashed the Dragonlike Hand, sweeping up everyone else.


    He had readied these attacks before even entering, even roughly calcting the direction he should fire them, only waiting for the final confirmation upon entry. Thus, his attack was able to get all sixteen people in one go.


    But as he attacked, Mu Yi thrust a hand to the ground, creating a spiritual energy barrier.


    <em>Curse it!</em>


    Tang Jie almost cursed out loud. These people were really too cautious, even setting down a small defensive formation here that was able to block all iing spell arts!


    But Mu Yi was a little too slow. As the barrier rose, the Star Fingers had arrived. Of the nine Seven Absolutions Sect disciples, only three managed to react and dodge in time. The remaining six were all knocked to the ground by the Star Fingers. Tang Jie had gone easy and didn''t go so far as to take their lives, only knock them out. But while these people were knocked out, vines erupted from the ground, coiled around these disciples, and dragged them into the earth.


    Mu Yi did his best, but he ultimately only managed to get back two of them.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie''s Dragonlike Hand mmed into the barrier in a great tter, but it failed to destroy it.


    Tang Jie found this a great pity. If he were able to use his Heavenly de, the barrier, even if it didn''t shatter, would have been greatly spent. After all, thisnd had been drained of spiritual energy, so a formationid out here couldn''t draw on any outside force and could only be supplied through spirit stones. The Heavenly de was powerful enough to almost instantly drain a spirit stone of energy.


    The energy bnce between offense and defense would always favor the offensive side.


    Unfortunately, the Seven Absolutions Sect wasn''t a mortal foe, so Tang Jie didn''t want to kill anyone. Thus, he did not use the extremely lethal Heavenly de, which gave the Seven Absolutions Sect a chance.


    As Mu Yi set up the barrier, the female Seven Absolutions Sect disciple let out a cry and threw out her flying sword.


    The flying sword passed through the barrier and shot at Tang Jie, unleashing a dazzling light that engulfed Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie grunted, but he continued to charge forward, ramming into the barrier.


    Tang Jie hadprehended Wisdom, so he could see that this barrier only kept out spell arts, not people, leading to his decision to resolutely charge. Otherwise, if he had elected to stay outside and exchange fire, he would be outnumbered twelve to one, and there was a formidable opponent in Mu Yi on the other side. Tang Jie wasn''t confident he could win in those circumstances.


    But things were different once he was inside!


    Tang Jie was confident in his ability to defeat his opponents in closebat.


    This was precisely why he didn''t use the Formless Golden Body to fend off that flying sword. The barrier kept out spell arts, so he wouldn''t be able to go in if he used it.


    Pushing through the sword light and charging forward, Tang Jie entered the barrier in a rain of blood, forcing his way into the Seven Absolutions Sect''s defensive zone.


    As he charged in, the sword light left arge number of wounds on him. This single attack had left more than a hundred wounds across his body. However, as that female disciple had been in a rush, the power of her flying sword hadn''t been great, and Tang Jie''s Jewel Body had been enough to keep him alive.


    Even so, the terrifying wounds left everyone aghast.


    Tang Jie''s face was so covered in wounds that it was horrifying to behold. Tang Jie simply smiled and kept going, punching at the female disciple.


    The female disciple had decent strength and reaction time, but that was exactly her misfortune.


    As she had been the first to attack, she had yet to call back her flying sword. She was also a girl that cherished her face, and when Tang Jie charged up with his bloodied face, she was mentally shaken enough that she was a little too slow. Just as she was about to release her spell art, Tang Jie arrived and punched her in the abdomen, sending her flying, callous to her beauty.


    A vine flew out, wrapped around her, and began to drag her into the ground.


    The girl tried to resist, so Tang Jie punched again.


    This punch was apanied by a bloody burst of light. He had activated the Blood Refining Spirit and then used Energy-Blood Simulflow. It was an energy-greedy move that was also very powerful, knocking the wind out of the girl.


    This was because Tang Jie had a high opinion of her, as this was someone who could stand alongside Mu Yi to supervise the battle, and who was also able to send out the flying sword to attack him the moment Mu Yi gave the warning. There was no doubt that she was one of the more outstanding members of the Seven Absolutions Sect, so he didn''t mind expending spiritual energy to end the battle quickly.


    This girl was quite unfortunate. Before she had been able to use even 10% of her power, she had been undone by the scheming of Tang Jie and Yiyi.


    Taking care of the female disciple had seemingly beenplicated, but it had only taken two or three seconds. At this time, some of the disciples were still focused on maintaining the spiritual energy channels, some of them even having yet to react and shouting, "The channels are flickering! Hurry and stabilize them!"


    Only Mu Yi shouted, "Give up on the channels!"


    The moment Tang Jie appeared, Mu Yi realized that they wouldn''t be able to hold the channels, and attempting to do so would only give Tang Jie an opportunity to exploit.


    s, despite his words, some people still hesitated, worried that Wang Juemie wouldn''t be able to win without the seven treasures.


    Tang Jie used reality to demonstrate the consequences of their hesitation.


    He stepped back and chopped his hand at the neck of one of the disciples maintaining the channel. This disciple was entirely focused on maintaining the channel and was utterly defenseless, so this one strike instantly caused him to faint. Yiyi immediately dragged him down.


    One of the channels flickered and vanished, and Wang Juemie''s legguards disappeared.


    Tang Jie turned around and charged at another disciple. Just when he was about to attack, Mu Yi blew on his flute. Tang Jie froze for a moment, allowing that disciple to roll away.


    Wang Juemie''s breastte disappeared.


    In the sky, Tang Jie was like a tiger down from the mountain, charging in and out of the crowd. It was only a little while before he had brought down two more disciples.


    Everyone finally realized that, whether they wanted it or not, these seven channels couldn''t be maintained. They withdrew together, and the remaining five channels disappeared. Only the channel being supported by the Rinsing Stream Gauze remained, which belonged to none other than the helmet.


    This item defended against Divine Will attacks, which was the only method the three elders could use to kill Wang Juemie, so it was maintained.


    Even so, six of the seven treasures were gone, and the helmet didn''t have any sort of offensive ability, so Wang Juemie had lost much of his power.


    But Wang Juemie didn''t seem to care,ughing, "Fine with me! My body feels much lighter now. In any case, the three of you are basically spent of spiritual energy, so this should make for a good fight!"


    He once more punched, still holding the initiative.


    On the other end, Tang Jie looked at the sole remaining channel and the furious Seven Absolutions Sect disciples ring at him, and chuckled. "Don''t worry. I won''t destroy this channel. After all, I would never want to get the most outstanding disciple of the Seven Absolutions Sect killed¡­ unless he wanted to kill me first."


    He tilted his head. "What I want to do is capture all of you."


    "You alone want to go against the sixteen of us?" A disciple looked in disbelief at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie unhappily said, "Don''t be so shocked. Isn''t your Great Brother going one versus three? And that''s against Celestial Hearts. Moreover¡­"


    After a slight pause, Tang Jie added, "You''re no longer sixteen, but nine."

 Chapter 376-Blood Elves, Bloody?

    Passion was a kind of emotion with an infectious power.


    Tang Jie didn''t know how much of his ambition to contend against nine people all on his own came from his own confidence and how much of it came from Wang Juemie, but he did know that the sight of Wang Juemie majestically battling against the three elders truly had given him ideas.


    It was a yearning and desire for that sort of reckless battle.


    Could he do it?


    He didn''t know.


    But he wanted to try.


    They were both body refiners, so what Wang Juemie could do, he should be able to do as well. At certain times in one''s life, one had to think less and just go.


    Thus, at that moment, standing in the forest and facing nine Seven Absolutions Sect disciples, Tang Jie didn''t use any sort of scheme. He simply decided to battle to his heart''s content.


    Battle to the end!


    After saying that he was going to fight one versus nine, Tang Jie threw his head back and howled, and then he charged forward.


    His opponents were shocked and infuriated that he dared to charge at them all by himself, and they unleashed various spell arts at him.


    Tang Jie''s body shed with light as he activated the Aquagel Shroud and Formless Golden Body. At the same time, he chopped the Heartbreak Saber at a Seven Absolutions Sect disciple.


    The disciple''s barrier shed as the Heartbreak Saber impacted against it. At the same time, Tang Jie was struck by the numerous spell arts.


    The two sides exchanged blows, and shockingly, Tang Jie waspletely unaffected after taking attacks from nine people. On the other hand, the Seven Absolutions Sect disciple who Tang Jie had hacked at had his barrier go out and was sent flying.


    The secret arts of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic finally began to reveal their power. After eight years of bitter cultivation, Tang Jie had truly grasped the secrets of the Formless Golden Body, and it was no longer so easily undone.


    After this sessful strike, Tang Jie pursued, seeking to heavily wound this disciple so that Yiyi could seize him.


    "Stop him!" someone shouted.


    Several disciples rushed at him.


    Tang Jie lightly turned around and disappeared. He appeared at the other end, right in time for that student he had knocked away tond. He thrust his palm at his chest, and spiritual energy erupted. The disciple threw up blood and tumbled to the ground, and vines immediately sprouted out and dragged him into the earth. Yiyi was like a little bee, making sure to gather every bit of pollen.


    "He''s got someone down there! This isn''t one versus nine at all!" A disciple angrily cursed.


    "That''s the sprite he''s raised!" a disciple who knew about Tang Jie said. He added, "It should be considered part of his strength, so he really is taking us all on his own."


    "Shut up!" the earlier disciple cursed¡ªtruly, talking about what shouldn''t be talked about and not talking about what should be talked about.


    It was Mu Yi who said, "Save the chatter! His Formless Golden Body is formidable, so don''t use spell arts indiscriminately. Use armor-piercing spell arts, and fire in volleys so that he doesn''t have time to rest!"


    Tang Jie''s eyes chilled.


    No spell was truly invincible, and what the Formless Golden Body that was famed for its tenacity most feared were armor-piercing spell arts.


    As for firing in volleys to preserve firepower and ensure that Tang Jie didn''t have any openings, this ruined his n to use the Chaoswind Step to avoid strong attacks and the Formless Golden Body to resist weak attacks.


    Mu Yi had only spoken two sentences to expose his two weaknesses, and he had used a very brief amount of time to find them. Sure enough, having this sort of person as an opponent was a headache.


    Hearing Mu Yi say this, everyone changed behaviors, attacking and retreating with more cohesion and more caution. Tang Jie no longer had the chance to take down even one of them.


    When fighting outnumbered, what one feared the most was a protracted battle.


    Using overwhelming strength to run rampant and give the enemy no chance to join forces, dealing with them one by one, was basically the only one way the outnumbered side could defeat therger force. This sort of stalemate often indicated a crushing defeat.


    But Tang Jie simply chuckled. "Not bad. But this alone isn''t enough. Thank you for finding my weakness, Junior Brother Mu. Please also exin the solution to this second strategy."


    He suddenly sheathed his saber and backed away. Pointing with his left hand, he said, "Rise!"


    White mist erupted from the ground, engulfing the area and obscuring the vision of the Seven Absolutions Sect disciples.


    Countless flowers bloomed, creating a flower formation. The numerous flowers opened their maws and bit at the people around them.


    These were the flower formation and illusion formation that Yiyi had set down.


    Yiyi hadn''t been doing nothing while Tang Jie and the Seven Absolutions Sect had been exchanging blows. She had been spreading seeds beneath the earth in preparation. Earlier, she had been sneaking around for fear that Mu Yi might sense something, so she had been extremely cautious and slow. Now that there was nothing to fear, she suddenly sped up, quickly cing the surrounding area under the control of her flower formation.


    Yiyi''s strength actually depended a lot on her environment. When the environmental conditions werecking, she would be even weaker than the little tiger, but when she had the environment and the preparations, Yiyi''s strength could be considered to be an entire level higher than normal.


    Every one of her spell arts affected an area, and they packed a punch while costing little.


    With the flower formation rising and the illusion formation befuddling him, even Mu Yi was momentarily lost.


    And this wasn''t even the most terrifying thing. A storm of petals began to gather in the sky, and even those battling in the valley were amazed by that sea of cherry blossoms.


    This tide of gorgeous death forced the Seven Absolutions Sect disciples to deal with it with all their strength.


    "Take out your treasures!" someone shouted.


    Various art relics lit up with blinding brilliance in the hands of the disciples.


    Disciples of the Seven Absolutions Sect were famous for having numerous treasures, with one disciple often having at least three art relics, but even seven or eight was considered normal. In a battle, it was very normal for many of these treasures to be damaged or lost.


    The concentrated power of their unleashed treasures could easily be imagined. Even a natural spell art like the Silkheaven Net couldn''t break through it.


    But this still wasn''t the most terrifying part. As the flower sea had begun to build up, Tang Jie had started to move.


    He used the Chaoswind Step, slicing into the crowd.


    The flower formation drew attacks while the illusion formation covered him.


    In the illusion formation, it was hard to track him down, so it became very difficult for people to concentrate their attacks.


    In the end, Tang Jie was still going with the "divide and conquer" n. It was just that he had changed the means by which he achieved it.


    As he entered the formation, Tang Jie gave a Seven Absolutions Sect disciple a chop on the back of the neck with his left hand.


    The disciple reacted quickly. Sensing a danger approaching from behind, heunched forward, his art relic shing. As a result, before Tang Jie''s chop could strike the disciple, it struck the aura of relic light. A white light shot from the disciple''s back, striking Tang Jie''s arm and making it very sore.


    Tang Jie cursed, and then he turned around and swung his saber at another person.


    But this Seven Absolutions Sect disciple also reacted in time, making a flying leap to the side while throwing something out of his Mustard Seed Bag. This item grewrger, turning into a Demon-Quelling Pestle that descended toward Tang Jie''s head.


    "Fuck!" Tang Jie was exceptionally angry, but he could only fall back.


    Once they were free of the chaos of that first ambush, these Seven Absolutions Sect disciples had gradually regained their morale, and their attacks were getting steadier and steadier. Even if he had managed to ambush them, sess was much harder toe by.


    But Tang Jie didn''t believe that they could keep this up. As he dodged the Demon-Quelling Pestle, he swung his right knee behind him, striking another person in the chest.


    This person was rather unfortunate. He was doing all he could to fend off the Silkheaven Net and hadn''t expected Tang Jie toe out of nowhere. The strike knocked him flying. Groaning, he tried to grab his art relic to defend himself, but Tang Jie made a flying kick at the disciple''s waist. "Don''t even think about it!"


    The hand reaching for the Mustard Seed Bag was kicked away.


    It seemed that Tang Jie had guessed that he was going for an art relic. With this sessful strike, Tang Jie rushed over and gave that disciple two punches¡ªone to the face and one to the abdomen. Unable to take out his art relics, that disciple was knocked unconscious. Tang Jie grabbed him and stuffed him into the flowers, burying him in the earth.


    Tang Jie panted for breath. "I think I understand now. The waist is your weakness."


    Mustard Seed Bags were ced on the waist. So long as he didn''t give them a chance to grab their art relics, these guys would be much weaker. Of course, he could only take advantage of this in these circumstances.


    As the battle had gone on, the Seven Absolutions Sect had understood how Tang Jie worked, and Tang Jie had understood how the Seven Absolutions Sect worked.


    The battle in the clearing continued, the flower vines coiling, the flower petals surging, the fog befuddling, and Tang Jie stalking like a tiger. In the blink of an eye, he had taken care of one more person.


    It had to be said that Yiyi and Tang Jie were perfectly matched. One supported while one attacked, and even Mu Yi was left without any good solutions.


    He shouted, "Fire attacks!"


    s, it was no use.


    With each fire attack, Yiyi would give up on the burning vines and keep on growing more.


    Wood spell arts excelled at rebirth. A little more magic power would be able to grow many nts, so Yiyi wasn''t afraid of this sort of give-and-take.


    "I''ll deal with the sprite and save the others!" In the face of this situation, a Seven Absolutions Sect disciple took out a red sword and thrust it into the ground. "Rise!"


    Fire traveled down the de. It appeared to be somewhat simr to the Heavenfire Sword.


    To be more precise, this was an imitation the Seven Absolutions Sect had made based on the Heavenfire Sword, with both a simr form and a simr offensive method. Of course, it was far weaker.


    Even so, this disciple was confident that the sword was powerful enough to destroy the vines, perhaps even force out the hidden Yiyi.


    But he quickly realized that he was wrong.


    As his fire surged, a frosty radiance began to emanate from underground, neutralizing the me.


    The disciple was startled.


    This was the power of the Crystal Ice Sword.


    In the Valley of No Return, after killing the Frost Fairy, Tang Jie had given the Crystal Ice Sword to Yiyi. Although this little girl didn''t like swords, she had kept it by her side all this time. nts feared fire, but with this sword, she could deal with many fire attacks.


    Sure enough, it proved its worth, and all that disciple managed to aplish was wasting a lot of spiritual energy.


    "Charge out! Withdraw from the formation and protect yourselves!" Seeing that there was no solution, Mu Yi called for a retreat.


    "Don''t let them run!" Tang Jie shouted.


    The vines erupted, coiling around the disciples.


    Mu Yi''s eyes brightened. "Strike now!"


    The Seven Absolutions Sect disciples attacked in unison, hacking and burning away the vines.


    "Is that what his n was?" Tang Jie seemed to get what was happening.

 Chapter 377

    They were intentionally retreating to attack, forcing Yiyi''s flower formation to go all-out to prevent the escape. In this way, Yiyi could no longer regrow her nts from their stumps.


    In this sort of exchange, Yiyi would inevitably lose.


    It really did turn out to be this n, but this would mean that the Seven Absolutions Sect disciples would also expend considerable power dealing with Yiyi''s nts.


    It had to be understood that many of these disciples had been maintaining the spiritual energy channels and had already not been at full power. In doing battle against the flower vines, they were certain to expend even more energy.


    Mu Yi knew this, but he had no other choice than to say, "He''s fighting us all by himself, so he''ll use up even more spiritual energy!"


    He wasn''t wrong. Tang Jie was almost constantly using the Violet Lightning Lunge, Chaoswind Step, and Formless Golden Body in each attack, with basically no gap between each use. After all, he was outnumbered, so he could not afford to be careless.


    But this didn''t mean that he was without a solution.


    As the remaining six people retreated and reformed their defenses, Tang Jie suddenly howled.


    He put away his saber.


    His hands began to form signs.


    Under the protection of the illusion formation, he casually began to prepare a spell art that took a rather long time to prepare, not at all worried about an enemy attack.


    As he formed the signs, spiritual energy began to gather.


    This sudden convergence of spiritual energy left everyone startled.


    In the Heaven Earth Spirit Istion Formation, where could a spiritual energy convergencee from?


    Mu Yi suddenly realized what was going on and shouted, "Oh no, it''sing from Tang Jie himself! He''s going all-out!"


    Tang Jie raised his head and looked at his opponents. "Heavenly King Mara Incantation!"


    As he bellowed, a giant sat up from the mountain, like a Buddha descended to the earth. It extended a hand, pressing it toward the ground. This was none other than the Heavenly King Mara Incantation that Tang Jie had used before.


    One could say that the Heavenly King Mara Incantation was a benchmark. In the hands of different people, it would havepletely different effects.


    If used at the Spirit tform Realm, it would use all of a person''s spiritual energy, and it would still only be enough for one strike.


    At the Mortal Shedding Realm, the Heavenly King Mara Incantation could be maintained for a rtively long time.


    At the Celestial Heart Realm, this spell art could be cast quickly and be even more powerful.


    At the Violet Pce Realm, it could be manifested with a simple cry, either as a single giant statue that spanned the gap between heaven and earth or a giant row that extended into the horizon, for in that brief moment of time, a Violet Pce Realm cultivator would have already cast countless spell arts.


    If it were someone like Shi Wunian, who could empower his spell arts, it would bebined, with numerous heaven-spanning giants striking fear into the hearts of his foes.


    Although Tang Jie was at the Mortal Shedding Realm, in the formation, he was actually about as strong as a Spirit tform Realm cultivator. This Heavenly King Mara Incantation had taken all of his spiritual energy to cast, so it could only make one strike.


    But one strike was enough.


    Boom!


    The giant palm pressed down at the aghast Seven Absolutions Sect disciples.


    "Hold!" Even Mu Yi had changed his tone.


    Light erupted from below as numerous art relics were thrown into the sky. The six disciples also didn''t stay idle, unleashing their powers to fend off that descending palm.


    There was a boom like an asteroid impact, and several treasure lights flew off into the distance.


    "My precious!" two of the disciples wailed.


    But more of the treasure lights faded and dropped to the ground.


    The giant palm and the Seven Absolutions Sect disciples were in a stalemate for a single second, and then the giant palm dissipated into spiritual light.


    The six disciplesnded back on the ground. The barriers around them flickered and disappeared, and two of the disciples threw up blood. But Mu Yi simply dropped to the ground with a thud.


    "Junior Brother Mu!" everyone shouted.


    Due to a cultivating mishap, Mu Yi had the weakest body and was the most vulnerable.


    In truth, Tang Jie had wanted to make Mu Yi his first target, but this guy was fast and sharp, and he was extremely good at protecting himself. Moreover, the other disciples regarded him very highly and did their best to protect him. Almost all of Tang Jie''s attempts had been blocked.


    But this time, in the face of Heavenly King Mara Incantation, Mu Yi could no longer hide.


    In this showdown, while the others had been fine, he had finally broken.


    "There''s no need to drag him down. Once this guy gets injured, he can''t get up again," Tang Jie swiftly said.


    The emerged vine quickly drew back.


    Lying on the ground, Mu Yi red at Tang Jie. The giant palm had been so powerful that it had even destroyed the illusion formation and sea of flowers.


    He looked at Tang Jie. "You¡­"


    A surge of blood prevented Mu Yi from saying any more, but Tang Jie knew what he meant. He nodded and said, "Yes, I did this precisely to get rid of you. I don''t care about whether I managed to bring down the others, but I had to bring you down."


    Mu Yi struggled out, "With all your spiritual energy gone, even with your sprite, you can''t beat five people on your own."


    "Then I''ll just recharge," Tang Jie casually said, taking an item out of his Mustard Seed Bag.


    The Cosmic Breeze Pearl.


    Mu Yi grimaced when he saw it, clearly recognizing it for what it was.


    Tang Jie had gotten this item a long time ago. He actually got it ready before every major battle, but he had rarely had a chance to use it.


    Until now.


    Holding the Cosmic Breeze Pearl, Tang Jie absorbed the stored spiritual energy into his body.


    It took time for spirit pills to restore spiritual energy, and it also sometimes required appropriate external conditions. But the Cosmic Breeze Pearlcked these problems, and he could just directly take energy from it. Tang Jie immediately went from being out of spiritual energy to being back in fighting form.


    Mu Yi hadn''t expected Tang Jie to have prepared an energy drink for himself, and he grimaced. Finally, he said, "That''s the Cosmic Breeze Pearl. It can restore two thousand drops of spiritual liquid at most, which is only 20% of normal. Moreover, this energy dissipates with time, so it usually doesn''t restore that much. If Tang Jie put in spiritual energy this morning, then almost two hundred drops must have been lost. Thus, Tang Jie currently has around 1800 drops of spiritual liquid¡­ You guys still have a chance."


    Tang Jie was slightly surprised. "You know of this?"


    Mu Yi pointed at the Rinsing Stream Gauze in the air. "My master researched that item to make that, so what do you think?"


    "¡­" Tang Jie was speechless. Ultimately, he shrugged and opened his mouth to say something, but then suddenly, he blinked away, appearing behind a Seven Absolutions Sect disciple and thrusting a palm at him.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect disciple hadn''t expected him to abruptly strike so ruthlessly. As the giant palm had shattered their barriers, they were at a low in power. Thus, this palm instantly brought that disciple to the ground.


    Vines rose up and dragged that person under the ground.


    "Tang Jie, you!" Mu Yi shouted.


    "Hush!"


    Swinging his saber and pushing back a Seven Absolutions Sect disciple, Tang Jie shushed Mu Yi and said, "Fighting four people is better than fighting five people, right?"


    Mu Yi looked at Tang Jie and then looked at his four remaining senior brothers. He found that their faces were stricken with fear.


    He mentally sighed, knowing that this battle was already lost.


    Without Mu Yi, they had lost not onlybat power, but confidence.


    Tang Jie had run rampant among them, going one versus nine and beating them down until only four were left. The Seven Absolutions Sect disciples had lost their confidence long ago. Even though Tang Jie was at the end of his tether, he remained energetic and confident while the Seven Absolutions Sect disciples had lost all confidence, stripping them of the ability to turn the tables.


    Mu Yi couldn''t help but sigh again.


    At this moment, a powerful shockwave erupted from the ground.


    It was so powerful that it seemed like some underground geyser had erupted.


    Apanying this "geyser" was a blue figure and Yiyi''s rmed shout.


    "Oh no, one of them escaped!"


    The blue figure gracefullynded on the ground. It was clearly the female disciple who Tang Jie had defeated earlier.


    She had broken out of Yiyi''s bindings and escaped the underground cage.


    Now that she was free, she angrily red at Tang Jie.


    "Senior Sister Lu!" Mu Yi and the other four Seven Absolutions Sect disciples cheered when they saw this girl.


    Tang Jie''s expression sank.


    Someone capable of breaking free of Yiyi''s cage had to possess abnormal strength. If his guess was right, in this group of Seven Absolutions Sect disciples, Wang Juemie was the leader, and his deputies were Mu Yi and this Senior Sister Lu.


    Mu Yi was primarily the brains, and so this Senior Sister Lu had to be the strongest of the group outside of Wang Juemie.


    When he thought about how this girl''s true strength might be greater than that of Xiao Wen, Lin Wang, and Mu Yi, Tang Jie couldn''t help but get a headache.


    Shit, I just took care of Mu Yi, and now this girl has managed to get out.


    Worst of all was that this girl''s escape had restored much of the confidence of the remaining four Seven Absolutions Sect disciples. They now looked at Tang Jie like he was a dead man.


    "Is that really necessary¡­ It''s not like I killed anyone," Tang Jie muttered.


    Mu Yi chuckled and said, "Tang Jie, now that Senior Sister has escaped, your defeat is certain."


    "It''s too early to say what the final oue is," Tang Jiezily replied.


    "You really think you''ll have a chance to turn the tables with your 1800 drops of spiritual liquid?" the girl coldly said.


    "Seems like we have another smart one here." Tang Jie smiled, and then he turned serious. "When ites to spiritual energy, I truly don''t have quite enough, but who said I could only fight using spell arts? Don''t forget that I''m also a body refiner. It''s just that I''ve been focusing so much on my cultivation and spell arts thesest few years that everyone''s forgotten where my title of Fierce Tiger came from!"


    These words left everyone bbergasted.


    Tang Jie suddenly began to surge with power. Just like when Wang Juemie had battled with the three Celestial Heart experts, this power was so majestic as to have substance, leaving everyone stunned.


    Although this aura was somewhatckingpared to Wang Juemie''s, it was truly the aura of a body refiner.


    It was no wonder Tang Jie had dared to fight this battle. This spiritual istion formation was Wang Juemie''s home court, but it was also Tang Jie''s home court. Even if hepletely ran out of spiritual energy, he still had the ability to fight.


    While the other Seven Absolutions Sect disciples were shocked, that Senior Sister Lu grew excited. "Now this is interesting."


    She waved her hand, and that flying sword she had thrown out earlier flew back into her hand.


    All of this girl''s skill was in her sword. It was because she had been without her sword that Tang Jie had managed to take her down and capture her. Now that she had broken free and had her sword back, she began to exude an intimidating murderous aura.


    Even Mu Yi looked at his senior sister with a hint of respect.


    s, he was ultimately unable to see this bout between Tang Jie and the girl, for a momentter, Tang Jie said, "Before we fight, I have to do something."


    "What?" Mu Yi didn''t understand.


    Tang Jie smiled at Mu Yi. "I say, isn''t it high time you fainted?"


    He flicked a bolt of air that struck Mu Yi in the ear.


    Mu Yi''s eyes rolled over as he fell unconscious.


    No matter what, before this battle, he had to make sure that this guy wasn''t giving instructions from the sidelines.

 Chapter 378

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    "Tang Jie, you bastard!" Senior Sister Lu was inwardly seethed when she saw Tang Jie knock out Mu Yi. The sword in her hand erupted with light as she pointed it at Tang Jie.


    But after the earlier lesson, she didn''t let the sword leave her hand, instead unleashing a sweeping wave of energy.


    Her name was Lu Xiaoyu, and she was perhaps the most talented female disciple in the Seven Absolutions Sect. She had actually always liked Mu Yi, and after Mu Yi had damaged his body while cultivating, she had silently watched over him, waiting until the day he returned to health.


    This was precisely why she couldn''t stand it when others attacked Mu Yi, even to just knock him out. In her fury, she used her strongest move, the Jade Pool Parting Sword.


    "In the northwest is a jade pool, where even fish struggle to swim. The slender Sinwater Flower grows, and only lovers may cross."


    In the northwest of Dusnd was ake called the Jade Pool. The waters of thiske were sinister and cold, such that feathers could not float on its surface and fish could not swim within it. In the Jade Pool grew a spiritual nt called the Sinwater Flower. As it grew in this water, it was difficult to pick. It was said that only people who truly loved each other could obtain this flower.


    But in the Tianjing Era, there was a white-clothed Fairy Immortal who passed through this area. With her sword, she sliced through the Jade Pool, parting the waters and picking a Sinwater Flower.


    This person was True Person Hong Yuan of the Seven Absolutions Sect, and Lu Xiaoyu was her disciple.


    Of course, this was just a tale, and nobody knew if it was true or not. But there were witnesses to the power and speed of the Jade Pool Parting Sword.


    The sword light Lu Xiaoyu had unleashed in rage engulfed Tang Jie, and even he wasn''t able to dodge it.


    Since he couldn''t dodge, he wouldn''t!


    When Wang Juemie had decided to fight with three True Persons, Tang Jie''s passion had been ignited. They were both body refiners, so how could Tang Jie be willing to lose out to another?


    Yes, while he was just an avatar and didn''t have as strong a body, it wouldn''t be long before the original body emerged from the formation, and when that time came, there was no saying who woulde out on top!


    But even before that, Tang Jie didn''t just have a strong body, but also a strong fighting style!


    A body refiner charged through all opposition!


    Tang Jie fearlessly faced down Lu Xiaoyu''s intimidating sword light.


    "Awooo!" he howled.


    His aura of power seethed and inexplicably swelled a little more, and then Tang Jie swung his saber.


    The Heartbreak Saber unleashed a powerful wave of energy, like a de that could cleave open mountains. With a whoosh, it sliced through the Jade Pool Parting Sword.


    "Don''t even think about it!" Lu Xiaoyu cried out. She converted the divided sword light into two attacks and continued attacking Tang Jie. Tang Jie didn''t try to dodge, instead punching, unleashing a powerful shockwave.


    The sword light was stopped by the shockwave, and the remaining force that got through sshed harmlessly against his body.


    Lu Xiaoyu couldn''t but be shaken by the power of Tang Jie''s constitution.


    Tang Jie swung his saber again, but Lu Xiaoyu agilely dodged.


    If Tang Jie was hard, Lu Xiaoyu was soft, and the two began to fight, alternating retreating and attacking.


    Even Tang Jie couldn''t help but admire Lu Xiaoyu''s strength. Even in a head-on battle with him, she was clearly not hard-pressed.


    As the two of them wrangled, the four Seven Absolutions Sect disciples exulted and prepared to offer their aid. But Lu Xiaoyu shouted, "Stay away! I can take care of him myself!"


    Another sweeping belt of sword light shed at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie bellowed and punched three times, stopping the sword light, but as the remnants of the attack struck him, he suddenly grimaced. His body flew back, and blood erupted from all over his body.


    Somehow, this attack had managed to break Tang Jie''s defenses and deal damage to almost every part of Tang Jie''s body.


    He was bbergasted at the power of the attack.


    Lu Xiaoyu snorted. "You think you can imitate my Great Brother? Not only do you not have his body, even if you did, you wouldn''t be able to exhibit his strength! And even Great Brother wouldn''t be able to remain unscathed in the face of my Pool Parting Sword!"


    If Tang Jie''s shockwaves were like water, then the Jade Pool Parting Sword was the best sword technique for cutting through these waters. There had never been a body refiner that could resist this attack with just their body¡ªnot even Wang Juemie.


    In the end, Tang Jie didn''t understand the special attributes of the Jade Pool Parting Sword, which had caused him to suffer.


    "Is that how it is?" Tang Jie propped himself up with his saber. This attack had been more powerful than he had expected, and he could barely stand.


    Tang Jie had yet to sustain such a heavy blow in his cultivation career. He had never expected that it would be a female disciple of the Seven Absolutions Sect who made him take a tumble.


    He wasn''t worried about his own life. Putting aside the fact that he hadn''t killed anyone yet, while the two sects could quarrel against each other, they would not kill each other so easily. Moreover, he had many Seven Absolutions Sect disciples at his mercy, so if he stopped here because of his injuries, Lu Xiaoyu wouldn''t necessarily hunt him down.


    He looked at Lu Xiaoyu and said, "You say that even your Great Brother can''t take this sword. Doesn''t that mean that your Great Brother is no match for you?"


    "How could that be?" Lu Xiaoyu pursed her lips. "Since I started cultivating, I have sparred against Great Brother 321 times, and I have never won a single time."


    "But this sword of yours¡­"


    "Nor has my sword ever missed," Lu Xiaoyu proudly replied. "s, while I have injured him, I have never been able to beat him. Great Brother''s toughness is not something you can imagine. You people refine your body for a few years, thinking that you can dominate all with your bronze skin and iron bones. But you have no idea that what body refining requires foremost of all is the will, and also the ability to endure pain. For Great Brother, injuries are just part of the everyday routine. Every time he''s hurt is the moment he can exhibit his power. Look¡­"


    She pointed down to the valley.


    Without the seven treasures, Wang Juemie continued to fight with the three True Persons, relying on hisst bit of spiritual energy. The three True Persons used a variety of spell arts, battering Wang Juemie so badly that he hardly seemed like a human.


    To tell the truth, with the remaining spiritual energy the three True Persons had, they would have killed numerous Mortal Shedding cultivators by now. But Wang Juemie was just unkible, madlyughing in the storm of spell arts. The more severe his injuries were, the more savagely he fought. As he pushed through the raging waves, he somehow managed to force the three True Persons back, their faces turning ashen.


    It appeared that if they couldn''t kill Wang Juemie, they would be the ones dying. Liang Xingbang was even starting to beg for mercy.


    Such bravery left even Tang Jie awed.


    "You get it?" Lu Xiaoyu proudly said. "My Jade Pool Parting Sword can wound my Great Brother, but that only gets him more excited. But as for body refiners like you, once the defenses you''re so confident in are broken, you have nothing left and fall over with one blow!"


    Tang Jie slightly winced at these words. "Then how exactly does Great Brother refine his body?"


    "Naturally, it''s by fighting with his life on the line," a Seven Absolutions Sect disciple chimed in. "Whether it''s the vault of heaven or the Yellow Springs, the coldest mountains or most zing pools ofva, he fears nothing. The True Demon tramples freely through the world. My Great Brother has taken far more bitterness than you can possibly imagine!"


    "So that''s how you do it." Tang Jie understood.


    He didn''t know how Wang Juemie had refined his Indestructible True Demon Body, but he knew how to refine his Parting ssic body very well.


    Some herbs, a bath of hot water, and he was done.


    This method of improving his body was strong, but enduring pain and getting stronger through battle was basically impossible.


    But was this the way of the Martial Lord?


    It didn''t look like it!


    The Martial Lord made his name through battle. As a man who had left his name through the eons, how could his arts only require a bath to handle everything?


    This realization made his mind tremble.


    He somewhat understood that he had been mistaken on this matter.


    The Parting ssic only made his body strong, but a tenacious will and enduring strength required training the body.


    The Martial Lord hadn''t given him a method for training, so he hadn''t done it, believing that it wasn''t needed.


    But it was now clear that he was wrong.


    As far back as his fight with Gu Changqing, he had noticed that his body, after being strengthened by the Parting ssic, would experience improvement after being put throughbat. But the effects had been so minuscule that he had put the matter aside.


    It now seemed that while the boost to strength had been small, the boost to willpower was immense.


    In the end, he had neglected it.


    He had spent so long using his brain to deal with enemies that he had forgotten that the power of the fist was on many asions more direct and more effective!


    He suddenlyughed. "Yes! I should have realized it long ago, but I failed to see it. Lady Lu, thank you for your guidance."


    "What? You still have the strength to fight?" Lu Xiaoyu snorted.


    "Why can''t I try?" Tang Jie smiled.


    He took out an item from his Mustard Seed Bag.


    A messenger talisman.


    Lu Xiaoyu and the others paled at the sight of this object.


    They had long ago realized that Tang Jie couldn''t possibly havee alone, that he must have a back-up n, but they were still rmed when they saw proof of it.


    But to their surprise, Tang Jie threw it away.


    Lu Xiaoyu and the others were left dumbfounded.


    Tang Jie said, "In the past, I had too many ns, too many back-ups. But if you overcalcte things, you lose your courage. This is why I actually realized long ago that I wasn''t a proper body refiner. I only refined my body because I had that kind of art. But today, I want to change my style¡­ Only in dire straits can one be reborn. This being the case, I''ll cast aside all my paths of retreat and fight a proper battle."


    He looked at Lu Xiaoyu and yelled, "A refreshing battle!"


    This roar dizzied Lu Xiaoyu. When Tang Jie threw away the talisman and talked about having a refreshing battle, she felt like she could see Wang Juemie.


    "Raaa!" Tang Jie bellowed.


    That surge of power reemerged.


    It was the same forcefield, the same power, but the attitude of the person using it hadpletely changed. This was a subtle difference that only people familiar with the sensation could feel.


    Lu Xiaoyu saw the look in Tang Jie''s eyes: tough, confident, resolved!


    Exuding a reckless aura.


    This was something he hadn''t had before. No matter how Tang Jie had exerted his strength in the past, his aura had onlye from his strength, not his convictions. But now, she saw it.


    "Great Brother¡­" Lu Xiaoyu couldn''t help but blurt out.


    "Come on!" Tang Jie shouted.


    He threw away the Heartbreak Saber and punched at Lu Xiaoyu.


    Lu Xiaoyu swung her sword in response. It was the same sword light, but it couldn''t stop Tang Jie''s attack. The sword light was sent sweeping back at her, sending her flying and unleashing a powerful shockwave.


    Tang Jie could feel his power soaring with this punch. A momentter, he felt more strength beginning to spread through his body, and he knew that thetent strength that had been hidden in his body for so many years had finally been aroused.


    He punched again, liberally unleashing the strength in his body, expressing his potential to the maximum.


    "Aagh!" Lu Xiaoyu shouted as she raised her sword to block. At the same time, she said, "Hurry up and help!"


    Find the original at bit.ly/3Tfs4P4.


    She finally knew to ask for assistance.


    The four Seven Absolutions Sect disciples came forward in unison, but Tang Jie didn''t care in the slightest. What he was facing right now was no longer his opponents, but himself.


    He squeezed himself as hard as he could, unleashing all his power.


    He punched with his left, with his right, as much as he liked.


    His power swept out in a raging torrent.


    It was such a refreshing feeling that Tang Jie threw his head back and roared. He finally understood why Wang Juemie didn''t like to use weapons inbat.


    There was only the fist!


    Only one''s own fists could fully express this kind of power, and only then could one attain this ecstasy!


    "Raaa!" Tang Jie bellowed again.


    This roar resounded like a tiger''s through the mountain forest, making the entire valley quake.


    Even Wang Juemie was startled.


    He looked up and saw Tang Jie fighting against five, and his eyes shed with pleasant surprise. "It seems I''ve found one of my kind! Tang Jie, you''re pretty good¡­ not bad at all! Haha, haha, haha!"


    His threeughs revealed his indescribable excitement.


    Originally, after learning that Tang Jie was engaged to the young pce lord, he had grown furious and sought an opportunity to kill Tang Jie.


    But upon noticing Tang Jie''s change in attitude, he felt delight at finally finding a rival, even losing a little of the desire to kill him. But he felt that Tang Jie was still a little weak, so why not wait? Or what if he helped him get stronger and then killed him?


    But he quickly squashed that idea. While Wang Juemie was crazy and bold, he wasn''t an idiot.


    He gave Tang Jie a vicious re and proceeded to ignore him.


    While he had been thinking to himself, the three True Person had been so startled that none of them had dared to attack him.


    In the forest clearing, the battle was about to be decided.


    When Tang Jie had begun to truly exert his might, Lu Xiaoyu''s group finally began to falter.


    With fear in her eyes, she shouted, "Tang Jie, you''re not Great Brother. If you aren''t trained in this, squeezing your body like this will only kill you!"


    Training was a gradual process, and even Wang Juemie hadn''t been able to y with his life from day one.


    For Tang Jie to erupt with this much power meant that he was squeezing his body to the utmost. The refreshing feeling he was feeling was simply an attempt of the body to protect itself, like how someone freezing to death would feel hot right before their death.


    If Tang Jie kept this up, he would ultimately tire himself to death.


    But Tang Jie didn''t care.


    Heughed, "So what? You were right. A body refiner needs a powerful will and the ability to endure pain to seed, but that is not all. One must not fear pain, and one must not fear death! Only by daring to battle against death can one emerge victorious in battle. Today, I have already made up my mind to be a fool for once, a madman, and if I''m going to be crazy, I''ll go all the way. Only when craziness gets a result can I rest easy. In the worst case, I''ll just die. Only a heroic and vigorous death can disy true valor!"


    His words were artificial and pretentious, yet they sounded awe-inspiring and righteous.


    They were artificial and pretentious because this Tang Jie was actually an avatar. Its death would only mean the death of the avatar, and the original body would be unharmed. This was exactly why he was willing to take this gamble.


    But this wasn''tpletely free. If the avatar were destroyed, Tang Jie would suffer an enormous loss. After all, without this body, Tang Jie''s teleportation formation n wouldpletely fail, and his original body would be stuck among those mountains.


    A thousand years of imprisonment and the threat of a True Person meant that Tang Jie was still in danger.


    This was exactly why he could stimte his courage and persistence.


    But as he was lying, he had nted a seed of karma in his heart. The existence of the original body was the only w in his valor. If someone were to point it out, his aura would inevitably copse.


    The problem with that was that no one knew about it!


    When Lu Xiaoyu heard these words, her soul almost left her body.


    Tang Jie was like a tiger down from the mountain, the force of his punches so great that they couldn''t even raise their heads.


    Even a talented girl like Lu Xiaoyu could not hold out against his berserk assault.


    "Great Brother¡­ Great Brother," she muttered, as if another Wang Juemie had appeared in front of her.


    "Go!" Tang Jie rushed out as he bellowed, throwing out another punch. It was like his strength was inexhaustible.


    At that moment, there were no art relics, no spell arts. Strength was all that mattered, the only eternal principle!


    Boom!


    Lu Xiaoyu was sent flying once more.


    This time, she didn''t get back up, copsing to the ground.


    She nkly stared at the sky, apparently in disbelief that she had lost in this way.


    The other four Seven Absolutions Sect disciples looked at each other, and then the art relics dropped from their hands.


    At this point in the battle, they had actually used up all their spiritual energy and physical energy. Tang Jie''s final outburst in particr had pushed them to the brink. It was just that none of them had dared to retreat while Lu Xiaoyu was still fighting.


    Now that their senior sister had lost, they finally had a reason to concede.


    A momentter, numerous vines emerged, sweeping up Lu Xiaoyu and the four remaining Seven Absolutions Sect disciples.


    A small flower sprouted, resplendently blooming. Yiyi''s face appeared on the flower. She chuckled and turned into human form. She rushed at Tang Jie and shouted, "Big Brother, you won!"


    Tang Jie''s body swayed, and then he weakly dropped to the ground.


    "Big Brother!" Yiyi jumped in fright.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "I''m fine. I''m just exhausted¡­ I''ll leave the rest¡­ to you guys¡­ Follow the n¡­ I need to get some sleep."


    He closed his eyes.


    Not even Tang Jie knew if he would be able to wake up from this slumber, but Tang Jie was willing.


    It was his fortune to meet a strong enemy that could spur his growth!


    On the other end of the world, within the formation.


    The meditating original Tang Jie opened his eyes.


    He stood up and looked at his copper skin and bulging muscles, and he felt the power running through his veins.


    Diamond Body!


    He strode out, shouting to the distant mountains within the formation, "He Chong, I challenge you!"


    "I challenge you!"


    "I challenge you!"


    "I challenge you!"


    His voice endlessly echoed through the world.

 Chapter 379: The Undying Celestial Origin Pill

    The curtain finally fell on the battle in the sky.


    The eighteen Seven Absolutions Sect disciples had all been defeated and taken captive. Although this had a lot to do with the ambush and the disadvantageous terrain, this feat was still enough to make Tang Jie famous.


    At the same time, the battle down in the valley also concluded.


    Wang Juemie still had his aura, and the three True Persons were powerless.


    When Wang Juemie got up from the ground again, Liang Xingbang seemed to despair. He sighed, "Sir, why do you so stubbornly fight against us? Tang Jie has already captured all your fellow disciples, but you are still wasting time with us."


    Wang Juemieughed. "You have to do tasks one by one. It''s all the same if I defeat you and then go to find him."


    Shi Jingzhai was enraged by his arrogance, shouting, "Junior, this is only a minor sess! Do you really think you''ve won? We knew that you were unreliable, and it''s not like we came unprepared. Take a look at this!"


    He suddenly turned around and thrust a palm at a crate.


    The several dozen wagons had been overturned on the side of the road, dumping out their crates on the ground. But as they were rather far from the battlefield, they had been unaffected this whole time. After all, for both the robber and the one being robbed, they needed the crates to be intact to carry them away.


    Shi Jingzhai''s palm attack struck one of the crates, and it splintered apart. Large amounts of stone rolled out, with only a little Goldite that had been used as a cover.


    Wang Juemie froze. "What''s going on here?"


    Shi Jingzhai thrust out his palm again and again, breaking open all of therger crates. Inside all of them were stones, which left Wang Juemie stunned.


    Shi Jingzhai heartilyughed. "Junior, when we started dealing with you and you repeatedly dyed things, insisting on getting all the goods together and trading everything at one time, I immediately felt like there was something off about your lot. And after you used the Basking Moon Sect to threaten us and all other kinds of despicable methods, you really think we would take the bait that easily? The trade this time was merely to test you!"


    He threw his head back and crazilyughed. Wang Juemie had chopped off one of his arms, leaving him badly wounded, but heughed so freely that it almost seemed like he had been the victor of this battle, not Wang Juemie.


    Wang Juemie took in a deep breath, his bones groaning. This was a sign that he was absolutely furious.


    It was hard to me him. He had gone to so much effort toy his ns in order to get all the wealth the Stone Gate Sect had, but to his surprise, though the other party had entered his trap, they hadn''t brought their money with them.


    It was no wonder the three of them had so carelessly waltzed into the trap. It was because they weren''t afraid of the other party taking anything from them.


    The thought of having fought such a tough battle only for his objective to fall through his fingers left Wang Juemie enraged. He yelled, "Bastards, where did you hide the goods?"


    "It''s still in my Stone Gate Sect, naturally!" Shi Jingzhai bellowed. "Trying to backstab us? Even if you win, you won''t get a thing! Now that I think of it, you''re also to me for that. If you didn''t send someone to leak news about the Crystallized Sandworms, we wouldn''t have so quickly suspected your motives. Since you weren''t acting with good intentions, how can you expect us to trust you?"


    Heughed once more.


    "''Leaking news''?" Wang Juemie was startled.


    Yu Wanniang shouted, "Wang Juemie! Your plot has already been exposed. Even if you kill us, you won''t get anything good. Right now, the best n is to first capture Tang Jie and find out if the Basking Moon Sect knows about this matter or not. If they still don''t know, then we can consider giving you another opportunity to trade with us, but we will be deciding the means of trading."


    "Is that so?" Wang Juemie cocked his head.


    He looked up at the sky.


    The battle had destroyed the disguise, and a forest now floated in the sky.


    In the clearing, numerous vines were intertwining into a verdant flower pce that lifted Yiyi into the air.


    At her feet were the tied-up Seven Absolutions Sect disciples. As for Tang Jie, he was lying on a bed woven from vines, motionless as if he was asleep.


    Seeing this, Wang Juemie shouted, "Little girl over there, Tang Jie is currently suffering from excessive fatigue, and he''s very likely to die like this. If you''re willing to let my fellow disciples go, I can teach you the way to save him!"


    Yiyi looked at Wang Juemie. Because of the reflection, it appeared like she was looking somewhere else.


    In a crisp voice, Yiyi said, "Big Brother won''t die. He''s just sleeping! Big Brother said that those people have a use and can''t be handed over."


    "What use do they have?"


    "They can be traded for the treasure of the Stone Gate Sect."


    "Is that what''s going on?" Wang Juemieughed. He turned around and pointed at the stones in the distance. "You see it now, right? These guys are very cunning. They never brought the treasure. In the end, we lost this battle."


    But Yiyi replied, "Then capture them and interrogate them. They''ll confess eventually."


    Liang Xingbang paled. "Impudent! A little sprite dares to speak about interrogating a True Person!"


    Wang Juemieughed and turned to the three. "Did you hear that? It turns out that there was another way."


    Yu Wanniang was rather badly frightened. "Wang Juemie, putting aside the fact that we won''t submit to you, even if you truly have some formidable method, what sort of treasure do you think you can get with the Basking Moon Sect around?"


    Yiyi immediately shouted, "Don''t worry about it! Just like you, Big Brother didn''t notify the sect, so you can do whatever you want!"


    Shi Jingzhai yelled, "You''re lying!"


    Wang Juemie narrowed his eyes and asked, "What do you mean by ''just like me''?"


    Yiyi giggled. "Wasn''t your n to get these goods and then hand them over to the Seven Absolutions Sect, getting sect contribution points and twenty percent of the profits? My Big Brother had the same idea."


    These words enlightened the three Stone Gate elders, and they understood why no one stronger from the Seven Absolutions Sect had appeared.


    It seemed that a pack of juniors had been trying to live a dream.


    And they had to admit that this dream had almost be reality.


    At least when it came to the battle, Wang Juemie had settled things.


    But nobody had expected the three Stone Gate elders to not bring the actual goods. Had they not been afraid that Wang Juemie sincerely wanted to trade and would cause trouble over this issue? Of course, this was exactly why Wang Juemie and Tang Jie had taken the bait.


    The little girl suddenly realized something, but she still didn''t fully understand what it was.


    Wang Juemie was taken aback by Yiyi''s words. He hadn''t expected Tang Jie to guess at his n.


    But a momentter, he nodded and said, "I didn''t expect that I would meet a kindred spirit outside of the Seven Absolutions Sect."


    He wasn''t lying. When he had proposed this n against the Stone Gate Sect, almost everyone had objected, saying that it was too risky. Even Mu Yi didn''t approve of it. But because Wang Juemie had insisted on it and because everyone had always trusted him, they decided to go along with the n.


    But here, he had run into someone who thought the same, even making exactly the same choice as him. Thus, even though he was Tang Jie''s rival, Wang Juemie still felt some appreciation and affection toward him.


    For this reason, he stopped doubting Yiyi''s words. If Tang Jie weren''t that sort of person, he would have never been able to create his current reputation, nor could he have so easily guessed at Wang Juemie''s n. It would also have been impossible for everything to still be so quiet.


    Understanding this, Wang Juemieughed and said, "That''s good. Then I''ll capture these three first."


    He turned around and grabbed at the three Stone Gate elders.


    The three of them knew that they were in trouble.


    Shi Jingzhai gritted his teeth and shouted, "Protect me!"


    He thrust his right hand into his Mustard Seed Bag.


    Liang Xingbang and Yu Wanniang immediately rushed out, gathering up their remaining spiritual energy into a powerful wave to push Wang Juemie back.


    Shi Jingzhai took out a small drum made of stone.


    The moment this drum appeared, Wang Juemie paled in shock, shouting, "The Yin Yang Inversion Drum!"


    "Yes, it''s the Yin Yang Inversion Drum, and it was your Seven Absolutions Sect that made it! Hahahaha!" Shi Jingzhai crazilyughed.


    He thumped on the small drum, and with a quake, arge hole appeared in the ground.


    Shi Jingzhai stuffed the small drum into the hole, and the drum instantly expanded. One side of the drum slowly tore open into a dark and unfathomable hole.


    Wang Juemie was both rmed and angered by this sight.


    The Yin Yang Inversion Drum was an escape device the Seven Absolutions Sect had invented. No matter what situation one was in, so long as it was a ce with a ground, one could use a secret art to link two areas and create an escape tunnel. Even a spirit istion formationbined with a wall formation couldn''t stop it.


    But this item was extraordinarily expensive and could only be used once. It was very surprising that Shi Jingzhai had such an item.


    It went without saying that this was something he had secretly purchased with thest two years of his embezzled gains.


    It was precisely because it had been purchased in secret that Shi Jingzhai wasn''t willing to use it, but at this dire moment, Shi Jingzhai could no longer keep it hidden.


    The small drum finished forming the Yin Yang Inversion Tunnel, and Shi Jingzhaiughed and jumped in.


    Wang Juemie''s face shed with murderous intent. "Trying to leave? Stay right there!"


    He punched at the ground.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect had made the Yin Yang Inversion Drum, and while Wang Juemie wasn''t good at making devices, he understood their attributes, and he knew their pros and cons. He had not punched at the drum, instead using his savage strength to make the ground quake.


    The Yin Yang Inversion Tunnel sounded mysterious, but it was really nothing more than an Earth Escape spell art that was created through the vibrations of the stone drum. Wang Juemie seemed to have punched for no reason, but the quake was actually ruining the tempo of the stone drum''s vibrations, destabilizing the tunnel.


    Sure enough, as the steely fist crashed down, the stone drum resonated in reply, and a powerful stream of energy erupted out of the tunnel, preventing them from entering.


    Panicking, Shi Jingzhai threw up blood and thrust a hand at the ground.


    He was still a Celestial Heart True Person, possessing formidable strength. He had now damaged his foundation to his utmost to maintain the tunnel. With his full power behind it, the tunnel did begin to gradually stabilize, but Shi Jingzhai''splexion had turned red, and he was throwing up mouthfuls of blood. It appeared that it was heavily draining him to maintain the passage.


    Wang Juemie charged up and unleashed a furious wave of energy from his fist. "Stay right there!"


    Liang Xingbang and Yu Wanniang cried out in panic, "Let''s go!"


    They had run out of spiritual energy and had no chance of beating Wang Juemie now. Their only option was to run.


    Liang Xingbang was fast and was the first to jump toward the tunnel.


    As he was jumping, Yu Wanniang pushed him to the side.


    "Wanniang, you!" Liang Xingbang gnashed his teeth in rage.


    Yu Wanniang ignored him, fleeing into the tunnel.


    Wang Juemie''s iron fist arrived, the st of fist wind striking Yu Wanniang in the back.


    Yu Wanniang had no spiritual energy and no barrier to protect her.


    The immense power of the punch had the weight of tens of thousands of catties behind it. This one punch snapped her spine and tore apart her organs, almost ttening her into a meat pancake.


    Even after all that, this True Person wasn''t dead. With a wail of pain, she dropped into the tunnel and disappeared.


    Liang Xingbang was aghast. Using this moment between Wang Juemie''s punches, he tried to follow Yu Wanniang into the tunnel.


    At that moment, Shi Jingzhai suddenly let his hand go.


    A powerful force erupted from the tunnel, forcing Liang Xingbang back.


    "Jingzhai, you¡­" Liang Xingbang cried out.


    Shi Jingzhai roared, "When has it ever made sense for someone to use my possessions before I can!?"


    He jumped into the tunnel. After releasing that final stream of energy, the tunnel had stabilized.


    As he was jumping in, Wang Juemie punched two more times¡ªonce for each person.


    The st of wind brushed past Shi Jingzhai''s body. Shi Jingzhai grunted in pain as he disappeared into the tunnel.


    Liang Xingbang barely had the time to raise his hands to defend himself.


    <em>Crack! Crack!</em> Liang Xingbang''s arms were both obliterated by Wang Juemie''s attack.


    But this guy was quite tenacious. He knew that if he didn''t leave now, he wouldn''t get another chance. As he was struck by the attack, he used hisst sliver of spiritual energy to alter his trajectory, turning his horizontal movement into a plunge that sent him dropping into the tunnel.


    Wang Juemie''s punch had elerated his plunge, and in a sh, Liang Xingbang was gone.


    Wang Juemie walked over and looked down the dark tunnel. In the end, he didn''t jump in, and in his moment of hesitation, the tunnel disappeared, the ground returning to normal.


    Wang Juemie turned to Yiyi.


    "Can you release my junior disciples now?"


    Yiyi tilted her head. "Hey, aren''t you going to chase after them? Won''t letting them run cause you problems?"


    Wang Juemie grunted, "They won''t be able to run far since I messed with the Yin Yang Inversion Tunnel. I can go and capture them once I save my juniors."


    "But you won''t have the spiritual istion formation anymore, so you''re not guaranteed to beat them."


    Wang Juemieughed. "It''s hard to say. Anyone who takes my punch will find it hard to live, even if they don''t die on the spot. I severely wounded both Yu Wanniang and Liang Xingbang. Even if they''re at Celestial Heart, they''ll need at least a year and a half to recover. That Shi Jingzhai wasn''t as badly injured, but he excessively taxed his body in order to stabilize the tunnel, so a drop in cultivation tier is inevitable. He would be fortunate if he managed to stay in the Celestial Heart Realm. And I''m quite confident in my ability to deal with a Celestial Heart expert at only the first tier."


    His words exhibited an immense confidence and boldness.


    Yiyi was rather surprised at Wang Juemie''s indifference toward the three fugitive Celestial Heart experts.


    But after some thought, she said, "But it was Big Brother who entrusted these people to me. I can''t let them go without his permission."


    "This is easy to take care of. Give him this medicine, and he will quickly wake up." Wang Juemie opened his palm, and upon it was a red pill. With a flick of his fingers, he sent it flying in Yiyi''s direction.


    <em>Thump!</em> It struck a small tree not far from Yiyi, shattering the tree. But when the pill fell to the ground, it waspletely unscathed.


    Yiyi''s blood ran cold. Just how strong did his fingers have to be to aplish this?


    Thankfully, she was in the forest, and Wang Juemie couldn''t pinpoint her exact location. Otherwise, he would be sending a lethal stone rather than delivering a pill.


    It was only this kind of strength that could contend against three True Persons without falling.


    Although Yiyi had never seen Wang Juemie and Tang Jie fight each other, Yiyi was sure that Tang Jie was no match for Wang Juemie.


    Of course, she didn''t know that in another space, a heaven-shaking battle was taking ce.


    Shemanded the vines to bring the pill over, and then she hesitated, not knowing if she should give the pill to Tang Jie or not.


    As if he could see Yiyi''s hesitation, Wang Juemie said, "Hmph, this is the Undying Celestial Origin, one of the secret recipe pills of my Seven Absolutions Sect. It has miraculous effects, with countless people begging for it. Even someone like me can only get three a year. It''s precisely because of this pill that I dare to endlessly pressure myself to temper my body. You think I would be willing to give one to Tang Jie if he wasn''t someone who was able to understand my n, a kindred spirit? If you don''t want it, give it back!"


    "Hmph, this is just the price for the lives of the captives." Yiyi pursed her lips and swiftly stuffed the pill into Tang Jie''s mouth.


    She had heard of this Undying Celestial Origin Pill before, and it truly was one of the divine pills of the Seven Absolutions Sect. It was an item that body refiners could only dream about, aiding in both the honing of the body and the tempering of the will.


    "Tempering the will" referred to that phenomenon Tang Jie had experienced after exhausting himself in the battle in the Student Forest, after which he had taken in arge amount of nutrients, which was a superb way of improving one''s body. For the sake of this, Li Yu had even cut off a piece of his own flesh to feed to Tang Jie.


    The Undying Celestial Origin Pill was an excellent medicine for the intake period of the Tempered Will state. It was a powerful restorative, but for an ordinary person, it was more of a poison, capable of killing them with excess. It was only body refiners who were in an extremely weak state that could guide this energy into nurturing their bodies.


    One pill of this medicine was enough to match everything that Li Yu had given him back then, and this single pill would cost seventy to eighty thousand coins.


    It was no wonder Wang Juemie was so strong. He could get three of these pills every year. If he squeezed his body to the very limits like this every year, it wasn''t surprising for him to have attained such an incredible constitution.


    She didn''t know that this was actually the Seven Absolutions Sect''s specialty.


    The disciples of the Seven Absolutions Sect, particrly the body refiner disciples, would neverck for resources, only persistence.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect didn''t have an art that would allow for an increase in strength just by taking a bath. Their arts required wringing the body for everything it had and struggling on the brink of death.


    This required its disciples to have talent, persistence, and bravery.


    But finding such people was easier said than done.


    Over a thousand years, the Seven Absolutions Sect had countless talents, but those that were capable of refining their body to the absolute limit were as rare as phoenix feathers. Wang Juemie was one of them. He was getting three per year not because that was all that the Seven Absolutions Sect was willing to give, but because even a maniac cultivator like Wang Juemie could only use three per year. Otherwise, let alone three, the Seven Absolutions Sect would be willing to give him thirty.


    This was also why the Stone Gate Sect didn''t think Wang Juemie had a reason to rob them. While this guy was a junior, he was a priority target for resources. It was really the case where the Seven Absolutions Sect would get him whatever he wanted.


    But there were still some things that the Seven Absolutions Sect couldn''t give.


    Like reputation!


    A reputation for challenging three Celestial Heart experts all by himself!


    With the Undying Celestial Origin Pill in his belly, Tang Jie''splexion began to rapidly improve.


    But a momentter, rather than waking up, Tang Jie began to convulse as if he had been poisoned. White froth even began toe out of his mouth.


    "Big Brother!" Yiyi was scared out of her wits by the sight.


    She angrily red at Wang Juemie. "You dare to use poison to hurt my big brother!"


    Wang Juemie was also horrified. "How is this possible? I really did give him an Undying Celestial Origin Pill. I use my strength to crush people, so bringing restorative medicines will always be better for me than bringing poisons. I''m not carrying any poisons!"


    "I don''t care!" Yiyi unreasonably shouted back. "If my big brother dies, all of your juniors will have to be buried with him!"


    "Don''t!" Wang Juemie cried out in fear.


    Despite his domineering strength, at this distance, there was no way he could stop Yiyi from killing his juniors.


    A momentter, countless vines erupted out, like barbed whips as they drew closer to the Seven Absolutions Sect disciples¡­

 Chapter 380: Money Over Life

    Thorned vines slithered closer like snakes.


    Wang Juemie''s eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets as he bellowed, "You dare!"


    This bellow concentrated all of his power, reverberating through the valley like a lion''s roar. Yiyi trembled all over, and the vines stiffened in the air.


    Wang Juemie charged over to Yiyi as quickly as he could. Whether or not he could make it in time, he couldn''t just sit back and watch as Yiyi killed his juniors, particrly the juniors he cherished the most. If Yiyi dared to hurt them, he swore that he would tear her into pieces!


    At this moment, the trembling Tang Jie suddenly opened his eyes. "You had best¡­ stop!"


    Yiyi and Wang Juemie both froze.


    "Big Brother!" Yiyi cried out in delight.


    Wang Juemie stared hard at Tang Jie, shouting, "Tang Jie, you had better not feign death. Tell us: did I feed you poison or not?"


    "Talk about it¡­ter," Tang Jie squeezed out, and then his eyes rolled over as he fainted again. But this time, he was no longer convulsing.


    Now that he had spoken, Yiyi and Wang Juemie didn''t dare to act recklessly, so they opted to just wait for him.


    After a long time¡­


    Finally, Tang Jie''s body twitched.


    He opened his eyes and exhaled, "So painful¡­ so good¡­"


    "Big Brother, you''re finally okay." Yiyi hugged Tang Jie''s neck and wept.


    Tang Jie weakly replied, "Yes, I''m finally okay. I really didn''t expect this medicine to be so fierce. It almost killed me. If not for my Nine¡­ my secret art, I really might have died there. But fortunately, I managed to benefit immensely¡­"


    Wang Juemie had given him the real deal, but unexpectedly, Tang Jie had hardly been able to endure its medicinal power.


    It was hard to me him. It had to be understood that the Undying Celestial Origin Pill was an extremely domineering restorative medicine. A normal person couldn''t endure its power, and even Wang Juemie could only withstand three per year. After taking one, his body would be bursting with energy for some time afterward, his recovery speed increased. This medicine wasn''t just fierce, but also longsting.


    Wang Juemie had dared to give it to Tang Jie entirely because the constitution Tang Jie had disyed indicated that he could endure the medicinal power of the Undying Celestial Origin Pill.


    But he hadn''t thought about how he might have been different from Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie''s greatest problem was that his body refining had been too safe.


    When Wang Juemie had refined his body, he had run up a mountain every day while carrying weight and had his body beaten with staves. He would recover using medicine and then continue the process, cultivating every day until every part of his body was sporting wounds. Even broken hands and feet weremonce. To sum it up, it was a flesh wound every day, a broken bone every month, and walking on the line between life and death every year.


    This method of refining had involved eating numerous kinds of restorative medicine, which endowed him with the ability to resist the tyrannical power of the Undying Celestial Origin Pill.


    Tang Jie didn''t have this kind of experience.


    Wang Juemie didn''t know that Tang Jie''s body refining hade so easily. He felt that if Tang Jie had been able to reach this point, even if he was inferior to himself and might suffer some more pain from the medicine, he would still be capable of digesting the pill.


    Little did he know that this was the fiercest restorative Tang Jie had taken in his life, and it had almost broken him.


    He had survived not because he was strong enough or lucky enough, but because of the Ninedark Mantra!


    Four years of cultivation had allowed Tang Jie to reach minor attainment in the Ninedark Mantra.


    The greatest attribute of this mantra was its ability to boost all aspects of a cultivator.


    To put it more bluntly, it was an art that seemed to be made for improving all passive abilities. Cultivating would allow one to add attribute points, boost critical damage, increase HP, and so on. With each additional level one grasped, this boost would get a little stronger.


    The Ninedark Mantra had a special effect called the Hundred Cmities Passage.


    The Hundred Cmities Passage had the ability to stimte all of a body''s potential to protect one''s life upon receiving a heavy injury. Not only could it save a dying person''s life, it could also boost one''s strength. So long as one''s body wasn''t obliterated or potentialpletely drained, one wouldn''t die.


    And Tang Jie had plenty of potential.


    The Parting ssic''s body refinement was a dual process. The first used herbs to boost the body and the second required tempering through training. But the Martial Mirror had not left behind a method of tempering.


    Perhaps the Martial Lord had found tempering to be an extremely simple matter. One just needed to fight or put the body through arduous training as Wang Juemie had. What was needed wasn''t some particr method, but tenacious persistence. Thus, there was simply no need to leave behind a particr method for tempering.


    Nobody could have expected Tang Jie to receive the Parting ssic and only do as it said, only adding to his potential and not tempering it. And the asional tough battle could only stimte a limited amount of potential.


    Now, the rush of medicinal power from the Undying Celestial Origin Pill had activated the Hundred Cmities Passage, which had made Tang Jie''s potential explode.


    The Undying Celestial Origin Pill was a powerful restorative, and Tang Jie had possessed enormous potential, and when all this wasbined with the effect of the Hundred Cmities Passage, it created a miraculous opportunity¡­


    "So you''re saying that the medicine made you stronger?" Yiyi felt like she understood what Tang Jie was saying.


    "Mm." Tang Jie nodded. He softly said to Yiyi, "I''ve already reached Jewel minor attainment."


    Minor attainment in the Jewel Body? Yiyi was stunned.


    In thest few years, while Tang Jie''s body had seen some improvement, it had actually remained at the Wood Body. He had appeared so formidable because the Hundred Refinement Tier of Mortal Shedding refined the body, so thebined result made it seem like he was at the Jewel Body. But in essence, he was only one tier higher than ordinary cultivators, though this was enough to ovee the Seven Absolutions Sect disciples.


    Now, however, he had truly obtained the Jewel Body. When put together with the effects of his Mortal Shedding body refining, he was essentially at the high tier of the Jewel Body, back to the level the original Tang Jie had reached four years ago.


    Yiyi knew very well how much money it took to bring a Wood Body to a Jewel Body. In thest few years, for the sake of making the teleportation formation a little earlier, Tang Jie had spent tons of money on cultivating the Parting ssic, but unexpectedly, he had suddenly achieved it in one day.


    "That''s not all. I''ve reached greater attainment in Hundred Refinement. I''m almost ready to rise to Nine Revolutions." Tang Jie smiled.


    "Really? That''s wonderful!" Yiyi''s eyes sparkled.


    The blessings hade so suddenly that it was almost hard to look at them directly.


    The little girl couldn''t help but blurt out, "Is there anything else?"


    "Oh, if I had to say that there was something, it feels like I''ll be able to use more of my body''s abilities."


    "''Use more abilities''?"


    "Yes, this is actually the most worthwhile." Tang Jie looked at the distant figure of Wang Juemie. "This guy¡­ if you said that he had one hundred points of energy, then he''s able to express two hundred, or even three hundred, but for me, it''s already pretty good to use all the power I have¡­ I''m talking about normally."


    Battles like the one Tang Jie had had with Lu Xiaoyu andpany were considered abnormal, and in such states, he could express 200% of his power.


    But as a consequence, he could faint or even die.


    But Wang Juemie could use 200% of his power normally without side effects, so there was simply noparison to be had.


    Of course, this was strictly a boost to the physical body and had no effect on spell arts. But as it concerned spell arts rted to the physical body like Energy-Blood Simulfow and Blood Refining Spirit, it would affect them to different degrees.


    "So formidable¡­" Yiyi looked in disbelief at Wang Juemie. "So what about you right now, Big Brother?"


    Tang Jie scratched his head. "Going all-out before gave me a little experience, and whenbined with the effects of the medicine, mm, I should be able to get 120%¡­ It should be easier to make progress at the start."


    Yiyi''s face sank. "It doesn''t feel like a lot of progress to me."


    "¡­" Tang Jie was speechless. <em>Silly girl, do you know how much blood and tears Wang Juemie had to put out to reach his present level?</em>


    If he hadn''t had the Undying Celestial Origin Pill, his own potential, and the Hundred Cmities Passage all working together, he would have never been able to achieve such a heaven-defying effect.


    It had to be understood that this sort of ability to express strength was a proportional boost. No matter what level Tang Jie reached in the future, he would always have an extra 20% boost to his strength.


    As for Wang Juemie, he was clearly at a state of a permanent 100% boost.


    Simply terrifying!


    If this weren''t the case, he would have never dared to challenge three Celestial Hearts. Lan Yu didn''t even have the right to hold his shoes.


    As for Tang Jie himself, while he had once felt like his original body could have a battle with Wang Juemie, he had nowpletely given up on the idea.


    In terms of physical constitution, the original body''s Diamond Body was perhaps only a littleckingpared to Wang Juemie, but in terms of tempering, the gap was enormous.


    If the two of them really got into a fight, his original body would be beaten by Wang Juemie into a pig.


    In truth, before this, Tang Jie had already lost once.


    Lost to He Chong!


    In terms of cultivation realm, the Martial Lord''s five refined body levels corresponded to the five realms of cultivation. The Diamond Body wasparable to the Celestial Heart Realm.


    In terms of cultivation tiers, Tang Jie''s Diamond Body couldn''tpare to He Chong, but when it came to cultivation realms, one was a body refiner and the other cultivated spell arts, so they were about even.


    This was precisely why, stimted by Wang Juemie, Tang Jie had chosen to challenge He Chong.


    But reality had proven that he was gravely mistaken. He didn''t even have the right to challenge him. If he didn''t have Duplication to save his life, he might not have even been able to escape.


    He Chong had already been stronger than those three True Persons, and he had no spiritual istion formation restraining him. Meanwhile, Tang Jie had never really used the strength of his refined body before.


    One had lost while the other had gained, and the original body was sent running for the hills by He Chong, and he truly experienced the suppression that came from an entire cultivation level in difference.


    But Tang Jie was not discouraged.


    Although he had lost this battle, he had seen some hope for the future¡ªhe could escape alive from a battle with a True Person!


    What could be more important than this? As time passed, Tang Jie would only get stronger and stronger.


    So long as he progressed faster than his enemies, he would ultimately bring all of them down!


    As he spoke with Yiyi, Wang Juemie snorted and said, "Have you finished chatting yet? He''s not dead, so you can consider letting my people go now, right? I''ve already shown my sincerity. So long as you let my people go, I swear that I will let you leave for two hours. As for that pill, it''s for free."


    The sixteen disciples that Tang Jie had captured were all still awake, but the vines had bound them up and drained them of spiritual energy, and branches had been stuffed into their mouths. They could hear and see, but they couldn''t say a word.


    Looks of shame appeared in their eyes as they listened to Wang Juemie''s words.


    Their Great Brother had gone against three Celestial Hearts and won while they had gone sixteen versus Tang Jie and been utterly defeated. Such a difference was truly humiliating. And this wasn''t even considering the heavy price their Great Brother was paying to save them.


    But to their surprise, Tang Jie looked at Wang Juemie and said, "What about a different condition? I don''t need you to let me go. I just need you to give me another Undying Celestial Origin Pill."


    Wang Juemie was stunned. "What do you think an Undying Celestial Origin Pill is? Just one costs seventy to eighty thousand spirit coins. You think it''s that easy to get something of such high value?"


    Tang Jie smugly replied, "That''s why I only asked for one. If it''s eighty thousand per pill, then if I get two for sixteen students, it''s ten thousand per person. Disciple of the Seven Absolutions Sect, this price isn''t excessive at all."


    Wang Juemie''s eyes chilled. "Then what about your life?"


    Tang Jie coldly answered, "Come and take it if you have the skill. I prefer money over my life!"

 Chapter 381

    Chapter 381: Trade


    Table of Contents


    (Teaser) ?


    Support us at bit.ly/3Tfs4P4.


    ¡°Preferring money over life¡±?


    Wang Juemie naturally didn¡¯t believe these words.


    Tang Jie saying this could only mean that he was confident he could escape Wang Juemie¡¯s pursuit.


    Wang Juemie narrowed his eyes and closely inspected Tang Jie as if he was trying to see what sort of trick Tang Jie was hiding. Finally, he nodded and said, ¡°Fine. I can agree to that. But what if I don¡¯t have another Undying Celestial Origin Pill on me?¡±


    Wang Juemie would not carry around extras of this sort of pill unless he was on business.


    ¡°Then you can just mail one to me once I get back. I¡¯m sure that you won¡¯t shirk such a small debt,¡± Tang Jie casually replied.


    Wang Juemie exploded inughter. ¡°And what if you die? Are you thinking about using the iplete trade to bind me into not attacking you? But that¡¯s true. If I owe you a debt and then kill you, I¡¯ll be known for killing someone to get out of a debt.¡±


    ¡°If I die, you naturally don¡¯t have to give anything,¡± Tang Jie indifferently said. ¡°And if it¡¯s killing for the sake of wealth, isn¡¯t that what you¡¯re doing right now? Thus, there¡¯s no need to act like you¡¯re someone who highly values your promises. Risking one¡¯s life in battle and keeping one¡¯s promises are two different things. It was exactly because the Stone Gate Sect trusted you too much that it ended up this way.¡±


    Wang Juemie¡¯s face darkened. ¡°Such audacity! You have the guts to mock me? Then do you have the guts to be so certain that I¡¯ll actually pay?¡±


    Tang Jie breezily replied, ¡°The Great Brother of the Seven Absolutions Sect has a certain status to look out for. Resources worth more than one hundred million might be worth relinquishing one¡¯s status and engaging in a little robbery, but eighty thousand spirit coins is not. Moreover, this debt is for the sake of saving your juniors, so the situation and affection are also in y. Thus, in the end, you can say that I trust in your status rather than your character.¡±


    Wang Juemie was left speechless in anger. His face contorted into a smile of wrath as he said, ¡°Good, good, Tang Jie! You¡¯ve truly got a silver tongue. So then, what are you still waiting for? Why haven¡¯t you let them go? So long as you can escape me, once I return to the Seven Absolutions Sect, I¡¯ll order someone to deliver the Undying Celestial Origin Pill to you.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the rush?¡± Tang Jie cast his gaze down at the ruined battlefield on the valley floor and the shattered wooden crates.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°I just woke up, so I¡¯m not too clear on the situation. However, from the looks of it, did the Stone Gate Sect not actually bring the goods?¡±


    Yiyi gave a rough summary of what had happened.


    In truth, while Tang Jie had been unconscious, he had known what was going on this entire time. This was a result of his one soul shared between two bodies. When he lost control of one body, his soul would not lose consciousness. Instead, the existence of the other body allowed the soul to maintain consciousness and perceive what was going on in the outside world.


    This was how Tang Jie could be immune to Yu Wanniang''s intoxicating alcohol and interrogation spell art, and also why he could force himself out of unconsciousness and tell Wang Juemie to stop.


    As for what was happening right now, he was just going through the motions.


    After hearing Yiyi''s summary, Tang Jie chuckled and said, "I guess these guys weren''tpletely stupid and knew to take some precautions. But this is good for me, as I have a chance to engage in a second trade with Great Brother Wang."


    Wang Juemie''s pupils constricted. "And what do you have that you can trade with me?"


    "The goods, of course," Tang Jiezily replied. "Great Brother Wang must have invested a lot into this venture to take the goods from the Stone Gate Sect. I''m sure that this Heaven Earth Spirit Istion Formation, the Iron Wall Formation, and the outermost Bloodbane Formation must have cost a significant sum, and you''re even paying out two Undying Celestial Origin Pills for your junior disciples. I''m sure you''re very unwilling to see that the chickens have flown the coop after all that work, right?"


    Wang Juemie snorted. "What about you? Didn''t you have the same goal?"


    "Correct. The difference is that I''m a Sageheart native. So long as the goods are in Sageheart, I don''t have to worry about getting them back. But as for you, Great Brother, if you enter Sageheart, you had best be careful about any mishaps!" Tang Jie earnestly advised.


    Yes, if he couldn''t get the Stone Gate Sect''s goods this time, he would still have a chance in the future, but Wang Juemie wouldn''t get a second chance.


    Wang Juemie red at Tang Jie for a while before finallyughing and saying, "Fine. I''ll listen to what you n to trade that batch of goods to me for."


    Tang Jie replied, "The Stone Gate Sect spread out their goods. I know of at least one hiding spot. There aren''t a lot of goods hidden there, but they should be worth at least several hundred thousand to a million."


    Wang Juemie was startled. "If you know exactly where it is, why didn''t you go and get it?"


    "I don''t care about such a paltry amount," Tang Jie replied. "You can tell me yourself if you''re interested. Rx; I don''t want much."


    Before Wang Juemie could say anything, the bound-up Mu Yi''s eyes suddenly widened, and he desperately shook his head at him, indicating that he shouldn''t ept the deal.


    But he had barely begun to move when Yiyi cottoned on to what he was doing and had the vines turn his body around so that he was facing inward. Looking up at the image in the sky, Wang Juemie could only see Mu Yi''s struggling back. Everyone else was making a simr movement, so he just treated it as an ordinary struggle and paid it no mind.


    Wang Juemie thought over the proposition and finally nodded. "I truly do have some interest, so what do you want?"


    While there might not have been many goods, they held great meaning for Wang Juemie, as they indicated that he hadpleted the deal. This meant that their operation had not made a loss and had perhaps even made a small profit.


    Breaking even was a mentality, and it was human nature. When it came to making huge profits and breaking even, people would often choose to break even first before seeking profit. Even a person like Wang Juemie wasn''t willing to see two years of nninge to nothing.


    Inparison, seeking profit and failing would lead to huge expenses instead of huge profits. After all, there were always times when a deal fell through. So long as one didn''t lose one''s capital, one could continue to seek out chances to make a deal.


    Hearing Wang Juemie''s agreement, Tang Jie happily smiled. "It''s nothing. I simply want to borrow the Profound Heaven Treatise for a little bit, and I also want the View Gate Banner. Right, don''t tell me that you don''t have the Profound Heaven Treatise. I know you carry it with you."


    "''The Profound Heaven Treatise''? ''The View Gate Banner''?" Wang Juemie was aghast. "How did you know?"


    Tang Jie harrumphed. "Whether it''s the Spirit Istion Formation, the Iron Wall Formation, or the Bloodbane Formation, none of them is a small formation. And these three great formations are all linked together so that their effects stack on top of each other. Wang Juemie, don''t say that I''m looking down on you, but while you have domineering strength, there''s not a single one among you and your fellow disciples capable of going this far. Perhaps someone of Mu Yi''s talent and intelligence has a chance, but s, his true skill is in refining pills, notying down formations! Thus, there must be some secret behind your ability toy down these formations and hide them so well. It''s not at all hard for me to guess at the existence of the Profound Heaven Treatise and the View Gate Banner."


    Tang Jie had been able to discover the formation in the nameless valley because his geographical analysis had shown that this was the ideal point for an ambush. With a goal in mind, finding a formation became much simpler. If he had not known beforehand, blindly looking around the mountains for a possible hidden formation wasn''t that easy.


    Moreover, the concealment level of the formation had been very high, but ack of skill on the part of the formationyer had led to a few ws.


    Even so, Tang Jie had needed to use his own understanding of formations and the Dao of Insight to find these suspicious points.


    After he saw that three formations had been stacked atop each other, Tang Jie had determined that there was no way he could do such a thing at his current level of ability. After all, each one of these three formations exceeded Grade 5, which required one to be at the Celestial Heart Realm to grasp them. And that wasn''t even considering the stacking and concealment.


    Judging by his previous interaction with them, Wang Juemie''s subordinates might have had formation experts among them, but they weren''t stronger than he was. If these were formations that even he couldn''ty down, then they shouldn''t have been able to, either. This was why Tang Jie had deduced the existence of the Profound Heaven Treatise and the View Gate Banner.


    The Profound Heaven Treatise was a formation treatise of the Seven Absolutions Sect which recorded the various kinds of formations the Seven Absolutions Sect had developed over the years, with countless formation masters having put down what they had learned on its pages. Apparently, Xu Muyang had once requested from the Seven Absolutions Sect to read the Profound Heaven Treatise for two hours and experienced a massive increase in his formation understanding because of it.


    Compared to the Profound Heaven Treatise, Xu Muyang''s formation treatise was sorelycking. After all, Xu Muyang''s treatise contained the understanding of only a single master while the Profound Heaven Treatise was the umted knowledge of countless masters.


    Besides that, the Profound Heaven Treatise was itself a top-ss art relic that had aided in the creation of a formation and an increase in the grade of the formation. Wang Juemie''s group owed their ability toy down Grade 5 formations primarily to this object. But Tang Jie had no interest in the art relic. He was more interested in the formation knowledge recorded in the art relic.


    As for the View Gate Banner, that was just a stab in the dark from Tang Jie.


    The View Gate Banner''s primary attribute was concealment, and its greatest ability was to hide formations. He saw that the three great formations were exceptionally well hidden, and since the Profound Heaven Treatise had no particr effect for concealing a formation, he decided to test the waters. To his surprise, it really had been due to this treasure.


    Tang Jie said, "What do you think? A million in resources in return for a chance to read and the View Gate Banner. It''s a very generous price, and I can swear an oath that I won''t transmit the knowledge to others."


    More than a million in resources purely for the sake of reading the Profound Heaven Treatise truly was an expensive rental fee. Even the formation masters who had sought to read the text before had never offered so much. Tang Jie was much more generous than his seniors, at least when it came to the first offer. As for the View Gate Banner, that was just an add-on.


    Wang Juemie had to confess that Tang Jie was truly bold. Smiling, he said, "Junior Brother Tang also seems to be thirsty for knowledge, but are you not afraid of the Basking Moon Sect rebuking you for handing me a million in resources?"


    Tang Jie indifferently replied, "If I didn''t have the courage to bear the consequences for my pursuits, how could I be considered ''thirsty for knowledge''?"


    "Good, good!" Wang Juemieughed. "If that''s the case, then I agree to your proposal. But the rules of the Seven Absolutions Sect decree that you can only look, not record. You have only two hours to see how much you can memorize."


    "I can refrain from recording, but I want six hours."


    "I need to chase the three Stone Gate elders. I don''t have the time to waste on you."


    "If you were really able to catch them, would you be wasting time talking here with me? Celestial Hearts are Celestial Hearts. Once they''re free, they''re dragons that will return to the ocean. In this time that we were talking, they would have already returned to Sageheart."


    Wang Juemie took in a deep breath. Without another word, he waved his hand, and two items flew out of the distance and into the forest: a jade ruyi scepter and a small banner.


    Tang Jie received the items. Inspecting the banner, he confirmed that it was the View Gate Banner and put it away. He then took the ruyi and inserted spiritual energy. Just like the art transmission in Heaven One Pavilion, the ruyi projected a screen which was covered with numerous words and various diagrams.


    Tang Jie looked at the contents, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he muttered, "That''s it¡­ This is what I want."


    The Nine Executions Immortal Formation!


    The original Tang Jie, who was resting from the recent battle, suddenly raised his head and roared like a tiger, "Paper? Brush? Damn it; how can I copy without paper? How?"


    Tang Jie looked around.


    In this world, there was any kind of resource he could ask for, except man-made objects like paper.


    Tang Jie suddenly noticed that a mountain face across from him had a particrly smooth surface.


    His eyes brightened, and he shot over and stroked the wall with his finger, digging out a deep groove. And then Tang Jie began to write.


    Since he had no paper, he would use the wall as paper and his body as the brush, recording the Profound Heaven Treatise here. Perhaps he could even leave it behind for future generations!


    Meanwhile, in the nameless valley.


    Avatar Tang Jie was still reading.


    Wang Juemie said, "Can you tell me where the goods are now?"


    Tang Jie replied without raising his head, "Senior Brother Wang, have you not thought about what those three old farts would do if you hade to sincerely make a trade but they couldn''t take out any goods?"


    Wang Juemie was startled. "What did you say?"


    "A back-up n has to think about every possibility ande up with a method that doesn''t leave one in a dead end. That''s why it can be called a back-up n!" Tang Jie pointed at the stones on the ground. "The Deep Earth True Person''s disguises are pretty good. Open it up for a pleasant surprise."


    Bang!


    A stone cracked apart.


    A piece of Goldite was revealed beneath the thick stoneyer.


    Upon seeing this, rather than rejoicing, Wang Juemie felt his heart turn to ice.


    He angrily red at Tang Jie. "Tang Jie, you bastard! You used the goods here to fool me!"


    He suddenly understood why Tang Jie had done things this way. Although Wang Juemie hadn''t been able to tell that the stones were hiding goods, Mu Yi definitely would have.


    In other words, there was no way this matter would have been kept hidden from Wang Juemie.


    As these objects were covered in stone, it was basically certain that they were hiding Goldite. This was because the quality of Icestone Bamboo would be affected if it were covered in stone, and Crystallized Sandworms were small and could be carried in Mustard Seed Bags. And in order to avoid discovery, the stoneyers had been particrly thick, meaning that the amount of Goldite was much smaller than expected.


    This batch of goods suffered a plunge in both quality and amount, so Tang Jie was able to easily estimate that it was only worth about one million.


    Although Tang Jie had made meticulous preparations, these preparations had cost quite the heavy investment, so rather than wasting these preparations to battle to the death with Wang Juemie over this one million in resources, it was better to save this money and sell the goods to Wang Juemie for finished products¡ªthe Profound Heaven Treatise was something that one usually couldn''t even read even if one had the money.


    This was precisely why Tang Jie had generously used them to make a trade with Wang Juemie.


    Continuing to stare at the Profound Heaven Treatise, Tang Jie casually said, "You asked me how I was going to exin things to the Basking Moon Sect? You now have your answer.


    "This disciple was ipetent, and though he desired to kill the bandits, he was helpless to fight back, leading one million in resources to fall into enemy hands. This disciple is willing to ept the punishment for this sin! But¡­ the sect must give out everything that this disciple deserves for the rest of the resources I''m handing over, and not one coin less!"

 Chapter 382

    Chapter 382: Heavenbane Lightning Pearls


    Table of Contents


    (Teaser) ?


    Wang Juemie red at Tang Jie, his chest heaving up and down.


    After a long while, Wang Juemie suddenly threw his head back andughed. ¡°Good! Good! Good! A fine job, Tang Jie! Beautiful work! Fooling me by selling back what was mine in the first ce! You¡¯ve got guts!¡±


    Tang Jie coldly replied, ¡°You¡¯re wrong about one thing. These goods aren¡¯t necessarily yours. I just don¡¯t think they¡¯re worth fighting over. You really think I ran over just to capture your juniors and y you for a fool?¡±


    As Tang Jie spoke, several dozen streaks of light rushed out.


    Upon closer inspection, this was several dozen people, some of them riding on the wind, others mounted on clouds, some on lotus flowers, and still others on flying swords.


    Their leader was none other than Bei Canghan, the previous number one genius of Basking Moon Academy, asked to help by Peng Yaolong. He was the strongest person in this group.


    Besides him were Peng Yaolong, Ye Tianshang, Qi Shaoming, Cai Junyang, Liu Hongyan, Ping Jingyue, and Wei Tianchong, along with twenty-some others. They far outnumbered Wang Juemie¡¯s crew.


    These people flew up to the red light of the formation outside the valley. Bei Canghan saluted Wang Juemie. ¡°Canghan pays respects to Great Brother Wang.¡±


    The others shouted in unison, ¡°¡­Paying respects to Great Brother.¡±


    For a moment, their voices rumbled like thunder, but their tone was meek and polite.


    While they had not appeared previously, they had been observing the battle in the valley using spell arts and basically knew what had transpired.


    Wang Juemie had challenged three True Persons to battle, and while it had their blood pumping, it also had their hearts quailing.


    No one could have imagined Wang Juemie to be this fierce, contending against three Celestial Hearts with his Mortal Shedding body. Even if he had the assistance of a Dao armament and a formation, this in no way watered down the terror of his own body¡¯s power. One could basically be certain that Wang Juemie was invincible against his peers.


    If they had initially disapproved of Tang Jie¡¯s cautious attitude, they nowpletely approved of it.


    Peng Yaolong was also a body refiner, so he had the keenest understanding of the gap between himself and Wang Juemie, and he also understood the sort of painful price to reach this level. Long before they had arrived, he had told everyone else of the gap between them and him.


    Wang Juemie saw that the Basking Moon Sect disciples had arrived and grunted, ¡°Tang Jie, you think these people are enough to deal with me?¡±


    Just like Wang Juemie, Tang Jie had not notified the Basking Moon Sect for this operation, so no True Person hade.


    Without a Celestial Heart True Person, Wang Juemie really didn¡¯t care about twenty or thirty Mortal Shedding disciples. Once he really got going, he could easily take them all down.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "I''m naturally not that naive. But Great Brother, when you challenged three elders all by yourself, despite your prodigious strength, didn''t you still need the help of your junior disciples? Moreover, Great Brother, while you might be able to get whatever cultivation resources you seek, the same might not be true for money. This formation must have been very expensive, difficult for one person to pay for. Many people doesn''t just mean additionalbat power, but also additional support. Am I right?"


    Wang Juemie paled.


    In terms of strength, Mu Yi and the other sixteen disciples put together couldn''tpare to a single Wang Juemie, but without them, there would be no spiritual energy channels. Without them, there would not be the resources needed for the formation. Without them, there wouldn''t be a n, and so even if he had the resources, he wouldn''t be able toy down the formation.


    His junior disciples had been of significant assistance to him!


    As Tang Jie spoke, in the distance, Peng Yaolongughed, and a small red pearl appeared in his hand.


    Others also began to reveal small red pearls.


    Upon seeing these items, Wang Juemie blurted out, "Heavenbane Lightning Pearls?"


    These were none other than the Heavenbane Lightning Pearls of the Heavenly Extinction Sect. These items possessed immense power, with a single one being able to sunder mountains. Several dozen being thrown out wouldn''t just annihte the three formationsid down, they would also pulverize Wang Juemie''s diamond-like body.


    Wang Juemie gasped. "These are the sect treasures of the Heavenly Extinction Sect. The Heavenly Extinction Sect has always been unruly and untameable. How did you manage to get so many?"


    Ye Tianshang coldly said, "No matter how unruly it is, they''re only allowed to be unruly with the permission of my Basking Moon Sect. Moreover, it''s not like we stole them. We bought them, and at market price. What reason did they have to refuse?"


    The price of a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl was difficult to calcte and would differ from person to person. In order to guarantee procurement, Tang Jie had offered a price of 25,000 spirit coins per pearl¡ªthe price of a low-grade art relic. For a one-time-use tool, it was quite the high price, so even though they had wanted a lot, the Heavenly Extinction Sect still clenched its teeth and handed them over.


    Tang Jie himself wasn''t able to buy all these Heavenbane Lightning Pearls, so he had pooled money with everyone else to afford them. Just as Tang Jie had said, the more people there were, the more resources avable.


    The twenty-some Basking Moon disciples had spent several hundred thousand on these Heavenbane Lightning Pearls alone, and this wasn''t the only thing they had prepared.


    It was precisely the immensity of the investment that made Tang Jie unwilling to fight with Wang Juemie here. Who would be crazy enough to make a one-million-coin investment only to get one million back in resources?


    Tang Jie continued to peruse the Profound Heaven Treatise as he said, "Great Brother, the Basking Moon Sect has no enmity with the Seven Absolutions Sect. While the two sects can quarrel, it is improper for us to destroy each other. I admit that I had robbery in mind in this mission, but wasn''t the Seven Absolutions Sect thinking the same? Thus, I think it''s best if we let the matter drop here. Out of consideration for the two years Great Brother spent nning all this out, I am rewarding you with these resources so you don''t go back empty-handed. You get one million in resources aspensation and can collect the many rare resources used in the unactivated Bloodbane Formation. In this way, we part without any hard feelings, and isn''t that a good thing?"


    Wang Juemie snorted. "Those are nice words, but the Stone Gate Sect had goods worth more than a hundred million. I spent two years to only get one million, but you can get all of it in one go."


    Tang Jie firmly said, "Great Brother is incorrect. Shi Jingzhai and Liang Xingbang have already fled, and the location of the goods is unknown. It is still undecided who the final winner will be. Moreover, the goods of the Stone Gate Sect originally belonged to my Basking Moon Sect, so it is only right that we take it all. This is like Great Brother Wang trying to rob a merchant caravan, but the caravan manages to fend you off. It would be one thing if you had seeded in pulling off the robbery, but to say that we stole from you after you failed? That doesn''t make sense at all!"


    In these words, he was essentially calling Wang Juemie a bandit king.


    Wang Juemie didn''t care,ughing and saying, "You would dare to say that you wouldn''t profit if you managed to retrieve those goods?"


    Tang Jie lowered his head and inspected his fingernails. "If a guard does everything he can and ensures that the goods aren''t lost, the entire world would lose heart if his boss didn''t give him some reward. Poor souls like us can''t let our master be badmouthed, so we have no choice but to take on some more responsibility."


    The Basking Moon Sect disciples covered their mouths and chuckled. Some of them had been brought here by Peng Yaolong and Ye Tianshang, so they weren''t very familiar with Tang Jie. Surprised by his words, they said, "This Junior Brother Tang really knows how to talk."


    Peng Yaolong chuckled. "If he didn''t, you really think I would praise him so much even though he hasn''t even graduated yet?"


    "That''s true," someone nearby agreed. It was Cai Junyang. He was normally running around, so finding him was truly difficult.


    Wang Juemie couldn''t help but nod his head in praise. "It''s truly a silver tongue. Then let me ask you: you killed my junior disciple, Li Chun, several days ago. How will you settle that ount?"


    "''Li Chun''?" Tang Jie was taken aback, and then he realized what was going on and smiled. "Great Brother, are you talking about that man in ck I encountered in Canglong Prefecture? This person infiltrated Sageheart and colluded with the Gu n, harboring ill intentions and injuring me. But he imed to be from the White Bone Faith, and I did not kill him. If he was your junior disciple, then I truly must apologize, but then I must plead innocence out of ignorance."


    With a few sentences, he had pushed off the responsibility, and Wang Juemie was left dumbfounded. After a while, he said, "Good, good! An excellent use of ''innocence out of ignorance''. I will remember these words. Since that''s the case, we''ll drop the matter here!"


    The Stone Gate Sect had fled, and Tang Jie had back-up ns. In the face of the Heavenbane Lightning Pearls, even if Wang Juemie''s heaven-defying strength could let him survive, his junior disciples had no chance of creating any sort of miracle.


    There was no point in arguing, so he might as well give up.


    As Tang Jie still had time to read the Profound Heaven Treatise, everyone just waited.


    In the meantime, Tang Jie released Lu Xiaoyu, but he kept Mu Yi to converse with. Of course, he was no longer bound up.


    Neither of them was one to hold a grudge. Tang Jie hadn''t resented Mu Yi for pulling one over on him at the Immortal Fortune Conference. On the contrary, he had praised Mu Yi and even invited Mu Yi toe to Sageheart to have his condition treated, though he had refused. And now, Mu Yi did not resent Tang Jie for capturing him. He surprisingly agreed to Tang Jie''s invitation to look at the Profound Heaven Treatise together, and they asionally asked each other questions.


    Mu Yi''s understanding of formations was inferior to Tang Jie''s, but Tang Jie''s understanding of the Seven Absolutions Sect''s style was inferior to Mu Yi''s. Thus, in questioning each other, they were able to make up for each other''s ws and raise their understanding of formations together.


    Wang Juemie was happy to see this. He wanted nothing more than for them to chat up a storm so that Tang Jie would spend less time reading and more time talking.


    As they were chatting away, Tang Jie smiled and said, "Conversing with you is better than reading books for ten years. If you didn''t tell me, I would have never known that the Seven Absolutions Sect had such exquisite arts. My thanks, my thanks!"


    Find the original at bit.ly/3Tfs4P4.


    Mu Yi replied, "I must also thank you. I had believed that the Seven Absolutions Sect had gathered up all the secrets concerning formations, so I didn''t think that there would be such a method to conceal formations. It is no wonder that the formationid down by Fourth Brother and me was so easily seen through by you. In the end, we were nothing but frogs in a well. If I had discussed this matter with Senior Brother Tang beforehand, we would not have made such an error."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "You have to me yourself for that. I invited you to be a guest at my Basking Moon Academy, but you refused toe. Were you worried that I would hurt you?"


    Mu Yi shook his head. "I know that Senior Brother Tang had kind intentions, but my Great Brother already expended great effort on this body of mine, and it is impossible."


    "While Wang Juemie''s True Demon Body is powerful, it is too tyrannical and the cultivation too fierce, involving injuring the body every day. He would be a great choice for killing people, but he''s somewhatcking if ites to saving people."


    Mu Yi was confused. "Isn''t all body refining like that? Has Brother Tang not experienced it before?"


    Tang Jie shook his head.


    Mu Yi was startled.


    Tang Jie took out a piece of paper and passed it to Mu Yi. "Once this matter is over, I will be returning to Basking Moon Academy. If you are interested, you cane to the academy to find me. Bring as much as you can of what''s listed on the paper. I should be able to help you recover some of your constitution. As for how much, it''s hard for me to say, but at least it will be better than your current feeble condition."


    Mu Yi looked at what was written on the paper and found it all to be rare spiritual herbs. Tang Jie could make this sort of prescription and also im that he had never suffered self-harm in body refining? Mu Yi was starting to believe that Tang Jie was able to help him.


    "These herbs are very expensive. If you really can''t get them together, I can help you get some," Tang Jie said.


    Mu Yi looked questioningly at him. "Why do you want to help me?"


    Tang Jie replied, "You know the reason."


    Mu Yi was inwardly stunned. He turned to the distant Wang Juemie and the shattered stones scattered about the ground.


    Tang Jie whispered like a ghost, "There are some things that I could never hide from you. Even if you don''t see it now, if I gave you the time, you might realize it anyway. But¡­ I hope that you can keep your mouth shut this time."


    "Those goods¡­ I see," Mu Yi muttered. He seemed to realize something, and he whispered back, "Do you realize you''re telling me to sell out my Great Brother?"


    "One: the goods were originally my Basking Moon Sect''s. Two: even if you tell him, you''ve got no chance of sess. All that you will do is make our two sects kill each other. I only dared to make the n because I was confident of my sess. Just like how you guys only acted against the Stone Gate Sect because you felt you could deal with them. But this time, I managed to fool you. Since I was in the shadows, I had the initiative, so your loss is inevitable. At best, you can only make me pay a somewhat higher price. Three¡­ there are some things that money can''t buy."


    Mu Yi''s chest rose and fell. After a while, he finally said, "I will not deceive Great Brother, but I will wait a day to tell him. One month after that, I will go to Basking Moon Academy. If you can''t treat me, you must paypensation of at least one hundred thousand to my Great Brother. But if you can heal me, I will pay the one hundred thousand!"


    "Deal!"


    Time passed very quickly while they were chatting. Six hourster, Tang Jie gave the ruyi scepter back to Wang Juemie and said, "Great Brother, thank you for your generosity."


    Wang Juemie pursed his lips. "Save the sarcasm. As you said, I can put aside the matter of stealing the goods, but I won''t forget the death of Li Chun and the stealing of my love. When we next meet, one of us won''t be walking away."


    He had finally brought up the matter of his stolen love.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Great Brother, if you like Shen Qingdan, you can go and pursue her. It has nothing to do with me."


    These words made Wang Juemie take another look at him.


    He looked Tang Jie over and suddenly chuckled. "Kid, you''ve got guts. I really did want to find you over Shen Qingdan once, but starting from today, my wanting to deal with you has nothing to do with her."


    He looked hard at Tang Jie and sternly said, "Very little can make Wang Juemie suffer a loss, and you''re the first one to pull it off. Remember this. One day, I, Wang Juemie, will get back everything I lost here, plus interest."


    He threw his head back andughed hard three times, and then he stomped a foot on the ground, setting off mighty tremors as he rocketed into the air.


    His trajectory had him heading straight toward Peng Yaolong andpany. They hastily got out of the way, and Wang Juemie flew off into the horizon, leaving a long arc in his wake.


    This method of flight was simply unheard of.


    The other Seven Absolutions Sect disciples were in the middle of dismantling the formation, taking whatever resources were still usable and departing.


    The morous nameless valley had suddenly be very quiet.


    Bei Canghan''s group finally had the opportunity to fly into the valley. They went up to Tang Jie, and as it had been a long time since they had met each other, they messed around with each other for a bit, and it was only after that that they started making introductions.


    Besides Bei Canghan, Wu Xuanguang and other famous former students had alsoe. In truth, given the method by which the Basking Moon Sect recruited disciples, those who became official disciples had to have stirred up a storm in the academy. Thus, as they introduced each other, there was frequent mention of "genius" or "elite". They had all had their moments of glory at various points in time.


    When it came to Bei Canghan, Tang Jie had known about him in the past, but he had never had a chance to meet him. Now, they could finally talk with each other, and Bei Canghan would not underestimate Tang Jie in the slightest.


    Even if this person was weaker than him, as someone who could make Wang Juemie retreat, he was someone who deserved attention. Besides that, Tang Jie knew how to act, never putting on airs and being very likable.


    After chatting for a while and exchanging pleasantries, Peng Yaolong finally brought them back to the main topic. "This Wang Juemie is truly fierce. It''s a good thing the Heavenbane Lightning Pearls managed to scare him off like you said they would. But now that the three Celestial Hearts have escaped and there''s no sign of the goods, it seems like things are going to get a little tricky, no?"


    But he was looking at Tang Jie as if he didn''t think that the situation was actually that problematic.


    The fact that Tang Jie had shown no reaction upon learning that those three had escaped was proof that he had a n.


    But there were still some people who didn''t understand. Someone immediately said, "Yeah! And those three already know that we''re onto them. They definitely won''t dare toe back to Sageheart. In my view, they''re going to try and run."


    Another person added, "The world is vast, and there''s no telling which way they''ll run. Finding them again won''t be easy."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Do you really think they can escape?"


    Everyone froze. Wei Tianchong asked, "Tang Jie, what do you mean by that? These are still three True Persons we''re talking about here, and they have a huge head start. Do you really think you can still catch them?"


    Tang Jie replied, "Why do you think Shi Jingzhai filled these crates with rocks? Because he couldn''t rest easy. But this uneasiness wasn''t necessarily targeted at Wang Juemie. It might also have been targeted against us. My appearance and Wang Juemie''s pressure both made them restless, which is why they decided to switch out the goods. But just as I said to Wang Juemie: what if none of this had happened? What if Wang Juemie was being sincere, and what if I didn''te? What would they do then?"


    The others all looked at each other.


    Bei Canghan seemed to get it. He dropped his head and began to think, finally saying, "You earlier said to Wang Juemie that the Goldite was hidden in the stone as a back-up n. Now that I think about it, this was a trade involving more than one hundred million in goods, but it suddenly became only one million. As a back-up n, it''s rather weak. Could it be¡­"


    Tang Jieughed and saluted Bei Canghan. "Senior Brother Bei truly is sharp! This one million in resources was no back-up n at all, only a means of buying time. If the Seven Absolutions Sect was sincere, this one million would be used to calm their anger. If I really had discovered their dealings, this one million would be used to exin things to the Basking Moon Sect¡­ Embezzling one million ispletely different from embezzling one hundred million."


    "Buying time¡­" Bei Canghan immediately understood, shouting, "I get it! It must be that these goods were actually divided into two caravans. Shi Jingzhai was escorting the fake goods, and the real stuff was in the other caravan. Yes, if this matter weren''t exposed, then it would just be two trades instead of one. The Goldite in the rocks would be handed over, and then they would wait until the second caravan toplete the deal and leave. If the trade didn''t work out, then this matter would inevitably be exposed. The goods wouldn''t be able to remain in Sageheart and would need to be taken far away. So¡­"


    "So they must be with the other caravan," Liu Hongyan said, arching her eyebrows. "The matter has been exposed, so they''re trying to get away with their wealth."


    Cai Junyangughed. "If that''s the case, things are easy. That caravan should be on about the same scale as this one. We just need to check the records at Lotus Pass to know where they''re going. While three True Persons can move quickly, a caravan can''t. For the sake of money, they can only slowly crawl along."


    The eyes of the Basking Moon disciples brightened. "What are we waiting for? To Lotus Pass!"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "There''s no need for that. Did you forget that Shi Meng is at Lotus Pass? He sent me word long ago."


    Wei Tianchong said in realization, "So you already guessed that this would happen."


    Tang Jie curled his lip. "It''s just a game of ''real or fake''. I''ve seen plenty of those. I was just making preparations just in case."


    "We just need to chase after them now, but those are still three True Persons," Ping Jingyue worriedly said.


    "Three heavily injured True Persons on the verge of death," Tang Jie replied. "Of course, they still can''t be underestimated. That''s why I avoided fighting it out with Wang Juemie. Those Heavenbane Lightning Pearls weren''t cheap. If our costs are too high, our profits will be too low. They have to be used at the crucial point."


    Everyone sinisterlyughed.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Author''s Note: In a previous chapter, I mistakenly wrote that Tang Jie didn''t have the money to improve his body. It should have been that his avatar''s constitution had an upper limit that made it difficult to improve. I actually forgot about this point, and when I was writing that chapter, I looked all over and couldn''t find where I had written it. I thought that I hadn''t written it, so I just wrote it as-is. But yesterday, a reader pointed out that I had actually written about it in Chapter 1 (Chapter 345). I''m now rifying here that thebined effect of the Undying Celestial Origin Pill and the Hundred Cmities Passage fixed the problem of thecking constitution and allowed for a breakthrough. My thanks to the friend who pointed out the problem.

 Chapter 383

    Chapter 383: Internal Strife


    A convoy of forty-some wagons was slowly making its way along arge road running through the forest. Riding at the front of the convoy was an old man in his fifties. On his back was a red-tasseled saber.


    This man was Sima Zhen, the owner of Canglong Prefecture¡¯s Mighty Prestige Escort Company, and he was an old hand in this business.


    The requester was a young man who appeared to have just reached the age of twenty. He was asking them to transport some stones, saying that his hometown appreciated strange stones, so if he brought these stones back, he could sell them at a good price.


    But these were just stones with some special colors, and they were being hauled back as if they were valuable treasures. The oldpany owner did not approve. If it weren¡¯t for the rather expensive price the requester was paying, he would have refused the job.


    Being a good escort wasn¡¯t about having martial arts, but about having the right connections. Most escortpanies had a route that they specialized in. On this route, they knew what sort of bandits they might encounter and where the dangerous areas were. When it came to working around dangers and paying off bandits, there were rules. Bandit groups of differing sizes required differing payments of silver.


    For the same reason, these bandits did not entirely rely on theft and plunder to live, instead upying areas and taking in bribes. Escortpanies formed arge part of their revenue.


    This was also why an escortpany boss hated it when their employer got ideas of their own. If they messed things up, they could end up losing the goods¡ªor worse, their lives.


    The young employer originally wasn¡¯t meddling in their business, but about six hours ago, he had suddenly asked for a wagon and picked up three people in it.


    Picking up passengers mid-journey was a major taboo in the escort business. Nobody knew if they could be spies sent by a bandit gang. Moreover, these people were drenched in blood, so it could be seen at a nce that they didn¡¯t have some good background.


    Sima Zhen had always been cautious, and he hated it when someone broke the rules. But his young employer said that they were his people and that there was no way there could be a problem with them. He also paid extra and said that they wouldn¡¯t be leaving unless they took in these people. Sima Zhen had no choice but to stomach his frustrations and ept.


    Even so, the boss knew that with these strangers boarding the wagon, trouble was bound to follow.


    Sure enough, half a dayter, a boy came over and asked, ¡°Boss Sima, is Cloudmouth Vige up ahead?¡±


    Sima Zhen replied, ¡°Yes. If we take the right fork up ahead, we can reach Cloudmouth Vige¡­¡±


    The boy cut him off. ¡°Is it true that there are Immortal cultivators at Cloudmouth Vige?¡±


    Sima Zhen was startled, but he nodded and said, "Yes, I''ve heard that there''s an Immortal cultivator market there, and cultivators often go through the ce. But it''s not a ce we mortals can go to."


    "That''s good. Then we''ll head for Cloudmouth Vige," the boy said.


    Sima Zhen was taken aback. "But we''re not passing through there."


    "It''s fine. It''s not too far. Once we''re done with our visit, we can just go back onto the route. You will naturally be paid additional silver for the trouble," the boy said, and then walked away.


    "This isn''t a question of silver!" The old man was so furious that he was shaking.


    At this point, the boss had no choice but to turn the convoy toward Cloudmouth.


    The boy went up to a wagon and bowed to a silver-robed youth. "Young Master, I''ve passed on your order."


    "Mm." The young man nodded and entered the wagon.


    In the wagony Liang Xingbang, Shi Jingzhai, and Yu Wanniang.


    But the three True Persons no longer seemed as mighty. Theyy on the floor of the wagon and groaned.


    Yu Wanniang and Liang Xingbang were in the worst state. Yu Wanniang''s spine had been snapped, and she found even standing difficult. All she could do was sit up and try her best to heal her broken bones.


    Liang Xingbang''s two arms had been shattered, rendering him armless. He was currently expending Spirit Essence to restore his limbs while sneering at Yu Wanniang.


    He still remembered how Yu Wanniang had pushed him to the side to escape. However, this wasn''t the time for revenge, and he had to bide his time for now.


    Shi Jingzhai was the only one in any sort of decent state. While he had lost an arm, he hadn''t received a direct attack from Wang Juemie. However, the cost for forcibly maintaining the tunnel had been heavy, and his cultivation level had dropped. Even so, he was still the one among the trio with the most strength intact.


    Shi Jingzhai sat in the center, trying to regrow his lost limb. The silver-robed young man raised the canvas and entered. He bowed to the three and said, "I''ve already passed on the word. Hopefully, we can find some treatment medicines there."


    But he knew that there was little hope of this. The three True Persons were heavily injured, and all the good medicines the sect could provide had been used. But there were some things that medicine could not solve, only time.


    Only divine medicines could skip the time needed and achieve the desired effect, which wasn''t something the small market at Cloudmouth could provide.


    But there was no better option than to try.


    Turning to Liang Xingbang, he said, "Father, how are you doing?"


    This person''s name was Liang Jun, and he was Liang Xingbang''s son.


    As for Shi Jingzhai and Yu Wanniang, they had been unmarried all this time. Shi Jingzhai was interested in Yu Wanniang and wanted to take her as his Daopanion, but Yu Wanniang had been lukewarm this whole time.


    "It''s still the same. Even regting my energy is difficult¡­ Wang Juemie!" Liang Xingbang resentfully spat out this name.


    But the thought of Wang Juemie''s world-shaking fist made his heart tremble. Just how had that guy trained? He had honed himself into being tougher than steel and stronger than an art relic.


    The thought of Wang Juemie made Liang Xingbang think about Yu Wanniang, and he couldn''t help but grunt, "Idiot woman, do you know how to do anything except hurt your own side?"


    Yu Wanniang knew that he was angry, so she only snorted and didn''t argue.


    Shi Jingzhai sighed, "Save your energy and stop arguing."


    Liang Xingbang knew that he liked Yu Wanniang, so he stopped talking and inwardly seethed.


    At this moment, Shi Jingzhai suddenly sensed something. Raising the canvas, he looked up.


    "What happened?" Liang Xingbang and Yu Wanniang asked in unison.


    Shi Jingzhai looked around and then dropped the canvas. "It''s nothing. I just sensed a ripple of spiritual energy that struck my Spirit Will wall. I thought that someone was spying on us, but there''s nothing now. It might have been my mistake, or perhaps a cultivator was flying past."


    "So long as it''s not Wang Juemie or Tang Jie chasing us," Yu Wanniang sighed.


    "''Chasing us''?" Shi Jingzhai''s eyes spat out mes. "Daring to chase us without their elders, do they really think they can take care of us?"


    "Still, our injuries are too severe. Even if we win, it will be a disastrous victory. If we can, it would be best to not fight," Yu Wanniang sighed.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Up in the clouds, a group of cultivators was flying.


    Their leader was Tang Jie.


    Standing on the clouds, his hands held behind his back, Tang Jie calmly looked down below as if he was searching for something.


    Suddenly, he groaned, and some blood flowed from his mouth.


    "Tang Jie, what''s wrong?" Wei Tianchong hastily asked.


    "I''m fine." Tang Jie wiped the blood and pointed off to his right. "A hundred kilometers in that direction, someone has set up a Spirit Will screen. I didn''t notice it, and it repulsed me."


    "''Spirit Will''?" Everyone grew excited.


    Only a Celestial Heart had a Spirit Will, and a Spirit Will screen meant that someone didn''t want to be disturbed, or even discovered. This meant that this was highly likely to be Shi Jingzhai''s group.


    "Then what are we waiting for? Let''s go and take a look." Everyone rushed off, riding winds and clouds in the direction Tang Jie had pointed.


    Bei Canghan hung back and gave Tang Jie a profound look. "I did not think that Junior Brother was capable of sensing activity one hundred kilometers away. I did not see Junior Brother cast any art. Could you have grasped Insight? Yes, I heard that Junior Brother shook the world when you charged at Mortal Shedding in the Langya Blessed Land, so it would not be strange for you to have this capability."


    Tang Jie was shaken. He had not expected Bei Canghan to catch on so quickly with just one little clue.


    Bei Canghan chuckled. "Junior Brother, there is no need to be nervous. There''s nothing wrong with keeping a secret, but there''s no need to think that other people finding it out will be bad for you. While some power struggles are unavoidable within the Basking Moon Sect, things are still rather harmonious overall. Such things as killing each other happen only in the rarest of circumstances. To outsiders, it''s best to keep as many secrets as possible, but there''s no harm in being a little more open to the people on your side. Only when you treat others with sincerity can others treat you with sincerity."


    Tang Jie turned solemn, and he gave Bei Canghan a deep bow. "Senior Brother, thank you for your instruction!"


    Bei Canghan nodded. "This is something I came to understand while in the sect. During my ten years in the academy, I was an aloof and proud prodigy, and it was only after I entered the sect that I realized that all of the disciples were elites of the academy. All of them were top-ss geniuses. Thinking oneself powerful, keeping apart from others, and holding fast to every little ability one has only discourages people. While you''re putting up your guard against others, they''re putting up their guard against you, and this isn''t good for the development of the sect. I also suffered a little hardship because of this once. From then on, I came to understand something: when interacting with others, being too sharp isn''t necessarily a good thing. Sometimes, it''s better to be a little dumber and clumsier."


    "Yes, your junior brother understands." Tang Jie nodded.


    People who schemed too much were often abandoned by others, for while one could fool others for a time, they could not fool people forever.


    If the Basking Moon Sect were that sort of sect that got powerful by encouraging killing among fellow sect members, then this wouldn''t matter, but the Basking Moon Sect wasn''t that kind of sect. While it did encouragepetition, its foundation was still internal unity against outsiders.


    This was precisely why small-minded and shrewd people were not wee.


    In truth, Tang Jie understood the reasoning, but he had mostly ignored it. It was only when Bei Canghan brought it up that he realized.


    And Bei Canghan had reminded him of this reasoning because of the matter of trading the one million in resources for the Profound Heaven Treatise.


    Tang Jie had given up those resources for the Profound Heaven Treatise, and the nominal reason was that he hadn''t wanted to waste the Heavenbane Lightning Pearls. They had not fought a profitless battle, but Tang Jie had taken all the profits for himself. Without the threat of the twenty-some Heavenbane Lightning Pearls held by Peng Yaolong and the others, how could Wang Juemie have let Tang Jie go? He might have even lost his life. Even those two Undying Celestial Origin Pills were gained in part due to his martial brothers.


    In this matter, Tang Jie could be said to have used both Wang Juemie and his martial brothers of the Basking Moon Sect, trading the one million in resources for benefits that only benefited himself, leaving nothing for everyone else. But he also made it so that no one could object. After all, there was no fight, and they hadn''t done anything, so it was difficult to divide everything up.


    But regardless, Tang Jie had been the sole beneficiary. There was no denying this fact.


    Once or twice was tolerable, but doing it over and over would chill everyone''s hearts, and eventually, many people wouldn''t want to help Tang Jie.


    This was what Bei Canghan was warning him about, and as Tang Jie realized, he blushed in shame and said, "I''ve really beencking for moneytely, so I wasn''t thinking things over carefully. Once this matter is settled, I''ll definitely give everyone their fair share, and not one bit less."


    "It''s fine. You know that I''m not referring to money." Bei Canghan smiled.


    "I understand. This is a problem of my behavior," Tang Jie replied.


    Only when he heard this did Bei Canghan nod in satisfaction.


    He really had spoken to Tang Jie with the intent of giving him some advice. If Tang Jie had not appreciated his advice, then he would have had nothing to say to him in the future.


    While a hundred kilometers was distant, when flown at full speed, it was crossed in the blink of an eye.


    They hadn''t been talking for long, but the others had already arrived at the caravan. They had stopped outside the range of the Spirit Will wall. Just with their eyes, they could see therge wagons slowly entering Cloudmouth Vige.


    "It''s them." Shi Meng pointed down below. "The one wearing silver is the employer."


    Tang Jie nced at the silver-robed person and smiled. "So it was Young Master Liang! I was wondering who these three would task with escorting the goods."


    In his time at the Stone Gate Sect, he had familiarized himself with all of its members, so he had recognized Liang Jun at a nce.


    "What are we still waiting for, then? Let''s go down there," Peng Yaolong impatiently said.


    Tang Jie rolled his eyes at him. "Senior Brother Peng, you really think those three are just three heads of cabbage? These are three Celestial Hearts. In normal circumstances, just one of them could exterminate the twenty-some of us so thoroughly that not even dregs would be left."


    Peng Yaolongughed. "And aren''t these abnormal circumstances?"


    "You still have to be careful. A centipede is still tough, even when dead," Bei Canghan said. "This is still three Celestial Hearts we''re talking about. Even when they''re heavily wounded, they can''t be underestimated. We should think of a n first."


    Tang Jie pped his hands. "That''s what I''m saying."


    Ye Tianshang said, "You must have another weird idea. You might as well say it. In any case, this is all because of you, so we''ll listen to what you have to say."


    Tang Jie replied, "My n is for all of you to stay here while I go down alone."


    "Huh?" Everyone was dumbfounded.


    Cai Junyang frowned. "You''re putting yourself at risk again? You''re not facing ten-some Seven Absolutions Sect disciples this time, you know. Why don''t I go with you?"


    "No," Tang Jie firmly replied. "None of you can go with me."


    "Why?"


    "Because they don''t know that you came."


    Everyone exchanged nces.


    Bei Canghan seemed to understand somewhat. "Are you saying¡­"


    "Since they don''t know you''re here, they won''t be afraid of me, and only then will I have the chance¡­" Tang Jie smiled.


    He reached out a hand, and Shi Meng passed him something.


    When they saw what it was, everyone understood Tang Jie''s n.


    Bei Canghan nodded. "There''s no harm in trying."


    With the n decided, everyone paused in the air, using only their eyes to keep watch.


    Tang Jie first circled around andnded in the vige, after which he swaggered out to meet the convoy.


    The escort boss spotted Tang Jie and said to him, "Young brother, please stand aside."


    The old boss had many years of experience and was an expert at reading the mood. He could tell from Tang Jie''s intimidating aura that trouble wasing, so his tone was extremely polite.


    Tang Jie waved his hand. "Immediately dismount and take your people to the side. If you don''t and end up getting caught in the crossfire, don''t me me for not warning you."


    Boss Sima was furious, but just when he was about to vent his ire, Tang Jie casually punched, instantly creating a giant hole in the ground.


    Sima Zhen yelped, "Cultivator!"


    He leapt from his horse, rolled on the ground, and charged into a store on the side of the road. His movements were so nimble that he left all his subordinates dumbfounded. The old man waved his hand and shouted, "Everyone, withdraw! Don''t block the road!"


    In a sh, several dozen people fled the convoy, leaving behind the forty-some wagons.


    Tang Jie ignored them. Looking at the wagon at the very back, he shouted, "Tang Jie of the Basking Moon Sect pays respects to the three True Persons."


    A few momentster, a long sigh came from within the wagon. "So you finally found us. Young Brother Tang, have you been well?"


    Three people emerged from the wagon: Liang Xingbang, Shi Jingzhai, and Yu Wanniang.


    But Liang Xingbang''s shattered arms had regrown two little nubs of flesh, tiny little hands sprouting from them. It was like the arms of a baby attached to an adult.


    As for Yu Wanniang, in a rare sight, she had a cane and was using her left hand to support her back. Though her face was young, her posture was like that of a granny.


    Only Shi Jingzhai was in a somewhat better state, one arm hanging by his side.


    Unlike Liang Xingbang, he didn''t rush to regrow his arm, as this was too damaging to his body. In his current situation, if he tried to force the issue, he might not even be able to remain at the Celestial Heart Realm.


    Looking at the three, Tang Jie smiled and said, "It''s been quite a few hours since we parted, and the three of you are as energetic as ever. But where are you going?"


    Yu Wanniang sighed, "Young Brother Tang, why ask a question that you already know the answer to? After what we''ve done, we can no longer remain in Sageheart and can only go abroad. Young brother, please be merciful and let us go. As for the things here, young brother can take as much as you can take."


    Shi Jingzhai''s face darkened. "Wanniang, what''s the meaning of this? He''s just a puny Mortal Shedding. Do you really think he can deal with us? If he dares to stop us, we''ll just kill him."


    Yu Wanniang inwardly sighed, and then she whispered, "I know that he can''t beat us, but he came anyway, meaning that he clearly has something backing up his confidence. Our best option isn''t to fight it out, but quickly leave. What does it matter if we lose out on some goods?"


    Shi Jingzhai was taken aback and said nothing.


    On the other end, Tang Jie chuckled and said, "And what if I said that I wanted all of the wagons?"


    Shi Jingzhai paled, and just when he was about to rage, Yu Wanniang said, "Then you can take them all."


    Liang Xingbang couldn''t take it any more, shouting, "Idiot woman, are you crazy?"


    Yu Wanniang suppressed her rage and said, "What else can we do? Don''t forget that it''s these wagons that allowed him to even catch us. In any case, we have the most valuable goods on us, so what does it matter if we give him these wagons?"


    Even forty-some wagons weren''t enough to carry all the goods, and they had stuffed a lot into Mustard Seed Bags. If they hadn''t feared the appearance of looking like beggars, they would have carried even more bags.


    But while she was willing to give up on the goods, the other two were not. Shi Jingzhai red at Tang Jie and said, "No, we can''t give up on them no matter what. Tang Jie, I''ll give you one wagon. If you don''t see sense and quickly take your leave, don''t me this old man for being merciless."


    "''One wagon''?" Tang Jie snorted and nced at one of the wagons. "How much could one of these wagons be worth? Probably not even as much as what you''ve embezzled over thest two years, right?"


    Shi Jingzhai was furious. "The Mount Eternal mine belonged to my Stone Gate Sect. If not for your Basking Moon Sect bullying people around, none of it would be yours. ''Embezzling''? We''re just taking what''s rightfully ours!"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "I''m not talking about what you embezzled from the Basking Moon Sect, but what you took for your personal use while mining the Goldite."


    The three of them grimaced at these words.


    Shi Jingzhai roared, "Tang Jie, you''re talking nonsense!"


    He chopped his hand at Tang Jie, but to his surprise, two sts of palm wind came from his sides and neutralized his attack. It was none other than Yu Wanniang and Liang Xingbang who had acted.


    Liang Xingbang''s baby arms had unleashed considerable spiritual energy. He pointed at Shi Jingzhai and said, "Junior Brother, why are you in such a rush to silence witnesses?"


    Shi Jingzhai furiously shot back, "You believe his words?"


    Yu Wanniang answered, "It''s not a question of belief, Junior Brother. The silkworm mining area''s entrance was very small, and poisonous waters destroyed clothing. Your second senior brother was too fat to go in, and I am a woman, which makes it inappropriate for me to go in naked, so we had to entrust this task to you, Senior Brother. Nobody knows what you actually managed to take, but I do recall that I asked you once about how you seemed to be working so incredibly fast as ofte, and then you immediately turned hostile, using me of not trusting you."


    "That''s how it''s always been," Shi Jingzhai angrily said. "I went in naked and came out naked. Where could I have hidden anything?"


    "It''s hard to say. So long as one has the will, there are actually some ces you could hide the goods," Tang Jie chuckled as he cast his gaze at the lower half of Shi Jingzhai''s body.


    Shi Jingzhai''s face reddened. "Foul brat, shut your mouth!"


    Yu Wanniang coolly said, "If Senior Brother Shi was truly as kindhearted as you profess, then how do you exin the Yin Yang Inversion Drum? This item doesn''te cheap, so how did Senior Brother manage to buy it?"


    Shi Jingzhai angrily replied, "I''m still a Stone Gate Sect elder! Isn''t it very normal for me to have some savings? What''s the big deal about buying a drum? You think I can''t afford it?"


    Tang Jie replied, "If it were just the drum, there would naturally be no problem. But what if there was more besides the drum?"


    Tang Jie sent a paper floating over to the three.


    Liang Xingbang waved a little hand, and the paper flew up to him. On it was a long list of names that left him aghast.


    These were numerous rare and valuable cultivation resources, and many of them were medicines for boosting the power of Earth spell arts, with the rest being for increasing one''s cultivation level.


    As for magic items, there was nothing else except the drum.


    Upon seeing this, Liang and Yu instantly understood what Shi Jingzhai had been doing.


    It was clear that he had been privately selling off many of the goods over thest two years in exchange for rare spirit medicines, all of which he used for himself to increase his cultivation level and strength. But only now was it all being revealed.


    Shi Jingzhai was dumbstruck. He bellowed, "No, it''s not me!"


    Tang Jie waved his hand, sending over another pile of papers. "On here is written the sales of sandworms, stone bamboo, and Goldite over thest two years. Starting from two years ago, the quantity of these items sold began to gradually increase. While it wasn''t by much, two years of sales has still had a certain effect on the market. And I''m sure you don''t need me to tell you who was providing these three products to the market over this period of time, yes?"


    The two of them were looking at Shi Jingzhai very differently now.


    Shi Jingzhai''s heart chilled. Finally, he shouted, "Yes, I did it. So what? I was mining away all by myself, so shouldn''t I get something for my hard work? And what did any of you do?"


    He pointed at Liang Xingbang. "All you had was your son, who you ordered to keep an eye on the goods throughout the year. Does that count as some big contribution?"


    He then pointed at Yu Wanniang. "And you! You were the one who contacted Wang Juemie, and so aren''t you responsible for the state we''re in? And you also know how well I''ve treated you, but how did you reciprocate? You turn hostile to me the moment you hear that I might have privately benefited, you fucking whore!"


    Shi Jingzhai erupted in rage, throwing his head back and shouting, "The world isn''t fair! I, Shi Jingzhai, don''t ept it! These things should all be mine, mine! Nobody can take it from me!"


    He suddenly thrust a palm at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was ready for this and dodged to the side. But while he was speaking, he had subtly moved himself in front of the silver-robed Liang Jun.


    Liang Jun was naturally happy to stand behind Tang Jie so as to attack him from the rear.


    But now, as Shi Jingzhai attacked and Tang Jie dodged, Liang Jun was caught unprepared. The palm st mmed into his body, and he flew back while spewing blood, dying on the spot.


    "Jun''er!" Liang Xingbang had never expected this development. He painfully cried out, and then he turned eyes brimming with hatred toward Shi Jingzhai.


    "How did that happen?" Shi Jingzhai was dumbfounded. He wanted to say that this wasn''t on purpose, but Liang Xingbang didn''t care for what he had to say, sending a wind dragon howling at Shi Jingzhai.


    Shi Jingzhai was heavily wounded by this strike, and he roared, "Bastard! You''re all bastards! All of you deserve death!"


    He sent a wave of spiritual energy at both Liang and Yu this time.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie calmly took a few steps back.


    The three fierce beasts caught in a dire predicament had finally turned against each other through Tang Jie''s incitement.


    This wasn''t strange. If Tang Jie hade with everyone, perhaps they would have united together against amon foe.


    But when the enemy was weak, internal conflicts took priority.


    Whether it was through misunderstanding or incitement, this internal strife¡­ was a done deal.

 Chapter 384: Sowing Beans into Soldiers

    Chapter 384: Sowing Beans into Soldiers


    Once a battle began, stopping it was not easy.


    The exposure of his private dealings, the questions from Liang and Yu, and the idental killing of Liang Jun had left Shi Jingzhai consumed by his wrath. Now that he saw that the situation was like this, he suddenly had an idea:<em>Liang Xingbang and Yu Wanniang are both heavily injured, so they''re no match for me in terms of strength. Why don''t I just kill them?</em>


    Kill them and take their wealth for himself!


    The moment this idea took root in Shi Jingzhai''s mind, it began to rapidly grow.


    As his murderous intent swelled, the surge of spiritual energy wtihin his body grew stronger and stronger. With a shake of his hand, he summoned an earth dragon that attacked Liang Xingbang''s wind dragon. The earth dragon obliterated the wind dragon and swung its ws at the other two, creating powerful gales with its movements.


    "Senior Brother, you¡­" Yu Wanniang was the first to realize that something was wrong with Shi Jingzhai.


    While they had just been acting on emotion at the start, only using ordinary spell arts, Shi Jingzhai was no longer acting on emotion. He was really trying to kill them.


    "All of you must die!" Shi Jingzhaiughed. He suddenly tossed out some beans, shouting, "Sow the beans!"


    The beans shed with a special light. When they hit the ground, they immediately drilled into the earth.


    "Be soldiers!" Shi Jingzhai roared.


    A momentter, countless tiny people emerged, each one the size of a palm. They wore green armor and wielded steel sabers, and they had rather cute appearances. The moment they appeared, they charged at Liang and Yu with a cry, and one of them even lunged at Tang Jie. It was clear that Shi Jingzhai had no ns of letting him go.


    Tang Jie was unconcerned, falling back and thrusting out a palm to push back the bean soldier. Most transformed objects like this small soldier had limited strength.


    But a momentter, the bean soldier jumped, swiftly dodging Tang Jie''s palm st. Spinning in the air, it shot toward Tang Jie.


    Caught off guard, Tang Jie hastily stepped back and chopped at the bean soldier with the Heartbreak Saber.


    This attack had mustered up ny percent of his strength, and while he hadn''t used Energy-Blood Simulflow, the strength of the Jewel Body was not something an ordinary person could take. Logically, this attack should have destroyed the bean soldier.


    Surprisingly, the bean soldier struck back with its saber.<em>Bang!</em>The bean soldier was sent flying back several dozen meters. It spun end over end before stopping, its head swaying as if it had been dizzied by the sh.


    It looked at Tang Jie, clear rage on its face. Pointing at Tang Jie, it babbled as if it had intelligence, leaving Tang Jie dumbfounded.


    The bean soldier once more charged at Tang Jie from the air, moving so fast that it left behind a wake. Tang Jie hastily raised his saber to block.


    There was a thunderous bang, and in this sh, Tang Jie was pushed back several steps. Although the bean soldier was knocked back again, it simply shook its head in the air as if it was dizzy. It clearly wasn''t dead and was still capable of fighting.


    Sure enough, it once more shot at Tang Jie like a spinning top.


    Those in the sky were stunned by the incredible power in this small bean soldier.


    Wei Tianchong blurted out, "This pea is that powerful?"


    He was so disconcerted that he had ended up calling a bean a "pea", but nobody was concerned with that at the moment, simply nodding along.


    Bei Canghan had a grave expression. "This is no ordinary spell art. Shi Jingzhai probably bought it with his stolen goods that we didn''t manage to dig up."


    "He didn''t use it against Wang Juemie, but he uses it against his own junior disciples. Sure enough, savage to one''s own and helpless against outsiders," someone said in disdain.


    Bei Canghan rejected the idea. "Not at all. Wang Juemie has an extremely tough body, and while there are many of these bean soldiers, and their attacks are fierce, they''re stillcking against Wang Juemie. If they were used against him, he would probably crush them one by one. While this technique is good, it''s not invincible. Wang Juemie counters them perfectly."


    "He counters most spell arts," another person said.


    Everyone''s hearts sank at these words. Wang Juemie was far more threatening than these three True Persons that Tang Jie had easily incited against each other, for he was never alone, and he never stopped advancing.


    Wei Tianchong didn''t seem to care. Curling his lip, he said, "Didn''t he still suffer in Tang Jie''s hand? Tang Jie was his counter."


    These words instantly made everyone rx. Yes, they had their own genius.


    Down below, the battle continued.


    Hundreds of bean soldiers crazily attacked Liang and Yu like fearless warriors. They jumped through the air, ramming into the pair like spinning tops.


    Wind dragons writhed while slender hands trembled as Liang and Yu used their best spell arts. The battle was officially two versus one, but it was somehow Shi Jingzhai that had the upper hand.


    Whether it was in terms of degree of injury or newly-obtained secret arts, Shi Jingzhai was stronger than the other two.


    As he swung around his sole arm, he seemed to grow stronger and stronger. He shouted, "Junior Brother, Junior Sister, what do you think of my Sowed Bean Soldiers? Children, blood-sucking form!"


    <em>Hiss!</em>The hundreds of bean soldiers threw their heads back and hissed, and their faces began to twist and distort. These cute and amusing bean soldiers had suddenly turned savage.


    The bean soldier in front of Tang Jie also went through this transformation. Its body grew slightly taller, and its green armor disappeared, to be reced by numerous scales. Fangs grew from its mouth, and its little arms and legs bulged with muscle, making it appear like some juvenile beast. Tang Jie was stunned and backed away, blurting out, "Holy shit! They have a second form!"


    "Kill them!" Shi Jingzhai bellowed.


    The transformed bean soldiers charged.


    They were a little slower than before, but they seemed more solid as well.


    As Tang Jie swung his saber, the bean soldier raised a hand to block. Rather than being knocked away, it held fast as if it was rooted to the ground.


    Yes, it really did have roots extending from its feet into the ground.


    Tang Jie saw numerous vines sprouting from its feet and tightly holding to the ground, preventing it from being knocked away.


    "This is¡­" Tang Jie was rmed.


    The bean soldier bared its teeth and lunged at Tang Jie.


    It swung its saber, and Tang Jie raised his saber to block. To his surprise, the bean soldier threw aside its weapon and grabbed Tang Jie''s leg, taking a bite from it.


    "Fuck!" Tang Jie cursed.


    Fortunately, he hadn''t been careless and had activated the Formless Golden Body. The bean soldier''s teeth seemed capable of devouring steel, biting away at his skin with a great tter. In just a few bites, Tang Jie could feel that his Formless Golden Body was on the verge of being broken.


    Tang Jie realized that the purpose of the bean soldier''s second form was to stick close to the enemy, and the saber was just a diversion. Biting at people like a maddened beast was their uniquebat style, and their teeth were astonishingly hard.


    Tang Jie was better off, as he was only dealing with one, but Liang and Yu were dealing with arge number and were instantly on the back foot. The hundreds of bean soldiers lunged out, hugging legs, arms, and faces, stabbing with their sabers and biting with their teeth. In the blink of an eye, these two were all green, and blood was constantly leaking out from the mass of green as the two howled in pain.


    Yu Wanniang grabbed a bean soldier in each hand and squeezed. She had mustered more than half her strength in this attack, True Essence bursting out. Those two bean soldiers were instantly obliterated, but the remaining bean soldiers howled in rage at the death of theirrades and bit down even harder.


    Tang Jie could clearly feel the bean soldier biting on him suddenly getting a little stronger.


    <em>Shit, they can also get enraged.</em>


    The hand that was just about to crush it to death immediately went stiff. He instead grabbed the bean soldier on the back like it was a crab, letting it il around in the air but not killing it.


    Yu Wanniang was drenched in blood from all the bites she had suffered, and she wailed, "Senior Brother, Senior Brother, hurry and save me!"


    Shi Jingzhaiughed. "Your Senior Brother Liang can hardly save himself, let alone you!"


    Yu Wanniang ignored him, continuing to frantically yell while crushing bean soldiers. But this only made the bean soldiers more savage. Tang Jie saw that Yu Wanniang was already blind in one eye and had had her nose bitten off. Her beautiful face had been left covered in wounds in a chilling sight.


    Yu Wanniang was still shouting, "Senior Brother, save me! Save me!"


    Meanwhile, Liang Xingbang was in no state to help. He was entirely relying on the Astral Wind barrier around him to survive. The Astral Wind howled with a metallic tter, but the bean soldiers continued to fearlessly lunge. And Shi Jingzhai was continuing to sow more bean soldiers to refill their ranks. With each sowing, his face would wince in pain. There was clearly something special about these beans.


    Liang Xingbang could still hold on, but Yu Wanniang was about to give out.


    She had killed several dozen bean soldiers, but more bean soldiers and Shi Jingzhai''s attacks were wearing her down.


    She had lost both eyes now, and there wasn''t an untouched part of her body. She still wasn''t dead and was continuing to mumble as all the bean soldiers gnawed away at her, "Senior Brother, save me¡­"


    Tang Jie frowned. He finally couldn''t help but say, "Your senior brother can''t save you. He''s barely keeping himself safe."


    His words entered Yu Wanniang''s ears, and she trembled, crying out, "''Keeping himself safe''¡­ You''ve thrown me away¡­ thrown me away¡­ No¡­"


    Her voice suddenly grew louder, into a piercing shriek.


    As she shrieked, her body suddenly erupted with a blinding light.


    The light was more blinding than the sun, explosively radiating outward.


    "Celestial Heart detonation!?" Shi Jingzhai paled and began to retreat.


    He pointed at Yu Wanniang and barked, "Block her!"


    He bit on his finger and pointed at the earth. A giant stone wall emerged from the ground.


    A momentter, there was a massive boom, and Shi Jingzhai''s stone wall was sted into two pieces. In that dazzling light, countless bean soldiers wailed and died.


    The aftershocks swept out, and everything in every direction was basically ttened, with only the area blocked by Shi Jingzhai''s stone wall faring somewhat better.


    To tell the truth, this Celestial Heart self-detonation was far weaker than Xu Muyang''s.


    This was partially because Yu Wanniang had been much weaker than Xu Muyang, and partially because Yu Wanniang was exhausted from battle while Xu Muyang had detonated in peak condition, so the effect had naturally been much better. Even so, the level of damage was stunning.


    Half of Cloudmouth had been destroyed. Thankfully, the mortals had realized that something bad was going to happen when the battle started and had left long ago, so there were no casualties.


    Where Yu Wanniang had been was now a crater with a diameter of twenty-some meters.


    Spirit rain fell over the earth, together with strips of cloth, but there was no sign of Yu Wanniang''s body.


    Tang Jie knew¡­ she no longer existed.


    Not far from the cratery another figure.


    Liang Xingbang.


    He was still alive, but the explosion had worsened his injuries, and he probably wasn''t going to get up again.


    Yu Wanniang''s self-detonation had killed off all the bean soldiers on his body, but Liang Xingbang no longer had the ability to fight.


    Hey there, looking at Shi Jingzhai with fear in his eyes.


    He said in a trembling voice, "Don''t kill me¡­ Junior Brother¡­ Junior Brother¡­"


    Shi Jingzhai coldly looked at him. "Fourth Sister is already gone, so what''s the point in you living on? In any case, your son is already dead, so aren''t you afraid of being lonely? You could self-detonate too. I''ll give you a chance. You might even injure me."


    <em>"Might even injure you"?</em>


    <em>How could he possibly injure you?</em>


    Tang Jie inwardly grumbled,<em>You''re not even going to get within one hundred feet of him, and with his injuries, he wouldn''t be able to produce even half the power of Yu Wanniang.</em>


    Liang Xingbang looked in despair at Shi Jingzhai. Suddenly, he jumped off the ground. "I''ll kill you!"


    Two bolts of lightning shot out from his baby hands.


    Shi Jingzhai was just about to dodge when Liang Xingbang''s eyes released a ray of light.


    A Divine Will attack!


    This Divine Will attack had concentrated all of Liang Xingbang''s strength, but he was already greatly exhausted, and Shi Jingzhai had cultivated a Spirit Will. While this was stillckingpared to a Divine Will, it conferred enough resistance that he didn''t die. Even so, this attack instantly made him go cross-eyed, his head seized by a migraine while blood flowed from his nose.


    His barrier flickered, and two lightning snakes prated through the barrier and into his body.


    "Armorbreak Gale Snakes?" Shi Jingzhai cried out in fear. "So you were also¡­"


    Liang Xingbang loudlyughed. "Yes, I was also embezzling! Since I was keeping the goods safe, how could I not take a little for myself? You have to pluck a feather from a passing goose, let alone a fortune like this. But the two of you were too calcting, so no matter how hard I tried, I was only able to get a little. Even so, it was enough for me to have a little back-up n. What do you think about my Armorbreak Gale Snakes? Not bad, right? Hahahaha!"


    Armorbreak Gale Snakes were extremely bizarre existences, somewhere between beasts and objects.


    They were originally fiend snakes that lived out in the wilderness. They moved as quickly as lightning and had the Wind attribute. Cultivators captured them and refined them into magic items, creating the special item known as Armorbreak Gale Snakes.


    The most terrifying aspect of these items was their ability to ignore all magical barriers and strike at the actual body. As for their power once they had burrowed into the body, that depended on the skill of the refiner.


    This object was the bane of cultivators, but s, it was no good against Wang Juemie. Armorbreak Gale Snakes couldn''t prate through the defenses of a Dao armament, and even if they could, they wouldn''t be able to do too much damage to Wang Juemie. This was because he never relied on magic barriers, only on his formidable constitution.


    But for Shi Jingzhai, these snakes were horrifying. He immediately felt like ten thousand ants were drilling into his heart.


    "Poison?" he yelled. He swiftly took out a pill and swallowed it.


    "Yes, venomous Gale Snakes. Shi Jingzhai, even if you have an antidote pill, you''ll find it very hard to neutralize the poison of my Gale Snakes. I will wait for you under the Nine Springs!" Once Liang Xingbang said this, his legs flew up, and he dropped dead to the ground. The venomous Gale Snake attack had used up thest of his strength, so he died without any need for Shi Jingzhai to do anything.


    As for self-detonation, his spiritual energy did not burst out all at once, and he did not form arge-scale spirit rain. There were simply a few gusts of wind, and his spiritual energy ended up seeping back into the earth in a gentler manner. As for his body, it rapidly began to change, first growing old, and then shriveling up into a desated corpse.


    This was because he was already old, and now that he had lost his spirituality, his body was returning to its original form.


    Inparison, body refiners who fused spirit into their blood would keep their bodies intact even after death, and their spirituality was not easily lost. But this wasn''t a good thing, for this meant that one''s corpse was more liable to be made into some magic object¡­


    Tang Jie looked at Liang Xingbang''s corpse as if he was in a trance. While he was lost in thought, the bean soldier in his hand continued to struggle and jabber¡­ It had be thest survivor.


    Tang Jie handed it to Yiyi and then turned to Shi Jingzhai.


    Shi Jingzhai was still neutralizing the poison. His face was still twitching as he looked at Liang Xingbang''s corpse andughed, "Dead! Finally, they''re all dead! Wonderful! With your deaths, these goods are all mine! Mine!"


    He erupted inughter.


    And then he suddenly realized something, his eyes growing wide.


    The Celestial Heart explosion had basically ttened Cloudmouth, and those wagons had naturally been destroyed as well, their contents exposed.


    Shi Jingzhai hadn''t noticed earlier, but he now discovered that only a minority of the contents were Goldite and Icestone Bamboo. Most of it was just rocks.


    "Rocks? What''s going on?" Shi Jingzhai shrieked.


    He rushed over and stomped one of the rocks to pieces, but it was just a rock. There was nothing inside.


    There was no disguise. It was a in rock. The forty-some wagons had mostly been loaded with nothing but rocks. Only the topyer had been the actual goods.


    How could that be?


    Shi Jingzhai was utterly baffled.


    The three of them had personally watched as the goods were loaded and Liang Jun left with them, and only then did they escort the other caravan to meet with Wang Juemie.


    Why?


    Why had the goods in the wagons gone missing?


    He suddenly realized something and began to look around the giant crater.


    "Mustard Seed Bag¡­ Where are the Mustard Seed Bags?" he muttered as he looked around.


    Even if the Mustard Seed Bags had been destroyed, the goods should havee out.


    Finally, he found the Mustard Seed Bags in the crater, but when he opened them up, he froze in shock. "Nothing¡­ How?"


    He rushed up to Liang Xingbang and opened up his Mustard Seed Bag, upon which he sighed in relief. Sitting down on the ground, he said, "It''s okay¡­ it''s okay¡­ Second Brother''s is still here. But¡­ where did Fourth Sister''s go? And where did the goods in the crates go? Where did they all go!?"


    He threw his head back and howled.


    Hm, where did all the loot go? Who could have switched all the stuff out?

 Chapter 385

    Chapter 385: To the Death


    Table of Contents


    (Teaser) ?


    In response to Shi Jingzhai¡¯s cry, twenty-some people descended from the sky.


    Bei Canghan and the others hade.


    They were no longer afraid of Shi Jingzhai.


    ¡°You guys¡­¡± Shi Jingzhai looked nkly at the Basking Moon disciples, his eyes ck. Suddenly, he roared, ¡°Was it you who stole my goods? Was it you?!¡±


    Bei Canghan frowned. ¡°Old Shi, have you gone crazy? If we had the goods, would we have needed to do all this?¡±


    ¡°Then who? Who? Who stole my goods? This was enough goods to load forty wagons and several Mustard Seed Bags! And more than half of it is gone¡­¡± Shi Jingzhai bawled. He didn¡¯t seem to care what the arrival of the Basking Moon disciples signified, only bemoaning the loss of his fortune. He shouted, ¡°Do you know how much those goods were worth? Twenty million! Twenty million spirit coins!¡±


    Tang Jie softly coughed. ¡°Actually¡­ it was nearly seventy million.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Shi Jingzhai looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie went on, ¡°Although you only sold them for 40 million, you can¡¯t make that the value of those goods. In reality, these goods were worth around 110 million. You¡¯ve lost about 60% of that, so your losses should be 66 million, not 20 million.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai trembled, his mouth opening and closing. ¡°Six¡­ sixty-six¡­ million?¡±


    ¡°No, wrong,¡± Tang Jie suddenly said. ¡°It¡¯s twenty million.¡±


    Shi Jingzhai was confused. Blood trickled from his nose. ¡°Why is it now twenty million?¡±


    ¡°Because you only sold it for forty million,¡± Tang Jie replied.


    Shi Jingzhai¡¯s body began to shudder even harder. Pointing at Tang Jie, he stammered out, ¡°You¡­ you¡­ Just now, you said¡­ it was worth 66 million. Why¡­ now¡­ why is it¡­ and also, even if we only sold it for forty million, it should be twenty¡­¡±


    He wasn¡¯t able to finish, and he began to count with his fingers.


    ¡°Did I?¡± Tang Jie countered. ¡°I clearly remember saying ¡®110 million¡¯.¡±


    ¡°110 million¡­¡± Blood began to flow more strongly from his nose. ¡°You¡­ nonsense¡­ clearly¡­ clearly said ¡®twenty million¡¯¡­¡±


    The two of them arguing about numbers like this left everyone else confused.


    Wei Tianchong said in puzzlement, ¡°What is he doing?¡±


    Peng Yaolong added, ¡°What is Tang Jie ying at, here? If it were me, I would have just thrown out a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl and sted this old man to bits.¡±


    Bei Canghan solemnly said, ¡°It seems like that won¡¯t be necessary.¡±


    ¡°Hm? What do you mean?¡± Everyone looked at Bei Canghan.


    Bei Canghan watched as Tang Jie continued to argue with Shi Jingzhai. ¡°You still can¡¯t tell? He¡¯s already lost his mind.¡±


    ¡°¡®Lost his mind¡¯?¡± Everyone was dumbfounded.


    Bei Canghan firmly nodded. ¡°Mm. Though Liang Xingbang¡¯s Divine Will attack didn¡¯t kill him, his soul was damaged. He was then struck with the Gale Snake poison. This poison is insidious, lingering and very difficult to neutralize. If he had been a¡­


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    Is this goodbye for Bao¡¯er? And will Xi Canhen survive his injuries?

 Chapter 386

    Chapter 386: Going In Alone


    Table of Contents


    (Teaser) ?


    In a shrub at the base of Stone Gate Peak, Tang Jiey on his back, his hands pillowed behind him, his eyes narrowed in thought.


    Interestingly, next to him were Wei Tianchong, Peng Yaolong, and Qi Shaoming. Just like him, they were boredly sitting around, though the other Basking Moon disciples had gone elsewhere. Nearby, Shi Jingzhai was dumbly sitting.


    After some time, a streak of fire flew out of the distance, flying toward Tang Jie and the others, where it burst apart into a message. After reading the words, both Wei Tianchong and Qi Shaoming smiled. ¡°Sess.¡±


    Tang Jie was unmoved. Standing up, he said, ¡°Since that¡¯s all settled, it¡¯s our turn now. Old Shi, you stay there and don¡¯t move.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Shi Jingzhai replied, his gaze ck.


    Tang Jie made his way up Stone Gate Peak, the other three following close behind.


    A disciple received them at the base and led them up the mountain. When they reached the summit, another disciple weed them. ¡°So it is Junior Brother Tang of the Basking Moon Sect! Junior Brother Tang, did you not already finish surveying the mine and headed back to report on your mission? To what do we owe your visit?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°I have something I need to meet with Sect Master Qiu about.¡±


    ¡°Allow me to report this,¡± the disciple said, withdrawing.


    Peng Yaolong grunted, ¡°Putting on an act! With his strength, he should have already known that we wereing, but he pretends to not know. It¡¯s probably as you say, and he really does have a guilty conscience.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Guilty conscience or not, everything¡¯s fine so long as he¡¯s willing to meet us.¡±


    ¡°And if he¡¯s not?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    Without the official mission of the Basking Moon Sect to back them up, Qiu Shuyu waspletely in his rights to refuse them.


    Tang Jie¡¯s expression sank. ¡°He¡¯s still a Celestial Heart cultivator. If he doesn¡¯t even have the courage to meet someone, what sort of Dao is he cultivating, and what is he striving for?¡±


    A few momentster.


    The disciple hastened back and gave Tang Jie a deep bow. ¡°The sect master invites Young Master Tang to see him.¡±


    Tang Jie noticed that this disciple had changed his form of address.


    He smiled. ¡°Only me?¡±


    The disciple trembled. ¡°Young Master, please forgive me. The sect master did not mention your martial brothers.¡±


    Tang Jie nodded and turned his head. ¡°Then you guys wait for me here.¡±


    Peng Yaolong grabbed him and said, ¡°No, it¡¯s too dangerous for you to go alone.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Senior Brother, rx. Stone Gate Peak is a beautiful ce, and Sect Master Qiu¡¯s title as the Mountain Water True Person is no empty one. He would never allow blood to drench thisnd red.¡±


    He patted Yiyi, who understood and jumped from his shoulder to Wei Tianchong¡¯s.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°Yiyi and I are mentally linked. Use her if you need to send me a message.¡±


    Peng Yaolong let his hand go and took several steps back.


    Tang Jie followed that disciple.


    Once they were in the main hall, the disciple led him turning through several corridors until they stopped in front of a meditation chamber.


    The disciple said, "The sect master is waiting for you inside."


    Pushing open the door, Tang Jie saw that the meditation chamber was bare, Qiu Shuyu seated on a prayer mat, a hand holding a horsetail whisk and a kindly expression on his face.


    There was another prayer mat ced not far from him.


    Qiu Shuyu used the horsetail whisk to point at the prayer mat. "Young Master, please sit."


    Tang Jie strode in, and the door automatically closed.


    Coming up to Qiu Shuyu, Tang Jie bowed and said, "Tang Jie pays respects to Sect Master Qiu."


    He then sat on the prayer mat.


    He then said, "I am sure that Sect Master knows the reason for my visit. Sect Master Qiu, please hand over the other half of the goods."


    Qiu Shuyu''s body slightly trembled, his white eyebrows tensing and then rxing.


    He looked Tang Jie in the eyes and said, "Forgive this old man for his foolishness, but I do not know what Young Master Tang is talking about."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Sect Master naturally knows. Wasn''t this all part of your n?"


    Qiu Shuyu gazed at Tang Jie. "Since Young Master is certain that this old man was plotting something, I do not mind hearing you out."


    Tang Jie nodded. "Of course. I was going to tell you regardless. I might as well exin my analysis to Sect Master so that you can see if I was right or not. So, this is how I surmise things went."


    Tang Jie cleared his throat.


    "For this matter, I have to start from the initial incident two years ago. Because of the venomoth incident, the Stone Gate Sect went to investigate and explore the mine, inadvertently discovering that there was another world down below. Due to the power of the venomoths, your sect had no choice but to send Liang Xingbang, Shi Jingzhai, and Yu Wanniang to personally investigate, and it was at that time that they found that there was another ore vein down below, with a total value of more than one hundred million¡­ right, True Person Qiu, this is where you show a shocked expression."


    Qiu Shuyu''s face twitched.


    Tang Jie smiled and continued, "After this ore vein was discovered, your three junior disciples decided to mine this vein without your knowledge. But despite their caution, there was no way of hiding this matter from you¡­ but you had no ns to show your hand, instead pretending to not know while looking for an opportunity. In order to go back on the deal and take everything, the Seven Absolutions Sect was seeking an opportunity for all the goods to be gathered in one ce, and you probably helped them in this. With people helping along the matter in secret from both ends, this created many illogical points in this deal.


    "You also might have yed a role in pushing for my arrival. Through my pressure and with the additional help of Yu Wanniang and the Seven Absolutions Sect, you forced Shi Jingzhai''s group to rush to sell the goods. And then, while they were distracting the Seven Absolutions Sect, you secretly switched out the goods. You didn''t do anything and took no risks, but you ended up getting more than half of the goods. It was truly a job well done."


    Qiu Shuyuughed. "This old man really has no idea what you''re talking about. But doesn''t Young Master feel that this doesn''t make too much sense? If everything is as Young Master says, then those resources should have been in the sect for two years now. In these two years, if I wanted to take them, I would have had countless chances. Why would I wait until now?"


    This was an excellent question. Yes, Qiu Shuyu was not the Seven Absolutions Sect. If he wanted to make his move, he would have had many more chances than the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    To this, Tang Jie chuckled. "Because you also wanted to sell the goods! That''s exactly why you had to endure until now. While the ore vein is nice, it has to be converted into spirit coins so that you can buy the resources you need, and there was so much that no matter who the goods ended up with, they would have to think of a way to sell them, and this was the part where one was most liable to be exposed. That''s why you couldn''t touch it. You wanted your juniors to sell the goods for you, and only when the deal was done could you make your move."


    Qiu Shuyu''s face sank. "But you just said that half of the goods were switched out."


    "Yes, you originally wanted to wait until the deal was done to strike. But recent events had made you wary. You felt something wrong and knew that there would probably be a mishap. In truth, even Shi Jingzhai and the others had felt it, which was why they had sent out real and fake caravans. In order to prevent the matter from being exposed and the Basking Moon Sect hunting you down, you decided to move early. ording to your n, when Shi Jingzhai''s group began trading with Wang Juemie, whether they seeded or not, you would manipte the situation so that they would have to immediately flee. With half of the goods still in their possession, even if they realized that something was wrong, they wouldn''te back to make trouble for you. In this way, the three of them would bear all the sin while you would remain the sect master of the Stone Gate Sect. At worst, you would be charged with the crime of failing to control your subordinates."


    Qiu Shuyu snorted, "If it''s as Young Master says, then that Yu Wanniang would also have taken on the me. Does Young Master really think that she would be so foolish?"


    Tang Jie sighed. "She really was that foolish, willing to sacrifice everything for you, only to be callously abandoned."


    Qiu Shuyu paled.


    Tang Jie looked at him and said, "You were there the whole time, weren''t you? Following the convoy. You must have made a promise to Yu Wanniang that you wouldn''t abandon her. Of course, what''s more likely is that you actually wanted to see if there was a chance to steal the remaining half of the goods. Our appearance caused you to be disappointed, so to protect yourself, you gave up on her. You just watched as she died at the hands of Shi Jingzhai, refusing toe out no matter how much she called for her senior brother¡­ and even in that situation, she was still thinking of you, refusing to say your name."


    Qiu Shuyu''s face twitched.


    Tang Jie sighed. "Actually, you knew that you couldn''t hide it from me, right? You weren''t shocked when you heard about the underground ore vein, weren''t shocked when you heard that your three junior disciples had betrayed you, and now, you''re not shocked after you''ve heard about Yu Wanniang''s death. In truth, your expression has long ago sold you out as the true mastermind. There''s nothing strange about that. You''re a sect master, not an actor. You can coldly deny, but you can''t perfectly y the part of an innocent¡­ Of course, it also might be that you disdain to y such a role in front of a minor character like me. This is why, while your mouth denies, your actions have confessed to everything."


    <em>Is that so?</em>


    Qiu Shuyu''s face suddenly rxed.


    He nodded. "You''re right. In truth, from the moment you walked in, I knew what you wanted to say, and I knew that there was no need to keep hiding it¡­ I just wanted to hear how much you actually knew."


    He seriously said to Tang Jie, "I took away half of the goods, and I did n out this entire scheme. Most of what you said was correct, all except one thing."


    "What was it?"


    "My junior disciples never nned to betray me. The day they discovered that ore vein, Wanniang excitedly ran over to tell me. I told Wanniang to do everything she could to stop them from telling me!"


    Tang Jie nodded. "I understand. Because you''re the sect master, right? Other people can do that sort of thing, because that''s an individual matter and has nothing to do with the sect. But you cannot, because as the sect master, your actions are directly connected to the sect. Seizing an ore vein for oneself is a serious crime. If the news leaked and the Basking Moon Sect found out, the entire Stone Gate Sect would be doomed."


    Qiu Shuyu trembled. "You know?"


    Tang Jie sighed. "How could I not know? If I didn''t know, you really think I would have had the guts toe in here alone?"


    He looked at Qiu Shuyu with a face brimming with ridicule.


    Qiu Shuyu understood and angrily roared, "You dare to use the Stone Gate Sect to threaten me?"


    Tang Jie looked at him sympathetically. "That all depends on you, not me. Sect Master Qiu, if you hand over the goods, while you might not be able to save yourself, you can at least save your sect and your loved ones¡­ I recall that you have a son."


    "''Hand it over''?" Qiu Shuyuughed. "Hahahaha, absurd! You think I don''t know what you want? If I hand over the goods, then I''ll be confessing the crime. What does it matter if I confess now? If you report to the Basking Moon Sect, I''ll just say that you hated me and fabricated this crime against me. I''ve already preserved evidence of you arguing with Shi Jingzhai. I can even bite back against you and say that you killed Xingbang and the others!"


    Tang Jie sighed. "Evidence¡­ evidence again. Sect Master Qiu, is this really thest hope you''ve tied your life to? Unfortunately, I''m afraid that your hopes won''t be rewarded."


    Qiu Shuyu jeered, "You want to say that you have evidence?"


    "Of course," Tang Jie firmly replied. "While you might have switched out the goods on the wagons, those goods must have been there when they were initially loaded. After all, Shi Jingzhai and the others were watching them being loaded and wouldn''t overlook any losses. It was only after Shi Jingzhai''s group left that you switched out the goods. But the problem is that there were forty-some wagons'' worth of goods, and taking all that away isn''t easy. If it were that easy, Shi Jingzhai wouldn''t have needed to resort to wagons. You''re just one person, so you''re not that lucky. Thus, your best option is to find a ce nearby to hide them."


    Qiu Shuyu paled.


    Tang Jie continued, "The ce where you hid the goods can''t be frequented by people, and you have to fool Liang Jun and make sure the escorts don''t notice. While there are quite a few ces like this, there also aren''t too many. So long as one is diligent and slowly checks every possible location on the route, something will turn up. But it''s tiresome work that could take as many as fifty days¡­ but one will find something eventually."


    Qiu Shuyu shuddered.


    Tang Jie went on, "You should know that I invited twenty-some seniors to help me out, but I only brought three with me to Stone Gate Peak. What do you think the rest of them are doing? They''ve been digging for your hidden treasure near the road. That''s not all. We also have Canglong Prefecture''s Wei n helping out. Even if we have to dig up every inch of soil¡­ finding it is only a matter of time."


    Qiu Shuyu red at Tang Jie. "What sort of grudge do you have against me, that you must treat me this way?"


    His tone had be much softer.


    "''Grudge''?" Tang Jie looked at him. "Really, I''m not someone that likes to coerce others, but I had no choice except to make trouble for you. You also know how valuable these goods are. 110 million! If we round down to 100 million, if I hand it over, ording to the rules of the Basking Moon Sect, I can get 20%, which is 20 million. True Person Qiu, by stealing more than half of it, you robbed me of 10 million! How could I note and demand it from you?"


    Qiu Shuyu was stunned.


    Yes, if he took half of the goods, wouldn''t that mean that Tang Jie would get less?


    If Tang Jie hadn''t already invested so much, then perhaps he could have looked the other way, but since money was on the line, this was serious business.


    "I see now!" Qiu Shuyu''s face suddenly turned ruthless.


    He erupted inughter. "So Tang Jie is also someone who sells himself for money. Since that''s the case, I can return the ten million to you, and in return, you can let me go. What do you think?"


    Find the original at bit.ly/3Tfs4P4.


    Tang Jie sadly said, "It''s toote. Once things are done, there''s no going back, just like with you. Moreover, if I can legally get ten million, why would I illegally get it instead?"


    "I''ll give you double!" Qiu Shuyu shouted.


    Tang Jie shook his head.


    "Let me go and I''ll spit it with you evenly!"


    Tang Jie sighed. "Even if you gave it all to me, it would be no good. While money is nice, there''s no point if you can''t take it. You should understand this even more than me."


    Qiu Shuyu angrily red at Tang Jie. As the fire burned in his belly, the entire meditation chamber filled with his frightening pressure.


    Qiu Shuyu''s voice thundered, "Tang Jie, do you realize that I can kill you right here with a single chop of my palm!?"


    "I know, but after that, the Stone Gate Sect will suffer a cmity," Tang Jie calmly said.


    "''After that''?" Qiu Shuyuughed. "Once I kill you, I''ll kill all the Basking Moon disciples and take the Stone Gate disciples away from here¡­"


    "I''m afraid you won''t get the chance to leave." Tang Jie gave him a pitying look.


    "What did you say?" Qiu Shuyu was startled.


    Tang Jie simply closed his eyes.


    A momentter, a voice resounded over Stone Gate Peak. "Daoist Friend Qiu, have you been doing well? Han Tianji hase to pay a visit."


    "Han Tianji?" Qiu Shuyu shuddered upon hearing this name. He red at Tang Jie. "You called over the Jade Radiance Sect?"


    Tang Jie opened his eyes. "To be more precise, I requested Zhang Taixu to ask over the Jade Radiance Sect. As you are both cultivator sects of Mount Eternal, I am sure that you bullied them around quite a lot over thesest few years, yes? Now that the four elders of the Stone Gate Sect have be one, and the Basking Moon Sect is supporting them, the Jade Radiance Sect would lose face if it didn''te back to regain some of its lost power."


    He scooted close to Qiu Shuyu and said, "All three of their Celestial Hearts came, and there''s no need to ce your hopes on your Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation. I wasn''t just fooling around when I was spending all those days at the Stone Gate Sect. Peng Yaolong, Wei Tianchong, and Qi Shaoming have already upied the central axis, and they each have a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl. The formation will do you no good."


    "Tang Jie, you¡­" Qiu Shuyu''s body seethed with killing intent.


    Tang Jie remainedposed. "If you think that this still isn''t enough, I might as well tell you something else. When you came back, you knew that the situation boded ill, so you had your son and family leave first to go into hiding. There was nothing wrong with this, but you wanted to protect too many people, and when you protect too many people, they be more easily exposed. Senior Brother Bei and Senior Brother Wu have already found them, so they''re in our hands now."


    "You!" These words were a lethal strike that struck directly at his heart. His killing intent faded, and he simply looked nkly at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie sighed. "Tell me where the goods are, give me all the sect''s texts and information concerning the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation, and thenmit suicide, and I can promise you that the Stone Gate Sect and your family will be unharmed."


    Qiu Shuyu stared at him for a long while before finally saying, "Tang Jie¡­ you''re ruthless!"


    "Thank you for the praise, Sect Master."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Several dozen more cultivators had appeared on the main square of Stone Gate Peak. Their leader was an imposing man with a broad face andrge ears, his body exuding a powerful aura. In the distance, arge number of Stone Gate disciples were trembling in fear as they looked at this group.


    When Tang Jie emerged from the main hall, the big-eared man came forward and said in a booming voice, "Is this my little friend Tang Jie?"


    Tang Jie ced a hand in his fist and bowed. "That I am. I pay respects to Sect Master Han. Sect Master Han, thank you foring from afar to offer your aid. This one will never forget this gift of coal in the middle of winter."


    The manughed. "Young friend Tang is too polite. My Jade Radiance Sect has been repressed by the Stone Gate Sect for thirty years. This chance to avenge this resentment is all thanks to you."


    He bowed to Tang Jie.


    It appeared that they truly held a deep resentment toward the Stone Gate Sect.


    Tang Jie hastily had Han Tianji stand back up. "This one does not deserve such a deep bow from a True Person."


    Han Tianji used this moment when Tang Jie was helping him up to whisper, "What about Qiu Shuyu?"


    Tang Jie was just about to reply when a thunderous boom came from the hall.


    Everyone looked over, but there was nothing different about the hall.


    A few momentster, a wave of spiritual energy rippled outward.


    Tang Jie muttered, "Dead."


    In the meditation chamber, Qiu Shuyu''s body was copsed on the ground. His head had burst open, blood mixed with brain matter trickling out¡­


    Thus did Tang Jie scheme a small sect out of existence.

 Chapter 387

    Chapter 387: Taking Everything


    On that cliff at the top of Stone Gate Peak, Tang Jie gazed off into the distance.


    After some time, the voice of Bei Canghan rang out.


    ¡°Qiu Changsheng confessed everything. It turns out that Qiu Shuyu had Yu Wanniang pretend that the Seven Absolutions Sect had dropped the price, but in actuality, the Seven Absolutions Sect had agreed to a price of seventy million with the Stone Gate Sect. Qiu Shuyu and Yu Wanniang nned to keep the extra thirty million for themselves¡­ From what I hear, they used that Crystallized Sandworm incident as an excuse.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°It¡¯s no wonder they didn¡¯te to find me for that matter. It seems that all those preparations I made were pointless. I presume that Yu Wanniang interrupted Wang Juemie back in the valley so that this news wouldn¡¯t get out. If Wang Juemie hadn¡¯t forced his way onto the scene, perhaps Yu Wanniang would have never let them meet.¡±


    ¡°Yes. He¡¯d first take the thirty million difference for himself, and then after the three of them finish the deal and then after confirming that there was nothing wrong, he woulde out and publicly use his three juniors of endangering the sect for their own selfishness, not caring that they might have doomed the sect. Finally, he would righteously take ten million from the forty million. In this way, Qiu Shuyu and Yu Wanniang would end up taking fifty million all for themselves while Liang Xingbang and Shi Jingzhai would have worked for two whole years only to get ten million each.¡± Bei Canghan shook his head and sighed in praise. ¡°It was a meticulous n, but you managed to ruin it all. Not only did he fail to make the other three scapegoats, he ended up losing his life as well.¡±


    Tang Jie indifferently said, ¡°In the end, he was just too greedy. He knew that what he was doing wasn¡¯t right, but he dared to take half of the goods. How could I not go and seek him out?¡±


    ¡°Right, now that the chief culprit has been killed, how do you n to deal with the other members of the Stone Gate Sect?¡±


    Tang Jie thought about his reply before saying, ¡°I promised Qiu Shuyu that I would protect the Stone Gate Sect and his family if he was willing tomit suicide. But his crime was too great and cannot be easily forgiven. Let¡¯s do this. Qiu Shuyu¡¯s son, Qiu Changsheng, was aware of the situation, and while he did not take part, he is guilty for not reporting them. As per thew, his cultivation is to be crippled and all of his property to be confiscated. The family is to be ced under the watch of the Jade Radiance Sect and are forbidden from cultivating for the rest of their lives. Give them a farm of twenty acres that they can work on, and they are forbidden from leaving the Mount Eternal region. Finally, have the Jade Radiance Sect send a disciple into the Stone Gate Sect to assume the position of sect master and confiscate everything in the storehouse of the Stone Gate Sect.¡±


    This essentially meant that the Stone Gate Sect would be under the Jade Radiance Sect from now on.


    The Jade Radiance Sect had been bullied by the Stone Gate Sect for many years, so they were certain to be happy about this oue. And Tang Jie fulfilled his promise and preserved the Stone Gate Sect. As for the Stone Gate Sect¡¯s disciples, although Tang Jie was emptying the Stone Gate Sect of its treasures, these disciples had never had any im to them, so they were losing nothing.


    In truth, on this matter, Tang Jie was overstepping his authority. It should not have been his decision to determine how the Stone Gate Sect was handled.


    But Tang Jie had no other choice. While they had made a lot of money from this trip, there were a lot of people he needed to pay. Putting aside the cut he needed to give the participants, those non-participants in the Basking Moon Sect also needed their cut. He had been a public servant, so he keenly understood the importance of social etiquette. While those people were normally all smiles, their hearts were darker than anyone else¡¯s.


    If you gave them gifts, they might not remember you, but if you didn¡¯t give them gifts, they would definitely remember you!


    There was 110 million worth of goods, and Tang Jie had estimated that it would be good enough if the Basking Moon Sect would round down to 100 million, which meant 20 million for their group. And this was because Bei Canghan, Qi Shaoming, and Wei Tianchong had been working behind the scenes, or else even 10 million would have been pushing it. The Basking Moon Sect was very ruthless, and it had many ways to suppress the price.


    To ount for the gifts, he would have to first subtract 5 million from the 20 million, leaving him with 15 million.


    ording to the agreement, as the mainmander and nner, Tang Jie could take a quarter, which was 3.75 million. The remaining three quarters would be divided between the twenty-four disciples who had assisted him. It was allocated ording to their strength and contribution, but the differences weren¡¯t too great.


    Thus, even though Tang Jie was working with a huge sum of money, after making bribes and paying off his helpers, he was only able to get 3.75 million. Of course, the value of the Profound Heaven Treatise wasn¡¯t being taken into ount here, and this was why Tang Jie had sold that batch of goods to Wang Juemie.


    Only profit that was made off the books could be considered real profit.


    There was nothing to be done. The cake that Tang Jie was trying to eat was just too big, so big that he couldn¡¯t digest it all. He needed to spit out a part, and everyone was watching to make sure that he spat out exactly as much as he should.


    Since this was the case, he needed to think of ways to make up for it.


    This was the principle behind confiscating the Stone Gate Sect¡¯s possessions. Everyone was so focused on the goods that they had paid little attention to the inherent value of the Stone Gate Sect itself. In reality, the Stone Gate Sect had been skimming off the top for several decades, so its treasury wasn¡¯t necessarily going to be small.


    This was exactly why Tang Jie had overstepped his authority. This overstepping of authority was itself the ¡°cost of victory¡± and the ¡°fruits of victory¡±. The cost was his promise to Qiu Shuyu, and the fruits were the advantages he gained, including the Jade Radiance Sect¡¯s gratitude to him.


    Although this move would draw criticism, he would be basking in the glow of victory and enjoyed the support of Ming Yekong and Xie Fengtang, so no one would make trouble for him. This was also why, in ancient times,manders who were abroad would often overstep their authority¡ªwhat was the point in being favored if one did not use this favor?


    Bei Canghan¡¯s eyes shed after he had heard everything Tang Jie had to say. ¡°Good, good, you¡¯ve got guts, getting in front of deciding on what to do with the Stone Gate Sect before anyone else. No one is punished twice for the same offense. Since they¡¯ve already done the crime, they¡¯re not in a position to object. But your actions, though they are considered an overstepping of your authority, can be forgiven because you are doing so to carry out your promise regardless of the cost.¡±


    Tang Jie was startled. <em>Bei Canghan can¡¯t be this stupid, right? Does he really think I did all this just to fulfill a promise?</em> But when he saw the smile on Bei Canghan¡¯s face, he understood what was going on. Coughing, he put on a stern face and said, ¡°I, Tang Jie, always move forward with righteousness in my heart, only seeking to not be ashamed of my actions. What does a small cost like this matter?¡±


    Bei Canghan almost threw up, but he managed to salute him and say, ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, Junior Brother Tang, what are we waiting for? Why don¡¯t we go to the storehouse together?¡±


    Tang Jie was startled as he understood what Bei Canghan wanted. He pointed at Bei Canghan and said, ¡°Senior Brother Bei, this won¡¯t do. This idea was mine, as was the order. If someone¡¯s going to take a look, I should be doing it first.¡±


    Bei Canghan indifferently said, ¡°At worst, I¡¯ll just be taking half of the me for you overstepping your authority.¡±


    Tang Jie immediately grinned. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then, Senior Brother, please go ahead.¡±


    ¡°I think that you should still go first. You lived here for some time and are more familiar with the area.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The Stone Gate Sect¡¯s storehouse was one of the most important areas of the sect, but not even the toughest defense would stop a robber from opening the front door.


    Standing in the storehouse, Tang Jie and Bei Canghan looked around admiringly at the items within. There were scattered mechanisms all around them, and the air resounded with sirens, but the two of them didn¡¯t care.


    Various art relics were hung up on the two side walls, and on the floor were four metal shelves which had pills, medicines, talismans, and some raw materials. On the floor were also fourrge metal chests that were stuffed with spirit coins and spirit jades.


    Bei Canghan¡¯s gaze was focused on the walls.


    There were more than a hundred art relics disyed here, in all shapes and sizes. Bei Canghan reached out and took a piece of clothing made of golden thread. He happily said, ¡°This one is pretty good. It¡¯s forged from Goldite and is extremely tough. It has an impressive defense, but it¡¯s unfortunately a little heavy, and there¡¯s no way of concealing it.¡±


    He put it back and took another art relic.


    Tang Jie¡¯s gaze was primarily on the shelves, particrly the raw materials.


    A jade box drew his attention. He opened it up to find a b of ck soil that wriggled within the box, shifting into various forms.


    ¡°Cloud Mud!¡± Tang Jie¡¯s eyes lit up. This was a real treasure that could be remolded and reshaped,plementing transformation. It was an excellent material for Earth formations and was also great for making puppets. It was an example of a resource for which there was always a constant demand.


    He immediately stuffed the jade box into his Mustard Seed Bag.


    On the other end, Bei Canghan finally found a decent set of clothes. Although its defensive power was weaker than that golden-threaded piece of clothing, it was thin and fine. Wearing it imbued one with an air of elegance rather than the aura of some great general like the golden set of clothes did.


    To get along in this era, knowing how to put on airs was important. The golden-thread clothes were something only a savage would wear.


    Moving to another shelf, Tang Jie spotted a small bottle. He opened the bottle and was assaulted by an extremely thick fragrance. He smiled. ¡°Jade Toad Fluid! This stuff is wonderful for helping things grow. It can be used back in the academy to grow nts and it can also be used for Wood formations. If the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation has this, it will be much more powerful. Not bad, not bad.¡±


    He stuffed it into his bag.


    Bei Canghan put away a belt, saying, ¡°This is a Jade Python Belt. I saw a Spirit Master wearing it once. This item is fireproof and waterproof and can change length. It can be used to bind an enemy or as a whip.¡±


    Tang Jie picked up another item. ¡°Thousand-year Electro Wood! Haha, this is the real stuff!¡±


    Bei Canghan took up some shoes. ¡°Violet Plume Lightning Boots! Tang Jie, these shoes are perfect with your Violet Lightning Lunge.¡±


    ¡°I already have Violet Lightning Boots. Brother Bei doesn¡¯t need to be polite.¡±


    Bei Canghanughed and put the boots on.


    As they bantered, it seemed like they were in apetition to try and take what they wanted. In the blink of an eye, they had seized quite a lot of nice things. Bei Canghan primarily took art relics, taking what he needed, what he might need, and what other people needed¡ªthat which he could sell. Tang Jie primarily took materials, particrly those which could be used for formations. Whether he could use it or not, he took it so long as it was good enough.


    As the two of them were plundering away, Bei Canghan suddenly gasped in surprise. ¡°Huh? What¡¯s this? Tang Jie,e and take a look.¡±


    ¡°How is there something that not even Senior Brother Bei recognizes?¡± Tang Jieughed.


    Bei Canghan wasn¡¯t someone like Wei Tianchong, who needed to cheat to pass the exam. Just like Tang Jie, he excelled in both civil and martial pursuits. If he didn¡¯t recognize something, it was probably something truly rare.


    He went over to take a look and found Bei Canghan next to a metal te that was hung up on the wall. Seven nails had been nailed into it, and on the heads had been carved seven beast heads: dragon, tiger, leopard, lion, snake, wolf, and crocodile.


    Tang Jie had really never seen anything like it. Shaking his head, he was just about to tell Bei Canghan that he didn¡¯t know when he had a sh of insight. It seemed like he really had seen something simr before, and he immediately dropped his head and began to think. But no matter how he thought, he couldn¡¯t remember.


    As he was racking his brains, in the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, the original Tang Jie opened his eyes and gazed at that mountain wall in front of him.


    This image was transmitted to the avatar.


    Tang Jie raised his head. ¡°This is the Seven Demon Soul-Sealing Nails!¡±


    His heartbeat quickened.


    Yes, he had seen this item in the Profound Heaven Treatise. The Seven Absolutions Sect had considered it a resource so important it had specifically drawn an image of it.


    Tang Jie had not expected to so quickly find this treasure that was on the verge of extinction.


    The Seven Demon Soul-Sealing Nails had many uses. It was made of seven parts, each one able to use the corresponding Fiend Beast to attack the enemy with strength on par with an upper-grade Spirit Sensing Fiend. Seven upper-grade Spirit Sensing Fiends was quite the decentbat power for a Mortal Shedding cultivator.


    But this wasn¡¯t its true purpose. Its true purpose was in the ¡°sealing¡±!


    Sealing!


    This item had a powerful sealing effect, and when used on an individual, it could seal the soul, and even a Violet Pce or Celestial Heart would find it difficult to resist. And when it was used on a formation, the foundation of the formation would be stabilized and difficult to shake, making it a valuable treasure for protecting a formation.


    This item had been all the rage several thousand years ago, a necessity for cultivators who wanted to kill and interrogate others. s, with the passage of time, the sect that made this item disappeared, as did the method to make it, and so the number of Seven Demon Soul-Sealing Nails dwindled.


    The Stone Gate Sect was ignorant and stored away the nails as ordinary art relics. Tang Jie¡¯s eyes shed, but in the end, he didn¡¯t hide the truth and exined the history of the Seven Demon Soul-Sealing Nails.


    When Bei Canghan heard of how valuable they were, he was stunned, sighing in praise, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that this was a treasure that even the Seven Absolutions Sect was after. Junior Brother Tang, you¡¯re really not lying.¡±


    Tang Jie could have just said that these seven nails could transform into seven fiends, but he hadn¡¯t, for which Bei Canghan was deeply grateful. ¡°This item¡¯s true purpose is forying formations, and since Junior Brother is an expert in this path, it would be better if Junior Brother took it.¡±


    He gave the Seven Demon Soul-Sealing Nails to Tang Jie, to which Tang Jie bowed and said, ¡°My thanks, Senior Brother Bei.¡±


    He then put the item away.


    The two continued their plundering, taking essentially anything that caught their eyes. Finally, after swiping a few bottles of cultivation medicine, they swaggered out. As for those boxes of spirit coins and spirit jades, they didn¡¯t take a single thing.


    Their Mustard Seed Bags really couldn¡¯t fit that much.


    Once they were out of the storehouse, the two of them looked at each other,ughed, and went their separate ways.


    A few momentster, a junior brother came up and solemnly pasted a sign that read ¡°Sealed for Seizure¡± on it.


    After taking everything they wanted, on the same night, Tang Jie and Bei Canghan met back up with the others and opened up the storehouse again. The contents within left everyone dazzled and overjoyed, shouting ¡°We¡¯re rich!¡±


    In truth, in terms of wealth, the profit from the ore vein was greater, but numbers on paper could never be more tempting than actual objects. Fifty thousand in the bank was just an ordinary number, butying it out on the bed was an ostentatious disy of wealth.


    A math-minded Basking Moon disciple immediately began to start calcting the value of everything, and he quickly reached a result: all the items in the storehouse added up together were worth 5.12 million.


    For a small sect, this was a significant sum, and more than half of it was probably thanks to their embezzling revenue from the mines. But everyone still curled their lips, thinking it was too little, someone even cursing, ¡°Only getting this much after controlling a mine for this long? What cowards! Why weren¡¯t they greedier?¡±, to which everyone else smiled.


    This five million was split up ording to the earlier rules, with Tang Jie taking a quarter, 1.25 million.


    Tang Jie left the remaining 120,000 for the Stone Gate Sect so that they had at least something. And besides, they could then say that they had only taken some of the treasury and not everything.


    Everyone believed that Tang Jie was essentially a prostitute who was trying to buy a good reputation by setting up a memorial arch.


    Tang Jie replied that a prostitute who wasn¡¯t trying to buy a good reputation wasn¡¯t being a good prostitute.


    Some people realized that there was something off about the storehouse, that some ces that should have contained items were empty, but they wisely chose to keep quiet.


    Even so, when they calcted how much Tang Jie had made, they discovered that this guy had made 5 million, and that wasn¡¯t even counting the Profound Heaven Treatise, the View Gate Banner, the Undying Celestial Origin Pills, and ¡°Shi Jingzhai¡±.


    5 million!


    Let alone a student, how many disciples could manage this?


    The Basking Moon Sect disciples that Tang Jie had brought over this time had never seen this much money before. They thought that they hade to help, but now, they realized that it wasn¡¯t Tang Jie who was taking advantage of them, but them who were taking advantage of Tang Jie.


    Originally, Tang Jie had used the pressure applied by everyone else to get an exclusive chance to read the Profound Heaven Treatise, which made it feel like he was going to take everything for himself. Butter on, his senior brothers didn¡¯t even have a chance to take action, only offering moral support. Thus, there were no objections to Tang Jie enjoying those benefits all for himself. And now that they thought about it, they felt like they had to thank Tang Jie, for Tang Jie was the one who was in danger while everyone else had only reaped the profits.


    There was also the investment of the Heavenbane Lightning Pearls, but hadn¡¯t they never used these things?


    Peng Yaolong and the others felt very awkward about it, and with Tang Jie subtly pushing them along, they decided to hand the Heavenbane Lightning Pearls back to Tang Jie.


    Yiyi, curious about what Tang Jie wanted with all these pearls, privately asked him, to which Tang Jie viciously replied, ¡°Once we have the teleportation formation set up, we send them to the original body and have him explode that fucker He Chong to death.¡±


    Yiyi couldn¡¯t help but shiver at the thought of twenty-some Heavenbane Lightning Pearls exploding all at once.


    Once the plundering was done, it was time for celebration.


    That night, at the summit of Stone Gate Peak, Tang Jie, Bei Canghan, and the Jade Radiance Sect¡¯s Han Tianji drank together. The Jade Radiance Sect¡¯s three Celestial Heart True Persons were not at all rude to Tang Jie and Bei Canghan, treating themselves as those of a minor sect standing before emissaries before a major sect.


    This wasn¡¯t just because of the power of the Basking Moon Sect, but also the gratitude of the Jade Radiance Sect. More importantly, Tang Jie had managed to subjugate the Stone Gate Sect without relying on the True Persons of his sect, resolving all problems. Han Tianji could not help but admire and respect s

 Chapter 388

    Chapter 388: Awakening


    Sword Wielding Pavilion.


    This was the courtyard that the Wei Estate had specially arranged for Tang Jie to serve as his residence. Although Tang Jie spent most of his time with the Wu Family, the Wei Estate had still prepared this ce for him.


    To use Zheng Shufeng¡¯s words: ¡°The Wei n is your n.¡±


    Tang Jie stood in front of the pond of Sword Wielding Pavilion with his hands held behind his back. He watched the koi in the pond jostle for the food he had sprinkled as he said in a cold voice, ¡°Have you still not found them?¡±


    A servant standing behind Tang Jie replied, ¡°We¡¯ve already sent thirty people¡­¡±


    Tang Jie cut him off. ¡°If thirty people can¡¯t find them, then send three hundred. If three hundred can¡¯t find them, send three thousand, or perhaps because you think I¡¯m not your master, you can just find whoever you have lying around to carry out my missions!? And I also told Spirit Master Lu and the others to go and pick them up, so why are they still here?¡±


    The servant jumped in fright, taking several steps back. ¡°Honored Master, please soothe your anger. This lowly one will send off more people at once.¡±


    ¡°Then save the chatter and get to it.¡± The one who spoke this time was Wei Tianchong, who walked in from outside with Shi Meng. ¡°Have the estate pay for all the expenses, and have Spirit Master Lu¡¯s group hurry up and get going. Get everything done first! Useless trash!¡±


    The servant hastily retreated.


    Wei Tianchong came over andforted Tang Jie. ¡°Tang Jie, don¡¯t worry. The little tiger will be fine.¡±


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°How can I not be worried? They should have arrived long before now, but even though our business is already done, they still haven¡¯te back. Several days now¡­ There are too many possibilities.¡±


    Dealing with the likes of Wang Juemie and Shi Jingzhai had required all of Tang Jie¡¯s focus, so he had left the matter of picking up Xi Canhen to the Wei n¡¯s servants and Spirit Masters. The Mount Eternal region was vast, and searching it for a single person was like searching for a needle in an ocean, even for a cultivator. Thus, it was better to use the Wei n¡¯s resources and numbers to find Xi Canhen and the little tiger. If there was any danger, the Spirit Masters that the Wei Estate employed could deal with it.


    But when he came back and asked about what was going on, he found that the Wei Estate had sent out only thirty-some people, with no Spirit Masters among them, which left Tang Jie furious.


    Wei Tianchong was somewhat embarrassed by all this. He resentfully said, ¡°It¡¯s all my dad¡¯s fault. Something happened with the Gu n, so they had to give up some casinos and their escortpany at a low price. My dad thought this was an opportunity, but he needed manpower and money. My dad went to get the money to hire all those people, and because all that money was involved, the Spirit Masters went with him. The servants naturally did everything that my dad wanted, but they ended up putting your matter to the side.¡±


    ¡°Then did your father not know that I wanted to use these people?¡±


    An awkward look appeared on Wei Tianchong¡¯s face. ¡°Of course he knew, but¡­¡±


    Tang Jie already understood. ¡°But the Wei n is his, Wei Danbai¡¯s Wei n, not my Wei n, right?¡±


    Wei Tianchong helplessly said, ¡°He didn¡¯t say that. He just said that it was only an attendant and a beast, so it wasn¡¯t worth a mass mobilization¡­¡±


    Wei Danbai had not looked down on Tang Jie¡¯s value, but he had clearly underestimated the status Xi Canhen and Bao¡¯er had in Tang Jie¡¯s eyes, particrly Bao¡¯er. He simply had no idea how important Bao¡¯er was to Tang Jie.


    But this still wasn¡¯t enough for Tang Jie to forgive Wei Danbai!


    If Zheng Shufeng had handled this matter, she might have looked down on Xi Canhen and Bao¡¯er, but she would have never looked down on Tang Jie¡¯s request. But Zheng Shufeng¡¯s mother had fallen ill several days ago, and Zheng Shufeng had gone back to her hometown to keep her motherpany. The Wei Estate¡¯s affairs were now all decided by Wei Danbai, which had resulted in this incident.


    Wei Tianchong said, ¡°I¡¯ve already spoken with my dad about how I did nothing at all and made five hundred thousand spirit coins. My dad was scared out of his wits by all this money, and he was full of remorse.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s still toote, right?¡± Tang Jie coldly replied.


    Wei Tianchong nervously looked at Tang Jie. ¡°Tang Jie, if the little tiger really¡­ I¡¯m only saying it¡¯s a possibility¡­ If it¡¯s dead¡­ you wouldn¡¯t really hate our Wei n, right?¡±


    Tang Jie turned to Wei Tianchong.


    He said nothing, only stared, and Wei Tianchong¡¯s blood ran cold.


    Tang Jie suddenlyughed. ¡°How could I? You¡¯re still not Celestial Heart, so I¡¯m still a member of the Wei n, and I still have to intimidate the Wei n¡¯s foes and suppress the scoundrels and thieves.¡±


    These final words made Wei Tianchong¡¯s heart tighten.


    These final words could be considered a cultivator¡¯s greatest use for a n, as an army would be for a country.


    But Wei Tianchong had been able to feel an icy, murderous intent when Tang Jie had said those words.


    Scared out of his wits, he grabbed Tang Jie¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Tang Jie, no matter what, you can¡¯t touch my father!¡±


    ¡°Young Master must be joking,¡± Tang Jie calmly said as he pulled his hand away. ¡°Rx; I can promise you that I will not do any harm to the head of the Wei n.¡±


    Wei Tianchong nodded. ¡°I know, and I trust that someone of your character wouldn¡¯t go so far as to hurt my father, but¡­¡±


    He looked suspiciously at Tang Jie. ¡°Why is it that I can never rx when I look at your face?¡±


    Tang Jie maintained his indifferent appearance. ¡°Then that is perhaps because your father is the first person to have actually done harm to me since I started cultivating.¡±


    This time, he didn¡¯t use the term ¡°head of the Wei n.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The number of people the Wei n had sent out searching soared from 30 to 2500, with the Wei n hiring people to fill the ranks. So long as one was willing to pay, there were always people to hire. All of the Spirit Masters of the Wei Estate were mobilized, and Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong, and Shi Meng also went out to help with the search.


    Arge number of people swept over the Mount Eternal region,bing thendscape. After several days, good news finally arrived.


    ¡°We found that young man!¡±


    Upon hearing this news, the people who had beenboring for many days excitedly cheered.


    Xi Canhen had been discovered next to a mountain spring. His body was covered in wounds and he was on hisst breath.


    When Tang Jie arrived, he couldn¡¯t help but be shocked at the injuries.


    The passage of time had allowed the wounds to start rotting, his ribs were broken, and his organs were so damaged that he was coughing up blood. Even after all that, Xi Canhen had still managed to drag himself down from the top of the mountain, leaving a trail of blood leading all the way back to the summit.


    This youth¡¯s life force was shockingly tenacious, so much so that it wasn¡¯t even these horrifying injuries that had him on the brink of death, but starvation.


    It had been many days since he hadst eaten.


    When Tang Jie arrived, the youth was scarfing down food, those injuries seemingly having no effect on his ability to eat.


    Xi Canhen was startled when Tang Jie appeared, stopping what he was doing to look at him.


    He threw aside the dried rations and kneeled down in front of Tang Jie, yelling, ¡°Young Sir, I let you down! The little tiger went missing! I can¡¯t find him!¡±


    He tearfully wailed.


    Tang Jie felt his vision blur.


    Was it still this oue?


    Through Xi Canhen¡¯s story, images of that bitter battle began to emerge before Tang Jie¡¯s eyes.


    He had never imagined that the little tiger would go so far for Xi Canhen.


    From what Xi Canhen had said, at thest moment, the little tiger had pierced through Xie Yu¡¯s skull while his own wings had been torn off. His most likely fate was to have died from the plunge to the bottom of the mountain.


    After the little tiger fell, Xi Canhen clenched his teeth and started to crawl down the mountain to try and find the little tiger.


    s, he had ultimately failed to find the tiger, but because of a nearby mountain spring, he had managed to survive. If he had stayed on the mountain, he would have been a corpse by now.


    At the end of his story, Xi Canhen began to weep.


    Tang Jie patted his head and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You can leave finding the little tiger to me. You just rest.¡±


    ¡°Young Sir, do you think Bao¡¯er¡­¡± Xi Canhen tearily looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie calmly said, ¡°No, he won¡¯t. Bao¡¯eres from a noble lineage, and his bloodline is powerful. Someone of his tenacious life force won¡¯t die so easily.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Xi Canhen¡¯s head dropped to the side as he fell asleep.


    He had been relying on onest spurt of energy over thest few days, and now that he had rxed, he could no longer stay awake.


    Tang Jie looked at the sleeping Xi Canhen and said, ¡°Shi Meng, I leave Canhen¡¯s injuries to you.¡±


    Shi Meng smiled. ¡°Rx.¡±


    Over thest few years, Shi Meng, following Tang Jie¡¯s advice, had focused on support, so he was rather an expert in health and medicine. In terms of medical skills, he was much stronger than Tang Jie. With a future Immortal physician like him on the job, Tang Jie could rest easy.


    After taking care of Xi Canhen, Tang Jie flew over to the cliff and went to the site of the battle. After estimating the trajectory of the little tiger and Xie Yu, he flew down.


    At the bottom, he saw a dense forest, so he used the Illuminating Eye.


    He had been using this spell a lot as ofte and was growing more and more proficient with it. A spirit eye appeared with a wave of his hand, taking in all of the surrounding area.


    A few momentster, Tang Jie spotted a human body four-hundred-some meters away.


    He ran over to take a look and found that this person¡¯s head had been cracked open and all his bones were shattered. He was as dead as dead could be. This was probably Xie Yu, but there was no sign of the little tiger near him.


    Looking around, Tang Jie saw a small river flowing past in the distance.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but frown. If the little tiger had fallen into the river and gone downstream, finding him would be difficult. As for Yiyi finding him through nts, the length of time that had passed rendered this method ineffective.


    He flew back to the main group and ordered, ¡°Everyone search along the river, and make sure to leave no area out.¡±


    Therge-scale search once more began.


    But no matter how they looked, they couldn¡¯t find the little tiger. It was as if he had vanished from the face of the world.


    They searched for many days until Wei Danbai finally sent a message that the search for the little tiger had taken far more money and manpower than expected and could no longer be maintained, so Wei Tianchong had no choice but to call back the people.


    Before leaving, he apologized to Tang Jie. Tang Jie didn¡¯t seem to mind, indifferently saying, ¡°In your father¡¯s eyes, a single tiger naturally can¡¯tpare to the wealth of a n and tens of thousands of gold coins. This is not because he is incapable, but because of the limits of his mortal vision. Perhaps when you go back, you can tell him a story.¡±


    ¡°What story?¡± Wei Tianchong asked.


    ¡°In the central region of Rosecloud is a strange beast known as the Illusion Fox. It is born at Spirit Sensing and can transform as easily as it breathes. If captured, it will be loyal to its owner, so it serves as an excellent cultivationpanion. But fiend foxes are cunning and can take on many forms, so they often mix in among humans and are difficult to capture. Three hundred years ago, there were traces of a fiend fox. A cultivator desired to obtain it, but he was unable, for the fiend fox transformed and concealed itself among humans. In fury, that cultivator¡­¡±


    Tang Jie raised his head and looked at Wei Tianchong.


    Aghast, Wei Tianchong said, ¡°What did he do?¡±


    Tang Jie icily said, ¡°Burned down the city.¡±


    Wei Tianchong felt like he had been dropped into a freezer.


    He suddenly understood what Tang Jie meant.


    In Wei Danbai¡¯s eyes, one tiger wasn¡¯t worth the Wei n investing that much, but in the eyes of a cultivator, a single mortal n was worth even less.


    For a single Illusion Fox, a cultivator could burn an entire city to the ground to force it out.


    Wei Danbai¡¯s mistake was a mistake of vision. He had no idea that what he was giving up was a fiend beast that a cultivator regarded as ten thousand times more valuable than a mortal like him, not even considering the many years they had spent together.


    ¡°It is hard to me him,¡± Tang Jie indifferently said. ¡°He is the n head, so he has to feel like he controls everything. Even cultivators like us will ultimately be a part of the Wei n, always one of his subordinates. We cannot overstep his authority, as that would be breaking the rules.¡±


    Wei Tianchong knew what he meant and sighed, ¡°For many years now, the n¡¯s Spirit Masters have been polite to my father, and the two sides have had a genial rtionship. This has made my father gradually forget about the dignity of a cultivator. He doesn¡¯t want to ce himself above Spirit Masters, but¡­¡±


    Tang Jie coolly picked up where he left off, ¡°But he feels like there¡¯s no problem with sitting on the same level as them; but he feels like the welfare of the Wei n should alwayse first; but he feels like he¡¯s already done enough for me¡­¡±


    Wei Tianchong could no longer say anything.


    Tang Jie patted him and said, ¡°Go. No matter what I say, he¡¯s your father, so you have to listen to him. But while Wei Danbai can order you around, he can¡¯t force me to do anything. I will continue the search on my own.¡±


    Wei Tianchong saw that Tang Jie was willing to call his father by name and knew that Tang JIe was furious. He sighed, but as he was unable to say anything more, he turned and left.


    The Wei n¡¯s people withdrew, leaving Tang Jie and Yiyi to search the mountains alone.


    But no matter how he searched, he could find no sign of the little tiger.


    That familiar figure was no more within that sea of trees, no matter how much Tang Jie flew back and forth across the skies all by himself.


    A month went by in the blink of an eye. In this month, Wei Tianchong sent many messages to him, regarding such things as how the goods had been delivered to the Basking Moon Sect and that all the matters had been settled. All of the Sageheart Kingdom had been shaken by the news, and every level of Basking Moon was stunned as Tang Jie grew even more famous. But everyone¡¯s rewards had yet to be officially distributed. It still needed to be assessed, investigated, and discussed.


    Although the 20% reward was a set rule, weren¡¯t there times when the rules were broken? Moreover, besides the reward, they also needed to calcte the contribution points and promotions, and there was also an exnation needed for the overstepping of authority.


    Thus, Bei Canghan, Wu Xianguang, and Peng Yaolong were going all over the ce, cating whoever needed to be cated and arguing for whatever needed to be argued. Before they got any money, they would first have to pay out arge sum of money, and they were all taking loans to pay for these gifts. But as everyone knew that they had a lot of moneying, this money was easy to borrow. They didn¡¯t have Tang Jie do anything in this phase, handling everything on their own. In this way, Tang Jie was finally able to take advantage of them for once.


    Wei Tianchong also took a trip back to Sunwatch Peak to ask Yan Changfeng to help with the negotiations. He had performed rather welltely, appearing in the limelight with Tang Jie multiple times and not bringing shame to the dignity of Sunwatch Peak, so Yan Changfeng hade to find this disciple of his more agreeable. When Wei Tianchong was going back, Wei Danbai had him bring arge sum of money with him, perhaps because he knew that he had done wrong and wanted to make amends. Wei Tianchong told Tang Jie about this and said that this money was jointly offered under the names of both the Wei n and Tang Jie, but Tang Jie simply grunted, his stance remaining ambiguous.


    Wei Tianchong could only sigh and leave.


    Tang Jie spent another month in the Mount Eternal region, but he still turned up nothing. Finally, he decided to leave.


    Before leaving, he looked at the mountains and muttered, ¡°I believe you¡¯re not dead, Bao¡¯er. Your lineage is noble and your bloodline powerful. You would never die so easily¡­ Perhaps, you only need time to recover. I will wait for you¡­ wait for your return!¡±


    A river wound through the region, through forests and through mountains. asionally a tributary would split off to flow elsewhere, perhaps into a smallke or perhaps to link with another river, or perhaps it would disappear into the lightless world of the underground.


    In a distant corner of the region, an underground river peacefully flowed. The cave next to the river had formed numerous stctites in various bizarre shapes.


    Years of erosion had smoothed out the floor. The little tigery in the clearing next to the river, his torn wings ced over his body like a nket.


    This slumber had gone on for one hundred days!


    In these one hundred days, the little tiger had beenpletely motionless. Only the slight rising and falling of his body proved that he was still alive.


    On this day, a Sawtooth Sicklefish jumped out of the river and flew toward the little tiger.


    As it was about to strike the little tiger, the little tiger¡¯s body erupted with a crimson light.


    This savage fish didn¡¯t even have a chance to bounce off before it was pulverized into dust.


    The little tiger suddenly moved.


    First, it was the ws that lightly trembled, and then the severed wings. At some point, they had grown back, and they slightly opened and closed on the little tiger¡¯s back.


    And then the enormous body of the tiger trembled.


    With this shudder, white steam issued from his nose.


    The little tiger slowly opened his eyes.


    As the tiger¡¯s eyes opened, they glimmered with the light of intelligence.


    A momentter, he stood up like a human and shouted, ¡°What a long dream!¡±


    He could now speak! This was a sign that Bao¡¯er had officially entered Mind Opening.


    But a momentter, Bao¡¯er threw his head back andughed. ¡°What a long dream. I finally remember¡­¡±


    ¡°I finally remember¡­¡±


    ¡°Remember¡­¡±


    ¡°Member¡­¡±


    His voice rang out like a giant bell, echoing off the walls of the cavern.


    Bao¡¯er¡¯s face turned wrathful.


    The me of wrath erupted from the depths of his body, forming a powerful torrent that swept through his surroundings.


    <em>Grooow!</em>


    He let out a furious roar that sounded like thunder.


    ¡°Basking Moon Sect!¡± he bellowed, blood in his eyes. ¡°You dared to treat my White Tiger n this way? I will not let you go!¡±


    He lowered his head and looked at his ws.


    He shook his head. ¡°But now is not the time¡­ I need to find my own power¡­ to find the power that has been missing from my n for a long time now¡­


    ¡°When that dayes, I wille back and seek you out.¡±


    He spoke in a deep and heavy tone.


    Suddenly, he trembled.


    ¡°Tang Jie¡­¡± he blurted out.


    A momentter, countless images shed through his mind, causing his heart to abruptly soften.


    Yes, in the Basking Moon Sect, there was at least one person who had treated him with sincerity.


    ¡°s¡­¡± The tiger closed his eyes, two beads of blood flowing down from them.


    He muttered, ¡°The kindness of a single man cannotpare to the resentment of an entire race. The affection of upbringing and the grace of freedom can only be repaid in the next life. Starting from today, I am no longer Bao¡¯er.


    ¡°My name¡­ is Wang Yao!¡±


    <em>Raaa!</em>


    The miscalctions of a single mortal have awakened a mortal enemy of the Basking Moon Sect! I guess Wang Poguan is happy¡­

 Chapter 389

    Chapter 389: Going into Hiding


    When Xi Canhen woke up, he found that he was inside a silk canopy.


    His body was covered by a beautiful brocade nket from Jade Cassia Boutique, and the canopy around him was a jade bead canopy from Green Ring Garden. Inside the incense burner was imported Whalehead Incense, and even the tiles on the floor were patterned with floral designs.


    The furnishings and decorations were all rare items, and there was so much opulence and luxury that it dazzled the eye.


    Xi Canhen tried to stand up, but he found his body aching and weak.


    Two maids were standing outside the canopy. Seeing him rise, they both shouted, ¡°Young Sir Xi is awake.¡±


    A maid quickly went to help him rise while the other went to call someone else.


    ¡°Is this the Wei Estate?¡± Xi Canhen somewhat understood what was going on when he saw how he was being treated.


    ¡°Yes. Young Sir, after you were injured, Young Master Shi Meng had people send Young Sir here to recover. You were already unconscious when you arrived, and you slept for three days straight.¡±


    ¡°I was out for that long?¡± Xi Canhen muttered. ¡°What about my little sister?¡±


    The maid smiled. ¡°Young Lady Xi was just here, keeping watch over you while crying. But she was truly too tired after keeping watch for several days, so we only just managed to persuade her to rest.¡±


    ¡°What about Young Master Tang?¡±


    ¡°Honored Master Tang is still in the mountains searching for his cherished beast and has yet to return.¡±


    Xi Canhen¡¯s heart ached when he heard that there was still no confirmation on the fate of the little tiger.


    He was just about to say something when Shi Meng walked in.


    Upon seeing Shi Meng, Xi Canhen struggled to rise, but Shi Meng pressed him back down. ¡°Your injuries aren¡¯t healed yet, so there¡¯s no need for the excess courtesy.¡±


    Xi Canhen propped up his body and said, ¡°Young Master Shi Meng, my thanks for taking care of this lowly one.¡±


    The maid brought over a chair, and Shi Meng sat down next to the bed. ¡°There¡¯s no need to be polite. I took care of you partially because you are Tang Jie¡¯s servant, so I cannot neglect you. And it is also because there are some confusing things that I wish to question you about.¡±


    ¡°¡®Confusing things¡¯?¡±


    Xi Canhen was mystified. Shi Meng firmly nodded. ¡°Yes. When I was treating you, I noticed some oddities about your body.¡±


    Shi Meng began to exin.


    It turned out that Shi Meng had noticed something strange about Xi Canhen¡¯s body when he had gone to pick him up from Tang Jie. Someone with Xi Canhen¡¯s injuries would have long since died in those intervening days, but Xi Canhen had managed to hold on and even crawl down the mountain. How strong did one¡¯s constitution have to be for one to do this?


    Only after Shi Meng had inspected Xi Canhen¡¯s body did he find that his meridians were particrly broad and strong, and he had inexplicably opened a Spirit Eye. It was for this reason that he had been able to survive such injuries.


    ¡°Spiritual energy has the effect of strengthening the body, but for natural reasons, the effect is limited. But your body is different from others. Your meridians are particrly broad, and the spiritual energy that can flow through them is more plentiful than usual. Thus, the strengthening effect of the spiritual energy is stronger, which is why you were able to survive for so long. From what I know, you weren¡¯t like this before you followed Tang Jie. Can you tell me what happened to you while you were on your own?¡±


    If Xi Canhen had really been this talented, Tang Jie would have seen it. Thus, something must have happened with Xi Canhen in this period of time.


    It was only after hearing Shi Meng¡¯s words that Xi Canhen understood why he had survived. He wasn¡¯t an idiot and could roughly guess as to why this was, so he exined how he had forcibly cultivated the Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra.


    When Shi Meng heard about how Xi Canhen had cultivated the Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra and survived, he was speechless.


    He had heard of the Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra as a mantra that could achieve the Great Dao, but came with much risk. While it provided swift sess, it came at the potential cost of one¡¯s life. The Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra was a fierce mantra that used a strong and forceful spiritual energy, and this shock might have widened Xi Canhen¡¯s meridians. But widening in these circumstances normally led the meridians to fracture. To put it bluntly, widening meant rupture, so why was Xi Canhen still alive and fine?


    Shi Meng didn¡¯t understand this.


    He didn¡¯t know that this was thanks to the little tiger¡¯s blood, plus the medicinal power of the ten-thousand-year ox bezoar. Theirbined effect, plus an immense chance factor, had led to this sess, so even if the same conditions were given again, the same oue might not ur.


    As for Xi Canhen¡¯s current body, to put it simply: meridians were like pipes. Other people cultivated to increase the capacity of their water tank, but Xi Canhen had decided to get bigger pipes before he had even finished his water tank.


    ¡°It¡¯s no wonder you were able to break free of Xie Yu¡¯s seal and stab your sword into his body. It¡¯s because your Spirit Eye was already open and your meridians had been widened. With your expanded meridians, you can unleash the power of an average Spirit Disciple for an instant. Given that he was treating you as a mortal, he would naturally suffer a loss.¡±


    Xi Canhen asked, ¡°Young Master Shi Meng, then do you mean that I will have the strengthparable to a Spirit Disciple in the future?¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Shi Meng curled his lip in scorn. ¡°Your meridians are just broader and thicker, allowing them to transfer more spiritual energy and allowing for a more explosive burst of power.¡±


    ¡°So doesn¡¯t that mean that when I cast a spell, it will be more powerful than usual?¡± Xi Canhen cautiously asked.


    Rather than insulting him, Shi Meng actually nodded and said, ¡°Yes. All of your meridians have been expanded, and are particrly good at transmitting spiritual energy, so for the same spell art, it would use 30% more energy and be 30% more powerful.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great!¡± Xi Canhen clenched his fist.


    Shi Meng replied, ¡°Don¡¯t celebrate too early. There are both upsides and downsides to this. The upside is naturally that your spell arts will be stronger, but the downside is that they cost you more. This is unfavorable for long battles and also means that your daily cultivation time will be reduced. For the same amount of spiritual energy, I can train one hundred times while you can only train seventy-six times.¡±


    Xi Canhen immediately replied, ¡°Then I¡¯ll just learn fewer spell arts and only pick the strong ones! There are many spell arts, and when ites to killing someone, only one or two are really needed.¡±


    Shi Meng was taken aback.


    While this youth wasn¡¯t that old, he had a very clear-minded way of seeing the world.


    Shi Meng couldn¡¯t help but nod. ¡°Besides that, not every spell art¡¯s power is rted to spiritual energy consumption. Some spell arts are the same no matter how much spiritual energy you use. This is particrly true after you enter Mortal Shedding and can harness the might of the world. In this aspect, the waste might be more than the improvement.¡±


    ¡°But something is out there that will suit me, right?¡± Xi Canhen asked.


    Shi Meng nodded. ¡°Yes. There are myriad spell arts in the world, so there will always be one that fits you. But this is thest and most troublesome problem. We¡¯ve never seen anyone in your situation before, so nobody knows how to help you. I fear that not even Tang Jie would know how to assist you in your cultivation.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Xi Canhen dropped his head for a while. ¡°Then I suppose I¡¯ll think as I go. If it¡¯s no good, I can just continue cultivating the Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra. In any case, this life of mine should have already been lost. I¡¯ll just see how far I can go.¡±


    Shi Meng couldn¡¯t help but smile at how open-minded the youth was being. ¡°For you to have this sort of mindset is for the best. You¡¯re still healing, so continue resting.¡±


    Xi Canhen remained in the Wei Estate to recuperate. His wounds healed very quickly¡ªafter two days, he could walk, and after another two days, he waspletely healed. While this was partially due to Shi Meng¡¯s skill with the Returning Spring spell, it also had to do with his own strong body. Putting aside whatever disadvantages his widened meridians had, at least they were much better when it came to having spiritual energy nourish his body.


    <em>Oh, maybe I can take the body refiner path,</em> Xi Canhen couldn¡¯t help but think.


    But this idea quickly passed, for he remembered that Tang Jie was also a body refiner. He had sworn an oath to follow Tang Jie, but if he walked the same path as his master, then there would be very few ces where he could show his power. While young, he had constantly been rushing around to make a living, so he had long ago understood that a person who wanted to live a good life first had to find their position. They had to make themselves useful, to have abilities that other people did not. Of course, if he were asked to summarize this experience in words, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do it. However, while working, Xi Canhen would inadvertently try to do everything he could to grasp what other people did not.


    He had the aptitude to be a body refiner, but Tang Jie was also a body refiner, so how could he best use his advantage while not ovepping with Tang Jie?


    The youth began to rack his mind for ideas.


    Several days went by, during which he thought about this problem in the small pavilion in the Wei Estate, sometimes even ignoring his own sister. Bystanders didn¡¯t know what he was doing and thought he had been rendered an imbecile. Privately, they gossiped that Xi Canhen must be suffering residual effects after being saved, with his mind asionally going nk.


    Xi Canhen ignored them and continued to think.


    One day, Xi Canhen was still sitting in the garden pavilion when a girl wearing a green dress rushed out of a bush, jumped up to Xi Canhen¡¯s ear, and yelled. But Xi Canhen didn¡¯t seem to feel anything, indifferently saying, ¡°I saw you ages ago. You can¡¯t scare anyone like that.¡±


    The girl pursed her lips. ¡°Big Brother, I can¡¯t believe you. Even though I was so well-hidden, you still managed to spot me.¡±


    It was Xi Canhen¡¯s little sister, Xi Shangyue.


    Xi Canhen ced his hands on the back of his head and said, ¡°Because you¡¯re dumb. While the bush can hide your body, when you move around, you¡¯ll hit the leaves and make a noise. While you can¡¯t see someone, you can hear them. How could I not know that someone was sneaking up on me?¡±


    ¡°Big Brother, you¡¯re awesome!¡± The girl pped her hands and smiled.


    ¡°Of course. You forgot that your big brother came out of the mines. In that ce, anything can happen for the sake of some ore. Someone coulde out of the shadows at any time with a knife¡­¡± Xi Canhen made a slicing motion across his neck, intentionally speaking in a scary tone. ¡°And then, while you¡¯re lying in a pool of blood, you won¡¯t immediately die. You¡¯ll be able to see your murderer steal everything you have and then go back to lurking in the darkness.¡±


    The girl went deathly pale, backing away several steps. Gritting her teeth, she said, ¡°Brother, you¡¯re so bad, trying to trick Shangyue again! If it was really that dangerous, then why are you still okay?¡±


    Xi Canhen put his hands on his waist and said, ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯m an expert in this field. If I want to hide, no one can find me. Once I cultivate some spell arts, I¡¯ll be able to hide my traces so well that even Immortal masters of the great sects might not be able to sense me!¡±


    Xi Canhen suddenly froze as if he had realized something. He suddenly stood up and began to think.


    Xi Shangyue saw his behavior and muttered, ¡°It¡¯s over. He¡¯s like that again.¡±


    But she tactfully chose to not disturb him.


    After some time, Xi Canhen jumped, hugged his little sister, and shouted, ¡°I know what I should do now!¡±


    At that moment, he finally knew what sort of choice to make for his life!


    Starting from this day, Xi Canhen began to seek instruction on various concealment spell arts from Shi Meng.


    As it turned out, Shi Meng was somewhat of an expert on such spell arts. In their team of three, he was the one who dabbled in a lot but wasn¡¯t really good at anything, but this was exactly why he was more suited to be a teacher than Tang Jie in some fields. His thoughts were perhaps not as profound as Tang Jie¡¯s, but he was superior when it came to an all-around understanding of spell arts. After all, he had learned simply too many of them.


    While Shi Meng was surprised that Xi Canhen wanted to learn concealment spell arts, he didn¡¯t refuse him. After all, Basking Moon Academy mainly banned the transmission of primary cultivation mantras like the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra. When it came to spell arts, so long as it wasn¡¯t a secret Divine Firmament art, there weren¡¯t many restrictions.


    Xi Canhen learned spell arts from Shi Meng during the day and cultivated the Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra at night. His Spirit Eye was already open, and though it hadn¡¯t be a Spirit Spring, he could still be considered an official Spirit tform Disciple. Thus, it took him only a few days to grasp the lowest-level Aura Restraint spell.


    Aura Restraint wasn¡¯t true stealth, but a means of restraining one¡¯s aura so that it didn¡¯t leak out. Although it was a very low-level spell art, it was very practical. In the future, if he got stronger, it could even be used to avoid the detection of another person¡¯s Divine Will.


    After learning Aura Restraint, Xi Canhen tried it out within the Wei Estate. As Aura Restraint did not conceal the body, it couldn¡¯t fool people, but it could fool cats, dogs, mice, and other such creatures that were more sensitive to aura.


    At times, when a mouse was walking around, it would only notice Xi Canhen when he hade up right behind it, upon which it would scamper off.


    Even more often, Xi Canhen would walk up to a small dog and make a loud noise, making the dog bark and run off, much to the amusement of the maids. These moments of chaos in the Wei Estate somewhat lightened the heavy mood hanging over it.


    The heavy mood was because Wei Tianchong had gone to his father¡¯s study upon his return and said something to him. From that day forward, Wei Danbai hadn¡¯t had a very good look on his face¡ªnot that he usually did.


    Something was brewing in the Wei Estate.


    Xi Canhen had felt it.


    But he didn¡¯t know exactly what it was.


    Tang Jie still hadn¡¯t returned from Mount Eternal, and with each day that Tang Jie didn¡¯t return, the mood grew heavier and heavier, and the master¡¯s temper grew worse and worse. A few days ago, he had inexplicably beaten a servant, cursing him as an ¡°ungrateful thing¡± and driving him from the estate.


    Today, Xi Canhen went to seek out Shi Meng¡¯s advice on some cultivation problems, but as he got close, he spotted Shi Meng speaking with someone. From the look of it, he was speaking with Wu Xing.


    Xi Canhen immediately wondered if he could try and listen in on their conversation without them noticing.


    He didn¡¯t have the ability to walk past Shi Meng without him noticing, but if he found a hiding spot beforehand, he had a chance of escaping his perception.


    He immediately retreated into a flower bush, restraining his aura and slowly melding with the darkness.


    Nearby, Wu Xing walked as he talked, saying, ¡°In other words, Tang Jie is still not willing to forgive the n head?¡±


    Shi Meng walked with his hands held behind his back, sighing, ¡°I understand Tang Jie. He¡¯s someone who values his rtionships. The little tiger had been with him for many years, and he treated the little tiger like his own child. For the n head to give up on the little tiger for the sake of mortal profits was truly unwise. It is hard to me Tang Jie for being mad.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that we cultivators were able to get this far thanks to mortal silver,¡± Wu Xing replied. ¡°Didn¡¯t the n head let us enter the academy so that we could attain Immortal arts and serve the n? Was this all done instead so that the n could serve the cultivator?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s where the problem is,¡± Shi Meng sighed. ¡°If it weren¡¯t the little tiger, I¡¯m sure that Tang Jie would have happily epted this exnation. But he won¡¯t ept it if ites at the cost of the people at his side.¡±


    ¡°A tiger is not a person.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s only how mortals see it. A fiend tiger at Mind Opening is no different from a person. You should understand that.¡±


    ¡°But you can¡¯tpletely me the Wei Estate for what happened. Even if the Wei Estate had gone, it might not have been able to resolve the problem.¡±


    Shi Meng shook his head. ¡°Tang Jie already asked some people from the Stone Gate Sect, and he confirmed that the one who pursued Xi Canhen was called Xie Yu, at the second level of Nine Revolutions and of average strength. He would have been no match for thebined might of the Wei n¡¯s several Spirit Masters. He began his pursuit shortly after Tang Jie had notified the Wei n, which means that if everyone had done as Tang Jie had nned, nothing would have happened to the little tiger.¡±


    Wu Xing¡¯s face fell.


    Shi Meng sighed. ¡°If the Wei Estate didn¡¯t want to do it, they could have just refused from the outset instead of epting the task and then cking off. There was no problem with Tang Jie¡¯s n. The problem was with the people carrying out the n, so how could he not be resentful? The Wei Estate has shown great kindness to Tang Jie, but has Tang Jie not generously repaid the Wei Estate? All that he has already done for the Wei Estate is something that some people could go their entire lives without achieving. Has he not already returned a hundred, a thousand times more than what he took from the Wei Estate?¡±


    Wu Xing¡¯s face turned red. He knew that Shi Meng had partially been talking about him in those words. He had also been supported by the Wei Estate to enter the academy, but Wu Xing¡¯s contribution to the n was pitifulpared to the investment. But this was the case for the vast majority of students. Ultimately, after vast sums of money had been expended on them, they could be core members of the n so as to repay their debts.


    As for Tang Jie, he was a pleasant surprise.


    s, some people had taken his contributions as deserved repayment, taking it for granted, and his status had naturally fallen with the rise of this attitude.


    Of course, not everyone would look down on him. At least Zheng Shufeng would not. Unfortunately, Wei Danbai was the exact opposite.


    He was too used to his status as ¡°master¡±.


    Even though they understood this, Wu Xing and Shi Meng would not state it openly.


    Wu Xing asked, ¡°Then how do you feel like Tang Jie will handle this affair?¡±


    Shi Meng thought it over and shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I don¡¯t think Tang Jie will do anything too bad to the Wei n over this. He¡¯s not that sort of person.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯s that sort of person either. Then will he leave the Wei n?¡± Wu Xing asked.


    Shi Meng shook his head. ¡°He swore a great aspiration, so he will not.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± Wu Xing sighed in relief. ¡°I can go and report to the First Young Master now.¡±


    Shi Meng frowned. ¡°All you care about is whether you can still use Tang Jie and if he will do you any harm. Have you never considered his personal feelings?¡±


    Wu Xing went red in the face. ¡°In the end, I¡¯m a member of the Wei n, so I have to think for the sake of the Wei n. Besides¡­ the Wei n has treated my parents very well.¡±


    Shi Meng coldly shot back, ¡°But not because of you!¡±


    Wu Xing paled, but he ultimately turned and left.


    As he watched Wu Xing leave, Shi Meng muttered, ¡°None of you get Tang Jie¡­ You think that if Tang Jie doesn¡¯t leave the Wei n or strike against the Wei n, h

 Chapter 390

    Chapter 390: Immeasurable Sword


    Xi Canhen came out of the Wei Estate with a small bundle on his back. He waved at the gates as his form of farewell.


    He turned to Xi Shangyue and said, ¡°Sister, let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Gritting her teeth, the girl looked reluctantly back at the gates of the Wei Estate before leaving with her older brother.


    The maids and servants in front of the gate looked weirdly at the siblings. It was clear that they felt that there was no need to throw away these days of luxury to seek out suffering.


    Xi Canhen was blind to their looks, pulling his sister¡¯s hand as heughed. Xi Shangyue was worried over her older brother¡¯s state and asked, ¡°Big Brother, how are we going to live now that we¡¯re leaving the Wei n?¡±


    Xi Canhen thumped his chest. ¡°What are you afraid of? I¡¯m basically half a cultivator right now. Although my magic power iscking, do you think I¡¯m afraid of not being able to find anything to eat? Moreover, look at Canglong Prefecture. This is and of opportunity, with plenty of jobs to go around. Oh, right, right¡­¡±


    Xi Canhen pped his head and took something out, smiling. ¡°Don¡¯t forget about this. If I sell it, won¡¯t we be able to have anything we want?¡±


    It was that Crystallized Sandworm.


    Initially, he hadn¡¯t known the value of the Crystallized Sandworm, but now, he was well aware of it. Even if he had already absorbed a part of the Crystallized Sandworm, it was still worth sixty to seventy thousand spirit coins. This money was an enormous sum for a student of Basking Moon, let alone a neophyte like him.


    With the sandworm in hand, Xi Canhen rushed to a nearby store. After haggling over the price for a while, he ultimately sold it for 52,000 coins.


    With these spirit coins, Xi Canhen left the store and immediately used Aura Restraint, hiding in a corner and looking around. Reality proved that his caution was unnecessary. While fifty thousand spirit coins was a lot, merchants weren¡¯t people who became bandits the moment they saw money. They were intelligent people and knew not to kill the chicken for its eggs.


    Seeing that everything was fine, Xi Canhen rushed off to another store. This ce sold ordinary spell arts, talisman paper, spell weapons, and medicines.


    Although these goods couldn¡¯t bepared to the goods from famous sects like the Basking Moon Sect, as they were gathered from various small sects, there was certainly more variety. So long as he was diligent, he would be able to find spell arts and weapons that were suitable for him.


    Xi Canhen didn¡¯t forget about the special attributes of his body that Shi Meng had pointed out. As his meridians wererger than normal, he expended more spiritual energy, so he sought out spell arts that had their power directly linked to the amount of spiritual energy used. But while there were such spell arts, they were all of a low level and would not be too useful. To put it simply, they had many drawbacks. After searching for a while, he didn¡¯t really find anything that suited him. Only the Raging Wave Sword art he had found barely satisfied him.


    Besides an offensive technique, Xi Canhen also wanted a technique that could lighten his body. But in this, too, he found nothing suitable, and so he satisfied himself with a Windwalk spell book.


    Finally, Xi Canhen bought a few bottles of medicine. His foundation was too shallow, so he needed to swiftly solidify it.


    He was just about to buy a spell weapon when he heard a mor outside.


    Looking out, he saw an old man yelling, ¡°Selling a weapon! Selling a weapon! Upper-grade art relic, only thirty thousand spirit coins!¡±


    A crowd had already gathered. The old man was holding a gray shortsword, 1 foot and 3 inches long. Most astonishing of all was that the sword had no hilt, only the naked de.


    The old man had to hold the sword by cing his hands on the t sides. If he directly grabbed it, he would have cut himself.


    Xi Canhen was also surprised by this strange little sword. Pulling on his little sister¡¯s hand, he said, ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s go and see.¡±


    A chattering crowd had gathered, some people pointing at the sword while others scoffed, ¡°Is this old man crazy? A shabby sword like this is thirty thousand spirit coins? It doesn¡¯t even have a hilt, so how are you supposed to use it? It¡¯s nothing more than scrap metal. I wouldn¡¯t want it even if it were given to me for free.¡±


    The old man red. ¡°This is an Immortal art relic, an item passed down from the Court of Myriad Domains, a divine weapon used by Immortals. You dare to speak nonsense about it despite yourck of knowledge?¡±


    ¡°¡®The Court of Myriad Domains¡¯? Doesn¡¯t my Rosecloud Domain only have the six major sects? Where did this Court of Myriad Domainse from? This old man is probably crazy.¡± The crowd erupted inughter.


    The old man closed his eyes and said nothing.


    Xi Canhen looked at the sword. For some reason, he felt a connection to this sword. He started to feel entranced, an impulse seizing him. He came up and bowed, upon which he said, ¡°Venerable Sir, could I hold the sword for a moment?¡±


    The old man opened his eyes and looked at Xi Canhen. His eyes gleamed as he gasped, and then they dimmed again. ¡°You¡¯re quite the polite one.¡±


    He ced the sword in Xi Canhen¡¯s hand.


    Xi Canhen took the sword, and he felt it tremble. A sea of blood suddenly appeared in front of him, but then it disappeared, everything returning to normal.


    The old man regretfully shook his head, saying in an extremely soft voice, ¡°Murderous nature is a little on the weak side¡­ can¡¯t control it¡­¡±


    Xi Canhen continued to stare at the sword.


    Suddenly, he grabbed the head of the sword, the edge slicing into his palm and drawing blood.


    ¡°Brother!¡± Xi Shangyue cried out in rm.


    Xi Canhen seemed to not feel it, continuing to stare at the sword with a strange light in his eyes.


    The blood that flowed from the cut disappeared into the sword.


    The hiltless shortsword trembled, letting out a buzz, and then it flew into the air. A crimson light engulfed Xi Canhen, and the old man narrowed his eyes. ¡°The murderous nature is weak, but the will to fight is impressive. Not the crazed tyranny of one who would raise the butcher¡¯s de against all thend, but the resolve to take up the sword against a powerful foe¡­ It is an option. No wonder you¡¯re getting impatient¡­¡±


    At this time, the demonic will was starting to retreat from Xi Canhen¡¯s eyes, his rationality returning.


    Looking down, he saw that the sword was still drinking his blood. He forced his hand to release the sword and returned it to the elder.


    The elder looked at Xi Canhen. ¡°Young man, are you not satisfied with this sword?¡±


    Xi Canhen replied, ¡°This sword seems to have a demonic nature that will increase a person¡¯s murderous nature, making it difficult to control.¡±


    The old man chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re right. Being difficult to control is this sword¡¯s feature. Then, young man, do you dare to use this sword?¡±


    Xi Canhen looked at the sword for a while before shaking his head. ¡°This sword truly is an extraordinary item, but I think it¡¯s not for me. Firstly, this sword is at least an art relic, but I have only just opened my Spirit Eye, so I can¡¯t even use it. Secondly, this sword affects mental state and is too strong in demonic nature. The slightest mishap could lead me to be controlled instead. Thirdly, I don¡¯t have that much money.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t have the money, but he wasn¡¯t willing to spend thirty thousand on a demonic sword.


    The old manughed. ¡°These three are simple to resolve. Let me take care of thatst one for you. You say that youck spirit coins, but this is no problem. This treasure is only to be given to those with a fated connection to it. To me, little friend, it looks like you have such a connection, so I will gift it to you.¡±


    ¡°You will gift it to me?¡± Xi Canhen was startled.


    The old man smiled and nodded. ¡°Correct. As for your second difficulty, you simply need a hardy will. A person¡¯s will can be honed, and so long as you can render your Origin Heart unshakable, you will not be affected. But getting back onto the subject, once you use this sword and learn of its various wonders, you might not want to fend off its influences even if you could.¡±


    He loudlyughed, an evilugh that left Xi Canhen stunned.


    He was almost certain that this old man wasn¡¯t as simple as he seemed.


    The old man went on, ¡°As for the first problem¡­ haha, who said a low-tier Spirit Disciple couldn¡¯t use an art relic? There is one kind of art relic that even mortals can use. Young man, have you heard of it before?¡±


    Xi Canhen was startled, but before he could react, some of the surrounding crowd already knew the answer. ¡°A soul weapon? This old man is talking about soul weapons. Is this sword a soul weapon?¡±


    A rush of people came forth, shouting, ¡°Old man, I want that sword!¡±


    ¡°Give it to me!¡±


    Some of them even grabbed for the sword.


    The old man was unruffled. ¡°The treasure is only gifted to a fated one. Since a fated one has appeared, the rest of you can disperse!¡±


    He waved his sleeve and sent everyone around him flying. The old man then raised a hand, three diagrams appearing in it. He stuffed these into Xi Canhen¡¯s hand and said, ¡°I see that you have a constitution better than most, so I will grant you these three techniques. The first is the Sacrificial Sword, the second is the Free Roaming Mantra, and the third is the Demon Refining Art. They are countless times better than the ones you have.¡±


    The old man had seen at a nce the spell arts that Xi Canhen was carrying.


    After saying this, he flew into the air and vanished in the blink of an eye.


    This ability stunned the crowd, and they got down on their knees and cried out, ¡°Old Immortal!¡± But the old man¡¯s voice simply replied from the air, ¡°The sword¡¯s name is Immeasurable, and it possesses great power. If you use it properly, you can dominate the world. Fated one, take care of yourself. This old man is taking his leave!¡±


    He spoke no more, and it seemed like he really had left this time.


    Everyone stared in a daze, not knowing what to say.


    Xi Canhen was also left perplexed by this development. Suddenly, he looked around and saw countless eyes staring at him and the sword.


    He instantly knew he was in trouble, so he grabbed his little sister¡¯s hand and began to leave.


    A crowd of people followed with savage, cold, and cruel looks in their eyes. They regarded Xi Canhen as if he was already a corpse, and some of them even viciously smiled.


    It appeared that they wouldn¡¯t rest until Xi Canhen handed over the treasure.


    Canglong Prefecture was nowlessnd, but sufficiently great fortune could overridew and order, and even more so if someone was encouraging it from the shadows.


    Some people pursued Xi Canhen like madmen. Xi Canhen knew that this wasn¡¯t good, but he had a tough will, so even though he knew that abandoning the sword was the best option, he chose not to. As he held the sword, the anger in his heart grew. The edge once more cut into his palm, and as the sword drank of his blood, a murderous crimson glow appeared in his eyes.


    ¡°Since you want to steal it,e and get it!¡± Xi Canhen called out. He suddenly ran out of the city.


    The crowd pursued.


    They were soon out of the city. Xi Canhen ran into a tree-shaded side path and then suddenly turned around. He faced his pursuers with crimson eyes.


    ¡°Hey, kid, hand over the treasure and we can spare your life!¡± a burly man shouted.


    Xi Canhen coldly replied, ¡°But I have no ns of letting you go.¡±


    Everyone saw that Xi Canhen¡¯s entire body had a bloody glow, and a tide of blood rose up out of nowhere to pull everyone into a sea of blood.


    ¡°No¡­¡± Screams came from the crowd.


    Xi Canhen charged out, his sword swinging.


    Horizon Sword Form!


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    A head flew into the air, the gusher of blood making the boundless sea of blood more vivid and more wild, making the crowd feel as if they were at the bottom of the sea, unable to move.


    ¡°No!¡± Xi Shangyue covered her face and shrieked.


    Xi Canhen was deaf to her cries, continuing his massacre in the sea of blood. His eyes were crimson, and as the hiltless sword in his hand pierced into body after body, their blood flowed into the sword.


    At the same time, the weakness that Xi Canhen felt from the loss of blood dissipated.


    <em>So that¡¯s the deal?</em>


    <em>Suck the blood of enemies or have your blood sucked.</em>


    This was no Immeasurable Sword. It was clearly a bloodsucking sword!


    As it drank the blood of enemies, this sword grew even stronger. The sea of blood was originally made from Xi Canhen¡¯s blood, so its range was limited. As it absorbed more blood, the sea of blood grew stronger andrger.


    Under this sea of blood, everyone except Xi Canhen felt their courage fail, and even movement became difficult.


    Xi Canhen rampaged in the sea of blood, and in only a few short moments, he had killed off all his pursuers.


    Only then did the murderous intent in Xi Canhen¡¯s eyes begin to fade.


    Looking at the corpses strewn across the ground, Xi Canhen muttered, ¡°The sword possesses great power¡­ So this is what he meant? It truly is tyrannical beyondpare, getting stronger through battle.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not all. I can sense that my body is bursting with strength. Could this sword be able to¡­¡±


    Xi Canhen didn¡¯t continue, as he was too stunned to speak.


    Could this sword absorb the strength of others?


    If that was the case, didn¡¯t that mean he would get stronger the more he killed?


    But¡­ why did this sound like a Demon Gate art?


    The Demon Gate had been exterminated from the Rosecloud Domain more than a thousand years ago. If there were any demons, they could only be in the Primordial Fog Domain.


    The old man had said this sword hade from some Court of Myriad Domains, but it seemed more like a sword from the Demon Gate.


    ¡°Big Brother!¡± Xi Shangyue¡¯s voice pulled Xi Canhen back into reality.


    The girl looked at her brother, her face ghastly white. ¡°You killed them.¡±


    Xi Canhen stared nkly for a moment before he realized something and said, ¡°Yes, I killed them¡­ I killed a lot of people¡­ How strange¡ªwhy don¡¯t I feel any fear? Although this isn¡¯t my first time killing someone, it¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve killed this many. Why am I not only not afraid, but even excited?¡±


    Xi Canhen¡¯s eyes glowed with excitement as he looked at the corpses.


    Xi Shangyue was horrified by Xi Canhen¡¯s expression and backed up several steps.


    Xi Canhen knew that this behavior wasn¡¯t right and flung the sword away.


    Only now did he feel some fear for killing these people and disgust at this scene.


    He suppressed his difort and embraced his little sister. ¡°Shangyue, Shangyue, don¡¯t be afraid. I¡¯m your big brother. No matter what, I will never hurt you. It¡¯s all that sword. It¡¯s that sword that killed them.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get rid of the sword, okay?¡± the sister begged her brother.


    Xi Canhen froze. Finally, he said, ¡°Shangyue, trust me. I can control that sword.¡±


    He put down Xi Shangyue, tore off arge strip of cloth from a corpse, and used it to wrap up the sword and solemnly put it away.


    He smiled and said, ¡°Look. This way, I won¡¯t be influenced by it.¡±


    Xi Shangyue said nothing.


    Xi Canhen pulled his sister over and said, ¡°We can¡¯t stay here. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°To where?¡±


    ¡°Wherever. There will be some ce we can stay. That old man also gave me some spell arts, so I should cultivate them and see how powerful they are¡­¡±


    The brother and sister conversed as they walked into the distance.


    Unbeknownst to them, high in the sky, in the clouds, the sword-selling old man had been watching everything.


    He chuckled. ¡°What do you think? Now you know the advantages of this sword, yes? No one can give up on this sword after learning of its power¡­ Hahahaha, this time, I will seed!¡±


    The old man threw back his head and let out a boomingugh akin to thunder.


    Amid the boomingughter, the old man¡¯s form changed, transforming into an elegant middle-aged man, but he had only half a face. The other half of his face was so horrifyingly withered and burned that it seemed like his skull was visible.


    Theughter stopped, and the middle-aged man muttered, ¡°There is no more need to hide the green spear, and return is inevitable¡­ Just wait. The day the Immeasurable Sword is freed is the day I, Cang Qingfeng (Hidden Green Spear), return!¡±


    He blinked away, this time truly disappearing without a trace.


    What a coincidence that Tang Jie¡¯s sorta-disciple runs into another alum of Basking Moon Academy! But what¡¯s the story with this Cang Qingfeng guy anyway?

 Chapter 391

    Chapter 391: Will of the Heavens


    Mount Eternal region, Heavenyear Peak.


    This was the central peak of Mount Eternal. Standing here, one could see an ocean of clouds and a sea of forests, all of the surrounding area within one¡¯s vision.


    For thest month, every morning, Tang Jie hade to this peak to look into the distance. s, despite hisprehension of Insight, he was not able to take in this entire mountainous region. Even Yiyi using her control of nts had not been able to find anything.


    Nearly a month had passed, and Tang Jie¡¯s hopes were dwindling.


    Tang Jie was still sitting on the peak today, looking into the distance, but there was nothing new.


    He softly sighed.


    Yiyi pulled on the hem of Tang Jie¡¯s clothes and said, ¡°Big Brother, we won¡¯t be able to find Bao¡¯er, right?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°But it might be that one day, he will suddenly appear before us.¡±


    ¡°You think he¡¯s still alive.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯s still alive.¡±


    Yiyi dropped her head and fell silent.


    After a while, the little girl suddenly gnashed her teeth and said, ¡°It¡¯s all the fault of that Wei n head. If not for him, Bao¡¯er wouldn¡¯t have gone missing. Why don¡¯t we go and destroy the Wei n?¡±


    Tang Jie pinched Yiyi¡¯s face. ¡°Little girl, you shouldn¡¯t have such a murderous aura about you. The Wei n has shown kindness to me, so I cannot strike at them.¡±


    ¡°So are we just going to let this matter go?¡±


    Tang Jie indifferently said, ¡°I guess so. The heavens have their own judgment.¡±


    ¡°¡®The heavens¡¯? What sort of judgment can the heavens have?¡± Yiyi was confused.


    Tang Jie coolly replied, ¡°Yiyi, go back to Canglong Prefecture for a bit and spread the word that Tang Jie is downhearted from the unknown fate of his beloved pet and is no longer in the mood to worry about mortal affairs. Of course, Tang Jie is still a member of the Wei n and will still step forward if the Wei n is in danger.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Yiyi looked at Tang Jie in shock.


    She didn¡¯t understand why Tang Jie would do this in this situation. Tang Jie said, ¡°Remember what I said. When you get to Canglong Prefecture, just repeat it word for word so that everyone hears. Make sure that the majority of the cultivators and ns of Ling Province know about this. Understand?¡±


    Yiyi dumbly nodded.


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°Once you¡¯re done with that, head to Shi City. I¡¯ve heard that thedy¡¯s mother is of advanced age and does not have long to live, and even a Lifespan Extending Pill doesn¡¯t do anything. Go over there and see how long she canst. If she can stillst for some time, head to Shaohua Mountain and find the sect master of the Essence Yang Sect. Tell him that Tang Jie is seeking out a Life Restoring Pill for the venerabledy. As for the price, give him as much as he asks for. If we don¡¯t have enough money, we can just owe them a debt.¡±


    Yiyi was confused. ¡°While the Life Restoring Pill can extend a life, it doesn¡¯t resolve any major problems and only buys time, but it¡¯s not cheap either. The Wei n is treating you like this, and you¡¯re still helping them so much?¡±


    ¡°Just do as I say,¡± Tang Jie said, remaining indifferent. ¡°As for your third task, I arranged to meet with Mu Yi, so you should head back to Basking Moon Academy and see Mu Yi. There¡¯s no need to hide anything, so just tell him what happened here. Once that¡¯s done, you cane back.¡±


    ¡°Just tell him what happened here and nothing else?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you don¡¯t need to say anything else.¡±


    ¡°And then?¡± Yiyi nkly stared at Tang Jie.


    ¡°And then¡­¡± Tang Jie softly muttered, ¡°Then we look to the will of the heavens.¡±


    Yiyi left Heavenyear Peak, leaving Tang Jie alone to continue his search.


    After searching for another month, Tang Jie finally had to leave empty-handed.


    When he left, the little tiger was still slumbering in the underground cavern, Xi Canhen had left the Wei Estate more than a month ago, and the Basking Moon Sect, with all the various disciples mediating, had finished the final calctions and confirmed the contributions of Tang Jie and the others. Tang Jie¡¯s fame once more spread throughout the realm, and all of Sageheart heard of his reward of twenty million spirit coins.


    In contrast, some bad news began to spread through smaller channels.


    Someone said that Tang Jie and the Wei Estate had had a falling out.


    The reason for the rumor was that Tang Jie had publicly announced that he was no longer intervening in mortal affairs, and the one most affected by this was none other than the Wei n.


    Some with good intelligenceworks even said that Tang Jie had done this because the Wei Estate had beencking in its rescue efforts. Tang Jie had been dissatisfied, but he also wasn¡¯t willing to turn hostile because of this and earn the infamy of betraying his master, so he had decided to handle things by being passive.


    The rumor had so much detail that the Wei Estate was in somewhat of a panic.


    Wei Danbai was furious. ¡°Absurd! Putting aside its veracity, even if it were true, without Tang Jie, the Wei Estate still has my son Tianchong! He¡¯s a True Inheritor of Sunwatch Peak! Moreover, Tang Jie has been in school for eight years, and when has he ever asked about the Wei n¡¯s business? On the contrary, he¡¯s had many requests, and has my Wei Estate ever treated him poorly? ¡®Not intervening from now on¡¯? It¡¯s pure nonsense! He¡¯s never intervened before! I am the one who carries out all the Wei n¡¯s business!¡±


    There was nothing wrong about these words. Tang Jie truly had never done anything for the Wei Estate¡¯s businesses. Wei Tianzhi and Wu Xing were already participating in the business of the n, but Tang Jie hadn¡¯t even finished his full ten years of education, and once he finished, he would be entering the Basking Moon Sect, giving him even less of a chance to work for the n.


    The problem was that the value of some people didn¡¯t manifest in what they did.


    Tang Jie naturally didn¡¯t know what sort of value he had. His view was bound to be limited by his own standpoint, perhaps too great or too little.


    This was exactly why he had chosen to leave the decision to the heavens, to have reality judge everything.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The Jade Radiance Sect.


    Han Tianji was in the main hall, his eyes closed in meditation. In front of him stood a young disciple.


    ¡°You have confirmed the matter?¡± he asked without raising his head.


    The Jade Radiance disciple replied, ¡°It has been confirmed. The one spreading the news was a little girl. Her appearance and way of speaking indicate that she was most likely that Yiyi that was with Young Sir Tang. In addition, we bribed many servants in the Wei Estate and confirmed that Tang Jie¡¯s beloved pet has gone missing, and that this truly was because the Wei Estate did not put enough effort into the matter.¡±


    To Han Tianji¡¯s left sat a beautiful woman in ptial dress. She picked up from here, saying, ¡°What is most important is that Tang Jie was still in the Mount Eternal region up until a few days ago, only two mountains away from our Jade Radiance Sect. There is no denying this fact. If there was no problem, he would not have done this.¡±


    Her name was Yuan Qiaojun, and she was Han Tianji¡¯s wife and one of the three Celestial Hearts of the Jade Radiance Sect.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Han Tianji muttered, pensively stroking his chin.


    The middle-aged man on his right said, ¡°Sect Master, I do not know why you are paying so much attention to this matter. In the end, Tang Jie is simply quarreling with the n he is affiliated with. From the look of it, while he has be passive, he is still looking out for the Wei n, which is why he said that he would appear if the Wei n was in danger.¡±


    Han Tianji chuckled. ¡°If only things were that simple.¡±


    The middle-aged man hastily asked, ¡°Does Senior Brother think there is something else going on?¡±


    Han Tianji casually said, ¡°If he were really passively keeping his distance, why would he announce it? Junior Brother Zuo, if you decided to stay out of the affairs of the sect, would you find a ce to seclude yourself? Or would you go around announcing it, wanting all the world, including Qiu Shuyu and Shi Jingzhai, to know that my Jade Radiance Sect would be missing a Celestial Heart?¡±


    Junior Brother Zuo was rendered speechless. Han Tianji added, ¡°Right, and when you¡¯re making the announcement, you don¡¯t forget to add: ¡®So long as the Jade Radiance Sect isn¡¯t in danger, I won¡¯t interfere.''¡±


    The woman covered her mouth and chuckled. ¡°Now that I think about it, the Stone Gate Sect still exists.¡±


    Existing only in name was still existing!


    Junior Brother Zuo was enlightened. ¡°So Tang Jie is actually bringing disaster to the Wei n!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not going that far.¡± Han Tianji shook his head. ¡°The Wei n is still a mortal n, not a cultivator sect. Cultivators prioritize strength, so their shes often result in the loss of life. Mortals prioritize money, so they constantly have business disputes.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then it¡¯s nothing much,¡± Junior Brother Zuo said in disdain. As a cultivator, he naturally scorned mortal gold and silver.


    ¡°In normal circumstances, it¡¯s really nothing.¡± Han Tianji smiled.


    ¡°Hm? Sect Master, what do you mean?¡± Junior Brother Zuo looked at Han Tianji in confusion.


    Han Tianji didn¡¯t answer him, instead turning to his wife. ¡°Qiaojun, you once raised a dog, so you understand the most what it means to have affection for a pet. How about you tell Junior Brother?¡±


    Yuan Qiaojun rolled her eyes, and then shezily replied, ¡°What is there to say? Back then, my father was devoted to cultivation and had no time to spend with me. When I was bored, I would go into the mountains. It was you who gifted me a puppy one day and told me to raise it. Starting from that day, I regarded that dog like it was my own life. I named it Zhen¡¯er and never left its side, and whenever I saw someone eating dog meat, I would loathe them.¡±


    Junior Brother Zuo had entered the sectte and hadn¡¯t known that Yuan Qiaojun had this period of history. He said in surprise, ¡°Senior Sister loved this dog so much that you even got involved when other people ate dog meat? It¡¯s no wonder you¡¯ve never eaten dog meat.¡±


    Yuan Qiaojun rolled her eyes. ¡°You don¡¯t raise dogs, so you wouldn¡¯t understand the mindset.¡±


    Junior Brother Zuo indignantly shot back, ¡°You don¡¯t eat dog meat, so you can¡¯t understand its vor!¡±


    Yuan Qiaojun red, but Han Tianji stepped in. ¡°Don¡¯t stray from the topic.¡±


    Yuan Qiaojun let the matter drop. ¡°s, Zhen¡¯er was a mortal dog, with a limited lifespan. No matter how many spirit medicines I fed it, it only lived thirty years before passing on.¡±


    An ordinary dog normally lived into its teens, so a dog living until thirty was like a human living until three hundred. <em>Just how much spirit medicine did she have to feed it for it to get that old?</em> Junior Brother Zuo inwardly wondered, but he did not dare to say anything.


    Yuan Qiaojun continued, ¡°After Zhen¡¯er died, I was saddened for many days. From that point forward, I was unwilling to raise dogs, and I became disheartened. But from this, I achieved enlightenment, and my strength advanced by leaps and bounds.¡±


    Junior Brother Zuo was stunned that she could achieve enlightenment through her dog, and he felt depressed, feeling that getting through the world was hard and that humans were even worse than dogs.


    Han Tianji once again pulled things back to the main topic. ¡°I had her tell you this because I wanted you to know that Tang Jie lost his beloved tiger because of Wei Danbai, and his heart is probably filled with rage. Once you understand this sentiment, you will be able to understand many of the things he is doing.¡±


    Junior Brother Zuo seemed to understand. ¡°Senior Brother means¡­¡±


    Han Tianji replied, ¡°Tang Jie came out of the Wei n and benefited from its kindness. Although he has repaid this kindness, he is still a member of the Wei n. No matter how richly he has repaid them or how coldly Wei Danbai treats him, none of these can be reasons for him to turn against the Wei n! So all he can do is be passive, no longer ardently serving the Wei n. This is understandable. If a master¡¯s actions leave a servant deeply disappointed, if the servant does not rebel, they will at least be disheartened. But this is only from a rational perspective. From an emotional perspective¡­ Qiaojun, if someone had ever killed Zhen¡¯er, what would you have done to them?¡±


    Yuan Qiaojun red. ¡°Who would dare? I would battle him to the death!¡±


    Han Tianji went on, ¡°I presume that Tang Jie also very much wanted to battle Wei Danbai to the death.¡±


    Junior Brother Zuo finally understood. ¡°Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t do such a thing. There are many things like this in the world, where one has to pick between rationality and emotion.¡±


    Han Tianji continued, ¡°Tang Jie has chosen rationality, giving up on his emotions. But if someone can do what he can¡¯t, he would definitely be grateful.¡±


    ¡°Senior Brother is wise!¡± Junior Brother Zuo¡¯s eyes glowed. He then thought some more and added, ¡°But Tang Jie is still a student who has yet to enter the sect. Is he worth going out of the way to help?¡±


    ¡°¡®A student who has yet to enter the sect¡¯?¡± Han Tianji chuckled. ¡°It was this student who has yet to enter a sect who turned the tables to kill Gu Changqing and exterminate the Hawk Hall. And it was this student who pushed a good-for-nothing into bing a True Inheritor. And it was the same student who put on a splendid performance at the Immortal Fortune Conference and who has now exterminated the Stone Gate Sect and seized tens of millions in wealth. Junior Brother, let alone discussing whether you could do this in the past, even the present you couldn¡¯t achieve this much¡ªam I right?¡±


    Junior Brother Zuo nodded in embarrassment.


    Han Tianji continued, ¡°Moreover, we¡¯re just making trouble for a small mortal n. Does that really require going out of our way? Why wouldn¡¯t you ept such a profitable deal?¡±


    Junior Brother Zuo was totally convinced. ¡°Senior Brother is truly wise!¡±


    Even though Han Tianji¡¯s thoughts were not exactly what Tang Jie had been thinking, there was one thing he had guessed correctly: Tang Jie had foreseen this possibility.


    Or perhaps one could say that he had, intentionally or not, turned this possibility into a reality.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    No matter the era, expansion wasn¡¯t something that could be solved just because one had money.


    In ancient times on Earth, a business¡¯s degree of expansion was closely linked to the protective umbre the government could offer. In the Rosecloud Domain, it was directly linked to a cultivator¡¯s range of influence.


    Having a Spirit Disciple meant that one could dominate a vige. Having a Spirit Master meant that one could influence a city. A True Person meant a province, a True Lord meant a kingdom, and Immortal tform meant an entire domain.


    This wasn¡¯t some fixed rule, but it had invisibly permeated into the minds of the people, and everyone silentlyplied with it. asionally overstepping it wasn¡¯t a big deal, but going too far past it meant that one would have to be careful not to mess things up.


    The Wei n employed Spirit Masters, so it could have dealings across Canglong Prefecture and it was considered a decent major n of the prefecture. But even like this, it did not dare to step out from the borders of Canglong Prefecture.


    It was only after Wei Tianchong became True Inheritor that the Wei n¡¯s expansion rate suddenly rose, and it began to spread out into other regions of Ling Province, even a little into Dusnd. But its primary business was still within Ling Province.


    This was primarily because, while Wei Tianchong wasn¡¯t at Celestial Heart, he was Yan Changfeng¡¯s disciple, which made his influence akin to an average True Person. Coupled with that was Tang Jie¡¯s fame and the fact that he was marked as one of the promising sprouts of the Basking Moon Sect, even holding a rmendation card. Thus, the Wei n had been tacitly acknowledged as a provincial n.


    In this aspect, one could say that the expansion of a n directly depended on how many cultivators supported it. If it developed into an enormous behemoth without sufficient strength, it could easily be fat in the eyes of others. This was also another important reason for having cultivators: they were like an army for a country. Only where iron hooves went could the wealth continue to flow!


    But now, an army wanted to retire.


    The strongest army was going back to tend to its fields!


    This would undoubtedly have many people getting ideas.


    While Han Tianji had seen through the riddle and sought to get on Tang Jie¡¯s side, most people had far more simple thoughts. When Tang Jie started spreading the news, they understood one thing:


    One of the two supporting pirs of the Wei n had fallen!


    Doing business was like building a tower. The taller the tower, the deeper the foundation needed to be, the thicker the supporting pirs, and the greater the weight they needed to take.


    When one of these pirs suddenly went missing in the middle of an expansion, the expansion that should have happened because of it would be pushed back.


    Amusingly, the first pushback was from the Gu n, and this happened before Tang Jie had even left Mount Eternal.


    The Wei Estate study.


    Wei Danbai sat behind his desk, his face glum. In front of him was a middle-aged man in a green robe. ¡°Say that again!¡±


    The middle-aged man was Wei Die¡¯s father, Wei Qingsong. He unhurriedly said, ¡°Gu Zhongxuan said that the Gu n patriarch has suddenlye down with a severe illness, so they will have to push back the delivery.¡±


    ¡°Pa!¡± Wei Danbai pped his desk. ¡°How can they just change the delivery date? My Wei n has been preparing for this for a long time, gathering men and money for this day. He just has to say that his patriarch is sick for those three escortpanies, five casinos, and fourteen stores to all be set aside?¡±


    Wei Qingsong bitterly smiled. ¡°Gu Liangde has always been very healthy, so how could he suddenly fall ill? In the end, it¡¯s just an excuse, probably because Tang¡­¡±


    He didn¡¯t finish, but Wei Danbai already understood what he meant. ¡°You want to say that the Gu n thinks that we can¡¯t do anything to them because we don¡¯t have Tang Jie anymore, and they¡¯ve started to feel remorse over the deal they signed?¡±


    ¡°Essentially,¡± Wei Qingsong replied.


    Wei Danbai furiously said, ¡°This is destroying the bridge after crossing the river!¡±


    The Gu n had been the one to smuggle the goods for the Stone Gate Sect, and after the incident, it couldn¡¯t avoid being wanted as a traitor to the country. But thanks to their decisiveness, they had immediately pushed out the supervisor of this affair as a scapegoat and then sought help from the Wei n. As the Wei n had previously loaned out a trade route to the Gu n, it didn¡¯t want to get too involved with the Gu n for fear of being dragged down with it. Thus, after epting arge sum of wealth, it had asked Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong to intercede on this matter.


    The Gu n had offered quite a lot. Besides arge amount of gold, silver, and jewels, it had also agreed to hand over those businesses. Over thesest few days, the Wei n had been taking inventory and preparing to take in these businesses, but to their surprise, at the final moment, the Gu n had suddenly felt remorse over the deal.


    Wei Qingsong said, ¡°This isn¡¯t the first time the Gu n has decided to destroy the bridge after crossing the river. People like them will grovel at your feet and call you ¡®uncle¡¯ when they¡¯re down, but when they¡¯re up, they¡¯ll hold themselves up to the heavens, bing masters in shamelessness. While other people have some things that they would never lose dignity over, they are perfectly willing. Isn¡¯t this how they eventually made their way into the Five G

 Chapter 392

    Chapter 392: Besieged


    In the end, Wei Danbai chose to not have Wei Tianchong go, tacitly epting the Gu n¡¯s dy, even sending a letter wishing Gu Liangde a speedy recovery.


    This wasn¡¯t strange. In the end, he was a merchant, not a born fighter. He innatelycked staunchness and courage.


    Although he was technically right that sending Wei Tianchong to deal with the Gu n would inevitably damage the Wei Estate¡¯s reputation, he did not know that the loss for not acting would be even greater!


    All the hubbub around taking over the Gu n¡¯s businesses suddenly came to a halt, causing all of Canglong Prefecture to turn their attention to the Wei Estate.


    Tang Jie¡¯s decision to remain passive and not intervene in n affairs served as the foundation for limitless spection to simmer.


    Many people spected that the Wei Estate had tacitly epted the Gu n going back on their deal because of Tang Jie¡ªnot everyone would take this as a sign of magnanimity. More people would take it as weakness.


    When one side grew weak, the other side would get tough.


    It was in the cities beyond Canglong Prefecture where this phenomenon began to appear first. After all, the Wei n¡¯s foundations were shallow in these ces.


    Dihuo (Earthfire) City.


    This was a small city three hundred kilometers away from Canglong Prefecture. Its name came from how a river of fire flowed underneath the city. Although it was small in area, it was an important cultivator town. Ten-some sects, including the Basking Moon Sect, had set up tool-refining workshops here to produce tools for their sects throughout the year. The best art relics were naturally reserved for the respective sects to use, with the mediocre products being handed to the government. The worst products circted among themon folk, ending up in various escort or bodyguardpanies. For this reason, Dihuo City was famous for its weaponry. Every year, numerous merchants woulde through to buy or sell. Two years ago, the Wei n had expanded to this ce for the first time, and it now had seven stores in Dihuo City.


    Today, a Wei n store received some unwee guests.


    Their leader was a dark-faced man who wore an unbuttoned jacket, exposing his hairy chest. He said to the manager of the store, ¡°Manager Zhang, my respects. Now that I think about it, the Wei Estate has been operating in Dihuo City for two years. In these two years, how has my Red Cloud Gang treated your honored store?¡±


    Manager Zhang hastily smiled. ¡°Your honored group has treated my small store very well, never taking a protection fee from us. This lowly one has been very understanding and has always brought up this matter with the master.¡±


    The dark-faced man nodded. ¡°It¡¯s fine so long as Manager Zhang understands. But, Manager, you know that my Red Cloud Gang also needs to eat. There are so many brothers in the gang, if no one pays the protection fee, we might as well disband.¡±


    Manager Zhang froze. ¡°Third Captain, you mean¡­¡±


    The dark-faced man replied, ¡°Starting from next month, your honored store must hand over some silver. Not a lot. My lowly gang has always been very meticulous, charging stores ording to their size and scale of business, always making sure that no one is suffering a loss. For a store like yours, we¡¯ll only take half: twenty taels of silver a month.¡±


    Manager Zhang paled. ¡°My Wei n isn¡¯t some no-name. It has cultivators protecting the n businesses, and you would still dare to take a fee from us?¡±


    The dark-faced man¡¯s face turned serious. ¡°Every ce has its own rules. The river dragon that is the Wei n might have cultivators protecting it, but they¡¯re at the Mortal Shedding Realm at most, not so high that they could avoid paying the protection fee.¡±


    ¡°But my n¡¯s young master is the True Inheritor of Sunwatch Peak!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m only taking half. This is a sign of my boss¡¯s friendship. After all, there¡¯s no such line in the rules,¡± the dark-faced man replied. ¡°Manager Zhang, my Red Cloud Gang is about both the rules and about friendship. While we¡¯re taking your silver, we¡¯re not taking advantage of you. I hope that you can understand and don¡¯t force me to do anything difficult. Otherwise, if I don¡¯t take the fee from your store, the other stores we take fees from willin that we¡¯re being unfair.¡±


    He saluted the manager and departed.


    Manager Zhang was speechless as he watched the dark-faced man leave.


    An employee came over and said, ¡°Manager, what should we do?¡±


    Manager Zhang indifferently said, ¡°What else can we do? We can only agree.¡±


    The employee angrily said, ¡°Isn¡¯t this letting them off too easy?¡±


    Manager Zhang coldly nced at the employee. ¡°Then what would you do?¡±


    ¡°Naturally, I would have Young Master Weie and teach them a lesson!¡±


    Manager Zhang said in scorn, ¡°¡®Have Young Master Weie and teach them a lesson¡¯? Are you joking? You think the Red Cloud Gang has no cultivators? Moreover, we¡¯re outsiders here. The Red Cloud Gang could be said to have gone through the proper motions, and nothing they¡¯re doing is against the rules. If we call over the young master, we would be the ones breaking the rules. This isn¡¯t Canglong Prefecture. The Wei n can¡¯t control as many things here, so we just have to take it.¡±


    He went back into the store.


    The employee spat on the ground. ¡°I fear this is only the first round. There will be more troubleing in the future.¡±


    This lowly employee¡¯s words had truly hit the nail on the head.


    Chaomu City.


    This ce was located on the edge of the Ling Province, at the intersection of three provinces. As a result, even though it had no special product, it served as an extremely important trade nexus. Every year,rge numbers of goods flowed out from it to all over the country, making it a ce that merchants needed to fight over.


    If the Wei n wanted to expand its businesses even farther, it would have to take root in Chaomu City.


    Here, the Wei n had only a single store, but it wasrger than all seven of the Dihuo stores put together, employing many people. It bought and sold, served as an intermediary, and had many other functions. The one in charge was Li Chaoxu, an elder who had worked for the Wei Estate for many years. His nickname was the Smiling Buddha, because he normally greeted everyone with a smile.


    But today, the Smiling Buddha had a face like a bitter melon.


    In the reception hall behind the store, the Smiling Buddha said to a green-robed schr, ¡°This is very sudden. Why the increase in rent? And such arge hike.¡±


    The schr raised his cup of hot tea and used the lid to push aside tea leaves as he casually said, ¡°Manager Li is incorrect. It is not that my master is raising the rent. He is simply returning the rent to what it originally should have been. In thest few years, the trade in Chaomu City has only gotten hotter and hotter, as you have seen for yourself. All the other stores have had their rents increase. It was only your store that was kept at the very lowest.¡±


    Li Chaoxu smiled. ¡°I naturally understand that.¡±


    ¡°But all good things muste to an end,¡± the green-robed schr leisurely said. ¡°My master has recently found himself a bit short on money, so he can¡¯t always keep suffering a loss for the sake of the Wei n, no?¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha¡­ yes, yes.¡± Li Chaoxu helplessly smiled, but he inwardly cursed, <em>¡®Suffering a loss for the sake of the Wei n¡¯? Bullshit! In thesest two years, your Zhong n has been raking in the gold from purely the rent, asfortable as can be.</em>


    For this one store, the Wei n had to pay 4500 taels of fine silver to the Zhong n every year as rent, but it now shot up to 7000 taels.


    Although 7000 taels wasn¡¯t particrly outrageous, and was actually reasonable whenpared to their neighbors¡¯, enjoying a discount for so long and then having it suddenly taken away was an extremely unpleasant feeling.


    Worst of all was that Li Chaoxu had recently spent a lot of money on imports in order to increase their business, only keeping enough money to make the rent. This sudden rent increase had caught him off guard, and he was now facing a shortage of avable capital.


    Fortunately, the matter wasn¡¯t too serious, and the green-robed schr clearly didn¡¯t want to push them too far. He indicated that Li Chaoxu had time to gather the money, so he could ask for help from the main n in Canglong Prefecture.


    After some discussion, Li Chaoxu sent off his visitor, and when he returned, his face was stricken with worry.


    His page boy saw the state he was in and asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t the Zhong n already agree to give us time to ask for silver from the main house? Master, why are you still so worried?¡±


    Li Chaoxu shook his head. ¡°What do you know? When an outside merchant is trying to get into a new market, they will often operate with low prices, trying to get a reputation first, so they will have low profits. I¡¯ve heard that thedy evenined about how the outside businesses aren¡¯t doing well. But even this little profit is only because our rent is cheap. Now that the rent has risen, we might not even be able to keep this meager profit. If we don¡¯t think of something, we might even start suffering a loss.¡±


    Li Chaoxu grew deeply distressed at the thought of suffering a loss.


    The page boy nodded. ¡°This really is a problem, but fortunately, Master, you aren¡¯t facing it alone.¡±


    ¡°Mm?¡± Li Chaoxu looked at his page boy.


    The page boy smiled. ¡°Master, do you not know? This lowly one recently heard that our businesses all over the ce have encountered simr problems. The Dihuo City store has to pay protection fees to the Red Cloud Gang, the Ding n River Ferry is starting to take mooring fees, and Qiansi Town¡¯s Blossom Embroidery is no longer giving our Wei n priority and is making us take numbers and bid for goods like the other merchants. I¡¯ve heard that even those brutes that chop wood down at Guwan Vige havee out and said that our Wei n is paying too little and they won¡¯t work for us anymore.¡±


    Li Chaoxu was bbergasted. ¡°All this happened? How could that be?¡±


    The page boy replied, ¡°Isn¡¯t it all because of Tang Jie saying that he wouldn¡¯t bother with the Wei n¡¯s business anymore? When the Gu n heard about this, they immediately came forward and said that they weren¡¯t selling the stores that they had been going to sell to the Wei n. And the Wei n wasn¡¯t able to do anything about it. This only made things worse, as once everyone saw it, they were naturally able to tell that something was wrong. Thus, Master, you don¡¯t need to worry. Right now, the big boss of the Wei n is probably even more worried, so you won¡¯t be med for anything.¡±


    Li Chaoxu was startled at first, and then his face twisted in anger as he pped the page boy. ¡°Bastard! The main house is in trouble and you¡¯re celebrating!¡±


    The page boy instantly got down on his knees and begged for mercy.


    Li Chaoxu regained his kindly appearance and slowly sat himself down. ¡°Tang Jie¡­ I¡¯ve heard about what happened with him, and his reaction is quite normal. But Tang Jie is only one person, so how could he have stirred up such a big storm? And how did it alle so quickly? I think that there¡¯s a high chance that someone is helping things along from the shadows¡­ If that¡¯s the case, then there might be even more.¡±


    ¡°¡®Even more¡¯?¡± The page boy was scared silly.


    Li Chaoxu snorted. ¡°That depends on how the master responds. This is only the beginning. Everyone is still just probing us and won¡¯t go too far. At most, they¡¯ll just take back some of the perks they gave to the Wei n. But if it¡¯s not dealt with properly¡­¡±


    Li Chaoxu¡¯s voice dropped.


    No matter the area, local ns did not like seeing outsiders try to get into their businesses.


    To take the Gu n as an example, why had it refused to sell to the Wei n even though it meant that it went back on its word? Wasn¡¯t it exactly because it wanted to keep a hold of the casino business in Canglong Prefecture? Any n that wanted to open a casino in Canglong Prefecture couldn¡¯t do so without the Gu n¡¯s permission. Selling casinos to the Wei n wasn¡¯t just losing out on these casinos, but also quietly agreeing to loosening its hold on the casino business.


    It was the same principle elsewhere. In other ces, it wasn¡¯t appreciated when outsiders came in and started up businesses, so the strength of cultivators would end up ying a decisive role in whether an entry into a new market failed or not.


    If one was strong, the others would have to abide, but if onecked power, one would naturally be forced to back away.


    When the Wei n had the two supporting pirs of Wei Tianchong and Tang Jie, it could open businesses in cities all across Ling Province, as its status was akin to a pseudo¨CCelestial Heart n¡¯s. So long as it didn¡¯t try to usurp the local powerhouses, it would be fine. But when Tang Jie chose to be passive, the Wei n¡¯s status fell, as did the treatment it received.


    When one had astounding strength, all expansion was reasonable. When onecked strength, what was originally reasonable expansion now became ¡°hands that had stretched too far.¡±


    When it came to such hands, the most natural choice was to cut them off.


    In this aspect, the moves targeting the Wei n weren¡¯t particrly excessive. They were all businessmen, so they understood how to restrain themselves, strictly enforcing the notion that one could only expand as much as one¡¯s strength allowed them to.


    But for the Wei n, this meant something entirely different.


    Expansion required investment, required spendingrge amounts of silver. They had just stabilized the situation and were yet to even recover their costs, and now they had to retreat? This retreat would mean that all that silver would go to waste. The Wei n had put all of its reserves into this venture, even taken out lines of credit. If all their ventures failed, the loss would be enormous.


    But if they didn¡¯t want to withdraw, they needed to muster the needed strength.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    ¡°I don¡¯t agree,¡± Wei Tianchong indifferently said.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Wei Danbai looked in shock at his son.


    ¡°I said that I won¡¯t intervene,¡± Wei Tianchong replied. ¡°All these actions are nothing more than minor trifles that the n itself is expected to handle. What reason do you have for me to intervene? I should destroy the Zhong n because they raised the rent? Make a river of blood flow through Qiansi Town because we stopped getting priority? Or should I go to Guwan Vige and announce that anyone who won¡¯t work for our Wei n will be killed? Father, Sageheart is not somewlessnd. Even the royal family can¡¯t act this brazenly!¡±


    ¡°Then what about the Red Cloud Gang? You can deal with them, can¡¯t you? Protection fees aren¡¯t exactly legal.¡± Wei Danbai¡¯s voice was tired and helpless. It was clear that he had been suffering while dealing with all these problems.


    Wei Tianchong bitterly smiled. ¡°Protection fees truly aren¡¯t legal, but the problem is that your son can¡¯t beat them! You think that the Red Cloud Gang can take protection fees in Dihuo City just ¡®because¡¯? Their gang is supported by a True Person. Won¡¯t I just be seeking my death by going there?¡±


    ¡°They wouldn¡¯t dare to kill you. You¡¯re True Person Yan¡¯s disciple.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. They wouldn¡¯t dare to kill me. But they could beat me up, strip off my clothes, and throw me onto the streets. When Master is in a good mood, he mighte out if some elder is bullying his disciple. But if a disciple goes to make trouble for someone else and ends up being humiliated, the one in trouble would be the disciple! If Master finds out, let alone taking revenge for me, the first thing he would do is grab his sword and cut me down¡­ and it¡¯s not like you don¡¯t know that I don¡¯t enjoy his favor and am barely holding on to this True Inheritor post.¡±


    Wei Danbai gasped. ¡°In other words: you can¡¯t do anything?¡±


    Wei Tianchong shrugged. ¡°Wait until they act more excessively.¡±


    ¡°¡®Wait until they act more excessively¡¯? I fear that it will be toote by then! Do you know how much the Wei n has lost so far? That¡¯s all money that¡¯s used to support your cultivation!¡± Wei Danbai frantically said.


    Wei Tianchong remained indifferent. ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t care. In any case, I have money to use now, so I don¡¯t need the Wei n¡¯s money.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Wei Danbai didn¡¯t dare to believe his ears. ring at his son, he said, ¡°How could you say such a thing!? You don¡¯t need the Wei n anymore, so you¡¯re just tossing it aside?¡±


    Wei Tianchong spread out his arms. ¡°Am I not learning from you, Father? Didn¡¯t you feel like you could no longer use Tang Jie, so you threw him aside?¡±


    Wei Danbai went stiff.


    He looked at his son. ¡°I see. You support Tang Jie? He¡¯s doing this to the Wei n, and you¡¯re still supporting him?¡±


    Wei Danbai was yelling.


    Wei Tianchong sneered, ¡°Dear Father, what exactly did he do?¡±


    What did he do?


    Wei Danbai¡¯s mouth opened, but he couldn¡¯t answer.


    Wei Tianchong replied, ¡°He just announced that he was no longer interfering in mortal affairs. Given what you did, Father, is there anything strange about his decision? And did he do anything wrong to the Wei n?¡±


    ¡°But recently¡­¡±


    ¡°What does what happened recently have to do with him? Or does Father want to say that this person is so important that the Wei n¡¯s development will be greatly hindered without him?¡±


    No matter what, Wei Danbai would not admit that Tang Jie was this important to the Wei n.


    He red at his son. ¡°You¡¯re speaking on Tang Jie¡¯s behalf?¡±


    ¡°Your child is just stating the facts.¡±


    Wei Tianchong strode out the door.


    After leaving his father, Wei Tianchong let out a long sigh.


    He had spent these days caught between a rock and a hard ce, but today, he had finally made his opinion known. He had never imagined that butting heads with his father would be so refreshing.


    He dared to do this precisely because Tang Jie had chosen to yield.


    His constant worry was that Tang Jie would turn hostile, so he had prepared himself to do everything to uphold the Wei n.


    But Tang Jie hadn¡¯t done anything of the sort, only announced that he would be standing aside. This had been a great relief to Wei Tianchong.


    No one understood more than him why Tang Jie was doing all this, which was exactly why he felt very apologetic to Tang Jie.


    This was exactly why Wei Tianchong wasn¡¯t frustrated even though the Wei Estate had enemies on all sides. On the contrary, he felt happy and excited, privately thinking, <em>Dad, do you finally understand how stupid you were?</em>


    Wei Danbai was his father, so no matter how profound his cultivation was, he could never rebuke his father. But this was also why he was happy to watch as his father suffered.


    As for the losses the Wei Estate was suffering, he really wasn¡¯t very concerned.


    As had been said before, he was a cultivator, and his perspective on value was the same as Tang Jie¡¯s.


    Only spirit coins counted as real money!


    Mortal gold and silver, secr wealth that everyone else rushed around to make, was nothing in the eyes of a cultivator.


    Moreover, his refusal was notpletely without reason. In the current situation, if he intervened, he would only incite rumors. If his master learned that he was running around doing work for his n, his master might immediately send someone to bring him back.


    Unexpectedly, however, it seemed that Yan Changfeng would do this even if he didn¡¯t do anything.


    Three days after Wei Danbai had been refused, Nan Baicheng appeared at the Wei Estate.


    Standing in front of Wei Tianchong, Nan Baicheng asked, ¡°So, the Wei n has been in a little trouble recently?¡±


    Wei Tianchong quickly replied, ¡°It¡¯s just a few minor business problems.¡±


    ¡°Is that so¡­¡± Nan Baicheng looked at Wei Tianchong, smirking as his words trailed off. ¡°Since that¡¯s the case,e back

 Chapter 393

    Chapter 393: Reward


    Chaoyue City was a city in the northern end of Ling Province. It wasn¡¯trge, but it was next to the mountains and river, making it a rather picturesque ce.


    The Zheng n was a prestigious n of Chaoyue City famed for its schrs. Although it couldn¡¯tpare to the five great ns of Canglong Prefecture, it was an ancient n with a hundred years of history.


    The Zheng Estate.


    Standing beneath an evergreen tree and gazing at its dense foliage, Zheng Shufeng appeared rather distracted and nostalgic. ¡°I remember when I was first married off, how I bitterly wept as we parted underneath this evergreen tree. Twenty years have gone by, and while this evergreen is still the same, the people have changed. If I return now, I do not know when we will next meet.¡±


    Lightly stroking the old evergreen tree, she spoke in a very mncholy tone.


    ¡°Aunt, why does it sound like you¡¯re going to leave?¡± a clear and refined voice said.


    Turning around, Zheng Shufeng saw a young woman gracefully walking over.


    Her name was Zheng Huajun, and she was the daughter of Zheng Shufeng¡¯s younger brother. As she was the youngest in the n, she was also the most spoiled.


    Zheng Shufeng had been married off before Zheng Huajun had even been born, and this visit back was their first time meeting each other, but they actually got along rather well. Zheng Shufeng was very fond of this niece of hers, so she squeezed out a smile and said, ¡°The Wei n has had a lot of problemstely, so I can¡¯t not go back. It will only be a few days, and then I will return. I¡¯m still preparing the carriage and have yet to go around saying my farewells, but your sharp ears have already heard the news. Right, have you gone to see your grandmother?¡±


    ¡°Mm!¡± Zheng Huajun firmly nodded. ¡°Grandmother is extremely energetic today, eating more than half a bowl of porridge. Aunt, that medicine is truly incredible.¡±


    Zheng Shufeng indifferently said, ¡°That¡¯s only natural. This is the Life Restoring Pill of Shaohua Mountain. It could even save a dead man. A single one costs tens of thousands of spirit coins¡­¡±


    Zheng Huajun covered her mouth and chuckled. ¡°The cultivator serving Aunt¡¯s family isn¡¯t just loyal, but also extremely capable.¡±


    Zheng Shufeng sighed. ¡°Of course he¡¯s capable, or else he wouldn¡¯t have been able to be a servant student only three years after entering the estate. But this loyalty must be reevaluated.¡±


    Zheng Huajun¡¯s eyes shed. ¡°Aunt, Huajun does not understand these words. Why is it that Aunt is worried rather than happy after Tang Jie had someone send over the spirit pill, even thinking that he is not loyal enough?¡±


    Zheng Shufeng extended a finger and lightly tapped Zheng Huajun¡¯s forehead. ¡°Stubborn girl, don¡¯t y dumb with me. If you can¡¯t even understand the reason for this, then you¡¯re not worthy of my evaluation of you.¡±


    Zheng Huajunughed again, covering her mouth with a handkerchief. ¡°Grandmother was on herst legs, but with the pill, she can now hold on for many more days. This should have been a good thing, but the Wei n is currently in an autumn of many troubles. If Aunt has to keep Grandmotherpany, you cannot return to the estate to handle the business. Did that Immortal Tang do this on purpose? Or was it a coincidence? But it seems to me, Aunt, that you are prepared to bear the disrepute of unfiliality to return.¡±


    ¡°I just need to go and handle a few matters. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m noting back.¡± Zheng Shufeng nced at her niece. ¡°And if you have something to say, just say it. What are youughing about?¡±


    ¡°Should I cry, then?¡± Zheng Huajun put down the handkerchief and pulled on Zheng Shufeng¡¯s arm. ¡°Aunt is thedy of the Wei n, so you have only concern for the Wei n. But I have never even seen anyone from the Wei n. For my Zheng n, Grandmother¡¯s health is much more important than the Wei n. So long as Grandmother is healthy, I don¡¯t care about what is happening to anyone else. Moreover¡­ if the Wei n¡¯s misfortune can be exchanged for the health and safety of my Zheng n, I would not mind making this trade.¡±


    She spoke thesest words very softly, but Zheng Shufeng still heard them. Her face darkened, and she gave her niece a sharp prod. ¡°You stubborn girl, what nonsense are you saying? Be careful that others don¡¯t hear.¡±


    Zheng Huajun smiled. ¡°Aunt, there is only you and me under this evergreen tree. There are no outsiders here.¡±


    ¡°The heavens know and the earth knows, and you know and I know. Moreover, the spell arts of Immortals are profound and mysterious. Could a mere mortal like you understand them?¡±


    ¡°Aunt, since you know to be fearful, why attempt to oppose a cultivator?¡± Zheng Huajun casually asked.


    Zheng Shufeng¡¯s face fell. ¡°Zheng Huajun, what are you trying to say?¡±


    Zheng Huajun lowered her head and said, ¡°Please forgive Huajun for her rudeness, but though Huajun is a woman, she is still able to see through the meaning behind the delivery of the medicine. Aunt¡¯s intelligence is known about in both estates, and Immortal Tang spent three years in the Wei Estate, so he should understand this even more than Huajun. How could he believe that Aunt would not see the true goal of that medicine? He probably had no intention of hiding it from Aunt.¡±


    Zheng Shufeng was startled. ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­¡±


    Zheng Huajun coolly said, ¡°You must make a choice.¡±


    Zheng Shufeng trembled. ¡°Have you gone crazy? Saying something like this! You¡¯re asking me to betray the Wei n!¡±


    ¡°How could it be called a betrayal?¡± Zheng Huajun looked as if she had been unjustly used. ¡°Clearly, Aunt is performing her filial duty to her mother and has no time for other business.¡±


    Zheng Shufeng rebuked, ¡°Absurd! In the end, the Wei n is my husband¡¯s n, and Danbai is my husband. How could I just sit back and watch as my husband and n fall into a hopeless situation?¡±


    Zheng Huajun chortled. ¡°If Immortal Tang wanted to put the Wei n into a hopeless situation, he could do it easily. Why go through all the trouble?¡±


    Zheng Shufeng fell silent.


    Zheng Huajun smiled. ¡°Aunt is a wise person. In truth, nothing terrible will happen to the Wei n. It will just have to deal with a few small problems. Right now, Aunt is here, and all of these things have nothing to do with Aunt. If you go back, you might not be able to help the Wei n and might only disappoint Tang Jie. The gains simply do not outweigh the losses. And further provocations might only spur stronger attacks, adding to the problems.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    ¡°And Huajun remembers that when Aunt first heard of this matter, you were deeply concerned, even writing a letter to Uncle. Huajun does not know what Aunt wrote, but Huajun knows that Uncle definitely didn¡¯t listen. Since Uncle does not take Aunt¡¯s opinions seriously, even if you went back now, how useful could you really be? In the end, the head of the Wei n is Uncle, not you!¡±


    These words left Zheng Shufeng deeply pained.


    Yes, had she not sent letters attempting to make her husband see reason?


    s, Wei Danbai had not listened to her. After the first incident, rather than trying to atone, he had chosen to withdraw his people midway through the search. After the first time, one could rebuke him for being a fool, but after the second time, one could only say that he had gotten too conceited, only seeing the distinction between master and servant and forgetting the difference between Immortals and mortals.


    When she heard of the matter again, she was so angry that she could hardly speak, and she knew that it would be hard to settle things positively. All she could do was beg Tang Jie to be magnanimous enough to not punish the Wei n to the point of no return, to only mete out a minor punishment.


    To her surprise, Tang Jie hadn¡¯t taken revenge, but because of his influence, he had still managed to drag the Wei n into a pit of endless problems.


    These problems actually weren¡¯t problems for Zheng Shufeng. So long as one resolved oneself to transfer the stores and stop the expansion, one could quickly solve the problems. Even if Wei Danbai wasn¡¯t willing, Zheng Shufeng had enough influence in the Wei n to force these actions through.


    But Tang Jie¡¯s medicine had made her understand what he wanted.


    He did not want Zheng Shufeng to go back.


    This medicine was to repay Zheng Shufeng¡¯s kindness and also to beat down Wei Danbai.


    ¡°So¡­¡± Zheng Huajun continued, ¡°Rather than returning to help Uncle with his ns, it would be better to remain here and carry out your filial duty to Grandmother. Once it¡¯s time to return, you can go back, and wouldn¡¯t it be great if you were able to work hard and just barely save the Wei n from its desperate crisis?¡±


    Zheng Shufeng¡¯s gaze gradually chilled. ¡°You¡¯re asking me to be disloyal!¡±


    ¡°The exact opposite. This is Aunt¡¯s chance. The Wei n can only prosper if Aunt is leading it!¡±


    This was like a thunderp in Zheng Shufeng¡¯s ears, causing her body to shudder as she cried out, ¡°This is impossible! I am a woman, and the Wei n has the venerable master and second master. How could a woman ever assume the position of n head?¡±


    As she talked, she realized that she had lost herposure, and she lowered the volume of her voice.


    Zheng Huajun smiled. ¡°Extraordinary times require extraordinary people to be at the helm. Aunt, it¡¯s not like you haven¡¯t realized this. It¡¯s just that your affection for your husband makes you unwilling to think of it. This is why Huajun has risked offense by saying all this. Aunt, if you want to do the best thing for the Wei n, you shouldn¡¯t go back right now!¡±


    Zheng Shufeng fell silent.


    Standing under the evergreen tree, Zheng Shufeng said nothing, her chest heaving up and down.


    It was clear that she was greatly conflicted, and Zheng Huajun couldn¡¯t help but get nervous.


    At this moment, a maid came over and bowed to Zheng Shufeng. ¡°Mydy, the carriage is ready.¡±


    Zheng Shufeng seemed to wake from a dream. She looked at the maid, and then she looked at Zheng Huajun. Her feet began to carry her out of the estate.


    Zheng Huajun watched her walk away, and as she drew farther and farther away, she finally shouted, ¡°Aunt, please rethink this!¡±


    Zheng Shufeng froze.


    She stood there, gazing into the distance. After a long while, she said, ¡°I hear that Swallow Mountain¡¯s Shaoyang Monastery venerates the Supreme Aspiration Spirit, which ensures the health and peace of the region. With my esteemed mother being ill, I should go and make a wish.¡±


    With this said, she walked away.


    Zheng Huajun¡¯s face broke into a smile.


    Zheng Huajun slightly grimaced, but she simply bowed and said, ¡°But I cannotpare to Aunt. I wish for Aunt¡¯s swift return.¡±


    Zheng Shufeng murmured in reply before leaving.


    Once Zheng Shufeng was gone, Zheng Huajun went back.


    When she returned to her own small courtyard, a young man was seated in front of the small pond, blowing on a bamboo flute.


    Zheng Huajun came up behind the young man and bowed. ¡°I have fulfilled my mission!¡±


    The young man continued to y the flute for a while before stopping.


    ¡°Good job.¡± The young man turned his head, revealing himself to be Mu Yi.


    He threw over a small book and said, ¡°If you can advance to Spirit Lake in three years, you maye to the Seven Absolutions Sect to find me.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Immortal Master!¡± Zheng Huajun deeply bowed.


    When she rose, Mu Yi was no longer there.


    After leaving the Zheng Estate, Mu Yi twirled his flute as he walked along the road, eventually arriving at a fish pond. Nearby, Tang Jie stood with his hands held behind his back, and not far from him squatted the figure of Shi Jingzhai. He was doing math with his fingers while Yiyi rode on his neck like he was a horse.


    Mu Yi came over and said, ¡°The matter is done¡­¡±


    Tang Jie waved his hand. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me if anything is done or not. I didn¡¯t ask you to do anything, and everything you did has nothing to do with me.¡±


    Mu Yi was taken aback, and then he chuckled. ¡°Yes, yes, yes, you didn¡¯t ask me to do anything. It was all my own idea, thinking myself more than I was and getting too sentimental, meddling in matters that had nothing to do with me. I supposed I¡¯ve made a fool of myself.¡±


    ¡°So long as you know,¡± Tang Jie firmly replied.


    Mu Yi sullenly said, ¡°I say, aren¡¯t you being a little unreasonable? You clearly hope to see the Wei Estate encounter misfortune, and are even intentionally drawing people in to cause trouble, but you insist on pretending you had nothing to do with it. Isn¡¯t doing things this way rather unpleasant? A true man differentiates between grudges and gratitude. Wouldn¡¯t it be much better if you handled things as straightforwardly as my Great Brother?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Clearly differentiating between grudges and gratitude sounds easy, but things get difficult when you run into matters that are difficult to differentiate. I don¡¯t deny that I want to see the Wei Estate in trouble, but it¡¯s not to the extent where you can say that I¡¯m drawing people to cause trouble. All I¡¯m doing is making something that would have happened in three to five years happen in thirty to fifty days.¡±


    Mu Yi nodded. ¡°That¡¯s true. Even if you didn¡¯t do this, the Wei Estate would have to face these problems eventually, but perhaps not all at once like they are now. But the power of a sudden burst has always been greater than a smooth and steady flow.¡±


    Tang Jie sneered. ¡°That¡¯s Wei Danbai¡¯s problem. I have no obligation to think for his sake.¡±


    Mu Yi pped his hands andughed. ¡°There we go! You¡¯ve finally exposed your true self. You¡¯re trying to get him to step down.¡±


    Tang Jie replied to him, ¡°Change ¡®try¡¯ into ¡®think¡¯ and you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, you¡¯re only thinking, not doing. But you¡¯ve made your thoughts known, and when an Immortal thinks of something, the mortals must try their best to make it happen! Those people working against the Wei n right now aren¡¯t offending you, but gaining your favor!¡±


    Mu Yi¡¯s words resounded with force and confidence as he revealed the truth of Tang Jie¡¯s actions.


    Sighing, Tang Jie turned to leave.


    Mu Yi ran to catch up. ¡°Hey, where are you going?¡±


    ¡°Back to the academy, to treat you.¡±


    ¡°I just ran out from the academy, and now you¡¯re having me go back?¡±


    ¡°How much do you really think that trash you brought with you is worth? If I don¡¯t go and get the reward money to buy you medicine, how can I treat you?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s quite the tone. Sure enough, sudden wealth changes a man. What about the Wei n?¡±


    ¡°I originally left it up to the heavens, but you made it sound like I was ordering the heavens around. Since that¡¯s the case, I should withdraw early to avoid suspicion and to give the Wei Estate some time.¡±


    ¡°Then won¡¯t the Wei Estate¡¯s short-term pain be long-term pain? That won¡¯t be good for them.¡±


    ¡°You see? It¡¯s bad if I interfere, so is it also bad if I don¡¯t interfere?¡±


    Mu Yiughed. ¡°My bad.¡±


    After some thought, Tang Jie said, ¡°Actually, you¡¯re not wrong. If I didn¡¯t want to get too involved, I should have been more patient and waited. But I was in too much of a rush, meaning that I failed to be sufficiently aloof. It¡¯s best to get out now while I haven¡¯t meddled too much. In any case, if something really happens to the Wei n, Shi Meng will tell me.¡±


    Mu Yi praised, ¡°This is for the best. Just leave them to their own fate for a few days.¡±


    Putting the Wei Estate to the side, the two of them went back to the academy.


    Without permission, Mu Yi couldn¡¯t enter the academy, so Tang Jie had him and Shi Jingzhai stay in the Student Forest while he went to see Xie Fengtang.


    Entering Westwatch Pavilion, Tang Jie saw that Xie Fengtang was focused on drawing a talisman.


    Xie Fengtang¡¯s talismans were considered top-ss in the Basking Moon Sect. He was currently drawing a Free Roaming Talisman. Free Roaming was a rare first-ss spatial spell art. It was said that it could be used to instantly travel vast distances, which was a real manifestation of a cultivator¡¯s divine abilities. But this also made it difficult to master, and even a Celestial Heart True Person might not seed at cultivating it, let alone setting it into a talisman.


    Xie Fengtang was very focused on his drawing, so Tang Jie stood to the side and watched.


    As spiritual energy was inserted, the talisman lines glowed and dimmed. After some time, there was a brilliant sh of light that soon faded away.


    Xie Fengtangughed as he picked up the talisman. ¡°Sess atst!¡±


    Tang Jie stepped forward. ¡°Headmaster, congrattions on sessfully creating an Immortal talisman.¡±


    Xie Fengtang looked at Tang Jie and grunted. ¡°This Free Roaming Talisman took me sixty days and fourteen hundred sheets of talisman paper, and I only sessfully made two of them. I didn¡¯t think that I would end up making the third just as you returned. Perhaps this is thanks to your good luck.¡±


    Tang Jie hastily said, ¡°This lowly one would not dare to im achievement for Headmaster¡¯s abundant fortune.¡±


    ¡°¡®Would not dare¡¯?¡± Xie Fengtang snorted as he waved around the talisman. ¡°You seem quite daring to me. Fighting the Seven Absolutions Sect by yourself, forcing back Wang Juemie, executing the Stone Gate Sect with your tongue, and even staging a little plunder party, cleaning out the Stone Gate Sect¡¯s treasury. Tell me: is there anything you wouldn¡¯t dare to do?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled and said, ¡°This disciple did it all for the sect, with no thought for my own desires.¡±


    Xie Fengtang looked at the ingratiating smile on his face. Originally, he had been nning to try and intimidate him some more, but on second thought, he knew that this show wouldn¡¯t frighten Tang Jie in the slightest, so heughed and said, ¡°Good job, kid. Truly, a newborn calf has no fear of the tiger. You managed to turn a simple mine inspection into a heaven-shaking case. Sure enough, the young generation will surpass the old with time.¡±


    ¡°It is all thanks to Headmaster¡¯s instruction.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need your ttery. You¡¯vee for the reward money from the sect.¡±


    Tang Jie awkwardly scratched his head. ¡°How could I? I only came to see Headmaster.¡±


    Xie Fengtang indifferently said, ¡°That¡¯s good. It just so happens that the money hasn¡¯t been distributed yet.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Jie was dumbfounded. ¡°It¡¯s been more than two months, so howe it hasn¡¯t been sent out yet?¡±


    Xie Fengtangughed. ¡°And you still say you didn¡¯te for the reward?¡±


    Tang Jie blushed. ¡°Headmaster is wise.¡±


    Xie Fengtang roared withughter. ¡°I¡¯ll stop teasing you now. The rewards from the sect arrived ten days ago. The others have already taken their share. I only have yours and Shi Meng¡¯s here with me.¡±


    Xie Fengtang took out a small box and threw it at Tang Jie. ¡°Look for yourself.¡±


    There were three items in the box.


    One was a spirit coin voucher for 3.75 million coins.


    There was a key that symbolized that the ninth floor of Heaven One Pavilion would be open once more to him.


    Finally, there was a booklet. One of the pages had Tang Jie¡¯s name, and underneath it was written: 1,000 contribution points.


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t even be an official disciple yet, but he had already umted one thousand contribution points for the sect. This was unprecedented in the history of the Basking Moon Sect. As for the ninth floor of Heaven One Pavilion, it was opening to Tang Jie for the second time. Although Tang Jie had already grasped much of the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, he had yet to study the Violet Jade Mantra.


    Any one of the three items in front of Tang Jie was something that most people could only dream about, but Tang Jie¡¯s mind was abnormally calm as he looked at them.


    At that moment, the form of the little tiger appeared in his mind.


    The joy that came from this enormous achievement was greatly di

 Chapter 394

    Chapter 394: The Mountain River State Diagram


    Xie Fengtang had spent several dozen days to make just three Free Roaming Talismans, but now he had given one of them to Tang Jie. This was a sign of just how much he favored Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was profuse with gratitude, to which Xie Fengtang indifferently replied, ¡°If there¡¯s nothing else, you can return.¡±


    Tang Jie hastily said, ¡°This disciple has a request.¡±


    He gave a brief summary of Mu Yi¡¯s situation. Of course, he didn¡¯t say that he was going to treat Mu Yi, only that he had be friends with Mu Yi during the Immortal Fortune Conference, and they had empathized with each other. This time, Mu Yi hade over to pay him a visit.


    There was no grudge between the Seven Absolutions Sect and the Basking Moon Sect. Their mortal foes were Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate respectively. Rather than disputes, they had a shared enmity against amon foe. Thus, even if they counted as neutral to each other, their rtions tended toward friendly, and there was no problem with disciples of the two sects bing friends.


    Xie Fengtang found this rather amusing. ¡°Didn¡¯t you just have a battle on the border of Dusnd?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°We each have our own masters. After fighting, we can still be friends.¡±


    Xie Fengtang nodded. ¡°The Seven Absolutions Sect has been striving to be greater in thest few centuries, trying to escape from the bottom of the six major sects in terms of martial power as well. Two hundred years ago, they produced talents like Wang Yuzheng, Tang Fengjie, and Yuan Nanning, and in thest one hundred years, they have had people like Gao Qianjun and Wang Juemie. This Mu Yi is also a decent talent of the Seven Absolutions Sect. He might even be a seedling like Wang Juemie. It will benefit you to associate with him.¡±


    ¡°¡®Seedling¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Oh, this is what the sects call talented individuals who have only been cultivating for less than one hundred years. While you might seem very impressive in the academy, able to summon the rain and control the winds, in truth, is there any disciple of the Basking Moon Sect within these two thousand years that was not an outstanding student of Basking Moon Academy? Out of ten thousand students, only ten a year can enter the inner sect, and a hundred into the outer sect. For one to say that the sect is bursting with talent would not be exaggerated at all. Only after entering the sect and once more gaining the reputation as a mighty one can one truly be considered a king, someone who the Basking Moon Sect will focus on nurturing in the future, a future supporting pir of the sect. When that timees, you actually won¡¯t have to worry about resources anymore, for the sect will provide you everything. Do you understand now?¡±


    Tang Jie quickly replied, ¡°This disciple understands.¡±


    ¡°Good. I don¡¯t object to you making friends with Mu Yi, but there are ces in the academy that he¡¯s not allowed to go, so keep an eye on him.¡±


    ¡°This disciple knows.¡±


    ¡°Right, I heard that Shi Jingzhai went crazy?¡±


    ¡°Yes. This disciple feels that while this person is crazy, he is still useful and can be controlled, so I decided to keep him at my side.¡±


    Xie Fengtang gave him a deep look before finally chuckling. ¡°You certainly have a way of thinking. There is no problem with you keeping him. But since he is now nothing more than a mad dog, you must keep a leash on him and make sure he doesn¡¯t bite the wrong people. In addition, it would be best if you keep him hidden when you can. If too many people see him, my Basking Moon Sect might be used of treating people as dogs. While their opinions are meaningless, a great sect ces great weight on its majesty, so it must ensure that its members act appropriately.¡±


    ¡°This disciple will keep that in mind!¡±


    ¡°Then go.¡±


    After leaving Westwatch Pavilion, Tang Jie brought Mu Yi and Shi Jingzhai inside. The two of them first went to Spirit Wonder Market to buy some medicines for treatment. Tang Jie had just gotten a huge sum of money, so he was very liberal in his spending. In a sh, he spent more than seventy thousand spirit coins, leaving Mu Yi bbergasted.


    Although he knew that Tang Jie had struck it rich because of the Stone Gate Sect, he didn¡¯t know exactly how much Tang Jie had made.


    Unlike Tang Jie, when Wang Juemie and the others had been making the n, they had done it together, and when executing the n, Mu Yi and the others had taken on a lot of the work, includingying down the formations and contacting the other party. In addition, Wang Juemie didn¡¯t care about money too much. Thus, whereas Tang Jie had taken 25% all for himself, the Seven Absolutions Sect disciples had divided everything almost evenly, with Wang Juemie and Mu Yi getting a little extra.


    Mu Yi didn¡¯t know the situation and mistakenly believed that Tang Jie had decided on essentially the same distribution method. Neither did he know that Tang Jie had also plundered the Stone Gate Sect¡¯s storeroom. Thus, he believed that the best Tang Jie could have gotten was eight hundred thousand coins. This was exactly why he had said that Tang Jie would have to paypensation of one hundred thousand spirit coins if Tang Jie failed to treat him.


    If he knew that Tang Jie would get five to six million in one go, he would have never set such a price.


    When he saw Tang Jie spending eighty thousand coins, he was shocked and believed that Tang Jie was treating him too well. To this, there could be only two exnations. The first was that Tang Jie had gotten far more money than he had imagined, and the second was that this guy had something else to request of him.


    Sure enough, after that frenzied shopping spree, as Tang Jie was leading Mu Yi back to the Carefree House, he directly said, ¡°I won¡¯t hide it from you. The sect rewarded me with 3.75 million.¡±


    <em>Thud!</em>


    Mu Yi almost threw up blood.


    His mind rapidly worked, and he quickly reached an answer. ¡°If you were to convert all this money into medicine for cultivation, you could spend an entire year just taking medicine. From your appearance, you¡¯ve already almost reachedpletion of Hundred Refinement. If you have enough medicine, getting through Nine Revolutions won¡¯t be a problem, but Cognitive Creation will be somewhat problematic, as it¡¯s not something that just medicine can get you through. But given your intelligence, I¡¯m sure that it would take a year at most for you toplete it. As for the Three Withering Tribtions, the money you have left should be enough. Which would mean¡­ peak Mortal Shedding!¡±


    Mu Yi almost shrieked thosest three words.


    It was like his voice had changed.


    No student since the establishment of the six major sects had reached peak Mortal Shedding in ten years, or even the first level of Nine Revolutions, and certainly not the even more difficult Cognitive Creation Tier and the Three Withering Tribtions.


    It appeared that Tang Jie wanted to set a record, a super record.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°If setting a record could get me another three million, then I would be willing to try, but I¡¯ll pass if there¡¯s nothing in it.¡±


    ¡°So does that mean that you don¡¯t n to use this money on cultivation?¡± Mu Yi said, picking up the tone in his words.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s why I asked for you. I have something that I need your help on.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go inside first.¡±


    They arrived at the Carefree House, and Tang Jie opened the door and invited Mu Yi in.


    Even though Tang Jie had been gone for many days, the Carefree House was still neat and tidy, and the spirit nts in the garden were still thriving. Mu Yi only needed a cursory inspection to see what was going on. ¡°A Raincloth Formation, a Dust Expel Formation, and a Spirit-Gathering Formation. Brother Tang is very meticulous. This small piece of the world has all the needed formations.¡±


    Tang Jie indifferently replied, ¡°It¡¯s just a small trick not worth mentioning. There¡¯s simply noparing it to the Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s Mountain River State Diagram.¡±


    ¡°¡®The Mountain River State Diagram¡¯?¡± Mu Yi was startled when he heard this term, and he gave Tang Jie a weird look. ¡°Your reason for treating me was this?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Yiyi, go boil the water.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Yiyi rushed off.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, and a stone table and two stone chairs appeared in the yard. A go board had been carved into the table, and there were two urns holding go pieces on the table.


    Tang Jie pointed at the stone table and said, ¡°Sit and we can chat. It will take a while to boil the water.¡±


    Helpless, Mu Yi could only sit down. He yed a ck piece and said, ¡°What¡¯s your interest in the Mountain River State Diagram? Do you realize what sort of item it is?¡±


    ¡°A High Antiquity divine treasure, right?¡± Tang Jie grinned.


    Magic items were divided into spell weapons, art relics, divine treasures, and Dao armaments. Normally, spell weapons were sharp and tough, and they could boost one¡¯s power in a certain aspect. Art relics usually had their own kind of power, but no matter how strong an art relic was, it was subordinate to its owner and would follow their will.


    But things were different with divine treasures.


    Each divine treasure had a unique power and effect, and this power was far greater than what a cultivator could possess. Theoretically, a divine treasure was more powerful than a Celestial Heart cultivator unleashing all their power at once.


    The reason Wang Juemie¡¯s Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures hadn¡¯t disyed this power was primarily that they had just been projections, and most of them had been defensive in nature. If he had the real deal, then the Heavenfire Sword alone would have been enough to sweep through the three Celestial Hearts. Of course, whether Wang Juemie could actually use that power was another thing entirely.


    The Mountain River State Diagram was a divine treasure from High Antiquity. It was said that it could create a small world that could contain ten thousand kilometers of mountains and rivers. Of course, Tang Jie knew that what this really meant was that it could store a great formation.


    It was a divine-treasure-grade formation diagram!


    The formation diagram Tang Jie had obtained before could only be used with Grade 2 formations. As Tang Jie got stronger, it gradually became useless, and Tang Jie had been seeking out a recement. This need became even more dire after Tang Jie found that he needed a teleportation formation.


    There were many difficulties when it came to setting up a teleportation formation. The first was therge amount of money and resources needed, and this was now resolved.


    The second difficulty was the formation diagram. Without a formation diagram, a teleportation formation could only be installed in a fixed location. For Tang Jie, no location was safe enough, and the best way was to carry it around on his person at all times. This was exactly why he needed a top-ss formation diagram, as not just any formation diagram could let himy down a teleportation formation. After all, the formation he wasying down would break through the barrier between domains!


    The Mountain River State Diagram was one of his choices.


    ¡°You know, and you still want to try and get it?¡±


    ¡°Why not? It¡¯s a useless item. If someone is willing to buy it, why not consider selling it?¡± Tang Jie casually asked.


    Mu Yi was startled. ¡°As expected, you also know of the problem with the Mountain River State Diagram.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯s some secret,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°The Mountain River State Diagram¡¯s strongest attribute is the ability to create a small world and hold within it a small area ofnd. This is exactly why using the formation first requires taking a piece ofnd into the formation and thenying out the formation on thisnd. And the area of thend would be so great that one cany down more than one formation. When facing a powerful enemy, one simply needs toy out the Mountain River State Diagram, and the world within the diagram will emerge, and the formation will activate with such power that the world would pale and even the rivers would run in reverse. But¡­¡±


    Tang Jie trailed off, and then heughed. ¡°Devouring up thend like a voracious tiger, the Mountain River State Diagram has power even greater than that of Dao armaments like the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures. s, achieving such majestic power from this divine treasure of High Antiquity does note easily. The Mountain River State Diagram must acknowledge its master before it can be used, and whenever it acknowledges a new master, everything in the diagram is destroyed, and everything has to be redone. And with each restart, one must take in another section of mountains and rivers¡­¡±


    Tang Jie stopped there, and Mu Yi sighed.


    Taking in another section of mountains and rivers essentially meant scooping out a piece ofnd from the world. Doing this was like a person slicing away at their own flesh. It dealt enormous damage to the world, for there was no restoring thend that was cut away.


    This practice would eventually send the world into an irrecoverable state.


    It was said that the Rosecloud Domain was muchrger in the past, but use of art relics and divine treasures of this nature caused the area of the domain to shrink. No one knew where this disappearednd ultimately went.


    This was exactly why all the orderly worlds of the Great Ster Chiliocosm had amon rule that banned the use of such magic items to avoid further damage to their worlds. Those who broke this rule would be a public enemy!


    In this way, the Mountain River State Diagram became a useless treasure. After itsst master died, it was tied up and put into storage.


    And now, Tang Jie was unexpectedly showing interest in it.


    Mu Yi looked at Tang Jie in a daze. ¡°Since you know that it¡¯s useless, why would you want it?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°It¡¯s not like I n to take ten thousand kilometers of mountains and rivers into the diagram, and besides, do you really think I have that ability? I just need an area a bit bigger than the Carefree House. That should be fine, right?¡±


    Mu Yi nkly nodded. ¡°That still shouldn¡¯t be legal, but thews are dead while people are alive. A small area like that wouldn¡¯t be much of a problem. But what would you need an area as small as that for? Great formations are known as great formations because of their size, you know.¡±


    The six major sects had all of the Rosecloud Domain under surveince, looking out for any shifts in the world. But this sort of surveince was restricted torge-scale activity. Tang Jie taking up a piece ofnd around the size of the Carefree House wouldn¡¯t be easily detected, and just as Mu Yi had said, even if it were discovered, there wasn¡¯t any guarantee that someone would follow up.


    This was exactly why there was really no problem if Tang Jie even took away the Carefree House. Cultivators lived such long lives that they used one thousand years as a benchmark. Over ten thousand years, the loss of this littlend would do no harm to the academy.


    Tang Jie smiled and said, ¡°There are still high-grade formations that would be worth putting into it. It¡¯s not all formations that are better therger they are. Therger the formation, the greater the costs toy it out. While I might be a millionaire, that still might not be enough.¡±


    Mu Yi chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s true. It seems like you¡¯ve already got a n in mind. If that¡¯s the case, I can go and speak with the sect for you. How much do you n to buy it for?¡±


    ¡°What about one million?¡±


    Mu Yi immediately frowned. ¡°Isn¡¯t that too cheap?¡±


    Spell weapons were costed in the thousands, and art relics in the tens of thousands, with prices going from several tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands depending on grade. Divine treasures were costed in the millions, and there was no upper limit.


    As for Dao armaments, they weren¡¯t something money could buy. Of course, this didn¡¯t include pseudo¨CDao armaments like the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures.


    The Mountain River State Diagram had powerparable to a Dao armament, making it extremely rare, even among divine treasures. But Tang Jie¡¯s first bid was one million. Mu Yi¡¯s frown was understandable.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°If you can make the six major sects lift their restriction and let me take in a vast piece of the world, then it would naturally go for billions. But right now¡­¡±


    Mu Yi pursed his lips. ¡°Keep dreaming.¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°It¡¯s not like there¡¯s only the Mountain River State Diagram. If you¡¯re not willing, I¡¯ll just try for the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s Qian Purity Diagram. Although it¡¯s only a top-grade art relic, not a divine treasure, it doesn¡¯t have all those restrictions. It should be enough for my purposes.¡±


    Mu Yi furrowed his brow. ¡°That¡¯s true. The Basking Moon Sect does have magic items like the Qian Purity Diagram. While it might not be a divine treasure, as it doesn¡¯t require takingnd, it doesn¡¯t have all those restrictions and you can just buy it from the sect. Why seek from afar when you could settle for something almost as good from close by?¡±


    ¡°I have my reasons,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°Brother Mu, please ry my message.¡±


    Mu Yi shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s difficult. The Seven Absolutions Sect isn¡¯t some small sect, and no matter its use, the Mountain River State Diagram is still a High Antiquity divine treasure. Even if we can¡¯t use it, we would lose face if someone found out we sold it for only one million.¡±


    ¡°What if I added a three-thousand-year Whitefiend Lotus?¡±


    Mu Yi shuddered, a look of disbelief on his face. ¡°A thousand-year Whitefiend Lotus? How? How could you have such a thing?¡±


    In the Rosecloud Domain, thousand-year items basically only existed in the paradises and blessednds belonging to the various sects.


    But everyone knew that the history of the six major sects was less than three thousand years old, and none of them became dominant until two thousand years ago. Thus, it was impossible for their paradises to have spirit items that were three thousand years old, let alone something as rare as a Whitefiend Lotus.


    Three-thousand-year Whitefiend Lotuses were legendary objects, something that money truly couldn¡¯t buy.


    This made the price of this item difficult to estimate. While it naturally couldn¡¯t match up to the Mountain River State Diagram value-wise, in terms of rarity, it was far above, so it was enough to save face.


    Tang Jie coolly said, ¡°I don¡¯t have one now, but I know where they are. If your sect is willing to give me the Mountain River State Diagram, I can help get you one.¡±


    He was essentially trying to get a loan.


    But Mu Yi¡¯s attention was on what else these words had divulged. ¡°From your tone, it seems that there¡¯s more than one?¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°If the deal goes ahead, so long as the Seven Absolutions Sect can offer the appropriate price, I wouldn¡¯t mind selling you a second one.¡±


    Mu Yi sternly said, ¡°It¡¯s not possible for Rosecloud to have a ce that has three-thousand-year Whitefiend Lotuses that no one knows about!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say it was in Rosecloud,¡± Tang Jie casually replied.


    The immense significance of these words made Mu Yi gasp.


    He looked at Tang Jie and abruptly said, ¡°I recall that Godhead Pce once sent arge number of people into the Basking Moon Sect, exchanging students with Basking Moon Academy for three years. Apparently, it was to find a person called Tang Jiye, as this person had the clues for some secret ground. Later on, Gu Changqing even took you hostage because of it, butter on, it was proved that you weren¡¯t Tang Jiye¡­¡±


    His eyes suddenly bulged.


    <em>Goddamnit!</em>


    <em>Is Tang Jie telling me that he¡¯s Tang Jiye?</em>


    This was the only exnation for how he could acquire a Whitefiend Lotus. There was no doubt that he knew about an area akin to the paradises of the six major sects, and if the reaction of Godhead Pce was anything to go by, this paradise might even berger than the paradises of the six major sects.


    But why had he exposed himself now?


    Tang Jie had basically fooled the entire world. With Gu Changqing¡¯s death, the entry of Tang Jie¡¯s original body into the formation, and the silence of Godhead Pce. even the most paranoid person in the world would not believe that Tang Jie was Tang Jiye.


    Why had he suddenly jumped out now?


    As he looked at Tang Jie, Mu Yi suddenly understood something. ¡°I see¡­ If you have Whitefiend Lotus, it means that that paradise is in your hands. No wonder you¡¯re willing to expose yourself. The value of the open treasury must be priceless. No, that¡¯s not right. If that was the case, why would you be so desperate to take those goods from the Stone Gate Sect¡­ Yes, a teleportation formation!¡±


    Mu Yi stood up. He finally understood why Tang Jie had participated in that battle, why he had wanted to peruse the Profound Heaven Treatise, and why he wanted to buy the Mountain River State Diagram.


    All of this was for the sake of a teleportation formation!


    He stared at Tang Jie. ¡°Tang Jie, do you know the significance of what you just said? If I tell the sect about this, what awaits you won¡¯t be the Mountain River State Diagram, but danger!¡±


    Tang Jie c

 Chapter 395

    Chapter 395: A World of nts


    For the next few days, Mu Yi bathed in the herbal bath Tang Jie prepared for him every day.


    Herbal baths weren¡¯t particrly rare. What was rare was the mantra circted while taking the herbal bath. Tang Jie naturally couldn¡¯t give him the Parting ssic, so he did the same as he had done at the Immortal Fortune Conference and took out a part of the Parting ssic to teach Mu Yi. The effects were lesser than normal, so much more time was needed.


    Even so, Mu Yi could feel a huge change to his body.


    His body had originally been so weak that it wasparable to a mortal¡¯s, but after sessive herbal baths, his body took a clear turn for the better. Not only was his constitution getting stronger, the numerous internal injuries that even countless bigshots of the Seven Absolutions Sect couldn¡¯t deal with were slowly starting to recover.


    Seven days went by like this, until the herbs had all been used up. Mu Yi¡¯s body was fully on the road to recovery, and while he couldn¡¯tpare to body refiners like Wang Juemie and Tang Jie, he was now no different from an ordinary cultivator of the same level.


    Mu Yi hadn¡¯t had much hope in Tang Jie¡¯s efforts, never expecting them to have such a miraculous effect. He couldn¡¯t help but sigh in praise.


    He said, ¡°Actually, there¡¯s no need to get some thousand-year Whitefiend Lotus. This method alone would be enough to have my Seven Absolutions Sect willing to trade the Mountain River State Diagram, without anything extra. Of course, it would have to be theplete version.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled and shook his head. The Parting ssic was the Martial Lord¡¯s core, so there was no way he could trade it away. He only said, ¡°If you want to thank me, then you shouldn¡¯t even teach anyone the part that I taught you.¡±


    Mu Yi firmly replied, ¡°Mu Yi swears on his Heart Demon that he will never transmit this secret method to anyone without Brother Tang¡¯s permission.¡±


    Tang Jie trusted in Mu Yi¡¯s promise, but what was more important was that the method he had taught Mu Yi wasn¡¯t worth transmitting to others. After all, when the method wasn¡¯tplete, it was far too wasteful. Mu Yi was seeking treatment, so all the money spent was worth it, but for body refining, one had to consider the investment and the production. If one million spirit coins could only get one to the Jewel Body, then it was better to not even bring up that option.


    Since their business was done, Mu Yi returned to the Seven Absolutions Sect to inform them that Tang Jie wanted to buy the Mountain River State Diagram.


    After Mu Yi left, Tang Jie went back to his usual cultivation life.


    Taking the Undying Celestial Origin Pill had filled in what had been an enormous w in his constitution, and he was at greater attainment of Hundred Refinement, so he could sense that he had reached the threshold for Nine Revolutions.


    After entering the Mortal Shedding Realm, a cultivator could no longer advance through simple umtion. A qualitative change was required, with each increaseing with a trial, and every subsequent trial being more difficult than thest. If he didn¡¯t have the Undying Celestial Origin Pill, Tang Jie might have even graduated before getting this far, which was an indicator of just how effective this pill was. Amusingly, it was also for this reason that the avatar¡¯s cultivation level was actually greater than that of the original body in the Nine Executions Immortal Formation.


    The reversal of status left Tang Jie wondering what to do.


    He suddenly had an idea. The avatar could just focus on cultivation while the original body could focus on body refining.


    This saved resources while maximizingbat power. Moreover, he could have the avatarprehend each phase, and once he hadprehended enough, the original body could catch up, increasing efficiency and safety.


    Tang Jie had initially nned to continue strengthening his body now that the w had been fixed. With this new n in mind, Tang Jie turned to buying arge number of cultivation medicines that he would need for the Nine Revolutions Tier.


    This spending spree ended with him spending five hundred thousand coins. With five hundred thousand in cultivation medicines, Tang Jie anticipated that he could reach his first or second revolution within two years without a problem. The best record for Basking Moon Academy was someone reaching the fourth revolution before graduation. Thus, this sort of progress from Tang Jie would ce him high in the ranks.


    But Nine Revolutions wasn¡¯t a tier where a higher number meant that one was better.


    The Nine Revolutions of Mortal Shedding corresponded to the heart, the liver, the spleen, the stomach, the kidneys, the lungs, the intestines, the galldder, and the head¡ªthe nine weak points of the body. Of these, the heart was associated with Fire, the liver with Wood, the spleen with Earth, the lungs with Metal, the kidneys with Water, the stomach with Earth, the intestines with Metal, and the galldder with Fire. The head was the only one without an attribute, but it was also the most important, and it was key to cultivating the Spirit Will and opening the Violet Pce.


    Each of these nine major weak points had a different cultivation process and refining method, and the effects and uses they had werepletely different. One could say that this was where the true differences between cultivators began, creating various special schools and Immortal arts.


    For example, the Thousand Passions Sect had always been known for its bizarre and agile movements, so at Nine Revolutions, they normally cultivated the lungs first. The lungs were the location of the soul, focused on energy, and had the Metal attribute. Cultivating the lungs was the best for energy cirction, allowing for extremely fast casting. After the lungs was the stomach, which had the attribute of Earth. Earth generated Metal, strengthening the effects of the lungs. The other choice was to cultivate the liver, which had the Wood attribute. While this did not benefit energy cirction, it benefited the body, ensuring that their movements could keep up. Thest choice was the head, which was for increasing cultivation level.


    As for the Basking Moon Sect, they mostly started with the heart first.


    The heart¡¯s attribute was Fire. It was the residence of the mind, the overseer of blood, the nexus of the arteries and veins, and the origin of all.


    This was another reason the Basking Moon Sect was known as the Grand Orthodoxy. Its cultivation methods emphasized stability¡ªso much so that even students from the Thousand Passions Sect ran over to the Basking Moon Sect to study its mantras.


    Tang Jie cultivated the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra, whose principal meridian was the heart meridian. Using Fire to melt Metal made for a perfect pairing, and it was the norm for the cultivation arts of Basking Moon, like the basic skillset in a game. Thus, Tang Jie didn¡¯t need to think about what his first revolution would be, deciding on the heart revolution. From there, it was easy to develop in any other direction.


    It was from the second revolution where he would have to think carefully.


    The earlier the revolution, the greater the effect. Thus, everyone needed to consider how to order the revolutions in order to maximize their power. But the number of choices andbinations wereplex enough to make one¡¯s head explode.


    This was exactly why one would often seek out the instruction of several wise masters before making their choice, as they were the only ones who could say which choices were suitable.


    Tang Jie was no exception, and he went to seek the guidance of Xie Fengtang.


    To his surprise, even Xie Fengtang found the Nine Revolutions to be the mostplicated and most difficult choice to make in the world. There was never a best choice, only the most suitable choice. Most importantly, until you actually got there, you would never know if your choice was correct or not.


    ¡°Normally, I would rmend that someone with hopes of reaching Violet Pce should cultivate their head second,¡± Xie Fengtang said. ¡°The head is where the spirit of a person lies, and it is key to Cognitive Creation and establishing the pce, the core to linking to the heavens. Only when this ce is strong can it endure the refining of will, Heart Demons, Soul Transformation, and Infant Condensation. Your talent is average, but you have superb courage and intelligence, and now, you have the support of numerous resources, which means you have some hope of reaching Violet Pce. Thus, I rmend that you choose the head. Of course, this choice will not be of much help to yourbat power, but it will make you much better at staying alive, perhaps even conferring you some resistance to Divine Will attacks.¡±


    ¡°I see. So when Wang Juemie took Liang Xingbang¡¯s Divine Will strike and didn¡¯t die, it wasn¡¯t just because Liang Xingbang was being stingy with his Divine Will, but also because of Wang Juemie¡¯s choice.¡±


    Xie Fengtang nodded. ¡°Wang Juemie is arrogant and proud, so it would not be strange if he made this choice. As for the third revolution, things get more difficult¡­¡±


    Concern appeared on his face as he muttered, ¡°Cultivating the liver allows Wood to generate Fire, increasing the power. Cultivating the galldder gives dual Fire, boosting one¡¯s strength. Cultivating the lungs improves energy cirction, allowing for fast casting. Cultivating the stomach is good for digestion and foundation, allowing for a vigorous vitality. As for the kidneys and intestines, one is counterproductive and the other provides no help. Excluding those two, the other five are all eptable choices, each with their own use.¡±


    After some thought, Tang Jie said, ¡°This disciple cultivates the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra, which seeks to prate through metal and shatter jade. Thus, I seek sharpness and constant offense.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Xie Fengtang pondered his response and then said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, you should cultivate the galldder. The heart and galldder are both Fire, so the increased burst of powerbined with your Lesser Sea should make your spell arts extremely powerful.¡±


    <em>I also have to consider the Ninedark Mantra,</em> Tang Jie noted to himself.


    The Ninedark Mantra also had a part that boosted the power of spell arts. Even if the choice he made only increased his power by 20%, whenever Tang Jie cast a spell art, it would still be 60% stronger than an average person¡¯s.


    In the past, Tang Jie had primarily relied on his body, garnering a reputation for being unkible. But starting from today, Tang Jie would change from being unkible to being a firing tform.


    In truth, this was what he had always wanted. Godhead Pce was famous for its formidable defense, and he had chosen the Grotto Metal Mantra precisely to deal with Godhead Armor. But his powerful body had obscured the sharpness of his attacks. However, as his constitution stopped increasing and his cultivation level rose, his offensive might would begin to show itself, and it was certain to leave many people stunned.


    After deciding on the first three revolutions, Tang Jie decided to just keep following the same line of thought, choosing lungs for the fourth for faster casting, the liver as the fifth for greater power, the spleen and stomach for the sixth and seventh, the intestines for the eighth, and the kidneys for the ninth. This was the typical offensive path, and it was one that only someone like Tang Jie, with the innate defense granted by the Jewel Body, could choose.


    Once he made his choices, he officially started cultivating.


    As the Nine Revolutions Period focused on cultivating the internal organs, it was far more difficult than before. Tang Jie spent every day diligently cultivating, supported by medicines and herbs as he made slow and steady progress. Although he knew that this was inevitable, he still couldn¡¯t help but feel a little frustrated.


    Today, Tang Jie was cultivating as always. As he was cultivating and cultivating, he inexplicably felt annoyed. Knowing that it would be difficult to keep going, he decided to stop and take a walk.


    He had barely made it a few steps out when he spotted Yiyi squatting in the garden, looking at something.


    Tang Jie called out, ¡°Yiyi, what are you doing?¡±


    Yiyi turned and said, ¡°The seed has sprouted!¡±


    Tang Jie was startled, and then he remembered. Going over, he asked, ¡°You¡¯re talking about those bean seeds?¡±


    ¡°Mm!¡± Yiyi firmly nodded.


    She moved to the side, revealing a green sprout vigorously growing out of the ground.


    These bean seeds were none other than the bean seeds that Shi Jingzhai had used.


    Shi Jingzhai¡¯s bean soldiers from that day truly were praiseworthy, but the real reason for their power wasn¡¯t in that spell art that had turned the beans into soldiers. It was because the beans he had used were special, and contained an extremely powerful life force.


    It was this vigorous life force that allowed the bean soldiers to be so fierce.


    Bei Canghan had believed that Shi Jingzhai had used his embezzled profits to get these bean seeds, but Tang Jie had never heard of any ce in the Rosecloud Domain that produced nts like these.


    At the time, Tang Jie remembered the spatial fissure he had seen in that underground cavern, and he knew that these seeds had most likelye from there.


    A nt from another domain!


    After returning to the academy, Tang Jie nted thest few bean seeds Shi Jingzhai had left, trying to grow them himself.


    s, no matter what he did, these seeds refused to sprout. A month had gone by, and Tang Jie had exhausted all the methods he could think of. Even countless waterings with Yiyi¡¯s urine had only managed to make the surrounding weeds grow to the height of a man while doing nothing to the bean seeds.


    But today, Yiyi had managed to make one sprout.


    ¡°How did you manage to make it sprout?¡± Tang Jie hastily asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Yiyi unexpectedly replied. ¡°I just nted that seed of mine, and then it grew.¡±


    <em>¡®Seed of yours</em>¡®<em>?</em>


    Tang Jie was startled. What bean seed did Yiyi have?


    He had a sh of insight and asked, ¡°Was it that bean soldier I gave you?¡±


    After he gave that bean soldier he had captured to Yiyi, the many things that had ensued afterward had made him forget about it. But now that he thought back to it, there was no way things could be that simple.


    Sure enough, Yiyi nodded. ¡°Yes, yes, that little guy. After a while, it turned back into a bean seed.¡±


    As Yiyi talked, Tang Jie got a picture of what had happened.


    It turned out that about one hour after the battle on that day, the bean soldier returned to its original form, though its color and shape had changed a little.


    Yiyi found it amusing, so she had kept it around. It was only when she saw Tang Jie failing to grow his bean seeds that she had the idea of nting her own seed. To her surprise, it had actually sprouted.


    ¡°In other words, there¡¯s actually a method to these beans. Do they have to transform into humans first?¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    He decided to dig up those seeds. Using the spell art from Shi Jingzhai, he turned one into a human.


    As he was the one who had created this bean soldier, it naturally wouldn¡¯t attack him. Gripping its steel saber, it waited around with a savage expression for Tang Jie¡¯s order to take Yiyi¡¯s life. After an hour, it turned back into a bean seed.


    Tang Jie had Yiyi check whether it looked the same as the seed she had nted, but Yiyi shook her head and said it didn¡¯t.


    Tang Jie looked at the seed and felt that its life force had been emptied out. It couldn¡¯t even be turned into a bean soldier and was just trash.


    His first attempt having failed, Tang Jie carefully recalled the events of that day. After transforming, that bean soldier had been particrly savage, taking big bites at him. He recalled how that bean had wildly bit away at his thigh, as well as the pain he had felt.


    <em>Could it be¡­</em>


    He suddenly had an idea. Taking out another bean seed, he trickled a few drops of blood on it. The bean seed suddenly let out a bloody light and turned red. The seed even became tter.


    Yiyi shouted, ¡°That¡¯s it! Just like that!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s simr now?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°Mm!¡± Yiyi firmly nodded. ¡°Mine wasn¡¯t that big, red, or t, though.¡±


    Tang Jie somewhat understood. ¡°That¡¯s because it didn¡¯t turn into a bean soldier, so it didn¡¯t use up its own life force. Since that¡¯s the case, we can do some individual tests now.¡±


    He nted the seed and put up a sign saying that it was No. 2. As for Yiyi¡¯s seed, it was marked as No. 1.


    Besides that, Tang Jie nted two more seeds: one given Yiyi¡¯s blood, and one given mortal blood. He wanted to see what the difference was.


    Seven dayster, Bean 2 was the first to sprout, though its form waspletely different from Bean 1. Although it had the form of a bean sprout, a small part of it was edged with teeth, which gave it a chilling feeling.


    After twelve days, Bean 3 sprouted, and it was also different from the other two seeds, emerging as a little white flower. The edges of this flower also had a circle of teeth, making it seem like a carnivorous flower.


    Tang Jie threw Bean 3 a mouse, which the nt immediately ate up, even burping.


    Tang Jie was rendered speechless. Whatever species this bean was, depending on the way it was cultivated, it would grow up with an entirely different form.


    After another four days, Bean 4 sprouted.


    This guy was also different from the other three, bursting out all of a sudden, needing only a few days to go from small bean sprout to dominating a small part of the garden.


    Inparison, Beans 1 and 2 didn¡¯t do anything after sprouting.


    But while it grew well, it was like a weed,cking any special properties.


    Bean 4 rapidly grew and was on the verge of consuming the garden. Tang Jie was just about to remove it like the weed it was when the situation suddenly changed.


    As Bean 4 ran into Beans 1 and 2, it suddenly dissolved into nt particles that sprinkled on the two bean sprouts, forming a thickyer of nt matter. As for Bean 4, it rapidly withered away.


    Tang Jie was startled.


    Tang Jie was thinking about what to do with all the umted nt debris in the garden, but Yiyi stopped him. ¡°Don¡¯t touch it. This is what they need.¡±


    Three dayster, Tang Jie discovered that all the nt matter was gone.


    After another two days, Tang Jie found that Beans 1 and 2, which had not grown for some time, had now restarted their growth.


    But this time, these two bean sprouts which had once been simr now began to differentiate.


    Bean 1 started to form a bean pod while Bean 2 remained barren. It just grew around half an inch.


    But that was all.


    But Tang Jie could sense that while this nt was short, it had a sharp edge and seemed like a very metallic nt, like the king of all these nts!


    It proudly and stubbornly grew, an immense life force flowing through it.


    Two monthster, Bean 1¡¯s bean pod had matured.


    It burst open, sprinkling out bean seeds.


    Tang Jie picked up one and found that it was identical to the bean seeds from before.


    ¡°I see.¡±


    After three months of observation, Tang Jie finally understood.


    This was the bean world¡¯s elimination process, and there were many factors that determined the oue.


    Bean 4 was undoubtedly the first to fail. It had only mortal blood, and while it was able to rapidly grow with its own energy, it was ultimately a mortal object. Of course, it wasn¡¯tpletely useless¡­ It could be food for its kind.


    Bean 3 had used Yiyi¡¯s blood. Yiyi was a sprite, rich in the Wood attribute. This made it so that Bean 3 directly developed into a monstrous flesh-eating nt. But its existence wasn¡¯t pointless. Cultivation of this kind of nt required blood, particrly blood that was strong in spirituality. This nt ensured a supply of blood to the others, which Tang Jie had confirmed by throwing this adult-sized, man-eating flower amb. He had watched as the flower bit into themb, sttering blood over the soil and on the bean sprouts.


    As for Bean 1 and Bean 2, things were again different.


    They had both used Tang Jie¡¯s blood.


    But it was clear that there were innate differences between them.


    Bean 1 had been turned into a bean soldier, consuming much of its energy, but Bean 2 had preserved its energy, so it was naturally healthier than Bean 1.


    However, Bean 1 had used its first-growth advantage to try to strangle Bean 2 in the cradle. The two bean sprouts had bitterly struggled against each other while growing, thus influencing each other.


    In the end, it was the innately stronger

 Chapter 396

    Chapter 396: Tempering


    Besides cultivating, Tang Jie also remembered to keep an eye on the Wei n¡¯s situation. From Shi Meng, he had learned that problems were constantly cropping up for the Wei n, but as they were all small problems, they had yet to hurt the foundation. But the criticism in the Wei Estate against Wei Danbai was growing. It was said that the venerable master anddy were extremely dissatisfied with Wei Danbai¡¯s actions, but Wei Danbai¡¯s hold over the n head position was still solid.


    Tang Jie, who had already decided to leave things to the heavens, naturally paid this no mind and continued to cultivate.


    Mu Yi had recently sent word that he had ryed the message concerning the Mountain River State Diagram. As this matter concerned a hidden realm, it had caused a stir within the Seven Absolutions Sect. The upper echelons of the sect were having a fierce debate, and it seemed like it would take some time for a decision to be made. As for Wang Juemie, he had already had someone send over the Undying Celestial Origin Pill. As the pill was meant for the original body, Tang Jie put it away.


    After three months of cultivation, Tang Jie¡¯s greatest harvest, besides the bean seeds, was the discovery that cultivating the Nine Revolutions wasn¡¯t easy.


    Unlike Hundred Refinement, which involved honing the muscles and bones, Nine Revolutions cultivated the organs. As for Cognitive Creation, that was when one cultivated Spirit Will.


    The Mortal Shedding Realm existed for the cultivator to shed the mortal body, and the process of attaining the spiritual body was one that went from the outside to the inside. In this process, one also went from having form to being formless.


    This was exactly why Nine Revolutions was far moreplicated than Hundred Refinement.


    Hundred Refinement was merely tempering the muscles and bones, something even a mortal could do. It was hardly difficult, only requiring time and diligence. This was also why, in the eyes of high-level cultivators, everything before Nine Revolutions was just an umtion process. Simply by umting, one could eventually break through, and the asional minor obstacle like the charge at Mortal Shedding wasn¡¯t much of a problem.


    Things changed at Nine Revolutions. A cultivator needed to temper their organs, nourishing them with spiritual energy every day and then tempering them through secret methods. This cultivation process wasplicated, profound, and painful, the difficulty a hundred times greater than before. As it concerned one¡¯s weak points, ack of caution could result in self-injury, with energy corruption or death in the most serious cases. Many of the cultivation medicines Tang Jie had prepared were meant for treating injuries.


    This was also why Nine Revolutions could be considered a dividing line for cultivators. Most of the cultivators who wandered the world stopped here. Without the guidance of a wise master, they would spend their entire lives being unable to pass this trial. But for cultivators who had the guidance of excellent masters in their sects, this trial was not difficult, merely a matter of how much time was spent.


    As for the Cognitive Creation Period, that involved entering the ne of the formless Spirit Will, so it was even more difficult.


    This was how the Mortal Shedding Realm was divided: external, internal, and mental.


    Tang Jie spent every day cultivating the heart revolution. He first needed to send blood energy surging through his body, dealing a heavy blow to his heart. He then needed to gather spiritual energy into a powerful current and then send it sweeping through his body using a particr method so as to temper the heart, washing away the impurities and spiritualizing it.


    Through this repeated process, the heart gradually began to lose its bloody color, bing translucent and crystalline. This was the result of the spiritualization process.


    When the heart was spiritualized to such an extent that it seemed to be made of crystal, this would be the climax of the heart revolution. As one continued cultivating from here, the heart¡¯s color would return to normal, at which point one would be considered to have reached greater attainment in the heart revolution.


    A heart of greater attainment appeared to be a mortal heart, but it was not. des and mes would not easily damage it, the pain one would feel from these wounds would be greatly reduced, and any such damage could be healed, even if it were cut in half. Even if the heart were scooped out, leaving only a little bit of the heart left, it could still be regenerated. Of course, the exact degree would depend on the entirety of one¡¯s Nine Revolutions. There were those that focused on regeneration, others on defense, and others on offense. Focusing on different aspects would naturally produce different effects.


    Gu Changqing had attained the heart revolution and head revolution, which was why he had remained alive even when his heart had been pulverized and his head had been punctured, as an example of the power these revolutions endowed.


    But no matter how strong he was, without the head, he could no longer survive. Regrowing a head was a privilege exclusive to True Persons and above, and not all of them could do it.


    Tang Jie had been performing the purging process for three months, but his heart was still faintly red and fleshy, far from having a crystalline luster, let alone reversing the process. With this level of process, getting to greater attainment would be difficult in the nine months left in the year.


    He had initially believed that the remaining two years of time would be enough to reach his second revolution, but things apparently weren¡¯t that simple. He really had no idea how the record of four revolutions had been achieved.


    The only solution to this problem was increased tempering, having his heart experience greater shocks and stronger spirit currents, and this came with heightened risk. If his injuries were too serious, he might suffer some irrecoverable internal injury before he managed to spiritualize his heart.


    Although Tang Jie had the Jewel Body and wasn¡¯t afraid of these hidden injuries, the problem was that he had already taken these factors into ount when calcting his cultivation time. Intensifying his cultivation further would be seeking death.


    Today, as Tang Jie was getting frustrated over this problem, he saw Yiyi holding something and scolding Shi Jingzhai nearby. ¡°So annoying! I taught you so many times, but you still don¡¯t get it! Don¡¯t touch what isn¡¯t yours!¡±


    Shi Jingzhai looked at Yiyi and giggled.


    Tang Jie looked over and saw that Yiyi was holding the key for opening the ninth floor of Heaven One.


    He had left it in the box that Xie Fengtang had given it to him in, but Shi Jingzhai had somehow taken it out to y with.


    As he looked at the key, Tang Jie had an idea.


    Yes, the ninth floor of Heaven One might have a solution to his problems.


    Therge amount of resources he had obtained was something he wasn¡¯t willing to touch until he had the Mountain River State Diagram, but the ninth floor of Heaven One wasn¡¯t included among them. It was just that he had been so busy cultivating that he had forgotten about the key.


    He took the key from Yiyi¡¯s hand and rushed straight off to Heaven One Pavilion.


    The key was a key, but it really served as a certificate. With this key, he could go straight to the ninth floor with no one standing in his way. He had six hours, much longer than before, and he could choose between the Divine Firmament Sword ssic and Violet Jade Mantra.


    After being inspected by the disciple watching the pavilion, Tang Jie went to the ninth floor and took the Violet Jade Mantra to read it.


    But this time, he didn¡¯t bring a formation diagram, obediently sitting there and pondering the mantra.


    The Violet Jade Mantra was not a cultivation text. To be more precise, only a small part of it concerned cultivation. The vast majority of it concerned insights and experiences. The creator, the Water Moon Celestial Sovereign, had spent his early years wandering the world. He had a vast and deep range of experiences, and he had alsoprehended the Great Dao and grasped Fate. He was an extraordinary talent of his generation, and the Violet Jade Mantra recorded his lifetime of cultivation insights. In truth, it was far more valuable than a cultivation text, and it was also suitable for all levels. For this reason, many people had perused it.


    Heaven One Pavilion existed to serve the students, so only a part of the Violet Jade Mantra was kept here, and it mostly covered only the more shallow contents. But it was for this very reason that Tang Jie easily found the part he wanted: the knowledge on cultivating the Nine Revolutions. There truly was a solution for his problem within.


    The solution wasn¡¯t hard, so Tang Jie quickly memorized it. Seeing that he still had time, Tang Jie continued to look through the mantra.


    As he read, he found that the Violet Jade Mantra was truly mystical beyondpare. There were notes and exnations on many things that had left him confused, and Tang Jie felt his horizons being broadened again and again.


    In these eight years, Tang Jie had obtained quite a few secret arts.


    The Celestial Treasure Supreme Heart Mantra, the Ghost ssic, and the Ninedark Mantra were all incredible texts, but as Tang Jie had never dared to reveal them, he could only ponder the problems they presented to him on his own, and there were many questions that were unanswered.


    Only after he read the Violet Jade Mantra did all these riddles finally begin toe undone. He felt like apletely different person, like he had pierced through something. He felt like he was ascending in both body and mind.


    Six hours went by in the blink of an eye.


    Tang Jie reluctantly put down the mantra and left Heaven One Pavilion.


    The two students watching the pavilion saw Tang Jie and were momentarily taken aback. They then bowed and said, ¡°Great Brother, you¡¯vee out.¡±


    Tang Jie grunted and left.


    The two students looked at each other. One of them said, ¡°Strange¡ªwhy do I feel like the Great Brother that went in is different from the one that came out?¡±


    The other replied, ¡°I feel the same thing, but I can¡¯t tell what¡¯s different.¡±


    They both had an indescribable feeling, and they looked at each other and shivered, not daring to say any more.


    At the same time, within the Nine Executions Immortal Formation.


    A giant tree exploded, and a giant man who was around five meters tall walked out from the debris, his copper skin gleaming with a metallic luster. This was none other than Tang Jie¡¯s original body.


    His body was bulging with muscles, a mighty strength running through. A light step made the earth tremble. He seemed only around five meters tall, but his weight was nearing a hundred tons, and the power packed within this body was even more astonishing.


    But with all this strength, the original body was only at the Hundred Refinement Period, still far from the end.


    Tang Jie looked down at his body and muttered, ¡°I see¡­ Only by refining the body a hundred times can one go a hundred battles without a loss¡­ Diamond is achieved through a hundred refinements!¡±


    He suddenly extended his hand and jabbed himself several times with his finger.


    With these jabs, Tang Jie¡¯s body erupted with energy that shot into the sky.


    Tang Jie himself howled in pain.


    His thunderous howls rmed even the me bird, which took to the skies and spat mes down below.


    It actually broke out of the valley¡¯s barrier and moved to attack Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes shed when he saw this, but rather than dodging, he shook his fists and shouted, ¡°Ra!¡±


    With his arms raised, he simply allowed the mes to scorch him.


    The mes of this enormous bird were so fierce that even He Chong couldn¡¯t withstand them, and even steel would melt upon contact with it. mes crackled as they struck Tang Jie, and as they raged, Tang Jie¡¯s body was almostpletely charred.


    Even then, Tang Jie still didn¡¯t die. The mes passed, leaving Tang Jie¡¯s body scorched ck. And then pieces of skin began to crack off, revealing the steely determination on his face.


    He stared at the giant firebird andughed. ¡°The Diamond Body, the Hundred Refinement Tier¡­ hahahaha, I was such a fool. I should have realized it long ago. Putting these two together is the perfect way to temper my body.¡±


    Although he had reached the Diamond Body, he had never tempered himself before. It was only after encountering Wang Juemie that he had realized his mistake and sought He Chong for a battle. s, while he had managed to get a boost from that battle, this was no reasonable way to cultivate.


    It was only when he read the Violet Jade Mantra and its various pointers on cultivation realms that he realized that hecked depth in his understanding of cultivation.


    In truth, each phase had a special meaning to a cultivator. For example, the Hundred Refinement Tier was meant for making the bones and muscle like steel, but as most cultivators weren¡¯t body cultivators, they only used spiritual energy to nourish their bodies, never tempering it.


    There was nothing wrong with spellcasters doing such a thing. In any case, their constitutions had limited potential, and torturing their bodies wouldn¡¯t produce a signficant effect.


    But for body refiners, this seemingly unimportant phase became the most important.


    Only a hundred refinements could make Diamond!


    This was what it meant to have a real Diamond Body.


    If he hadn¡¯t been enlightened by the Violet Jade Mantra, Tang Jie might have gotten all the way to Nine Revolutions without understanding this principle, and by the time he realized, he would have missed the ideal moment.


    While the firebird¡¯s me had severely wounded Tang Jie, he felt as if the blood in his body was ame, an irrepressible longing for battle surging from the depths of his heart.


    He let out a howl and punched at the sky, sending a st of air at the giant bird.


    In truth, fighting the firebird at his current level of strength was suicidal. Even if he could withstand one st of me, he would never be able to withstand ten or a hundred. But Tang Jie refused to back down. He had an idea that made direct confrontation better than escaping!


    He had only grown more confident in this idea upon seeing that the giant bird had broken precedent and left the valley to attack him.


    The st from his punch flew toward the firebird.


    The firebird screeched and spat out another me, easily obliterating the wind st. Another wave of fire swept down, even stronger than thest.


    Tang Jie cried out and flew into the air.


    His body was instantly charred, but the scorched flesh cracked apart mid-flight, revealing the skin with metallic luster beneath, as if he was being reborn in the mes.


    As the mes burned away, Tang Jie felt like he was getting stronger and stronger, about to explode. He let out a frenzied roar and punched at the firebird ten-some times.


    The ten-some punches mmed into the mountain, causing the mountain to tremble and boulders to fall down, but the firebird simply spat out a me and easily neutralized all these attacks.


    It opened its mouth again, but this time, it was a fireball that came out.


    Even though it seemed unimpressive, Tang Jie¡¯s wariness hit maximum. He unleashed all his defenses, golden light and crimson light bursting from his body as he activated the Formless Golden Body and Blood Refining Spirit.


    ¡°Endure!¡± Tang Jie cried out.


    That little fireball exploded on Tang Jie, instantly sending him smashing into a distant mountain. The mountain face copsed as mes engulfed it. Countless streaks of me shot in every direction, starting congrations wherever theynded and turning the region into a sea of mes.


    The firebird screeched, and a momentter, the fires turned into streaks of me that flowed back to the bird. Only the smoke plumes rising from the forest indicated that an enormous fire had burned here for about two seconds.


    A zing body plummeted from the sky like a meteor, mming to the ground with an earthquake.


    <em>Ka! Ka!</em> Tang Jie coughed as he mbered out of the pit and shook the dust and ash off his body.


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t gotten off easy this time.


    Blood was seeping out from every pore, drenching him red, and sparks still danced on his body. These were bone-eating mes that continued to linger.


    As the burned skin ked off, mes would instantly engulf the area before the new skin could grow, in a process that endlessly repeated and left Tang Jie in immense pain.


    ¡°Aaaagh!¡± he cried out in pain, rolling on the ground. Wherever he rolled, the dirt would crystallize¡ªsuch was the power of the mes.


    Even then, Tang Jie didn¡¯t die as he continued to roll around. The powerful life force conferred by the Diamond Body gave him a terrifying regenerative capability, particrly now that all of histent potential was being unleashed. This made his life force more exuberant than ever before, allowing him to endure the terrifying mes.


    The giant bird did not attack, only coldly watched.


    The mes finally began to wane.


    Crawling on the ground, Tang Jie panted for breath.


    When the mes finally went out, his body immediately began to recover at astonishing speed, and he was soon fully healed. It was just his hair that didn¡¯t regrow as quickly, and his entire body was nowpletely bare.


    Most shocking of all was that his body of five-some meters had shrunk to a height of four-some meters.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t mind. He looked at himself and muttered, ¡°It was just show muscle before. Now I¡¯m truly muscr.¡±


    Despite his words, he knew that this ordeal had consumed too much of his energy, and he was no longer capable of taking an attack from the firebird.


    The firebird suddenly turned its head and spat out another me. A momentter, He Chong appeared, leaving behind a trail of ck smoke as he shot off like a screaming bolt of lightning into the distance.


    It turned to nce at Tang Jie before flying back to the valley.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I was saying: if you left behind this Immortal grass, why leave behind a firebird to guard it? If this was a test, then it¡¯s not one that should be at the fifth trial. After all, even He Chong couldn¡¯t beat it. It turns out that it was meant for tempering the Diamond Body.¡±


    The Martial Lord had made his name through battle, and what he cared about the most was a will to fight. His chosen sessor naturally had to be extremely courageous.


    Thus, he had left this giant firebird at the fifth trial. This wasn¡¯t only to temper the Diamond Body but also to test the will of his sessor. Only the brave and pugnacious would dare to challenge the firebird and take on its heaven-searing mes.


    If Tang Jie had notprehended the Violet Jade Mantra and understood the connection between Hundred Refinement and the Diamond Body, he wouldn¡¯t have realized how important this was, let alone called out the giant bird.


    Tang Jie now roughly understood that the firebird had two missions. The first was to protect the valley, and the second was to help the sessor temper their body. When it was protecting the valley, it would seek to kill. When it was tempering the body, its attacks would be very restrained.


    The firebird flew to the valley and circled in the sky once before looking at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie realized something and walked over, stepping over the valley¡¯s boundary line.


    Sure enough, the bird did not attack.


    Tang Jie tried walking a few more steps. He went up to a thousand-year Whitefiend Lotus and reached out, grabbing the lotus root. The little person on the lotus panicked and started throwing out lightning bolts and fire flowers at Tang Jie¡¯s arm, but they did no damage.


    Tang Jie pulled out the white lotus.


    The moment the lotus left the water, its leaves curled inward. The little person inside fell over in the center of the lotus, gradually congealing into a human-shaped lotus heart, the curling leaves enclosing it.


    This human-shaped lotus heart was where the essence of the Whitefiend Lotus was stored. The lotus leaves on the outside were the only means the lotus had to protect it, and once the leaves were removed, the lotus heart had to be used within seven days.


    Cautiously putting away the lotus, Tang Jie looked at the other lotuses and then looked at the firebird.


    The firebird threw its head back and screeched, and then it spat out a me that whizzed right over Tang Jie¡¯s head.


    Tang Jie knew that this was a warning.


    ¡°It seems that passing one test means I can take one. So this is how I¡¯m supposed to get them. Though I have to wonder what the next test will be like.¡± This first test had almost killed him, and even the mighty Diamond Body had been pitifully weak against the firebird¡¯s fireball. But this also meant that he still had a lot of room to grow, so he couldn¡¯t help but get excited. Fearlesslyughing, he said, ¡°In the past, this lowly one was ignorant and disturbed your test many times, for which I seek your forgiveness. When I achieve more progress in cultivation, I will seek out your instruction again!¡±


    Tang Jie retreated from the valley as he spoke. This was the first time he was able to back out of the valley without fear of the firebird¡¯s pursuit.


    The giant bird saw that Tang Jie had left, and with a screech, it flew back into the pool ofva.


    Your daily dose of body cultivator masochism.

 Chapter 397

    Chapter 397: Eternal Universe


    Another three months went by, during which Tang Jie performed more experiments on the beans, developing a greater understanding of these strange nts.


    Firstly, there were not just four kinds of them.


    Using the bean seeds, Tang Jie had raised two more kinds of nts. One was a nt with an appearance even fiercer than the carnivorous nt, capable of pulling its roots out of the ground and walking like a fierce nt beast. The other was a nt that exuded a unique odor. This odor was particrly attractive to small animals like mice and rabbits in the vicinity. Once these small animals were lured over, the carnivorous flower and the beast flower would devour them. Worth noting was that the beast flower would ce the corpses of these animals on the sharp teeth of the bean king, making it so this short nt waspletely covered. It appeared as if a mouse or rabbit was growing out of the ground.


    Tang Jie called these nt types ¡°general¡± and ¡°farmer¡±.


    Thus, the bean seeds had six different forms: king, consort, general, soldier, farmer, and food. Each had their own duty.


    Tang Jie tried to raise more consorts to produce more bean seeds, but he was quickly disappointed.


    He discovered that bean society was distributed ording to its avable resources and rank. Only when there was enough of the lower sses could more of the upper ss be produced.


    Thus, when the lowest-ss beans that served as food were few in number, the high-ss beans didn¡¯t grow no matter how much Tang Jie tried. As the Carefree House had limited space, he was never able to get a second consort, and he had only a single general. As for the soldier-type carnivorous flowers, he had grown a few, which he gifted to Yiyi for her flower formation, as they were much stronger than green roses.


    But this was not a big problem. So long as he weres given enough space, he could quickly raise more of the high-ss nts. But for the same reason, Tang Jie worried that he would lose control of these nts. This was particrly true for the food-type beans, which grew at such a fast pace that they might have broken free of the Carefree House if not for the formation protecting it.


    Tang Jie quickly realized that this was a nt with a strong sense for organization and reproduction. In truth, he began to suspect that this wasn¡¯t a nt but a special lifeform belonging to another domain.


    Fortunately, Shi Jingzhai hadn¡¯t known how to breed more of this lifeform. If he had lost control of them, all of Rosecloud might have faced a cmity.


    With this thought in mind, Tang Jie did not dare try to nt these beans outside. He could only wait for the Mountain River State Diagram. Once that diagram was here, he could easily solve many of his problems.


    It was now the seventh month since Tang Jie¡¯s return.


    Tang Jie had achieved minor attainment in the heart revolution when he finally received that long-awaited news: the Seven Absolutions Sect had agreed to Tang Jie¡¯s trade.


    But there were two conditions. The first was that they had to see him use the Mountain River State Diagram, and the second was that he had to take a trip to the Seven Absolutions Sect. Of course, the Seven Absolutions Sect guaranteed that it wouldn¡¯t hurt him and only wanted him as a guest.


    The first request was primarily in order to ensure that the Mountain River State Diagram was not being improperly used. Tang Jie had no objection to this. Although he wanted the Mountain River State Diagram for that world within the great formation, he still didn¡¯t have the power to move mountains, nor was he sure about what effects such actions would have on the formation. Thus, he was saving that n for the future.


    As for the second request, it was rather coercive. After some thought, Tang Jie proposed that he would visit the Seven Absolutions Sect within the next twenty years.


    For a cultivator, twenty years wasn¡¯t particrly long. After receiving Tang Jie¡¯s reply, Mu Yi quickly sent back word: the Seven Absolutions Sect had agreed.


    Once both parties had agreed, it wasn¡¯t long before Mu Yi arrived with the Mountain River State Diagram.


    The Mountain River State Diagram was an ordinary-looking nk painting scroll. If not for that faint divine luster on the paper, Tang Jie really would have taken it for an ordinary scroll.


    But when the scroll was unrolled, Tang Jie felt like an entire world was opening before him. Even though it waspletely empty, he felt like he was staring into the vastness of the universe.


    While standing in front of this divine treasure from High Antiquity, Tang Jie felt like he should get on his knees and bow.


    Thankfully, he managed to master the impulse and make himself stand upright, though his entire body sweat from the effort.


    Mu Yi smiled at this. ¡°You truly are incredible. When I first came before this item, it was hung up in a side hall of my sect. While standing in that hall, I felt like I was standing in an endless void, and my fear was so great that I almost pissed my pants.¡±


    ¡°A divine treasure of High Antiquity, it truly is amazing. Just one nce makes it difficult to withstand its divine might,¡± Tang Jie sighed. ¡°And this is only a spatial treasure with nobat power. What would abat divine treasure be like? Right, it seems like you¡¯re able to resist its aura now?¡±


    Mu Yi flipped his wrist, revealing that he was wearing a small jade bracelet. ¡°A Mindsoothe Bracelet, not any particr ability on my part. It can resist some of the aura. Are you interested? Only five hundred thousand. Right, don¡¯t put your hopes on the Basking Moon Sect. This is an exclusive product of my Seven Absolutions Sect.¡±


    Tang Jie rolled his eyes.


    This small Mindsoothe Bracelet was a middle-grade art relic. It wouldn¡¯t even sell for fifty thousand, let alone an outrageous five hundred thousand!


    But he knew that his expectations had been off. He hadn¡¯t expected the Mountain River State Diagram to be this formidable. Even though it wasn¡¯t abat treasure, his mind still found it difficult to resist, so he really couldn¡¯t go without the bracelet.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect knew how to do business. The price Tang Jie had offered for the Mountain River State Diagram was too low, so they had added on the Mindsoothe Bracelet, and the price was just below the limit of what Tang Jie could bear. Thus, Tang Jie could only bitterly shake his head and ept the deal.


    He chose to treat it as an increase in the price of the Mountain River State Diagram.


    After getting the Mountain River State Diagram, he now had to prepare the materials for the teleportation formation. As this formation needed to break through domains, it needed numerous materials, and Tang Jie was nning toy out a fixed teleportation formation that could be used repeatedly. This meant that he actually needed two formations: one in the formation diagram and the other in the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. Thus, he needed double the amount of materials, and the total cost was around two million coins. As for Tang Jie, due to his special situation, he actually needed even more, so he would have to spend basically all of his remaining three million on materials.


    To Tang Jie¡¯s surprise, after handing over the Mountain River State Diagram, Mu Yi produced a pile of materials as if by magic. ¡°While there are many kinds of teleportation formations, all of them share the same origin, so some materials are always needed. To save time, my Seven Absolutions Sect has prepared some. Rx; the price will definitely be fair.¡±


    Tang Jie felt deeply speechless as he looked at Mu Yi¡¯s pile of materials.


    The price for these materials was naturally not as exorbitant as the Mindsoothe Bracelet¡¯s, but even the most normal price would have some profit margin. The materials Tang Jie needed would be a big business deal for any store, so no matter what store he went to, he was bound to get a discount. But there was no hope of that with the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    There was plenty of room to make profit on materials, and 30% was very normal. And with the Seven Absolutions Sect, given their power and ability, 50% profit margin waspletely possible. In this deal involving three million in materials, the Seven Absolutions Sect could make at least one million more.


    Tang Jie was once more deeply speechless. He said to Mu Yi, ¡°I didn¡¯t think that the Seven Absolutions Sect would have such a talent for business.¡±


    Mu Yi chuckled. ¡°The Seven Absolutions Sect has its origins inmerce, and it was only through a fortuitous encounter that it became a sect. However, it kept many of its habits from its business days, as shameful as it is. But you, Senior Brother, still have 3 million to spend on materials after spending 1.5 million, which means that Senior Brother is much wealthier than I realized. And the materials that you require mean that the hidden realm cannot be in the Rosecloud Domain, so Senior Brother was not deceiving me.¡±


    Five million in profits had been spent away just like that. Now, besides the Seven Demon Soul-Sealing Nails and rare materials like the Cloud Mud, all he had was the money he had saved up from selling off the materials that had made up the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation, which was several tens of thousands of spirit coins.


    Tang Jie indifferently said, ¡°I said before that I have amon enemy with your Seven Absolutions Sect, so I naturally have no reason to deceive you. You guys just didn¡¯t take me seriously. Actually, you guys want to see mey down the formation and buy materials not necessarily to make sure I¡¯m not doing anything improper, but to confirm the location of that hidden realm. If I bought few materials, insufficient for a teleportation formation that could break through domains, that would mean that the hidden realm was probably in the Rosecloud Domain, and you could determine its general location from how I wasying out the formation. If you found the hidden realm, then all the good things would naturally be yours, yes?¡±


    Mu Yiughed. ¡°Ah, Senior Brother, we really can¡¯t hide anything from you. Some of the elders in the sect refused to give up, feeling like there was an extremely high chance that the hidden realm was in Rosecloud, giving us a chance to take it, so they had me test the waters. But now, Senior Brother¡¯s actions have shown that they can put that idea to rest. That being the case, I also don¡¯t need to hide this from Senior Brother.¡±


    He took out a talisman, wrote out a message, and then burned it, turning the message into a plume of smoke. He was clearly telling the Seven Absolutions Sect that Tang Jie had been telling the truth.


    Next was taking a chunk ofnd into the diagram. Tang Jie had already found a ce, so the two of them flew out of the academy. They flew for an hour until they arrived at a picturesque location near a mountain range.


    There was a cliff here, a waterfall flowing down the side and into a pool at the bottom in a great cloud of mist. The pool was formed from a depression in the middle of a giant boulder, and water overflowed over the sides into a brook that flowed off into the distance. Trees lush with foliage grew on both sides. It was truly a beautiful little ce.


    There was a rock next to the brook with three words carved into it: Great Broken Stream.


    Tang Jie pointed at the waterfall and the boulder beneath it. ¡°What do you think about this ce?¡±


    Mu Yi took a look and was immediately rendered speechless.


    In terms of area, this ce really wasn¡¯t that big, with a diameter of only thirty-some meters. Though it wasrger than the Carefree House, Mu Yi and the others had no ns to rigidly hold Tang Jie to his im of only a piece ofnd the size of the Carefree House. But they hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to be so shameless as to keep his horizontal ims in check but take full advantage of verticality. He had included a piece of the mountain, that cliff, the waterfall, and even the trees on the sides.


    Mu Yi snorted, ¡°This Carefree House of yours is quiterge.¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°¡®Mountain River State Diagram¡¯! Just from the name, you know that you have to have a mountain and a river to do things properly. If I only managed to get a giant rock inside, why even call it the Mountain River State Diagram? Might as well call it the Heavensent Rock Diagram instead.¡±


    (TN: The actual term used for Heavensent Rock is ¡°·ÉÀ´Ê¯¡±, which is the name for a famous rock found in the Huangshan mountain range. Its literal trantion is ¡°Flew Over Rock¡±, because the rock appears as if it has flown down from the sky.)


    Mu Yi heartilyughed, but when he thought about it, the Seven Absolutions Sect had taken so much money from Tang Jie that it wasn¡¯t a big deal if Tang Jie took an area that was a littlerger than agreed on. In the end, he decided to look the other way.


    This was Tang Jie¡¯s first time using the Mountain River State Diagram, and with Mu Yi¡¯s guidance, he learned that using the Mountain River State Diagram didn¡¯t require moving the target. It simply required inserting spiritual energy into the diagram.


    Mu Yi handed Tang Jie the Mountain River State Diagram and smiled. ¡°Try it out?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled as he took the diagram. He threw it up, where it floated in the air and let out a light that nketed the area below. As the light shone on the cliff, the waterfall, the boulder, the flowing water, and the trees, they became transparent, leaving Tang Jie confused and amazed.


    At the same time, Tang Jie felt his spiritual energy rapidly fading away, and he knew that the Mountain River State Diagram was using his strength to take in this piece ofnd. He just hadn¡¯t expected it to take so much energy.


    And it appeared that this was only because he was taking in a small piece ofnd. There was no telling what would happen if he tried to take in a vast tract ofnd. It was no wonder the Seven Absolutions Sect was so rxed, not at all worried that he might break his promise and take arge chunk ofnd. He wasn¡¯t even strong enough to do it.


    When almost a third of his spiritual energy had been used up, the waterfall illuminated by the Mountain River State Diagram finally disappeared. The area where the missingnd had been was now just a ck emptiness, with not even the earth beneath being visible.


    Tang Jie felt an inexplicable fear in front of this darkness. He could even feel a gust rushing into that ck fissure.


    But soon, this ck fissure began to close.


    It got smaller and smaller¡­


    As it shrank, Tang Jie realized that the terrain hadpletely changed.


    The waterfall hadpletely disappeared. The water on the summit had nowhere to go, so it had simply changed course. The cut-off stream no longer existed, leaving only a dried-up channel that was squeezed out of existence.


    The changes to the terrain made it so it seemed like that waterfall had never existed.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Tang Jie was dumbstruck.


    He had thought about what it would look like when the Mountain River State Diagram shifted a chunk ofnd away, but he had never expected it to be like this.


    ¡°Very strange, right?¡± Mu Yi saw Tang Jie¡¯s ck-jawed expression and chuckled.


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°I thought it would leave a pit behind.¡±


    Mu Yi replied, ¡°In reality, it will only leave behind a spatial fissure. Although you only took a part of thend on the surface of this world, the Mountain River State Diagram has essentially wiped away its existence, leaving behind an endless abyss.¡±


    The diagram had finished taking in thend, and once the light had faded, it dropped to the ground.


    Mu Yi extended his hand, summoning the diagram. He then unrolled the diagram in front of Tang Jie.


    The empty scroll had now be a naturalistic painting. In the painting was a waterfall descending from above into a pool of water, precisely the scene that Tang Jie had seen earlier.


    ¡°Then why did the spatial fissure disappear, and all the other surrounding traces?¡± Tang Jie asked in confusion.


    Mu Yi shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know either. This is my first time seeing the Mountain River State Diagram being used. Perhaps this is the will of the heavens.¡±


    ¡°¡®The will of the heavens¡¯?¡± Tang Jie was stunned. ¡°You¡¯re saying that the heavens are doing this?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just blindly guessing. Maybe the heavens can¡¯t stand this sort of gap, so they use some sort of method that we could never understand to remold thendscape and rebuild the world. Look: after you took that piece ofnd, the terrain of this entire region changed, yet all of it seems so natural, as if it¡¯s been this way for eons. Someone who had never been here before would never have imagined that this ce was once host to a waterfall!¡±


    Tang Jie narrowed his eyes. ¡°If this is the case, then the heavens have still missed out on something.¡±


    His eyes looked nearby, where that stone that read ¡°Great Broken Stream¡± remained. But half of it had been buried in the soil, and the words were faded as if they had existed for tens of thousands of years.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    After thend was taken, it was time toy down the formation.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, and the Mountain River State Diagram flew into the air. A ray of light shot out, and a waterfall appeared in the air.


    Surprisingly, the waterfall was still flowing, the watering from the sky,nding below, and gathering into a small stream that flowed off into the unknown. It was an endless cycle, as if this area had never been taken into the scroll.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but sigh in praise. ¡°Creating such a miracle, it truly deserves its reputation as a rare divine treasure.¡±


    Mu Yi smiled. ¡°The diagram has done its job. It¡¯s up to you to make the formation work now.¡±


    ¡°Fortunately, I was able to read the Profound Heaven Treatise, so I can make the formation as easily as if the heavens themselves had made it,¡± Tang Jie said. He took a pile of materials and threw them at the image in the air.


    There were all sorts of materials, and when theynded in that picturesque scene, they transformed into various objects.


    A handful of red soilnded next to the pool and instantly turned into arge patch of red soil.


    A pinch of grassnded in the red soil and instantly transformed into a giant tree.


    A shing scale dropped into the pool and transformed into a fish, and water grass sprouted from the bottom of the boulder.


    Dolls made of y fell into the world within the painting and transformed into birds, beasts, insects, and fish, all of them cavorting around in this world.


    More red soilnded around the area, creating more soil and expanding this world.


    As the waterfall expanded, it grew more fierce, the currents more rapid, and it began to crash into the pool with a thunderous roar. The stream began to flow like a raging river, and this serene world became brimming with vitality.


    Spiritual currents traveled to and fro, creating spiritual gusts that made the creatures of this worldrger and more energetic.


    More materials entered this world, taking on various forms. Unlike past formations,ying down this formation took a vast amount of resources, and the formation creation process produced all sorts of wondrous sights.


    Even Mu Yi had never imagined that one couldy down a formation in this way.


    Tang Jie threw in a de of five-hundred-year-old Jade Grass.


    The moment this Jade Grass entered the formation diagram, a gust of spiritual wind turned it into a small bridge thatnded on the upper part of the stream, connecting the two shores, causing all the creatures in the painting to grow even more excited.


    Tang Jie threw in a grain of dark red blood. When this blood entered the diagram, there was a crack of thunder, and ck lightning bolts came down, scattering all the creatures.


    Mu Yi was now confused. ¡°What is this?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Nether Beast Blood, from the Wandering Pce.¡±


    He had thrown in the Nether Beast Blood he had taken from the Wandering Pce all those years ago. It had taken him several years to find its use. Nether Beasts were Yin beasts, naturally resistant to Yin energy corrosion. This item added to the mix would allow the formation to resist various Yin-type attacks.


    As Tang Jie continued to throw in materials, the world in the diagram grew richer with life. It expanded to three times its original size and even yed host to the four seasons, which rotated in order as if this was a real world. Through the power of an Immortal, it gradually became fuller and more authentic¡­


    Mu Yi sighed in praise, ¡°All things in nature embodied in the painted world¡­ so it was the Eternal Universe Formation. Using this formation as the backbone for the teleportation formation truly is the most reliable method. I didn¡¯t think that my sect¡¯s Profound Heaven Treatise¡¯s foundational formation would be learned by Brother Tang, and to such a wondrous and beautiful level. And you¡¯ve added so many things, with exquisite implementation that makes everything seem natural. It is no wonder you¡¯re confident that you can make a domain-breaking formation with your Mortal Shedding cultivation.¡±


    The advantage of doing things this way was that the Mountain River State Diagram wouldn¡¯t only have the function of a teleportation formation in the future. It could also be used inbat.


    Now that the world in the diagram wasplete, along with the teleportation formation within it, Tang Jie thrust his hand at the diagram. The beasts in the world suddenly howled, and the spiritual currents went wild, bing a storm that even made the waterfall begin flowing in reverse.


    This meant that the Eternal Universe Formation hadpletely activated.


    As the waterfall flowed upward, a ck cave mouth silently appeared at the base of the cliff.


    This was the mouth to the teleportation formation.


    ¡°Sess!¡± Mu Yi pped his hands and shouted.


    ¡°Yes, finally seeded.¡± Tang Jie waved his hand, and the furious storm subsided, though the cave behind the waterfall remained.


    Looking at that cave, Tang Jie picked a pebble off the ground and threw it at the cave. The pebble passed through the waterfall and disappeared into the cave.


    Tang Jie casually said, ¡°Through this cave is that hidden realm. Brother Mu, if you want to take it, now is the moment. If you enter that cave, you guys can enter the hidden realm.¡±


    Is it really all right for Tang Jie to do all of this in front of Mu Yi?

 Chapter 398

    Chapter 398: Return


    Tang Jie¡¯s words made Mu Yi¡¯s face go stiff.


    ¡°Brother Tang, what do you mean?¡±


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°Although the Seven Absolutions Sect has never known the value of this hidden realm, if it¡¯s a hidden realm that can make Godhead Pce go through so much trouble to search for it, its value can¡¯t be low. With this heaven-sent opportunity before them, I can understand why the Seven Absolutions Sect would take a chance¡­ Didn¡¯t they start following us from the moment we left the academy?¡±


    Mu Yi looked at Tang Jie in shock. After a while, he finally said, ¡°My apologies. I must obey the orders of my sect.¡±


    As he spoke, three figures appeared in the distance.


    These three were all wearing green robes. One had his hair bound with a cloud-patterned band, possessed jade-like skin, and held a brush in one hand. Another had a braided beard and arge sword on his back. Thest was an old man on a donkey, holding arge gourd in his hand.


    These three were walking on the ground, but with their seemingly simple stride, it took only a few blinks of the eye for them to arrive in front of Tang Jie.


    The handsome man holding the brush smiled at Tang Jie. ¡°This one is Mei Huaping. I pay my respects to Young Master Tang.¡±


    ¡°So it is True Person Mei.¡± Tang Jie bowed to the brush-holding man before looking at the other two. ¡°Since True Person Mei is here, these two must be Mad Sword Meng and Elder Qiu.¡±


    The Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s structure was different from the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s. It was divided into seven greater courts. The External Affairs Court handled external affairs, so its members were somewhat more well-known to the general public. Mei Huaping andpany were some of the more famous people of the External Affairs Court.


    Mei Huaping was the strongest, at the Spirit Ring Tier of the Celestial Heart Realm, and he was currently an attendant of the External Affairs Court. Mad Sword Meng and Elder Qiu were both at the peak of Mortal Shedding, and they were currently footmen of the External Affairs Court. Mad Sword Meng was the most famous of them. He was an expert in swords, a sword cultivator who took the sword as his Dao. Hisbat power was impressive, and there were few among his peers who could match him.


    While these three didn¡¯t sound as scary as the three True Persons from the Stone Gate Sect, if they had fought against Shi Jingzhai, Liang Xingbang, and Yu Wanniang, Tang Jie was almost certain that it would have been the three Stone Gate Sect elders who died.


    People from the six major sects were always half a tier higher than those not from the six major sects.


    It wasn¡¯t rare for Hundred Refinement to go against Nine Revolutions, and Nine Revolutions to go against Cognitive Creation, but Cognitive Creation couldn¡¯t beat Celestial Heart. However, two at Cognitive Creation could definitely beat an ordinary Celestial Heart cultivator from a minor sect.


    For this reason, for the disciples of major sects, defeating a wandering cultivator one tier higher than them wasn¡¯t called defeating someone above their level, but an even fight. Only if this were a fight between disciples of the six major sects could it be considered fighting above one¡¯s level.


    Thus, against a peak Spirit Master from the Seven Absolutions Sect, Tang Jie didn¡¯t have much confidence in a victory.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t mind. He was actually more curious about something else. ¡°The matter of the hidden realm is so important that I thought that the Seven Absolutions Sect would at least send a True Lord.¡±


    Mad Sword Meng and Elder Qiu both scowled and angrily grunted.


    It was hard to me them for being angry. From Tang Jie¡¯s tone, he apparently didn¡¯t think they were strong enough.


    Mei Huaping didn¡¯t seem to mind, saying with a smile, ¡°Considering the value of the hidden realm, sending the three of us truly is somewhat underestimating it. But everything must also be done with consideration for the enemy. If a True Lord were sent out for every small matter, then no matter how many True Lords there were, they would all be overworked.¡±


    He spoke in a polite tone, but he was implying that Tang Jie was too weak to warrant a True Lord.


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°I think you need to add a reason to that: if a True Lord came, then I¡¯m afraid there would be no more room for negotiation between the Basking Moon Sect and the Seven Absolutions Sect.¡±


    This was true. The Seven Absolutions Sect and Basking Moon Sect were not mortal foes. If a True Lord of the Seven Absolutions Sect ran over to the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s territory to kill him, it might make the rtionship unsalvageable. But for some reason, Mei Huaping felt an unpleasant sensation when he heard these words.


    It was something very normal, but when Tang Jie said it, it sounded like Mei Huaping¡¯s group were like abandoned pieces. It seemed like a True Lord wasn¡¯t participating in such an important matter so that the three of them could be scapegoats in the future, making the situation easier to exin to the Basking Moon Sect.


    This thought immediately made Mei Huaping unhappy. His face sinking, he said, ¡°Such insolence from a child! Hand over the Mountain River State Diagram, and for your contributions to the sect, I¡¯ll let you go.¡±


    ¡°¡®Let me go¡¯?¡± Tang Jie cocked his head and began to think. He suddenlyughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s not that <em>you¡¯re</em> letting me go, but your honorable sect wants to let me go and won¡¯t let you kill me, right? Let me take a guess. The person who sent you must have wanted you to say this to me before you attacked. Am I right?¡±


    The faces of Mei Huaping¡¯s group of three froze.


    Tang Jie was exactly right. Mei Huaping¡¯s words were something the Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s True Lords had personally told him to convey before sending them off, ordering him to say those words before attacking no matter what. But how had Tang Jie guessed it?


    Tang Jie gave Mei Huaping a sympathetic look. ¡°Have you ever properly thought about this? If you steal the Mountain River State Diagram from me, steal the hidden realm, if you don¡¯t silence me, won¡¯t other people find out that the hidden realm has fallen into the hands of the Seven Absolutions Sect?¡±


    The three of them grimaced at these words.


    In truth, it wasn¡¯t like they hadn¡¯t thought about this before. But they had just believed that their superiors were being kindhearted and did not want too many deaths. But now that Tang Jie had spoken, those words had taken on apletely different meaning.


    Mad Sword Meng lost his patience. Pointing at Tang Jie, he roared, ¡°Kid, what are you trying to say?¡±


    Tang Jie casually replied. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s just that your honored sect actually doesn¡¯t have much confidence in you, so they made this shoddy excuse about letting me go if I handed over the treasure. In this way, if things didn¡¯t go well, they would have a way out so that they could keep working with me.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit!¡± Mad Sword Meng was about to explode from anger.


    Tang Jie dared to say that one True Person and two peak Spirit Masters couldn¡¯t do anything to him.


    Even Mei Huaping¡¯s face shed with anger.


    Tang Jie pointed at the floating Mountain River State Diagram behind him and said, ¡°What¡¯s the point in being angry? I¡¯m just guessing. Didn¡¯t you want to go into the hidden realm? It¡¯s right over there. If you think you can take it from me, then please, go ahead. Right, these are the materials forying down the teleportation formation to go back.¡±


    He threw out a Mustard Seed Bag and then backed away.


    Mei Huaping¡¯s group exchanged nces, not knowing what they should do.


    Their mission was to take away the Mountain River State Diagram and seize the hidden realm, but they were not allowed to kill Tang Jie for fear of causing problems. Killing Tang Jie might be an error that they wouldn¡¯t be able to recover from, and besides, Tang Jie was a rmended student, so killing him would enrage the Basking Moon Sect.


    Thus, the three of them were prepared to have Meng and Qiu hold down Tang Jie while Mei Huaping left with the Mountain River State Diagram.


    Having two peak Spirit Masters deal with a person who had just entered Nine Revolutions was already too much.


    But Tang Jie¡¯s reaction had taken thempletely by surprise. He had no intention of stopping them at all.


    As the three of them looked at each other, in the end, Mad Sword Meng said, ¡°The hell are you scared of him for? Let me go first!¡±


    He grabbed the Mustard Seed Bag, pulled out his giant sword, and took a flying leap into the air.


    The world above continued its cycle of life as Mad Sword Meng roared and unleashed a beam of sharp sword energy from his sword. It prated through the waterfall and entered that dark cave leading to the hidden realm.


    From this attack, one could see that he was a fierce and powerful cultivator, undoubtedly a battle-hardened fighter.


    Just as Mad Sword Meng was about to charge into the cave, a hand grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him back.


    It was Mei Huaping.


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t even noticed how he had appeared behind Mad Sword Meng. With a casual wave of his hand, he pulled Mad Sword Meng back, making Tang Jie¡¯s eyes slightly widen.


    This Mei Huaping was definitely stronger than the likes of Qiu Shuyu or Liang Xingbang. He was probably enough to deal with all three of the Stone Gate elders by himself.


    After pulling back Mad Sword Meng, Mei Huaping said, ¡°Don¡¯t rush. Let¡¯s take a look first.¡±


    He made several hand signs and then fired a beam of light into the dark cave with his finger.


    As the light shot in, Mei Huaping¡¯s eyes shed with a silver light as he called out, ¡°I paint what I see!¡±


    He waved his brush, and an image of a valley appeared before everyone.


    This person could see the world behind the teleportation formation and even use some strange method to paint it. This move made him an expert at reconnaissance and meant that he was not one who easily fell into a trap. It was no wonder the Seven Absolutions Sect had sent him.


    After all, dealing with Tang Jie wasn¡¯t a matter of martial strength, but of being careful of his schemes.


    As the image of the valley appeared, Elder Qiu shouted, ¡°Jade Return Grass¡­ Yellow Cycle Fruit¡­ Violet Sandalwood¡­ Fate Stone¡­ even Phoenix Grass! This teleportation formation really does lead to a hidden realm, a real hidden realm.¡±


    Elder Qiu excitedly shouted as Mei Huaping¡¯s projection of the valley continued to expand, more and more rare spirit nts appearing before them.


    Elder Qiu, who was an expert in herb identification, was almost crazy from excitement, his voice getting louder and louder.


    When the image expanded to those giant corpses, Elder Qiu¡¯s voice became abnormally high-pitched. ¡°God Giant Blood Fruit! There¡¯s even God Giant Blood Fruit¡­ Good heavens, to think there still existed something this rare.¡±


    And when he saw the objects on the other side, Elder Qiu started trembling. ¡°Whitefiend Lotus¡­ real Whitefiend Lotuses¡­ and there are fifteen of them!¡±


    Greed appeared in his eyes as he roared, ¡°Take it! We have to take this hidden realm!¡±


    Even Mu Yi was tempted, muttering, ¡°Fifteen of them¡­ Doesn¡¯t that mean that this is a ten-thousand-year-old hidden realm? It must have been established in High Antiquity. It¡¯s no wonder Godhead Pce is so anxious to get it.¡±


    He suddenly looked at Tang Jie and saw that Tang Jie remained calm. He cried out, ¡°Be careful of any traps!¡±


    He understood Tang Jie, and since Tang Jie was soposed, he probably had some sort of n up his sleeve.


    The divine light faded from Mei Huaping¡¯s eyes, and he said, ¡°I¡¯ve seen the hidden realm, and there are no traps. Mad Sword, Elder Qiu, inspect the formation in the diagram.¡±


    The three of them began to inspect the entire formation.


    They were acting very cautiously, but Tang Jie didn¡¯t seem to care, only stepping back and standing next to Mu Yi. Seemingly muttering to himself, he said, ¡°The Seven Absolutions Sect sent them, but they didn¡¯t go to extremes so that they still had a way to back out. I¡¯m the same. Brother Mu, although you deceived me, I don¡¯t me you. When one is out in the world, one sometimes can¡¯t do whatever they want. I can understand that. But remember that you owe me, and you will have to pay it back in the future.¡±


    Mu Yi¡¯s face twitched, and he nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°Since you understand, you should hurry up and leave this ce.¡±


    ¡°¡®Leave this ce¡¯?¡± Mu Yi looked at Tang Jie in surprise.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Jie firmly replied. ¡°A battle is about to begin, and it¡¯s not proper for you to stay here. Although the three from the Seven Absolutions Sect don¡¯t have ns to kill me, I have to kill them¡­ They¡¯re seeing what they shouldn¡¯t see, so they must die.¡±


    Mu Yi blurted out, ¡°I¡¯ve also seen the hidden realm.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the hidden realm.¡± Tang Jie mysteriously smiled. ¡°It¡¯s the way they¡¯re going to die.¡±


    Mu Yi¡¯s pupils widened.


    It turned out that what Tang Jie wanted to keep secret wasn¡¯t the hidden realm, but the way he was going to kill them?


    Looking at Tang Jie, Mu Yi finally withdrew.


    He chose to trust Tang Jie.


    Staying here meant certain death!


    Watching Mu Yi withdraw, Tang Jie shouted, ¡°When you get back, tell the Seven Absolutions Sect that as a penalty for breaking their promise, I won¡¯t be giving them that thousand-year Whitefiend Lotus.¡±


    Mu Yi stumbled so hard that he almost fell.


    On the other end, the three were still inspecting the formation, but they had not found any problems so far.


    But Tang Jie remainedpletelyposed, as if the words ¡°I have a n¡± were written on his face, so they had to be cautious.


    However, they couldn¡¯t find anything no matter how hard they looked. Mad Sword Meng finally lost his patience and shouted, ¡°We won¡¯t find anything even if we keep searching. There aren¡¯t any traps here. That kid is probably just trying to scare us so that we give up on the Mountain River State Diagram and don¡¯t dare to enter the hidden realm.¡±


    Elder Qiu nodded. ¡°It also seems to me like false bravado. I don¡¯t believe that he has the ability to hide any sort of trap from us.¡±


    Tang Jie suddenly said, ¡°There¡¯s no guarantee that there¡¯s a trap. What if it¡¯s some powerful being? There could be a powerful fiend, one at Divine Division, on the other side that will kill anyone who dares to enter the valley. Perhaps that¡¯s exactly why I¡¯m just waiting here for you to go inside.¡±


    ¡°¡®Divine Division¡¯? Isn¡¯t thatparable to Violet Pce?¡± This sounded like a joke to the trio, and they scoffed at Tang Jie.


    Elder Qiu said, ¡°Ignorant junior, do you know how rare Divine Division fiends are? These beings possess prodigious strength, and treat the horizon as their next-door neighbor. How could they be willing to guard only a single valley? Its true body might be many times bigger than this valley. If there were really a Divine Division fiend guarding this ce, then even a Violet Pce True Lord wouldn¡¯t be able to take these treasures. And when a battle starts, the entire valley would be obliterated!¡±


    Mad Sword Mengughed. ¡°That said, you¡¯ve never even been to that valley, so how could you know what was inside?¡±


    Tang Jie shrugged. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t believe it. You can just go inside, but don¡¯t me me for not warning you.¡±


    Elder Qiu sinisterlyughed. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, let this old man go in and test the waters first!¡±


    He took the Mustard Seed Bag holding the materials for the return formation from Mad Sword Meng and entered the teleportation formation.


    Mei Huaping slightly frowned. For something like this, a True Person like him should have led the way. But the confident smile on Tang Jie¡¯s face made his heart pulse with fear. It was as if there was something horrifying within the valley that made entering suicide.


    This was precisely why he chose to let Elder Qiu go in instead of stopping him.


    Elder Qiu entered the cave and disappeared.


    And in Mei Huaping¡¯s projection of the valley, Elder Qiu appeared.


    He first looked around at the valley, and then he cried out in delight. s, Mei Huaping¡¯s projection couldn¡¯t transmit sound.


    But he could see that Elder Qiu was extremely excited. Only when one was in the valley would one discover that there was far more in here than could be seen from the outside.


    Elder Qiu walked amid the numerous Immortal nts, looking them over. Seeing this, Mad Sword Mengughed and said, ¡°How¡¯s that? Kid, your false bravado was useless. This hidden realm belongs to my Seven Absolutions Sect!¡±


    As Mad Sword Mengughed, the scene in the valley suddenly changed.


    An enormous firebird appeared in the sky, angrily ring at the unwee intruder below.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Mei Huaping was taken aback, and then he called out in rm, ¡°Not good! Elder Qiu, hurry and run!¡±


    But his shouts from here could not be heard by Elder Qiu, and even if he had heard, where was he going to run?


    A cloud of fire gathered in the sky, turning into a rain of fire arrows.


    Elder Qiu finally noticed that something was wrong. Looking up, he saw the fire arrows raining down.


    He cried out in terror.


    The fire arrows callously pierced through his body, instantly exploding him into little bits.


    ¡°Elder Qiu!¡± Mei Huaping and Mad Sword Meng cried out in grief.


    The firebird drew back its me, but then it seemed to sense something and looked back.


    This nce pierced through time and space to meet Mei Huaping¡¯s gaze.


    Mei Huaping felt as if something had stabbed him in the eyes.


    ¡°Aaaagh!¡± He cried out in pain as he flew back.


    The image popped like a bubble, taking the valley with it. All that was left was Mei Huaping, blood streaming from his eyes.


    This Celestial Heart True Person covered his eyes as he cried out, ¡°Divine Division! It¡¯s really Divine Division!¡±


    Its thoughts could pierce through dimensions!


    Only a Divine Division fiend could do this.


    Even He Chong hadn¡¯t been sure about this firebird¡¯s power, but through a bitter price, Mei Huaping had finally confirmed it.


    ¡°True Person!¡± Mad Sword Meng rushed to assist Mei Huaping. ¡°Your eyes!¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t see.¡± Mei Huaping opened his hands, revealing that his eyes were a fiery red, as if a me was burning within them. Blood seeped down his cheeks, dyeing his entire face red.


    Mad Sword Meng¡¯s heart trembled in fear. A distant gaze across dimensions had been this powerful? He had never even heard of Violet Pce True Lords being capable of this.


    But Mei Huaping added, ¡°This is the Southern Divine Fire, and it burns away at one¡¯s mind. Fortunately, the distance was so great that the fiend wasn¡¯t able to use its full power, so I can still heal it. But I¡¯m afraid that I won¡¯t be able to use my Nether Curtain Dream anymore.¡±


    The Nether Curtain Dream was the surveince spell art that Mei Huaping had used before, and it was Mei Huaping¡¯s special secret art. It had an effect simr to Tang Jie¡¯s Celestial Eye. However, while he had managed to fortunately keep his eyes, the Southern Divine Fire had made it impossible to use that secret art any longer, which left him brimming with resentment.


    Opening his burning eyes, he angrily red at the nearby Tang Jie, whose figure flickered like a me. ¡°Kid, how did you find out about this Divine Division fiend? There¡¯s no way you could have gone in there first!¡±


    The greatest error Mei Huaping¡¯s group had made was that they believed that Tang Jie was like them and had not entered the hidden realm, only knowing where it was. But now, they knew that they were mistaken.


    Gravely mistaken!


    Tang Jie casually said, ¡°This is very simple. You¡¯ll find out when you die.¡±


    ¡°¡®Die¡¯?¡± Mei Huaping and Mad Sword Meng looked at each other andughed.


    Mei Huaping¡¯s expression turned ruthless, his handsome face turning savage. ¡°You think that the fiend in the hidden realm can help you here? So long as we kill you, we can take the Mountain River State Diagram back with us, and gather the Immortal tform and Violet Pce cultivators of the Seven Absolutions Sect. You think they can¡¯t deal with a single Divine Division fiend?¡±


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°I alone am naturally not enough, but what if we include him?¡±


    Close by, Yiyi appeared, riding Shi Jingzhai.


    Mad Sword Meng was startled when he saw Shi Jingzhai, and then heughed. ¡°Tang Jie, you don¡¯t think some insane Celestial Heart is actually enough to beat us, do you? I could take him on all by myself!¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re looking in the wrong direction. I¡¯m not talking about him.¡±


    He pointed at the sky.


    In the sky, the teleportation formation cave suddenly erupted with light.


    It was a sign that it was being activated.


    Mad Sword Meng¡¯s pupils constricted. ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡±


    Tang Jie had clearly set up a one-way teleportation formation, which pointed toward a fixed coordinate and could not be taken back. This was why one had to take in the materials for another teleportation formation, so that they could link it to this teleportation formation and allow for back-and-forth travel.


    But that Mustard Seed Bag had been turned to ash along with Elder Qiu. How could there be another formation on the other side to create the link?


    What they didn¡¯t know was that that Mustard Seed Bag hadn¡¯t even contained materials for a teleportation formation.


    The real materials for the teleportation formation had been sent through the formation by Tang Jie before the trio had appeared¡ªthe pebble that Tang Jie had thrown in.


    With the power of the Duplication spell, Tang Jie had sessfully fooled the three of them.


    He had spent so long chatting with them so that his original body would have time to set up the formation. By the time Elder Qiu had entered the valley with the fake materials, his original body had already finished the teleportation formation and was waiting to teleport over.


    But there were some things that the trio was never going to know.


    ¡°The dead only need to see the result,¡± Tang Jie callously said.


    A beam of light shot out of the teleportation formation, and a giant flew out andnded on the ground in a shower of debris!


    ¡°Raaa!¡±


    A roar resounded through the area.


    The original Tang Jie had returned!


    Muscleman Tang Jie has returned to advertise his amazing fitness routine to the Seven Absolutions Sect! To die for!

 Chapter 399

    Chapter 399: Painting a Mountain


    Dust rose into the air as a giant of more than four meters stood up, so tall that both Mei Huaping and Mad Sword Meng had to raise their heads to look.


    Mei Huaping¡¯s vision was severely damaged such that he couldn¡¯t see clearly, but Mad Sword Meng¡¯s eyes were working properly, and he saw that the giant¡¯s face was extremely simr to Tang Jie¡¯s. He cried out in shock, ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡±


    But Tang Jie was no longer interested in talking with him.


    He had been talking before to buy time for the original body toy down the formation, and now that the original body was back, it was time to speedily end this battle. Otherwise, one of them might escape, or a passerby might discover his secret of two bodies sharing one soul, which would be a real problem.


    As the original body appeared, the avatar waved his hand, and a long-handled warhammer flew out of the Mustard Seed Bag toward the original body.


    The warhammer was around five meters long and as thick as arge bowl. The hammerhead alone was the size of a millstone. A normal person holding it would seem like a child holding a giant axe, not even able to lift it up, let alone fight with it. But it was perfect for the original body¡¯s four-meter-tall figure.


    Tang Jie had spent a great deal of money to have this art relic forged for his original body. It was made from tough metals, all the seals had the single purpose of toughening the weapon, and it weighed a hundred tons. The weapon alone had cost more than a hundred thousand spirit coins, taking up a third of the money Tang Jie had gotten from selling off the materials for the Jade Gate Heaven Seal Formation. As for armor, Tang Jie hadn¡¯t gotten any, as it might affect his ability to move around.


    The original body grabbed the warhammer and swung it at Meng and Mei.


    The two of them reacted quickly by jumping to the sides. The giant hammerhead brushed past them and mmed into the ground with a powerful shockwave.


    This enormous force wasparable to numerous exquisite spell arts. The site of the impact now yed host to a crater ten-some meters deep.


    As the shockwave swept out, a halo appeared beneath Mei Huaping¡¯s feet, extending outward with a silver glow.


    A Spirit Ring!


    Every Celestial Heart True Person had one, and it was a manifestation of their spirit power leaking outward. But the vast majority of Celestial Heart True Persons had very faint Spirit Rings that were barely discernible. Shi Jingzhai and the others had also had them, but they were so faint as to be invisible.


    As the Spirit Ring emerged, Mei Huaping waved the brush in his right hand and then jabbed at the air, shouting, ¡°The brush stirs the autumn winds!¡±


    With a stroke of his brush, a gale erupted, creating a vortex that swept up him and Mad Sword Meng and blocked the shockwave.


    Mad Sword Meng bellowed as his sword unleashed arge wave of sword energy: ¡°Heaven Absolute Sword Energy!¡±


    A rain of swords engulfed Tang Jie¡¯s original body, but he simply covered his face with his left hand and ignored the rest of the attacks. The sharp wave of swords collided with him in a great tter and a shower of sparks, like it was striking a man made of metal.


    ¡°How is this possible?¡± Mad Sword Meng was stunned.


    His Heaven Absolute Sword Energy was of such ferocity that the barriers of ordinary cultivators couldn¡¯tst against it. But this giant had blocked it with his physical body. All the storm of swords had done was leave several hundred white marks on him, and with his formidable regeneration, these marks quickly faded.


    Tang Jie smirked. ¡°That just shows how little you¡¯ve seen of the world!¡±


    He had even endured the Southern Divine Fire, so what was a little sword rain?


    As he spoke, he raised the warhammer again, sending it howling at Mei Huaping¡¯s waist. The hammerhead was so big that it would smash more than half of his body into a pulp.


    Mei Huaping raised his brush again. ¡°Follow the wind into my canvas!¡±


    As he raised his brush, space seemed to freeze. Tang Jie¡¯s charging figure became immobile, and his surroundings filled with dazzling colors. As these colors shed, they gradually formed into a ne.


    In this ne, Tang Jie¡¯s arm expanded as if it was being imprinted into a painting. In a bizarre sensation, the flowing lights made Tang Jie¡¯s body spin in the air.


    This ¡°Follow the wind into my canvas¡± was an Immortal spell that Mei Huaping had spent many years trying toprehend. It was like Tang Jie¡¯s Heavenly Cloud de, though it was many times more profound. It managed to tightly bind Tang Jie¡¯s body in a canvas.


    Mei Huapingughed. ¡°No matter how strong you are, in my¡­¡±


    Before he could finish bragging, that canvas in the air started to crack apart, creating a spiderweb of fractures in the air.


    The spiderweb grewrger andrger, and finally, with onest pop, itpletely shattered into countless streams of light.


    The giant crashed down from the sky, swinging the long warhammer at Mei Huaping.


    If this hit struck true, even a Celestial Heart True Person would be turned into a pancake.


    Mei Huaping rapidly backed away while waving around his brush. He had no time to cast any spell arts, simply making strokes, and with each stroke of his brush, he created spatial ripples.


    Tang Jie was like a mad bull, charging headlong into the spatial ripples, which left bloody streaks across his body. Mad Sword Meng¡¯s Heaven Absolute Sword Energy hadn¡¯t been able to hurt him, yet these casual brush strokes had drawn blood.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t care at all. As a body refiner, no matter what the ultimate oue was, in a battle, he always needed to be on the offense. If he couldn¡¯t even do that, then there simply wasn¡¯t a point in fighting.


    A minor pain like this couldn¡¯t make him back down. On the contrary, they stimted his nerves, and he brazenlyughed, ¡°Too weak!¡±


    His voice rumbled like thunder, and as Tang Jie charged and swung his warhammer around, it created a furious gale that made it impossible for Mei Huaping to stand straight.


    At the same time, Tang Jie grabbed a giant rock and tossed it at Mei Huaping. This rock was a powerful weapon in his hand, and even though Mei Huaping was a Celestial Heart True Person, the impact of the rock smashing into him made him throw up blood as he was sent flying into the air.


    On the side, Mad Sword Meng rushed up in panic and thrust his sword at Tang Jie¡¯s back.


    For an ordinary disciple or student, this sword would appear to havee out of nowhere, sublime to the extreme while losing nothing in power.


    But this sublime and powerful attack was barely even worth considering for the original body. He let the sword stab into the muscles on his back, and it was only able to get three inches deep. He smirked and said, ¡°A mere bee sting.¡±


    This mighty attack was nothing more than a bee sting to Tang Jie.


    Mad Sword Meng froze in shock as Tang Jie turned around and chuckled.


    His smiling face was utterly horrifying.


    And then Tang Jie punched, sending Mad Sword Meng flying.


    Fortunately for him, Mad Sword Meng had a barrier, so he wasn¡¯t instantly ttened by the punch. But the barrier shattered from the punch, and Mad Sword Meng threw up blood upon impact and was no longer able to rise.


    The original body snorted, ¡°Can¡¯t even take one attack.¡±


    At this moment, a furious voice came from behind him. ¡°Then try this¡­ Invite the Immortal within the Painting!¡±


    The original Tang Jie turned to see Mei Huaping flying in the air, his arms spread out as a painting scroll unfurled behind him.


    It was a painting of a pcedy. She was wearing a gown and had a seductive figure, but she had her back to the painting, her face hidden. As the painting appeared, Mei Huaping¡¯s eyes flew open. The fire in those eyes was no more, reced by the image of the woman¡¯s back.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± The original Tang Jie was taken aback. He felt like he had heard about this painting before, but he didn¡¯t remember where.


    Mei Huaping called out, ¡°Immortal, please turn around!¡±


    The woman in the painting suddenly moved, her body turning ever so slightly.


    This little shift made Tang Jie feel like his entire mind was drawn into the painting. The world suddenly went dark, and all that was left was the back of that pcedy. It filled up the world, spanning the heavens and earth. His surroundings became cramped and small, and all sound died away.


    In the eyes of others, it appeared as if Tang Jie had gone dumb, just standing there with a nk look on his face.


    Mei Huapingughed. ¡°Hurry up and die!¡±


    His brush came down, and as he waved it around in the air, a giant sword began to take form. Mei Huaping waved his sleeve. ¡°Go!¡±


    The sword shot toward Tang Jie¡¯s original body.


    <em>Thud!</em>


    The sword pierced through Tang Jie¡¯s body and dissolved into spiritual light. Tang Jie seemed to not sense it, his eyes remaining fixed on the painting.


    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Mei Huaping heartilyughed. Waving his brush again, he drew out a fierce tiger. This tiger leaped through the air and bit at Tang Jie. While it wasn¡¯t as strong as that sword, it was longersting.


    Mei Huaping painted a giant bear, an eagle, and a venomous s

 Chapter 400

    Chapter 400: Which One Will You Choose?


    As the small mountain fell, Mei Huaping painted several ropes that wound around Tang Jie like serpents and tied him to the ground. He then grabbed Mad Sword Meng and retreated. He hoped that the ropes could hold Tang Jie, or even just dy him for a few moments.


    But to his surprise, Tang Jie didn¡¯t struggle at all.


    Tang Jie raised his head and angrily red at the descending mountain, a zing will to fight in his eyes.


    Tang Jie wasn¡¯t actually someone who could toss everything aside for the sake of battle, but he now understood that bing an expert like the Martial Lord would sometimes require thinking less and being a little more simpleminded!


    Since that mountain wasing down, he would push it back up!


    This was how a simpleminded person thought!


    This crazy idea took root in Tang Jie¡¯s mind, and an intense will to fight suffused his entire body.


    This wasn¡¯t the first time he had gone crazy. Against the Seven Absolutions Sect and the firebird, he had also gone crazy and taken a risk. When taking risks became a habit and craziness became the norm, one would gradually discover the pleasures of this state.


    And now, as this mountain wasing, Tang Jie immersed himself in this pleasure.


    A zing will to fight erupted from the depths of his heart, and all of his rationality and control returned to the avatar. The original body¡¯s thought process became nothing more than the violent impulses of a primordial beast.


    Throwing aside the warhammer, he clenched his fists and shook his arms.


    ¡°Awooo!¡± He threw his head back and howled.


    This was different from his previous howls. Those times, Tang Jie had still been rational, using his howls to intimidate his foes.


    But this howl was brimming with primal bestiality and fearless courage.


    He spread out his arms and raised them toward that descending mountain.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    A powerful shockwave erupted from him like a small sun exploding, sending powerful waves of energy sweeping through his surroundings.


    Even Mei Huaping, avatar Tang Jie, Mad Sword Meng, Yiyi, and Shi Jingzhai were pushed back by the shockwave. After a while, after the dust had dispersed, everyone was able to see Tang Jie standing tall like a golden giant, holding aloft that small mountain with his two arms.


    His body had grown from four meters to several dozen meters, bing a true giant, and all of his muscles bulged. His head was lowered, and the weight of the mountain was actually on his shoulders as Tang Jie desperately tried to push the mountain upward.


    But this mountain was so heavy that even someone of Tang Jie¡¯s strength couldn¡¯t contend against it. Half of his body was pushed into the soil, and around him was an enormous crater that had been created by the shockwave.


    Mei Huaping was dumbfounded. He shrieked, ¡°There¡¯s no way you can hold it up!¡±


    The original Tang Jie chuckled, ¡°We¡¯ll see once I try!¡±


    His eyes erupted with a fiery light while a crimson light radiated from his body!


    The Blood Refining Spirit spell!


    But Tang Jie did not consciously activate it this time. His body had automatically activated it under intense stimtion.


    ¡°Out of my way!¡±


    As he shouted, his body unleashed a burst of crimson light, and, imbued with a titanic strength, he managed to lift that mountain.


    The mountain radiated spiritual light, and as Tang Jie held it aloft, it began to quickly disperse into the wind.


    ¡°No!¡± Mei Huaping cried out.


    He rapidly flew into the air, his hands drawing out spiritual lines to bind the small mountain. No matter what, he could not let Tang Jie¡¯s original body escape. Mei Huaping¡¯s face contorted as he roared, ¡°Just stay down!¡±


    The spiritual light became chains that descended from the sky and held down the dissipating spirit mountain, causing Tang Jie¡¯s body to suddenly sink.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see how you get out!¡± Mei Huaping savagelyughed.


    At this moment, he suddenly sensed something and created a barrier without turning his head.


    <em>ng!</em>


    In a crisp ttering of metal, twelve crescent des dropped from the heavens, crashing into the barrier in a burst of rainbow light.


    Afterprehending the Violet Jade Mantra and cultivating for half a year, Tang Jie had been able to increase the number of Heavenly Cloud des he could create from one to twelve.


    The powerful impact instantly shattered Mei Huaping¡¯s barrier, and two of the crescent des sliced toward Mei Huaping¡¯s neck. In this dangerous moment, Mei Huaping suddenly brought up his hands and grabbed the des.


    The des cut into his palms, creating two lines of blood, but they stopped there. He clenched his hands, and <em>bang!</em> The two des were pulverized into spiritual light.


    Mei Huaping angrily red at the distant avatar Tang Jie. ¡°Junior!¡±


    This bastard had wounded him!


    This bastard had only just entered Nine Revolutions, was a junior who was separated from him by a massive gap, but his mysterious spell art had wounded him! Even though this was partially because he only had time to cast the simplest of barriers in his haste, he still felt humiliated that a Nine Revolutions junior had managed to break it.


    But more crucially, this distraction had stopped him from interfering with the original body. Tang Jie threw his head back and roared, and his muscles bulged again. His arms disappeared into the body of the mountain, immense power erupting through the mountain.


    With a great rumble, the small mountain exploded into pieces and disappeared.


    Tang Jie jumped out of the crater, grabbed his warhammer, and swung it at Mei Huaping again. Mei Huaping thrust out his hands, and his body moved like a willow catkin on the wind, dodging the warhammer. He thrust out his hands again, and a powerful shockwave burst out and stopped Tang Jie in his tracks.


    This Mei Huaping truly had a lot of tricks up his sleeve, taking out a new one when the old one didn¡¯t work. Even Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but sigh in admiration at all the variety. This was how different people from the six major sects were from others. Only when facing people like this could one truly feel the pressure of cultivation level.


    Original Tang Jie was able to fight Mei Huaping primarily because his Diamond Body didn¡¯t lose out in terms of cultivation level to the Celestial Heart Realm. Thus, the two were actually fighting on the same level. This was also why the original body, despite its awe-inspiring power and constant pressure, was having a hard time taking down Mei Huaping. In fact, with that art relic from the Seven Absolutions Sect, Mei Huaping should have been stronger than Tang Jie. s, his luck was poor, as he had run into someone with one soul sharing two bodies, making the Dream Pearl Lady painting useless.


    But there was still another move after that, and the trick the Seven Absolutions Sect had left behind in the Mountain River State Diagram had given Tang Jie a lot of trouble. He had finally managed to get through it, but from the look on Mei Huaping¡¯s face, it seemed like he still wasn¡¯t out of hidden cards. Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but feel like this battle was taking a little too long.


    He muttered, ¡°It¡¯s about time. Yiyi, have Shi Jingzhai go.¡±


    Yiyi pointed. ¡°Hit him!¡±


    Shi Jingzhai roared and iled his hands around. An earth dragon rose up and lunged at Mei Huaping.


    Mei Huaping grunted, ¡°Seeking death!¡±


    He thrust his left hand at the earth dragon, and the earth dragon immediately stopped. He then waved his hand, and the earth dragon turned around and lunged at Shi Jingzhai! The use of this Reversal spell art was simply sublime, but Mei Huaping couldn¡¯t stop himself from grunting, blood flowing from his nose. It was clear that forcibly reversing the spell art of a True Person of the same tier had been enormously taxing.


    As the earth dragon lunged back, Yiyi shouted in shock, ¡°Dodge!¡±


    But to her surprise, Shi Jingzhai stopped and giggled at the earth dragon. ¡°Fun!¡±


    After going crazy anding under Tang Jie¡¯s control, he was still capable of fighting, but he had lost his ability to judge and react. Seeing that earth dragon rushing at him, he didn¡¯t know to dodge. The earth dragon mmed into him and sent him flying through the air, but he continued to shout, ¡°Fun! Fun!¡±


    Twelve Heavenly Cloud des dropped from the sky, and then Yiyi summoned her Silkheaven Net to sweep up Mei Huaping. Thebined might of the trio gradually began to wear away at Mei Huaping.


    The light of various spell arts filled the air, mixed in with the powerful shockwaves unleashed by Tang Jie¡¯s original body. Strangely, however, from start to finish, avatar Tang Jie only used the Heavenly Cloud des, electing to not use any other spell arts.


    Even so, this was enough to make Mei Huaping falter. He made a fighting retreat, and finally, he lost his patience and shouted, ¡°What are you still waiting for?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s pupils suddenly constricted, and entirely on instinct, he dropped his head and lunged forward.


    A sh of bloody light!


    <em>Thud!</em>


    Tang Jie cried out as he jumped forward, a bowl-sized hole in his chest. After flying for some distance, hended with a crash. With a knee on the ground and a hand over the hole in his chest, he shouted, ¡°Mad Sword Meng!¡±


    Turning his head, he saw that his ambusher was none other than Mad Sword Meng, who had been heavily wounded by his original body at the very start of the battle.


    But now, he appeared to be entirely uninjured. Brazenlyughing, he said, ¡°You really think I could be taken down so easily?¡±


    Tang Jie angrily red. ¡°I remember very clearly that my blows struck true!¡±


    Mad Sword Mengughed. ¡°Yes, you really managed to hurt me, but that was on purpose. If I weren¡¯t really injured, how could I deceive you? But did you forget what my Seven Absolutions Sect most excels in?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯splexion darkened. ¡°True. Your Seven Absolutions Sect specializes in the four auxiliaries, being masters in pills, talismans, formations, and tools. You must havee here prepared, so even if you were injured, you would have a way to rapidly heal yourself. I can¡¯t believe I forgot.¡±


    Mad Sword Mengughed. ¡°Everyone says that Tang Jie is as crafty as a fox, but you don¡¯t seem like much to me. In a real fight, you only know how to go blow for blow. Everyone calls me Mad Sword Meng, but they don¡¯t know that my madness is just a front. My true love is to attack from the shadows!¡±


    He swung his sword at Yiyi and Shi Jingzhai, much more powerfully than before. Sure enough, he had been hiding his power.


    At the same time, Mei Huaping took out a golden ring and threw it into the air. It constricted Tang Jie¡¯s original body, making it extremely difficult for him to take even one step.


    The tables had instantly turned. Mei Huaping had been on the back foot just moments ago, but he now had control over the situation.


    He sneered, ¡°Puny thing, thinking that you could oppose my Seven Absolutions Sect with just a body refining avatar, and you dared to think that you could work with my Seven Absolutions Sect against Godhead Pce¡­ With this little ability, you think you have the right to have such fantastical thoughts? You know nothing about the vastness of the world!¡±


    He was still under the impression that the original body was the avatar.


    Covering his wound, Tang Jie staggered to his feet.


    His injuries were severe, and it was an effort just to stay alive. He looked at the pair and struggled out, ¡°I see. So the Seven Absolutions Sect was still looking down on me, so they had no interest in working with me? In their eyes, if I couldn¡¯t even take care of you lot, I wouldn¡¯t even be worthy to talk about working with them¡ªis that right? You are abandoned pieces, and also gold-testing stones.¡±


    Mei Huaping¡¯s face shed with anger. ¡°Shut your mouth! Rather than calling us gold-testing stones, it would be better to say that we came to test you. You weren¡¯t even able to notice a simple ambush, nor were you able to notice a simple problem with the Mountain River State Diagram, so what makes you so arrogant? This stupid oaf? See how I take care of him!¡±


    He constricted the gold ring, and the giant Tang Jie found it even more difficult to move.


    ¡°¡®The Mountain River State Diagram¡¯?¡± Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°I checked the diagram and didn¡¯t find any problems. I have no idea what you did, that you were able to control a divine treasure that should have belonged to me, even making it serve you instead.¡±


    Mei Huapingughed. ¡°Why do you think the Seven Absolutions Sect sent me? Don¡¯t forget what the Mountain River State Diagram is! And what my expertise is in.¡±


    Tang Jie froze for a moment, and then he blurted out, ¡°The Dao of Painting!¡±


    ¡°Hahahaha!¡± Mei Huaping smugly said, ¡°Correct. The Dao of Painting focuses on space, on unfathomable transformations. Long before the Mountain River State Diagram was given to you, I had already attached a sliver of my will to it. If you had been at Cognitive Creation, you might have noticed, but as you have yet to pass the Nine Revolutions, how could you discover it? The schemes of the world cannot be aplished purely through plotting. Strength must also support it. Tang Jie, your problem is that your cultivation level is too low, that you¡¯re too weak. Otherwise, how could you have not even seen through a trap as simple as that?¡±


    ¡°Is that what was happening?¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°In other words, there is no problem with the Mountain River State Diagram. The problem is you¡­ So long as I kill you, all the problems will be solved, right?¡±


    Mei Huaping shouted, ¡°Naturally. If you have that ability, then you are worthy of working with my Seven Absolutions Sect, and my Seven Absolutions Sect will naturally no longer make trouble for you over this treasure. But¡­ are you capable? You¡¯re almost dead from your wound!¡±


    ¡°¡®Wound¡¯? You¡¯re talking about this wound?¡± Tang Jie suddenlyughed.


    He dropped the hand covering his wound.


    That hole on his chest was still there, but it had stopped bleeding.


    Most shocking of all was that Tang Jie was standing just fine despite having such a severe wound, as if nothing had happened to him.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Mad Sword Meng was bbergasted.


    Suddenly, Mei Huaping noticed something and cried out, ¡°Mad Sword, watch out!¡±


    Mad Sword Meng sensed a lethal danger approaching. He put away his sword and lunged forward, reacting in exactly the same way as Tang Jie had.


    But his end was also the same as Tang Jie¡¯s.


    ¡°Matchless sh!¡±


    <em>Boom!</em>


    An enormous saber energy burst through Mad Sword Meng¡¯s body, punching a bowl-sized hole through his chest.


    Mad Sword Meng cried out as he lunged forward, not forgetting to turn his head as he flew away. What he saw standing behind him was none other than Tang Jie.


    ¡°You¡­¡± he shouted, not daring to believe his eyes.


    The first thing Mad Sword Meng did after hitting the ground was to look at the Tang Jie he had previously injured.


    He was still standing there, but he was slowly dissolving into spiritual light.


    ¡°Illusion!¡± He nowpletely understood.


    This Tang Jie had been fake from the very start.


    It was no wonder he had never done anything except the Heavenly Cloud des.


    This was because the Heavenly Cloud des dropped from the sky, so it wasn¡¯t possible to see where the attack hade from, and so it was difficult to identify the user of the art.


    At the same time, the original body bound by the gold ringughed. He shook his arms and began to push the golden ring outward, the golden ring groaning under the pressure. Mei Huaping¡¯s heart went cold.


    ¡°So you were pretending this whole time!¡± Mei Huaping roared.


    ¡°Of course!¡± Tang Jie smirked as he hefted the Heartbreak Saber. ¡°If I didn¡¯t, how could I identify the problem with the Mountain River State Diagram? But another reason I was hiding was also to make sure you didn¡¯t escape¡­ While you were fighting, I was setting up a formation on the outside.¡±


    Tang Jie used his thumb to gesture at the surrounding area, after which he sighed, ¡°But it seems like it was a waste now. This is the problem with the Dao of Formations. It¡¯s powerful, but everything goes to waste when you can¡¯t use it.¡±


    While he was talking, Mad Sword Meng swiftly took out medicine from his Mustard Seed Bag to apply to his wound. The Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s medicines had divine effects. If he could apply treatment now, he could still be saved.


    Tang Jie smirked. ¡°Your possessions are all mine. You think I would let you waste it?¡±


    He waved his hand, sending out a wave of sharp de energy. At the same time, Yiyimanded Shi Jingzhai to attack his hands, the Mustard Seed Bag, and the wounded area. From the look of it, what was important wasn¡¯t that he died or lived, but that he didn¡¯t use the medicine and cause Tang Jie to lose out on some of his spoils.


    Mei Huaping knew that this wasn¡¯t good. With a shout, he waved his hands, creating streaks of spiritual light. The widening golden ring constricted again, and he used this moment to flee into the distance.


    Tang Jie sighed as he watched Mei Huaping flee. ¡°I just said that Iid down a formation, and you still run.¡±


    There was a rumble of thunder in the distance as lightning cracked down. Mei Huaping was blown into the air by the lightning, and then the lightning formed a cage to hold him.


    Mei Huaping looked around and yelled, ¡°So it¡¯s the Lightning Cage! You think this formation can hold me? Keep dreaming!¡±


    The Lightning Cage was only a Grade 4 formation. It used the power of lightning to hold a target and was only effective against peak Mortal Shedding cultivators at most. Its power was greatly reduced against Celestial Hearts. Someone of Mei Huaping¡¯s strength would be held for only a little while before he broke free.


    Tang Jie casually said, ¡°Holding you for only a little while is enough.¡±


    As he spoke, original Tang Jie, still bound by the golden ring, raised his head to look at Mei Huaping.


    It was a gaze suffused with endless profundity, and Mei Huaping felt his heart shiver.


    The original body raised a hand and lightly ced a finger on the golden ring.


    <em>Pa!</em>


    The golden ring instantly shattered.


    ¡°Noooo!¡± Mei Huaping cried out in shock.


    His true fear was this immensely strong giant Tang Jie. Avatar Tang Jie would have a very hard time killing him, and he would have enough time to escape the cage. But now that the giant had broken free, he had no chance at all.


    Most infuriating of all was that this giant was clearly able to break the golden ring and had been pretending this whole time.


    Nearby, avatar Tang Jie casually said, ¡°In truth, even if he didn¡¯t break free, I would still be able to kill you.¡±


    With a flip of his wrists, Tang Jie produced the Soul Refining Pearl in his left hand and a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl in his right hand, and a golden thread appeared on his wrist. ¡°Having your soul refined, being sted by the Heavenbane, having your head cut off by the golden thread, or having a giant crush your bones¡­ Which method of death will you choose?¡±


    Decisions, decisions¡­Of course, the best decision was to never backstab Tang Jie in the first ce, but what can you do?<!--


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 Chapter 401

    Chapter 401: Greater Attainment in the Heart Revolution


    Far off in the mountains, spiritual currents surged and the world trembled. It was possible to vaguely see a mountain and river floating in the air, and a brief glimpse of a fairy. Themon people were so rmed that they kowtowed and begged for mercy.


    Not far from that mountainous region, next to ake, Mu Yi sat cross-legged on the ground and quietly waited.


    Finally, the mountains stopped shaking, the spiritual currents dissipated, and the lightning vanished.


    Mu Yi knew that the battle was over.


    He sighed, raised his flute, and yed a tune.


    The sound of the flute drifted off into the distance.


    A few momentster, Tang Jie arrived with Yiyi and Shi Jingzhai. He was carrying a body, that of Mad Sword Meng.


    There was a hole where his heart was, but this wasn¡¯t the lethal wound. What had truly been lethal was that his meridians had been severed, his Spiritual Space destroyed, his Cognitive Sea extinguished, and his three major weak points all struck, rendering him as dead as one could possibly be.


    Throwing the corpse in front of Mu Yi, Tang Jie said, ¡°Take this back and tell your honorable sect that I¡¯ve epted their gift. The Dream Pearl Lady painting is very nice, and I like it a lot, and I suppose those bottles of life-saving salve are decent as well. However, overall, their Mustard Seed Bags had far too little, much less than I had anticipated. If they want to work with me, they should have someone send over two hundred thousand spirit coins. Don¡¯t resent me for this. You just tried to steal from me much more than I gave the Basking Moon Sect. I¡¯m already being very sincere by offering you a two-hundred-thousand-spirit-coin silence fee. In addition, I¡¯ll treat this matter as a test, but I won¡¯t ept your sect trying anything against me a second time.¡±


    Looking at the corpse, Mu Yi finally nodded. ¡°I will ry your message. But why is it only him? What of True Person Mei and Elder Qiu?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°The explosion of the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl was too thorough, leaving behind no corpse.¡±


    ¡°¡®The Heavenbane Lightning Pearl¡¯?¡± Mu Yi contemted these words, and then he chuckled. ¡°I was here for half a day, and while I perceived a mountain dropping from the heavens, des dropping from the clouds, furious roars, crashing lightning, and even wails of despair, I didn¡¯t hear any explosion of a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°You were rather far from the battlefield, and the cacophony of spell arts and the rumbling of thunder and mountains could have ended up as anything by the time it got here. While Junior Brother Mu has sharp eyes and ears, it isn¡¯t too strange for you to have mistaken a sound for something else.¡±


    Mu Yi considered his answer and nodded. ¡°Senior Brother Tang is right. That being the case, I will just consider those two to have been killed by the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl. Now that I think about it, the sound of thunder might have been the explosion of the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl.¡±


    Tang Jie grinned. ¡°Precisely, precisely.¡±


    Mu Yi stood up and bowed to Tang Jie. ¡°My lowly sect was unobservant, ying host to lowly scoundrels who almost ruined the reputation of my Seven Absolutions Sect. Fortunately, Senior Brother Tang possessed astonishing strength and was not afraid of these scoundrels. The heavens are looking out for Senior Brother. Senior Brother is righteous and benevolent, magnanimous and forgiving, a hero among men. Mu Yi will spread the good word about Senior Brother and will make sure that Senior Brother¡¯s rtionship with my lowly sect will not be affected by what these scoundrels did. As for the task that Senior Brother entrusted me with, I will do my utmost to carry it out.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s fine. Then have a safe journey. I won¡¯t send you off.¡±


    Mu Yi picked up Mad Sword Meng¡¯s corpse, took a few steps back, gave Tang Jie a profound look, and then flew off.


    Once Mu Yi was gone, Yiyi suddenly said, ¡°It¡¯s finally over.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s over?¡± Tang Jie curiously asked.


    ¡°The matter of the teleportation formation. The formation has been set up, opening ess to the hidden realm and allowing for exchange of resources. The news has also been let out, and we¡¯ve fended off the Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s petty actions,¡± Yiyi listed, ticking them off on her fingers. ¡°Everything is done now, so isn¡¯t it over?¡±


    After some thought, Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Yes, this matter is over. We no longer need to worry about resources. Starting from today, all we need to do is cultivate, cultivate, and cultivate some more!¡±


    Yiyi pped her hands and shouted, ¡°Cultivate! Cultivate! Cultivate well!¡±


    Shi Jingzhai saw that they were happy, so he giggled along with them.


    The three of them flew back to Basking Moon Academy.


    Half a monthter, as agreed, Mu Yi sent over two hundred thousand spirit coins, and with them were a bottle of Nine Revolutions Heartseeking Pills and a bottle of Nine Revolutions Mind Nourishing Pills. Nine Revolutions pills were medicines to be used by cultivators in this period, and there were nine types for the nine organs. The Heartseeking and Mind Nourishing Pills corresponded to the heart and head.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect¡¯s Nine Revolutions pills were top-ss in the Rosecloud Domain. Not only did they increase one¡¯s cultivation speed, they also boosted the effect of the Nine Revolutions. The two pills the Seven Absolutions Sect had sent over were particrly valuable in the outside world, and they could be considered additionalpensation. Besides that, the Seven Absolutions Sect also promised that so long as Tang Jie did not break their twenty-year agreement, the Seven Absolutions Sect was willing to refine his Heartbreak Saber to a top-grade art relic withoutpensation. Of course, this was also a tantalizing offer made to him for fear that Tang Jie would go back on his word.


    Besides that, there was the trade for the thousand-year Whitefiend Lotus.


    As the Seven Absolutions Sect had tried to seize the diagram, Tang Jie had rightfully taken away the Whitefiend Lotus, but he had also earlier said that he was willing to sell them to the Seven Absolutions Sect if he were offered the right price.


    Although Tang Jie had made a lot of money, his expenses were so great that he was always short on cash. While Whitefiend Lotuses were nice, there were still fifteen in the valley, and he couldn¡¯t use all of them by himself. Thus, he should just sell what he couldn¡¯t use. The Seven Absolutions Sect was extremely wealthy, so it was the best buyer. This was exactly why Tang Jie wasn¡¯t willing to break up with them despite the fact that they had schemed against him, instead using the opportunity to extort more from them.


    After negotiating the price, Tang Jie ultimately sold the Whitefiend Lotus for one hundred thousand spirit coins, seven bottles of Nine Revolutions pills, and two Heavenly Profundity Talismans.


    Heavenly Profundity Talismans were one of the talismans the Seven Absolutions Sect specialized in. They were high-level art talismans like the Free Roaming Talisman, and extremely difficult to produce. Their primary use was in calction and simtion of formations, seeking out doors and channels. They were of great assistance in both breaking formations andying them down.


    After doing this, Tang Jie spent every day in secluded cultivation.


    Ever since Tang Jie had read the Violet Jade Mantra, his cultivation speed had increased. His heart was rapidly spiritualizing with each passing day, and if one used inward sight to peer into his body, one would discover that his heart had be crystalline. If this pace kept up, he would soon reach greater attainment in the heart revolution.


    But Tang Jie knew that he had yet to reach the end. While his heart seemed crystalline, there were actually still many impurities that needed to be purged. Only by further tempering his heart and removing all impurities could he achieve advancement.


    The gap between the six major sects and those wandering cultivators was so great because of small details like this. For every realm, every tier, and every minor threshold, everything needed to be done perfectly. This ensured that there were no lingering misfortunes and that one¡¯s path forward was smooth and open.


    Long ago, Daoist Ku had once said during his lessons that the Immortal path that cultivators normally took might start wide enough to fit two carriages side by side, but as they progressed, the small blemishes would make this path narrower and narrower.


    Being narrow didn¡¯t mean that one couldn¡¯t advance along it, but one would inevitably find it harder and harder to progress, and as one got through each checkpoint and encountered various obstacles, some problems would eventually crop up that had no solutions. In the end, the path would bepletely stopped up.


    The Basking Moon Sect was better with this, as it possessed orthodox Immortal arts, but even if one cultivated the arts of the Basking Moon Sect perfectly, that two-carriage road might shrink down to one and a half carriages. If someone was a littlecking, it might be even worse. And this theoretical perfection was basically impossible to achieve. If this was the case for the six major sects, it could only be even worse for those wandering cultivators. This was precisely why Celestial Heart was the end for the vast majority of people.


    Clearing impurities was a minor threshold. Clearing out more than half of the impurities might be a matter of one or two months, but making one¡¯s heart as clean as a mirror could be a matter of years. This was like how mopping a floor so that it was clean was easy, but mopping a floor so clean that one could lick a spilled bowl of soup off it to no consequence was hard.


    This was a problem that was neither too great nor too small. Doing it to the utmost might not help much, and not doing it well might not have too much of an effect, but as these small things umted, a problem would inevitably manifest. Of course, with the Heartseeking Pill, this problem was no longer a problem.


    Cautiously puncturing a hole over his heart, Tang Jie took out a Heartseeking Pill and inserted it.


    The pill scattered in the wound, merging with his blood and traveling through his meridians. Tang Jie cautiously guided the medicinal power to his heart, converting it into a tiny trickle that watered his crystalline heart.


    With each powerful pulse of his heart, the medicinal power seeped into the heart and spread to every corner of it. Tang Jie could even ¡°see¡± these little drops being expelled from his heart with each pulse, carrying away tiny purple-ck specks.


    After all the medicinal power had seeped in and been expelled, his crystalline heart appeared even brighter.


    Tang Jie took out another pill and put it in.


    By repeating this until the medicinal fluid no longer carried out any impurities, Tang Jie finally knew that he was done with the purging.


    He looked at the time and found that only twenty hours had passed for ten pills¡ªone pill for every two hours.


    What should have taken at least a year had now taken less than a day with the Heartseeking Pills. Even Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but feel fortunate that the Seven Absolutions Sect had tried to steal from him. Before then, he had never even imagined that he could have Heartseeking Pills to help him cultivate.


    In truth, when Tang Jie had been diligently improving himself before, he had not thought about doing every step perfectly.


    This was too extravagant!


    At that point in time, he had been far from reaching that level of wealth.


    All he could do was pick up his pace as much as he could so that he could catch up to others.


    But now, his teleportation formation wasplete, and he had the resources in hand, and he had also established a trading rtionship with the Seven Absolutions Sect. Tang Jie realized that he could finally pursue perfection.


    Fortunately, before Mortal Shedding, there hadn¡¯t been too many ces that demanded detail. It was actually exactly at Nine Revolutions where every step started to matter, so he had gotten there at just the right time. This could be the arrangements of the heavens, and if that was the case, why should he pass it by?


    Thinking this, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but smile.


    A formless me began to ze in his heart, and that ssy heart appeared all the more gorgeous and dazzling in the light of the spiritual mes.


    This was the final catalysis.


    The catalysis went on for three whole days and nights.


    After these three days, he achieved greater attainment in the heart revolution!


    Finally, a nice and peaceful cultivation session! It¡¯s all smooth sailing from here!<!--


    -->

 Chapter 402

    Chapter 402: Cmity


    A cold and cheerless world,pletely empty.


    The back of that pcedy spanned the world, filling one¡¯s vision.


    Tang Jie stood in a distant corner of this world, looking at that back as if he was hypnotized.


    The back slowly turned like an opening door, a ray of light peeping through and illuminating this space. But it was impossible to make out that woman¡¯s profile.


    The back turned a third of the way around before stopping, and no effort in the world could make it move anymore.


    A momentter, the space shattered, the image fading away.


    Tang Jie found himself standing back in the small room of the Carefree House. On the wall across from him was the Dream Pearl Lady painting.


    Tang Jie sighed, knowing that he had failed again.


    After getting the painting, Tang Jie had tried to enter that mysterious state from before. s, no matter how he tried toprehend and perceive, he was unable to grasp that brief sensation from before.


    But there was one thing he was sure about. The Dream Pearl Lady painting was a painting that could be used toprehend the Dao.


    As for entrancing the mind, that was simply a manifestation of being immersed in theprehension of the Dao. In a way, it was simr to the Soul Refining Pearl.


    The Mindseizers of the Soul Refining Pearl were originally conceived for the purpose of possession. It waster discovered that the chances of possession were too low, but the momentary daze created during the possession attempt was very significant, leading its usage to slowly shift.


    Such was the case with the Dream Pearl Lady painting. What had been a painting forprehending the Dao was now being used inbat for that mind-seizing effect created when one wasprehending the Dao.


    Now that Tang Jie had this painting, he naturally needed toprehend its contents. s, no matter what he did, he found it difficult to understand its divine depths.


    Mei Huaping had probably not understood it either, or else he wouldn¡¯t have used it in battle. His Painting Dao had been decent, but in the end, it was essentially an art. He had yet to enter the Great Dao.


    From this, Tang Jie could see thatprehending the Dream Pearl Lady painting was not an easy task, and besides, he had no reason to rush it.


    After inspecting the painting a little longer, he turned and left.


    Life was calm and simple, and soon, another two months had passed.


    Tang Jie had achieved greater attainment in the heart revolution, so he now proceeded to the head revolution. His progress was smooth, and if there were no mishaps, he could finish before graduation, which was a little more than a year from now.


    Today, Tang Jie was cultivating in the Carefree House as usual when there was a knock at the gate.


    He opened the gate to find Shi Meng.


    Tang Jie asked in surprise, ¡°Why did youe back? Doesn¡¯t the Wei n still need you?¡±


    Shi Meng replied, ¡°The Wei n doesn¡¯t need me. It needs you. Besides, I can¡¯t always be devotedly serving the Wei n. After nine months of standing guard, I¡¯ve done my duty. Now that graduation is soon, I have to start nning for myself. If I don¡¯t have a breakthrough in the time I have left, I¡¯m afraid that we won¡¯t be able to meet in the future.¡±


    With the several hundred thousand coins he had gotten for his part in the Stone Gate Sect mission, Shi Meng had managed to shed his mortality in the Wei n.


    But reaching the Mortal Shedding Realm didn¡¯t mean that one could enter the Basking Moon Sect. With his stockpile of resources, Shi Meng had managed to reach the leading pack when it came to cultivation level, but he was stillcking in actualbat power.


    In the past, when the gap was too big, this would have been fine, but now that he had grown in cultivation level and strength, he couldn¡¯t ept failing when he was onlycking onest thing. Thus, Shi Meng had decided to devote all his strength to see if he could get into the sect. He hade to find Tang Jie naturally because he hoped to get his support.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°I see. I overlooked this, but there¡¯s no need to worry. You can leave the matter of entering the sect to me. While I can¡¯t guarantee you the top ten, I think I can help you get into the top one hundred and an outer sect disciple spot.¡±


    Shi Meng was overjoyed. ¡°I¡¯ll take your word for it.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°We¡¯re all brothers now. Do you still not trust me? Right, so how has the Wei n been doingtely?¡±


    Shi Meng¡¯s face darkened. ¡°This is also another reason I rushed back. The Wei n is in big trouble, and I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll have to intervene this time.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Is that so?¡± Tang Jie was unmoved, bringing Shi Meng into his room. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Sit down and tell me slowly.¡±


    As Shi Meng talked, Tang Jie slowly developed a picture of what the Wei n had been doing in this time.


    Over this period of time, the Wei n had been steadily deteriorating.


    The Wei n wouldn¡¯t have been in such a bad state if its only problem were that Tang Jie had withdrawn from the n affairs. But their excessive expansion had been liable to cause a powerful bacsh, and they had been relying entirely on the prestige of Tang Jie and Wei Tianchong to support it. Now that the more important one of this pair had left, the pressure from the bacsh had soared, and the Wei n inevitably found itself trying to put out too many fires. Besides that, the Jade Radiance Sect was working in the shadows, encouraging various groups to make trouble for the Wei n, again strengthening the bacsh. Finally, these attacks were infectious. When one person seeded, there would inevitably be imitators. While those who followed might not be as strong as those who came before, there would be ten times, a hundred times more, so the danger they posed was even greater.


    The nine months which Tang Jie had spent at the academy had seemed like nine years to the Wei n. One problem came after another, leaving the Wei n breathless as it ran around. One ce wasn¡¯t paying rent, another ce¡¯s store was getting smashed in, and still elsewhere, servants of some group were causing trouble or some n orpetitor was stirring the pot.


    The pressure from theirpetitors was the greatest. For the sake of profit, people were always willing to resort to any means, daring to be enemies with anyone.


    Seven months ago, a rumor began to spread that one of the Wei n¡¯s external medicine stores was selling fake medicine, with a servant boy personally using the Wei n manager. This had dealt a severe blow to the Wei n¡¯s reputation, though fortunately, herbs and medicines were not the Wei n¡¯s principal business. Although he knew that the manager had been framed, Wei Danbai still had to endure the pain and let go this manager who had served him for ten-some years. This person ended up on the streets, for which peopleter criticized the Wei n for being heartless and treating its elderly servants poorly.


    Five months ago, the Wei n was used of reporting lessnd than it had actually purchased. The extrand was seized, and a fine of three thousand taels of silver was levied. It truly had reported lessnd, as this affected how much tax it had to pay, but almost all of the major ns did this. In fact, to report ten acres for every one hundred acres was being very generous. But the government had not audited the others, only the Wei n, which made people suspect that something else was going on. This was also the first time the government moved against the Wei n.


    Three months ago, one of the Wei n¡¯s stores in Canglong Prefecture had been seized. The reason wasn¡¯t important. What was important was that this was the first time the businesses in Canglong Prefecture had been touched. This meant that their adversaries were no longer just targeting the Wei n¡¯s outside properties and had extended their reach to the Wei n¡¯s home turf. Encroachment had inertia, and it would only stop once it encountered failure.


    Two months ago, three of the Wei n¡¯s stores had been set on fire in the same night, and two days after that, a servant had inexplicably died in a store.


    All these incidents had Wei Danbai working frantically, but soon, the true lethal blow came.


    One month ago, a Wei n caravan was robbed.


    ¡°It was a caravan to the Watcher River market,¡± Shi Meng said.


    ¡°¡®The Watcher River market¡¯?¡± Tang Jie was startled, and then he understood. ¡°Did it have Immortal items in it?¡±


    The Wei n could afford the loss of a caravan being robbed, but if it was one carrying Immortal items, the nature changedpletely. The value went from tens of thousands of taels of silver to more than a million.


    But Tang Jie soon found out that this matter was even more serious than he had imagined.


    Shi Meng bitterly smiled and nodded. ¡°All those incidents had led to many losses, and the master was anxious to pull off a big deal, so he found some Immortal spirit nts to sell¡­ He bought some Violet Berries.¡±


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Tang Jie pped the table. ¡°He wants to sell banned goods? Has Wei Danbai gone crazy?¡±


    Violet Berries were a special product of Sageheart. Their actual value wasn¡¯t especially high, but the problem was that they were only grown in the central region of Violet Star Lake, and they were necessary ingredients for some medicines. They became more valuable when they were rare, so the Basking Moon Sect naturally wouldn¡¯t permit them to be casually circted in the market, tightly controlling them. But these berries were easy to nt and raise, so there were always some that circted outside of the country every year.


    Regardless, they were banned goods that were not allowed to be sold by private parties!


    Rather than thinking that Wei Danbai¡¯s brain had stopped working, Tang Jie concluded that Wei Danbai dared to try and sell these berries because the recent losses had driven him crazy.


    Now that he thought about it, the biggest problem here was still Wei Danbai himself.


    It was precisely because he was unwilling to give up on an expansion eight years in the making that he was running into so much trouble. If he had pulled out promptly and given up on the outside stores to fortify Canglong Prefecture and its periphery, outsiders would have found it very hard to get in. But because he refused to let go, he ran into all sorts of problems and started to face capital stresses, causing him to look to illegal goods.


    Now that the caravan had been robbed, the matter of the Violet Berries was bound to be exposed.


    If this matter reached the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s ears, the entire n might be exterminated, and not even Wei Tianchong would be able to do anything about it.


    Sure enough, the greatest damage always came from one¡¯s own side!


    If not for Wei Danbai¡¯s idiocy, conceit, and stubbornness, the Wei n would have never fallen this far. At the very least, Tang Jie had never imagined that the Wei n would end up like this.


    Shi Meng anxiously said, ¡°Tang Jie, you have to think of a way. We can¡¯t let the Wei n end like this.¡±


    Tang Jie asked, ¡°Do you know who did this?¡±


    Shi Meng replied, ¡°I¡¯m not sure. It seems like the work of a wandering cultivator. We have to find and kill this person before he can spread the word.¡±


    ¡°How long has it been since the incident?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s been eleven days since the caravan was robbed. The two Spirit Masters guarding the caravan were killed, and it was the surviving escorts who escaped and told us, which is why there was such a big dy.¡±


    ¡°Eleven days¡­ Do you think this can still be kept a secret after such a long time?¡± Tang Jie coldlyughed.


    Shi Meng shook his head and sighed. ¡°I know that it¡¯s not very possible, but I still have to ask for the sake of the Wei n. I can¡¯t resolve this matter, so I can only rely on you. Oh, right, the n head said that if you are willing to save the Wei n from this crisis, he was willing to put aside everything and seek your forgiveness, and also allow you to choose a girl from the Wei n to marry so that you can inherit the Wei n, and that you will essentially be the n head in the future. If this isn¡¯t enough¡­¡±


    Shi Meng hesitated. Tang Jie could tell from his tone that if this still wasn¡¯t enough, Wei Danbai was even willing to promise him the entire Wei n. He quickly said, ¡°My ambitions are on the Great Dao, and I have no interest in the Wei n. But I once said that I would not sit by while the Wei n walked toward disaster. I have some connection to this matter, so I will naturally act. The problem right now is how we should handle this.¡±


    He stood up, put his hands behind his back, and began to pace back and forth.


    In the yard, Tang Jie pondered the situation while Shi Meng expectantly looked at him.


    After a while, Tang Jie said, ¡°It¡¯s already a fact that the Wei n was trafficking illegal goods, and there¡¯s no changing that. Right now, there¡¯s no point in mending the fence after the sheep have been lost. We¡¯ll have to look at this matter from another angle to find a solution.¡±


    Wei Danbai has finally gone too far! It¡¯s time for Tang Jie to save the day!<!--


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 Chapter 403

    Chapter 403: Special Permit


    The Wei n.


    Wei Danbai was now like an ant atop a heated pot.


    The caravan had been robbed, dealing the Wei n a heavy loss, but even worse was that his attempt to sell illegal goods had been exposed.


    This thought instantly filled Wei Danbai with remorse, and he regretted listening to that young Spirit Master¡¯s encouragement to sell Violet Berries. While the profit was big, so was the risk. And now, the entire Wei n might be buried because of his idea.


    Wei Danbai couldn¡¯t help but thump his chest in frustration.


    But despite his regret, what had happened had happened, and over thest few days, he could tell that the mood in Canglong Prefecture had turned strange. Everyone seemed to be looking at him differently.


    Whether this was psychological or real, Wei Danbai didn¡¯t know.


    He was like a prisoner waiting for his execution, anticipating the day of judgment¡ªthe matter of the Violet Berries woulde out eventually.


    However, when that day came, he was surprised by who was responsible for giving the judgment.


    The main hall of the Wei n.


    Wei Danbai looked down at the seated Gu Liangde, who had brought a pack of his juniors with him. They looked at him with scorn, pride, and amusement, as if they were looking at a dead man.


    Composing himself, Wei Danbai used his tea cup lid to nudge aside the leaves on the surface of his tea. Speaking in the calmest tone he could manage, he said, ¡°Patriarch Gu, you seem to have fully recovered. Congrattions on being able to move around. Have youe to visit today to carry out your end of the deal we reached nine months ago?¡±


    Gu Liangde chuckled. ¡°Brother Wei, if you want the casinos, there¡¯s no problem, but when will you have the money for it? I¡¯ve heard that you lost a shipment recently, a rather significant sum.¡±


    Wei Danbai¡¯s hands trembled, causing him to spill some tea onto his leg.


    A Gu n youth saw this and sneered, ¡°The Wei n patriarch¡¯s hands are trembling? It¡¯s just some goods. There¡¯s no need to be so nervous about it, is there?¡±


    Another Gu n youth immediately said, ¡°Could there have been something unseemly among those goods?¡±


    Another person piped up, ¡°How could that be? The Wei n has always done business honestly and legally. How could they traffic illegal goods?¡±


    The mention of illegal goods turned Wei Danbai ghastly pale.


    He didn¡¯t say anything, but the Gu n¡¯s people had no intent of letting him go. Another person said, ¡°Even if there were illegal goods, it wouldn¡¯t be a big deal. After all, isn¡¯t the Wei n¡¯s Young Master Tianchong a True Inheritor of Sunwatch Peak? With him around, they can resolve any problems.¡±


    ¡°True, true. With the Sunwatch Peak True Inheritor around, selling a few Violet Berries is a trivial matter to take care of. I¡¯m sure the Wei n has nothing to worry about. If it were my Gu n, it might bepletely exterminated.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that. Sunwatch Peak Master True Person Yan has always been strict on his disciples. He might not offer his protection if he knew what his disciple¡¯s n was up to. He might even be angered enough to kick his disciple out.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible. I¡¯ve heard that True Person Yan isn¡¯t very happy with this disciple and is always looking for an excuse to kick him out.¡±


    The Gu n people brazenlyughed.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Wei Danbai angrily pped the table. He was about to call people to drive these people out when Gu Liangde waved his hand and silenced theughter. He said to Wei Danbai, ¡°The juniors of my n have too much energy and have been rude with their words, for which I seek your forgiveness. But I¡¯m afraid that there will be no hiding the matter of the Violet Berries. This matter is already the talk of the town, and everyone knows about it. I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be long before the Basking Moon Sect and governmente to the Wei n to ask for an exnation.¡±


    Wei Danbai took in a deep breath. ¡°My second son, Tianchong, is still a Basking Moon True Inheritor. While it is forbidden to trade in Violet Berries, it¡¯s not treason. While there will be a penalty, it¡¯s not like people will be executed over it¡­¡±


    ¡°Perhaps nobody will die, but the n will inevitably be broken up,¡± Gu Liangde replied. ¡°I¡¯m sure everyone knows how things like this are punished. Wei n Head, there¡¯s no need to force yourself. To tell you the truth, this old man didn¡¯te here to make trouble. I just wanted to tell you that the Wei n should have a back-up n for extraordinary times like this.¡±


    ¡°¡®A back-up n¡¯?¡± Wei Danbai gave Gu Liangde a hard look.


    ¡°Yes, you need a back-up n!¡± Gu Liangde sternly replied. ¡°After this incident, the Wei n¡¯s property is probably going to be seized, and those stores will be no more. Rather than letting the government profit¡­ it would be better to sell off the stores for gold and silver, leaving yourself some foundation. The Gu n is willing to buy these stores at a good price.¡±


    Gu Liangde offered a sheet of paper.


    Wei Danbai took it and saw that it was a contract to take over the Wei n¡¯s properties.


    The more he read, the more shocked and angry he became. ¡°Sixteen restaurants, four shippingpanies, fifteen cloth stores, eleven inns, three pharmacies, eight clothing stores, four grain stores, and fourteen other misceneous stores, and you want that all for only twenty thousand taels of silver? This is outrageous! Any one of my Wei n¡¯s stores could sell for this much!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s already pretty good that we¡¯re willing to give you the price for one store,¡± a Gu n youth coldly said. ¡°If you act now, you can still sell it for something, but once the governmentes, it will all be worthless. Right, I forgot to tell you that the government already knows of this matter. They haven¡¯te yet because my Gu n asked them for some time. If you don¡¯t want to, fine. We¡¯ll just go back and report to the government so that they can send people from the sect to seize this ce.¡±


    Wei Danbai¡¯s heart went cold.


    At this moment, a voice crisply said, ¡°I¡¯d like to see who wants to report my Wei n!¡±


    Everyone froze and turned their heads.


    Wei Danbai was startled, and then he cried out in realization, ¡°Wife!¡±


    A party walked in from outside, led by a middle-aged woman wearing arge red robe, her hair bound with a double phoenix hairpin. It was none other than Zheng Shufeng.


    Behind her were Shi Meng and other servants of the Wei n.


    Gu Liangde was clearly shocked by Zheng Shufeng¡¯s sudden appearance, but he quickly bowed to her and said, ¡°Ah, so Madam Wei has returned. I hope that your mother has been well.¡±


    Zheng Shufeng ignored him and walked to her husband. Wei Danbai was tearing up as he looked at his wife, who whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t panic. Step to the side and let me handle this.¡±


    Like a drowning man grasping at a rope, when his reliable wife returned, Wei Danbai immediately yielded the central seat, not realizing at all what this represented.


    At an extraordinary time like this, this chair no longer held much of an attraction.


    Zheng Shufeng seated herself and coldly said to Gu Liangde, ¡°Twenty thousand taels of silver for more than eighty stores of my Wei n¡­ such an appetite! I thought that the old wretch from the Gu n was a venomous snake, but he turned out to be a ravenous vulture, a starving dog!¡±


    ¡°Foul woman, what did you say?¡± The Gu n youths roared in anger.


    One of them said, ¡°Foul woman, rather than looking out for your own n¡¯s old bastard, you rush toe back and send yourself to death. Don¡¯t think that Wei Tianchong can save you. After this incident, there¡¯s no way he¡¯s keeping his True Inheritor status. Even staying in the Basking Moon Sect will be a problem. When the timees, we can just spend some money to finish him off, and then your Wei n will be finished!¡±


    Zheng Shufeng raised an eyebrow. ¡°A bunch of deranged things. Do you really think that this Violet Berries incident can doom my Wei n? Today, I will show you what my Wei n is capable of. Shi Meng!¡±


    As she barked, Shi Meng came forward and took out a document.


    Shi Meng presented the document to the Gu n and shouted, ¡°Look closely! This is a document issued by the Basking Moon Sect, granting my Wei n special permission to trade Violet Berries!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Gu Liangde paled.


    The Gu n juniors gathered around and saw that the document really did give the Wei n special permission to sell one thousand catties of Violet Berries every year, with exports being reported directly to the local government and Basking Moon hall.


    Shi Meng smugly said, ¡°It¡¯s written clearly here in ck and white! My Wei n has special permission! So what if we were selling Violet Berries? We had permission!¡±


    ¡°No¡­ no!¡± Gu Liangde shuddered as he pointed at the document. ¡°It must be a fake!¡±


    ¡°¡®A fake¡¯, your mother!¡± Shi Meng kicked Gu Liangde and sent the old man flying. He pointed at the document and said, ¡°Open those useless eyes of yours a little wider! There¡¯s an Immortal art stamp on here. Who would dare to forge that?¡±


    A Gu n junior spat back, ¡°Fine, I suppose you¡¯ve got the ability if you were able to get special permission to sell Violet Berries, but that¡¯s a matter of the present, not the past. Selling them before this was still illegal! I don¡¯t believe you had special permission before. Otherwise, why would you have been so secretive about it?¡±


    ¡°Then go ahead and report it,¡± Shi Meng sneered. He pointed at the document and added, ¡°But let me remind you that it¡¯s clearly written here that the agreement is annual! Any Violet Berry sales that urred within the present year are legal!¡±


    Upon seeing those words on the paper, the Gu n juniors were dumbfounded.


    In these circumstances, even with their thick skins, they didn¡¯t dare to stick around. Gu Liangde immediately changed faces, saying with a smile, ¡°Actually, this old man came over because he was truly concerned about the Wei n. It is wonderful that the Wei n is able to deal in these fruits. This old man is willing¡­¡±


    ¡°Scram!¡± Zheng Shufeng icily said.


    She didn¡¯t want to hear another word from them.


    The n servants lunged like a pack of wolves and drove the Gu n people out.


    But everyone knew that the Gu n wouldn¡¯t be having happy days much longer.


    Now that the storm had passed, Wei Danbai felt his heart rx. His vision suddenly blurred as he fell to his butt.


    He looked at his wife and smiled. ¡°You¡¯re always the one with the skills.¡±


    Zheng Shufeng shook her head. ¡°Fool, numerous ns fight over the special permit to sell Violet Berries every year. It¡¯s not something that I¡¯m capable of obtaining.¡±


    ¡°Then who?¡± Wei Danbai looked at his wife in shock.


    Zheng Shufeng sympathetically looked at her husband. ¡°You tell me.¡±


    Wei Danbai was stunned. A name that he wasn¡¯t willing to think about, but had no choice to think about, emerged in his mind.


    Shi Meng exined, ¡°In order to get the special permit as quickly as possible, Tang Jie contacted all the ssmates who worked with him on the Stone Gate Sect matter. During the Stone Gate Sect matter, everyone paid arge amount of spirit coins for bribes and became acquainted with many new friends. When they heard that Tang Jie was in trouble, many of them were willing to help. With everyone going around, they managed to settle the matter. And Tang Jie still had to spend one hundred thousand coins and even went to ask Headmaster Xie for help. Otherwise, n Head, who else do you think would be so capable as to settle this matter so quickly? Neither I nor the young master have the prestige for this. However, Tang Jie said that while he can help once, he can¡¯t help for a lifetime. The Wei n requires someone wiser to guide it so as to put an end to the problem once and for all.¡±


    Wei Danbai was startled.


    After a while, he finally said, ¡°I understand.¡±


    He stood up and bowed to Zheng Shufeng. ¡°Starting from today, you are the head of the Wei n. The Wei n is currently in an autumn of many troubles, in dire need of my wife to revitalize it. I trust that with the leadership of my wife and the support of Immortal Tang, my Wei n will regain its glory!¡±


    Zheng Shufeng finally bes the leader of the Wei n, and thus ends Tang Jie¡¯s little episode of political scheming.<!--


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 Chapter 404

    Chapter 404: Karma


    With Wei Danbai¡¯s resignation, Zheng Shufeng became the new matriarch of the Wei n.


    Upon appointment, Zheng Shufeng was faced with two major problems. The first was protecting the external stores, and the second was the Wei n¡¯s severeck of money.


    To resolve this problem, Zheng Shufeng¡¯s first order of business was to announce the matter of the special permit. Zheng Shufeng used the special permit to tell everyone that Tang Jie had returned, rallying the hearts of her people.


    And then Zheng Shufeng started paying personal visits to various parties, with the first being the Jade Radiance Sect. After this conversation, when Zheng Shufeng left the mountain, Jade Radiance Sect Master Han Tianji personally sent her off.


    Once these two matters became known, the Wei n¡¯s problems began to dwindle in number. Zheng Shufeng then cleaned up the external stores, selling off the unprofitable ones to w back a little capital.


    Zheng Shufeng then went to the Gu n and proposed that one hundred thousand taels of silver be used to end the grudges between the two. She didn¡¯t ask the Gu n to leave or sell their stores to her. She had never had any interest in blood-sucking businesses like casinos. The Gu n was overjoyed. While the loss of one hundred thousand taels of silver was a pity, at least they could remain in Canglong Prefecture without having to worry about someone nursing a grudge.


    Finally, Zheng Shufeng got in touch with various ns, using the Violet Berry special selling permit to convince these ns to invest. With this additional injection of capital, the Wei n¡¯s situation gradually stabilized. Zheng Shufeng received widespread praise for her ability to save the Wei n from this crisis, and her position as n head also stabilized.


    All of this took three months to settle.


    The news arrived when Tang Jie was sitting alone in a small pavilion within Alljoin Garden. This was at the summit of Rising Star Peak, and from here, one could see more than half of Wanquan City.


    Tang Jie was seriously pondering something in the pavilion.


    He was not surprised by Zheng Shufeng¡¯s actions. This woman was extremely skilled, but because she was a woman, she hadcked opportunity to show it. Under her leadership, the Wei n was sure to prosper. It was like the saying: disaster could be hidden in fortune, and fortune could be hidden in disaster.


    What he was really thinking about was the role he had yed in all this.


    Even though Tang Jie had said that he was leaving everything to the will of the heavens, there were three things he had done that silently changed everything.


    He had announced his withdrawal, drawing trouble to the Wei n; he had told Mu Yi of this matter; and he had given Zheng Shufeng¡¯s mother that pill, making it so that Zheng Shufeng did not return home to help her husband. With her around, Wei Danbai would have never made such grave errors.


    Although the things he had done had not done any harm to the Wei n in and of themselves, the indirect consequences had dealt severe damage.


    Most importantly, even before that, he had already seen the result.


    From that perspective, he had cheated.


    He had said that he was leaving it to the heavens, but through his own methods, he had subtly twisted the will of the heavens and changed fate.


    Could such a ¡°will of the heavens¡± still be called the will of the heavens?


    Tang Jie thought about it for a long time.


    He couldn¡¯t find an answer.


    As he was thinking, an Immortal Crane flew out of the distance.


    The crane let out a clear call as it broke through the clouds. When it spotted Tang Jie, it flew down andnded in front of him. Shaking its wings, it smiled and said, ¡°So you were here! I spent ages looking for you.¡±


    Tang Jie hastily stood up. ¡°I pay my respects to Senior Bai Dan. Senior, for what reason have you sought out this lowly one?¡±


    The crane replied, ¡°Someone wants to see you. Come with me.¡±


    ¡°¡®Someone wants to see me¡¯? Who?¡±


    ¡°Let us not waste words. You will know simply bying with me.¡± The crane flew into the clouds.


    With no other choice, Tang Jie joined it. The human and crane flew to Westwatch Pavilion, and it wasn¡¯t long before they arrived. Tang Jie saw Xie Fengtang pacing back and forth in front of the pavilion.


    Tang Jie had always seen Xie Fengtang inside Westwatch Pavilion, not standing outside. He seemed to be waiting for Tang Jie, and he had quite the worried look.


    Tang Jie was taken aback, and he seemed to have an idea of what was going on.


    Sure enough, the moment Tang Jiended, Xie Fengtang went up to him and said, ¡°Why are you sote?¡±


    Tang Jie looked at Westwatch Pavilion and whispered, ¡°Headmaster Xie, has someone importante?¡±


    Xie Fengtang smiled. ¡°Clever as usual, but it¡¯s good that you understand. Headmaster Feng has returned, and asked to see you.¡±


    <em>Feng Hongluan?</em>


    Tang Jie was stunned.


    Feng Hongluan, one of the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s 19 Celestial Chiefs and the peer of Ming Yekong, had finally returned?


    Tang Jie gasped when he heard that Feng Hongluan wanted to see him. ¡°Headmaster Feng wants to see me?¡±


    Xie Fengtang patted Tang Jie¡¯s hand. ¡°Headmaster Feng normally lives on Red Cloud Peak and rarely visits. Make good use of this opportunity!¡±


    He spoke with sincerity.


    Tang Jie understood what he meant, his heart growing warm. ¡°Headmaster Xie, be at ease. Tang Jie understands.¡±


    Straightening his clothes, he walked into Westwatch Pavilion.


    Going up to the door, he said to the door, ¡°Student Tang Jie hase as ordered to pay respects to Headmaster Feng.¡±


    In front of Feng Hongluan, he did not dare to call himself a disciple.


    A pleasant voice spoke. ¡°Enter.¡±


    Pushing open the door, Tang Jie saw a person standing with their hands behind their back and their side to him, looking out the window at the scenery.


    The barely visible profile was somewhat familiar, but Tang Jie couldn¡¯t recall who it reminded him of. He gave a deep bow. ¡°Tang Jie pays respects to Headmaster Feng!¡±


    The person slowly turned to face him.


    Tang Jie was stunned when he saw the face, blurting out, ¡°So it was you!¡±


    It was clearly a beautiful face that would make all women envious, yet it belonged to a man.


    And Tang Jie knew this man. It was clearly that bewitching man whom Tang Jie had met long ago at Apricot Pavilion.


    That man had been Feng Hongluan!


    It was no wonder he had been able toe and go without being detected and had not even kowtowed to True Lord Wuwang.


    Tang Jie immediately knew that this was improper, hastily saying, ¡°This student did not know that the one from back then was the honored Headmaster Feng¡­¡±


    The bewitching man replied, ¡°There is no crime in ignorance. What I¡¯m more interested in is: if you had known it was me, would you still have dared to steal True Lord Wuwang¡¯s Wuwang Character?¡±


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t expected this question. He looked at Feng Hongluan and said with resolve, ¡°I would dare! There is no end to the path of the Dao, and one must work to seize every opportunity.¡±


    Feng Hongluan nodded in approval. ¡°Very good. The Immortal path is arduous, and each advance requires ambition and courage. Right, do you still have that Wuwang Character?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°This student has already used it up.¡±


    Feng Hongluan softly said, ¡°Can I presume that it is how youprehended the Dao of Insight?¡±


    Tang Jie paled.


    While the Dao of Insight wasn¡¯t some powerful ability, Tang Jie had always kept it a secret, never telling anyone else about it. But Feng Hongluan had seen through it with just one question.


    How had he known?


    Yes, when he was at Apricot Pavilion and dared to steal a Wuwang Character from True Lord Wuwang, he had shown something that ordinary students did not have. His daring, methods, and understanding of formations were far beyond those of an ordinary person.


    It had to be understood that this asion could not bepared to the Immortal Fortune Conference at all. His performance at the Immortal Fortune Conference could be exined by several years of cultivation at the academy, but that time in Apricot Pavilion had only been one year after his entry into the academy. This made his deep understanding of formations much less explicable.


    And he had no idea that the other party was Feng Hongluan, so he had not tried to hide anything from him.


    His heart went cold at the thought.


    He suddenly understood the truth behind Feng Hongluan¡¯s question about whether he would dare to steal the Wuwang Character if he knew who Feng Hongluan really was.


    He wasn¡¯t asking whether he had the courage to confront Celestial Chief Feng. After all, he even dared to steal in front of a True Lord, so why wouldn¡¯t he dare to do so in front of a peak Celestial Heart True Person?


    What he was asking was: ¡°In front of someone from the Basking Moon Sect, do you still have the courage to expose your true strength for a Wuwang Character?¡±!


    If Tang Jie could answer again, his answer would definitely be ¡°No!¡±


    Tang Jie took in a deep breath and finally said, ¡°Headmaster Feng is truly perceptive. This was Tang Jie¡¯s mistake!¡±


    A smile appeared in Feng Hongluan¡¯s eyes. ¡°Young man, there is no problem with making a mistake. The true fear is pride. At times, when you think you have the world in your hand, it really just might be your parents taking pity on their children and letting you run a little wild rather than criticizing you.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart shivered.


    He nowpletely understood what Feng Hongluan was saying. The incident at Apricot Pavilion had already allowed Feng Hongluan to guess who he really was.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t understand why he hadn¡¯t said anything. The reason Feng Hongluan gave was that he was concerned for his students. As the Headmaster of Basking Moon Academy, to call him a father to all the Basking Moon students wasn¡¯t too far-fetched. Of course, Tang Jie would never believe that the reason would be this simple. But now that Feng Hongluan had revealed his hand, Tang Jie knew that it was no longer proper to keep ying dumb. He dropped to his knees and shouted, ¡°Student Tang Jie hasmitted the grave crime of deceiving his superiors! There is no forgiveness for this deed!¡±


    ¡°Rise. There¡¯s no need to be so nervous,¡± Feng Hongluan indifferently said. ¡°You are not the Stone Gate Sect, and the hidden realm is not in Sageheart. To my Basking Moon Sect, this wasn¡¯t something that belonged to us in the first ce, so while getting it would be the best, there is no loss in not getting it. As for my personal view, advancing from my cultivation level is not something that can be aplished by piling up resources, so such a thing means even less to me. Moreover, I also have some other ideas on this matter¡­¡±


    ¡°¡®Some other ideas¡¯?¡± Tang Jie was confused.


    Feng Hongluan casually said, ¡°In truth, it doesn¡¯t matter if those resources were obtained by the Basking Moon Sect or obtained by a disciple of the Basking Moon Sect. What matters is whether this disciple is sincerely devoted to my sect. So long as this disciple belongs to my Basking Moon Sect, so long as his heart and soul belong to my Basking Moon Sect, then there is no difference between those resources being concentrated on one person or distributed across the sect. In any case, it will have been used on the people of my Basking Moon Sect. And in terms of strength, a single powerful True Person is far more valuable than even one thousand peak Mortal Shedding experts¡­¡±


    As Tang Jie heard the opinion on the hidden realm from this member of the upper echelons of the Basking Moon Sect, he finally understood what Feng Hongluan was thinking.


    It turned out that what Feng Hongluan cared about wasn¡¯t who the hidden realm belonged to, but whether the owner of the hidden realm was loyal to the sect.


    In his view, so long as Tang Jie was loyal to the Basking Moon Sect, then the hidden realm essentially belonged to the Basking Moon Sect.


    And from a resource maximization standpoint, allocating all the resources to creating someone truly powerful would be a greater boon to the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s strength than to let everyone get a share.


    Besides that, Feng Hongluan didn¡¯t think that Tang Jie would fall to coercion.


    After all, there was already the matter with Gu Changqing. Gu Changqing¡¯s cruel treatment of Tang Jie had already proved that he was not someone who could be forced into submission through torture. If even an Eagle Master from Godhead Pce couldn¡¯t make Tang Jie confess, what guarantee did the Basking Moon Sect have?


    When dealing with someone who wasn¡¯t afraid of death, it sometimes didn¡¯t matter how profound one¡¯s cultivation was.


    Force might not be able to achieve anything, but letting him go might get the sect a True Lord.


    The choice was obvious.


    This was precisely why he had been observing Tang Jie all this time. This was partially to confirm whether Tang Jie had obtained the hidden realm or not. What Feng Hongluan had seen at Apricot Pavilion gave him more reasons to suspect Tang Jie than others, but he still couldn¡¯t bepletely sure. The other reason he kept observing was to see if Tang Jie could be considered loyal.


    Of course, it wasn¡¯t like he was observing Tang Jie all the time. He primarily gathered information on Tang Jie and analyzed it.


    Put bluntly, the events of Apricot Pavilion had made Feng Hongluan pay more attention to Tang Jie than others, which was why he had ultimately confirmed that Tang Jie was the owner of the hidden realm.


    For various reasons, Feng Hongluan had kept Tang Jie under observation, until today. Today, they had finally met, and he had shown his hand.


    ¡°I met with you today to reveal my hand primarily for two reasons. One is to tell you that your loyalty to the Basking Moon Sect remains to be seen, though I find your attitude to the Wei n quite admirable.¡±


    Feng Hongluan revealed the answer to the riddle and enlightened Tang Jie.


    There was always a cause behind every effect. Regardless of what themon people thought, cultivators like Feng Hongluan at least had no objections to how Tang Jie had treated the Wei n.


    Understanding this, Tang Jie loudly said to Feng Hongluan, ¡°Tang Jie deceived the Basking Moon Sect while receiving its support, so I swear loyalty to the Basking Moon Sect for as long as I live, remaining forever faithful!¡±


    Feng Hongluan was unmoved, simply asking, ¡°Is that so? Then tell me: what is the Basking Moon Sect?¡±


    <em>What is the Basking Moon Sect?</em>


    This question took Tang Jie by surprise.


    He didn¡¯t know how to reply.


    Feng Hongluan continued, ¡°The Basking Moon Sect is nothing but a name. It is a collection of countless cultivators and represents the wills of countless people. Today, Celestial Sovereign Ling Xiao reigns over the Basking Moon Sect, and his will is the will of the Basking Moon Sect. If Martial Uncle Xiao were to be reced tomorrow, the new Sect Master¡¯s will would be the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s will. But if these two wills contradict each other, then¡­ how can you be loyal to the Basking Moon Sect?¡±


    Tang Jie was left dumbfounded by this question.


    But he finally understood what Feng Hongluan meant. Getting down on one knee, he dered, ¡°Tang Jie shall follow the will of Headmaster Feng, not daring to defy it!¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± Feng Hongluan chuckled. ¡°I just belong to the puny academy faction. If you follow me, you will just put yourself at a disadvantage, so there is no need. I won¡¯tmand you to obey anyone in particr. From your previous actions, I have already seen that someone like you isn¡¯t someone who takes being ordered around. In order to be treated sincerely by you, one must first treat you sincerely, as the Wu couple did.¡±


    Tang Jie lowered his head, not daring to speak.


    Feng Hongluan continued, ¡°For this reason, I will not ce any constraints on you. You only need to remain in the sect to experience my sect¡¯s favor and support. In the future, you will naturally consider the sect your home and put your heart and soul into protecting it. I said all that to you just now in the hopes that you will understand that there are many cultivators in the sect with many different wills. No matter who you listen to in the future, who you choose to serve, before you take action, you should always consider the future of the sect first.¡±


    Tang Jie solemnly said, ¡°Yes, this student understands!¡±


    ¡°Since that is the case, do you now understand the error youmitted and why I wanted to see you?¡± Feng Hongluan said.


    After thinking about it, Tang Jie understood. ¡°Headmaster Feng said you showed your hand to me over two matters. Is the second matter rted to the Seven Absolutions Sect?¡±


    Feng Hongluan¡¯s extremely beautiful face finally smiled. ¡°So long as you understand. If not for that, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to confirm that you were Tang Jiye. On that subject, it will still be your choice as to when you expose yourself. I am just someone who is more suspicious than most. But for you to sell good products only to the Seven Absolutions Sect is truly contemptible. Do you think that this lowly sect cannot pay a good price?¡±


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. ¡°It was this student¡¯s mistake. I just¡­¡±


    ¡°Just felt like we might not be willing to pay, even if we could, yes?¡± Feng Hongluan indifferently said. ¡°I can understand your mindset, but as I said, you stillck loyalty to your sect. If you were sincerely thinking of the Basking Moon Sect, given your intelligence, you would have found a proper method, no? In the end, you have a habit of thinking things through thoroughly, but you do not have a habit of thinking for the sake of the Basking Moon Sect.¡±


    Tang Jie was stunned by these words.


    Yes.


    He truly was worried that the Basking Moon Sect would use this chance to suppress the price, perhaps even use the opportunity to capture him, so he was not willing to sell these items to the Basking Moon Sect.


    But Feng Hongluan was right. He could go against Godhead Pce and work with the Seven Absolutions Sect, so how could he not resolve a small problem like this?


    He hadn¡¯t been diligent enough!


    This was why Feng Hongluan was unhappy with him.


    If he hadn¡¯t justly handled the Wei n, Feng Hongluan might have chosen to seize him and force him to hand what he had gained over.


    Tang Jie started to sweat. ¡°It was all because this student was too used to thinking of himself!¡±


    Feng Hongluan coolly replied, ¡°If you know your error, rectify it.¡±


    ¡°Yes! Since that is the case, what if I have Headmaster Feng purchase in ce of the sect? This student is willing to sell to Headmaster Feng at sixty percent of the price given to the Seven Absolutions Sect.¡±


    ¡°But isn¡¯t that exactly what you were worried about?¡± Feng Hongluan said. ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s have it at 90%. This is still the sect that raised you and protected you, so there should at least be a 10% discount. In addition, are you plotting with the Seven Absolutions Sect to deal with Godhead Pce?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°Godhead Pce is the firm ally of the Beast Refining Gate, so cutting off its wings is a good thing for the Basking Moon Sect. When Godhead Pce finally reaches out its ws, if you cannot deal with it, inform me. I will make arrangements ording to the situation and save you the time of making all those schemes. Of course, I will charge a fee for my services.¡±


    Tang Jie was delighted. ¡°Headmaster Feng, thank you!¡±


    ¡°That is all. You may go.¡± Feng Hongluan waved his hand, and Tang Jie bid farewell.


    After leaving Westwatch Pavilion and exchanging a few words with Xie Fengtang, Tang Jie went back.


    On the way back, Tang Jie¡¯s mind was still restless.


    Feng Hongluan¡¯s words had opened a window for Tang Jie.


    Before then, he had never imagined that the higher-ups of the Basking Moon Sect would have this kind of mindset.


    Yes.


    When had it ever been necessary to hold the hidden realm in their hands? So long as the person who owned the hidden realm was in their sect, they could use the hidden realm all the same.


    In the end, it was his own limited vision and his fear of Godhead Pce that made him believe that everyone was plotting against him and wanted to steal from him.


    Now that the clouds had been cleared away, Tang Jie felt refreshed, and he almost wanted to yell.


    The will of the heavens!


    This was what could be considered truly the will of the heavens!


    When he had chosen to have the will of the heavens deal with Wei Danbai, Feng Hongluan had chosen to trust him.


    Tang Jie suddenly understood a problem that had puzzled him all this time.


    Who in this life did not hope to hold the dice of fate in one¡¯s hand?


    Logically, everything could be left to the impartial will of the heavens, but emotionally, one wanted the will of the heavens to go along with one¡¯s desires.


    Even if one could not control fate, one could mimic the butterfly.


    Creating waves and dispersing clouds with a p of the wings!


    Thus, although one could influence the will of the heavens, who could say that

 Chapter 405

    Chapter 405: Graduation


    Another year passed.


    Without even realizing it, Tang Jie and the others had been in Basking Moon Academy for a whole ten years.


    In these ten years, Tang Jie and the others had gone from people who had known nothing about cultivation to cultivating Daoists, and they had gone from teenagers of fifteen or sixteen to young adults of twenty-five or twenty-six.


    These ten years were the most important ten years they would experience, and also the most wonderful ten years.


    The students had left countless memories,ughter, sadness, blood, and tears here.


    Even for Tang Jie, these ten years had been ten years full of tribtion, ten years of significant ups and downs, ten years that decided the direction his life would take!


    And now that these ten years were up, even Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but feel a little sentimental, let alone someone like Wei Tianchong.


    Today was graduation day.


    All the students returned to the academy today to take part in the graduation ceremony. This was also the only day when all students were permitted to fly into the academy.


    At daybreak, countless people flew out from the distance, soaring among the clouds and cloaked in the mist as they descended onto the mountains.


    Wei Tianchong and Qi Shaoming hade together. The two of them had left their respective mountains to take part in the graduation ceremony, and they had been travelingpanions. At this moment, they spotted a man lying on arge sword as it leisurely flew him toward the academy, a wine gourd in his hand.


    Wei Tianchong gleefully said, ¡°It¡¯s Junyang!¡±


    Qi Shaoming nced over and smiled. ¡°This kid is appearing more and more like a carefree travelertely.¡±


    The two of them shared a nce and then descended toward Cai Junyang.


    Cai Junyang didn¡¯t expect someone to suddenly attack him. In his shock, he wasn¡¯t able to make out who these assants were and simply spat out the wine in his mouth. A cloud of mist immediately engulfed the two, who were caught off guard by this move and dodged to the side. Cai Junyang jumped into the air while therge sword below him flew at the two.


    ¡°Junyang, it¡¯s me!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted.


    Cai Junyang was startled. ¡°Tianchong? Shaoming? It¡¯s you two?¡±


    He made a pulling motion with his hand, and the sword circled back to him.


    Wei Tianchong rushed over and hugged Cai Junyang,ughing, ¡°Cai Junyang, good job! I didn¡¯t think that you would get stronger again in these two years. I say, it¡¯s not like you have a teacher like the two of us, so how did you progress so quickly?¡±


    Cai Junyang snorted. ¡°Adventures in the world can sometimes teach just as much as a master. While I might not be able topare to you guys in terms of cultivation level, when ites to adapting to the situation inbat, you guys are definitely worse than me.¡±


    Hearing Cai Junyang mention cultivation, Wei Tianchong smiled and asked, ¡°Right, what¡¯s your cultivation level now?¡±


    Cai Junyang replied, ¡°Greater attainment in Hundred Refinement, worse than you guys.¡±


    A normal outstanding student would be pretty well-off if they could reach minor attainment in Hundred Refinement after ten years of cultivation, so Cai Junyang¡¯s cultivation speed had already exceeded the norm, and his actualbat experience was even better. After all, he had been tempering himself in the outside world for a very long time.


    Wei Tianchong chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m also at greater attainment in Hundred Refinement.¡±


    His talent was worse than Cai Junyang¡¯s, but since he had Yan Changfeng¡¯s assistance, there was no way he would fall behind the other elites. This was why he had at least managed to draw even with Cai Junyang.


    Qi Shaoming indifferently replied, ¡°I¡¯vepleted my heart revolution and am currently cultivating my second revolution.¡±


    Wei Tianchong and Cai Junyang knew that they were no match. Geniuses were geniuses, andpleting even one of the Nine Revolutions in ten years was exceptionally rare. Even those with nine-cycle Jade Gates were not guaranteed to achieve this.


    Qi Shaoming remarked, ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to the five hundred thousand from Tang Jie.¡±


    Cai and Wei nodded in agreement.


    If not for the several hundred thousand spirit coins from that job, none of them could have so easily exceeded the standard and reached greater attainment in Hundred Refinement and beyond. It had to be understood that Hundred Refinement was still a threshold that could be reached simply by throwing money at the problem, and the time saved by those five hundred thousand spirit coins had been very noticeable.


    Cai Junyang added, ¡°It¡¯s really all thanks to Tang Jie. It¡¯s not just the five hundred thousand. There¡¯s also the time he passed those arts to us. If he didn¡¯t teach me the Hundred Tribtion Passage Art, I would have needed to die twice and be heavily injured once to meet the number of enlightenments I gained from it.¡±


    In thesest few years, Cai Junyang had wandered the world alone, meeting many people and experiencing many things. His vision had been broadened, his experiences enriched, and even several near-death encounters had caused his strength to rise, and in these cases, the Hundred Tribtion Passage Art had yed a crucial role.


    When the art was first passed to them, each person only knew of the art that had been passed to them, but with the passage of time, news began to get around. In the end, everyone realized, ¡°Oh, so you also got a secret art from that kid!¡± And so when they chatted about it now, they were much less reserved.


    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Qi Shaoming said. He had been cultivating the Violet Temple Radiance for thesest two years and was deeply moved. Qi Shaoming¡¯s Phantom Clone sh was an extremely explosive technique, and the Violet Temple Radiance boosted its power. The Violet Temple Radiance had also allowed Qi Shaoming to cultivate many other explosive spell arts, so in this generation of students, he had the most explosive offensive, and few people were able tost one round against him.


    Wei Tianchong awkwardly scratched his head when he thought about how casually he had taken Tang Jie¡¯s help. However, as he studied longer, he gradually understood the advantages of the Bright Heart Art. He was now an adult in his twenties, his personality much more mature, and the Bright Heart Art made it so that he was no longer as ignorant and tactless as before. Although his mouth still sometimes got away from him, that was just part of his personality and was no hindrance to his demeanor.


    Now that they thought about it, without Tang Jie, none of them would have been able to get this far, and all of them sighed.


    ¡°I wonder how Tang Jie is doing?¡± Cai Junyang muttered.


    ¡°Won¡¯t we know once we go and see him?¡± Wei Tianchong smiled. ¡°Rx. There¡¯s no way he could have fallen behind us.¡±


    The three of themughed and talked as they made their way to the summit, where arge number of lower-year students were there to guide their senior brothers.


    The moment Wei Tianchongnded, he spotted someone in the crowd of people waiting for them, and his eyes glowed. ¡°Shi Meng!¡±


    He rushed over and embraced Shi Meng. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you in ages! Is the n doing well?¡±


    Seeing as Wei Tianchong knew to ask if others were doing well, it was clear that Wei Tianchong had achieved enormous progress.


    Shi Mengughed and said, ¡°Young Master, the n is doing very well. With thedy leading it, the Wei n is growing more prosperous by the day, and nobody dares to provoke us. Thedy is currently in the process of buying back all the stores that we sold.¡±


    ¡°What about my dad?¡±


    ¡°He spends every day fishing and raising birds, leading a very carefree life.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Wei Tianchong nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Right, how has your cultivation progress beentely?¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your concern, Young Master. I borrowed two hundred thousand spirit coins from Tang Jie and have finally managed to reach minor attainment in Hundred Refinement,¡± Shi Meng said with a smile.


    For someone of Shi Meng¡¯s aptitude and family background, reaching minor attainment was already a miracle. This was thanks to the Eight Destions Spirit Gathering Art Tang Jie had taught him.


    ¡°Not bad, not bad.¡± Wei Tianchong patted Shi Meng on the shoulder. ¡°There¡¯s no hope of bing an inner disciple, but there¡¯s still a chance at an outer disciple. Right, you¡¯re at the Mortal Shedding Realm now, so you don¡¯t need to call me Young Master.¡±


    ¡°How could that do?¡± Shi Meng hastily said. ¡°I¡¯m not Tang Jie. I swore an oath to be loyal to the Wei n for all my life.¡±


    Wei Tianchong shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t say something so silly. This sort of oath will only restrain your cultivation progress. How can someone with grand ambitions be willing to subordinate himself to another? Well, if you n to stop at Cognitive Creation, then I suppose there¡¯s no harm in being willing to be a servant. Otherwise, use this opportunity to take care of that servile attitude of yours. From now on, we can talk as brothers. It¡¯s not like doing work of the Wei n requires you to be a servant. Brothers can also do it!¡±


    Shi Meng was moved. ¡°Young Master!¡±


    He really hadn¡¯t imagined that Wei Tianchong would be so high-minded in the time they hadn¡¯t seen each other.


    Cai Junyang couldn¡¯t help but sigh in praise. ¡°A teacher¡¯s instruction is truly something else. Not only do you gain strength, but also learn how to handle people.¡±


    Two people walked over: Liu Hongyan and Ping Jingyue.


    Wei Tianchong¡¯s eyes brightened when he saw Ping Jingyue, and he immediately went up to chat. Surprisingly, Ping Jingyue didn¡¯t roll her eyes at him as she did before, instead happily chatting away with him.


    The conversation naturally turned to each other¡¯s cultivation level.


    Chatting about cultivation level when meeting was a sort of habit, like asking how much someone scored on an exam. One always wanted topare to see who was better before being willing to go in peace.


    Ping Jingyue rolled her eyes at Wei Tianchong and said, ¡°There¡¯s no way I couldpare to you guys, with all your achievements. After ten years of cultivation, I¡¯ve only just entered Mortal Shedding. Big Sister Hongyan is a little better, having entered Hundred Refinement.¡±


    Everyone sighed when they heard that Liu Hongyan had only just entered Hundred Refinement.


    In terms of aptitude, Liu Hongyan and Ping Jingyue were much stronger than Shi Meng, yet they hadn¡¯t even been able to reach his level. In truth, their progress was quite normal. The abnormal ones were Shi Meng and the rest.


    Shi Meng awkwardly said, ¡°It¡¯s because I was lucky enough to get Tang Jie¡¯s help.¡±


    Qi Shaoming exchanged nces with Wei and Cai, thinking to themselves, <em>Who here could have reached their level without Tang Jie?</em> Without Tang Jie¡¯s help, they naturally would have achieved sess, only much less.


    With this thought in mind, Cai Junyang grew somewhat impatient. ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s go and see how Tang Jie is doing.¡±


    ¡°It has been a long time since Ist saw him. Let¡¯s go!¡± Wei Tianchong and Qi Shaoming shared a nce, and then everyoneughed as they headed to the Carefree House. Even Liu Hongyan and Ping Jingyue tagged along.


    Once they were at the Carefree House and about to knock, the door opened on its own.


    Yiyi came out and smiled. ¡°Big Brother is waiting for all of you inside.¡±


    After one year, Yiyi had grown much bigger. She was wearing green clothes and had her tied into two braids.


    All of them shared a nce, surprised by how their visit had been seemingly foreseen.


    In the end, Cai Junyangughed and said, ¡°This Tang Jie¡­ He must be ying another trick on us. He must have seen us somewhere beforehand.¡±


    He led the way in.


    In the yard of the Carefree House, Tang Jie was reaping his spirit nts.


    Scythe in hand, he diligently sliced away like an old farmer rather than an Immortal, who could collect and store these spirit nts with a single raise of the hand.


    Cai Junyang heartilyughed. ¡°How can this not be an act? Has anyone seen a cultivator using a scythe to reap spirit nts?¡±


    Qi Shaoming slightly frowned. For some reason, he felt like there was a unique cadence to the way Tang Jie harvested the spirit nts, one that seemed in tune with the principles of the world.


    It was an indescribable sensation that he couldn¡¯t quite understand yet.


    Upon seeing Cai Junyang and the others, Tang Jieughed and said, ¡°Please wait a moment. I¡¯ll be done soon.¡±


    He continued harvesting, and the rest could only wait for him to be done. But Cai Junyang felt like there was a faint majesty to Tang Jie¡¯s words that made him almost want to obey him.


    A few momentster, Tang Jie finished harvesting the nts. He then took out a cloth bag. He took a seed from it and nted it in the soil at the base of the wall.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Everyone was confused by his actions.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Since we¡¯re about to leave the academy, this Carefree House that I¡¯ve lived in for ten years will have to be left for someone else. Thus, I¡¯m taking away everything I should. But I feel like I should leave something for the students whoe after us, so I¡¯ve nted a Violet Pomegranate seed here.¡±


    Liu Hongyan frowned. ¡°Violet Pomegranates prefer cool and shady ces, so they¡¯re normally nted in dark and moist ces. It will be very hard for it to grow in your yard.¡±


    Qi Shaoming immediately replied, ¡°But there are exceptions, and since it¡¯s a mortal grass, it will be a spirit nt in these circumstances and be of incredible value.¡±


    Tang Jie wiped the dust off his hands as he said, ¡°Precisely. Only by growing in an adverse environment can one be something great. The Violet Pomegranate is such a nt. I hope that this nt can remind students whoeter that they can¡¯t give up no matter how difficult things get. Consider it a message left for one¡¯s juniors by a senior.¡±


    Ping Jingyue rolled her eyes. ¡°But that Violet Pomegranate has to grow first. If it dies in the soil, then the juniors who take up residence in this ce will never know, let aloneprehend its message.¡±


    ¡°It will grow,¡± Tang Jie indifferently said. ¡°nt the cause today and harvest the fruit in the future. A day wille when it will grow and assist those in the future.¡±


    (TN: Cause, ¡°Òò¡±, and fruit, ¡°¹û¡± together make ¡°Òò¹û¡±, which means ¡°Karma¡±.)


    No one understood what he was saying, but as they were pondering it, Tang Jie walked over and said to everyone with a smile, ¡°Long time no see.¡±


    Thiste greeting woke everyone from their stupor, and they rushed up and were soon teasing each other.


    After messing around for a while, everyone stopped. Shi Meng then asked, ¡°Hurry and tell us. What¡¯s your current cultivation level?¡±


    ¡°¡®Cultivation level¡¯?¡± Tang Jie was taken aback. After thinking it over for a while, he finally said, ¡°Oh, minor attainment of the second revolution.¡±


    ¡°Only minor attainment of the second revolution?¡± Everyone looked at Tang Jie in confusion.


    Didn¡¯t Tang Jie officially enter Nine Revolutions two years ago?


    Why had he only gotten this far?


    With the resources he had, everyone would have believed it if he had said ¡°peak Mortal Shedding¡±.


    ¡°Oh, yes,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°I¡¯ve been somewhatzy thisst year and haven¡¯t really cultivated.¡±


    Everyone looked at each other and then looked in disbelief at Tang Jie.


    They didn¡¯t know that Tang Jie really wasn¡¯t lying. In thisst year, he had been seeing sights, finding people to y go with, going fishing, and even counting ants. These were trulyckadaisical days, and the number of days that were spent cultivating could be counted with his fingers.


    ¡°Then those resources¡­?¡± Wei Tianchong red.


    ¡°Ah.¡± Tang Jie dug into his ear and replied, ¡°Spent it all.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Everyone was speechless.


    But it was clear that he had no ns to say any more, so they stopped asking.


    Wei Tianchong had matured a lot in thesest two years, and knew that asking about cultivation resources was actually a great taboo that was not usually brought up in light conversation. Thus, when he saw that Tang Jie wasn¡¯t willing to talk, he decided to drop the matter. In the past, he might have refused to let Tang Jie go until he told him.


    Cai Junyang brought up the matter of Tang Jie passing down arts to them. ¡°Tang Jie, tell me the truth. My Hundred Tribtions Passage, Shaoming¡¯s Violet Temple Radiance, Tianchong¡¯s Bright Heart Art, Shi Meng¡¯s Eight Destions Spirit Gathering, and the ones learned by Senior Brothers Peng and Ye actually all came from the same text, right?¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Indeed. I split it into parts and gave them out to everyone.¡±


    ¡°So that really was the case,¡± Qi Shaoming sighed in praise. ¡°This art is truly mysterious and profound. Tang Jie, you have the entire thing, so I¡¯m sure that you have an even greater understanding.¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°But I can¡¯tpare to you guys.¡±


    Although Tang Jie cultivated theplete Ninedark Mantra, in individual aspects, he wasn¡¯t as focused as Qi Shaoming and the others. For example, using the Violet Temple Radiance, Qi Shaoming could sustain his illusions for around four seconds, but Tang Jie would have done well if he could keep it up for even one second.


    A person had limited time and energy, so it was impossible to be good at everything.


    As everyone avidly chatted, fireworks began to rise into the air.


    Tang Jie saw this and said, ¡°Come; the ceremony is about to start. It wouldn¡¯t do to bete.¡±


    Everyone headed toward the lecturing stone.


    After ten years in school, they had been to the lecturing stone countless times, but this would probably be thest time they walked this path.


    Back then, when Wei Tianchong was taking this path for the first time, he was so tired that he wasn¡¯t willing to rise, and Tang Jie had been forced to threaten him with the n discipline ruler. Ten years had passed, shooting by like an arrow, and everyone couldn¡¯t help but mncholically sigh.


    When they arrived at the lecturing stone, they saw that a great crowd of around 1200 people had gathered beneath it.


    1500 students entered the academy each year, and after ten years, 1200 remained. Today, they would go through the final andrgest elimination round.


    The worst performers and the best performers were the mostposed, for they could already predict their results. It was those who were teetering on the edge that were the most nervous.


    Shi Meng was the perfect example.


    There were undoubtedly more than a hundred students who could reach minor attainment in Hundred Refinement within Basking Moon Academy, which was why Shi Meng could seed or fail to get in.


    As he arrived in front of the lecturing stone, Shi Meng rubbed his hands and prayed, ¡°Heavens, please have mercy on me. If you allow me into the sect, I¡¯ll devote my life to cultivation!¡±


    Tang Jie saw the state he was in and patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Rx. You will be an outer disciple.¡±


    Shi Meng bitterly smiled. ¡°You¡¯re not from the Selection Hall, so how can you be so sure?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°If I say you can pass, you will pass.¡±


    His tone was calm, and Shi Meng felt a powerful confidence from him.


    Xie Fengtang soon appeared on the lecturing stone.


    He first gave an encouraging speech, and then four men with swords on their backs appeared before the crowd. Everyone knew that these were disciples of the Selection Hall.


    The Selection Hall was responsible for selecting talented individuals among the popce, rmending talents, awarding promotions, and so on. Although Basking Moon Academy was the one that educated these students, it was the Selection Hall that decided which would enter the Basking Moon Sect.


    One of the four Selection Hall disciples stepped forward and began to read out the one hundred outer disciples.


    As name after name was read out, Shi Meng tensed up.


    With each name, someone would cheer, and then they were quickly hushed. As the cheers rose and fell, various emotions appeared on the faces of the students: excitement, disappointment, unease.


    After seventy-some names had been read off, Shi Meng¡¯s name was finally read out. Shi Meng was so ecstatic that he hugged Tang Jie and shouted, ¡°I passed! Tang Jie, I passed! Starting from today, I¡¯m a disciple of the Basking Moon Sect!¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Tang Jie said with a smile.


    ¡°How did you know that I would pass?¡± Shi Meng was confused.


    Tang Jie coolly replied, ¡°Don¡¯t forget that the master of the Selection Hall is Ming Yekong.¡±


    This name was like a bolt of lightning in Shi Meng¡¯s mind, and he immediately understood.


    Given how much Ming Yekong favored Tang Jie, and Tang Jie¡¯s connection to Shi Meng, the people of the Selection Hall would naturally understand how to tter Tang Jie.


    Shi Meng sighed in relief. ¡°Now it¡¯s just Junyang.¡±


    Qi Shaoming, Wei Tianchong, and Liu Hongyan were all True Inheritors, so they didn¡¯t need one of the top ten spots. Ping Jingyue was from the Thousand Passions Sect, so it was impossible for her to enter the sect, and Tang Jie had received a rmendation and had no need for a top-ten spot. Thus, the only one to worry about was Cai Junyang.


    Of course, the worry wasn¡¯t that he couldn¡¯t get into the top one hundred, but the top ten.


    ¡°He¡¯ll get in,¡± Tang Jie said.


    Shi Meng was startled. ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± Tang Jie firmly replied.


    Shi Meng was baffled. ¡°Are you a prophet?¡±


    Even if the Selection Hall had a high chance of selecting Shi Meng because of his rtionship to Tang Jie, it was still only a possibility. Change was a constant of the world, so how could anything be set in stone? What if those Selection Hall disciples didn¡¯t know about the rtionship between Shi Meng and Tang Jie, or what if they knew but didn¡¯t care?


    But Tang Jie seemed absolutely certain that this would happen. Shi Meng couldn¡¯t help but wonder if this guy could predict the future.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a prophecy,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°It¡¯s simply karma.¡±


    Shi Meng waspletely confused.


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes unfocused, his mind going past what he could see and floating into the distance.


    A prophet could see the future.


    One who grasped Karma could influence the future.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t see the future, but he could nt the seed that could affect the future!


    The Dao of Karma was to nt the seed of cause to produce the fruit of effect.


    nting the seed today and obtaining the fruit in the future, glimpsing the secrets of the heavens!


    All that one had to pay attention to was that the more people and matters were involved, the stronger was the required Dao Will.


    Tang Jie had spent the past yearprehending his Dao Will, testing his upper limit and finding out what his Karma could do.


    Shi Meng getting selected?


    A minor trifle.


    But on the other hand, if Shi Meng didn¡¯t have the strength to be selected, producing the fruit of selection would require a stronger cause or a stronger Dao Will that could influence the will of the heavens.


    On the same principle, Cai Junyang entering the top ten only required minor interference. After all, he already had the strength for it. All Tang Jie had done was slightly adjust the scales of fortune to favor his side.


    Of course, each time he did such a thing, it would create a certain level of burden.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie had nted these seeds a year ago, so those burdens had long since passed. All that he needed to do now was harvest the fruits.


    The reading of names continued, but Tang Jie¡¯s mind waspletely elsewhere, as if none of this had anything to do with him.


    After some time, everyone finally dispersed.


    The graduation ceremony was over.


    Led by the Selection Hall disciples, all the disciples who had been selected into the Basking Moon Sect flew into the distance.


    Over there, the Basking Moon Sect was waiting for them.


    A new life was waiting for them.


    As Tang Jie flew off with everyone, he looked back.


    In his eyes, Basking Moon Academy grew smaller and smaller.


    ¡°Goodbye, Basking Moon Academy,¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    In the corner of the yard in the Carefree House, the small Violet Pomegranate seed sprouted¡­


    Ten years went by in the blink of an eye! Time for Tang Jie to go out and get a proper job!<!--


    -->

 Chapter 406

    Chapter 406: Choice


    The Zephyr Mountains.


    This was a mountainous region in the center of Sageheart. It covered an area of around ten thousand square kilometers, with more than a thousand mountains of various sizes. The tallest of them all was the principal mountain of the Zephyr Mountains, Starsnatch Peak.


    Starsnatch Peak was located in the eastern part of the Zephyr Mountains and stood 6800 meters tall. The summit was originally covered in snow throughout the year, except for a singleke known as the Moonlight Pond.


    It was said that the Water Moon True Personprehended the Dao here and ascended from the domain, leaving behind his texts for his descendants, who established the Basking Moon Sect.


    This mountain was now the primary peak of the Basking Moon Sect, and a great formation had melted the snow and ice and made it spring throughout the year. From a distance, the peak surrounded by white clouds and snowy mountains made for an impressive sight.


    Starsnatch Peak was circled by 19 mountains: the renowned 19 Star Mountains, the residences of the 19 Celestial Chiefs. Between Starsnatch Peak and the 19 Star Mountains were smaller mountains, and one of these stood out from the others. Its walls were sopletely smooth that there was no way one¡¯s feet could get any purchase on it, and it got sharper and sharper as one went up, like a sword thrusting out of the earth toward the heavens. This was the Divine Sword Mountain.


    To be more precise, this was a sword turned into a mountain: the God-Conquering Merak Sword.


    Beyond the 19 Star Mountains was a ring of three-hundred-some mountains. This was the primary mountain group, and it was where most of the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s outer disciples stayed.


    To the west of the primary mountain group was arge mountainous region dubbed the Nature Zone.


    The Nature Zone was no residential zone, but a hunting zone. There were many fiends within, and they were bred there. Compared to the fiends the students usually faced, these were much stronger, with many of them being at the Transformation Level, and there was even the possibility of some being at Divine Division.


    The Basking Moon Sect left these fiends for the specific purpose of training future generations, and they also treated them like herd animals, butchering some every year. If the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s paradise was like a family¡¯s private plot ofnd, the Zephyr Mountains¡¯ Nature Zone was grazingnd. Although it wasn¡¯t as stable as the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s paradise, it would often produce pleasant surprises.


    Of course, those fiends also had a hunger for cultivators. When cultivators were out hunting, they were also being hunted by the fiends. Each side hunted the other for what they needed, which meant that a few cultivators would die every year.


    But this was the path of cultivation. Even in an age of peace, one needed some enemies or misfortune to encourage one to constantly progress.


    In fact, from a certain perspective, the difference between peace and chaos was that the former could control those cruel and dark things while thetter hadpletely lost control of them.


    Tang Jie and the others flew toward the primary mountain group, led by the four disciples from the Selection Hall, with Wei Tianchong and Qi Shaoming acting as tour guides along the way. As True Inheritors, they knew the path to the Zephyr Mountains well. As for Liu Hongyan, she was only an appointed True Inheritor, but she had never had the chance to be formally epted, so she was not familiar with the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s main base.


    ¡°Ahead is the Wee Peak. This is where the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s main eastern gate is located, and it is also where new disciples go first to receive their assignments,¡± Wei Tianchong said as he pointed at a small mountain. ¡°Where we go next will be decided there.¡±


    ¡°¡®Where we go next¡¯?¡± Shi Meng asked.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Wei Tianchong nodded. ¡°It¡¯s where we get split into halls. I think it¡¯s better if Shaoming exins. Shaoming¡¯s teacher, True Person Hongyang, is the master of the Ritual Hall, so he understands the rules of the Basking Moon Sect the best, and the Wee Peak is under the Ritual Hall¡¯s management. He¡¯s the young master of that mountain, and we¡¯ll be arriving there soon, so everyone had best get on his good side while you can.¡±


    Qi Shaoming gave Wei Tianchong a little shove. ¡°You talk too much.¡±


    Everyoneughed.


    Qi Shaoming began to exin the process to everyone.


    Entering the Basking Moon Sect didn¡¯t mean that one could cultivate every day. Each cultivator had their own position, with missions and duties that they needed toplete. The Basking Moon Sect had 16 halls, with many subdivisions and positions.


    For this reason, the first thing new disciples needed to do was to select a hall.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean that everyone will be too busy with work to cultivate?¡± Shi Meng asked. His greatest worry was of not having enough time to cultivate. If, upon entering the Basking Moon Sect, he would still be busy with various trivial matters that left him with no time to cultivate, what was the point?


    ¡°How could that be?¡± Qi Shaomingughed. ¡°In truth, whether it¡¯s old or new disciples, everyone is free to do what they want.¡±


    As he exined more, everyone gradually began to understand.


    It turned out that the Basking Moon Sect used the contribution system that everyone was familiar with to bnce work and cultivation.


    The sect provided everything, and all living expenses were denominated in contribution points, supplemented by spirit coins. The missions issued by the various halls were the means by which one could obtain contribution points. For this reason, other than the disciples who were posted in security, disciples usually took missions from the halls they belonged to for contribution points, and for this, they only needed to guarantee that they had enough to live on.


    Basking Moon Academy¡¯s mission system was modeled on the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s system, meant for everyone to get used to it.


    The average Basking Moon disciple only needed to do missions for a month to obtain enough contribution points to pay expenses for a year.


    In other words, after one month of work, they could spend the rest of their time cultivating.


    What was there toin about with such a wonderful job?


    ¡°I see!¡± Everyone was relieved after hearing Qi Shaoming¡¯s exnation.


    The Basking Moon Sect emphasized a society where there were more people than there was work. There were more than one hundred thousand Spirit Master disciples, with around ny thousand being outer disciples and ten thousand being inner disciples. This was a hugebor force that possessed extraordinary abilities, yet there was little work to do. This extra time was used on cultivation and leisure. Even that one month of work entailed running off to some ce to handle a particrly thorny problem or battle. The actual work might not even take a day.


    But this was exactly why cultivators were willing to ept this lifestyle. Otherwise, who would be willing to make the arduous climb up if they were still running around with work once they were at the top?


    Cultivators relied on their martial strength to suck the blood of the people and fatten themselves. The Basking Moon Sect consumed countless units of manpower, resources, and tribute to be able to reach this scale.


    Thus, one was mistaken if they believed that cultivators had to rely on themselves to make money. Once they became official disciples, the spirit coins they received every month would far surpass their expenses. They were required to work primarily to restrain thezy and indolent natures of cultivators and to habituate them into following the orders of the Basking Moon Sect. Otherwise, without even a sense of organization, the sect would exist only in name.


    This was where contribution points came in. Many things in the Basking Moon Sect could not be bought with spirit coins, only contribution points. This prevented the disciples from using spirit coins to free themselves frombor. The Basking Moon Sect required experts who could diligently cultivate, but it would never have a need for experts who cared nothing for worldly matters.


    Everyone understood after listening to Qi Shaoming¡¯s exnation.


    Someone thought of something and shouted, ¡°Eh? I recall that Tang Jie got one thousand contribution points over the Stone Gate Sect matter, right? Doesn¡¯t that mean that you won¡¯t have to do anything for an entire year?¡±


    Qi Shaomingughed. ¡°You only realized now? It¡¯s not one year, but five years! If Tang Jie is willing to save a little, he might even stretch those one thousand points to six or seven years.¡±


    ¡°Contribution points are that valuable?¡± Everyone was shocked.


    ¡°That depends on how you spend them,¡± Wei Tianchong chimed in. ¡°If you only want a cave estate to hide in, the lowest-level one will cost ten contribution points a month, and if you don¡¯t hire a servant and go down the mountain yourself to buy your things, it will naturally be enough. But if you want to constantly better yourself, want to get onto higher floors or obtain the right to freely roam the sect and enjoy the various sights, then even ten thousand might not be enough.¡±


    It was from Wei Tianchong¡¯s exnation that everyone learned that many things in the Basking Moon Sect were linked to contribution points.


    Learning new spell arts? It was perfectly fine, so long as one handed over the contribution points. With enough contribution points, one could even look through the Divine Firmament Sword ssic.


    Wanted a cave estate with abundant spiritual energy? Perfectly eptable, so long as you had the contribution points. The entirety of the Zephyr Mountains was circled by a great formation that controlled not only the danger levels, but also the spiritual energy distribution. Different cave estates would vary in the amount of spiritual energy they had ess to, and there were five levels in all. The lowest level cost only 10 contribution points a month, and then 50, 100, 200, and 500. If one were willing to pay 3,000 contribution points, one could even live in the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s thousand-year paradise for a month.


    If one wanted to hear a True Person give a lecture, that took contribution points. Wanted to head to one of the sect¡¯s hidden grounds? Contribution points. Even finding a spirit field in the Basking Moon Sect to nt crops required contribution points.


    The Basking Moon Sect was veryrge, and the Basking Moon Sect was very rich, but any item or service here cost contribution points.


    If Tang Jie scrimped and saved his one thousand points, he could go several years without a problem. But if he wanted to live his life and spend, he could easily spend it all in a few days.


    The disciples all looked at each other.


    Wee Peak was close now, and Qi Shaoming said, ¡°Alright, everyone, save the chatter. When you arrive, you should watch your mouth. The representatives from each hall have already arrived. ording to the rules of the Basking Moon Sect, outer disciples aren¡¯t allowed to select their hall. Give your card to the Ritual Hall disciple, and then you follow whoever calls out your name. Remember: regardless of whether you wanted to go to that hall or not, you¡¯re not allowed to discuss it. For new people entering the sect, tact is of utmost importance.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± everyone solemnly replied.


    They arrived at Wee Peak.


    Their first sight was a golden and resplendent pce.


    In front of the pce was a square paved with gray stones edged by a fence made of jade. Farther out was a forest of pines and cypresses, and Immortal cranes flew through the air.


    On the square, several dozen Basking Moon Sect disciples in moon-white robes solemnly stood in two rows, one on each side. These were the Ritual Hall¡¯s disciples. The Ritual Hall sounded like a ce that only managed rituals and etiquette, but it was also responsible for internal order and discipline, which was a massive boost to their authority. They were like the monitor students of Basking Moon Academy, bestowed with the privilege of punishing and even arresting any disciple that broke the rules or overstepped their bounds.


    Several people stood in the center of the hall: the stewards from each hall, responsible for selecting people from this batch of new disciples. Getting one or two outstanding geniuses would be a great boon for the power of their respective halls.


    Internal conflict had always been found throughout the world.


    When Tang Jie¡¯s group arrived, they were weed by a white-robed fatty. Before even looking at the others, he bowed to Qi Shaoming and said, ¡°Zhou Jinghai pays respects to Young Master Qi and pays respects to all the other students.¡±


    Qi Shaoming coldly said, ¡°Zhou Jinghai, the Basking Moon rules say to pay respects to seniors before juniors, so why have you paid respects to me before the four senior brothers from the Selection Hall? In terms of seniority, they shoulde first! You are a prime steward of the Ritual Hall, and you stillmit such an error?¡±


    Zhou Jinghai paled, and he hastily said, ¡°Yes, yes, it was this lowly one¡¯s mistake. Senior Brothers, please forgive me.¡±


    Qi Shaoming was no Wei Tianchong. He had been cultivating under Li Hongyang thesest few years, and his talent and diligence had won him Li Hongyang¡¯s favor. This was precisely why Zhou Jinghai had chosen to tter him on his entry into the sect, but s, he had failed. Li Hongyang highly valued etiquette and ritual, and Qi Shaoming was very much a stickler for the rules, so how could he allow someone from the Ritual Hall tomit such an error? That would essentially be making himself a target for criticism. Zhou Jinghai¡¯s ttery had failed, and he was filled with remorse.


    The leading Selection Hall disciple smiled. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Our task of guiding the selected disciples is over. We must now trouble Senior Brother Zhou to take them to the various halls.¡±


    ¡°You are too polite,¡± Zhou Jinghai solemnly replied.


    He would not repeat his mistake. Turning serious, he shouted, ¡°All outer disciples, hear me! Stand in a line, and when your name is called, step forward. The rest of you,e with me!¡±


    Arge number of students got into a line and waited to be selected.


    Tang Jie and the others followed Zhou Jinghai into the pce. There were ten-some people sitting within, but they weren¡¯t as grim as those outside. Rxed and casual, they nodded and smiled at the neers.


    Once they were inside, Zhou Jinghai said, ¡°All of you are the best of the best from your Basking Moon Academy ss. Upon entry, you will officially be inner disciples, so you may choose which hall to join. But once you join a hall, you cannot change your choice without good reason, so be cautious with your selection. These are all prime stewards from the various halls. If you have any questions about the halls, you may ask them. Let me introduce you all. This is Dan Xin of the Storehouse Hall, this is Zhou Qiong of the Blood War Hall, this is Yue Chen of the Commerce Hall, this is Su Yang of the Canon Hall¡­


    He introduced every person inside the pce.


    14 people had followed Zhou Jinghai inside. Ten of them were the top ten disciples, and the remainder were Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong, Qi Shaoming, and Liu Hongyan.


    There were 18 halls and 14 students, more options than there were takers. This was why, unlike those cold voices calling names outside, the 18 prime stewards were all smiles as they introduced the advantages of their respective halls.


    Their words were truly eye-opening.


    The Basking Moon Sect had eight inner halls and eight outer halls, and they each had their own exciting points. To take the Ritual Hall for example, outsiders thought that it was just the hall that managed ritual and etiquette, but it was actually also responsible for monitoring the disciples, which gave it great authority. On the same principle, everyone believed inner halls like Storehouse, Agriculture, Formation, and Medicine were pointless, not realizing the advantages they possessed. Putting aside everything else, a pavilion near the water would be the first to obtain the moon, and many items would go through these halls first.


    One could say that the eight outer halls derived their benefits from the outside while the eight inner halls took the benefits from themselves. In short, they each had their ways.


    Of course, one couldn¡¯t talk about this out in the open, but there were many ways of hinting at it. In short, they implied that the disciples wouldn¡¯t lose out if they chose one of the inner halls.


    As an example, Dan Xin of the Storehouse Hall smiled and said, ¡°Everyone knows that the Storehouse Hall manages all the treasuries, but they don¡¯t know that we also manage the granaries, the medicine warehouses, tool warehouses, and all other storehouses. Some items, when kept too long, will inevitably be damaged and no longer usable, so they have to be thrown. But in fact, they¡¯re notpletely useless, and throwing them away is such a great pity. Which is exactly why we need disciples to strictly check on them.¡±


    While he was saying that disciples were needed to strictly check on these items, what he was actually saying was that there was fortune and wealth to be had here. Moreover, since the Storehouse Hall controlled all the important storehouses of the sect, one could say that it had ess to any kind of resource, and if one wanted a resource, one only needed to guard said storehouse. It was also a very easy job, with one only having guard duty for one month per year, and this came with a set number of contribution points. Of course, a significant number of items discarded that month would end up belonging to the disciples on guard that month.


    There were simr situations in the other halls. Even the Vanguard Hall and Blood War Hall boasted about the benefits they could provide.


    Zhou Qiong of the Blood War Hall said, ¡°The surrounding mountain regions are often tyrannized by fiends. My Blood War Hall is under the Combat Department and serves as the main force, so we naturally cannot spend every day doing nothing. When there is no war going on, we need to find those fiends and do battle with them. Battles are bound to consume a lot, and resupply will be needed, and there is also much to gain from the battlefield.¡±


    As expected of someone from the Combat Department, he was a rather blunt speaker, telling everyone that joining the Combat Department would maximize the number of times one could join teams to clean out fiends in the mountains. While this was somewhat risky, the reward wasmensurate with the risk, and there was also the logistics support and whatever could be gained from the in fiends.


    The disciples all exchanged nces.


    In truth, most of them thought of the Basking Moon Sect as a transcendent and aloof ce. Upon entering the sect, they expected a family atmosphere, and their days to be spent doing missions or cultivating, a carefree and easy life.


    It was never in their thoughts that there would be a struggle over which hall they would choose. It was like these stewards had taken them for prey, and these predators were fighting over who got the chance to eat.


    As they wondered what to do, Qi Shaomingughed and said, ¡°If everyone is finding it hard to make a decision, I will go first to set an example. My teacher is Li Hongyang, the chief of the Ritual Hall. I am an untalented disciple and cannot go anywhere else, so I will remain at the Ritual Hall.¡±


    He stood next to Zhou Jinghai.


    Liu Hongyan spoke next. ¡°True Person Yuliu took me as a disciple, so I will join the Law Hall.¡±


    She stood next to the prime steward from the Law Hall.


    Wei Tianchong scratched his head and said, ¡°My master told me differently. He said that it will be hard to grow next to a tall tree and wanted me to select a hall on my own, but it had to be one of the eight outer halls, as only then would I have a chance to do battle outside. Moreover, I could select any of them except the Service Hall.¡±


    Everyone was speechless. Sure enough, a favored disciple was treatedpletely differently from an unfavored disciple.


    But a disciple like Wei Tianchong truly needed to be tempered in the outside world.


    After some thought, Wei Tianchong said, ¡°I choose the Tribute Hall.¡±


    Three people had made their choice, so the other disciples stopped standing on ceremony and began to make their own choices.


    Cai Junyang chose the Vanguard Hall, one of the three halls under the Combat Department and also the most dangerous of thebat halls. The Vanguard Hall led the charge in every battle, so they received the greatest monthly allocation. It wasn¡¯t strange that he would choose this hall, given his personality, as it was only here that he could use the Hundred Tribtions Passage Tang Jie had given him.


    Li Yunfan, an outstanding student of the same ss, chose the Service Hall. It was also a hall that experienced frequentbat, but it had more freedom.


    Heng Wei, the student who was famed for his formidable defense, went to the Selection Hall.


    The elite students of this ss of Basking Moon Academy had soon made their choices. Only Tang Jie was left.


    This was the most outstanding student of his ss, with a rmendation from Ming Yekong. Everyone was anxious to see where he went.


    Zhou Qiong of the Blood War Hall couldn¡¯t help but shout, ¡°Tang Jie, join my Blood War Hall. I¡¯ll give you a squad and give you hunting privileges in the Zephyr Mountains!¡±


    A neer bing a squad captain was extremely rare.


    Another person said, ¡°I¡¯ve heard that Tang Jie is skilled in formations, so you should join my Formation Hall to study formations. Tang Jie, don¡¯t underestimate my hall. Researching formations costs a lot of resources, and only my Formation Hall can provide them.¡±


    ¡°Then it would be better to join my Medicine Hall. Only with resources can one have cultivation level, and with cultivation level, one can have everything!¡± a white-bearded man proudly said. Surprisingly, nobody spoke up after him. After all, the Medicine Hall had the vast majority of the top-ss medicines in Sageheart, so offending him would make one¡¯s life very ufortable.


    As everyone was talking up their halls, Tang Jie suddenly chuckled and said, ¡°This one appreciates everyone¡¯s kindness, but I have already made up my mind. I choose¡­¡±


    Everyone stared at Tang Jie.


    ¡°The Secret Hall!¡±


    Secret Agent Tang Jie,ing through!<!--


    -->

 Chapter 407

    Chapter 407: Secret Hall


    The Secret Hall was the most mysterious and most feared hall in the Basking Moon Sect.


    In the Basking Moon Sect, the Secret Hall was primarily responsible for monitoring Sageheart, which included finding spies, defending against external enemies, and even gathering intelligence. At times, they would also nt their people on the outside. From a certain perspective, it wasparable to modern spy organizations, though it was invested with even more authority and covered a broader range of activities.


    The Secret Hall and Search Hall together formed the defense that maintained Sageheart¡¯s peace. While the Search Hall was aimed at outsiders and gathered intelligence, the Secret Hall was aimed inward, and besides intelligence, it also performed operations. As the two halls were simr in nature, they often worked together.


    This was a hall that could reach both inside and outside, and it was a hall that everyone feared. It was also one of the least popr halls, for while it had great authority, it also had the least corruption.


    Other than the Search Hall, the hall people hated to be visited by the most was the Secret Hall.


    No one had expected Tang Jie to choose the Secret Hall¡ªnot even the prime steward from the Secret Hall, who was in a daze.


    His name was Zhao Zheng, and he looked like a well-behaved peasant. When he heard Tang Jie¡¯s choice, his eyes shed with a sharp light.


    He took several steps forward and said, ¡°It is good fortune for my Secret Hall that Tang Jie is willing to enter the Secret Hall. Zhao Zheng represents the Secret Hall in weing you!¡±


    With these words, the selection was done.


    The old man from the Medicine Hall stomped his feet and sighed, ¡°I can¡¯t believe Xu Baibing gets this one.¡±


    Xu Baibing was the chief of the Secret Hall, and it was only this old man who dared to use his old age to call the man by his name.


    Everyone else saw that things were settled, so they came forward to congratte Zhao Zheng.


    After selecting the hall came selecting a cave estate.


    The primary mountain group of the Zephyr Mountains had more than 300 mountains. 18 of them were Hall Mountains, where the halls were based, so one could not have an estate there. 64 were True Mountains, where the more than 400 Celestial Heart True Persons outside of the 19 Celestial Chiefs resided, and only they could establish estates there. There were also 6 mountains with special functions where establishing an estate was banned.


    Thus, Basking Moon disciples primarily had cave estates in the remaining 200 peaks.


    A Ritual Hall disciple took out a six-edged crystal and projected an image of the estates on these more than 200 mountains. The red lights were inhabited while the white ones were empty.


    Each cave had a number which indicated the level and corresponding price of the cave estate.


    Other than spiritual energy concentration, geography, environment, and size also yed a role in the level of a cave estate. Tang Jie saw a cave estate that was located at the highest point of a mountain, at thend nexus. It had amanding view of the surroundings, was easy to defend, and stood at a point where spiritual energy concentrated. Its court was also quiet and secluded, and its area was ten times that of the Carefree House. It was truly an excellent location for cultivation.


    s, everyone knew that this was a good ce, so it was a Level 1 cave estate, with each month costing 500 contribution points. This was why it was vacant.


    The Basking Moon students had only just joined the sect, so everyone was given ten contribution points, with the elite students getting twenty contribution points¡ªenough to rent a low-level cave estate.


    But there were differences among the students. Wei Tianchong, Qi Shaoming, and the others who had joined in the Stone Gate Sect operation, while not having received as many contribution points as Tang Jie, had 100 points each, so they were able to choose somewhat better cave estates. This made the likes of Li Yunfan and Heng Wei green with envy.


    As everyone was browsing, Zhao Zheng suddenly walked up to Tang Jie and said, ¡°Lotus Peak, Embroidery Mountain, Thousand Mound Peak, Immortal Spring Peak¡­ The nine mountains on this side all belong to the Secret Hall.¡±


    Tang Jie curiously asked, ¡°Do we not just pick one? Why are they also divided up into territories?¡±


    Zhao Zheng chuckled. ¡°There are truly no written rules regarding the cave estates, but that doesn¡¯t mean that there are no unwritten ones.¡±


    Tang Jie understood.


    Rejecting outsiders was human nature, and from the moment a disciple chose a hall, they had chosen a faction. Even if those above didn¡¯t care, the people below would not ept a chaotic situation where they had to mix with outsiders, instead forming organizations and marking territory so that their groups would be more united.


    Sure enough, as Tang Jie looked around, he saw that the stewards from the other halls were telling their disciples to be careful with their choice and not think that they could pick from any of the 200 mountains. The Law Hall and Canon Hall had always been somewhat at loggerheads, so if a Law Hall disciple chose a Canon Hall mountain, they would be in for a very interesting time.


    Not only that, there was also a difference between disciples and outer disciples. The upper half of a mountain was forbidden to outer disciples, even if one gathered enough contribution points. Of course, if one managed to reach Cognitive Creation or attain a great achievement, an outer disciple could be promoted to a disciple and thus get this privilege.


    A dynamic sect would not cut off the path between the lower and upper sses. Thus, outside of Basking Moon Academy, the Basking Moon Sect had left a promotion path within the sect, but promoting through these channels would naturally be more costly and difficult than going through the academy.


    With their seniors¡¯ warning, no one made a mistake. After looking around, Tang Jie chose a cave estate on Immortal Spring Peak. It was located on the summit, where the spring flowed, trees were abundant, the view was gorgeous, and the spiritual energy was abundant. It was a Level 3 cave estate and cost one hundred contribution points a month.


    Zhao Zheng saw the ce he had chosen and praised, ¡°It¡¯s a good ce.¡±


    Tang Jie awkwardly said, ¡°I didn¡¯t want to pick that good a ce at first, but when I saw how open the view was, I couldn¡¯t help myself.¡±


    The cave estate he had chosen had an excellent position. From there, he could see the majority of the surrounding region, which was perfect for observing with his Celestial Eye. Thus, even though Tang Jie wanted to be inconspicuous, he still couldn¡¯t miss out on this excellent observation point.


    The other disciples had also finished picking. After exchanging cave estate locations, they followed their respective hall stewards, bidding farewell to each other.


    Tang Jie patted Wei Tianchong on the shoulder. ¡°Take care of yourself.¡±


    Wei Tianchong grinned. ¡°Rx. I¡¯m more familiar with this ce than you. If you need something,e to find me at Sunwatch Peak. Haaa, Master didn¡¯t let me enter the Service Hall, but I still have to live on Sunwatch Peak. I¡¯m so unlucky.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll do that.¡±


    After saying goodbye to Wei Tianchong and the others, Tang Jie followed Zhao Zheng from the Wee Peak to the Mountain of Heavenly Secrets.


    The Mountain of Heavenly Secrets was the base of the Secret Hall, and it was where the disciples under the Secret Hall handled administrative matters.


    While flying, Zhao Zheng exined to Tang Jie the internal structure of the Secret Hall.


    First was the hall master, Xu Baibing. He was a peak Celestial Heart cultivator who normally lived on the 19 Star Peaks. Just like Feng Hongluan, he rarely actually did any work. In truth, the hall masters were mostly like this, there for show and very rarely doing any actual management. Their primary purpose was to serve as an anchor, and they were doing their job so long as they could intimidate any potential foes while cultivating.


    Second to the hall master were the two deputy hall masters.


    The first deputy hall master was Chang Tianshui, and the second deputy hall master was Zhu Rongcheng.


    They were both at peak Celestial Heart, but their strength was inferior to the 19 Celestial Chiefs¡¯. Even so, they were people who could firmly hold onto a minor sect.


    Outside of the hall master and the deputy hall masters, the ones with the highest status were the chambeins.


    All chambeins were Celestial Heart True Persons, and they had all been through the Heart Demon Period. In other words, only those Celestial Heart True Persons at the middle tier could be appointed.


    Beneath the chambeins were the stewards. True Persons at the Heart Demon Period or below and very senior peak Mortal Shedding experts could be appointed to this position.


    Zhao Zheng was at the first tier of Celestial Heart, while that elder from the Medicine Hall had been at peak Mortal Shedding. However, he had been around for a sufficiently long time and belonged to that category of people who had no hope of reaching Celestial Heart and were simply waiting around for their deaths.


    Beneath stewards were servants and adjutants.


    Servants were the most basic disciples entrusted with missions, and adjutants were like squad captains. Normally, only those at peak Mortal Shedding were appointed to this position.


    In truth, the halls all had the same basic structure. The ones that differed the most were probably the three halls under the Combat Department. They had the most people, and they also had more ranks.


    Tang Jie, as a neer, had to start as a lowly servant disciple.


    Fortunately, cultivators spent most of their energy on cultivating and their statuses meant little. At most, it was just a matter of how much they received as a monthly sry and who was the leader in team operations. If one was moving alone, then one¡¯s status was meaningless.


    Zhao Zheng led Tang Jie to the Mountain of Heavenly Secrets and first arranged for his identity card. This was like the student cards, his proof of identity that would allow him to go in and out, and it also recorded his contribution points. Tang Jie¡¯s card already had one thousand contribution points. Unlike other disciples, he had no need to take a mission on his first month in order to ensure his livelihood.


    ¡°Starting from now, you are a servant disciple under my Secret Hall. Every month, you can withdraw three thousand spirit coins.¡± Looking at Tang Jie, Zhao Zheng smiled. ¡°Originally, I should be taking you to see the hall masters and chambeins, but we cultivators have veryckadaisical personalities, and all we think about every day is cultivating. Not wanting to be disturbed, we aren¡¯t very willing to meet people. Thus, in this hall, it is verymon to go many years without seeing the hall master. While there¡¯s an organization, there¡¯s no soul to it. Please don¡¯t mind it too much.¡±


    Tang Jie was rmed by this line about the organization having no soul to it, almost believing that this guy had also transmigrated. But he realized that while this was a more modern-day mindset, it also fit the situation, so this was probably a sincere assessment. He smiled and asked, ¡°Are the other halls like this?¡±


    Zhao Zheng stroked his chin. ¡°Oh, the Combat Department¡¯s three halls are an exception. Those people have higher requirements, and they havebat formations that require training, and they also need to mobilize often for group operations. In addition, the inner halls have more frequent rotations so that everyone can get familiar with each other. The Secret Hall is different. We only have a few fixed positions, and we have few people¡ªthree-thousand-some people if you consider disciples and outer disciples¡ªso rotations aren¡¯t really possible. Thus, we just make everything a mission and let whoever wants to do it take the mission.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°I see. That¡¯s pretty carefree.¡±


    Zhao Zhengughed. ¡°Of course, there are also times when there are problems, and if weck manpower, we have to use a little force. At those times, you had better not use cultivation as an excuse to not participate.¡±


    Tang Jie firmly replied, ¡°This disciple understands!¡±


    ¡°Then go and take a look around. If you have any questions, you cane and ask me,¡± Zhao Zheng said.


    Tang Jie epted the order and began to stroll around the Mountain of Heavenly Secrets.


    The core of the Mountain of Heavenly Secrets was the central hall, which was where missions were assigned. Behind the hall was a small hall called the Hall of Profundity. This was where intelligence was handled and missions were issued. All missions came from here.


    There were also halls on the sides: the pill house, the tool refining house, the formation chamber, and the talisman-making hall. These ces had nothing to do with the Medicine Hall or Formation Hall; they had been established by the hall itself to give disciples who were talented in these aspects a ce to practice. In addition, they could also produce basic products here, saving them from having to seek out the corresponding four inner halls.


    Behind the Hall of Profundity was a small pavilion where cultivation texts were stored, also separately established by the Secret Hall.


    In short, the Secret Hall was like its own small sect, with everything a sect was expected to have, even its own blessednd¡ªthere was a small four-hundred-year blessednd beneath the Mountain of Heavenly Secrets, and it was said that the two deputy hall masters resided there.


    After making a circle of the ce and getting a basic understanding of how the Secret Hall wasid out, Tang Jie returned to Zhao Zheng. Zhao Zheng exchanged some words with him and gave him some reminders before telling him that he could go back. Now that he had finished guiding the new disciple, Zhao Zheng went to turn in his mission for contribution points, after which he returned to his cave estate to cultivate, with no telling when he would next emerge.


    This was how rtionships between cultivators were. They spent the vast majority of their time alone, quietly cultivating or quietly carrying out missions. For this reason, you would never know when someone abruptly left. After a very long time, you might bring up some person in a conversation and only then find out that he had died one hundred years ago.


    This was the life of a cultivator.


    The thought made Tang Jie inexplicably emotional.


    After saying goodbye to Zhao Zheng, Tang Jie flew to Immortal Spring Peak.


    Upon arriving at the cave estate he had chosen, he looked up at the words written on the signboard:


    ¡°Spirit Realm Cave.¡±


    ¡°Spirit Realm Cave¡­ No doubting that this was the realm of spirits, but the mortal heart misses home¡­ Spring hase, peach blossoms drifting across the water, and no longer can one tell from where the Immortal spring flows.¡± Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but mutter a passage from Wang Wei¡¯s ¡°Journey to the Peach Blossom Spring¡±. He nodded and said, ¡°Not bad!¡±


    (TN: Wang Wei was a Tang Dynasty poet, and ¡°Journey to the Peach Blossom Spring¡± is a poem adaptation of a Jin Dynasty story of how a fisherman inadvertentlyes upon the utopic Peach Blossom Spring. However, the fisherman ultimately decides to leave the utopia, as he misses his hometown, thinking that he can find his way back, but he eventually realizes that he can no longer find it.)


    In front of the Spirit Realm Cave was a barrier of white light. This was the seal of a formation.


    Tang Jie presented his jade identity card to the barrier. The barrier scanned the card and then disappeared. At the same time, one hundred points were subtracted from the card.


    Upon entering the cave, Tang Jie found that the environment truly was excellent. The entire cave estate was clean and spotless thanks to a dust washing formation. The area was spacious and abundant with spiritual energy, much better than what could be found at Basking Moon Academy.


    Even more rare was that there was actually a small spirit field in the cave, awash in sunlight. A gurgling stream flowed from the distance, passing by the spirit field. The spirit field came with the cave estate, with no need to pay an additional fee. But getting any more spirit fields would require purchasing them from the Agriculture Hall, and one would need to hire someone to farm them.


    But for Tang Jie, this small spirit field was enough.


    He immediately took out a de-like nt.


    This was a nt that had grown from his beans. It was half a meter high and appeared like a saw, covered with sharp teeth. Tang Jie had needed quite some time to dig it out, as it had an intense self-protective instinct, constantly extending its thorn-like teeth from its roots to stop Tang Jie from digging it out. Of course, it couldn¡¯t escape from Tang Jie¡¯s demonic hand.


    As he was about to nt the bean stalk, Tang Jie said, ¡°We¡¯re at our new home, so I trust that you won¡¯t throw a tantrum while I¡¯m trying to nt you.¡±


    Sure enough, the nt obediently allowed Tang Jie to nt it.


    After nting the bean, Tang Jie began to take out other things and arrange them, and he was soon done moving into this cave estate.


    The Spirit Realm Cave had a protective formation on the outside and its own little world within it. In its depths was arge stone with a gentle air. This was a rare Art Stone, which was a perfect ce to cultivate.


    Once he was done moving in, Tang Jie made an excursion out of the mountains to pick up Yiyi and Shi Jingzhai and bring them back to his cave. With his identity card, he could now freely bring in others.


    Starting from today, Tang Jie resumed his past life. As he already had some contribution points, he didn¡¯t need to rush toplete missions like others, and he spent every day cultivating in the mountains.


    In this period, Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng came to see him several times. Shi Meng had entered the Storehouse Hall and was charged with managing the storehouses. This was a good thing for him. He was never good inbat, and in the inner halls, he could do some shift work, which was safe and worry-free. This was somewhatcking in ambition, for without a chance at opportunities, it would be difficult to make it far, but it was safe and steady. In truth, many people in the Basking Moon Sect took this path. When they believed that they had few future prospects, they would choose this path to ensure they had a safe life. On the contrary, it was those disciples with some future prospect who energetically advanced and often died along the way.


    Peng Yaolong and Bei Canghan also paid a visit, both to congratte him on his graduation and to leave behind their addresses so they could stay in touch. While the halls vied against each other, that was no reason they couldn¡¯t be friends.


    Life became simple and easy.


    But within the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, things were the exact opposite.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    ¡°RAAAAA!!!¡±


    Tang Jie let out a heaven-shaking roar as he punched at the sky.


    The gale from his punch had the entire world quaking in fear.


    An enormous hand came down from the heavens and pped down that steely fist.


    The collision had Tang Jie¡¯s nearly ten-meter-tall body tumbling from the sky like a doll,nding in arge crater.


    ¡°Tang Jie, it¡¯s useless. You¡¯re no match for me!¡±


    He Chong bellowed from the sky.


    His body shed with golden light, like a divine suit of golden armor. He slowly drew back his right hand, and the giant palm it had manifested disappeared.


    Tang Jie turned over and stood up. Wiping the bloodstain from the corner of his mouth, he smiled. ¡°Is that so? Then why do you seem afraid of me?¡±


    He Chong froze, and his body trembled.


    Tang Jie was right. He truly was afraid.


    He had been imprisoned in the Nine Executions Immortal Formation with Tang Jie for six years now.


    In these six years, he had seen Tang Jie¡¯s strength soar with his own eyes, going from someone who didn¡¯t even have the right to challenge him to someone who could at least run with his tail behind his legs, then to someone who used the Duplication spell to constantly challenge him, and now, he was someone who dared to directly challenge him!


    Although he was still no match for him, He Chong no longer found it easy to kill him. That giant palm just now had taken all his strength, but it

 Chapter 408

    Chapter 408: Giving Lessons


    Three months went by in the blink of an eye.


    Tang Jie had devoted his time to cultivation, but progress had been extremely slow.


    When a cultivator entered Nine Revolutions, every step became extremely difficult. If one had to differentiate them, it would probably be like this:


    Before Mortal Shedding, one could seed no matter how one cultivated. The only difference was speed. At Hundred Refinement, one might need as much as ten years, but at least medicines could speed up the process. At Nine Revolutions, even medicines were no longer enough. Even a once-in-a-millennium genius would need a few years to seed. Those whocked aptitude often spent decades without sess. But so long as one was willing to spend the time, Nine Revolutions could still be gotten through.


    At Cognitive Creation, things changed again. At this step, there was now a chance of failing in cultivation. Although the chance of failing Cognitive Creation wasn¡¯t too great, at least 20% of people who attempted Cognitive Creation failed every year. After Cognitive Creation was the Three Withering Tribtions, where the failure rate jumped to 40%. After two rounds of elimination, only half were left who could reach the peak. But this checkpoint was the charge at Celestial Heart, and the chance of failure here was 60%. Thus, those who could enter Celestial Heart represented around 30% of the starting number.


    But this was only in theory. In reality, it was impossible to reach these numbers.


    This was because, before Celestial Heart, there was still a chance to try again after failure, though the chances of sess would be lower. But starting from the charge at Celestial Heart, one¡¯s life was at stake, particrly at the Heart Demon and Violet Pce thresholds. There was danger everywhere, and the smallest mistake might lead to death in soul and body. For this reason, not everyone dared to charge at the Celestial Heart Realm. Many cultivators chose to stop at the peak of the Mortal Shedding Realm.


    This was why there were more than ten thousand Mortal Shedding cultivators and only several hundred Celestial Heart cultivators.


    Those who dared to risk their lives in the pursuit of the Immortal path were limited in number, and there had always been a significant number of True Persons in the major sects who failed to reach higher realms and died in the process.


    The Basking Moon Sect practiced the proper and orthodox path, so it had many arts to defend against Heart Demons. This meant that the danger of the Heart Demon Period was less than it was for other sects, which was why it had many middle-tier Celestial Heart cultivators. This also provided a solid foundation for a True Lord, but even then, the Basking Moon Sect had only four True Lords, the same as Godhead Pce. Ming Yekong was still in the process of bing a True Lord, and there was no predicting what the result would be.


    The Immortal path had always been this difficult. Even Tang Jie had to remind himself that just having the hidden realm didn¡¯t mean that his path would be clear and smooth. This was only the beginning.


    Today, after cultivating for a while, he suddenly heard someone outside his cave shout, ¡°Is Junior Brother Tang present?¡±


    Leaving his cave, he saw a young man standing outside. Tang Jie recalled that his name was Wang Yong. He had entered the sect 15 years ago and was on his fourth revolution. As he lived nearby, Tang Jie had once paid a visit to introduce himself, so they could be considered acquaintances.


    Seeing that it was Wang Yong, Tang Jie opened the formation and weed him inside. ¡°Why are you so free toe and find me today?¡±


    Wang Yong smiled. ¡°Hall Master Chang is holding a lecture today, so I¡¯vee to invite you over.¡±


    ¡°Hall Master Chang is giving a lesson?¡± Tang Jie was startled, and then he realized that he was referring to Deputy Hall Master Chang Tianshui.


    Lectures were amon urrence in the Basking Moon Sect. After disciples graduated from the academy, if they had problems and no master to guide them, they could only rely on lectures to resolve their questions. Of course, these lectures weren¡¯t free. They also cost contribution points.


    The lecturer had to get the Instruction Hall¡¯s approval to start lecturing, and one had to at least be a steward. Things would be a mess if anyone could lecture.


    This was a means by which high-level cultivators could obtain contribution points. A normal ss only needed to charge ten points per person and get one hundred attendees to obtain one thousand contribution points. The Basking Moon Sect and the Instruction Hall had to take their cut, leaving the lecturer with forty percent, which was four hundred contribution points. It was much more convenient than going out on missions and also allowed one to keep their dignity.


    Of course, they could charge higher prices, but higher prices might mean a smaller audience and a drop in revenue. Thus, the actual bncing of these two depended on the individual. The normal price was 10 contribution points, but things were different when it came to the 19 Celestial Chiefs. They could charge from 20 to 100 points, but there was really no putting a price on this sort of thing, as the Celestial Chiefs were not wont to actually give lectures.


    Chang Tianshui was the first deputy hall master of the Secret Hall, and considering that Xu Baibing hardly concerned himself with hall matters, he was essentially the true master of the Secret Hall. This person held a lecture every year, both to instruct his hall¡¯s disciples and to give everyone a chance to get to know him. As for contribution points, someone of his stature cared little about such things.


    For this very reason, his lectures were rather important events. Of course, Tang Jie could decide to not go, though this wasn¡¯t very likely given his personality.


    Thus, when Tang Jie heard Wang Yong say this, he quickly gave his thanks. ¡°Senior Brother, thank you for the reminder. I will go over now.¡±


    Changing his clothes, Tang Jie headed with Wang Yong to the Mountain of Heavenly Secrets.


    When he arrived, he saw that several dozen people had gathered at the square in front of the Hall of Heavenly Secrets. Near the hall gate was a table, which was where the lecturer would be.


    He was bbergasted and asked Wang Yong, ¡°Why so few?¡±


    Wang Yong replied, ¡°Because he¡¯s instructing neers, Hall Master Tang normally only lectures on Nine Revolutions.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Tang Jie understood.


    It turned out that the contents were limited, which limited the audience. And there would also be some people who would receive the news at an inopportune time and not be able toe. But it appeared that Hall Master Chang wasn¡¯t a particrly arrogant person. Otherwise, everyone would have been at his beck and call, and when he gave a lecture, he could summon all three thousand disciples of the Secret Hall.


    With this thought in mind, Tang Jie developed a good impression of Hall Master Chang.


    He found a ce to sit with Wang Yong, and a disciple came over and took ten contribution points from them each. When the appointed time for the lecture arrived, someone walked out of the hall. He had a youthful face and a long beard, and his body was shockingly tall andrge. He even wore a simple tall crown on his head that made him appear even taller.


    This was Chang Tianshui.


    As Tang Jie wanted to remember him, he took a few extra looks. Chang Tianshui sensed this and turned to Tang Jie. His gaze was so cold that he immediately felt like he had been dropped into an ice house. No, even a real ice house wouldn¡¯t make Tang Jie feel cold, but Chang Tianshui¡¯s single nce seemed to drain him of any resistance. He began to involuntarily shiver, and in a sh, ayer of frost appeared on his face.


    Fortunately, Chang Tianshui noticed something and suddenly chuckled. Thisughter was like a gust of spring wind, thawing the frost and freeing Tang Jie from that endless cold, but his heart still shivered. Neither Xie Fengtang nor He Chong had ever possessed such an intense will. This could only mean that this person was even stronger than those two.


    As for Ming Yekong and Feng Hongluan, they had already cultivated to the level where they could restrain their energy, having achieved the state of returned simplicity, so this sort of thing normally didn¡¯t happen with them.


    Chang Tianshui sat behind the table and began to speak. ¡°People normally say that cultivation begins at Spirit tform, but for me, cultivation begins at Nine Revolutions. The principle of Nine Revolutions is like a nt burrowing its roots into the soil. What is cultivated is the foundation, which is why it is of utmost importance and one must proceed with caution¡­¡±


    This person didn¡¯t mince words, immediately starting his lecture on various matters concerning the Nine Revolutions.


    In terms of lecture quality, this person was actually worse than the lecturers back at the academy,pletely failing to understand the concept of simplifyingplicated subjects. But he was at the peak of Celestial Heart, so he knew far more than an average lecturer. For example, when it came to problems that could crop up now but not show their effects untilter, a lecturer might not know whereas Chang Tianshui would possess a clear understanding.


    To prevent the path from getting narrower and narrower, one needed to work on these small details to eliminate all potential problems.


    As Tang Jie listened, hepared it to what Xie Fengtang had taught him. There were some things that Xie Fengtang had talked about, but also some things that he had missed or did not know. Byparing the two, Tang Jie gained a better understanding of what was important and unimportant.


    Chang Tianshui spoke for an hour, and Tang Jie felt greatly enriched. He had originally nned to just spend ten contribution points to get to know his elder, but now, he felt like the price had been too cheap. Any wandering cultivator would be able to make incredible progress if they had ess to this lecture.


    Now that Chang Tianshui was done lecturing, he gave everyone a chance to ask questions, and once he was done addressing their problems, he left.


    As they watched Chang Tianshui leave, Wang Yong smiled at Tang Jie and asked, ¡°What did you think?¡±


    Tang Jie sincerely said, ¡°It was sublime. While I was at Basking Moon Academy, I also received instruction from a True Person. At the time, I thought it was enough. Today, I discovered that there are different kinds of cultivation and different kinds of insights. If one wants to improve, one must seek out talented people of all sorts. Starting from today, if there is a True Person holding a ss, I wille and listen.¡±


    Tang Jie paused for a moment, and then he suddenly bowed to Wang Yong. ¡°Thank you for the advice, Senior Brother!¡±


    Wang Yongughed. ¡°Don¡¯t go thinking it¡¯s that simple. You think everyone is like Hall Master Chang? It¡¯s not like everyone will be so generous and so unreserved in their lectures.¡±


    Wang Yong exined to Tang Jie that lecturing was its own art. The Basking Moon Sect was a mighty major sect, so there were all sorts of people mingling within it, and there were always some people who didn¡¯t teach sincerely, only teaching things that everyone already knew.


    Trying toprehend anything from people like them wasn¡¯t something that could be done in just one or two sses, but many sses. No matter how adept True Persons were at hiding their strength, it was impossible for them to say exactly the same thing in every ss. There would always be a moment when they divulged something useful, and it was in these rare moments where disciples could learn the tricks of the trade.


    The Instruction Hall had banned the use of sound copying spells in sses precisely to give disciples this opportunity.


    Moreover, as disciples attended more lectures, perhaps they could be friendly enough with the lecturer to be taught something useful.


    It was precisely through this umtive process that everyone could get something of true value.


    Tang Jie was deeply affected by these words. ¡°I thought I was done with sses after graduating from Basking Moon Academy, so why does the Basking Moon Sect feel like a bigger academy?¡±


    Wang Yongughed. ¡°Cultivation is everywhere, with no difference between academy and sect. Junior Brother, you¡¯re constraining yourself too much.¡±


    Tang Jie sternly replied, ¡°I truly have been sticking to the rules too much.¡±


    Since he had decided to listen to more sses, he could no longer spend all his time cultivating in his cave. Ten contribution points per ss didn¡¯t seem like a lot, but it would be quite a lot if he chose to listen to every ss.


    Tang Jie now realized why the Basking Moon Sect was this way. In the end, it was to force everyone to make contribution points, which meant working for the Basking Moon Sect. He couldn¡¯t help but chuckle, ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, what are we still waiting for? Let¡¯s go inside the hall and take a look around.¡±


    The central hall was where the Secret Hall issued its missions. Tang Jie had been in the Basking Moon Sect for three months, but he had yet to actually step inside. Now, together with Wang Yong, he entered the hall. Inside, a hexagonal crystal floated in the air, slowly turning. From time to time, rows of words would go across it. These were the various missions the Secret Hall had avable, each with its own description and contribution point value.


    Wang Yong exined to Tang Jie that there were generally two kinds of missions in the Secret Hall. The first were hall missions, which were missions that came from the hall. The other kind were private missions, which were missions that individual cultivators wouldmission to the Secret Hall for others to do for them for contribution points.


    There was another kind of mission, which were missions from other halls. In special circumstances, the assistance of people from another hall was needed, and those missions would also be posted here.


    As Tang Jie and Wang Yong were looking for a mission they found interesting, an old man came over from nearby.


    The old man was shriveled and wrinkled like a persimmon. Wang Yong bowed when he saw this person. ¡°Disciple Wang Yong pays respects to Steward Yu!¡±


    Hearing this, Tang Jie bowed as well.


    This old man Yu nodded and thinly smiled. ¡°There¡¯s no need for all this courtesy. When Hall Master Chang was giving his lecture just now, I saw how entranced you were. It was clear that youprehended some insight from it. Not bad, not bad. It just happens that I will be holding my own lecture in three days. Given how sharp the two of you are, I think you might as welle and listen.¡±


    Wang Yong grimaced. ¡°Senior Yu, this disciple¡­¡±


    Elder Yu¡¯s face darkened. ¡°What? Are you looking down on this Yu Yan? Or do you think that my four hundred years of experience don¡¯t contain anything useful to teach?¡±


    Wang Yong was scared out of his wits. ¡°This disciple would not dare!¡±


    Elder Yu snorted. ¡°This old man has a high opinion of you two. You had best not refuse my favor!¡±


    With a wave of his sleeve, he walked away.


    Wang Yong helplessly sighed as the old man left. ¡°Haaa, how unfortunate. Why did we have to catch his attention?¡±


    Tang Jie saw how aggrieved he was and asked, ¡°Senior Brother, isn¡¯t being invited to hear a lecture a good thing? Why is it¡­¡±


    ¡°Haaa!¡± Wang Yong sighed. ¡°Did you remember what I told you? There are always some people¡­¡±


    Tang Jie had a sh of insight, and he whispered, ¡°There are always some people who don¡¯t sincerely lecture? Keeping all the real information for themselves?¡±


    Wang Yong nodded. Moving up to Tang Jie¡¯s ear, he whispered, ¡°That¡¯s how Yu Yan is. While he talks up how he¡¯s cultivated for more than four hundred years, he¡¯s only at peak Mortal Shedding, with no hope of reaching Celestial Heart. But he still boasts about his little ability like he¡¯s a bigshot.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s very normal. Only the poor try their best to turn a single coin into more. The more capable a person is, the less seriously they consider their abilities.¡±


    Wang Yong dropped his hand and said, ¡°The problem is that this old man not only has mediocre lectures, he wants nothing more than to swindle everyone out of their contribution points. If people don¡¯t want to hear his lectures, he uses his seniority to force them toe! And not only that, his sses are very expensive: one lecture for twenty contribution points. It¡¯s ckhearted to the extreme!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s expression darkened.


    What sort of joke was this?


    Contribution points weren¡¯t that easy toe by in the Basking Moon Sect.


    He had already looked through some missions, and a simpler mission would give ten to twenty contribution points, with more difficult ones resulting in around one hundred. For example, there was a mission to chase a spy from the Beast Refining Gate. That spy had been exposed and was in the middle of fleeing. If the spy were caught alive, one could get one hundred and fifty contribution points, or seventy if he were killed.


    All that was known was that the spy was in the Jade Cliffs area. His exact location was not known, and the disciples would have to rely on themselves to find the person. Such a troublesome matter was only worth seventy to one hundred and fifty contribution points! This was an indicator of how valuable contribution points were.


    If it were someone like Chang Tianshui lecturing, let alone ten, Tang Jie would even be willing to pay one hundred. But for that ipetent old man to take twenty? That was highway robbery!


    Tang Jie sternly said, ¡°He invited me, so I have to go? Then what if I don¡¯t go?¡±


    Wang Yong immediately said, ¡°Ugh, if he invited you, do you think he won¡¯t remember you? It¡¯s one thing if you go, but if you don¡¯t, that¡¯s not giving him face. While that old man doesn¡¯t have much ability, he¡¯s managed to use his seniority to get himself a steward post. And stewards can assign missions to you. If you offend him, he¡¯ll y a few tricks to ruin you and make offending him not worth it!¡±


    Tang Jie asked, ¡°There are so many people in the sect. Can no one control him?¡±


    Wang Yong countered, ¡°He only asked you toe to his lecture. It¡¯s not like he broke any rules, so what did he do wrong? Even if he gave you a dangerous mission, so long as he gives you all the contribution points you deserve, he still hasn¡¯t broken the rules! So long as he hasn¡¯t broken the rules, you can¡¯t do anything to him, so everyone can only ept this loss.¡±


    Tang Jie indifferently said, ¡°I¡¯m actually a very stubborn person. If someone asked me and gave a good exnation, I would probably let it go, but if they resort to wicked methods to try and extort me, I¡¯ll adamantly refuse to obey. No matter how impressive this Steward Yu¡¯s lectures are, if I don¡¯t want to hear it, what can he do to me? If he wants to give me some troublesome or dangerous mission, then just give it to me and see if I can handle it or not.¡±


    Tang Jie took a mission and left.


    This was a privatemission to gather materials, some rather rare spirit herbs. One could buy them with spirit coins or search for them to get three hundred contribution points from themissioner.


    As spirit herbs had their own value, themissioner had given more contribution points. It was essentially trading spirit money for contribution points. Tang Jie had money and no time, which was why he took this mission.


    Even so, he still needed four days to get everything, even taking a loss of two thousand spirit coins.


    By the time Tang Jie returned to the mountain, Old Yu¡¯s ss had passed.


    This was on purpose by Tang Jie. Although he wasn¡¯t afraid of the old man, he had a habit of giving face to others. By being out on a mission and unable to return, he was giving the old man an exnation. If this old man had some sense, he would not make trouble for Tang Jie.


    But reality was always proving that humanity could always find a new bottom line.


    When Tang Jie was cultivating in his cave, a paper flew in, upon which were the words, ¡°The Hall of Profundity requires your immediate presence.¡±


    This flying paper message could only mean one thing: there was a required mission.


    Normally, there were only two circumstances in which a required mission would be issued.


    One was emergencies, so the mission was directly assigned rather than allowing disciples to select it when they had the time. The other kind were rather difficult missions that had not been resolved in some time. Thus, one had to forcibly assign the mission to a disciple.


    The former was still eptable, while thetter would be rather problematic.


    Of course, Tang Jie knew without asking that he was definitely dealing

 Chapter 409

    Chapter 409: At Sea


    The Hall of Profundity.


    This was where the Secret Hall processed information, drafted missions, and issued them. Normally, required missions were issued from here.


    Standing in front of the door, Tang Jie tidied his clothes before stepping inside.


    A middle-aged man wearing a robe came to wee him. ¡°Is this Junior Brother Tang Jie?¡±


    ¡°I am,¡± Tang Jie said, handing over his identity card.


    The man inspected the card and then took out a scroll. ¡°This one is Tie Feng, the disciple in charge this month. This is the mission the hall has assigned you. You can ask me if you have any questions.¡±


    Tang Jie opened the scroll and saw a portrait of a young man drawn on it.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Tang Jie looked up at the middle-aged Tie Feng.


    Tie Feng replied, ¡°This man is Lin Baicang, a spy we have in the Beast Refining Gate. But three months ago, he left the Beast Refining Gate, and his current location is unknown. All we know is that he is currently being pursued by the Beast Refining Gate. The Search Hall¡¯s intelligence indicates that Lin Baicang might have obtained some extremely important information or treasure from the Beast Refining Gate, but we are not certain of its exact value. We will only find out when we find him.¡±


    Tang Jie understood. ¡°Have people been sent to find him over thest three months?¡±


    ¡°Of course. s, before they could find Lin Baicang, they encountered pursuers from the Beast Refining Gate.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s gaze turned serious. ¡°What cultivation level were the Beast Refining Gate pursuers?¡±


    ¡°Unclear. They were killed before they could send back word. All we know is that there are no Celestial Hearts and perhaps one Cognitive Creation Tier. Considering this, the item Lin Baicang obtained must be of limited value,¡± Tie Feng replied.


    Even so, Tang Jie was still angry. ¡°Having a Nine Revolutions Tier like me go and deal with a Cognitive Creation Tier? The hall really knows how to assign missions!¡±


    He naturally wasn¡¯t afraid of a single Cognitive Creation expert. The problem was that the mission assignment was truly a little unreasonable.


    It had to be understood that even required missions were not assigned randomly. In normal circumstances, a cultivator would not be sent to deal with an opponent of a higher tier.


    In terms of strength, if he didn¡¯t summon his original body and didn¡¯t use his trump cards like the golden grain, even Tang Jie wasn¡¯t confident in his chances of taking on a Cognitive Creation Tier cultivator.


    This was not some wandering Cognitive Creation cultivator, but one from a major sect. The difference of a single tier represented an enormous gap in strength.


    Tie Feng replied, ¡°We¡¯re not asking you to deal with them, only find Lin Baicang and bring back him or the item he has with him.¡±


    <em>I see.</em>


    <em>Is this the loophole Yu Yan is exploiting? Using this method to nullify the difference in cultivation. As expected of that cunning fox.</em>


    Tang Jie mentally sneered as he asked, ¡°Since that is the case, do we have a method of finding him?¡±


    ¡°Naturally,¡± Tie Feng replied. ¡°Most of the spies dispatched by the sect have a secret mark. You only need to hold this item to be able to detect it within one hundred kilometers. And it¡¯s also through this mark that we know that Lin Baicang is still alive.¡±


    He passed Tang Jie a smallpass. This item was used to find the spies of one¡¯s own side.


    ¡°Only within one hundred kilometers?¡± Tang Jie asked as he took thepass.


    ¡°That¡¯s how it is,¡± Tie Feng replied. ¡°The Beast Refining Gate has ways to crack it, so if the signal transmits too far, they will discover it. One hundred kilometers is the safest distance.¡±


    ¡°Do we know where they are?¡±


    ¡°Endsea.¡±


    Tang Jie was taken aback. ¡°Why go all the way there? If he can run to Endsea, why didn¡¯t he juste back?¡±


    Tie Feng replied, ¡°We also found it strange. Perhaps we will only learn the truth when we find him.¡±


    After thinking for a while, Tang Jie finally said, ¡°Is there a time limit for the mission?¡±


    Tie Feng shook his head. ¡°So long as Lin Baicang isn¡¯t dead, you must keep searching until you find him. Of course, if you really can¡¯t find him, you cane back and report it. As a penalty for failing the mission, you must pay one thousand contribution points.¡±


    This mission¡¯s reward was five hundred contribution points, and the penalty was double that so that everyone worked hard and didn¡¯t ck off.


    ¡°Understood.¡± Taking the portrait, Tang Jie was about to put it in his Mustard Seed Bag when Tie Feng suddenly grabbed his hand.


    Tang Jie looked at him, not understanding what he wanted. Tie Feng firmly said, ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve guessed that it was Yu Yan who assigned the mission.¡±


    Tang Jie nodded.


    Tie Feng went on, ¡°If not for a steward¡¯s meddling, this mission would have been passed to a disciple of at least Cognitive Creation Tier, or more people would have been sent. Sending you alone is rather risky, but I hope you understand that, no matter how difficult the mission is, a person¡¯s life is on the line here¡­¡±


    Tang Jie took in a deep breath.


    He looked at Tie Feng and firmly replied, ¡°Senior Brother Tie, rest easy. Tang Jie will do everything in his power toplete this mission. I will not let a personal grudge allow a Basking Moon disciple to lose his life.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Tie Feng released his hand.


    Tang Jie walked out of the Hall of Profundity and looked up at the sky. He suddenly startedughing, and then, with a sweep of his sleeve, he flew back to the Spirit Realm Cave. After packing up his things, he flew off to Endsea with Yiyi and Shi Jingzhai.


    Endsea was on the southern end of Rosecloud. In terms ofnd area, Endsea was the smallest kingdom of the six kingdoms of Rosecloud, but it had the greatest ocean area. The Southern Pr Sea Zone alone was the size of four or five Sageheart Kingdoms. Tens of thousands of inds and the innumerable resources in the ocean created the country of Endsea and also created the major cultivation sect that was Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    In this vast ocean, even Tang Jie would have an extremely difficult time finding the fugitive Lin Baicang. A distance of one hundred kilometers was nothingpared to the ocean.


    Fortunately, the Secret Hall disciple who had gone in search of Lin Baicang had sent back theirst location: Celestial River Ind.


    Regardless of where Lin Baicang was now, Tang Jie would have to go to Celestial River Ind first to see the situation. Perhaps there were still some clues there.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The Lucksnow, a five-masted ship, broke through the waves.


    Yun Danming stood at the prow, his hands held behind his back, his brows locked together in worry as he gazed into the distance.


    Far on the horizon, dark clouds coiled together, lightning shing within them.


    As he looked at the gathering clouds, his gaze turned sharper and sharper. He turned around and shouted, ¡°Lower the side sails and turn the ship to the starboard. Incline to the south!¡±


    ¡°Incline to the south!¡± the sailors all shouted.


    The sailors on the ship started to run around, raising and lowering sails in a flurry.


    A white-haired elder emerged from the hold, grasping a dragon-headed cane. ¡°Danming, has something happened up ahead?¡±


    Yun Danming turned to the elder and quickly bowed. ¡°Master, why did youe out? I can handle everything.¡±


    The old man walked up to Yun Danming¡¯s side and gazed at the distant clouds. He muttered, ¡°A storm is stirring, like a coiling snake. This is an inauspicious omen. There¡¯s an 80% chance that this is the work of a sea fiend.¡±


    Yun Danming replied, ¡°This lowly one has already ordered that the course be adjusted southward in order to avoid the region.¡±


    The old man dully said, ¡°It might not be enough. Have someone activate the ship¡¯s formation. We need to swiftly leave this area.¡±


    Yun Danming replied, ¡°Sea fiends normally have their own territory. As long as we don¡¯t get close, they won¡¯t give chase. The formation on the ship uses spirit stones, which are very costly. Wouldn¡¯t activating it now be a waste?¡±


    The old man replied, ¡°Maybe, but protecting the ship and its people and goods is worth more than a few small spirit stones. Go.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Yun Danming saluted, and just when he was about to order someone to activate the formation, there was a distant boom of thunder.


    Therge ship shuddered.


    Suddenly, thousands of flying fish flew out of the distant clouds. These fish had wings growing from their bodies, and they had a single sharp spear-like spike growing from their jaws. They appeared like a mix between flying fish and tunas, the size of small bulls, and they swiftly flew across the ocean surface.


    At the same time, an enormous wave erupted from behind the flying fish.


    This wave of water shot up into the sky and mixed with the dark clouds, forming an enormous vortex of water.


    A savage head of gigantic size emerged from the pir of water, lunging at the flying fish. Opening its city-gate-sized mouth, it devoured more than half of the school of fish.


    ¡°An Ocean Snake! An Ocean Snake Fiend!¡± someone cried out in fear.


    The Ocean Snake howled, and the pir of water began to move toward the remaining flying fish.


    The flying fish stubbornly flew toward the Lucksnow, which caused Yun Danming and the elder to pale.


    Yun Danming shouted, ¡°Shit! Hurry and activate the formation! We need to leave!¡±


    But it was a little toote to leave.


    The flying fish were fleeing in panic, and in their flight, they brought cmity on the unfortunate Lucksnow.


    The distant pir of water roared like a water tornado, lightning crackling in the sky with a frightening light.


    The Lucksnow had only just activated its formation, and the ship began to elerate.


    However, the ship¡¯s eleration formation was normally used not to race with a fiend, but to get out of a dangerous region as quickly as possible and minimize potential risks. When the Ocean Snake headed straight for them, it didn¡¯t matter how much the ship elerated, how the sailors hollered, or how the oars beat against the waters. They would never be able to outrun the Ocean Snake.


    The distance between the two rapidly closed. The ursed flying fish school quickly flew past, only leaving behind the rapidly approaching Ocean Snake. Despair and fear appeared in the eyes of the people on the ship, who knew they were powerless to resist that enormous creature approaching them.


    At this moment, a figure flew out of the distance.


    This figure was like a puff of smoke, leaving behind a white trail in the air. But because of that heaven-shaking fiend energy and the tempestuous waves, it stopped and let out a gasp of surprise.


    A momentter, just when the sea fiend was about to smash into the boat, eighteen crescent des suddenly dropped from the sky.


    The crescent des, trailing chains behind them, sliced through the pir of water and mmed into the Ocean Snake. Surprisingly, they weren¡¯t able to slice through the snake, only creating 18 geysers of blood.


    <em>Hissss!</em> The Ocean Snake let out a furious cry.


    As it shrieked, the eighteen Heavenly Cloud des were sted back into spiritual light, but the snake also stopped its charge at the ship.


    Yun Danming saw that they had escaped this disaster and exhaled in relief. Looking up, they saw that a silver-robed young man had walked out of the clouds, his hands held behind his back as he looked at the Ocean Snake.


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty strong,¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    The Heavenly Cloud des were his strongest attack at present, but they didn¡¯t seem to do much to the Ocean Snake.


    The Ocean Snake was clearly enraged by Tang Jie, and its long body had emerged from the pir of water. Its body was a thousand feet long and its head was the size of a small building.


    This was the unique attribute of seaborne fiends. As they were in the ocean, where resources were abundant, they could grow without restriction, so they were many timesrger thanndborne fiends. Their enormous bodies carried enormous strength, and whenpared to foes of the same level, the advantage of their powerful bodies made them much fiercer than their peers.


    This Ocean Snake was only at the middle of Mind Opening, but its strength was like that of a peak Mind Opening fiend. If that illusion fox had tried to fight against it, it would have been utterly crushed, no match for this sea fiend in a one-on-one. But as a price, even though it was at Mind Opening, it was much less intelligent. This Ocean Snake still couldn¡¯t speak despite being a middle-grade Mind Opening fiend, though it still had the basic ability to differentiate andprehend.


    The moment this guy showed its whole body, it roared at Tang Jie. The clouds lit up with lightning, and a thick bolt cracked down at Tang Jie¡¯s head.


    Tang Jie¡¯s Heavenly Cloud des also dropped from the heavens, so the Ocean Snake had returned the favor with a bolt of lightning.


    Snorting, Tang Jie turned his wrist over and thrust out a Dragonlike Hand. An energy palm flew up and struck the lightning. While the ensuing light show was impressive, nothing was done to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie sneered, ¡°You even know how to sulk.¡±


    In response, the Ocean Snake shot a water arrow.


    A water arrow sounded unimpressive, but when it shot out of the snake¡¯s giant maw, it was sorge that it was better described as a pir than an arrow.


    Tang Jie¡¯s expression turned grim, and he unleashed another Dragonlike Hand, dispersing the water arrow.


    The Ocean Snake Fiend was a brute, and its skills were not in spell art attacks. Seeing that these two attacks had been ineffective, it felt helpless and decided to just ram Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was standing in front of the ship, so it would crash into both Tang Jie and the ship. Tang Jie could dodge, but this would definitely doom the ship.


    His face darkening, he made several signs and pointed at the ocean. ¡°Rise!¡±


    A wall of water rose up and blocked the Ocean Snake.


    <em>Bang!</em>


    The snake mmed into the wall with its head like a strongman crashing through ss. Water was sent sshing everywhere, glistening in the sunlight.


    The Ocean Snake shook its head and continued charging.


    Tang Jie pointed at the ocean again. ¡°Rise! Rise! Rise!¡±


    One wall of water after another rose up¡ªeight of them in one go. The snake rammed through all of them, obliterating all that obstructed its path.


    Even Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but be shocked by the ferocity of the Ocean Snake, and he now understood why Horizon Ocean Pavilion was often called Rosecloud¡¯s strongest, and why they were so arrogant. After all, the fiends of their territory were much stronger than fiends elsewhere. With Tang Jie¡¯s strength, he would normally be able to deal with other Mind Opening fiends without even thinking.


    But now, the Ocean Snake Fiend had bashed through ten-some water walls in a row, not even considering Tang Jie¡¯s spell arts to be an obstacle. It was getting closer and closer to the ship.


    ¡°Shit! I¡¯m not convinced!¡± Tang Jie muttered. He waved his arms again and again. ¡°Rise! Rise! Rise! Rise! Rise!¡±


    More water walls arose. This time, he had erected twenty-some walls.


    The Ocean Snake continued to bash through, the impacts creatingrge waves that swept out and almost turned the ship over. People cried out in panic, and some people were even sent overboard.


    ¡°Rescue them!¡± the old man shouted.


    As cries for rescue rang out, the Ocean Snake continued to charge, breaking through ten-some walls. But it was now starting to get dizzy, its body swaying like a drunkard as it staggered forward. Even then, however, it had only a third of the walls left.


    ¡°You¡­ shit!¡± Tang Jie gnashed his teeth and raised his hands again, creating several more water walls.


    He had been flying all this time, so he had already expended a great deal of spiritual energy. And these water walls were being cast as spells for the sake of speed, with no harnessing of the world¡¯s power, so he was swiftly squeezing himself dry.


    The Ocean Snake kept battering through the walls, but it had clearly slowed down, and its enormous and savage head was covered in blood.


    Tang Jie¡¯s Heavenly Cloud des couldn¡¯t do anything to it, but this furious bashing into the water walls had given its brain a big shock.


    But the Ocean Snake had low intelligence to begin with, and in its rage, all it could think about was to keep charging at the walls. While staring at Tang Jie with itsrge eyes, it continued to bash through.


    The collisions of its huge and powerful body crushed the water walls, and they dwindled away.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t have the spiritual energy to make more water walls, so he decided tond on the ship and watch as the snake continued to bash away. After all, he still had Yiyi, Shi Jingzhai, and many more hidden cards, so he wasn¡¯t worried about the fiend doing anything to him. But if this guy really managed to get through, it would feel like he couldn¡¯t even handle a single middle-grade Mind Opening fiend, which would be rather shameful.


    When there were only twelve walls left, the Ocean Snake failed to break a wall on first impact for the first time, forcing it to make a second go.


    When there were seven walls left, the Ocean Snake was weakening. Its body on the surface would sway and then drop onto a wall as it began using its immense weight to break them.


    When there were only three walls left, the fiend¡¯s head was drenched in blood, and its forehead had cracked open. The fragments of the water walls punched numerous holes through its head, and even one of its eyes had popped out.


    But it was still battering away, not knowing fatigue.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but mutter, ¡°What a stubborn and temperamental fellow.¡±


    Yiyi dropped next to him and covered her eyes. ¡°I can¡¯t keep watching!¡±


    Shi Jingzhai watched dumbly as the snake battered away, giggling, ¡°So pretty!¡±


    <em>Bang!</em>


    The Ocean Snake smashed into thest wall, and after seven attempts, it finally broke through.


    It straightened its body, raising its head and looking down at Tang Jie, as if it was saying, ¡°I won.¡±


    Tang Jie gave the Ocean Snake a thumbs-up. ¡°You¡¯re fierce!¡±


    The Ocean Snake¡¯s mouth opened wide, perhaps to cheer, or perhaps to use this moment of victory to eat Tang Jie up.


    But in the end, it did nothing. Its thick body swayed, its eyes rolled over, and then it toppled into the sea¡­


    Tang Jie¡¯s off to Endsea! A perfect opportunity to meet with the girlfriend.<!--


    -->

 Chapter 410

    Chapter 410: Appointment


    On the deck of the Lucksnow, the Ocean Snake¡¯s corpse had been cut into pieces.


    Tang Jie yed around with the Ocean Snake¡¯s fiend pellet, which was in a rare state of beingpletely intact, energy never having been taken from it. He watched as several dozen sailors energetically skinned and dissected therge snake. The Ocean Snake¡¯s skin could be used in armor, while its flesh and galldder were powerful restoratives.


    Killing this one Ocean Snake had made at least three thousand spirit coins for Tang Jie. The key was that its pellet was intact, making it more valuable.


    But this was because he was lucky. A sea fiend whose entire body was a treasure and that was also this stupid was hard to find. Most sea fiends would have noticed that the situation was not in their favor and fled long ago. The sea floor was their world, and the moment one entered the water, the bnce of power would bepletely reversed. Even the disciples of Horizon Ocean Pavilion didn¡¯t dare to pursue a fiend into the water.


    The old man said respectfully to Tang Jie, ¡°Young Sir Tang, your meditation chamber is ready. If you would, please follow me.¡±


    Many people on the ship came forward to thank him for saving the ship. After conversing with them, Tang Jie had learned that this was a trading ship that belonged to the Yun n of Spirit Mountain Ind. The old man¡¯s name was Yun Changan, and he was an elder of the Yun n. Yun Danming was his nephew, belonging to a side branch of the Yun n. They were headed toward Thousand Sail Ind, and though their ultimate destination was different, they were also passing by Celestial River Ind. For this reason, the old man was willing to take his savior there. Considering that Tang Jie was dry on spiritual energy, and it would be hard to find a ce to rest while flying and he could end up disoriented due to storms, he agreed.


    He said to the old man, ¡°Old Sir, please ept my thanks.¡±


    Yun Changan hastily said, ¡°Young Sir Tang is too polite. Young Sir is a cultivator of revered status, and you are also our savior. We will fulfill any task that you might require.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled when he heard the term ¡°cultivator¡±. ¡°From the sound of it, it seems like you¡¯ve interacted with cultivators before. An ordinary person would have called me ¡®Immortal¡¯ or ¡®Immortal Master¡¯ instead.¡±


    Yun Changanughed. ¡°My Yun n is still a n of the Three Inds, so we retain Spirit Masters. This lowly old man has met cultivators before.¡±


    As Endsea had many inds, the ns and sects here were in a different situation to those of other kingdoms. Putting aside the continental ns, the ind ns and sects had their status decided by the inds they resided on. If an ind was small, then even if a n or sect ruled that entire ind, it would only amount to a vige chief.


    It was only those that controlledrge inds with abundant resources and poptions that were acknowledged as great ns.


    For this reason, Endsea¡¯s inds were separated into four categories. Inds of the first category were those below 5,000 qing. These inds were called ¡°vige inds¡±, as their limited area restricted their development. A single qing in Endsea was equivalent to a square kilometer. The second category was inds with an area of 5,000 qing to 20,000 qing. These were called ¡°county inds¡±. The third category was inds from an area of 20,000 qing to 100,000 qing, and these were called ¡°prefecture inds¡±. Those in the fourth category were inds with an area of 100,000 qing to 500,000 qing, ¡°province inds¡±.


    (TN: The normal conversation of qing ¡°Çꡱ to hectares is 1 qing to 6.67 hectares. A square kilometer is 100 hectares, so Endsea¡¯s 1 qing is muchrger than the standard qing that was used in China. For simplicity, ¡°square kilometer¡± will be used in ce of ¡°qing¡± from now on.)


    Endsea only had fiverge inds that had an area of several hundred thousand square kilometers. If one discounted two of the inds, which were resource inds, the remaining three inds were rich and prosperous. ¡°A n of the Three Inds¡± referred to one from these three particrly prosperous inds of Endsea: Spirit Mountain Ind, Thousand Sail Ind, and Brightshine Ind.


    Only ns that dominated these three inds could be called truly great ns.


    Besides these three inds, there was also an extremelyrge ind, Great Wind Ind. It had an area of more than two million square kilometers, and it was surrounded by numerous smaller inds that acted like outposts. This was the location of Horizon Ocean Pavilion and was the sole ind greater than one million square kilometers in area.


    It was said that there were other inds of this size in the past, but the people of Horizon Ocean Pavilion had used their divine techniques to shatter and divide them so that they could be ruled.


    Tang Jie had been in long-term correspondence with Xu Miaoran, so he had a rather deep understanding of Endsea. He remarked, ¡°So you were a n of the Three Inds. I understand now. But why does a n of the Three Inds have such arge ship without a single Spirit Master escorting it?¡±


    The old man¡¯s face stiffened.


    From his expression, Tang Jie knew that he had probably prodded a sore point, so he quickly said, ¡°My apologies. I asked too much.¡±


    Yun Changan sighed. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s no big deal. It¡¯s just that the Yun n has recently run into some problems, and we have a manpower shortage.¡±


    Tang Jie knew that the ocean trade was very different fromnd trade. A Spirit Master escorting a ship could easily be upied for several months. For this reason, Spirit Masters would normally be assigned to onlyrge ships carrying valuable cargo. Otherwise, the money made wouldn¡¯t make up for the money used to hire them.


    But this five-masted trading ship was loaded withrge amounts of cargo. For such arge ship to not have a Spirit Master protecting it could only mean that the Yun n was operating on such a scale that this one ship wasn¡¯t worth anything, or else that it was facing a dire shortage of manpower.


    Based on Yun Changan¡¯s expression, it didn¡¯t appear like the Yun n was that brimming with wealth, so Tang Jie guessed that the Yun n had probably encountered some sort of problem.


    He had no desire to take on their problems, so he indifferently said, ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°Right, from Young Sir¡¯s tone, you do not seem to be an Endseanian,¡± the old man said.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°This Basking Moon disciple hase to Endsea on official business.¡±


    The old man was clearly scared out of his wits when he heard that this person was a Basking Moon disciple, and he no longer dared to ask any questions.


    A few momentster, the two of them arrived at the cabin that had been prepared for Tang Jie. Tang Jie entered, and when he saw that the cabin was rather clean, he nodded his head in satisfaction.


    The old man said, ¡°Young Sir, please rest here. If you need anything, you only have to ask.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Tang Jie coolly replied.


    The old man saw that he had no more questions and left.


    Once the old man was gone, Yiyi climbed onto Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder and asked, ¡°Big Brother, why did you tell the old man that you were from the Basking Moon Sect, and even that you were on official business? Isn¡¯t thatpletely exposing our objective?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I want.¡±


    Yiyi¡¯s eyes went wide.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°My mission this time is to find Lin Baicang, but where in the world am I going to find him in such a vast region? While it was said that he was on Celestial River Ind, that was a matter from many days ago, so we don¡¯t even know if he¡¯s still there. And even if he is, do you know how big Celestial River Ind is?¡±


    Tang Jie raised four fingers. ¡°Forty thousand square kilometers! And all I have is thispass with a range of fifty kilometers.¡±


    Tang Jie coldly chuckled. ¡°Searching only Celestial River Ind will take me several dozen days. And this isn¡¯t even considering that we¡¯re dealing with a moving target. I might have even just missed him, which means that I could flip the entire ce upside-down and still not find him. So¡­¡±


    Tang Jie paused before continuing, ¡°The best method as of right now isn¡¯t to find him, but to have him find me.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Yiyi said in understanding.


    In order to quickly find Lin Baicang, Tang Jie had decided to publicly announce his presence in Endsea so as to get his attention. So long as Lin Baicang wasn¡¯t an idiot, he would understand why a Basking Moon disciple would act so conspicuously in these circumstances.


    ¡°But if you do this, the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people will also know you¡¯re here,¡± Yiyi said.


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°That¡¯s inevitable. Since I¡¯m using myself as bait, it¡¯s only natural that I attract both prey and predators. But that¡¯s fine. I¡¯m not afraid of Cognitive Creation, and even if a Celestial Heart Spirit Ringes, I have a n.¡±


    Yiyi nodded.


    To put it bluntly, Tang Jie dared to show himself because he had the strength to look down on cultivators below Celestial Heart.


    No matter the n or scheme, it required the support of strength. The greater one¡¯s strength, the simpler the methods could be. For a mission like this, the Tang Jie of the past would have to use everything he had to reach his goal. But now that the teleportation formation wasplete and the original body and avatar hadbined their power, he no longer took any ordinary opponents seriously, and his ns could be simpler and more effective.


    Revealing himself and using himself as bait was the choice Tang Jie had made for this situation.


    For Yiyi, this was also a great n for her, for she no longer needed to hide. She could walk out into the sun and do anything she wanted with him.


    Her eyes twinkled like little stars. ¡°We can y in a lot of ces, and wherever we go, we can write down that Tang Jie and Yiyi were here. We can also go and buy lots and lots of clothes so that everyone on the streets can see us. We can even talk loudly, telling everyone who sees us that we¡¯re from the Basking Moon Sect, free and content!¡±


    Tang Jie broke into a sweat. ¡°Silly girl, how long do you think it will take to make everyone know I¡¯m here if we use this sort of method?¡±


    Yiyi looked at Tang Jie in surprise. ¡°Is there another way?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°To make everyone know about you in the shortest amount of time, you have to do something earthshaking that makes everyone gasp in wonder. That¡¯s the fastest way to have your name spread far and wide.¡±


    ¡°How do you do something earthshaking?¡± Yiyi asked.


    ¡°There are plenty of ways.¡± Tang Jie profoundly smiled. ¡°Challenging someone famous above your level and defeating them, umting wealth and bing a rich man that everyone knows about, creating an incident and killing so many people that everyone hears about you¡­ or if it suits your fancy, you can strip naked and fly around Celestial River Ind. That will certainly get everyone talking about you.¡±


    Yiyi¡¯s jaw dropped. She was still a young girl, not like Tang Jie, who had seen all sorts of incidents vying for attention on the inte, so her mind was unable to keep up. All of the various methods Tang Jie had mentioned left her dizzy.


    What had been a simple search mission had ended up as a grandiose solo act in Tang Jie¡¯s hands. When she thought about all the excitement that she might experience, Yiyi pped her hands and shouted.


    After doing a few somersaults on the bed, Yiyi asked, ¡°So where are we starting from? Challenging someone above our level or making a bunch of money?¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Traveling around Celestial River with a True Lord¡¯s daughter, a potential marriage alliance between Basking Moon and Horizon Ocean¡ªwhat do you think about that?¡±


    Yiyi froze when she heard the mention of a True Lord¡¯s daughter, and then she shouted in realization, ¡°Big Sister Xu!¡±


    When he had been heading for Celestial River Ind, Tang Jie had sent a message to Xu Miaoran, but as these twomunicated often, Yiyi hadn¡¯t paid it much attention. But now, she realized that Tang Jie had been making ns at the time.


    Casually sipping his tea, Tang Jie said, ¡°She¡¯s already on Celestial River Ind. We haven¡¯t seen each other in so long, and I really miss her. This is the perfect chance to satisfy both personal and public interests.¡±


    Celestial River Ind.


    This was a narrow ind, long from east to west and narrow from north to south, appearing like arge ship.


    On the eastern end of the ind was a mountain called Mount Buyao. At over three thousand meters in height, it was the tallest mountain of Celestial River Ind. The summit thrust out at an angle, extending a hundred meters. It appeared like a buyao thrust into the head, so it was named the Buyao Aqueduct, and the entire mountain was named Mount Buyao.


    (TN: The buyao, the ¡°step-shake¡±, is a type of hairpin with jewels dangling from it. Its namees from how the jewels would shake whenever one moved.)


    The summit was covered by snow year-round. When the snow melted, it flowed down the Buyao Aqueduct and descended in a waterfall, like a river from the heavens. For this beautiful sight, the ind was named Celestial River Ind.


    The Celestial River descended into a smallke at the base of the mountain called Jade Moon Pool.


    There was an observation pavilion within Jade Moon Pool, the size of a small ind. Despite the fact that it was made from metal and jade, it floated on the surface. This was one of Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s famous Floating Pces. When it came to building pces, no one could match Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    It was said that the enormous Floating Pce at Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s headquarters, Great Wind Ind, was actually a Dao armament that possessed an unimaginably strong defense and the ability to fly. It could protect tens of thousands of people and could pierce through domain barriers to wander beyond the heavens.


    For this reason, Horizon Ocean Pavilion was also called the major sect most capable of running within the Rosecloud Domain. This wasn¡¯t just because of their Oceancrosser Step, but also because of this enormous Floating Pce.


    The pavilion on Jade Moon Pool naturally didn¡¯t have this ability. But it could drift atop the pool and view the Celestial River from every possible angle.


    Xu Miaoran sat on the observation tform of this pavilion, her hands holding up her chin as she looked at the Celestial River. Her eyes were nk, apparently unappreciative of the scenery.


    Someone tried to suppress augh.


    Xu Miaoran said without turning her head, ¡°Hong Yuan, are you asking for another beating?¡±


    The red-clothed maidined, ¡°I was just looking at this beautiful sight and giggling in happiness. Why was the youngdy angered by this?¡±


    Xu Miaoran snorted, ¡°You and your sharp tongue, daring to joke around but not daring to admit it!¡±


    ¡°Tsk!¡± Hong Yuan¡¯s body swayed, but she did not seem the slightest bit afraid.


    The green-robed maid next to her, Xian Tao, prodded Hong Yuan¡¯s forehead. ¡°It¡¯s all because the youngdy likes you that you can mess around like this. If you¡¯ve really got the guts, you should say the same in front of the master.¡±


    Hong Yuan made a face. ¡°I¡¯m just joking. There¡¯s no need to take it seriously. But, Young Lady, are you really nning on going around Celestial River with Tang Jie, letting everyone in the world know?¡±


    Xu Miaoran indifferently said, ¡°Tang Jie and I going traveling around Celestial River is our own business. I don¡¯t care what other people think about it.¡±


    ¡°But Tang Jie clearly isn¡¯t doing this because of you,¡± Hong Yuan indignantly said. To her, it was one thing for Tang Jie to pursue her youngdy, but to mix public and personal business was truly contemptible. When pursuing a girl, one should devote one¡¯s entire being to it, not do two things at once.


    There was a clearck of sincerity in this behavior.


    Xu Miaoran was nonchnt about this. ¡°I know, but what about it? He¡¯s different from me. Ie from a great n and can get whatever resources I need, but hees from a servant background and has a lowly status. He¡¯s only been able to get what he has today through his own hard work. The Immortal path is long, and the rtionship between the two of us is only just beginning. So long as he wants to walk that path, he cannot rx. Singlemindedly seeking love is an extravagant luxury for him, an impossible existence. For this reason, doing two things at once is the proper path. In thesest few years, he¡¯s nevere to see me. He¡¯s only been able toe this time because he has official business. If you ask me as a girl if I liked it, I naturally don¡¯t have a reason to, but there¡¯s also no reason for me to dislike it.¡±


    Hong Yuan pursed her lips. ¡°As a bystander, I¡¯ve never seen you being so understanding of others before.¡±


    While Xu Miaoran¡¯s argument sounded very reasonable, Hong Yuan understood her youngdy¡¯s temper. When she got angry, she could do all sorts of monstrous things,pletely living up to the name of ¡°fiend woman¡±.


    Xu Miaoranughed. ¡°I¡¯m still a True Lord¡¯s daughter. Rather than me understanding other people, other people have to try and understand me. I just need to understand the man that I like, that¡¯s all.¡±


    As she was speaking, the jade token on her waist shed.


    She looked down, and her face bloomed into a gorgeous smile. ¡°He¡¯s arrived.¡±


    A trip on an ind with his girlfriend? Almost sounds like Tang Jie¡¯s on summer vacation.<!--


    -->

 Chapter 411

    Chapter 411: Traveling Together


    The Lucksnow slowly docked at the pier of Celestial River Ind.


    Yun Changan was very reluctant to see Tang Jie go. ¡°We owe much to Young Sir for this safe voyage. Young Sir, if you are free in the future, pleasee and pay a visit to Spirit Mountain Ind. This old man will treat you with utmost sincerity.¡±


    Tang Jie nomittally replied, ¡°I will go if I have the time.¡±


    Yun Changan could tell that this was mere appeasement and that there was little hope of getting a closer rtionship with Tang Jie. He could only sigh and watch him leave.


    Once Tang Jie was on the pier, he was weed by a beautiful face that seemed both happy and displeased.


    Xu Miaoran folded her arms and raised her sharp chin toward Tang Jie, her eyes seeming to say, ¡°You finally know toe and see this girl.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled and stepped forward. ¡°Miaoran.¡±


    He was about to grab Xu Miaoran¡¯s hand when Xu Miaoran pulled it away and said, ¡°Why did youe by boat?¡±


    Tang Jie gave a summary of what had happened.


    When she heard that he had chosen to take the ship because the ship¡¯s master had invited him, Xu Miaoran snorted, ¡°You really know how to enjoy yourself.¡±


    Tang Jie saw the displeasure on her face and wondered, <em>How did I anger her this time?</em> And then he realized and said with a smile, ¡°I know that flying is faster, and I also wanted to see you quickly, but after that battle with the Ocean Snake, I was out of spiritual energy and couldn¡¯t fly anymore. That¡¯s why I agreed to the ship master¡¯s offer. Later on, after my spiritual energy had recovered, it¡¯s not like I could just leave after enjoying their hospitality. And when I saw how it wouldn¡¯t save me much time, I decided to just take the ship the rest of the way. In truth, deep down, I wanted nothing more than to arrive early, to drive myself to death to rush to your side.¡±


    Xu Miaoran smiled in contentment when she heard this. Dropping her head, she bashfully said, ¡°There¡¯s no need for the rush. It would just be a few more days waiting for you, is all.¡±


    On the side, Hong Yuan shook her head. Hadn¡¯t they agreed that she would teach him a lesson? Hadn¡¯t they agreed that they were going to make him experience the youngdy¡¯s power?


    Tang Jie grabbed Xu Miaoran¡¯s hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Xu Miaoran obediently followed.


    When she saw Xu Miaoran following, Hong Yuan stomped her feet. ¡°See! See! No backbone at all! Just a few sentences were able to win her over.¡±


    Xian Tao gave her a push. ¡°All you want is chaos.¡±


    Hong Yuan still didn¡¯t want to give it a rest. ¡°This is for the youngdy¡¯s good. This foul man says he likes the youngdy, but he¡¯s never really done anything for her. Even visiting her is something he¡¯s doing out of convenience. He can clearly fly, but he takes a ship. That¡¯s a sign he¡¯s not sincere! He has to be taught a lesson, or else there¡¯s no telling how he¡¯ll treat the youngdy in the future.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he already exin himself?¡±


    ¡°What sort of exnation is that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine if the youngdy likes it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even talk about her! It just makes me angry. Look at how she followed him after one sentence. ¡®Let¡¯s go¡¯¡­ ¡®Go¡¯ where? She doesn¡¯t even know where they¡¯re going.¡± Hong Yuan had a hand on her waist as she almost shouted herints.


    Xian Tao brusquely replied, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be called Hong Yuan (Red Park), but Hong Lazi (Red Pepper). Stop wasting time and let¡¯s go.¡±


    She went off to follow Tang and Xu.


    Hong Yuan furiously shouted, ¡°Again with the ¡®let¡¯s go¡¯¡­ Where are we going?!¡±


    But she still followed.


    Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran strolled the streets of Celestial River Ind.


    They didn¡¯t have a particr destination, leisurely walking around. For the two lovers, so long as they could be together, nothing else really mattered.


    It had been several years since they had seen each other, and while they had long-range message talismans, the costs limited the amount of information they could send. Thus, they had endless things to say to each other. As they walked, Tang Jie asked, ¡°Right, how has your cultivation been doing?¡±


    Xu Miaoran replied, ¡°My dad dropped me in Illusion Wind Valley some time ago, saying he wouldn¡¯t let me out until I reached greater attainment in Hundred Refinement. I spent more than half a year in there, which was just painful.¡±


    Tang Jie knew about Illusion Wind Valley. It was a famous cultivation ground of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, protected by an Astral Wind formation year-round. It was ideal for refining the bones and muscles, and entering this ce to cultivate while at Hundred Refinement would provide arge boost. Xu Guanghua was a True Lord, so he was naturally able to get his daughter the right to entry. And before he sent in his daughter, he had her take copious amounts of spirit medicines. Once Astral Wind came in contact with the umted medicinal power, their effect would be unleashed, allowing for the ideal Hundred Refinement result. Of course, only Xu Miaoran could enjoy this treatment. Others couldn¡¯t even dream about it.


    But Xu Miaoran made it sound like her father was abusing her.


    Tang Jie knew that Xu Miaoran had an undisciplined nature, and while such a nature was not guaranteed to be unsuitable for cultivation¡ªand was perhaps even perfect for some arts¡ªHundred Refinement was a period of tempering the muscles and bones, and it required a tenacious and determined spirit. Without Xu Guanghua¡¯s instruction, it would really be difficult for Xu Miaoran to get through this phase.


    Thus, Tang Jie chuckled when he heard this. ¡°You should be content with what you have. Other people would be begging for this sort of treatment. If you haven¡¯t entered Nine Revolutions yet, you can¡¯t be considered a cultivator. At least now you¡¯ve finally attained that title.¡±


    ¡°What about you? A genius of Basking Moon Academy who received a rmendation, but you still haven¡¯t told me how you¡¯re doing in the sect. What hall did you join? And what official business are you on?¡±


    Tang Jie gave a rough summary of the mission he was on.


    Fortunately, this era wasn¡¯t like the era Tang Jie hade from. While the various halls divided their work, there weren¡¯t so many restrictive uses, and there was no such rule that the members of the Secret Hall could not reveal their identities.


    This was due to the unique attributes of this era. While the Basking Moon Sect had a mortal structure, the people doing all the work were cultivators. These people were aloof existences, and while they could ept appropriate limitations, they would never ept being bound like mortals.


    In truth, if someone cultivated to Mortal Shedding or Celestial Heart and still had to go to work every day on a set schedule and keep to all the variousws, why would people even cultivate?


    This was also why the sects assigned work in the form of missions. If it weren¡¯t so, they would have a dire shortage of cultivators willing to run errands.


    When Xu Miaoran heard that Yu Yan dared to mess with Tang Jie, she raised her willow eyebrows. ¡°This old Yu is truly bringing disaster on himself. He needs to be taught a lesson. But it¡¯s thanks to him that you had to run over to Endsea, so actually, I should be thanking him.¡±


    Saying thisst part, Xu Miaoran grinned and put aside any thought of causing trouble for the old man. She pped and said, ¡°In any case, since there¡¯s no telling when we¡¯ll be able to find Lin Baicang, you can just keep mepany while I y around. Didn¡¯t your senior brother say something like that? So long as Lin Baicang isn¡¯t dead, you have to keep searching for him until you find him. There¡¯s no need to rush. Spend a few years in my Endsea first. We can tour Celestial River Ind first, and then we can take a tour of¡­¡±


    She chattered on, her intent being that she wanted to search together with Tang Jie until the end of time, only stopping when they found the actual person. Endsea had thousands of named inds, and she listed one after another without repetition, which started to make Tang Jie sweat. He grabbed her hand and said, ¡°If you keep going, I¡¯ll have be a True Lord by the time you finish.¡±


    Xu Miaoran giggled. ¡°In any case, you had best put an end to any thoughts of leaving soon.¡±


    Tang Jie firmly replied, ¡°I¡¯m also reluctant to leave. I¡¯m going to stay in Endsea as long as I can!¡±


    Xu Miaoran felt her heart heat up, and she whispered, ¡°That¡¯s about right.¡±


    Her cheeks blushed.


    She was famous in Endsea for being willful and headstrong, but with Tang Jie, she was like a mouse in front of a cat, all bashful and shy.


    She seemed to think of something and suddenly said, ¡°You said you wanted to let others know that you and I were together?¡±


    Tang Jie nodded. ¡°This spreads the news faster, but it also might affect you, in which case, forget it.¡±


    Xu Miaoran shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid. But if we do this, it might not just be Lin Baicang and the Beast Refining Gateing to find us.¡±


    ¡°Who else?¡± Tang Jie was taken aback for a moment, and then he understood. ¡°Lan Yu?¡±


    Xu Miaoran cocked her head and mischievously said, ¡°He¡¯s only one of them.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Tang Jiepletely understood.


    After some thought, he smiled. ¡°That¡¯s fine. It¡¯s not like I have anything else to do. To fight for my girlfriend is far more interesting than fighting over some other boring matter.¡±


    Xu Miaoran¡¯s eyes sparkled.


    The mention of ¡°my girlfriend¡± ignited the me of love in her heart. No longer able to restrain herself, she hugged Tang Jie and gave him a light peck on the face.


    World-shaking!


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The kiss on the streets of Celestial River didn¡¯t cause much of a stir at first.


    It wasn¡¯t that this wasn¡¯t a shocking kiss, but that not many people knew who they were.


    But this quickly stopped being a problem.


    Since they had a n, Xu Miaoran naturally decided to help Tang Jie out. For her, causing a stir was far too simple.


    That afternoon, Xu Miaoran and Tang Jie paid a visit to the lord of the ind. Her journey had initially been a secret one, and only the branch hall master of Horizon Ocean Pavilion had known that she was here. Now, she was publicly announcing her presence.


    Endsea was different from the other countries. As the inds were all spread out, the ind lord was the greatest authority in the area and was both a cultivator and government official. The ind lords didn¡¯t all have toe from Horizon Ocean Pavilion, but each ind lord had to be acknowledged by it.


    For this reason, even a respected figure like the ind lord had to be polite around Xu Miaoran, personally escorting her out and dispatching arge number of guards to protect her.


    This made it so that Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran¡¯s tourmenced on a grand scale, rming countless people wherever they went. And there would inevitably be people who wondered what sort of august figure had arrived, to which the answer would be: ¡°Lady Miaoran, a daughter of a True Lord of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and Tang Jie, a genius of Basking Moon, are touring Celestial River together. There¡¯s a chance that Horizon Ocean Pavilion and the Basking Moon Sect might be allies through marriage.¡±


    Rumors always traveled quickly, and even more so did rumors concerning two major sects. Moreover, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran both brazenly ignored proper etiquette, publicly showing their affection for each other in broad daylight. The rumors exploded and soon spread across the entire ind and then past it. It wasn¡¯t long before all of Endsea was in an uproar.


    Xu Miaoran was one of the most famous female prodigies of Endsea.


    The reason was simple. Among all the cultivators in Endsea at Violet Pce or higher, they had produced only three children in thest few decades, and Xu Miaoran was the most talented, the youngest, and a beauty besides.


    For this reason, all the young gants of Endsea regarded her as the highest target.


    Anyone with some ability dreamed about winning Xu Miaoran¡¯s hand.


    If they could marry her, they would save themselves not just twenty years of struggle, but two hundred, or even two thousand.


    And that wasn¡¯t even considering Xu Miaoran¡¯s breathtaking figure. This made people only more desperate to win her hand.


    But now, it had suddenly been announced that she was with Tang Jie. It was like a blow to the head for all these young cultivators.


    Cultivators like Lan Yu, who had taken part in the Immortal Fortune Conference and already known about this, found it easier to ept, but those who hadn¡¯t known went crazy. Thus, as the news spread, countless young and handsome men rose up from the various inds of Endsea on clouds, mists, swords, and shuttles, converging on Celestial River Ind. Celestial River Ind instantly became the center of the ¡°world¡±.


    At this moment, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran were still having fun on the ind, walking the streets for things to amuse them.


    Tang Jie told Xu Miaoran the stories of ¡°Journey to the West¡±, and Xu Miaoran left ¡°Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran were here¡± written upon the various tourist sites they visited, leaving behind irond evidence of their ¡°affair¡±.


    While walking the streets, if Xu Miaoran took a liking to bold and good-looking clothes but hesitated, Tang Jie would immediately say, ¡°Buy it,¡± upon which Xu Miaoran would find her resolve. At times like these, Xu Miaoran would be particrly happy, for Tang Jie wasn¡¯t having her be some wise and virtuousdy, instead encouraging her to ignore decorum and brazenly show off her beautiful side. Xu Miaoran knew that this was probably one of the reasons she liked Tang Jie: with him, she didn¡¯t have to hear those annoying lessons and could boldly do what she wanted.


    He wasn¡¯t like those other men who pursued her. Some demanded that she not act too brazenly so that she could maintain her good reputation. Others said nothing, but despite their silence, Xu Miaoran knew that they didn¡¯t support her and were simply too afraid to voice their objections. Only Tang Jie was not simply tolerating her, instead truly loving her for who she was.


    He was the only one in the world like this, the only one who understood, the only who loved this ¡°fiend woman who didn¡¯t understand decorum¡±!


    Besides shopping and touring scenic sites, they would asionally taste the local food.


    Xu Miaoran discovered for the first time that Tang Jie was also a very capable gourmet. Although he hade up from a servant background, he always knew what the best way to cook something so that it tasted the best was. The snacks from some long-established restaurants would often be evaluated as awful by him, drawing rebukes from the restaurant owners. Tang Jie would then show off his skills, teaching these people what it truly meant for something to be delicious. By the time they came out of the restaurants, they were regarded as guests of honor.


    This was the first time Xu Miaoran hadn¡¯t relied on her status, instead relying on Tang Jie¡¯s knowledge to get the status of ¡°honored guest¡±.


    At night, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran would return to their own rooms to cultivate.


    He never asked too much of her, which was both a relief and a disappointment to Xu Miaoran.


    The days that went by were the happiest and most blessed days Xu Miaoran had ever experienced.


    On this day, the two were strolling the streets as usual. There were various stalls set up, belonging to snack sellers and traveling entertainers. The cries of people hawking their wares were endless. Behind the pair were Xian Tao, Hong Yuan, Yiyi, Shi Jingzhai, and arge host of guards.


    As they were in the middle of enjoying themselves, there was a furious roar of, ¡°Tang Jie!¡±


    They turned and saw a green-robed youth riding a sword.


    He charged at Tang Jie, his sword shing with a dazzling light as he seemed to say something.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t hear it, for as that young man got close, a vine grabbed him and then threw him back the way he hade.


    Yiyi pursed her lips. ¡°Trying to disturb my big brother with this little skill? Better if you cleared out early. Isn¡¯t that right, Old Shi?¡±


    Under her, Shi Jingzhai, who she was riding like a horse, nodded and giggled.


    ¡°Who¡¯s this?¡± Tang Jie asked Xu Miaoran as he gazed at that youth.


    Xu Miaoran blinked as she tried to remember. ¡°I think it¡¯s the young master of Whitebird Ind¡¯s Lin n. What was his name¡­ I forgot.¡±


    Tang Jie gave the youth a sympathetic nce before taking out a map of Endsea from his Mustard Seed Bag.


    From the map, he could see that Whitebird Ind wasn¡¯t far from Celestial River Ind.


    He muttered, ¡°The news still hasn¡¯t traveled far enough. We will probably have to wait a few more days before things get really exciting.¡±


    Xu Miaoran chuckled. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that we have a few more days of leisure?¡±


    ¡°Correct!¡± Tang Jie confirmed. ¡°Where do you want to go next?¡±


    Xu Miaoran thought it over and said, ¡°Past this street is a tofu pudding store. I recall that the tofu pudding there is really good. How about going with me and giving some pointers to that ce?¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about that.¡±


    ¡°So there¡¯s finally something you don¡¯t know.¡± Xu Miaoran pped her hands andughed. ¡°Then what are we waiting for? Let¡¯s go.¡±


    She pulled Tang Jie and ran off.


    But they had barely made it a few steps before another person came from the opposite direction.


    When they saw this person, the two of them stopped.


    ¡°How is it you?¡± Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran said in unison.


    Oh no, who could this pedestrian be? Find out in the next chapter!<!--


    -->

 Chapter 412

    Chapter 412: sh


    On the other side of the street was Shen Qingdan, wearing her pce robes and followed by four maids.


    The three of them met gazes and froze for a moment.


    After a while, Tang Jie broke the awkward silence. ¡°Howe you¡¯re here?¡±


    Shen Qingdan faintly smiled. ¡°I have my own reasons for being here. But I could ask you the same question.¡±


    Before the two of them could reply, Hong Yuan snorted, ¡°You make it sound all nice, but the reason? You¡¯re probably just chasing your man.¡±


    She hadn¡¯t spoken very loudly, but Shen Qingdan still heard it.


    She was still the young master of a sect, and she had never heard an insult like this before. Her expression sank as she sneered, ¡°If you didn¡¯t mention it, I really would have forgotten. Why is my fianc¨¦ running off with another woman? Tang Jie, shouldn¡¯t I be asking you what¡¯s going on here?¡±


    Tang Jie knew that things were about to get messy.


    These two both came from powerful backgrounds, so even if they didn¡¯t like each other, they wouldn¡¯t have gotten into an argument on the street. They would have just exchanged a few words before walking past each other.


    But Hong Yuan had stoked the mes, and Shen Qingdan had lost her temper. Xu Miaoran was already sick of her, and now this barb from Shen Qingdan would probably draw a counterattack.


    Sure enough, Xu Miaoran proudly raised her head. ¡°What do you mean by ¡®your fianc¨¦¡¯? And I¡¯m not just ¡®another woman¡¯. I have a name: Xu Miaoran!¡±


    Shen Qingdan snorted, ¡°How is he not my fianc¨¦? In the Immortal Fortune Conference, I chose Tang Jie as my fianc¨¦ while countless cultivators watched. The engagement is still valid. You think a denial from you is enough to wipe away this fact?¡±


    She red at Tang Jie. ¡°Tang Jie, let me ask you: you¡¯re my fianc¨¦, so what do you mean by being with this woman?¡±


    Before Tang Jie could say anything, Xu Miaoran replied for him, ¡°¡®Immortal Fortune Conference¡¯? What¡¯s that?¡±


    Xian Tao quickly picked up on what was happening, and she shouted, ¡°That was the conference held to select the master for the Wandering Pce. Young Lady, did you not know? Handsome young geniuses from all around gathered at Red Plum Ridge to decide who the Wandering Pce ultimately belonged to. Our Horizon Ocean Pavilion also took part, but s, they ran into Young Sir Tang. Otherwise, the Wandering Pce would have been a vassal of our Horizon Ocean Pavilion! There are some people who simply have no understanding of who they are. What bullshit ¡®engagement¡¯? Everyone was clearly after the Wandering Pce. Did she really think they were after her? She was just a small bonus, a dowry for the sect. Everyone gathered for the Wandering Pce, not for you, young pce lord!¡±


    These were unpleasant words to hear, and Shen Qingdan was clearly furious, her chest rising up and down. It was the truth, but that was precisely why it stung so badly.


    Xu Miaoran nodded in satisfaction. ¡°That¡¯s right. ¡®Young pce lord¡¯? Nothing more than a bonus. Tang Jie only participated for the Stop Gate Banner, not for you.¡±


    This was another blow to Shen Qingdan. She turned to Tang Jie and pointed at Xu Miaoran. ¡°Tang Jie, is she telling the truth?¡±


    Although she knew that Tang Jie hadn¡¯t participated for her, she had never imagined that she was worth less than even the Stop Gate Banner in Tang Jie¡¯s mind.


    She red at Tang Jie, waiting for an answer. Tang Jie sighed and then nodded.


    He knew what nodding meant, but he also knew that the best choice in these circumstances wasn¡¯t to be a mediator, as that would just keep the fire going. He needed to decisively disy his attitude to put an end to the argument.


    As expected, when Shen Qingdan saw him nod, she staggered backward, and then she red at Tang Jie and said, ¡°You cruel bastard! I¡¯ll remember your callousness!¡±


    She turned and left.


    As her party left, Hong Yuan pursed her lips and said, ¡°¡®Cruel¡¯? I don¡¯t think there was any sort of affection between the son-inw and you to betray, though.¡±


    Xu Miaoran darkly said, ¡°Shut up already!¡±


    Hong Yuan froze. ¡°Young Lady.¡±


    Xu Miaoran turned around and pped Hong Yuan. ¡°On your knees!¡±


    Hong Yuan instantly prostrated in fright. Xu Miaoran roared, ¡°Is it because I¡¯ve been toox with you that you have the guts to stir up trouble with your words!? When we return, you will be under house arrest for three days, and if this happens again, you¡¯re fired!¡±


    This was the first time Tang Jie had ever seen a wrathful Xu Miaoran.


    He discovered that when she raised her eyebrows, the sky seemed to darken, and when her eyes red, a murderous energy filled the air.


    After some thought, he finally said, ¡°Forget it. Forgive her this once and then double the punishment if she tries it again.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s words convinced Xu Miaoran to cool her rage.


    After this incident, no one was in the mood to keep ying, so after walking around a little longer, everyone went back to the inn to rest.


    Back in his room, Tang Jie put on a glum expression as he muttered, ¡°Why is she at Celestial River Ind? Is this a coincidence or on purpose?¡±


    Yiyi jumped up and said, ¡°You need to ask? She definitely came for you.¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t speak nonsense. If she wanted to find me, she could have done so at any time in thest few years. There would be no need to nowe all the way to Endsea. I think this is more likely to be a coincidence.¡±


    ¡°But not for certain.¡± Yiyi wagged her head. ¡°Is it not written? Every drink and bite is predestined. Since both of you havee to Celestial River Ind, there might be some connection between you two.¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°What sort of books have you been readingtely, for you to say something like this? But I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any other connection between us besides the engagement.¡±


    Yiyi stomped her foot. ¡°Don¡¯t you understand Karma now? Just do some calctions and find out what¡¯s going on.¡±


    Tang Jie rolled his eyes. ¡°The Dao of Karma isn¡¯t random guessing, but a profound andplicated method of harnessing the will of the heavens. My Dao of Karma is to nt the cause and reap the effect and to eliminate Karma, not to work back from the effect to the cause. I would need to reach a higher level to achieve this.¡±


    To nt the cause and reap the effect was to do something and make what should have been an uncertain oue certain. For example, if you beat someone up one day, they mighte after you to get revenge or they might not. But with the Dao of Karma, one could guarantee that this person would seek revenge.


    To eliminate Karma was to remove the connection between cause and effect so that something didn¡¯t happen. This was Tang Jie¡¯s high-level use of the Dao of Karma, but it also consumed more of his strength.


    ¡°What about Shen Qingdan, then? After being humiliated by you and Big Sister Xu, she definitely won¡¯t be content to sit back. Won¡¯t shee back to make trouble?¡± Yiyi asked as she jumped around. From how excited she was, it seemed like this was exactly what she wanted Shen Qingdan to do.


    Tang Jie tersely replied, ¡°How would I know? It¡¯s not like I used the power of Karma on her.¡±


    The power of Karma was a kind of force Tang Jie hadprehended from the Dao of Karma. It was very difficult to exin, a most profound and abstruse existence. Whenever Tang Jie was immersed inprehending the will of the heavens and the Dao of Karma, this force would grow stronger. Tang Jie was able to use the Dao of Karma through this power. As for the burden on his body this created, that was a trivial concern.


    This was also why he hadn¡¯t cultivated for thest year. He had devoted most of his energy to cultivating his Karma power.


    But helping out Cai Junyang and Shi Meng had used up quite a lot of his Karma power, so he naturally couldn¡¯t use it up for the sake of this minor matter with Shen Qingdan. It had to be understood that umting Karma power meant ceasing cultivation. He had already thrown away a year, but he could not just keep throwing time away.


    ¡°But¡­¡± Tang Jie thought it over. ¡°Given Shen Qingdan¡¯s personality, I don¡¯t think she¡¯s willing to drop the matter. She really mighte back to cause us trouble.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s wonderful!¡± Yiyi¡¯s response to this grievous news was to do several somersaults in the air.


    Even more than Hong Yuan, this girl delighted in chaos.


    Tang Jie was rendered speechless, ¡°¡®Wonderful¡¯, my ass, you naughty girl!¡±


    Turning over and sitting on the bed, Yiyi spread her arms apart and said, ¡°Why isn¡¯t it good? Didn¡¯t you want to get your name out? This is the best chance. A piece of news more earthshaking than Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran traveling around Celestial River together is the news that the Wandering Pce¡¯s young pce lord and a princess of Horizon Ocean are fighting over a servant student of Basking Moon! Nothing could be better!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Tang Jie started to sweat.


    But he had to admit that Yiyi was right. The spat between Xu Miaoran and Shen Qingdan would soon turn into countless different rumors and spread through the country.


    Tang Jie would quickly be targeted by everyone.


    But this wasn¡¯t truly his objective.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but shiver when he thought about all the trouble this might cause.


    What if he used a bit of Karma power and nudged things around a little?


    But he quickly put an end to that idea, for he discovered that eliminating this Karma would consume vast amounts of Karma power. Not only that, the cost would continuously increase.


    Tang Jie understood.


    As this news spread, this Karma would affect more and more people, and the more people that took part, the more power he would have to consume.


    For this reason, attempting to change the will of the heavens with the Dao of Karma and eliminate this event was bound toe with a heavy cost. This also meant that influencing Karma was not about the particr value of any event, but the broadness of its scope.


    Tang Jie had finally understood this important principle.


    Being able to betterprehend the Dao of Karma was a good thing, but s, it was no use here. Tang Jie could only hope that the will of the heavens would not bring him too much trouble.


    But he quickly came to discover how unreliable hope was.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Two dayster.


    The Rainbow Tower was a rather famous scenic site of Celestial River Ind. It consisted of two twelve-floor towers linked at the roof by a rainbow bridge. A Rainbow Formation had been carved into it that would release a rainbow of colors at night, providing a gorgeous sight that drew countless people.


    The Rainbow Tower at sunset was said to be one of the best sights in Celestial River.


    Xu Miaoran had been longing to pay a visit, so she had dragged Tang Jie over to the Rainbow Tower today.


    The two of them were sitting together and happily chatting when someone walked across the rainbow bridge: Shen Qingdan.


    Xu Miaoran¡¯s expression instantly darkened. ¡°And what are you here for?¡±


    Shen Qingdan gracefully walked up to Xu Miaoran and smiled. ¡°What? Am I not wee? Or do you feel guilty for stealing another person¡¯s man?¡±


    Xu Miaoran coldlyughed. Just when she was about to say something, Shen Qingdan stopped her. ¡°I know what you¡¯re going to say, little sister. You¡¯re going to say that Tang Jie doesn¡¯t like me, right? Yes, your elder sister admits this. Tang Jie came to the conference for the Stop Gate Banner and the six major sects came for the Wandering Pce. Nobody wasing for me.¡±


    ¡°So long as you know,¡± Xu Miaoran grunted.


    Shen Qingdan¡¯s tone changed. ¡°But what does that matter?¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Xu Miaoran was startled.


    Tang Jie inwardly shouted, <em>Oh no!</em> He knew what Shen Qingdan was going to say.


    Sure enough, Shen Qingdan sweetly said, ¡°Even if the one this man loves isn¡¯t me, he¡¯s still the man engaged to me.¡±


    Tang Jie pped his forehead, wanting nothing more than to crash into a wall.


    Xu Miaoran¡¯splexion hadpletely transformed.


    Shen Qingdan casually sat down in front of Xu Miaoran. ¡°Regardless of the reason he came to find me, at the Immortal Fortune Conference, an engagement was established with all of the cultivators of the world as witness, so neither party can go back on it. Until this engagement is undone, Tang Jie¡­ is my man!¡±


    These simple words carried a harsh and domineering tone.


    The two women red at each other, their eyes seemingly shing with countless chilling des. A somber mood settled over the Rainbow Tower, and even the weather began to turn colder.


    Shen Qingdan¡¯s words seemed to drift down from the heavens, cold and callous. ¡°Thus, Miss Xu, please don¡¯t be a homewrecker and destroy another person¡¯s marriage¡­ Keep your distance from my husband.¡±


    Xu Miaoran sighed. ¡°The problem is that he simply doesn¡¯t like you, so why try and force it? Won¡¯t letting go a little earlier be good for the both of you?¡±


    Shen Qingdan replied, ¡°And what if I refuse to let go? You¡¯re seducing someone else¡¯s husband, and you still have the nerve to say such things?¡±


    The two quickly began to argue, with the sides of the argument essentially consisting of ¡°you¡¯re seducing him¡± and ¡°he doesn¡¯t love you¡±.


    One of them had propriety while the other one talked up love. As the two of them argued, the contents sounded so familiar. After some time, Tang Jie realized that this was clearly an ancient-style rendition of the wife catching the mistress, though he had never imagined that he would end up ying a role in this drama.


    This thought immediately made him want to cry¡­


    After quarreling for a while, Xu Miaoran finally said, ¡°As expected, you came prepared. No wonder people say that a shameless woman is invincible. It seems like they werepletely right.¡±


    Shen Qingdan giggled. ¡°At least it¡¯s better than a shameless husband-tempting seductress.¡±


    Xu Miaoran sneered. ¡°Are you a wife? You¡¯re clearly still a virgin, but you¡¯re going around calling him your husband? Perhaps I should send the two of you off to consummate your marriage?¡±


    Shen Qingdan froze.


    Tang Jie mentally gave a thumbs-up. Shen Qingdan had probably prepared all the words she was going to say today, but in this situation, Xu Miaoran had still managed to deal a painful counterattack.


    <em>Wait, this wasn¡¯t necessarily something she thought of on the spot. Perhaps she¡¯s been preparing for this war of words over thest two days?</em>


    Tang Jie mentally gasped in surprise, though the revtion made him forget about that business of being sent off to consummate his marriage.


    Shen Qingdan¡¯s face darkened. ¡°When has it been the ce of an outsider to interfere in business with my husband?¡±


    ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is that I can¡¯t make any requests, but it¡¯s fine if your husband does?¡± Xu Miaoran grinned and cast her gaze at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was aghast.


    Was she trying to get him to have sex with Shen Qingdan?


    The look on Xu Miaoran¡¯s face told him that if he didn¡¯t nod, he would not be forgiven.


    An enraged woman was not rational!


    Tang Jie stiffly nodded. ¡°Mm¡­ this¡­ I have no objection.¡±


    Shen Qingdan shivered, and she red at Tang Jie. ¡°So you choose to help this woman? Good, good, very good!¡±


    She suddenly stood up and pointed at Tang Jie. ¡°If you want to consummate this marriage, then let¡¯s go and do it! Thisdy will satisfy you today, but I wonder whether you two adulterers would dare to ept it!¡±


    She looked again at Xu Miaoran.


    Xu Miaoran pped the table and stood up. ¡°What a joke! What¡¯s there to be afraid of? Tang Jie, take Princess Shen back to the inn. I will give the two of you the chance to consummate your marriage!¡±


    Tang Jie scooted over in shock. ¡°Are you serious?¡±


    Xu Miaoran red. ¡°Of course I¡¯m serious. Why shouldn¡¯t I be? She¡¯s a princess, but she is bold enough to devote herself to you, so why wouldn¡¯t I be bold enough to let you take her?¡±


    Shen Qingdan shouted back, ¡°What a joke! Why should I be afraid? It¡¯s just me and my husband.¡±


    The two of them began to make their way out of the tower, as if they were seriously going to go back to the inn so that the marriage could be consummated.


    After walking a few steps, they realized that Tang Jie hadn¡¯t followed, so they turned their heads and said, ¡°What are you sitting around for? Why aren¡¯t you following?¡±


    They both reached out, grabbed Tang Jie, and flew out of the tower and to the inn.


    While flying, they were still shouting at each other.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to see if you dare!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to see if you¡¯re willing to let him go!¡±


    Tang Jie felt dizzy and dazzled.


    Everything had happened so suddenly that even a peerless schemer like Tang Jie had never predicted such a scene.


    What¡­ what the hell was going on!?


    Oh? Is this¡­a threesome? Surely not¡­<!--


    -->

 Chapter 413

    Chapter 413: Request for Aid


    Rationality was the fuel burned by anger.


    The two furiously arguing women had no rationality to speak of.


    If things were allowed to go like this, then Xu Miaoran might really end up pushing Tang Jie into the same bed with Shen Qingdan. In the most extreme case, she might even watch as they performed for her.


    Fortunately¡­ or unfortunately, it was only Xu and Shen who had lost their rationality, not Tang Jie.


    Thus, after flying for a little bit, Tang Jie got some distance from them and said, ¡°Have you two had your fill of arguing yet?¡±


    The two women looked at Tang Jie in unison.


    Tang Jie sighed and said to Xu Miaoran, ¡°You don¡¯t actually want me to get into her bed, right?¡±


    And then he looked at Shen Qingdan. ¡°And you don¡¯t actually want me to consummate our marriage, right?¡±


    Finally, he spread out his hands. ¡°Actually, neither of you want this, so why let your emotions drive you into doing it?¡±


    Xu Miaoran snorted. ¡°What am I afraid of? What man doesn¡¯t have two or three wives? I can just treat it as my man taking a concubine.¡±


    Shen Qingdan red. ¡°Ridiculous! You think I¡¯m afraid of consummating a marriage with my husband? And also, you had better get it straight. If you were allowed into the Tang family¡¯s door, then you would be the concubine!¡±


    Xu Miaoran was furious, jeering, ¡°Alright, then, you can be the main wife, a main wife whose husband is never home!¡±


    Shen Qingdan furiously retorted, ¡°Regardless of how much my husband is away, I¡¯m still better than a temptress fiend woman like you! Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s fiend women really live up to their reputation!¡±


    Xu Miaoran shot back, ¡°It¡¯s still better than some barbaric woman who came out of nowhere. My Horizon Ocean Pavilion is not an existence that you can speak so lightly about.¡±


    Shen Qingdan replied, ¡°No matter how small my Wandering Pce is, I¡¯m still the young master of a sect. No matter how big Horizon Ocean Pavilion is, it will never be yours! You are only a True Lord¡¯s daughter, not the youngdy of Horizon Ocean Pavilion.¡±


    Tang Jie pped his forehead. ¡°Again with this.¡±


    At least they had dropped the business about consummating the marriage, the topic somehow turning to their status, with no sign that either party wanted to go back to the topic.


    Xu Miaoran was a daughter of a True Lord in a major sect while Shen Qingdan was the young pce lord of a minor sect, so they were basically equal. Thus, whenparing backgrounds, neither gave an inch. At least they were in the air, where their argument would not draw countless spectators. To be blunt, their argument was like two housewives arguing on the street and simply wasn¡¯t suitable for the eyes of outsiders.


    Tang Jie felt a headacheing on, and he shouted, ¡°I say, are you two done yet?¡±


    He yelled with such force and majesty that the two women finally stopped and looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie took in a deep breath before saying, ¡°You¡¯re a True Lord¡¯s daughter and the youngdy of Wandering Pce, and we¡¯re all cultivators, so what are you doing to yourselves, arguing in a ce like this? Can¡¯t we all just sit down and talk? This matter wasn¡¯t a big deal to begin with, so why turn against each other just because of some maid¡¯s tactless words?¡±


    Xu Miaoran and Shen Qingdan nced at each other before turning away from each other in a huff. Although they were still angry, they stopped arguing.


    In truth, they knew that arguing like this was extremely inelegant, but they were so angry that they couldn¡¯t control themselves. Now that Tang Jie had shouted them down, they were able to master their emotions.


    Tang Jie turned to Shen Qingdan and said, ¡°This matter was because of that maid. In truth, Miaoran already punished her. On this matter, I will express my apologies on her behalf.¡±


    Shen Qingdan looked at him and grunted, ¡°That maid truly was despicable, saying that I came chasing a man. Her education must have been sorelycking.¡±


    By criticizing the servant, she was criticizing the master, and Xu Miaoran was about to fire back when Tang Jie stopped her. ¡°Right, I still haven¡¯t heard: why are you here in Endsea?¡±


    This was a superb question from Tang Jie. Giving Shen Qingdan a chance to exin would cool her rage and also change the subject.


    Sure enough, after hearing this question, Shen Qingdan lightened up a little. ¡°I came to Endsea because someone requested me to open an Immortal mobile pce.¡±


    ¡°¡®An Immortal mobile pce¡¯?¡± Tang Jie was startled, never having expected this answer from Shen Qingdan.


    Immortal mobile pces were art relics or divine treasures in the form of pces. The area offered by these items allowed one toy downrge numbers of formations and seals, so they were often extremely powerful.


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion and the Wandering Pce were famous Immortal mobile pces, even getting their names from these items. This was a sign of how valuable they were.


    Tang Jie had never imagined that this would be Shen Qingdan¡¯s reason foring, so he blurted out, ¡°What sort of mobile pce?¡±


    Shen Qingdan shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know either.¡±


    Three months ago, Shen Qingdan had suddenly received a message in the Wandering Pce. It said that an Immortal mobile pce would soon appear in Endsea, and that Shen Qingdan¡¯s aid was requested to open it. If she could do this, the requester was willing to give her most of the resources within the mobile pce.


    The Wandering Pce had its own mobile pce and lived year-round within it, traveling all over the ce, so they were experts at opening up sealed Immortal mobile pces. Horizon Ocean Pavilion was no match for them in this aspect.


    The Wandering Pce had taken such requests before, and since the requester had promised most of the resources in the mobile pce, Shen Qingdan hade personally. Of course, she hadn¡¯t expected to run into Tang Jie in Endsea.


    ¡°I see. And you still have the time to argue here?¡± Tang Jie said in a half-joking tone, trying his best to lighten the mood.


    Shen Qingdan red at Tang Jie. ¡°I also don¡¯t know where that Immortal mobile pce is. The requester has yet to appear, so I can only wait. And since I have nothing to do¡­¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Could that person be scamming you?¡±


    Shen Qingdan rolled her eyes. ¡°Do you think everyone is as insincere as you? The requester already put in a deposit of one hundred thousand spirit coins. If he doesn¡¯t fulfill his end of the contract, I¡¯ll happily take the free money. Moreover, if that person hadn¡¯t appeared by now, you really think I would talk about it with you so casually?¡±


    Tang Jie brought his hands together and bowed. ¡°Mydy, thank you for exining this matter, and thank you for your tolerance.¡±


    ¡°Forget it,¡± Shen Qingdanzily said. ¡°Just control your servants better in the future.¡±


    She turned and left.


    As they watched Shen Qingdan leave, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran shared a look and startedughing.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Did you enjoy it? It¡¯s really hard to tell that you¡¯ve got such a spicy temper.¡±


    Xu Miaoran grumbled, ¡°Tsk, if not for your sake, I would have never let her go.¡±


    Seeing how stubborn she was still being, Tang Jie sighed. ¡°If I knew it was going to be like that, I wouldn¡¯t have stopped you from dragging me off to consummate my marriage with her.¡±


    Xu Miaoran red. ¡°You dare!¡±


    She ced her hands on her hips. ¡°I was testing you to see if you were that lowly. Thankfully, you had some tact. If¡­ if¡­¡±


    She was unable to say what came next, and then she seemed to think of something and startedughing.


    Tang Jie was rendered speechless. Pulling her, he said, ¡°Look how silly you are,ughing like that. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°¡®Go¡¯ where?¡±


    ¡°Back to the inn. Yiyi sent word that someone hase to find me¡­¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    When they returned to the inn, Yiyi came to wee him, saying, ¡°He¡¯s waiting for you in the inner hall.¡±


    Tang Jie nodded and went inside. A person was pacing back and forth in the hall, a worried look on his face. It was none other than the owner of the ship that Tang Jie had saved, Yun Changan.


    Elder Yun saw Tang Jieing and immediately went up to him. ¡°Young Sir Tang, you¡¯re finally back. Please, you must help out my Yun n!¡±


    ¡°Elder Yun, please rise.¡± Tang Jie quickly helped the old man stand up. ¡°Please, speak slowly. Did something happen to the Lucksnow?¡±


    The old man shook his head. ¡°The Lucksnow is fine. We¡¯ve already returned from Thousand Sail Ind. But the Yun n is facing a cmity¡­¡±


    The old man exined the situation to Tang Jie.


    The Yun n was originally one of four great ns on Spirit Gale Ind, possessing great wealth and numerous Spirit Masters. Apparently, it even had several peak Mortal Shedding cultivators in its employ.


    The Yun n¡¯s primary business was in the Silverscale trade. Silverscales came from a kind of sea fiend, the Shuttlefish. It had a slim and long body like a shuttle and a mouth like a spear, hence its name. This fish swam very quickly, and its silver-colored scales were a rather precious cultivation material. Shuttlefish were mostly concentrated in the regions of Joymount Ind and Southrise Ind. These inds were under the Yun n, so the Yun n had also always controlled this region of the sea.


    Around forty days ago, the Yun n¡¯s fishermen encountered a school of Shuttlefish out at sea. The fishermen on the boat used the Silversilk Nets made by the Yun n to try and catch these Shuttlefish. While Shuttlefish counted as sea fiends, they were naturally born at a low level and were very weak. A prepared fisherman could easily catch them, and an asional high-grade one could be dealt with by a local Spirit Master.


    But this time was different.


    For some reason, the school of Shuttlefish actually broke through the Silversilk Net. Not only that, they attacked the Yun n¡¯s fishermen, killing many of them. Only three of them managed to escape.


    After this incident, the Yun n sent out three Spirit Masters to investigate.


    But to their shock, none of the three Spirit Masters came back.


    The Yun n could no longer underestimate this matter, so it mustered all of its Spirit Masters to investigate the seas and find out what was going on. They ended up running into two of the more famously powerful creatures of that region, the Sawtooth Shark and the Giant wed Octopus.


    The Yun n¡¯s twenty-some Spirit Masters went into battle against the thirteen middle-grade Mind Opening Sawtooth Sharks and two upper-grade Mind Opening Giant wed Octopuses.


    Surprisingly, the result of this battle was the loss of the numerically superior humans.


    The Yun n Spirit Masters suffered a major defeat, ten-some Spirit Masters dying in battle and only seven managing to escape, with three of them taking severe wounds.


    In these circumstances, the Lucksnow, which had just been about to set off on a voyage, had to give up on a Spirit Master escort and set off alone. If not for Tang Jie¡¯s help, the Lucksnow would have also been finished.


    Other than shipping goods, the Lucksnow had the additional important mission of recruiting more Spirit Masters for the Yun n. The defeat¡¯s effects on the Yun n had just been too severe. Not only had their fishing revenue been severely cut down, other ns were beginning to get ideas.


    s, Spirit Masters couldn¡¯t be hired just because one had money. Even though Yun Changan had offered a high price, there were few respondents. At present, Yun Changan had only managed to hire two Spirit Masters.


    And at this moment, the Yun n faced another crisis.


    As Yun Changan was heading back to Spirit Gale Ind with the two Spirit Masters, he received a message from the Yun n. It turned out that, seven days ago, the Yun n¡¯s strategic base of Joymount Ind was besieged by sea fiends.


    It was not unheard of for sea fiends to attack an ind.


    When sea fiends were allowed to reproduce unchecked, their rise in strength would stimte their savagery, and they could even join together to attack humans.


    The Sawtooth Sharks, the Giant wed Octopuses, and even the tyrants of that region, the Faceless Serpents, had all appeared to attack Joymount Ind.


    But the Yun n had operated Joymount Ind for a hundred years, so it hadprehensive defenses. With its advantage in terrain, the Yun n managed to defend Joymount Ind. But wave after wave of sea beasts attacked, and the Yun n¡¯s situation got worse and worse.


    The Yun n had sent this message to Yun Changan in this situation, the n head ordering Yun Changan to seek the assistance of powerful Spirit Masters no matter what. Otherwise, if Joymount Ind was lost, the Yun n was finished.


    But this poor elder was only a mortal, so what powerful Spirit Masters could he know? At this moment, the rumors of Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran traveling around reached him, and the old man immediately grasped this rope and hastily went to seek Tang Jie¡¯s aid.


    In truth, the one he really wanted help from was Xu Miaoran, but he knew that his status was too low to ask for Xu Miaoran¡¯s help. Thus, he had to go through Tang Jie.


    After understanding what had happened, Tang Jie began to think. ¡°There¡¯s something I don¡¯t quite understand. Isn¡¯t Endsea ruled by its own major sect? Since Joymount Ind is in danger, why didn¡¯t you seek aid from Horizon Ocean Pavilion? The six major sects receive tribute from all the world, so they naturally have to handle such disasters.¡±


    Elder Yun sorrowfully sighed. ¡°We thought the same, but Joymount Ind isn¡¯t under the direct administration of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, but Jade Cliff Pavilion. Jade Cliff Pavilion has already sent Spirit Masters to help, but there are so many sea fiends encroaching upon a wide area, far more than just Joymount Ind. Jade Cliff Pavilion alone can just barely hold on. There are even rumors that a Transformation fiend has appeared at Jade Cliff Pavilion¡¯s main base.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Tang Jie understood.


    He didn¡¯t ask why Jade Cliff Pavilion hadn¡¯t asked for help from Horizon Ocean Pavilion. As a Basking Moon Sect disciple, he understood how inter-sect rtionships worked.


    Unless it was a foreign invasion, if a minor sect sought help from a major sect, it would always have to pay a huge fee, and it would sometimes evene with very stringent conditions.


    This was what the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s Service Hall did. If a lower sect was in trouble, Yan Changfeng would arrive, brush in his left hand and sword in his right. After signing an unequal contract and handing over one¡¯s treasures, one could get him to wave his sword and eliminate all dangers.


    It was probably for this reason that Jade Cliff Pavilion would not lightly ask for the help of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. While they could hold on, factions like the Yun n would suffer.


    Joymount Ind was besieged, and the Yun n was in dire peril, so it had sent this old man to seek reinforcements.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but sadly sigh after hearing Elder Yun¡¯s story.


    But while he sympathized, his answer was ultimately, ¡°My apologies. I can¡¯t help you with this.¡±


    ¡°Young Sir Tang!¡± Yun Changan shouted.


    Tang Jie still shook his head. ¡°Making Horizon Ocean Pavilion send people to assist you would have me used of meddling in another sect¡¯s affairs. In the end, I¡¯m not an Endseanian, only an outsider. I don¡¯t have the right to say such words or do such things. While I am good friends with Lady Xu, I cannot lose sense of who I am and what my role is because of it. As for myself, I¡¯m only a Nine Revolutions cultivator, so I cannot turn the tides. Moreover, I have my own business to take care of, so¡­ I can only apologize.¡±


    Yun Changan felt his heart go cold. He looked at Tang Jie for a long while before finally shouting, ¡°What important business could you have? Aren¡¯t you just ying around with the Xu n¡¯s youngdy?¡±


    This was insulting one¡¯s superiors, but Tang Jie could understand the old man¡¯s worries and emotional state, so he only frowned.


    Yun Changan began to wail.


    He tottered out of the hall and yelled, ¡°Cultivators? Nothing more than a pack of selfish and greedy ghosts! All that talking about cultivating Immortality, seeking long life, freedom, and invincibility is nothing more than one-sided selfishness. They have no ce in their heart for the world, but they seek to dominate it! The mad dreams of a lunatic, the idle dreams of a daydreamer, and the unrealistic dreams of an idealist!¡±


    The old man began to crazilyugh.


    As he emerged from the inn, he yelled at the sky, ¡°The Heavenly Dao has no eyes! The Heavenly Dao has no heart! The Heavenly Dao has nopassion!¡±


    One of the ind lord¡¯s guards wanted to seize this raving man, but Tang Jie stopped him. Looking at Yun Changan, he said, ¡°Let him talk¡­ He¡¯s not wrong. Cultivators really are nothing more than selfish ghosts, only knowing to reap the profits and take none of the responsibility. In this Rosecloud Domain, there have never been natural disasters, only man-made ones.¡±


    A guard said, ¡°But he¡¯s so brazen, even criticizing the Heavenly Dao.¡±


    ¡°Let him criticize,¡± Tang Jie indifferently said. ¡°If the Heavenly Dao has eyes, it will naturally strike him down with lightning. If the Heavenly Dao doesn¡¯t mind, why should we humans?¡±


    The guard had nothing to say to that, and withdrew.


    Yun Changan continued to walk along the street, shouting and raving.


    Suddenly, the sky rumbled with thunder, giving Tang Jie a fright.


    But no lightning struck the old man dead, though it did begin to rain hard.


    In this rainy night, as Tang Jie looked at the old man¡¯s back, he felt an inexplicable sense of destion.


    ¡°Do you regret your choice?¡± Xu Miaoran¡¯s voice came from behind him.


    Tang Jie said without turning, ¡°You heard it all?¡±


    Xu Miaoran confirmed. ¡°In truth, let alone you, even I can¡¯t casually interfere in the pavilion¡¯s business. While I might be a True Lord¡¯s daughter, when has it ever been the right of a mere county lord to decide the business of a major sect?¡±


    ¡°I know, but in the end, I was selfish.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s us¡­ we are selfish,¡± Xu Miaoran replied. She sweetly said, ¡°Good or bad, in the end, we made this decision together. Next time something like this happens, remember to not push me to the side.¡±


    Tang Jie was startled.


    He reached out and put his hand around Xu Miaoran¡¯s waist.


    This action made Xu Miaoran stiffen up, and then she gradually began to rx.


    ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s go back to the room,¡± Tang Jie said.


    ¡°To do what?¡± Xu Miaoran suddenly began to panic.


    ¡°Silly girl.¡± Tang Jie flicked her nose. ¡°I just want to find a ce with no one around to talk with you.¡±


    Xu Miaoran rxed.


    ¡°Of course, if you want to do something else, I have no objections.¡±


    Xu Miaoran blushed and punched him in the back. ¡°Go and die, pervert!¡±


    Sadly, it¡¯s not like Tang Jie can help out every ind in peril. And it¡¯s not like he has any reason to intervene.<!--


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 Chapter 414

    Chapter 414: The Jail Demon me


    The matter with Shen Qingdan was only a minor interlude, a small wave in the life of Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran, quickly vanishing in the ocean of their affection.


    Shen Qingdan did not appear again, and Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran continued to happily travel around Celestial River, going in and out together as countless people enviously watched.


    There was no mission and no difference of family or sect, only the deep love the two of them shared.


    Their love was developing rapidly. What had been an indistinct fondness was now a romance that wouldst for three lifetimes. As their rtionship rapidly warmed, while they had yet to break through thatst window, some affectionate actions were nowmonce.


    Besides ying around, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran spent even more time discussing their understanding of cultivation.


    While Basking Moon and Horizon Ocean had foundational mantras that could not be passed on, the two still had some others that could be passed on.


    For example, Tang Jie had the Ninedark Mantra and the Five Gods Faith¡¯s Celestial Treasure Supreme Heart Mantra. Xu Miaoran had the Sea Anchor Stamp and the Ceaseless Wave Mantra.


    The Sea Anchor Stamp was one of Xu Guanghua¡¯s famous spell arts, capable of suppressing all things in the world. The Ceaseless Wave Mantra was a mantra of his own creation. Those who cultivated it would be able to rapidly increase their spiritual energy recovery rate. Xu Guanghua was famous for hisbat ability precisely because of the Ceaseless Wave Mantra, but Xu Miaoran had gone and taught it to her boyfriend.


    The two of thempared notes and instructed each other, and they also yed around together, opening their hearts to each other.


    For Tang Jie, this was perhaps the happiest time of his life since he had started cultivating. He had never felt as happy and blessed as this.


    s, happy times were always so brief.


    Today, Xu Miaoran and Tang Jie were once again spending time together.


    It was a romantic atmosphere, a warm scent wafting about the meditation chamber.


    Xu Miaoran was up against Tang Jie¡¯s chest like a little cat, her fingers drawing spiritual lines on his exposed upper body which were derived from the teachings of the Celestial Treasure Mantra. Tang Jie had closed his eyes and was forming various hand signs. Clumps of spiritual energy appeared and disappeared within his hands as the power of the Sea Anchor Stamp coalesced.


    It was already very normal for the two of them to mix study and affection like this.


    In the middle of all this warmth, a voice came from outside. ¡°Tang Jie,e out already!¡±


    Stopping what he was doing, Tang Jie opened his eyes andzily said, ¡°So which young master hase this time to try and steal my girl?¡±


    As the news spread, more and more people came to cause trouble for Tang Jie, but as most of them were weak, they hardly posed a threat to them. Thus, rather than being annoyances in his life, these people served as a source of amusement.


    Tang Jie called these self-proimed flower guardians ¡°girl stealers¡± because these people seemingly had never considered Xu Miaoran¡¯s perspective. They only one-sidedly believed that they were protecting Xu Miaoran.


    But Xu Miaoran¡¯s hand went stiff. ¡°It¡¯s Senior Brother Lan!¡±


    ¡°Lan Yu?¡± Tang Jie was startled.


    After several years of not seeing him, Tang Jie had gradually forgotten Lan Yu¡¯s voice. It was only when Xu Miaoran said his name that he realized that this really was Lan Yu¡¯s voice.


    His voice was once full of mettle, but it was now somewhat worn down and more mature.


    Tang Jie emerged from the inn and saw Lan Yu standing in the courtyard, his hands held behind his back. Several young men stood around him, seemingly all disciples from Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    When Lan Yu heard Tang Jiee out, he slowly turned around, revealing his delicate and handsome face.


    But this handsome image was ruined by a cross-shaped scar, which added hints of savagery, hardship, and intimidation.


    When he saw Tang Jie, Lan Yu cracked a smile.


    ¡°Long time no see.¡±


    Tang Jie was taken aback, and then he brought his hands together and bowed. ¡°Greetings, Senior Brother Lan.¡±


    ¡°What? Did you think that I would immediately start fighting you, so you¡¯re not toofortable with my reaction?¡± Lan Yu smiled.


    Tang Jie shrugged. ¡°In any case, I¡¯m guessing that you wouldn¡¯t regard me as a friend.¡±


    Lan Yu softly chuckled.


    Stroking the cross-shaped scar, Lan Yu began to speak in a ghost-like tone. ¡°Thanks to you, thesest few years, I have never forgotten the humiliation I received at the Immortal Fortune Conference. At the start, I truly did hate you so much that I wanted you dead. But after resenting you for so many years, I gradually grew tired. Suddenly, one day, I realized: what was the point in love and hatred? It will all flow away like water in the end. As a cultivator, I seek the Great Dao, so I should cast aside mortal affections as early as possible. Whether it is love or hatred, it is all a burden, and such things are best set down early.¡±


    Lan Yu lowered the hand which stroked the scar, a ghostly blue me flickering upon it.


    ¡°The Jail Demon me?¡± Tang Jie gasped in surprise.


    He finally understood why Lan Yu was soposed when facing him. It wasn¡¯t because Lan Yu had let go of his hatred, but because Lan Yu hated him so much that he had turned his anger and hatred into power and refined one of the most difficult of the 19 Demon mes, the Jail Demon me.


    Cultivating this Demon me was extremely difficult, as one would feel like one¡¯s body was being roasted in mes while cultivating. Though whocked the persistence would not be able to push through. But once cultivated, it was an extremely powerful me. Its greatest advantage was that whenever one cast a spell art, it would have the Jail Demon me applied to it. The Jail Demon me¡¯s lethality was actually average, but it inflicted immense pain and had a sticky attribute. Once attached to someone, it was very difficult to remove.


    One could say that those who used the Jail Demon me transferred all the pain that they had sustained in the process of cultivating the me to their opponent.


    Even someone with Tang Jie¡¯sposure couldn¡¯t help but grimace when he saw Lan Yu¡¯s Jail Demon me.


    Lan Yu¡¯s voice remainedposed. ¡°Thanks to you, I was able to use hatred as my fuel, cultivating night and day. Whenever the pain from the Jail Demon me became unbearable, I thought about you, imagined you enduring all of this. Hatred gave me strength, allowing me to press on and finally endure that hellish pain¡­¡±


    He raised his head and looked at Tang Jie. ¡°Thanks to you, I was finally able to be the seventh person in Horizon Ocean Pavilion who was able to sessfully cultivate the Jail Demon me. It really was as my masters said: only by enduring great suffering and great setback can one be a great master of divine ability. This is exactly why, on the day I cultivated the Jail Demon me, I suddenly realized that I didn¡¯t really hate you that much. If not for you, I would have gone my entire life without being able to cultivate this powerful art. To show you my gratitude, I will ce you in the Jail Demon me, burning you away for nine days and nine nights before killing you.¡±


    Lan Yu¡¯s tone was t and indifferent, devoid of any hatred, but when he spoke of how he would execute Tang Jie in this t tone, it chilled one to the bone.


    ¡°Lan Yu!¡± Xu Miaoran rushed out and shouted, ¡°I¡¯m here, and I won¡¯t tolerate this behavior!¡±


    Upon seeing Xu Miaoran, Lan Yu smiled and said, ¡°Junior Sister, have you been well?¡±


    Xu Miaoran shouted, ¡°Lan Yu, you¡¯re not in my heart, so even if you kill him¡­¡±


    Lan Yu cut her off. ¡°This isn¡¯t for you.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Xu Miaoran froze.


    Lan Yu¡¯s fingertips once more crossed the scar on his face. ¡°The day I received this injury, I ceased loving you.¡±


    Xu Miaoran¡¯s heart went cold.


    Lan Yu casually continued, ¡°Because I knew that if I continued to love you, my love for you would be an obstacle on my path of cultivation. Only by putting down my love for you could I achieve great things!¡±


    Lan Yu¡¯s eyes gleamed with a brilliant light.


    He red at Tang Jie, blue mes flickering within his eyes. ¡°Starting from today, Xu Miaoran will have nothing to do with this matter between me and Tang Jie. Junior Sister, please leave at once!¡±


    Xu Miaoran shouted, ¡°Lan Yu, I won¡¯t let you do this. If you dare to injure Tang Jie, I¡¯ll tell my father¡­¡±


    Lan Yuughed. ¡°Did you think the True Lord wouldn¡¯t know about what¡¯s happening here?¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Xu Miaoran froze, her heart dropping to rock bottom.


    Lan Yu snorted, ¡°Beforeing, I already reported this matter to the respected lord. The lord said that Tang Jie has yet to obtain his approval and cannot be considered his son-inw. Tang Jie is the barrier in my life. I must pass through him to get to higher floors. And I am also a barrier in his life. If he is not able to get through me, what right does he have to marry a True Lord¡¯s daughter? Thus, if I want to fight him, nobody has the right to stop me.¡±


    ¡°No! I don¡¯t believe it!¡± Xu Miaoran shouted. ¡°Father wouldn¡¯t treat me like this.¡±


    ¡°Who would dare to forge a True Lord¡¯s order?¡± Lan Yu proudly replied. ¡°What are you guys standing around for? Take her away!¡±


    As he spoke, the young disciples who hade with him pounced at Xu Miaoran, shouting, ¡°Junior Sister, forgive us!¡±


    They grabbed Xu Miaoran and pulled her to the side.


    ¡°Release me¡­ Tang Jie!¡± Xu Miaoran shouted.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t intervene. He simply looked at Xu Miaoran and smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    These two words and that breezy smile made the panicked Xu Miaoran instantly calm down.


    She said, ¡°You¡¯re not afraid of him, right?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Of course. You need to trust me.¡±


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    Xu Miaoran exhaled.


    Yes, concern had made her loseposure.


    How could she have forgotten? This was Tang Jie, the man she loved.


    What dangers had he not experienced, and what opponents had he not defeated? In this time with him, she had heard many of his stories.


    Even the Celestial Heart True Persons of the Stone Gate Sect had been defeated by him, so why should he be afraid of Lan Yu?


    This thought made her smile.


    Her mind that was frantic from her father¡¯s order hadpletely calmed down.


    Lan Yu now said to Tang Jie, ¡°This ce isn¡¯t suitable for a battle.¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Then we¡¯ll find a different ce.¡±


    The two of them took to the skies.


    As the two of them flew away, Xu Miaoran shook off the arms holding her and shouted with all her might, ¡°Tang Jie!¡±


    Tang Jie looked down.


    Xu Miaoran pointed at Lan Yu. ¡°Give him a good beating for me!¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Tang Jie flew all the way to Mount Buyao.


    In terms of speed, thebination of the Wandering Celestial Peng Art and the Violet Lightning Lunge still couldn¡¯t keep up with the Oceancrosser Step. Horizon Ocean Pavilion was the champion of the six major sects when it came to speed of movement techniques. However, Lan Yu was in no rush to give chase, only following Tang Jie at a steady pace.


    On Mount Buyao, the melted snow flowed down the Buyao Aqueduct and descended from that giant overhanging rock, making it appear like a river descending from the heavens, which shed with a rainbow of colors in the sunlight.


    Tang Jie flew up to the Buyao Aqueduct before stopping and turning to Lan Yu. ¡°The scenery here is wonderful, perfect for a battle.¡±


    Lan Yuughed. ¡°Great! As expected, you chose a fine location. Today, we will battle to our hearts¡¯ content on this celestial river, and this waterfall from the heavens will be your burial site.¡±


    He formed a hand sign and fired a wind bolt at Tang Jie. As the wind bolt appeared, it was covered with a ghostly blue me.


    Tang Jie rapidly fell back as he thrust out two waves of wind, one at Lan Yu and the other at the ghostly blue me.


    Now that he had entered Nine Revolutions, his spiritual energy had begun to substantialize, and every movement he made had a certain amount of force. He no longer needed to specifically use spell arts inbat.


    ¡°Useless!¡± Lan Yuughed. He thrust out his right palm, and that blue me sted through Tang Jie¡¯s wind palm and made straight for his face.


    rmed, as the blue me approached, Tang Jie suddenly disappeared using the Chaoswind Step.


    Tang Jie appeared behind Lan Yu, and his Heartbreak Saber zed with mes as he swung it at the back of Lan Yu¡¯s neck.


    Lan Yu reacted quickly. With a grunt, he threw an elbow behind him while a suit of armor appeared on his body.


    <em>Bang! Bang!</em> Lan Yu¡¯s elbow struck Tang Jie¡¯s arm while the Heartbreak Saber hacked against the armor in a shower of sparks.


    The two parted, and while they were breaking away from each other, Tang Jie thrust a Dragonlike Hand at Lan Yu while Lan Yu unleashed a Thousand de Gale. Two attacks collided in an explosion of green light, sting both of them back.


    Cultivation-wise, Tang Jie was only at his second revolution while Lan Yu was at his fifth, in the sequence of heart, head, liver, kidneys, and then the galldder (Fire, none, Wood, Water, Fire). In the Five Elements, he specialized in Water, Wood, and Fire, while hecked in Metal and Earth, so his spell arts were stronger. But in terms of spell arts, the Dragonlike Hand was concentrated while the Thousand de Gale was scattered, so the Dragonlike Hand had the advantage.


    Thus, the sh was a draw.


    But as the Thousand Gale de dissipated, another ghostly blue me shot at Tang Jie. The earlier me had also not disappeared, continuing to float toward Tang Jie.


    While Tang Jie had never experienced the Jail Demon me before, he knew how terrifying it was and did not dare to let it touch him. Using the Chaoswind Step, he shifted to another side. Raising his hand, he fired off several Star Fingers at Lan Yu.


    Lan Yu rebuffed it, thrusting out his palm again. Star Fingers shed against the wind palm, neutralizing both.


    But in this sh, another ghostly blue me appeared.


    Tang Jie had only exchanged three rounds with Lan Yu and had not suffered any loss. In this aspect, one could say that Tang Jie had greatly closed the gap in strength between him and the Lan Yu of the past. After all, back then, he and Wei Tianchong working together had only barely managed to beat Lan Yu.


    But behind this draw were three blue mes which had put Tang Jie on his guard.


    Lan Yu chuckled, not at all unhappy that he didn¡¯t have the upper hand. ¡°In thesest six years, while I was cultivating the Jail Demon me, my cultivation realm was basically stuck where it was, and despite my aptitude, I only managed to increase my cultivation by two revolutions. But mybat power has risen by leaps and bounds. Tang Jie, once I release my Jail Demon mes, they won¡¯t disappear so easily. The longer we battle, the harder they be to fend off. Let me see how you manage to dodge them all!¡±


    He thrust his hands forward, and another blue me flew toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie knew that he was right. The best way to deal with Lan Yu was to end the battle quickly. Using the Chaoswind Step to dodge again, Tang Jie moved to Lan Yu¡¯s side and thrust his finger at Lan Yu.


    The Jade Shattering Finger!


    But to his surprise, rather than dodging, Lan Yuughed and shouted, ¡°You took the bait!¡±


    The Jade Shattering Finger pierced through Lan Yu¡¯s armor like it was made of cloth, striking Lan Yu¡¯s left arm.


    Blood sttered, and a blue me suddenly appeared andnded on Tang Jie¡¯s fingertip.


    A momentter, an immense, searing pain swept through Tang Jie¡¯s entire body.


    Tang Jie had never felt such immense pain before.


    ¡°Agh!¡± Tang Jie cried out and hastily retreated. Lan Yuughed as he turned and thrust his palm at Tang Jie¡¯s chest, which exploded into a ze blue me. While these mes didn¡¯t burn his clothes, there was the hiss of burning flesh. And as these mes interacted with the mes on Tang Jie¡¯s fingertip, they instantly plunged Tang Jie into hell.


    Even with Tang Jie¡¯sposure, he couldn¡¯t help but howl.


    Pain!


    Never in his cultivation life had he experienced such terrible pain!


    Cultivators bathed their bodies in spiritual energy, which strengthened their bodies and raised their resistance to pain. As they grew stronger, this resistance would also get stronger. It was for this reason that cultivators could ignore most pain while in the middle of battle.


    It was what allowed Gu Changqing to dig needles out of his heart, and while Wei Tianchong had initially needed the Fearless spell, he gradually stopped needing to use it.


    If they could only endure the levels of pain of ordinary people, few cultivators would be able to keep fighting while their heart was wounded and would copse long before that.


    Today, Tang Jie felt like he had gone back to the body of an ordinary human, authentically experiencing the immense pain that came from having one¡¯s body burned alive.


    This me was so terrifying that it even seemed to burn away his soul.


    Under this scorching pain, Tang Jie convulsed. Let alone casting a spell, he could barely stand.


    This was exactly what was so terrifying about the Jail Demon me. It was like a Mindseizer, instantly depriving the opponent of the ability to fight.


    Lan Yuughed. ¡°Tang Jie, have you experienced the torment I was feeling back then? I suffered this pain for six years! For six years, I spent every day and night tempering my body with this Demon me. While everyone else was cultivating in leisure, I was howling in pain in an underground chamber¡­ Today, I¡¯ll let you taste those six years of pain and suffering!¡±


    He unleashed another Demon me at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie groaned, almost fainting.


    And then heughed.


    He actuallyughed.


    Looking at Lan Yu, Tang Jie spat out, ¡°Then this deal really wasn¡¯t in your favor. Trading six years for only a single moment from me? The loss is huge. Is this a genius of Horizon Ocean Pavilion? Doesn¡¯t even know basic ounting. Or are you saying that you could find no method of beating me besides this demon art?¡±


    He threw his head back andughed.


    Lan Yu was so angry that he was trembling. ¡°You¡¯re seeking death!¡±


    He raised his hand, a sharp light gathering on his fingertip.


    Karmic Cycle Finger!


    He thrust this finger imbued with enormous power at Tang Jie.


    It seems like Tang Jie¡¯s avatar is no match for Lan Yu.<!--


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 Chapter 415

    Chapter 415: Rescue


    <em>Thud!</em>


    The finger pierced through Tang Jie¡¯s leg, leaving arge hole behind.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t seem to sense it, continuing to loudlyugh. ¡°As expected, you still don¡¯t dare to kill me? No, no, no, you don¡¯t need to exin. I know that it¡¯s not that you don¡¯t dare, but that you¡¯re reluctant to. You want to slowly torment me before killing me. But while the Karmic Cycle Finger deals a lot of damage, the pain it inflicts is far less than that of the Jail Demon me, so I basically didn¡¯t feel anything this time!¡±


    He continued to heartilyugh as the Jail Demon me burned his body. He was in so much pain that his entire body was shaking, but he continued to loudlyugh.


    Lan Yu was so angry that he started trembling, but he still admitted, ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯m truly reluctant to kill you. I need to slice you apart piece by piece, mince you up, and then feed you to the dogs!¡±


    He thrust out his finger again, creating a hole in Tang Jie¡¯s other leg.


    He then rushed forward and grabbed Tang Jie. He threw him into the sky and followed up with his fists, punching Tang Jie several dozen times.


    He was not a body refiner, so the power of these punches on Tang Jie was limited. They were, however, intensely humiliating.


    Tang Jie crashed to the ground, and then Lan Yu kicked him and sent him rolling on the ground. He stomped on Tang Jie¡¯s face and shouted, ¡°Come on, Tang Jie! Don¡¯t you still have plenty of tricks? What of your Four-Nine True Words or mind paralysis technique? Your Formless Golden Body? Your peerless divine strength? Don¡¯t just lie there like a dead dog. Take out all the trump cards you have!¡±


    He had imagined his battle with Tang Jie countless times.


    He had believed that Tang Jie would endure many more techniques before he would finally fall under the torment of the Jail Demon me. But to his surprise, only a single spark had been enough to render Tang Jie powerless.


    Lan Yu was deeply displeased.


    As a cultivator, how could he have so little tenacity and will!?


    Even if the pain were ten times or one hundred times worse, how could he give up so easily?


    Lan Yu found himself dissatisfied with Tang Jie¡¯s ¡°ipetence¡±.


    From a certain perspective, losing to this sort of opponent was a humiliation for himself.


    Tang Jie groaned and croaked out, ¡°The Four-Nine True Words are fast, but they¡¯re only good againstrge numbers of weaker opponents, and the mind paralysis technique only works on the unprepared. It doesn¡¯t work on you now that you¡¯re ready for it. The Jail Demon me isn¡¯t powerful because of its damage, but because of the pain. This pain paralyzes the nerves, so I can¡¯t gather the focus to cast spells, nor can I exert any strength. Neither my Formless Golden Body nor my divine strength can do anything¡­ What sort of trump cards do I have left to fight against you?¡±


    Lan Yu was taken aback.


    ¡°So this is really all you were capable of? A little pain was enough to make you incapable of focusing¡­ haha! Haha! Trash, useless trash! I can¡¯t believe I lost to you once. In the end, you only seeded through your schemes!¡±


    Tang Jie gritted his teeth. ¡°What¡¯s so strange about that? Since I started cultivating, I¡¯ve never had a direct battle to the death. Before battle, I¡¯ll n and scheme to ensure my victory, weakening my enemy before fighting them. That¡¯s why I haven¡¯t experienced much pain and my willpower iscking. The Jail Demon me is my counter!¡±


    Lan Yu was stunned by what he was hearing. ¡°Is that how it is? In the end, you really are nothing but trash.¡±


    Over thesest six years, he had always felt humiliated by the defeat he had suffered at Tang Jie¡¯s hand, and he was so set on defeating Tang Jie that he had tortured himself.


    When he suddenly discovered that the target of his revenge was such a piece of ¡°trash¡±, he couldn¡¯t help but feel an iparable disappointment.


    He looked at Tang Jie and muttered, ¡°How can trash like this be my lifelong rival? It seems that I was wrong about you, so die!¡±


    He chopped his hand down.


    There was no mercy in this strike. He nned to execute Tang Jie.


    As the hand chopped down, there was a sharp cry of, ¡°Watch my de!¡±


    A shining de suddenly flew out of the distance.


    Lan Yu hastily turned his chop into a thrust of his palm, striking the approaching dagger as he shouted, ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±


    A dark silhouette rushed out. It was a person clothed and masked entirely in ck. This person waved their hand, and a red light threatened to engulf Lan Yu.


    With no other choice, Lan Yu hastily retreated. The moment he backed away, the person in ck rushed up to Tang Jie, and Lan Yu knew that he was in trouble.


    Sure enough, the person in ck took out a talisman and stuck it onto Tang Jie, saying, ¡°You got off easy this time.¡±


    The person threw Tang Jie out, and the talisman swiftly carried him away.


    ¡°Bastard!¡±


    Lan Yu was stunned and enraged. He had never imagined that someone would intervene at this moment. It had to be understood that he and Tang Jie had been fighting with absolutely nothing around them. For this dark silhouette to have gotten so close without being noticed meant that they were extremely skilled in the art of concealment.


    In his rage, he attacked with full power, thrusting his hands below him. ¡°Snow Frost Mist, rise!¡±


    With this roar, the water in the Buyao Aqueduct below began to ssh about and rise like steam. In a sh, it turned into walls of water vapor.


    Before mastering the Jail Demon me, Lan Yu had been the best at manipting wind walls. He had managed to turn the Wind Wall spell into a caging technique, even an offensive spell.


    In the Immortal Fortune Conference, he had used this method to kill Li Zhiping.


    Now, he was able to condense water vapor into walls, making the spell art even stronger.


    The roiling water vapor walls converged on the person in ck. ¡°Scoundrel, die!¡±


    Shockingly, as the vapor walls encroached, the person in ck twisted their body in various ways, as agile as a snake. Assuming several postures that a normal person was incapable of making, the mysterious assant managed to squeeze their way through a small gap in the vapor walls.


    Lan Yu was stunned. ¡°The Spirit Snake movement technique? The Thousand Illusion spell? Shit, so it¡¯s you, you scoundrel!¡±


    As Lan Yu roared, that person in ck somersaulted backward several times, treating the air as if it was solid ground. And then they let out a melodiousugh.


    The person in ck tore off the ck scarf, revealing the face of a heroic-looking woman. ¡°Hey, Senior Brother Lan, long time no see.¡±


    ¡°Wang Yun¡­¡± Lan Yu clenched his fists, spitting out the name through clenched teeth.


    ¡°Oh my! Senior Brother Lan, this tone of yours almost makes it seem like you want to eat me?¡± Wang Yun giggled. Her body continued to writhe like a snake, enchanting and alluring.


    Lan Yu hastily closed his eyes and barked, ¡°The women of Heart Severing Pavilion have cut off all their emotions, so how did they produce a temptress like you? Talk! Why did you save Tang Jie? What¡¯s his rtionship to you? What are you trying to do here?¡±


    ¡°Senior Brother Lan, you asked so many questions at once, so how do you expect me to answer them?¡± Wang Yun giggled.


    She took several steps toward Lan Yu while moving her hips, and Lan Yu backed away as if a snake was approaching.


    While other people might not know, he knew very well that this girl was just like her big brother. Her true expertise was in closebat. But while Wang Juemie was known for his formidable strength, she was known for assassination in close quarters. If he allowed her to get closer, Lan Yu wasn¡¯t sure that he could deal with her.


    But Lan Yu knew that this woman held no ill intent toward him. Otherwise, the earlier ambush would havee without a warning. It was clear that she hade to save Tang Jie rather than to kill Lan Yu.


    Even so, the mes of anger still burned in Lan Yu¡¯s heart. ¡°You saved my enemy. If you don¡¯t give me an exnation, don¡¯t me me for not showing Wang Juemie any face. The Seven Absolutions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion are brotherly sects. I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t be able to bear the sin of your actions causing our two sects to turn against each other.¡±


    Wang Yun covered her mouth andughed. ¡°Senior Brother Lan, what are you saying? I¡¯m a disciple of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, so how can I represent the Seven Absolutions Sect? Moreover, even disciples of the same sect asionally turn against each other. While the Seven Absolutions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion might be allies, it¡¯s not like everyone gets along with each other, right? The two of us are merely disciples, so there¡¯s no reason for the two sects to turn against each other just because of us.¡±


    The woman¡¯s sharp tongue left Lan Yu speechless from anger.


    Wang Yun continued, ¡°Alright, alright, I¡¯ll stop teasing you. I don¡¯t have any rtionship with Tang Jie, but my big brother wants this man. He said that Tang Jie must die at his hand.¡±


    Lan Yu¡¯splexion improved a little. ¡°Wang Juemie wants to kill Tang Jie? Then why hasn¡¯t he done anything?¡±


    Wang Yun replied, ¡°Tang Jie has a deal with the Seven Absolutions Sect. He is providing some extremely rare resources. Until these goods arrive, no one is allowed to kill him.¡±


    ¡°What sort of rare resources?¡±


    Wang Yun shiftily looked around. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be answering this question, but¡­ since you¡¯re Tang Jie¡¯s bane, I¡¯ll tell you. It¡¯s a thousand-year Whitefiend Lotus!¡±


    ¡°¡®A thousand-year Whitefiend Lotus¡¯?¡± Lan Yu cried out. ¡°That¡¯s not possible!¡±


    Wang Yunughed. ¡°Whether you believe it or not, it¡¯s a fact. How do you think Tang Jie with his five-cycle-Jade-Gate aptitude was able to reach Nine Revolutions in only ten years? As for what you make of this information, that¡¯s up to you, Senior Brother Lan!¡±


    Wang Yun disappeared in a sh.


    Lan Yu floated in the air for some time before finally saying, ¡°Godhead Pce¡­ Tang Jiye¡­ I see.¡±


    After thinking some more, he suddenly threw his head back andughed, shouting, ¡°Tang Jie, this is suicide!¡±


    He flew off in another direction.


    Not long after he left, Wang Yun reappeared.


    Looking in the direction Lan Yu had left, Wang Yun coldly chuckled. She took out a talisman and wrote, ¡°The message has been delivered.¡±


    The talisman was set aze, dissolving into spiritual light.


    Wang Yun muttered to herself, ¡°¡®Genius¡¯? Nothing more than an idiot being used by another. He¡¯s far from my big brother¡¯s level!¡±


    She turned and flew away, really leaving this time.


    Several dozen kilometers from the summit of Mount Buyao, Tang Jie sat cross-legged in a cloud. The cloudpletely concealed him, but it did not conceal the ray of light issuing from the vertical eye in the center of his forehead.


    This light pierced through the clouds and allowed him to see all that transpired for quite a distance.


    Seems like the Wang siblings are meddling in Tang Jie¡¯s business. And it seems like Tang Jie was plotting something again.<!--


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 Chapter 416

    Chapter 416: Tempering the Body


    Watching Wang Yun leave, Tang Jie muttered, ¡°I see what¡¯s going on. It seems like they had everything nned out.¡±


    There was no doubt that Wang Juemie had been looking to y the role of the rescuer, first hiding in the shadows and luring out someone to deal with Tang Jie, and thening out to assist Tang Jie while demanding payment from him. It probably wouldn¡¯t be long before someone came and told Tang Jie that the one who saved him this time was from the Seven Absolutions Sect, and to show his gratitude, he should offer his goods at a discount.


    The only thing Tang Jie wasn¡¯t sure about was if this was the work of the Seven Absolutions Sect or the Wang siblings. But since Wang Yun had made the move, there was a higher chance that it was Wang Juemie who was angling for a better deal.


    This would rather match with his style and personality.


    Tang Jie¡¯s Dao of Insight had allowed him to notice that someone was in hiding some time ago, so he had pretended to be no match to see just who this person was. He hadn¡¯t expected that it was Wang Yun, and that she had this sort of n.


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but curse, ¡°Shit, I miscalcted. If I had known that it was this woman, I would have never yed out this act. I might even owe them a favor now, fuck!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s face twisted in pain.


    There were still two balls of Jail Demon me burning on his body, and even with his willpower, he couldn¡¯t help but tremble, though it wasn¡¯t as bad as he had acted like it was. The Jail Demon me¡¯s pain truly did affect his casting somewhat, but at best, it only reduced his casting speed. It wasn¡¯t so bad that he couldn¡¯t even cast an ordinary spell art.


    As Tang Jie¡¯s body burned, his powerful life force healed his wounds, and so his skin shifted between charred and ruddy. It seemed like the actual damage done by this Demon me was essentially equal to his recovery power.


    But there was no telling what it would be like with his original body.


    This thought suddenly made Tang Jie realize: <em>Isn¡¯t this a me perfect for tempering the body?</em>


    The Jail Demon me burned endlessly, and it wasn¡¯t very powerful, which made it perfect to temper his original body. Unlike the firebird¡¯s Southern Divine Fire, which would burn him into ash after three sts, this Jail Demon me could burn for three years without killing the original body.


    As for the pain dealt by the Jail Demon me, it served to only better temper his willpower.


    The avatar mostly relied on spell arts, so willpower wasn¡¯t too important, but the original body, as a body refiner, had a serious need for the willpower to support it. The stronger one¡¯s willpower was, the more training one could sustain and the greater the power one could exhibit!


    Tang Jie grew anxious to experiment on himself.


    He suppressed his pain and flew upward, reaching a point where the clouds were very thin before stopping. When he saw that the blue mes were still burning, he chuckled and took out the Mountain River State Diagram. He threw the diagram into the air, where that world holding the Eternal Universe and teleportation formations appeared.


    With great heartache, Tang Jie began to throw some things into the formation.


    Each time he activated the teleportation formation, he needed to expend some resources. To experiment with the Jail Demon me, Tang Jie was spending tens of thousands of spirit coins.


    As the teleportation formation activated, the waterfall began to flow upward, and a ck cave entrance appeared.


    With a boom, an enormous figure jumped out of the cave: Tang Jie¡¯s original body.


    The moment the original body appeared, it reached out and grabbed the two balls of blue me, one in each hand.


    The two blue mes leaped around in his hands, the tongues of me leaving behind faint burns on his palms. A momentter, his powerful self-recovery abilities healed the wounds.


    The constitution of his original body was such that the speed that the Jail Demon me dealt damage could not match Tang Jie¡¯s rate of recovery. Even so, the original body let out a groan of pain, the immense body trembling.


    Tang Jie muttered, ¡°It deals such little damage, but it still makes me feel pain? It really lives up to its title as the me of Punishment. Of course, it wouldn¡¯t suit me if it weren¡¯t like this!¡±


    He roared and then thrust those two balls of Demon me onto his body.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    The two blue mes exploded on Tang Jie¡¯s body, instantly engulfing him in blue mes.


    ¡°Awooo!¡± Tang Jie let out an unprecedented howl of pain.


    As he howled, the Jail Demon me flickered and then went out. It was clear that this stimtion had expended all of its power.


    But this moment was enough for Tang Jie to confirm that the Jail Demon me was immensely helpful to his body. It could temper both his body and will while not dealing fatal damage. To the avatar, which primarily used spell arts, it was a counter, but it was a huge aid to the original body that cultivated the Diamond Body.


    ¡°Refreshing!¡± Tang Jie threw his head back and roared,ughing in the middle of the pain.


    A momentter, he suddenly flew down like aet from the heavens.


    ¡°Lan Yu!¡± he roared, his voice resounding through the world.


    It traveled over a great distance, reaching Lan Yu¡¯s ears and causing him to freeze.


    He turned his head and saw a giant figure rapidly approaching.


    Lan Yu said in shock, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s original body was far too different from his original appearance, and he had used Duplication to modify his appearance further. Let alone Lan Yu, even Xu Miaoran wouldn¡¯t be able to recognize him.


    ¡°Save the talk forter and fight me!¡± Tang Jie roared as he charged at Lan Yu.


    Aghast, Lan Yu thrust out his palms. ¡°Snow Frost Mist, rise!¡±


    The clouds in the air turned into walls of water vapor that encroached on Tang Jie from all sides.


    ¡°A puny trick!¡± With this arrogant cry, a steely fist mmed into a wall and punched straight through it. The walls of water vapor were sted to pieces.


    Lan Yu paled and immediately used the Oceancrosser Step to rapidly retreat. At the same time, he threw out a blue me and then used the Karmic Cycle Finger.


    After that was ball after ball of Jail Demon me¡­


    This barrage of attacks disyed all that he had learned over his lifetime. The clouds roiled, engulfing this giant who hade out of nowhere, and the blue mesnded upon that giant¡¯s body and made him bitterly wail in pain.


    Lan Yu scoffed, ¡°Where did this reckless foole from¡­¡±


    But in reply, a giant fist rushed out of the mes, striking him on the nose and sending him flying.


    ¡°You!¡± Lan Yu was in disbelief that his opponent could still fight back while being burned by the Jail Demon me.


    He then saw that zing giant throw his head back and roar, ¡°Is this all you have?¡±


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Lan Yu gnashed his teeth and unleashed arge wave of Jail Demon me.


    It was not easy to cultivate the Jail Demon me. Each me ced a considerable burden on the body, and even against Tang Jie, he had not used this much. But this inexplicable giant had thoroughly enraged him.


    Surging Demon me swept over Tang Jie, engulfing him and causing his roars of pain to resound through the heavens.


    Amidst these crys, Lan Yu smugly smiled.


    But a momentter, he saw that burning blue giant still standing, even excitedly looking at him with a smile on his face.


    He said, ¡°That hits the spot!¡±


    He charged out and aimed another punch at Lan Yu, shouting, ¡°Not even using armor!¡±


    rmed, Lan Yu instinctively applied ayer of armor made of spiritual energy.


    A momentter, the bowl-sized fist mmed into Lan Yu¡¯s body like a hammer.


    The giant man lunged forward and grabbed Lan Yu¡¯s leg. ¡°Too weak!¡±


    He threw him at the ground.


    This was a hard throw, and Lan Yu plummeted to the ground like a meteor. The inertia was too powerful for him to take flight, so he could only apply a barrier to himself and brace for impact.


    <em>Boom!</em> Lan Yu collided into the ground in a giant plume of dust.


    When the dust settled, there was arge crater in the ground.


    Lan Yu was lying at the bottom of the crater, his body coated in dust.


    He wasn¡¯t dead, though his bones had been dislocated and his internal organs had been damaged. If he weren¡¯t at Nine Revolutions, he really might have died from the impact. Even so, he wasn¡¯t able to get up for the moment, only able to stare in shock at Tang Jie.


    How strong did one have to be to reach this level?


    Lan Yu didn¡¯t dare to believe it.


    In the sky, Tang Jie¡¯s body still zed with blue mes.


    The immense pain made Tang Jie grimace, but it only made him more excited.


    He muttered. ¡°This is it¡­ this is it¡­ This is the feeling I want¡­ hahahaha, wonderful!¡±


    He nced at Lan Yu onest time before flying off, muttering, ¡°s, this Jail Demon me is still too weak. He needs more time to mature¡­ That being the case, I¡¯ll let him live for now.¡±


    He once more returned to that world in the sky. Entering the cave, he reappeared in the Nine Executions Immortal Formation.


    <em>Grooow!</em>


    His body zing with blue mes, Tang Jie called out, ¡°He Chong,e out! Fight me!¡±


    While tempering his body, Tang Jie didn¡¯t forget to have He Chong also get a taste of this Demon me.


    He trusted that it would be a most stimting experience.


    At the same time, avatar Tang Jie saw that the original body had returned to the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, so he put away the Mountain River State Diagram.


    As he was nning to leave, he felt thepass heat up.


    Startled, he took it out and saw a small light shing upon thepass¡­


    Has Tang Jie perhaps gone too far in seeking the pleasure of pain? Is there any way of curing him of this gross masochism?<!--


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 Chapter 417

    Chapter 417: The Beast Garden


    Flying south from Mount Buyao, over mountains and fields, Tang Jie spotted a vige in the distance.


    Looking down at thepass, he saw that the light was now basically at the center of thepass.


    In other words, Lin Baicang was in that vige.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t immediately go inside. He instead flew in a circle around the vige first.


    While using himself as bait to lure Lin Baicang was a good idea, it had the disadvantage of possibly luring out disciples of the Beast Refining Gate as well.


    While traveling around with Xu Miaoran and seeing the sights, he had already noticed several dozen pursuers. s, although his Insight could detect these hidden followers, he couldn¡¯t tell who they worked for. Thus, he wasn¡¯t actually sure if the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people had mixed in with these people.


    After making a circle and confirming that no one was hiding in the area, Tang Jie entered the vige.


    Thepass could only tell him that Lin Baicang was here, but it couldn¡¯t tell him which one was Lin Baicang. Thus, Tang Jie could only use his eyes.


    He walked through the vige like he was just some traveler.


    There were few people in the vige. The young men had mostly gone to work the fields.


    A young woman was making a gobbling sound as she spread out feed for the chickens. Several elders sat by a door while chatting about what was going on in their families. There was a youth listlessly sieving rice using a sieve made of bamboo. A peddler with a carrying pole across his back was haggling over price with a viger. And there was a beggar lying on the ground like a dead person.


    Finally, there were several vigers with hoes standing in a corner of the vige with nothing to do.


    Stopping at the very center of the vige, Tang Jie looked around and finally shouted, ¡°My name is Tang Jie! On orders of the Basking Moon Sect, I¡¯vee to pick you up! Lin Baicang, you cane out now.¡±


    He didn¡¯t say it too loudly, but it was enough for every person in the vige to hear it.


    Shock and surprise appeared on the faces of the vigers. They had no clue what was going on.


    Tang Jie waited for a few moments, but nothing happened. He sighed and went over to that beggar lying on the ground. ¡°Stop wasting my time. Lin Baicang, I¡¯m not your enemy.¡±


    The beggar looked at Tang Jie in fear and curled up in a ball.


    Tang Jie sighed again. With a wave of his hand, he moved the beggar to the side, and then he punched at the ground where the beggar had been lying.


    With a thump and a spray of dust, a person emerged from the ground: a rather ugly and shifty-looking middle-aged man.


    ¡°Lin Baicang!¡± Tang Jie spat out this name.


    It turned out that this person hadn¡¯t been hiding among the vigers but hiding underground, intentionally hiding right under that beggar. In this way, the life energy of that beggar would conceal his own life energy, making him more difficult to discover. It was rather cunning.


    After being forced out by Tang Jie, that monkey-like man looked at Tang Jie in shock. ¡°How did you manage to find me?¡±


    He had been relying on his unique methods to escape the pursuit of the Beast Refining Gate this entire time, so he had never expected Tang Jie to so easily see through it. Of course, he had also guided Tang Jie here, but he was still shocked beyondpare.


    Tang Jie casually replied, ¡°You didn¡¯t guide me here just so we could y hide-and-seek, right?¡±


    Lin Baicang came to his senses and quickly looked around. ¡°This ce isn¡¯t safe. Follow me.¡±


    He lunged out and drilled into the ground.


    Tang Jie was startled. This guy wanted him to follow him into the ground?


    As he was hesitating, Lin Baicang¡¯s head popped out of the ground, and he waved his hand at Tang Jie. ¡°What are you standing around for? Come down!¡±


    Tang Jie looked around and saw that all the vigers were ignoring everything. He realized that Lin Baicang was employing some sort of smokescreen art so that they wouldn¡¯t be given away. Thus, he followed Lin Baicang into the hole.


    Once they were inside, Tang Jie discovered that there was a very wide and long tunnel leading off into the distance.


    Lin Baicang urged, ¡°Go, go, go!¡±


    He led the way, and Tang Jie followed. Behind him, the earth began to close up, swiftly sealing the tunnel. As for the beggar from before, he fell asleep as if none of this had happened.


    After following Lin Baicang for some time, taking numerous turns and traveling through numerous tunnels, Tang Jie was thoroughly disoriented.


    Eventually, the tunnel suddenly opened up into an underground room.


    This underground chamber had a circumference of several dozen meters and was circled by passages, ten-some of them leading off in various directions.


    This Lin Baicang really was like a rat, creating an entire maze underground.


    There was a supporting pir in the center of the chamber. There was even a stone table with stone stools in the ce,id out with fruits, wine, and vegetables. Besides this, Tang Jie noticed that there were signs of a formation in this chamber. It appeared to be a very crude and weak formation, but it was hidden rather well. This was probably Lin Baicang¡¯s work.


    The moment Lin Baicang arrived, he jumped onto the stone stool which was positioned as the seat of honor, upon which he exhaled. ¡°Whew! We¡¯re safe now.¡±


    He raised his wine cup and filled it.


    Tang Jie saw that he was no longer very nervous, and closely examined the stone stool he was seated on. Smiling, he said, ¡°So your real escape route was right under your butt¡­ interesting.¡±


    Lin Baicang¡¯s face went stiff. ¡°You¡­ How did you find out?¡±


    There truly was a secret tunnel beneath this stone stool, which was Lin Baicang¡¯s real escape route. The other passages were all just feints. But Tang Jie had seen right through him with a single sentence, causing Lin Baicang¡¯s confidence in this passage to plunge.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie renewed his confidence. ¡°I guessed. Your concealment spell is excellent, as are the escape methods you prepared. But you clearly don¡¯t know how to hide your emotions very well. From the moment I met you, you had anxiety and panic written all over your face. It was only when you sat on that stool that you regained yourposure.¡±


    Tang Jie pointed at his temple and drew a circle. ¡°By using my head a little, I easily concluded that you had some sort of hidden card.¡±


    Lin Baicang exhaled and patted his chest. ¡°I see. That¡¯s good, that¡¯s good. Here I thought that my mechanisms were too crude.¡±


    Tang Jie broke out inughter. He took a few steps forward and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to be that worried. I came to bring you back to the Basking Moon Sect.¡±


    ¡°¡®Bring me back¡¯?¡± To his surprise, Lin Baicang looked at Tang Jie and started tough. ¡°You think I can go back? Let alone me, you think you can still go back?¡±


    Tang Jie frowned. ¡°I know that the Beast Refining Gate is chasing you, but I think if it¡¯s only a few Cognitive Creation Tier pursuers, I should be able to deal with them.¡±


    ¡°¡®Cognitive Creation Tier¡¯?¡± Lin Baicang acted like he had heard some funny joke, holding his belly as heughed. ¡°If it were just Cognitive Creation Tier, you really think I would be forced to hide underground like a rat, not daring to show my face?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s pupils constricted. ¡°You¡¯re saying that a Celestial Heart True Person is also after you?¡±


    ¡°What do you think? Are you afraid now?¡± Lin Baicang chuckled. ¡°Tang Jie, I know what sort of person you are, and your name has spread rather far within Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate. But while you might be formidable enough to deal with a Cognitive Creation cultivator, can you deal with a True Person? And if you can deal with a True Person, can you deal with three, including one at the Heart Demon Period?¡±


    ¡°Three Celestial Heart True Persons?¡± Even Tang Jie was rather rmed. ¡°What did you do that made the Beast Refining Gate mobilize three Celestial Heart True Persons against you?¡±


    ¡°Three is nothing! If they weren¡¯t worried about rming the Basking Moon Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion, they would have even sent out True Lords or the Seven War Beasts. And this is only what¡¯s out in the open. I have no idea how many might be in the shadows!¡± Lin Baicang jumped around and shouted. He was very thin and feeble-looking, so as he jumped around on the stool, he seemed very much like a monkey.


    Lin Baicang¡¯s words gave Tang Jie a huge fright. ¡°What did you say? What did you do, that they would mobilize True Lords? Did you kill one of their bigshots? Or steal some supreme treasure?¡±


    Despite his questions, Tang Jie didn¡¯t feel like Lin Baicang was the sort of person who could pull off something that big. This man was at the Nine Revolutions Period, and let alone him, even Tang Jie didn¡¯t feel like he had the ability to stir up such a storm in the middle of their own territory.


    Lin Baicang was on the verge of tears. ¡°You managed to get it right. I stole one of their sacred items.¡±


    <em>¡®Sacred item¡¯?</em>


    This term caused Tang Jie¡¯s heart to tense.


    Anything that could be considered a sacred item in one of the six major sects could not be an ordinary item. It would at least have to be a Dao armament, and not some ordinary Dao armament either.


    For example, a Dao armament like the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures would not be considered a sacred item of the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    That this mousy man would mention the words ¡°sacred item¡± made Tang Jie¡¯s heart shiver.


    ¡°Which sacred item?¡± he asked.


    ¡°The Beast Garden,¡± Lin Baicang muttered.


    ¡°¡®The Beast Garden¡¯?¡± Tang Jie jumped at this name.


    As one might expect from a ce called the Beast Garden, it was where the Beast Refining Gate raised fiend beasts.


    As the sect that used ¡°Beast¡± in its name, the Beast Refining Gate specialized in taming various fiend beasts for its own use. Thus, raising powerfulbat beasts had always been its utmost priority.


    The Beast Garden was a special Dao armament forged specifically for this goal. Its greatest use was boosting the strength of fiend beasts, in terms of both level and actualbat strength.


    The Beast Refining Gate had a contribution reward that allowed one to send one¡¯s fiend beast into the garden. The longer the period spent in the garden, the stronger the beast would be.


    One could say that the Beast Garden was the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s core treasure, that the Beast Refining Gate was the Beast Refining Gate precisely because of the Beast Garden. Even if others had the same beast-taming techniques, their fiend beasts of the same level would be weaker because theycked the Beast Garden.


    But this item could only improve the strength of fiends and sprites. It had no effect on humans, ghosts, and monsters.


    Right now, Lin Baicang was telling him that he had stolen the Beast Garden? It was just too unbelievable.


    Looking at Lin Baicang, Tang Jie gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Are you trying to joke with me? You stole a Dao armament? Even if such a thing was ced right in front of you to take, you still might not be able to take it away, right? Moreover, if you stole the Beast Garden, where is the Beast Garden now?¡±


    Tang Jie stuck out his hand.


    Lin Baicang said with a tearful face, ¡°How could I know where it is? It¡¯s a long story. If you ask me how I stole it, I can only say that I¡¯m still not sure¡­¡±


    Lin Baicang began to tell his story to Tang Jie.


    Lin Baicang was a spy the Basking Moon Sect had ced in the Beast Refining Gate. This person¡¯s greatest skills were theft and concealment. It was just that he had a cowardly disposition and couldn¡¯t aplish anything great.


    For this reason, his status in the Beast Refining Gate was at the lowest level: an outer disciple.


    As he was in the Beast Refining Gate, Lin Baicang cultivated the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s Myriad Beast Union Mantra. Of course, it was only the most basic version, which the Basking Moon Sect had obtained long ago, so there was no need for him to hand it over. This mantra meant that he raised a refined beast, a Maze Mouse. The Maze Mouseckedbat power, but it excelled at digging holes in the earth, and it also had a sharp sense of smell, making it perfect as a sentry.


    Thisck ofbat power and his mouse-like personality meant that Lin Baicang did not receive much attention in the Beast Refining Gate. But despite his cowardice, he had never given up on the idea of making a name for himself.


    One day, the opportunity finally came.


    It happened a little more than three months ago.


    On that day, Lin Baicang had finallypleted the first level of the Myriad Beast Union Mantra and entered the second level. In other words, he could get an additional fiend beast. Thus, he decided to enter the Windgrave Jungle to test his luck.


    The Beast Garden was where fiend beasts were raised, and the Windgrave Jungle was where the Beast Refining Gate caught its fiend beasts. Their greatest difference was that the Beast Garden was a Dao armament and the Windgrave Jungle was a natural jungle.


    The Beast Garden was located within the Windgrave Jungle.


    That day, Lin Baicang had been searching for a fiend beast that suited him, and he ventured deep into the jungle. With the early warnings from his Maze Mouse, he managed to avoid most of the danger and sessfully enter the jungle¡¯s depths.


    Just when he was getting tired, he saw a garden that covered hundreds of acres looming in the distance. Within it, countless birds, beasts, and insects ran about. The front gate was guarded by ten-some Beast Refining Gate disciples.


    Lin Baicang immediately knew that this was the Beast Garden.


    He was envious, thinking that it would be great if his Maze Mouse could get in.


    In truth, while Maze Mice were weak, this didn¡¯t mean they couldn¡¯t be great fiends. It was said that Maze Mice innately had the bloodline of the Skyvore Mouse, which was a famous great fiend.


    Perhaps if the Maze Mouse could enter the Beast Garden, it had a chance of growing into a Skyvore Mouse?


    At that time, Lin Baicang couldn¡¯t help but have this thought.


    This was just a brief thought that Lin Baicang had had no ns of acting on.


    As he was walking along the edge of the Beast Garden, an Ironback Eagle suddenly flew overhead, the gale created by its wings sending him tumbling over. Lin Baicang was scared out of his wits by the sudden appearance of this eagle. Thinking that someone had released this beast to hurt him, he looked around, but he saw no one.


    In the middle of his shock, a fiend fox ran past him.


    This time, Lin Baicang saw that the fiend beast had run out from the Beast Garden.


    ¡°You just said a fiend beast ran out of the Beast Garden?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°Right, right!¡± Lin Baicang nodded, wildly gesticting. ¡°I went in the direction the fiend fox came from and discovered that there was a hole in the Beast Garden!¡±


    ¡°¡®A hole¡¯? How could that be?¡± Tang Jie was stunned.


    A hole in a Dao armament? What sort of joke was this?


    ¡°Ah, I found it strange too, but that was what really happened. The Beast Garden was created from a Dao armament, and it¡¯s held to the ground by a formation, locking it down and creating its own dimension. But even the myriad domains experience spatial fissures, so why can¡¯t formations? For some reason, a crack appeared in the Beast Garden.¡±


    ¡°And then?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°And then¡­¡± Lin Baicang¡¯s voice suddenly dropped.


    What happened after that was very simple.


    When Lin Baicang saw that a crack had appeared in the Beast Garden, he knew that his chance hade.


    As if possessed, he thought about using this crack into the Beast Garden to make his fiend mouse stronger.


    And it wasn¡¯t just his Maze Mouse. He went in himself, hoping to shatter the myth that the Beast Garden had no effect on humans.


    Thus, after entering the Beast Garden, Lin Baicang randomly wandered around, hoping to find something ore across a lucky encounter.


    He really did end up finding something.


    It was a stone stele set up in the very center of the Beast Garden.


    The word ¡°Suppress¡± (Õò) was carved into the stele.


    When he saw this word, Lin Baicang felt like he could sense that there was some intimidating power beneath this stele.


    He didn¡¯t know what this power was, but greed made him forget his fear.


    A voice in his mind yelled: <em>Pull it out!</em>


    Thus, he walked over and started to pull up the stele.


    The stone stele was very heavy, and Lin Baicang couldn¡¯t move it no matter how hard he tried.


    But at this moment, the stone stele radiated a golden light, and Lin Baicang felt the stone stele be much lighter.


    Delighted, Lin Baicang put in all his strength and really managed to pull the stele out.


    To startling effect.


    The moment Lin Baicang pulled out the stone stele, the golden light erupted from the ce it had upied and instantly engulfed the entire Beast Garden.


    The Beast Garden trembled, and then it began to rise into the air!


    Lin Baicang was given a huge scare. He immediately knew that he had gotten in trouble and was anxious to leave.


    But when he wanted to leave, he realized that he couldn¡¯t. The Beast Garden had a formation inside, and for some reason, it had already activated. The entire Beast Garden was entering a dangerous state.


    The disciples responsible for guarding the Beast Garden were also in a panic over its unusual behavior. They attempted to close the Beast Garden through a variety of methods, but they ultimately failed and could only watch it fly away.


    ¡°Then how did you escape?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    Lin Baicang appeared a little embarrassed. ¡°When the Beast Garden¡¯s formation activated, I already thought I was dead. But to my surprise, all of the fiend beasts suddenly roared in unison. At that time, the Beast Refining Gate disciples had started to forcefully close the Beast Garden. However, the fiend beasts all seemed to gain intelligence and rushed at that hole in the Beast Garden all at once. They served to open the road for me, and so I ran out together with the beast flood.¡±


    Tang Jie asked, ¡°They didn¡¯t eat you?¡±


    Lin Baicang awkwardlyughed. ¡°Those fiend beasts were mostly all refined beasts, so they were used to following humans, and I¡¯m a Beast Refining Gate disciple, so they didn¡¯t eat me.¡±


    Tang Jie coldly said, ¡°But you didn¡¯t have a pass token.¡±


    Lin Baicang froze, and after a while, he said, ¡°Maybe I was just lucky. In any case, those fiend beasts didn¡¯t eat me and even helped me escape the Beast Garden. Though, when I got out, there was a fiend beast that tried to eat me. Fortunately, a Beast Refining Gate disciple noticed something going on and rushed over. Thus, I didn¡¯t die, but I ended up being exposed¡­¡±


    ¡°After that?¡±


    ¡°¡®After that¡¯? I ran, naturally. Fortunately, the Beast Garden flying into the sky had thrown countless people into panic, and they were all busy trying to stop it, and since I was skilled in traveling through the earth, I had an opportunity to escape. After fleeing the Windgrave Jungle, I learned that the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people were looking for me and had found out who I was. Once they found out I was from the Basking Moon Sect, they sent many people to seal all the roads to Sageheart. With no choice, I fled toward the sea, and they chased me.¡±


    ¡°Then how did you end up in Endsea?¡±


    ¡°Because the Beast Garden flew here,¡± Lin Baicang bluntly stated. It seemed that he still hadn¡¯t given up on the Beast Garden. When one thought about it, it was a natural response. The Beast Refining Gate was already certain that he had stolen the Beast Garden, so how could he take the me without actually performing the deed?


    Tang Jie was shocked. ¡°What did you say? The Beast Garden is in Endsea?¡±


    He suddenly recalled Shen Qingdan¡¯s words.


    He realized that what that requester wanted Shen Qingdan to open wasn¡¯t some Immortal mobile pce, but an Immortal mobile garden!


    ¡°Yes!¡± Lin Baicang nodded. ¡°If I didn¡¯t have this thing, I wouldn¡¯t have known that the Beast Garden was in Endsea.¡±


    He took out an item, a stone stele.


    On it was written a single word:


    ¡°Suppress¡±!


    The stone stele exuded an ancient energy. By looking at this stele, Tang Jie felt like he was looking into a bleak and distant past.


    Tang Jie suddenly realized, ¡°They were chasing you for this thing! This is the treasure used to suppress the Beast Garden. Without this thing, the Beast Garden will go out of control.¡±


    He realized something else and shouted, ¡°Did you suddenly lose track of the Beast Garden when you arrived at Celestial River Ind? You were no longer able to identify where it was?¡±


    ¡°Eh? How did you know?¡± Lin Baicang was bbergasted. ¡°It¡¯s true. I chased it all the way here, and then the stone stele stopped disying the position of the Beast Garden, and I was forced to remain on this ind. The Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people came s

 Chapter 418

    Chapter 418: Splitting Up


    ¡°You now have two choices. The first is to keep the stele and stay here, underground, until the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people eventually find you and then slowly slice you to pieces. The second choice is to give the stele to me, after which point this entire matter will cease to have anything to do with you.¡±


    Tang Jie spoke to Lin Baicang as he held the stone stele.


    Lin Baicang bitterly smiled. ¡°Do I even have a right to choose? The Beast Refining Gate will fly up into the heavens and dig down into the earth to find me in order to get back this suppressing treasure. While it might be nice, it¡¯s not my good fortune to enjoy it. If you want it, then you can have it.¡±


    Tang Jie hadn¡¯t expected Lin Baicang to be this agreeable. ¡°Are you not afraid that I¡¯ll just leave you behind after I get it? So long as the Beast Refining Gate doesn¡¯t know that it¡¯s with me, they¡¯ll still chase after you.¡±


    Lin Baicangughed. ¡°You really think you can fool them? Let me tell you the truth. From the moment you interacted with me, my scent was on you, and you became unable to escape. Don¡¯t forget what the Beast Refining Gate is best at: raising beasts! They have the best hunting dogs in the world, that can track you through your scent! Why do you think I hid underground and didn¡¯t dare toe out? Only in this underground maze can I cut off my scent. Unless you¡¯re like me and hide underground forever, you¡¯ll be chased down the moment you leave! Hahahaha!¡±


    Lin Baicangughed like a madman. ¡°Thus, if you want to take this stone stele, then, by all means, take it away. Once they kill you and seize the stone stele, their pursuit against me will weaken, and I might even be able to escape.¡±


    Tang Jie sucked in a cold breath. ¡°If I leave now, how long will it take for them to find me?¡±


    Lin Baicang cocked his head and thought it over. ¡°The Beast Refining Gate has a kind of dog with a long nose that excels in tracking through scent. So long as they are given a scent to follow, they can sense it from fifty kilometers away. But you have only some of my scent, so they shouldn¡¯t be that sensitive. However, I can¡¯t be too specific on the details. Let¡¯s halve the distance. So long as you don¡¯t get within twenty-five kilometers of them, you should have no problem. But you forced me to show myself in the vige, so the Beast Refining Gate has probably sent half its people there. I haven¡¯t appeared at all in this period of time, but then I suddenly appeared today, and considering the fuss that you¡¯ve been raising recently, the Beast Refining Gate has probably been watching you for ages, waiting until you met up with me. Thus, today¡¯s meeting was in their calctions since long ago. So long as they gather all their people and start closing in¡­ haha, it will be very difficult to avoid their search!¡±


    ¡°What about in the sky? The sky is so vast that twenty-five kilometers is nothing up there.¡±


    ¡°You think I don¡¯t know how to fly? It¡¯s useless.¡± Lin Baicang shook his head. ¡°The Beast Refining Gate controls all beasts, and they have both hunting dogs and hunting eagles. They are also watching the skies, and they even have a Celestial Heart True Person scanning the area with their Dao Will. Let alone going in and out of Celestial River Ind, they would even sense it if someone sent a message! Celestial River Ind has alreadye under theirplete control. If they weren¡¯t afraid of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, they would have already turned the ind upside-down!¡±


    ¡°Is that how it is?¡± Tang Jie dropped his head and began to think.


    After some time, he asked, ¡°Then it shouldn¡¯t be a problem if someone from Horizon Ocean Paviliones in and out, right?¡±


    Lin Baicang replied, ¡°Theoretically, but I¡¯m afraid having Young Lady Xu carry a message won¡¯t work. I would almost guarantee that the moment my scent leaked out, the Beast Refining Gate immediately started watching Young Lady Xu. If you don¡¯t want to put her in danger, it¡¯s best if you don¡¯t interact with her.¡±


    ¡°Understood. But I have ways of sending messages to her that don¡¯t involve interacting with her,¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    Underground, message talismans wouldn¡¯t work. Fortunately, he had Heart Consonance.


    Yiyi was still at the inn, and through her, he couldmunicate with Xu Miaoran.


    So long as Xu Miaoran left the ind without interacting with him, the Beast Refining Gate would not risk trying to stop her.


    Tang Jie was more concerned about something else. ¡°The news that Joymount Ind is under siege is spreading around. The moment the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people find out about it, they will definitely realize that the Beast Garden is involved. In other words, while I can have Miaoran help me inform the Basking Moon Sect, it will be toote if I wait for reinforcements.¡±


    Lin Baicang shook his head repeatedly. ¡°There¡¯s no hope. Once I was imprisoned on Celestial River Ind, I gave up on the Beast Garden. All I hope for now is to safely leave¡­ I want to go home!¡±


    After saying this, this middle-aged man suddenly began to weep.


    Tang Jie could only pat him on the shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ll go out. If I draw away the pursuers from the Beast Refining Gate, you should be able to escape.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Lin Baicang looked at Tang Jie in shock.


    Tang Jie put the stone stele in his Mustard Seed Bag and slowly asked, ¡°Where¡¯s the closest exit to Joymount Ind?¡±


    After a momentary daze, Lin Baicang said, ¡°Follow me.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Celestial River Inn.


    Yiyi, who was ying around, suddenly went stiff.


    Xu Miaoran noticed the change in her expression and asked, ¡°Yiyi, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    After a while, Yiyi raised her head and said, ¡°Big Brother has sent a message.¡±


    She walked over and whispered into Xu Miaoran¡¯s ear. As Xu Miaoran listened, her eyes shed.


    A few momentster, Xu Miaoran nodded. ¡°I understand. Tell Tang Jie that I will send his message. Tell him to stay safe.¡±


    She turned and walked out of the room, shouting, ¡°Xian Tao, Hong Yuan! Pack my things! We¡¯re going to leave!¡±


    The two maids rushed over. Hong Yuan said in shock, ¡°Why are we leaving now? Young Sir Tang hasn¡¯te back yet!¡±


    Xu Miaoran turned and began to walk out of the inn. ¡°He lost to Lan Yu and feels ashamed to see me. He¡¯s going deep into the mountains to train ten years beforeing out again. We¡¯re returning to Horizon Ocean Pavilion.¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± the two maids shouted in disbelief.


    But whether they believed it or not, the maids had no choice but to start packing.


    Once everything was packed, the party left the inn. Sending away the ind guards, Xu Miaoran flew away from the ind with her people.


    In a small house near the inn, two men in martial attire stood next to the window. One of them was none other than Helian Hu!


    Upon seeing Xu Miaoran fly away, Helian Hu turned and walked into the bedroom, where a man with white brows was seated cross-legged in meditation.


    Helian Hu got down on one knee and said, ¡°Sir, Xu Miaoran has left Celestial River Ind.¡±


    The white-browed man remained seated as he said in a deep voice, ¡°What of Tang Jie?¡±


    ¡°He has yet to appear.¡±


    The white-browed man finally opened his eyes. ¡°Tang Jie has not emerged, so why is Xu Miaoran leaving? Which way is she going?¡±


    ¡°In the direction of Great Wind Ind.¡±


    ¡°¡®Great Wind Ind¡¯? Returning to Great Wind Ind without even saying a word to her boyfriend?¡± The man harrumphed. ¡°There¡¯s something fishy going on. Tang Jie probably has used some secret art to contact Xu Miaoran.¡±


    ¡°This disciple will go and intercept her,¡± Helian Hu sternly said.


    ¡°No!¡± the white-browed man shouted. ¡°Xu Miaoran¡¯s status is special, and she can¡¯t be recklessly touched. Until we¡¯re absolutely sure, we can¡¯t move against her, or else we¡¯ll bring over Xu Guanghua, and then we¡¯ll really be in trouble!¡±


    ¡°But if she gets the word out¡­¡±


    The white-browed Daoist shook his head. ¡°What does it matter if word gets out? The Beast Garden is the supreme treasure of my Beast Refining Gate, but it is not important to Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Even if we lose the Beast Garden, it will only affect my Beast Refining Gate¡¯s future potential, not its currentbat power. Horizon Ocean Pavilion isn¡¯t so stupid as to be mortal foes with my Beast Refining Gate for a single Beast Garden. At best, they¡¯ll use it to extract some benefits from us. This matter has already been discussed. So long as we can get back the Beast Garden, the price is worth it.¡±


    Helian Hu raised his head. ¡°What if she informs the Basking Moon Sect?¡±


    The Basking Moon Sect was not Horizon Ocean Pavilion. They did not fear deepening the hatred between them and the Beast Refining Gate. They had been mortal foes for ages, and each did whatever made the other side unhappy.


    In order to prevent the Beast Refining Gate from getting the Beast Garden, they might even send over Xiao Biehan with the God-Conquering Merak Sword.


    ¡°It¡¯s toote for them,¡± the white-browed elder replied. ¡°I just received word that arge number of sea fiends have attacked Joymount Ind. ording to witnesses, the number of sea fiends did not increase by too much, but the sea fiends were suddenly twice as strong.¡±


    ¡°¡®Suddenly twice as strong¡¯?¡± Helian Hu said in a high-pitched voice. ¡°Could it be the Beast Garden? But even the Beast Garden didn¡¯t give that much of a boost.¡±


    The white-browed elder sighed. ¡°That¡¯s because the Beast Garden¡¯s core treasure was constantly being suppressed. Now that the seal has been broken and the suppressing stele has been stolen, the Beast Garden has gone out of control, and it is unleashing its true power. ¡®Twice¡¯? Haha, let alone twice, if you were around that sealed object for long enough, even ten times or a hundred times stronger wouldn¡¯t be strange.¡±


    Helian Hu was shocked by what he was hearing. The Beast Refining Gate¡¯s most fundamental treasure had never been at full power?


    Ten times to a hundred times¡­ What exactly was being suppressed that was this powerful?


    The white-browed elder did not borate, only saying, ¡°The Beast Garden is at Joymount Ind. I am basically certain of this. Our current objective should be to gather all our men and immediately head to Joymount Ind to find the exact location of the Beast Garden.¡±


    ¡°But even if we find it, without the sealing stele, we can¡¯t take the Beast Garden with us!¡±


    ¡°The Wolf Lord will be with us, so there will be no problems.¡±


    ¡°The Wolf Lord ising?¡± Helian Hu trembled in shock at this news.


    The so-called Wolf Lord was the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s Blue Wolf True Lord, Feng Muyuan. As the master of the Blue Sky Demon Wolf, the lord of all the wolves in the world, he was known to the people of the Beast Refining Gate as the Wolf Lord.


    The white-browed elder grunted, ¡°The Wolf Lord arrived long ago, but he has been at Great Wind Ind this entire time, making a marriage proposal on behalf of Qian Yingchen.¡±


    Helian Hu was taken aback. ¡°¡®Qian Yingchen¡¯? Who is that?¡±


    The elder chuckled. ¡°The Wolf Lord¡¯s newly adopted son.¡±


    ¡°¡®Making a marriage proposal to Horizon Ocean Pavilion for his newly adopted son¡¯?¡± Helian Hu blurted out. Then he realized, ¡°It¡¯s a pretense?¡±


    The white-browed elder nodded. ¡°The actions of a True Lord are not to be taken lightly. A reason is always needed, or else if one is discovered, one would be repeating the error of Shi Wunian. Thus, when the Beast Garden was lost, the Wolf Lord immediately adopted a son and then rushed off to Horizon Ocean Pavilion to make a marriage proposal for him. The chances of this seeding are naturally zero, but the Wolf Lord is simply using this opportunity to linger in the area and wait for the right moment.¡±


    The white-browed elder continued, ¡°That¡¯s why we absolutely cannot provoke Xu Miaoran. Let her go. Even if she notifies the Basking Moon Sect, their people won¡¯te in time.¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± Helian Hu nodded. ¡°Then what about Tang Jie?¡±


    The white-browed elder sneered, ¡°With Xu Miaoran gone, Tang Jie has lost his protective talisman. This person humiliated my sect at the Immortal Fortune Conference, and this alone means we cannot let him go. Moreover, while the Wolf Lord can suppress the Beast Garden, it will consume much of his strength. The Beast Garden cannot rely on a True Lord every day to keep operating. We must get back what was taken.¡±


    His eyes glinted with savagery. ¡°Gather all our men. If Tang Jie appears, immediately kill him and take back the suppressing stele!¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    On the pier of Celestial River Ind, the pleasure boat Crape Myrtle slowly floated along the coast.


    This kind of pleasure boat wasn¡¯t seaworthy and had to stick around the coast. It was purely used for sightseeing and residential purposes. The rent was rather high at ten taels of silver a day, though this was nothing for cultivators.


    Seated beneath a small perg at the top of the ship, Shen Qingdan was deep in thought.


    A middle-aged woman with a graceful bearing walked up to Shen Qingdan and said, ¡°Young lord.¡±


    But Shen Qingdan still seemed to be in a trance.


    With no other change, the woman shouted, ¡°Young lord!¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡± Shen Qingdan seemed to awaken from a dream. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Aunt Ying. Do you need something?¡±


    This Aunt Ying replied, ¡°There is a message from the employer.¡±


    Shen Qingdan sat up. ¡°Finally a message? What is it?¡±


    ¡°Joymount Ind. They will tell us the exact location when we arrive.¡±


    ¡°Hmph, acting all mysterious, do they not trust me?¡± Shen Qingdan mmed the table in anger. ¡°Tell him that if he keeps being so secretive, we can just drop the deal.¡±


    Aunt Ying sighed. ¡°Young Lady, we¡¯ve already taken their deposit. If this news gets out, it will damage the reputation of our Wandering Pce.¡±


    She felt so helpless that she even changed how she addressed Shen Qingdan.


    ¡°We can just return it!¡±


    ¡°Even if we return it, we will still have vited the contract. The other party only needs to say that our actions resulted in a dy that resulted in their loss to still damage our reputation! Moreover¡­ it¡¯s not rare for the requester to not show themselves and to only give the exact location once we arrive.¡±


    Shen Qingdan froze, and then she sat back down in a huff.


    She suddenly thought of something and asked, ¡°Strange¡ªwhat¡¯s wrong with me? Why am I so angrytely? Why is such a small thing setting me off?¡±


    Aunt Ying smiled. ¡°It might be because Young Lady has had a lot on her mind as ofte. Presumably, someone has provoked the young lord and made you unhappy.¡±


    <em>¡®Someone provoked me¡¯?</em>


    Shen Qingdan was startled, and then the figure of a man emerged in her mind.


    <em>Tang Jie¡­</em>


    For some reason, Tang Jie¡¯s figure was appearing in her mind more and more.


    She had once been curious about Tang Jie, but as she grew more and more familiar with Tang Jie, her curiosity faded.


    But her interest in him continued to thicken, not lessening in the slightest.


    Especially when she saw Tang Jie together with Xu Miaoran, she had instinctively felt disgust, and when Tang Jie spoke up for Xu Miaoran, she felt sadness.


    She wasn¡¯t some sheltered girl, so she knew she was in trouble when these emotions appeared. It seemed like she had started to like Tang Jie.


    Fortunately, she felt like she could still control herself.


    <em>It¡¯s just a little admiration,</em> Shen Qingdan told herself. Someone who was able to get this far with only a five-cyle Jade Gate and without the help of a great n was truly worth a little more attention.


    But that was all. It couldn¡¯t be considered love.


    This was how she reassured herself.


    She failed to notice that while she encouraged herself and rejected the possibilities, she began to think more and more about Tang Jie. She ended up getting closer to someone she wanted to push away.


    Aunt Ying¡¯s words gave Shen Qingdan a chance to change the topic. She energetically said, ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because I¡¯m stillcking patience, as all of this waiting has me rather frustrated. This message came at the perfect time.¡±


    Shen Qingdan stood up and said, ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, inform everyone that we¡¯re setting off for Joymount Ind.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Aunt Ying left with this order.


    She walked a few steps before turning and asking, ¡°Should we inform Young Sir Tang¡¯s group?¡±


    <em>¡®Inform Tang Jie¡¯?</em>


    After a momentary daze, Shen Qingdan shook her head. ¡°There¡¯s no need. It was just a chance encounter. Since there was no destiny between us, it is better to say our goodbyes and forget ourselves amidst the world.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The underground tunnels.


    Lin Baicang stood in a dark burrow. In front of him was a stone wall. There was no way forward, and behind him was Tang Jie.


    Pointing above him, Lin Baicang said, ¡°Through here is the coast, and the closest point to Joymount Ind. But the Beast Refining Gate has probably surrounded the ind by now. Once you leave, they¡¯ll notice you. You¡¯re sure you want to do this?¡±


    Tang Jie looked up at the rock ceiling and indifferently said, ¡°It¡¯s nothing more than another chase. The path of cultivation is dangerous and difficult. Don¡¯t all of us know this? How is it that you still don¡¯t see it?¡±


    Lin Baicang was taken aback by these words, and then he dropped his head and bitterly smiled. ¡°I¡¯m much inferior to Junior Brother.¡±


    ¡°Since that is the case, Tang Jie bids farewell to Senior Brother.¡±


    Tang Jie aimed at the ceiling and punched.


    With this one punch, the thin rockyer was sted open, letting in the sun.


    Tang Jie jumped out and flew into the sky.


    He elerated to his maximum speed, rushing into the clouds and sending them into motion. In the sky, the clouds began to gather in a vortex around Tang Jie.


    At the same time, the sounds of strange flutes resounded from all sides, and people began to appear on the horizon.


    There was no need for the sharp eyes of hunting eagles or the sharp noses of hunting dogs to see such arge turmoil.


    Tang Jie simplyughed and flew forward, one arm thrust out in front of him like he was Superman. He tore through the skies, leaving a white trail in his wake.


    Lin Baicang was dumbfounded by this impressive sight. After a while, he finally managed to say, ¡°Junior Brother is truly incredible!¡±


    And then he went back underground.


    Admiration was all well and good, but he would never risk himself like this.


    Tang Jie¡¯s vacation hase to an end. It¡¯s time to get back to business!<!--


    -->

 Chapter 419

    Chapter 419: Pursuit


    Tang Jie brazenly flew through the sky, appearing like a lightning bolt.


    Three purple-colored eagles hastily circled around and then pursued him like arrows. Through secret arts unique to the Beast Refining Gate, they transmitted Tang Jie¡¯s location.


    Farther off, several dozen Beast Refining Gate disciples were giving chase.


    As they wereing from all parts of the ind, they were varying distances from Tang Jie, but they were all chasing at their maximum speed, creating a long trail in the sky.


    The Beast Refining Gate disciple at the very front was called Bai Yue. He was only at the Hundred Refinement Tier, weaker than Tang Jie, but the area he had been guarding was closest to Tang Jie¡¯s breakout point. Thus, he was able to give chase immediately. He was also the first to send the rm to notify everyone else.


    In this frenzied pursuit, Bai Yue pushed his Thousand Mile Eagle Feather Art to the limit. Slowly, he closed the distance between him and Tang Jie, and Bai Yue grew more and more excited.


    The Beast Refining Gate had long ago decreed that anyone who killed Tang Jie would get three thousand contribution points and fifty thousand spirit coins as a reward. Anyone who captured Tang Jie alive would get five thousand contribution points and one hundred thousand spirit coins.


    Bai Yue knew that he didn¡¯t have the strength to deal with Tang Jie, but he didn¡¯t need to kill him. Even if he could just stop him for a little, giving his fellow disciples behind him a chance, as the first disciple to intercept Tang Jie, he would receive a significant amount of contribution points and spirit coins as a reward.


    <em>Just stop him for a little, only a little!</em>


    This thought kept tumbling around in Bai Yue¡¯s mind. The distance grew smaller and smaller, and Tang Jie was now in range of his spell arts. Bai Yue excitedly formed a spell, and a lightning bolt descended from the heavens.


    This lightning bolt was the spell art that Bai Yue was most skilled in, Yang Lightning. It was extremely powerful, and even disciples in the sect famous for body refining did not dare to take it directly. And if Tang Jie tried to dodge, what awaited him was more and more bolts of Yang Lightning. He didn¡¯t need to kill Tang Jie, only constantly dy him, and he would have made an enormous contribution.


    This thought made Bai Yue faintly smile as he attacked. He felt like he could already see Tang Jie tiring himself out as he tried to run away from the Yang Lightning bolts, unable to hold on.


    As that lightning bolt lit up the heavens, he saw Tang Jie look upward and then stop. He formed a hand sign, apparently wanting to cast a spell to resist the Yang Lightning. But before he could cast the spell, the Yang Lightning bolt crashed into Tang Jie¡¯s head.


    ¡°Sess!¡± Bai Yue shouted.


    He had only wanted to stop Tang Jie from escaping, but he had actually managed to hit his foe. Were the heavens looking out for him, granting him a chance?


    Bai Yue was so excited that he was shaking. He was already imagining how the Beast Refining Gate would wee him as a hero and the supreme glory he would receive.


    But a momentter, he saw Tang Jie turn around and smile at him.


    He was fine?


    Bai Yue rubbed his eyes.


    How could that be?


    He took a Yang Lightning spell and waspletely fine?


    But he clearly hadn¡¯t used any defensive spell arts.


    He then saw Tang Jie finish making hand signs and point his right hand at him.


    Bai Yue¡¯s blood went cold, and he instinctively felt like something bad was going to happen.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    Eighteen Heavenly Cloud des appeared.


    As they were already in the air, the Heavenly Cloud des appeared almost next to him. Instead of dropping onto his head, they sliced their way horizontally through Bai Yue¡¯s body.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    A mist of blood bloomed.


    Within this cloud of blood, Bai Yue¡¯s body had been sliced into countless pieces of meat. Tang Jie waved his hand, grabbing Bai Yue¡¯s Mustard Seed Bag, and then he turned and left.


    In the time it took to breathe, a Hundred Refinement cultivator had died.


    After killing Bai Yue, Tang Jie flew off again like he had done something not even worth mentioning.


    But Bai Yue¡¯s death had let everyone else know that even trying to dy Tang Jie was an extremely risky job.


    This made the scattered pursuers start to group together, and those at the very front started to slow down so that those behind could catch up.


    Of course, they didn¡¯t dare to wait for too long. After all, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t going to wait for them.


    Thus, the Beast Refining Gate disciple behind Bai Yue waited until three other disciples caught up before he finally had enough confidence to chase Tang Jie.


    These four were all at Nine Revolutions, and one of them was even at a higher level than Tang Jie. This was four against one, and they were all at basically the same level, and the Beast Refining Gate disciples were also elites who had been picked out from the best and could not bepared to wandering cultivators.


    The four of them pursued with all their might and slowly managed to catch up to Tang Jie.


    As they got closer to Tang Jie, a Beast Refining Gate disciple with arge build said in glee, ¡°Tang Jie¡¯s crescent de spell art is too scary, so don¡¯t try and fight him directly. Junior Brother Lu, use the Calling Wind spell to slow him down. Junior Brother Ming, let out your Lightning Leopard to chase him down. Junior Brother Lin, have your Mottled Butterfly cast spells. I¡¯ll cast spell arts to defend the rest of you.¡±


    He summoned a white elephant, which loudly red and swung around its nose, releasingrge amounts of mist that condensed into a wall of vapor to protect them.


    This move was rather simr to Lan Yu¡¯s Snow Frost Mist, but this Beast Refining Gate disciple had used a fiend beast to cast it.


    At the same time, a fierce gale swept toward Tang Jie, so powerful that Tang Jie¡¯s flight became unstable and he began to slow down.


    A momentter, a ck Lightning Leopard lunged out of the clouds at Tang Jie while a rainbow-spotted butterfly flew into the clouds. The butterfly opened its wings and sprinkled down rainbow dust, which was blown toward Tang Jie by the gale.


    They were all disciples of the same sect, so the four of them worked together very well, covering both offense and defense, close range and long range. For a moment, their defense was imprable, and even Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but sigh in praise.


    An ordinary opponent could only concede in such circumstances. After all, it was four versus one. Even a genius had no chance of winning. s, their opponent was Tang Jie.


    As the spell arts from the four approached, Tang Jie suddenly whispered, ¡°Art, Void, Fixate, Power! Intimidate!¡±


    As he read out the Four-Nine True Words, the four of them were momentarily shaken.


    Tang Jie activated the Formless Golden Body and shed away, appearing in the vicinity of the four.


    The greatest w of the Chaoswind Step was that, being a localized instant movement spell art, it had a distance limitation.


    This restriction meant that he couldn¡¯t instantly fly up to his opponent¡¯s side, which gave his opponent a chance to react. And for the same reason, he was currently at the edge of the Chaoswind Step¡¯s zone. Unless he recast the spell, he could only fly back to his previous position rather than using his current position as the center and blinking around all over the ce.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t mind. The moment he appeared, he rushed at the Beast Refining Gate disciple who had spoken earlier.


    This disciple reacted quickly, thrusting his palm andunching a st of wind at Tang Jie¡¯s chest. At the same time, he hid behind the white elephant, using its enormous body to cover himself.


    The st of wind struck Tang Jie in the chest, and there was a thump like it had struck something hard. Tang Jie didn¡¯t seem to feel it, his eyes locked onto the pair of legs peeking out from under the elephant¡¯s belly. Based on the height of those legs, he instantly estimated the position of the person behind the elephant. With a flick of his hand, a golden dagger flew out, piercing straight through the elephant¡¯s body and making straight for that disciple¡¯s throat.


    That disciple had never imagined that Tang Jie could still attack him in this situation, but at this critical moment, a silver shield suddenly appeared in front of his neck. Upon closer inspection, this was no shield, but a small silver turtle that the disciple was using as a shield.


    As that disciple released the small turtle, the disciple smugly smiled. This small turtle was his protective talisman, its shell so tough that it was like a natural breastte, and it could move around to protect any part of his body.


    It was impossible for Tang Jie to kill him with one blow.


    A momentter, the golden dagger struck the silver turtle.


    <em>Bang!</em>


    There was an explosion of blood and gore that sttered all over that disciple¡¯s face.


    How¡­ was this possible?


    His shock had reached maximum level.


    Only then did he realize that Tang Jie wasn¡¯t using the Heartbreak Saber that was noted in the files.


    This was also hisst thought.


    The golden dagger stabbed into his throat and then expanded into a golden thread that sliced off his head.


    The other three disciples only now reacted.


    ¡°Senior Brother Liu!¡± they cried out in unison.


    Tang Jie snorted and shot over to that Junior Brother Lu who was using the Calling Wind spell.


    Junior Brother Lu shot a bolt of wind from his finger, and an Ironwire Snake shot out of his sleeve to bite at Tang Jie. At the same time, he moved one hand to his throat, two fingers ready to catch any golden dagger that might try to take his head.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, and there was a sh of golden light that sliced the Ironwire Snake in two. He then ran over, grabbed that Junior Brother Lu, and stabbed him in the abdomen.


    Junior Brother Lu was taken byplete surprise. He had been defending his neck and had made no countermeasure for Tang Jie stabbing his abdomen instead.


    Tang Jie pulled out the golden dagger and then stabbed Junior Brother Lu in the chest.


    This Junior Brother Lu was a Nine Revolutions disciple, and he had tempered his internal organs such that ordinary damage could not kill him. It was for this reason that Tang Jie had callously given him two stabs in a row.


    Tang Jie carried along his opponent as he continued to fly, using his body to block attacks while continuing to stab him. This was one of the drawbacks of the golden thread created by the Weapon Mantra. Although it was unbreakable, one couldn¡¯t use spell arts with it. At best, one could attach a little spiritual energy to it so that one could call it back after throwing it out. It was basically impossible to unleash spell arts like the Matchless sh with it.


    This meant that Tang Jie¡¯s method of killing was particrly brutal!


    Large amounts of blood descended like a sudden downpour.


    Only when that Junior Brother Lu was practically a beehive and unable to defend himself did Tang Jie confidently sweep the de across his throat, cutting apart his esophagus and blood vessels in one go. Finally, with a single punch, he ended that disciple¡¯s life.


    ¡°Lu Zhen!¡± The other two disciples cried out in grief at the gruesome death of theirrade.


    But this was the end of the surprise attack. Tang Jie had killed the first person with the surprising sharpness of the golden dagger, but after that, the second person was prepared, forcing Tang Jie to stab him many times.


    By the time the second person was dead, the other two were prepared to defend themselves. One had summoned abat ape carrying a long staff, while the other had summoned a giant tusked boar.


    This was the habit of the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s disciples. The Myriad Beast Union Mantra only restricted their ability to control beasts, but it didn¡¯t prevent them from having some reserves. In truth, every person had prepared different fiend beasts to deal with varying situations.


    Thebat beasts they had summoned had thick hides and tough flesh, precisely to counter the golden dagger, which had excellent piercing qualities butcked power. It was clear that none of the Beast Refining Gate disciples was to be underestimated. In truth, it was only against Tang Jie that they seemed so hard-pressed. Anywhere else, they would be considered talents that could hold their own.


    While new fiend beasts were being summoned, that Lightning Leopard from before turned and lunged at Tang Jie¡¯s face.


    Tang Jie grunted as he put away the golden dagger in his right hand and thrust his finger twice at those two in the distance, shooting out two stars.


    The Star Finger!


    The Star Fingers were only there to hold his enemy down. At the same time, he extended his left hand and formed several hand signs. By the time he had finished extending his left hand, he had finished casting, and he thrust a finger at the forehead of that Lightning Leopard.


    The Jade Shattering Finger!


    ¡°How can this be?¡± The two of them were stunned beyondpare.


    Tang Jie had cast the Star Fingers and the Jade Shattering Finger at the same time.


    It had to be understood that cultivators normally could only manifest one spell art at a time. Even a Violet Pce True Lord who had cultivated a divine connection that allowed manifestation of an art with a thought had to think each art one at a time. No one had ever been able to cast two spell arts at once. Although the Flying Stars had the property of being eclipsed by other spell arts, one still had to cast these spell arts in order. It was just that the concealment property meant that it looked like two arts were being cast at once.


    But Tang Jie had cast a different spell art with each hand¡ªan actual case of two spells at once.


    This was the power of the Twelve Hidden Whirlpools of the Ninedark Mantra. It allowed Tang Jie to use two spell arts at once, but he still didn¡¯t have a good grasp on it and could only use two spell arts of the same type. Even so, the feat was shocking enough.


    <em>Pa.</em>


    The power from the finger prated through the Lightning Leopard¡¯s forehead like there was nothing there, leaving arge hole through which white brain matter could be seen.


    Not only that, the power miraculously lingered for a few moments, punching through the Lightning Leopard like a spear, and as Tang Jie pulled back, it tore horizontally through the leopard, cutting it in half.


    Violet Temple Radiance.


    Tang Jie then raised his fist and punched, the force from the punch gathering into a surging torrent that mmed into the rainbow butterfly.


    Obliterated in one blow.


    Energy-Blood Simulflow!


    The rainbow butterfly wasn¡¯t some fiend beast with a tenacious life force, but it was skilled in poison and illusions. If it were able to use these abilities, it would pose quite the headache. s, against Tang Jie and his Chaoswind Step, it didn¡¯t even have time to use it all before it was destroyed.


    In terms of depth, Tang Jie naturally hadn¡¯t mastered these techniques as much as Qi Shaoming and the others, but as the owner of theplete Ninedark Mantra, he naturally had his own advantage, which was that he received all of the improvements.


    Alone, these improvements weren¡¯t much, but when put together in one person, their power was shockingly impressive.


    Tang Jie¡¯s opponents would find that his attack speed was faster, his movement speed was faster, his defenses were tougher, and his attacks were stronger. Even his critical hit rate was higher.


    This allowed Tang Jie to deal with two opponents of his level without the golden dagger or his other trump cards.


    ¡°My baby!¡± the two disciples groaned.


    But as Tang Jie killed the rainbow butterfly, thatbat ape roared and jumped, swinging the staff at Tang Jie with rock-shattering force, and the tusked boar also began to charge at Tang Jie. This boar was dumb and clumsy, but it had a thick hide and tremendous strength, making it perfect for leading the charge.


    Tang Jie flipped his wrist, revealing the Heartbreak Saber. With a wave of his hand, he unleashed a dazzling wave of saber energy.


    The Matchless sh managed to push back the giantbat ape. At the same time, Tang Jie took out the golden dagger with his left hand and stabbed it at the boar.


    The boar simply snorted after being stabbed and continued to charge. Its sharp tusks pierced through the Formless Golden Body and into Tang Jie¡¯s abdomen, causing him to groan in pain as he staggered back.


    ¡°He¡¯s injured!¡± The two Beast Refining Gate disciples cheered.


    Before this point in the battle, Tang Jie had appeared like an almighty god, going one versus four and even killing two, causing the other two to despair. Now, these two had finally seen some hope.


    As Tang Jie was injured, his eyes suddenly shed. ¡°Shake!¡±


    He drew back the golden dagger and thrust a palm at the boar¡¯s face. A powerful force traveled through his palm, pushing back the boar as it wailed.


    Using the force of this counterattack, Tang Jie began to form signs with his hands. Eighteen Heavenly Cloud des formed, rushing at the boar, the ape, and the two Beast Refining disciples.


    At the same time, the two of them released a tiger and leopard, speed-type beasts.


    But these fiend beasts were rather unfortunate, for before they even had time to attack, the eighteen Heavenly des flew at them.


    These two fiend beasts were almost immediately sliced into several ces, and following them, the boar was cleaved in two. This big guy still refused to die, but it no longer had the strength to fight or protect its master. Thus, a momentter, the Beast Refining Gate disciple who had been controlling the boar was sliced in two by the remaining Heavenly Cloud des.


    ¡°Junior Brother!¡± the remaining Beast Refining Gate disciple howled in grief. At this moment, Tang Jie had already appeared behind him.


    After a long interval, he had finally used the Chaoswind Step again. He had believed that this long break was enough to catch this disciple off-guard, but to his surprise, the disciple suddenly turned around, the ck scimitar in his hand slicing at Tang Jie¡¯s chest.


    This sudden attack caught Tang Jie off guard, and he was thrown back while vomiting blood.


    The disciple snarled, ¡°You want to use that move on me? With an rm Cicada around, no one can think about ambushing me!¡±


    Only now did Tang Jie see a small cicada perched on that disciple¡¯s shoulder.


    The rm Cicada was a warning-type fiend insect. Tang Jie hadn¡¯t expected his foe to have this sort of fiend.


    Because the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s disciples normally manifested their abilities through their fiend beasts, they could possess all kinds of abilities. Only when one knew what fiend beasts they had could one know what sort of tricks they could use.


    For this reason, even Tang Jie had fallen prey to this disciple¡¯s sudden attack.


    The disciple rushed up at Tang Jie to follow up, and thatbat ape also jumped into the fray, swinging its staff at Tang Jie¡¯s head.


    Tang Jie raised his hands to block, the Heartbreak Saber stopping the staff. But the ape¡¯s immense strength was like that of a body refiner, and the pressure from the staff rendered Tang Jie immobile, even cracking the Heartbreak Saber.


    The Beast Refining Gate disciple seized this chance and stabbed his scimitar at Tang Jie.


    He savagelyughed. ¡°Tang Jie, you can die now!¡±


    ¡°Keep dreaming!¡± Tang Jie coldly shot back.


    His body erupted with red light, and energy surged through him. He pushed back the staff and kneed the disciple in the belly.


    The Blood Refining Spirit spell!


    Energy-Blood Simulflow!


    Frenzied strength mmed into that disciple¡¯s belly, causing him to bend over in pain. But he was also quite the tenacious fellow, pushing through the pain and continuing to stab with the saber, leaving a fourth hole in Tang Jie¡¯s body.


    At the same time, the ape threw away its staff and punched at Tang Jie¡¯s face.


    This punch hit Tang Jie right on the nose, causing blood to flow out. Tang Jie struck back with his saber, stabbing the ape. The power of the Matchless sh erupted, punching arge hole through the ape¡¯s body. At the same time, the disciple swung his shining scimitar, and blood gushed into the air.


    Tang Jie threw his head back and howled in pain. Without turning his head, he punched out with his left hand, straight through that disciple¡¯s chest.


    The immense force annihted that disciple¡¯s life. After a few moments, that disciple¡¯s body started to grow heavy, and he dropped from the sky together with hisbat ape.


    Tang Jie coughed, threw up some blood, and then flew off.


    One disciple can¡¯t stop Tang Jie, nor can four, but they can slow him down¡­<!--


    -->

 Chapter 420

    Chapter 420: Battle to the Death


    The gruesome battle utterly stunned the pursuing Beast Refining Gate disciples.


    No one had expected Tang Jie to be able to fight against four people at once.


    They all looked at each other, not daring to speak. The disciples at the front even slowed down, clearly wanting to wait for more people to catch up.


    Tang Jie¡¯s battle with those four had wasted a lot of time, during which others had caught up, but this hesitation caused the distance to gradually grow again.


    At this moment, a person shot out from the rear like a lightning bolt, moving so quickly that he surpassed all the other disciples.


    ¡°Senior Brother Fan! Senior Fan Tiande!¡± The Beast Refining Gate disciples cheered when they saw this man.


    This Fan Tiande was at the Cognitive Creation Tier, but he wasn¡¯t that Cognitive Creation cultivator that had been reported to the Basking Moon Sect.


    In truth, the Beast Refining Gate had sent more than twenty such Cognitive Creation Tier cultivators, all of them stationed at different locations.


    In order to control the entire ind, the Beast Refining Gate had distributed its strength such that the weaker forces were on the outside while the stronger forces were more ind. This allowed them to better coordinate their forces.


    Hundred Refinement and Nine Revolutions cultivators were stationed on the perimeter. Their true purpose was to discover and dy.


    Cognitive Creation and peak Mortal Shedding cultivators were stationed in the middleyer. Their mission was to go off in pursuit the moment they received word. As for the three Celestial Heart True Persons, they held the fort in the center with a small number of genius disciples.


    But when the news concerning Joymount Ind arrived, two of the three True Persons immediately left to seek out the exact location of the Beast Garden, leaving only one True Person behind. After all,pared to the suppressing stele, the Beast Garden was more important.


    Fan Tiande was the Cognitive Creation cultivator closest to Tang Jie. Although he was rather far away, he was much faster than disciples at Nine Revolutions or Hundred Refinement. Moreover, the two battles had managed to slow down Tang Jie somewhat, so Fan Tiande had managed to catch up.


    As Fan Tiande pursued without stopping, someone shouted, ¡°Senior Brother Fan, be careful! Tang Jie has already killed five senior brothers!¡±


    ¡°I saw it!¡± Fan Tiande waved a hand, and a golden-winged eaglended on his shoulder. Although his person had yet to arrive at the time, through the eagle, he had seen everything that had happened.


    As he charged forward, he shouted, ¡°While Tang Jie is fierce, he is injured. From this, we can see that four opponents at the same time is his limit, so there¡¯s nothing to be afraid of. I¡¯ll go and take him on while the rest of you catch up. No mistakes!¡±


    Fan Tiande had once fought against five Nine Revolutions disciples.


    With this record, one could estimate that Tang Jie was weaker than him.


    This was understandable. No matter how many tricks Tang Jie had, he was still only at the Nine Revolutions Period, and he was now injured. There was no reason for him to be a match for Fan Tiande, and that wasn¡¯t even mentioning his reinforcements.


    Fan Tiande¡¯s current strategy was actually rather simr to those of the groups that had preceded him, all of them based on the current situation. If there were no mishaps, his conclusions should have been correct. And now that Tang Jie was injured, Fan Tiande was even more certain that Tang Jie wasn¡¯t hiding anything more.


    But in reality, they had never understood what sort of person Tang Jie was.


    The pursuer was like a howling gale, tearing through the world and swiftly closing the distance with Tang Jie.


    Fan Tiande roared, ¡°Tang Jie, let your deathpensate for the deaths of my brothers!¡±


    He waved his hand, and that golden eagle on his shoulder fired a lightning bolt at Tang Jie.


    His Thunder Eagle could be used for both scouting andbat. The power of its lightning bolt was immense, but when it hit Tang Jie, it was like a pebble. There was a burst of lightning, but there was no effect on Tang Jie.


    Fan Tiande wasn¡¯t surprised by this. He had seen this happen right before Bai Yue¡¯s death, so he was just testing things out again. Seeing that lightning was ineffective, he called back his eagle and grunted, ¡°Since you don¡¯t fear lightning, what about fire?¡±


    He waved his hand, and a red bull appeared in front of him.


    The moment this bull appeared, it spat a gout of me at Tang Jie, turning a good chunk of the sky into a fiery cloud.


    Tang Jie did not dare to underestimate this ze, and he quickly fired off ten-some palm sts.


    The palm sts were imbued with an azure gale that blew back the mes.


    Fan Tiande was in no rush. He said with augh, ¡°So it works, huh? Then I¡¯ll stop standing on ceremony. Snake and mouse, go!¡±


    He waved his hand again, producing a long fire snake and arge fire mouse.


    These three fiend beasts all had the Fire attribute, and with their powersbined, they set the heavens ame and engulfed Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie¡¯s body erupted with light as he used the Aquagel Shroud and Formless Golden Body to resist the mes.


    Fan Tiandeughed. ¡°While your Formless Golden Body is as tough as steel, my Inferno Heaven mes can melt this metal! Break for me! Break! Break!¡±


    With each shout, the mes grew stronger, a ceaseless torrent that forced Tang Jie to retreat.


    Fan Tiande was right that everything in the world had its counter. The Formless Golden Body was powerful, but it also had things it feared: Fire-type attacks. Simrly, while the Chaoswind Step allowed for instant movement in a certain area, it was powerless against this all-epassing sea of fire.


    Although this wasn¡¯t enough to kill him, he could no longer ignore his opponent¡¯s attacks. One could say that the two greatest advantages Tang Jie had had in his one-versus-four had been neutralized by Fan Tiande¡¯s sea of fire.


    Fan Tiande shouted, ¡°Tiger Howl Punch!¡±


    With a mighty roar, Fan Tiande punched, a tiger emerging from his right hand and charging at Tang Jie. Just as Tang Jie was about to block, Fan Tiande¡¯s arm paused, and then he shouted, ¡°Thirteen strikes!¡±


    He instantly made thirteen punches in a row, creating thirteen tiger phantoms.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t expect Fan Tiande¡¯s attacks toe so quickly. He used the Heartbreak Saber to block three tigers and the Chaoswind Step to evade six, but the remaining four mmed into his body, causing him to throw up blood as he was thrown back.


    Fan Tiandeughed. ¡°What do you think? How do my thirteen strikespare to your eighteen sky des?¡±


    Tang Jie grunted, ¡°Let¡¯s try it out first.¡±


    He pushed his hands forward, and the Heavenly Cloud des flew through the air.


    Fan Tiandeughed as he jumped up andunched consecutive attacks against the eighteen Heavenly des: ¡°Neen strikes!¡±


    Eighteen fist sts scattered the Heavenly des, and thest fist st made use of the gap in spell arts to strike Tang Jie in the chest, pushing Tang Jie back again. But this time, his own face paled. It was clear that those neen strikes had been quite the burden on him.


    After all, Tang Jie was using a spell art while he was using a fist technique. Fist techniques were naturally disadvantaged when used against spell arts.


    Even so, Fan Tiande still smuglyughed. ¡°You¡¯re nothing much. Your Formless Golden Body is countered, your Chaoswind Step rendered ineffective, and your sky des stopped. Let me see what else you have!¡±


    ¡°What about this?¡± Tang Jie threw out a golden light: the golden dagger.


    Fan Tiandeughed and assumed a strange posture: ¡°Cut!¡±


    Two giant crab ws appeared and mped around the golden dagger, rendering it immobile.


    While the golden dagger was sharp, the Great Ster Chiliocosm had borne witness to all kinds of attacks. The major sects had seen this sort of attack that relied on unusual sharpness many times before and had long ago researched a method to counter it.


    These crab ws were an art relic meant specifically for dealing with this sort of spell art.


    His counter having worked, Fan Tiandeughed, ¡°I already know of this trick! You think it can do anything to me?¡±


    Tang Jie cocked his head. ¡°What about this?¡±


    He waved his right hand, and that golden dagger held between the ws instantly turned into numerous golden needles.


    ¡°This¡­ How?¡± Fan Tiande was stunned.


    Although Tang Jie had also transformed the golden dagger when killing the first person, it had only been for an instant, and it had been blocked by that person¡¯s body. Thus, Fan Tiande did not know that the golden dagger had the ability to transform, nor that it could transform so drastically.


    The golden needles barraged Fan Tiande, taking him by surprise, but he still reacted rather quickly, his hands quickly forming a spell. His body elerated at an unreasonable rate, and he just barely managed to dodge most of the needles.


    But some of the needles managed to prate through his body, creating several bloody holes.


    ¡°Cognitive Creation Tier!¡± Tang Jie grunted.


    The Mortal Shedding Realm had three major tiers: Hundred Refinement, Nine Revolutions, and Cognitive Creation. They corresponded to the body, heart, and will.


    Hundred Refinement and Nine Revolutions improved one¡¯s defensive and recovery abilities. Once one finished cultivating them, the cultivator would obtain an inhuman body that could not be wounded by normal weapons, thus increasing their survivability. But cultivating the Spirit Will was different. As it involved the mind, upon attaining this level, cultivators could more quickly and stably cast spell arts.


    If one had to give the exact numbers, then at the same level of proficiency, a Cognitive Creation Tier cultivator could cast spells 50% faster than a Nine Revolutions Tier cultivator.


    This meant that a Cognitive Creation Tier cultivator could cast three spells in the time it took a Nine Revolutions Tier cultivator to cast two. And in the Thousand Passions Sect, which was known for fast casting, it might even be twice as fast.


    The Beast Refining Gate naturally couldn¡¯t reach this level, but this was still a Cognitive Creation Tier Spirit Master. His reaction was much faster than that of his junior brothers, so he managed to dodge Tang Jie¡¯s lethal strike.


    But Fan Tiande was shaken by what he had experienced, fear taking root in his mind. He angrily roared, ¡°Bastard! Lava me Fist!¡±


    He first grabbed at the mes, causing mes to curl around his arm, and then he gathered the mes into a giant fist andunched it at Tang Jie.


    This Lava me Fist wasn¡¯t to be underestimated, and as it exploded against Tang Jie¡¯s body in a brilliant burst of me, it scorched his entire body ck.


    This was another property of the Cognitive Creation Tier. Once a cultivator attained a Spirit Will, their mind would go from formless to formed, which allowed Fan Tiande to merge his own power with that of his refined beast for a terrifyingbination attack.


    Thus, for Beast Refining Gate disciples, what was most important about the Spirit Will wasn¡¯t that it turned the cultivator into a spell-casting firing tform, but that it allowedbination attacks with one¡¯s refined beast.


    Fan Tiande¡¯s me fist turned into a giant hand that made to grab Tang Jie. ¡°Hurry up and turn yourself in!¡±


    Tang Jie snorted when he saw that hand of mes. A light shone from his forehead as a vertical eye slowly opened.


    Fan Tiande was taken aback by this sight, during which Tang Jie raised his hand and thrust a finger at the me hand.


    He lightly thrust his finger right at the center of the giant me hand, which caused the hand to instantly disperse like a punctured balloon.


    ¡°No! How is that possible?¡± Fan Tiande howled in shock.


    The giant me hand was made from a fusion of spell arts, so it had its own critical node. Tang Jie¡¯s finger had struck this critical node, which had caused Fan Tiande¡¯s spell art to fall apart.


    The Dao of Insight!


    This was the direction Tang Jie had been working toward ever since he had grasped the Dao of Insight. As time passed and his understanding of Insight deepened, his abilities grew stronger.


    And now that Feng Hongluan had exposed him, Tang Jie gradually lost his reason to keep hiding it. Thus, in some key battles, he could use this Insight ability.


    And only through repeated use could one grow familiar with and master an ability.


    The undoing of his spell art had a rather severe effect on Fan Tiande.


    His head was thrown back as he vomited blood and howled in pain.


    But he was still an elite of the Beast Refining Gate. Even when heavily injured, Fan Tiande swiftly reacted, putting his hands together and shouting, ¡°Heaven Scorpion, go!¡±


    Arge ck scorpion appeared in front of him.


    A fourth fiend beast!


    Unlike his junior brothers, Fan Tiande had already cultivated his Myriad Beast Union Mantra to the fourth level, so he could control four fiend beasts at once. But the more beasts one controlled, the greater the mental burden would be. Thus, the Beast Refining Gate disciples tended to see what their opponents were capable of and then release the appropriate fiend beast.


    This scorpion was the fiend beast that Fan Tiande was most proud of and most skilled with.


    The moment the scorpion appeared, Fan Tiande cried out, ¡°Heaven Scorpion Hand!¡±


    His right hand curled into a hook while the scorpion raised its tail. Arm and tail assumed the same posture, and then they drew close together and seemingly merged, the five fingers turning into a hook.


    Tang Jie was startled by this. A momentter, Fan Tiande¡¯s hand extended, that hooked hand seemingly piercing through space, appearing right in front of Tang Jie and stabbing at his throat.


    Tang Jie wanted to activate the Chaoswind Step, but to his surprise, he found that he couldn¡¯t activate it.


    The Heaven Scorpion Hand was a spell art with spatial effects, so when it was being used, it would lock down the opponent. Although this lock was extremely weak andsted for a very brief time, it meant that Tang Jie couldn¡¯t immediately dodge.


    As that hooked hand approached, Tang Jie felt a chill in his heart, like an immense danger was approaching.


    Casting everything aside, he put all of his strength into leaning his body back and squatting down.


    At the same time, Fan Tiande¡¯s Heaven Scorpion Hand struck Tang Jie. As Tang Jie had contorted himself away, the hooked hand failed to strike Tang Jie in the throat, getting him in the lower chin instead, and at a reduced power.


    Even so, the moment the Heaven Scorpion Hand touched Tang Jie, Tang Jie felt like something sharp was stabbing into his chin. The moment he felt pain, he immediately felt dizzy.


    Poison!


    The Heaven Scorpion Hand had brought together Fan Tiande and the fiend scorpion, transmitting the fiend scorpion¡¯s poison to Tang Jie¡¯s body. Worst of all was that Fan Tiande had raised this scorpion for many years, and its poison was far more fierce than normal. Even Tang Jie, with his Jewel Body and his Nine Revolutions body, couldn¡¯t endure the poison, his vision blurring. He hastily took an antidote, but the poison was so fierce that it refused to be expelled for the moment.


    Fan Tiande smuglyughed. ¡°Still want to live after taking my Heaven Scorpion Hand? Die for me!¡±


    He waved his hand, and the scorpion disappeared, only to be reced by arge bear.


    This was the rotation tactic the Beast Refining Gate was so skilled in. While Fan Tiande¡¯s scorpion was fierce, it had fragile defenses and limited venom. Once its venom was injected, it could not be used for some time. Thus, he switched it out in order to maintain hisbat strength.


    The moment this bear appeared, it swatted arge paw at Tang Jie, sending Tang Jie flying like he was a ball.


    Fan Tiandeughed. He even stopped releasing fiend fire, ordering the bear to frenziedly attack and beat Tang Jie to death.


    In the sky, Tang Jie¡¯s body was all mangled and torn open from the battering of the bear paws, and he threw up mouthful after mouthful of ck blood.


    Fan Tiande shouted, ¡°What sort of dogshit Basking Moon genius is this? Didn¡¯t I, Fan Tiande, still easily take him down? If the difference in tier could be so easily ovee, what would even be the point of cultivating? Die!¡±


    He threw a Tiger Howl Punch at Tang Jie¡¯s head.


    Just as he was about to hit Tang Jie, Tang Jie suddenly raised his head, an icy look in his eyes.


    He had seemed too weak to keep fighting, but now he extended his hand and caught Fan Tiande¡¯s steely fist. Fan Tiande discovered that Tang Jie was pushing back his fist.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Fan Tiande looked at Tang Jie in shock. Hadn¡¯t he been rendered powerless by the venom?


    And then he saw that streak of ck blood at the corner of Tang Jie¡¯s mouth and understood.


    <em>Damn it! This bastard was letting the bear beat on him, throwing up blood to expel the poison!</em>


    The Heaven Scorpion Hand had struck him in the chin, near the mouth, and then the bear¡¯s beating had set his blood energy into turmoil, allowing him to use the attacks to throw up mouthful after mouthful of poisoned blood.


    Although there was still some venom left in him, it was nothing his constitution couldn¡¯t handle.


    Fan Tiande had used thisbo of scorpion and bear numerous times, and no one had ever adapted as Tang Jie had. More importantly, one had to be capable of fighting back, or else one would have died to the bear before the poison was removed.


    Realizing his miscalction, Fan Tiande immediately knew that he was in trouble.


    Tang Jie grabbed Fan Tiande¡¯s arm with his right hand and thrust his left hand at Fan Tiande¡¯s chest. But rather than attacking, he was sending something on his hand into Fan Tiande¡¯s body.


    A Mindseizer!


    Fan Tiande immediately felt dizzy, his entire body freezing.


    Tang Jie let Fan Tiande go and then stabbed him in the belly with the Heartbreak Saber. He pulled, hooking out a part of his intestines.


    He stabbed again and pulled again.


    He stabbed and stabbed again, just like how Fan Tiande had battered him with the bear.


    After several stabs, Fan Tiande¡¯s body was full of holes.


    ¡°Aaagh!¡± As Tang Jie was pulling out his saber for the eighth time, Fan Tiande suddenly howled in pain. He had finally broken free of the Mindseizer, and the sensation of pain exploded in his mind.


    Fan Tiande was filled with fear. He didn¡¯t know what sort of secret art Tang Jie had used, somehow seizing his soul. All of his arrogance vanished, and he finally started to think about retreating.


    The Heartbreak Saber stabbed at Fan Tiande again.


    Fan Tiande hastily put up a barrier, at the same time casting aside his dignity as a senior brother and shouting, ¡°Hurry up and save me!¡±


    His battle against Tang Jie hadsted longer than Tang Jie¡¯s two previous battles put together, so the pursuing disciples were now extremely close.


    Fan Tiande no longer wanted to kill Tang Jie, only for his junior brothers to catch up quickly.


    Tang Jie snorted and took out some seeds from his Mustard Seed Bag, scattering them in front of him.


    Sowing beans into soldiers!


    These bean soldiers that would even dare to attack and bite at True Persons emerged and charged forward.


    Tang Jie had spent thest two years nting and harvesting beans, but as they were one-time-use items, Tang Jie was not willing to recklessly use them.


    But to kill Fan Tiande, Tang Jie was finally willing to use them.


    Several hundred bean soldiers charged forward to intercept the Beast Refining Gate disciples. These disciples realized that not only could they not rescue Fan Tiande, they had entered into a bitter battle themselves.


    These bean soldiers had astonishing strength, and were capable of killing anyone who didn¡¯t take them seriously.


    Fan Tiande was aghast. He hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to have this trump card. He hastily formed signs with his hands and pointed at his fiend beast, shouting, ¡°Sacrifice!¡±


    This fiend beast let out a soundless wail of sorrow, and then it flopped over and died. A rainbow light emerged from the corpse and entered Fan Tiande¡¯s body, and Fan Tiande¡¯s gruesome injuries began to recover.


    Fan Tiandeughed. ¡°Tang Jie, do you think my Beast Refining Gate¡¯s disciples are that easy to kill? Even if you can stop my reinforcements, if I fight with all my might, how can you kill me?¡±


    The corner of Tang Jie¡¯s mouth twitched, but he said nothing and flicked his left hand. Another ck streak shot toward Fan Tiande.


    Another Mindseizer!


    ¡°This¡­¡± Fan Tiande hadn¡¯t expected this move from Tang Jie, and he was instantly frozen.


    Tang Jie rushed up and continued to stab Fan Tiande.


    He didn¡¯t use the golden dagger to take his head, instead constantly stabbing him, renewing the injuries that Fan Tiande had healed using his fiend beast and even worsening them.


    When Fan Tiande awoke from the Mindseizer again, Tang Jie sent him another Mindseizer.


    And then he kept stabbing.


    The Beast Refining Gate disciples, held off by the bean soldiers, could only watch as Tang Jie grabbed Fan Tiande by the neck and kept stabbing¡­


    Only when Fan Tiande¡¯s body was so mangled that it waspletely unrecognizable did Tang Jie finally let go.


    And then Fan Tiande dropped from the sky.


    Taking his belongings, Tang Jie smirked and said, ¡°Idiot.¡±


    This word was spoken in a garbled fashion. If one looked carefully, one would notice that Tang Jie¡¯s tongue was swollen.


    The poison had not beenpletely ineffective.


    By now, the bean soldiers had sustained terrible losses.


    While there were many bean soldiers, there were also many Beast Refining Gate disciples. Moreover, as people from one of the six major sects, they were talented individuals selected from the cream of the crop. Otherwise, there was no way someone as strong as Tang Jie would be having such a hard time dealing with them.


    But those Beast Refining Gate disciples had also sustained injuries from the bean soldiers. One of them had even had their nose bitten off by a bean soldier.


    Tang Jie knew just how formidable the teeth of these little guys were.


    Just when he was thinking about killing a few more people before leaving, he heard a furious roar in the distance: ¡°Cease your insolence and die!¡±


    A beam of sword energy shot out of the distance, making straight for Tang Jie¡¯s face.


    Aghast, Tang Jie raised the Heartbreak Saber to block with all his power.


    The sword energy shed with the saber energy in a dazzling explosion. A momentter, the sword energy exploded into countless smaller sword rays that struck Tang Jie, causing him to throw up blood and peppering his body with small holes.


    Tang Jie knew that this wasn¡¯t good, so he immediately turned around and dived into the ocean.


    The battles are getting messier and messier. Such is the price for trying to beat someone stronger than you.<!--


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 Chapter 421

    Chapter 421: Deep Sea


    The battle in the sky continued.


    Thest bean soldiers crazily attacked the Beast Refining Gate disciples, not giving them a chance to give chase. No matter how the disciples tried, they couldn¡¯t break through that blockade.


    At this moment, numerous sword rays shot out from the distance, urately striking those bean soldiers, one of them even piercing through a Beast Refining Gate disciple without hurting him in the slightest.


    In a sh, the bean soldiers had been eliminated. At this moment, a figure elegantly flew out: a middle-aged man carrying a longsword.


    All of the Beast Refining Gate disciples bowed to him. ¡°Paying respects to the Heavenly Sword True Person.¡±


    This man¡¯s name was Chang Mingxin, and he was one of the three True Persons tasked with searching for the Beast Garden.


    This person was an unusual sort, for rather than refining beasts, he was skilled in sword arts, cultivating his Heaven Sword spell to a divine level. He was a ssic example of a sword cultivator.


    Though rare, such a person wasn¡¯t strange. The six major sects had existed for one thousand years and had collected talents from all the world, so they possessed countless techniques and spells, nor did they ever restrict their disciples to any particr path. Thus, there were always a few people who chose a different path.


    For example, while the Seven Absolutions Sect was good in pills, talismans, formations, and tools, Wang Juemie didn¡¯t specialize in any of the four. And while Tang Jie was a Basking Moon Sect disciple, with his skill in formations, he would have been very high-ranked in the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    The same was true for Chang Mingxin. He had only cultivated the first level of the Myriad Beast Union Mantra and had only a single refined beast. But his sword techniques were exceptionally sharp, and even in Horizon Ocean Pavilion or the Basking Moon Sect, which had the strongest sword cultivators, he would be an outstanding individual.


    His expertise was in precise attacks over an extremely long distance, and it was said that he was able to attack essentially anything in his field of vision.


    This was a little exaggerated, but if it was the ability to to attack anything in a normal person¡¯s field of vision, then it was true.


    Thus, although he was only a Spirit Ring Tier True Person, Chang Mingxin was much stronger than the likes of Shi Jingzhai and Yu Wanniang.


    The moment Chang Mingxin appeared, all the disciples bowed.


    Chang Mingxin waved his hand and said, ¡°Forget it. There is no need for courtesy in these exceptional times.¡±


    He cast his gaze toward the sea below.


    There was no sign of Tang Jie amidst the waves, and even with Chang Mingxin¡¯s superb vision, he could only see a hundred meters into the water.


    He snorted. ¡°Tang Jie has gone into the sea. While the waters can obstruct our vision and hide his energy, they will also slow him down a lot. His speed will be much slower than if he were flying, so he couldn¡¯t have gone too far in this little time. All of you, set down a Heaven-Earth Net over the area so that he can¡¯t escape!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± all the disciples said in unison.


    More Beast Refining Gate disciples were arriving on the scene, and under Chang Mingxin¡¯smand, a began to spread outward from the point that Tang Jie had dived into the ocean. Some Beast Refining Gate disciples also began to capture sea fiends, refining them so that they could be used against Tang Jie.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    After sshing into the water, Tang Jie immediately began to swim down.


    When that sword ray arrived, Tang Jie knew that the Heavenly Sword True Person had arrived. After his conversation with Lin Baicang, he had gained a rough understanding of his pursuers.


    Thus, after realizing that Chang Mingxin had arrived, Tang Jie had immediately given up the fight and fled into the sea. That was the only way he could escape Chang Mingxin¡¯s attacks.


    As he entered the water, Tang Jie took out an item.


    A m pearl.


    It was the very same m pearl he had received from the m woman he had saved while on the road to the Immortal Fortune Conference. Tang Jie had not used it this whole time, not expecting it to be so useful today.


    A momentter, the water around Tang Jie parted, forming an isted space around him. All of the sea water stopped half a meter away from Tang Jie.


    Amusingly, this didn¡¯t stop fish froming in.


    A few fish would swim through the screen, flop to the bottom of the space, and then go back into the water once they hit the bottom, after which they would wave their tails and swim away.


    This created a rather curious sight next to Tang Jie. A fish would swim next to him, fall through the air, and then go back into the water without creating a single ssh.


    It was like a weightless space, with fish ¡°flying¡± around.


    But the disadvantage of this pearl was that Tang Jie could neither swim nor fly in this situation.


    He could only let himself sink until he hit the bottom of the ocean, where he could then walk.


    This was a rare experience for Tang Jie. He first took a look around his surroundings and then started walking toward Joymount Ind¡ªhe had determined the direction before diving.


    The bottom of the sea was cold and dark, but it wasn¡¯t lonely.


    Even though there was no light, with the power of Insight and the faint light of the m pearl, Tang Jie could still see the various kinds of fish swimming past him.


    They had strange and varied appearances, some that Tang Jie had never seen before, some that Tang Jie had never even heard about before, and some that Tang Jie hadn¡¯t even imagined before.


    There was a fish with the face of a horse and fins like feet, allowing it to swim through the sea like it was walking. There was also a fish that gave off light, covered in beautiful blue lines that would turn on and off. There was also a fish that Tang Jie recognized called the bat ray. It had the appearance of arge bat, and as it pped itsrge wings and moved across the ocean bottom, it appeared to be flying.


    A clumsy tigerhead shark swam out of the distance.


    Its forehead wrinkles formed the ¡°Íõ¡± (king) character, telling everyone that it had the grace of a king and that everyone should back away.


    It seemed to be interested in Tang Jie, a kind of creature it had never seen before. It swam over, stuck half its head into the space surrounding Tang Jie, and opened its mouth.


    Tang Jie calmly extended his hand and grabbed the shark¡¯s mouth so that it couldn¡¯t close it again.


    Tang Jie stuck his head inside the shark¡¯s mouth to see how its insides were constructed, and then he drew his head back and stared into the shark¡¯s eyes.


    He released his grip, and the shark bit down on his hand.


    <em>ck.</em>


    Its teeth broke.


    Tang Jie stroked its forehead and kindly smiled.


    The tigerhead shark finally felt helpless fear and the pain of defeat, so it swung its tail and swam away.


    There were creatures stronger than this.


    A king cuttlefish that had be a fiend and didn¡¯t know what was good for it came looking for Tang Jie. This guy was huge, like a building at the bottom of the ocean. As Tang Jie passed by it, one of its python-like tentacles wrapped around Tang Jie, and the tentacle even had a mouth full of sharp teeth. It was truly like some horrific monster that had crawled out of the ocean.


    But this enormous sea monster was as weak as an infant in Tang Jie¡¯s eyes.


    Tang Jie was able to instantly tell that, despite this guy¡¯s size, it was only a middle-grade Spirit Sensing fiend.


    He grabbed that giant tentacle and threw the cuttlefish out.


    It was perfect for scouting ahead.


    As the cuttlefish flew out, a light came down from above and sliced through the king cuttlefish¡¯s body like it was made of butter, instantly dyeing the ocean waters red.


    Tang Jie narrowed his eyes when he saw this.


    So they really had put down a over the entire area?


    He slowed down and drew close to where the cuttlefish had been killed. His eyes roved around the seabed and finally discovered some wriggling seaworms.


    These seaworms crawled across the seabed like little caterpirs. Their color was so close to that of the sand that it was difficult to make them out. But what was most important was that these seaworms shed with a special marking light that indicated that they were being controlled by cultivators.


    Fortunately, the seaworms couldn¡¯t see and only sensed what was going on around them through vibrations. So long as one proceeded slowly and didn¡¯t make too much of a stir, the people above wouldn¡¯t be able to sense anything.


    With this thought in mind, Tang Jie cautiously advanced.


    As he was walking along, Tang Jie saw a sea turtle sinking down from the surface. A rock had been tied to it so that it couldn¡¯t escape its downward trajectory no matter how much it swam.


    The turtle spun around in panic, sticking out its head, and its dark green eyes just so happened tond on Tang Jie¡¯s body.


    <em>Shit!</em>


    As this thought shed through Tang Jie¡¯s mind, he jumped backward.


    A sword ray sliced through the water and struck Tang Jie¡¯s previous position.


    Tang Jie turned his head and left. A few momentster, a team of cultivators entered the water. Their leader was a Cognitive Creation cultivator, and behind him were six others.


    The leader looked around and pointed inward. The seven people began to go in the direction Tang Jie had retreated.


    There were seven other teams like this in this region of the ocean. Like sharks, they swam around, seeking out Tang Jie. And even farther out, the Beast Refining Gate cultivators were using various methods to create a blockade and monitor the perimeter.


    The Heaven Sword True Person upied the middle, attacking any location where there was suspicious activity.


    This time, his support would note toote.


    Without the chaos from needing to give chase, all of the Beast Refining Gate disciples began to form up, and the disciples of the Murder Hall even began to take up battle formation. The powers unique to a major sect were starting to make themselves manifest.


    Their searching method was extremely disciplined, and there was no rush to find Tang Jie. Theybed every inch of the sea floor for Tang Jie.


    Let alone a Nine Revolutions cultivator like Tang Jie, even a True Person wouldn¡¯t dare to say that they could escape from their meticulous pursuit.


    As they chased, they also captured sea creatures, using the special Soul Possession Eye spell of the Beast Refining Gate to expand their vision using these creatures.


    The Soul Possession Eye could only be used on nine ordinary creatures at once, though they could be switched out. For this reason, most of the Beast Refining Gate disciples chose to capture faster creatures like arrowfish. But the disadvantage of this sort of fish was that they would swim around randomly and weren¡¯t receptive to the control of the cultivator.


    Thus, they also needed creatures that didn¡¯t move around much, like seaworms and turtles, to lock down specific areas.


    The approach of the group of seven cultivators caused the fish to flee in fright.


    Of course, it wasn¡¯t every fish that knew to escape.


    A shark swam past one of the searchers and then curiously examined this cultivator withrge eyes. It didn¡¯t choose to attack, which fortunately made the cultivator ignore it. It wasn¡¯t that itcked speed, but that it was toorge and would consume more energy from the person using the Soul Possession Eye.


    A massive king m the size of a housey on the sea floor. It opened its shell slightly, releasing a string of bubbles, treating these neers as if they didn¡¯t exist.


    The seven people quickly swam out of the area.


    They didn¡¯t swim very far before the Beast Refining Gate disciple at the very back heard a ck.


    Turning his head, he saw that king m slowly open its shell, water rushing out.


    <em>A m fiend?</em>


    That Beast Refining Gate disciple was shocked, and then he was delighted.


    A m fiend had a chance of producing a m pearl, which was a treasure that could fend off fire and water. And m fiends were mostly beautiful women, which were very wee in Immortal marketces.


    That disciple wanted to capture this m fiend, so he drew closer to the m shell. As he drew close, a hand suddenly reached out of the m, grabbed him, and pulled him inside. The disciple wanted to cry out in surprise, but the moment he opened his mouth, water rushed in. Unable to make a sound, he was dragged into the m.


    The m shell closed.


    The giant shell trembled a few times and then became still.


    The group of Beast Refining Gate disciples took a while to notice that one of their number was missing. By the time they came back to the area to search, Tang Jie had already left for another area.


    There was arge field of coral here.


    Tang Jie moved toward the coral like a fish and then passed through therge openings between the coral.


    A crested fish hiding in a pile of rocks jerked upward in fright, its giant, hammer-like crest smashing into a coral reef and knocking arge hole in it. And then this strange and powerful fish swam off in panic.


    But before it could swim very far, Tang Jie grabbed it.


    Tang Jie examined its strange appearance andrge body, and then he grabbed a piece of coral, staring at the fish as he used the Duplication spell.


    Duplication made the coral gradually turn into the crested fish.


    Tang Jie threw aside the real fish, and then he hid himself in a pile of sand while the crested fishid itself on the sea floor, perfectly concealing Tang Jie¡¯s position.


    In order to not be discovered, Tang Jie put away the m pearl.


    Thest bit of light disappeared, and the ocean waters embraced Tang Jie. Now, Tang Jie was truly one with the ocean.


    He began to slowly swim, the sea water making his wounds exceptionally painful. All Tang Jie could do was use spiritual energy to cover his wounds so that he could buy time to heal.


    The inability to breathe wasn¡¯t a problem.


    Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators were no longer mere mortals.


    Mortals needed to breathe in oxygen, but cultivators only needed to breathe in spiritual energy. Thus, being at the bottom of the sea might affect the ability to gather spiritual energy, but there was no problem with simply surviving.


    All around Tang Jie was darkness, but he knew that countless people were approaching him in this darkness.


    He continued to retreat, his eyes remaining calm, collected, and fearless.


    A few momentster, a team of Beast Refining Gate disciples arrived.


    They stopped above the coral reef, their leader taking out a pearl to illuminate the area, his eyes roving around. When he saw an area that the light didn¡¯t illuminate, he would order people to go and look. It was a very thorough search.


    When the search turned up nothing, the leader put away the pearl and waved his hand, the team following him in swimming away.


    When thest Beast Refining Gate disciple passed that crested fish, he didn¡¯t notice a figure slowly rising up behind him.


    Tang Jie held the golden thread and moved to get it around that disciple¡¯s neck.


    As they were at the bottom of the sea, all motions were slowed, including Tang Jie¡¯s.


    Perhaps it was the agitation of the water that made the disciple realize that something was wrong, or perhaps it was just intuition, but that disciple turned his head.


    Their eyes met, and a look of immense fear appeared on the disciple¡¯s face.


    Tang Jie lunged, pushing that golden thread up to the disciple¡¯s neck.


    The disciple instinctively tried to grasp the golden thread and push it away, but that golden thread sliced through his palm, cutting off his finger and then moving on to his mouth.


    And then his face was sliced in half.


    Blood mixed with brains spread out in the water, like ink on paper.


    Severed hands futilely grabbed skyward while the body with only half a head left slowly dropped to the sea floor.


    Taking the disciple¡¯s Mustard Seed Bag and identity token, Tang Jie nced at the rest of the team, which had yet to notice anything wrong, and then swam in the other direction.


    Don¡¯t listen to any small red crabs with Jamaican ents when they tell you that life is better under the sea. The Beast Refining Gate disciples would definitely disagree.<!--


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 Chapter 422

    Chapter 422: Massacre


    A hurricane wasing.


    Violent winds and pounding rain ravaged the surface, and the waves were asrge as mountains.


    And below the surface, a lethal undercurrent was surging.


    Tang Jie was like a giant sea turtle, crawling on the sea floor. He was even carrying arge turtle shell.


    The turtle shell wasn¡¯t used for concealment, but for transformation.


    Duplication required a medium to transform, and it had to be an inanimate object, not a living creature. Even when his original body had attacked Lan Yu that one time, he had transformed a few small and unremarkable objects to change his appearance rather than applying any effects to himself.


    For this reason, Duplication had always been used for cover rather than to change Tang Jie himself.


    For example, that turtle shell had been turned into a piece of coral to obscure Tang Jie below.


    But if someone were to take a closer look, they would find several problems with this coral. For example, it wasn¡¯t rooted into the sea floor but was floating above it.


    Ding Ye was this sort of meticulous young man.


    When he arrived at this region, he quickly noticed something strange about that coral.


    For one thing, it was too isted, the only piece of coral in this area, which made no sense. For another, there were no other creatures around it, the fish simply ignoring it. Finally, on the way here, he had seen a piece of coral that looked extremely simr to this one. Even the way it undted was the same!


    Ding Ye¡¯s eyes started to glow.


    He cautiously took out a Water Parting Spike and summoned the shark fiend he had recently tamed, and then he slowly approached the coral.


    As he was carefully moving aside that coral, there was a golden sh.


    His head silently slid off.


    In the dim light of the m pearl, Tang Jie appeared.


    Looking at the corpse of that young man, Tang Jie slightly shook his head and sighed. ¡°You¡¯re very smart, but s, youck the strength.¡±


    If he had been given time, he might have be quite the outstanding individual.


    But now, it had alle to an end with a single strike.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know how he had ended up all alone, nor did he want to know.


    In the deep sea, anything was possible.


    He just needed to quietly lie in wait, and the opportunities would present themselves.


    Putting away the m pearl, Tang Jie switched locations.


    In the deep sea, Tang Jie was like a cunning and savage man-eating shark, hunting down his prey.


    The Beast Refining Gate quickly realized that they were dealing with a big problem.


    In the first two hours of this area¡¯s encirclement, the Beast Refining Gate had lost four disciples.


    They had all died silently, and only three corpses had been found so far. There was still one person whose remains had yet to be found, and only that massive whale shark swimming around the area gave a possible indication of where they might be.


    In the next two hours, another two disciples ¡°lost contact¡±.


    At this time, out of the eight search teams, six of them had been affected, and the remaining two unharmed teams now knew what was going on.


    The disciples responsible for the search had no choice but to return to the surface and discuss countermeasures before heading back in.


    They were in no rush to find Tang Jie, choosing to establish a firm foundation first. Each Beast Refining Gate disciple had sea beasts around them to keep watch, and those who specialized in mind transmission arts made talismans to distribute to everyone so that the disciples could mentally maintain contact.


    Tang Jie quickly realized that the Beast Refining Gate disciples who had dived back into the ocean were not as easy to deal with.


    But even if they were difficult to deal with, Tang Jie still needed to kill them.


    With the Duplication spell, Tang Jie actually had the best method of escape.


    The only problem was that Duplication used numbers to fool the enemy, but the Beast Refining Gate had quite a few people. If it took ten fake Tang Jies to fool one disciple, it meant that Tang Jie would need one thousand illusions to deal with one hundred Beast Refining Gate disciples.


    And this wasn¡¯t even considering that Celestial Heart True Person. He alone would require several hundred illusions to cover for Tang Jie.


    When his original body had fought with He Chong, he had to create hundreds of illusions each time that fled in every direction. He Chong having to kill so many at once gave the original body a chance to escape.


    Even then, He Chong was sometimes lucky enough to catch the original body, forcing Tang Jie to make more duplicates. At times, when he didn¡¯t have enough spiritual energy, he would have to rely on his tough body to buy time. Fortunately, he was a hardy sort, and the concentration of spiritual energy within the formation was several times higher than it was in the outside world, and He Chong had no intention of killing him. In this way, he had been able to escape multiple times from He Chong.


    While Chang Mingxin wasn¡¯t as powerful as He Chong, he had many allies, which meant that more illusions were needed to fool them. And this wasn¡¯t even considering that he was at the sea floor, where spiritual energy recovery was difficult.


    This was why Tang Jie needed to execute this battle under the sea.


    The death of every enemy raised his chances of escaping using illusions.


    Killing meant survival!


    Of course, it wasn¡¯t like this was Tang Jie¡¯s only choice, but it was definitely the best and his favorite choice.


    Tang Jie had presently taken care of twelve Beast Refining Gate disciples, but this was only the beginning for him. There were hundreds of Beast Refining Gate disciples involved in encircling the region and hunting him down. Tang Jie was still very far from his goal of throwing off his pursuers and heading off for Joymount Ind.


    Tang Jie had no ns to summon his original body. There were simply too many people, and no matter how strong his original body was, it couldn¡¯t ovee these numbers. This battle simply wasn¡¯t meant to be a head-on battle. This was a battle whose primary goal was escape, a purpose which did not fit the original body. After all, the original body had to return through the teleportation formation once the fighting was done. If the avatar ran, what could be done about the Mountain River State Diagram?


    When Tang Jie thought about having to fight against so many people alone, he felt the will to fight stir up within him.


    As those dark silhouettes began to approach him, Tang Jie eerily smiled.


    He turned and swam away.


    He once more approached the perimeter line. Looking in the direction of that invisible border, he suddenly threw that giant turtle shell.


    A sword beam descended from the heavens.


    As that sword beam came down, Tang Jie suddenly elerated, swimming through the border like an arrow through the water.


    One sword beam after another followed him, but Tang Jie continued to speedily swim. He did not use the Duplication spell, simply relying on his agility to dodge those attacks from above.


    Although his swimming speed was slow, Chang Mingxin¡¯s sword beams were also affected by the water and were not able to reach the target location immediately. This gave Tang Jie enough time to dodge.


    He swam around in the water, constantly changing his position. He would curl up and then straighten out, and he would use the environment to hide, even hiding under a whale shark at one point.


    The seaworms that were used to monitor the perimeter had been left behind long ago, and the position marker had now be Chang Mingxin¡¯s sword beams. The light from each sword beam would inform Chang Mingxin of Tang Jie¡¯s position, and then Chang Mingxin would use his former position and his own judgment to fire off the next sword beam.


    Most of the time, his judgment was extremely urate. The Heaven Sword True Person was famous for the lethality of his extremely long-range attacks, but s, as these were attacks made into the water, and as Tang Jie was his opponent, he was not able to hit his target every time.


    Even so, the sword beams were never far from Tang Jie. asionally, one would hit Tang Jie, and while the water weakened their power, it still made Tang Jie grit his teeth in pain.


    But he didn¡¯t care and continued to swim. Chang Mingxin also did not care, continuing to send off sword beam after sword beam. Although he couldn¡¯t kill Tang Jie, confirming Tang Jie¡¯s position was the same thing for him.


    So long as he could lock on to Tang Jie, he had him by the tail, and the disciples would handle the actual work of capturing him.


    Countless Beast Refining Gate disciples received the news and rushed out of the water. They chased after the sword beams that Chang Mingxin fired, diving back into the sea where the sword beams had fallen.


    The sword beams were their guide, pointing out to them where they might find that cunning bastard, Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was still swimming like a shark, the sword beams causing the sand to explode around him and churning the ocean waters into a turbid mess.


    In the turbid waters, Tang Jie looked up, and the Celestial Eye on his forehead shed, piercing through the darkness and taking in all of the Beast Refining Gate disciples entering the water.


    With an excited light in his eyes, Tang Jie mouthed a few words, bubbles issuing from his mouth: ¡°Still not enough¡­¡±


    He then turned and swam in an arc, changing direction while avoiding the sword beams. As he circled back, the gathered disciples lunged at Tang Jie like wolves.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t seem to care, continuing to swim forward.


    The constant sword beams eventually forced Tang Jie to slow down, and the Beast Refining Gate disciples drew closer and closer.


    Tang Jie turned to look behind him. By now, he didn¡¯t need to use the Celestial Eye to see those disciples.


    The ones at the very front already had smug looks of sess on their faces.


    And then Tang Jie smiled.


    He took out the m pearl, parting the ocean waters, and then he said, ¡°Goodbye!¡±


    He tossed out three ck pearls from his right hand. The spiritual light covering them pushed away the turbid ocean waters, and those three pearls flew through the sea toward the approaching Beast Refining Gate disciples.


    ¡°Those are¡­¡± In the sky, Chang Mingxin saw these pearls and froze for a moment, and then he paled. ¡°Oh no! Heavenbane Lightning Pearls! Run!¡±


    But as he was in the sky, even with his abilities, he couldn¡¯t save anybody.


    The three Heavenbane Lightning Pearls left three trails in the water as they moved into the center of the crowd, and then they exploded.


    The explosion instantly pushed the water outward, forming a vacuum, the mes erupting like the Southern Divine Fire of that firebird, instantly obliterating all life in the area!


    Even though the ocean waters limited the power and range of the Heavenbane Lightning Pearls, three of them exploding at once canceled out this effect. In that moment, at least twenty Beast Refining Gate disciples were swept up in that vacuum of death and instantly obliterated.


    A massive wave suddenly rose out of the ocean.


    As the power of the explosion faded, the waters filled back in that vacuum.


    ¡°No!¡± Chang Mingxin almost fainted.


    Thirty Beast Refining Gate disciples had lost their lives in pursuit of Tang Jie!


    This was thirty cultivators, not mortals!


    They were all hand-picked elites who had been through countless tests and trials. All of them had bright futures, but because of a few pearls from Tang Jie, it had alle to nothing!


    <em>Bastard!</em>


    He finally understood.


    Tang Jie had nned it all out.


    He had intentionally shown himself to draw the Beast Refining Gate disciples into chasing him. He had dived into the sea so that everyone¡¯s speed and reactions would be slowed, giving them less of a chance to escape. And he had picked off stragglers so that everyone would stick together.


    All of it was for this heaven-shaking explosion!


    No!


    It wasn¡¯t just one explosion! There were still more explosions!


    Even though Tang Jie had done his best to make the Beast Refining Gate disciples gather together, they weren¡¯t fools, and they wouldn¡¯t squeeze together just because he wanted them to. Thus, the three Heavenbane Lightning Pearls had ultimately managed to only get twenty-some people, and this was only because they had exploded at the greatest concentration of disciples.


    There were still many more disciples around this area.


    They had escaped this disaster, but before they could wake from their shock, Tang Jie threw out six more Heavenbane Lightning Pearls, distributing them to the left and right of that region of death.


    If he was going to do something, he was going to do a thorough job of it!


    He would blow things up to his heart¡¯s content!


    A momentter, the six Heavenbane Lightning Pearls exploded in those two regions, instantly annihting another twenty-some people.


    The three regions were in the form of the ¡°Æ·¡± character, epassing a veryrge area.


    In this area, such things as fish and coral had ceased to exist.


    Tang Jie still wasn¡¯t done, throwing out another three Heavenbane Lightning Pearls.


    This time, rather than concentrating them in one area, he threw them in three different directions where people were concentrated, producing three small explosions.


    These small explosions finally forced the Beast Refining Gate disciples to run, and the three pearls still managed to take seven lives with them.


    If these Heavenbane Lightning Pearls had been used in the sky, the strength of the Beast Refining Gate disciples and Chang Mingxin¡¯s countermeasures would mean that even killing five or six people would be a decent result, and that was only if they were used in a surprise attack.


    But here, twelve Heavenbane Lightning Pearls had taken the lives of 57 Beast Refining Gate disciples, including 14 Cognitive Creation cultivators. Any one of them had taken an immense amount of resources to raise to this stage, far in excess of twelve Heavenbane Lightning Pearls.


    No one except Tang Jie could extract so much value from these Heavenbane Lightning Pearls. Even the Heavenly Extinction Sect would never have imagined that 12 Heavenbane Lightning Pearls could be used to kill 57 people from a major sect.


    If the Heavenbane Lightning Pearls were always this formidable, then the Heavenly Extinction Sect could have been one of the six major sects.


    Chang Mingxin¡¯s heart was bleeding!


    Tang Jie softly sighed. ¡°Unfortunately, I miss out on their Mustard Seed Bags and their bounties.¡±


    While Heavenbane Lightning Pearls were nice, their attribute of destroying everything meant that there were no spoils to collect. On the contribution ranking of the Basking Moon Sect, killing a Beast Refining Gate disciple was a mission with no limit, and would award contribution points corresponding to that disciple¡¯s level. Of course, all the other sects had the same policy when it came to their mortal foe.


    The bounty contribution points required the identity token of the person killed, and it would need to be confirmed by the spies.


    The Heavenbane Lightning Pearl had even destroyed Mustard Seed Bags, so there was no chance of the identity tokens surviving. He had essentially killed 57 people for the Basking Moon Sect for free.


    ¡°A huge loss, but forget it. Consider it a show of loyalty to the sect,¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    If Feng Hongluan had heard this, he would have stomped his feet in rage and cursed, <em>This is what you consider a show of loyalty!?</em>


    With 57 people dead all at once, the surviving disciples of the Beast Refining Gate began to panic.


    No one had expected Tang Jie to have such lethal weapons as the Heavenbane Lightning Pearls. Even worse was that they didn¡¯t know how many more he had.


    They no longer stuck together and started to spread out.


    This was the best way to deal with the Heavenbane Lightning Pearls, but Tang Jie didn¡¯t care.


    Tang Jie chuckled and said, ¡°It seems like you forgot how I was dealing with you guys earlier.¡±


    Putting away the m pearl, Tang Jie swam back out of sight.


    Chang Mingxin had been so shocked that he had forgotten to fire his sword beams, though to tell the truth, it would have been pointless. At worst, Tang Jie could have used the Duplication spell to escape. In any case, Tang Jie had once more disappeared into the darkness.


    Without those sea creatures to look around, Chang Mingxin once more lost sight of Tang Jie.


    But this didn¡¯t mean that he didn¡¯t know where Tang Jie was.


    The throat of a Beast Refining Gate disciple was cut, his blood rising to the surface.


    Tang Jie had once more started his hunt!


    <em>This bastard!</em>


    Chang Mingxin now realized that Tang Jie had put the Beast Refining Gate in a dilemma.


    If they came together, the pearls would st them to bits.


    If they scattered, they would be hunted down.


    In this situation, the only option was for him to go in himself.


    But without him holding the center, what if Tang Jie escaped?


    Chang Mingxin hesitated.


    Tang Jie dealing some devastating losses to the Beast Refining Gate. And that¡¯s with a Celestial Heart True Person around!<!--


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 Chapter 423

    Chapter 423: Assassination


    While Chang Mingxin was hesitating, the death of another disciple was reported.


    Chang Mingxin knew that he couldn¡¯t keep dragging things out. With a sigh, he said, ¡°At this point, this is the only option left.¡±


    He took out a magic conch and blew on it.


    All the disciples in the ocean heard the conch and flew back up.


    Chang Mingxin saw that only half of the more than one hundred disciples were left.


    With a sorrowful sigh, he said, ¡°Tang Jie is cunning. You no longer need to chase him.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The disciples were bbergasted.


    Chang Mingxin waved his hand. ¡°Leave the rest to me. All of you, move to the side.¡±


    He raised his sword and began to chant, making preparations for battle.


    Amidst countless shifting signs, the Spirit Ring under Chang Mingxin¡¯s feet began to sh with an intense light.


    As the light of the ring intensified, it began to expand, gradually epassing the entire area.


    Everyone understood that a Celestial Heart True Person taking this long to cast a spell art must be about to unleash a heaven-shaking strike.


    After a long while, Chang Mingxin finally finished the preparations for his spell art. His body was trembling, clearly under an immense load.


    A momentter, Chang Mingxin pointed his sword at the sky and shouted, ¡°Ten Thousand Sword Mountains, fall!¡±


    With this roar, ten thousand beams of light erupted from his sword.


    There were truly tens of thousands of beams of light, each light formed of condensed sword intent. They flew into the sea like a furious downpour, stirring up mighty waves.


    The frenzied sword rain instantly engulfed the surface of the ocean, sword beams extending to as far as the eye could see.


    Not only that, when they hit the sea floor, they exploded.


    Explosions ripped across swath after swath of the sea floor, causing hundreds of waves to rise up. For a moment, half of the sea floor in this region was turned into a vacuum.


    But the attack wasn¡¯t even over yet.


    This was only the first wave.


    The sword hanging in the sky was like a sun, constantly radiating light and heat. Each ray of light would turn into another energy sword.


    Thus, the sea was subjected to an endless rain of swords, the majestic sight chilling the hearts of everyone who beheld it.


    Only at this moment did the onlookers truly understand what it meant for cultivators to have the power to move mountains and suppress the seas.


    As the swords hammered down, peaks of water crested upward and refused to fall back down, as if they were mountains rising from the sea.


    Everything in this region of the ocean was being turned to dust by this constant barrage.


    Thunder rumbled in the sky, but it was no match for the howling of the waves. The power of nature was showing signs of defeat in the face of this man-made storm.


    After a long while.


    The sword hanging in the sky cracked.


    It broke into pieces.


    As the sword shattered, the sword light faded, the sword deluge ceased, and the waves finally settled back into the water.


    Calm had finally been restored.


    Chang Mingxin suddenly turned ghastly pale, and his body swayed and almost fell from the sky.


    Fortunately, a disciple at his side supported him, shouting in concern, ¡°True Person!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s just that there¡¯s some bacsh from forcibly casting this art. I¡¯ll be fine after a few days of rest. It¡¯s just a pity that I had to use my Thousand Extinctions Sword,¡± Chang Mingxin sorrowfully said as he looked at the remains of his sword.


    At this moment, all the disciples were both shocked and happy.


    Someone evenughed and said, ¡°Tang Jie should be dead this time, right?¡±


    Someone next to him said, ¡°Even another True Person would find it hard to resist this kind of attack, let alone little Tang Jie.¡±


    ¡°But I wonder if that suppressing stone stele managed to survive.¡±


    Chang Mingxin heard this and said, ¡°Under my sword mountains, Tang Jie¡¯s Mustard Seed Bag shouldn¡¯t have been able to survive, but the stone stele is a divine item and shouldn¡¯t have been damaged. You can go down and search. If you can find the stone stele, then it proves that Tang Jie is dead. As for the body¡­¡±


    Chang Mingxin shook his head. Under his Ten Thousand Sword Mountains, let alone an intact corpse, even remains would be hard to find.


    ¡°Yes!¡± The disciples made to enter the ocean for the third time, but one person did not leave: the disciple who had supported Chang Mingxin earlier. ¡°True Person, after disying your divine might, you are weakened for the moment. If the enemy were to attack, you would be at a disadvantage. I will stay here and keep youpany.¡±


    Everyoneughed. ¡°How could there be an enemy at this time?¡±


    But they really didn¡¯t have anything to use against his argument.


    The smarter ones realized that he was probably trying to build a good rtionship with the True Person and kicked themselves for not doing it first, but s, it was toote to correct this mistake.


    As the disciples entered the water, Chang Mingxin sighed. ¡°This Tang Jie managed to singlehandedly kill nearly one hundred disciples. Truly, even a hundred deaths couldn¡¯t redeem him. Unfortunately, it¡¯s impossible for his body to be intact, or else I would have sliced him into ten thousand pieces to release my rage.¡±


    The losses inflicted by this scoundrel had already essentially made this mission a failure, and the thought of the inevitable drop in status made Chang Mingxin gnash his teeth.


    ¡°True Person, do not be angry. Right, this disciple learned some massage techniques as a child that can open up the meridians, allowing for better flow of blood and energy. Perhaps it can relieve some of True Person¡¯s fatigue,¡± the disciple said.


    After some thought, Chang Mingxin agreed.


    As the hands massaged his back, a stream of spiritual energy entered his body. It was gentle and bestowed an indescribable sense offort.


    Chang Mingxin felt rxed all over. Having never experienced suchfort in his life, he said in satisfaction, ¡°You¡¯re quite the clever and capable one. Right, what¡¯s your name, and which hall do you belong to?¡±


    The disciple behind him replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know either!¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Chang Mingxin was startled, and then his heart thumped in rm, and he lunged forward.


    As he lunged forward, a golden light shed past his neck, failing to strike him by only a centimeter.


    But there was no dodging the st of energy from the palm on his back.


    The energy surged into his meridians and exploded. A terrifying hole was opened up on his back, cracks spreading out from it.


    <em>Grooow!</em>


    Chang Mingxin threw back his head and howled! Not since he became a True Person had he ever felt so much pain.


    The worst of all was that this strike to the back had severed his Central Pivot Point, which would prevent him from casting any spell arts for a short amount of time.


    But he was truly a fierce sort. Even in these circumstances, he still managed to counterattack.


    With a frenzied howl, Chang Mingxin formed a beam of sword energy on his right index finger.


    He had spent all his life tempering this sword energy, so he could even form it from only the energy of his body.


    As he lunged forward, he swung the sword energy in his right hand at the attacker behind him.


    A momentter, a golden light cut apart Chang Mingxin¡¯s sword energy, and with its remaining power, it continued forward and cut off half his arm, blood spurting from the wound.


    ¡°Aagh!¡± Chang Mingxin once more felt a heart-rending pain. All of a sudden, he had lost an arm.


    ¡­To the attack of a golden dagger.


    He could finally turn around.


    There, in the sunlight, the face of that clean and delicate youth gradually transformed into another.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Chang Mingxin didn¡¯t dare to believe his eyes.


    He finally understood.


    This bastard had the ability to change his appearance!


    He had killed a Beast Refining Gate disciple and taken his clothes precisely for a moment like this.


    When the Beast Refining Gate disciples emerged from the sea a second time, Tang Jie realized that the uing attack would probably be something he couldn¡¯t deal with. Thus, he had immediately changed his appearance and mixed in with the crowd, then gotten closer to Chang Mingxin.


    He saw Chang Mingxin¡¯s sea-churning attack and saw how weak he was after it.


    A n that had not existed before this began to emerge in his mind.


    Assassinating a Celestial Heart¡­ without his original body getting involved!


    After taking Chang Mingxin¡¯s right arm, Tang Jie lunged.


    When facing a Celestial Heart opponent, he knew that even an opponent that was heavily injured, exhausted, and without his treasure could not be underestimated.


    Thus, he didn¡¯t waste any time on chatter and tried his best to seize the initiative.


    A punch to shatter the meridians!


    A sh to cut off an arm!


    Next was a finger aimed at Chang Mingxin¡¯s forehead.


    The Jade Shattering Finger!


    At the same time, Chang Mingxin crazily roared. This was a cry to summon reinforcements, to call all the Beast Refining Gate disciples to assist him.


    At the same time, he raised his left hand, summoning up another beam of sword energy that he thrust at Tang Jie.


    Because he was injured, everything about this attack, whether it was technique, intent, power, or form, was problematic and wed.


    Tang Jie had many ways he could have dodged it, broken it, or faced it.


    But he didn¡¯t choose any of them.


    He charged straight at that sword energy, his Jade Shattering Finger meeting the tip of the sword.


    Attack versus attack so that the battle could be ended as quickly as possible!


    Finger energy met sword energy in a dazzling burst of light.


    The energy sword mangled Tang Jie¡¯s fingertip, but ultimately dissipated under Tang Jie¡¯s Jade Shattering Finger.


    So long as the flesh existed, the Jade Shattering Finger still existed.


    It pushed through the remnants of sword energy and struck Chang Mingxin¡¯s left hand. Light erupted from the fingertip, and Chang Mingxin¡¯s left hand exploded.


    But as Chang Mingxin¡¯s left hand exploded, another beam of sword energy emerged from his wrist and smashed into the Jade Shattering Finger.


    The surging sword energy made Tang Jie¡¯s left index finger crack and fracture, but then it dissipated again. Tang Jie continued thrusting his finger, thrusting four times at Chang Mingxin¡¯s arm. Finally, Chang Mingxin¡¯s left arm broke apart, but as a price, Tang Jie¡¯s left hand was now a mangled piece of flesh, the index fingerpletely gone.


    But he didn¡¯t care, swinging the saber in his right hand at Chang Mingxin¡¯s head.


    Chang Mingxin kicked out, and a beam of sword energy emerged from his foot.


    The sword and saber met, and Tang Jie was unable to bring the Heartbreak Saber to bear.


    Chang Mingxin resolved himself to fight to the death, and he kicked out repeatedly with his left and right feet. In a sh, eight sword beams appeared to obstruct Tang Jie.


    At the same time, the Beast Refining Gate disciples began to return from the ocean to assist him.


    Delighted, Chang Mingxin shouted, ¡°You can¡¯t kill me!¡±


    ¡°I can!¡± Tang Jie answered.


    And then he charged.


    A sword beam moved to head him off.


    Sword beams pierced through the Formless Golden Body, leaving bloody holes in his body. Tang Jie unleashed a stunning wave of saber energy at Chang Mingxin¡¯s kicking legs.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    Chang Mingxin¡¯s legs went flying from his body.


    His four limbs had been cut off, and as Tang Jie lunged at him like a tiger, he opened his mouth. Another sword beam shot out, adding another wound to Tang Jie¡¯s body.


    Some disciples had now emerged from the sea, gasping in surprise at what they were seeing.


    Tang Jie was unmoved. Putting away his saber, he used the Jade Shattering Finger with his right hand and thrust it forward.


    The Jade Shattering Finger shed with the sword energy, and the fingertip pierced through the sword energy and exploded in Chang Mingxin¡¯s mouth, opening a hole in his throat.


    Chang Mingxin was no longer able to bellow, nor issue sword energy from his mouth.


    He raised his head and angrily red at Tang Jie. ¡°I still have more!¡±


    Sword energy emerged from his belly, shooting at the Jade Shattering Finger.


    When the sword energy dissipated, Tang Jie had lost another finger.


    At the same time, the fastest Beast Refining Gate disciples were drawing closer to the battlefield. One of the disciples was already casting a spell art.


    Chang Mingxinughed. ¡°Tang Jie, you¡¯re dead!¡±


    Although he was heavily injured, the fact that he had survived made his heart leap with joy.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Tang Jie indifferently said.


    He took out a round, ck object and tossed it.


    ¡°A Heavenbane Lightning Pearl?¡±


    The Beast Refining Gate disciples at the very front cried out in rm.


    Having just witnessed the terrifying power of these things, these disciples were still suffering from psychological trauma. When they saw the pearl, they immediately flew away, caring little for Chang Mingxin¡¯s life.


    ¡°You people¡­¡± Not even in his dreams would Chang Mingxin have anticipated this development.


    Tang Jie coldly smiled. ¡°How interesting. Even a stone can send them running.¡±


    He didn¡¯t speak very loudly, but his voice traveled so far that everyone was able to hear it.


    ¡°What?¡± Chang Mingxin was stunned, and those Beast Refining Gate disciples who had fled like mice were also dumbfounded.


    When they saw the item that had been thrown out, they saw that it really wasn¡¯t a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl, but a round, ck stone that could be found anywhere on the sea floor.


    They were so furious that they felt like throwing up blood.


    Tang Jie rushed forward and grabbed at Chang Mingxin.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it!¡±


    Chang Mingxin¡¯s eyes shed, shooting out two beams of sword energy.


    Tang Jie swung the Heartbreak Saber, blocking one sword beam while his left hand grabbed at Chang Mingxin. This grab didn¡¯t do any damage to Chang Mingxin, only taking his Mustard Seed Bag and identity token. For this, Tang Jie sustained a wound on his shoulder.


    While his two sword beams were fending off Tang Jie, Chang Mingxin made his body descend as quickly as possible, and those disciples who had run off in fright moved to receive him. Chang Mingxin crazilyughed, ¡°Tang Jie, in the end, you couldn¡¯t kill me. Now that you¡¯ve missed your chance, you¡¯re dead for sure!¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Tang Jie repeated his words from before.


    The tone was so simr that Chang Mingxin¡¯s heart froze in rm.


    He suddenly realized something and looked down.


    A bloody hole had been carved in his belly, but far more important than that was that something had been put into this hole.


    A ck pearl.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± All the hairs on Chang Mingxin¡¯s body stood up. ¡°A Heavenbane Lightning Pearl!¡±


    His voice even changed pitch.


    He had no idea when Tang Jie had even managed to stuff this pearl into his body.


    ¡°Goodbye,¡± Tang Jie coldly said.


    On the surface of the ocean, four Cognitive Creation disciples were flying toward Chang Mingxin to protect him.


    <em>Not a lot of people, but I suppose they make up for it in quality.</em>


    Tang Jie thought to himself, and then he snapped his fingers.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    Water was once more sent shooting into the sky.


    One more bomb to send Chang Mingxin off! But he sure put up a fight before finally kicking the bucket.<!--


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 Chapter 424

    Chapter 424: Rabbit Fiend


    A small boat floated on the sea, drifting along with the waves.


    Tang Jie sat on this boat, holding a small paper bag in his hand as he carefully applied medicinal powder to his wounds.


    The battle above and under the ocean had left Tang Jie badly wounded.


    His left hand was basically finished, and his body was so full of holes it was like a sieve. As he had not achieved greater attainment in Nine Revolutions yet, none of his injuries was easy to recover from. Although he had spirit pills and spell arts, he would still need at least seven days for a full recovery.


    It was still rather fast. As he hadn¡¯t prepared a Spirit Blood Rebirth formation, regrowing lost limbs wasn¡¯t easy. Fortunately, these were new wounds, so they could be easily healed. Things would have gotten problematic if treatment had been dyed.


    To recover as quickly as possible, Tang Jie had no choice but to use the Five Gods Faith¡¯s secret growth eleration art. But as a price, he had to hope that he wouldn¡¯t need to regrow any body parts in the next month, as they would be very difficult to recover, and even if he did, there would be side effects.


    Limbs being somewhat less flexible wasn¡¯t a problem. The real problem was if the meridians were blocked or deformed. Some spell arts that needed to pass through these meridians would no longer be usable.


    For cultivators, the most troublesome wounds would always be meridian wounds.


    Tang Jie had used the growth eleration art to avoid problems with his meridians.


    After using his inward sight to inspect his entire body and clearing up some potential blockages, Tang Jie confirmed that there were no more problems and sighed in relief. He raised the pot of tea he had been boiling and poured himself a cup to drink.


    Despite the strength of the waves and wind, the little boat advanced steadily. There was a formation carved into it that prevented it from being affected by the winds and the waves, and there was even an invisible wall that prevented water from getting in.


    This was a small boat made by Horizon Ocean Pavilion and was the best at traveling through stormy seas. Despite its size, it had many functions and was a very valuable art relic.


    Tang Jie had found this item in Chang Mingxin¡¯s Mustard Seed Bag. Besides that, there was a sword manual, several thousand spirit coins, several bottles of medicine, and a beast token.


    The sword manual wasn¡¯t some Immortal sword art, but a notebook that recorded many of Chang Mingxin¡¯s understandings of the sword.


    In truth, the majority of the arts and techniques carried on a cultivator were of this sort. The major sects did not allow them to carry official arts and techniques.


    And who would be so stupid as to carry such things around? So that they could be charitable to their enemies?


    Tang Jie looked it over, and while it was a nice book, it wasn¡¯t very useful to him. He decided to sell it off to some sword cultivator when he had the time.


    Putting aside the spirit coins, the medicines were of good quality, but s, they were mostly for treating wounds. The medicine on his wounds was actually one of them. As for cultivation medicine, there was basically none.


    Lastly, there was the refined beast token.


    Chang Mingxin relied on his sword to express his Dao, so he basically never used his refined beast. Although he had one, no one had ever seen him use it.


    He had just kept this thing in his Mustard Seed Bag and had probably clean forgotten about it, which was why he had not used it in the battle.


    But this didn¡¯t mean that it was bad.


    With the medicine applied, it was now time to inspect his spoils. Tang Jie released the refined beast in the token and found that Chang Mingxin¡¯s refined beast was actually a white rabbit.


    This rabbit fiend quietly sat there on the floor after being released. It didn¡¯t seem like a fiend that could be used in battle at all.


    It was no wonder Chang Mingxin had never used it, even when he was about to die. It seemed more like a pet.


    But¡­


    Tang Jie suddenly noticed that something was wrong.


    That rabbit fiend was staring at him with its two little red eyes, shock within them.


    <em>Shock? It can be shocked?</em>


    <em>This isn¡¯t a refined beast!</em>


    A thought suddenly urred to him.


    The fiend beasts of the Beast Refining Gate had all been through refining.


    Fiends that had been refined would have their minds wiped, which was why they took orders and didn¡¯t fear death, why they didn¡¯t even resist when the Beast Refining Gate disciples sacrificed them in order to heal their injuries. Although this made them very inflexible, it was better than having them disobeymands. After all, these creatures were naturally unruly, so it was only when they were robbed of rationality that they could be tamed.


    This rabbit fiend had clearly not had its mind wiped.


    ¡°I really didn¡¯t think that the Heaven Sword True Person would raise a fiend beast that hadn¡¯t been refined,¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Go on¡ªtell me what abilities you have. Don¡¯t go and y dumb with me. I can tell that you¡¯re a middle-grade Mind Opening fiend. You¡¯re capable of speech.¡±


    The rabbit fiend looked at Tang Jie and finally said, ¡°Where¡¯s Chang Mingxin?¡±


    ¡°Dead, of course.¡±


    The rabbit trembled and sighed, ¡°As expected, he still died. Who killed him?¡±


    ¡°Who else could it be?¡±


    ¡°You?¡± The rabbit looked at Tang Jie with disbelief in its red eyes. ¡°You, a Nine Revolutions cultivator, killed a Celestial Heart True Person?¡±


    In its mind, Chang Mingxin should have been killed by some bigshot who then found this beast token to not be worth anything, thus handing it to Tang Jie.


    ¡°In truth, he isn¡¯t even the first Celestial Heart I¡¯ve killed,¡± Tang Jie said with a shrug.


    The rabbit fiend¡¯s jaw dropped in shock.


    If even his killing a Celestial Heart True Person shocked the rabbit this much, if it were to know that Tang Jie had done it while surrounded by enemies, and that he had even taken nearly one hundred Beast Refining Gate disciples, it probably would have lost its mind. After all, thetter was far more difficult than the former.


    ¡°Alright, start talking already. What¡¯s your name, why did Chang Mingxin keep you as his refined beast, what abilities do you have¡­¡±


    The rabbit fiend grumbled, ¡°Why should I answer you?¡±


    Tang Jie casually went on, ¡°Lastly, give me a reason I shouldn¡¯t kill you and make myself some rabbit stew.¡±


    The rabbit fiend paled.


    Looking at Tang Jie¡¯s cold eyes, the rabbit fiend realized that this probably wasn¡¯t an empty threat.


    It shivered and finally said, ¡°My name is Tutu, and I can use a few low-level spell arts¡­¡±


    It listed out all the spells.


    Sure enough, they were mostly spell arts of a low level, and Tang Jie wasn¡¯t able to find a single one that he liked. He frowned and said, ¡°In other words, as a middle-grade Mind Opening rabbit fiend, you¡¯re actually not even as good as an upper-grade Spirit Sensing fiend? Is this your most outstanding attribute?¡±


    The rabbit fiend shivered. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not used forbat.¡±


    ¡°Then what are you used for?¡±


    The rabbit fiend pondered the question, and then it squeezed out a smile. ¡°I can relieve your boredom, tell jokes, watch the house for you, oh, and I can dig holes. I¡¯m incredible at digging holes¡­¡±


    Tang Jie pped the rabbit fiend and sent it bowling over. ¡°It seems you¡¯re only good enough to be rabbit stew.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± the rabbit fiend cried in shock.


    Tang Jie looked at the rabbit fiend. ¡°Although Chang Mingxin wasn¡¯t good at controlling beasts, having one is better than nothing. He had so many strong fiend beasts to select from, but he chose to keep you and even let you keep your rationality. This can¡¯t have been done without a reason.¡±


    The rabbit trembled as it looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie tossed out almost forty Mustard Seed Bags and coolly said, ¡°I¡¯ve killed a lot of the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people, and I¡¯ve collected all this from them. I¡¯m sure there are many refined beasts inside. I have to look through all of them, so I can¡¯t waste time on a piece of trash.¡±


    When the rabbit saw all those Mustard Seed Bags, it almost fainted.


    It finally said, ¡°I¡¯ll talk, I¡¯ll talk! I¡¯m actually not from the Rosecloud Domain.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Tang Jie was stunned.


    The rabbit shouted, ¡°Ie from the Heavenshade Domain.¡±


    ¡°How could that be?¡± Tang Jie shouted. ¡°Only Immortal tform Titans can resist the domain Astral Winds!¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes,¡± the rabbit replied. ¡°Only Immortal tform Titans can resist the domain Astral Winds, but there are ways to get to other domains besides breaking through the domain barrier.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Tang Jie¡¯s heart thumped.


    At that moment, he recalled the spatial fissure the Stone Gate Sect had discovered, and the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, which was situated in a boundary crack.


    Yes, only Immortal tform Titans could resist the Astral Winds, but it wasn¡¯t only Immortal tform cultivators who could freely wander the myriad domains.


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes glowed. ¡°You¡¯re saying you have a means of passing through the domain boundary?¡±


    The rabbit fiend replied, ¡°I belong to the Heaven-Lost Rabbit race, which is the best at traveling to and fro in the void so long as there is a spatial fissure.¡±


    ¡°Can you take me to other domains?¡±


    The rabbit grimaced. ¡°No. I have to find my young master and fully recover my strength first¡­¡±


    As the rabbit talked, Tang Jie gradually understood.


    It turned out that traveling through spatial fissures to other domains wasn¡¯t that easy.


    The most powerful property of the Heaven-Lost Rabbits was their ability to sense their location no matter where they were and also to resonate with their destination. In this way, when they were wandering in the void, they would never get lost.


    This was whence their name originated.


    But this alone wasn¡¯t enough to freely travel through the void. Strength and preparation were still needed.


    This rabbit was originally a Divine Division great fiend of the Heavenshade Domain. It had apparently crossed the void with its young master in order to find some treasure, but while traveling the void, they ran into spatial turbulence. While it still managed to get through, it was heavily injured and got separated from its young master.


    As the rabbit fiend had stimted its potential to get into the Rosecloud Domain, it urgently needed to rest and recuperate, so it dug itself a burrow. It ended up sleeping for one thousand years to recover from its injuries, but even this came at the cost of its level falling all the way back down to the upper grade of Spirit Sensing. Its current level of power was all thanks to its diligent cultivation.


    It knew that if it wanted to get back to its original level, it needed to find its young master, so it began roaming the world. Although it was weak, it made good use of its caution and vignce to survive.


    s, it had the misfortune of running into Chang Mingxin in its travels. Chang Mingxin had just be a True Person at this time, brimming with energy and vigor. His greatest skill was in extremely long-range attacks, so when he saw how fast the rabbit could run, he naturally decided to y around with it.


    The rabbit was utterly defeated and captured alive.


    To survive, the rabbit fiend confessed everything to Chang Mingxin.


    When Chang Mingxin heard that this rabbit was from another domain, he immediately saw its rarity and decided to keep it.


    ¡°So that¡¯s what happened¡­¡± Tang Jie muttered. ¡°In other words, you don¡¯t actually have a use?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± The rabbit fiend¡¯s ears shot up in surprise.


    ¡°Yes, you don¡¯t have any use,¡± Tang Jie very earnestly said. ¡°Although you¡¯re a fiend from another domain, you¡¯re still a piece of trash that can¡¯t even beat a Spirit Sensing fiend. What does it matter if you can pin down your location in the middle of the void? Neither of us has the ability to travel through the void, and even if you did have that ability, once I reach Immortal tform, I can also freely travel the domains. Since I can walk the proper path in time, what would be the point in keeping the side path that you provide?¡±


    The rabbit fiend panicked. ¡°You can¡¯t say that! The world is constantly changing, and there¡¯s no telling when something unexpected might ur. What if someone were to teleport you into the void? It¡¯s best to be prepared.¡±


    Tang Jie pped it. ¡°You¡¯re the one who will be thrown into the void.¡±


    The rabbit jumped in anxiety. ¡°Moreover, I understand the situation in the Heavenshade Domain, so I can tell you anything about that ce. In the future, when you go there, you¡¯ll be prepared.¡±


    Tang Jie pursed his lips. ¡°I don¡¯t think about things that are too far in the future.¡±


    ¡°What about the Beast Refining Gate? I know stuff about the Beast Refining Gate! I¡¯ve spent many years with Chang Mingxin, so I know everything he knows.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Tang Jie raised an eyebrow.


    He was finally interested.


    For a thousand years, the six major sects had been trying to infiltrate each other, sending out innumerable spies.


    But no matter what sort of ns were made, spies that could be True Persons were as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin horns.


    For this reason, the major sects knew very little of each other¡¯s information that only True Persons and above were allowed to know.


    This rabbit naturally wasn¡¯t a True Person, but it had been with Chang Mingxin. It had to know many secrets that only True Persons could know.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Congrattions on not bing rabbit stew.¡±


    The cowardly rabbit fiend sighed in relief.


    Rabbits innately feared death, and not even bing a Divine Division great fiend had been able to change that.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    After putting away the rabbit fiend, Tang Jie began to look through the Mustard Seed Bags. There were mostly spirit coins and medicine, along with a few art relics. Of course, there was nock of refined beast tokens.


    Put together, it was worth quite a bit of money, enough to summon his original body two times.


    But when it came to things that he could use or that could increase hisbat power, there wasn¡¯t a single thing. Although there were plenty of refined beasts, as he hadn¡¯t learned the Myriad Beast Union Mantra, he couldn¡¯t control them. Once he released the refined beasts, he had no control over whether they attacked his enemies or attacked him.


    From this perspective, Tang Jie had suffered a loss in this battle, for the usage of 13 Heavenbane Lightning Pearls meant that his totalbat power had fallen.


    This left Tang Jie very unhappy!


    But from another perspective, Tang Jie had made a huge profit.


    This was because Tang Jie had learned from the rabbit fiend which people from the Beast Refining Gate hade, including that Wolf Lord.


    Tang Jie immediately sent this information to the Basking Moon Sect, in addition reporting the number of people he had killed. Although more than half of themcked the identity tokens to prove the kills, he had to at least report what he could¡­ Achievements were for boasting about and getting rewards for, not for being inconspicuous and ying dumb about. The Basking Moon Sect might even break precedent out of consideration for the scale of his achievement and give him credit for the kills without proof.


    In fact, he guessed right about this.


    When the news arrived, the entire Basking Moon Sect was thrown into an uproar.


    They had already received notice from Xu Miaoran before, so they already knew that the Beast Refining Gate was up to something. But they had never imagined that Tang Jie could kill nearly one hundred Beast Refining Gate disciples in one go.


    This was a major event that might not happen once in one hundred years.


    No one could have imagined that Tang Jie could do this much. The news of Chang Mingxin¡¯s death in particr had all of the Basking Moon Sect jumping in joy.


    Although Tang Jie had admitted that he had only a small number of identity tokens to prove his skill, with nearly sixty kills being unverified, from what the Basking Moon Sect understood about Tang Jie, they did not feel like he would casually boast about his achievements.


    When Xie Fengtang learned of this matter, he even swore an oath on his name that Tang Jie was not lying.


    Thus, the Basking Moon Sect sent out an order for the Search Hall to investigate this matter, and if it were proved that the battle on the sea had happened and that the Beast Refining Gate really had lost this many people, then Tang Jie would be acknowledged as having made all these kills and receive the corresponding reward.


    Of course, Tang Jie wouldn¡¯t know about this until many dayster.


    At the same time, the surviving disciples informed the Beast Refining Gate of the grievous defeat, shaking the sect to the core.


    More than a hundred disciples had died in battle, and the Heaven Sword True Person had given his life for the cause.


    And the culprit was only one person. The reality was very difficult to ept.


    Three dayster, the Beast Refining Gate issued new orders.


    Tang Jie had been put on its Basking Moon Sect kill list. His rank was 371, on the same level as a Spirit Ring True Person.


    Of course, Tang Jie would also only learn about this many dayster.


    At this time, Tang Jie was still leisurely making his way to Joymount Ind.


    Two dayster, Tang Jie arrived at the Azure Ocean Zone.


    Amidst the blue waves, a great mor was arising from the ind in the distance.


    A steel fortress stood on the shore of the ind, numerous fire beacons rising from it.


    When Tang Jie heard the distant sounds of fighting, he knew that he had arrived at Joymount Ind.


    Tang Jie now has some emergency rations!<!--


    -->

 Chapter 425

    Chapter 425: Ind Assault


    Joymount City was a steel fortress established on Joymount Ind.


    The enormous city walls, made from steel and stone, ringed the entire ind and stood around forty meters tall. The walls had arrow towers and were wide enough for horses to gallop upon. Rock debris covered the base of the wall, carpeting the shore like caltrops.


    Besides the city wall, there were also parapet walls, gate walls, inner walls, and many other defensive fortifications. From a historical point of view, such a fortress would be considered a famous stronghold.


    For Immortals, all steel fortresses were simply the best that mortals could do, and only formations could be considered true high-ss defenses. But even they would admit that, when paired with suitable weaponry, these ¡°primitive¡± defenses could still be very useful.


    Today, Joymount Ind was besieged by fire and water.


    Hundreds of sea fiends were attacking the city from all sides. Arrows cast shadows all across the ground, with the asional spell art mixed in.


    The western side of Joymount City was where the approach to the city was the ttest, a t stretch all the way from the shore to the city walls. At high tide, the sea waters could even get to almost thirty meters of the walls.


    As the area with the least defensible terrain, it was also the target of the fiercest attacks.


    Several hundred fiends hade up to the shore to attack the walls.


    This didn¡¯t sound like a lot, but when they were all together, they exhibited a strength more shocking than an army of tens of thousands.


    A massive wed Octopus stood right between the sea and the city, its huge appendages iling like steel ropes, constantly hammering the walls. asionally, an arm would wrap around a human. The screaming human would be brought up to the octopus¡¯s eyes and then be thrown into its mouth, where the screams would gradually die away as the octopus broke down its food.


    An enormous sea turtle stood next to the walls, using its head like a battering ram, mming it into the wall again and again. Its tough shell stopped the majority of attacks from above, allowing it to smoothly proceed with its demolition job.


    Arge deepsea shrimp would asionally shoot water arrows at the walls. These water arrows seemed ordinary, but they were like high-pressure water hoses, able to pulverize a person¡¯s organs if they hit.


    A massive crab, red like it had been steamed in a pot, was iling around its giant ws. One strike from these ws was enough to smash a boulder into powder.


    In the center of the battlefield, the giant octopus was continuing to wreak havoc.


    In this short amount of time, it had already seized three Joymount Ind soldiers.


    <em>Thud!</em>


    A silver bolt was fired from a ballista atop the walls. Sharp and shining with a silver light, it howled into the octopus, and with a thud, it punched arge hole in its body.


    <em>Keee!</em> The giant octopus let out a shriek of anger and terror.


    Just when it was about to attack, two people flew from the horizon, charging respectively at the octopus and the turtle that was battering at the walls.


    The sword beam aimed at the turtle arrived first, chopping at the turtle¡¯s neck. But this turtle was quite clever, immediately drawing its head back into its shell and refusing toe out. That person paused for a moment, and then countless spell arts flew at them, forcing them to retreat to the city wall, cursing the cunning of that old turtle. The person who had missed out on this chance to kill the turtle andnded back on the wall turned out to be a woman in red.


    Meanwhile, that other person arrived at the giant octopus¡¯s wound. A momentter, the octopus stilled, and then it exploded into countless bloody pieces.


    Cheers came from the walls as that person emerged from the explosion of gore and returned to the wall. This person was a young man with straight eyebrows and bright eyes.


    At his side were several other young men and women, all dressed as cultivators.


    Several people who appeared to be servants of the Yun n rather than local fishermen said in unison, ¡°Young Master is mighty!¡±


    The young man¡¯s face suddenly paled, and he staggered and had to hold onto the wall to keep himself from falling. He said in a bitter tone, ¡°These damned sea fiends¡­ When will there be an end to them?¡±


    After so many days of bitter fighting, the young man was gradually reaching his limit.


    The defenses of Joymount City originally required Spirit Masters to work together with mortals. Mortals would use the walls for cover and fire specially-made bolts to weaken the sea fiends and create openings, while Spirit Masters would deliver the fatal blows and use the walls to recover.


    For many years now, the Yun n had used this method to resist the attacks of sea fiends.


    But the situation this time was clearly different.


    The grave losses suffered by the Yun n¡¯s Spirit Masters had robbed it of its primary strength, and the sea fiends refused to leave. These two factorsbined to create a battle of unprecedented ferocity.


    The sea fiends¡¯ siege of the city had already gone on for many days, and Joymount Ind had already killed nearly one thousand of them. But there seemed to be no end to them, and they continued to surge in from all sides.


    The Yun n¡¯s Spirit Masters, including the Yun n¡¯s young master and the friends he had invited to assist him, could be said to have spat out their hearts and spilled their blood to protect Joymount Ind, but even so, there were still no signs of the situation improving.


    An enormous sea snake had moved to upy the central position on the battlefield left vacant by the octopus. Raising up its long body, it stood several dozen meters high, enough for it to be level with the walls. With itsrge copper eyes, it stared at the walls. Even though the soldiers manning the walls had already been put through countless trials in this war between man and fiend, they were still scared out of their wits.


    A soldier had just backed away one step when the sea snake suddenly lunged its head over and snapped them up. Several des and arrows fell on its body, but they only left faint white marks. Only a special bolt from that ballista could pierce through its armored hide, but it was unable to go any farther, hanging on its body like a needle in a pincushion.


    The sea snake was enraged, and its head lunged out again, obliterating a ballista. Only then did it coil back to its central position to swallow the human it had bitten.


    But this wasn¡¯t even the scariest part.


    Five hundred meters out from the shore, an enormous serpent more than three hundred meters in length was coiled up on the surface, exuding an intimidating and immense power.


    Five hundred meters seemed like a long distance, but for this giant snake, it was the distance of a lunge.


    Most frightening of all was that this serpent had no face. Its three-horned head was nk, with a single opening in the middle serving as a bizarre-looking mouth.


    This was the tyrant of this region of the seas, a Faceless Serpent!


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    A small boat slowly approached the ind.


    Tang Jie saw the battle on the ind, but his mind remained calm, and he simply dropped his head to think.


    After a while, he asked, ¡°How quickly does the Beast Garden start to strengthen fiend beasts?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The rabbit fiend next to him was taken aback by the question. Looking around, it realized that Tang Jie was asking it a question, so it quickly replied, ¡°Oh, that¡¯s hard to say. It¡¯s sometimes fast and sometimes slow.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    The rabbit fiend scratched its head in frustration. ¡°I¡¯ve never been inside before, but I¡¯ve heard Chang Mingxin say that the Beast Garden normally boosts fiend beasts in two ways. The first way is that the ce is awash with fiend energy, which can slowly boost a fiend beast¡¯s strength. The other way is that it can produce treasures.¡±


    ¡°¡®Treasures¡¯? There¡¯s treasure in the Beast Garden?¡±


    The rabbit fiend nodded. ¡°The Beast Garden generates the treasures, but it needs fiends and sprites to die inside it, using their spiritual energy to create natural treasures that are only useful to fiends and sprites. Those things are what can truly boost a fiend beast¡¯s strength. Normally, if a fiend beast is put in the Beast Garden, even if it stays there for a lifetime, it will get about 50% stronger. But if it eats a treasure, the only limit to how much stronger it can grow is how many of those treasures it can get and eat. Thus, when a fiend beast is ced in the Beast Garden, it will have to depend on its luck. But this sort of chance encounter is hard toe by, and it needs many fiends beasts to die. Even the Beast Refining Gate is unwilling to make such arge investment.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Tang Jie looked at the battle on the coast. ¡°What do you think the death of all these sea fiends will do for the Beast Garden?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± The rabbit was startled. ¡°You think that someone is driving these sea fiends here to die so that the number of natural treasures in the Beast Garden will increase?¡±


    Tang Jie indifferently replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I know that when sea fiends attack inds, they normally do so to plunder an ind¡¯s resources and also reduce the number of fiends, thus preventing ack of resources from poption imbnce. Thus, sea fiend invasions normally don¡¯tst this long. But from what I heard from that old man, this sea fiend invasion has already been going on for a month, and still isn¡¯t letting up. Such a protracted siege¡­ it doesn¡¯t make sense.¡±


    ¡°Then you mean¡­¡± The rabbit fiend clearly didn¡¯t understand what he was getting at.


    ¡°The Beast Garden might be on the ind. It is strengthening the beasts in the surrounding area, turning ordinary beasts into fiends and causing fiends to advance in level. At the same time, it is drawing them toward its location and using their deaths to enrich the Beast Garden¡­ Three birds with one stone¡ªan excellent n.¡±


    The rabbit fiend¡¯s eyes bulged. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that losing the Beast Garden was part of someone¡¯s n?¡±


    Tang Jie asked back, ¡°Are you saying that you still don¡¯t understand that?¡±


    He ignored the rabbit fiend and said, ¡°To prove my theory, we have to go onto the ind and take a look.¡±


    Just as he was about to move the boat, he suddenly sensed something, his eyes narrowing as he peered into the distance.


    There was a sh of divine light from the center of his forehead.


    Tang Jie snorted, and then he grabbed the rabbit and stuffed it back into its refined beast token. In the time it took to lower his head and raise it back up again, his face had turned into that of a yellow-faced, middle-aged man.


    Standing on the boat, Tang Jie waved his sleeve, causing the boat to speed toward Joymount Ind.


    When it was about five kilometers out from the ind, a figure flew from the walls: a cultivator with a purplishplexion and long whiskers.


    This man flew toward Tang Jie while shouting, ¡°Honored Master, from where do youe?¡±


    Tang Jie loudly replied, ¡°This one is Qiu Zheng from the Eight Poles Sect and is passing through the area. For what reason has your honorable selfe out to see me?¡±


    Disappointment appeared on that man¡¯s face.


    The Eight Poles Sect was a third-ss minor sect of Endsea, its sect master only a peak Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator. It could even be considered weaker than the Yun n.


    A disciple of this kind of sect would have very limited ability.


    But he still squeezed out a smile and said, ¡°This Shen Ningming greets Brother Qiu. As Senior Brother Qiu has probably already seen, the ind is currently besieged by sea fiends. Ningming iscking in ability and would like to seek Senior Brother¡¯s assistance.¡±


    Tang Jie nced at the battle taking ce on the ind and casually said, ¡°Isn¡¯t Joymount Ind the Yun n¡¯s? Howe the mighty Yun n is incapable of fending off these measly sea fiends? These sea fiends seem of mostly average strength to me.¡±


    Shen Ningming¡¯s face reddened. ¡°Brother Qiu is not aware of the entire situation¡­¡±


    He gave a rough summary of all the tragedies the Yun n had been through as ofte, and then he said, ¡°The length of this sea fiend attack is simply unheard of. But we¡¯ve managed to kill many of the formidable sea fiends, and some of them fled back to the sea floor after being wounded. At present, both the sea fiends and my Yun n are at the end of our ropes, but for some reason, those sea fiends refuse to leave. If Brother Qiu is willing to help, our attack is certain to seed, and my Yun n is certain to richly reward you!¡±


    The meaning of those words was very clear: ¡°My Yun n and the sea fiends have battled until we were both badly wounded, so pleasee and take advantage of us. If we can push back the sea fiends, you will gain in both rewards and reputation.¡±


    If this had been said to anyone else, it really might have worked.


    But how could Tang Jie not see what was happening?


    In the past, sea fiends would have retreated after sustaining a certain level of damage, but this principle clearly no longer applied here. So long as all the fiends weren¡¯t killed, they would continue to attack, so this ind most likely contained some sort of treasure they craved, perhaps a treasure that could allow them to advance in level and be even stronger.


    For this treasure, they could even die in battle and still refuse to retreat.


    And the power radiated by the Beast Garden meant that the sea region would continue to produce more fiend beasts, and the production was far faster than the rabbit fiend had described. This most likely had to do with the missing suppressing stele.


    In other words, unless the Beast Garden left, this area would be subjected to endless assaults.


    But for Tang Jie, this sort of fierce offensive was exactly what he needed¡ªbeating up small mobs was the true path to fortune.


    After hearing what Shen Ningming had to say, Tang Jie chuckled and said, ¡°Since Brother Shen is being so magnanimous, I have no choice but to ept.¡±


    He left the boat and began to walk on air, flying with Shen Ningming toward Joymount City.


    As they flew along, Shen Ningming exined the current battlefield situation of Joymount Ind.


    Currently, the most endangered area of Joymount City was the western side. At present, the young master of the Yun n, Yun Danqi, was personally overseeing the battlefront. This person was a disciple of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and when he learned that the Yun n was in trouble, in his capacity as a private person, he went to great expense to invite some of his colleagues toe and help.


    The Yun n was doing everything it could to hire more Spirit Masters to fend off the sea fiends, and this injection of manpower managed to fill the gap, allowing Joymount Ind tost until now. But as this sea fiend assault was particrly long, even they were starting to tire out.


    When Tang Jie arrived, a bloody battle was taking ce on the walls.


    ¡°Shuttlefish! Careful of the Shuttlefish!¡± Bitter screams resounded as a school of silver Shuttlefish flew over, piercing through the bodies of soldiers like sharp arrows. Their blood-stained silver scales shed in the sun.


    These Shuttlefish were none other than the past source of wealth for the Yun n, but now, they were dealing fatal wounds to the Yun n¡¯s people.


    They flew freely through the sky, and with each pass, they were like a storm of arrows, sharp and powerful. And because they could change direction so easily, they were difficult to defend against.


    A cultivator was caught off guard, and ten-some Shuttlefish pierced through him. Blood gushed out of the wounds, and the cultivator copsed and trembled a few times before closing his eyes, unable to say a word.


    ¡°Master Ming!¡± the Yun n¡¯s young master cried out in grief.


    From his expression, one could tell that this cultivator was probably a Spirit Master of the Yun n. He had managed to endure the battle for this long, but he had ultimately failed to survive.


    As he was crying out in grief, a ck spike flew through the air, aimed straight at his back.


    ¡°Watch out!¡± His fellow disciples from Horizon Ocean Pavilion called out, and that red-clothed girl lunged toward him, but she was a step too slow.


    Just when that spike was about to strike Yun Danqi in the back, a hand came out and grabbed it. The ck spike was stopped cold, vibrating in the grasp of that hand.


    The Horizon Ocean Pavilion disciples were all stunned by this sight. As they had battled with the sea fiends for so long, they naturally knew what this was, and they also knew how powerful it was. They hadn¡¯t expected someone to be able to grab it.


    They looked at the owner of that hand and found it to be a stranger with a yellow face. This stranger sniffed the ck spike and muttered, ¡°What is this? Arrowtail Fish? Or a porcupine? But there shouldn¡¯t be porcupines here.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a sea urchin!¡± the red-clothed woman answered.


    Tang Jie was startled and looked at the red-clothed woman.


    Yun Danqi ced a fist in his hand and bowed. ¡°Sir, thank you for saving me. How should I address Sir?¡±


    On the side, Shen Ningming said, ¡°This is Senior Brother Qiu Zheng of the Eight Poles Sect. He was passing by Joymount Ind and chose to rise to the asion and assist us.¡±


    Everyone now understood what was going on.


    But they still couldn¡¯t help but sigh when they found out that he was alone.


    One person was not able to alter the bnce of battle.


    As they were talking, there was a howl, and the people on the walls began to call out.


    Someone shouted, ¡°The Faceless Serpent ising again!¡±


    Turning their heads, everyone saw that enormous creature in the distance suddenly raise its body, appearing like a pir rising out of the ocean. And then the serpent thrust its head at the wall like an unstoppable battering ram!


    It seems like things aren¡¯t looking very good for Joymount Ind. Will ¡°Qiu Zheng¡± shift the bnce of power?<!--


    -->

 Chapter 426

    Chapter 426: The Seven Demon Devil Bone


    Amidst shrieking, Yun Danqi shouted, ¡°Together!¡±


    He flew into the air, thrusting his hands at the Faceless Serpent.


    Four of his fellow disciples took flight with him, attacking in unison.


    The ten palms formed a giant white lotus flower in the air.


    The Horizon Lotus Blossom Hand!


    This was a famousbination Immortal spell of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. When used by five people at once, its power would multiply.


    Yun Danqi and the other four clearly worked together a lot, which was why they could use this sort ofbination spell. In Tang Jie¡¯s view, they were individually rather weak,parable to an outer disciple like Shi Meng. But when working together, their power was even greater than that of Tang Jie¡¯s Heavenly Cloud des. He would probably have to resort to the Heavenly King Mara Incantation to fight back against it.


    This lotus flower spun in the air as it flew at the Faceless Serpent, the petals appearing like des.


    The Faceless Serpent¡¯s head mmed into the lotus flower, and the spinning lotus flower began to slice chunks off the Faceless Serpent like a sharp de slicing carrots, sending out sprays of blood and flesh.


    It seemed like the Faceless Serpent was not a match for these five.


    But Yun Danqi didn¡¯t seem happy at all. On the contrary, he seemed helpless and griefstricken.


    The spinning lotus flower ran through the Faceless Serpent like a meat grinder, finishing off its head and beginning to grind away at the body, chunk by chunk.


    After grinding away at the Faceless Serpent for thirty-some meters, the lotus flower finally dissipated. A momentter, the Faceless Serpent mmed into a wall tower. The wall tower copsed while the Faceless Serpent hissed in triumph.


    It was still the same faceless head with only that single mouth, and it still let out that same intimidating shriek.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± Tang Jie was dumbfounded by the scene.


    Hadn¡¯t the Faceless Serpent¡¯s head been ground down into little meat chunks by the lotus flower? Why was it still there?


    Shen Ningming said, ¡°The Faceless Serpent has no head and no face.¡±


    Hearing this, Tang Jie understood.


    The so-called Faceless Serpent was so named because it didn¡¯t have a head. The grinding of the Horizon Lotus Blossom Hand had only ground down a part of its body.


    The Faceless Serpent was a kind of lifeform simr to an earthworm. When it lost a part of its body, it would not die, and it wouldn¡¯t even be significantly hurt. Once the attack was over, a new head part would emerge from the wound. If it wanted, it could even use its tail as the head, and run away without even turning around.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean that you would have to grind down every part of its body in order to kill it?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°Indeed, which is what makes it so difficult!¡± Shen Ningming said with a sigh.


    As he spoke, the Faceless Serpent mmed its body into the wall again.


    This was a heavy blow, and the soldiers suffered ten-some casualties.


    The Faceless Serpent used its mouth to suck in the in soldiers, and then its body began to rapidly grow from its tail.


    This fiend had no weaknesses, and it could even rapidly heal its damaged body.


    The ten-some soldiers clearly weren¡¯t enough for it to restore its thirty-some meters of lost body, so it turned around and swallowed arge sea fiend, not even chewing.


    As it consumed food, its body rapidly recovered, and just like that, the damage done with the full power of Yun Danqi¡¯s team of five was undone.


    It was still more than three hundred meters long, standing tall like a pir of heaven, the sight causing Yun Danqi and the others to despair.


    If they weren¡¯t tired out from the many days of fighting, and if not for the constant attacks of the sea fiends, Yun Danqi¡¯s team might have been able to battle it out with the Faceless Serpent.


    But this lethalbination meant that even stopping the Faceless Serpent was a luxury.


    While the Lotus Blossom Hand was powerful, it dealt minuscule damage to the Faceless Serpent. Once it had restored its body, the Faceless Serpent restarted its frenzied offensive.


    It let out a piercing shriek, and its massive body hammered at the walls. The fact that it was nearly unkible allowed it to ignore all attacks. After all, no matter what damage was dealt to it, it could just eat a few things to recover.


    In the face of this terrifying monstrosity, all counterattacks were insignificant, and the walls resounded with cries of grief and despair.


    Even Tang Jie¡¯s heart couldn¡¯t help but tremble at this sorrowful and tragic sight.


    He had mixed into this crowd with a fake name and appearance because he had noticed that the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people had already infiltrated the vicinity of the ind. Thus, taking on another identity was the only way he could investigate the exact location of the Beast Garden.


    For this reason, he didn¡¯t n to use too much of his strength, for fear of exposing himself.


    But he hadn¡¯t expected the situation on the ind to be this dire!


    At this moment, a massacre was ying out before him. The sea fiends were crazily devouring humans, and everyone was desperately fighting to protect their homes.


    That young master of the Yun n had never said a word to him, but Tang Jie could see that this was a brave soul who was willing to die to protect his n.


    The juniors at his side seemed like lowly outer disciples of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. They had been invited toe and help, and they could have fled at the sight of danger, but none of them was backing down.


    It was precisely this sort of unity that had allowed them to push back the Faceless Serpent again and again.


    But the ceaseless attacks had finally worn him down.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know if it would be at this moment, or even today, but he knew that if he didn¡¯t act, the casualties would continue to climb.


    <em>Can I just sit back and watch all these innocent people die? </em>Tang Jie asked himself.


    In a sh, Tang Jie knew that he couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°Big Brother Xu¡­ you were right. My bottom line truly is a little low,¡± Tang Jie bitterly chuckled.


    He needed to even think about such a thing? This was a problem all on its own.


    He raised his head and looked at the Faceless Serpent.


    This enormous creature was unting its power, smashing its massive body down again and again. With each attack, it would do immense damage to the city. Yun Danqi¡¯s team of five were barely able to keep it suppressed, but they were helpless to stop it. The Faceless Serpent shrieked in triumph.


    ¡°You¡¯re celebrating too early,¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    Slightly raising his right hand, Tang Jie started to chant, and his hands formed several dozen abstruse signs.


    Earlier, he had not acted with his full strength, so Shen Ningming hadn¡¯t taken his strength very seriously.


    But when he saw these hand signs, he paled. He could tell at a nce that suchplex hand signs could not be for some ordinary spell art.


    A momentter, an enormous figure formed on the horizon, with a face rather simr to that of Tang Jie¡¯s avatar. It was none other than the Heavenly King Mara Incantation.


    Art users drew upon the power of the heavens and earth to unleash divine might!


    In a duel, as both sides were vying against each other, speed was of utmost importance, and so arts were normally not used.


    But in arge-scale battle, Spirit Masters had enough time to use truly powerful arts. This was also why there was always a reason to keep mortals around.


    Tang Jie was currently using theplete version of the Heavenly King Mara Incantation. The manifestation was dignified and majestic, its entrance so grandiose that even Yun Danqi¡¯s group felt their hearts tremble. The Faceless Serpent sensed a shift on the battlefield, and it raised its head and angrily roared at the sky.


    A momentter, the giant manifestation thrust a palm at the Faceless Serpent.


    <em>Pa!</em>


    The heavenly palm mmed the Faceless Serpent into the earth.


    And then it grabbed the Faceless Serpent like it was a little snake and squeezed. Blood and flesh sttered over the earth as the Faceless Serpent was pinched into two.


    <em>Hisss!</em> With a screech of grief and anger, the two sections of the Faceless Serpent dropped to the earth. The moment they hit the ground, they each grew a head and a mouth. There were now two of them, each a little more than one hundred meters long.


    The Faceless Serpents began to charge at the walls, clearly looking for that caster in the shadows.


    As they attacked, Tang Jie snorted and began to use his left hand as well. That giant also began to use both hands, each one reaching out and grabbing a Faceless Serpent.


    There was another explosion of blood and flesh, and more screeches of pain. The two Faceless Serpents were severed again, bing four. This time, before Tang Jie could attack, they instantly broke into more than three thousand small snakes that fled in all directions.


    Once they became small, their intimidating presence was no more, but they became cunning and vicious, able to attack over arge area. In this sudden rush, ten-some people were instantly in. Worst of all was that they could mix into the crowd, robbing Tang Jie of arge target and forcing him to end the Heavenly King Mara Incantation.


    ¡°Attack!¡± Yun Danqi shouted in excitement.


    Compared to the enormous Faceless Serpent, the smaller versions were weaker and easier to deal with. Even the hide which had been immune to mortal weapons could now be pierced.


    Thus, everyone now attacked those little snakes. The sky above the walls shed with des and swords, and the Faceless Serpents shrieked and hissed as they were in.


    Countless mouths crying out at once created the greatest din in the world. Blood descended in a rain, and the Faceless Serpents dropped from the sky like smoked-out mosquitoes.


    But the counterattack of the Faceless Serpents was also fierce.


    Though they had given up their immense power and defense, the small Faceless Serpents were agile. They dodged the humans¡¯ attacks and constantly sought out chances to strike back.


    Several dozen Faceless Serpents circled in the air, and then they suddenly charged together at a single soldier, burrowing into his body and eating him up.


    In the eating process, they swiftly grewrger, making up for the deaths of theirrades.


    As Tang Jie saw this, his eyes narrowed.


    If this continued, while it seemed like the Faceless Serpents were dwindling in number, they were actually constantly replenishing their ranks through eating, attempting to use quantity to achieve quality.


    Upon realizing this, he shouted, ¡°This won¡¯t work! Everyone who¡¯s not a cultivator has to leave. Don¡¯t give the Faceless Serpents a chance to recover!¡±


    Yun Danqi shouted, ¡°We know, but what about the other sea fiends?¡±


    He turned and pointed. Beyond the walls, countless sea fiends were swimming up from the sea, howling and shouting.


    ncing at these sea fiends, Tang Jie sighed.


    Did he really have to use all his strength and expose himself?


    While the Heavenly King Mara Incantation was powerful, it wasn¡¯t a secret art that only Tang Jie knew. Many in the Basking Moon Sect knew it, and there were also quite a few people outside of it that understood this art. After all, this art had originallye from the outside.


    But this art was not enough to stop this fierce and unkible sea serpent.


    Upon realizing this, Tang Jie reached into his Mustard Seed Bag, grabbing a handful of beans. Just when he was about to sow beans into soldiers, he suddenly noticed something and froze.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The Nine Executions Immortal Formation.


    In a dark cave, Tang Jie stared at a wall, a book in his hand.


    The wall in front of him had a skeleton nailed to the wall by seven nails made of white jade.


    The skeleton was ck and glossy, and it burned with a dark me.


    ¡°777 days of ritual to create the Seven Demon Devil Bone. Today is finally thest step. I wonder how powerful a Heptademon Ghost Guard made from a Celestial Heart True Person will be¡­¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    The book in his hand was none other than the Ghost ssic.


    When Tang Jie obtained the Ghost ssic all the way back then, its various secret arts had enticed him.


    s, in this age of orthodox supremacy, the arts of the Ghost ssic could not see the light of day.


    But Tang Jie had never given up on using the Ghost ssic.


    The Nine Executions Immortal Formation gave Tang Jie an opportunity to do so.


    In this world cut off from the rest of the world, there were no humans besides him and He Chong¡¯s trio.


    In this world, he could use any kind of forbidden art he wanted without fear of being discovered.


    Thus, when Tang Jie captured Mei Huaping, he realized that he had an excellent opportunity.


    The Heptademon Ghost Guard!


    ording to the Ghost ssic, the Seven Demon Devil Bone was one of the most fundamental and most powerful of the secret arts for raising ghosts. A ghost guard refined through this secret art would be able to use spell arts, and it would have about the same strength in death as it did in life.


    It wouldn¡¯t be that great if that were all, but the Heptademon Ghost Guard was actually capable of growth, improving through ughter, and it also had a certain level of intelligence.


    It was actually because of thisst point that the Heptademon Ghost Guard required so much time and effort to make. It required a long period of refinement and investment to retain as much intelligence as possible. Thus, Tang Jie had spent a lot of the resources he had gained in thest two years on this effort.


    Today, the Heptademon Ghost Guard was finallyplete.


    As he tapped the forehead of the skeleton, the gloomy mes in the eye sockets of that ghost guard intensified.


    Tang Jie raised his hand, and the seven nails flew out of the wall.


    A momentter, the ghost guard lunged at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t move. That ghost guardnded in front of Tang Jie and then got down on one knee.


    Tang Jie muttered, ¡°Let me see your abilities.¡±


    He punched.


    With his Diamond Body, even though this punch had only 30% of his strength behind it, it would be enough to make an ordinary Mortal Shedding cultivator explode.


    Immense power impacted against the ghost guard¡¯s body, and the ghost guard was sted into the wall. The entire mountain trembled, and dust and gravel rained down from the sides.


    The ghost guard came down from the wall like nothing had happened, going up to Tang Jie and getting down on one knee once more.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try this.¡±


    Tang Jie punched again, this time at 50% strength.


    This savage strike finally produced a crack in the bones of the ghost guard.


    But a momentter, the crack shed and started to heal.


    ¡°As expected, the resistance is limited.¡± Tang Jie now had a rough idea of its toughness.


    To be honest, the fact that this ghost guard could resist 50% of Tang Jie¡¯s strength showed that it was scarily tough.


    ¡°Then, let¡¯s test your attack.¡±


    <em>Thud!</em>


    The ghost guard thrust a wed hand into Tang Jie¡¯s chest.


    It plunged in so deeply that half the w was buried in Tang Jie¡¯s body.


    Tang Jie was very satisfied. As expected, the ghost guard had inherited themon property of all the ghosts of the Ghost Raising Sect: sharp attacks.


    Next, he tested its speed and spell arts, and he was extremely satisfied.


    After a series of tests, Tang Jie confirmed that the ghost guard was exactly as powerful as the Ghost ssic had described it to be.


    As he looked at the ck skeleton, Tang Jie sighed in praise.


    It was like Wei Tianchong¡¯s puppet¡ªtough, unyielding, loyal and powerful¡ªbut it was more intelligent than a puppet and capable of growth. And rarest of all¡­ it was at Celestial Heart!


    It was a good ghost guard. Besides a good refinement method and significant investment, it had required one other, and most important, material.


    Celestial Heart True Person Mei Huaping!


    <em>Congrattions on bing my first authentic Celestial Heart subordinate.</em>


    Compared to the imbecile Shi Jingzhai, Mei Huaping was stronger, more useful, and smarter.


    It was at this moment that Tang Jie received the information on the situation in Joymount Ind from his avatar.


    He smiled. ¡°How surprising. Right after I finished refining you, a chance for you to show your ability hase.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Joymount Ind.


    The battle continued.


    The frenzied attack from the unkible Faceless Serpents was giving everyone a headache.


    Just when Tang Jie was nning to expose his full power, he sensed what was happening within the Nine Executions Immortal Formation.


    With an idea in mind, he killed a Faceless Serpent with a palm chop and then said to Yun Danqi, ¡°Hold on for a little. I¡¯ll be back in a sh.¡±


    He flew into the city.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Shen Ningming frantically cried out.


    ¡°To piss!¡± Tang Jie shouted.


    <em>Pissing at a time like this?</em> Shen Ningming felt his vision go dark.


    He naturally didn¡¯t believe Tang Jie¡¯s words. In the middle of this battle, Tang Jie¡¯s behavior seemed more like someone that was running away.


    But hadn¡¯t he just used the Heavenly King Mara Incantation? Why was he now running?


    The Horizon Ocean Pavilion disciples were more direct with their anger, cursing, ¡°I just knew we couldn¡¯t rely on people that were recruited on the spot.¡±


    ¡°Coward!¡±


    ¡°Forget it. After all, he¡¯s not one of us and came for money. It¡¯s not strange that he would value his life more.¡±


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know about all the bad things being said about him behind his back, though he wouldn¡¯t have cared if he did.


    He swiftly flew and quickly found a deserted area, where heid down an illusion formation.


    It was a very basic formation, but it was enough to fool eyes and ears.


    As the illusion formation took form, Tang Jie activated the Mountain River State Diagram.


    Though Tang Jie had once feared that he had taken too littlend into the diagram, now that he needed to secretly activate it, he praised himself for this decision. If he had really taken in a vast range ofnd, one illusion formation would never be able to hide it.


    But now that he thought about it, if he could really take in a vast piece ofnd, would he really care if the puny Beast Refining Gate saw him?


    He could just mindlessly wipe them out.


    The thought was only there for a brief moment. A momentter, he threw in the materials, the teleportation formation activated, and the Heptademon Ghost Guard emerged.


    When it saw Tang Jie, the ghost guard was very clearly surprised.


    The ghost guard was linked with Tang Jie¡¯s soul, which was why it could recognize Tang Jie despite his different appearance, but it was surprised because the ghost guard was intelligent enough to see that these two Tang Jies varied vastly in appearance. Thus, it showed shock at this oddity that no ordinary ghost guard could ever have.


    It still got down on one knee in front of Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°Go and kill the invading sea fiends, but make sure that nobody knows that you¡¯re a ghost guard.¡±


    This was the advantage of a ghost guard¡¯s intelligence. Tang Jie only needed to give an order for it to execute it. He did not need to be constantly controlling it.


    The Heptademon Ghost Guard nodded, and then its body began to fade away.


    This was a concealment spell, and an extremely high-level one.


    Once the ghost guard had disappeared, Tang Jie put away the Mountain River State Diagram and headed back.


    He knew that he had drawn suspicion with this move.


    But it was fine. Suspicion was just suspicion. Without any firm evidence, they would not act immediately.


    And all that Tang Jie needed was time¡ªtime to find out where the Beast Garden was.


    Where could that damned Beast Garden be?


    Tang Jie seems to like dabbling in the dark arts a bit too much¡­<!--


    -->

 Chapter 427

    Chapter 427: Thousand Ghost Shadows


    The battle continued on the walls of Joymount City.


    There were heaven-shaking roars, the odor of sweat and blood, and shes of water and fire.


    Flying back to the city wall, Tang Jie casually grabbed a Faceless Serpent that was shooting toward Shen Ningming and crushed it. He shouted, ¡°What¡¯s the situation?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s you?¡± Shen Ningming was surprised when he saw Tang Jie. ¡°Why did youe back?¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t Ie back?¡± Tang Jie countered. ¡°I said that I was only leaving for a bit to take a piss.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Everyone was speechless.


    He really had gone to take a piss!


    ¡°Why are we wasting time talking? Kill these beasts!¡± a Spirit Master shouted. He chopped a palm down, killing several Faceless Serpents.


    But a momentter, a Faceless Serpent that had grownrger from eating many people broke into several snakes, thus replenishing the losses.


    There was just no end to these damned things.


    This single fiend was holding down all the cultivators and soldiers.


    Meanwhile, the turtle, the crab, the school of Shuttlefish, and the other countless fiends were surging at the walls.


    The loss of Joymount City was imminent, and everyone began to despair.


    At this moment, an invisible existence began to approach the battlefield.


    It did not immediately enter the battle, instead finding a human corpse.


    It dragged the corpse into a nearby hut, and then it plunged its ws into the corpse.


    The flesh began to drop from the corpse, and at the same time, flesh began to grow from the ck bones of the Heptademon Ghost Guard. Countless nerves emerged, and blood began to flow. Even organs began to form.


    The flesh moved up to the ghost guard¡¯s face, gradually forming a young and handsome face. It appeared rather simr to Mei Huaping¡¯s face in life.


    Finally, hair sprouted from the skull, and a handsome man was born.


    The Flesh Attire!


    This was the first spell Tang Jie had added to the Heptademon Ghost Guard when he was refining it.


    The Nine Executions Immortal Formation had only solved the problem of the Heptademon Ghost Guard¡¯s refinement. The Flesh Attire resolved the problems that might crop up when the Heptademon Ghost Guard was in battle.


    The Flesh Attire was the best solution that Tang Jie had been able to find. It could not only let the ghost guard take a different form, it added another defensiveyer. It was essentially a defensive spell art, all of the flesh acting like a suit of armor.


    But in order to better conceal the ghost guard, Tang Jie had decided to sacrifice some defensive power for authenticity. He had even had the ghost guard grow useless organs so that someone wouldn¡¯t see an empty cavity if the ghost guard were to be wounded.


    At the same time, so that observation spell arts wouldn¡¯t be able to see through the Flesh Attire, Tang Jie had strengthened the spell art so that Divine Wills couldn¡¯t tell if it was real or fake unless they observed from a close distance. Of course, t


    ¡­


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    Interesting observation, Tang Jie, but don¡¯t you think masochism and necromancy are enough for your kinks?<!--


    -->

 Chapter 428

    Chapter 428: The Twinheart True Person


    As the Faceless Serpent fled and the sea fiends were ughtered, the protracted siege of Joymount Ind finally saw a moment of calm.


    No one knew if the defeated fiends woulde back, but at least for now, they had survived.


    Everyone cheered,ughed, exchanged hugs, and threw their weapons into the air.


    Shen Ningming even got on his knees and started to cry. After several dozen days of constant fighting, they had finally gotten a moment of peace. Even though he was a revered Spirit Master, he still couldn¡¯t help but weep in front of all these mortals.


    But nobody med him, including Yun Danqi. Everyone felt joy from the very depths of their hearts.


    On the shore, the ghost guard saw that the fiends were retreating and was about to leave when it spotted Yun Danqi flying off the walls anding over.


    Yun Danqi bowed to the ghost guard. ¡°True Person, my utmost gratitude. It was thanks to you that Joymount Ind was able to be protected. True Person, please stay and let my Yun n hold a feast to thank you.¡±


    The ghost guard looked at Yun Danqi, and then it looked at the walls to Tang Jie. Tang Jie subtly nodded, so the ghost guard manipted the air to simte a voice and say, ¡°Very well.¡±


    Yun Danqi was delighted. He had seen the ghost guard¡¯s power when killing the fiends and knew that this person had to be a Celestial Heart cultivator. If the Yun n could form a connection with a True Person, it would soar in prestige. This could be said to be a blessing obtained from disaster.


    Yun Danqi apanied the ghost guard back, asking many questions about it. Following Tang Jie¡¯s will, the ghost guard said that its name was Gui Ping. ¡°Gui¡± had the same pronunciation as ¡°ghost¡±, and the ¡°Ping¡± came from Mei Huaping as a way of remembering his contribution to the effort. As for the background, it said that it was a wandering cultivator who was passing through the area and came to help when it saw that the ind was being besieged by fiends. It refused to borate on the details, and when Yun Danqi wanted to ask more questions, the ghost guard simply said ¡°You ask too many questions¡± to scare him silent.


    The people on the walls had gradually calmed down after celebrating. There was still a lot of clean-up to do after the battle. The bodies of the dead needed to be collected, the wounded needed to rest, and the cultivators needed to get their rewards.


    That night, a feast was held on Joymount Ind to thank all the Spirit Masters who came to help. Tang Jie was there as well. Of course, the seats of honor were reserved for the ghost guard and Yun Danqi.


    After three rounds of drinks, Yun Danqi personally gave a speech expressing his thanks, and servants came to hand out bags of money.


    The amount of spirit coins in each bag varied per person. When Tang Jie weighed his bag in his hands, he immediately knew that there were two thousand spirit coins in it. Although this wasn¡¯t a lot, one had to consider that he


    ¡­


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    Looks like Tang Jie is going to have to deal with 2 (3?) True Persons this time!<!--


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 Chapter 429

    Chapter 429: Hidden Realm


    When the feast was over, the Yun n arranged residences for the Spirit Masters to stay in so that they could rest from the long battle.


    After this battle, although the Yun n had managed to keep Joymount Ind, it had suffered major losses and urgently needed to recover its strength. Thus, Yun Danqi, on orders from the n head, used this opportunity to form connections with the various Spirit Masters. Influenced by the kindness they were shown, some of the Spirit Masters would perhaps choose to stay.


    Tang Jie was not left out. Although he had only participated in the defense of the ind for one day, he was still a Nine Revolutions cultivator, and he had also made some contributions to the battle, disying the strength expected of a wandering cultivator of his level. Moreover, Shen Ningming had also seen him use the Heavenly King Mara Incantation and knew that this ¡°wandering cultivator¡± had a powerful spell art.


    Thus, that night, when Shen Ningming came over with a pot of good wine, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t at all surprised.


    The two of them entered his room and began to chat over wine.


    After three rounds, Shen Ningming took advantage of his drunkenness to ask Tang Jie if he wanted to join the Yun n, at which Tang Jie simply smiled.


    Shen Ningming said, ¡°Brother Qiu, while the Yun n is a noble n, you have seen for yourself that the next n head, Yun Danqi, doesn¡¯t have any of the arrogance of a noble scion. He is open-minded, gentle, and magnanimous, a person worth following.¡±


    Tang Jie indifferently replied, ¡°I ept Brother Shen¡¯s kind intentions, but I¡¯ve only been on Joymount Ind for a single day, and there are still many things I don¡¯t understand. The others have all battled alongside each other for a month and developed friendships, so it is normal if they choose to stay. As for me¡­ let me have a look first. I still don¡¯t even understand what the situation at Joymount Ind is yet.¡±


    Shen Ningming felt like his argument made sense. They had only just gotten to know each other, so asking Tang Jie to join was a little inappropriate. He smiled and said, ¡°If Brother Qiu wants to familiarize yourself with the situation, isn¡¯t it simple? As I have nothing else to do, I will apany Brother Qiu on a walk around the ind.¡±


    This was exactly what Tang Jie wanted. The two of them went out to admire Joymount Ind¡¯s nighttime scenery while also discussing Joymount Ind and the origins of the Yun n.


    The Yun n had been fishermen in their early years, and when they arrived at Joymount Ind, they developed a fishing that could more easily catch Shuttlefish and prospered. There were naturally many trials in the middle of all this before they were able to reach their current size. It could be considered a rags-to-riches story.


    Tang Jie seemed very interested, putting a polite smile on his face as he asionallymented ¡°I see!¡±, ¡°Incredible!¡±, and so on. But his eyes were like beams of


    ¡­


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    Shen Qingdanes onto the stage to do her job! But who was it that hired her?<!--


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 Chapter 430

    Chapter 430: Going In


    A graceful figure danced under the morning sun like a rainbow butterfly.


    The two palms thrust out energy palms to a certain cadence, and each impact against the hidden realm¡¯s gate produced a burst of enchanting colors.


    The Dancing Butterfly Hand!


    This was one of the Wandering Pce¡¯s most famous spell arts.


    Meanwhile, the ship would asionally shoot spell art beams at the gate. These colorful beamsbined with Shen Qingdan¡¯s graceful dance to create a most beautiful scene. Tang Jie had never expected that the Wandering Pce could turn breaking into a realm into something so beautiful.


    Tang Jie, Feng Buzhi, and Chang Baimei were all watching from a distance. The likes of Yun Danqi and Shen Ningming were also witnessing this indescribably wondrous sight.


    Finally, amidst the dancing of the rainbow butterflies, that gate in the sky was finally sted open, revealing a path inward.


    The two worlds that had just been severed from each other were once more connected.


    ¡°Sess!¡± Shen Qingdan let out a joyful cheer.


    She flew back to the dragonboat, and then the ship majestically flew toward the hidden realm.


    They hade on the request of another to open this hidden realm, and their employer had agreed to give them the treasures within, so they would naturally go in and take them.


    As they were about to go in, Chang Baimei raised his two white eyebrows. ¡°Go!¡±


    On his order, several dozen Beast Refining Gate disciples emerged from all directions.


    These Beast Refining Gate disciples were survivors from that battle on the ocean who had returned to serve under the two True Persons. The moment they appeared, they summoned various beasts and birds and rushed toward the hidden realm.


    Chang Baimei called out, ¡°The Beast Refining Gate¡¯s Chang Baimei pays respects to Wandering Pce¡¯s Young Lord Shen. Young Lord Shen, please hold for a moment!¡±


    Shen Qingdan turned and nced at Chang Baimei, smiling. ¡°I knew that someone was hiding nearby, but I didn¡¯t think it was people from the Beast Refining Gate. I was hired to open a hidden realm, and the rare nts and fruits are my reward. But when ites to ownerless hidden realms, it has always been those who are destined to get them that will obtain them. This Qingdan iscking in talent and does not dare to take it all for herself. Thus, if the Beast Refining Gate wants it, then take as much as you want. In the end, it is all up to fate, so do not try to stop me!¡±


    Her dragonboat flew into the hidden realm.


    The Wandering Pce was no longer what it was in the past. Though it had lost its freedom, it now had a backer. The Beast Refining Gate was powerful, but the Basking Moon Sect was not afraid of them. Moreover, this was Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s territory, so there was no reason to be afraid of just their mere presence. Thus, Shen Qingdan entered the hidden realm, showing no signs of backing down.


    Chang Baimei trembled in anger. <em>An ¡®ownerless hidden realm¡¯? The Beast Garden is our Beast Refining Gate¡¯s, okay?</em>


    But there was no point in saying anything now. With the Beast Garden in this state, nobody would admit that it was the Beast Garden.


    Feng Buzhi was still smiling.


    The ck-robed Feng Buzhi said, ¡°From her tone, it seems she doesn¡¯t know the situation inside, and her objective only seems to be the spirit herbs in the garden, not the sealing object.¡±


    Chang Baimei became more excited. ¡°Yes, the Beast Garden has transformed, so our first priority is to take the sealing object. So long as the sealing object is around, the Beast Garden will remain!¡±


    The white-robed Feng Buzhi waved a sleeve and said, ¡°We will go to take the sealing object. Leave some people to guard the gate.¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± Chang Baimei waved at two disciples. ¡°Lin Xi, Bai Yu, the two of you stay here. The rest of you, follow the Seventh Master into the garden and start gathering treasures!¡±


    Although the first priority was the sealing object, the spirit herbs in the garden were not easily grown, so it was best to get whatever they could.


    ¡°Yes!¡± the disciples all called out. Only the two disciples who were told to remain had bitter expressions as they inwardly cursed their misfortune. Chang Baimei was a True Person, and the things inside might not have been anything special for him, but for the disciples, not being able to get any was an immense loss.


    The Beast Refining Gate disciples followed Feng Buzhi, streaking likeets into the hidden realm. As they entered, a storm stirred within the hidden realm, obscuring the vision of those outside. This was because the inner formation had activated.


    Chang Baimei and the other two Beast Refining Gate disciples stood guard at the entrance. With his power as a True Person, other people had no hope of forcing their way through.


    Tang Jie raised an eyebrow and chuckled. ¡°Who do you think you can stop?¡±


    As he spoke, a figure flew into the air: the ghost guard.


    Yun Danqi and the others were all stunned when they saw the ghost guard.


    The two Beast Refining Gate disciples spotted it and shouted, ¡°Who goes there? This ce is our Beast Refining Gate¡¯s¡­¡±


    Before they could finish, the ghost guard shot past them toward the hidden realm.


    Chang Baimei raised an eyebrow. ¡°Impudent!¡±


    He thrust out a palm.


    This was a Spirit Ring True Person of the Beast Refining Gate, assisted by two Beast Refining Gate disciples, so not even Tang Jie was sure that the ghost guard could win.


    But the objective of this battle was to push through, not to win.


    As Chang Baimei attacked, the ghost guard activated the Ghostshadow Traceless Step, instantly elerating and dodging the palm, at the same time rushing at Chang Baimei.


    Chang Baimei was rmed by this sudden eleration, and he instinctively applied a defensive barrier to himself. His hand shook, and then a Golden Roar, a Longarm Ape, a Wind Azure Snake, a Goldenplume Eagle, and a Whitehead Wolf appeared. Among them, the Golden Roar was even a Transformation fiend.


    This rapid series of movements fully disyed Chang Baimei¡¯s formidable ability to adapt to the battle situation.


    The ghost guard did only one thing.


    It charged!


    Just like that, it rushed at Chang Baimei. While leaving behind countless afterimages, its real body charged at Chang Baimei, mming into his defensive barrier in an explosion of rainbow light.


    At the moment of collision, it extended a w and hugged Chang Baimei. With the immense power of its inertia, the ghost guard hugged Chang Baimei, and Chang Baimei realized to his shock that he was flying toward the hidden realm.


    <em>Not good!</em>


    As this thought appeared in his mind, Chang Baimei called out with all his might, ¡°Protect the gate¡­¡±


    Before he could finish, he entered the hidden realm with the ghost guard and disappeared.


    ¡°True Person Gui!¡±


    On Joymount Ind, Yun Danqi was bbergasted by this scene.


    Everything had happened too suddenly. The Beast hidden realm¡¯s appearance had left all of the Joymount Ind inhabitants so stunned that they were only nowing to their senses. Just what in the world was happening?


    Seeing this, Tang Jie chuckled and walked over to Yun Danqi. ¡°Young Master Yun, why don¡¯t we also go in and take a look?¡±


    ¡°Us?¡± Yun Danqi was startled. ¡°But the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people are guarding it.¡±


    Tang Jie smirked. ¡°This is still the territory of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. When was it the job of the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people to set up checkpoints? From the look of it, the sea fiend attack on the ind is linked to the hidden realm. The Joymount Ind area belongs to the Yun n, and Young Master Yun is an outer disciple of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, so no matter how you look at it, the Yun n has a share in this hidden realm. It¡¯s absurd for the Beast Refining Gate to try and keep you out! Moreover, True Person Gui is in there, so what do we have to fear?¡±


    He spoke very loudly so that the two Beast Refining Gate disciples could hear, and the two disciples grimaced.


    As expected, Yun Danqi grew excited. ¡°You¡¯re right. Since that¡¯s the case, let¡¯s go in and look around.¡±


    The hidden realm¡¯s appearance was a chance for everyone, and how could Yun Danqi not want it? Tang Jie¡¯s suggestion was exactly what he wanted to hear, and with an order from him, everyone flew up toward the hidden realm.


    The two Beast Refining Gate disciples looked at each other. They knew that the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s name was of no use against Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and since Chang Baimei was no longer here, the two of them didn¡¯t have the power to stop this group. In the end, they had to let the group through.


    As the group was passing by the pair, Tang Jie threw his head back andughed, looking at them with contempt. It was as if he was saying, ¡°They might as well not have door guards as have door guards like you.¡±


    The two disciples were indignant and ashamed, but there was nothing they could do. All they could do was mentally swear that they would stop anyone else who tried toe through.


    Not long afterward, a rainbow cloud approached.


    As it got closer, it became apparent that three women were riding it. The leading woman was pulling along a small girl, Yiyi. The woman holding her hand was naturally Xu Miaoran.


    The two Beast Refining Gate disciples had never seen Xu Miaoran before, so when they saw someoneing, they rejoiced and shouted, ¡°Visitor, please halt! The Beast Refining Gate is carrying out business here. Please do not approach!¡±


    Xu Miaoran raised an eyebrow. ¡°Nonsense. This is the territory of my Horizon Ocean Pavilion, not your Beast Refining Gate. If Xu Miaoran wants to go in, no one dares to stop her!¡±


    <em>Horizon Ocean Pavilion again? ¡®Xu Miaoran¡¯?</em>


    The two disciples were stunned. This person had an even bigger background than the group from before.


    With no choice, the two of them moved to the side.


    Xu Miaoran pulled Yiyi along and entered with her two maids.


    ¡°Big sister, those two guys are very silly,¡± a childish voice said from the distance.


    ¡°Ignore them; they¡¯re just idiots,¡± Xu Miaoran said, her voice filled with disdain.


    The two disciples were so enraged and humiliated that they wanted to die. They swore to themselves that they would definitely stop the next group, even fighting them to the death if they had to.


    Some timeter.


    Another group finally arrived.


    The two shouted in unison, ¡°Visitors, please halt! The Beast Refining Gate is carrying out business. Please do not approach!¡±


    The leader of the group shouted, ¡°May I ask which brother of the Beast Refining Gate this is? This one is Godhead Pce¡¯s Yun Wuji.¡±


    <em>¡®Godhead Pce¡¯?</em>


    The two disciples looked at each other. The one called Lin Xi shouted, ¡°Why have the people of Godhead Pcee?¡±


    Yun Wuji smiled. ¡°I heard that Tang Jie had appeared in Endsea, and I just so happen to have a grudge to settle with him, so I came over to take a look. To my surprise, instead of Tang Jie, I found this new ocean hidden realm instead. So, senior brothers, do you n to stop me?¡±


    What Yun Wuji didn¡¯t say was that the resources that Tang Jie had sold to the Seven Absolutions Sect had drawn the interest of Godhead Pce. It was just that Tang Jie had been under the protection of the Basking Moon Sect thisst year, so Godhead Pce hadn¡¯t had a chance to act.


    Now that Tang Jie was abroad, Godhead Pce had the perfect opportunity to capture him. This was why Yun Wuji hade here.


    But to his surprise, instead of Tang Jie, he had run into the Beast Refining Gate and this hidden realm. Yun Wuji naturally wanted to go and take a look.


    The two disciples looked at each other, and then the one called Bai Yu helplessly said, ¡°Forget it. So many people have already gone in, and since you¡¯re on our side, you can go in too.¡±


    Yun Wuji smiled and bowed. ¡°My thanks.¡±


    He entered the hidden realm with his juniors and seniors.


    Once they were gone, the two Beast Refining Gate disciples shared a nce. They finally realized that they couldn¡¯t stop anyone, and they almost started crying from how bitter they felt.


    The cruel reality made the two Beast Refining Gate disciples lose any interest in guarding the gate.


    Finally, another person came.


    This person, wearing a ck robe thatpletely concealed their face, walked toward the hidden realm¡¯s gate.


    The two disciples listlessly said, ¡°Where is Senior Brother from this time? Horizon Ocean Pavilion? Godhead Pce? Or maybe the Thousand Passions Sect or Seven Absolutions Sect?¡±


    A deep voice replied, ¡°And if I¡¯m from none of them?¡±


    <em>Hmm?</em>


    The two of them raised their heads in shock.


    The two of them looked at the face under the ck robe and said with a start, ¡°Your¡­¡±


    A momentter, the ck-robed person thrust his arms at their throats.


    Blood gushed from their throats, and the two disciples clutched their necks as they fell from the sky.


    The ck-robed man slowly drew back his hands and strode toward the entrance.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    As Tang Jie stepped through the entrance, his vision blurred, and then the scenery around himpletely transformed.


    He found himself in a forest, though unlike regr forests, this one was growing out of the sea.


    The sea water was like soil, slightly rippling under his feet, andrge trees stretched off into the distance. The part these trees revealed above the surface was enormous enough, and the part beneath the surface was evenrger. The trunks and roots of these trees extended all the way to the sea floor, so these were truly enormous trees.


    The sky was like an overturned bowl, and it was possible to make out the blue barrier overhead, appearing like the end of the world.


    In the center of this ocean forest was an Immortal mountain. Tang Jie knew that this was the location of the Beast Garden itself.


    A white fog drifted over the ocean, imbuing the entire hidden realm with a mystical air. But Tang Jie knew that this fog was an essential part of an illusion formation.


    The Beast Garden had a formation that targeted humans. This was to prevent humans infiltrating the Beast Garden to do it harm, but it was ultimately incapable of stopping a determined individual.


    For this reason, Tang Jie was now trapped in this formation, as were even Feng Buzhi and Chang Baimei. Reaching the Beast Garden¡¯s core was not an easy task, as one had to break through this formation.


    After looking around, Tang Jie began to make his way toward the Immortal mountain.


    As he walked across the sea, the waters rippled, but he did not sink.


    The waters were so clear that he could see countless fish swimming under him.


    Tang Jie walked along like he was on a casual stroll.


    He had only walked a few steps when the fog suddenly thickened.


    Tang Jie stopped, a divine light in his eyes.


    A momentter, a water arrow shot out from the sea floor, aimed right at Tang Jie¡¯s face.


    Tang Jie thrust out a palm, striking the water arrow and creating an explosion of water. He then thrust out a finger, and a Waterjet Fish down below turned over onto its belly and began to float upward.


    The moment the Waterjet Fish died, Tang Jie heard several rushes of air behind him.


    Without turning around, Tang Jie turned his right arm behind him and thrust out his palm three times.


    There was an explosion of blood from behind Tang Jie. Tang Jie borrowed the force of the explosion to rush forward, his feet sliding across the surface of the sea as if it was made of ice.


    Only then did he turn around, and he saw that countless Shuttlefish were emerging from the surface and charging at him through the air.


    Unperturbed, Tang Jie thrust out his palm several more times, smashing the Shuttlefish to death.


    Suddenly, Tang Jie felt pressure on his foot, as if something had grabbed it.


    Looking down, he saw that a ck tentacle had wrapped around his ankle.


    When he looked more closely, he found that it was a ck vine.


    A sharp light erupted from Tang Jie¡¯s eyes, and he suddenly took to the skies.


    Countless tree vines burst out from the sea floor, trying to coil around Tang Jie¡¯s feet like snakes.


    Unable to dodge, Tang Jie produced the Heartbreak Saber and made a horizontal sh, unleashing a wave of mes at the tree vines.


    The saber wave sliced through the vines, and the mes forced the vines to retreat back into the water, where they were extinguished.


    Tang Jie looked around and found that the white fog was even denser here than it was on the ground. Even his Insight was unable to pierce through it.


    Was this a way to force people to walk on the sea surface?


    Tang Jie somewhat understood.


    With its location changed, the Beast Garden was very different from what it was before.


    First of all, the soil was no longer soil, but sea water.


    This made the entire space into a three-dimensional structure.


    When walking on the sea water, one would think that one was walking at the base level, but in reality, one was at the very center of the world.


    In the sky, the white fog obscured one¡¯s vision, so there might be birds of prey looking for their next meal. On the sea surface, there were dangers lurking among the giant trees. And beneath the surface, there were innumerable sea fiends.


    This was a three-dimensional world, which made it ten times more dangerous than the previous version.


    Huge numbers of sea fiends, a bizarre formation, and enemies harboring ill intentions made every step a perilous one.


    In this fantastical world, Tang Jie faintly smiled.


    ¡°I like this ce,¡± he muttered.


    Oh no, Tang Jie managed to scam those poor Horizon Ocean Pavilion disciples into the hidden realm! Hopefully they don¡¯t end up like thest batch of poor souls that joined Tang Jie on an adventure.<!--


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 Chapter 431: Disordered Space

    Chapter 431: Disordered Space


    As Tang Jie walked through the ocean forest, his every step created ripples on the water.


    The swaying image of his reflection on the water made it seem like he was walking on a mirror.


    A ray of sunlight prated through the forest canopy, falling on the water and refracting into a multitude of different colors.


    This spectrum of light fell on his body, making it seem like he was wearing rainbow clothes.


    But danger was lurking deep underneath the surface of this beauty.


    An enormous tiger shark swam through the giant underwater forest.


    The unprecedented rity of the water hadpletely exposed it, but, blissfully unaware, it ¡°furtively¡± approached its target on the surface, and then it jumped. Emerging like a flying fish from the water, it opened its fanged mouth and bit down on Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie lightly thrust out a finger, striking the tiger shark in the mouth and sending it hurtling into a tree.


    The branches caught the tiger shark, and it clumsily struggled to break free. Without the water¡¯s support, it went from a savage creature to weak and pitiful.


    It wasn¡¯t every day that one saw a shark in a tree, so Tang Jie took a few extra looks at it. Just when he was about to leave, he stopped and closely inspected the shark.


    The tiger shark struggled a few more times, and then it suddenly stopped. It just stayed on the tree like it was dead. But through his Insight ability, Tang Jie could see that this tiger shark was going through a rapid transformation.


    It was getting smaller, and its fins were thickening and hardening, even cracking apart and sprouting small appendages. Its smooth skin also began to grow coarser.


    Tang Jie felt like he was witnessing the evolution of a sea creature into and creature in fast forward, though the process was so bizarre and strange that it made his heart shiver.


    ¡°Bing a fiend¡­¡± he muttered.


    There was no doubt that this tiger shark was in the middle of turning from a mortal creature into a fiend. But it was using the power of this fiendification to modify its properties, which was unheard of.


    This was probably the special power of this hidden realm: modifying the creatures living in it. It turned mortal creatures into fiends, made fiends even stronger, and gave them many possible choices.


    The evolution continued.


    The thick fins turned into rough and sharp ws that dug into the sturdy tree bark. It had a long tail dragging behind, and its body was covered with tiny scales. Only that long, pointed head retained any resemnce to a shark. Overall, it looked like a misproportioned giant ape.


    It roared at Tang Jie, hatred burning in its eyes.


    Still howling, it jumped down, tearing off a branch from a tree to act as a cudgel and then swinging it at Tang Jie¡¯s head.


    It was now a lower-grade Spirit Sensing fiend, and its swing already contained some traces of fiend power.


    Tang Jie casually grabbed the cudgel. The ¡°shark ape¡± let out a strange squeal and then dived into the water.


    Even though it had turned into a treeborne fiend, the shark ape had still kept its aquatic nature.


    It swam through the water, working its way to Tang Jie¡¯s back. It emerged from the water and shot a water arrow at him.


    s, the clear sea waters hadpletely sold it out. Without even looking back, Tang Jie brought a hand around to block the water arrow. ¡°The heavens can give you a miracle, but you couldn¡¯t use it to modify your head.¡±


    He thrust out a palm, sending the shark ape flying.


    The shark ape tumbled through the air and into the water. This time, it finally knew fear and tried to swim away.


    Of course, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t going to let it have its way. He struck out, saying, ¡°Perhaps I can find something new on this new fiend.¡±


    After casually killing the fiend, Tang Jie put it away.


    As he was about to leave, he suddenly sensed something.


    He looked around again. Under the sea, small tiger sharks were crawling out from the sea floor.


    Yes, they were crawling on four feet like they were alligators.


    They had also changed. Their bodies were covered in tough scales, but different from those of that other tiger shark.


    The previous tiger shark had evolved ording to its circumstances, but these tiger sharks were going through the proper process of going from the sea to thend.


    A few momentster, the undersea tree trunks were crawling with little tiger sharks.


    They let out strange raspy noises as they squatted on the bark, countless little eyes staring at Tang Jie. Even someone like Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but break out in a cold sweat.


    ¡°The hell is this¡­¡± he muttered.


    Just what could produce so many fiends in so little time?


    The white fog swept back in, obscuring the ocean surface from Tang Jie¡¯s vision.


    Tang Jie grimaced. ¡°The Wave-Generating Illusion Ocean Formation!¡±


    Tang Jie had long known that the Beast Garden had a great formation, but he didn¡¯t know which formation it was.


    Only now, when the white fog illusion returned, did Tang Jie realize that he had inadvertently stepped into an illusion formation.


    The Wave-Generating Illusion Ocean Formation was a rather formidable formation. Even his Dao of Insight found it difficult to see through the white fog, and putting aside the difficulty of orienting himself and advancing through the formation, the greatest problem was that this formation stimted certain lifeforms to have certain abilities.


    But the worst of all was that the Beast Garden¡¯s internal formation had no effect on fiends!


    As the white fog surged, strange sounds began toe from it. Tang Jie grimaced, knowing that he was in trouble.


    There was a shriek, and a figure howled out of the fog at Tang Jie.


    ¡°Damn!¡± Tang Jie chopped with his palm, obliterating this creature. Sure enough, it had been one of those little tree sharks, but it had changed so much that it was hardly recognizable.


    As this one shark died, the others were riled up by the faint scent of blood and started shooting at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie grunted and thrust out his palm several times. Mists of blood burst out over the surface, piercing screams tearing through the sky.


    The vast majority of small sharks died in Tang Jie¡¯s barrage, and the remainder passed through Tang Jie¡¯s palm sts andnded on his body. But as their teeth gnawed on Tang Jie¡¯s Formless Golden Body, they ended up damaging themselves more than him.


    But there was no end to these little things, and as the scent of blood thickened, more of the little sharks rushed out, emerging from the ocean and lunging at Tang Jie from all sides. There were various blood-sucking fishes among the sharks, and they were even joined by a few bird fiends from the sky.


    The Beast Garden was also known as the Ten Thousand Beast Garden, but this was no empty moniker. The number of beasts within it never surpassed ten thousand.


    But in this newborn hidden realm that upied a vast swath of the ocean, the number of fiends in the region Tang Jie upied had already exceeded ten thousand.


    What had happened to this damned hidden realm that had made it so terrifying, turning all non-human creatures in this region into fiends? There were already so many creatures in the ocean, and after more than a month of luring in more creatures, the number of creatures here far exceeded the poption of the past. When they all turned into fiends, it was absolutely horrifying.


    Even Tang Jie was caught off guard. And it had to be understood that he was still in the outermost region. What would it be like farther in?


    Not wanting to fight all-out so early on, Tang Jie pulled out the rabbit fiend and yelled, ¡°Take me out of this illusion formation!¡±


    The Beast Garden¡¯s formation had no effect on the fiends, so it should also be ineffective against the rabbit fiend.


    Sure enough, the rabbit fiend looked around and then shouted, ¡°Into the water!¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s feet pushed down, and he dropped into the water.


    Once he was in the water, the entire world seemed to change.


    On the surface, countless fish and birds had formed into a raging torrent.


    These small fiends were individually feeble existences, but when gathered together, they were an enormous behemoth. The fog drifted among them, seemingly linking them together and making it seem like they had a head, hands, and feet, as if a giant were standing over the sea.


    The giant looked at Tang Jie down below, let out a noiseless roar, and punched at the water.


    Shit!


    Down in the water, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t even curse. He could only twist his body and desperately swim forward.


    The fog giant stomped across the water, each step creating huge waves.


    Tang Jie wasn¡¯t skilled in moving through the water, so he was momentarily unable to throw off the giant¡¯s pursuit. Thankfully, he had the m pearl, which he hastily took out. Using the m pearl¡¯s ability to part water, he swiftly moved through the sea. With the guidance of the rabbit fiend, his mad sprint finally managed to bring him out of the range of the Wave-Generation Illusion Ocean Formation.


    When he looked back, he saw that the giant had already disappeared.


    Tang Jie wiped the sweat off his forehead. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect this ce to be so savage.¡±


    A few below-standard fiends and a formation had already had him running for his life. Although he wasn¡¯t going all-out, that this had happened meant that this wasn¡¯t a ce where one could just pick up treasures. Rather, each step was brimming with danger.


    But this made Tang Jie more excited.


    Danger came with opportunity. The greater the danger, the greater the opportunity.


    Tang Jie wasn¡¯t willing to fight those small fiends primarily because they had just transformed into fiends and couldn¡¯t provide any valuable materials, so there was no point in fighting them. But if he continued onward, the fiends would get stronger and stronger, which would make it much easier to generate a profit.


    Tang Jie was happy to reap a profit while he made his way to the central region.


    The only problem was that the formation and fiends formed a dual barrier that made getting to the central region a lengthy endeavor. It could take a few days, or even several dozen.


    But he wouldn¡¯t be the only person to encounter this situation. Presumably, the others who had entered would be in the same state, so he was in no rush.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Tang Jie was right.


    At this moment, everyone else was dealing with the same problem.


    On the dragonboat, Shen Qingdan looked down at the dense forest of vines below that had grabbed onto the ship like tentacles, herplexion ashen.


    This space seemed to reject all things that flew, to such an extent that the Wandering Pce¡¯s dragonboat came under attack by the giant trees moments after entering.


    These attacks were much fiercer than the attacks Tang Jie had experienced. All of the giant trees in this area had extended their vines toward the dragonboat, pulling it from the sky.


    The intense pull made the dragonboat creak from the stress. Shen Qingdan took in a deep breath and finally said, ¡°In this state, it seems like there¡¯s no going forward. Aunt Ying, take eighteen Ironguards ande with me. The rest of you, stay behind and guard the ship.¡±


    There was a rumble as everyone responded to her order. Shen Qingdan flew down, and behind her were that woman called Aunt Ying and 18 Ironguards of the Wandering Pce. These people were all suicide soldiers that the Wandering Pce had nurtured for many years. All of them were at peak Nine Revolutions, and they had abination spell art that allowed them to fight against a Celestial Heart.


    The group of twenty set off for that Immortal mountain.


    Compared to the others, their greatest advantage was that they hade on a ship and disembarked after entering. In this way, they were the only group that had stayed together.


    At the same time, the white-robed Feng Buzhi floated in the air, a hint of confusion in his eyes. ¡°Heaven and earth reversed, Yin and Yang in disarray, spacetime shifting within the illusion¡­ How is this possible? Though the Beast Garden has an illusion formation, it wasn¡¯t to this level.¡±


    As a Beast Refining Gate True Person, he noticed something was wrong the moment he entered the hidden realm.


    The avatar and original had not appeared together, instead being ced far apart. And no matter how he flew, he couldn¡¯t get closer to that Immortal mountain. It was clear that the entire space had been modified so much that even someone of his abilities couldn¡¯t see through it.


    This was no coincidence. Clearly, this had all been premeditated!


    The Beast Garden had been modified so that even True Persons faced powerful restrictions.


    But Feng Buzhi didn¡¯t understand where these restrictions hade from.


    It clearly wasn¡¯t the work of the formation.


    A formation needed to beid out, and it was clear that this was the first time the Beast Garden had been opened since it had left, because if it had been opened before then, someone would have already stolen the core object rather than leaving it until now.


    Since this was the first time it was opened, it wasn¡¯t possible for a formation to have beenid out.


    Unless¡­ it was the suppressed object.


    Feng Buzhi shivered at the thought.


    Even with his status, he didn¡¯t know what the item that had been suppressed was. But if it was really the suppressed item that had thrown the space into disorder, reversing heaven and earth, then it was absurdly powerful.


    I must get that item at all costs. Once that treasure is in my hands, I, Feng Buzhi, will be a True Lord of the Beast Refining Gate! Feng Buzhi mentally shouted.


    Elsewhere in the hidden realm.


    Yiyi sat on Xu Miaoran¡¯s shoulders, looking around. She gasped in awe, ¡°Wow, this ce is so pretty!¡±


    Xu Miaoran frowned. ¡°It¡¯s also very dangerous. I didn¡¯t think that this ce would have danger lurking around every corner. I really wonder if Xian Tao and Hong Yuan are okay.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If they don¡¯t recklessly run around, they¡¯ll be fine,¡± Yiyi replied.


    ¡°How do you know that?¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯ve already spoken with them.¡± Yiyi pointed at the trees growing out of the sea. ¡°That one, that one, that one, and those guys over there. I¡¯ve spoken with all of them and told them that if they see two pretty girls, one wearing red and the other wearing green, they shouldn¡¯t make trouble for them!¡±


    ¡°Them?¡± Xu Miaoran was taken aback. ¡°Aren¡¯t they trees? Are they alive?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Yiyi pped her hands. ¡°This is a world of fiends and sprites. Every nt here is alive, and every creature will turn into a fiend!¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯m a sprite!¡± Yiyi shouted. ¡°The moment we entered, I sensed that this ce was brimming with energy.¡±


    ¡°What kind of energy?¡±


    Yiyi cocked her head and thought it over. ¡°I don¡¯t really know how to exin it, but this energy gives me power. But it¡¯s also this energy that makes this ce so formidable and scary. Time and space have been thrown into disarray, the fiends have grown stronger, and the creatures have begun to evolve. Even a True Person would find it hard to advance through here. Getting to that ind will be extremely difficult.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s that formidable?¡±


    ¡°Mm!¡± Yiyi affirmatively nodded. ¡°Even the most prepared person would probably need ten days to half a month to reach that ind.¡±


    Xu Miaoran frowned. ¡°That long?¡±


    Yiyi smiled. ¡°But we don¡¯t need to be afraid. With Yiyi, we¡¯ll very quickly get there.¡±


    She raised a small hand and tossed out a seed.


    The seed hit the water and began to grow. Arge number of vines coiled together into a small boat that floated on the surface.


    Yiyi pointed at the vine boat. ¡°Let¡¯s get on the boat. In at most three days, we¡¯ll reach the ind.¡±


    ¡°¡®Get on this boat¡¯? ¡®Three days¡¯?¡± Xu Miaoran looked at the boat full of holes in shock.


    ¡°Right!¡± Yiyi earnestly replied. ¡°If we take this boat, we won¡¯t be attacked, though we¡¯ll have to take a few detours. Hurry up. There are a lot of tasty things on the ind, so we should try and get there before those bad people take everything.¡±


    Xu Miaoran immediately realized that the tasty things Yiyi was talking about were probably the natural treasures that boosted the growth of fiends that grew in the Beast Garden.


    ¡°Okay!¡± Xu Miaoran jumped into the boat. ¡°Yiyi, let¡¯s work hard. We¡¯ll definitely be the first to get to the ind.¡±


    ¡°Mm!¡± Yiyi nodded.


    But a momentter, she grimaced. ¡°Oh no! A tree told me that someone is even faster than us!¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Yiyi shook her head. ¡°But¡­¡±


    She suddenly shrieked. ¡°He¡¯s about to reach the ind!¡±


    In the sky, a dark silhouette rapidly flew, ignoring the chronal and spatial obstructions, heading straight for the Immortal mountain in the center.


    A dark flock of crows flew over, intercepting the dark silhouette.


    There was a deep roar with the majesty of a king, and the crows scattered in fright.


    The dark silhouette continued unimpeded to the ind, where itnded.


    The Immortal mountain hadrge swaths of fruit trees and was covered in rare nts. At the same time, there were also various powerful fiends.


    The Faceless Serpent, this tyrant that made all of Joymount Ind tremble, was among them.


    It had once more grown powerful, its body an intimidating four hundred meters long.


    But in this Immortal mountain, it was an ordinary existence.


    At the peak of the Immortal mountain was a dark cave.


    A bloody glow permeated the inside of the cave.


    There were three people standing near the cave entrance.


    These were no humans, but three Transformation great fiends.


    They surrounded the cave entrance, their eyes filled with greed and fear. It seemed like something had drawn them here, but they did not dare approach.


    That dark silhouette whonded on the ind ignored all of this.


    He strode into the depths of the Immortal mountain, his body emitting a bloody glow. Wherever he went, the fiends retreated.


    They prostrated on the sides, their bodies trembling. It was as if their king had returned.


    It seems like the main schemer has arrived. It must be a mighty fiend, to have three Transformation fiends bowing to them.

 Chapter 432: Time

    Chapter 432: Time


    Three days went by in the blink of an eye.


    As the hidden realm had thrown space into disarray, even Tang Jie wasn¡¯t able to get out of the sea forest very quickly.


    There were fierce fiends everywhere, and when they were paired with man-eating trees and that bizarre formation, a cultivator found progress very difficult here.


    But the most headache-inducing thing of all was the mysterious energy within this hidden realm.


    Tang Jie could sense that a boundless energy was emanating from the core of the Immortal mountain. This energy was behind the oddities of this space, making the fiends stronger. As it had nothing to do with a formation, it also prevented Tang Jie from making speedy progress. Not only that, he couldn¡¯t even summon his original body ormunicate with Yiyi through Heart Consonance.


    Fortunately, beforeing in, he hadmunicated with Yiyi using Heart Consonance and found out that she wasing with Xu Miaoran. They probably should have entered by now.


    For thest three days, Tang Jie had been slowly moving through the forest. He didn¡¯t get lost thanks to the guidance from the rabbit fiend, Tutu, and he was getting closer and closer to that Immortal ind.


    Today, as Tang Jie was moving forward, he spotted a pink three-petaled lotus flower on the water: a Threeheart Lotus.


    The Threeheart Lotus was a kind of spiritual nt, though it normally did not grow on the sea. However, the effects of the sea fiend hidden realm had brokenmon sense, and everything had to be regarded from a new point of view.


    As a newly-grown spiritual nt, this Threeheart Lotus wasn¡¯t very valuable.


    Tang Jie looked at it and still decided to pick it, passing it to the rabbit fiend. ¡°For you.¡±


    The energy of this hidden realm made it so that all the spirit nts would work only on fiends. Fiends that ate these nts would get stronger while humans would get nothing.


    The rabbit fiend ate it in a few bites, shaking its head. ¡°This sea forest has few spirit nts, and those that existck the umtion of time. There¡¯s basically no difference between eating and not eating this Threeheart Lotus. In the end, it¡¯s only the spirit nts on that Immortal ind that are worth anything.¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re not very strong, but you have quite the picky mouth.¡±


    These words clearly wounded the rabbit fiend¡¯s pride. Standing on Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder, it stomped its feet and said, ¡°Who said that? I¡¯m still a Divine Division great fiend. Even if I¡¯ve lost the strength of that level, I still have a vast array of knowledge. I could even give you pointers.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes,¡± Tang Jie casually replied. ¡°But as a fiend, you develop naturally and have little understanding of cultivation. Thus, you can¡¯t give me any pointers on cultivation. You are a fiend of the Heavenshadow Domain, and while you¡¯ve spent many years in the Rosecloud Domain, most of that was spent sleeping. Thus, you also can¡¯t give me any pointers when ites to knowledge of this domain. Other than selling out your former master and telling me some things about the Beast Refining Gate, what other value do you have?¡±


    The rabbit fiend opened its mouth, but it couldn¡¯t say anything.


    While they were together thest few days, Tang Jie had figured out the rabbit fiendpletely. This guy didn¡¯t have any use other than acting cute and selling out others. However, it spent every day basking in its past glories and was unwilling to admit to the miserable reality.


    It was only now, when Tang Jie tore away the illusion, that the rabbit fiend realized its situation, and it was momentarily speechless.


    Tang Jie saw how sad it was and was somewhat remorseful. He soothed, ¡°Fine, regardless of what you are now, you were still a Divine Division great fiend in the past. I¡¯m sure that your weakness is only temporary. This ce is a paradise for fiends, and there are natural treasures that can increase your strength wherever we go. If we go out looking for some, we can definitely improve your strength.¡±


    The rabbitzily replied, ¡°There are also grades to spirit nts. I could eat ten thousand of this sort of one-year-old Threeheart Lotus, but that doesn¡¯t mean I would get ten thousand years¡¯ worth of cultivation.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll help you find some better ones.¡± Tang Jie grinned.


    Suddenly, he realized something and asked, ¡°What did you just say? ¡®One year old¡¯? You¡¯re saying that this Threeheart Lotus is a one-year-old spiritual nt?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± the rabbit fiend replied. ¡°What about it?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s expression sank. ¡°But that Threeheart Lotus clearly grew out not too long ago.¡±


    The hidden realm had only formed three days ago, and the Immortal mountain was the actual body. The sea forest was only part of the radial region.


    Tang Jie wouldn¡¯t find it strange if there were spirit nts that were decades or centuries old on the Immortal mountain. After all, they had probably been kept in the Beast Garden for many years.


    But the sea forest had formed only three days ago, and all of the spiritual nts had been born in thest three days. How could they be one year old?


    Tang Jie¡¯s tone became strange.


    The rabbit fiend still hadn¡¯t realized anything, saying, ¡°My Heaven-Lost Rabbit Race is extremely sensitive to this sort of thing. The amount of medicinal power can¡¯t be wrong. It¡¯s a one-year spirit nt, worth three days of cultivation at most. It¡¯s just terrible!¡±


    ¡°Is that so¡­¡± Tang Jie looked around, and he suddenly recalled that giant shark that had ¡°evolved¡± into an ape.


    One-year-old spirit nts, rapidly evolving fiends, a mysterious sea forest, and this jumbled-up space¡­ As all these things appeared in Tang Jie¡¯s mind, he finally understood, shouting, ¡°I see! It¡¯s spacetime! A spacetime treasure! That must be it!¡±


    The treasure that had been suppressed in the Beast Garden had to be some sort of treasure that could influence time. This was why the hidden realm was able to develop so rapidly, for the flow of time here was no longer the same as it was outside.


    The rabbit fiend was stunned at first, and then it jumped up and said, ¡°Right, right, it must be time! Damn it; why didn¡¯t I think of that? The Beast Garden must have been suppressing a spacetime divine treasure¨C wait, no. Spacetime items can only be Dao armaments, not divine treasure. That¡¯s one of the twelve Great Daos! We have to get it!¡±


    The rabbit fiend almost fainted from excitement.


    But Tang Jie was unmoved. ¡°¡®Get it¡¯, my ass. If it were that easy, the Beast Refining Gate wouldn¡¯t have needed to suppress it.¡±


    The rabbit fiend had nothing to say to that.


    True! If this item were that easy to control, why did the Beast Refining Gate have to seal it?


    After all, this was a sect with an Immortal tform Titan.


    Tang Jie patted the rabbit fiend. ¡°It¡¯s not our ce to think about Dao armaments. But using this opportunity toprehend some of the Dao of Time is worth considering¡­¡±


    Since he understood that the energy in the hidden realm was closely rted to Time, he would be wasting a heaven-sent chance if he didn¡¯t try toprehend Time.


    He immediately set out to do what he said, ceasing his advance and finding a giant tree to sit down atop. He then began to inspect the energy drifting about this world.


    The rabbit fiend hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to be so straightforward, and started anxiously hopping around. ¡°Hey, hey, let¡¯s keep going. There are still lots of spirit nts on the ind!¡±


    Tang Jie indifferently said, ¡°It¡¯s all for fiends, so they¡¯re of no use to me. I can¡¯t get the Dao armament, and the spirit fruits are useless to me, so rather than keep going, I would rather meditate andprehend. Even if I couldprehend the tiniest bit, I will benefit for the rest of my life.¡±


    Last time, when he hadprehended Karma, it was because a sudden insight had allowed him to understand thoughts that had been on his mind for some time. This time, however, he was trying to seize that Dao Will contained in that treasure¡¯s energy. It had nothing to do with himself.


    Thus, in essence, Tang Jie¡¯s understanding of the Dao of Karma was calledprehending, and his attempt to understand the Dao of Time could instead be called robbery.


    Robbery required power, not the mind, so the mental requirements were much more rxed. If one did not consider efficiency, one could even talk while doing it.


    The rabbit fiend angrily jumped up and down around Tang Jie. ¡°Ugh, you think the Great Dao of Time is that easy toprehend? This rabbit cultivated for ten thousand years, and I had the innate talent of Undirected Orientation, a skill derived from the Great Dao of Space, and I even reached Divine Division. But even then, I was never able toprehend a single other Dao! Trying toprehend a Dao here is just wasting time!¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°I¡¯ve only cultivated for ten years and didn¡¯t have any special gifts, but in these ten years, I¡¯veprehended Wisdom, Space, and Karma once, and I¡¯ve also understood Insight.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The rabbit fiend almost fell off Tang Jie¡¯s shoulder in shock. ¡°That¡¯s not possible! Comprehending three Great Daos in ten years? It¡¯s impossible!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not strange,¡± Tang Jie calmly said. ¡°There are some things thate with natural thresholds. For people who haven¡¯t reached the threshold, things are extremely difficult, like an imbecile trying to do math. You could give them ten thousand years and they wouldn¡¯t achieve a thing. But for those who have reached the threshold, things be only a matter of time.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying I¡¯m an imbecile?¡± the rabbit fiend shrieked.


    ¡°Ten thousand years and not a single Daoprehended? At least when ites toprehending Daos, you are an imbecile,¡± Tang Jie bluntly replied.


    ¡°And you are a genius?¡± the rabbit shouted back.


    ¡°I might not be a genius, but I made the most correct decision,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°If 60 points is the basic threshold for being able toprehend a Great Dao, then I already reached that point. The first Dao Iprehended was Insight, and though it is a minor Dao, it improved myprehension, so you could say it added 5 points. After that, Iprehended Wisdom. Insight is a part of Wisdom, so afterprehending Wisdom, I alsoprehended more of Insight, almost mastering it. The twobined added on another 10 points. In this way, I already have 75 points for the threshold ofprehending Daos, so is it strange that I would subsequentlyprehend Space and Karma?¡±


    The rabbit fiend¡¯s jaw dropped, and it couldn¡¯t find a retort.


    Comprehending a Great Dao required both fortune and ability.


    The most terrifying thing about Tang Jie was that his ability allowed him to seize fortune such that he would not miss an opportunity if it came to him.


    But from a personal perspective, chance did not y a particrlyrge factor in this Time treasure energy.


    Of Tang Jie¡¯s 60-point threshold, one could reasonably say that 50 points were fortune.


    Thus, his ability¡¯s share was only 25 points¡ª10 from himself, and 15 fromprehending Insight and Wisdom.


    As for those 50 points of fortune, in this particr situation, Tang Jie had 10 points at best.


    In total, he had only 35 points, which was far from the threshold.


    And going by his own theory, it wasn¡¯t that Tang Jie had a 35% chance of sess. Instead, he had a 100% chance of failure.


    But the world was unpredictable, and cultivation wasn¡¯t math. The numbers were purely reference, the exact details depending on the person. What was absolutely impossible probability-wise might still be possible in reality, though there was still a massive gap to be ovee.


    For Tang Jie, whether he seeded or not, he was in the habit of doing his best to make use of every opportunity that came his way. The oue was not important.


    Without an ambitious heart, it didn¡¯t matter how many opportunities were given, as one would give them all up regardless.


    As he spoke, he closed his eyes and opened his mind, allowing it to freely soar about the hidden realm and feel the Time power within this space.


    As he had yet to cultivate a Spirit Will, Tang Jie could not proactively interact with this energy. Although this energy filled the world and Tang Jie could sense its existence, he could only sense whatever interacted with his body, and his will could not travel too far.


    Shedding mortality andprehending the Dao involved using the Heaven-Earth Bridge. Questioning the heart andprehending the Dao involved understanding one¡¯s personal insights. Borrowing a treasure toprehend the Dao required the support of actual strength.


    Robbery required force, not mind!


    Thus, toprehend a Great Dao from a treasure, one first needed sufficient strength.


    This was also why Tang Jie¡¯s fortune was only 10 points. He wascking the needed strength.


    But Tang Jie had no ns of giving up.


    So long as he tried, even if he failed, he would have no regrets!


    As the mind entered theprehending state, it tuned out all sounds. He stopped hearing theining of the rabbit fiend, his entire body and soul immersed in trying to sense andprehend this energy.


    His mind gradually emptied, and his surroundings seemed to grow still.


    Without a Spirit Will, he couldn¡¯t see the outside world, but he could at least see his own body.


    Unlike before, when he truly focused on looking into his body, what he saw changed.


    He could see his heart beating, his blood flowing, and his organs all operating as they should, but all of this was drawn out into a very long curved line.


    There were countless hims on this curved line, all existing at once but with tiny differences. They represented him at different points in time, but they appeared on the same line and in the same manner.


    Thus, Tang Jie saw countless versions of himself extending endlessly.


    There was no end, and as time passed, the curved line grew longer and longer. But rather than disappearing, those selves from the past lingered.


    Thus, the line got longer and longer. As one moved toward the beginning, one could see the past, and if one chased the end, one could see the future.


    Tang Jie tried his best to see that part of the line leading toward the future, but he only saw darkness.


    He knew that this was because he had yet to grasp the Dao, meaning he could not see his future. After all, prophecies were one of the most powerful manifestations of the Dao of Time.


    Not only that, from the line itself, he could see that this was a part of the Dao of Time that had nothing to do with prophecy. He didn¡¯t know what Dao it was, but he had to try to get it.


    He tried to approach all those countless illusory selves, but he could never reach them.


    They were right there, yet they seemed as far away as the other end of the world.


    No matter how he tried, he couldn¡¯t grab them!


    In this illusory mental world, only Divine Will could get close. Spirit Will was only the foundation!


    He didn¡¯t even have Spirit Will, so how could he even talk about seizing a Great Dao?


    ¡°No¡­¡± Tang Jie bellowed.


    s, despite his best efforts, without a Spirit Will, he was unable to seize even a sliver of a chance. It had to be understood that even a Spirit Will wouldn¡¯t have guaranteed him that chance.


    Maintaining this mental world was consuming a great deal of Tang Jie¡¯s energy.


    As that timeline grew more and more distant while he was incapable of grasping it, Tang Jie knew that this attempt would most likely end in failure.


    He let out a long sigh and prepared himself for the loss.


    At this moment, a majestic wave of energy swept out.


    The rabbit fiend realized to its shock that all of the nts around it were rapidly growing.


    Numerous vines rose up from the sea and grew into giant trees.


    Countless fish turned into sea fiends and crawled up the trees, but none of them dared to approach the pair.


    Tang Jie¡¯s hair swiftly grew until it reached his waist.


    ¡°Time¡­¡± the rabbit fiend gasped. ¡°Time is elerating, directly acting on humans. How?¡±


    It only now saw that the immense amount of energy in the air had substantialized into a giant vortex of clouds that was spinning over their heads, radiating a bloody light. The pressure it was releasing was so great that the rabbit fiend plopped onto its butt in fright.


    It didn¡¯t know of the immense transformation taking ce in Tang Jie¡¯s mental world.


    That distant line suddenly started toe back, rushing straight at him!


    Finally, Tang Jie¡¯s consciousness fell on that timeline, merging with one of the points.


    Ahead of him was still a murky darkness, and behind him were countless past selves that stretched back as far as he could see.


    Yes, he was finally standing on the timeline!


    He was so excited that he wanted to roar.


    With no Spirit Will, he was unable to seize the Dao of Time, but the Dao of Time had chosen to crash into him.


    He didn¡¯t know why this was the case, but he knew that the next step was key toprehending anything.


    Standing on the timeline was only the opening toprehension. Now, he needed to see what he could discover and solve.


    And he didn¡¯t have much time.


    The moment he stood on the timeline of his life, his time began to elerate, and his life began to rapidly drain away.


    Whether heprehended the Dao of Time or not, every second of his time was being used up at ten thousand times the normal flow of time. The more time he spentprehending, the more of his life was consumed.


    He mightprehend nothing about the Dao of Time but go white-haired in a single night, or even turn into dust.


    Comprehending a Dao was not safe. Great opportunity often came hand in hand with great risk.


    Tang Jie understood all of this the moment he stepped onto that timeline, but he did not turn back.


    He looked into the unknown darkness and took a step forward¡­


    The trueprehension had only just begun.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The little boat passed through the dense forest, finally approaching that Immortal mountain!


    ¡°Oh! Finally here!¡± Yiyi cheered as Xu Miaoran pulled her up and stepped onto shore.


    ¡°Look!¡± Pointing into the distance, Yiyi excitedly said, ¡°So many tasty things!¡±


    Sure enough, in the distance were several dozen trees from which precious fruits dangled.


    When it came to valuable nts, there were quite a few. They were all at least one hundred years old.


    She started to count off with her fingers, ¡°There are Gold Fruits, Jade Lotus Fruits, Luminescent Grass¡­ They¡¯re all tasty!¡±


    The little girl waved her hands and rushed forward.


    ¡°Hey, be careful!¡± Xu Miaoran tried to grab her, but Yiyi had already run off, so she gave chase.


    In their journey of three days, they had seen many savage fiends. Even these newborn fiends had given them a lot of trouble, and the fiends on the ind were even stronger. How could a ce with so many rare spirit nts be without great fiend guardians?


    Sure enough, as Yiyi rushed out, a massive fiend wolf charged at her.


    The fiend wolf opened its mouth to eat Yiyi up.


    ¡°Dodge!¡± Xu Miaoran shouted, thrusting out her palm. A st of wind struck the fiend wolf with a bang, sending it flying.


    The fiend wolf got back up, seemingly fine.


    Xu Miaoran grimaced. ¡°Yiyi, be careful. This fiend wolf isn¡¯t weak.¡±


    She knew how much power she had put in that palm. Since this fiend could take it without any problem, it was at least middle-grade Mind Opening.


    But she wasn¡¯t afraid of a middle-grade fiend wolf.


    However, a momentter, several hundred fiends emerged from the forest, and all of them seemed to be at Mind Opening.


    Xu Miaoran¡¯s heart went cold. She had never imagined that there would be this many Mind Opening fiends on this ind. She grabbed Yiyi and began to retreat.


    She had only fallen back a few steps when the cry of an eagle came from overhead.


    Looking up, she saw an Ironback Eagle circling in the air in a slow descent.


    Shaking its wings, it turned into a hawk-nosed middle-aged man who coldly looked at Xu Miaoran and Yiyi.


    A Transformation great fiend!


    Xu Miaoran was scared out of her wits.


    She pushed Yiyi. ¡°Yiyi, run!¡±


    Yiyi shouted, ¡°No! Yiyi wants to go with Big Sister!¡±


    Xu Miaoran was frantic. She pulled an item from her Mustard Seed Bag and resolved herself to fight to the death.


    But to her surprise, the Transformation great fiend looked at them, let out a long cry, and then turned back into an eagle and left.


    The fiends also instantly dispersed.


    Yiyi and Xu Miaoran were dumbfounded, struggling to understand what had happened.


    Yiyi was still the bolder one. She looked around and shouted, ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s eat first.¡±


    She rushed over to grab a spirit fruit and began to chow down.


    ¡°Yiyi, be careful!¡± Xu Miaoran was worried that the fiends woulde back, and ran up to protect her. But she looked left and right and found that none of those fiends hade back.


    As she was wondering what was going on, a fruit dropped down in front of Xu Miaoran.


    Yiyi said in her childish voice, ¡°Big Sister, take it.¡±


    Xu Miaoran replied, ¡°These things aren¡¯t of any use to me.¡±


    Yiyi replied, ¡°If you can¡¯t use it, just take it. Don¡¯t leave it for others.¡±


    Xu Miaoran rolled her eyes. ¡°Thisck of conscience¡ªdid you learn it from Tang Jie?¡±


    ¡°You think you can learn to be a good person from Big Brother?¡± Yiyi smirked. She rushed to another spirit nt and pulled it out of the ground.


    Leaving Xu Miaoran in her doubt and confusion, Yiyi began to clean the area of spiritual nts, after which she pulled Xu Miaoran to another area.


    It appeared that this little girl was determined to plunder this ce of everything useful.


    It seems like the gods must be protecting Yiyi! The entire ind is hers to feast on!

 Chapter 433: The Dao Will of Time (1)

    Chapter 433: The Dao Will of Time (1)


    A jellyfish was making its way up through the azure waters, crawling up a giant tree.


    After going through the most important transformation in its life, it now had four thick and powerful limbs, and its semi-transparent light blue body had be tough and solid.


    It appeared like some unidentified blue-skinned creature. Its limited intelligence meant that it had not developed a sense of self. Its instinct was driving it to climb up to the sky.


    It could sense that there was something there that could perfect its form.


    If it could reach the summit, it would be a new and mighty species.


    It persistently ascended, climbing out of the sea and toward the top of the giant tree.


    There was still a long way to go. The giant tree was like a heaven-scraping tower, seemingly with no end.


    The jellyfish tirelessly climbed, experiencing spring and autumn, winter and summer.


    It grew older and older, weaker and weaker, but it still did not give up.


    Finally, it reached the top of the tree, standing atop the head of a giant.


    It excitedly roared. I am finally standing at the apex of the world!


    But when it looked down, it saw the azure waters.


    The jellyfish froze.


    It didn¡¯t understand how it had been able to climb for so many years and still be so close to the surface of the water.


    There was a gust of wind, and the aged jellyfish saw its body turn to dust.


    At that moment, the jellyfish finally understood.


    It wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t climb high enough. My life was just too short.


    Its life had been this journey!


    The rabbit fiend backed up a few steps to avoid the disintegrating jellyfish, at the same time avoiding the timestream around Tang Jie.


    There was worry in its eyes as it looked at Tang Jie sitting atop the tree.


    It had already been a day.


    The flow of time was such that it felt like Tang Jie had used up thirty years.


    His hair extended all the way to the ground, and his face was more mature and seemed weathered by hardship. As a cultivator, he should have been able to maintain a youthful appearance, but not while the flow of time was rapidly draining away his life force.


    His weathered face left Tutu very concerned. It shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, hurry and get up! You can¡¯t keep this up! You¡¯ll die!¡±


    Even the life of a cultivator had its limits. Although Tang Jie was still young and couldst for a few more days, entering old age early would have a huge effect on hister cultivation. And thest tier of the Mortal Shedding Realm, the Three Withering Tribtions, devoured one¡¯s life force and made one rapidly age. Thus, a cultivator neededrge amounts of life force to support them throughout.


    If he failed to push through, Tang Jie¡¯s life would end there.


    But Tang Jie seemedpletely unaware.


    The winds of time blew on his body, lifting up a few strands of long, gray hair.


    He quietly sat in thought, like a stone statue.


    Tutu didn¡¯t know when he would finally wake up, but it knew that if this went on, Tang Jie would truly be doomed.


    It finally decided to toss aside its apprehensions and wake Tang Jie up. But as it walked over to push Tang Jie, Tang Jie suddenly said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Tutu looked at Tang Jie in shock.


    Tang Jie was still motionless, as if someone else had spoken.


    He was stillprehending and had yet to leave that mystical state.


    Then¡­ how did he know what it was going to do?


    Tutu didn¡¯t understand, but Tang Jie¡¯s words gave it a little confidence.


    It backed away a few steps and sat back down.


    Twelve hours passed.


    In terms of lost lifespan, Tang Jie was currently an old man approaching seventy.


    His hair had all gone white.


    For a cultivator who had yet to experience the Three Withering Tribtions, this age wasn¡¯t young. The vast majority of cultivators who reached this age would no longer be able to ovee those three tribtions.


    By now, Tutu had decided that there was no point in stopping Tang Jie now, so he was no longer worried about Tang Jie¡¯s condition.


    Since his fate was set, it really didn¡¯t matter if he lived or died here.


    A howling wind came through.


    The vortex of clouds overhead gradually dispersed.


    This wind carried the bitter chill of autumn and the warmth of spring, and Tutu couldn¡¯t help but shiver.


    He looked around, his sharp senses telling him that something had changed, but he didn¡¯t know exactly what had changed.


    In front of him, Tang Jie slowly opened his eyes.


    Old, but full of wisdom.


    ¡°Tutu,¡± he said.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally awake.¡± Tutu excitedly hopped to its feet.


    Tang Jie squeezed out a smile from his bark-like face, mottled with liver spots. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m awake. I made you worry.¡±


    ¡°Did you seed inprehending the Dao?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°I benefited greatly!¡±


    Tutu suddenly sensed something and pointed at Tang Jie in shock. ¡°Eh? Your cultivation level¡­¡±


    Tang Jie indifferently said, ¡°Mm, while I was cultivating the Dao, I decided to cultivate my body on the side. Using the flow of time, I cultivated to the fourth revolution.¡±


    Whileprehending the Dao, Tang Jie decided to improve himself, and since he was doing it on the side, he hadn¡¯t improved by much¡ªonly by two revolutions. But for Tang Jie, that had still saved him time.


    Tutu looked at him in a daze before saying, ¡°What about it? What does it matter that after 36 hours, 41 years of your time, you finallyprehended a Dao? What does it matter that you achieved more revolutions? You can¡¯t get back the life that you¡¯ve lost. In your current situation, unless you can find a natural treasure that can restore your lifespan, you won¡¯t survive the Three Withering Tribtions! 41 years for only two revolutions is far from worth it! This sort of speed will only get you a speedy death!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°What does death matter when ites to seeking the Great Dao? You take some things too seriously.¡±


    For Tang Jie, this body was only an avatar, so even if it turned to dust, it was fine. After all, the Dao Will his avatarprehended would also beprehended by the original. Moreover, the Nine Executions Immortal Formation had many natural treasures, and there could be one that could restore lifespan among them.


    But he couldn¡¯t say any of this to Tutu. He waved his hand, cutting his long hair and turning it ck, changing his face back to its original appearance. He then took out a change of clothes from his Mustard Seed Bag to rece the clothes that had grown shabby from the ravages of time. Like this, he returned to his original appearance.


    Tutu was bbergasted. It was about to ask how he had restored his lifespan when it realized and asked, ¡°You can use transformation spells?¡±


    Tang Jie smiled and nodded.


    Tutu angrily stomped its feet. ¡°What¡¯s the point? It¡¯s like covering your ears when trying to steal a bell!¡±


    Tang Jie was now using the fiend fox¡¯s transformation spell to hide his appearance, and while it concealed his feeble lifespan, it did not change the reality.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°It¡¯s only to save the trouble of exining. Tutu, remember to not tell anyone about this.¡±


    Tutu sighed and nodded.


    It then asked, ¡°Right, what did youprehend?¡±


    After paying such an enormous price, he had to at least have recovered some of his capital.


    While Time was a Great Dao, unlike the other Great Daos, it had countless branches, like the ability of Prophecy, which allowed one to see into the future; the ability of Reformation that allowed a return to the original state; Lightning Time, the ability to instantly elerate one¡¯s speed; and countless other abilities. When Shi Wunian had restored the booklet that Nan Baicheng had torn apart, he had been using Reformation.


    Beneath the Great Dao were countless minor Daos.


    Tutu was sure that Tang Jie wasn¡¯t capable enough toprehend aplete Great Dao, so he should have onlyprehended a small part.


    Just as Tang Jie was about to answer, his face suddenly turned serious, and he cocked his head and listened. ¡°Someone ising toward us.¡±


    ¡°Who is it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but no matter who it is, in this Beast hidden realm, we have more enemies than friends. Let¡¯s go over and take a look. If it¡¯s an enemy, we can take care of them and I can test out my new Dao Will.¡± Tang Jie grabbed Tutu and flew off.


    Tutu shouted, ¡°Hey, hey, don¡¯t just randomly start flying. This ce¡¯s space is all jumbled up. Tell me where they are and I can lead you there.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s no longer a problem,¡± Tang Jie casually replied.


    A small blessing from hisprehension of the Great Dao was that this ce¡¯s disordered spacetime no longer affected him.


    He soon arrived at another part of the ocean.


    Ahead of him, two Beast Refining Gate disciples were mindlessly moving forward like headless flies.


    Tang Jie could tell that they were both at the Cognitive Creation Tier.


    In the past, without the Heavenbane Lightning Pearls, he wouldn¡¯t have been certain about his chances of taking on two Cognitive Creation cultivators, even if he used the golden dagger and the Mindseizers.


    But this time, things were different.


    When Tang Jie saw the two of them, he flew over whileughing, ¡°Senior brothers, have you been well?¡±


    The two of them were scared out of their wits at this person suddenly charging at them, shouting, ¡°Tang Jie!¡±


    They both simultaneously used wind spells, their bodies bing light and nimble. This was clearly a precaution against any iing Heavenbane Lightning Pearls.


    It was understandable. Tang Jie¡¯s use of the Heavenbane Lightning Pearls in that battle on the sea had left far too deep of an impression.


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°Rx. I don¡¯t need to use Heavenbane Lightning Pearls to deal with the two of you.¡±


    The two Beast Refining Gate disciples scowled in anger.


    While Heavenbane Lightning Pearls were expensive, they were ultimately just items that could be bought for some tens of thousands of spirit coins.


    Raising a proper disciple took far more resources than that.


    By saying that these two Cognitive Creation Tier cultivators weren¡¯t worth a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl, Tang Jie was essentially ridiculing them.


    But he truly did have that right.


    Even though he was facing two foes of a higher tier than him, Tang Jie waspletely unconcerned. On the contrary, it was the two Beast Refining Gate disciples who seemed nervous.


    The two of them shared a look and nodded.


    One of them savagely shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, we know all your tricks. Don¡¯t even think about using any of your schemes today!¡±


    As he spoke, the two of them summoned six refined beasts: an eagle, a tiger, a shark, a turtle, a crane, and a snake.


    As this was an ocean world, refined beasts that could swim or fly were more suitable forbat here. Thus, of the six refined beasts the pair had summoned, five could swim or fly. The onlyndbound beast was that tiger. This beast had been released because the Beast Garden¡¯s effect on fiends had always favored tigers.


    For this reason, the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s strongest fiends had always been tigers.


    The six beasts appeared and lunged at Tang Jie, howling and shrieking.


    Two Beast Refining Gate disciples havee to offer themselves as target dummies! Time to see if it was worth it for Tang Jie to be an old man!

 Chapter 434: The Dao Will of Time (2)

    Chapter 434: The Dao Will of Time (2)


    I stand on the center of the timeline, facing the choices of the past and the future.


    Behind me is the eternal past, a sturdy wall that is difficult to ovee.


    In front of me is the blurry future, ethereal and unstable.


    I firmly look forward. Even if I cannot see through it and cannot advance into it, I still stubbornly stretch out my hand.


    Where I stretch my hand out to is the future¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The six savage refined beasts lunged at Tang Jie¡ªthe eagleing from the sky, the snake thrusting out its tongue, the tiger pouncing, the shark biting. The six refined beasts came from the sky, the surface, and from under the water, instantly cutting off all of Tang Jie¡¯s possible paths of retreat.


    At the same time, the two Beast Refining Gate disciples applied barriers to themselves, even activating their protective jade tokens and armor, using multipleyers of defense.


    The two of them were extremely wary of Tang Jie, as if they were facing a peak Mortal Shedding expert rather than one at Nine Revolutions.


    Tang Jie simply smiled and backed away, dodging the attacks of the six beasts, then thrust out his right palm.


    Dragonlike Hand!


    ¡°Be careful!¡± The two Beast Refining Gate disciples called out to each other and retreated at the same time.


    But this Dragonlike Hand had no effect¡ªnot even a gust of wind. The six beasts pushed through without encountering any resistance. The golden eagle, which was the fastest of them, struck Tang Jie in the chest with its w, and then the tiger¡¯s pounce sent Tang Jie flying.


    As the two disciples were stunned by this sight, Tang Jie cast a spell.


    This time, he used the Heavenly Cloud des.


    As the hand signs were formed, an astonishing energy formed around him.


    The two Beast Refining Gate disciples shrank back like turtles, preparing to evade.


    But after Tang Jie had finished casting the spell, there was nothing.


    Meanwhile, the snake and crane attacked, and even with Tang Jie¡¯s Formless Golden Body, they still made him throw up some blood.


    He simply smiled, pulled out the Heartbreak Saber, and swung.


    Matchless sh!


    But as before, there was no reaction from the de.


    The two Beast Refining Gate disciples stared at each other in surprise. They began to wonder if this guy had gone crazy, only demonstrating the form of his attacks.


    They had been too afraid of Tang Jie before to attack with all their strength, but after seeing Tang Jie¡¯s casts repeatedly fail, they finally worked up the courage, each of them thrusting out a palm.


    Winds surged up while mes and lightning shed. Together with the six beasts, the Beast Refining Gate disciples fully disyed their might.


    Tang Jie began to cast a fourth spell.


    The Heavenly King Mara Incantation.


    The incantation took a particrly long time, and Tang Jie endured the attacks of the two humans and six beasts to finally cast it. But just like before, there was nothing.


    The two Beast Refining Gate disciples were utterly speechless.


    They now felt like Tang Jie was teasing them and grew furious, their attacks increasingly vicious. But they knew that Tang Jie was a schemer, so even when they attacked, they prepared to defend or dodge, not giving Tang Jie any opportunity to exploit.


    Tang Jie continued to concern himself with his own business, casting the Divine Court Thousandshift, the Star Finger, and the Jade Shattering Finger. He basically cast every spell art he knew.


    During this time, he was attacked again and again and threw up blood over and over from his serious injuries.


    ¡°Tang Jie, what are you up to?¡± a Beast Refining Gate disciple shouted in confusion.


    Tang Jie simply smiled.


    He swung his de at the air and then raised his head to look at the two.


    There was a sh of lightning in his eyes.


    He said, ¡°The time is now!¡±


    What?


    The two of them were stunned.


    Suddenly, the skies rumbled with thunder.


    An enormous phantom like a golden Buddha thrust out a giant palm at the people below.


    The Heavenly King Mara Incantation!


    At the same time, in the clouds above that Buddha phantom, twenty Heavenly Cloud des dropped from the sky at the two Beast Refining Gate disciples.


    From the west came an energy palm that roared like a dragon.


    Dragonlike Hand!


    From the north came a howling wave of saber energy.


    Matchless sh!


    From the east came nine flying stars, as swift as lightning.


    The Star Finger!


    From the south were the lights of numerous weapons, all of them shining off each other.


    Divine Court Thousandshift!


    The attacks came from four different directions at the same time and converged at a single point.


    And at the very center, a finger made of white jade thrust out.


    The Jade Shattering Finger!


    They were apanied by various energy bolts and waves of saber energy.


    Energy Needle, Windcleaver!


    In the space of one second, Tang Jie attacked this area from seven or eight different directions.


    The ferocity of the assault, the power of the spell arts, and the level of damage were far beyond what could be imagined.


    These two Beast Refining Gate disciples were strong enough that they could have easily defended against these attacks if they hade individually. If their barriers fell, they could even take on an attack while they applied a new barrier.


    But when all of these attacks were concentrated into a single point, normal methods no longer worked.


    The surging palm sts, saber waves, and energy boltsnded on those two people and six beasts and unleashed a dazzling explosion of light and mes.


    Under this savage assault, barriers dissipated into white light, protective jade tokens shattered, and armor was shredded like paper. All defensive methods melted like ice, and the two Beast Refining Gate disciples were exposed to this flood of spell arts and instantly annihted¡­


    Not even when they died did they understand what had happened.


    Whew! Tang Jie let out a long breath andnded on a tree. He began to adjust his energy flow and recover from his wounds.


    ¡°This¡­ What in the world happened?¡± The rabbit fiend was utterly baffled by what it had just seen.


    ¡°You still don¡¯t understand?¡± Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°This is my Dao Will of Time.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­¡± The rabbit fiend took a few moments to finally understand, shouting, ¡°You sent all your attacks to a certain moment of time in the future and had them all erupt at the same time?¡±


    ¡°Correct!¡± Tang Jie replied.


    Dyed eruption was the Dao Will of Time that he hadprehended. Tang Jie called it ¡°Time Set¡±.


    Comprehending the Dao of Time had never been easy.


    Standing on that timeline only meant that he had the right toprehend, not that he could seed.


    In truth, the Dao of Time was far more difficult toprehend than the previous three Daos that Tang Jie hadprehended. For example, the Dao of Karma took three days toprehend, but there had been no time limit. But standing on the timeline drained one¡¯s life force, meaning that Tang Jie couldn¡¯t just grind away at the problem. Thus, the difficulty doubled.


    In these circumstances, he had despaired, believing that he would have to let this opportunity go.


    But at that final moment, unwilling to leave, he had stretched out his hand, and this had allowed him to touch the other side of Time.


    Tang Jie had reached out toward that blurry, dark, and unfathomable line of the future¡­


    From that moment, he possessed the ability to send his attacks to the future, but this had also thrown a wrench into his ns. In reality, he had not managed toprehend the Dao Will on that treasure. He had only borrowed that Dao Will toprehend his own Dao Will.


    And this ability was only at its most basic level.


    He could only send out his attacks 30 seconds into the future, which limited his attack window to thirty seconds. Moreover, they were also released at a fixed position.


    For example, if Tang Jie attacked Point A, after 30 seconds, wherever Tang Jie was, the attack would still be aimed at Point A. If the target had moved somewhere else in the meantime, the attack would miss.


    For this reason, Tang Jie had used Time Set on wide-area attacks like the Dragonlike Hand, the Heavenly King Mara Incantation, the Matchless sh, and the Divine Court Thousandshift. As for the Jade Shattering Finger, s, this spell art had actually missed, and only six of the Heavenly Cloud des had hit something.


    For the same reason, when Tang Jie used Time Set attacks, he couldn¡¯t wander too far from the area. Thus, he had to endure the attacks of his enemies and run around in circles rather than trying to evade.


    Fortunately, he was facing the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people, and the Beast Refining Gate had always relied on numbers for victory, with their explosive abilities always ranking at the very bottom of the major sects. This was why Tang Jie was easily able to drag things out for 30 seconds.


    If it had been someone from the Thousand Passions Sect, Tang Jie could only have cast two or three spell arts. Any more would be suicidal.


    Worth noting was that each Time Set had a fixed time that could not be changed, and there could not be multiple time points.


    In other words, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t cast ten spell arts and have some of them explode after ten seconds and the rest explode at twelve seconds.


    For the same reason, once he cast a spell, he couldn¡¯t change the time the spell erupted, nor could he take it back. He had to wait for everything to pass before he could set a new time for his spell arts to erupt.


    Of course, this all had to do with his level ofprehension. As he furthered his understanding of this Dao Will of Time, his ability to manipte it would gradually improve.


    In short, this was a time bomb ability, a new trump card that Tang Jie could add to his arsenal after showing his hand at the battle over the sea.


    And it was also the first Dao Will Tang Jie hadprehended that directly improved hisbat power. Wisdom, Space, and Karma all did not provide much help in battle.


    Wisdom primarily improved hisprehension, and while Insight could let him discover the weak points of his opponent, it took too much time, and finding a weakness didn¡¯t mean that he could exploit it. Space had been for him to create the domain-breaking teleportation formation, so it was mostly focused on spatial formations. As for Karma, it was focused on specific events and was useless in battle.


    Only afterprehending the Time Set Dao Will did Tang Jie truly have a chance to greatly improve his strength.


    The rabbit fiend was stunned when it understood what Tang Jie¡¯s Dao Will could do.


    The rabbit fiend naturally understood the difference between concentrating spell arts and sending them out separately, and Tang Jie had just proved the power of this method. When the rabbit fiend thought about what would happen when this kid reached a higher level, unleashing numerous powerful spell arts all at once, it shivered and counted itself lucky that this was the master it was serving.


    As it was lost in thought, someone flew out from the distance.


    Wearing a pink gown, who else could it be but Shen Qingdan?


    Well, well, well, look who it is.

 Chapter 435: Companions

    Chapter 435: Companions


    Tang Jie was startled when he saw Shen Qingdan. How had she gotten here?


    He wanted to avoid her, but Shen Qingdan was making her way straight to him, probably attracted by that heaven-shaking flood of spell arts just now.


    She quickly closed the distance, and when she saw Tang Jie, her eyes filled with shock. ¡°Tang Jie, why are you here?¡±


    Tang Jie could only reply, ¡°I was passing through the area and saw a hidden realm emerging from the sea. Curious, I came inside to take a look.¡±


    Shen Qingdan suspiciously looked at him. ¡°Such a coincidence? I took four days to get here, and you only just came into the hidden realm and already managed to get here?¡±


    Tang Jie saw Shen Qingdan expose his lie so easily andughed. He was about to exin when Shen Qingdan¡¯s eyes dimmed. ¡°You must have been there, watching as I opened the hidden realm, right?¡±


    Tang Jie froze for several moments before finally nodding. ¡°My apologies, Lady Shen, I¡­¡±


    Shen Qingdan coldly cut him off. ¡°I know. You just don¡¯t want there to be any disputes between us. It¡¯s very normal to avoid me so that that Lady Xu won¡¯t get angry and cause a ruckus.¡±


    Tang Jie hurriedly said, ¡°Lady Shen, you misunderstand. The Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people were there at the time, and they¡¯ve been chasing me this whole time, so it wasn¡¯t appropriate for me to show myself.¡±


    Shen Qingdan asked, ¡°Then if the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people hadn¡¯t been there, would you have shown yourself?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s mouth opened, but he didn¡¯t know how to reply.


    Yes, would he have appeared if the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people hadn¡¯t been there?


    Tang Jie found it difficult to answer this question.


    He didn¡¯t know how to reply, but he had a vague idea that the answer would be that he still wouldn¡¯t appear. For him, Shen Qingdan would always be a passing traveler, and the engagement between them was nothing more than a joke.


    But he couldn¡¯t just tell her that, as that would damage her emotions or dignity. Thus, he hesitated and was unable to make up his mind.


    But Shen Qingdan needed only to look at him to know what he was thinking.


    Softly sighing, she said, ¡°You still wouldn¡¯t.¡±


    Tang Jie hardened his resolve and said, ¡°It never happened, so no one can say for sure. At most, I can only say that I¡¯m not certain.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re not certain, then we can try it out now,¡± Shen Qingdan said, not backing down.


    Tang Jie was startled, and then he understood. ¡°You¡­¡±


    Shen Qingdan replied, ¡°Since we¡¯ve met, there must be destiny between us. What about it? Young Sir Tang, are you willing to be mypanion and travel with me?¡±


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. ¡°I¡¯m being chased by the Beast Refining Gate, so if you travel with me, you¡¯ll end up in danger. Didn¡¯t you see how I was battling with the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people just now and barely survived?¡±


    Shen Qingdan sneered, ¡°I truly did see it. Young Sir Tang is perfectly fine, and not even a speck remains of the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people.¡±


    Tang Jie was silenced.


    He now somewhat understood that Shen Qingdan had the ssic princess personality that wasn¡¯t willing to lose out to anyone.


    She didn¡¯t necessarily like him. She just couldn¡¯t stand being ignored.


    This entire conversation had been targeted at Tang Jie¡¯s attitude toward her. It seemed that if she didn¡¯t get an answer that satisfied her, she would continue to cause trouble for him.


    Ah, since you want to follow, then just follow.


    Thinking this, Tang Jie replied, ¡°Tang Jie does not dare to reject the young pce lord¡¯s generosity. Since that is the case, let us travel together.¡±


    Shen Qingdan finally made a satisfied smile. Turning around, she said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­¡± Tang Jie said.


    Shen Qingdan said without stopping, ¡°What? Young Sir Tang, are you going back on your decision?¡±


    ¡°No, but there¡¯s¡­¡±


    Before Tang Jie could finish, there was a burst of brilliant me. Shen Qingdan shrieked as she was caught in a powerful shockwave.


    ¡°A formation trap!¡± Tang Jie finally finished.


    He looked at Shen Qingdan, who, while unharmed, now had a face covered in ash.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± she angrily roared.


    Tang Jie shrugged. ¡°Let me lead the way.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The disordered space¡¯s effect on Tang Jie was greatly minimized now that Tang Jie hadprehended that Dao Will of Time. But parts of the formation not within the disordered space were still working, preventing Tang Jie from going straight to the ind. Even so, his progression speed was greatly improved.


    Without any mishaps, he would need three days at most to reach the ind.


    On the journey, Tang Jie and Shen Qingdan had a few conversations.


    At the start, Tang Jie was still rather embarrassed, but Shen Qingdan was very open, asking Tang Jie about his recent situation and how he had gotten here.


    As Tang Jie answered these questions, Shen Qingdan gave him a rough summary of her own circumstances.


    It turned out that when Shen Qingdan¡¯s group had disembarked from their ship and started heading toward the ind, they encountered a group of Mind Opening fiends midway. There were many of them, but more importantly, there was also a Transformation great fiend.


    While the Wandering Pce group had just as many people, they were no match for these fiends, so they ultimately fled in different directions.


    Shen Qingdan had ended up here while running from fiends.


    ¡°But I don¡¯t know how Aunt Ying and the others are doing.¡± Shen Qingdan seemed rather sad when speaking about her scattered guards.


    ¡°Rx. Fiends normally all have their own territory, and they normally won¡¯t chase someone outside of it. Your people should be fine.¡±


    Shen Qingdan replied, ¡°I know that, but that¡¯s exactly why I think it¡¯s strange. Why would those fiends suddenly join together to attack us? Shouldn¡¯t they have been guarding their own territories?¡±


    Tang Jie pondered the problem and replied, ¡°When a fiend reaches Mind Opening, it attains intelligence simr to a human being¡¯s, so they can no longer be regarded in the same way as before. For them to organize themselves isn¡¯t strange.¡±


    ¡°But didn¡¯t you just say that they normally didn¡¯t give chase?¡±


    Tang Jie shrugged. ¡°You can consider that an error on my part.¡±


    Shen Qingdan red at him. After a while, she dropped her head and said, ¡°I think it¡¯s still better if I consider you right.¡±


    She found this conversation ratherughable, so she couldn¡¯t help butugh.


    Her smiling face was so bright that Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but faintly smile himself.


    With their shared smile, all of the awkwardness between the two was blown away.


    In truth, nothing had really developed between Tang Jie and Shen Qingdan. It was precisely because they had no rtionship to speak of that they were able to get along so normally after letting go of those minor misunderstandings of the past.


    In a day and night, they had crossed anotherrge swath of the ocean, and the Immortal ind could be seen in the distance.


    Standing at the top of a tree, Tang Jie looked at the ind and said, ¡°From the look of it, we should reach the ind tomorrow. Let¡¯s rest here for tonight. As we get closer to the ind, the fiends will get stronger, so we need to be at full energy in case of battle.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Shen Qingdan nodded in agreement. They had run into many fiends on the way here, and while most of them had been easily dealt with, she could sense that the power of the fiends was climbing.


    She took out a small house made from jade and threw it into the air. This small house grewrger andrger, and when itnded on the water, it became a full-sized house on the ocean. Tang Jie clicked his tongue in praise.


    The Wandering Pce¡¯s floating pces were truly a sight to behold.


    ¡°s, I only brought one.¡± Shen Qingdan looked apologetically at Tang Jie. In truth, this jade house wasrge enough to have four or five people sleep in it at the same time. But sex differences met that it wasn¡¯t proper to invite him in.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Tang Jie gestured that Shen Qingdan should go on with her own business.


    Shen Qingdan entered the room, and when she looked back, she saw Tang Jie lying down on a tree branch.


    The tree branch rocked in the air, causing Tang Jie¡¯s body to bob up and down. It looked very rxing.


    Shen Qingdan smiled, and then she took out several small gs from her Mustard Seed Bag.


    Like Tang Jie¡¯s Eight Gates Banners, these were formation gs. When used, they could form a warning formation around the jade house, alerting her to any intruders and protecting the house. But this was the only formation they could create, much worse than the Eight Gates Banners.


    Just when Shen Qingdan was about to put out the gs, she suddenly remembered that she was with Tang Jie. If she did this, wouldn¡¯t that mean that she was taking precautions against him?


    They had finally solved their misunderstandings and be friends, so she didn¡¯t want to open up a new rift in their rtionship over something minor like this.


    Thinking this, she put away the gs.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t know about all the thoughts she had on her mind. Lying on the branch, he focused his mind and recalled the battle earlier in the day, how he had used Time Set and the ways he could improve it.


    At the same time, as Shen Qingdany down in her little house, she was unable to calm down.


    It wasn¡¯t because Tang Jie had thrown her mind into turmoil. It was just that this meeting, while not exactly bursting with passion, had something strange about it.


    She couldn¡¯t find out where the strangeness was. She nced at Tang Jie and saw that he was already in meditation, and she thought to herself, I¡¯m never going to be in his heart, so why do I keep thinking about him?


    Thinking this, she lowered her head and quickly entered a meditative state.


    The night deepened.


    The hidden realm was silent, only the sloshing of water adding a little liveliness to the darkness.


    Tang Jiey unmoving on the tree branch.


    Suddenly, he opened his eyes.


    He slowly stood up, looked around, and got down from the tree.


    Landing on the water, Tang Jie looked at the white jade house with a strange look in his eyes.


    He made his way to the house.


    In the house, Shen Qingdan was seated in meditation.


    Cultivators did not need to sleep, as meditation was their equivalent. But meditation could be considered an even deeper form of sleep, and in this state, it became even more difficult to sense what was going on outside.


    Shen Qingdan clearly did not notice anyone approaching her.


    Her eyes were shut as she evenly breathed in and out through her nose.


    In the darkness, her creased brows were beautiful enough to make one sigh in praise, and her two hands asionally formed hand signs.


    Standing in front of Shen Qingdan, Tang Jie stared at her.


    Finally, Shen Qingdan let out a long breath¡ªan indicator that she hadpleted a Minor Circuit Heaven. Tang Jie suddenly took action, covering Shen Qingdan¡¯s mouth and forcing her onto her bed.


    ¡°MMM!¡± Shen Qingdan awoke from her meditation in shock and instinctively tried to resist.


    ¡°Shh!¡± Still covering her mouth, Tang Jie whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t make a noise. Someone is trying to sneak up on us.¡±


    Happy New Year! Hope you all had a nice holiday.


    Tang Jie almost caused a terrible misunderstanding there! Good thing he cleared it up before the chapter ended.

 Chapter 436: Bait

    Chapter 436: Bait


    Two pairs of eyes met.


    As Tang Jie pressed his hand against Shen Qingdan¡¯s lips, he found that her lips were soft and gentle.


    Shen Qingdan¡¯s starry eyes stared at Tang Jie. The words he had said made her stop resisting, and they also made time freeze for a moment.


    And then the two of them came back to their senses.


    Tang Jie put a finger in front of his lips, slowly released Shen Qingdan, and backed off.


    Shen Qingdan quickly sat up, tidied up her disordered clothes, and also made a gesture.


    Tang Jie understood and gestured with his hands, telling her that there were quite a few visitors, and then he stepped outside.


    Shen Qingdan quickly retreated from the jade house with Tang Jie. She saw Tang Jie take out a golden knife and cut at a thick tree trunk, cutting out two pieces of wood about the same height as them.


    As Shen Qingdan gawked, Tang Jie used some sort of spell art and pointed at the two pieces of wood. The pieces of wood turned into Tang Jie and Shen Qingdan, and walked into the house.


    Shen Qingdan was still bbergasted as Tang Jie pulled her under the water.


    The ocean waters drowned out her shock, turning all the words she wanted to say into air bubbles. As she descended into the water, her hair and clothes floated up around her, making her seem like a beautiful mermaid.


    Tang Jie used his golden knife to cut off several more chunks of wood from a tree trunk, and Shen Qingdan watched as these pieces of wood became sharks that swam above them, obstructing the vision of those above.


    Shen Qingdan had seen many illusion spells before, but this was the first time she was seeing the wondrous and realistic illusions of the Duplication spell.


    She looked at Tang Jie in shock. In response, Tang Jie smiled and pointed above.


    Through an opening between the sharks, Shen Qingdan could see three people approaching the jade house.


    They stopped outside the jade house, looked at each other, and then released refined beasts. Clearly, they were people from the Beast Refining Gate.


    As their refined beasts appeared, the three of them began to cast spell arts. Their leader made a grab at the air, and lightning descended onto the jade house.


    At the same time, the two other Beast Refining Gate disciples attacked with their weapons, releasing dazzling waves of energy.


    Taking advantage of their sneak attack, the three of them used their strongest spells, and with a boom, the jade house exploded.


    Shen Qingdan almost exploded in anger, thinking that these Beast Refining Gate people were truly ruthless. She clearly had nothing to do with all this, but they had still moved to kill without hesitation, caring not for her innocence.


    In her rage, she swam up along the giant underwater tree and silently appeared on the surface.


    Standing behind the three with a vicious look on her face, she thrust out her palm.


    The Jade Pearl Hand.


    A hand made of jade shot toward one of the Beast Refining Gate disciples. As it made impact, the Beast Refining Gate disciple threw his head back and threw up arge mouthful of blood. A momentter, the jade hand unleashed a powerful torrent of energy that sted apart the disciple so that he died without even realizing what had happened.


    The other two Beast Refining Gate disciples immediately realized that something was wrong and took to the skies, at the same timemanding their fiend beasts to attack.


    As they flew up, Shen Qingdan waved her left hand, and a long sleeve made of water moved to envelop them.


    The Water Cloud Sleeve.


    When that Titan of the Wandering Pce wandered the myriad domains, they were known for having sleeves that could envelop the universe and a palm that could shatter the firmament. These referred precisely to the Wandering Pce¡¯s Water Cloud Sleeve and Jade Pearl Hand.


    Shen Qingdan naturally didn¡¯t have the divine abilities of her ancestor, but even a part of this power was not something an ordinary cultivator could defend against.


    The sleeve of water shrouded the sky, engulfing the entire area. The two Beast Refining Gate disciples and their beasts were caught up in the sleeve before they could do anything.


    She thrust out her right palm, unleashing another Jade Pearl Hand.


    But this time, the two Beast Refining Gate disciples were ready, the disciple being attacked taking a talisman and pping it onto his body.


    A yellow barrier appeared around him, and the Jade Pearl Hand mmed into it. The barrier rippled, but there was no sign of it shattering. The Jade Pearl Hand was just as powerful as the Jade Shattering Finger, yet it was unable to break this yellow barrier! This could only mean that it possessed terrifying defensive power.


    ¡°The ck Yellow Divine Armor Talisman?¡± Shen Qingdan called out in surprise.


    The ck Yellow Divine Armor Talisman possessed such astonishing defensive power that it ranked in the top ten of the Rosecloud Domain¡¯s most used defensive talismans. But it was a product of Godhead Pce, so every year, the Beast Refining Gate would buy a batch of these talismans and offer them to its disciples in exchange for contribution points.


    Shen Qingdan hadn¡¯t expected this Beast Refining Gate disciple to have traded for such a talisman, allowing him to block her attack.


    Shen Qingdan had nned to kill two so that she had only one to deal with, but now, she was dealing with a two-versus-one situation.


    As one disciple blocked the attack, the other disciple threw out an umbre.


    The umbre spun in the air, shedding ice and snow. The temperature plunged, and ice began to form on the sea.


    In this extreme cold, Shen Qingdan¡¯s movements slowed down. The disciple who had used the ck Yellow Divine Armor Talisman chuckled and made a fierce punch at the air. ¡°Break!¡±


    The Water Cloud Sleeve shuddered, ripples appearing all over it.


    The punch of that Beast Refining Gate disciple was not enough to burst open the Water Cloud Sleeve, but there were also six refined beasts in that sleeve. Not even Shen Qingdan could endure theirbined attacks, so as the punch came down, she took out a bronzentern.


    That bronzentern lit up without the need for a spark, and the ice and snow immediately began to thaw, a spring breeze blowing away the chill winds.


    A momentter, Shen Qingdan blew on the me, and a fireball shot toward the two disciples.


    That Beast Refining Gate disciple using the ck Yellow Divine Armor took out another talisman and pped it onto the water¡¯s surface. A giant water dragon emerged to meet Shen Qingdan¡¯s me, and the two of them melded together in a fantastical burst of colors.


    At the same time, the disciple with the snow umbre pointed at the sky, and a bone-piercing nail flew upward.


    The nail was made of some ck material that made it very inconspicuous, but when it struck the Water Cloud Sleeve, it managed to punch a small hole through it.


    In a sh of spiritual light, those six refined beasts that Shen Qingdan had swept up jumped out, and Shen Qingdan couldn¡¯t help but take a step back in surprise.


    The two disciples heartilyughed, ¡°Shen Qingdan, so it was you, you scoundrel! Hand over Tang Jie and we¡¯ll spare your life!¡±


    These two were Shi Cangxuan and Gu Qii, one wielding talismans and the other art relics. They were a rather famous pair in the Beast Refining Gate.


    Shi Cangxuan waved his hand, and another three talismans flew out toward his three mecloud Ravens. From the look of it, they were three more ck Yellow Divine Armor Talismans.


    mecloud Ravens were a famous fire-type fiend. Though they had fierce attacks, they were very fragile¡ªa fatal w. But these three ck Yellow Divine Armor Talismans covered up this weakness, and a momentter, a flood of mes fiercer than Shen Qingdan¡¯s offensive swept toward her.


    Gu Qii took out a fan and fanned the mes, making them burn even more fiercely. His three refined beasts also lunged at Shen Qingdan.


    The two of them working together with their refined beasts, art relics, and talismans had Shen Qingdan in a panic.


    She was ultimately a single person against two, and she was facing the Beast Refining Gate, which was best at exploiting an advantage in numbers. Thus, she was immediately put in a tough spot.


    But Tang Jie refused to appear. In the middle of this tough battle, Shen Qingdan couldn¡¯t help but feel that Tang Jie was heartless. She felt bitter and angry, her eyes reddening.


    The two disciplesughed when they saw the state Shen Qingdan was in, and their words became more jeering.


    Shen Qingdan¡¯splexion gradually began to change.


    Anger gradually won out over bitterness, and her small face became covered in cold ice.


    Gritting her teeth, she said, ¡°Do you really think you can handle me with just this?¡±


    Gu Qiiughed. ¡°If you have anything else, go ahead and use it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that you won¡¯t be able to withstand it.¡± Shen Qingdan let out a sharp cry and threw the bronzentern.


    She took out amp wick and threw it into thentern.


    The bronzentern had been able to light up without a wick, but now that it did have one, the me intensified, and a vigorous wave of me rushed out. me met me, and it was surprisingly the attack of the mecloud Ravens that was pushed back.


    Shen Qingdan took out another item in the meantime: a handkerchief embroidered with countless flowers.


    She threw the handkerchief into the water, where it instantly unfolded and began to expand, as did the flowers woven into it. They floated on the water and then broke free of the handkerchief, and it wasn¡¯t long before the flowers began to reach up beyond the surface.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± The two disciples watched in shock as those flowers opened up their petals, revealing rows of sharp teeth, and then began to bite at their refined beasts.


    One mecloud Raven was unable to escape in time, and a flower bit down on it. The ck Yellow Divine Armor Talisman meant that the man-eating flower couldn¡¯t chew it up, but the petals closed, preventing it from fleeing. The sharp teeth crazily gnawed away at the barrier, which red with yellow light. The other flowers lunged over and started taking bites, and it seemed like they wouldn¡¯t rest until they had ripped that bird apart.


    The two disciples trembled in shock, but then Shen Qingdan took out another item. It was a silver chain this time, and the moment it appeared, it moved to coil around the two.


    In terms of cultivation level, Shen Qingdan was on par with the pair, both sides at Nine Revolutions. When it came to legacy, she was a young pce lord, while the pair on the other side were elites from a major sect, so while there was a difference, it wasn¡¯t a great one. But when it came to family, things werepletely different.


    In a one-on-one, Shen Qingdan might havee out only slightly ahead, but when it came to family art relics, Shen Qingdan had the two of them eating her dust.


    Now that she was furious, she stopped showing mercy. After the bronzentern, silk handkerchief, and binding chain were ance that could fly through the air and attack on its own, and a golden ring that floated in the air and sought to bind man or beast.


    Finally, Shen Qingdan took out a stack of talismans that she began to cast out as if they were free. She had so many and of such variety and power that it made one¡¯s blood run cold.


    The two of them had never expected this, and they backed away in fear.


    Gu Qii shouted, ¡°Go!¡±


    The two of them flew off into the distance.


    ¡°Trying to run?¡± Shen Qingdan raised her eyebrows, but just as she was about to give chase, someone emerged from the water and embraced her.


    Shen Qingdan hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie toe out and stop her. She roared, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Run! They¡¯re bait! The boss is waiting in the back!¡± He pulled Shen Qingdan and flew off.


    At the same time, a figure flew out of the distance.


    It was none other than Chang Baimei.


    Chang Baimei is here to take revenge for his good friend! But can he avoid suffering the same fate?

 Chapter 437: Miscalculation

    Chapter 437: Miscalction


    Chang Baimei¡¯s appearance was both a coincidence and inevitable.


    After being pushed into the hidden realm by the ghost guard, he had found the incident very suspicious and firmly believed that Tang Jie woulde. Thus, he was in no rush to head to the ind, instead focusing on gathering up disciples.


    As the pressure was lighter in the outer region than the inner, he really did manage to gather a few people.


    Thus, he led these Beast Refining Gate disciples in a search for Tang Jie.


    Stubbornness was sometimes the foundation of sess. Today, he really did manage to find Tang Jie.


    He pursued at full speed and swiftly closed the distance between him and Tang Jie.


    With his speed, he could naturally instantly catch up. As he brushed past Shi Cangxuan and Gu Qii, he roared, ¡°Tang Jie, you can¡¯t escape!¡±


    He thrust out a palm.


    Tang Jie nced back, his eyes brimming with contempt and derision.


    His left hand hugged Shen Qingdan while his right hand reached out and snapped its fingers.


    As Chang Baimei watched him snap his fingers, he felt a sliver of danger and instinctively moved to apply a barrier to himself.


    But it was toote.


    As Tang Jie snapped his fingers¡­


    Boom!


    The sea water exploded upward in a giant pir.


    A sharp de energy shot out of the water at Chang Baimei.


    At the same time, twenty Heavenly Cloud des dropped from the heavens.


    There was also a huge hand, flying stars, a torrent of des, and howling bolts of air, all of them instantly engulfing the area in a furious barrage.


    Chang Baimei had basically walked into a spell storm trap. Even with his strength, it would be very difficult for his physical body to endure this terrifying spell art offensive.


    It had to be understood that having a barrier made a huge difference for a cultivator. When a Celestial Heart True Person did not have a barrier, their body was about as strong as a Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator.


    And the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s True Persons were even worse in this aspect. After all, their expertise was in refined beasts, and their personal strength was far weaker than that of their peers. In terms of personal strength, he at his peak might not even be better than Chang Mingxin at his weakest. If they weren¡¯t using refined beasts, a Spirit Ring True Person of the Beast Refining Gate might not even be able to beat a peak Mortal Shedding cultivator of the Basking Moon Sect.


    Thus, even though Chang Baimei was a Spirit Ring True Person, there was a chance he could be instantly killed by this sort of attack.


    But at this moment, Shi Cangxuan suddenly charged up and waved a hand at Chang Baimei.


    A ck Yellow Divine Armor Talisman!


    A yellow light shed on Chang Baimei, and then that giant hand, the Heavenly Cloud des, and all the other spell arts made impact. Yellow light exploded from Chang Baimei as he grunted and was blown away.


    Even the incredible defense of the ck Yellow Divine Armor Talisman was sted apart by Tang Jie¡¯s spell storm.


    But this was enough of a buffer for Chang Baimei to catch his breath.


    He pped his right hand on his body, and as the ck Yellow Divine Talisman was destroyed, a white light erupted from his body, the two barriers leaving almost no gap between them. Only the st of wind from the Heavenly King Mara Incantation¡¯s giant palm managed to make its way through a crack and do some damage to him. The rest of the attacks were all stopped.


    ¡°Cangxuan, good job!¡± Chang Baimei shouted.


    It had really been too dangerous just then. Chang Baimei was extremely grateful to Shi Cangxuan, and decided to support this child once they got back.


    But when he turned around, he saw Shi Cangxuan¡¯s body dropping from the sky.


    ¡°Cangxuan¡­¡± Chang Baimei was startled.


    Only then did he realize that Shi Cangxuan had to throw himself into the trap in order to save him.


    Although he also had a ck Yellow Divine Armor Talisman applied to him, that had already started to crumble in his battle with Shen Qingdan. He alsocked Chang Baimei¡¯s barrier that was able to emerge the moment the talisman failed, so he had been killed on the spot by the spell storm.


    Chang Baimei was both shocked and enraged. When he turned his head, he saw Tang Jie with a dumbfounded look on his face.


    Yes.


    Dumbfounded!


    Just now, in order to guarantee that he got Chang Baimei, he had used the Dao of Karma.


    Chang Baimei being hidden in the area and the spell storm erupting were the seed, and the fruit should have been Chang Baimei appearing at the ce Tang Jie wanted when he needed him to.


    The Dao of Karma and the Dao Will of Time hadbined together into an unprecedented and perfectbo.


    But Chang Baimei hadn¡¯t died!


    What was going on here?


    He had nted the cause and reaped the effect, but the result was outside his calctions.


    This was the first time Tang Jie¡¯s Karma had failed.


    Was it because Chang Baimei was a True Person, so he couldn¡¯t be included in his calctions?


    Or was it because there was no such thing as an inevitable fruit in the Dao of Karma?


    Or was it something else?


    Tang Jie gave Chang Baimei a deep look. Suddenly, he seemed toprehend something.


    But now was not the time forprehension.


    A momentter, Chang Baimei started chasing Tang Jie again.


    ¡°Go!¡± Tang Jie shouted. He let go of Shen Qingdan, and the two of them flew off into the distance, Chang Baimei doggedly pursuing them.


    Chase!


    He would chase this brat to the ends of the earth if he had to!


    As Chang Baimei gave chase, his eyes burned with anger.


    He roared, ¡°My five War Beasts, go!¡±


    As Chang Baimei roared, five dark streaks shot out from the beast token in his hand,nding on the rainbow cloud at his feet. These were a golden eagle, a ck bear, a white snake, a pangolin, and a hyena.


    As these five beasts appeared, the white snake and pangolin flew out. The white snake turned into a white-clothed woman while the pangolin turned into an armored muscr man.


    Transformation great fiends!


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart tightened.


    Transformation great fiends were rather rare, even among True Persons.


    Mortal Shedding Realm disciples could hold various different fiends to deal with different situations, but the True Persons were the exact opposite. They could hold lower-ss fiends, but they often couldn¡¯t get enough high-ss fiends to hit their maximum limit.


    There were two reasons for this.


    The first was that there was a limited number of high-ss fiends. A single Beast Refining Gate disciple could be equipped with many different fiends of the same ss, but the Rosecloud Domain had been dominated by humans for ages, and the fiends were only able to upy a small corner. They were far less numerous than humans. Their proportions at each level were the exact opposite of what the Beast Refining Gate needed, so where would all the high-ss fiends that could satisfy the Beast Refining Gatee from?


    Secondly, high-ss fiends were very difficult to tame. Only the cultivator themselves could capture each fiend, with no one else to help them. Otherwise, the pride of a fiend would make them die rather than submit. Low-ss fiends had limited intelligence, so they were turned into refined beasts and could be ordered around. But high-ss fiends normally didn¡¯t have their intelligence wiped, as they had the potential to improve. This required the cultivator to work even harder.


    But in the Beast Refining Gate, as a cultivator progressed, their personal strengthparatively weakened. And at the same time, the fiends became harder and harder to train.


    At low cultivation realms, the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s cultivators could still rely on their own strength to get by, but at higher realms, they no longer had the ability to challenge others to one-on-one fights. For this reason, subduing a high-ss fiend beast was even more difficult for them.


    To tame a high-ss fiend beast, one had to defeat it while also cultivating the Myriad Beast Union Mantra. To defeat such a fiend, one had to be personally strong, but cultivating the Myriad Beast Union Mantra meant neglecting one¡¯s personal strength.


    In this way, they created an endless loop.


    For the vast majority of Beast Refining Gate disciples, the solution was to raise the fiends themselves, but that required far too many resources. After all, they now had to provide for another creature as well as themselves, which meant double the resources.


    Of course, if they could really reach their maximum limit just like that, they would have already conquered the world.


    The Myriad Beast Union Mantra had thirteen levels in all. What would it mean for a Violet Pce True Lord to have thirteen Divine Division fiends?


    Regardless, Chang Baimei, a Spirit Ring True Person, had two Transformation great fiends, though this was extremely rare even in the Beast Refining Gate.


    The moment the two fiends transformed into humans, the white snake woman gasped, ¡°Oh? Baimei, a puny Nine Revolutions has you summoning all of us?¡±


    ¡°Cut the chatter!¡± Chang Baimei shouted. ¡°This kid is Tang Jie! Do everything you can to kill him!¡±


    ¡°The Tang Jie from the battle over the sea?¡± the ck bear said. It appeared that, besides the two Transformation great fiends, this peak Mind Opening ck bear had also been allowed to keep its intelligence.


    In the Beast Refining Gate, those fiends that retained their intelligence all had the potential to develop and grow stronger. From this, one could conclude that this ck bear, while not a Transformation great fiend, could not be underestimated.


    The armored pangolin man lifted his spear and said, ¡°Whoever he is, Master has given his order, so kill him!¡±


    He jumped at Tang Jie, a beam of light shooting out from his spear.


    Tang Jie activated the Formless Golden Body and swung his saber. He didn¡¯t expect his attack to break that beam of light, only that he could use the collision to break away.


    But as the attacks met, the spear beam melted through Tang Jie¡¯s attack as the sun melted snow. Tang Jie¡¯s saber energy evaporated, and the furious power of the shockwave brushed past Tang Jie and scraped off arge chunk of his flesh.


    The Formless Golden Body basically didn¡¯t exist in the face of this attack.


    Tang Jie knew that he was in trouble. Putting aside everything else, this Transformation great fiend was more than enough to handle him.


    Excluding oddballs like Chang Mingxin, the strength of Beast Refining Gate cultivators was normally linked to the fiend beasts theymanded. With his two Transformation great fiends, Chang Baimei was actually far stronger than Chang Mingxin overall.


    His lower personal strength had been a weakness, but as the ambush had failed, killing him now was essentially impossible.


    Realizing this, Tang Jie pushed Shen Qingdan and said, ¡°Hurry and go! The one he¡¯s chasing is me!¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Shen Qingdan screamed.


    Chang Baimei strangely chuckled. ¡°¡®Go¡¯? Is escaping from my sect that easy? Don¡¯t forget who your opponent is!¡±


    Although the Beast Refining Gatecked explosive strength and personal power, it had its own strong points¡­ like in pursuit!


    Whether it was tracking through scent or having eyes in the sky, the Beast Refining Gate had unique advantages when it came to chasing someone down. And as they had numerous fiends, they weren¡¯t worried about their enemies splitting up.


    Even if Shen Qingdan and Tang Jie split up, Chang Baimei could just have the pangolin and white snake split up to chase after them.


    Chang Baimei pointed. ¡°Kill that adulterous couple!¡±


    The white-clothed woman shot through the air, transforming into a giant snake that opened its mouth to swallow the two up.


    It¡¯s not that easy to kill a True Person. After all, if spending Karma could guarantee a kill on someone, the Dao of Karma would be way too overpowered!

 Chapter 438: Do You Dare Fight Me?

    Chapter 438: Do You Dare Fight Me?


    As the giant snake bit down, the golden-armored manughed and thrust his spear again.


    As the two Transformation great fiends attacked, the entire area was filled with killing intent.


    In the face of this intimidating offensive, there was no room for Tang Jie to hold back. All he could do was throw out a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl.


    Upon seeing the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl, the white snake instantly pulled back in fear, its body shrinking as it shot off into the distance. At the same time, the golden-armored man hastily pulled back his spear while light erupted from his armor.


    As they fell back, the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl exploded, zing Astral Winds engulfing the area.


    Even though the two fiends had retreated promptly, some of the mes still managed to lick the golden-armored fiend. The powerful Astral Winds made the armored fiend grunt in pain. Several golden armor scales were thrown into the air, carryingrge chunks of flesh with them.


    But this was all.


    This was the first time Tang Jie¡¯s use of the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl had been so ineffective. In truth, this was an inevitable result for this weapon. While it was extremely powerful, it was easy to defend against when one was prepared.


    Fortunately, the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl held off the fiends so that Tang Jie and Shen Qingdan could create more distance between the two groups.


    ¡°Trying to run?¡± Chang Baimei snorted. The golden eagle shot out like an arrow, streaking toward their heads. With a raise of its head, it sent a lightning bolt crashing at the two.


    Although it wasn¡¯t a Transformation great fiend, it was still at the upper grade of Mind Opening, so this thunderbolt was extremely powerful. Even with Tang Jie¡¯s impressive lightning resistance, when the lightning bolt hit him, he still grunted. He swung his right hand around, a golden light moving to coil around the eagle¡¯s neck.


    But that eagle was ready for this. With a p of its wings, it just barely dodged the golden wire.


    At that moment, the white snake and pangolin returned. However, the ck bear and hyena continued to watch from the sidelines, acting as Chang Baimei¡¯s guards.


    With no other choice, Tang Jie grabbed a handful of bean seeds from his Mustard Seed Bag and scattered them.


    Sowing beans into soldiers!


    Numerous bean soldiers rushed out to battle the three fiends.


    These fiends were so powerful that even the likes of Liang Xingbang and Yu Wanniang hadn¡¯t been able to hold them off. These three fiends were somewhat weaker than those two, so for a moment, they were unable to advance.


    But Tang Jie knew that while he could hold off the three fiends, killing them was impossible.


    The bean soldiers had been able to deal with Liang Xingbang and Yu Wanniang because they had both been severely wounded. The white snake and pangolin didn¡¯t have this concern, and there was still Chang Baimei and his other two fiends waiting in the wings. The elimination of the bean soldiers was only a matter of time.


    Thus, after sowing the bean soldiers, Tang Jie immediately ran off with Shen Qingdan.


    Sure enough, Chang Baimei wasn¡¯t able to just sit back as his most important fiends were surrounded. He came together with his fiends to clean up these annoying things. Even with their strength, it took some time to kill all of them, by which time Tang Jie and Shen Qingdan had vanished.


    Chang Baimei had not fully vented his rage. He snorted, ¡°Escape? You think you can escape this old man¡¯s palm?¡±


    As he spoke, the hyena sniffed the air, and then it charged out. Chang Baimei and the other four fiends casually followed behind it. This hyena wasn¡¯t one of the hunting dogs specifically trained by the Beast Refining Gate, but it still had powerful scent tracking abilities.


    On the other end, after flying for some distance and seeing that no one was behind them, Tang Jie and Shen Qingdan slowed down a little.


    Shen Qingdan let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Whew, we finally escaped. Hey, what spell art did you use just now? How was it so powerful?¡±


    ¡°Sowing Beans into Soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Duh! You think I¡¯ve never seen the Sowing Beans into Soldiers before?¡± Shen Qingdan ced a hand on her waist. ¡°But yours is different.¡±


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t answer her question. Looking behind them, he said, ¡°While that old man hasn¡¯t caught up, you should hurry and leave.¡±


    ¡°Do you really want to drive me away so badly?¡± Shen Qingdan red.


    Tang Jie helplessly sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve killed many people from the Beast Refining Gate, and that whitebrowed old man won¡¯t let me go. We¡¯ve only temporarily thrown him off, but I¡¯m sure that he¡¯ll catch up soon.¡±


    Shen Qingdan looked around and asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you have that spell art that can transform your body?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head. ¡°It won¡¯t work on the Beast Refining Gate.¡±


    While the Duplication spell was powerful, it wasn¡¯t perfect. It couldn¡¯t duplicate odor, so the Beast Refining Gate, which primarily relied on scent-based tracking methods, countered the Duplication spell.


    ¡°I won¡¯t leave either. This pce lord isn¡¯t someone who can just abandon her friends and escape on her own,¡± Shen Qingdan said, folding her arms.


    Tang Jie rolled his eyes, really wanting to say that they weren¡¯t friends, but he felt that these words were too harsh and would damage their rtionship. As he was hesitating, he suddenly sensed something. Turning around, he saw Chang Baimei¡¯s figure appearing on the horizon.


    ¡°Pretty fast,¡± Tang Jie helplessly said.


    While speed wasn¡¯t Chang Baimei¡¯s expertise, he was still a Spirit Ring True Person. No matter how bad he could be, at full speed, he was still faster than Tang Jie.


    Seeing that Chang Baimei was about to catch up, Tang Jie could only sow another batch of bean soldiers to hold him down and escape. But this time, he didn¡¯t dare to slow down to catch his breath.


    A great chasemenced.


    Even though Tang Jie tried everything he had, no matter how he tried, he wasn¡¯t able to throw off Chang Baimei. And with space thrown into chaos, he also couldn¡¯t summon his original body.


    As time passed, the number of bean soldiers Tang Jie could summon dwindled. And not only had he used up numerous bean soldiers, he had also used two Heavenbane Lightning Pearls.


    As Chang Baimei continued to give chase despite Tang Jie¡¯s attempts to stop him, Tang Jie¡¯s expression turned gloomier and gloomier.


    ¡°Shit¡­¡± He turned around and whispered, ¡°Do you really want to kill me that badly? Fine! So what if you¡¯re a Spirit Ring True Person? Let¡¯s fight, then!¡±


    He turned around and flew off in a certain direction.


    Shen Qingdan shouted in surprise, ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    Tang Jie tersely replied, ¡°To make trouble for that old bastard!¡±


    He charged into an area of craggy rocks. As he entered, a bolt of lightning crashed down at him while countless water arrows emerged from the surface.


    It turned out that there was a formation there.


    There were numerous formations in the Beast Garden, and one happened to be here. Tang Jie was well versed in formations, so he naturally wouldn¡¯t blindly charge into one. But this time, even though he knew of the danger, he still went in. As he entered the formation, he waved his hands, throwing out countless points of light. ¡°Break!¡±


    Lightning shed and thunder rumbled within the formation.


    He was trying to break the formation through force.


    As Shen Qingdan was still in bbergasted shock, she saw Tang Jie throw something out.


    This was a ck object, round on the top and pointed on the bottom like an awl.


    This item was called a ¡°formation breaker¡±, and it was something he had taken from Long Dao some years ago. But he normally relied on himself to break formations, so it was only now that he had finally used it.


    Because he just didn¡¯t have the time.


    Tang Jie threw the formation breaker toward the Open Gate.


    The Open Gate was the central pivot, the most critical area. Once it was broken, the formation would essentially fall apart.


    Even with Tang Jie¡¯s strength, it was very difficult to break the Open Gate.


    But as the formation breakernded, it erupted with light, and the inside of the Open Gate was thrown into chaos.


    Tang Jie began to form hand signs to seal the Open Gate.


    With the power of the formation breaker, he began to seize control and reform the formation.


    Amidst countless hand signs, Tang Jie thrust out his palm eighteen times, each one at a different location. ¡°Wind, Fire, Lightning, hear my call! Extinguish!¡±


    The raging lightning instantly disappeared.


    Tang Jie called back the formation break and threw out three small gs.


    The rm Gate Banner, the Stop Gate Banner, and the View Gate Banner!


    After throwing out the three banners, Tang Jie scattered another bunch of materials, and a new formation was created.


    Shen Qingdan gasped in shock. ¡°What is this?¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°This was originally a Lightning me Formation, a Grade 2 formation of average strength, and it had no effect on fiends. But with my modifications, it is now a Grade 5 Five Lightning Formation that can also work on fiends.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to fight to the death with him here?¡± Shen Qingdan was so rmed that her soul almost left her body.


    This was a Celestial Heart True Person, two tiers higher than Tang Jie. With just this formation, he was going to take on a True Person directly?


    Although a Grade 5 formation was sufficient to kill a True Person, ¡°sufficient to kill¡± and ¡°certain to kill¡± were different things.


    Moreover, as Tang Jie had set up this formation in haste, it was probably half as powerful as a regr Grade 5 formation.


    And in these circumstances, he had to deal with one Celestial Heart True Person, two Transformation fiends, and three Mind Opening fiends.


    Tang Jie slowly pulled out the Heartbreak Saber. ¡°If you¡¯re afraid, you can leave.¡±


    Shen Qingdan bit on her lip, but she didn¡¯t move.


    Tang Jie was rather surprised at how determined she was. Finally, he said, ¡°Is this really necessary? We¡¯re just ordinary friends. There¡¯s no need for you to die together with me.¡±


    Shen Qingdan proudly raised her head. ¡°I just don¡¯t have a habit of casually abandoning my fellow Daoists.¡±


    ¡°¡®Fellow Daoists¡¯¡­¡± Tang Jie muttered, and then he smiled.


    ¡°Yes, fellow Daoists!¡±


    With these words, Tang Jie officially acknowledged Shen Qingdan as a friend. Shen Qingdan couldn¡¯t help but chuckle.


    The two of them stood next to each other, quietly waiting for Chang Baimei toe.


    Chang Baimei soon appeared.


    With him were his five powerful war beasts.


    Chang Baimei was startled that Tang Jie hadn¡¯t run, and heughed in delight. ¡°Tang Jie, have you finally stopped running?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Tang Jie scoffed. ¡°Since you want to die so badly, why don¡¯t I send you off?¡±


    He shook his arms, and lightning erupted behind him. He shouted. ¡°Tang Jie is here! Old man, do you dare fight me!?¡±


    Do you dare fight me!?


    Do you dare fight me!?


    Do you dare fight me!?


    The heavens resounded with his roar.


    Tang Jie going head-to-head against a True Person! No sneak attacks this time!

 Chapter 439: Five Lightning Fall

    Chapter 439: Five Lightning Fall


    ¡°Tang Jie is here! Do you dare fight me!?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s roar resounded through the heavens, and even Chang Baimei couldn¡¯t help but be slightly taken aback by Tang Jie¡¯s boldness.


    In the formation, the skies shed with lightning. Tang Jie had not concealed the fact that he hadid down a formation.


    Chang Baimei could tell at a nce that Tang Jie was in a Grade 5 formation.


    With a grunt, Chang Baimei muttered, ¡°You want to deal with this old man with this formation you hastily set up? Keep dreaming!¡±


    If Tang Jie had hidden the formation, Chang Baimei might have cautiously probed him.


    But this formation unting its power did the opposite, filling him with confidence.


    With his strength and two Transformation great fiends, a mere Grade 5 formation was nothing.


    Coldlyughing, Chang Baimei said, ¡°Arrogant junior!¡±


    Chang Baimei thrust his finger forward, and an azure dragon phantom emerged to lunge at Tang Jie. Under his control, it spat out a gout of me, like a real dragon.


    Tang Jie was unafraid. He brought his arms together, and the lightning behind him coalesced into a dragon of lightning.


    The azure dragon and lightning dragon shed, sending out azure mes and violet lightning in all directions.


    Ultimately, both dragons disappeared without a trace.


    Chang Baimei chuckled as he drew back his finger. Although he didn¡¯t have the upper hand in this exchange, he had only used 70% of his power, and he also had his five war beasts to help him.


    Tang Jie truly was stronger with the Five Lightning Formation, but not by enough.


    Now that he had finished probing Tang Jie¡¯s strength, Chang Baimeiughed. ¡°Your skill is nothing much!¡±


    Waving his sleeves, he charged into the formation.


    The human and five beasts charged together, treating the Grade 5 formation as if it didn¡¯t exist.


    The moment they entered the formation,rge swaths of lightning crashed down on them.


    Chang Baimei scoffed and raised a hand to meet the lightning.


    The Spirit Ring around him burst out, and Chang Baimei shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, let me show you what it means to be at Celestial Heart!¡±


    With this shout, the lightning descending from the sky began to coalesce into a giant palm that hurtled in Tang Jie¡¯s direction.


    ¡°My heart joins with the heart of the heavens, thus being the Celestial Heart!¡± Chang Baimei crazilyughed. ¡°You sought power through a formation, little knowing that my will is the will of the heavens, and my Dao is the Heavenly Dao! This puny little formation is mine to use! Die!¡±


    To create the Celestial Heart was to generate a Spirit Heart within one¡¯s person to meet with the will of the heavens and merge with the Heavenly Dao.


    Tang Jie had known this long ago, but he had never known where it was merged or how it actually manifested. Now that he saw Chang Baimei waving his hand around, easily taking control of the Grade 5 formation and gathering the lightning for himself to use, the essence of the Celestial Heart was finally revealed.


    As the hand of lightning rumbled down, Tang Jie was unmoved, snorting, ¡°The likes of you can merge with the Heavenly Dao? The heart of the heavens is unchanging, but the hearts of humans are forever sinking into ruin!¡±


    He clenched and released his hand, then raised it upward toward the lightning palm. This simple action caused a grandiose energy to billow out, and the giant lightning palm fell apart.


    Chang Baimei was startled. ¡°The Violet Jade Mantra?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re rather sharp.¡±


    The Basking Moon Sect¡¯s Violet Jade Mantra was of the resplendent orthodox tradition, and it emphasized majesty and style. In terms of spell arts, it was average, but when it came to cultivation level, it was extremely strong. And as a cultivator climbed higher and higher, they came to rely less and less on spell arts, but the requirements on theirprehension of cultivation realms grew higher and higher.


    Celestial Heart was the most obvious dividing line in this aspect.


    The Beast Refining Gate primarily relied on numbers for victory, so theirprehension of cultivation realms was far inferior to the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s. And since it was Tang Jie who hadid down the formation, with the Violet Jade Mantra, Tang Jie was able to easily take back control.


    With a thrust of his finger, the lightning gathered back into that giant hand. This time, it was under Tang Jie¡¯s control and hurtled toward Chang Baimei.


    Chang Baimei raised his white eyebrows. ¡°Go!¡±


    The five war beasts moved in unison.


    Since he had failed to take control of the formation using his advantage in cultivation realm, he would have to rely on the power of his subordinates to carry the day. And at least in this aspect, Chang Baimei was much stronger than his opponent.


    The white snake and pangolin attacked Tang and Shen while the golden eagle, ck bear, and hyena moved to fend off the lightning.


    Tang Jie grunted when he saw the two Transformation great fiendsing at him. Forming signs with his hands, he threw a spell art at the white snake. At the same time, Shen Qingdan used her War King Lance on the white snake. It was clear that the pair intended to handle the white snake first.


    The white snake chuckled, enduring their attacks as it opened its maw and thrust out its tongue at Tang Jie¡¯s face like an arrow.


    This white snake¡¯s tongue was quite lethal, the strongest part of the snake¡¯s body. It was coated with poison, and its tip was extremely sharp. Once it hit the target, the venom would be injected, and even a Celestial Heart True Person would be paralyzed.


    The tongue shot straight at Tang Jie¡¯s face, and there was an explosion of blood as Tang Jie¡¯s head was pulverized.


    But this result left both the white snake and the pangolin stunned.


    They had thought that Tang Jie would try and fight back, but he was dead after one strike?


    The white snake and pangolin immediately put the brakes on their attack, momentarily baffled.


    At the same time, Chang Baimei roared in shock and anger, ¡°Watch out!¡±


    Whoosh!


    There was a golden sh.


    A figure shot out from the side, swinging a de at the snake tongue that had yet to withdraw. With this blow, the snake tongue went flying into the air.


    ¡°Ssssst!¡± The white snake bitterly hissed in pain.


    Who could this person charging at it be but Tang Jie?


    ¡°Bastard!¡± the white snake angrily bellowed, its long body moving to whip Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie jumped back and thrust his left hand. ¡°Turn!¡±


    His surroundings trembled. Chang Baimei saw the scenery spin around him, and he grimaced.


    The fake mountain was the same fake mountain, the sea water was still the sea water, and the giant tree was the same giant tree, but his position had somehow shifted.


    Chang Baimei had gone from standing in the rear to standing in the front, and when he turned his head, he saw the white snake. Shen Qingdan appeared on the other end, fighting with the golden eagle. As for Tang Jie, who had been standing in front of the white snake, he now appeared behind it¡­


    He was smiling.


    The golden de swung down at the center of the white snake¡¯s body, seeking to cut it into two.


    But Transformation great fiends weren¡¯t that easy to deal with. The de only cut a small part of the way into the body before the white snake threw its head back and roared. An enormous power erupted from it that sted Tang Jie away.


    Waves of spiritual energy prevented Tang Jie from getting close.


    The white snake turned around, her head turning into the face of a beautiful woman that was distorted with rage.


    She shrieked, ¡°You¡¯re seeking death!¡± She produced two arms that snatched at Tang Jie.


    Her hands were as swift as lightning, instantly reaching Tang Jie¡¯s face. Tang Jie suddenlyughed and then snapped his fingers. ¡°Five Lightning, go!¡±


    Five lights erupted in the sky.


    Five bolts of lightning abruptly appeared, and not even the surrounding shes of lightning could conceal their radiance.


    They were like five golden des. The moment they appeared, they sliced down at the white snake.


    Five gouts of blood gushed into the air, and the white snake copsed. Lightning crackled around her body, and for a moment, she was unable to get back up.


    While Chang Baimei was powerful, he couldn¡¯t undo the formation. He understood neither what this formation was nor how to deal with it. Knowing that he had entered the formation and probing its strength was the limit of his ability. From his perspective, strength was everything, so there was no need for him to delve into the secrets of formations.


    The Five Lightning Formation¡¯s true power wasn¡¯t in the endless lightning, but the five bolts of Yin Lightning formed in the process.


    In truth, the power of the lightning wasn¡¯t even at the level of a Grade 4 formation. Otherwise, how could Chang Baimei so easily stop a Grade 5 formation, which was supposed to be capable of killing a Celestial Heart cultivator?


    But these five bolts of Yin Lightning were different. As the formation operated, it would gather Yin energy into lightning bolts of immense power. The Five Lightning Formation was so called because of this Five Lightning Crash.


    The Five Lightning Crash was extremely powerful, and if it had been able to strike at full power, the white snake would have been dead rather than heavily injured.


    Tang Jie¡¯s Grade 5 formation had been hastily formed and had many problems. This was precisely why he had to rely on extreme methods to make up for it, and the Five Lightning Formation was a product of his circumstances.


    But the five bolts of lightning had their own limits. Firstly, they required time to build power and could not be sent out repeatedly. Secondly, they need to absorb Yin energy, and this requirement was fulfilled by materials. Thirdly, the formation could only gather lightning bolts five times, for a total of 25 bolts of Yin Lightning.


    The Five Lightning Fall had left the white snake heavily injured.


    The pangolin panicked and thrust its spear at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie thrust out his left hand again. ¡°Turn!¡±


    Everyone changed positions again.


    This was the power of the Stop Gate Banner.


    The Five Lightning Formation didn¡¯t possess the power to shift positions.


    But it could not be forgotten that they were in the middle of a hidden realm where space was already disordered. Shifting of positions was part of the nature of the hidden realm, and only a little effort was needed to use it. The Stop Gate Banner was the crux to controlling all of this.


    As for Tang Jie using his duplicate to serve as bait while he hid himself, this was thanks to the View Gate Banner. As for the rm Gate Banner, its usage was very simple. It simply increased the power of the formation. Without it, Tang Jie¡¯s crude formation would have found it very difficult to hurt the white snake.


    With these banners, Tang Jie was able to maximize the power of the formation. One could even call him an expert in this aspect.


    With this spatial shift, the pangolin now appeared on Tang Jie¡¯s other side, and as it charged with its spear, it ended up far away from Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie appeared next to the white snake, stabbing with the golden de once more.


    While the white snake was powerful, its tongue had been sliced off and its body heavily injured. Its condition was even worse than the weakened state Chang Mingxin had been in.


    Just as the de was about to stab into the white snake¡¯s head, the white snake suddenly transformed its upper half into a woman, the lower half remaining that of a snake.


    This half-snake woman gave Tang Jie a bitter nce. At that moment, it was the most infatuating gaze in the world.


    Her red lips parted. ¡°You¡­ Can you really bring yourself to kill me?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart trembled. This woman seemingly turned into Xu Miaoran, begging for her life. There was a great rumble in his mind, and then he froze like he had been struck dumb.


    The white snake smiled and opened her arms, cing them around Tang Jie¡¯s neck as she muttered, ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡±


    She slowly approached Tang Jie and ced her head over his shoulder.


    Behind Tang Jie, out of sight, she opened her mouth, revealing savage fangs as she moved to bite down on the back of Tang Jie¡¯s neck.


    Does anyone really think that Tang Jie is actually bewitched by this snake?

 Chapter 440: The Power of Duplication

    Chapter 440: The Power of Duplication


    The sharp fangs shed with an intimidating and murderous energy in the lightning.


    As they bit into the back of Tang Jie¡¯s neck, there was a soft squelch.


    The white snake trembled and froze.


    She released Tang Jie and looked at her chest. A golden de had been stabbed into her heart.


    Raising her head, she looked at Tang Jie and squeezed out, ¡°How¡­ did¡­ you¡­¡±


    Tang Jie coldly said, ¡°My Basking Moon Sect is famous for being of the proper orthodox tradition, with sturdy Origin Hearts that can easily ovee Heart Demons¡­ I can even resist Heart Demons, so your little seduction spell is nothing. Besides¡­ I also have a Mindsoothe Bracelet!¡±


    In order to scam him, the Seven Absolutions Sect had forced Tang Jie to purchase the Mindsoothe Bracelet for five hundred thousand spirit coins while he was purchasing the Mountain River State Diagram.


    But whether or not the Mindsoothe Bracelet was worth that much, its ability to soothe the mind was authentic.


    Given that he had the sturdy Origin Heart of the Basking Moon Sectbined with the mind-soothing powers of the bracelet, it would have been bizarre if the white snake¡¯s seduction had worked.


    As Tang Jie replied, he pushed the golden de down.


    The white snake was dissected, blood and organs gushing out. The white snake shuddered, helpless to resist.


    There were seven jade nails shing from her forehead, arms, and chest. Meanwhile, Tang Jie¡¯s left hand had firmly grasped her Life Gate Point.


    The Seven Demon Soul-Sealing Nails!


    ¡°No!¡± The pangolin furiously bellowed as it charged over.


    Tang Jie shouted, ¡°Tutu!¡±


    The rabbit fiend appeared and thrust out its two forelimbs. ¡°Turn!¡±


    It was substituting for Tang Jie in using the formation¡¯s shifting function.


    A centipede wouldn¡¯t fall over even in death. The white snake was a Transformation great fiend, so even though the Seven Demon Soul-Sealing Nails had been hammered into it, Tang Jie still needed all his strength to restrain her.


    But just as Tutu was activating the formation, Chang Baimei roared and thrust out his palms. ¡°Shake!¡±


    The rumbling Five Lightning Formation suddenly weakened and froze for a brief moment, as if someone had stuck a piece of cloth into the gears.


    Even if Chang Baimei couldn¡¯t control it, he could at least interfere with the formation¡¯s operation.


    At the same time, the pangolin charged into the fray.


    An attack from a Transformation great fiend was not to be taken lightly, but Tang Jie ignored it, continuing to focus on the white snake.


    Seeing that he couldn¡¯t stop it, Tang Jie grabbed the white snake and held it aloft, using it as a shield.


    The pangolin couldn¡¯t thrust the spear at its ally.


    Tang Jie pushed the white snake toward the pangolin¡¯s spear, and the pangolin had no choice but to put away his spear and grab the white snake.


    Thud!


    A golden de prated through the white snake into the pangolin.


    ¡°Ugh!¡± The pangolin grunted, enduring this strike as it hugged tightly to the white snake.


    Tang Jie extended his left hand, a white jade finger thrusting at the snake¡¯s forehead.


    The white snake would not survive this strike.


    At this moment, the pangolin hugged the white snake and turned around, allowing the Jade Shattering Finger to strike his back, creating a fountain of blood.


    ¡°Old Jin!¡± the white snake shouted. ¡°You¡­ This wasn¡¯t necessary¡­¡±


    She knew that even if she were rescued, there was no way she could survive her injuries.


    The pangolin smiled.


    It looked into the eyes of the snake, gentleness and sorrow within its own.


    At that moment, Tang Jie seemed like the cruelest and most callous viin, caring not for the deep affection and camaraderie they shared, cruelly swinging his butcher¡¯s de once more.


    The golden de turned into a wire and moved to coil around the pangolin¡¯s neck.


    ¡°No!¡± The white snake was looking at Tang Jie and saw what he was doing, and its eyes widened.


    She grabbed the pangolin and used herst strength to toss him away, managing to get the pangolin out before the golden wire came around.


    The golden wire swept out, wrapped around the white snake¡¯s neck, and sliced.


    The white snake froze, and then a faint smile appeared on her lips.


    She turned to look at the pangolin, and then her head fell off her body.


    ¡°NOOO!¡± The pangolin and Chang Baimei shouted in unison.


    Tang Jie grabbed the white snake¡¯s corpse and put it into his Mustard Seed Bag¡ªa Transformation great fiend¡¯s corpse was extremely valuable!


    ¡°You bastard!¡± the pangolin cried out in grief. ¡°I¡¯ll fight you to the death!¡±


    ¡°But I have no interest in that,¡± Tang Jie grunted as he fell back, sowing some beans.


    Several dozen bean soldiers appeared, iling their limbs and lunging at the pangolin.


    At the same time, Tang Jie swung his saber at Chang Baimei¡¯s hyena.


    The Basking Moon Sect and Beast Refining Gate were long-time enemies, and they had both developed tactics to use against each other. Every member of the Basking Moon Sect knew that there were always two ways of dealing with the Beast Refining Gate.


    Strike at the master or cut off the wings.


    Tang Jie had chosen thetter.


    He did this because he had basically learned most of what Chang Baimei was capable of from Tutu. He knew that this person specialized in the typical Beast Refining Gate fighting style, using himself as bait and his beasts to attack. His defensive methods were numerous and his offensive methods few.


    For this reason, killing Chang Baimei wasn¡¯t easy, whereas killing his Transformation fiends was much simpler.


    Although the white snake and pangolin were both Transformation fiends, the fact that the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s people had limited personal strength meant that the fiends they could subdue were also of limited strength. The white snake and pangolin were near the bottom of the barrelpared to their peers.


    In the end, the Beast Refining Gate relied on quantity over quality.


    His first target was the white snake. This was because the first wave of five Yin Lightning bolts was the most unexpected and most likely to hit its target. Thus, it naturally needed to be used on the most worthwhile target.


    He had chosen the hyena for the second wave. This was because he was actually still fighting with the mindset of running if he couldn¡¯t win. Besides, the hyena was also the easiest of the war beasts to kill.


    With this sh, the hyena howled and rushed at Tang Jie, ignoring the lightninging from above.


    Unlike the white snake, the hyena was a refined beast. Its intelligence had been stripped away long ago, leaving only instinct.


    As it furiously charged, it spat out ck gas from its mouth.


    Tang Jie thrust out his palm several times to disperse the ck gas, at which point the hyena suddenly pounced and made to bite Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie grunted and kicked the hyena in the belly, at the same time turning his saber to chop at the hyena¡¯s head.


    The hyena was at the upper grade of Mind Opening, one tier above Tang Jie, though in actual strength, it was a little weaker. Tang Jie could take it one-on-one and defeat it even without using any of his trump cards.


    But his enemy wasn¡¯t willing to give him a one-on-one.


    Chang Baimei thrust his palms at the air and bellowed, ¡°Stop right there!¡±


    The endless lightning was stopped by something and was unable toe down.


    If he couldn¡¯t control it, he could still stop it by force.


    Chang Baimei¡¯s Spirit Ring expanded, enveloping the entire area of the formation.


    This was the special ability of Spirit Ring cultivators. By expanding the Spirit Ring, they could protect everyone within it.


    To put it simply, Chang Baimei had expanded his barrier from applying to only himself to the entire area covered by the Spirit Ring. In this way, his war beasts were isted from the lightning.


    The removal of the lightning essentially nullified the formation. Because he was within the barrier, Tang Jie had even lost the ability to operate the formation.


    But this method wasn¡¯t without w. It was extremely taxing on the user, and it also meant that the user was essentially defenseless against enemies inside the barrier. This was because his defensive barrier had already expanded outward.


    But at least Chang Baimei¡¯s four war beasts were now freed.


    Without the interference of the formation, the war beasts became much stronger. The golden eagle and ck bear were able to push back Shen Qingdan, forcing her to retreat outward. But if she got too far away, Chang Baimei would order the two fiends to stop attacking and turn to deal with Tang Jie.


    In order to take some of the pressure off Tang Jie, Shen Qingdan had to grit her teeth and hold on. But these two beasts were truly powerful. The golden eagle was fast while the ck bear was savage, and she was only just barely able to hold out.


    Meanwhile, the pangolin pushed through the bean soldiers to thrust its spear at Tang Jie.


    He loathed Tang Jie to the utmost, and at this moment, the air was filled with images of his spear. It seemed like he would only rest when Tang Jie was a beehive.


    Tang Jie suddenly vanished from his position.


    The Chaoswind Step.


    As a foot technique made for localized battle, the Chaoswind Step was perfect for this situation.


    In his previous battles against the Beast Refining Gate, Tang Jie was always running and fighting, which wasn¡¯t a good fit for the Chaoswind Step. Now that he was in a head-on sh, it finally had the space to show its power.


    But Tang Jie wasn¡¯t only relying on the Chaoswind Step.


    Dodging the spear, Tang Jie appeared next to the fake mountain. He thrust out his hand, and the fake mountain copsed, turning into two Tang Jies.


    The pangolin and Chang Baimei were both shocked. What spell art was this?


    Tang Jie then went over to a nearby tree.


    He had prepared this tree before the battle, and with the strike of his palm, it turned into countless pieces of wood, all of them turning into Tang Jies that shot out from the water.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, and another tree turned into countless Shen Qingdans.


    Even the hyena was powerless here. Although it could search by scent, this was only useful for tracking the target. With countless Tang Jies here and the odor of Tang Jie everywhere around here, trying to find the real Tang Jie would not be easy.


    Importantly, even if it could identify Tang Jie, Tang Jie was using the Chaoswind Step to constantly move around amongst the crowd of people.


    Back then, the original Tang Jie had used the same method to evade He Chong again and again. As for using Duplication in a direct battle, this was actually the first time.


    All the Tang Jie shouted in unison, ¡°Let¡¯s see how you fight me now!¡±


    He raised his golden de and charged at the four war beasts.


    Although Chang Baimei knew that these were all illusions, all of these clones rushing at him still left him deeply stunned.


    It wasn¡¯t just illusions of Tang Jie, but of the bean soldiers too. The force of several dozen bean soldiers had be an army of thousands, all of them yelling and charging.


    Countless saber waves descended on the four war beasts.


    Although they knew that most of the attacks were illusions, Chang Baimei and the four war beasts had no choice but to avoid or defend against them. After all, who could say that the real attack wasn¡¯t among them?


    The four war beasts unleashed their power at the same time, loosing a torrent of spiritual energy against the crowd that obliterated all the illusions in its path.


    At this moment, a figure suddenly appeared behind Chang Baimei and swung a de at his head.


    As the de was about to fall, Chang Baimei¡¯s body erupted with white light, the explosion of spiritual energy sending that person flying and throwing up blood.


    ¡°This is the real one!¡± Chang Baimei shouted.


    The pangolin thrust out his spear at that person, who exploded into spiritual light.


    ¡°How?¡± Chang Baimei and the pangolin were both shocked.


    This Tang Jie had clearly thrown up blood while being pushed away.


    A momentter, the hyena let out a bitter wail as a de chopped into its back.


    Another Tang Jie stood behind the hyena, his golden de almost chopping the hyena in half.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Chang Baimei looked at him in disbelief.


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°This spell¡¯s name is Duplication. Its most unique attribute is that it can adjust to the situation. Thus, don¡¯t think that one of them is me just because they throw up blood.¡±


    Chang Baimei sucked in a cold breath of air. These duplicate Tang Jies could change ording to the situation? This was an indicator of an extremely high-level illusion spell.


    What sort of spell art could be this incredible?


    A momentter, Chang Baimei saw the countless Tang Jies all begin to do different things. Some of them were holding sabers, others swinging swords, othersughing hard, others weeping, and some of them even making faces. Several hundred Tang Jies were doing several hundred different things.


    It was impossible to determine which was real and which was fake.


    ¡°So, you have to keep an eye on me,¡± Tang Jie chuckled. He blinked away once more.


    ¡°Ba¡­stard!¡± Chang Baimei had to force this word out from between his clenched teeth.


    He was a mighty Spirit Ring True Person, yet he had been forced against the wall by a mere Nine Revolutions junior! It was utterly humiliating!


    It had to be understood that this wasn¡¯t an ambush like with Chang Mingxin, but a proper battle!


    Although his foe was using a formation, Chang Baimei and his fiend beasts still shouldn¡¯t have been pushed this far. And this wasn¡¯t even considering that the white snake had been in and the hyena heavily injured.


    The pangolin suddenly threw his head back and roared, ¡°Tang Jie, you think that this is enough to deal with us? No!¡±


    His scales all suddenly stood up, and immense waves of spiritual energy began to radiate from him.


    Chang Baimei paled at this sight, crying out, ¡°No!¡±


    Raaaa!


    A vast wave of energy engulfed the area.


    In the middle of it all, countless scales left the pangolin¡¯s body and shot in every direction¡­


    Tang Jie using everything he can to take down Chang Baimei and hisckeys, but those fiends have their own cards to y!

 Chapter 441: Ultimate Sword Intent

    Chapter 441: Ultimate Sword Intent


    This was the fiercest and most terrifying storm Tang Jie had ever seen.


    Countless scales danced in the storm, like tens of thousands of knives. They shrieked with deathly wails, a horrifying tide of death.


    In front of this terrifying flood, all resistance seemed futile. All that one could do was prostrate on the ground and tremble.


    Chang Baimei, Tang Jie, Shen Qingdan, and the other war beasts got down on the ground and were engulfed by the storm.


    In this fierce torrent, all of Tang Jie¡¯s duplicates and bean soldiers were swept up and obliterated.


    When the storm disappeared, all of the duplicates Tang Jie had created were gone, and the pangolin was the only thing left standing. He had paid dearly for this storm. The pangolin looked like he had been skinned, blood oozing out from every part of him.


    But he was still able to smile, savagely shouting, ¡°Tang Jie, what else do you have?¡±


    Tang Jie sighed as he stood back up. ¡°What else can I have? The formation has been blocked, the illusions broken, and I¡¯m far too weak to fight against all of you. I naturally have no choice but to wait for death.¡±


    Shen Qingdan screamed, ¡°Tang Jie, what are you saying? If those illusions are gone, you can make more!¡±


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. ¡°¡®Make more¡¯? With what? You think that those illusions were for free? I expended far too much of my power for this batch.¡±


    On this point, Tang Jie wasn¡¯t lying.


    The Duplication spell didn¡¯t require much spiritual energy, but even small amounts became vast expenditures when one made several hundred illusions at once. This effort had cost Tang Jie more than half of his spiritual energy.


    If Tang Jie could cast the spell as he pleased, he would have be invincible long ago.


    These words caused Shen Qingdan to despair.


    The pangolin angrily red at Tang Jie. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then die!¡±


    He charged at Tang Jie, thrusting out his spear.


    Tang Jie raised his head. ¡°Wait!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The pangolin stopped in momentary shock.


    Tang Jie took out something. ¡°I suddenly remember that I actually do have something.¡±


    He held it up for everyone to see that it was a wooden card.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Chang Baimei was taken aback.


    ¡°A rmendation token,¡± Tang Jie replied. ¡°Master Ming gave it to me. He said that one full-power strike from Master Ming was stored in it. s, I¡¯ve never seen him at full power, and I don¡¯t know what sort of attack is inside it or how to use it.¡±


    Chang Baimei paled at his words.


    A full-power strike from Ming Yekong? What sort of terrifying existence was this?


    He instinctively backed away, his facial expression shifting. Even the pangolin had stopped moving.


    But a momentter, Chang Baimeiughed. ¡°Kid, are you trying to pull one over on me? If that card really had Ming Yekong¡¯s full-power strike in it, you would have used it earlier. What would be the point in waiting until now?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that?¡± Tang Jie shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯ve always preferred to hold my trump cards for the end. Moreover, I was considering this whole time whether it would be better to kill you or the pangolin. As I didn¡¯t know what sort of attack was sealed inside, I couldn¡¯t decide who to use it on. If it was powerful enough, I would naturally use it on you, who¡¯s still at full power. But if it¡¯s not that strong, it would naturally be better used on the pangolin. And if it was an area attack, it would naturally be better to bait you into gathering together¡­ To put it frankly, not knowing anything is a huge headache.¡±


    The blood rushed to the pangolin¡¯s head. ¡°You¡¯re bullshitting! If you¡¯ve got guts,e at me!¡±


    He raised his spear and charged at Tang Jie again.


    Tang Jie helplessly sighed. ¡°As expected, lying too much makes one hard to believe. If that¡¯s the case, I might as well go for the safe choice.¡±


    He aimed the rmendation card at the pangolin and undid the seal with a shake of his hand.


    A brilliant light erupted from the card.


    Chang Baimei immediately knew that this light was trouble, shouting, ¡°It was true¡­ Pangolin, dodge!¡±


    The blooming light drowned out his voice, and amidst the surging light, a speck of sword energy shot out.


    It was only a little speck, but it lit up the entire world. It was as if the only thing in this world was this single strike.


    When the pangolin saw this speck of sword energy flying toward him, he stopped thinking about anything else.


    He suddenly understood something, and the barrier that had hindered his path for so many years suddenly loosened. This tiny bit of insight caused an intimidating energy to rise from his body, and a golden light gathered on the tip of his spear.


    s, that golden light was nothingpared to that snow-white sword energy.


    With a sweep from that sword energy, all defenses were void.


    The golden spear shattered and blood painted the sky.


    Whoosh!


    As that sword energy swept past, the pangolin shuddered.


    A momentter, a red line appeared, and the pangolin¡¯s body came apart in two pieces.


    This attack was like Tang Jie¡¯s golden de, able to cut through everything. But unlike the golden de, it was also infused with immensely destructive power.


    The vitality of a Transformation great fiend was such that even if he had been beheaded by the golden de, he could still survive if he were given emergency treatment.


    But this sword didn¡¯t just cleave through the pangolin¡¯s body, it also cleaved through his vitality.


    The moment the sword energy prated through his body, the pangolin was dead.


    He hadn¡¯t died because he had been cleaved in half. In truth, the sword energy had wrung all of his life force into oblivion.


    ¡°Ultimate sword intent¡­¡± Chang Baimei said in a shaky voice.


    Tang Jie had been right. This was truly only an attack that someone on the level of a Basking Moon Celestial Chief could make.


    Only someone whoprehended sword intent to the apex could unleash such an attack!


    Ming Yekong!


    Chang Baimei shivered.


    Even Tang Jie was astounded.


    Only now did he realize that Ming Yekong was a master of the sword.


    In his battle against Heng Wudi, he mostly dodged, exhibiting the Chaoswind Step to its fullest, and nobody had seen how he attacked. At that time, everyone believed that Ming Yekong was only skilled in evasion.


    Only now did Tang Jie understand how absurdly wrong they all were.


    Ming Yekong had only used the Chaoswind Step that time so that he could demonstrate it for Tang Jie.


    ¡°Master Ming¡­¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    Suddenly, he felt like he could hear Feng Hongluan speaking into his ear.


    ¡°Consider the sect your home, and devote your loyalty to your sect!¡±


    It was wrong to believe that everyone was out to get him. When it came to disciples of great potential, love and care would always outweigh envy.


    Ming Yekong, Xie Fengtang, and Feng Hongluan had known that he was hiding a huge secret and many resources, but they still cherished him.


    This was what it meant to be a great sect, what it meant to be an illustrious character!


    Ming Yekong could have never imagined that this one rmendation card would move Tang Jie to such a degree.


    But at that moment, Tang Jie truly felt the care and support from the sect. If there really was a way to score loyalty, then when that sword swept out, Tang Jie¡¯s loyalty score went up by at least ten points.


    ¡°Awoooo!¡± While Tang Jie was still immersed in that attack, a frenzied roar rang out.


    It was the ck bear.


    It angrily red at Tang Jie. ¡°You bastard, you killed Old Jin! You killed him!!!¡±


    Tang Jie turned his head, looked at the ck bear, and asked in confusion, ¡°How bizarre! The Beast Refining Gate refines all beasts, wiping their minds so that they can be used and treating them like puppets. All fiends with intelligence should regard the Beast Refining Gate as their foe. The asional fiend bearing intelligence in their ranks should be the solitary type, so why would you be friends?¡±


    The ck bear¡¯s eyes were bleeding as it red at Tang Jie and thrust a paw at him. ¡°What do you understand? We all followed the young master since we were young, enjoying his favor and care. How the Beast Refining Gate acts has nothing to do with us, and how other fiends fare also has nothing to do with us. All that matters is protecting the young master!¡±


    ¡°As expected,¡± Tang Jie sighed.


    He had long ago wondered how the people of the Beast Refining Gate prevented those fiends with intelligence from hating them. It now appeared that it was nothing more than rearing them and indoctrinating them.


    Using personal considerations to overrule the greater cause!


    The Myriad Beast Union Mantra probably also contributed.


    The Myriad Beast Union Mantra could also work on fiends that had retained intelligence, but rather than being able to order these fiends around as if they were an extension of one¡¯s limbs, it influenced their mentality to a certain extent, making it less likely that they would turn traitor.


    The ck bear¡¯s palm-leaf paw swung again and again as it shouted, ¡°Let¡¯s see what other tricks you have!¡±


    ¡°Other tricks¡±?


    He had used all his bean seeds, and he was out of spiritual energy. Tang Jie truly didn¡¯t have many tricks left.


    But this didn¡¯t mean he had none left.


    Taking out the Cosmic Breeze Pearl, Tang Jie drained it of energy, recovering almost 20% of his spiritual energy. He waved his hand, creating several more illusions. He didn¡¯t hope that these illusions would perform as impressively as before, but he hoped that they could provide a distraction on his behalf for a bit.


    Tang Jie took out a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl. ¡°At least I still have this.¡±


    The ck bear couldn¡¯t help but shiver when he saw it.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t throw it out.


    He was in no rush.


    While Heavenbane Lightning Pearls were powerful, their explosion wasn¡¯t guaranteed to kill Chang Baimei and the ck bear. On the contrary, it might end up destroying the Five Lightning Formation. Moreover, he didn¡¯t have many Heavenbane Lightning Pearls left.


    With that being the case, it was better to keep it on hand as a threat and buy time for the Five Lightning Formation to wear away at Chang Baimei¡¯s energy and build up a new wave of Yin Lightning bolts.


    Given the time that had passed, the second wave of five Yin Lightning bolts was just about done forming.


    For Tang Jie, killing the pangolin had essentially decided the battle.


    Tang Jie looked at Chang Baimei, the ck bear, and the golden eagle that was still fighting with Shen Qingdan. He casually said, ¡°True Person Chang, if you don¡¯t have anything else, I¡¯m afraid this battle is about to be over.¡±


    Chang Baimei red at Tang Jie.


    The white snake and pangolin had been brutally in. Regardless of the oue of this battle, Chang Baimei had already lost.


    But this was precisely why Chang Baimei needed a result.


    A victorious result.


    No matter what, he was still a Celestial Heart True Person of the Beast Refining Gate.


    As a member of the sect that was mortal foes with the Basking Moon Sect, he could not allow a Nine Revolutions rascal to rise up because of him. This would bring shame to the Beast Refining Gate.


    This absolutely could not happen!


    Chang Baimei looked at Tang Jie and said, ¡°Tang Jie, you¡¯re vicious. You killed the white snake and executed the pangolin, relying on your power and methods to kill two Transformation great fiends. Regardless of the reasons, you have lived up to the rmendation you were given. The battle over the sea and your feats in this Beast hidden realm are enough to have your name known throughout thend. But this is bound to be yourst performance. I will now show you that a Celestial Heart True Person¡­ isn¡¯t that easy to deal with!¡±


    It seems like Chang Baimei is finally pulling out all the stops! Does Tang Jie have anything left?

 Chapter 442: The Current of Time

    Chapter 442: The Current of Time


    Chang Baimei threw his head back and roared.


    As he roared, the Spirit Ring suddenly withdrew. As the barrier disappeared, the lightning came down once more.


    At the same time, the ck bear rushed back to Chang Baimei¡¯s side.


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes shed as he realized something. ¡°Stop that bear!¡±


    Shen Qingdan threw out her Starsnatcher Chain at the ck bear, and followed up with the bronzentern and thence.


    Just when the Starsnatcher Chain was about to wrap around the ck bear, a figure ran out and charged into it.


    It was the hyena.


    It had been severely wounded by Tang Jie¡¯s saber, but while it no longer posed abat threat, it had still charged out at this critical moment. The Starsnatcher Chain, the me from the bronzentern, and thence all struck the hyena. The hyena wailed and copsed, finally dead.


    But this interference allowed the ck bear to run back to Chang Baimei¡¯s side. Chang Baimei thrust a palm at the ck bear¡¯s forehead, and the ck bear howled in pain. Its giant body gradually shrank until it became a little cub.


    At the same time, Chang Baimei grew to the size of a giant.


    Chang Baimei had absorbed all of the ck bear¡¯s energy.


    This was a special secret art of the Beast Refining Gate that absorbed a fiend beast¡¯s energy and blood to strengthen oneself. While this boost in strength was temporary, it didn¡¯t require cultivation. However, the fiend needed to be willing, so refined beasts and rebellious fiends could not be used.


    That ck bear cub looked at Chang Baimei and hopefully whispered, ¡°Young Master¡­ remember your promise, that you will retrain me and restore me.¡±


    ¡°Idiot! Although you¡¯ve retained your intelligence, your cultivation has fallen to lower-grade Spirit Sensing. Rather than nurturing you back, it would be better to capture another Mind Opening fiend and raise it. It would save a great deal in resources. You¡­ have no use!¡±


    Chang Baimei stomped the ck bear cub into paste.


    He raised his head and looked at Tang Jie, sternly saying, ¡°Tang Jie, I¡¯ve absorbed the ck bear¡¯s cultivation, and I am now brimming with spirit and blood energy, just as strong as Chang Mingxin. Now that you¡¯ve used up all your tricks, let me see how you fight me now!¡±


    He thrust out a palm which was brimming over with power, much stronger than any of his previous attacks.


    Tang Jie¡¯s face turned grave. He did not dare to take on Chang Baimei¡¯s palm, so he could only dodge as best he could.


    Chang Baimeiughed and threw out palm after palm, furiously roaring, ¡°Come on; let¡¯s see what else you have!¡±


    He mmed his fists together, unleashing a furious torrent of energy against Tang Jie.


    He loathed Tang Jie, so his attacks were ruthless and held nothing back. And after absorbing the ck bear¡¯s cultivation, he was physically stronger as well. He basically didn¡¯t feel the lightning from the Five Lightning Formation.


    The defensive power of two was enough to resist the formation¡¯s lightning.


    Tang Jie brought his hands together, and five lightning bolts appeared¡ªthe second wave of Yin Lightning.


    Chang Baimeiughed and punched at the air. ¡°Open!¡±


    He was still a True Person, possessing abundant experience and sharp eyes. Although he did not understand formations, he could still see the ws of the Five Lightning Formation. He knew that the best way to deal with it wasn¡¯t to defend, but to attack it before it could send its lightning down.


    The surging energy from this fist instantly sheared away more than half of the five Yin Lightning bolts.


    Tang Jie could only helplessly sigh.


    In the end, there was a difference of two tiers. All of his tricks were only effective on the first use. After that, it would be very hard to make them work again.


    This was true for the golden de, the lightning pearls, and the Yin Lightning. So long as his opponent had seen it, it would be very difficult for it to work again.


    This was all due to the difference in strength.


    If he had been strong enough, what would it matter if his opponent had countermeasures?


    Take Ming Yekong¡¯s ultimate sword strike as an example. It was like a god descending from the heavens, utterly unstoppable. No matter how many countermeasures one had, one probably wouldn¡¯t even have the time to use them.


    Inparison, he was always relying on external things.


    But Tang Jie didn¡¯t n to change anything because of this.


    It wasn¡¯t like he was unaware of the principle that strength was the root of everything. It was just that these things were easier said than done.


    After all, this was an opponent two tiers above him. How was one supposed to cultivate their way over that gap? If he weren¡¯t relying on external objects, what could he rely on?


    In truth, in terms of strength, Tang Jie was already strong enough to take on the average Cognitive Creation Tier cultivator. Thus, the problem wasn¡¯t that Tang Jie was weak, but that his opponents were just too fierce, forcing him to use all his tricks again and again.


    Now, against the empowered Chang Baimei, Tang Jie had finally run out of ideas.


    Human strength had its limits, and Tang Jie had already gone above his level to push a Spirit Ring True Person this far. In a situation where he couldn¡¯t summon his original body, his defeat was certain.


    As an avatar, he didn¡¯t fear death. He just felt like it was a pity that there was a lot that he wouldn¡¯t be able to do once he died, and some preparations would go to waste.


    Even so, Tang Jie stillughed. Swapping back to the Heartbreak Saber, he unleashed a furious wave of energy while shouting, ¡°This battle is lost. Hurry and go! I¡¯ll hold him off!¡±


    Shen Qingdan¡¯s heart thumped in fear. This was her first time seeing Tang Jie so helpless. Before that, no matter what problems he faced, Tang Jie had always seemed confident and assured. Even when Chang Baimei was doggedly chasing him, he acted as if he just didn¡¯t want to lower himself to Chang Baimei¡¯s level, still seeming confident.


    But now that he was saying that defeat was certain, Shen Qingdan couldn¡¯t help but shout, ¡°No, you won¡¯t lose. How can you lose?¡±


    Tang Jie was startled.


    When did Shen Qingdan start believing in him so much?


    It wasn¡¯t like they had truly known each other for a long time.


    Boom!


    A fist from Chang Baimei roared out, dispersing the Matchless sh and striking the Heartbreak Saber. With its remaining strength, it mmed into Tang Jie and sent him flying.


    Tang Jie threw up blood andughed. ¡°Silly girl, you think that it¡¯s possible to always win? In the end, I¡¯m at Nine Revolutions, but my opponent is a True Person. What does it matter if I have the assistance of a formation? It was made in haste and ultimately can¡¯tpare to a proper Grade 5 formation. Victory is a miracle, and defeat is normal. In this battle, killing two Transformation great fiends is the best I can do. I¡¯ve done my best, and though it is a defeat, it is a glorious one. What¡¯s so strange about me losing?¡±


    Chang Baimeiughed. ¡°It¡¯s good that you realize!¡±


    Punches, palm sts, and finger bolts barraged Tang Jie. This Spirit Ring True Person used all his power to the maximum, disying his formidable cultivation. Every move he made was brimming with power.


    In truth, if he were really using all his power, he would have already killed Tang Jie.


    But he wasn¡¯t willing to let this bastard go so easily.


    He wanted to torment Tang Jie to death!


    Shen Qingdan shouted, ¡°You still have a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl!¡±


    Tang Jie swung his saber to defend himself as he said, ¡°Heavenbane Lightning Pearls¡­ Fine. Let¡¯s see if it can do anything!¡±


    He threw out a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl.


    Chang Baimei crazilyughed. ¡°I was waiting for this!¡±


    He swung his arm, and his long sleeve curled up, wrapping around the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl and tossing it up into the air, where it exploded.


    A powerful explosion ripped through the air.


    The pearl was as powerful as ever, but it wasn¡¯t able to injure Chang Baimei. Only a little of its power managed to reach Chang Baimei, but he was ready, raising a barrier so that the explosion didn¡¯t harm him in the slightest. As for Tang Jie, he was shaken up so badly that his body almost fell apart.


    He was only in the fourth of the Nine Revolutions, and his galldder, spleen, stomach, intestines, and kidney were still rather weak. This shockwave severely damaged his organs, rendering him unable to stand, and blood spilled out from his pores.


    Amidst the tremendous shockwave, even the lightning in the sky disappeared.


    The Heavenbane Lightning Pearl had destroyed the Five Lightning Formation.


    ¡°Tang Jie!¡± Shen Qingdan hadn¡¯t expected the use of the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl to result in this, and she was filled with remorse.


    Tang Jie was still smiling. ¡°Silly girl, if you don¡¯t leave now, I won¡¯t be able to help you anymore.¡±


    He turned his hand over, revealing another Heavenbane Lightning Pearl.


    Although this thing couldn¡¯t kill a prepared Chang Baimei, it could at least draw his attention and apprehension.


    Sure enough, the moment Chang Baimei saw this Heavenbane Lightning Pearl, he frowned and stopped his assault.


    Shen Qingdan looked at the bloodied Tang Jie, clenched her teeth, and finally retreated.


    Under Chang Baimei¡¯s control, the golden eagle did not give chase, instead turning on Tang Jie. With man and beasting at him from two sides, Tang Jie¡¯s situation grew even more dire.


    Thud!


    Tang Jie threw his head back and vomited blood. His injuries were getting worse, but there was still a faint smile on his face. He looked at Chang Baimei with eyes of pity and contempt.


    This expression only made Chang Baimei angrier. He decided to stop wearing Tang Jie down, clenching his right fist as he roared, ¡°Give me your life!¡±


    He punched.


    In the face of this lethal punch, Tang Jie remained calm.


    At the moment he prepared to ept his fate, a gale howled out of the heavens.


    Chang Baimei and Tang Jie both looked toward the horizon in shock.


    This wind seemed to have substance to it, shing with a silver luster as it struck Chang Baimei. Chang Baimei suddenly howled crazily as he retreated with shock in his eyes.


    At that moment, Tang Jie saw Chang Baimei¡¯s two long eyebrows growing longer, his wrinkles deepening, and his hands beginning to tremble.


    Chang Baimei shrieked, ¡°A Current of Time!¡±


    The wind unfurled, threatening to sweep Chang Baimei away like a river in the air.


    Chang Baimei hastily retreated, not daring to let that wind touch him again.


    Tang Jie suddenly had an idea, and it was at this moment that the golden eagle wed at his back.


    Tang Jie reached behind him and grabbed the golden eagle, tossing it at that wind current.


    The golden eagle fell into the wind, and as that silver wind rushed past, the eagle froze. Then, it began to rapidly age, its feathers molting, until it finally turned into dust in the wind.


    ¡°It really is a Time Current,¡± Tang Jie murmured.


    This silver wind current was none other than the current which had helped himprehend the Dao Will of Time, but it was even stronger and fiercer than before. The golden eagle was an upper-grade Mind Opening fiend, so it had a lifespan of several centuries. But a single gust of wind had been enough to age it to death, showing just how rapidly time was flowing in that moment.


    Although Chang Baimei had reacted quickly and retreated at the slightest touch and seemed only a little older, he had probably lost a few decades of life.


    It seems like a ¡°mysterious benefactor¡± hase to Tang Jie¡¯s rescue, and his avatar is once more spared the fate of death.

 Chapter 443: Son of the Heavens

    Chapter 443: Son of the Heavens


    The Current of Time crazily pursued Chang Baimei, but itpletely ignored Tang Jie.


    Chang Baimei was astounded, but no matter how he evaded, he couldn¡¯t throw off the Time Current. As they moved here and there, the entire area was thrown into turmoil, the rapid flow of time causing leaves to wilt, trees to wither, and fiends to turn to dust.


    In the course of this pursuit, the Time Current never once touched Tang Jie, causing Chang Baimei to roar in shock and anger, ¡°Why is it like this? Who are you? Who is getting in my way?¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes remained calm.


    From the moment heprehended the Dao Will of Time, he had been able to sense that there was some sort of benevolent presence in the hidden realm that was protecting him, but he hadn¡¯t been certain about it at that time.


    It was only once that Time Current appeared that he was certain.


    As Chang Baimei futilely attempted to escape, Tang Jie muttered, ¡°It seems that it¡¯s not that easy for me to die this time.¡±


    He looked up at the sky and noticed that the Time Current was slowly beginning to weaken as it gave chase.


    It was clear that a Time Current like this wasn¡¯t endless. Every existence that it wore down would consume a part of it.


    Chang Baimei also seemed to realize this, and he began to fly off toward an area with arge number of lifeforms.


    As the Time Current weakened, Chang Baimei saw hope. He savagelyughed, ¡°You can¡¯t beat me!¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Tang Jie sighed. ¡°Actually¡­ there¡¯s one move that I haven¡¯t used yet.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Chang Baimei was startled.


    A momentter, Tang Jie leaped into the air.


    He pursued Chang Baimei and punched at him with his right hand.


    ¡°Absurd!¡± Chang Baimei howled as he thrust a palm in return.


    With his strength, he did not think that a punch from Tang Jie could do anything to him.


    But a momentter, Tang Jie¡¯s fist erupted with a heaven-shaking power.


    ¡°Devil Crushing Fist!¡±


    With this roar, fist and palm met. Chang Baimei felt a terrifying power like never before surging out, and he was thrown back, unable to control his body.


    The problem was that the Time Current was right behind him.


    ¡°Aaaah!¡±


    With a scream, Chang Baimei fell into the Time Current.


    He struggled to get out, but the power of the Devil Crushing Fist neutralized his strength.


    The Time Current rushed over him, and his elderly face instantly dried out, bing a horrifying visage.


    His life force left him as if it had sprouted wings, and Chang Baimei knew that there was no surviving this. He howled, ¡°I die, but don¡¯t even hope of surviving!¡±


    He unleashed his full power at Tang Jie.


    Chang Baimei put everything he had into this strike. He didn¡¯t even have time to see if Tang Jie actually died, dissolving into dust.


    At the same time, Tang Jie fell from the sky.


    At this moment, he waspletely devoid of strength. He couldn¡¯t even conceal his wizened face, his white hair and wrinkles appearing as he fell.


    He fell into the water.


    In the end, I¡¯m still dying, Tang Jie thought to himself.


    He closed his eyes and quietly waited for death.


    At this moment, a slender hand grabbed his cor and pulled him from the water.


    A face that was a mixture of displeasure and happiness appeared before him.


    Tang Jie tried to make out who this person was, but a momentter, exhaustion overtook him. He closed his eyes and fell unconscious.


    When he woke up, he found that he was lying on top of a tree.


    Shen Qingdan sat nearby, looking at him.


    ¡°As expected, you didn¡¯t leave,¡± Tang Jie struggled out.


    ¡°I was looking for an opportunity to make a sneak attack. I just didn¡¯t expect you to kill Chang Baimei all on your own,¡± Shen Qingdan replied.


    ¡°It was the Time Current that killed him, not me,¡± Tang Jie replied. Since Shen Qingdan had been able toe and save him in time, she had naturally seen everything.


    ¡°You used the natural features of this ce. Unfortunately, you weren¡¯t able to avoid it either,¡± Shen Qingdan said, stroking Tang Jie¡¯s face.


    Tang Jie instinctively pulled his head back. Turning around, he looked down at his reflection in the water.


    So is that how it was?


    Shen Qingdan thought that it was the Time Current that had aged him.


    She didn¡¯t know that the Time Current was actually selective with its attacks, that it was being controlled.


    Who was controlling the Time Current to help him?


    Countless figures appeared in Tang Jie¡¯s mind, ultimately stopping on a familiar figure.


    ¡°Bao¡¯er, was it you¡­¡± he muttered.


    ¡°What?¡± Shen Qingdan didn¡¯t hear him properly.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Tang Jie sat up and rubbed his face. His face once more became youthful and healthy.


    Shen Qingdan saw him suddenly be young again and said in realization, ¡°So you also have a transformation spell! This transformation spell of yours is amazing, not showing a single w. It must be one of your trump cards. To think that I¡¯m fortunate enough to see it today.¡±


    Tang Jie indifferently replied, ¡°Since you know it¡¯s one of my trump cards, please keep it a secret. We¡¯re friends now, which is why I didn¡¯t hide it from you.¡±


    ¡°¡®Friends¡¯?¡± Shen Qingdan folded her arms. ¡°So, we¡¯re friends now? Then what was I before?¡±


    The two of them had fought side by side in that mortal battle against Chang Baimei. If Shen Qingdan hadn¡¯t been there to support him, Tang Jie would probably have died. After all, this victory of his had already been hard-won, so the strength of a single ant might have been enough to tip the bnce. That Shen Qingdan hadn¡¯t abandoned him at the critical moment greatly improved Tang Jie¡¯s opinion of her, causing him to treat her as a friend.


    Hearing Shen Qingdan¡¯s question, he smiled and said, ¡°In the past¡­ a troublesome woman.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Shen Qingdan¡¯s eyebrows instantly rose in anger. She red at Tang Jie and said, ¡°Smug asshole!¡±


    The two of them looked at each other and startedughing, and thatst bit of misunderstanding between them was finally dissolved.


    After resting for a while, the two of them prepared to set off again.


    Tang Jie moved to take the lead, but Shen Qingdan stopped him. ¡°There¡¯s a Windwall Formation over there, upied by quite a few fiends. Let¡¯s move around it.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    ¡°There are many hundred-year Cat-Ear Grasses in that formation. I wanted to get them, but I found that there were several dozen fiends inside, all of them at Mind Opening. I had no choice but to retreat.¡±


    Cat-Ear Grass wasn¡¯t some rare nt, but while hundred-year Cat-Ear Grass wasn¡¯t as effective on humans as it was on fiends, it was still one of the few spirit nts in this hidden realm that humans could use. Shen Qingdan wanted to get them, mostly so that she could use them to treat Tang Jie, but she hadn¡¯t expected there to be so many fiends guarding them.


    Tang Jie thought it over and said, ¡°Is that so? Then let me go and take a look.¡±


    Shen Qingdan jumped in shock. ¡°Are you crazy? You¡¯ve just been through a tough battle and are still weak. You can¡¯t risk yourself right now.¡±


    A group of several dozen Mind Opening fiends was a threatparable to Chang Baimei. At Tang Jie¡¯s current level of strength, it was impossible for him to defeat that many sea fiends. Of course, he could go for mass destruction and st open a path with a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl, as those sea fiends definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to react as quickly as Chang Baimei. But if he did that, he could say goodbye to any chance of getting Cat-Ear Grass.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°It¡¯s fine. I just think that the heavens have been looking out for metely. If I go over, those fiends might even hand the treasure over to me.¡±


    Shen Qingdan rolled her eyes. ¡°Ha, who do you think you are? A son of the heavens? Protected by fate wherever you go? The Time Current helps you when Chang Baimei attacks, and the fiends will back off when you go and take Cat-Ear Grass?¡±


    ¡°Who can say?¡± Tang Jie casually replied as he went forward.


    Shen Qingdan was speechless with anger, but she could only follow. She decided to immediately run if the situation turned sour. In any case, this guy had a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl, so at least he wouldn¡¯t die. At worst, he would just be wasting a treasure.


    At this time, Tang Jie really did enter the formation.


    With his level of understanding in formations, this Windwall Formation was of little use against him. But sure enough,rge numbers of sea fiends gathered, led by a giant sea snail. The giant sea snail didn¡¯t move, but a wind howled around as if it was prepared to unleash a terrifying attack at any time.


    Tang Jie slowly walked closer and closer.


    Shen Qingdan¡¯s heart rose up to her throat.


    A gust of wind blew past.


    All of the sea fiends gave way, opening a path to the Cat-Ear Grass.


    And then Tang Jie walked over, plucked those grasses, and then turned around and walked back.


    Unexpectedly, the sea fiends didn¡¯t attack Tang Jie once.


    ¡°This¡­ What¡¯s going on here?¡± Shen Qingdan¡¯s eyes were wide open.


    Leaving one grass for Tutu, Tang Jie gave the rest of the Cat-Ear Grass to Shen Qingdan, saying, ¡°In thanks for your blessing. Perhaps I really am the son of the heavens, protected by such great fortune that fiends do not dare to approach me.¡±


    Shen Qingdan looked at him in a daze. After a while, she finally squeezed out, ¡°You¡­ don¡¯t want these?¡±


    Tang Jie shook his head.


    For him, gathering the Cat-Ear Grass was simply to prove his spections.


    Inparison, the Cat-Ear Grass was rather worthless.


    ¡°Then I won¡¯t be polite,¡± Shen Qingdan said, happily putting them away.


    Looking back at him, Shen Qingdan said, ¡°Hey, since you¡¯re a child of the heavens, protected by great fortune, why don¡¯t we take a stroll around the area and see if there¡¯s anything else to gather? You might not need it, but my Wandering Pce has a lot of expenses and needs such things.¡±


    After some thought, Tang Jie nodded. ¡°Fine. It just so happens that I need to find a missing friend, so I guess I can take a stroll around the perimeter of the ind with you. You can take whatever we get, but while you can take what¡¯s on the perimeter, don¡¯t hope to get anything from the ind itself.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Shen Qingdan¡¯s eyes widened. The spirit nts on the ind were definitely more valuable than the spirit nts around it.


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°Because if my guess is right, all the spirit nts on the ind have already been cleaned out.¡±


    ¡°Who did it?¡±


    ¡°¡­The daughter of the heavens.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Buh!


    Yiyi burped and rubbed her round belly. Lying on the ground, she moaned, ¡°It¡¯s no good. I can¡¯t eat anymore¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course. You¡¯ve been eating for thest two days,¡± Xu Miaoran replied, rolling her eyes.


    She had never imagined that this little girl would have such a huge appetite. In thesest two days, she had consumed an uncountable number of spirit fruits and flowers, so many that they could be measured in tons. Her stomach seemed like a bottomless hole, sucking in all these spirit nts. Only when she had consumed all the spirit nts on the ind that she could see did she finally stop.


    Yiyi was probably the first in history to consume spirit fruits to the point that her stomach was about to burst.


    After eating everything, Yiyi weakly said, ¡°No good¡ªI need to sleep. Big Sister, you need to protect me.¡±


    Shey down and turned into a rose that swayed in the wind, exuding a refreshing aroma.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Xu Miaoran was startled, and then she understood, crying out, ¡°Metamorphosis!¡±


    The medicinal power from all the spirit nts Yiyi had consumed finally erupted, the sheer quantity producing a qualitative change.


    Among fiends and sprites, this was extremely rare.


    For both fiends and sprites, Metamorphosis was an immense opportunity, but also an immense danger.


    In the process of Metamorphosis, a special fragrance would be exuded that would draw over the greedy and hungry.


    To be more precise, after eating all the spirit nts on the Immortal ind, Yiyi was now thest spirit nt, and the most valuable. Even all of the spirit nts added up together might not match her value.


    At this moment, she was like a thousand-year Whitefiend Lotus, a top-ss treasure!


    Xu Miaoran realized that trouble wasing!


    Yiyi is truly blessed by the heavens!

 Chapter 444: Fate

    Chapter 444: Fate


    On the clear surface of the water, a Golden Thread White Orchid bloomed atop a piece of coral.


    The Golden Thread White Orchid was extremely rare in the Rosecloud Domain, only existing in the blessednds of the six major sects, so it was surprising to see one here.


    A slender hand gently grabbed the root of the orchid and lifted it up. It then carefully stored the nt in a jade box.


    Turning around, Shen Qingdan made a satisfied smile, ¡°My thanks, son of the heavens.¡±


    Tang Jie stood not far from her, his hands held behind his back. Several shark fiends hungrily red at Tang Jie, but in the end, they helplessly turned and left.


    It was as if the heavens really did favor Tang Jie. Wherever he went, all the fiends would stand aside, allowing them to easily gather fruits and flowers they came across. These vicious fiends that others stayed far away from were as docile as kittens and puppies in Tang Jie¡¯s hands.


    Not too long ago, Tang Jie had even stroked the head of a sea fiend and walked a circle on its back.


    The cooperation of the fiends made it very easy for them to move through the sea. If they hadn¡¯t been gathering spirit nts, they would have arrived on the Immortal ind ages ago.


    For Shen Qingdan, this was harvest season, but Tang Jie had no interest. He was willing to help Shen Qingdan to thank her for her previous help, to look for his ghost guard, and to hunt down the Beast Refining Gate disciples.


    In this sea fiend hidden realm, everyone was scattered, so this was an excellent chance to hunt people down and weaken his enemy.


    And it was also a chance for Tang Jie toprehend some of the questions that had been on his mind.


    In the battle against Chang Baimei, there were two matters that still deeply confused him.


    The first matter was the sword intent sealed in the rmendation card.


    He hadn¡¯t realized it when using it, but after the battle, he felt like there was some deeper meaning behind it, as if Ming Yekong had left it there to enlighten him.


    In these years, Tang Jie had cultivated many things. When it came to texts, he had cultivated the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, the Violet Jade Mantra, the Parting ssic, the Ninedark Mantra, and also the mantra of the Five Gods Faith, and he had numerous spell arts under his belt.


    But when facing enemies, hecked an ability that could truly decide everything in a single move. He always had to use countless methods in new and interesting ways to make things work.


    If only he were able to learn some spell art that could concentrate all his advantages and energy into a single point, allowing him to truly kill opponents above his level¡­


    The ultimate sword intent was a manifestation of this mindset.


    This was also probably what Ming Yekong wanted to tell him.


    The problem was: how could he create his own saber intent killing move?


    Ming Yekong hadn¡¯t said anything about that, and Tang Jie also had no idea where to start.


    But that heaven-shaking strike from the rmendation card had definitely broadened the possible paths of development Tang Jie could take in the future.


    The second matter was why the Dao of Karma hadn¡¯t worked.


    If the ambush he hadid had worked, he wouldn¡¯t have had to go through such a difficult battle. He had been forced to pay out a great deal, even using the Devil Crushing Fist, causing his constitution to fall from greater attainment Jewel Body to minor attainment Jewel Body.


    Each day this matter wasn¡¯t resolved was another Tang Jie would remain uneasy. And if he found the answer, he might even be able to improve his understanding of the Dao of Karma.


    As he was lost in thought, Shen Qingdan suddenly said something. Seeing that he was in a daze and not listening, Shen Qingdan brusquely walked over and said, ¡°Hey, what are you thinking?¡±


    Tang Jie remained in thought as he said, ¡°Every action is predetermined, every effect having its cause. Since cause and effect are fixed, where do the variables arise?¡±


    Shen Qingdan seemed amazed by the question. ¡°Cause and effect are fixed, but fate is everchanging. What¡¯s so weird about that?¡±


    Tang Jie shuddered, shouting as if he had been awoken from a dream. ¡°¡®Cause and effect are fixed, but fate is everchanging¡¯? Yes, I get it now!¡±


    Shen Qingdan¡¯s casual answer had inadvertently enlightened him.


    In the battle of the jade house, he hadid an ambush to ensnare Chang Baimei, using the Dao of Karma to ensure its sess, but in reality, the ambush had failed.


    Tang Jie had believed that it was his Dao of Karma that had failed, but it was only now that he realized that it actually hadn¡¯t failed. It was just that he hadn¡¯t been able to convert sess into victory.


    His Dao of Karma was only able to decide the most basic and simple of events. In nting the cause and reaping the effect of the Time Set explosion, the only thing he could influence was that the eruption would hit Chang Baimei.


    Thus, he could decide when the explosion happened, but he couldn¡¯t decide if it killed anyone.


    This was like how oranges grown in the south would be sweet while oranges grown in the north would be bitter.


    In this process, a fruit would be borne regardless of where it was nted, but sweet oranges were kept and bitter oranges were thrown away. Different fruits had different fates.


    He couldn¡¯t control Chang Baimei¡¯s fate!


    This was why, among the Twelve Great Daos, Karma and Fate were linked. Thetter was a refinement of the former.


    Upon understanding this, Tang Jie immediately felt like the door to the Great Dao of Fate had opened up for him a sliver. Perhaps he only needed a chance moment to achieve a real breakthrough.


    If he could really pull that off, then the matter with Chang Baimei would not repeat itself. When the time came, he couldbine the Dao Will of Time with the Dao of Karma to create an unstoppable tool against his enemy.


    Thinking this, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but throw his head back andugh.


    Shen Qingdan was baffled by his state and wondered what sort of sickness he was suffering from. While she was sulking, she suddenly heard the sound of pping clothes from the distance. It seemed that some people were flying toward them.


    ¡°Careful. Someone¡¯sing,¡± Shen Qingdan quickly said.


    Tang Jie immediately stoppedughing and pulled out the Heartbreak Saber. ¡°They¡¯vee at the perfect time. Since I still can¡¯t control the Dao of Fate, I can¡¯t set their fates and determine their deaths. In that case, I might as well reverse cause and effect, using my saber to determine life and death and set their fates! Death will be their fate!¡±


    As those people flew over, he suddenly changed his appearance into that of Chang Baimei, shouting, ¡°Who goes there?¡±


    These people were actually wearing the uniform of the Beast Refining Gate. Tang Jie had already noticed this, but he pretended not to see.


    Those people hastily bowed when they saw Chang Baimei. ¡°These disciples pay respects to the True Person!¡±


    Tang Jie said nothing and flew straight toward them.


    A sharp disciple noticed that Tang Jie wasing with a saber in hand and wasn¡¯t in his usual clothes. He wondered in surprise, ¡°True Person, when did you start using a saber?¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°I¡¯m offering up your heads to my saber toprehend my Great Dao and cultivate my saber intent! sh!¡±


    His saber rose and fell.


    A wave of saber energy sliced off the head of the disciple who had spoken, and a bloody massacre ensued¡­


    A few momentster, these Beast Refining Gate disciples had been in. Tang Jie sheathed his saber, collected their Mustard Seed Bags, and set off again.


    Shen Qingdan was rather bbergasted by this ruthless killing. She had never before seen this savage side of Tang Jie.


    In truth, Tang Jie had never been the merciful sort. It was just that he hadcked the opportunity to go on a wanton massacre.


    But in this hidden realm of beasts, facing the mortal enemy of his sect, the Beast Refining Gate, he could put aside allws, rules, and customs. There was nothing left to bind him, and considering that striking back was also needed for survival, Tang Jie naturally used everything at his disposal to ughter his enemies.


    All of the Beast Refining Gate disciples would eventually have to go to the ind, so Tang Jie only needed to patrol the ind¡¯s perimeter toe across solitary disciples. If there weren¡¯t too many of them, he would immediately move out and kill them. In the space of two days, Tang Jie ended up taking the lives of twenty-some Beast Refining Gate disciples.


    The Beast Refining Gate had mobilized more than one hundred disciples over the Beast Garden, and Tang Jie had ended up killing almost all of them.


    Today, Tang Jie ran into a few more disciples, but these were from Godhead Pce.


    Tang Jie naturally wouldn¡¯t be polite to people from Godhead Pce. He killed all of them in battle and took their things, inwardly sighing over the fact that people from Godhead Pce didn¡¯t have bounties.


    In truth, in order to avoid making enemies, the Basking Moon Sect did not dare to target people outside of the Beast Refining Gate. If its disciples ended up killing too many people of other sects, it might even have to clean up after them.


    If there were no restraint, there would also be no indulgence.


    It was precisely because they restrained themselves around other sects that they could endlessly pursue the Beast Refining Gate. The same was true for the other sects.


    After a thousand years of development, the six major sects had developed an equilibrium around each other.


    No one was willing to break it.


    But Tang Jie knew that, because of the rtionship between him and Godhead Pce, this equilibrium would break eventually.


    He just hoped that he wouldn¡¯t bring trouble to the Basking Moon Sect¡ªin this aspect, Tang Jie¡¯s loyalty to the Basking Moon Sect truly had improved.


    After killing these Godhead Pce disciples, Tang Jie was just about to leave when he suddenly sensed something, and a look of joy appeared on his face.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Shen Qingdan asked.


    Tang Jie muttered, ¡°I sense¡­ he¡¯s nearby!¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°An old friend!¡± Tang Jie replied, flying off.


    After passing through a lush sea forest, Tang Jie saw a person standing on the surface.


    The Heptademon Ghost Guard!


    Tang Jie finally reunited with the ghost guard! The battle with Chang Baimei wouldn¡¯t have been so tough if this guy had been around!

 Chapter 445: Ancestral Blood

    Chapter 445: Ancestral Blood


    Tang Jie was even stronger now that he had found the ghost guard, and the hunting game he was ying became even easier.


    The vast sea became Tang Jie¡¯s stage. He wandered around, hunting down the members of the Beast Refining Gate or Godhead Pce that he encountered, and Shen Qingdan followed behind and gathered spirit nts. asionally, she helped to kill a few people, and Tang Jie would split the spoils with her in an appropriate manner.


    While he killed as he liked, the Beast Refining Gate suffered great misfortune.


    On the central Immortal ind, the ck and white Feng Buzhis were ying go. Nearby stood twenty-some Beast Refining Gate disciples.


    After some time, the ck Feng Buzhi pushed at the go board. ¡°The seven-day time limit is up. There¡¯s no need to wait any longer. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    He ced his hands behind his back and began to walk toward the summit.


    The disciples shared a look, and someone finally shouted, ¡°Seventh Master, there are still a lot of people who haven¡¯te!¡±


    Feng Buzhi lightly said, ¡°They can¡¯t make it anymore.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s hearts trembled at these words.


    Helian Hu shouted, ¡°No, they¡¯re onlyte! Seventh master, don¡¯t forget that there¡¯s still Master Chang. He went to chase Tang Jie. Maybe he seeded and is on his way back!¡±


    In the battle between Chang Baimei and Tang Jie, Shi Cangxuan had died while saving Chang Baimei, but Gu Qii had returned alive. This guy had originally followed Chang Baimei in chasing after Tang Jie, but Tang Jie was too fast. As Chang Baimei doggedly pursued, Gu Qii gradually fell behind.


    Seeing that he couldn¡¯t catch up to Chang Baimei, he decided to head to the ind, which actually allowed him to escape disaster.


    The white Feng Buzhi casually said, ¡°If he could havee, he would havee long ago. I can sense that his energy is no longer here¡­ Baimei is here no longer.¡±


    Helian Hu paled from shock. ¡°No, this is impossible. Tang Jie doesn¡¯t have this ability. There¡¯s no way he can be stronger than Master Chang!¡±


    The ck Feng Buzhi sighed. ¡°Tang Jie naturally can¡¯t be stronger than Baimei, but that doesn¡¯t mean he can¡¯t kill Baimei. After all, wasn¡¯t he weaker than Mingxin but still managed to kill him? At times, victory isn¡¯t decided based on how weak or strong someone is. It¡¯s not just Baimei. Those disciples who have yet toe were probably killed by him.¡±


    Everyone shuddered in fear. Only Helian Hu kept shaking his head. ¡°No, this isn¡¯t possible. I don¡¯t believe, I don¡¯t believe it!¡±


    At the Immortal Fortune Conference, he was the Great Brother leading the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s disciples, whereas Tang Jie had been far inferior to Peng Yaolong and the others. But now, he had only just entered the sect and was already soaring upward. He had killed Chang Mingxin and several dozen Beast Refining Gate disciples, and now, he had even killed Chang Baimei.


    The gap was so vast that Helian Hu couldn¡¯t even fathom it.


    He felt a great pain in his heart¡ªnot just for Chang Baimei, but also because of this enormous gap.


    The rivalry between them had ended before it had even begun.


    The white Feng Buzhi nced sympathetically at Helian Hu. ¡°I know that you can¡¯t ept it, but Tang Jie¡­ is no longer an opponent of your level.¡±


    These words rejected any possibility of Helian Hu defeating Tang Jie.


    The ck Feng Buzhi was already making his way up the mountain. ¡°Let¡¯s go. If Tang Jiees, I will personally deal with him.¡±


    This mountain seemed simple, but with his Divine Will, Feng Buzhi had sensed that there were numerous seals and traps on the mountain, and countless fiends in hiding.


    To get from the base to the summit would require passing through countless dangers.


    This was also why Feng Buzhi had waited for everyone to gather. There were so many traps and fiends that even Feng Buzhi didn¡¯t dare to handle them alone, especially because he sensed that there were also three Transformation great fiends.


    s, after so many days of waiting, only twenty-some disciples had appeared.


    The thought that Chang Baimei had probably fallen at Tang Jie¡¯s hands left Feng Buzhi greatly pained. This guy had so many things that he still hadn¡¯t had time to swindle off him, but now, it all belonged to Tang Jie.


    He didn¡¯t know that the Time Current had meant that Tang Jie actually hadn¡¯t gotten a thing from Chang Baimei, which had also left Tang Jie very sore.


    But Feng Buzhi was now determined to kill Tang Jie the moment he saw him and steal his treasure!


    He had no doubts that he could kill Tang Jie. Even though Tang Jie had already killed Chang Mingxin and Chang Baimei, there was still no chance that he could win.


    This was because Feng Buzhi was stronger than Chang Mingxin and Chang Baimei put together!


    For he was a Heart Demon True Person!


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    As Feng Buzhi began to make his way up the mountain, inside the mountain, furious waves of blood surged toward the heavens.


    Here was a giant pool of blood.


    The blood roiled like magma, radiating a terrifying killing intent. A transparent hexagonal crystal floated above the pool of blood, slowly revolving, and disying countless images from across the hidden realm.


    An upper-grade Mind Opening mouse fiend greedily looked at the pool of blood. It could sense the immense power fermenting in the pool. It was this pool of blood that made them evolve, made them smarter and stronger.


    It longed to get closer to the blood pool. The closer it was, the stronger it could be.


    But at the same time, it felt an iparable sense of danger. Its instincts told it that each step it took would bring it a little closer to death.


    And then, unable to repress its desire, it began to approach.


    Step after step, closer and closer.


    It felt an indescribable power filling its body, boiling within it. The mouse fiend wanted to shout, wanted to yell.


    It saw its body growingrger, changing. As it grew at an astonishing speed, it let out a cheerful howl. And then spurts of blood shot out of its body, like rays of light, and its body burst apart like an overinted balloon.


    A sea of blood swept out, drawing the remains into the pool and leaving nothing behind.


    ¡°Another greedy idiot!¡± someone grunted.


    Next to the blood pool, a dark-faced man sat on arge boulder. After mumbling to himself, he continued to gnaw on a sheep leg.


    Two people stood next to him: a green-robed schr and a hawk-nosed man.


    This hawk-nosed man was none other than the great fiend that Xu Miaoran had seen turn into an Ironback Eagle.


    The eagle fiend said, ¡°Do you not realize how tempting White Tiger True Blood is? If possible, who wouldn¡¯t want to be a little greedy with it?¡±


    The green-robed schr said, ¡°s, only direct descendants can endure the power of the True Blood. Others can only bask in its glow from afar. If not for that little fellow, we also wouldn¡¯t be able to sit here to enjoy the blood dew.¡±


    ¡°If not for that, we wouldn¡¯t have let that little guy into this ce so easily,¡± the dark-faced man muttered. ¡°While we can enjoy this grace now and be much stronger, after this, the White Tiger True Blood will be no more, and the Beast Garden will cease to be. I truly don¡¯t know if this deal is a profit or a loss!¡±


    ¡°That will all depend on your decisions.¡± A deep voice came from the blood pool.


    The fog of blood around the pool dispersed, revealing the scene within.


    In the center of thatva-like pool of blood was the corpse of a white tiger.


    The white tiger¡¯s remains were enormous, almost a thousand feet tall. Almost the entirety of the mountain¡¯s insides were upied by the corpse.


    Despite being only a corpse, it exuded majesty and power. But its eye sockets were empty. Even the eyes had been extracted from it.


    The eye cavity was the perfect size for that hexagonal crystal turning in the air.


    There was another hole around the heart of the tiger remains.


    The blood of the pool was flowing from this hole in the heart, and the blood turned into fog that seeped back into the white tiger¡¯s remains through its pores, forming a cycle.


    In the center of the heart cavityy a fierce white tiger.


    Its body was pure white, and only at the center of its forehead and the corners of its eyes could one see the coloration of an ordinary tiger. It sat in the heart cavity, allowing that blood that countless great fiends craved but did not dare to approach to wash over it. It trembled in the surge, growing stronger and stronger, exuding a mighty aura of iron and blood.


    It opened its eyes and looked at the three fiends down below. ¡°The White Tiger True Blood will not disappear. I will simply inherit it. If you are unwilling to leave, then you can follow me. Once I restore the White Tiger n, I will be sure to reward you well.¡±


    ¡°¡®Follow you¡¯?¡± The three Transformation great fiends looked at each and erupted inughter.


    In the end, the dark-faced man said, ¡°Brat, don¡¯t think that just because you can operate the Divine Time Crystal and can harness the power of the blood pool to make all other fiends cower, you can order us around however you please. Your majesty only works on those idiots who have yet to open their eyes, but it¡¯s no use on us. We listened to your orders concerning those humans only because we were giving you some face so that we could work together. And besides, those spirit nts were of no use to us. But if you think that means you can order us around, then keep dreaming! You¡¯ve only barely entered Mind Opening, and you think you can order around us three Transformation fiends? That¡¯s the most ridiculous thing in the world!¡±


    ¡°¡®Barely entered Mind Opening¡¯?¡± The white tiger shook its head. ¡°That¡¯s already long in the past.¡±


    The dark-faced man was startled. ¡°What did you say? It¡¯s only been seven days.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s only what you think.¡± The white tiger slowly stood up.


    As it spoke, all of its fur receded, and before the three great fiends, it transformed into a human, a handsome young man.


    ¡°This¡­ how?¡± Although they knew that this little tiger must have gotten much stronger through absorbing the blood of its ancestor, it had still only been seven days.


    For a fiend to absorb ancestral blood didn¡¯t mean that it could immediately obtain its ancestor¡¯s power. It only meant that it had unlocked its slumbering memories and talents, gaining potential on par with or even exceeding its ancestor¡¯s. But this evolution still took time.


    Moreover, the White Tiger Blood Pool had been in the Beast Garden for more than a thousand years now.


    One thousand, eight hundred years of consumption and settling was taxing, even for the White Tiger True Blood. The White Tiger True Blood that could be refined from the pool was now only half the strength of the White Tiger ancestor.


    In these circumstances, how had this little tiger improved so much in only seven days?


    Going straight from Mind Opening to Transformation?


    The three great fiends were utterly baffled.


    It was that green-robed schr who nced at the turning crystal and suddenly realized something. ¡°The Divine Time Crystal! You used the Divine Time Crystal!¡±


    ¡°You finally get it?¡± The little tiger smiled.


    His finger stroked the crystal and lightly turned it. ¡°The Divine Time Crystal was a supreme treasure made with my ancestor¡¯s eye. My White Tiger n could control space and time. One Dao per eye, creating the universe whenbined. With the Time Crystal in hand, is it strange that I can stimte my bloodline power and elerate my growth? s, too much of this ancestral blood was used up. Even if I absorbed it all, I wouldn¡¯t be able to reach the strength of my ancestor at their prime. But what I can¡¯t get through inheritance¡­ I will get myself, will fight for!¡±


    The little tiger looked at the three fiends. ¡°Before that, I would like to ask the three of you: do you n to fight alongside me? Of course, you can refuse. But then I¡¯ll have to use my fists to make you agree.¡±


    The three great fiends looked at each other and shook their heads.


    The little tiger¡¯s smile broadened. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ great!¡±


    A punch thundered out!


    As many of you have long suspected, it was Bao¡¯er the whole time! And it seems like he¡¯s gotten a big power boost!

 Chapter 446

    Chapter 446: Passing Traveler


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    A de shed, and blood fountained.


    The Godhead Pce disciple kneeling in front of Tang Jie held his throat and squeezed out, ¡°Wh¡­ why¡­¡±


    He seemingly didn¡¯t understand why Tang Jie wasn¡¯t willing to spare him despite the fact that he had surrendered.


    Wiping the de on that disciple¡¯s shoulder, Tang Jie casually replied, ¡°Because this is your fate¡­ It was your fate from the moment you joined Godhead Pce.¡±


    ¡°My¡­ fate!¡± the disciple muttered before finally copsing.


    Ever since he had learned of the connection between Karma and Fate, Tang Jie seemed to have developed a tendency to use fate as the exnation for everything. It was as if this was the way to the Great Dao of Fate, a method for glimpsing a corner of that ethereal concept.


    The rabbit fiend pursed its lips at Tang Jie¡¯s words. ¡°The Great Dao of Fate is profound and unfathomable. If just talking about it and killing people could get you toprehend it, then that Great Dao would be just a little too simple. In truth, Fate is the fruit of Karma. Rather than desperately seeking out the Dao of Fate, it would be better to deepen your understanding of the Dao of Karma. Once you reach a certain level of understanding in Karma, you will naturally begin to slowly grasp the essence of Fate.¡±


    Tang Jie was startled. ¡°¡®Fate is the fruit of Karma¡¯?¡±


    This was the first time he was hearing such a thing.


    Of the Twelve Great Daos, some ran alongside each other while others required going step by step. Space and Time were two Daos that ran alongside each other while Karma and Fate were two Daos that required going step by step. But before this, Tang Jie had never truly grasped the difference between the two. It was only when Tutu spoke that Tang Jie finally understood.


    He pondered the thought for a while before nodding. ¡°It makes sense. It seems that my thought process was mistaken. Perhaps some Daos can¡¯t be sought. Rather, they wille on their own with the passage of time and encounters. I was being too intentional, which only caused me to stray from the fundamentals.¡±


    He looked at the rabbit fiend and sincerely said, ¡°When I let you live, it was because I thought that your thousands of years of experience would be useful, but you never said anything. Today, I finally received some instruction from you. As a grandpa, you¡¯ve been rather neglectful of your duties!¡±


    The rabbit fiend was baffled, not understanding what he meant by ¡°grandpa¡±. It could only awkwardlyugh and say, ¡°In truth, my knowledge of the Twelve Great Daos is also limited. While I might be at Divine Division, this is thanks to my race¡¯s natural talent. I can eventually reach that level just by living, which is why training it all back is so difficult.¡±


    ¡°Then were did you hear all this from?¡±


    ¡°From my n¡¯s young master, of course!¡± the rabbit fiend replied.


    ¡°Your n¡¯s young master was skilled in Karma and Fate?¡±


    ¡°Not exactly. His true expertise is in Life and Reincarnation. Perhaps because these two Daos are rted to those two Daos, my young master also has some understanding of Karma and Fate.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Tang Jie nodded. ¡°But no matter how thoroughly your young masterprehended Life and grasped Reincarnation, after such a long time, your young master is probably already dead.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡± The rabbit fiend jumped up high and shouted, ¡°My young master is the Lord of Reincarnation, evesting throughout the ages. He could never¡­¡±


    Before it could finish, the rabbit fiend suddenly covered its mouth with its forelimbs, fear in its eyes.


    Tang Jie gazed deeply at the rabbit fiend and softly said, ¡°¡®Lord of Reincarnation¡¯¡­¡±


    These words carried immense meaning.


    Those who sought the Dao were divided into those whoprehended it, those who entered it, and those who controlled it, and how peopleprehended Dao Wills changed the abilities they had.


    A Lord was a master, above those three levels.


    How mighty was a master of a Great Dao?


    ¡°Lord of Reincarnation¡±?


    Consider the Martial Lord. He had dominated the myriad worlds while only controlling the Weapon Dao. He dared to call himself the Lord of All Weapons, and with one order from him, all weapons would shatter and be part of the Weapon Mantra.


    And this was only a minor Dao!


    The Dao of Reincarnation was a supreme Great Dao. What sort of person could master it?


    As Tang Jie stared, the rabbit fiend trembled in fear and softly said, ¡°I was exaggerating. My young master does not have this ability, having only entered the Dao. But across the many worlds, those who can control Daos are few and far between. They call themselves Lords, but it¡¯s mostly empty bluster. But as my young master entered the Dao of Reincarnation, he can already control his own life. So long as he was not reborn in a barrennd, even if he died, he could still retain his memories and be reborn again. Thus, he must still be living on this world.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Tang Jie coolly said. ¡°Then you had best watch yourself. The Heavenly Dao has eyes, and if you boast too much¡­ it will punish you with lightning!¡±


    The rabbit fiend trembled in fright, raising its little forelimbs. ¡°This Tutu swears on its life to never utter falsehoods again.¡±


    Only then did Tang Jie let this cowardly little fellow go.


    Meanwhile, Shen Qingdan had finished her job: looting the dead.


    Bringing several Mustard Seed Bags up to Tang Jie, she threw some of them at Tang Jie. ¡°These are yours.¡±


    Tang Jie took them and put them away. Looking around, he said, ¡°This is the only group we¡¯ve run into today. It seems like there¡¯s nobody else.¡±


    ¡°True. You killed them all.¡± Shen Qingdan smiled.


    ¡°What? Do you think I¡¯m too bloodthirsty?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    Shen Qingdan shook her head. ¡°Since you killed them, they deserved to die.¡±


    There was an ambiguity to these words that left Tang Jie startled.


    Shen Qingdan appeared to also find them inappropriate, her face turning red as she fell silent.


    In a rare sight, the mood became awkward.


    After a few moments of silence, Tang Jie finally said, ¡°Since there¡¯s no one to kill, let¡¯s head to the ind.¡±


    ¡°To the ind¡­¡± Shen Qingdan¡¯s eyes shed with disappointment.


    Once they were on the ind, it would no longer be a world with just the two of them¡ªactually, this was already the case, but the ghost guard didn¡¯t say anything, so it might as well not exist.


    After some thought, Shen Qingdan shook her head. ¡°You go. I¡¯ll stay. That will save you some trouble.¡±


    Tang Jie was startled, and then he understood. She was thinking about how things would get difficult to exin if they ran into Xu Miaoran.


    Looking at Tang Jie¡¯s face, Shen Qingdan chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t think too highly of yourself. It¡¯s not entirely because of you. I haven¡¯t seen anyone from my Wandering Pce, so I need to search for them.¡±


    ¡°They also might have gone to the ind.¡±


    ¡°Please help me take care of the people who went to the ind,¡± Shen Qingdan casually said, throwing him a jade token. ¡°With this item, you can order around the pce¡¯s people. You said that the Beast Refining Gate sent three True Persons. You killed two of them, so there should still be one on the ind. Although this friend of yours is also at Spirit Ring, it would still be better if you had more people to help out.¡±


    She cast her gaze at the motionless ghost guard.


    Although she called the ghost guard a ¡°friend¡±, in thesest few days, Shen Qingdan had realized that the ghost guard seemed more like Tang Jie¡¯s servant. However, she kept those words to herself.


    After she said a few more things to Tang Jie, the two of them finally parted.


    As she watched Tang Jie leave, Shen Qingdan suddenly sighed, taking a few steps back and leaning against a tree.


    As she gazed into the distance, her face seemed rather nk.


    She had told Tang Jie that she was going to look for her own subordinates, but even she understood how silly that exnation was.


    What method would be simpler and more convenient than going to the ind?


    In truth, she just wasn¡¯t willing to be together with Tang Jie.


    This was not because she hated him. It was the exact opposite, in fact.


    Yes, Shen Qingdan found that she was starting to like Tang Jie.


    Her arguments with Xu Miaoran and her invitation to Tang Jie had simply been a manifestation of a girl¡¯s stubbornness, and there was no hint of affection. But at some point, her attitude toward Tang Jie began to change.


    It had gone from hostility to earnestness, and then to a dispelling of distrust and fighting alongside each other. Her feelings toward Tang Jie began to subtly change, and a few short days had been enough to effect a world-shaking transformation in Shen Qingdan.


    It was not a strong sensation at first, and she didn¡¯t realize anything. But when she refused to abandon Tang Jie under Chang Baimei¡¯s threats, she finally realized. When she saved Tang Jie afterward, it was more like she was following her true feelings rather than making some sort of righteous choice.


    Shen Qingdan had still been able to deceive herself then, but as time passed, the sensation grew stronger and stronger.


    After going through so many battles together, experiencing his formidable self-confidence, fearless courage, and intelligence that could see through everything, she finally understood that she liked this man.


    That was exactly why she was so afraid!


    No matter what, she could not ept that she hade to love a man, let alone a man she would have to share with another woman. This was exactly why she chose to withdraw the moment she realized this.


    But she had still been hesitating, had been somewhat reluctant. In her heart, there was still a desire to spend a few more days with him before leaving, even though she knew that the longer she stayed, the more difficult it would be to let him go.


    When Tang Jie said that he wanted to head to the ind, she was suddenly enlightened, and she made up her mind to nip this affection in the bud.


    In this aspect, she was like Xu Miaoran. They both had their pride, were both talented women who needed to maintain their dignity.


    Gazing at that distant figure, Shen Qingdan¡¯s eyes gradually hardened. ¡°In the end, you are just a passing traveler in my life¡­ I will forget you.¡±


    Even though he didn¡¯t know about all of Shen Qingdan¡¯splicated feelings, he could at least understand the meaning in her words.


    He didn¡¯t find this strange, for he himself had felt that bud of affection.


    This was exactly why he had brought up heading to the ind.


    For him, Xu Miaoran was his true fated match. His heart had no space for anyone else.


    Thus, just like how he had rejected Wei Die, he also chose to reject Shen Qingdan.


    Life was all about rejecting and being rejected. The only difference was that some people were always being rejected and some people were always doing the rejecting.


    Who in their life did not have a few passing travelers? Rather than clinging to lost affections like a fool, it would be better to leave without constraints. At least then, one would have beautiful memories to look back on.


    He flew farther and farther away.


    When he looked back, the distant scenes had already be a blur.


    With a soft sigh, Tang Jie turned back his head and flew toward the ind¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Author¡¯s Note: Let me tell all my friends very definitively that Tang Jie and Shen Qingdan won¡¯t be together. The reasons are written in the book. In truth, when I wrote the character of Shen Qingdan, it was for this part of the story. Who in their life doesn¡¯t have a few passing travelers? Who hasn¡¯t had a few romances that didn¡¯t result in anything? And who doesn¡¯t have any affections that disappeared before they even had a chance to begin?


    Shen Qingdan and Wei Die are all like that. Even An Rumeng and Ping Jingyue are included.


    There are some romances that don¡¯t need a result, only the process.


    If you¡¯re willing to try it out, then go ahead and have a taste, but if not, then you can also just end things.


    It seems like the author has decided that only Xu Miaoran will be in Tang Jie¡¯s heart.<!--


    -->

 Chapter 447: Where is Tang Jie?

    Chapter 447: Where is Tang Jie?


    One dayter, Tang Jie arrived on the ind.


    The entire ind was like a volcano. Large amounts of red light spewed from the summit, appearing like rolling waves ofva.


    Bizarrely, Tang Jie felt like something in his body was throbbing and roaring.


    This was an effect of the Blood Refining Spirit spell. It made the power within the mountain feel very familiar¡­


    As expected, the little tiger was involved.


    Tang Jie was basically certain of this the moment he sensed that energy.


    As for why the little tiger wasn¡¯t willing to see him, Tang Jie could guess why.


    Since it was able to steal away the Beast Garden, the little tiger had presumably reached Mind Opening.


    Once its bloodline awakened, its ancestral memories would reemerge, and its hatred for the Basking Moon Sect would be enough for it to decide to leave.


    He could understand this, but it was precisely because of this that he felt sincere sorrow.


    In Tang Jie¡¯s eyes, the little tiger had always been his own child.


    Gazing up at the red light spewing from the summit, Tang Jie muttered, ¡°You are my son. No matter what decision you make, I will always support you!¡±


    And then he shouted, ¡°Bao¡¯er, did you hear that? No matter what decision you make, I will always support you!¡±


    His roar resounded through the world.


    Xu Miaoran suddenly turned her head and looked down the mountain, tears welling up in her eyes. She shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, you bastard, you finally knew toe! If you were anyter, I would have gone to find you!¡±


    All the apprehensions she had felt guarding Yiyi thesest two days had really scared her stiff.


    But what she found strange was that, despite Yiyi¡¯s incredible value, those fiends didn¡¯t try to harass her. Even so, those numerous fiends refused to leave, so what ended up happening was that arge number of fiends gathered around Yiyi¡¯s location.


    They greedily stared at her as if they were waiting for an order.


    asionally, a restless fiend would charge out. Fortunately, there weren¡¯t many of them, so Xu Miaoran had been able to kill them all.


    Even so, as more and more fiends gathered, Xu Miaoran grew increasingly concerned. When she heard Tang Jie¡¯s voice, she felt as if a great burden had been lifted from her heart.


    In truth, she didn¡¯t know that Tang Jie had the powerful ghost guard, but she believed that if Tang Jie was around, there was no problem that couldn¡¯t be solved.


    When she spoke, she saw all the fiends staring at her, and her heart tightened as she swiftly shut up.


    Inside the mountain, as the little tiger stood upon the three Transformation great fiends that he had beaten ck and blue, tears welled up in his eyes.


    ¡°Father¡­¡± he muttered.


    Just when he wanted to reply, a wave of blood erupted from the pool.


    ¡°Not good! Why is iting now?¡± The little tiger paled, and he threw aside everything else and threw himself into the blood pool.


    This was the final and most critical moment for absorbing the true blood, and he couldn¡¯t afford any distractions.


    On the path to the summit, the two Feng Buzhis, who were in the middle of undoing a seal, also heard this voice.


    As Feng Buzhi looked down the mountain, his eyes brimmed with killing intent.


    Helian Hu shouted, ¡°Seventh Master, it¡¯s Tang Jie. He¡¯se.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± the ck and white Feng Buzhis replied in unison. They shared a look, and then the white Feng Buzhi turned and made his way down the mountain.


    ¡°Seventh Master, you are only sending one avatar?¡± a Beast Refining Gate disciple asked.


    ¡°Our first priority is to break the seal and go up the mountain. The Wolf Lord is still waiting for us,¡± the white Feng Buzhi replied. ¡°As for Tang Jie¡­ one of me is enough.¡±


    Standing at the base of the mountain, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help butugh when he heard Xu Miaoran¡¯s voice.


    He wasn¡¯t worried about Xu Miaoran. After all, this was the territory of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and nobody could recklessly hurt her. But he had to consider safety, and there was also one other important reason: he missed her.


    Tang Jie was just about to reply when he heard another person shout, ¡°Is the one speaking Senior Sister Xu Miaoran? This one is Yun Danqi, a disciple of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Senior Sister, please assist us¡­¡±


    Unexpectedly, it was Yun Danqi¡¯s group. These guys had also been on the ind, and from their heavy breathing, it seemed that they were in the middle ofbat.


    Hearing this, Tang Jie flew in Yun Danqi¡¯s direction. Meanwhile, he turned his appearance into that of Qiu Zheng and adjusted his voice so that it sounded hoarse.


    He arrived at a valley, where he saw Yun Danqi, Shen Ningming, and theirpanions fighting against arge pack of fiends.


    Several dozen fiends had grouped together, including the Faceless Serpent. After ten days, this guy was evenrger than when it first appeared, and it was also fiercer.


    Even more surprising was that there were some members of the Wandering Pce with them. These people had all been sent by the Wandering Pce to protect Shen Qingdan, and while their levels weren¡¯t high, all at around Nine Revolutions, they couldn¡¯t be considered weak, and they even had abination formation. s, as theycked the manpower, they couldn¡¯t use the full power of the formation. Even so, they were still able to form an imprable wall.


    Without these people from the Wandering Pce, Yun Danqi¡¯s group would have been wiped out long ago.


    Still, it didn¡¯t seem like they wouldst for long, which was why Yun Danqi had called for help.


    But Xu Miaoran herself was looking for a savior. There was no way she could help them out.


    When Tang Jie arrived and saw the situation, he turned and nodded at the ghost guard, upon which the ghost guard charged out and started ughtering the fiends.


    In truth, if Tang Jie had gone himself, his status alone would have made the fiends back away.


    But this was bound to expose his connection with the Beast Garden, and to be frank, now that the ghost guard was back, he no longer wanted these fiends to give way. This only robbed him of hunting targets. After all, fiends were resources!


    The moment the ghost guard appeared, the Faceless Serpent instantly screeched, and then it once more turned its tail into its head and scampered off.


    It ran!


    Compared to the Faceless Sperent, those fiends who had not seen the ghost guard before were very unfortunate, for the ghost guard charged in and killed them all.


    Yun Danqi¡¯s group all cheered when they saw the ghost guard.


    Yun Danqi shouted, ¡°True Person Gui, you¡¯re finally here!¡±


    The ghost guard¡¯s appearance raised everyone¡¯s morale, and their strength rose with it. With a howl, they charged at the fiends and instantly turned the tables.


    To prevent the fiends from escaping, Tang Jie waited until the fiends were almost all killed off and in full retreat before charging out and joining everyone else in the pursuit.


    But this action was bound to cause some misunderstanding.


    As Tang Jie had not made any particr preparations beforehand, everyone had actually seen hime with the ghost guard.


    But while ¡°True Person Gui¡± came to save them, this ¡°Qiu Zheng¡± shrank back like a turtle, only striking when the battle was already decided.


    This ¡°bravery¡± and ¡°loyalty¡± drew everyone¡¯s contempt. Even Shen Ningming, who was on pretty good terms with him, wasn¡¯t willing to look at him, and he couldn¡¯t help but wonder when this person had be so cowardly. He hadn¡¯t been this way when he was defending the ind.


    But then he recalled how Qiu Zheng had said that he needed to ¡°take a piss¡±. While he hade back, True Person Gui had subsequently appeared. Thus, he ¡°realized¡± that Qiu Zheng had nned to leave but saw that a True Person wasing to the rescue, so he had changed his mind ande back.


    He had never imagined this person to be so incapable and greedy. He couldn¡¯t believe that he had wasted so much time trying to form a rtionship with this person.


    He voiced his thoughts to Yun Danqi, and everyone else felt like it made sense. They cast looks of contempt at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie had no idea that he had already be a gutless, greedy, underhanded, and ipetent fellow in their eyes, as he was busy dismantling the fiend corpses. The ghost guard had killed several dozen fiends just now, and all of them were of decent grade and level. The harvest from the Beast Garden would have required much more work on the outside.


    Holding a deer fiend, Tang Jie used his hands to get a measure of its size and see if there was enough to make scarves for Yiyi and Xu Miaoran. The ghost guard hadn¡¯t picked a particrly good spot for its Ghost Slice, making it difficult to divide. He had to make sure the ghost guard paid more attention to this aspect in the future. Hides like this were rather hard toe by, and it was important to keep them intact.


    As he was thinking to himself, one of Yun Danqi¡¯s juniors came over and said, ¡°Put that down right now!¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Tang Jie looked at this person in shock. He recognized this person as one of Yun Danqi¡¯s juniors, and his name was Xian Shaoyu.


    Xian Shaoyu shouted, ¡°It was True Person Gui who killed the fiends. Do you not understand the rule of the spoils going to whoever killed them? Since you didn¡¯t fight, you don¡¯t have the right to any of the spoils!¡±


    Tang Jie got what was going on, and he looked behind him to see everyone looking at him with disgusted looks. He smiled and said, ¡°This isn¡¯t for me. I¡¯m helping True Person Gui gather them up.¡±


    ¡°Still trying to argue?¡± Xian Shaoyu¡¯s face twisted in anger. He had clearly seen this guy shoving those fiend corpses into his own Mustard Seed Bag just now.


    Tang Jie turned to the ghost guard, which said, ¡°He¡¯s helping me out.¡±


    Everyone was instantly silenced.


    Tang Jie shrugged. ¡°All of you heard it, so I¡¯ll help myself. Oh, right. If I recall, it was True Person Gui who killed that sea snake in your hand, no?¡±


    Xian Shaoyu froze, and then he saw Tang Jie reach out and take the sea snake, even saying ¡°Thank you.¡± Xian Shaoyu was inwardly furious, but all he could manage to say was, ¡°A dog using its master¡¯s power.¡±


    Tang Jie found this rather amusing, but he didn¡¯t try to argue, continuing to dismantle the fiends.


    Once all the fiends had been gathered, Tang Jie said, ¡°Right, I heard that there is a colleague from Horizon Ocean Pavilion up on the mountain?¡±


    Although Yun Danqi wasn¡¯t willing to give him the time of day, he finally said, ¡°It should be Senior Sister Xu of my lowly sect. If she hadn¡¯t shouted the name ¡®Tang Jie¡¯, I wouldn¡¯t have dared to be sure it was her. I didn¡¯t think that they would alsoe, but I don¡¯t know why she said those words. I hope that she¡¯s alright.¡±


    The rtionship between Xu Miaoran and Tang Jie wasn¡¯t some big secret, so Yun Danqi hadn¡¯t needed much time to guess who she was.


    But he would have never imagined that the Tang Jie she had called for was this Qiu Zheng standing right next to him.


    Tang Jie was somewhat worried about Xu Miaoran. Although she hadn¡¯t exined her situation, from her tone, she seemed to be in danger. If Tang Jie hadn¡¯t judged from her tone that she wasn¡¯t in a state of absolute peril, he would have nevere to rescue Yun Danqi¡¯s group. In truth, he had saved them so that he could add to hisbat power.


    He hadn¡¯t forgotten that the Beast Refining Gate still had a True Person.


    Although he had the ghost guard and wasn¡¯t afraid of that True Person, Lin Baicang had said before that one of the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s three True Persons was at the Heart Demon Period. If this was true, then the ghost guard might not be enough.


    If one wanted to put a numerical value to the gaps between cultivation tiers, the difference from tier to tier was about five times, and from the top tier to the next realm was about ten times.


    In other words, in normal circumstances, a Cognitive Creation cultivator could handle about five Nine Revolutions cultivators together, and a Spirit Ring True Person could handle ten Cognitive Creation cultivators.


    Tang Jie¡¯s overall strength wasparable to that of a Cognitive Creation cultivator, or even a little stronger. Chang Baimei¡¯s strength had been average among Spirit Ring True Persons, so he was equivalent to seven or eight Cognitive Creation cultivators.


    In these circumstances, Tang Jie had used a formation, the rmendation card, the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl, and even the help of Shen Qingdan, and all of this was barely enough to let him fight a battle with Chang Baimei.


    Even then, he hadn¡¯t been able to win.


    Thus, this unknown Heart Demon True Person was bound to be even scarier. He was probably 35 to 40 times his strength.


    This gap wasn¡¯t something the ghost guard couldpensate for. This was why Tang Jie needed the help of others.


    Hearing Yun Danqi say this, Tang Jie went with the flow and said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, what are we waiting for? Let¡¯s go and take a look.¡±


    ¡°Naturally.¡± Yun Danqi thought to himself, While this guy might be a coward, at least he can read the situation.


    The ten-some Wandering Pce cultivators weren¡¯t particrly happy to hear that they were going to find Xu Miaoran. A muscr man among them said, ¡°My apologies, but we can¡¯t go with you. We still need to wait for our young pce lord.¡±


    Tang Jie smiled. ¡°Is this Big Brother Xu Tian of the Wandering Pce¡¯s 18 Ironguards?¡±


    The big man was startled. ¡°How did you know?¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, let us step over to the side and talk.¡± Tang Jie pulled Xu Tian away.


    A few momentster, the two of them returned, with the Wandering Pce group agreeing to go with them.


    The Joymount Ind group saw how easily Tang Jie had convinced them and were very curious as to how he had done it. They couldn¡¯t help but raise their opinion of him.


    Everyone started to head up the mountain in the direction of Xu Miaoran¡¯s voice.


    Xu Miaoran¡¯s location wasn¡¯t far away, and considering that most of the seals on the lower part of the mountain had been undone, the group quickly got to her.


    This was a somewhat gradual slope. Xu Miaoran was seated on arge boulder.


    Next to her, a green rose bloomed in the wind, and not far from her, hundreds of fiends hungrily stared at Xu Miaoran.


    Everyone was scared out of their wits by all these fiends.


    But a momentter, these fiends saw Tang Jie and instantly scattered.


    This sudden development left everyone gobsmacked. A Horizon Ocean Pavilion discipleughed, ¡°These fiends are rather clever. They knew that they couldn¡¯t beat our numbers, so they decided to run.¡±


    ¡°You think they were scared because there were a lot of us? No, this was clearly because of True Person Gui¡¯s intimidating aura!¡± One of them didn¡¯t forget topliment the ghost guard.


    Yun Danqi rushed over to Xu Miaoran and bowed. ¡°It really is Senior Sister Xu. Nothing could be better than meeting you here.¡±


    Xu Miaoran didn¡¯t reply, her eyes looking toward Tang Jie in the distance.


    Although she didn¡¯t recognize the face, for some reason, when she looked at him, she felt like she knew this person.


    Tang Jie was just about to say something when a voice suddenly spoke up behind him. ¡°Where is Tang Jie?¡±


    Turning around, he saw a white-robed man standing on a tree branch, his hands held behind his back.


    s, it seems like there¡¯s no avoiding disaster for Yun Danqi andpany. Can they survive the main character tribtion? Or will they suffer the fate of the Green Hill crew?

 Chapter 448: Catch the Wind and Seize the Moon

    Chapter 448: Catch the Wind and Seize the Moon


    ¡°Where is Tang Jie?¡±


    This voice, despite speaking at an inconspicuous volume, drew everyone¡¯s attention.


    This white-robed man standing on a tree seemed very ordinary, but for some reason, everyone felt an inexplicable chill.


    Xu Miaoran suddenly raised her head and said, ¡°Who are you? Why are you looking for him?¡±


    The white-robed man looked at Xu Miaoran and smiled. ¡°My name is Feng Buzhi. You must be Xu Miaoran?¡±


    ¡®Feng Buzhi¡¯?


    Tang Jie was rmed when he heard this name. He recalled that Lin Baicang had told him about this man.


    Before he could react, Feng Buzhi nodded and said, ¡°Since you are here, it doesn¡¯t matter if Tang Jie isn¡¯t. If I capture you, I will essentially have captured him.¡±


    He disappeared and then appeared next to Xu Miaoran, his right hand reaching out to grab her.


    Xu Miaoran hadn¡¯t expected him to act so decisively, and she backed away in shock. But while that grab seemed ordinary, no matter how she evaded, she couldn¡¯t throw it off. Just when the hand was about to grab her, another hand shot out and pushed Feng Buzhi¡¯s hand aside. It was the ghost guard.


    Feng Buzhi lightly gasped in surprise. ncing at the ghost guard, he smiled. ¡°I remember you. Since you¡¯ve decided to intervene, I might as well kill you all.¡±


    He lightly thrust a finger of his right hand at the ghost guard¡¯s forehead. As for his left hand, he kept it behind his back, appearing very rxed.


    This finger thrust seemed simple, but the ghost guard felt like he was in immense danger.


    He quickly retreated, his body instantly creating countless afterimages as he pushed his speed to the limit. Even so, there was still a squish as a blood hole appeared on the ghost guard¡¯s forehead.


    This person had to be absurdly strong to push back the ghost guard with a single finger. Fortunately, the body was just a disguise, so the wound had little effect on the ghost guard.


    On the other hand, Feng Buzhi once more gasped in surprise. The sensation of his finger thrust just then hadn¡¯t felt right, and a hint of confusion appeared on his face.


    As he was thinking, a sharp beam of sword energy howled toward him.


    This attack came from one of the Horizon Ocean Pavilion disciples, furious at seeing his senior sister being attacked.


    Without raising his head, Feng Buzhi waved a hand. His sleeve swept over that sword light, turning it around and back at that young man.


    The Horizon Ocean disciple flew back while throwing up blood. He crashed into the ground and ceased moving.


    ¡°Li Zheng!¡± Yun Danqi yelled as he rushed over and held his junior brother, but he was already dead.


    He was furious and red at Feng Buzhi. ¡°Who are you, daring to kill a member of Horizon Ocean Pavilion?¡±


    ¡°A disciple of Horizon Ocean?¡± Feng Buzhi finally stirred from his stupor. Looking at the deceased man, he frowned and said, ¡°I did not know he was a disciple of Horizon Ocean, but since he dared to raise his sword at me, then even if he was a disciple¡­ he deserved to die.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t actually care, but rather, they were already in the final phase, so the Beast Refining Gate didn¡¯t need to give face to Horizon Ocean Pavilion for everything. Moreover, so long as it wasn¡¯t the daughter of an important person like Xu Miaoran, with his status, he really could kill one or two disciples of Horizon Ocean Pavilion without any problems.


    ¡°B-bastard!¡± Yun Danqi said from between clenched teeth.


    Li Zheng and his other junior brothers had helped him defend Joymount Ind. They had barely managed to survive those tough battles, but even though they had endured so many perils, he had abruptly died within this hidden realm.


    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you!¡± That red-clothed girl who hade with Yun Danqi angrily shouted as she thrust her sword at Feng Buzhi.


    At the same time, two other Horizon Ocean Pavilion disciples leaped into the air, thrusting their palms out.


    Feng Buzhi grunted and waved his sleeve to easily defend against these attacks. But a momentter, several more cultivators attacked Feng Buzhi.


    Feng Buzhi finally changed his expression, snorting, ¡°I was only nning on capturing Xu Miaoran, but since you lot are so anxious for death, you can all die together.¡±


    He once more disappeared, just as if he had used Tang Jie¡¯s Chaoswind Step. He appeared behind someone and thrust out his palm at his back. The man threw up blood and died on the spot.


    ¡°Qing Yun!¡± Xu Tian cried out in pain.


    He hadn¡¯t expected the situation to develop in this way. It had to be understood that none of the Wandering Pce¡¯s people had attacked Feng Buzhi. It had all been the Joymount Ind group. Only they wouldsh out in anger at Li Zheng¡¯s death, and they were also the ones who had motive to protect Xu Miaoran and get the favor of Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    His own group had no connection to Horizon Ocean Pavilion and was only concerned about their young pce lord. Although Tang Jie had used Shen Qingdan¡¯s jade token to order them around, it wasn¡¯t enough to make them put their lives on the line. This man clearly wasn¡¯t someone easy to deal with, having even pushed back True Person Gui, so there was nothing to be gained from fighting with him.


    The problem was that Feng Buzhi didn¡¯t know about this, so his first strike was against a member of the Wandering Pce.


    This person had extremely sharp eyes. He could tell at a nce that this group was trained in abination formation, which was why he had killed one first to weaken them. But he hadn¡¯t expected that these people weren¡¯t together.


    With Qing Yun dead, a Wandering Pce Ironguard who had been friends with him angrily red at Feng Buzhi. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you!¡±


    His best friend had just been killed, so let alone a Celestial Heart True Person, he would even dare to attack a Violet Pce True Lord.


    Xu Tian was aghast. ¡°Jiang Cai, be careful!¡±


    Raising an eyebrow, Feng Buzhi disappeared again, appearing behind that man called Jiang Cai and thrusting a palm at his back.


    If this palm made contact, this person would probably also die on the spot.


    Fortunately, the ghost guard promptly appeared and blocked Feng Buzhi. ¡°Be careful of this person¡¯s strange movements. Protect yourselves first!¡±


    His words were spoken swiftly and smoothly. In truth, Tang Jie was controlling him to speak.


    Everyone seemed to wake from a dream, remembering that they should first apply defensive barriers to themselves.


    Feng Buzhi let out a long sigh. ¡°No rush, no rush. All of you can take your time¡­ Catch the Wind, Seize the Moon!¡±


    He disappeared once again without the slightest warning. Just like that, he instantly appeared behind another person. He saw that this person had applied a defensive barrier and lightly thrust out his palm.


    This person was on the weaker side, only at the Spirit Sea Tier. His barrier crumpled like it was made of paper, the palm pressing onto his back. The man didn¡¯t even have time to shout before he was dead.


    A storm of spells thundered toward Feng Buzhi.


    Feng Buzhi disappeared again, easily dodging the attack and appearing elsewhere.


    This man¡¯s ¡°Catch the Wind, Seize the Moon¡± was like the Chaoswind Step, allowing for instant movement within a certain area. When Feng Buzhi used it, he seemed rxed, nimble, and carefree,pletely ignoring the attacks from all the surrounding cultivators.


    Holding his hands behind his back, he casually said, ¡°What does it matter how many of you there are when you are all ants? You are simplymbs in a pen, waiting to be ughtered.¡±


    He cast his gaze around. ¡°The next one to die¡­¡±


    He suddenly pointed at a young man. ¡°You!¡±


    ¡°Defend!¡± the ghost guard shouted. He suddenly elerated to the back of the young man. If Feng Buzhi appeared there, the ghost guard would run right into him.


    But Feng Buzhi didn¡¯t move this time, simply firing a bolt of energy from his finger.


    It was swift and powerful, and the young man¡¯s head was thrown back as it made impact, blood gushing out from it.


    In the blink of an eye, Feng Buzhi had killed four people, leaving everyone stunned.


    And he had killed them so subtly, never using any sort of powerful spell art and restricting himself to a single hand¡ªhis left hand had been held behind his back this entire time.


    And while he had killed four people, his white robe remained spotless.


    He looked around and pointed at a middle-aged cultivator. ¡°Next¡­¡±


    That cultivator backed away in shock. Everyone immediately began to cast various defensive barriers on him.


    But Feng Buzhi simply thrust out a palm, striking a blue-robed cultivator next to him. The first palm shattered the cultivator¡¯s barrier, and then he thrust his palm again, striking him in the head.


    Two palm strikes to kill.


    The blue-robed cultivator¡¯s head shattered as he looked in disbelief at Feng Buzhi.


    Feng Buzhi smiled and said to the blue-robed cultivator, ¡°You!¡±


    The ghost guard charged out again, but Feng Buzhi had already disappeared.


    Everyone sucked in a breath of cold air at this sight.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Xu Tian bellowed in rage.


    He threw his head back and roared, and nine wicked serpents manifested behind him.


    ¡°Nine Serpent Tyrant Strike!¡± Xu Tian shook his arms, and the nine serpent phantoms lunged at Feng Buzhi.


    Feng Buzhi finally became a little serious. ncing at the ghost guard, he said, ¡°Besides you, it seems that there are a few others who can put up a decent fight.¡±


    He finally took out his left hand. Looking up at the serpents, he suddenly spread out his arms.


    Behind him, an enormous white crane appeared.


    The moment the crane appeared, a sharp light gleamed in his eyes.


    He muttered, ¡°My name¡­ white crane¡­ go!¡±


    He pointed forward, and the white crane phantom let out a bright cry and shot at the nine serpents like an arrow.


    There was a brilliant sh of light, and the nine serpents began to explode, the crane piercing through them and soaring into the sky.


    And then, even the sky over the hidden realm brightened up for a few moments.


    The white-robed Feng Buzhi drew back his arm and simply stood in the air like a crane among chickens.


    At that moment, everyone trembled in shock.


    Somebody shouted, ¡°Go!¡±


    Everyone then realized that they had no reason to fight to the death with this man.


    He clearly wasn¡¯t targeting them.


    But as they were about to leave, Feng Buzhi said, ¡°Did I let you leave?¡±


    He extended his right hand and said, ¡°ck White Dimension!¡±


    Boom!


    The slope suddenly transformed into a ck and white world!


    Feng Buzhi has decided to stop messing around! It seems like this guy is a big fan of duality.

 Chapter 449: Yin Yang

    Chapter 449: Yin Yang


    Tang Jie found himself in a bleak and withered world.


    The mountain was still the same mountain, and the sea was still the same sea, but the only colors left in the world were ck and white.


    The ck and white colors formed a giant Yin Yang diagram on the ground.


    Feng Buzhi stood in the white part, casually saying, ¡°Wee to my ck White World.¡±


    ¡°¡®ck White World¡¯?¡± Everyone looked around in confusion.


    Feng Buzhi chuckled. ¡°ck and white are Yin and Yang, and Yin and Yang are death and life. The ck White World is the abyss of life and death!¡±


    He waved his right hand, and the ck ground instantly turned into a bottomless abyss, the people standing there immediately plunging downward.


    Everyone was badly frightened by this. Fortunately, they could all fly and immediately began to fly upward the moment they started falling.


    But in the next moment, countless vines emerged from the abyss, wrapping around them and trying to pull them down.


    Everyone began to struggle, trying to chop at the vines, but these vines were tough and endless. If they cut one down, another would appear. In a few moments, the weakest of the cultivators was pulled into the darkness, and then there was a scream as if he was suffering the most terrifying punishment in the world. And then¡­ there was nothing.


    This left everyone badly frightened. They immediately began to use all their power to sever the vines, and they actually managed to seed and escape to the white soil. It was rather strange. So long as they stood on the white soil, the vines wouldn¡¯t chase them.


    Even so, the abyss vines still dragged one more person down. Like some terrifying behemoth, it easily devoured a human life.


    Feng Buzhi stood with his hands behind his back, coldly chuckling. He didn¡¯t try to stop them from escaping, waiting until they were all free to say, ¡°ck is death and white is life. Yin and Yang are constantly turning, life and death ever changing.¡±


    He suddenly turned around, and to everyone¡¯s shock, the world flickered, ck and white interchanging. A ck flood overtook the white soil while the abyss turned into solid ground.


    Tang Jie¡¯s blood chilled at the sight, and he shouted, ¡°Watch out!¡±


    He flew up.


    A momentter, the ground beneath them crumbled, ck fog rising and countless vines surging out.


    This time, everyone knew to fly to the other side.


    But as they were flying away, a roar came from the abyss.


    This thunderous roar erupted in everyone¡¯s ears, causing their souls to tremble. One cultivator¡¯s mind faltered, and he plunged downward. Fortunately, the ghost guard was able to react in time, sending an afterimage to catch that person and pull him back.


    There was a creature in this abyss?


    Everyone was aghast.


    Feng Buzhiughed. ¡°That is the ck Sin, born from all the evil thoughts in your heart. Be careful! With every Yin Yang shift, the ck Sin will grow a little stronger. If it crawls out, then not even fleeing to the heavens will save you.¡±


    Someone angrily said, ¡°Die already!¡±


    He unleashed a wave of sword energy.


    This sword energy cut across Feng Buzhi¡¯s body, which rippled like an illusion.


    What¡­ what was going on?


    Tang Jie controlled the ghost guard to say, ¡°He¡¯s not here. This is just an illusion.¡±


    Illusion?


    Then where was the real Feng Buzhi?


    Everyone was stunned.


    Tang Jie continued to control the ghost guard, saying, ¡°Yin Yang is a Great Dao, and it seems that this person hasprehended some of the Dao of Yin Yang, fusing it with his spell arts to produce this Yin Yang illusion zone.¡±


    Feng Buzhi was rather taken aback, and then heughed, ¡°Correct, correct. As expected, you are the most outstanding of them. This is a Yin Yang illusion formed by mixing my spell arts with a little of what I haveprehended from the Dao of Yin Yang: the ck White Dimension. Although it is an illusion, the death is real. Everyone, you had best be careful.¡±


    As he spoke, ck and white shifted again. Everyone was ready this time and reacted to the best of their ability, and with the ghost guard there to rescue anyone, nobody died this time.


    But the attacks this time truly were much stronger, and even the roar from the abyss was more soul-shaking.


    ¡°True Person Gui, since this is an illusion, how do we break it?¡± Xu Tian anxiously asked.


    The ghost guard shook his head. ¡°I do not know anything about the Dao of Yin Yang.¡±


    The ghost guard was the strongest person here, so when they heard that he didn¡¯t have a way, everyone felt despair.


    ¡°But¡­ let me think.¡± The ghost guard dropped his head and began to think.


    While he said that he was thinking, the one thinking was naturally Tang Jie.


    In the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, Tang Jie¡¯s original body rose once more.


    Even though the disordered space of the hidden realm prevented Tang Jie from summoning his original body, this didn¡¯t prevent them from sharing their thoughts.


    The original body charged into the clouds and roared, ¡°He Chong,e out!¡±


    In the distance, He Chongzily said, ¡°Unkible brat, you asking for a beating again?¡±


    ¡°Not a fight this time. I just want to ask you: how do you undo the Dao of Yin Yang?¡±


    ¡°¡®The Dao of Yin Yang¡¯?¡± He Chong¡¯s voice grew much louder. ¡°Why are you suddenly asking that?¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°I just find it a little interesting. What about it? Are you willing to say anything?¡±


    ¡°The Dao of Yin Yang is vast andplex, involving many fields. I have never studied this Dao and have only heard some things about it. I cannot give you answers about anything specific.¡±


    ¡°Have you heard about the ck White Dimension?¡±


    ¡°¡®The ck White Dimension¡¯?¡± He Chong was taken aback, and then he shouted, ¡°Feng Buzhi?¡±


    ¡°So you know him! Then can you tell me about this art?¡±


    He Chong fell silent for a while, and then heughed. ¡°Tang Jie, although you¡¯ve never told me before, do you really think I wouldn¡¯t have gotten it by now¡­ You have an avatar in the outside world, right?¡±


    Tang Jie froze.


    He Chong crazilyughed. ¡°No wonder youprehended the Ninedark Mantra so quickly and asked me about the experience of charging at the Mortal Shedding Realm. As expected, as expected! Good, good, you¡¯ve got some ability, getting an avatar in only the Spirit tform Period. It appears that in these years while you haven¡¯t been in Rosecloud, tales about you continue to spread through Rosecloud. As for me, He Chong, a Soul Transformation True Person, probably no one will hear about me in the future!¡±


    He Chong¡¯s voice was brimming with anger.


    He roared, ¡°Feng Buzhi! Haha, kid, you actually got on his bad side. Good, good, wonderful! Although this person is a Heart Demon True Person, he¡¯sprehended the Yin Yang Dao and understands the truth and falsehood. He specializes inbat methods that mix truth and fiction, and he cannot be considered a weakling among Heart Demon True Persons. Even I, someone at Soul Transformation, would have a tough time against him. I don¡¯t know how strong your avatar is, but based on your numerous probes thesest few days, he must be at Nine Revolutions. And a Nine Revolutions trying to go against Feng Buzhi can be obliterated by any one of his fiend bodies!¡±


    Tang Jie was surprised. ¡°¡®Understands the truth and falsehood¡¯? ¡®Any one of his fiend bodies¡¯?¡±


    He Chong froze, realizing that his excitement had made him say too much. In the end, he snorted and said, ¡°In any case, don¡¯t think about getting a way to deal with Feng Buzhi from me!¡±


    Tang Jie proceeded to ignore him, beginning to think. He mumbled, ¡°Comprehending the Yin Yang Dao¡­prehending the Yin Yang Dao¡­¡±


    He wasn¡¯t trying toprehend the Yin Yang Dao from muttering and then make a show of force and shatter Feng Buzhi¡¯s ck White Dimension. It was just that he felt like there was a brief sh of inspiration in his mind whenever he muttered those words.


    He tried to feel it out and grab that sh of inspiration, as this could be the moment that Tang Jie could use to seize victory.


    But despite pondering it over and over, he wasn¡¯t able to get anything.


    Besides He Chong, was there anyone else in the Nine Executions Immortal Formation who could help him?


    Would he have to seek out Duan Fourth and Deng Yuqing?


    No, wait!


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes brightened.


    There really was such an existence!


    He turned to the volcano and the roilingke ofva.


    He suddenly understood. ¡°The Twelve Great Daos are all paired off. Life and Reincarnation contrast each other, Karma and Fate are tied together, Time and Space move in parallel, Yin Yangpares to the Five Elements¡­¡±


    The firebird in theva pool had to know about the Dao of Yin Yang.


    He rushed over and bellowed at theva pool.


    A momentter, the firebird emerged, unfurling its wings over his head.


    It looked down at Tang Jie as if asking if he wanted to continue the challenge.


    Tang Jie shouted, ¡°The Southern Divine Fire can incinerate the mind with a thought. No matter how great the distance, you can burn away all with a thought. This¡­ should be at the Dao Realm, yes?¡±


    The firebird simply looked at him.


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°With your power, you must have at least entered a Dao. Since you¡¯ve entered the Dao of Five Elements, do you understand the Dao of Yin Yang?¡±


    The firebird still said nothing.


    ¡°Answer me! This is very important!¡± Tang Jie shouted, his tone determined.


    The firebird cocked its head as if thinking, and then it looked down at the valley.


    It opened its mouth, and me issued forth at the nts down below.


    The fire arrow struck arge rock in the valley. Under the arrow¡¯s power, the rock melted intova, which swept over a thousand-year Jade Return Grass.


    Shockingly, the Jade Return Grass waspletely unharmed.


    Theva flow gradually dissipated.


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes went wide.


    Yes, it was exactly this sight.


    He still remembered what had happened when he used the Duplication spell to venture into this area.


    The mes easily destroyed all intruders, but they did not damage a single grass.


    ¡°This is the Dao of Yin Yang?¡± He looked up at the firebird.


    The firebird said nothing, continuing to look at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie knew that he had guessed correctly.


    This firebird really did understand Yin Yang and the Five Elements.


    He said in a trembling voice, ¡°What does Yin Yang mean?¡±


    A voice resounded in his mind: ¡°Daos cannot be transmitted!¡±


    Tang Jie looked at the firebird in shock! This was the first time he had received a clear message from the firebird.


    He shouted, ¡°I understand that a Dao must beprehended on one¡¯s own, but my avatar in the outside world is facing a mortal crisis. He¡¯s facing a powerful opponent who hasprehended the Dao of Ying Yang. If you can¡¯t help me, I won¡¯t be able to beat him!¡±


    The firebird shook its head and turned to fly back into theva.


    Tang Jie saw it leaving, and after a moment¡¯s hesitation, he shouted, ¡°Yin and Yang are ck and white, and ck and white are death and life! A world of Yin Yang is an abyss of life and death!¡±


    He had stolen these words from Feng Buzhi and slightly modified them.


    Sure enough, the firebird stopped and turned back to Tang Jie.


    A voice resounded in Tang Jie¡¯s mind.


    ¡°A load of nonsensical bullshit!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Might I ask for your wise words?¡±


    The Dao could not be transmitted, but it could be discussed!


    When understanding of the Dao conflicted, people discussed the Dao. This was not something rare in the cultivation world.


    When Tang Jie threw out the only bit of Yin Yang Dao Will that he knew, the discussion had begun. He didn¡¯t meet the standard and had no confidence, but this wasn¡¯t important.


    What was important was that he could listen to the Dao.


    The firebird looked at him, and a sliver of its will entered Tang Jie¡¯s mind.


    A momentter, Tang Jie saw a body covered in me butpletely unscathed.


    ¡°The Dao of Yin Yang is simply an alternative name. Yin and Yang is indeed truth and fiction, as it is life and death, as it is real and illusory, as it is the Dao of all diametrical existences. It cannot simply be summarized down to life and death.¡±


    ¡°¡®The Dao of all diametrical existences¡¯?¡± Tang Jie¡¯s eyes gleamed. ¡°I understand.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The Beast hidden realm, the abyss of ck and white.


    Everyone had lost count as to which round of ck and white shifting this was. More and more vines were emerging from the abyss, and the terrifying ck Sin was gradually gaining form. There was no face, only a giant maw that could swallow the heavens, constantly roaring death and destruction.


    In these few short moments, nearly half of the several dozen cultivators had been killed, and this was with the ghost guard trying its best to rescue everyone. Everyone was full of despair.


    At this moment, the ghost guard suddenly raised his head. ¡°I see. You¡¯veprehended¡­ reality and illusion, yes?¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Feng Buzhi gasped as he looked at the ghost guard.


    The ghost guard continued, ¡°The Dao of Reality and Illusion allows for the conversion between the real and illusory. Your ¡®Catch the Wind, Seize the Moon¡¯ uses this concept. It is no instant movement technique, but a way of exchanging the real and illusory. The same is true for your ck White Dimension. You call it ck White on purpose, saying that your Dao is Life and Death, but this is all deception. Your true secret lies in the conversion between reality and illusion. This entire ck White Dimension is actually a giant illusion, like the space in a mirror. You are actually outside the mirror, which is why our attacks can¡¯t reach you.¡±


    Feng Buzhi¡¯s face darkened. ¡°Quite interesting. You¡¯ve actually seen through my ck White Dimension, but so what? Can you break it?¡±


    The ghost guard went on, ¡°There are only two methods to break this illusion. The first is to break it through absolute power. s, I am weaker than you and don¡¯t have the ability to break the illusion. The second is to use Dao against Dao. The Dao of Yin and Yang represents two sides of the world. Whether it is reality or illusion, life or death, they are all Yin and Yang, all two sides of a coin. So long as one grasps this concept, one can freely go between reality and illusion, and this illusion will fall.¡±


    Feng Buzhi¡¯s pupils shrank. ¡°It sounds usible, but do you actually have that ability?¡±


    The ghost guard sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t have that ability, but I do have that luck.¡±


    He suddenly looked down at the ck abyss and stepped forward.


    His foot stepped onto air, and he plunged downward as everyone cried out in rm.


    The ghost guard was the strongest of their group. If he died, the rest of them wouldn¡¯t survive the next shift.


    As the ghost guard fell, he suddenly stuck out his hand and grabbed at the air. A ghostly hand so faint as to be transparent emerged from the back of his hand and thrust into the air. A fissure seemed to appear in front of it, but it was gone in a sh.


    In this ckness, such a subtle shift was essentially impossible to notice.


    But at this moment, on the white ground, a ck hand appeared in front of the seemingly impervious Feng Buzhi and swiped at him.


    Whoosh!


    ¡°Agh!¡± Feng Buzhi suddenly let out the most miserable scream he had made yet in this battle. ¡°How did you do that?¡±


    Boom!


    That ck-and-white world that had engulfed everyone disappeared, and everyone realized that they were back on the mountain slope. Even those people the ck Sin had devoured had returned alive, as if nothing had happened.


    A cultivator who had dropped down and died looked around in shock. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m still alive?¡±


    The ghost guard said, ¡°The ck White Dimension is an illusion, and the ck Sin was a product of the illusion. Those devoured by it didn¡¯t actually die, but were temporarily rendered unconscious.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Everyone understood andughed. ¡°So this ck White Dimension wasn¡¯t anything at all, just meant for scaring people.¡±


    The ghost guard continued, ¡°But as Yin and Yang shift and reality and illusion are interchanged, the illusion can be turned into reality. Once illusion bes reality, the dead people will be truly dead. Thus, the reason that all of you didn¡¯t die was not that the ck White Dimension was weak, but that Feng Buzhi hadn¡¯t killed all of you and didn¡¯t have the time to turn our illusion into reality, and I managed to break his illusion before he could do that.¡±


    Everyone was further enlightened.


    They turned to Feng Buzhi, who now had a long wound on his chest. There was no blood from the wound, but it was coated in ice. It seemed like a rather serious wound.


    Feng Buzhi didn¡¯t care. He stared at the ghost guard and said, ¡°You¡­ are not an ordinary person.¡±


    What he meant was that the average cultivator couldn¡¯t convert illusion into reality so easily.


    Tang Jie pretended not to understand, controlling the ghost guard to say, ¡°I was never an ordinary person. Just like you, I¡¯m at Celestial Heart, only a tier below you.¡±


    ¡°A difference of tiers is as vast as the gap between the heavens and earth.¡± A vicious energy gathered on Feng Buzhi¡¯s face. ¡°Don¡¯t think that you¡¯ve won just because you¡¯ve broken my ck White Dimension.¡±


    He let out a howl and once more activated Catch the Wind, Seize the Moon. He appeared in front of a cultivator, but he was floating in the air above that cultivator¡¯s head.


    He lightly kicked the cultivator¡¯s head, and the cultivator screamed as his skull exploded.


    Countless des of wind and ice rushed at Feng Buzhi, but Feng Buzhi casually turned around and appeared elsewhere, across from another cultivator. He kneed the cultivator in the belly, cracking his bones and sending him flying.


    The angrier he was, the more he showed off.


    He had stopped using hands to kill, kicking or stomping with his feet, each strike killing a person.


    ¡°Here!¡± The ghost guard suddenly chopped a palm at empty space.


    ¡°Ugh!¡± There was a groan, and Feng Buzhi suddenly staggered out of space. On the other end, the Feng Buzhi kicking people to death had yet to dissipate.


    But then it popped like a balloon.


    The Dao of Reality-Illusion Conversion!


    After understanding Feng Buzhi¡¯s tricks, Tang Jie realized that he wasn¡¯t performing actual instant movement. Instead, he was borrowing the Dao of Reality and Illusion to use an extremely advanced illusion spell. In truth, before each instant movement, he would leave first. The Feng Buzhi that remained was just an illusion used to cover the traces of his movement, thus creating the misperception of instant movement.


    Upon understanding this, Tang Jie was finally able to put Insight to use and see through Feng Buzhi¡¯s conversion. It wasn¡¯t strange at all that he was now able to attack Feng Buzhi.


    Catch the Wind, Seize the Moon was the next to fall after the ck White Dimension.


    After taking a chop from the ghost guard, Feng Buzhi breathed in deeply. ¡°Bastard¡­ All of you must die!¡±


    He spread out his arms, stood on one leg, and jumped into the air, turning into a white streak of light.


    ¡°My name¡­ white crane!¡±


    An enormous white crane phantom appeared. With a clear cry, it shot toward its target!


    It took a while, but He Chong finally figured out what sort of trick Tang Jie was ying. That¡¯s okay, though, because Tang Jie has the firebird to help him cheat!

 Chapter 450: Go Board

    Chapter 450: Go Board


    The white crane phantom shot out like an arrow, but as it drew close to a cultivator, it suddenly turned solid and pierced through the cultivator¡¯s chest, its long wings slicing through the cultivator like des and taking the arm of a cultivator standing nearby with them.


    Blood gushed out over the mountain slope. After killing the man, the white crane went back to being a phantom. It flew up into the sky and let out a smug cry, as if it was a real crane.


    But as the cultivators threw countless spell arts at the white crane, all their attacks did was create numerous ripples, as if there wasn¡¯t a single thing real about it.


    Reality and illusion again!


    This was the first time Tang Jie had seen a person develop a single Dao Will into so many Dao arts.


    Catch the Wind, Seize the Moon; ck White Dimension; and now, this white crane phantom¡ªall of them were linked to the Reality Illusion Dao Will, but their methods and uses were all different. Feng Buzhi had truly managed to maximize his usage of Dao Wills.


    But what was the trick to undoing his white crane phantom?


    Tang Jie was momentarily unable to find the answer.


    And Feng Buzhi wasn¡¯t nning to give his opponent the time to think.


    After killing one person, the white crane flew at another cultivator like a bolt of lightning. Just when it seemed like this cultivator would get hit, a hand came out and pulled him to the side, thus evading that lethal peck.


    The cultivator who had narrowly escaped death turned and saw that it was the ghost guard who had saved him.


    Before he had time to express his thanks, a scream tore through the air.


    Turning around, they saw Feng Buzhi drawing back his hand, another cultivator falling at his feet.


    He moved again, saying before he disappeared, ¡°Let¡¯s see how you save them now!¡±


    When he was just one person, the ghost guard could watch him and interfere with his movements, but now, he was moving in concert with the white crane, targeting two people at once. The ghost guard could block one, but couldn¡¯t block both.


    Feng Buzhi and the white crane retreated in unison, first bing one, and then they became two, attacking two different cultivators.


    His palm unleashed a white vortex while the long beak made a lethal stab. It seemed like those two cultivators were about to die.


    The ghost guard¡¯s figure appeared again, but there were two of them, striking at Feng Buzhi and the white crane and blocking their attacks.


    The Thousand Ghost Shadows!


    The Thousand Ghost Shadows could produce 36 illusions at most, but there was no need to create that many. 36 illusions used too much energy, and Feng Buzhi¡¯s methods were simr to Tang Jie¡¯s, using his tricks little by little rather than employing everything at once. The ghost guard didn¡¯t know what else this guy would have, so he didn¡¯t dare to immediately produce 36 illusions.


    Rather than being shocked, Feng Buzhi was delighted to see the ghost guard turn into two. He hastily retreated andughed. ¡°I knew that you had a clone illusion art, so I was looking forward to seeing it. So you¡¯re finally using it? No need to be polite. I know that you can produce more illusions!¡±


    He was an avatar professional and was extremely interested in clones and other such things. The ghost guard using the Thousand Ghost Shadows to produce numerous illusions to attack the enemy had drawn Feng Buzhi¡¯s interest long ago.


    If he could grasp this art and use it together with his other body, the effect when used with his cultivation was bound to be incredible.


    Thus, he had been waiting for this move from the ghost guard this whole time. Otherwise, he would not have targeted the others, leaving the ghost guard the opportunity to save them.


    The ghost grunted, and another illusion appeared from it. The three ghost guards charged at Feng Buzhi. This was precisely the moment when Feng Buzhi was merging back with his white crane, so he couldn¡¯t dodge.


    As the ghost guard attacked, Feng Buzhiughed. ¡°You stay right there!¡±


    He thrust out a finger of his right hand, and a bolt of lightning shot at the ghost guard.


    The lightning struck the ghost guard, paralyzing it. And thenrge amounts of lightning spread, forming a cage around the ghost guard.


    At the same time, the other ghost guards charged in and shouted, ¡°Die!¡±


    They both attacked the white crane.


    Feng Buzhi paled and rushed to the rescue, a palm striking a ghost guard. But to his shock, the palm pierced through the ghost guard¡¯s back as if there was nothing there. The ghost guard turned to nce at Feng Buzhi, an eerie smile on his face. ¡°You took the bait.¡±


    Feng Buzhi hastily fell back in shock, but at the same time, the third ghost guard suddenly elerated at Feng Buzhi, swiping a w at him.


    It was a swift and ruthless attack. If Feng Buzhi didn¡¯t dodge, the Nether Ghost w would plunge into his chest.


    But at this moment, clear shock appeared on the ghost guard¡¯s face.


    The sensation from this grab was the same as Feng Buzhi felt when striking an illusion, like hitting empty air!


    Feng Buzhi chuckled. ¡°You also took the bait.¡±


    White light zed out and struck the ghost guard, sending him flying and vomiting blood with his head thrown back.


    It was the white crane phantom.


    But the white crane seemed extremely realistic at this time, not at all like a phantom. Meanwhile, Feng Buzhi¡¯s body seemed to be the phantom, appearing transparent.


    Its attack having seeded, the white crane raised its head and joyfully trilled.


    It spread out its wings and stirred up a mighty gale that blocked the iing spell arts from the cultivators. Meanwhile, it was Feng Buzhi¡¯s phantom that now appeared behind the white crane.


    The man and fiend had reversed positions.


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes narrowed, and a thought urred to him. But this ethereal thought left before he could grab it, and he began to think hard to try to regain that sensation.


    Meanwhile, Feng Buzhi merged back with the white crane, and his gaze stopped on the imprisoned ghost guard.


    Heughed, ¡°I¡¯ve finally caught you. Let¡¯s see how you get out of this one!¡±


    He waved his hand, and the illusion ghost guard flew over to Feng Buzhi¡¯s side. Feng Buzhi snapped his fingers, and a spiritual light struck the illusion ghost guard in the forehead. Feng Buzhi then closed and opened his eyes, revealing one eye to be pure ck and the other to be pure white, like the sun and moon, heaven and earth.


    In the middle of the battlefield, he was trying to probe the ghost guard¡¯s secrets!


    Tang Jie was aghast, and he quickly controlled the ghost guard to cut off the spiritual energy and make the illusion disappear. But even though the ghost guard cut off the connection, the illusion remained.


    Feng Buzhi sneered. ¡°It¡¯s useless. Didn¡¯t you already know that I was using reality and illusion? I was using illusion to deal with you then, making all things illusory. But this lightning cage is reality, making all things real. Your illusion has entered my reality, so how can it disappear? I have to research it first! Or do you really think I was just wasting my time messing around with you lot?¡±


    He erupted inughter.


    Tang Jie coldly stared at him, and he controlled the ghost guard into saying, ¡°Since you want to see it, I¡¯ll let you get a good look!¡±


    The ghost guard charged, using its Ghostshadow Traceless Step to the maximum. It instantly produced nine illusions that all charged at Feng Buzhi.


    The nine ghost guard illusions joined with the main body in an unified attack. Even a Heart Demon True Person wouldn¡¯t be able to take it directly.


    Feng Buzhi harrumphed. ¡°Only nine?¡±


    He suddenly nced back.


    This nce fell on Tang Jie and the others, and his eyes shifted between ck and white, countless rays of light shooting out of them. In a sh, the world turned ck and white.


    But it was different from the ck White Dimension.


    The ck White Dimension had been half ck and half white, ck and white constantly cycling.


    This dimension was more web-like, ck and white crisscrossing and in patches, like pieces on a go board.


    On this go board, everyone¡¯s movements were affected. The ten ghost guards froze, immediately finding movement to be difficult.


    At the same time, Feng Buzhi shouted, ¡°All worlds are as a go board, all life simply pieces¡­ Go!¡±


    Nine white pieces flew at the ghost guards. Plush! Plush! The nine ghost guard illusions were shattered at the same time, dissipating into spiritual light.


    Feng Buzhi chuckled and turned back toward the lightning cage. The go board world instantly disappeared.


    The Heptademon Ghost Guard¡¯s most powerful illusion clone ability had been easily undone by Feng Buzhi, leaving everyone frozen in fear. Only now did they realize just how vast the gap in strength was. It appeared that, if not for the sake of baiting out the ghost guard¡¯s illusion, Feng Buzhi could have easily used that go board world to crush them all to death.


    Everyone looked at Feng Buzhi, not daring to attack him but also unable to run. For a moment, they had no idea what to do.


    Fortunately, Feng Buzhi¡¯s attention was on the ghost guard illusion, so he stopped killing people. Bizarrely, the battle simply stopped.


    Tang Jie frowned.


    He wasn¡¯t the sort of person who refused to face reality, and given Feng Buzhi¡¯s cultivation realm and He Chong¡¯s opinion of him, it wasn¡¯t strange for Feng Buzhi to be this strong. This was exactly why he had already thought of a way out, but he felt like something wasn¡¯t right.


    This strange sensation of wrongness had been there from the moment Feng Buzhi let out the white crane phantom, but he hadn¡¯t been able to find the reason for its existence. And when Feng Buzhi used the go board world, this sensation became even stronger.


    He vaguely felt like there was something critical he was missing. As he was in the middle of pondering this, he sensed something and looked behind him.


    He saw that Xu Miaoran was scrutinizing him unblinkingly.


    Tang Jie realized that Xu Miaoran had probably recognized who he was.


    In the battle just now, although Tang Jie hadn¡¯t used any of his famous spell arts, there was no changing his battle habits. More importantly, he had been very focused on protecting Yiyi and Xu Miaoran. Because of her status, the others might also look out for Xu Miaoran, but nobody would care about that green rose, perhaps even identally stomping on it as they ran around.


    Although the stomping wouldn¡¯t kill it, how could Tang Jie let them stomp on Yiyi? He naturally used all the methods he had avable to protect her.


    Xu Miaoran was naturally able to tell that something was wrong.


    Seeing Xu Miaoran¡¯s gaze, Tang Jie smiled.


    Suddenly, he thrust his palm at a distant tree.


    The tree copsed with a rumble, breaking into several chunks.


    Xu Miaoran¡¯s eyes brightened at this seemingly pointless action.


    Only she understood what this meant.


    This was necessary preparation for the Duplication spell.


    In their time at Celestial River Ind, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran had exchanged teachings. Xu Miaoran had a keen understanding of some of Tang Jie¡¯s spell arts and habits.


    Realizing that her boyfriend had been at her side this entire time, Xu Miaoran was both shocked and delighted. Casting aside everything else, she rushed over and gave Tang Jie a pinch on the waist. ¡°Bastard, if you were here, you should have told me!¡±


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. ¡°Can¡¯t you see I didn¡¯t have the time?¡±


    Xu Miaoran remembered that Feng Buzhi was looking for Tang Jie, and she grimaced and took several steps back. She whispered, ¡°Feng Buzhi is watching me, so don¡¯t say too much. Look for an opportunity to escape. Rx. He only dares to capture me, not kill me.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no rush. It¡¯s not the end of the line just yet,¡± Tang Jie chuckled.


    ¡°How is it not the end of the line?¡± Xu Miaoran stomped her feet in nervousness. ¡°Feng Buzhi hasn¡¯t been taking us seriously. This person is too strong! He could take all of us put together! Don¡¯t forget that he¡¯s a member of the Beast Refining Gate. He still has many refined beasts that he hasn¡¯t used!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s not like everyone in the Beast Refining Gate is talented with refined beasts. Feng Buzhi might be very strong, but his ability to tame beasts is probably average. He hasn¡¯t used any beasts, not because he¡¯s looking down on us and isn¡¯t willing to use them, but because, like Chang Mingxin, his primary focus isn¡¯t refining beasts.¡±


    ¡°Who said that?¡± Xu Miaoran stomped her feet in anger. ¡°I¡¯ve heard about this Feng Buzhi before. He was apanied by fiend beasts, and he cultivated the Myriad Beast Union Mantra to the sixth level. He possesses two Transformation great fiends and four peak Mind Opening fiends: a bear, a crane, a leopard, a mouse, a fox, and an ape, all of them extremely powerful.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Tang Jie was startled.


    Feng Buzhi was already this powerful, and he still had six fiend beasts?


    Suddenly, Tang Jie had a sh of insight, and he grabbed Xu Miaoran¡¯s hand and said, ¡°You just said he had a crane fiend? Is it a white crane?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Xu Miaoran replied. ¡°A ck bear and a white crane. They¡¯re both Transformation¡­ Oh, heavens!¡±


    Xu Miaoran and Tang Jie looked in unison at the white crane phantom at Feng Buzhi¡¯s side.


    ¡°This¡­ What¡¯s going on here?¡± Xu Miaoran mumbled.


    She suddenly didn¡¯t understand what was going on.


    Tang Jie muttered, ¡°¡®Any one of his fiend bodies can obliterate me¡¯¡­ any one of his fiend bodies¡­¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s eyes widened.


    He finally understood.


    As he spoke, Feng Buzhi suddenly beganughing. ¡°I see now! I understand!¡±


    As he shouted, the white crane phantom behind Feng Buzhi suddenly flickered, and it became blurry as if numerous crane phantoms were ovepping each other.


    Only Tang Jie could see that the white crane phantom was actually going from one to two.


    A momentter, the white crane phantom flickered again, but it became much clearer this time.


    Even the others could now see that the white crane phantom was about to divide into two.


    This Feng Buzhi truly was a genius. In a short amount of time, he had seen through the secrets of the ghost guard¡¯s illusion clones and even applied them on himself.


    Through his constant attempts, as the illusion flickered again and again, a white crane illusion was almost forcefully pulled out of the white crane.


    At the same time, on the summit, behind the ck Feng Buzhi, a giant ck bear phantom was also dividing into tworge ck bears.


    ¡°Hahahaha!¡± The ck Feng Buzhi couldn¡¯t help but wildlyugh.


    Thisughter resounded through the ind,plementing that of the white Feng Buzhi at the base of the mountain.


    Amid theughter, the ghost guard finally said, ¡°I see now¡­ The current you actually isn¡¯t theplete you, only an avatar, right?¡±


    Theughter came to an abrupt stop.


    The white Feng Buzhi looked at the ghost guard and chuckled. ¡°Not bad, not bad. You truly do have some ability, to guess this correctly. But I had no intention of hiding this. There are actually many people in the Beast Refining Gate who know about this. That none of you know is simply because you¡¯re ignorant and uninformed.¡±


    When the other cultivators heard that this was only an avatar, they grew even more fearful and despairing.


    Tang Jie simply chuckled, controlling the ghost guard to say, ¡°Then how many people know that your avatar is actually a fiend body? Refined from your two Transformation fiends?¡±


    Feng Buzhi¡¯s body stiffened, and he looked at the ghost guard with eyes brimming with killing intent.


    Tang Jie¡¯s words had prodded his weak point.


    Avatars could only be freely produced from nothing at the Violet Pce Realm, where one developed a divine connection and could grant spirituality to nts andmunicate with the heavens. Other people could only create avatars by using a physical body as the medium, and with many other conditions besides.


    Feng Buzhi hadn¡¯t been as fortunate as Tang Jie, who had obtained the texts of the Five Gods Faith, but he had managed to design his own method for creating an avatar, using his Transformation great fiends as the media for his avatars.


    Transformation great fiends could transform into humans and were extremely strong. This solved the problem of the medium, and with the Myriad Beast Union Mantra allowing him to link with the minds of the fiends, he could easily control them.


    Thus, Feng Buzhi began to try to turn his fiends into avatars.


    Not only that, he also melded in hisprehension of the Dao of Reality and Illusion, trying to create two avatars that could shift between reality and illusion. In this way, with three Feng Buzhis working together and constantly shifting between reality and illusion, he was bound to be explosively strong.


    This man was truly overflowing with talent. He actually had managed to seed in finding his own path.


    But in the process, he still managed to make a mistake.


    It was this mistake that prevented Feng Buzhi from achieving aplete sess. His original bodypletely disappeared onpletion of this art, reced by the ck and white Feng Buzhis, between which no one could tell who was the master and who was the servant.


    With gain came loss.


    When the original body was lost, the ck and white Feng Buzhis both became the principal bodies, each with a corresponding phantom.


    The ck bear and the white crane.


    After being refined by Feng Buzhi, the souls of these two Transformation great fiends had not dissipated, instead bing phantoms that eternally followed him, and also serving as Feng Buzhi¡¯s killing move.


    The Dao of Reality-Illusion Conversion had achieved great sess in switching between the fiend phantom and human body. The two Feng Buzhis could freely switch between their bodies and their phantoms.


    When the physical body turned into a phantom, it was immune to the vast majority of spells, and when it returned to being a physical body, it could use any method it pleased to attack.


    Different physical bodies had different methods of attack.


    The white crane fiend body was powerful in its own right, its long beak able to pierce through metal and barriers. When he switched to Feng Buzhi¡¯s body, he could use numerous spells, like Catch the Wind, Seize the Moon, and the ck White Dimension.


    This was Feng Buzhi¡¯s strong point. He had achieved an almost divine grasp of the reality-illusion conversion. Frequently, he would have the white crane phantom be real and deal a lethal strike, and then he would turn it back into an illusion while his human body became real and attacked again.


    So long as he switched quickly enough, nobody would be able to tell.


    This was precisely why, though many people knew that Feng Buzhi had an avatar, none of them knew the truth about it. As for those that did¡­ most of them were dead.


    But this wasn¡¯t the most important part¡­


    ¡°True Person Feng is a peerless genius, creating a unique method of turning fiends into avatars, and then merging it with the Dao of Reality and Illusion. It is truly an admirable feat. But the most shocking thing of all is that True Person actually managed to have avatar and avatar work together in a joint spell,¡± the ghost guard continued.


    Feng Buzhi grimaced.


    The ghost guard continued in a sinister tone, ¡°This go board world must be the result of True Person¡¯sbination method, yes? But it requires two Feng Buzhis working together. There is ck and white, and since you are wearing white, the other should be wearing ck. Only when ck and white work together can one create aplete go board¡­ I just wonder if there is a third Feng Buzhi. Regardless, if the ck robe were here, we definitely wouldn¡¯t have a chance. But now¡­ there is still some hope of victory.¡±


    The ghost guard roared, ¡°Since you like this old man¡¯s illusion clones so much, what if I give all of them to you!?¡±


    He crazily sprinted forward, creating countless afterimages. This time, all 36 illusions were present, all of them charging at Feng Buzhi while shouting, ¡°Kill!¡±


    Feng Buzhi might appear invincible, but that¡¯s only when two of them are around! Did he miscalcte by only sending one of himself?

 Chapter 451

    Chapter 451: Ferocity


    The 36 ghost guards howled out with a heaven-shaking killing intent.


    This was the ghost guard¡¯s strongest move, exponentially increasing his power. Even against Feng Buzhi, who was a tier higher, he was still confident in killing him.


    With 36 ghost guards charging at him, Feng Buzhi finally paled.


    He red, ck and white appearing in his eyes.


    The go board world was activated.


    The entire world became a patchwork of ck and white.


    Feng Buzhi shouted, ¡°All life is but pieces on a go board, and I am its ruler!¡±


    He threw out a handful of white pieces.


    36 white pieces were thrown at 36 ghost guards.


    Tang Jie slightly shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s useless.¡±


    The 36 guards lightly dodged, all of them stepping onto the ck areas next to them. All 36 white pieces missed.


    This was the problem with the go board world. It was abination spell and was only at maximum power when the ck and white Feng Buzhis used it together. With only the white Feng Buzhi present, there was a very serious weakness¡ªhe couldn¡¯t attack ck.


    Feng Buzhi¡¯s Dao of Reality and Illusion originated from the Great Dao of Yin Yang, and the Great Dao of Yin Yang was fundamentally the two sides of all diametrical existences in the world.


    In other words, a person using this Dao, whether they wanted to or not, had toprehend both Yin and Yang. There were two sides to all things. Only with both life and death could one grasp the true meaning of the Great Dao.


    For this reason, every move of the Dao of Reality and Illusion that Feng Buzhi used had both life and death, gave a chance to survive. For example, in his ck White Dimension, the ck was focused on killing, so the white had to focus on life. All he could do was conceal the life, not make it disappear. Without the opposing life, there would not be the correspondingly powerful death!


    The go board world was the spell art that concealed life the best.


    When a single Feng Buzhi used this art, one half was life and the other half was death.


    But when the ck and white Feng Buzhis used it together, they could basically cut off all hope of survival, leaving only certain death.


    This was why he had stopped using the go board world after using it only once. It was far too easy to see the problem with it.


    s, even so, Tang Jie had managed to find the loophole.


    Feng Buzhi¡¯s problem was that the moment he was exposed, his ethereal and bizarre arts were no longer a problem. With the 36 ghost clones attacking again, he had to take them all directly!


    At this moment, all 36 ghost guards stepped onto a ck space to avoid the pieces.


    Feng Buzhi¡¯s normally effective attacks had been neutralized, and he finally realized that he was in trouble. ¡°Do you really think you can beat me in a direct battle?¡±


    His ck and white eyes disappeared, to be reced by white pupils.


    Feng Buzhi disappeared, and then he reappeared on a white space. He grabbed at one of the ghost guards, his fingers plunging into the ghost guard¡¯s body like knives.


    Four ghost guards attacked in unison, but Feng Buzhi turned into a phantom. At the same time, the white crane in the distance turned real. But a momentter, as the four ghost guards struck Feng Buzhi, he still bitterly screamed as he was sent flying.


    ¡°How¡­¡± Feng Buzhi was stunned. He then realized that this True Person Gui seemed to possess the ability to see through illusion and reality. Even when his body was turned into an illusion, he could still be attacked.


    Angrily grunting, Feng Buzhi turned around and rose up. The distant white crane illusion disappeared. Meanwhile, a powerful wave of energy surged out from his body and swept away the four ghost guards.


    His body shed, and a white barrier appeared around him.


    This was the first time in this entire battle that Feng Buzhi had used a barrier.


    This was the disadvantage of his reality-illusion conversion. When he used a barrier, he could no longer switch between the two states. This was precisely why Feng Buzhi wasn¡¯t very willing to use them. But now that his reality-illusion conversion was no longer effective, he dropped his apprehensions and finally decided to put his all into a direct battle.


    With this barrier, Feng Buzhi shed over to another ghost guard clone, thrusting a wed hand at him and punching five holes in it. He then appeared elsewhere and did the same, giving no chance for the ghost guards toe together and attack him.


    ¡°Watch out! He can freely move around within this go board world!¡± Xu Miaoran shouted.


    ¡°I know,¡± Tang Jie controlled the ghost guard into replying. ¡°But he can only appear on the white spaces. Moreover¡­ there can¡¯t be any obstructions on the white space. So long as we can block his paths, he can¡¯t move anywhere.¡±


    ¡°But there are so many white spaces,¡± Xu Miaoran said in shock.


    Feng Buzhi¡¯s go board world had engulfed this entire area, and there were ck and white spaces all over. Even if everyone joined together with the 36 ghost guards, they couldn¡¯t stop up all the white spaces.


    But Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s why his luck is bad. His reality-illusion conversion ran into a g¨C¡­ Gui Ping, and his go board world ran into me.¡±


    He took a few steps back, and Xu Miaoran understood and quickly stood in front of him. As the two of them were intersecting, Tang Jie turned around and thrust out his palm ten-some times.


    A momentter, the surrounding wood and stones all stood up, turning into ghost guards and charging in from all sides, instantly upying all the white spaces.


    ¡°This is¡­?¡± Feng Buzhi was stunned.


    He had not seen the Duplication spell before and was bbergasted by this move from Tang Jie. For a brief moment, he almost took these all to be the ghost guard¡¯s clones. Fortunately, he quickly realized that there was no way a single person could produce this many clones. These had to all be illusions.


    But regardless of what type of illusion spell it was, the white spaces had all been blocked, and Feng Buzhi could no longer freely move around.


    Moreover, in order to maximize his advantage, he had forbiddenrge-area spell arts in his go board world, only permitting targeted spell arts.


    But because his ck counterpart wasn¡¯t here, his go board world now had a serious w. Now that he had lost the ability to attack groups, he could do nothing about all these duplicates.


    This go board world had be his prison.


    Feng Buzhi knew that he was in trouble, and he wanted to withdraw the go board world. But he suddenly saw the ghost guard¡¯s original body snatch at the air, and the go board actually became fixed and impossible to dispel.


    ¡°This is¡­¡±


    ¡°The Dao of Reality-Illusion Conversion. I learned it from you,¡± Tang Jie coldly said through the ghost guard.


    ¡°How can that be possible?¡± Feng Buzhi cried out in shock.


    ¡°Nothing is impossible. You could learn my Thousand Ghost Shadows, so I can learn your reality-illusion conversion. It¡¯s like we were trading teachings.¡±


    Tang Jie coldly replied through the ghost guard. After understanding how Feng Buzhi used Reality and Illusion, Tang Jie also gained some understanding of this Dao. The fact that the ghost guard was created by turning the illusory into the real had been an enormous help in this aspect.


    Of course, this level of understanding was far from reaching the level of a Dao, but it was at least at the level of an art, which was enough for Tang Jie to work with. He couldn¡¯t break Feng Buzhi¡¯s art, but he could reinforce it for him.


    At this moment, the go board world was Feng Buzhi¡¯s cage. He had built this cage, but now, he couldn¡¯t leave it.


    The ghost guard clones surged toward him.


    ¡°Bas¡­tard!¡± A dense murderous aura gathered on Feng Buzhi¡¯s face.


    He fiercely thrust out a palm, sending a lethal wave of energy at the ghost guards.


    Two ghost guards were thrown back by the wave, but two more ghost guards came in from the nks. Feng Buzhi stopped one ghost guard with his hand, but the other ghost guard struck him in the waist.


    His barrier rippled as Feng Buzhi turned his hand around and grabbed that ghost guard by the head. His hand shed white, his fingers punching through that ghost guard¡¯s skull. His fingers clenched, and the skull shattered, the ghost guard dissolving into light.


    <em>Bang! Bang!</em> Two palms thumped against his back. Without turning his head, Feng Buzhi swung his sleeve around, and it mmed that ghost guard into light as if it was an iron pir.


    His attacks seemed simple, but one could say that each blow had all of his power behind it, enough to split mountains. Even so, each ghost guard needed several blows to take care of.


    As he was taking care of this ghost guard, another ghost guard attacked his chest. This time, Feng Buzhi¡¯s barrier shattered, unable to endure any more.


    A ghost hand mmed into his chest, and Feng Buzhi threw up a mouthful of blood in pain. At the same time, his left hand rose, shooting a white ray of light that shot through the ghost guard¡¯s forehead, and his right hand pped his body, producing another white barrier.


    The moment this barrier appeared, it received two attacks at the same time¡ªone from the left and one from the rear.


    Feng Buzhi let out a frenzied howl, and another torrent of energy erupted from his body and swept everyone aside.


    But after he swept away this wave, another wave came. The ghost guards seemed endless.


    Most disgusting of all was that Tang Jie was even mixing in some duplicates in order to spread out the attacks. These duplicates naturally couldn¡¯t do damage to Feng Buzhi like the real ghost clones, but they could draw Feng Buzhi¡¯s attacks.


    Four more ghost guards charged in, their hands shing like sharp des.


    Feng Buzhi waved a sleeve to push back the four ghost guards, but to his surprise, the four ghost guards vanished with a poof.


    Feng Buzhi was startled, and then knew that he was in trouble. These four illusions had allowed another ghost guard to get close and deliver an attack from under Feng Buzhi¡¯s armpit, the wed hand prating through the barrier and striking at Feng Buzhi directly.


    Feng Buzhi realized that this was actually the original ghost guard.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    Blood gushed.


    Feng Buzhi realized with a start that his left hand had left his body.


    He howled in pain and kicked at the ghost guard. The ghost guard was kicked into the crowd, and with a roll, he disappeared.


    Three more ghost guards came out, one in front and two behind. Feng Buzhi thrust his palm at the ghost guard in the front. It was a duplicate destroyed with a single strike, but a momentter, the other two ghost guards came up, four palms thrusting at Feng Buzhi.


    <em>Bang! Bang!</em> The barrier shattered, and several bloody holes appeared on Feng Buzhi¡¯s body.


    He howled and thrust out his palm twice, pushing the ghost guards back, and then he screamed, ¡°Go!¡±


    Four fiends flew out of his sleeve.


    A leopard, mouse, fox, and ape!


    These were the four fiends that Feng Buzhi had once relied on. The moment they appeared, they lunged at the surrounding ghost guards.


    A bloody brawl ensued.


    Inflexible fiends were naturally no match for the ghost guard, but they weren¡¯t there to win, only to buy time.


    No matter how powerful the ghost guard¡¯s illusion abilities were, their fatal weakness was that they were time-limited.


    They could not exist forever. So long as he couldst through the most dangerous period, Feng Buzhi could still win.


    As Feng Buzhimanded his four fiends to defend him, the ghost guard army crazily charged.


    Feng Buzhi grimly held fast like a reef against the pounding waves, the four fiends standing guard at his side.


    Countless ghost hands, infused with deathly energy, cut at the bodies of the fiends, creating a feast of blood.


    The fiend mouse, the weakest of them all, quickly fell, followed by the fox, the leopard, and then the ape.


    The fiend ape had been the closest to Transformation, a peak Mind Opening fiend. Nevertheless, under the fierce offensive of the Thousand Ghost Shadows, it died a gruesome death.


    As the fiend ape died, four more ghost guards charged out.


    Feng Buzhi destroyed two duplicates with one palm, but a clone managed to get a palm strike in to dissipate his barrier. He thrust a finger through the forehead of that ghost guard and then kicked it away.


    But at that moment, the fourth ghost guard charged in and chopped at his leg. There was another gusher of blood.


    His right foot had been separated from his body.


    He shrieked as he grabbed the ghost guard by the throat and squeezed. That ghost guard¡¯s neck exploded, and Feng Buzhi staggered back, unable to properly stand.


    ¡°He¡¯s faltering!¡± Xu Miaoran cheered.


    But at this moment, in a series of pops, several ghost guards abruptly disappeared.


    Tang Jie grimaced, and Feng Buzhi savagely smiled. ¡°So it¡¯s finally time?¡±


    Yes, it was finally time.


    At this moment, other than the ghost guard¡¯s original body, there were only the duplicates left. Without the clones that could attack, their uses were very limited.


    Without the ghost guard clones to stop him, Feng Buzhi could finally use all his power. He punched at the air, and the go board world was sted apart.


    Feng Buzhi waved his hand, sending out a furious gale that blew apart all the duplicates.


    Feng Buzhi threw his head back andughed. ¡°In the end, I¡¯m still the winner of this battle. While you might have lost this battle, consider it an honor that you managed to push me this far!¡±


    As he spoke, there was suddenly a gust of wind behind him.


    Feng Buzhi was startled as a sharp bolt of energy stabbed into his back, causing him to howl as he staggered forward.


    Looking back, he saw Xu Tian coldly staring at him.


    ¡°It was you!¡± he roared.


    Xu Tian grunted. ¡°You forgot about us¡­ Nine Serpent Tyrant Strike!¡±


    The nine serpent phantoms appeared behind him, ramming into Feng Buzhi. This time, Feng Buzhi couldn¡¯t summon the white crane phantom in time and took the full force of the impact.


    Feng Buzhi crazily roared, ¡°I¡¯ll kill you all!¡±


    He pressed his right hand down, and a giant palm descended from the heavens.


    All of the cultivators attacked, their numerous spell arts crashing into the palm and finally exploding it to bits. But a momentter, Feng Buzhi appeared behind a cultivator, grabbing him by the neck and breaking it with a hard tug.


    Four cultivators attacked him at once. He howled and took their attacks head-on, swinging his sleeve in response. All four of them were sent flying, exploding in the air.


    Tears of blood ran down Feng Buzhi¡¯s face. ¡°Daring to fight me is seeking death!¡±


    He thrust his palm at the ground, and a sandstorm howled to life. Three cultivators were caught up in the storm, and several dozen little rocks punched through their bodies and turned them into beehives.


    ¡°Hand over your life!¡± a woman shouted, her sword thrusting at the back of Feng Buzhi¡¯s head.


    Feng Buzhi suddenly turned around and thrust out his palm.


    The sword tip met his palm, but rather than the palm being pierced, the sword bent. Feng Buzhi pushed his palm forward, and the hilt of the sword mmed into that red-clothed girl¡¯s body, sending her flying as she threw up blood.


    ¡°Luoxiang!¡± Yun Danqi cried out as he rushed to catch his junior sister, but by the time she was in his hands, she was already dead.


    ¡°Luoxiang!¡± Yun Danqi cried out in grief. In truth, he had known long ago that Luoxiang liked him, but he had his own partner in mind and paid no mind to Li Luoxiang. It was only now that she was gone that he realized what he had missed.


    He crazily howled and charged at Feng Buzhi. Feng Buzhi snorted, white mist issuing from his nose and seeking to coil around Yun Danqi like a chain. Just when it was about to strike, Xian Shaoyu pushed Yun Danqi away.


    The white mist coiled tightly around Xian Shaoyu¡¯s neck, and Xian Shaoyu copsed.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie rushed over and cut that white mist, saving Xian Shaoyu¡¯s life.


    Feng Buzhi grunted when he saw what Tang Jie had done, and then he thrust out his palm. To his surprise, Tang Jie managed to block this attack.


    This wasn¡¯t the first time. Feng Buzhi had attacked Tang Jie twice in the earlier battle, but Tang Jie had managed to evade the strikes. But the battle had been too chaotic at the time, so he wasn¡¯t able to think about this too much. It was only now that he realized that something was wrong and carefully inspected Tang Jie.


    He had a sh of insight and shouted, ¡°Tang Jie!¡±


    He finally realized the truth: this person had to be Tang Jie!


    This damn bastard!


    He rushed at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie coldly looked back at him, forming various hand signs.


    At this moment, a spear whistled toward him. Feng Buzhi brought his hand behind him and caught Xu Tian¡¯s spear.


    Just when Feng Buzhi was about to strike back, Xu Tian roared, ¡°Sunset sh!¡±


    The spear suddenly manifested a de that shed at Feng Buzhi¡¯s arm, cutting off his right hand.


    Feng Buzhi bellowed in pain. As his severed hand fell, it suddenly flew up, stabbing into Xu Tian¡¯s throat and exploding, sending his head flying into the air.


    ¡°Brother Xu!¡± The remaining Wandering Pce Ironguards roared in fury as they charged at Feng Buzhi.


    Feng Buzhi opened his mouth, and a white beam of light shot out, striking an Ironguard and pulverizing him.


    But another Ironguard rushed up and gave Feng Buzhi a bear hug. Feng Buzhi raised an arm stump, light shing on the wound as he stabbed it into the Ironguard¡¯s chest. At the same time, the Ironguard hacked at his shoulder with his saber.


    Another Ironguard stabbed his spear into Feng Buzhi¡¯s chest. Feng Buzhi charged forward, allowing the spear to pierce him as he rammed his head into the Ironguard.


    That Ironguard¡¯s head broke apart like a melon.


    The ghost guard charged back into the fray, wing into Feng Buzhi¡¯s body. The Nether Ghost w activated, crushing Feng Buzhi¡¯s heart.


    ¡°You can¡¯t kill me!¡± Feng Buzhi howled. He turned around, lightning shing in his eyes.


    Divine Will!


    Even with his heart shattered, Feng Buzhi wouldn¡¯t die. But his Divine Will attack rendered the ghost guard immobile.


    Feng Buzhi pulled out his arm stump and struck the ghost guard with it, sending him flying away. Though the ghost guard was formidable, he would find it difficult to get back up for the time being.


    This ferocious disy had everyone quailing in fear.


    All of the Wandering Pce group had been killed, and even the Joymount Ind group had only a few people left. While Feng Buzhi was heavily injured, no one else dared to attack him.


    Feng Buzhi limped toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie continued to look at Feng Buzhi, his hands forming sign after sign.


    Feng Buzhi instinctively sensed danger.


    His body was badly wounded from this battle, and he couldn¡¯t afford any more mishaps, so he hastened forward.


    A clear voice spoke. ¡°Sea Anchor Stamp.¡±


    Xu Miaoran¡¯s elegant hands threw out a special stamp that descended upon Feng Buzhi.


    Feng Buzhi stopped and looked up. The white crane phantom appeared behind him, moving toward that stamp in the sky.


    The two shed, and Xu Miaoran¡¯s Sea Anchor Stamp shattered.


    Feng Buzhi savagelyughed and charged forward, thrusting his arm stump at Tang Jie.


    At this moment, Xu Miaoran suddenly blinked to appear in front of Tang Jie.


    Feng Buzhi froze.


    This was an important figure of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. He could kill everyone here except for Xu Miaoran.


    With no other choice, he turned his stab into a swing, striking Xu Miaoran on the shoulder and breaking her bones as he sent her flying.


    ¡°Tang Jie, hand over your life!¡± Feng Buzhi shouted, shooting forward like a cannon.


    He was going to ram Tang Jie to death.


    Tang Jie raised his head.


    ¡°You are the one who should die.¡±


    As his voice entered Feng Buzhi¡¯s ears, he felt the dark shadow of death envelop him.


    He looked up and saw a giant human thrusting its palm down at him.


    Twenty Heavenly des dropped from the sky.


    The light of countless spell arts lit up his body.


    The storm of spell artspletely engulfed Feng Buzhi.


    Just when you think everyone is safe, Feng Buzhi adds a few more to his body count! Tang Jie ended up getting all of his friend¡¯s bodyguards killed!<!--


    -->

 Chapter 452: Teleportation

    Chapter 452: Teleportation


    ¡°No!¡± Feng Buzhi yelled in shock and anger.


    As he wailed in despair, the powerful storm of spell arts engulfed him, instantly turning him to dust.


    But as his physical body was pulverized, a white crane phantom flew into the sky.


    The storm raged for a few moments longer before stopping, and when it did, the mountain slope had disappeared. The surroundings shed with seals that had stopped the damage from overflowing, and the survivors had been forced to retreat to another slope.


    ¡°He¡¯s dead?¡± Xu Miaoran asked, hugging Yiyi.


    In this entire battle, Xu Miaoran¡¯s primary focus had been protecting Yiyi rather than dealing with the enemy. Thus, when the storm started, Xu Miaoran dug out the green rose.


    When the green rose left the earth, it turned back into Yiyi, and even now, she was still sound asleep in Xu Miaoran¡¯s embrace.


    ¡°The physical body is dead, but the fiend soul escaped¡­ You can say he¡¯s dead, but you can also say he¡¯s not dead,¡± Tang Jie sighed as he watched that white light fly to the summit.


    ¡°¡®The fiend soul escaped¡¯? But wasn¡¯t he yet to reach Soul Transformation?¡± Xu Miaoran said in surprise.


    If one did not reach Soul Transformation, one¡¯s life would still be bound to the physical body, and the death of the physical body would be the end of the soul.


    Even at the Soul Transformation Period, it was still very difficult to shed the binds of the physical body and survive alone.


    To this, Tang Jie indifferently said, ¡°It¡¯s clear that this person is an exception.¡±


    Feng Buzhi had turned his fiends into avatars, creating phantoms using the fiend souls. This created a unique mode of existence.


    For this reason, when his physical body died, the fiend soul persisted, allowing for reincarnation.


    Of course, after reincarnation, Feng Buzhi was certain to be much weaker, but regardless, it was for certain that this avatar was notpletely dead.


    But this was a matter for the future. At least for now, the white Feng Buzhi would not be returning alive.


    Tang Jie turned around to see Yun Danqi and the others staring at him.


    All of them had been awed by that terrifying spell art storm.


    Their souls had also been shaken.


    It was only now that they realized how terrifying ¡°Qiu Zheng¡± was.


    Xian Shaoyu looked at Tang Jie in disbelief, looking at this ¡°coward¡± that he had looked upon with disdain earlier.


    It wasn¡¯t just him. Even Yun Danqi and Shen Ningming were left dumbfounded.


    Now that Tang Jie had been exposed, there was no need to keep up the act with the ghost guard, who moved to stand behind Tang Jie.


    This action left Yun Danqi and the others feeling dizzy.


    ¡°You¡¯re really Tang Jie?¡± Yun Danqi asked.


    Tang Jie nodded, his face going back to normal.


    Everyone gasped when they saw his face.


    After a brief moment of shock, Yun Danqi shouted, ¡°You¡¯ve been dragging us down this whole time!¡±


    ¡°¡®Dragging you down¡¯?¡± Tang Jie harrumphed. ¡°It¡¯s true that Feng Buzhi was looking for me, but before he started attacking you guys, did he know that I was among you?¡±


    Yun Danqi froze.


    Just as Tang Jie had said, although Feng Buzhi had truly been looking for Tang Jie, this ughter had had nothing to do with Tang Jie, for he hadn¡¯t known that Tang Jie was here!


    Tang Jie continued, ¡°I concealed my identity because I didn¡¯t want you guys to get involved. I just didn¡¯t expect Feng Buzhi to be so ruthless, even killing people who weren¡¯t his target.¡±


    Yun Danqi grunted, ¡°True. He¡¯s a Heart Demon True Person, a mighty and illustrious figure. How could he possibly care for the lives of puny people like us? In his eyes, anyone below Celestial Heart is probably just an ant. But he probably didn¡¯t expect that an ant would turn the tables on him.¡±


    Yun Danqi¡¯s eyes seethed with hatred.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie suddenly had an idea.


    He said, ¡°Illustrious figures all had to start as puny people. So long as you¡¯re willing to diligently cultivate, who can say that you won¡¯t be an illustrious figure in the future? If you want to take revenge, then work hard and cultivate. One day, you can also be a Heart Demon True Person.¡±


    Yun Danqi shook his head. ¡°What right do I have to take revenge? I¡¯m not even an official disciple in Horizon Ocean Pavilion. When Joymount Ind was in trouble, I didn¡¯t even have the right to seek help from the sect. All I could do was find some juniors that I was friends with, but they all lost their lives here¡­¡±


    Saying this, Yun Danqi began to weep.


    He was a Mortal Shedding cultivator, a person of great influence on the outside, but now, he was crying without regard to his pride. The others all mourned with him.


    Only Tang Jie snorted, ¡°Useless thing.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Xian Shaoyu barged over and red at Tang Jie. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for Senior Sister¡­¡±


    Bang!


    Tang Jie kicked him away. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for your senior sister, I would have beaten you two good-for-nothings ck and blue, and then thrown you out of the ind. It¡¯s one thing if you can¡¯t beat him, but I can¡¯t believe you don¡¯t even dare to try and take revenge! Does taking revenge need approval? All it requires is hatred! You have no ambition!¡±


    Xian Shaoyu angrily shouted, ¡°That¡¯s easy for you to say! What are we going to use to take revenge? He¡¯s a Heart Demon True Person!¡±


    Tang Jie looked up at the sky. ¡°Isn¡¯t it simple? You just have to be a True Person yourself.¡±


    Bing a True Person?


    This was Tang Jie¡¯s answer.


    Yun Danqi and Xian Shaoyu were dumbfounded.


    After a while, Xian Shaoyu finally managed to say, ¡°Are you joking?¡±


    A Mortal Shedding cultivator would need at least one hundred years of hard cultivation to be a Celestial Heart cultivator.


    Tang Jie casually replied, ¡°A gentleman can wait one hundred years to take revenge. So long as you¡¯re willing to put in the effort, the heavens will not stop your ascent.¡±


    Tang Jie waved his hand, and two Mustard Seed Bags flew toward Yun and Xian.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°Cultivation requires resources, but looking at the two of you, you probably don¡¯t have much. These two Mustard Seed Bags contain my spoils from killing members of the Beast Refining Gate. It¡¯s a hodge-podge of things, but when you put all that stuff together, it¡¯s worth quite a lot. It¡¯s just that dealing with all of it is a bit of a hassle. I can¡¯t be bothered, so you can have them. Once you sell those things off, you can use the proceeds to properly cultivate. So long as you¡¯re strong enough, you have a chance of going from an outer disciple to a proper disciple. And so long as you keep advancing, you¡¯ll eventually catch up to your foe.¡±


    Yun Danqi squeezed out, ¡°Going from outer disciple to disciple isn¡¯t easy.¡±


    Tang Jie gave Yun Danqi a look of disdain. ¡°Someone who seeks to aplish great things must understand how to use everything they have. Use your brain a little and think things over.¡±


    Yun Danqi was startled, and then he looked at Xu Miaoran and realized something. He bowed to Xu Miaoran and said, ¡°Paying respects to Senior Sister!¡±


    Xu Miaoran rolled her eyes at Tang Jie and said, ¡°Fine. I also carry some of the me for all these deaths. Out of respect for how hard you tried to protect me, so long as you are strong enough, I will definitely help you be official disciples of Horizon Ocean.¡±


    ¡°Many thanks, Senior Sister!¡± Yun and Xian respectfully replied, inwardly rejoicing. But when they thought about how this opportunity hade in exchange for the deaths of three of their juniors, their hearts twisted in pain.


    As the conversation continued, Yun and Xian realized that what came next wasn¡¯t something they had any business interfering in, so they decided to take the bodies of theirrades and return.


    As they were about to leave, Tang Jie suddenly said, ¡°Wait a moment.¡±


    Yun Danqi looked at Tang Jie, and Tang Jie suddenly thrust his finger at the centers of their foreheads. The two of them felt something enter their minds, and when they gave it a closer look, they found, much to their delight, that it was a profound cultivation mantra.


    Tang Jie said, ¡°If you cultivate this well, you will definitely achieve great things in the future. Remember: you can¡¯t pass this on to anyone else.¡±


    The two of them immediately replied, ¡°Senior Brother Tang, thank you for granting us this mantra. I swear an oath on my Heart Demon that I will never speak a word of it to outsiders!¡±


    After making this weighty promise, the two of them left with the remaining cultivators.


    The only people left on the mountain were Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran.


    Xu Miaoran looked at Tang Jie and smiled. ¡°What sort of mantra did you give them?¡±


    ¡°The Ninedark Mantra, the parts concerning the Cloud Canopy and the Dark Lightning.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s very generous of you,¡± Xu Miaoran grunted.


    With a part of the Ninedark Mantra serving as the foundation, paired with the gifted resources and Xu Miaoran¡¯s care, these two had a bright feature. And hatred was the finest motivator, pushing them to grow stronger.


    ¡°I just wanted to help them out,¡± Tang Jie said with a smile.


    Xu Miaoran snorted, ¡°Don¡¯t try that with me. You¡¯re clearly aiming to damage my Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s rtions with the Beast Refining Gate.¡±


    ¡°Am I?¡± Tang Jie appeared bbergasted.


    ¡°You dare to say you aren¡¯t?¡± Xu Miaoran ced her hands on her hips. ¡°You think I can¡¯t see it? These two hate the Beast Refining Gate down to their bones. s, they¡¯re outer disciples, so no matter how much hatred they have, it can¡¯t influence the rtion between the two sects. This is exactly why Feng Buzhi dared to be so ruthless with them. But if they be True Persons, they¡¯ll have the power to influence things.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s only influence,¡± Tang Jie said, spreading out his arms. ¡°In the face of themon good, a single person will find it very hard to change anything.¡±


    ¡°Then what about a Celestial Chief? Or perhaps even a True Lord?¡±


    Tang Jie grinned. ¡°I¡¯m not so capable as to produce a Celestial Chief or a True Lord.¡±


    ¡°But you have the ability to help every person who holds a grudge against the Beast Refining Gate or Godhead Pce, right? So long as you sow enough seeds, some of them will eventually sprout.¡±


    Tang Jieughed. ¡°Dear, you¡¯re starting to understand me more and more.¡±


    This term of endearment made Xu Miaoran blush, and she kicked Tang Jie and said, ¡°Who¡¯s your dear, you shameless lecher! With that vulgar mouth of yours, you must be a sex fiend. There¡¯s no telling how many young maidens you¡¯ve hurt. This girl will y this demon for the sake of the people!¡±


    Tang Jie dodged to the side, and Xu Miaoran gave chase. The two of them were soonughing and giggling as they ran around.


    As they were ying, azy voice said, ¡°So noisy¡­ so noisy!¡±


    The two of them turned their heads and saw Yiyi raising up her little white arms as she stretched. Her drowsy eyes were still closed, and her mouth was open in a yawn.


    ¡°Yiyi!¡± the two shouted in unison.


    Xu Miaoran rushed over and hugged Yiyi, looking at her in concern.


    During their time together, Xu Miaoran hade to adore Yiyi.


    Xu Miaoran¡¯s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. ¡°Upper-grade Mind Opening!¡±


    Yiyi had gone all the way from lower-grade Mind Opening to upper-grade Mind Opening.


    Even Tang Jie jumped in surprise.


    It wasn¡¯t strange to rise in power after eating so many nts, but to skip an entire grade was even more rare than someone beating a person above their level.


    At this point, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Just how many nts did she eat?¡±


    Xu Miaoran replied, ¡°A lot¡­ She was eating for two days straight.¡±


    ¡°Exactly how much?¡±


    Xu Miaoran thought the answer over. ¡°If we were to go by meals, then she probably ate enough to feed a family for ten years.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Yiyi finally opened her eyes. She spotted Tang Jie, and a smile bloomed on her little face. Rushing over, she shouted, ¡°Big Brother, you¡¯re finally here! I had a dream just now where a lot of people were fighting. The sky was half-ck and half-white, and it seemed very fun. I also dreamed that you were there.¡±


    It turned out that this little girl had sensed them fighting.


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°Yet you didn¡¯t do anything.¡±


    ¡°But I did,¡± Yiyi replied.


    ¡°What?¡± Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran were startled.


    Yiyi very seriously nodded. ¡°Mm, Yiyi did something, but it was to deal with you rather than help you.¡±


    ¡°¡®Deal with us¡¯? How?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    Yiyi scratched her head and thought about it. ¡°I can¡¯t remember too clearly. It seemed like some voice was shouting at me, and then, while I was all confused, I just did what he said. I made a lot of vines to grab people and put them in my belly¡­ like this.¡±


    Yiyi grabbed at the ground, and a fissure appeared, countless ck vines emerging and iling in the air like tentacles. There was even a faint roaring from the fissure.


    This roar shook one to the core and made one shiver.


    Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran looked at each other and shouted in unison, ¡°ck Sin!¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The white crane phantom flew through the clouds and arrived at a ce not far from the summit.


    The ck Feng Buzhi looked up at the white crane phantom and took out that white lotus tform.


    The white crane phantom circled in the air beforending on the tform and turning into a statue of a white crane.


    The ck Feng Buzhi lightly sighed as he looked at the white crane statue. ¡°I was careless.¡±


    Helian Hu said, ¡°Seventh Master, your¡­¡±


    ¡°I lost a physical body,¡± Feng Buzhi tly said.


    Only those who knew him well understood that the calmer Feng Buzhi was, the angrier he was. At present, Feng Buzhi utterly loathed Tang Jie.


    The Beast Refining Gate disciples behind him were all stunned.


    Tang Jie had even defeated Feng Buzhi?


    What would they do now?


    Feng Buzhi said, ¡°Do not worry. Although this battle went poorly, I have an understanding of Tang Jie¡¯s strength now. If hees again, he will die. Our current priority is toplete the Wolf Lord¡¯s mission and prepare to wee him.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Everyone turned serious.


    They looked up at the summit, which was extremely close now.


    Feng Buzhi muttered, ¡°It¡¯s thest stretch, so we might as well force our way through!¡±


    He waved his sleeve, and a ck bear phantom appeared behind him.


    Feng Buzhi waved his hand again, and then a ck bear clone emerged from the ck bear phantom.


    The moment the ck bear clone appeared, it charged up the mountain.


    It didn¡¯t get very far before a powerful gale engulfed it.


    The moment the ck bear was swept up in the gale, countless des of wind instantly sliced it into tiny pieces.


    But Feng Buzhi was able to use this opportunity to identify the seal¡¯s weakness. With a light push of his palm, he destroyed the seal. The gale stopped, and Feng Buzhi¡¯s ck bear clone was gone.


    Feng Buzhi didn¡¯t mind at all. With a wave of his hand, the ck bear phantom produced another clone that charged forward.


    This was the illusion clone spell art that Feng Buzhi had stolen from Tang Jie. To be more precise, he had modified his phantom form after studying the ghost guard¡¯s illusion clone.


    As he had just learned it, Feng Buzhi couldn¡¯t produce 36 clones like the ghost guard, but even just one was of great help to Feng Buzhi.


    As the phantom was created from a fiend soul, he couldn¡¯t afford for it to be damaged. Thus, before this, Feng Buzhi could not test the seals with his own body.


    But the clones produced by the phantom only consumed spiritual energy. So long as he had enough spiritual energy, it didn¡¯t matter how many of them he lost.


    The ck bear clones attacked ceaselessly, and Feng Buzhi¡¯s group made rapid progress to the summit.


    They were already very close to the summit, and with this charge, they needed only a little while to arrive.


    When Feng Buzhi saw that crimson cave at the summit, he became excited. ¡°We¡¯re finally here!¡±


    He turned his head and shouted, ¡°Hu¡¯er!¡±


    ¡°This disciple is present!¡± Helian Hu took out a scroll and handed it to Feng Buzhi.


    Feng Buzhi grabbed it and threw it into the air.


    The scroll unrolled andnded on the ground, where it exploded with light.


    This was none other than a formation diagram, an extremely high-grade formation diagram with a formation carved into it.


    As this formation diagramnded, the formation activated, a beam of light rising to the heavens. It was a teleportation formation!


    This formation was being used to teleport the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s Blue Wolf True Lord, Feng Muyuan.


    As a True Lord of Beast Refining Gate, Feng Muyuan was constantly being watched, so he naturally couldn¡¯t run all the way to Joymount Ind and wait around as Feng Buzhi had done.


    First of all, this was unbefitting of his status, and secondly, Horizon Ocean Pavilion was not going to let the True Lord of another sect wander around its territory.


    Thus, the Blue Wolf True Lord was still ying the part of a guest at Horizon Ocean Pavilion, instead giving Feng Buzhi a formation diagram.


    So long as Feng Buzhi was able to bring the formation diagram to the core, he could summon the Blue Wolf True Lord, who would then suppress the divine source and take back the Beast Garden.


    Feng Buzhi activated the formation.


    The beam of light shot high into the air and rammed into the Eight Gates Heavenseal Formation.


    The Eight Gates Heavenseal Formation was the hidden realm¡¯s external foundation. Like a giant, it sealed off the hidden realm and made it a stand-alone world.


    If the teleportation formation wanted to link up with Feng Muyuan on Great Wind Ind, it first had to break through or gain permission to pass through the formation.


    Feng Buzhi¡¯s teleportation formation was clearly of the tyrannical type, showing no intent topromise.


    Thus, like a giant cudgel, the beam of light pounded away at the barrier.


    Giant ripples appeared in the sky.


    A dazzling rainbow of lights lit up the heavens.


    Under the fierce impacts from the pir of light, the barrier created by the Eight Gates Heavenseal Formation began to falter. shing streaks of rainbow light, like brilliant mes, flickered in and out of existence.


    If this continued, it would not be long before the teleportation formation destroyed this hidden realm and the Blue Wolf True Lord¡¯s divinity descended upon thisnd.


    At this time, three people charged out of the blood cave and attacked Feng Buzhi. These were none other than the three Transformation great fiends.


    Feng Buzhi is only the mid-boss! The real enemy is on the way! And can anyone here beat a True Lord?

 Chapter 453: Yiyi’s Ability

    Chapter 453: Yiyi¡¯s Ability


    The moment the three Transformation great fiends appeared, they assumed their fiend forms.


    The green-robed schr rolled on the ground and became a lion with green fur. The dark-faced man was a tusked boar, and the hawk-nosed man became that Ironback Eagle.


    The Ironback Eagle struck first, snatching at the air with its w. An eagle w appeared and made for Feng Buzhi¡¯s face.


    The boar grunted and turned into a yellow light that burrowed into the ground, where it began to burrow toward the Beast Refining Gate disciples.


    The green lion opened his mouth and spat out a gale. The de-like winds instantly expanded over the summit, producing a powerful cyclone that swept toward the teleportation formation. The formation would find it difficult to emerge unscathed from such a storm.


    Feng Buzhi snorted. ¡°So there were still three hiding here. But what does it matter that you¡¯re at Transformation? Do you not know that my Beast Refining Gate specializes in dealing with fiends?¡±


    Feng Buzhi waspletely unconcerned by the appearance of these three Transformation great fiends. He waved his sleeve, blocking the green lion¡¯s cyclone. At the same time, he threw an item into the air. This item let out a fiery beam that struck the green lion and sent him bowling over.


    The green lion yelled in pain, ¡°It¡¯s a Fiend-Beating Stake! Be careful!¡±


    Feng Buzhiughed and pointed with his left hand. The ck bear phantom appeared and burrowed into the earth. A few momentster, there was a great rumbling.


    The tusked boar possessed prodigious strength, but so did the ck bear.


    The bear and boar shed. The bear was of greater cultivation level than the boar, but its phantom state made it weaker. Thus, in this battle, neither side had the upper hand. The frenzied roars of the boar and bear could be heard from the earth as they wrangled.


    Feng Buzhi didn¡¯t mind, pointing up at the sky. ¡°Bring that thing down at once!¡±


    If the white robe had been here, the white crane phantom could have dealt with the Ironback Eagle. But the ck robe was far inferior in aerialbat to the white robe.


    But while the white robe wasn¡¯t around, he still had the Beast Refining Gate disciples.


    While these Beast Refining Gate disciples were only at Mortal Shedding, none of these twenty-some people had a shred of fear on their face. In fact, they seemed to be excited to deal with this Transformation great fiend.


    Helian Hu made the first move, forming a hand sign. ¡°Fiend-Suppressing Pagoda, seize its soul!¡±


    A small pagoda flew from his hand at the eagle fiend.


    The other disciples also shouted, ¡°Fiend-Suppressing Pagoda, seize its soul!¡±


    Twenty-some Fiend-Suppressing Pagodas flew into the air.


    The Beast Refining Gate relied on fiend beasts forbat power. While it wascking in terms of other abilities, it was supreme when it came to capturing and suppressing fiends.


    The Fiend-Suppressing Pagoda was a necessary treasure for the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s disciples, a tool that excelled in restraining fiends. With this item in hand, they didn¡¯t even need to fear high-level fiends.


    The hawk fiend was a Transformation great fiend, so an ordinary Fiend-Suppressing Pagoda naturally couldn¡¯t restrain it. But twenty-some pagodas together immediately ced a heavy weight on it, and it gradually began to falter. No matter how it screeched and pped its wings, it was slowly brought down to earth.


    The ck bear dealt with the boar, the disciples dealt with the hawk fiend, and the Fiend-Beating Stake, which was an advanced form of the Fiend-Suppressing Pagoda, was dealing with the green lion.


    Feng Buzhi didn¡¯t intervene, but focused only on the teleportation formation.


    The white light of teleportation grew more condensed, and there were signs that it was about to break through the hidden realm¡¯s barrier. Suddenly, there was a grunt, and then a wind howled.


    This wind seemed ordinary, but Feng Buzhi instantly became vignt.


    It was like there was some immense danger hidden in this wind.


    With a strange howl, he suddenly retreated.


    The three great fiends together hadn¡¯t been able to make Feng Buzhi give up on the formation, but this gust of wind had.


    As he let go, the teleportation formation¡¯s white pir of light dissipated. That gust of wind passed over the formation and then disappeared, but Feng Buzhi was able to sense that when the wind passed over the formation, the area became dusty as if a great deal of time had passed.


    ¡°The River of Time?¡± Feng Buzhi¡¯s pupils contracted. ¡°The Divine Time Crystal! It must be the Divine Time Crystal!¡±


    The problem was that nobody had ever been able to control this crystal.


    It was said that this item originated from the massive demon corpse being suppressed beneath the Beast Garden, and only a bloodline descendant of that corpse could use it. Even Violet Pce True Lords could only seal it away, forever unable to utilize it. This was why the demon corpse had been left there and suppressed by the stele, with the little energy leaking out being used to empower fiends, thus creating the Beast Garden.


    But now, someone was clearly using the Divine Time Crystal to attack him. Feng Buzhi felt an inexplicable sense of fear.


    He didn¡¯t fear the three great fiends, for he was superior to them in both cultivation level and methods, not even mentioning the numerous disciples at his side.


    But the Divine Time Crystal was a terrifying treasure. Possessing the power of time, it was a Dao armament. Wherever the River of Time went, all things would turn to dust. The only way to resist it was to have control over a Dao Will of an even higher level.


    In the middle of his shock, the wind disappeared.


    It had just abruptly disappeared. Although it had no form, Feng Buzhi could still sense that it had vanished.


    His eyes shed.


    ¡°It seems like you can only barely use it. In other words, this isn¡¯t a direct descendant of that great demon, but perhaps a branch bloodline, or even a lineage that managed to get a sliver of that bloodline by chance. No wonder it can only control the Beast Garden and the Divine Time Crystal for a short time!¡± Feng Buzhi chuckled.


    But this time, he had little idea how wrong he was.


    The little tiger truly was having a tough time controlling the Divine Time Crystal, but this had absolutely nothing to do with his bloodline. Rather, he was in the middle of absorbing the ancestral blood, in a critical moment of his evolution. He needed to put all of his focus into the endeavor.


    If the three great fiends hadn¡¯t failed to stop Feng Buzhi, he would have never intervened. This was also why the little tiger hadn¡¯t done anything when Tang Jie had been engaged in that bitter battle with the white Feng Buzhi. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to help, but that he couldn¡¯t.


    But this misunderstanding was of huge help to Tang Jie.


    When the Beast Garden flew away, some people had already begun to suspect that the White Tiger¡¯s descendant was behind this. After all, only those descendants could influence the White Tiger¡¯s power.


    The Beast Refining Gate also knew that the White Tiger¡¯s descendants were locked up on Tiger Roar Peak. They even knew why the Basking Moon Sect had been interrogating those tigers for all these years¡ªhow could it be for anything else but the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s White Tiger bloodline and the Divine Time Crystal?


    For this purpose, the Basking Moon Sect provided for the White Tiger bloodline, and it captured tiger cubs to study bloodlines. While it was never able to obtain the principal bloodline, it managed to get a lot of mixed-bloods.


    Thus, when the Beast Garden went missing, some people began to investigate. And if this matter reached the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s ears, they might also start investigating.


    When nobody was paying attention, nobody would see a problem, but once one began to diligently investigate, even the most exquisite lie would be exposed.


    The Basking Moon Sect naturally didn¡¯t know about the little tiger.


    But Tang Jie was able to resist Soulscour, Tang Jie had a fiend tiger, Tang Jie had frequently visited Tiger Roar Peak for a time, the tiger had gone missing, the Beast Garden had also gone missing¡­


    When all of this was linked together, the answer became obvious.


    Even if they couldn¡¯t be absolutely sure, they would have a healthy suspicion of Tang Jie.


    But now, Feng Buzhi¡¯s conclusion had helped Tang Jie with this problem, as this matter would no longer be connected to Tiger Roar Peak. Rather, it seemed instead to be linked to the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s study of the mixed-blood White Tigers. It would be even better if one or two mixed-blood tigers had managed to escape the Basking Moon Sect in thesest few years.


    But this matter could be put to the side for now. With the River of Time forcing him off the teleportation formation, Feng Buzhi would need some time to activate the formation again. Meanwhile, the green lion had managed to break free of the Fiend-Beating Stake¡¯s suppression and started to attack Feng Buzhi. The boar had also thrown off the ck bear phantom, joining the green lion in attacking Feng Buzhi.


    These two were still Transformation fiends, and the two of them together managed to hold Feng Buzhi fast.


    Feng Buzhi¡¯s face shed with murderous intent. ¡°Suicidal fiends! If that¡¯s what you want, I¡¯ll dly clean you up!¡±


    He thrust a palm at that green lion.


    Once Feng Buzhi got serious, the defeat of these two fiends was only a matter of time.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    ck Sin!


    Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran looked at each other, stunned by Yiyi¡¯s words.


    Yiyi had somehow managed to reproduce the illusion zone¡¯s terrifying nt born from evil thoughts.


    What was going on here?


    The two of them were momentarily baffled.


    Yiyi curiously asked, ¡°What¡¯s ck Sin?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± Tang Jie asked. ¡°How were you able to let out this thing?¡±


    Yiyi replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I could just do it after I woke up.¡±


    She extended her hand, and the vines grew much longer, like one thousand iling tentacles. Each one had sharp and savage teeth.


    Tang Jie grabbed the corpse of Feng Buzhi¡¯s fiend rat and threw it at the vines.


    Although this battle had resulted in heavy losses, it wasn¡¯t without some gains. Besides Feng Buzhi¡¯s Mustard Seed Bag, the four fiend beast corpses were also extremely valuable. Tang Jie was rather reluctant to waste one, but this was the only way to quickly test Yiyi¡¯s strength.


    The fiend rat hadn¡¯t flown very far before vines wrapped around it and pulled it apart. It was then thrown into the abyss, from which chewing sounds could be heard.


    ¡°It¡¯s real,¡± Xu Miaoran solemnly said.


    She naturally understood what Tang Jie had wanted to do. The ck Sin that Feng Buzhi had unleashed was an illusion, and only by having its illusion turned into reality could it actually kill.


    But things were clearly different in Yiyi¡¯s hands.


    The ck White Dimension was no longer here to stop people from moving around, and the ck Sin was no longer an illusory existence, but a real fiend nt!


    The two of them nced at each other, clearly understanding what this meant.


    Yiyi had gotten stronger!


    Suddenly, Yiyi shouted, ¡°Oh no!¡±


    The fiend vines withdrew, the earth closed, and ck Sin disappeared.


    Tang Jie frowned. ¡°Yiyi, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t let it out anymore,¡± Yiyi sullenly said. ¡°I¡¯ve used it all up.¡±


    ¡°¡®Used up¡¯ all of what?¡± Xu Miaoran asked.


    ¡°Those annoying things!¡± Yiyi shouted. ¡°That sort of stench that bad people have lots of! Only with that sort of thing can you be a horrible scoundrel!¡±


    Evil thoughts!


    Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran understood.


    Feng Buzhi had said that ck Sin was born from the evil thoughts in everyone¡¯s minds, and he clearly hadn¡¯t been lying. Yiyi¡¯s ck Sin also relied on evil thoughts.


    But Feng Buzhi clearly didn¡¯t have the ability to control formless evil thoughts. Thus, he needed the illusion zone to control them, for evil thoughts were fundamentally illusory things.


    Yiyi was different. While she was sleeping, she seemed to develop some connection with the world. As a result, when Feng Buzhi unleashed ck Sin, Yiyi¡¯s mind was pulled into the illusion zone.


    After all, evil thoughts were thoughts, as were minds, and as illusory things, they could enter the illusory zone, fuse with ck Sin, and thus gain the power to control ck Sin. Moreover, she could now use it in reality rather than being limited like Feng Buzhi.


    Of course, while it could be used in reality, Yiyi still needed evil thoughts to operate it.


    There had been many people here, all of them bursting with killing intent. This was why Yiyi had been able to use ck Sin.


    But now, there were only the three of them here, and they got along like a happy family. None of them had any hostility toward each other, so the evil thoughts dried up. It was only natural for ck Sin to disappear.


    After hearing Yiyi say this, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran understood what had happened, and they both felt like Yiyi was very lucky.


    Not even considering that she had gone from lower grade to upper grade just by sleeping, she had even managed to gain control of a terrifying fiend nt.


    It was very difficult to categorize ck Sin¡¯s strength. When it was just born, its strength was average.


    But it would get stronger and stronger as time passed, and there was no limit to its growth. Once it grew to a certain point, it could even devour those at Violet Pce or Immortal tform¡ªif course, things would change if it were killed before that.


    Suppressing their excitement, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran asked Yiyi, ¡°Besides ck Sin, can you control anything else?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can!¡± Yiyi pped her hands. ¡°Big Brother, look!¡±


    Large numbers of nts grew out of the ground and intertwined, forming a giant tform in the air. On the sides, vines weaved themselves intos, and four staircases made from tree branches and vines descended all the way to the ground.


    And the hundreds of vines emerged from that giant tform in the center, twisting together and forming a three-floor building.


    Flowers of various colors bloomed, each trying to beat out the others in beauty, exuding a fragrant aroma. Butterflies and birds were drawn toward this building, flitting around and filling it with song.


    ¡°The Jade Blossom Pce!¡± Tang Jie muttered.


    This little guy had actually managed toplete it!


    ¡°How beautiful¡­¡± Xu Miaoran mumbled.


    The flower pce was so beautiful that one couldn¡¯t help but want to go in.


    ¡°Pretty, right?¡± Yiyi said, pping her hands. ¡°I did a lot of research to finally get it like this.¡±


    She ced one hand on her hip and admired her handiwork, the other hand under chin as she cutely said, ¡°It¡¯s so pretty!¡±


    Tang Jie asked, ¡°What can it do?¡±


    ¡°I can live in it,¡± Yiyi replied. She gestured her hand at the pce, and more vines grew within it, turning into chairs, tables, a bed, and other such things.


    A small bean crawled onto the table and began to crazily grow. Finally, its insides caved in, turning it into a cup.


    Several creepers crawled up the walls and drooped down like curtains.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m saying, ¡®What use does it have in battle?''¡± Tang Jie was rather speechless.


    Yiyi rolled her eyes unhappily. ¡°What else do you think it could do? It¡¯s just like that ice pce.¡±


    It seemed like Yiyi wasn¡¯t happy that he had no appreciation for beauty, so Tang Jie tactfully changed the topic. ¡°Do you have anything else?¡±


    Yiyi tossed her head to the side. ¡°If I did, I wouldn¡¯t tell you!¡±


    Great.It seems I got her angry.


    But after sneaking a nce at Tang Jie, Yiyi grunted and suddenly pointed into the distance. A tree seednded on the ground.


    In a gust of wind, the tree seed buried itself in the earth.


    Yiyi thrust out her finger, but nothing seemed to happen.


    Yiyi remained silent, continuing to gesture at the air. After a while, a green bud finally sprouted from the ground.


    It was the tree seed from earlier.


    Tang Jie didn¡¯t get it at first, but then he realized. ¡°Growth eleration?¡±


    Yiyi gave him a smug look.


    While this tree seed hadn¡¯t grown quickly, that was only whenpared to its actual growth time.


    Any nt that had its growth elerated by spell arts would no longer be able to reproduce and would not exist for very long. Thus, this method was normally only used in battle.


    But Yiyi was truly able to rapidly grow a nt.


    This was rather simr to the effects of watering with her urine, though the urine only worked on a limited number of nts and had limited effect.


    Her new rapid growth spell was entirely different.


    It could be used on a field to rapidly grow arge number of nts. It was even more valuable than ck Sin.


    At that moment, Tang Jie understood why Yiyi had gained this ability.


    ¡°Bao¡¯er,¡± he said.


    There was no doubt that this rapid growth spell art was actually a spell art that could control time, though it could only be used on nts and could only be cast by a sprite.


    It was only with Bao¡¯er¡¯s help that Yiyi had been able to obtain this spell.


    Otherwise, Yiyi would have never been able toprehend such a priceless spell.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Yiyi said in surprise. ¡°How did you know that I dreamed about Little Brother Bao?¡±


    ¡°You dreamed of him?¡± Tang Jie was stunned by this revtion.


    Yiyi arrives fashionablyte to the party to tell Tang Jie some important information!

 Chapter 454: Shattered Pellet

    Chapter 454: Shattered Pellet


    ¡°Mm!¡± Yiyi vigorously nodded. ¡°But Bao¡¯er became a big person. If he hadn¡¯t told me that he was Bao¡¯er, I wouldn¡¯t have known.¡±


    ¡°He ¡®became a big person¡¯?¡± Tang Jie¡¯s pupils constricted. ¡°You¡¯re saying he became a human?¡±


    ¡°Yes, a very handsome big brother!¡± Yiyi shouted. ¡°But he was surrounded by blood, a lot of blood. It was all flowing into his body, and he seemed to be in a lot of pain.¡±


    ¡°Blood¡­ Anything else?¡±


    ¡°There was a very, very big white-colored tiger. Bao¡¯er was sitting inside this tiger. There was also some sort of crystal. Bao¡¯er said that it was the Divine Time Crystal, a treasure that can control time that was made from his ancestor¡¯s eye.¡±


    After hearing this, Tang Jie was certain that Bao¡¯er had intentionallymunicated with Yiyi. He quickly asked, ¡°Did he say anything else?¡±


    Yiyi replied, ¡°He said that there were two divine sources. One is the Time Crystal, which controls time, and the other is the Space Crystal that controls space. But the Space Crystal is with the Basking Moon Sect.¡±


    ¡°¡®With the Basking Moon Sect¡¯?¡± Tang Jie was shocked.


    He suddenly remembered something.


    The tiger fiend of ages past had once tried to steal a treasure from the Basking Moon Sect and flee, but it was ultimately imprisoned in Tiger Roar Peak, where it and its progeny were imprisoned for generations.


    He finally understood what the tiger fiend had wanted to steal.


    The Divine Space Crystal!


    Sure enough, Yiyi continued, ¡°Bao¡¯er said that when his ancestor died in battle in Rosecloud, the Divine Space Crystal ended up in the hands of the Basking Moon Sect while the Time Crystal and his ancestor¡¯s corpse were stolen away by the Beast Refining Gate, thus resulting in the thousand-year enmity between the two sects. The white tiger¡¯s descendants wanted to steal back their ancestor¡¯s body and the two divine sources, so they decided to steal the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s Space Crystal first. This was because only the Space Crystal would allow them to break through the seal on the Beast Garden. For this reason, the white tiger¡¯s descendant pretended to pledge fealty to the Basking Moon Sect, in the hopes that it woulde across a chance to steal back the Space Crystal while serving it. But the Basking Moon Sect was more cunning than expected, having suspected it long ago. They had done something to the Space Crystal, preventing the white tiger¡¯s descendant from using the Space Crystal to escape. In the end, the Basking Moon Sect captured it. In its rage, the white tiger¡¯s descendant made onest desperate attempt, using its blood to operate the Space Crystal and forcibly splitting it apart.¡±


    ¡°¡®Splitting it apart¡¯?¡± Tang Jie said in shock.


    Yiyi nodded. ¡°Mm, to be more precise, it broke off a piece from the Space Crystal and imnted that piece in its bloodline. Now, that piece of the Space Crystal is in Bao¡¯er¡¯s body, while therger crystal is in the Basking Moon Sect. That small piece of the Space Crystal doesn¡¯t allow Bao¡¯er to use any sort of spatial power, but it does allow him to sense the Time Crystal and influence it. He spent two years meticulously probing and making his n. He learned from you, Big Brother, understanding his opponent rather than acting impulsively, ultimately using Lin Baicang to break the seal. He then used the Space Crystal to influence the Time Crystal and take control of the Beast Garden, causing it to fly toward Horizon Ocean Pavilion.¡±


    ¡°Why fly it toward Horizon Ocean Pavilion?¡±


    ¡°Because Bao¡¯er wanted to absorb his ancestor¡¯s blood, but this takes time. Thus, he set up his defenses in the Beast Garden so that nobody would use this opportunity to hurt him.¡±


    Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran finally understood what was going on.


    The attack on Joymount Ind, the numerous deaths, therge number of fiends, the existence of the hidden realm, and the formation¡¯s interference with space that prevented teleportation and other such things were all defenses that Bao¡¯er had set up.


    When the Beast Garden was activated, Bao¡¯er entered to absorb the blood, and these methods had bought Bao¡¯er valuable time, allowing him to absorb the ancestral blood to empower himself. He had chosen Joymount Ind because this area provided the best conditions for the Eight Gates Heavenseal Formation, and he had chosen Endsea for defensive purposes. In summary, his n was to use fiends as his fighting force, his formation to obstruct, and the spirit fruits as a distracting temptation. Bao¡¯er did not like the Basking Moon Sect, and he also did not like the Beast Refining Gate. As for which people to tempt, after thinking things over, Bao¡¯er had ultimately decided on Horizon Ocean Pavilion. After all, he had somewhat liked Xu Miaoran.


    Of course, he hadn¡¯t expected that Tang Jie woulde, much to his pleasant surprise.


    After hearing Yiyi¡¯s exnation, Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but emotionally sigh.


    After some thought, Tang Jie said, ¡°What else did Bao¡¯er say?¡±


    Yiyi cocked her head and began to think. She finally thought of something and pped her hands. ¡°I almost forgot! Bao¡¯er said that he was in a critical moment of absorbing the ancestral blood and couldn¡¯t help Big Brother. Moreover, there¡¯s also a ck-robed Heart Demon True Personing up. As he controls the hidden realm, he can hear conversations going on throughout the hidden realm, so he knows that this bad guy has a teleportation formation diagram that he¡¯s going to use to bring over some wolf lord who will seal the divine source and take away the Beast Garden.¡±


    ¡°¡®Bring over the wolf lord¡¯?¡± Tang Jie felt his hairs stand on end.


    Blue Wolf True Lord Feng Muyuan was a name that every Basking Moon disciple was familiar with.


    Yiyi firmly nodded. ¡°Mm, he said that he¡¯s at the critical moment and can¡¯t stop it. Although he also took in three Transformation fiends, they probably won¡¯t hold, so he hopes for Big Brother to go and help.¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± Tang Jie grabbed Yiyi and shouted, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say that earlier!?¡±


    This was the first time he had ever shouted at Yiyi.


    Yiyi started crying. ¡°I didn¡¯t know either, and you didn¡¯t ask. I just thought I was dreaming¡­¡±


    Tang Jie couldn¡¯t bring himself to scold her any more. He simply carried Yiyi and started running. ¡°Hurry!¡±


    He charged up the summit.


    As soon as he set off, a voice shouted, ¡°Tang Jie, wait!¡±


    The familiar voice made Tang Jie freeze. He looked back and saw a chubby face down below, running toward him. Who else could it be but Wei Tianchong?


    How is it that he¡¯s gotten even fatter?


    Next to him was the puppet, and he was holding the fox, Luo Yue. All in all, he appeared rather impressive.


    There were a few other people behind him, all disciples of the Basking Moon Sect. Tang Jie even recognized one of them as Su Xinyue.


    ¡°How are you here?¡± Tang Jie shouted in surprise.


    Wei Tianchong shouted, ¡°Did you forget that you had Lady Xu send back a message? The sect sent us as soon as they got word.¡±


    ¡°They sent you over?¡± Tang Jie gave Wei Tianchong a strange look. ¡°Are you saying that you¡¯re my reinforcements?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we were rushing all the way here and finally managed to make it.¡± Wei Tianchong fiercely nodded. Looking at Tang Jie¡¯s expression, he realized what was happening and said, ¡°Hey, hey, what do you mean by that? Are you looking down on us?¡±


    ¡°Not at all. At least it¡¯s better than nothing. Let¡¯s talk while we¡¯re running. To the summit!¡± Tang Jie didn¡¯t have the time to talk, running off to the summit.


    The disordered space of the hidden realm meant that they couldn¡¯t fly. Fortunately, Feng Buzhi had broken most of the seals on the mountain, so there was nothing impeding their way up.


    ¡°What do you mean, ¡®better than nothing¡¯? Tang Jie, give me an exnation!¡± Wei Tianchong angrily gave pursuit. ¡°I even came prepared¡­¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The battle on the summit continued, but the three Transformation great fiends were slowly losing.


    The Beast Refining Gate excelled in dealing with fiends, and Feng Buzhi was around. Even if the three Transformation fiends worked together, they were still no match.


    The first to be in danger wasn¡¯t one of the two fiends attacking Feng Buzhi, but the eagle fiend that was being suppressed by the twenty-some Beast Refining Gate disciples.


    While these disciples were of average strength, when they were working together, they were as strong as a True Person and able to slowly bring the eagle fiend down to earth.


    With the suppression of the twenty-some Fiend-Suppressing Pagodas, the eagle fiend could only beat its wings in vain, unable to summon a single wisp of wind.


    Helian Hu savagelyughed as he walked over. ¡°Fiend beasts are hard to obtain, and those at Transformation are even more difficult to obtain. If you¡¯re willing to submit, I¡¯ll spare your life!¡±


    The eagle fiend angrily red at Helian Hu and roared, ¡°Your Beast Refining Gate refines fiend beasts, making it a mortal enemy of all fiends! Don¡¯t even dream about making me submit to you!¡±


    Helian Huughed. ¡°Such familiar words. Grandpa Tiger says that to me several dozen times a year. But what does it matter how stubborn you are? Silly bird, you had best get it clear. Whether you agree or not, you will be a servant of my Beast Refining Gate. The only difference is whether you¡¯re refined or not. If you obediently surrender, you can maintain your rationality, and you will have the chance to get stronger. But if you¡¯re not willing, it will be refined away.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it!¡± the eagle fiend bellowed.


    But no matter how it struggled, it couldn¡¯t move under the suppression of the pagodas.


    Helian Hu snorted, ¡°Since you fail to appreciate this kindness, I¡¯ll refine you and offer you to Seventh Master!¡±


    Transformation great fiends weren¡¯t something they could use. No matter how favored Helian Hu andpany were, they could only watch and hope that Feng Buzhi would be a little more generous when all was said and done and gift them some extra contribution points.


    Ever since Feng Buzhi had cultivated his avatar, he had been focused on researching his self-created art, stabilizing and cultivating it. This meant that he didn¡¯t have the time to get any additional Transformation great fiends, but now, it seemed like he could get three at once. This was a pleasant surprise for Feng Buzhi. After all, such opportunities were few and far between.


    Transformation fiends weren¡¯t fools. When they couldn¡¯t win, they would often run away. It was only because they couldn¡¯t escape this hidden realm that they had ended up thoroughly restrained like this.


    The other Beast Refining Gate disciples agreed and began to attack the eagle fiend. Rays of light struck the eagle fiend. The eagle fiend felt as if its mind was being choked and twisted, and knew that these disciples were forcibly refining away its intelligence.


    The eagle fiend felt like thousands of ants were gnawing at its brain, and let out a heart-wrenching scream.


    The lion and boar were both stunned by this sight.


    They were under considerable pressure from just facing Feng Buzhi. They knew that if the eagle fiend were refined, they would find it even more difficult to escape this vicious foe. The boar fiend had a proud personality, and he roared, ¡°Za Mao, you have to stand firm! Don¡¯t let them seed!¡±


    His thunderous roar exploded through the air, shaking the hearts of the Beast Refining Gate disciples and making them unconsciously rx their offensive.


    The eagle fiend felt its pain fade, and with its mind released, it gave the Beast Refining Gate disciples a venomous look oozing with hatred. ¡°Even if I die, I won¡¯t be your puppet!¡±


    It gathered all the power in its body, fiend energy surging up in a frenzied swell.


    Helian Hu paled. ¡°This fiend is going to shatter its pellet and self-detonate!¡±


    True Persons could detonate their Celestial Hearts, and fiends could shatter their pellets. In both instances, they used their lives to unleash a heaven-shaking strike.


    The Beast Refining Gate had tamed countless fiends in its one thousand years of history, and it was precisely because it knew about this ability that its refining methods used pain to distract the mind, preventing fiends from gathering the focus to shatter their pellets.


    But the boar fiend¡¯s roar had given the eagle fiend a chance¡ªa chance which it knew was itsst. If it didn¡¯t shatter its pellet now, it would never get another opportunity.


    Struggling with all its might, the eagle fiend exudedrge amounts of fiend energy. Even Feng Buzhi couldn¡¯t help but grimace, shouting, ¡°This is bad!¡±


    His sleeve flew out, sweeping up the eagle fiend and tossing it into the air.


    With a tremendous boom, waves of fiend energy bloomed outward.


    Feng Buzhi¡¯s reaction had been rather fast, but he still wasn¡¯t able topletely avoid this furious tide of energy.


    While Feng Buzhi¡¯s defensive barrier shed with a rainbow of colors, those Beast Refining Gate disciples threw up blood. While they had managed to take protective measures at the moment of the explosion, protecting their lives, more than half of the Fiend-Suppressing Pagodas were destroyed.


    Their sess had mostly been due to the pagodas, and this advantage had now been lost. But in terms of strength, it was still the Beast Refining Gate that gained the upper hand.


    ¡°Za Mao!¡± The lion and boar howled in pain at the death of the eagle fiend.


    Feng Buzhi was also angry, cursing, ¡°Bastard!¡±


    He thrust a palm at the boar, pushing it toward Helian Hu¡¯s group. Though they had lost more than half of the pagodas and would find it very hard to suppress the boar, they could at least keep it upied.


    Feng Buzhi used the opportunity to attack the lion fiend.


    Without the boar fiend¡¯s help, the lion fiend couldn¡¯t possibly stand against Feng Buzhi. It wasn¡¯t long before Feng Buzhi had struck it down with a palm.


    Grabbing the lion by the throat, Feng Buzhi said, ¡°Servitude or refinement! Make your choice!¡±


    ¡°You¡­ keep dreaming!¡± the lion spat out.


    As it spoke, fiend energy radiated from its body. It had also chosen to shatter its pellet.


    The lion fiend was very decisive. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t have the chance once Feng Buzhi started using refining light on him, so he immediately used this opportunity to shatter his pellet.


    Feng Buzhi fiercely smiled. ¡°I knew you would do this.¡±


    As the lion fiend swelled with power, Feng Buzhi threw it into the sky.


    It was a powerful throw that sent it high into the heavens.


    At that moment, the swelling fiend energy on the lion fiend erupted.


    But this time, it wasn¡¯t able to hurt anyone. Savage waves of fiend energy swept out, setting the heavens ame. Once they had dissipated, cracks had appeared in the sky of the hidden realm, like those of a broken mirror.


    ¡°Hahahaha!¡± Feng Buzhi threw his head back and crazilyughed.


    Although he wasn¡¯t able to subdue this lion fiend, he had used the lion fiend¡¯s pellet shattering to strike a blow against the hidden realm. Though this hadn¡¯t destroyed it, it had heavily damaged the seal.


    Once the hidden realm was destroyed, the spatial disturbances would cease, the teleportation formation could activate, and the Wolf Lord woulde. Once he was here, who could vie for supremacy with him?


    ¡°Big Brother!¡± The boar fiend howled in pain at the lion fiend¡¯s tragic death, and it charged at the teleportation formation.


    It had finally realized!


    In truth, the teleportation formation had always been there. If the three fiends had focused all their attacks on the teleportation formation, Feng Buzhi and the others would have to focus entirely on defending it, producing a situation where they would have few opportunities to counterattack. At that point, the oue of the battle would be hard to determine.


    s, while these three fiends had been able to take human form, theycked experience.


    Wisdom was the umtion of knowledge, the manifestation of experience. If theycked these, it did not matter how intelligent they were.


    The three fiends had failed to understand this, causing two of them to die and even the hidden realm to be damaged.


    As the boar fiend attacked the teleportation formation, Feng Buzhiughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s a bit toote to realize that!¡±


    He thrust out a palm, pushing the boar fiend back.


    The boar fiend bellowed, summoning a sandstorm that swept toward the teleportation formation.


    ¡°Stop it!¡± Helian Hu shouted. The Beast Refining Gate disciples threw out their art relics and spell arts, pushing back the boar fiend¡¯s attack.


    ¡°Ast-ditch struggle!¡± Feng Buzhi shouted, grabbing the boar fiend. Holding it in hand, he sent a ray of refining light that barged into its brain. The boar¡¯s wails of pain resounded through the heavens.


    This time, Feng Buzhi didn¡¯t give it the chance to self-detonate. The hidden realm was already heavily damaged, so there was no need to waste a second Transformation fiend.


    As he focused fully on refining the boar, a fierce and cruel look appeared on Feng Buzhi¡¯s face.


    The boar fiend howled and weakly struggled in his hand.


    But while it had been able to awaken the eagle fiend from the refining light, it couldn¡¯t wake itself up.


    The struggles and howls faded away, and finally, the boar fiend stopped moving, bowing its head to Feng Buzhi.


    Whew!


    Having finally seeded, Feng Buzhi exhaled.


    Refining the boar fiend had been quite tiring for him.


    But for another helper, it was all worth it.


    He looked at the boar fiend and sneered, ¡°As a fiend, you¡¯ve never known what the correct choice is.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that, as a human, you have?¡± a voice abruptly said.


    Feng Buzhi suddenly turned his head and saw Tang Jie and the ghost guard approaching.


    With the Celestial Eye of Insight, Tang Jie had noticed what was going on long before his arrival. He loudly said, ¡°They missed their opportunity, but haven¡¯t you lost your chance as well? If you hadn¡¯t chosen to refine the boar fiend, instead activating the teleportation formation, the esteemed Wolf Lord would have already arrived, no?¡±


    Feng Buzhi¡¯s expression sank. ¡°Tang Jie, you still dare toe? You managed to survive that battle on the mountain slope, but do you really think you¡¯re able to stop me?¡±


    In the battle on the slope, Tang Jie had relied on the ghost guard and the lives of several dozen people to ovee Feng Buzhi. Now, however, Feng Buzhi had the boar fiend and twenty-some Beast Refining Gate disciples. His side was much stronger than before, but Tang Jie only had one Yiyi. With an even greater difference in power, how could Tang Jie possibly defeat Feng Buzhi?


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°True Person Feng, you¡¯ve forgotten something. Stopping you doesn¡¯t require defeating you. I only need to destroy the teleportation formation.¡±


    Tang Jie¡¯s expression suddenly turned cold and callous. ¡°The Beast Refining Gate¡¯s worst mistake was sending someone who didn¡¯t understand formations to oversee this operation. Did you know that there are ways of destroying formations without even touching them?¡±


    As Feng Buzhi paled, Tang Jie turned and punched into the distance.


    Well, the Transformation fiends weren¡¯t particrly smart, but they bought enough time for Tang Jie to arrive.

 Chapter 455: True Lord

    Chapter 455: True Lord


    The punch wasn¡¯t aimed at the teleportation formation, but at the ground three hundred feet away from it.


    This was on the western face of the summit, lush with trees and utterly unremarkable.


    But Tang Jie¡¯s punch shook the entire mountain slope, andrge numbers of trees were uprooted. The even ground suddenly bulged upward, rising higher and higher.


    As the mountain slope shifted, Feng Buzhi saw the light of the teleportation formation fading.


    He cried out in shock, ¡°How did you do it?!¡±


    Tang Jie chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s rather simple. Just like humans, formations need the appropriate environment to work. Destroying their surroundings is the same as destroying their foundations. Why did you have toe to the summit to set up the teleportation formation rather than doing it anywhere else? Is it not because this is the most suitable location?¡±


    Just as Tang Jie had said, the teleportation formation was set up at the summit because this was the best ce to borrow the world¡¯s spiritual energy, maximizing its effects. Otherwise, he would have had no reason to wait until now to use the formation.


    And the first thing Tang Jie did upon arrival was to destroy the surroundings that the formation was using to sustain itself, turning it into a spring without a source, a tree without roots. Of course, only someone proficient in formations like him could see the critical location to strike. Someone who didn¡¯t understand such things could turn the entire mountain upside down to no avail.


    As the light of the teleportation formation dimmed, Feng Buzhi angrily roared, ¡°Seeking death!¡±


    He turned his head and shouted, ¡°The rest of you, restore the terrain! I¡¯ll deal with this brat!¡±


    He thrust out his palm, and a strange fireball shot toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie wasn¡¯t rash, taking a step back and letting the ghost guard go. A w thrust toward the fireball, and with a poof, the fireball broke apart, mes sshing in every direction. The ghost guard¡¯s body crackled as the mes burned it, but he showed no reaction.


    When Feng Buzhi saw that this move had done nothing, he grunted and waved his hand, producing a blue shortsword. He threw the sword, which whistled as it shot toward the ghost guard, shedding flecks of ice.


    The ghost guard did not dare to be careless and hastily retreated, iling his ws to produce numerous w phantoms. The blue sword bashed its way through the w phantoms, and a momentter,yers of ice appeared on the ghost guard¡¯s body.


    Fortunately, the ghost guard was able to shake off the sealing ice with a shake of his body, and then heshed out with his ws again to fend off the blue sword.


    Tang Jie and Feng Buzhi both gasped in surprise.


    Tang Jie was surprised because he knew how tough the ghost guard¡¯s body was.


    The ghost guard was actually a body refiner. In terms of spell arts, he only had a few, none of which couldpare to those of a real True Person. Besides the Thousand Ghost Shadows, the rest were barely worth a True Person¡¯s attention. It was precisely through his tough body that he was able to match a True Person¡¯s power.


    Feng Buzhi was surprised because he knew the power of his sword. This was the most valuable treasure in Feng Buzhi¡¯s collection, and it had always been under the care of the ck Feng Buzhi. As the white Feng Buzhi had all the fiend beasts, the ck Feng Buzhi had all the treasures.


    Although he hadn¡¯t hoped for the sword to kill the ghost guard, he was surprised at how quickly the ghost guard had broken free of the sealing ice.


    At this time, Xu Miaoran, Wei Tianchong, Su Xinyue, and the others arrived.


    Seeing the ghost guard and Feng Buzhi in battle, Wei Tianchong excitedly said, ¡°Finally here! Watch me!¡±


    It sounded like he was going to attack Feng Buzhi.


    But the little fox, Luo Yue, pulled him back and red at him. ¡°Are you trying to kill yourself?¡±


    Wei Tianchong froze. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    The fox said, ¡°That¡¯s a Heart Demon True Person.¡±


    Wei Tianchong was instantly scared out of his wits.


    Tang Jie swiftly replied, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. That¡¯s only half a Heart Demon True Person.¡±


    ¡°¡®Half¡¯? What do you mean?¡± Everyone was confused.


    Tang Jie indifferently said, ¡°While this person is a Heart Demon True Person, he cultivates an avatar art that divided him into two. Though they¡¯re stronger than normal when together, they¡¯re much weaker when alone.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s the other avatar?¡±


    ¡°I joined up with some others to kill it down below. In addition, fighting with us is True Person Gui, a Spirit Ring expert.¡±


    When everyone heard that there was only half a Heart Demon True Person here and that they also had a True Person of one tier lower to serve as the main force, they sighed in relief. They immediately felt like a Heart Demon True Person wasn¡¯t so scary in these circumstances.


    Only Xu Miaoran inwardly chuckled, knowing that Tang Jie was up to his naughty tricks again. He was clearly saying all this to raise everyone¡¯s confidence.


    Feng Buzhi naturally knew what Tang Jie was trying, but he only grunted and said, ¡°Then let¡¯s test that out!¡±


    He waved his hand, and a red shortsword shot at Tang Jie¡¯s face.


    With a sharp cry, Xu Miaoran threw out a golden ring. It mmed into the red sword, and both of them bounced off each other in a sh of me. When it came to treasures, Young Lady Xu had just as many as Shen Qingdan. It was just that her cultivation level was too low to use too many of them. Even so, she was able to counteract that shortsword.


    Feng Buzhi waved his hand again, throwing out a yellow sword.


    ¡°Let me!¡± Wei Tianchong shouted, his puppet charging out.


    His Grade 3bat puppet was now a Grade 4, and while it still couldn¡¯t reach a True Person¡¯s strength, it was still much stronger than before. The yellow sword shed with the puppet, and with a great boom, the puppet was unexpectedly swept aside by the yellow sword.


    From this strike, it was apparent that this yellow shortsword had the strength of a peak Mortal Shedding or initial Celestial Heart cultivator.


    Wei Tianchong cried out in surprise, ¡°Oh my goodness, this sword is powerful.¡±


    In truth, this sword couldn¡¯t be considered that powerful. The problem was their number!


    A green sword flew out.


    All in all, seven swords were unleashed¡ªred, orange, yellow, green blue, indigo, and violet¡ªand shot toward their group.


    In the battle at the slope, Feng Buzhi¡¯s Dao of Reality and Illusion had been seen through and a physical body destroyed. This painful thought broke Feng Buzhi out of his obsession with Dao Wills, and he was now fighting a proper battle of spell arts.


    Crushing one¡¯s opponents with cultivation level was the proper way of doing things.


    The seven swords made it difficult for all of them to move. Without the ghost guard¡¯s help, these small swords would have already taken several lives.


    At the same time, the Beast Refining Gate disciples busied away at restoring the terrain.


    But though it was easy to tten the mountain, the formation¡¯s power was difficult to restore.


    What Helian Hu and the others didn¡¯t understand was why, despite Tang Jie¡¯s having made the teleportation formation lose effect by simply causing the ground to swell, no matter how they ttened the slope back down, the teleportation formation only regained a little of its light.


    It was a maddening situation.


    Tang Jie coldlyughed, ¡°A pack of idiots, not understanding that destruction is easier than construction!¡±


    He punched again at the ground, and shockwaves rippled out. Boom! A pit suddenly appeared on a distant slope.


    As that pit appeared, the renewed light of the teleportation formation disappeared again.


    Feng Buzhi¡¯s eyes turned hard. ¡°Tang Jie, you¡¯re seeking death!¡±


    He waved his hand, and the boar fiend charged at Tang Jie.


    As the boar charged, Yiyi raised her little hand, and numerous vines burst out of the ground and wrapped around the boar.


    After having its mind refined, the boar was as strong as ever, but its intelligence had dropped. It made no attempt to avoid the vines, allowing them to wrap around it and continuing to charge forward. It was extremely strong, so the vines couldn¡¯t hold it and began to snap. But every time it got one part free, more vines would emerge to endlessly entangle it.


    Although the upper-grade Mind Opening Yiyi should have had no chance of dealing with this boar fiend, the boar fiend only knew to charge forward. So long as Yiyi wanted to, she could easily dy it for some time.


    As the boar fiend was being entangled, Feng Buzhi vanished and reappeared behind Tang Jie.


    Catch the Wind, Seize the Moon!


    As he was about to grab Tang Jie¡¯s head and make it explode, Tang Jie also disappeared.


    The Chaoswind Step!


    The Chaoswind Step was perfect for dealing with ¡°Catch the Wind, Seize the Moon¡±. After that battle on the slope, Tang Jie had made up his mind that if Feng Buzhi ever disappeared from his sight, he would immediately use the Chaoswind Step.


    His handing up empty, Feng Buzhi was stunned, and then he saw something even more shocking.


    Tang Jie had appeared extremely close to the teleportation formation.


    When Feng Buzhi used ¡°Catch the Wind, Seize the Moon¡±, he had inadvertently opened the way to the teleportation formation.


    Of course, this was also because the teleportation formation had temporarily lost power, causing Feng Buzhi to drop his guard.


    But temporary loss of power wasn¡¯tplete destruction. When Tang Jie appeared next to the teleportation formation, Feng Buzhi finally realized that he had made a grave mistake.


    Sure enough, the moment Tang Jie appeared, he turned and punched at the teleportation formation.


    His methods were much simpler and more violent this time.


    There was no formation knowledge or terrain analysis, only brute force.


    Boom!


    The punch infused with destructive power mmed into the teleportation formation, and a storm ripped through the formation, sending countless materials up into the air and devastating the entire formation area.


    ¡°No!¡± Feng Buzhi cried out in pain.


    The teleportation formation materials tossed up into the air were some of the most precious treasures in the world, and their loss stabbed right into his heart.


    He hadn¡¯t expected Tang Jie to be so bold as to throw everything aside and destroy the teleportation formation.


    It had to be understood that without the teleportation formation, Feng Buzhi would no longer have anything stopping him from going on a killing spree.


    But the moment the teleportation formation was destroyed, a bloody mist suddenly erupted from the cave.


    The moment it emerged, it rushed toward Feng Buzhi and the Beast Refining Gate disciples.


    Feng Buzhi immediately had an ominous feeling and shouted, ¡°Retreat!¡±


    All of the Beast Refining Gate disciples moved to the side in unison, but the bloody mist gave chase like a giant python.


    Feng Buzhi attacked again and again, pushing back the mist, but the mist refused to disperse, doggedly chasing them. And from this bloody mist, Feng Buzhi felt an intense death energy.


    Reality quickly proved him right. In contrast to the fear felt by Feng Buzhi and the disciples, the fiend beasts under the disciples felt joy.


    Finally, a fiend lost its patience and rushed into the mist. The moment it entered,rge amounts of blood mist poured into its body. The fiend trembled uncontrobly, and then it exploded,rge amounts of blood pouring out and thickening the mist as it continued its pursuit of Feng Buzhi¡¯s group.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie smiled. He knew that this meant that the little tiger had passed through the most difficult part of absorbing the True Blood and was finally able to help out.


    This was definitely good news. All they had to do now was defend the area.


    Suddenly, Feng Buzhi¡¯s expression darkened.


    A look of fierce resolve appeared in his eyes!


    He loudly said, ¡°Tang Jie, you think that destroying the teleportation formation solves everything? You think you can fathom the power of a True Lord? I will let you witness the true horror of the Wolf Lord!¡±


    He suddenly howled and reached his hand out to the sky, calling the seven shortswords back to his side. As they returned, they merged back into a single white longsword.


    When he saw this sword, Tang Jie¡¯s heart tightened.


    At that moment, he realized that this was Feng Buzhi¡¯s real treasure. From the power of the sword when it was separated into seven, one could estimate the terrifying might of thebined object. This was something that not even the ghost guard could endure.


    But Feng Buzhi didn¡¯t use it for this purpose. Rather, he gave the white sword a reluctant look, as if he was bidding farewell to a friend of many years.


    This expression left Tang Jie rather stunned.


    And then he saw Feng Buzhi raise his head to the sky.


    He was looking at the cracked sky barrier.


    Tang Jie suddenly realized something and paled. ¡°Stop him!¡±


    The ghost guard rushed forward at full speed to stop Feng Buzhi.


    This time, he would stop Feng Buzhi even if it came at the cost of his own body.


    Helian Hu and the other disciples rushed toward the ghost guard, offering up their bodies to stop him.


    Behind Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong¡¯s group hesitated, clearly not understanding what was going on.


    Feng Buzhi slowly raised up the white sword, forming countless hand signs and imprinting them on the sword.


    The white sword grew brighter and brighter, ultimately shining with a rainbow of colors.


    Feng Buzhi threw the sword up into the sky. The rainbow sword grewrger andrger as it flew off toward that sky barrier.


    ¡°Heavenly Cloud de!¡± Tang Jie shouted, twenty Heavenly des dropping from the sky.


    At the same time, Xu Miaoran used her Sea Anchor Stamp; Yiyi, her Silkheaven Net; and the others cast their own spell arts.


    The giant rainbow sword smashed its way through them all like an unstoppable beam.


    The Heavenly Cloud des were pulverized, the Sea Anchor Stamp was shattered, the torrent of petals turned into a drizzle, and all of the spell arts were pierced through.


    The rainbow sword smashed into the barrier.


    There was a brief pause, and then a crack of unprecedented size appeared in the sky.


    There was only one crack at first, and then they spread out like growing branches, ultimately covering the entire sky.


    Finally, with a resounding crack, the sky barrier shattered.


    Sunlight pierced through, illuminating thend.


    The shards of the sky barrier sparkled with a rainbow of colors in the sunlight, like pieces of crystal.


    They danced in the air like butterflies before gradually dissolving into nothing.


    This resplendent rain soon disappeared, leaving behind a clear sky and that giant rainbow sword.


    The rainbow sword quietly floated there, and finally, a crack appeared on its de.


    More cracks appeared, and then the rainbow sword exploded into shrapnel. It was the same rainbow splendor, and while theycked the majesty of the sky barrier shards, theysted longer. These shards did not disappear, instead descending likeets into the sea, sshing down like drops of rain.


    Feng Buzhi¡¯s face twitched, and then he exhaled.


    ¡°Regardless, I havepleted the mission the Wolf Lord gave me.¡±


    The Wolf Lord¡¯s mission?


    Everyone was rather confused.


    Hadn¡¯t the teleportation formation been destroyed? So how had hepleted the mission?


    Tang Jie looked at Xu Miaoran.


    Xu Miaoran said, ¡°Father once told me that if I was in great danger, I could mentally call out to him, and no matter how far away I was, he could appear before me. When we were in the hidden realm, I couldn¡¯t sense my father, but now that the hidden realm is broken, I can call out to him again.¡±


    So it really was like that? Tang Jie sighed.


    Violet Pce cultivators were so powerful that they could go where they wanted even without a teleportation formation.


    A momentter, Feng Buzhi raised his hands high and began to chant. He wasn¡¯t like Xu Miaoran, who had a protective incantation from her father nted on her body that could easily call him over; he needed a special mantra to transmit his location.


    Seeing Feng Buzhi do this, Xu Miaoran knew that he was summoning the Wolf Lord and quickly said, ¡°I¡¯ll call over my father.¡±


    She closed her eyes and began to focus.


    Given the connection between her and her father, she could summon Xu Guanghua much faster than Feng Buzhi could summon Feng Muyuan.


    But there was no response to her calls.


    After several failed calls, Xu Miaoran finally realized what was going on and stomped her feet in anger. ¡°Father isn¡¯t willing to help me!¡±


    Wolf Lord Feng Muyuan was currently at Horizon Ocean Pavilion¡¯s Great Wind Ind.


    There was no doubt that he had reached an agreement with the august figures of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Otherwise, there would have been no point to his staying as their guest for so long.


    Tang Jie hugged Xu Miaoran. He had already expected this result.


    At the same time, Feng Buzhi gradually finished his incantation.


    Clouds roiled, and a human face began to appear within them. Though the features were indistinct, the face was imbued with majesty.


    Xu Miaoran shouted, ¡°He¡¯sing!¡±


    This method of crossing vast distances did not bring the actual body, but manifested a spell art avatar through the use of supreme divine connections. Although this was far weaker than the actual body, it was no ordinary existence. But maintaining the divine connection was extremely taxing and couldn¡¯t be kept up for long. Thus, unless it was absolutely necessary, using a teleportation formation was still better.


    As that giant face appeared in the sky, all the Beast Refining Gate disciples prostrated and shouted, ¡°Paying respects to the Wolf Lord!¡±


    At the same time, sorrow appeared in everyone else¡¯s hearts.


    Everything came to a standstill. In the face of a True Lord¡¯s majesty, all schemes were futile.


    Even Tang Jie simply looked up at the sky in a daze.


    At this moment, Wei Tianchong suddenly spoke.


    ¡°Tsk, it¡¯s only summoning a True Lord. Is it really that special? I can do it too.¡±


    As he spoke, a bolt of lightning streaked across the heavens.


    Oh? What True Lord of the Basking Moon Sect is going to show up to face off against the Wolf Lord?

 Chapter 456

    Chapter 456: Anchoring the Sea


    There was something extraordinary about the bolt of lightning.


    Ordinary lightning was here and gone in a sh, but this lightning bolt lingered, hanging across the sky like a sword. Its body was straight and slender like a sword, its tip crackling with lightning, and its lower end was thick like a hilt, and there was even a hand grasping it.


    This hand emerged from the clouds, appearing as abruptly as one of Tang Jie¡¯s Heavenly Cloud des!


    It appeared like a simple lightning sword in the sky, but given the extreme distance, it had to have been thousands of feet long. And the sword grasping the hilt of that lightning sword seemed in perfect harmony with its surroundings.


    The moment the massive lightning sword appeared, it shed at the giant face.


    The lingering lightning sliced through the clouds, through the Blue Wolf True Lord¡¯s phantasmal face.


    ¡°Is that you, Xiao Biehan!?¡± a furious voice exploded through the clouds.


    The lightning sword ignored him, continuing to slice here and there like a child, soon slicing apart that face.


    The coiling clouds refused to disperse, gathering more and more.


    That lightning sword decided to take a stab at the clouds.


    Lightning prated through the clouds, and there was a brilliant eruption that scattered the clouds.


    There was a light snort from the clouds, and a clear and bright voice resounded through the world. ¡°Feng Muyuan, you really think you¡¯re worthy of the Sword of the Sect?¡±


    When Tang Jie heard this voice, he blurted out in shock, ¡°Master Ming!¡±


    ¡°Ming Yekong!¡± A voice of fear, shock, and disbelief came from Feng Muyuan¡¯s mouth. ¡°You advanced to Violet Pce?¡±


    For Ming Yekong to have advanced to Violet Pce was no small matter.


    The six major sects had wrangled against each other for many years, and their strengths had mostly been in bnce.


    The one with the most True Lords had been the Beast Refining Gate. If one counted their Divine Division fiend beasts, they had at least seven Violet Pce cultivators. However, while their cultivation levels were high, their strength as individuals was rathercking. Second was the Seven Absolutions Sect, with five True Lords. Godhead Pce, the Basking Moon Sect, and the Thousand Passions Sect all had four Violet Pce True Lords, but one of each was a Celestial Sovereign. Horizon Ocean Pavilion had the fewest, at only three, but two were Celestial Sovereigns¡­ This was connected to their cultivation arts.


    Overall, everyone was about equally strong.


    In these circumstances, another Violet Pce True Lord appearing in any faction would ce considerable pressure on the others.


    Ming Yekong¡¯s breakthrough had undoubtedly added to the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s influence.


    That clear and bright voice spoke again. ¡°Thanks to the blessing of the heavens, I finally seeded, but I did not think my first battle would be against you, Wolf Lord Feng.¡±


    As he spoke, that hand in the sky released the lightning sword.


    The lightning sword dissipated, leaving behind the hand, which pointed a finger.


    This light thrust made Feng Muyuan furiously bellow like never before.


    In the clouds, a blue wolf that had been taking form was turned to nothing by Ming Yekong¡¯s finger.


    Feng Muyuan howled, ¡°Ming Yekong, even if you¡¯ve reached Violet Pce, you¡¯ve barely stepped through the door. You¡¯re far from the power where you can act as you please!¡±


    ¡°But in this situation, it¡¯s quite enough to deal with you.¡± Ming Yekong¡¯s voice remained cool and collected.


    Ming Yekong was not lying. In terms of seniority, as a new Violet Pce True Lord, he was far from reaching Feng Muyuan.


    But this way of fighting across space was very advantageous toward him.


    His original expertise was in space. This was how he was able to master the Chaoswind Step.


    After reaching Violet Pce, he deepened his understanding of space, and while he had yet to be a Celestial Sovereign who had entered the Dao, he hadprehended the Dao of Space enough that he could ignore the strictures of it.


    While he hadn¡¯t created a manifestation like Feng Muyuan, that sword-wielding hand of his was actually the real deal!


    He had sent his actual hand across space, and it could use 100% of his power. This was why he did not fear Feng Muyuan.


    Another True Lord might have had a solution to this problem, but Feng Muyuan was the typical True Lord of the Beast Refining Gate. At least half of his power was tied to his Blue Sky Demon Wolf, and his strength was clearly weaker than that of the average True Lord.


    Given this imbnce, Ming Yekong did not fear him in this battle.


    The clouds churned in the sky, as the form of Feng Muyuan¡¯s Blue Sky Demon Wolf continued to coalesce, but Ming Yekong¡¯s finger dispersed them again and again. Feng Muyuan could only helplessly roar.


    If his real self had been here, then with his Blue Sky Demon Wolf, he could have prevented Ming Yekong from being this bold and impetuous. But this sort of long-distance battle was a test of an individual¡¯s strength, which was precisely the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s weakness.


    And the fact that the Basking Moon Sect had sent Ming Yekong was a sign that they were using this battle to boost Ming Yekong¡¯s reputation.


    In the future, it would be said that when Ming Yekong became the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s new True Lord, in his first battle, he defeated Blue Wolf True Lord Feng Muyuan. Feng Muyuan was being used as a stepping stone to fame.


    The thought almost made Feng Muyuan throw up blood in anger.


    At this moment, waves suddenly erupted over the ocean.


    A furious current ripped through the calm seas, and a giant wave emerged, growing taller and taller until it was even taller than the Immortal mountain. But it did not fall, hovering there like a mountain of flowing water, striking fear into everyone¡¯s hearts.


    The sea mountain grew taller and taller, eventually reaching a height of ten thousand meters¡ªthe same altitude as that cloud.


    Then the ¡°water mountain¡± began to transform, gradually taking the form of a man. It was simr to the phantom of the Heavenly King Mara Incantation, though many times more majestic.


    This was a middle-aged man whose facial features were made rather indistinct by the flowing waters. But at this moment, Xu Miaoran shouted, ¡°Father!¡±


    <em>¡®Father¡¯?</em>


    Tang Jie¡¯s heart trembled at this word.


    Sea Anchor True Lord Xu Guanghua?


    Sure enough, he hade, but not because of his daughter¡¯s summons.


    As Xu Guanghua appeared, he opened his mouth and boomed, ¡°Chief Ming, congrattions on advancing to Violet Pce. On such a joyous asion, what need is there to resolve matters through conflict? As the master of thisnd, my Horizon Ocean Pavilion requests that these two honored ones do not fight out of respect for us.¡±


    Ming Yekongughed. ¡°Sea Lord Xu must naturally be shown respect, but I do not know what Wolf Lord Feng thinks.¡±


    As he spoke, that hand of his continued to thrust out its finger, refusing to let Feng Muyuan coalesce a phantom.


    So long as Feng Muyuan could not manifest, he could not use his power, nor could he take back the Beast Garden, and so the Basking Moon Sect¡¯s goals would be achieved.


    Feng Muyuan angrily shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it!¡±


    ¡°Then it seems that Wolf Lord Feng is not willing to show respect for Horizon Ocean Pavilion. This has nothing to do with the Basking Moon Sect,¡± Ming Yekong very righteously said.


    Xu Guanghua helplessly sighed. ¡°Since the two of you are unwilling to stop, then let me help you stop.¡±


    An arm extended from that sea mountain and pped at the sky.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie frowned.


    While this p seemed intended to stop the two from fighting, it was actually helping out Feng Muyuan.


    After all, Ming Yekong was using his first-strike advantage to prevent Feng Muyuan from manifesting. Once Feng Muyuan manifested, he could join with his Blue Sky Demon Wolf, at which point it would be a problem for Ming Yekong to hold out against this senior True Lord, even with his innate advantage in long-distance battle.


    Xu Miaoran had also noticed the problem, shouting, ¡°Father!¡±


    Xu Guanghua ignored her, only shooting a nce at Xu Miaoran. As he was looking at Xu Guanghua, he was also looking at Tang Jie next to her.


    His gaze was sharp and majestic, radiating intimidating power.


    Tang Jie felt his heart tremble, felt apulsion to get on his knees. But he knew that he couldn¡¯t do such a thing, so he clenched his teeth and looked back at Xu Guanghua, refusing to back down in the slightest.


    Not only that, Tang Jie began to form hand signs.


    As his hands shifted, a light glowed in his eyes. He pointed at the sky and shouted, ¡°Heavenly Cloud des, go!¡±


    Twenty Heavenly Cloud des sliced toward Feng Muyuan.


    This act left everyone dumbfounded.


    Even Feng Buzhi looked at Tang Jie in disbelief.


    When Titans like these took action, everyone could only obediently stand where they were, perhaps even prostrate. But this bastard dared to attack a True Lord!


    Did he have the biggest balls in the world? Or was he the greatest idiot to ever have existed?


    Did he really think those twenty shabby pieces of steel could do anything to Feng Muyuan?


    At this time, with Ming Yekong¡¯s attacks being hindered by Xu Guanghua¡¯s wave mountain, Feng Muyuan was rapidly manifesting.


    The twenty Heavenly Cloud des swished over, striking the phantoms of Feng Muyuan and his Blue Sky Demon Wolf.


    ¡°Aaaagh!¡± A furious roar exploded through the heavens.


    It was Feng Muyuan¡¯s cry.


    This sound and fury was not because he had been injured. It was just his dignity that had suffered an immense blow.


    A mere Spirit Master of Mortal Shedding Nine Revolutions, an ant-like existence, dared to swipe its ws at a True Lord.


    This was the greatest possible humiliation!


    ¡°Die!¡± As Feng Muyuan roared, the Blue Sky Demon Wolf spat a blue wave of wind at Tang Jie.


    It seemed like a simple attack, but it was empowered with the terrifying might of the world. Even the ghost guard and Tang Jie¡¯s original body wouldn¡¯t be able to block it.


    Tang Jie turned to Xu Miaoran and said, ¡°Are you willing to be together with me in both life and death?¡±


    A beautiful smile bloomed on Xu Miaoran¡¯s face. ¡°Where my husband is, I will be. If my husband dies, I will die.¡±


    The two of them smiled and embraced each other, facing down that blue wave of wind.


    These two didn¡¯t seem to take their lives seriously, but the Sea Anchor True Lord¡¯s soul almost left his body.


    ¡°Absolutely not!¡±


    The giant water hand turned around and thrust at the wind wave, dispersing it.


    Rather than dispersing, the water flew over to Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran, instantly creating a transparent wall of water that enclosed them. The remnants of the wind wave crashed against the wall in a riot of colors, but the two were uninjured.


    Tang Jie looked at Xu Miaoran and smiled. ¡°In the end, I still used you.¡±


    Xu Miaoran chuckled and lightly shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t care.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that I¡¯ve made a bad first impression now,¡± Tang Jie sighed.


    On their first meeting, he had used Xu Guanghua¡¯s daughter as a hostage. He was certain that the Sea Anchor True Lord was apoplectic over this.


    But he had no other choice.


    In the sky, Ming Yekong seized the chance to destroy Feng Muyuan¡¯s just-formed phantom.


    Worst of all was that even a True Lord could not keep coalescing phantoms without limit.


    After so many failures, Feng Muyuan was finding it hard to maintain the connection.


    ¡°No!¡± he crazily yelled, his face distorting. ¡°Brother Xu, help me out! It¡¯s not important to take back the Beast Garden. The key is to take back the thing inside! No matter what, it can¡¯t fall into the hands of the Basking Moon Sect!¡±


    Ming Yekong coldly said, ¡°Feng Muyuan, you must be joking. You really think the treasures of your Beast Refining Gate are of interest to us?¡±


    Feng Muyuan savagelyughed. ¡°Ming Yekong, there¡¯s no need to put on false airs. The Basking Moon Sect has been coveting my sect¡¯s treasures for far more than just a day or two. In fact, this is the source of our thousand-year grudge!¡±


    Ming Yekong grunted. ¡°Of course. When the six sects united against ourmon foe, it was only through the sacrifice of countless lives that we managed to y the chief menace. ording to the agreement reached by the six major sects, we would equally divide that menace between our two sects, so why does your Beast Refining Gate get to keep the corpse all to yourself? All my Basking Moon Sect wants is what we deserve, the debt we are owed!¡±


    Everyone was dumbfounded¡ªnot just Tang Jie, but also those people still wandering the sea surface and yet to reach the Immortal ind, like Shen Qingdan. All of them could naturally see what was going on up in the heavens.


    Everyone knew about the grudge between the Basking Moon Sect and the Beast Refining Gate, but nobody had known how it hade about. Today, they finally understood that the original grudge had been a spat over the spoils of war.


    But what was so good about that corpse that two sects would fight over it for a thousand years?


    It had to be understood that these were two major sects. Sects were not people, and they would rarely get into emotion-driven conflicts.


    Feng Muyuan bellowed, ¡°Bullshit! My sect suffered the greatest losses, even our ancestor falling in that battle! If we had not stolen the tiger corpse, you probably would have taken even the skin and bones.¡±


    ¡°An agreement is an agreement, not some ce for your excuses. There is no trusting the words of traitors!¡± Ming Yekong bluntly shouted back.


    Their argument quickly made Xu Guanghua lose his patience.


    Feng Muyuan was slowly losing ground, so he shouted, ¡°Brother Xu, help me!¡±


    Xu Guanghua silently nodded.


    Ming Yekong arrived to beat back the Wolf Lord, but what¡¯s this? Xu Miaoran¡¯s daddy is here, and it doesn¡¯t seem like he¡¯s here to help out his daughter¡¯s boyfriend!<!--


    -->

 Chapter 457: Departure

    Chapter 457: Departure


    Ming Yekongughed. ¡°Has Horizon Ocean Pavilion really thrown in its lot with the Beast Refining Gate?¡±


    Xu Guanghua¡¯s face darkened. ¡°Ming Yekong, even if the Basking Moon Sect has another True Lord, it can¡¯t change the bnce of power. If I want to take it, you won¡¯t be able to stop me!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no guarantee of that!¡± Ming Yekongughed. ¡°One hand might not be able to stop True Lord Xu, but what about another one?¡±


    As he spoke, his left hand appeared in the sky, and he thrust one hand at Xu Guanghua while the other hand moved to Feng Muyuan.


    Xu Guanghua was shocked. ¡°How is this possible?¡±


    He hastily summoned a giant water hand to block while Feng Muyuan¡¯s manifestation was once more dispersed by Ming Yekong¡¯s hand.


    This time, Feng Muyuan couldn¡¯t gather up another manifestation.


    Once the palm scattered Feng Muyuan¡¯s energy, Ming Yekong¡¯s hand grabbed at the Immortal mountain.


    Xu Guanghua was furious, and a giant hand of water punched at Ming Yekong¡¯s left hand.


    He was known as the Sea Anchor True Lord, and his ability to control the oceans truly wasn¡¯t to be trifled with. Although this was only a manifestation, it had 50% of his real body¡¯s power. At this moment, it was unleashing all its power at Ming Yekong, pushing it off track. The hand brushed past the mountain and thrust into the sea with a great ssh.


    Ming Yekongughed. ¡°The Sea Anchor True Lord¡¯s divine might is without peer. Yekong is no match, so I can only resort to tricks.¡±


    As he spoke, Ming Yekong¡¯s head emerged from the clouds that the hands extended from.


    Half of his body followed him out of the clouds, such that Ming Yekong¡¯s body essentially blotted out the sky. Xu Guanghua was stunned, blurting out, ¡°How is this possible? Have you already be a Celestial Sovereign?¡±


    It had to be understood that Ming Yekong had actually passed through space to get here, which demanded an extremely high level of understanding in the Dao of Space. One had to have at least entered the Dao for this, which was the most basic requirement to be called a Celestial Sovereign. Comprehending the Dao was far from enough for this title.


    At this moment, a pir of light suddenly shot out from that cave shrouded in bloody fog.


    Tang Jie was taken aback when he saw this light, and then his heart shivered as he understood what was happening, almost blurting it out.


    Yiyi and Xu Miaoran also reacted, crying out in unison, ¡°The Divine¡­¡±


    Tang Jie immediately ced his hands over their mouths.


    The Divine Space Crystal!


    Ming Yekong was definitely using the Divine Space Crystal to achieve this power.


    But couldn¡¯t only the bloodline of the White Tiger use the Divine Space Crystal? How was he utilizing it?


    But Tang Jie quickly understood.


    The Divine Space Crystal was damaged.


    The damaged Divine Space Crystal wasn¡¯t as powerful as the original, and its usage requirements were also bound to have been rxed. There was most likely no problem with using it for a short time.


    Sure enough, when Ming Yekong saw the light emerging from the cave, heughed and said, ¡°As expected, the Time Crystal is here.¡±


    When the two sects had split the spoils, each part knew what the other had obtained, but they didn¡¯t know where the treasure was hidden or how it was being used.


    After capturing the White Tiger¡¯s descendant, the Basking Moon Sect had been constantly attempting to obtain its bloodline and then use that bloodline to detect, find, and take control of the Beast Refining Gate¡¯s Time Crystal. s, they had never seeded. But the numerous hybrids had been able to give them a general direction, and the Beast Garden happened to be in that direction. Thus, its functions became a point of suspicion.


    Today, they finally had proof.


    Given how many years the Beast Refining Gate had used the tiger corpse for, the Basking Moon Sect had no hopes of getting much from it. It was the Divine Time Crystal that they wanted.


    With half of his body protruding, Ming Yekong sent one hand at Xu Guanghua and the other hand toward the cave.


    As he hadprehended the Dao of Space and was borrowing the power of the Space Crystal, he could essentially use 100% of his power. Even Xu Guanghua couldn¡¯t stop him.


    Tang Jie panicked.


    If Ming Yekong seeded, the little tiger would undoubtedly be captured.


    When the time came, not only would his connection to the little tiger be exposed, the little tiger would also die.


    He was ready to heedlessly charge forward to stop Ming Yekong.


    At this moment, the pir of light suddenly swept outward.


    Tang Jie felt the entire world stop.


    The wind stopped blowing; the waters stopped flowing; the hand descending from the sky froze; the giant mountain of waves was stuck in the shape of Xu Guanghua¡¯s shocked and furious face. Ming Yekong, Feng Buzhi, Xu Guanghua, Yiyi¡­ all of them had be like statues.


    This was¡­


    Tang Jie looked around him in shock.


    The entire world had suddenly stopped, as if someone had pressed the pause button. Even spiritual energy had stopped circting. He could not use a single spell art.


    All he could do was move.


    What was going on here?


    Tang Jie looked around in confusion.


    It was such a familiar scene. It felt like he had seen it before in his past life¡­


    ¡°Time Stop!¡± Tang Jie blurted out.


    ¡°Yes, time has stopped,¡± a voice said from behind him.


    Tang Jie froze.


    After his initial shock, he quietly turned around.


    The little tiger stood next to the cave entrance, looking at him.


    A handsome young man.


    ¡°Bao¡¯er!¡± he shouted as a test.


    Tears appeared in the young man¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Father,¡± he said.


    Tang Jie sighed. ¡°It really is you¡­¡±


    He had imagined many times what his next meeting with Bao¡¯er would be like.


    But he had never imagined that the meeting would be so bizarre.


    The entire world had been turned into a diorama, serving as the backdrop for this meeting.


    Only Bao¡¯er and himself could move, their eyes meeting.


    After a long while, Tang Jie said, ¡°Beautiful work.¡±


    Yes, beautiful work.


    Bao¡¯er must have gone through a lot of effort to steal the Beast Garden from right under the nose of the Beast Refining Gate.


    ¡°I learned it all from you, Father,¡± Bao¡¯er somewhat awkwardly said. ¡°Although I hadn¡¯t gained intelligence in those days I was with you, I have the natural gift for spacetime of the White Tiger n. Upon my awakening, I was able to look back through time and see everything that happened while I was with you, from there obtaining the memories and experience that were rightfully mine.¡±


    So it was because of the bloodline awakening?


    Tang Jie understood.


    Bao¡¯er had reversed time, and those things that Tang Jie had wanted to teach him but couldn¡¯t had naturally appeared in his mind.


    ¡°I am very happy to see your growth.¡± Tang Jie smiled.


    He looked around and said, ¡°By the look of it, have you alreadypletely mastered control of the Divine Time Crystal? I didn¡¯t think it would be this powerful, even stopping time.¡±


    Bao¡¯er shook his head. ¡°How could it be that easy? Even the Divine Time Crystal¡¯s time power needs to slowly umte. For 1800 years, the Time Crystal has been sealed here, drinking the ancestral blood every day, so it was already brimming with power, and then the Space Crystal appeared. Space and Time were once one, and they can only be unleashed when they resonate with each other. Moreover, while everything seems to be frozen in time, if disturbed, a Violet Pce True Lord could easily be awakened. In the end, I can¡¯t use this method to kill anyone¡­ not even take back the Space Crystal.¡±


    He nced up at Ming Yekong, his eyes brimming with killing intent. Tang Jie couldn¡¯t help but mentally sigh.


    ¡°What do you n to do next?¡± Tang Jie asked.


    Bao¡¯er answered, ¡°I must leave this ce.¡±


    ¡°¡®Leave this ce¡¯?¡± Tang Jie repeated in surprise.


    Bao¡¯er nodded. ¡°Although I¡¯ve absorbed the ancestral blood, I am still far from strong enough. I must go to my ancestor¡¯s world. There, I can get even more powerful, revive my White Tiger n, and restore the glory of the King of Fiends!¡±


    Tang Jie was momentarily taken aback by this deration.


    After a while, he said, ¡°Is it the Primordial Fog Domain?¡±


    Bao¡¯er froze, saying nothing.


    Tang Jie nodded.


    He did not need Bao¡¯er to answer, for he already understood.


    He muttered, ¡°Back then, in the Gigantes Illusion Zone of the Nine Pce Illusion Formation, the will manifestations of the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk and the Gigantes King appeared, crossing the domain barrier. That Gigantes King is clearly linked to the Martial Lord, so it¡¯s not strange for him to have sensed my existence and broken through the barrier. But why did the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk manifest his will? I thought that it was me who drew him, but today, I finally understand that it was actually you!¡±


    ¡°Maybe this is fate? Now that the Azure Dragon is no longer present, who is master is constantly in flux,¡± Bao¡¯er muttered as he began to back away.


    Tang Jie was rmed at this and shouted, ¡°Bao¡¯er!¡±


    Bao¡¯er continued to back away. ¡°The Time Crystal is on the verge of running out of power. I must leave before then. Today we part, and perhaps we will not meet again for another 1200 years.¡±


    Tang Jie replied, ¡°No matter how long or how far, Bao¡¯er, remember that you will always be my son.¡±


    Bao¡¯er heart trembled. The stubborn and resolved front he had put up instantly crumbled.


    Tears streaked down his cheeks as he looked at Tang Jie and continued to step away.


    Suddenly, he flicked his fingers, and a red bead of blood flew from his fingertip toward Tang Jie¡¯s face.


    Tang Jie did not evade, allowing that drop of blood to enter his brain. He felt a rumble from his mind as a majestic will and energy surged from his mind to every part of his body.


    This power was like a zing ball of me, stimting Tang Jie so much that he almost yelled.


    ¡°Circte the spirit spell and take it into your body!¡± Bao¡¯er¡¯s voice resounded in his ear.


    Tang Jie hastily circted the Blood Refining Spirit spell, and all of his essence blood erupted forth and began to swiftly modify his entire body.


    The fall in constitution and aging caused by the Devil Crushing Fist and the Time Current were swiftly wiped away, and the process continued, fixing the ws in his body and improving his constitution even further.


    This avatar initially didn¡¯t have the ability to cultivate, and while the Eye Flesh had broken this barrier, it had an upper limit. The Undying Celestial Origin Pill had improved his constitution and increased his potential to that of an ordinary person, but an ordinary person had limited potential. Otherwise, the number of Violet Pce True Lords would not be so small.


    At this moment, Tang Jie finally felt something different. Just as he had been about to reach the end of the path, the path had suddenly extended into infinity, enough for Tang Jie to run forever!


    The White Tiger¡¯s essence blood!


    Tang Jie realized that the little tiger had given him the White Tiger¡¯s essence blood!


    Only an ancient divine creature like this could boost a person¡¯s potential by so much.


    At the same time, he also understood the true significance of the Blood Refining Spirit spell.


    Only the White Tiger¡¯s essence blood could exhibit the true power of this spell.


    To put it simply, at this moment, Tang Jie was a hybrid White Tiger!


    He stared at Bao¡¯er with wide eyes, and the little tiger shouted, ¡°Take this drop of blood. It is the blood of my White Tiger n. Starting from now, you can truly be considered my father. From now on, no matter how far apart we are, I will be able to sense you. One day, if you can no longer stay here, thene to the Primordial Fog Domain to find me. With the Space Crystal and that rabbit, you will be able to find me even if I¡¯m in the endless void.¡±


    He flipped his wrist, and what appeared to be a shattered piece of ss appeared in his hand.


    A Space Crystal shard!


    He turned and swiped with his hand, and a fissure appeared in space.


    The little tiger grabbed both sides of the fissure, his left eye shing.


    With the power of his two arms, he widened the fissure.


    He then squeezed into the fissure.


    ¡°Bao¡¯er!¡± Tang Jie shouted.


    Bao¡¯er stopped.


    He turned to look at Tang Jie. ¡°My name¡­ is Wang Yao!¡±


    He threw himself into the boundless darkness.


    Tang Jie says farewell to his son! Who knows when they will meet again?

 Chapter 458: Conclusion

    Chapter 458: Conclusion


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Therge hand reaching out stirred up stones and dust, but came away with nothing.


    "Eh?" Surprised gasps came from the mouths of Ming Yekong and Xu Guanghua, and their faces were filled with disbelief.


    There was nothing in the cave!


    That beam of light surging into the air had already dissipated, but bizarrely, they hadn''t even seen how it had disappeared. It was as if it had never existed.


    They felt like they were missing a part of their memories, skipping some important chapter in their life. Everyone was somewhat ufortable with this feeling and looked around in confusion.


    Ming Yekong''s expression turned solemn, his eyes instantly ncing over at the summit.


    With his strength, he could immediately tell that there was nothing in the cave. After some thought, he understood. "The Divine Time Crystal¡­ To think they were able to use that time treasure."


    Xu Guanghua''s water manifestation froze for a moment, even the waters ceasing to flow, and then he began tough. "Well, isn''t that wonderful? That thief managed to get away."


    From his point of view, he didn''t necessarily want the Beast Refining Gate to get this treasure, but he had no choice but to help for the sake of their rtionship. The treasure being lost, with neither side profiting, was good news for the Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and so he didn''t have the slightest inclination to chase the thief.


    He asked, "Now that the treasure has been lost and the thief has fled, does Brother Ming n to continue fighting?"


    Ming Yekong shook his head. "Sea Lord, please forgive me for the earlier offense. Since this matter is concluded, I must return. However, there are still a few ipetent children of my Basking Moon Sect here. I hope that Horizon Ocean Pavilion will look after them."


    Xu Guanghua nced at Tang Jie andughed. "He truly is an audacious child. Not even in a thousand years would you find someone at Mortal Shedding who would attack a True Lord."


    Ming Yekong chuckled. "I''ve gotten used to it. Back at the Immortal Fortune Conference, he even cursed out Horizon Ocean Pavilion. As he''s gotten stronger, so has his daring. But I rather like this child, so I would ask that Horizon Ocean Pavilion not make any trouble for him."


    Xu Guanghua looked at his daughter, who had buried her head in Tang Jie''s chest and refused to look at him. He knew that she was angry, and his heart softened as he sighed, "How could I make trouble for such a heroic youth?"


    These words meant that he had agreed to allow Tang Jie and the others to freely return.


    A quick look at tinyurl/37k7u89t will leave you more fulfilled.


    Feng Buzhi anxiously cried out, "Sea Lord!"


    Xu Guanghua looked at Feng Buzhi and coolly said, "The matter is concluded, so shouldn''t you hurry back and report? What is your reason for staying here?"


    He sent out a watery sleeve, which wrapped around Feng Buzhi and the Beast Refining Gate disciples and sent them off into the distance.


    Ming Yekong wasn''t interested in pursuing them. He ced his hands together and bowed to Xu Guanghua before slowly disappearing.


    Xu Guanghua looked at his daughter and sternly said, "Do I have to bring you back, or are youing back yourself?"


    Xu Miaoran twisted her body, knowing that now wasn''t the time to be stubborn. She put an arm around Tang Jie''s neck and said, "I''ll be going first. Don''t forget me."


    This was a shocking act, and only Xu Miaoran dared to do such a thing. But Tang Jie liked Xu Miaoran this way, and he looked at her and gave a light nod.


    This simple actionbined with Tang Jie''s affectionate gaze brimmed with feeling that left Xu Miaoran intoxicated.


    Xu Guanghua could finally watch no longer, barking, "Miao''er!"


    Only then did Xu Miaoran let go.


    Xu Guanghua extended an arm made of water, raising up his daughter and moving away.


    As Tang Jie watched Xu Miaoran disappear into the distance, he became saddened. It felt like someone had dug out his heart, cut out his liver. It was an indescribable pain and sorrow.


    This feeling was intensified because he was losing Xu Miaoran shortly after losing the little tiger. His heart was so stuffed up that he couldn''t speak, and the only way he could express himself was through tears.


    Tang Jie didn''t want things to be this way, so he took in a deep breath, putting all of his unwillingness and longing into a single breath, and throwing his head back in a howl to the heavens.


    "AAAAAAGH!"


    As he roared, countless pirs of water shot out from the ocean, rising toward the heavens like furious waves, resonating with his unwillingness and venting his rage.


    Su Xinyue was rather startled by this roar. "His energy is substantialized to the point where he can make his surroundings quake. I didn''t realize that Tang Jie had already cultivated to this level."


    Spiritual energy substantialization was an ability that every Nine Revolutions cultivator was capable of, but the level of substantialization depended on the person. Tang Jie had exhibited the very highest level of substantialization, so it was no wonder that Su Xinyue had praised him.


    The roaring went on for some time as Tang Jie used this furious bellow to vent all of the emotions weighing on his heart.


    At this moment, a roar came from the distance.


    Yiyi was startled by the sound. "Big Dummy!"


    The figure of Shi Jingzhai appeared in the distance.


    When this imbecile had entered the hidden realm, the special environment of the hidden realm had caused him to be separated from Yiyi. His imbecility meant that he didn''t know that he needed to meet up with everyone on the ind. Instead, he had wandered about the ocean, having a grand old time.


    Now that the hidden realm had been broken and space was no longer disordered, he was able to follow Tang Jie''s roar and find them.


    Upon seeing Shi Jingzhai, Yiyi excitedly rushed over.


    Even Tang Jie was taken aback. He didn''t expect that his hollering would manage to call this guy out. Smirking, he said, "This guy was really useless."


    He had initially taken in Shi Jingzhai because he felt like this was still a Celestial Heart True Person, so it was fine to keep him around as a dog to bite others.


    He hadn''t expected this guy''s idiocy to make him so hard to use. Always, at critical moments, he was nowhere to be found. Tang Jie really couldn''t take it any more, and he considered refining him into a ghost guard.


    But what if the Heptademon Ghost Guard refined from this idiot would also be an idiot?


    After considering how costly it was to refine a ghost guard, Tang Jie decided to give up on the idea.


    Shi Jingzhai didn''t know that he had just brushed shoulders with death, onlyughing happily when he saw Yiyi. In thest two years they had spent together, they had grown rather affectionate.


    Shi Jingzhai''s appearance dispelled much of Tang Jie''s sorrow.


    He looked at Su Xinyue and the others and said, "My apologies. I lost control and made a fool of myself in front of all of you."


    A Basking Moon Sect disciple said, "Senior Brother, the sincerity of your emotions only draws my admiration. If True Lord Xu knows of this, he might even be moved by your feelings and be willing to let you marry his daughter."


    Tang Jie coolly replied, "What moves him isn''t sincere emotions, but cultivation realm. One day, I will step through the gates of Horizon Ocean Pavilion and have Xu Guanghua¡­ allow me the honor of marrying his daughter."


    The bold ambition in these words awed everyone.


    Who did he think he was, to have a True Lord bestow such an honor on him? His tone was just a little too much.


    But considering how Tang Jie had dared to insult Heng Wudi and attack a True Lord, perhaps this tone wasn''t too much at all.


    Tang Jie turned to Wei Tianchong and asked, "Right, how did you manage to summon Master Ming?"


    Wei Tianchong chuckled. "A few days ago, when your report on the Beast Garden arrived, the sect practically exploded. At the time, Master Ming had just emerged from his sessful attempt at Violet Pce, bing my Basking Moon Sect''s fifth Violet Pce True Lord. Sect Master Ling Xiao immediately decided to have Master Ming take action and impress the world with his might. But True Lords cannot casually enter the territory of another sect, so it was decided that he should leave a mental trace on a disciple to serve as a marker to summon him. This was a great honor that would also be of great benefit to that fortunate disciple, and many people in the sect wanted it. As you had also happened to kill more than a hundred Beast Refining Gate disciples, my master immediately suggested that the opportunity be given to me."


    In the end, it seemed like this guy owed his fortune to Tang Jie. Tang Jie had rendered such a great achievement, so he had to be rewarded, and Wei Tianchong happened to share in the limelight and get the power to summon Ming Yekong.


    It had to be understood that while this sounded simple, it required the other party to leave a mental trace, and this mental trace would contain a part of their mind so that they could be summoned. In many cases, this part of their mind would contain a great deal of cultivation experience, and once it wasprehended, it would be a huge boon.


    And Wei Tianchong had learned the Bright Heart, increasing his ability toprehend. Although he was still somewhat of a moron when it came to the ways of the world, he was very sharp when it came to cultivation. Thus, he was able to smoothlyprehend the experiences in this mental trace.


    In contrast, Feng Buzhi hadn''t gotten anything. Rather than a mental trace, he had used a spell art.


    Tang Jie asked, "Then when you''re in danger in the future, can you still summon Master Ming?"


    "Unfortunately not," Wei Tianchong replied.


    In truth, once the mental trace was nted, unless Ming Yekong wiped it away, he would perpetually be able to sense Wei Tianchong''s summons.


    But sensing was one thing, and responding was another.


    If it was a sect matter, Ming Yekong would naturally answer the call. But if Wei Tianchong dared to use it for every random matter, Ming Yekong would basically ignore him. Even if he came, he would probably being to take Wei Tianchong''s head as punishment. So this was effectively the only time it could be used.


    Wei Tianchong said, "Afterprehending that mental trace, I feel like my path to cultivation has opened up by a lot. Tang Jie, you''ve rendered such a great achievement this time, you might request the sect master to reward you with a mental trace. If you can get the Sword of the Sect''s mental trace, you could consider it a powerful protective talisman. And with your aptitude, once youprehend it, you are certain to soar in power."


    Tang Jie shook his head. "While mental traces are nice, there''s a problem. A brand that''s too deep is difficult to alter. These experiences are ultimately the experiences of someone else. They are excellent when used as a reference, but they aren''t suitable for copying. While they allow for a rapid boost in the short term, they aren''t favorable in the long term."


    "There was something like that?" Wei Tianchong was aghast. "Then why did Master want the mental trace for me?"


    Tang Jie rolled his eyes. "Idiot, you''re still far from having to consider this problem. With your aptitude, there''s really no need to think that far. It''s more realistic to seize the advantages in front of you."


    He flew into the air. With the matter concluded, it was time to return to the Basking Moon Sect.


    Wei Tianchong froze, and then he chased after Tang Jie and shouted, "What do you mean, ''my aptitude''? What are you trying to say? Tell it to me straight¡­"


    Everyoneughed and flew up in pursuit of Tang Jie.

 Chapter 459: Reward

    Chapter 459: Reward


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    In the western part of the Zephyr Mountains, past the primary mountain group''s Nature Zone, was a mountain called the Mountain of the Throneseeker.


    The mountain had a strange rock that looked like a boat, its two ends sticking out in the air. Only a single point in the middle made contact with the summit, so it also looked like a bnce. Even a gust of wind would have this strange rock on the summit swaying.


    But no matter how the rock swayed, it never fell over. It was as if some god was keeping it in ce.


    A person sat on this suspended rock, seated in meditation, his eyes closed. He even held a fishing rod, the long fishing line dropping off the side of the rock.


    It was Tang Jie.


    There was a piece of bloody meat attached to the end of the fishing line.


    The meat let off a powerful odor as ity on the ground, and it wasn''t long before a badger fiend was drawn over.


    This badger fiend was only at the lower grade of Spirit Sensing. For a little guy who had only just be a fiend, this fresh meat still had a lethal attraction.


    It looked around and then cautiously came over. When it felt like there was no more danger, it lunged over to take a bite.


    Just as it bit down, the fishing line went taut, pulling the badger fiend into the air.


    The badger fiend iled in the air like a fish, and the fishing line asionally shed with spiritual light.


    At this moment, a voice suddenly shouted, "Tang Jie!"


    Tang Jie''s hand trembled, and the fishing line snapped. The badger fiend dropped from the air, rolled a few times on the ground, and swiftly ran off.


    Tang Jie didn''t chase after the fleeing badger fiend. He drew back the fishing line and looked at the break. "It seems I''m still very far away from drawing energy into a hair-thin line that can stretch for a thousand kilometers."


    The rabbit fiend, Tutu, praised, "This Fiend Fishing art is a secret art of my Heavenshade Domain, and it''s perfect for tempering one''s control and operation of spiritual energy. This line is extremely thin, and putting in too much will cause the line to snap. There''s not even a need to use it for Fiend Fishing. And without using a hook, only sucking in with spiritual energy, raises the difficulty even more. That you could reach this level in less than a hundred days is extraordinary progress. It seems like I''ve underestimated you. You really are a genius."


    Only Tang Jie knew that he wasn''t some genius. It was the White Tiger''s essence blood that had changed him, altering his constitution. But the White Tiger could not affect his Jade Gate, but other aspects, like constitution, potential, and the ability to sense and control spiritual energy.


    He was just about to say this when that person who had called out his name flew closer. It was Wei Tianchong.


    After returning from Endsea, Tang Jie spent every morning Fiend Fishing. It had been three months, and over time, everyone had learned toe and find him here.


    Wei Tianchongnded on that boat rock on the summit, but just when he was about to speak, Tang Jie waved his hand. "Don''t talk. Let me guess why you''vee first. If my guess is right, the arguments about my contribution and reward have finally been settled, right?"


    Wei Tianchongughed. "Impressive, impressive. This truly is the case. The sect has finally reached an agreement."


    The battle over the sea and the battle in the hidden realm had resulted in Tang Jie killing two and a half Celestial Heart True Persons of the Beast Refining Gate and more than a hundred disciples, and he had also destroyed a teleportation formation. These were all enormous contributions.


    Contributions had to be rewarded. The problem was how to reward him.


    The radical faction believed that Tang Jie should be richly rewarded and should be nurtured as a future elite of the Basking Moon Sect.


    But some people thought that this was improper. Although many Beast Refining Gate disciples had been killed in this battle, they had ultimately failed to get the treasure in the Beast Garden. The Beast Refining Gate had suffered devastating losses, yes, but the Basking Moon Sect hadn''t gained anything much either. Although the losses of the enemy were their gain, it couldn''t be exaggerated too much. Since the Basking Moon Sect had not gained anything, Tang Jie should simply be rewarded with the contribution points for his kills. There was no need for additional reward.


    Rewards and punishments were meted out fairly. It could be considered unfair not just to fail to give out rewards that should be rewarded, but also to casually give out rewards that shouldn''t be given.


    On this matter, the two sides fiercely argued for some time.


    As this was rted to additional rewards, Tang Jie was very open-minded. Thus, he paid little attention to the matter, nor did he go around trying to win people over to his side. He spent every day on this mountain fishing for fiends for his amusement and honing his body. In the eyes of others, this was taken as him having a good temperament, a powerful determination that was not attached to physical things, and they developed a better opinion of him.


    Three months had passed, and the dust of the quarrels had finally settled into a joint agreement.


    Wei Tianchong hade to deliver the news, though he was surprised to find that Tang Jie had already guessed his purpose.


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "It''s nothing at all. Why don''t we make a bet? If I manage to guess the rewards the sect has given me directly, you will recite the Mind Parting Heart Anchor Art for me once."


    "What?" Wei Tianchong shivered.


    The Mind Parting Heart Anchor Art was his master Yan Changfeng''s mantra, and privately passing it to someone else was a grave crime.


    Tang Jie replied, "Rx; I only want to use it as a reference. I won''t leak its contents, let alone pass it on to anyone. If I lose, I''ll pass on the entirety of the Bright Heart''s mantra to you."


    Wei Tianchong was relieved to hear this.


    Feeling like his chances of victory were pretty good, he finally nodded and said, "Fine; let''s do it. Go on, then!"


    Tang Jie said, "This argument isn''t actually about contribution points, but about the additional rewards. The Sword Holder believes that, in addition to my earned contribution points, I should also be granted the right to enter the Water Moon Paradise, the ability to travel the 19 Peaks freely, the ability to ess Heaven One Pavilion whenever I want, 20 years of exemption from the basic contribution requirement, promotion to chambein of the Secret Hall, and three hundred thousand spirit coins. The Mystic Moon True Lord felt that these rewards were too ample and were not particrly fair¡­"


    Tang Jie paused for a moment and then chuckled. "In truth, I also think these rewards were too much and were not fair."


    The Water Moon Paradise was the paradise of the Basking Moon Sect, where countless Titans of the sect had left their Returned Remnants, one of the ces in the Rosecloud Domain with the highest concentration of spiritual energy. One day cultivating here could be worth as many as one hundred days in the outside world.


    There were also thousand-year spirit fields here, bearing countless rare flowers and nts. It was a strategic area of utmost importance for the Basking Moon Sect.


    To open the Water Moon Paradise to Tang Jie was a show of immense favor.


    As for the ability to freely travel the 19 Peaks, it meant that he could go anywhere in the Basking Moon Sect up to the mountains of the 19 Celestial Chiefs without worrying about the sect''s rules. This allowed for immense freedom of movement, and while it had little practical use, it represented an illustrious status and promising future.


    20 years of exemption from the contribution requirement meant that Tang Jie did not need to pay contribution points for his residence. Of course, he would still have to pay for everything else.


    There was no need to exin the spirit coins, the free ess to Heaven One Pavilion, and the promotion to chambein.


    Such an extravagant reward was only the extra part. Even Tang Jie felt like this was too high, and this was precisely what had caused so much argument in the sect.


    But Tang Jie understood that this wasn''t because all of his achievements were worth that much. Rather, Xiao Biehan was using this chance to make trouble for the conservative faction of the sect.


    As the current power holder, the conservative faction disagreed not out of pettiness, but because the proposal broke the rules and harmed the sect''s reputation for fairness. Thus, it could never agree to this proposal.


    And their opposition would undoubtedly cause a loss for Tang Jie, which had a high chance of making him unhappy and throwing in his lot with the radicals.


    Even if that didn''t happen, the radicals would have shown how much they favored Tang Jie, an expression of their goodwill. For the young generation, the side that they chose could simply be whoever valued them more.


    In terms of rewards, the radicals favored him more than the conservatives. At the very least, they were willing to break the rules for him.


    But s, this trick was of little use on Tang Jie. He had already seen through everything. His value to the radicals truly did y a part in their willingness to break the rules for him, but the more important reason was that they weren''t the party in power.


    It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from tinyurl/37k7u89t.


    Tang Jie naturally wouldn''t say all this to Wei Tianchong, only saying, "In truth, the Mystic Moon True Lord also thought that I made a great contribution on this matter. Considering the importance of the Beast Garden to the Beast Refining Gate, and that it was the source of the grudge between the two sects, I would have to be given an additional reward. Their arguments up until now are actually part of apromising process. The Sword Holder removed some of his excessive rewards, and the Mystic Moon True Lord appropriately gave a little, and so both sides are happy. For many things, all that is needed is a reason for precedent to be broken. So, here is my guess for what the final rewards are:


    "First is the basic portion, which is simple. In this trip to Endsea, I have solid proof of killing 51 people. 18 were at Hundred Refinement, 20 were at Nine Revolutions, 11 were at Cognitive Creation, and 2 were at Celestial Heart. There are 58 for which there is little proof. Hundred Refinements are 10 points, Nine Revolutions are 50 points, Cognitive Creations are 100 points, and Spirit Rings are 1,000 points. If all of the unverified are calcted at 50 points per, then there is a total of 7,130 contribution points. In addition to that, there''s 1,000 points for destroying the teleportation formation and also the points for finding Lin Baicang. In total, the rewardes to 8,630 contribution points.


    "The second portion is the extra rewards. First of all, promotion to chambein is impossible. This has limited benefits to me, and is also an extreme vition of the rules. The best that can be done is adjutant. The same is true for free travel within the 19 Peaks. Lacking the power to match the authority will do more harm than good. It will only draw envious eyes and trouble, so it can be removed."


    "Correct." Wei Tianchong nodded.


    In the quarrels between the two factions, the first two rewards to be removed were these.


    "The free ess to Heaven One Pavilion can also be removed. It''s not that this reward isn''t important, but I''ve already read the Divine Firmament Sword ssic and the Violet Jade Mantra, so this reward isn''t that valuable to me. Even if I want to look at them in the future, I will be able to find a way. Thus, this condition is actually used as a concession."


    Wei Tianchong was dazzled.


    Tang Jie continued, "Now, the 20 years of exemption from contribution. I am currently at the fourth revolution, not far from Cognitive Creation. After I enter Cognitive Creation, I will have to deal with the Three Withering Tribtions, which are very dangerous. So as to preserve talent, this is the only part that will be increased rather than decreased. From what I see, it should be 30 years of exemption so that I don''t have to run aroundpleting missions in order toply with the basic contribution for the next 30 years. Of course, as a price, the 300,000-spirit-coin reward will be cut down to 30,000. In truth, the contribution points are only authority, while spirit coins represent resources. Trading resources for authority is the most appropriate and most intelligent method."


    Wei Tianchong''s jaw had dropped.


    "Finally, the Water Moon Paradise. The Water Moon Paradise is one of this sect''s most important areas, and it has always been a great honor to be allowed to cultivate within. Since I''ve made such a great contribution, allowing me to go inside the Water Moon Paradise isn''t a problem, and this is the part that allows the most room for maneuvering. Allowing me in is one thing, but how long I can stay is another. I''m guessing that the Mystic Moon True Lord has allowed me to enter the Water Moon Paradise, but there''s a time limit."


    Tang Jie raised three fingers. "Only three days! Of course, there''s no way the Sword Holder would have agreed that easily. In the end, they should have opened up a contribution point exchange for me, allowing me to freely trade contribution points for more time in the Water Moon Paradise. As for the price? It will be the standard rate of 300 contribution points per day, but it can only be used once. At the same time, I can choose when I want to go in, any time within the next ten years!"


    Wei Tianchong felt his vision going dark. "You¡­ you guessed everything right!"


    Tang Jie heartilyughed. "Since I guessed right, fulfill your end of the wager."


    With a bitter face, Wei Tianchong recited the Mind Parting Heart Anchor Mantra for Tang Jie. While doing so, he repeatedly emphasized that he couldn''t spread it around, or else Yan Changfeng would have his hide.


    After passing on the mantra, Wei Tianchong suddenly remembered something. "The Mind Parting Heart Anchor Mantra is best forprehension. At profound levels, one can multitask,prehending several mantras at the same time, corroborating them with each other while not disordering the Origin Heart. Other than rich spiritual energy and thousand-year spirit fields, the Water Moon Paradise is also known for having a treasure that contains the cultivation insights of countless predecessors of the Basking Moon Sect. Many disciples who enter the Water Moon Paradise richly benefit just fromprehending the insights of their predecessors. My master was one of the greatest beneficiaries. His Nine Coronal Transformations is a spell art created from the insights of nine predecessors, and he was able to use it to be one of the 19 Celestial Chiefs¡­"


    He looked at Tang Jie and said, "Did you ask for the Mind Parting Heart Anchor Mantra because you already knew that you were going into the Water Moon Paradise?"


    Tang Jie smiled and said nothing.


    Wei Tianchong was enlightened.


    He suddenly looked around. "Yiyi? Where''s that little girl right now?"


    Tang Jie shrugged. "Where else? She''s naturally at the site of the deration. Did you really think I would manage to guess everything purely through intuition?"


    "You yed me!" Wei Tianchong lunged forward in anger, punching at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jieughed and evaded. With his speed, there was no way Wei Tianchong could catch him.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Just as Tang Jie had said, for the mission to Endsea, the Basking Moon Sect had ultimately decided to reward Tang Jie with three days in the Water Moon Paradise, 30 years of exemption from the basic contribution point requirement, 30,000 spirit coins, and around 8,000 contribution points.


    With these, Tang Jie would have a much easier time in the future.


    It couldn''t be forgotten that he had also harvested a lot from the people he had killed.


    Tang Jie had sold them off bit by bit, and even at cheap prices, he had managed to make four-hundred-thousand-some spirit coins. It had to be understood that Tang Jie had fifty-some Mustard Seed Bags alone, and just selling the bagsted him more than two hundred thousand. The rest had sold for only two hundred thousand because he had given some of the stuff that was more difficult to sell to Yun Danqi, and because he had left some for his personal use.


    With this money and his earlier contribution points, Tang Jie could ignore missions for a long time.


    But Tang Jie didn''t do this. On the contrary, he was even more proactive about taking missions.


    This was in preparation for the Water Moon Paradise.


    The most valuable part of his reward had been the Water Moon Paradise.


    This was one of the most important ces in the Basking Moon Sect. It was full of resources, and it had always been reserved for elite disciples and disciples who had made immense contributions to the sect.


    Xiao Biehan hadn''t just gotten Tang Jie three days in the Water Moon Paradise. Far more important was his ability to trade contribution points for additional days.


    In other words, if he had enough contribution points, he could stay in the Water Moon Paradise forever. However, this trade could only be done once. Once he left, he wouldn''t be able to make this trade anymore, unless the Basking Moon Sect allowed him this privilege again.


    Tang Jie didn''t know when he would get this privilege again, so he was using this opportunity to do more missions and stockpile more points.


    The Basking Moon Sect had reserved him a spot for ten years. At any time in these ten years, he could enter the paradise. Thus, he would make good use of these ten years.


    If possible, he hoped to enter at Cognitive Creation. It would be ideal if he could make the charge at Cognitive Creation within the Water Moon Paradise, perhaps even pass through the Three Withering Tribtions.


    Thus, Tang Jie diligently took missions to make contribution points. With his ability to transform, he could freely wander the world without fear of Godhead Pce or the Beast Refining Gate.


    Three years went by in the blink of an eye.


    In these three years, Tang Jiepleted several dozen missions. While these weren''t big missions like the Beast Garden which gave more than eight thousand points in one go, even missions that only gave one hundred points would umte over time into thousands of points.


    Of course, the price for running around every day was that his cultivation time had been cut down by a lot. In these three years, Tang Jie had only managed to cultivate to the fifth revolution from the fourth.


    Those disciples from the same ss that he had once left far behind him had used this opportunity to catch up.


    Tang Jie was in no rush, continuing to busy himself with missions, and in a sh, another seven years went by.


    As he wandered around, he grew more and more familiar with the world. He felt like he was also beginning to integrate with this world more, bing more like someone cultivating Immortality.


    He experienced many things in this time, investigating corruption by other disciples, chasing down traitors, stealing secrets of other sects, and even massacring a small sect that had sold out to the Beast Refining Gate.


    He had been through many battles¡ªcountless minor ones, twelve major ones, and three in which his life had been on the line. In these perilous moments, he had relied on his original body toe to the rescue. There had even been a time where he had fallen into someone''s trap and almost lost his life for it.


    It was only then that he understood how vast the world was and how powerful its adversaries were. Even among wandering cultivators, there were many crouching tigers and hidden dragons, equal to him in both strength and mind.


    And because he alwayspleted the sect missions with outstanding performance, his reputation in the Basking Moon Sect grew. Many people now called him Great Brother when they met him.


    Nearly ten years had gone by, and Tang Jie had gone from the fourth revolution to the eighth. His advancement was much slower than before, but he had umted more and more contribution points, his stockpile breaching thirty thousand.


    He had enough points now, but his cultivation level wascking. There was still one revolution to reach the ninth. Even if he put all his focus into cultivation, he would still need one or two years to do this.


    But Tang Jie wasn''t anxious. This was because he had just gone through another trial of Southern Divine Fire with his original body, obtaining a thousand-year Whitefiend Lotus.


    Tang Jie traded this item to the Seven Absolutions Sect and managed toplete Nine Revolutions in three months.


    At this time, there was only one month until his permission to enter the Water Moon Paradise ran out.

 Chapter 460: The Water Moon Paradise

    Chapter 460: The Water Moon Paradise


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Starsnatch Peak!


    As the number one principal peak of the Zephyr Mountains, it stood at 6,800 meters tall.


    There was a pagoda atop this mountain called Starsnatch Pagoda, and it was 1,200 meters tall.


    The legendary Water Moon Paradise of the Basking Moon Sect was within this pagoda.


    It was said that Starsnatch Peak was originally 7,600 meters tall.


    1,800 hundred years ago, in order to build upon this mountain, a Titan of the Basking Moon Sect cut off the top eight hundred meters of the mountain and moved it into Starsnatch Pagoda. At that point, Starsnatch Pagoda became the Water Moon Paradise. It was a grandiose move of great ambition and daring, and the paradise was many timesrger than the Wandering Pce''s Langya Blessed Land.


    The Starsnatch Pagoda was a Dao armament, and there was no limit to its internal dimensions. It was its own little world, so let alone an 800-meter-tall mountain, it could hold far more with little problem.


    There was another hall at the base of Starsnatch Pagoda: the Hall of Divine Conference.


    As the principal hall of the Basking Moon Sect, it was where discussion on all of the Basking Moon Sect''s internal matters took ce.


    On major asions, all the disciples of the sect would be assembled, the ceremonies held, and speeches made within this hall and therge square in front of it.


    The hall came with its own surroundingplex, with a vast number of buildings made from a variety of precious materials, resplendent to the extreme.


    The four Violet Pce True Lords of the Basking Moon Sect resided within the Hall of Divine Conference.


    Of course, there were five now.


    In other words, the Water Moon Paradise was actually being protected by all five True Lords of the Basking Moon Sect. Such was its importance!


    On this day, a young man arrived on Starsnatch Peak.


    Tang Jie!


    Standing before the Hall of Divine Conference, he pushed open the giant doors. Within was a vast sky of stars.


    To stand in this hall was to feel like one was suspended in space. All around were twinkling stars, and in the distance was a silver crescent moon. No matter how the stars shifted, that silver moon would forever remain suspended in the sky, radiating its gentle and elegant light.


    Tang Jie prostrated to the silver moon.


    A booming voice resounded through the hall. "Tang Jie!"


    "This disciple is here!" Tang Jie respectfully said.


    A ball of light shot into the air, hanging above the silver moon like a small sun.


    If one looked carefully, one would find that this was a person, seated cross-legged in the air. The radiance he exuded was so powerful that it obscured his form. This light was clearly spiritual energy, which was being released in a special form,pletely enclosing his body and allowing him to float in the air. Tang Jie''s heart trembled at this sight, and he lowered his head even more.


    "This one is the Mystic Moon True Lord. In reward for your contribution in Endsea, you have been granted the right to enter the Water Moon Paradise. Are you prepared?"


    "Yes, this disciple is prepared," Tang Jie replied.


    The light weakened, and Tang Jie was finally able to see a little of the Mystic Moon True Lord''s face. This was a man who was white all over, his age difficult to discern. If he just sat there, one would take him for a statue.


    The Mystic Moon True Lord said nothing. His eyes lightly swept over Tang Jie, causing Tang Jie to shiver.


    He knew that the Mystic Moon True Lord had given his body a thorough inspection with this single nce, even checking the contents of his Mustard Seed Bag for any banned items.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie had made sure to not bring in any banned items. Things like the Soul Refining Pearl had been left in his cave estate for Yiyi to look after.


    After his inspection, the Mystic Moon True Lord had a strange expression on his face. It seemed like he found some of the things Tang Jie had on him to be quite odd.


    But though he found it odd, he ultimately gave a nod of approval.


    He formed a sign with a hand and pointed a finger at Tang Jie. A light shot from the finger into the center of Tang Jie''s forehead.


    Tang Jie felt heat on his forehead as a silver moon mark appeared on it.


    The Mystic Moon True Lord said, "This is the mark that allows you into the pagoda. With this mark, you may move freely within the pagoda."


    He waved his sleeve. "Go."


    A power wrapped around Tang Jie and took him toward the back of the hall.


    As he flew along, countless doors thundered open.


    As the final door opened, Tang Jie flew out of the Hall of Divine Conference. Before him was a high pagoda wreathed in clouds, Starsnatch Pagoda.


    The power carried him forward. It seemed like a short distance, but it took him quite a while to actually reach the pagoda. Tang Jie knew that this was probably due to some sort of mechanism installed on Starsnatch Peak, and that if there were no True Lord to send him, he could probably walk for the rest of his life and never reach the pagoda.


    When he arrived in front of the pagoda, the power finally disappeared, and Tang Jie dropped from the air.


    The Mystic Moon True Lord''s voice resounded, "Starting from now, you may enter on your own. After you enter the pagoda, remember to obey the rules!"


    "This disciple does not dare to forget the rules!"


    The Mystic Moon True Lord said no more, and Tang Jie strode forward.


    In front of him was a gate cast from bronze. Carved into the gate was a strange monkey beast with three eyes, one that he could not identify.


    Tang Jie was about to push open the door when that strange beast began to move. It smiled at him and said, "Oh, another kid wanting toe into my belly? Let me think¡­ Other than those people whoe in to manage the fields, how long has it been since another outsider hase in? One year¡­ two years¡­ oh, no, no, it should be three years. It''s been three years since anyone else hase. What''s up with the Basking Moon Sect recently? Are people just less and less talented these days? Or are the bigshots of the sect getting more and more petty?"


    Tang Jie looked at the beast carving and said, "Might I ask who Sir is?"


    The three-eyed monkeyughed. "Me? Didn''t I say that you were going toe into my belly? Idiot, dummy!"


    "You''re the Starsnatch Pagoda?"


    The monkey beast put a hand on its hip and nodded. "Yes, yes, I''m the soul of this Dao armament, the venerable Starsnatch Monkey. All of Starsnatch Pagoda is under my control. If you dare to break the rules, I''m allowed to deal with you. Of course, if you''re willing to bribe me, perhaps I can pretend to not see."


    The Starsnatch Monkey chuckled.


    "Is that so? But I don''t have any bananas, so maybe next time," Tang Jie said before proceeding to ignore it and go inside.


    The monkey saw this and froze in shock. It then exploded in anger, "Bastard! Bastard! Daring to ignore this venerable monkey!? ''Bananas''!? He wants to use bananas to soothe me? Ming Yekong, did you hear that!?"


    There was a soft chuckle, and then a sh of light in front of the Starsnatch Pagoda. Just like the Mystic Moon True Lord, it was a sun-like ball of light, inside which sat Ming Yekong.


    His long hair reached his shoulders, and his eyes were closed in meditation.


    After he manifested, he slightly raised his head and looked at the Starsnatch Monkey. "Senior, I already told you that this trick of yours couldn''t fool him, so what about it? He didn''t even need to ask you anything to see through you. A guardian beast so easily bribable, even asking for bribes¡­ haha, if that were the case, the six major sects wouldn''t be the six major sects."


    Although the Starsnatch Pagoda had only been converted into the Water Moon Paradise two thousand years ago, it had a history of five thousand years. Even True Lord Ming Yekong addressed it as a senior.


    "Tsk!" The monkey on the bronze gate folded its arms, appearing unconvinced. It also knew that a disciple who could be allowed into the Water Moon Paradise could not be so easily deceived. In truth, the number of disciples it had managed to fool in thest two thousand years could be counted on one hand. But there were few like Tang Jie, who didn''t even ask a question about how one could bribe the monkey.


    "Then, what does Senior think of this child?"


    The Starsnatch Monkey looked around before saying, "He''s a talent that can be worked with. So long as he doesn''t break the rules, I''ll help him if I can."


    "Many thanks, Senior." Ming Yekong bowed to the monkey before disappearing.


    Once Ming Yekong was gone, the Starsnatch Monkey''s expression darkened. "Is any person who can enter this Water Moon Paradise not a seedling that someone has ced high hopes on? Numerous people have asked me to serve as a guide in thesest two thousand years, but how many people were ultimately able to reach that summit? This child has thirty thousand contribution points, so he can only stay for around one hundred days. Trying to reach the apex in just one hundred days is basically impossible! Hmph, this monkey will save his energy and just sit back and watch the show."


    It closed its eyes and became motionless once more, not taking Ming Yekong''s request seriously at all.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Upon entering the pagoda, Tang Jie found himself in the middle of a field, wild flowers blooming around him.


    The spiritual energy was extremely thick. With each breath, a drop of spiritual liquid would condense in his body. The energy concentration was much thicker than that of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation.


    This was understandable. The Martial Lord''s Returned Remnants were those of a singr man, and they had been spread out over such arge dimension.


    As the ce where countless Titans of the Basking Moon Sect had left their Returned Remnants, the Water Moon Paradise was naturally different.


    If possible, Tang Jie wanted to sit down right now and start cultivating. Simply breathing in the spiritual energy of this ce would multiply his cultivation speed.


    But if this were all he wanted, Tang Jie wouldn''t have needed to spend ten years umting contribution points.


    Even if the spiritual energy here was ten times as concentrated as in the outside world, one hundred days was still the equivalent of only three years.


    And he had wasted ten years, not three.


    Far in the distance was a mountain.


    Tang Jie knew that this peak was exactly 888 meters tall, the part of the mountain that had been chopped off of Starsnatch Peak.


    At the peak of the mountain was a pond called the Moonlight Pond. It was said that the founding ancestor of the sect, the Water Moon Celestial Sovereign, entered the Dao and ascended here, leaving behind a rich legacy. Anyone who could summit the mountain could enjoy a great blessing.


    s, there was a formation around the summit that prevented people from flying. Even when walking up, one would feel an immense pressure.


    The Basking Moon Sect had produced countless elite disciples over the centuries, but only a few were ever able to reach the summit. Even Celestial Heart and Violet Pce cultivators were no exception. The stronger one was, the greater the pressure. A higher cultivation level brought no advantage. All that one could rely on was one''s own will.


    Besides that, the Basking Moon Sect''s thousand-year fields circled the mountain.


    The disciples of the Agriculture Hall worked the fields on this 888-meter-tall mountain. These fields were divided up by year and harvested and nted as such. The higher up the field, the older the nts were and the greater their rarity.


    These disciples wore special protective gear that allowed them to freely travel up and down the mountain without being affected by the formation''s pressure. But with the Starsnatch Monkey watching, while they worked with these nts all year, they had no chance at getting any one of them. The asional individuals that took the risk had all had messy ends.


    ording to the rules of the Basking Moon Sect, for every one hundred meters one ascended, one could freely choose a spirit nt from a field of that level.


    At six hundred meters, this selection could be made every fifty meters.


    At 750 meters, this selection could be made every 10 meters.


    Besides that, there was also the blessing left by the predecessors.


    Far too many seniors had left their Returned Remnants here, and far too many seniors had left behind their experiences and insights at varying elevations.


    This precious experience could only be seen and studied by those disciples who climbed up through their own effort.


    For this reason, every disciple that entered the paradise would choose to attempt the summit¡ªfor more valuable resources, for more precious experience, and for the more concentrated spiritual energy at the summit.


    As Tang Jie gazed at the summit, a fire zed in his eyes.


    He howled, and then he began to walk toward the summit. His pace was deceptively fast, and it wasn''t long before he had reached the base of the mountain.


    Stone stairs had been carved into the mountain, circling the mountainside up to the summit.


    Numerous terrace fields lined the stairs, and Agriculture Hall disciples in their special uniforms were taking care of the nts.


    Someone spotted Tang Jie and shouted, "Look! Someone''sing up the mountain!"


    Numerous Agriculture Hall disciples looked over, and only now did Tang Jie realize that there were quite a few disciples tending to the spirit fields. The lower one hundred meters of spirit fields had more than a hundred disciples tending to them.


    These people looked at Tang Jie with envious gazes.


    While they spent all day in this Water Moon Paradise, while they were wearing these formation clothes, they found it hard to even take in a breath of this ce''s spiritual energy. They were in thisnd of treasure, but they couldn''t take away even a whiff of the treasure within it. All they could do was watch as those outstanding disciples came over the years, freely breathing in this ce''s spiritual energy and taking away those precious spirit nts.


    "It''s Tang Jie," an Agriculture Hall disciple sternly said.


    The matter of Tang Jie being granted the right to enter the Water Moon Paradise ten years ago had sent the entire sect into turmoil for a while, and there were naturally quite a few Agriculture Hall disciples who knew about it.


    "So it was that lucky guy," another disciple gruffly said.


    "''Lucky''?" A disciple holding a three-section staff scoffed, "If you can kill more than one hundred Beast Refining Gate disciples and two Celestial Heart True Persons in one go, then you can also be this lucky. But I''m afraid that not only would you fail to take their heads, you might end up as their contribution points instead!"


    The disciple who had spoken earlier immediately shut up.


    At this time, Tang Jie began to climb up the stairs. Suddenly, he realized something and turned to bow at the Agriculture Hall disciples on both sides. He shouted, "Tang Jie pays respects to the senior brothers of the Agriculture Hall. It is thanks to my senior brothers nurturing these fields for a thousand years that my Basking Moon Sect can have this paradise and that Tang Jie today has the chance to enter this treasurednd! I bow in gratitude!"


    He spoke with a sincerity that came from his heart.


    Nobody had expected Tang Jie to be so polite, and they were momentarily caught off guard.


    In all these years they had been tending to the spirit fields, they had seen many disciplese to this ce.


    There were those who were polite, and there were those who considered a nod to be enough to show respect. There were also disagreeable bastards who would even jeer at them for being ipetent. While swaggering their way up the mountain, they spoke all kinds of humiliating words.


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    It was the first time in years that they had seen someone as polite as Tang Jie, bowing to them in thanks before even starting their climb.


    The Agriculture Hall disciples looked at each other, and in the end, a senior brother who appeared to be an adjutant stepped forward and said, "Junior Brother Tang is being too polite. Junior Brother has been part of the sect for less than ten years and has already entered the Water Moon Paradise. You are bound to be a future elite of the Basking Moon Sect, and we can only look up at you in admiration. This Zhao Hui wishes Junior Brother Tang a smooth climb to the summit!"


    The other Agriculture Hall disciples also bowed to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie bowed back. "Everyone, my thanks!"


    He turned and took his first step up the summit.


    As he made this step, he immediately felt his body turn heavier and almost tripped.


    Gravity had increased!


    Tang Jie realized something and looked down at his feet.


    The difference of a single step had created an entirely different sensation. When Tang Jie stood on the first step, he could sense something pulling him down such that he couldn''t raise his foot.


    Fortunately, this power wasn''t too strong. He had just momentarily been caught off guard. As he took another step, sure enough, the weight increased again.


    Tang Jie finally understood why it wasn''t possible to fly here.


    It was clear that this force came from thend beneath the mountain.


    In truth, this wasn''t gravity, but some sort of pulling power.


    The farther one was from the ground, the stronger the pull from the earth. At a certain height, one probably wouldn''t even be able to take a single step.


    Sure enough, that Agriculture Hall disciple, Zhao Hui, said, "Junior Brother Tang, thisnd is controlled by the great formation. The farther you ascend, the harder it will be to move. But this power only works when going up. Thus, you can simply stay on that step. Please do not push yourself. That will only make the power continue to work on you and drain your strength."


    Zhao Hui''s words immediately made Tang Jie understand the purpose of this arrangement.


    Clearly, the pull only came into effect when going up so that disciples would have a chance to rest and achieve breakthroughs.


    If this were a pressure that worked even when going down, then those climbing the mountain would be under heavy weight for a long time, which meant that they would have no time to rest.


    In ordinary circumstances, it was fine to not be able to rest, but in trials that tested one''s limits, to not rest meant death.


    Reaching one''s limits couldn''t be maintained forever. If it could be maintained forever, one clearly hadn''t reached their limits.


    "I see. The sect truly is farsighted. Senior Brother, my thanks for the advice." Tang Jie smiled.


    These Agriculture Hall disciples had no hope of climbing up the mountain, but over the years, they had seen many things. Zhao Hui''s words had answered his many questions. He could now save a lot of strength, which meant saving a lot of time.


    Just as Zhao Hui said, there was no need to force himself to climb to the summit in one go. It was better to rest after each step.


    These first one hundred meters of steps were the easiest to climb. Thus, it wasn''t long before Tang Jie had climbed fifty meters.


    At fifty meters, there was a bend. Next to the bend was a stone stele marking the elevation and a stone bench to rest on.


    Tang Jie sat on the bench to rest. He saw Zhao Hui walking around with that three-section staff and asked, "Senior Brother Zhao, what are you carrying around a weapon for?"


    Zhao Hui replied, "To stop those damned fiends froming over and causing trouble, of course."


    "''Fiends''?" Tang Jie was taken aback. "There are fiends in the Water Moon Paradise?"

 Chapter 461: Climbing the Mountain

    Chapter 461: Climbing the Mountain


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Zhao Huiughed. "It naturally has fiends. If there were no fiends, how would we get these spirit fields?"


    Tang Jie now remembered that spirit nts needed nutrients. The Nine Executions Immortal Formation had that ancient battlefield as its foundation. The numerous spirits and ghosts it nurtured were for creating a cycle. The Water Moon Paradise naturally couldn''t be free of this requirement.


    But ignorant fiends wouldn''t obey orders. It was inevitable that they would run over to cause trouble, at which point the Agriculture Hall disciples would need to drive them away.


    In truth, it wasn''t like there was no way to deal with the fiends. However, it wasn''t good to have disciples spending a long time in the paradise with nothing to do. The Agriculture Hall disciples were also disciples, and they needed to be honed in battle. Thus, the fiends were kept around so that the Agriculture Hall disciples could hone themselves and also earn a little extra ie.


    Zhao Hui said, "Most of the fiends on this mountain are meant to live alongside the spirit nts, so they''re mostly naughty things who can''t do much harm. If Junior Brother encounters any of them, please be merciful and don''t kill them all. But there is one fiend that Junior Brother can kill without any problem."


    "Please tell me what it is."


    Zhao Hui told him of a fiend called the Reaping Wind Snake.


    This was a kind of fiend that liked to gather in groups. They were fast as lightning, ate spirit nts, and would attack people. They had cruel natures, and the Agriculture Hall had even lost disciples to them. Rather than being something brought in by the Basking Moon Sect, they were fiends born from this unique environment that couldn''t be found outside. As they were born from the spiritual energy of the paradise, they were impossible topletely kill off. Not even a Violet Pce Titan could do it. As time passed, it was eventually decided to leave them to the Agriculture Hall to deal with, to serve as their daily homework.


    The disciples who entered the Water Moon Paradise to summit the mountain also couldn''t avoid this trial.


    "I see. Might I ask how one deals with these fiends?" Tang Jie asked. The Agriculture Hall disciples had fought against the Reaping Wind Snakes for a long time, so they were probably more familiar with the ways to deal with them.


    Zhao Hui replied, "These fiends primarily rely on their speed, numbers, and small bodies. They gather in groups as thick as the fog, and when they attack, they''ll drill into the body and start eating you from the inside out, wicked things. On the 200-meter level, there is a spirit nt called the Fragrant Store Grass. It can reduce the Reaping Wind Snakes'' interest in your flesh. While you''ll still be attacked, it won''t be as intense. If you get to 200 meters, you have to get a stalk of Fragrant Store Grass. But this fiend is primarily found in the higher altitudes. If Junior Brother is not confident in reaching 500 meters or higher, it would be best to not take it."


    "Thank you for the advice." Tang Jie opened his Mustard Seed Bag and took out a bottle of medicine. He threw it toward Zhao Hui and said, "A small gift. There''s no need to take it seriously."


    Zhao Hui looked at the bottle and shuddered. "Nine Revolutions Water Cloud Pills!"


    This was one of the Seven Absolutions Sect''s special Nine Revolutions pills. It targeted the kidney, and Tang Jie had gotten it by trading the Whitefiend Lotus.


    Afterpleting Nine Revolutions, he had not used up all his medicines. He had one bottle of Nine Revolutions Water Cloud Pills left, but he had no use for it.


    Zhao Hui cultivated the Kidney Meridian, and he was in the middle of Nine Revolutions. The Water Cloud Pill would be an enormous boon to him, which was why Zhao Hui was so excited.


    These pills were far too important for him.


    He didn''t know how Tang Jie had been able to tell what mantra he cultivated, but he gratefully bowed and said, "Junior Brother, thank you!"


    "You''re wee." Tang Jie then took out a stack of talismans and tossed them into the air. They flew through the air andnded in the hands of the Agriculture Hall disciples. Everyone looked and saw that they were Minor Raincloth Talismans.


    A Minor Raincloth Talisman could be used to move clouds to water the soil. As Agriculture Hall disciples nted and tended to nts year-round, most of them could cast the Minor Raincloth spell. The costs would be too extravagant otherwise.


    The value of these talismans was much less than the Nine Revolutions Water Cloud Pills. At most, it could save everyone a little energy and end their work a little earlier. But it showed consideration for everyone, raising their opinion of Tang Jie, and all of them expressed their thanks.


    Tang Jie continued to rest.


    After all this, he trusted that the Agriculture Hall disciples had no objections about him, and that they would be happy to tell him about any new developments or things to look out for.


    After resting for a while, Tang Jie continued up the mountain.


    The moment he took his first step past the 50-meter elevation stele, Tang Jie felt his body grow heavier. The power exerted was at least double that of before.


    As expected, 50 meters was a threshold. The farther he went, the more difficult things would be.


    Everyone said that the first 100 meters were easy, but at Tang Jie''s current strength, the second 50 meters was already very draining.


    For the first 50 meters, Tang Jie had needed to rest every ten steps, but in the second 50 meters, Tang Jie had to sit down and rest for a while after every five steps.


    On thest 20 meters, Tang Jie essentially used up all his strength after two to three steps.


    This made his climb up the mountain particrly difficult. It was only when the lights in the sky of the Water Moon Paradise began to dim, signifying that night wasing, that Tang Jie managed to reach the second elevation stele. By this time, he was panting for breath, his body utterly drained of strength.


    As he sat in front of the stele and greedily drank in the air, Zhao Hui and the other Agriculture Hall disciples gathered around him and pped. "Junior Brother, congrattions! That you were able to reach 100 meters on the first day means that there is bound to be a seat for Junior Brother on the Terrace of Heroes at 500 meters."


    The Terrace of Heroes was a stone tform 500 meters up the mountain. The disciples able to reach this ce would often leave behind their name, cultivation realm, and the time they took to get there.


    It also often served as the dividing line between the elites and the mediocre. Only people who carved their names at 500 meters were acknowledged as elites.


    It was said that Ming Yekong, Yan Changfeng, and Feng Hongluan¡ªpirs of the Basking Moon Sect¡ªhad all reached the 500-meter Terrace of Heroes.


    There were also minor benchmarks, like getting to 100 meters on the first day. These were not recorded and used only for reference. It was for this reason that Zhao Hui and the others didn''t think that it was a problem for Tang Jie to reach the Terrace of Heroes.


    Tang Jie smiled and shook his head. "100 meters was already this difficult. I can''t even tell how difficult the rest will be. Right, now that I''ve reached 100 meters, ording to the rules, I can pick a spirit nt, right?"


    "Naturally," Zhao Hui replied. "Junior Brother Tang only has to tell us what you need and I will select the finest spirit nt for you."


    The thousand-year fields of the Water Moon Paradise were all tended to by the Agriculture Hall disciples, and these spirit nts were divided ording to quality. Tang Jie had been generous with his rewards and polite with his words, so the Agriculture Hall disciples would naturally choose the best for him.


    Tang Jie thought it over and said, "Then I''ll take the South Prosper Seed."


    Zhao Hui smiled. "The South Prosper Seed soothes the mind andposes the soul, but it doesn''t restore blood energy. It is good for charging at a cultivation realm but not good for the immediate situation. It seems that Junior Brother seeks this nt to achieve great things. Please wait a moment. I will personally go and pick one for you."


    Zhao Hui left, returning a little whileter with a yam-like nt, freshly pulled from the soil. This was the South Prosper Seed Tang Jie needed.


    It seemed ordinary, but this was because all of its essence was concentrated inside it. Thus, evaluating its quality was very simple: the bigger, the better.


    A normal South Prosper Seed was the size of a date seed, hence the name, but the one in Zhao Hui''s hand was the size of a potato, indicating that it was extraordinary.


    Zhao Hui said, "An 1800-year South Prosper Seed with no blemishes. Junior Brother, congrattions."


    An Agriculture Hall disciple shouted, "Several years ago, there was a kid who entered the Water Moon Paradise who was so stuck-up that his nose was almost touching the sky. He took a day and a half to reach 100 meters, and he also asked for a South Prosper Seed, even saying that it had to be at least 1800 years old and that he wouldn''t spare us if it was any less."


    Another person continued, "And then we found him one that was even bigger than this."


    "But it had been eaten up by bugs."


    "It was empty inside!"


    "That kid was so angry he turned green in the face."


    "In the end, he went scurrying off before he could even reach 300 meters."


    "Hahahaha!"


    The disciples bounced their words off each other, all of themughing.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but shake his head and bitterly smile. Taking the South Prosper Seed, he repeatedly voiced his thanks.


    The Agriculture Hall''s people were now off from work, so they couldn''t stay for long. One by one, they bid farewell to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie ended up being the only person left in the Water Moon Paradise.


    Looking at that lonely mountain and the empty fields, Tang Jie couldn''t help but sigh.


    He did not continue to climb upward. He sat down and began to meditate and recuperate.


    The daytime was the time to boldly ascend.


    Night was time for cultivation.


    This mountain grew more difficult to climb the farther one went. If he relied only on his own efforts, he could spend one hundred years and still not reach the summit.


    The people who could truly reach the top of the mountain, other than those of mighty will and sturdy constitution, were those who improved themselves during their ascent.


    The formation set down in the Water Moon Paradise would adjust its power ording to the strength of each person that entered. Whether one was at Violet Pce or at Mortal Shedding, they would all face the same difficulties at the beginning. The stronger one was, the greater the power one would encounter. The only thing that differed was the adjustments made for one''s will and physical strength.


    But regardless of the arrangements made, there was one thing for certain: the obstructive force set down by the formation was extremely powerful, so powerful that it was basically impossible to reach 500 meters.


    This was where the 500-meter Terrace of Heroes came from.


    The only way of breaking this limit was to increase one''s strength.


    This was because, once the formation decided how much power to use, it would not change again until the challenger left.


    In this period, improving oneself became key to reaching the summit.


    This was the main objective of the Water Moon Paradise.


    The challenge was originally impossible to ovee, so one had to challenge one''s limits and ovee oneself.


    This was exactly why the spirit nts chosen every one hundred meters were extremely important to the challenger, for this was the sole resource they had for strengthening themselves.


    Tang Jie had wanted to enter the Water Moon Paradise before Cognitive Creation precisely for this purpose.


    If he could achieve Cognitive Creation within the Water Moon Paradise, it would not only be hugely beneficial to him, it would also be able to assist him greatly in his climb up Water Moon Peak.


    Tang Jie settled into meditation, focusing his mind as he made his first official attempt at Cognitive Creation.


    Cognitive Creation meant opening the Sea of Cognition.


    The Sea of Cognition was the mind space.


    Everyone had a mind space, but it did not have a physical existence.


    To be more precise, before Cognitive Creation, everyone could think, so one could say that they all had a Sea of Cognition, but this existence was purely on the mental level. It was not a physical, observable existence.


    Only when one entered Cognitive Creation and opened the Sea of Cognition would the sea be a real sea, visible to the eyes.


    The three tiers of Mortal Shedding¡ªHundred Refinement, Nine Revolutions, and Cognitive Creation¡ªrepresented respectively the body, heart, and will. The body shed its mortality, the organs became infused with spirit, and the will was given substance.


    From this division, one could see that this was a process that started on the outside and worked inward, that went from real to illusory, and then from illusory to real.


    The body shedding mortality was the easiest part. After Hundred Refinement, the mortal body would be a spiritual one.


    The spiritual infusion of the internal organs came second. It was called a spiritual infusion because the Nine Revolutions Period did not spiritualize the organs, only infused them with spiritual energy. This was why Nine Revolutions cultivators could heal from injuries to their internal organs but couldn''t regrow them if they were annihted. They had yet to be spirit organs in the true sense.


    And things were even more different at Cognitive Creation.


    Even sessfully opening the Sea of Cognition could not be considered a spiritual infusion. This was something that only happened when moving from Celestial Heart to Violet Pce.


    Even so, Cognitive Creation was several times more difficult than Nine Revolutions. This was a minor checkpoint that carried a risk of failure.


    The risk of failure wasn''t just failure at achieving a breakthrough, but also bacsh from the failure, which carried an entirely different meaning. Although there was little chance of death from failing Cognitive Creation, one failure would deal significant damage to the soul.


    If the soul were damaged too severely, one''s potential would be exhausted, one''s path forward severed.


    This was why it was said that the Immortal path was rife with challenge. It was no mere joke. Everyone knew that they couldn''t let their path get narrower and narrower, but nobody could control their own path. For instance, right now, even Tang Jie wasn''t sure that he would seed at Cognitive Creation.


    And if he failed, his future path was bound to get narrower.


    Tang Jie sat cross-legged on the ground, his hands on his knees as his will sank toward the Celestial Pass in the sea of his mind.


    The Celestial Pass was the point of creation for the Sea of Cognition.


    This ce was like an empty void, with nothing to be seen but gloom.


    For the ordinary person attempting Cognitive Creation, what needed to be done was actually very simple. They just needed to gather their will together and use it to control spiritual energy and open up a space that could fit their will. This would be the Sea of Cognition. When this step wasplete, the will would no longer be a simple will, but something given form by spiritual energy, the Spirit Will.


    In this process, a cultivator needed to be careful, for the creation of the Sea of Cognition was done by directly linking to the soul. Carelessness would lead to a bacsh.


    Even though the chance of this kind of bacsh wasn''t high once one familiarized oneself with the process, there were many examples of failed Cognitive Creation every year, with some people even being rendered idiots by the bacsh.


    Putting aside the extreme examples, the thought of the damage to the soul possibly leading to a narrowed path and diminished potential still exerted an enormous pressure on Tang Jie.


    He knew every word of the breakthrough mantra and could recite it back to front. All of the preparation work had been done long ago, but now that he was about to start, Tang Jie started to worry about the losses, and found it difficult to gather his resolve.


    What if I fail?


    What if I fail?


    What if I fail?


    The voice echoed in his mind like a Heart Demon, throwing his mind into turmoil.


    The mantra for gathering the will was stopped at the final moment as he hesitated about taking that final step.Finally, after a long while, Tang Jie sighed and loosened his hands.


    He gave up on the charge.


    He was no longer in the right mental state for charging at Cognitive Creation. If he forced it, his chance of failure wouldn''t be 20%, but 100%.


    At this moment, Tang Jie finally understood what those peak Celestial Heart cultivators felt when facing the Violet Pce Realm.


    Many of them had reached the point where they could make that charge, but they tarried at that realm. This wasn''t because theycked the ability, but because they were afraid.


    The moment one became afraid, failure became inevitable.


    This was exactly why people as powerful as Feng Hongluan and Yan Changfeng still didn''t dare to make the charge at Violet Pce.


    Inparison, Ming Yekong''s daring and resolve to charge at Violet Pce seemed all the more valuable.


    It was no wonder that, despite all the heroes of the world, there were so few Violet Pce True Lords. After all, most people were afraid of death.


    But he had had countless close shaves with death and could no longer be considered someone afraid of death.


    If he wasn''t even afraid of death, why did he fear such minor setbacks and failures?


    Tang Jie was unable to find the answer, so he began to ponder the question.


    After a while, he suddenly threw his head back andughed. "I see! What I fear isn''t death, but ack of hope!"


    For Tang Jie, death was not something to be afraid of. Ever since he swore an oath to destroy Godhead Pce, he knew that only one of them woulde out of this alive. This was exactly why he had thought of every method possible to deal with Godhead Pce, even risking exposing himself once more.


    But to live without hope was even worse than death for him.


    Damage to the soul would cause his potential to fall and his path to narrow. For others, this was only a small loss, but for him, it was something that could sever any hope he had.


    This was particrly true right now, with his two bodies and one soul. He had two lives to use, but he still had only one soul.


    For him, the original body and the avatar were like his right and left hands. There was no difference between them.


    This was why he feared injury to the soul more than injury to the body.


    "Since ack of hope is something I fear even more than death, I understand how to proceed." Tang Jie''s eyes shed.


    He gazed up at the summit of Water Moon Peak, a smile in his eyes.


    He stopped cultivating and continued to make his way up the mountain.


    He had a new solution.

 Chapter 462: The Immortal Path Is Difficult to Walk

    Chapter 462: The Immortal Path Is Difficult to Walk


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    In the early morning, when Zhao Hui and the others entered the Water Moon Paradise, they realized to their shock that Tang Jie was seated at the terrace at 150 meters.


    His body was still stained with sweat, signaling that he had gotten there not too long ago.


    "Brother Tang, you¡­" Zhao Hui pointed at Tang Jie and stammered.


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "Within the paradise, I was unable to get any sleep from the joy I was feeling, so I decided to throw my courage and remaining strength into the climb toward the summit."


    Find the original at bit.ly/3Tfs4P4.


    Although he spoke about excess joy, his face was solemn and devoid of happiness.


    Zhao Hui saw his state and knew that Tang Jie was thinking of something else. As it wasn''t right to talk about it, he simply brought his hands together and bowed. "The seniors in the sect designed the climb up the mountain in such a way as to emphasize testing one''s limits and improving oneself. Thus, one must strike a bnce between work and rest, or one willck the strength to continue. Junior Brother, if you have enough time, you should not try to rush things."


    "Senior Brother, thank you for the advice. Tang Jie will keep it in mind."


    After exchanging pleasantries, Zhao Hui and the other Agriculture Hall disciples left to tend to the spirit fields.


    The terrace fields in the faint light presented quite a picturesque view.


    Starting from today, Tang Jie began his painful contest with the mountain.


    As he got higher and higher, the power obstructing his ascent grew stronger and stronger.


    From 150 meters to 200 meters, Tang Jie sensed that he was clearly straining himself. Almost every step used basically all the power he had, and he would have to sit and rest for a while before continuing.


    Once his feet touched the ground, all of the downward force would be stopped by the ground, but when his feet were in the air, it felt like ten-thousand-ton weights were tied to them.


    For this reason, even raising his feet was an arduous task on this mountain. Walking on these stone steps felt like his feet were welded to the ground. Only getting to the next terrace could get him away from this terrifying power.


    It took Tang Jie a day and a night to get 50 meters, three-hundred-some steps.


    When Zhao Hui came again the next day and saw Tang Jie standing on the 200-meter terrace, he was stunned.


    Even among elite disciples, it was very rare to get here within two days.


    But Zhao Hui still advised, "Junior Brother Tang, that you could get this far shows that you have a tenacious will, but ascending the mountain is not wholly dependent on one''s willpower, but also on using the environment to improve oneself. Junior Brother Tang, you must not lose yourself in climbing the mountain and forget about the root, your goal in entering the Water Moon Paradise."


    Tang Jie simply smiled and nodded.


    Zhao Hui said, "Since you have already reached 200 meters, I will go and get you some Fragrant Store Grass."


    But to his surprise, Tang Jie shook his head. "No. Senior Brother, I don''t want Fragrant Store Grass. I want Ginseng Essence."


    "What?" Zhao Hui was stunned. "Ginseng Essence is a life-saving nt. What do you need that for¡­ Could it be¡­"


    Zhao Hui paled.


    He suddenly thought of something. While the power of Water Moon Peak primarily worked on the feet, as one climbed higher and higher, this power would eventually creep upward to affect the entire body, bringing the entire person down. At that time, with the heavy weight continuing to linger, the mountain climber would find it increasingly difficult to recover their strength.


    The only means of resisting this power was to strengthen oneself.


    If one didn''t improve oneself, then as one climbed higher and the weight increased, it could even begin to threaten one''s life.


    For Tang Jie to give up on the Fragrant Store Grass and ask for Ginseng Essence made his intent clear.


    He was gambling with his life to climb!


    Zhao Hui looked at Tang Jie in disbelief, mumbling, "Ha, this is only climbing a mountain. Do you really need to risk your life?"


    "A day of great scarcity is a moment for great restoration. Senior Brother, I presume you have heard of Tempered Will," Tang Jie indifferently said.


    Hearing this, Zhao Hui realized, "So Junior Brother Tang wants to enter the Tempered Will state?"


    "Tempered Will" referred to the state that Tang Jie had entered after his fight in the Student Forest years ago. At the time, Li Yu had saved him and given him many powerful restoratives, which had caused his strength to soar.


    The Tempered Will state was actually a manifestation of the Spirit Will, but as he had not opened the Sea of Cognition yet, he didn''t understand anything, not even how it had urred.


    But he was certain that this state was extremely beneficial to creating the Sea of Cognition. If he could perform Cognitive Creation while in the Tempered Will state, he would definitely be able to save a lot of time and effort.


    In truth, Tang Jie hadn''t invented this method. It had been thought of a long, long time ago, but it was a rather risky method. After all, Tempered Will was a state of extreme deficiency. Not doing things properly could result in death of both body and soul.


    To risk one''s life in a charge at Cognitive Creation just wasn''t worth it, so few employed this method.


    But Tang Jie, who cared more about hope than his own life, was perfectly happy with this.


    Realizing what Tang Jie was thinking, Zhao Hui croaked out, "Junior Brother Tang, please, reconsider. You''re putting your life on the line. Moreover, it is not easy to enter the Tempered Will state. Not even a state of near-death guarantees that you can enter Tempered Will."


    Tang Jie coolly replied, "I''ve already entered this state twice."


    Zhao Hui was silenced.


    Tang Jie wasn''t lying. He truly had entered this state twice.


    The first was in the Student Forest, and the second was in one of his bitter battles in his ten years of traveling.


    For this reason, Tang Jie was very familiar with Tempered Will.


    In truth, the key to Tempered Will wasn''t to be on the brink of death, but to have the body squeezed dry of energy. This sort of thorough wringing was very difficult to aplish alone, and many people fought until death without aplishing it. What it required was for someone of tenacious willpower to send their will throughout their entire body. This was the reason it was called Tempered Will. Its purpose was to condense and temper the will.


    It was said that in ancient times, cultivators regarded Tempered Will as the prelude to Cognitive Creation, firmly believing that only by first experiencing Tempered Will could one perform Cognitive Creation. But as Tempered Will wasn''t actually required to reach Cognitive Creation, as time passed, this custom was gradually lost in the flow of history. In the present age, very few people did something as stupid as risking their lives, even if it meant tempering a more pure Spirit Will.


    The Water Moon Peak provided sufficient pressure, and Tang Jie''s willpower was strong, so for him, entering Tempered Will really wasn''t that difficult.


    This was also why he had chosen the Ginseng Essence. Only this nt could provide the greatest support to his emptied-out body. As for the Reaping Wind Snakes¡­ he would think about thatter.


    Zhao Hui quickly delivered arge thousand-year Ginseng Essence of excellent quality. After getting the Ginseng Essence, Tang Jie continued his climb.


    For the next 50 meters, the difficulty increased again.


    Tang Jie felt like his feet were tied to mountains, and he had to drag them with each step. Not only that, as he hadn''t gotten any stronger, Tang Jie could feel the pressure creeping up his legs to the rest of his body.


    This spreading power no longer disappeared when he stopped, and its lingering made his breaks much less effective. It felt like altitude sickness, and even breathing started to be a challenge.


    But Tang Jie didn''t stop. He knew that this little pressure still wasn''t enough to wring him dry.


    His goal was 300 meters!


    At 300 meters, he could get another spirit nt, and with those three spirit nts and his own stockpile of spirit herbs, he would begin his charge at Cognitive Creation!


    Looking up at the sky, Tang Jie clenched his teeth and continued forward.


    This time, he took two days and two nights.


    Comparing his past time, it seemed like every 50 meters took twice the time of the previous 50 meters.


    If this continued, 250 to 300 meters would take around 4 days, and then 8 days, 16 days, 32 days, then 64 days.


    If there were no change or strengthening, he would need 127 days to reach the Terrace of Heroes at 500 meters.


    But reality wasn''t a number, and rarely did things go as calcted.


    When the obstruction reached a certain level, it became a chasm that could not be crossed.


    If one step took several hours to make, then it wouldn''t even matter if he were given several years.


    This was exactly why, unless they improved themselves, going from 250 to 300 meters was a chasm for the vast majority of people.


    This was also why it was impossible to reach the summit unless one made progress, as one third of the way up would be one''s limit. One could not rely entirely on willpower to reach the end.


    Standing on the stone step leading to the 300-meter terrace, Tang Jie took in a deep breath, his eyes brimming with resolve.


    Zhao Hui worriedly nced at him. "Junior Brother Tang, are you sure?"


    "Yes, I''m sure!"


    He took the first step forward.


    This one step was like thousands of tons.


    Tang Jie felt the terrifying power of that pull, like countless hands pulling back on his body and refusing to let him leave.


    This power was everpresent, having long since broken free of his feet and affected every part of his body. Even his organs were affected, as if there was some force crazily sucking away at his butt, giving Tang Jie the misapprehension that his organs would exit from there.


    His heart began to madly thump as it beat faster and faster, gradually building up to a great rumble. His blood crazily surged like a roaring river. His brain buzzed as if a thousand drums were pounding away next to his ear.


    Tang Jie''s entire body swayed.


    The worst of all was that this awful sensation didn''t stop when his foot hit the ground.


    From the moment he put his foot on the step, the pull''s effect on his body would remain, continuing to weaken him until he reached the 300-meter terrace.


    For this reason, Tang Jie could not stop.


    He took in a deep breath and made another step.


    From the moment he took that first step, each step was fated to be difficult.


    It was like someone was pressing his feet to the ground. No matter how Tang Jie tried, he couldn''t lift his feet up.


    "Awoooo!" Tang Jie threw his head back and howled.


    All of his power was utilized to the maximum.


    He finally raised his foot.


    Little by little, he moved his foot through the air. Just when it was finally about tond on the next step, Tang Jie suddenly ran out of strength, and pah! His footnded.


    Failure!


    Tang Jie exhaled.


    He said nothing, enduring the thunder in his brain as he began to rest and recover. Just now, he had squeezed almost every bit of power out of his body.


    After resting for a while, Tang Jie once more attempted to go up the next step. This time, he was much more cautious, deliberately mobilizing all the energy in his body before unleashing all of it at once.


    He seeded.


    His right footnded on the stone step.


    And then, his feet on separate steps, Tang Jie took a break.


    A few momentster, he started again, attempting to bring his left foot onto the step.


    But he failed.


    After taking another break, he still failed.


    It took a third attempt to finally bring his left foot onto the step.


    The first step wasplete.


    This single step had taken Tang Jie an entire hour.


    Sure enough, reality wasn''t math. At this speed, Tang Jie couldn''t possibly reach 300 meters in four days.


    Fortunately, time wasn''t a problem. He just needed to make it there!


    From this moment forward, Tang Jie began to use up all his time on getting to this terrace.


    The enormous pull made every step he took this difficult, requiring him to use up all his strength and unleash it all at once. And even then, he would sometimes fail.


    Each failure was a waste of strength and a waste of time.


    Tang Jie had to carefully calcte and mobilize his strength. He gradually grasped the principle that rushing things would not get him anywhere. He stopped trying to force things, only making his move once he had fully recovered and was sure of sess.


    But as he moved higher and higher, the pull grew stronger and stronger.


    Tang Jie also had to factor the increasing pull into his calctions.


    This meant he needed more time, more preparation.


    The first day, excluding the time he had wasted on the first step due to hisck of experience, was actually the day of fastest progress. In 24 hours, he had ascended 12 meters. This day was also when his strength was most abundant.


    On the second day, Tang Jie only made it 8 meters.


    On the third day, Tang Jie made it a pitiful 4 meters.


    He knew that trouble wasing.


    As he got higher and higher, the pull grew stronger and stronger. He had used three whole days and only made it halfway.


    Standing at the midway point, Tang Jie panted for breath, his chest heaving like bellows.


    There were still 20 meters left, a hundred-some steps, but it felt like a yawning chasm, impossible to cross no matter how hard he tried.


    Yes, Tang Jie knew that he was getting closer and closer to the threshold.


    Once he reached the threshold, then unless he got stronger, he would not be able to make a single step of progress.


    But was this ce really his limit?


    "No!" Tang Jie roared.


    He looked at the path like a crazed bull, burning with unwillingness.


    The Agriculture Hall disciples saw all this, and all of them shook their heads and sighed.


    As people who had worked here for months and years, they all understood how difficult this segment was if one didn''t get any stronger.


    The worst of all was that the pull was now constantly affecting Tang Jie. Although the force wouldn''t be great as while he was raising his feet, the prolonged effects would have a huge effect on his recovery, and it would prevent him from cultivating on the steps.


    It was like he had been held fast at the midway point.


    Zhao Hui couldn''t help but shout, "Tang Jie, stop going higher! Listen to me! Go back to a lower tform and then break into Cognitive Creation! And then you can continue your climb!"


    Although going back also wasn''t easy, at least it would be easier than going up.


    Tang Jie shook his head. "I still haven''t lost."


    He stood there, focusing his mind as he rested.


    A focused mind, a will like iron!


    Tang Jie squeezed himself to the utmost and then took another step forward.


    As he took that step, the rumbling thunder faded and the surging blood calmed down. Tang Jie suddenly felt like his body was bursting with strength, as if a god was assisting him. He easily made it to the next step.


    Tempered Will!


    Tang Jie knew that this was the Tempered Will state.


    After repeated struggle, Tang Jie had finally entered the Tempered Will state.


    But he hadn''t expected that it would appear midway rather than when he reached the 300-meter terrace.


    So it was true that being too confident was a bad thing?


    The Tempered Will state was achieved by using one''s will to forcefully squeeze one''s body dry of all its strength. This was why he had easily gotten to the next step.


    But he now needed powerful restoratives, yet Tang Jie couldn''t provide them.


    This was because he hadn''t reached the end of this section, and with his entire body affected by the pull, even cultivating was difficult. Moreover, he only had the South Prosper Seed and the Ginseng Essence. With these resources and his condition, how exactly was he going to revitalize his body?


    This surprise made Tang Jie very anxious. If this continued, not only would he have wasted the Tempered Will State, it could even do great damage to him.


    At this moment, suddenly, a mysterious power entered his body.


    Tang Jie felt all his exhaustion being swept away and his strength restored, as if he had eaten some powerful divine restorative.


    "Raaa!" Tang Jie raised his head and roared.


    This time, he felt like he was brimming with energy.


    He raised his feet, easily stepping onto that step that once seemed impassable.


    And then, the Agriculture Hall disciples saw something that left them utterly stunned.


    Just like that, Tang Jie walked up toward the 300-meter terrace.


    "How is this possible?" Everyone was dumbfounded, their jaws dropping.


    "He broke through! He must have broken through!" Zhao Hui muttered.


    Only a breakthrough could exin all this.


    "But¡­ how did he break through? He clearly wasn''t cultivating!" a disciple said in confusion.


    Barring special circumstances, there was no such thing in the Rosecloud Domain as suddenly breaking through. After all, cultivation wasn''t leveling up. Each cultivation realm signified a qualitative change in some aspect, or even a transformation. These changes and transformations required days of umtion and couldn''t be broken through after a single battle.


    But Tang Jie had clearly broken this rule. He had clearly experienced some breakthrough, but he also clearly wasn''t at Cognitive Creation, so what sort of breakthrough had he experienced?


    The situation had the Agriculture Hall disciples going crazy.


    They had no way of exining this phenomenon.


    But whether they understood or not, Tang Jie was ascending.


    He had already climbed more than 20 meters and was only a few steps away from the 300-meter terrace.


    But after crossing so many steps in one go, Tang Jie''s speed finally began to drop.


    His strength ran out once more, the several steps bing as difficult as ascending to heaven.


    But Tang Jie didn''t give up.


    Only he knew where this strength hade from: the White Tiger''s essence blood!


    Thattent power had been hidden in the depths of his body. Borrowing the empty state of Tempered Will, it was finally unleashed!


    It was by borrowing this immense power that Tang Jie had been able to go so far so quickly.


    But if he stopped now, as the White Tiger''s power seeped into his body and faded, then reaching that terrace would be impossible until he reached Cognitive Creation.


    No matter what, he couldn''t stop!


    He clenched his teeth and pressed forward, step by step!


    Blood seeped out from his skin. That pull was already beginning to influence the insides of his body, even damaging it, the pull drawing out the blood from his pores.


    This turned Tang Jie into a human made of blood, a mist of blood forming around him.


    But Tang Jie didn''t stop, growling like a man-eating beast, his eyes turning crimson.


    Everyone trembled in fear at the sight.


    They had seen numerous people climb up the mountain, but after seeing such a gruesome ascent, they couldn''t help but look away.


    And this was only 300 meters, still far away from the peak of 888 meters.


    Tang Jie was blind to his surroundings, continuing to press forward.


    For him, this was the summit. Once he got through here, the rest would be smooth sailing.


    The strength in his body was rapidly fading, and Tang Jie knew he couldn''tst for long.


    He gathered up all his strength and pushed, finally making one more step.


    He was now standing on thest step. Just one step more would get him to the terrace!


    Forward!


    Tang Jie mentally roared, unleashing all his strength.


    Little by little, his right foot rose up. Tang Jie''s eyeballs were almost popping out of their sockets.


    Finally!


    Tang Jie''s right footnded on the 300-meter terrace.


    "Wow!" The tense Agriculture Hall disciples all cheered.


    They were happy for Tang Jie and were cheering on his efforts.


    At that moment, half of Tang Jie''s body was lying on the terrace, his entire body emptied of strength.


    Tempered Will!


    He had entered the Tempered Will state again.


    After entering Tempered Will midway and being empowered by the White Tiger''s essence blood, Tang Jie had immediately entered Tempered Will again, once more wringing his body dry.


    This was a chance granted by the heavens.


    Taking in numerous medicines under Tempered Will and charging at Cognitive Creation would be of enormous assistance to Tang Jie''s growth. From a certain perspective, it could be considered another instance of unlocking his potential.


    But there was a problem.


    Tang Jie hadn''t reached the terrace yet.


    There was still one foot on a step, and he no longer had the strength to raise it.


    "A pity¡­" Zhao Hui couldn''t help but sigh at this sight.


    "A chance from the heavens, but it''s all for naught!" Everyone silently shook their heads.


    Only Tang Jie was smiling.


    "Is that so? But I don''t think so," he said.


    He reached into his Mustard Seed Bag and slowly pulled something out.


    It was a golden dagger.


    Everyone was startled when they saw Tang Jie take out a dagger, and then they realized what was happening and shouted in unison, "Don''t!"


    Tang Jie''s eyes shed with resolve. "The Immortal path is difficult to walk, and only the brave can reach the summit!"


    He swung down!

 Chapter 463: Great Success

    Chapter 463: Great Sess


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Whoosh!


    The de shed and blood spurted. Tang Jie''s body suddenly toppled forward, rolling onto the terrace. Only his lower left leg was left behind, lying quietly on the final step.


    Bereft of leg and empty of strength, Tang Jie couldn''t even stand, only lie on the ground. Despite all that, he began tough.


    He had gotten up here!


    He had finally gotten up here!


    Looking up at the sky, Tang Jie keptughing,ughing louder and louder until all of the Water Moon Paradise echoed with his voice.


    The Agriculture Hall disciples gawked at Tang Jie, Zhao Hui even mumbling, "Crazy! He''s crazy!"


    To get onto the terrace, he had been willing to cut off his own leg! This had to be the first time in the nearly two-thousand-year history of the Basking Moon Sect that someone had done this.


    Afterughing for a while, Tang Jie finally sat up.


    He propped himself up with his hands, crawled to his severed leg, and picked it up. After being cut off from the main body, the leg was like a stone on the ground, a weed in the field, no longer affected by the formation. Considering this, if one didn''t have to worry about one''s life, then cutting oneself into pieces and throwing them up the mountain to be reassembled was a decent way of getting up the mountain.


    Picking up his severed leg, Tang Jie put it up to the wound. At his cultivation level, so long as he could get back the leg, he could easily connect it back.


    But the prerequisite was that he needed enough life force. His body was so thoroughly emptied out that even being able to sit up and get back his leg was a miracle. There was no hope of his leg linking back to his body.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie had another method.


    He turned to Zhao Hui and the others and shouted, "Can you help me out a little?"


    "Wh-what?" an Agriculture Hall disciple stammered.


    "Get me some wooden sticks."


    This was simple. Although it wasn''t a reward he had earned, such things were worthless, so fetching them for him didn''t break the rules.


    Someone came over with some wooden sticks and nks.


    The Agriculture Hall disciples weren''t allowed to step onto the terrace or the steps, so they threw the things over. Thus, Tang Jie had to do the rest of the work himself.


    Tang Jie gritted his teeth and used his trembling hands to tie down his severed leg to a wooden board before finally exhaling in relief.


    He looked back at the Agriculture Hall disciples and said, "Many thanks."


    The disciples immediately replied that it was nothing.


    Tang Jie smiled. "Then can I get my reward now?"


    An Agriculture Hall disciple realized what he was talking about and said, "Oh, oh, right; what do you want? I''ll go and get it!"


    "A Snow Mushroom," Tang Jie replied.


    Just like the Ginseng Essence, the Snow Mushroom was a life-saving restorative, perfect for use in the Tempered Will state.


    It was clear that Tang Jie nned to take in powerful supplements while his body was emptied out and make a charge at Cognitive Creation.


    As for his leg, he didn''t seem worried about it at all.


    The disciple hastened to get the mushroom. Fortunately, they had already guessed that Tang Jie would want a Snow Mushroom, so they had already found a high-quality one. He was now going off to get it and deliver it to Tang Jie.


    A 1800-year Ginseng Essence, a 1800-year Snow Mushroom, and a 1800-year South Prosper Seed¡­ Although these were only three spirit nts, their quality was shockingly high. These three spirit nts were worth countless spirit herbs in the outside world, and Tang Jie had also brought in his own medicines, which included Jade Return Grass from the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. In thest ten years, the original body had used most of the spirit nts he had gotten on himself, with a small part being sold off to the Seven Absolutions Sect and the Basking Moon Sect. This Jade Return Grass was the first thing he had given to the avatar, for it was exactly what the avatar needed. This single item was extremely valuable, and it was no wonder the Mystic Moon True Lord had been so surprised.


    But this item was for nourishment, not for saving a life, and it could even turn on the user and burn the body. Thus, it could not be used alone, only with life-restoring herbs like the Ginseng Essence. As the Ginseng Essence was not old enough, its medicinal power far inferior to the Jade Return Grass, Tang Jie had no choice but to get to 300 meters to get the Snow Mushroom.


    After all, Jade Return Grass wasn''t actually a poisonous nt. It just had a few small side effects. Although it had ten thousand years of medicinal power, two 1800-year spirit nts were enough to deal with those.


    It was very normal to make breakthroughs in the Water Moon Paradise, and those without this capability would never be able to make it up the mountain. For this reason, the Basking Moon Sect did not stop anyone from bringing in their own medicines. It was just that advancement was difficult, and the farther one went, the less able medicines were to address one''s problems.


    Some problems could not be resolved by medicines, but Tempered Will definitely wasn''t one of them.


    An emptied body needed nutrients, as much good stuff as it could get.


    Tang Jie took out all his herbs and medicines and began to stuff them into his mouth.


    Medicinal power turned into spiritual rivulets and flowed into his body, slowly filling up the emptiness. As the medicinal power seeped into every one of his cells, Tang Jie almost let out a groan of satisfaction.


    But Tang Jie knew that this wasn''t the time to enjoy himself.


    Now was the moment to make the charge at Cognitive Creation.


    He focused his mind and began to gather his will to turn it into the Sea of Cognition.


    In the Tempered Will state, one''s will was already solidified, but as it was distributed throughout the body, it could not create the Sea of Cognition.


    Now that Tang Jie waspletely focused, his will began to retract from his body.


    It was a very strange sensation.


    The location of a person''s consciousness was a very vague sensation. It was like being injured in the hand and being able to sense the location of the pain but not being able to describe it in any detail.


    But when the will was tempered, everything changed.


    It was like a pair of invisible eyes was using spiritual energy as a vessel to travel around the body, clearly taking in every part of the body.


    It was somewhat simr to inward sight, but inward sight was a spell that onlysted for a short while, whereas the tempering of the will was a fundamental transformation. At this stage, the will became Spirit Will!


    At this moment, one could say that the will went from illusory to real, and one could also say that it became¡ªafter sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and mind¡ªa person''s seventh sense.


    What all of these exnations were trying to say was that will became a real existence that could sense the outside world and also be sensed by the outside world.


    This was Spirit Will!


    As Tang Jie''s will withdrew from his entire body and gathered in the location of the Sea of Cognition, his exhausted body lost all support.


    Tang Jie copsed.


    All of the medicinal power went to work, taking the reins from the will to support Tang Jie.


    Tang Jiey on the terrace like a rigid corpse.


    At this moment, he could no longer move at all. All he could do wasmand his will.


    As the will returned from the various parts of the body and gathered together, it formed a white fog-like existence.


    This was the Sea of Cognition.


    A sea formed from condensed will!


    The process of Cognitive Creation was to condense and temper the will, and then gather it into a sea.


    Having already entered the Tempered Will state, Tang Jie easily skipped the first step and entered the second.


    Gathering the Sea of Cognition was originally an extremely troublesome process, but after everything Tang Jie had been through, it became very easy and rxed.


    One wisp of will after another appeared. This was his will attaching to spiritual energy and bing Spirit Will, forming the Sea of Cognition.


    Generally, the Sea of Cognition appeared like a mist. So long as it lingered and did not disperse, it was considered a sess.


    Tang Jie had already reached this step. In other words, he had already seeded.


    Once the Sea of Cognition was formed, the Spirit Will could be used. Like the eyes received light and the nose received scents, the Spirit Will was used for sensing spiritual energy.


    The way that a person who had not reached Cognitive Creation "sensed" spiritual energy was like how a mortal felt the air. They knew of its existence and could use it, but it was difficult to go any further.


    Cognitive Creation was like having a microscopic lens that allowed one to observe and sense from even closer.


    Thus, Tang Jie felt a strange sensation that he had never felt before. He felt like he was in the middle of a great sea awash with spiritual energy.


    There were a lot of impurities in this sea of spiritual energy,ponents that were useless to him.


    He had never been able to sense them before.


    Now that he could, he could choose what he wanted and what he did not.


    In other words, he could absorb spiritual energy of even greater purity!


    Not only that, when he cultivated in the future, he could use his Spirit Will to more sharply sense the changes in his body, reducing the detours he took and letting him improve faster.


    This was the importance of the first tier of Cognitive Creation, its boon to cultivation.


    This was also an important checkpoint one had to pass on the road to sess.


    Before Cognitive Creation, a cultivator cultivating was like a blind man walking. They could sense that the road existed, but they couldn''t see it. Cognitive Creation granted the blind man a tiny bit of vision.


    But Tang Jie didn''t n to stop here. The Sea of Cognition was still churning as it was tempered and refined, causing various phenomena.


    Thus, everyone saw Tang Jie''s body begin to release white wisps of energy.


    Spirit Will expansion!


    This was a manifestation of a certain level of Cognitive Creation.


    This white mist around Tang Jie was his Spirit Will. It danced in the air in the form of tentacles that grew longer and longer.


    There were some Cognitive Creation cultivators among the Agriculture Hall disciples, and they knew that the length of the white tendrils indicated the maximum range of one''s Spirit Will. Spirit Will was not Divine Will and was not capable of breaking free of the body, so its range of effect was limited. The greater the range, the greater the area that one could sense and influence. This meant that one could control more spiritual energy, which meant that one could unleash more powerful spell arts.


    This was one of the reasons the spell arts of Cognitive Creation Spirit Masters were so much stronger than those of Nine Revolutions Spirit Masters.


    The white mist around Tang Jie expanded, growing longer and longer and showing no signs of stopping. All of the spectating Agriculture Hall disciples were dumbfounded.


    "10 meters¡­ 15 meters¡­ 20 meters now¡­" someone gasped.


    There was a limit to the length of a Spirit Will. Normally, an ordinary cultivator could reach a length from 10 to 12 meters. Only the more outstanding disciples could reach 15.


    The disciples of the six major sects were the best of the best, so all of them could reach 15 meters. Only a few elites were able to hit 18 meters, and 20 meters was the standard for incredible geniuses.


    Since Tang Jie had reached 20 meters with his Spirit Will, it meant that he could now be considered a genius of the Basking Moon Sect.


    These few meters could not be underestimated.


    With every meter the Spirit Will extended from the body, the amount of spiritual energy that could be influenced also increased.


    And this could be calcted using the form for the area of a circle.


    When the Spirit Will had extended ten meters from the body, one could use the spiritual energy within 314 square meters.


    At fifteen meters, the area was 706 square meters.


    At twenty meters, one could influence spiritual energy in an area of 1256 square meters.


    From the numbers above, one could see that even though one had only increased the distance by 5 meters, the area one controlled was more than doubled!


    When this was converted into actualbat power, the difference was even greater!


    And Tang Jie still showed no signs of stopping.


    He continued to push forward.


    Although the rate of lengthening slowed, the white mist was still firmly advancing, the threads dancing in the air.


    21 meters¡­ 21.5 meters¡­ 22 meters¡­


    Steadily and slowly forward.


    "22 and a half meters!" someone shouted.


    Arge group of Agriculture Hall disciples had lined up on the two sides of the stone steps, constantly measuring with their hands to more urately confirm the length of the Spirit Will.


    Everyone was excited. 22.5 meters was an astonishing number, but it still hadn''t broken the Basking Moon Sect''s highest record.


    The record in the Basking Moon Sect was 26.47 meters, and the record holder was none other than the current Sect Master, Ling Xiao.


    "23 meters!"


    The white mist of Spirit Will expanded again as an Agriculture Hall disciple called out.


    "Brother Hui, what do you think?" someone asked Zhao Hui.


    Zhao Hui replied, "A genius, already in the top 100 in thest one thousand years of the Basking Moon Sect."


    The Spirit Will continued to grow.


    It had soon expanded by another half a meter.


    Zhao Hui said, "Top 50!"


    24 meters!


    Zhao Hui: "Top 30."


    24.5 meters.


    "Top 20!"


    Zhao Hui''s voice was starting to shake. "Keep going! In another half a meter, you''ll be one of the top ten geniuses in the history of the Basking Moon Sect!"


    Everyone nervously watched Tang Jie.


    The Spirit Will''s advance had seeminglye to an end. Just like when Tang Jie was climbing the mountain, it didn''t grow a sliver for quite some time, but it also refused to fall. It stubbornly pressed forward, little by little, squeezing itself for all it was worth. Like a weed, it struggled to break free of the soil and reveal its little sprout.


    Everyone could see that the Spirit Will was advancing at a turtle-like speed, unwilling to give up.


    Finally!


    "25 meters!" someone shouted.


    "Wonderful!" Zhao Hui punched his palm, and everyone cheered to celebrate Tang Jie''s achievement, to celebrate that another genius had appeared in the Basking Moon Sect.


    But the cheering quickly stopped for fear of disturbing Tang Jie. They held their breaths and continued to watch Tang Jie.


    Sure enough, Tang Jie was like a cockroach, and his Spirit Will was like a snake. It stubbornly struggled forward a little more before finally drawing back.


    Everyone sighed.


    Tang Jie had ultimately stopped at the top ten, still one meter off from Sect Master Ling Xiao''s record.


    "It should be about 25.4 meters, top seven or top eight," a disciplemented.


    "Regardless of his exact ce, it''s still in the top ten," someone else replied.


    "But he managed to push out Martial Uncle Xiao."


    The crowd chuckled.


    "Martial Uncle Xiao" naturally referred to Xiao Biehan.


    Xiao Biehan couldn''t be considered some incredible genius. He had relied on fighting and ughter to get to the finish line. Through his many battles, he came across countless fortuitous opportunities, which allowed him to push his Spirit Will to around 25.2 meters, barely getting him into the top ten.


    This was why Zhao Hui said that getting to 25 meters basically guaranteed that one would enter the top ten.


    Now that Tang Jie had entered the top ten, the Sword of the Basking Moon Sect had been pushed out. It was truly rather amusing.


    Tang Jie''s Spirit Will could grow no longer, meaning that he had reached his limit.


    A length of 25 meters meant that all of the spiritual energy in a radius of 25 meters around him could be controlled by him. Though it was not to the level where it was an extension of his body, he had gotten stronger in all aspects, whether it was consumption, power, range, or speed.


    After reaching this step, he didn''t stop, continuing to improve himself.


    The white spiritual energy didn''t disappear, drifting about in the air and letting out thin wisps of light.


    Zhao Hui and the others were rendered speechless by this sight.


    Spirit Will Transmission!


    Gathering the will was the preparation for Cognitive Creation, condensing the Sea of Cognition was to formally begin Cognitive Creation, and Spirit Will expansion was a mature manifestation of Cognitive Creation, the middle stage. As for Spirit Will Transmission, it was theter stage of Cognitive Creation.


    This novel is avable on bit.ly/3Tfs4P4.


    The meaning of Spirit Will Transmission was very simple. Condensing the Sea of Cognition allowed one to observe the world of spiritual energy, and Spirit Will expansion gave one the ability to influence this world. Spirit Will Transmission was the ability to transmit one''s thoughts to the spiritual energy world.


    At the absolute limits of this method was the Divine Will, the Divine Connection, ten thousand artsing forth with a single thought.


    Of course, this was still far in the future. However, at this level, one could greatly reduce one''s required number of hand signs and hasten one''s casting speed.


    These were the three major transformations effected by the three steps of Cognitive Creation, and they also signified major boosts in strength.


    And Tang Jie had gotten through these three steps in one go, leaving all the Agriculture Hall disciples stunned.


    Not even Sect Master Ling Xiao had been able to achieve such swift progress, had he?


    At least Tang Jie did not push straight through this step as well.


    The Spirit Will lingered for a while before finally returning to Tang Jie''s body.


    Tang Jie exhaled and reluctantly stood up, muttering, "What a pity. In the end, it was all for nothing. I couldn''t reach the apex."


    These words almost made the spectating Agriculture Hall disciples fall over. This wasn''t enough for him?


    By going from condensing the Sea of Cognition all the way to Spirit Will Transmission, he had done in two hours what took other people ten years!


    Oveing ten years in one step was incredible progress. What else could he ask for?


    Even Zhao Hui couldn''t help but bitterly smile and say, "Junior Brother has such great ambitions! It is no wonder you were able to achieve so much! Admirable!"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "None of you know what all this cost me."


    Yes, they didn''t know how much Tang Jie had worked for this.


    For this Cognitive Creation, Tang Jie was even willing to give up his life to achieve perfection.


    Entering the Tempered Will state had emptied his body to its limits, allowing him to borrow the medicinal power and thick spiritual energy of his surroundings to strengthen himself. It also allowed him to enter another state: the Hundred Tribtions Passage!


    Pushing his body to the absolute limits was a near-death state, like someone starving to death. Moreover, Tang Jie had cut off his own leg, pushing him even closer to the brink of death. Otherwise, this couldn''t be considered gambling with his life.


    In these circumstances, the Hundred Tribtions Passage Art finally activated, preserving his life and stimting his potential.


    The boost of potential and the abundant medicinal power allowed Tang Jie''s Spirit Will to grow much longer. Otherwise, there was no way his avatar had the aptitude to get this far.


    If someone were to find out that this top-ten genius of the Basking Moon Sect was only an avatar, they would probably be so shocked that their teeth would fall out.


    Finally and most critically, Tang Jie had used the Dao of Karma.


    He didn''t use the Dao of Karma to increase his chances of achieving Cognitive Creation, for there was nothing that could be done about that.


    Only with a cause could there be an effect; only with a seed could there be fruit.


    Since he couldn''t nt the seed of sure sess in Cognitive Creation, he naturally couldn''t harvest the fruit of sure sess.


    But he could maximize the effects of a sessful Cognitive Creation, maximizing the boost to his potential.


    Thus, the White Tiger essence blood was a seed, as were the gathered spirit nts, as was the Tempered Will state, as was the Hundred Tribtions Passage. Even cutting off his own leg was a seed!


    He had nted seed after seed precisely so that he could achieve great sess in Cognitive Creation.


    So, he had seeded.


    Behind this miraculous sess were all sorts of pains and efforts that those people simply couldn''t imagine!


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Author''s Note: Yesterday, I said that Tang Jie had entered the Tempered Will state twice. This was a mistake. It should have been three times. I remembered incorrectly, so I''m correcting the mistake here. My apologies!


    In addition, let me exin a few things that some people are still confused about.


    With regards to the Dao of Wisdom, Tang Jie isn''t Shen Yi (the protagonist of Infinity Armament, a previous work of the author), and in this book, the Dao of Wisdom isn''t used for battle, but for learning the other Great Daos. It is the doorknocker for learning the other Daos. It''s because of the Dao of Wisdom that Tang Jie finds it much easier toprehend the other Great Daos.

 Chapter 464: The Terrace of Heroes

    Chapter 464: The Terrace of Heroes


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie didn''t continue up the mountain, deciding to rest at the 200-meter terrace for the rest of the day.


    His severed leg was still recovering. Tang Jie had already applied a healing spell to the wound. Though he wasn''t skilled in this aspect and the effects of the spell were weak, with his cultivation and because the leg had been reattached almost immediately after being severed, it would take a day at most for it topletely heal.


    Tang Jie used this time to familiarize himself with his new cultivation level.


    Things went faster than he expected.


    As Tang Jie had condensed his Sea of Cognition, he could now distinguish the attributes of spiritual energy.


    Spiritual energy was originally attributeless, but it would gradually be affected by its environment and develop its own attributes, which would manifest in the spiritual current in different forms and colors. This was why spell arts would release various different mes of light when used.


    He cultivated the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra, and in Nine Revolutions, he had focused on the heart, which was associated with Fire. As a result, his spiritual energy tended toward Metal and Fire while disfavoring Water and Wood, but it was thetter two which were the key to recovery. This was why, even though he had learned some healing spell arts, their effects were weak. In normal circumstances, Tang Jie wouldn''t use them.


    But after reaching Cognitive Creation, Tang Jie could identify spiritual energy, and his tendrils of Spirit Will could move around spiritual energy in a certain range around him. Tang Jie now discovered that if he gathered Water and Wood spiritual energy at the site of the wound, he would recover much faster.


    Although he was stillckingpared to the disciples skilled in Water and Wood spiritual energy, it was still incredible progress.


    The result was that Tang Jie ended up recovering after only one night.


    When Zhao Hui and the others arrived and saw Tang Jie''s condition, they all sighed in praise.


    In truth, one could tell a person''s potential from how they used Spirit Will. Tang Jie had just advanced and had only been recovering for a night, so it was clear that he possessed an extraordinary ability to control Spirit Will.


    Zhao Hui bowed to Tang Jie. "Junior Brother, congrattions on your recovery."


    Tang Jie smiled. "It is all thanks to the care and consideration of my seniors of the Agriculture Hall, giving me the best herbs. Tang Jie will remember your kindness."


    Zhao Hui replied, "But in the end, it was all due to your¡­"


    He was about to say a few more politepliments when he froze and stared at Tang Jie in disbelief. His finger trembled as he stammered, "You¡­"


    "What''s wrong?" Tang Jie was puzzled.


    Zhao Hui took in a deep breath, pointed at Tang Jie, and said, "You''ve grown a white hair."


    This simple sentence sent waves through the crowd.


    Their uproar reached all the way to the heavens.


    Only Tang Jie was unmoved, a faint smile on his lips.


    After a while, Zhao Hui shouted, "Enough! Hurry up and congratte Junior Brother Tang!"


    The chattering came to a stop.


    All the disciples looked at Tang Jie and suddenly said in unison, "Junior Brother, congrattions for growing gray in the head early and entering the Three Withering Tribtions!"


    The Three Withering Tribtions!


    Yes, when a white hair grew on his head, it signified that the Three Withering Tribtions hade.


    The Three Witherings were the withering of the body, the withering of energy, and the withering of blood.


    This was an inevitable phenomenon that urred when a cultivator reached greater attainment in Cognitive Creation. When the Three Withering Tribtions arrived, a Cognitive Creation cultivator could not avoid them. Their blood and energy would be lost and their strength would plunge. Thus, this was also a low point for Cognitive Creation cultivators.


    This was so because when a cultivatorpleted Cognitive Creation and finished the refinement of the body, heart, and will, it was time to say farewell to the mortal body and convert into a spiritual body.


    The Three Withering Tribtions were the death process of the mortal body.


    Only when all the mortal parts of the body excluding the will died would the cultivator achieve true spirituality.


    This was the true Mortal Shedding.


    At that time, the spiritual body would truly be unkible when it came to mortal methods, deathless no matter how many soldiers charged at them.


    For this reason, the Three Withering Tribtions were actually a tribtion of fire from which a cultivator was reborn.


    For every cultivator, the Three Withering Tribtions were something they both loved and hated.


    The Three Withering Tribtions would cause their strength to plunge in both body and spirit, bing even weaker than a Nine Revolutions cultivator. But the Three Withering Tribtions were a necessary process to shed their mortality. Without this nadir, they would never be able to shine in the future.


    Thus, every cultivator would try to minimize the time they spent in the Three Witherings, and they would try to go out as little as possible while also searching for medicines that could nourish their body.


    The Three Withering Tribtions were the process by which the mortal body died and the spiritual body waspleted, so the better the external environment, the faster they passed, and the stronger the spiritual body that was forged. And for this, there was no better ce than the Water Moon Paradise.


    This was why Tang Jie had been so desperate to reach greater attainment. ording to his original n, he wanted to push through Cognitive Creation all the way to greater attainment, enter the Three Withering Tribtions, and then use the rest of his time to shed the mortal body and forge a spiritual body.


    Yesterday, he had sessfully achieved greater attainment but had not entered the Three Witherings, which was why he had said that it was all for nothing. But to his surprise, after only one day, he had entered the Three Witherings.


    This was partially because he had been extremely close in the first ce, and it was also because the Water Moon Paradise had abundant spiritual energy, greatly increasing the efficiency of cultivation.


    This was why everyone was congratting him, for this was the ideal time to enter the Three Witherings.


    "Senior Brothers, thank you." Tang Jie brought his hands together and bowed.


    Zhao Hui replied, "It is truly wonderful that Junior Brother was able to enter the Three Witherings within the Water Moon Paradise. But everything has its pros and cons. After the Three Witherings, Junior Brother will be weak in both body and spirit. Originally, after reaching greater attainment in Cognitive Creation, Junior Brother should have been able to easily reach the top of the mountain. But now that this has happened, it is no longer certain. It is hard to say if this is a blessing or a misfortune."


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "This is nothing. I''ve just entered the Three Withering Tribtions, so my blood and energy have only just begun to weaken and are far from reaching their weakest state. Overall, I''m still much stronger than before."


    "But you won''t get any stronger," Zhao Hui said.


    Yes, Tang Jie''s greatest problem was that he had no means of getting stronger.


    With Tang Jie''s current level, if he couldn''t reach the summit, he should have at least gotten to 600 or 700 meters. For the rest of the way, he could have kept cultivating, and the one hundred days left would be enough to make up for his shorings and get to the summit.


    But now that he had entered the Three Witherings, while the drop in strength was limited because he had just entered, his path to increase his strength was now cut off. In his current situation, the higher his cultivation level became, the more his strength would fall.


    Of course, if he got through the Three Withering Tribtions all at once, achieving the peak of Mortal Shedding and regaining all his strength, he would be able to easily reach the summit.


    If the Jade Return Grass were still around, this wouldn''t be a problem.


    But now that all his herbs were used up, relying solely on the concentrated spiritual energy of the Water Moon Paradise to ovee the Three Withering Tribtions was nothing more than a dream.


    "If that''s the case, then I''ll just try to get as high as I can first," Tang Jie coolly said. "As I ascend Water Moon Peak, I can observe the writings of my predecessors, pondering the arts of the ancients andprehending the Daos of the world."


    He began to walk up the mountain, his casual and light steps starkly contrasting the excruciating difficulty of before.


    As Zhao Hui watched him make his way up the mountain, he muttered the words Tang Jie had just said, "''Observe the writings of my predecessors, pondering the arts of the ancients andprehending the Daos of the world.''" Suddenly, he was enlightened, and he deeply bowed to Tang Jie. "Junior Brother, my utmost gratitude for your instruction. When we ascend the mountain, we must do everything in our power and then heed the will of the heavens. When it is time to fight, we should fight, but when it is time to let go, we should let go. Junior Brother is like a tiger when it is time to fight, willing to go to the end, but when it is time to let go, you are carefree and care nothing for sess or failure. If you take advance and retreat in stride, there is nothing in the world that can stop Junior Brother''s ascension!"


    He bowed as deeply as he could to Tang Jie.


    Only when one fought when it was time to fight could one strive on the Immortal path. And when one let go when it was time to let go, one heeded the will of the heavens.


    This was the method of cultivation and handling things that Zhao Hui hadprehended from Tang Jie.


    When Zhao Hui bowed, his body gave off a radianceparable to the noon sun.


    The Agriculture Hall disciples saw this and said in unison, "Senior Brother Zhao, congrattions forprehending the Dao and for sessfully cultivating the Noon Sun Heart Art!"


    Zhao Huiughed.


    He had cultivated the Noon Sun Heart Art for many years, but he had been stuck at the final threshold for a long time. Unexpectedly, his enlightenment today had caused him to let go of his worries, which had allowed him to seed in that divine art. His strength and cultivation had grown, and he was overjoyed.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    On Water Moon Peak.


    Tang Jie continued to make his way up the mountain.


    This mountain of 888 meters had more than five thousand steps. Tang Jie didn''t know which step he could get to, nor did he care.


    Having already given up on reaching the summit, he slowly walked along with his hands behind his back like he was seeing the sights. And wherever he looked, he could see the beauty of this paradise.


    In truth, if one were in the mood to look, one would find that the Water Moon Paradise had always been this beautiful.


    The thick spiritual mists had had a transformative effect, creating a riot of colors on the earth, thousands of unique vistas. It was just that the people who came here were set on climbing the mountain, disregarding the scenery around them.


    Tang Jie currently had a clear and empty mind.


    As he walked around, stopping and going as he appreciated the sights, he soon reached the 400-meter terrace.


    The Agriculture Hall disciples gave him a spirit nt, and he continued on his way.


    Starting from here, he began to asionally see writing on the mountain face. These were cultivation insights left by his predecessors. Of course, there were also a few that simply dered that so-and-so had been here.


    However, there was no need to look at the insights of people who had onlye up this far.


    Tang Jie continued upward.


    At 500 meters was the Terrace of Heroes. Once, this elevation had been a natural barrier for many, for those who had reached this ce had improved by at least half a tier. However, for Tang Jie, this was nothing more than a casual stroll.


    He was soon standing on the 500-meter Terrace of Heroes.


    Unlike the other terraces, a giant stone wall had been erected on the Terrace of Heroes, smooth as a mirror. It was covered with words, left behind by the people lucky enough to get here. At a nce, it seemed like several hundred people had left their names here.


    On one corner of this wall, Tang Jie saw Ming Yekong''s name. He had written: "In the 142nd year of Tianshu, I entered the Water Moon Paradise and stepped onto the Terrace of Heroes. I was inspired by Honored Master Zhen Yan''s words andprehended the Bright Razor Sword. I have left my insights here to entertain those whoe after."


    What followed were dense rows of small characters that described his understanding of the Bright Razor Sword.


    This Bright Razor Sword was that supreme sword intent he had left in the rmendation card. Surprisingly, he hadprehended it here.


    Tang Jie had seen this attack as it was being made and felt the supremacy of that sword intent, but he didn''t understand its fundamental principles, so he had no means of using it. But these lines filled in this information gap, and he came to better understand the Bright Razor Sword.


    Although he used a saber, making this specific art useless, the underlying principles were the same, and it would be very helpful when heprehended the saber in the future.


    After seeing Ming Yekong''s insights, Tang Jie went to find that Honored Master Zhen Yan. Sure enough, this person was also a famous individual. The insight he had left behind concerned tempering and perfecting.


    It was here that Tang Jie came to know that there were many different kinds of perfection. The one used by Honored Master Zhen Yan and Ming Yekong was only one of many. Among the countless insights carved into this smooth wall, there were many that concerned supreme intents.


    Tang Jie was intoxicated, and he was able to find answers to many questions that had puzzled him.


    At times, he was even able to find more than one answer.


    This was an open tform, and those who came here could write anything they wanted, sometimes even arguing against each other.


    For example, there was such an argument in the lower-left corner, and the ones arguing were famous individuals of the Basking Moon Sect.


    First was Xiao Biehan, who wrote a piece on the Weapon Dao. He believed that weapons were also in the Dao, that they could be naturally produced by the heavens. As such, there had to be a true divine weapon in the world that couldmand all other weapons.


    Someone then replied to him below.


    "Junior Brother Biehan''s beliefs somewhat differ from mine. The weapon has no mind of its own, its will depending on its owner, so how can there be a natural-born king of weapons¡­ Li Xuanyue."


    It was the Mystic Moon (Xuanyue) True Lord.


    Several other cultivators replied, some supporting Xiao Biehan and others supporting Li Xuanyue.


    In the end, Sect Master Ling Xiao ended the argument.


    "The weapon kills ording to the will of its master. If a weapon has a master, to find a king is difficult. Ultimately, life and death in the world depend on the will of humans¡­ Ling Xiao."


    These words ended this particr quarrel.


    But there were still many different opinions about the Weapon Dao.


    As he looked at the words on the wall, Tang Jie was suddenly inspired.


    He took out the golden dagger and murmured, "A weapon¡­ is born of nature."


    There was no response from the golden dagger.


    After some thought, Tang Jie shook his head,ughing as he put away the golden de.


    He continued to read the words left on the wall.


    They covered all sorts of topics. Some were insights, some were discussions on the Dao, and others were specific arts.


    Comprehending them wasn''t enough. One also needed to test them.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie had learned the Mind Parting Heart Anchor Art.


    Simr to the Ninedark Mantra''s Twelve Hidden Whirlpools, it was an art that allowed for the use of multiple spell arts at the same time. They were different in that the Twelve Hidden Whirlpools focused on the path energy took through the meridians, like someone building another road so that two spell arts could be used at once without them crashing into each other.


    As for the Mind Parting Heart Anchor Art, it had inherited the Basking Moon Sect''s strong emphasis on the mind, dividing the mind into parts. It allowed for two spell arts to be cast in parallel, but it required that these spell arts not be of conflicting nature. However, it wasn''t asplicated and problematic as the Twelve Hidden Whirlpools.


    These methods each had their own merits, and when Tang Jie used them together, he felt like their capabilities were limitless.


    Tang Jie decided to stop at the Terrace of Heroes, spending every day reading the insights on the wall andprehending the spell arts of his seniors.


    On one end, he could read Liu Yumeng''s discourse on raising souls, and on the other end, he could practice Zheng Qingyan''s Evesting Saber Dao.


    He could also use Reverend Jing Yu''s Twin Dragon Water Parting spell when sitting in meditation, and turn it into True Person Yuyang''s Suspended Bright Mirror Art when reclining.


    At times, he would loudly read out the words on the wall, using the Four-Nine True Words. When reading, he would also use the Chaoswind Step and circte righteous energy through his body.


    At times, he would crazily swing around the Heartbreak Saber. It was sometimes bitingly cold, sometimes sharp, sometimes slow and rxed, and sometimes smooth and unhindered.


    This was him infusing the insights regarding sword and saber intent from his hundreds of seniors into the saber.


    There were far too many insights on this wall, and even with those two arts, Tang Jie found it very difficult toprehend all of the insights, verify all the theories, and learn all the secret arts.


    Thus, he had to pick and choose what he wanted to learn.


    This made for swift progress.


    Even so, Tang Jie still felt like his progress was extremely limited, as if something was stopping him from making a breakthrough and reaching an even higher level.


    This higher level had nothing to do with his cultivation. It was rted to his understanding of spell arts and the Dao.


    It was perfection!


    We are bit.ly/3Tfs4P4, find us on google.


    What he sought was an ultimate saber intent like Ming Yekong''s sword intent. Compared to Ming Yekong''s attack, all other spell arts appeared dim.


    s, no matter how hard he worked, his saber could not unleash such a blow.


    Today, he was studying away on the terrace as usual.


    The Heartbreak Saber stirred the clouds, slicing open a window of blue in the sky.


    In terms of power, it was much stronger than before Tang Jie had started climbing the mountain.


    But it was still far from the ultimate saber intent that Tang Jie had imagined.


    Tang Jie sheathed his saber and looked up at the sky. "Just what am I missing?"


    "Perhaps you''recking the resolve to go and never return," someone said from behind Tang Jie.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Author''s Note: The limit of spiritual energy influence truly should be calcted by volume. I just used area as an exnation by example and had no intention of getting too caught up in the details. Of course, more fundamentally, it''s because I''m bad at math, and I''vepletely forgotten the form for calcting the volume of a sphere. I could only give a rough illustration using the radius.

 Chapter 465: Returning Remnants

    Chapter 465: Returning Remnants


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Turning his head, Tang Jie saw an old man in purple robes standing on thest step to the terrace.


    He smiled at Tang Jie and said, "The manmands the heart, but the man''s nature provides the direction. Perhaps you feel that you''ve already done everything you can and have held nothing back, but your heart knows that this is not actually the case. The ultimate saber intent is a saber intent that sacrifices everything. By ''sacrifice'', I don''t mean just your life, but also your arts. You have learned far too much. How can a jumbled mess with no order be considered the ultimate? If you want to unleash a saber like that, you must first clean up all your arts."


    Tang Jie was left dumbfounded.


    Countless thoughts surged through his mind. The old man''s words had allowed him to understand many things that had previously puzzled him.


    Yes!


    He had not been able to unleash a saber that he wanted despite all his efforts because his methods were too much of a mess.


    It was precisely through all these various methods that he had managed to beat countless foes. But it was precisely his habit of dividing his moves into stages that restrained his progress and prevented him from reaching the level of the ultimate.


    To reach the ultimate naturally meant topress everything so that there was no retreat, and then unleash it all at once!


    Realizing this, he deeply bowed to the elder. "Senior, thank you for the instruction. This Tang Jie is filled with utmost gratitude!"


    The old man smiled.


    He looked down at the step beneath him and then shook his head and sighed. "I can''t make this final step. Pull me up."


    He extended his hand.


    Tang Jie was startled, and then he realized that the old man was asking him to pull him up to the terrace.


    The Water Moon Paradise''s rules said that a person had to get up the mountain through their own power. No one could borrow an outside power, so pulling up a person was definitely against the rules.


    But Tang Jie only hesitated a little before extending his hand and pulling the old man up.


    The two of them together managed to get the old man onto the terrace.


    Standing on the terrace, the old man looked around and began to giggle. "The Terrace of Heroes¡­ haha, this old man finally got onto the Terrace of Heroes."


    His words were packed with sorrow and mncholy.


    Tang Jie looked at the man and finally couldn''t help but ask, "Senior, might I ask¡­"


    The old man seemed to wake from a dream, saying with a smile, "I forgot to introduce myself. This old man is Luo Hanzhen of the Blood War Hall."


    Tang Jie was startled when he heard the name. "So it is the Blood River True Person!"


    Blood River True Person Luo Hanzhen was a rather famous individual within the Basking Moon Sect, and what he was most famous for was the number of people he had killed.


    It was said that the number of cultivators who had been killed by the Blood River True Person exceeded one thousand.


    "More than a thousand" sounded normal, but such a cultivator was actually one-in-a-thousand. The rest of them were all dead.


    Thus, at least when it came to killing, the Blood River True Person even beat out True Lords.


    But this wasn''t because he was cruel and bloodthirsty. Rather, it was because of his status as the deputy hall master of the Blood War Hall.


    Luo Hanzhen was actually extremely strong, and it was said that he had oncepeted for a seat among the 19 Celestial Chiefs, but in the end, he had lost to the Blood War Hall Master, Xiao Kebo. He took on the role of deputy instead, serving as Xiao Kebo''s first deputy hall master.


    As was the Basking Moon Sect''s custom, the first deputy hall master was in charge of day-to-day operations. From then on, the Blood War Hall''s First Deputy Hall Master led the hall''s disciples in battles across thend.


    In this era of peace, he was one of the few people in the sect who spent most of his time on campaign. The Blood War Hall was the hall of the War Department''s three halls concerned with battle, and he had been campaigning for several hundred years, so this sort of achievement wasn''t strange. It was especially impressive considering that he disdained to strike ordinary disciples for fear of lowering his dignity.


    This was why Tang Jie had caused such a sensation when he killed more than a hundred Beast Refining Gate disciples. This would be a glorious achievement no matter which sect it had urred in.


    Tang Jie turned solemn and said, "Secret Hall Disciple Tang Jie pays respects to Hall Master Luo!"


    Luo Hanzhen waved his hand. "I know who you are. In terms of reputation, yours has surpassed mine in thest few years. It seems that we''ll have to add you to the ranks of Wei Gaochen, Shen Zhengbo, Hua Ziyi, Xiao Shuqiu, and Bei Canghan when ites to future supporting pirs of the sect."


    Tang Jie hastily said, "Tang Jie does not dare to ept Hall Master''s heavy praise!"


    The people Luo Hanzhen had mentioned were all the most famous disciples of the Basking Moon Sect in recent years, and among them, Bei Canghan was at the very bottom. The likes of Peng Yaolong and Qi Shaoming didn''t even have the right to enter the list. Even Tang Jie was rather panicked to hear Luo Hanzhen putting his name with them.


    Luo Hanzhen indifferently said, "It is good for the young to be modest, but too much modesty is nothing more than a sham. How can someone who can enter the Water Moon Paradise be ipetent? If you''ve entered the Water Moon Paradise and stillck the confidence to brag a little, then you are a little toocking in confidence."


    Tang Jie grew alert, and he solemnly said, "Hall Master is right. Tang Jie will strive to work harder and reach even higher."


    "That''s the right way to do things." Luo Hanzhen nodded. "Right, how long have you been in the Water Moon Paradise?"


    Tang Jie replied, "I''ve been here for 32 days."


    "32 days¡­ not too long. I heard that you''ve been out and about during thest ten years to gather contribution points, so you should be able tost for a while."


    "This disciple umted 33,000 contribution points, enough to stay in the Water Moon Paradise for 110 days. I currently have 78 days left."


    "78 days¡­" Luo Hanzhen put his hands behind his back and began to think. "It''s neither long nor short. With your aptitude, you should be able to get to the next terrace, so why have you decided to stop and instead waste your time with the things on this wall? You only need to look a little at these things for reference. Focusing on them too much will distract from your own cultivation and is not the proper path."


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. "It is not that this disciple does not want to, but I have entered the Three Witherings."


    ''Entered the Three Witherings''?


    Only now did Luo Hanzhen notice that strand of white hair on Tang Jie''s head.


    "I see¡­" Luo Hanzhen shook his head andughed. "It seems that my eyes are going bad, to have not noticed such a thing. No wonder you''ve stopped here. It seems that you don''t have the confidence to break through the Three Witherings in the time you have left."


    Tang Jie replied, "I used the resources I had to break into Cognitive Creation, but Ick the strength to pass through the Three Withering Tribtions, so I chose to stop here and study the writings of my seniors. My n is to gain some insights before continuing my climb in the hopes that they will be of some help. When the timees, I will see how far I can climb."


    Luo Hanzhenughed. "Kid, you''re rather openminded. Since you''ve already spent twenty-some days in front of this wall, I think you''ve already seen everything that you needed to see, so it would be better to continue up the mountain. While the view around the midway point is nice, it''s still inferior to the view higher up. While some things are written nicely, they''re not worth anything more than a passing nce¡­ Let me ask you: are you interested in climbing Water Moon Peak with me?"


    ''Climbing Water Moon Peak with you''?


    Tang Jie gave Luo Hanzhen a weird look.


    If he recalled correctly, he had needed to give this old man a helping hand to get him up here.


    Most importantly, he remembered that Luo Hanzhen was at the peak of Celestial Heart, a Soul Transformation Tier cultivator.


    At his cultivation level, it was extremely difficult to make any more progress.


    Although there was no rule of the Basking Moon Sect that ced a restriction on the cultivation level at which one could enter the Water Moon Paradise, the Water Moon Paradise''s own arrangements essentially told everyone that it was best to enter when one was at a low level, for those at a high level would find little benefit from going inside.


    Luo Hanzhen was just such a case. He was already in the Soul Transformation Period, and the next tier would be Violet Pce.


    This meant that there was basically no chance that Luo Hanzhen could advance anymore, meaning that it was basically impossible for him to reach the summit.


    For the vast majority of people, there was no point in entering the Water Moon Paradise after reaching this level of cultivation.


    Of course, if one wasn''t thinking about reaching the summit and only about breathing in the concentrated spiritual energy, then there was no problem. But for True Persons who calcted time units in decades and centuries, several dozen days here was really of little meaning.


    Tang Jie didn''t know how he had managed to make it all the way from the base of the mountain to the 500-meter Terrace of Heroes. Perhaps he really did have some kind of breakthrough, but with his strength, this level of breakthrough was undoubtedly limited. The Terrace of Heroes was probably his limit.


    Luo Hanzhen saw that he was thinking, so he chuckled and said, "What? Do you think this old man doesn''t have much hope of advancing? Do you really think I can''t do it?"


    Tang Jie fawningly said, "This disciple wouldn''t dare¡­"


    Before he could finish, Luo Hanzhen went toward the next step.


    He easily ced his foot on the step, not at all appearing like he wascking in strength.


    Tang Jie was stunned as Luo Hanzhen turned to him and said, "What? Do you need me to pull you up?"


    As if waking from a dream, Tang Jie hastily went onto the step, and then he suddenly stopped. "Senior, please wait a moment."


    "Hm?" Luo Hanzhen looked at him.


    He saw Tang Jie walk toward the wall and begin to write on it with his finger.


    Rather than rushing him, Luo Hanzhen simply grinned and watched.


    After a while, Tang Jie finished writing and walked back to Luo Hanzhen.


    Luo Hanzhen asked, "What did you write?"


    Tang Jie replied, "This disciple is untalented and only wrote some insights I had regarding the Dao."


    "You''ve alreadyprehended a Dao?" Luo Hanzhen nodded. "Not bad, not bad."


    He turned and began to make his way up the mountain, and Tang Jie hastily followed.


    From 500 meters onward, the obstructive force of the Water Moon Paradise grew even stronger, and the pressure was now everpresent. This pressure made it so that cultivators would have to circte spiritual energy throughout their bodies in order to resist, making recovery more difficult and also making it so that they were cultivating at every moment.


    This was also why Tang Jie had not already started his ascent, for once he started going up, whether he was willing or not, he would once more enter the cultivation state, and there would be no stopping it. As he was in the middle of the Three Withering Tribtions, the more he cultivated, the more his strength would fall. The more time he spent above 500 meters, the more disadvantageous it was for him. This was why he had chosen to stay on the Terrace of Heroes, only nning to make a charge at the final moment.


    Of course, there were advantages to setting off early. More time spent cultivating meant breaking through the Three Withering Tribtions earlier. Even if he couldn''t break through in the Water Moon Paradise, once he went back, he wouldn''t have to go through as many twists and turns.


    Perhaps this was the reason that led Tang Jie to agree to follow Luo Hanzhen up the mountain.


    Tang Jie walked behind Luo Hanzhen, step by step.


    He saw Luo Hanzhen holding his hands behind his back, his expression rxed. It seemed like he wasn''t experiencing any of the challenges presented by the mountain.


    At an easy pace, the two of them soon arrived at the 550-meter terrace.


    Luo Hanzhen turned to Tang Jie and saw that while Tang Jie was breathing hard, he could still go on. Smiling and nodding, he said, "You''re pretty good. As expected, you still have some strength left."


    Tang Jie shook his head and bitterly smiled. "Senior praises me too much. It seems like 600 meters will be my limit."


    "Oh?" Luo Hanzhen nced at him and said, "Why do you say that?"


    Tang Jie replied, "While climbing up the mountain looked easy, I actually used all my strength. In this charge up to 600 meters, I will probably need more than a day. And this isn''t the worst part. The worst part is that when I started climbing up the steps, my energy began to circte on its own because of the surrounding pressure, and the Three Withering Tribtions are intensifying. The more one goes up, the harder it is to advance, but my strength will only fall. Thus, getting above 600 meters is basically impossible."


    "Is that how it is¡­" Luo Hanzhen nodded. "A pity. I was originally nning to walk with you to the Basking Moon Chasm at 750 meters so that you could observe the handiwork of the Cloud Ancestor, but it seems that you won''t have this fortune. Ah, forget it. The road of life is long, and we can only try and get as far as we can. Since you can only make it up to 600 meters, then we will take in the sights at 600 meters."


    He sat down and closed his eyes to rest.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie didn''t dare to say any more and also began to rest.


    After resting for enough time, he stood up and said, "Hall Master, I''m done resting."


    "Oh," Luo Hanzhen said. He opened his eyes and began making his way up the mountain without another word.


    These 50 meters took particrly long to walk.


    Clenching his teeth, Tang Jie climbed up, step by step.


    s, as the climb grew more difficult, his strength only fell.


    In these short 50 meters, Tang Jie grew so many white hairs that his temples had gonepletely white.


    After one day and half a night, Tang Jie finally reached the end of those 50 meters.


    By the time he arrived, Luo Hanzhen had been waiting for some time.


    Upon seeing Tang Jie arrive, Luo Hanzhen said, "Since you don''t have the strength to put it off any longer, you should just focus on pushing through the Three Witherings."


    "This disciple understands," Tang Jie respectfully said.


    After getting his 600-meter reward from the Agriculture Hall disciples, Tang Jie immediately consumed all the spirit nts he had and began to cultivate on the terrace.


    The three spirit nts caused Tang Jie''s cultivation level to rise, but after only one night with this increased cultivation, Tang Jie''s hair had all turned white and his face was covered in wrinkles like a withered old man.


    This was proof that he was well into the Three Withering Tribtions now, his mortal body nearing death while his spiritual body had yet to be born. At this moment, Tang Jie was even weaker than a Nine Revolutions cultivator.


    No path up ahead and waiting for the day of return.


    This was probably the best description of Tang Jie''s current situation.


    Starting from this day, Tang Jie spent every day cultivating at the 600-meter terrace.


    The days went by.


    As he cultivated, his energy and blood withered and his body grew weaker and weaker. These were signs that the Three Withering Tribtions were intensifying. At this time, Tang Jie''s strength had fallen below Hundred Refinement.


    But Tang Jie continued to cultivate, stubbornly pushing through each day. Even if he couldn''t break through, he didn''t allow himself to waste any time within the Water Moon Paradise.


    Inparison, Luo Hanzhen was much more rxed.


    Tang Jie had stopped at 600 meters, but Luo Hanzhen only apanied him for a day before heading up the mountain.


    Tang Jie didn''t know how far he managed to get, only that he returned after a day.


    Carrying a jar of wine, he sat down on the terrace and began to guzzle away.


    The scent of alcohol assailed the nostrils.


    What followed was a rather bizarre scene.


    A Soul Transformation True Person spent every day going up the mountain to see the sights beforeing back with wine to drink. Meanwhile, a young man who looked even older than he was spent every day seated on the ground in cultivation, turning older and older. The more he cultivated, the worse things seemed to get.


    They chatted with each other, but they mostly talked about cultivation rather than themselves.


    Forty-some days passed.


    Today, Tang Jie was still cultivating. By now, he was like a guttering candle of an old man.


    Luo Hanzhen suddenly walked over, and with a wave of his sleeve, a small table appeared between the two of them.


    With another wave of his hand, several dishes of food appeared.


    Luo Hanzhen ced his wine jar on the table. "Come, drink."


    Tang Jie was startled, but he still walked over. He was just about to get out a wine cup when Luo Hanzhen said, "Just drink it like this."


    The wine jar flew over to Tang Jie and slightly tilted, the alcohol pouring right into Tang Jie''s mouth.


    Tang Jie felt a warm current traveling through his entire body, and thenrge amounts of spiritual energy arose, surging through his body like a mighty river.


    "Good wine!" Tang Jie couldn''t help but shout.


    Luo Hanzhen waved his hand, calling back the jar and refusing to let him have more. "Eat the food."


    The wine was good wine, but the food consisted of ordinary appetizers.


    After drinking such ambrosia, anyone would find such mortal foods tasteless.


    But Tang Jie said nothing, not asking for more wine. He simply apanied Luo Hanzhen in eating the food.


    The two of them silently ate for a while before Luo Hanzhen suddenly said, "Do you not want to ask why I invited you to drink wine?"


    After some thought, Tang Jie replied, "It should be because Hall Master doesn''t have much time left."


    Luo Hanzhen shivered. "So you already guessed it."


    Tang Jie softly sighed. "Perhaps I didn''t understand at the start, but after so many days, how could I not understand? Besides Agriculture Hall disciples, there is one other kind of person that is allowed to freely enter and exit the Water Moon Paradise. But I just didn''t expect that I would see a senior Returning his Remnants on my first visit to the Water Moon Paradise."


    Returning Remnants!


    This was the fundamental reason for the Water Moon Paradise''s existence.


    So long as the conditions permitted them, the countless seniors of the six major sects would always choose to return to their sects'' paradises, seeking to leave their lifetime of cultivation in those ces.


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    This was the root of the Water Moon Paradise, its source of power.


    When Tang Jie saw Luo Hanzhen, a Soul Transformation True Person, freely going up and down Water Moon Peak, he understood that Luo Hanzhen was reaching the end of his life.


    This was why he hade here, to wait out the rest of his lifespan.


    But Luo Hanzhen hadn''t imagined that he would run into a junior within the Water Moon Paradise just when he was about to Return his Remnants.


    Sitting on the ground, Luo Hanzhen looked into the horizon and said, "I have spent one thousand, two hundred years within the Basking Moon Sect. I should have been in the prime of my life, but s, many injuries built up over my numerous battles, and my lifespan was reduced. Originally, I thought I would be like the other seniors, dying alone within this ce, with no one to be mypanion except the Agriculture Hall disciples. But it seems that the heavens have treated me kindly, for there to be a junior disciple of my sect cultivating within this paradise, apanying me in thisst part of my life. This Luo Hanzhen is truly blessed!"


    He turned to Tang Jie and said, "I believe in destiny. For the two of us to meet here must be destined. Tang Jie, I have no sons. I ask you: when I die, are you willing to perform the duties of a filial son and send me off?"


    Tang Jie was taken aback, and then he nodded. "This disciple is willing!"


    "Will you kowtow to me?"


    Tang Jie hesitated, and then he nodded. "This disciple is willing!"


    "Very good! I did not think that I would be able to get a son in the moments before my death! Wonderful, wonderful!" Luo Hanzhen suddenly threw his head back and let out three loudughs. He then emptied the jar of wine and sat down on a corner of the terrace.


    As he slowly sat down, he muttered, "A thousand years of demands returned in a single day. My life belongs to me, but my death belongs to the heavens¡­"


    A spiritual light shed within his body.

 Chapter 466: New Life

    Chapter 466: New Life


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Spiritual energy surged, and clouds rose to the heavens.


    They gathered up on the ceiling of the Water Moon Paradise and turned into drops of rain.


    Thus, all of the Water Moon Paradise weed a downpour.


    Tang Jie did not know how much spirit power a Soul Transformation True Person had.


    But he knew that Luo Hanzhen had returned his lifetime of cultivation to thisnd.


    The spiritual surgested for a very long time before finally dispersing.


    When the spiritual surge was exhausted, the clouds faded and the rain stopped. Luo Hanzhen was gone, leaving behind only his violet robes and that wine jar. As for the table and tes, they were created from spell arts and had naturally ceased to be.


    Perhaps because he had been waiting for his death in the paradise, he had brought nothing else.


    That wine jar was clearly a treasure of some sort.


    But Tang Jie was not tempted. He came forward and collected the violet robes and wine jar, and then he walked off the stone steps and into the thousand-year fields.


    This was his first time walking off the stone steps. The rules of the Water Moon Paradise forbade cultivators from doing so, just like how Agriculture Hall disciples couldn''t step onto the stone steps. Though they were in the same ce, it was like they resided in two different worlds.


    But now, Tang Jie had broken this rule.


    For he was fulfilling his promise, collecting Luo Hanzhen''s remains to respectfully send him off.


    Even though there was only a robe, a cenotaph still needed to be erected.


    The cenotaphs of the seniors of the Basking Moon Sect who had Returned their Remnants were set up on a mountain slope.


    There were countless tombstones here. In the past, the Agriculture Hall disciples were responsible for collecting the remains, but today was an exception.


    The Agriculture Hall disciples did not interfere. They stood to the side and watched as Tang Jie passed through the fields with that robe.


    Tang Jie walked slowly and lightly.


    He finally arrived before the tombstones.


    Zhao Hui pointed at a grave. "This ce is True Person Luo''s."


    If not for Tang Jie, Luo Hanzhen might have chosen to Return his Remnants right there.


    Dying right at one''s burial spot was a rather clean and simple way of handling things.


    But now, he had a filial son to send him off.


    Tang Jie walked up to the grave and ced the robe and jar inside.


    A disciple came forward to fill in the grave, but Tang Jie took the shovel from him. "I promised Senior that I would send him off, so let me do this."


    The Agriculture Hall disciples backed away, and Tang Jie began to shovel dirt into the grave.


    Once the grave was filled in, he erected the tombstone. He then respectfully kowtowed three times in front of the grave.


    After doing all this, Tang Jie exhaled. "Senior Brothers, thank you for not trying to stop me."


    Zhao Hui hastily said, "Junior Brother was personally sending him off, so what reason would we have to stop you? But by leaving the stone steps and entering the fields, you''ve broken the rules. I have no choice but to report this matter."


    "It''s fine." Tang Jie nodded. "Senior Brother should carry out your duty."


    ording to the rules of the sect, leaving the stone steps and not stealing anything would result in a punishment of at least 3000 contribution points, which meant a reduction of at least 10 days. Even though it was needed for paying final respects, the rules were the rules, and those ten days needed to be deducted.


    Sure enough, that night, that monkey appeared and poked the mark on Tang Jie''s forehead, telling him that the ten days had been deducted before disappearing. In truth, the monkey had probably known that Tang Jie had broken the rules. He had just been feigning ignorance while he waited for the disciples to report on the matter. If Zhao Hui hadn''t reported it, then he would have suffered together with Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie didn''t argue and simply continued cultivating.


    He had already spent seventy-some days in the Water Moon Paradise. He should have been able to stay for thirty-some more, but this was now twenty-some days. Thus, in the following period of time, Tang Jie cultivated even more diligently.


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    As his cultivation progressed, he grew older and older, his energy and blood reaching a state of total exhaustion.


    Tang Jie knew that the day of the absolute death of his mortal body was not far off.


    On this day, Tang Jie was still cultivating when he suddenly felt his lungs seizing up and his vision going blurry.


    And then he crumpled to the ground, unable to support himself.


    He knew that this was a sign that the mortal body was on the verge of death.


    Hey quietly on the ground, countless memories going through his mind.


    It felt like his past was shing past his eyes.


    A smile appeared on Tang Jie''s "elderly" face.


    He closed his eyes, and his heart gradually stopped beating, his chest no longer rising and falling, as if he had died.


    In normal circumstances, the death of Tang Jie''s body would mean that his mind would enter a slumber.


    But Tang Jie was different from others. He had one soul sharing two bodies.


    Even if the avatar experienced true death, his mind would not fall with it.


    This made this moment somewhat different for him.


    As the mortal body neared death, his mind ascended rather than falling asleep.


    Tang Jie felt his soul soaring, breaking free of its old body and looking down on himself from the sky.


    He saw his body.


    Old, withered, rotting, and thick with death energy.


    Yes, his body was nearing death.


    Tang Jie clearly felt the process of his life dying, saw his flower of life withering and his body taking step after step to death and decay.


    No one understood his body more than himself, so he understood more than anyone theplete death process.


    Suddenly, Tang Jie was enlightened. He now had a more practical understanding of the process by which something died, though he didn''t know exactly what it was. At this moment, there was a gust of wind.


    It blew over his "corpse" on the terrace.


    The silver hairs on the head came off, and the old skin peeled off like the shell of a boiled egg.


    There was a shower of dust.


    In the middle of that dust, Tang Jie could feel a life force sprouting within that deceased body.


    This was a power he had never seen before, like a seed sprouting. It was theplete opposite of that corpse, brimming with a powerful vitality.


    A new life!


    The spiritual body''s new life!


    Tang Jie saw his rotting body disappear, and a brand-new Tang Jie appeared. Gone was that withered appearance, and it was like he had returned to his childhood. Even his head had gotten much smaller.


    Is¡­ that how it is?


    Tang Jie finally understood.


    This was life and death!


    This was Life!


    At this moment, a cycle of life hadpleted.


    By experiencing this cycle, Tang Jie had inadvertently glimpsed the Great Dao of Life.


    Perhaps it was for this reason that Tang Jie''s body suddenly began to shine.


    His mind sank back down, and the Tang Jie on the ground opened his eyes.


    Whew¡­ He exhaled.


    The mortal body had died, and the spiritual body had been born!


    At this moment, Tang Jie had finallypleted his transformation from the mortal to the spiritual.


    The spiritual body was like a newborn infant. Although it still retained an adult appearance, it was fundamentally no different from an infant, and needed to grow quickly.


    Growth was always more difficult than death, so the growth of the spiritual body took far longer than the time it took for the mortal body to wither and die.


    This was the most important phase for remolding the spiritual body. The quality of the external environment would determine the purity of the spiritual body, and the higher the purity, the greater one''s future potential.


    Remolding the spiritual body in an environment like the Water Moon Paradise was something every cultivator yearned for.


    s, Tang Jie didn''t have the time. He only had ten days left to remold his spiritual body.


    For the long process of remolding the spiritual body, ten days was far too short. At this, Tang Jie could only bitterly smile andfort himself. "At least it''s better than nothing, and I alsoprehended a little of the Dao of Life, so it was worth it."


    When the spiritual body was gaining new life, Tang Jie finallyprehended some of the Dao of Life, so when the soul returned to the body, it subtly influenced it. The Dao of Life was the Dao of vitality, so his spiritual body now had a flourishing vitality far above the norm.


    To put it in more practical terms, his lifespan had been extended.


    As the mortal body ultimately had to die, it didn''t really matter how much longer it had to live. After cultivating the spiritual body, a cultivator''s lifespan suddenly had meaning. Firstly, the lifespan was extended to one thousand years.


    Of course, this was one thousand years in the ideal situation. Numerous battles, lingering injuries, and cultivation corruption could all lead to a loss of lifespan.


    Besides that, some powerful spell arts were also linked to life force.


    For this reason, a cultivator''s life was notpletely dependent on their cultivation realm. From a certain perspective, their life was a kind of expendable resource. The longer their lifespan, the greater their capital. As for their previous mortal body, that didn''t even have the right to be expended.


    For this reason, there was nock of people in the cultivation world with high cultivation levels and long lifespans who ended up dying of old age before those of low cultivation levels and short lifespans. It was because those people had used up too much of their capital.


    Luo Hanzhen was an example of someone who had consumed all of his capital.


    As for Tang Jie, he had just obtained this new capital.


    Because he had glimpsed the Dao of Life, he had gained an additional 200 years of lifespan on top of the 1000 years gained from the spiritual body. This was only the beginning, and there would be more increases in the future. The advantage of the Dao of Life was simple and direct: anyone whoprehended it would gain more lifespan.


    The thousand-year spiritual body was only the start. As the spiritual body grew, its lifespan would also grow.


    Normally, a trulyplete spiritual body could be improved by an ordinary cultivator to have a lifespan of around 1800 years. A body that waspleted within the Water Moon Paradise could be improved by 30% more, reaching a lifespan of 2400 years. Comprehending some of the Dao of Life had boosted this by another 20%, which made for 2900 years of lifespan. Some lifespan-extending medicines could get him to 3000.


    s, this was something he could only dream about.


    The Three Withering Tribtions were also known as "the thirty-year cmity", for it normally took thirty years to ovee them.


    To go from life to death, the death of the mortal body, took five years. And to go from death to life, the growth of the spiritual body, took twenty-five years.


    Twenty-five years of age would be a normal person''s most youthful and most resplendent period, and it was this time that was needed toplete the spiritual body.


    Tang Jie had taken sixty days in the Water Moon Paradise to go from life to death, and this was thanks to the three spirit nts. Now that all his medicines were used up, ten days was only enough to make a very small step.


    But Tang Jie had already let the matter go and had stopped seeking perfection. At worst, he would stop at six hundred meters and then go and cultivate for twenty-some more years. For a cultivator, twenty-some years was like the time it took to snap one''s fingers.


    With this thought in mind, Tang Jie continued cultivating.


    Ten days went by quickly.


    This day was Tang Jie''s 103rd day in the Water Moon Paradise, thest day he could stay here.


    ording to the rules, when his time was up, Tang Jie would automatically be teleported out of the Water Moon Paradise.


    Tang Jie continued to meditate on the terrace.


    Perhaps because he knew that his time was almost up, though he was cultivating, he was a little absent-minded. In truth, he was just waiting to be sent out.


    Time continued to pass.


    But the expected teleportation never came.


    The Water Moon Paradise had no sun or moon, but its sky was still illuminated.


    The light brightened. The light dimmed.


    As Tang Jie saw the sky darkening and the Agriculture Hall disciples dispersing, he was left all alone. But nobody came to send him away.


    bbergasted, he thought about what to do and finally said to the sky, "Disciple Tang Jie has been in the Water Moon Paradise for 103 days, and my time is up. So why has Senior not sent me out yet?"


    A few momentster, that monkey''sughter came from the sky. "Heheheh, if your time were up, the mark on your forehead would have sent you out. Since you haven''t been sent out, you still have time, so why the rush? Of course, if you want to go, I won''t try to keep you. It''s up to you whether you stay or go."


    Tang Jie froze as he wondered, Did I count the days wrong?


    But this was impossible. He clearly remembered each day he had spent in the paradise, and he had alsoprehended the Dao of Wisdom. There was no way he could get something like this wrong.


    Had that monkey forgotten to take the ten days from him?


    But this was also impossible. He had seen that monkey appear with his own eyes and take the ten days from the mark on his forehead.


    Wait¡­


    Tang Jie had a sh of realization.


    Exhaling, Tang Jie said, "Since that''s the case, can this disciple ask how many more days I can remain in this paradise?"


    The monkey froze for a moment, and then it sighed. "You''re quite sharp. You''ve asked the right question. Why don''t you take a look at the mark yourself?"


    A light descended from the heavens, appearing before Tang Jie and gradually condensing into a mirror.


    Tang Jie saw that his forehead was brightly shining.


    He remembered that the light signified the number of days he had in the paradise.


    The brighter the light, the more days. As time passed, the light would dim, and when itpletely went out, he would be sent out of the paradise.


    Yesterday, Tang Jie had sensed that the mark had been so dim as to be almost lightless, but now, it was as bright as the noon sun, several times brighter than when he had first entered the paradise.


    "This is¡­"


    "Hyahyahyahya!" The monkey mischievouslyughed. "Who else could it be? It''s naturally the contribution points Luo Hanzhen left you."


    Although he had already guessed, Tang Jie was still shaken. "Senior Luo!"


    The monkey went on, "Do you think that you were ying an adopted son for free? You naturally needed to benefit somehow. Don''t tell me that you didn''t realize it."


    Tang Jieposed himself and replied, "I had some thoughts about it at first, but after seeing nothing for so many days, I naturally thought that there wasn''t anything. I didn''t think that¡­"


    The monkey chuckled. "Then you got nothing and even lost ten days for it. You weren''t angry about it?"


    "''Angry''? How could I be?" Tang Jie chuckled. "I sent off Senior Luo in respect for his lifetime of service to the sect. Although losing ten days is somewhat of a pity, my mind was at ease. If I sent him off and then cursed the heavens and earth for not getting any of his inheritance, then it would be better to not have been his filial son. Although I have times where I am fake and hypocritical, that''s only to enemies. I would never do such a thing to my own people."


    "Hahahaha!" The monkey''sughter became a little more normal. "Good words. I''ve observed you for one hundred days and saw that you sent him off with sincerity and showed no desire for his belongings. You treated Old Luo with respect and have a sincere heart, so this is to reward you. Go and cultivate so that you don''t let Old Luo down. That old man left you lots of contribution points¡ªenough for you to stick around in the Water Moon Paradise for another 300 days. This should be enough time to get you through the Three Withering Tribtions, and when they are past, the summit of Water Moon Peak awaits. You can go up and look around, and Old Luo even left some words for you."


    I see.


    Tang Jie got what was going on.


    It was clear that Luo Hanzhen had spoken with the monkey before passing, leaving behind his contribution points for Tang Jie to extend his time in the Water Moon Paradise. But it was clear that he had also wanted to put Tang Jie through some tests. If Tang Jie ignored his requests or started cursing after not getting anything, then he would truly get nothing. Even when he was sent out, he would never know that Luo Hanzhen had been meaning to extend his time.


    "But aren''t contribution points not supposed to be easily transferred?" Tang Jie asked.


    The monkey let out its strangeugh. "Hyahyahyahya, so you also know that they aren''t easy to transfer. But Luo Hanzhen was the First Deputy Hall Master of the Blood War Hall, second only to the 19 Celestial Chiefs. Bying here to Return his Remnants to the paradise, he is making one final contribution to the sect. How could the Basking Moon Sect ignore his final request, and how could this be called ''easy''?"


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. "Senior, thank you for your instruction."


    "Ah, forget it," the monkeyzily said. "Originally, there was no way you would have been able to reach the summit. Although someone asked me to take care of you, I just couldn''t be bothered. But now that you''vee across this opportunity, you''re basically bound to get to the summit. Since that''s the case, let me give you a few more words of advice."


    Someone asked you to take care of me? Tang Jie was startled.


    The monkey continued, "Remember: if you want to go higher, you must not wait for the Three Withering Tribtions topletely pass before heading to the summit."


    "What?" Tang Jie was taken aback.


    The monkey ignored him, continuing, "The earlier you go, the better¡­ If you can''t get to the summit, you should at least try to get to the 750-meter terrace."


    After saying all this, the monkey fellpletely silent.


    ''The 750-meter terrace''?


    Tang Jie recalled that Luo Hanzhen had wanted him to show the handiwork of the Cloud Ancestor at 750 meters.


    Tang Jie didn''t know who the Cloud Ancestor was, but it sounded like what he had left was even more important than the Moonlight Pond on the summit.


    The light of the mark gradually retreated into his forehead. Only when he thought about it would ite back.


    But Tang Jie knew that this light would shine for him until he passed the Three Withering Tribtions.


    He didn''t understand what the monkey had said, but he knew that the monkey wouldn''t swindle him.


    Since the monkey had said that he should head up the mountain before the Three Withering Tribtions were over, he needed to work hard.


    Although he stillcked the strength, he was recovering that strength every day.


    The moment new life bloomed within the spiritual body, Tang Jie had returned to the normal track of getting stronger the more he cultivated.


    While he was still weak, it wouldn''t be long before he could surpass his former self and ascend to the summit.


    As he looked at the summit, his eyes overflowed with confidence.

 Chapter 467: The Wisdom Sword

    Chapter 467: The Wisdom Sword


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    With an extra three hundred days, Tang Jie could finally cultivate in peace, nurturing his spiritual body.


    Nourished by the concentrated spiritual energy of the Water Moon Paradise, the newborn spiritual body rapidly grew, experiencing something new almost every day.


    Tang Jie could feel himself growing stronger, his lifespan lengthening.


    It was a wondrous feeling beyond words. There was no principle or reasoning behind it. Tang Jie could just clearly feel its existence, could even point out when it changed.


    After his 50th day of cultivation, Tang Jie finally got back his lost power. He was now back to as strong as he was before entering Cognitive Creation.


    This strength naturally wasn''t enough to keep advancing, so Tang Jie continued cultivating.


    After one hundred days, Tang Jie had returned to greater attainment in Cognitive Creation, right before he had entered the Three Withering Tribtions.


    Tang Jie knew that it was now time to resume climbing up the mountain.


    300 days was not enough time to get his spiritual body to greater attainment purely through cultivation. Only by climbing higher and getting more spirit nts could he guarantee his passage through the Three Witherings.


    With this in mind, Tang Jie would have gone up even without the advice from the monkey. The monkey had just demanded more of him, wanting him to reach the summit before the Three Withering Tribtions were over.


    On this morning, Tang Jie once more began to climb Water Moon Peak.


    As his strength recovered, climbing the mountain became less difficult.


    After two days, Tang Jie sessfully reached the 700-meter terrace.


    The 750-meter terrace seemed close at hand, but also as far away as the horizon.


    Tang Jie had already tried, and he sensed that the obstructive force on the steps to the 750-meter terrace was particrly strong. He didn''t have the power to make it just yet.


    But he wasn''t worried.


    Above 600 meters, one could get a spirit nt every 50 meters, so he currently had two.


    After consuming the spirit nts and using one day to absorb their medicinal power, Tang Jie was able to rapidly boost the power of his spiritual body.


    One dayter, Tang Jie managed to loosen that seemingly unmovable wall that spanned his path.


    Tang Jie began to make his way up the steps.


    It was difficult and slow, but he was stubborn and determined!


    After a day and a night, Tang Jie finally stood on the 750-meter terrace.


    Find the original at bit.ly/3Tfs4P4.


    There was no wall with lively conversations like at the Terrace of Heroes, but on the slope next to the terrace, several steles had been set up. Even though the Basking Moon Sect had been established several thousand years ago, only a few had ever been able to reach this altitude.


    Closest to the edge was a particrlyrge stele that blocked the steles behind it.


    Tang Jie saw the words on the stele: "For my son Tang Jie: that you could get here means that you fulfilled my request and achieved a spiritual body, so it is not improper to call you my son. Your father is ipetent and is unable to leave you some peerless treasure, only these words. This 750-meter terrace is called the Cloud Ancestor Terrace, and it was left behind by my sect''s Cloud Ancestor. Cultivating here will be of great benefit, as you can enjoy the protection of the ancestor. You must select the Empty Heart Grass and cultivate here for 81 days. Only then can you continue climbing the mountain. In this period, you must not look at the words on any of the other steles. Remember this! Do not look at any of the other steles! Luo Hanzhen!"


    ''Don''t look at the words on the other steles''?


    Tang Jie was startled.


    He instinctively wanted to look behind the stele, but just when he was about to look, the stone stele suddenly exploded with light, blinding him.


    The stone stele then crumbled and dissipated into spiritual light.


    Luo Hanzhen had note to climb the mountain, so he didn''t have the right to leave behind words on this terrace. He had only been able to leave a stele here for a time because the monkey had made an exception for him. Now that its job was done, it naturally dissipated.


    After the stele disappeared, the numerous steles behind it were revealed to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie knew that these steles contained the insights of the seniors who had been here before him, and they were far more valuable than the insights at the 500-meter Terrace of Heroes.


    But Luo Hanzhen had told him not to read the steles, and Tang Jie trusted that Luo Hanzhen wouldn''t try to deceive him. Thus, he didn''t look at those steles, and he followed Luo Hanzhen''s instructions and asked the Agriculture Hall disciples to get him a stalk of Empty Heart Grass. He consumed the grass and then sat down to cultivate.


    The Empty Heart Grass was a spirit nt that calmed the mind, allowing one to enter a meditative state and not be influenced by the outer world. In truth, it was meant for resisting Heart Demons, so it had no effect on a Three Withering Tribtions cultivator like Tang Jie, and it did little to improve one''s cultivation.


    If not for Luo Hanzhen''s advice, Tang Jie never would have chosen it.


    Starting from this day, Tang Jie cultivated on the terrace to strengthen himself.


    Even though he trusted that Luo Hanzhen wouldn''t try to hurt him, Tang Jie couldn''t help but feel antsy and want to see the words on the steles. He was like a small child, trying to take a look even though he knew that the adults were right. It was insufferable, like there was a cat wing at his heart.


    It was bearable at first, but as time dragged on, Tang Jie started to get restless, and his cultivation efficiency plunged.


    At this time, the Empty Heart Grass went to work. With this nt to calm the mind, no matter how restless Tang Jie became, he was always able to restrain himself. But that itch in his heart went from one cat scratching to a hundred cats.


    Privately, Tang Jie was also finding it strange how his focus had seemingly fallen.


    There seemed to be some sort of power hidden in the terrace that could magnify a person''s desires and make them difficult to control.


    When he realized this and put up his guard, that irresistible itch gradually faded away.


    This made Tang Jie realize that he had probably guessed right. This terrace truly did have some sort of mysterious power that released the desires and emotions in a person''s heart. If not for Luo Hanzhen''s warning, even with his powerful focus, he still might have been affected.


    On the 12th day on the terrace, Tang Jie was still cultivating, and that itch in his heart waspletely gone.


    He suddenly heard a noise.


    Thinking that the Agriculture Hall disciples were gathering, he opened his eyes. But he found that there was nothing around him, and that noise had also disappeared.


    Taken aback, Tang Jie closed his eyes and continued cultivating. But a few momentster, the noise returned, yet when he opened eyes, he still saw nothing.


    Starting from today, the noise lingered at Tang Jie''s ear like a buzzing fly or like snatches of whispered conversation that were just barely audible. It was truly annoying.


    Tang Jie inwardly sneered, The temptation of the stone steles didn''t work, so you''re trying something else? Interesting.


    He knew that if he allowed himself to be vexed by this noise, he would essentially have lost.


    Thus, he proceeded to ignore it, hardening his heart and continuing to cultivate, making it so that even a p of thunder wouldn''t affect him.


    As he cultivated, the noise grew louder and louder, truly bing as loud as thunder, constantly exploding in Tang Jie''s ears.


    But no matter how the thunder rumbled, Tang Jie was unmoved, silently cultivating.


    The 21st day on the terrace.


    The thunder stopped.


    The world returned to silence.


    But Tang Jie knew that this wasn''t the end, only a new beginning.


    Sure enough, as hepleted a Circuit Heaven and then opened his eyes, he found that he was no longer on the terrace, but on a battlefield. War cries resounded, arrows whistled past, and shing weapons asionally took aim at his head.


    Tang Jie sneered, utterly unmoved.


    Now that he was psychologically prepared, as someone who had seen 3D movies, he would not be affected no matter how realistic this all was.


    From this point of view, although this audiovisual illusion was of a higher level, its effects were actually worse than that unseen noise.


    Tang Jie continued to diligently cultivate in the middle of the battlefield. When he was free, he would watch the blood fly and listen to the drums thunder, like he was watching a movie.


    The ughter illusion became the ce that Tang Jie enjoyed the most.


    On the 36th day, the illusion ended.


    Tang Jie knew that the next phase would being.


    Sure enough, this time, a dark cloud appeared, and countless demons made from ck smoke descended.


    This time, Tang Jie paled.


    For he had heard of these demons before.


    Heart Demon!


    These demons of various shapes and sizes were none other than the infamous Heart Demons that made cultivators pale in fear.


    They were the negative thoughts in the hearts of humans, slowly growing into Heart Demons that could devour one''s soul.


    Tang Jie hadn''t expected to run into Heart Demons while cultivating here. A momentter, a Heart Demon lunged at Tang Jie.


    Although he knew that this was an illusion, Tang Jie still felt a deep fear. That Heart Demon passed through him like an illusion, but Tang Jie felt a chill rising from the depths of his heart.


    It was an indescribable chill that seemed to exist only in the mind, yet it also existed in reality.


    Was this not an illusion?


    Why could it physically affect him?


    Yes, Heart Demons were existences that had gone from illusion to reality, so even if they were illusions, they could affect real people to a certain extent.


    This influence was real. Even though it might have been only one-tenth or even one-hundredth as strong as the effect of a real Heart Demon, it was real!


    Tang Jie felt an inexplicable fear.


    Heart Demons came from all sides in seemingly endless streams.


    In the middle of them all, Tang Jie could not evade them, only endure them.


    Thus, anger, hatred, envy, cowardice, greed, and all other kinds of negative emotions emerged, making it difficult for Tang Jie to control himself. Even with the help of the Empty Heart Grass, Tang Jie almost lost it.


    At the most critical moment, someone began to chant into his ear.


    The voice was deep and powerful, and it chanted some ancient mantra imbued with a boundless and mighty power. This mighty power scattered the Heart Demons, and the negative emotions were greatly reduced.


    Tang Jie was startled as those rampant emotions began to stabilize.


    He sat down and began to recite that chant, word by word, again and again.


    Even though he didn''t know what mantra this was, Tang Jie felt like it contained a special power.


    He chanted for 13 days.


    On the 49th day, all of the Heart Demons disappeared.


    Tang Jie was returned to reality, and he found that he was still sitting on the terrace, his surroundings quiet as if nothing had happened. The Agriculture Hall disciples were still working the fields, and from their attitude, it appeared that nothing had happened on the terrace.


    Tang Jie smiled and then continued cultivating.


    He knew that things were far from over.


    Sure enough, it wasn''t long before Tang Jie found himself atop a mighty mountain.


    He sat at the peak, at the top of the world.


    Snowkes drifted down from the sky.


    This time, he spent a long time alone.


    Tang Jie didn''t know how long he spent sitting on that snowy mountain, but it felt like one hundred years passed.


    In these one hundred years, he said nothing to anybody, his mind wilting away, the heavy loneliness almost burying him.


    The time was so long and the solitude so profound that Tang Jie gradually forgot where he was.


    Finally, the hundred years passed.


    Tang Jie saw the snowy mountain disappear.


    He returned to the terrace. Only then did Tang Jie remember that he was in the Water Moon Paradise.


    "Tang Jie, Tang Jie," someone called out to him.


    Turning his head, he saw Zhao Hui standing nearby.


    He smiled and said, "Congrattions! 81 days have passed, and you havepleted the trial. I''vee on orders to give this to you, and then you can continue your way up the mountain."


    He presented a bottle of pills.


    The Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill!


    It was a secret medicine used for making the charge at Celestial Heart. It was so valuable that the Basking Moon Sect had once offered it as the bounty for catching Gu Changqing.


    Tang Jie was about to ovee the Three Withering Tribtions, so this spirit medicine truly was extremely important to him.


    Tang Jie nced at Zhao Hui and mumbled in confusion, "You are¡­"


    Zhao Hui smiled. "After sitting there for one hundred years, it''s no wonder that you forgot me. I''m Zhao Hui."


    Tang Jie rapped his head andughed. "My apologies. Right, I''ve been meditating for too long, and my legs are very stiff. Senior Brother, please bring the medicine to me."


    "Alright." Zhao Hui walked over and offered the medicine to Tang Jie.


    But Tang Jie didn''t take the pills in front of him, saying, "As an Agriculture Hall disciple, isn''t Senior Brother forbidden from walking onto the steps?"


    "Hm?" Zhao Hui was startled.


    "Also, Senior Brother Zhao, how did you know I was sitting for one hundred years? You said yourself that I was sitting here for only 81 days."


    Zhao Hui paled, but just when he was about to move, Tang Jie thrust his hand into his belly.


    That Zhao Hui looked down, and then he snarled, "Junior!"


    He shrieked, and Tang Jie saw that twisted face dissolve into ck smoke and then coalesce into the form of a savage demon.


    Heart Demon!


    Awooo! The Heart Demon howled, but all Tang Jie did was coldly stare at it.


    Suddenly, the Heart Demon took the form of Xu Muyang, covered in blood and roaring, "Give me back my life!"


    Tang Jie felt like he had gone back twenty-some years into the past, back to Little River Vige.


    He saw himself standing in front of Xu Muyang, that boy swindling Xu Muyang with his words.


    Suddenly, Tang Jie felt a hint of disappointment and frustration.


    Would Xu Muyang have died if he hadn''t been around?


    A momentter, the scene changed again. This time, a young man stood in front of him.


    He recalled his name to be Lin Lang.


    It was from when he was helping Wei Tianchongplete the first True Inheritor mission.


    For this purpose, he had forced Wei Tianchong to kill Lin Lang.


    Even though Lin Lang had been willing to die, in Tang Jie''s mind, hadn''t he still forced a good person to die?


    He had deceived himself, but he had failed to deceive his heart.


    The seed of unease had been nted in the depths of his heart.


    The scene shifted again, and this time, he was at Old Crow Ridge.


    The deceased Green Hill disciples appeared before him, and there was always that slight difort deep down in his heart.


    And then there was the little tiger going missing and his directing his anger at the Wei n, the battle of Joymount Ind, the battle of the Immortal Mountain¡­ the blood of all those countless people he had stained his hands with in his bid to gather as many contribution points as he could. As the events of the past reyed themselves, Tang Jie discovered that he had far more regrets than he had expected.


    Thus, he saw that Heart Demon getting stronger and stronger, crazily howling, dividing itself into countless more, all of them surrounding him andughing as if they were ready to devour him.


    "This is my Heart Demon," Tang Jie realized.


    This time, this was no illusion, but a real Heart Demon. But for some reason, its attacks were still of the most shallow level.


    This was perhaps because Tang Jie''s strength had yet to reach the Heart Demon Period.


    If that was the case¡­


    Tang Jie had a thought.


    He suddenly understood a little.


    And then he stood up.


    This was the first time since he began meditating on this terrace that he had truly gotten up on his own.


    Looking at the Heart Demons around him, he began to chant that mantra that he had chanted for 13 days.


    But this time, as he chanted, his entire body seemed to be bathed in holy light.


    This light was real, and the Agriculture Hall disciples turned to look.


    They saw Tang Jie appearing like a descended god, energy emerging from his fingers like a sword.


    And then he swung it in front of him.


    As he swung, everyone could hear a strange howl.


    There was clearly nothing at all, but everyone still felt that something had been exterminated. Bizarrely, even though the sky was clear, they felt like some dark cloud had been dispersed.


    Tang Jie continued to stand on the terrace.


    He looked up at the sky and suddenly asked, "What day is it?"


    The monkeyughed. "The 72nd day. Good job! You''re truly something else,prehending the Wisdom Sword and ying the Heart Demon before the 81st day. Congrattions, congrattions!"


    Tang Jie raised his head and looked at the distant steles.


    Now, he could boldly take a look.


    Four words had been carved onto the oldest stele.


    Wisdom Sword Heart Sutra.


    This was the mantra that he had chanted for 13 days.


    "The Cloud Ancestor''s handiwork was the Wisdom Sword Heart Sutra," Tang Jie muttered.


    The monkey roared withughter. "This sutra is the Cloud Ancestor''s creation. It is not recorded in the Divine Firmament ssic and is only kept here. It is ideal for countering Heart Demons and ying demonic thoughts. To learn the method recorded on this stele, one must first experience being a god. Arts can be passed down, but a god mustprehend things on their own."


    "In other words, what I experienced first was what the Cloud Ancestor experienced? Indeed, it''s the easiest to improve in the Heart Demon Period, so this is the perfect time to ascend Water Moon Peak. Presumably, the Cloud Ancestor broke through his Heart Demon here, ascended to Soul Transformation, and climbed the summit?"


    The monkeyughed. "So long as you understand! All that you experienced was an illusion, not even one ten-thousandth of what the Cloud Ancestor experienced. But that you could experience the Heart Demon illusions so early and even force out your immature Heart Demon using this opportunity and y it with one strike means that your Heart Demon Tribtion will be much easier."


    "It is all thanks to the blessings from my seniors," Tang Jie sincerely said.


    Without the help of Luo Hanzhen and the monkey, he never would have gotten this far.


    The monkeyughed and said, "So then, what are you still waiting for? Get up to the peak and ept the sect''s hidden legacy!"


    Tang Jie was startled. "Right now? I still have time, so why not wait¡­"


    "No time, no time at all! In the Water Moon Paradise, never say that you still have time! You are 138 meters from the peak, but who can say when you''ll actually get there!?" the monkey said before erupting inughter once more.

 Chapter 468: Climbing to the Summit (1)

    Chapter 468: Climbing to the Summit (1)


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Climb now?


    Tang Jie was confused.


    Although he had been cultivating constantly on the terrace for 72 days and he had made some progress, he felt like he still had some way to go before he could reach the summit.


    He still had 78 days left, but the monkey said that he didn''t have any time.


    What did that mean? Why did it say that?


    Perhaps the key was on that summit.


    Climbing to the summit was merely the process. Standing at the highest ce andprehending the legacy left behind by his predecessor was the reward.


    If he looked at things this way, he truly didn''t have any time.


    But was he really capable of making it through that tough road ahead of him?


    Tang Jie clearly recalled that on thesest 138 meters, one could get a reward every 10 meters. If this was the case, then he could conclude that the difficulty would also be increased. Going up wouldn''t be easy.


    To be honest, regarding this problem, Tang Jie was also confused.


    His progress in the Water Moon Paradise had to be considered incredibly fast. After all, he had gone from the peak of Nine Revolutions all the way to greater attainment in Cognitive Creation¡ªan entire tier of improvement.


    If even this wasn''t enough to get him to the top, what about the other people?


    Even if those Celestial Heart True Persons were like him and came prepared, getting through their Heart Demon Period as quickly as impossible, that would still only be an extra tier of power, just like him. Tang Jie didn''t think that their cultivation would let them get through what came next faster than him.


    And in terms of time, having inherited Luo Hanzhen''s one hundred thousand contribution points, Tang Jie wouldn''t lose to anyone.


    Thus, if Tang Jie couldn''t get to the summit, there was no reason anyone else could.


    He decided to stop puzzling over it and just go up first.


    Tang Jie started to make his way up the mountain.


    The very first step startled Tang Jie.


    The power that bound his entire body was still there, but it wasn''t as strong as he had expected. In fact, it was about the same as when he ascended to 750 meters.


    Considering his 72 days of progress, Tang Jie even felt like it was a little easier.


    After taking one step, Tang Jie rested for a while before continuing upward.


    The power on the second step also wasn''t substantial. Without the gradual increase in pressure, Tang Jie actually found it easier the more he walked.


    This made Tang Jie suspicious. He knew that if there was no problem with the steps, there had to be problems elsewhere.


    This novel is avable on bit.ly/3Tfs4P4.


    Sure enough, after getting onto the second step, Tang Jie suddenly heard a rustling.


    It was small at first, but it gradually grew louder, until it became like roaring waves. As it drew closer and closer, the sound waves began to sweep over the world.


    Tang Jie saw that a silver cloud was howling out of the distance, sweeping toward him.


    But as it got closer, he saw that this was no cloud, but a giant wave made from countless silver snakes.


    "Reaping Wind Snakes!" Tang Jie''s pupils constricted.


    When he saw these things, he knew that these were probably the Reaping Wind Snakes that Zhao Hui had told him about.


    When he had been climbing the mountain earlier, he had been wondering why the snakes had not appeared, but now, he saw theming at him in a great horde.


    He saw the scales of the snakes rise up like barbs, and their little triangr heads had sharp fangs. Although they weren''trge, seeing these countless silver snakes twined together made one''s blood run cold.


    The monkey''sughter rang out in the sky. "Charge, Tang Jie, and take out everything you have. These Reaping Wind Snakes are thest barrier on these 138 meters. Get past them and you''ll have won."


    "Are you serious!?" Tang Jie roared. "I might as well just make it another 10 meters and have the Agriculture Hall disciples get me a Fragrant Store Grass!"


    Although he had passed up the Fragrant Store Grass at 200 meters, one could select any nts below or at one''s current elevation. The higher the elevation, the more valuable were the nts avable. His not taking the Fragrant Store Grass at 200 meters didn''t mean he couldn''t take itter. But choosing low-altitude nts while standing so high was a value-losing proposition. Yet for the sake of passing this trial, such a loss was worthwhile.


    The monkey roared withughter. "As you please, as you please! If you really think that the Fragrant Store Grass can stop the Reaping Wind Snakes, then go and take it."


    "What?" Tang Jie was bbergasted. "Did Zhao Hui trick me?"


    "He wasn''t deceiving you, but all they know about is the attacks of the scattered Wind Snakes that aren''t given the protection mission, not the ones who have been given this task. On the terrace, while you''re in the illusion and being influenced by Heart Demons, the Wind Snakes won''t attack you. But when you start climbing thest 138 meters, you are guaranteed to be attacked by them, and no medicine or nt can stop their madness! Thus, it was actually correct for you to not take the Fragrant Store Grass."


    The monkey''s voice suddenly turned stern. "The only way to get through thesest 138 meters is to kill your way through! This is the wish of the ancestors of the Basking Moon Sect! While the path to supremacy requires persevering effort, it also requires bloody battle! The path of murder, the path of ughter, until there is nothing left!"


    When the monkey stopped speaking, those Wind Snakes seemed to receive an order, and they charged forward, the silver wave seeking to engulf Tang Jie.


    As he saw that silver wave approaching, Tang Jie seemed to realize something.


    "Is that how things are¡­" he muttered.


    In truth, the 750-meter terrace represented the limits of what one could reach if one managed to increase their power by an entire tier.


    As for the remaining 138 meters, one no longer needed to improve their strength, but to bring together their will,bat power, and courage!


    Only through killing could one get through the final path.


    Upon understanding this, Tang Jie let go of his final worries, and there was nothing else that confused him.


    If it was a fight, he would give them a fight. While Tang Jie might have missed out on other things on his road here, what he wasn''t missing wasbat experience.


    It was nothing but a pack of beasts, not enough to scare him.


    As that silver flood approached, heughed.


    And then he pulled out his saber.


    As the Heartbreak Saber swept out, it unleashed a wave of me that crashed into the silver horde.


    Shrieks erupted from the silver horde.


    Countless silver snakes opened their mouths and shrieked to the sky, the sound momentarily dazing Tang Jie.


    The silver Wind Snakes rammed into the wave of fire like moths to the me, their scales shing.


    One Wind Snake after another fell in the mes, seemingly verycking in defense. But more Wind Snakes charged in. The wave of firested against the silver sea for only a brief and brilliant sh before it was extinguished.


    Tang Jie swung his saber again.


    Matchless sh!


    A pir of saber energy shot forth, striking the Wind Snakes and punching arge hole in the horde.


    But this hole was swiftly filled by more Wind Snakes.


    They shed their fangs, writhed in the air, and continued to fly toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie cast aside his saber and thrust out his palm.


    Two sts of palm energy flew out.


    He then opened his mouth, and a st of wind emerged from it.


    After reaching Cognitive Creation, Tang Jie was now much faster at casting, but although he unleashed so many spells one after another, there seemed to be no end to the pack of Wind Snakes. In the face of this furious barrage, more woulde crowding in before the ones in front had beenpletely killed off.


    As two giant hands descended from the sky and sttered countless Wind Snakes, the horde finally reached Tang Jie, the sharp fangs biting down on him.


    Tang Jie''s body exploded with golden light.


    Formless Golden Body!


    Twenty years of diligent cultivation allowed the Formless Golden Body to make Tang Jie''s body tougher than steel.


    The fangs of the Wind Snakes not only failed to break his flesh, they ended up shattering on his body, leaving the mouths of the snakes full of blood.


    But the snakes didn''t care, continuing to bite down.


    Tang Jieprehended what it truly meant to be crazy and fearless. Standing on the stone steps, he was covered in snakes, and the sounds of their gnawing and biting resounded around him.


    While their bites couldn''t hurt Tang Jie, as the bites built up, even steel would eventually break.


    Plush!


    Blood bloomed on Tang Jie''s shoulder.


    A Wind Snake had bitten through the defenses on his right shoulder, two faint bite marks appearing on his tough skin.


    Even though the skin had broken the snake''s teeth, the silver Wind Snake let out a delighted shriek and rushed to squeeze into the wound.


    "Don''t even think about it!" Tang Jie grunted.


    Circting his energy, he made the area around the wound as tough as stone. The Wind Snake had only squeezed half its head into the wound before it felt the flesh harden around it. Pah! Its head exploded, leaving its body hanging out from the wound.


    Tang Jie thrust out his palms, and as he swept away the Wind Snakes, he retreated one step!


    He retreated!


    This was the first time since entering the Water Moon Paradise that Tang Jie had chosen to retreat.


    One step, two steps!


    By retreating two steps, he returned to the 750-meter terrace.


    The Wind Snakes didn''t stop their attacks because of this, but their ranks were not repopted as quickly.


    Tang Jie used this chance to unleash a salvo that wiped out all the Wind Snakes around him. As he examined himself, he found that he was covered in bite wounds, with numerous Wind Snakes hanging off him.


    Tang Jie''s face darkened.


    These Wind Snakes individually weren''t very strong, but they were numerous and vicious. It now appeared that he wouldn''t be able to reach the summit until he killed them all.


    At this moment, that annoying monkey startedughing again. "Hyahyahyahya, I know what you''re thinking. You must be thinking that since you have enough time, you can use it to kill all the Wind Snakes and then head up to the summit, right? But you''re wrong. The Reaping Wind Snakes are born from the concentrated spiritual energy of the Water Moon Paradise and have the natural talent of reincarnation. The more you kill, the more will be born. If you don''t believe me, take a look at the corpses."


    Tang Jie looked at the ground. Sure enough, the Wind Snake corpses were slowly dissolving, as if something was sucking them into the soil.


    Tang Jie cried out, "Reincarnation!"


    Havingprehended a little of the Dao of Life, Tang Jie felt a sliver of Dao Will, which let him know that these Wind Snakes had somehow been tinged with the Dao of Reincarnation. This meant that if they remained in this paradise, they could be endlessly reborn.


    This was why they were so fearless and bold. They simply didn''t fear death.


    In truth, Tang Jie wasn''t incapable of dealing with the attacks from the Wind Snakes. With the Formless Golden Body, he could resist them for a time. But the problem was that while the obstructive power of the steps wouldn''t increase for thest 138 meters, it still had its former power.


    It would take all of Tang Jie''s strength to get through these 138 meters, and it would take him an entire day.


    In other words, he had to make this arduous journey while also dealing with the Wind Snakes. This was just far too difficult.


    In reality, Tang Jie hadn''t even been able tost ten minutes. While this could be partially due to ack of experience, at most, he might be able tost an hour. It was basically impossible to push through like that, unless he passed through the Three Withering Tribtions and gained a major boost in strength, allowing him to greatly reduce the time needed to climb thest 138 meters.


    This was the principle behind the reward every 10 meters after 750 meters. It wasn''t about getting to a certain elevation and then being rewarded once, but to see how far one could ultimately reach. The farther one went, the more rewards one received.


    It was truly too difficult, the ten meters of steps like an imprable barrier.


    Realizing this, Tang Jie shouted, "This test is too difficult. Trying to force one''s way up will even put one''s life in danger. This doesn''t seem like the style of my Basking Moon Sect."


    The Water Moon Paradise was a ce for cultivation. Making things difficult wasn''t a problem, but having them risk their lives wasn''t normal.


    The monkey replied, "Since there must be bloody battle, it naturally can''t be without risk. Death is one''s constantpanion on the Immortal path. Even one charging at Violet Pce will have to risk their life. If you have no courage, then there is no need to advance. Is there any need for you toe and ask about what should be done and what shouldn''t be done?"


    Tang Jie raised an eyebrow. "Then aren''t you saying that I can do anything for the sake of pushing through and gaining victory?"


    The monkeyughed. "Of course, of course. As you said, this test is too difficult. It doesn''t just test your strength, but also how you deal with pressure. Since that''s the case, you can use whatever you have. It''s all fine so long as you can reach the summit."


    "Okay!" Tang Jie bellowed. "I was waiting for you to say that!"


    He reached into his bag and pulled something out.


    The rm Gate Banner!

 Chapter 469: Climbing to the Summit (2)

    Chapter 469: Climbing to the Summit (2)


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie threw the rm Gate Banner onto a corner of the terrace, and next came the View Gate and Stop Gate Banners, creating a triangle. Tang Jie then threw out arge amount of materials.


    "Laying a formation?" Even if the monkey didn''t understand formations, it could still tell what Tang Jie was trying. It cried out, "You''reying a formation in the Water Moon Paradise? Where did you get the materials?"


    Tang Jieughed. "I brought them in, of course. The Mystic Moon True Lord personally examined the contents of my bag and confirmed that there was no problem with them before letting me in. And you also just said that I could do as I pleased. I''ll happily ept and use whatever means I have. Everyone in the Basking Moon Sect knows that I''m proficient in formations, so what''s strange about meying down one? Sky Driving Dragon Dance Formation, rise!"


    As he shouted and waved his hands, a brilliant light rose from the terrace, transforming into a dragon that shot into the air.


    The monkey was stunned, muttering, "It''s really a formation, a formation."


    It didn''t know what sort of formation this Sky Driving Dragon Dance Formation was, but since Tang Jie had taken it out, it had to be able to do something. The monkey just didn''t understand how the Mystic Moon True Lord had allowed it.


    But the Mystic Moon True Lord was being unjustly used.


    The way of formations was broad andplicated. Although it required materials, materials were interchangeable.


    Tang Jie had long ago learned what could be brought into the Water Moon Paradise and what could not.


    He had racked his mind to figure out what materials he could bring. Alone, none of them was contraband, but when put together, they became the necessary materials for his formation.


    When the Mystic Moon True Lord saw these things, while he felt like Tang Jie was up to something, since nothing Tang Jie was bringing in was banned, he could only let them through.


    Once he was inside, Tang Jie knew that it was better to not use it if he could, so he left it as a back-up.


    Not even Tang Jie had expected that the time woulde where he would actually have to use it.


    As the dragon-shaped light danced in the sky, it unleashed a powerful breath that shot toward Tang Jie. This dragon breath burrowed into Tang Jie''s body and disappeared, upon which Tang Jie''s energy began to soar.


    "So it was a reinforcement formation," the monkey muttered.


    From the look of it, this formation primarily boosted Tang Jie''s strength so that he had more power to push through the mountain path. This was the formation that was the easiest to use in the Water Moon Paradise. Though there was a risk of being used of cheating, it was extremely helpful in the here and now.


    Tang Jie smiled. "It''s not just reinforcement!"


    He took in a deep breath, gripped his saber, and once more charged up the mountain path.


    This time, it was a real charge.


    There was no pause between his steps. It was clear that the empowerment of the dragon dance allowed him to greatly reduce the time needed to get up the steps.


    Meanwhile, the horde of Wind Snakes howled over.


    Tang Jie simplyughed and swung his saber at the air. A dragon of light rushed out and swept up the Wind Snakes.


    As he swung his saber, he continued to stride forward. Though his progress wasn''t fast, it was still as steady as Mount Tai.


    The light dragon turned into a vortex that devoured all the Wind Snakes in front of him, dissipating in the process.


    As the light dragon disappeared, Tang Jie unleashed a Matchless sh.


    The biting saber energy cut a resplendent path through the snakes, allowing Tang Jie to continue forward.


    After unleashing the Matchless sh, Tang Jie unleashed another dragon of light.


    By constantly switching between the light dragon and his own spell arts, Tang Jie was able to steadily advance.


    "Hmph, so that''s your n," the monkey grunted.


    It could now see that Tang Jie was using himself as a transfer station, constantly throwing out the power of the formation, using it to strengthen himself and exterminate the Wind Snakes. This was also a way of resisting the pull of the Water Moon Paradise, as the environment of the Water Moon Paradise would make it very difficult to utilize the power of the formation otherwise.


    Relying on the power of the formation, Tang Jie quickly reached the first 10-meter line. But he had no thoughts about getting the reward, instead continuing to advance. He had no ns on stopping until he reached the summit.


    The Wind Snakes continued to charge out in a frenzy, blocking out the sky as they came in wave after wave.


    Tang Jie firmly pressed forward, constantly swinging his saber.


    From the moment he activated the formation, there was no going back. This was because he had only brought enough materials to use it once.


    Under this frenzied assault, the bodies of snakes fell like rain, carpeting the mountain steps in silver. He was no longer stepping on firm stone, but soft and slippery snake bodies.


    The spell arts were fierce, but the snakes were fearless. Tang Jie advanced through this torrent of life and death, constantly killing.


    He had never killed like this before. Even if these snakes could reincarnate, each reincarnation was actually a new life. After all, they had only the most shallow form of reincarnation, so they did not keep any of their memories. It was their instinct that drove them to constantly charge.


    But Tang Jie didn''t care.


    ughter was one of the Twelve Great Daos, which meant that to ughter was to heed the will of the heavens.


    While Tang Jie hadprehended many things over the years, he had yet toprehend the Dao of ughter.


    This could only mean that he had killed too little.


    Since this was the case, he might as well do as the monkey had said and kill to his heart''s content!


    Fight a bloody battle all the way to the summit!


    Whether heprehended anything or not, at least he would have carved his own bloody path!


    With this thought in mind, Tang Jie kept swinging his saber.


    The farther he went, the slower he became.


    As he climbed higher and higher, the transmission channel of the formation lengthened, weakening the power that was ultimately carried to Tang Jie.


    He was halfway up, but the formation''s reinforcement had already fallen by a third.


    This meant that his ascent slowed, and the attacks of the Wind Snakes intensified.


    More and more Wind Snakes were breaking through the attacks and approaching Tang Jie.


    Although they couldn''t break through his steely skin, there was no stopping the chilling sound of their fangs biting down.


    Tang Jie started with one Reaping Wind Snake on him, and the number umted until his entire body was covered in snakes.


    Blood once more flowed down his body, bite marks covering every inch of his skin.


    But Tang Jie was unmoved, continuing to sh and advance.


    He no longer had a reason to retreat.


    Forward!


    Charge!


    With resolve in his eyes, Tang Jie climbed.


    70 meters!


    75 meters!


    80 meters!


    85 meters!


    As Tang Jie climbed higher and higher, his feet became heavier and heavier, but the zing mes he unleashed became fiercer and fiercer.


    Even the monkey was rather dumbfounded by this sight.


    By now, the power of the Sky Driving Dragon Dance Formation had weakened so that it could only provide Tang Jie with a third of its original power.


    Theft is never good, try looking at tinyurl/37k7u89t.


    It seemed like the formation''s effect would disappear before he could reach the summit.


    The monkey couldn''t help but shake its head and sigh. "He probably won''t make it. Reaching the summit is too hard withoutprehending ughter."


    The true goal behind thesest 138 meters was actually to have the climberprehend the Dao of ughter.


    Those whoprehended ughter would also grasp a sliver of Destruction, and only then could one truly kill the Wind Snakes, leaving them no chance of reincarnation.


    This was the only way to reach the summit.


    For this reason, the way to get to the summit of Water Moon Peak was essentially to increase one''s power by a tier and thenprehend ughter.


    Aplishing these two would allow one to conquer Water Moon Peak.


    s, in thest one thousand years, only a scant few had managed it.


    Tang Jie had notprehended ughter, perhaps because his nature was too tenacious, and the ughter before him was not able to affect him. There was also the fact that he hadprehended the Dao of Life recently. However, in these circumstances, relying solely on a formation to reach the summit was just too difficult!


    As the monkey sighed, Tang Jie climbed another 10 meters.


    There were only forty-some meters left of the 138 meters.


    But these forty-some meters were like an impassable barrier.


    "There''s no going any higher." The monkey shook its head.


    "Not at all!" Tang Jieughed.


    He put away his saber.


    His hands formed numerous signs, and then he thrust his hands forward and roared, "Heavenly King Mara Incantation!"


    A giant hand appeared, and under Tang Jie''s control, it pushed forward, squashing the Wind Snakes to death.


    While controlling the giant hand, Tang Jie pushed forward with all his might.


    He had stopped using the light dragon, instead using thest bit of reinforcement power left to press forward.


    But this attack was extremely taxing on him.


    The monkey shook its head. "He can''tst until the end."


    Its thousands of years of experience and insight allowed it to see that even if Tang Jie drew on all his strength, the best he could do was another 20 meters, at which point his spiritual energy would run out, the Heavenly King hand would disappear, and he would end up surrounded by Wind Snakes.


    By that point, he might not even have the strength to go down the mountain.


    "This¡­ is basically seeking death!" The monkey didn''t have it in it to insult him.


    Sure enough, Tang Jie made it another twenty-some meters before the giant hand disappeared.


    Tang Jie was at the end of his rope, and his body was now covered in bloody holes that even exposed the bone in some ces.


    The monkey shouted, "Tang Jie, you''ve lost! ording to the rules, so long as you give up on the rewards for this section of the path, I can rescue you and bring you back to the terrace."


    Tang Jie looked up, and his body rippled with red energy. "Did I ask you to save me?"


    The Blood Refining Spirit spell!


    "Hm?" The monkey was taken aback. "I didn''t think you still had a way of stimting your power. But it''s just a little trick that can''t deal with the Reaping Wind Snakes. There''s still no way for you to make it up."


    Tang Jie smiled. "I recall you saying that I could use anything, right? That''s perfect. I just so happen to have this."


    He opened his hand, revealing a small pearl.


    "That''s¡­" The monkey was dumbstruck, and then it understood, crying out, "A Heavenbane Lightning Pearl¡­ You mother¨C"


    Boom!


    A powerful explosion ripped through the mountain.

 Chapter 470: Melding the Body and World

    Chapter 470: Melding the Body and World


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    A plume of smoke rocketed into the air, nketing the sky.


    A few momentster, the smoke faded.


    Tang Jie was now standing atop the summit of Water Moon Peak.


    Thest explosion had made the monkeypletely lose it. It had never imagined that Tang Jie would bring this kind of powerful weapon into the paradise.


    But Heavenbane Lightning Pearls really weren''t banned, for the Water Moon Paradise primarily forbade bringing in items which could temporarily boost one''s power, like medicines and talismans, and also materials for formations.


    The Water Moon Paradise''s goal was improvement, and there was no problem if the items a cultivator brought were rted to cultivation. The problem arose if the items were used to fight back against the Water Moon Paradise.


    For the vast majority of people, the key was to improve oneself in a limited time so that one could get to the summit. Things like the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl were of no help in climbing the mountain.


    Most importantly, experience was to receive guidance and grow from it.


    The Basking Moon Sect wasn''t the Heavenly Extinction Sect, and the Water Moon Paradise wasn''t a battlefield or some noisy market. In thest 1800 years, no one had ever brought in a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl, so no one had ever thought about banning them.


    Of course, after this incident, Heavenbane Lightning Pearls were definitely going to be banned, but before then, if it wasn''t banned, it wasn''t banned, and nobody could do anything to Tang Jie.


    The monkey was utterly speechless. It could only grunt at Tang Jie, "Good, very good, actually bringing such a thing into the paradise. Now tell me the truth: how many more Heavenbane Lightning Pearls do you have?"


    Tang Jie replied, "None. I just had the one. If I had any more, I would definitely give them to Senior."


    "I suppose you have some tact," the monkey grunted, and fell silent.


    He had gotten twenty-some pearls from Peng Yaolong and the others, and after all the tough battles he had been through, he had only this one left. But he had never imagined that he would use it in his own sect, and he felt very embarrassed in front of the monkey.


    As he spoke, he looked around at the summit.


    It was a gorgeous sight, lush spirit trees growing all around.


    Heaven Incense Trees, Jade Sandalwood, Redberry Trees, and various other rare spirit trees grew in a forest, like an Immortal garden. Some of them even bore luscious fruit, each one a treasure.


    This summit was actually sunken inward, and in the center of the summit was a smallke. Tang Jie knew that this was the Moonlight Pond.


    A mist churned above the Moonlight Pond as if water was steaming, but the mist lingered rather than drifting away. If one stood next to theke, one would feel like one was in a fairnd amidst the clouds.


    But the learned knew that this meant something else.


    "A Spirit Lake!" Tang Jie blurted out.


    What he was seeing was clearly the evaporation of spiritual energy.


    Spiritual liquid did not actually exist in the world, and when it was exposed to the world, it would immediately evaporate into spiritual energy and dissipate. However, the Basking Moon Sect had used some method to not only condense spiritual energy into spiritual liquid, but also maintain it in that state, turning the Moonlight Pond into a giant Spirit Lake.


    The concentration of spiritual energy in the Water Moon Paradise was around twenty times greater than it was in the outside world, and this Moonlight Pond which had spiritual energy condensed into liquid was concentrated to an even more extreme degree.


    At that moment, Tang Jie finally understood why the monkey wanted him to get to the summit before his spiritual body reached greater attainment.


    Only here.


    Only here, in the middle of the Spirit Lake, couldpleting his spiritual body have the maximum effect.


    Sure enough, the monkeyughed and said, "Yes, this is a Spirit Lake! Although you cheated, in the end, you still managed to get here. Since you''re here, ording to the rules of the Basking Moon Sect, you have the right to cultivate in this Spirit Lake. You got here much earlier than I expected. You still have several dozen days left, enough for you to achieve a Heavenly Spirit Law Body."


    ''Achieve a Heavenly Spirit Law Body''?


    Tang Jie grew excited at the prospect.


    The Heavenly Spirit Law Body was another refinement of the spiritual body, with an even higher ability to merge one''s body with the spiritual energy of the world. The boosts to one''s cultivation andbat power were both better, and one''s future path would also broaden. Comparing it to an ordinary spiritual body was likeparing a nine-cycle Jade Gate to a one-cycle Jade Gate.


    Tang Jie had never nned to get a Heavenly Spirit Law Body, for he knew that this was far too distant for him to have a chance at it.


    Unexpectedly, that chance hade today.


    After hearing the monkey say this, Tang Jie readied to enter theke.


    "Hold on," the monkey said.


    Ten-some fruits drifted out of the distance.


    These fruits of all colors and scents dropped into Tang Jie''s hands.


    The monkey exined, "These are your rewards for climbing to the summit. It''s not anything to be confused about. If you were allowed to make the choice yourself, you definitely wouldn''t know which items could help you achieve aw body. Hmph, if that Ming Yekong hadn''t asked me to take care of you, I wouldn''t have bothered. Really, you used a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl, and I have to take care of you! It''s infuriating."


    "So it was Master Ming¡­" Tang Jie was rather moved.


    Knowing that it was on the request of Ming Yekong, he decided that there was no problem with the fruits and hastily ate them.


    He then took off his clothes and jumped into theke.


    As spiritual liquid wrapped around his body, Tang Jie felt sofortable that he wanted to moan.


    The restless medicinal power inside him began to spread throughout his body.


    The monkey''s voice resounded in his ear. "Don''t waste time and start cultivating. If you have the free time, it won''t do you any harm to take a stroll around the bottom of theke."


    Tang Jie turned serious, and he began to meditate and circte his mantra. As he began to absorb the spiritual liquid, his body sank straight to the bottom of theke.


    Completely surrounded by spiritual liquid, Tang Jie cultivated to his heart''s content.


    Unlike with that pitiful amount of spiritual energy he had to extract from the world, which he even had to filter out impurities from, Tang Jie could simply skip the process of extraction. It was like he was surrounded by treasure that he could pick up off the ground.


    The newborn spiritual body began to greedily absorb nutrients and grow.


    Time silently passed.


    Tang Jie didn''t know how long he cultivated, only that his spiritual body was growing stronger and stronger, drawing close to greater attainment.


    He then recalled the monkey''s words. It seemed like there was some other secret at the bottom of theke.


    That vertical eye on the center of his forehead slowly opened and began to look around.


    Around him, spiritual liquid slowly flowed, and there appeared to be nothing at the bottom of theke.


    As he was wondering what the monkey had been talking about, he suddenly sensed that there was a light in front of him.


    Tang Jie focused his vision, but for some reason, he was unable to make it out clearly.


    Tang Jie decided to just stand up and walk toward the light. As he walked, the spiritual liquidke parted of its own ord.


    When Tang Jie reached the center of the light, he found that it was a rock.


    It was a crescent-shaped white stone, lying at the bottom of theke and giving off a faint light.


    The light wasn''t vivid, but it was extremely piercing.


    The intensity of the light Tang Jie had seen from a great distance was the same as when he drew close.


    Lightly stroking it, Tang Jie found that his hand passed through it, as if the stone didn''t actually exist.


    Tang Jie was slightly surprised. He drew back his hand and saw that the stone was still sitting on theke bottom, exuding its glow.


    No matter what method Tang Jie used, he couldn''t touch this moon stone.


    Tang Jie knew that this was probably the ultimate secret of the summit.


    Thus, he decided to sit down and cultivate next to the moon stone, improving his spiritual body.


    In truth, Tang Jie didn''t actually know how one improved a Heavenly Spirit Law Body or how much he had to cultivate until he achieved one.


    He could only focus on cultivating and try to perfect everything he could.


    But as he was tempering his body, Tang Jie couldn''t help but doubt himself. Could relying purely on spiritual liquid allow one to achieve aw body?


    If he remembered correctly, the farther a cultivator went, the less they relied on spiritual energy. On many asions, what held them back wasn''t spiritual energy, but everything besides spiritual energy.


    It was just that the only thing a cultivator could control was spiritual energy.


    But could spiritual liquid allow one to do anything?


    Tang Jie didn''t believe it.


    But the monkey didn''t say anything, and Tang Jie had never heard of any method to forge a Heavenly Spirit Law Body, so he could only try and find his own path.


    While pondering this problem, Tang Jie didn''t forget to keep an eye on that white crescent moon stone.


    Just like before, it was quietly lying there, letting no one touch it.


    Today, Tang Jie was still cultivating.


    He could sense that his spiritual body was getting closer and closer to greater attainment.


    If a 25-year-old body was considered greater attainment, then Tang Jie''s body was 24 and a half years old.


    For this reason, Tang Jie felt like he was missing something.


    His intuition told him that if he broke through like this, he would never attain a Heavenly Spirit Law Body. At best, his spiritual body would be purer than most.


    There had to be some other problem that needed to be resolved.


    As he was thinking, Tang Jie suddenly felt like that stone next to him had moved.


    It was a strange feeling.


    Tang Jie didn''t see it with his own eyes, yet he still felt like the stone had moved. But when he opened his eyes, he couldn''t tell if anything had changed, and it wasn''t like he could touch it.


    Helpless, Tang Jie could only close his eyes and extend his senses.


    Finally, he sensed the stone moving.


    This time, Tang Jie was able to clearly sense that the stone was like a heart, pulsing once before falling silent.


    Tang Jie cracked a smile.


    So that was how it was?


    He finally understood.


    Sitting at theke bottom, Tang Jie stopped looking at the stone and instead sensed the stone with his mind. At the same time, his heartbeat slowed until it matched that of the stone, only pulsing every once in a while.


    Initially, Tang Jie was unable to match pace with the stone. The stone would always pulse first before Tang Jie followed.


    But gradually, Tang Jie managed to grasp the tempo, and his heartbeat synchronized with the crescent moon stone.


    Thus, a beat began to pulse through the Moonlight Pond.


    Thump!


    Thump!


    Thump!


    Thump!


    The sound grew louder and louder, heavier and heavier, gradually building to a thunderous rumble.


    The Agriculture Hall disciples looked up in shock, not realizing what was going on.


    The monkey muttered, "So he managed to find the clue? Hyahya, he truly is a kid with potential. Now let''s see if he can grasp the key."


    A rumbling resounded through the Water Moon Paradise.


    Tang Jie sat at the bottom of theke,pletely immersed in matching his heartbeat with the stone.


    He could sense that each heartbeat brought him a little closer to the stone.


    But no matter how close he got, there seemed to be some membrane between them, preventing him from actually touching it.


    Thus, he could only wait, resonating with the moon stone without knowing what to do next.


    The days went by, but Tang Jie couldn''t grasp that final step. Meanwhile, his spiritual body drew closer and closer to greater attainment.


    Was he still going to fail?


    Tang Jie inwardly sighed.


    He was basically sure now that when his spiritual body reached greater attainment, he would lose hisst opportunity.


    At this moment, an image appeared in his mind.


    An image of a majestic mountain.


    This mountain was so tall that it was like a sword rising from the earth to pierce the heavens.


    Tang Jie was in the clouds, looking up at this mountain.


    He saw that there was a woman on the mountain, standing on the summit with her back to him.


    He couldn''t see her face, only her graceful figure.


    Just by standing there, looking up toward the heavens, she seemed like the only thing in the world.


    Tang Jie silently watched from afar.


    Dark clouds began to gather above the mountain, forming a giant vortex that was so low that it felt like one could reach out and touch it.


    The woman continued to look up at the sky. Suddenly, her sleeves extended, stirring up a hurricane.


    Then the woman flew into the sky, straight into the vortex, and disappeared without a trace.


    And then, the entire world copsed.


    "Agh!" Tang Jie shouted as his eyes flew open, a ray of light emerging from the center of his forehead.


    His body trembled as he blurted out, "The Dream Pearl Lady painting!"


    He hadn''t expected to see the Dream Pearl Lady painting here.


    But when he saw that image, he suddenly understood.


    He opened his eyes and looked at the crescent moon stone. "When the Water Moon Celestial Sovereign found his way to the Moonlight Pond of the Zephyr Mountains, he saw the golden roseclouds engulfing the moon and was inspired, using his divine connection to scoop the moon out of the water and let it bask within the light. He then questioned his heart,prehended the Dao, broke through the domain barrier, and ascended. Later on, his descendants took up his legacy and established the Basking Moon Sect. The Basking Moon refers to a sort of realm where illusion is turned into reality, wherein oneprehends the Origin Heart and the principles of the heavens¡­ I see, I understand now."


    He looked down.


    He stopped thinking about the stone, instead linking his mind to the world at his feet.


    Amidst the thunderous heartbeats, his mind descended into the earth, and his entire person gradually merged with it.


    At this moment, the heartbeat disappeared.


    Tang Jie felt like he was standing amidst the world, as if he had be the Water Moon Paradise.


    By standing here, he could see all living things. He could see the Agriculture Hall disciples tending to the crops, could sense all the nts growing. With a single thought, he could even control those spirit nts. Of course, he had no ns to do such a thing. One who became one with the Heavenly Dao did not lightly meddle in the operations of the world, going with its flow rather than fighting against it.


    The world became small and confined in his eyes, and Tang Jie felt like he was getting bigger and bigger.


    The Water Moon Paradise soon became like a speck of dust. Tang Jie was in the void, the entire world before him, and he was suddenly gripped by a sense of immense grandeur.


    But this sense of grandeur had barely sprouted in his heart before augh shattered it. "Oh my, you actually managed to do it?"


    Looking around, he saw that a monkey had appeared.


    The monkey held its hands behind its back and was lying on its back in the void. When it saw Tang Jie, it chuckled and said, "How did it feel to merge with the world?"


    Tang Jie quickly replied, "It was wonderful. It turned out that the principle toprehending the Dao was already contained in the legends of the sect. It''s just that while our ancestor could go from illusion to reality, we juniors can only go from reality to illusion."


    The monkey grunted. "You were only able to aplish the transition from illusion to reality thanks to the moon stone''s power. When you can go from reality to illusion and merge with the world, then you''ve taken a small step toward cultivating the Violet Jade Mantra."


    "''The Violet Jade Mantra''?" Tang Jie was startled. "This is the Violet Jade Mantra?"


    "What did you think it was? Or did you think that looking at the Violet Jade Mantra was enough to understand? You frog in a well!" The monkey smirked. "The Violet Jade Mantra is broad and profound, not something you can casually grasp. The things outside are just used to create the foundation. It is the Moonlight Pond that contains the essence of the Violet Jade Mantra. s, this mantra can only be experienced, not transmitted through words, and only those who reach the summit have that opportunity."


    "I see." But Tang Jie knew that he was able toprehend the secret of merging the body with the world not because of what he had learned, but because of that Dream Pearl Lady painting.


    While Mei Huaping''s method of turning illusion into reality wasn''t as majestic as the Water Moon Celestial Sovereign''s merging of the body with the world, there were some simrities on a more subtle level. This was most likely due to the Dream Pearl Lady painting.


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    Tang Jie had never been able to understand this painting, but now, hepletely understood it.


    This painting portrayed none other than the secret of merging the body with the world.


    Merging the body with the world was an opportunity to enter the Dao.


    The Dao was separated intoprehending the Dao, entering the Dao, and controlling the Dao.


    A Daoprehender needed only to understand andprehend.


    One who entered the Dao needed to ce their body in the Great Dao, which was many times more profound thanprehending the Dao.


    The title of Celestial Sovereign hinged on one''s ability to enter the Dao.


    Those who couldn''t reach this level and had onlyprehended one or two Daos couldn''t possibly be called sovereigns. And even though Tang Jie hadprehended so many Daos, even if heprehended all Twelve Great Daos, he still couldn''t be called a Celestial Sovereign. This was all because he had onlyprehended, and that difference was immense.


    The Water Moon Celestial Sovereign''s merging of the body with the world gave one a chance to enter the Dao, so its value was unimaginable.


    Of course, there were levels to this. The Water Moon Celestial Sovereign had turned illusion into reality, scooping the moon out of the Moonlight Pond and subsequently breaking through the domain barrier, transcending as a Violet Pce cultivator. This was evidence of how profound his method had been.


    As for Tang Jie, he had needed the moon stone''s power to just barely force himself into an illusion.


    As for the moon stone, it had been left behind by the Water Moon Celestial Sovereign when he scooped the moon out of the water.


    It was created through a Divine Connection and existed between reality and illusion. It could not be passed down through words, only experienced, and because of the many years it had spent in the Water Moon Paradise, it had be the heart of the paradise.


    This was why Tang Jie couldn''t touch it, only be guided by it to understand the insights of his predecessor.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but emotionally sigh after understanding all that had happened.


    The monkey said, "Since you understand, you have attained the Heavenly Spirit Law Body. Celestial Heart will no longer pose any barrier to you. But the Immortal path is long, and what you haveprehended gives you only a momentary advantage. On this long journey, you must continue to diligently work hard!"


    Tang Jie respectfully said, "This disciple will remember!"


    The monkey waved its hand, and the illusion disappeared. Tang Jie returned to the bottom of theke.


    A momentter, a pir of light erupted from his body, surging to the heavens.


    Greater-attainment spiritual body!

 Chapter 471: A Small Demonstration of Skill

    Chapter 471: A Small Demonstration of Skill


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    With a greater-attainment spiritual body, Tang Jie had officially reached the peak of Mortal Shedding. In theory, he now had the right to make a charge at Celestial Heart.


    Of course, this was only in theory.


    As Tang Jie had spent far too little time at the peak of Nine Revolutions, his foundations were ultimately too unstable. This instability wasn''t about his cultivation level, but about the understanding of his own body and how to utilize his abilities. Besides that, there was also experience in general. The charge at Celestial Heart was no minor matter, so he needed to at least prepare for several years and understand the key points before carrying it out. Even though the monkey had said that Tang Jie would attain Celestial Heart without a problem, if he didn''t take it seriously, he might still fail.


    Thus, for the short term, he did not n to make the charge at Celestial Heart.


    But Tang Jie didn''t waste his time. He still had twenty-some days until he had to leave the Water Moon Paradise, and he used this time to cultivate every day. The Moonlight Pond was merged with the spiritual energy of the world, and one day in here was worth countless days in the outside world. No matter how long one stayed, one wouldn''t get tired of it. In his free time, Tang Jie conversed with Zhao Hui and the others, each person giving their opinion and using the strength of others to make up for their weaknesses. They were rather happy days. asionally, even the monkey woulde over. It had lived for a very long time, and it had a prating insight. A casualment from it would be enough to enlighten Tang Jie and the others.


    The twenty-some days passed in this manner, and it was soon thest day, time for Tang Jie to leave.


    The monkey came personally to send him off, patting him on the shoulder. "Good kid, it''s finally time for you to go. Once you''re gone, I don''t know how long I''ll have to wait until another persones who can reach the summit."


    Tang Jie was curious and asked, "How many people were able to reach the summit of Water Moon Peak?"


    The monkey scratched its head. "I can''t remember, but it''s probably five or six. It''s difficult to reach the summit, and it''s always been only the most outstanding geniuses who can reach it. You not only have to improve by a tier, you must alsoprehend the Dao of ughter. It''s too hard."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "It seems like I''m the only one who has reached the summit withoutprehending ughter."


    To his surprise, the monkey shook its head. "That''s not the case. There was one more who didn''tprehend ughter and reached the peak."


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    "Oh? Who was it? Was it the Sword Holder or Sect Master Ling Xiao?" Tang Jie asked.


    A strange look appeared in the monkey''s eyes as it shook its head. "Neither of them. His name was Cang Qingfeng."


    "''Cang Qingfeng''?" Tang Jie was surprised. He recalled that this name had appeared on the academy''s record wall. So this person is so formidable that not only did he break multiple records at the academy, he was also of such astounding aptitude after entering the sect. Not only did he enter the Water Moon Paradise, he also reached the summit withoutprehending ughter. Thinking this, he asked, "Then what status does this person have in the Basking Moon Sect now?"


    Unexpectedly, the monkey shook its head and answered, "This person is no longer in the Basking Moon Sect. Apparently, he betrayed the sect for some reason, and his current location is unknown." The monkey heaved a sigh. "A pity. That was a real genius."


    Tang Jie was bbergasted, but the monkey was no longer interested in talking with him.


    It looked up at the sky and said, "The time is up, so hurry up and leave!"


    It pointed a finger, and Tang Jie turned into a rainbow and flew off, vanishing from the Water Moon Paradise.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Tang Jie''s vision blurred, and then it returned to normal.


    When his vision returned, he found himself outside the Hall of Divine Conference.


    A tower loomed in the distance, solemn and holy.


    Tang Jie''s heart shivered. He knew that his period of secluded cultivation hade to an end.


    He prostrated in the direction of Starsnatch Pagoda and said, "Four hundred days in the Water Moon Paradise; forty years of wind and frost, rain and dew! Tang Jie will engrave the kindness he received in his bones! I thank True Person Luo for his grace and the Basking Moon Sect for its favor!"


    A soft chuckle came from the hall. "Although you like to y tricks, at least you know how to be grateful. Go, then, and work hard. Don''t let down the expectations of others."


    It was the Mystic Moon True Lord''s voice.


    Tang Jie respectfully withdrew.


    After leaving Starsnatch Peak, Tang Jie headed to Sunwatch Peak instead of returning to his cave estate.


    He needed to find Wei Tianchong.


    It had been more than a year since he had entered the paradise, and he didn''t know how everyone else had been faring, so he went to Wei Tianchong first to understand the situation.


    When he arrived at Sunwatch Peak and asked, he found that Wei Tianchong wasn''t there and was out on a mission. Thus, he could only go and find Qi Shaoming.


    At least Qi Shaoming was around, and he was delighted to see Tang Jie. The two of them began to avidly discuss recent developments.


    Tang Jie was relieved to hear that everyone was doing fine.


    As for Qi Shaoming, he was dumbfounded when he learned that Tang Jie was at the peak of Mortal Shedding.


    He had entered Cognitive Creation when Tang Jie had entered the paradise, and while he knew that Tang Jie woulde out of the paradise with a higher cultivation level, he didn''t think that Tang Jie would surpass him by this much.


    After all, there was still a long distance between Cognitive Creation and the peak of Mortal Shedding. Currently, Qi Shaoming had only just begun to expand his Spirit Will, not even having reached Spirit Will Transmission, let alone the Three Withering Tribtions.


    "Before you entered the paradise, I was three to five years ahead of you in cultivation, but now that you''ve been in there, you''ve left me thirty to fifty years behind. Really¡­" Qi Shaoming shook his head.


    Tang Jie smiled. "Don''t be discouraged. You possess incredible talent, outstanding aptitude, and a wise teacher to guide you. So long as you steadily advance, the gap will only get smaller. The path of cultivation extends far into the distance, so there is no need to be anxious over a single moment. Besides, we''re brothers, so what does it matter who''s above and who''s below?"


    Qi Shaoming felt much better after hearing this. "Back when we were at the academy, when I saw you surpassing me, I felt very ufortable and even challenged you, trying to defeat you to prove myself. But now that I think about it, this was very senseless. Yes, you''re right. We''re brothers, so if we want to strive to be better than someone, it should be against outsiders. If anyone is unconvinced, they should be like you and go and kill one hundred Beast Refining Gate disciples. If they do that, they''ll naturally receive the sect''s favor."


    Tang Jieughed. "I only came to ask about how my friends were doing. Since everyone is fine, I can rx. But on the matter of my breakthrough, I would like you to keep it a secret for now. If anyone asks, just tell them that I''ve entered the Three Witherings."


    He had asked the same of Zhao Hui and the others.


    As for major figures like the Mystic Moon True Lord, he naturally couldn''t order them to do anything, but he trusted that no one would try to ask the Mystic Moon True Lord anything.


    "Hm? You just came out and you''re already up to something big?" After a momentary pause, Qi Shaoming understood what Tang Jie was hinting at. It was clear that it wasn''t just his strength that had grown in thest few years, but also his experience in dealing with people.


    "It''s nothing. I''m just taking precautions. Some things are better kept hidden," Tang Jie indifferently said.


    The two of them talked a little while more, and only then did Tang Jie rise and return to Immortal Spring Peak.


    Upon returning to his estate, he saw that Yiyi was sitting on thatrge rock he usually cultivated on, a very serious look on her little face. She was very diligently cultivating, and next to her, Shi Jingzhai was ying around with the rabbit fiend.


    Upon seeing Tang Jie return, Yiyi shouted excitedly and rushed into Tang Jie''s embrace like a swallow.


    Four hundred days of cultivation meant that Tang Jie had been away from his cave for more than a year.


    He had never been separated from Yiyi for this long before, so it was hard to me Yiyi for missing him so badly.


    Hanging a little arm around his neck, Yiyi angrily said, "Didn''t you say that you would be back in one hundred days? How did it end up being four hundred? You can''t be trusted!"


    Tang Jie told Yiyi about everything he had experienced in the paradise.


    The story was very long, and by the time Tang Jie finished, it was dark outside.


    Yiyi sat in Tang Jie''sp, sucking on her finger. "Is that what happened? So you''re now at peak Mortal Shedding with a Heavenly Spirit Law Body, half a step from Celestial Heart?"


    Tang Jie smiled. "Yes. Ten days in the paradise is like one year outside. I guess you can consider me an old monster who has cultivated for nearly one hundred years now."


    "Old monster, old monster, old monster!" Yiyi pointed at Tang Jie andughed so hard that she bent over.


    "What about you then, Yiyi? You reached upper-grade Mind Opening ten years ago. You should have reached the threshold for a breakthrough by now, right?"


    Yiyi grunted and looked away. "It''s not that fast."


    But her little fit actually gave her away. It was clear that she wasn''t far from a breakthrough.


    She had consumed an enormous number of precious fruits in the Beast hidden realm, going to sleep and waking up at the upper grade. Her strength had soared, and she hadn''t been far from Transformation. After 11 years of cultivation, she had begun to gradually grasp the threshold to a higher realm.


    One human and one sprite had both reached the threshold to a higher realm. The joy in their hearts could easily be imagined.


    That night, Tang Jie and Yiyi celebrated on Immortal Spring Peak.


    He bought wine and meat and they happily feasted away on the summit.


    Tang Jie sat on arge rock on the summit. Yiyiy on Tang Jie''sp, her eyes hazy from alcohol. "Big Brother, when you reach Violet Pce, reach Immortal tform, and you''re able to freely roam the myriad domains, will you bring me with you?"


    Tang Jie replied, "Big Brother will take you wherever he goes."


    "Big Brother is a liar! Big Brother didn''t take me into the Water Moon Paradise!"


    "That''s because the sect didn''t let me."


    "Then won''t there be other ces that won''t let you in the future?"


    Tang Jie smiled. "Not unless they''re in the Basking Moon Sect. Why should I keep to the rules of other sects? If anyone dares to separate the two of us, your big brother will get rid of them!"


    "Mm!" Yiyi very seriously nodded.


    Suddenly, Tang Jie raised an eyebrow and slightly sat up.


    Yiyi immediately sensed what he was doing.


    Her expression unchanged, she turned to look at Tang Jie and said, "Big Brother, don''t be afraid. Although you''ve entered the Three Witherings and your strength has fallen, I''ll protect you. You''ll be fine."


    Tang Jie smiled. "Is that so? Then Yiyi has to show me what you''re capable of."


    "Okay. Big Brother, just watch." Yiyi pped her hands, and numerous vines crept outward, forming a tight that engulfed arge swath of the summit.


    Tang Jie nodded. "Good enough. They shouldn''t be able to run."


    He reached into his bag, took out the Heartbreak Saber, and unleashed a wave of saber energy.


    "Misunderstanding! We''re all fellow disciples¡­" A figure flew out of a bush, firing off several wind bolts at Tang Jie''s saber energy as they did. But one of the wind bolts was a little off-course and ended up shooting at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie ignored it, letting the bolt strike him as he snorted, "A real fellow disciple wouldn''t be sneaking around, nor would they try to test my power after being discovered. You must have had a tough time, keeping a watch on me thesest few years. Let''s end that today!"


    He swung his saber, unleashing saber energyced with cold killing intent at his adversary.


    That person sensed the thick killing intent from Tang Jie and was aghast. He had never imagined that Tang Jie would want to kill someone right after leaving seclusion, and he immediately realized that Tang Jie had probably been ready for this.


    Not only had Tang Jie been ready, he had been waiting for this day for several years. It was just that he hadn''t expected this person to appear only when he left seclusion.


    The saber energy shot toward the man''s face like a bolt of lightning.


    That man reacted quickly, hastily firing off a row of wind bolts while shouting, "This is truly a misunderstanding. I''m Zheng Zhi of the Secret Hall. I was taking a stroll here when I saw that Junior Brother Tang was here. Wanting to y a trick on you, I concealed myself and got close. I had no ill intentions."


    "Since you were taking a stroll, how did you know that it was me here?"


    Zheng Zhi hastily replied, "This one was fortunate enough to see Junior Brother once, so when I saw your face again, I naturally recognized you."


    "You''re sure you saw my face?" Tang Jie''s voice was as ethereal as a ghost''s.


    Zheng Zhi was startled, and then he saw Tang Jie raise his head. The face before him was that of aplete stranger, not Tang Jie''s at all.


    "How could this be?" Zheng Zhi cried out in shock.


    While he was in shock, Tang Jie''s saber energy mmed into him.


    There was a ng, and Tang Jie''s lethal strike was stopped cold, blocked by something.


    Tang Jie wasn''t surprised in the slightest. "Godhead Armor¡­ you''re actually wearing it."


    Zheng Zhi was stunned. His identity as a spy of Godhead Pce was now exposed, making any argument from him pointless. Now, it was either "kill" or "be killed".


    "Hmph!" Zheng Zhi said, "Tang Jie, I admit that you''re strong, but since you''re in the Three Witherings, your strength has fallen. There''s no saying who will win in a battle between us!"


    A red cloud gathered in his hands.


    Zheng Zhi was a Cognitive Creation cultivator, and he had arts from both Godhead Pce and the Basking Moon Sect, so he was no weakling. Now that he had been exposed, Zheng Zhi felt like this wasn''t necessarily a bad thing. He might be able to seize Tang Jie here, aplishing a great feat for Godhead Pce.


    There had been no news from He Chong ever since he had entered the Nine Executions Immortal Formation with Tang Jie''s original body, and Godhead Pce had believed that the matter had been settled with that.


    But to their surprise, in thest few years, Tang Jie had established a trading rtionship with the Seven Absolutions Sect, and he had sold several ten-thousand-year spirit nts to the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect and Godhead Pce were mortal foes, and this matter naturally couldn''t be kept a secret from Godhead Pce. Thus, after having dropped their suspicion of Tang Jie, Godhead Pce once more grew suspicious of him.


    But after what happened with Gu Changqingst time, Godhead Pce didn''t immediately take action, instead sending people to keep an eye on him. This caused Tang Jie''s n to use himself as bait to fail. For many years, Godhead Pce never did anything, discounting only that minor scuffle in the Beast Garden.


    But this time, Godhead Pce''s spy in the Basking Moon Sect had finally lost his patience.


    The reason was none other than that Tang Jie had entered the Three Withering Tribtions.


    It had already been confirmed that Tang Jie had entered the paradise at Nine Revolutions.


    For this reason, everyone concluded that the best case for Tang Jie was that he had seeded at breaking into Cognitive Creation. That he had entered the Three Witherings was proof that Tang Jie had made incredible progress, but few people would believe that he had even managed to ovee the Three Witherings.


    For this reason, when Tang Jie came out and let out that he had entered the Three Witherings, Zheng Zhi and the other Godhead Pce spies didn''t doubt it, and they all believed that this was an excellent chance to capture Tang Jie. Whether or not he was actually the Tang Jiye Godhead Pce was searching for, it would still be a big contribution to their sect.


    Zheng Zhi was the first of them to make his move.


    He firmly believed that if he went all-out, he had some hope of defeating Tang Jie. But in the next moment, he learned how gravely mistaken he was.


    A raging cloud of me assailed Tang Jie.


    The Red Cloud Hand was a spell art that Zheng Zhi had cultivated for many years, and to a formidable level.


    But Tang Jie simply gave the red cloud a cold look.


    And then, he breathed in.


    The me cloud was pulled in by Tang Jie, turning into two red pirs of me that were sucked into Tang Jie''s nostrils like two red trails of snot. Just like that, the red cloud was gone.


    "H-how?" Zheng Zhi was dumbfounded.


    With this simple action, he had gotten rid of Zheng Zhi''s spell art. This was a sign that the gap in strength was simply enormous.


    Tang Jie sheathed his saber. "You like to use fire? Then I''ll return it to you."


    He snorted, and the two snakes of me emerged from his nose and lunged at Zheng Zhi. Zheng Zhi hastily raised his palms to block his own attack. He had cultivated the Red Cloud Hand for many years, so he was confident in his resistance to these mes.


    But when the wave of mes passed, all they left behind was a scorched Zheng Zhi.


    A pair of snow-white eyeballs blinked as Zheng Zhi struggled out, "This¡­ how¡­ could¡­"


    "Idiot." Tang Jie smirked. "Yiyi, handle him. Leave him alive."


    He turned and left.


    This guy had been so weak that Tang Jie had lost interest in him after that small sh.


    "Rx, Big Brother; leave it to me." Yiyi chuckled as she rubbed her hands. She waved her hands, and arge number of nts began to twine together¡­

 Chapter 472: Blood Bean

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    "No! Please, no!"


    Zheng Zhi''s wails came from the depths of the Immortal Spring cave estate.


    Yiyi raised her head, nced into the cave, and then dropped her head.


    After a little while, the wailing stopped.


    Tang Jie carried out a corpse and threw it into the yard.


    Several vines wrapped around it and dragged it into the earth. While cultivators who had yet to reach Celestial Heart couldn''t form a spirit rain, after they died, their bodies would exude spiritual energy that could serve as excellent fertilizer for the surrounding soil.


    "Did you get anything from him?" Yiyi asked without raising her head.


    "Ackey whose knowledge was limited. All he knew was that he was ordered to deal with me if he had the chance. He didn''t even know who his contact was. But this is fine. Since they didn''t know each other, it will be difficult for them to determine who''s dead and who''s not. Everyone is operating on their own, which is perfect for getting them all to send themselves to their deaths," Tang Jie said as he wiped the blood off his hands, his voice tinged with displeasure.


    "Big Brother."


    "Mm?"


    "For the next interrogation, can''t you bring me along?" Yiyi looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie frowned. "You''re still young. I don''t want you to face such cruel things this early."


    "It''s not like I''m a kid! I''m just small!" Yiyi shouted.


    Tang Jie was startled.


    He saw Yiyi standing right in front of him, and while she only reached his waist, there was a very stern look on her face.


    Yes.


    Now that he thought about it, Yiyi had been with him for more than twenty years.


    Even though she had remained cute and child-like all this time, this was only because sprites had a naturally long lifespan. But given how long she had been with Tang Jie, she had probably already understood many things that she hadn''t been meant to understand.


    Realizing this, Tang Jie smiled and lightly nodded. "Yes, I shouldn''t underestimate you. That being the case, you can also participate in these matters, but not including this¡­ I don''t want you to be like that. Yiyi, I can ept you as myrade in battle, killing my enemies, but I can''t ept you being with me and delighting in the cruel torture of others. Do you understand me?"


    Yiyi lightly nodded. "I know. But you can''t be by my side every time, right?"


    "¡­True. If that day reallyes, I permit you to do anything."


    A smile bloomed on Yiyi''s face, and she threw herself into Tang Jie''s embrace.


    Pulling on his hand, she said, "Come."


    "To where?"


    "To see the garden!"


    She sprinted off while holding Tang Jie''s hand, bringing him to the garden in the back of the cave estate.


    Tang Jie discovered that this ce had beenpletely transformed in the year he had been gone.


    Various spirit nts were blooming in the garden. Most of them had been nted ten years ago, and in the long period of time, they had been in a hibernating state.


    Now, these spirit nts had finally matured. Some of these spirit nts that had been growing for ten-some years now had the effects of those that had been growing for several dozen years. Those that had received particr care from Yiyi even had the effect of one-hundred-year nts.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but sigh in praise. With Yiyi, he was saving quite a lot of money on herbs.


    It had to be understood that Tang Jie would be facing Celestial Heart next.


    Charging at Celestial Heart wasn''t only extremely difficult and dangerous. It was also extremely expensive.


    From what Tang Jie knew, the most basic preparations for the charge at Celestial Heart would cost him nearly one million spirit coins, and this wasn''t even counting the extremely difficult-to-obtain Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill.


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    The Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill was a necessary medicine for a cultivator charging at Celestial Heart, raising their chances of sess by several percentage points. Each one was extremely valuable and couldn''t be bought with money. The method to get it was the same as to enter the Water Moon Paradise. One first had to aplish some great achievement, which would unlock a special contribution point exchange: ten thousand contribution points per pill.


    This was the Basking Moon Sect''s method of controlling its disciples. As they grew stronger, the demands on them would also increase. Thus, no matter how much stronger one became, one would only seek more, not less, from the sect.


    And to get all these nice things, one had to perform great feats for the sect.


    But this wasn''t what Yiyi wanted to show Tang Jie.


    In the very depths of the garden, in an isted area, a de-like bean nt grew as tall as a tree, its leaning body covered with sharp teeth. It appeared like a saber thrust into the ground.


    This was that king bean Tang Jie had nted long ago.


    Currently, there was a pod hanging from the top of the king bean.


    Yes, a single bean pod hung from the top of the king bean all by itself, as obvious as could be.


    "It''s grown a bean pod?" Tang Jie said in delight.


    "Mm!" Yiyi firmly nodded. "It came out half a month ago. It will probably need a few more days to ripen."


    "Thirteen years! It''s finally bearing fruit," Tang Jie muttered.


    "It''s thirty years!" Yiyi seriously corrected. "I''ve helped it get an extra seventeen years."


    "Thirty years to bear fruit! I really have to wonder how many beans it will give, and how strong they will be," Tang Jie sighed.


    "One bean," Yiyi replied. "There are three beans in the pod, but only one wille out. Before theye out, they have to fight against each other, and only the winner can emerge."


    As a sprite, and as their caretaker for so long, Yiyi was very familiar with how these beans worked.


    Tang Jie was startled. "Is that how it is? Then do you know how strong it will be?"


    Yiyi solemnly said, "Very strong!"


    Not much could make Yiyi turn solemn.


    Tang Jieughed. "It seems like we''re going to have another trump card soon."


    Most of his trump cards were already known to his opponents. He was in dire need of new ones.


    It now appeared that this de-like bean sprout hade at just the right time.


    Ten dayster.


    The bean pod on the de finally burst, and a blood-colored bean flew out, tumbling toward the ground.


    A vine moved to coil around the bean, but unexpectedly, the blood bean changed directions mid-air, avoiding the vine and continuing its descent.


    "Don''t let itnd!" Yiyi called out.


    Just when the blood bean was about to touch the ground, a powerful energy erupted from below, sending it back into the air. And then a hand reached toward it.


    The blood bean let out a shriek and continued to try and dodge.


    But this time, more vines twined together, forming a that enclosed the blood bean.


    This time, there was no escape.


    But the blood bean continued to bounce around like a ball, causing the of vines to groan as if it was restraining some giant beast.


    Tang Jie was bbergasted. What sort of fruit had the de bean sprout produced?


    "Just how strong is it?" Tang Jie muttered.


    "Won''t you know once you try it out?" Yiyi waved her hand, tightening the so that the blood bean could no longer move.


    "''Try it out''? But won''t it be done after one use?" Tang Jie asked.


    "This one is different," Yiyi replied.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The Mountain of Heavenly Secrets.


    Tang Jie strode into the Hall of Profundity.


    The one on duty was the same person who had issued him the Beast Garden mission all the way back then, Tie Feng.


    Upon seeing Tang Jiee in, Tie Feng went to wee him. "So it''s Junior Brother Tang! Junior Brother, congrattions on returning stronger from the Water Moon Paradise."


    Tang Jie had been back for a few days, and basically all of the Basking Moon Sect knew that he was back, Tie Feng being no exception.


    Tang Jie smiled. "Senior Brother Tie, thank you for your kind words. This junior brother had a small harvest from the Water Moon Paradise, and my cultivation level rose somewhat, but this strength¡­ haha."


    Tie Feng naturally understood what thisugh meant, smiling as he replied, "Everyone has to go through the Three Withering Tribtions, and since you have to go through it, it''s better to get it done sooner thanter. Moreover, Junior Brother''splexion looks rather healthy, so you''ve probably passed the mortal death phase and experienced the birth of the spiritual body, yes?"


    Tang Jie smiled and said nothing. This matter involved one''s cultivation secrets, and people normally wouldn''t talk about it. Not only that, to protect themselves, cultivators would even use spell arts to disguise themselves and put out false impressions so that their enemies wouldn''t know how strong they actually were.


    Tie Feng knew this, and this was just a passingment on his part, with no hope of getting a real answer. He then said, "What mission does Junior Brother need? Follow me, and I will do my best to get it for you."


    This was one of the advantages of entering the Water Moon Paradise.


    Having entered the Water Moon Paradise meant that one was favored by the sect, represented a personage with a very promising future. Unless one was sick in the head, no one would dare to provoke Tang Jie.


    That Yu Yan back then had been extremely arrogant and conceited, but when Tang Jie returned eleven years ago, Hall Master Xu Baibing had personally decreed that Yu Yan would be demoted from steward to disciple, and despite his age, he was currently running around with all sorts of busy work.


    Tang Jie said, "I want a simple killing mission. It''s best if it''s a mission to kill some upper-grade Mind Opening fiend."


    Tie Feng immediately frowned. "This sort of mission isn''t that easy to find. We''re the Secret Hall, so we normally act for the sake of other halls, and we don''t get many of these kill missions. Let me look around in the general hall missions."


    After searching for a while, he finally said, "Found one. Medicine Hall Steward True Person Liu wants to refine a Thunderspirit Pill, so he''s seeking an upper-grade Mind Opening Thunder Wolf. Whether it''s dead or alive, so long as that Thunder Wolf has a horn on its head, he will pay one contribution point or three hundred spirit coins per wolf."


    "Rather cheap," Tang Jie indifferently said.


    "Yes. Thunder Wolves live in rather tricky terrain, and there''s a lot of danger involved. That True Person Liu is being a little stingy, only offering so little. That''s why no one is willing to take his mission."


    "Well, if that''s what it takes. I''ll ept the mission," Tang Jie ultimately said.


    Tie Feng watched him leave and then mumbled, "A person with so much potential taking a small-time mission like that? It seems like his strength really must have fallen by a lot."


    He had just spoken when someone came inside and asked, "Senior Brother Tie, whose strength did you say had fallen?"


    Tie Feng knew the disciple who came in, so he replied, "If it isn''t Senior Brother Hong! I was talking about Tang Jie."


    "Oh? One of the legendary prodigies of my Secret Hall, Tang Jie, was just here?" That Senior Brother Hong was clearly excited, presumably anxious to meet a celebrity.


    Tie Feng chuckled. "Indeed. He just took a mission to hunt an upper-grade Mind Opening fiend from me and then left. When he was at Nine Revolutions, he took on even more difficult missions, but now that he''s at Cognitive Creation, he''s actually taking easier missions. It''s clear that his strength must have been greatly affected."


    "I see. So the rumor was true¡­ good, good." Senior Brother Hong dropped his head and mumbled, a strange twinkle in his eyes.

 Chapter 473: Army

    Chapter 473: Army


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    A mountainous area on the western end of the Zephyr Mountains.


    This was the hunting area under the Basking Moon Sect''s control, also called the Nature Zone.


    Every year, the Basking Moon Sect would have numerous missions that concerned hunting fiends, both to obtain resources and to temper its disciples.


    Fiend beasts weren''t stupid, and they naturally thought of ways to deal with cultivators, some of them evenying traps to fight back against and kill their foes. For this reason, one could catch a good show at the hunting area almost every day if one was looking for it.


    While the fiends failed the vast majority of the time, they asionally seeded.


    For this reason, every cultivator that entered the hunting area had to be ready for failure and death.


    Thundercrack Ridge.


    This ce was on the southern end of the hunting area, and it was where Thunder Wolf packs were most often spotted.


    Tang Jie walked through a dense mountain forest, followed by Yiyi and Shi Jingzhai. The three moved around casually, like they were just taking a stroll.


    Thunder Wolves weren''t easy to find, and when they reached Mind Opening, they became even more cautious. But with his Celestial Eye, Tang Jie didn''t have much of a problem. As he moved around, the vertical eye in the center of his forehead saw all in his surroundings.


    "Two kilometers to the east, there''s a small pack of around twenty wolves. Three kilometers to the west is a pack of forty," Tang Jie said.


    "Which one should we exterminate first?" Yiyi asked.


    Tang Jie considered the question. "The smaller pack. This trip is mostly for testing, not for making money."


    The trio moved to the east.


    It wasn''t long before they reached the small wolf pack. From a distance, they saw arge and muscr Thunder Wolf leading a pack of Thunder Wolves around the mountain. When the pack spotted Tang Jie, it didn''t immediately attack. Instead, the wolves backed away, wariness in their eyes.


    In these years they had spent in the Zephyr Mountains, they had long agoe to understand that they were the hunted, not the hunters. The appearance of every human meant potential disaster.


    That wolf king saw Tang Jie approaching and suddenly said, "Sir, have youe seeking wolf horns? How many do you seek? If you are willing to spare our lives, we are willing to resolve this matter without a fight."


    Tang Jie was taken aback by these words.


    Fiends had savage natures, and even when they reached Mind Opening, they rarely begged for mercy. Their intelligence mostly manifested in battle, not diplomacy. Most fiends didn''t have the personality to suffer in silence.


    But this fiend wolf leader had seemingly been enlightened, and Tang Jie''s view of the world was broadened once more.


    In any case, his primary goal today wasn''t hunting, so after some thought, he nodded. "Since you suggested it, give me three wolf horns. In addition, I want your strongest wolf to fight a battle with me, though it doesn''t need to be to the death."


    When the Thunder Wolf leader learned that only one Thunder Wolf would die at most, it turned and roared. A muscr upper-grade Thunder Wolf stalked out from the pack.


    Tang Jie smiled and took out the blood bean. Instead of throwing it out, he first put a drop of his blood on it and cast a blood controlling curse. This blood bean was different from the others. It could only be used with a controlling spell, or else it would attack its owner.


    Tang Jie then tossed out the bean, using the Sowing Beans into Soldiers spell art. In mid-air, the blood bean turned into a small person.


    But unlike the other beans, this one had a blood-colored crown and golden armor, and it held a scepter in its hand. It truly did appear rather like a king.


    The moment the bean kingnded, the first thing it did wasn''t to deal with the Thunder Wolf, but instead to look around and then start shouting at Tang Jie in an infuriated tone, as if lecturing him. Everyone was left dumbfounded, even that Thunder Wolf, which was so surprised that it didn''t attack.


    Tang Jie looked at the bean king and then asked Yiyi, "What is it doing?"


    Yiyi replied, "He seems to be asking for soldiers. He says that he''s a king, so he can''t be sent out for just any battle."


    "Holy shit!" Tang Jie''s vision blurred, and he almost fainted from anger.


    If I give you soldiers, then what do I need you for?


    The Thunder Wolf grew impatient. It charged out with a howl, swiping at the bean king.


    The bean king was clearly caught off guard and was sent flying.


    But he was rather sturdy. Even after being swiped at by an upper-grade Mind Opening fiend wolf, he simply shouted angrily.


    As the Thunder Wolf charged again, the bean king pointed his scepter, and a thunderbolt shot out and struck the Thunder Wolf, bowling it over.


    Tang Jie narrowed his eyes. "Interesting¡ªhe can use spell arts."


    But Thunder Wolves could also use lightning, so despite that thunderbolt''s power, it hadn''t done much. The wolf was enraged and lowered its head. Lightning gathered on its silver horn, and a brilliant bolt shot out.


    The bean king yelped and jumped here and there to dodge. He then angrily red at Tang Jie and continued to shout. Apparently, he resented Tang Jie for not giving him any soldiers.


    "How useless!" Yiyi unhappily folded her arms.


    After spending all that time, she had ended up cultivating this good-for-nothing who had more bark than bite. She was extremely displeased.


    But Tang Jie seemed to finally understand. "King, general, soldier¡­ Could it be?"


    He reached into his bag and sowed some beans.


    Upon seeing the beans, the bean king happily shouted. Before Tang Jie could cast the spell, those beans turned into bean soldiers on their own, circling the bean king.


    Unlike the bean soldiers that Tang Jie created through the spell, these bean soldiers weren''t naked and holding only a saber. Some had swords and shields, others had spears, and some had bows, and all of them wore green armor.


    The thirty-some beans Tang Jie had taken out assembled into three different types of soldiers, even taking up formation.


    Tang Jie and Yiyi were dumbfounded. They had never imagined that there were so many types of bean soldiers. This was the real way of sowing beans into soldiers! Perhaps these beans didn''t even need a cultivator for thest step.


    And this wasn''t the end of it. The bean king threw his head back and shouted, and then he pointed his scepter at the soldier at the front. This bean soldier immediately doubled in size, its body brimming with muscle. Its armor turned from green to ck, and it even somehow produced a green warhorse!


    Of course, even though it was double the size and riding a horse, the bean soldier still didn''t reach Yiyi''s height, which made the whole scene ratherical.


    "A general," Tang Jie muttered.


    He nowpletely understood. When there was an army, there was naturally a general to lead it, but only a king could appoint this general. From the look of it, this probably wasn''t the extent of the variety of soldiers and generals the beans were capable of. It was just that Tang Jie hadn''t given enough for the bean king to work with, so he could only make this small force.


    As the general appeared, the bean king began to give off a red glow.


    Under the glow, the thirty-some bean soldiers also began to give off a red light. They crazily howled, and their auras grew more powerful and killing intent appeared in their eyes.


    That Thunder Wolf was rather baffled by all that it was seeing.


    As it was wondering what was going on, the bean king pointed his scepter at the Thunder Wolf.


    A momentter, the ck-armored bean general roared and led the charge at the Thunder Wolf, followed by the thirty other bean soldiers.


    Swish! Swish! Ten green arrows flew through the air, striking the wolf. The arrows were small, but sharp, and they oozed green liquid upon entering the wolf. They were poisoned arrows!


    Awooo! The Thunder Wolf howled in pain and unleashed a lightning bolt.


    As the lightning bolt came down, a shield bean soldier jumped into the air, raising the shield in its left hand and blocking the bolt.


    The powerful lightning bolt struck the shield and sent the soldier to the ground. But the bean soldier simply shouted and then stood back up.


    Tang Jie and Yiyi were stunned, and the Thunder Wolf leader narrowed its eyes.


    A shield soldier had so easily taken the strongest attack of a Thunder Wolf, and it had barely seemed troubled by it.


    Meanwhile, the mounted bean general charged, and as its warhorse was passing by the wolf, the general swept its saber at one of the wolf''s forelegs. The Thunder Wolf wailed as it flopped to the ground. Before it could stand up, the other bean soldiers charged in, instantly creating several dozen wounds on the wolf.


    In just one charge, this upper-grade Mind Opening fiend wolf was renderedpletely incapable of fighting.


    Tang Jie had a clear understanding of how strong the bean soldiers were.


    With their former strength, thirty bean soldiers working together might be able to win against a single upper-grade Mind Opening fiend, but they would suffer heavy casualties in the process, and probably only a few would survive. But now, with one charge, they had finished off the foe while suffering no casualties.


    It was clear that the bean king''s true ability wasn''t in hisbat power, but in his ability to empower his subordinates.


    From this point of view, Shi Jingzhai hadn''t been using soldiers before, but civilians. Only under the guidance of a king could the civilians be soldiers, and soldiers could be generals. Only with a king could the beans truly improve and show their use.


    The bean general turned its horse around in preparation to charge at the Thunder Wolf again. Tang Jie shouted, "Enough. Stop."


    The bean general ignored him, but before it charged, the bean king called out, and all the soldiers ceased their attack.


    Tang Jie was speechless. It appeared that though they had gotten stronger, he had lost his ability to control them.


    "What a unique species." Tang Jie was more certain now that these beans were actually a species with a very special mode of existence.


    The Thunder Wolf leader was scared witless by this scene. It growled, "You promised that you would let us go if we handed over wolf horns."


    "Of course. What of the other two?" Tang Jie asked. Wolf horns were the lifeblood of the Thunder Wolves, and they were not handed over so easily.


    The Thunder Wolf leader took a few steps back, and then it suddenly turned its head and chomped twice, killing two female wolves.


    It looked at Tang Jie. "You have three now. The rest is a gift for you."


    Tang Jie smiled. "Interesting¡­ You can leave now."


    The Thunder Wolf leader howled and led the remaining Thunder Wolves away.


    Yiyimented, "For some reason, I feel like there''s something off about this wolf."


    "Mm, wolves are proud and find it hard to suffer in silence. This Thunder Wolf was able to endure a little too much, so it''s probably plotting something," Tang Jie replied.


    "And you still let it go?" Yiyi remarked.


    "First of all, I promised them, and a man has to keep his word. Secondly, those annoying bastards have followed, so we have to get rid of them first before satisfying our curiosity. Thirdly, sometimes, you have to follow behind to discover the truth." Tang Jie smiled.


    Yiyi rolled her eyes. "I knew you would say that."


    "Alright, let''s finish this battle quickly. The faster we finish off these pursuers, the faster we can find out what those wolves are up to." Tang Jie grabbed arge handful of beans and threw them to the bean king. "When Han Xin ismanding the soldiers, it''s best to give him as many as possible. I''m giving you more soldiers, so let me see how many more tricks you have."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Five people flew through the sky.


    Their leader was a scrawny figure, but he had energetic eyes that were constantly looking down.


    Finally, the scrawny man said, "Found him. He''s at Thundercrack Ridge. He''s with that sprite and the brainless Shi Jingzhai."


    "Hmph, Tang Jie probably doesn''t have the confidence to go out on his own now that''s he in the Three Withering Tribtions. That sprite has cultivated for many years and has been carefully tended to by Tang Jie, so it''s already at peak Mind Opening. And while Shi Jingzhai might be an idiot, he''s still a Spirit Ring cultivator, so there''s no problem with treating him as a peak Mind Opening fiend. Tang Jie has his own tricks, so if the three of them work together, he can protect himself so long as a True Person isn''t sent after him." The one who spoke this time was a robed and schrly figure.


    "But we still sent one. With the Scarlet Brow True Person here, Tang Jie won''t be able to do a thing!" another person added.


    Everyone turned to the man in the center of the group of five.


    This man had scarlet brows, a dark face, and a sword slung across his back, a strange appearance all around. Although he had said nothing, he was deeply respected by the others.


    The Scarlet Brow True Person said, "Enough. Tang Jie isn''t easy to deal with, as everyone knows. Even though he''s in the Three Witherings, he still can''t be underestimated. We''ll proceed ording to the n. Fei Yu, you are good at hindering, so you will deal with the sprite and Shi Jingzhai. There''s no need to kill them. Just holding them down will be a huge contribution. Xiang Zhen, you''re good at seals, so lock down the area and prevent him from sending any messages, and help Fei Yu when he needs it. Chun Wei, you''re skilled at observation, so look out for any reinforcements. Fei Bai, your specialty is adaptability and responding to crises, so stay on the sidelines ande to the rescue if anyone is in danger. As for Tang Jie, I will deal with him personally."


    "Yes!" the other four replied in unison.


    Unlike before, these five hade prepared. They had studied Tang Jie deeply, and many of Tang Jie''s hidden cards were of no use against them.


    They flew above him and shouted, "Tang Jie, hurry up and ept your death!"


    That man called Fei Yu was the first to attack, releasing four upper-grade Mind Opening refined beasts that lunged at Yiyi and Shi Jingzhai. It turned out that this person was from the Beast Refining Gate. Because of the Gu Changqing incident, Godhead Pce had lost many of their spies in Sageheart. They didn''t have many left, and so they had worked together with the Beast Refining Gate to deal with Tang Jie. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have even been able to get together five people.


    These people weren''t Basking Moon Sect infiltrators. They had their own identities, but after this battle, the identities they had nurtured for so many years would be done for, and they would have to flee. Even so, Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate had still decided to carry out this operation, such was their hate for Tang Jie.


    As the four beasts attacked, that Xiang Zhen pushed a hand down.


    As his hand pressed down, space became like glue, and the flow of spiritual energy slowed.


    When a cultivator reached Cognitive Creation and entered the Transmission phase, they could transmit their will and influence the surrounding spiritual energy. Xiang Zhen was this sort of person. He excelled in slowing the flow of spiritual energy. This wasn''t particrly useful in a duel, but it was very useful for cutting off any messages so that an enemy couldn''t send for reinforcements.


    Chun Wei and Fei Bai were on observation duty. One observed the surroundings to guard against reinforcements while the other observed the battlefield to react to any surprises.


    This was the strength of five people, four at Cognitive Creation and one at Celestial Heart, and this was to deal with someone who had entered the Three Withering Tribtions! It was clear how much importance they ced on this mission.


    s, Tang Jie''s strength still far surpassed their expectations.


    As the Scarlet Brow True Person flew over to Tang Jie, he saw Tang Jie calmly looking up at him with a smirk on his face, as if he was already prepared for this. His heart jumped, but he ultimately muttered to himself, "Just forcing himself to remain calm."


    But he then spotted a little person wearing a golden crown on therge stone next to Tang Jie.


    What is that?


    Scarlet Brow was startled.


    He then saw that crowned little person point at him.


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    A momentter, the Scarlet Brow True Person saw countless little green men emerge from bushes and trees and lunge at him.


    Aghast, Scarlet Brow instinctively retreated, thrusting out his palms and unleashing a powerful gust of wind.


    With his Celestial Heart strength, his sweeping blow should have been enough to obliterate these little people. But to his surprise, those little green men assembled into a formation in mid-air and unleashed their own mighty blow. Countless streams of air gathered together and mmed into Scarlet Brow''s gale, unexpectedly pushing it back.


    Scarlet Brow sprinkled ck powder into the air.


    If one looked closely, one would discover that this ck powder was actually venomous insects, tens of thousands of them flying down.


    Upon seeing this, Tang Jie nned to intervene. However, the bean king waved his scepter in disdain, and the more than one hundred bean soldiers in the air stood firm.


    Thirty-some bean soldiers loosed their arrows, sending volley after volley.


    The little green arrows might have been too weak to deal with cultivators, but they cut down swath after swath of these bugs.


    At the same time, the shield-and-saber soldiers raised their shields and swung their sabers at the air, releasing wave after wave of saber energy. Their saber energies weren''t particrly strong, but they were perfect for sweeping through the bugs.


    The pikemen in the center stabbed their pikes, making each thrust with incredible uracy.


    Those venomous bugs that other people could only userge and sweeping moves to deal with were nothing more than an untrained mob to the bean soldiers, and they could kill as many as they wanted.


    Thus, moments after that ck cloud of insects had appeared, a ck rain of insect bodies descended.


    As the insects were cut down, the bean soldiers were like a veteran army, a steel wall that stood firm against the insect flood.


    Meanwhile, three mounted little people charged out. One had ck armor and wielded a saber, one had silver armor and wielded a spear, and the other had no armor, but was garbed in red and carried two scimitars.


    The three mounted warriors galloped through the air as if they were crossing a in, charging at the insect horde.


    The ck-armored general was like a savage bear. The attacks from the insects simply plinked off his armor, and every swing of his saber would ughter a mass of insects.


    The general in silver armor was like a bolt of lightning, charging with incredible speed. He didn''t intentionally seek ughter, piercing through the horde like an arrow and then charging back in, repeatedly punching holes in the insect ranks.


    But these two generals put together didn''t kill as many as the red-robed fellow.


    That red-robed bean general charged into the insect horde, jumped into the air, and then began to spin like a top, his two scimitars turning him into a circr razor that sliced through all the insects that approached him.


    Of course, although forgoing armor increased one''s mobility and lethality, the price was that this bean general''s defense was much weaker. Thus, he was the only general to be injured.


    But when he was injured, the distant king waved his scepter, and the injuries instantly disappeared.


    Thus, Scarlet Brow''s insects swiftly disappeared under the onught of the beans.

 Chapter 474: Seven Hundred Armored Soldiers Devour the World

    Chapter 474: Seven Hundred Armored Soldiers Devour the World


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The venomous insects had been in in battle.


    To tell the truth, this wasn''t strange. Those insects hadn''t been some particrly powerful existence. What was truly difficult to ept was the way in which they had disappeared.


    For eons, the favored method for dealing with venomous insects in the Rosecloud Domain was to use area spell arts. If one wasn''t enough, another would be used. In any case, there was nothing wrong with using explosive wide-area methods against these small, fast, and numerous fellows.


    There was no precedent for a battle like this.


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    With the help of the bean soldiers, Tang Jie had managed to create a sh on the battlefield.


    Honestly, let alone Scarlet Brow, even Tang Jie was astonished. He had never imagined that the bean soldiers would be this formidable, engaging in a war of man versus insect right in front of him.


    The bean soldiers cheered as if they were celebrating their victory. Some of the soldiers even began to give off a special light, and they became faster and stronger.


    Leveled up?


    Tang Jie was stunned.


    Could these bean soldiers get stronger through killing?


    But if that was the case, what happened when they disappeared?


    There was temporarily no answer, for the bean soldiers had begun their battle against the Scarlet Brow True Person.


    Under themand of the king, the more than one hundred soldiers charged at Scarlet Brow.


    These bean soldiers were capable of both fighting together and fighting separately, capable ofing together and then scattering to the wind. The Scarlet Brow True Person, despite his power, was momentarily caught off guard.


    But he was still at the Celestial Heart Realm. Once he stopped underestimating his opponents, the bean soldiers gradually began to lose ground.


    On his end, Tang Jie was able to roughly analyze what was going on with the bean soldiers.


    Putting aside the bean generals for now, the strength boost to each bean soldier was limited. Compared to the bean soldiers of the past¡ªor perhaps one could call them "bean militia"¡ªthey were about 30% stronger. But with the different soldier types and organization, and when led by a general, their actualbat strength was even higher. Thus, one hundred of these bean soldiers were capable of going against three hundred of the former bean soldiers.


    The reason these bean soldiers had failed to hold down their foe as Shi Jingzhai had once sessfully made them do was primarily that Scarlet Brow was much stronger than Yu Wanniang, and he also wasn''t injured.


    Even so, just adding more bean soldiers would probably be enough.


    Realizing this, Tang Jie liberally sowed one hundred more beans.


    The bean king clearly loved having more beans, and he excitedly shouted.


    But this time, he didn''t create more soldiers, instead creating a herd of horses.


    Once the beans turned into horses, they charged under the feet of the soldiers, and those bean soldiers instantly went from infantry to cavalry, crying out as they charged at Scarlet Brow.


    "This also works?" Tang Jie was so shocked that his jaw almost fell off.


    These mounted bean soldiers were clearly stronger than before. The Scarlet Brow True Person unleashed a Cyclone Hand, and ten-some shield cavalry raised their shields and managed to endure the strike. At the same time, several dozen spear cavalry rushed past Scarlet Brow, lights shing as their spears struck his barrier.


    Even those militia had been able to affect a True Person''s barrier, let alone these professional soldiers who had been converted to cavalry.


    Could they get even stronger?


    The king quickly gave him an answer.


    He pointed at one of the horsemen.


    Tang Jie could see that this was one of the promoted soldiers, one of the rare ones who had glowed twice. In other words, this bean soldier had leveled up twice.


    Empowered by the king, the soldier roared, and the warhorse under it reared up on its legs and turned into a white bear. A fiery light began to spread out from under the feet of the soldier.


    The fourth general.


    But for some reason, Tang Jie felt like this general was different from the other three.


    As that radiance spread out, all the bean soldiers around the white bear began to ze with mes.


    Howling, they followed the bear rider in a charge at Scarlet Brow. That doll-sized white bear swiped a paw at Scarlet Brow, and there was an explosion of light as it struck the barrier. Scarlet Brow paled in shock and pointed at the bear general with his left hand. "Die!"


    Sword energy shot at the bear.


    The bear roared and let the sword energy pierce through it. But it only swayed a little before swiping its other paw.


    Even a real bear wouldn''t be this relentless.


    Fiery riders began to m into Scarlet Brow, and as explosions rang out around him, Scarlet Brow howled and screamed.


    The cultivators who hade together with Scarlet Brow to kill Tang Jie were dumbfounded.


    What were these things? Pushing a Celestial Heart True Person this far?


    The bean king smugly shouted, and then he began to shout at Tang Jie again.


    Tang Jie asked Yiyi, "What is he saying?"


    "It seems like he wants more soldiers," Yiyi replied. "He says that if he has enough soldiers, he can kill them all."


    "That''s obvious," Tang Jie brusquely said. "I know that. The problem is that these beans are one-time-use, and I still don''t know if the beans he uses can still be used again."


    "He says that some can and some can''t."


    "Which ones can?"


    "He says that he can''t exin it in one or two sentences, but we''ll understand once we see it for ourselves."


    "¡­Fine." Fortunately, Tang Jie had umted many beans in thest eleven years, and he was fine with wasting some to see the bean king''s real power. Thus, he sowed a hundred-some more beans.


    The beans that appeared were different again, turning into golden-armored soldiers wielding spears and shields, mounted upon horses. These horses weren''t created from beans, but hade with the soldiers. Even though a single bean had produced a soldier and a horse, each one of them had an auraparable to the horsemen fighting right now, perhaps even exceeding them. It was like they were all ck-armored generals.


    The golden-armored bean soldiers didn''t attack, instead circling around the bean king.


    Upon seeing this, Tang Jie roughly understood that the king was creating bodyguards.


    Sure enough, just as the bodyguards appeared, Scarlet Brow roared and thrust his palm at the bean king.


    He had many years of experience, and though he had initially been caught by surprise, after several exchanges, he could tell that the little man with the golden crown was the center of this army. Thus, he began to attack the bean king without hesitation.


    This powerful st of energy made even Tang Jie grimace. He hadn''t expected Scarlet Brow to identify the weakness so quickly. But just when he was about to intervene, the bean king shrieked, and the golden-armored soldiers around him raised their shields, forming into a giant steel b.


    Bang! Scarlet Brow''s palm st made impact, but the shields held!


    Once the attack had been blocked, the bean king turned and angrily red at Tang Jie, babbling something.


    "He says that you''re too petty. If you were just a littleter, he would be dead!" Yiyi shouted.


    "You don''t need to exin that," Tang Jie said, blushing in shame.


    He could admit that he truly had been negligent on this point, underestimating Scarlet Brow and forgetting to protect the bean king. Fortunately, the king hadn''t forgotten about his own welfare, which was why he had personally formed his bodyguards once he had the advantage in battle.


    Now, he had bodyguards, cavalry, and generals. What could be next?


    But it appeared that the bean king wasn''t going to show him any new tricks unless he were given more beans.


    Tang Jie sowed another one hundred beans.


    But this time, the bean king simply turned them all into soldiers and sent them into battle, showing nothing new.


    Tang Jie found this somewhat of a pity.


    He felt like this world of beans shouldn''t have been this simple, that there was a chance of there being a new way of empowering them.


    And then he saw the bean king point at another soldier.


    Tang Jie saw that this was another soldier that had leveled up.


    This soldier fell back rather than attacking, and the armor disappeared, reced by a long robe. The bean soldier then pointed at Scarlet Brow, and a bolt of lightning shot from its finger!


    It wasn''t powerful, but Tang Jie and Scarlet were both stunned.


    Magic-type bean soldiers!


    As expected, this world of beans epassed everything. It had charging officers, beast-taming officers, magic officers, and there might even be healing officers andmanding officers in the future. But it seemed like all these officers needed toe from soldiers who had leveled up.


    As for those three generals that hadn''te from leveled soldiers, he still didn''t know what the difference was.


    The new soldiers finally caused Scarlet Brow to start giving ground. All he could see were bean soldiers rushing around, making him feel as helpless as a man would be when facing hundreds of mosquitoes. Of course, these bean soldiers were far stronger than mosquitoes.


    They were faster, nimbler, stronger, and more damaging. In just a few moments, Scarlet Brow began to bleed.


    Unable to take this anymore, he shouted, "What are you standing around for? Together!"


    He was shouting at Chun Wei and Fei Bai.


    They were responsible for stopping reinforcements and reacting to emergencies, but now, Scarlet Brow was calling for their aid.


    The two Cognitive Creation experts joined in and managed to stabilize the battlefront.


    Scarlet Brow was now freed up, and his palms began to unleash dark red torrents of energy at the bean soldiers. Several dozen bean soldiers had tobine their powers to block them.


    In one of these shes, as a smaller number of soldiers had joined together, Scarlet Brow''s attack sent seven soldiers flying. Throwing up blood, they were unable to get back up.


    The bean king was greatly pained by this sight. While healing the soldiers, he turned to Tang Jie and began to jabber again.


    There was no need for Yiyi to trante this time.


    "More soldiers, I know," Tang Jie said. "That''s all you know."


    He reached into his bag again.


    This time, he was going all-out.


    In any case, he had stockpiled plenty of beans in his cave estate in thest ten-some years, so it was fine to use up this entire batch. He had brought a total of seven hundred beans with him this time. Four hundred had already been sowed, and he now sowed the remaining three hundred.


    Once this was done, he showed the bean king his bag and pointed at it. "All gone!"


    Beans fell like rain.


    The bean king tedly shouted.


    He waved his scepter, and the beans turned into lions, tigers, leopards, and other fierce beasts! They roared and charged at Scarlet Brow''s people, including Fei Yu and Xiang Zhen, who had been responsible for holding down Yiyi and Shi Jingzhai.


    This guy was going to go one versus five!


    "Is he really that formidable?" Tang Jie was also shocked.


    In his own hands, he would have needed all seven hundred beans to deal with only Scarlet Brow. But the bean king intended to sweep through one Celestial Heart and four Cognitive Creation cultivators.


    The newborn beasts charged at their enemies with no semnce of formation, but they were strong and savage. Their fighting methods were akin to those primitive militia beans, lunging and biting. But they were faster, stronger, more ruthless and tenacious.


    A bear refined beast that Fei Yu had summoned was instantly covered by several dozen bean beasts. These bean beasts were ratherrge, and several dozen of them were enough topletely cover that giant bear. There were even two small bean bears who hadn''t been able to squeeze in and simply ran in circles and shouted as if they were babies wailing for milk.


    Meanwhile, the refined beast rolled around in pain. Those little guys attached to it were the craziest and most bloodthirsty wild beasts, tearing chunks of flesh off the refined beasts. In just a few moments, that refined beast had beenpletely devoured, leaving behind only white bones.


    "No!" Fei Yu was so shocked that he didn''t dare to believe his eyes.


    A powerful upper-grade Mind Opening refined beast had been devoured alive by several dozen beans! He was on the verge of a mental breakdown.


    But such things were still happening.


    Following the bear was Fei Yu''s spotted white python, and then his Spirit Sensing fox, which Fei Yu had had such high hopes for that he had allowed it to keep its intelligence. For this reason, as the fox died, it begged for mercy, which made Fei Yu''s heart twist in pain.


    Thest to fall was that Jadefeather Golden Eagle, brought down under an assault of bean birds.


    The bean beasts howled in excitement after devouring the divine beasts, their bodies shing as they also leveled up.


    Tang Jie was utterly stunned.


    He was shocked not by the power of the beans, but by the bean king''s choice.


    These bean beasts appeared to be attacking everyone, but in reality, they had been primarily targeting Fei Yu''s four refined beasts.


    Three hundred beans had been enough to fight against one True Person and two Cognitive Creation Spirit Masters, so they could naturally handle four refined beasts. And since these beans had taken the form of savage beasts, they had been able to take care of them in short order.


    And the result of the four refined beasts being handled was that Yiyi and Shi Jingzhai were now free, tipping the bnce of power.


    This was a tacticmonly seen in war, creating a local advantage that could allow one to gain victory in the overall battle.


    Tang Jie believed that this was no coincidence. Rather, the bean king had an extremely sharp mind for tactics and strategy.


    It was precisely because he could make these sorts of choices, making the proper adjustments to his troops, that he could defend against the attacks of a True Person again and again.


    With the four refined beasts dead, the three hundred bean beasts lunged at Fei Yu and Xiang Zhen. Yiyi and Shi Jingzhai joined in, and it became the case that every extra second those twosted was a miracle.


    Finally, the weaker Fei Yu failed, his barrier shattering and the bean beasts tearing away at him. Just like that, this Beast Refining Gate disciple followed his pets in being buried in the mouths of beans.


    Next was Xiang Zhen. Immobilized by Yiyi''s flower formation, he could only watch as the bean beasts tore away at him. His barrier couldn''tst against these savage creatures, and melted away. He struggled and shouted, "True Person, save me!"


    But how could Scarlet Brow save him?


    Under themand of that king, three hundred bean soldiers did all they could to hinder him, ensuring the local victory. He even sent in his bodyguards while he hid behind Tang Jie. For the sake of victory, this little guy could use everything possible. Even the tactically aplished Tang Jie was bbergasted.


    As the three hundred bean beasts were about to finish devouring Xiang Zhen, Scarlet Brow knew he was in trouble. Once those three hundred bean beasts and Yiyi and Shi Jingzhai enclosed him, the battle would be hopeless.


    Although he was unwilling, Scarlet Brow stomped his feet and shouted, "We''ve lost this battle! Run!"


    They hade as five, but they had been pressed so hard that they hadn''t even had the chance to attack Tang Jie¡ªa thought which made him feel helpless.


    As he flew into the air, the bean soldiers gave chase, soon turning into little dots in the sky. Meanwhile, the three hundred bean beasts chased after Chun Wei and Fei Bai. These two didn''t dare to stay and fight. Even Scarlet Brow had run off, so after exchanging a nce, the two fled in separate directions.


    "Don''t even think about running!" Yiyi shouted. She and Shi Jingzhai chased one while the three hundred bean beasts chased the other.


    Tang Jie was the only one left on the battlefield.


    He looked at the bean king, who was looking at him with his head held high as if asking, "How did I do?"


    Tang Jie considered his answer. "The original body being weak is a w. Although you can create bodyguards, you still need to be careful of powerful opponents. The stronger the opponent, the more bodyguards you''ll need, which means we lose the manpower advantage."


    These words struck right at the bean king''s weak point.


    For example, a target that would have needed two hundred bean soldiers to handle would only need seventy if the bean king was around, but to protect the bean king, the bean king would have to make soldiers to protect himself, which meant that they weren''t saving as much manpower as they could have.


    The little guy wasn''t convinced, jumping around and jabbering. Tang Jie couldn''t understand him, so he indifferently said, "Another w is that the army''s ability depends on the ability of themander, so when themander is deceived, the army will also be deceived."


    The bean king was furious, putting his hands on his hips and shouting at Tang Jie. It appeared that he was asking, "How have I ever been deceived?"


    Tang Jie reached into his bag and pulled out the Heartbreak Saber. "Really? Then how can you exin the fact that you were fooled by a certain person''s diversion¡­"


    Tang Jie turned and swung his saber.


    A domineering wave of energy struck a tree one hundred meters behind him.


    A momentter, there was a scream, and the figure of the Scarlet Brow True Person was sent flying into the air.


    Half of his body was drenched in blood, and he shuddered from the intense pain. But the shock drowned out his pain, and he red at Tang Jie in shock and anger.


    "You aren''t in the Three Witherings. You''re¡­ peak Mortal Shedding?"


    "Correct answer."


    Saber energy burst out!

 Chapter 475: Grand Fiend Conference

    Chapter 475: Grand Fiend Conference


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The battle was finally over.


    Scarlet Brow was dead.


    He hadn''t died at Tang Jie''s hands, but had been devoured by numerous bean soldiers that had returned from the sky.


    Perhaps because he had been fooled by Scarlet Brow''s diversion, the bean king was enraged, activating "bloodlust" mode. A crimson aura spread out, greatly boosting the power of his soldiers so that they devoured this True Person alive.


    As for those two cultivators who had fled, they had ultimately been in by Yiyi and the others. But while Yiyi had brought back an intact corpse, those bean beasts had only brought back a few scraps of bone.


    After this fierce battle, the bean soldiers had suffered some losses, with the bean beasts suffering the most due to their closebat nature. There were now only two hundred of the three hundred bean beasts left.


    As for the bean soldiers, there had been 150 cavalry, 100 bodyguards, and 5 generals. What remained were only 80 cavalry, 70 bodyguards, and 4 generals. The general who had died was the one who had wielded twin scimitars.


    The bean king waved his hand, and the remaining soldiers and beasts assumed formation, standing on two sides of the king.


    Worth noting was that the formation waspletely different from before.


    To the left of the king were 80 horsemen, 160 bean beasts, and the 2 generals who had been promoted from leveled soldiers.


    To the right of the king were the remaining 70 bodyguards, the first 2 generals, and a small number of bean soldiers and bean beasts. Tang Jie couldn''t tell the difference between the two sides.


    The king ignored those on the left. He looked at the army on the right, at the two generals and the mounted soldiers. He was no longer so brimming with energy, and he now seemed very helpless and reluctant.


    He waved his hand at them like a king waving at his subordinates.


    Thus, the ck-armored general, the white-armored general, the golden-armored guards, and the mighty beasts all prostrated, somber looks of resolve on their faces.


    Tang Jie and Yiyi realized what was happening and sighed.


    They watched as the king waved his hand.


    There was a light gust of wind.


    The two generals and seventy bodyguards dissolved into dust.


    They didn''t turn back into beans. Their immense power hade from drawing on their life force. The moment this state ended was the moment of their annihtion.


    The few bean soldiers turned back into beans, but Tang Jie noticed that these beans were devoid of energy, clearly already dead.


    As this army disappeared, the king and the army on the left all bowed to the disappearing force.


    At this time, the forces on the left turned back into beans.


    Tang Jie walked over and picked up a bean. He found that there was still some energy inside, indicating that the beans weren''t dead yet and could be used in the future.


    "So it really is like that," Tang Jie muttered. He now had a rough idea of the usage of this king.


    The soldiers created by the king could recover if they were given enough time and care.


    Of course, the price of recovery was that they didn''t receive as much of a boost to their strength.


    But this type of soldier could improve in battle. When they leveled up and were promoted to generals, they would not die.


    For this reason, whether it was generals or bodyguards, they all needed to be selected from leveled soldiers. As there had been no leveled soldiers at the start, the bean king had been forced topel promotions, which resulted in their deaths.


    Besides that, using up all of one''s energy in battle would also lead to death. This was the case with the few bean soldiers on the right. They hadn''t died because they had overdrawn their power for promotion, but because they had used up all their energy in battle. This also meant that they had left behind "corpses".


    The beans on the left also started to show differences.


    The beans of the soldiers who had leveled up had a glow around them, while the beans that hadn''t leveled up were much dimmer. The light of the two promoted general beans was particrly bright. This meant that when they were used in the future, they would probably still be generals.


    This was an army that could grow!


    Looking back at the bean king, he saw that it had also returned to being a blood bean, but it now gave off a faint aura.


    It seemed like he had also gotten stronger.


    Tang Jie looked at the bean''s remaining energy and found that there was still quite a lot left.


    Tang Jie gathered up all the beans and handed them to Yiyi. "Take good care of them."


    "Mm." Yiyi nodded, solemnly putting the beans away. The battle just now had amply proved their value, and Yiyi would naturally cherish them.


    Tang Jie muttered, "The third w is that the energy limits the time they can battle for. It seems like they can currently battle for an hour, so I suspect that the maximum time is two hours. Theyck the ability to fight long battles, but as they can grow, the problem should resolve itself with time. Moreover, having them fight in waves can also temporarily solve the problem."


    Even though the bean soldiers were very wed, their strength had still opened the eyes of Tang Jie and Yiyi. For this battle, Tang Jie had used seven hundred beans, and he had ultimately gotten around half of them back. For this cost, he had defeated one Celestial Heart and four Cognitive Creation cultivators. The strength of these beans had Tang Jie deeply shaken.


    This meant that if he had enough beans, he could take on multiple True Persons.


    Tang Jie felt a sense of power and boldness welling up within him.


    After collecting the wealth of the deceased, Tang Jie said, "Let''s go and see what''s happening over there."


    He pointed in the direction the wolf pack had left.


    There was something suspicious about that wolf pack, and Tang Jie had to go and see what was going on.


    Following the trail of the wolf pack, he ventured deeper and deeper into the forest. Eventually, they arrived at a mountainous region, where the traces of the wolf pack disappeared.


    This area was no longer part of the Zephyr Mountains, but of the mountain region next to it. Tang Jie hadn''t expected those wolves to run this far. He looked around and said, "They should be nearby."


    The vertical eye on his forehead opened and scanned the area, and a few momentster, Tang Jie found a cave nearby.


    Tang Jie walked toward the cave.


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    The cave extended very deep, and the farther he went, the darker it became.


    As he was walking, suddenly, there was a light from the sky. It turned out that he had reached the end of the cave.


    When he emerged from the cave, he found himself in a valley.


    It was an extremely beautiful valley, but the truly shocking thing was that arge number of fiends had gathered in the valley. Various kinds of birds flew in the sky, and tens of thousands of beasts packed the ground. These fiends had gathered in the valley as humans would gather to chat, and the entire valley was awash with noise.


    Tang Jie was scared out of his wits by the immense number of fiends, but he still reacted quickly, immediately fleeing back into the cave. Otherwise, if he were found by all those fiends, there was really no saying what might happen to him.


    Such a vast number, even of low-level fiends, was enough to drown him to death. Moreover, with that brief glimpse he had gotten, Tang Jie had seen several dozen Transformation fiends.


    After falling back, Tang Jie had Yiyi take Shi Jingzhai and withdraw. Only then did he begin to cautiously look out.


    It was very noisy in the valley, all sorts of sounds mixing together, peppered with the asional bestial roar. Amidst these voices, Tang Jie could vaguely hear words like "Why aren''t they here yet?" and "Wait a little longer."


    Who were they waiting for?


    Tang Jie slightly frowned.


    So many fiends wouldn''t have gathered for nothing. They had to be plotting something.


    The fiend beasts of the Zephyr Mountains had been treated as livestock, constantly hunted by the Basking Moon Sect. Consequently, it was strange for them to conspire and resist. In the history of the Basking Moon Sect, the fiends had joined together and tried to rebel before.


    But these uprisings had been nothing more than fresh meat delivered right to the doorstep of the Basking Moon Sect. It was said that each incident would have the Basking Moon Sect disciples enjoying a sumptuous feast of fiends. Even a former sect master had once said, "A fiend uprising is a result of there being too many fiends, which means that we''ve been protecting and nurturing the fiends very well. Since the harvest is ripe, it''s time to bring it in."


    This was the Basking Moon Sect''s view on the matter.


    This was the domineering aura of the Basking Moon Sect. In the face of absolute strength, all resistance was futile.


    For this reason, a fiend uprising was both a major incident and one to celebrate, but it certainly wasn''t a threat.


    The only problem was that thest fiend uprising had urred a little more than two hundred years ago. The fiends shouldn''t have reached the number where they were capable of a fight.


    Could it be that the Basking Moon Sect''s disciples had been overly merciful in thest few decades, causing there to be more fiends than anticipated?


    Tang Jie was somewhat uncertain about what was going on.


    So that he could investigate the matter, Tang Jie had Yiyi retreat from the cave. This cave was one of the passages the fiends used to go in and out of the valley, so there was no guarantee that no other fiends woulde through.


    Putting on that stone canvas that could block Divine Will and then activating a concealment spell, Tang Jie carefully made his way into the valley.


    Inside the valley, Tang Jie was able to get a clearer view of the situation.


    There were at least thirty thousand fiends in the valley, and the lowest was at the lower grade of Mind Opening. This wasn''t strange, as only Mind Opening fiends couldmunicate.


    But fiends had savage and unruly natures, and there was also conflict between species, so they weren''t a united whole.


    For this reason, getting fiends to join together wasn''t an easy task. For tens of thousands of fiends to gather here¡ªleopards next to goats, alligators next to wildebeests, none of them fighting¡ªthe organizer had to be extremely capable.


    There were several dozen passages like the one Tang Jie had taken leading into the valley, and fiends would asionallye in through them.


    Tang Jie carefully counted the Transformation great fiends and found that there were around sixty of them.


    This number wasn''t even enough to give the Basking Moon Sect an itch.


    But this proved that the fiend numbers truly hadn''t reached the peak yet, which meant that someone had intentionally gathered them.


    Suddenly, the fiends grew restless.


    A voice resounded, "They''re here! They''re here!"


    Tang Jie saw a person in a ck robe appearing above the valley.


    Tang Jie''s eyes narrowed.


    This ck-robed person had appeared so abruptly that Tang Jie didn''t even know how he had appeared.


    Someone who could avoid Tang Jie''s Celestial Eye had to at least be a Heart Demon True Person skilled in spatial movement. If they weren''t skilled in spatial movement, then they would need to be at Soul Transformation.


    But Tang Jie could see that while this person had an impressive aura, hecked the innate majesty of truly mighty cultivators.


    Tang Jie had seen many high-tier cultivators on his journey here. Unless the other party intentionally adjusted their aura, Tang Jie would be able to easily assess a person''s cultivation realm through their aura.


    The ck-robed person''s cultivation was clearly limited. Tang Jie could sense that his cultivation level was higher than his, but not by much. However, the method by which he had appeared was so bizarre that he became suspicious.


    The ck-robed man raised his hands and shouted, "Silence!"


    The valley instantly fell quiet, though there were some stubborn fiends that refused to stop talking.


    Fiends weren''t humans, and though they had intelligence, they were like teenagers in many aspects, having very little respect for things like rules. If it weren''t for the fact that the ck-robed man represented a formidable power, they wouldn''t have cared in the slightest about him.


    It was only after the ck-robed man shouted "Silence" three times that the valley calmed down.


    The ck-robed man was furious. "A pack of know-nothings! With such boors, how can we aplish anything great?"


    "''Anything great''?" A Transformation monkey fiend sneered. "If sending ourselves to our deaths in the Zephyr Mountains is what you mean by ''anything great'', then it doesn''t matter if we hear what you have to say, since we''ll be sending ourselves to our death regardless."


    "Exactly. Little fiends like us trying to go against the Basking Moon Sect? Nothing more than a delusion!" A great din rose up from the fiends.


    "That''s right. If it wasn''t for our Divine Division seniors, no one would care about a brat like you."


    ''Divine Division''?


    Tang Jie was stunned by these words.


    So Divine Division fiends really hade to stir up trouble?


    The previous fiend uprisings had all been led by Divine Division great fiends. Without Divine Division fiends to fight against Violet Pce cultivators, how could Transformation fiends dare to leave the Zephyr Mountains? It was an absolute joke!


    And there needed to be several Divine Division fiends for things to actually work.


    The fiends had failed multiple times essentially because their Divine Division powers were inferior to the Basking Moon Sect.


    "The problem is that even if we do have the Divine Division seniors, we have too few in the lower ranks this time," another fiend added. "With only thirty Transformation fiends, how exactly are we going to deal with the Basking Moon Sect?"


    The ck-robed man grunted, "Idiots! You can''t deal with the Basking Moon Sect, but what about one of their halls?"


    "A hall?" The fiends once more began to chatter.


    "Yes, a hall! We can destroy hall after hall, and even if we can''t destroy the Basking Moon Sect, we can at least destroy a part of it. The Basking Moon Sect has eighteen halls, and destroying one will weaken them. It was also make them know that we fiends are not easy to deal with!"


    There was another great turmoil among the fiends.


    Although these fiends had gained intelligence, intelligence was something that needed to be nurtured. Lacking education, these fiends were like adults who had never read books before. Paired with their violent natures, they became extremely easy to manipte.


    A strategy to "remove the wings" gradually took form. As for the price that needed to be paid for sess, the fiends didn''t even think about it.


    The grand fiend conference went on for six hours, and the ultimate decision was this: attack the Basking Moon Sect.


    As for which hall of the Basking Moon Sect to attack, the ck-robed man decided to make the decision on the spot so that the news couldn''t leak.


    From the perspective of humans, this fiend conference was so chaotic that it was undoubtedly a failed one.


    But from a strategic perspective, while taking six hours to make a decision was rather inefficient, at least they had sessfully decided on a goal, with tens of thousands of fiends on the verge of rebellion.


    From Tang Jie''s perspective, this information wasn''t that valuable. The Basking Moon Sect had never cared about fiend attacks. The protective formation alone was enough to give these idiotic fiends a headache. There was no possibility ofunching a sneak attack on the Basking Moon Sect.


    But outside of that, Tang Jie felt like there was anotheryer of conspiracy here.


    For some reason, he found the matter suspicious.


    As he looked at that ck-robed man giving an impassioned speech, his eyes turned grave.


    He began to withdraw through the cave.

 Chapter 476: Deciding on a Plan

    Chapter 476: Deciding on a n


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Upon returning to the Basking Moon Sect, Tang Jie acted like usual, cultivating every day and preparing for the push to Celestial Heart.


    Other than that, he even more proactively nted and gathered beans.


    After ten years, he had more than forty thousand beans, but after that battle and learning of the bean king''s power, Tang Jie realized that he had too few beans. Theoretically, if he had enough beans, he could even sweep through the six major sects.


    He had so few beans primarily because he had too little space for nting. His cave estate was only sorge, so he found it hard to find space to expand.


    Tang Jie began to consider moving the beans to the Nine Executions Immortal Formation.


    The problem was that He Chong was in the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, and the beans would essentially be a target that He Chong could attack.


    While the original body was about to reach the middle tier of the Diamond Body, given that He Chong was at the Soul Transformation Tier, he still couldn''t guarantee that he could defeat He Chong. nting beans there would have to wait until he reached greater attainment in the Diamond Body, at which point he could restrain He Chong.


    Perhaps he wouldn''t have to wait that long. If the original body entered the middle tier of the Diamond Body and the avatar entered Celestial Heart, the two of them plus the ghost guard, Yiyi, and the bean army could deal with He Chong''s group of three, at which point He Chong would cease to be a problem.


    Once Tang Jie understood this, his future ns became clearer.


    Besides cultivating every day, Tang Jie asionally kept an eye on that valley.


    The valley had be much quieter after the grand fiend conference, as if everything was in the past. But from a few clues, Tang Jie knew that many things were still being carried out in secret. Through the arrangements Tang Jie had secretly set up in the valley, Tang Jie was able to keep a close eye on everything that happened inside.


    Time swiftly flowed past.


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    It was soon another month.


    Today, Wei Tianchong suddenly visited.


    He had juste back from his mission. Hearing that Tang Jie had emerged from seclusion, he hade to ask how he was doing.


    Seeing that Tang Jie was fine, Wei Tianchong became extremely excited. Tang Jie also divulged to him that he had actually passed the Three Witherings.


    Wei Tianchong was dumbfounded to learn that Tang Jie had passed the Three Witherings. After a while, he scratched his head and said, "On this mission, I had a sh of inspiration and finally entered Cognitive Creation. I was going to brag in front of you, but you ended up getting way ahead of me."


    Tang Jieughed. "You''re not the first person to say this."


    Quite a few people hade to see himtely, including Peng Yaolong and Cai Junyang. All of their jaws had dropped when they had learned about his real cultivation level, and their tone had been exactly the same as that of Wei Tianchong and Qi Shaoming. Tang Jie was getting rather tired of hearing it.


    Hearing Tang Jie say this, Wei Tianchong could only sigh in wonder at the power of the Water Moon Paradise.


    The two of them chatted for a while before Tang Jie asked, "Right, do you have any ns on going out anytime soon?"


    Wei Tianchong replied, "I n to take some missions to gather up contribution points. In this way, if I get a chance to enter the Water Moon Paradise, I can exchange the points for a few more days."


    Tang Jie rolled his eyes. This guy''s thinking was a little too long-term.


    He smiled and shook his head. "If you trust me, then listen to me and don''t go out of the sect for the next few months."


    "Huh? Why?"


    "Just sit back and cultivate. Sometimes, if you stay at home, treasures can just drop from the sky," Tang Jie profoundly said.


    Wei Tianchong was startled, and he gave Tang Jie a suspicious look. "Do you know something?"


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "You''ll find out when the timees. Right, also tell Senior Brothers Bei, Peng, and the others. Don''t tell them anything besides that. In any case, they can listen to it if they want to."


    Tang Jie was still very friendly with the people whom he had fought the Seven Absolutions Sect with, so he had decided to notify all of them.


    "Okay!" Wei Tianchong nodded in agreement. "But that guy Cai Junyang is always out, so informing him won''t be that easy."


    Tang Jie replied, "He left me a few locations where he can pick up messages. Send the messages to these ces telling him toe back early. Whether he''s able to get the message or not will depend on him."


    The two chatted for a while, and then Wei Tianchong took his leave.


    Now that he thought about it, after entering the sect, everyone spent more time apart than together, and they now barely saw each other even once a year.


    This was the price of maturity. It was just like when one moved from school to society. Gone were the carefree days of youth, reced by ceaseless struggle and improvement.


    Another two months went by.


    In these two months, Bei Canghan and the others, who had received Tang Jie''s notice, hadn''t gone out on missions. Besides Cai Junyang, who was difficult to get in touch with because he spent so much time outside of the sect, almost all of his good friends remained in the Basking Moon Sect.


    But for this reason, everyone ended up frequently visiting Tang Jie to ask why he had wanted them to stay.


    Today, Peng Yaolong and the others visited again.


    Once they were inside the cave estate, Peng Yaolong shouted, "Tang Jie, if you don''t tell why you had us stay in the sect, I''ll stop being polite."


    Tang Jie was seated on therge stone in meditation. Waving his sleeve, he said, "Be patient."


    With the wave of his sleeve, four puppet maids served tea, and a table and chairs appeared in front of the group.


    Bei Canghan and the others sat down. They watched as Tang Jie formed hand signs, spiritual light shing around. In front of him was a basin of water.


    Bei Canghan blinked. "Junior Brothers, can you tell what Tang Jie is doing?"


    Ye Tianshang shook his head. "I''m not familiar with these hand signs."


    Wei Tianchong and the others all looked at each other and shook their heads.


    It was Qi Shaoming who said, "It seems like the Moon in the Water, which allows you to observe a specified area."


    "Junior Brother is formidable as always," everyone said.


    Qi Shaoming''s face reddened as he exined, "I didn''t see it through the hand signs, but the basin of water. Moon in the Water observes an area through the reflection in the water. The real strong point of this spell art is that it leaves extremely light traces, making it very difficult to detect, almost to a divine level. But this spell art requires understanding the principle of turning reality to illusion to use, which is an extremely high threshold. I didn''t think that Tang Jie knew this spell art, let alone that he could use it."


    "This guy is always hiding more than he shows," someonemented.


    Everyone immediately voiced their agreement.


    But this wasn''t wrong. At the very minimum, he was hiding more than a hundred spell arts from the Divine Firmament Sword ssic, which served as his most powerful back-up.


    Tang Jie finally opened his eyes and said, "Iprehended the Dao of Reality-to-Illusion in the Water Moon Paradise, and it''s thanks to that that I can use the Moon in the Water."


    "What sort of opponent is this that has you using this art to spy on them? Does it have to do with why Brother Tang had us stay in the sect?" Peng Yaolong asked.


    Tang Jie first activated a sound-blocking array, and then he indifferently said, "It''s nothing. It''s just a vast army of fiends that will attack out of the Zephyr Mountains in seven days."


    Now that he knew the exact time the fiends would attack, Tang Jie stopped hiding the matter.


    "What?" Everyone was bbergasted by the news.


    Bei Canghan stood up and said, "Tang Jie, are you being serious?"


    Tang Jie casually countered, "What did you think I was looking at just now?"


    Everyone sighed.


    A few momentster, Bei Canghan breathed in and said, "This matter is so important, why didn''t you report it to the sect?"


    Tang Jie nonchntly replied, "''Report it to the sect''? How many contribution points is that worth? Senior Brother Bei, let me ask you: when has my Basking Moon Sect ever taken these fiends seriously?"


    Bei Canghan fell silent.


    Yes, a vast army of fiends attacking the sect sounded scary, but when had the Basking Moon Sect ever cared? Even if it were reported, one would get a few hundred contribution points at best, which was nothing for Tang Jie.


    Wei Tianchong scratched his head and said, "But it''s better than nothing."


    Ye Tianshang chuckled in reply. "Unless you could get something better by not reporting."


    Everyone''s eyes glowed.


    They knew that Tang Jie wasn''t someone who did things for no reason.


    Since Tang Jie had had them stay in the sect and suppressed the news, giving up on the benefits from giving notice, he had to have a better n in mind.


    Tang Jie replied, "I truly do have a n, but there''s some risk to this n."


    "Just go ahead and say it, Tang Jie. There''s nothing nice in this world thates risk-free," Peng Yaolong said.


    "Right, right!" The others nodded in agreement.


    Disciples like them who had been in the Basking Moon Sect for eleven years were like employees who had only been working for one year, their foundations far from sturdy. Although they had gotten away from the title of "neers" and had even been praised for their performance, their path forward was still winding and full of potholes.


    In these circumstances, they had to seize every opportunity they could get.


    And thest time with the Seven Absolutions Sect had already told everyone what they stood to gain from following Tang Jie.


    With one sessful coboration under the belt, getting them to work together a second time went even more smoothly.


    Tang Jie then gave a rough summary of what had happened with the fiends.


    Of course, he didn''t talk about how Godhead Pce had ambushed him, only that he had found the Thunder Wolves suspicious when hunting them, and when he followed them, he found out that a vast assembly of fiends was plotting to attack the Basking Moon Sect.


    Upon hearing that thirty thousand fiends were plotting an attack, Qi Shaoming sneered, "Such a small number of fiends wants to attack my Basking Moon Sect? Have they gone crazy or are they just dumb?"


    "It''s neither. Didn''t Tang Jie say? They''re only attacking one hall," Liu Hongyan said. "I think the key here is that this is a sneak attack."


    Tang Jie immediately gave Liu Hongyan a thumbs-up.


    Liu Hongyan had truly grasped the key of the issue.


    The fiend attack was bound to fail, but as it was a sneak attack, their initial assault was bound to inflict immense damage on the Basking Moon Sect, particrly as their attack was focused on one location.


    One could easily imagine the sequence of events. The fiends would attack, and then the Basking Moon Sect would be caught off guard and suffer huge losses. The Titans of the Basking Moon Sect would then take action, annihting the fiends, but there would be no recovering the lives already lost.


    But what if one looked at it from another perspective?


    What if a group of disciples discovered the fiend sneak attack ahead of time and even risked their lives to stop it, buying time for the hall being attacked?


    The meaning would bepletely different.


    Yes, this would result in far more benefits than reporting it to the sect, like how putting out a fire would result in greater merit than preventing a fire.


    Rather than notify everyone far beforehand so that they could take precautions, it was better to set up defenses oneself and seize the opportunity. This was the way to maximize the eventual reward.


    As Liu Hongyan spoke, everyone finally understood what Tang Jie was thinking, and they were stunned by his audacity and madness.


    Peng Yaolong said in a trembling voice, "You''re saying that our small group should fend off tens of thousands of fiends in order to buy time for the hall being attacked?"


    Even he was trembling despite his usual boldness.


    One versus ten thousand!


    What sort of joke was this?


    Not even a True Person could aplish this. One would probably have to be a True Lord.


    "To be more precise, we send a warning and then hold out for at least fifteen minutes," Tang Jie said.


    "With the twenty-some of us, we wouldn''t even be a stumbling block for an army of tens of thousands of fiends. They would roll right over us," Su Xinyue said, pursing her lips. She hadn''t participated in the fight against the Seven Absolutions Sect, but after the battle at the Beast Garden, she had established a connection with Wei Tianchong, so Wei Tianchong had decided to pull her into the team.


    "That''s why we need to prepare." Tang Jie grinned. "Seven days is enough to do a lot of things."


    "Like what?"


    "Laying formations!" Tang Jie replied.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    From this day forward, Bei Canghan and the other disciples were all very busy.


    Just likest time, everyone put in money to buy materials, and they were to be rewarded ording to how much each person contributed. Tang Jie had calcted everything beforehand, and it was all very fair, so nobody had any objections when Tang Jie took the lion''s share.


    Besides formation materials, Tang Jie also bought some Heavenbane Lightning Pearls.


    Using these things to blow up fiends was actually a loss. After all, a pearl cost tens of thousands of coins, and the amount from killing ten fiends probably wouldn''t make up for it.


    But as life-saving items, they truly had a unique use. If the enemy knew that one had one, they couldn''t underestimate its threat. Thus, in front of a stronger power, Tang Jie wouldn''t mind using a few pearls.


    Other than that, he built up his rapport with the bean king, letting him out to y when he was free.


    During these times, Tang Jie gradually came to understand that the bean king used minuscule amounts of energy when notmanding soldiers, and he recovered energy while in the bean garden. If he stayed in the bean garden the whole time and didn''t need tomand soldiers, he could theoretically remain in human form. And as he got stronger, he could evene out of the bean garden to y.


    As Tang Jie interacted more and more with the bean king, he also came to better understand the little guy.


    Though he still didn''t understand one bit of all that jabbering, sometimes, the gestures were enough to get the general idea across. Besides, he also had Yiyi to trante.


    Thus, as time passed, the little bean king became like Yiyi and Tutu, Tang Jie''s thirdpanion pet. Although he was a little too proud, and had a rotten temper and rather low intelligence, he was pretty decent overall.


    This being the case, Tang Jie decided that it was time to give the little bean a name. Calling him "bean king" all the time was a little unpleasant.


    Tang Jie found it hard to settle on a name.


    At times, he thought about his little tiger, Bao''er, who was off wandering all by himself.


    The little bean could be said to have filled an empty spot in Tang Jie''s affections.


    One son had left, and Tang Jie felt like he had gained a new son.


    After a long period of thinking, he decided on the little bean''s name: Tang Dou (Sugar Bean/Jelly Bean).


    There was nothing more fitting.


    Little Tang Dou didn''t feel anything from this, continuing to arrogantly stalk around the bean garden every day. He was innately hungry for battle, so he asionally requested from Tang Jie a chance to lead his army into battle.


    Tang Jie had no choice but tofort him and tell him that there would be a battle to fight soon.


    Finally, after all the soothing, the day of battle arrived.

 Chapter 477: Obstructing the Enemy

    Chapter 477: Obstructing the Enemy


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Rally Peak, in the southern foothills of the Zephyr Mountains, was the principal peak of the Selection Hall.


    After bing a True Lord, Ming Yekong had ceased to have any responsibility over the Selection Hall, and the one recing him was the original first deputy hall master, Xiang Yan. But ording to the tradition of the Basking Moon Sect, Xiang Yan needed to hold the throne for thirty years before he could be considered the real hall master and advance to bing one of the 19 Celestial Chiefs.


    It waste at night, and all was quiet.


    Tang Jiey in a bush, looking at the churning roseclouds in the sky. This was a unique vista of the Rosecloud Domain. At night, it was roseclouds that covered the sky, not stars.


    Whenever he was bored, Tang Jie would look up at the sky and ponder the secrets of the roseclouds.


    s, as a cultivator, he had very little time to be bored.


    "Hey, Tang Jie, are you sure that the fiends are going to attack tonight?" Wei Tianchong''srge face filled his world.


    Tang Jie pushed aside Wei Tianchong''s face and continued to look at the sky. "You''ve asked this question three times already."


    Wei Tianchong chuckled. "I''m just getting a little anxious from waiting¡­ Why aren''t they here yet?"


    "On big asions like this, you need to be calm," Tang Jie indifferently replied, and then he fell silent.


    "Good advice." Nearby, Bei Canghan was seated cross-legged. "Junior Brother, you''ve grown even more calm in thesest few years of cultivation."


    "Senior Brother tters me. I dare not ept such praise."


    "Being calm is one thing, but the mind still has questions that seek answers. There just so happens to be something I do not understand and would like Brother Tang to exin," Ye Tianshang said.


    "What?"


    "Why are the fiends attacking Rally Peak? I''m saying that since they chose a hall to focus their attacks on, they must have a reason for choosing that hall, right? While the Selection Hall has a prestigious status, deciding promotions and demotions within the sect, for the very same reason, it doesn''t have too many disputes with factions outside of the sect. If the fiends were going to attack a ce, they shouldn''t have chosen Rally Peak."


    Tang Jie shook his head. "I don''t know the reason either. That ck-robed person only gave the order, providing no exnation. Though the fiends have intelligence, it is very low intelligence, and they do not think very deeply about things. Thus, when the order was given, none of the fiends objected."


    "Pah!" Peng Yaolong impatiently said. "Who needs all the questions? We''ll just kill them all."


    His knuckles cracked, his will to fight zing. He was already ready for a big battle.


    An end to the waiting woulde eventually.


    Finally, as they were chatting, a dark cloud drifted out of the distance.


    It didn''t seemrge, but it silently engulfed the entirety of the Zephyr Mountains.


    This was Illusory Fog, capable of obstructing Divine Will and cutting offmunications. If a Divine Division Titan was using all their power, it could even deceive Earth Immortals for a while.


    For the fiend army, this time was enough.


    A momentter, as the dark cloud expanded, a rumbling came from the distance. Countless fiends were flooding out of the darkness.


    "They really dide!" There was no fear on the faces of the disciples, only excitement from anticipation.


    Tang Jie also stood up.


    It was very dark, but he could clearly see how many fiends were attacking.


    The dark night had obscured the intimidating power of this torrent, but it could not conceal the reality of their advance, the ground quaking under his feet.


    Tang Jie smiled and said, "Release the fire beacon tokens!"


    Shi Meng raised his hand, and three rm talismans were set alight, turning into three howling arrows that shot through the air, leaving behindrge trails of smoke.


    The smoke was stopped by the Illusion Fog, none of it able to leak out, but the shrieks and light produced by the arrows rmed the disciples on both Rally Peak and the nearby mountains.


    "Enemy attack!"


    Cries of rm instantly rang out.


    A momentter, emergency beacon talismans also began to rise from other mountains.


    One after another, they shot into the sky.


    "What''s going on?" Qi Shaoming was taken aback. "Why are other mountains under attack?"


    "Just diversionary forces," Tang Jie replied.


    Although the fiend army had chosen Rally Peak as their main target, this didn''t mean that they wouldn''t send some other forces to dy the other mountains. The Illusion Fog would obstruct the senses of the Violet Pce Titans in the core area, but it wasn''t very useful on the nearby peaks. This was why some fiends needed to be sent to hold those mountains down so that they couldn''t send reinforcements.


    This attack hade so suddenly that it was difficult for the cultivators on the various peaks to identify the primary target. They could only gather their forces and handle the problems in front of them, which gave the fiend army an opportunity to break Rally Peak.


    Tang Jie''s exnation opened everyone''s minds.


    A disciple responsible for being a lookout shouted, "They''reing!"


    Tang Jie turned to nce at Rally Peak. The disciples on the mountain had only just received the rm and had yet to react, so he shouted, "Stop them and buy time!"


    The twenty-some cultivators all assented.


    As they spoke, a plume of dust rose in the distance. Numerous leopards, wolves, tigers, and jackals were charging toward the mountain.


    Their speed conferred upon them a powerful momentum, and they stared at the Basking Moon Sect with eyes that burned with loathing.


    Tens of thousands of fiends, gathered together, represented such an immense force that even if a Violet Pce True Lord stood before them, the fiends would dare to tear them apart.


    As for these twenty-some cultivators standing in front of them now, they were nothing at all.


    They didn''t bother to use any spell arts. Their powerful momentum alone would be enough to obliterate anything that stood in their path.


    Thus, they charged with all the power of a tsunami.


    In the dark night, the eyes of the twenty-some Basking Moon disciples shed with confidence.


    500 meters!


    400 meters!


    300 meters!


    200 meters!


    The beast wave drew closer and closer, the fiends radiating energy, various spell arts empowering them with a berserk strength.


    Charge!


    Ever forward!


    The beast wave was right in front of them.


    A golden-horned giant bull at the very front lowered its head to ram at Tang Jie''s group.


    Tang Jie''s group didn''t move. Suddenly, a disciple stepped forward and swept his hand at the space under his feet.


    Tang Jie''s palm shed for a brief moment as he shouted, "Rise!"


    A momentter, the earth quaked and rumbled as if the ground beneath the fiends was about to fall apart.


    The earth cracked open in front of the fiends, revealing a seemingly bottomless chasm.


    The golden-horned bull at the front couldn''t stop in time, and it was pushed by the flood of fiends behind it into the fissure.


    The bull roared and stomped a hoof on the air, mes sting out of it as it attempted to fly. But it found that it couldn''t fly at all!


    A space-sealing formation!


    It was stunned by this realization, and it bellowed and released mes from all parts of its body in an attempt to fight back against the formation''s power. Although it failed to ascend, it at least managed to stop itself from falling farther.


    The bull fiend exhaled in relief, but then it looked up withrge eyes as countless fiends came crashing down from above.


    "Oh¡­ no!" The bull let out a heart-rending cry.


    A momentter, countless falling fiends knocked it from the air.


    This pitiful bull was an upper-grade Mind Opening fiend, possessing mighty fiend energy, but before it had the chance to use any of its prodigious might, it was sent to its death by itsrades.


    The fiends descended into the abyss in swaths as one would drop dumplings into a pot, not even getting the chance to counterattack.


    This twenty-some-meter-wide fissure was like a natural moat, halting the fiend attack and also killing many of them. Even a Transformation great fiend managed to die in the chaos.


    Wei Tianchong, Shi Meng, and the others stood on the edge of the fissure in ck-jawed wonder. Even though they knew the n, they still found it unbelievable how these fiends had simply charged to their deaths.


    "A Fissure spell and a space-sealing formation managed to kill so many fiends¡­" Wei Tianchong almost couldn''t believe his eyes.


    When had fiends be this easy to deal with?


    "The key to dealing with the enemy is using the proper method. If you know what they''re going to do, you don''t have to worry that you won''t find a strategy to deal with them," Tang Jie indifferently said.


    Tang Jie had meticulously nned and calcted for this fiend attack.


    He had never thought about setting up some powerful formation that could kill tens of thousands of fiends, as that was simply unrealistic. Even formations had their limits. The costs to setting up a formation that could kill more than ten thousand fiends would run into the hundreds of millions of spirit coins.


    He wasn''t that rich, and even if he were, he certainly wouldn''t use his wealth like this.


    But so long as he knew the weakness of the fiends, he could target it.


    Thebination of a space-sealing formation with the Fissure spell was the simplest and most effective way of dealing with these fiends. Whether these fiends had flown here or charged across the ground, they would find it very difficult to survive thisbo.


    And therge numbers would slow down the reaction of the fiend horde. Even if a fatal trap had appeared in front of them, the ignorant fiends in the rear would keep charging, pushing the fiends at the front to their deaths.


    One could say that they were strong because of their numbers, but they were also slow and clumsy because of their numbers, which resulted in their deaths.


    But even the slowest of nerves would react eventually, and the fiends would not keep throwing themselves to their deaths. A few momentster, amidst the frenzied howling of numerous fiends, the fiends gradually stopped going over the cliff. Some of the fiends lucky enough to survive even began to use their fiend arts on Tang Jie''s group.


    They hadn''t used spell arts before because these fiends almost all had powerful bodies, and in a mass charge, there was no spell art that could match the power of their momentum. Now that the fissure was in the way, they naturally had to use spell arts to deal with their enemy.


    This novel is avable on bit.ly/3Tfs4P4.


    A momentter,rge numbers of spell arts began to thunder toward the other side.


    Spiritual light exploded through the sky, spiritual energy crashing down like waves.


    When thousands of fiends attacked, even the weakest spells would be enough to st twenty-some cultivators to death.


    But as the wave of spell arts subsided, the twenty-some cultivators erupted with light and disappeared, leaving behind not even a trace of blood or flesh.


    The fiends were dumbfounded. Finally, someone understood and shouted, "It was an illusion!"


    Duplication!


    Tang Jie''s group naturally couldn''t sh directly with the fiend army. No matter how strong they were, they couldn''t possibly take the simultaneous attack of so many fiends. For this reason, Tang Jie had never nned to expose his group in front of the fiends.


    As for Duplication, that was just for fooling the fiends and buying a little more time. Tang Jie had already gotten the time he needed the most, and he now began the second phase.


    As the illusions dissipated, the fiends saw a dark fog rushing in from all sides.


    "Watch out!" A Transformation-level golden eagle screeched as it flew in the air. It was one of the few able to maintain flight under the space-sealing formation. As the formation cared more about covering arge area, its restraining power wasn''t too strong. This was why the eagle could see that ck fog converging on them.


    Though it waste at night, everyone had still been able to see. But now, the ck fog robbed them of their vision. The golden eagle could tell that there was something odd about this fog, that it was most likely the product of some formation. s, as a fiend, it had too little experience and knew nothing about formations.


    But it did understand how this fog was being used.


    Bitter screams began to rise from the ck fog.


    "They''re in the fog!" the golden eagle shouted.


    First came the space-sealing formation, which was meant to limit everyone''s movements. It was always harder to utilize an advantage in numbers on the ground than in the air. After all, one lost an entire dimension. This dropped the speed of the fiends and also bought more time.


    The second was the ck fog formation, which obscured vision and further suppressed the fiends'' advantage in numbers. When everyone couldn''t see, Tang Jie''s group no longer had to worry about taking onbined attacks from the fiends, allowing them to avoid the greatest threat. As for Tang Jie''s group, they hade prepared, so they could see each other and maintain contact while in the fog.


    As the ck fog rose, Tang Jie''s group infiltrated the fog and began to kill the fiends.


    The fiends could no longer see around them, and they had had no idea that the god of death would suddenly descend from the heavens.


    The twenty-some cultivators pounced on the fiends like fierce tigers and started killing. They naturally didn''t dare to take on tens of thousands of fiends, but they weren''t scared of only three or five.


    Peng Yaolong was the first to charge in. He was like a war elephant, not using any spell arts and simply thrusting his palms here and there. Red light asionally gushed from his palms, and wherever they went, the bones and muscles of fiends shattered. It was clear he had grown only more proficient in the Energy-Blood Simulflow that had been taught to him all those years ago.


    Ye Tianshang''s sword unleashed howling gales. But unlike before, he was wielding two swords, and the swords were unleashing sword techniques ofpletely different natures, their intersection producing a frenzy of death.


    Bei Canghan, one of the illustrious geniuses of the Basking Moon Sect, had a much simpler way of doing things. He simply strolled through the fiends, and the fiends simply started dropping dead.


    Meanwhile, Qi Shaoming was like a sharp arrow, shooting through the horde. Speed was his strong point, and he was so fast that he almost charged out of the ck fog.


    Wei Tianchong and Su Xinyue were much moreid-back, one controlling her wolf and the other controlling his puppet. They talked as they killed, making them seem far more impressive than they actually were.


    The attack from the twenty-some Basking Moon Sect disciples dealt the fiend horde grievous casualties, but worst of all was the chaos created through their ughter!


    A snow leopard looked around in confusion, the chaotic battle leaving it utterly baffled. It then felt a pain on its back, as if something had been stabbed into it.


    Owooo! The snow leopard turned its head and spat out frost, but the attacker had predicted this and dodged ahead of time. The frost breath ended up striking a yellow goat fiend, causing it to shriek in pain.


    The yellow goat instinctively lowered its head, stabbing its horns into the snow leopard''s neck like knives. The snow leopard struck back with a paw, and the two fiends actually began to fight each other.


    It had never been peaceful between fiends. While the Basking Moon Sect had killed fiends, fiends had also killed a lot of each other. From a certain perspective, they had even killed more of each other than the Basking Moon Sect. It was just that the power and prestige of the Basking Moon Sect would always draw the most hatred, allowing the fiends to put aside their differences and work together.


    But in this chaotic moment, the first to show problems were those fiends of species that had never gotten along.


    As the chaos spread, it became more likely that a ughter based on hatred between species would ur.


    At that point, then the fiends might end up killing each other before the Basking Moon Sect even did anything.


    Fortunately, the fiends weren''t all idiots.


    A booming voice said, "All fiends, calm down and listen to me! Wind Snake fiends, disperse the ck fog! Ice Cicada fiends, calm everyone''s minds. Everyone proficient in Earth spell arts should use them to close the fissure. Bird fiends, take to the skies and break the spatial seal!"


    A string of orders finally managed to calm the fiend army down.


    There was no such thing as an invincible spell art. Everything had its advantages and disadvantages.


    Tang Jie could seal space and split the earth, could use a fog to confuse the enemy, but the fiends could break the seal, close the fissure, disperse the fog, and calm their soldiers. The two sides could trade blow for blow. They just needed a leader to lead them.


    The fiends were dumb, yes, but there had to be one or two smart ones among the tens of thousands of them. The one who had spoken just now was clearly one of them.


    And this fiend was also using the ck fog to hide themselves so that Tang Jie couldn''t find them and make trouble for them.


    s, while it was smart, itspanions were dumb.


    As these words rang out, someone shouted, "Is that Brother Bei? This n is great! Many thanks!"


    (TN: The Bei "±·" is a legendary wolf-like creature from Chinese mythology, said to have very short forelimbs.)


    The one giving orders from the shadows truly was a Bei fiend. Beis were cunning creatures, the strategists of a wolf pack. In this fiend attack, it had been promoted tomander of the fiends. But it hadn''t expected some dumb fiend to sell it out mere moments after it had given its orders.


    The furious white Bei cursed the fact that there was no cure for idiocy.


    Sure enough, Tang Jie raised his head and said, "So it was a Bei?"


    The vertical eye on his forehead slightly opened. It prated through the fog, scanning the countless fiends before finally resting its gaze on a white dog-like fiend.


    That was the one!


    A great gale blew as the Wind Snakes and other fiends with Wind-type spells started to clear away the ck fog.


    Tang Jie shouted, "All of you, retreat and start phase three! I''ll go and kill that Bei!"


    He formed hand signs and pointed. Fog gathered into a ck passage that linked Tang Jie and that white Bei.


    The white Bei hadn''t been in the ck fog, as it had immediately fallen back when it had seen the fog converging.


    But it was now locked onto by Tang Jie''s Celestial Eye, and it could no longer hide. Besides, Tang Jie hadid down the ck fog formation himself, so he could control it to follow the white Bei wherever it went. At the same time, Tang Jie was charging along the ck fog passage.


    He was traveling so quickly that he needed only a few jumps to get close to the white Bei.


    The white Bei sensed danger approaching and howled as it retreated to the rear. Swiping its ws upward, it sent a white beam of light in the direction it had fled from while shouting, "Save me!"


    Tang Jie used the Chaoswind Step to avoid the white beam and appeared right behind the white Bei.


    At this moment, a screech came from the sky. "Rat, you dare!"


    A Transformation great fiend lunged from the sky, answering the white Bei''s plea for aid.


    Tang Jie ignored it, swinging his saber at the white Bei''s back.


    Though the white Bei was cunning, its strength was average, only at the middle grade of Mind Opening. Even the Tang Jie from ten years ago could have easily in it, let alone now. With one swing, the white Bei was chopped in half, the immense force of the blow traveling through the white Bei''s body and instantly exterminating all life within it.


    The Transformation great fiend''s attacknded, a yellow light striking Tang Jie in the back. Tang Jie grunted and then disappeared, using the Chaoswind Step to return to his starting point and then hastily retreating.


    Before the Transformation great fiend could give chase, the ck fog moved to envelop Tang Jie. The ck fog began to retreat, all the while countless fiends screamed as they were attacked. A few momentster, the ck fog was gone.

 Chapter 478: Objective

    Chapter 478: Objective


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    As Tang Jie retreated from the fiend horde, apuse erupted from behind him.


    "Excellent work, Tang Jie. I didn''t think a cultivator of my generation would be capable of such a heroic feat as ying the enemy leader in the middle of tens of thousands of soldiers," Peng Yaolong cheered. It was moves like this that affected him the most.


    "Cut the nonsense." Tang Jie used his saber as a crutch and coughed up blood as he circted energy. Only after he managed to recover a little from the attack he had taken did he finally say, "Let''s strike together!"


    "Understood!" everyone said in unison.


    At this moment, the bird fiends had managed to loosen the space-sealing formation through their battering.


    Everyone flew up at the same time, putting away their weapons to form hand signs as they chanted, and the world rumbled in response.


    If the white Bei had still been around, it would have realized that these cultivators were in the middle of casting an art.


    Thebined spell art of twenty-some cultivators was bound to shake the heavens. One either had to do their utmost to destroy it or do their utmost to defend.


    But in this chaotic situation, the fiends were too numerous and clumsy to react. Seizing this momentary chance was just too difficult.


    Peng Yaolong suddenly raised his hands up, and a palm appeared in the sky.


    Twenty-some people also aimed their palms at the sky, countless streams of energy gathering in that palm and making it as big as a mountain.


    Peng Yaolongughed. "Hundred Man Attack Formation! Kill!"


    "Kill!"


    Everyone shouted in unison.


    Peng Yaolong pressed his right hand down, and that mountain-sized palm also began to descend.


    This was the famousbined lethal formation of the Blood War Hall. It was said that it couldbine the power of as many as one thousand people, at which point even a Violet Pce True Lord could be fended off. Of course, there were only twenty-some of them right now, so it could only be considered a ten-man attack formation, certainly not a hundred-man attack formation.


    Even so, these twenty-some people were all elites of the Basking Moon Sect, so they had quality where theycked quantity. Moreover, the preparations they had made ahead of time had empowered the formation, which was why it had the power of a hundred-man attack formation.


    Through theirbined powers, the mountain-sized palm smashed down.


    The fiends were aghast and began to unleash various spell arts at that mountain in the sky, causing it to tremble and explode with gouts of light.


    But no matter how many attacks came from below, the mountain continued its descent, drawing closer and closer to impact.


    At this moment, several dozen Transformation great fiends suddenly flew up and attacked that small mountain.


    In the end, this was just a giant hand created through the hundred-man attack formation, so it couldn''t take the attacks of so many Transformation fiends. Its descent was finally halted, and it crumbled away.


    The fiends cheered over the fact that they had destroyed the enemy attack. But a momentter, another giant palm descended from the sky. This time, before the fiends had time to react, the giant hand mmed into them.


    The Heavenly King Mara Incantation!


    Tang Jie hadn''t been part of the hundred-man attack formation. This formation had only been a smokescreen, and his Heavenly King Mara Incantation was the true main attack. It was only when that mountain made from the hundred-man attack formation was destroyed that the spell art hidden behind it was revealed.


    Although it was much weaker than the hundred-man attack formation, it was enough to deal with weaker fiends.


    It had to be understood that Tang Jie was at the peak of Mortal Shedding. When he attacked with full power, a lower-grade Mind Opening fiend was bound to die, and middle-grade fiends that didn''t have innately tough bodies might not be able to take the blow.


    Thus, this palm struck like it was swatting at a pile of flies, blood exploding into the air as countless fiends were squashed to death!


    But he only had the chance to make this one attack. As that giant hand was drawing back to make another strike, those several dozen Transformation great fiends attacked it. With one barrage, the giant hand was destroyed.


    As the giant hand was destroyed, Tang Jie threw up blood. Having the incantation forcibly broken had created a rather significant bacsh.


    But he didn''t care about this. Once the attack was done, he shouted, "It''s enough! Rise!"


    He thrust his palms down, and then the ground began to shine.


    "This is¡­" The fiends were all taken aback.


    "It''s the Blood Sea Formation! Retreat!" a voice shouted.


    It was none other than the ck-robed man.


    Though the white Bei was dead, there were others among the fiends that could serve as amander. The ck-robed man hadn''t initially been with the fiends. When he flew out from the rear and saw what was going on, he immediately shouted. It seemed like he had far more experience than the white Bei, as ordinary fiends couldn''t possibly understand formations.


    Bei Canghan remarked in surprise, "They have someone that recognizes formations?"


    Tang Jie coldly nced at the ck-robed man and grunted, "I suspect that he''s not even a fiend."


    He raised his hands, and a red light erupted from the ground, enveloping the entire battlefield.


    If one were looking down from above, one would see that a giant formation diagram had been carved into the terrain. It was incrediblyplex, the lines digging deep into the earth, and each of these formation lines flowed with blood.


    Some of this blood had been there beforehand, while the rest hade from fiends that had died.


    This was the Blood Sea Formation.


    Everyone knew the materials needed for this formation. There were many times where a formation master chose a formation not just based on their opponent, but also based on the resources at hand.


    Tang Jie had racked his mind for ways to deal with the fiend army, and the Blood Sea Formation served as his most important card. As for the earlier moves, they were all preparation for this formation.


    As could be seen from the name, the Blood Sea Formation''s core material was blood.


    The greatest advantage of this formation was that it worked so long as one had blood. The quality of the blood would decide the power of the formation.


    This was exactly why Tang Jie had chosen this formation. It allowed him to turn his harvests from the battle intobat power.


    In battle, Tang Jie''s group naturally couldn''t go around harvesting fiends to strengthen themselves. Moreover, the little boosts of power they would have received wouldn''t have been very useful. But the fiends in on the battlefield could be used to power the Blood Sea Formation. It only required blood, and not even in any specific arrangement. All they needed to do was draw the formation lines, after which the blood flowing from the dead fiends would flow on its own into the formation lines.


    This was the greatest advantage of the Blood Sea Formation. So long as one was sufficiently prepared, one couldy down the formation while fighting without needing to be distracted.


    This was why Tang Jie''s group had tried to kill as many fiends as possible from the start. Besides buying time, it also provided fuel to the Blood Sea Formation.


    If the Blood Sea Formation had a weakness, it was that it consumed far too much blood, living up to its name of Blood Sea. If this hadn''t been the case, then it could theoretically keep killing to form an endless loop.


    But with these tens of thousands of fiends gathered, there was no better ce to use the Blood Sea Formation.


    The blood sea rose, a torrent of blood rushing out in all directions.


    A bear fiend saw the approaching blood sea and swiped a w at it.


    The bear w wasn''t able to push back the blood sea. On the contrary, the blood sea seized this chance to engulf the bear. Thus, as the bear howled in pain, the blood sea dissolved its flesh and fur, and it was soon nothing more than a skeleton.


    Other fiends joined it in this fate. The blood sea was a terrifying tide of death. Any fiend that was swept up in it would be destroyed, and it would use their power to make itself stronger. Even Transformation fiends were not spared. The fiends had no choice but to flee.


    The ck-robed man''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets.


    He hade with the mission ofmanding the fiends in the attack on the mountain, but while he hade ready to die with them, it should have been on the mountain, not at its base. He could have never imagined that they would face such a bitter setback before even getting onto the mountain.


    The blood tide was inflicting devastating losses on the fiends, and numerous disciples had now appeared on Rally Peak.


    Although Tang Jie''s group hadn''t been able to dy the fiends for long, being forced to use three ns in swift session with no time to catch their breaths, this little time had been enough for Rally Peak to react and prepare.


    These disciples descended from the mountain. If the space-sealing formation hadn''t also hindered them, the disciples of Rally Peak might have already joined the battle.


    In these circumstances, reaching the summit was now as difficult as ascending to the heavens.


    But reaching the summit was a necessary objective of this battle.


    The Selection Hall could survive, all the fiends could die, and even he could die, but they had to reach the summit!


    Thus, as the ck-robed man looked at the approaching blood sea, he furiously took out a whistle and blew on it.


    The sharp whistle was like an arrow piercing through the night.


    As the whistle blew, the sky rippled, and then there was a sigh.


    "So in the end, you lot weren''t enough?"


    The voice wasn''t particrly loud, but it was brimming with power. While others might have thought nothing of it, Tang Jie shuddered.


    He remembered this voice!


    Feng Muyuan!


    The voice of the Beast Refining Gate''s Wolf Lord, Feng Muyuan!


    Wei Tianchong and the others who had taken part in the Beast Garden battle had also heard this voice, but as the matter had urred more than ten years ago, none of them remembered it. Only Tang Jie had not forgotten.


    The power given to him by Wisdom included memory.


    Feng Muyuan was a True Lord, so how could Tang Jie ever forget his voice?


    So long as he cared about something, he wouldn''t forget it!


    As expected, the Beast Refining Gate was behind this. Only they were capable of mobilizing so many fiends.


    But why were they doing this?


    Purely because of their grudge against the Basking Moon Sect?


    Maybe, but there might have been another, deeper, motive.


    Tang Jie felt that if an individual could use official business to handle personal matters, organizations could use personal matters to aid in official business.


    As he was thinking this, a giant blue hand descended from the sky.


    The giant hand was originally casting the Illusion Fog, and now that it was emerging, the fog instantly thinned.


    At the same time, in a small hut in the Zephyr Mountains, that white-browed elder suddenly opened his eyes. He pensively looked up at the sky before heaving a sigh, shaking his head, and continuing to meditate.


    That giant palm mmed into the blood sea.


    The blood sea roared as if it had a mind of its own, rising up to meet the blue palm.


    A momentter, the palm struck the blood sea, and then the blood that had risen up from the formation instantly dissolved into spiritual light.


    The blue palm continued, striking the ground.


    The palm was as weighty as a mountain, causing the earth to quake. The blue hand then lightly waved, wiping away all the formation lines.


    The Blood Sea Formation disappeared!


    The fissure disappeared!


    Only then did the blue palm withdraw back into the sky, the Illusion Fog thickening again.


    Feng Muyuan''s voice boomed in the sky. "Since I have intervened, I must have rmed the Basking Moon Sect''s Cloud Ancestor. But that old man will not lightly break his promise, and he will not intervene unless the sect is in mortal danger. Yet there are others who might also have realized what is going on¡­ You must move as quickly as you can."


    "Yes!" As Feng Muyuan spoke, several more ck-robed men charged out from the rear, but they were much faster and stronger than the first one.


    These people had probably been lying in wait for some time, but perhaps because they didn''t want to expose themselves, they had not done anything this entire time. However, the change in situation had forced them to move out.


    In any case, the Beast Refining Gate and Basking Moon Sect were mortal enemies. While they had an unspoken agreement to not try and intentionally make trouble for each other, since they were already doing it,pleting the mission was more important than keeping their identities a secret. Thus, they attacked with all their power, casting aside all apprehensions.


    These were all at the Celestial Heart Realm, and the moment they appeared, they used the Beast Driving Mantra.


    The Beast Driving Mantra was a secret art of the Beast Refining Gate, and when used, it allowed one to influence a vast number of beasts into an attack. Although it didn''t allow one tomand beasts like extensions of one''s limbs as the Myriad Beast Union Mantra did, it was an excellent way to controlrge numbers of fiends in attacks onrge targets.


    With several Celestial Heart True Persons driving on the beasts, the fleeing fiends immediately turned back and charged at Rally Peak.


    Peng Yaolong and the others paled at this sight.


    "It''s the Beast Refining Gate! Damn it! Tang Jie, what do we do?" everyone shouted.


    Although they couldn''t recognize Feng Muyuan''s voice, they did recognize the Beast Driving Mantra, so they immediately knew that this was the work of the Beast Refining Gate.


    With the Blood Sea Formation broken and no other back-up ns, it would be extremely difficult to stop the fiends.


    Tang Jie didn''t seem panicked, for the Blood Sea Formation was not actually his final card.


    Nobody knew that there was a dark and fiendish nt under the ground, waving around its tentacles.


    ck Sin!


    This was Tang Jie''s real trump card, hisst y.


    Yiyi hadprehended ck Sin in a dream, and she could bring it into reality. While it started small and weak, it could grow endlessly strong through consumption.


    The Blood Sea Formation could be considered a professional at getting stronger in battle, but ck Sin was the ancestor of this school. Nobody was better than it at consuming its foes on the battlefield to strengthen itself.


    Whilerge amounts of blood had been offered to the Blood Sea Formation, numerous corpses had also filled ck Sin''s belly.


    s, unless it ate all of the tens of thousands of fiends, there was no way it could stand up to a True Lord. Even so, eating the corpses of thousands of fiends had pushed ck Sin''s power to a terrifying level. It could be said that the only existence on the battlefield that it feared was Feng Muyuan.


    But just when he was nning to use ck Sin to dy the opponent more, he suddenly thought of something and said, "The sneak attack is bound to fail, so why is the Beast Refining Gate so intent on attacking the mountain?"


    Everyone was taken aback.


    Yes, if the mission was to destroy the Selection Hall, then the Beast Refining Gate''s n had failed.


    The reason was that Rally Peak was already prepared. Even if this preparation time wasn''t enough, as they had yet toplete their formation and some of the slower disciples had yet to react, was one only considered to be prepared if one had gone all the way and convened one''s officers for a pre-battle conference?


    For Tang Jie''s group, the most important thing was tost for the first few minutes. No matter how rushed the disciples on Rally Peak were, at least they would have time to grab their pants and pick up their weapons.


    This preparation was enough. At least they wouldn''t have died inplete chaos and ignorance!


    So why hadn''t the enemy made the rational choice and retreated?


    Tang Jie continued, "They aren''t here to destroy the hall. That was just a lie to fool the fiends. They must have an ulterior motive."


    "What could it be?" Bei Canghan asked.


    Tang Jie watched as the True Persons drove the beasts onward. "Regardless, we don''t need to force ourselves anymore."


    He moved to the side.


    Yes, there was no need to force themselves now. They had bought enough time for Rally Peak, which was already a huge contribution. Everyone exchanged nces and then retreated with a smile.


    Sure enough, those True Persons led the fiends straight up Rally Peak, not even paying attention to Tang Jie''s group. In doing this, they essentially exposed their nk.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie grew even more certain of his theory.


    The fiend attack on the mountain was just a smokescreen for another objective the Beast Refining Gate had.


    Since they had another objective, the choice of Rally Peak couldn''t have been random.


    Tang Jie''s mind began to work faster and faster.


    Rally Peak was the principal peak of the Selection Hall, and the Selection Hall was under Ming Yekong''s control. Eleven years ago, Ming Yekong had engaged in a major battle with Feng Muyuan, using that moment to grow famous throughout Rosecloud.


    Now, it was none other than Feng Muyuan who hade. Was this guy resentful over what had happened eleven years ago and had finallye to settle the score?


    Huh, it makes some sense.


    No, wait!


    This is also a smokescreen!


    While the six major sects didn''t get along, there were basically no sect wars for fear that someone else might take advantage of the two wounded parties. This was why the Beast Refining Gate had sent Feng Muyuan. Once he was exposed, he could use his private grudge as a cover for official business.


    Thus, he had to have another n!


    Then what could there be on Rally Peak worth the Beast Refining Gate''s attention?


    With this question in mind, Tang Jie asked, "Senior Brother, would you happen to know if there''s any sort of important person being held in Rally Peak?"


    The person he was asking was Wu Xianguang, a member of the Selection Hall. Wu Xianguang smiled and said, "My Selection Hall isn''t the Law Hall. We don''t enforce thew or run a prison, so what prisoners would we have there? Moreover, the Beast Refining Gate''s people aren''t considered prisoners, and those who can be killed are killed. I don''t think the Beast Refining Gate woulde for this reason."


    It was clear that he had realized what Tang Jie was thinking, that the Beast Refining Gate had note for no reason.


    Tang Jie nodded and then asked, "Then are there any secret codices or treasures?"


    Wu Xianguang shook his head again. "Secret codices should be sought at the Canon Hall, and treasures should be found at the Storehouse Hall. It''s when you want a promotion or reward that youe to us."


    Tang Jie deted. "Then what is the Beast Refining Gate aiming at Rally Peak for?"


    By now, the fiends were making their way up the mountain. The Selection Hall disciples had grouped up together and were locked in battle with the fiends. Meanwhile, the other mountains had realized what was going on and dispatched reinforcements. The sounds of battle could now be heard from the mountain.


    In contrast, the twenty-some of them who had been bitterly fighting at the very beginning were standing around with nothing to do. They had already killed too much and contributed too much, so there was no need to fight for those paltry contribution points. Only Yiyi was very unwilling. She was in the middle ofmanding ck Sin into sneaking up the mountain to devour fiend corpses. It appeared that she wasn''t going to back down unless she got to kill at least one True Person.


    Tang Jie ignored her and continued to confer with everyone. Suddenly, Bei Canghan smiled and said, "It''s not entirely right to say that there''s no treasure, right? From what I know, didn''t Master Ming leave behind a treasure for the hall?"


    Wu Xianguang was rather surprised. "Your intelligencework is pretty good. You even know about that? Yes, when Master Ming left and Hall Master Xiang seeded him, Master Ming truly did leave behind a treasure for the hall. But what it is has always been a secret, and even I don''t know what it is."


    "You don''t know, either?" Tang Jie asked.


    "Yes, no one except Hall Master Xiang and the two deputy hall masters know. We only know that the treasure is located in Rally Peak''s Hall of Mystery, but we know nothing about its exact location or what it is."


    Peng Yaolong grunted. "That''s rather strange. Since only the three hall masters know, how did the Beast Refining Gate find out?"


    Wu Xianguang unhappily said, "You say that, but we don''t even have any evidence to show that the Beast Refining Gate is aiming for Master Ming''s treasure. Are you trying to say that Hall Master Xiang or one of the deputy hall masters is a Beast Refining Gate spy?"


    Peng Yaolong didn''t dare to say that. It was true that all the sects had spies in the other sects, but no spy had ever reached the rank of Celestial Chief, or even deputy chief.


    Tang Jie asked, "Then did Master Ming ever mention why he left the treasure behind?"


    Wu Xianguang replied, "Oh, I know that. Master Ming said that this treasure was extremely mystical and profound. No one could use it, and even he was able to use it only for a time, unable to master it. Thus, he left it in the hall, leaving its ownership up to fate."


    "''Unable to master it''?" Tang Jie was shaken.


    He suddenly understood what the Beast Refining Gate was targeting.

 Chapter 479: The Space Crystal

    Chapter 479: The Space Crystal


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Xu Hanling ced a finger on his leg and let out a bolt of energy. The light sensation of pain cleared up his mind.


    This was his habit to quicklypose himself in tense moments.


    He walked to the Hall of Mystery.


    He swiftly walked up to the disciple guarding the hall and said, "Rally Peak is under attack by fiends, and Hall Master Xiang has ordered for all disciples to assemble and prepare to fend off the enemy. You should go as well."


    The disciple was clearly taken aback. "Chambein Xu, the Hall of Mystery has to be protected."


    "This is an emergency, and everyone needs to work together to defend against the enemy until reinforcements arrive. If Rally Peak falls, do you think that the Hall of Mystery can stand alone?"


    The disciple felt that this was true, and he could hear the fiends attacking the mountain. And considering that Xu Hanling was a Celestial Heart True Person, he didn''t dare to defy him. "I will go and call Junior Brother Lu."


    A few momentster, he left the hall with another disciple.


    Xu Hanling watched them leave, and then he entered the hall with a cold chuckle.


    Upon entering the hall, he looked around, walked straight, and took a turn at a corner. He went up to a floor tile and turned it over.


    A vast neb appeared on the ceiling of the hall.


    The neb was a grandiose sight, and if one reached out one''s hand, one would discover that it was impossible to touch any star no matter how hard one tried. This seemingly simted world contained an infinite space.


    In the center of the neb was a hexagonal crystal that was missing a corner. Its form was identical to that of the little tiger''s Divine Time Crystal.


    "The Divine Space Crystal!" Xu Hanling''s eyes zed with fervor as he looked at the crystal.


    This was a divine treasure that not even Violet Pce Titans could master. For this item, the Beast Refining Gate was even willing to activate their most well-hidden and most powerful spy.


    A hundred years of patience for the sake of a single day.


    If he could get this item, he would have made a huge contribution to the Beast Refining Gate. From then on, he would soar to the heavens and no longer have to stay here and be a True Person.


    Gazing at the Space Crystal, Xu Hanling took out a small bottle and slightly tilted it forward.


    Find the original at bit.ly/3Tfs4P4.


    A jewel-like drop of blood rolled out.


    It slightly glowed in Xu Hanling''s hand. The hexagonal crystal sensed this red light, and the stars suddenly began to shine brighter.


    This blood was the White Tiger''s blood.


    The White Tiger''s corpse had been with the Beast Refining Gate for more than a thousand years, so the Beast Refining Gate had naturally done their best to get some of its blood. Other than being used to raise beasts, some of it had also been passed down through the Beast Refining Gate, one drop of which was the one in Xu Hanling''s possession.


    With it, even if he couldn''t control the Space Crystal, he could at least take it away from here.


    Xu Hanling suddenly fired several bolts of energy from his finger at the drop of blood. He then waved his hand, sending the drop of blood up into the neb. It flew past the stars and toward the Space Crystal.


    As it got closer to the Space Crystal, it got much faster, guided by the Space Crystal.


    But what seemed like only a few feet away ended up feeling like tens of thousands of kilometers.


    "Faster, a little faster¡­" Xu Hanling muttered.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Beneath Rally Peak, the fiends were still crazily charging up the mountain.


    Every inch of the mountain slope was painted with the blood of fiends.


    Swords flew through the sky like rain, spell arts zed, and lights intersected, creating a majestic battle. Like this, the fiends pushed closer and closer to the summit. Despite their preparations, the defenders of Rally Peak still found it difficult to hold off so many fiends. In order to avoid meaningless casualties, they had no choice but to execute a fighting retreat. And to prevent the enemy from reaching the summit, they also had no choice but to seal space again.


    "These guys are quite crazy," Peng Yaolong muttered. "I say, brothers, what are we still waiting for?"


    This brief break had been enough for Peng Yaolong to recover some of his strength, and he was already itching to start fighting again.


    Bei Canghan chuckled. "We''ve rested enough, so it''s time to make our move."


    He waved his hand, sending a wave of sword energy at the rear of the fiend horde.


    The twenty-some of them had ended up at the rear of the fiend horde in order to avoid them, which now allowed them to assail the rear without fear of attacks from the fiends.


    They had a rather fun time sting away at the pack of heedless fiends. Only Tang Jie looked pensively up at the summit.


    He already understood that the Beast Refining Gate hade for the Space Crystal.


    The Beast Refining Gate wasn''t so stupid as to try to seed with a frontal attack. This frontal attack also had to be a smokescreen to draw away the attention of the Selection Hall. There had to be some spy of very high status in the Selection Hall whose main goal was to steal the crystal.


    Although he didn''t know what the Beast Refining Gate was using to steal the Space Crystal, since they hade, they had to have a n. The greatest possibility was that they had some of the White Tiger''s blood.


    Tang Jie had managed to get very close to the truth.


    If he intervened now or sent a warning, he might able to stop the theft. But at that moment, Bao''er voice rang out in his mind: ''One day, if you can no longer stay here, thene to the Primordial Fog Domain to find me. With the Space Crystal and that rabbit, you will be able to find me, even if I''m in the endless void¡­''


    ''With the Space Crystal!''


    ''With the Space Crystal!''


    ''With the Space Crystal!''


    This voice rumbled like thunder in his ears.


    He suddenly understood the little tiger''s expectation and the intent behind his words.


    He wanted Tang Jie to take the Space Crystal.


    As the White Tiger''s descendant, he was greatly pained over the fact that he couldn''t retrieve the Divine Space Crystal.


    Thus, he could only ce his hopes on Tang Jie.


    So he had given Tang Jie a drop of the White Tiger''s true blood and said those words.


    He wanted Tang Jie to be the master of the Space Crystal.


    Tang Jie naturally wasn''t strong enough to do this yet, but if the Beast Refining Gate was stealing it, things became entirely different.


    Perhaps the little tiger had already predicted that the Beast Refining Gate would try to steal the Space Crystal. Or perhaps he hadn''t predicted it, but he hadid a trap. After all, nobody knew what he had left behind for the Beast Refining Gate.


    It could have been a drop of blood, or it could have been a way to control the crystal.


    So long as there was hope, the Beast Refining Gate wouldn''t give up.


    "Bao''er¡­" Tang Jie muttered.


    Smoke was rising from the summit, but Tang Jie''s vision was starting to blur.


    At that moment, he was truly hesitating, not able to make up his mind.


    As a disciple, he needed to inform the sect of the danger, but to live up to Bao''er expectations, he should wait and see. The usually decisive Tang Jie was at a loss.


    One figure after another shed before his eyes: Ming Yekong, Feng Hongluan, Xie Fengtang¡­


    The Basking Moon Sect had never treated him poorly. In terms of contribution, though he had done many missions for the Basking Moon Sect, what he had gained was still far greater than what he had paid.


    And at this moment, when all the disciples needed to be united and fight for the sect, he was moving again and again for his own personal gain.


    He felt ashamed.


    The moment he felt shame, a shadow flitted over his heart. And then he heard a rumble in his ears, followed by chanting.


    The thunder of the Wisdom Sword!


    This was the Wisdom Sword Heart Mantra that he had chanted for 72 days on the 750-meter terrace in the Water Moon Paradise.


    As the Wisdom Sword Heart Mantra resounded, Tang Jie felt something in his heart shatter.


    Tang Jie knew that this was a Heart Demon seed.


    Just now, when he had felt shame over his actions toward the sect, a Heart Demon seed had taken root in his heart. It would have grown along with him until the Heart Demon Period, at which point it would erupt.


    But because of the Wisdom Sword Heart Mantra, the Heart Demon seed was shattered moments after it had been nted.


    Heart Demons were unkible, so it was wrong to say that the Heart Demon would cease to exist now that the seed had been destroyed. It could still be reborn, but its effects would be much weaker than if it had taken root now, when his mind was in turmoil.


    This was the special attribute of the Basking Moon Sect''s mantras. Although it couldn''tpletely neutralize Heart Demons, it could prevent them from getting stronger, allowing one to easily get through the Heart Demon Period. And Tang Jie, who had grasped the Wisdom Sword Mantra, could even remove them beforehand, weakening the Heart Demons even further.


    As the thunder rumbled, Tang Jie was shaken, and he muttered, "No matter what, I''m a member of the Basking Moon Sect. I should do my duty when it''s time to do my duty!"


    He had finally made up his mind.


    Even if he was letting down the little tiger, he needed to do what a disciple should.


    He raised his head and looked at the charging fiends. "Yiyi, what''s the state of ck Sin?"


    "It''s eaten a lot more!"


    "Then stop holding back and start killing!"


    "Okay!" Yiyi had been waiting for exactly these words.


    She cheered, and a giant fissure opened up in the ground.


    Countless ck tentacles emerged from the fissure, grabbing at the fiends and dragging them into the abyss as they screamed.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie flew to the summit.


    He shouted, "Protect the Hall of Mystery! The Beast Refining Gate is after the Space Crystal!"


    As he spoke, thunder boomed in the sky,pletely drowning out his voice.


    Tang Jie raised his head in shock and saw a tall and slender figure in ck ncing back at him. Those eyes were grim and stern, and the man even pointed a finger at Tang Jie.


    Amongst these countless fiends, the man in ck had swiftly found Tang Jie and intercepted his alert.


    Tang Jie was momentarily shocked, but then his face turned savage. "Who are you pointing at!?"


    He roared and charged up the mountain.


    Since he couldn''t notify the forces on Rally Peak to protect the Hall of Mystery, he would go to the summit himself.


    Thus, Peng Yaolong and the others saw something incredible.


    Tang Jie rushed up the mountain even faster than the fiends, swinging around the Heartbreak Saber and chopping down any fiend that stood in his way. For a moment, it looked like he was just another fiend charging up to the summit.


    They were all dumbfounded.


    Qi Shaoming shouted, "Tang Jie, what are you doing?"


    Tang Jie shouted back, "Help me get up the mountain!" and then continued running.


    Arge boar was charging forward when it felt someone suddenly hack at its butt. Grunting in anger, it was about to turn around and gore this contemptible person, but to its surprise, Tang Jie decided to just sit on its back.


    The boar was furious, and its tusks began to lengthen, stabbing at Tang Jie like snakes.


    Tang Jie reached out and grabbed one of the tusks with his hand, and he decided to simply chop off the other. The boar howled in pain, but Tang Jie twisted the boar''s head so that it pointed forward and stabbed the Heartbreak Saber into its butt.


    The boar was spurred forward by pain, battering its way through all obstacles.


    The man in ck who had stopped Tang Jie from issuing a warning saw this and pointed at him. "Kill him!"


    Countless fiends turned around and began to fire spell arts at him.


    Tang Jie used the Chaoswind Step and instantly disappeared. But the boar remained in the center of that storm of spell arts and was obliterated. Rather than hurting Tang Jie, the fiends had ended up losing one of their own.


    "Bastard!" the tall and slim man barked. "This person knows our objective. No matter what, he can''t be allowed to get up the mountain. Hurry and kill him!"


    He waved his hand, and two Transformation fiends took flight, lunging at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie constantly jumped around the fiend horde, not daring to stay in any one ce for long. If he did, he would be instantly engulfed by spell arts.


    As he was working upward, the two Transformation fiends came down the mountain. One of them was a golden eagle, pping its wings to create a vicious gale. Tang Jie immediately felt it bing difficult to advance. In fact, rather than advancing, he was forced back a few steps.


    A leopard used this chance to strike him on the back. Tang Jie staggered and swung his saber at the leopard. A momentter, the other Transformation fiend charged over, but rather than a fiend, it had taken human form to punch at Tang Jie.


    "Haa!" Tang Jie roared as he punched back. The sh of fists sent Tang Jie flying, and that Transformation great fiend was also pushed back several steps, gasping in disbelief.


    Although Tang Jie wasn''t strong enough to trade blows with a Transformation fiend, he was not so weak that he would be crushed by the disparity in power.


    After being knocked back, Tang Jie kicked off a fiend and shot upward even faster than before.


    The two Transformation fiends immediately moved to block him. It had to be said that these two working together were truly a difficult obstacle to ovee.


    But at this moment, a bellow came from below: "Hundred-Man Attack Formation!"


    The two Transformation fiends raised their heads in surprise and saw a mountain-sized hand approaching them. It was none other than Peng Yaolong and the others using the hundred-man attack formation.


    The two fiends were aghast and immediately attacked it. Other fiends also joined in, sting away at the giant hand. After all, if that hand made impact, all of them would die.


    Tang Jie ignored them and charged up the mountain, not even caring for his own life.


    He instantly reached maximum speed. Even if he couldn''t fly, with a cultivator''s speed, he sprinted up the mountain like a bolt of lightning.


    He jumped and sprinted as if the mountain was t ground, pushing the Violet Lightning Lunge to the absolute limit.


    A great rumble came from behind him as that mountainous hand was sted apart, but Tang Jie didn''t care, continuing to charge forward. He was soon midway up the mountain and approaching the front line.


    Just as he was about to break through, a sinister st of wind shot toward his armpit.


    Tang Jie instantly felt like he was in grave danger.


    He was certain that if this bolt of wind struck true, he would be severely injured.


    He came to a hasty stop.


    The bolt of wind brushed past him.


    He raised his head and saw that tall and slender man in ck looking at him.


    "Tang Jie?"


    This voice was uncertain, half-asking a question.


    Tang Jie smiled. "That''s me. And you? Who are you?"


    The man in ck froze, and then he tore off the ck cloth covering his face, revealing the face of a handsome young man.


    He chuckled and said, "My name is Qian Yingchen, the Wolf Lord''s adopted son, and also Xu Miaoran''s future husband."


    Tang Jie instantly scowled.

 Chapter 480: Teleportation

    Chapter 480: Teleportation


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie''s eyes were like beads of ice as he stared at Qian Yingchen''s face.


    Tang Jie took in a deep breath.


    He knew that this guy was intentionally provoking him.


    If he took the bait, he would naturally forget about the peak and stay to fight. Thus, he ignored Qian Yingchen and ran past him toward the summit.


    Qian Yingchen waved his hand, his ck robe rising up like a wave to strike down Tang Jie as he bellowed, "Xu Miaoran is mine!"


    Tang Jie swung his saber behind him, but he didn''t engage in a fight. While evading to the side, he whispered, "Idiot, she''s already my woman!"


    There was no need to fight over the question of who Xu Miaoran belonged to, so he wasn''t going to waste words on Qian Yingchen. And there was no point in telling him that Xu Guanghua wouldn''t agree to marry his daughter to him. Even if that was true, he still wouldn''t care.


    Over thest few years, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran had practically been touching heads with how close they were to each other, and their rtionship couldn''t be any closer. They had yet to break through thest sheet of window paper, but for this era, this was already breaking the rules. If the two of them hadn''t been interacting for so long, not even Xu Miaoran would have let him go this far.


    In these circumstances, some guy popping up and saying "Your woman is mine" was doing nothing more than trying to add trouble.


    Qian Yingchen trembled. "Bullshit! That''s impossible!"


    He swung a hand around, and a sinister gale stirred, carrying dark fog mixed with chilling energy toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie knew that this ck fog wasn''t to be underestimated and didn''t dare to let it touch him, so he evaded again. As he moved through the fiends, he shouted, "Oh my, was that a sore spot for you?"


    This casualment was thick with derision.


    Tang Jie''s smirking face enraged Qian Yingchen even more.


    He had been trying to provoke Tang Jie into staying to fight him, but now, Tang Jie was still charging forward at full speed, and it was Qian Yingchen who was beginning to feel the blood rush to his head.


    He truly did love Xu Miaoran, and Feng Muyuan had proposed marriage on his behalf. But that had just been a cover for the real target of the Beast Garden. Since it wasn''t sincere, it was a matter of course that nothing came of it. Thus, Xu Guanghua didn''t agree to it, only saying that he would consider it.


    These words were essentially a rejection, but in the ears of Qian Yingchen, there was still a sliver of hope.


    This person could be considered a genius in the Beast Refining Gate, or else Feng Muyuan wouldn''t have taken him as an adopted son. He looked down on Tang Jie, so he had always been yearning to kill him, and perhaps that would get him into a marriage with Xu Miaoran.


    He had been nning this battle for a long time, not expecting Tang Jie to be unaffected while he ended up fuming.


    The handsome face was engulfed by thick murderous intent, and Qian Yingchen howled, "Tang Jie, you must die! Pentabird Strike!"


    As he shouted, five ck dots appeared in the sky and swiftly expanded into five ck eagles. They seemed to pierce through space, abruptly appearing and stabbing at Tang Jie like five spears.


    One could see at a nce that they weren''t of a particrly high level, only the upper grade of Spirit Sensing, but it was for this reason that Tang Jie found them so suspicious.


    In his sh with Qian Yingchen, he had already sensed that they were both in the same state, not having entered Celestial Heart but possessing the strength to go against one. This was perhaps because his adoptive father was a Violet Pce True Lord.


    From a certain perspective, this person''s attacks were even more frightening than those of a True Person.


    For this reason, Tang Jie didn''t want to fight him head-on. He activated the Chaoswind Step, leaping past Qian Yingchen and continuing up the mountain.


    But Qian Yingchen pointed behind him as if he had eyes on the back of his head, and those five ck eagles, continuing on the same trajectory, disappeared as if they had entered a teleportation formation. When they next appeared, they were behind Tang Jie, pointing straight at his back.


    Tang Jie instantly knew he was in trouble and swung his saber to the rear while his body erupted with power.


    Formless Golden Body!


    The saber energy chopped down on a ck eagle''s head, and there was a metallic ng. As the immense impact threw Tang Jie back, the remaining four ck eagles mmed into him.


    Tang Jie instinctively twisted his body, and one ck eagle brushed past him. The remaining three mmed into his chest.


    The eagle spears prated into Tang Jie''s body as if he had no defenses, as as they entered Tang Jie''s body, they opened their wings.


    "Aaagh!" Tang Jie roared like a tiger, his body swelling with power as every inch of muscle became like steel, preventing the eagle wings from fully opening. Like this, the three eagles passed through Tang Jie, leaving three holes in his chest, each half a meter wide.


    Any one of these three wounds was a fatal injury for a mortal, and if those eagle wings had opened, they could have cut a person in half.


    But even this attack couldn''t stop Tang Jie''s ascent.


    These were probably the heaviest injuries Tang Jie had sustained in his career. Even Celestial Heart experts had never done this much damage.


    Qian Yingchen madlyughed as he raised his arms and shouted, "Die!"


    A raging torrent surged toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie raised his head and said, "You want me to die just like that? It''s still too early for that."


    He took away the hand covering his wounds, and Qian Yingchen realized with a start that the wounds created by the three ck eagles had already started to heal.


    "How is this possible?" he said in shock.


    When a cultivator attained a spiritual body, their life force truly did be much stronger, allowing them to survive what would usually be fatal injuries. Each attack seemed to strike at blood and flesh, but what was really being consumed was a cultivator''s life force.


    Qian Yingchen''s Pentabird Strike was an extremely powerful spell art that targeted life force.


    This was a spell art established on the foundation of the Myriad Beast Union Mantra. Its purpose wasn''t tomand fiends in battle, but to convert the fiends under one''s control into part of a spell art, sacrificing the fiends for a powerful attack.


    While it was only five upper-grade Spirit Sensing fiends, their power wasparable to the full power of a Celestial Heart True Person. The power unleashed by three eagles was enough to instantly destroy a peak Cognitive Creation cultivator.


    But Tang Jie had survived.


    The moment he sustained heavy injuries, a vigorous life force had almost instantly begun to heal him. The rate of healing was beyondmon sense, only possible for those few cultivators who were proficient in the Dao of Life.


    At that moment, Qian Yingchen cried out in shock, "The Dao of Life!"


    Yet he realized that that exnation was insufficient. Even someone who hadprehended the Dao of Life could only make their life force stronger and make themselves more difficult to kill. While their rate of healing would also increase, it wasn''t this absurdly fast.


    Other than Wang Juemie and Tang Jie''s original body, Qian Yingchen''s five birds could kill basically anyone under Celestial Heart.


    But Tang Jie had healed all his injuries as easily as lifting a finger.


    Recovery was always a hundred times more difficult than dealing damage!


    This change dumbfounded Qian Yingchen.


    Yes, this was because Tang Jie hadprehended the Dao of Life, allowing him to instantly heal his body by sacrificing longevity.


    Life force and longevity had always beenplementary existences. The strength of life force determined lifespan, but lifespan did not influence the strength of the life force.


    To put it simply, a sick patient with a weak body would die early, but someone with a long life wasn''t necessarily immune to disease and disaster. Luo Hanzhen could only live a thousand years because of his injuries, but an old man couldn''t say, "I''ll live for a few less years so that all my wounds will disappear."


    But Tang Jie could!


    The four hundred days in the Water Moon Paradise hadn''t been for nothing. It had boosted Tang Jie''s cultivation and also his insight into many other areas.


    Through the writings and theories left behind by countless seniors, Tang Jie had made his own insights. This conversion between longevity and life force was one of these, a breakthrough created through his understanding of Life and Time.


    But this method wasn''t free. Converting longevity into life force was extremely wasteful.


    For example, in normal circumstances, Tang Jie would have needed three days at most to recover from those injuries. But by forcing their healing, he had wasted an entire year of lifespan, a hundred times more than normal.


    Even so, for a person in battle, this ability greatly boosted a cultivator''s survivability.


    Many cultivators would fall on the path far before they reached the end of their lifespan.


    Now that Tang Jie was fully recovered, he red at Qian Yingchen before continuing to run up the mountain.


    Although he really wanted to chop this guy up, his current priority was to stop the Beast Refining Gate from getting the Space Crystal.


    But to his surprise, while Qian Yingchen was shocked, he hadn''t lost his courage. He continued to pursue Tang Jie, shouting, "Tang Jie, leave your life right here!"


    He waved his sleeve, and five golden eagles appeared, shooting at Tang Jie''s back.


    This time, they were five lower-grade Mind Opening fiends.


    Because he cultivated the Pentabird Strike, he didn''t prioritize raising powerful fiends. He normally gathered fiends of lower levels, focusing on quantity over quality. However, the power of the Pentabird Strike depended on both the cultivator''s power and the fiend''s power. Thus, Qian Yingchen also raised fiends of somewhat higher grade and level, though he normally cherished them and didn''t use them lightly.


    As a genius of the Beast Refining Gate, he was someone to whom even True Persons were polite, yet he couldn''t deal with a single Tang Jie! This enraged him enough that he finally started to take out some of his more valuable fiend birds.


    These five lower-grade Mind Opening birds represented some of his finer stock.


    The five golden eagles became five arrows aimed at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie silently cursed as he elerated, dodging left and right in order to evade the five golden eagles.


    Even though the Dao of Life could heal his wounds, he had to survive them first.


    Those three Spirit Sensing ck eagles had already left him half dead. If those five golden eagles struck true, he would probably die on the spot, making the Dao of Life useless.


    As the five golden eagles charged, Tang Jie hardened his heart, shouting, "Fuck you!"


    He turned around, activating the Chaoswind Step and Formless Golden Body, and then he pointed a finger at Qian Yingchen.


    A momentter, the world suddenly lit up, a sharp light shining in the clouds. Dropping from the sky was a giant crescent de.


    The Heavenly Cloud de!


    But this time, instead of several dozen, there was only the one Heavenly Cloud de.


    This de chopped down at Qian Yingchen. In the process, it sliced through a golden eagle as easily as through tofu.


    Qian Yingchen instantly knew that he was in trouble. Letting out a long howl, he thrust a finger at Tang Jie, his body exploding with light.


    An enormous light exploded between the two.


    A momentter, Qian Yingchen and Tang Jie were sted away from each other, several streams of blood shooting from their bodies.


    The Heartbreak Saber had cut down another golden eagle, but there was no stopping the remaining three, which punched through his left arm, right chest, and belly. Tang Jie instantly had three holes punched through him, one of his arms even flying into the air.


    Qian Yingchen had also sustained a terrifying de wound.


    This single de had almost cut Qian Yingchen in half.


    Or perhaps one could say that this de had cleaved him apart, but the life force of the spiritual body had activated at the key moment, healing the wound. But his injuries were far worse than Tang Jie''s.


    This exchange had left both badly wounded.


    "Awooo!" Qian Yingchen roared like a tiger. "Saber intent! Ultimate saber intent!"


    The de Tang Jie had sent out had carried traces of saber intent, which was why all of the Heavenly Cloud des had merged together. This was also something he had gained from the Water Moon Paradise, but he hadn''tprehended the saber intent for long. All he could do was fuse the Heavenly Cloud des together, and he was far from reaching the fusion of man and saber.


    Tang Jie whispered, "It''s only saber intent, far from ''ultimate''."


    As he flew up, his severed arm grew back and the hole on his belly healed. Even his shattered heart grew back and started to beat again.


    This attack had wasted a whole ten years of lifespan.


    In exchange, he was going to kill Qian Yingchen!


    The saber light shed again, slicing at Qian Yingchen''s head.


    Qian Yingchen grunted and waved his right hand. "Block him."


    A giant bear appeared in front of him and thrust a paw at Tang Jie.


    "Out of my way!" Tang Jie sent the bear flying with a saber.


    But a momentter, countless fiends rushed in, with even several ck-robed mening to the rescue of their young master.


    Since a duel had produced no results, it was decided to turn the battle into a melee.


    "Yiyi!" Tang Jie threw his head back and yelled.


    Raaaa!


    There was a great din as the ground broke open and countless ck tentacles reached out and stopped the fiends. Meanwhile, Yiyi gracefullynded on Tang Jie''s shoulder.


    At the same time, Qian Yingchen swiftly took a small bottle from his Mustard Seed Bag, pouring out a single red pill.


    He looked at it reluctantly and then swallowed the pill. A momentter, the gruesome wound on his body began to gradually close, and the life force destroyed by the de swiftly grew back. His aura began to rise once more, much to Tang Jie''s consternation.


    He knew that this wasn''t good and tried to get an attack in, but he was unable to break through the ck-robed men.


    As Qian Yingchen''s injuries rapidly healed, he hoarsely bellowed, "For forcing me to waste a precious Lifespan Golden Pill, you deserve death!"


    He thrust his left hand forward. "Pentabird Strike!"


    Another five eagles appeared.


    Middle-grade Mind Opening!


    When you''re just trying to make great content at tinyurl/37k7u89t.


    Even more shocking was that the bear from before hadn''t disappeared, roaring as it lunged at Tang Jie and hugged him.


    Six fiends!


    This guy could control six fiends at once!


    This was his true trump card. After two draws, Qian Yingchen regarded Tang Jie as his number one enemy, and he was willing to sacrifice six middle-grade Mind Opening fiends to kill him!


    Even though he hadprehended the Dao of Life, a Pentabird Strike using five middle-grade Mind Opening birds was enough to instantly annihte him!


    Yiyi was rmed and immediately summoned a storm of flower petals. But while her Blossom Shell might have been able to block an ordinary attack, it was far too weak in front of the Pentabird Strike.


    At this moment, there was a sh of light on the horizon.


    A vigorous wave of sword energy swept toward Qian Yingchen.


    This sword energy was abnormally sharp, and Qian Yingchen immediately had his five eagles turn to the sword energy in shock, no longer caring about Tang Jie. Tang Jie swung the Heartbreak Saber, joining the sword energy by unleashing a powerful energy to sh with the five eagles.


    There was a massive explosion, and then Tang Jie, Qian Yingchen, and that other person who had appeared in the sky were sted away from each other.


    The person who had abruptly appeared threw up arge mouthful of blood and blurted out, "Wow! Formidable!"


    "Junyang?" Tang Jie was startled by this voice.


    The person who crashed from the sky to his feet was none other than Cai Junyang.


    When he had been contacting his fellow disciples, only Cai Junyang had been missing, because he was always traveling. Although a message had been left for him, there was no telling if he could receive it in time. He had thought that Cai Junyang wouldn''t make it, but he had ended up appearing at the key moment.


    pping his forehead, Cai Junyangughed and said, "I finally made it. I say, did you get even stronger while I was gone?"


    Tang Jie pursed his lips. "I should be the one asking you that."


    Qian Yingchen had used a Pentabird Strike that had cost him five middle-grade Mind Opening fiend birds, so it was unimaginably powerful. Even a Celestial Heart True Person might not be able to take the blow. But thebined powers of Tang Jie and Cai Junyang had managed to block it, meaning that Cai Junyang had grown much stronger. From the mouthful of blood he had thrown up, it seemed like he was only a little weaker than Tang Jie.


    The problem was that this guy hadn''t even entered the Three Witherings yet.


    In other words, Tang Jie pre¨CThree Witherings was weaker than Cai Junyang.


    This left Tang Jie stunned.


    It was only then that he realized that Cai Junyang''s sword had changed.


    Originally, he used a broadsword that had a de as thick and wide as a shield. But now, he was using an azure long sword that was circled by streams of energy. Tang Jie could tell at a nce that it was no ordinary weapon.


    "This is¡­" Tang Jie murmured in shock.


    "The Taiyi Azure Sword," Cai Junyang proudly said.


    Tang Jie understood. "It seems that you''ve had a few lucky encounters on your travels."


    "It''s all thanks to your Hundred Tribtions Passage, or else I would have died several times over," Cai Junyang replied. "I say, why are you in such a rush to get to the summit?"


    "Someone on the summit is trying to steal a treasure, and I''m trying to stop them. But this guy keeps bothering me."


    "You go. I''ll take care of him for you," Cai Junyang said.


    "Don''t kill him. This guy is after Miaoran, so I''ll kill him myself," Tang Jie said as he looked at Qian Yingchen and fell back.


    "Don''t even think about running!" Qian Yingchen bellowed. But as he tried to give chase, he was swept up in a wave of sword energy.


    Without Qian Yingchen to stop him, Tang Jie had no more obstacles preventing him from reaching the summit. Together with Yiyi, he charged up the mountain. s, ck Sin had to hold off the fiends, so it couldn''t be brought along.


    The battle on Rally Peak was beginning to turn in the Basking Moon Sect''s favor. All the disciples were gradually grasping the initiative, and more reinforcements wereing from the surrounding peaks. Even the Illusion Fog blotting out the sky was loosening, rays of light beginning to peek through.


    Tang Jie ignored it all and charged toward the Hall of Mystery.


    Two disciples were standing in front of the hall. When they saw Tang Jieing, they shouted, "The Hall of Mystery is temporarily closed. We have been ordered to stand guard here. All disciples of the sect should immediately head to the front lines! Entry is forbidden!"


    They were quite familiar with these words, as if they had repeated them many times already.


    Tang Jie didn''t stop, and the Heartbreak Saber shone with a stunning radiance. "Die!"


    The two disciples had never in their dreams expected someone to so decisively take action, not fearing in the slightest that he might be killing his own.


    Two heads went flying in the air, and the power of the saber entered their bodies and exterminated their life forces.


    As the two corpses copsed, Tang Jie charged into the hall while shouting, "Next time you say this, don''t look so nervous, and don''t prepare to cast a spell."


    In the hall, that drop of blood was still flying toward the hexagonal crystal, already extremely close. Standing in front of it was none other than Xu Hanling.


    Hearing someone enter the hall, Xu Hanling said without turning his head, "What''s the situation?"


    He had clearly mistaken Tang Jie for someone else.


    Tang Jie was about to say something when he suddenly sensed danger and dodged to the side. A bolt of wind silently passed through the area where Tang Jie had been standing, striking a pir.


    Only now did Xu Hanling turn around and grab at Tang Jie. As he attacked, surprise appeared on his face. "Tang Jie?"


    It was only now that he saw his foe.


    "It''s me!" Tang Jie responded, reaching out to grab Xu Hanling.


    Their palms shed, and Tang Jie grunted as he was sent flying.


    At the same time, that drop of bloodnded on the crystal. The crystal erupted with light and began to fly toward Xu Hanling.


    "Sess!" Xu Hanling excitedly shouted, reaching for the crystal.


    "Yiyi!" Tang Jie roared.


    A flower struck the crystal and threw it off course, resulting in Xu Hanling''s hand grabbing at nothing.


    Tang Jie lunged forward and swung his saber.


    Xu Hanling roared and grabbed at the crystal, sweeping his free hand at Tang Jie. "Out of my way!"


    Tang Jie was thrown back by the sleeve, but he swung his saber as he was pushed back, shouting, "Now that you''ve been discovered, even if you get the Space Crystal, you won''t be able to leave Rally Peak!"


    "You know nothing!" Xu Hanling roared. He allowed Tang Jie''s attack to strike his body, which resulted in a shower of sparks.


    Godhead Armor!


    Why did he have Godhead Armor?


    Tang Jie was startled. Wasn''t this supposed to be a Beast Refining Gate spy?


    But there was no time to find an answer. With the power of the Grotto Metal Mantra, some of the saber energy had managed to get through the armor and strike Xu Hanling in the back. He trembled in pain, but he still managed to grab the crystal.


    The crystal instantly shone with an even greater light.


    Tang Jie froze, and then he realized what was going on and shouted, "Oh no!"


    He only now remembered that the Space Crystal was a divine item that controlled space. Having it allowed one to travel through space.


    This was why the Beast Refining Gate only needed to think about sess and not about retreat. Getting the Space Crystal would allow one to retreat. Even if it was only once, it was enough!


    Xu Hanling was right. Tang Jie hade a little toote.


    Tang Jie and Yiyi lunged forward, grabbing onto Xu Hanling.


    The crystal shed, and then all three of them disappeared.

 Chapter 481: Escape (1)

    Chapter 481: Escape (1)


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    This was a bleak wastnd engulfed in pitch ckness, with nothing to be seen.


    Suddenly, a wind howled.


    A fissure appeared above the wastnd, like a ghost had swiped its ws across space.


    Three people tumbled out of the fissure: Tang Jie, Yiyi, and Xu Hanling.


    The fissurested only for the blink of an eye, even for the three of them. When they closed their eyes, they were still on Rally Peak, in the Hall of Mystery, but when they opened their eyes, they found themselves in anothernd.


    Tang Jie jumped to his feet and looked around in confusion.


    He then looked at Xu Hanling, who was also shocked.


    He was the one who had activated the Space Crystal, so it was impossible for him to not know where they were being teleported. But it was clear that this was not the ce Xu Hanling had wanted to go. Tang Jie needed to think for only a moment to understand why.


    It was because Tang Jie and Yiyi had hitched a ride.


    When it came to extremely long-distance teleportation, a centimeter''s miscalction could lead to one missing the target by hundreds of kilometers. The addition of the two of them had put the teleportation off course so much that even Xu Hanling hadn''t been able to reach where he wanted to go.


    Even so, after looking around at the unfamiliar terrain, Tang Jie could guess that they probably weren''t in Sageheart and were probably very close to Xu Hanling''s target destination.


    If he was right, they were probably in the territory of the Beast Refining Gate or Godhead Pce.


    "Where were you teleporting to?" he asked.


    "Junior!" Xu Hanling red at Tang Jie. If this guy hadn''t meddled, he would have alreadypleted his mission.


    "It seems like you don''t n to reply," Tang Jie sighed. "You''re wearing Godhead Armor, so you should have some connection to Godhead Pce. Could this ce be in Nadir Hill? It seems like Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate don''t get along as well as they outwardly appear to. Ah, I suppose that''s to be expected. After all, the Thousand Passions Sect put a spy in my Basking Moon Sect."


    "You''re seeking death!" Xu Hanling roared, thrusting a finger at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie used the Chaoswind Step and then threw out the Mountain River State Diagram.


    The moment the Mountain River State Diagram appeared, the cliff and waterfall of the Great Broken Stream appeared in the wastnd.


    The Great Broken Stream contained the Eternal Universe Formation, and countless creatures could be glimpsed roaming about that world.


    And under that waterfall stood a person.


    When the Mountain River State Diagram was rolled up, he was just a person in the painting, fishing in the waterfall.


    But when the Mountain River State Diagram was unrolled, he raised his head, two green mes burning in his eye sockets.


    The ghost guard!


    The Eternal Universe Formation within the Mountain River State Diagram allowed creatures to be ced inside it, and these creatures were the foundation that sustained the teleportation formation. Thus, the Mountain River State Diagram was a good ce to store things that couldn''t be exposed to the public eye.


    For this reason, once Tang Jie got the ghost guard, the Mountain River State Diagram gained a new painted person.


    He was the strongest ally that could be summoned outside of the original body, and a hidden card that Tang Jie was reluctant to use.


    But since he was in a destend, there was nothing to fear now.


    As he threw out the Mountain River State Diagram, Tang Jie said, "Kill him."


    That dark figure lunged at Xu Hanling.


    A battle between a dragon and a tiger ensued, but Tang Jie didn''t even give it a nce.


    He took a few steps forward, and looked around. Despite the indifferent look on his face, his eyes were brimming with wariness.


    He grabbed some soil from the ground and sniffed it.


    He released his grip, allowing the soil to fall through his fingers.


    As the soil drifted in the wind, Tang Jie''s eyes turned grave.


    He suddenly scratched at the earth, turning his hands into hoes, and he soon dug out a long trench. His dirt-covered hand picked out a little ck stone from the bottom of the trench.


    He brought the stone up to his eyes, his expression turning even graver.


    "This is trouble!" Tang Jie muttered.


    "Aaah!" Xu Hanling bitterly screamed as thebined attack of the ghost guard and Yiyi sent him flying.


    He flew in Tang Jie''s direction. Xu Hanling saw that Tang Jie had his back to him and rejoiced. He felt like this was a chance and chopped a palm at him, but then Tang Jie turned around and thrust out a finger.


    The finger pierced through the Godhead Armor like it was made of tofu, stabbing into Xu Hanling''s body.


    Xu Hanling''s body froze as he looked in disbelief at his chest. "Jade¡­ Shattering¡­ Finger!"


    The finger erupted with light. It was only a small ball of light at first, but then it became like a rising sun, and Xu Hanling''s chest began to melt away.


    He obstinately grabbed at Tang Jie. "No¡­ I''m a True Person¡­"


    "I know," Tang Jie coldly said.


    Xu Hanling saw Tang Jie''s callous expression and seemed to realize something. He suddenly roared, "I won''t die at your hands!"


    His body erupted with power as he chopped a palm at Tang Jie''s forehead.


    But he had barely moved when two streaks of blood shot out, and Xu Hanling found his arm was disobediently flying off into the air.


    He howled and turned to see the ghost guard slowly drawing his hands back from the stump of his arm. Xu Hanling trembled, but all he could do was weakly yell.


    His body erupted with light.


    Celestial Heart detonation!


    But a momentter, the sun on Tang Jie''s fingerpletely devoured him.


    Without even having the chance to self-detonate, he dissolved into spiritual energy and dispersed into the air.


    Drawing back his finger, Tang Jie didn''t even nce at Xu Hanling''s Mustard Seed Bag. He was focused solely on the little ck stone, as if it was the most important thing in the world.


    Yiyi ran over and asked, "Big Brother, do you know where we are?"


    "Mm." Tang Jie raised the ck stone. "This is Resentment Rock, said to be created when a living creature dies. This substance is extremely corrosive to life, and it''s ideal for use in slow-acting poisons. It can also serve as a formation material or for refining ghosts. The ghost guard was made from this kind of material."


    "And¡­?"


    "Because of its ability to corrode life force, ces where Resentment Rocks can be found are bound to be wastnds, with nothing but weeds growing there. In the Rosecloud Domain, the ce with the greatest concentration of Resentment Rocks is the in of Departed Souls."


    "''The in of Departed Souls''?" The little girl paled.


    The numerous departed souls here had createdrge amounts of Resentment Rock, which made the wastnd''s Yin energy extremely strong. A normal person would die in a few days here, and even a cultivator would be affected if they stayed too long, the Resentment Rocks eating away at their life force.


    But this wasn''t the crux of the matter. Most importantly¡­ this ce was very close to Godhead Pce.


    Although the Space Crystal hadn''t been able to deliver them to Godhead Pce, it had at least taken them to the in of Departed Souls, only one step away from Godhead Pce.


    "Use the Space Crystal!" The little girl was sharp, saying, "The Space Crystal could bring us here, so it can take us back. Big Brother, with the White Tiger essence blood Bao''er gave you, you must be able to control the Space Crystal."


    She grabbed the Space Crystal from Xu Hanling''s remains.


    The crystal was now lusterless, no longer its dazzling self.


    Tang Jie took it and looked it over before shaking his head. "It''s out of energy, so we can''t use it for now."


    "Huh? How?" Yiyi''s eyes flew open.


    Tang Jie lightly raised the Space Crystal. "While the two crystals are divine items, they need energy to power them. The Space Crystal is naturally capable of teleporting someone around a domain, but the problem is that it''s missing a corner, which is essentially a hole, like with the Cosmic Breeze Pearl. This hole isn''t at the bottom, but around the center, so some energy can still umte beneath the hole. But once the energy starts to surmount the hole, it will start to slowly leak out. Moreover, this person used the White Tiger''s blood to forcibly activate the crystal. As he did not have the bloodline and did not understand the Dao of Space, he had to expend ten times the usual energy, and then we joined in, so it naturally used up all the energy it had. It''s actually fortunate that it didn''t have enough energy, or we would already be in Godhead Pce."


    "Then what do we do?" Yiyi asked.


    Tang Jie put away the Space Crystal and said, "Our first priority is to get out of here. Once we leave Nadir Hill, we''re safe."


    As he finished speaking, he suddenly sensed something and looked at Xu Hanling''s corpse.


    Once a cultivator attained a spiritual body, when they died, most of their flesh and blood would dissolve into spiritual energy, with the rest turning into dust. Rarely was something left behind. If there was, it meant that this person hadn''t cultivated properly. For this reason, "Returned Remnants" was usually only used to refer to the remains of people who had gotten past the Three Witherings. While one''s spiritual energy would return to the earth if one died before this, it wouldn''t cause much of a stir, so one wouldn''t have the right to enter a paradise to Return one''s Remnants.


    This Xu Hanling had been a True Person, and while his strength was average, he had still achieved a spiritual body. His body had now dissolved into spiritual light, and while he hadn''t created spirit rain like Xu Muyang or Luo Hanzhen, he had still created a rainbow cloud of spirit light.


    Now, as Tang Jie looked at the site of Xu Hanling''s remains, he saw several rock-like objects.


    These objects were actually the remains left by people who didn''t cultivate properly. In the cultivation world, they were called Rotten Bones, mortal substances left behind when someone hadn''t shed enough of their mortality. They were impurities, and they were called Rotten Bones in reference to the saying "One cannot carve rotten wood."


    Tang Jie looked at Xu Hanling''s Rotten Bones and then suddenly squatted down, picking something out from them.


    This substance seemed to be a Rotten Bone, but it was actually different. Rotten Bones had a gray-white color, but this substance was white mixed with yellow, something between metal and wood.


    Tang Jie raised it up to more closely inspect it. Suddenly, there was a sh of spiritual light, and a scene flitted past his eyes.


    Stunned, Tang Jie threw out the object and shouted, "Shit! This is a Secret Bone!"


    A Secret Bone was a special magic tool imnted in the body, allowing oneself to be tracked from a vast distance. Once imnted, it could not be removed. This item was very difficult to detect, such that even Violet Pce Titans couldn''t sense it. Of course, they had the corresponding price, so they were normally used only for high-level scouts.


    It wasn''t strange for a True Person spy like Xu Hanling to have one imnted in him.


    The problem was that this meant that Tang Jie''s position was exposed.


    Tang Jie grabbed the Secret Bone and cast a spell, creating a little eagle. He threw the Secret Bone into the eagle''s mouth, and the eagle flew off.


    But using the eagle to move the Secret Bone was only a temporary countermeasure. Once Godhead Pce found it, they would definitely be able to conclude that Xu Hanling was dead and someone else had taken the Space Crystal. They would then lock down the area, and Tang Jie would find it very hard to escape Nadir Hill.


    No matter what, he had to escape before Godhead Pce found out. Grabbing Yiyi, he shouted, "We''re going!" and he flew into the air.


    Nadir Hill was in the west and Sageheart was in the east. No matter where he was in Nadir Hill, there was nothing wrong with flying eastward.


    As he flew along, after around an hour, Tang Jie suddenly spotted a hazy cloud rising from the distance.


    This cloud flew up to a high altitude and then stopped, transforming into several hundred streaks of light that instantly covered all of Nadir Hill.


    When Tang Jie saw this, he knew that he was done for. Godhead Pce had found the Secret Bone and thus determined that Xu Hanling was dead and the Space Crystal was with someone else.


    The cloud was an rm that told the entire sect to be on alert. It wasn''t just Godhead Pce, but all of the minor sects under it that had received this report and been notified to stop all suspicious people.


    The only upside was that the Basking Moon Sect was too far away for Godhead Pce to have received word of what had happened there. Thus, Godhead Pce probably didn''t know who hade with Xu Hanling and stolen the Space Crystal.


    But Tang Jie trusted that it would take a day at most for Godhead Pce to find out.


    Once they knew that it was Tang Jie, given their rtionship, Godhead Pce would go to any length to find him, scouring the heavens and digging out the earth if they had to.


    Thus, in this one day, he had to escape from Nadir Hill.


    At his current speed, he actually had a good chance of escaping within a day.


    Understanding this, Tang Jie charged east as quickly as he could.

 Chapter 482: Escape (2)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Traveling through the sky at high speed, Tang Jie used the clouds to avoid detection.


    asionally, Divine Will would sweep through the air. These were experts at the Heart Demon Period or above searching for him, but Tang Jie wore the stone canvas, so he didn''t need to worry about being found this way.


    But while the stone canvas blocked Divine Will, it couldn''t fool the eyes. The cultivators that appeared from time to time would always give Tang Jie a big headache.


    It wasn''t strange that this was happening. Even if they didn''t know that they were hunting Tang Jie, the Space Crystal alone was enough to mobilize Godhead Pce on arge scale.


    Tang Jie was forced to evade them. With Insight, he was able to preempt nearby enemies and avoid them, but this forced him to slow down.


    Yet a new problem soon arrived.


    Daybreak!


    A night of killing and fleeing had finallye to an end.


    The sunrise dyed the skies, and light once more ruled over the world.


    Visibility increased, making it even trickier for Tang Jie to avoid detection.


    Godhead Pce hadn''t intensified its search, but Tang Jie could vaguely feel an internal pressure.


    He didn''t know if Godhead Pce had confirmed that Tang Jie was in Nadir Hill, but this sense that danger was right in front of him made him feel like it was no longer possible to keep going forward.


    Even so, Tang Jie clung to that faint sliver of hope and cautiously advanced.


    He wouldn''t give up on hope until the veryst moment.


    Especially when he still had the Free Roaming Talisman.


    But this item was extremely valuable and difficult to obtain, and it was random teleportation. As he didn''t know where it would take him, he wouldn''t use it so recklessly.


    At least for now, he still had some chance of getting out.


    He flew in the clouds and used Duplication to disguise himself, making himself appear like an eagle. If necessary, he was also willing to use Duplication to force himself through.


    Cultivators asionally appeared in his surroundings, but he managed to fool them all.


    But he slowed down even more.


    When night arrived, Tang Jie finally reached the region of Ferry Pass.


    This was the border of Nadir Hill. Once he got through this pass, he would reach the ins of Extinction, an uninhabited region that served as a cultivator battlefield. Past the ins of Extinction was the territory of the Seven Absolutions Sect. The origin of the grudge between the Seven Absolutions Sect and Godhead Pce was a very simple one. It was a territorial conflict.


    Standing in the clouds, he looked at Ferry Pass and didn''t see anything weird.


    After thinking it over, he decided to fly to the southern side of the pass. He found a mountain and then used Duplication to create duplicates of himself and the giant eagle that served as his cover.


    Under his control, the eagle and his duplicate flew past the mountain, doing their utmost to keep to the clouds to avoid being discovered by the enemy.


    As the eagle flew past the peak of that mountain, a sudden gust of wind blew away all the clouds.


    Theft is never good, try looking at tinyurl/37k7u89t.


    The eagle waspletely exposed.


    A monstrous bird with two heads, each one half-red and half-blue, flew toward the golden eagle.


    "Spiral Feather!" Tang Jie was shocked.


    This bird was called Spiral Feather, and it was an extremely rare monstrous bird. It was born at Spirit Sensing and was gifted in both ice and fire.


    Tang Jie hadn''t expected that a Spiral Feather would appear here.


    The two-headed bird spat chill at the golden eagle. As the eagle was an illusion, there was no way it could fend off this attack. It was turned into a block of ice and dropped from the sky.


    As it fell, the duplicate of Tang Jie was exposed.


    Countless shouts erupted from the mountain. "Over here!"


    Innumerable spell arts lit up the mountain.


    Spell arrows tore through the skies at the duplicate, so many that the Spiral Feather fled with a shriek. The spell artspletely engulfed the duplicate.


    With a pop, the duplicate shattered.


    Tang Jie knew that he was done for.


    Godhead Pce clearly knew that Tang Jie was in Nadir Hill, as could be seen from their reaction just now. but they had pretended not to know while focusing their troops on the border, lying in wait for Tang Jie to take the bait.


    It seemed like they wouldn''t let a single cloud go and would kill any passing eagle. It was clear that they had set up a giant wall that extended from the heavens to the earth and spanned the entire border of Nadir Hill. Even an ant couldn''t hope to escape!


    As the duplicate was destroyed, Tang Jie stopped hesitating, activating the Free Roaming Talisman and locking onto the east.


    But to his surprise, the moment the Free Roaming Talisman lit up, an enormous energy abruptly appeared in the distance.


    This energy was so powerful that the space-tearing power of the Free Roaming Talisman was bounced back. Not only that, a small tear appeared on the talisman.


    Tang Jie was badly shaken, and he knew that he was in trouble.


    Godhead Pce had probably taken measures against such methods.


    Not using the Free Roaming Talisman at the first chance he could and clinging to hope had been Tang Jie''s greatest mistake, and by the time he realized this, it was already toote.


    Perhaps his several shes with Godhead Pce had caused him to underestimate it.


    But Godhead Pce hadn''t underestimated him, and it was Tang Jie who ended up making a mistake¡ªone which was undoubtedly lethal.


    Tang Jie stopped hesitating and immediately turned to fly back the way he came.


    At the same time, countless people took flight, shooting out in all directions.


    They didn''t know where Tang Jie was, but since the duplicate Tang Jie had appeared, the real body couldn''t be far. At this moment, disciples ranging from Soul Transformation down to Hundred Refinement spread out like raging flood waters in a mad search for Tang Jie, not caring one bit for their lives.


    The empty skies instantly became like a packed market, all those people turning into so many streaks of light that it was blinding. Various surveince spells nketed the skies, and the clouds were soon scoured away, the sky bing like a clear mirror. Even a fly couldn''t hope to evade their pursuit.


    "Shit!" Tang Jie softly cursed. He could only cast a concealment spell and head to the ground.


    Human wave tactics were often the most practical of tactics.


    In front of so many cultivators, no number of duplicates would be enough, and the stone canvas was also of no use. Only immediatelynding and using the most primitive method of relying on nts and trees for cover would allow him to escape those eyes.


    This was because the majority of detection abilities targeted spell arts and not physical objects, including Tang Jie''s Insight. It could see through low-level spell arts, but it couldn''t see what was behind a rock.


    But to get to the ground, he first had to descend one hundred meters.


    Although Tang Jie knew a concealment spell, it was of a very low level. The Divine Firmament Sword ssic had a high-level concealment spell, but it was difficult to cultivate. Tang Jie had never sought assassination as a goal, so he had never researched this spell art.


    As he was descending, countless gazes swept through the air.


    Having a lot of people was a wonderful thing, as there would always be a few skilled in observation. One nce was all that was needed to see through his low-ss concealment spell, and a cry almost immediately rang out: "Over there!"


    Several beams of light pierced through the air, lighting up the night sky and illuminating Tang Jie''s figure.


    Almost immediately, countless palms thrust out at Tang Jie.


    Even a Soul Transformation True Person would probably die from this offensive.


    The moment these attacks shot at him, Tang Jie activated the Chaoswind Step, appearing elsewhere and avoiding the majority of the attacks. He then threw out a block of rotten wood.


    The moment this block of wood appeared, it transformed into two Tang Jies that continued their descent from the sky.


    "Kil!" someone roared, the sound shaking Tang Jie''s soul. He immediately realized that this was a sonic attack, which could ignore his duplicates.


    Sure enough, no ability in the world was perfect. One could always find a counter if one was sufficiently prepared.


    He had used the Duplication spell in front of Feng Buzhi before, so it had long ago ceased to be a secret to Godhead Pce. Thus, the moment his duplicates appeared, the other side immediately used a counter.


    This sonic attack made Tang Jie throw up blood. Even his Heavenly Spirit Law Body couldn''t hold out against such an attack, which was a sign that the user had to be at least at the Spirit Ring Tier.


    Three more shouts rang out, dizzying Tang Jie''s mind, throwing off his focus so that even casting a spell art became difficult.


    Tang Jie knew that this was intentional so that he wouldn''t have the chance to escape. Fortunately, at this moment, a cool sensation came from his wrist, and the nausea in his head instantly diminished.


    The Mindsoothe Bracelet!


    The treasure that Tang Jie had bought from the Seven Absolutions Sect along with the Mountain River State Diagram excelled at clearing the mind. This thing had once caused Tang Jie to lose five hundred thousand spirit coins, but now, it was saving his life.


    His mind having recovered, Tang Jie thrust a palm downward. "Ha!"


    Countless Tang Jies took to the skies, providing him the perfect cover.


    Even though he knew that these duplicates wouldn''t throw off his pursuers, he could at least fool them for a time and use the chance to disappear from the sight of his enemies.


    Countless Tang Jies tumbled from the air, spell arts hitting them from various parts of the sky. Every spell art took down at least one duplicate, sometimes multiple.


    For a time, it sounded like someone was holding a balloon-popping party.


    As numerous duplicates disappeared, Tang Jie finally managed to finish this death sprint.


    His feet touching the ground, Tang Jie shouted, "Yiyi!"


    Yiyi waved her hand, and numerous des of grass sprouted from the earth to cover them.


    At the same time, the remaining duplicates fled in all directions.


    The duplicates weren''t able to get far before they were all killed by the cultivators.


    Those cultivators then flew over to where Tang Jie hadnded, and at least one hundred people descended to the ground.


    Their leader, a middle-aged man, shouted, "He must be hiding nearby! He can''t have run far!"


    "Let me!" a burly man shouted as he threw an item into the air: a shining golden stamp. The golden stamp grew to the size of a small mountain and then descended to the ground.


    But before the golden stamp couldnd, the ground shed, and the golden stamp bounced back, striking the burly man. The man said in shock, "What''s going on?"


    "Idiot!" The middle-aged man from before said, "To capture Tang Jie, my Godhead Pce activated the Heaven-Earth Lock Formation. In the border region, the Five Elements are ineffective, and space is like a steel wall. Your silly idea of using the golden stamp to kill Tang Jie, putting aside the fact that it might not have even worked, fails to take into ount that the earth has hardened such that it can bounce back all spell arts. Your golden stamp naturally wouldn''t work!"


    Only then did the burly man remember.


    The Heaven-Earth Lock Formation was an istion formation Godhead Pce used on criminals. Once activated, it would turn all of Nadir Hill into a cage, and no mighty spell art could save you.


    In the history of Godhead Pce, it was used only against Heart Demon and Soul Transformation Tier cultivators, and only on the strongest and most murderous sorts, who usually had many tricks up their sleeves.


    For Tang Jie to be treated like this could be considered an honor.


    It was hard to me Godhead Pce. After all, Godhead Pce had been seeking Tang Jie for quite a long time. When he wasn''t willing to go to them, Godhead Pce had tried many ways to capture him. Now that he was here, how could he be allowed to leave?


    Since the golden stamp didn''t work, the leader shouted, "Everyone, split up and search!"


    The cultivatorsnded on the ground and began to cast various detection spells. These cultivatorsbed through everything, letting no tree, bush, or stone go unturned.


    The middle-aged man and several other cultivators held the center so that they could lend a hand at once if anyone found something.


    The middle-aged man was clearly from Godhead Pce, wearing golden clothes, but the other cultivators were not. They wore gray clothes which had a little sword symbol woven into them.


    A gray-robed elder bowed to the golden-clothed middle-aged man and smiled. "Congrattions, True Person Wei, congrattions! For Tang Jie to pass through the area True Person was guarding is a gift from the heavens. Once you catch this scoundrel, Godhead Pce is certain to recognize your mighty contribution."


    The middle-aged man chuckled. "Naturally. Of course, your Sword Manor also contributed a lot. I will naturally ensure that you get your just reward."


    "My thanks, True Person!" the gray-robed elder said with another bow.


    Nadir Hill had a long border, and Godhead Pce clearly didn''t have enough manpower to blockade Tang Jie all on its own. Thus, Godhead Pce had issued a general decree that mobilized all the sects of Nadir Hill, with Godhead Pce''s people as the core.


    Everyone was talking as if Tang Jie was already captured, their hearts brimming with excitement.


    Buried under a thick carpet of leaves, Tang Jie coldly watched through a crack.


    The duplicates just now had seeded in preventing his pursuers from determining where hended, and the location they had started their search for him was actually some distance away. And Tang Jie had intentionally chosen an area with more trees and standing rocks, with more hiding spots. This meant that those cultivators hadn''t yet gotten to him.


    Even so, those cultivators gradually began to extend their search range in his direction.


    A gray-robed cultivator walked past Tang Jie. He didn''t seem old, but his expression was very focused.


    A bolt of air left his fingertip, striking the soil, but there was no reaction.


    The young gray-robed cultivator continued onward.


    Pa!


    Another bolt of air struck near Tang Jie''s feet, brushing past Yiyi''s vines, creating a light from the collision of spell arts.


    This brief sh of light made the gray-robed cultivator freeze.


    At this time, this young man showed hisck of experience. Upon seeing a problem, he didn''t inform anyone else or keep testing. Instead, he made the worst decision possible: he took a few more steps forward to get a better look.


    He then saw a pile of green grass, stacked like firewood.


    The gray-robed cultivator took a few more steps forward. This time, he was warier, taking out his sword.


    He cautiously poked the grass pile.


    Swoosh.


    The sword stabbed into the grass as if there was nothing there.


    The gray-robed cultivator saw that there was no reaction and moved to pull out his sword.


    But he couldn''t pull it out, as if it was stuck inside something.


    The gray-robed cultivator pulled harder, but he still couldn''t pull it out. At this moment, a powerful force pulled on the sword, causing the cultivator to fall forward. The gray-robed cultivator was aghast and finally thought to shout, but it was toote.


    Tang Jie grabbed his throat, put the cultivator under him, and sent immense power surging through him, killing the cultivator through pure force. All the gray-robed cultivator had time to do was kick his legs before dying.


    Releasing his grip, Tang Jie looked at the cultivator''s face and sighed.


    He dragged the cultivator''s corpse behind arge rock and took off his clothes. His face began to change, bing the same as that of the deceased cultivator.


    After taking care of the body, Tang Jie emerged from the bush, Yiyi turning into a flower and hiding in his sleeve.


    Tang Jie then joined everyone else in the search.


    The search area grewrger andrger, and Tang Jie''s position moved farther and farther outward. Finally, when he saw that no one else was paying attention, he sprinted outward. The disguise couldn''t guarantee that he would remain undiscovered forever. In the end, he wasn''t that gray-robed cultivator. It was impossible to infiltrate their ranks over the long term.


    And once enough time passed, they would eventually discover that someone had died, at which point they would realize that Tang Jie had infiltrated their ranks.


    Tang Jie had to leave before that.


    This was what made Tang Jie feel the most helpless. His ability to disguise himself had always been his most well-hidden ability, but now, it was bound to follow the Duplication spell in being exposed. From now on, his enemies would know of another of his trump cards.


    Once it was exposed, many things would change.


    The difference between the prepared and the unprepared was huge. When others didn''t have their guard up, Tang Jie''s disguise ability could even let him fool Violet Pce True Lords. But if the enemy was on their guard, he might not even be able to fool a Celestial Heart True Person.


    But regardless, before then, he would utilize this ability to escape.


    As the search continued, the golden-robed man finally began to realize that something was wrong.


    There was no reason for Tang Jie to have not been found yet.


    Tang Jie had appeared here, and if he were captured, the golden-robed man would benefit hugely. But if he escaped?


    The thought made True Person Wei shiver.


    One hourter, the news came.


    One person had gone missing in the search team.


    This news made all the cultivators tense up.


    After another hour, someone finally found the body of the dead cultivator. It appeared that the cultivator had been dead for at least six hours.


    But someone had seen this person two hours ago.


    The truth was finally revealed, and it made True Person Wei''s world spin.


    He knew that he had missed out on the best chance to catch Tang Jie!

 Chapter 483: Escape (3)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After shaking off the pursuit, Tang Jie heaved a sigh of relief, and he started to think about what to do next.


    In his current circumstances, there was no hope of escaping Nadir Hill in the short term. He had to think about surviving first.


    Although the sea of people was vast and catching someone wasn''t easy, the Rosecloud Domain was home to many kinds of spell arts, and no one could fully enumerate all the abilities they had. For example, the Beast Refining Gate had its hunting dogs that ensured that one could never escape no matter how they changed their appearance. He was sure that it wouldn''t be long before those things took the stage.


    But just like how Godhead Pce had precautions against Tang Jie, the hunting dogs could be dealt with if one was prepared. Tang Jie knew of a kind of befuddling grass that could be ground up and applied to the body, allowing him to fool the noses of the dogs. But these things were difficult to find, so he needed to think of something else.


    Now that he thought about it, this teleportation had just been too hasty. He hadn''t been able to prepare anything, with the most problematic omission being the materials to summon his original body.


    The Mountain River State Diagram''s teleportation formation required materials to activate, but these materials were expensive, and Tang Jie had spent most of his resources on the three formations meant to deal with the fiend army. This took away from the resources he needed for the teleportation formation, but he had thought that this was fine, since he hadn''t nned on needing to use it. But now, the teleportation formation became hisst resort.


    Hiding in the Nine Executions Immortal Formation was actually a pretty good idea, but as a consequence, if both of them were inside the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, there would be nobody to put away the Mountain River State Diagram. This was essentially leaving the door open. Moreover,cking resources and bereft of anyone to activate the teleportation formation, Tang Jie would find it very hard to get back.


    Thus, Tang Jie would rather let the avatar die than choose this path.


    Checking his Mustard Seed Bag, Tang Jie discovered that he had a pitiful amount of resources. What he had the most were beans, which he had nned to use to deal with the fiends at the very end. There was very little of anything else.


    My first priority is to gather more resources.


    Only by gathering enough resources could Tang Jie survive in Nadir Hill.


    Tang Jie flew along, and as he left that vast mountainous region, Tang Jie finally saw a town.


    The town wasn''t big, but because of its location, it was rather thriving. There were probably cultivators here, and also treasure-appraising halls and other stores that serviced cultivators.


    Tang Jiended outside the town before walking.


    Tang Jie really did spot an appraisal boutique going by the name of "Bright Mirror Boutique". The sign hanging over its door seemed rather ordinary, but Tang Jie could tell that it was a tool specifically built for identifying fiends.


    If a disguised fiend entered the store, the sign would issue a silent rm. It was rather creative.


    Tang Jie entered and passed over a list of the materials he needed to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper reviewed the list and then said, "Sir, please wait a moment. This lowly one will fetch them now."


    Tang Jie slightly frowned as he watched the shopkeeper leave.


    While the things he wanted weren''t some important treasures of the cultivation world, among mortals, they were considered rather valuable. This shopkeeper was a mere mortal, so even if he had some experience running the store, he shouldn''t have remained soposed after seeing the list. Moreover, even though this store was meant for serving cultivators, it was still a small store in a small town. Tang Jie needed a broad variety of materials, and he didn''t think that this single store would be enough to satisfy him. So why did that shopkeeper act like he had everything?


    Suspicious, he extended his Spirit Will out of the store.


    A few momentster, the shopkeeper returned and said to Tang Jie, "Sir, please wait a moment. The value of the materials you want is rather high, and they need to be delivered from the storehouse. I''ve already sent someone, and he will return in a little while."


    Tang Jie indifferently replied, "Along with a big group from Godhead Pce, I presume? I really didn''t think that they would be so careful, even notifying the treasure-appraising boutiques."


    The shopkeeper froze, shock appearing on his face. "Sir¡­"


    Tang Jie''s hand shot out, breaking that shopkeeper''s neck, and then he turned to leave.


    Suddenly, he stopped and turned his head. The shopkeeper''s falling body had brought down a cab, and a green leaf was peeking out from it. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was a hundred-year Magnolia Grass.


    This wasn''t of the best quality, but it was rather rare for such a small town, so it was probably the prize item of the shop.


    Tang Jie decided to take it, and after some thought, he decided to just take everything. Opening the drawers, he plundered all of the store''s inventory.


    After taking everything, he suddenly froze, and then he threw his head back andughed. "What an idiot I''m being! Why do I need to buy anything? I can just steal it!"


    When a person spent too long in a civilized and peaceful world, they would follow the rules in everything.


    Someone like Tang Jie excelled in doing things ording to the rules, because there had never been a time where he didn''t act by the rules, a time where he needed to use his fists as his argument.


    For this reason, even when he was stranded in Nadir Hill, he still acted ording to his old habits.


    The Magnolia Grass had reminded Tang Jie what his current status was¡ªa status that he would have for some time.


    He was a fugitive!


    In thisnd, everyone was his enemy!


    It didn''t matter if he kept to the rules of this ce. The only thing that mattered was survival!


    It seemed very simple, but when a person was panicking and running for their life, it was actually quite difficult to make this realization.


    Tang Jie counted himself lucky that he had realized this on only his second day as a fugitive. This had saved him from taking many detours and also boosted his survival chances.


    Tang Jie''s mind crackled with ideas, and many questions that had confused him were now answered.


    At this moment, loud voices came from the distance, someone even shouting, "Tang Jie is here! Don''t let him run off!"


    So fast?


    Tang Jie was taken aback.


    Walking out of the store, Tang Jie saw that it was a group of ten-some Spirit Masters. From their clothes, it was clear that they didn''t belong to Godhead Pce.


    Tang Jie immediately understood that this was a local minor sect that had immediatelye upon hearing the news that Tang Jie was here. These minor sects had limited strength, and their intelligenceworks were awful, so they probably hadn''t even known who Tang Jie was before this. Thus, when they heard that Tang Jie had appeared, they immediately headed over.


    The fact that the leader was a peak Mortal Shedding Spirit Master was a sign of how weak the foundations of this sect were.


    But this minor sect came charging over with great gusto, the leading cultivator shouting, "Yes, that''s him! Seize him at once!"


    Tang Jie''s eyes shed. "Courting death!"


    He threw out the Mountain River State Diagram, and the ghost guard charged out from the waterfall.


    Before those cultivators even got close, a ghost w grabbed a cultivator''s head. With a slight exertion of strength, the cultivator''s head crumpled, and then the ghost guard moved on to the next target.


    A massacre!


    An absolute massacre!


    The ghost guard''s True Person strength was enough to utterly overwhelm a local minor sect.


    Amidst ghostly wailing, cultivator after cultivator was felled.


    More cultivators were constantly streaming in¡ªprobably reinforcements from this minor sect who had been a little too slow. They were so weak that they hadn''t even entered the Mortal Shedding Realm, so they did not draw the attacks of the ghost guard and were able to witness the carnage of this battle.


    The street had be a ughterhouse, the ghost guard''s figure appearing almost anywhere one could imagine.


    None of them could take even one blow from the ghost guard. The ghost guard seemed to be ying with them, each time killing only one person.


    Thus, those "ancestors", "elders", "seniors", "masters", and "martial uncles" all died to those ghostly apparitions, a pair of hands instantly taking countless lives.


    As for the person they had been targeting, he simply stood there and watched, not once making a move.


    The disciples who hade afterward stood in the distance,pletely dumbfounded, their legs trembling and their faces pale.


    "Run!" An elder of the sect finally realized how wrong they had been to take this mission, crying out with all his strength. And then a sharp ghost w tore through his chest, the barrier that he had spent decades cultivating being unable to take a casual swipe from the ghost guard.


    Those disciples seemed to wake from a dream and finally realized that they had to run. But the ghost guard had already killed thest person of the previous batch.


    He raised his head and looked at the fleeing disciples, and then he looked at Tang Jie.


    Support us at bit.ly/3Tfs4P4.


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "Keep one alive. Kill the rest."


    The ghost guard nodded and blinked away.


    In the distance, blood flowed.


    A few momentster, the ghost guard brought back the survivor and threw him at Tang Jie''s feet.


    This person was already scared silly.


    Tang Jie stepped on the disciple and said, "What''s your name?"


    The disciple looked up in shock at Tang Jie.


    "Talk if you don''t want to die."


    "Xu¡­ Xu Bin."


    "Where is your sect?"


    The disciple froze, and then he shouted, "You''ve killed the sect master, you''ve killed my master, you''ve killed everyone! And now, you want to massacre the sect? I won''t tell you! I won''t!"


    "Even if you don''t talk, I already know. That shopkeeper had barely sent out the word, but you guys managed to get here so quickly, so it should be nearby. Based on the direction all of you came from, it should be that mountain outside of town," Tang Jie said, using his chin to gesture at a small mountain in the distance.


    The disciple felt like he had been dropped into an ice house.


    He shouted, "No¡­"


    Seeing his frantic appearance, Tang Jie nodded in satisfaction. "It seems like I''m right."


    Thud!


    A punch from Tang Jie pulverized his head.


    Seeing this, Yiyi, who had transformed back into a human, couldn''t keep watching.


    She softly said, "Big Brother, isn''t doing this a little cruel?"


    "I know," Tang Jie indifferently said. "They are nothing more thanckeys taking Godhead Pce''s orders, which doesn''t deserve death. Unfortunately, to survive, we have to act like this¡­ We have to let those people know that Tang Jie is not to be lightly provoked. Those who dare to help Godhead Pce¡­ must all die!"


    Tang Jie paused for a moment, and then he continued, "Since they n to kill someone, they need to prepare to be killed. Since we can''t leave this ce for now, we might as well kill to our heart''s content while we''re in Nadir Hill!"


    The Great Aspiration he had made all those years ago once more boomed in his head. Tang Jie''s eyes grew brighter, and his mind became more resolved.


    Before this, he had still been thinking about how to escape. But now that his mind was clear, he began to think about things from a whole new perspective.


    Perhaps this was the will of the heavens, reminding him of the oath he swore.


    Since the heavens had sent him here, he naturally had to make the best use of it.


    Now was the time to go on a killing spree in Nadir Hill.


    Anyone who stopped him would die!


    Tang Jie threw his head back andughed, and then he flew toward that small mountain.


    This sect was very small, and only the weak were left on the mountain.


    In the end, Tang Jie didn''t start another ughter. He grabbed someone and interrogated them on the location of the sect''s storehouse. He then went over, emptied out the storehouse, and then set the sect ame.


    He left a message on the ground: "Such is the fate of those who aid viins!"


    He flew off.


    Some timeter, several figures appeared in the distance.


    Their leader was a ck-robed man with a leisurely attitude: Feng Buzhi.


    Smoke still rose from the mountain, apanied by the helpless and despairing cries of the survivors.


    Feng Buzhi looked down from the sky, saying nothing.


    "Brother Feng!" a cultivator next to him said.


    Feng Buzhi silently gazed at the ruins.


    After a while, he said, "The savagery and resolve of his methods are unusual. Such actions are indicative of a willingness to die for one''s goal. Report back to the pce that Tang Jie won''t obediently submit. Dealing with this child requires being prepared to ept utterly crushing and gaining nothing from him."


    "Yes!"


    "Find some people to take care of the survivors. If this happens again, you should handle them in the same way."


    "Brother Feng is magnanimous!"


    Feng Buzhi replied, "It is not me being magnanimous. Tang Jie is clearly trying to intimidate the other sects. This Flowing Spring Sect ultimately died because of orders from my Godhead Pce. If we do not properly support the survivors, we won''t be able to exin ourselves to the other sects. Only by showing our sincerity can we calm the people."


    (TN: Please see the Author''s Note in the next chapter for why Feng Buzhi says "my Godhead Pce".)


    "Brother Feng is wise!" The cultivator used this chance to tter Feng Buzhi.


    Feng Buzhi didn''t care, only saying, "Based on the direction Tang Jie came from, he must have failed to break through the border. Now that he''s flying back, it is hard to say where he will go. We need someone who specializes in pursuit to catch him. Use a message talisman to request the aid of King Canis."


    "''King Canis''?" The cultivator was startled


    Godhead Pce had eight kings and nine generals, and He Changan, the illustrious King Canis, was one of them.


    He wasn''t called "King Canis" because he was skilled in raising dogs, but because he possessed a nose like a dog''s. Anyone whose scent he remembered would never be able to escape. It was said that this was some sort of Dao.


    King Canis was a peak Celestial Heart cultivator, his status akin to one of the Basking Moon Sect''s 19 Celestial Chiefs.


    If Feng Buzhi was requesting his help, this matter was truly a rather difficult one.


    Godhead Pce truly had sent many of its capable men to deal with Tang Jie, but it couldn''t even dispatch people like He Changan. No matter how formidable Tang Jie was, he was only at the peak of Mortal Shedding. The difficulty was in finding him, not dealing with him.


    Thus, one of the other cultivators said, "I don''t think we need to go that far. The 12 Divine Hawks of the Hawk Hall are also skilled in pursuit. They should be able to find Tang Jie."


    Feng Buzhi snorted. "You really think that I suggested inviting King Canis because I didn''t trust the tracking ability of the 12 Hawks? No, I just don''t want the tracking experts that the Hawk Hall took such great pains to train to die at Tang Jie''s hands. Only if King Canis is tracking him do we not have to worry about the hunter falling for Tang Jie''s schemes!"


    That cultivator gasped. "Brother Feng, while the 12 Hawksck in cultivation, they are all at peak Mortal Shedding Realm or Spirit Ring, and they have means of attacking together. Are the twelve of them not enough to deal with Tang Jie, who''s in the middle of his Three Withering Tribtions?"


    "''Three Witherings''?" Feng Buzhi gave hispanion a strange look. "After he escaped the ambush at the border and carried out this massacre, you still think he''s in the Three Witherings Period?"


    The cultivator froze. "Could it be¡­ but how? He''s only cultivated for 26 years."


    "What''s weird about that? There are many geniuses in the world, and some people are always able to exceed your expectations. The Seven Absolutions Sect''s Wang Juemie, Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s Zang Fengnu, the Beast Refining Gate''s Qian Yingchen, the Thousand Passions Sect''s Hong Qingnu, and also my Godhead Pce''s Fu Yingjie¡ªall of them reached the peak of Mortal Shedding within thirty years, and Tang Jie wasn''t even the fastest. The geniuses of the world all show themselves to be extraordinary early on, soaring upward. The Immortal path is long, and if you do not want to be overtaken by your juniors, you must keep pressing forward until the very end. Those who can''t take the lead at the start will find it very hard to be a being of great power and influence!"


    The cultivator blushed in shame and nodded. "Brother Feng is right. But even so, the pce might not agree to send King Canis. It''s really¡­"


    "It''s really too shameful for King Canis, right?" Feng Buzhi indifferently said.


    The cultivator only bitterly smiled.


    Feng Buzhi replied, "Actually, I also know they won''t agree."


    "Then why¡­" the cultivator said in surprise.


    "It''s precisely because they won''t agree that I have to rmend it," Feng Buzhi casually said. "If I propose it only after Tang Jie has killed off all the 12 Hawks, won''t I be unable to show off my wisdom and foresight?"


    "¡­¡­"


    Feng Buzhi patted the cultivator on the shoulder and smiled. "No rush, no rush. Some things are inevitable. It''s only a few small hawks that will die, not some big deal."


    The cultivator started sweating, but he didn''t dare to reply.


    Feng Buzhi raised his head and looked up at the sky. "Tang Jie, ah, Tang Jie. Let me see how far you can run. Your ferocity now is only the madness of someone in desperate straits. But no matter how many people you kill, you can''t escape your death!"


    He waved his sleeve and departed.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Author''s Note: The corpse wasn''t put in the Mustard Seed Bag not because this is a plot hole, but because the bag has limited space. I haven''t forgotten something like that. I had already considered this while writing. But I think that even if the corpse were stowed in a Mustard Seed Bag, Godhead Pce would have still found out the truth. There are spell arts that can reverse time. When there are few people, nobody might know such spell arts, but when there are a lot of people, they can do all sorts of things. The corpse takes up a lot of space, and there''s also the blood. The bag is full of beans, so do you want those beans to soak in blood?


    This is why he didn''t store it away. I didn''t write it out because when this thought urred to me, I didn''t think it was right to write it in. But you readers are very sharp, pointing out this potential plot hole, which is why I''m exining things here.


    Of course, there are some problems that can be considered plot holes.


    "Chambein" is a post held by Heart Demon True Persons, but Xu Hanling is a Spirit Ring True Person. A Heart Demon True Person couldn''t have been bullied around by the ghost guard and Yiyi, not unless he was the worst sort. This is a plot hole from me. You can just treat him as a special case who was promoted due to his umted merit.

 Chapter 484: Smelting

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Forecreek Town.


    This was a small town located on the western side of Nadir Hill.


    Tang Jie was in a small inn in this town, taking stock of his inventory.


    Although he hadn''t needed much effort to destroy a minor sect, he had managed to get quite the motley assortment of things, with quite a few low-level art relics, medicines, and talismans.


    This sect had been just too small, so he wasn''t able to get anything particrly good. The best art relic wasn''t even worth looking at in Tang Jie''s eyes. But in the end, no matter how low-value they were, they were still worth something.


    In the past, Tang Jie would have packed them all up and then sold them off to some store for spirit coins, saving him the time and effort.


    But things had changed. Now that Tang Jie had decided to embark on a road of ughter, he suddenly realized that he didn''t have a use for money. There was no need to sell off these things, for spirit coins had no use for him in his current situation.


    The art relics could be shattered with the Weapon Mantra, but he would have to pick out which pills he could actually use, and the talismans were nothing more than scrap paper.


    Thus, once he was done organizing, he had a pile of bottles and a stack of talismans next to him. These things were truly useless to him, but it was also a pity to throw them away, rather like chicken bones.


    "Ha, if only everything could be like with the Weapon Mantra, which can smelt all art relics," Tang Jie sighed. He suddenly sat up. "Yiyi, what do you think the Martial Lord''s original reason for developing the Weapon Mantra was? Isn''t it said that the Martial Lord spent his entire life in battle? That means a lifetime of killing, and since it was difficult to handle all of his war spoils, what if he decided to create a spell art to refine all these things?"


    Yiyi felt dizzy from these words. "You''re saying that a spell art as amazing as the Weapon Mantra was created by the Martial Lord just for dealing with trash art relics?"


    "Why not?" Tang Jie nonchntly replied. "Many mighty creations in the world were originally made for the sake of some small desire, but the passage of time eventually caused them to be something else. The same is true for Immortal Arts."


    "Then you go and create one," Yiyi shouted.


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. "It''s not that easy. All spell arts in the world originate from Daos. Creating an art means firstprehending a Dao, and then¡­"


    Tang Jie suddenly fell silent.


    Because he realized that he had met all the conditions for creating an art.


    When it came toprehending Daos, he had alreadyprehended quite a few, with the Dao of Wisdom being the perfect tool for creating arts. It could let him derive the structure for the spell art as quickly as possible and allow him to constantly perfect and develop it.


    Tang Jie hadn''t created a spell art before because he had never needed it.


    The Basking Moon Sect had a legacy of several thousand years and had as many spell arts as there were stars in the sky. Separating the wheat from the chaff, only the best had been left behind. Tang Jie didn''t think his own wisdom couldpare to the wisdom of the countless people before him, so he had had no interest in making his own spell art.


    But now that he had no spell art for what he needed, things were different.


    Tang Jie suddenly realized that he had the ability and the need for a spell art like the Weapon Mantra, one that could let him smelt all these pills and talismans that he had no use for.


    Of course, it was impossible to create something like the Weapon Mantra, breaking down all talismans to create a supreme talisman.


    Talismans were a manifestation of human wisdom, not crystallizations of spell arts, and it wasn''t like the Rosecloud Domain was some sort ofputer system. It was impossible to destroy ten thousand talismans to create a single super-talisman.


    The same was true for pills and medicines.


    The greatest difference between them and the Weapon Mantra was that the Weapon Mantra also wasn''t actually creating some art relic, but some kind of material. It was just that this material had the unique ability to transform into any sort of weapon.


    From a certain perspective, the Weapon Mantra was doing what Tang Jie now wanted and processing trash. And when processing the trash, it could only produce raw materials, not any sort of finished product.


    And this raw material had to be a very fundamental material, one with a lot ofmonality.


    This was because art relics, pills, and talismans all used varying materials. It was impossible to smelt a pill made with white fungus and get some ck sandalwood.


    It was precisely because one wanted a method that could refine all things to get the material that one wanted that one needed to work on a deeper and more intricate level.


    For example, the golden grains the Weapon Mantra refined were a metal unknown to the world, but it was a metal that existed and that the Weapon Mantra could extract.


    In this aspect, pills and talismans were the same.


    Tang Jie shook his head. "This is impossible. I might be able to create a spell art, but extracting something like the golden grain requires deep research into the origin, and an even deeper understanding of the world and Daos, as well as mighty and divine methods. Ick both experience and these divine methods, so I can''t create such a spell art."


    "''The origin''?" Yiyi''s eyes twinkled. "Isn''t the origin of the cultivation world spiritual energy?"


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Of course it''s spiritual energy, but¡­"


    He was just about to say "it''s not only spiritual energy" when he froze. He looked at those pills and talismans, his face suddenly beaming.


    He jumped up and shouted, "Right, spiritual energy! I''m so dumb! Why can''t I return them to spiritual energy? Spiritual energy is this world''s most fundamental substance, the thing we interact with and understand the most. I can''t be like the Martial Lord and extract some material that nobody understands, but I can turn these items back into spiritual energy! Isn''t that fine?"


    "But¡­" Yiyi muttered, "What''s the use of that?"


    Yes, what was the use?


    There was spiritual energy to be found everywhere in the world. What was the most important thing in the world to cultivators was also actually the most worthless. If one needed spiritual energy, one could just breathe. Why go through such aplicated process as smelting items? Moreover, wouldn''t the spiritual energy that was smelted return to the earth?


    Tang Jie chuckled. "What if we just don''t let it return to the world?"


    "Huh?" Yiyi froze. "What do you mean by that?"


    "We''ll just capture it," Tang Jie answered. "Just like the six major sects."


    "Where would we keep it?" Yiyi asked.


    "In the Mountain River State Diagram," Tang Jie replied.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    A small mountain range outside of Forecreek Town.


    Today, the mountain range had a new waterfall.


    Beneath the waterfall, various creatures pranced around. These were the creatures that lived in Tang Jie''s Eternal Universe Formation. These creatures provided energy to the formation, and the formation provided them a space to live in. From this perspective, the Great Broken Stream was its own dimension, though one that was rather small.


    Tang Jie stood at the base of the waterfall, watching the water descend from the clouds. He smiled and then sowed some substance that seemed like both cloud and soil. As this substance fell down, it turned into a small slope.


    This substance was Cloud Mud.


    He then poured out a bottle of green water, which descended over the Great Broken Stream like a small shower. Everything began to grow, the creatures cheering, and even the Cloud Mud began to give off a rainbow luster.


    Jade Toad Fluid.


    He had gotten both of these substances from the Stone Gate Sect. Along with the Seven Demon Soul-Sealing Nails, they had been the most valuable treasures. The nails had been used to hold a prisoner and create the ghost guard, but Tang Jie had never had anything to use the Cloud Mud and Jade Toad Fluid on. Today, he could finally take them out.


    Since he had his own little blessednd, there was no point in creating a spell art. It was far better to create a formation. Moreover, while Tang Jie would find it very difficult to create a spell art at his current strength, creating a formation was much easier.


    Tang Jie had chosen the Mountain River State Diagram as the site of the formation.


    For this formation, Tang Jie had performed countless simtions, and after ruining an entire batch of materials, he had formted a formation. Whether it was a mule or a horse would all depend on thisst round.


    To ensure that he sessfully invented the first formation in his life, Tang Jie was using the best materials he had, adding them little by little.


    This was Tang Jie''s first time "adding on" to the Mountain River State Diagram.


    Adding on had a special meaning for the Mountain River State Diagram. Whenever this diagram changed owners, it would be emptied out. And whenever it took in a piece ofnd, no more extrand could be added.


    This was why the Seven Absolutions Sect had been willing to give the diagram to Tang Jie. The Mountain River State Diagram was like a painting canvas. Once a painting was ced inside it, it could not be changed unless the painting were removed entirely.


    But while it was impossible to change things on arge scale, it was possible to make small additions, like making a few extra strokes on a painting.


    Tang Jie was currently making such an addition.


    Tang Jie had used all of his avable space on the Eternal Universe Formation and the teleportation formation, so there was no space for a third formation. Thus, Tang Jie had to use the Cloud Mud to add space to the Mountain River State Diagram.


    There was a little nk spot on the lower left corner of the Mountain River State Diagram.


    This was where the Cloud Mud was ced, creating an extension of the Great Broken Stream on its left side.


    The third formation was to be ced here. As the materials were thrown in and spiritual lines crossed the sky, a smelting formation gradually took form.


    Finally, as all the materials wereid out and thest linepleted, a ball of light rose up over the slope, signaling that the formation wasplete.


    Tang Jie took out those useless talismans and pills and threw them into the formation.


    There was a sh of light, and then a me burst forth, turning the talismans and pills to ash.


    Ash drifted to the ground, and at the same time, imperceptible spiritual energy floated into the air. If Tang Jie hadn''t achieved Spirit Will, he truly would have found it hard to detect.


    As the spiritual energy drifted outward, it was stopped by an invisible barrier. This was the spatial seal formation Tang Jie hadid down, making it so that while the Great Broken Stream existed within the world, it was isted from it by an invisible membrane.


    Probing with his Spirit Will, Tang Jie found that the spiritual energy returned wasn''t plentiful.


    Tang Jie had based this smelting formation on some pre-existing smelting formations. It was rather crude, and its efficiency was low.


    But this was fine. For him, this was only the beginning. As time passed, he would continue improving the formation. Tang Jie had even left enough space for future modifications.


    As for right now, with thepletion of this smelting formation, Tang Jie finally had his own blessednd.


    This blessednd wasn''t like those of major sects, which were vast worlds that were brimming with energy, but it had its own advantages. For example, it was easy to carry around, and he could smelt anything he wanted by putting those items inside the diagram. Meanwhile, other sects needed the sacrifices of countless seniors Returning their Remnants.


    In the future, when Tang Jie gathered a lot of items, he could send them all in to be refined, and he was certain that the spiritual energy within would be extremely concentrated. At some point, he could cultivate in there and reach the same level of efficiency as the Water Moon Paradise.


    His own Water Moon Paradise.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but smile at the thought.


    He threw in the rest of the talismans and pills. The smelting formation turned all of them back into the most primordial substance. The light spiritual energy floated into the air while the heavy soil sank to the earth.


    Joyful cries came from the Eternal Universe Formation. It seemed like the creatures living within it had also sensed the changes to the world.


    They frolicked around the stream, breathing in the spiritual energy of the world, and their bodies grew stronger and healthier.


    "I didn''t think you guys would be the first to benefit." Tang Jie smiled at this sight.


    He didn''t care that the extracted spiritual energy was being absorbed by the creatures in the formation. After all, when they died, the spiritual energy would return. This was an inevitable phenomenon of a blessednd. Compared to other paradises and blessednds, its only w was that it was small.


    When he thought about the size, he suddenly thought of something.


    He thought about how Xu Hanling had been snatching at the Space Crystal.


    The Space Crystal had clearly been in the center of the hall, but even though Xu Hanling had the help of the White Tiger''s blood, he had still needed some time to just barely get ahold of it.


    Tang Jie had a sudden realization.


    "Space Crystal!" he blurted out.


    Tang Jie looked at the Great Broken Stream with a new idea in his mind.


    What would happen if he put the Space Crystal in there?


    He didn''t know.


    But at that moment, he had an irrepressible urge to try.


    He took out the Space Crystal and activated the Blood Refining Spirit spell.


    The White Tiger''s essence blood allowed him to briefly control the Space Crystal, so he was at least better than Xu Hanling in this aspect.


    Under his control, the Space Crystal was slowly pushed up to the air above the Great Broken Stream, up to that spring which seemed to be gushing out of a cloud.


    There was nothing else above this. The top of the waterfall was the ceiling of the Mountain River State Diagram.


    But as the Space Crystal rose, the ceiling of the Great Broken Stream seemed to rise.


    Thus, Tang Jie saw something strange. The Space Crystal seemed to be stuck at the ceiling, but for some reason, Tang Jie could feel it rising higher and higher.


    After flying for some time, the Space Crystal finally stopped.


    It was still floating above the stream, appearing to be only a palm''s width away from the waterfall.


    But that was only the distance as it appeared on the painting.


    If one reached out with one''s senses, one would find that it was a sun suspended high in the sky!


    But because this sun had no energy, it was dim and gave off no heat or light.


    Yet the moment it appeared, all of the creatures in the Eternal Universe Formation prostrated to this sun.


    It was like a bunch of cavemen piously worshiping the sun!


    Tang Jie narrowed his eyes.


    A mustard seed could contain the world!


    If he was seeing things correctly, this was a mustard seed holding a world in the true meaning of the saying.


    The Great Broken Stream still appeared to be the same size, but the space inside was actually muchrger.


    After some thought, Tang Jie stepped into the Great Broken Stream.


    Tang Jie hadn''t entered the diagram before this because the Great Broken Stream had limited space. Tang Jie had used almost all the space that could be used for his formations.


    But this time, he was finally willing to try.


    As he stepped in, the world in front of him transformed.


    Tang Jie was standing on an open in covered in grass, a light fragrance floating in the air.


    In the distance was a red setting sun in the shape of a hexagonal prism. It was clearly the Space Crystal, but because of its dim light, it had created this beautiful vision of the setting sun.


    Where the sun set over the mountains, he could see a magnificent river falling from the heavens.


    It was a grandiose sight, the vast sea of mist created by the falling water reflecting a riot of colors in the "sunlight", and Tang Jie marveled at the scene.


    If he weren''t this world''s creator and had been born here, then his understanding of the world would have perhaps been entirely different. He would think that the sun was a hexagonal prism, and the water flowing down from the heavens would never run out¡­


    Tang Jie flew into the sky, and then he saw that a group of creatures were prostrating to the sun at the base of that heavenly river.


    To the west of the river stood a mighty volcano, great gouts of me rising from it.


    This was the smelting formation.


    Behind the heavenly river was that stone cliff from which the waterfall had descended. It was now a majestic mountain.


    Tang Jie knew that there was a cave in that mountain.


    This was where the teleportation formation to the Nine Executions Immortal Formation was located.


    The Great Broken Stream was still here, but the world had be limitlessly vast!


    Whew! Tang Jie exhaled.


    A momentter, he withdrew from thisnd.


    The vista remained, but it was no longer as glorious and breathtaking.


    But Tang Jie knew that this seemingly small stream was no longer as simple as it appeared.


    Pondering all this, he put the Mountain River State Diagram away.


    He then saw that the ce where the Mountain River State Diagram had been, the location that its space had ovepped with, was now a nk space.


    There had been a forest here, and the Mountain River State Diagram had been oveid atop it. But when the Mountain River State Diagram was put away, the forest was gone, leaving behind empty space.


    Tang Jie raised up the scroll and carefully inspected it. Using the Celestial Eye, he was finally able to find that forest in a corner of the diagram.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie chuckled.


    He suddenly understood that he was in the middle of creating a miracle.


    He didn''t know if the Martial Lord had created the Weapon Mantra for the purpose of getting rid of trash art relics, but Tang Jie had created this miracle because he had been trying to get rid of trash pills and talismans.


    His mind suddenly filled with ideas about how to use the diagram, and then he began tough.


    Theugh grew louder and louder, eventually resounding throughout the world.


    Finally, he let out a crazed roar:


    "Godhead Pce, the moment of your death hase!"


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    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Author''s Note: In the previous chapter, I originally didn''t have Feng Buzhie out, but someone from Godhead Pce. Butter, I felt like writing Feng Buzhi was better, because this would naturally exin how Godhead Pce knew about Tang Jie so quickly, and it would also exin that the Beast Refining Gate was also involved in this operation against Tang Jie.


    But by doing this, I made a plot hole and didn''t correct the "my Godhead Pce" in the conversation, creating a mistake.


    This is something that frequently happens when editing. When adjusting something, you also have to adjust everything rting to it, but when you''re in a rush, you miss some things.


    Regardless, this is still a mistake, so I apologize to everyone.

 Chapter 485: Robbery (1)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Mountain of Five Caves was thergest mountain in the northwest region of Nadir Hill.


    To the south were the Gargantua ins, to the north were the Pr Snow Mountains, to the west was the Endless Sea Zone, and in the east was the Grand Heaven Moat. As the area at the intersection of all these ces, this area was an important strategic area for cultivators.


    Here, Godhead Pce had established Cloudscrape City, which had cultivator workshops, an Office of Insight, a teleportation formation, and even a Nine Heavens Starlight Formation for protection. This was one of the most important cultivator bases in the northwest of Nadir Hill.


    The one responsible for this ce''s daily affairs was a Soul Transformation True Person, and he had four Heart Demon True Persons under him.


    For this reason, Cloudscrape City was a very high-tier city. It was possible to find all sorts of spirit medicines and herbs here, including the Basking Moon Sect''s Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill, the Seven Absolutions Sect''s Nine Revolutions series of medicines, and Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s Jasper Grass. If one was lucky, one could even find Whitefiend Lotuses, herbs so rare that they could only be found in the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. Of course, they might not be one thousand years old, as the vast majority of cultivators had no interest in waiting this long.


    Cloudscrape City was built on the ridges of the Mountain of Five Caves, so it was at a high elevation, hence its name.


    Every day, countless cultivators flew in and out of the city, buying and selling their goods.


    In some clouds not far from Cloudscrape City, Tang Jie, covered in the stone canvas, observed the gate of Cloudscrape City.


    The city gate was veryrge, and a beast head hung over it: therge head of a Triclopian Panther Monkey.


    Although the Panther Monkey had only its head left, it wasn''t dead. Hung up above the city gate, the vertical eye on the center of its forehead was constantly looking around. Every person who entered had to be inspected by this eye before they were allowed to go in.


    The Triclopian Panther Monkey was a famous Celestial Eye species, and it excelled at seeing through illusions.


    If Tang Jie''s disguise ability hadn''t been revealed, he might have had small tricks that could get him through, but now that all of Tang Jie''s abilities had been published throughout Nadir Hill, mixing into the crowd would no longer be that easy.


    Now that the Mountain River State Diagram had leveled up, however, this had ceased to be a problem. He could hide himself in the diagram and let the ghost guard carry it in.


    But there was little meaning in this.


    Tang Jie hadn''te here for peaceful goals. For him, this vast city wasn''t a ce to make trades, but to rob. Since he was going to rob it, fighting was naturally unavoidable. Thus, he had another idea.


    Beforeing here, he had asked around and found that the red-robed cultivator responsible for guarding Cloudscrape City was an irascible and straightforward person, not exactly a person with a good head on his shoulders.


    So Tang Jie''s n was also straightforward: apply medicine ording to the symptoms.


    ncing at Cloudscrape City, Tang Jie activated Duplication. A pile of Tang Jies appeared next to him, and they flew off in different directions. One of them flew toward Cloudscrape City, showing himself at the gate before running off to the side.


    The memories forcibly inserted into the Panther Monkey''s mind erupted, and it let out a screech. "Tang Jie!"


    A momentter, a piercing rm resounded throughout Cloudscrape City.


    Countless cultivators took to the skies with an energy that could pierce through the heavens.


    Their leader was a cultivator wearing a red robe and with a head of green hair. He roared, "Where''s Tang Jie?"


    A cultivator guarding the city gate pointed. "He just went to the south!"


    "We can''t let this chance at immense merit get away! After him!" The green-haired, red-robed elder roared, and then he summoned a red cloud and flew to the south, followed by arge group of cultivators.


    This old man didn''t even ask about how Tang Jie had been discovered, whether he had been passing by or attempting to enter the city, before giving chase.


    For him, it wasn''t important why Tang Jie hade. What was important was that they couldn''t miss out on this chance to capture him. Godhead Pce had promised a high bounty for this man, enough to even tempt a Soul Transformation True Person.


    Just like that, a straightforward n to lure the tiger from the mountain had lured away the tiger. Tang Jie smiled as he turned into a yellow-faced cultivator, after which he flew toward the city.


    The Panther Monkey head inspected this person, freezing for a moment as its vertical eye glowed. It paused on Tang Jie for quite some time, and then the head paled and shrieked, "Tang Jie!"


    But this time, it didn''t bring out anyone. Most of the cultivators in the city had already gone out, and those left behind mostly didn''t think they had any hope or weren''t interested.


    Tang Jieughed as he strode through the air. "A monkey''s eyes really are sharp. s, you''ve seen what you shouldn''t, so it''s time to dig that eye out."


    He thrust forward two fingers of his right hand, plucking out the vertical eye in the center of the monkey''s forehead.


    The Panther Monkey screeched in pain, at which point the two cultivators guarding the gate realized what was going on. Aghast, they were about to strike when a bolt of lightning shot out. This bolt of lightning was actually the ghost guard, and as it approached the gate, it split into two, targeting the two guards.


    Tang Jie casuallynded in front of the gate, ying with the monkey eye as he sauntered forward, the Dao of Wisdom operating at full power as he began to analyze the structure of the eye.


    Just like his Celestial Eye, the monkey eye was an observation tool. But there were slight differences. The Celestial Eye was better at peering far into the distance, excelling at guarding against enemy ambushes. Meanwhile, the monkey eye specialized in seeing through illusions. Though they differed in the details, the two came from the same source, so it was very easy for Tang Jie to absorb the Dao Will in the monkey eye. On his walk, he thoroughly analyzed the monkey eye, during which the vertical eye on his own forehead grew brighter and brighter.


    His Dao of Insight was further perfected thanks to the monkey eye.


    The Panther Monkey was still screeching, "My eye!"


    Tang Jie snorted. "You''ve got only a head left and you''re still aiding your enemy. Lowering yourself to such a level is no different than seeking death."


    He punched, pulverizing the monkey head, and then he strode into the city.


    A cultivator was justing out of the city when he saw this sight. Shocked, he pointed at Tang Jie and said, "You¡­"


    Tang Jie instantly grabbed the cultivator by the throat. "Where are Cloudscrape City''s teleportation point and storehouse?"


    "I¡­ I don''t¡­ know¡­" the cultivator struggled out.


    "Then what are you even good for?" He crushed the cultivator''s throat, took his Mustard Seed Bag, and then threw the body behind him.


    A light shed behind his head, and a scroll unrolled: the Mountain River State Diagram.


    Tang Jie had thrown the cultivator right into the scroll. In a sh of light, the cultivator disappeared. In the scroll, there was a little sh of light as the cultivator was smelted.


    Two other cultivators flew over, the ghost guard having thrown the corpses of the two guards into the diagram.


    Starting from today, the Mountain River State Diagram was no longer a simple formation diagram. Its nature had been fundamentally changed, and it had its own world that could contain all things. And the smelting formation allowed anything that was thrown inside it to be broken down into its most fundamental parts, which would remain in the world, and this wasn''t only spiritual energy.


    Tang Jie sauntered through the streets, killing anyone he saw.


    In enemy territory, there was no such thing as mercy. Only by killing the enemy to get stronger could one survive.


    The surprise attack hade so suddenly that the vast majority of cultivators were caughtpletely unaware. All they saw was a god of death charging through the streets, a tide of blood in his wake.


    Most of the cultivators left in the city were rather weak, and none of them could take even one blow from Tang Jie. Even the Goldte Soldiers in charge of guarding the city were taken down one by one, either turned into golden grains by the Weapon Mantra or thrown into the "world furnace" and melted down.


    He moved through the streets as if there was no resistance.


    But Tang Jie knew that this was only temporary, and Cloudscrape City couldn''t bepletely devoid of experts. He had the upper hand for now, but the red-robed Soul Transformation True Person and his four Heart Demon True Persons coulde back at any time.


    But so what?


    Robbery was all about speed.


    Catching the enemy off guard and stealing whatever could be stolen was considered a sess, and Tang Jie was much faster than anyone could imagine.


    The fourteenth cultivator he seized was a guardian disciple of Cloudscrape City. This person had already been scared silly by Tang Jie''s style of killing those who didn''t answer him, so he told Tang Jie where the teleportation point and storehouse were before Tang Jie even had time to ask.


    In gratitude, Tang Jie didn''t kill him, instead breaking all his limbs before throwing him aside.


    He then charged straight toward that pce in the very center of Cloudscrape City.


    A guard cultivator finally realized that something was wrong and shouted, "Activate the formation! Call for reinforcements!"


    Tang Jie grunted, "Toote!"


    He suddenly elerated, no longer seeking to kill and focusing only on charging forward.


    The distant pce began to shine, and a pir of light pierced the skies. This was a sign that a teleportation formation was activating. Even the Nine Heavens Starlight Formation had been activated, but this formation was primarily meant to defend against external attacks, a strategic defensive formation. It was no good against enemies who had entered the city, so the teleportation formation was more practical.


    But the teleportation formation was used for transporting reinforcements. If the reinforcements didn''t respond, then activating the formation was useless. And at this time, the main base of Godhead Pce had yet to receive the request for reinforcements, so there could naturally be no response.


    Of course, the emergency signal had already been sent. But as it hadn''t been sent by the red-robed man, it needed to be confirmed before reinforcements could be sent.


    This process wasn''t that long, normally taking only a few minutes. In normal circumstances, Cloudscrape City would definitely have been able tost these few minutes.


    But these weren''t normal circumstances. In fact, if they were, Cloudscrape City wouldn''t have even needed to call for reinforcements. The red-robed man alone would have been enough to deal with Tang Jie.


    Thus, these few minutes became lethal!


    As the beam of light surged upward, Tang Jie elerated again, shooting into the pce like a bolt of lightning.


    "Stop him!" a voice shouted, and several dozen cultivators flew up.


    This was thest defensive strength Cloudscrape City had. Their leader had a circle of spiritual energy at his feet, indicating that he was a Spirit Ring True Person.


    Tang Jie chuckled before ignoring that True Person and charging into the pce.


    "Don''t even think about it!" that True Person shouted, thrusting a palm out. He knew that Tang Jie was trying to destroy the teleportation formation and stop the teleportation, so he tried to stop him with everything he had.


    But as he attacked, the figure of the ghost guard charged out from Tang Jie''s side.


    There was an immense boom, and the ghost guard hugged the Spirit Ring True Person and tumbled out of the air, leaving Tang Jie with the several dozen other cultivators.


    One cultivator watched Tang Jie charging over, and his face turned savage. He suddenly tore off his robe, revealing the golden armor underneath. "Wall of Steel, halt!"


    The several dozen cultivators all tore off their robes, revealing their golden Godhead Armor. All of these suits of armor shone at the same time, creating a sturdy wall. This was Godhead Pce''s famous Steel Wall Battle Formation.


    These cultivators all belonged to Godhead Pce''sbat department and were tasked with guarding Cloudscrape City, and they were experts inbination techniques. Just like the Basking Moon Sect''s hundred-man attack formation, the Godhead Pce had its Steel Wall Battle Formation, and this was not all.


    That cultivator then shouted, "Spear of ughter, go!"


    The several dozen cultivators behind him raised their arms in unison, their energies gathering into an enormous spear in the air. This was the powerful attack that apanied the Steel Wall Battle Formation.


    Joining defense with attack was the proper path. No one understood this principle more keenly than Godhead Pce.


    Their Spear of ughter wasn''t as impressive-looking as the Basking Moon Sect''s hundred-man attack formation, but it was not one bit weaker.


    Tang Jie simply chuckled and threw out a small pearl.


    A Heavenbane Lightning Pearl.


    The cultivators all paled at the sight of this item.


    After Tang Jie had massacred more than a hundred Beast Refining Gate disciples in that battle on the sea, the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl had grown famous, and the Heavenly Extinction Sect had benefited. The Heavenbane Lightning Pearl''s price had risen, and their disciples were able to swagger around a little more. Of course, in gratitude, they sold the pearls to Tang Jie at a lower cost.


    More than a decade after that incident, this item''s reappearance still shook the Godhead Pce disciples.


    Of course, they weren''t unprepared like the Beast Refining Gate had been back then, and they knew to avoid this item the moment it came out. Thus, without the need for thatmanding cultivator to say anything, they shot to the sides, avoiding the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl.


    But this also meant that the Steel Wall Battle Formation fell apart.


    Worst of all was that the pearl didn''t stop, but flew past them, and behind them was none other than the building with the teleportation formation.


    The leading cultivator immediately shouted, "Oh no!"


    He finally realized that Tang Jie''s pearl wasn''t meant to blow them up, but to blow up the teleportation formation.


    Boom!


    A huge explosion blew the small pce hall into smithereens that flew everywhere, and the cultivators could only watch in shock.


    The leading cultivator moaned, "It''s over!"


    Tang Jieughed. "Not at all! What''s destroyed can be rebuilt, and what''s lost can be taken back. There''s no need for all of you to be worried."


    He thrust out his palm several times, pushing those disciples aside before leaving.


    The cultivators were all stunned. It was still that leading cultivator who noticed the direction Tang Jie had flown off in and shouted, "The storehouse! He''s going to the storehouse!"


    Why had hee all the way to Cloudscrape City?


    Why else but to rob it?


    Cloudscrape City''s biggest merchant was Godhead Pce, and the greatest store of wealth was Godhead Pce''s storehouse, so if there was a ce to be robbed, that was it.


    Destroying the teleportation formation was just to buy him more time. The storehouse was his ultimate goal.


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    Tang Jie flew forward as quickly as he could, the Godhead Pce cultivators in hot pursuit.


    The Spirit Ring cultivator also threw off the ghost guard and gave chase, shouting, "Anyone who captures Tang Jie alive will be rewarded by my Godhead Pce with one hundred days of cultivation in the Jade Firmament Paradise, a top-ss Godhead Armor art relic, and one million spirit coins!"


    The cultivators went crazy!


    While the red-robed man had brought many cultivators with him, there were still many cultivators doing business within the city, though they were somewhat weak. When Tang Jie attacked, they had fled his sudden assault. But now that the shock had passed and they had calmed down, they would start to get ideas.


    And the rich rewards promised by Godhead Pce only further encouraged them.


    People would die for wealth as birds would die for food.


    This one reason was enough for everyone to suddenly grow bold.


    Thus, those cultivators who had scattered to the winds out of fear of Tang Jie now flew up and converged on Tang Jie from all sides.


    Only in such a situation would one realize just how many cultivators there were in Cloudscrape City.


    But as they flew up, a primal roar erupted from beneath Cloudscrape City. A fissure opened in the earth, countless vines extending from it toward the cultivators.


    Some of the weaker cultivators were caught off guard and pulled into the fissure, and all that was left of them were their wails.


    "ck Sin! It''s ck Sin!" an experienced cultivator cried out.


    There was no need to ask. It could only be Tang Jie who had brought this legendary terror to Cloudscrape City.


    In reality, this creature wasn''t invincible. While ck Sin''s strength could grow endlessly, it couldn''t maintain this strength. Every time, Yiyi could only summon the most basic form of ck Sin, and it required much killing and devouring to obtain a temporary boost in power. Once ck Sin was called back, its strength would fall again, and it could only keep 1% of the strength it had obtained through devouring.


    But ck Sin''s infamy made every person tremble in fear.


    With ck Sin covering for him, Tang Jie charged to the storehouse at full speed. The Godhead Pce cultivators gave chase, and behind them, the ghost guard hunted down the Godhead Pce cultivators.


    The one closest to Tang Jie was not the Spirit Ring cultivator, but a dwarf. Despite his unassuming appearance, he was extremely fast. If he weren''t worried that he was weaker than Tang Jie, he might have already caught up. As he followed Tang Jie, he shouted, "Tang Jie, don''t think that you''re the only one with a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl!"


    He threw out a ck pearl, a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl.


    Tang Jie immediately used the Chaoswind Step, his body blinking away. There was a mighty explosion behind him as the pearl annihted the area, the massive impact actually pushing Tang Jie forward even faster.


    This immacte calction showed just how well Tang Jie understood this pearl. He turned back andughed, "Thirty thousand spirit coins squandered just like that¡­ Oh, it''s forty thousand now. The Heavenly Extinction Sect raised its price."


    The dwarf was furious at how tens of thousands of spirit coins had been wasted so quickly. He immediately grabbed another pearl and threw it out.


    Tang Jie sighed and evaded it again. "Do you really think the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl is that good? No, they can kill a lot of people not because they''re Heavenbane Lightning Pearls, but because I''m the one using them."


    These words made the dwarf tremble, and he decided to not throw out a third pearl.


    Tang Jie coldly nced at him and smiled. "That''s right. Find a chance to scam some idiot into buying them. If you keep throwing them at me¡­ the Heavenbane Lightning Pearls are going to fall in price."


    He howled and then flew forward. In front of him, at the base of the wall, was a squat building.


    If he hadn''t been informed beforehand, he really wouldn''t have known that this was Godhead Pce''s storehouse.


    It didn''t look very big, but it was actually huge, extending several floors deep underground. Each floor contained many goods, and in normal circumstances, one would need half a day to move them all. As for putting the contents in a Mustard Seed Bag and taking them away, that was even more impossible, for there was no Mustard Seed Bag with that much space.


    But for Tang Jie, this wasn''t a problem.


    As he reached the storehouse, he pointed a finger. "Rise!"


    The Mountain River State Diagram flew into the air, revealing before everyone a stunning sight.


    The Great Broken Stream appeared right on top of the storehouse, the mountain and stream ovepping with the building like two intertwining paintings.


    The beautiful scene of a waterfall descending from the sky appeared over Cloudscrape City, but this time, there was also a setting sun.


    In the middle of this gorgeous view, the storehouse began to fade and disappear. But the world of the Great Broken Stream only became more and more clear.


    The Great Broken Stream was continuing to sink downward, continuing to prate into the underground storehouse. As it descended, some items would automatically be sent into the world of the Mountain River State Diagram.


    At the same time, a flower pce appeared, keeping out all other cultivators.


    This flower pce both blocked cultivator attacks and obscured this sight.


    Although Tang Jie knew that this matter would be exposed eventually, he wanted to put off that day as long as he could. With the flower pce obstructing the view, the cultivators could only see that waterfall descending from above the city, not the Mountain River State Diagram devouring the storehouse.


    Everyone thought that Tang Jie was seizing this chance to plunder the storehouse, some people even mocking him for his desire for greed over his life as they attacked the flower pce.


    But the speed of Tang Jie''s robbery was clearly faster than expected.


    As the flower pce was pulverized and ck Sin was killed, everyone saw nothing but t ground and a pitch-ck hole. Far beyond it, a streak of light was fading into the distance.


    Upon seeing that ck hole, the Spirit Ring cultivator fainted. He knew that he was finished.


    Trantor Notes


    Thus does Tang Jie begin a bright new career as a bandit.

 Chapter 486: Robbery (2)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Reverend Red Robe looked down from the sky with a grim look on his face.


    Cloudscrape City was in ruins after the battle, with crumbled walls, copsed buildings, and corpses all around.


    This wasn''t actually all Tang Jie''s work. Tang Jie had primarily blown up the teleportation formation and stolen away the storehouse. Besides that, ck Sin had altered the map of the city by creating a fissure running right down the center of it.


    But when those cultivators had been giving chase, they had started to cause chaos. With this rare legalized opportunity to attack, their murderous natures erupted, and it was very hard to stop. Most important of all was that they had enjoyed it.


    Whether it was intentional or not, these cultivators had thrown out their attacks haphazardly. As ck Sin''s vines rampaged around the city, the spell arts of the cultivators blew the city up.


    In the end, to deal with the mouse that was Tang Jie, the guests ended up basically wrecking the owner''s house.


    But this ruined city couldn''tpare to the damage done by Tang Jie escaping with the storehouse.


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    When Reverend Red Robe thought about how he had been lured away by Tang Jie''s duplicate, causing Cloudscrape City to suffer devastating losses, he felt dizzy.


    It was true that he was a Soul Transformation True Person.


    But Godhead Pce would not treat him leniently for making this mistake.


    Reverend Red Robe could already see his grim future.


    All of his bold ambitions turned to dust, and he sighed, "Ah, forget it. In the end, greed made me a fool and allowed me to be used by another. After this huge mistake, I will take all the responsibility when the pce sends its representative."


    He turned and left, his once-energetic figure now seeming old and lonely.


    One dayter, seven young men and four young women appeared in the sky above Cloudscrape City, all of them wearing white robes with a golden hawk embroidered on the sleeve. These eleven youths had handsome appearances, and it was clear that all of them came from impressive backgrounds.


    A cultivator in the city saw this and whispered, "Look at them, all dressed up like that. It''s probably to show off."


    He didn''t speak very loudly, and nobody should have been able to hear him.


    But one of the eleven youths suddenly nced at him.


    The cultivator shivered, and he was so rmed that he didn''t dare to speak anymore.


    That night, as this many on his bed, he would start wailing, and after three whole days, he would finally die.


    "Little Seventh, focus," the leader, a somewhat older youth, said in a mature andposed tone.


    The youth looked away from that cultivator in the city. "Yes, Big Brother."


    The leader said, "Good. Let''s split up and get to work."


    Ten people flew off in streaks of light, leaving only the eldest to sit atop a cloud, apparently thinking about something.


    A few momentster, one of the youths returned and stood behind the eldest, after which the others started to return.


    Only when all ten had returned did the eldest say, "Begin."


    One of the youths reported, "Tang Jie entered through the front gate. He used an illusory disguise, but the Panther Monkey saw through it. From this, we can see that his disguise ability does not exceed the Illusion Devil level. All-Seeing Law Eyes, Wisdom Eye Pearls, and Celestial Form Eyedrops can all see through it."


    The others followed in giving their reports.


    "There were three perpetrators: Tang Jie, a sprite, and an unknown man. I''ve questioned people in Cloudscrape City who saw these three and confirmed that this unknown man should be the True Person Gui who appeared in Horizon Ocean Pavilion eleven years ago. But this True Person Gui has no background or sect, and his movements are unpredictable. After appearing eleven years ago, he disappeared. For him to appear again makes no sense. ording to the Beast Refining Gate, it was only Tang Jie and the sprite who pursued Xu Hanling into the hall and were teleported with him. There was no sign of True Person Gui. From this, we can conclude that this person''s true identity isn''t that of an actual human, but some being like the sprite that Tang Jie has secretly raised. Worth noting is that if this is really the case, why did Tang Jie keep it so well hidden? We can conclude that there is probably some other secret behind this."


    "Tang Jie started killing the moment he entered the city. Before killing someone, he would ask them where the teleportation point and storehouse were, and then he went straight to those two locations, making no detours. From this, we can conclude that he came prepared. Many cultivatorse in and out of Cloudscrape City every day, so it is impossible to ascertain the level of strength in the city. Even if Tang Jie''s duplicate managed to fool Red Robe, the remaining strength still wasn''t something Tang Jie could easily deal with. In truth, he was lucky yesterday to run into only one Celestial Heart cultivator. If there had been a few more, things might not have gone so smoothly. But even so, he still charged in, and with a clear goal in mind. Given this person''s personality and methods, for him to dare to do such a thing, I suspect that Tang Jie still has more tricks up his sleeve. But because the strength in Cloudscrape City wascking, he didn''t need to use them."


    "I''ve been over to look at the storehouse. Judging by the records of the goods in the storehouse, even one hundred Mustard Seed Bags couldn''t have held them all, let alone the entire storehouse. But he managed to take away such arge ce nevertheless. He must have used some extraordinary spatial method. We have never heard of Tang Jie having this sort of method before. If he was that strong, he would have used it much earlier. Considering how he got here, this is probably rted to the Space Crystal. The problem is that he doesn''t have the White Tiger''s blood, so how was he able to use the Space Crystal to this extent? This is also suspicious. If only we knew what exactly happened back in the Beast Garden."


    "Tang Jie was ruthless in this battle, killing basically everyone he could and taking basically everything he could. This ispletely different from how he acted in the past. Considering that he''s brazenly looting everything he can, we can conclude that he is already prepared to engage in ughter within my Nadir Hill for a long time."


    "There is one strange thing to note. Although Tang Jie killed many people, we can''t find many of their corpses. Some of them were devoured by ck Sin, but most of them just disappeared. Unfortunately, the other cultivators were all scared by his ruthlessness, so they did not know where the bodies went. But we can hypothesize that these corpses did not simply disappear. Tang Jie must have taken them for some reason."


    "I''ve refined the soul memories of three cultivators who saw Tang Jie fighting, so I can basically confirm that the talk of Tang Jie being in the Three Witherings is essentially nonsense. This person is definitely at peak Mortal Shedding, only a step away from Celestial Heart."


    "One hundred days in the Water Moon Paradise is that incredible?"


    "It was four hundred. We just received word from the Basking Moon Sect that that old bastard, Luo Hanzhen, managed to get Tang Jie three hundred more days. Tang Jie managed to hide this fact, and our spy only recently managed to find out¡­ The Basking Moon Sect has already discovered him."


    "Then we can understand why he wants so much plunder¡­ He needs to cultivate and get stronger, which requires a lot of resources¡­ Ha, this guy is very bold. He wants to advance to Celestial Heart in my Nadir Hill?"


    "Being stronger means that he''s more confident about fighting back."


    "Even if he were at Violet Pce, he shouldn''t even think about fighting back against my Godhead Pce."


    "But it is enough to kill to his heart''s content in my Nadir Hill."


    "In truth, the Celestial Heart Realm¨C no, even his current realm is enough for him to kill to his heart''s content."


    "He''s already doing that."


    Everyone fell silent.


    Finally, the eldest said, "Are the resources in the storehouse enough for him to reach Celestial Heart?"


    A pretty woman replied, "I''ve already checked the storehouse records. While there were many resources in the storehouse, not everything was suitable for cultivation. Most of them were materials used in pills, talismans, formations, and tools. While their value is extremely high, it''s not what he needs. In terms of value, Tang Jie certainly has enough to reach Celestial Heart, but he first has to trade those items for the medicines he needs."


    Another person added, "He won''t trade for it, but steal it. In Nadir Hill, he doesn''t need money."


    The eldest said, "In other words, though he''s stolen a lot, he''s still far from making the charge at Celestial Heart?"


    Everyone''s eyes lit up.


    They understood the meaning behind this question.


    The pretty woman answered, "Yes, definitely not enough, so he will definitely try and steal more.


    "Today''s incident is only the start."


    A youth suddenly said, "The pce has sent word that the Upper Path Fort has been plundered by Tang Jie."


    The eldest immediately stood up and swept his right hand out in front of him. In a dazzling sh of light, a map of Nadir Hill appeared.


    It wasn''t strange for this sort of projection spell to be able to create a map. What was unusual was that maps created through this spell couldn''t be transferred. One had to go to all these ces by oneself in order to recreate the map. At this time, the map in front of the eldest grewrger andrger, going past the boundary of Nadir Hill. It was clear that he had been to many ces.


    He had seemingly walked the majority of the Rosecloud Domain and recorded all those locations, thus allowing for such a huge and detailed map.


    The eldest opened his hands, and the map began to change its dimensions, ultimately reaching a suitable scale such that the map had Cloudscrape City on one end and Upper Path Fort on the other.


    The eldest lightly waved his hands and instantly calcted the distance. He then calcted how long it would take to cover this distance by flying, upon which he blurted out, "Shit, he went straight from Cloudscrape City to here, and then he robbed the ce as soon as he arrived¡­ What a bandit!"


    The others all looked at each other, marveling at Tang Jie''s devotion to his job, seeminglymitting crimes without rest.


    But they also knew that this was only just the beginning. At this time, theycked deep understanding of Tang Jie''s abilities, style, behavior, and objective, which was the perfect time for Tang Jie to act brazenly.


    As time passed and they developed a deeper understanding of Tang Jie, they would start to converge upon him, at which point Tang Jie would find it hard tomit any more crimes. He would have no choice but to take a break and start focusing on survival.


    It was precisely because he would have to be on the runter that Tang Jie acted even crazier now.


    Though they understood this, these youths still felt like they were getting a whole new understanding of this guy''s greed, madness, and savagery.


    Unlike the others, when they received their orders, they understood what sort of opponent they were dealing with. They had been cautious from the very start, even though seven of them were at Spirit Ring, four at the peak of Mortal Shedding, and one was at Nine Revolutions.


    The eldest wasn''t in a rush after learning that Tang Jie had run off to Upper Path Fort. He continued to move around the map, adding in the town where Tang Jie had massacred the sect and Forecreek Town, where Tang Jie had stayed for a time, marking each of the four locations.


    Looking at all these ces, the eldest muttered, "Other than Forecreek Town, where he lingered for some time, he was basically always on the run. He made his n at Forecreek Town, and since then, he''s been constantly running, barely even resting."


    "Why is that?" a person asked.


    "Because he knows he can''t stop. My Godhead Pce has a secret art, so if he tries to hide in one ce, we''ll eventually catch him. Constantly running is his best countermeasure. No matter how powerful our secret art is, we''ll always be chasing after his trail, so we can never be faster than him."


    "But how can he know?" a woman with an alluring appearance said in surprise. "The tracking art is a secret of our Hawk Hall. No one knows it except Second Brother, not even you, Big Brother. It should have been impossible for it to get out."


    "Because he was captured by Godhead Pce once!" the eldest said, punching his palm in anger. "That idiot, Gu Changqing, once fled with Tang Jie. ording to Zhao Xinguo, Gu Changqing seemed to admire Tang Jie a lot and tried to tempt him into joining Godhead Pce, so he divulged many things about the Hawk Hall to him. That bastard Gu Changqing was rewarded with the position of Deputy Eagle Master by my Godhead Pce, so he knows about the 12 Hawks."


    Everyone was stunned.


    So Tang Jie already knew so much about Godhead Pce?


    It was no wonder this guy was constantly running around, giving the 12 Hawks no opportunity to use their secret tracking art.


    The 12 Hawks of the Hawk Hall were a group Godhead Pce had established to deal with powerful and cunning opponents. The 12 Hawks did not actually consist of only 12 people. Rather, each of the twelve was in charge of a specialty.


    For example, the eldest was in charge of maps, and he knew the Rosecloud Domain like the back of his hand. It was precisely because of his far-sighted nature that he couldmand the 12 Hawks. His position as the "eldest" would not be taken by the second oldest, but be selected from a pool of candidates. This candidate, just like the eldest, would have traveled the world and developed a keen understanding of all thend.


    The eldest was responsible for situational awareness and analysis, and the second oldest was responsible for tracking, having studied Godhead Pce''s secret tracking art. The third sister was responsible for gathering information, the fourth brother was an expert at recreating the battlefield, the fifth brother kept contact with the pce, and the sixth sister was an interrogation expert. These six were the Principal Hawks, the most important. The other six Hawks were the Support Hawks, and their skills leaned toward actualbat. The seventh brother was a poisoner, the eighth sister was skilled in illusion and deception, the ninth brother was skilled in breaking formations, the tenth sister specialized in reinforcement and protection, the eleventh brother faked tracks to fool the enemy, and the twelfth brother was an ambush specialist.


    Tang Jie had long known about the specialties of the 12 Hawks.


    The 12 Hawks were incensed when they thought about how their target knew more about them than they understood about their target.


    There was a spell of speechless silence, and then someone asked, "So what do we do?"


    The eldest considered the options. "Third Sister, what do you think?"


    The pretty woman from before said after some thought, "Tang Jie knows of our abilities, so he will not stay in one ce for too long. If we want to chase, we can''t just keep following behind him. We have to find out where he''s going so that we can take precautions."


    "But how can we find out where he''s going?"


    If they didn''t know where he was going, strengthening the defenses was nothing but an empty dream. Enforcing the defenses everywhere was essentially the same as not enforcing them at all.


    "We look at what he wants," the woman replied. She suddenly said, "Fifth Brother, ask the pce what was taken from Upper Path Fort. That''s a small ce, so I don''t think Tang Jie would have gone to rob the ce for no reason."


    The young man who was the fifth brother nodded and closed his eyes for a few moments. Suddenly, he swept his hand in front of him, and a list appeared out of nowhere and flew into the woman''s hand.


    The pretty woman took the list and read it over. "There was an auction going on when Tang Jie went there. Up for auction was¡­ Illusion Heart Dew!"


    "''Illusion Heart Dew''?" Everyone was startled.


    "That''s a necessary medicine for the charge at Celestial Heart," someone said.


    "As expected, Tang Jie is preparing for the charge at Celestial Heart!"


    "As we predicted, rather than buying what he needs, he''s trying to steal it."


    The pretty woman smiled. "This is why he went over to Upper Path Fort. In truth, Tang Jie didn''t know if that ce would have what he needed, but the news of the auction lured in the wolf that is Tang Jie."


    "In other words, we only need to check which auctions have what Tang Jie needs and then work to intercept him?" someone excitedly asked.


    "Correct. But before that, we need to determine what he got and what he''s still missing."


    The eldest suddenly spoke again. "I recall that Cloudscrape City sells Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pills. Did Tang Jie get any?"


    The pretty woman froze, and then she understood what the eldest was getting at and produced another list, this one from Cloudscrape City. She looked it over and shouted, "None! Ha, this is truly a coincidence. Normally, Cloudscrape City''s storehouse always has Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pills, but they were cleaned out just a few days ago, and their stock hadn''t been replenished yet."


    Everyone became excited.


    One person shouted, "The Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill is the ideal medicine for the Basking Moon lineage when ites to charging at Celestial Heart. Without it, even if he gets everything else, his chances of sess won''t be good. Tang Jie must have attacked Cloudscrape City for it, but he''s going to be disappointed."


    "He''s definitely going to keep looking for the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill. If we send out some news of one, we might be able to lure him over."


    "There''s no rush. Let''s wait first. If we put out news of the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill, he''ll easily suspect that something is up. We need a more natural reason."


    "But the more we dy, the more people will die."


    "Isn''t that even better? Other than the things he''s looking for, most of what Tang Jie steals will be useless to him. If we find him and kill him, everything he has¡­ will be ours," a voice whispered, though the speaker did not make themselves obvious.


    Everyone was startled. Although they didn''t see the speaker, they knew who had spoken.


    The eldest''s face turned grim. "Little Twelve, do you know what you''re saying?"


    "Of course. I''m thinking about everyone''s future. Do you know why Tang Jie managed to achieve so much? Don''t forget that he only has a five-cycle Jade Gate. With this aptitude, he was able to achieve so much because he knew what was the wisest course of action. My brothers and sisters, sometimes, capturing the enemy is no big deal. It is far better to capture the enemy while also profiting from it."


    Everyone was rendered speechless.


    After a while, the eldest finally said, "I do not approve of your opinion."


    Everyone sighed in relief, but at the same time, they were slightly disappointed.


    Deep down, they felt like Little Twelve''s proposal wasn''t bad.


    The eldest then said, "But Tang Jie is abnormally cunning. Capturing him in the short term won''t be easy. The more he moves around, the more weaknesses he will expose. Everyone, let us be patient and rify his movements before deciding on what to do."


    Everyone smiled and replied in unison, "Yes, Big Brother!"

 Chapter 487: Robbery (3)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    "Shit!"


    Tang Jie angrily threw aside a handful of pill, talisman, tool, and formation materials.


    Normally, these materials were important items used in trades between the major sects. There were precious ores, rare herbs, and also art relics from famous artisans and powerful art talismans. Quite a few of them were capable of giving Tang Jie a very obvious boost in power.


    But despite all these nice things, there was no sign of what he wanted the most: the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill.


    How could Tang Jie not be angry?


    Cloudscrape City was an important area for Godhead Pce, and his heist had been able to happen because he had exploited Godhead Pce''s desire to catch him and their not expecting him toe back around. After this incident, Godhead Pce would be ready, and it would be difficult for him to repeat the events of Cloudscrape City.


    This was precisely why he had set his sights on the most important and most necessary Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill first. s, his luck had been poor. There would normally be Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pills at the storehouse, but this time, it didn''t have any. Thus, while the operation had gone smoothly, it had ultimately been a failure.


    This left Tang Jie very frustrated.


    But there was no changing the past. He could only go straight to Upper Path Fort, where he robbed the auction there before taking his leave.


    By now, the plundered loot had formed a small mountain in the Mountain River State Diagram. Tang Jie picked through the items, throwing the most worthless items into the furnace to smelt for resources.


    The higher-value items that cost more inbor than in materials were kept to be sold off once he returned to Sageheart.


    As for the high-level art relics, talismans, and pills, he kept those for himself. He ate what he could eat and used what he could use, doing his best to arm himself to the teeth.


    Back in Sageheart, he had to work for everything he got. Making money through legal means wasn''t easy, and for the sake of increasing his cultivation level, Tang Jie really hadn''t bought any extra items like art relics for himself.


    Now, he had a whole pile of treasure. In terms of Godhead Armor alone, he could basically wear a different one every day. There were also various art relics, so many that it took quite some time for him to test them all out. In truth, while traveling, he was testing all these treasures, and there were many times where he used them improperly and ended up in a sorry state. If Godhead Pce had known about this, they could have followed this trail straight to him.


    In addition, testing various art talismans had a riot of colors appearing in the skies of Nadir Hill. Later on, Tang Jie felt like this wouldn''t do, so he switched his experiment ground to the diagram, letting the ghost guard carry the diagram and run instead.


    These treasures had a variety of functions which would greatly increase tactical flexibility. This was enough to keep Tang Jie busy in research for a long time.


    After he arrived at Upper Path Fort and pulled off another heist, he had new things to experiment with, new tactics to study. Tang Jie was incredibly busy, his life more jam-packed than ever before.


    He suddenly realized that he had a lot of things to do. He needed to avoid pursuit, search for the materials he needed, study how to use the materials he already had, and also remember to cultivate in preparation for his push to Celestial Heart.


    All these things didn''t crush Tang Jie. On the contrary, Tang Jie grew more excited, feeling like it was only this sort of life that could be considered exciting.


    After leaving Upper Path Fort, Tang Jie robbed six other small garrisons and two cities. In the space of three days, he plundered a total of ten regions, crossed five thousand kilometers, and killed more than a hundred people. His savagery, madness, and speed soon had all of Nadir Hill in an uproar.


    Godhead Pce finally realized that what they had imprisoned wasn''t some down-and-out cultivator, but a crazed beast. Once he realized that he couldn''t escape, he stopped thinking about how to escape and instead about how to bite back.


    In these circumstances, Godhead Pce began to tighten the defenses and organize powerful cultivation squads. But just when they were about to make their own thunderous strike, Tang Jie disappeared.


    He disappeared so suddenly that it was like he hadn''t been sowing chaos at all.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    This novel is avable on bit.ly/3Tfs4P4.


    Donghe Province.


    "Guest, thank you for your business! Pleasee back again!"


    In front of the door to Destiny Treasure Boutique, Old Fourth Liu, wearing a green cloth robe, sent off a customer. In the distance, one could vaguely make out a cultivator vanishing into the sky.


    The pedestrians were used to this sight and paid it no mind. Old Fourth Liu weighed the spirit coins in his hand and chuckled, after which he said to the shopkeeper inside, "Kid, you did good on this deal."


    He held up a spirit coin.


    The shopkeeper thought that Old Fourth Liu was going to reward him with a spirit coin and trembled in excitement.


    But Old Fourth Liu put the spirit coin away and then took out a string of copper coins from his sleeve. "You really thought I was going to reward you with a spirit coin? Ha, five hundred coins, and be happy with it."


    The shopkeeper helplessly dropped his head, "Fooling me again."


    Old Fourth Liuughed. "I''m just teasing. Alright, it''s gettingte. It looks to me like we won''t get any more business today, so let''s close up shop and get off work."


    "Yes!" The shopkeeper grew energetic upon hearing that they were closing up for the day.


    Old Fourth Liu hummed a tune as he walked to the back of the store. Passing through a small alley, he came to a small courtyard. This was his residence.


    Opening the door, Old Fourth Liu entered a small garden. At the back of the garden was a little house made of stone. It all seemed very elegant and simple.


    He casually walked a few steps and then suddenly froze, his entire body going stiff.


    With great difficulty, he turned his head. Under a peach tree in the garden stood a person.


    This person had his back to Old Fourth Liu, and was seemingly admiring the flowers as if he was sightseeing.


    After a momentary daze, Old Fourth Liu cried out in panic and started to back away. "Who¡­ who are you? Why have you intruded into my house?"


    The man under the peach tree turned around, revealing himself to be Tang Jie.


    He smiled at Old Fourth Liu and said, "Don''t back up any more."


    Old Fourth Liu was taken aback by Tang Jie''s appearance. At this time, his right foot stepped on the soil on the left side of the garden, and a momentter, a little arrow shot out of the ground and struck him in the sole.


    Old Fourth Liu hadn''t expected this at all. ng! The arrow didn''t prate through the sole of his foot, instead dropping to the ground.


    "What''s going on here?" Old Fourth Liu said in shock.


    "I told you not to back up any more." Tang Jie grinned. "I was bored while waiting for you, so I took a look around your home. I''ve already blocked the escape tunnel under the stone b your foot is on. That thing was far too low of a level. If it became known that a cultivator was still using a method like this, it would be far too humiliating. Of course, I also left a few gifts so that nobody would try anything on me."


    Old Fourth Liu looked at Tang Jie and then looked at the broken arrow under his foot. With a bitter look on his face, he said, "Young Master Tang, is this really necessary?"


    "What? Have you been a ghost for so long that you''ve forgotten how to act human?" Tang Jie countered.


    Old Fourth Liu''s face turned even more bitter.


    Sighing, he straightened his body.


    As he straightened up, his demeanor transformed, the aura of an unscrupulous merchant bing lofty and imposing.


    Only now did Old Fourth Liu say, "Secret Hall subordinate Liu Yunhan pays respects to Sir Tang."


    "You''re too polite. Moreover, I think I''m your junior."


    "There are no early- andters when ites to learning, only those who seed. This one cannotpare to Sir Tang when ites to ying the members of Beast Refining and Godhead!"


    "But while you respect me, you can''t interact with me, right?" Tang Jie asked.


    A helpless smile appeared on Old Fourth Liu''s face. "I was being impolite. How did Sir manage to find me?"


    "I''m still a member of the Secret Hall. While spies are too important to be easily divulged, I at least have more chances than most to find out¡­ Do you know about Wang Junyan?" Tang Jie asked.


    "Wang Junyan?" Old Fourth Liu''s eyes lit up. "That kid is like me, a Donghe spy. But he was too young, so he was fooled two years ago by some small trick from the Hawk Hall. At least he had good legs and managed to escape Nadir Hill."


    "I was the one who saved him," Tang Jie said.


    Old Fourth Liu understood how he had been exposed.


    Ten years of missions hadn''t given Tang Jie only contribution points, but also a lot of acquaintances and rtionships. These connections had also affected Tang Jie in some way.


    For example, on a mission two years ago, Wang Junyan was being hunted down by Godhead Pce. Just when he was about to die, Tang Jie had suddenly saved him. He was endlessly grateful, so he had told him some things he shouldn''t have, including about Old Fourth Liu.


    Old Fourth Liu knew that he was in trouble when he saw Tang Jie.


    Of course, he could make an excuse and say that Tang Jie wasn''t his superior, so he didn''t need to listen to his orders. But given Tang Jie''s current reputation, he didn''t have the guts to say such a thing. Tang Jie could really obliterate him with a palm and not receive even a rebuke when he returned to the Basking Moon Sect.


    Thus, he could only say, "Sir, for what reason have you sought me out?"


    Tang Jie waved his sleeve, and a stone table, two stone chairs, and a jar of wine appeared between them.


    "Sit," he said. "We''ll chat and drink."


    "Yes." Old Fourth Liu could onlyply.


    As they chattered, the tense mood gradually rxed.


    Spies were meant to serve the sect. Old Fourth Liu had been undercover in Nadir Hill for many years, and he had never participated in any major operations. All he did was gather some local information and send it back to the sect. Tang Jie''s appearance meant that he might actually have a chance to show his ability.


    Old Fourth Liu understood this, but he was unwilling to interrupt his calm life, so he was initially somewhat resistant. After three rounds of drinks, his thought process finally returned to the right track, and he understood what sort of person he was and what he needed to do. He clenched his teeth and said, "Alright, tell me what you need this Old Fourth Liu to do."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "It''s nothing. I just need you to gather some information on the measures Godhead Pce is taking against me."


    "Just this?" Old Fourth Liu was bbergasted. "Sir has stirred up a storm across the entire country, and everyone knows that Godhead Pce can''t do anything to you."


    "The one whoughsstughs best. I caught Godhead Pce off guard, but that was because they were focused primarily on stopping me from escaping, not expecting me to bite back. But as time passes, they''ll reevaluate their strategy. If I don''t take them seriously, I might be the one dying at their hands."


    "I see. But these matters are discussed by those above my station, and I can''t guarantee that I''ll be able to learn much."


    "I don''t need to know their exact countermeasures. I just need you to find out their general movements, and from there, I can analyze their countermeasures. In addition, I need you to bring me news from our sect."


    Tang Jie was cut off from the Basking Moon Sect, and if he wanted to keep fighting with Godhead Pce, he would need the Basking Moon Sect''s support. Thus, reestablishingmunications was his first priority and the main reason he had contacted Old Fourth Liu.


    "This is no problem. I will send back word to the sect that you are here."


    "Remember to not use message talismans. Godhead Pce has a secret method that allows them to spy on message talismans. While they can''t know what their contents are, they can know what direction they''re going."


    Old Fourth Liu smiled. "Oh, so Sir knows about that too? Sir, be at ease. We learned this long ago, and we have other means of sending messages."


    "Good. Right, what is your current cultivation realm?" Tang Jie asked.


    After all, this was a person who had been trained in concealment. Even Tang Jie''s Celestial Eye couldn''t see his cultivation level.


    Old Fourth Liu replied, "This one is untalented and stupid, so after forty years of cultivation, I am still only at Nine Revolutions."


    Tang Jie extended a finger toward Old Fourth Liu''s forehead. "Rx your mind and don''t resist."


    Old Fourth Liu didn''t dare to resist, so he rxed his body and allowed Tang Jie''s will to inspect his body.


    A few momentster, Tang Jie drew back his finger and said, "You''ve cultivated for too long withoutpleting Nine Revolutions, and your physical body is already starting to decline. If all goes as expected, you will find it very difficult to enter Cognitive Creation in this life."


    Old Fourth Liu sighed, "Yes."


    "But with enough spiritual medicine, you can still make an attempt. If your luck is good, while you have no hope of reaching Celestial Heart, peak Mortal Shedding is still possible."


    "That requires a lot of resources," Old Fourth Liu said with a shake of his head.


    "That''s why I say that encountering me might not be a bad thing." Tang Jie waved his hand, and numerous bottles appeared on the table.


    "This is¡­" Old Fourth Liu''s eyes flew open, his entire body trembling.


    "Consider this thanks for helping me. If you work for me, I can promise you that you will reach peak Mortal Shedding," Tang Jie lightly said.


    For him, these medicines were useless. He was originally nning to toss them into the furnace, but now, they were better used for guaranteeing this person''s loyalty. After all, even Godhead Pce could have only gotten Old Fourth Liu to the peak of Mortal Shedding at most if he chose to join them.


    As for Celestial Heart, unless he had rare items like thousand-year Whitefiend Lotuses that could modify his constitution, he could put an end to any such thoughts.


    After being presented with what he stood to gain, Old Fourth Liu became very enthusiastic about his work.


    He first sent back word to the Basking Moon Sect that Tang Jie hade to him. But while his secret method was safe, it was rather slow, and it took three days to get back a reply. In the meantime, Old Fourth Liu moved around to gather information on how Godhead Pce was nning to deal with Tang Jie.


    Just as Tang Jie had said, by understanding Godhead Pce''s movements, one could theorize as to their actual objective. Of course, it was possible that there were feints and smokescreens mixed in, but Tang Jie was just a wanted criminal, not an enemy country. It would be somewhat humiliating to have to resort to feints against a single man.


    Thus, it took only two days for Old Fourth Liu to get a rough understanding of Godhead Pce''s movements and situation.


    "Godhead Pce has sent the 12 Hawks of the Hawk Hall against you. The 12 Hawks are famous for capture and tracking. Fortunately, Young Master was prepared for this and flies around every day to put an end to any thought they might have of tracking you. Otherwise, the 12 Hawks would definitely find this ce. In addition, the Beast Refining Gate has dispatched Feng Buzhi to assist Godhead Pce."


    "What''s going on with Xu Hanling being a Beast Refining Gate spy yet serving Godhead Pce?"


    "I''m not clear on the details, but it''s not strange for allied sects to have spies nted in each other''s ranks. In any case, neither party wants to make a big deal of this. In most cases, the party in the wrong will simply paypensation."


    "Then continue."


    "The 12 Hawks haven''t done anything, but Godhead Pce has redeployed in order to deal with Young Master''s various robberies. They''ve set up warning stations at important areas and then organized a powerful team of cultivators, each person carrying a teleportation talisman. Through this talisman, they can go and support those areas without teleportation points. In this way, so long as the warning can be sent promptly, they can arrive in time. While the cost is rather high, they have to do all this in order to catch you."


    "As expected," Tang Jie grunted.


    Although he didn''t know what countermeasures Godhead Pce would take, that was precisely what made him more careful. What appeared like bold and crazy robberies had actually been only three days of work and then aplete stop. Sure enough, this had allowed him to evade Godhead Pce''s reaction.


    If he had kept on going out of greed, he would have been the unfortunate one right now.


    "Godhead Pce''s defenses are very tight, so another robbery is basically impossible." After giving his report, Old Fourth Liu sighed. Over thesest few days, he hade to understand what Tang Jie was trying to do.


    Despite having stolen the entire storehouse of Cloudscrape City, Tang Jie was still worried about resources every day.


    This was because he wanted to make the charge at Celestial Heart, which required specific medicines, and now, those medicines had been ced under heavy watch by Godhead Pce. Anyone who dared to buy them would be investigated by Godhead Pce.


    "Who says it''s not possible?" Tang Jie casually said. "Once you know their deployment, you can find a solution to it."


    "Huh?" Old Fourth Liu was shocked.


    "While teleportation talismans are nice, they have their own problems. Any teleportation over fifty kilometers will usually be a directional teleportation. The better talismans like the Five Thousand Kilometer Talisman and the Free Roaming Talisman can also only indicate a direction, like ''two hundred and fifty kilometers to the east''. As for what''s actually there? Nobody can say. The inferior kind will be random teleportation, not even allowing for a direction. A cultivator team using teleportation talismans to reinforce might be fast, but it''s very hard for them to end up in the same area. Thus, they must also need a formation that can help fix their position. This formation won''t be like a teleportation formation. It will be extremely simple, easy to deploy, and cheap, allowing it to beid out anywhere."


    Tang Jie smiled. "Although it''s cheap, it''s still a critical location. Thus, I just need to find that point they''re using to fix their location and destroy it like I destroyed the teleportation formation of Cloudscrape City. That so-called reinforcement team will be forced to go in blind."


    Old Fourth Liu was gobsmacked by what he was hearing.


    Had Tang Jie really so easily found the solution to Godhead Pce''s defenses?


    Old Fourth Liu sighed in praise. "Sir is truly a divine strategist! This one is full of admiration!"


    "But this time will be different from the others. Once I attack, those people won''t be all panicked and unable to decide what to do. Instead, they will immediately send out the rm and call for reinforcements. As a result, I can''t reenact Cloudscrape City and go around killing people while demanding the location of the teleportation formation. I have to figure out the location of the coordinate formation first and then destroy it immediately to ensure that the n goes smoothly."


    "Sir is right." Old Fourth Liu nodded.


    Tang Jie added, "We''re in no rush. Let''s wait for a few more days. At that time, Godhead Pce will definitely think that I''ve given up after not being able to find a way through. At that time, I will strike, this time at a big city."


    "''A big city''?"


    "Mm, a big city!" Tang Jie firmly replied. "Big cities are difficult to attack, so you have to take them by surprise. This was also true for Cloudscrape City. Now that we''re showing weakness by stopping the raids and lying low, they''ll be surprised if we suddenly attack again, so naturally, we should choose a big city."


    "''W-we''?" Old Fourth Liu sharply noticed Tang Jie''s choice of words.


    "Yes," Tang Jie replied as if it was a matter of fact. "Big cities have Celestial Eyes, so my disguise can''t fool them. If I can''t enter the city, how exactly am I going to attack it? I''ll need to rely on you to find and attack the coordinate formation. Once you destroy it, I can charge in."


    Old Fourth Liu felt dizzy. "Won''t I be in danger then?"


    "Don''t worry," Tang Jie replied. "You don''t need to do the deed yourself. You only need to do two things: find the coordinate point, and bring Yiyi to it. Once you do these two things, you can leave, so you will be very safe."


    Old Fourth Liu exhaled and looked at Tang Jie like he was looking at a madman.


    After a while, he said, "Fine. This old man will help you once."


    "Mm. Right, remember to give me a list of all the other spies you''re aware of."


    "What do you need that for?"


    "Just in case. If you identally die, I can get someone else to work for me." Tang Jie smiled.


    "Fucker." Old Fourth Liu was speechless with anger.


    Three dayster, a major city in the southeast region of Nadir Hill, Cloud Gourd City, was robbed.


    This ce wasn''t as big as Cloudscrape City, but it was also an important town, guarded by one Heart Demon True Person and two Spirit Ring True Persons.


    But this sort of defensive force had unexpectedly been unable to stop Tang Jie from forcing his way into the city once the coordinate point was destroyed.


    This was because this bastard had stolen many treasures from Cloudscrape City, and there were sealing treasures among them. When facing the Heart Demon True Person, he threw out one art relic after another, not caring whether they were damaged, which was able to constantly "stun" the Heart Demon True Person. The immense cost and waste of this action had people clicking their tongues, but in the end, it allowed him to sessfully take the storehouse and its treasures and flee.


    This news set off another uproar.


    And Tang Jie didn''t stop, continuing to rob various areas, but this time, he targeted small cities and towns without Celestial Eyes, so he didn''t even need Old Fourth Liu.


    In the space of a few days, Tang Jie robbed three cities and seven towns, causing Nadir Hill to weep and Godhead Pce to throw up blood.


    At this time, Tang Jie officially became the greatest thief of the domain.


    Tang Jie didn''t care at all, actually finding the feeling rather nice.


    Having no restrictions and plundering and stealing to his heart''s content was truly a wonderful life!

 Chapter 488: Support

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Sitting in a small hut of gray stone, Tang Jie circted energy in his body. His mind sank down, gathering at his heart, where it lingered around, sometimes scattering and sometimes concentrating and manifesting in countless forms. There were dragons, snakes, tigers, and leopards, and also sabers, swords, spears, and halberds, and also the sky of stars and the mountains and rivers.


    These were Celestial Heart Illusions.


    They represented the most important process for a cultivator to condense a Celestial Heart.


    Tang Jie finally had the right to make the charge at Celestial Heart.


    But no matter what illusions formed, they all ultimately shattered, unable to condense.


    Tang Jie wasn''t disheartened. He had never intended to make the charge, only to experience things a little.


    Charging at Celestial Heart was actually a tempering and refining of the mind.


    When you''re just trying to make great content at tinyurl/37k7u89t.


    The Mortal Shedding Realm was a tempering of the cultivator''s body, organs, and will. Hundred Refinement strengthened the body, Nine Revolutions strengthened the organs, and Cognitive Creation brought form to the mind. As for the Three Witherings, they were the shedding of the mortal body and the attaining of the spiritual body.


    In this process, the cultivator seeded in shedding the mortal body, but the soul had yet to do so, remaining the soul of a mortal.


    Thus, the Celestial Heart was the shedding of the soul''s mortality, but this was not the entirety of it.


    This was because the mortal soul shedding process went from Celestial Heart all the way to Violet Pce.


    The soul was the most mystical part of the human body, and it was also the most difficult part to refine and nurture. Spirit Will, Celestial Heart, Divine Will, Soul Transformation, and even Violet Pce were all part of the process of cultivating the soul.


    Inparison, tempering the body was much simpler.


    Ancient body refining didn''t have all theseplicated processes. Cultivation normally stopped before Cognitive Creation, with Nine Revolutions being considered the peak.


    Body refiners didn''t need to go through Cognitive Creation, neither cultivating a Divine Will nor cultivating a spiritual body. They made their physical bodies like diamond and relied on that for their ascent, so they always remained at Hundred Refinement or Nine Revolutions. For them, cultivation realm was not important. What was important was borrowing their cultivation to constantly hone themselves.


    In contrast, present-day body refiners were still cultivatingws, though they borrowed certain methods to strengthen their body. While they looked the same on the surface, they were fundamentally different.


    To take Wang Juemie as an example, his cultivation method differed little from other cultivators. He was still pushing cultivation realms, but the spell arts he cultivated primarily focused on cultivating his body.


    Even after entering the Three Withering Tribtions and having his mortal body die, he could use secret arts to preserve his powerful strength, making his spiritual body tough and his life force tenacious. In terms of lifespan, it even exceeded Tang Jie''s Heavenly Spirit Law Body, for his body was an Unbreakable Diamond Body.


    Peng Yaolong was even less worth mentioning. At best, he was half a body refiner, and he was still essentially a cultivator ofws.


    Only Tang Jie''s original body was cultivating the secret arts of the ancients, the legacy of the Martial Lord. As a result, he would find it very hard to break through Cognitive Creation, even if he had the help of the Seven Absolutions Sect. His only hope was for some miracle granted by the heavens. But for the original body, this level of breakthrough had be meaningless long ago.


    This was because resources were plentiful in ancient times, so the problem ancient body refiners had to consider was how to use up these plentiful resources as quickly as possible. This was why the Martial Lord''s Parting ssic was the number one martial arts manual in his era: it used resources to the maximum. It was precisely because of this incredible rate of consumption that the Martial Lord could be a hegemon of that era.


    But now, the appearance of blessednds and paradises, the loss that came from the transcendence of Immortal tform cultivators, and the frenzied gathering over the eons had drained the world of its resources. Body refining that relied on resources fell out of style and was reced by more meticulous cultivation ofws, creating this system that could persist over the long term.


    Tang Jie was able to walk the path of the ancients thanks to the Nine Executions Immortal Realm. It was only because Tang Jie alone was enjoying the benefits of the Immortal Realm that he could reach his current level of strength. If not for the firebird guarding the valley and making it difficult to get herbs, Tang Jie''s original body would have long ago passed greater attainment in the Diamond Body and attained the Immortal Spirit Body.


    With the failure to condense the Celestial Heart Illusion, Tang Jie regretfully shook his head. "Manifesting the Celestial Heart isn''t easy, but the true difficultyes with experiencing the will of the heavens and observing the Heavenly Self. Even though I''ve cultivated Insight, I still can''t do it. It''s no wonder so many young heroes have been stymied at the Celestial Heart threshold."


    It was said that every person was born with a destiny.


    The people of the Great Ster Chiliocosm did not believe in fate set down by heaven, because no one had ever been able to make a calction and thereby know all that had happened five hundred years into the past and five hundred years into the future.


    But they believed that there still existed some power that waspatible with them in the great beyond. This power was called a gift from the heavens!


    This "gift" did not refer to someone being talented in a particr thing, but a power hidden very deep within a person that was in tune with the will of the heavens.


    When a cultivator made the charge at Celestial Heart, they found this gift and used it to create their own Heart Manifestation, ultimately condensing it into a heart of will.


    Because of this process of experiencing the will of the heavens to create this heart, it was called the Celestial Heart!


    Tang Jie was skilled in Insight, so he thought that even if he couldn''t condense the manifestation, he would at least be able toplete the first step of finding that power. Yet reality had given him a thump on the head.


    But he did not mind. Observing the Heavenly Self was widely acknowledged as being second in difficulty only to the condensation of the manifestation, and over the eons, the Rosecloud Domain had developed countless methods of improving one''s chances of observing the self. The most effective of them was the Heaven Questioning Pill.


    It was called this because one directly asked the heavens for the answer, and the effects were even better if used with Illusion Heart Dew.


    Tang Jie already had Illusion Heart Dew, and he also had a Heaven Questioning Pill. Moreover, because of his style of taking everything and the kitchen sink, he had stolen enough to observe the self at least a dozen times.


    If it weren''t for the fact that he still didn''t feel ready, Tang Jie might have already attempted to glimpse the will of the heavens.


    "In the end, I have to think of a way to get a Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill," Tang Jie sighed.


    The Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill was a treasure for condensing manifestations. The moment he tried to condense a manifestation, Tang Jie had realized how arduous it was to condense the will. With his power alone, even condensing a sliver was tiring, so he could only imagine how hard it was to condense aplete Celestial Heart.


    But where was he going to get a Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill?


    After the heist of Cloudscrape City, Godhead Pce had realized what Tang Jie''s objective was, and all medicines that could assist in the charge at Celestial Heart were being strictly managed. It was so bad that Tang Jie''ster robberies hadn''t been for stealing a particr thing, only for the act of stealing. What he got was of little use to himself.


    As he was thinking, Old Fourth Liu entered.


    "Sir, the sect has sent word."


    "Tell me," Tang Jie said, putting aside his thoughts for now.


    Tang Jie was excited to finally get some news from the sect.


    "The sect already knows that Sir ended up in Nadir Hill for the sake of protecting the Space Crystal, and they also know of Sir''s recent actions. The sect has said that you are to be praised for risking your life to protect the Space Crystal. The sect has currently sent people to patrol the borders of Nadir Hill in the hopes that Godhead Pce can open up the and let Sir out. But¡­"


    "But Godhead Pce won''t agree to this, right? Everyone knows how important Tang Jie is to Godhead Pce, and now that the meat is finally in their mouth, how could they just spit it back out?"


    "Precisely. The Basking Moon Sect has been fighting for Sir, but as you know¡­"


    "I know. The will to save cannot ovee Godhead Pce''s desire to capture. Things will get even more problematic if Godhead Pce makes some sort of promise, like that they will send back the Space Crystal once they capture Tang Jie. In the end, the Basking Moon Sect and Godhead Pce are not mortal enemies, and it''s very difficult to make an enemy of an entire sect for my sake. And that''s not even considering that the Beast Refining Gate is still watching from the sidelines."


    "Sir is truly wise," Old Fourth Liu sighed.


    He had also been stunned when he received this message.


    But to his surprise, Tang Jie had been expecting it.


    Old Fourth Liu sighed. "The sect''s ability to help you is limited. Sir will ultimately have to rely on yourself."


    Tang Jie said, "Who says that their ability to help is limited? Wrong! They can help me with a lot of things."


    "Huh?" Old Fourth Liu was startled. Looking at Tang Jie, he asked, "Sir, what do you mean?"


    Tang Jie casually said, "The Basking Moon Sect''s ability to help me is limited because they''re not exerting their strength in the right ce. Attempting to get Godhead Pce to open the and let me out is futile, because Godhead Pce will naturally never agree. But if they changed their method, Basking Moon Sect could easily give me a huge helping hand through only a slight effort."


    "So what is this ''slight effort''?"


    Tang Jie replied after some thought, "Go back and tell the Basking Moon Sect that I want the Basking Moon Sect to do a few things. First: send someone from the sect to hold talks with Godhead Pce, and have them make a wager."


    "''A wager''?"


    "Yes¡ªwhether or not Godhead Pce can do anything to Tang Jie if they send no one at True Lord or above."


    Old Fourth Liu was shocked to hear this, but as a spy, he was also very sharp. He immediately figured out what Tang Jie was trying to say. "You''re going through the Basking Moon Sect in order to force Godhead Pce''s True Lords to not attack you?"


    "Correct. They haven''t done anything yet because too little time has passed. But I''ve caused so much of a ruckustely that they''re probably going to lose their patience soon. The Divine Will of Violet Pce is connected to the heavens and earth, and their abilities arepletely unreasonable. No manner of schemes is enough to deal with this sort of opponent. The only method is to not permit them to intervene, and on this, I can only ask the sect for help and have them set up a Six Sects Alliance Oath with Godhead Pce."


    The Six Sects Alliance Oath was a rule set down when the six major sects joined together. For the sake of a future battle against the Primordial Fog Domain, the oath bound the sects to not exterminate each other no matter how much they fought, nor could there berge-scale organized fighting. And unless the fate of the sect was at stake, the Immortal tform ancestors of the sect were not allowed to intervene, thus maintaining a certain bottom line for any conflicts.


    What Tang Jie wanted was for the Basking Moon Sect and Godhead Pce to set up a simr kind of oath, with the goal of restraining the other party''s Violet Pce True Lords.


    Of course, an official oath was impossible. The Basking Moon Sect wouldn''t do this just for Tang Jie, and it wasn''t allowed for them to have this level of an oath with Godhead Pce. But changing things up and using a bet was possible.


    "Only a Violet Pce has the right to make a wager with a Violet Pce," Old Fourth Liu warned. This matter wasn''t as easy as it looked.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Rx. They''ll agree."


    He didn''t say this too loudly, but the weight in his words left Old Fourth Liu speechless.


    He had never seen anyone like Tang Jie before, confidently dering that a True Lord woulde and make a wager with another sect for him.


    But Tang Jie was this confident because he was sure that Ming Yekong wouldn''t ignore this matter.


    For them, Tang Jie''s making waves in Nadir Hill could be considered a good thing. After all, even though the two sects weren''t mortal foes, they weren''t friends, either. They couldn''t suppress Godhead Pce for him, but having them use a wager to limit Godhead Pce wasn''t out of the realm of possibility.


    And this matter truly didn''t sound difficult. Ming Yekong would just need to swagger over to the territory of Godhead Pce and dere, "If you don''t send out your Violet Pce True Lords, you can''t hope to capture Tang Jie." Godhead Pce would definitely disagree, and so, the wager would be set. Even though they would know that they were taking the bait, for the sake of their dignity, they had no choice but to ept.


    "This subordinate understands." Old Fourth Liu nodded.


    "I''m not done yet," Tang Jie said. "The second thing is that I want someone in the sect to contact the Seven Absolutions Sect and tell them that the new goods will be here soon."


    "''The new goods will be here soon''?"


    "Yes, and it will be ten times what it was before."


    Old Fourth Liu looked at Tang Jie in a daze.


    He didn''t know the meaning behind Tang Jie''s words, but he knew about the rtionship between the Seven Absolutions Sect and Godhead Pce.


    This son of a bitch.


    There were no kind intentions behind Tang Jie''s words. It appeared he also wanted to pull the Seven Absolutions Sect into this mess.


    But that was to be expected. Given the grudge between the two sects, the Seven Absolutions Sect would be happy to have a little fun with Godhead Pce.


    Tang Jie didn''t tell the Seven Absolutions Sect to do anything, because he didn''t want to be threatened by the Seven Absolutions Sect, but he knew that the Seven Absolutions Sect would definitely act after receiving this message.


    No matter what they did, it was bound to benefit Tang Jie and disadvantage Godhead Pce.


    This was enough.


    "Sir, is there a third task?" Old Fourth Liu asked.


    "Of course. I don''t know what Godhead Pce promised the Basking Moon Sect that made them give up on making Godhead Pce let me go, but please have the Basking Moon Sect dere that returning the Space Crystal must be among these conditions."


    "Why is that?" Old Fourth Liu asked.


    "Because the Beast Refining Gate needs it," Tang Jie coldly said. "The Beast Garden was built upon the Time Crystal, so they probably also want the Space Crystal because of the Beast Garden. But for some reason, Xu Hanling was inexplicably a Godhead Pce spy. I don''t know if this was always the case or if he was recruitedter, but I can be certain that the Beast Refining Gate is furious over this matter. Although they''ve stomached their rage and are even working together with Godhead Pce to capture me, I''m sure that cracks have definitely formed in the rtionship. If we make this deration that Godhead Pce must return the Space Crystal to the Basking Moon Sect, the Beast Refining Gate definitely won''t agree, which will affect their alliance. I''m stopping Godhead Pce from sending out their True Lords, so I naturally have to consider how to stop reinforcements from the Beast Refining Gate."


    Old Fourth Liu was rendered speechless.


    After a while, he said, "Is there anything else?"


    Tang Jie whispered, "The Thousand Passions Sect, as an ally of my Basking Moon Sect, should also help out. But this matter has little to do with them, and getting an ally to intervene for the sake of little Tang Jie is a little too much. We have to find a reason to get them involved."


    Old Fourth Liu started sweating. It appeared that when this guy was in enemy territory, he was only thinking about how to drag everyone in with him.


    It wasn''t just the Basking Moon Sect, but also the Seven Absolutions Sect and Thousand Passions Sect, and he was also conspiring against the Beast Refining Gate. The only sect he wasn''t causing trouble for was Horizon Ocean Pavilion. This was because of his rtionship with Xu Miaoran. This matter was far too dangerous for him to let Xu Miaoran get involved.


    What he didn''t know was that Xu Miaoran had already left home.


    She wasn''t expecting to be able to rescue her boyfriend, but she had a very powerful father. In her view, she simply needed to go to Nadir Hill and find Tang Jie. If she were in danger, her father would naturally intervene.


    Xu Guanghua naturally wouldn''t let his daughter do this and had already sent out many disciples to catch her. Thus, Xu Miaoran was also a fugitive. Of course, her life wasn''t in any danger.


    After some thought, Tang Jie couldn''t think of a way to drag in the Thousand Passions Sect. In the end, he could only sigh and shake his head. "Let''s wait. There''s no opportunity now, but there might be in the future. I don''t believe that there''s nothing connected to the Thousand Passions Sect in a ce as big as Nadir Hill."


    This daring to seek out a way to bring in the Thousand Passions Sect staggered Old Fourth Liu.


    Once all was said, Old Fourth Liu went to send over this report.


    Several dayster, the Basking Moon Sect sent back word that it had agreed.


    Surprisingly, the one to set the wager with Godhead Pce wasn''t Ming Yekong, but Xiao Biehan.


    Tang Jie didn''t know what sort of wager it was, and it was only muchter that he learned that Xiao Biehan had gone over with the God-Conquering Merak Sword.


    When he arrived at Godhead Pce, he immediately said that Godhead Pce was too useless, unable to catch even one disciple, and that they would have to send out a Violet Pce True Lord to get anything done.


    These words enraged the old ancestor of Godhead Pce, and he almost broke the Six Sects Alliance Oath and pped Xiao Biehan. Even so, he still made a wager with Xiao Biehan, promising that none of Godhead Pce''s experts of Violet Pce or above would intervene.


    If Tang Jie escaped, the Basking Moon Sect would win.


    If Tang Jie were captured, Godhead Pce would win.


    There was no time limit.


    Each side bet a Dao armament.


    Old Fourth Liu was stunned when he heard the contents of this wager.


    Old Fourth Liu had been so stunned about Tang Jie''s idea of a wager that he had forgotten that both parties needed to put something on the line. Only now did he learn how liberal the two sects were, both using Dao armaments as their wagers.


    What would Tang Jie do if he loses?


    Oh, right, if he loses, he''s dead, so why would he care?


    And if he wins¡­ fuck, if he wins, the Basking Moon Sect gets a Dao armament, so they might even reward Tang Jie as a sign of their thanks.


    This kid can''t lose!


    Old Fourth Liu felt his vision going dark.


    He finally understood where all of Tang Jie''s confidence wasing from.


    Tang Jie was rather carefree.


    For the next few days, he continued to cultivate and escape. After that second wave of robberies, Tang Jie stopped for a while. He would asionally show his face before going back into hiding.


    He spent most of his time cultivating, trying to observe the will of the heavens and find his Heavenly Self.


    It hadn''t been long since he had reached the peak of Mortal Shedding, and he still needed time to solidify his cultivation realm. He also needed time to experience all the various difficulties and challenges that the charge at Celestial Heart would present to him.


    But the more he experienced them, the more he realized how difficult this truly was, which made him more anxious to get his hands on a Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill.


    Today, as Tang Jie was cultivating, Old Fourth Liu walked in.


    Tang Jie asked without opening his eyes, "What''s the matter?"


    Old Fourth Liu replied, "I''ve just received word that there will be an auction held at Ninebind City soon. One of the items up for auction is a Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill."


    Tang Jie''s eyes flew open.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Author''s Note: Yesterday, many friends didn''t understand why Tang Jie needed to go out and run around.


    The reason is very simple. The 12 Hawks have a secret art that can trace Tang Jie''s trail like a hunting dog. But this secret art isn''t very fast. If Tang Jie finds a ce to settle down, then he''ll be caught, but if he''s constantly on the run, the 12 Hawks can''t catch up, so Tang Jie has to constantly be on the move. Even if he stops somewhere, he can''t stay for too long.


    If he repeatedly goes to the same ce, he has to show himself somewhere else. This is because when he appears at a certain ce, the person using the tracking art will naturally stop tracking him and go straight to the ce he appeared. In this way, he can avoid having his base discovered. This can be considered a way of exploiting the human mind.


    There''s also another simple method, which is to make a bunch of duplicates and have them run all over the ce. The 12 Hawks naturally won''t be able to track them all.


    Thus, when the 12 Hawks discovered that Tang Jie probably knew about them and saw that Tang Jie didn''t n to stop running, they didn''t use this method to track him, instead blockading areas that had the things Tang Jie needed.


    Even so, Tang Jie still has to take the proper precautions.


    It''s the same principle as locking your door even though you know your apartmentplex doesn''t have any thieves.

 Chapter 489: The Day Before the Storm

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Ninebind City was located on the eastern end of Nadir Hill, close to the border. It was at the intersection of many roads and was in a prime strategic area.


    But this was only true for mortals. In the eyes of Immortals, this ce''s open terrain was sparse in spiritual energy, and in thiscking environment, no natural treasures could form, let alone some Immortal mountain to upy. Thus, there was little meaning in this area, and while there was a big city here, that was because of mortals. To Immortals, this puny piece of ground was far out-valued by a ce like Cloudscrape City.


    Even so, since Ninebind City was at the intersection of many roads and was near the border, many merchant convoys passed through, so business was good. Every year, cultivators woulde here seeking pills and herbs, and on asion, decent medicines would pop up. It was a ce that wasn''t too valuable, but where one could asionally be pleasantly surprised.


    The Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill was one of these pleasant surprises.


    Standing in front of the gate to Ninebind City, Tang Jie had turned into a dark-faced and burly man as he went through inspection.


    Tang Jie''s recent activities had made it so that the inspection in ces all across Nadir Hill had tightened.


    But this level of inspection was useless on Tang Jie, though it managed to catch a lot of smaller fish.


    There were two cultivators that specialized in Insight on the walls of Ninebind City, but s, Ninebind City was of too little value in the eyes of cultivators, so these two were of average strength. Their spiritual light scanned Tang Jie but found nothing. The guards at the gate finished their inspection and let Tang Jie through.


    Once they were inside the city, Old Fourth Liu, who was behind Tang Jie, walked up and said, "I still think¡­"


    "Shh!" Tang Jie raised a finger.


    Old Fourth Liu immediately dropped his head and fell silent.


    The two walked for a while before Tang Jie said, "We can talk now."


    Old Fourth Liu quickly said, "I still feel that this is too dangerous. This is highly likely to be a trap set by Godhead Pce, luring you out so they can capture you."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "I know, but you have toy down bait to set a trap. Thus, this Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill is probably real."


    "So what?" Old Fourth Liu became frantic. "You''re seeking death! Don''t you know that there might be countless cultivators waiting for you inside this city?"


    Tang Jie casually replied, "They have to recognize me first. Since they''veid a trap, they have to drop their defenses and invite the prey into the trap. Otherwise, what are they going to do if I decide that I can''t pull off the heist and leave? And they didn''t choose Ninebind City for no reason. It''s precisely because this isn''t a cultivator town and is rtively safe. Those methods that can see through my illusions won''t be here¡­ At least before the auction, there won''t be any."


    "I see." Old Fourth Liu understood what Tang Jie was saying. "But what about after the auction begins?"


    "That''s when it''s time for everyone to show their abilities," Tang Jie replied. "Don''t worry. If I really can''t make it work, I won''t try and force things."


    "What I fear is that humans die for wealth as birds die for food!" Old Fourth Liu said, stamping his feet. He didn''t feel soothed by Tang Jie''s words at all. They had alreadye all the way here, so he didn''t believe that Tang Jie would actually give up.


    Tang Jieughed at Old Fourth Liu''s words and began to look for an inn to stay at.


    There were still three days until the auction, and Tang Jie still had a lot to do in these three days.


    Tang Jie spent the entirety of the day strolling around Ninebind City.


    This was to familiarize himself with the area and make preparations for what he needed to do next.


    One dayter, Tang Jie returned to his room and said, "Yiyi."


    The little girl jumped out and waved a little hand. Countless nts emerged within the room, weaving together and creating a small model of Ninebind City in the room.


    This power was rather simr to the spell art used by the eldest of the 12 Hawks. Through the flower pce Yiyi had created, Tang Jie could make a topographical model. Tang Jie had given it a name: the Jade Model.


    Compared to the illusory map of the 12 Hawks, the Jade Model''s biggest problem was that it couldn''t be preserved. Its simtion ability relied entirely on Yiyi''s memory. As time passed and Yiyi forgot, it would be impossible to reproduce the model. Meanwhile, the map spell art used by the eldest of the 12 Hawks was permanent, with no need to worry about forgetting.


    This was why Yiyi''s model had many mistakes.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie was here.


    His memory was far stronger than Yiyi''s, and his hands were now like scissors, pruning the model so that it would be more urate.


    As he looked at the Jade Model of Ninebind City, Tang Jie began to wave his hands through the air. Streams of spiritual energy extended from them, falling onto the model and swiftly forming a formation.


    A spirit-surveying formation.


    This was none other than the first formation Xu Muyang had taught him.


    This formation was used to detect the movement of the surrounding spiritual energy, but it could also be used to detect cultivators. Back then, Xu Muyang had used this formation to detect the arrival of Shi Wunian. A Violet Pce Titan like Shi Wunian had ultimately been unable to hide from a junior like Xu Muyang, unable to avoid this little spirit-surveying formation that didn''t even require materials. From this, it could be seen that elevating one''s cultivation level was not the only path to the Great Dao.


    Tang Jie felt like the auction in two days was bound to be a tough fight.


    Before then, he needed to find out who his opponents were and how many of them there were.


    He had said that everyone would reveal their abilities at the action, but in reality, an unseen battle was already taking ce.


    A battle between cultivators wasn''t just a battle of minds, but also a battle of spell arts. At times, good ideas and ns couldn''tpare to a single spell art.


    What came first was a sh of detection and counter-detection spell arts.


    Godhead Pce was anxious to find Tang Jie, so Tang Jie had to evade their detection while also searching for his opponents.


    The spirit-surveying formation and the Jade Model were his chosen method.


    When these two werebined, they created a formation primarily meant for detecting cultivators.


    This spirit-surveying formation was on a much grander scale than the formations Tang Jie hadid out in the past,parable to Xu Muyang''s handiwork.


    The formation shed, and then lights of varying intensities appeared on the model, each light corresponding to a cultivator in the city. The intensity showed the strength of the cultivator.


    The greatest advantage of using a spirit-surveying formation to find cultivators was that cultivators couldn''t easily hide from it. Its disadvantage was that it only indicated how strong a cultivator was, not whether they were friend or foe.


    The spiritual lights twinkling in the formation didn''t tell Tang Jie which were additional pursuers sent by Godhead Pce and which were not, but Tang Jie had his own way of telling the difference.


    "It''s already been exposed that I''m at peak Mortal Shedding Realm, so they wouldn''t send people of a lower level of cultivation. Even if they did, they would only beckeys," Tang Jie murmured. He waved his hand, and the lights indicating those below the peak of the Mortal Shedding Realm went out, cutting down the number of lights by a lot.


    "Some of the more important areas need to be guarded by cultivators. Outsiders aren''t allowed to approach these ces, nor are they good ces to hide. Thus, I can rule out ces like the teleportation formation and the storehouse," Tang Jie muttered as he pointed at these locations, extinguishing the lights there.


    "Since they''vee to capture me, they should havee as a group, organized and moving in unison. Thus, they should be gathered together, and I can rule out the scattered ones." Tang Jie waved his hand, getting rid of more points of light.


    Now, there were only two clumps of light on the Jade Model.


    One of them had seven or eight points of light while the other had twenty-some points. The former group''s lights were of about equal intensity, all at around the peak of Mortal Shedding. The other clump had varying cultivation levels. Some were at Spirit Ring, others at the peak of Mortal Shedding, and even some at Nine Revolutions. Tang Jie hadn''t eliminated those lower-level lights because they had been grouped together with the others.


    "The 12 Hawks¡­" After looking at the two clumps of light, Tang Jie finally turned his gaze to the clump of twenty-some lights.


    If everything was as he expected, these were the people Godhead Pce had sent after him. These twenty-some points of light, if he removed those people below Celestial Heart, had twelve people at Spirit Ring, and there were also two at Heart Demon. Tang Jie could tell from this force how seriously Godhead Pce took him.


    As for why there were no Soul Transformation cultivators, Tang Jie guessed that this had to do with the wager. For Godhead Pce, Heart Demon cultivators were enough to catch Tang Jie. It wasn''t important whether they could send Soul Transformation cultivators to catch him. What was important was using this to humiliate Xiao Biehan.


    And this was the truth. Two Heart Demon cultivators and a pile of Spirit Ring cultivators were far more than even Tang Jie plus his original body and the ghost guard could take. It wasn''t important that there were no Soul Transformation cultivators.


    But this was from the perspective of a direct confrontation. Outside of this perspective, there were many formidable search spell arts that required powerful cultivators to cast. In these circumstances,cking a Soul Transformation cultivator created many problems.


    Godhead Pce''s way of thinking was stuck on "confrontation".


    This could be considered amon illness of cultivators of this era, believing that sufficient strength meant everything.


    The clump of light on the model was located in the western part of the city. Tang Jie took a closer look and found that this was probably a house located on Whitewater Street. But because the model and the formation were not perfectlybined, it was bound to be off, so he still couldn''t be sure.


    Even so, Tang Jie had enough to know who his opponent was.


    If he were to throw in a pile of Heavenbane Lightning Pearls¡­


    Tang Jie felt pleased just from thinking about the result. There probably wouldn''t be any survivors besides the two Heart Demon cultivators.


    s, even if he did that, he still might not beat those two Heart Demon cultivators. Moreover, in a melee, even cultivators who hadn''t been sent by Godhead Pce would probably join the battle upon seeing Tang Jie. Most importantly, the auction would definitely be put to a stop, and he would fail to reach his ultimate goal.


    Tang Jie decided to throw out the idea. Stroking his chin, he stared pensively at that ball of lights.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Meanwhile, in a house on Whitewater Street.


    This was an extremely spacious courtyard house.


    On the northern side of the courtyard was the main house. Two Heart Demon cultivators were here, their eyes closed in meditation. At their side were two people, their Nine Revolutions disciples who hade along as attendants.


    On the western end was the residence of the 12 Hawks. The twelve of them were sharing one room, but it was quiet and peaceful. asionally, there would be some whispered conversation.


    The eastern room was much noisier.


    Five Spirit Ring cultivators were staying here, and one of them was a woman.


    A dark-faced man with a curly beard angrily paced back and forth in the room, shouting, "Those motherfucking 12 Hawks! It''s been five days already, and we still can''t leave. I''m about to suffocate to death."


    The 12 Hawks clearly knew this man''s personality, and nobody paid him any attention.


    The dark-faced man saw that no one was paying attention to him and continued to curse. His voice alone was enough to make up for everyone else here.


    When his cursing went too far, the two Heart Demon cultivators in the northern room would lightly cough, at which point the dark-faced man would rest for a while before cursing again.


    This cycle left everyone speechless.


    The eldest of the 12 Hawks had ordered that nobody go out. The reason was simply that they wanted to avoid rming Tang Jie.


    But while this order might have been simple enough for anyone else, just a few days of meditation, this dark-faced man considered it torture. He was called Dark Fiend, and nobody knew his real name anymore. In his early years, he wasn''t like this, but when he had been charging at the Heart Demon Tier, he ended up being possessed by his Heart Demon. Although he had managed to survive, his mind had been ruined, and from then on, he became impatient and unable to sit still.


    The pce had sent him because, though he had been possessed by a demon and would no longer be able to advance in cultivation, he had inadvertently grasped a certain spell art, the Lightning Burst sh. This allowed him to be as quick as lightning for a short period of time, bing extremely fast and fierce. He was perfect for capturing evasive foes.


    He hadn''t expected that the first thing he would be ordered to do was sit still.


    Dark Fiend had already held himself back for five days and was frustrated to the extreme, so he spent every day cursing.


    They wanted to let him out, but when they thought about his personality, they worried that he would cause trouble, rm Tang Jie, and ruin everything, so they could only ask him to restrain himself.


    Theft is never good, try looking at tinyurl/37k7u89t.


    He had endured inside the room while the others endured him.


    After shouting and finding that nobody was paying attention, Dark Fiend finally lost his patience and said, "I''m done! Don''t even think about trying to stop me! I''m going to go out there and find a girl to y around with!"


    He strode toward the gate.


    The eldest of the 12 Hawks suddenly raised his head and shot over to the door, blocking Dark Fiend. "Dark Fiend, wait a little longer. The auction will begin in two days, and Tang Jie has probably shown up and is hiding in the shadows. If you go out now, he might notice you."


    "What does it matter if he notices me? Even if he sees me, how can he be sure I''m from Godhead Pce? Even if I''m from Godhead Pce, why should he think I''m here to catch him? Even if he knew I was here to catch him, what cultivator in Nadir Hill doesn''t want to catch him? What does any of this have to do with the arrangements we made with the auction?"


    This guy spoke with a booming voice, even "the arrangements we made with the auction" being roared out. If Tang Jie had been standing on the street, he wouldn''t have even needed to check to know that something was awry with the auction. The eldest Hawk was so angry that he almost threw up blood, and he shouted, "Shut your mouth! You want to let the entire city know?"


    Dark Fiend knew that he had made a mistake, and after a pause, he helplessly said, "I just can''t take it anymore, so I can''t help butin."


    "If you can''t take it anymore, then go out," a voice suddenly said.


    Everyone suddenly turned their heads, but there was nobody there.


    The eldest Hawk frowned. "Little Twelve, what are you saying?"


    A clear and bright voice resounded through the air, "Better to dredge than to dam. This is Dark Fiend''s nature. He can''t sit still for too long, as his impatience will eventually build up into an illness, which might end up ruining things. It might not be a bad thing to let him go out and vent his emotions at a brothel. Besides, Tang Jie isn''t going to visit a brothel."


    Dark Fiend''s eyes lit up. "So it was the twelfth brother. Twelfth Brother, thank you for speaking up for me. I have long heard of Twelfth Brother''s outstanding qualities. Back when you entered Mortal Shedding, you were chosen to enter the Hawk Hall, and as soon as you entered Nine Revolutions, you were selected as one of the 12 Hawks. You truly are a handsome and outstanding individual."


    He hadn''t even seen this person''s face, but he was already calling him handsome, a Spirit Ring True Person ttering a Nine Revolutions child. This was a sign of just how desperate he was to get out.


    The eldest Hawk frowned. "I know that Dark Fiend has a very small chance of running into Tang Jie, but we must be careful of any mishaps. Tang Jie must have his suspicions ining here, and the slightest breeze might have him running off. My Godhead Pce has gone to great lengths to catch this person, and we can''t let there be any mistake at this crucial moment!"


    "This is precisely to prevent any mistakes. Eldest, do you really think Dark Fiend canst another two days? What if he really goes crazy? Then things would really be a mess. If he goes out now, he can rest for the next two days."


    Dark Fiend nodded. "That''s right! Let me have a day of pleasure¨C no, just one night. After just one night of fun, I won''t ask for anything else."


    The eldest Hawk lowered his head and thought it over.


    The unseen twelfth Hawk said, "If you still can''t rx, let me apany him."


    "You?" The eldest Hawk raised his head, his eyes seemingly piercing through the darkness to gaze upon that hidden existence.


    "Yes, I will apany him. If he dares to ruin our ns¡­ I''ll kill him."


    This Nine Revolutions cultivator was saying that he was going to kill a Spirit Ring True Person, and his tone was extremely calm and collected. Amazingly, nobody listening, including the two Heart Demon True Persons, thought that this was absurd.


    The eldest Hawk nodded.


    "Alright. You apany him. I leave everything to you."

 Chapter 490: Sacrificial Sword

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The western gate''s Changping Street was a famous pleasure street of Ninebind City, ying host to several dozen brothels.


    The one doing the best business was Drifting Red Pavilion.


    It was said that the girls of Drifting Red Pavilion were like flowers or jade. Not even mentioning their prowess in bed, there were two other extremely rare points about them. One was that they had frequent neers, which was very important for the frequent customers, as neers meant a fresh experience. The second point was that there were girls who had cultivated Immortality.


    Women who had cultivated Immortality, no matter how bad they had been at it, were still cultivators. Though they had no destiny with the Heavenly Dao, a life of riches was no problem. Thus, excepting those withscivious natures who were willing to lower themselves, it was hard to find a cultivator woman to have a one-night stand with. And girls like these normally came from only one avenue: seizure by force.


    Although the six major sects maintained the peace, there were still many disturbances. asionally, some minor sect would offend some lofty Immortal, resulting in the entire sect being destroyed. The chief culprit would be executed, and it wasmon for those around them to suffer the same punishment, just like how a single man''s rise would bring up those around him. For these reasons, some women who had cultivated Immortality would fall to the mortal world. Their past efforts would not pardon them for their sins, only grant them a higher price and more clients.


    Drifting Red Pavilion was this sort of ce for female cultivators. Cultivators had powerful constitutions, and mortal women often couldn''t endure them. In a single night, a cultivator might go through ten-some women before being satisfied. Although there was some pleasure to be had in changing partners, there were also those who disliked such things, feeling like it broke up their rhythm, and there were also some women who died in the process. But female cultivators could avoid many of these problems.


    Not only could they be used to bring in male cultivators, they also were a great temptation towards mortal men. Many ordinary people were willing to pay a heavy price to be with a female cultivator.


    The reason was none other than showing off!


    Take for example the beef butcher shop on the same street. It was said that the owner had once paid ten years'' savings in order to y with a cultivator woman of Drifting Red Pavilion, after which he bragged every day about how Immortals were nothing, as he had had sex with one before.


    If even a butcher was willing to pay so much for this, the rich merchants and nobles could not be an exception.


    But Dark Fiend had no interest in cultivator women.


    "Most of those female cultivators are suppressed, unable to cast any spells, and were sold off against their will, so their faces are so bitter that it''s like their mothers have been killed. Oh, wait; their mothers really are dead. It''s like having sex with a corpse, and what''s so good about that?" Dark Fiend mumbled to himself as he strode into Drifting Red Pavilion. Next to him, Little Twelve followed him like a ghost. No one was able to see him, but whenever anyone wanted to walk through him, they would run into something as if running into a ghost.


    Little Twelve ignored him, but Dark Fiend chattered on as he walked into the pavilion. Before even sitting down, he shouted, "A bigshot is here, so why aren''t your women here to greet your guest?"


    The workers of Drifting Red Pavilion were stunned momentarily by Dark Fiend''s aura, but they were ultimately workers with experience. They could instantly tell that Dark Fiend was a cultivator, and one of a rather high cultivation level. Although they couldn''t tell where he was from, they did not dare to treat him negligently. They quickly went to wee him, one of them smiling and saying, "Immortal Master, you honor us with your presence. There happen to be two female cultivators in the pavilion who are avable. This lowly one will bring over Immortal Master¡­"


    "No!" Dark Fiend waved his hand. "I don''t want female cultivators. The looks of your Drifting Red Pavilion''s female cultivators are average, but they''re your top draw, so they''ve been used up by countless men already. I want mortals, ones that look good¡ªthe prettier, the better! They need to have refreshing appearances and it''s best if they only came recently. I want ten of them!"


    Dark Fiend opened his hand, showing five fingers but shouting that he wanted ten.


    The worker was clearly confused by Dark Fiend''s request, not knowing if he wanted five or ten. Fortunately, the brothel keeper next to him said, "So Immortal Master likes fresh goods! What a coincidence! A few days ago, we just received a new female cultivator. She isn''t old and hasn''t taken on any clients. Today just so happens to be her debut."


    "''Today is her debut''? There was something like this?" Dark Fiend''s eyes flew open.


    The debut was the first day a prostitute apanied a guest. To put it simply, it was the first day she was up for sale.


    It wasmon for mortal women to have debuts, but it was very rare for female cultivators to have them.


    Dark Fiend didn''t have an interest in female cultivators because they had average looks, had poor service, and were normally worked to the bone. But since this female cultivator was having her presentation day, at least he could rule out thest two. He quickly asked, "What about her looks?"


    "Like a flower in spring, a supreme beauty of the mortal world," the brothel keeper generously praised. He seemed to be very confident in this female cultivator.


    Dark Fiend stroked his chin. "Fine, fine, I''ll see for myself. But a female cultivator''s debut should be a grand asion, so why is there no sign of it in this pavilion?"


    A female cultivator''s debut was a matter that could draw in many rich clients. Even the wealth of a True Person like Dark Fiend might not even be able topare to that of these people.


    But there appeared to be little sign of this in the building, as if Drifting Red Pavilion didn''t care. This left Dark Fiend confused.


    The brothel keeper smiled. "That''s because this girl is different from others. She is simply staying with the brothel."


    "''Staying with the brothel''?" Dark Fiend was taken aback.


    "Staying with the brothel" meant that this woman hadn''t been brought by the brothel but was a free person. To put it simply, some girl wascking money and proposed to a brothel that she would sell her body there, and the two parties would split the proceeds.


    As this woman was a free person, she had many more rights. Even in selling their bodies, they could choose who they sold it to.


    The brothel keeper did not care how ugly you were so long as you had the money, but the girl might not like you. As a free person, she had the right to choose her clients, and as a result, you not only had to give her good money but also get on her good side. If the girl wasn''t willing to be with you, you wouldn''t be able to spend it.


    For the same reason, the female cultivator was also the one who chose her debut day.


    "Yes," the brothel keeper said. "She suddenly came to us and said she wanted to make a debut, which caught us off guard. Mama tried to persuade her to wait a few days so that she could inform our big clients, but she stubbornly refused¡­"


    Dark Fiendughed. "Excellent, wonderful! This is this old man''s destiny."


    Without those rich clients around, Dark Fiend would have a much easier time getting his hands on this beauty.


    But it wasn''t going to be all smooth sailing. There was another cultivator seated nearby, and, judging by hisposure, he was probably also a Spirit Ring True Person, so he wasn''t guaranteed to lose to Dark Fiend.


    But Dark Fiend didn''t recognize this person, and he was from Godhead Pce, so his background alone was enough to suppress the other party. Thus, he wasn''t too worried.


    The brothel keepers withdrew to find Dark Fiend a few girls to attend to him.


    But Dark Fiend was starting to get antsy now that he knew a girl was having a debut, so he had little interest in these ordinary girls.


    Fortunately, he didn''t have to wait long before the time of the debut arrived.


    When that girl emerged from the depths of the building, Dark Fiend was taken with a single nce.


    This girl was clearly different from the others. She didn''t wear silk or gauze, but a green jacket. She wore light make-up, and had an exquisite face that had a refreshing appearance. She was no noble daughter, but she had the beauty of a humble family''s pretty daughter. Her gorgeous eyes were brimming with intelligence. They appeared to be like two clear pools of autumn water, yet they also drew pity, making one want to embrace her and dote upon her.


    There was a small tform on one end of the hall.


    The girl mounted the stage, and as she stepped to the front of the stage, the crowd below madly cheered.


    "Three thousand taels of silver!" Someone was already shouting an outrageous price.


    The brothel keeper on the side softly coughed. "Gentlemen, Lady Shangyue is a Mortal Shedding cultivator, not somemon product that can be bought. Thus, this transaction will be measured in spirit coins, or other items whose value can be measured in spirit coins. As for the decision, that will be up to Lady Shangyue."


    Everyone fell silent.


    Dark Fiend was the first to break the silence. "Three thousand spirit coins."


    "Five thousand," the white-faced True Person at the nearby table said.


    For Spirit Ring True Persons, it wasn''t rare to spend more than ten thousand spirit coins on a girl one had taken a liking to, so it wasn''t unusual to raise the bid by two thousand spirit coins.


    In normal circumstances, Dark Fiend might have gone back and forth with this man. However, today''s debut was rather rushed, and there weren''t many big clients topete with. He would be missing out on a good opportunity if he ended up having to bid too high. Moreover, he himself hade without much nning, so he hadn''t brought much money with him.


    Thus, he immediately raised the bid to six thousand and then red at that cultivator. If Little Twelve hadn''t been around, he would have already used his status as a member of Godhead Pce to threaten him.


    But this guy also seemed to be prepared, immediately calling out ten thousand and then smugly ncing back.


    Dark Fiend knew that things were ruined. He suddenly thought about how Lady Shangyue had taken up residence here a few days ago and had yet to officially sell her services, so he concluded that this man had probably taken a fancy to this woman at that time and waited since then for this moment.


    Since he was prepared, Dark Fiend probably wouldn''t beat him out in terms of money.


    As he was fretting, a voice came from behind him. "What? Not enough money?"


    Dark Fiend whispered, "I didn''t expect to run into a female cultivator having a debut."


    "Then use an object as part of your bid."


    "What do I have to offer?" Dark Fiend rolled his eyes.


    "Don''t you have a lot of art relics? Of course, the most suitable is the Godhead Armor."


    Dark Fiend was taken aback. "What sort of joke are you ying? Didn''t you say I wasn''t allowed to reveal my identity on this little outing?"


    "That''s why I''m telling you to secretly take it off and give it to the girl. If that girl sees it, she''ll know your background and will naturally have a higher opinion of you. You also know that this girl has the right to decide."


    Dark Fiend''s eyes lit up, and he replied, "Twelfth Brother, thank you for the reminder."


    He was turning his head and speaking to the air, so it looked very strange to onlookers.


    But a momentter, Dark Fiend used a smokescreen art, removed his Godhead Armor, wrapped it in cloth, and sent it over.


    Lady Shangyue took the bundle and opened it up, and a shocked look appeared in her eyes.


    Dark Fiend showed excitement, and he smugly said, "I came today in a rush and didn''t bring much money, so I will also offer up this item. It should be worth ten thousand spirit coins. Mydy, what do you think?"


    In truth, this upper-grade art relic Godhead Armor was worth at least five hundred thousand spirit coins. But this guy was sharp and knew that if he put up a high-value asset, the other party might use this opportunity to extract more money out of him, so he deliberately undervalued it.


    As expected, the girl nodded. "This is enough."


    Her voice was like a singing oriole, refreshing the mind and spirit.


    Dark Fiend smuglyughed and then nced at the True Person next to him.


    The white-faced True Person grunted. "It''s only ten thousand. I''ll bid fifteen thousand."


    Dark Fiend raised his hand. "Then I''ll put up sixteen thousand."


    "Twenty thousand!" the True Person shouted.


    Dark Fiend continued, "Then I''ll put up twenty-two thousand."


    "Absurd!" The white-faced True Person pped the table and shouted, "What item did you put up that you can say is worth that much?"


    Dark Fiendzily replied, "In any case, it''s more valuable than whatever you have. If you can''t pay, then leave."


    Relying on Godhead Armor, he finally managed to ovee the other party, so he was in a great mood and spoke in a domineering tone.


    The True Person''s white face flushed red in anger. He put his hands together and bowed. "Nan Fengzi of the Five Silences Monastery pays respects to Dao Brother. What sect does Dao Brothere from?"


    "''The Five Silences Monastery''?" Dark Fiend raised his head and pondered this name, then shook his head. "I''ve never heard of it before."


    The white-faced man was furious. While the Five Silences Monastery wasn''t some big sect, it was rather famous in the Ninebind City region. He was the junior brother of the monastery master, above everyone else in the monastery, and his strength was rather impressive. But this dark-faced man was unexpectedly hard to deal with, and he had no idea what item had him so confident.


    He had taken a liking to this Lady Shangyue several days ago, taking her like a descended celestial. When he found out that she had yet to make her debut, he became obsessed with getting her. And he also cultivated a secret art that would greatly benefit from a woman''s virgin blood. Whether it was in terms of looks or actual benefit, he couldn''t let this girl go.


    But just when he was about to seed, this guy hade out of nowhere. His rage could be easily imagined.


    Even so, the white-faced man controlled his anger. After all, he still wasn''t sure where this man came from.


    As he was hesitating, he saw Lady Shangyue ncing at him, her eyes showing sorrow and resentment, as well as a hint of reluctance and pleading. The white-faced man''s heart trembled.


    He felt like this girl did want him, but this brute had taken out some art relic to serve as his deposit and vie over the girl. Yes, this man was probably also a True Person, and any random art relic he had would be worth one hundred thousand spirit coins. While Lady Shangyue wasn''t willing to follow this brute, she had no choice.


    But spending one hundred thousand coins for one night with her is just too expensive¡­


    He hesitated, unable to make up his mind.


    The girl shot him another sorrowful nce, and Dark Fiend began to crazilyugh. The white-faced man finally lost it and mentally said, I can''t let this brat get too arrogant, or else I''ll lose all my reputation.


    Painfully making up his mind, he took out a sword from his Mustard Seed Bag and pointed it at Dark Fiend. Speaking through clenched teeth, he said, "Do you dare to fight with me?"


    The moment he pulled out his sword, everyone ran off to the sides.


    But the brothel keepers were not at all surprised. One of them ran over to a pir and pressed a button, and the roof of Drifting Red Pavilion opened up, revealing the night sky. The intent here was to have those two fight up in the sky rather than ruining the brothel.


    Several cultivators appeared, nervously staring at those two True Persons. One of them was also a Celestial Heart True Person.


    Dark Fiend scowled.


    He had gotten permission toe here on the promise that he wouldn''t cause trouble, but to his surprise, someone hade to cause trouble for him. He whispered, "Hey, you saw it. He forced my hand."


    These words were naturally for the twelfth Hawk.


    In the darkness, a voice said, "End the battle quickly and don''t cause too much of a ruckus. In truth, you were right. Even if Tang Jie sees it, he might not know that you''re from Godhead Pce, and even if he does know you''re from Godhead Pce, he might not know that you were sent to deal with him. Big Brother and the others are right to be cautious, but they''re being a little too excessive."


    "Right, right." Dark Fiend was delighted. "It''s still Twelfth Brother who understands me. Thank you!"


    He had hoped for Little Twelve''s permission to state that he was from Godhead Pce, but to his surprise, Little Twelve had actually permitted him to fight. After suffering for five whole days, he was itching all over, so nothing could be better than having a fight. And when he heard that Little Twelve would help him out, he became even happier.


    He looked at the white-faced True Person and roared, "If you want to fight, let''s fight! You think I''m afraid of you? Follow me!"


    He shot into the clouds.


    The white-faced man naturally followed, and the two really began to fight in the air.


    In truth, if Dark Fiend hadn''t given Shangyue the Godhead Armor and only showed it, then this battle essentially wouldn''t have happened. But since he had given the Godhead Armor to Shangyue, it would be embarrassing to take it back. Moreover, he was confident that he could win without the armor, and he disdained to reveal his status to the white-faced man and directly began to brawl with him.


    Those from the six major sects had always been an entire tier above their peers. Unless one was a genius wandering cultivator or prodigy of a minor sect, one couldn''t hope to stand on par with those of the six major sects. This white-faced man wasn''t especially strong, whereas Dark Fiend was outstanding among his peers, so as the two fought, the white-faced man was quickly suppressed.


    Dark Fiend arrogantlyughed. "Foul brat, now you know how powerful your father is!"


    If not for the warnings from the 12 Hawks, Dark Fiend would have stated his Godhead Pce title a long time ago, wanting nothing more than for this guy to grovel at his feet and Lady Shangyue to throw herself into his embrace without asking for money.


    Even so, this man moved with a thunderp and shot around like a bolt of lightning, so in the night sky, their battle crackled with lightning and boomed with thunder. It was impossible for it to not rm the entire city.


    Tang Jie was thinking in his room when he heard the booming outside. It was clear that people were fighting, so he went out to take a look.


    He saw two figures shing in the sky, one ck and one white. The white one was clearly no match for the ck one, who was exceptionally fast and strong.


    Tang Jie was momentarily entranced by the battle. He saw the white one being pushed back more and more, even starting to beg for mercy, but the ck-faced cultivator was unmoved. At this moment, in a sh of lightning, a third person suddenly appeared in the sky.


    It was a thin and lonely figure, standing in the air and gazing into the distance.


    That familiar face made Tang Jie shiver.


    "Canhen!" he softly eximed.


    Xi Canhen!


    He had never imagined that he would see Xi Canhen here.


    After the incident with the Wei n, when Tang Jie learned that Xi Canhen had left, he had sent people to search for him, but the search had been fruitless. However, when he returned to the academy, he received a letter from Xi Canhen saying that he hade upon a lucky encounter and no longer needed to be sent to Basking Moon Academy. But he would never forget the favor Tang Jie had shown him in saving him and granting him a new lease on life, and that he would find an opportunity to repay the favor, and so on.


    Once Tang Jie learned that Xi Canhen was fine, he extinguished any thought of searching for him.


    He thought that he would find it very hard to meet him again, but to his surprise, that chance hade today.


    He was standing on the battlefield, the lightning starkly outlining his figure.


    Dark Fiend saw this and said in rm, "Twelfth Brother? Why did you show yourself?"


    The young man tilted his head up. "The purpose of concealment is to draw close to the target. When it is time to kill, one must gather up all one''s energy for a single strike, so it is no longer possible to conceal oneself. Thus, when one draws close to the target and prepares to kill, one will appear. I am now close enough to my target, so there is naturally no need to keep hiding."


    "Then you should show yourself after killing," Dark Fiend chuckled. "Besides, that kid is no match for me. I don''t need your help."


    The youth shook his head.


    He extended his right hand, which was wrapped in a thickyer of cloth, and used it to draw a shortsword. This sword had no hilt, simply a gray de, but it flowed with crimson tendrils of light.


    Holding this sword, the youth walked through the air toward Dark Fiend. "The one I want to kill is not him, but you!"


    "What?" Dark Fiend froze.


    In reply to him were two cold words:


    "Sacrificial Sword!"


    Whoosh!


    A brilliant ray of sword energy shot through the sky toward Dark Fiend.

 Chapter 491: Experiences

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The members of Godhead Pce had grim expressions as they stood in front of Dark Fiend''s corpse.


    Dark Fiend, who had been hopping around only two hours ago, was dead, and he had died at the hands of someone from his own side.


    This fact was rather hard to ept.


    The eldest of the 12 Hawks looked at Xi Canhen. "You said that there would be no problem."


    Xi Canhen was no longer concealed and now stood in front of everyone, though his face was the color of snow.


    His Sacrificial Sword was powerful, but he could only do it once.


    Once he made this attack, whether it seeded or failed, he would have used up all the energy in his body and be unable to attack again. It was abat style that put everything into one strike. It was for this reason that he could kill Dark Fiend while being at Nine Revolutions.


    If that attack had failed, he would have been the one to die.


    "I didn''t say that nothing would happen," Xi Canhen replied. "I said that if he dared to cause trouble, I would kill him."


    "But what''s the point of that? The incident has already happened!" a True Person rebuked. "The entire city knows that Dark Fiend was fighting with someone. Your single strike didn''t stop the incident from happening, only killed one of our own. You''re ruthless, twelfth child. This matter must be reported to your superiors. For the crime of killing one of your own, you must be punished ording to the rules of the sect!"


    The pretty woman of the 12 Hawks softly coughed. "You can''t say that. Little Twelve really did say before they left that he would kill Dark Fiend if he dared to cause trouble. Our mission is of utmost importance, and Godhead Pce has gone to great lengths to capture Tang Jie. How could we allow one man to affect this operation? Little Twelve was simply cutting off the poisoned hand at the wrist to save the rest of the body. As for whether this act helped any of us, that is not for you to decide, True Person Liang. Only the pce can determine this."


    "But he was the one who suggested letting Dark Fiend out!"


    "But we permitted it," the fifth brother of the 12 Hawks said. "True Person Liang, I know that you were good friends with Dark Fiend, but can you not nder our Little Twelve because of it? He was a little ruthless, but wasn''t it because he had no other option? It was Little Twelve who suggested that we let Dark Fiend go out, but we cannot say that he was wrong because of it. After all, he was not the one who ultimately made the decision, but True Persons He and Li, and my big brother."


    That True Person Liang did not dare to say any more.


    He didn''t have the courage to push the responsibility onto the two Heart Demon True Persons.


    Moreover, the 12 Hawks were right. While Xi Canhen had been the one to suggest the idea, everyone else had given the nod. They could not me everything on Little Twelve.


    He could only resentfully say, "Who knows what this kid is thinking? He might even be trying to help Tang Jie! You can''t trust Sageheart people."


    The eldest of the 12 Hawks scowled. "Shut your mouth! Everyone here knows of Little Twelve''s background, and there''s no need for you to bring it up. He naturally passed the trial to be one of the 12 Hawks, and his loyalty was verified. If you dare to say such a thing again, I might report you to the pce for nder!"


    That True Person Liang didn''t dare to keep going, and he could only angrily say, "I don''t care anymore."


    With a wave of his hand, he returned to his room.


    The eldest of the 12 Hawks could only sigh. He turned to Xi Canhen and said, "Are you okay?"


    Xi Canhen cocked his head. "I just absorbed the blood energy of a Spirit Ring. It''s not bad."


    The eldest chuckled. "You¡­ Let''s go."


    "What about the matter here?" one of the 12 Hawks asked.


    "What''s done is done, and there''s no point in talking about it. Let''s just go with the flow," the eldest casually said.


    At this point, he could only hope that Tang Jie hadn''t seen this sight, or else hadn''t cared because of his audacious attitude.


    The battle at Drifting Red Pavilion hade quickly and ended quickly.


    When Godhead Pce''s people withdrew, countless people gathered below, whispering to each other and refusing to leave.


    After all, it was rare for them to see something so exciting.


    In the chattering crowd, Tang Jie walked with his hands held behind his back.


    The conversations around him entered his ears, including the descriptions from witnesses to the scenes. After removing the gossip and hyperbole, he was able to visualize the scene within the brothel.


    One thing drew Tang Jie''s interest.


    The girl having her debut was called "Shangyue".


    He couldn''t be more familiar with the name, as it was the name of Xi Canhen''s little sister.


    Why had Xi Canhen''s little sistere to a brothel to take up residence and sell her body?


    Why had Xi Canhen suddenly killed Dark Fiend?


    "''Twelfth Brother''¡­" Tang Jie mumbled.


    Tang Jie didn''t know if this was how Dark Fiend addressed Xi Canhen, only that Dark Fiend was seemingly talking to the air when he said this. Not long after that, Xi Canhen had appeared in that battle in the sky.


    Dark Fiend hadn''t been wary at all about his approach until that heaven-shaking strike was unleashed.


    ording to the people in the brothel, this person had never appeared before, but Dark Fiend had acted as if this person had always been behind him.


    Proficient in the Dao of Concealment!


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but think about what Shi Meng had told him: that Xi Canhen was extremely talented in concealment, and that he had the ambition to be a most outstanding assassin cultivator.


    An assassin cultivator had openly revealed himself while this little sister had appeared in a brothel, and the address of ''Twelfth Brother''¡­


    Tang Jie''s eyes shed.


    He finally understood.


    "It has to be this! He''s doing this on purpose so that I''ll notice him!" Tang Jie said in understanding.


    Tang Jie was basically sure now that Xi Canhen was thest of the 12 Hawks. Although he didn''t know how Xi Canhen had joined Godhead Pce, Xi Canhen clearly hadn''t forgotten the kindness Tang Jie had shown him.


    He wanted to repay Tang Jie, but he couldn''t find him. After all, Tang Jie was too hard to track down and had no desire to expose himself.


    And Xi Canhen couldn''t go around shouting that Xi Canhen was here and he wanted to meet Tang Jie. He had to think of something else.


    The incident with Dark Fiend was the best solution he could think of. Today might have been no coincidence at all, but the inevitable result of a long scheme. Xi Canhen had chosen to appear in the night sky right before the auction was about to begin because this was when Tang Jie had the highest chance of being around Ninebind City. He then intentionally exposed himself to the city through a battle and unleashed that heaven-shaking attack so that Tang Jie would spot him.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but deeply sigh.


    Xi Canhen had probably racked his brains in order to meet him, taking on a huge risk.


    As for whether his theory was right, he could very easily verify that.


    Xi Shangyue!


    It was clear that Xi Canhen''s message wasn''t that Tang Jie should seek him, but that he should seek his little sister.


    With this thought in mind, Tang Jie walked toward Drifting Red Pavilion.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Drifting Red Pavilion was still brightly lit. Although a battle had just taken ce, with even a death, people still had lives to live. So long as it wasn''t one of the other five countries attacking, everyone cared only about their own befuddled existences. All that had happened was just another story to tell over drinks.


    When you''re just trying to make great content at tinyurl/37k7u89t.


    Tang Jie entered the building, and a brothel keeper came up to attend to him.


    Tang Jie didn''t waste time on pleasantries, directly saying, "I heard that a female cultivator was having a debut, so I rushed over. What happened?"


    "s, dear customer, you were one step too slow. For the sake of that female cultivator, two True Persons shot up into the sky and started fighting, but then some kid came out of nowhere and killed that dark-faced one with a single blow. The blood rained from the sky! I don''t even know where all that blood even came from! Some of itnded in the pavilion, and a few of the girls had to go and change their clothes afterward."


    Tang Jie was at a loss at all this useless chatter. "What about that female cultivator?"


    "Naturally, she was scared off back into her room. She was looking for a wonderful night, never thinking that something like this would happen. She immediately lost her interest, so we''ll have to put off the debut forter."


    Tang Jie chuckled. cing a few spirit coins in the hands of the brothel keeper, he said, "Please go and inform that Lady Shangyue that this Jin Shaqiu wishes to see her."


    Jin Shaqiu was the one who had tried to rape Xi Shangyue, that Young Master Jin who had had his entire n annihted by Tang Jie.


    There might have been many people who Xi Shangyue would have forgotten over the passage of time, but this Young Master Jin, who had tried to force her debut ten-some years in advance, was someone she would never forget.


    If Tang Jie asked to meet her using this name, Xi Shangyue would definitely know who he was.


    The brothel keeper saw the spirit coins and immediately grinned. But when he heard Tang Jie''s request, he grimaced. "Thedy is in a bad mood, so she might not want to see you."


    "Just convey my message. If she doesn''t want to see me, I won''t me you."


    The brothel keeper was delighted and went to ry the message.


    A few momentster, he returned and bowed to Tang Jie. "Young Master, congrattions. Thedy is willing to see you. She''s in the back in the eastern room."


    He led Tang Jie over.


    He was led by the brothel keeper to an elegant little room. The brothel keeper shouted inside, "Mydy, I''ve brought him."


    And then he left.


    A gentle and graceful voice came from the room. "Since Young Master is here, why note inside and sit?"


    Tang Jie pushed open the door and saw a woman sitting at the head of a nearby bed. She appeared rather like the Xi Shangyue that Tang Jie had known, but the freshness and purity were gone. While this girl grooming herself in front of the mirror had an indifferent look about her, there was also a hint of confidence and heroism in her features.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help butpliment, "That little girl from back then is all grown up."


    Xi Shangyue raised her head, looked at Tang Jie, and faintly smiled.


    She lightly stood up and bowed her head in front of Tang Jie. "Shangyue pays respects to the young master. It has been many years since ourst meeting, but Young Master is still as elegant as ever."


    "You''re too polite," Tang Jie said, raising her up. Xi Shangyue then went over and closed the door.


    It was an act with a rather ambiguous connotation, but Tang Jie understood her meaning. He cast spells with his right hand at various locations, looking for any eavesdroppers.


    Xi Shangyue saw this and said, "Young Master, be at ease. I have already made arrangements to ensure no one can casually peer in on this ce."


    "That''s good." Despite his words, Tang Jie stillid down a detection formation. If an expert were to approach, he could know as soon as possible.


    Xi Shangyue didn''t mind, actuallyplimenting, "Young Master is so cautious, it is no wonder that Godhead Pce can''t do anything about you."


    "It''s just luck. Right, how is Canhen doing?" Tang Jie found a stool and sat himself down.


    "He''s currently part of Godhead Pce, one the Hawk Hall''s 12 Hawks, and he''s doing very well."


    "How did he end up in Godhead Pce?" Tang Jie asked.


    The six major sects had always been very rigorous when it came to the background of their people. Tang Jie himself had gone to great lengths to get into Basking Moon Academy, so he hadn''t expected Xi Canhen to easily enter Godhead Pce.


    "It''s a long story," Xi Shangyue sighed. She began to recount all that this brother and sister had experienced.


    It turned out that after Xi Canhen obtained the Immeasurable Sword, he began to wander around with Xi Shangyue. He had originally nned to go back when Tang Jie returned to continue following him.


    But he was too young and insufficiently meticulous. Quite a few people had seen this pair during the massacre involving the Immeasurable Sword, and when those people found out the people who had gone after this brother and sister were all dead, they naturally realized that it was those two who had done it.


    In this era, killing someone wasn''t necessarily a big deal. But while cultivators seemed to kill at the drop of a hat, even they knew restraint and found a reason before killing. Those people who killed without finding out the truth had long ago been exterminated.


    In the end, Xi Canhen was a child, so when his crime was found out, he became a fugitive.


    Thus, the siblings began to flee.


    But because they fled, they lost any hope of returning to Tang Jie''s side¡ªwhile fleeing, Xi Canhen used the Immeasurable Sword to constantly kill his pursuers, causing more and more blood to stain his hands.


    The pursuers represented the legal authorities, so there were even people of the Basking Moon Sect among the people he killed.


    What Tang Jie didn''t know was that Xi Canhen''s name had even appeared on Basking Moon Academy''s bounty mission board. But because Tang Jie was constantly in seclusion, he knew nothing about this. Eventually, the mission was automatically canceled because it couldn''t bepleted.


    It was for this reason that Xi Canhen finally realized that going back to Tang Jie now would be meaningless.


    As he couldn''t control the Immeasurable Sword, he had killed far too many people. In these circumstances, even if Tang Jie tried to help him, Xi Canhen might just end up dragging him down.


    Xi Canhen had his own pride, so he decided to just not tell Tang Jie, simply telling him that he had other business and was no longer going to the academy.


    But he hadn''t shaken off his desire to cultivate.


    At this time, Godhead Pce''s people came to find him.


    "Godhead Pce? They knew that you''re Sagehearters?" Tang Jie was surprised.


    "They know about Big Brother, but not about me," Xi Shangyue replied.


    Godhead Pce had note to find Xi Canhen for no reason.


    For many years now, the six major sects had been on guard against each other, nting spies in each other''snds. Getting these spies wasn''t an easy task. For a cultivator, cultivating immortality was about freedom and longevity. Who was willing to serve another, living under another name and acting as a chess piece?


    For this reason, finding good spies often meant looking for people with particr backgrounds.


    Like Shu Mingyang.


    He was a Sagehearter, but the hatred that arose from the destruction of his home led him to serve Godhead Pce.


    The same was true for Xi Canhen.


    He had taken the lives of too many Sagehearters, so no matter what he thought, he was already a wanted criminal that the Basking Moon Sect would not let go.


    Moreover, he had been treated poorly during his time at the mines, so it wasn''t as though he had any sense of belonging toward Sageheart or any good impression of the Basking Moon Sect.


    He had also disyed formidablebat power, unbending will, and sterling intelligence in his flight from his pursuers. It was only natural that Godhead Pce took note of him.


    It could be said that they were right.


    Xi Canhen truly didn''t have much of a good impression of Sageheart and the Basking Moon Sect, but Godhead Pce had no idea that there was one particr person in Sageheart, in the Basking Moon Sect, that Xi Canhen would never hurt, and that person just had to be Tang Jie.


    As Tang Jie and Xi Canhen had interacted for only a short time, this rtionship hadn''t turned up in Godhead Pce''s investigation.


    In truth, not only did they not know about this rtionship, they didn''t even know that Xi Canhen had a little sister. This was because, before their meeting, Xi Canhen had faked the death of his little sister.


    Xi Shangyue did not leave after faking her death, instead taking up a new identity and following her older brother. The two had a secret way of keeping in contact, and so the siblings continued to fool and trick the pursuers from the Basking Moon Sect, one in the open and one in the shadows, up until the people from Godhead Pce appeared.


    When they received the olive branch from Godhead Pce, the siblings discussed it and decided that being chased around forever wasn''t a solution, so they decided to go to Godhead Pce. Moreover, they knew of the grudge Tang Jie had against Godhead Pce, so they felt like they could help Tang Jie in the future if they joined.


    With this idea in mind, the siblings joined Godhead Pce, leading to the current circumstances.


    As for today''s matter, just as Tang Jie had spected, Xi Canhen was trying to get Tang Jie to see him so that he woulde and find him, at the same time helping Tang Jie out by killing a True Person.


    These experiences sounded simple, but the story was quite long, particrly the part concerning the flight and pursuit within Sageheart. There had been several close calls, and though Xi Shangyue spoke in an indifferent tone, Tang Jie could hear how shaken she had been at the time.


    These experiences wereparable to the various dangers Tang Jie had experienced in thest few years.


    Apparently, at his most formidable moment, Xi Canhen had single-handedly killed a Mortal Shedding cultivator.


    Of course, there was nothing impressive about this, but when one considered that Xi Canhen was only a rookie, killing someone above his level made this kid even more formidable than Tang Jie. Tang Jie normally killed people one tier above him, killing people two tiers above him on the rarest of asions, but Xi Canhen did this frequently. He had killed many times more experts that were two tiers above him than Tang Jie, which left Tang Jie looking speechlessly up at the ceiling.


    "All this time¡­ you two have been through a lot." This was all that Tang Jie could say about this story. "Right, how did Canhen be the twelfth Hawk?"


    Xi Shangyue replied, "When Big Brother agreed to join Godhead Pce, he hadn''t intended to leave Sageheart. At the time, Godhead Pce wanted Big Brother to hide in Sageheart as a spy. But in reality, there was no way he could hide. Too many people knew what he looked like, and he couldn''t disguise himself like Young Master. Moreover, he has a fierce nature that doesn''t understand forbearance, so he would often get in fights. Godhead Pce saw that he wasn''t spy material, but that he was good in battle, so they sent him to Nadir Hill to train. At that time, the Hawk Hall was selecting youths to be candidates for the 12 Hawks. The 12 Hawks each have different forms of training, and thest Hawk specializes in assassination, so its training is savage and cruel. Big Brother had a firm will, so he actually passed the test and got in at first ce, bing a candidate for the twelfth Hawk. Three yearster, the original twelfth Hawk died in battle. Big Brother fought his way out of a pool of ten-some candidates and officially became the Hawk Hall''s twelfth Hawk."


    "Is that what happened¡­" Tang Jie sighed at Xi Shangyue''s answer.


    He thought some more and said, "Right, ording to your story, you ended up like this because that old man gifted you a sword and three techniques?"


    "Yes. Without that old man, we wouldn''t have ended up like this. Unfortunately, that old man''s movements are unfathomable, and we never met him again," Xi Shangyue sighed.


    "There are numerous talented people in the Great Ster Chiliocosm. Some illustrious Titan might have bestowed these gifts on you," Tang Jie said with a smile.


    To his surprise, Xi Shangyue shook her head. "He truly was an incredible person, but probably not some illustrious Titan. This person is probably rather obscure."


    "Oh? Didn''t you not even know who he was? How do you know that he''s obscure?"


    "Because one of the three books he left Big Brother had a signature. If my guess is right, it''s the name of that old man, but I''ve never heard of it before, so he''s probably little-known."


    "Oh? What was it?"


    "''Cang Qingfeng''."

 Chapter 492: Inside Information

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    "Cang Qingfeng".


    Tang Jie was stunned by this name.


    How could it be him?


    Find the original at bit.ly/3Tfs4P4.


    When he was leaving the Water Moon Paradise, that monkey''s words had piqued Tang Jie''s curiosity, and he had gone to investigate this Cang Qingfeng''s background.


    He really had managed to find something.


    This Cang Qingfeng truly had been a Basking Moon disciple, a long-ago disciple from fourteen hundred years ago. If he had survived until now, then he had every right to be considered an ancestor. s, many years ago, he had betrayed the sect and fled.


    The reason for his betrayal and flight was that a Basking Moon disciple discovered one day that he was cultivating a heretical secret art.


    The Basking Moon Sect didn''t forbid its disciples to learn the spell arts of other sects. All the disciples needed to do was report on where the spell art hade from, and if they could hand over the spell art to the sect, the sect would pay out a rewardmensurate with its value.


    But heretical secret arts were not included, like the Ghost ssic of the Ghost Raising Sect. These were forbidden to cultivate.


    The records did not say what sort of heretical secret art Cang Qingfeng had cultivated, but it was said that this person had had a mysterious background from the start. The Basking Moon Sect had long ago noticed that he was suspicious and had been watching him, but when they finally found a problem and were preparing to strike, this person saw a chance and fled.


    That wasn''t even the end of it.


    What truly amazed Tang Jie was the people the Basking Moon Sect had sent to chase down Cang Qingfeng.


    Xuan Jiuxiao, Ling Chongyue, Shen Wujiu.


    In the present, these people weren''t famous, but anyone who entered the Water Moon Paradise or was familiar with the talented individuals in history would know who they were.


    They had all been illustrious figures of the Basking Moon Sect of that era, their statuses akin to those of Wang Juemie of the Seven Absolutions Sect and Tang Jie of the Basking Moon Sect.


    But these people were no longer here.


    They had all died at the hands of Cang Qingfeng.


    That time was the darkest period in the Basking Moon Sect''s history. One genius after another was sent after Cang Qingfeng, but all of them died under his sword. No matter how many people there were or how strong they were, they all met the same end. Numerous geniuses had vanished from the path of cultivation before they even had time to reach their true potential.


    Xuan Jiuxiao had been the strongest genius of the Basking Moon Sect at the time. It was said that he had needed only thirty years to reach the Celestial Heart Realm, with Violet Pce in the future. He had had limitless potential, but he had ultimately died at Cang Qingfeng''s hand.


    Ling Chongyue had been the strongest swordsman prodigy of the Basking Moon Sect. It was said that if he hadn''t died to Cang Qingfeng, he would have been the strongest candidate for the Sword of the Basking Moon Sect, not Xiao Biehan.


    Shen Wujiu was said to have had the makings of a sect master. He was farsighted and intelligent, and he had personallyid down an execution formation to kill Cang Qingfeng. At the time, he believed that he had sessfully killed Cang Qingfeng. When the formation was undone, they had found the remains of a corpse, and there had also been a spirit rain to prove that someone had died. But one hundred yearster, Cang Qingfeng reappeared. However, his strength had fallen all the way from the Heart Demon Tier to the peak of Mortal Shedding. Even so, he managed to ambush Shen Wujiu and kill him with a single strike.


    At the time, this had been regarded as a fanciful tale. How could someone at the peak of Mortal Shedding kill Shen Wujiu, who had been close to Soul Transformation at the time, with a single strike?


    But Tang Jie now knew that this was no exaggerated tale. This was the Sacrificial Sword!


    Besides that, the Basking Moon Sect had lost hundreds of other excellent disciples to Cang Qingfeng. One could say that this man had singlehandedly stirred up a storm of blood in the sect.


    In the end, it was said that the Cloud Ancestor had personally intervened. He had first ced a mark on a disciple and then used that disciple to bait Cang Qingfeng out. Finally, he used some divine method tounch an attack from five hundred kilometers away, pulverizing Cang Qingfeng in a single strike.


    Theke formed from that palm strike was still around: Sageheart''s famed Cloud Immortal Lake.


    But when he was drawing back his hand, the Cloud Ancestor shook his head. "The evildoer is difficult to exterminate, and the ashes of the dead will ze back to life eventually. This palm has only bought a few centuries of peace."


    From the sound of it, it appeared that Cang Qingfeng was still alive.


    But after this incident, all information concerning Cang Qingfeng was sealed, and it was forbidden to speak of Cang Qingfeng among mortals. Tang Jie was able to find out this much because he had an illustrious status in the Basking Moon Sect, and the person in charge of the records had let him take a look in order to get on Tang Jie''s good side.


    Tang Jie hadn''t expected to hear Cang Qingfeng''s name again.


    The Cloud Ancestor had been right. This guy was truly a cockroach-like evildoer. Even an Immortal tform Titan hadn''t been able to kill him.


    He had now appeared again, but this time, he had stopped killing the Basking Moon Sect''s people. Instead, he had gifted Xi Canhen a sword and three spell arts.


    This left Tang Jie very confused.


    He still didn''t know much about Cang Qingfeng, but he knew that there was no such thing in the world as a free lunch.


    He could tell from how Xi Canhen could kill people two tiers above him after getting the Immeasurable Sword and the Sacrificial Sword art that this was no child''s toy. It was an authentic divine art!


    Giving something so good so easily to Xi Canhen truly was a little unjustifiable. Thus, Tang Jie made up his mind to meet with Xi Canhen and take a look at his sword and sword art.


    Fortunately, Xi Canhen had the same thought.


    After telling her tale, Xi Shangyue said, "After learning that you hade to Nadir Hill, Big Brother was very worried about you. But you''re too hard to find, and after thinking about it, the two of us decided that we had to show ourselves so that you woulde and see us. Thankfully, the heavens favored us and allowed Young Master to see Big Brother."


    "Do you have a way to get me to meet with Canhen?"


    Xi Shangyue shook her head. "They''re currently staying in a house on Whitewater Street and don''t go out unless they need to. They know that you''re after the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill and n to strike at that time. Before then, they don''t want to rm you. Big Brother used Dark Fiend to break the rules, but after showing himself, he had to return. For the short term, he won''t be able to go out alone, so we''ll need to look for another opportunity."


    "So it was Whitewater Street! Number 28 or 32?"


    Xi Shangyue''s eyes shed. "As expected, they couldn''t hide it from Young Master. And here I thought I could provide Young Master with some useful information."


    "Of course you can. I know how many Heart Demon and Spirit Ring cultivators there are, but I don''t know who they are or what their abilities are."


    Xi Shangyue covered her mouth andughed. "Wonderful, finally something that Young Master doesn''t know. The two of us didn''t n all this for nothing."


    Herugh and smile were quite striking.


    Tang Jie was momentarily taken aback before finally saying, "There are still many things I will have to rely heavily on the two of you for."


    Xi Shangyue began to exin what she knew to Tang Jie.


    This operation was primarily led by the 12 Hawks. Besides them, Godhead Pce had sent two Heart Demon True Persons and five Spirit Ring True Persons.


    One of the Heart Demon True Persons was called "He Yueyang", and the other was called "Li Song". Both were Heart Demon True Persons of profound cultivation.


    Of the five other True Persons, Dark Fiend had specialized in pursuit and had been extremely fast. But s, because he hadn''t been on his guard against Xi Canhen, he had been in by a single strike.


    Of the remaining four, one was called "Liang Chunsheng". This person cultivated a secret art that could seize the soul and unsteady the mind. However, he had been sent not to befuddle Tang Jie, but to deal with Tang Jie''s mind-seizing art. Although Tang Jie had rarely used the Soul Refining Pearl recently in order to ensure that he exposed no ws, Godhead Pce had not forgotten his use of it, sending Liang Chunsheng. This person knew how to upset the soul, so he also knew spell arts that could defend against this.


    Another was called "Huang Yue", and he was skilled in Insight.


    He was Shi Wunian''s personal disciple, and though he was only at the Spirit Ring Tier, he had a rather lofty status. Just like Tang Jie, he cultivated the Celestial Eye, but while Tang Jie''s Celestial Eye focused on seeing into the void, Huang Yue''s emphasized seeing through illusions. Seeing into the void allowed one to see farther and also allowed one to better identify an opponent''s weakness, while the one who saw through illusions could differentiate between true and false. Huang Yue''s Celestial Eye was extremely mature, and his Insight abilities were far above those of the Panther Monkey. Tang Jie''s disguise art and Duplication spell basically didn''t exist to him.


    The third was called "Ming Yezhen".


    Tang Jie froze, instinctively thinking of Ming Yekong.


    Ming Yezhen was part of the Ming n, one of the four major cultivation ns of Nadir Hill. He specialized in Space, but rather than traveling through space, he was good at sealing space. His goal here was very simple. It was to stop Tang Jie from escaping through the use of some escape art or teleportation talisman.


    This was the Nadir Hill Ming n''s specialty.


    When Tang Jie heard that the Ming n specialized in Space, he again couldn''t help but think about Ming Yekong. Wasn''t his expertise also Space?


    Tang Jie was basically certain now that Ming Yekong had some ambiguous connection with Nadir Hill. But it wasn''t as though Tang Jie was the only one who knew about this. The upper echelons of Basking Moon probably all understood, and the reason they didn''t ask any questions was probably that, like with Xi Canhen, while there was a connection, Ming Yekong probably hadn''t had a good rtionship, and in the end, he had chosen another master.


    In the blink of an eye, Tang Jie finished analyzing various possibilities and found the result that was closest to the truth.


    "And thest person?" Tang Jie asked.


    To his surprise, Xi Shangyue paused, and then she said, "Thest person is a woman. She is skilled in formations, and she is primarily here to deal with your formations."


    "What''s her name?" Tang Jie asked.


    Sighing, Xi Shangyue replied, "Her name is ''Xu Mingyue''."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    When Tang Jie came out of Drifting Red Pavilion, he still felt dizzy.


    Xu Mingyue!


    If he remembered correctly, this person was Xu Muyang''s second sister.


    In truth, some time ago, Tang Jie had thought about paying a visit to the Xu n to see how Xu Muyang''s rtives were faring.


    But considering his current circumstances, he would only cause trouble for them by associating with them, so he ultimately put aside the idea.


    He hadn''t expected the people of the Xu n toe and find him instead.


    ''Xu Mingyue is skilled in formations''?


    Tang Jie pursed his lips.


    Bullshit!


    The Xu n had never been a n renowned for formations. Xu Muyang''s strength in formations had nothing to do with his n and came from his own enjoyment of formations. Before him, there had never been any formation expert in the Xu n.


    As for Xu Mingyue, she was proficient in a variety of things.


    As the Xu n''s mantra was harmful to women, Xu Mingyue was the weakest of the Xu n. After advancing to Spirit Ring, she found it hard to advance any more. This woman then began to research the various auxiliaries, surpassing even Xu Muyang in her studies.


    But these studies did not include formations.


    Perhaps because of her personality, Xu Mingyue didn''t like formations. Her expertise was in pills and talismans. Xu Muyang had personally told him all of this.


    Even if Xu Mingyue decided to take up formations in remembrance of her little brother and perhaps had some sess in thest twenty years, there was no way she couldpare to professionals. Moreover, interest was talent, and Xu Mingyue''s interest in this pursuit was limited.


    She was here for another reason.


    Godhead Pce knew about his rtionship with Xu Muyang, and while Tang Jie could kill anyone else in Nadir Hill, he couldn''t kill members of the Xu n. It was for the same reason that Xi Canhen could kill members of the Basking Moon Sect except for Tang Jie.


    Unfortunately, while Godhead Pce didn''t know of his rtionship with Xi Canhen, it did know who Tang Jie respected the most in his life.


    Tang Jie deeply frowned.

 Chapter 493: Leaving a Way Out

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    No matter what difficultiesy before Tang Jie, he had to deal with them eventually.


    Xi Canhen''s appearance made Tang Jie even more confident.


    Returning to the inn, Tang Jie took stock of his inventory, and as he determined what powers he could use, a n began to form.


    The next morning, Tang Jie called over Old Fourth Liu and gave him a big bag. "Sell everything in here."


    Old Fourth Liu looked inside and jumped in shock. It was all spirit coins and some very valuable treasures.


    These were all goods that Tang Jie had stolen recently. Although he had already scrapped the majority of his loot, some inevitably remained. What Tang Jie was taking out now primarily consisted of things that would be difficult to trace, like materials.


    Old Fourth Liu did some rough calctions and found that there were at least one million spirit coins in here, among other things.


    He looked at Tang Jie in shock. "What''s all this for?"


    Tang Jie replied, "I''ve thought it over. This time, we can''t take the confrontational approach. Aren''t they holding an auction? Then we''ll win the auction for the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill."


    "I see. But you can''t get in."


    "That''s why I need you to go. Disguise yourself as a rich foreigner and buy the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill at a high price."


    "They''re using the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill to bait you, so they won''t let you seed so easily."


    "I will appear. So long as I appear, they won''t care about you."


    "''You''ll appear''?" Old Fourth Liu was startled. "Then how will you escape?"


    Tang Jie chuckled. "That''s my business. In any case, I''m responsible for dealing with Godhead Pce while you just need to worry about helping me buy the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill. Once you help me with this, you can return to Sageheart."


    "''If I help you with this, I can return to Sageheart''?" Old Fourth Liu was surprised, and then he understood.


    Currently, he was like a new trump card for Tang Jie, as Godhead Pce was under the impression that Tang Jie was alone. But after this Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill matter, they would definitely realize that somebody was helping him, and they might even quickly realize that the Basking Moon Sect had spies in theirnds. Once they carried out a thorough investigation, Old Fourth Liu would be quickly exposed.


    Thus, after this operation, Old Fourth Liu would have to change jobs and immediately return to Sageheart.


    But exposing himself to help Tang Jie could be considered a major achievement. After all, the sect had long ago issued orders that all spies in Nadir Hill except those on the most important missions had to help Tang Jie if they could, and it had offered a high reward.


    For the Basking Moon Sect, this wasn''t just an expression of favor toward Tang Jie, but also a kind of stance.


    Old Fourth Liu couldn''t help but emotionally sigh when he thought about how he could return to Sageheart. "When I first came, I was extremely reluctant and always wanted to go back. But as the days grew long, I gradually grew used to living here, gradually forgot that I was a Sagehearter. To tell the truth, I don''t even know how to speak the tongue of my hometown anymore. Now that you say I can go home, for some reason, rather than the expected anticipation, I''m disappointed."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "There''s no need to worry about it too much. That''s what people are. We always go from ufortable tofortable, and then we grow ufortable again. It''s like cultivation. Getting to a new cultivation realm is extremely difficult, and you feel like there are barriers wherever you go. But as you go on and grow more familiar with cultivation, everything flows naturally, but at that point, you ascend to a new cultivation realm and encounter new problems."


    Old Fourth Liuughed and shook his head. "So you''re saying that I''m about to reach the end of my cultivation, so my life is also about to reach its end?"


    Tang Jie quickly stopped him. "Old Liu, don''t say such things. Your life is just barely starting. When you return to Sageheart, you''ll have wonderful days ahead of you."


    "Yes, yes, at least I won''t have to constantly worry about being exposed." Old Fourth Liu threw his head back andughed. He was finally starting to feel some excitement for fleeing and returning.


    The two of them discussed things to remember at the auction and what might happen.


    Once the discussion ended, they left to each make their preparations.


    Old Fourth Liu was already a merchant of the Donghe Province, so there was no problem with his identity, and since this would be hisst mission, he wasn''t afraid of being exposed.


    Tang Jie was much busier. After learning from Xi Shangyue that Godhead Pce was actually very wary of him, choosing to hide away in a corner so as to not rm him, Tang Jie became much bolder and began to run around the city. Of course, he changed forms for this.


    Just like this, he busied himself for two days.


    Tomorrow was the day of the auction.


    That night, Tang Jie finished hisst preparations.


    As thatst ray of light vanished, Tang Jie sighed. "I''ve never made such a vicious and sinister formation in my life as the one I made today. For my own gain, an entire city of people is going to die. Yiyi, would you say that I''m too ruthless?"


    "You don''t want to kill them, but they want to kill you," Yiyi shouted. "This is all so you can survive."


    "So you can drag down so many people and bury them if it''s for the sake of survival?"


    "They''re just returning to the world. Those who cultivate the Dao shouldn''t take life and death so seriously." Yiyi pursed her lips and said, "Where there is life, there is ughter. This is the proper path of the world."


    Tang Jie was startled. "Life into ughter is the proper path of the world¡­ Couldn''t you say that the reverse, ughter leading to life, can also work?"


    He thought about this for a while, and then he shot out several bolts of energy at the center of the formation he had just made.


    Yiyi was stunned. "You cracked open the Life Gate? Why? This will give those people a chance to escape!"


    Tang Jie looked at the formation and muttered, "The heavens cherish life, and one cannot take things to the extreme. Leaving others a way out is leaving oneself a way out¡­ If they run, they run. Godhead Pce''s side has so many people, there''s no way we can kill them all."


    He turned and left.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Early the next morning.


    Ninebind City weed the first ray of the morning sun, and it also weed its annual auction.


    On this day, wealthy businessmen and n representatives from all parts of the country surged into Ninebind City''s Celestial Flower Pavilion.


    Celestial Flower Pavilion was a pavilion art relic owned by the auction house. It was a defensive tool that could block strong attacks while holding one thousand people, making it the safest ce to be. One could not enter the pavilion without an invitation card.


    Tang Jie naturally couldn''t get such a thing, but this naturally presented no problem to him.


    He just needed to invade some rich man''s home, knock him out, and steal his invitation card. Perhaps precisely so that Tang Jie could do this, these invitation cards which had always borne names were actually left nk so that anyone could get a card and go in.


    Compared to Tang Jie, Godhead Pce had a much simpler time of things.


    Celestial Flower Pavilion had private rooms, and the 12 Hawks and their allies were situated in Room 1 and Room 2, with Godhead Pce''s Ninebind Branch Hall Master Li Tianming keeping thempany.


    Li Tianming was only at Nine Revolutions¡ªnot a high cultivation level. But he had been running Ninebind City for many years and was familiar with the people, so he was still needed to handle some things.


    Li Tianming bowed to He Yueyang and Li Song. "The preparations in the surrounding area areplete. The moment Tang Jie enters, Celestial Flower Pavilion willpletely seal up, preventing anyone from going in or out. Those above have already issued a death order. If it''s for the sake of capturing Tang Jie, it''s fine even if everyone in the auction house dies. Now, we just need to see if Tang Jie dares toe inside."


    "That will depend on True Person Huang." He Yueyang, who had a long, horse-like face, turned to Huang Yue and smiled.


    Although Huang Yue was a Spirit Ring True Person, one tier lower than him, he was Shi Wunian''s disciple. His extraordinary background meant that even He Yueyang needed to be polite to him.


    Fortunately, Huang Yue didn''t put on airs just because he was a True Lord''s disciple. He smiled and said, "I''m more afraid that he won''te than that we won''t recognize him."


    These simple words carried a sliver of pride and confidence.


    "He wille," the eldest of the 12 Hawks said.


    "Brother Nan, why are you so certain?" Li Song asked.


    The eldest of the 12 Hawks was actually called "Nan Ningjiang", but people more often called him "First Hawk" rather than by his real name. It was only a Heart Demon True Person like Li Song that had the right to call him by his name.


    In truth, they were in a rather strange situation.


    The custom of Immortal sects was to ce the strongest as the leader.


    But currently, there were actually four people at the leadership position. Besides the two Heart Demon True Persons, there were also Huang Yue and the First Hawk. While these two had weaker cultivation levels, they still held considerable authority. The former was a True Lord''s disciple while thetter was in charge of the operation, so he had an even higher status than the two Heart Demon True Persons. Li Tianming wanted to make some tteringpliments, but he didn''t know where to start.


    The First Hawk said, "Because he''s Tang Jie. This person has always been audacious. There''s only things that he doesn''t want to do, not things he doesn''t dare to do."


    Nobody had any response to this.


    It was true! Tang Jie had been at Spirit tform when he had dared to fight Gu Changqing, so what was there that he didn''t dare to do?


    But why did this sound so wrong?


    It was like they were facing not a peak Mortal Shedding expert, but some impassable mountain, like they were doing something rash and impetuous.


    Fortunately, this bizarre feeling faded as the guests entered the pavilion, or else they might have ended up throwing up blood.


    The Ninebind Auction House was auctioning a total of 1342 treasures today. It was expected for the auction to go for three days and wee 1500 guests.


    With 1500 rich merchants entering this ce, the vast Celestial Flower Pavilion was quickly packed.


    Everyone sat on their seats and quietly waited for the auction to begin.


    Nobody knew that in the private room on the upper floor, a person was scanning each and every one of them.


    A vertical eye had cracked open in the center of Huang Yue''s forehead.


    Unlike Tang Jie''s vertical eye, which was blue, indicating that it could see into the azure heavens, Huang Yue''s eye was gold, indicating that it could differentiate between truth and fiction.


    The Dao of Insight had countless branches, and the eye would have a different color depending on one''s specialty. Thus was it said that while all the arts of the world might be the same, people were ultimately different.


    Those three eyes took in all the guests within the pavilion.


    Everyone nervously looked at Huang Yue, but as Huang Yue looked around, he kept shaking his head, clearly rejecting candidates, and everyone started to get nervous.


    Even after Huang Yue had looked at everyone in the pavilion, he still hadn''t found Tang Jie. There were still peopleing in, so Huang Yue could only stare at the entrance. His vertical eye had been open for too long and was starting to ache, but he knew that this was an important task. Even if his Eye of Insight went blind from fatigue, he didn''t dare to rx.


    The minutes nervously went by, and the number of peopleing in began to dwindle. Tang Jie still hadn''t appeared, and everyone grew nervous.


    At this moment, Huang Yue suddenly trembled and shouted, "He''s here!"


    Everyone turned in excitement and saw that it was Tang Jie himselfing in through the entrance.


    He hadn''t changed his face!


    With his original appearance, he swaggered in.


    This sight had everyone''s mind shaking in shock, and Huang Yue almost cursed. He had kept up his Eye of Insight this long for nothing.


    "Seize him!" someone anxiously shouted.


    Fortunately, Huang Yue quickly made a new discovery and said, "Wait! That''s not his real self. It''s an illusion!"


    The Celestial Eye hadn''t been aplete waste, and Huang Yue was so moved that he was on the verge of tears.


    To him, Tang Jie''s body appeared to be made of rainbow-colored fog, clearly indicating that it was created by a spell art.


    Tang Jie''s Duplication spell was already famous in Godhead Pce.


    But there was one thing Tang Jie didn''t know that Godhead Pce did: the Martial Lord had been an expert in illusions.


    The Martial Lord had grasped the Martial Dao in order to be the Martial Lord, but few people knew that he was also exceptionally talented in other fields. It was just that his Martial Lord title had outshone them so much that few people knew about them. The Illusion Dao was one of these. It was said that while the Martial Lord''s Illusion Dao hadn''t reached the Dao-controlling level, he was at least at the Dao-entering level. His formidable grasp of illusions made his already formidable strength even more terrifying.


    There was a record of the Martial Lord producing hundreds of thousands of clones to deal with an enemy.


    Worth noting was that these clones had actual offensive power. Although they couldn''tpare to the original, their numbers still made their attacks terrifying.


    When Godhead Pce obtained the Martial Mirror, they had performed many tests to verify that the area it had been found in was the Martial Lord''s Returned Remnants, which was how it knew of this story. And what Tang Jie was using was clearly this Illusion Dao spell art. But Tang Jie clearly hadn''tprehended the Dao, so his clones were simple illusions without any attack power.


    If he were able toprehend the Illusion Dao, then those clones would have actual attack power.


    As for how many clones he could have, that would depend on his attainments in the Illusion Dao.


    The Illusion Dao was ssified under Yin Yang, part of the Conversion of Truth and Fiction. Tang Jie''s current understanding of the Dao of Yin Yang was constrained to Feng Buzhi''s Reality and Illusion and some basic concepts the firebird had given him, so he wouldn''t be able topletelyprehend this Dao any time soon.


    When you''re just trying to make great content at tinyurl/37k7u89t.


    For these various reasons, when Tang Jie used the Duplication spell, Godhead Pce realized that Tang Jie might possess the Martial Lord''s legacy. But they didn''t understand how Tang Jie could get the Martial Lord''s legacy without entering the formation, nor did they understand what all that business about You Shaofeng entering the formation had been about.


    Even though they didn''t understand the situation, they were slowly beginning to realize that they had fallen into Tang Jie''s deception trap.


    In the face of this riddle, Godhead Pce opted for the simplest method of not ying the game and instead capturing the riddler.


    s, for many years now, Tang Jie had been wandering about while protected by the Basking Moon Sect. Although they had sent people to capture him, they had all died to Tang Jie or the Basking Moon Sect''s people. Behind those eleven years of peace, numerous people had silently bled out.


    This time, though, they finally had a chance.


    Huang Yue''s words immediately calmed down the excited group.


    "Do you know where his real body is?" He Yueyang asked.


    Huang Yue shook his head. "I''m not sure. But illusions have no consciousness and need to be controlled by the main body, so he can''t be too far."


    "How far?" Li Song asked.


    Huang Yue shook his head again. "I don''t understand illusion spells, so I can''t say."


    First Hawk Nan Ningjiang said, "Eighth Sister."


    A girl with a clean and delicate face said, "It is based on the terrain. If the terrain is open and free of obstructions and if one''s cultivation level is sufficient, one could easily control an illusion from several thousand meters away. But in theplicatedndscape of a city, with buildings all over the ce, the control distance is much shorter."


    This girl was skilled in illusion spells and had a keen understanding of how they worked.


    Upon hearing this, Nan Ningjiang waved his hand, and a map with the auction house at its center appeared.


    Although the First Hawk was an expert in creating maps, it wasn''t to the extent where they could even draw out the entireyout of a city. From this map, one could see that Nan Ningjiang had meticulously prepared for this operation.


    He said, "Based on this terrain, estimate the farthest distance he could control an illusion from."


    The eighth sister stared at the map and began to calcte, saying, "I can only give a rough estimate¡­ About¡­ five hundred meters."


    The First Hawk swung his hand, extending the area the eighth sister had indicated by another three hundred meters and making a circle with a radius of eight hundred meters. "It should be in this area."


    "That isn''t small," He Yueyang worriedly said as he looked at the circle.


    He naturally understood what Nan Ningjiang wanted by drawing this circle.


    Nan Ningjiang turned to Ming Yezhen and said, "True Person Ming, if you were to seal this area and prevent any teleportation, how long could youst?"


    Ming Yezhen pondered the answer. "It''s too big. Fifteen minutes at best."


    "Not enough!" Nan Ningjiang firmly said. "It has to at least be an hour."


    "I can''t do it. Even if you had Lady Xu help me with a formation, I still couldn''t do it."


    On the side, Xu Mingyue said, "I was sent over to break formations, noty them down. That said, it''s toote toy down a formation."


    Simply sealing the area already had them in a difficult spot. A thin sheet of frost appeared on Nan Ningjiang''s face.


    At this time, Huang Yue was still staring at the duplicate Tang Jie.


    The duplicate had already found a ce to sit down and was quietly waiting for the auction to begin.


    Hisposure made True Person Liang furious. He impatiently said, "I''ll go and attack him. Let''s see what he does once he''s lost his clone."


    "Shut your mouth!" Li Song red. "Isn''t that telling Tang Jie that we''re here? If he withdraws and doesn''t appear again, wouldn''t this trap have gone entirely to waste?"


    They had taken great pains to lure Tang Jie here, and they couldn''t afford to lose it all because of some rash action.


    True Person Liang knew that he had said something very mindless, so he dropped his head and said, "I just think that if his clone is here, Tang Jie won''t enter the pavilion. We have to think of a way to solve this problem."


    This had just been his helpless attempt to exin himself, but Nan Ningjiang abruptly said, "Yes, we have to start with the clone."


    Everyone turned to Nan Ningjiang, and he turned his head and said, "Hall Master Li, have all the guests arrived?"


    "It''s basically all of them."


    "Good!" Nan Ningjiang said, "Order for the pavilion to be closed, and activate the Celestial Flower Defense Barrier."


    "Eh?" Everyone was shocked. If they did this, there was no way Tang Jie could enter the auction house.


    The eighth sister suddenly jumped up and said, "Right, closing the pavilion and activating the barrier will make controlling the clone much more difficult for Tang Jie. If that happens, he has to either give up or get closer to the pavilion."


    Everyone was enlightened.


    Since Tang Jie had sent his clone, it meant he still wanted the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill. Once the pavilion was closed, Tang Jie would no longer be able to control the duplicate, at which point the duplicate would be useless and dissipate.


    Closing the pavilion was a normal part of the auction, and activating the Celestial Flower Formation was also a safety procedure, so Tang Jie couldn''t use these measures as a sign that Godhead Pce''s people were lying in ambush. Thus, he would probably approach Celestial Flower Pavilion, which would give Godhead Pce a chance.


    Upon understanding Nan Ningjiang''s intention, Li Tianming said, "Once the Celestial Flower Barrier is activated, the seal will be extremely strong. Tang Jie would probably have to go up to the door to be able to control his clone, and he might not be willing to take such a big risk."


    "Then leave a small crack," Nan Ningjiang replied. "Leaving a way out for others is also leaving a way out for oneself."

 Chapter 494: Bidding

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Inside Celestial Flower Pavilion, Tang Jie''s duplicate had already sat down and was waiting for the auction to begin. Old Fourth Liu was seated not far from him. He and Tang Jie exchanged a nce and then never looked at each other again so that they wouldn''t draw suspicion.


    A young scion sitting next to Tang Jie whispered, "Brother, are you alone or in a group?"


    "Hm?" Tang Jie looked at this young scion in surprise. This person was a cultivator of average level, only having barely entered the Mortal Shedding Realm. He was waving a fan while sitting there.


    Looking at Tang Jie''s expression, the scion smiled and said, "You don''t know? I''m asking if you came to the auction alone or if you''re working with others."


    "''Working with others''? How?"


    The scion replied, "Naturally, if you see something good but can''t afford it alone, you work together with others to get it. So, are you interested? This one is Sun Qing. My father is Sun Yuanchao, a man of some stature in Ninebind City."


    Tang Jie looked at this youth and saw that there were a few people around him who appeared to have been persuaded by him into working together. In truth, there were many people like them who hade together to bid. In this way, they increased their total bidding power and wouldn''t have to miss out on good items.


    There were some auction items that came in far too great quantities for the buyer to consume by themselves, so if a lot of people wanted it, they could join together to buy the item.


    Sun Yuanchao was considered a rather powerful figure in Ninebind City, his status much greater than the Wei n''s. His n had produced cultivators for generations, making it a small cultivator n. But this Sun Qing knew that his n was at the bottom of the barrel in Ninebind City''s annual auction. If it hadn''t been held in Ninebind City, he wouldn''t have even had the right to enter. This was exactly why he was recruiting people in the pavilion, and there were actually quite a few people like him. The favorite hobby of rich scions wasn''t bullying and provoking, but getting their buddies together and creating a faction before going on to bully and provoke.


    Tang Jie looked at him for a while before ultimately shaking his head. "Forget it. I''m used to working alone."


    Sun Qing wasn''t willing to give up. He began to chatter on about the various benefits of working together, but Tang Jie ignored him and began to look around.


    He scanned the hall before gradually turning his gaze to the upper floor.


    Tang Jie gazed at each of those private rooms before finally stopping at the first one.


    At that time, everyone there saw that Tang Jie was seemingly looking at them, a yful look in his eyes.


    "This isn''t possible! He''s only an illusion clone, so how can he see into the room?" True Person Liang shouted.


    "He isn''t seeing through it, just guessing," Nan Ningjiang calmly replied. "It appears that he spected that we were here long ago."


    "Then what are we still hiding for? Let''s just go out there," one of them said.


    Nan Ningjiang coldly nced at this man, and that man immediately dropped his head.


    There were some things that Tang Jie could do but Godhead Pce could not.


    Even if they knew that Tang Jie would stille despite knowing they were here, this didn''t mean that the 12 Hawks could act as they pleased.


    Since they wereying a trap, they had to act like it. At times, form was very important. That sort of attitude where, since your opponent knew that you were here, you should go out and have a chat with them, was a very cool way of acting, but it came with a lot of problems.


    Nan Ningjiang was a cautious person, and he certainly didn''t want to go back to the pce and be repeatedly questioned on why, as the architect of the trap, he had decided to reveal himself rather than hiding.


    At this time, thest guest entered.


    As the door to Celestial Flower Pavilion closed, the auction officially began.


    At the same time, a light emerged from Celestial Flower Pavilion: its defensive barrier.


    As the barrier appeared, the Tang Jie in the auction house immediately stopped moving.


    It was clearly because it was no longer being controlled.


    At the same time, Nan Ningjiang waved his hand, and a map centered on Celestial Flower Pavilion appeared again. "Fifth Brother!"


    The fifth brother immediately fired off a series of starry points at the map, which lit up the area like a spirit-surveying formation. In truth, this spell art was akin to a spirit-detecting formation, just faster and more convenient. Moreover, it was a perfect match with Nan Ningjiang''s map.


    Countless points of starlight glimmered on the map, all of them indicating a cultivator.


    The densest concentration was at the center. Nan Ningjiang covered this region with his hand as he said, "Check the surroundings for anyone at peak Mortal Shedding approaching the pavilion."


    The third sister and fifth brother both acted, dividing the map up.


    The map even had a partitioning function!


    A momentter, the region was instantly divided into twelve parts. The 12 Hawks acted in unison, each one searching their own region. The proficiency and speed with which they acted showed that they frequently worked together. Even the two Heart Demon True Persons couldn''t help but sigh in praise. When it came to tracking, the 12 Hawks were true specialists.


    In just a little while, they had finished checking, and the eldest waved his hand, merging the maps back together.


    The third sister, who was responsible for collecting information, reported, "Thirteen in all at peak Mortal Shedding."


    She thrust her finger multiple times, pointing out the dots of light in question.


    "So many?" Everyone was stunned.


    Nan Ningjiang didn''t understand where all these peak Mortal Shedding cultivators hade from. Gritting his teeth, he said, "See where they stop."


    The thirteen points of light quickly came to a stop. The closest to Celestial Flower Pavilion was around one hundred meters away, while the farthest was only three hundred meters away.


    Nan Ningjiang drew a circle and said, "True Person Ming, can you cover this area for an hour?"


    Ming Yezhen nodded. "This should be fine."


    "Good. You guys, go and check to see which one of them is Tang Jie," Nan Ningjiang said.


    "There''s no need to check. Look," the third sister said, pointing at the map.


    Twelve points of light suddenly gathered together. Only one dot remained at its ce, about one hundred and fifty meters from Celestial Flower Pavilion.


    The eldest looked at the eighth sister, and that delicate girl nodded. "This distance should be his limit, so it should be him."


    "True Person He, True Person Li, I must leave it to you."


    The two Heart Demon True Persons rose, He Yueyang saying, "There''s no way he''ll escape this time."


    "True Persons, please hold on. You only need to go to the area and check. You must not strike. Wait until the auction for the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill begins."


    "Why should we wait until then?"


    "Tang Jie must have something that makes him confident enough toe here, so he''s probably ready to escape. But when the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill is close at hand, Tang Jie won''t give up that easily. His every moment of hesitation is our best chance."


    "I see." The two True Persons understood. "Then let''s have it go up for auction faster."


    "The moment the Heaven-Earth Net isplete is when the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill will go up for auction," Nan Ningjiang replied.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The auction had already begun.


    One rare treasure after another was disyed to the noisy crowd.


    "This Nether Snake Whipes from True Person Xiao of the Celestial Flower Sect. To make it, one must kill a Deepsea Nether Snake and remove its bones. You must then add Ink Jade and Cold Steel and refine everything in a Nine Fire Divine Furnace for 81 days to forge the whip. It can shatter steel and jade, being a weapon of incredible toughness. Moreover, when waved, it canmand the wind, turning it into a de of wind that can slice through ice. It is an upper-grade art relic of an Immortal sect of vast power. The bidding starts at two hundred thousand spirit coins!"


    The female cultivator presiding had a lovely voice and was using every method possible to tease the crowd and rile them up.


    s, cultivators mostly had steely wills and weren''t easily moved. They silently calcted the pros and cons of the items up for auctions and decided on the price that they could ept. Those wealthy merchants and dignitaries, on the other hand, were quite raucous, bidding up prices without rhyme or reason. This left the cultivators rather annoyed, as these amateurs were ruining the value of these products.


    The more amateurish one was, the more trouble one caused.


    The Nether Snake Whip was quickly bought by a fat man for three hundred thousand coins. The man used a handkerchief to wipe off the sweat on his forehead as he said, "Finally got it. This will make it much easier to whip those people in the house who won''t listen."


    As he spoke, his plump face trembled while the chair under him groaned.


    Sun Qing moved close to Tang Jie and warned, "Brother, don''t underestimate him just because he''s fat. This person is called ''Reverend Tianchi'', and he''s said to be a ruthless person who repays every wrong. Countless people have died at his hand."


    Tang Jie knew this guy was trying to sell his experience to him, so he simply smiled and expressed his thanks.


    Once the Nether Snake Whip was sold, another treasure was put up. The female cultivator strenuously pushed the product, and the atmosphere finally began to warm up.


    The item up for auction this time was a pair of shackles.


    These shackles were slightly less valuable than the Nether Snake Whip, and they were ultimately sold off to a female cultivator. This female cultivator had decent looks, but she was cold like a block of ice.


    Strangely, when this woman made her bid, nobody dared to bid against her.


    Sun Qingmented, "This woman is Leng Yuebing, one of the most ruthless female cultivators of Nadir Hill. Although she''s only at peak Mortal Shedding, she''s extremely powerful. At this auction, just like that Reverend Tianchi, she''s one of the top participants."


    One treasure after another was disposed of at the auction.


    It had to be said that many of the treasures at this auction were pretty good. If Godhead Pce''s people hadn''t been here, Tang Jie really would have considered stealing everything.


    "Jade Verdure Stone! The summit of Windscreen Mountain is often buffeted by Astral Winds, and after a thousand years, some stones gain spirituality and are called Jade Verdure Stones. When worn, they can ward off evil, and they can also be made into puppets and such. It is an excellent stone material weighing in at three and a half tons. The starting bid is twenty spirit coins."


    Tang Jie raised an eyebrow.


    He knew of Jade Verdure Stone, and it truly was a rare Wind-attribute stone.


    A puppet made from this material would be extremely light and fast.


    Puppets were clumsy and heavy, and normally, eleration formations were carved into them to make them faster. Moreover, their weight also meant that they consumed extra energy, thus using up more spirit stones. Finally, taking into ount all these extras meant that the initial design was moreplicated.


    If one could make a puppet from Jade Verdure Stone, all these problems would cease to be, and itsbat power would be improved by at least 30%. It was one of the core materials for making Grade 5 to Grade 6 puppets.


    Of course, Tang Jie wasn''t thinking about Wei Tianchong''s needs, but his own. After all, too many of his trump cards had already been exposed, so Tang Jie had to think of new ones.


    A puppet wasn''t a bad choice.


    "This thing isn''t bad," Tang Jie blurted out.


    Sun Qing smiled and asked, "Brother, are you interested? If so, why not work with us?" He was also rather interested in the Jade Verdure Stone, but he didn''t need that much and was nning on getting some people to split the bill with.


    At his point, a booming voice spoke.


    "Thirty spirit coins! I want it all."


    Everyone turned and saw that the speaker was a fierce and muscr man, two meters tall and with a big beard that almost covered his entire face. His hair was a chaotic mess, and his upper jacket was open, revealing the bs of muscle beneath. This man seemed like a proper barbarian, and even his words carried an ent.


    This man had spoken in a very smug and arrogant tone.


    Everyone whispered, "Who is this man?"


    "He seems to be a barbarian from the snow ins of the north."


    "Shh! Speak more softly. Those crazies arepletely unreasonable. If you call them ''barbarians'', they might immediately jump out and challenge you. It doesn''t matter if you win if you get kicked out of the auction house."


    Sun Qing narrowed his eyes and said, "It seems to be someone from the Manzu of the north. I''ve heard that a young master of a Manzu Tribe hade to Ninebind City, so it should be him."


    Nobody challenged the Manzu''s bid, and that young master ended up buying the three and a half tons of Jade Verdure Stone for thirty spirit coins. The item was redeemed on the spot. The Jade Verdure Stone was light but bulky, and ordinary Mustard Seed Bags couldn''t hold it. After paying, the Manzu young master put it on his shoulder, and then he went to the back. When he came out again, the stone had disappeared.


    Meanwhile, Godhead Pce was in the middle ofying down its seal. Besides that group of twenty-some people, countless subordinates were acting on Hall Master Li''s orders to surround the area. With one order from him, not even a fly would be able to escape.


    One item after another went up for auction, various treasures being marched out.


    The auction this time had many items of high quality, and there were many items that had Tang Jie''s eyes glowing.


    s, Tang Jie''s duplicate was a balloon that could pop with a single poke, so in the end, he didn''t dare to buy anything and could only watch as others won those items.


    Those people who had teamed up to bid on items were particrly active, as well as people like Reverend Tianchi, Leng Yuebing, and that Manzu young master. Reverend Tianchi primarily bought items used formanding. This person was very interested in the Dao of Domination, and Tang Jie guessed that this person was like those of the Beast Refining Gate, extremely skilled in some beast-controlling art.


    As for Leng Yuebing, she primarily focused on offense, buying mostly hidden weapon art relics.


    That Manzu young master essentially bought body-refining materials.


    The rich merchants put their attention on art relics. For them, bidding was a kind of investment, and their ultimate goal was to resell the art relics.


    "Heavenbane Lightning Pearls¡­"


    Another voice resounded.


    A woman on stage came forward with a small tray which held five Heavenbane Lightning Pearls.


    "The Heavenly Extinction Sect''s Heavenbane Lightning Pearls! I didn''t think that such a thing would appear here!" Sun Qing''s loud voice resounded in Tang Jie''s ear. "Do you know about Tang Jie? He frequently uses Heavenbane Lightning Pearls."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "I don''t."


    "You haven''t heard of him?" Sun Qing basically had "You''re clueless" on his face as he looked around and whispered, "This is the most infamous person of the present age I''m talking about here. Godhead Pce has sent many of its people to capture him, but they have yet to capture this savage of the Basking Moon Sect! Whether it''s Reverend Tianchi or Leng Yuebing, none of them even have the right to carry his shoes!"


    Tang Jie found it weird to hear other people talk about him.


    We are bit.ly/3Tfs4P4, find us on google.


    So I''ve already be that infamous?


    If other people heard his name, would they be so scared that they wouldn''t dare to bid against him?


    Thinking this, Tang Jieughed and said, "He seems to me like an ordinary guy with a nose and two eyes, just like everyone else. There''s nothing incredible about him."


    "Hmph, a frog in the well!" someone snorted in disdain. It wasn''t Sun Qing, but one of hispanions. Unable to take Tang Jie''s coolness and indifference anymore, he pulled on Sun Qing and said, "Brother Sun, don''t waste your time with this person anymore. He hasn''t even made a bid yet, so he hardly seems like a participant. I wonder how he even got an invitation card! He''s probably just here to fill space."


    Tang Jie shrugged. "I''m just unlucky. Someone is always taking anything I like."


    He raised his hand and said, "210,000."


    He had barely spoken when that Manzu young master shouted, "230,000!"


    It was twenty thousand above Tang Jie''s bid.


    Tang Jie sighed. "Look. Like I said, anything I like gets taken by someone else."


    Sun Qing and the others spat out their tongues and looked at that burly man. "He really has a shitload of money."


    Thus, the five pearls were sold off.


    Ten-some more items were auctioned off.


    Finally, a booming voice spoke.


    "One Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill, a divine pill necessary for the charge at Celestial Heart! The starting bid is five hundred thousand spirit coins."


    Tang Jie was energized by these words.


    He knew that the show was about to begin.


    Since the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill had appeared, he knew without asking that Godhead Pce had finished its preparation.


    The private room.


    Nan Ningjiang andpany were staring at Tang Jie.


    "Do we strike now?" the fifth Hawk asked Nan Ningjiang.


    "Wait a little longer," Nan Ningjiang replied.


    After some thought, he said, "I want to see what Tang Jie is trying to do."


    It was only a duplicate that hade.


    While this method was safe, it meant that Tang Jie would have a much harder time getting the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill. This clone could be obliterated with a single finger. If Tang Jie really had brought spirit coins to buy the pill, he was essentially giving the money away.


    Nan Ningjiang trusted that Tang Jie wasn''t that stupid.


    The bidding for the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill began.


    The price steadily climbed.


    As the most important medicine for advancing to Celestial Heart, it was far more valuable and important than any mighty weapon.


    On the path of Immortality, cultivation realm was the foundation. Everything else was pure fancy.


    As the bidding proceeded, Tang Jie remained seated.


    The price hit nine hundred thousand, getting closer and closer to one million. The only people still bidding were the representatives of two groups of merchants, Reverend Tianchi, Leng Yuebing, the Manzu young master, and Old Fourth Liu.


    Nan Ningjiang looked over these people and nodded. "As expected. It seems like Tang Jie has sent someone else to bid for him."


    Huang Yue said, "This person should be a Basking Moon Sect spy. It''s precisely because of him that our teleportation talisman n failed, allowing Tang Jie to take precautions and go on another crime spree."


    "Which one is it?" the eighth Hawk asked.


    "You would have to ask our third sister."


    As the third sister of the 12 Hawks, Zhou Fanghua''s primary responsibility was information gathering. All the information was sent to her for her to analyze and draw conclusions from. One could say that she was the brains of the 12 Hawks.


    Cracking open her eyelids, she gazed at the bidders and said, "Cao Shuang of deless City''s Cao n, Fan Liu of Beacon City''s Fan n, Reverend Tianchi, Leng Yuebing, and also that Manzu young master, Agutai. They are all people who have received invitation cards. Only this one¡­ is an exception."


    She pointed at Old Fourth Liu.


    Trantor Notes


    Old Fourth Liu has already been found out! Let''s see how things go as the bidding war reaches its final stage...

 Chapter 495: Troublemaker

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    In the auction house, the auction was still proceeding.


    "One million!" Reverend Tianchi shouted, bing the first to break the one million threshold, his plump face tinged with murderous intent. It was clear that he had his heart set on getting this Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill.


    "1.1 million," Leng Yuebing shouted.


    That Fan Liu from the Fan n was the first to shake his head and give up. Merchants prioritized profit, and at this price, even if they got it, there would be no profit to speak of.


    That Cao Shuang of the Cao n shouted a bid of 1.15 million, but it appeared that this price was already his limit. After that, the only people bidding for the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill would be the people who actually needed it.


    "1.2 million." Old Fourth Liu, who had been holding back this entire time, finally revealed his "fangs".


    "1.3 million," the Manzu young master smugly said.


    Reverend Tianchi grunted, "I knew that this Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill wouldn''t be easy to get, but I didn''t expect it to be this hard. Ah, fine, if it goes past 1.5 million, this old man will give up¡­ 1.4 million."


    Leng Yuebing pursed her lips in a smile. "A divine medicine like the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill has a value ording to the person. When it goes up for auction, it has always been the craziest person that gets it, not the one with the most money. If you need it enough, there is no price too high."


    She raised five fingers, bringing the price for the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill to 1.5 million.


    Just as Leng Yuebing had said, this medicine had a unique function, so it was difficult to value. In a poorer area, it might fetch a price of two to three hundred thousand, but in a big city, after several rounds of furious bidding, it might end up costing several million. It was a test to see who was willing to go bankrupt for the sake of the charge at Celestial Heart.


    There were many people present who had more money than Leng Yuebing, but few who were willing to pay so much for a single pill.


    This was exactly why Leng Yuebing was disying a resolve to fight to the end with all contenders, no matter who they were.


    This was also a kind of bidding strategy, using an intimidating pressure to make others give up.


    Inparison, Old Fourth Liu was very simple. He didn''t have any sort of impressive aura, and everyone noticed that he basically said only one sentence each time, but the price he shouted still instilled despair: "1.8 million."


    He had increased the price by three hundred thousand.


    At this price, that Manzu young master sat up and stared at Old Fourth Liu in shock.


    Leng Yuebing also looked in disbelief at him.


    The Manzu young master pped his chair and said, "I''ll add¡­"


    But before he could state a price, the steward behind him bent down and said, "Young Master, we don''t have enough money."


    "What?" The Manzu young master was stunned. "How? I brought more than three million with me this time."


    The steward replied, "You already bought a lot of things. There is currently¡­"


    "Bastard thing, you should''ve told me earlier!" The Manzu young master was furious and thrust out an elbow.


    The steward was ready for this, lightly dodging to the side and pulling over a servant.


    This elbow struck the servant, who was a burly man around two meters tall. The strike instantly caused the servant to copse, throwing up blood as he fell unconscious. Someone dragged this servant away as a new one came in to rece him, also a muscr and burly man, everything going so smoothly that it seemed as if this had been done many times before. However, the steward quietly muttered, "The young master''s temper has been rather badtely, and we''re running out of servants. We''ll have to find some more¡­"


    The Manzu young master had withdrawn.


    Only Leng Yuebing was left, viciously ring at Old Fourth Liu.


    If looks could kill, Old Fourth Liu would have been dead a thousand times over.


    The presenter had already prompted twice for any additional bids.


    Just when the third call for 1.8 million was about to seal the deal, Leng Yuebing clenched her teeth and bid 1.9 million.


    s, the price barely had time to travel through the pavilion before Old Fourth Liu shouted, "Two million."


    The auction house was instantly in an uproar.


    Two million!


    This Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill had truly reached an astronomical price.


    It wasn''t like spirit coins dropped from trees. Two million had never been a small sum.


    Using two million to buy a medicine that could support the charge to Celestial Heart, and only improved one''s chances by 20%, was a sign of such extravagance that the crowd could not help but sigh in praise.


    To put it more bluntly: a Celestial Heart probably wasn''t worth that much.


    But Leng Yubeing still didn''t n on giving up.


    She was a peak Spirit Master and had been stuck at the brink of Celestial Heart for a long time.


    Everything else was ready, and all that was needed was the eastern wind. And the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill was this eastern wind.


    No matter what, she couldn''t miss out on this chance at a Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill. After all, she didn''t know when the next one would appear.


    Gritting her silver teeth, Leng Yuebing shouted, "I''ll bid 2.1 million! Sir, I don''t know where youe from, but this Yuebing truly admires your daring. If you are willing to yield, Leng Yuebing will be forever grateful!"


    It wasn''t allowed to ask your opponent to give up at an auction, and Leng Yuebing had broken this rule, but this woman was famous enough, and the price had already rocketed up to an absurd level. Crucially, this grand asion wasn''t for the sake of money, so nobody stopped her.


    Old Fourth Liu simply said, "2.5 million. I don''t need your gratitude, only this pill."


    He had raised the price by four hundred thousand in one go.


    Leng Yuebing was crazy to get the pill, but Tang Jie had money and nowhere to spend it.


    He had stolen so much money, and it wasn''t doing any good just sitting there. He finally had a chance to use it all, so he naturally didn''t care about saving some. In any case, if he kept it, he still wouldn''t be able to spend it.


    If it couldn''t be used anywhere, it was no different from trash!


    This was exactly why this auction was more like a crazy woman who was desperate to get something and an idiot who was desperate to bankrupt himself.


    The idiot had won!


    When she saw Old Fourth Liu not even crease a brow as he made his bid, Leng Yuebingpletely gave up.


    She weakly fell onto her chair, ring at Old Fourth Liu as her chest heaved up and down, revealing her voluptuous figure.


    After three calls on the price had been made, the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill was finally sold for 2.5 million.


    This was the highest price an item had ever gone for at this auction.


    Although the medicinal effect of the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill was very powerful, 2.5 million was still a price that left everyone dizzy.


    Someone grumbled, "Crazy, insane! If this guy wants a Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill so badly, I''ll introduce him to a ce! That same price could get him two of them."


    As everyone else shook their heads, Old Fourth Liu, still trembling,pleted his mission.


    Nobody knew just how nervous he had been throughout the bidding process.


    This wasn''t a problem of money, but of attention.


    Every bid drew countless eyes to him, the gazes of Godhead Pce probably among them.


    Tang Jie had been right. After this auction, he would no longer be able to stay in Nadir Hill. He had attracted far too many eyeballs.


    But at least he hadpleted Tang Jie''s mission.


    Just when the dust had settled, a voice drilled into his ear, "Immediately pay and get the pill."


    Tang Jie?


    Old Fourth Liu looked at Tang Jie in shock.


    Wasn''t that just a clone? How could it have the ability to transmit his voice?


    "Don''t go gawking. There''s not much time." Tang Jie''s voice was brimming with urgency.


    Old Fourth Liu took in a deep breath and began to walk toward the back of the auction hall.


    "He won the auction. Should we strike?" a Hawk asked.


    Nan Ningjiang looked at Old Fourth Liu, confusion in his eyes. He muttered, "Something isn''t quite right."


    "What is it?" Everyone else was puzzled.


    Nan Ningjiang silently stared at Old Fourth Liu for a while before finally saying, "Have Hall Master Li execute the n and have the two elders strike and seize the target!"


    The fifth brother''s mouth began to move as he transmitted Nan Ningjiang''s orders.


    On the other end, Old Fourth Liu was handing over the money and taking the pill.


    Taking the pill was simple. Old Fourth Liu received the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill and inspected it. After confirming that it was the real deal, he stowed it away.


    Handing over the money was more problematic.


    2.5 million was 2,500 spirit jades.


    All of these spirit jades being taken out of a Mustard Seed Bag and piled up on the stage was a dazzling sight. At least two maidservants had toe out and help with taking out and counting the money. There were also two maidservants who clung around Old Fourth Liu, apparently taken with this "rich man".


    Meanwhile, outside Celestial Flower Pavilion.


    He Yueyang and Li Song had received the order.


    They had been waiting at the location of Tang Jie''s real body for some time, ready to seize him at a moment''s notice.


    The moment they received the order, they roared, their bodies blurring as they charged into the room. He Yueyang waved his hand, a giant hand manifesting and grabbing at Tang Jie. This was the Demon-Restraining Hand that he was most proud of, a spell art that specialized in capture and restraint. Even Heart Demon cultivators would find it hard to escape. At the same time, Li Song thrust out a finger, which spewed out a ghostly and sinister fog. Yet this sinister finger technique had a very pleasant name: the Incense-Lighting Finger. The power of the Incense-Lighting Finger prated into one''s marrow, lingering there forever, so it was ideal for pursuit.


    One specialized in capture and the other specialized in pursuit. From this, one could see that they weren''t looking down on Tang Jie because of his cultivation level, instead using all their power to capture him. This was something that Nan Ningjiang had specifically ordered.


    With two Heart Demon True Persons taking action, this should have been a sure thing.


    At this time, Tang Jie had barely raised his head, his face full of shock as he looked at the two Heart Demon True Persons. It seemed like he had yet toe to his senses.


    A momentter, the Demon-Restraining Hand seized Tang Jie, and there was a poof as Tang Jie''s body shattered, dissolving into smoke. As for the Incense-Lighting Finger, itpletely missed, vanishing into the smoke.


    The two True Persons, seething with murderous intent, were struck dumb.


    "This is¡­ an illusion!" He Yueyang shrieked.


    "An illusion!" In Room 1, the fifth Hawk also shouted.


    "That''s impossible!" Nan Ningjiang shouted. "We''ve already used your spirit detection secret art on that area. An illusion can''t appear in that secret art. It doesn''t have enough spiritual energy!"


    "Look at the map!" Third Sister Zhou Fanghua pointed.


    On the map, that dot representing Tang Jie''s real body was fading away.


    "It''s a spirit link art," the third sister shouted. "It can leave behind a spirit link mark that can feign as the real body. It''s a spell art that specifically counters spirit detection!"


    Zhou Fanghua''s voice clearly rose to a higher pitch as she spoke.


    Nan Ningjiang took in a cold breath. "He knows our tracking method¡­"


    Nearby, the hidden Xi Canhen mysteriously smiled.


    "What do we do now?" Everyone looked to Nan Ningjiang.


    Nan Ningjiang stared ahead, where the auction staff had just about finished counting the money.


    Old Fourth Liu had taken the medicine and was finishing up the final procedures.


    He was about to leave.


    At an auction, it was verymon to leave early once one had gotten what one wanted.


    "Big Brother!" Everyone''s anxious voices resounded in Nan Ningjiang''s ears.


    His mind trembled, and his scattered consciousness returned to his brain. His eyes brightened as he said, "The spirit link mark can''t move, but the Tang Jie we saw before was moving. This means that his real body was in that room before. So how did he leave?"


    The fifth Hawk urgently conveyed the question, and a few momentster, he replied, "True Person He says that they were watching the house this entire time, and they didn''t sense any ripples of spiritual energy. Tang Jie did not use any sort of spell art to leave."


    The third sister suddenly said, "Maybe he doesn''t need a spell art."


    "''Doesn''t need a spell art''?" The fifth Hawk was startled, but he stillmunicated these words to He Yueyang.


    The two Heart Demon True Persons looked at each other, clearly not believing in this theory. Nevertheless, they unleashed powerful energy, almost sweeping up the house as they sent all the objects within it into the air.


    When the bed flew up, a dark hole was revealed below it.


    The two of them rushed over, and when He Yueyang nced at the area around the pit, he cursed, "It''s a Breath Restraint formation!"


    In the private room, the fifth Hawk shouted, "Found it! Tang Jie, that bastard, dug a tunnel and ran off! There was a Breath Restraint formation around the entrance, covering up the spiritual energy."


    Everyone gasped.


    He truly was cunning, using a simple tunnel instead of a spell art to escape. While primitive, it was practical, and good enough to trick two Heart Demon True Persons.


    Nan Ningjiang considered this new development. "He only had a few days, so the tunnel can''t be too long, and the Breath Restraint formation also couldn''t have extended too far. Immediately search for him and see where he went. We''ll keep an eye on Old Fourth Liu. No matter where Tang Jie goes, he has to think of a way to meet up with Old Fourth Liu to take the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill."


    "That''s easy!" In the house, He Yueyang shouted, "Open up!"


    When you''re just trying to make great content at tinyurl/37k7u89t.


    With a chop of his palm, the house and the earth were cleaved apart, revealing the long tunnel hidden underground.


    This Heart Demon True Person didn''t even need to enter the tunnel, cleaving open the earth to reveal the entirety of the tunnel. As for the noise and chaos, he didn''t care. Immortals might choose to care about mortals while there was no more pressing matter, but when they had things to do, the strong lived and the weak died, and the mindset of sparing those who obeyed and killing those who resisted was fully bared.


    The tunnel led to a nearby house, and the two True Persons headed straight over.


    At the same time, the fifth Hawk said, "They''re giving chase right now. True Person Ming, please seal the area and stop him from escaping!"


    "Good!" Nan Ningjiang shouted.


    Once the order was given, Ming Yezhen activated his sealing spell art. Arge area around him becamepletely sealed. Unless one had a higher cultivation level than him, one could not use a spell art to leave the area.


    At the same time,rge numbers of Godhead Pce disciples converged on the sealed area, encircling it.


    Nan Ningjiang''s face turned vicious as he whispered, "Tang Jie, let us begin this game of cat and mouse."


    The Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill hadn''t left the area yet, so Nan Ningjiang was sure that Tang Jie wouldn''t leave.


    His gaze fell on Old Fourth Liu. Nan Ningjiang began to specte as to when and where Tang Jie would appear to take the pill from Old Fourth Liu.


    Old Fourth Liu was still making his way to the door of Celestial Flower Pavilion.


    The Celestial Flower Barrier was in the process of being undone, and a sliver of light peeked through the door.


    At that moment, Old Fourth Liu suddenly heard Tang Jie''s voice. "When the door opens, don''t go out. Stay there for a while, and then wait for my order to go back to the auction to bid on more things."


    "Huh?" Old Fourth Liu was startled.


    His expression also made Nan Ningjiang confused. As he began to think about it, the fifth Hawk suddenly said, "True Person He has found where the tunnel goes, but the building is empty. However, True Person He found that there seemed to be a lot of people in that building."


    "''A lot of people''? What does that mean?" Nan Ningjiang asked.


    "A lot of cultivators," the fifth Hawk replied. "They didn''t try to hide themselves, so True Person He was able to detect their auras. In addition, there was a dead person found hidden near the tunnel exit. He appeared to be at peak Mortal Shedding."


    "Peak Mortal Shedding," the third sister muttered. She suddenly realized something and shouted, "Those twelve people!"


    When searching for Tang Jie, they had found 13 points of light in total. Twelve of the peak Mortal Shedding experts were clearly together, and only one was alone. It was exactly because it was alone that the Hawks realized that this was Tang Jie. After all, they didn''t think that Tang Jie could find 12 peak Mortal Shedding allies in Nadir Hill. Moreover, to tell the truth, if he were finding allies, he wouldn''t have only found peak Mortal Shedding experts. These twelve people were clearly an unrted group. Because everyone only cared about Tang Jie, they hadn''t tried to find out who those people were.


    But now, they found that Tang Jie had gone toward those 12 points of light.


    Everyone looked at the map and found that those 12 points of light really had moved, going from that building to the side. But as nobody had been paying attention to them before, it was only now that they realized that those 12 points of light were moving in the direction of Celestial Flower Pavilion.


    One of them was dead, yet there were still 12 points of light.


    Everyone instantly understood.


    Tang Jie was among those twelve. He had disguised himself as the dead one and mixed into the group.


    But who were those 12 people? And what was Tang Jie thinking?


    At the same time, Celestial Flower Pavilion''s defensive barrier was released, and the pavilion door opened. Rather than stepping out, Old Fourth Liu moved back into the pavilion, saying that he had changed his mind and wanted to bid on more things.


    As the rays of sunlight shone onto the noisy auction crowd, they also shone onto Nan Ningjiang''s face.


    At that point, he suddenly realized something and shouted, "Not good! They''re trying to steal the pill!"


    As he spoke, those 12 people in the distance rushed up to the pavilion.


    Their leader was a stalwart savage with a red scarf wrapped around his head.


    His shout preceded him:


    "Hand over the treasure!"


    A mighty gale howled toward Celestial Flower Pavilion, blowing into the auction venue and assailing Old Fourth Liu and everyone else inside.


    A third party had appeared.


    Trantor Notes


    It turns out that when you''re holding an auction to attract a certain target, you might also end up attracting other treasure seekers.

 Chapter 496: Hiding

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Third Sister Zhou Fanghua finally shouted, "The 13 Demons of Mount Luo! It''s the 13 Demons of Mount Luo!"


    These 13 Demons were none other than a group of infamous savages of the Mount Luo region. Although they were cultivators, their conduct confirmed them to be bandits. They wantonly attacked merchant convoys and plundered the homes of the wealthy, and had long ago been made wanted criminals by Nadir Hill. But these people were truly fierce, and they also had a formidable master, so nobody had been able to capture them yet.


    These 13 people were all at the peak of Mortal Shedding, so they naturally wanted to get a medicine that could help them advance. But nobody had expected them toe out at this time to try and steal the medicine.


    When Tang Jie had used the spirit-surveying formation to find the Hawk Hall''s people, Tang Jie had noticed two clumps of light. One belonged to the Hawk Hall, and the other belonged to the 13 Demons of Mount Luo. While doing his reconnaissance, Tang Jie naturally found out the purpose of that group of 13. He inadvertently discovered that they hade to steal the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill, so they had the misfortune of bing a part of Tang Jie''s n.


    The 13 Demons of Mount Luo hadn''t nned to charge into Celestial Flower Pavilion, instead nning to wait for the person who had bought the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill toe out, and then take it from him. In order to prevent that person from escaping upon leaving the pavilion, they nned to strike at the moment that person came out. 13 people attacking a single person should have been able to seed with a single strike. So long as they seized the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill and didn''t hurt anyone else, they didn''t think that anyone would make trouble for them.


    But to their surprise, when the pavilion doors opened, Old Fourth Liu didn''t leave, instead going back into the pavilion. Yet by that point, the 13 Demons had already shown themselves.


    This sudden development caught the 13 Demons off guard, causing their strategy for a quick and decisive battle to fail. As they couldn''t kill Old Fourth Liu in one strike, they were now caught in the vortex and unable to extricate themselves.


    Nan Ningjiang shouted, "Tang Jie is mixed in with them! He wants to borrow the 13 Demons to snatch the pill! Stop them!"


    It was already toote.


    Theft is never good, try looking at tinyurl/37k7u89t.


    At this moment, the red scarf man chopped his palm down, which instantly set off the auction house, and countless cultivators attacked in response. The eleven cultivators behind the red scarf man also took action, throwing out talismans and spell arts. Celestial Flower Pavilion was swept up in a raging storm that made it shudder.


    Old Fourth Liu heard Tang Jie''s voice in his ear: "Throw out the medicine!"


    What?


    ''Throw out the medicine''?


    Old Fourth Liu was startled.


    Had he mustered up all his courage and finallypleted the mission Tang Jie had given him just to throw away the pill?


    He knew that Tang Jie wanted him to throw the medicine for his own good. Those savages who hade out of nowhere were clearly aiming at him. If he didn''t throw out the medicine, he would probably be killed. Moreover, once he threw away the medicine, Godhead Pce might have noticed him, but it wouldn''t have the time to deal with him.


    He knew that if he did as Tang Jie said, then Tang Jie had probably mixed into the crowd and would get the medicine.


    And in this process, Old Fourth Liu could escape.


    But at that moment, he suddenly didn''t want to do this.


    As he stood there in the auction house, he even became deaf to Tang Jie''s cries of "Hurry!" He was in a daze, seemingly seeing a moment where he, too, could have his moment of glory.


    Throwing away the treasure and putting his fate in the hands of others? All of a sudden, he wasn''t very willing to ept it.


    All his life, he had been hiding away, but today, at this moment, perhaps because he knew that he was about to go home, he suddenly felt like being a hero.


    He wanted to protect the pill and personally deliver it to Tang Jie, not be a coward that threw away the pill and retreated so that Tang Jie could fight for the pill himself.


    Thus, when Old Fourth Liu saw that approaching storm, he suddenly roared and thrust his hands forward.


    An enormous power erupted from his palms, mming into the 13 Demons of Mount Luo.


    "Kill!" he bellowed.


    "No!" Tang Jie anxiously cried out.


    As Tang Jie yelled, the two energies mmed into each other, but the other side had twelve people, so Old Fourth Liu was sent flying, mming into a wall.


    He tumbled to the ground and threw up a great mouthful of blood, unable to stand.


    The red scarf man savagelyughed and grabbed at Old Fourth Liu, certainly to kill him. At this moment, someone came flying out from the side, mming into Old Fourth Liu and sending him rolling away. It was none other than the duplicate Tang Jie.


    Boom!


    The red scarf man''s wed hand brushed straight over their heads.


    "What are you doing?" Tang Jie angrily roared.


    Old Fourth Liu wanly smiled. "I just wanted to¡­ to give you the medicine¡­ myself¡­ so you didn''t need to fight."


    Old Fourth Liu stuffed the Mustard Seed Bag into Tang Jie''s hand.


    Tang Jie was startled. "That wasn''t necessary¡­"


    Old Fourth Liu softly whispered something to Tang Jie.


    The red scarf man roared and charged over, his palm thrusting at Tang Jie''s back.


    Tang Jie didn''t dodge, grabbing the Mustard Seed Bag and throwing it into the air, where it instantly became the center of attention.


    The st of palm energy struck Tang Jie, and he exploded into spiritual light. The remaining power continued into Old Fourth Liu''s body, and he grunted as he was sent flying again.


    He had already been heavily injured, and he was powerless against this blow. As his body tumbled through the air, his life faded away and his eyes began to dim.


    He looked up at the sky and whispered, "Finally¡­ time to leave."


    His body crashed to the ground in a plume of dust.


    Phweee! There was a long whistle.


    The private room on the upper floor opened, and the 12 Hawks, Huang Yue, Xu Mingyue, and True Person Liang rushed out.


    "Godhead Pce''s Hawk Hall is on official business to seize the criminal Tang Jie! Anyone who resists will be killed!" Nan Ningjiang loudly shouted.


    Godhead Pce''s name instantly brought order to the auction house, only the 13 Demons of Mount Luo continuing to rampage. They were wanted criminals like Tang Jie, so they naturally wouldn''t listen to Godhead Pce. In fact, rather than obeying, they even attacked Nan Ningjiang.


    Nan Ningjiang blocked the strike and shouted, "Seize them! Huang Yue, check them over! Call the two elders back!"


    As he spoke, a talisman flew into the air.


    The talisman burst apart in the air, but as it did, ck smoke began to cover the pavilion.


    This smoke obscured the vision of everyone in the auction house, and Huang Yue''s eye was for seeing through illusions, not into the void, so it was immediately affected. Unable to see anyone, he shouted, "I can''t see!"


    Nan Ningjiang shouted, "Use a Bright Light Talisman!"


    A light erupted in the smoke, scattering part of the smoke and restoring some vision.


    Light and smoke intersected, creating a patchwork in the auction grounds and making everyone''s faces sh in and out of the shadows.


    In the shadows, the battlemenced.


    The red scarf man''s face appeared more savage in the intersection of light and shadow. He thrust a giant palm at the cultivator that had grabbed the Mustard Seed Bag. "Die!"


    That small Mustard Seed Bag immediately drew the attention of countless people.


    But the Hawk Hall only cared about Tang Jie.


    Huang Yue moved through the crowd like a madman, looking for the 13 Demons of Mount Luo. As his vision was limited, he needed to get up close in order to see a person''s face. Fortunately, the Hawk Hall was the strongest party here, so even without the two Heart Demon elders, the ten-some Spirit Ring True Persons were enough to hold down the fort.


    They repeatedly attacked the 13 Demons of Mount Luo, bringing them up to Huang Yue for him to identify. Upon seeing each face, Huang Yue shook his head and said, "Not him."


    As the number of people dwindled, the chaotic melee intensified. As the weaker ones were killed or captured, only the truly strong were left. These people either wanted the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill or had some other n. Reverend Tianchi, Leng Yuebing, the Manzu young master, and the red scarf man of the 13 Demons of Mount Luo were locked in battle against each other.


    At this moment, the Mustard Seed Bag fell into the hands of Leng Yuebing. She had nimble and ethereal movement techniques, allowing her to move freely within the closed area of Celestial Flower Pavilion. She evaded the red scarf man''s attacks again and again whileughing, "I was wondering who came. So it was Boss and your brothers,e to get rich off someone else. But your luck today seems poor, running into the Hawk Hall. It seems like the 13 Demons of Mount Luo will cease to exist after today."


    "Even if we''re no more, we''ll get that pill first!" That Boss Hong jumped into the air and grabbed at Leng Yuebing.


    Leng Yuebing was fearless,ughing as she said, "While Boss Hong is skilled, it''s rather difficult to steal this pill from me. I might not be good at anything else, but I do have some means of stalling. Your people are being taken down one by one. Boss Hong, I''m afraid you won''tst."


    The red scarf man savagelyughed. "You''ll be the first one to break."


    Leng Yuebing pursed her lips and said, "Let''s see if that works out for you."


    The red scarf man whispered, "You seem to have forgotten that we''re the 13 Demons of Mount Luo. Since we''re ''13 Demons'', why are there only 12 of us?"


    Leng Yuebing froze, warning bells going off in her mind.


    "Strike already!" the red scarf man bellowed.


    Leng Yuebing knew that she was in trouble and rapidly beat a retreat, but she was toote.


    Reverend Tianchi suddenly turned around and thrust a palm at Leng Yuebing''s back. It seemed like a gentle palm, but Leng Yuebing threw up blood and felt her entire body freezing up, unable to muster a single bit of spiritual energy.


    Only now did she realize that Reverend Tianchi was one of the 13 Demons of Mount Luo. She should have realized it beforehand, for how could the 13 Demons have known what time the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill was won if they didn''t have an insider?


    Reverend Tianchi grabbed the Mustard Seed Bag.


    "Haha, it''s finally ours!" The red scarf man and Reverend Tianchi exchanged a nce, joy on their faces. They called to leave, taking out an Earth Escape Talisman and breaking it.


    But though the talisman shattered, its power failed to work.


    "Space is sealed?" the two shouted in unison.


    They hadn''t expected there to be a spatial seal, and the two of them were instantly in an awkward spot.


    The battle was still going on, so the two exchanged a nce before rushing out of the pavilion.


    "Stop them!" Nan Ningjiang waved his hand, and two of the 12 Hawks flew out to intercept. These two were both Spirit Ring True Persons, whereas Boss Hong and Reverend Tianchi were only at the peak of Mortal Shedding, no match for the two Hawks. Their defeat seemed imminent.


    Suddenly, the earth quaked, and Celestial Flower Pavilion swayed.


    "What happened?" Everyone was startled.


    Xu Mingyue grimaced. "A formation has been activated, arge-scale formation!"


    "What kind of formation?" Nan Ningjiang shouted. "Who is it targeting?"


    Xu Mingyue didn''t reply, but the fifth brother shrieked, "It''s the two elders! Elders He and Li! They''ve been caught in the formation!"


    ''Elders He and Li''?


    The moment Nan Ningjiang heard that He Yueyang and Li Song were in trouble, he knew that something was wrong.


    Tang Jie must have set up some otherrge formation on the outside to deal with those two.


    He shouted, "Xu Mingyue, go and break the formation!"


    "Understood!" Xu Muyang shouted, rushing out of the pavilion. She wasn''t at all surprised by this development. After all, this was what she had been ordered here to do. But Xu Mingyue couldn''t help but feel a little sad at the thought that she would have to fight Xu Muyang''s student.


    "Little Brother, don''t me me. I''m doing this for the sake of the Xu n," she muttered.


    Rushing out of Celestial Flower Pavilion, she was greeted by a shocking sight.


    Smoke rose up from all around Ninebind City as mes burned. It was like tens of thousands of people had set fires throughout the city.


    There was one particr region in the distance that stood out.


    This region was circled by dark clouds that blocked visibility. Thunderous roars and a powerful killing intent came from within it, a mighty energy mming against the clouds, but the clouds refused to scatter.


    Xu Mingyue knew that Elders He and Li were there.


    A stream of Divine Will swept toward Xu Mingyue.


    "Is it Mingyue?" a voice said in her mind.


    "It''s me. Is this Lord He? Are you still okay?"


    He Yueyang grunted, "I''m fine. It''s an Earth st Dark Wind Formation. It''s rather troublesome, but it can''t kill us. However, we won''t be able to help you for the moment. What''s the situation on your end?"


    "It''s still chaos, but Tang Jie shouldn''t be able to escape. I will help the two of you break out."


    "There''s no rush. I understand a little about the Earth st Dark Wind Formation, and I will need only a little time to undo the formation. But it appears that Tang Jie hasid out a formation around the entirety of Ninebind City. I don''t know what he''s nning, but we can''t let him seed."


    "''The entire city''?" Xu Mingyue was shocked, and she turned to the plumes of smoke rising up from the city. They no longer seemed random to her, but arranged in ordance with the principles of the world.


    The more Xu Mingyue saw, the more shocked she was. "The nature method! This is my little brother''s method of using nature to make formations! It really is him! It really is him!"


    She hadn''t expected this boy to reach such a high level in formations, apparently even more capable than she was. If He Yueyang hadn''t pointed it out, she wouldn''t have even realized that the fire and smoke throughout the city were formation nodes that created an evenrger formation.


    "I''ll go and handle it now," Xu Mingyue shouted. She flew out and began to fire spell arts from her hand, gathering information from the various parts of the city so that she could break the formation.


    As the formation wasrge enough to cover the entire city, Xu Mingyue was having a rather hard time calcting everything. Spirit lines appeared in her mind, a city-sized formation taking form. In this process, she failed to notice a pair of eyes watching her.


    As the formation diagram rified, Xu Mingyue''s mind began to clear. "I see. This formation''s purpose is offensive, gathering all its power to attack a single point¡­ Where is that point¡­"


    Xu Mingyue calcted and searched. Finally, she shouted, "Found it!"


    She looked toward that point and paled. "Oh no!"


    As she cried out in rm, a lightning bolt descended from the sky, striking a very special part of Ninebind City¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Whoosh!


    A silver sh of light passed over the red scarf man, cutting him in half.


    The man roared, and the two halves of his body merged back together. Upon attaining a spiritual body, a cultivator wouldn''t die no matter what injury they received. The only limit was of how much life force they could consume.


    But a momentter, those two halves couldn''t fully heal. A steely palm struck the red scarf man, jolting him into pieces that were impossible to put back together.


    "Old Hong!" Reverend Tianchi cried out in grief at the death of his rival and partner in crime, and he struck with even greater ferocity.


    But he was no match for Godhead Pce, and the fifth Hawk shattered his head with a single palm strike.


    "This isn''t the one, either."


    "Nor this one." The fifth brother and eighth brother looked at each other and sighed.


    If it were Tang Jie, he would have never died this easily.


    The smoke in the auction house dispersed, and as vision was restored, the fighting ceased. Only the blood flowing on the ground was left to indicate the tragedy that had urred here.


    The infamous 13 Demons of Mount Luo had had disastrous luck, running into a trap made to capture Tang Jie, and they had beenpletely wiped out, either dead or captured.


    Huang Yue once more inspected the corpses and survivors.


    Not just the 13 Demons, but everyone else as well.


    "This doesn''t make sense." Huang Yue shook his head, confusion in his eyes.


    "What''s going on?" Nan Ningjiang had already lost his patience.


    Huang Yue replied, "I didn''t find Tang Jie."


    "What?" The irascible True Person Liang roared, "Tang Jie was clearly here. He mixed in with the 13 Demons of Mount Luo, and now, all of the 13 Demons are here. Why can''t you confirm which one is Tang Jie yet?"


    There was confusion in Huang Yue''s eyes. "I don''t know, either. Everyone here is wearing their real face. Nobody is using an illusion spell or some other spell art to disguise themselves."


    "That''s not possible. How could that happen?"


    "How would I know?" Huang Yue angrily retorted. "I''ve looked five times now, and I swear that they''re all their real selves."


    Everyone was stunned by these words.


    The chaos might have prevented Huang Yue from making a proper identification, but now that the battle was over, with no one having run off, and Godhead Pce in control of the situation, there was no reason for Huang Yue to not be able to find Tang Jie.


    The third sister shook her head. "It doesn''t make sense. Elders He and Li clearly saw a dead man in the tunnel, and there was no 13th point of light. Tang Jie had to have disguised himself as one of them."


    "Wait!" Nan Ningjiang shouted. "That dead man¡­"


    Everyone looked at Nan Ningjiang.


    Nan Ningjiang pensively said, "That dead man was ced in the excavated tunnel? But the tunnel had a Breath Restraint spell applied to it, so even a living person wouldn''t show a light, right?"


    Everyone froze as they tried to digest this observation.


    The third sister was the first to realize, her eyes widening as she covered her mouth and gasped, "Oh, heavens! Tang Jie didn''t kill one of the 13 Demons! He disguised himself as one of the 13 Demons and then pretended to be a corpse hidden in the tunnel¡­ We brushed right past him!"


    A scene yed out in everyone''s minds.


    Right after Elders He and Li left the tunnel, that corpse came to life.


    He stood off, brushed off the dirt on his body, and turned back into Tang Jie. He gazed at the distant elders and the 12 Demons, an enigmatic smile appearing on his face¡­


    Trantor Notes


    s, Old Fourth Liu decided that going out like a hero was better than a peaceful retirement.

 Chapter 497: All Within Ones PalmChapter 497: All Within Ones Palm

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Boom!


    A massive boom came from outside.


    Everyone rushed out and saw a lightning bolt crashing into the distance, lighting up the entire area and releasing countless smaller slivers of electricity.


    Amidst the crackling lightning, a brilliant rainbow light rose into the sky.


    "It''s the storehouse!" Nan Ningjiang scowled. "The defensive formation of Ninebind City''s storehouse has been broken!"


    Everyone felt their vision go dark upon hearing this.


    Ninebind City''s storehouse was the most important location in the city. Ever since Tang Jie''s crime spree, the storehouses of other ces had all been ced under heavy guard, protected by formations. But to their surprise, a storehouse had been attacked again at a moment like this.


    Worst of all was that the 12 Hawks had mustered people from all over to capture Tang Jie, and this included the guards of the storehouse.


    In other words, the storehouse had a manpower shortage, and now that that mighty lightning bolt had shattered the defensive formation, it was almostpletely defenseless.


    As the lightning dissipated, a person could be seen rising up.


    Huang Yue activated his Celestial Eye, pushing through the piercing pain. He was finally able to make that person out and shouted, "Tang Jie! It''s Tang Jie!"


    The Tang Jie that had appeared in the distant sky was naturally not some duplicate, but the real deal.


    He raised his hands, and a fog rose up, enveloping the region. The next step was to take out the Mountain River State Diagram and take the entire storehouse. Of course, he had to deal with the remaining guards before this, and as the winds howled, sounds of fighting came from the storehouse.


    "Hurry to their aid!" someone shouted.


    Everyone flew toward the storehouse.


    With the storehouse in danger and Tang Jie appearing there, everyone cast aside Celestial Flower Pavilion, only taking with them the surviving members of the 13 Demons.


    Smoke was still rising from the storehouse, but the sounds of fighting were dwindling. It seemed like Tang Jie was just about done.


    At this moment, Nan Ningjiang suddenly stopped. "Wait."


    "What?" Everyone looked at Nan Ningjiang in confusion.


    Gazing at the distant fog, Nan Ningjiang said, "Why does Tang Jie want to rob the storehouse?"


    "For its goods, of course," the eight Hawk said. "Isn''t that what he''s been doing all this time?"


    Nan Ningjiang shook his head. "The problem is that he doesn''t want those goods, but the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill. Since Tang Jie never entered Celestial Flower Pavilion, how does he n to get the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill? Through that Basking Moon spy? Since he nned to use the spy to take the medicine out, why did he not try to stop the 13 Demons of Mount Luo, instead using them to fool us? Simply to deceive us? If it was to deceive us, I admit that he''s done it, but if that doesn''t achieve his ultimate goal of getting the pill, what was the point?"


    Everyone realized that his argument made a lot of sense.


    Yes, Tang Jie''s real goal was the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill, so if he didn''t achieve this goal, even if he tricked them all, what did it matter? Because he didn''t get the pill, even though he had fooled them, he had still, from a certain perspective, failed.


    Tang Jie wasn''t the type of person who did pointless things.


    Third Sister Zhou Fanghua said, "There''s another thing that doesn''t make sense."


    Everyone looked at her.


    Zhou Fanghua said, "The smoke talisman. Don''t you feel it was strange to throw it out? It was precisely because of that talisman that Huang Yue lost the opportunity to examine everyone. But in that situation, who would throw out that sort of talisman? And one of such a high level?"


    In a chaotic situation, throwing out a talisman in a fight was verymon, but who would throw out a smoke talisman?


    "Also¡­" The taciturn second Hawk spoke. "If Tang Jie wanted to trick us, then having aplete grasp on the situation is very important, and he can''t make a single mistake when ites to timing. But if Tang Jie was disguising himself as a corpse, how could he control the situation?"


    Xi Canhen replied, "He has that sprite called Yiyi who canmunicate with nts."


    "That only works for the outside, not within the pavilion."


    "What about the clone?"


    Nobody had anything to say about that.


    Nan Ningjiang suddenly recalled Old Fourth Liu''s hesitant and surprised expression, and how he was indecisive and seemed to be taking orders, and he had a sh of realization, shouting, "It''s not the clone! That was only used to fool us! There was someone else in the pavilion!"


    "''Someone else''?" Everyone was stunned.


    "That mysterious True Person Gui?"


    "No, impossible!" Huang Yue immediately denied. He knew what True Person Gui looked like, and if that guy had dared toe, there was no way Huang Yue would have missed him.


    One of the hawks said, "Then another spy?"


    Basking Moon had many spies. If Tang Jie could contact one, he could naturally contact others.


    Nan Ningjiang instantly rejected the idea. "No! This person was the one giving orders to that Basking Moon spy, meaning he was the real person to take the medicine. He must have understood everything about Tang Jie''s n. This person has to be very important, so important that¡­" He looked at the smoke billowing from the storehouse region and said, "So important that Tang Jie would use himself to draw us away and give that person a chance to leave."


    Everyone finally understood why Tang Jie wanted to attack the storehouse.


    That person that had been unknown to all of them would take the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill, and then Tang Jie''s real body would appear, using himself as a distraction to protect that person. Of course, he would also fill his own purse in the process.


    An excellent interlocking n!


    "But the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill is with us!" the fifth Hawk shouted, raising a Mustard Seed Bag.


    Everyone gave that Mustard Seed Bag an odd look.


    The fifth Hawk also had an ill foreboding.


    After taking the Mustard Seed Bag from the red scarf man, as they hadn''t actually cared about the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill itself, they hadn''t looked inside the bag. But now, they realized that there was no reason for Tang Jie to have gone so far only to give up.


    The fifth Hawk opened the Mustard Seed Bag, looked inside, and paled.


    He looked at Nan Ningjiang. "There''s no pill."


    No pill!


    The Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill wasn''t in the Mustard Seed Bag!


    Everyone was stunned!


    "That damn bastard!" several people cursed.


    There was no need to ask. That Basking Moon spy had yed a trick, putting the pill inside and then secretly switching it out.


    Nan Ningjiang turned and said, "Second Brother, Fourth Brother, Fifth Brother, Sixth Sister, Seventh Brother, and True Person Liang,e with me to Celestial Flower Pavilion. Third Sister, take the rest to the storehouse to chase after Tang Jie."


    "Yes!" everyone sounded off, splitting into two groups.


    Nan Ningjiang hastily led his group back to Celestial Flower Pavilion.


    When they arrived, they found that many people had already left.


    After all that ruckus, there was no way the auction could keep going. Some people were bored and departed, and the remainder were people who had yet to emerge from their shock and fear.


    "Seal the doors! No one else is allowed to leave! Have Hall Master Li check who already left. Sixth Sister, go and check everyone''s identities," Nan Ningjiang loudly ordered. Although he knew that Tang Jie''s aplice was no longer here, he still decided to shutter the pavilion and inspect everyone.


    Nan Ningjiang found Old Fourth Liu''s body.


    The fifth brother searched Old Fourth Liu and then shook his head at Nan Ningjiang. "It''s not on him."


    Nan Ningjiang was unmoved. "It must have been taken away. Fourth Brother, restore the battlefield and see who approached this man."


    "Yes!" The fourth Hawk nodded, and he began his Recall spell art. His eyes glowed with a mystical light that seemed to prate through the void and see into the past. Fragmentary scenes began to blink through his eyes, speckled figures shing in and out.


    He tried his utmost to memorize every scene, meanwhile muttering, "No¡­ no¡­ not it¡­ not it either¡­"


    The Recall spell art was an extremely taxing spell art, and the farther into the past one wanted to recall, the more energy it demanded.


    Even though Godhead Pce had carefully chosen a disciple that could use the Recall spell art, the fourth Hawk still had an extremely tough time using the spell.


    Thankfully, he was rather lucky this time. He had been present for this incident, and the matter hadn''t taken ce too long ago, so it wasn''t too much of a burden. If he needed to look too far back, he might be seriously ill and lose much of his life force.


    Finally, the fourth Hawk shouted, "I see it! Someone is taking the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill from Old Fourth Liu''s body!"


    "Who is it?"


    "I don''t know!" the fourth Hawk shouted. "That bastard has covered his face, as if he knows that I know Recall. And he''s walking through the smoke so that I can''t get a good look at him¡­"


    "His figure, his clothes, where he came from!" Nan Ningjiang shouted.


    "He''s crawling across the ground. I''ve never seen someone crawl like that before. He''s very muscr and solid. He''s wearing¡­ servant clothes? Shit; he''s a servant! This bastard is a servant!"


    "What sort of servant?" Nan Ningjiang barked.


    "I''m looking!" the fourth Hawk shouted back.


    The scenes continued to leap through his eyes, and as time continued to reverse, that crawling figure moved backward, gradually withdrawing into the crowd, and then standing up, upon which a talisman flew through the air and into his hand.


    "Oh, shit; he really was the one who released the smoke talisman!" the fourth Hawk cried out.


    He had finally found the culprit.


    He saw that man move his hand toward his face. He knew that he was about to see this man''s true face.


    At this moment, the earth quaked, and the fourth Hawk was jostled and fell forward.


    The scene crumbled!


    "NO!" the fourth Hawk yelled.


    The interruption had broken him out of the spell, and he could not bring it back. Moreover, each time reversal would make Recall more difficult, so he had essentially lost the chance to find the culprit.


    "Which bastard did that!?" the fourth brother angrily roared.


    Turning his head, the fourth brother paled as he muttered, "Heavens!"


    Outside of Celestial Flower Pavilion, numerous vines iled like ck tentacles, approaching in a wave of death.


    As the fourth brother turned around, a ck tentacleshed out like a whip, curling around him and dragging him out of the pavilion.


    Having just used Recall, the fourth brother was utterly exhausted, helpless to resist, and was pulled away by the tentacle.


    "No!" he shrieked.


    "Fourth Brother!" Nan Ningjiang shouted, hugging the fourth brother''s body. The second and fifth brothers swiftly followed. But as they jumped out, more of those vines began to assail the people in the pavilion.


    Cries of rm rang out. While the cultivators were able to battle against the tentacles, the ordinary people who had juste here to do business were instantly caught.


    There was a chewing sound, and then a boom as countless bones shot out, peppering the insides of the pavilion and painting the walls red with blood.


    Everyone was aghast at this sight. Meanwhile, the fourth brother was still caught in the clutches of a vine, and it was only the strenuous effort of Nan Ningjiang andpany that kept him from being dragged away.


    Nan Ningjiang shouted, "It''s ck Sin! Second Brother, use the Holy Sword!"


    The second brother raised his right arm, and a de of light emerged on his arm and chopped at the fiendish vine.


    The vine instantly broke, and a bitter scream came from outside the pavilion.


    With this, they were finally able to pull back the fourth brother.


    As they were celebrating, there was suddenly a cold snort.


    Upon hearing it, Nan Ningjiang''s heart turned cold. "Shit!"


    The countless vines shot forward in unison like a wall of spears, all of them stabbing at the fourth brother.


    "Stop them!" Nan Ningjiang frantically cried out, thrusting forward his palms with all his might.


    But this ck Sin was not a newborn. It had been feeding beneath Ninebind City for quite some time, the activation of the formation and the countless deaths providing it plenty of food. Its strength had swelled to that of a Spirit Ring True Person.


    When you''re just trying to make great content at tinyurl/37k7u89t.


    The hundreds of vine spears prated through the palm sts of Nan Ningjiang andpany, shattered the protection of the Godhead Armor, and pierced into the fourth brother''s body, then they swiftly drew back. In a sh, the fourth brother''s body erupted with fountains of blood.


    His body had been turned into a sieve.


    As a peak Mortal Shedding cultivator who had been through the Three Witherings, the fourth brother wasn''t dead yet. A fiendish gale blew, and ice and fire surged into the pavilion. In this confined space, the fourth brother had nowhere to run, and in that torrent of spell arts, he let out the most terrified scream of his life.


    Outside the pavilion, a tall and imposing figure loomed with his back to the sun, his face covered in shadow. There was no doubt that this attack had been his doing.


    "Fourth Brother!" Nan Ningjiang painfully cried out. He turned to that mysterious dark figure and gasped. "You didn''t leave?"


    The ck figure coldly grunted and spoke in a raspy voice. "Since you split your forces, I attacked!"


    This was Tang Jie''s style.


    This person was none other than Tang Jie''s original body.


    The one speaking to Old Fourth Liu this whole time had been the original body. As for the one who had turned into the corpse and was plundering the storehouse, that was the avatar. The original body was getting the medicine for the avatar while the avatar provided the distraction for the original body to escape. The ultimate goal of all this was to conceal the existence of the original body.


    As Tang Jie''s greatest trump card and greatest secret, Tang Jie wouldn''t use it until the veryst moment.


    The original body had been about to leave when he saw Nan Ningjiang''s group splitting up, so he turned around.


    The original body was strong enough to deal with those in Nan Ningjiang''s group.


    "You must die!" Nan Ningjiang was furious after seeing his fourth brother die miserably in that storm of ice and fire. He crazily howled and thrust a palm at Tang Jie''s original body, and a golden hand appeared in the air. At the same time, the second brother took out a sword while the sixth sister let out a mournfulment that would make anyone who heard it feel sorrow and lose the will to fight. As for the seventh brother, a gray cloud emerged from his hand and drifted toward Tang Jie.


    Three Spirit Ring True Persons and one peak Mortal Shedding Spirit Master attacked in unison¡ªa most formidable offensive.


    Tang Jie sneered.


    He no longer considered Spirit Ring True Persons a threat. Not too long ago, his Diamond Body had reached the middle tier, and his strength wasparable to that of a Heart Demon True Person.


    He was just about to take care of all four when he suddenly received a mental transmission.


    Frowning, he waved a palm, blocking the golden hand and scattering the gray cloud. However, he allowed the sword to strike him, and in a spurt of blood, Tang Jie grunted and fell back. He roared, "The Recaller is dead, so this one shall take his leave."


    He flew off into the distance.


    Nan Ningjiang andpany wanted to pursue, but ck Sin attacked them with countless vines, forcing the four of them to work together to fend them off. The opportunity was swiftly lost, and that dark figure was gone.


    At the same time, a resounding shout came from the distance.


    "Evil creature, die!"


    With this roar, a giant hand flew out of the distance and crashed into the ground, sting through the vines and striking ck Sin''s body underground. ck Sin let out a long wail.


    Energy fists began to crash down, eighteen of them in all striking ck Sin''s body. Boom! ck Sin finally reached its limit and shattered, leaving behind only a deep fissure in the ground.


    "True Person He!" Nan Ningjiang and the others shouted.


    It was none other than He Yueyang. It was only a Heart Demon True Person like him that could so easily exterminate a greatly empowered ck Sin.


    Tang Jie''s original body had retreated precisely because he had been informed that the two Heart Demon True Persons had broken out. With his strength, he naturally wasn''t afraid of He Yueyang. He could even deal with both of them at once.


    The problem was that this would expose his greatest source ofbat power.


    The Heart Demon Tier was Tang Jie''s upper limit, but it was not Godhead Pce''s upper limit. Even if he didn''t have to worry about Violet Pce True Lords, there was still the Soul Transformation Tier above the Heart Demon Tier, as well as peak Celestial Heart and Celestial Chief level True Persons, and that wasn''t even considering the terrifying power of numbers.


    Killing two Heart Demon cultivators was simple, but the real trouble came when stronger people were sent.


    That being the case, it was better to leave those two alive. Fleeing whenever they showed up would make them think that they were more powerful than him and that this level of power was enough to deal with him.


    In this way, one day, if the other party really did find him, with his current level of power, Tang Jie would be able to turn the tables.


    Considering all this, Tang Jie resolutely gave up on killing Nan Ningjiang and the others, intentionally taking an injury and using the chance to run.


    Thus, while it seemed like Tang Jie had been taking risks this whole time, he was also taking measures to lower and control the level of risk.


    He Yueyang arrived and sternly asked, "What''s the situation?"


    Nan Ningjiang sorrowfully said, "Fourth Brother has passed."


    He Yueyang''s body shivered, and after a while, he finally said, "This scoundrel is cunning and was hiding allies. The storehouse was also attacked by Tang Jie, but Li Song has already gone over, so there should be no problem. But Tang Jieid out a formation across the entirety of Ninebind City. Once the storehouse''s defensive formation was broken, that formation fell apart on its own. But the city lord''s mansion was attacked by that True Person Gui. With the entire city under attack, we''re basically being led along by the nose and don''t have the time to pay attention to him. Catching him again will be difficult."


    Tang Jie hadid down a formation that enveloped all of Ninebind City, and now, as smoke rose into the air, many people had died, various critical locations were under attack, and the people were fleeing in panic. The Hawk Hall was being run ragged, so Tang Jie could mix into the crowd and simply walk out of the city, without needing to use any escape spell arts. Even if Ming Yezhen sealed the space of the entire city, he wouldn''t be able to stop Tang Jie from leaving.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie hadn''t gone to excessive lengths. While the formation was a lethal one, it had left a way out, so while there were many casualties, the deaths were limited. Even so, with the entire city aze, the casualties still reached a shocking number.


    Tang Jie had amply disyed the abilities of an Immortal, brazenly sowing destruction in thend of his enemy.


    He Yueyang couldn''t help but be disheartened by how all their efforts to capture Tang Jie hade to naught and had caused so much devastation.


    He painfully said, "In the end, we lost this round."


    "No!" Nan Ningjiang suddenly said, "We haven''t lost yet."


    He examined his palm and smiled. "Quite the contrary. Everything is within our palm."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Far in the distance, up in the sky, Tang Jie gazed down at the smoke-ridden city.


    "The n isplete."


    "Oh, we finally got the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill. Now, Big Brother can prepare for the charge at Celestial Heart. Breaking into Celestial Heart in enemy territory¡­ haha, just the thought of it makes me giddy," Yiyi said from Tang Jie''s shoulder, pping her hands.


    "I think the same." Tang Jie chuckled as he took out the bottle containing the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill.


    With this pill, Tang Jie would need two years at most toplete the charge into Celestial Heart.


    Just as Yiyi said, there was something very exciting about charging into Celestial Heart in enemy territory.


    Tang Jie felt heroism and pride welling up within him.


    While the enemy might be numerous and mighty, what did he have to be afraid of? All of them were toys in the palm of his hand.


    As Tang Jie thought this, he opened the bottle.


    All of a sudden!

 Chapter 498: Spirit-Boiling Powder

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The moment Tang Jie opened the bottle, he felt an ill foreboding, like some great danger was imminent.


    This sense of danger came entirely from Tang Jie''s instinct, and he fiercely threw the bottle away.


    The bottle exploded with a bang,rge amounts of ck liquid flying out from it.


    Caught off guard, Tang Jie could only thrust his palm forward while flying backward.


    Most of the sttering ck liquid was pushed aside by Tang Jie''s palm thrust, but some of it still managed tond on Tang Jie''s body, arm, and leg. The moment it made contact, there was a hissing sound as it melted away his clothes and began to eat away at his flesh. Even Tang Jie''s body constitution wasn''t able to resist it.


    He yelled and swung down his saber! Swish! Swish! Swish! He cut off all the parts of his body touched by the ck liquid.


    But as he cut off the flesh, Tang Jie still felt something burrowing into his body.


    Paling, he cut the golden de across his arm, opening it up and revealing the bone.


    Tang Jie saw a ck mark engraved onto the bone, like a birthmark. This mark gradually faded away.


    "Spirit-Boiling Powder¡­" Tang Jie squeezed out from between his clenched teeth.


    He realized what he had been struck by.


    Spirit-Boiling Powder was a corrosive poison that excelled at pration. Upon contact, it would seep into the body, and it was said that it could even seep into the depths of the soul. Once poisoned by it, there was no escaping it. Even if one sliced one''s body into several hundred pieces and possessed someone else''s body, the poison would follow.


    It was said that the poison had been created in an attempt to develop a poison that could even kill the soul.


    But when the poison wasplete, it was discovered that while the poison could seep into the soul, it was extremely weak, so it was abandoned.


    Later on, someone began to research it again and found a method of tracking this poison, so it ultimately went from a lethal poison to a divine tracking medicine.


    Tang Jie had heard about it before as a secret medicine that the Hawk Hall used against only the most troublesome and crafty of opponents. If their adversary were struck by this poison, they could be tracked down to the ends of the world. Even the Nine Executions Immortal Formation might not be able to conceal his tracks.


    Moreover, the tracking wasn''t as slow as the secret art employed by the second brother of the 12 Hawks. The location of the person poisoned by the Spirit-Boiling Powder would be directly disyed. In other words, starting from now, his enemies could put all their power into chasing him down, no longer needing to worry about tracing his path.


    "Damn it!" Tang Jie cursed.


    It wasn''t like he hadn''t expected his enemy to y some trick with the pill, but Old Fourth Liu had repeatedly checked the pill at the time, opening the bottle and confirming that it was the real deal. Tang Jie had seen all of this, so why had this perfectly fine medicine turned into a trap?


    A thought suddenly urred to him.


    Maidservants had circled around Old Fourth Liu while he was taking out all those spirit jades.


    "It was them!" Tang Jie shouted in realization. Those maidservants must have used that moment when they were flirting with Old Fourth Liu.


    Old Fourth Liu hadn''t been some clueless person, and those women hadn''t been able to harry him for long. Really, it had only been a few moments. But that small period of contact was enough for those maidservants to perform the switch, recing the real pill with the fake medicine. Only someone of great ability could have done this.


    Godhead Pce was a massive faction, and it had people with all kinds of capabilities under it. Some people were obscure and unknown but possessed their own expertise. Such skills normally weren''t of much use, but at key moments, they became extremely useful.


    Tang Jie had meticulously calcted everything, but he had ultimately lost to someone else''s expertise. Thus, while it was all well and good toy out ns, good ideas required great ability to manifest.


    And in a battle between wits and skill, skill won!


    If Godhead Pce didn''t want Tang Jie alive, he would already be a dead man.


    Tang Jie wasn''t afraid of losing once. But why hadn''t Xi Canhen told him about this?


    If he had known about the Spirit-Boiling Powder beforehand or about those nameless maidservants who had secretly performed the switch, he would have never let the poison touch him.


    Did Xi Canhen not know, or was he trying to harm him?


    Personally, he felt like the chances that Xi Canhen had sold him out were low, or else he could haveid out an ambush when Tang Jie had gone to meet Xi Shangyue.


    But there was a chance that Godhead Pce preferred the basically invincible tracking technique of Spirit-Boiling Powder to an ambush.


    Regardless, he had to confirm Xi Canhen''s trustworthiness¡ªa task which he prioritized over how to escape. With this thought in mind, Tang Jie flew toward the city.


    This was an extremely bold way of doing things. In truth, this was the only chance he had to confirm Xi Canhen''s allegiance. If he missed it, it might nevere again.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    "Big Brother, what are you saying?" everyone gasped in surprise.


    Nan Ningjiang was unperturbed. "Before this battle, I secretly ordered Hall Master Li to send his best thief to switch out the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill once it was sold. The real Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill was taken back long ago, and what''s inside the bottle that was stolen is¡­ Spirit-Boiling Powder."


    After Old Fourth Liu won the pill, Nan Ningjiang had the two elders go and catch Tang Jie while he ordered Hall Master Li to "execute the n", and this n was to switch out the medicine.


    Everyone gasped when Spirit-Boiling Powder was brought up.


    Xi Canhen was even more rmed. "''Spirit-Boiling Powder''? You put Spirit-Boiling Powder in the ce of the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill? Then why didn''t you tell us?"


    He was inwardly frantic, as he knew well what it meant for Tang Jie to be struck by Spirit-Boiling Powder. If Tang Jie were captured, he would find it difficult to not me himself. Moreover, Tang Jie was highly likely to suspect him and start to distrust him after this. After all, he had told Tang Jie everything except this most important fact. And it was precisely because he hadn''t mentioned such a thing that Tang Jie had dropped his guard.


    "Yes, if we knew that there was Spirit-Boiling Powder, why did we have to waste so much time chasing him?" another Hawk said.


    Nan Ningjiang grunted, "That''s exactly why I didn''t tell you. If I told you, would you guys put everything into the battle? When you deal with Tang Jie, you have to put on the most authentic act possible. Moreover, Spirit-Boiling Powder is extremely valuable. If I could capture him now, why should I wait until next time? Thus, if possible, I would have hoped to not use it. By using it, it means that we''ve lost to him again at least one more time!"


    Everyone was silenced by this argument.


    It had to be said that they truly had suffered a wretched defeat against Tang Jie in this operation.


    If not for Nan Ningjiang''s back-up n, the 12 Hawks might have lost so badly that they might never recover.


    In truth, there was something else that Nan Ningjiang had left unsaid. He was taking precautions against a possible spy among them.


    He wasn''t particrly targeting Xi Canhen. It was just that the six major sects had infiltrated each other enough that a spy wasmonce. Even among the 12 Hawks, one couldn''t be certain that there was no one from another sect among them.


    That Xu Hanling was even a True Person, but wasn''t he still an agent for both Beast Refining and Godhead?


    This was exactly why Nan Ningjiang had told none of them.


    In the earlier campaign, Tang Jie had already shown a rather thorough understanding of the 12 Hawks. It was understandable if he had learned it from Gu Changqing, but very suspicious if he had not.


    With the Spirit-Boiling Powder added into the mix, if there was a spy, Tang Jie would undoubtedly suspect them.


    The spy''s best n would be to immediately exin themselves to Tang Jie.


    Thinking this, he calmly looked around.


    Ninebind City was still covered in smoke, the sorrowful cries carried along by the wind.


    But this group of Godhead Pce experts stood in the dust and smoke, none of them moving, all of them upied with their thoughts.


    They were weeping,ughing, raging, hating, their mood shifting around depending on what they were thinking. There was anger over their defeat, sorrow over the death of the fourth brother, and celebration over the Spirit-Boiling Powder.


    But someone remainedpletely unmoved, as if they had turned to stone.


    Yet while they said nothing, their body moved.


    Nan Ningjiang raised an eyebrow, "Little Twelve, where are you going?"


    Xi Canhen was always hidden, as if he didn''t want anyone to see him. But as he walked away, Nan Ningjiang sensed what he was doing without even turning his head.


    Xi Canhen stopped and replied, "I''m going to relieve myself."


    "Oh? Is it urgent?" Nan Ningjiang asked with a smile.


    "It''s not too urgent."


    "Then wait a little longer," Nan Ningjiang said. He took out an incense burner, which had a stick of incense already burning within it.


    Nan Ningjiang sniffed it, and then he waved his hand. The map reappeared, and as he focused his eyes, purple dust appeared on the map.


    Looking at the dust, Nan Ningjiang sighed. "What an excellent reaction, avoiding so much of it. The Spirit-Boiling Powder has yet to fully disperse, and the remaining medicinal power is still affecting the result, so we can''t determine yet if Tang Jie has been poisoned. Let''s wait. Once the lingering medicinal power has fully dispersed, the result wille out. So long as he has been poisoned, it doesn''t matter where he runs¡­ Hopefully, he can run straight to the Martial Lord''s secret treasury and save us a lot of trouble."


    Nan Ningjiang paused and added, "Until then, everyone will wait here for my orders and is not allowed to leave."


    Xi Canhen raised an eyebrow.


    He knew what this meant.


    After some thought, he came over and said, "Big Brother, True Person He is still here."


    While it seemed like he had good intentions, he was actually reminding He Yueyang of his status.


    Sure enough, He Yueyang furrowed his brow in displeasure.


    He was a Heart Demon True Person, his cultivation level above Nan Ningjiang''s.


    In the cultivation world, one''s cultivation level was everything!


    Even though Nan Ningjiang had been given an important mission thanks to his meticulous attitude, that didn''t mean that he could casually order around He Yueyang. Just now, Nan Ningjiang had said that no one was allowed to leave, forgetting that he had to request this of He Yueyang, which ended up upsetting He Yueyang.


    He Yueyang snorted and said, "This old man will return to the pavilion to rest. Call me if you need something."


    Celestial Flower Pavilion was right behind them, so in doing this, he was also giving Nan Ningjiang some face. However, while he wasn''t going far, he was ultimately still leaving.


    Nan Ningjiang froze.


    With someone leading the way, other people imitated him.


    True Person Liang wasn''t part of the 12 Hawks, so he simply smiled at Nan Ningjiang before following True Person He to the pavilion.


    The others looked at each other, and then the fifth Hawk said to Nan Ningjiang, "Fourth Brother''s body still hasn''t been collected."


    Nan Ningjiang nodded.


    The fifth Hawk went into the pavilion.


    Smoke was still rising in the distance, fires raging. The women of the 12 Hawks said, "The people in the city require treatment. As subordinates of Godhead Pce, we can''t stand around and do nothing."


    Nan Ningjiang nodded again.


    With this, more than half of the group had dispersed.


    Only then did Xi Canhen say, "Big Brother, I¡­"


    "Go on, then," Nan Ningjiang replied.


    Xi Canhen went over to a nearby shattered wall.


    Once he was behind the wall, Xi Canhen bit his finger, and beads of blood seeped out.


    He began to draw in the air, those beads of blood vanishing into the air. All this drawing seemed to be rather taxing to him.


    Finally, Xi Canhen finished writing and drew back his hand, exhaling in relief.


    Sensing something, he suddenly raised his head and saw Nan Ningjiang standing nearby.


    His expression darkened.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Retreating Frost Abode.


    This was Xi Shangyue''s residence.


    At this time, Xi Shangyue was inside, embroidering a shoe. Suddenly, she sensed something and raised her head, red light appearing in her eyes.


    Red words began to appear in front of her.


    "Big Brother!" Xi Shangyue shivered.


    This was the contact method the two had agreed to use in only the most dire of circumstances. The appearance of these words scared Xi Shangyue out of her wits.


    "Oh no!" Xi Shangyue hastily stood up and began to tidy up the things on her table. She then changed into a set of in clothes and pushed open the door to leave.


    But as she opened the door, another figure rushed in, seizing her and pushing her back into the room.


    "Big Brother Tang!" Xi Shangyue shouted.


    The one who had grabbed her was none other than Tang Jie, wearing a scowl on his face as he held her cor and sternly said, "Why didn''t you tell me the 12 Hawks had Spirit-Boiling Powder? Talk!"


    Xi Shangyue shouted, "Big Brother didn''t know, either! The eldest of the 12 Hawks hid it from everyone!"


    "Then how do you know now?"


    "I just received a secret message from my brother."


    "Let me see it!"


    "I can''t. It was sent through Blood Sigil Transmission, which only kin can use."


    "Then how do I know that you''re telling the truth?"


    "This was a secret art recorded in the Demon Refining Art, one of the three manuals my brother received. I can write it out for you."


    "That still needs to be verified, and I don''t have much time. Why were you in a rush to leave after receiving the message?"


    "This isn''t the ce to talk. If you expose my position, you''ll burden my big brother. In order to draw you in, I used my real name!"


    Tang Jie stopped.


    He stared at Xi Shangyue and said, "Give me a reason to trust you."


    Xi Shangyue stared back, not backing down. "I was the one who told you of this ce. If we sold you out, this ce would be packed with ambushers!"


    Tang Jie smiled and let go. "Good argument."


    In truth, the moment he seized Xi Shangyue, he knew that the Xi siblings probably didn''t mean him harm. But to be absolutely sure, he had still put on an intimidating air. He hadn''t expected this girl to have some of her brother''s spirit, remaining calm enough to convince him despite the perilous situation. Tang Jie was very satisfied.


    Sure enough, spending so long as a fugitive had strengthened her mind.


    Seeing that Tang Jie had let go, Xi Shangyue said, "You have to leave this ce at once. If the 12 Hawkse checking, they''ll definitely suspect me."


    "Don''t worry. I understand the properties of Spirit-Boiling Powder somewhat. The Spirit-Boiling Powder that didn''t get me is still working, spreading its power throughout the city, so the pursuit hasn''t started yet."


    "That''s good," Xi Shangyue exhaled in relief. She looked at Tang Jie and said, "How much got on you?"


    "Not a lot, but probably enough for them to chase me down."


    Xi Shangyue''s brows furrowed in concern. "Spirit-Boiling Powder is a famous lingering poison that clings to one like one''s shadow. Big Brother Tang, now that it''s gotten onto you¡­"


    There was deep concern in her eyes.


    "Don''t worry. I have my ways. They haven''t won just yet," Tang Jie indifferently said. "But there are some things that need to be swiftly addressed."


    "Big Brother Tang, just say the word. The two of us will do everything we can to help you."


    "Good. Firstly, find me everything you can about Spirit-Boiling Powder, in as much detail as you can. Secondly, find me everything you can about the eldest of the 12 Hawks, also in as much detail as you can provide. The third thing is this."


    Tang Jie passed over a small book.


    "This is¡­" Xi Shangyue curiously took it.


    "Heart Consonance, a secret art of my Basking Moon Sect. Once you cultivate it, you can use it tomunicate with me. It should be much better than that Blood Sigil Transmission."


    "Wonderful," Xi Shangyue said. Once she took the book, Tang Jie turned to leave.


    "Big Brother Tang!" Xi Shangyue shouted.


    Tang Jie turned back and asked, "What is it?"


    Xi Shangyue blinked her bright andrge eyes.


    "Stay safe."


    Tang Jie nodded. "I will."


    He charged out of the room and shot off into the sky.


    Starting from now, he would be running for his life, and he would find it very hard to have another moment of leisure.


    When you''re just trying to make great content at tinyurl/37k7u89t.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Outside Celestial Flower Pavilion.


    Xi Canhen looked at Nan Ningjiang and said, "Peeking at others relieving themselves isn''t a good habit."


    Nan Ningjiang lowered his head and looked at him. "These are extraordinary times, and no one is allowed to be alone. I ask for Little Twelve''s forgiveness. That said, your body is entirely concealed, so I can''t even see anything."


    "Why?" Xi Canhen asked.


    "Tang Jie knew too much about us in this operation. Just Gu Changqing isn''t enough for Tang Jie to know all this. I suspect that someone leaked information to him."


    "Big Brother, are you suspecting me? Because I''m a Sagehearter?"


    "It has nothing to do with background. I suspect everyone."


    "But you''re here right now."


    "When I''m watching the others, I won''t be giving you some special notice. Right, didn''t you say that you had to relieve yourself? You''ve been standing there for a while and still haven''t done anything." Nan Ningjiang smiled and pointed at the empty space in front of him. "While I can''t see you, I should at least be able to see some liquid."


    Xi Canhen coldly replied, "Big Brother truly has unique hobbies. Since you like it so much, you can watch."


    He opened his pants and began to piss.


    Once he was done, Xi Canhen went back.


    Nan Ningjiang didn''t move, his head still lowered.


    He gazed at that distant water stain for a while before finally saying, "This little¡­ It doesn''t seem like he needed to piss that badly."

 Chapter 499: Hunted (1)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    A Cloudpiercer Shuttle was rapidly flying through the skies of southwestern Nadir Hill.


    Tang Jie sat in the shuttle boat, stroking his chin as he considered countermeasures.


    The Spirit-Boiling Powder had put him in a passive position. Tang Jie had considered entering the Nine Executions Immortal Formation to avoid danger, but he ultimately decided not to take the risk. While the Nine Executions Immortal Formation was outside the domain, that didn''t mean that Tang Jie''s position was obscured. If Godhead Pce found out, it was possible that they might find a way to get into the formation, which would be a disaster.


    In truth, Tang Jie had another choice: hiding in the diagram.


    The Mountain River State Diagram was currently its own little world, so hiding in the map was even safer than hiding in the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. But once he hid in the map, he needed someone to carry and protect the diagram, which remained a problem. The ghost guard''s actual body had to remain a secret, and the flesh disguise wasn''t of a very high level. While he could protect the diagram for a time, a mishap was bound to ur at some point. It was much better to have the original body protect him, but this would dy the original body''s cultivation. Most importantly, perhaps because the power of the world within the diagram was too weak, whenever Tang Jie went inside, he would feel a faint sense of repulsion that prevented him from staying too long in that little world. It was like trying to fit arge Buddha statue inside a small temple.


    Of course, hiding in there for a short time wasn''t a problem. This was exactly why Tang Jie didn''t fear the Spirit-Boiling Powder, only admitting that it did make things more problematic for him. Whenever he was outside, Godhead Pce would know where he was¡­ and they would constantly hunt him down.


    Three people abruptly appeared in the sky, riding the winds and clouds toward him.


    Upon seeing that small boat, the three of them rejoiced. "Tang Jie! We finally found you!"


    Raising his head, Tang Jie saw that one of them was at the peak of Mortal Shedding, one was at Cognitive Creation, and there was even someone who had the guts toe over while in the Three Withering Tribtions.


    But there appeared to be arger group behind the trio. These three were only the vanguard of arger force, which was why they were so bold.


    "Godhead Pce?" Tang Jie asked, cocking his head.


    The peak Mortal Shedding cultivator said, "Zhu Jing of the Divine Controller Sect hase to take you in!"


    He took out a small bag and threw it into the air, upon which numerous flying ants flew out of it toward Tang Jie.


    This cultivator seemed very confident in the ants he had raised,ughing as he said, "Tang Jie, hurry up and die!"


    In truth, he didn''t actually think he could defeat Tang Jie, but he knew that there were many reinforcements behind him, so he wanted to show off a little before those people caught up. While his full might probably couldn''t defeat Tang Jie, it might catch him off guard, and he could use this opportunity to raise his reputation.


    In the future, he could boast that he was the one who intercepted Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie slightly frowned as he looked at the ants. "Skytread Insects?"


    He had heard of this insect. Skytread Insects loved to eat brains, and they were extremely poisonous. They were differentiated by color: ck, white, red, blue, gold, and rainbow. The brighter the color, the stronger the insect.


    The Skytread Insects that that cultivator had released were mostly white, with a few reds mixed in. This was a sign that they had been nurtured to a rather mature level, so it was hard to me him for being so confident.


    Tang Jie shook his head at the insects. "Just how many lives did you have to sacrifice to raise these vicious things? They should all be eliminated."


    He threw out ten-some talismans, all of them middle-grade Storm Talismans.


    The skies exploded with raging gales, the air turning into sharp des that madly tore away at everything in the area.


    Those three hadn''t expected Tang Jie''s response to be so simple and vicious. Ten-some Storm Talismans cost tens of thousands of spirit coins, but Tang Jie had thrown them out without even looking at them.


    They didn''t know about all the misceneous knick-knacks Tang Jie had collected in his looting of Cloudscrape City and other areas, nor that he had also turned Ninebind City upside-down. While he had smelted all those things that couldn''t be used, he had kept all the good stuff for himself. In talismans alone, he had more than could be put into a Mustard Seed Bag.


    After throwing out the ten-some Storm Talismans, Tang Jie also threw three Celestial Wildfire Talismans.


    These were all upper-grade art talismans, and their immense might instantly engulfed the skies in Celestial Fire.


    There was no way the Skytread Insects could endure thebined might of wind and fire, and they fell from the sky like a meteor shower.


    "My babies!" Seeing those Skytread Insects that he had wasted so many years raising being easily destroyed by Tang Jie, that Zhu Jing cried out in grief.


    He red at Tang Jie and shouted, "I''m taking you down even if it costs me my life!"


    He took an item out of his Mustard Seed Bag and threw it at Tang Jie, and the two people next to him also cast their spell arts.


    Tang Jie didn''t even look at them as he pped his boat.


    The boat radiated a brilliant light that blocked the attacks of the trio.


    He had stolen this Cloudpiercer Shuttle from Cloudscrape City. It had been made by the sect master of the Jade Ocean Gate from Heavensea Stone, Jellyfish Essence, Violet Cloud Sand, and ny-some other materials, taking a total of 360 days to refine. Its incredible speed saved the cultivator a lot of spiritual energy, and it had a defensive barrier that made the boat able to block attacks. It had been intended as an offering to Godhead Pce, but after Tang Jie had stolen it, he had decided to use it for himself.


    The defensive barrier of the Cloudpiercer Shuttle easily blocked the attacks of the trio. Tang Jie snorted and said, "Even scoundrels like these dare to stroke the whiskers of a tiger."


    As he spoke, lightning erupted out of the clouds.


    Amid the blinding lightning, a giant curved de descended, dragging two thick chains behind it.


    The Heavenly Cloud de!


    The three instantly knew that they were in trouble.


    Tang Jie''s Heavenly Cloud de was no secret, and everyone knew of its power. The moment the de appeared, the three activated their defensive barriers.


    But the current Heavenly Cloud de was far beyond their ability to block.


    The giant crescent de horizontally sliced through the barriers like they were paper and turned those three people into six chunks.


    As the others screamed, Zhu Jing roared, and the halves of his body linked back together.


    During the Three Witherings, one would attain a spiritual body. So long as one had enough life force, one could be reborn even if one''s body were cut into several pieces. Of course, if one were sted into tiny bits like Chang Mingxin, then there was nothing that could be done.


    But while he managed to survive, his two junior brothers were not so fortunate.


    The sweeping strike of the Heavenly de had killed that Cognitive Creation cultivator and that Three Witherings cultivator on the spot.


    "Junior Brothers!" Zhu Jing cried out in rage and sorrow.


    He had never imagined Tang Jie to be this powerful, killing two of his juniors in a single blow and leaving him injured.


    "I''ll kill you!" Zhu Jing shouted, once more reaching for his Mustard Seed Bag.


    Tang Jie sneered and snapped his fingers. "Fixate!"


    Zhu Jing trembled and froze.


    The Four-Nine True Words!


    This was a spell art that Tang Jie had developed to deal with a situation in the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. It was too weak, so Tang Jie hadn''t used it in some time.


    But as Tang Jie cultivated more and deepened his understanding of various Immortal arts, the Four-Nine True Words gradually began to exhibit their might.


    This was understandable.


    When he was a student, he had encountered the Parting ssic, the Violet Jade Mantra, the codices of the Five Gods Faith, and the Ninedark Mantra. But rather than swiftly making Tang Jie stronger, these four Immortal manuals had only served to divide his focus and slow him down. For a very long time, Tang Jie was unable to use the full power of these four techniques, and when it came to proficiency in these techniques, he was inferior to the likes of Cai Junyang and Qi Shaoming, who only cultivated a single mantra.


    His power relied mostly on his understanding of battle rather than his overwhelming strength. It was a rare situation where he coulde out onto the battlefield and immediately tten his opponent with pure force.


    This was the key reason he was never able to be acknowledged as a "Great Brother" of the Basking Moon Sect.


    But after ten-some years of cultivation and progress in the sect, the slowing caused by cultivating four mantras was slowly resolved, and they began to reveal their true power. Tang Jie was no longer the same as he was in the past.


    The first to benefit was the Four-Nine True Words, and their effects were no longer so weak. Although they couldn''tpare to the majesty of the Heavenly Cloud de, they were effective against people of the same cultivation realm as him.


    As he spoke, Zhu Jing froze. Even if it was only for a moment, it was still lethal.


    The Heavenly Cloud de curved back around like a coiling dragon.


    In the past, the Heavenly Cloud de would dissipate after a single strike, but through Tang Jie''s will, it could now attack repeatedly.


    Fear appeared in Zhu Jing''s eyes as the Heavenly Cloud de returned.


    At this moment, someone roared, "Scoundrel, you dare!? Break!"


    There was a rumble of thunder, and the Heavenly Cloud de shuddered before exploding into countless bits.


    The reinforcements had finally arrived. There were several dozen of them, led by a blue-faced man with a stocky constitution. The Heavenly Cloud de had shattered because of his roar.


    "Breaking my art?" Tang Jie grunted, his eyes shing with lightning.


    Rather than dissolving into spiritual energy, the Heavenly de instantly reformed, this time into 49 Heavenly des of much reduced size which shot at the neers.


    This sudden reversal caught even that blue-faced man off-guard.


    At the same time, a saber flew out from the boat, an eagle phantom appearing on the de. This was the Heartbreak Saber, flying straight at Zhu Jing''s chest.


    Zhu Jing had just regained mobility and hastened to dodge.


    At this time, Tang Jie had just finished using Fixate and couldn''t use it again for some time, but he didn''t mind, shouting, "Slow!"


    Zhu Jing felt his body slow down, and he wasn''t able to pick up speed and could only watch as the Heartbreak Saber drew close.


    "Noooo!" he cried out in despair.


    A momentter, the saber sliced through his head, which exploded into little chunks that not even his greater-attainment spiritual body could restore.


    "Jing''er!" The blue-faced man almost went crazy upon seeing this.


    He pointed at Tang Jie and said, "Tang Jie, for daring to kill my son, my Divine Controller Sect will kill you, even if everyone in the sect has to die for it!"


    Tang Jie smiled. "Then I''ll fulfill your wish¡­ and exterminate your sect!"


    He slowly stood up.


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    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Four hourster.


    Around a hundred meters above the ground, Nan Ningjiang floated in the air, holding his hands behind his back as he looked down below.


    There was a field down there.


    A field covered in corpses.


    Those corpses strewn about all had faces that were stricken with fear. It was as if they had been dealing with not just some troublesome opponent, but a terrifying devil, and their bodies were covered in all kinds of wounds.


    It was a gruesome sight, more than a hundred corpses carpeting the field. Even Nan Ningjiang couldn''t help but sigh, "The Divine Controller Sect is finished."


    With so many dead, even if the sect master was still fine, the sect''s decline was inevitable.


    This wasn''t even the first sect that Tang Jie had destroyed in Nadir Hill.


    A few momentster, the other Hawks returned.


    Second Brother Tian Zhong spoke first. "We did not find Zhu Shangwu''s body, so we cannot confirm his status at the moment. But we found the bodies of his three junior brothers. All of them died because their Celestial Hearts were seized and shattered, so it was probably the work of that True Person Gui. Given that this True Person Gui was able to go one versus three, it seems like he has gotten stronger in thest ten years."


    "There are 112 bodies in all," Zhou Fanghua said. "Based on the state of the corpses, eighty percent were killed by Tang Jie, and the remainder were killed by the sprite. The traces of energy indicate that they fought high in the sky, and there is no fissure on the ground, so ck Sin was not used. But this is the problem. This is more than a hundred people, but Tang Jie and a sprite managed to easily kill them all, with almost half of them dying in a single strike, without even the chance to counter. Although these people were on the weaker side, there was still more than a hundred of them, and they were led by one Heart Demon and three Spirit Ring True Persons. They should not have lost so thoroughly."


    The fifth brother nodded. "Indeed. In the end, Divine Controller Sect Master Zhu Shangwu was still a Heart Demon True Person. Even if his three junior brothers were being held down by True Person Gui, he should have been free himself, so why is it that even his body can''t be found?"


    The sixth sister said, "That is because Tang Jie captured Zhu Shangwu''s son and used him as a hostage to force Zhu Shangwu intomitting suicide."


    Everyone asked, "How did you find that out?"


    "I interrogated some people in the area, and someone saw it."


    Nan Ningjiang looked up at the sky and asked, "Second Brother, at what altitude did the battle take ce?"


    Second Brother Tian Zhong blinked, his eyes shing with spiritual light. "Based on the traces of spiritual energy, it should have taken ce ten thousand meters in the sky."


    Nan Ningjiang casually said, "Can a mortal see a battle taking ce so high up in the sky?"


    Everyone was speechless, and the sixth sister blushed. "This was my mistake. Tang Jie must have used an illusion spell to deceive those mortals, using their mouths to deceive us."


    Third Sister Zhou Fanghua pensively said, "Since he wanted to deceive us, he must have something he wants to hide. It can''t be that he already has the power to fight against a Heart Demon True Person, right?"


    "This can''t be. He hasn''t even entered Celestial Heart, so how could he do this?" someone immediately objected.


    "I''m talking about strength, not cultivation level. Don''t forget that he has the power to contend against a Spirit Ring True Person because he has True Person Gui. So if he has a Heart Demon True Person helping him, wouldn''t that mean he has the power of a Heart Demon True Person?"


    Everyone recalled that mysterious figure they had seen outside of Celestial Flower Pavilion.


    Yes, Tang Jie truly did have someone else behind him.


    Someone said, "This person talked big, but he fled when True Person He came. From this, we can see that he might be stronger than Spirit Ring, but he would still lose to a Heart Demon cultivator."


    Nan Ningjiang indifferently said, "Or it could also mean that he would lose to True Person He plus the rest of us."


    Everyone fell silent once more.


    Even though Tang Jie was trying his best to hide it, under the pressure from Godhead Pce, he was slowly starting to reveal his true power.


    "It''s a pity that Fourth Brother isn''t here, or else we would know who that person is and what methods he has," the seventh brother sighed.


    The ninth Hawkmented, "Right, has the new fourth Hawk not been selected yet?"


    Zhou Fanghua shook her head. "The Recall art is extremely difficult, and it requires someone toprehend the Dao of Time first. There are countless candidates for the fourth Hawk, but only a few can reach this level. We''ve already sent a letter urging them to hurry up, but there is no sign of movement from our superiors. It''s probably because they can''t find a suitable candidate."


    "We don''t have to rely on Fourth Brother for everything. Even without the fourth Hawk, we have our own ways," Nan Ningjiang indifferently said. "We can''t see the past, so let''s take a look at the future."


    He took out the incense burner, took a deep sniff of it, and then waved his hand, summoning his map.


    This time, there was a clear purple mark on the map that was blinking.


    Nan Ningjiang pointed at that purple mark, and the region expanded to reveal greater detail of the area.


    Second Brother Tian Zhong said, "He''s flying toward the southwest and not stopping. He''s currently at the southern end of the Thousand Fog Mountains."


    "What sects are located in the Thousand Fog Mountains?" Nan Ningjiang asked.


    "The Fog Reflection Sect and the Celestial Foothill Sect," Zhou Fanghua replied.


    Nan Ningjiang considered this answer and said, "The Fog Reflection Sect is on rather good terms with our Hawk Hall. Isn''t Hall Master Long''s new concubine the second daughter of the Fog Reflection Sect Master?"


    "Yes. As for the Celestial Foothill Sect, it is on closer terms with the Bright Path Hall and has always been neutral toward our Hawk Hall."


    Nan Ningjiang went on, "Since that''s the case, order the Celestial Foothill Sect to gather all the people it can and intercept Tang Jie."


    Zhou Fanghua frowned. "If they capture Tang Jie, won''t they get all the credit?"


    "They won''t. If Tang Jie were that ipetent, he wouldn''t be Tang Jie. Look at how the Divine Controller Sect ended up. This guy¡­ is already on a killing spree." Nan Ningjiang had a profound look in his eyes as he spoke. "He is currently in his prime, brimming with physical and spiritual energy. Unless it''s a Soul Transformation True Person, he will kill anyone who gets in his way. In this condition, Tang Jie isn''t easy to deal with, so we need to avoid his edge, and when he arrives at his destination and rxes, we deliver the fatal blow."


    "And what is his destination?"


    Drawing a straight line on the map, Nan Ningjiang said, "Here!"


    Looking at where Nan Ningjiang was pointing, Zhou Fanghua narrowed her eyes and blurted out, "The Spirit Mountains¡­ yes, he must be going there, because only there will he have a chance to fight back against the Spirit-Boiling Powder."


    Nan Ningjiang drew back his finger and said, "Before then, we don''t need to be in a rush. Let''s have those small sects deal with Tang Jie. They can help us tire Tang Jie out and understand him more, and they will also fatten him up so that we can finally sweep in and take all the credit."


    Everyone chuckled at these words.


    Nan Ningjiang paused a moment before saying, "Right, have the Hawk Hall send two more Heart Demon True Persons."


    "Another two?"


    "There''s no harm in being safe. It''s better to overestimate your enemy rather than underestimate," Nan Ningjiang casually replied. He suddenlyughed and said, "Otherwise, wouldn''t Sect Master Zhu and the others have died for nothing? We can''t let our own people bleed in vain."

 Chapter 500: Hunted (2)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


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    "Tang Jie, you won''t die a good death!"


    In the middle of this bitter scream, a de shed, and blood rained from the sky.


    Seizing the corpse of thest cultivator, Tang Jie threw it into the Mountain River Diagram and flew off.


    He ignored the majority of the corpses¡ªnot because he didn''t want them, but because arge number of corpses disappearing would make Godhead Pce suspicious. Only the asional corpse missing would make them mistakenly believe that some of the corpses had been utterly obliterated in the intense fighting. This was exactly why Tang Jie only took some of the bodies, usually those of the strongest.


    The person he had just killed was the master of the Great Goose Sword Sect, a Spirit Ring True Person. He hade on orders to intercept Tang Jie but had ended up dying in battle.


    Even so, Tang Jie had been struck by the sect master''s final counterattack, a sword striking him on the left shoulder. Even though he had the Formless Golden Body protecting him, the dying blow of the sect master could not be underestimated. Given that his cultivation level was higher than Tang Jie''s, his sword strike had almost sted apart half of Tang Jie''s body. It was only after taking several healing pills in a row that he finally managed to bring his rampant blood and energy under control.


    Tang Jie estimated that he would need about three days to fully recover.


    But he didn''t have three days.


    That afternoon, as he was flying over the Yuhua River, Tang Jie was intercepted by another small sect.


    This time, two members of Godhead Pce also participated.


    There was another big battle, and though Tang Jie won, he was struck by the Corroding Yin Hand. This wasn''t a powerful move, but it was very sinister. Once it entered the body, it was very difficult to remove, and it would wear away at one''s spiritual energy, affecting Tang Jie''s ability to recover spiritual energy.


    One dayter, Tang Jie was intercepted again.


    After another bitterly-fought battle, though Tang Jie managed to win again, he didn''t manage to eliminate all his enemies, letting three of them escape. Thankfully, Tang Jie didn''t have the original body go out this time, allowing him to keep that secret. But as time passed, Nan Ningjiang and the others were bing more and more aware of the original body''s existence.


    Another day passed, and as Tang Jie passed through the Central Pivot Mountains, he was waid by the Peerless Sword Pavilion.


    The Peerless Sword Pavilion was one of the superior sects of Nadir Hill, home to many experts. Its ancestor was a Violet Pce True Lord who had cultivated for a thousand years, and the current sect master was a peak Celestial Heart True Person. They were one of the few sects who hunted for Tang Jie without needing Nan Ningjiang''s prompting.


    Upon facing this sort of big sect, Tang Jie turned and ran.


    But the Peerless Sword Pavilion was unwilling to let him go, chasing him for three days and three nights.


    To chase Tang Jie, the Peerless Sword Pavilion sent the sect master and the elders, nine True Persons in all¡ªone at Soul Transformation, three at Heart Demon, and five at Spirit Ring. They chased Tang Jie wherever he went, and if not for his duplicates and that stone canvas that could block Divine Will, Tang Jie might really have been forced to hide in the diagram in order to avoid this pursuit and catch his breath. But that was certain to expose hisst trump card.


    Having finally evaded this disaster, Tang Jie exhaled. Wearing the stone canvas while hiding in the water, he could feel various Divine Wills passing over him.


    Even though they had lost him, those guys still refused to give up.


    "Bastard!" Tang Jie ground his teeth as he grumbled. These guys had really taken him as their chance at advancement.


    Since these guys thought that his flesh would be their stairway up the Immortal Path, they couldn''t me him for being ruthless in turn.


    "Canhen, can you hear my voice?" Tang Jie activated Heart Consonance for the first time since he had given the spell art to Xi Shangyue.


    "¡­Y¡­yes." Xi Canhen''s voice replied with great difficulty within his mind. After several days of cultivation, Xi Canhen had finally managed to just barely grasp Heart Consonance.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Very good. Canhen, I have to thank you for Ninebind City."


    "s, I still ended up getting Young Master caught in a trap."


    "It''s fine. This little matter can''t bring me down. But I have something that I need your help with."


    "Tell me."


    "I need information on the Peerless Sword Pavilion."


    "The Peerless Sword Pavilion¡­ yes, you''re being chased by them. They weren''t sent by Nan Ningjiang. Nan Ningjiang already knows that you''re going to the Spirit Mountains and isying a trap there."


    "It''s fine. I didn''t n to hide that from them anyway. But before then, I''m going to take care of these bugs. Give me all the information you have on the Peerless Sword Pavilion. The more detailed, the better."


    "Please wait a moment."


    A few momentster, Xi Canhen began to ry to Tang Jie bits of information about the Peerless Sword Pavilion.


    Tang Jie did his best to memorize everything, silently released a duplicate, and then he cautiously began to retreat. Obscured by the turbid waters, he swam downstream, and only when he was almost out of control range did he finally let the duplicate leave the water.


    Countless eyes and Divine Wills focused on the duplicate. Tang Jie used this chance to leave the water and fly off in the opposite direction.


    The nine True Persons of the Peerless Sword Pavilion only found this out an hourter.


    An hour was long enough for Tang Jie to do a lot of things.


    He crazily flew toward the Peerless Sword Pavilion, using the Cloudpiercer Shuttle to its limit. Traveling at maximum speed, he managed to reach the Peerless Sword Pavilion in the middle of the night.


    Amidst steep cliffs and towering mountains was a majestic pce. This was the Peerless Sword Pavilion.


    The entire sword pavilion appeared like an enormous sword pointed at the sky, surrounded and protected by countless "small swords". At the back of the pavilion was the famous Sword Mound of the Peerless Sword Pavilion. It was said that countless precious swords were buried here.


    Unlike in other ces, when a disciple of the Peerless Sword Pavilion died, they did not Return their Remnants, instead pouring all of their energy and divinity into the sword they had used. Thus, when its master died, even the most ordinary sword would be a peerless weapon. For this reason, the thing that the Peerless Sword Pavilioncked the least was famous swords. One could say that the Sword Mound was their blessednd.


    The swords that were ced in the Sword Mound would wait there for a sword pavilion disciple to choose them.


    When they encountered a suitable master, they would journey together with that disciple, creating a new pairing, and they would pass on the experience and part of the power of their former master to their new one. This was also the session method of the Peerless Sword Pavilion, and it was this method of inheritance that made them powerful enough to be one of the most famous sects of Nadir Hill outside of Godhead Pce.


    When Tang Jie arrived, the Peerless Sword Pavilion still hadn''t realized that the greatest crisis in its history hade.


    It was hard to me them. The Peerless Sword Pavilion was a superior sect, and even if its nine elders were not present, there was still a Violet Pce True Lord holding the fort. Who would dare toe and cause trouble here?


    But Tang Jie hade anyway.


    Flying down to the pavilion, Tang Jie waved his hand, turning himself into the appearance of Sword Pavilion Master Void Wind, and charged right in.


    A disciple saw the pavilion master flying over and hurriedly prostrated. "Paying respects to the pavilion master!"


    Tang Jie grunted and strode past.


    Master Void Wind had always been imposing and taciturn. Since Tang Jie was pretending to be him, he naturally wanted to limit his words.


    Outside the sword pavilion was an archway of imposing stature called the Cloud Descent Gate.


    Anyone who wanted to enter the sword pavilion had to go on foot starting from there.


    As Tang Jie passed the Cloud Descent Gate and saw no response from the archway, he faintly smiled, knowing that he had passed the most important checkpoint.


    The Cloud Descent Gate had a detector eye that could see through illusions, meant to keep out any thieves or hoodlums.


    But while this detector eye was good, it couldn''t see through the illusion ability of the Illusion Fox. Illusion and disguise spells had never beenplicated, and even Spirit tform students could learn them. But the Illusion Fox''s disguise ability was amazing precisely because of its impressive level. One had to grasp illusion-breaking spell arts of the Daoprehending level to see through it.


    The Peerless Sword Pavilion''s detector eye was at the upper limit of what a spell art could aplish, but it was far from reaching a Dao, so it could do nothing against this sort of illusion.


    Tang Jie headed straight toward the Celestial Axis Tower.


    The Celestial Axis Tower was at the center of the sword pavilionplex and its key location, connected to all other parts of the pavilion.


    As an expert in formations, Tang Jie could tell at a nce that the Celestial Axis Tower was where the core of the Peerless Sword Formation was located.


    Any big sect had a great formation.


    The one protecting the Peerless Sword Pavilion was the Peerless Sword Formation. Although it was a protective formation, its sword energy was peerlessly tyrannical. It was one of the few protective formations in the world that had offense as its strong point, and even a Violet Pce True Lord couldn''t deal with it.


    Tang Jie was here for thatst point.


    As Tang Jie strode toward the Celestial Axis Tower, the two disciples guarding it saw him and bowed. "Pavilion Master."


    Tang Jie pushed open the door as he said, "Guard the Celestial Axis Tower and ensure that no one disturbs me."


    "As youmand!" the two disciples replied in unison.


    Tang Jie entered the tower.


    He didn''t have much time. While Master Void Wind''s group wouldn''t find out he was gone so quickly, the Peerless Sword Pavilion had its own rules. He had been able to go inside primarily because of the pavilion master''s prestige and the ineffectiveness of the detector eye, but as time passed, the disciples would realize that something was wrong. They would soon wonder why nine had gone out in pursuit but only one had returned. And it was no secret that Tang Jie could disguise himself. Besides that, Nan Ningjiang could locate him, and he might realize where he was and notify the Peerless Sword Pavilion.


    Tang Jie couldn''t hope that none of these suspicious points would be discovered, so he needed to act before anyone had time to react, using speed to cover for his shorings.


    Upon entering the Celestial Axis Tower, Tang Jie was greeted by a starry splendor. The inside of the tower was covered with formation lines that gathered together in shining balls of light.


    Floating in the tower was a hexagonal prism, like the one at Wind Devil Ind. Through the prism, one could see everything going on in the Peerless Sword Pavilion.


    Tang Jie stepped toward the prism and tapped it. The scenes on the crystal began to shift around.


    As the scenes switched out, one scene drew his attention. This was a meditation chamber, in which sat an old man.


    Though he was sitting, he appeared like a sharp sword, with a sword radiance that soared to the heavens emerging from his body.


    "The Celestial Sword True Lord!" Tang Jie muttered.


    Sensing that someone was watching him, the old man in the meditation chamber suddenly opened his eyes and looked up. Confused shock appeared on his face as he sensed that something was wrong, though he wasn''t sure what it was.


    Tang Jie grunted and pointed at the crystal. "Close the Nine Pces and shift the heavens and earth! Peerless Sword Formation, lock!"


    There was a nging as the Peerless Sword Pavilion suddenly glowed with spiritual light.


    But this spiritual light copsed inward rather than radiating outward, pressing down on that meditation chamber like a giant turned-over bowl.


    The enormous spiritual torrent descended toward the Celestial Sword True Lord, who paled. He pointed at the sky, and a sharp sword energy flew out, breaking through the ceiling. At the same time, that spiritual torrent coalesced into a giant sword.


    The two swords shed. Initially, there was no sound, and then a spiritual shockwave swept outward, engulfing the sky and sting away the clouds, dispersing in a rainbow of colors that left everyone stunned.


    "Who dares to act so brazenly within my Peerless Sword Pavilion?" The Celestial Sword True Lord was clearly enraged, his True Essence rippling out and making his voice resound throughout thend.


    Even the faraway Master Void Wind and his group sensed this roar and paled. "Oh no! The sword pavilion!"


    But this intimidating roar did not shake Tang Jie at all.


    As themand center of the Peerless Sword Formation, this tower enjoyed the highest level of protection.


    Looking at the imperious old man who could even withstand the concentrated might of the Peerless Sword Formation, Tang Jie chuckled and said, "Still this lively? Then I''ll add a little spice. Peerless Sword Mound, rise!"


    He thrust out a hand, and the countless swords at the back of the pavilion hummed as they flew into the air, leaving dazzling trails of light and stabbing at the old man.


    "Impossible!" The Celestial Sword True Lord was aghast as he looked at those countless streaks of light.


    Other than passing down the legacy of the sword pavilion, the Peerless Sword Mound had another important use. It was an important part of the Peerless Sword Formation.


    When there was a powerful foe that even the Peerless Sword Formation couldn''t immediately deal with, all the swords of the Peerless Sword Mound would unleash their might, and the power of the thousands of swords controlled by the formation was truly a sight to behold.


    Even the Celestial Sword True Lord did not dare to be careless around this most terrifying attack of the Peerless Sword Formation. After shouting "Bastard!", he erupted with energy, producing countless balls of sword radiance that lit up the Peerless Sword Pavilion. Sword energy pierced the firmament, their light illuminating the earth like a sun and scaring the disciples so badly that they dropped to the ground and didn''t dare to raise their heads.


    "He''s doing pretty good," Tang Jie smiled and turned to leave.


    It would take some time for the Celestial Sword True Lord to battle it out with the Peerless Sword Formation, which was the perfect time to strike.


    As he walked out of the Celestial Axis Tower, several disciples ran over and spotted Tang Jie. "Pavilion Master, what''s happened? Why has the Peerless Sword¡­"


    Swish! A saber shed, and several heads flew into the air.


    Tang Jie didn''t even stop as he said, "Nothing has happened at all."


    Another two disciples came over. Upon seeing the scene, they cried out, "You''re not¡­"


    Tang Jie grabbed them by the throats and coldly said, "Hush."


    His face changed back into his own as he crushed their throats. He then pulled out the Mountain River State Diagram.


    The ghost guard flew out.


    "Kill everyone you can kill and steal everything you can steal, but don''t touch the old man."


    The ghost guard nodded and flew off.


    "Yiyi!"


    In a sh, Yiyi transformed from a little flower on Tang Jie''s cor back into human form.


    "Summon ck Sin."


    Raaa! There was an enormous bellow as that terrifying underground fiend manifested and began to devour the disciples of the sword pavilion.


    The Peerless Sword Pavilion was a superior sect and had around one thousand disciples, with several hundred of them at Mortal Shedding. Moreover, these people were much stronger than those of the average minor sect, and because they were sword cultivators, they had sharp attacks. If just a small number of them could join together, Tang Jie would find it very hard to deal with them.


    But Tang Jie was in the pavilion and could disguise himself. If he ran into someone he couldn''t beat, he could just run off and change his face. Unable to use their strength, they instead became nutrients for ck Sin.


    Screams rang out as those tentacles iled, and the Celestial Sword True Lord was stunned by what he was hearing. But he was unable to break free of the Peerless Sword Formation. The Peerless Sword Formation was the sect''s protective formation, and its purpose was to deal with those enemies that the sect couldn''t deal with. There would be no point if it were weak. Thus, it wasn''t strange that the old man couldn''t ovee it unless he unleashed all his power.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie transformed into a pavilion disciple and swiftly made his way to the storehouse. Since he was here, he naturally couldn''t leave empty-handed.


    A disciple ran over while clutching a talisman, shouting, "Godhead Pce has sent a message! Tang Jie is in the sword pavilion! Tang Jie is in the sword pavilion!"


    Tang Jie sted apart that disciple with a punch and coldly said, "I know."


    Weaving through the corridors, Tang Jie arrived at the storehouse.


    As a superior sect, the Peerless Sword Pavilion had a very impressive-looking storehouse.


    "There should be a lot of nice things inside," Tang Jie murmured as he took out the Mountain River Diagram. Just as he was about to take away the storehouse, a bolt of lightning shot out of the storehouse, aimed straight at Tang Jie''s throat.


    Tang Jie leaned back, and the lightning bolt brushed past his face.


    Four people flew out of the storehouse, callous looks in their eyes, each one holding a sword. The surrounding sword energy appeared to have no effect on them.


    "The Four Sword Attendants," Tang Jie grunted.


    These four people were probably the famous Sword Attendants of Peerless Sword Pavilion. Although they were only at the peak of Mortal Shedding, they were said to be so strong that each one essentially had the power of a True Person. Besides that, they were fearless and faithful.


    But this clearly wasn''t the entire force protecting the storehouse.


    A cold bark came from within. "Tang Jie! You''ve got guts, choosing to attack my sword pavilion while being chased by the pavilion master, putting treasures over your life."


    The thunderous voice rumbled in Tang Jie''s heart, leaving him rather shaken.


    Spiritual light flowed out of the storehouse, almost reaching Tang Jie''s feet.


    A Spirit Ring True Person.


    "A tenth Spirit Ring," Tang Jie muttered. "And here I thought the Peerless Sword Pavilion only had nine True Persons."


    "How could you ever know of the true reserves of the sword pavilion?" As that voice spoke, a beam of sword light shot at him, vast and piercing. The True Person left behind as a guardian was even more powerful than those elders who had been chasing him.


    Tang Jie sneered, "And how would you know about my true reserves?"


    As he spoke, the Mountain River Diagram unfurled. The waterfall began to fly upward, and a ck hole appeared.


    The sword beam shot straight into the hole.


    At the same time, a tremendous energy erupted from that dark hole, striking that sharp sword.


    Unstoppable!


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    One hourter.


    When Master Void Wind appeared in the skies above the Peerless Sword Pavilion, he was greeted by a scene of devastation.


    It was like a storm had swept through the Peerless Sword Pavilion. There was not an intact building to be seen, the ground was covered in bodies, and rivers of blood flowed.


    Master Void Wind''s body shuddered as he mumbled, "How did this happen? How did this happen?"


    He rushed in like a madman and began to look around. "Is anyone still alive? Any survivors?"


    The voice echoed through the pavilion.


    "Pavilion¡­ Master¡­" A weak voice came from a pile of bodies.


    Master Void Wind rushed over and pulled out a disciple.


    His chest had been struck by the ghost guard''s w, and his heart had been shattered, but he had still managed to survive.


    "What in the world happened?!" Master Void Wind roared.


    "Tang Jie¡­ pretended to be you¡­ snuck into the pavilion¡­ killed everyone¡­ plundered the storehouse," the disciple said in a shaky voice.


    "Tang Jie." Master Void Wind became dizzy upon hearing this name. In truth, he had already known the answer, but now that he was facing the consequences, he still couldn''t believe his eyes.


    "How could this be¡­ Master was here. How could things end up like this? Where is the ancestor?"


    The disciple struggled out, "Tang Jie¡­ entered the Celestial Axis Tower¡­ activated the formation¡­ The ancestor was locked in battle with it, even going so far as to badly damage the formation¡­ didn''t expect¡­ Tang Jie would use the chance¡­ use the chance¡­"


    "''Use the chance'' to do what?"


    "Use the chance to take¡­ to take all the swords in the Sword Mound."


    "What?" Master Void Wind plopped to the ground as if he had been struck by a lightning bolt.


    The disciple said, "The ancestor was used¡­ In his shock and anger¡­ he¡­ he suffered energy corruption!"


    Thud!


    Master Void Wind threw up blood.


    The nine True Persons of the Peerless Sword Pavilion were all stunned.


    The storehouse had been looted, the Sword Mound plundered, and the disciples killed, and the ancestor had fallen into madness.


    Tang Jie had carved huge words into the soil of the Peerless Sword Pavilion:


    "Starting from today, the Peerless Sword Pavilion no longer exists!"


    Trantor Notes


    Nothing but disaster awaits for the sects that offend Tang Jie!

 Chapter 501: Hunted (3)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The southwestern skies of Nadir Hill, thirty thousand meters above the surface.


    Tang Jie sat on a cloud, letting the wind buffet him. Around him floated countless swords.


    The Rainbow Sword, the Yin Yang Sword, the Water-Repelling Sword, the Extreme Cold Sword, the Gold-Storing Sword, the General-Appointing Sword, the Mother-Son Light-Parting Swords, the Celestial Wildfire Sword, the Thousand Soldier Repeller Sword, the Windfire Cloud Dragon Sword, the Violet Bane Astral Sword, the Ice me Sword¡­


    These countless swords hovered and danced, brimming with sword energy and glowing with light, with Tang Jie at their center.


    These swords were the weapons that countless disciples of the Peerless Sword Pavilion had forged using their blood, sweat, and lives over thest thousand years, and each one contained a lifetime of their cultivation insights. These swords alone were enough to establish the foundation of a sect. In terms of value, they even exceeded the storehouse that Tang Jie had plundered.


    Tang Jie had truly been able to take them away because of that Celestial Sword True Lord. If he had not put his whole strength into breaking the formation, these swords would not have broken free of the Sword Mound''s control to be seized by him. It was no wonder the Celestial Sword True Lord had been so infuriated that he had fallen into energy corruption.


    There had been a total of 1,796 swords in the Sword Mound, divided into lower grade, middle grade, and upper grade. There were 912 lower-grade swords, 642 middle-grade swords, 239 upper-grade swords, and three swords that exceeded the upper grade and entered the ranks of divine treasures.


    These swords circled around Tang Jie, and whenever they flew past him, Tang Jie would feel an inexplicable power surging into him, carrying with it a prodigious sword intent and howling with a majestic sword wind.


    Tang Jie knew that this was the resonance of the souls of the heroes of the Peerless Sword Pavilion that had attached themselves to the swords.


    Each of these swords was a soul weapon.


    Each of these swords was a legacy.


    Upon understanding this, he began to look at these swords differently.


    As that mighty sword intent flowed into Tang Jie, he began to understand various things about how to use the sword.


    Although he was not an expert in using the sword, it shared the same principles as using a saber. What Tang Jieprehended deepened his understanding of how to use the saber.


    But sabers and swords were ultimately different, and Tang Jie still felt like he was missing something.


    He hadprehended the Dao of the Saber in the Water Moon Paradise and had developed a sliver of understanding regarding the ultimate saber intent, but this understanding had only allowed him to merge all of his Heavenly Cloud des into one, greatly increasing its power.


    Simply improving the power of a spell art had absolutely nothing to do with ultimate saber intent.


    The "ultimate" meant instantly gathering all power at one point and detonating it. This power was great enough to exceed one''s limits and kill above one''s tier. Only then could it be considered "ultimate".


    Tang Jie suddenly recalled Xi Canhen''s Sacrificial Sword.


    Not too long ago, Xi Canhen had grasped the Heart Consonance secret art. He had been as ted as a child and spent a long time conversing with Tang Jie. Tang Jie had used the opportunity to ask Xi Canhen about the secrets of the Sacrificial Sword.


    Just as Tang Jie had expected, while the Sacrificial Sword was powerful, it had only a single strike. Once this strike was made, whether it seeded or failed, the user would be entirely drained of energy, hence the name "Sacrificial", stemming from the phrase "only by sacrificing the body can one achieve virtue". Moreover, Xi Canhen had a demon sword, which was an even better match for the Sacrificial Sword. Thisbination allowed him to kill people two tiers above him.


    Ultimate sword intent wasn''t as extreme as the Sacrificial Sword. It wouldn''t create such a huge drain, but its power wasparable to the Sacrificial Sword. However, cultivating it was much more difficult. But as Tang Jie was guided by these countless swords and was influenced by the dauntless attitude of the sword cultivators within them, the will to fight within him began to gradually ze. His mental state soared, and a white radiance emerged from the top of his head.


    As this white radiance appeared, Tang Jie shook his hand, and the Heartbreak Saber appeared.


    The white radiance automatically attached itself to the Heartbreak Saber, and then Tang Jie swung. A wave of saber energy flew out, instantly slicing through the clouds. From the look of it, this wave of energy had a length of one thousand meters.


    And this was in the middle of the sky. If it had happened on the ground, the attack would have destroyed at least half a city.


    But Tang Jie had a nonchnt appearance, so this attack clearly didn''t have his full power behind it.


    Yet with ultimate saber intent, every strike had one''s full force behind it. There was no such thing as holding back.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Jie''s face, and he shouted, "I see! I was too focused on achieving the ultimate, forgetting about the saber intent itself. Intent arises from the self, and only with the ability to issue and withdraw as I please can it be called true intent. The ultimate is focused on simplicity. But while it may be powerful and simple, it is no clumsy brute, punching with all one''s power at every blow. Hahaha, I didn''t think that these swords would inspire me!"


    He swung the saber again, releasing another thousand-meter-long wave of saber energy, which was as intimidating as lightning and swift as the wind. It was clear that Tang Jie had made some advancement in his pursuit of ultimate saber intent.


    Countless swords nged in the sky, ttering against each other as if they had been provoked. One of the swords suddenly flew right at Tang Jie''s face.


    "Sabers and swords can''t coexist? Interesting. Then I will use you to forge my saber intent," Tang Jie snorted. He swung his saber, and a brilliant wave of energy flew at the sword. If one looked closely, one would find that this attack carried some of the form of the Matchless sh, but also that of the Heavenly Cloud de, and even a little of the Divine Court Thousandshift.


    The ultimate wasn''t just about clenching one''s teeth and unleashing all of one''s strength in a single attack, but merging together everything that one had learned into a single point, unleashing the utmost of one''s power.


    The sword and saber shed, and there was a ng as the sword was sent flying away in an arc. Tang Jie faintly smiled. "A sword without a master has only a sharp sword intent, but no-one to exert it. Since that''s the case¡­ all of you,e together."


    ng! A ttering resounded through the sky.


    Those swords seemed to sense Tang Jie''s challenge, and they spiraled up into the air, pointing their tips at Tang Jie, and charged.


    A formation of one thousand swords!


    Only those three divine-treasure-ss swords stood aloof and motionless.


    The power of these more than a thousand swords could bepared to a divine connection attack.


    Tang Jie''s eyes shed with a cold light. "That''s exactly what I want!" he shouted as he swung the Heartbreak Saber.


    The saber and the swords left a brilliant trail of light in the air. Amidst all these swords, a person danced with his saber. There was no spell art and no cultivation, only the dance ofbat, a dance that imbued everything he had cultivated into his saber. Just like this, an unbelievable scene yed out in the sky.


    A mountain of sabers began to rise.


    It was clearly only one person swinging the saber, but countless sabers of light gleamed as they flew up to face the swords.


    A sword formation shed with a mountain of sabers!


    Finally, as Tang Jie roared, those countless sabers suddenly glowed, and the sword formation also let out a radiant light.


    The two sides were in the middle of their most intense sh!


    Each sword shed with a saber manifestation, unleashing a riot of colors in the sky. The numerous crashes and collisions merged together in a thunderous rumble.


    A momentter, the light sabers and swords froze.


    It was as if time had stopped.


    A few momentster, Tang Jie suddenly vomited blood. A ck came from the Heartbreak Saber in his hand, and then it shattered.


    In that sh just now, the Heartbreak Saber had essentially contended against those more than a thousand swords. Unable to take all of the power, it had finally shattered. This saber had followed Tang Jie for many years. To his surprise, rather than being destroyed in battle, it had shattered while Tang Jie had beenprehending saber intent, as if it had sacrificed itself for this purpose.


    At the same time, a great crash came from the sky as all those famous swords also shattered.


    But unlike the Heartbreak Saber, when these swords shattered, they left behind a golden grain.


    This was the Weapon Mantra''s effect.


    When Tang Jie had gathered all of his strength and unleashed his utmost power, he had inadvertently included the power of the Weapon Mantra. In truth, he had not intended to shatter these swords. It had to be understood that none of these were ordinary weapons. Even a lower-grade sword would be a top-tier treasure in the outside world, easily able to sell for tens of thousands of spirit coins.


    These more than a thousand swords were like hundreds of millions of spirit coins. Even Tang Jie wasn''t willing to turn them all into golden grains.


    But as he had justprehended ultimate saber intent, he wasn''t able topletely control its level of power, especially in that final sh. In his excitement, he had unleashed his full power and held nothing back, which ended up activating the Weapon Mantra.


    Tang Jie winced as he saw all those swords shatter.


    This was all money!


    In this collision, at least six hundred swords had shattered. While they had all basically been lower-grade, Tang Jie still felt like someone had dug out his heart.


    Of course, while his heart ached, Tang Jie still gathered up those golden grains.


    Curiously, these golden grains were all somewhatrger than the ones Tang Jie had gotten before from shattering weapons.


    Was this because these swords had concentrated the essence blood of cultivators in them? Or was it because they were soul weapons?


    Tang Jie had never shattered a soul weapon before. After all, every soul weapon had the potential to grow. Thus, he didn''t know howrge of a golden grain he could get from shattering a soul weapon, though it now seemed like it was much more than what one would get from shattering an ordinary art relic.


    Even so, Tang Jie didn''t n to keep shattering soul weapons. His heart was still aching from all the soul weapons he had just lost.


    Under his control, all the grains gathered together into a golden sphere.


    This was the first time he had been able to get so many golden grains from a weapon-shattering session.


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled as he took out his golden de.


    After ten years of umtion, his golden dagger was much longer and could be called a golden saber, only a little smaller than the Heartbreak Saber.


    But as spell arts couldn''t be used with the golden saber, Tang Jie rarely used it. After all, the enemies he needed to deal with weren''t the same as before. It would be very difficult to kill his enemies through pure physical damage, as even if their heads were cut off, they could still revive. What he needed were powerful spell arts that could extinguish and exhaust his enemies'' life force.


    For this reason, the golden saber had now be like chicken ribs to Tang Jie, of too little value to use, but also something he didn''t want to throw away. At times, Tang Jie would wonder why the Martial Lord had created such a weapon. Even in High Antiquity, one still had to destroy one''s opponent''s life force in order to kill them, right? If he couldn''t apply spell arts to the golden de for additional damage, then no matter how sharp it was, how valuable could it really be?


    It was like having a weapon that could pierce through defense but could only deal 1 damage. What was the point?


    Fortunately, this was reality, and there were still times when the golden saber''s defense-piercing ability was useful. But this space was getting smaller and smaller.


    As he was thinking, Tang Jie ced the golden sphere on the golden saber.


    As the golden sphere touched the saber, they automatically merged. As they were merging, the hilt of the saber suddenly erupted with light, and the de began to hum.


    This humming came so suddenly that Tang Jie couldn''t help but be taken aback.


    He had used this golden saber for ten-some years and done mergings numerous times, but this was the first time such a thing had ever happened.


    What was going on here?


    As he was wondering what was going on, he felt a warm current going from the de of the saber into his hand.


    "This is¡­" Tang Jie was stunned.


    This was a very familiar feeling, the sensation of his mind linking with the golden saber. Tang Jie had felt this feeling, as it was the key behind the ability of the golden saber to change form. But the sensation was even stronger this time, and he even felt like he could do even more now than just change its form.


    It was a sensation that was both strange and familiar.


    "It can''t be¡­" Tang Jie murmured, his mind a sea of turmoil.


    He slowly raised his hand and mustered his spiritual power. A white sliver of light appeared on the de.


    Spiritual energy!


    The radiance of a spell art!


    The golden de could be used with spell arts!


    Tang Jie almost fainted.


    Why was it suddenly capable of using spell arts?


    He raised his head, looked at those swords that were still floating around, and suddenly understood. He shouted, "So that''s what it was! Soul weapons! I have to use soul weapons!"


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The golden weapon created by the Weapon Mantra actually could be used with spell arts, but the condition was that it had to be made from soul weapons.


    Tang Jie hadn''t expected the situation to be like that. If he hadn''t been cultivating ultimate saber intent and inadvertently destroyed arge number of precious swords, he might have gone ages without ever discovering this fact.


    After all, in his view, using soul weapons as materials for the golden grains was just too much of a waste. He hadn''t expected there to be such an important rtionship.


    If not for this mass destruction, then even if Tang Jie had one day used one or two soul weapons as an experiment, he might not have arrived at this conclusion.


    This was because the functionality of spell arts with the golden de depended on how many soul weapons had been put into it.


    Tang Jie had tested things out. Since he added in that golden sphere, while the golden de could now be used with spell arts, all spell arts used with it were greatly reduced in power.


    When he used the Matchless sh with the golden de, the power wasn''t even a fifth of the power when used with the Heartbreak Saber. Divine Court Thousandshift was somewhat better, reaching a third of the power, perhaps because of this spell art''s universality.


    After thoroughly considering the problem, Tang Jie concluded that it was because the ratio of soul weapon materials was too small.


    Tang Jie had built up the golden de over twenty-some years, and while the golden sphere had consisted of several hundred swords, they ultimately couldn''tpare to twenty years of umtion.


    Adding a spoonful of sugar to a cup of water was perfect, but adding a spoonful of sugar to a jar of water would make it basically impossible to detect any sweetness.


    This was how things were with the soul weapons.


    To be blunt, it wasn''t enough.


    Since he knew that it wasn''t enough, there was no need to say what came next.


    After some rest, Tang Jie decided to shatter the remaining lower-grade swords. There were few of them left, definitely not enough to reach the level that Tang Jie wanted, so after some thought, Tang Jie decided to shatter the middle-grade swords as well.


    While there were few middle-grade swords, they were of higher quality, so their golden grains were purer andrger. Once they were fused into the golden de, Tang Jie found that the spiritual energy transfer was more efficient, and the spell art was much more powerful¡ªthe Matchless sh was now at one third of full power.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie hardened his heart and decided to break down the upper-grade swords as well.


    His heart bled as he shattered them.


    This was hundreds of millions of spirit coins!


    This was enough to buy a Dao armament. Of course, even if he got a Dao armament, he didn''t have the ability to use it.


    The Martial Lord''s techniques were great, but they used up far too much in resources.


    No wonder you didn''t say that only by using soul weapons can you cast spell arts with the golden de! You were too embarrassed to mention it, right!?


    Tang Jie was exhausted by the time he got to the upper-grade weapons, so his original body came out and shattered them all with the Weapon Mantra.


    It was then that Tang Jie realized something:


    When he first shattered the weapons, hadn''t he shattered several hundred lower-grade swords all by himself?


    This was unprecedented for him. In the past, he had always shattered them one by one.


    In other words, his Weapon Mantra had also advanced along with hisprehension of saber intent?


    It had gone from singr to multiple-target?


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but grin.


    Excellent!


    The original body shattered the two-hundred-some upper-grade swords, and as those golden grains merged into the golden saber, the golden saber changed, the de gaining a faint spiritual sheen that it didn''t have before.


    The golden de had a soul!


    Theft is never good, try looking at tinyurl/37k7u89t.


    In the end, Tang Jie left behind ten upper-grade swords and the three divine swords. These were the finest swords of the Sword Mound and were things that money couldn''t buy. Their former masters had all been illustrious figures of this domain, and the sword intent on them was iparably powerful. Destroying them would truly be a crime.


    Tang Jie nned to keep them. Even if he didn''t use them himself, he could give them to his friends or trade them for important resources.


    Initially, those three divine swords had been rather aloof, unwilling to bow their heads to Tang Jie.


    But once they sensed those countless swords perishing, theypletely submitted. When facing the golden de, they seemed to tremble in fear, the golden de finally revealing some of its divine majesty.


    At this time, the golden de was still unable to fully unleash the power of a spell art, but it could get to 50%, and with Divine Court Thousandshift, he could get around 70%.


    Although the spell arts were weaker, Tang Jie was still extremely satisfied. After all, the ability to ignore defensive barriers made up for the weaker spell arts, and he could fix this w in the future. Tang Jie still had the Soul Refining Pearl. He didn''t dare to use it in battle, but it was perfect for making soul weapons. The soul weapons he made might not be better than those swords, but he was confident that quantity could make up for quality.


    His only regret was regarding those ordinary weapons. In Tang Jie''s various heists, he had stolen many weapons, and he had originally nned to slowly break all of them down and merge them with the golden de, but now, he did not dare. Until the golden de reached a normal ratio, continuing to extract golden grains from ordinary art relics was like mixing water into wine, only lowering the quality of the golden de right after it had reached the standard.


    After incorporating more than a thousand swords, the golden de was much longer, now about the size of the Heartbreak Saber.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but sigh in regret at the thought of the shattered Heartbreak Saber. Suddenly, he had an idea. He looked at the golden de, which responded to his thoughts and gradually transformed into the Heartbreak Saber, looking exactly the same except for the fact that it was golden.


    As he looked at it, Tang Jie sent another mentalmand, ordering it to change color.


    This wasn''t possible in the past, but this time, the golden de gradually changed from golden to ck, now appearing exactly like the Heartbreak Saber.


    Tang Jie was delighted.


    Everyone knew he had the golden de and the Heartbreak Saber and took precautions against them, but this new development was certain to surprise them all.


    s, the fire eagle saber soul on the Heartbreak Saber was no more. It would have been perfect if it were still around to control the golden de.


    As he was thinking this, Tang Jie suddenly sensed something and snatched at the air while gasping in surprise. Wisps of spiritual light appeared, and then the lingering soul of a fire eagle appeared.


    The Heartbreak Saber''s soul?


    Tang Jie froze, and then he realized what was going on.


    The Heartbreak Saber was the only weapon that hadn''t been destroyed by the Weapon Mantra. For this reason, what had been destroyed was only the saber itself, while the saber soul had survived. But the saber soul had nothing to attach to, so it would ultimately dissipate. If Tang Jie hadn''t been thinking about the saber soul, he might not have sensed its existence.


    Having gotten back the saber soul, Tang Jieughed and said, "Not bad, not bad. Since that''s the case, I should give you a new home."


    He brought the soul to the saber.


    But the saber soul simply circled around the golden de, unable to go in. It frantically shouted, and wisps of me appeared in the air.


    "True, the golden de is no mortal weapon, so it won''t permit someone to take residence in it. Eh, forget it. From now on, you can just stay here." What Tang Jie offered this time was the Heartbreak Saber''s sheath.


    The eagle soul hissed and flew in a circle in the air before reluctantly entering the sheath.


    When Tang Jie did battle in the future, the eagle soul would fly out of the sheath and move along with the saber.


    In any case, it wasn''t being used for battle, only as a decoration to fool others.


    As he stuck the golden saber into the sheath, a new Heartbreak Saber was born.

 Chapter 502: Hunted (4)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Rainmist Mountains, the Famed Sword Mountain Manor.


    What had been a cultivation sect was now and of the dead.


    Hundreds of corpses were littered across the manor, making the ce seem like a hell on earth.


    "Tang Jie!" A bitter howl of despair resounded through the world, carrying all the hatred and power of a True Person.


    Mountain yer''s eyes were full of blood as he red at Tang Jie. That crimson figure was like a death god who had walked out of hell, brazenly reaping souls.


    How was this possible?


    How could he be this powerful?


    Although the Famed Sword Mountain Manor was only a minor sect of Nadir Hill, it still had some reserves. Why was it that three Spirit Ring True Persons working together had still been butchered by Tang Jie like they had been dogs? Several hundred disciples had died without being able to harm a hair on his head.


    Mountain yer''s mind had been utterly shaken.


    He roared with all his might, "Tang Jie, we weren''t even chasing you anymore!"


    "But you chased me before," Tang Jie coldly replied.


    He swung the saber in his right hand, and another disciple was felled.


    This had been Mountain yer''sst and most cherished disciple. Mountain yer had ced immense hopes on him, believing that he could break free of the limits of the Famed Sword Mountain Manor and achieve Soul Transformation, taking the sect to new heights.


    But now, there was nothing, all hopes bleeding away into nothing.


    "Aaaagh!" Mountain yer threw his head back and howled, "Why?"


    It was unclear why he would ask such a question. Perhaps he was asking why Tang Jie was so ruthless, or perhaps he was asking how Tang Jie was able to remain free for so long. Or perhaps he was asking how Tang Jie, a mere peak Mortal Shedding cultivator, had been able to ughter his entire sect. In any case, this was his final question, and it would never have an answer.


    As he let out this roar, he thrust forward his sword with all his might.


    When you''re just trying to make great content at tinyurl/37k7u89t.


    This was the move he was best at, the sword intent imposing and the sword light rising to the heavens. He had pushed the intent of the sword to the maximum, already grasping a sliver of ultimate sword intent.


    But before this move could be fully executed, it was cut off.


    A shining saber chopped down with a biting cold and unstoppable momentum that could slice through the vault of heaven.


    The sword broke.


    The intent ceased.


    The "Heartbreak Saber" broke this precious sword and sliced through Mountain yer''s defensive barrier like it was made of butter, slicing into his body.


    "Sir yer, I won''t be seeing you out," Tang Jie coldly said as starlight exploded from the tip of the golden saber.


    One ball, two, three¡­ twelve balls of starlight in total exploded within Mountain yer''s body. He trembled and looked down at the saber, seemingly realizing something. "It''s¡­ saber¡­"


    "It''s a saber," Tang Jie replied.


    He pulled out the saber, dragging out Mountain yer''s organs and exterminating thest bit of life force. Mountain yer toppled over onto his back.


    A wispy soul flew out of his body, turning into a cloud of ck smoke that funneled into a small pearl.


    The Soul Refining Pearl.


    Yiyi put away the pearl and looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie threw Mountain yer''s corpse into the Mountain River Diagram and turned away. "Burn the ce down."


    All of the corpses here had had their souls extracted. Godhead Pce had many capable people and was bound to notice that something was wrong, so Tang Jie couldn''t leave these corpses behind like before. He needed to burn everything and only leave burnt remains to examine. Of course, the advantage of doing this was that he could now put those higher-level corpses into the diagram and turn them into resources for the world within the diagram rather than let them go to waste.


    A zing fire lit up the night sky.


    An illustrious Immortal sect was consumed by mes.


    As Tang Jie watched from a distance, he muttered, "If I want enough soul weapons, I need to kill enough people. Fortunately, there''s nock of people to kill. Several thousand people¡­ Exterminating a few more sects will do."


    He turned and left.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Small Fortune Mountain.


    A trail of smoke rose from the top of the mountain¡ªthe remnants of some raging inferno.


    The All Fount Sect that had upied this mountain no longer existed, leaving behind only ruins.


    "Another sect."


    Standing in front of the ruins, Xu Mingyue helplessly sighed.


    In front of her, Nan Ningjiang had his hands held behind his back as he solemnly inspected the area, and farther in front, a group of Godhead Pce disciples was going through the wreckage and counting the bodies.


    Zhou Fanghua, who was responsible for the count, soon reported, "The count is done. The All Fount Sect had 342 people in all, and if we exclude the 127 women and children, there were 83 corpses in all. 44 corpses are missing."


    "As expected." Nan Ningjiang didn''t find this strange. After all, this wasn''t the first sect.


    Ever since the Peerless Sword Pavilion, Tang Jie''s movements had be very different. Every attack, he now burned all the corpses. There was no doubt that he was doing this to hide something.


    Nan Ningjiang didn''t know what he was hiding, but he knew that anything Tang Jie was trying to hide represented some sort of disadvantage to Godhead Pce.


    As he was thinking, three figures flew out from the distance.


    The leader wore a long robe withrge sleeves. He appeared very ordinary, but if one looked closely, one would sense that he exuded a formless pressure that made it almost impossible to raise one''s head. As for the two behind him, one wore a gold robe and the other a silver robe. They each gripped a dragon-headed cane and seemed extremely old.


    Nan Ningjiang sensed this pressure and looked up. He paled and immediately took a few steps forward before prostrating. "Paying respects to Lord Xuan Zhong and Elders Silver and Gold. I truly did not think that the pce would dispatch Lord Xuan Zhong."


    Master Xuan Zhong was a senior Soul Transformation True Person of Godhead Pce, of revered status and immense strength. Although he was not at the Celestial Chief level, he was an illustrious figure whom even kings of countries would have to kneel to.


    Hearing Nan Ningjiang''s voice, Master Xuan Zhong grunted and said, "You think this old man wanted toe? It''s all because Tang Jie has caused far too much of a messtely while your group has made no progress at all. Thus, the pce thinks that sending two Heart Demon True Persons might not be enough, so they also sent me to make it a sure thing. Nan Ningjiang, let me ask you: why is it that you haven''t captured Tang Jie even though he''s been infected by the Spirit-Boiling Powder? On the contrary, he seems to be freely going around on killing sprees. Do you know how many sects he''s destroyed as ofte?"


    Nan Ningjiang smiled and said, "Lord, there is no method in the world that is perfect. Although Tang Jie has been infected by Spirit-Boiling Powder, it does not mean that we are guaranteed to catch him. After all, Spirit-Boiling Powder also has its disadvantages."


    "Oh? Tell me about them." Master Xuan Zhong said.


    Nan Ningjiang took out a small bottle and sniffed it. He then waved his hand, summoning his map, and the violet point of smoke that marked Tang Jie''s position appeared. "My Lord, please look. Spirit-Boiling Powder can be used to track someone not merely because it can mark their location. What''s most important is that it can be used inbination with my Passing Shadow spell. Without the Passing Shadow¡­"


    Nan Ningjiang closed his hand, and the map disappeared, leaving only the violet mark.


    Nan Ningjiang pointed at the violet mark. "My Lords, please look. With only this mark, how can we confirm Tang Jie''s location?"


    Master Xuan Zhong shared a nce with Elders Gold and Silver, and all of them nodded.


    It was true. With a mark, one also needed a map to make the mark useful.


    Master Xuan Zhong asked, "But don''t you have the Passing Shadow spell?"


    Nan Ningjiang bitterly smiled. "The problem is that I cannot constantly maintain it."


    Master Xuan Zhong finally understood. Even though Tang Jie had been infected by Spirit-Boiling Powder, Nan Ningjiang''s group couldn''t keep marking his location forever, as the Passing Shadow spell took far too much energy to maintain for long. Thus, Nan Ningjiang could only activate it once in a while.


    "Besides that, there are other factors affecting our pursuit," Nan Ningjiang said. "While thebination of Spirit-Boiling Powder and the Passing Shadow spell can mark Tang Jie''s location, Tang Jie is very cunning and is constantly on the move, making it very difficult for us to keep chasing him. We can only marshal the forces ahead of him to intercept him. Unfortunately, these people are too ipetent to stop Tang Jie."


    "He doesn''t get tired? If he keeps flying like this, won''t he reach his limit?"


    The fifth Hawk bitterly smiled. "He has the Cloudpiercer Shuttle, so how could he reach his limit? When this scoundrel was initially imprisoned within Nadir Hill, he went on a crime spree and looted various storehouses, and he must have umted many treasures by now. Transportation is a trivial problem for him. From the lists of items we''ve checked, we''ve already found various flying shuttles, treasure boats, and Immortal clouds. Tang Jie has several dozen of them, and countless spirit stones. If we just let him fly around, he could do so for several decades without resting."


    Master Xuan Zhong fell silent.


    Zhou Fanghua added, "Moreover, the Passing Shadow marks the location, but not the altitude. We know where he is, but there''s tens of thousands of meters between the domain barrier and the ground, and we have no way of knowing what altitude he''s at. Given cloud cover and Tang Jie''s expertise in concealment, even if we catch up to him, if we are even the slightest bit careless, he will seize the chance and escape. After all, didn''t he escape when we had several thousand people surrounding him once?"


    "But don''t you have the help of True Person Huang?"


    "But True Person Huang has to see him first. This bastard almost never stops, only doing so when he''s going to kill. He''s very fast and can use even more resources than we can, and he can flee into the skies or into the earth. Sir, how do you think we should pursue him?" the second Hawkined.


    Master Xuan Zhong had apparentlye to criticize them, but when an amateur leader came to criticize expert subordinates, what often happened was that the subordinates would start to express theirints to their superior.


    Master Xuan Zhong was powerful, but when it came to tracking and capture, he was far inferior to the 12 Hawks, so he could only shut up and listen.


    He felt dizzy at the words of the 12 Hawks, and he could only say, "Don''t we also have teleportation points all over the ce? So long as we know where he is, we can just teleport over and then keep chasing him, no?"


    "That''s true, but the problem is that Tang Jie also knows this. Thus, ever since this guy stole the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill at Celestial Flower Pavilion, he has avoided approaching any major city with a teleportation formation. If he doesn''t get close to them, how can we teleport over to him?"


    Master Xuan Zhong hissed.


    In his life of cultivation, he had only concerned himself with the Great Dao, knowing nothing about the art of hunting and capturing, so all of this sounded like gobbledygook to him. His head aching, he finally waved his hand and said, "Forget it! This old man doesn''t understand these things too well, but regardless, we can''t let Tang Jie keep going on like this."


    Tang Jie had killed far too many people as ofte, and he had been so ruthless that even Godhead Pce was rmed.


    Although it mostly wasn''t Godhead Pce''s people that were dying, these other sects were sects that supported Nadir Hill. Godhead Pce was the main trunk and they were the branches and leaves. If all the branches and leaves were hacked off, the trunk would not fare well. Moreover, the perimeter seal was still active, and this seal effective across the entire border was extremely costly and had huge trade implications. The losses there even exceeded those caused by all of Tang Jie''s killing.


    If they spent a year like this, then Godhead Pce would be throwing up blood without Tang Jie needing to even do anything.


    For this reason, Godhead Pce was anxious to capture Tang Jie.


    Every extra day came at an astronomical loss.


    Master Xuan Zhong hade with orders to quickly settle this matter.


    Nan Ningjiang replied, "While we wish to end this speedily, we can''t. Our first priority isn''t to capture Tang Jie, but to wear him down. Tang Jie has an essentially limitless number of art relics, but his man power is limited. This sort of flying, fighting, and fleeing without rest is bound to run him out of power eventually. When he is utterly exhausted, we move and capture him."


    Master Xuan Zhong waved his hand. "We can''t wait that long. To prevent Tang Jie from getting away, we''ve sealed the border, whiches at a huge loss every day this goes on. If he keeps this up, my Godhead Pce won''t need to distribute any offerings this year. Everyone can just go and pick up farming."


    Nan Ningjiang froze. "But if we make contact too early, Tang Jie won''t have reached his limits and will have the strength to fight back."


    "This is precisely why this old man is here. You can leave the battle to us. Your task is to force him out."


    Nan Ningjiang nodded. "Yes."


    He waved his hand, and the map reappeared.


    He waved his hands again, and a mountain region appeared on the map.


    Nan Ningjiang exined, "ording to our analysis, while Tang Jie seems to be randomly flying, his actual destination should be here. I''ve already sent people to make preparations, but as time is limited, there is still much that needs to be done. Now that the pce is urging us to hurry up, I''m afraid we won''t be able to use some of the methods I had nned. But Lord Xuan Zhong can make up for all these shorings. So what we need to do next is to gather all our people and strengthen the pressure, forcing him to flee to this ce, where we will be waiting."


    "The Spirit Mountains?" Master Xuan Zhong focused his eyes. "Why do you think he wants to go here?"


    "Because this is the only ce he has that will let him make a counterattack," Nan Ningjiang replied. "Based on my understanding of his personality, he won''t give up on it."


    Master Xuan Zhong gazed intently at the map. He seemed to realize something, and a sliver of fear appeared on his face.


    He nodded and said, "A desperate beast will fight to the end, and this truly is a good ce for that. Since that''s the case, we will make this the ce where we deal with Tang Jie."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Whoosh!


    A de shed, sending blood rocketing into the air.


    Tang Jie swayed and looked at his chest.


    A sword had passed through his body, almost cutting him in half.


    His pursuers were getting stronger and stronger.


    Tang Jie was getting injured in almost every battle now. If he hadn''tprehended the Dao of Life, those umted injuries might have brought him down. Initially, to preserve his life force, Tang Jie had been unwilling to use that method and instead chose to rely on self-recovery. But as the battles intensified, his severe injuries meant that Tang Jie had to recover on the spot or else die a secondter.


    Even his original body had been in danger several times.


    Amid all the vicious bloodshed, Tang Jie gained a deeper understanding of the meaning behind battle.


    His saber intent grew more refined and proficient in the process, and he even began to gain some insights into the Dao of ughter, feeling like he was only a step away from stepping through the threshold.


    All of this battle also let him gather many souls, with each soul bing a soul weapon.


    Tang Jie had never imagined that he would be killing so many people, nor had he imagined that he would be making so many soul weapons.


    The soul weapons made using the Soul Refining Pearl were much worse in quality than the swords of the Sword Mound, with several soul weapons not even matching one sword. But the Sword Mound also didn''t have the immense quantity he could produce.


    Tang Jie made soul weapon after soul weapon, and then he shattered them.


    The scrap metal was sent into the diagram, where it formed a mountain of scrap metal on that wastnd.


    The golden grains were merged with the golden de, rapidly increasing its spirituality.


    In just a few days, the golden de''s spirituality had increased by another level.


    On the fourth day after the destruction of the Peerless Sword Pavilion, Tang Jie destroyed four minor sects and created one thousand soul weapons. The golden de''s spiritual efficiency rose from 50% to 60%.


    On the seventh day, Tang Jie destroyed three more sects, one of them being a medium sect with a Soul Transformation True Person. Tang Jie used the same method as in the Peerless Sword Pavilion to destroy that sect. All in all, Tang Jie created fifteen hundred soul weapons and raised the golden de''s spiritual efficiency to 75%.


    On the tenth day, Tang Jie brought the spiritual efficiency to 82%. By this time, he had already destroyed more than twenty sects of various sizes and killed more than ten thousand people, throwing all of Nadir Hill into an uproar.


    Tang Jie''s savagery, madness, and audacity had left everyone stunned.


    At the same time, just as Tang Jie had expected, the Seven Absolutions Sect began to move.


    The provocations from the Seven Absolutions Sect on Nadir Hill''s northern border suddenly intensified. Numerous cultivators suddenly appeared in that wastnd buffer region between the two countries, openly moving in Nadir Hill''s direction.


    A grudge that hadsted for a thousand years finally had an avenue to be vented, and it was slowly burning its way toward Nadir Hill.


    At the same time, the Basking Moon Sect began to apply pressure on the Beast Refining Gate. They weren''t willing to officially turn against Godhead Pce, as this would only render the wager null and void and disadvantage Tang Jie. Thus, they applied maximum pressure on the Beast Refining Gate so that it wouldn''t have the energy to help Godhead Pce.


    On the other hand, unexpectedly, Horizon Ocean Pavilion also began to move.


    Xu Miaoran had entered Nadir Hill.


    Despite being "hunted" by the numerous men sent by her father, she had miraculously escaped Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    Almost all of the six major sects of the Rosecloud Domain had been stirred up by Tang Jie, and a storm was brewing.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie was continuing to attempt to escape his pursuers.


    There was one thing that Nan Ningjiang was right about. Tang Jie really did want to reach the Spirit Mountains.


    For that was the only ce where he couldunch a counterattack.


    All of his work, his fighting, his patience, had been for that counterattack at the Spirit Mountains. All he had done was simply building up his power for the decisive battle.


    Nan Ningjiang had seen this.


    Tang Jie didn''t care.


    This was exactly why Nan Ningjiang had asked for only two additional Heart Demon True Persons, for he knew that if he called for too many reinforcements, and if Tang Jie really did have his means of learning the situation on their end, then Tang Jie would probably choose to give up on the decisive battle.


    Master Xuan Zhong''s arrival truly had made Nan Ningjiang very concerned.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie''s confidence had surpassed Nan Ningjiang''s expectations. Though Tang Jie knew about this new arrival, he did not intend to give up.


    On this day, Tang Jie finally stopped his killings and flew toward the Spirit Mountains.


    All of the preparations wereplete, and it was finally time for the decisive battle.


    On one side were the elites of the Hawk Hall, with formidable strength, a mighty backer, and an endless stream of manpower. On the other side was the Basking Moon prodigy who had spent all this time patiently building up power for this very moment.


    This was a sh between the police and a bandit, between an organization and an individual, between elites and a genius.


    Nobody could predict who the ultimate victor would be.

 Chapter 503: The Great Mountain

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Spirit Mountains.


    This was an infamous mountain range in the southwestern part of Nadir Hill.


    Compared to the Transverse Range, Zephyr Mountains, and other mountain ranges of the Rosecloud Domain, it was one of the few mountain ranges which had a wild and untamed air about it. To put it simply, this was a wild and primitive region that humans had yet to prate.


    Deep in the Spirit Mountains was a primordial jungle that humans had rarely ever reached, and within it lived countless fierce beasts. Unlike those areas under the control of the major sects, where fiends survived only by the mercy of humans, the beasts of the Spirit Mountains survived through the peculiarities of the mountain range and their own power.


    The Spirit Mountains were so special because the environment wasplex and constantly changing. For some unknown reason, the terrain of the Spirit Mountains would change every once in a while. Mountains would turn into canyons and valleys would turn into mountains, thend rising and falling unpredictably.


    There was a rumor that the mountain range itself had gained spirituality, and each change was the Great Mountain exhibiting its divine power. As time passed, this ce gradually came to be known as the Spirit Mountains. It was precisely for this reason that no sect dared to take up residence here. Nobody knew when the mountains might move, taking one from atop the mountains one day to the bottom of the ocean the next.


    The terrain changed, and so did the climate.


    The temperatures would fluctuate between extreme heat and extreme cold so quickly as to be absurd. In one day, one could go from the dead of winter to midsummer.


    The awful climate, the ever-changingndscape, and the fierce fiends turned this ce into a natural forbidden zone. Unlike those "protected regions", this was a truly freend. Although it nominally belonged to Nadir Hill, the creatures living here had never once bowed their heads to Godhead Pce.


    More than a thousand years ago, Godhead Pce had tried to truly conquer this ce.


    They had suffered their worst defeat in history.


    A massive army of more than three thousand cultivators, led by a Violet Pce True Lord, had entered the mountains, attempting to find the reason behind its constant shifting and take control of the region. But the result was that they were all trapped within the mountain range. Despite Godhead Pce''s best efforts, it was not able to rescue a single cultivator. Three True Lords joined their powers together, but the bizarre power of the Great Mountain interfered with them, and none of their arts were able to do anything. In the end, it was Godhead Pce''s Immortal tform ancestor who intervened, applying his supreme divine might to the mountain range. Only then did that bizarre power pull back a little, allowing those cultivators who had gone into the range to escape, but none of them dared to enter it again.


    The Spirit Mountains subsequently became famous. And the fact that Godhead Pce, despite dominating Nadir Hill, couldn''t do anything to a single mountain range soon became the butt of jokes across the world. And the Spirit Mountains continued to be stubborn, looming on thatnd and bing the most mysterious and dangerous forbidden zone.


    Later on, it became a ce where cultivators adventured. Every year, cultivators woulde to explore this ce, and there were often cultivators who boasted about how far they had managed to venture into this dangerous region.


    Once one understood this region, it became very easy to understand why Tang Jie had chosen it as the ce to stage his counterattack.


    This ce wasn''t under the control of Godhead Pce!


    This was the only ce that Tang Jie could find that was in Nadir Hill but wasn''t under Nadir Hill''s control.


    Only here would he not be surrounded on all sides and not have to worry about a constant flow of enemy reinforcements.


    Besides that, theplicated and changing terrain of the Spirit Mountains was Nan Ningjiang''s bane. Nan Ningjiang''s map could disy the world, but it could never create a map of the Spirit Mountains. Firstly, it was impossible for him to have seen the entire thing, and secondly, the terrain could change at any time and render his map useless.


    Without a map to serve as a reference, the Spirit-Boiling Powder''s effect was halved. At most, it could indicate Tang Jie''s rough location.


    Tang Jie could use theplex terrain to y cat-and-mouse with his foes.


    Lastly, the Spirit Mountains were truly and of treasure. As a ce that was rarely visited by humans, it had many more precious resources than the outside world. All of these excellent materials provided Tang Jie excellent conditions forying down formations. Of course, this was only if the shifts in terrain didn''t destroy his formation.


    For these various reasons, Tang Jie had chosen the Spirit Mountains. Only a fool wouldn''t pick an area that presented such good conditions. Of course, as a consequence, Nan Ningjiang barely needed to think to guess that this was where Tang Jie wanted their decisive battle to be.


    Today, Tang Jie finally arrived at the Spirit Mountains.


    He descended from the air andnded at the edge of the mountain range. This was thew of the Great Mountain.


    It was said that only those acknowledged by the Great Mountain could fly in this region. Tang Jie didn''t know whether this rumor was real, as his understanding of the Spirit Mountains came mostly from hearsay. But this bizarre power was something that not even Violet Pce cultivators could resist and Immortal tform Titans were helpless against, so believing in the rumors was the far wiser choice.


    As he stood at the edge of the mountain range, Tang Jie bowed in respect. This was his habit. It didn''t matter if the other side wasn''t even human or didn''t like him. It was still best to be polite.


    After bowing, Tang Jie made his way into the mountains.


    The path through the mountains was very steep, but it posed no challenge to Tang Jie.


    He walked through the mountains like a sightseer.


    The mountains were very beautiful,rge trees extending to the sky, their crowns blotting out the sun and letting only the asional ray of light through. The soil under his feet was a purple-red, as if it had been soaked in copious amounts of blood.


    Tang Jie didn''t know what sort of soil it was, but he knew that it was simply one of the special attributes of the Spirit Mountains.


    The ever-changing nature of the mountains meant that all this scenery was temporary and could not be used to signify anything. Today, the soil could be purple-red, and tomorrow, it could be silver-white.


    Nobody knew why this was the case, only that nothing in the Spirit Mountains could be relied upon.


    As he walked through the mountains, he could sense a sliver of energy drifting in the air.


    This was the power of the Great Mountain, a kind of invisible pressure.


    While in the Great Mountain''s territory, all cultivators would be restrained by it. The stronger the cultivator, the greater the restraining power, and the stronger the spell art, the more difficult it was to sessfully cast. That Violet Pce True Lord of Godhead Pce had suffered under this very same pressure. The deeper he ventured, the more ruthless the pressure became.


    Of course, this didn''t mean that the strong would be like trash upon entering these mountains.


    The ways of the world did not go as one willed, nor would they favor Tang Jie like this.


    The pressure suffered by cultivators was still proportional. High-tier cultivators, perhaps because they were more able to sense this pressure, were more greatly affected, but that didn''t mean that they would fall down to the level of low-tier cultivators.


    Thus, in these mountains, those at high tiers were still at high tiers and those at lower tiers remained at lower tiers. The gap shrank a little, but in general, there wasn''t too much change.


    If everyone fell, it was like nobody fell.


    For this reason, Soul Transformation cultivators like Master Xuan Zhong still had a purpose.


    But for Tang Jie, this wasn''t exactly the case.


    While he also fell in power, with nothing seeming to have changed, the thing that didn''t change was the proportion, not the absolute value.


    If the ratio between peak Mortal Shedding and Soul Transformation was 10:300, then under the pressure of the Great Mountain, this ratio became 1:30.


    The ratio remained the same, but the absolute value had changed.


    There were some things that were unaffected or minimally affected by the Great Mountain.


    Like the lightning pearl.


    Or a refined body.


    Or the golden saber.


    Or maybe something else.


    In this scenario, these things became boosts to his power.


    Of course, these boosts were limited, but it was precisely because they were limited that Nan Ningjiang and Godhead Pce wouldn''t care about them.


    Battle could be considered like a game of go. One couldn''t hope to beat the opponent to death with a single piece. Rather, one had to pay close attention to every detail and gain an advantage in every move, slowly shrinking the distance while seeking out the opportunity to counterattack and seal the victory.


    For this reason, all of Tang Jie''s ns were simple and clear. His enemies could see them, but they wouldn''t care about them. The nature of a person''s mind foreordained that a human could not pay attention to every single detail, instead focusing on key points. No matter how smart Nan Ningjiang was, if he could only see ten of Tang Jie''s detailed steps and not one hundred, there was bound to be an opening.


    This was enough. This counterattack in the Spirit Mountains relied on seizing the initiative among countless details. This time, Tang Jie was fighting a battle of patience and detail with his foe.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    There was a rustle as a foot fell onto the grass and leaves.


    Tang Jie looked around. He could tell that the trees here were much shorter.


    The farther he went in, the shorter and more spread out the trees became¡ªthe exact opposite of how things were in other mountain regions.


    This might have been due to the ever-changing nature of the Spirit Mountains. The nts here needed to be extremely adaptive, and nts that grew too densely would be devastated by shifts in terrain. Somewhat more open environments were suitable for survival.


    For the same reason, shorter trees were better able to survive than tall ones.


    Centuries of change had caused everything living here to evolve for the sake of survival, developing tenacious life forces. Some trees could even change their color and shape on their own¡ªnot because they had be sprites, but because they had evolved to have this ability in this environment.


    Tang Jie had already gone five hundred meters into the region. Any farther would take him past the safety line.


    Heading any deeper than this "safety line" would mean encountering various unpredictable dangers. As for the outer five hundred meters, this area had been gradually created through the struggle of countless cultivators against the Great Mountain.


    In this aspect, one could say that humans had still managed to get a small win, winning the right to survive in these five hundred meters from the Great Mountain.


    But one could also say that they had won only these five hundred meters over all these centuries.


    The Spirit Mountains region covered a vast area of more than a hundred thousand square kilometers, with the mountain range itself spanning nearly five hundred kilometers from north to south.


    This was an average radius of nearly two hundred and fifty kilometers, but cultivators had only managed to make it five hundred meters, which was an indicator of just how difficult it was to conquer this mountain range.


    As for Tang Jie, before he had even crossed this line between safety and danger, he had already run into a problem.


    Arge tiger had suddenly appeared on a nearby rock.


    Curled up on the stone, it coldly stared at Tang Jie.


    The safety line wasn''t absolute. It was a custom, a habit, a tacit understanding, something that could be broken and even ignored.


    This fiend tiger might have gotten lonely in the interior and decided to venture into the perimeter.


    It looked at Tang Jie, making no attempt to hide its murderous intent.


    The center of Tang Jie''s forehead shed, and with a brief nce, he knew this fiend''s level.


    "Middle-grade Mind Opening," he said. "Capable of speech."


    The fiend tiger continued to stare, ignoring him.


    Tang Jie helplessly shook his head. "I have a good impression of tigers, so I don''t want to kill you. So¡­ don''t block the road, friend."


    As he spoke, he exposed his peak Mortal Shedding cultivation, and that tiger finally backed off.


    Tang Jie strode forward.


    The fiend tiger silently stared at him, its eyes glinting.


    "That guy is following us," Yiyi suddenly said after a while.


    She was sitting on Tang Jie''s shoulder, creating a gand of flowers. Even though it had been twenty-some years, nts were naturally long-lived, so after that crazy growth spurt of her juvenile period, Yiyi''s growth had slowed down significantly. Even now, she appeared like a little girl, little different from how she was before.


    But her mind was gradually maturing. Without needing Tang Jie''s reminder, she knew what she needed to do, so she quickly found out that the fiend tiger hadn''t left.


    "Did the trees tell you?" Tang Jie asked.


    "No, I smelled it." Yiyi made a face. "The trees here are very strange. I can''tmunicate with them."


    Tang Jie sighed.


    A failed detail.


    He had believed that engaging in gueri warfare would be much easier in this region with Yiyi around, but while the oddities of the Spirit Mountains benefited Tang Jie, they also neutralized some of his advantages.


    "What about your spell arts?" Tang Jie asked.


    Yiyi waved a little hand, and some of the nearby nts began to rapidly grow, weaving themselves into a flower pce ording to Yiyi''s will.


    This was the game that Yiyi loved to y the most, tempering her spell art while not harming the environment.


    But while the flower pce grew, Yiyi started to sweat.


    She said, "It''s very tiring. These nts don''t listen, and I need to go to great lengths tomand them."


    Looking at those nts, Tang Jie said, "Yiyi, there''s no rush."


    "But I''m about to not be able to use any of my spell arts." Yiyi was so frantic that she was on the verge of tears. "I can tell that the farther we go in, the greater the resistance from the nts will be. If we go any farther, I might not be able tomand a single de of grass."


    "That will happen to everyone," Tang Jie indifferently said.


    He threw out a Star Finger, and as he cast the spell, he felt the pressure around him intensify, and he needed several times the spiritual energy to ovee this pressure and release the spell.


    The Star Fingernded on a nearby tree and left a small hole.


    There was a gust of wind, and Yiyi suddenly yelped.


    As she yelled, the flower pce she had gone to such great pains to create suddenly copsed. Yiyi paled in fright. "It''s angry!"


    "Who?" Tang Jie had barely spoken when a giant face suddenly appeared on the old tree Tang Jie had struck, opening its mouth in a noiseless roar.


    Huh, it was a tree sprite.


    Tang Jie hadn''t expected his casual attack to strike a tree sprite, and he hastened to retreat. A momentter, countless vines stabbed through the air as the tree sprite attacked.


    This wasn''t the first time Tang Jie had seen this sort of attack. He had been able to deal with them back when he was at the Spirit tform Realm, and he was at the peak of the Mortal Shedding Realm now.


    But as he retreated, the pressure increased again, making it difficult for him to circte spiritual energy. Unable to adapt in time, he slowed down, and the tree sprite''s vines curled around him. Thankfully, he managed to activate the Formless Golden Body in time. As the vines beat on his body, there was a golden burst of light, and he was sent flying.


    At that moment, a tiger roared.


    That fiend tiger from before rushed at him, swatting a paw at Tang Jie.


    Pa!


    As Tang Jie was struck by the paw, he thrust out his finger behind him. The fiend tiger twisted its body in the air and easily avoided it, and the attack ended up striking a tree.


    Tang Jie rolled on the ground and grunted. He looked down and saw that a tiger pawprint had appeared on his chest. It wasn''t too deep, and through Tang Jie''s powerful life force, it quickly faded and disappeared.


    But it was proof that he had been injured.


    He had been injured by a mere middle-grade Mind Opening fiend tiger.


    Something like this hadn''t happened in many years.


    "Big Brother!" Yiyi shouted in rm.


    Tang Jie stared at the fiend tiger and then at the tree sprite. "They aren''t affected."


    "What?" Yiyi didn''t understand what he was saying.


    Tang Jie repeated himself. "They aren''t affected, not hindered by the Great Mountain''s pressure. Not only that, they are even aided by it."


    "Then doesn''t that mean¡­" Yiyi gasped.


    "The fiends here are stronger than those outside," Tang Jie said in Yiyi''s ce. "It''s no wonder that fiend tiger didn''t run after seeing that my cultivation level was higher than its, instead following us¡­ It wanted to kill above its level."


    Yiyi''s jaw dropped in shock.


    She now understood what Tang Jie was saying. It turned out that the fiend tiger was following them so that it could strike once they were deep enough and affected more deeply by the Great Mountain. If the tree sprite hadn''t appeared, it might have waited longer, like a hunter waiting for the prey to walk into the.


    In the Spirit Mountains, fiends and sprites were the best at killing above their level, for they were blessed by the Great Mountain.


    s, this fiend tiger had run into Tang Jie. Although it was smart and knew to use the terrain to weaken its foe, it didn''t know that Tang Jie was no average peak Mortal Shedding cultivator. This mistaken judgment made it strike early and ensured its failure.


    It lunged forward, howling with the majesty of a tiger king.


    Tang Jie dodged to the side, grabbing at the tiger''s head as he did.


    This sudden attack caught the fiend tiger off guard, allowing Tang Jie to seize it. Tang Jie immediately swung the fiend tiger around and mmed it into the ground. There was a golden sh as the golden saber left its sheath, slicing through more than half of the tree sprite''s vines before resting on the tiger''s throat.


    The fiend tiger didn''t dare to move while the tree sprite shrieked. Realizing that it had run into a tough opponent, it raised up its roots from the earth and ran off.


    Yiyi shouted, "One of them escaped!"


    "Let it go," Tang Jie said.


    He coldly looked at the fiend tiger and said, "I don''t have to kill you, but you have to stop bothering me."


    "Eh?" Yiyi looked at Tang Jie in shock.


    Tang Jie sheathed his saber.


    The fiend tiger turned over onto its feet. It red at Tang Jie for a while before finally leaving.


    "Big Brother," Yiyi softly said.


    Tang Jie patted Yiyi''s little head and said, "Canhen told me that the 12 Hawks are already on their way, and thetest they will arrive is tonight¡­ We don''t have much time."


    "''Time''? ''Time'' to do what?"


    "Silly, it''s naturally to turn this ce into our home court."


    "''Turn it into our home court''," Yiyi mumbled.


    Yes, the Spirit Mountains still weren''t their home court. In here, both they and Godhead Pce suffered from great restrictions.


    There was no doubt that breaking free of this restriction was far more important to Tang Jie than killing a tree sprite or a tiger. Even if he couldn''t do that, he had to at least avoid adding to the hostility.


    "Then what do we do?" Yiyi asked.


    Find the original at bit.ly/3Tfs4P4.


    "First¡­ we show our reverence!" Tang Jie muttered as he gazed at the mountains in the distance.

 Chapter 504: Sending Away

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Another day ended¡­


    The sunlight dimmed, and darkness returned to the world.


    Arge pleasure boat floated through the air, numerous oars sticking out from its sides and striking at the air, producing numerous spatial ripples. The pleasure boat seemed to be moving slowly, but it was actually moving through the sky at great speed, only stopping when it was finally close to the Spirit Mountains.


    Several dozen cultivators flew out of the boat, led by Nan Ningjiang.


    They descended from the air andnded in a clearing in front of the mountain range.


    There was a ck-clothed cultivator already waiting in the clearing. Upon seeing Nan Ningjiang, he prostrated and said, "Hawk Hall subordinate Jiang Xizhi pays respects to Sir Nan and the other honored masters."


    Nan Ningjiang waved his hand and said, "Enough with that. Tell me what you discovered."


    "Yes!" Jiang Xizhi nodded. "This subordinate and his colleagues are 132 people in all. Upon receiving Sir Nan''s order, weid down detection eyes in various areas around the mountain region. We can confirm that Tang Jie entered the Spirit Mountains eight hours ago."


    Master Xuan Zhong raised an eyebrow. "So you sent people to watch the area a while ago? Quite prepared, aren''t you?"


    Nan Ningjiang chuckled. "Opportunityes to the prepared. The Spirit Mountains are vast, so knowing where he entered makes it easier for us to chase him and also lets us know what sort of resources are in the area. Tang Jie is undoubtedly an expert in pursuit and counter-pursuit, and all experts in counter-pursuit are skilled in using the terrain to their advantage. There is no way he would just randomly choose a location to enter from. We don''t know how much Tang Jie knows about the Spirit Mountains, so we can only assume that he knows everything. If that''s the case, his selection of entry location must have been carefully considered. If we want to know what he''s nning, we have to know why he entered from there and what that area can provide him."


    Master Xuan Zhong''s eyes shed with admiration, and he repeatedly nodded in agreement. "It makes sense. Then shall I presume that this is not all that you have prepared?"


    Nan Ningjiang smiled. "Naturally."


    He turned to Jiang Xizhi. "Did you find the people I asked you to find?"


    Jiang Xizhi replied, "Yes, Sir. There are 142 viges around the mountain range, and three-hundred-some families are frequent visitors to the mountains. After some selection, we found ten families who are willing to serve as our guides."


    "''Guides''?" Master Xuan Zhong was startled.


    "Correct, ''guides''." Nan Ningjiang exined, "My lord, you must not underestimate these guides. While they are only mortals, they are all people who rely on the Spirit Mountains to make a living. There are some things that they can do that we can''t. In this ce, a proper guide is more important than a powerful cultivator."


    Jiang Xizhi smiled and said, "Sir Nan is correct. While those people are just mortals, in this mountain range, they have their own unique skills. We cultivators can only go five hundred meters into the mountain range, but those mortals are often able to go several times that distance."


    "''Several times''?" Master Xuan Zhong was bbergasted. In his early years, he had explored the Spirit Mountains, and he was keenly aware of how terrifying they were. This entire mountain range was like an enormous monster, full of mystery, strangeness, and change. Back then, despite almost dying, he had only managed to make it a few kilometers in. Now, Jiang Xizhi was saying that these mere mortals were also capable of such a feat. He couldn''t help but be amazed.


    Jiang Xizhi replied, "Correct. That means these guides have some skill. With them around, we can save ourselves a lot of trouble. Of course, as their strength is limited, there are some ces they can''t go¡ªunless we''re with them. They will definitely prove to be very useful."


    Master Xuan Zhong sighed, "Indeed."


    Nan Ningjiang said, "Besides the surveince and the guides, Xizhi''s group also did some investigation in the mountains and drafted a rough map."


    Nan Ningjiang extended a hand, and Jiang Xizhi ced a map on it.


    Huang Yue asked in surprise, "The Spirit Mountains are constantly changing, capable ofpletely transforming in a sh. What is the use of a map?"


    Nan Ningjiang replied, "It will be useful until at least the next shift."


    Everyone realized what he meant.


    This map was extremely crude. The Hawk Hall''s subordinates could not venture deep into the mountains and had mostly drawn their map based on long-distance observations. Even so, this map would still be very useful for their search of the mountain.


    Nan Ningjiang''s ample preparations had everyone sighing in praise. Master Xuan Zhong asked, "Does Young Friend Nan have any other preparations?"


    Nan Ningjiang opened the map and pointed at a spot. "This is where we currently are. Since Tang Jie has chosen to enter the Spirit Mountains, he must know exactly what is so terrifying about them. He wouldn''t be so foolish as to venture into its depths. All he can do once he enters the mountain region is to move side to side."


    "You''re saying that he will circle around the Great Mountain?" He Yueyang asked.


    "That''s his only option," Nan Ningjiang said. "If he''s bold enough, he might go in one thousand meters, two thousand meters, or even three thousand meters, but there''s no way he can keep going all the way into the heart of the region¡­ After all, that''s a ce that even True Lords can''t freely go in and out of."


    "Then which direction will he move?"


    "That I don''t know, but regardless of which side he chooses, his region of activity will be restricted to this area." Nan Ningjiang moved his finger across the map. "What we need to do is to put this entire area under our control."


    "Just our group trying to control such arge area? Very difficult!" Xu Mingyue said.


    "That''s why I called over some other people." Nan Ningjiang smiled. He pped his hands, and several hundred people in gold flew out from the distance.


    From their orderly formation, it was clear that they were well trained, and Master Xuan Zhong''s eyes narrowed as hemented, "Disciples of the Bloodbath Hall."


    Godhead Pce had its ownbat department, the Bloodbath Hall.


    As these Bloodbath Hall disciples appeared, one of those golden-robed people flew over to Nan Ningjiang and loudly said, "Bloodbath Hall subordinate Wang Tiexin hase on orders from Hall Master Shen, leading four generals, three hundred disciples, and six hundred soldiers to serve Sir in your strategy!"


    Nan Ningjiang brought his hands together and bowed. "This Nan Ningjiang is endlessly grateful for Hall Master Shen''s support. I must trouble Sir Wang in this period of time."


    Wang Tiexin heartilyughed. "Sir Nan, there is no need for courtesy. If we can capture Tang Jie, both of us will be honored."


    In terms of individual strength, the Bloodbath Hall''s disciples might not be any stronger than the disciples of other halls, but in terms of jointbat, they could not be underestimated.


    Nan Ningjiang had asked for three hundred Bloodbath Hall disciples, who ranged from Nine Revolutions to Cognitive Creation. But if ten of them joined together, they could exhibit the power of a Spirit Ring True Person, so one could imagine how useful these three hundred disciples would be.


    No matter which sect it was, when its officialbat disciples joined the battle, the situation wouldpletely transform. Godhead Pce could not send several hundred True Persons to chase down a single peak Mortal Shedding cultivator, but sending several hundredbat disciples was easily done.


    But no one had expected Nan Ningjiang to ask for three hundred Bloodbath Hall disciples, and they inwardly rejoiced.


    Nan Ningjiang said, "Since your allies are here, I will begin to issue orders."


    "We are waiting for yourmands, Sir Nan!" everyone said in unison.


    Nan Ningjiang pointed at the map. "Good. Tang Jie''s region of activity should be here. Before he escapes, we need to lock this ce down and shrink his zone of activity. Seventh Brother, Tenth Sister, take one general and one hundred Bloodbath Hall disciples and lock down the southern side. If Tang Jie manages to get through your defensive perimeter, you will have to answer for it."


    "Yes!" the two Hawks replied.


    "Sixth Sister, Little Twelve, the two of you will take another general and one hundred Bloodbath Hall disciples, and seal off the north side."


    "Me?" Xi Canhen said in shock.


    "Yes, you!" Nan Ningjiang confirmed. "Do you have any objections?"


    Xi Canhen took in a deep breath. "No. I will do as Big Brothermands."


    "Good."


    Nan Ningjiang continued to issue orders, but his gaze would pass over the empty spot where Xi Canhen was standing from time to time.


    Xi Canhen could no longer hear what he was saying.


    A wave of shock was traveling through his mind: He''s intentionally sending me away!


    In this period of time, that Tang Jie was able to wander around freely was closely connected to the fact that Xi Canhen was his informant. It was precisely Xi Canhen''s reports that allowed Tang Jie to have a constant grasp of the 12 Hawks'' movements and escape before it became toote.


    One could say that while Nan Ningjiang had the Spirit-Boiling Powder, Tang Jie had Xi Canhen, which countered the Spirit-Boiling Powder. This was why Nan Ningjiang''s several probing attempts to capture Tang Jie had failed.


    And this had also confirmed to Nan Ningjiang that someone around him was on Tang Jie''s side.


    Xi Canhen thought that he was secretive enough, as Heart Consonance left no traces, but suspicion did not require evidence. Even though Xi Canhen had been around Nan Ningjiang all this time, once the seed of suspicion had sprouted, it was very difficult to get rid of.


    As for now, Nan Ningjiang finally had the chance to send him away.


    That Nan Ningjiang was having him takemand of this force was firm proof of his suspicion.


    Worst of all was that if Tang Jie could not grasp Nan Ningjiang''s movements from this point forward, it essentially confirmed to Nan Ningjiang that his spy was among these four people.


    And if someone of Nan Ningjiang''s intelligence sent out three other people, it naturally meant that he had ways of verifying whether those three were spies.


    In other words, it was only a matter of time until he was exposed.


    Xi Canhen''s heart turned cold.


    If he didn''t have a habit of concealing himself so that people could only sense his presence and not see his expression, everyone would have been able to see all the ways his face had changed at this time.


    Nan Ningjiang was continuing to deploy his men, doing so in such a way as to put the entire region under his control.


    Xi Canhen saw howposed he was and started to panic.


    What was he going to do?


    Tang Jie!


    Yes, he had to ask Tang Jie about this.


    He realized this.


    Just when he was about to use Heart Consonance, a girl''s gentle voice spoke into his ear. "Twelfth Brother, what are you still standing around for?"


    Xi Canhen raised his head and saw a sweet-tempered girl standing in front of him.


    "Sixth Sister," he said.


    Sixth Hawk Si Hongxian was an expert in psychology, interrogation, and Soulscouring. No one could keep a secret if they fell into her hands. While she appeared gentle on the outside, she was more ruthless than anyone.


    Nan Ningjiang, by making her his partner, was essentiallymanding her to investigate him.


    Xi Canhenposed himself and said, "I''m used to acting alone and have never had the chance tomand soldiers in battle. I don''t know what Big Brother is thinking, having me order around these Bloodbath Hall disciples. Isn''t this just making things hard for me?"


    Si Hongxian smiled. "That''s why he gave us that general."


    She waved her hand and pointed at a golden-armored man next to her. "This is General Zhao Hongkai. Together with us, he is responsible for the northern blockade. There''s no need to worry with General Zhao here. We only need to concern ourselves with our own business."


    Xi Canhen helplessly nodded, and the three of them departed for the north.


    Nan Ningjiang watched them leave, and then he suddenly chuckled.


    He said, "Xizhi."


    Jiang Xizhi replied, "Your subordinate is here."


    "Pass on my order. Once we enter the mountains, activate the great formation."


    "Yes!"


    "''Great formation''? What ''great formation''?" everyone said in confusion.


    "A great formation to seal off the mountain range," Nan Ningjiang indifferently said, circling the map again, this time covering the entire mountain range.


    True Person Liang was startled. "''Seal the mountain range''? The entirety of the Spirit Mountains? What''s going on? Aren''t we already locking down this part of the mountains? Why do we have to lock down the entire mountain range too?"


    Nan Ningjiang replied, "When dealing with a cunning enemy, how can you rely on only oneyer of defense? While the blockade I justid out is good, it only seals off the north, south, and east. However, we can''t seal off the western side, facing the interior of the mountain. And who can say that Tang Jie won''t venture deeper? If he does this, our encirclement won''t beplete."


    Nan Ningjiang''s encirclement was U-shaped, not O-shaped. The biggest problem with it was that it didn''t block the path leading deeper into the mountain range, which presented a risk that Tang Jie could escape.


    "He won''t go deeper. He''ll die."


    "He doesn''t need to go in too deep, only deeper than our defensive lines. Perhaps only a single step will be enough for him to get around our entire defensive line," Nan Ningjiang casually said, his finger subconsciously tapping against the map.


    Nan Ningjiang''s meaning was clear. He was obviously implying that someone might leak the exact depth of the defensive line to Tang Jie, allowing him to escape.


    Xu Mingyue said, "Nan Ningjiang, what do you mean by this? Are you suspecting me?"


    If there was anyone who might secretly assist Tang Jie, then Xu Mingyue was actually more suspect than Xi Canhen. After all, nobody knew about Xi Canhen''s past with Tang Jie, while everyone knew about the Xu n''s rtionship to Tang Jie.


    And it wasn''t strange for Xu Mingyue to be angry.


    Nan Ningjiang smiled. "Lady Xu, you misunderstand me. I am only speaking of one possibility. If I did not believe you, I would not have kept you here. But just to be sure, I will not ce all my hopes on a blockade that isn''t evenplete. The western side, the sky, and even the ground can serve as Tang Jie''s paths of escape. Although the chances are very low, so long as the possibility exists, we have to cut them off. Thus, outside of this defensive line, we need a blockade that locks down the entire mountain range."


    "Just how much will that cost!? An entire army being mustered to deal with a fly!" Master Xuan Zhong shook his head and sighed.


    "In truth, this is saving a lot of resources," Nan Ningjiang replied.


    Everyone looked at Nan Ningjiang in surprise.


    Nan Ningjiang casually said, "Once we''ve confirmed that Tang Jie is in our hands and have blockaded the Spirit Mountains, we can remove the seal on the borders of Nadir Hill."


    Everyone was enlightened.


    It was no wonder Nan Ningjiang dared to go so far.


    Yes, the costs of sealing Tang Jie in the Spirit Mountains were much less than sealing him in all of Nadir Hill.


    Through Nan Ningjiang''sparison, what was an enormous investment ended up bing a huge money saver for Godhead Pce. Nan Ningjiang was already making a contribution before Tang Jie had even been captured, and what could be better than that?


    Once they understood this, everyone realized why Nan Ningjiang had dyed until Tang Jie had entered the mountains.


    They all sighed in admiration.


    Master Xuan Zhong smiled. "Young Friend Nan is meticulous and creative. Admirable, admirable! In this way, Tang Jie truly bes a turtle in a jar, with no escape for him. Does Young Friend Nan have any more wonderful moves?"


    "This can''t be considered anything amazing," Nan Ningjiang replied. "I just asked for a few friends toe and help."


    He turned and looked behind him.


    Several people dressed as Hawk Hall disciples and wearing dark hoods suddenly removed these hoods, revealing their true faces.


    The two leaders of this group bowed to Master Xuan Zhong. "Feng Buzhi and Qian Yingchen pay our respects to Lord Xuan Zhong!"


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Late at night.


    Yiyi was sleeping in a bush.


    Tang Jie sat on arge stone, cross-legged in meditation.


    He was feeling the bizarre power that permeated this world and attempting tomunicate with it.


    s, no matter what he did, there was no reply.


    Tang Jie didn''t find this strange.


    Godhead Pce had thought of every method it could over thest thousand years to subdue this mountain. Since force had failed, they had tried tomunicate with it.


    But even they had failed to receive a reply from the Great Mountain.


    Tang Jie didn''t think that his simple shows of respect would "move" the mountain. He was mostly doing this just to be safe. In some cases, doing something might not have any effect, but not doing it might result in disaster.


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    Thus, Tang Jie wasn''t irked when his attempts atmunication failed. After looking around and ensuring that there were no problems, he began to cultivate. He was probably the only person who could be in the mood to cultivate while being hunted like this.


    As he breathed in and out, spiritual energy circted through his body, slowly umting power within his body.


    As he was meditating, a voice spoke in his mind.


    It was Xi Canhen.


    "Young Master," he said.


    "What''s up?" Tang Jie felt a hint of unease.


    For Xi Canhen to contact him at this time probably meant that he wasn''t bringing good news.


    Sure enough, as Xi Canhen talked, Tang Jie''s heart sank.


    Nan Ningjiang had sent Xi Canhen away? Did he suspect him? Or was it a coincidence?


    Tang Jie first had to consider what he should do if Xi Canhen had been discovered.


    After thinking for a while, Tang Jie replied, "He intentionally got halfway through his n before sending you off. It''s clear that he intends to send me the news through your mouth. If I take precautions against everything that you''ve told me and make no precautions against what you don''t know, then he can basically confirm that you''re the spy."


    Xi Canhen replied, "I also thought of that, so I suspect that Nan Ningjiang''s true trump card is in the part of the n that I don''t know. The three hundred Bloodbath Hall disciples are only the surface blockade. He might have another way of hunting you down."


    On this matter, the first thing the two were concerned about was each other. As they spoke, they both felt their hearts warming up.


    Xi Canhen said, "I''m not afraid of being discovered by Godhead Pce. If ites down to it, I can just leave. It''s not like I have any attachments to Godhead Pce. But I am very reluctant to leave without being able to help Young Master escape."


    "I am also reluctant to see you exposed like this. Your remaining in Godhead Pce only serves to benefit me."


    "Then what should we do?"


    Tang Jie''s eyes glinted with a savage light. "The dead don''t suspect anything."

 Chapter 505: The Long Skirmish

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The farther one went inside, the greater the pressure became.


    Tang Jie didn''t know how far he had walked, only that if the original pressure was like a haze, as he made his way deeper into the mountains, the pressure became more and more real, so distinct that even mortals would be able to sense it.


    As he stepped on the thickyer of grass and mud, Tang Jie felt a heaviness on his body, almost like he was back in the Water Moon Paradise.


    The bizarre power was like the air, present throughout the mountains.


    Tang Jie tried to circte his energy, and he could sense that his strength was being suppressed all the way down to the initial phase of Cognitive Creation.


    And together with this ever-present pressure was an ever-present danger.


    Thud!


    A thin gray line shot past Tang Jie''s face and struck a nearby tree.


    Gray and ck decaying water flowed out of the tree, and the tree quickly rotted away.


    "Graythread Snake venom." Tang Jie nced over and was immediately sure about what he had seen. This snake was extremely venomous and preferred to hide in bushes and shoot out its venom from there. Its venom was extremely strong and was directly connected to its cultivation level. Given how that single strike hadpletely rotted a tree, it was probably a Mind Opening Graythread Snake. This level of venom would leave Tang Jie in excruciating suffering if it didn''t kill him.


    And this was only the perimeter region!


    Tang Jie didn''t try to catch the Graythread Snake. This thing was famous for being an assassin among fiends. Once it failed its strike, it would immediately flee.


    He shook his head and said, "Yiyi, be careful."


    "Mm!" Yiyi earnestly replied. She widened her eyes and carefully looked around, even though she couldn''t see anything. Without her ability tomunicate with nts, this little girl was basically blind and deaf, unable to sense many things.


    Yiyi hated this feeling. She looked at Tang Jie and said, "Can''t we fly? Being up in the sky would save us a lot of trouble."


    Tang Jie raised his head just in time to see an eagle fly overhead.


    He muttered, "That will earn the Great Mountain''s rejection, even its aggression."


    "''Aggression''?" Yiyi softly asked.


    "Yes, ''aggression''," Tang Jie firmly replied. "Moreover, it''s only here that we have a chance tounch a counterattack."


    He said no more and continued to trudge onward.


    While this ce was dangerous, it wasn''t lethal. He could deal with the danger, so Nan Ningjiang''s group could also deal with it.


    He had to keep going.


    This was a chase, and it was a test of patience, perseverance, and courage.


    Before the direct confrontation, they would firstpete to see who dared to venture deeper.


    The wretched environment of the Great Mountain would naturally eliminate some people, which was exactly what Tang Jie wanted.


    But for Nan Ningjiang, this was within expectations, and he had prepared himself for it.


    A group was approaching the edge of the forest.


    They were led by some old men wearing woven rush raincoats and rattan hats, and holding bamboo canes. Behind them were a few young men in in and simple clothes, carrying bamboo baskets on their backs.


    Farther behind them was Nan Ningjiang''s group.


    At certain intervals, the young men would take white powder from their baskets and sprinkle it on the ground. They would then kneel and quietly pray. They were speaking in the local dialect, which was very difficult to understand.


    "What are they saying?" Zhou Fanghua asked her fifth brother. The fifth brother was from the area, and though he wasn''t one of these mountain men, he understood the dialect better than the others.


    "They are worshiping the mountain god and praying for his forgiveness," the fifth brother replied. This is a custom the local mountain men have when they enter the mountains."


    "''Mountain god''? They think there''s a god in these mountains?" Second Hawk Tian Zhong sneered. "Ridiculous! Don''t they know that cultivators are gods?"


    Another Hawkmented, "That''s right. Gods aren''t made from worship, nor are they naturally produced by nature. They are created through the cultivation of us cultivators. But rather than worshiping the real gods, they choose to worship some mountain god. It''s a joke."


    Nan Ningjiang chuckled. "What''s the point in arguing with some ignorant locals? People always worship whatever it is they imagine. Once it bes real, it''s not worth worshiping. It''s precisely because they don''t know what the god is that they worship. As for us, because we know that a god is simply another checkpoint on the path of Immortality¡ªan inevitability, a pursuit, a direction¡ªwe do not worship gods. Even if there is a god in the Great Mountain, in our eyes, it would just be a rather strong creature."


    "Then do you think what they''re doing is useful?" Zhou Fanghua asked, pointing at the mountain guides with her chin.


    Nan Ningjiang replied, "I don''t know. But what I do know is that they are the people that understand the Great Mountain the most in Nadir Hill." He narrowed his eyes. "With them and us working together, we can delve farther and in a safer way than Tang Jie¡­ Trying to use the terrain to kill us? Hmph! He''s going to find out how badly he''s been dreaming!"


    The mountain men stood up after their prayer and continued through the mountain.


    They didn''t go straight up the mountain path, instead taking a detour on the side.


    "Little Five, can you ask them why we''re taking a detour?" Master Xuan Zhong asked.


    The fifth brother shouted a few sentences at the mountain men, and then he replied, "They say that there are no paths in the Spirit Mountains. That so-called mountain path is a snake trail, and there''s a big snake up ahead. In the Spirit Mountains, the first lesson is to not walk formed paths."


    "Then tell them that they don''t need to be afraid of fiends with us around," another person said with augh.


    The fifth brother shouted a few more words and then shook his head. "No good. The second lesson is to not lightly spill blood in the mountains."


    "What? Don''t they often go hunting in these mountains?"


    The fifth brother''s face stiffened. "Not to be spilled lightly! Killing an innocent snake just to pass through and killing in order to survive are different. And they also aren''t hunting. They just gather the corpses of dead fiends or some precious materials that they sell off."


    "''Materials''?" Nan Ningjiang raised his head. "You''re saying that they know where to find precious materials in these mountains?"


    "Of course," the fifth brother replied. "They rely on this to survive. They understand these mountains and know which materials they can gather and which that they can''t. They sacrificed countless lives in order to learn all this."


    "There are also ces where you can''t gather anything?" Zhou Fanghua curiously asked.


    "Yes. Some ces seem harmless but are actually brimming with danger," the fifth brother exined. "If you end up gathering from the wrong ce, you''ll end up in a lot of trouble."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Whoosh!


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    Tang Jie rapidly retreated as his saber shed, cutting down that giant maw of a flower that was lunging at him.


    The giant mouth flower dropped to the ground and instantly scrunched together into a strange face that let out a frenzied howl.


    Countless flowers emerged from the ground, all of them opening up their mouths and howling. Soon after that, arge cloud of bees appeared in the distance, buzzing toward Tang Jie.


    "Shit!" Tang Jie cursed and turned to run.


    He had discovered some Violet Extreme Grass that had been growing for several hundred years and was nning to gather some to use as formation material. But to his surprise, before he had even gotten any of the grass, he had rmed the man-eating flower next to it. 33926


    Tang Jie had never heard of these man-eating flowers and didn''t know what species they were, but they were shockingly fierce, and they could even summon bees. If he didn''t want to engage in a big battle within the mountains, he had to run.


    He immediately fled, running very far and only stopping when the bees stopped chasing and flew back.


    Stopping, Tang Jie looked around.


    He was surrounded by forest.


    Yiyi was rather shocked. "Where are we now?"


    "I can''t tell," Tang Jie said with a shake of his head.


    It was already difficult to distinguish direction within the mountains, and after this frantic flight, he had bepletely lost and no longer knew where he was.


    "This is a problem," Yiyi said, stroking her chin in a pensive manner.


    "''Problem''? I don''t think so." Tang Jie smiled. "Don''t forget that it''s not us that have to find someone. As the side that''s being hunted, we can go on without knowing where we are so long as we don''t run into them. It''s the hunters who need to know their exact position so that they can know where I am."


    "Can they do it?"


    "Of course. They have guides." Tang Jie smiled.


    "''Guides''? In other words, they''re more familiar with the mountains than we are? Doesn''t that mean that you can''t rely on the Great Mountain to deal with your foes?"


    Tang Jie chuckled. "It''s true that it won''t be easy, but who said those guides are all-powerful? Remember that this is the Spirit Mountains, the mountain range that changes the most. All experience here will be affected by time and terrain. It''s impossible for them to use experience as a recement for everything. Moreover, experience is an umtive process, and if we spend enough time here, we will also be experienced."


    "''If we spend enough time here''?" Yiyi looked at Tang Jie in surprise.


    "Yes, this is going to be a long battle. I certainly have no ns on dealing with my opponents in only a few days," Tang Jie profoundly said.


    He turned around and began to head deeper into the mountains.


    Just as Tang Jie said, this battle with Godhead Pce would be a chase where both sides would be trading blows. Anyone thatcked patience and tried to resolve problems in a short amount of time would be bound to fail.


    Patience was the key in this sh. The person who was able to restrain themselves for longer had the higher chance of emerging victorious.


    Interestingly, Tang Jie and Nan Ningjiang were both talented in this aspect.


    Nan Ningjiang seemed to have made ample preparations. No matter how Tang Jie hid himself, he would be like a professional hunting dog, tenaciously following. It was impossible for Tang Jie''s tracks in the mountain to be hidden for long, and each time they were found, Nan Ningjiang got a little closer.


    There was one time where Nan Ningjiang''s group was only several hundred meters away from Tang Jie. In the dark forest, Tang Jie used the Celestial Eye to detect Nan Ningjiang''s group first, allowing him to escape in time.


    In truth, this had already be his most important tool in avoiding Nan Ningjiang. With the stone canvas, he didn''t need to worry about Divine Will searches, and when it came to long-distance sight, no one in Godhead Pce could match him.


    Of course, Tang Jie knew that he could only maintain this advantage for a while. It wouldn''t be long before Nan Ningjiang realized the problem and would call over some new expert to cover for this w. This was also Nan Ningjiang''s greatest advantage. He had immediate ess to whatever talent he required.


    Meanwhile, the news began to spread that Tang Jie was imprisoned in the Spirit Mountains.


    Countless sects of Nadir Hill began to converge on the Spirit Mountains.


    Some of them came for the huge bounty, some came to take revenge for the friends that Tang Jie had killed, and some of them were the victims themselves, like the True Persons of the Peerless Sword Pavilion.


    Numerous cultivators gathered from all around.


    But Tang Jie continued to wander about the mountains as usual.


    The Spirit Mountains were huge, huge enough to live in for some time. Even if he didn''t head inward, Tang Jie could still live as he pleased. And as he spent his days residing in the mountains, he slowly developed a deeper understanding of the Great Mountain.


    He gradually familiarized himself with the area, learning what ces the annoying fiends frequented, which materials had traps around them, and where the secret mountain paths were. Most importantly, he came to understand what could be done within the Great Mountain and what could not.


    He learned quickly, the knowledge that the mountain men had needed centuries and countless lives to learn taking him only several dozen days to grasp.


    This wasn''t strange.


    He was a cultivator.


    The lessons the mountain men needed to use their lives to learn, he could learn with a drop of blood and an insignificant wound. As for time, that was even less a problem. The mountain men sought to survive the mountains only as long as needed to make a profit, but Tang Jie''s goal was long-term survival. Thus, the mountain men would give up on exploring after getting something that they could sell, but Tang Jie would not.


    This made Tang Jie''s learning progress much faster than anyone could imagine. Every day, he was progressing and understanding.


    Just as Tang Jie said, if he spent long enough here, he would naturally get experience.


    Of course, experience came from lessons.


    One time, Tang Jie saw an Ice Epiphyllum growing next to a small pond, a real spirit medicine. But when he went to get it, a pack of Ice Pythons emerged from the pond. These were all peak Mind Opening Ice Pythons, only a step away from Transformation, even more powerful thanks to the pressure of the Great Mountain. Tang Jie had choice but to turn tail and run.


    There was another time where Tang Jie had just been walking around when the ground suddenly gave way and he fell into a cave. Inside were countless spiders who produced firm and sticky spider webs. Even with Tang Jie''s peak Mortal Shedding constitution, he found them very hard to tear off. Fortunately, the golden de was their bane. On that day, Tang Jie finally made an exception and killed more than a hundred of those spider fiends. Fortunately, the Great Mountain seemingly wasn''t angered by this.


    As a result of encountering those spider fiends, Tang Jie gained arge pile of spider thread. This was an extremely rare material that could be used to craft art-relic-tier Immortal-Binding Rope, Gold Silk Robes, Incense Bags, and other such things.


    The worst time was when Tang Jie had to deal with a monkey fiend. That monkey was very temperamental, and when it failed to immediately win the battle, it started to howl and roar, making a huge ruckus. Worst of all was that the Godhead Pce group was nearby.


    If Tang Jie hadn''t been so perceptive and fled ahead of time, he might have been discovered by Godhead Pce.


    In this manner, Tang Jie experienced various dangers.


    Although Tang Jie and Nan Ningjiang had never officially met, both of them had a deep impression of each other.


    They left their own footprints all across the mountains. Tang Jie would be standing on arge stone at one moment, and a few momentster, Nan Ningjiang would appear next to it, his brow furrowed in thought.


    The Spirit-Boiling Powder meant that Godhead Pce would never lose Tang Jie''s position, and the Celestial Eye meant that Tang Jie would be able to sense the danger early and flee.


    The two of them were locked in an invisible sh, a battle with no smoke or fire.


    This was a battle of reconnaissance. Neither side had spilled a drop of blood, but there had been countless close calls.


    Regrettably, the two sides weren''t even aware of these close calls.


    Nan Ningjiang wouldn''t know how many times he had brushed shoulders with Tang Jie, nor would Tang Jie realize just how many excellent opportunities he had missed.


    Both sides were neers to this sort of mountain warfare, and they made their fair share of mistakes.


    They were also gaining experience and rapidly maturing. Tang Jie was using his own advantages to constantly progress, and Nan Ningjiang was greedily drinking up the lessons of the mountain men, for he knew that it wouldn''t be long before these mountain men were no longer useful.


    The skirmishing phase would eventually end. Tang Jie could avoid the pursuit of Godhead Pce a hundred times, but he couldn''t do it forever.


    Nan Ningjiang was in no rush.


    He knew that if Tang Jie were discovered once, he was doomed. As the hunted, he had countless advantages, but he had one fatal disadvantage: he couldn''t lose even once.


    So Nan Ningjiang was very patient.


    They were like a pack of cats slowly searching the mountains for a single mouse.


    It was soon three months into the hunt.


    In these three months, Tang Jie''s traces could be seen all around the blockaded region. As Nan Ningjiang had expected, Tang Jie didn''t attempt to leave the blockaded region or venture deeper in, continuing to move around the area.


    In the eyes of others, Tang Jie was doing this because it was pointless to run away, so it was better to use the terrain to weaken the effects of the Spirit-Boiling Powder. After all, while the Spirit-Boiling Powder indicated his position, it couldn''t be constantly used and couldn''t give his exact location if there was no map.


    But Nan Ningjiang knew that this was not Tang Jie''s objective at all.


    He was staying here to familiarize himself with this ce, grasp this ce, control this ce, and then¡­ use this ce.


    He wanted to stage a counterattack, not to run!


    Just like how Tang Jie knew what Nan Ningjiang was thinking, Nan Ningjiang knew what Tang Jie was thinking.


    The two of them had never met, yet they clearly knew what each other was thinking.


    The depths of the Great Mountain.


    On the slope of a small mountain.


    A field of bean sprouts was growing.


    No one knew that these bean sprouts had been nted three months ago.


    No one knew what these things meant.


    When Tang Jie found out that the fiends of the Spirit Mountains weren''t affected by the Great Mountain, he knew where his chances of victoryy.


    This was the true meaning behind all his stalling.


    For this purpose, he had endured for three months and engaged in a long skirmish with Godhead Pce.


    On this day, Tang Jie once more appeared at this field of bean sprouts.


    He gazed at the numerous beans and smiled in satisfaction.


    Once these beans ripened, Tang Jie knew that this skirmish would finallye to an end. After enduring that most excruciating period, Tang Jie could finally make his counterattack.


    He lightly held a bean as he muttered, "Whates next will all depend on you guys."


    On this day, several people appeared outside the mountain range.


    They entered the Spirit Mountains from various directions and disappeared into the forest.

 Chapter 506: You Win When It Comes to Laying Plans, but I Win When It Comes to Slaughter

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    In the dark forest, several Godhead Pce disciples were on routine patrol.


    Suddenly, a fiend tiger appeared in front of them.


    The two sides froze. A Godhead disciple was just about to attack the fiend tiger when his leader shook his head.


    He let out a threatening roar, fully disying his cultivation level. The fiend tiger realized that it was no match and slowly retreated before bounding off into the forest.


    "Alright, it''s fine now," the leading Godhead disciple said.


    "Shit, this ce is really boring. Even when we run into fiends, we have to let them go. You really think anything will happen if I kill it?" a scrawny Godhead disciple grumbled.


    Disciples who cultivated Immortality were always very domineering, and rarely did they have to act so timidly.


    In their eyes, fiends were gifts from the heavens, and refusing gifts from the heavens was bound to result in punishment.


    But here in the Spirit Mountains, they weren''t allowed to attack fiends unless their life was on the line.


    "This is for the sake of everyone," the leader said, somewhat more cool-headed than his subordinates. "If we can catch Tang Jie a little earlier, we can leave this strange ce and go around where we please."


    "''Catch him''? And when will that be? It''s been three months already, but we haven''t seen one sign of him! Wasn''t he infected by Spirit-Boiling Powder? Why is it that we still can''t find him?"


    The leader grunted, "It will be soon. While it was true that Tang Jie''s craftiness yed a part in our inability to capture him, another factor is that Sir Nan isn''t in a rush to send out men. Now that the mountain-sealing formation isplete and there''s no need to worry about Tang Jie fleeing, we can devote all our strength to catching him."


    To prevent Tang Jie from escaping, Nan Ningjiang had deployed a mountain-sealing formation around the Spirit Mountains. But the Spirit Mountains covered a vast area, and the short notice meant that the formation actually wasn''tplete. For someone else, this would have been fine, but Tang Jie was skilled in formations, so Nan Ningjiang had no choice but to improve the formation and fill in any holes.


    Thus, thest three months of skirmishing had been three months of probing and also three months of preparation.


    Tang Jie had been using this time to grow his beans and raise an army that wasn''t affected by the Great Mountain, and Nan Ningjiang had used this time to strengthen his blockade and prevent Tang Jie from escaping. The seal on the borders of Nadir Hill had already been removed, so if Tang Jie got out of the Spirit Mountains, he would be able to escape Nadir Hill.


    For these various reasons, everyone had spent thest three months preparing and wasn''t in any rush to exchange blows.


    Once everything was ready and all worries had been resolved, the mortal battle could begin.


    But these disciples couldn''t have imagined that the first drop of blood to be spilled in this battle woulde from them.


    As they were still chatting, a person silently approached them from behind.


    He stood behind that grumbling scrawny disciple and softly sighed.


    "Who''s there?" That scrawny disciple''s blood instinctively went cold.


    He turned around, pulling out his sword and preparing a sword sign as the spiritual energy in his body circted. He moved quickly and efficiently, showing off the quality of a disciple of a major sect.


    Even so, as he turned around, a dark saber with a hook plunged into his belly. Immense power erupted from the de, exploding within his body and annihting all his life force.


    He stared in shock at the person behind him and then limply fell to the ground.


    "Tang Jie!" The other two also spotted Tang Jie and screamed in terror. At that moment, the two disciples each had their own job. The leading Godhead disciple immediately took out a message talisman, which burned up into a plume of smoke and disappeared. The other disciple immediately applied a defensive barrier to himself, moving swiftly and efficiently.


    Just as the defensive barrier formed, Tang Jie extracted his saber from the dead disciple and thrust his saber at that disciple.


    Plush!


    There was a squelch as the saber stabbed into that disciple''s body, meeting no resistance. The disciple froze and stared in disbelief at the saber sticking out of his body.


    His defensive barrier was still there, but for some reason, it had failed to stop this saber. The saber had prated through the barrier without shattering it and entered his body.


    "Aaah!" The leading Godhead disciple yelled as he threw out his sword.


    This was a glowing blue shortsword. It flew out with a buzz and shot straight at Tang Jie''s head.


    Tang Jie hadn''t killed these two people slowly, but in that brief time, the leading disciple had managed to send the report and counterattack. Immediately after that, he began to form a sword spell art with his left hand while his right hand pulled out a bunch of talismans, which he prepared to throw out at Tang Jie without even looking. The response and the reaction time were all top-tier.


    But just when he was about to attack, there was a sharp crack from behind him. He froze, and those fire talismans drifted from his hand to the ground as he looked behind him in disbelief.


    There was a w that had plunged into his back and grabbed his heart, and also a cold and sinister face.


    The ghost guard!


    Tang Jie grabbed that shortsword with his left hand and turned it around, thrusting it at the back of the disciple''s head, and the disciple died on the spot.


    Even so, the shock from taking that blue shortsword''s blow directly made Tang Jie grimace a little. Putting a hand on his chest, he said, "They were skilled opponents."


    War was where the most outstanding talents went to die!


    The people that Godhead Pce sent to deal with Tang Jie could all be considered talented elites in their respective fields.


    They had all been carefully selected, and while they might have been inferior to Tang Jie, they certainly weren''t ipetent.


    Support us at bit.ly/3Tfs4P4.


    A sharp whistle sounded out in the distance, and Tang Jie immediately ran off into the forest, disappearing without a trace. He was so short on time that he couldn''t even take the corpses.


    A momentter, Nan Ningjiang appeared in front of the three bodies, and behind him were Master Xuan Zhong and the others.


    "It''s Wei Hua''s group," the second Hawk, Tian Zhong, sternly said. He felt one of the corpses and said, "They just died. Other than Wei Hua, they were all killed with one strike."


    "A pity," Zhou Fanghua sighed. She knew that Wei Hua had been one of the more outstanding junior disciples of Godhead Pce. Though he wasn''t some peerless genius, he was diligent and earnest, and he had always been very reliable. He had gone out on many journeys and survived some close calls. But despite all the effort he had taken to get this far, he had unexpectedly died here.


    "So he''s finally on the attack?" Nan Ningjiang muttered.


    After three months of being hunted, Tang Jie had finally attacked on his own.


    It was obvious what this development meant: he was beginning his counterattack.


    "Very good," Nan Ningjiang chuckled.


    He took out the incense burner and took a sniff from it. His eyes turned white as he stepped forward and looked around. He suddenly shouted, "He went west!"


    "After him! We can''t let him escape this time!" Master Xuan Zhong roared, leading the charge into the forest.


    Since he was a Soul Transformation True Person, as he charged out, he created a vast gale. Master Xuan Zhong became like a hurricane, howling through the mountains and kicking up great clouds of dust.


    Even Tang Jie was rmed by this intimidating pressure, but he simply smiled and pped a nearby tree. Arge number of duplicates appeared and ran off in various directions.


    Although the Spirit-Boiling Powder could identify the real Tang Jie, a bunch of rapidly moving fakes would allow the just-identified real one to get lost in the chaos. This was like throwing a friend into the middle of arge crowd. No matter how well one knew this friend, finding them quickly in the crowd still wasn''t an easy task.


    Spirit-Boiling Powder could only lower the effectiveness of the Duplication spell, notpletely neutralize it. 33926


    "Really, this move?" Nan Ningjiang wasn''t surprised,ughing as he said, "Elder Gold, if you would!"


    Another person suddenly flew out and thrust out a palm. "Heaven and Earth share the same origin; the Limitless is the return to truth! Arts, shatter!"


    The duplicate illusions began to break.


    The one who had done this was none other than Elder Gold.


    Elders Gold and Silver were two Heart Demon True Persons serving Godhead Pce. Unlike others, Elders Gold and Silver weren''t cultivators raised by Godhead Pce but outsiders who had joined.


    The six major sects had always favored raising their talents and were extremely cautious when it came to letting outsiders join. That Elders Gold and Silver could join as wandering cultivators was a sign of how exceptional they were. That palm that had destroyed the duplicates was Elder Gold''s Art of Limitless Return to Truth, which excelled at breaking illusions.


    The Duplication spell had ceased to be a secret long ago, so Nan Ningjiang had naturallye prepared. Even without Elder Gold, he had many ways of breaking this spell.


    Elder Gold''s single palm annihted many of the duplicates.


    But as the duplicates were annihted, a fog began to rise from the forest.


    This strange fog instantly engulfed the entire forest.


    "This is¡­" Everyone was startled.


    "Be careful. This is the Thousand Illusion Fog Formation," Xu Mingyue said.


    "A formation. I knew it would be like this," Nan Ningjiang snorted.


    He wasn''t at all surprised that Tang Jie would choose to use a formation. One of the reasons Tang Jie had chosen the Spirit Mountains was that this region had numerous materials, many of which he couldn''t have gotten through theft and looting.


    The three months of preparation had allowed Tang Jie to adapt to the environment, but even more importantly, it had allowed him to gather enough materials toy down formations.


    If he wanted to make a counterattack, he would need a formation. Otherwise, Tang Jie alone wasn''t capable of fighting against Godhead Pce.


    This was why Nan Ningjiang had expected Tang Jie to use formations from the start. The only thing he wasn''t sure about was the kind of formation Tang Jie would use.


    Xu Mingyue shouted, "Everyone¡­"


    "Everyone, split up into teams of five, and make sure you don''t get separated from them! This formation produces numerous illusions that are difficult to tell from the real thing. Tang Jie could change himself into one of our own at any time. Remember: don''t get close to any lone individuals! Once this old man breaks the formation, Tang Jie won''t be able to escape!"


    "Who''s that?" Xu Mingyue was startled. She had clearly been the person Godhead Pce had tasked with breaking formations, so who had spoken just now?


    Nan Ningjiang replied, "That''s Senior Ling Tianqi."


    "''Ling Tianqi''?" Xu Mingyue was stunned.


    She had naturally heard this name before. He was another famous formation master of Nadir Hill. Back when Xu Muyang had yet to make his name, he had once asked Ling Tianqi for instruction on formations, and afterward said that he had learned a lot.


    But when had Ling Tianqi joined the Tang Jie pursuit team? Xu Mingyue hadn''t been told of this.


    She angrily red at Nan Ningjiang. "Why is he here?"


    Nan Ningjiang calmly replied, "Naturally, because I asked him to be. Did you really think I would rely on only you to break Tang Jie''s formations?"


    Xu Mingyue froze.


    She had only started studying formations after the death of her younger brother. Due to her temperament, although she had studied them for twenty-some years, her capabilities were limited. She knew that she was far from being considered a master in Nadir Hill when it came to formations, and when Godhead Pce had asked for her help, she had tactfully pointed out that she might not be any better than Tang Jie. But Godhead Pce insisted. She knew that this was probably linked to her identity. Even so, for the sake of the Xu n, she had no choice but to ept.


    She had no objections if someone said that she wasn''t capable enough in formations, and she could ept being used for her identity. She didn''t even have a problem if they asked for the help of a formation master.


    But why hadn''t she been told?


    Why did it have to be kept a secret from her until now?


    This was clearly ack of trust!


    Yes, it was ack of trust.


    What Nan Ningjiang had said at the time hadn''t been a lie. He was not suspecting only Xi Canhen, but also many other people.


    Until he had sufficient evidence, he considered everyone a target of suspicion and caution, and Xu Mingyue was naturally one of these people.


    It was for this reason that he hadn''t told Xu Mingyue that he had also asked for Ling Tianqi''s help, that Ling Tianqi would be the person who would actually deal with Tang Jie''s formations. This way, Tang Jie would think that it was Xu Mingyue who he would have to deal with. If Tang Jie nned to use formations against them, then he would definitely consider Xu Mingyue''s skill. Thus, when Ling Tianqi, who was much more capable with formations, appeared, it would definitely catch Tang Jie off guard and make an error appear in his calctions.


    And reality proved Nan Ningjiang to be right.


    As Ling Tianqi spoke, Tang Jie was startled.


    A momentter, countless rays of spiritual light shot towards various parts of the formation as Ling Tianqi began to undo Tang Jie''s Thousand Illusion Fog Formation.


    Almost immediately, Tang Jie saw the formation''s fog begin to thin. Before the Thousand Illusion Fog Formation could even start producing illusions, it was suppressed by Ling Tianqi.


    Not only that, as Ling Tianqi made his move, there was another sharp crack, and Ming Yezhen activated his spatial sealing ability.


    Immediately afterward,rge numbers of Godhead disciples charged out from the rear, splitting up into teams of five and spreading out.


    While Ming Yezhen was there to seal any escape spells, these disciples were responsible for physically locking down the area and preventing Tang Jie from escaping.


    At this time, Qian Yingchen, who had been following Nan Ningjiang all this time, coldlyughed and let out a little red fox. Qian Yingchen held this little red fox as it gazed at the fog with a pair of pink eyes.


    An encirclement against Tang Jie was deployed. Just barely after the first sh, Godhead Pce had finished locking down the heavens and the earth, working together with shocking proficiency.


    Despite being caught in a formation, they didn''t seem passive at all, instead using this opportunity to throw out their. Even Tang Jie couldn''t help but admire and praise Godhead Pce''s power.


    Even so, he was still smiling.


    He had never ced his hope on these things.


    Perhaps one could say that these arrangements were simply there to satisfy his opponents'' expectations that he was "peerlessly intelligent".


    He rapidly retreated, flying through the white fog as his face began to change into that of a Godhead disciple. At the same time, he tore off his outer clothes, revealing shing Godhead Armor.


    Havingpleted his transformation into a Godhead Pce disciple, he shot over to the side.


    There were five disciples advancing here. When they saw Tang Jie, they were startled at first, and then they fired off bolts of lightning.


    The Godhead Pce disciples had formed into teams of five, and they were to consider any lone individual to be Tang Jie in disguise and to kill them rather than let them go.


    Seeing that his disguise was of no use, Tang Jie casuallyughed. Commenting, "They really came well-prepared!" he evaded the attacks and continued to charge at the five.


    "It really is Tang Jie!" The five of them were delighted and attacked again, their attacks this time many times stronger.


    These five were disciples of the Bloodbath Hall. Although their cultivation levels weren''t high, they were skilled inbination attacks and battle, and all of them possessed outstanding strength. In a one-on-one, they might not have been a match for Tang Jie, but in a five-versus-one, at least in pure strength, they could surpass Tang Jie.


    Five waves of saber energy shot out, merging together in the air and sweeping toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jieughed and swung the "Heartbreak Saber" in response.


    There was a sh of lightning, and then thebined saber beam of that team of five was cut in half. He then thrust the saber forward, slicing through the defensive barrier and Godhead Armor of a disciple and stabbing into the disciple as if the man had beenpletely defenseless.


    "This¡­ How?" The disciple stared in shock at the saber stabbed into his body.


    He found it impossible to understand how his defensive barrier and middle-grade art relic Godhead Armor were unable to stop a casual stab from Tang Jie.


    Energy rushed into his body, obliterating his life force. At thest moment of his life, as the de left his body, he saw two dark figures rushing at his fourpanions, one like a giant mountain and the other like a sinister ghost.


    Darkness swept over him, and before he could make out what those things were, he died.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    The ughtermenced.


    Wails and howls began to resound through the forest.


    It was only a few moments before Nan Ningjiang was hearing screams, pleas for mercy, and cries for help.


    "The fourth team has been eliminated!"


    "The twelfth team has been eliminated!"


    "The twenty-third team has been eliminated!"


    The Godhead Pce disciples were enduring a furious deluge of blows that left Nan Ningjiang baffled.


    What was going on here?


    Hadn''t he already countered all of Tang Jie''s arrangements?


    Ling Tianqi was countering his illusion formation, his duplicates had been dispelled by Elder Gold, and his escape arts were being sealed, preventing him from leaving the area.


    Why was it that after Godhead Pce had cast down its vast, the side being heavily damaged was his own?


    Nan Ningjiang found this impossible to understand.


    It wasn''t logical.


    The screams continued, and the pace of the killing intensified, but Nan Ningjiang was paralyzed.


    His understanding of the world had beenpletely overturned.


    As he was struggling to understand what was going on, a randomment from the surprised Master Xuan Zhong made him see the light.


    He muttered, "Killing five-man teams in a sh? How is this possible? Even a Heart Demon True Person would find this difficult to pull off. Just how strong is he?"


    ''Strong''?


    Nan Ningjiang froze as a sh of insight appeared in his mind. He finally understood what was going on.


    In the fog, as the golden de took life after life and Tang Jie dodged here and there, a faint smile appeared on his face. "You win when ites toying ns, but I win when ites to ughter!"

 Chapter 507: The Will of the Heavens

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The moment the battle began, it no longer shifted ording to human will. Strength decided everything!


    In the white fog, it was impossible to tell east from west, friend from foe. The only thing that flourished here was ughter and death.


    "Raaa!"


    With a sonorous roar, a massive metal w closed, crushing the head of a Godhead Pce disciple as if it was a watermelon.


    Taking back his blood-drenched hand, the original Tang Jie smiled. 33926


    A flying sword shot at him from an angle, but Tang Jie simply punched at it without turning his head. Upon impact, that middle-grade art relic flying sword was pulverized, and the steely fist mmed into that disciple''s chest. The immense strength rammed into the body of that Bloodbath Hall disciple like a mountain.


    "You¡­" That disciple stared at Tang Jie in shock, not understanding how he had known that an attack wasing from behind, and then he was blown into bits.


    Killed in one strike!


    Slowly drawing back his fist, the original body snorted and turned his head. Nearby, the avatar Tang Jie finished cutting down a Bloodbath Hall disciple with the golden de and exchanged a look with the original body.


    There was no need for any conversation. As one soul sharing two bodies, they did not require words tomunicate. They were natural partners, the finest duo.


    Not far from the pair, an army of bean soldiers was in the middle of a silent ughter. With their immense numbers, their formations, and the cover of the white fog, they were killing almost as quickly as Tang Jie. The ghost guard was protecting them, guarding their nks and minimizing the counterattacks the bean soldiers sustained.


    The battle had been one-sided from the opening blow.


    Using the terrain and his formation, Tang Jie had mobilized all of his strength and was hunting down his foes.


    The death of each Godhead Pce disciple was like sweet dew on the cracked soil of Tang Jie''s soul, filling him with indescribable pleasure.


    This feeling of pleasure wasn''t obvious at first, but as more and more Godhead Pce disciples died at his hand, it became more and more distinct.


    Tang Jie found this strange, and he couldn''t figure out what was going on. But since it was a good thing, he didn''t pay any attention to it and went on with his killing.


    In a sh, another team of five Bloodbath Hall disciples was annihted without sound or notice. The two Tang Jies and the ghost guard retreated back into the white fog, but that bean king was always the slowest, yelling and shouting and refusing to leave. In the end, the ghost guard had to grab him and carry him away, and the army ran off in pursuit. These bean soldiers didn''t have any mental connection to Tang Jie, but they did have one with their king.


    "The sixth team has been in!" A new report arrived.


    Nan Ningjiang''splexion was already ashen.


    In all of his ns, Nan Ningjiang''s only mistake was to underestimate Tang Jie''s strength. This shouldn''t have been a big deal, because no matter how badly he underestimated Tang Jie, Godhead Pce would always be above Tang Jie in terms of actual strength. This was like taking a vast army and pitting it against a single opponent. Whether this opponent was a mouse or a lion was irrelevant, for anything would be trampled equally under the iron hooves of that army.


    But for people who wanted to exploit it, this gap could lead to an immense mistake: five-man teams.


    Even though Tang Jie had killed so many before this, defeating numerous foes stronger than him, Godhead Pce had still not taken him as a truly terrifying adversary.


    His cultivation realm had fooled everyone, and given that he had also been intentionally hiding his strength, everyone thought that even if Tang Jie was stronger, his strength had to be limited.


    Even though he had defeated foe after foe, this only proved that he was cunning and smart. Godhead Pce''s assessment of Tang Jie contained the words "troublesome", "cunning", "perceptive", "fierce", and "unscrupulous", but it didn''t contain the word "powerful".


    All of Nan Ningjiang''s ns and arrangements revolved around surrounding Tang Jie. From start to finish, Nan Ningjiang had never considered the problem of whether he could beat Tang Jie.


    For this reason, Nan Ningjiang and the others were under the impression that five-man teams of Bloodbath Hall disciples might not be able to defeat Tang Jie, but they could hold him down for a time without a problem. After all, Godhead Pce''s greatest expertise was in defense, so buying time should have been easy.


    If one team could dy Tang Jie for a while, Tang Jie wouldn''t be able to escape, and then reinforcements woulde in from all sides and surround Tang Jie.


    But the mistaken assessment of Tang Jie''s strength had made Nan Ningjiang suffer a huge loss. Not even in his dreams would he have imagined that Tang Jie''s full strength would be this terrifying. The five-man teams of Bloodbath Hall disciples couldn''t evenst one sh against Tang Jie, and the moment they screamed was the moment they were sent to the underworld. Tang Jie was like a ghost, flitting through the fog and reaping souls. The Thousand Illusion Fog Formation had never been meant for illusions. It was simply there to provide the fog cover.


    He had sacrificed the spell art function for the tactical function.


    "Change formation! Ten men to a team!" Uponprehending this principle, Nan Ningjiang roared his order. "Have the nks quickly close! Gather all the cultivators as quickly as possible!"


    When you''re just trying to make great content at tinyurl/37k7u89t.


    What? Everyone paled at this order.


    Nan Ningjiang''s order was undoubtedly an admission that the people they had brought weren''t enough to capture Tang Jie. If the five-man teams became ten-man teams, it would reduce the power of their blockade. While Tang Jie would have fewer chances to kill, he would have a much higher chance of escaping.


    This was also why Nan Ningjiang had no choice but to call on the cultivators locking down the nks, even calling on the cultivators from various sects who had only participated in the search. At that moment, he had essentially given up on making any major achievement, disying a willingness to share the merit with everybody.


    In terms of daring and decisiveness, Nan Ningjiang was pretty good. His decision was betterte than never and hadn''t been too dyed.


    But not everyone thought the same as he did. Some people didn''t even share the same evaluation of Tang Jie''s strength.


    At least Master Xuan Zhong didn''t like this answer.


    "What did you say?" he yelled. "You think this old man can''t deal with this little beast?"


    Nan Ningjiang grimaced, thinking, Old man, of course you can deal with him. The problem is that Tang Jie won''t fight you.


    What he wanted was to constantly kill the weaker Bloodbath Hall disciples. As for people like Master Xuan Zhong, Elders Gold and Silver, and He Yueyang, he wouldn''t even touch them. He might even choose to avoid Spirit Ring True Persons.


    Master Xuan Zhong threw his head back and roared, "Heaven and Earth, restore my vision!"


    A light erupted from his body, spreading outward like a cloud. Wherever it went, the fog cleared and vision was instantly restored.


    Ling Tianqi had spent ages and still not undone the formation, but this old man had broken it through sheer force.


    But breaking the formation in this way was a rather heavy burden on Master Xuan Zhong, and his face momentarily flushed. A momentter, he barked, "What are you standing around for? Find Tang Jie and kill him!"


    What could Tang Jie do now without the fog formation?


    But a momentter, as the white fog dissipated, a gale howled, and ck smoke began to rise.


    The white fog hadn''t even fully retreated before the ck smoke engulfed the forest.


    Master Xuan Zhong was stunned, and then he erupted in anger, bellowing, "Little cub, when are you going to give it a rest?"


    "Give it a rest¡­ give it a rest¡­" The voice sted through the forest in a massive sound wave, but all it got in return was Tang Jie''s smugugh.


    Tang Jie had long ago learned that there was a Soul Transformation True Person among his pursuers, so how could he not take precautions against him? The best method of dealing with a Soul Transformation True Person like Master Xuan Zhong wasn''t to go blow for blow, but toy downyer afteryer of obstruction, not giving him the chance to get close. In this way, he would have all that divine power but nowhere to use it.


    Taking in a deep breath, Master Xuan Zhong grunted, "This old man wonders how many formations you have here."


    This old man was very temperamental, and in rage, he flew into the sky.


    As he ascended, his hands began to turn like a millstone, aimed at the ground in the distance.


    As he turned his hands, the ck smoke began to roil, gradually forming into a ck vortex that covered the forest.


    "Entering the formation heart through the Celestial Heart!" Tang Jie, who was linked to the formation, immediately sensed what was going on. The formation was gradually escaping his control and following Master Xuan Zhong''s will.


    To make one''s will the will of the heavens was the ultimate aim of all cultivators, the origin of the Divine Connection and the foundation of the Violet Pce.


    As a Soul Transformation cultivator, Master Xuan Zhong had already taken the first step past this threshold. At this moment, he was disying the Divine Connection ability of Immortals!


    A spell could only influence a small area ofnd.


    An art could influence half a city.


    A Divine Connection was to link one''s mind to the world. It was capable of anything, able to reverse the rivers and overturn the seas. It was a titanic power and the basis of a Violet Pce cultivator''s dominance.


    Master Xuan Zhong''s power had already entered the realm of Divine Connections. Although it was the lowest of Divine Connections, it already possessed a shocking power.


    "My will is the Heavenly Dao, all arts within my mind! Reverse the heavens and earth!" Master Xuan Zhong brazenly roared. The ck smoke vortex spun faster and faster, and as the vision of the Godhead Pce disciples cleared, Tang Jie found his vision getting blurrier.


    It had to be understood that this was a Grade 5 formation, capable of dealing with Heart Demon True Persons, the absolute limit of what Tang Jie was capable of. But as Master Xuan Zhong exerted his might, it was rendered powerless and was even seized, seemingly submitting to Master Xuan Zhong.


    If this continued, the ck smoke would no longer be let out against Godhead Pce, but against Tang Jie, and he would truly be a turtle in a jar.


    This was a Divine Connection, one''s will bing the will of the heavens and taking control of all spiritual energy currents in the surroundings. No matter how powerful one''s spell arts were, they were all subject to the will of the one with the Divine Connection.


    A single Soul Transformation True Person was capable of obliterating Tang Jie''s meticulous n. In front of absolute strength, all schemes were futile.


    But Tang Jie''s eyes had no fear, only a cold indifference.


    He looked up at the skyborne Master Xuan Zhong and whispered, "You¡­ are too arrogant¡­ You will suffer the wrath of the heavens."


    Boom!


    There was a boom of thunder.


    It was a bizarre thunder, and as it exploded, Master Xuan Zhong shuddered and threw up arge mouthful of blood.


    "Lord!" The people down below all jumped up in fright.


    Master Xuan Zhong stopped moving his hands and looked around in shock.


    A momentter, a howling wind passed over the forest and sted into Master Xuan Zhong.


    It seemed like a simple gust of wind, but it sent Master Xuan Zhong flying.


    Master Xuan Zhong fell from the earth like aet as he cried out in fear, "The Great Mountain¡­ the Great Mountain¡­"


    "Linking one''s will to the will of the heavens¡­" Tang Jie faintly smiled. "But the worst thing is if you try to link to the wrong will."


    The Great Mountain had a soul and was not to be provoked.


    Even Violet Pce and Immortal tform Titans didn''t dare to act so brashly in the Spirit Mountains, yet Master Xuan Zhong had dared to fly into the sky and take control of the will of the world through a Divine Connection. It would be far stranger if he hadn''t offended the Great Mountain.


    Of course, it was impossible to say anything unless one had experienced it. In the past, there were people who had used Divine Connections and not suffered the wrath of the heavens. The Spirit Mountains were strange and mysterious, and nobody knew what offended the mountain and what didn''t.


    For Tang Jie, this had been extremely risky. Although he had a way of escaping if his risk didn''t pay off, he would have lost this opportunity to fight. But if he won, he would still have some time to flex his muscle.


    As he watched Master Xuan Zhong fall, Tang Jie roared, "Let''s see what else you can do."


    With the ck smoke under his control, Tang Jie plunged back into the formation and began to reap the lives of the Godhead Pce disciples.


    As those Godhead disciples died at his hand, that strange sensation reemerged.


    This strange and inexplicable sensation astonished Tang Jie. He didn''t understand why he was feeling this way.


    A Godhead disciple charged at him, fiercely stabbing his sword. Tang Jie casually dodged and swung the golden saber down at the sword. The sword broke, and Tang Jie continued the swing, slicing through that disciple''s armor and into his body, annihting his life force. Tang Jie then saw something emerge from the body and enter his own body, restoring the strength he had lost and condensing his energy.


    This made his hand more steady and his heart more ruthless. Whenever he killed someone, he would bepletely unaffected, feeling only satisfaction.


    A sense of endless satisfaction.


    As he was on this enjoyable killing spree, a powerful st of palm wind stopped him, and then a young man appeared.


    Unusually, this man wasn''t afraid of Tang Jie, grunting as he thrust his sword at Tang Jie. This stab seemed simple, but Tang Jie sensed danger and immediately used the Chaoswind Step to dodge.


    This was the first time he had fallen back in the face of a Godhead Pce disciple.


    "A Spirit Ring True Person?" Tang Jie muttered.


    "The one who will kill you is the eighth brother of the 12 Hawks, Qin Chen!" the young man coldly dered.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "You can''t kill me."


    He rapidly fell back.


    Even though Tang Jie had gotten stronger, to be honest, the avatar, even with the golden de, would still have a tough time against a Spirit Ring True Person. While victory was still possible, a swift one was out of the question. And this battle emphasized one-hit kills and swift retreats. He could not get stuck on any one opponent, or else more Godhead Pce people would surround him and cut off his escape.


    Upon seeing that this was a True Person, Tang Jie beat a rapid retreat.


    Qin Chen naturally couldn''t let him go. He let out a deep roar to notify everyone else to quickly converge on his position, and then he unleashed a dazzling wave of light from his sword. There was a cold glint in his eyes, as if he was saying, Let''s see how you run from this!


    A worried look appeared on Tang Jie''s face, while delight appeared on Qin Chen''s.


    All of their humiliation would be returned twofold.


    At this moment, arge figure charged out from the side, raising a hand at Qin Chen and unleashing a st of ice and fire at him.


    Qin Chen had seen this move before, the very same move that had held off the 12 Hawks back at Celestial Flower Pavilion. It was in that battle that they realized that Tang Jie had another partner besides True Person Gui, a mysterious giant of a man. But if judged by the methods he had used at the time, he had nothing but an imposing figure and voice. His real cultivation level was somewhere between Hundred Refinement and Nine Revolutions¡ªnothing to be scared of. There was an extremely high chance that he was one of the Basking Moon Sect''s local spies.


    The one who had appeared was probably that mysterious giant man.


    Qin Chen, having some idea about this man''s power, didn''t take the attack seriously, waving his hand and unleashing a torrent of spiritual energy to neutralize the ice and mes while he continued to chase after Tang Jie¡ªno matter what, he had to hold down Tang Jie and not let him run off.


    Perhaps because he saw that his spell art couldn''t stop his foe, that mysterious man opened his arms and tried to hug Qin Chen.


    Qin Chen snorted. "A mantis trying to stop a carriage."


    He waved his hand again, seeking to push away the giant man. But to his surprise, his move failed to do anything, and that man continued to rush toward him.


    Qin Chen was startled. He saw that this man was prepared to die and roared in anger, "Seeking death!"


    He thrust a palm at the giant man.


    Boneshatter Hand!


    This palm strike that could shatter a body made of metal struck the giant man with a loud bang.


    But rather than the expected shattering, there was a loud thump, and that giant man charged forward and caught him in a bear hug.


    A momentter, Qin Chen felt an immense strength seizing him and rendering him immobile.


    "No!" Aghast, Qin Chen had his body explode with spirit power.


    He was a Spirit Ring True Person, and also a capable expert of Godhead Pce, and his strength could not bepared to that of some wandering cultivator. The eruption of all his spiritual energy was enough to tten a small mountain, yet it couldn''t break the grip of this giant man.


    Amid the frenzied torrents of energy, Qin Chen heard a cracking sound, the sound of his bones breaking. Immense pain robbed him of his rationality, but at thest moment of his life, he finally realized something and shouted with all his might, "You''re a body refiner¡­"


    s, his voice was as weak as the buzzing of a fly and went nowhere.


    Crack.


    Tang Jie let go.


    A corpse fell to the ground.


    He coldly looked at Qin Chen and said, "This time, you were right."


    In a nearby forest, Nan Ningjiang suddenly shuddered.


    The 12 Hawks had a special connection between them, so he immediately sensed that link breaking and cried out, "Little Eight!"

 Chapter 508: The Supreme Mystery Bell

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The screams and ughter continued.


    Amid the blood and dust, Tang Jie continued to enjoy himself.


    If the battlefield was the stage for the strong, then the story was just reaching its climax.


    If ughter was a feast of death, then the feast had barely finished serving the appetizer.


    Tang Jie was like a busy chef, treating all the people hunting him asmbs to the ughter, swiftly waving his saber and taking their lives so that he could prepare them and have them solemnly delivered to the dining table.


    Of course, in this process, one first had to engage in a life-or-death sh.


    A cold light shed, and a head rolled.


    Another Godhead Pce disciple fell to the ground.


    Tang Jie swiftly drew back his saber, took the Mustard Seed Bag, and retreated into the fog, having done everything smoothly and efficiently.


    As he fled, a st of palm wind suddenly shot toward him.


    As Tang Jie raised his hand to block, he realized that the power of this palm was immense and that he couldn''t block it. With a grunt, he was sent flying, and a person charged at him.


    "True Person Liang?"


    The personing at him was none other than the good friend of Dark Fiend¡ªthat cultivator Xi Canhen had killed¡ªLiang Chunsheng.


    This True Person Liang had probably worked the hardest to find Tang Jie. He had focused all of his hatred arising from Dark Fiend''s death on Tang Jie, which spurred him into hunting down Tang Jie, and was also why he was alone.


    True Person Liang''s eyes were red as he thrust out his palm again. "Die, Tang Jie!"


    The st of wind struck the ck smoke, apanied by a long howl.


    Tang Jie didn''t pay this any mind at first, but he then realized that there was something special about this howl.


    This howl had some sort of psychic effect, making a person feel distressed and irritated.


    Tang Jie knew that True Person Liang was an expert in disturbing the mind, and it seemed like his reputation wasn''t faked. The demonic howl had barely entered his ears, but he was already being affected, his movements just a little slower. A momentter, True Person Liang''s palm mmed into Tang Jie''s chest, sending him flying.


    True Person Liang savagelyughed, "Now that you''ve taken my Corroding Yin Hand, let''s see how you¡­"


    He was silenced midway.


    Beneath Tang Jie''s clothes was a shing golden suit of armor.


    Godhead Armor.


    True Person Liang''s insidious strike had struck the Godhead Armor, leaving behind a deep handprint on it.


    It was a truly powerful move to leave behind such a deep handprint on an upper-grade art relic Godhead Armor, but s, it hadn''t been able to harm Tang Jie.


    True Person Liang was startled, and then his face turned even more savage. "So what if you''ve got armor? Die!"


    He jumped into the air and pped his palm down, this time aiming at Tang Jie''s head.


    At the same time, howling filled the air, and even though Tang Jie had blocked up his ears, he still couldn''t stop the sound from reaching his mind.


    His vision blurred, and he was no longer able to see True Person Liang. He knew that this demonic sound had utterly disrupted his senses.


    Even though he couldn''t see the person, the wave of attacks came nevertheless.


    Wind erupted from Tang Jie''s feet as he rapidly turned his body and activated the Chaoswind Step.


    "You can''t run!" True Person Liang''s cry seemed toe from all directions.


    In a daze, Tang Jie saw a savage head appear in the ck smoke, crazilyughing and brandishing ws at him.


    This was a sign that the mental disruption had worsened.


    It went from mental distress to loss of the senses to seeing illusions. This mind disruption art''s effects on Tang Jie were intensifying, getting worse and worse.


    Suddenly, a person shot at Tang Jie from an angle and thrust a palm at the top of Tang Jie''s head. Tang Jie dodged, but to his surprise, that person disappeared.


    Not good! An illusion!


    Tang Jie immediately knew that he was in trouble and lunged forward.


    A palm brushed past his forehead and struck his shoulder. A ck handprint appeared on the shoulder, sinking down into his body and eating away at him.


    Tang Jie grunted and continued to charge forward, his left hand reaching into his Mustard Seed Bag and taking out a pill. As he swallowed the pill, he jabbed his arm several times with a finger, stopping the poison from spreading any farther.


    "It''s useless!" True Person Liang crazilyughed. "Hurry up and die, Junior!"


    There was a piercing whistle as another person lunged at him. Tang Jie turned and swung his saber, but it was another illusion.


    All around him was the manicughter of True Person Liang. Suddenly, that savage face made of ck smoke lunged at Tang Jie. Tang Jie raised his saber to block, and as the head bit down, it bit right onto the saber but was unable to bite through. There was a gasp of surprise as if someone had run into an unexpected obstacle.


    A momentter, Tang Jie faintly smiled. "Have you finished having your fun?"


    "What?" True Person Liang was shocked and immediately had a bad feeling. Tang Jie abruptly swung the Heartbreak Saber at the air, but despite this, it came away with a long trail of blood.


    "Aaaagh!" True Person Liang bitterly screamed, and his hidden figure rapidly retreated through the air. "How did you find me?"


    While Tang Jie had Insight, his expertise was in farsight, not in seeing through illusions. True Person Liang''s Dao of Illusion shouldn''t have been so easily seen through by Tang Jie, and even Huang Yue would have needed some time to break through it. It didn''t make sense for Tang Jie to find his real body so quickly.


    While he was shocked, he was also somewhat unconvinced. As he retreated, he let out an even more piercing demonic howl. But to his surprise, as the demonic howl resounded, the golden saber that had wounded him was thrust at him once more.


    The long saber turned into a whip and stabbed into True Person Liang''s right leg.


    As he cried out in rm, the tip of the whip erupted in light, sting off his leg.


    True Person Liang was rendered helpless, and he screamed as he plummeted from the sky.


    Landing on the ground, he yowled, "Impossible! Impossible!"


    Yes, there was no reason for Tang Jie to easily see through his illusion art.


    He was only at the peak of Mortal Shedding, and no matter how formidable he was, it was only because of his schemes. How was it possible for him to so easily defeat a True Person?


    He looked in disbelief at Tang Jie, who simply sneered and said, "You''re quite the unlucky one."


    He raised his left hand, showing off the jade bracelet he was wearing.


    "That''s¡­" True Person Liang''s eyes widened.


    He finally saw what it was.


    A Mindsoothe Bracelet.


    The art relic that was his greatest counter, and the highest ss of this type of art relic as well.


    True Person Liang had never imagined that Tang Jie would have such a thing. This item paired with Tang Jie''s own perception could easily break through his illusions.


    "Then, earlier¡­" he hastily asked.


    "I was pretending, of course." Tang Jie charged out, turning the whip back into a saber and unleashing a cold wave of energy.


    If he hadn''t pretended to be weak, True Person Liang would have never been so easily in. It was true that the golden saber ignored defenses, but it needed to reach the opponent first. For this reason, Tang Jie had intentionally taken the attack while seeking out an opportunity to take down his foe in one strike. Otherwise, it would take some strength for him to kill a Spirit Ring True Person all by himself.


    "You can''t kill me!" True Person Liang crazily roared.


    His Spirit Ring began to expand, and his entire body shed with golden light as he applied a defensive barrier to himself. His right hand began to stir the air, creating clouds around him, while his left hand formed signs that created a shield of spiritual energy. And as he howled, the airing from his mouth condensed into an arrow and shot at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie ignored them at all, his saber thrusting forward.


    It struck the shield, and the shield shattered.


    It plunged into the clouds, and the clouds parted.


    It cut into the barrier, and the barrier shattered.


    True Person Liang''s defensive methods were as fragile as paper in front of the golden de, none of them able to do a thing. As the golden saber struck his body, there was a sh of golden light.


    At that moment, Tang Jie''s arm finally stopped.


    But a momentter, the golden saber still cut through the radiant Godhead Armor like it was made of tofu, stabbing into True Person Liang''s chest.


    Throwing up blood, True Person Liang shivered as he looked in disbelief at Tang Jie and that saber.


    Tang Jie coldly stared back at him. "Like I said, you''re quite the unlucky one."


    Blood wasing from his nose as a result of that sonic arrow.


    Saber energy erupted through True Person Liang''s body and created a long fissure in the ground.


    At the same time, Tang Jie thrust his left hand at True Person Liang''s head.


    "Aaaaaa!" True Person Liang punched at Tang Jie''s chest.


    Tang Jie lightly moved his body as his thrusting palm turned into a finger that struck True Person Liang''s forehead, shooting out a white beam of energy that prated entirely through his head.


    But True Person Liang still wasn''t dead. Furiously ring, he roared, "You can''t kill me!"


    He bellowed, wind erupting from his mouth and raging like a tornado, blowing Tang Jie and his bloodstained finger away. Meanwhile, True Person Liang''s forehead had gained another hole.


    Liang Chunsheng went insane, his Spirit Ring shing and torrents of energy pulsing outward. With his life in danger, he was unleashing an unprecedented amount of power.


    This show of force prevented Tang Jie from getting close.


    He hadn''t expected that all this still couldn''t kill his foe, and his mind was slightly shaken. Liang Chunsheng was engulfed in a storm of spiritual energy, so even getting close was difficult, and time didn''t permit him any more dy. His eyes turned cold as he whispered, "I hate people like this."


    As he spoke, a giant mountainous figure charged out of the darkness, covering Liang Chunsheng in its shadow.


    Liang Chunsheng raised his head in shock and saw an enormous figure descending from the heavens¡­


    Bang!


    Blood and flesh sttered.


    The original body callously pulled back his hammer and nced at the meat paste on the ground.


    One strike of the hammer had wiped True Person Liang from the earth.


    But Tang Jie wasn''t happy.


    He had thought that the avatar plus the golden de could easily kill a Spirit Ring cultivator, but reality proved that while defeating them was easy, swiftly killing them was more difficult. The difference in cultivation realm was something not easily covered by a good weapon.


    "Old Liang!" someone screamed.


    It was He Yueyang!


    The battle with Liang Chunsheng had ultimately taken some time, preventing Tang Jie from retreating in a timely manner, so someone else had managed to arrive on the scene.


    The first to arrive was none other than He Yueyang.


    He Yueyang was furious as he looked at the pancaked body that had once been Liang Chunsheng.


    "Scoundrels!" he bellowed. Raising his hands, he attacked both the avatar and the original body.


    This was the attack of a Heart Demon True Person, so the avatar did not dare to take it. After a lightning-fast exchange of thoughts, avatar Tang Jie hastily retreated to the rear while the original body charged forward, unleashing icy mes at He Yueyang.


    The icy mes were like a guttering candle in the face of that st of palm energy,sting for a brief moment before vanishing. The remaining power struck the original body in a powerful shockwave, like an ocean wave striking a reef.


    "This is¡­ body refining?" He Yueyang blurted out in shock.


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    Even though Tang Jie wanted to keep pretending to be a spell art cultivator, He Yueyang was too capable for that. His sharp eyes and many years of experience allowed him to instantly see the truth.


    This was no Nine Revolutions cultivator! Clearly, this was a body refiner. 33926


    Upon realizing this person''s true strength, He Yueyang did not dare to let the original body get close. The first thing he did was retreat into the skies.


    He didn''t fly too high. While the Great Mountain had some effect on him, it wasn''t a lethal effect. On the other hand, He Yueyang was keenly aware of what would happen to him if a body refiner got too close.


    As he flew up, He Yueyang began to mutter something.


    Though his voice wasn''t loud, every word carried an intense energy.


    But unlike Liang Chunsheng''s demonic howl, this voice didn''t produce any illusion. Rather, as He Yueyang chanted, his body became a resplendent gold.


    "The Godhead Immortal Body," Tang Jie muttered.


    He had seen this once before, when Gu Changqing used the Godhead Immortal Body.


    But it was different when He Yueyang used it.


    When Gu Changqing had used it, he had been insane and attempting one final desperate attack. With his body under a heavy burden, he had only barely managed to cast this spell art.


    But when He Yueyang used it, he exuded such majesty that they seemed like two entirely different spell arts.


    Gu Changqing had used that art to extend his life whereas He Yueyang was using it for defense, showing the difference in power from the very fundamentals.


    As He Yueyang cast the Godhead Immortal Body, his body became like a radiant god, invincible and immovable.


    At the same time, the first attack from the original body arrived.


    The massive hammer thundered at He Yueyang with enough power to smash open a mountain.


    But He Yueyang only lightly raised his hand, and an illusory hand appeared to block the hammer.


    This was the purest sh of strength and spell art!


    Boom!


    There was a massive boom, and He Yueyang was sent flying one hundred meters, his entire body shing with golden light. But a momentter, the disturbance subsided, and He Yueyang looked at Tang Jie as if nothing had happened.


    This was the first time the original body''s full-strength attack had been ineffective. It appeared it hadn''t even inflicted a minor injury on him.


    It had to be understood that this was a sh between strength and spell art. Spell arts had the advantage in variety while strength had the advantage in sheer power. If a spell art was able to draw with strength, strength had essentially lost.


    But this was Godhead Pce!


    Godhead Pce, famed for its defensive might!


    What other sects would have foundpletely impossible, Godhead Pce foundpletely possible.


    The so-called Godhead Armor was simply a microcosm of Godhead Pce''s defensive might. It had never represented the true defensive methods of Godhead Pce.


    In the past, when Tang Jie had faced other members of Godhead Pce, they eithercked the strength to use these defensive measures or else had other specialties but were not true practitioners of Godhead Pce. For example, the Hawk Hall''s 12 Hawks existed to chase down an enemy, so they naturally wouldn''t take up the defensive methods of Godhead Pce. As for True Person Liang and Huang Yue, they had been sent because they had special skills meant to deal with Tang Jie, so they also could not represent Godhead Pce. There was also He Chong, who specialized in formations. Just like Chang Mingxin of the Beast Refining Gate, he was an entric of his sect, and his purpose was to enrich the strength of the sect and make it so that the sect''s strength wasn''t restricted to a certain area. As for Xu Mingyue and Ming Yezhen, they were not members of Godhead Pce, so their abilities could not be used as proof of anything.


    But He Yueyang was an authentic member of Godhead Pce, inheriting its most powerful secret arts and serving as an exemr of Godhead Pce.


    When a standard member of Godhead Pce was ready for a head-on confrontation, they could take on even the attacks of those one tier above them!


    He Yueyang was cautious, so when he ran into Tang Jie''s original body, he immediately used his strongest defensive art. The protection of the Godhead Immortal Body meant that even the original body''s prodigious strength couldn''t destroy him.


    He Yueyang chuckled and casually looked at Tang Jie''s original body. He shouted, "As expected, you''ve already cultivated to the middle of the Diamond realm. There are very few body refiners who can reach this level nowadays. Just who in the world are you?"


    His voice resounded like a bell, being heard all around and informing everyone of Tang Jie''s greatest trump card.


    A body refiner who had reached the Diamond realm?


    Nan Ningjiang''s face almost cramped when he heard this.


    So it really was a grave misjudgment of strength?


    Using True Person Gui as the standard had led everyone to believe that the limit of Tang Jie''s strength was the Spirit Ring Tier, so sending Heart Demon True Persons against him was already showing him an extremely high level of respect, and sending Soul Transformation True Persons was an immense honor.


    But rather than Spirit Ring, this guy was at the equivalent of the fucking Heart Demon Tier!


    If judged by the shockwave just now and He Yueyang''s cautious tone, this unknown cultivator was strong enough that even He Yueyang wasn''t sure of his victory.


    But even like this, outside Celestial Flower Pavilion, this person had shamelessly pretended to be a spell art cultivator.


    Utterly shameless!


    Nan Ningjiang already knew how Little Eight had died.


    When underestimating an opponent''s strength, it was very normal to be instantly killed by a stronger opponent so that there wasn''t even time to send back word.


    Nan Ningjiang felt his vision going dark.


    Fortunately, although the gap in strength wasn''t asrge as imagined, in terms of overall strength, Godhead Pce was still stronger.


    Thinking this, he shouted, "My lord!"


    "I heard it," Master Xuan Zhong grimly replied.


    The attack from the will of the Great Mountain had been rather severe, but it wasn''t fatal. He had needed only a little rest to recover.


    Master Xuan Zhong was just about to go and help when a gale kicked up in the formation. The ck smoke thickened, and it momentarily became difficult to orient oneself.


    "The Eight Gate Banners!" Ling Tianqi shrieked.


    This person had been suppressing the power of Tang Jie''s formation all this time, but as Nan Ningjiang and He Yueyang spoke, the formation suddenly swelled in power. Ling Tianqi finally realized that he had only been able to suppress the formation all this time because Tang Jie had let him.


    Only now did he reveal his true mettle. It was clear that Tang Jie knew what was going to happen now that the power of his original body had been exposed.


    The battle would be more difficult, and he needed more power to assist him in this battle. And the first priority was to prevent Master Xuan Zhong from intervening in this battle.


    But while Ling Tianqi had been caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the Gate Banners, he would quickly take back control of the situation. This was exactly why Tang Jie hadn''t been willing to use this move unless the situation was critical.


    But now, that critical moment hade.


    What Tang Jie needed to do now was to kill He Yueyang.


    If he could kill him, the battle would be worth it.


    The loss of a Heart Demon True Person would even make the six major sects wince, was a loss that they would find hard to ept.


    Nan Ningjiang and Master Xuan Zhong also realized this. Upon understanding Tang Jie''s true strength, they would no longer naively believe that Tang Jie couldn''t kill He Yueyang.


    "Save him!" Nan Ningjiang shouted.


    "I know!" Master Xuan Zhong looked around at the fog being churned by the howling wind. Even with his arts, he wasn''t able to make out where he was in the formation, or even where He Yueyang''s voice hade from. And this ce''s mysterious presence prevented him from forcing his way through. His mind whirred, and then he suddenly pulled out an item. "Supreme Mystery Bell (Tai Xuan Zhong), go!"


    As he cried out, arge ck bell flew into the air, spinning in the air and expanding in size, quickly engulfing the entire forest.


    "The Supreme Mystery Bell?" Tang Jie paled.


    The Supreme Mystery Bell was a famous art relic, and it was also where Master Xuan Zhong''s title hade from. That this art relic could be used as a title was a sign of how powerful it had to be.


    Master Xuan Zhong had put many years into the use of this bell and was extremely skilled with it. As the bell flew out, he let out a roar.


    This sound resounded in everyone''s ears and shook everyone down to the core.


    At the same time, a gust of wind howled out of the horizon.


    The will of the Great Mountain.


    It was clear that Master Xuan Zhong was not wee to engulf the region with his bell, and the st of wind attacked the bell.


    But Master Xuan Zhong was ready for this, flying up into the air, interposing himself between the bell and the wind, and attacking the gust.


    The will of the Great Mountain was actually quite strange, treating people differently.


    If a visitor came with a domineering strength, the pressure would also be great, but if their strength was weak, the pressure would also be weak.


    While Master Xuan Zhong was no match for the will of the Spirit Mountains, he also wouldn''t die to it. There was a boom as Master Xuan Zhong was sent flying, mming into the bell. He threw up blood which stained the ck bell red.


    Master Xuan Zhong called out, "Yueyang, take the bell!"


    He Yueyang looked up at the sky with excitement in his eyes. "My lord, thank you for your generosity!"


    He waved his hand, and the ck bell flew into his hand.


    If Master Xuan Zhong couldn''t help personally, he would just give his most powerful art relic to He Yueyang. At that moment, he had very decisively made an extremely tough decision.

 Chapter 509: Obstruction

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    When He Yueyang dered the cultivation type of Tang Jie''s original body, Tang Jie knew that he would be unable to keep the secret that he had kept hidden all this time.


    Although he had known that the day woulde when this secret would be exposed, when the time came, Tang Jie still felt unwilling and reluctant. After all, the original body''s strength was still Tang Jie''s greatest backing, the reason he was able to so freely wander about.


    Now that he had been exposed, all he could do was to get as much capital back as he could before his opponents could develop countermeasures.


    He Yueyang was unquestionably one of these sources of capital that he had to take back.


    Thus, as He Yueyang spoke, Tang Jie''s original body let out a berserk roar and leaped from the ground, swinging that long-handled warhammer like he was Sun Wukong wielding his golden cudgel.


    He Yueyang hastily countered. In the face of this sort of savage body refiner, little tricks were useless. Only strength was effective here. He Yueyang gathered up all of his spiritual energy and unleashed an attack of pure power.


    Hammer and palm shed, and He Yueyang''s entire body once more exploded with light. Though his body swayed, he once more resisted the blow.


    This tyrannical hammer that could even smash mountains seemed unable to do anything to He Yueyang. He sneered and said, "I''m telling you: it''s useless."


    "Then let''s keep going!" Tang Jie roared as he swung his hammer a third time.


    Apanying that zing streak of light was a whirlwind of energy thatpletely engulfed He Yueyang.


    Even He Yueyang grimaced in the face of this berserk torrent of energy.


    While it was true that he could block a full-force attack from Tang Jie, that was only when his spell art was operating at maximum capacity. Every blow he blocked consumedrge amounts of spiritual power, and he needed time to absorb more energy and rest.


    But Tang Jie made these attacks as naturally as breathing, and things were much more straightforward for him.


    When wild instinct shed with meticulous calction, it was always thetter that would start having problems. Moreover, He Yueyang was affected by the Great Mountain''s pressure, and every attack took him more spiritual energy while also being weaker.


    The hammer and palm shed again in a tremendous shockwave. He Yueyang tumbled through the air, his body shing even more intensely, crackling as if countless mes were rising from him.


    This was a sign that the Godhead Immortal Body was being used to its limit, an indicator that Tang Jie''s power was not that easy to fend off.


    He Yueyang was already appearing a little pale. Meanwhile, Tang Jie roared and charged at him again.


    He Yueyang knew that he would be no match in these direct confrontations. He thrust out a palm, and the surrounding temperature plunged, frost beginning to form. The original body saw the frost swiftly cover his body, rendering him immobile.


    Seeing that Tang Jie had been stopped, He Yueyang sighed in relief.


    But before he could say anything, the ice on the original body began to crack, and a few momentster, the ice shattered, and Tang Jie charged out of the mist of ice and swung the hammer again at He Yueyang.


    The attacks of body refiners had always been simple. They didn''t have the variety ofw cultivators, but they had sturdy bodies and immense strength. No matter what kind of opponent they faced, they could overwhelm them with pure force.


    "Shit!" He Yueyang cursed.


    He hadn''t expected Tang Jie to be so absurdly strong that he found it hard to even block him three times. Although this was partially due to the Great Mountain''s influence, it had more to do with this foe''s formidable strength. He had never encountered a body refiner with such terrifying power.


    Tang Jie jumped up again.


    One jump brought him up thirty meters, holding up the hammer high and swinging it again at He Yueyang.


    He Yueyang had no other choice than to raise his palm and receive the blow again.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The two of them swiftly exchanged several blows, and then there was a tremendous explosion.


    In that dazzling me of light, He Yueyang tumbled through the air like a leaf, throwing up blood. The lighting from his body at this point was like hundreds of cannons firing, and amid the explosions, He Yueyang''s skin began to crack.


    In every case, it was an eruptioning from within his body, like a buried mine detonating. In a sh, countless bloody holes appeared on He Yueyang''s body.


    This was because the Godhead Immortal Body could notpletely absorb Tang Jie''s terrifying power, so it did its best to release it, and the first to suffer in this case was He Yueyang''s skin.


    "Hey, did you get a sudden case of chicken pox?" Tang Jie jeered.


    The sudden expulsion of energy had left He Yueyang covered in bloody holes, his face included. Even though his body was swiftly healing, Tang Jie''s mockery severely damaged He Yueyang''s dignity.


    "Bastard! Azure Beam Sword, go! Nine Executions Sword!" He Yueyang bellowed, raising his left hand. An azure sword flew through the air, creating nine sharp sword phantoms in the air that shot at Tang Jie''s head.


    Although he was a cultivator skilled in defense, he still had his own killing moves. But He Yueyang knew that body refiners weren''t just strong, but also defensively formidable. In a direct confrontation, they had a natural advantage overw cultivators. While his Nine Executions Sword was powerful, it wouldn''t be able to do anything to Tang Jie. Meanwhile, if he became just a little careless, the move might be easily broken by his opponent. Thus, he had initially not nned to use it. But he couldn''t take being humiliated by Tang Jie and finally decided to use this move.


    But a momentter, he realized how foolish he was to use his sword.


    As those sword phantoms descended, Tang Jie smiled and said, "I like this."


    He raised his head and punched at the air.


    "Break!"


    As he roared, there was a soft crack.


    The sword phantoms disappeared.


    He Yueyang discovered to his shock that the Azure Beam Sword was no more. All that was left was shards of metal.


    Yes, they floated about in the air as if weightless, leaving He Yueyang to marvel at them.


    He was dazed at first, as if he was trying to digest what had happened, and then he cried out in pain, "My Azure Beam Sword!"


    His scream was the miserable scream of a child who had lost his most precious toy.


    At that moment, Master Xuan Zhong''s voice resounded. "Yueyang, take the bell!"


    At that moment, this was the most beautiful voice in the world for He Yueyang.


    He looked at Tang Jie with eyes filled with loathing.


    He raised his head and shot out a ray of light.


    A ck bell descended from the sky andnded in his hand.


    He Yueyang let out a roar of pain and anger, and also confidence. "Let''s see how arrogant you are after this!"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "Is that so?"


    Holding steady the hammer in his right hand, Tang Jie charged at the Supreme Mystery Bell while punching with his left hand, gathering up the strongest power he had.


    At the same time, He Yueyang tossed the bell right at Tang Jie''s fist.


    Boom!


    As the fist and Supreme Mystery Bell collided, time seemed to freeze.


    To his shock, Tang Jie found that the Weapon Mantra couldn''t destroy the bell. On the contrary, the bell suddenly began to flow with light.


    As the light flowed, it let out a resounding ring that reverberated through thend.


    This was the loudest sound yet in this battle.


    The massive sound wave actually manifested into a whirlwind centered on the Supreme Mystery Bell. The gale mmed into the original body, and despite his sturdy constitution, he was still sent flying, even throwing up blood.


    This was the first time Tang Jie''s original body had been injured.


    He raised his head and stared at the bell, shouting, "A divine treasure!"


    This wasn''t the first time his Weapon Mantra had failed.


    Tang Jie knew that, currently, only divine treasures could resist the Weapon Mantra from his original body.


    He hadn''t expected the Supreme Mystery Bell to be a divine treasure, and it appeared it was of an even higher level than the three divine swords of the Peerless Sword Pavilion. The shockwave just now had clearly used Tang Jie''s own power against him. In other words, one of this treasure''s functions was to reflect attacks.


    This alone made it extremely precious.


    "Shattering it would be too much of a waste," Tang Jie muttered.


    Divine treasures were hard toe by. Each one was a refined concentration of spiritual energy that could uphold an entire sect.


    Shattering it would only get him some golden shards. Tang Jie wasn''t very willing to destroy it.


    He Yueyang flicked his finger, firing twelve bolts of energy at the Supreme Mystery Bell. The bell''s surface shed with spiritual light, innumerable runes appearing, and then the bell fired twelve sonic bolts at Tang Jie''s original body.


    Tang Jie didn''t dodge, letting the twelve sonic arrows strike him. Thump! Thump! Thump! They created twelve shallow wounds on his body.


    As the Supreme Mystery Bell reflected attacks, its power hinged on the power of the attacker. He Yueyang, as the controller of the bell, could control the direction in which the attack was reflected. For example, even though He Yueyang had made those attacks just now, they had been reflected onto Tang Jie.


    The more Tang Jie learned about the bell, the more tempted he became. Laughing, he said, "An excellent item! I want it!"


    He grabbed at the Supreme Mystery Bell.


    "With just you?" He Yueyang was furious. He pointed at the Supreme Mystery Bell, which flew out and mmed into Tang Jie. The treasure could not only reflect attacks, but could also be used as a weapon itself, ramming at foes.


    As the Supreme Mystery Bell mmed into him, Tang Jie felt like he had been hit by a mountain. He was sent flying, the impact making him dizzy. It seemed to bepletely on par with the original body.


    Tang Jie staggered several times, almost falling down, but rather than surprised, he was delighted. "Wonderful, wonderful! What else can it do? Show me everything!"


    He roared and charged out again.


    He Yueyang grimaced and cursed, "Madman!"


    But he still had the Supreme Mystery Bell ram into Tang Jie.


    The power from the Supreme Mystery Bell was nothing to be trifled with. An ordinary person would have been pulverized long ago.


    s, He Yueyang was dealing with Tang Jie''s original body, whose only outstanding attribute was his powerful body. It was like a copper pea, impervious to steaming, boiling, hammering, and frying. No matter how one tried to knead it or crush it, it wouldn''t die, wouldn''t perish, wouldn''t lose, and wouldn''t give up!


    An explosion of energy erupted between the two of them, ripping through the forest. The Supreme Mystery Bell incessantly rang out like the bell of an old temple, and clouds and smoke filled the sky. Even the ck smoke created by the Thousand Illusion Fog Formation was significantly dispersed.


    As the two of them battled, the forces of Godhead Pce began to converge on He Yueyang''s location. Master Xuan Zhong had given He Yueyang the bell not only to help him subdue his foe, but also so that the others could follow the sound of the bell to his location.


    And the avatar Tang Jie did everything he could to stop Godhead Pce''s reinforcements.


    Just like it was always said in ssic military texts: encircle a part of the enemy army and destroy it while preventing reinforcements from reaching it.


    Thus, while He Yueyang, this "part of the enemy army", had yet to be destroyed, the avatar, the ghost guard, Yiyi, and the bean soldiers threw themselves into a stubborn and tough interception battle.


    On arge stone in the forest, the bean king, "Tang Dou", wearing a blood-colored crown and golden armor, wasmanding his troops to attack the enemy in the fog.


    Countless bean soldiers were throwing themselves into the fray, showing no fear against these formidable foes. With their heedless charge, they were able to keep out the reinforcements from Godhead Pce and even kill many Godhead Pce disciples.


    The one hundred Bloodbath Hall disciples Nan Ningjiang had brought this time were utterly wiped out by the bean soldiers, and even Nan Ningjiang''s group was pushed to the limit.


    "What are these things?" Second Brother Tian Zhong shouted in shock as he stared at the little soldiers charging out of the ck smoke.


    "I don''t know¡­ That damn Tang Jie¡ªjust where did he get all these freakish things from?" Third Sister Zhou Fanghua angrily said. Even with her experience, she had never seen these bizarre bean soldiers before.


    How could Sowing Beans into Soldiers produce such powerful creatures?


    Neeigh!


    A sharp cry came from the ck smoke.


    A group of cavalry charged out of the smoke.


    They were only the size of a fist, but all of them were surrounded by ck smoke, as if they were spirits of the dead. Five hundred of these ck horsemen charged out, led by a general. As the general charged out, it hurled its spear at Zhou Fanghua.


    "Watch out!" Tian Zhong shouted, turning around and chopping his palm at the spear.


    The palm struck the spear, and though the spear was sent flying away, Tian Zhong felt a jolt of pain from his palm.


    The spear thrown out by that little general was unexpectedly powerful. 33926


    A momentter, the five hundred cavalry charged at Tian Zhong, riding through the air with incredible speed.


    Nan Ningjiang chopped a palm, creating an intense whirlwind in an attempt to whisk the horsemen away, but the saber soldiers they had been fighting with earlier jumped into the air and attacked together, creating a powerful gust of wind that blocked Nan Ningjiang''s attack. One bean soldier was unable to endure the blow and was sent flying with a scream. As itnded on the ground, it turned back into a small bean.


    The full-power attack of a Spirit Ring True Person was only able to kill a single bean! Nan Ningjiang was left speechless.


    With the opportunity missed, the five hundred horsemen reached Tian Zhong without resistance.


    Zhou Fanghua cried out, "Second Brother, watch out!"


    A momentter, the numerous bean cavalry had mmed into him.


    Tian Zhong was wearing Godhead Armor, so the bean soldiers specifically attacked his limbs, neck, and other unarmored areas. They attacked Tian Zhong like a cloud of bees, their spears like stingers. They left bloody hole after bloody hole on Tian Zhong, and in a sh, his body was covered in wounds, causing him to throw his head back and howl in pain.


    As the second of the 12 Hawks, his specialty was in the tracking secret art, so his cultivation level was rtively average, only at Cognitive Creation, not even having entered the Three Witherings. He was far weaker than Nan Ningjiang and the others.


    At that moment, the energy from the horsemen thundered into his body. What seemed like only minor damage instantly became an immense and terrifying force when those five hundred horsemenbined their power. It ran rampant in his body like a most unbridled river.


    Tiny jets of blood exploded from his wounds like geysers, spurting out in an absurd fashion.


    Tian Zhong''s blood couldn''t evenst a few seconds at this rate of loss, and in the blink of an eye, he had beenpletely drained, shriveling up.


    "Second Brother!" Nan Ningjiang howled in pain.


    "Second Brother!" all the other Hawks yelled in sorrow.


    "Wretches, die!" Li Song shrieked.


    He shot out of the ck smoke like a bolt of lightning, grabbing one of the bean cavalry. As he drew his hand back, he clenched, and the horseman exploded. At the same time, he waved his right hand, and a ck tide engulfed the soldiers. If one looked carefully, one would find that this was a wave of ck water.


    This was the Yellow Springs Water that Li Song had taken many years to gather, and it contained extremely concentrated Yin energy.


    The bean soldiers had jointbat tactics and could use their numbers to make up for their shorings, but these things were useless against the Yellow Springs Water. This substance could be considered a counter to them, for with their individual strength, they would basically die on contact. Li Song had only used the Yellow Springs Water against the bean soldiers because of his extreme rage.


    But the Yellow Springs Water had just been unleashed when countless petals descended from the air to hold them back. Yiyi had used her Silkheaven Net. Li Song couldn''t allow her to do this, and the moment the petals came out, he identified where Yiyi was and rushed at her. But at this moment, a dark figure shot out from the side and attacked Li Song, forcing him to defend himself.


    Bang! That person was sent flying, but Li Song managed to identify that assant with only a brief glimpse. Chuckling, he said, "True Person Gui, you''re no match for me."


    "I just need to dy you." The ghost guard''s voice drifted out of the ck smoke.


    "Then what about us?" Two voices rang out in unison.


    Elders Gold and Silver.


    "You two are mine," Tang Jie''s voice came from the darkness.


    He raised his hands, tossing out countless talismans. Lightning, ice, mes, and various swords and sabers made of energy barraged the pair.


    Tang Jie had gathered up countless resources through all of his heists. What he could use at the time had naturally all been used up, and what he couldn''t use had been thrown into the world within the diagram to be broken down or saved for a moment like this.


    No matter who Tang Jie''s opponent was or how strong they were, until Tang Jie had finished using all of his talismans and art relics, they could only go on the defensive.


    Meanwhile, the battle between He Yueyang and Tang Jie''s original body was finally reaching a conclusion.

 Chapter 510: World Shift

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Interception battles were always the most desperate kind of battle in a war.


    The intercepting side had the task of holding off the enemy at all costs, and they often had to face a force that was several times to dozens of timesrger.


    The strength possessed by Godhead Pce could not be considered weak. Four Heart Demon True Persons, almost ten Spirit Ring True Persons, and many elite disciples was a force enough to crush an opponent like Tang Jie.


    But in these circumstances, Tang Jie had managed to hold fast.


    The blockade created by the numerous bean soldiers had not only fended off the attacks of Godhead Pce, it had even managed to kill many of them. The one hundred Bloodbath Hall disciples had been basically wiped out, and though Nan Ningjiang was greatly pained by this loss, he was finally able to gain a better understanding of Tang Jie''s strength.


    "The Martial Lord''s hidden treasury!" Nan Ningjiang spat out from between clenched teeth.


    Nan Ningjiang could find no other exnation for all this.


    "That''s not all," Tang Jie replied.


    That sense of pleasure in his body grew more and more distinct as he killed more and more members of Godhead Pce, such that when all the Bloodbath Hall disciples were wiped out, Tang Jie inexplicably felt a sense of emptiness.


    This sensation left him so ufortable that he lunged at Nan Ningjiang while flinging out ten-some Iceseal Talismans from his left hand. Nan Ningjiang thrust out his palm, a st of wind shing with the ice in a dazzling explosion. At the same time, a soft energy descended upon the area, preventing Tang Jie from thrusting his saber.


    This was a countermeasure Nan Ningjiang had developed against the golden saber after furthering his understanding of Tang Jie, using soft against hard so that the unstoppable golden saber found it difficult to show its power.


    But when Tang Jie attacked Nan Ningjiang, he once more felt that sense of pleasure. In his excitement, his saber erupted with light and stabbed at Nan Ningjiang. This attack came so suddenly that Nan Ningjiang was caught by surprise, so he had to hastily lean his head back to dodge. The edge of the saber brushed past his neck, leaving a long wound. Nan Ningjiang grunted and chopped his palm in response. Tang Jie raised his saber to block, and as the palm struck the saber, both of them used the impact to create some distance from each other.


    In this direct confrontation, Nan Ningjiang, despite being a Spirit Ring True Person, wasn''t able to get the slightest advantage.


    Startled, he blurted out, "You aren''t affected by the Great Mountain?"


    Tang Jie cocked his head. "I just found that out too."


    Yes, Tang Jie had just realized that as he killed more Godhead Pce disciples, the pressure from the Great Mountain eased. He didn''t know what the reason was, but this was undoubtedly a good thing.


    At this time, Elders Gold and Silver made another charge at Tang Jie, and Tang Jie threw out another stack of talismans.


    The elders had no choice but to deal with the talismans, one of them roaring, "Brat, is there no end to your talismans?"


    "I have plenty, and after them, I still have this." Tang Jie waved his hand, and three swords flew out, shooting at the two elders. The two elders were just about to block them when those three swords exploded.


    These swords were just ordinary art relics, but the power from their self-detonations was immense. Not even the two elders dared to take the explosion directly and could only fly back. But they were still somewhat caught up in the explosion, which left them somewhat shaken. They bellowed in fury, but they could do nothing against Tang Jie.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie was getting stronger the more he fought.


    That refreshing feeling in his heart grew more distinct the more Godhead Pce disciples he killed, and he attacked with even greater ferocity.


    He suddenlyughed and said, "My will is with the heavens, and the heavens are bound to protect me. My words wille true, and my blows will strike true!"


    He swung his saber at Nan Ningjiang.


    It seemed like a simple attack, but Nan Ningjiang inexplicably felt like he was in grave danger.


    He knew he was in trouble, and his Spirit Ring erupted outward to stop Tang Jie''s attack. But no matter what he did, Tang Jie''s saber pursued him, and Nan Ningjiang felt the shadow of death overtake him. As the sharp tip of the saber approached, he whispered in despair, "This is¡­ the Great¡­"


    He finally understood what was happening, but he didn''t have time to speak.


    Just when the golden saber was about to strike.


    "Big Brother!" someone cried out, and rammed into Nan Ningjiang, knocking him aside.


    The saber pierced through that person and erupted in light, obliterating the body.


    "Fifth Brother!" Nan Ningjiang screamed.


    He angrily red at Tang Jie, his eyes filling with blood. "Tang Jie!"


    Tang Jie called back his saber. At this time, his body was radiating light and spiritual energy, and appeared like a descended god.


    "The Great Aspiration Divine Connection!" Nan Ningjiang finally shouted, looking in disbelief at Tang Jie.


    That power just now was clearly something only the Great Aspiration Divine Connection was capable of, words bing true and blows striking true!


    "No, this isn''t the Great Aspiration Divine Connection!" Huang Yue shouted.


    As Shi Wunian''s disciple, he was well aware of his master''s abilities.


    "Then what is it?" Zhou Fanghua angrily asked. What sort of method could Tang Jie have used that could force Nan Ningjiang to the brink and y their fifth brother in a single strike?


    Huang Yue gazed at Tang Jie in speechless shock.


    "Huang Yue!" Nan Ningjiang shouted.


    Huang Yue muttered, "This isn''t the Great Aspiration Divine Connection¡­ This is¡­ a Great Aspiration."


    ''A Great Aspiration''?


    Everyone turned to stare at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie stroked his saber and casually said, "I swore a Great Aspiration to destroy Godhead Pce!"


    Everyone trembled at these words.


    Nan Ningjiang yelled, "What did you say? You would dare to swear such an aspiration?"


    Tang Jie sneered, "I made that Great Aspiration to destroy Godhead the day you all killed Big Brother Xu. But I never imagined that Aspirational Power was an actual existence. All things are destined, and so after I made that aspiration, if I seek to fulfill it, the heavens will take pity on me and support me."


    He raised his head and began tough, his entire body exuding light. It didn''t look like he was affected by the Great Mountain''s pressure at all.


    "Muyang¡­" Xu Mingyue inwardly shivered at these words. She began to look at Tang Jie differently, and the image of Xu Muyang began to ovep with him.


    There were always some things in the world that humans could not exin.


    Aspirational Power was one of these things.


    In the system developed by the six major sects, there had never been a detailed exnation for Aspirational Power. Most of what was said about it was that aspirations could not be lightly made, or else one was bound to be possessed by a Heart Demon.


    But Heart Demons and Aspirational Power were not the same thing. The former was an amalgamation of mental power given physical form while thetter was an inexplicable existence that permeated the world. It was even harder to detect than spiritual energy, and even harder toprehend. Only those who possessed it would gain a little bit of insight into it.


    The person who understood Aspirational Power the most in the world was probably Shi Wunian, as he was the creator of the Great Aspiration Divine Connection.


    Not everyone who made a Great Aspiration could gain the protection of Aspirational Power. In fact, it was only an extremely small number who could. Tang Jie had made his aspiration twenty-some years ago, never once giving up on his revenge against Godhead Pce, but it was only today that he received a little return from the heavens. Even he didn''t understand just why he had received this blessing today.


    But Tang Jie had a few guesses.


    He was sure that it had nothing to do with how many members of Godhead Pce he had killed. It probably had more to do with his surroundings.


    Like the Great Mountain, or maybe some other factors.


    Of course, he wasn''t going to say any of this. He only knew that, free from the strictures of the Great Mountain, he could buy more time for the original body.


    He Yueyang wouldn''t be able tost much longer.


    Raaaa!


    Amid heaven-shaking collisions, dust rose from the forest in plumes several dozen meters high.


    A figure bounded through the forest, exhibiting a most savage and fierce aura.


    The original body was like an unkible giant, swinging around that hammer and brazenly howling as he attacked again and again.


    He charged forward with violent ferocity, not fearing death or anything else.


    The massive hammer smashed into the bell again and again, releasing deafening rings and powerful shockwaves.


    Every time, the original body''s attacks would be reflected by the Supreme Mystery Bell. However strong was the attack against He Yueyang was how strong the attack reflected back on him would be.


    The original body coughed up blood after taking all these reflected attacks, but he would stand back up every time and continue to hammer away, venting his anger.


    And this anger seemed to provide the original body with an endless source of strength.


    There was no beating him and no stalling him. His will to fight was relentless, surging up to the heavens.


    He Yueyang realized to his shock that he was about to reach his limit.


    The Supreme Mystery Bell, though a supreme treasure, needed someone to operate it, spiritual energy to run it and Spirit Will to control it.


    While Tang Jie''s attacks were doing a lot of damage to himself, they were also using up a lot of He Yueyang''s spiritual energy.


    This shouldn''t have been a big deal. After all, the bell itself had its own formidable power that He Yueyang only needed to trigger. He was using up far less energy than Tang Jie.


    But surprisingly, even in these circumstances, He Yueyang was still running out of energy first.


    Tang Jie seemed to have strength that could never run out, crazily attacking again and again. No matter how many attacks were reflected and hurt him, he didn''t stop, growing fiercer and fiercer, stronger and stronger. It was as if the earlier part of the battle was just a warm-up and he was just getting serious now.


    Under this frenzied offensive, He Yueyang felt his spiritual energy draining away, and he finally started to be afraid.


    He red at Tang Jie, his eyes shing with divine light as he said, "Die!"


    A Divine Will attack.


    At this point, He Yueyang could no longer afford to worry about the aftermath.


    But to his surprise, Tang Jie''s head simply dropped slightly, his nose bleeding a little. Otherwise, he was fine.


    He wiped the blood from his nose and smiled. "Is that all you have?"


    "This is impossible!" He Yueyang cried out in shock.


    "Nothing is impossible. "I already made up my mind to kill Heart Demon cultivators, so how could I not have any sort of precautions against Divine Will attacks?" The original body scoffed. "Actually, I was waiting for you to do this."


    The Nine Executions Immortal Formation had many natural treasures, and among them was an herb that could protect against Divine Will attacks: the Jade Feather Red Treasure.


    Per Tang Jie''s agreement with the firebird, every trial he passed meant that he could pick another spirit nt. And once Tang Jie entered Nadir Hill, he gave all the spirit nts he stole to the original body to refine his body. As the original body grew stronger, he challenged the firebird again, this time taking the Jade Feather Red Treasure.


    After getting this nt, Tang Jie had his original body and avatar each eat half.


    This nt couldn''t make the original bodypletely immune to Divine Will attacks. To be more precise, it only raised resistance. But the one in the Nine Executions Immortal Formation was ten thousand years old, and one stalk had the effect of several dozen ordinary ones. Thus, although it was only half, it was already enough to resist the Divine Will attack of a Heart Demon True Person, though things would be more difficult with a Soul Transformation True Person. The attacker would have to be willing to sacrifice themselves and attack with all their might in order to kill Tang Jie.


    For this reason, in his battle n, Tang Jie hadn''t ounted for Master Xuan Zhong, as he had no ns on forcing him to the brink of death and causing him to take desperate measures.


    He Yueyang was terrified after seeing his Divine Will attack fail, and he began to retreat.


    The original body mockingly smiled. "Now you''re afraid? Don''t you think it''s toote?"


    The body refining of the Parting ssic was extremely powerful, and He Yueyang trying to tire him out was simply seeking death.


    Suddenly, he unleashed a frenzied roar at He Yueyang.


    The roar produced a fierce gale that sted He Yueyang.


    In the middle of this storm, He Yueyang saw Tang Jie''s original body growingrger, bulging with muscle, and white streams of energy began to revolve around him. This was because his surging energy was so abundant that it was now taking physical form.


    Tang Jieughed and thrust a palm at He Yueyang.


    The Supreme Mystery Bell let out a thunderous boom, and while Tang Jie threw up blood, He Yueyang began to shiver as if he hade down with a severe fever.


    "So you finally can''t control it anymore?" Tang Jieughed. "If not for this bell, I would have killed you long ago!"


    His fist hammered on the Supreme Mystery Bell again and again, each blow seeming to pummel at He Yueyang''s heart, and He Yueyang''splexion turned as white as a sheet of paper.


    Finally, with a long ring, the Supreme Mystery Bell went flying. He Yueyang no longer had the strength to control it.


    Tang Jie raised a foot, using He Yueyang as a jumping board. As he kicked down, he shattered He Yueyang''s head and reached for the bell.


    The bell constantly rang out as it struggled to break free of Tang Jie''s grip.


    "Now that you''re in my hand, you think I would let you go that easily?" Tang Jie snorted as he punched the bell again.


    The bell had no one to control it, so the fist''s power easily prated into the bell. The bell was already emptied of power, so the fist seeding in destroying all of the seals within it. Through unreasonable brute force, Tang Jie seeded in taking the bell as his own.


    "My bell!" Master Xuan Zhong was the first to sense the bell being stolen. His mind was given a huge jolt, and he threw up blood. He had already been attacked by the will of the Great Mountain twice and was in the middle of recovering. This sudden shock caused his wounds to reopen and worsen.


    It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from tinyurl/37k7u89t.


    At the same time, Li Song sensed He Yueyang''s death, and he roared in fury, "Old He!"


    His hand exploded with light, punching a hole through the stomach of the ghost guard. But the ghost guard seemed unaffected, continuing to battle with Li Song. Startled, Li Song blurted out, "You''re not human?"


    There was a sharp whistle as a sword shot at Li Song''s face. The de was of such sharpness that Li Song had no choice but to retreat in the face of the divine sword that Tang Jie had thrown out.


    Meanwhile, under Tang Jie''s control, the ghost guard quickly retreated. Now that his inhuman status was revealed, it was no longer proper for him to stay in battle.


    "Bastard!" Li Song thrust out his hands several dozen times, releasing several dozen sts of light that managed to stop the divine sword. At the same time, his eyes shed with divine lightning.


    A Divine Will attack.


    He Yueyang''s death had infuriated Li Song, and he finally decided to go all-out against Tang Jie, even if he died because of it.


    Nan Ningjiang paled and cried out, "Don''t!"


    Godhead Pce wanted Tang Jie alive, not dead.


    But Tang Jie''s head was simply thrown back a little, and as blood ran out from his nose, he excitedly said, "Haha, finally willing to use a Divine Will attack? I was waiting for this!"


    He hastily retreated, took out a pill, and swallowed it.


    The pill was ck and unremarkable, but it made Nan Ningjiang scowl. "A Mind Migration Pill! No!"


    Tang Jie raised his head and howled.


    This howl was like the wailing of ghosts, rming everyone. A purple smoke began to pour out from Tang Jie''s ears and nose.


    "The Spirit-Boiling Powder!" Xu Mingyue cried out.


    "Yes¡­ the Spirit-Boiling Powder," Tang Jie chuckled. "Why do you think I wanted to fight with you? If it wasn''t to get rid of this damn substance, do you really think I would have gone this far?"


    The Spirit-Boiling Powder was a poison that worked directly on this soul, so mortal arts were no good against it. Tang Jie had racked his mind for a way to deal with it, until he finally thought about Divine Will attacks.


    Divine Will attacks were unblockable because they attacked the soul, but if he could resist this attack, he could have it expel the poison. Tang Jie had looted many ces to find this Mind Migration Pill precisely for this moment.


    As the Spirit-Boiling Powder was removed and that problem that had pestered Tang Jie for so long was sent packing, Tang Jie felt wonderful.


    Heughed and said, "Without the Spirit-Boiling Powder, I''d like to see how you can chase me now! The world is vast, and I''m free to wander about!"


    He retreated.


    In this battle, he had killed He Yueyang, taken the Supreme Mystery Bell, and removed the Spirit-Boiling Powder. He had reached all his goals, so there was no need to stick around.


    Nan Ningjiang savagely said, "You want to leave? Impossible!"


    He threw out a diagram.


    "A formation diagram?" Tang Jie grimaced.


    This was clearly an upper-grade art relic formation diagram. As it was thrown out, the region surrounding Tang Jie was engulfed by the formation. 33926


    At a nce, Tang Jie could see that this was at least a Grade 4 sealing formation.


    As the formation emerged, Nan Ningjiang pped a hand at the ground. "Come out!"


    A strange diagram appeared on the ground.


    As the diagram appeared, the clouds began to circle, and countless strange monsters began to appear within them.


    "The Parade of Myriad Beasts!" Tang Jie paled.


    The Parade of Myriad Beasts was one of the Beast Refining Gate''s greatest spell arts, a merger of art, formation, and beasts. Once used, it could manifest countless fiend beasts to attack a foe, and there were also some real fiend beasts mixed among them, which were difficult to identify among all the fakes. As for its power, that depended on the beasts stored within it.


    One could be certain that the Beast Refining Gate, in order to deal with him, wouldn''t have brought some ordinary fiends.


    Qian Yingchen''s smugughter came out of the clouds. "Brother Tang truly is very knowledgeable, even knowing about my Beast Refining Gate''s Parade of Myriad Beasts. I thought that we wouldn''t need to use it, but Brother Tang was more formidable than expected, even forcing us to ourst resort."


    Tang Jie''s eyes narrowed.


    He knew that this was the real move Nan Ningjiang had nned to use against him, hidden this entire time.


    He looked at Nan Ningjiang and said, "If you had used this earlier, all those people wouldn''t have had to die."


    Nan Ningjiang replied, "If I used it too early, how would I find out if you knew about it or not?"


    As expected.


    Nan Ningjiang had waited until now because he wanted to find out who the spy in Godhead Pce was.


    He smiled and said, "So you know now?"


    "At least I know that this group of people can be trusted," Nan Ningjiang replied.


    Tang Jie nodded at the bodies of the second brother and fifth brother. "Their deaths are all your fault."


    Everyone stared at Nan Ningjiang, and Nan Ningjiang paled. "Shut your mouth. So long as we can catch you, all those deaths are worth it!"


    "The problem is that you can''t catch me!" Tang Jie casually replied.


    Nan Ningjiang was taken aback.


    Currently, they had Tang Jiepletely surrounded and blockaded, and they had even used the ultimate trump card of the Beast Refining Gate. What else could Tang Jie do to turn the tables?


    Tang Jie softly sighed. "You can have those beasts run around and seal off the heavens and earth, but in the face of nature''s might, it is all a mere fantasy."


    As he spoke, Nan Ningjiang suddenly had an ill foreboding.


    At that moment, the ground beneath his feet suddenly shook.

 Chapter 511: Chase!

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The earth quaked as if some heavy object had crashed into the ground, but a momentter, everyone realized that something was wrong.


    The quaking came in waves and showed no signs of stopping. On the contrary, they were getting stronger and stronger, the entire ground¡ªno, the entire mountain range¡ªstarting to buzz and shudder.


    The trees started to sway first, and then the mountains began to sway, shuddering enough to make the entire world pale.


    Amid the massive shockwaves, Nan Ningjiang saw trees uprooted in great plumes of dust, distant mountains beginning to sink, giant rocks crumbling like copsing towers, and t ins beginning to bulge upward.


    "The mountains are shifting! The mountains are shifting!" someone shrieked in terror.


    "It''s a mountain shift!" Zhou Fanghua shouted.


    They stared in shock as the mountain region changed around them, mountains turning into valleys, valleys into ins, and the ins beginning to ripple. The entire mountain region was being utterly transformed, as if the shifting of eons was taking ce in a single moment.


    The awe-inspiring and majestic sight dumbfounded even the powerful Master Xuan Zhong.


    Even though they knew that the Spirit Mountains was a region said to be able to transform, they had never seen it transform.


    For the Great Mountain, one change every hundred years could be considered frequent.


    Even Master Xuan Zhong only knew about one time in his cultivation life where the Great Mountain had transformed, but it was impossible for him to have been passing by at the time. Thus, he had no idea how majestic and mighty the Great Mountain was when it transformed.


    It was only now, when he was in the middle of it all and able to see the earth as inconstant as the ocean, that he truly realized that this power had no end.


    He was a Soul Transformation True Person!


    He had spell arts that could alter the terrain. With his current power, he could easily make mountains rise or fall.


    But that would ultimately take some time, and it would be the limit of what spell arts could do. In the face of this vast mountain range, humans could only look up at the heavens and sigh at theirck of power. At that moment, Master Xuan Zhong found himself to be a puny existence before the Great Mountain.


    If he tried to tten a mountain now, that power would probably obliterate him into nothingness.


    The earth was still quaking.


    In the distance, a giant fissure suddenly opened up.


    The fissure tore the ground beneath them into two, and then it carved out a circle. This piece ofnd began to rise up,rge amounts of soil shedding from the mass.


    "This is¡­" Nan Ningjiang blurted out in surprise.


    "Making a mountain," Tang Jie replied. "From the look of it, this ground we''re standing on is about to be a little mountain. Regrettably, yourst trump card has been neutralized."


    He smiled at Nan Ningjiang.


    Nan Ningjiang gasped.


    He looked around.


    Sure enough, the ground was rapidly rising while the ck smoke was dispersing.


    The drastic shift in terrain''s first effect on everyone was the destruction of all formations!


    The Thousand Illusion Fog Formation was no more.


    The Heaven-Earth Lock Formation was no more.


    This novel is avable on bit.ly/3Tfs4P4.


    Even the Beast Refining Gate''s Parade of Myriad Beasts was gone¡­


    All the formations and spell arts established on this terrain were pulverized by the will of the Great Mountain.


    Amid this sea change, all things fixed and constant were torn to shreds. Only those existences that could adapt would survive.


    Under the power of the world, the final trump card that Nan Ningjiang had taken such great pains toy out was utterly pulverized, and he was left so stunned that he was shaking. This was like using many years to erect a tall skyscraper, only to have some hurricanee through and knock it down.


    Even his heart was crushed.


    Tang Jie sized him up and casually said, "You''ve always done very well, but you made two mistakes, and they were the same kind of mistake. The first was that you underestimated me¡­ The second is that you underestimated the mountain."


    ''Underestimated the mountain''?


    Nan Ningjiang angrily red at Tang Jie. "You''re the one behind all this?"


    He didn''t believe that this was a coincidence, that the Great Mountain would choose the moment he yed hisst card to transform.


    Tang Jie was standing at the edge of the fissure.


    As the ground rose, this ce was bing a cliff.


    Looking down at the ground below, Tang Jie casually said, "It was me, and it was also all of you. In the end, it is nothing more than Karma."


    Karma!


    What was Karma?


    Nan Ningjiang did not understand.


    He didn''t know how much Tang Jie had sacrificed for all of this, how much he had prepared, but for Tang Jie, everything that had happened was as simple as could be.


    Karma was not the power of miracles, and it could not create something from nothing, but it could link existing threads of Karma so that when the proper cause was created, the desired effect would be produced.


    What was the Great Mountain?


    Tang Jie did not know.


    But there was no doubt that the Great Mountain had a will.


    And he was sure that the developments in the mountain would probably affect the Great Mountain.


    That was the key here: ''probably''.


    It had a probability of reacting, and it also had a probability of not reacting.


    The Dao of Karma existed to turn probability into inevitability. It was just a matter of which end result one chose.


    Linking this thread of Karma had consumed all of the Karma power Tang Jie had umted over the years, and this effect would only persist for a day. Whether it seeded or not, after this day ended, that thread of Karma would snap.


    The Karma that hade at such a costly price existed for the ultimate purpose of destroying everything¡ªno matter what Nan Ningjiang''sst trump card was, it would be useless against the might of the world!


    Tang Jie shot Nan Ningjiang a sympathetic nce.


    As the smoke dispersed, the forms of Tang Jie, the ghost guard, Yiyi, and even the original body were all revealed. They looked at Nan Ningjiang and then took a step back.


    By taking a step back, they essentially cast themselves off the cliff.


    The operation was a sess, so it was time to retreat, and Tang Jie did not n on lingering.


    "Don''t even think about running!" Nan Ningjiang roared as he lunged forward.


    Without the Heaven-Earth Lock Formation to blockade the area or the Thousand Illusion Fog Formation to confuse, the closed battlefield was now open. While Tang Jie now had the ability to run, Godhead Pce had the ability to give chase.


    For this reason, Nan Ningjiang still didn''t concede. At most, the direct confrontation had turned into a hunt.


    Tang Jie threw out arge pile of talismans that sealed off the space in front of him.


    A withered hand suddenly thrust out at that talisman space, instantly dispersing their power. Master Xuan Zhong said in an infuriated and sinister voice, "Return my Supreme Mystery Bell!"


    Tang Jie''s art talismans could stop the others, but they couldn''t stop him. 33926


    Tang Jie shook his head and chuckled. "I was worried that you wouldn''t attack."


    As he chuckled, a gust of wind sted Master Xuan Zhong.


    A momentter, Master Xuan Zhong was sent flying, streaking out of the mountains like aet. As he disappeared into the horizon, he cried out in despair, "Why is this happening?"


    Why was it like this? Master Xuan Zhong didn''t understand.


    Why was he attacked by the will of the Great Mountain every time he made a move?


    He had made three moves and had been attacked by the Great Mountain three times, the damage getting worse each time!


    "Because you are also within the Karma," Tang Jie lightly replied as he floated to the ground.


    From the very start, Tang Jie had tied together Master Xuan Zhong with his thread of Karma. Ordinary attacks would have been fine, but if his attacks reached a certain level, he would be targeted by the will of the Great Mountain.


    And this limit was equivalent to the strongest attack from Tang Jie''s original body.


    Simply put, any power that was greater than the original body would be considered a challenge by the will of the Great Mountain, causing it to attack the offender. And when developments reached a certain level, particrly a level that Tang Jie couldn''t reach, they would trigger a world shift.


    By using this method, Tang Jie was able to restrict the most powerful members of Godhead Pce and had no need to consider what sort of tricks Nan Ningjiang had up his sleeve. Even if he had secretly called over a Celestial Chief, the result would be the same.


    "Don''t let him escape!" Nan Ningjiang roared.


    Even though Master Xuan Zhong had been sent flying, Nan Ningjiang still didn''t give up on the idea of chasing Tang Jie down.


    Two people flew out, thrusting their palms at Tang Jie.


    Elders Gold and Silver!


    The original body chuckled and punched at those two palm sts.


    Boom!


    A massive explosion tore through the air.


    As the fists shed with palms, Elders Gold and Silver shuddered, and then they threw their heads back and vomited blood as they retreated. When they looked again at the original body, they saw that he had used the bacsh to hasten his descent. He crashed down like aet, opening a crater on the newborn surface, after which he got up like he was perfectly fine, grabbing a tree and tossing it up at the mountain.


    Elders Gold and Silver were stunned, blurting out, "Who is this person, to possess such shocking strength?"


    Nan Ningjiang was also stunned. "Why? The Space Crystal only transported Tang Jie, so why does he possess such powerful allies? Just who are they?"


    At this time, Qian Yingchen rushed at Tang Jie.


    Leaving the rapidly rising mountain like a bolt of lightning, Qian Yingchen roared, "Tang Jie, you can''t escape!"


    When Tang Jie spotted Qian Yingchen, a strange halo appeared in his eyes, and as this halo turned, he shouted, "Stop!"


    Qian Yingchen suddenly froze.


    The Four-Nine True Words!


    As the Four-Nine True Words activated, a crescent de swept toward Qian Yingchen.


    Just as the de was about to hit, a jade talisman on Qian Yingchen''s body shed and moved to block the de.


    Just when Tang Jie was about to make a follow-up attack, Feng Buzhi''s sinister voice rang out: "Brat, your journey ends here!"


    A ck bear swung a paw at Tang Jie''s head.


    Tang Jie raised his head and extended his left hand to meet Feng Buzhi''s paw.


    A single finger.


    The Jade Shattering Finger!


    Peak Mortal Shedding versus Heart Demon!


    As finger struck paw, time seemed to freeze.


    Tang Jie was frozen in ce one moment, and then he was shooting away the next, throwing up blood from his mouth while blood spurted out from countless other parts of his body. As for his finger, it had been utterly pulverized in the sh with Feng Buzhi.


    That one confrontation had left Tang Jie drenched in blood.


    "A mantis trying to stop a carriage," Feng Buzhi grunted as he pulled back his hand.


    Blood was flowing from the hand, wounds left behind by the Jade Shattering Finger. But as Feng Buzhi circted his spiritual energy, the wounds healed. For this reason, he failed to notice a dark blue glint in the wound.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie activated his Dao of Life, swiftly healing his wounds and even regrowing his finger. At the same time, he was able to use the bacsh to hasten his retreat.


    The world was undergoing a momentous transformation, and the Great Mountain was roaring. All around the ce, mountains rose and fell, smoke filled the air, trees flew about, and dust swept through thend.


    In the middle of all this, humans fought and chased.


    Even without the formation locking the area down, escaping countless capable experts was no easy task.


    "Where are you running!?" Another enraged roar resounded through the air.


    This was Li Song''s enraged cry.


    As he roared, a shing rainbow pagoda flew out.


    This pagoda expanded in size, quickly bing the size of an actual pagoda. Flying above Tang Jie''s head, it mmed down, trapping him within it.


    "Sess!" Everyone cheered in victory.


    But a momentter, there was a crack.


    A golden saber peeked out from the pagoda.


    The saber cut down, tearing through the pagoda like it was a curtain.


    "No!" Li Song screamed in pain.


    This Fiend-Trapping Pagoda was an upper-grade art relic that he had spent many years refining, and it was excellent for trapping fiends. With the ck smoke around, it wasn''t able to lock onto its target, but now that the air had been cleared, he had believed that his moment of fame hade. But to his surprise, Tang Jie had destroyed the pagoda.


    As the golden saber cut through, the pagoda let out a radiant light, shuddered a few times, and then it exploded, Tang Jie emerging from the ruins.


    Laughing, Tang Jie saluted Li Song and said, "I appreciate your kindness, but I must refuse. Farewell, Brother Li."


    Li Song was a mighty Heart Demon True Person, so Tang Jie calling him ''Brother Li'' had him trembling in anger. At the same time, Tang Jie''s original body made several thunderous punches, their force preventing everyone from getting close, allowing Tang Jie to flee.


    "Don''t let him escape!" Zhou Fanghua urgently shouted.


    "No, he can''t escape," Nan Ningjiang coldly said.


    As he spoke, there was a sh of sword light.


    As this sword light pierced the heavens, two icy words rang out.


    "Sacrificial Sword!"


    "Aaah!" Tang Jie let out a heaven-shaking roar as he turned around and thrust out his palm. There was a bang as a person was forced out of hiding and sent flying.


    "Little Twelve!" Nan Ningjiang and Zhou Fanghua shouted in unison.


    Xi Canhen!


    No one had expected him to suddenly appear and deal Tang Jie a lethal strike.


    This savage strike stabbed into Tang Jie''s body and blew almost half of his body away. Tang Jie swayed in the air, almost dropping from the sky.


    His original body rapidly flew over and grabbed him. In the distance, a hundred-some cultivators had appeared. These were the nking forces that Nan Ningjiang had summoned, now appearing to block off Tang Jie''s path of retreat.


    One of them, the sixth sister of the 12 Hawks, flew out to catch the falling Xi Canhen. After unleashing that blow and then taking a strike from Tang Jie, his face was like a sheet of paper.


    "Little Twelve, are you okay?" the sixth sister anxiously asked Xi Canhen.


    Xi Canhen squeezed out a smile. "I fulfilled my mission¡­ but he flew too fast¡­ chasing him while hidden¡­ couldn''t attack with everything¡­ The Sacrificial Sword''s power¡­ was limited, couldn''t kill¡­"


    "It''s enough. You''ve done enough!" the sixth Hawk said, stroking Xi Canhen''s face.


    But despite her gentle demeanor, she was staring closely at Xi Canhen''s face, her heart in turmoil. As the sixth Hawk, her expertisey in reading the human heart and analyzing words. She could easily judge through someone''s words if they were telling the truth, regardless of what they did.


    And just now, she had clearly sensed a sliver of insincerity in Xi Canhen''s words.


    What was going on here?


    He was lying?


    But he had clearly attacked Tang Jie and dealt him a severe wound.


    Could she be mistaken?


    She was momentarily confused.


    She paid so much attention to Xi Canhen that she wasn''t paying attention to Tang Jie''s movements.


    Holding the injured Tang Jie, the original body roared in anger, "Bastard, I''ll kill you!"


    Holding Tang Jie in his left hand, he threw his right arm forward like he was Superman, charging through the air at Xi Canhen. His fist shed with me-like lights, a sign that he was at maximum power.


    "Get out of the way!" Nan Ningjiang and the others urgently shouted.


    The sixth Hawk raised her head and saw that giant man rapidly approaching. In shock, she tried to retreat, but Xi Canhen clutched her, his right hand pressing down on her belly. The point where she circted energy from was there, and with this press, her cirction was disrupted and she momentarily couldn''t move.


    At the same time, Xi Canhen shouted, "Sixth Sister, don''t!"


    Energy erupted from Xi Canhen''s hand, sealing her throat and preventing her from speaking. Xi Canhen grabbed her hand and brought it toward him, upon which he went flying. Meanwhile, the sixth Hawk went flying in the opposite direction toward Tang Jie, as if she was sacrificing herself to save Xi Canhen.


    No!


    The sixth Hawk paled in fright.


    She looked at Xi Canhen and saw his cold face, which seemed to be saying, "Sorry, but you have to die."


    Boom!


    The original body''s steely fist smashed into the sixth Hawk.


    Blood erupted.


    "Awooo!" The original body let out a frenzied howl, as if he was angered over Tang Jie''s injury. Seeing all the approaching Godhead disciples, he turned around and flew into the depths of the mountains.


    "Stop him!" Nan Ningjiang shouted.


    Everyone converged on Tang Jie.


    The original body grunted and threw out an item.


    It was a formation diagram.


    Nan Ningjiang could use a formation diagram to lock down the area, so why couldn''t Tang Jie? He had robbed countless ces in Nadir Hill, so when it came to formation diagrams, he had quite a few. The one he was using now was the Chain Blockade Formation. A giant chain appeared out of nowhere and obstructed his pursuers.


    "Bastard!" Nan Ningjiang gritted his teeth and turned his head. "Xu Mingyue, undo the formation!"


    The greatest advantage of formation diagrams was that they were easy to carry around, but their w was theirck of power. The Chain Blockade Formation was only a Grade 3 formation, and given the limits of a formation diagram, it would probably be easy to break. But while Ling Tianqi was a formation expert, his own strength was limited, and in the middle of this pursuit, he had fallen to the rear and had yet to catch up. At this time, only Xu Mingyue was avable to break the formation.


    But to his surprise, Xu Mingyue replied, "With Master Ling around, am I even necessary? It would be better for me to sit on the sides and watch."


    "You!" Nan Ningjiang was so angry that he wanted to throw up blood. He red at her, but Xu Mingyue fearlessly red back.

 Chapter 512: Kindness

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Great Mountain was still shifting.


    Mountains rose and fell in one of the world''s most breathtaking sights.


    The original body flew amid these rising and falling mountains. asionally, a rising mountain would brush past him as it rose into the sky.


    The tall mountains were like a collection of stone pirs. They presented a grandiose sight as they intersected and pierced through the sky, but a momentter, this majestic sight was gone.


    No one who had not experienced this transformation would be able to imagine its majesty.


    The original body flew past a mountain and then found a clearing to stop.


    He took out a pill from his bag and put it into the avatar''s mouth. The avatar swallowed with great difficulty, and the severe wound inflicted by Xi Canhen''s sword finally began to recover.


    The assassination was faked, but the injury was real.


    If they hadn''t done it this way, they would have never been able to fool all those experts from Godhead Pce.


    When Tang Jie learned that Nan Ningjiang was obsessed with finding the spy among his ranks, he had drafted this n. Xi Canhen was far too important for him, and he could not allow him to be exposed.


    Even if this strike couldn''t remove all of Nan Ningjiang''s doubts, it might remove more than half.


    Crucially, Nan Ningjiang didn''t know that Tang Jie and Xi Canhen were connected through Heart Consonance. He could not have imagined that Tang Jie would be able to contact Xi Canhen in these circumstances.


    Turning around, the original body saw that Godhead Pce''s people were already out of sight.


    Since Xu Mingyue wasn''t cooperating, Godhead Pce had lost any chance of catching him.


    Tang Jie chuckled. Putting down the avatar, he took stock of his surroundings.


    Ever since he had entered the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, Tang Jie had essentially been in seclusion, borrowing the eyes of the avatar to see and experience the world. It was only today that he could use his own body to sense this world that he had been parted from for so long.


    Perhaps because these two were fundamentally different, the original body''s eyes saw everything as smaller and more fragile. Whenever Tang Jie thought from the perspective of the original body, he would instinctively consider bold and heroic actions, looking down on everyone.


    This made him somewhat understand the aloof and arrogant attitudes of those high-up and illustrious figures.


    As he grew stronger, this attitude was almost inevitable. It was an adaptation to one''s environment, a consequence of his horizons broadening with his rise in power.


    The avatar was still healing from his wounds.


    As Yiyi was tending to him, she asked, "Big Brother, what are we doing next?''


    Tang Jie considered his answer and said, "With the Spirit-Boiling Powder removed, we don''t need to be fleeing around the clock. Now, we can get a good rest."


    Yiyi grinned and nodded.


    In this period where he was marked by the Spirit-Boiling Powder, while it seemed like they had been able to roam freely, they had essentially been on the run the entire time, so they were truly exhausted. Now that the problem had been resolved, they could have a good rest.


    "And after that," Tang Jie went on, "we''ll run circles around them in these mountains."


    There was a grim tone to his voice, as if this was not going to be a very peaceful activity.


    The Spirit Mountains were veryplicated, and anyone would find them very difficult to control. It was a natural shelter for the weak and a ce where the strong would always risk being counterattacked. Since Tang Jie was here, he wasn''t going to give up on any opportunity he had to counterattack.


    "Then you''re not leaving, right?" Yiyi excitedly crawled up Tang Jie''s body.


    She was getting bigger and bigger, and the avatar was no longer the proper size to serve as her perch. Thisrger body was much better for it.


    Tang Jie shrugged. "Nan Ningjiang has locked down these mountains, so I can''t teleport out and return to the formation, so I can only stay here."


    Locking down the mountain region was different from locking down Nadir Hill. As the area being locked down shrank, the sealing power increased, and the result was that Tang Jie couldn''t even return to the Nine Executions Immortal Formation if he wanted to. This was also how Tang Jie knew that Nan Ningjiang had locked down the entire mountain range and why he hadn''t chosen to flee outward.


    "Oh, wonderful!" Yiyi seemed ted to learn that the original body wasn''t able to go back.


    Tang Jie pinched Yiyi''s ear and smiled. "But before that, there are still some things we need to do."


    "What?"


    "Familiarize ourselves with this new mountain region."


    "''Familiarize ourselves with the new mountain region''?" Yiyi didn''t understand what Tang Jie meant.


    "Yes, the Spirit Mountains have already changed, so we have to renew our understanding of thendscape. The pressure of the Great Mountain isn''tpletely ineffective on my original body. It''s still around, though I''m much better off than other cultivators. In addition, we have too few beans. They are very useful, but they need numbers. We need more beans, so we need more ces to grow them."


    Tang Jie paused and said, "Thus, we need time, so the time we spend here won''t be short."


    "How long?" Yiyi asked.


    Tang Jie thought it over and replied, "One year? Two years? Even five to ten years is possible."


    Yiyi''s mouth opened in shock. "That long?"


    "Yes, we need to prepare for a long war," Tang Jie replied. "We will stay here, living, cultivating, killing, and getting stronger. We will grow through battle and weaken our enemies through battle."


    Tang Jie hadn''t nned on this at the start, but after that battle, he had made up his mind.


    It wasn''t just the reasons above that had led him to make this decision. The more important one was Aspirational Power.


    In the battle with Godhead Pce, Tang Jie had discovered that his aspiration had triggered some special effect, allowing him to grow stronger through killing, as if he was gaining experience by killing monsters.


    Tang Jie was amazed by this discovery. Before this, he had killed quite a few Godhead Pce people, but this sort of thing had never happened.


    Thus, Tang Jie was very certain that the aid of the Aspirational Power was connected to the Great Mountain.


    Until he could confirm everything, the best n was to stay in the mountains and keep killing his enemies. After all, was there anything better than getting stronger through killing?


    As a result, Tang Jie had changed his mind and was no longer in a rush to leave. Instead, he chose to live in the Great Mountain and explore its secrets, and the members of Godhead Pce were the seeds he would use to plumb the secrets of the Great Mountain and Aspirational Power.


    This process was bound to be long, which was why Tang Jie was in no hurry and decided to take up residence in the mountain. In any case, ten years wasn''t very long.


    But Godhead Pce was bound to use a significant amount of resources in order to keep the mountain locked down for ten years. Worst of all was that they couldn''t stop no matter how many resources they used, for stopping would mean that everything they had done before this was pointless.


    Thus, they would grit their teeth and bear the cost until they eventually couldn''t take it anymore.


    This was also pushing Godhead Pce toward the grave, which met the conditions for his aspiration to destroy Godhead Pce, and so it might also bring him Aspirational Power¡­


    "I see¡­" Yiyi nodded in agreement. She folded her arms like an adult and said, "If that''s the case, let''s spend some time cultivating in these mountains. Thisdy also needs some time to properlymunicate with the nts here."


    She waved her hand, and countless green seeds sprinkled the area.


    In the past, she wasn''t able to integrate with the mountain, but after this massive shift, many nts had died, and new nts needed time to grow. This was the perfect time for Yiyi to get involved. When the seeds she had nted merged with the mountain, she would regain all her abilities and be able to control nts once more.


    Yiyi''s actions reminded Tang Jie, and he immediately sowedrge numbers of beans.


    The battle with Godhead Pce had let him realize that while the beans grown in the Great Mountain weren''t affected by the Great Mountain, they also didn''t receive any additional boost. They weren''t treated the same as the true native creatures of the mountains, which enjoyed the kindness of the mountain.


    One of the reasons was probably that the beans had not truly integrated with the Great Mountain.


    The mountain shift had caused mass death, and it was now the moment where the Great Mountain would wee new life and would not refuse any neers. It was an excellent chance for the beans to go from outsiders to natives, and if possible, Tang Jie wanted to nt all the beans he had.


    Inparison, Godhead Pce, which wasn''t prepared for a long war, wasn''t ready and so couldn''t take advantage of this ideal moment.


    They were still searching the mountains, but without the Spirit-Boiling Powder guiding them, Tang Jie had basically gone up in smoke, vanishing into the mountains.


    A small deer pranced through the mountains.


    It warily looked around, vignt against any possible danger, and then it cautiously ran toward the mountains.


    Despite its sharpness, it didn''t notice a pair of eyes watching it from a distant thicket.


    A gust of wind blew a tree leaf onto the deer''s buttocks.


    The deer sensed nothing, continuing to run through the mountain and soon vanishing without a trace. Thus, it didn''t realize that the leaf on its buttocks was shing as if it was a person''s eyes blinking¡­


    Three dayster, when the deer came out of the mountains, its demeanor had utterly transformed.


    Its long antlers were as sharp as des, and its vigorous hindlegs could shatter a boulder with a casual kick.


    A middle-grade Spirit Sensing deer fiend.


    Although it wasn''t strong, the transformation was enough to make one''s eyes widen in shock.


    Gazing long at that tree leaf, Tang Jie''s original body shook his head and sighed. "In only three days, it went from an ordinary deer to a deer fiend, and middle-grade Spirit Sensing. It''s truly hard to imagine."


    He drew a checkmark on a paper on which the words "Deer, Number 12" were written, indicating that he was done observing this deer.


    "If I didn''t see it for myself, I wouldn''t have believed it either." Yiyi shook her head and sighed.


    It had been quite a few days since thest battle. 33926


    In this period of time, Tang Jie and Yiyi had been familiarizing themselves with the Great Mountain and raising nts. The original body was primarily in charge of all this. Once the avatar had recovered, he had thrown himself into cultivation. For a very long time, it had always been the original body cultivating while the avatar did all the work, so now, it was finally time for the original body to serve the avatar. After all, in this environment, the avatar would cultivate better than the original body, as the original body relied too much on resources.


    Unable to take root in the mountain and merge with it like Yiyi, one day, Tang Jie suddenly had an idea. Since he couldn''t learn how to be a nt, why not learn how to be an animal instead?


    The animals of the Spirit Mountains were also beings that enjoyed the kindness of the Great Mountain, so how exactly did they receive this kindness?


    Thus, Tang Jie began to observe the fiends in the mountains.


    Initially, nothing came of it.


    But one day, Tang Jie spotted a leopard entering the mountains. The leopard was missing a patch of skin on its face, giving it a unique face that Tang Jie remembered.


    Several dayster, when Tang Jie saw the leopard again, he discovered that it had be a middle-grade fiend.


    This left Tang Jie shocked.


    From then on, he began to watch the ordinary creatures. Finally, he discovered that all the creatures that became fiends did so after entering the depths of the mountains.


    The infamous entricities of the Spirit Mountains had kept Tang Jie from venturing into the depths of the Great Mountain until now.


    He simply watched from the perimeter, keeping track of when each creature went in and if they came out alive. For this purpose, he ced a mark on these creatures.


    Around one third of them ultimately came out as fiends. As for the remaining two thirds, Tang Jie couldn''t be sure whether they were alive or dead. Maybe they had died, or maybe they had left through another direction. After all, the mountain range was vast, and Tang Jie couldn''t be watching everywhere.


    The observation was still ongoing, and Tang Jie was in no rush to venture deeper into the mountains to explore its secrets.


    The lessons learned by Godhead Pce had already taught him that the Great Mountain was not to be underestimated.


    In this way, Tang Jie took up residence in the Great Mountain.


    He spent every day cultivating, observing, and ying cat-and-mouse with Godhead Pce, his life bing simple and boring, with the asional excitement.


    When he was bored, Tang Jie would chat with Xi Canhen through Heart Consonance, using the chance to understand what was going on outside.


    The death of He Yueyang and the exposure of the original body''s strength had deeply shaken Godhead Pce, so much so that they had dispatched King Canis.


    Long ago, Feng Buzhi had suggested dispatching this Celestial Chief¨Clevel figure of Godhead Pce, but Godhead Pce had rejected the proposal, thinking that it would be using a bull knife to ughter a chicken. But now, Feng Buzhi had been proved to be correct.


    "In other words, Nan Ningjiang is no longer in charge of the pursuit against me?" While standing at one of the paths into the Great Mountain, Tang Jie kept watch while hemunicated with Xi Canhen through Heart Consonance.


    "He''s still in charge, but only when He Changan hasn''t said anything."


    "I''ve heard that King Canis He Changan is an expert in scent tracking."


    "Yes. He''sprehended the Dao of Breath and is extremely sensitive to all odors in the world, remembering any scent after interacting with it a single time. No matter how you transform yourself, your odor won''t change, so even if you have a Dao-Controlling-level transformation ability, it will be of no use against him. As an expert in scent tracking, he is Godhead Pce''s number one tracking expert, and he himself is extremely strong. But in the Spirit Mountains, the Great Mountain is suppressing him, preventing him from fully utilizing his abilities, or else you would be in trouble."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "They even had the Spirit-Boiling Powder before, but they still didn''t manage to catch me."


    "You must not be careless. When He Changan arrived, I met with him. Back then, I was concealed on the side, and it would be one thing if he could see through my stealth with a nce. The key here was that gaze¡­ That gaze immediately deprived me of any ability to resist, scaring me so badly that I almost fell over. Young Master, he''s no average peak Celestial Heart. He''s a Celestial Chief, the peak of the peak, half a step into Violet Pce!"


    "But he can''t stay here forever, right?" Tang Jie coolly said. "He''s a very important man."


    Xi Canhen was startled. "You''re saying¡­"


    "He Changan won''t linger for too long. I can''t beat him in battle, but in a contest of patience, I have a little more confidence."


    "¡­¡­"


    "Right, there''s something I need you to help me with."


    "What is it?"


    "It''s rather lonely all by myself in some mountains. Could you help get me a few books to read?"


    "You want to read books?" Xi Canhen was stunned. "What sort of books?"


    "Any will do. Random cultivation manuals, the history of Nadir Hill, tales of the Spirit Mountain region¡­ I''ll take anything you can find."


    Xi Canhen seemed to understand. "I''ll go and find some for you."


    "Thanks." Tang Jie grinned.


    Ending the spell art, Tang Jie turned back to the path into the Great Mountain. A butterfly fluttered out, glowing with an ethereal light as it danced in the air.


    Another fiend had been born.


    He didn''t even have a record of this one.


    As if sensing Tang Jie''s power, the newborn fiend didn''t dare to get close. It circled around Tang Jie a few times before flying off.


    As he watched the butterfly fly off, Tang Jie suddenly felt as if something had touched his heartstrings, but he didn''t know where the sensation hade from.


    At this moment, the jade amulet on his waist turned hot.


    This heat made Tang Jie shudder.


    He looked down and saw several words appear on the amulet:


    "I''m in the mountains."

 Chapter 513: Entering the Mountains

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Three people were cautiously making their way through a dark forest.


    Xu Miaoran led the group. She was wearing coarse clothes and had bound her head with some flower-printed cloth, and her face had been covered in ster. Her delicate skin had been hidden under this disguise, concealing her beautiful appearance. Rather than a fairy of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, she appeared more like a vige girl.


    Behind her were Xian Tao and Hong Yuan. They were also dressed up like vige girls, even carrying baskets that held herbs they had picked in the mountains.


    As the three of them were walking, Xu Miaoran suddenly stopped and tossed out a piece of gauze, and the three of them vanished from sight. A few momentster, a cultivator flew overhead. He looked around and saw that nothing was wrong before going on his way.


    The three of them waited for a while to ensure that there was nothing else, and then put away the gauze. "It''s fine. Let''s keep going."


    She dropped her head and continued to y the part of a vige girl as she moved forward.


    Hong Yuan stood up and patted the dirt off her body. "Young Lady, I must say: since you have the Crimson Illusion Gauze, why exactly are we disguising ourselves? Wearing these clothes is suffering, and I haven''t even been able to take a bath. I''ve gotten absolutely filthy since we entered the mountains."


    "Shut it," Xu Miaoran brusquely said. "You think I want to do this? But you think it''s that easy to get through Godhead Pce''s seal? The Crimson Illusion Gauze isn''t all-powerful. If someone somehow finds us, we can only rely on this disguise. There are many mountain people living around the Spirit Mountains, and every year, some of them go into the mountains. Although Godhead Pce has locked down the entire mountain range, it hasn''tpletely cut it off. This disguise is our best cover."


    Hong Yuan grumbled, "In my opinion, is Godhead Pce really anything to be afraid of? Even if they find us, do you really think they would dare to do anything to the youngdy? Godhead Pce isn''t afraid of entering open hostilities with my Horizon Ocean Pavilion?"


    Xian Tao jabbed Hong Yuan''s forehead with a finger. "You! Is there a brain in there or not? The youngdy naturally isn''t worried about Godhead Pce doing anything to us, but don''t forget why the youngdy is here. If Godhead Pce discovers us, what do you think they will do?"


    "What will they do?" Hong Yuan foolishly asked.


    "That''s why you''re stupid!" Xian Tao bluntly said. "The youngdy came here to see Tang Jie. If Godhead Pce finds us, while they naturally wouldn''t dare to kill the youngdy, do you think they wouldn''t dare to follow the youngdy to find Tang Jie? The moment we find Tang Jie, Godhead Pce''s hunters might surround us, and rather than helping Tang Jie, the youngdy would have harmed him."


    Hong Yuan opened and closed her mouth, unable to say anything. After a while, she said, "No wonder she didn''t notify Tang Jie after entering the mountains. This was probably what she feared."


    "Correct," Xu Miaoran replied. "Tang Jie is in the middle of fighting with Godhead Pce, so we would only distract him. We have to find the right moment, making sure that everything is safe, before informing him."


    "Then how long do we have to wait?"


    "Let''s wait and slowly search. So long as we are patient, a chance wille," Xu Miaoran casually replied.


    Tang Jie had taught her these words. In the time she had spent together with him, she had learned many things from him.


    One of the most important ones was patience.


    Tang Jie had been stuck in Nadir Hill for more than half a year now, and Xu Miaoran had been away from home in search of her boyfriend for at least half a year.


    In terms of speed, it didn''t actually take that long to go between Great Wind Ind and the Spirit Mountains, but she had run into various obstructions. 33926


    Xu Miaoran had pulled out all the stops in order to get through all those various blockades without being found by Godhead Pce and Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    Before all this, she had been a proud daughter of heaven, but after leaving home, she had acted like a fugitive wanted by Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Every day, she was ying hide-and-seek with the people who hade to find her, dueling against them in intellect and courage.


    Xu Miaoran had never experienced such difficulties before, and this game of hunted and hunter was probably the toughest trial in all of Xu Miaoran''s life.


    There was no need to waste so many words describing all the challenges she had faced. Just seeing how she had changed was enough.


    Once reckless and daring, she was now veryposed, and she had gone from being very straightforward to thinking carefully before acting. It wasn''t like she had given up the emphasis on authenticity sought by Horizon Ocean Pavilion, but all the various trials she had faced had instinctively caused her to develop a habit of being cautious and wary.


    She had been able to escape the pursuit of Horizon Ocean Pavilion partially because the people of Horizon Ocean Pavilion weren''t willing to use too much power for fear of killing her, but it was also partially due to her own efforts.


    She had broken out of the encirclement of 36 Sword Disciples of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, escaped from three True Inheritor senior brothers sent by her father, and ultimately became a fugitive wanted by Horizon Ocean Pavilion, causing various sects across Endsea to mobilize to capture her, and she still seeded in escaping their encirclement¡­


    As Tang Jie was miraculously escaping from Godhead Pce again and again, Xu Miaoran was also setting her own records. The only reason she didn''t cause as much of a stir as Tang Jie was that nobody died in the middle of this pursuit.


    The difficult escape had caused Xu Miaoran to totally leave her ivory tower, allowing her to experience the "real, cruel, yet wondrous world" that Tang Jie had spoken of. It allowed her topletely understand her shorings and understand the gap between her and Tang Jie.


    But the setback didn''t beat down this tenacious girl, instead spurring her on to try even harder.


    Actually, Xu Miaoran was a true genius. It was just that her background meant that she could get everything she wanted without much effort, which had caused her to be a littlezy. When she put all her effort into it, hertent potential finally had the chance to erupt with astonishing strength.


    In just a few short months, Xu Miaoran''s cultivation level had risen by leaps and bounds, and she had reached greater attainment in Cognitive Creation. If she weren''t worried about weakening herself and bing Tang Jie''s burden, she would have already entered the Three Witherings.


    For these reasons, even though she had already entered the Spirit Mountains, she remained cool-headed and cautious.


    Even though she hoped to see Tang Jie a little sooner, she knew that she had to wait and bide her time for a better moment.


    Thus, in thest few days, she had suppressed her excitement and perfectly yed the part of a vige girl wandering the mountains.


    Like Tang Jie, she chose to familiarize herself with this area and understand the situation rather than ignorantly rush in.


    In the process, she had gradually grasped some details that even Xi Canhen didn''t know. For example, Godhead Pce was only responsible for locking down the core area. Outside of the core area, the various minor sects of Nadir Hill had set up their own blockade, and there was also the sealing formation that encircled the mountains. All in all, there were threeyers.


    To get into the Great Mountain to find Tang Jie, one first had to get through the sealing formation, which they had already done, as the great formation was easier to get into than to get out of. After that, they had to get through the blockade of the minor sects, and finally, the blockade set up by Godhead Pce.


    Only at that step could Xu Miaoran notify Tang Jie that she had arrived.


    For this reason, Xu Miaoran had been waiting this whole time.


    It was just like how she had broken through the blockade of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, waiting for the right chance.


    She didn''t know what this opportunity would look like, but she knew that life was full of changes. So long as she patiently waited, that opportunity might suddenly fall from the heavens.


    Luck always favored the prepared. This was a valuable lesson Xu Miaoran had learned in that half a year she was being chased all over the ce. She might not have been able to reach Tang Jie''s level, where he could create opportunities, but at least she knew how to wee them.


    Thus, the opportunity came.


    The momentous transformation of the Spirit Mountains effected by the battle between Tang Jie and Godhead Pce was Xu Miaoran''s best chance.


    In the middle of that heaven-shaking shift, everyone was in a panic. As mountains rose and fell, all that was familiar was destroyed, reced by a new and strange existence.


    While everyone else was panicking, Xu Miaoran began to infiltrate the region.


    Utilizing that major shift, she had passed through the perimeter blockade and reached Godhead Pce''s blockade.


    s, the shifting had stopped there, and Xu Miaoran was forced to halt her progress and continue to move around the region as a vige girl, carefully avoiding all possible hidden dangers.


    This was a most dangerous moment for Xu Miaoran. Her group was currently caught in the middle, able to neither advance nor retreat.


    Godhead Pce was searching all over the ce, and the other sects were casting their owns, so nobody could say when a mighte down. While it might not be able to catch Tang Jie, it could possibly catch Xu Miaoran.


    Xu Miaoran was well aware of what would happen if she were caught. Even if they didn''t dare to kill her, that didn''t mean that they were so afraid of her as to do absolutely nothing to her. For them, this was an excellent card to y against Tang Jie.


    This was exactly why she was being very, very careful. Not only that, she was even prepared tomit suicide. She might not actually carry out those ns, but she would definitely make sure those people looking for her would act with restraint.


    After doing all this, Xu Miaoran continued to wait things out in the mountains, silently waiting for another opportunity toe.


    Some people really did enjoy the kindness of the heavens.


    Just when Xu Miaoran thought that she would have to wait for a very long time, the opportunity really dide.


    On this day, Xu Miaoran was keeping watch in the forest as usual, scouting out Godhead Pce''s patrol routes and shift changes, looking for any holes.


    Godhead Pce was currently using a web-type defense.


    They had set up observation points at set intervals, keeping watch on all movement around these points. The advantage of this method was that it allowed them to maximize the area under their control and could ensure that no one would sneak through. But the disadvantage was that it was rather inflexible, and therge distance between points meant that they couldn''t reinforce each other. If they came under attack, they could easily be isted and be subjected to ''divide and conquer''.


    But Nan Ningjiang wasn''t afraid of this. He was more afraid that Tang Jie wouldn''te out, for he had many ns ready for once Tang Jie did emerge, with King Canis He Changan being his greatest trump card.


    From Tang Jie''s perspective, he needed to separate his opponents in order to kill them. From Nan Ningjiang''s perspective, he needed Tang Jie to move so that he had a chance to capture him. The two of them knew what the other side needed to do, so they didn''t mind giving the other side opportunities.


    But before then, Tang Jie put most of his focus into the Great Mountain and had no ns to y this game of cat-and-mouse with Nan Ningjiang just yet. However, both he and Nan Ningjiang were sure that this day woulde eventually.


    Tang Jie would definitely bite down on the bait, and Nan Ningjiang would get his chance.


    In this long sh, the one whoughedst would be the winner.


    Xu Miaoran didn''t know all of this, but she instinctively watched those observation points and tried to see if her opportunity could be found there.


    As she was observing, there was an explosion in the sky.


    A person plummeted from the air.


    Everyone was rmed by this sight.


    It had to be understood that these were the Spirit Mountains. The sky was a forbidden zone here.


    Low-altitude flight was not a problem. So long as one didn''t fly too high, one wouldn''t run into any resistance. But if one flew just a little too high, the Great Mountain might strike one down, just like the brazen Master Xuan Zhong.


    For this reason, cultivators usually went on foot after entering the mountains, and the blockade had been deployed on the ground. Even if one were using low-altitude flight, at that altitude, one would be spotted at a nce.


    Thus, they hadn''t expected someone to drop from the sky. Close inspection revealed this to be a white-haired old man in a Daoist robe.


    The old Daoist seemedpletely unaffected by the Great Mountain. Hisnding spot happened to be an observation point, and he was facing ten Bloodbath Hall disciples. The Bloodbath Hall disciples were rmed by the old Daoist, wondering where he hade from. On the other hand, when the old Daoist saw these ten people, he murmured in surprise, "So many big ones!"


    Everyone was baffled by these words, and then the old Daoist began to point at them while counting, "One, two, three, four¡­ nine, ten¡­ ten big dummies!"


    He held his belly andughed, as if he was the real dummy here.


    A Bloodbath Hall disciple couldn''t help himself and barked, "Hey, old Daoist, what are you babbling about? Who are you, and how did you get here?"


    "What are you wasting time with him for?" another Bloodbath Hall disciple shouted. "This ce has been sealed off, and no one can go in or out. Since he''s here, let''s seize him first."


    "Careful that it''s not a disguised Tang Jie!" another person shouted.


    The ten Bloodbath Hall disciples assumed formation, taking out ten short golden spears and stabbing them in unison at the old Daoist.


    They were like the bean soldiers, capable of fighting together. All ten of them had linked their spiritual powers together, so even though they were only at the Mortal Shedding Realm, when they stabbed their spears in unison, they could match the full-strength attack of a Spirit Ring True Person.


    The energy spear they manifested let out a brilliant glow as it shot at the old Daoist.


    The crazy old Daoist saw the energy spear and giggled. "Fun, fun!"


    He reached out to grab the energy spear.


    As a spear made of spiritual energy, it had no substance, yet the old Daoist actually managed to grab it. The energy spear wriggled like a snake in his hand, but it was unable to break free.


    Everyone was stunned by this sight.


    How strong could one be, to casually grab another person''s spell art attack as if it was solid?


    At the very least, the likes of He Yueyang and Li Song could not do this.


    Master Xuan Zhong might have been capable of doing it, but not to a Spirit Ring¨Ctier attack. Meanwhile, that crazy old Daoist was holding the energy spear with seemingly little effort, even giggling, like he had gotten some interesting toy.


    The ten Bloodbath Hall disciples wanted to pull back their spears, but they couldn''t. They could only watch as they felt their spiritual energy draining away. So long as the energy spear existed, they were forced to provide spiritual energy to maintain it, and they couldn''t stop it.


    rmed, the lead disciple shouted, "Release the spears!"


    The ten of them let go in unison, and with a boom, the spear dissipated while a massive bacsh sent the ten of them flying.


    The old Daoist saw this and gasped. "Wow! Flying people!"


    He thrust out his hands, and ten threads of spiritual energy flew out from his fingers and wrapped around those ten people. Subsequently, the ten people floated in the air rather thannding back down.


    The ten of them shouted as they were tossed around in the air, but no matter how they attacked, the old Daoist didn''t seem to care. Even though it didn''t seem like he had any sort of defensive barrier, any attack aimed at him would give off a thud as if striking metal and leave not even a scratch on his skin.


    It was the leader of the disciples who realized that this was trouble, so while he was "flying", he managed to pull out a message talisman, which shed with light as it sent out the warning signal.


    With the signal sent out, reinforcements from Godhead Pce were bound to be here soon.


    The old Daoist didn''t seem to care, continuing to wave his hands around, The spirit threads grew thicker and thicker, gradually taking solid form and binding those people tightly like ropes. With a wave of his hands, he brought the ten of them behind him, fanning them out behind his back like they were ten tailfeathers. The old Daoist then formed his hand into a beak and excitedly shouted, "Peacock! I''m a peacock!"


    He was treating those ten people like the tail of a peacock.


    Xu Miaoran was dumbfounded by this sight.


    The reinforcements from Godhead Pce came quickly.


    As the old Daoist was showing off, the sounds of flight came from the distance.


    The surrounding observation points had responded first.


    Xu Miaoran thought that the old Daoist would also y around with these people, but surprisingly, when the old Daoist saw several dozen people rushing over, he immediately shrank back, shouting, "I''m not ying with you guys anymore!"


    He turned and fled.


    But though he fled, he was still dragging those ten Bloodbath Hall disciples behind him. As he flew around, those ten disciples went up and down like they were the tail of some creature.


    The Godhead Pce disciples naturally couldn''t let this go. After seeing this, even if this guy wasn''t Tang Jie, they couldn''t let him pass, and they roared in fury as they gave chase.


    Explosions began to ring out as other members of Godhead Pce converged on the area, surrounding that contemptible old Daoist, and trails of smoke could be seen moving into the distance. Meanwhile, Xu Miaoran''s area was instantly deserted.


    Xu Miaoran was taken aback at first, and then she realized what was happening. Wasn''t this the best chance to get through the blockade?


    Excited, she hastened back to her hiding spot and called out Xian Tao and Hong Yuan. "Let''s go."


    "''Go'' where?" The mischievous and somewhat dumb Hong Yuan hadn''t realized what was going on yet.


    "To see Tang Jie!" Xu Miaoran loudly replied, rushing to the depths of the forest like an arrow.


    She rushed past the blockade and into the depths of the Great Mountain.


    A bold and courageous advance!


    The moment she entered the depths of the mountains, she finally took out a long-range talisman and wrote, "I''m in the mountains."


    Those four words seemed to be bursting with meaning.

 Chapter 514: Hostage

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The message talisman carrying Xu Miaoran''s sweet message vanished in a streak of me, carrying with it Xu Miaoran''s expectations.


    Everything suddenly seemed to be taking a long time, with even a few moments feeling like a long torment.


    Fortunately, the reply came back quickly.


    The jade amulet lit up with Tang Jie''s words: "Where are you?"


    Marking one''s location in the Spirit Mountains wasn''t easy. Fortunately, Xu Miaoran quickly found andmark. "There''s a tall mountain that looks like a saber. Will be at the base of that mountain in the direction of the back of the saber."


    "I will be right there. Be careful."


    The words were short, but they were brimming with affection, and Xu Miaoran happily smiled.


    "Come on¡ªlet''s head over to that mountain," Xu Miaoran said to Xian Tao and Hong Yuan.


    Hong Yuan looked at her dazzling smile and snorted. "Running halfway across the world to see her boyfriend, and now she''s finally getting her wish."


    "Stubborn girl, you and that mouth of yours." Xu Miaoran moved to p Hong Yuan, but Hong Yuan nimbly dodged, and the three of them began to tease each other as they moved.


    As they walked, Hong Yuan asked, "Young Lady, what do you n to do after meeting Tang Jie?"


    "What else?" Xu Miaoran replied. "Naturally, I''ll join together with him and teach those Godhead Pce bastards a lesson."


    "That might cause a problem," Xian Tao sighed. "At that time, Horizon Ocean Pavilion will have to think of how to exin things to Godhead Pce."


    Xu Miaoranughed. "I''m just messing with you. I was originally nning to call over my dad once I found Tang Jie so that he could take both of us away, but now that the Spirit Mountains have been sealed, I can''t call him¡­"


    She had originally nned to find Tang Jie and then have her father save the both of them, but upon entering the Spirit Mountains, she realized that the entire ce had been locked down, and even a Violet Pce True Lord would find it difficult to break through the seal and descend. As a result, her n waspletely ruined.


    She thought this over and ultimately shook her head. "Eh, forget it. Let''s think of a way to get out of these mountains first."


    Suddenly, she dropped her voice and said as if talking to herself, "Actually, escaping isn''t important. What''s important is the two of us being together."


    Xian Tao and Hong Yuan were rendered speechless by these words. 33926


    Hong Yuan whispered, "What''s going on with her? That Tang Jie is probably some fiendish man of some evil sect who''s used some seducing art. The youngdy is basically finished now that she''s fallen for his charms."


    Xian Tao found this notionughable. Jabbing Hong Yuan''s forehead, she said, "No more nonsense from you."


    The two of them looked at each other andughed. It was clear that they both thought that Xu Miaoran had been enchanted by some seducing art.


    In the end, Xu Miaoran said, "Alright, enough messing around. Right, Xian Tao, did you remember to let out the Silken Incense?"


    Xian Tao replied, "I was spreading it out the entire time. It''s impossible for Godhead Pce to track us through scent."


    But Xu Miaoran wasn''t happy, wrinkling her little nose as she muttered, "Strange¡­ Then why do I have this sense of unease?"


    Hong Yuan smiled and said, "Young Lady is probably too nervous."


    "No!" Xu Miaoran stopped.


    She looked around and scowled. "We''re being followed."


    "What?" Xian Tao and Hong Yuan were startled.


    "Let''s go!" Xu Miaoran barked.


    She ran off to the side, no longer heading toward the base of the mountain.


    At the same time, there was a shriek from behind her, and then a silver streak shot toward the three. As it got close, it turned into a giant.


    Xu Miaoran had started running first, and her sudden burst of eleration allowed her to barely evade the silver. But Xian Tao and Hong Yuan were a little slower, so they were caught in the.


    "The Myriad Net?" Xu Miaoran gasped when she saw the item.


    Five people shot out from behind them, led by a rather handsome blue-robed man holding a feather fan.


    "Qian Yingchen!" Xu Miaoran''s heart instantly sank to rock bottom upon seeing this man.


    It was none other than Qian Yingchen.


    Qian Yingchen smiled. "Lady Xu, long time no see. Whenst we parted, this one could not forget about you. The heavens must have ordained that we should meet again¡­"


    Before he could finish, Xu Miaoran threw out a golden hoop.


    The golden hoop expanded in size and attempted to close around Qian Yingchen.


    Qian Yingchen sighed and waved his fan, unleashing a hurricane of me at the golden hoop.


    The two attacks shed in an explosion of light, stuck in a stalemate for a few moments.


    Seeing this, Xu Miaoran knew she was in trouble, and she turned to run, not caring about her golden hoop or her two maids.


    Qian Yingchen sighed again. "We''ve just met, so why are you in such a rush to leave?"


    His figure blinked away, and then he appeared in front of Xu Miaoran and thrust out his palm.


    Xu Miaoran punched out with her left hand while her right hand formed a sign, casting a spell: "Sea Anchor Stamp!"


    Qian Yingchen turned his palm into a w, taking Xu Miaoran''s Sea Anchor Stamp head-on. Boom! The two of them parted, and while Xu Miaoran was sent flying, Qian Yingchen was also forced back several steps, his face paling. However, he was able to quickly regain hisposure.


    It appeared as if Xu Miaoran had had the upper hand in this sh, but Xu Miaoran knew that she had lost.


    After all, she had used the supreme secret art she had inherited from her father while Qian Yingchen had simply struck back with a wed hand. Moreover, the Beast Refining Gate specialized in controlling beasts, not directbat. Qian Yingchen had used his weak point against her strong, and wasn''t even using his full power, but Xu Miaoran still hadn''t been able to do anything to him. From this, one could see that Qian Yingchen was far more powerful than Xu Miaoran.


    But Xu Miaoran wasn''t going to thank him for going easy on her. She turned to run, at the same time flinging out a pair of golden serpent-shaped scissors at the giant.


    It was an excellent attack, but Qian Yingchen again sighed. "Why put yourself through all this trouble?"


    He casually waved his hand, firing a bolt of air at the scissors. The serpent scissors let out a ng and then turned into a golden serpent that attacked Qian Yingchen. Qian Yingchen snorted and said, "A mere snake dares to act like a true dragon? Know your ce!"


    He turned his finger into a palm, and a palm made of energy descended, suppressing the golden serpent scissors. At the same time, he blinked again, appearing in front of Xu Miaoran.


    Murderous intent appeared on Xu Miaoran''s face. "If you block me again, I won''t be polite!"


    Qian Yingchen remained at ease, casually saying, "Young Lady Xu has spoken, so Yingchen does not dare to obstruct you. That being the case¡­ Red Fox, go and y with her."


    He put his hands behind his back and floated off.


    "Yes!" A sweet voice rang out, and a red blur shot out of the forest toward Xu Miaoran.


    It was a swift attack that left Xu Miaoran no time to dodge. Clenching her teeth, she began to thrust out her palms, creating a wave of energy palms.


    A momentter, there was a series of bangs and booms, and Xu Miaoran was sent flying. Fortunately, her opponent was clearly going easy on her, and the series of attacks had only left Xu Miaoran shaken and not too badly hurt.


    When Xu Miaorannded on the ground, she saw that her attacker was a girl in red, with a pink face, charming eyes, and a sharp chin. But she had a long and bushy tail dragging behind her¡ªa sign that she was a fox fiend.


    Xu Miaoran was startled at first, and then she realized and blurted out, "Transformation? But how?"


    She looked at Qian Yingchen in disbelief.


    While the beast-controlling arts of the Beast Refining Gate were powerful, they always carried the restriction of being limited by one''s cultivation realm.


    Just like Tang Jie, Qian Yingchen was at the peak of Mortal Shedding and had yet to enter Celestial Heart, so how could he control a Transformation fiend?


    She suddenly thought of something and shouted, "A Heavensent Fiend? Or a Gifted Fiend?"


    Heavensent Fiends were fiends that were naturally close to humans and willing to follow them. In these circumstances, there was no such thing as a cultivation limit. The rtionship between Tang Jie and Yiyi was like this. As for Gifted Fiends, those were fiends gifted by one''s seniors.


    Qian Yingchenughed. "Heavensent, of course. Otherwise, how do you think I was able to stand out among the thousands of disciples of the Beast Refining Gate?"


    This Heavensent red fox fiend was Qian Yingchen''s greatest resource.


    Early on in his travels, he hade upon this fiend, and because of some happenstance, this fox fiend that had been close to Transformation had been willing to follow him. At the time, Qian Yingchen was only at the Spirit tform Realm. To suddenly get the allegiance of a near-Transformation fiend naturally gave him a huge boost in strength.


    This fiend''s help was like giving Qian Yingchen a golden finger. From then on, he soared upward, seeding in both missions and cultivation. He quickly became one of the most talented disciples of the Beast Refining Gate, and with his help, the red fox sessfully reached Transformation.


    It was said that Feng Muyuan''s Blue Sky Demon Wolf was his own Heavensent Fiend. It was precisely because of this simr experience and Qian Yingchen''s own efforts that Feng Muyuan had taken a shine to him and adopted him as his son.


    The red fox charminglyughed. "Yingchen, is this the girl you like? Once we capture her, let me educate her. She''ll definitely be able to satisfy you then."


    She licked her lips, a bewitching look in her eyes.


    Qian Yingchen smiled. "There''s no rush, no rush. Go and y with her first."


    He withdrew, standing together with the four people who had apanied him.


    Upon seeing this, Xu Miaoran suddenly realized something and shouted, "You''re not catching me on purpose! You''re trying to lure over Tang Jie!"


    Qian Yingchen had clearly been following Xu Miaoran in order to find Tang Jie, but now that Xu Miaoran had noticed him, this n was naturally done for. Xu Miaoran would never take them to see Tang Jie.


    But Qian Yingchen had a smart head on his shoulders, and he immediately developed a new n: to bait Xu Miaoran into fighting him.


    When Tang Jie didn''t find Xu Miaoran at the ce they had arranged, he would definitely realize that she was in trouble and go searching for her. The sounds of fighting would serve as the perfect lure, and there were already others who had arranged a trap in the surrounding area.


    This wouldn''t be likest time, where Tang Jie had provoked the battle, choosing a battleground where he had alreadyid out an ambush.


    This time, it was Qian Yingchen baiting the enemy onto the hook, Qian Yingchen choosing the battlefield. The bnce of power waspletely different.


    Upon realizing this, Xu Miaoran decided to stop fighting.


    She dropped her hands and let the red fox''s hand thrust at her throat, causing the red fox to hastily draw back her hand in fright. Even so, the excess energy still managed to graze her throat, leaving a smear of blood.


    "Seeking death!" Qian Yingchen''s face momentarily shed with murderous intent. "You think that will do you any good? Once we seize you, we can lure Tang Jie over all the same."


    He waved his hand, and two of his followers began to attack, but it was each other that they attacked, with more sound than fury. It was clear that they were fabricating a battle to draw Tang Jie over.


    Qian Yingchen pointed at Xu Miaoran and said, "Seize her!"


    "Who dares!?" Xu Miaoran took a step back and ced a glowing right hand on her chest. "If anyone touches me, I''ll kill myself right here! My father won''t forgive anyone who forces me to kill myself!"


    Qian Yingchen scowled fiercely. "''Kill yourself''? Good, good, an excellent showing from the youngdy of the Xu n. The daughter of a Violet Pce True Lord is willing to throw away a boundless future and die for that bastard Tang Jie! But you really think that the threat of suicide is enough to make me back down? Have you forgotten what this ce is? This is the Spirit Mountains, the territory of Godhead Pce! If you die, Xu Guanghua will only settle ounts with Godhead Pce. If we don''t say anything, who will know that we were the ones who did the deed?"


    Xu Miaoran was startled. "You¡­"


    She looked around.


    Qian Yingchen grunted. "There''s no need to look. No one from Godhead Pce is around here. Godhead Pce is currently wrangling with that crazy old Daoist. Nan Ningjiang was worried that someone might try to draw him away, so he gave me the secret mission of standing guard."


    "But you didn''t notify them?"


    "Why should I?" Qian Yingchen asked back, gnashing his teeth. "Those bastards¡­ It''s one thing for them to not help when my Beast Refining Gate is racking its brains on ways to get the Space Crystal, but to steal the Space Crystal from us!? They tell us that they''re going to give it to us, but nobody knows what sort of price we''ll have to pay. If we didn''t need that alliance, my Beast Refining Gate would have broken things off with them long ago. But what they can do, we can do too. Don''t they want Tang Jie? We''ll just catch Tang Jie before them, taking back the Space Crystal and then selling Tang Jie to Godhead Pce at a high price."


    Xu Miaoran was rendered speechless by these words. Sure enough, the two sects privately had their own ns. While they cooperated generally, they undermined each other in the details.


    It was no wonder there were no Godhead Pce people here. It seemed like Qian Yingchen had no ns of sharing this secret with Godhead Pce.


    "But you think your lot is enough to deal with Tang Jie?" Xu Miaoran snorted.


    Qian Yingchen chuckled. "He has a Heart Demon Tier ally, so I really wouldn''t be confident in my chances at beating him in a fight. But I have you!"


    Xu Miaoran''s heart sank. "You¡­"


    Qian Yingchen casually said, "Young Lady Xu hase afar to find her husband, and I trust that he isn''t some ingrate. If Tang Jie really has no heart and cares not for your life, then you can only me your rotten luck and poor eyes. At that time, while I might miss out on a chance to capture Tang Jie, I will have at least helped Young Lady Xu expose your lover''s true face, which might be considered a blessing out of disaster, protecting the heart of a young maiden. So I say that this situation is win-win for me!"


    He erupted inughter.


    Xu Miaoran was so angry that she was shaking. "Qian Yingchen, you''re dreaming! Even if I die, I won''t fall into your hands!"


    The light in her hand grew brighter. It was clear that she had made up her mind to immediately kill herself if Qian Yingchen and the others tried to do anything to her.


    Qian Yingchen stared her hand and snorted, "If you kill yourself so easily, then you''ll be missing out on a big opportunity!"


    Xu Miaoran snorted, and then she suddenly shouted, "Then I''ll die for you to see!"


    The light in her hand erupted as she mmed it toward her chest.


    Qian Yingchen hadn''t expected her tomit suicide at the drop of a hat, and he cried out, "Don''t!"


    Suddenly, a palm emerged from behind Xu Miaoran, interposing between Xu Miaoran''s palm and her chest and blocking the attack.


    Xu Miaoran seemed to have predicted this. As her right hand was blocked, she thrust out her left elbow and then swung her right hand around. "Sea Anchor Stamp!"


    Boom!


    There was a sh of light, and a figure was sent flying, crashing through several trees beforeing to a stop.


    This person was none other than Feng Buzhi.


    "As expected, you had more people in hiding," Xu Miaoran snorted. "A mighty Heart Demon True Person was hiding in the shadows and preparing to ambush a Mortal Shedding cultivator! Shameless!"


    If she hadn''t sensed an ill intent in Qian Yingchen''s words and reacted quickly, the palm that had stopped her suicidal attack would have been restraining her instead.


    Feng Buzhi almost threw up blood in anger at Xu Miaoran''s words.


    His reward for saving this woman had been an elbow and a Sea Anchor Stamp. Even though he was a Heart Demon cultivator, this Sea Anchor Stamp had still been very painful, and then she had even mocked him.


    "Fucking crazy woman!" Qian Yingchen was also angry.


    This woman was truly ruthless!


    If not for Feng Buzhi, this woman would already be a damn corpse!


    This woman wasn''t sure that there was another enemy lurking in the area, but she had still chosen to kill herself. This resolve and ferocity left Qian Yingchen stunned.


    It seemed to be true that the fiend women of Horizon Ocean Pavilion couldn''t be understood usingmon sense.


    But this also proved that she really dared to do such a thing.


    At this moment, Xu Miaoran''s palm began to glow again, and she ced it on her head as she viciously looked at her foes.


    Feng Buzhi frowned.


    He didn''t care too much about whether Xu Miaoran lived or died, but if they lost this hostage, they wouldn''t be able to threaten Tang Jie, which would be a big problem.


    He looked at Qian Yingchen, who took in a deep breath and said, "Fine, fine, you''ve forced my hand."


    Xu Miaoran was startled.


    She saw Qian Yingchen walk toward Xian Tao and Hong Yuan.


    Xu Miaoran realized what was happening and shouted, "Don''t!"


    Qian Yingchen strode over to the pair, opened the, and roughly dragged out Hong Yuan.


    "No! Young Lady! Young Lady!" Hong Yuan shrieked in fright.


    Qian Yingchen pressed Hong Yuan to his chest and breathed in deeply. Savagelyughing, he said, "This little girl is pretty good. Tell me: should I rape her first and then kill her, or kill her first and then rape her?"


    Those callous words resounded in Xu Miaoran''s ears, causing her to shudder.


    As she inwardly cursed Tang Jie for still not showing up, she shouted, "Let them go!"


    "''Them''?" Qian Yingchenughed. "Ah, right, ''them''. There were two."


    He dragged out Xian Tao and threw her to his two remaining subordinates. "I''ll let you two have her. You two can take turns, so it''s perfect."


    Xian Tao was seized by the two, who savagelyughed as they pushed her to the ground.


    The terrified Xian Tao struggled with all her might, but there was no way she could evade their assault. Her clothes were swiftly torn away, and one of the men brazenly took off his pants and prepared to go in.


    The vulgarity of humanity was on full disy, primal urges erupting forth.


    "No!" Xu Miaoran furiously roared. ring at Qian Yingchen, she shouted, "Qian Yingchen, you''re not human!"


    But Qian Yingchen greedily sniffed at Hong Yuan''s neck, treating her fearful screams like an angel''s choir.


    He abruptly said, "Stop!"


    The cultivator who was just about to make the thrust stopped right at the moment of pration. From the mes in his eyes, it seemed like he was strenuously holding himself back.


    Qian Yingchen stared at Xu Miaoran. "As I said, you forced my hand. You still have time to surrender, but if you miss out on thisst chance¡­ don''t forget that my Beast Refining Gate has both people and beasts."


    Xu Miaoran''s heart shivered.


    Fiends silently appeared, surrounding the girls.


    Qian Yingchen continued, "Trust me when I say¡­ my Beast Refining Gate has experience in this."


    Xu Miaoran took in a deep breath.


    Finally, she put down her hand and said, "I surrender."

 Chapter 515: Counterattack

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The hand lightly dropped.


    The words "I surrender" rang out like the strike of a gong over the battlefield, a white banner rising over the city walls, dering the end of the struggle and attesting to the supreme might of the attacker.


    Qian Yingchenughed when he saw Xu Miaoran''s dejected expression.


    He deserved thisugh. He had waited too long for this moment.


    Capturing Xu Miaoran essentially meant capturing Tang Jie, and capturing Tang Jie meant endless resources.


    What was the status of a son-inw of a True Lord inparison? He had his adopted father, so what Xu Guanghua could give, his adopted father could also give!


    Throwing aside Hong Yuan, he strode over to Xu Miaoran. As he moved to grab her, heughed, "That''s a good girl."


    His hand fell on Xu Miaoran''s shoulder, and just when he was about to apply power, Xu Miaoran suddenly shouted, "Xian Tao! You said you wouldn''t touch her!"


    What?


    Qian Yingchen was startled and instinctively turned to look. He saw that the two cultivators who had seized Xian Tao were putting their clothes back on and hadn''t done anything untoward, and he immediately knew he was in trouble. He heard a gust of wind from behind him, and a palm struck his back and erupted with power.


    There was a lot of power packed in this palm, and Qian Yingchen waspletely unprepared, having taken no defensive measures. The strike instantly had his blood in turmoil, almost breaking his bones. At the same time, there was a crack and an immense pain as Xu Miaoran broke the arm Qian Yingchen had ced on her shoulder.


    She grabbed Qian Yingchen while coldly saying, "Let''s see if you can keep ying around after this!"


    She kicked at Qian Yingchen''s crotch.


    This string of attacks came at incredible speed, and nobody had time to react. By the time Feng Buzhi and the red fox realized what was going on and rushed over, Xu Miaoran had already grabbed Qian Yingchen by the throat and held him up to her chest, angrily shouting, "Get any closer and I''ll kill him!"


    Feng Buzhi and the red fox froze. The tables had instantly been turned, Qian Yingchen falling into Xu Miaoran''s hands.


    "You foul whore!" Qian Yingchen almost wanted to throw up blood. The worst of all was that Xu Miaoran had been ruthless, and the pain from his lower half was so intense that he was about to faint.


    Xu Miaoran had one hand around Qian Yingchen''s neck and another pressed up against his back. "Settle down! Let them go, or else you die!"


    Earlier, she had been using her life to coerce them, and now, she was using Qian Yingchen''s life.


    Despite being heavily injured, Qian Yingchen crazilyughed.


    He was shaking as heughed,ughing so hard that tears came from his eyes and snot dribbled from his nose. He shouted, "Whore, you really think I don''t know what you''re thinking? You''re buying time, right? You want to stall until Tang Jie gets here and takes care of us?"


    Xu Miaoran grimaced.


    Qian Yingchen''s face also darkened.


    He looked at his lower half.


    Blood was slowly seeping out from that part.


    As he was a cultivator, even if someone actually broke his private parts, unless they had used some special method, that part would naturally grow back.


    But the humiliation arising from that injury was not easily healed.


    He was Qian Yingchen!


    A genius of the Beast Refining Gate!


    The adopted son of a True Lord!


    But now, he was being held hostage by some foul woman.


    Immense shame welled up in his heart, and Qian Yingchen''s face grew more and more twisted, even his figure bing savage and frightening.


    Crazilyughing, he said, "You think that you''re the only one who''s not afraid of death?"


    Xu Miaoran instinctively sensed that something bad was going to happen.


    Slivers of energy began to leak out from Qian Yingchen''s body,ing from every part of his body with such force that Xu Miaoran almost lost her grip on him.


    "Don''t move!" she shouted.


    Qian Yingchenughed. "Then use your strength to restrain me!"


    He crazilyughed as power swelled out of him, and his erupting spiritual energy began to break free of its restraints and soar, and Xu Miaoran found it harder and harder to control him. She hadn''t expected this bastard to be able to resist in these circumstances. Angered and worried, she hardened her heart and shouted, "You''re seeking death!"


    She suddenly pulled back the hand pressed against Qian Yingchen''s back, and when she thrust it out again, it held a crystalline dagger that stabbed into Qian Yingchen''s back.


    "Agh!" Qian Yingchen howled in pain. "You bitch!"


    The de twisted in Qian Yingchen''s body as Xu Miaoran callously said, "I told you not to move!"


    "AAAAAAHHH!" Qian Yingchen threw his head back and roared, "Kill those two!"


    He was referring to Xian Tao and Hong Yuan.


    His four subordinates, as well as Feng Buzhi and the red fox, all hesitated. Qian Yingchen shouted again, "Hurry up and kill those two! This bitch won''t dare to kill me. We don''t have much time, so don''t let her stall any longer, or else we''ll all die in Tang Jie''s hands."


    He blinked his eyes at Feng Buzhi.


    He had his back toward Xu Miaoran, so Xu Miaoran wasn''t able to see this gesture.


    Feng Buzhi understood and smiled. "That''s right!"


    He turned around and thrust a palm at Xian Tao, who groaned and copsed to the ground.


    "No!" Xu Miaoran shouted.


    Xian Tao was her longest-serving maid. She had a mature personality, and Xu Miaoran had a very great liking for her. Even though Xian Tao had known that this would be a difficult journey, she had followed her master without regrets. Xu Miaoran had never expected her to die here, and her heart was filled with sorrow as her hands trembled.


    A momentter, Feng Buzhi walked over to Hong Yuan and raised his hand.


    "Stop!" Xu Miaoran shouted. She took her left hand off Qian Yingchen''s neck and thrust a finger at Feng Buzhi.


    As this finger thrust out, Qian Yingchen bellowed and swung his head back.


    This swing had Qian Yingchen''s head directly striking Xu Miaoran in the nose, causing her to throw her head back and howl in pain as blood gushed out of her nose. But she didn''t have time to care about herself. She quickly brought her left hand back to seize Qian Yingchen while Qian Yingchen roared and threw himself backward in a charge.


    This charge caused the crystalline dagger to stab farther into Qian Yingchen''s body, but he simply grunted and sent his right elbow smashing at Xu Miaoran''s belly. The elbow shed with light, and the immense force sent Xu Miaoran flying, and Qian Yingchen was free.


    As Qian Yingchen broke free, Xu Miaoran raised her left hand and released a silk belt that wound around Qian Yingchen''s neck. "You can''t escape!"


    She dragged Qian Yingchen with her, at the same time stabbing with her dagger again, this time intending to cut off his right arm.


    But at that moment, a figure shot out like a bolt of lightning, going between Qian Yingchen and Xu Miaoran.


    The red fox!


    Raising her left hand, she grabbed Xu Miaoran''s crystal dagger, the de slicing her palm and leaving a bloody wound. Meanwhile, her right hand swept over the silk belt, cutting it into two. She then flew upward, and Qian Yingchen came charging out from behind the red fox. While he still had Xu Miaoran''s silk belt hanging around his neck, his face was thick with wrath, and he sent a flying kick at Xu Miaoran.


    Bang!


    The kick sent Xu Miaoran hurtling into the distance.


    "Awooo!" Qian Yingchen let out a roar of anger and pride. "I said you couldn''t hold me!"


    Even so, Qian Yingchen was badly wounded. He had been stabbed in the back, his left arm was broken, and even his private parts had been crushed. These were terrifying wounds, and any other person would have already been left paralyzed on the ground. That he was able to escape Xu Miaoran''s control in these circumstances was a sign that this person was on par with Tang Jie when it came to intelligence and ruthlessness.


    Even Tang Jie in this position would have found it hard to do better.


    Xu Miaoran turned over in the air andnded on the ground. Holding a hand to her stomach, she red at Qian Yingchen and said, "You killed Xian Tao!"


    Qian Yingchen first retrieved some medicine from his Mustard Seed Bag and took it, and then he let out a sinisterugh. "It''s just a maid, so what does it matter if she dies? Is it really worth all that heartache? I was actually going topliment you for turning the tables like that. You aren''t the strongest woman I know, but you''re definitely the smartest and most decisive, and I like this kind of woman. But you sacrificed such an excellent advantage for a single maid! You''re master and servant. Isn''t it only right that they die for you? What an idiot!"


    Xu Miaoran coldly stared. "A person like you doesn''t understand what affection is."


    "On the contrary, I understand perfectly," Qian Yingchen chuckled. "But I would never waste my affections on an idiot."


    He reached out his hand behind him, pulling over Hong Yuan.


    As he held Hong Yuan, he said, "A maid like this, with not much ability and not much brains, isn''t worth your affections. But even if I tell you, you wouldn''t understand. You women never understand what it means to make the correct choice!"


    He waved his hand. "Grab her."


    The red fox smiled and walked toward Xu Miaoran.


    Hong Yuan suddenly raised her head and asked, "Then what does it mean to die at the hands of such a stupid girl?"


    What?


    Qian Yingchen was startled and looked down, only to see Hong Yuan''s body erupting with light as she thrust a finger at Qian Yingchen.


    Xian Tao and Hong Yuan had both cultivated together with Xu Miaoran. Even Qian Yingchen knew this. But these two maids were of average aptitude and didn''t have the support of spirit medicines, so they were much weaker than Xu Miaoran, having just barely entered Nine Revolutions. For this reason, nobody took them seriously, and Qian Yingchen hadn''t taken any special measures to control her. After all, he could crush this sort of person with just one finger.


    But as Hong Yuan''s finger thrust toward him, Qian Yingchen felt a hint of death.


    "No!" Qian Yingchen and Xu Miaoran cried out in unison.


    The most dazzling light in the world had gathered upon the finger as it stabbed toward Qian Yingchen.


    Qian Yingchen did everything in his power to move his head to the side, and the finger st struck him on the right side of his face.


    The next moment, the finger st punched through him like a bullet, leaving arge hole in his head. Through the hole, one could see blood, flesh, and white teeth. A momentter, the energy detonated, taking out one of Qian Yingchen''s eyes.


    "Bastard!" Qian Yingchen yowled in pain. This sound came out of the hole in his face and reverberated within the cavity. He swiped his right hand, pulverizing Hong Yuan''s arm. Hong Yuan tumbled from the air and fell to the ground motionless, as if he she was dead.


    "The Near Horizon Finger! Why? Why does she know this?" Qian Yingchen held his face as he cried out in pain. This finger had left him with only half a face.


    Though he was a proud son of the Beast Refining Gate, with formidable strength and a sharp mind, as well as numerous hidden cards that would leave even Tang Jie at a loss for how to deal with him, he had unexpectedly been heavily injured multiple times by thisdy and her two maids. His heart burned with fury.


    "I taught her, of course¡­ They''re not trash, but you''re blind!" Xu Miaoran angrily looked at Qian Yingchen.


    She charged out, grabbed Hong Yuan, and ran.


    "Trying to leave?" Qian Yingchen scowled. "Neither of you will die a good death today!"


    He thrust a palm at Xu Miaoran, and the red fox and Feng Buzhi also gave chase.


    Without turning her head, Xu Miaoran threw out a model of a jade pce.


    As this model flew out, it expanded, instantly bing like a real pce, and Xu Miaoran fled into it.


    On this excursion, she knew that her strength was limited and that she might not be able to help Tang Jie much, so she had plundered her father''s house and taken with her many treasures. This jade pce was an excellent tool for escaping, and if not for the fact that Qian Yingchen had seized her maids from the start, Xu Miaoran would have just needed to throw out the jade pce to escape Qian Yingchen''s group.


    Seeing that Xu Miaoran was about to escape, Qian Yingchenughed. He knew that the jade pce was a powerful defense, so rather than giving chase, he turned around and grabbed Xian Tao. "So you don''t care about this one anymore?"


    "Xian Tao? Isn''t she dead?" Xu Miaoran was surprised, but she didn''t stop and bolted into the jade pce. With a sh of light, they entered the protection of the pce, and only then did she turn around to face Qian Yingchen.


    "How could we so easily kill such a useful hostage? She''s only unconscious." Qian Yingchenughed as he pped Xian Tao, who groaned as she regained consciousness.


    "Xian Tao!" Xu Miaoran was delighted to see that Xian Tao wasn''t dead, but her heart sank when she realized that Qian Yingchen once more had a means of threatening her.


    Compared tost time, Qian Yingchen was much more cautious. While awakening Xian Tao, he also applied a defensive barrier to himself, and then with two more strikes, he broke Xian Tao''s arms.


    "No!" Xu Miaoran cried out in pain. "Qian Yingchen, do you have any humanity!?"


    "''Humanity''? What am I going to do with that? Bitch, if you don''te out now, I''ll sever the tendons in her arms and legs, break all her bones, and then let a dog fuck her ten thousand times!" He practically screeched, the fact that he was missing half his face making him seem even more savage and inhuman.


    The tables had turned again. Xu Miaoran looked at Qian Yingchen and then at Xian Tao before sighing. "Xian Tao, my apologies. I can''t save you."


    Xian Tao squeezed out a smile. "Young Lady, forget about me and go."


    Xu Miaoran nodded. Clenching her teeth, she said, "I won''t let you be defiled by these beasts!"


    She suddenly threw a golden needle at Xian Tao.


    Qian Yingchen was aghast, not expecting Xu Miaoran to flip so quickly from desperately saving to killing. He grabbed Xian Tao''s hand and retreated, evading the needle.


    Xu Miaoran saw that one needle didn''t work, so she flung out many more, catching both Xian Tao and Qian Yingchen in the barrage.


    rmed, Qian Yingchen retreated again, and the red fox and Feng Buzhi flew over and worked together to knock down the needles.


    Qian Yingchen furiously said, "Xu Miaoran, do you not care about this girl''s life?"


    "Shut up! Being dead is better than ending up in your hands!" Xu Miaoran roared, throwing out another barrage of needles. At the same time, she pped the jade pce, which rumbled as it threw itself at them.


    The jade pce was a steel fortress, and to be struck by it would be like getting struck by a mountain. Feng Buzhi did not dare to take this attack, so he could only retreat to the sides with the red fox. Just as they evaded, the jade pce suddenly erupted with countless rays of golden light.


    This was the jade pce''s immensely powerful counterattack spell art, and Xu Miaoran had chosen this moment to activate it.


    Caught off guard, Feng Buzhi had no choice but to resist it with his own spiritual power and had no time to pay attention to others. But the red fox realized and rushed over to Qian Yingchen, embracing him as red light erupted from her back.


    mes of light sted her, and the red fox screamed as she was sent flying. Throwing up blood, she struggled to get off the ground. Such was the power of the jade pce.


    The worst off were those four other cultivators, for the jade pce had killed them all.


    Not only that, the remaining power of the explosion swept into the forest, and many screams came from within.


    Those were the people Qian Yingchen had deployed in the forest to deal with Tang Jie. They had already finished setting up, their preparations including a formation to capture or kill their foe, capable of both defense and attack. But the explosive shockwave from the jade pce had destroyed everything.


    Everyone was stunned by this suprise move from Xu Miaoran.


    It appeared that her intention to kill Xian Tao had been a feint to lure over the red fox and Feng Buzhi. Once everyone was together, she unleashed her most powerful blow, hoping to take everyone down in one fell swoop.


    This damnable woman was quite the ruthless schemer!


    s, she ultimately did not seed. Feng Buzhi wasn''t one of Qian Yingchen''s direct subordinates, only showing him face out of respect for the True Lord. When his life was really on the line, he wouldn''t hesitate to abandon him. As for the red fox, others only saw her speed, with few people realizing that this fox''s innate spell art was the Blood Fox Barrier, an extremely powerful defensive spell art.


    Xu Miaoran also did not know this, so the jade pce''s full power had failed to kill her, only heavily wound her.


    But she had managed to have a significant effect on the forest. The formation that had been on the verge ofpletion and that could have dealt with Tang Jie had been destroyed, and of the thirteen experts hidden in the forest, at least four had been killed while the others were all injured.


    But this attack had clearly been a huge burden on the jade pce. Its defensive barrier had dimmed and was flickering, signaling that it couldn''tst for long.


    "Bitch." Feng Buzhi was rather angered by Xu Miaoran''s sudden attack. He waved his hand, throwing out a small stone.


    The stone spun in the air, and as itnded on the ground, it became another Feng Buzhi.


    The white-robed Feng Buzhi.


    But unlike before, he had a rather wooden expression andcked spirit.


    But the moment he appeared, the ck-robed Feng Buzhi raised his hands, four hands pressing up against the jade pce. The jade pce instantly began to shine with an intense light.


    "Kill her!" Qian Yingchen roared.


    Seeing the situation, Qian Yingchenpletely gave up on the n of using Xu Miaoran to threaten Tang Jie. He had wasted too much time, so much time that Qian Yingchen was wondering if Tang Jie was already here and was cunningly waiting for the right moment to strike.


    Without the arrangements in the forest or Xu Miaoran as a hostage, Qian Yingchen didn''t have the confidence to deal with Tang Jie.


    Thus, his only option was to quickly kill Xu Miaoran and then flee.


    As for the consequences, he didn''t care. In any case, it would be Godhead Pce that suffered.


    But a momentter, Xian Tao, with her broken arms, suddenly raised her head.


    She opened her mouth and bit Qian Yingchen''s ear.


    Raaooooo!


    A heaven-shaking bellow of rage rang out as blood fountained out from the remaining half of Qian Yingchen''s face.


    Amid this gusher of blood, an ear flew into the air.


    "Foul maid!" Qian Yingchen roared as he thrust a palm at Xian Tao, sending her flying away. He gathered a ball of light in his right palm and then flew into the air, thrusting his palm at Xian Tao''s head.


    He was enraged now and no longer needed some hostage. The lethal energy gathered in his palm was enough to kill Xian Tao in a single strike.


    "Xian Tao!" Xu Miaoran wept as she cried out.


    "No one in the heavens above or earth below can save you!" Qian Yingchen brazenly shouted.


    "Is that so?" A cold voice rang out from the forest.


    A person shot over and blocked Qian Yingchen''s palm.


    The collision of fist with palm unleashed a powerful shockwave. A momentter, Qian Yingchen''s body was sent flying as a titanic force ran rampant in his body, erupting from every hole on his body.


    Wherever there was a hole on Qian Yingchen''s body, blood gushed out, instantly turning him into a human fountain.


    The attacker grabbed Xian Tao and slowlynded on the ground.


    "Tang Jie!" Xu Miaoran cried out in surprise and delight.


    He was finally here!

 Chapter 516: Misdirection

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Time seemed to stop.


    Everyone was frozen at that particr moment in time, all of their eyes focused on Tang Jie in the center.


    The Tang Jie of today was clearly different from before.


    He had given up on the traditional white robes of the Basking Moon Sect for a ckbat uniform. Standing there inbat posture, he exuded an intimidating aura, power so thickly concentrated around him that it felt like what stood before everyone was not a man, but a mountain!


    This unique aura made everyone tremble in awe for a moment, and only when Qian Yingchen crashed down to the ground did this immense weight seem to lift from their hearts and they came to their senses.


    "Aaaagh!" Qian Yingchen let out the most terrified scream of his life as he desperately rolled on the ground.


    His right arm had been broken by Tang Jie''s punch and his skeleton had almoste apart. There was barely an intact part of his body, and if he hadn''t possessed a spiritual body and astounding talent, he would have died several times by now.


    But survival meant only greater pain. The power of a Diamond Body was something even a Heart Demon cultivator found difficult to bear, let alone him.


    It was the original body that hade!


    But Tang Jie had done away with that imposing appearance, returning to how he appeared when he first entered the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. However, while he had hidden his formidable muscles, he couldn''t hide his astonishing aura, which made everyone look at Tang Jie in a different light.


    This was a dense congregation of power threatening to explode, like a storm about to arrive.


    After crushing Qian Yingchen with a single punch, Tang Jie slowly said, "I was nning to get into a big fight, take the people, and run, perhaps even needing to sustain a heavy injury in order to escape. To my surprise¡­ it turns out that I''m just cleaning up."


    He turned to Xu Miaoran and said, "Excellent work."


    Hearing this, Xu Miaoran became so excited that she flew out of the jade pce and into Tang Jie''s embrace.


    Seeing this, the red fox thought that she had a chance and growled as she flew into the air, a powerful energy gathering in her ws.


    She thought that Feng Buzhi would cooperate with her, and one Spirit Ring and two Heart Demon True Persons were enough to deal with a single peak Mortal Shedding cultivator, particrly one who was so careless that he was going to embrace his woman.


    But Feng Buzhi was a little slow, as if he needed time to react, and it ended up that she attacked alone.


    Tang Jie nced at the red fox.


    Rather than pushing aside Xu Miaoran, he embraced her waist with his right hand while thrusting his left hand at the red fox.


    The red fox unleashed all of her power, her ws pulsing with crimson power. One w swept at Tang Jie''s left hand while the other swiped at Tang Jie''s chest.


    As fist met w, there was an explosion of crimson light between the man and fox.


    The red fox suddenly screeched in pain, her w looking like it had been run over by a car traveling at high speed, a single strike having been enough to obliterate it. As for her other w, it had seemingly run into a steel wall, leaving only five white marks on Tang Jie''s chest.


    "No!" The red fox was stunned.


    How could this be?


    How could Tang Jie be this powerful?


    She knew that Tang Jie had a Heart Demon¨Clevelbatant at his side, but that wasn''t Tang Jie himself!


    The red fox couldn''t understand what was going on.


    As she was in a daze, Tang Jie moved to grab the red fox''s face with his left hand.


    Just when he was about to crush the red fox, Qian Yingchen sat up, and a red light appeared in his eyes as he looked at the red fox. The red fox suddenly yowled and charged off into the sky in a red streak and vanished.


    Just as she was about topletely disappear, Tang Jie grabbed her leg. Bang! The red fox''s left leg exploded in a cloud of blood.


    This red fox was an extremely fast fiend, and body refiners found speedy opponents to be the greatest trouble. This was because body refiners had few moves, and they were usually straightforward. So long as their opponent could evade with speed, then they could pester the body refiner even if they couldn''t win.


    But the red fox hadn''t known about Tang Jie''s true level of power and had made the mistake of charging right in, putting up her shoring against his advantage.


    With her leg shattered, it was no longer possible for her to utilize her speed.


    After crippling the red fox, Tang Jie turned to Qian Yingchen in surprise. "You still have the strength to sit up? I underestimated you." As he spoke, he punched at the air, and there was a scream as the red fox staggered out.


    As Tang Jie readied to make another punch, the red fox clenched her teeth and began to dodge, meanwhile shouting, "Feng Buzhi, what are you doing?"


    At this time, the two Feng Buzhis were retreating.


    He was making a run for it!


    They had been thinking about capturing Tang Jie, but now that the man was here, he was taking to the hills. When she saw this, the red fox finally realized that she had taken the bait.


    Unlike the red fox, Feng Buzhi had very sharp eyes. The moment he saw Tang Jie, he sensed that this Tang Jie was different from before.


    The avatar and original body had immensely different auras. The former was delicate and refined, and his aura was not particrly conspicuous. Thetter was wild and fierce, and even when his form was hidden, he still pulsed with power.


    And he had also seen a problem in the attack Tang Jie had made against Qian Yingchen. He found that there was no spell art here, only pure strength.


    Even though he didn''t know exactly what was going on, at that moment, Feng Buzhi instinctively thought about his own situation.


    For this reason, he didn''t fall into the original body''s trap, instead letting the red fox scout ahead for him.


    When the red fox had her w pulverized and her attack ignored, Feng Buzhi felt like he could see that battle where that mysterious savage had battered He Yueyang.


    The two Feng Buzhis shared a nce, and he had a sh of insight.


    Tang Jie had an avatar!


    The one who had killed He Yueyang wasn''t Tang Jie''s ally, but Tang Jie himself!


    This was Tang Jie''s real power!


    He almost blurted out this discovery.


    Immense fear engulfed him, and he retreated without hesitation, even abandoning Qian Yingchen.


    Even though he had immediately made the correct decision, it had still been made a little toote.


    Tang Jie coldly chuckled. "Now you want to leave? Toote!"


    His right hand still holding Xu Miaoran, Tang Jie punched out with his left hand, and there was a deafening boom as a powerful st of energy struck the ground. This power rippled out through the ground, causing countless spurts of energy to erupt from the earth.


    Feng Buzhi howled and took to the air. By now, he no longer had any desire to fight Tang Jie.


    But as dust plumed into the air, another person charged out, swinging a brilliant saber at the ck-robed Feng Buzhi.


    "Tang Jie!"


    This was clearly another Tang Jie, the avatar Tang Jie, the Tang Jie that he was familiar with.


    The reason he had onlye out now was clearly that he had been cleaning up the Beast Refining Gate disciples in the forest, and the original body''s shockwave hadn''t been intended to stop Feng Buzhi from escaping, but to raise dust and create a smoke screen.


    This meant that he still didn''t want this secret to be exposed, did not wish for people to see two Tang Jies at once.


    Upon realizing this, Feng Buzhi howled and thrust out his palm.


    This palm wasn''t meant to stop the avatar Tang Jie, but to scatter the dust.


    He was going to dispel this obscuring dust and let everyone see Tang Jie''s secret!


    Tang Jie didn''t seem to expect this move from Feng Buzhi. The avatar''s saber struck Feng Buzhi''s defensive barrier and pierced through it, the sharp saber energy erupting within his body in a cloud of blood. But Feng Buzhi ignored him, creating a great gale to disperse the dust and restore rity to the world.


    Only then did the ck-robed Feng Buzhi furiously roar and thrust a palm at the avatar Tang Jie.


    But as his palm flew out, he froze.


    The one in front of him wasn''t the avatar Tang Jie, but that fierce man who had killed He Yueyang!


    This was¡­


    A transformation spell!


    Feng Buzhi instantly understood.


    One Tang Jie was a body refiner and the other aw cultivator, and thisw cultivator clearly had the ability to transform.


    If that was the case, then the body refiner was the original.


    He didn''t have the ability to transform, but he at least had the ability to go between that muscr man and his original appearance. And when the original body assumed his original appearance, the avatar could turn into the original body.


    In this way, the original body and avatar could switch ces, leading to a misunderstanding, and if it were used against the enemy¡­ what happened to the red fox would be a typical example. Misjudgment of one''s opponents would lead to the wrong choice in battle, with lethal results!


    Feng Buzhi instantly realized Tang Jie''s n.


    In this dangerous moment, Feng Buzhi''s mind was more clear than ever before, and he understood all the causes and effects.


    s, this understanding hade toote.


    The giant man Tang Jie swung the golden saber at Feng Buzhi''s body.


    Feng Buzhi wanted to dodge, but he found that he suddenly couldn''t move.


    A power welled up within his body, instantly paralyzing him.


    This was¡­ Paralyzing Powder, a poison that could immobilize a person and that the poisoner could activate whenever they wanted.


    But when had Tang Jie poisoned him?


    Whoosh!


    The golden saber stabbed into his body.


    Once, twice, thrice¡­


    Tang Jie callously stabbed in and out like he was killing a pig.


    As Tang Jie freely stabbed the motionless Feng Buzhi, he suddenly recalled the palm he had exchanged with Tang Jie back then.


    Tang Jie''s shattered finger had left a faint wound on his palm.


    Tang Jie had nned to kill him all the way back then?


    "Why¡­ me¡­" Feng Buzhi squeezed out.


    At that time, he could only wonder why Tang Jie had chosen him out of so many people as the one to poison.


    "Because you''re very powerful!" Tang Jie callously said.


    Paralyzing Powder wasn''t expensive, but getting it into the body wasn''t easy. The chance would onlye once, so he needed to pick the most valuable target.


    He would have wanted to pick Master Xuan Zhong if possible, but he realized that he couldn''t take one of Master Xuan Zhong''s palms.


    So he had chosen Feng Buzhi.


    Among all the Heart Demon cultivators he had interacted with, Feng Buzhi was the strongest and smartest, and he was also the one who understood him the most.


    Reality proved him to be correct. Feng Buzhi was the first to see the truth behind the avatar and the original body¡ªTang Jie had realized what Feng Buzhi had been trying to do by dispelling the dust.


    The paralyzing poison finally dispersed.


    Tang Jie had finished turning Feng Buzhi into a sieve with his saber.


    As the golden saber was extracted, Feng Buzhi weakly dropped to his knees.


    But the ck bear phantom behind him did not attack, only throwing back its head and roaring in rage and unwillingness.


    Feng Buzhi looked up at the sky and mumbled, "I see¡­ I am honored by your attention."


    "Goodbye and good riddance!" Tang Jie coldly said, swinging the golden saber across his neck.


    A head flew into the air, and Feng Buzhi''s headless body thumped to the ground in a cloud of dust.


    A soul rushed out of Feng Buzhi''s body, shooting toward the distant body of the white-robed Feng Buzhi.


    "You shouldn''t have swept away the dust," Tang Jie sighed.


    If Feng Buzhi hadn''t tried to clear away the dust, Tang Jie really might not have noticed this phenomenon¡­ Feng Buzhi''s earlier behavior had all been an act.


    A momentter, the ghost guard''s wed hand pierced through Feng Buzhi''s chest, digging out his heart.


    Unlike before, this heart had a human face that fearfully shrieked, "Don''t! Don''t kill me!"


    "He already said ''goodbye''," the ghost guard coldly said as he closed his hand and crushed the heart.


    Tang Jie raised an eyebrow.


    He hadn''t taught the ghost guard to say such things.


    As the heart shattered, the life it sustained lost its final supporting pir.


    The white-robed Feng Buzhi crumbled into stone, and amid the debris was that lotus tform of white jade.


    "A Celestial Spirit Stone," Tang Jie murmured. "No wonder you were able to get an avatar."


    The Celestial Spirit Stone was a famous divine stone of the Rosecloud Domain that had the ability to act as a vessel for the soul. To put it simply, it could strengthen one''s soul and increase one''s resistance to Divine Will attacks. But it had an even greater use: it was an important material for the charge at Violet Pce!


    For this reason, the Celestial Spirit Stone was one of the most valued treasures of the Rosecloud Domain. He hadn''t expected Feng Buzhi to have one.


    But rather than leaving it to use for the charge at Violet Pce, he had used it to make an avatar.


    He didn''t know if Feng Buzhi was being shortsighted or if it was because too many people had seen Feng Buzhi get this stone at the time. At that moment, countless people would have begun to covet this stone for themselves.


    The real problem was those Soul Transformation cultivators who were half a step into Violet Pce. If they wanted it, the Spirit Ring Feng Buzhi wouldn''t have been able to refuse them.


    Thus, after thinking things through, he had decided to use it as the support for his avatar. Once it was used, other people wouldn''t be able to say anything about it.


    This was also why Feng Buzhi wasn''t able to keep his avatar a secret.


    After losing his white crane fiend body, Feng Buzhi had decided to use the Celestial Spirit Stone that had served as a vessel for his soul as material for a new body. The price was that the new white robe was much more wooden than the old white robe. Without its former intelligence, it became easy to differentiate between the real and the fake.


    Taking that lotus tform from the debris, Tang Jie looked it over and put it away.


    This was a valuable treasure, and he needed to carefully consider how to use it.


    The battle was already over.


    In front of Tang Jie''s original body, Qian Yingchen and the red fox were no threat, not even considering their severe injuries.


    The red fox was dead, but Qian Yingchen was still alive.


    "Why did you keep him alive?" Xu Miaoran thought about what Qian Yingchen had done and immediately wanted to execute him.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Fiends only have value when they''re dead, but humans are useful when they''re alive¡­ In the end, Qian Yingchen is Feng Muyuan''s adopted son. He must know many secrets about the Beast Refining Gate, which makes him very valuable."


    "How?" Xu Miaoran asked.


    Tang Jie didn''t respond, instead turning his head.


    Holding a Mustard Seed Bag, the avatar Tang Jie walked over. As he did, he slowly transformed into Qian Yingchen.


    Xu Miaoran was stunned. "What¡­ what''s going on? Who is he? Why can he transform?"


    Tang Jie replied, "This is an avatar I made using my flesh and a sliver of my soul, and it has the power to transform. It can transform into my appearance to bait the enemy, but it can also transform into others to deceive the enemy."


    Tang Jie used the simplest and most direct method to exin to Xu Miaoran the avatar and the original body, showing off the ability and telling her what it was.


    In the process, Tang Jie intentionally avoided sensitive questions like "how he had an avatar" and "whether this avatar had ever interacted with Xu Miaoran". For Xu Miaoran, this presented the illusion that this was Tang Jie''s newest ability, so she did not feel conflicted about it, only sincerely happy.


    Of course, most importantly, Xu Miaoran had not seen the avatar as "Tang Jie", so she didn''t feel any rejection toward it.


    And once she gradually became ustomed to the avatar''s existence, she would lose any sense of rejection.


    Hearing this, Qian Yingchen finally understood what was going on. As he saw the avatar turning into him, he shouted, "No, no, you can''t do this!"


    Tang Jie slowly raised up Qian Yingchen. "Why can''t I? Actually, I''ve been looking for a way to infiltrate my pursuers for some time, but with Huang Yue around, I found it very hard to do. But you gave me this chance. After all, you are the ''crown prince'' of the Beast Refining Gate, so True Person Huang cannot use his Eye of Insight on you whenever he pleases. You are the ideal target."


    Qian Yingchen coughed blood and shouted, "You''re not me! You''ll eventually show a w!"


    "That''s why I need you alive." Tang Jie pped his face and then prepared to throw him to Yiyi, but Xu Miaoran stopped him.


    "What''s wrong?" Tang Jie asked.


    "Give him to me," Xu Miaoran replied. "I can guarantee that he''ll cough up everything he knows."


    "You¡­" Tang Jie was somewhat hesitant.


    Forcing Qian Yingchen to talk was no easy task.


    Xu Miaoran replied, "Trust me. When a woman bes cruel, she can be very scary, particrly to a beast like him. I feel no pity for him."


    Tang Jie looked at the unconscious Hong Yuan and Xian Tao, along with their tattered clothes, and he somewhat understood. Smiling, he said, "He didn''t understand that the people you can afford to offend the least in this world are women¡­ He''s yours."


    He threw him over to Xu Miaoran.


    Grabbing Qian Yingchen, Xu Miaoran casually said, "Don''t worry. We''ll treat you well."


    Seeing Xu Miaoran''s eyes burning with hatred and anger, Qian Yingchen cried out in despair, "NO¡­"


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    The forest finally fell quiet.


    Numerous corpses were strewn about the devastation.


    The thick odor of blood lingered in the air, and the bodies were still warm.


    There was a rush of air as the disciples of Godhead Pce arrived. They were led by the third Hawk, Zhou Fanghua. She had an ashen expression as she looked around and sternly ordered, "Search the battlefield and see if you can find anything."


    The disciples split up and began to search.


    Very quickly, a call came from the depths of the forest. "Hurry! There''s a survivor¡­"

 Chapter 517: Infiltration

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    When Tang Jie awoke, he found that he was wrapped up like a mummy.


    Fortunately, I''m not wrapped up in Immortal-Binding Rope, Tang Jie mused to himself. This meant that he had gotten past the first checkpoint.


    He was lying on arge bed made from Spring Electro Wood, and incense had been lit in the room. The only person around was a maid leaning on the side table, a hand propping up her head as she napped.


    Supporting himself with his arms, Tang Jie sat up and found his entire body to be sore, every wound on his body crying out in misery.


    He naturally had means of healing himself, but he could not do this. Not only that, he had to ensure that he did not recover in the short term.


    Infiltrating Godhead Pce was an extremely risky n, and there were too many people and too many reasons that could end with him being exposed. Thus, changing his appearance was only the core. Besides that, Tang Jie needed many other things to support him.


    His severe injuries were currently his most important source of support.


    To ensure that he wasn''t found out, Tang Jie had broken six of his avatar''s ribs and inflicted an intense shock on his organs. Most importantly, his face had been severely damaged, his cheekbones shattered and half of his chin blown off. The face was so severely deformed that even good friends wouldn''t have been able to recognize Qian Yingchen.


    Even if Huang Yue used Insight, the severe injuries would make it hard to differentiate the real from the fake. Insight primarily saw through spell art traces to see the true face beneath, but severe injuries were bound to require spell arts to heal, so the mingling spell art traces became difficult to see through. And even if it were seen through, the injuries meant that one would only see a simrly ruined face.


    Severe injuries also required medicines, and the thick odor of medicines would cover up his odor and make it so that King Canis He Changan would also find it difficult to notice the difference.


    Fortunately, Qian Yingchen hadn''t been particrly known for a powerful recovery ability, and the injuries that Tang Jie had made were bone fractures, which were the most difficult to heal, so he wouldn''t have to worry about being discovered for now. As for how to conceal the truthter, that would depend on the situation. If he could keep up the act, he would stay, but if he couldn''t, he would kill some people and then run¡­


    The sound of him sitting up awakened the napping maid. Startled, she quickly went to support Qian Yingchen, saying, "The young master is awake! This lowly one was momentarily negligent due to fatigue, so please forgive me¡­"


    She was trembling, clearly afraid of Qian Yingchen.


    Tang Jie, who was just about to say that it was fine, changed his mind and grumbled in dissatisfaction, causing the maid to drop to her knees in fright.


    Tang Jie slowly said, "I''ll spare you this once, so get out of here."


    The maid acted as if she had been pardoned and fled out of the room.


    Exhaling, Tang Jie shifted his body and began to totter his way out of the room. Emerging before him was a verdantnd.


    This was the perimeter region of the Spirit Mountains.


    Various art relics transformed into temporary rooms filled this verdant clearing, and in the very center was a buildingparable to an imperial pce. This was the ck Yellow Mobile Pce that Godhead Pce had set up on this mountain, and it was the headquarters of the Tang Jie hunting team.


    As for the ce Tang Jie was currently residing in, it was a little building that Qian Yingchen had brought with him. It appeared like just a room, but it seemed like another world inside.


    The perimeter of this cluster of buildings was guarded by ck-armored servant warriors. These servant warriors were not Bloodbath Hall disciples, but were the lowest ss of warriors, most of them at the Spirit tform Realm. Some of them weren''t even raised by Godhead Pce, instead being directly recruited from the outside. They were normally tasked with minor matters, like this guard duty. All six major sects had servant warriors like this.


    Upon seeing Tang Jiee out, a servant warrior captain bowed to him. "Young Master''s severe injuries have yet to heal, and it is not proper for you to go out."


    "That''s none of your business!" Tang Jie angrily retorted.


    Anger was the best cover for any sort of ws. At this moment, Tang Jie appeared like a heavily wounded warrior, his face twisted in pain, who hade out to vent his emotions.


    The captain could only retreat. Meanwhile, someone had already reported this matter to the ck Yellow Mobile Pce. A few momentster, Nan Ningjiang appeared. Looking at Tang Jie, he asked, "Yingchen, your wounds are very serious. Why did youe out?"


    "Tang Jie!" Tang Jie howled. "Did you kill him?"


    Nan Ningjiang froze, and then he shook his head. "When we arrived, he was gone. We only found you."


    Tang Jie trembled, and he said in a shaky voice, "The others¡­ are all¡­ dead?"


    "All dead," Nan Ningjiang replied. "Including Feng Buzhi. He is also dead."


    Tang Jie shuddered.


    Finally, he howled, dropping to his knees and weeping.


    Nan Ningjiang mentally sighed at his sorrowful appearance, at the same time thinking to himself, Rather than trying to use Xu Miaoran to capture Tang Jie, wouldn''t it have been better to just inform us when you found Xu Miaoran?


    He naturally understood what the Beast Refining Gate had been thinking. Undoubtedly, they had been thinking about capturing Tang Jie and then negotiating terms with Godhead Pce, but they had forgotten that if Tang Jie had been that easy to capture, none of them would have been here. But they couldn''t be entirely med for their actions. After all, it was Godhead Pce who had first betrayed the Beast Refining Gate with the matter of the Space Crystal. Now that all of the people the Beast Refining Gate had sent had died, with only Yingchen surviving, Nan Ningjiang found it difficult to say anything more. In the end, he walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "Do not be sad. A true man weeps blood, not tears. Tang Jie is cunning, but no matter how fierce and cunning he is, he''s still trapped in this mountain range. We''ll catch him eventually."


    Qian Yingchen''s weeping lessened somewhat, but his crying had caused his wounds to open up, and blood began to seep through his bandages.


    But he didn''t seem to feel the pain. He spat out, "How do I exin this to my adopted father¡­ how am I going to exin this¡­"


    Nan Ningjiang warmly said, "We''ll exin the situation to the Beast Refining Gate. They will forgive you."


    "So you''ll say that my greed for merit led Feng Buzhi and ten-some elites of the Beast Refining Gate to be in in battle?" Qian Yingchen''s voice suddenly turned cold.


    "This¡­" Nan Ningjiang also knew what sort of effect this news would have on Qian Yingchen once it got back to his sect.


    He was the most dazzling rising star of the Beast Refining Gate, but for this same reason, he wasn''t allowed to make mistakes. Countless eyes were watching him, and a single failure might utterly doom him.


    He now began to somewhat understand why Qian Yingchen had been weeping so bitterly. It appeared that he had also been mourning himself.


    Thinking it over, he said, "But they''ll find out eventually."


    "Help me!" Qian Yingchen said to Nan Ningjiang.


    Looking at those bloodshot eyes peeking through the bandages, Nan Ningjiang asked, "How do you want me to help you?"


    "Say that you were the one who sent us, say that you sent us!" Qian Yingchen said, grabbing Nan Ningjiang''s hand. He looked around, seemingly afraid that other people might be watching, and pulled him to the side.


    Nan Ningjiang''s face darkened. "You want me to share the responsibility with you?"


    Qian Yingchen anxiously said, "You''re not a member of the Beast Refining Gate, so they can''t do anything to you. Help me this once, and I''ll return the favor!"


    Nan Ningjiang''s face darkened even more.


    He understood what this meant.


    If he helped Qian Yingchen this one time, it would mean he would be able to ckmail Qian Yingchen. Qian Yingchen was an important disciple of the Beast Refining Gate, the future young lord. This sort of dirt on him, and the rtionship it gave him, was of immense weight.


    In the end, the 12 Hawks of the Hawk Hall were minor figures, only having some authority when they were on a case. Outside of this area, they were nothing. But Qian Yingchen was entirely different. Even if he couldn''t be the sect master of the Beast Refining Gate, he still had a boundless future. Being on good terms with him was a good thing.


    Thinking this, Nan Ningjiang nodded and said, "Fine. I''ll share responsibility for this matter with you. I will inform the Beast Refining Gate that I had you pursue her, but your force alone wasn''t enough, and you ultimately fell into an ambush and barely escaped with your life."


    Nan Ningjiang had turned Qian Yingchen''s glory-seeking fiasco into a heroic battle where he had faked his death to survive.


    Qian Yingchen couldn''t smile, covered by bandages as he was, so he softlyughed and said, "That being the case, then I must thank Sir Nan."


    "You''re wee," Nan Ningjiang replied. "If there''s nothing else, I will return. You are badly injured, so you should go back and rest."


    "Yingchen understands."


    As Tang Jie watched Nan Ningjiang leave, his eyes momentarily shed with glee.


    Having Nan Ningjiang cover for him naturally wasn''t for the sake of Qian Yingchen''s future¡ªthis guy no longer had any sort of future.


    The primary goal was to pull Qian Yingchen and Nan Ningjiang closer together.


    The main goal behind pretending to be Qian Yingchen was to gather information, and there was no better target to work on than Nan Ningjiang. But based on the information he had uncovered with his original body, he gathered that Qian Yingchen was a very arrogant person who rarely interacted with others. Even if Nan Ningjiang asked for him, he might ignore the call.


    There was an advantage to this, that being that now that all the Beast Refining Gate''s people had been killed, there were few in Godhead Pce who understood him. But the disadvantage was that he would find it difficult to get close to Godhead Pce''s people.


    Tang Jie had thought of an excuse to solve this problem.


    Through this method, Tang Jie had Qian Yingchen bow his head and swiftly shrink the gap between him and Nan Ningjiang.


    The advantage of bringing them closer so quickly was that Nan Ningjiang was less likely to suspect him.


    While rationality and profit yed a part in human rtions, emotions still yed arge role.


    Nobody would weigh the pros and cons of every single matter in life. That was no longer a human, but a robot. What guided human action normally was not logic and reason, but instinct.


    This was why many important people would make low-level mistakes. It was wishful thinking to think that all bigshots were peerlessly intelligent and would never make mistakes. This was an extremely silly way of thinking, and anyone who held such ideas probably needed to read more history books.


    With this connection with Nan Ningjiang, Tang Jie was sure that many things would get a lot easier.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    News that Qian Yingchen had woken up quickly spread, and quite a few people came to visit him.


    This included the likes of Master Xuan Zhong, Elders Gold and Silver, Li Song, and Zhou Fanghua. They all came to his bed and asked if he was doing well.


    It seems like these guys who were hunting me to the ends of the earth suddenly care quite a lot about me, Tang Jie said to himself in amusement. Suppressing theugh eventually became so painful for the avatar that he decided to have his original body madlyugh, leaving Xu Miaoran perplexed as to why this guy had suddenly gone crazy. So did he find her sorrowful story about how her beloved dog had died, and she had to bury it, funny? Enraged, she kicked the original body in the butt.


    Huang Yue also came to visit Qian Yingchen.


    That was the most tense moment for Tang Jie.


    Even though he had made preparations, the moment Huang Yue appeared, he became like a cheating student in front of a proctor teacher, his heart twisting in concern.


    Huang Yue didn''t know at all how tense Tang Jie was. The moment he came in, he shouted, "Brother Yingchen, you''re finally alright!"


    It was like they were old friends who hadn''t met for years.


    In Huang Yue''s mind, there was something he had always taken pride in: his renowned lineage.


    He was Shi Wunian''s student, a future stakeholder of Godhead Pce.


    What was Nan Ningjiang to him? If he hadn''t had some specialized knowledge needed for chasing Tang Jie, Huang Yue wouldn''t have even paid him a nce.


    In the entire team sent to hunt down Tang Jie by Godhead Pce, there were only two people he respected. One was King Canis He Changan, though He Changan returning his respect was another matter entirely. As for the other person, it was Qian Yingchen.


    Compared to Huang Yue, Qian Yingchen was even more suited for the title of "future stakeholder". After all, he was Feng Muyuan''s adopted son.


    One could have many disciples, and Huang Yue''s rosy future might contain a little disciple-on-disciple violence. But Qian Yingchen was the sole adopted son.


    For this reason, he was very willing to form an alliance with Qian Yingchen.


    This was why he was particrly passionate, grabbing Tang Jie''s hand while grinning.


    Tang Jie was like a thief who had stolen a wallet, woodenly and fearfully ncing at this beaming fellow. Even with his intelligence, he was momentarily unable to understand why this guy was being so friendly with him.


    The more he wanted this guy to leave, the more this guy wanted to stay.


    Patting Tang Jie''s shoulder, Huang Yue said, "Brother Yingchen, don''t be disheartened. While you were defeated, it was still a glorious battle. Just think about when Tang Jie had been surrounded by all those pursuers. Didn''t that scoundrel still manage to escape? He''s a crafty one, and he can''t be underestimated. That Brother Yingchen could fight Tang Jie alone and survive proves that you are a true genius of the Beast Refining Gate!"


    Tang Jie managed a dryugh. "Thank you for your concern, True Person Huang."


    "You''re too polite. Your adopted father and my honored master are of the same generation, so we can speak to each other as peers. I''m a few years older, so you can just call me Big Brother."


    Hearing this, Tang Jie finally understood a little of what was going on, but he had no desire to get on good terms with Huang Yue. He simply said that his severe wounds prevented him from entertaining guests.


    What he really meant was: Hurry up and leave! I won''t keep you.


    Huang Yue heartilyughed. pping his head, he said, "I''m starting to forget things."


    He took out a long box made of white jade from his Mustard Seed Bag.


    White jade was usually used to store rare herbs so that their medicinal effects would not fade. Huang Yue offered the box to Tang Jie and said, "This is a thousand-year King Sesame essence I obtained a few years ago. It has miraculous healing power, and I bought it as a back-up n to save my life. Now, I''m gifting it to you, Little Brother Yingchen. With it, you will heal up quickly¡­ Oh, there''s no need to use too much. You just need to squeeze a few drops of essence from the root to achieve an incredible effect."


    As he was chattering, his face was wincing.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie was stunned by what he was hearing.


    Thousand-year King Sesame essence!


    This was truly an excellent thing. Even the Nine Executions Immortal Formation didn''t have such a thing.


    He hadn''t expected Huang Yue to have one, and to have brought it out.


    Given his reluctant face, it seemed like he didn''t want to give it all to him, only a few drops so that the remainder could be returned, which was why he repeated the way to use it several times.


    But there was no way Tang Jie was going to give it back.


    He took the box and stuffed it under his pillow, after which he bowed to Huang Yue and said, "Big Brother, thank you for this gift!"


    Huang Yue''s face shuddered, but as an "important person", he couldn''t be seen to be fussy about this "small gift". Pulling on Qian Yingchen''s hand, he said, "Brother, there''s no need to be so polite. We''re brothers, so it''s only right that we look out for each other!"


    He ced particr emphasis on "look out for each other."


    Tang Jie immediately replied, "Naturally. Big Brother, be at ease. So long as Yingchen is around, he will always support Big Brother!"


    Since he didn''t need to hold up this promise made in someone else''s name, he decided to just make it. Let alone support, he was willing to make even greater promises. It wasn''t like he needed to pay anything for this ttery.


    Best of all, he was deceiving someone from Godhead Pce, so he didn''t feel guilty at all.


    Huang Yue grinned and whispered into Tang Jie''s ear, "In a few days, my master is going to choose a disciple to pass on his Great Aspiration Divine Connection to."


    "''Pass on his Great Aspiration Divine Connection''?" Tang Jie was stunned. "But I''ve heard that everyone who bes a disciple can inherit his arts."


    "Disciples are only taught the essentials, which can''t be considered the real Great Aspiration Divine Connection. But this time, it''s the True Inheritance."


    As Huang Yue exined, Tang Jie gradually understood. It turned out that Shi Wunian had fourteen disciples, but only three had obtained the Great Aspiration Divine Connection: the first disciple, the second disciple, and the fifth disciple. s, two of the three were deceased, and only the fifth disciple was still alive, and he was Shi Wunian''s most outstanding disciple to date. As there was only one person with the Great Aspiration Divine Connection, Shi Wunian was unable to rest easy, so he had been seeking out a new inheritor of the Divine Connection this entire time.


    Huang Yue was Shi Wunian''s thirteenth disciple and was very talented in the Dao of Insight. Shi Wunian had been seeking a sessor to his position as Insight Master, so he had taken Huang Yue as his disciple.


    But Huang Yue wanted more.


    "If Wolf Lord Feng is willing to give me a little praise, my master might choose me as the inheritor." Huang Yue confessed his aims.


    Feng Muyuan was the Blue Sky Wolf Lord, and there was no way Shi Wunian would disrespect him.


    Tang Jie grasped his hand and firmly said, "Big Brother, rest easy. I will write a letter to my adopted father now and ask him to say some good things about you."


    Huang Yue was smiling so widely that his eyebrows were practically scrunched together. Grasping Tang Jie''s hand, he said, "Thank you, Little Brother."


    "Right, I was wondering: could you let your little brother take a look at the essential outline of that Great Aspiration Divine Connection?" Tang Jie abruptly asked.


    "What?" Huang Yue was stunned.


    This was the Great Aspiration Divine Connection, and Tang Jie wanted to see it? Although it was just an outline, it was still extremely important.


    "I only want the bare essentials." Tang Jie sincerely said, "Yingchen swears an oath on his Immortal path that this is only out of curiosity, not greed."


    Huang Yue thought it over and ultimately nodded. "Fine. I will let Little Brother take a look at the outline. But you must remember to keep it a secret. While the outline is not some cultivation art, it touches upon the foundations of divine connections, so it can''t be spread around."


    "Your little brother understands. Yingchen is willing to swear on his entire career in the Beast Refining Gate that he will not spread it to outsiders." Tang Jie was quite willing to make promises in the name of others, making several big ones in a row.


    Hearing this, Huang Yue agreed.


    He wanted to talk with Tang Jie a little more to bring them closer together, but Tang Jie was unwilling. Thus, he decided to roll his eyes and proim that his head hurt and that he needed to sleep for a while, thus sending Huang Yue off.


    Tang Jie exhaled in relief when Huang Yue finally left.


    When he thought about what had just happened, he found it rather amusing.


    Unexpectedly, disguising himself as Qian Yingchen was quite profitable.


    On that topic, disguising himself as Qian Yingchen hadn''t been some n long in the making, but something he had thought up on the spot. For this reason, he hadn''t thought about what sort of benefit this could have for him, and he had spent all of his energy on thinking about how to not be exposed by his foes.


    It was only recently that he realized that he had seemingly made a mistake.


    It was this: what was the point in infiltrating Godhead Pce?


    For information?


    They were all in the mountains, and their n was clearly to encircle and hunt down Tang Jie. What was the point of trying to dig into the details?


    Was there a difference if the one chasing him down was Master Xuan Zhong or some other Soul Transformation cultivator?


    Moreover, with Xi Canhen around, no matter how Nan Ningjiang tried to hide his ns, most of his ns would be exposed to him through Xi Canhen.


    There was some value in the intelligence, but it wasn''t big.


    Killing?


    It was clear that this wasn''t realistic.


    If he suddenly killed someone, then in a situation like that, he really could have killed any person he wanted, whether it was Nan Ningjiang, Huang Yue, or even the likes of Li Song and Elders Gold and Silver. So long as he was willing, if he erupted with all his might, he could even kill Master Xuan Zhong. But how significant would that be? And the death of his avatar might swiftly follow.


    The value of killing also wasn''t big.


    But through Huang Yue, he saw another possibility.


    By using Qian Yingchen''s status, he could get even more. Without even paying anything, he could have people lining up to shower him with gifts.


    This thought had a n forming in his mind, and he chuckled.


    He gave this n a name: Infinite Overdrafting.


    He was overdrafting Qian Yingchen''s ount, but the one making the money would be Tang Jie.

 Chapter 518: Observing the Will of the Heavens

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The same night, Huang Yue sent over the outline of the Great Aspiration Divine Connection.


    The outline was not a cultivation manual, but a theoretical primer for before one began cultivating a divine connection, a thorough treatise on the subject matter.


    It was like how an engineer first had to learn mechanical theory, ideally then bringing together theory with practice. The Great Aspiration Divine Connection outline was the basic theory for the Great Aspiration, and the foundation of this theory concerned Aspirational Power.


    Tang Jie had no interest in obtaining the Great Aspiration Divine Connection. The Basking Moon Sect had its own divine connections, and it wasn''t as though the grass was always greener on the other side.


    But he was very interested in Aspirational Power. This was very likely to help him take another step in understanding thews of the world.


    After reading the outline, Tang Jie finally understood what the Great Aspiration Divine Connection and Aspirational Power were about.


    ording to the description in the outline, Aspirational Power was actually another manifestation of substantialized Spirit Will.


    Spirit Will substantialization was how Heart Demons came to be.


    To put it simply, human thoughts gradually substantialized because of cultivation, bing existences that were half-illusion and half-real. These could be divided into two categories: Divine Will and Demonic Will. Thetter were Heart Demons.


    Heart Demons rose from those evil thoughts and wills that could not be controlled, as well as past misgivings, and hidden desire. All of them would be triggered and assume physical form. By destroying them, one would ovee one''s Heart Demons. If not destroyed, the Demonic Will would enter the body, either causing one to suffer energy corruption or transforming one into a demon.


    Whether it was Divine Will or Demonic Will, they were all human thoughts given form due to cultivation, and they could only exist within cultivators.


    But Aspirational Power was the opposite. It was a response by the world to human thoughts, so it was born from the world and existed within the world.


    Shi Wunian used a simple analogy to describe this phenomenon: Aspirational Power was the world''s Divine Will or Demonic Will.


    It was hard to exin why this happened, and not even Shi Wunian understood. But he had found a way to use it.


    His Great Aspiration Divine Connection was the best way he had found to use Aspirational Power.


    "''Aspirational Power is the world''s Divine Will or Demonic Will''¡­" Tang Jie chewed over this bit of theory, countless thoughts shing in his mind.


    He suddenly recalled the legends of the Spirit Mountains.


    Godhead Pce had once invaded the Spirit Mountains, marching into the mountains and waving around their art relics, ughtering its creatures, plucking its spirit grasses, and destroying everything.


    The Great Mountain grew angry and imprisoned those bastard invaders.


    And Godhead Pce''s Immortal tform Titan had intervened.


    His palm shook the mountains, and even the Great Mountain was forced to bow its head.


    If the Great Mountain truly does have spirituality, it must loathe Godhead Pce, yes?


    I swore a Great Aspiration to destroy Godhead Pce¡­ Those words once more emerged in Tang Jie''s mind.


    He vaguely felt this thought flying out of his head.


    It flew out of this little building and into the Great Mountain.


    And then he faintly sensed the will of the Great Mountain.


    It was a grim and boundless will, ancient beyond measure, and it enveloped Tang Jie.


    When Tang Jie''s bloodthirsty will encountered this will, that will trembled, and then, like the hand of a giant, it wrapped Tang Jie''s will in its embrace.


    Yes, it embraced him!


    It was a formless will, but Tang Jie felt the warmth of a father.


    He was nowpletely sure that this was the will of the Great Mountain.


    Everyone knew that the Great Mountain had a will, but nobody had ever interacted with it before.


    But now, Tang Jie had.


    It wasn''t because of his courtesy toward the Great Mountain, nor was it because he cherished the creatures of the Great Mountain, nor was it because he had stayed here for a long time, or any such reason. It was all because they shared amon enemy: Godhead Pce!


    In all those eons, the Great Spirit Mountain had never encountered any setback.


    Except once!


    Only once!


    Godhead Pce!


    That Immortal tform Titan''s boundless Immortal power had singlehandedly suppressed its immense worldly might,pelling it to yield and release the people of Godhead Pce, and from that point on, the Great Mountain lost any sense of goodwill toward Godhead Pce.


    When Tang Jie battled with Godhead Pce, the Great Mountain had sensed his desires.


    ''I swore a Great Aspiration to destroy Godhead Pce!''


    Those words resonated with the Great Mountain''s heart.


    And Tang Jie had not just made that aspiration, but carried it out. That was why the Great Mountain had sensed it, even reaching out to him.


    And then¡­


    He had received the Great Mountain''s support.


    This was Aspirational Power.


    It was the power of the Great Mountain, the power of the world, an individual''s desires merging with the desires of the world.


    In this interaction with the Great Mountain, Tang Jie finally understood everything. He felt like he could feel the Great Mountain''s kindness.


    Yes, after nearly half a year of fruitlessmunication, Tang Jie had finally sessfullymunicated with the Great Mountain, all thanks to his hatred for Godhead Pce.


    Perhaps this was the power of hatred. People often spoke of the power of love, but in reality, the power of hatred was usually greater than the power of love.


    Tang Jie''s will was "embraced" by the Great Mountain, and a momentter, he felt power flowing into him. This was an indescribable power that was being converted into energy and entering his body through this formless will. In that moment, Tang Jie felt like he had endless power, and then this power overflowed, spreading out into his surroundings and forming a ring of light. The ring then erupted upward, engulfing him, and Tang Jie felt a soft and gentle sensation as if he had returned to his mother''s womb.


    But that light was still expanding outward, only stopping when it reached the limits of his Spirit Will.


    "This is¡­ a Spirit Ring?" Tang Jie was startled.


    What was going on?


    Before he could react, he saw countless wisps of smoke rise up in front of him, letting out piercing howls as they turned into savage creatures and charged at him.


    "Heart Demons¡­" Tang Jie took in a deep breath.


    This wasn''t the first time he had experienced something like this. In the Water Moon Paradise, he had been attacked by a Heart Demon, via a special experience the Basking Moon Sect had prepared for its juniors so that they could experience the Heart Demon Period early. This way, they would have more experience for the real thing and could get through it more easily. At the same time, it was also the method by which the Wisdom Sword, a method for dealing with Heart Demons, was passed down.


    Tang Jie had never imagined that he would get a preview of the Heart Demon Period twice.


    As he saw the Heart Demons, his fingertip instinctively shone with light. With a wave of his hand, the Heart Demons were vanquished.


    Wield the Wisdom Sword to y Heart Demons!


    But there were seemingly more Heart Demons here than in the Water Moon Paradise, and it seemed like there was no end to them. They rushed at Tang Jie ceaselessly, and there were so many that Tang Jie began to wonder where all these Demonic Wills hade from. Had his act of stealing candy from a neighbor as a child even turned into a Demonic Will to attack him?


    When he felt his arms and legs going weak from all the killing, there was an explosion of light, and he saw the Heart Demons retreat.


    He saw a boy sound asleep on the peak of the Great Mountain. From his appearance, that boy was none other than himself.


    A formless will wrapped around the boy Tang Jie, a gentle breeze caressing him like the gentle hand of a mother.


    The boy Tang Jie sweetly smiled.


    "Soul Transformation¡­" Tang Jie muttered.


    The world grew hazy, and the sky darkened.


    He saw the boy grow up, a boundless divinity upon his face.


    He grew older andrger, sorge that even the mountain couldn''t hold him anymore. Only the entire world could serve as his home.


    "Violet Pce¡­" Tang Jie gasped.


    Finally, the world shifted again, and Tang Jie was unable to see what came next.


    As Tang Jie shivered, he realized that his mind had returned to his body, and he was still lying in that peaceful little room.


    All that had happened just now seemed like a dream.


    But Tang Jie knew that it was no dream.


    Just now, the will of the Great Mountain had guided him through the process from Celestial Heart all the way to Violet Pce, allowing him to experience the various sensations and truly understand what Spirit Ring meant, what Heart Demon meant, what Soul Transformation meant, and even what Violet Pce meant.


    But there had been nothing about the experience of reaching Celestial Heart.


    Why had this phase alone been skipped?


    No, that was wrong. It hadn''t been skipped!


    "To use my heart to experience the heart of the heavens, to use my will to sense the will of the heavens¡­ ''Observing the will of the heavens''," Tang Jie mumbled.


    He suddenly understood.


    Wasn''t what he had experienced none other than the process of observing the will of the heavens?


    Observing the will was the method by which one excavated one''s gift, after which one could condense the manifestation.


    The will of the heavens was not so easily observed, and for other people, this would always be a hazy experience, as if there was always a piece of gauze covering them. But Tang Jie saw everything clearly.


    This was partially because this part of the world had embraced him, and also because his Insight ability had improved.


    This was thanks to help from the Great Mountain, a consequence of its guidance. Moreover, it had been so helpful that Tang Jie could be said to have taken a huge stride in the Dao of Insight,nding only half a step away from entering the Dao.


    At this stage, Tang Jie could now see everything clearly.


    In other words, he no longer needed to worry about observing the will of the heavens. He could now clearly experience the will of the heavens, so he now only needed to condense the manifestation.


    Besides that, that power that had surged into his body had been guided by the will of the Great Mountain and had greatly improved his strength.


    Although Tang Jie had already been at the peak of Mortal Shedding, he had only barely hit this level. In normal circumstances, he would have needed three to five years of umtion and reinforcement before he would reach the ideal moment to charge at Celestial Heart.


    Thus, Tang Jie had been in no rush and had simply been preparing for that moment.


    But the power from the will of the Great Mountain had brought him to the true apex of the Mortal Shedding Realm. It could be said that if he wanted to go any higher from here, his only choice was advancing into the Celestial Heart Realm.


    Not even in his dreams had Tang Jie imagined that simply reading the outline of the Great Aspiration Divine Connection would bring him such benefits. He was so excited that he wanted to throw his head back and roar.


    He looked outside and saw a ray of light peeking through.


    While it seemed that his interaction with the will of the Great Mountain had only taken an instant, it had really taken an entire night.


    Happy, he was about to go out when he suddenly realized that his body didn''t feel right.


    He felt his face and then felt his body, and he determined that all of his injuries were healed.


    After a momentary daze, Tang Jie clenched his teeth and punched his own face¡­


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    When he woke up again, Tang Jie saw that Nan Ningjiang was standing in his room.


    He was standing in front of the bookshelf, reading one of Qian Yingchen''s books. When he saw that Tang Jie had awoken, Nan Ningjiang smiled and said, "What happened? Your injuries were recovering yesterday, so why did they suddenly get worse?"


    "I identally fell on my face while sleeping," Tang Jie squeezed out.


    It was difficult to reproduce his injuries, so he could only toughen up and make his wounds even worse.


    Nan Ningjiang bitterly smiled and shook his head. "You''re really something else."


    He put the book back and said, "Right, I''ve done what you requested."


    Tang Jie knew that he was referring to the sharing of responsibility, so he hastily struggled to rise. "Many thanks, Brother Nan."


    After this, he naturally began to refer to Nan Ningjiang as "Brother Nan".


    "No need," Nan Ningjiang said. "But I need your help with something."


    "Please speak."


    "Feng Buzhi was in in battle, so I would like the Beast Refining Gate to send more people to help. We don''t have the Spirit-Boiling Powder anymore, so I need the Beast Refining Gate''s hunting dogs to help us track down Tang Jie."


    Tang Jie looked confused. "Tang Jie knows how to deal with hunting dogs, so this probably won''t be effective. And don''t we have Chief He? With his venerable self present, why do we need hunting dogs?"


    Nan Ningjiang bitterly smiled. "If he can evade hunting dogs, he can naturally evade Chief He. But no matter what medicines he uses to wipe out his scent, this isn''t a long-term n. As the days drag on, he will reveal his weakness. The problem is that while I''m willing to use hunting dogs until they''re worn down to nothing, I would not dare to treat King Canis like that."


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but smile. "Alright. Once my injuries have improved a little, I will write a letter asking for reinforcements. If Brother Nan requires it, I can also send Brother Nan some hunting dogs."


    "Really? That would be great." Nan Ningjiang was delighted.


    The Beast Refining Gate''s hunting dogs made tracking easy, and they were exactly what the Hawk Hall needed. But they were difficult to raise, and the Beast Refining Gate did not give them out easily. Nan Ningjiang was naturally happy to see Tang Jie being so generous.


    Tang Jie casually said, "If Brother Nan likes it, perhaps I could even give more."


    Oh? Nan Ningjiang could tell that there was another message here. "What does Brother Qian mean by this?"


    Tang Jie said, "In hunting down Tang Jie, one dog will be useful, as will ten or one hundred. In battle, one might die, as could ten or one hundred. If Brother Nan wants, actually¡­"


    He didn''t go on, but Nan Ningjiang already understood what he meant.


    He was talking about embezzlement!


    Nan Ningjiang narrowed his eyes. "Brother Qian, as the future young lord of the Beast Refining Gate, these words really don''t suit you."


    "A young lord is still a human who needs resources to cultivate. How can one be a young lord if one does not understand how to seize opportunities?"


    "But an opportunity can turn into a trap if you''re careless. It will be a major incident if you''re caught."


    "That''s why we have to be more clever about it. As a disciple, it''s not proper for me to use the resources acquired from the Beast Refining Gate, but if I use them to aid Godhead Pce, then you''re the one who decides how to use them. As for whates out of Godhead Pce, you''re not in a position to use them, but if you use them to aid the Beast Refining Gate, then I will have say over them¡­"


    Nan Ningjiang''s eyes brightened. "Interesting."


    Tang Jie''s proposal was to have him and Nan Ningjiang exchange the support that came from their respective sects.


    Inside collusion was always the most practical and most difficult-to-detect method of embezzlement. These two power-holders from different sects could exchange benefits through a series of exchanges, and even if they were detected, it would be difficult to find evidence or investigate.


    In the past, Nan Ningjiang didn''t have this opportunity.


    But now, Tang Jie had given him the opportunity.


    Nan Ningjiang was pensive as he looked at Tang Jie, finally saying, "But we need an objective. Just trading resources won''t be convincing."


    "Naturally, which is why this will be a mutual exchange," Tang Jie said. "If we want support, the support has to be in what the other partycks."


    Tang Jie had no interest in the resources that he could just steal.


    Only resources that couldn''t be stolen, like the outline of the Great Aspiration Divine Connection, were worth pursuing.


    Moreover, only this kind of resource could be used with the excuse of "strengthening cooperation through mutual exchange".


    Nan Ningjiang nodded. "Brother Qian is right. Tang Jie is cunning, and to catch this beast, we will need our two sects to sincerely work together and mutually assist each other. Since the Beast Refining Gate is willing to grant my Godhead Pce hunting dogs¡­"


    "Also a juvenile pair each of Jade-Eye Divine Hawks and Heavenfeather Kites, as well as the methods to raise them," Tang Jie added.


    Nan Ningjiang was startled. These two birds were fiends even more valuable than the hunting dogs, and Qian Yingchen was handing them over? Since it was only two pairs of juveniles, this naturally meant that they were for Nan Ningjiang alone.


    Nan Ningjiang nodded in understanding. "What does Brother Qian need?"


    After some thought, Tang Jie replied, "Tang Jie is far stronger than I anticipated. In my battle with him, I simply wasn''t a match¡­"


    mes of hatred zed in his eyes¡ªto tell the truth, this wasn''t difficult. He just needed to re really hard.


    Clenching his fists, Tang Jie viciously said, "I need to be stronger. If there''s a cultivation resource that can increase my power, I want it!"


    Nan Ningjiang sighed. "Tang Jie is strong enough to be invincible against anyone at the Mortal Shedding Realm or below. You are currently at peak Mortal Shedding, so unless you can reach Celestial Heart, it''s basically impossible for you to defeat Tang Jie."


    "Celestial Heart¡­" Tang Jie''s eyes gleamed.


    And then he sighed. "The charge at Celestial Heart is easier said than done, Both observing the will and condensing the manifestation are as difficult as ascending to the heavens. At my current level of cultivation, I''ve only just finished observing the will. I am still far away from condensing the manifestation."


    "Oh? Brother Qian has already observed the will?" Nan Ningjiang was both shocked and delighted. "Then aren''t you only half a step away from advancing to Celestial Heart?"


    "Half a step might as well be a world away. I''m sure Brother Nan understands how difficult condensing the manifestation is more than I do."


    "That''s true," Nan Ningjiang sighed. "I needed twenty years to aplish this step."


    Nan Ningjiang hadn''t had any spirit medicines during the charge to Celestial Heart, relying on himself to slowly make his way up. The process had been full of hardships and trials, and even danger.


    For this reason, he was well aware of how difficult the path of the impoverished cultivator was.


    Huge time investments, missing out on the ideal moments, squeezing oneself so that one could just barely ascend, even using harmful medicines to overdraft on one''s potential, causing one''s path to narrow¡­ All cultivators experienced this kind of thing. The only difference was their frequency.


    Tang Jie casually said, "You think things are different for prodigies? You think that we can get spirit medicines for free? If it were that easy, why would Tang Jie be running around Nadir Hill trying to steal a Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill? And why would I be scheming here? If I could get any resource I wanted, do you really think Tang Jie would be any match for me? Even prodigies can''t eat for free! This is the rule of the six major sects. How could it change for a single person?"


    Nan Ningjiang nodded in agreement to all this.


    Yes, the six major sects had a rule that even prodigies had to use contribution points to get resources rather than getting what they wanted through their connections. After all, thetter method might not end up nurturing any talents, instead bearing the risk of turning a genius into a good-for-nothing.


    But for the geniuses, this tempering experience wore away too much at their patience.


    This "Qian Yingchen" had clearly lost his patience.


    Looking at "Qian Yingchen", Nan Ningjiang said, "I know what you need. It just so happens that I switched out the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill Tang Jie was trying to steal back at Celestial Flower Pavilion. I still have it, so I will gift it to you to prove that the rtionship between my Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate is mended. At the same time, it is a show of appreciation to the Beast Refining Gate for being willing to help us deal with Tang Jie, and it is also a generous gift to the Beast Refining Gate¡­ Nobody will be able to object."


    "Qian Yingchen" hoarsely chuckled. "If so, then I must thank Brother Nan."


    "This one wishes Brother Qian swift sess in reaching Celestial Heart!"


    The Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill had, after many twists and turns, returned to Tang Jie''s hands in this incredible fashion.

 Chapter 519: Combining

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    "Tang Jie, you won''t die a good death!"


    "Xu Miaoran, I''ll fuck your entire family!"


    "Kill me! Kill me!!"


    Miserable screams arose from a secluded valley on the southwestern end of the Spirit Mountains. These cries were determined, harsh, and brazen at first, carrying with them venomous curses, but they gradually became pleas, and then they devolved into weak moaning and weeping¡­


    Qian Yingchen had been crucified on arge rock by the Seven Demon Soul-Sealing Nails, and he barely looked human.


    Almost every part of his body had been cut open. The formidable constitution of cultivators meant that this didn''t kill him, but it left him in immense pain.


    "If you reveal the Myriad Beast Union Mantra, I''ll stop." Xu Miaoran spoke in a callous tone as she stroked an ice-cold finger across Qian Yingchen''s chest, gleaming with a lethal light.


    Qian Yingchen trembled. "No, I can''t¡­ I can''t¡­"


    Plush!


    The finger plunged into his chest as if it was stabbing through tofu.


    Qian Yingchen screamed. "Aaaagh! You two are dogs!"


    "Wrong! We''re devils!" Xu Miaoran replied.


    Behind her, a pair of arms embraced Xu Miaoran.


    Xu Miaoran turned around, hugged Tang Jie''s neck, and gave him a passionate kiss.


    Only the fiend women of Horizon Ocean Pavilion could act like no one else was around.


    Upon meeting Tang Jie, Xu Miaoran unleashed all of her hidden affections. In this freend, she no longer cared about all those restrictions. Though she still hadn''t punctured thatst paper window, many things no longer needed to be said. Even that final step was merely waiting for the right time.


    Perhaps because of this, she was more straightforward, daring, and proactive.


    What was important was that Tang Jie liked it!


    After that almost suffocating kiss, Xu Miaoran released Tang Jie''s neck and opened her eyes wide. "Did you like it?"


    "Of course."


    "Are you being honest? Don''t men all like virtuous women?"


    "I''m an exception. I like fiend women. The more fiendish, the better!"


    "Then¡­ shall I be a little more fiendish?"


    "Take out everything you have. I can take it all."


    Xu Miaoranughed.


    Gazing at Tang Jie with her beautiful eyes, she suddenly hugged him and flew into the sky.


    "Hey, hey, we can''t fly too high here¡­"


    Before Tang Jie could finish, Xu Miaoran silenced him with a kiss.


    Thus, they tumbled in the air, flew among the trees, and rolled through the lush woods.


    Xu Miaoran stroked a finger across Tang Jie''s heart and brought it all the way down.


    Tempted, Tang Jie said, "Why not¡­"


    "Okay!" Xu Miaoran gave him a crisp reply before he could even finish.


    This reply was so straightforward that Tang Jie couldn''t help but be taken aback. "You¡­ you''re sure you''re not joking?"


    "Do I look like I''m joking?" Xu Miaoran seductively said.


    Tang Jie swallowed. "You''re sure¡­ I''m saying¡­ do you want to rethink¡­"


    Xu Miaoran clenched her silver teeth. "Just be quiet."


    Moisture built up in her eyes, and then she grabbed Tang Jie and began to tear away at his clothes like a little lion.


    As her little hands moved in a flurry, ck shreds of cloth fell from the sky like butterfly wings. Theyers between them dwindled away, until nothing was left.


    Tang Jie had no choice but to summon some tree leaves that spun around them and formed into a giant ball of leaves.


    As they spun around, they shared a deep gaze.


    Finally, Tang Jie embraced Xu Miaoran and began to roughly tear off her clothes.


    They kissed each other, feeling each other''s bodies as they spun around in the ball of leaves, tasting everything each other had to offer.


    The ball of leaves spun and flew through the skies.


    It flew over forests, valleys, mountains, and waterfalls, and into the sky. asionally, one or two sounds that seemed to contain a mix of pain and pleasure came from the leaves, and then there would be an extremely loud cry of pleasure, like the soul-shaking trill of a bird.


    After experiencing all this, they had finally dropped all the barriers between them, treating each other with utmost sincerity. All that was left was to work mutually to deliver themselves unto each others'' bodies.


    As the battle reached its climax, the ball of leaves shattered, leaving behind only a few leaves as cover while they circled in the sky like birds, assuming a variety of postures.


    They charged into the sky, and when they reached a certain height, they intertwined and rushed back down. In their rapid descent, they were stillbined together, exchanging their heat and feeling the love they had for each other.


    Decades of umted energy was released all at once as an unprecedented battle unfolded. By the time the storm passed, more than half the day had gone by.


    The drifting leaves in the wind once more came together, forming arge ball that slowly brought them back to earth.


    Xu Miaoran contentedlyy in Tang Jie''s embrace, her fingers drawing hearts on his chest that floated into the air, glowing like fireflies.


    They gazed at the floating hearts together. Xu Miaoran said, "Then, starting from today, you''re my man. In the past, you had your own pursuits, so when you weren''t at this girl''s side, I forgave you. But now, wherever you go, you have to bring me along. And don''t give me some bullshit about how the Immortal path is long and difficult. No matter how difficult the Immortal path is, I would still walk it together with you. Wherever you go, I will go! I won''t be some girl in the back, but one at your side. If you don''t agree to this, I''ll leave right now."


    Tang Jie smiled. "If I didn''t agree, I wouldn''t be together with you right now."


    "Huh?" Xu Miaoran''s eyes glowed. "And here I thought you would say that it was very dangerous at your side, so you didn''t want me to follow you."


    "It''s naturally dangerous around me, so if you want to stay at my side, you need the ability to deal with these dangers," Tang Jiezily said. "You chose this path, and now that you''ve chosen it, you can''t turn back."


    Xu Miaoran got what Tang Jie was implying. "You''re saying¡­"


    "Training."


    "''Training''?" Xu Miaoran''s eyes widened so much they almost popped out of their sockets. "''Training'' in what?"


    "In a lot. Training in how to use the simplest and most conservative method to kill someone, training in how to fight when you can''t rely on spell arts, training in how to battle using the terrain, training in how to work together, training in how to withdraw when the situation is unfavorable, training in how to use a gesture or gaze to indicate your intentions, training in tactics and experiences, training in how to think in the face of adversity, training in survival methods¡­ Cultivators rely too much on spell arts, but in reality, there are many things that spell arts can''t offer." Tang Jie finished off, "So you need to learn a lot of things. It will be tough and tiring, and I won''t go easy."


    Xu Miaoran was rather dumbfounded.


    After a while, she suddenlyughed and said, "Alright, then I''ll train. Rx. I''m not a woman who will burden you!"


    "I believe you," Tang Jie replied. "But it''s not just you who needs to receive training. Your two maids also have to go through it."


    The mention of her maids made Xu Miaoran sit up, her face paling. "Oh no! I forgot about Xian Tao and Hong Yuan."


    The two had yet to recover and needed to be attended to. Xu Miaoran was tasting the forbidden fruit for the first time and had been reluctant to leave Tang Jie, but this caused her topletely forget about these two wounded patients.


    Tang Jie said, "Rx. I already had Yiyi go and take care of them."


    "When?"


    "An hour ago."


    "An hour ago¡­ you were still with me¡­ I can''t believe you were still in the mood to do other things¡­" Xu Miaoran "angrily" said, pressed up to Tang Jie''s body.


    Tang Jie awkwardly replied, "That''s also something I need to train you in: how to never forget important matters in any situation, and also how to secretly transmit messages."


    "Don''t try that with me. Today, this girl is going to train you first and make you understand what it means to bepletely focused¡­ Another three hundred rounds!"


    "¡­With one soul sharing two bodies, I''m never going to be able to focus single-mindedly on one thing."


    "I don''t care!"


    "¡­¡­"


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    Xi Canhen sat in front of Qian Yingchen''s bed. After looking at him for a long while, he finally said, "I didn''t think you would actuallye."


    When Tang Jie had given him the news through Heart Consonance, Xi Canhen had almost had a heart attack.


    He had never imagined that Tang Jie would be this bold, venturing into a tiger''s den even though he knew that there were numerous people who could see through him.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Why not? I can sleep and eat while people attend on me. Life is great! Without even moving, I can have numerous resources delivered to me."


    He pointed at a nearby table, which was piled high with the gifts from Godhead Pce cultivators who hade to visit the patient. Although they weren''t as high-quality as Huang Yue''s, there were still many high-grade materials among them. Qian Yingchen was a True Lord''s adopted son, and there were many people who wanted to get into the good graces of such a person. And Tang Jie, through his implications and empty promises, had actually managed to get just as much in thest two days as during the rest of his visit.


    "I''m just worried that you won''t have a life to enjoy it all," Xi Canhen gruffly said. "If they can''t find Tang Jie, they''ll start getting suspicious and might check you."


    "That''s why they''re going to find him," Tang Jie replied.


    Xi Canhen was startled.


    He didn''t know of Tang Jie''s avatar, but after hearing this reply, he seemed to understand, and there was a hint of admiration in his eyes as he looked at Tang Jie.


    If there was really another Tang Jie bouncing around in the encirclement, Godhead Pce would have no reason to check Qian Yingchen.


    And this really was the case. Justst night, the original body had ambushed a Godhead Pce squad. Although he hadn''t done any substantial damage, he had left behind many witnesses to Tang Jie''s existence.


    This was another method Tang Jie was using to clear himself.


    Of course, these methods treated only the symptoms, but that was all Tang Jie needed to do. He wasn''t nning on living as Qian Yingchen forever, only long enough to reap a sufficient profit.


    With his status as a patient, Tang Jie was making quite a lot in gifts alone. Even King Canis He Changan, though he hadn''te to see him, had also sent over a gift¡ªa Vampire Fiend Pellet. Vampire Fiend Pellets came from the Deepsea Blood Fiend and were extremely valuable. Once absorbed, they strengthened one''s blood energy, and they were superb at strengthening one''s foundation. Its value was second only to Huang Yue''s thousand-year King Sesame.


    "If there''s anything you like, take it. There''s no need to be polite," Tang Jie said to Xi Canhen, pointing at the gifts on the table. He was very generous when it came to giving away the wealth of others.


    Xi Canhen was delighted. "There were some things I needed, so I''ll take up your offer."


    After spending a long time with Tang Jie, this kid had learned to have just as thick of a skin and as ck of a heart, holding nothing back and picking only the nice things. In a sh, he had swept up many of the gifts Tang Jie had received.


    Lastly, he took the Vampire Fiend Pellet and looked at Tang Jie. "You''re willing to give this up too?"


    Tang Jie smiled. "If you want it, take it. Given what you''ve done for me, it wouldn''t even be wrong for you to take everything. Consider it a thank-you gift. Moreover, in my eyes, these are nothing but trifles."


    "You consider all these ''trifles''?" Xi Canhen was taken aback.


    "Yes. You have to go big for this kind of thing." Tang Jie then exined his "Infinite Overdrafting" n, which left Xi Canhen amazed, and he looked admiringly at Tang Jie.


    "Big! It really is big! No wonder those guys are willing to give you such pricey gifts! There was also this sort of calction going on in the background. But in this backwater area, what sort of oil can you possibly squeeze out of them besides all this?"


    While the Infinite Overdrafting n was good, one had to actually get something from it, but Tang Jie had seemingly set his standards too high. Thus, after this initial squeeze, Godhead Pce didn''t seem to have much juice left.


    "If there are no treasures, they can just have Godhead Pce send them over. All they need is a reason. You can help out with this, and if there''s anything you need, I can work with you on it," Tang Jie casually said. "In addition, if there are no goods, there are still people. There are many excellent people in Godhead Pce, and it would be a pity to not use them."


    "You mean¡­"


    "The Spirit Mountains are rich in resources, but that''s not what they''re here for, so they don''t dare to seek them out. But surrounding and catching Tang Jie is a long-term project, and to not have any results after a long time will damage morale. If that''s the case, they might as well explore the mountains."


    Xi Canhen''s eyes were about to pop out.


    It appeared that Tang Jie felt like scamming them of treasures wasn''t enough and he needed to scam them of manpower as well.


    The Spirit Mountains truly were home to many natural treasures, but they were mostly found in the depths. Tang Jie wanted Godhead Pce to go exploring, both for treasures and to scout the way for him.


    "How do you n to do this?"


    "I need your cooperation on this." Tang Jie whispered his n to him.


    Xi Canhen nodded along, and his eyes gradually began to shine with excitement. Once Tang Jie was done, Xi Canhen said, "The n sounds good to me. Though it''s rather risky, it really does kill many birds with one stone. I''ll go and make the arrangements now. When do you n to make your move?"


    "Dragging this out too long isn''t good, so once I''ve recovered, I will begin the charge at Celestial Heart. Once I reach Celestial Heart, we''ll move."


    "''Charge at Celestial Heart''?" Xi Canhen almost jumped in shock. This conversation with Tang Jie had been just full of surprises.


    Tang Jie chuckled and took out an item. "The Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill. Nan Ningjiang gave it to mest night."


    "¡­" Xi Canhen was speechless.


    For the next few days, Tang Jie quietly recuperated, asionally chatting with the people of Godhead Pce and understanding a little more about it.


    In this era, there wasn''t much of a secret-keeping mentality, and many of the methods that Tang Jie found decent came from Nan Ningjiang''s own intelligence rather than Godhead Pce.


    s, the Rosecloud Domain was still essentially a world where might was right. While it had a cultured cover, in their bones, people still looked up to strength. For this reason, the likes of Nan Ningjiang and Gu Changqing, while being given important tasks, would never be shown favor.


    For this reason, Tang Jie found that it was much easier to get inside information on Godhead Pce than expected.


    A chat over tea and a few words of provocation, perhaps even an expression of curiosity, was enough for Tang Jie to get important information on Godhead Pce.


    For example, he learned that the lockdown on Nadir Hill''s border had been lifted and the Great Mountain was the final blockade.


    He learned that the border conflict between the Seven Absolutions Sect and Godhead Pce had intensified, and Godhead Pce was mobilizing men to deal with it. It was said that Wang Juemie had put on an impressive show of might in the conflict, personally killing three Celestial Heart True Persons.


    The fiends of the Western Sea were making a ruckus and threatening the people of the region.


    A strange fissure had appeared in the central region and was devouring countless people. It was suspected to be an infiltration attempt by the Yellow Springs Domain.


    Many other interesting pieces of information were conveyed to Tang Jie''s ears.


    When a ce was big enough, there would be all sorts of incidents. If it wasn''t fiends sowing chaos, it was strange phenomena or enemy invaders, or perhaps just internal discord.


    Nadir Hill had been rather unlucky as ofte, suffering from both natural and man-made disasters.


    There was Tang Jie running around like a giant rat, various internal incidents, and even the Seven Absolutions Sect attacking. Godhead Pce was being run ragged.


    Besides that, Tang Jie also learned some things about the Basking Moon Sect.


    After the fiend army attacked the mountains, the Basking Moon Sect found out that the Beast Refining Gate was behind this and became enraged. It was currently in the middle of fighting with the Beast Refining Gate, but as they weren''t neighbors like the Seven Absolutions Sect and Godhead Pce, having the center of the continent separating them, they couldn''t have some big war. However, minor skirmishes had bemonce.


    Rosecloud''s so-called oasis of freedom, the Transverse Range, had be the battleground for the two sects, with elites from both sides fighting it out. Cai Junyang, Peng Yaolong, Qi Shaoming, and also Wei Tianchong were all collecting achievements there.


    On the other end, the Basking Moon Sect hadn''t let up its pressure on Godhead Pce.


    Other than getting Xiao Biehan to provoke Godhead Pce into not mobilizing any Violet Pce True Lords, it had also done other things, like mobilizing many of its spies in Nadir Hill to create incidents.


    This was one of the reasons behind all the troubles guing Nadir Hill as ofte. The spies of Basking Moon had received their orders and were in the middle of taking some of the pressure off Tang Jie.


    It was said that even that Yellow Springs Domain infiltration could be the work of some Basking Moon spy.


    This matter had a huge effect on Nadir Hill, and it was said that five people from Godhead Pce''s Eight Kings and Nine Generals had been mobilized to repair the fissure and prevent the Yellow Springs Domain from prating any farther.


    In addition, several small sects had left Godhead Pce, encouraged by the Basking Moon Sect''s spies.


    Through the efforts of these spies, Godhead Pce was beset by storms, and the people of Nadir Hill were frantic and worried.


    In these circumstances, the decision for Godhead Pce to send King Canis to deal with Tang Jie had note easily.


    And to capture Tang Jie, Godhead Pce was still sending over resources. Tang Jie was able to see a small storehouse behind the ck Yellow Mobile Pce, and it was stuffed with those resources.


    This included pills for cultivation, magic tools forbat, talismans, tracking devices, and so on.


    Most of them were ordinary items of little value, but one couldn''t overlook their quantity.


    Thus, on the fourth day after Tang Jie infiltrated as Qian Yingchen, a fire swept through that storehouse.


    Although it was put out in a timely fashion through arge downpour created by spell arts, the fire still managed to destroy a third of the resources, leaving Nan Ningjiang enraged.


    Upon investigation, it was learned that a servant warrior had gotten drunk and knocked over an oilmp, causing the fire.


    The servant warrior was executed on the spot.


    This was amon way of dealing with things in the Rosecloud Domain, just like how the Wei Estate had killed Shi Mo.


    Thus, nobody realized that the servant warrior had gotten drunk because someone had gifted him a bottle of wine, and if they had asked some more questions, they would have discovered that the wine hade from Qian Yingchen.


    On the sixth day of his infiltration, "Qian Yingchen" was fully recovered.


    On this day, Tang Jie made a decision.


    It was time to charge at Celestial Heart.


    In the middle of the Godhead Pce camp, under the eyes of Nan Ningjiang, Zhou Fanghu, and Master Xuan Zhong, he was going to charge at Celestial Heart!

 Chapter 520: Becoming a True Person

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    In the rear of the ck Yellow Mobile Pce was a small hall called "Cloud Fretting Hall".


    In the center of this hall was the Cloud Well. A formation wasid out here that allowed one to sense the world. On the east wall hung the Soul-Composing Mirror, which calmed the mind. To the west was the Fiendyer Sword, which extinguished illusory demons. To the south was the Clear River Willow, which purified turbid energy. And to the north stood the Firmament Stave, which upheld righteousness.


    This was the ideal ce for the charge at the Celestial Heart Realm.


    When a cultivator of Godhead Pce was abroad and came upon a chance to break through butcked in preparation, they could go here toplete their breakthrough. This ce had everything and was perfect for breakthroughs and cultivation.


    Qian Yingchen was the adopted son of a Beast Refining Gate True Lord. Given his revered status, if he had a breakthrough, it was a matter of course for this ce to be lent to him.


    With the false pretexts of revenge and hatred, Tang Jie had "impatiently" found a high-sounding reason that allowed him to smoothly upy Cloud Fretting Hall and begin the preparations for the charge at Celestial Heart.


    In the simplest terms, the Celestial Heart Realm was the process by which the cultivator sensed the will of the heavens and found the Dao Will that was mostpatible with them. They would then fortify their Spirit Will, draw Dao Runes, and form the Celestial Heart.


    This process was actually very simr to the charge at Mortal Shedding. Both involved using the force of the charge to get one''s mind to prate deeply into the world.


    What was different here was that Mortal Shedding opened the Heaven-Earth Bridge, which wasmunication through spiritual energy. Comprehending the Dao and the will of the heavens was just a bonus, and sess was not important.


    But Celestial Heart was the opposite. It required the cultivator to experience the will of the heavens and then put one''s experiences into forming the Dao Fruit. The Dao Fruit that was created was called the Celestial Heart. Thus,prehending the Dao was inevitable. The difference was in how much oneprehended.


    In this aspect, the charge at Celestial Heart was a process of finding the self and also a process ofprehending the Dao.


    For this reason, the Celestial Heart Realm was the realm where cultivators of the same realm could have the biggest difference in power.


    One Dao Rune could not even be considered reallyprehending the Dao, but it was still a Dao Fruit. Numerous Dao Runes that reflected the Heavenly Dao could also be called a Dao Fruit.


    But the levels of power these Dao Fruits disyed were as different as heaven and earth.


    In Tang Jie''s case, he hadprehended quite a lot of Daos, but he had yet to search for his self. It was only on that day when the Great Mountain embraced him that he finally observed the will of the heavens and sensed a sliver of his self, that sliver of power that waspatible with the world.


    Today, he was going to once more verify this self and make it his core.


    Tang Jie sat cross-legged within Cloud Fretting Hall, the ground around him covered in formation carvings. These were meant to assist Tang Jie in feeling the will of the heavens. But with Tang Jie''s current abilities, he no longer needed them.


    cing the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill in his mouth, Tang Jie began to form signs with his hands, and with every movement, he created points of light in the air.


    Gradually, these points of light congregated together, and then they flew toward the center of Tang Jie''s forehead.


    The Celestial Eye opened!


    The light fell on the Celestial Eye, and a bridge of light emerged, using the skywell in Cloud Fretting Hall to rise into the heavens. A momentter, the scene before Tang Jie changed, and he found himself in a vast void.


    He had seen this ce before.


    This was the boundless sea of stars, the majestic void.


    Beyond this point were the Twelve Great Daos.


    But Tang Jie knew that he wasn''t here to observe the Daos, but to seek out his fate within this vastness.


    This was the most profound strength in his soul, his most primal and instinctive will, his most authentic self!


    Tang Jie dispersed his will throughout the void, spreading out in all directions and feeling the world.


    At first, all he felt was the void, but gradually, Tang Jie felt like he was speeding up.


    And then the scene before Tang Jie changed. The sea of stars disappeared, and he appeared to be in some narrow passage, a rainbow of lights streaking past him, extending into infinity.


    As that rainbow of lights passed, he saw a boy walking through an emptywn, and around him was a forest of skyscrapers.


    This was¡­


    Earth?


    Tang Jie was stunned.


    He looked at that boy and found him to look almost identical to himself.


    Suddenly, that boy looked up at Tang Jie.


    And then he seemed to see something else and ran off in fright, shouting, "Mommy! Mommy!"


    Tang Jie wanted to call out to him, but he found that he couldn''t speak.


    All the images were stretched out as he saw that child growing older as he ran, turning from a boy into a teenager, and then into a youth, making his way through a city and busying away in society.


    asionally, he would look up at the stars and deeply sigh, and that sigh would cause the depths of Tang Jie''s heart to ripple.


    That was him!


    If things went as usual, what came next would be his death and transmigration.


    But Tang Jie did not see this.


    He saw himself continuing to move through the crowds and live.


    He grew older with time, going from youth to middle age, and then to old age, marrying and having children.


    And then one day, he was so old that he couldn''t move, lying in a bed.


    Around him was a clean white room.


    He just quietlyy there.


    Tang Jie stood at the end of the bed.


    The old man nkly stared forward.


    Suddenly, his gaze met Tang Jie''s.


    At that moment, it seemed like he could see Tang Jie again.


    He trembled.


    His eyes filled with shock and disbelief.


    After a long while, he shouted, "No!"


    And then he died.


    Tang Jie felt like he could see himself dying.


    He raised his head and looked around him.


    Everything shattered.


    The room vanished, as did that person.


    Tang Jie found himself back in the sea of stars.


    A baby was floating in the sea of stars, sucking his thumb. It seemed as if the entire world was a womb, and he was the life it was nurturing.


    That baby was him.


    Suddenly, the baby opened his eyes and began to cry.


    This cry resounded through the world, shattering it.


    "This is¡­" Tang Jie was dumbfounded.


    He had never heard about the charge at Celestial Heart and the finding of the self happening like this.


    Was it because he was a transmigrator?


    Or was there some other factor?


    Why had he never heard of this sort of manifestation appearing before?


    What exactly did it mean?


    Tang Jie waspletely confused.


    All the selves of cultivators had very specific and clear indications that allowed one to know what one was truly skilled in.


    For example, Ming Yekong''s self was space, and the core Dao Will that circled his Dao Fruit was the Great Dao of Space.


    For Xie Fengtang, his self had been erudition. It was not one of the Great Daos or a principle of the world, but Xie Fengtang had still relied on it as the basis to attain the Dao.


    But Tang Jie had no idea what his own self was.


    And this was after he had clearly perceived the will of the heavens. In other words, this was the limit of what could be seen, and nobody could have been able to see any more than this. But the more he saw, the more confused he became, so he was even worse off than those who had only gotten vague and blurry glimpses.


    But the scenes had stopped here, and nothing else followed. He had to immediately condense the manifestation, or else he would miss the chance to break through into Celestial Heart.


    Gazing at the shattered firmament, Tang Jie clenched his teeth and pointed at the sky. He began to make numerous hand signs, and a wind howled in the heavens. Currents of air spiraled around him as variousw runes began to appear around him.


    This was Tang Jie''s personal Dao Will, but s, Tang Jie didn''t even know what it was. Yet the runes so densely filled the sea of stars that he was rendered speechless.


    But at this point, he had no choice except to continue forming hand signs.


    He raised his head and spat.


    A torrent of energy rushed out and began to circle in the air.


    This was the ball of energy created by the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill. It seemed to have physical presence, lingering in the air rather than dispersing.


    As he continued to make more hand signs, that ball of energy shed with a golden light. The Dao Runes began to gather at the golden light, and the golden light grewrger andrger, and gradually began to condense into the shape of a heart.


    The Celestial Heart Dao Fruit!


    Condensing the Celestial Heart was an extremelyplicated and risky task that required the cultivator''s full strength and attention. The slightest mistake might cause the Celestial Heart to copse, which would be tantamount to a Celestial Heart self-detonation.


    As for the power, that would depend on the Celestial Heart''s level ofpletion.


    For this reason, from the moment the charge at Celestial Heart began, every step was perilous. And the charge at Celestial Heart was actually the least dangerous, for if one was cautious, the chances of Celestial Heart detonation were very low. As for Heart Demon and Soul Transformation, and even the charge at Violet Pce, they had problems that one''s caution could not resolve. Other than effort, one also needed luck.


    The Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill was an important medicine that stabilized the Celestial Heart. With it as the core, the Celestial Heart would more smoothly and stably condense.


    As Tang Jie worked, the Celestial Heart Dao Fruit gradually took form.


    It was apparent that Tang Jie''s Celestial Heart was extremely powerful, covered in countless Dao Wills and radiating a powerful light. Tang Jie was amazed by what he was seeing.


    This was only the core Dao Will. He hadn''t even attached the Dao Wills that he hadprehended yet.


    The core Dao Will had no connection to the Great Dao. It could be one of the Great Daos, but didn''t need to be. It was somethingpatible with the cultivator that formed into a Dao Will, and it could be considered the most personal minor Dao, only working with oneself.


    For this reason, most cultivators would only have one or two Dao Runes after forming their Celestial Heart, which couldn''t be consideredprehending the Dao. At best, it was considered finding a little gift, being a little skilled in a particr aspect. "Core" sounded nice, but its main function was to condense the Celestial Heart, not to make one powerful.


    But Tang Jie''s Celestial Heart was something else entirely.


    This wasn''t likeparing an elephant to an ant, but a mountain to an ant.


    The golden light in the sea of stars was still condensing.


    Tang Jie no longer needed to intervene for the condensing to happen.


    Tang Jie still couldn''t understand what all the numerous Dao Wills were, but he could sense the turbulent strength within them.


    At this point, Tang Jie decided to just ignore it.


    For a Celestial Heart, the more Dao Wills, the better! In any case, this was just an avatar. Even if it blew up, it wouldn''t affect the original body, so he wasn''t scared of anything!


    Tang Jie decided to go all-out. As those numerous Dao Runes seemed on the verge of all attaching, he waved his hands, adding the Dao Wills he had experienced over thest few years to the Dao Fruit.


    This was thest phase of the Celestial Heart''s condensation, but not everyone had to go through it. One would add one''sprehensions of the Dao to the Dao Fruit, make it a more physical existence and also making it more powerful.


    Only this sort of fruit could be considered a real Dao Fruit.


    It wasn''t only cultivators who hadprehended a Dao before the charge at Celestial Heart that had this privilege.


    Tang Jie now applied all of the Great Daos he hadprehended: the Dao of Insight, the Dao of Karma, the Daos of Space and Time, the Dao of Life. Theyyered over each other, making that golden Dao Fruit even more resplendent.


    But Tang Jie found it strange that these Dao Wills didn''tpletely attach to the Dao Fruit, instead floating on the surface, constantly revolving around it like a ring.


    But Tang Jie couldn''t worry about all this. He had alreadye this far, and there was no reason to stop.


    Finally, as Tang Jie made thest sign, the Celestial Heart suddenly dimmed. Tang Jie found that all of those countless Dao Wills that had attached to the Celestial Heart had disappeared.


    Yes, they had disappeared.


    The dazzling Dao Fruit had be much darker. There was only one Dao Rune left, carving out a very obvious notch in the fruit.


    As for the Dao Wills that had been floating on the surface¡ªthe ones that Tang Jie had added, like the Dao of Insight¡ªthey began to formplicated Dao Runes on the Celestial Heart, allowing it to shine once more.


    The Celestial Heart lit up once more, though this time, it seemed much more normal.


    This was a powerful Dao Fruit that had many Dao Wills attached to it, representing a cultivator''s profound understanding of the world and their ability tomand it, and the countless Dao Runes signified that its possessor was destined to be powerful.


    But Tang Jie couldn''t forget that previous splendor.


    That light was something that all the Dao Wills he had put together couldn''tpare to.


    What had that been?


    He didn''t know.


    He only saw that when that light had disappeared, leaving behind that single core Dao Rune, a single word had appeared.


    Tang Jie didn''t recognize this word, but it represented a supreme principle of the world. The moment Tang Jie saw it, he instinctively knew its meaning.


    "''Parting''!" he blurted out.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    He opened his eyes.


    He was still sitting in Cloud Fretting Hall.


    It seemed like all of this had been an illusion.


    But Tang Jie knew that all of it had really happened.


    All that had happened in the sea of stars had actually happened within his own body. The Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill was no more, reced by a pill-sized Dao Fruit that floated within his body.


    One world outside the body, and one world within the body.


    To use one''s heart to experience the heart of the heavens! This was the Celestial Heart Realm!


    Tang Jie felt his body thrumming with power.


    He raised his head and shouted, "Bring wine!"


    The eight servant warriors outside the hall immediately rushed in, carryingrge jars of spirit wine.


    Sixteen jars full of spirit wine were ced in front of Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie pped one of the jars.


    Thud!


    The jar opened, and wine gushed out and flowed into Tang Jie''s body.


    Spiritual power filled his body, replenishing his Spirit Sea.


    But this still wasn''t enough.


    Tang Jie pped one jar after another, sending the wine into his body. The wine turned into steam and rushed out of his pores, creating a white fog. Meanwhile, spiritual power ran through Tang Jie''s body like a raging river.


    Tang Jie''s Spiritual Space was soon awash with spiritual energy. In normal circumstances, this was a peak Mortal Shedding expert''s ideal state.


    But for the Celestial Heart Realm, this was only the beginning.


    More energy rushed out, forming a radiance around Tang Jie.


    As his Spirit Will extended, this light formed into an expanding ring.


    A Spirit Ring!


    The Spirit Ring was overflowing spiritual energy that, instead of dispersing, was controlled by the Spirit Will into circling around the cultivator, forming a ring. And this ring signified two things.


    The first was that the cultivator''s upper limit of spiritual energy had increased. Originally, a cultivator was limited to the spiritual energy that could be stored in their Spiritual Space. But now, because of the Celestial Heart, they could store spiritual energy outside of their body, allowing them to use more spiritual energy in more powerful spell arts and to fight for longer.


    The second was that they now possessed a zone of control. The area within the Spirit Ring was under the absolute control of the cultivator. In this region, the cultivator could cast spell arts more quickly and with greater power. This was also why Spirit Ring True Persons would release their Spirit Ring inbat.


    The size of the Spirit Ring depended on the range of one''s Spirit Will.


    The maximum length of the Spirit Will was the radius of the Spirit Ring.


    Therger the Spirit Ring, the more spiritual energy it could hold and the greater the zone of control it conferred.


    Tang Jie''s Spirit Will had a length of 25.4 meters, which ranked among the top ten in the Basking Moon Sect, even squeezing out the current Swordholder of the sect, Xiao Biehan. Thus, his Spirit Ring zone was also huge.


    The Spirit Ring quickly expanded out of Cloud Fretting Hall, and it continued to expand.


    Having a Spirit Ring meant that one had sessfully broken through into Celestial Heart.


    A mor came from outside the hall.


    "Young Master Qian, congrattions on attaining Celestial Heart!"


    "Initial attainment of the Spirit Ring and greater attainment of the Celestial Heart! Congrattions, Young Master, congrattions."


    "Young Master Qian lives up to your reputation as a genius of the Beast Refining Gate, attaining True Person in a single day! Congrattions!"


    As the congrattions rang out, the people waiting outside entered.


    Although there was only one step between the peak of Mortal Shedding and Celestial Heart Spirit Ring, the gap between them was huge.


    Tang Jie could sense that he had gotten much stronger. The Celestial Heart Dao Fruit had finally allowed him to unleash all of the reserves he had built up through years of hard work. At that moment, Tang Jie was confident that, let alone Nan Ningjiang''s group, he could even kill Elders Gold and Silver and Li Song. Even if he had to fight Master Xuan Zhong, even if he couldn''t win, he could at least escape.


    If King Canis He Changan hadn''t been here, he might have called over his original body and killed everyone here.


    All around him were ttering smiles, but Tang Jie was thinking about murder.


    Looking around at all those familiar faces, Tang Jie smiled and said, "Yingchen was able to get this far thanks to everyone''s generous support. I do not dare to forget this kindness and will richly repay it in the future."


    Tang Jie suddenly threw his head back and roared.


    The sound resounded across the heavens, shaking the world.


    Far in the distance, Tang Jie''s original body and Xu Miaoran peered in that direction.


    Xu Miaoran asked, "What happened?"


    "It''s nothing. Just another step on the long, long path of Immortality," the original body casually replied.

 Chapter 521: Special Training

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    "Aaaah!"


    With a scream, a person mmed into a mountain wall and then limply slid down, leaving behind a long streak of blood.


    "Hong Yuan!" Xian Tao rushed over and hugged the fallen girl. Angrily turning around, she shouted, "Are you even still human? She just finished recovering, and you''re already being so harsh on her!"


    Nearby, Tang Jie stood with his hands behind his back. He coldly said, "Is she dead? If not, then stand up so that we can continue the training."


    "Still not done?" Even Xu Miaoran was shouting. "Tang Jie, you''re not really nning to beat them to death, are you?"


    At this time, Xu Miaoran, Xian Tao, and Hong Yuan were all covered in wounds.


    A few days ago, Tang Jie had officially started training them.


    Initially, he had lectured them on some knowledge of how to escape and battle techniques, and after that came the practical training.


    Cultivators had many abilities and tricks, and a lot of his knowledge from his old world had no meaning here. What was truly important was his way of thinking. Tang Jie taught them precisely this way of thinking, the ability to go to any lengths to defeat one''s opponent for the sake of surviving. The things he taught were unconventional and went against themon grain, generally uneptable to the ethical standards of the Rosecloud Domain.


    For example, Xu Miaoran''s torturing of Qian Yingchen was actually a form of psychological torture, for Qian Yingchen had been stripped naked for his torture.


    In this era, women couldn''t be seen naked by men, and they also couldn''t see the naked bodies of men.


    Tang Jie didn''t care at all, bluntly saying, "What''s wrong with seeing a man''s naked body? Who isn''t born being stared at by a bunch of people and will have to look at a bunch of people in the future? There are plenty of naughty kids in the countryside who go around butt-naked, so does that mean you have to kill yourself if you see one? If that was really the case, then in battle, if your opponent just takes off his pants, does your side need to put down their arms? If you need to see it, see it. There''s no need to avoid it. Taking a look at his private parts won''t make you lose your virginity, not even mentioning that this kid doesn''t have any."


    Qian Yingchen had been an experimental subject, studied from all angles.


    Another person might have needed to be taught this way for some time before the lessons took effect, but the people of Horizon Ocean Pavilion were different. Fiend women were fiend women for a reason, and while they were somewhat conflicted, they soon became anxious to learn.


    They learned everything, including how to use their advantages in battle and various ways of killing people, making rapid progress.


    But when it came to practical battles, problems started cropping up.


    The three girls had never tasted much hardship before. Putting aside Xu Miaoran''s background as a rich youngdy, the two maids, though they served their youngdy, mostly did things like serving tea. The rougher work was naturally left for servants of lower status. After cultivating, they learned many spell arts that saved them time and effort. Thus, on their flight from Endsea, though there had been some heavybor needed, a single spell art was usually able to solve the problem. As a result, though they were maids, they had gotten rather spoiled.


    Tang Jie''s training was meant to squeeze out their potential. The training wasn''t in spell arts, but in having the will to fight in various extreme situations and a mentality to never give up.


    Actually, these girls already had this kind of mentality. It had appeared in the fight against Qian Yingchen.


    But their performance had been far too basic, only biting back when they had fallen into enemy hands, unable to change the overall situation that much. Tang Jie wanted them to fight back no matter how strong the opponent was, battling them to the death.


    In this aspect, the three of them were far toocking, even Xu Miaoran.


    Thus, the training was very simple: the three girls would work together and fight Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie''s original body was so strong that he only needed one finger to crush the three of them, but Tang Jie didn''t hold back. During battle, he exerted the full strength of his aura. Xu Miaoran was somewhat able to endure the realm pressure, but Xian Tao and Hong Yuan didn''t even have the courage to resist.


    This earned Tang Jie''s sharp rebuke. "Why aren''t you attacking? What? When the opponent is stronger than you, do you not even have the courage to attack them? Forget about realm pressure. That''s just a tool used to bully the weak. The true braves would even dare to challenge the heavens. Think about Zhang Shuhan. Can the gap between you and me bepared to him and the Heavenly Dao? No! Realm pressure doesn''t exist. All that exists is the timidity in our hearts. Take out your courage and bravely confront the challenge!"


    But no matter how he shouted, the two girls didn''t have the courage to fight him. Only Xu Miaoran dared to attack him, but Tang Jie was able to easily handle her attacks, meanwhile shouting that they were too weak.


    He knew that the reason Xian Tao and Hong Yuan didn''t attack was that they were still under the impression that he wouldn''t kill them. In order to shatter this sliver of hope, Tang Jie held nothing back, sending Hong Yuan flying with a strike of his palm.


    In response to Xian Tao''s criticism, Tang Jie coldly said, "Did youe here to help me and fight alongside me, or to be a burden for me? In terms of strength, the three of you put together are at least stronger than Yiyi, but you''re not even half as effective as her! A little injury has you backing away, a little pain has you afraid, and a small threat makes you freeze. Did youe to help me, or are you Godhead Pce spies?"


    Xu Miaoran looked at Tang Jie and saw the serious look in his eyes.


    This gaze said, "If you want to fight alongside me, you have to be worthy of it first."


    Thus, Xu Miaoran smiled and said, "You''re right."


    She turned to her maids and shouted with all her might, "Stand up! Don''t forget that I''m your youngdy! If I haven''t fallen yet, what right do my maids have to fall? Back then, you two insisted oning with me! If you want to give up, then hurry up and get out!"


    "Young Lady!" Xian Tao was startled by Xu Miaoran''s words.


    While Hong Yuan seemed like a carefree person, she had a stubborn streak. Pushing aside Xian Tao, she stood up and said, "Don''t worry about me! I can do it!"


    She red at Tang Jie and shed her incisors. "It''s not every day you get the chance to beat up the husband-to-be. Hmph, this girl doesn''t want to give up yet! Near Horizon Finger!''


    A finger pierced through the firmament!


    Tang Jie faintly smiled. "Good job."


    He allowed the finger to pierce into his body. "If you can leave ten wounds on my body, this battle is your victory. Remember, ten wounds. There has to be blood."


    "Yah!" The three girls looked at each other and finally lunged out in unison, unleashing their strongest attacks as if they were facing the most wicked devil in these mountains.


    Several months psed in the blink of an eye.


    Tang Jie had been in Nadir Hill for more than a year.


    Half of his time had been spent sowing chaos within Nadir Hill, and the other half had been spent in these mountains.


    Under Tang Jie''s training, the three girls didn''t have much of a change in their cultivation, but their actualbat skills saw a huge improvement, particrly in willpower and teamwork. When Tang Jie was holding back, the trio could put on quite an impressive fight with him.


    And with Tang Jie''s permission, the three were able to use any sinister and cunning moves they could think of. They spent every day thinking about how to ambush him.


    While walking, Tang Jie might suddenly be ambushed, or even in his sleep or when cultivating, and sometimes his food would be poisoned¡­ but in all cases, the three slowly realized that this guy was practically unkible.


    But they also had to watch out for Tang Jie''s counterattacks. Fortunately, Tang Jie focused on technique in his sneak attacks rather than using his strength to overwhelm them. So long as the three could notice him, they would be considered to have won. This made the three girls much more interested, which allowed the game to continue.


    Besides the training, they were also engaged in a battle of wits and courage with Godhead Pce.


    After all, this was not a truly safe environment, and in reality, the threat of Godhead Pce hung over their heads like a giant mountain. While going through their tough training, they also had to deal with the constant danger of Godhead Pce.


    A person from Godhead Pce mighte over while they were training, which meant that they would have to immediately flee and change their base, which also allowed them to apply the escape methods they had just learned.


    Initially, Tang Jie even needed to carry them around, making them real burdens.


    But the three of them quickly got used to the tempo. They learned how to efficiently allocate their spiritual energy, how tobine their body''s strength with spell arts so that they used less and moved faster, and they learned how to persevere.


    They learned how to escape, and also gradually how to fight. Although their cultivation levels were rather low, they were no longer crushed as if they didn''t even exist. And in the face of differing situations, they were able to make the correct decisions, ensuring that their existence had worth and wasn''t just another addition to the enemy''s kill count.


    They learned how to quickly make judgments on the enemy and the situation and then take the most appropriate countermeasures.


    This might not be enough to let them win, but it could let them survive and take action in critical moments.


    In this sort of high-pressure environment, one either crumbled or grew up.


    Fortunately, they weren''t ordinary people. After getting past the most difficult initial period, they grew rapidly.


    Of course, the fact that the avatar was with Godhead Pce had an extremely important role in all this.


    There were many pursuits where it was only the avatar''s timely warning that allowed them to escape. The most dangerous time was when King Canis He Changan had locked onto the original body''s trail and heavily wounded Tang Jie with a single strike.


    Tang Jie had no choice but to let out arge number of bean soldiers to cover their retreat.


    In that battle, Tang Jie lost 1800 bean soldiers¡ªthe greatest loss Tang Jie had sustained to date.


    1800 bean soldiers could even deal with a Heart Demon True Person, but in the face of King Canis, they were only able tost a few moments before suffering aplete copse.


    But after losing that opportunity, King Canis wasn''t able to pick up Tang Jie''s tracks again. Not even his nose, which was as sharp as a dog''s, was able to catch Tang Jie''s scent. After all, Tang Jie had plenty of Befuddling Grass.


    This was a spirit nt meant for dealing with tracking dogs. Once applied to the body, it made it difficult to distinguish one''s scent. Just as Nan Ningjiang had said, anyone who could deal with hunting dogs could deal with King Canis.


    But the Befuddling Grass would run out eventually, and Tang Jie wouldn''t be able to replenish his supply. Since his original body''s scent had already been picked up once, he would definitely be detected once the grass was used up. For this reason, the moment the original body''s scent had been found, this battle became one of attrition. It was only a matter of time before the knives came out.


    But for Tang Jie, the one in need of time was the avatar, not the original body.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    A quiet little room.


    In his private chamber, Tang Jie, in the form of Qian Yingchen, was meditating. A ring of light beneath him was constantly expanding and retracting, brightening and dimming.


    White wisps trailed out of Tang Jie''s nose, drifting into the air and lingering. No matter how this white mist drifted around, it never left the ring. Any that did leave the ring would immediately dissipate.


    Gradually, white mist umted in the ring of light, and the ring also expanded, reaching the limits of his Spirit Will before finally stopping.


    More white mist umted, and eventually, Tang Jie was almostpletely enclosed within it.


    Only then did Tang Jie open his eyes, and as he did, the white mist in the Spirit Ring suddenly shifted, bing like a vortex and howling around Tang Jie.


    Whew! "This Frost Domain really isn''t easy to cultivate. After three months, I''ve only reached minor attainment."


    After attaining Celestial Heart, the avatar had secluded himself in the quiet room and focused entirely on cultivating the Frost Domain.


    One reason for this was to reduce his interaction time so as to avoid being exposed. Although he already knew that King Canis He Changan had been too proud to meet with Qian Yingchen before this, meaning that he didn''t know Qian Yingchen''s scent, meaning he couldn''t be exposed from that avenue, he still had to watch out for Huang Yue. Who knew when this guy might suddenly look over with his Insight and see through him? And another reason was the Frost Domain itself.


    The Frost Domain was not an art of the Basking Moon Sect, but a secret art of Godhead Pce. To get this art, Tang Jie had promised to send Godhead Pce the remains of a Ghostback Phoenix Beast once this matter was over.


    The Ghostback Phoenix Beast was a beast of High Antiquity, and it was nearly extinct in the present. Several hundred years ago, the Beast Refining Gate had had the fortune of finding the grave of a Ghostback Phoenix Beast, and there had been the bodies of several dozen of them inside. It was said that they still retained their divinity from High Antiquity and were excellent materials for making armor.


    Godhead Pce was without rival when it came to forging armor, so it ced a high value on such materials and was very interested in the remains of a Ghostback Phoenix Beast. After gaining Tang Jie''s promise, it agreed to pass the Frost Domain to Tang Jie. Of course, Tang Jie had to swear to not pass it on to outsiders.


    Tang Jie swore in Qian Yingchen''s name that he would be punished by the gods if he broke his promise, and Godhead Pce was very satisfied by his sincerity, so the deal was struck. In any case, the art of the Frost Domain was only the surface. Without the core, even if someone else learned it, they wouldn''t understand how to properly use it.


    It was like someone with refined beasts but without the Myriad Beast Union Mantra. They would be unable tomand beasts with such proficiency as the Beast Refining Gate did.


    The Frost Domain, as a secret art of Godhead Pce, really could be said to have divine power. The most important thing about it was that it was a fourth type of defensive system.


    Current knowledge indicated that cultivators could not endlessly apply defensive barriers on top of each other. Usually, only one of each type of defensive method could exist.


    For this reason, cultivators could normally ovep three types of defensive systems: body-strengthening, armor, and barrier.


    For example, the Formless Golden Body was of the body-strengthening type, Godhead Armor was of the armor type, and the Aquagel Shroud was of the barrier type. Only one of each of these three types could work on a person''s body at the same time.


    Unlike other sects, Godhead Pce had a fourth defensive type: the ring type. To put it simply, it extended the defensive system outside of the body, borrowing the Spirit Ring to create an external defense. For this reason, this art could only be used by True Persons at minimum, as only someone with a Spirit Ring was able to use it.


    The Frost Domain was a ring-type defensive spell art.


    As a Water-type spell art, its greatest use wasn''t defense, but weakening.


    All spell arts that entered the Frost Domain would be greatly weakened. Given the absolute control granted by the Spirit Ring zone, this spell art''s defensive abilities were on par with the other three types. Not only that, other cultivators would be affected if they entered this zone.


    But Tang Jie wanted this art not for its defensive ability, but for its obscuring ability.


    The Frost Domain was a spell art with a broad array of uses. Once activated, it would fill the Spirit Ring with icy fog, and no one except the caster could see anything. It was perfect for closebat. Another advantage was that it diminished Huang Yue''s Insight to a certain extent.


    It had to be understood that spell arts had their own hierarchy.


    Tang Jie disguise spell art was formidable not because of its variation, but because it was hard to see through.


    There were countless cultivators who could turn into other things, but there were also just as many who could see through them. Only transformations that could not be seen through had any meaning. The transformation spell Tang Jie had obtained from the Illusion Fox was of a very high level and not easily seen through.


    And when a defensive barrier was applied to this transformation, even Huang Yue''s level of Insight would find it very hard to see through. To see through it, Shi Wunian himself might have toe. Other than the Aspirational Lord''s Great Aspiration Divine Connection, Shi Wunian was also famous for his pair of Celestial Eyes.


    With the Frost Domain, Tang Jie was much more confident in dealing with Huang Yue.


    For this reason, the moment Tang Jie broke through, he secluded himself and cultivated the Frost Domain. Every day, he woulde out for only a little while in order to gather intelligence.


    Even so, Tang Jie still needed three months to grasp it, and this was with the original body''s help. s, because the original body could never enter Celestial Heart, it would not be able to use the Frost Domain.


    In truth, as the two bodies made their separate advancements, this sort of thing would happen more frequently. Many spell arts could only be cultivated when one reached a certain cultivation level, and this became more frequent the higher one ascended.


    Regrettably, the original body seemed to be stuck with only his powerful constitution, as there seemed to be no spell art that he could use.


    This had Tang Jie feeling rather rueful. Upon reaching Celestial Heart, the avatar had erupted in strength, and he could now fight against Heart Demon cultivators while still at Spirit Ring.


    But the original body, as a cultivator at the middle tier of the Diamond Body, still found it hard to fight against Soul Transformation cultivators.


    Considering the resources and arts the original body had avable to him, it seemed to not fit with the legacy he was inheriting.


    This gap rested on the fact that the original body had only brute strength and no techniques to use it with.


    Perhaps the nextyer would resolve that problem.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but wonder.


    Perhaps the sixthyer had the solution, and the original body was strong enough to open up the sixthyer now. As for the key to opening the sixthyer, the original body had found it long ago. It was in the valley.


    But after learning his lesson fromst time, the original body had acted with caution.


    s, the original body still couldn''t return to the formation, so this matter could only wait.


    Having gotten a basic grasp of the Frost Domain, he was in the middle of rejoicing when the voice of a maid came from outside.


    "Young Master!"


    "What? Didn''t I say that I wasn''t to be disturbed while cultivating?"


    "It''s¡­ Young Master Jin hase," the maid said in a shaky voice.


    "''Young Master Jin''?" Tang Jie was startled. "Which Young Master Jin?"


    "It''s Young Master Jin Yutang, your good friend."


    Tang Jie was rmed by these words.


    He finally recalled who this Jin Yutang was.

 Chapter 522: Secret Ground

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Walking out, Tang Jie saw that arge group of people had gathered in the main hall.


    They were led by a young man in opulent clothes, waving a feather fan as he sat on the main seat, Qian Yingchen''s seat. Next to him was an old steward, and there were also sixteen powerful men inbat attire.


    Upon closer look, Tang Jie found that he couldn''t tell that steward''s cultivation level, and the sixteen warriors were all at Cognitive Creation¡ªthis was the limit for a servant, as those who became True Persons would usually stop being servants.


    Upon seeing that Tang Jie hade, the young man remained seated and grumbled, "Yingchen, you really know how to make a person wait."


    Tang Jieughed and went up to greet him. "Young Master Jin, how do you have the time toe and see me? I was cultivating just now, so please forgive me for not greeting you promptly."


    He sat down next to the young man, assuming the subordinate position.


    Information on Jin Yutang was emerging in his mind.


    Jin Yutang was the only son of the Beast Refining Gate''s Sanguine True Lord, and was a Spirit Ring True Person.


    In terms of status, Jin Yutang''s was greater than Qian Yingchen''s. After all, Qian Yingchen was an adopted son while Jin Yutang was a true descendant.


    Butpared to the descendants of other Titans, Jin Yutang was a real good-for-nothing. He truly fit the stereotype, relying on his father''s prestige tomit all sorts of tyrannical and wicked deeds.


    The descendants of prestigious figures enjoyed the best education and the ideal educational environment, but they were also drowning in ttery, causing them to be misled and unable to distinguish the truth.


    For this reason, children of great ns were often very extreme, either extremely outstanding or extremely awful.


    Jin Yutang was of the awful sort.


    The Sanguine True Lord had only one son, whom he had pampered since he was a babe, gradually turning him arrogant and bossy.


    After bing Feng Muyuan''s adopted son, Qian Yingchen keenly understood that his background among this circle of True Lord descendants wascking, so he sought out supporters. Thus, he went to Jin Yutang, just like how Huang Yue hade to find Qian Yingchen. Everyone was trying to develop their own socialwork, which was extremely important, even in the cultivation world.


    As time went on, the two gradually became good friends.


    Tang Jie was very surprised by Jin Yutang''s sudden arrival. Most importantly, Jin Yutang knew Qian Yingchen the most.


    Although he didn''t have Insight, he had a deep understanding of Qian Yingchen, and it was hard to say what words or actions might set off his suspicions.


    For Tang Jie, the moment his enemy started to suspect was basically the moment he was exposed.


    For this reason, Tang Jie had to be careful with this visit. While the avatar was entertaining the guest, the original body began to interrogate Qian Yingchen.


    Jin Yutang replied, "How else could it be? Didn''t you ask for support?"


    "''Support''?" Tang Jie was startled. "You''re saying that you''re the reinforcements sent by the sect?"


    Tang Jie had infiltrated the enemy as Qian Yingchen, so to avoid suspicion, he had no choice but to request reinforcements from the Beast Refining Gate. He had asked for both men and resources, some of which were meant to fulfill his promises to others¡ªit wouldn''t do to leave all of them unfulfilled.


    There was no problem with the handwriting. The original body had just forced Qian Yingchen to write the letter, and then it was ryed to the avatar through spell arts.


    But Tang Jie had never imagined that the Beast Refining Gate would send a good-for-nothing like Jin Yutang.


    While he was a Spirit Ring True Person, that was entirely because his father had pushed him up there through the sheer power of wealth. In terms of actualbat power, he was so awful that any Cognitive Creation cultivator in the sect could knock him down.


    The Beast Refining Gate didn''t seem to be taking this seriously if they were sending Jin Yutang, and it wasn''t at all like how they usually acted. Of course, from Tang Jie''s perspective, this was a good thing, but he felt like things weren''t as simple as they seemed.


    Sure enough, Jin Yutang waved his fan and said, "Not all of them. The sect sent Ao Chihu''s group over, but I didn''t have anything else to do in the meantime, and I heard that you weren''t doing well in capturing Tang Jie, so I came over to help."


    "So it''s Senior Brother Ao who is leading the reinforcements this time."


    Tang Jie also knew of Ao Chihu. He was the Sanguine True Lord''s second disciple, a Heart Demon True Person and a true elite of the Beast Refining Gate. He was many times stronger than Jin Yutang, on par with Master Xuan Zhong. It was clear that the Beast Refining Gate was furious over Feng Buzhi''s death and had dispatched someone even stronger.


    But no matter how strong he was, he couldn''t do anything to this fool. Tang Jie was certain that this guy hadn''t been sent by the Beast Refining Gate, but had intercepted Ao Chihu midway and insisted oning.


    There had to be something wrong with his head for him to give up on his luxurious life and run over toe and catch Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie smiled. "Then where is Senior Brother Ao now?"


    "Him? He''s speaking with that First Hawk Nan, studying how to catch Tang Jie. I had nothing to do, so I came to see you. Once there''s news of Tang Jie, we can go together to catch him."


    He spoke as if catching Tang Jie was as easy as catching a snail.


    "This¡­" Tang Jie looked at Jin Yutang and then looked at the old steward.


    The old steward lightly coughed. "Young Master, the Spirit Mountains are aplicated ce, and Tang Jie is very cunning and devious. This task will not be easy."


    Jin Yutang impatiently said, "I know, I know. But no matter how cunning he is, aren''t all of you here? If we can capture Tang Jie, won''t everyone in the world know of my name? Hmph, when the timees, Fairy Rose Rainbow will be prostrating at my feet. Let''s see if she dares to call me ''shiny on the outside and rotten on the inside'' again!"


    Tang Jie was stunned. Had this guye to catch him to get famous and earn a girl''s love?


    Now that he thought about it, his reputation really did make him a worthwhile target.


    He was wanted by the Beast Refining Gate and was even in the top ten of the Myriad Immortal Register, on par with Wang Juemie.


    He had seen many peoplee after him for cultivation resources, but this was the first time someone wasing at him for fame and girls.


    Most of the people he had interacted with in his cultivation life were capable and ambitious youths with their own ideals, and he rarely interacted with the ipetents. Now that he had run into one, he truly found it difficult to get used to the feeling.


    After a while, he came to his senses and smiled. "With Young Master Jin here, Tang Jie will find it hard to escape."


    Jin Yutangughed.


    One basic attribute of idiots wasn''t that they never recognized reality. Even though the various stories had proved long ago that Tang Jie was no easy customer, Jin Yutang easily ignored it all, boldly believing that Tang Jie was bound to be captured now that he was here.


    Looking at Jin Yutang''s smile, Tang Jie suddenly realized that this guy''s arrival presented him an even better opportunity.


    Far better for the enemy to get a fool of apanion than oneself getting an amazingpanion¡ªthis was essentially a gift from the heavens.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    Jin Yutang''s arrival truly did cause disarray in the ck Yellow Mobile Pce.


    Tang Jie quickly realized that this young master was very capable when it came to causing trouble.


    Finding the living amodations of the ck Yellow Mobile Pce to be too crude, this young master cleared somend for his own mobile pce, cutting down trees in a radius of one thousand feet and using a modr type of pce art relic to create a pceplex that was many times more impressive than an imperial pce.


    This guy then spent every day in this pce,mitting lustful acts¡ªhe had his subordinatesing in and out of the mountains every day in order to find women to amuse him.


    The sealing formation that Nan Ningjiang had set up wasn''t meant to be opened up lightly, but because of this guy, it now had to be opened up almost once a day. This matter had Nan Ningjiang almost going crazy, because if Tang Jie knew of this matter, he only needed to find the right moment to teleport and thus easily escape.


    At that point, the world would be his oyster, and there would be nothing left to stop Tang Jie.


    In fact, Tang Jie did know about it. The only reason he didn''t leave was that he didn''t want to.


    In the end, King Canis He Changan personally came out and rebuked Young Master Jin for treating the Spirit Mountains like they were his personal garden.


    Without outside entertainment, this Young Master Jin began seeking entertainment within the mountains.


    He quickly took a liking to hunting.


    Yes.


    He started hunting those fiends.


    While everyone in Godhead Pce was being careful to not hurt any existences of the Great Mountain, this Young Master Jin was brazenly clearing rocks and trees and hunting animals.


    And he even dragged Tang Jie along with him.


    Worried that he might expose himself, Tang Jie initially tried to avoid him, but heter realized that this guy was aplete idiot. With his intelligence, he would never notice the differences between the fake Qian Yingchen and the real one, and even if he noticed, he wouldn''t think that this guy would be Tang Jie. Thus, he decided to join Young Master Jin in ying in the mountains.


    The only person he needed to be careful of was that old steward. Even with his Insight, he was never able to see that man''s cultivation level.


    But while he couldn''t see it, he could guess.


    A Heart Demon cultivator wouldn''t be able to hide from Tang Jie''s insight, and there was no way the steward could be a Violet Pce True Lord, so Tang Jie guessed that he was probably at Soul Transformation, most likely a Soul Transformation expert that specialized in concealment.


    It was only because this sort of powerful person was around that the Sanguine True Lord didn''t have to worry as his son ran around the ce.


    Besides that, there was also Ao Chihu.


    As the true support the Beast Refining Gate had sent, Ao Chihu was a very capable person.


    This person hade from a hunter background, so he was a master at tracking through a forest, which was why the Beast Refining Gate had sent him to rece Feng Buzhi. This person had brought sixty men: five Spirit Ring True Persons, twenty disciples of the Wild Beast Hall, thirty Beast Morphers, and five beast tamers.


    The Wild Beast Hall was akin to the Combat Department of the Basking Moon Sect, and its disciples were extremely formidable in battle.


    Beast Morphers were a lower level of warrior. They had average strength, but all of them had the ability to morph into some sort of beast, which would boost theirbat strength for a short time. This made them excellent cannon fodder.


    Among the cannon fodder warriors of the six major sects, the Beast Refining Gate probably had the most practical kind.


    As for the beast tamers, unlike those who cultivated the Myriad Beast Union Mantra, they relied on herbs and medicines to entice and control numerous fiends. Unlike official disciples of the Beast Refining Gate, they were able to control many more fiends, almost without limit. But the quality was limited, as their methods were basically useless against fiends at Mind Opening or above.


    The Beast Morphers and beast tamers were primarily there for Tang Jie''s bean soldiers. After several exchanges, the functions of the bean soldiers had be extremely clear. While they were individually weak, they possessed formidable teamwork, and Tang Jie was always able to use them to divide and conquer his foes.


    The bean soldiers hadn''t killed many cultivators, but they could already be considered one of Tang Jie''s strategic assets.


    The Beast Morphers and beast tamers would deal with these soldiers, and taking on this mission with them would be Godhead Pce''s servant warriors and Goldte Automatons.


    While calcting the strength of the two sides, Tang Jie quietly waited for his moment.


    He was in no rush.


    The original body was still training Xu Miaoran''s group of three, and every day of dy let them get a little stronger.


    The avatar was continuing to move around with the enemy, gathering intelligence and swindling resources. Jin Yutang''s arrival gave Tang Jie a new target to scam. As the Sanguine True Lord''s only son, this guy truly had a lot of treasures.


    Besides that, the material support the Beast Refining Gate had brought had also profited Tang Jie. Using the special rtionship between the two sects, Tang Jie and Nan Ningjiang colluded to enrich each other and take batch after batch of resources for themselves.


    The long pursuit didn''t end up with Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate catching their target, but it did fatten the pockets of the people in charge.


    This made Tang Jie recall the history of his old world. The emperor, in order to bring the Ministry of Appointments under control and clean up corruption, had dispatched many officials as inspectors. But rather than finding corruption, they ended up bing more maggots that gnawed away at the empire.


    Wasn''t this situation exactly the same?


    Of course, this matter couldn''t go on forever. The happy days woulde to an end eventually.


    Two monthster.


    Today, Tang Jie was still cultivating in his quiet little building.


    Xi Canhen paid a visit.


    His first sentence was: "Those above are dispatching three thousand Goldtes."


    "''Three thousand Goldtes''?" Tang Jie was shocked. "When?"


    "Within a month."


    Tang Jie exhaled. "With such a big move, it''s clear that Godhead Pce has lost its patience."


    "If you wait until the three thousand Goldtes arrive, you''ll have no hope," Xi Canhen said.


    "It seems like we''ll have to start our n," Tang Jie casually said.


    Xi Canhen''s eyes gleamed. "You''re certain?"


    "Definitely," Tang Jie firmly replied. "To be honest, I''m also very interested in the secrets of the Great Mountain."


    Even though he had received the kindness of the will of the Great Mountain, he still didn''t know what the Great Mountain was or where its will hade from. If possible, he wanted to understand it more.


    But he naturally couldn''t do this alone. He needed the help of his enemies.


    Three dayster.


    The ck Yellow Mobile Pce.


    "Say that again?" Nan Ningjiang raised his head, his eyes shining as he stared at the servant warrior prostrated before him.


    The servant warrior loudly said, "A secret ground has been found on the western side of the mountains. It can turn ordinary wild beasts into fiends and make fiends advance in level, and this can happen in only a day. We suspect that there is some treasure in there that can empower fiends. We watched for several days and observed nearly one hundred fiends, so we can essentially confirm that this is the reason the fiends of the mountain are seemingly endless!"


    Nan Ningjiang''s pupils rapidly constricted.


    A treasure that could promote ordinary beasts into fiends and promote fiends an entire level was no ordinary treasure. It had to at least be a divine treasure, and it might even be connected to the secret of the Great Mountain.


    The Beast Refining Gate would probably go crazy if they found out about this.


    Wait¡ªthe Beast Refining Gate.


    rmed, Nan Ningjiang asked, "Does the Beast Refining Gate know of this?"


    The servant warrior replied, "We didn''t take any measures to keep the information a secret while observing, nor did we try to avoid our Beast Refining Gate allies. Thus, while it is not certain that they know yet, your subordinate presumes that if they don''t know, they will find out eventually."


    Nan Ningjiang sighed. "Understood. You may go."


    Once the servant warrior left, Nan Ningjiang began to pace back and forth in his room.


    This sudden piece of information popping up at this critical moment had him caught off guard.


    He was certain that the Beast Refining Gate would venture into that region the moment they found out about it. After all, they were in dire need of such a treasure.


    But didn''t Godhead Pce need it just as much as the Beast Refining Gate?


    It had to be understood that no matter how difficult to control the Spirit Mountains were, they were still in the territory of Nadir Hill.


    At this thought, Nan Ningjiang rushed out of his room and headed for King Canis''s cultivation chamber.


    This matter was too important for Nan Ningjiang to make the decision.


    In the rear of the ck Yellow Pce was a meditation chamber.


    Nan Ningjiang stood in front of the door, but he said nothing.


    He knew that He Changan already knew he was here.


    Sure enough, a deep and vigorous voice came from the chamber. "Why have you disturbed me?"


    Nan Ningjiang ryed that warrior''s report to He Changan.


    After a few moments of silence, the voice asked, "Where is it?"


    Nan Ningjiang described the location.


    Silence reigned once more, and then the voice said, "The middle region."


    "Yes!" Nan Ningjiang replied.


    That ce that could empower beasts and fiends was located in the middle region of the Spirit Mountains.


    In the Spirit Mountains, the farther in one ventured, the more dangerous it became.


    While Godhead Pce seemed to be focused on capturing Tang Jie, in the process, they had divided the Spirit Mountains into three parts: inner, middle, and outer. They had never left the outer region, for this was the only region they could be certain was safe.


    The middle region was not a ce they wantonly stepped into.


    This was exactly why they had never been able to capture Tang Jie, for whenever he was in danger, he would flee into the middle region. Godhead Pce did not dare to recklessly give pursuit, so they remained in the outer region while slowly waiting for their chance.


    "Ningjiang, what do you think?" the voice asked.


    Nan Ningjiang replied, "The matter of capturing Tang Jie has already gone on too long. Our unwillingness to enter the middle region has always been the problem. If we want to capture him, we need to take the risk. I think this is an opportunity."


    "The Beast Refining Gate?"


    "Once they know what might be there, they will be happy to be our vanguard. But no matter how much we get, so long as we are the lords of this ce, we will get the most of it."


    "What of Tang Jie?"


    "We were able to find this ce because the servant warriors found Tang Jie''s tracks there. Given how cunning Tang Jie is, he must have realized how suspicious that ce was some time ago, which is why he is unwilling to leave it. In this way, we can kill two birds with one stone."


    One was a treasure that could empower fiends, and the other was the target of their long hunt.


    Combined, they proved to be a temptation that could not be resisted.


    There was a long period of silence, and finally, King Canis spoke.


    "Then we should give it a try."


    That night, a message was issued from the ck Yellow Mobile Pce.


    Tang Jie''s tracks had been found in the middle region of the Spirit Mountains, and there was also possibly an empowering secret ground there, so everyone was to prepare to set out.


    The Beast Refining Gate grew excited upon learning this, and they itched for battle.


    Upon receiving the news, Tang Jie simply said, "The day of the decisive battle has arrived!"

 Chapter 523: Fragment

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Once the n was decided, it was executed with thunderous momentum.


    Following Nan Ningjiang''s order, everyone got to work.


    The reconnaissance targeting that secretive valley abruptly intensified, and the blockade was pushed forward. At the same time, the mountain region waspletely locked down, ensuring that Tang Jie wouldn''t run out from behind them while they were in the mountains and escape.


    In the middle of all this action, an elite unit gradually took form.


    The leader was none other than King Canis He Changan.


    For such an important matter, there was no reason for him to not take the lead.


    This was also Tang Jie''s first time seeing He Changan.


    He was arge man with slightly sunken eyes. He didn''t have any sort of intimidating aura, appearing more like a well-behaved farmer. If not for Master Xuan Zhong standing next to him and trying his best to not breathe too loudly, Tang Jie might not have even been sure that this was King Canis.


    In terms of cultivation level, Master Xuan Zhong and He Changan were no different, both at the peak of Soul Transformation. But in terms of strength, He Changan could defeat countless Master Xuan Zhongs. A Chief was an expression of strength, representing the apex of a realm. The gap could be likened to Wang Juemie when he had yet to enter the Celestial Heart Realm and Tang Jie as a Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator.


    Master Xuan Zhong and Nan Ningjiang nked He Changan.


    On Master Xuan Zhong''s side were the three Heart Demon True Persons¡ªElders Gold and Silver and Li Song¡ªas well as Huang Yue, Ming Yezhen, Xu Mingyue, True Person Liang, and Ling Tianqi. On Nan Ningjiang''s side were Third Hawk Zhou Fanghua, the Seventh Hawk, the Ninth Hawk, the Tenth Hawk, two generals of the Bloodbath Hall, and fifty Bloodbath Hall elites.


    There was also another party consisting of the Beast Refining Gate''s Ao Chihu and "Qian Yingchen". They were mobilizing almost their entire force.


    At this time, Nan Ningjiang was speaking with Xi Canhen. "Little Twelve, this expedition is very important. If we seed, we might be able to find a treasure for the Beast Refining Gate that can make up for the loss of the Beast Garden. But we have to be on guard against Tang Jie. You and Eleventh Brother will stay here, and there will also be Fang An and several other True Persons. You will also have two hundred Bloodbath disciples, five hundred servant warriors, and eight hundred Goldtes at yourmand. I don''t need you to capture Tang Jie, only ensure that he doesn''t escape the mountains while we''re gone!"


    Xi Canhen emerged from the void, revealing his young face.


    He gave Nan Ningjiang a toothy smile. "Rx, Big Brother. Tang Jie won''t be escaping the mountains."


    Nan Ningjiang saw that Xi Canhen was serious and nodded.


    The strike Xi Canhen had made during the world shift truly had removed many of Nan Ningjiang''s suspicions.


    But for some reason, he still had many misgivings about Xi Canhen.


    Whenever he saw Xi Canhen, he would feel ufortable. It was like how one couldn''t ept having an assassin standing behind oneself, because it meant that one''s safety was threatened.


    Thus, he chose to keep Xi Canhen outside. At this critical moment, he didn''t want any idents.


    "Good," Nan Ningjiang said, patting him on the shoulder.


    At this moment, shouting came from the distance. "Hey, hey! Where are you all going? Why aren''t you bringing me?"


    Everyone turned to the voice and saw Jin Yutang rushing over, followed by his old steward, sixteen guards, and arge group of his n''s warriors.


    Upon seeing Jin Yutang appear, Ao Chihu''s square face darkened, and he sternly said, "How did he find out?"


    The exploration of the secret ground was an important matter, so when Ao Chihu learned about it, he immediately ordered that Jin Yutang not be informed. He didn''t want an idiot like Jin Yutang to participate in such an important mission.


    But to his surprise, Jin Yutang had still managed to find out.


    Ao Chihu looked around, but everyone shook their heads.


    On the side, Tang Jie inwardly smiled.


    Jin Yutang had overe over, grumbling as he did, "A mighty fine job you''ve done, Ao Chihu, going on a treasure hunt without calling me! Are you trying to take all the merit for yourself?"


    Ao Chihu was so angry that he wanted to throw up blood, but he could only smile and say, "Young Master Jin, what ever do you mean? We have yet to confirm that there is any treasure in the secret ground, so we''re going first to do some scouting. If there''s nothing there, wouldn''t you have gone for no reason?"


    "Don''t try that on me!" Jin Yutang shouted. "If you weren''t sure, would you be bringing so many people? I don''t care! I''ming along."


    Ao Chihu knew that once this guy got interested, not even nine dragons could pull him away. He could only bitterly smile and say, "But I''m not the one who decides these matters."


    He nced at the nearby He Changan.


    He hoped that He Changan would refuse.


    But to his surprise, He Changan nced at the old steward for a while before saying, "Having more allies is a good thing."


    Oh no!


    Ao Chihu despaired.


    In the end, He Changan had been in high positions for too long. He thought that he could control Jin Yutang and prevent him from causing trouble, so what he cared about were the capable experts around Jin Yutang.


    But Ao Chihu knew what sort of damage an idiot could really do once they got started.


    The most frightening thing wasn''t his martial strength, but his sudden strange ideas and his terrifying habit of acting without thinking.


    But he couldn''t say this to He Changan, only reluctantly nod as he prayed to the heavens that Jin Yutang wouldn''t cause any trouble.


    As for splitting the merit with Jin Yutang, he didn''t care at all. You could boast all you wanted, but nobody in the Beast Refining Gate would believe that this guy could do anything proper.


    If he didn''t weigh them down, that would be his greatest achievement!


    Looking at Ao Chihu''s despairing expression, Tang Jie said, "Why don''t¡­ I protect Young Master Jin?"


    "Then I will leave it to you, Young Master Qian!" Ao Chihu gave Tang Jie a grateful look.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    A secluded valley.


    It had actually only existed in this world for half a year, havinge into being with thest world shift.


    It was nked by heaven-soaring mountains on both sides, with steep and perilous cliffs, but the valley itself was lush with grass, and the scenery seemed pretty good.


    A white fox sauntered out of the valley, its cunning eyes roving around. Suddenly, it rushed out, streams of wind wreathing its paws as it flew over the grass and disappeared.


    It didn''t realize that a group of people nearby had been watching it.


    "That white fox had a red string tied around its foot. It was our people who tied it there. Three days ago, it was only an ordinary fox, but now, it''s middle-grade Spirit Sensing," Nan Ningjiang said.


    Looking away from the white fox, He Changan examined the valley, his in face expressionless. "If that''s the case, what are we waiting for? Into the valley!"


    The party marched into the valley, with the Beast Morphers of the Beast Refining Gate leading the way.


    The valley was veryrge.


    As they ventured deeper, the valley broadened.


    In front of them was a sea of flowers, numerous wild flowers of unknown varieties blooming and spreading their aromas into the air. This sea of flowers extended off into the horizon, leading into the depths of the valley.


    In order to make the advance easier, everyone hovered in the air, slowly flying over the sea of flowers. They didn''t dare to fly too high, but there was no problem with this sort of low-altitude flight.


    As they were flying, a dark figure erupted out of the sea flowers and struck a Beast Morpher. The Beast Morpher instantly howled in pain.


    "What happened?" Jin Yutang had been admiring the flowers, so he hadn''t seen what had happened.


    "It''s nothing, just a snake," Tang Jie replied.


    They were stationed in the Beast Refining Gate''s rear, so he had been able to clearly see that the attacker was a Flower Snake. It only took one bite before that Beast Morpher tore it off.


    But a momentter, the Beast Morpher''s leg began to swell monstrously.


    The warrior immediately cried out for help.


    Ao Chihu''s eyes shed as he rushed over and took out a pill that he stuffed into the warrior''s mouth.


    He wasn''t worried about the warrior''s life. He just wanted to see how formidable the snake venom was.


    He saw the leg continuing to swell, and as the poison attacked, even the warrior''s face began to swell, his veins bulging out as if there was something wriggling underneath.


    "Master Ao, save me!" the warrior screamed.


    But Ao Chihu ignored him, taking several steps back in the air as if it was solid ground.


    "Aaagh!" The warrior screamed, and then threw his head back and vomited poisoned blood before falling into the sea of flowers.


    A momentter, arge number of red ants swarmed the warrior, instantly devouring him.


    They cared nothing for the poison, and amid creepy gnawing sounds, they quickly cleaned up the body, leaving behind only the skeleton. A few momentster, the skeleton began to cken, such was the ferocity of the poison.


    Ao Chihu gasped and turned to shout, "Be careful! There''s something weird about this ce!"


    "''Weird''?" Tang Jie and He Changan nodded in unison and said the same words: "''Weird'' is to be expected!"


    All the ces in the world with treasures didn''t operate onmon sense.


    Strange encounters like this meant that there was something special about this ce.


    He Changan raised his head and said, "Continue and don''t dawdle."


    The pace elerated.


    The valley was shockingly big, and they just kept flying and flying with no end.


    The farther in they went, the more numerous the dangers were.


    It was venomous snakes at first, and thenrge numbers of venomous insects.


    These unknown insects were the size of a fist, possessing sharp mandibles and glowing with a blue light.


    One of the Beast Morphers was stung by an insect and quickly dissolved into ooze. Not even Ao Chihu''s best antidote was able to save him.


    This had everyone shivering in fear, and they all applied barriers as they flew.


    The aroma of flowers thickened, and everyone gradually began to realize that they were gradually losing their sense of direction in this sea of flowers.


    "Godking¡­" Nan Ningjiang called out.


    "I know." He Changan looked up at the sky. "There should be a formation here that can disorder time and space."


    "''A formation that can disorder time and space''?" Nan Ningjiang was shocked. "How could it be a formation?"


    He could understand the Great Mountain having intelligence and a will, but how could the Great Mountainy down a formation?


    Could this have nothing to do with the Great Mountain and have been done by somebody else?


    Could it have been Tang Jie?


    As Nan Ningjiang reeled in shock, He Changan said, "A formation that has existed for a very long time, carrying an ancient and timeworn aura."


    What?


    Nan Ningjiang was stunned.


    He Changan hadpletely rejected the idea that this was part of Tang Jie''s plot.


    He Changan added, "There''s no need to worry. It''s existed for too long, and its foundations are in ruin. It only has a few powers left, one of which is to disorder space. So long as we walk in one direction, we will break out of this formation. Have I said anything incorrect? Master Ling, Lady Xu?"


    Formation Master Ling Tianqi chuckled and said, "As expected of Godking He, possessing such a deep understanding of formations. Correct¡ªthis ce should be home to some ancient great formation, but it has existed for so long that it has been rendered mostly ineffective."


    "Could there be some hidden realm within the Great Mountain?" Everyone grew excited at these words.


    The Rosecloud Domain was an extremely developed world, and whether it was the ruins of Remote Antiquity, High Antiquity, or Near Antiquity, they had all been dug out by greedy people until nothing was left. This forced everyone to mark out their own areas and create blessednds and paradises, and it was why Godhead Pce was so desperate to find the Martial Lord''s hidden realm.


    Everyone was rather taken aback by the news that there might be a hidden realm here.


    "How could that be?" Nan Ningjiang said. "Hasn''t the pce investigated this ce before? But they didn''t find anything."


    "Rather than an expedition, that was an imprisonment, so what exactly could they have found?" He Changan replied. "As for this time, it was probably because of the world shift."


    ''The world shift''?


    This term made everyone shiver.


    That sudden transformation of the mountains half a year ago had caused Godhead Pce topletely lose its chance to capture Tang Jie, and it also made them realize the power of the world and the terror of the Great Mountain. It was so bad that it was a very long time until they were willing to think back to that battle again.


    But today, He Changan had brought it up again as an answer to their question.


    "Could it be that¡­ the hidden realm was underground, but the world shift brought it up?" Ming Yezhen murmured.


    "Maybe the Great Mountain''s shift was also rted to this?" another person wondered.


    "This is really interesting. Weren''t we looking for Tang Jie for the sake of getting a hidden realm? But it turned out there was one right under our eyes," Xu Mingyue coldly chuckled.


    Everyone fell silent.


    Yes, who could have imagined that there was this kind of secret hidden in the Spirit Mountains?


    But when they thought about how all those Godhead Pce Titans and countless True Persons had been unable to expose this secret that had now revealed itself to them, everyone got excited.


    This was an unparalleled opportunity!


    "What are we waiting for? Charge!" someone roared.


    The attacks from the sea of flowers couldn''t hold back human greed, and everyone flew forward.


    Just as He Changan had said, this ancient formation was on the verge of dissolution, so all it could do was disorient them and blur their sense of time.


    And while the poison of these venomous insects was vicious, their attacks were mediocre.


    Their barriers neutralized the vast majority of them, and only a few Beast Morphers who didn''t know how to cast barriers were ambushed and in.


    In truth, if other cultivators had been willing to protect them, many of the Beast Morphers could have survived. But Beast Morphers were cannon fodder meant to open the way, so nobody was going to risk themselves for them.


    Life had now be worthless, as before them was endless desire and riches.


    Finally, after flying for some time, they emerged from the formation.


    The sea of flowers disappeared, and what stood before them was an immense pce.


    Yes, a pce!


    A massive pceplex half-buried in the earth!


    The years had covered the underground pce in dust, but there was no hiding its ancient vastness.


    The copsed gates, shattered pirs, and gaping walls all exuded age.


    Intricate and beautiful carvings covered every inch of the pce, and the shattered pirs gleamed gold.


    "Startrace Stone, Violet Radiance Gold, Azureswell Jade¡­ Good heavens!" Some of the more well-traveled people cried out in surprise. "These are all rare materials!"


    This entire underground pceplex was made of rare materials, some of which they had seen and some of which werepletely new to them.


    Someone forgot everything in their excitement and rushed to pry a piece of Startrace Stone from the pce wall.


    He Changan''s eyes shone with a divine light, but he said nothing.


    But Nan Ningjiang realized that something was wrong and shouted, "Watch out!"


    A momentter, that person exploded into countless chunks of meat.


    He Changan snorted, "Seeking death."


    There was already a great formation around the pce, so how could the pce itself have no defensive measures? And the deeper areas would only be more important. Since the perimeter formation had yet topletely fail, the inner formations could only be in better condition.


    That person had tried to dismantle a wall without even testing it¡­ Wasn''t this an attack? It would be strange if it were not met with a counterattack.


    What could this be if not seeking death?


    Not even ncing at the remains, He Changan looked to a certain part of the pce.


    There was a small building there. It had been built into a cliff, leaving only its front door exposed.


    There was a ck jade dragon head hung on the door, and white liquid was gushing from it, falling down into a small pool below. This pool had no outflow, but no matter how much liquid fell, the pool never seemed to fill.


    A roon was drinking from the pool.


    Its body soon began to shine.


    It wasn''t particrly bright, but it caused a stir among the cultivators.


    "It''s be a fiend!"


    The little roon had be a fiend.


    "That dragon head¡­ it''s that dragon head." A Beast Refining Gate disciple excitedly pointed at the ck jade dragon head and said, "The water gushing from it can turn wild beasts into fiends." He rushed over to try and take it.


    "Halt!" Ao Chihu called out. "Did you forget how that other person died just now?"


    The excited Beast Refining Gate disciple came to his senses, but he still greedily stared at the dragon head.


    "It''s not the dragon head," Tang Jie abruptly said.


    Everyone looked at him.


    "Brother Qian, what do you mean?" Ao Chihu asked.


    Tang Jie ignored him, continuing to examine the pce.


    After a while, he said, "Pissing requires using the private parts, but are they the only thing involved?"


    It was a crude analogy, but the reasoning was simple enough for everyone to understand.


    It was clear that this liquid was not the dragon head''s power, but the power of the entire pce.


    "Then what is it?" someone asked.


    "A loop," Ling Tianqi replied.


    This old man who had spent many years researching formations had a glow in his eyes. "A loop, nourishment, energy, a well-spring¡­ It''s like the blood in the body. As it flows, it provides the formation energy, sustaining the formation''s operation and the existence of this pce!"


    "You''re saying¡­ this liquid that can turn wild beasts into fiends is only the material used to maintain the formation?" someone said in disbelief.


    "Correct!" Ling Tianqi bellowed. "Forget about this dogshit liquid, and maybe even this entire pce. Do you still not understand? The true treasure is inside the pce. It''s a divine treasure, or maybe even a Dao armament!"


    Everyone was stunned.


    Nan Ningjiang muttered, "Just what is this ce?"


    What sort of ce could deserve such extravagance?


    Even Immortal Realms weren''t this impressive.


    He Changan stared at that immense underground pce for a long time before finally squeezing out, "The Court of Myriad Domains¡­ This is a fragment of the Court of Myriad Domains!"

 Chapter 524: Maze

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    A fragment of the Court of Myriad Domains!


    Everyone was stunned.


    Someone muttered, "The Court of Myriad Domains actually exists?"


    "Of course it exists. It''s right in front of us," Tang Jie couldn''t help but shout.


    At the same time, a certain scene yed out in his mind.


    It was the scene of a giant standing in the sea of stars, roaring as he swung around an axe, and a resplendent pce from which countless heavenly soldiers and generals charged out.


    He saw that giant swing the axe and the buildings crumble under its might. Under that frenzied assault, that vastplex was sted into countless fragments.


    One corner of thatplex was extremely simr to what he was seeing right now.


    The Martial Lord!


    This ce had to have some major connection to the Martial Lord. Tang Jie was practically certain of it.


    There had been no evidence of any of this before, but now, these ruins had lifted a corner of that mystery.


    Even Master Xuan Zhong couldn''t help but say, "This is none other than a fragment of the Court of Myriad Domains! Hahaha, I really didn''t think that I would get the chance toe across something so incredible!"


    Ao Chihu''splexion shifted as he said, "Thisnd belongs to Godhead Pce, and everything here belongs to Godhead Pce. My Beast Refining Gate only seeks the treasure that can empower fiends, and we have no designs on anything else."


    Tang Jie gave Ao Chihu an admiring nce.


    This person was rather adaptable. The moment he heard that this was a fragment of the Court of Myriad Domains, he immediately stated that he didn''t want the item inside. Otherwise, even though the sects were allies, He Changan might decide to wipe out the Beast Refining Gate in order to ensure that his sect could take everything for themselves.


    Even brothers could kill each other for wealth, let alone allies.


    And if Ao Chihu said that he didn''t want anything at all, He Changan might not believe it. Thus, he stuck to his initial goal of a treasure that would empower fiends.


    If He Changan could get the lion''s share, he might not quibble with him over this small item.


    Jin Yutang was deeply displeased. "How could that do? Since we''re exploring together, why should we give up on everything?"


    Tang Jie pushed him and said, "Godking He will make the right choices, so trust him. Moreover, whatever the treasure is, we have to enter the underground pce first. Although this is only a fragment of the Court of Myriad Domains, the formation is still active, which means that the pce probably has many other dangerous mechanisms that we need be cautious of. No matter how good a treasure is, you have to be alive to enjoy it."


    He was reminding everyone that now wasn''t the time to celebrate.


    He Changan couldn''t help but nod. "Yingchen is right."


    How to handle the spoils could only be decided once they were gotten. No matter what sort of treasure was inside, they first had to go inside to take it.


    There was arge gate in the front of the pce, and steps leading downward could be seen through it.


    Ling Tianqi tested the gate and confirmed that there were no traps. So long as they descended using the steps, they wouldn''t encounter any danger.


    The fragment of the royal court was clearly different from the Martial Lord''s hidden realm. The Martial Lord had personally established his hidden realm before his death, so he had been able to consider all aspects and thus make it impervious through the ages. But this fragment of the royal court had been smashed off by the Martial Lord''s axe, so all of its formations hade with the fragment and were greatly weakened from the splintering. Thus, itcked a cohesive defensive system. This was why one could go in through the gate but couldn''t touch the walls.


    In essence, the royal court fragment was undefendednd. If it hadn''t been buried in the earth and protected by the Great Mountain, it would have been found long ago.


    With the cannon fodder warriors still leading the way, the group entered.


    The steps were very long, and perhaps because of the many years underground, they were covered in dust. Once thest person entered, the gates creaked as they closed, and the resultant boom echoed through the dark space and gave everyone a fright.


    At the bottom of the stairs, they found themselves in what was clearly a maze, numerous paths leading off in various directions.


    "Strange. What sort of ce is this?" someone said, scratching his head.


    Nobody had seen the Court of Myriad Domains before, and even He Changan had only seen some pictures of the Court of Myriad Domains in ancient texts, which was how he was able to guess that this was the ce in question. As for what it was like inside, he knew nothing at all.


    Nobody could understand why there was a maze in the Court of Myriad Domains.


    He Changan said, "Everyone, be careful. This ce has been buried for eons, and nobody can say what will appear here. We can''t be careless."


    He had the Beast Morphers lead the way.


    Several Beast Morphers were at the very front, and for a while, there was only the rustling of footsteps.


    Suddenly, the Beast Morphers stopped.


    "What happened?" Ao Chihu asked.


    "There seems to be something up ahead," a Beast Morpher fearfully replied.


    Looking over, he saw that in the dark region up ahead, there was a ck fog floating. There seemed to be something roiling within the ck fog, but it never left the darkness.


    Ao Chihu frowned and pointed at a Beast Morpher. "You, go and take a look."


    The Beast Morpher instantly paled, but he knew that this was the fate of warriors like him. Hardening his heart, he roared and activated his Beast Morph ability, covering his body in ck scales. Only then did he stride toward the ck fog.


    Just as he was about to enter the ck fog, he suddenly froze, and then something seemed to pull on him. He shot into the ck fog and was soon gone, and then his scream came from the fog. "Save me!"


    He only cried out twice before he waspletely silenced.


    Everyone was aghast. A momentter, He Changan suddenly appeared at the front. Grabbing a Beast Morpher, he pped the man''s body, and a ring appeared around the warrior.


    The Grand Virtue Guardian Halo.


    This was an extremely powerful defensive ability on par with the Godhead Immortal Body, but He Changan cast it easily, and he was using it on an insignificant soldier.


    And then he threw out the Beast Morpher.


    That warrior was devoured by the ck fog. This one was able to scream a few more times, but he still wasn''t able to escape death.


    He Changan scowled. "It''s a Shade Daemon."


    Through his connection with the Grand Virtue Guardian Halo, he was able to confirm what was inside.


    "''A daemon''?" Everyone was rmed by this news.


    Daemons were a sort of terrifying creature born from the demonic energy of the world. The Rosecloud Domain had firste into contact with daemons in the invasion of the Primordial Fog Domain. That world was a gathering ground for fiends and demons, and daemons were one of them.


    Daemons were carnivores and were one of the cruelest and most savage kinds of demons. When encountering a daemon, the only choice was to fight to the death. There could be nopromise.


    But why was there a daemon in the Court of Myriad Domains?


    Xu Mingyue darkly said, "Many people must have died here."


    Everyone immediately understood.


    Demonic energy did note from nowhere, but came from concentrated resentment of those who had died unjust deaths.


    Nobody knew why the Court of Myriad Domains was wiped out, but they could be certain that it had not disappeared peacefully, with this fragment being the best proof. And countless people had died on this fragment and then been buried here, meaning that the resentment could not disperse. It was only to be expected that this would condense into demonic energy and give birth to daemons.


    Moreover¡­


    He Changan realized something and said, "Be careful! This ce is probably a Demon Zone. If there are daemons, then there are probably other fiends and demons."


    As he spoke, the daemon in the ck fog charged, the cloud sweeping toward He Changan.


    He Changan chuckled and thrust out his palm.


    There was a golden burst of light, and then a miserable scream as the ck fog scattered, revealing a savage ck monster, around two meters tall. It swept a hand with five sharp ws at He Changan.


    He Changan confidently raised his hand, and there was a ng as the ws struck it. He Changan thrust out his other hand, his palm striking the daemon''s body and releasing a searing white light that melted the daemon''s body like it was snow under the zing sun.


    It screeched in pain, but He Changan simply looked back with cold eyes. A few momentster, He Changan hadpletely melted down the daemon, thest wisp of ck energy dissipating.


    He Changan drew his hand back, his face emotionless.


    While it seemed like he had easily disposed of the daemon, the methods he had used had actually been quite formidable. He turned and said, "Everyone, be careful. This ce has been buried for eons, so there''s no telling how long these daemons have lived. The one just now was at least several hundred years old, and there will only be more powerful ones."


    As he spoke, shrieking came from all around.


    More demons had noticed the intrusion of cultivators and were bellowing in rage.


    "Prepare for battle!" Nan Ningjiang shouted.


    Cannon fodder warriors were no longer needed. All the cultivators came forward, taking up their positions and deploying various defensive measures.


    Meanwhile, dark plumes of smoke came rushing in from all sides, instantly engulfing the entire maze.


    Even He Changan couldn''t help but pale. He barked, "There''s no end to them! Don''t get caught up in a fight! Just push through!"


    The cultivators began to use their art relics on the approaching daemons while pushing forward.


    Master Xuan Zhong and Elders Gold and Silver were responsible for opening the path, while Ao Chihu and Nan Ningjiang were responsible for the nks. He Changan held the center while the Bloodbath Hall disciples, together with Xu, Liang, and Huang, defended the rear.


    This was a force of three Soul Transformation and four Heart Demon True Persons, almost twenty Spirit Ring True Persons, and more than a hundred elite Spirit Masters¡ªa formidable force by any measure.


    The daemon horde descended upon them and crashed into their formation, sending out powerful ripples of spiritual energy.


    Tang Jie was now seeing for himself the real power of Godhead Pce''s Steel Wall Formation.


    With He Changanmanding them, every person produced a ring beneath their feet, which merged together into a force that could fend off the enemies.


    Tang Jie considered himself lucky that he was disguising himself as the Beast Refining Gate''s Qian Yingchen, or else he would have been exposed just now.


    No one couldpare to Godhead Pce when it came to defense. They formed a rock that stood tall against the attacks of the daemons. As for the Beast Refining Gate, they were tasked with the offense.


    Numerous refined beasts were sent out, making up for Godhead Pce''sck of offensive power. And the Steel Wall Formation''s protection allowed them to cast spell arts as they pleased.


    Brilliantly-colored mes lit up the maze, powerful torrents of energy crashing into the walls.


    If this pce hadn''t been made from the rarest and sturdiest of materials, the impacts would have pulverized it long ago. So sturdy were they that they withstood the entirety of the onught, so it was no wonder that they had stood for eons.


    Initially, the battle was in Godhead Pce''s favor, thebat formation grinding up all the approaching daemons such that the cultivators didn''t feel like these demons were much of a threat.


    But as more and more daemons appeared, the humans started to reach their limits.


    Zhou Fanghua was the first to shout, "What''s up with these daemons? We kill them, but more keeping. How could one pce have so many daemons?"


    Tang Jie snorted, "You still haven''t noticed? These daemons can be reborn. They are born from demonic energy, and so long as demonic energy exists, they cane back to life. The only method to truly destroy them is to be like Godking He and annihte them with Primordial Yang energy. That''s why Godking He told us to fight and advance rather than fighting in ce."


    He Changan nced at Tang Jie, his eyes tinged with both admiration and discontent. He had intentionally not mentioned that, primarily because he didn''t want to hurt morale. After all, nobody liked to fight a never-ending battle. For him, everything would be fine once they pushed through this trial, and there was no need to annihte the daemons. On the contrary, having them here would help to defend against anythinging up behind them. He hadn''t expected this "Qian Yingchen" to see through it and expose the truth.


    He''s smart when ites to small things, but hecks vision of the bigger picture, He Changan thought to himself.


    Sure enough, after Tang Jie exposed the truth, everyone''s will to fight began to falter. Moreover, when some people heard that Primordial Yang energy could kill the daemons, they began to use this energy to kill them. Primordial Yang energy was one of the foundational energies for cultivators. Although using it wouldn''t make one''s strength fall, there would still be some weakening, and it took a long time to recover. He Changan hadn''t mentioned it because he wanted to preserve the group''s strength. After all, there was no telling what they might encounter after this.


    But in the end, not everyone could hold back in the face of all these daemons and the numerous maze tunnels.


    Rays of light shot out, striking the daemons and melting them away in clouds of steam.


    As one daemon after another was in, the number of daemons charging out also dwindled, and some people began to shoot grateful looks at Tang Jie, thinking that this Young Master Qian''s advice had saved them a lot of fighting. But they also felt resentment for He Changan for not saying anything earlier and forcing them to battle it out.


    Tang Jie pretended to not see their gazes as he silently memorized their path.


    "A dead end!" Master Xuan Zhong shouted from the front. A high wall spanned the path in front of them.


    The wall was made from Startrace Stone, ckgloss Metal, and other such rare materials, so even He Changan couldn''t break through it.


    "Shit!" Everyone cursed as they turned around.


    This was inevitable in a maze. Only by roving around here and there could they eventually find the right path.


    Nobody knew that while they were running around like headless flies, on the perimeter of the underground pce, Tang Jie''s original body was drawing on a formation diagram, and a map of the maze was gradually taking form.


    Though it wasn''tplete, it was very urate.


    The maze was paved with jade bricks, and each brick was identical in size. Using them as a reference, Tang Jie was able to estimate the length of every passage.


    For this reason, while the Godhead Pce team was running around in the maze, Tang Jie already had a basic grasp of the maze.


    "The maze''s structure is rather simr to the Six Forms Compass Formation. When you encounter 3, you go straight forward, and if you encounter 6, you turn." He pointed at a nk spot on the maze map and said, "If that''s the case, the exit to the maze should be here."


    Xu Miaoran curiously asked, "Is it that simple?"


    "This wasn''t a maze meant to trap anybody. It was probably meant to teach formations, as the walls of the maze are able to move. But as time passed, all these mechanisms broke."


    "But Ling Tianqi and Xu Mingyue are in there. Howe they can''t see it?"


    "Sometimes, a bystander has a clearer view of the big picture," Tang Jie replied with a smile.


    He suddenly grimaced. "Not good. They''re about to reach the exit. I can''t let them leave right now."


    "Why?" Yiyi asked.


    "How are we going to go inside if they don''t clear out more of the daemons for us?" Tang Jie replied. "Moreover, none of them have died yet."


    The four girls speechlessly stared at each other.


    The maze.


    Master Xuan Zhong was leading the group to a crossroads.


    Tang Jie''s eyes shed as he swept out his right hand, a st from his finger scraping a wall. He then shouted, "Sir, we''ve been here before."


    "What?" Master Xuan Zhong turned to Tang Jie in surprise.


    Tang Jie pointed at the wall. "I''ve made a mark at every ce we pass. Look¡ªI''ve made a mark here, meaning that we''ve been here before and up ahead is a dead end!"


    "Ugh!" Master Xuan Zhong stomped his feet and turned around.


    This path was avoided as the group kept going.


    Everyone lost their patience in the long process, with some people asionally cursing this damned maze.


    But to Tang Jie''s surprise, they managed to endure.


    Nobody died!


    With the use ofrge amounts of Primordial Yang energy, the daemons had been rapidly cut down, and they presented much less of a threat to the group now.


    Even though everyone was exhausted, they had managed to endure.


    Outside the underground pce.


    Tang Jie frowned.


    "How are things?" Xu Miaoran asked.


    Tang Jie shook his head. "In the end, this isn''t the Martial Lord''s hidden realm. While the royal court might be dangerous, it wasn''t intentionally designed to be so, so it can''t deal with He Changan."


    "In other words¡­"


    "It''s too easy," Tang Jie replied.


    The fragment of the Court of Myriad Domains hadn''t reached the level of danger Tang Jie had expected, and it certainly couldn''t do anything to He Changan.


    "I have to add a little difficulty," Tang Jie muttered. "I need to split them up."


    "How can you do that?"


    Tang Jie didn''t reply.


    He ced all of his energy onto the avatar.


    A sliver of light emerged from the center of the avatar''s forehead. As the vertical eye cracked open a sliver, the gloomy maze instantly revealed itself to him.


    This was extremely dangerous, but Tang Jie had to take the risk. The battle was distracting mostly everyone while Tang Jie put all his strength into looking for his objective.


    Finally, he spotted a brick slightly bulging out of a nearby wall.


    It was extremely subtle, and Tang Jie wouldn''t have noticed if he hadn''t activated his Celestial Eye.


    He moved toward that wall and pressed on the brick.


    The maze suddenly rumbled, and all of the walls began to move.


    "What''s going on?" a cultivator shouted.


    He then saw the moving walls charging through the group, instantly dividing them into numerous smaller groups¡­

 Chapter 525: Garden

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The scattered group could no longer maintain the Steel Wall Formation.


    As those rings disappeared, the daemons crazily attacked.


    This time, they couldn''t fend off the daemons in the same way.


    A daemon easily broke the line, stabbing its ws into a cultivator''s chest. Its sharp ws ignored the vast majority of defensive barriers and easily pierced into that cultivator''s heart.


    Screams quickly began to fill the air.


    "Fight our way out!" Nan Ningjiang shouted.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie smiled and ran off in another direction.


    While the maze passages had shifted around, the general direction had not.


    He made his way toward the exit in his memory, and he soon arrived in its vicinity.


    He didn''t immediately go out, instead waiting around the exit.


    After some time, he decided that the time was right and shouted, "This way! I found the exit!"


    The underground pce was veryrge, and the maze was only a small part of it. Considering that there were probably many more dangers to follow, Tang Jie still needed to borrow the strength of Godhead Pce. Thus, while he needed them to die, he couldn''t have them all die immediately. He needed to control it so that they were weakened step by step.


    Everyone grew excited and ran off in the direction of Tang Jie''s voice.


    The first to arrive was Ling Tianqi. As he rushed up to Tang Jie''s side and saw that luminescent door, he excitedly said, "Yes, this is the exit. Eh, haven''t we been through here before?"


    Ling Tianqi looked around.


    Tang Jie slightly frowned. The shifting of the maze should have changed everything, and nobody should have realized that this was the path that Tang Jie had stopped them from going down. But who was Ling Tianqi? A formation expert of Nadir Hill, a master of variation andbination. Even if Tang Jie didn''t have the ability to memorize and organize with his two bodies, Ling Tianqi would have eventually figured out the rules of the maze himself.


    As he looked around, he was able to sense that something was wrong.


    The old man''s gaze fell on a wall, and he saw the mark that Tang Jie had left behind.


    His eyes brightened. "This is¡­"


    And then he shuddered and looked down in disbelief. A golden de had pierced through his body.


    The old man trembled as he struggled to turn his head, only to see Tang Jie staring at him with cold eyes.


    He raised his hand. "You¡­"


    "My apologies, but you know too much," Tang Jie said.


    A momentter, Ling Tianqi exploded into countless chunks of meat, and with a light wave from Tang Jie, Ling Tianqi ceased to exist.


    Softly sighing, Tang Jie put the de back into his bag. In the distance, several more people ran over, Xu Mingyue and Ming Yezhen being among them.


    "Young Master Qian!" Xu Mingyue brought her hands together and bowed to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie pointed at the exit and said, "I''ve found the exit. You guys hurry and go. I''ll stay here and wait for the others."


    "Okay!" Xu Mingyue epted without a second thought, charging into the exit with Ming Yezhen. They didn''t want to spend a second longer in this strange ce.


    One person after another followed Tang Jie''s voice to the exit and rushed out through it.


    Tang Jie coldly watched them go, silently counting them up.


    Other than Ling Tianqi, the two sects had barely suffered any losses among their True Persons. It was mostly the lower-tier cultivators who had died, with the Bloodbath Hall disciples having suffered grievous losses. They weren''t very strong individually, and primarily fought using theirbat formation. The shifting of the maze had the greatest effect on them, and almost half of the fifty elites had died.


    Still too few have died. Tang Jie was very dissatisfied by the result.


    The sounds of battle from the maze were starting to dwindle, and it seemed like the majority of the people had already escaped. Tang Jie was just about to turn and leave when someone shouted, "Brother Qian, Brother Qian, wait for me!"


    He turned and saw someone running over.


    "True Person Liang?" Tang Jie blurted out.


    This was none other than the deceased Dark Fiend''s good friend, Liang Chunsheng.


    He was sprinting with all his might, and behind him was a particrlyrge daemon.


    Tang Jie saw this and immediately pulled out his saber.


    Liang Chunsheng was delighted. "Thank you for the help, Brother Qian! Wait¡­ When did you start using a saber?"


    Liang Chunsheng was startled. He didn''t recall Qian Yingchen to be someone that used the saber.


    Tang Jie slightly raised his head and said, "True Person Liang, I recall that you''re skilled in paralyzing the mind, but what about countering that?"


    Liang Chunsheng was startled, but before he could react, Tang Jie threw something at him.


    A Mindseizer.


    "No!" Liang Chunsheng shrieked in terror, and then he was paralyzed.


    At the same time, Tang Jie''s Spirit Ring erupted out, and a snow-white wave of saber energy swept out.


    Liang Chunsheng was sliced in half, and the remaining power of the strike struck the daemon, the intense Yang energy annihting it.


    There was a surge of spiritual energy as Liang Chunsheng''s spiritual power returned to the world.


    Tang Jie threw out the Mountain River State Diagram and put Liang Chunsheng within it, and then he took back the diagram. Only then did Tang Jie breathe out.


    The attack just now had been very taxing for him. A full-power attack unleashed while his Spirit Ring was expanded was able to instantly kill a True Person of the same tier. From that moment, Tang Jie knew that cultivators of the same level would not be able to stop him.


    There were still sounds of fightinging from the maze, but Tang Jie didn''t pay them a second nce, turning and walking toward the exit.


    With one step, the world around him changed.


    Tang Jie found himself in a garden, and when he looked back, he saw no sign of the door he hade in through.


    Sure enough, the exit to the maze was a teleportation gate. Fortunately, he hadn''t stepped through first, or else he would have found it hard to cause trouble for Godhead Pce.


    Tang Jie was in a quiet ce, awash with flowers. It was like he was in a royal garden. Above him were blue skies and white clouds, but if one looked carefully, one would find that this was an artificial blue sky, not a real one.


    There was a white mist drifting about the garden, making this ce seem like a fairnd. But upon closer inspection, one would find this fairnd to be rather bleak.


    While the flowers grew lushly, there was no sign that they were being tended to. There were grassy meadows all about, but there were no little paths that one could take to admire the flowers. While the small bridges were still intact, they were bereft of footprints. And while the streams gurgled, there were no fish swimming in them.


    The formation had maintained this fairnd so that not even weeds could grow, but it couldn''t hide the bleak and deserted feeling. Standing here, one could feel that this ce had once been gorgeous and majestic, and one could also feel that it was now silent and abandoned.


    Tang Jie surprisingly found that he couldn''t see anyone else.


    The teleportation of the maze exit seemed to be extremely random, so much so that Tang Jie didn''t end up with anyone else.


    Compared to the gloomy maze, the garden was clearly much more soothing.


    Even so, Tang Jie was still cautious.


    Ten thousand years was enough for far too many things to happen. The daemons in the maze were only the beginning.


    Tang Jie inspected his surroundings as he made his way through the fog.


    The farther he went, the thicker the fog became.


    If the maze was so dark that one couldn''t even see one''s hands, then the garden was so white that it seemed like one was walking in a cloud.


    In the fog, Tang Jie could hear faint sobbing.


    This made Tang Jie only more cautious.


    The people from Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate weren''t ones to cry. This sound like that of a woman sobbing could only mean that something wicked was afoot.


    He wasn''t sure what it was, but the more this was the case, the more he needed to be careful.


    As he was walking, someone suddenly walked into view.


    It was the seventh of the 12 Hawks.


    The two sized each other up. The seventh Hawk was nervous at first, but when he saw that it was Qian Yingchen, he smiled and said, "So it is Brother Qian."


    He walked over to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie said, "So it''s Brother Li! Brother Li, be careful. This garden is strange, as if there''s something impure here."


    "Mm, I''ve also sensed it. But if we work together, there should be no problem." He stood next to Tang Jie and advanced together with him.


    A partner meant that one could rx, looking in one direction while leaving one''s back to one''s partner.


    But as Tang Jie turned his head, a cunning light shone in the seventh Hawk''s eyes, and his face suddenly transformed.


    This wasn''t the seventh Hawk at all! Instead, it was a pale and savage face, like that of a hanged corpse. Using the seventh Hawk''s voice, it said, "I''ll take this side and you take that side," while slowly raising its hands.


    While Tang Jie''s back was turned, it thrust two ghostly ws at Tang Jie''s neck.


    Just when it was about to grab Tang Jie, there was a sh of light.


    The ghost froze, and then it let out a piercing screech.


    Its body was twisting as it howled, radiating white light. The ghost face contorted in fear as it roared, "This is impossible¡­ How did you notice¡­"


    Tang Jie coldly looked at it as he shook the golden saber. "I didn''t need to notice anything. Whether you were human or ghost, I was going to kill you anyway¡­ The person you were pretending to be wasn''t my friend."


    Tang Jie transformed back into his original appearance before turning back into Qian Yingchen.


    "Wh¡­what¡­" The ghost looked at Tang Jie in disbelief. It had never expected this answer from Tang Jie.


    "No! I won''t ept this!!!" The ghost howled as it vanished into a white puff of smoke.


    As the ghost disappeared, there was a red sh of light. Just as it was about to escape, Tang Jie snatched it.


    This was a red pearl, the color of blood, but it was extremely flexible and was constantly changing form.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "I''m rather lucky! An intact ghost essence."


    The red pearl in Tang Jie''s hand was one of the most sought-after treasures of the cultivation world: a ghost essence.


    That Daoist Fuyu whom Tang Jie had encountered years ago had been artificially creating ghosts and killing innocents for the sake of ghost essences. But the ghost essences he created using this method were of the lowest grade.


    What Tang Jie had was the ghost essence of a real ghost.


    While it seemed like Tang Jie had killed it easily, it had actually been quite strong. ording to the Ghost ssic, this kind of ghost was called a White Phantom. It was skilled in transformation and killing silently, a ghost assassin.


    It was ranked 112th in the Ghost ssic, and it could be considered an extremely valuable ghost.


    For this White Phantom to form such an intact ghost essence meant that it had to have lived for several thousand years, so it was at least as strong as a Spirit Ring True Person. If it hadn''t been careless and dropped its guard, Tang Jie would have needed to go through significant effort to kill it.


    Ghost essences were excellent treasures for tempering the mind, almost necessary.


    Whether one was charging at the Heart Demon Tier or raising one''s resistance to Divine Will, one had to have this treasure. But ghosts were rare in this age, and finding a ghost essence was extremely difficult.


    The fragment of Myriad Court hadin dormant in the Great Mountain for ten thousand years, umting deathly energy, Yin energy, demonic energy, and earth energy. All these various energiesing together meant that it wasn''t strange to find things like daemons and White Phantoms here. What was once a supreme Immortal court had now be a hauntednd.


    He really had no idea what he was going to find farther in.


    But this only made Tang Jie happier.


    Tang Jie had lured everyone here partially so that he could use the power of his enemies to explore this ce, and also so that he could use this hidden realm''s power to weaken his enemy.


    For this reason, the stronger the dangers here were, the more he benefited.


    So long as he could use them properly, even He Changan wasn''t anything to be afraid of.


    Tang Jie put away the ghost essence and continued forward.


    The garden was veryrge.


    The underground pce seemed to contain its own dimension. Putting aside the blue skies and clouds, the garden alone was many timesrger than the pceplex outside.


    One could see how extravagant the Court of Myriad Domains had been from this. A random corner of the ce had its own little paradise.


    As he was walking, Tang Jie spotted a little flower blooming in a nearby flowerbed.


    That small flower grew in the middle of numerous other flowers and seemed utterly unremarkable. It had no special color or anything else entrancing about. It was just an elegant little flower bud, and beneath it were nine little leaves.


    Each leaf was like a coiled-up little snake, little thorns growing from them. Together with that little flower, they swayed in the wind.


    Tang Jie trembled in shock.


    "Nine Heavens Luan Grass?"


    (TN: The Luan is a kind of mythical bird in Chinese mythology.)


    He didn''t dare to believe his eyes that a divine nt like the Nine Heavens Luan Grass was growing here.


    The Nine Heavens Luan Grass was a nt that was called a divine herb even in an era as rich in resources as High Antiquity. It had countless uses, but its greatest benefit was that it could increase one''s cultivation level. It was said that a cultivator that consumed this divine nt would have a much higher chance at sessfully reaching the next cultivation realm.


    It had to be understood that this was not valid only for a particr cultivation realm, but for all cultivation realms.


    For the sake of reaching Violet Pce, Ming Yekong had taken great pains to raise a single Bloodweeping Fiend Lotus, butpared to the Nine Heavens Luan Grass, it could be thrown straight into the trash.


    Tang Jie almost couldn''t believe that a Nine Heavens Luan Grass was right in front of him, and it was already mature.


    He was just about to pluck it when he suddenly stopped.


    For some reason, an extremely beautiful woman in rainbow clothes had appeared next to the Nine Heavens Luan Grass.


    The rainbow girl didn''t belong to either Godhead or Beast Refining. With bare feet, she stood in the garden, carrying a basket in her hand. This basket was made from more than a hundred kinds of different flowers and nts, each one extremely rare.


    She stood next to the Nine Heavens Luan Grass, seemingly thinking of something as she muttered to herself.


    She bent down and lightly moved to take the grass.


    This Immortal grass seemed to have a mind of its own. Realizing that some cmity was approaching, it retreated into the ground.


    The slender hand stopped, and a look of distress appeared on the woman''s face. She whispered something and then lightly pped the ground.


    The Nine Heavens Luan Grass popped back up.


    The rainbow girl gently moved away the soil next to the grass, and then she pulled it out together with its roots. The Nine Heavens Luan Grass didn''t move, but a little Luan Bird appeared on the flower.


    That girl then took out a seemingly ordinary little ck cauldron made of wood. She ced some soil in the cauldron, and then she put in the Nine Heavens Luan Grass.


    In this process, the rainbow girl didn''t look at Tang Jie once, and Tang Jie let her work, not even moving.


    Once all this was done, the rainbow girl stood up.


    And then she faded away, only leaving behind that hole in the ground, but this also gradually closed up.


    Whew! Tang Jie exhaled.


    At that moment, he realized what he had been watching.


    History!


    All that had happened actually hadn''t happened just now, but ten thousand years ago, before the Myriad Court had shattered.


    For some reason, this scene had been preserved.


    Thus, Tang Jie had mistakenly believed that a Nine Heavens Luan Grass had been growing here.


    In truth, the Myriad Court wasn''t deserted at all. Countless wicked things lived here, and the real treasures had all been devoured, not waited around for cultivators to dig up. For this reason, while this garden had once been home to numerous Immortal grasses, after ten thousand years, it had been devastated, and only fiends and ghosts remained.


    Perhaps there were still treasures left, but he would have to go deeper.


    Just as he was about to leave, he stopped.


    He rushed over to where the Nine Heavens Luan Grass had been growing.


    He pressed the ground.


    It was very hard.


    Tang Jie started to dig up the earth.


    It wasn''t long before he heard a ng.


    Delighted, Tang Jie reached into the hole and pulled out a bracelet.


    The many years had left the bracelet looking worse for wear, and there was even ayer of rust on it.


    But when he wiped away the rust, he saw that the bracelet glowed with an enchanting light.


    Yes!


    This was the bracelet that the rainbow girl had been wearing on her wrist.


    Even though Tang Jie hadn''t seen how the rainbow girl had buried the bracelet under the earth, through his exceptional observation abilities, he had noticed that the rainbow girl hade wearing a bracelet but had left without it.


    Because of this observation, he hadn''t missed out on this opportunity.


    Tang Jie held the jade bracelet and looked it over. He saw that light was flowing through the bracelet, but he didn''t know how to use it. Inserting spiritual energy garnered no response.


    Unable to get anything, Tang Jie put it away. He looked back at the clearing. He didn''t know if anyone else who came by would be able to see that scene, so he thrust out his finger several times at the ground. No matter what sort of lucky encounters were here, Tang Jie had now severed all the Karma of this ce, and the scenes of the past would no longer rey.


    Once all this was done, Tang Jie continued forward, feeling a little expectant. This expedition might be far more fruitful than he had expected.


    Meanwhile, outside the underground pce.


    His original body excitedly rubbed his hands. "They''ve entered the garden, so let''s go inside now."

 Chapter 526: Massacre

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The ck Yellow Mobile Pce.


    Eleventh Hawk An Qingy atop a tree branch, looking at the sky.


    "How boring," he remarked. "Why is it that they can go exploring while I have to stand guard here together with Little Twelve?"


    "Cut the chatter," Xi Canhen responded from the base of the tree. "You have to obey Big Brother''s orders whether you like it or not."


    Today, he unprecedentedly hadn''t used his concealment art and had his form exposed. He was currently using a clean white cloth to wipe the Immeasurable Sword.


    An Qing suddenly had an idea and jumped down to sit next to Xi Canhen. "Why don''t we sneak out and take a look?"


    Xi Canhen rolled his eyes. "Don''t talk nonsense. You think this matter is something we can be willful about?"


    "So boring." The eleventh brother shook his head. "Didn''t you also like to mess around? You''ve changed recently."


    Xi Canhen was taken aback, but when he thought about it, he realized that it was true. In the past, he had liked to mess around. When he first met Tang Jie, he had done all sorts of weird things, and he was even able to act casually when taking on a dangerous mission.


    But now that he was in the enemy camp, with a heavy weight on his mind, his reckless personality had grown somewhat more restrained.


    There were many times when he wanted to make mischief, but he couldn''t manage it.


    After some thought, he finally said, "People will grow up eventually."


    As he was speaking, the Immeasurable Sword in his hand suddenly trembled.


    It was extremely weak, but Xi Canhen still sensed it.


    He looked down at that hiltless shortsword and saw it tremble again. Like anded fish flopping around, it squirmed and wriggled again and again.


    It was getting faster and faster.


    Xi Canhen suddenly turned ghastly pale.


    An Qing saw Xi Canhen stiffen up and came over. "What happened?"


    "Don''te over!" Xi Canhen shouted.


    Xi Canhen''s hand exploded with light, and then the Immeasurable Sword brushed past his neck and shot into the sky.


    An Qing jumped in fright. "What are you doing?"


    He was well aware of the Immeasurable Sword''s strength.


    With a snow-white face, Xi Canhen replied, "I''m not controlling it."


    What?


    An Qing was stunned.


    Looking up, they saw the Immeasurable Sword floating in the air and vibrating so intensely that it was starting to form afterimages.


    "What''s happening?" An Qing asked.


    "It''s excited," Xi Canhen muttered.


    "''Excited''? ''Excited'' about what?" An Qing asked, turning to Xi Canhen.


    Xi Canhen''s eyes turned colder and colder as he muttered, "I don''t know¡­ This is my first time seeing it. I can only sense that it''s very excited."


    "A sword can get excited?"


    "Precious swords have spirituality, so how can they not feel?"


    The one who answered was not Xi Canhen.


    A voice drifted through the air.


    The two looked up and saw a blue-robed Daoist standing on a tree branch.


    The Daoist had a strange face and arge body. He stood on the tree branch with his hands held behind his back, nobody understanding how he had gotten there.


    "It''s you!" Xi Canhen blurted out when he saw the Daoist.


    This Daoist was clearly the old man who had given him the books and the sword.


    Xi Canhen was no longer that clueless teen of the past, thinking that lucky opportunities would inexplicably drop from the heavens onto his head. When he thought back to that experience, he no longer viewed it as a lucky opportunity, but that old man turning into a savage fiend and telling him that he was being used.


    This terror had gripped him for a long time, and it was a long time before he was finally able to put it down.


    But then he met Tang Jie, who, after learning what had happened to him, had expressed simr concern, even advising him to throw away the Immeasurable Sword.


    But Xi Canhen ultimately hadn''t been willing to do this.


    Deep down, he was still hoping that this was just him being too nervous. Perhaps that old man had purely taken a liking to him and wanted to establish a connection. But when he learned from Tang Jie who that person called Cang Qingfeng was, he knew that his hopes were slim.


    This left him incredibly conflicted and very worried. He could only hope that the day woulde aste as possible, but in reality, when the day actually urred, no matter how one mentally prepared oneself, one would still find it to havee too swiftly and savagely, and that one had never truly been prepared.


    The moment he saw the old Daoist, Xi Canhen concealed himself while trying to call back the Immeasurable Sword.


    The old Daoist sighed. "Your concealment art came from me, so what is the point in using it in front of me? Young man, do not panic. While I did use your hands to nurture the Immeasurable Sword, it was because of the sword that you were able to step through the Immortal gate, and you relied on that sword to achieve countless things. The moment has nowe, and the Immeasurable Sword has found its former master, so why try to keep it?"


    He waved his hand, and Xi Canhen felt the Immeasurable Sword break free of his control and fly into the air. Meanwhile, his just-concealed body was also exposed again.


    "You¡­" Xi Canhen shouted.


    But he saw that the sword wasn''t flying toward the Old Daoist, but into the depths of the Great Mountain.


    Xi Canhen was stunned, and then he realized, "You''re not its former master?"


    The old Daoist thrust out his hand, and the sword stopped, vibrating in the air. The old Daoist chuckled and said, "When did this old man ever say I was the former master? The Immeasurable Sword is the sword of the ughter Lord, and nobody who has held this sword has been able to live for more than ten years. Although I do not fear death, when the master of the Immeasurable Sword dies, all of its essence will fade away, and the sword will be reset to the beginning. Thus, though I possessed the sword, I could not use it. Fortunately, all things in heaven have their counter andplement. While the Immeasurable Sword is vicious, it is not impossible to find a person who can counter the sword. If a person is born in a Yin year, in a Yin month, in a Yin day, in a Yin hour, possessing the toughest of fates that can resist all tribtions, that person will be the ideal holder of the sword. This old man sought out such a person for a thousand years, but most of the people I found could not withstand the sword. But then you finally became the first to live past ten years! Congrattions!"


    The old Daoist grinned, clearly excited to the extreme.


    Xi Canhen stared at him. "So when you gave me the sword, it really was to use my hands to nurture it?"


    The old Daoist waved his hands in denial. "Not at all, not at all. Nurturing the sword was only one of the reasons. Although you have held the sword for ten years, s, the amount of ughter you havemitted is too little, too little. The Immeasurable Sword has yet to reach its peak, and its seal is yet to be truly undone, so it cannot be used yet. Originally, this old man was going to patiently wait, but I did not think that the royal court would be opened now. This is destiny, the will of the heavens. Since the moment hase, this old man has no choice but to act."


    "''The royal court''?" Xi Canhen was confused.


    On the side, An Qing finally realized something. Pointing at the old Daoist, he shouted, "Aren''t you that crazy old Daoist from before?"


    Earlier, when Xu Miaoran had arrived, a crazy old Daoist hade out of nowhere to sow chaos. In the aftermath, Godhead Pce had done its best but had failed to find out who that crazy old Daoist was. The eleventh brother hadn''t exchanged blows with the old Daoist, so he hadn''t recognized him. It was only from that man''s way of speaking that he finally put two and two together.


    But it was clear that the madness had been feigned and that the actual person was extremely shrewd.


    The old Daoist threw his head back andughed. "That Xu Miaoran girl really doesn''t know what''s good for her, daring to barge into the Spirit Mountains. This old man initially didn''t care about whether she lived or died, but if she ran into trouble, Tang Jie was bound to go crazy. And if Tang Jie went crazy, this kid would probably be exposed. I had never intended to intervene, but I had no choice but to help so as to not ruin the n."


    "What did you say?" An Qing gasped.


    He turned on Xi Canhen. "Twelfth Brother, tell me: is that old man telling the truth? You and Tang Jie¡­ So you were the spy!"


    He pulled out his sword and pointed it at Xi Canhen.


    Xi Canhen scowled, ignoring An Qing as he stared at the old Daoist. "You¡­ are Cang Qingfeng?"


    The old Daoist tilted his head and smiled. "That truly is a name this old man once had."


    On the other end, An Qing was staring at Xi Canhen with eyes that burned with anger.


    Xi Canhen appeared to not notice, saying, "You''ve gotten the sword, but rather than leaving, you''re talking with me, even exposing my identity. You must have some other motive besides taking the sword, no?"


    Cang Qingfeng chuckled. "You''re quite sharp. You remember what I said about the sword not being fully unsealed? Because the number of people you''ve killed¡­ is too small."


    Xi Canhen paled, and then he spotted An Qing charging over while shouting, "I''ll have you seized, and then you can exin yourself to Big Brother!"


    "Eleventh Brother, don''t!" Xi Canhen shouted.


    Cang Qingfeng waved his hand, and the Immeasurable Sword turned around and flew back into Xi Canhen''s hand.


    Entirely out of instinct, Xi Canhen raised the sword against the approaching An Qing.


    In his eyes, there were far too many openings in this move, and An Qing had countless ways to deal with it.


    But at that moment, An Qing simply mindlessly charged in.


    Plush!


    The Immeasurable Sword pierced through his neck, and blood gushed out of his body and into the Immeasurable Sword.


    "Eleventh Brother!" Xi Canhen shouted.


    Although he was secretly helping Tang Jie, it was impossible to say that the affections he had developed being with everyone in thest few years had been fake.


    If possible, he didn''t want them to die, and certainly not to die at his hand.


    An Qing had always been on good terms with him. He was able to tell that his eleventh brother, even after learning that he was the spy, wasn''t thinking about killing him, only restraining him. But at this moment, he had died on Xi Canhen''s sword.


    He nkly looked at his eleventh brother, and his eleventh brother looked back, blood gushing out of therge hole in his neck.


    With his strength, even after taking this strike, he shouldn''t have died, but at that moment, he dropped to his knees like a powerless infant.


    It seemed like he wanted to move, but he couldn''t. Without being able to cast a single spell art, he simply stared at Xi Canhen. Finally, with a gurgle, he dropped his head and died.


    Xi Canhen backed away several steps and then looked at the old Daoist.


    Cang Qingfeng was still standing on the tree branch, chuckling to himself.


    "It was you!" Xi Canhen shouted. "You killed him!"


    Cang Qingfengughed even louder. "No, this old man simply controlled him. You were the one who killed him."


    "Why?" Xi Canhen asked through clenched teeth.


    "I already said¡­" Cang Qingfeng''s face suddenly darkened. "You''ve killed too few people, and the Immeasurable Sword hasn''t had its fill. But that''s fine. So long as you kill the nearly one thousand cultivators Godhead Pce has left here, it should be enough."


    Xi Canhen''s heart turned cold. "No, that''s impossible! I can''t do it!"


    "You can." Cang Qingfeng pointed behind him. "Watch."


    Looking back, he saw numerous servant warriors who wereing over after hearing themotion.


    They saw the eleventh brother copsed in a pool of blood, and they saw Xi Canhen holding that bloody sword.


    Everyone was stunned, one of them shouting, "Twelfth Young Master, you!"


    Cang Qingfeng said, "If you don''t kill them, they will kill you. You''ve killed one already, so you might as well go on a killing spree. And don''t worry about not being able to beat them. With this old man here, none of it will be a problem."


    He waved his sleeve, and all the people charging over froze.


    "You!" Xi Canhen angrily red at Cang Qingfeng.


    Cang Qingfeng sighed. "Forget it. I''ll lend you a hand."


    He waved his sleeve again, and Xi Canhen immediately felt his body fly forward, outside of his control, the Immeasurable Sword radiating a crimson glow. Xi Canhen desperately shouted, "No!"


    But he was utterly unable to control his body. The sword danced, and blood fountained.


    More people were attracted by themotion.


    Cang Qingfeng didn''t care at all, throwing his head back and roaring, "Drink, Immeasurable Sword, drink! Today is youring of age! There is no more need to hide the green spear, and after ten thousand years, I have returned! Hahahaha!"


    Madughter resounded over a sea of blood.


    Xi Canhen was no longer able to control his body, and he could only watch as he charged forward and killed, the boundless sea of blood before him engulfing him.


    After some time, Xi Canhen finally regained consciousness.


    He opened his eyes and saw a field of bodies.


    Corpses were scattered across the mountain.


    The eleventh brother, the True Persons, the two hundred Bloodbath Hall disciples, the five hundred servant warriors, and the Goldte Soldiers were allid out on the ground.


    When these people worked together, they could even deal with a Soul Transformation True Person, but they had been killed by one person and his sword.


    There was not a single survivor.


    The Immeasurable Sword in his hand excitedly buzzed. Never had it been able to drink blood so freely.


    This was a terrifying massacre!


    More than a thousand people had been killed. Xi Canhen had never experienced such maddening ughter before.


    Did I do all this?


    Xi Canhen didn''t dare to believe his eyes.


    Even though he knew that he hadn''t been in control of his body, he still felt an intense self-loathing.


    Perhaps he should have never believed in that so-called lucky encounter.


    Tang Jie was right. There was no such thing in the world as a free lunch.


    The sword shed again and again with red light, as if something was awakening, and Xi Canhen could keenly sense the power contained within.


    Looking back, he saw that Cang Qingfeng was still standing there, though his face was somewhat pale.


    It appeared that it had cost him quite a lot to make Xi Canhen kill so many people.


    But most of it was excitement.


    Excitement at achieving great sess!


    Heughed, "Haha, the blood glow has appeared, and the Blood Soul is awakening. The Immeasurable Sword is finally about to awaken. But it seems like it''s still missing a little. Oh, that''s understandable. After all, these are all low-tier cultivators. Killing a few more formidable ones should be enough."


    He reached out and grabbed Xi Canhen. Xi Canhen wanted to resist, but he found that he waspletely paralyzed.


    Gritting his teeth, he tried to use Heart Consonance tomunicate with Tang Jie, but he found that Cang Qingfeng had even prevented him from circting spiritual energy for fear that he would use spell arts.


    Cang Qingfeng flew toward the valley, saying, "If you''re good, once this matter is done, I will take you as my actual disciple and share some of the spoils with you. But if you dare to defy me, this old man will show you no mercy."


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    As a massacre was taking ce in the perimeter of the Spirit Mountains, Tang Jie''s original body was leading Xu Miaoran, Xian Tao, Hong Yuan, Yiyi, the ghost guard, and Qian Yingchen into the maze.


    All was quiet in the maze.


    The mor was gone, and only the bodies and blood were left as a reminder that a battle had taken ce here.


    "Be careful. There should be some surviving daemons here. Don''t be in a rush to kill them," Tang Jie warned. "We just need to push through and find the exit."


    "Understood. I say: why are we still keeping this guy around? I think we should kill him," Hong Yuan said, pointing at Qian Yingchen.


    "Let''s keep him. We can just treat him as cannon fodder like the Beast Morphers. The path ahead will be tough, and there''s no telling what dangers we will encounter," Tang Jie indifferently said.


    The significance of cannon fodder wasn''t in taking attacks, but in testing the power of attacks. Nobody knew the nature of the dangers up ahead. Perhaps cultivators could withstand the majority of the dangers, but if there was one that they could not, that would mean the end of their lives. Thus, in the cultivation world, cannon fodder existed not to draw attacks, but to probe attacks.


    s, Qian Yingchen, a genius of a generation, had fallen to the level of cannon fodder.


    Strangely, they didn''t run into any daemons.


    As they got closer and closer to the exit and were about to cheer for their safe journey, they heard the sounds of fighting in the distance.


    "Eh? People still haven''t left the maze yet?" Tang Jie was rather surprised.


    He had called out the location of the maze''s exit, so even the dumbest person should have found it if they had just run in that direction. How was it that someone was still here?


    It was no wonder they hadn''t run into any daemons. They had all been drawn over in that direction.


    Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran looked at each other and said in unison, "Let''s go and look."


    Since they were following behind the main group, Tang Jie was in no rush, so they might as well see what sort of idiot had yet to leave the maze. If it was some powerful foe who had some possibility of escaping, he wouldn''t mind ensuring that that person remained here forever.


    Tang Jie hoped that it was an opponent like Elders Gold and Silver or Li Song¡ªsomeone strong yet still beatable.


    Of course, he knew that this was basically impossible.


    The two of them headed toward the sound of the fighting, and as they got closer, they started to hear shouts and see the shes of spell arts.


    The voices were rather familiar, but Tang Jie couldn''t recall where he had heard them.


    As he got closer, in the light of the spell arts, Tang Jie saw the faces of the people fighting. Unable to repress his surprise, he shouted, "How is it you guys?"

 Chapter 527: Ghosts Also Have Feelings

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The ones appearing before Tang Jie''s eyes were none other than Shi Jingzhai and Tutu.


    When Tang Jie had been teleported away back then, while Yiyi hade with him, Shi Jingzhai and Tutu hadn''t been able toe along. He hadn''t expected to run into them here.


    At this time, Tutu the rabbit fiend was crouched on Shi Jingzhai''s shoulder, squealing as it covered its eyes with its ears and trembled in fear. Meanwhile, Shi Jingzhai was shouting and grunting as he battled with the daemons.


    With his addled mind, he didn''t know the way to kill daemons and only knew brute strength. Fortunately, most of the daemons had been killed by Godhead Pce, so he was still able to hold on.


    But in the maze, he didn''t know to take the initiative and run. If Tang Jie hadn''te, he probably would have exhausted himself to death.


    When Tang Jie saw that it was those two, he immediately rushed in. Without using Primordial Yang power, only his punches, he cleaned up all the daemons.


    Shi Jingzhai excitedly rushed over. Tang Jie was about to hug him, but Shi Jingzhai surprisingly ran past him and went up to Yiyi, where he covered his head and started to cry. This imbecile didn''t know how to talk, so he just cried in front of Yiyi. As for Tutu, it jumped down from Shi Jingzhai''s shoulder and into Tang Jie''s arms, shouting, "Young Master, we finally meet again! Wooo¡­ eh? You seem a little different."


    Tang Jie lifted up its ears. "Save the chatter and tell me how you got here first."


    Tutu stammered out their story.


    Shi Jingzhai and Tutu had been left all alone in the Basking Moon Sect. Without their master, they had lost their backing, but Qi Shaoming and Tang Jie''s otherrades hadn''t mistreated them.


    But the Beast Refining Gate''s attack on the mountain had caused the two sects to enter open hostilities, and the Transverse Range had been turned into a battlefield. Cai Junyang, Peng Yaolong, Qi Shaoming, and Wei Tianchong were all fighting with the Beast Refining Gate there.


    Without the help of Tang Jie''s good friends, Tutu was in trouble.


    While most of the cultivators of the Basking Moon Sect had a sense of camaraderie, there were still a few scoundrels, just like that Yu Yan from before. And this time, a chambein came out with the intent of taking Tutu.


    This person seemed to have been interested in Tutu''s identity as a Heaven-Lost Rabbit. Perhaps thinking that Tang Jie wouldn''t being back alive, he acted without any sort of restraint.


    With no other options, Tutu could only flee the Zephyr Mountains with Shi Jingzhai.


    They had nowhere to go, so they just ran around blindly. One having strength and no brains, and the other having brains and no strength, they made for a perfect pair. Thus, in half a year of traveling, they basically weren''t in much danger.


    One day, as Tutu and Shi Jingzhai were wandering around, they ended up in the Mount Eternal region.


    The Stone Gate Sect had been located in Mount Eternal, and so Shi Jingzhai inexplicably managed to recover some of his memories upon seeing the familiar scenery.


    Thus, he led Tutu toward the mine, venturing all the way until they reached the very bottom of the mines.


    The poisonous moths had already been killed, and the water purified. All the dangers had been cleaned up, and there were certainly no hidden treasures, just an empty space.


    But the several years Shi Jingzhai had spent digging here had left an indelible impression on him.


    Thus, he once more swam through the underwater river into the cavern.


    Since the water wasn''t poisoned, Shi Jingzhai didn''t need to strip his clothes.


    Through that small passage, he and Tutu arrived at that now-cleaned-out cavern.


    He followed the path he had dug out until he came before a ck fissure.


    "''A ck fissure''?" Tang Jie narrowed his eyes.


    He naturally knew what that was.


    A spatial fissure.


    He had seen that fissure before when exploring that underground cavern, and he knew that the cavern''s abundance of rare resources was closely linked to the fissure. Even the bean soldiers, as a treasure that Shi Jingzhai had secretly hoarded for himself, were probably from the spatial fissure.


    But after that, Tang Jie stopped paying attention to the fissure.


    He hadn''t expected the fissure to suddenly be active again.


    Looking at Tutu, Tang Jie suddenly remembered something.


    A Heaven-Lost Rabbit!


    He suddenly understood.


    He said, "You went into that spatial fissure?"


    Tutu shrank back. "I didn''t expect that guy to be this crazy."


    Even with the ability of spatial orientation, surviving and drifting in the void was no easy task. Tutu had never imagined that there would be a spatial fissure there, let alone that Shi Jingzhai would go crazy upon encountering it. This madman shouted when he saw the fissure and jumped right in.


    This scared Tutu out of its wits.


    It was well aware that it and Shi Jingzhai were not strong enough to live for long in the infinite void, so it immediately activated its ability and sought a way out.


    Its luck turned out to be pretty good.


    The moment it activated its ability, it found a spatial tunnel not far from their location. This meant that they could get back to the Rosecloud Domain through this passage, though it might not be in Sageheart.


    Tutu immediately took control of Shi Jingzhai and had him fly toward that tunnel.


    They arrived in time, and when they reappeared, they were in the underground pce, surrounded by daemons.


    "You''re saying¡­ this maze has a spatial fissure?" Tang Jie''s eyes glinted.


    "No, it''s not a fissure," Tutu unexpectedly replied. "It''s a proper spatial gate, a secret entrance."


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    The farther one went, the thicker the fog became.


    It gradually became impossible to see one''s own hands, even worse than that lightless maze.


    The avatar Tang Jie advanced through the fog, seeking a way forward.


    Suddenly, a coldugh rang out next to his ear.


    Turning his head, he saw a dark figure drifting about the fog.


    "A Wandering Soul?" Tang Jie narrowed his eyes.


    Wandering Souls were a type of ghost, ranked lower than White Phantoms but even more troublesome. This was because these ghosts were ethereal beings that were immune to the majority of attacks. Besides that, they also knew spell arts. Most importantly, they weren''t solitary existences.


    As that one Wandering Soul appeared, more and more of them began to appear around Tang Jie, all of themughing.


    "Quite a lot of them," Tang Jie casually said, not the least bit afraid. Smiling, he said, "The stronger you are, the happier I am."


    Hiss! The ghosts shrieked.


    "It''s useless." Tang Jie shook his head and revealed something in his palm.


    The Soul Refining Pearl.


    The moment the ghosts saw the Soul Refining Pearl, fear appeared on their savage faces.


    The Soul Refining Pearl was specifically built to absorb souls, and ghosts happened to be souls that used Yin energy to manifest.


    If these were ghosts like White Phantoms, who were individually rather strong, the Soul Refining Pearl wouldn''t have been able to deal with them that easily. After all, it wasn''t a pearl made for absorbing ghosts. But it was more than enough against ghosts like Wandering Souls.


    The Soul Refining Pearl basically countered these Wandering Souls, so how could they not be afraid? With a shriek, they retreated.


    Tang Jie snorted. "You think I''m going to let youe and go as you please? I happened to becking in souls, so I can use you lot to refill."


    Ever since he had decided to deal with Godhead Pce in this ce, Tang Jie had decided to use everything he had. As he had already used his previous trump cards and racked his brains for what else he could do, he finally took out the Soul Refining Pearl, which he had always been reluctant to use, but it wasn''t the only thing he was using.


    As the Soul Refining Pearl activated, none of the Wandering Souls was able to escape, all of them drawn into the pearl amid howling sts of sinister wind. As they flew into the pearl, Tang Jie thrust his finger at the air several times.


    Spiritual light shed, and an ethereal cage formed.


    A Spirit Light Cage.


    The Spirit Light Cage was a spell art recorded in the Ghost ssic specifically for imprisoning ghosts, doing exactly as the name would suggest. But this cage was only good for holding, not catching, for which one still had to rely on oneself.


    Tang Jie didn''t care, pointing at the cage and saying, "Go!"


    Though the Wandering Souls hesitated for a moment, they surged toward the cage en masse.


    When the choice was between death and imprisonment, everyone knew what to choose.


    The Spirit Light Cage glowed, and it was soon stuffed with Wandering Souls.


    Catching the Wandering Souls one by one would take a great deal of effort, but when coerced by the Soul Refining Pearl, they epted being captured as a group. Only a few Wandering Souls entered the Soul Refining Pearl, where they howled as they were refined, leaving the remaining ghosts trembling in fear.


    The Spirit Light Cage shrank until it fell into Tang Jie''s hand, the size of a palm. Tang Jie put it away and continued forward.


    He had big ns for these ghosts.


    He didn''t go far before he heard a growl.


    A person walked out of the fog.


    Though he called it a person, it was really another type of ghost. That person''s face was stiff and dried out like jerky. Its rigid body made it sway as it moved, and it wore a suit of tattered armor and held a spear.


    "A Shambler," Tang Jie muttered.


    Before him was clearly a Shambler.


    This garden truly had a host of creatures: White Phantoms, Wandering Souls, and now Shamblers.


    Shamblers were ranked the lowest among ghosts and shouldn''t have posed a threat, but Tang Jie was still extremely cautious.


    Unlike other ghosts, Shamblers arose from corpses and came with physical bodies. While their rank was low, their strength actually depended on the strength of the corpse in life.


    This Shambler clearly belonged to a deceased guard of the Court of Myriad Domains.


    The guard shouldn''t have been very strong, but it was hard to say that when it came to the Court of Myriad Domains.


    This was an existence that had once ruled the entire Great Ster Chiliocosm, so even an ordinary guard couldn''t be underestimated.


    Sure enough, the Shambler staggered over, and when it got close to Tang Jie, it thrust out its spear.


    It seemed like an unremarkable blow, but Tang Jie evaded to the side, not daring to underestimate it. At the same time, he chopped his palm, sending out a Dragonlike Hand.


    The attack struck the Shambler with a bang, and the Shambler swayed. But then, as if nothing had happened, it turned around and thrust its spear at Tang Jie again.


    Tang Jie grimaced.


    He was much stronger now that he had attained the Celestial Heart Realm, and his power was no longer restrained by his cultivation realm. His Dragonlike Hand had seemed simple, but it was actually built on the foundation of the Ninedark Mantra and the Violet Jade Mantra, so it was much stronger than normal. Yet it had done absolutely nothing to the Shambler.


    That spear moved with deceptive speed, and Tang Jie could only raise his hand to block.


    The palm shed with the spear, and Tang Jie felt an immense power surging through him. Unable to control his body, he was blown back.


    Meanwhile, that deceptively fast spear went straight for Tang Jie''s neck.


    "Fuck!" Tang Jie only had time to curse as he activated the Chaoswind Step, blinking away. He then flung out his hand, and there was a golden sh of light that swept past the Shambler. Bang! A head went shooting into the air.


    The headless Shambler turned around and thrust its spear again at Tang Jie. Losing its head had had no effect on it, not even on its sense of direction, though it was hard to say exactly how this Shambler could tell which direction was where.


    Tang Jie had no choice but to swing the golden saber three more times: once to break the spear, a second to break the arm, and the third to break a leg.


    With three swings, the Shambler was left with only one arm and one leg, but it was still crawling along the ground, refusing to die.


    Helpless, Tang Jie stomped on the Shambler.


    The Shambler''s hand grabbed his ankle.


    Tang Jie coldly said, "I''d like to see if you can still move after you''ve been cut into a thousand pieces."


    His de danced.


    The Shambler was sliced into countless chunks.


    This time, it stopped moving for good.


    Whew! Tang Jie breathed out.


    This creature had been more troublesome than he had expected.


    It was clear that the guard Shambler had been like a body refiner,cking powerful spell arts but possessing an extremely tough body that could fend off various attacks and was endowed with immense strength. If his golden saber hadn''t countered it, it truly would have been difficult for him to deal with.


    Thinking this, he raised his pant leg and saw that the area where the Shambler had grabbed had a purplish bruise that was rapidly fading.


    Even with his Heavenly Spirit Law Body, the Shambler had still left a dark bruise, and he was momentarily at a loss for words.


    s, Shamblers had no spirit, or else he would have captured one.


    Wait.


    Tang Jie had a thought.


    Shamblers had no spirit, so could he put one in them?


    With this thought in mind, Tang Jie pulled out the Soul Refining Pearl.


    The Soul Refining Pearl''s initial purpose was possession.


    But the soul would resist, and the vast majority of possessions ended in failure. However, the momentary daze created by the process of possession made the pearl an excellent paralyzing weapon.


    But what if the target had no soul?


    Tang Jie was suddenly tempted.


    If the target had no soul, the possession would encounter no resistance. Didn''t that mean he could possess and control the target as he desired?


    In truth, he had had thoughts like this more than once, though he had never found a suitable target. After all, there were few existences that were both strong and soulless. In addition, he didn''t dare to use it in the Rosecloud Domain.


    But today, Tang Jie saw some hope.


    Both the Soul Refining Pearl and Ghost ssic were objects that couldn''t see the light of day, and they were ideal for a world that didn''t see the light of day.


    This secret dimension was the ideal location!


    Thinking this, Tang Jie stopped and rushed off to the side.


    If he remembered correctly, that Shambler hade from here.


    If he went there, he might find more.


    As he ran over, he saw several people running toward him: two Bloodbath Hall disciples of Godhead Pce and several members of the Beast Refining Gate.


    They spotted Tang Jie and excitedly shouted, "Young Master Qian, hurry and help us! The ghosts here are very formidable."


    "What kind of ghost?" Tang Jie asked as he strode over.


    "Some Shamblers. Weapons can''t prate their skin, and spell arts barely do a thing," one of them replied.


    "Leave it to me," Tang Jie replied as he walked over. He swung his golden saber, and several heads dropped to the earth. With a wave of his hand, their bags flew to him, and he put them away without a second nce.


    This fog garden ce was a perfect ce to kill and loot.


    Several people charged out of the fog, clearly Shambler guards like the one Tang Jie had killed earlier.


    Tang Jie raised the Soul Refining Pearl, and a figure floated out of the pearl¡ªone of the souls that the Soul Refining Pearl had absorbed. This soul had spent too little time in the pearl to be a Mindseizer, and it didn''t have any ferocity, so it would have been difficult for it to possess anything. But the target it was being used on was even weaker, a Shambler without any soul at all. It was an empty house that even the weakest person could upy.


    As for mature Mindseizers, Tang Jie naturally had some, but they were liable to change the original appearance of the host and be purple daemons that were rather simr to the ck daemons of the maze. Not even mentioning the decrease in strength, this would also be more likely to expose the Soul Refining Pearl. It was better to leave them in reserve as a paralyzing tool.


    Thus, letting out souls that had yet to be Mindseizers was more suitable in this situation.


    With a whoosh, the soul flew into the Shambler.


    A momentter, the Shambler froze, then it looked around, clearly able to think. It saw its new body, and a smile appeared on its stiff face.


    When it looked at Tang Jie, there was a ferocity in its eyes.


    Tang Jie snorted, "It seems you don''t know your ce."


    He raised the Soul Refining Pearl, and the Shambler shuddered as it remembered what had happened to it within the pearl.


    This was a pain that was engraved in its soul. Even for a ghost, it had been a supreme punishment.


    Cowed by the Soul Refining Pearl, the Shambler got down on one knee in front of Tang Jie, though it was done with great reluctance.


    "Very good!" Tang Jie was very satisfied.


    The other Shamblers were rushing over at this time, and Tang Jie released several more souls to take control of them. With the power of the Soul Refining Pearl, he was able to turn all the Shamblers into his subordinates.


    Tang Jie created another Spirit Light Cage and put the Shamblers within. The Spirit Light Cage had little effect on the physically powerful Shamblers, but as Tang Jie didn''t permit them to break it, they could only bear it.


    Tang Jie began to seek out ghosts and Shamblers, nting souls in the Shamblers to take control of them.


    The ghosts of the garden were so fierce that others would detour around them, but he happily went up to them. He captured many of the garden''s ghosts, having a wonderful time in this dangerous ce, as if he was in paradise. In truth, even if he were in a real paradise, he wouldn''t have been as happy.


    As Tang Jie was searching, several ghosts appeared before him.


    Just as he was about to use the Soul Refining Pearl to absorb them, the ghosts shouted and ran off.


    They ran!


    They actually ran!


    Tang Jie was stunned.


    Ghosts had intelligence and couldmunicate with each other.


    It was clear that Tang Jie''s infamy had begun to spread through the garden such that the surviving ghosts would no longer get in his way.


    There was a gust of wind.


    The fog scattered.


    Pavilions and fountains appeared before him.


    "Is this¡­ seeing the visitor out?" Tang Jie muttered.


    Several ethereal figures appeared in the air, bowing toward him.


    It seemed like they really were afraid.


    Several brainless Shamblers wanted to rush at Tang Jie, but they were disoriented by some fog and sent off in another direction.


    Tang Jie saw that there weren''t many ghosts left, so after some thought, he decided to give up. Nodding, he said, "Fine; I''ll let you go."


    The ghosts were delighted.


    A gust of wind delivered a small bottle.


    Tang Jie opened it and nced inside. "A ghost essence?"


    He had been hunting ghosts originally to gather some ghost essences, but ghost essences were so rare that one could kill one hundred ghosts and not find a single one.


    To his surprise, these ghosts had gifted him some. There were quite a few within the bottle, probably left behind when the ghosts of this garden dissipated and gathered up.


    It might have been useful for those ghosts with intelligence. They seemed well-aware of how important they were.


    He looked pensively at the ghosts and said, "You guys are much smarter than I thought. I still need the ghosts I captured to control the Shamblers, so I can''t release them for now. Once the battle is over, I will release them."


    The ghosts in the air prostrated to Tang Jie in thanks.


    Tang Jie turned and left.


    It seemed like the ghosts here had more feeling than humans.


    After this incident, Tang Jie knew that he needed to pay more attention when using the Soul Refining Pearl. From now on, he could only absorb ghosts that were particrly wicked.

 Chapter 528: Greed

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After leaving the garden, Tang Jie found himself in front of aplex of buildings.


    This was where the royal court proper was located. The painted pirs had been weathered and dulled by time, but he could still see their former resplendence and grandeur.


    Tang Jie made his way down a stone corridor, arriving in front of an artificial mountain.


    Just as he was about to keep going, he saw someone standing nearby: Li Song.


    He stood there with furrowed brows, so deep in thought that he didn''t even notice Tang Jieing. In the end, it was a call from Tang Jie that woke him from his stupor. Seeing Tang Jie, he said, "So it''s Little Brother Qian! Did you just manage to break free of that garden illusion zone?"


    "Exactly. I didn''t see anyone else. Senior Li, is it just you?" Tang Jie asked.


    Li Song shook his head. "We''ve all been split up. While this ce doesn''t look big on the outside, there''s a whole world on the inside. Let alone our group, it could hold a hundred times our number. But that''s good. As a part of the Court of Myriad Domains, it must have many treasures inside. We are the first to arrive, so we can get some treasures before the rest. The early bird gets the worm, as they say."


    Tang Jie smiled. "Senior is right. But if that''s the case, why is Senior just standing here?"


    "Heh, can''t you see that I''m thinking of a n?" Li Song pointed at a small building in front of them. "Look at that little building there."


    Tang Jie looked at where Li Song was pointing and saw a little building of white jade standing apart from the rest of the buildings. It seemed very simple, yet there was a special aura about it.


    Earlier, he had been rushing toward therge hall in the back of theplex, but now that he saw this small building, he found it very unusual.


    Tang Jie said in understanding, "There''s something special about that building."


    "You finally see it," Li Song chuckled. "Since we want to take treasure, we naturally need to get the best and most important. Another person would probably head toward that big hall in the center, but I think that if there was treasure in this ce, it might not be in that central hall."


    "Oh? If Senior is so certain, why have you not gone to take the treasure?"


    Li Song helplessly said, "You think I haven''t tried? I attempted to enter just now, but though this ce has been abandoned, the various buildings still have seals applied to them. Not only that, some of the heroic spirits of the Myriad Court''s warriors lingered after death, bing Spirit Ghosts that have continued to protect this ce. Can''t you see that I''m trying to think of a solution right now?"


    "''Spirit Ghosts''?" Tang Jie was startled by this news.


    Spirit Ghosts were also a kind of ghost, but they were much more powerful than ordinary ghosts. These were ghosts that had managed to retain the majority of their strength through a sliver of obsession.


    This fragment of the Court of Myriad Domains was home to demonic energy, Yin energy, and death energy, so it was possible for anything to pop up here: demons, ghosts, and even Spirit Ghosts.


    Given that Spirit Ghosts were around, it was no wonder Li Song hadn''t been able to make any progress.


    "How many?" Tang Jie asked.


    Li Song raised two fingers. "Two in total, so it''s not impossible to deal with. But the seal on the white jade building is still present, and it will take some effort to remove it. Those Spirit Ghosts are extremely difficult to kill, so undoing the seal while dealing with their interference isn''t easy."


    Tang Jie said, "If that''s the case, then it''s easy. If Senior does not mind, Yingchen is willing to take on this building together with Senior. If there is something inside, Senior will take 70% while this one will take 30%. What do you think?"


    Li Song was a Heart Demon True Person while Qian Yingchen was a Spirit Ring True Person, so for Tang Jie to be willing to take only 30% made sense. After thinking it over, Li Song ultimately nodded. "That would be great."


    He needed someone''s help so that he could break the seal, and Tang Jie hade at the perfect time.


    Spirit Ghosts were difficult to kill, so to avoid wasting time, the two of them decided on a n. Tang Jie would hold down the two Spirit Ghosts in front of the doors to the white jade building while Li Song would break the seal.


    So that no one else might butt in, the two immediately rushed to the building to execute their n.


    These buildings seemed simple, but they were actually arranged in ordance with the principles of the world, vaguely pulsing with the power of a formation. It was only the damage andck of maintenance that allowed Tang Jie and Li Song to push through and reach the small building.


    Sure enough, two golden-armored warriors stood in front of the building.


    Unlike the Shamblers in the garden, these golden warriors seemed like living people but for their slightly blue faces, which were proof that they had actually died many years ago. But they still had souls, which made them Spirit Ghosts and not ordinary ghosts.


    They stood in front of the building like statues, but when the pair approached, they suddenly opened their eyes, which gleamed with intelligence.


    Upon seeing Li Song, they shouted in unison and thrust their spears at him.


    Li Song hastily retreated. "Young Friend Qian, I''ll leave this side to you."


    Tang Jie grunted and charged forward, thrusting his palms out and unleashing two energy palms at the ghosts while he himself ran off in another direction. He didn''t dare to show his attacks in front of Li Song for fear of exposing his strength, so he drew the ghosts to the other side. Fortunately, they had already agreed that he only needed to stall the ghosts for a time, so this method didn''t draw Li Song''s suspicion.


    Once the two Spirit Ghosts were drawn a sufficient distance away, Tang Jie stopped and looked back at the golden warriors. Smiling, he said, "Hey, the two of you, there''s no need to chase me so stubbornly. Didn''t the ghosts of the garden warn you not to mess with me?"


    The golden warriors ignored him and thrust their spears at him.


    Tang Jie was forced to dodge.


    Unlike the other ghosts, these two didn''t fear the Soul Refining Pearl. Their souls could not be absorbed, nor could their bodies be possessed, so he could only use force.


    Thus, Tang Jie pulled out the golden saber and swung at one of the golden warriors.


    But to his surprise, when the golden warrior saw the saber, it retreated and evaded the saber.


    Tang Jie was shocked, and he saw the two golden warriors fall back, their eyes fixed on the golden saber. They pointed their spears at Tang Jie, and white spear beams extended from them.


    The spear beams were like snake tongues, constantly extending and retracting.


    Tang Jie was again startled.


    Over the years, Tang Jie had graduallye to understand that while the golden saber was sharp, it still had many ws.


    In the past, its biggest problem was itsck of killing power.


    After shattering soul weapons, he had finally resolved this problem. But besides that, there were still some ways of dealing with the golden saber, like higher-grade divine treasures or non-physical weapons like saber lights.


    But he had always kept the attributes of the golden saber a secret, so few people understood how to counter it.


    Today, the golden saber hadn''t even touched these two ghosts, yet they already understood how to counter it.


    At that moment, that scene from when his mind entered the Martial Mirror reyed in Tang Jie''s mind.


    "As expected, these are old foes, so much so that they recognized it at first nce," Tang Jie muttered.


    As he waved the golden saber again, the two golden warriors flew back, their spear beams stabbing at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie snorted, evading as he activated the Chaoswind Step. Appearing behind the two Spirit Ghosts, he swung the golden saber again. But to his surprise, the two Spirit Ghosts reacted extremely quickly. The moment Tang Jie disappeared, they turned around, and a left arm swiftly reached out to grab Tang Jie''s wrist, preventing him from swinging. Tang Jie kicked out at the chest of one of the Spirit Ghosts, and there was a rip as if he had punched through leather. But the Spirit Ghost simply swayed, actingpletely unaffected as it punched at Tang Jie''s chest. Even with the Formless Golden Body, Tang Jie was still sent flying.


    As he flew back, he thrust out his hand and unleashed a Dragonlike Hand, and then he sent out a Matchless sh.


    Bang! Bang! The two Spirit Ghosts were struck by these powerful spell arts, but they still seemed unaffected.


    "Fuck!" Tang Jie cursed.


    He had used all of his strength in these attacks, and even a Heart Demon True Person like Li Song wouldn''t have dared to take them. But these two Spirit Ghost warriors had easily taken these blows, so it was no wonder Li Song had said that they were hard to kill and asked only for him to stall them.


    However, Tang Jie had no interest in actually being Li Song''sckey. He wanted to finish off these two ghosts before Li Song finished breaking the seal.


    But the Soul Refining Pearl had no effect on them, and spell arts couldn''t kill them. These two also understood the attributes of the golden saber and knew how to defend against it. For a moment, Tang Jie couldn''t find a good way to deal with them.


    Suddenly, his eyes shed. "I have an idea."


    Putting away the golden saber, he gazed at the two Spirit Ghosts charging at him and snorted, pronouncing in a thunderous voice, "Shake!"


    The two golden warriors froze.


    Delighted that it had worked, Tang Jie shouted, "Retreat!"


    The golden warriors stepped back.


    Tang Jie was using none other than the Four-Nine True Words that he used to deal with those corpses in the Nine Executions Immortal Formation.


    The Four-Nine True Words had been created to deal with corpses and ghosts, for the purpose of jolting and shaking the soul.


    These two golden warriors were somewhat simr to the corpses in the formation, though more intelligent. Most importantly, they were physical bodies turned into ghosts, with souls residing in them, which made them the perfect target for the Four-Nine True Words.


    "Leave!" Tang Jie called out, and two puffs of smoke appeared above the heads of the golden warriors, blurred faces on them. These were none other than the souls of the ghosts.


    But this time, no matter how those souls struggled, they couldn''t leave their bodies.


    The "Leave" word had failed toplete the job, and Tang Jie had no choice but to shout the fourth word: "Exterminate!"


    The puffs of smoke scattered, but they quickly gathered back together.


    These were souls that had not left the body, and their bodies had been enough to block the Extermination word.


    But it had had some effect, and the two Spirit Ghosts wailed, pain and anger appearing on their faces.


    As they wailed, Tang Jie heard howls rising up around him, as if countless golden warriors were responding to their cries.


    "Shit!" Tang Jie knew he was in trouble. Those damned Spirit Ghosts had called for reinforcements.


    Without hesitation, he turned and ran.


    The two Spirit Ghosts wanted to give chase, but Tang Jie snorted and said, "I might not be able to kill you right now, but you think I can''t stop you? Fixate!"


    The two Spirit Ghosts froze again.


    Tang Jie already knew why the Four-Nine True Words didn''t have the destructive power they had possessed in the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. The souls back in the formation were outsiders possessing an alien body, just like how he was controlling the Shamblers, achieving only a temporary fusion. This was why the Four-Nine True Word had been able to force out those ghosts so easily.


    But the golden warriors had a natural integration of body and soul, so it was only natural that they weren''t as easy to push out. Even so, because the Four-Nine True Words had been designed to deal with ghosts that had souls and physical bodies, it had still had some effect.


    It couldn''t kill them, but it could at least slow them down.


    While the two ghosts were fixed in ce, Tang Jie retreated.


    As he retreated, he sent out streams of spiritual light from his hands, which caused the air to ripple as if it was water, creating a halo. The Spirit Ghosts barged into the halo and then began to run around all over the ce. In that brief moment, Tang Jie hadid down a befuddling formation.


    As Tang Jie attained higher mastery of formations, he gradually became capable of swiftlyying down some lower-grade formations. They weren''t enough to imprison people, but they were enough to deal with the somewhat less intelligent ghosts.


    With this done, Tang Jie rushed toward the white jade building.


    When he arrived, he heard a boom, and the little building erupted in light, after which the door opened and a ring of light rippled out. Li Song instantly paled¡ªa sign that he had suffered some bacsh from forcibly breaking the seal.


    Tang Jie smiled as he flew over. "I came at just the right time."


    Li Song inwardly sighed in pity, as he thought to himself, If only this kid hade a littleter. But he put up a smile and said, "It truly is the right time. Let''s go in together."


    The two of them strode into the small building.


    Upon entering, they saw a long table, with some smaller tables and chairs on the sides. This appeared to be some reception hall, though there were no treasures. However, Tang Jie did notice that the furniture was made of spirit wood of exceptional quality.


    The entirety of the Court of Myriad Domains, from the walls to the furniture, was made of rare materials. Although they couldn''t be called art relics or divine treasures, the quantity was simply astounding. If possible, Tang Jie would have wanted to take the entire underground pce¡ªsomething which the original body was already making preparations for.


    The white jade building had five floors in total.


    There was nothing on the first floor, so the pair headed up to the second floor, which was an opulent bedroom. It was clear that the master of this building had been a woman. The two of them saw a hairpin decorated with jade beads on the vanity table. Li Song saw that it was a special item and moved to take it, but the moment he did, the hairpin flew off in a green streak of light, transforming into a bird.


    Li Song stomped his feet in regret. He had never imagined that this hairpin had already gained a spirit.


    Normal soul objects simply consisted of souls that had attached themselves to objects. Only a soul object that had achieved greater spirituality could turn into a lifeform, and this was the case for the beaded hairpin. It was such a rare treasure, but it had flown off, so it was hard to me Li Song for being so frustrated.


    Tang Jie simply smiled.


    The two of them headed up to the third floor.


    The third floor was the weapon storage, and various art relics had been kept here. But the years without maintenance meant that most of their spiritual energy had dissipated, and unlike that beaded hairpin, they had been unable to maintain their spirituality.


    Li Song felt a great pity upon seeing all these treasures. Even the strongest of them hadn''t been able to resist the power of time.


    But on the other hand, something that could survive ten thousand years, even if it was only an ordinary object, could be considered a great treasure, like that beaded hairpin.


    In this aspect, while the treasures of this fragment of the Myriad Court weren''t what had been expected, they could actually be more valuable than anticipated.


    The fourth floor was the study.


    Two bookshelves within the study held books that were clearly Immortal arts.


    Li Song took a look and immediately grew excited, saying in a trembling voice, "These are Immortal techniques of the Myriad Court."


    The books lined up on the shelves were clearly Immortal arts. Unlike art relics, they didn''t have the problem of spiritual energy dissipation. While ten thousand years had made them brittle, so long as they were handled properly, one could study them without a problem.


    Delighted, Tang Jie and Li Song split up the books 3:7. They worked their way to the shelf in the middle, which disyed three books with pages carved from jade, radiating a warm and gentle light. One could tell at a nce that they were not ordinary books.


    These were named "The War God Mantra", "The Free Roaming Divine Connection", and "The Sword of Longevity".


    Li Song looked at Tang Jie, who smiled and said, "These three books aren''t ordinary items. As per our agreement, you take seventy and I take thirty, so Senior should take two and I will take one, with Senior choosing first. What do you think?"


    Li Song grunted. "Kid, count yourself lucky."


    After examining each of the three jade books carefully, he chose the War God Mantra and the Free Roaming Divine Connection. Something bearing the name "War God" had to be a powerfulbat art, and the other was called a Divine Connection, so there was no way he could miss out on that. As for that Sword of Longevity, from the name, it seemed like some sword art that sought to be apart from the world, but in this world where everything needed to be vied for, it was of little purpose.


    Tang Jie took the Sword of Longevity, putting it away without giving it a very close look.


    After cleaning up the fourth floor, the two of them headed for the top floor.


    The top floor contained a long incense table, in front of which was a prayer mat. It appeared that something was enshrined here, but the venerated object was no longer on the incense table. But there were three items still on the table: a jade bottle, a sword, and a white jade statue carved in the shape of a woman.


    Li Song didn''t notice Tang Jie tremble at the sight of the woman.


    His eyes were on the jade bottle, upon which was written in thenguage of High Antiquity: "Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill".


    "The Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill! I can''t believe it! Hahaha!" Li Song couldn''t help but loudlyugh.


    The Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill was a divine medicine with a use simr to the Nine Heavens Luan Grass, able to increase one''s chances of entering Violet Pce. It was just that the Nine Heavens Luan Grass was natural while the Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill was artificial.


    Li Song couldn''t care about anything else once he saw the pill, immediately grabbing it. He then turned to the sword in the center and saw that the words "Immeasurable Sword" had been carved into its sheath.


    He had never heard of a sword by this name before, but since it was together with the pill, it had to be some extraordinary item, so he grabbed it.


    He looked over to Tang Jie, who was ying around with the white jade statue.


    Li Song chuckled. "It seems like Little Brother Qian has taken quite the liking to that woman statue. Since that''s the case, we''ll go with the same ratio, this old man taking the pill and sword while you take the statue."


    Tang Jie smiled. "Excellent."


    He put away the statue.


    "Right," Tang Jie said after some thought. "I''ve heard treasure grounds generally have secret chambers or hidden doors that hide even better treasures. Why don''t we look around some more and see if we find anything?"


    "That would be great," Li Song replied, though he secretly scoffed at this young man, thinking of him as someone who had read too many tall tales that filled his mind with thoughts about hidden chambers. This ce was clearly the resting area for some bigshot of the Myriad Court. The residence of such an illustrious figure had to be heavily guarded, and given how the seal was still active after ten thousand years, it was clear that no one had dared to breach it. How could a ce like this possibly have some secret chamber?


    While he thought this to himself, he turned around together with Tang Jie, his hand grabbing the hilt of the Immeasurable Sword.


    Although he had gotten the majority of the spoils from this small building, when he thought about how the Sword of Longevity was as valuable as a Divine Connection and how the white jade statue had been ced together with the Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill, he couldn''t stand letting some brat from the Beast Refining Gate take them.


    Considering that no one was here, he decided to just kill the brat. With his death, everything would be his, and nobody would be the wiser.


    A murderous intent swelled up in his mind, and his grip on the Immeasurable Sword tightened. His eyes erupted with a savage glow as he turned around and swung the Immeasurable Sword.

 Chapter 529: Fishing

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Unsheathe, turn, chop!


    Li Song did everything smoothly and naturally.


    But to his shock, as he turned around to swing the sword, Tang Jie also turned around, a golden saber in his hand.


    The two of them turned around together, and when they saw each other, their eyes both momentarily froze in shock.


    He was also thinking about killing me!


    The same thought shed through their minds.


    But there was no time to think. In a confrontation on a narrow path, it was the courageous one who emerged victorious. As this thought passed through their minds, the two unleashed their most powerful spell arts.


    Tang Jie used the Matchless sh while Li Song mustered all of his power, spiritual energy flowing up his arm and into the sword as he prepared to unleash his Heaven Origin Divine Sundering, the move which he was most skilled in.


    But at that moment, Li Song suddenly felt a hint of dissonance.


    The circuit was iplete, and his spiritual power stopped cold, leaving Li Song baffled and shocked.


    He raised his head to look up at the end of that spiritual flow.


    The Immeasurable Sword!


    What was in his hands wasn''t some rare and precious sword, but only a sword hilt.


    A sword hilt!


    Li Song was dumbfounded.


    What was going on here?


    Why was there only a sword hilt ced together with the Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill?


    Li Song froze.


    That frozen moment was an eternity for him.


    A momentter, the golden saber, wrapped in a frenzied power, sliced through the narrow space between them, striking Li Song''s defenseless body in an explosion of spiritual energy.


    "Awooo!" Li Song let out the greatest howl of pain in his life.


    Blood fountained out as Tang Jie cleaved off half his body, drenching the entire room in blood.


    But he was still a Heart Demon True Person, with many tricks up his sleeve. The moment he was injured, he shot into the air.


    But in the confines of the small building, he didn''t have any space to maneuver. This charge upward had him colliding against the ceiling, and even with the power of a Heart Demon True Person, he failed to break through and was bounced back.


    Tang Jie flew up, swinging a punch at Li Song.


    The fist mmed into the body, unleashing an immense power that quashed all the strength that Li Song had just barely managed to muster.


    "Aaagh!" Li Song screamed. He red at Tang Jie and shouted, "Why?" He did not understand why they had been thinking the same thing.


    "I was about to ask you the same question, but I can guess that you got greedy." Compared to Li Song''s confusion, Tang Jie quickly realized why Li Song had wanted to kill him.


    As he spoke, he changed back into his original face.


    Upon seeing that familiar face, Li Song was utterly stunned. "Tang¡­ Tang Jie!"


    What came in response was Tang Jie''s thunderous punch.


    This punch struck him in the abdomen and sted apart his liver.


    Li Song cultivated the Greenwood Mantra, and the liver was the source of his power. Even with a spiritual body, this area remained his most vital part. As his liver shattered, all of his gathered energy dissipated. Tang Jie grabbed Li Song, and his fingers bulged as spiritual energy pumped through them into Li Song''s body, preventing him from restoring his liver.


    With his cultivation level, it should have been impossible to suppress Li Song, but he had already done his research on Li Song and knew of his weaknesses. Coupled with his thunderous strike, he had managed to take down this mighty Heart Demon True Person.


    "Don''t kill me!" Li Song cried out in fear.


    "Don''t worry. If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn''t have gone through all this trouble." Tang Jie held Li Song as he went downstairs. Of course, he relieved Li Song of his Mustard Seed Bag, as well as that sword hilt.


    He carried Li Song down the stairs and out of the building, after which he threw Li Song on the ground.


    "What are you trying to do?" Li Song fearfully stared at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie didn''t answer his question, eying him before saying, "I forgot that you could still talk."


    He punched Li Song in the chin, sting off half of the man''s face.


    Li Song yowled in pain, but he couldn''t say a word. Although Heart Demon True Persons had an astonishing recovery ability, while being restrained, this healing ability was useless. On the contrary, the faster he recovered, the more pain he was in.


    Tang Jie began to take out materials from his Mustard Seed Bag.


    He began to scatter these materials around Li Song while forming hand signs and sending out streams of spiritual energy that vanished into the air.


    Li Song''s eyes widened.


    He wasying down a formation!


    A formation that had him as the center!


    What was this bastard thinking?


    Tang Jie moved faster and faster as he distributed the materials, his hands moving so fast that they were blurring. Finally, Tang Jie drew back his hands, all of the points of spiritual light shing for a moment before disappearing.


    The formation wasplete.


    Smiling, Tang Jie took out three banners.


    The Eight Gate Banners.


    The three small gs flew out,nding in the clearing and disappearing.


    Tang Jie then said, "You want to know what I''m doing? It''s very simple. I''m fishing!"


    He squatted down, hugged Li Song, and shouted, "Senior Li, Senior Li, you have to hold on! You can''t die! Please, you can''t die!"


    Li Song stared at Tang Jie in shock and fear.


    He finally understood what this bastard was thinking. He was using him as bait to lure in others from Godhead Pce.


    With an ambush formationid down and the man himself waiting for the moment to strike, even Master Xuan Zhong would probably fall prey to this ploy.


    Moreover, while Tang Jie was speaking very loudly, if one listened closely, one would realize that the sound wasn''t actually radiating outward, but was being directed in a certain direction by Tang Jie''s spiritual energy.


    In other words, no matter how loudly he shouted, only the people in one direction could hear, while no one in the other directions could. This would prevent too many people froming over.


    Hugging Li Song, Tang Jie shouted again and again.


    Several people soon came in from the direction the noise had traveled.


    It was several Godhead Pce disciples and two Beast Refining Gate disciples.


    These people had heard Tang Jie shouting and hade over to see what was happening.


    Arriving in front of the small building, they saw Li Song lying in a pool of blood while Qian Yingchen held him and wailed.


    These people quickly went over, their leader shouting, "Is it Senior Li Song? What happened to him?"


    Li Song''s eyes bulged, and he tried to tell them not toe over, but a ball of air was stuffed in his throat, preventing him from getting out a word.


    Tang Jie slightly raised his head, his eyes seething with murderous intent.


    He said, "He''s about to die."


    He turned around and swung his saber!


    There was a sh of golden light.


    Several bodies flew into the air.


    Tang Jie threw out the Mountain River Diagram and put away the bodies.


    He didn''t even need to activate the formation to deal with this sort of opponent.


    He turned back to Li Song and smiled. "Let''s continue."


    He hugged Li Song and continued shouting.


    This time, he sent the sound in a different direction.


    In this fashion, Tang Jie quickly killed several waves of people, including one of the Spirit Ring True Persons Ao Chihu had brought and Little Nine of the 12 Hawks.


    Through Tang Jie''s killings and the shocking development taking ce outside the pce, the 12 Hawks had been cut down to four people: the eldest, Nan Ningjiang; Third Hawk Zhou Fanghua; the seventh Hawk; and the tenth Hawk.


    The shouting continued, and Tang Jie happily continued with the killing. Each person from Godhead Pce he killed reduced his foe''s strength by that much while also adding to his spoils¡ªthese people had managed to gather up quite a lot of nice things while searching around the Myriad Court.


    He was still shouting.


    A call came from the distance. "Is that Brother Qian? How is Senior Li''s condition?"


    He turned and saw three peopleing over: Huang Yue and Elders Gold and Silver.


    "Shit." When he saw these three, he immediately frowned.


    This was truly a rather hard morsel to chew on.


    Two Heart Demon True Persons plus Huang Yue was a force that Tang Jie wasn''t confident in dealing with, even with an ambush and the formation.


    This was the problem with fishing. Once the bait was thrown out, there was no taking it back. No matter how big a fish bit on the hook, Tang Jie had to try to take it down.


    As he looked at the three, his eyes gleamed with ruthlessness.


    No matter how big the fish was, he was still going to gulp it up!


    He raised his head and shouted, "Hurry! There was a treasure in the white jade building, and Senior triggered a trap when trying to get it and was severely injured!"


    The trio instantly nced at that small building.


    But a momentter, the three of them still came his way.


    Shit. Can they not be such goodrades? Tang Jie mentally cursed.


    He had intentionally mentioned that there was treasure in the building to split them up. If even one of Elders Gold and Silver were drawn away, Tang Jie would have been much more confident in his chances, and then he could deal with the remaining one.


    But the three of them had rejected the temptation ande to see Li Song''s condition. Since the n had failed, Tang Jie could only toughen up and say, "Please, save Senior Li."


    The hand holding up Li Song twitched as it slid something into Li Song''s body, an object that almost had Li Song''s soul fleeing him.


    The three of them came over, saw how injured Li Song was, and instinctively moved closer. Tang Jie used this opportunity to withdraw.


    At this moment, Huang Yue suddenly stopped and asked Tang Jie, "Brother Qian, are you injured?"


    Out of concern for Qian Yingchen, he had stopped approaching Li Song, and Elders Gold and Silver stopped with him.


    At this moment, a light erupted within Li Song''s body, and then there was a thunderous boom as Li Song''s body exploded into countless little chunks of meat.


    A Heavenbane Lightning Pearl! Shock appeared in the eyes of Elders Gold and Silver and Huang Yue.


    The distance, which wasn''t particrly great, gave them less than half a second to react, but this was just barely enough to save their lives. The moment the light erupted, the three of them instinctively applied barriers, and while the powerful shockwave of the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl struck the three before they could put their barriers up, the following eruption of power was stopped before it could fully be unleashed.


    Three barriers of light enclosed them, and they stood fast against the explosion like three rocks against the ocean.


    In the end, these were Celestial Heart True Persons. When they were focusedpletely on defense, even a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl would find it very hard to kill them.


    Even so, the fierce mes still sent them flying, and their barriers flickered like embers in the wind, shing for a brief moment beforepletely disappearing. The remaining energy smashed into them, causing them to throw up blood.


    While they had endured through the middle of the explosion, they had been caught by its tail. Though they had the constitution of True Persons, they were still rather badly wounded.


    At the same time, Tang Jie rose up from the smoke left by the explosion, unleashing a golden wave of light as he soared.


    The golden de cut into Elder Silver''s body,ing away with a dazzling streak of blood.


    Elder Silver, who had just endured the explosion of the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl, fell out of the air after suffering this heavy wound. As for Tang Jie, he also threw up a little blood, but not because of anything Elder Silver had done. Rather, he had also been affected by the explosion. However, because he had been able to n for it, his defenses had fared better.


    "Qian Yingchen, you¡­" the three of them shouted in disbelief.


    Tang Jie ignored them and swung his saber at Elder Gold.


    In the face of that dazzling golden light, Elder Gold roared and thrust out his palm, sending out a st of violet energy.


    The saber energy shed with the palm st, and the golden saber was stopped cold.


    At the same time, Huang Yue''s eyes shed as he looked at Tang Jie. He was finally using his Insight.


    The truth made him shudder.


    He cried out in disbelief, "Tang Jie! You''re Tang Jie!"


    Tang Jie smirked. "You needed Insight for that? I thought you would have realized when you saw my saber."


    Elder Gold had reacted much more quickly, using the most effective countermeasure the moment he saw the golden saber.


    "When?" Huang Yue shrieked. "When did you turn into Yingchen?"


    Huang Yue''s greatest concern wasn''t their current situation, but when exactly Tang Jie had turned into Qian Yingchen. He suddenly had a very bad feeling that he could kiss his thousand-year King Sesame goodbye.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Would you believe me if I said ''just now''?"


    As he spoke, he blinked to Huang Yue''s side and swung his saber.


    Huang Yue reacted rather quickly, hastily dodging to the side as he thrust his palm at the air. A giant energy palm immediately appeared and swung at Tang Jie.


    These people all knew the power of Tang Jie''s golden saber, so they had already developed countermeasures. The simplest method was to avoid closebat and use spell arts to attack him from a distance. Even if the golden saber could be used with spell arts now, in a sh of spell arts, it wouldn''t overpower them.


    Of course, it was impossible for this method to beat Tang Jie all by itself. Fortunately, Huang Yue wasn''t alone. He had the support of Elder Gold.


    Tang Jie had no choice but to evade the palm. Huang Yue used this chance to look at Elder Gold, and what he saw almost made him fall over. Elder Gold was carrying the wounded Elder Silver and running away!


    "Elder Gold, you!" Huang Yue angrily roared.


    Elder Goldpletely ignored him.


    Elders Gold and Silver weren''t the same as Huang Yue. Though they belonged to Godhead Pce, they had started as wandering cultivators. While they might not have been as strong as those from the orthodox sects, they had much more experience.


    When Huang Yue saw Tang Jie, he believed that they could deal with him if they all worked together, but when Elder Gold saw Tang Jie, he thought about all the forces that had appeared with Tang Jie back then. They could deal with this Tang Jie, but who could say where that True Person Gui was? And what of that body cultivator who had been capable of killing He Yueyang? Or that Yiyi who could summon ck Sin? Or those ursed beans?


    The moment they confirmed that their opponent was Tang Jie, Elders Gold and Silver entered self-preservation mode.


    This was what made them better than Huang Yue.


    But while they wanted to leave, Tang Jie wasn''t going to let them.


    Tang Jie chuckled and said, "You should just stay right there."


    He pressed his hand against the ground. "Rise!"


    Dark fog billowed out of the ground, instantly engulfing the area around the white jade building.


    The fleeing Elders Gold and Silver suddenly found themselves in a dark space, and no matter in which direction they went, they couldn''t leave.


    "What is this?" the two said in shock.


    "The Yellow Springs Prison Formation?" Huang Yue had some understanding of formations, so he immediately realized what this was.


    This was an imprisoning formation that ensured that an opponent couldn''t escape. When Tang Jie wasying his ambush, his first consideration was to make sure that no one escaped so that he could keep up his strategy. He had used this formation because this ce was thick with Yin energy and death energy, perfect for a ghost formation.


    Besides imprisoning, he also gave it some lethality.


    Although itcked killing power on its own, it could attack through other means, though this was restricted to ghosts and fiends.


    And Tang Jie just happened to have ghosts on hand.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, and those Shamblers he had tamed emerged.


    Tang Jie made several hand signs and then pointed at the Shamblers. "Parade of a Hundred Ghosts, go!"


    Huang Yue was aghast. "The Parade of a Hundred Ghosts? Tang Jie, you would break the taboo and use a ghost-controlling spell? Any user of ghost spells will be punished by the entire world!"


    "I just have to make sure no one finds out, no?" Tang Jie coldly replied. He thrust out his hands, and a sinister wind blew in the formation, carrying with it furious roars as countless ghosts flew out, real mixed with fake.


    At the same time, the several dozen Shamblers charged at Elders Gold and Silver.


    While these Shamblers had average strength, they had tough and fierce bodies, and when coupled with all the other ghosts Tang Jie had released, this ce was soon filled with wailing as Elders Gold and Silver hastily tried to defend themselves.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie swung his saber at Huang Yue over and over, using the unique space of the Yellow Springs Prison Formation to flit around like a ghost and causing Huang Yue to scurry around like a rat.


    But he was still Shi Wunian''s disciple, and even the worst of Shi Wunian''s disciples was still the disciple of a True Lord. As he focused entirely on defense, he turned out to have quite a lot of tricks. He used various spell arts and threw out art relics like they were on sale, and Tang Jie was momentarily unable to kill him.


    This left him rather speechless.


    Huang Yue seemed to realize something, and he savagelyughed. "True Person Gui and that body cultivator, even those beans, aren''t here, right? Yes, yes, since you snuck in as Qian Yingchen, you couldn''t bring too much that belonged to Tang Jie. That''s why you don''t have anything except that golden saber, right? With only that, don''t even think about trying to kill me. And the more time I buy, the more likely it is that other people wille upon this ce. Hahaha, you can''t kill me, Tang Jie!"


    Tang Jie sighed. "You''re too confident. It''s just that something has happened over by my original body''s side, so he hasn''t had time to turn his attention to this side."


    "What did you say?" Huang Yue was stunned.


    In the darkness, Tang Jie''s eyes gleamed. "I said that you''re dead."


    A belt of saber energy flew out.


    Huang Yue was going to dodge as always, but he found that he couldn''t.


    This saber was like a sun shining over the world,pletely filling this space and blinding him.


    "This is¡­" Huang Yue gazed at Tang Jie''s saber in shock.


    The saber energy grewrger andrger before him, until itpletely engulfed his body.


    At that moment, he felt his body turning light.


    His life force poured out of him like floodwaters rushing out of a dam.


    Crimson filled his world.


    That belt of saber energy remained as glorious as ever.


    "Saber intent¡­" he mumbled.


    His head spun in the air and crashed to the ground in a cloud of dust.

 Chapter 530: Reincarnation

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    It was a giant gate of ck stone.


    It was hidden flush with the walls, and if Tutu hadn''t pointed it out, Tang Jie (original body) wouldn''t have found it, even if he had been standing right in front of it.


    "It was really hidden rather well," Tang Jie said as he lightly patted the stone gate. "So you''re saying that the world behind this gate is the infinite void?"


    He pushed on the gate.


    With a cking, the gate opened inward, revealing a long ck corridor, not some infinite void.


    Surprised, Tang Jie turned to Tutu, who frantically said, "This isn''t an ordinary gate, but one that can lead to different locations. Look at the dial on the gate."


    He looked at where Tutu was pointing and found that a special dial had appeared on the gate.


    Tang Jie could have sworn that this wasn''t there before.


    There was a pointer on the dial that was swaying, but no matter how it swayed, it never left the center point.


    Tang Jie realized something. He moved the needle to the side and then backed out of the gate.


    The gate mmed shut.


    At the same time, the entire maze rumbled as it began to shift.


    At this time, Tang Jie couldn''t open the gate no matter how hard he pushed.


    When the rumbling finally stopped and the maze stopped shifting, Tang Jie pushed on the gate, and he found that the world behind it hadpletely changed. In front of him was a garden covered in white mist, clearly the ce his avatar had been through.


    "So this gate really can take you to different ces," Xu Miaoran gasped. "What an amazing gate."


    "No, it''s not just the gate." Tang Jie nced behind him. "It''s a formation. This entire maze actually exists for the sake of this gate¡­ A teleportation formation that can constantly change its exit¡­ that''s just too amazing!"


    Tang Jie''s eyes zed with a fervent light.


    It was no wonder the maze could shift. It turned out that each shift was meant for adjusting the coordinates for the location behind the gate. The real pivot of this maze was the dial, but it was hidden together with the stone gate it was attached to and not easily found. If Tutu and Shi Jingzhai hadn''t crossed the void ande in through this gate, he would have never known about this maze''s secret.


    Now that he knew that this stone gate was connected to the infinite void, he decided that this had to be an important location in the Court of Myriad Domains, one that could lead to other important locations in the court.


    While everyone else was still scavenging in the underground pce, Tang Jie could use this gate to go on a looting spree.


    With this thought in mind, Tang Jie adjusted the dial again.


    As the maze shifted, the stone gate once more opened up to that ck corridor.


    "You guys go in first. If you see anything good, take it. Once you''ve gotten everything,e back," Tang Jie ordered Xu Miaoran.


    "What about you?" Xu Miaoran asked.


    "I''m going to stay here and study this teleportation formation. The formation itself is a massive treasure trove."


    The Rosecloud Domain had never had a teleportation formation that could have multiple teleportation points. If Tang Jie could master it, he could set one up in the Mountain River State Diagram, giving him an excellent trump card.


    Xu Miaoran nodded and led Xian Tao and Hong Yuan down the corridor.


    Once they were gone, Tang Jie began toy down a formation.


    The formation heid down was the Heavenly Divination Formation, and he used it together with the Illuminating Eye.


    By using the Illuminating Eye to observe the world, he could possess peerless calction powers. In order to understand the secrets of the maze''s formation, he had to use all the observation and simtion methods he had. Not only that, Tang Jie also added on a spirit detection formation and an illumination formation, allowing him to detect spiritual energy in and clearly see his surroundings. Finally, he cast an image manifestation spell to visualize everything he was thinking and seeing.


    Through all these various methods, the entirety of the maze appeared before him.


    Tang Jie''s eyes darted about the maze, and with the help of the Heavenly Divination Formation, wherever he looked, he would gain numerous pieces of information concerning that location. As he assembled all this data, it would ultimately be reproduced through the image manifestation spell onto a formation diagram.


    Thus, the formation diagram for a teleportation formation with multiple teleportation points appeared as if it was being 3D-printed, bit by bit.


    Time slowly passed.


    The nk formation diagram gradually filled with detail, bursting with the mysteries of the world of High Antiquity.


    Tang Jie had managed toprehend some of these things in the observation process, but there were also some things that he only knew the shape of and not the reason, and he needed to go back and slowly research them. But regardless, through Tang Jie''s thorough scanning and recording, the true face of the maze''s teleportation formation was slowly revealed to him.


    He was more than halfway through the recording.


    At this moment, his vision suddenly blurred. Something had intruded into Tang Jie''s observation zone.


    He looked over and saw that it was an old Daoist, and he was holding someone in his hand: Xi Canhen!


    Tang Jie was stunned.


    What was going on here?


    In the middle of his shock, that old Daoist gasped and began to look around as if he had noticed something.


    Tang Jie also gasped.


    It had to be understood that Tang Jie had used abination of spell arts and formations to thoroughly investigate this maze, and all this together with his Dao of Insight was what allowed him to detect the old Daoist. But that old Daoist needed only a nce to sense something, meaning that he was extremely strong.


    Speak-not, think-not!


    He was already close to the realm of speak-not, think-not.


    Was this old Daoist at Violet Pce? At the lowest, he was at the peak of Soul Transformation.


    As this thought urred to him, Tang Jie closed his eyes and stopped looking at the old Daoist.


    The old Daoist sensed that feeling of being watched disappear, and he shook his head. "I''m being paranoid."


    Holding Xi Canhen, he continued down the maze, navigating the turns as if he was quite familiar with the ce.


    Tang Jie didn''t dare to look at the old Daoist, so he activated Heart Consonance and said, "Canhen!"


    Xi Canhen was being restrained by the old Daoist, so he couldn''t activate Heart Consonance, but he could receive. Upon hearing Tang Jie''s voice, he replied in joy, "Big Brother Tang, a very formidable guy hase."


    "I see him. Who is he?"


    "Cang Qingfeng!"


    ''Cang Qingfeng''?


    Tang Jie trembled in shock.


    This man was Cang Qingfeng?


    Having read Cang Qingfeng''s history, he naturally understood how terrifying this person was.


    This was a savage that even an Immortal tform Titan of the Basking Moon Sect couldn''t kill.


    Xi Canhen added, "He killed everyone, everyone that Godhead Pce had deployed around the Spirit Mountains! More than a thousand people! He killed them all, this beast! He isn''t human!"


    In bits and pieces, Xi Canhen exined what had happened.


    Tang Jie gasped, "You''re saying that he passed arts to you so he could use your hands to nurture the sword? Wait; what did you say the sword''s name was? ''The Immeasurable Sword''¡­ the hiltless Immeasurable Sword."


    Tang Jie''s eyes gleamed.


    He was almost certain now that this Cang Qingfeng had some deep connection to the master of that white jade building.


    But the Court of Myriad Domains had fallen ten thousand years ago. If this was true, then how long had Cang Qingfeng lived?


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but shiver at the thought.


    At this moment, Tang Jie received information from the Heavenly Divination Formation.


    The information concerned the investigation of the maze formation, but in this process, some dissonant substance had appeared, like some outside force jumping in the middle of an intricately-arranged go board.


    Cang Qingfeng!


    This was the effect Cang Qingfeng was having on the Heavenly Divination Formation.


    Suddenly, Tang Jie understood.


    He understood where Cang Qingfeng was going!


    The stone gate!


    Damn it.


    Tang Jie almost cursed out loud.


    He had never imagined that this sort of thing would happen at a moment like this. Cang Qingfeng was rapidly approaching, but Xu Miaoran''s group had yet to return.


    Tang Jie hastily turned the dial on the stone gate, and then he withdrew to the side.


    Tang Jie wasn''t confident in his ability to deal with such a terrifying individual, so he could only beat a temporary retreat.


    Cang Qingfeng quickly reached the stone gate.


    As if he already knew what was going on here, he went up to the stone gate''s location and lightly pushed, and the stone gate rumbled open. All of this was far more elegant and smooth than what Tang Jie had been able to achieve.


    The old Daoist didn''t seem to care where the stone gate was leading, going straight to the dial and adjusting it to the very bottom.


    The maze shifted again, and the area beyond the stone gate became a corridor full of mes.


    Upon seeing that zing corridor, Cang Qingfeng sighed, his eyes seemingly lost in the past. And then he carried Xi Canhen inside, turned around, and pushed at the stone gate, upon which the dial moved on its own. This lowered the possibility that people would follow him.


    The maze fell quiet once more.


    After a while, Tang Jie emerged from the shadows.


    The dial on the stone gate had already returned to its original position.


    But Tang Jie knew that this wasn''t where Cang Qingfeng had gone.


    Cang Qingfeng was very cautious, but not even in his dreams had he imagined that Xi Canhen would be reporting everything to Tang Jie. Nor could he have imagined that Tang Jie would be so bold as to follow him despite knowing how strong he was.


    Tang Jie adjusted the dial all the way to the bottom.


    The stone gate opened to a corridor of mes.


    Tang Jie didn''t immediately set off. He turned to Tutu and said, "Once I''m gone, adjust the dial back to the ck corridor and wait for Miss Xu toe back. Tell them what happened here."


    But Tutu didn''t respond, seemingly in a daze.


    Tang Jie gave it a strange look. "What''s wrong with you?"


    He patted Tutu on the head, and Tutu seemed to wake from a dream. "Oh, oh, I understand."


    "Did something happen?"


    "It''s nothing," Tutu replied, scratching its head. "I just¡­ smelled a familiar scent."


    "''A familiar scent''?" Tang Jie was surprised, and his eyes narrowed. "It''s not like you''re King Canis. What sort of familiar scent could you have?"


    "That''s true," Tutu replied in embarrassment.


    Tang Jie gave Tutu a deep look before saying, "Remember what I taught you."


    He stepped into the zing corridor.


    "Canhen, I''m following. Try and talk with the old Daoist and probe his intentions."


    "What intentions?"


    "His background. This person is very familiar with this ce. Don''t you find it strange? This is the Court of Myriad Domains, a ce from High Antiquity."


    "You''re saying this old man has lived for more than ten thousand years?" Xi Canhen asked in shock.


    "One who has not reached Immortal tform can''t live ten thousand years. When I was focused on him just now, he only had a vague sensation of being watched, so he hasn''t reached this level."


    If this had been a real Immortal tform cultivator, that nce would havepletely exposed Tang Jie, and he wouldn''t have been able to evade and then trail him.


    "Then what could be the reason?"


    "Perhaps it''s not that he''s lived for a long time but that he''s lived multiple times," Tang Jie casually said. "You might want to discuss the Great Dao with him."


    "''Discuss the Great Dao''?"


    "Right, like Reincarnation."


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    The wave of saber energy passed.


    Huang Yue''s body crashed to the ground.


    The world fell quiet once more.


    Elder Gold gazed in shock at Tang Jie (avatar). "Saber intent¡­ You''ve grasped saber intent?"


    Tang Jie cocked his head. "Is that difficult?"


    He chuckled as he raised the golden saber again, and a sharp wave of energy sliced at Elder Gold.


    There was no point in talk. Tang Jie wanted to take care of these two old men as quickly as possible.


    It was just that his cold saber energy had thoroughly intimidated Elders Gold and Silver.


    Once they understood that Tang Jie could use saber intent, they knew that Tang Jie had the power to kill them. Even without the help of the formation, in a one-on-one, Tang Jie wouldn''t lose to either of them. Using the formation was simply to improve his chances and use less effort.


    Upon realizing this, Elders Gold and Silver lost the will to fight to the bitter end.


    They nced at each other and suddenly howled.


    As Tang Jie''s saber energy approached, the two elders suddenly turned into clouds of smoke and disappeared.


    Tang Jie was somewhat surprised.


    The Yellow Springs Prison Formation had a sealing ability that prevented escape no matter what spell art one used. Tang Jie was basically certain that those two hadn''t left, but they had used some method to conceal themselves such that even Tang Jie, the master of the formation, couldn''t find them.


    In the end, they were old experts of the Heart Demon Tier, possessing numerous tricks.


    Tang Jie snorted. "I don''t believe I can''t find you¡­ Come out!"


    He thrust his left hand at the ground.


    Winds howled and ghosts wailed, and the shrieking of the ghosts became like countless sonic arrows, shooting out in all directions. Tang Jie paled as even he was struck by a few.


    This was an attack that made no distinction, striking at everyone''s souls, and even the master of the formation found it hard to escape. As for Elders Gold and Silver, it was even more difficult for them to defend against it.


    A groan came from the darkness, from Elder Silver.


    Tang Jie''s eyes glinted as he turned and swung his saber.


    A wave of energy lit up the darkness, along with Elder Silver''s face, as pale as a ghost.


    He opened his mouth at Tang Jie, and a formless will shot at Tang Jie''s forehead. Tang Jie''s head was thrown back as blood gushed from his nostrils.


    This was Elder Silver''s Divine Will attack, but Tang Jie''s resistance to Divine Will had been greatly increased, and an ordinary Divine Will attack would have a hard time killing him.


    Even so, Tang Jie was still dizzied by this strike, and he was unable to maintain the power of his strike. The light dimmed, and a palm thrust out of the darkness and struck the wave of saber energy.


    The saber energy struck that palm and then passed through it as if it was made of air. Meanwhile, that palm continued to drift toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie couldn''t dodge, as the Divine Will attack prevented him from focusing.


    As that ghostly palm approached, he grunted, and a Shambler appeared in front of him.


    The ghostly hand struck the Shambler.


    There was a brief pause, and then a terrible screech as that nigh unkible Shambler melted like snow, and then there was a wail. A ghost rushed out of the Shambler''s body, but before it could escape, it dissolved into dust.


    The ghostly hand continued to thrust toward Tang Jie, and Tang Jie felt a terrifying power in that palm that seemed ready to tear him apart.


    Fortunately, this power dispersed on contact, and Tang Jie felt only a small jolt. Even so, that energy had his entire body roiling in extreme difort.


    Tang Jie''s face darkened at the result of this sh. "Divine Will substantialization!"


    Tang Jie hadn''t expected Elders Gold and Silver to have cultivated to the level of Divine Will substantialization, so called because Divine Will took on physical form, exhibiting greater power and effect. Of course, it also expended more.


    For this reason, while the ghostly hand seemed like a spell art, it was actually a concentration of Divine Will. If Tang Jie hadn''t noticed this from how his saber intent had failed to do anything and had chosen to receive the attack directly, he would have died.


    This was a method stronger and more difficult to deal with than a regr Divine Will attack, and he hadn''t expected Elders Gold and Silver to be willing to go this far.


    A momentter, he heard Elder Gold''s furious roar, and a sinister cloud of mist surged toward Tang Jie. At the same time, a cloud of fire descended from the sky.


    Elders Gold and Silver had been gathering this Extreme Yin Truewater and zeheaven mes for a hundred years, and they possessed shocking power. Even the strongest defensive barrier would melt away in front of them, and they could kill on contact. Someone who had grasped the Dao of Life would only be able to hold on for a few moments longer.


    In order to deal with Tang Jie, the two of them had taken out even their best treasures.


    Tang Jie also didn''t dare to fight back against this fire and water, and he hastily retreated.


    The fire and water instantly filled up the formation space, and the unkible Shamblers suffered the most, the water melting them down to bones and the fire burning them away into ash. Even resisting for a few moments was difficult.


    Tang Jie''s blood ran cold at this sight.


    Heart Demon True Persons truly couldn''t be underestimated. Even Elders Gold and Silver, who couldn''t be considered strong among their peers, had tricks of their own.


    Even though he had attacked with surprise, used a formation, and heavily injured one of them, he still had a tough time taking them down.


    As the water and fire spread, Tang Jie immediately put away the rest of the Shamblers and retreated from the formation.


    At this moment, it was better to temporarily retreat.


    But Tang Jie didn''t waste time while outside the formation, casting various spell arts. However, none of the spell arts appeared. Rather, Tang Jie was using hisprehension of the Dao of Time to cast these spells into the future.


    With a boom, a shockwave erupted from the formation.


    A momentter, the fog scattered as the Yellow Springs Prison Formation was undone by force.


    Without Tang Jie to manage it, the sealing power of the formation was weakened. Elders Gold and Silver had seized this moment to break out of this formation, showing their extreme resolve.


    The water and fire had disappeared, and Elders Gold and Silver shot into the air, their faces devoid of blood. It was clear that they had paid a heavy price to break out.


    Rather than using this chance to attack Tang Jie, they flew off in another direction. Elder Gold barked, "Tang Jie, just you wait! We''lle back to find you."


    Tang Jie didn''t try to chase them. He simply said, "Breaking out of the formation doesn''t mean freedom."


    He snapped his fingers.


    A massive de dropped from the sky, trailing chains behind it.


    A Heavenly Cloud de.


    Tang Jie''s Heavenly Cloud de was much more powerful than it was in the past,pletely capable of slicing through a mountain.


    Elders Gold and Silver snorted and raised their hands, unleashing an intense light to block this attack.


    They knew too much about the Heavenly Cloud de. While it was powerful, it wasn''t unstoppable.


    But a momentter, they saw even more Heavenly Cloud des appear.


    "Impossible!" Immense fear appeared in their eyes.


    They naturally knew that Tang Jie could unleash several dozen des at once.


    But ever since he hadprehended saber intent, he had concentrated the Heavenly Cloud des into one, putting quality over quantity.


    That Heavenly Cloud de just now required two Heart Demon cultivators working together to block precisely because it had the concentrated might of 81 Heavenly Cloud des. If Tang Jie could casually unleash des like this, he would have already been invincible.


    So why?


    Why could Tang Jie unleash so many of them?


    From its aura, none of the des seemed weak, each one being a congregation of 81 Heavenly Cloud des.


    "This can''t be real!" Elder Gold shouted.


    This had to be an illusion!


    An illusion!


    A momentter, the des swept past.


    Plush!


    One Heavenly Cloud de after another crashed into their palms, the savage strength like that of a mountain. They broke through their spell arts, shattered their arms, pierced through their barriers, and sted apart their spiritual bodies, unleashing a spiritual torrent.


    "s, it''s all spiritual energy," Tang Jie muttered. He took out the Mountain River Diagram and collected everything.

 Chapter 531: The Lord of Reincarnation

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    "Put me down, you old turtle!"


    Xi Canhen couldn''t move or fight while being carried around by Cang Qingfeng, so he could only howl and shout. In truth, he was trying to start a conversation.


    Sure enough, Cang Qingfeng patted him and said, "Don''t be anxious now. We''re about to arrive."


    "Where are you taking me? This ce is a fragment of the Court of Myriad Domains. Don''t just go running around if you don''t know the way! If you take the wrong path and trigger a trap, it''ll all be over."


    Cang Qingfeng chuckled. "''Don''t know the way''? Absurd. This old man was once a frequent honored guest of the Court of Myriad Domains. How could I not know the way?"


    "''A frequent guest of the Myriad Court''?" Xi Canhen intentionally put on a shocked expression as he looked at Cang Qingfeng, and then looked him over before bursting intoughter. "Hey, you think I don''t know anything about your background? Pretending to be a ten-thousand-year senior, ridiculous!"


    "You know my background?"


    "Of course. Do you think that I wouldn''t do some research after you left your name on the books?" Xi Canhen said, and he proceeded to reveal everything he knew about Cang Qingfeng''s background.


    Once he was done, Xi Canhen said, "What do you think? Did I say anything wrong, traitor of the Basking Moon Sect, Cang Qingfeng?"


    "Hmph, you know nothing." Cang Qingfeng smirked. "Through reincarnation, one can persist for ten thousand years. This old man''s methods are not something you can understand."


    "Just keep boasting." Xi Canhen pursed his lips and acted like he didn''t believe him.


    Cang Qingfengughed in anger. "Good, good, good, you brat. If that''s the case, this old man will tell you. This old man truly is Cang Qingfeng, but I''m not a native of this domain. Back when the Court of Myriad Domains was shattered, this old man searched all of the Great Ster Chiliocosm for a certain treasure. This old man spent ten thousand years searching, traveling through countless worlds, until more than a thousand years ago, when I finally found that the fragment carrying the Jade Fairy Pce fell here. I was originally going to leave after taking the fragment, but¡­"


    1400 years ago, as he was crossing the void, he felt like the Myriad Court fragment was all but in his hands.


    But before he could reach the Rosecloud Domain, he encountered a natural disaster. Unable to resist it, he was forced to reincarnate. Fortunately, he had been extremely close to the Rosecloud Domain at the time, so he reincarnated there.


    Although he held the title of Lord of Reincarnation, he could not control Reincarnation to the extent where he could live forever. But so long as his will persisted, he could live for ten thousand years without a problem. Thus, "death" for him just meant being reborn. He kept all his memories, so even if he didn''t have some renowned master, he could cultivate all on his own.


    Of course, while he could decide what happened to his memories, he couldn''t decide his strength or talent. He had to train back up all his strength, and cultivation also required resources.


    For this reason, after reincarnating in Rosecloud, he took up the name of Cang Qingfeng and entered Basking Moon Academy.


    Because he was the Lord of Reincarnation, with every reincarnation, he needed to hide his power in preparation for his rise. This was the meaning behind his name of Cang Qingfeng (Hidden Green Spear), and it was one of the reasons it was one of his most frequently-used names.


    After being reborn, Cang Qingfeng quickly revealed his "peerless aptitude", learning everything very quickly and making extraordinary progress. But in this process, the Basking Moon Sect started to suspect him.


    After entering the Basking Moon Sect, Cang Qingfeng began to learn the secret arts of the Basking Moon Sect and also began to cultivate his own arts. Some of these were lost secrets from High Antiquity, and some were arts that humans couldn''t even learn¡­


    That unexpected incident happened at that time. He had not expected the Basking Moon Sect to be so cautious as to discover that he was cultivating his personal secret arts.


    At that time, the Basking Moon Sect had been in power for four hundred years.


    For an Immortal sect, four hundred years was still a precarious moment, as it had yet to build up enough of a foundation, so it was cautious in all aspects.


    Cang Qingfeng being secretive and cultivating on his own had breached a taboo of the Basking Moon Sect. Unable to interrogate Cang Qingfeng, the Basking Moon Sect had no choice but to believe that he was a spy of some other sect.


    This was a misunderstanding, but Cang Qingfeng could not exin himself.


    He couldn''t exin where the secret arts he cultivated came from, and with some people inciting things from the shadows out of jealousy, Cang Qingfeng was ultimately forced to flee the sect and wander the world. The Basking Moon Sect sent people to pursue him several times, but who was Cang Qingfeng? He had already been through countless reincarnations, umting an immense trove of experience and numerous techniques. The Basking Moon Sect exhausted its manpower and tried all kinds of tricks, yet it still could not do anything to him. On the contrary, the people who chased him ended up having the tables turned on them, causing the Basking Moon Sect to lose many good people, even geniuses of the sect like Xuan Jiuxiao, Ling Chongyue, and Shen Wujie.


    That Shen Wujie was one of the people who had sought to frame him, thinking to get rid of a rival. In the end, he hadn''t been able to escape Cang Qingfeng''s heaven-shocking sword.


    Cang Qingfeng hid nothing from Xi Canhen, recounting everything that had happened in the past and leaving Xi Canhen gobsmacked. He had tried to start a conversation on Tang Jie''s orders, but he had never imagined that this old man didn''t consider any of his history a big deal, directly saying everything. This saved Xi Canhen a lot of time and effort, but all the twists and turns had left him stunned.


    This old man was a true venerable senior who outranked even the Titans of the six major sects in that regard.


    Cang Qingfeng chuckled. "What do you think? Dumbfounded, right? Think of how this old man has traveled the Great Ster Chiliocosm for thousands of years. You think there''s a ce I haven''t been to before? An incident I haven''t experienced? In terms of longevity and imperishability, even the White Tiger that controls time and space and the Azure Dragon that controls fate cannotpare to me. This old man knows everything in the world, all of its secret arts. As for pills, talismans, formations, and tools, this old man is a master in all of them."


    After a long daze, Xi Canhen finally squeezed out, "But you''ve never reached the peak, right?"


    Cang Qingfeng immediately stopped.


    Xi Canhen raised his head and looked at Cang Qingfeng. "You possess countless skills from all your reincarnations, and with the title of Lord of Reincarnation, you are looked up to by all the Myriad Domains. Even the Court of Myriad Domains treated you as an honored guest. But have you ever once reached the peak?"


    Cang Qingfeng''s body trembled.


    Xi Canhen continued, "A person who enters the Immortal tform Realm can ignore the Domain Astral Winds and freely roam the Myriad Domains. But when you were crossing the void, you couldn''t even deal with some spatial turbulence, and you were forced to reincarnate. So the Violet Pce Realm is probably the highest you''ve ever reached, right?"


    Cang Qingfeng nastily scowled. Xi Canhen''s words had prodded right at the most painful point in his heart!


    Xi Canhen continued, "Actually, you yourself knew of this problem, which was why you were searching around for an opportunity that would let you break free of these shackles. Although I don''t know what you''re looking for, I''m guessing that this thing that you searched the entire universe for must be something that can increase your strength, break your shackles, and allow you to reach Immortal tform¡­"


    Actually, it was Tang Jie who told him all this, but Xi Canhen spoke with such confidence that it seemed like he had thought it all up on his own.


    "Shut your mouth!" Cang Qingfeng roared, anger shing on his face. "What do you understand? I control Reincarnation, so I will never die. So long as I live, I will have a chance to reach the peak. Once I get what I need this time and refine it into the Evercycle Rising Dragon Pill, I can break my shackles and clear the obstacles from my Immortal path! At that time, even the Lord of the Heavens and the Hegemon of the Myriad Domains will be prostrating before me!"


    "You should enter Violet Pce first." Xi Canhen smirked.


    It wasn''t Tang Jie who taught him these words.


    Xi Canhen was basically certain now that this man was at the Soul Transformation Tier.


    When that Titan of the Basking Moon Sect intervened, he had killed Cang Qingfeng with a single palm. When Cang Qingfeng reincarnated, he knew that the six major sects were too cautious, so he chose to not join any sect and cultivate as a wandering cultivator. After several hundred years, he entered the Soul Transformation Tier once more, but Violet Pce was difficult. Even though he had reached the Violet Pce Realm many times before, he still needed to be careful.


    Cang Qingfeng was speechless from anger, but he needed Xi Canhen to undo the seal on the Immeasurable Sword, so he could only keep carrying him along.


    They had already walked out of the zing corridor, arriving before a small exit. If one looked outside, one would see arge and spacious hall.


    There was no idol venerated in this hall, only arge cauldron.


    An eternal blue me zed under the cauldron.


    Cang Qingfeng''s eyes were fixed on thatrge cauldron, and his face was glowing with excitement. "The Myriad Immortals Cauldron¡­ I''ve finally found you."


    From the sound of it, he had been searching for more than ten thousand years for this cauldron. Xi Canhen looked curiously at it and blurted out, "It''s all ck and dull. It doesn''t seem like there''s anything special about it."


    It was true that thisrge cauldron didn''t have any sort of aura. It appeared to be no different from an ordinary bronze cauldron.


    Cang Qingfeng pped him on the head and barked, "What do you know!? This cauldron is a divine item, a supreme Dao armament. Its treasure light is internalized, so how could ordinary people see through it? If it weren''t for that Deicide me under the cauldron, I wouldn''t have been sure, either."


    "''Deicide me''? That''s the legendary Deicide me?" Xi Canhen was rmed.


    The Deicide me was a legendary me said to immte gods and Immortals on the slightest contact.


    Xi Canhen thought that it was just a legend, but apparently, it actually existed.


    That blue me burned without any fuel, quietly floating in the air, and Xi Canhen suspected that Cang Qingfeng might be mistaken. But a momentter, Cang Qingfeng took out some Startrace Metal and threw it in.


    The Startrace Metal flew into the blue fire, and there was a simple hiss as it disappeared.


    Even the Jade Shattering Finger might not have been able to punch through Startrace Metal, but the fire had burned it to nothing.


    Xi Canhen gasped while Cang Qingfeng chuckled. "What do you think?"


    "What a frightening me. You''re basically dead if the me touches you."


    "Correct. Only the Myriad Immortals Cauldron can resist this fire. The Myriad Immortals Cauldron, the Deicide me, and the Nine Heavens Luan Grass¡­ with these, I can refine the Evercycle Rising Dragon Pill and break my shackles, attaining a True Body!" Cang Qingfeng''s tone clearly grew excited.


    Cang Qingfeng had searched for thousands of years for this moment, and now that the item was right before him, how could he not be excited?


    "Then go and get them." Xi Canhen looked at him in confusion.


    "No rush, no rush." Cang Qingfeng chuckled. "If these things were that easy to obtain, why would I have gone through all this trouble?"


    Cang Qingfeng took out the Immeasurable Sword and threw it out. The Immeasurable Sword let out a beam of sword energy which struck a brick in the center of the floor. A momentter, there was a howl within the hall, and lightning shot out and sted the hall.


    Fortunately, it didn''t reach the area where Cang Qingfeng and Xi Canhen were. After a few moments, the storm dissipated, and the hall fell quiet.


    Cang Qingfeng clicked his tongue in praise. "Other than the numerous traps, this hall also has 18 guardian puppets, none of which are easy to deal with. When this old man was fortunate enough to visit here once, I came to know the power of these traps. I didn''t think that they would still have preserved their power after ten thousand years. Fortunately, this old man knew that the front door of this hall is just a fake, and the real way in is the one I showed you. If you try toe in through the front door, you''ll have to use your life to pave the way."


    "I see. And after that?" Xi Canhen asked.


    Unexpectedly, Cang Qingfeng replied, "I don''t know."


    "Huh? You don''t know?" Xi Canhen was stunned.


    Cang Qingfeng rolled his eyes. "This ce was an important location of the Myriad Court, and even a member of the Court of Myriad Domains might not know of it. How could this old man know what happens next?"


    "Then what do we do now?"


    "Naturally, we have other people do the scouting for us. Why do you think this old man concocted a n and insisted oning in with you? To get through this hall, I need some people to take the front for me." Cang Qingfeng''s voice turned sinister. "Moreover, the Immeasurable Sword has yet to reach full power. The sword is the key to taking the treasure, and it needs enough blood and energy for that."


    He leaned against the wall and looked down at the great hall. "Now, we wait for the others toe in so that they can exhaust themselves, and then we can catch them by surprise!"


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    Whoosh!


    Tang Jie (avatar) cut off a puppet beast''s head with his saber, and that fierce puppet beast that had been charging at him instantly copsed into countless pieces.


    A bright crystal rolled out of the puppet beast''s head, and Tang Jie picked it up and then happily put it away.


    After killing Elders Gold and Silver, Tang Jie began to search the pceplex for any treasures.


    Besides the golden warrior ghosts, there were also many puppet beasts in this pce.


    The puppet technology of High Antiquity was clearly different from the present era. Rather than using the human form, they made puppet beasts of various shapes to serve as assistants. These puppet beasts didn''t have spirit formations like those of the present, but had some other mechanism, a special crystal core.


    Tang Jie had carefully examined them, and he determined that these crystal cores were probably refined from fiend pellets, and they were no longer extant in the present. Whether it was for the refining method or the crystal itself, they were extremely valuable.


    Thus, Tang Jie began to gather these crystal cores as if he was addicted.


    But while gathering the crystal cores, Tang Jie was also doing something more important.


    Laying down a formation.


    Tang Jie''s route wasn''t random. Rather, at each spot, Tang Jie would make some arrangements. At times, he would be sprinkling white powder, and at other times, he would be sticking weird tree branches into the ground.


    He wasn''t the only one doing this. Xu Miaoran had joined him.


    Through Yiyi, Tang Jie was telling Xu Miaoran what was happening on his side while also telling them what to do next.


    At another small building, Tang Jie had just finished putting down some formation lines when several people suddenly appeared.


    Tang Jie wanted to hide¡ªafter learning from Xi Canhen that Cang Qingfeng wanted to use the people of Godhead Pce as cannon fodder, he had stopped killing them and done his best to avoid them.


    But the people this time had sharp eyes. One of them immediately spotted him and shouted, "Brother Yingchen!"


    Tang Jie turned and saw that it was Ao Chihu.


    Behind him were He Changan, Master Xuan Zhong, and Nan Ningjiang.


    These people were all together.


    Tang Jie quickly realized that this probably wasn''t a coincidence.


    It was no wonder he had not seen He Changan all this time. There was no reason for someone like King Canis to have emerged eventer than Elders Gold and Silver. He hade outte because he had been finding his subordinates.


    For He Changan, only when everyone was together was it to his advantage to move around. If everyone was running around on their own business, picking up treasure and then not reporting any of it, it would be He Changan who lost out. By moving together with everyone, he could see everything they collected and thus take most of it for himself.


    This was why He Changan had first gathered everyone up.


    And it seemed like he had gathered up quite a lot of people.


    Upon spotting Tang Jie, Ao Chihu and the others rushed out. Ao Chihu blinked his eyes at Tang Jie and loudly said, "Brother Yingchen, it''s wonderful to see you! This pce is crawling with ghosts, so it''s best if we put our strengths together."


    Tang Jie understood what he meant and said, "I just came out from the garden, so I''m not too clear on the situation."


    On the side, Nan Ningjiang asked, "Right, Brother Qian, have you seen True Person Huang or Elders Gold and Silver?"


    Tang Jie shrugged. "I didn''t see them. They might still be in the garden."


    Nan Ningjiang muttered, "Given their strength, they shouldn''t have been dyed too long."


    "They might not be willing to show themselves," Master Xuan Zhong softly said.


    He Changan had a reason for gathering everyone together, and the others had their reasons for avoiding this.


    It was an open secret that no one was willing to talk about.


    Hearing Master Xuan Zhong say this, He Changan grunted, "If they don''t want toe, then forget it. From the look of it, the small buildings in this area are all low-level buildings set up for servants, so they shouldn''t have anything good. But that central hall is very impressive, so it should be an important area. Since we''ve basically gathered up everyone, let''s go over and take a look together."


    "Yes!" Everyone bowed, and even Tang Jie was forced to assent.


    Everyone set off toward the central great hall.

 Chapter 532: Puppet Beast

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Everyone followed He Changan, and as they ventured deeper in, they encountered more golden warriors and puppet beasts.


    While the golden warriors weren''t powerful, they were annoyingly difficult to kill. And when they were coupled with the various puppet beasts constantlying in, even Godhead and Beast Refining found themselves with quite the headache.


    But in the end, they managed to make it to the great hall.


    This hall stood nearly a thousand feet tall, upying a vast area. Even the front courtyard was huge, as if it was built for giants.


    nking the hall doors were two giant beast statues. One was a Taowu, and the other was a Xiezhi, both of which were legendary mythical beasts of High Antiquity.


    (TN: The Taowu is described as a beast with the head of a human, the feet of a tiger, and the fangs of a boar. The Xiezhi is described as being like a bull or goat, with a body covered in dark scales and a single horn. It has the ability to distinguish between right and wrong and is said to be extremely intelligent.)


    A faint aura of energy enveloped the hall, indicating that it was protected by some barrier.


    Ao Chihu grabbed a Beast Morpher and threw him over, and the man howled as he flew at the barrier. There was a hiss as violet lightning appeared above the hall and struck the Beast Morpher. The Beast Morpher didn''t even have time to scream before he was turned to ash.


    Everyone scowled.


    He Changan said, "It''s the Violet Astral Net Formation, a protective formation with formidable counterattack abilities."


    Tang Jie nced at He Changan in shock. "So the Godking even understands formations."


    He Changan was right on the mark. This truly was the Violet Astral Net Formation, a formation from High Antiquity. He hadn''t expected He Changan to be this sharp.


    He Changan indifferently replied, "You can''t call it ''understanding''. It''s just that if you live long enough, you see a lot more. When ites to breaking the formation, I need someone renowned in the field."


    He turned to Xu Mingyue.


    With Ling Tianqi''s death, Xu Mingyue had once again be the formation master here.


    Xu Mingyue did not dare to put up an attitude in front of He Changan. She replied, "The Violet Astral Net Formation is extremely fierce, and it is also a formation from High Antiquity. This one''s understanding of it is limited. Fortunately, the shattering of the Myriad Court and ten thousand years of erosion have had a rather severe effect on the Violet Astral Net Formation. When the formation activated just now, it showed signs of damage in many locations. So long as we can find the key node, one strike will take it down. But I will need everyone to work with me on this."


    "You will manage the breaking of the formation, and everyone beneath me will obey yourmands," He Changan indifferently said.


    "Yes." Xu Mingyue immediately began to order people around. Her method for breaking the formation was very simple. She would have people attack the formaton in shifts, triggering counterattacks, and she would use this chance to observe the formation to seek out its weak point, which could then be attacked to bring down the entire formation.


    This method couldn''t be considered the best, but it was the safest.


    As she was making arrangements, a shout came from the distance. "Hey! Wait for me!"


    Everyone turned their heads and saw Jin Yutang running over as if he had wings, and behind him were that old steward and his servants. Somehow, they had managed to group back together.


    Jin Yutang excitedly rushed over upon seeing He Changan''s group, and while he was happy, He Changan and Nan Ningjiang had their own very interesting expressions.


    In truth, they had alreadye upon Jin Yutang''s group once, but none of them wanted to be together with this good-for-nothing scion, so they had avoided him. Even Ao Chihu had silently turned around upon noticing Jin Yutang.


    But in the end, they had failed to avoid him. This bastard had run over to the central hall himself. Although he himself was ipetent, the subordinates his father had left him were truly formidable. They had easily killed their way through the garden and found their young master.


    Upon seeing Jin Yutang, He Changan grunted and said, "Stand to the side and don''t make any noise."


    Jin Yutang froze.


    He was still a little afraid of He Changan, so these words put a damper on his excitement. He became much quieter as he made his way into the crowd, greeting everyone as he passed by them.


    As he came up to Tang Jie, he put a hand around his shoulder and said, "Did you find any nice treasures?"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "It''s nothing but ghosts and puppet beasts. There weren''t any treasures at all."


    Jin Yutang mysteriously smiled. "I happened to get a treasure."


    He took out an item from his Mustard Seed Bag: a puppet beast core.


    But this puppet beast core was much bigger than the ones Tang Jie had gotten. It had a glossy silver glow to it, and he could tell at a nce that it was an extraordinary item, probably something that only a boss-level puppet beast could give.


    Jin Yutang definitely couldn''t beat such a thing, so it was probably that old steward who had done it.


    Tang Jie nodded. "It really is a treasure."


    The puppet technology of High Antiquity was different from the present, and crystal cores rather than formations were the mainponent. A crystal core like this could probably be used to make a Grade 5 puppet, so it wasn''t wrong to call it a treasure.


    Jin Yutang smugly smiled.


    As he was about to say more, he suddenly spotted the two statues in front of the hall.


    His eyes lit up. "Do you see those two? They also seem to be puppet beasts."


    Tang Jie whispered, "Mm, but they seem to be broken. Don''t go and touch them, or you might disturb all those important people."


    He Changan and Master Xuan Zhong were already organizing attack shifts on the hall under Xu Mingyue''smand, and as the violet lightning came down, they were constantly dodging. At the same time, Xu Mingyue was throwing out formation lines, affecting the operation of the formation while searching for its weakness.


    Jin Yutang was bored, so he said, "I''m just going over to look."


    He walked over to the statue of the Taowu. He sized it up and then touched it. No matter how he looked at it, this was a puppet beast, but for some reason, it wasn''t moving.


    Jin Yutang suddenly had an idea. While this puppet beast might have been in disrepair for many years, the crystal core inside might still be intact. Wouldn''t he be rich if he could find it?


    He immediately set to work, reaching into the mouth of the Taowu with his hand while muttering, "Where is it? Where?"


    As he searched more strenuously, his hand extended deeper and deeper into the mouth, and hepletely failed to notice that the Taowu''s eyes had lit up.


    He was so vigorously searching that he had stuck almost his whole head in there.


    The Taowu''s eyes moved again, and this time, they moved more, and everyone started to sense that something wasn''t right.


    An energy was starting to spread through the Taowu, like a gathering storm.


    The Taowu''s face moved, and its eyes looked down and saw some bastard searching around its mouth. A growl came from its mouth.


    Jin Yutang finally noticed that something was wrong.


    He took out his head and looked up, his eyes meeting the Taowu''s.


    At that moment, he saw the Taowu''s eyes shing a dangerous red.


    Jin Yutang swallowed. "Mother¡­ fuck."


    His hand was still in the Taowu''s mouth.


    The Taowu opened its mouth wide, and just as it was about to close it, the old steward lunged forward and grabbed Jin Yutang, whisking him out of harm''s way.


    At the same time, the Taowu''s mouth mmed shut with a mighty boom.


    The Taowu raised its head and let out a deafening roar.


    As it roared, the Xiezhi on the other side shifted, its eyes glowing.


    As these two beasts started moving, the central hall rumbled, and the Violet Astral Net Formation grew even stronger, radiating a brilliant light. Countless bolts of lightning shot out, forcing He Changan and the others to repeatedly dodge.


    "Jin Yutang! What the fuck are you doing?" Ao Chihu was about to go crazy.


    Not even in his dreams he had imagined that something like this would happen.


    This idiot had awakened those two strongest puppet beasts that should have already been broken.


    Yes, "awakened"!


    These two puppet beasts weren''t like the others. They were not entirely puppets, also containing the souls of fiends.


    Although the puppet beasts with fiend souls were powerful, this also meant that they were more affected by time. Ten thousand years had caused the fiend souls to fall into a deep hibernation, and it was very difficult to rouse them from their sleep.


    This was why He Changan and the others had ignored them, instead choosing to open the hall up first. If they could find the means to control these two puppet beasts, they could both save themselves a fight and gain two powerful puppet beasts.


    But Jin Yutang had ruined everything.


    The moment these puppet beasts awoke, they immediately caused a great stir. From their roars alone, one could tell that they were extraordinary existences.


    The Taowu stomped its four feet down, and mes spread out from under it, sweeping toward everyone. At the same time, the Xiezhi lowered its head, and lightning erupted from its horn at everyone.


    These two beasts used powerful spell arts the moment they could, surpassing what puppet beasts should have been capable of. It was as if they were facing not two puppet beasts, but two great fiends of High Antiquity.


    "Watch out!" Tang Jie shouted as he fell back.


    He could immediately tell that these two puppet beasts were powerful. While they weren''t true mythical beasts, they could not be underestimated.


    Ao Chihu rushed up and swung his heavy sword at the Taowu. The sword was wreathed in a crimson light as Ao Chihu used his best move, the Nine ying Sword.


    After bing a disciple to the Sanguine True Lord, Ao Chihu had added his own insights into this sword art, and it was often said that with this strike, he could cleave apart the heavens. But the Taowu didn''t try to evade the blow, raising its head and spitting out a gout of me.


    The me seemed to have physical mass, turning into a zing saber and meeting Ao Chihu''s sword.


    The saber shed with the sword, and Ao Chihu found that he couldn''t break through. On the contrary, the saber of me suddenly erupted, sting Ao Chihu back.


    Ao Chihu drew his sword back and swung it twelve times in a row, and only then did he manage to block the torrent of me. rmed, he shouted, "Grade 6! It''s a peak Grade 6 puppet!"


    A peak Grade 6 puppet was equivalent to the Soul Transformation Tier, so it was no wonder Ao Chihu had been knocked away.


    As Ao Chihu was thrown back, the Taowu and Xiezhi lunged forward. Not only that, under their control, the Violet Astral Net Formation began attacking on its own, so even if He Changan and the others stopped provoking it, they wouldn''t be safe from it.


    "Ah!" Xu Mingyue shouted in rm.


    At least four violet lightning bolts were aimed at her.


    Just when the lightning bolts were about to make contact, a palm flew out and sted the lightning bolts apart.


    He Changan had intervened.


    He Changan was currently furious. "Hurry up and deal with those two puppet beasts! I will hold off the formation!"


    He thrust out his palm multiple times, creating numerous energy palms that fended off the lightning from the Violet Astral Net Formation.


    Everyone was stunned. This was a Grade 6 Formation!


    Formations were always more powerful than cultivators of the same tier, or else there would be no point to them. A Grade 6 Violet Astral Net Formation could kill those at Soul Transformation and below, which was why everyone had been dodging rather than resisting. Nobody had expected He Changan to be able to take on a Grade 6 formation when he got serious.


    "What are you standing around for!?" He Changan roared.


    A momentter, two figures shot out to deal with the Taowu and Xiezhi: Master Xuan Zhong and the old steward.


    The old steward had finally shown his true strength. As expected, he was at Soul Transformation. Not only that, he was even stronger than Master Xuan Zhong.


    He charged at the lightning-casting Xiezhi, simply raised his hands, without any weapons, and he instantly created numerous phantom ws. Bang! Bang! Bang! Countless collisions rang out.


    These sounds were like a woodpecker pecking at a tree. This Xiezhi had been made from the lumber of a ten-thousand-year Violet Wutong Tree. Though it was wood, it was harder than essence metal, but the old steward''s w strikes were pecking away at it, piece by piece.


    The Xiezhi knew that it would be bored through if this continued, and the fiend soul controlling the puppet howled. A massive amount of lightning gathered on the horn, and all of it was unleashed at the old steward.


    The old steward didn''t dodge, simply chuckling.


    As that pir of lightning smashed down, his body dissipated into smoke, and that lightning bolt went right through him. The smoke gathered back together into the old steward, who thrust out a wed hand, punching five holes in the Xiezhi puppet''s body. He chuckled, "Dumb creatures will remain dumb. How could theypete against humans?"


    As he spoke, he put power into his fingers, unleashing five sharp rays of light that pierced through the Xiezhi.


    Tang Jie almost shouted when he saw this.


    The Jade Shattering Finger!


    The old steward had clearly used the Jade Shattering Finger!


    But rather than one finger, he could unleash a Jade Shattering Finger from every one of his fingers, making it a w art rather than a finger art.


    Because of this, this Jade Shattering w became extremely sharp and powerful.


    Tang Jie was dumbfounded by this sight.


    He had never imagined that the Jade Shattering Finger could be used in this way, in such a beautiful and formidable fashion.


    Suddenly, he realized who this old steward was.


    This man''s name was Zhu Yun. Just like Cang Qingfeng, he was a traitor of the Basking Moon Sect.


    (TN: No rtion to the Zhu Yun who appeared in Chapter 121 as one of Gu Changqing''s subordinates.)


    In his early years, he had been considered a talent of the Basking Moon Sect, and he had been most famous for his Jade Shattering Finger. If he had focused on the Dao, he would have had a bright future, but he was greedy and lecherous, and he secretlymitted countless crimes. When the Basking Moon Sect found out, it nned to punish him, but this cunning scoundrel realized what was going on and fled before that could happen.


    Nobody knew where he had run off to, but ever since then, the Basking Moon Sect had found no trace of him. Many people even thought that he was dead.


    Tang Jie hadn''t expected that this man would have run off to the Beast Refining Gate and be a subordinate of the Sanguine True Lord, the steward and bodyguard for his son.


    But when he thought about it, it made sense. Only the Beast Refining Gate would so casually ept a traitor of the Basking Moon Sect.


    The old steward''s w had restrained the Xiezhi. It howled and suddenly broke free, charging at the others.


    As a puppet beast with a fiend soul, it wasn''t some inflexible creature. It had intelligence, and since it knew that it was no match, it chose to change targets and kill whoever it could.


    The old steward hadn''t expected the Xiezhi to make this choice. As the Xiezhi charged out, its horn gathered lightning, taking aim at a group of people, Jin Yutang among them.


    The Xiezhi''s attack this time was many times stronger than before.


    As that lightning approached Jin Yutang, the old steward felt his soul leave his body. No matter how much of a good-for-nothing Jin Yutang was, he was still the son of the Sanguine True Lord. If something happened to him, his bodyguard would also be done for.


    At this moment, a figure flew out, grabbed Jin Yutang, and pressed him to the ground, taking the lightning for him. It was none other than Tang Jie.


    He had a Heavenly Spirit Law Body, and his body also had an extremely strong resistance to lightning. Thus, the lightning couldn''t kill him, though it did leave him feeling numb all over and sted apart his backside.


    But the others were even worse off.


    Those below Celestial Heart had basically died on the spot, so only a few in this region had managed to survive the lightning.


    The Celestial Heart True Persons also hadn''t all been that capable. The seventh Hawk had died on the spot, Ao Chihu had lost yet another one of his True Persons, and while Ming Yezhen had escaped using his spatial arts, he had still suffered light injuries from the lightning. As for He Changan, Master Xuan Zhong, and the old steward, Zhu Yun, they were all carrying injuries of some sort. The only one who waspletely fine was Jin Yutang, covered by Tang Jie.


    But after making that attack, the Xiezhi had clearly reached its end. The old steward''s w had torn out its core. On the other end, the Taowu also knew that it was reaching its limits. Letting out a mournful howl, it prepared to do the same as itsrade.


    As a roaring me gathered around it, everyone grew rmed. If this me were unleashed, they would lose another few Celestial Heart True Persons.


    Tang Jie pulled Jin Yutang behind him and backed off.


    At this moment, He Changan suddenly fell back.


    He had been fending off the Violet Astral Net Formation all by himself, his front toward the hall and his back toward the group. He was falling back, yet he seemed to have eyes on the back of his head, retreating straight toward the group and brushing right past the Taowu. As he thrust out that barrage of energy palms to block the lightning, he also lightly thrust out his right palm to the side.


    His palm was aimed right at the Taowu''s head.


    He even had some strength to help.


    A momentter, that roaring me was forced back into the Taowu.


    Everyone naturally seized this opportunity. Master Xuan Zhong used his Heavenly Stele Palm, the old steward used his Jade Shattering w, Ao Chihu used his Nine ying Sword, and Nan Ningjiang used his Golden Eagle Talon. All of these attacks mmed into the Taowu.


    With a tremendous boom, the Taowu was sted to pieces.


    A crystal core carrying a fiend soul flew into the air, and Ao Chihu snatched it.


    Now that the two puppet beasts had been taken care of, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.


    But if entering the hall was this difficult, what was going to happen inside?


    Without the puppet beasts to obstruct them, everyone started to break the Violet Astral Net Formation again, reducing the pressure on He Changan.


    But in the process, everyone coldly red at Jin Yutang, thinking that they wouldn''t have suffered so many losses if not for this bastard.


    It had to be understood that these two puppet beasts had killed quite a few people.


    While the cannon fodder didn''t have muchbat power, they were an important tool for testing traps. Without them to test the nature of various attacks, the path ahead would be much more difficult. And that wasn''t even considering the Celestial Heart losses.


    Everyone was deeply pained by these losses, and they alsoined that Tang Jie shouldn''t have saved this scoundrel.


    The only grateful ones were the old steward and Ao Chihu.


    The old steward, Zhu Yun, personally came over and bowed to Tang Jie. "Young Master Qian, thank you for saving my young master. I will not forget this kindness."


    Tang Jie smiled. "If you really want to thank me, give me that crystal core in your hand."


    "Huh?" Zhu Yun was dumbfounded. He didn''t think that this guy would be so shameless as to immediately ask for treasure.


    But since he had already spoken, he couldn''t take back his words, and he handed Tang Jie the core of the Xiezhi.


    Tang Jie took the crystal core and then looked at Ao Chihu. Ao Chihu had also intended to thank him, but after seeing this, he felt that it was better not to.

 Chapter 533: Undoing the Seal

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The crystal core Zhu Yun had given him was clearly different from the ones Tang Jie had obtained.


    The translucent crystal contained a wisp of smoke that circled within it, asionally transforming into the form of a fiend. This was the fiend soul.


    Making a puppet beast in the form of a mythical beast didn''t mean that the fiend soul was a mythical beast. In reality, it was more likely to be an imitation. Judged by the powering from the crystal core, the fiend soul should have belonged to some Transformation great fiend. Even so, this power was already quite shocking.


    Tang Jie put away the crystal core and also gathered up the materials of the shattered puppets.


    Although these materials couldn''t be used now that the puppets had been shattered, they were good things in their own right.


    Cultivators didn''t have the ability to make shattered materials regain their value, but nature did. He just needed to throw them into the Mountain River State Diagram and let them decay, and they would naturally show their other uses in some other fashion within that world.


    Without the puppet beasts to cause trouble, the group soon broke through the Violet Astral Net Formation.


    The doors to the central hall slowly creaked open.


    He Changan waved his hand. "Go on."


    The meaning of this wave of his hand was to have the cannon fodder lead the way, but he found that nobody was moving.


    Turning around, he saw that all the cannon fodder was dead. A group of more than one hundred people had dwindled to only twenty or thirty, having suffered grievous losses.


    He Changan''s face twitched. Finally, he pointed at one of Jin Yutang''s servants. "You, lead the way."


    Of those below Celestial Heart, only Jin Yutang''s servants were left. Moreover, this was all Jin Yutang''s fault anyway, so whose people were they going to use if not his? If it weren''t for the sake of the Sanguine True Lord, He Changan would have already had Jin Yutang lead the way.


    The servant hardened his resolve and came forward, letting out a fiend tiger.


    The fiend tiger barely made it a few steps into the hall before there was a light click, and numerous needles shot out of the two pirs on the sides, turning the tiger into a hedgehog. The fiend tiger didn''t even have a chance to defend itself before it died.


    He Changan waved his hand, and one of the needles on the corpse flew into his hand. He examined it and said, "It''s made from a mixture of Nine Heavens Cloud Metal and Inkcloud Stone, and it''s had Rain Dao Runes applied to it, allowing it to pierce through barriers, so it can''t be taken on directly. In the end, this is the Court of Myriad Domains. Even a random trap has an immense amount of work put into it."


    He waved his hand and directed the servant to keep going.


    This servant originally had three fiends, but two of them had died on the way here, and now that the fiend tiger was dead, he had no more fiends left to lead the way. He looked pleadingly at He Changan, hoping that He Changan would have someone else go, but He Changan simply said, "Continue!"


    A Beast Refining Gate disciple without fiends was basically worthless, and He Changan was determined to push this person to death so long as he could squeeze out everyst bit of value from him.


    The servant could only fearfully press forward, but thankfully, that needle trap didn''t activate again.


    Everyone followed behind the servant. As they passed in front of the tiger corpse, Tang Jie put away the corpse, needles and all. Jin Yutang was bbergasted, asking him, "What are you doing?"


    "These needles are all made from rare materials, so they still have some value. In addition, the tiger''s body and bones are rather valuable."


    Jin Yutang said in amazement, "When did you be this poor?"


    Tang Jie rolled his eyes.


    Another person might have wondered why Qian Yingchen had changed so much, but Jin Yutang would never have that much going on in his head.


    The servant didn''t get very far before a guillotine dropped from above, just like one of Tang Jie''s Heavenly Cloud des. But his luck was good, as the attentive He Changan suddenly intervened, pulling back the servant just before the guillotine was about to chop him in half, saving his life.


    s, while he could avoid one mishap, he couldn''t avoid them all.


    As he continued forward, yellow poison emerged from the ground, and the servant howled in pain and died. Even He Changan wasn''t able to save him.


    This great hall truly had a trap every few steps.


    The outside of the hall was dangerous, yet the inside of the hall was dozens of times more dangerous.


    Moreover, the traps were so powerful that even He Changan felt like he might not be able to fend them off.


    Take those rain needles as an example. While they could prate through barriers, He Changan felt like he could fend them off, and at worst, he would be moderately injured. But as more and more traps appeared, even He Changan felt like he wasn''t able to deal with some of them.


    The more they advanced, the more shocking the traps became.


    "Aaaagh!" With a shrill scream, another servant copsed into a pool of blood.


    A ghostly de had appeared, slicing him in half through the waist, the ck de seething with a chilling murderous aura as it disappeared.


    Nobody knew where it hade from, nor did they know if it would appear again, and they certainly didn''t know if they were capable of blocking that grim reaper''s scythe.


    Everyone had no choice but to go around.


    He Changan wanted to have another servant lead the way, but Ao Chihu awkwardly replied, "No one''s left."


    "What?" He Changan was startled. He turned his head and saw that Jin Yutang only had the old steward at his side. All his servants had died. If one were to look back the way they hade, one would find that it was painted with blood, though, eerily, one wouldn''t find any corpses¡ªTang Jie had taken them all.


    He Changan''s face twitched as he scanned the group.


    Everyone trembled in fear.


    They knew that there was no going back at this point.


    He Changan would not give up, and they would be going to the end no matter what.


    But who would be the winners, and who would end up paying with their lives?


    All the cultivators beneath Celestial Heart were dead.


    Several of the Celestial Heart True Persons had also died.


    It seemed like another few more would have to die.


    As He Changan looked around, he finally pointed at a person standing behind Ao Chihu. "You go."


    This was one of the five Spirit Ring True Persons Ao Chihu had brought. Upon hearing He Changan''s order, he paled and said, "Lord He, this one is a member of the Beast Refining Gate and is not subject to your orders."


    He Changan suddenly reached out, his right hand sping the True Person''s throat as he callously said, "Lead the way or die right here!"


    He Changan finally revealed that cruel and callous side of his.


    That Spirit Ring True Person felt an immense force surging out from He Changan''s hand, almost causing him to explode on the spot. His eyes bulged out like those of a goldfish, and in rm, he could only desperately nod.


    He Changan released his grip, and the True Person staggered forward. He first let out his fiend to lead the way, and then he applied several powerful protective spell arts.


    But no matter how formidable his spell arts were, they were as fragile as paper before the traps of the Court of Myriad Domains.


    Whoosh!


    A small arrow pierced through the air and struck a python fiend.


    This python fiend was the most tenacious fiend the True Person had, able to survive even when its head was cut off, able to regrow even if it had been chopped into seventeen pieces. But when the arrow nailed it to the ground, it simply writhed once or twice before dying, such was the horrifying power of the arrow.


    With the python fiend dead, the True Person had no fiends left, so he could only lead the way himself. Even though he was careful and used all the tricks he had, he was only able to avoid two traps before ultimately dying to a flying spear.


    This one spear utterly obliterated all of his life force.


    By now, they had passed through the great hall''s external corridor and detoured around the side chamber, finally reaching the doors to the main hall.


    Standing at the entrance, they could see a great cauldron and the eternal me burning beneath it.


    Upon seeing that cauldron and the mes, everyone''s eyes glinted with greed.


    Even though they didn''t know what those things were, they could imagine that anything that would be so heavily protected by the Court of Myriad Domains and still persist after ten thousand years had to have unfathomable value.


    The dead were dead, but the living saw a potential fortune before them.


    But potential was only potential. There was still a long distance between the doors of the hall and the cauldron.


    He Changan pointed at another person behind Ao Chihu. "You!"


    He didn''t even say that he was going to lead the way.


    After all the various adventures, this was Ao Chihu''sst Spirit Ring True Person.


    The True Person looked at Ao Chihu in despair. "Sir, help me! I don''t want to die!"


    Ao Chihu looked away.


    Completely despairing, the True Person angrily red at He Changan. "You have bullied my Beast Refining Gate too much! After this is over, my Beast Refining Gate¡­"


    Before he could finish, He Changan grabbed him. That person wanted to evade, his hands forming numerous signs. But He Changan ignored all his countermeasures, breaking through and grabbing him by the neck. This time, he didn''t even make threats. He simply threw the man into the air and then thrust out his palm, striking the True Person''s Beast Tamer Bag. Several fiends broke out of the bag and flew out as streaks of light.


    A momentter, the hall exploded as various traps were triggered and crazily attacked that True Person.


    The True Person didn''t even have time to scream as the furious trap storm engulfed him, turning him to countless little bloody bits. A rain of gore descended over the hall, a mix of human and fiend, flesh and blood and viscera.


    The bright and clean hall was instantly turned into a murder scene.


    Everyone''s hearts trembled in fear, and even Tang Jie frowned and looked away.


    Jin Yutang scooted over and asked, "Are you still going to take the corpse?"


    Tang Jie speechlessly stared back.


    Most of the traps in the hall had been triggered, and the remainder were all on the periphery. So long as one didn''t move around recklessly, one wouldn''t trigger them.


    At the cost of many lives, He Changan had finally opened the way to the cauldron, and he grew excited. As he stood in front of the cauldron, he could clearly feel the immense powering from it.


    "A divine object!" He Changan found it difficult to stop his voice from shaking. "This must be a divine object of High Antiquity, a rare treasure, even for the Court of Myriad Domains! That must be why it was in such a heavily-defended hall!"


    "And that me must be one of the world''s supernatural mes." As Master Xuan Zhong spoke, he picked up a small arrow from the ground and threw it at the me. This arrow was made from Heavenly Essence Metal and was extremely tough, but it instantly melted on contact with the me. Master Xuan Zhong shivered as he blurted out, "So formidable! If this me could be refined and tamed, the world would be at one''s fingertips."


    Ao Chihu said, "There might also be treasure in the cauldron."


    He didn''t have any hopes of getting the cauldron or the me, so he could only hope that there were some treasures to share in the cauldron.


    Nan Ningjiang, Ming Yezhen, and Xu Mingyue also understood this, and their eyes glimmered as they looked at the cauldron. Even Jin Yutang excitedly inched closer.


    Nobody noticed that Tang Jie was falling back.


    He retreated all the way to the doors, putting several dozen feet between them and him.


    At this time, Jin Yutang turned around and spotted Tang Jie. Startled, he said, "Yingchen, why are you standing so far away?" and then walked over.


    He had barely walked a few steps when there was a howl.


    Raising his head in shock, he saw a crimson sh lighting up the hall, coupled with a sharp whistle.


    rmed, He Changan cried out, "Watch out!"


    Golden light erupted from his body.


    As he reacted, Master Xuan Zhong threw up blood.


    He looked down and saw the tip of a sword protruding from his chest.


    Stunned, he tried to counterattack, but he found that he couldn''t muster the strength.


    All of his blood was rushing into that little sword, and he swiftly began to shrivel up.


    "Awooo!" Master Xuan Zhong threw his head back and howled in pain.


    He was a Soul Transformation True Person and extremely powerful, but s, his luck was poor. First he had been suppressed by the Great Mountain, and then he had lost his finest art relic, and finally, he had been the first to be attacked in this ambush, dying before he even had a chance to show his skills. He could be said to be the member of Godhead Pce who had died the most unjust death.


    Everyone was stunned by this sight, and He Changan and Zhu Yun almost instantly attacked the small sword. But as they thrust out their palms, that protruding sword tip flew out of Master Xuan Zhong''s chest and shot into another person''s body.


    "Tenth Brother!" Nan Ningjiang cried out.


    The one who had been stabbed by the sword was another member of the 12 Hawks.


    Now, only Nan Ningjiang and Zhou Fanghua were left.


    "Twelfth Brother!" Zhou Fanghua blurted out.


    That familiar sword and its terrifying ability to suck blood¡ªthis was clearly the Immeasurable Sword!


    The Immeasurable Sword sucked up the tenth Hawk''s blood in a sh, and with that eerie whistle, it shot toward its next target, Ming Yezhen.


    Ming Yezhen turned to flee. An expert in the Dao of Space, he was a master of evasion. But as he prepared to leap, he suddenly felt a hand press down on his shoulder.


    This touch instantly drained him of power and scattered all of his spiritual energy. Unable to dodge, he could only watch as that little sword pierced through his body.


    Plush!


    Blood flowed out from Ming Yezhen''s eyes.


    He saw that sword stab into his chest and all of his life force apany his blood into the sword, and then the crimson sword let out a radiant glow.


    It was shaking!


    Shaking in excitement!


    It let out a hum!


    Ming Yezhen didn''t know why this was as his body dropped to its knees.


    At thest moment of his life, he saw a sinister smiling face flit past him.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    The attack hade so suddenly that even He Changan had been caught off guard.


    When Ming Yezhen copsed, everyone finally came to their senses.


    Awooo!


    Ao Chihu let out a bestial roar, his heavy sword erupting with light as it shot at the area behind Ming Yezhen.


    Ming Yezhen''s body was pulverized by the frenzied energy of the sword.


    But the bloody sword was like an agile fish, easily dodging it and flying a circle in the air beforending in the hands of a person.


    Everyone realized that there was someone else in the hall.


    "The crazy old Daoist!" Zhou Fanghua shouted.


    She finally recognized this man as the crazy Daoist who had helped with Xu Miaoran''s escape.


    But Cang Qingfeng didn''t look the slightest bit mad at this moment.


    Standing in the center of the hall, he stared at the Immeasurable Sword in joy and excitement, not even ncing at the others.


    He heartilyughed, "Sess! Haha, I''ve finally done it! The seal on the Immeasurable Sword has been undone!"


    The deaths of Master Xuan Zhong, the tenth Hawk, and Ming Yezhen had finally broken the seal of this vampiric sword.


    Slivers of blood extended from its de, filling the entire hall with a crimson mist.


    He Changan immediately noticed that something was wrong and shouted, "Be careful of the blood mist!"


    "Useless!" Cang Qingfeng shouted. "The Immeasurable Sword has been unsealed, and the Blood River Domain has opened! All of you will be offerings to the Blood River!"


    He waved his hand, and the Immeasurable Sword pointed upward as more blood energy erupted from its tip. In the middle of the blood mist, a giant crimson fissure began to open.


    This fissure was clearly made from the blood mist released by the Immeasurable Sword, but terrifying howls seemed to being from it.


    "The Blood River Domain!" He Changan and Zhu Yun paled at Cang Qingfeng''s words.


    He Changan shouted, "Hurry and stop him!"


    He thrust a finger at Cang Qingfeng.


    "Pointless!" Cang Qingfeng brazenly shouted. "All of you will die here today and be offerings to the Blood River!"


    He thrust out his finger, going blow for blow with He Changan.


    The moment the finger bolts shed, the finger bolt that He Changan had put all his energy into was obliterated, and Cang Qingfeng''s finger bolt shot toward He Changan like aet. It mmed into him in an explosion of silver light, and even the mighty King Canis found himself staggering back a few steps.


    "You!" He Changan looked at Cang Qingfeng in shock.


    He was one of the chiefs of Godhead Pce, without rival in the Soul Transformation Tier except among the chiefs of the six major sects. He had never imagined that a finger bolt from this nameless cultivator would be able to push him back.


    Cang Qingfeng''s face shed with anger, and then he chuckled. "''Godking''? More like King Dogshit! The chiefs of the six major sects are nothing but frogs in their little wells. You really think that you''re invincible against anyone below Violet Pce? Go and take a walk outside of this world and you''ll find plenty like you! Today, this old man will teach what it means to truly be the number one beneath Violet Pce! I¡­ will kill all of you!"

 Chapter 534: Black Tortoise

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The central hall.


    Cang Qingfeng''s brazen deration that he was going to kill everyone resounded through the air, leaving everyone stunned.


    Even though they had suffered grievous losses, with many of their number dying, there was still He Changan, the old steward, Nan Ningjiang, Zhou Fanghua, Xu Mingyue, Ao Chihu, and "Qian Yingchen". Besides that, there were still two generals of the Bloodbath Hall, and He Changan had brought with him two decently strong servants. Finally, there was Jin Yutang, for a total of twelve people.


    This group of twelve consisted of two Soul Transformation True Persons and one Heart Demon True Person, and the rest were all Spirit Ring True Persons. It was a formidable strength, enough to sweep through a medium sect, and that wasn''t even considering that He Changan was a chief-level existence. He alone was able to go against three regr Soul Transformation True Persons.


    But Cang Qingfeng had boldly dered that he was going to kill this entire group.


    Even the callous andposed He Changan was angered. "I''d like to see how you do that!"


    He immediately made several signs with his right hand, and then he thrust out his palm, sending out a torrent of energy. This palm st was dense and solid, sharp and restrained. It seemed ordinary, but it had a regal aura about it.


    Even Cang Qingfeng wasn''t willing to take this attack. He jumped into the air with a shout and threw out the Immeasurable Sword. The sword flew into the air, where it continued to release blood energy and expand the blood fissure.


    With a flip of his hand, Cang Qingfeng produced a coiling dragon spear and thrust it at He Changan.


    The surging spear energy stabbed into He Changan''s palm st, and there was an explosion of light. The spear not only managed to hold off He Changan''s palm, it was even able to push back. It had to be a top-ss art relic at the minimum.


    Cang Qingfeng stood in the air and sneered. It seemed like he had an extremely easy time taking that attack.


    At the same time, the old steward, Zhu Yun, rushed out at an angle, his hands wreathed in ck energy as he wed at Cang Qingfeng. Since Cang Qingfeng wanted to kill them all, there was no need for them to hold back. As Zhu Yun attacked, Ao Chihu, Xu Mingyue, Nan Ningjiang, and Zhou Fanghua also attacked, instantly lighting up the hall.


    In the face of this mass attack, Cang Qingfeng simplyughed.


    He smoothly turned his body, evading Zhu Yun''s strike, at the same time tossing his spear at He Changan''s two servants. He lightly raised his left hand, producing a small silver sword, which he thrust forward. Xu Mingyue, Nan Ningjiang, Zhou Fanghua, and the two Bloodbath Hall generals were instantly greeted by a dazzling dance of swords, and they had no choice but to retreat. At the same time, Cang Qingfeng had taken out a violet saber with his right hand, which he used to send an arc of rending light at Ao Chihu.


    "A spatial sh?" Ao Chihu cried out in rm as he backed away. That arc of light mmed into the wall behind him, leaving a terrifying scar on those seemingly invincible walls.


    Sure enough, it was a space-type sh spell art.


    In this offensive, not only had Cang Qingfeng taken on theirbined might, he had even managed to push them back. Other than Tang Jie and Jin Yutang, who hadn''t participated, everyone had been pushed back by Cang Qingfeng. Everyone was rmed at this man''s power.


    The three weapons he had taken out were all ultimate-grade art relics.


    Cang Qingfeng chuckled.


    He then dropped his saber and sword, but rather than falling to the ground, these weapons flew on their own toward the group, joining the spear in battling against them. He then used some other spell art to create a chilling fog that billowed through the hall.


    This icy fog caused everyone to slow down. He suddenly blinked next to Zhou Fanghua and chuckled, "I''ll start by killing the weakest!"


    He stabbed his hand into Zhou Fanghua''s abdomen.


    Zhou Fanghua wanted to evade, but Cang Qingfeng''s eyes eerily shed, and as their eyes met, her soul trembled. She momentarily forgot to dodge, and a momentter, Cang Qingfeng''s hand stabbed into her.


    "Fanghua!" Nan Ningjiang cried out.


    That blood-drenched hand emerged from Zhou Fanghua''s body, and with a casual shake from Cang Qingfeng, blood gushed into the air as Zhou Fanghua crumpled to the ground.


    Cang Qingfengughed. "I will use your blood to hasten the opening of the Blood River Domain!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Countless palm and finger sts shot toward Cang Qingfeng.


    Cang Qingfeng was about to blink away when he discovered that the space around him had been sealed. Hemented in surprise, "Eh? Someone has sealed off space."


    But he reacted quickly, taking out a talisman with his left hand.


    As that talisman lit up, a golden barrier appeared. All the attacks struck the barrier, and none of them was able to harm even a hair on Cang Qingfeng''s head.


    The talisman turned to dust, and Cang Qingfeng chuckled as he evaded again. At the same time, he flicked his fingers, sending several needles flying at one of the servants.


    This man had sharp eyes and was able to tell at once that only one of He Changan''s men could have sealed space.


    But as the needles struck the servant, there was a ng. This servant was wearing shing golden Godhead Armor, and since it had been able to block this attack, it had to be at least an upper-grade art relic.


    Cang Qingfeng sighed. "The people of Godhead Pce really are annoying, so difficult to kill."


    This time, he shot over toward Xu Mingyue, but everyone was ready now. As he got close, He Changan let out a punch, sending out a shockwave that sent Cang Qingfeng flying.


    While this punch had seemed simple, Cang Qingfeng''s face turned red for a moment, but he quickly went back to normal.


    Cang Qingfeng''s eyes savagely glinted as he snarled, "Fine, I''ll admit that you have some skill."


    While he was angry, He Changan was stunned.


    While his punch hadn''t been some ultimate technique, he had held nothing back. Just how formidable were Cang Qingfeng''s defenses, that he was unharmed after taking such a powerful blow?


    But Tang Jie wasn''t surprised.


    The moment he knew that this person was Cang Qingfeng, he knew that this man''s real expertise was in defense.


    That He Changan''s punch had failed to injure him was a clear manifestation of his strength.


    But what truly shocked Tang Jie was his fighting style.


    That flitting and unpredictable style, and the way he seemed to be throwing out art relics like they were on sale, all seemed to be implying something, but Tang Jie didn''t quite understand. Since he didn''t understand, he decided to just watch. In any case, none of them were really his allies, so Tang Jie was happy to watch. He simply stood at a distance with Jin Yutang, not intervening with that beautiful excuse that he was protecting Young Master Jin.


    He Changan was furious after his failed punch.


    He bellowed, and a golden light erupted from under his feet.


    The Grand Virtue Guardian Halo.


    At the same time, his bones began to groan, and his body began to grow.


    The Formless Heavenly Demon Art!


    The Formless Heavenly Demon Art was not an art of Godhead Pce, but an art He Changan had obtained in his early years when traveling the world. Using it would make one''s power and lethality soar.


    He Changan had spent most of his life easily handling opponents with casual punches and kicks. Rarely was he forced to use the Formless Heavenly Demon Art.


    But now, He Changan was finally starting to get serious.


    He Changan roared as he punched again.


    This time, the st created by his punch was a dark torrent of energy that thundered toward Cang Qingfeng.


    In the face of this dark surge, Cang Qingfeng turned solemn. "Now you''re getting somewhere!"


    Cang Qingfeng thrust out his palm.


    As palm shed with fist, there was a tremendous boom. Cang Qingfeng was sent flying into a wall, the impact making the entire hall sway.


    He Changan''s punch was so powerful!


    But despite having the upper hand, He Changan shuddered and suddenly fell back several steps, roaring, "Despicable!"


    He looked at his right hand, which was turning ck and swollen.


    Poison!


    Cang Qingfengughed as he got to his feet. His arm was covered in blood after taking the divine punch of He Changan''s Formless Heavenly Demon Art, a bone poking out from his elbow.


    But he didn''t care. With a p of his left hand, he produced a white jade bottle, and with a flick, he sent a pill out of the bottle and into his mouth.


    Once the pill was consumed, Cang Qingfeng''s arm began to rapidly heal. Heughed and said, "''Despicable''? This Omni-Poison Hand requires processing countless poisonous substances to cultivate. It''s a proper technique, not someone pretending to be your friend while convincing you to drink poison. What''s despicable about it? And if I didn''t use the Omni-Poison Hand, do you really think you would have injured me that easily?"


    Cang Qingfeng let out a thunderous punch: "Five Supreme Lightning Punch!"


    Amid shing lightning, Zhu Yun''s Jade Shattering w shed with Cang Qingfeng''s steely fist, and while Zhu Yun was pushed back, Cang Qingfeng also took half a step back.


    "The Five Supreme Lightning Punch? The Omni-Poison Hand?" He Changan grimaced. "What rtionship do you have with the Hidden Lightning Sect and the Scarlet Refiner Gate?"


    Cang Qingfengughed. "Does knowing their spell arts mean I have a rtionship with them? Haha, naive! Take a look at this!"


    Cang Qingfeng flicked his fingers, sending a st of energy at Ao Chihu''s iing sword.


    "The Jade Shattering Finger!" Tang Jie and Zhu Yun shouted in unison.


    Cang Qingfeng turned his body, just in time to meet Xu Mingyue''s sword. Cang Qingfeng didn''t try to evade, allowing the sword to stab him. Upon impact, the de of the sword bent, unable to pierce through. Meanwhile, Cang Qingfeng waved his hand, unleashing a me that struck Xu Mingyue and sted her away.


    There was a golden gleam from beneath his tattered clothes.


    "Godhead Armor!" everyone gasped in surprise.


    Cang Qingfengughed as he chopped his palm three times, each time unleashing a famous spell art. This old man even knew the spell arts of Horizon Ocean Pavilion and the Thousand Passions Sect.


    He waspletely fearless in the face of his numerous enemies, unleashing various famous Immortal arts, and each one with astounding power, sometimes even more powerful than the original versions.


    Everyone was confused, and only Tang Jie understood that Cang Qingfeng, as the Lord of Reincarnation, while having a body that was only several hundred years old, had a soul that was ten thousand years old. While Cang Qingfeng had never been able to reach the apex of strength over his many incarnations, this long span of time had made him more experienced than anyone. All the Immortal arts of the past remained in his memory, some of them even passed down from High Antiquity.


    One could say that this person, through his knowledge and memories of Immortal arts, was a walking library.


    From this perspective, one could also understand how Cang Qingfeng could have so many art relics, medicines, and talismans.


    Just as he had said before, while he wasn''t able to reach the peak over ten thousand years of reincarnation, he had a vast treasury of experience and was proficient in all the auxiliary fields.


    Since he knew all about pills, talismans, formations, and tools, he could craft his own treasures. If he weren''t limited by resources, he could have even created divine treasures and Dao armaments. Thus, as well as a library, he was also a treasury.


    In terms of cultivation, he could not be much stronger than He Changan. This was because He Changan had already reached the limits of the Soul Transformation Tier. In these circumstances, no matter how much of a genius Cang Qingfeng was, he couldn''t surpass He Changan by too much. But while he might not have been able to exceed him significantly in altitude, he could make up for it in breadth. Cang Qingfeng knew far too much, and his moves were simply endless, the variety leaving everyone dazzled.


    He was like an amalgamation of experts, possessing top-ss attributes, top-ss skills, and numerous medicines. Such an opponent was a terror to fight.


    And Cang Qingfeng wasn''t even using all his strength. What would it be like when he was serious?


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but shiver at the thought.


    He Changan was clearly realizing that his opponent wasn''t ordinary.


    This wasn''t an opponent that could be judged withmon sense, and now that he was poisoned, the tables were rapidly turning.


    Everyone was fighting with Cang Qingfeng, but Cang Qingfeng wasughing as he thrust out a palm, punched, and asionally swung a saber or sword. It was like he was ying a game, and hisughter was brimming with confidence.


    Behind his brashness, Cang Qingfeng was actually being cautious. He was actually waiting for the poison to circte throughout He Changan''s entire body, waiting for He Changan to be extremely weak, upon which he would go all-out and take down his foes.


    This was because he knew just how strong a chief of one of the six major sects was. When an opponent like this got serious, even he needed to be careful.


    But he didn''t expect what He Changan did next.


    He looked at Tang Jie.


    There was a profound look in his eyes. "You still aren''t joining?"


    Tang Jie was startled.


    It wasn''t just him. Even Cang Qingfeng looked at Tang Jie in surprise.


    He naturally recognized that face: the genius of the Beast Refining Gate, Qian Yingchen, that kid that Tang Jie had beaten half to death.


    He had never even considered this person as a factor.


    But when He Changan spoke, his heart leaped, and he sensed that something was wrong.


    His eyes shed as he instinctively activated his Insight.


    He had lived for ten thousand years, and while he hadn''t reached the highest of heights, he had grasped a truly frightening number of abilities. The Dao of Insight was vital for getting the initiative over one''s enemies, and he was naturally extremely skilled at it. As he looked, he trembled and cried out, "Tang Jie!"


    As he cried out, everyone froze, and the battle paused as everyone looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie shrugged and chuckled.


    As heughed, his face finally went back to its original appearance.


    Everyone was dumbfounded when they saw Qian Yingchen turning into Tang Jie. Nan Ningjiang almost didn''t dare to believe his eyes. The person he had been looking for had been right there this whole time!


    Jin Yutang jumped in fright and tried to run, but Tang Jie immediately grabbed him and took him hostage. He then looked at He Changan. "You knew the whole time?"


    "Not that early. I was originally going to find the right time to reveal the secret, but this old man messed up everything. Tang Jie, if I''m right, you''re not together with this man! This man has clearly nned out today''s events. He wants to kill us, but he also has no intention of letting you go!"


    Cang Qingfeng let out an eerieugh. "He Changan, it seems like you''re out of options. Asking Tang Jie for help? How could he possibly help you?"


    "Wrong," Tang Jie unexpectedly said. "If I had to make a choice, I would choose to help Godhead Pce. In truth, I was even thinking about intervening just now."


    "What?" Cang Qingfeng roared, "Tang Jie, are you crazy? If not for this old man, how would you have been able to meet with your precious Xu Miaoran? She would probably be dead at the hands of Godhead Pce by now!"


    Tang Jie sneered, "It was all for your own sake. You saved Miaoran because you feared that I would be captured by Godhead Pce because of her. You needed the people of Godhead Pce to be here to open the way for you and to be offerings for the sword. If I were captured, the people of Godhead Pce would leave, which would thwart your ns. That''s why you pretended to be crazy and intervened, using me to draw in the people of Godhead Pce and make them send reinforcements until there were finally enough. Now that the seal on the Immeasurable Sword has been undone, everyone who ought to die must die, and so your next task is naturally to clean up everyone who''s in the know. In these circumstances, you naturally don''t need my help anymore. On the contrary, you would want to kill me."


    There was a hint of fiendishness about Cang Qingfeng''s face as he replied, "Brat, I knew I couldn''t hide it from you. But even if it''s like this, what sort of advantage could helping Godhead Pce give you?"


    "It doesn''t have any advantages, but at least escaping from them is easier than escaping from you." Tang Jie smiled.


    Cang Qingfeng''s voice turned shrill. "You think rather highly of me."


    But there was no pride in that voice.


    "How could I not?" Tang Jie sighed. "Who would dare to not take seriously the reincarnation of the ck Tortoise?"


    "What did you say? ''The reincarnation of the ck Tortoise''?" everyone gasped.

 Chapter 535: Great Dao Realm

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Cang Qingfeng was startled, and then he chuckled, "You''re pretty good! You were even able to guess this correctly! But what does it matter that you know? In the end, you have to die."


    He finally stopped hiding his killing intent, his body erupting with spiritual energy, engulfing the entire hall in his aura.


    This aura seemed to have physical mass, pressing on everyone so much that they found it hard to stand straight. Even Tang Jie was forced back a few steps. As he approached the bounds of the room, Cang Qingfeng waved his hand. The doors mmed shut, locking everyone within the hall.


    Cang Qingfeng sinisterly said, "Nobody will be leaving this ce."


    "You fucker!" Ao Chihu''s face shed with murderous intent. "Who cares if you''re some dogshit ck Tortoise!? I''ll kill you!"


    He swung his heavy sword, releasing wave after wave of frenzied sword energy.


    This time, instead of striking like lightning, he moved rather slowly, as if he was swinging an extremely weighty object. But even Cang Qingfeng''s face turned solemn in the face of these extremely slow attacks.


    "You seem to have grasped a little of the Sanguine True Lord''s Dark Heaven Asterism," Cang Qingfeng said as he thrust out his palm. This simple thrust caused the fabric of space to tremble, stopping cold Ao Chihu''s attacks.


    At the same time, He Changan roared, dark energy swelling out from his body, mming into Cang Qingfeng''s torrent of green energy.


    As ck and green collided, they created savage shockwaves that prevented anyone else from getting close.


    Amid the shing lights, He Changan pulled out a silver-gray halberd and stabbed it at Cang Qingfeng.


    The Halberd of Deste Heavens!


    This was He Changan''s weapon, an art relic of the highest grade.


    That he was using this halberd meant that He Changan was finally beginning to fight with all his power. The halberdbined with his Formless Heavenly Demon Body allowed him to erupt with power, and the entire hall was full of He Changan''s intense will to fight and sharp halberd energy.


    In the face of He Changan''s attack, Cang Qingfeng jumped into the air with a shout.


    He summoned the coiling dragon spear back to his hand, and with one strike, he produced countless spear phantoms to contend against the halberd. At the same time, he took out a round te with his left hand. It spun in the air, drawing all the attacks toward it.


    He then took out a talisman, which turned into chains of light to suppress everyone. After that, he took out a silver shortsword, which unleashed a flurry of sword beams at everyone. The number of treasures this man had was truly frightening.


    But worst of all was Cang Qingfeng''s terrifying defensive ability.


    Xu Mingyue swung her sword at Cang Qingfeng, who was in the middle of dealing with Zhu Yun and He Changan. Seeing that he couldn''t dodge, he decided not to. He bent down, and a giant dragon turtle manifested behind him.


    Everyone might have been confused in the past, but now, they knew that this was the soul of the ck Tortoise, the ck Tortoise Armor.


    Xu Mingyue''s sword stabbed into the aura surrounding Cang Qingfeng, and that middle-grade art relic bent, unable to prate through that formless armor. Cang Qingfeng used this moment to turn around and swing a saber that had spontaneously appeared in his hand at Xu Mingyue''s throat.


    Just when that saber was about to open up Xu Mingyue''s neck, a golden light shot toward Cang Qingfeng¡ªTang Jie had intervened.


    "Tang Jie, you¡­" Cang Qingfeng shouted in anger. But he didn''t dare to take on this golden de. He fell back and then red at Tang Jie. "You really want to make an enemy of me?"


    "It''s better than letting you kill all of them and then kill me." Tang Jie once more thrust out the golden de.


    "Bastard!" Cang Qingfeng jumped away, the anger gathering on his face. "You really think that you''re invincible just because you have the Sovereign de?"


    "''The Sovereign de''?" Tang Jie was somewhat taken aback by this name.


    This was the first time he had heard of another description for this golden de.


    But Cang Qingfeng didn''t n to tell Tang Jie anything more than that.


    "I''ll kill you one by one!" Furiously roaring, Cang Qingfeng shot out like a bolt of lightning, charging at one of the Bloodbath Hall generals. "I''ll kill you first!"


    "Save him!" He Changan called out as he swung his halberd.


    Cang Qingfeng turned his hand upward, and the golden te moved to block He Changan''s attack. At the same time, Zhu Yun and Ao Chihu attacked from the sides, but Cang Qingfeng manifested his ck Tortoise Armor, which was many times tougher than Godhead Armor. Zhu Yun''s Jade Shattering w and Ao Chihu''s Dark Heaven Sword were only able to leave behind ripples on that sphere of light. Meanwhile, the coiling dragon spear began to stab at the Bloodbath Hall general.


    The Bloodbath Hall general howled, and the halo around him expanded. At the same time, he swung his saber at the spear.


    Cang Qingfeng had divided his attention, leaving 60% of his power to deal with He Changan, 30% to deal with Zhu Yun and Ao Chihu, and only 10% to attack the Bloodbath Hall general. Meanwhile, that general was using all of his strength and even had fouryers of defense.


    Boom!


    As saber shed with spear, that Bloodbath Hall general''s body erupted with light.


    The spear prated through the saber energy and mmed into the protective barrier, unleashing a blinding light.


    The Bloodbath Hall general instantly took to the air, and only then did he realize that Cang Qingfeng''s spear had pierced through twoyers of defense and left his middle-grade art relic saber covered in thin cracks.


    Such power!


    While the Bloodbath Hall general was shocked, he had at least managed to block the spear.


    But a momentter, Tang Jie roared, "Get back quickly!"


    "What?" The general raised his head.


    A golden light rapidly expanded before his eyes, and a momentter, a massive explosion obliterated him.


    Even in death, he didn''t know how he had died.


    Only the bystanders could see that Cang Qingfeng had unexpectedly chosen to detonate the spear.


    The detonation of an upper-grade art relic could easily kill a single Spirit Ring True Person. Not only that, its remaining power swept over everyone else.


    Thankfully, they hadprehensive defenses, but even so, the powerful explosion sted them back a little.


    Cang Qingfeng swooped along the ground and threw out the silver sword, sword energy shooting at all of them and forcing them to defend themselves. Cang Qingfeng used this chance to attack one of He Changan''s servants, the one who could seal space and had robbed him of his ability to shift.


    That servant knew that he was in trouble and frantically retreated.


    Cang Qingfeng gave chase like a ghost. He was fast and tough, and he had numerous art relics. He instantly caught up to the servant,ughing, "You can also die!"


    He swung a violet saber, unleashing a spatial sh.


    That servant reacted quickly, and as that saber swung down, his body turned into a puff of smoke and scattered.


    But Cang Qingfeng simply grabbed the smoke, which couldn''t escape and returned to human form. Cang Qingfeng''s fingers turned into sharp ws and punctured the servant''s neck as a savage smile appeared on his face. "Die!"


    He Changan''s halberd smashed into Cang Qingfeng''s back, but he didn''t care in the slightest.


    Bang! The ck Tortoise Armor shattered, but Cang Qingfeng withstood the attack, the fingers of his left hand exploding with lightning that rushed into that servant''s head, sting it apart. With the servant''s death, the spatial seal immediately disappeared. At this time, the attacks of Zhu Yun and Ao Chihu arrived, but just when Cang Qingfeng was about to shift away, he found that he still couldn''t move.


    Looking down, he saw that the servant had pressed a hand against his body, and a rune was shing on his body.


    Cang Qingfeng grimaced as he shouted, "Fuck!"


    He immediately swung the violet lightning saber in his right hand, and the weapon shed with the light of detonation. rmed, Ao Chihu and Zhu Yun didn''t dare to get close.


    Bang! In the middle of the intense explosion, a saber descended from the heavens, hacking at Cang Qingfeng''s back.


    There was an eruption of golden light.


    While the saber had failed to cleave Cang Qingfeng in half, it had destroyed that suit of Godhead Armor.


    "Tang Jie!" Cang Qingfeng furiously roared.


    A talisman appeared in his left hand, which he tossed at He Changan''s halberd. The talisman let out a brilliant light, and even He Changan''s blow failed to break through it. Meanwhile, Cang Qingfeng produced a blood-colored scimitar in his right hand, which he threw at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie rapidly retreated, at the same time casting various spell arts to prevent himself from getting caught in any possible detonation.


    Cang Qingfeng howled as he shot toward Nan Ningjiang.


    Nan Ningjiang knew that he was the next target, and he immediately unleashed a powerful wave of energy with his sword.


    But Cang Qingfeng was like a charging tiger. His right hand gained a metallic sheen as he swatted down Nan Ningjiang''s sword, and Nan Ningjiang immediately roared as he fell back.


    Cang Qingfeng callously said, "You think you can run?"


    His right hand suddenly extended, reaching for Nan Ningjiang''s throat.


    At that moment, Nan Ningjiang suddenly threw away his sword, phantom ws appearing around his hands as he grabbed at Cang Qingfeng.


    He was trying to seize him!


    Cang Qingfeng didn''t expect this kid to be so bold as to try to turn the tables.


    But what good would that do?


    With a savage gleam in his eyes, Cang Qingfeng continued to thrust out his hand.


    As the ws collided with the hand, there was a crisp crack as Nan Ningjiang''s arms were broken. But Cang Qingfeng realized with a start that his own arm had been captured.


    While Nan Ningjiang''s broken arms restrained that arm, a light traveled along Nan Ningjiang''s arm and began to wind around Cang Qingfeng''s arm like a rope.


    This was the true capture method, not with one''s hands, but with the spiritual energy flowing through one''s meridians.


    "Raaaa!" Cang Qingfeng bellowed.


    That spiritual energy rope binding him began to snap.


    But that pause bought He Changan enough time to break through that golden talisman, and the attacks of the others also arrived.


    "Useless!" Cang Qingfeng roared.


    As he bellowed, a giant python charged out from his back, mming into He Changan''s halberd and halting his attack once more.


    In this group, He Changan was the strongest, so Cang Qingfeng ced him as the highest priority, using almost all the defensive techniques he had on him. Even though He Changan didn''t seem to be doing well in this battle, in reality, he was singlehandedly holding down 60% of Cang Qingfeng''s power.


    If this weren''t the case, the others would pose no threat to Cang Qingfeng.


    Everyone was shocked by this python, for no one had imagined that this guy would even have raised fiends. Meanwhile, Cang Qingfeng''s ck Tortoise Armor had finished regenerating, appearing once more. Cang Qingfeng snarled as he reached out to grab Nan Ningjiang, but a momentter, a golden light appeared, forcing Cang Qingfeng to pull back¡ªTang Jie hade to Nan Ningjiang''s rescue.


    Nan Ningjiang looked at Tang Jie in shock.


    As Tang Jie pushed back Cang Qingfeng, he turned to Nan Ningjiang and shouted, "What are you standing around for?"


    Nan Ningjiang shrugged. "I just didn''t expect to be fighting alongside you."


    The thought of fighting alongside someone he had been trying to capture all this time was just too ironic.


    "That''s why it''s said that anything can happen in the vastness of the world," Tang Jie replied as he unleashed a Dragonlike Hand.


    At this time, Cang Qingfeng''s python retreated back into his body. He Changan''s halberd wasn''t easy to deal with, and the python had been badly wounded by the exchange.


    Cang Qingfeng charged out like a madman, thrusting a palm. His target this time was a Bloodbath Hall general. Everyone was about to go and save him when Cang Qingfeng waved his hand. That crimson scimitar that had flown toward Tang Jie flew out from the rear at the general, and exploded, wiping him from existence.


    Just as Tang Jie had guessed, the worst part about this guy wasn''t his terrifying strength, but his numerous tricks. Ten thousand years of experience meant that he basically knew everything, and no one could say what the next trick would be.


    Cang Qingfeng didn''t even frown after having detonated several upper-grade art relics. In the blink of an eye, he took out several more.


    These art relics had never appeared before in the world, so he had probably made them himself. Given that he had been umting them for more than a thousand years, it wouldn''t be strange at all if he had more than one hundred. If he made them all detonate, he could really st an entire army to death if he wanted to. And he also had talismans and fiends! It was no wonder he dared to be so arrogant.


    "Tang Jie, where did all your tricks go? Where are your allies? Why is it that you can only do this much?" Ao Chihu shouted.


    Tang Jie rolled his eyes. "You think I would bring those things that would expose me after I disguised myself as Qian Yingchen?"


    Besides the golden de and the Mountain River State Diagram, he had brought nothing else that could expose him. He had brought the golden de because he could store it in his body, and he had brought the Mountain River State Diagram because he didn''t use it in battle, so Godhead Pce''s people didn''t know that Tang Jie had it.


    "So you''re saying you''re useless?"


    "Not at all," Tang Jie coldly chuckled. "I just wasn''t being serious yet¡­"


    As everyone rushed at Cang Qingfeng, Tang Jie suddenly put away his saber and fell back.


    Staring at Cang Qingfeng from a distance, he immersed his mind in his Sea of Cognition, gathering it on his Celestial Heart Dao Fruit. He waved his hands, and spiritual energy began to ripple out from him.


    These ripples weren''t too powerful, but the moment they appeared, Cang Qingfeng and He Changan paled.


    Golden threads surged along the spiritual waves, like sunlit ocean waves.


    These golden threads gathered together, gradually forming ribbons in the air. Fear appeared on Cang Qingfeng''s face as he cried, "How? How?"


    He Changan cried out, "A Great Dao Realm! He''s able to use a nascent Great Dao Realm!"


    After bing a Spirit Ring True Person, Tang Jie had grown much stronger, but he had rarely used the unique battle characteristics of a Spirit Ring True Person. Usually, he fought the same as he had always done.


    This was because he was still adapting to his new cultivation realm.


    And in this cultivation realm, the major difference in how one did battle was the Celestial Heart Dao Fruit.


    Celestial Hearts were called Dao Fruits because the Dao Wills that a cultivator had mastered and experienced over many years were carved into it.


    The process of condensing the Celestial Heart and discovering one''s talent was also the process of condensing one''s Dao Wills.


    As the condensing of Tang Jie''s Celestial Heart was different from others'', he didn''t even know what his talent was. This was how he was inferior to other True Persons. Other people could get a stronger spell art in the process. For example, a Fire-type talent would make one''s Fire spell arts particrly strong. But as Tang Jie hadn''t found his talent, he didn''t know where to start.


    However, when it came to condensing Dao Wills, he had no obstacles.


    After twenty-some years of cultivation, Tang Jie hadprehended Wisdom, Time, Life, Karma, and other such Great Daos, but he had never tried to integrate and use them together.


    With the Dao Fruit, this was now possible.


    With the Dao Fruit, cultivators could fully unleash all that they hadprehended of their Daos.


    But Great Daos were difficult toprehend, and most people went their entire lives barelyprehending one. When they became True Persons, their Dao Fruits usually had only a few Dao Runes. This sort of person didn''t have a right to a Dao Fruit, and they could only call the result a Celestial Heart. Thus, in Tang Jie''s life, he rarely saw people who had achievements in the Dao. At best, there was only Feng Buzhi, who had some attainment in the Dao of Reality and Illusion.


    The difference between True Persons manifested itself in the Celestial Heart Dao Fruit.


    For example, the chiefs of the six major sects could stand at the apex precisely because they had condensed a sufficient number of Dao Wills on their Celestial Hearts, thus possessing true Dao Fruits.


    Tang Jie didn''t have an advantage over others when it came to cultivation level, but when it came to Dao Wills, he would have many bigshots choking in his dust.


    But Tang Jie had never tried to use his Dao Wills in battle before, so he had no concept of it.


    All he knew was that when a cultivator hadprehended a Dao Will enough, they could integrate it with their Spirit Ring, creating an even more powerful space, their own personal realm.


    The Spirit Ring was simply a forcefield of spiritual energy created by the Spirit Will, able to enhance one''s strength. But there was something more absolute about a realm.


    However, creating a Great Dao Sphere from Dao Wills was aplicated matter. It required one''s grasp of the Dao Will to at least be at the Dao-Entering level.


    And entering the Dao was the standard for Celestial Sovereigns.


    In other words, anyone who could possess a Great Dao Realm at the True Person level would be a Celestial Sovereign upon reaching Violet Pce.


    Even Tang Jie, despite all the Daos he hadprehended, had yet to enter the Dao.


    It was too difficult!


    But while he had yet to enter a Dao, he was extremely close to it.


    It was in Insight.


    In that interaction with the Great Mountain, the Great Mountain''s guidance had greatly improved Tang Jie''s Insight abilities.


    This was the first Dao he hadprehended, and the one he used the most, one of the core abilities he had relied on the most in his one year in Nadir Hill. Whether it was in terms of proficiency orprehension, it was the strongest Dao Will Tang Jie hadprehended. With the Great Mountain''s help, it was now extremely close to the Dao-Entering level. All he was missing was that final, most difficult, and most critical step.


    Even so, through Insight, Tang Jie had a nascent Great Dao Realm.


    The Realm of Insight!


    Tang Jie raised his head and looked at Cang Qingfeng. There was a glint in his eyes, and he suddenly shouted, "Ao Chihu, retreat and defend!"


    While everyone was wondering what he was saying, Cang Qingfeng suddenly lunged at Ao Chihu, thrusting his sword at Ao Chihu''s throat.


    Ao Chihu yelped as he fell back.


    "Left armpit!" Tang Jie shouted. Ao Chihu immediately swung his sword to protect his armpit, and, sure enough, he blocked the oing blow.


    Tang Jie shouted again, "Attack his Sea of Energy, Upper Pir, and Heart Field points. These are his weaknesses."


    "You!" Cang Qingfeng angrily red at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie had announced all of Cang Qingfeng''s weak points. Tang Jie had taken the path of detecting weaknesses, but this path was too difficult, and it took a very long time to find weak points. There were many times where he simply didn''t have the opportunity to use it.


    But things were different with the Great Dao Realm.


    Nothing could hide from the power of Insight!

 Chapter 536: The Twelve Great Daos

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The attacks aimed at Cang Qingfeng suddenly became sharp, concentrated, and threatening.


    Amid those streams of spell arts, Cang Qingfeng yowled as he jumped around.


    He left behind afterimages in the air as he moved around like a bolt of lightning. With powerful defense, numerous spell arts and art relics, and nimble speed, this bastard truly didn''t have any significant weaknesses.


    As he fell back, Cang Qingfeng shrieked, "Tang Jie, you''re seeking death! You really think this old man can''t do anything? A Great Dao Realm¡­ This old man has one too!"


    As he roared, a light spread from Cang Qingfeng''s feet, expanding outward like with Tang Jie.


    This was clearly another Great Dao Realm.


    Everyone was stunned.


    Cang Qingfeng howled as he charged forward, a sawtoothed saber appearing in his hand, which he swung at Ao Chihu. Ao Chihu swung back with his heavy sword, but to his surprise, Cang Qingfeng chose to directly take on the sword.


    The sword hacked into Cang Qingfeng''s body. This attack contained all of Ao Chihu''s strength, and even Cang Qingfeng''s defense couldn''t stop it. There was a crimson eruption as Cang Qingfeng was almost cleaved open. Meanwhile, Cang Qingfeng''s toothed saber bit into Ao Chihu''s body.


    The two of them parted, and while Cang Qingfeng was covered in blood, his toothed saber had acted like the Heartbreak Saber, taking away a section of Ao Chihu''s intestines with it.


    The two of them had both suffered heavy wounds, but while Ao Chihu howled in pain, Cang Qingfeng stood there as if nothing was wrong.


    The vicious wound inflicted by Ao Chihu rapidly healed, and a thick Life energy circled around him. While covered by this Life energy, no matter what injury he sustained, it would be rapidly healed.


    "The Realm of Life!" Tang Jie called out. "As expected of the ck Tortoise''s Reincarnation! The Azure Dragon controls Fate, the White Tiger controls Space and Time, the Vermillion Bird controls Yin and Yang, and the ck Tortoise controls Reincarnation¡­ Every Dao has its pair. Since the ck Tortoise is the Lord of Reincarnation, it naturally must be the Lord of Life as well. With that constant stream of life force, the ck Tortoise is the most unkible of the Four Sacred Beasts. It has the strongest defense and the strongest healing, and even if you do manage to kill it, it will just reincarnate."


    Cang Qingfeng chuckled. "Since you know all this, you still dare to offend me?"


    With his ability to constantly reincarnate, Cang Qingfeng truly did have the right to be arrogant. This person could not be lightly offended, for if you killed him, he might appear from the shadows at some point to deliver a lethal strike, just like what had happened with the Basking Moon Sect''s Shen Wujie.


    Tang Jie casually smirked. "What''s so bad about it? While your strength is Reincarnation, your weakness is also Reincarnation. With every reincarnation, you have to start from the beginning. Even with your ten thousand years of experience and constant incarnations, you''ve always had to start from zero, which has caused you to fall behind your formerrades. Those who had existed alongside you in that very first era might have already died, but if they survived, they would all be existences that you could only look up at, having left you far behind. This sort of sensation can''t be veryfortable, right?"


    Cang Qingfeng shuddered.


    Tang Jie was right. His strength was Reincarnation, and so was his weakness. Having to start from the beginning meant that he had fallen behind his formerrades.


    Take Xiao Biehan as an example. He had been of a muchter generation than Cang Qingfeng, but he was now the mighty and illustrious Swordholder of the Basking Moon Sect, grasping the Merak Sword Dao armament, dominating the Rosecloud Domain, and was a Violet Pce True Lord with his sights set on the Immortal tform Realm. Inparison, because he had to be reborn, Cang Qingfeng was far weaker than Xiao Biehan. While he could unt his strength here, one hand from Xiao Biehan would be enough to kill him. Even though he was the ck Tortoise''s reincarnation, even though he had existed for ten thousand years, he would never be able to stand at the apex.


    This was the fate of the ck Tortoise!


    He was unwilling to ept this fate, so he constantly sought an opportunity to break these shackles, longing to one day reach the peak.


    Tang Jie''s words had struck at the most tender point in Cang Qingfeng''s heart, and his eyes raged with me. "You''re seeking death! ck Tortoise Armor, True Martial Divine Art!"


    ck waves of spiritual energy erupted from him, enclosing him. Space seemed to freeze up, and Cang Qingfeng emerged wearing a suit of armor.


    He charged at Tang Jie, thrusting a ck sword at Tang Jie.


    The golden de left a dazzling glow as it was swung at Cang Qingfeng.


    The ck Tortoise Armor seemed to be made of paper in front of the golden de. The de sliced through Cang Qingfeng''s arm, sending it flying. At the same time, Cang Qingfeng''s ck sword plunged into Tang Jie''s body.


    Once again, it was injury for injury. A momentter, that severed arm returned to Cang Qingfeng and linked back to his body.


    Cang Qingfeng kept moving, thrusting his sword at Zhu Yun.


    His speed was incredible, constantly taking the initiative and trading injury for injury. Supported by the Realm of Life, he wasn''t worried about injuries at all. In a sh, he had suppressed all opposition. Compared to his Realm of Life, Tang Jie''s Realm of Insight seemed rather weak.


    Under Cang Qingfeng''s frenzied offensive, he once more pushed back He Changan. Heughed and said, "All of you must die!"


    He thrust his sword at He Changan.


    As always, he was trading injury for injury.


    But the moment He Changan''s halberd touched Cang Qingfeng''s body, Cang Qingfeng suddenly howled and backed away.


    The halberd had broken the bone of Cang Qingfeng''s arm, but unexpectedly, Cang Qingfeng''s Realm of Life had not immediately healed the wound.


    No¡ªto be more precise, there was healing happening, but it was much slower than before.


    "Destruction!" Cang Qingfeng yelled as he angrily red at He Changan.


    A ck-gray stream of energy lingered around He Changan''s halberd, letting off an eerie glow. But this glow wasn''t as obvious as those of Tang Jie or Cang Qingfeng. It simply coiled around the halberd while exuding death.


    But it was the ck energy of death that lingered around Cang Qingfeng''s arm, preventing his Realm of Life from working.


    The Dao of Destruction!


    No one had expected He Changan to haveprehended the Dao of Destruction. This was the bane of the Dao of Life, as attacks empowered by the Dao of Destruction were basically impossible to heal from.


    But He Changan clearly had only a basic grasp of the Dao of Destruction. He could not create a Realm of Destruction, let alonepletely counteract the Realm of Life. Even so, Cang Qingfeng had a very difficult time recovering from the wounds inflicted by He Changan.


    Pointing his halberd at Cang Qingfeng, He Changan coldly said, "I have been through countless battles in my career and dealt with numerous troublesome foes. But none of them have ever been as troublesome as you. As the reincarnation of the ck Tortoise, you truly deserve to be called an old monster who has lived for thousands of years. Even though we are both at the Soul Transformation Tier, I admit that I am greatly inferior to you. But if you underestimate me because of this, you are mistaken. You have your tricks, and we have our own. Do you think my title as chief is an empty one?"


    He reached into his Mustard Seed Bag and pulled something out.


    It was a ck pearl that radiated a strange glow. The moment it came out, it emitted such powerful energy that everyone was stunned, and even the suppression of Cang Qingfeng''s True Martial Divine Art on the surrounding space was weakened.


    "A divine treasure!" Ao Chihu cried out while clutching his belly.


    Although he didn''t know exactly what it was, he could tell from its aura that this had to be a divine treasure.


    He Changan nced at Cang Qingfeng and snorted as he swallowed the ck pearl.


    As he swallowed it, the hall exploded with the howling of dragons and roaring of tigers.


    He Changan''s body became surrounded by energy, ck streams of Destruction energy traveling all over his body and forming a Realm of Destruction.


    This was a divine treasure that could increase one''s Dao Will! It was no wonder He Changan had been reluctant to use it.


    At this moment, there were three people present with Dao Realms, and as this Realm of Destruction appeared, He Changan grew evenrger, scales growing on his body and his muscles bulging. It appeared that this object enhanced not only Dao Wills, but also one''s strength.


    Most shocking of all was that two pairs of arms grew from He Changan''s back, and two heads grew from his shoulders.


    Three heads and six arms!


    "Raaa!" He Changan let out a majestic roar, and when he breathed in and out, mes shed in the air.


    In a rumbling voice, he said, "Old turtle, die!"


    The Halberd of Deste Heavens unleashed a surging wave of halberd energy at Cang Qingfeng.


    Cang Qingfeng didn''t dare to take this attack directly. He produced a warhammer and swung it at the halberd.


    Boom! The warhammer was sent flying by the halberd, and an immense energy mmed Cang Qingfeng into a wall, the impact making the entire hall shake.


    He Changan was like a supreme demon god, and he stepped forward and gave chase. Cang Qingfeng yelped and jumped to his feet, but for the time being, he was held fast to his location by He Changan. Everyone was delighted, and started attacking as well. Even Nan Ningjiang used the opportunity to heal his broken arms and then join the assault. At this time, rather than seizing the moment, Tang Jie chose to sit back and y the bystander.


    For him, having both sidese out of this badly wounded was the best choice. If Cang Qingfeng really couldn''t hold on, he might even consider turning to help Cang Qingfeng.


    But Tang Jie was sure that this wasn''t thest of Cang Qingfeng''s strength. Someone who had experienced ten thousand years of reincarnation, and experienced numerous lives, couldn''t be underestimated, even though his current form was that of a cultivator who was only a few centuries old.


    He had to have another hidden card.


    A real trump card, one that was all his own.


    So Tang Jie waited.


    Whoosh!


    He Changan sent Cang Qingfeng flying with another sweep of his halberd, the ck Tortoise Armor unable to resist the fierce assault of the supreme Heavenly Demon. Cang Qingfeng threw up blood, and as his Realm of Life had barely any effect, he staggered, almost tumbling to the ground.


    But at this moment, Cang Qingfengughed.


    He chuckled, his voice eerily resounding through the hall.


    He Changan was rmed by thisughter.


    Sure enough, Cang Qingfeng said, "As expected of an elite, dealing with you while holding back isn''t easy. Since that''s the case, I''ll let all of you experience this old man''s real strength."


    He stood up, raised his hands, and shouted, "Diagram¡­ of the Twelve Daos!"


    As he spoke, twelve astrbes appeared in the air.


    Each of these astrbes had two characters carved into them in ancient script: "ÉúÃü" (Life), "ÂÖ»Ø" (Reincarnation), "Òò¹û" (Karma), "ÃüÔË" (Fate), "ÒõÑô" (Yin Yang), "ÎåÐÐ" (Five Elements), "ÖÇ»Û" (Wisdom), "ÕæÀí" (Truth), "ɱ¾" (ughter), "»ÙÃð" (Destruction), "ʱ¹â" (Time), and "¿Õ¼ä" (Space).


    Around the Twelve Great Daos were various shing Dao Runes. Combining with those ancient characters, they produced countless images before ultimatelybining into what Tang Jie clearly recognized as the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel!


    The light of the twelve astrbes fell on He Changan''s body and rendered him immobile.


    "This is¡­" Everyone was stunned.


    "The Twelve Great Daos¡­" Tang Jie muttered.


    He finally understood what Cang Qingfeng''s trump card was.


    This undying old bastard!


    Yes, while hundreds of reincarnations made it impossible for him to preserve the strength he had cultivated, he had retained his insights.


    And ten thousand years of cultivation, countless life experiences, and traveling across myriad domains had endowed Cang Qingfeng with the keenest understanding of the world.


    In these circumstances, Cang Qingfeng had actuallyprehended all twelve of the Great Daos.


    Of course, it was onlyprehension.


    Entering the Dao was connected to one''s own cultivation and was not something that could be resolved purely throughprehension. Thus, other than Life and Reincarnation, he had onlyprehended the other ten Daos. His innate limiter made it extremely difficult for him to enter any of the other ten Daos. As for Life and Reincarnation, they were part of the nature of the ck Tortoise, so he was able to easily enter these Daos.


    Cang Qingfeng had thus racked his mind for a way to solve this, and after multiple lifetimes, he had developed a supreme Immortal art that used the Great Daos as their basis: the Diagram of the Twelve Daos.


    To be more precise, this was not a spell art or Divine Connection. It was a Dao Art.


    As the Diagram of the Twelve Daos appeared, they manifested a terrifying power that paralyzed He Changan.


    Everyone knew that they were in trouble and immediately attacked Cang Qingfeng.


    Cang Qingfengughed. "Seeking death!"


    While using the Dao Diagram to suppress He Changan with his left hand, he threw out the ck sword in his right, which swiftly detonated.


    As the art relic detonated, his right hand unleashed three talismans, which turned into swords that attacked Ao Chihu, Zhu Yun, and Tang Jie. He then took out another art relic, with which he attacked Nan Ningjiang and Xu Mingyue. In the face of all these opponents, he seemed rxed and confident.


    Tang Jie suddenly paled and yelled at He Changan''s remaining servant, "Fall back!"


    His Realm of Insight was still present, and at this moment, he could see that Cang Qingfeng''s real target was that servant.


    That servant rapidly backed away, but Cang Qingfeng simplyughed and thrust out his palm, attacking the area behind that servant. With no other choice, the servant had to retreat to the side. But as he dodged, a fissure opened up in front of Cang Qingfeng''s chest, and that giant python rushed out from it and bit at the servant.


    "Aaagh!" That servant cried out in despair, and then that giant python bit him in two.


    "He Shang!" He Changan cried out in grief.


    These two servants had been with him for many years, and though they were servants, he treated them like brothers. But after getting through so many trials, they had died here.


    He Changan let out a furious roar, and his body swelled with power as he pushed back against the radiance of the Diagram of the Twelve Daos and stood back up. His halberd glowed as he pointed it at the diagram. Cang Qingfeng''s face tightened, and he hastily reapplied pressure, managing to stalemate with He Changan.


    Upon seeing this, Tang Jie shouted, "He needs at least 60% of his strength to control the diagram! What are you standing around for? Together!"


    Everyone attacked as one.


    Sure enough, He Changan''s show of power forced Cang Qingfeng to use a great deal of his power to restrain him. Even with the power of the Diagram of the Twelve Daos, he couldn''tpletely suppress He Changan. However, Cang Qingfeng at 40% of his power still wasn''t easy to deal with.


    In the face of five people, Cang Qingfeng was clearly still having an easy time. He had astounding talent, formidable defenses, and incredible healing powers. So long as He Changan''s Destruction-infused attacks didn''t hit him, he was basically immune to the attacks of others.


    The only thing that could threaten him was Tang Jie''s golden de, but while the golden de could ignore his defenses, it could not stop his healing. As for the others, they would find it hard to even hurt him.


    And given that he was throwing out art relics and art talismans like they were free, thebined might of his five opponents was incapable of taking him down. Meanwhile, He Changan was slowly being ground down.


    How could a man contend against thews of the Great Daos? If it weren''t for the fact that Cang Qingfeng had onlyprehended the Daos and not entered them, the Diagram of the Twelve Daos could have made the heavens and earth crumble. For He Changan tost this long had not been easy.


    Tang Jie saw that things were only getting worse, so he was forced to take out some of the Shamblers. But the power of the Shamblers rested in how difficult it was to kill them, and their offensive power was mediocre. They posed basically no threat to Cang Qingfeng.


    The situation got worse and worse, and everyone started to fear that they were going to lose.


    At this moment, He Changan shouted, "All things will be born and be destroyed, and between life and destruction is its own principle!"


    "Huh?" Tang Jie looked at He Changan in surprise.


    He saw that a wisp of ck energy had left He Changan''s halberd and was flying toward him.


    The moment this ck energy touched Tang Jie, it rushed into his body. Tang Jie''s mind received a jolt, and the world before him became one full of blood and ughter. A disaster was ying out before his eyes, countless scenes brimming with destruction flitting through his mind. Tang Jie experienced an unprecedented shock, and amid all those scenes, various Dao Runes flew past him.


    Destruction Runes!


    Flowing past him like a river, they foretold the birth and destruction of all things.


    Just as He Changan had said, all things would be born and would be destroyed. Destruction did not signify darkness, only an end, an inevitable phenomenon.


    Tang Jie suddenly understood.


    He understood why, afterprehending so many of the Great Daos, he had never trulyprehended ughter and Destruction.


    It was because those represented darkness in his heart.


    But He Changan had made him understand that they did not represent darkness, only an inevitable part of the order of this world.


    The Heavenly Dao and the Great Daos were all part of this order.


    ughter and Destruction were simr important parts of this order.


    If not for He Changan''s reminder, Tang Jie might have needed a long time toprehend this. But now, He Changan had given that most important understanding of ughter and Destruction to Tang Jie.


    Of course, this wasn''t because he admired Tang Jie. It was because Tang Jie was the only one present who could alter the situation.


    Tang Jie''s golden de was the only thing that could ignore Cang Qingfeng''s defenses, and the Dao of Destruction was the only thing that could ignore the Realm of Life. Insight could let Tang Jie find the best area to attack. Finally, Tang Jie was the one who couldprehend the Dao of Destruction in the shortest amount of time.


    Tang Jie''s eyes shed with ck-gray energy.


    In that brief moment, Tang Jie finally gained that Dao Will that he had beencking the most.


    Exhaling, Tang Jie said, "I really didn''t think thatprehension of ughter and Destruction woulde from a member of Godhead Pce. This must be Fate."

 Chapter 537: The Black Tortoises Essence Blood

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Great Dao Diagram created by the twelve circling Dao Diagrams was dizzying and iprehensible, but when Tang Jie looked at them now, he could see the principles of the Great Daos andprehend the truth. Many questions that left him hopelessly puzzled unraveled before him.


    Cang Qingfeng''s Diagram of the Twelve Daos wasn''t a proper spell art, but a method of using Dao Wills to exert the power of thews of the world. It was a Dao Art, but it was of the very lowest level.


    Before this, Tang Jie had never even heard of Dao Arts before, only spell arts and Divine Connections. Cang Qingfeng had unquestionably showed him a whole new world.


    If he could truly enter the Daos, or control the Daos, this Dao Art could st apart the world, exceeding Divine Connections.


    But right now, while all the Twelve Great Daos were present, he had only their basic form, and it was inferior to most Divine Connections. In the end, this was because Cang Qingfeng had only breadth and no depth.


    Even so, Tang Jie was still intoxicated by what he was seeing.


    "Tang Jie, what are you still waiting for?" He Changan angrily growled.


    Cang Qingfeng had sted apart one of his three heads and broken one of his arms. At this time, his other remaining head was spewing mes, one hand unleashed ck waves of energy with the halberd, and the other arms were unleashing thunderous punches. Even so, he was being pressed so hard by Cang Qingfeng that he could barely breathe.


    The twelve Dao Diagrams were like twelve mountains pressing onto his head. He Changan had a divine strength that could pull up mountains, but not twelve, and he was on the verge of breaking.


    Tang Jie focused and turned his gaze back to Cang Qingfeng. He casually said, "My utmost thanks to Godking He for resolving my questions. Tang Jie has developed a basic understanding of the Daos of ughter and Destruction."


    "Then kill him! Right now, only the Martial Lord''s Sovereign de merged with the Dao of Destruction can threaten him!"


    "Of course," Tang Jie replied.


    His golden de shone as he once more swung it at Cang Qingfeng.


    This time, Cang Qingfeng didn''t dare to take this attack, jumping away with a howl.


    But the golden de unleashed a sharp wave of energy that rushed at Cang Qingfeng and robbed him of any will to resist.


    "Saber intent!" Cang Qingfeng shrieked, and his body instantly turned into a puff of smoke.


    This was the only way to deal with the invincible Martial Lord Sovereign de.


    But a momentter, Tang Jie grunted as he flicked his wrist, and the golden de suddenly shot at the cloud of smoke below. As it passed through the smoke, it erupted with light, and a momentter, Cang Qingfeng screamed. He reformed in the smoke, and his abdomen now had a savage wound, blood flowing out as ck energy lingered, the Realm of Life failing to heal the injury.


    "You!" Cang Qingfeng angrily roared.


    Tang Jie slowly said, "Nothing can hide from the power of Insight."


    While the smoke could be used to evade, it could not hide from the eyes of Insight.


    The Sovereign de was unbreakable, the saber intent difficult to escape, Destruction countered Life, and Insight meant that there was no hiding.


    When the four of them worked together, Tang Jie''s attacks became unstoppable, such that even an ancient monster like Cang Qingfeng suffered a heavy blow.


    Everyone grew excited upon seeing this, and they shouted, "Kill him!"


    But Tang Jie was in no rush, silently calcting.


    While he needed to deal with Cang Qingfeng, he also needed to take precautions against Godhead Pce.


    There was no problem with killing Cang Qingfeng, but he first had to wear out the people of Godhead Pce some more.


    He Changan was still alive, as were Zhu Yun, Ao Chihu, Xu Mingyue, and Nan Ningjiang. Other than Xu Mingyue, everyone had to die.


    Since that was the case, he couldn''t push Cang Qingfeng too far and had to give him some opportunities.


    Thus, after making this attack, he pretended that he had expended all his energy, his face paling as he panted for breath.


    As expected of a wily fox who had lived for ten thousand years, Cang Qingfeng realized that he might not be a match if this went on, so he savagely turned on the group and snarled, "You''ve forced my hand!"


    He waved his hand, summoning the suspended Immeasurable Sword back into his hand.


    As he had not used the Immeasurable Sword this whole time, most of them had forgotten about it.


    But in reality, this sword had been releasing blood mist this entire time. Not only that, as it absorbed the essence blood of the deceased, that crimson fissure was growingrger andrger.


    Cang Qingfeng gripped the sword and swung it in the air, and that fissure suddenly widened like the maw of a giant beast. Cang Qingfeng made several hand signs, and that fissure turned into a blood-colored door.


    That door seemed to be cast from blood, and the blood on its surface flowed, taking the form of various fiends.


    Cang Qingfeng roared, "Come out, fiends of the Blood River!"


    As he called out, wailing came from behind the door, and bizarre crimson creatures began to emerge from the door.


    They appeared like humans who had had their skin torn off, the fleshy figures dripping with blood that sttered against the ground with a corrosive hiss.


    Cang Qingfeng raised the Immeasurable Sword high and pointed it at the group. "Kill them!"


    The blood fiends that had emerged from the fissure pounced.


    Everyone was rmed by this sight. At this moment,ughter came from behind the door. "Brother ck Tortoise, in the end, you have to borrow my power?"


    This booming and majestic voice shook everyone to their souls.


    Even He Changan grimaced, shouting, "The Lord of the Blood River!"


    The Lord of the Blood River was one of the strongest existences of the Blood River Domain, an old devil who had lived for countless eons, possessing domineering power and savage majesty. Over Cang Qingfeng''s hundreds of lifetimes, other than grasping numerous spell arts,prehending many Great Daos, and gaining many skills, he had also gotten to know many strong people.


    The Lord of the Blood River was one of Cang Qingfeng''s old friends.


    Cang Qingfeng shouted, "I ran into some problems, but I can handle it! I just need to borrow some Blood River fiends. All you need to do is do as we agreed and help me subdue the Myriad Immortals Cauldron and Deicide me!"


    "The Immeasurable Sword?"


    Cang Qingfeng threw over the Immeasurable Sword.


    A giant hand emerged from that crimson door, grabbing the sword.


    But a momentter, the Lord of the Blood River angrily rumbled, "Why is it only the de?"


    "I searched all of the world, but I only ever found the de!"


    "The agreement called for theplete Immeasurable Sword. Only the de is not enough!"


    "I searched all of the Rosecloud Domain, but I never found the sheath!"


    "No, it''s there! I know it!" the Lord of the Blood River rumbled. "Find the rest of it, or else you will only be able to take one of the Myriad Immortals Cauldron and Deicide me."


    "Fine!" Cang Qingfeng clenched his teeth and agreed.


    Therge hand moved toward the Deicide me.


    As the hand of blood approached, the Deicide me zed, burning up the hand. Thatrge hand made from endless blood instantly vanished into steam. But more waters of the Blood River flowed out, sustaining the hand. And then therge hand pushed through the supreme might of the Deicide me, grabbing it and then retreating behind the door, leaving behind only the Myriad Immortals Cauldron.


    "I''ve already removed the seal on the Myriad Immortals Cauldron as a reward for the Immeasurable Sword''s de. I will take the Deicide me with me, and when you bring me the sheath and hilt, I will give you the Deicide me!" The Blood River Lord''s rumbling voice came from behind the door, and then swiftly vanished.


    "We can''t let it get away!" Ao Chihu shouted.


    s, how could they possibly stop the Lord of the Blood River? In truth, they found it hard to keep themselves alive.


    Numerous Blood River Fiends rushed at them. While these were called "fiends", they were actually genuine demons.


    The Blood River Domain, just like the Primordial Fog Domain, was a gathering ce of fiends and demons. Every time Primordial Fog invaded, the Blood River Domain would raise its banners and join it. This was why He Changan and the others had paled upon learning that a way to the Blood River Domain was being opened.


    These demons had savage and bloodthirsty natures, and charged at the humans the moment they arrived. Sharp waves of saber energy sliced across their bodies, but the Blood River Fiends seemed to be unharmed.


    They were demons made from the waters of the Blood River, and to attack them was like attacking the Blood River,pletely ineffective.


    "Use spell arts! Earth and Fire counter them!" He Changan shouted.


    The Primordial Fog Cmity that took ce every three thousand years had allowed the Great Ster Chiliocosm to umte a great trove of experience in regards to how to deal with demons. Blood River Fiends were difficult to wound with sabers and swords. Only spell arts of Fire and Earth could hurt them.


    A momentter, Ao Chihu raised his zing sword and hacked at one of the Blood River Fiends. The fiend let out a mournful wail as it dissolved into blood energy. But before dying, it sshedrge quantities of blood on the sword, and there was a hiss as the blood ate away at the sword, the sound making Ao Chihu wince.


    At the same time, Cang Qingfeng chuckled as he shot out.


    The Blood River Fiends had greatly reduced the pressure on him, so he rushed up to Nan Ningjiang and shot out a wed hand.


    Nan Ningjiang knew that he was in trouble. He saw Tang Jieing over to save him, and his arms had recovered by now, so he decided to harden his resolve and create a blockade of energy palms.


    Nan Ningjiang bellowed, unleashing all of his spiritual energy in a mighty flood that managed to stop Cang Qingfeng''s w for a brief moment. Tang Jie charged over, but for some reason, he paused for a moment, and then Cang Qingfeng''s w punched through Nan Ningjiang''s blockade. His w turned into a de, mming into Nan Ningjiang''s barrier and shattering it, after which it plunged into Nan Ningjiang''s chest.


    A saber shed, striking Cang Qingfeng''s arm, and Cang Qingfeng screeched as he retreated.


    But as he fell back, his hand was clutching Nan Ningjiang''s heart.


    Nan Ningjiang looked down at his chest, and his body swayed for a few moments before dropping to its knees.


    He saw Tang Jie chase after Cang Qingfeng.


    He knew that Tang Jie had done this on purpose.


    He had intentionally let him die at Cang Qingfeng''s hands.


    Nan Ningjiang wanted to remind everyone to be careful, but when his mouth opened, no words came out.


    He was soon engulfed by numerous Blood River Fiends.


    Cang Qingfeng was still retreating. He had taken a blow to the arm from Tang Jie''s saber in order to kill Nan Ningjiang. He threw out three talismans, which turned into a saber, spear, and sword before attacking Tang Jie. He then took out a golden light talisman to hold the rear for him, after which he lunged at Ao Chihu.


    Ao Chihu was much stronger than Nan Ningjiang, so he wasn''t afraid of Cang Qingfeng. He chopped with his zing heavy sword, and even when he was facing down an opponent one tier higher than him, he didn''t show the slightest weakness.


    Cang Qingfengughed and kicked out several times, kicking three Blood River Fiends at Ao Chihu that blocked off his nks and rear. He himself charged right into Ao Chihu''s attack.


    Tang Jie''s attacks could ignore the Realm of Life because of the Dao of Destruction, but Ao Chihu couldn''t infuse his attacks with this Dao. In order to swiftly kill this powerful foe, Cang Qingfeng decided once more to trade injury for injury.


    Boom!


    The zing heavy sword hacked into Cang Qingfeng''s left shoulder, and if not for his formidable defense, the entire arm would have been lopped off.


    Cang Qingfeng produced a dharma wheel, which he savagely jammed into Ao Chihu''s chest. As it plunged in, the wheel exploded.


    The explosion heartlessly tore through Ao Chihu''s abdomen, sting him away.


    But this man was fierce, still alive even after this. Swinging the heavy sword, he furiously roared, "Heavenly Spiral Nine yer Sword!"


    The sword unleashed a powerful surge of energy at Cang Qingfeng, and at the same time, Zhu Yun''s Jade Shattering w and Xu Mingyue''s Southern Heaven Sword also impacted against Cang Qingfeng''s back.


    With their lives at stake, everyone was going all-out, ignoring the Blood River Fiends and focusing entirely on Cang Qingfeng. Even Tang Jie stopped holding back, letting out all his Shamblers to hold back the Blood River Fiends. Only Jin Yutang rushed off to the hall entrance, apparently intent on opening the doors and running.


    It was impossible for him to fight to the death like this.


    "Awooo!" Cang Qingfeng howled in pain. He smashed an elbow into Zhu Yun, used a sword to push back Xu Mingyue, and then stabbed again at Ao Chihu. Ao Chihu raised his left hand and grabbed the sword.


    The sword blew up, obliterating his arm.


    Ao Chihu''s body was now basically hollowed out, and he had also lost his left hand, but he was still alive¡ªstill fighting, even. He continued to swing his heavy sword with his right hand at the wound he had made earlier.


    Even the Realm of Life couldn''t heal indefinitely. Swing after swing of that heavy sword made it almost impossible for Cang Qingfeng to raise his left hand. With a shriek, he raised his right hand, chopping a saber into Ao Chihu''s right hand and then detonating it.


    Ao Chihu''s right arm was destroyed, but while his body swayed, he still stood tall, opening his mouth and spitting mes at Cang Qingfeng.


    These mes made Cang Qingfeng yelp as he flicked a talisman onto Ao Chihu''s face. Ao Chihu had no arms, so he could only watch as that talisman stuck itself to his face, and he grimaced. "Shit."


    Boom!


    The talisman exploded, obliterating Ao Chihu''s head.


    That unyielding body finally tumbled.


    At the same time, Tang Jie swung his saber, adding another wound to Cang Qingfeng''s body.


    s, Cang Qingfeng was too vignt against him, and it was difficult for Tang Jie to deal a lethal blow.


    As Cang Qingfeng flew away, he swallowed another pill.


    Whatever medicine he was taking had divine effects, and whenbined with his Realm of Life, even the wounds inflicted by Tang Jie''s Dao of Destruction were rapidly healing.


    Cang Qingfengughed as he turned his sights on Xu Mingyue.


    Xu Mingyue mustered all of her energy and brandished her sword to defend herself.


    But this level of defense was pointless against Cang Qingfeng. Cang Qingfeng''s arm prated through the flurry of swords and pressed against her chest, sending her flying with a single strike.


    The only reason she didn''t die was that Tang Jie hade just in time. Because of Xu Muyang, Tang Jie didn''t ck off when it came to saving her, nor did he try to use her as bait. This meant that Xu Mingyue had escaped death once, but it also meant that Tang Jie had lost an opportunity to add to Cang Qingfeng''s wounds.


    At this moment, the doors of the hall suddenly opened.


    Jin Yutang had finally managed to open the doors.


    As light came in from outside, Jin Yutang rushed out without looking back.


    A sword was there to wee him.


    Whoosh!


    It stabbed into his throat.


    Jin Yutang clutched his neck and backed away in disbelief. Standing in front of him were several beautiful figures.


    "Deserting in the face of battle? Death!" a cute voice cried out.


    A slender hand pressed against his chest, unleashing an explosive energy that surged into his body and gathered around his heart.


    And then it detonated.


    Blood gushed from Jin Yutang''s orifices, and he copsed to his knees, seemingly not expecting that the other party would actually kill him.


    "But I should still thank you for opening the door for us," Xu Miaoran callously said as she drew back her palm.


    The door was not easy to open from outside, and they had waited for some time. If Tang Jie hadn''t told them that someone would open the door for them, they would have been clueless as to when they would be able toe in.


    "Young Lady, who do we kill?" Xian Tao asked.


    "Cang Qingfeng," Xu Miaoran replied.


    "It doesn''t seem like he''s going tost for that much longer. If Cang Qingfeng dies, He Changan will be free from the Diagram of the Twelve Daos, and we will be the ones who suffer."


    Xu Miaoran replied, "He''s not going down that easily. You can never underestimate a turtle who has lived for ten thousand years. Yiyi, Xian Tao, Hong Yuan, and the ghost guard will deal with the Blood River Fiends. Shi Jingzhai, follow me to deal with that old turtle."


    Tutu suddenly spotted Cang Qingfeng and shouted, "Young Master! That''s my n''s young master!"


    "Your former young master." Xu Miaoran, who had already received Tang Jie''s message and knew everything, grabbed Tutu and said, "Your current young master is Tang Jie."


    "I can''t attack my young master!" Tutu shouted.


    "Then just wait on the side. It''s not like you can fight." Xu Miaoran grabbed it and tied it to her waist, and then she charged at Cang Qingfeng. At the same time, she sowed arge number of beans, and countless bean soldiers charged out at the Blood River Fiends.


    The injection of reinforcements instantly had Cang Qingfeng on the back foot.


    The appearance of so many new enemies caused despair to appear on Cang Qingfeng''s face.


    He roared, "Bastards! Bastards! Bastards! You''ve forced my hand!!! ze my Sacred Beast Blood! True Form of the ck Tortoise, manifest!"


    He threw his head back and bellowed.


    A red light erupted from Cang Qingfeng''s body, and the phantom of the dragon turtle reappeared behind his back, but this time, it was much more solid and real. It was a huge ironbacked dragon turtle with a savage python as its tail¡ªnone other than the python that Cang Qingfeng had used in battle earlier.


    This was the form of the ck Tortoise, a spiritual creature that was abination of turtle and snake.


    This phantom fell on Cang Qingfeng''s body, instantly filling him to the brim with majestic power. At that moment, it felt like the Lord of the Blood River had descended again, and everyone paled in shock.


    "Watch out! This guy is going all-out!" Tang Jie shouted. Staring at Cang Qingfeng, he muttered, "But it''s strange¡­ Since he reincarnated, where did the Sacred Bloode from? Can the essence blood of the ck Tortoise follow one through reincarnation?"


    Reincarnation primarily involved retaining one''s past memories when reborn.


    However, what were demons and beasts in a bygone era could only have their forms in their present lives decided by the species of the present, not what they remembered themselves to be.


    Even though Cang Qingfeng was the reincarnation of the ck Tortoise, since he had reincarnated as a human, he appeared as an authentic human. At best, he had the memories of a ck Tortoise, but he shouldn''t have had the Sacred Beast''s essence blood.


    Thus, while countless reincarnations had endowed him with countless experiences, they had caused him to lose his true ck Tortoise bloodline.


    In this aspect, Cang Qingfeng actually had ceased to have anything to do with the ck Tortoise a long time ago. All he had was the memories and arts of the ck Tortoise. At best, it was only the soul of the ck Tortoise.


    But it now appeared that Tang Jie''s understanding was wrong.


    The reincarnation of the ck Tortoise still had some of the true blood of the ck Tortoise.


    He didn''t know how Cang Qingfeng had managed to do it, but he knew that this situation had gotten much worse.


    The true Sacred Beasts of High Antiquity were all existences that surpassed Immortal tform. Even the power contained in their essence blood was far beyond what humans could reach! Even the weakest among them, the ck Tortoise, had been able to surpass Immortal tform cultivators. Its shackles would only appear on the first reincarnation, after it had lost the true form of the ck Tortoise, and with each subsequent reincarnation, the shackles would get stronger and stronger. If Cang Qingfeng was using the Sacred Blood of the ck Tortoise''s True Form, then even if Cang Qingfeng had only recovered a hundredth of his original strength, it was enough to annihte everyone present.

 Chapter 538: Breaking Apart

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    As Cang Qingfeng transformed, a majestic energy engulfed the hall, the phantom of that enormous turtle-snake filling the entire hall and almost suffocating everybody.


    Cang Qingfeng crazilyughed.


    He called back the twelve Dao Diagrams. He no longer needed their suppression.


    He Changan was released, but he could only join everyone else in gazing at the terrifying majesty of the ck Tortoise.


    The turtle-snake phantom continued to growrger andrger. Cang Qingfeng roared, and that python acting as the tail slithered through the air, rushing at Tang Jie with great force.


    Tang Jie immediately activated the Chaoswind Step, dodging the python, which hurtled toward He Changan instead.


    He Changan bellowed and swung his halberd, which let out circles of ck energy and unleashed a shower of ck dots. Those ck dots were a sign that the Formless Heavenly Demon Art was operating at maximum, and the ck pearl he had swallowed had tripled the power of the art. The power of his full might was truly able to obliterate mountains.


    The immense force mmed into the python, unleashing a powerful shockwave that shook the entire hall. If this hall hadn''t been made from rare metals, it might have crumbled right there.


    The powerful impact sent He Changan flying back, and the python coiled back while hissing.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie had moved behind Cang Qingfeng, and his saber swung at the part of the phantom where the python connected to the turtle.


    Nothing could hide from the power of Insight, so even the phantom of the ck Tortoise had had its weakness exposed. The spot that Tang Jie was attacking was the weakest part of the phantom.


    "Raaa!" Furiously roaring, Cang Qingfeng turned around and punched.


    Tang Jie''s saber had only cut halfway when the st of wind from the fist jolted him, and before he could bring down his de any farther, he was sent flying.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie had activated the Frost Domain, the True Essence Astral Barrier, and the Formless Golden Body, and while this punch had obliterated all threeyers of his defense, it ultimately failed to hurt him. Even so, Tang Jie was still quite rmed by the horrifying power in that punch.


    While Cang Qingfeng was pushing back Tang Jie, Zhu Yun and the ghost guard attacked him from the rear. There was a ng as the usually-unstoppable Jade Shattering w failed to punch through. The ghost guard''s Nether w still managed to ignore defense and prate through the armor, but a momentter, Cang Qingfeng growled, and his body erupted with red light. The seething blood energy rushed at the ghost guard, instantly dissolving the arm that the ghost guard had thrust into the turtle.


    He reacted quickly, pulling out the arm and retreating, but by this time, the arm had decayed down to the bone.


    Cang Qingfeng turned around and savagelyughed, "So it was a ghost! Hahaha, what dogshit ''True Person Gui''? It was just to fool us! Tang Jie, you dared to dabble in forbidden arts? Are you not afraid of being punished by the rest of the world?"


    Tang Jie had kept the ghost guard a secret this whole time, but now, it had been exposed, just like that, yet he was unmoved. "It doesn''t matter. It''s not like a lot of people will be leaving this battle alive."


    As he spoke, he used the Chaoswind Step to evade Cang Qingfeng''s attack again.


    The Chaoswind Step was perfect for this sort of localized battle, and in the face of the extremely powerful Cang Qingfeng, Tang Jie didn''t even try to save spiritual energy as he blinked around.


    As Cang Qingfeng was showing his might, Tang Jie was also beginning to reveal all his power.


    The Heavenly Spirit Law Body, the Ninedark Mantra, and the Violet Jade Mantra had utterly transformed him. In terms of strength, even if he didn''t use the golden de, he would still have been able to go blow for blow with the Heart Demon Tier Ao Chihu.


    As he went all-out, his figure could be seen all around the center of the hall. Of the 27 stars of the Chaoswind Step, Tang Jie hadprehended 18 of them, and he was holding nothing back, constantly moving between all 18.


    In terms of spatial traversal, nobody here couldpare to him.


    As he blinked around, he constantly swung his saber, waves of energy crisscrossing the space, each one representing an immense and very real threat.


    Even so, the ck Tortoise Cang Qingfeng remained as terrifying as ever.


    He constantly punched, each punch like a powerful spell art.


    Boom!


    The Jade Shattering w collided with the steel punch of the ck Tortoise.


    Cang Qingfeng ended up having five holes punched in his right fist, but the fingers of Zhu Yun''s left hand were all broken, and he wailed as he was sent flying.


    Cang Qingfeng gave chase.


    A deluge of petals descended.


    Cang Qingfeng punched. "Scram!"


    The spell art power of the Silkheaven Net was scattered to the wind with one punch, and Yiyi grunted as she fell back, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.


    Sharp bolts of finger energy struck Cang Qingfeng, clinking off his body like they had struck a steel shell. Cang Qingfeng briefly paused and turned to see Hong Yuan, rapidly retreating with a pale expression.


    "Seeking death!" Cang Qingfeng thrust out his left palm at Hong Yuan. Through the ck Tortoise''s essence blood, he had already healed his left arm.


    When it seemed like Hong Yuan would be hit, there was a warcry, and several hundred bean soldiers raised their spears and attacked Cang Qingfeng.


    Thebined attack of five hundred bean soldiers mmed into Cang Qingfeng''s palm st, and it was as if they had been struck by a hurricane, all of them sent flying, screaming as they dissolved into motes of light. At least one hundred beans had lost all of their energy and died in that strike, and the remainder were all injured.


    The bean king had never seen such a battle result before, and he angrily roared at Tang Jie. Tang Jie didn''t even need to think to know that he was asking for more soldiers.


    But because of this, Cang Qingfeng''s attention was drawn away from Zhu Yun to Xu Miaoran''s group. He savagely smiled and said, "Tang Jie, you run fast, but what about your woman?"


    He punched several times, this time targeting Xu Miaoran.


    Xu Miaoran''s eyes shed. "I''d have to be that easy to kill first."


    As Cang Qingfeng charged over, she flung a talisman at Cang Qingfeng.


    Cang Qingfeng didn''t take this talisman seriously, charging right at it.


    But suddenly, he sensed danger.


    The turtle-snake phantom suddenly called out, and Cang Qingfeng stopped and crossed his arms in front of him. Arge ethereal shell appeared in front of him and then instantly turned solid.


    At the same time, the talisman exuded a zing light and exploded on Cang Qingfeng''s shell, causing cracks to appear on it.


    That talisman then scattered. As it turned out, it was several dozen talismans stacked on each other, so it was no wonder it was this powerful.


    This was one of thebat methods Tang Jie had taught Xu Miaoran: how to hide one''s tactics, fool one''s enemies, and then take them in a single explosion. Stacking several dozen talismans on top of each other and using them as one wasn''t easy. It needed an illusion spell to conceal it, and then delicate technique to control them. The former was handled by Yiyi, and thetter was handled by Xu Miaoran, who had practiced it countless times. She was so proficient in dividing up her spiritual energy into controlling multiple talismans that even Tang Jie couldn''tpare to her.


    In Cang Qingfeng''s eyes, Xu Miaoran was just a youngdy from a big n, little different from Jin Yutang. But after several months of training, Xu Miaoran hadpletely transformed. She already had the resources of her family, and all shecked was the ability to use those resources. Through Tang Jie''s curriculum, though she hadn''t gotten much stronger, herbat power had soared.


    After taking this big loss, Cang Qingfeng angrily roared, "Die!"


    He still considered Xu Miaoran a weakling, and he once more attacked Xu Miaoran in the hopes of forcing Tang Jie into a direct confrontation.


    Punching with both hands, he pushed back the ghost guard and He Changan, and then the python behind him swung out to attack Xu Miaoran.


    Xu Miaoran grimaced, and as she used her Seven Star Steps, she produced a bronzentern.


    She blew at Cang Qingfeng, and a torrent of me rushed out from thentern.


    s, while thentern was powerful, it was stillcking in front of Cang Qingfeng, and the python pushed its way through the mes.


    Xu Miaoran fell back again, raising a golden hoop while a jade token on her waist shone.


    The python chased like a heaven-piercing spear, knocking away the golden hoop and crashing right through the barrier.


    All those art relics seemed to not exist before the python, which easily overwhelmed them.


    "Young Lady!" Xian Tao and Hong Yuan realized that she was in trouble and rushed to her rescue.


    But Cang Qingfeng pushed them back with two punches.


    As Tang Jie lunged, Cang Qingfengughed. "So you''re finally willing toe out?"


    The python finally turned to bite at Tang Jie.


    At this moment, an icy voice rang out next to Xu Miaoran''s ear: "You were the one who killed my young master!"


    What?


    Xu Miaoran turned her head.


    Zhu Yun''s Jade Shattering w was lunging straight for Xu Miaoran''s face.


    Jin Yutang''s death had ended any hope Zhu Yun had of remaining with the Beast Refining Gate. Even if he survived this battle, he would have to deal with the vengeance of the Sanguine True Lord, so how could he not be resentful?


    But he had been feigning ignorance until the right moment hade.


    Tang Jie was being suppressed by the giant python, and Xu Miaoran had been forced into a corner, all of her defenses broken. Zhu Yun finally struck, throwing aside the general situation to go ahead and kill her first.


    This was the only way he could exin himself to the Sanguine True Lord.


    "Miaoran!" Tang Jie hadn''t thought that Zhu Yun would choose this time to turn on them.


    It wasn''t like he didn''t think that Zhu Yun would cause him trouble, but he didn''t think Zhu Yun would be so impatient. When facing a terrifying opponent like Cang Qingfeng, there was no time or space to think about other matters.


    That w was about to strike Xu Miaoran''s face, and he had been pushed too far away by the python, putting her location out of his teleportation range. Tang Jie angrily roared, "Fixate!" At the same time, the python mmed him into a wall. Fortunately, he had ascended in time to avoid being swallowed.


    Zhu Yun''s body momentarily paused because of the True Word, but he quickly broke free of it and continued to rush at Xu Miaoran. Tang Jie''s Fixate word was not able to buy Xu Miaoran enough time topletely escape, and that w quickly caught up. But at this moment, someone charged out from the side and hugged Zhu Yun.


    Shi Jingzhai!


    This crazy old man made a sillyugh as he hugged Zhu Yun, causing Zhu Yun to lose his opportunity to kill Xu Miaoran.


    Furious, Zhu Yun turned the w on Shi Jingzhai''s head.


    With his strength and cultivation, there was no way Shi Jingzhai could block this w.


    Five fingers pratedpletely through his skull, and blood gushed out from his eyes.


    "Big Crazy!" Yiyi began to weep as she raised her hands, countless petals forming into a dragon and sweeping toward Zhu Yun.


    "Out of my way!" Zhu Yun shouted, letting out a sonic st wave that prevented the petals from getting close and causing the dragon to crumble.


    But at that moment, Shi Jingzhai suddenly opened his eyes.


    Having his head pierced through had not managed to kill this crazy old man. He was somehow still alive.


    His throat shifted, as if Shi Jingzhai''s mind had cleared up.


    Hugging Zhu Yun by the abdomen, he let out a giggle and suddenly jumped into the air.


    Zhu Yun was caughtpletely off-guard by this move. He was just about to give Shi Jingzhai another Jade Shattering w when he suddenly sensed that something was wrong.


    Turning his head, he saw the giant python rushing at him, its mouth wide open.


    Zhu Yun''s soul almost left his body from sheer terror. He hastily tried to escape, but Xu Miaoran thrust her palm at him from below, and Xian Tao and Hong Yuan also came over to thrust out their palms. There had been nomunication before this, but the trio had attacked with such unity that it was like their minds were linked, all of them pushing Zhu Yun toward the python''s mouth.


    rmed, Zhu Yun was about to resist when he heard Tang Jie call out, "Scatter!"


    It was like the voice of death.


    The spiritual energy he had just gathered dispersed.


    A single moment became an eternity!


    Zhu Yun lost all hope of escaping, and a momentter, the python consumed Zhu Yun and Shi Jingzhai together.


    "Big Crazy!" Yiyi wailed. She had spent the longest with Shi Jingzhai, and she was the most grief-stricken at his death.


    "Aaagh!" Zhu Yun''s terrified and frantic yells came from within the python.


    He desperately struggled within the python, using his Jade Shattering w to the maximum.


    The desire to survive unleashed all histent potential, and the python began to feel an adverse reaction. Even Cang Qingfeng was starting to grimace. Swallowing Zhu Yun like this was somewhat too heavy of a burden.


    "Kill him!" He Changan shouted.


    Everyone could see that this was the best chance.


    If they couldn''t kill Cang Qingfeng now, they might never be able to.


    The halberd swung down in a stunning blow.


    Cang Qingfeng howled in fury and punched back at the halberd.


    As that enormous surge of energy thundered forward, the turtle-snake phantom erupted in size, and that python which had just swallowed Zhu Yun and Shi Jingzhai once more attacked, still targeting Xu Miaoran.


    Cang Qingfeng was now certain that Xu Miaoran was Tang Jie''s weakness.


    Just as that python charged, another person appeared in the air.


    That person punched the python in the head and sent it flying back.


    "Tang Jie?" He Changan cried out in shock.


    The person who had appeared was clearly Tang Jie, but this one had a formidable strength, and from his aura, he was clearly that giant body refiner from before. But for some reason, after shrinking down, he now had Tang Jie''s original appearance.


    Countless thoughts shed through He Changan''s mind. At that moment, he finally understood something and blurted out, "An avatar! You had an avatar!"


    Even Cang Qingfeng was bbergasted, crying out, "Which one is the original body?"


    "Why don''t you tell me?" Tang Jie said as he punched again, sending out a mighty st that once more blew back the python. Meanwhile, Zhu Yun was still holding on, continuing his frenzied assault and causing the python to howl in pain.


    Cang Qingfeng finally realized that he was in trouble. He put all of his strength into activating his essence blood, and that python grew in size once more and lunged at He Changan with its giant body.


    Unexpectedly, He Changan chose to retreat rather than fight, so the python turned back on Xu Miaoran.


    "Shit!" Tang Jie cursed.


    The original body had waited until now to appearrgely because he was worried that He Changan would try something.


    None would truly trust in each other.


    He Changan was willing to ept Tang Jie earlier because his side had the advantage in manpower. Once Cang Qingfeng was taken down, He Changan was confident that he could turn around and seize Tang Jie.


    But the situation had changed.


    Ao Chihu, Zhu Yun, and Nan Ningjiang were all done for. He Changan''s only remaining ally was Xu Mingyue, and this seemed intentional on Tang Jie''s part, so there was no telling whether she would actually help him.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie''s side had two Tang Jies, one Xu Miaoran, two maids, one Yiyi, the ghost guard, and countless bean soldiers. This sort ofbined strength already exceeded He Changan''s. In these circumstances, it was He Changan''s turn to think about how he could use Cang Qingfeng to weaken Tang Jie.


    It was precisely because of this that the original body had not intervened all this time.


    s, Cang Qingfeng was too fierce and his attacks too ruthless. By focusing on Xu Miaoran, he had finally forced out the original body.


    As expected, He Changan immediately retreated to preserve his strength.


    Cang Qingfeng had also seen this, so he decided to stop attacking He Changan and focus entirely on Tang Jie. "Let''s see what else you can do!"


    The tables rapidly turned.


    Without He Changan to take the front, the original body had to rece him.


    It was only when recing He Changan that Tang Jie realized how important He Changan''s position had been.


    As the person taking the brunt of Cang Qingfeng''s power, Tang Jie felt like he was pushing back against an entire mountain. Even with his formidable refined body, he still felt like he was reaching his limits. It was no wonder He Changan hadn''t been able to attack under these circumstances.


    In terms of strength, the original Tang Jie was still far weaker than He Changan.


    Upon realizing this, Tang Jie shouted, "He Changan, if you don''t attack now, we''ll all die, and you''ll be done for as well!"


    He Changan chuckled. "I won''t wait until you''re all dead, just until one of the two Tang Jies and that ghost are dead."


    He suddenly rushed at the avatar Tang Jie and punched.


    Among the three targets, He Changan was the most concerned about the golden-de-wielding avatar. If he had a choice, He Changan would choose to kill this one. By killing him and taking his golden de, he could also pose a threat to Cang Qingfeng.


    But the avatar was the hardest to kill.


    With the Chaoswind Step, Tang Jie easily dodged.


    "You want to run?" He Changan chuckled and swept his halberd at Xu Miaoran.


    This bastard had learned from Cang Qingfeng, also forcing the avatar into a direct confrontation, and only the avatar had the speed toe in time. But at this moment, a dark figure shot out and mmed into He Changan''s halberd¡ªthe ghost guard.


    The halberd was knocked off its trajectory, but at the same time, the ghost guard was sent flying by He Changan''s energy. The energy of the Formless Heavenly Demon rendered the ghost guard temporarily immobile, and a momentter, it was caught up by numerous Blood River Fiends and carried off toward that blood-colored gate.


    Everyone suddenly realized that the Blood River Fiends were retreating, and even that crimson gate was beginning to close.


    The passage to the Blood River Domain was beginning to close.


    Those countless Blood River Fiends dragged the ghost guard along, taking it beyond the gate and out of sight.


    "Bastard!" Tang Jie cursed.


    He Changan also gasped in surprise.


    Xu Miaoran used this opportunity to retreat and shouted, "It''s enough now, right? You said that only one of them going down was enough."


    He Changan grunted. He could tell that Cang Qingfeng was at the end of his tether. While the power gained from burning his essence blood was formidable, it was not permanent. This was the perfect moment to go back on his word, not a time to hold up his promise.


    Just as he was about to attack again, he heard a rush of wind behind him.


    He Changan turned around and saw that pythoning right at him. The original Tang Jie, who had been fighting against Cang Qingfeng moments ago, had suddenly retreated.


    He Changan froze, instantly realizing he was in trouble.


    He wanted to renege on his promise, but Cang Qingfeng clearly didn''t know this.


    The ghost guard had been dragged into the Blood River, so in order to prevent He Changan from once more holding down most of his power, Cang Qingfeng had chosen to strike first.


    Worst of all was that Tang Jie clearly had no ns of stopping it.


    Whoosh!


    The python coiled around He Changan and carried him high into the air.

 Chapter 539: Vortex

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The python''s strength was so great that even He Changan empowered by the Formless Heavenly Demon Body couldn''t escape, and the python''s body drew tighter and tighter.


    The python''s constriction!


    It was the way of killing the python was best at.


    The python threw its head back and let out a loud roar.


    Then it lowered its head and gave He Changan a cold look, like it was looking at amb waiting for the ughter.


    It opened its mouth, apparently nning to swallow its next prey.


    But its earlier indigestion had made it hesitant. After some thought, it decided to choke the prey to death and then eat it.


    It coiled even more tightly.


    "Aaagh!" He Changan howled in pain.


    He constantly swung his halberd, sinking it into the python''s body. Blood spurted from the python, causing it to crazily hiss, but it only coiled tighter and tighter.


    "Release me! I can help you!" He Changan shouted. "Tang Jie is also my enemy!"


    Hearing this, Cang Qingfeng slightly hesitated.


    But a momentter, the two Tang Jies stopped attacking, as did Xu Miaoran and Yiyi.


    If they had kept attacking, Cang Qingfeng really might have considered letting He Changan go, but Tang Jie withdrawing gave Cang Qingfeng hope.


    He Changan wasn''t his ally. Since he was going to kill him eventually, he might as well do it now. After all, He Changan was already in his hands. If he let him go, He Changan would never give him another chance to get the jump on him.


    Thus, after weighing the pros and cons, he quickly decided to continue choking He Changan to death. As for Tang Jie''s group, without He Changan holding him down, Cang Qingfeng was confident that he could clean them up.


    Thus, the python continued to sway around while coiled around He Changan, spilling copious amounts of blood in the air.


    "Save me!" He Changan wailed.


    Xu Mingyue wanted to do something, but she saw Tang Jie shaking his head at her.


    Xu Mingyue looked at the two Tang Jies for a while before finally giving up.


    She asked, "Which one is the original body?"


    The original body pointed at himself.


    Xu Mingyue understood. "The original body entered the Nine Executions Immortal Formation while the avatar stayed outside and continued to act in Tang Jie''s name? The original body is a body refiner while the avatar is an art cultivator?"


    Tang Jie nodded.


    Xu Mingyue nced at the avatar. "I didn''t think you would get an avatar so early, and even cultivate it to the Celestial Heart Realm. This really is¡­"


    Xu Mingyue momentarily couldn''t find the words.


    She looked back at He Changan, whose struggles were beginning to weaken.


    Xu Mingyue sighed and handed something to Tang Jie. "This is my Xu n''s token. After this battle, if everything goes as expected, you should bepletely free. When the timees, remember to pay a visit to my Xu n."


    Tang Jie solemnly put it away.


    Meanwhile, He Changan was continuing to falter in the clutches of the python.


    This chief of Godhead Pce, an illustrious peak Soul Transformation cultivator, had been through countless trials, but he had ultimately failed at this one.


    His eyes gradually lost focus, and his three-head-six-arms spell art was dispelled. His body gradually stopped moving, and all he had left was the Halberd of Deste Heavens clutched in his hands. The python saw that his body was draining of vitality, and it finally opened up its greedy maw.


    Just when the python was about to devour He Changan, He Changan''s body erupted with light, and the halberd stabbed into the python''s mouth, causing it to hiss in pain and sorrow. In immense pain, the snake bit down, biting He Changan into two. Blood crazily gushed into the air, and through He Changan''s strenuous struggle, half of his body dropped from the air. Meanwhile, his remaining half, no longer under his control, was swallowed up by the python.


    "NOOOO!" He Changan bitterly screamed.


    He looked at where his missing lower half had been, his face pale as he shook his head and shouted, "No, no, it can still grow back, still grow back!"


    He cast a secret art, and bloody mist coiled around him. Bones began to appear at the wound.


    But a momentter, a foot stomped onto his chest, and He Changan despaired.


    This was the foot of Tang Jie''s original body, who was looking at him with jeering eyes.


    He Changan fearfully looked back. "You can''t kill him without me!"


    "Maybe, but keeping you around will only create more problems," Tang Jie coldly replied.


    His right foot pressed down, and the sound of breaking bones came from He Changan''s chest.


    Tang Jie pressed his foot deeper, mushing his organs after breaking his ribs, and then he raised his leg and brought it down again.


    On his third stomp, Tang Jie felt like he had encountered something hard.


    He pushed away the battered flesh and found a ck pearl in He Changan''s body, the one he had swallowed earlier.


    Picking up the pearl, he examined it andmented, "So this is the Herding Yang Pearl?"


    The Herding Yang Pearl was a divine treasure, far more valuable than the Supreme Mystery Bell. Swallowing it would endow one with three heads and six arms, and one''s muscles would be three times stronger, and it even increased one''s understanding of Dao Wills to a certain extent. It was extremely powerful, but the side effect was that one would be weak for a time after using it.


    This divine treasure was more suitable for body refiners, and it would be far more effective with the original body than with He Changan. Once he used it, he would instantly be a second He Changan.


    Upon seeing the original body pick up that ck pearl, Cang Qingfeng instantly knew that he was in trouble, and he rushed forward with a howl.


    Tang Jieughed. "What''s the rush!? This thing was just used, so it doesn''t have much energy left, so even if I use it, I won''t be getting much stronger. Besides, I picked it up from his body, and do you really think I''m so unhygienic that I would swallow it right away? It has to at least be washed first!"


    As he spoke, he put away the Herding Yang Pearl and jumped into the air. The halberd flew into his hand, and with a casual wipe of his hand, he cleaned out all traces of He Changan''s will upon it.


    The original body''s eyes shed as he looked at Cang Qingfeng charging over, and then he suddenly howled. "Awooo!"


    It was a mighty roar that could shake the heavens, and Cang Qingfeng was momentarily shaken. A momentter, the halberd swept at Cang Qingfeng, cloaked in ck energy.


    Being a body refiner, Tang Jie''s original body had always beencking a suitable weapon. Even though the avatar had forged a set of extremelyrge weapons for him, in truth, the only thing good about them was their sturdiness. They didn''t have any sort of power on their own.


    But this Halberd of Deste Heavens was a top-ss art relic that He Changan had refined for many years. It was extremely heavy and had many seals, boasting effects like sharpness, thunderp, shattering, pration, and so on. The user could also change its size, so it was perfect for the original body. With the halberd, he could get rid of that big hammer.


    While He Changan hadn''t handed over many of his treasures, they were all rather suitable for the original body.


    Halberd in hand, Tang Jie seemed just as mighty as He Changan.


    Boom!


    There was another momentous sh, and Cang Qingfeng and Tang Jie were both sent flying.


    It wasn''t that the original body was now stronger than He Changan just because he had the halberd. On the contrary, he was still much weaker. Rather, the power Cang Qingfeng had gained from burning his essence blood was rapidly fading, and he was losing his overwhelming advantage.


    He had realized this himself, and with a howl, he went on an all-out offensive, hoping that he could at least kill one Tang Jie before all his strength was gone.


    But that was easier said than done. While the original bodycked He Changan''s toughness, the two Tang Jies had immacte teamwork, with no chance of them backstabbing each other.


    The original body defended while the avatar attacked, and the Deste Heavens Halberd and Sovereign de unleashed furious waves of energy that pushed Cang Qingfeng back again and again.


    Enraged, he bellowed, and the python once more attacked Xu Miaoran.


    But to his surprise, Xu Miaoran raised her head and snorted, "You really think I''m that easy to bully around?"


    As she spoke, Xian Tao and Hong Yuan rushed out, cing their hands on Xu Miaoran''s back. As the three of them synchronized their energies, a small golden bell flew out, rapidly growingrger as it stood in front of them.


    The Supreme Mystery Bell!


    It turned out that Xu Miaoran had been given this treasure.


    Although the Supreme Mystery Bell was a divine treasure, Tang Jie didn''t have much use for it. This was because it was primarily defensive and required art power to use. The original body didn''t rely on art power for battle, and using his limited art power to control the Supreme Mystery Bell was like a warrior casting a fireball. It was better used on himself.


    (TN: The Supreme Mystery Bell was previously described as an art relic.)


    As for the avatar Tang Jie, while he could use it, he already had the Chaoswind Step and Formless Golden Body, so he didn''t need the Supreme Mystery Bell much. On the contrary, it could hinder his flighty movement style. Besides, Xu Miaoran was still rather weak, and Tang Jie cared for his wife, so he gave it to Xu Miaoran, and for her, this was an extremely valuable protective treasure.


    But Xu Miaoran''s cultivation level was still rather low, and at her current strength, it was rather difficult to control the Supreme Mystery Bell. Thus, in training, Tang Jie had developed a way for her to jointly control the bell with Xian Tao and Hong Yuan.


    Xu Miaoran hadn''t had a chance to use it in the previous two sneak attacks, but this time, she had prepared ahead of time. The moment Cang Qingfeng attacked, the three of them hade together, finally getting a chance to activate the Supreme Mystery Bell.


    Cang Qingfeng had never imagined that this temperamental girl who he had been chasing around earlier would take out a treasure like this.


    There was a mighty ring, and then Cang Qingfeng was sent flying back the way he hade.


    While the Supreme Mystery Bell was rather clumsy, its formidable defense and reflective ability were not to be trifled with. Cang Qingfeng was essentially struck by his own attack, and his insides were thrown into turmoil.


    At this time, the avatar appeared behind him, the golden light of the Sovereign de cutting across his back, and the phantom behind Cang Qingfeng began to crumble.


    The power from the ck Tortoise''s essence blood was finally about to disappear.


    A momentter, the original body charged up with the halberd.


    Cang Qingfeng extended his hand, producing a spear which he used to block the halberd. But how could his strengthpare to Tang Jie''s original body? He was sent flying, leaving behind the spear, which exploded. But the original body just ignored the explosion, striding through the mes and shockwave as he gave chase like a war god emerging from the mes. The mes and shockwave did some surface damage, but it was swiftly healed. His healing abilities were on par with those of the Realm of Life.


    Cang Qingfeng''s heart turned cold at this sight, and he shouted, "Lord of the Blood River, help me!"


    The blood gate that was about to close paused.


    Tang Jie instinctively felt an ill foreboding.


    A majestic voice boomed from behind the gate. "Although you can reincarnate throughout the ages, reaching the peak is of utmost difficulty. In exchange for escaping a heaven-destroying disaster, you must suffer a lifetime of mediocrity. Ah, my dear ck Tortoise, is this what you seek?"


    "It''s much better than dying off like those idiots!"


    "At least their bloodline still flows. In the future, they will regain their glory. But you¡­ Even if you refine the Evercycle Rising Dragon Pill, you are still not guaranteed to break your shackles. Each reincarnation is another shackle, and how can a hundred lifetimes of shackles be that easy to break? The Dao of Reincarnation is ultimately only a means of trapping oneself in one''s own cocoon."


    "I don''t want to hear this!" Cang Qingfeng roared. "Return my essence blood to me!"


    A sigh came from behind the gate. "Ah, forget it. Out of respect for our old friendship, I will help you this once. But the ck Tortoise essence blood you have taken from me now exceeds half of what you gave me. As your custodian, I cannot give you any more of it than this. Here, take it."


    As he spoke, the gate opened back up, and a little jade bottle flew out.


    Cang Qingfeng rushed to grab it.


    "Stop him!" the two Tang Jies roared in unison.


    If Cang Qingfeng could get more essence blood and burn it to regain that terrifying strength, Tang Jie may as well just surrender.


    The Deste Heavens Halberd stabbed toward the jade bottle.


    Cang Qingfeng elerated, managing to grab the jade bottle before the halberd could get at it. But as a consequence, he felt a pain in the back as the halberd plunged in.


    "Awooo!" Cang Qingfeng howled in pain, but his hands swiftly opened the bottle, and he threw his head back to consume the blood. But just as he was about to tip the bottle into his mouth, a saber shed, and his arm went flying into the air.


    The avatar''s Sovereign de had severed his arm.


    Cang Qingfeng cared not for his wound. His left arm suddenly extended to grab the bottle while the right arm came back and struck the avatar, sending him flying. He bellowed, and the ethereal turtle shell reappeared, mming into the original Tang Jie with such weight that even the original body was sent flying.


    The left hand moved to send the essence blood into his mouth.


    Xu Miaoran and her maids pushed out the Supreme Mystery Bell, which mmed into Cang Qingfeng.


    Cang Qingfeng was bowled over, and the jade bottle flew out of his hand.


    Everyone stared at the bottle and rushed at it.


    At this moment, a storm of petals engulfed the bottle and carried it upward. But with a press of Cang Qingfeng''s left hand, the storm of petals fell apart.


    The jade bottle dropped from the air, and everyone moved to seize it. The avatar Tang Jie moved the fastest, instantly blinking up to the jade bottle''s side. Just as he was about to grab it, Cang Qingfeng frantically thrust out his left palm, sending out a st of air that pushed everyone back. The weaker ones, like Xu Miaoran, her maids, and the bean soldiers, were swept right out of the hall.


    The area was emptied out, and that jade bottle continued to plummet from the air, about tond on something white and fluffy.


    It was none other than Tutu, the little rabbit.


    It had somehow broken free of Xu Miaoran''s binding and had been cowering on the side while watching the battle, its body trembling in fear. It had never expected that jade bottle to drop right onto its head.


    It instinctively caught the jade bottle with its forelegs.


    That bottle was already open, and a single drop of essence blood rolled around in it like a jewel. Somehow, in that fierce struggle, it hadn''t fallen out.


    Tutu was stupefied.


    "Tutu!" Cang Qingfeng and Tang Jie shouted in unison.


    Its name being called out by three voices made it dizzy. It looked left and right, unable to decide between its former master and current master.


    "Give me the bottle!" they shouted again.


    As they roared, Cang Qingfeng and Tang Jie both reached for Tutu.


    The little rabbit shrieked in fear, but its little paws only clutched more tightly to the bottle.


    Cang Qingfeng crazily rushed forward, but before he could get close, the original Tang Jie smashed him to the side. The original body made to take the bottle, but to his surprise, as Cang Qingfeng was sent flying back, he thrust out his palm, getting the original body in the back with a st of wind. While this couldn''t wound him, it gave him an extra push that sent him right over Tutu''s head.


    But a momentter, the avatar Tang Jie blinked up to Tutu''s side.


    The side with numbers had the easier time when it came to taking. The avatar Tang Jie grabbed Tutu with one hand and the bottle with the other.


    "No!" Cang Qingfeng cried out.


    At that moment, a sigh came from behind the gate. "Since you can''t take it, I will take it back."


    As the voice spoke, the essence blood in the bottle flew out and toward the gate.


    Cang Qingfeng and Tang Jie were both startled, shouting in unison, "Shameless!"


    This Lord of the Blood River clearly had no ns of giving Cang Qingfeng the essence blood, but he also didn''t want to be known as an oathbreaker. Thus, he intentionally used a method to incite a struggle, and once Cang Qingfeng failed to get the essence blood in the struggle, he would take it back. In this way, it would cease to have any connection to Cang Qingfeng.


    As that drop of essence blood flew toward the gate, the avatar blinked in front of the crimson gate.


    The Chaoswind Step was truly a supreme art when it came to localized battles. The avatar reached out to grab the drop of blood.


    At this moment, a grunt came from behind the gate, and the avatar shuddered, which made it fail to catch the drop of blood.


    The blood brushed past Tang Jie''s hand, but just when it was about to fly into the gate, Tang Jie suddenly learned his body over, using his head to block the blood as he opened his mouth.


    Plush!


    The blood flew into Tang Jie''s mouth.


    "NO!" Cang Qingfeng bellowed in despair.


    The Lord of the Blood River grunted, "Clever brat!"


    As he grunted, the crimson gate suddenly turned into a crimson vortex.


    The avatar Tang Jie found himself unable to move, and as that vortex spun, it began to exude a powerful attraction.


    This attraction made it impossible for him to move and to shift. Even the Chaoswind Step couldn''t be used. All his body could do was be dragged toward the vortex.


    "Give me back my essence blood!" Cang Qingfeng rushed forward.


    The python sought to wrap around the avatar and pull it back, and even the original body rushed out to pull it back.


    At this moment, two giant hands made of blood emerged from the vortex, swatting at the original Tang Jie and Cang Qingfeng. "Since you''ve taken my essence blood,pensate with your own blood."


    Cang Qingfeng and the original body were knocked away, and by the time they got back to their feet, the avatar was halfway into the vortex.


    "Big Brother!" Yiyi ran over, and with a wave of her hand, a vine coiled around Tang Jie and tried to pull him out. But how could someone with her strength pull him out? On the contrary, she was pulled toward the vortex.


    "Yiyi, hurry and let go!" Xu Miaoran frantically shouted as she ran over.


    But the little girl stubbornly refused to let go, and as the avatar was pulled into the vortex, that enormous pull also dragged Yiyi inside, and she was gone in the blink of an eye.


    "No! Yiyi!" Xu Miaoran covered her face and shouted.


    Meanwhile, the original body threw a Mustard Seed Bag into the vortex.


    The Mustard Seed Bag vanished into the froth of the vortex, and the vortex gradually spiraled out of existence.


    Everyone nced at that empty spot where the blood gate had been.


    Xu Miaoran said in a shaky voice, "Yiyi¡­ did she die?"


    "No, she''s not dead," the original body replied.


    "You''re sure?"


    "Yes. They''re in the middle of entering the Blood River Domain. Entering the Blood River Domain doesn''t mean instant death, but offending the Lord of the Blood River is a big problem¡­" The original body turned to Cang Qingfeng. "What cultivation realm is the Lord of the Blood River at? Immortal tform? Or even higher?"


    Cang Qingfeng was also staring at that empty spot. He muttered, "He was at Immortal tform ten thousand years ago. As for now, nobody knows what cultivation realm he''s at. In truth, it doesn''t matter. In any case, it''s impossible to escape his palm."


    The original body replied, "That''s not for certain. Actually, there''s still an opportunity."


    "What opportunity?" Cang Qingfeng asked.


    The original body didn''t answer the question, only saying, "Without the essence blood, you shouldn''t have any more trump cards, right?"


    "What about it?" Cang Qingfeng asked back. He was already in despair and no longer cared about his life.


    "It''s nothing. I''ll just send you back into the cycle, then," the original Tang Jie replied.


    The halberd swept through Cang Qingfeng''s neck, and blood gushed into the air.

 Chapter 540: The Myriad Immortals Cauldron

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Upon entering the vortex, Tang Jie felt like he was descending into a bottomless abyss, his body constantly plunging downward.


    All around him was red, and as his body spun and descended, he could hear Tutu''s terrified shrieking.


    "Yiyi!" Because the original body was outside, Tang Jie knew that Yiyi hade in with him.


    "I''m here, Big Brother!" Yiyi shouted, the vine binding her to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie turned and grabbed the vine, pulling Yiyi toward him.


    While still spinning along the flow of the vortex, they drew closer and closer, until Yiyi was finally pulled into Tang Jie''s embrace.


    "Where are we? Big Brother." Yiyi hugged Tang Jie''s neck.


    "We should have entered the passage to the Blood River Domain," Tang Jie said as he looked around.


    His body was still rapidly falling, and he couldn''t even use spiritual energy to stop. The powerful pull rendered him almost immobile, and the distant crimson was like an open maw about to swallow him up.


    "What do we do now?" Yiyi asked.


    "We can''t go over like this. That Blood River Ancestor will definitely be waiting on the other side for us." Tang Jie looked up. "The bag!"


    Yiyi raised her head and saw a Mustard Seed Baging from above. She reached out a hand, and another vine flew out to wrap around the bag and pull it down.


    Tang Jie took the Mustard Seed Bag, and while he was rapidly spinning around, he shouted, "We only have one chance!"


    He took out the Mountain River State Diagram and asked, "Tutu, can you use the Space Crystal to teleport us out of here?"


    Tutu was curled up in Tang Jie''s chest, clutching tightly to him with its paws. Upon hearing this, it perked up its ears, bobbing them around like they were antennas. It replied, "The distance is too great. The Space Crystal doesn''t have enough energy to make the teleportation."


    The Space Crystal had an energy reserve, and it needed to have enough energy before each use. Only people with an understanding of the appropriate Dao could recharge it. Tang Jie had limited understanding of the Dao of Space, and while he hadprehended that Dao to some extent, it primarily manifested in formations and in the Chaoswind Step. He basically never used it directly, so he couldn''t recharge the Space Crystal.


    Thus, the only way to recharge the Space Crystal was for it to regenerate the energy on its own.


    In thest year, the Space Crystal truly had gained back a little energy, but it was far from enough to teleport between domains.


    Domain-boundary-crossing teleportation for the Space Crystal was like stopping time for the Time Crystal, something only possible when the crystal waspletely charged.


    "Then pick another ce!" Tang Jie wasn''t surprised by the answer. He just wanted to be sure that teleportation was possible. He reached into the Mountain River State Diagram and took the Space Crystal from within.


    This item was the support for the miniature world within the diagram, and the moment it was removed, the space within the diagram was thrown into chaos and began to show signs of copse. The creatures inside wailed in terror and shock, as if the world was about to fall apart.


    But Tang Jie had no time to worry about them. The Space Crystal glowed, enveloping Tang Jie and Yiyi in a starry light. But Tang Jie did not activate this power, instead staring at the bloody exit.


    They rapidly descended, the bloody exit getting closer and closer.


    He could vaguely see a world of raging waves of blood beyond it.


    Arge hand tore open the fissure and reached inside.


    The Lord of the Blood River couldn''t wait for Tang Jie to drop down, choosing to grantly reach in to grab him.


    "Is it true that you''re at Immortal tform?" Tang Jie coldly said.


    He held the Space Crystal with his left hand and the Sovereign de in his right hand.


    Staring at thatrge hand, he suddenly leaned forward. The golden Sovereign de lengthened into a particrly long saber that cut at that giant hand of blood.


    The golden de sliced through the blood hand, opening a path for its wielder and cleaving the hand in half.


    "Raa!" A furious roar came from outside the bloody fissure, apparently in anger over the resistance of this puny ant.


    The blood hand that had been cleaved in two transformed into two hands and chased Tang Jie. It was clear that Tang Jie''s Sovereign de could not truly harm the Lord of the Blood River, only displease and anger him.


    Tang Jie spun, and as he turned his back to the fissure, the Sovereign de unleashed a dazzling wave of light at the two hands.


    Blood rained down and began to transform. The bloody passage quickly became flooded with tingers, wolves, and lions, all of them roaring as they chased after Tang Jie.


    This was the might of the Lord of the Blood River.


    It was said that the Lord of the Blood River was a manifestation of the Blood River Domain''s Blood River. So long as the Blood River existed, it would be immortal. Being attacked in any fashion would only make it more and more powerful.


    But just like the ck Tortoise''s reincarnations, the undying attribute of the Blood River came with its own price¡ªthe Lord of the Blood River could not move. It was the Blood River, and the Blood River was it. For this reason, while other Immortal tform Titans could freely roam the myriad domains, the Lord of the Blood River was forever stuck in the Blood River Domain.


    Countless blood fiends converged, but Tang Jie coldly stared at them, a light shining on the center of his forehead.


    Nothing was truly invincible, and even someone as powerful as the Lord of the Blood River could not bepletely immune to damage. At best, it was a matter of whether one was capable of it or not. If it were only the avatar, Tang Jie might not have been strong enough for the job, but as he had the Sovereign de, he could deal some damage so long as he could identify the weakness.


    The vertical eye slowly opened, and the moment it did, Tang Jie unleashed his Insight powers to the maximum.


    Before him was a raging sea of blood, brimming with terrifying power that threatened to suffocate him.


    But within this divine might, Tang Jie saw little points of red light.


    Yes.


    Red light.


    Red lights in the middle of the sea of blood.


    They were just as red, but Tang Jie found something different about them!


    They were evenly distributed through the sea of blood, each one practically one with the surrounding ocean, making them practically impossible to see without Insight.


    But Tang Jie had seen them.


    For some reason, his instinct told him that these were the real key.


    The Sovereign de swung again, slicing at the red dots and unleashing a wave of energy.


    This wave passed through most of the points of light in the sea of blood.


    A momentter, a frenzied roar erupted through the blood sea: "The audacity!"


    It was like a thunderp!


    Tang Jie threw up blood.


    The vertical eye disappeared.


    The pursuing beasts of blood disappeared, falling down as drops of blood, and numerous points of red light flew out of the sea of blood.


    Tang Jie immediately called out, "Yiyi!"


    Yiyi had spent so long with him that she instantly knew what he was thinking. With a wave of her hand, all those red points of light flew into her hand, rolling around in her palm like little pieces of coral and merging together into a red gel-like substance.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie was still falling toward the blood fissure.


    He dropped out of the fissure and appeared in a blood-colored sky, gravity carrying him toward a blood river that extended off into the horizon.


    An elderly face appeared on the Blood River and furiously roared, "You rat, you''re seeking death!"


    The blood fountained into the air.


    An enormous hand formed from the blood, blotting out the sky as it moved to grab Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie looked at that elderly face and smiled. "Goodbye!"


    The Space Crystal released a starry light that illuminated the entire Blood River Domain. Just when that giant hand was about to grab him, Tang Jie disappeared, that hand swiping through the afterimage he left behind. And then came a furious and disbelieving "NO!"


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    The original Tang Jie suddenly raised his head, his eyes gleaming with a divine light.


    "Out of danger," he said.


    "How did you escape?" Xu Miaoran asked.


    "The Space Crystal," Tang Jie replied.


    Xu Miaoran sighed in relief. Rather than the avatar, she was more worried about Yiyi.


    Tang Jie then said, "But the Space Crystalcked energy, so it could only teleport me within the domain, so they''re still in the Blood River Domain."


    "Is there a way to get back?"


    Tang Jie hesitated before nodding. "It''s not impossible, but it''s rather problematic."


    Although the Space Crystal couldn''t bring the avatar Tang Jie back, the avatar still had the Mountain River State Diagram, which could teleport the avatar to the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. After all, the formation it contained had been designed to cross domains. Thus, so long as the original body set up another teleportation formation in the Rosecloud Domain, they could use the Nine Executions Immortal Formation as a ry point.


    However, there were two problems. The first was that a domain-crossing teleportation formation took a huge amount of resources. The one in the diagram was thanks to Wang Juemie, but he would need another sum like that to make another. Although he had stolen a lot in Nadir Hill, he had thrown it all to the avatar. He had been in a rush, so it wasn''t like he could pick and choose before throwing the bag to the avatar. The second problem was the Mountain River Diagram itself. Pulling out the Space Crystal had damaged the diagram''s internal space, and though Tang Jie had immediately put the Space Crystal back after escaping danger, restoring order, the world within had still suffered, including part of the teleportation formation. This made it temporarily inoperable, and it needed to be checked and repaired.


    But regardless, getting the avatar back wasn''t as difficult as imagined, so Tang Jie wasn''t too anxious. Anyway, it was rare to leave this world and explore another one, and the adventure could widen his horizons. Thus, he casually said, "Rx. It''s not a big deal. You''ll be seeing Yiyi again soon."


    Xu Miaoran saw her boyfriend''s confidence and had nothing more to say.


    Cang Qingfeng was now dead, so Tang Jie helped himself to the man''s Mustard Seed Bag. Opening it up, he found that there were truly a lot of nice things inside. There were various treasures and talismans, but because of hisck of resources, they were all at the art relic level. Not a single one was a divine treasure.


    Even so, quantity made up for quality. If he traded in all these treasures for spirit coins, he could quickly be a millionaire.


    There were also numerous herbs, many of which were quite rare. These were probably prepared for the Evercycle Rising Dragon Pill, and they were much more valuable than the art relics.


    Finally, Tang Jie saw a book.


    There was no name on the book, and when he flipped it open, he saw that it contained methods for refining pills.


    After some thought, Tang Jie realized that these were Cang Qingfeng''s insights into pill refining.


    This man had lived for ten thousand years and through numerous incarnations, and in the process, he had reached an extremely high level in all manner of fields. Although this little book didn''t have some heaven-shaking name, nor was it some famous work passed down through the ages, the ability of the author meant that it was probably more valuable than any other pill-refining text.


    Cang Qingfeng had probably written this down because he was obsessed with refining the Evercycle Rising Dragon Pill. For this reason, while he was just as skilled in making talismans and tools, there was no book containing his knowledge. And thest part of this treatise on pill refining concerned the refining of the Evercycle Rising Dragon Pill.


    ording to the book, this pill was a divine medicine of High Antiquity, with miraculous and transformative effects, capable of causing one to transcend. Apparently, the person who refined this medicine had fed the pill to a small snake, and that snake instantly flew into the air and became a dragon, which was why it was called the Rising Dragon Pill. As for "Evercycle", that referred to how long it would take to refine the medicine, due to its difficulty.


    While there was nock of hyperbole in the rumors, there was also no doubt of this medicine''s miraculous effects. The book noted that this medicine was a supreme medicine for the charge at Immortal tform.


    Mortal cultivation was the process of cultivating from mortal to spirit, and then from spirit to Immortal. The Three Withering Tribtions were the means by which one achieved the spiritual body, and ascending to Immortal tform achieved the Immortal Body. The Rising Dragon Pill had transformative power, which made it a medicine for attaining Immortal tform. If Cang Qingfeng wanted to break his shackles and ascend to Immortal tform, he needed this pill.


    But refining this pill was extremely difficult. Not only did it require numerous herbs, it also absolutely required the Myriad Immortals Cauldron and Deicide me, which was why Cang Qingfeng had been searching for them this whole time.


    Long ago, when he was a genuine ck Tortoise, he had been a frequent honored guest to the Court of Myriad Domains, so he knew that these objects could be found within the court. s, when the Myriad Court perished, the Myriad Immortals Cauldron and Deicide me went missing. He searched the myriad domains and found countless fragments of the court before finally finding out where the fragment with the Jade Fairy Pce that had held the cauldron had ended up. Thus, he had rushed over, but he had unexpectedly run into a spatial storm that ended his life. After reincarnating and cultivating again, before he could get the treasure, he ended up stirring up trouble and was squashed to death by the Basking Moon Sect''s Cloud Ancestor, forcing him to start the process all over again¡­


    Cang Qingfeng had been through great suffering to get this Myriad Immortals Cauldron.


    Countless deaths meant that what he had umted was as variegated andcking in depth as his abilities.


    The spirit herbs prepared for the refining of the Evercycle Rising Dragon Pill, while valuable, were far from what the pill required. Thus, even if he had seeded, he would not have been able to immediately refine the pill. Instead, he would have had to keep searching thend for materials. And if he was so careless as to die, he would have to start all over again, just like now.


    In short, the Rising Dragon Pill was a divine object that could only be gazed at from far away.


    Tang Jie was no expert in pill refining, so he didn''t get lost in any wild fantasies. However, he did carefully put away the book. It was a book that couldpare to any pill treatise in the world.


    Besides the items in the Mustard Seed Bag, Cang Qingfeng''s body had something else extremely valuable: the python''s corpse.


    This mysterious python of unknown origins was extremely tough, and while it was no Transformation fiend, its body was as tough as diamond, and it had been brimming with strength and vigor. Constitution-wise, it didn''t lose to a regr Transformation fiend. Since Cang Qingfeng could use it as a tail to manifest the ck Tortoise phantom, it must have had a drop of ck Tortoise essence blood within it. If consumed, it could serve as a powerful supplement.


    Thus, Tang Jie skinned the snake and cooked it. s, there was no saving Zhu Yun and Shi Jingzhai, who had ended up in the snake''s stomach.


    He also helped himself to the Mustard Seed Bags of Ao Chihu, He Changan, and the others.


    Making money off the dead was a wonderful feeling. In the end, Tang Jie had still gotten his hands on Ao Chihu''s crystal core. Besides that, the deceased had possessed numerous art relics, many of which were very rare.


    Tang Jie joined together with Xu Miaoran''s group and began to divide the treasures. Of course, he remembered to leave some for Xi Canhen. The kid was still sleeping in the passage. He had practiced the arts of Cang Qingfeng, so that old Daoist had knocked him out cold with a single p of his palm.


    Xian Tao and Hong Yuan roused Xi Canhen, and he scratched his head as he listened to the recount of the battle.


    As for Tang Jie, he stood in front of the Myriad Immortals Cauldron.


    Standing in front of the bronze cauldron, Tang Jie felt its deste and ancient aura.


    The scene of myriad Immortals attending court was carved into the cauldron, and at the center was a majestic Immortal pce that floated in the clouds. The scene was vaguely simr to the one Tang Jie had seen in the Martial Mirror. Four balls of light could be seen within the Immortal pce, the silhouettes of Immortals within them. Outside the pce, countless Immortals came riding on exotic beasts with various Immortal treasures in hand as tribute, prostrating to the pce. Above the pce was a darkness, some unknown object. At the very bottom, eight characters had been carved in ancient hieroglyphs: "ÍòÏÉÀ´³¯£¬¶¦¶¨Ç§½ç", "Myriad Immortals attend court, the cauldron governs the thousand domains".


    This was the origin of the Myriad Immortals Cauldron.


    It was said that the Myriad Immortals Cauldron was a Dao armament forged when the Court of Myriad Domains was at its most prosperous, made from the most precious resources in the universe. It was built in ordance with nature, ruling the heavens and earth, the lord of Yin and Yang.


    Dao armaments were different from divine treasures and art relics.


    Art relics were primarily supportive, meant to maximize one''s own power, and rarely did they have the ability to attack effectively on their own. For example, while the Heartbreak Saber had a fire attack, it was much weaker when it was away from Tang Jie. The most important thing for an art relic was to merge together with the user''s power and unleash the user''s strength. The better the art relic, the better it was able to fill this role.


    Divine treasures were the opposite. They used Divine Connections as their standard. For example, the Supreme Mystery Bell had the Divine Connection of reversing the heavens and earth, reflecting attacks. The Herding Yang Pearl had the Three-Heads-Six-Arms ability and could boost one''s physical strength.


    For this reason, divine treasures didn''t suddenly make everything better. For instance, even a formidable existence like He Changan still chose to use an ultimate-grade art relic over a divine treasure. The power he could exhibit with the Deste Heavens Halberd was not one bit weaker than a Divine Connection.


    Thus, the power of divine treasures hinged on their Divine Connections. While the Supreme Mystery Bell had a Divine Connection, reversing the heavens and earth was far weaker than Three-Heads-Six-Arms. After all, the Herding Yang Pearl didn''t just have a powerful Divine Connection. More importantly, it granted a sliver of Dao Will, having some slight contact with the Dao.


    Dao armaments had Daos as their standard. Each Dao armament was bound to have a Dao Will. For example, the Dao Will attached to Wang Juemie''s Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures was Protection, and it manifested as a fortress. The power exhibited through this Dao Will was absolute, and even the Sovereign de was not guaranteed to break through. As for the Divine Connections the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures had, like Heavenfire and such, they were not important. No matter how strong a Dao armament''s Divine Connections were, if its Dao Will was weak, it was just trash. For this reason, the number of Dao Runes carved into a Dao armament and the depth of the carvings determined the strength of a Dao armament. The Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures were considered the worst Dao armament because they had the weakest Dao, a mere Protection, not even one of the 12 Great Daos. It was truly worthless.


    The Myriad Immortals Cauldron was different. That it was the lord of Yin and Yang meant that it was associated with those Daos.


    And that it was called "lord" indicated that these were deep Dao Runes, far above those of the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures.


    As a divine medicine, the Evercycle Rising Dragon Pill needed the Dao, which was why the Myriad Immortals Cauldron was needed to refine it. This was a cauldron that governed all treasures, governed the thousand domains, such was its immense power.


    But Tang Jie had found a big problem.


    This thing was too powerful for him to use!

 Chapter 541: Genius

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Among Dao armaments, the Myriad Immortals Cauldron was ranked rather high. As the cauldron which governed the heavens and earth, it possessed boundless Dao Arts and unfathomable power. But for this very reason, Tang Jie found that he couldn''t do anything with it.


    Back then, even a peerless genius like Wang Juemie had only been able to endure a projection of the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures.


    The Myriad Immortals Cauldron was many times stronger than that, so even though Tang Jie was much stronger than Wang Juemie from back then, he was still far from being able to use this treasure.


    In truth, this treasure was so obscenely powerful that just standing in front of it was difficult.


    Only Tang Jie''s Diamond Body could endure the pressure. The likes of Xian Tao and Hong Yuan couldn''t even get close. Xu Miaoran and Xi Canhen were somewhat better off, but they also didn''t dare to get close.


    Ultimately, while he couldn''t use it, he also couldn''t give it up.


    Tang Jie grabbed a Mustard Seed Bag and attempted to put the Myriad Immortals Cauldron inside.


    When he grabbed the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, the Dao Runes flowed with light, and waves of energy swept out from them and mmed into Tang Jie''s body. His mountainous body immediately bent over, and he threw up blood.


    And this was with the seal on the Myriad Immortals Cauldron removed! The little bit of power created by the flow of the Dao Runes had been enough to heavily injure him, and Xu Miaoran and the others were all rmed.


    But a momentter, Tang Jie still grabbed the Myriad Immortals Cauldron and put it into the Mustard Seed Bag, which had an adjustable mouth. But Tang Jie had just put the cauldron into the bag when the bag suddenly began to erupt with light.


    Tang Jie instantly knew this was bad and shouted, "Get down!"


    Everyone instantly lunged to the floor, and there was a boom as the Mustard Seed Bag exploded. As the Mustard Seed Bag was a spatial tool, when it broke, it created a small spatial storm. But when this storm struck the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, it instantly disappeared, passing over like a gentle breeze.


    Everyone got up from the ground and saw the Myriad Immortals Cauldron sitting there as if nothing had happened.


    Thankfully, Tang Jie had used an empty Mustard Seed Bag, so all he had lost was one bag. Otherwise, everything inside would have been destroyed.


    It seemed like it was impossible to put the Myriad Immortals Cauldron into a Mustard Seed Bag, and carrying it out was suicidal. Unable to think of a way, Tang Jie could only leave the cauldron there for now. Turning to Xi Canhen, he asked him what his ns were.


    Tang Jie said, "I think you shouldn''t go back to Godhead Pce, so you might as welle back with me to the Basking Moon Sect."


    After some thought, Xi Canhen also thought that this was a good idea. He had gone to Godhead Pce in the first ce because he had identally be a wanted criminal of Sageheart. With Tang Jie around, this was now a minor affair. Godhead Pce had failed its mission, and basically everyone had died, so even if he wasn''t exposed, nothing good awaited him if he returned alive. It was much better to join the Basking Moon Sect. In the end, cultivating alone was not the proper path, and only with a major sect did he have any prospects.


    Tang Jie was delighted to see that he agreed. "Great! Let''s take this chance now, while Godhead Pce still hasn''t received the news. I will write a letter, and you can take it and head back to the Basking Moon Sect first with your little sister."


    "What about you?" Xi Canhen asked.


    "I have to stay here a little longer." Tang Jie pointed at the Myriad Immortals Cauldron. "I have to get that thing settled first. Besides, this underground pce is itself a fortune."


    The Court of Myriad Domains had been shockingly opulent. Every building, every tile, was made from rare metals and jewels. Any precious material one could think of could be found here, and the buildings themselves could be called a rare metal mine.


    How could Tang Jie give up on such a valuable ce?


    Thus, long before this, Tang Jie had already decided to take this entire pce with him.


    But his avatar heading off to the Blood River Domain had ruined his ns.


    Taking the Myriad Court fragment required the Mountain River State Diagram.


    It had to be understood that while it was called a "fragment", it was actually massive. If all the buildings were dismantled, they could form a mountain. The limited space of a Mustard Seed Bag just wasn''t enough.


    If he really had to use Mustard Seed Bags, he could fill an entire wagon train.


    Without the Mountain River Diagram, Tang Jie would have a hard time taking all this with him.


    Thus, Xi Canhen frowned after hearing Tang Jie say this. "It isn''t that easy to take. Digging some out and taking it with you isn''t a problem, but taking it all¡­ I think it''s even harder than taking the Myriad Immortals Cauldron."


    "That''s why I thought of an idea," Tang Jie replied.


    "And what is that?"


    He answered, "If I can''t take them away, I''ll have them take themselves."


    "''Take themselves''?" Xi Canhen didn''t get it.


    Xu Miaoran casually replied, "If they''re turned into puppets, can''t they take themselves?"


    Xi Canhen was enlightened.


    These rare materials were perfect for making puppets. If all them were converted into puppets, then there truly would be no need to worry about transportation. Oh, not even all of them. Half would be enough.


    "But that would mean you have to stay here for a while," Xi Canhen said. "If you want to turn all these materials into puppets, it wouldn''t be a matter of days, but years."


    "Don''t worry." Tang Jie smiled. "I have nothing but time."


    Body refining was different from art cultivation. Art cultivation was useless with purely resources, as one also needed things likeprehension and cultivation. But the body refining of the Parting ssic simply needed sufficient resources to improve, so resources were the only limiter.


    For this reason, staying here to loot the ce was the same as cultivating for Tang Jie.


    He said, "Once you get back, tell Wei Tianchong toe over."


    He really needed this guy''s help to make puppets.


    "Are you not worried about Godhead Pce finding you if you stay here too long?"


    "They''d have to know that I''m here first," Tang Jie replied with a smile.


    Xi Canhen was enlightened.


    Almost everyone had died in this battle.


    While Xu Mingyue had returned alive, she had already prepared an excuse: because of Ling Tianqi, Nan Ningjiang no longer considered her important, so she had stormed off alone in a fit of rage, never participating in the battle in the Spirit Mountains. As a result, she didn''t know anything.


    It was an excuse Tang Jie had made up for her, as it was much better than everyone else having died while she managed to somehow survive.


    To handle Godhead Pce, Xi Canhen simply needed to take a few corpses with him and fabricate evidence that Tang Jie had left.


    Thus, Godhead Pce would never know that there was a fragment of the Myriad Court in the Great Mountain, nor that Tang Jie had been bold enough to remain in the Spirit Mountains. Frankly speaking, even if they did know, would they have the guts to charge back in?


    He Changan''s death was a massive loss to Godhead Pce, and Tang Jie''s one year of roaming about Nadir Hill had also done immense damage to Godhead Pce''s economy and dignity.


    In these circumstances, making concessions to avoid trouble was perhaps the best choice.


    Moreover, Tang Jie had also set up a concealment formation around the area, so even if they wanted to find him, it wouldn''t be easy.


    Once he understood all this, Xi Canhen naturally had no more objections, and he agreed to Tang Jie''s request.


    Looking at the pces around him, he enviously said, "Remember to leave me one."


    "What nonsense are you saying?" Tang Jie patted Xi Canhen and said, "You''ve done so much for me! You naturally deserve a part of all this. How could I just leave you one?"


    He took out a Mustard Seed Bag and gave it to Xi Canhen. Xi Canhen looked inside and saw that it was Cang Qingfeng''s Mustard Seed Bag. Other than the pill treatise and the herbs, everything else was inside¡ªall the art relics, talismans, and pills.


    The value of all these things put together was at least one million coins, and Xi Canhen was stunned when he saw it all. "Big Brother Tang!"


    Tang Jie chuckled. "It''s your just reward. Once I finish with this underground pce, a part of it will also be yours. s, there''s no way to divvy up the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, so your big brother will have to be a little greedy and take it all."


    It was precisely because the Myriad Immortals Cauldron couldn''t be divided that Tang Jie had given all the items in the Mustard Seed Bag to Xi Canhen. Compared to a priceless treasure like the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, a million spirit coins truly wasn''t much.


    Xi Canhen said, "I can''t even touch it, let alone take it. I basically didn''t do anything in this battle. I''m already very satisfied with what Big Brother is willing to give me."


    "There is no such thing as being satisfied on the path of Immortality, and one million in resources ismonce," Tang Jie loudly said. "You don''t need to be greedy, but you also can''t be satisfied. The Immortal path is long, so you must always keep pressing forward. I will be waiting for you up ahead!"


    Xi Canhen deeply bowed to Tang Jie.


    That night, he shared a feast of python with Tang Jie. When he thought about how Godhead Pce had gone to such great lengths to find Tang Jie in order to get at the Martial Lord''s secret treasury while Tang Jie was right now looting thends of Godhead Pce, Xi Canhen felt like the world was truly a fickle ce. Heartilyughing, he took his leave.


    Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran took up residence in the underground pce.


    Tang Jie first cleaned the underground pce of fiends and demons, only leaving behind those ghosts in the garden to do as they willed. He then began the work of dismantling, taking apart pces every day.


    All of these pces were made of valuable metals and were exceptionally tough. In the past, even when numerous experts here had been sting away, they had failed to do anything to the pces. For this reason, even though Tang Jie had a Diamond Body, he still needed to use all his strength to take off a single roof tile.


    But Tang Jie wasn''t in a rush, treating it as a kind of cultivation. His routine became one of working during the day and then getting passionate under the covers with Xu Miaoran at night, a wonderful life that almost made it seem like he had retired to the countryside. Moreover, with the deaths of numerous experts like He Changan, Zhu Yun, and Master Xuan Zhong, this ce was rich with spiritual energy. Tang Jie used a formation to seal it up so that it didn''t disperse, making the ce seem even more like a small paradise.


    Other than dismantling buildings, Tang Jie also spent his days studying the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, plumbing its secrets while also trying to figure out how to move it.


    The flowing Dao Runes on the Myriad Immortals Cauldron were suffused with countless mysteries and unfathomable might. Just by sitting next to the cauldron and observing, Tang Jie felt awestruck.


    After looking at it for long enough, perhaps because he adapted to it, he felt less awestruck and started to find the Dao Runes familiar. What had once been blurry characters that mortals were not meant to glimpse gradually rified.


    As those Dao Runes infused with the principles of the world fell upon his eyes, they conferred upon him an indescribably profound experience.


    Thus, Tang Jie made time every day to sit down in front of the cauldron. With the Dao of Wisdom, Tang Jie put all he had into analyzing the Dao Runes on the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, deepening his understanding of the Dao of Yin Yang.


    Today, Tang Jie had spent two hoursprehending the Myriad Immortals Cauldron before returning to Xu Miaoran''s side.


    Xu Miaoran was reading a book.


    Tang Jie sat next to her and gave her a hug. Only then did he look at the book, and he discovered that Xu Miaoran was reading the pill treatise left behind by Cang Qingfeng. Smiling, he said, "What''s this? Are you interested in pill refining?"


    To his surprise, Xu Miaoran earnestly replied, "Yes, I''m nning to start properly studying pill refining."


    "Oh?" Tang Jie was amazed. "Why is that?"


    Xu Miaoran didn''t reply, but the nearby Hong Yuan, who was making dinner, rolled her eyes and said, "It couldn''t be for you¡­"


    She started chattering away.


    It turned out that being used as bait to lure Tang Jie into directbat several times by Cang Qingfeng had been a psychological blow to Xu Miaoran. She realized that she was too weak, only serving to drag him down rather than help Tang Jie in battle.


    And this was after they had been trained by Tang Jie. Without that special training or the Supreme Mystery Bell, they would have done even worse.


    With this precedent in mind, Xu Miaoran felt like she was better suited to help her love in other aspects to help take the pressure off his shoulders, like pill refining.


    Cultivators needed resources, and pills and medicines were one of the most important resources on the path of Immortality.


    Every checkpoint had its own resource requirements.


    Tang Jie didn''t have the time or energy to refine pills. That being the case, Xu Miaoran felt like she should help him using her own time.


    Put simply, she wanted to be Tang Jie''s personal pill refiner.


    Tang Jie was taken aback by Hong Yuan''s exnation.


    He hugged Xu Miaoran and softly said, "I love you!"


    Even someone of Xu Miaoran''s personality blushed at this public disy of affection. Gently pushing him away, she said, "Don''t be like this. Everyone else is here."


    Hong Yuan and Xian Tao looked away, pretending not to see, but when they took a peek, they saw Tang Jie giving her a big smooch, upon which they both inwardly shouted, No shame!


    After being kissed, Xu Miaoran exined, "You don''t need to be too grateful. I only got the idea when I saw this pill treatise and that Myriad Immortals Cauldron. But I don''t know whether I have any talent in this field. In the end, I might end up producing nothing but awful medicine, so you had better not me me."


    "Who cares if it''s awful? I''m satisfied with just the consideration."


    Despite what he said, Tang Jie currently only had rare materials, so he naturally couldn''t let a rookie like Xu Miaoran practice with them. Thus, Tang Jie personally took a trip out of the Spirit Mountains, buying some low-grade herbs in a nearby city and also buying a pill furnace for Xu Miaoran.


    As expected, he encountered no obstacles on this trip.


    Godhead Pce had probably realized that they had lost the opportunity to capture Tang Jie. The corpses scattered across the outer zone of the mountain were the best proof of this. Nobody believed that Tang Jie was still in the mountains, so Tang Jie easily got out of the mountains and easily got back in.


    Starting from this day, everyone busied themselves with their own work.


    Tang Jie dismantled buildings and analyzed the Myriad Immortals Cauldron while Xu Miaoran put all her focus on studying pill refining. asionally, she would alsoe to study the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, but as she was too weak, only looking at it for a little while would make her dizzy. In the end, she had to give up on it.


    Time quickly passed.


    In the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed.


    Tang Jie finally made some progress inprehending the Myriad Immortals Cauldron. In his first battle against Feng Buzhi, he had alreadyprehended a little of the principles of Yin and Yang, but in the face of the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, that little bit of insight was basically irrelevant. But this time, he suddenly made a huge leap of progress in the Dao of Yin Yang.


    Before this, the Dao of Yin Yang was the Dao Will that Tang Jie had the shallowest insights of, but as he studied the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, hisprehension of it had increased so much that it was second only to Insight.


    On this day, as Tang Jie saw through the principles of another Great Dao, he was suddenly enlightened, and his eyes shone as they manifested Yin and Yang. His left eye was like a crescent moon, gleaming with a pure cold light, and his right eye was like a zing sun, shining bright. This moon and sun interchanged between his eyes, rising and falling like the shifting of Yin and Yang.


    Even though all of thissted for only a moment, Tang Jie''s aura still becamepletely different.


    If someone had been here to witness all this, they would have definitely yelled, for this was the first sign that someone was about to enter the Dao.


    Toprehend the Dao was simply to understand its principles and how to use it. To enter the Dao was to ce one''s body onto the Dao. The gap between these two was far beyond what one could imagine.


    If one had to make an analogy, then one could liken it to bureaucracy. The Daoprehender was an outsider, only knowing some of the bureaucracy''s rules and how to interact with bureaucrats. This made it easier for them to handle affairs, and if they did well, they could get some special treatment. But the Dao enterer was a bureaucrat, and they enjoyed many more conveniences than the outsider.


    In terms of practical function, the gap was even bigger.


    In most cases, the Daoprehender couldn''t use the power of the Dao directly, and they mostly used the Dao in a supportive fashion. The Dao enterer could directly use the Dao, with the Great Dao Realm being its most obvious manifestation.


    It was for this reason that only one who entered the Dao could be called a Celestial Sovereign.


    Tang Jie naturally couldn''t be said to have entered the Dao yet, but the light of the sun and moon in his eyes were an indicator that he was extremely close, only missing onest step.


    Thisst step was to merge one''s body with the Great Dao. No longer would oneprehend purely through thought. Instead, one would fuse one''s flesh with the Dao Will, bing a part of the Dao. This could bepared to the official civil service exam. Only by passing this checkpoint could one step into the Dao. But the difficulty was just as great as the official exam.


    For this reason, even though Tang Jie was extremely close to entering the Dao, thisst breakthrough was the most difficult part. However, so long as the Myriad Immortals Cauldron was still around, Tang Jie was sure that entering the Dao of Yin Yang was only a matter of time.


    Meanwhile, Xu Miaoran was making even more progress than Tang Jie.


    No one could have imagined that Xu Miaoran was actually a genius in pill refining.


    The art of pill refining was a profound one, and it was extremely demanding on a cultivator. Not only did the pill refiner have to be familiar with the various characteristics of herbs, how they interacted with each other, and which medicines and pills were what, they also needed to be proficient with the methods of pill refining. This required powerful sensory capabilities, like the ability to sense a subtle shift in the medicinal scent in the air, rapidly analyze the situation in the pill furnace, and take timely action.


    Knowledge and method were all things that coulde with practice, but powerful senses, the ability to sense the situation in the pill furnace through odor, temperature, and luster, needed a certain level of talent.


    And Xu Miaoran just so happened to have it.


    Her knowledge wasn''t rich enough, and her methods weren''t proficient enough, but Xu Miaoran could already keenly sense the transformation taking ce in the pill furnace. And this grasp directly decided the chances of sess and quality of the pill. These two were the most important standard for determining who was an outstanding pill refiner.


    With this level of talent, Xu Miaoran was bound to be a famous and powerful pill refiner in the future.


    Everyone was shocked by this.


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion had always been the weakest among the six major sects when it came to the auxiliary fields. Other than its ability to craft pce-type tools, it had basically zero capability in all other aspects, which was exactly why it was good friends with the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    Who could have imagined that True Lord Xu''s daughter was a pill refining genius?


    On this day, Xu Miaoran refined her first batch of Essence-Refining Pills.


    She had a sess rate of 80%, 20% of which were quality goods, one of them even being an upper-grade Essence-Refining Pill.


    These grades would be great even for an official pill refiner. Considering that she had only been learning for a month, Tang Jie couldn''t help but silently append: This is a monstrous genius.

 Chapter 542: The Parting Classic

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Peaceful days always went by very quickly.


    Today, Tang Jie received a message from Xi Canhen.


    He had arrived at Sageheart and formally joined the Basking Moon Sect.


    When the elders of the Basking Moon Sect learned that Tang Jie wasn''t dead and that he had turned around and killed off He Changan''s group, they were ted. Although there were no contribution points for killing the people of Godhead Pce, considering He Changan''s status and the ever-worsening rtionship between Godhead Pce and the Basking Moon Sect, the Basking Moon Sect decided to make an exception and not just reward Tang Jie for eliminating Ao Chihu, Zhu Yun, and Feng Buzhi, but also give him extra contribution points for killing He Changan.


    Of course, this wasn''t announced to anyone.


    But Wei Tianchong couldn''te to the Spirit Mountains for the time being.


    This was because the Basking Moon Sect and the Beast Refining Gate were currently battling it out in the Transverse Range.


    In truth, in thisst year, Tang Jie had upset the entire structure of the Rosecloud Domain.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect had long ago started up a border conflict with Godhead Pce, the two sides creating rivers of blood with their white-hot conflict. Wang Juemie already had the lives of many Celestial Heart cultivators on his hands. The Basking Moon Sect and the Beast Refining Gate had also lost several Celestial Heart cultivators apiece, and the battle was clearly intensifying.


    As for the Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion, it seemed that they didn''t want to be left out after seeing everyone else going at it, and they were showing signs of activity.


    The Basking Moon Sect wanted Tang Jie to head to the Transverse Range, but Tang Jie refused with the reason that he was searching for a secret within Godhead Pce. There were three reasons Tang Jie had refused, the first being that he needed toprehend the Myriad Immortals Cauldron. Until he found a way to take it with him, he wouldn''t leave this ce. The second was that this wasn''t the avatar, who cultivated arts, but the body refiner. If he went to the Transverse Range, his fighting style wouldn''t be the same as the avatar''s, which was hard to exin. Thirdly, he didn''t have the Space Crystal to return to the sect.


    Thus, after thinking it over, he had Xi Canhen serve as the go-between for him and the sect. If there were any matters, the sect could order him to do it, but there was no need to go back and see them. That would have to wait until the avatar returned from the Blood River Domain.


    For the next few days, Tang Jie continued toprehend Yin Yang and dismantle the pce.


    Even once heprehended Yin Yang, there was still a long way betweenprehending the Dao and entering the Dao. This massive chasm needed the umtion of time to cross, precipitation through cultivation. Tang Jie was in no rush. He had the time to patiently grind away.


    But dismantling the pce was truly boring work.


    The pce was too huge, and the materials were too tough. Even Tang Jie with his Diamond Body found it difficult to take apart. In thest two months, Tang Jie had only dismantled two pces. Taking a look at the entireplex, Tang Jie estimated that even twenty years might not be enough time to take it all.


    For the same reason, even if Wei Tianchong actually came, it might take even more time to make puppets¡ªit was far more detailed work, after all.


    In truth, the difficulty had far exceeded Tang Jie''s expectations, leaving him somewhat at his wits'' end.


    Today, he was dismantling a small pavilion.


    This pavilion was made entirely from Violet Cloud Metal, and its foundation was made of Gold Lightning Jade. It was designed in a simple and dignified style, and one could tell at a nce that it was no ordinary building.


    The Deste Heavens Halberd shone as it struck a foundation pir of the pavilion. There was a massive boom as a small crack appeared on the pir. Tang Jie then mustered all his strength and brought down the halberd again and again, like a diligent woodcutter, each time making the crack slightly bigger. Just when it seemed like the pir was to break, Tang Jie heard a crack from the Deste Heavens Halberd.


    Tang Jie was aghast, instantly knowing that he was in trouble.


    Pulling back the halberd, as expected, he spotted a crack.


    Although the Deste Heavens Halberd was a top-ss art relic, he had been using it like an axe and had been hacking away at buildings made of precious and tough materials, so the damage to the Deste Heavens Halberd was understandable. After two months like this, the Deste Heavens Halberd had finally reached its limit and showed signs of damage. Even though the damage would recover on its own, this meant that he wouldn''t be able to use it for this time and that Tang Jie would have to be more careful in the future.


    At this rate, even forty years might not be enough for this job.


    "Shit!" Tang Jie threw the halberd to the side and punched at the building.


    Bizarrely, there was no sound at all, and Tang Jie felt like he had punched at nothing. Startled, he raised his head.


    The pavilion was as normal, but there was a crack in the wall. More and more cracks appeared, forming a spiderweb that ultimately extended across the entire pavilion. At the same time, Tang Jie felt a massive amount of strength flowing out of him, as if something was devouring his physical power.


    He was aghast.


    The Weapon Mantra!


    In that punch just now, he had inadvertently used the Weapon Mantra!


    It was just that it hadn''t instantly copsed. Perhaps because it was too big, the pavilion''s copse process had taken some time. In this extended period of time, Tang Jie saw the pavilion breaking up, more and more cracks appearing on it. And to his shock, in these cracks, Tang Jie felt like he could see shing Dao Runes.


    Finally, when the cracks reached everything that they could, the pavilion copsed in a rush, turning into countless motes of dust and only leaving behind the jade foundation.


    Amid the drifting metal motes, he saw countless shing golden points, like gold mixed into sand, entrancing Tang Jie.


    Golden grains!


    Tang Jie was stunned.


    He had never imagined that one punch with the Weapon Mantra would produce so many of the Sovereign de''s golden grains.


    But this was wrong!


    Tang Jie had long ago performed an experiment.


    When a weapon was stripped of all its seals, using the Weapon Mantra to break it down would not produce any golden grains. At the time, Tang Jie had concluded that the Weapon Mantra needed to be used against weapons to work, and the difference between in metal and weapons was the seals added to the metal in the forging process.


    This was why the Weapon Mantra could work on art relics, even puppets¡ªbecause seals were miniature formations. But it definitely would not work on ordinary metal. Tang Jie had already verified this.


    Thus, Tang Jie had never used the Weapon Mantra on the pces, having been treating it as impossible.


    But today, his unintentional punch had not only destroyed the pce, it had also produced numerous golden grains. This left Tang Jie confused.


    What was going on here?


    Did the pavilion have seals attached to it? Was that why his punch had destroyed it?


    He quickly found another pavilion. He closely inspected it, and after confirming that it had no seals or formation, he used the Weapon Mantra.


    The earlier scene reyed itself, the Weapon Mantra causing cracks to crawl over the building, ultimately copsing it into golden grains.


    Tang Jie dropped to a knee and panted for breath. The weight of a pavilion was much greater than a weapon, and destroying two in a row had made even Tang Jie''s Diamond Body feel an immense burden. But the shock to his soul was even greater.


    It had really worked!


    The Weapon Mantra had actually worked on an existence of pure metal without any seals. But why did it happen?


    Could the Weapon Mantra be improved?


    But he hadn''t felt the Weapon Mantra improve in any way.


    Tang Jie couldn''t understand.


    Amid his confusion, he went to go and collect those golden grains.


    And then he made a strange discovery.


    These golden grains were different from the golden grains he got from breaking down weapons.


    They wererger, rougher, more numerous, and more stupid!


    When he put together all the golden grains he had got from breaking down the buildings, they were about the size of a ser ball. Breaking down the same volume of weapons definitely wouldn''t have produced this many grains.


    In addition, each golden grain was much rougher and coarser than the usual grains.


    If the golden grains from breaking weapons were like fine sand, these ones were so rough as to almost be small rocks.


    While fine sand was small, it could transform as Tang Jie willed, lengthening or shortening. The rough sand wasn''t as flexible. When Tang Jie gathered up all the rough sand, he could sense that making them fuse took much more mental power on his part. The fine grains were like obedient and smart children, needing only a little instruction, but the rough grains were like naughty and stupid brats, needing repeated orders to finally listen.


    Finally, and most importantly, the golden de created by the rough sand wasn''t unstoppable like the Sovereign de.


    The golden ball became a little golden saber, and when Tang Jie swung at his wrist, it left only a white imprint.


    This sharpness was only good for peeling apples, and Tang Jie was speechless.


    The only good thing about this golden knife was that it was tough.


    While Tang Jie could break the Deste Heavens Halberd by using it as an axe against the Violet Cloud Metal pavilion, Tang Jie couldn''t break this weapon from that golden ser ball no matter what he did.


    But if this was a manifestation of the Weapon Mantra''s upgrade, Tang Jie could only say that this upgrade was pointless.


    A weapon''s importancey in its sharpness.


    The Weapon Mantra broke down art relics worth hundreds of millions of spirit coins to produce a weapon that could ignore all defenses. Putting aside the actual value, at least there was an actual goal here, a reason for it to exist.


    But what was the point of this weapon that couldn''t be shattered? Shaking his head, Tang Jie stopped dismantling for the day and went back to Xu Miaoran, his head full of questions.


    Xu Miaoran was rather shocked to see Tang Jieing back early, and she asked him why.


    Tang Jie told her the whole story.


    He no longer kept any secrets from Xu Miaoran, and he had told her about the matter with the Martial Lord long ago.


    Xu Miaoran was also surprised when she heard about how Tang Jie had turned a pavilion into golden grains.


    She held out her hand. "Let me take a look at that knife."


    Tang Jie handed it over, and as Xu Miaoran took it, her hand suddenly plunged, almost dropping it. She immediately circted spiritual energy, and as strength rushed out from her body, she managed to steady her hold. She blurted out, "So heavy!"


    Tang Jie''s Diamond Body was bursting with strength, so he didn''t feel anything when holding the knife. But when Xu Miaoran held it, she instantly felt like it weighed tons.


    She gazed in shock at the knife. As it glimmered before her, she suddenly realized something and said, "Mother Cloud Metal Essence! This is Mother Cloud Metal Essence!"


    "What''s Mother Cloud Metal Essence?" a baffled Tang Jie asked.


    "This is the quintessence of metal," Xu Miaoran replied. "A king of metals, but it''s not naturally formed. Rather, a cultivator has to use supreme divine might to process and forge various metal essences into a single whole. Mother Cloud Metal Essence is extremely heavy, but it''s also extremely tough. If a little is fused into an art relic, it can greatly boost the art relic''s toughness. It''s extremely valuable! My father has a piece of Mother Cloud Essence Metal, but it''s only half the size. My father treasures it like nothing else, and he usually doesn''t let me touch it, saying that once I reach Celestial Heart, he''ll use it to forge a top-ss art relic for me."


    "I see," Tang Jie muttered. "In other words, my Weapon Mantra was actually refining all the rare metals in that pavilion?"


    "Correct!" Xu Miaoran confirmed. "In truth, I always suspected that that golden saber of yours was made from Mother Cloud Metal Essence. It''s just that Mother Cloud Metal Essence emphasizes toughness, not sharpness, so I couldn''t be sure. But I''m certain that this is Mother Cloud Metal Essence!"


    "In other words, the Weapon Mantra is actually a way of refining metals?" Tang Jie was somewhat in disbelief. "But what sort of method can skip the entireplicated process of refining metals and create Mother Cloud Metal Essence?"


    Spell arts were not omnipotent. They were manifestations of spiritual energy, and it was for this reason that spell arts could not do what spiritual energy could not.


    Processing the King of Metals was an immenselyplex process, and it was impossible for spiritual energy to do it all. If this was true, there would be no need to specifically study how to refine pills and make weapons.


    Surprisingly, Xu Miaoran replied, "Arts can''t do it, but the Dao might."


    ''The Dao''?


    Tang Jie was startled.


    He suddenly recalled how he had seemed to see the shing of Dao Runes as that pavilion cracked apart.


    If it was really a Dao, then this did exin things.


    Arts relied on spiritual energy. All arts had principles that could be found, traces that could be followed.


    The Dao followed the principles of the heavens, and the Great Dao left no trace behind.


    But a momentter, he shook his head. "This is not possible, nor does it make sense. The Dao cannot be transmitted, onlyprehended. Only what can be experienced through one''s own body can be considered a principle of the Great Dao. But the Weapon Mantra was passed through the Martial Mirror. Since it could be passed down, it can only be a spell art."


    Xu Miaoran replied, "I''m just making a hypothesis. If it was a Dao, would it make sense?"


    "Yes!" Tang Jie immediately replied. "Daos are the origin, Daos are thews. Daos give results, not the process. If the Weapon Mantra is a Dao, then when I use the Weapon Mantra, there is no change in spiritual energy, no casting process. All that happens is that the Great Daomands, and all arts obey. How could mere lifeless metal resist the principles of the Great Dao? It naturally has to be whatever it''s being told to be. Since metal can be processed into Mother Cloud Metal Essence, through the Great Dao, it can be directly converted into it."


    Tang Jie took in a deep breath.


    Ever since he hadprehended Wisdom, he had gained a greater and greater understanding of the Great Daos, including how Daos differed from arts.


    Now that he thought about it, the Weapon Mantra was so powerful and unreasonable that it was clearly no art, but a Dao.


    But¡­


    How could a Dao be passed down as a spell art?


    The thought made Tang Jie''s scalp go numb.


    This discovery already exceeded the value of the Weapon Mantra itself, for it meant a whole new world: Daos could be transmitted.


    This made no sense!


    Xu Miaoran had also realized this.


    They gazed at each other in silence.


    They realized that this was no simple matter, and that it was better if word didn''t get out, lest it sow chaos in the world.


    Tang Jie carefully put away the golden knife. "Don''t tell anyone else."


    Xu Miaoran nodded to indicate that she understood.


    "But it''s strange." As the two of them sat down, Tang Jie voiced a new question. "I''ve tried to use it on metal before, but it didn''t create Mother Cloud Metal Essence. Why did it work now?"


    "Questions regarding the Dao ultimately have their answers in the Dao," Xu Miaoran replied.


    Tang Jie''s heart trembled as he raised his head and said, "The Myriad Immortals Cauldron! I''ve been researching the Dao of Yin Yang recently. That could be rted."


    "The Weapon Mantra is rted to the Dao of Yin Yang?" Xu Miaoran asked.


    "Probably not, but it probably has to do with the Dao of Metal. Processing metal is part of the Metal Dao, and the Metal Dao belongs to the Five Elements¡­" Tang Jie mumbled.


    "And the Five Elements is intricately linked to Yin Yang," Xu Miaoran continued. "Yin Yang represents the two sides of the world while the Five Elements make up all things. The two areplementary."


    Tang Jie immediately stood up and strode over to the Myriad Immortals Cauldron.


    His eyes sparkled as he stood in front of the cauldron. "I know what I''m missing. The Dao of Yin Yang is a part of the Five Elements. These two rely on each other, so how could they be separated? That which governs Yin and Yang, divide the Five Elements!"


    As he spoke, the cauldron erupted with light while Immortal music resounded.


    The myriad Immortals upon the cauldron all radiated transcendent light, the insides of the cauldron bing its own world as all the Immortals came to pay respects to the Court of Myriad Domains.


    More Dao Runes began to sh. This time, what they disyed were not the principles of Yin and Yang, but thews of the Five Elements.


    Among them, the golden light was the most radiant, the Dao of Metal.


    These Metal Dao Runes were ones Tang Jie had never seen orprehended before, and he studied them all.


    But to his shock, he found these never-before-seen Dao Runes to be extremely familiar, and heprehended them as easily as breathing, as if he had learned about them long ago.


    As he drank in this knowledge, he found that much of the contents of the Dao of Metal was extremely simr to the Weapon Mantra.


    But the Great Dao was ineffable, whereas the Weapon Mantra could be described in mortal words. The former was infinitely profound while thetter forthrightly described the mysteries of the Great Dao. This contrast betweenplexity and simplicity seemed like Yin and Yang, the two sides of the world, describing the same principles and leaving Tang Jie amazed.


    Most shocking of all was that the Weapon Mantra seemed to have even more contents than the Dao of Metal.


    When he reached the end of the Metal Dao Runes, the Weapon Mantra still had more, and it seemed like it could delve even deeper. This was the sublimation of the Dao of Metal, and in this deeper secret, Tang Jie saw the rough tending toward the fine, the Mother Cloud Metal Essence transforming into the Martial Lord''s Sovereign de.


    "This is¡­" Tang Jie took in a deep breath.


    This was the Martial Lord''s Dao!


    He suddenly understood.


    He took out the Martial Mirror.


    His mind sank into the Martial Mirror.


    He once more saw that scene.


    In the deste void, an enormous giant wielded an enormous axe against countless Immortals. In the distance was a huge pceplex from which even more Immortals poured.


    That giant was arrogant and savage, fearlessly facing down tens of thousands.


    He furiously roared, his axe cleaving through the heavens and striking that resplendent pce.


    Those countless Immortals couldn''t hold him off for even a moment.


    At that moment, the blurry image of aw wheel suddenly appeared in the distance. Thisw wheel was infinitely vast, its mere manifestation instantly filling the skies, and all the world resounded with chanting and humming.


    And then that giant flew up, chopping his axe at thew wheel.


    Light filled the world.


    He saw that giant falling¡­


    "Agh!" Tang Jie shouted as he staggered back, his face turning ghastly pale.


    "What happened?" Xu Miaoran hurried over to support Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was shaking.


    To her shock, Xu Miaoran realized that he was shaking in fear.


    Tang Jie was afraid!


    The fearless Tang Jie was afraid!


    Who was he afraid of?


    Xu Miaoran looked at him in shock.


    After a long while, Tang Jie muttered, "I understand!"


    "What do you understand?"


    Tang Jie squeezed out:


    "The Parting ssic¡­ goes against the Dao!"

 Chapter 543: Another World

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    This was a world drenched in blood.


    The soil was a dark purple-red, crimson grasses formed a scarlet in, and the sky was a light red.


    Beneath a distant red cloud, a herd of blue oxen slowly munched on the grass.


    They were the only hue in this world that was in discord, their blue skin bobbing in the ocean of red like a forest of kelp. A few hungry red tigers were prowling around the edge of the herd, seeking a chance to attack. But the blue oxen didn''t have good tempers and could not be described as docile. When attacking them, one had to watch out for their strong resistance.


    The red tigers did not dare to underestimate these big beasts that each weighed a ton and a half.


    As they sought their opportunity, a blood rain began to fall.


    The red tigers were forced to withdraw. The blood rain was corrosive, and staying too long under the deluge would hurt them. They needed to find a shelter.


    The blue oxen didn''t care. The blood rain was another kind of protective umbre for them. They casually paced to and fro in the rain, using the blood rain to wash their bodies.


    It wasn''t only rain falling from the sky.


    There was a sh of light in the sky.


    A human plummeted from the heavens like a shooting star, hurtling toward the ground. As that person got close to the surface, a light shed around them, forming a protective barrier.


    A momentter, there was a thunderous boom on the ins, dirt shooting into the air from the formation of a giant crater.


    Tang Jie was sprawled out on his back at the bottom of the crater, and atop him were Yiyi and Tutu. The two of them were looking fearfully at the sky, both of them thinking about the Blood River Ancestor''s enormous hand.


    That hand of blood had been only a little bit from striking Tang Jie.


    Nobody doubted the power of that palm. One p was bound to obliterate the body.


    The worst of all was that even though the Blood River Lord''s attack hadn''t hit Tang Jie, his terrifying pressure had seeped into Tang Jie''s body, rendering Tang Jie paralyzed and unable to circte his spiritual energy as he was teleported. Thus, when he arrived, he plunged straight down.


    Fortunately, at thest moment, Tang Jie managed to break free of that pressure''s influence and put up a barrier, or else Tang Jie would have been the first Celestial Heart True Person to die from falling.


    "Terrifying! Terrifying!" Yiyi muttered. "Is this the power of Immortal tform? That palm seemed capable of making the entire sky fall."


    "I don''t know about that, but I do know that we''re in big trouble," Tutu said with a bitter expression. "The Blood River Domain! We''ve actually entered the Blood River Domain!"


    "From the sound of it, do you know about this ce?" Tang Jie asked as he sat up.


    "Naturally," Tutu scoffed. "I''ve followed the young master for a lifetime. Young Master spent his entire life looking for the Myriad Immortals Cauldron and went to countless domains. Although I didn''te with him to the Blood River Domain, I''ve heard him talk about it."


    Tang Jie straightened up. "Then can you tell me what sort of world the Blood River Domain is?"


    Tutu began to describe it to Tang Jie.


    It turned out that the Blood River Domain was a domain at one of the lowestyers of the Great Ster Chiliocosm, and it was named for its ever-flowing Blood River. The greatest difference between this domain and others was that it was a world where humans mixed with fiends and demons.


    Humans, fiends, and demons living together meant that humans did not have a dominant position in this world. On the contrary, because of the Lord of the Blood River, humans found it very difficult to live here. It was demons that led this world.


    Demons were the evil of the world.


    Demons were not one particr species, nor did they have such clear divisions as animals bing fiends, nts bing sprites, the spirits of the dead bing ghosts, and rocks and metals bing monsters. Demons were not a species, for humans, fiends, sprites, ghosts, and monsters all had the possibility of bing demons.


    A person once said that demons were actually cultivators who had failed at the Heart Demon Tier, a result of the Divine Will being extinguished and the Demonic Will taking form.


    A thought to be a god, and a thought to be a demon.


    One who cultivated the Divine Will was a cultivator, and one who cultivated the Demonic Will was a demon.


    These words were correct, but they didn''t tell the whole story.


    Demons were the opposite of all creatures, just like how Yin and Yang were two sides.


    One could say that demons were the opposite of good, the opposite of light, the opposite of order, the negative side of the world. The Great Ster Chiliocosm was divided into positive and negative. The positive side was dominated by cultivators, while the negative side, the Primordial Fog Domain, was dominated by demons.


    And in the Primordial Fog Domain, there were human Archdevils like the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk and fiend Archdevils like the Sacred Beast White Tiger. They did not discriminate by species, considering themselves all to be on the same side.


    For this reason, the vast majority of demons congregated in the Primordial Fog Domain.


    The Blood River Domain was one of the few exceptions, a world where humans, fiends, and demons mixed. Here, wars were constant, and humans bitterly fought for the right to survive.


    If the Rosecloud Domain was an ordered world of peace, then this was a chaotic world of war.


    Here, blood and power were king!


    Because of the unique environment of the Blood River Domain, the majority of cultivators here were blood cultivators, proficient in various blood spell arts. They were rich in blood energy and possessed powerful constitutions.


    In summary, this was a world brimming with ughter, and one had to watch every step.


    "I see," Tang Jie said. He had finally shaken off the effects of the Blood River Lord''s terrifying energy, and he stood up. "In other words, in this world, the Lord of the Blood River isn''t the only big boss?"


    The horror that had infected Tutu was easily broken by Tang Jie''s words.


    The rabbit said in shock, "Of course not, but they are the most formidable."


    "No matter how formidable they are, they can''t move," Tang Jie snorted. He took that piece of blood gem from Yiyi''s hand. This blood gem was the essence of the Lord of the Blood River, the key through which they controlled the Blood River. It was like the Blood River Lord''s essence blood, and of great significance. But the master of the Blood River had far too much of this essence blood, which made it less valuable than the essence blood of other Immortal tform cultivators.


    Even so, this small blood gem would be an extremely valuable material in the human world, for it came from the Lord of the Blood River.


    Tutu hastily said, "You must not underestimate the Lord of the Blood River. Although their actual body can''t move because of the Blood River, they can create an avatar that can move."


    "An avatar¡­" Tang Jie considered this. "Is it powerful?"


    Tutu replied, "That depends on how much effort they''re willing to make. The Lord of the Blood River is the monsterized Blood River that then turned into a demon, and they have lived for eons. They are naturally proficient in the Dao of Essence Blood, and they care the most about essence blood. Their essence blood can be used to control the Blood River, allowing it to take on various forms. It can also be formed into an avatar that can walk the world and serve as an extension of their will. The more essence blood they are willing to use, the stronger the avatar they can form."


    "But there must be a limit, right?"


    "Of course. No matter how much effort they put in, the avatar can only be half as strong as the actual body at most. Thus, it cannot be at the Immortal tform Realm¡ªViolet Pce at best."


    "Then if the avatar were destroyed, the essence blood that made it up would bepletely lost?" Tang Jie asked as he yed around with the blood gem.


    "Yes."


    "If the total amount of strength doesn''t change, then when the avatar is created, the creator will be weak, and the weakening will depend on how strong the avatar is. Is that right?"


    "¡­Yes."


    "In addition, the Violet Pce avatar would not be invincible in the Blood River Domain, right?"


    Tutu nodded again. "Yes."


    "So this old man won''t lightly make the decision of making a Violet Pce avatar toe and find me, as this would pose some level of risk to both the original body and the avatar. Most importantly, I''m only at the Spirit Ring Tier, yes?"


    "¡­Yes."


    Tang Jie smiled. "Then we''re good. You must realize that so long as I''m not being chased by a Violet Pce avatar, I have some confidence in myself."


    "Yes, the Lord of the Blood River won''t send an avatar that''s too strong at first, but after they''ve suffered a loss, they will start to give you their full attention!"


    "That''s something to think about after that happens." As Tang Jie spoke, he returned the Space Crystal to the Mountain River Diagram, upon which he saw that the teleportation formation was damaged. With much heartache, he shook his head. "This is a real problem. I wonder if the Blood River has materials to fix the formation."


    This ce was different from the Rosecloud Domain, and materials that were abundant in the Rosecloud Domain might not be so in the Blood River Domain. Of course, the Blood River Domain might have its own unique resources. If Tang Jie could get back to the Rosecloud Domain, then he could get rich simply by selling what each worldcked.


    Now that he thought about it¡­ he happened to have arge batch of resources on hand.


    Tang Jie''s mind quickly worked, and he started to move from a survival mindset into bing a dimensional merchant.


    It didn''t seem impossible.


    So long as he fixed the teleportation formation, transporting resources wouldn''t be a hard task.


    "So¡­ my first priority is to fix the teleportation formation," Tang Jie muttered.


    The teleportation formation wasn''t damaged too severely, but it needed many materials to fix. While some of them were only needed in very small amounts, it was impossible to gopletely without them.


    Tang Jie repeatedly checked things over, and he found that fixing the teleportation formation would take at least 63 different materials. He had 21 in his Mustard Seed Bag, but he would have to search the area for the remaining 42.


    Of these 42, thirty-some weren''t too rare and probably wouldn''t be difficult to find, but a few of them had been extremely difficult to find in the Rosecloud Domain. He just didn''t know howmon they were here.


    But regardless, the teleportation formation was his link to Rosecloud, so he had to do his best.


    With this thought in mind, he patted Tutu and Yiyi on their heads. "Let''s go."


    "To where?" Yiyi asked.


    They knew nothing about this ce''s geography, so they had no idea where to go.


    "We''ll go wherever there''s fun to be had. Let''s find a ce with some people first," Tang Jie replied.


    "What if we run into a gathering ce of fiends and demons?" Tutu asked in a trembling voice.


    "What else? We kill them. And if we can''t kill them, we run. That''s life." Tang Jie grinned.


    "¡­¡­"


    Tang Jie got out of the crater and flew into the air with Yiyi and Tutu.


    They didn''t know east from west, so they just picked a random direction.


    They didn''t fly very far before they saw a massive Cinnabar Luan flying toward them. This Luan had a massive length of two hundred feet, appearing like a small mountain, its wings blotting out the sky. Just the mere sight of it rmed Tang Jie.


    He could tell at a nce that the Cinnabar Luan was a great fiend that had lived for several centuries, its entire body a treasure. In the Rosecloud Domain, its appearance would immediately have numerous cultivators gathering to kill it and extract every piece of value from its body, ensuring that nothing went to waste.


    But here, the Cinnabar Luan fiend could freely cruise the skies.


    Not only that, when the Cinnabar Luan saw Tang Jie, it pped its wings and then dived, its ws reaching toward Tang Jie like giant hooks.


    "You fucker!" Tang Jie cursed, swinging the Sovereign de.


    The ws shed with the Sovereign de, and blood fountained into the air. The Cinnabar Luan screeched in pain as Tang Jie lopped off a w. But a momentter, the Cinnabar Luan''s immense inertia sent Tang Jie flying.


    Such terrifying physical strength!


    Tang Jie was deeply shaken.


    The Cinnabar Luan screeched and spat me at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie''s body shed with ice as he released the Frost Domain, and hisyers of defense shed under the Luan''s me. This fire spit had turned out to be quite powerful.


    Confusingly, this Cinnabar Luan didn''t seem to have human intellect. It was unable to speak and crazily attacked like a primitive fiend.


    "It doesn''t cultivate intellect, only cultivating brute strength?" Tang Jie''s eyes gleamed in surprise. The fiends here were rather different from those of the Rosecloud Domain.


    The Cinnabar Luan soared back into the skies, and then it swooped back at Tang Jie in a crimson arc.


    Tang Jie could only use the Chaoswind Step to dodge, and then he cast a spell, a massive Heavenly Cloud de crashing down onto the bird. But this bird was so tough that the impact failed to behead it, only leaving a bloody gash.


    Screeching in anger, the Cinnabar Luan turned its head and spat again.


    Yet this was no me, but corrosive blood. The moment it fell on his defensive barrier, it melted through it. Even though Tang Jie had reacted quickly and withdrawn using the Chaoswind Step, some of the blood on the defensive barrier still managed to get on him.


    There was a hiss, white smoke rising from his body as the blood melted his flesh.


    Tang Jie immediately sliced off the infected flesh, leaving him in so much pain that his vision blurred. But the Cinnabar Luan was much weaker after spitting out this blood, its movements much slower. Yiyi''s Silkheaven Net mmed into it, and petals carpeted its body. Tang Jie followed up with his de, but this time, he attacked the wings, cutting one off with a single chop.


    Without one wing, the Cinnabar Luan could no longer fly, and it shrieked as it dropped. But before it could hit the ground, a Heavenly Cloud de to the head finished it off.


    Tang Jie had killed the Cinnabar Luan, but a single fiend had left him covered in wounds. Tang Jie was speechless.


    The Blood River Domain was too different from the Rosecloud Domain, and he couldn''t judge things ording to hismon sense.


    Perhaps one could say that themon sense of the Rosecloud Domain waspletely different from themon sense of this ce.


    Landing back on the ground, Tang Jie dismantled the Cinnabar Luan, taking the time to research its body. He then realized that the bird didn''t have a pellet.


    Although it didn''t have a fiend pellet, it was rich in blood energy, surpassing even Transformation great fiends of the Rosecloud Domain in this regard. Even the three-thousand-year-old Li Yu didn''t have as much blood essence as this probably-five-hundred-year-old Cinnabar Luan.


    In other words, the true value of this fiend was in its flesh.


    For the same reason, the fiends here were probably all extremely powerful, outmatching those of the Rosecloud Domain by arge margin in both spell arts and physical bodies.


    Once he had satisfied his curiosity, Tang Jie roasted the Cinnabar Luan and had it for dinner the same night. While the bird seemed big, it actually didn''t have much meat, and the three of them managed to eat half of it in one sitting.


    As that meat entered his stomach, Tang Jie felt his body surging with a hot energy, sending his bloody energy seething as it spread to every part of his body, and he even felt himself get a little stronger.


    Ever since he had attained the Heavenly Spirit Law Body, he had reached a bottleneck in body refining. The Heavenly Spirit Law Body was a supreme spiritual body, favoring the storage and cirction of spiritual energy. Using inner vision, he saw a crystalline body. He could store more spiritual energy and cast spell arts faster to greater effect. But for these reasons, it was difficult to make much improvement in body refining. Just like how the original body had no hope of ever passing the Three Witherings, the avatar had no hope of attaining a Diamond Body. After all, body refining emphasized the strength of the flesh and density of cells, but the Heavenly Spirit Law Body called for rtive looseness so that every cell could hold spiritual energy. The two types were opposed to each other.


    This was why his constitution had been stuck at the middle tier of the Jewel Body.


    But after eating the Cinnabar Luan''s flesh, Tang Jie had felt a clear increase in strength.


    This was power that came from the blood, and that seething torrent of power amazed Tang Jie.


    It wasn''t just him. Yiyi and Tutu also felt themselves getting stronger.


    "Wow! I''m so full, sofortable!" Yiyi sprawled onto her back, her belly bulging.


    "The fiends here are very unusual," Tang Jie said. "It seems like eating them can increase our blood energy and strength without being affected by our constitution. Excellent, excellent." Tang Jie startedughing.


    The strength provided by the fiends had nothing to do with constitution. It came directly from the blood energy, which was perfect for the avatar''s constitution.


    Tang Jie had already made up his mind to start killing and feasting on these fiends.


    The Blood River Domain was full of oddities, and he had no idea what treasures awaited him. Since he was here, he might as well make sure he had a proper adventure.


    After dinner, the three of them camped on the ins. The next day, they continued in the direction they had picked.


    They didn''t know what was waiting for them, nor did they know what the future held. But as they walked through this vast and strange world, they felt not the slightest fear, only an endless yearning.


    What they didn''t know was that at the time of their arrival, upon the distant Blood River, an anger not seen in ten thousand years was gathering force on an enormous face.


    "Bastard! Bastard! Bastard! Stealing my essence blood! You''re dead! ''Tang Jie'', right? I''ve remembered your name. I''ll chase you to the ends of the earth for the crime of stealing my essence blood!"


    As they roared, the Blood River surged.


    Amid heaven-stunning waves, a blood-colored human began to form.


    This human was just a clump of blood at first, but gradually, it grew more and more solid, eventually turning into a monstrous being that, other than its red skin and two curled horns, was no different from a human.


    Once it was done forming, that human-shaped monster of blood opened their eyes and gazed into the distance.


    He stepped onto the shore of the Blood River and sniffed the air. He then whispered, "Over there! I sense him!"


    It was the Blood River Lord''s voice.


    As he spoke, he began to stride in Tang Jie''s direction.

 Chapter 544: Flesh Millstone

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    A saber pierced through the air,ing away with thick blood that added more red to the scarlet ins.


    Tang Jie sheathed his saber and began to butcher the mutated Fire Bull with smooth proficiency, preparing to roast it.


    He had already spent many days on these scarlet ins. He had yet to see a single human or other intelligent species, though he had managed to kill quite a few powerful primal beasts.


    Primal beasts were an ancient type of beast that were distinct from fiends, and the Cinnabar Luan and Fire Bull both belonged to this type. Unlike fiends, they didn''t cultivate and had simple minds, relying on their innate brute strength and spell arts to battle. However, this did not stop them from being quite powerful. Because the Rosecloud Domain didn''t have any primal beasts, Tang Jie had mistaken them for fiends that had not reached Mind Opening. However, thesest few days had gradually made him understand the difference.


    Primal beasts were a remnant of High Antiquity, possessing powerful blood energy, which was why Tang Jie had encountered quite a few savage creatures. The most frightening of them had been a golden Pixiu. It had been the size of a small mountain, had a roar like thunder, and could cause mighty gales simply by breathing in and out. Simply moving its body made the world shake as if it was about to end. It scared Tang Jie so badly that he had no choice but to fly around it.


    (TN: The Pixiu is a mythical Chinese creature with the head and tail of a dragon and the body of a tiger.)


    This barbaric world of blood had opened Tang Jie''s eyes, and he excitedly wandered these ins, consuming the flesh of primal beasts to make his blood energy grow. But he couldn''t take too much each time, or else he would find it hard to take. There was a daily limit.


    Today, after eating the Fire Bull, Tang Jie felt his blood energy surging once more, and he quickly sat down to rpose himself.


    But for some reason, his past experience didn''t apply. Several breathing cycles failed to calm his seething blood energy.


    It was as if something was roiling in his body, riling up all of his blood energy.


    Tang Jie was rather shaken.


    This was the result of consuming too much blood energy. But Tang Jie had inspected the Fire Bull''s blood energy and been careful when consuming it, ensuring that he hadn''t gorged himself.


    But at this moment, a thought urred to him.


    "Shit! The ck Tortoise blood!"


    He finally remembered that he had swallowed that drop of ck Tortoise essence blood before entering the Blood River Domain.


    It was just that he had been sucked into the Blood River Domain momentster, and in that emergency, he hadn''t had the time to check his body. After that, the palm from the Lord of the Blood River had given him a jolt that paralyzed his body, causing him to subconsciously think that there was nothing special about the blood.


    But now, it appeared that the ck Tortoise blood had been suppressed back then, and only now was it finally erupting.


    What sort of power was contained in the ck Tortoise blood? As it erupted, whenbined with his numerous meals, it became impossible to calm his blood energy. As that energy rampaged within his body, he felt like he was going to be torn apart.


    It had to be understood that this was different from the White Tiger essence blood. The essence blood Bao''er had given to Tang Jie had been the most docile and easiest to absorb. Even then, Tang Jie needed the Blood Refining Spirit spell to digest it.


    But the Blood Refining Spirit spell was designed for the White Tiger essence blood and had nothing to do with the ck Tortoise essence blood. No matter how Tang Jie used it, his digestion speed simply couldn''t match the increasing restlessness of the blood energy.


    As his blood energy surged higher and higher, Tang Jie knew that his body was going to explode.


    He desperately circted the Violet Jade Mantra, but it did nothing. He started to roll around on the ground in pain, leaving Yiyi and Tutu shocked and confused.


    Tang Jie knew that he was in big trouble. If he didn''t resolve this problem quickly, he would probably be the first cultivator to gorge himself to death. Since the Violet Jade Mantra didn''t work, he quickly switched to the Parting ssic, but the Parting ssic didn''t seem to have interest in blood energy, and the digestion speed remained extremely slow. Tang Jie then changed over to the Celestial Treasure Supreme Heart Mantra, but this still did no good. He didn''t even try the Ghost ssic, going straight to the Ninedark Mantra.


    To his surprise, this actually worked.


    Under the cirction of the Ninedark Mantra, the seething blood energy finally calmed down, the berserk energy instantly bing like a tamed wild horse, quietly and slowly flowing through his body.


    "This is¡­" Tang Jie sat up in surprise. Looking at his body with inner vision, Tang Jie saw that the majestic blood energy was still present, but it was no longer as wild as before, even seemingly waiting for his orders.


    This was the first time in Tang Jie''s decades of cultivation that he had run into this sort of matter.


    If the Violet Jade Mantra was the key to improving his cultivation, the Ninedark Mantra existed to improve his spell arts. While it didn''t directly boost his strength, it made his spell casting quicker, longersting, and stronger, increasing hisbat power.


    For this reason, Tang Jie had always considered the Ninedark Mantra to be a support mantra.


    But in his desperate straits, Tang Jie had found a new use for the Ninedark Mantra.


    At the same time, his Celestial Heart Dao Fruit shed with a blinding light.


    The seething blood energy gathered into a mighty river that majestically flowed through Tang Jie''s body, no longer wild and untamed. It made aplete circuit of Tang Jie''s body, traveling through the spiritual energy channels, touring the meridians and acupoints.


    Tang Jie was amazed.


    The meridians and acupoints were for the cirction of spiritual energy, and nothing else could travel through them.


    But through the Ninedark Mantra, all the blood energy, in order to release that immense pressure, was beginning to seep into the meridians. Most importantly and shockingly, it was working.


    Why could this blood energy enter his acupoints to no deleterious effect?


    Tang Jie suddenly had an idea and began to guide that river of blood energy to his Spirit Sea.


    This was rather risky. Blood energy wasn''t spiritual energy, and mixing them could lead to unknown consequences.


    But Tang Jie instinctively felt this was possible, as if there was a voice telling him to do this.


    Perhaps this was a kind of inspiration, or perhaps this was an anticipation that had been suppressed in his mind for too long!


    Tang Jie didn''t know, but now that this blood energy was acting strangely, Tang Jie wanted to try this idea out.


    In any case, this was an avatar, so losing it wasn''t a big deal. Tang Jie used this method to console himself, even though he knew that this avatar was no longer a simple substitute¡ªit was an independent and powerful asset!


    The blood energy flowed into the Spirit Sea.


    At first, Tang Jie was careful, letting only a little bit of blood energy into the Spirit Sea.


    That blood energy passed through all the barriers of the body with ease and entered the Spirit Sea.


    It slipped in without the slightest reaction, like a drop of blood falling into the sea.


    Tang Jie knew that it had worked!


    As that blood fell in, Tang Jie''s Celestial Heart shed.


    Those countless Dao Runes that had disappeared upon the condensation of the Celestial Heart all lit up in unison, and those Dao Runes symbolizing the Dao of Yin Yang began to increase in number while also radiating the brightest light of all.


    Tang Jie knew that this was the reaction of his Celestial Heart to his original bodyprehending the Dao Will of the Myriad Immortals Cauldron.


    And when this Dao Will manifested on his Celestial Heart, it began to resonate with the Ninedark Mantra.


    As if he had attained the will of the heavens, Tang Jie knew what he had to do next.


    He continued to guide the blood energy into his Spirit Sea.


    As it poured in, the colorless Spirit Sea began to redden, and its calm surface began to produce waves.


    The iceberg of solidified spiritual energy produced through the usage of the Crystallized Sandworm also began to take on a bloody hue.


    The blood energy continued to flow in until the Spiritual Space gradually couldn''t hold much more.


    But that was fine. He began to release it through his skin into the surroundings.


    This was a Spirit Ring True Person''s specialty.


    That ring of spiritual energy appeared at Tang Jie''s feet, spreading outward, and in the process, it began to change color.


    The blue ring turned crimson.


    Not only that, the Spirit Ring even expanded past the limits of his Spirit Will, ending up as a giant blood ring with a radius of more than two hundred feet.


    "This is¡­" Yiyi and Tutu were dumbfounded.


    They had no idea what had just happened.


    Tang Jie gazed pensively at the blood ring.


    At this time, a golden-feathered eagle flew over.


    As a primal beast, the eagle was extremely powerful. Its ws could shatter stone, and not even a barrier of spiritual energy could stop it.


    Tang Jie had fought against such an eagle before, and he had expended much strength to finally emerge victorious.


    As the golden eagle flew over, Tang Jie suddenly stomped the ground and flew into the air.


    The golden eagle let out a resounding screech as it spotted Tang Jie, beating its wings and charging at him.


    Tang Jie formed a spell and pointed at his feet, upon which that blood ring erupted with light. The golden eagle dove into the blood ring, and a momentter, a powerful shockwave of blood rippled out, squeezing the golden eagle so hard that it shrieked in fear.


    Blood energy surged over the golden eagle, and the golden eagle gushed out blood as if something huge was rolling over it.


    Its body began to crack open as if a millstone was pressing down on it, blood flowing out from its orifices. It could no longer fly, yet it also couldn''t fall. All it could do was be tossed around in the air in front of Tang Jie.


    And beneath Tang Jie, the blood ring slowly turned. When the blooding from the golden eagle fell into the blood ring, it steamed up into red vapor that lingered around Tang Jie.


    The blood energy around Tang Jie thickened.


    That golden eagle had a hardy life force, so it continued to struggle within the space of blood energy.


    Tang Jie slightly frowned. "The power of the blood energy is still a little weak. It should be because I haven''t absorbed enough¡­ but it''s fine. I can just kill some more."


    He took out that blood gem that originated from the Blood River Lord''s essence blood.


    With a light squeeze, the blood gem turned into a mist that filled the blood ring''s space.


    Yiyi and Tutu saw the blood forcefield grow stronger, even beginning to rumble.


    Amid the rumbling, the golden eagle finally stopped struggling, its body deforming as all of its blood was squeezed out. Ultimately, it was turned into a lump of meat that fell from the air.


    "Heavens!" Yiyi and Tutu gasped in rm.


    Without any spell arts or the Sovereign de, only through the blood ring, Tang Jie had crushed a primal beast. There was no doubt that Tang Jie had grown stronger by leaps and bounds.


    Tang Jie slowly descended back to the ground.


    The blood ring retracted, regaining its original watery-blue hue, and the blood energy vanished without a trace.


    Within the Spirit Sea.


    The blood and water separated, the Spirit Sea going back to its colorless state as the blood energy retreated. But rather than dissipating, it congregated into red clouds.


    One above and one below, clearly differentiated.


    Whew! Tang Jie panted for breath.


    Finally, his body had returned to normal.


    "Big Brother." Yiyi saw that Tang Jie had calmed back down. She whispered, "Are you okay now?"


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Mm, I''m okay now."


    "Then¡­"


    Tang Jie exined the matter of the ck Tortoise essence blood, leaving Yiyi and Tutu stunned.


    This incident with the ck Tortoise essence blood had allowed Tang Jie to understand the meaning of the Ninedark Mantra.


    The Martial Lord had cultivated both arts and the body, and the Ninedark Mantra he left behind had the effect ofbining blood energy with spiritual energy.


    The Ninedark Mantra had merged these two powers together into something even greater.


    However, the traditional way was to fuse spiritual energy into the blood, with the goal of strengthening the body.


    A ssic example of fusing spiritual energy into blood was Wang Juemie. All of the spiritual energy he cultivated was for the sake of strengthening his physical body.


    But Tang Jie went in reverse, fusing blood energy into spiritual energy, and what he strengthened was the power of his spell arts.


    He was able to perform this conversion because of the Dao of Yin Yang.


    The Dao of Yin Yang represented the two sides of the world, and it specialized in switching between opposites.


    The original body had gained some insights while researching the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, and while they still couldn''t be used in battle, they could definitely be used in a more supportive fashion.


    This was why his Dao Fruit had lit up when he was using the Ninedark Mantra to pacify his blood energy. All of his insights into the Dao of Yin Yang had been used at that moment, and that seething blood energy finally began its majestic procession toward his Spirit Sea.


    Fusing blood into spirit!


    And the avatar fusing blood into spirit had also stimted the original body. It was as if he hadpleted an experiment, and his understanding of the Dao of Yin Yang was strengthened.


    "Then¡­ what about that blood ring?" Yiyi asked, pointing at Tang Jie''s feet.


    If it was blood fusing into spirit, then the surge of spiritual energy could be exined.


    But how could it also form that terrifying power that could squash a primal beast to death?


    Tang Jie replied, "I didn''t get it at first either, butter on, I realized that this should be the hidden talent power I received when breaking into Celestial Heart."


    Every Celestial Heart True Person would receive a special boost in a certain aspect when breaking through into the Celestial Heart Realm, and it was called a talent power. For example, when Ming Yekong became a True Person, he received a huge boost in his control over space. This was his talent. This talent wasn''t an expertise as the word was usually defined, but something that was truly unique.


    For some reason, Tang Jie didn''t unlock a talent power in the charge at Celestial Heart. He guessed that it was because he had done so as an avatar. In the end, he was fundamentally different from other humans, having not been born from a father and mother. Fortunately, a talent was simply a boost in a certain aspect, so Tang Jie didn''t care too much.


    But to his surprise, when the ck Tortoise blood activated, it inadvertently activated his talent power, which had been either hidden or overlooked. This was a power that let him restructure flesh.


    "The avatar was created using the flesh of the original body, making it different from real lifeforms. This avatar started existence as a restructuring of blood and flesh. Perhaps you could say that this body has its own talent. It''s just that I never had a chance to discover it. But today, thanks to the Ninedark Mantra and the Dao of Yin Yang, I was finally able to discover this talent. Rather than strengthening a certain aspect, it took the form of a natural spell art¡­ No, it''s more like a Divine Connection. There was no need for hand signs or energy cirction. A spell art that needs only a thought to manifest is known as a Divine Connection."


    Tang Jie raised his hand, and that blood ring appeared.


    The blood energy once more fused with spiritual energy, creating a terrifying power that was under Tang Jie''smand.


    Even though he wasn''t targeting Yiyi and Tutu, the two of them were stricken by fear merely by standing in the blood ring, feeling like they were being crushed to death by a mountain. Besides that, Tutu felt an even greater menace, like all of its blood and flesh was pulsing and about to burst out of it.


    This was the power of Tang Jie''s blood ring. Within his blood ring, all existences would feel their blood energy being squeezed, and lifeforms with blood would have their blood sucked away to further empower the blood ring.


    Just like Tang Jie had said, this wasn''t a spell art, but a Divine Connection. It was very powerful and flexible. Its only w was that its range was rather small, only covering a radius of two-hundred-some feet, making it a minor Divine Connection. Even so, very few people could now fight against Tang Jie within the space around him.


    One could say that Tang Jie had found his next unique ability after the Four-Nine True Words and the Heavenly Cloud de, this one even stronger and more terrifying.


    Suffering under that immense pressure, Tutu said in a shaky voice, "What is the name of this Divine Connection?"


    After some thought, Tang Jie replied, "How about calling it ''the Flesh Millstone''?"

 Chapter 545: Blood Shaping

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The western scarlet ins.


    A convoy was proceeding through the ins.


    Its leader was arge and muscr man with red skin and horns growing from his head. He was a member of the Hemos Race, one of the most important races in the Blood River Domain.


    Ten-some Hemos were driving a herd of a hundred-some blood horses, and behind them were thirty-some humans, who had their hands bound up and were being forced to run behind the horses.


    "We''re going to be at Three Rivers soon! Everyone, work a little harder and we''ll be able to spend the night in town!" the leading Hemos, Leto, shouted.


    "Raaa!" The other Hemos excitedly shouted.


    They spurred their horses and raised their whips, picking up speed, and theshes rained down on the human captives as they roared, "Faster! You damn bastards!"


    As they were whipping away, one of them shouted:


    "Up ahead!"


    The Hemos looked ahead and saw two figures in the distance, one big and one small, moving forward.


    "Human!" Leto had sharp eyes and quickly identified the target up ahead.


    "Capture him!" the Hemos behind him began to shout.


    Leto called out the names of three Hemos. "Gerasin, Hando, Tarin, the three of you go together! Be careful! This man might have some skill!"


    The three Hemos flew up from their horses, wings of blood emerging from their backs as they shot toward that human.


    Yiyi nced behind them and softly called out, "Big Brother!"


    "Mm, I know. After all these days, we''ve finally run into living people." Tang Jie seemed a little emotional. "But it seems like we''ll have to fight before we can talk."


    The three Hemos were already on Tang Jie''s back, the one called Gerasin casting a crimson at him.


    Tang Jie didn''t move, but Yiyi raised her hand, a sword of ice shing with frost, freezing the. Clink! The frozen fell to the ground.


    The three Hemos were stunned, and then enraged. "The audacity! Daring to resist!"


    The three of them shot threads of blood at Yiyi.


    The threads of blood wriggled as if they were alive, ultimately turning into small snakes that bit at Yiyi. Yiyi evaded, but those three blood snakes turned around and continued to chase, having seemingly fixated on her.


    Tang Jie flicked his fingers, sending three sts of air at the snakes. There were three sshes of blood as the snakes all exploded into two. But rather than being destroyed, they turned into six smaller snakes and continued to give chase.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "The methods of the Hemos are rather interesting."


    On her end, Yiyi thrust out the Crystal Ice Sword six times, and six frozen blood snakes fell to the ground. Smirking, the little girlmented, "They don''t seem like much to me."


    "Don''t use the Crystal Ice Sword," Tang Jie said.


    The three weren''t strong, and Yiyi was wholly capable of taking them down. After all, Yiyi was half a step from Transformation. But Tang Jie wanted to familiarize himself with the fighting style of the Hemos, so he intentionally dragged things out.


    The three Hemos were furious. They pulled out their scimitars and cut their own arms.


    Blood gushed out, but the three seemed to not feel it, pointing at Tang Jie while mumbling something.


    Tang Jie was in no rush to strike, waiting to see what they would do.


    The three of them barked, and the blood flowing out of them congealed into three humanoid figures of blood. Meanwhile, the three of them paled somewhat from the excessive loss in blood.


    As the three of them poured out their blood, the three little blood people finally finished forming.


    These three people were of small stature, having horns on their heads and wings on their backs. They held little forks in their hands, appearing just like little blood devils.


    Once the Hemos stopped their bleeding, the three blood devils opened their eyes and lunged at Tang Jie and Yiyi, moving with surprising speed. As the blood forks stabbed, Tang Jie waved his hand, producing a middle-grade art relic sword to meet the forks. There was a boom, and Tang Jie''s body slightly swayed.


    The blood devils were rather formidable.


    A blood devil yelled and bit down on Tang Jie. Tang Jie flicked his fingers several times at the devil. But because the blood devil''s body was made entirely of blood, it felt nothing from having several holes punched in its body and continued to attack.


    At the same time, the three Hemos in the rear fired off spell art after spell art.


    Tang Jie wanted to test their power, so he intentionally didn''t kill them and chose instead to repeatedly fend off their attacks. The trio seemed to realize that their opponent was powerful, so they hardened their hearts and cut their wrists again.


    More blood poured into the blood devils, and they visibly grewrger, stronger and faster. They became so strong that Yiyi started to have a tough time dealing with them.


    The Hemos were of mediocre cultivation level, but the blood spell arts were rather bizarre. The blood devils they created didn''t fear harm and were both strong and fast. But the power depended on the blood contributed, and how much blood could they give?


    It was said that humans would die upon losing a third of their blood, but that was for mortals. Cultivators could lose 90% of their blood and not die, and it was probably even more extreme for the Hemos.


    In other words, if these guys were willing to make the sacrifice, this blood devil spell art could make them several times stronger. It was no wonder they dared to be so arrogant.


    The three Hemos had by now spilled more than half their blood, and their blood devils were half the height of an adult man, and much faster and stronger. s, they still couldn''t do anything to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie snorted. "Anything else? If there''s nothing else, I''ll stop being polite."


    The three grimaced, and turned to shout back, but rather than speaking in the humannguage, they called for reinforcements in their own tongue.


    Ten-some Hemos flew out, slitting their wrists as they did. Blood flew out, and ten-some blood devils took form. Gerasin shouted, "Be careful! This human is very powerful, but it seems like he doesn''t know about us!"


    "From the outside?" Leto''s eyes shed with surprise. "If you want to see the spell arts of the Hemos, then let''s show him the real deal! He will pay the price for his pride and carelessness!"


    The Hemos all furiously roared.


    The several dozen human captives shook their heads and sighed.


    An elder sighed and moaned, "I thought it was a rescuer, but it turned out to be a fool."


    A middle-aged man said, "He''s showing no signs of stopping the Hemos from casting theirbination art. How is this not suicidal?"


    "He seems to be a foreigner who doesn''t know about the Hemos."


    "How much of a foreigner do you have to be to not know about the Hemos? Who could be stronger than the Hemos in the Blood River Domain?"


    As they murmured, theirst embers of hope were extinguished.


    As they talked, the three blood devils attacking Tang Jie suddenly flew back, joining with the ten-some blood devils in the rear, and then all those blood devils merged together into a giant mass of blood.


    As the Hemos muttered, the blood roiled, turning into a giant ball of blood, which then grew hands, feet, and finally, a head. In this way, it turned into a blood giant more than twenty feet tall.


    The giant roared, stomped over to Tang Jie, and punched.


    Tang Jie''s eyes gleamed. "This is pretty interesting."


    He didn''t fall back, rising up and throwing his own punch.


    Thud!


    In the mighty collision, Tang Jie was blown back, his energy seething.


    This blood giant had immense strength, and even Tang Jie''s middle-tier Jewel Body had been pushed back. It was clearly at the level of greater attainment of the Jewel Body.


    But this clearly wasn''t its only move.


    As Tang Jie was pushed back, the blood giant pointed a finger at Tang Jie. A blood arrow shot out, aiming for Tang Jie''s shoulder.


    Tang Jie wanted to test its power, and he activated his various defenses.


    The small blood arrow mmed into his defensive barrier, and there was a hiss as the corrosive blood melted away the barrier. It was just like with the Cinnabar Luan, though the effect was a little weaker.


    In terms of strength, the blood giant wasparable to the lowest level of Spirit Ring True Person.


    It had to be understood that none of the ten-some Hemos had high cultivation levels, ranging from Hundred Refinement to Nine Revolutions. But when they worked together, they were able to unleash a blood giant with the power of a Spirit Ring True Person.


    But what if there were more of them?


    Tang Jie almost didn''t want to think about it.


    It was no wonder the Hemos were the number one race of the Blood River Domain. This was a race that could turn quantity into quality.


    The blood giant was still hammering away at Tang Jie, while Leto and the other Hemos cast various blood spell arts at Tang Jie from the rear. These blood spell arts were strange andplex. It was clear that it wasn''t just the blood giant that was powerful, though it seemed like Leto''s group was more skilled in blood morphing spell arts. As the blood giant pushed Tang Jie back, Leto''s groupughed, and the human captives could no longer bring themselves to watch.


    Bang!


    The blood giant punched again, causing Tang Jie to stagger back a few more steps. He had already switched to the Sovereign de, but the de''s ability to cut through all was useless against this being of blood. Even if the giant were sliced into eighteen pieces, the blood would easilye back together.


    But Tang Jie didn''t mind. He was just testing things out, wanting to see the effect of different spells and weapons on the blood giant. Hearing the smugughter of the Hemos, Tang Jie smiled and said, "So you guys don''t have anything else?"


    "Arrogant brat, this is enough to deal with you!" Leto shouted.


    "Is that so?" Tang Jie''s eyes shed.


    He put away his saber, and a ring of light began to expand from under his feet.


    The human captives began to shout. "A Spirit Ring True Person! He was a Spirit Ring True Person!"


    If this was a Spirit Ring True Person, then there was some hope of dealing with the ten-some Hemos, and the captives once more became expectant.


    But a momentter, the Spirit Ring turned the color of blood, rolling out like a crimson tide, its range far surpassing what a Spirit Ring could have. Everyone froze, and then they sighed. "It''s not a Spirit Ring."


    It wasn''t a Spirit Ring, so it was probably some kind of spell art.


    A powerful spell art alone would have a hard time dealing with the blood giant.


    But as they sighed, a shocking development urred.


    The ten-some Hemos suddenly screamed as if they had encountered the most terrifying thing in their lives. As they wailed and screamed, their bodies deformed under some immense pressure. Muscles were squashed, bones cracked, and blood gushed out.


    They wanted to run, but they couldn''t leave.


    A blood fog churned within the blood ring, each cloud seeming to weigh tons as they ground down the Hemos like countless millstones. Their blood gushed out, bing new clouds of blood and further strengthening the grinding power of the Flesh Millstone.


    In the very center of the blood ring, that blood giant was affected the most by the grinding power.


    Several dozen blood clouds flew around the blood giant, and with each go-around, they would send blood sshing into the ring. The blood giant crazily howled, trying to break free and stomp Tang Jie into a paste.


    But even though Tang Jie was right there, not even moving, the blood giant couldn''t take a step.


    That terrifying power tore its body apart, and every bit of blood drawn away could not be restored.


    This was its natural counter, a power that surpassed ice or fire, mercilessly sucking away at it.


    The blood giant seemed to realize that this was its end, throwing its head back and roaring in unwillingness, but under the power of the Flesh Millstone, it dropped to its knees.


    As the blood clouds came and went, the giant grew smaller and smaller, ultimately dissolving into the blood fog.


    But the Hemos had been crushed long before then, leaving behind only their remains.


    Tang Jie stood tall in the sea of blood, leaving the distant captives stunned.


    What power was this?


    They had never seen something like this, someone who could wipe out a powerful group of Hemos at the drop of a hat.


    Tang Jie called back the blood ring, and the clouds of blood flowed back into him. Tang Jie could sense that the Flesh Millstone had absorbed some of the blood energy of the Hemos and passed it on to him.


    This made his flesh stronger and made it so that the Flesh Millstone would be stronger when he used it again.


    This was exactly what made the Flesh Millstone so terrifying: not only did it kill the enemy, it could empower itself and its owner, allowing it to kill for longer periods of time.


    Tang Jie walked over to the human captives.


    He only now realized that these human captives were in a rather miserable state. Their Spirit Seas had been sealed, and special ropes had been threaded through their corbones, all this to render them unable to struggle or resist. Tang Jie could tell that the strongest of these people was only at Nine Revolutions. Even if they hadn''t been restrained, they were no match for those Hemos experts. For them to still be treated like this could only be due to the naturally cruel natures of the Hemos experts.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, breaking all the restraints, even restoring their Spirit Seas.


    Everyone came up to express their utmost gratitude.


    They had earlier believed that Tang Jie was doomed, but Tang Jie had unexpectedly turned the tables. It was hard to take all those twists and turns, and some of them dropped to their knees and began to weep.


    But that elder from before came over to Tang Jie and deeply bowed. "Young friend, thank you for rescuing us!"


    "It''s nothing. As humans, we need to look out for each other. Right, where do you alle from?"


    The elder smiled. "This old man''s name is Han Fei. Young friend, from your tone, you don''t seem like a native."


    Tang Jie nodded. "I truly do not understand the situation here. It seems like I said something wrong. Please instruct me on my errors."


    Han Fei hastily said, "I am happy to serve, young friend. Right, I have not asked you where you are from yet."


    After some thought, Tang Jie decided to be honest and admit that he wasn''t from the Blood River Domain.


    Although they had expected this, everyone was still stunned to hear that Tang Jie was from another domain, particrly because Tang Jie wasn''t at Immortal tform. To be able to cross domains at this stage was truly rare.


    To meet like this had to be destiny, and since Tang Jie had even saved their lives, none of them held anything against Tang Jie foring from another domain. The elder enthusiastically began to exin the Blood River Domain to him.


    The elder knew much more than Tutu.


    The Blood River Domain was immense, consisting of seven regions in all. The Blood River Domain was a ce where humans, fiends, and demons lived alongside each other, and the seven regions were ruled by these three. The "fiends" here referred to the Hemos, and the Hemos were led by the Lord of the Blood River. But the Lord of the Blood River was not a human, and it had no thoughts for ruling, only for seeking the Heavenly Dao. Thus, though it was honored as the Lord of All Fiends, it had never once concerned itself with their affairs. If it ever needed anything, it wouldn''t ask the fiends to do it, instead sending an avatar.


    The Hemos Race was the strongest in the Blood River Domain, and it currently ruled four regions, with everything to the north of the Blood River essentially belonging to the fiends.


    The southwest was currently ruled by the demons, who held two regions. Only one region in the southeast was where the humans gathered, and under the leadership of an Immortal tform Titan, they eked out a living.


    The scarlet ins Tang Jie was in was a ce to the south of the Blood River.


    This was a zone at the intersection of three regions, where war wasmonce. As a result, people usually didn''t live here, and various ver groups frequented the area.


    Tang Jie had run into a Hemos ver team, which caught humans to sell off as ves.


    "I understand." Tang Jie nodded. "The blood giants the Hemos can make are truly outstanding, able tobine the strength of so many people. Right, Elder Han, do you know if there''s a limit to this ability? If the blood of ten thousand Hemos was merged together, could they form an Immortal tform blood giant?" This question was Tang Jie''s greatest concern.


    If they could really create such a terrifying existence with enough people, then Tang Jie was going to stay as far away from them as possible.


    But his intuition told him that this wasn''t likely. If the Hemos were that amazing, there would have been no ce for the humans and demons to survive.


    Sure enough, Elder Han replied, "It''s not that bad. The Blood Shaping art of the Hemos has its limit. From what this old man knows, it can''t extend into Violet Pce."


    "''Can''t extend into Violet Pce''¡­ so peak Soul Transformation? That''s scary enough," Tang Jie said, wiping some sweat off his forehead.


    If the Hemos gathered enough people, they could send a whole pile of Soul Transformation blood giants, which would be a terror to deal with.


    And in terms of powerfulbat abilities, the Hemos probably didn''t have just this Blood Shaping art.


    In truth, the Blood Shaping art had its own disadvantages. Letting too much blood would weaken one''s spell arts, so Blood Shaping was a spell art that could only manifestbat power with sufficient numbers. In reality, it was only the lower echelons of the Hemos that used it. The upper echelons actually didn''t learn such spell arts. Their numbers were few, so they couldn''t possibly employ wave tactics. Thus, what they learned were the more powerful blood spell arts.


    Other than theirplete system of blood spell arts, the strongest aspect of the Hemos was that all their people cultivated.


    Perhaps because of the Blood River Domain''s unique environment, all the Hemos were born able to cultivate, and this was the key to their power. But their lower fertility restricted their development, which gave the humans and demons space to develop.


    Tang Jie had a much better grasp of the situation now, so he asked Han Fei, "I want to go to a market to buy some materials. What should I do?"


    Han Fei replied, "That would depend on what Young Sir needs."


    Tang Jie wrote down a list of what he needed, and the elder immediately frowned. "There are truly many precious materials here, and getting them won''t be easy."


    "Elder, please advise me on where I might find them."


    Han Fei closed his eyes for a while, and then he answered, "I''m afraid there might be only one ce that can satisfy Young Sir''s requirements, but that ce¡­ is dangerous!"

 Chapter 546: The City of Freedom

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Past the scarlet ins was an evenrger in, the Blood River Domain''s infamous in of ughter.


    Befitting the name, much ughter took ce on the in of ughter, mes of battle rising from all sides and the ground running with rivers of blood.


    Compared to the scarlet ins, the in of ughter had many more people and was much more rife withbat. Various powerful existences from three different directions, the three different factions, would converge on this ce every year like moths to the me, offering their blood and lives to expand the legend of the in of ughter.


    In the center of the in of ughter was an imposing city of immense size, the city even having its own rivers, valleys, and mountains. Arge river ran through the middle of the city, dividing it into north and south, and in its northeast corner was arge mountain range. At the highest point of the mountain range was a majestic tower.


    This city was the in of ughter''s famous City of Freedom.


    The City of Freedom was a unique existence in the Blood River Domain. It was said that the city was founded by an Immortal tform Titan, a pill refiner who had crossed over from another domain. They had wanted to find materials to refine pills, but they ended up getting swept up in the wars. In order to prevent being disturbed by battle, this Titan demarcated an area in the in of ughter and set up a free city. They encouraged merchants from all around to set up shop here and forbade fighting, thus establishing a peaceful ce in the in of ughter.


    As time went on, the city became a special ce in the Blood River Domain.


    And as all three sides had their needs and wanted a ce to trade for them, they gradually came to ept this ce''s existence.


    At the time, this ce was called the City of Peace.


    After getting the materials they wanted, that Titan left.


    Without anyone to control it, the City of Peace gradually returned to being a bloodstainednd.


    All the various goods incited countless killings and conflicts.


    Just when the City of Peace was about to be abandoned, another Titan appeared and salvaged this city on the verge of copse¡ªthe renowned me Celestial Sovereign.


    The me Celestial Sovereign was famous for being an extremely temperamental existence. In order to satisfy their lust for battle, they took a liking to thisnd rich in both ughter and wealth, so they established the Celestial me Arena.


    From then on, the City of Peace was utterly transformed.


    No longer was this a city established for trade between merchants. In a sh, it became a citypletely devoted to ughter.


    In this city, killing becamemonce, and peace was a thing of the past.


    Everyone was fighting here, killing and being killed, and all of it was crowned with the name of Freedom.


    Even though the nature of the City of Freedom had gone from trade tobat, its favorable location and many things that the city required still drew many merchants and customers. To ensure its flow of supply, this city of ughter established a system for protecting the merchants. This made it so that the City of Freedom was both and of ughter and also a gathering ce for the merchants from all three factions, making it the Blood River Domain''srgest marketce.


    One could find the best materials here, and also the best pill refiners and tool makers. Everything you could think of could be found here, so long as you could pay the price.


    After flying for three days, Tang Jie finally spotted that city looming in the distance.


    It was like some behemoth squatting on the ground, the city walls alone towering nearly one thousand feet. Such tall and sturdy walls naturally couldn''t have been made by mortal hands, but through the supreme might of the me Celestial Sovereign. If one looked carefully, one would notice that every part of this city had a strange light about it. To outsiders, these lights were simply the lights of the city, but when Tang Jie saw them, he knew that they represented a formation of enormous size.


    The formation covered all of the City of Freedom in its protective embrace, and even an Immortal tform Titan might not be able to break through it by force.


    The City of Freedom had 1080 gates in all, open to various directions, and above the city was an invisible defensive barrier that prevented all flight. Anyone who wanted to enter the city, whether human, fiend, or demon, cultivator or mortal, had toe in through a city gate.


    Tang Jiended several hundred meters away from the City of Freedom.


    He had barelynded when he heard a mor: "Don''t let him run!"


    Turning his head, he saw a group of Hemos chasing after a human.


    That human was desperately running to the gate, and just when he was about to reach it, the leader of the pursuing Hemos cast a blood arrow at the human''s back.


    Tang Jie slightly frowned and gave a light grunt.


    This grunt resounded in that person''s ear, causing him to tumble to the ground.


    The blood arrow shot over his back, and he rolled into the gate.


    The moment that human was through the gate, the pursuing Hemos started cursing. But for some reason, they seemed afraid and didn''t dare to go in.


    The City of Freedom had its rules. Anyone who entered the city would be protected by the City of Freedom, and anyone who dared to challenge the city''s rules would face death.


    By entering the city, that human gained the protection of the City of Freedom, and the Hemos did not dare to pursue him inside. Furious, they turned to Tang Jie, a savage glint in their eyes.


    But their leader stopped them. "Let him go."


    The in of ughter was awless ce, and surviving here required not just strength, but also sharp eyes.


    This man hade down from the sky, so he was clearly a cultivator, and he had shown no reaction to them chasing a human, a sign that he had some confidence in his power.


    It was better to not provoke this sort of person.


    Tang Jie ignored them and walked toward the gate.


    Upon entering the city, he saw that its streets were very lively.


    He could see the red-skinned Hemos, humans, and also demons, their bodies wreathed by ck energy. Whether they had been humans, fiends, or something else, once they became demons, they would always be surrounded by a lingering ck cloud. Some of the more extreme ones manifested in various bizarre fashions¡ªfor example, headless demons that carried their heads in their hands, death row prisoners who shambled around with shackles, and half-human half-spider demons. The world of demons was a bizarre ce that had everything and anything.


    All these bizarre creatures in another ce probably would have fought each other until rivers of blood flowed. But thanks to the powerful system of the City of Freedom, they were all getting along, and even energetically shopping in the marketce.


    Because of the Great Ster Chiliocosm, countless worlds had all once been administered by the same authority, which was why all the domains fortunately had amonnguage in addition to their ownnguage. The Rosecloud Domain, as one of the worlds that had preserved all of its heritage from High Antiquity, hadpletely retained thenguage and used none other than themonnguage. But in the Blood River Domain, localnguage mixed with themonnguage, and there were even various dialects. But at least one could still say thatmunication wasn''t a problem.


    Because of this, the City of Freedom seemed particrly lively, as everyone was hawking their wares, using variousnguages to haggle. If one didn''t know the truth, one really might take this ce to be some popr marketce. Only when one went deeper would one discover that every item up for sale had a bloodsoaked history.


    Tang Jie hade here for the materials to repair his teleportation formation.


    He browsed as he walked.


    Suddenly, a voice rang out behind him. "Please wait!"


    Turning his head, he saw that man who had been chased earlier running over. He bowed to Tang Jie and said, "Sir, thank you for saving my life."


    Tang Jie looked at the man and said, "It was nothing."


    He turned and left.


    When the man heard this, he was ecstatic. He wasn''t actually sure that Tang Jie was the one who had saved him, but that grunt hade at just the right time and saved his life, so he knew that the chances were good that someone had intervened. And besides himself, only Tang Jie had entered the city, so that man instinctively guessed that his savior was Tang Jie. He came forward to express his thanks, as there would be no harm done if he guessed incorrectly. But if he did guess right, he could use this chance to get closer to Tang Jie.


    It had to be understood that knowing how to make friends was key to surviving in this world. Just like how Tang Jie had relied on Wei Tianchong to enter the academy, the man also wanted to get in Tang Jie''s good graces.


    The man hastily approached and said, "This lowly one is Li Bofeng. I am endlessly grateful to Sir for saving me. If Sir does not mind, this lowly one is willing to serve you until the end of his life!"


    Tang Jie nced back at Li Bofeng. "Interesting."


    He had said this because he could naturally tell what Li Bofeng was thinking.


    To seize this limited opportunity in such a short amount of time and attempt to ingratiate himself to Tang Jie, Li Bofeng was clearly a very sharp person. And it just so happened that Tang Jie was a neer. While Han Fei had exined some things to him, he was ultimately still unfamiliar with the area and needed someone to help him. Thus, after some thought, he asked, "Do you know a lot about the City of Freedom?"


    Li Bofeng could tell that there was a chance, and he happily said, "This lowly one has spent a long time in the City of Freedom, and there is nothing here that this lowly one does not know about."


    "Then why were you being chased by those people?"


    "Hah, what else could it be except for the sake of making a little money?" Li Bofeng helplessly said.


    Many goods were being exchanged within the City of Freedom every day, and numerous merchant caravans came and went. The merchants were protected in the city from being killed, but its authority did not reach beyond the walls. Wicked bandits were always wandering about the in of ughter, seeking out targets of opportunity. The caravans naturally weren''t willing to be robbed, so they sought bodyguards to escort them. Thus, the roads leading to the City of Freedom also brimmed with blood and death.


    Li Bofeng was just one of those unfortunate souls. He had taken an escort mission, but the caravan hade under attack by the Hemos, and everyone had scattered, fleeing in separate directions with the goods. As everyone had Mustard Seed Bags, the caravans here were different from normal ones. They could be divided into two types: wagon caravans and Mustard Seed Bag caravans. Wagons were used to transport goods that wererge in quantity and cheap in value while Mustard Seed Bags were used to carry valuable goods that were few in quantity.


    Upon encountering powerful opposition, everyone immediately split up and headed toward the city. This wasmonce for escorts, and it was why Li Bofeng had been chased by those Hemos. If he wanted to survive. he could just throw over his Mustard Seed Bag, but he was very dutiful and insisted on running all the way to the city.


    Entering the city essentiallypleted his mission. He simply needed to hand over the goods to the designated merchant.


    Tang Jie inspected Li Bofeng. This man was a Cognitive Creation Spirit Master, so his cultivation level was passable. After some thought, he asked, "Then how much can you make on a single trip?"


    Li Bofeng replied, "A round trip is eight days, and if nothing bad happens, I can get four hundred ckstone coins. But now that something has happened, I can only get half, s."


    "''ckstone coins''?" Tang Jie was surprised. "This ce doesn''t use spirit jades to trade? What are ckstone coins?"


    Li Bofeng replied, "Spirit jades are primarily used in the human region, but they don''t ept them here. The transactions in the City of Freedom must all be done in ckstone coins, which are this ce''s exclusive currency."


    Tang Jie frowned. He didn''t have any ckstone coins.


    Li Bofeng saw that Tang Jie was in a tough spot, so he smiled and said, "Sir, is this your first time here? I''m on the way to hand in my goods, so once I receive my money, I can give some to Sir in repayment for saving my life."


    "There''s no need. I just need you to tell me how I can make ckstone coins."


    "Sir needs only to ask, and I will tell you everything I know. Right, I have yet to ask for Sir''s name."


    "''Tang Jie''."


    Li Bofeng began to exin.


    There were generally three ways of making ckstone coins. The first was running a business. The City of Freedom was the Blood River Domain''srgestmercial zone, and various goods from the three factions would all be sent here. Given the dangers of transporting the goods, the profits were huge. An object transported from the human region would often sell for ten to twenty times the original price here. The second was to work for someone. Li Bofeng was such a person, taking up part-time jobs for money. ckstone coins had somewhat more useful value than spirit coins, and so the exchange rate was one ckstone coin to five spirit coins. Of course, this would change depending on the goods being bought. The third way of making money was the Celestial me Arena.


    In truth, this was the real draw.


    Every year, numerous heroic individuals woulde to the Celestial me Arena to battle it out. Meanwhile, those bigshots with money and no ce to spend it woulde to spectate the battles.


    The arena was itself a ce to spend tons of money. Every fight would sellrge numbers of tickets, with the price dependent on the poprity of the bout. For this reason, anyone who participated in a fight, whether they won or lost, could get some money. It was just that the loser earned less while the winner earned more. Of course, the loser also had to bear the risk of death.


    The spectators preferred their battles to be on the bloody side.


    Thus, the one who fought the most ruthlessly was often the most popr.


    "Anyone can go?" Tang Jie had heard about the Celestial me Arena before, but the old man had given few details, limiting his understanding. He was even more interested now that he was hearing more about it.


    "Yes, anyone can apply," Li Bofeng replied. "But everyone usually has to start with a melee, and there''s an admission fee of ten ckstone coins. Only by surviving the melee can you prove your strength and gain the right to participate in the one-on-one battles. Every duel allows spectators to vote, and when your support reaches a certain level, you can enter the special tournament. Only people who can enter the special tournament have a chance at extravagant rewards, some of which could even tempt Violet Pce cultivators."


    "They don''t care about cultivation level?"


    "The Celestial me Arena cares only about strength, not cultivation level. On the contrary, a gap in cultivation is more liable to excite the crowd and throw some uncertainty into the mix. If you''re confident enough, you can challenge someone above your cultivation level. Of course, those of lower cultivation level or ranking have the right to refuse challenges from those of higher cultivation level or ranking."


    "Then what''s the highest cultivation level in the Celestial me Arena at the moment?"


    "Soul Transformation. The masters of the Violet Pce Realm normally don''t participate in the fights."


    Tang Jie nodded. Existences of the Violet Pce Realm didn''t need to rely on fighting to make money. This sort of thing would only get people tough so hard that their teeth fell out.


    "I see." Tang Jie nodded. "It all sounds rather interesting."


    "Sir, you aren''t thinking of going to the arena, are you? You must be careful. That''s where blood flows in the City of Freedom, and countless heroes have died there. Nobody can guarantee that they can win forever, and even losing once could mean losing it all!"


    "I know, but it still draws many people to participate, right?"


    Li Bofeng sighed. "The rewards are just too tempting."


    Thepetitors of the Celestial me Arena had their own strength ranking, and anyone who could squeeze their way onto the ranking couldmand a high price. Every time they appeared, they would generate a lot of money.


    The resources gained with this money could make anyone else turn green from envy.


    If one wanted to make it farther and faster along the Immortal path, this money was necessary.


    Tang Jie was able to attain True Personhood in only twenty-some years primarily because of the resources he had gone to such great lengths to obtain.


    It all started with using the Wei n, and then it was conspiring to take resources from Godhead Pce, and after that, there was Apricot Pavilion, the Valley of No Return, Old Crow Ridge, the Langya Blessed Land, the Stone Gate Sect, the Water Moon Paradise, and then that frenzied crime spree in Nadir Hill. By seizing every opportunity and taking everything he could, he was able to reach his current level of strength.


    But even so, the distance he had been able to cover on this Immortal path was extremely limited.


    In the future, there would be a longer and even more distant path waiting for him to climb, confront, and conquer.


    In these circumstances, the Celestial me Arena wasn''t looking too bad.


    In this battleground where the best of the domain gathered, there were countless battles, endless apuse and glory, and uncountable rewards and resources.


    Even Tang Jie couldn''t help but be interested.


    Of course, he couldn''t immediately make his decision. He first needed to observe the situation and make an analysis of the danger versus the rewards, and then he could make his decision. Before then, he would have to rely on Li Bofeng for his living expenses.

 Chapter 547: Hundred-Man Melee

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Time went by quickly, and Tang Jie had soon spent half a month in the City of Freedom.


    In this half a month, he had done nothing except focus on understanding the City of Freedom. Li Bofeng gave him some ckstone coins, and once he had gotten a grasp on the market, Tang Jie had sold some of the materials he had brought with him. These materials from the Rosecloud Domain were not easy to find in the Blood River Domain, and Tang Jie didn''t know what he might need in the future, so he was only willing to sell whatever he had extra of.


    As these materials were hard toe by, he was able to fetch a good price for them in the City of Freedom. But as Tang Jie also needed materials, he spent most of the money on them. Of the 42 missing materials, he managed to find 31. The remaining 11 were somewhat more difficult to find, so he could only wait.


    After buying the materials, he had little money left, barely enough to eat and drink in the money sink that was the City of Freedom. As for finding a good ce to cultivate, that simply wasn''t possible.


    "The City of Freedom¡­ Is this how it forces people to the arena?" Standing next to a window, Tang Jie yed around with a ckstone coin, his eyes fixed on a giant domed structure in the distance.


    This was the Celestial me Arena. It was in the center of the city and was a city within a city.


    Every day, countless people rushed into the arena to fight for their lives, and countless people also came to spectate their battles.


    Cultivators who should have beenprehending the Dao were now fighting for resources in this ce, the Immortal demeanor torn to shreds like a suit of clothes. In this unpredictable world where one didn''t know whether they would live to see the next morning, cultivators were diators who had to kill their way to the future.


    Tang Jie naturally hadn''t reached this stage yet, but there was no harm in preparing for a rainy day, as this time woulde eventually. Most importantly, if he wanted to get the rest of his materials, he needed sufficient resources.


    "Big Brother, are you going to participate?" Yiyi asked with wide eyes.


    "Of course," Tang Jie replied.


    It wasn''t like he had been wasting this half a month. He had primarily been measuring the strength and cruelty of the Celestial me Arena, and frequent visits to the arena had been one of the reasons his money had run out so quickly.


    After being a spectator for half a month, Tang Jie was finally bored of the performance and had decided to personally take the stage.


    He was going to get everything he needed here!


    "Tomorrow, we''re going to the arena!" Tang Jie clenched the ckstone coin in his hand, gradually deforming it through his sheer power.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    The next morning, Tang Jie went to the arena to enter his name.


    ording to the rules of the arena, a cultivator''s first bout was in a melee. Only the survivors of the melee were allowed to officially enter the arena.


    Every cultivator participating in the arena would get a jade tablet that recorded their battle record, and the arena arranged matches ording to this tablet.


    The Celestial me Arena was veryrge, and while it was called an arena, it was more like a city. The Arena actually contained 32 arenas, and even the smallest could hold one hundred thousand spectators.


    Tang Jie was heading toward this smallest arena.


    Even though it was the smallest, there was still a sea of spectators. Hemos, demons, and humans were all seated together, here to cheer for their respective races.


    The rtionship between the three factions made them treat the arena like another kind of battle that would continue their history of grudges and conflict.


    Thus, when Tang Jie arrived, he was immediately greeted by the roaring of the crowd.


    Even though he had also been to this arena before and watched the matches, this was his first time in the ring.


    Different perspectives made forpletely different experiences.


    "This really does get the blood pumping," Tang Jie muttered.


    He had always been a cool-headed person, but in the middle of this crowd, he couldn''t help but get a little passionate.


    "Let the blood pump. In any case, it''ll be going cold very soon," a voice said from nearby.


    Tang Jie raised his head and saw a male demon, his entire body wreathed in ck energy, speaking in a deep voice. His body was bulging with muscle, and his red eyes radiated an intense desire to kill. There was a horn growing from the top of his head, indicating that this was a fiend who had be a demon.


    A Transformation fiend turned demon!


    "The same to you, One Horn," a somewhat pale Hemos youth suddenly remarked from a corner. He had a curved knife in his hand, which he was using to trim his nails.


    The demon nced at the Hemos youth and snorted, "White Eyes, let''s meet in the arena and see who kills whom."


    These two seemed to have known each other for some time. They red at each other before falling silent.


    There were one hundred people in the waiting area.


    Everyone quietly waited for the ughter tomence.


    Finally.


    The gates creaked open.


    A ray of light shot in, together with a cacophony of roaring and cheering.


    Thepetitors filed into the arena. There was still blood and flesh in the arena, signaling that bloody battles had recently taken ce here.


    The arena was surrounded by a crystalline wall of light.


    This was arge-scale protective formation that separated thepetitors from the audience, ensuring that the battle didn''t harm the spectators. The formation was so strong that even a Violet Pce expert might not be able to break it.


    Once the one hundred fighters had entered, a high-pitched voice rang out.


    "Next, the time hase once more for everyone''s favorite hundred-man melee. In this melee, several excellent fighters are participating, and everyone will soon see a feast of murder of a very high level¡­"


    The spectators booed and jeered. It was clear that they were bored by the host''s introductions.


    "¡­So, the rules are that there are no limits to the methods used in the hundred-man melee, and everything you can use is considered a part of your power and is allowed. Only the ten who survive to the end gain the right to advance."


    The low-ss arenas were different from the high-ss arenas. There were no prize fighters here, and the strength was on the low side, but the deaths and injury here exceeded those of the high-ss arenas. This ce still relied on blood, ughter, and death to draw spectators, not profound strength and exquisite technique.


    This was why the low-ss arenas had a higher death rate than high-ss arenas.


    Manpower was easier to obtain and worth less.


    Of one hundred participants, only ten could advance, meaning a 10% chance of survival.


    And the most ridiculous part was that the reward was only ten ckstone coins. This number callously mocked the worthlessness of life.


    Even so, cultivators still threw themselves into this arena like moths to the me.


    For as one was promoted to higher-ss arenas, the rewards one could obtain rapidly soared in value, with the prizes reaching a terrifying value the further one went. It was so lucrative that people were willing to go for it even if the chances were minuscule.


    The fighters had already taken up their positions on their tforms, which were separated from each other by several hundred feet, but for cultivators, this distance was still too small. The battleground enclosed by the defensive formation was like a giant cage, locking up one hundred wild beasts that were ring at each other with eyes full of bloodlust.


    As the host said, "Begin!", the screen of lights around the tforms disappeared, and as thest restriction vanished, all the fighters jumped down from their tforms.


    They bellowed as they charged at their nearest opponents, lights of various hues shining in their hands.


    The ughter had begun!


    Tang Jie''s position was in the middle, which wasn''t too great. He not only had to watch out for enemies to his rear, but also his left, right, and front.


    The moment the battle began, Tang Jie rapidly retreated.


    Several spell arts mmed into the empty ground in front of him¡ªat least three fighters had chosen him.


    Do I look that weak?


    Tang Jie was rather speechless.


    As he flew back, he produced a shining sword.


    The Rainfrost Sword!


    He had obtained many precious swords from Nadir Hill''s Peerless Sword Pavilion, and while most of them had been merged into the Sovereign de, he had left behind ten ultimate-grade art relic swords and three divine treasure swords.


    The one he was using was one of these ultimate-grade art relics. He didn''t use the Sovereign de, for with so many spectators around, he just couldn''t bring himself to use his strongest card.


    Because of the Divine Court Thousandshift, Tang Jie was actually very proficient with the sword and showed no signs of awkwardness.


    He casually waved the sword, sending a wave of energy at arge demonic man who was lunging at him.


    The demon didn''t even try to dodge, charging straight at Tang Jie. The sword energy struck the man, but it only left a faint white imprint.


    Such a tough body.


    Even though he had long known that demons had always excelled at body refining, Tang Jie still couldn''t help but sigh in praise when he saw that an attack carrying 20% of his power had been so easily blocked.


    The man savagelyughed, a dark cloud covering hisrge hand as he shouted, "Die, brat!"


    Tang Jie smirked as he lightly pped the Rainfrost Sword. "Don''t go and disgrace your reputation as an ultimate-grade art relic."


    As he spoke, a bright hum came from the Rainfrost Sword, and then the phantom of a child emerged from the sword.


    A sword spirit!


    This would only appear when a sword soul reached a certain level ofpletion. No longer was it some indistinct will, instead possessing a more defined form.


    Tang Jie hadn''t just randomly chosen the thirteen swords he had kept. Each one was the best of the best, and a sword spirit was the basic attribute of this kind of item. It was precisely because they were too rare that Tang Jie had kept the swords, having been unwilling to break them down.


    As the sword spirit appeared, Tang Jie thrust the sword forward. As the Rainfrost Sword flew at the demon man, it transformed into countless sword phantoms. This was the special property of the Rainfrost Sword, the ability to turn one attack into hundreds. Even though every attack was weakened because of this, the sheer quantity could multiply the power of the attack by ten in the most favorable of situations. It had its own excellent uses whether it was in duels or in group battles.


    Thatrge man was very experienced, and he knew he was in trouble the instant he heard that hum. With a roar, the ck energy around him condensed into tough ck armor, and an aura of light enclosed him.


    He was a body refiner, possessing a steely demon body, and with the addition of demon armor and a spell barrier, he was wrapped tightly inyers of defense. Heughed and said, "You can''t hurt me!"


    Sword energy mmed into the man''s barrier, the hundreds of sword phantoms battering at the barrier like a deluge. In one strike, the barrier was shattered, and the remaining sword phantoms attacked the ck armor. ck powder rose into the air, those protective scales being pulverized by the sword energy.


    Therge man was blown back by the impact, but the remaining sword phantoms continued to rush at him, mming into his body and turning his tough demon body into a sieve.


    Blood gushed out.


    With one attack, the demon man''s severalyers of defense were all destroyed, and his body now sported several dozen holes.


    That sword spirit turned to Tang Jie and smiled before returning to the sword.


    After killing therge man, Tang Jie was in no rush to keep attacking. He moved about the crowd, only killing others if they attacked first.


    As far as he was concerned, he didn''t need to kill too many people in this qualification match, only survive until ten people were left.


    There was also another important reason: he was absorbing the battlefield''s blood energy.


    The blood energy was key to strengthening the Flesh Millstone.


    While the Flesh Millstone seemed very powerful, it actually still had a lot of room for improvement.


    Before, Tang Jie''s strongest attack was his saber intent, but now that the Flesh Millstone had appeared, the saber intent had fallen to second ce.


    It wasn''t that the saber intent was weaker than the Flesh Millstone. It was just that the saber intent also had tiers of strength, and Tang Jie was only at minor attainment at best.


    Improving the saber intent required enlightenment, whereas the Flesh Millstone only required blood energy.


    While the saber intent might have been stronger in terms of power, the Flesh Millstone was easier to improve.


    Thus, Tang Jie seized every possible opportunity to improve the Flesh Millstone.


    In addition, he was also using this ce to advance his understanding of ughter and Destruction.


    This ce was currently a sea of raging blood.


    Cultivators¡ªhuman, Hemos, and demon¡ªwere killing each other all over the ce.


    As the hundred-man melee was a qualification match, the strength of the fighters was uneven. It was verymon for the weak to be killed at the start while the strong did as they pleased.


    Thus, the killing in the melee seemed very carefree, and it was easy to distinguish between the strong and weak.


    In this melee, the Hemos and demons still had the upper hand. These two factions had more participants, and they were generally stronger.


    For example, that demon man that Tang Jie had killed, while not as strong as Tang Jie, had clearly been no weakling. But there were many like him among the one hundred. Of these, the most conspicuous were that demon man called One Horn and that Hemos youth called White Eyes.


    Besides that, there was also a demon man built like a bull who appeared to have been a human before demonification, a Hemos woman, and a human man wielding a giant sword.


    That human man with the giant sword was being attacked by two Hemos and a demon, but he didn''t seem disadvantaged in the slightest. Not only that, he even had time to help out other humans, saying as he fought, "Let''s group up and finish off these Hemos and demons first!"


    Under his banner, several human participants really dide together to fight alongside him. A battle where everyone had been mostly on their own was trending toward a group battle.


    But One Horn and White Eyes showed clear disdain at these actions, and even Tang Jie could only shake his head.


    He knew that there was no meaning behind this.


    Sure enough, a momentter, a mighty roar resounded through the arena.


    Everyone was shaken by this roar, but the crowd erupted in cheers.


    One of the gates leading into the arena opened, and a huge Fire Bull appeared behind it.


    As it appeared, the earth quaked as if the Fire Bull shifting around could make the arena copse. Of course, this was impossible. Every arena was protected by a formation, so this quake seemed intentional so as to excite the crowd.


    Thepetitors spotted the Fire Bull and began to cry out, "Primal beast! A primal beast!"


    Not everypetitor had studied the contents of the melee beforehand. Thus, quite a few of them didn''t know that this was amon sight in the hundred-man melee: releasing a primal beast.


    The release of the primal beast was for sowing chaos.


    The chaos made the killing more random and the circumstances more violent, cruel, and exciting.


    If the spectators wanted to see group fighting, they would naturally go to the arenas where there was group fighting, with no need for thepetitors themselves to organize it. Since this was a melee, it should be a melee to the end.


    Even those of the same race needed to fight against each other!


    "Mooo!" The Fire Bull bellowed and charged at the crowd.


    Its enormous body was like a small mountain, brutally crushing people in its way.


    This had to at least be a Level 8 primal beast.


    ording to the divisions of the Blood River Domain, a Level 8 primal beast was equivalent to a Heart Demon True Person.


    Countless spell arts flew through the air in an attempt to stop this berserk beast from getting closer, but they were only able to do limited damage to the Fire Bull. Meanwhile, the pain provoked the Fire Bull, making it even angrier and causing it to charge with even greater force.


    Boom!


    The Fire Bull rushed into the center of the arena in a sh, and a Hemospetitor who couldn''t evade in time was directly struck. The sharp horns rammed into him, shattering his barrier and throwing him into the air, and the hooves pummeled his body. The Hemos expert reacted quickly, spitting out some blood that formed a barrier around him right before the hooves stomped down. A momentter, as the hooves came down, the blood barrier crumpled and shattered like it was an egg. As the barrier broke, the Hemos suddenly elerated, turning into a cloud of blood, which finally allowed him to get away. His body reformed, and then he sighed in relief. But a momentter, a saber swept across his neck, and his head went flying into the air.


    A demon had cut off his head.


    The team formed by the human with the giant sword was also scattered.


    Nobody could effectively form teams while the Fire Bull was rampaging. Most importantly, the others wouldn''t give them this chance.


    The ughter continued!


    Regardless of how the Fire Bull ran amok, thepetitors all understood that otherpetitors were the target, not the Fire Bull.


    Rather than wasting time on the extremely tough Fire Bull primal beast, it was better to avoid the Fire Bull and attack the others.


    This was the key reason the Fire Bull was able to unt its power in the arena.


    Whoosh!


    The Fire Bull spat out a fierce me.


    Amid the zing mes, thepetitors continued to tear away at each other.


    Strength was the key to surviving in this chaotic battle.


    As the weaklings died off, finally, only ten of the one hundred were left. The host blew a whistle, signaling the end of this massacre.


    As expected, the demon spear-wielder One Horn, the knife-wielding Hemos White Eye, the bull-like demon man, the bewitching Hemos maiden, and the human male with the giant sword had all survived.


    Naturally, Tang Jie was also one of the ten.


    Butpared to the others, he was rather inconspicuous. Other than that first rather dazzling sword strike, he was mostly considered to be a slippery character.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but grumble to himself, I didn''t even use the Chaoswind Step, so how can I be called ''slippery''?

 Chapter 548: Entering the Dao

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    A me symbol on the jade tablet lit up, indicating that Tang Jie had officially passed the Celestial me Arena''s qualification test.


    At this time, he was considered an officialpetitor, possessing the most basic of levels.


    The Celestial me Arena did not have cultivation level divisions, only arena levels.


    Passing the hundred-man melee conferred the most basic level of Celestial me Warrior.


    Winning ten matches made one a Blood Hand, winning one hundred matches made one an Asura, and winning one thousand matches made one a God Killer.


    Starting from Celestial me Warrior, one''s appearance fees would officially start to rise.


    For Warriors, the loser would get ten ckstone coins. The winner would obtain one hundred ckstone coins, which was doubled if they killed their opponent.


    For Blood Hands, the loser got one hundred coins, and the winner would obtain one thousand, doubled for a kill.


    Asuras got one thousand for losing and could get ten thousand for winning, doubled for a kill.


    The God Killers got ten thousand for losing and one hundred thousand for winning, doubled for a kill.


    And this was only the basic price. Fighters that were particrly popr couldmand higher prices.


    In order to draw more people to participate in the arena, excluding the qualification match where the weak were ughtered by the strong, the official matches allowed the loser the chance to survive by surrendering. But at the same time, it offered a high price to the winner for striking with lethality and not giving the loser the chance to concede. Through this method, it made the matches more exciting.


    As passing the qualification match only gave ten ckstone coins, after passing, Tang Jie chose to directly take part in a Warrior match.


    The Warrior match was the basic match, and it was mostly where Mortal Shedding cultivators gathered. Although the asional Celestial Heart cultivator made their way in, it mostly consisted of neers who needed to work their way up from the bottom.


    In his first Warrior bout, Tang Jie ran into a Nine Revolutions Hemos.


    Tang Jie immediately used the Rainfrost Sword to obliterate them.


    The opponents would be easy to deal with, but the stage felt a little small and restrictive.


    But everything would be fine once he became a Blood Hand.


    The size of the arena stage depended on the level. The higher the level, therger the arena.


    If a God Killer wanted to fight, a stage would have a radius of several kilometers, or why else would the arena cover such a vast area? If the individual stages were big, the overall arena couldn''t be small.


    As for the seats, those didn''t actually take up much space.


    Being able to seat ten million people didn''t mean that the arena had to seat ten million people.


    The door prices of ten thousand weren''t something to shrug off, and seating just one thousand people meant revenue of ten million. It was almost impossible to make a loss.


    While the arena was big, it was made through spell arts and cost barely anything. Other than the fees for God Killers, thergest expense was maintaining the formation.


    One could say that this enterprise was quite profitable.


    Tang Jie left with two hundred ckstone coins.


    It wasn''t that he couldn''t keep fighting, but this arena was a ce of no mercy and one could lose their life in a fight at any time. Even someone of divine might couldn''t be so brazen as to take part in fight after after fight. While that would bring them attention and boost their value, it was also easy for them to be targeted, perhaps even ambushed from the shadows.


    No one could win forever on the battlefield. Excessive arrogance was suicidal!


    This was why very rarely did people fight many matches on the same day, participating in three at most.


    Upon returning to the inn, Tang Jie immediately meditated and rested. As his hands began to form signs, ck tendrils of energy appeared.


    This was the Dao of ughter that he hadprehended.


    He was participating in the arena both for resources and to use this chance toprehend the Daos of ughter and Destruction.


    ughter and Destruction were the two of the 12 Great Daos that Tang Jie had found the most difficult toprehend. If it weren''t for that Dao Will that He Changan had allowed him toprehend, he might still be stuck. Even so, he only had a basic grasp, far from any great enlightenment, and even farther from entering the Dao.


    One of the main reasons for this was that the Rosecloud Domain he came from was a world of order.


    In a world of order, all was under the rule ofw, and killing as one pleased was forbidden. Even cultivators were restrained.


    But everything was different in the Blood River Domain.


    Life here was worthless, and ughter was king. In this bloody and cruel environment,prehending ughter and Destruction was much easier.


    This was precisely why Tang Jie was making good use of this opportunity, hoping toprehend ughter and Destruction, perhaps even enter their Daos.


    Of course, he had only just begun his path of ughter, and his understanding of it still remained at the most basic level, with limited progress.


    He quickly awoke from his meditation. He knew that further meditation was useless without deeper understanding.


    Sighing, he stopped forcing it and proceeded to take out the statue of a woman.


    This was the statue he had obtained from the underground pce. The woman depicted wore a veil obscuring her face, giving the statue an aura of mystery. Upon seeing the statue, Tang Jie immediately recognized it for what it was.


    The Dream Pearl Lady.


    Yes, the woman depicted by the statue was none other than the woman from the Dream Pearl Lady painting.


    Compared to the painting, the statue was more three-dimensional, tactile, and also more mysterious. It quietly stood there, face veiled, one finger pointing at the heavens and one finger sweeping across the earth in a most profound gesture.


    Tang Jie was confident that this item, as something ced together next to the Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill, definitely had its own value. s, even though he had fiddled around with this statue many times in search of some mechanism, he had yet to uncover its mysteries.


    As time went on, he developed a daily habit of inspecting this statue.


    After inspecting the statue and finding nothing new, he put it back and then took out the sheath and hilt of the Immeasurable Sword. There had to be something unusual about these items for the Lord of the Blood River to value them so much.


    While he was clueless about the statue, Tang Jie had some understanding of the Immeasurable Sword. Considering the Immeasurable Sword''s powerful bloodsucking attribute and the Blood River Lord''s focus and need for essence blood, Tang Jie guessed that the Immeasurable Sword was connected to this. Unfortunately, Tang Jie didn''t know more than this, and after messing around with the sheath and hilt for a while to no avail, he gave up.


    Starting from this day, Tang Jie embarked on his fighting career.


    ughter was brutal and bloody, and even though Tang Jie tried to control it, just by living in this cruel world, many things would change against one''s will.


    After spending a long time immersed in the stench of death, flitting between the poles of life and death, Tang Jie finally reached enlightenment.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    "Life and death!"


    With this cry¡­


    Bzzzt!!!


    Eyes shed with light.


    Those were profound and majestic eyes. In the world within those eyes, sun and moon interchanged; Yin and Yang shifted.


    The sun rose and fell, the silver mooning in and out.


    Suddenly, for a brief moment, the sun and moon froze, both of them upying the same world for a period of time.


    The bridge of the nose was like a celestial bridge that divided the heavens, upon which the sun and moon were suspended.


    Seated in front of the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, Tang Jie''s original body raised its head.


    A momentter, the sun and moon transformed into a beam of light and flew into the air, where it transformed into a Dao Rune.


    Tang Jie extended his hand, and the Dao Rune fell upon it and disappeared.


    At the same time, Tang Jie saw a faint Dao Rune appear on his knuckle, as if it had been carved into his bone. This was the Dao Rune from before, but it had now manifested on Tang Jie''s body.


    Entering the Dao!


    Yes, this was entering the Dao. It seemed simple, but the process was immense andplicated.


    Only when one hadprehended a Dao Will deeply enough could one carve it into the bones.


    Only when the Dao Runes were carved into the bones could one enter the Dao!


    Ifprehending the Dao was the process of one''s mind entering the Dao, then entering the Dao was the body entering the Dao, and the manifestation of sess was the Dao Body!


    The Dao Rune being carved into his bones was a sign that Tang Jie had entered the Dao, and the power represented by this Dao was no longer simpleprehension, but a fusion with his flesh.


    This was no easy task.


    The tempering of the Dao Rune, fromprehending to using, from theory to practical execution, was a process of adapting the physical body to the Great Dao! And the Dao that Tang Jie wasprehending was one of the 12 Great Daos. Each Dao Rune epassed countless profound principles.


    The Dao of Yin Yang alone represented all dualistic things¡ªTruth and Fiction, Reality and Illusion, ck and White, Yin and Yang, Heaven and Earth. Each pairing represented a different aspect, and to carve this Dao Rune into one''s bones required understanding all of them to a certain level.


    This was why carving a Dao Rune represented an immense challenge and trial. Even with the help of the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, Tang Jie had always been stuck at thatst step.


    He hadn''t expected thatst insight toe from his avatar''s killing spree in the arena. Through theprehension of Life and Death, he had experienced a breakthrough, allowing the Dao of Yin Yang to move ahead of Insight and be the first to have a Dao Rune carved into his body.


    This didn''t mean that he was done entering the Dao. On the contrary, the process was just getting started.


    Entering the Dao was a threshold, and it was also a process.


    Dao Runes were infinite, principles as innumerable as the sands of a river.


    One Dao Rune wasn''t even enough to make aplete Dao Will.


    Thus, entering the Dao was just like cultivation. Just like how cultivators needed a long process to gather up spiritual energy, drop by drop, Dao Runes needed to be carved one by one. While carving a single Dao Rune was considered to be entering the Dao, it was only at the most basic level. It was worlds away from greater attainment in entering the Dao.


    The Dao of Yin Yang''s rune had been carved, and now came the process of endlesspletion.


    Just like how a Spirit Spring turned into a Spirit Lake and then a Spirit Sea, Dao Runes required more and more as one moved through the stages. The first Dao Rune was the most difficult to carve, but while one would grow more proficient with the process, one would also need to carve more and more Dao Runes. It was only when the entirety of the Great Dao of Yin Yang had been carved into the body that one could be said to have aplete Dao Body and have reached greater attainment in entering the Dao.


    But it was easier said than done.


    Thankfully, he had the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, which, through the infinite might of the Titans of the Court of Myriad Domains, had the entirety of the Daos of Yin Yang and Five Elements carved onto its surface.


    Even like this, copying all the Dao Wills onto his body would take hundreds, if not thousands, of years.


    But this was fine. Tang Jie had time.


    One who cultivated the Parting ssic was alwayscking in resources and rich with time.


    The only pity was that the original body entering the Dao had nothing to do with the avatar.


    Comprehending the Dao was a process of knowing and understanding. As one soul sharing two bodies, Tang Jie couldprehend the Dao with one body and have the other body alsoprehend the Dao. But entering the Dao involved the physical body. While the original body could experience entering the Dao, the avatar could not enjoy any of it.


    Of course, the avatar was able topletely grasp the process ofprehending and tempering the Dao Will through the original body, so the avatar could repeat the process, though theplex and time-consuming nature of the process was unavoidable.


    This was like how Cang Qingfeng understood all the spell arts he had previously learned but still had to cultivate them all over again with each rebirth. Of course, because he was already familiar with them, he could avoid all the pitfalls and cultivate them more efficiently.


    Still, this was something to be envious of. For two bodies to benefit from a single insight was extremely rare, even in the Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    This was the case not because Tang Jie had created an avatar, but because Tang Jie had gotten this physical avatar so early and had used it as a substitute for himself in the world. The original body had relied on the Martial Lord''s resources to cultivate, but the avatar had to rely on itself to improve, and it was only through countless experiences that it had managed to reach its current state.


    Even a Violet Pce avatar would have limited power when it was newborn. If it went out and about and ran into a mishap, it would be done for.


    This was exactly why an avatar like Tang Jie''s, which was created at an early time and raised to this stage, was almost unique.


    But the avatar was currently busy on the killing fields, focusing entirely onprehending ughter and Destruction, with no time to temper Yin Yang. Right now, each side was busy with their own work, and the original body had managed to get ahead and enter the Dao first thanks to the Myriad Immortals Cauldron.


    Once Tang Jie seeded in entering the Dao, he opened his eyes and looked at Xu Miaoran.


    Xu Miaoran immediately felt dizzy upon looking into his eyes, as if countless worlds had flitted past her, but she almost instantly regained herposure. After a momentary daze, she realized and asked, "You seeded?"


    Tang Jie nodded. "I managed toplete it once."


    "Wonderful!" Xu Miaoran jumped up and ran toward Tang Jie.


    Entering the Dao for the first time was the most difficult, but when one seeded, it would mean that one had made it past a dividing line and had entered a new world. Although Tang Jie was just a babbling babe in this world, his future contained infinite potential.


    Hugging Tang Jie by the neck, Xu Miaoran asked, "Do you feel more powerful anywhere?"


    Tang Jie chuckled. "It''s only one Dao Rune, so what power could it give me? But it did allow me to see what direction I should go in. I think I will be able to do a lot in the future."


    "''Do'' what?"


    "So much, so much," Tang Jie profoundly answered. "First of all¡­"


    Tang Jie suddenly thrust his palm at the Myriad Immortals Cauldron.


    The Myriad Immortals Cauldron flew up, brilliantly radiating light in the air, and then it shrank until it fell into Tang Jie''s hand.


    "You can use the Myriad Immortals Cauldron?" Xu Miaoran was delighted and stunned.


    "Far from it. A single Dao Rune is only enough to draw out the Great Dao in the Myriad Immortals Cauldron and resonate with it, which is barely enough to put it away. As for using it in battle¡­" Tang Jie shook his head. "I need to either rise to Violet Pce or carve one thousand Dao Runes."


    Xu Miaoran did some calctions. One Dao Rune had taken Tang Jie nearly three months, so one thousand would take probably one to two hundred years. As for Violet Pce, that was even less possible. Even the greatest of geniuses needed at least two hundred years to attain Violet Pce. In the end, there was no hope of using the Myriad Immortals Cauldron for the time being.


    "A pity," Xu Miaoran resentfully sighed. "Such a fine treasure, but we can''t use it."


    "If you want to use treasures, you don''t need to rely on this thing at all. This is enough." Tang Jie punched, and through the Weapon Mantra, a building copsed, and arge golden grain flew over to Tang Jie. Meanwhile, a giant mountain cleaver had appeared in Tang Jie''s hand, shing golden.


    The golden grain flew to the mountain cleaver, and after shing for a few moments, it merged into the cleaver and made it a littlerger.


    The resplendent underground pce was now in disarray, at least a third of the pces having vanished under Tang Jie''s steely fist. With the power of the Weapon Mantra, Tang Jie was able to dismantle things much more efficiently, dismantling at least ten buildings a day.


    "I''ll leave some to sell, and the rest will be refined into golden grains," Tang Jie said. "I already know how to proceed. I''ll make one puppet that doesn''t need to be reced, and then a few sets of armor, and the rest will be made into weapons."


    Mother Cloud Metal Essence was extremely tough, and while weapons made from it might be dull and heavy, it was ideal for making defensive tools. Tang Jie had long ago made up his mind to use the golden grains to make a few suits of decent armor.


    "What do you want so many weapons for? Can you even use them all?" Xu Miaoran asked, looking at that mountain cleaver. Tang Jie''s original body originally had a long-handled warhammer, but after getting He Changan''s Deste Heavens Halberd and then making this mountain cleaver from the golden grains, he now had three weapons.


    Tang Jie took out the Herding Yang Pearl and replied, "Of course. This is still far from enough."


    "¡­¡­"


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    The scarlet ins.


    A group of people were kneeling on the ground.


    They belonged to a demon tribe that lived on the scarlet ins. Although it was only a small tribe, every member of this tribe was strong and fierce. The strongest of them could even knock over a primal beast with one hand.


    But the strongest warrior of this tribe was currently lying on the ground, his head cracked open.


    A Hemos stood on his corpse.


    To be more precise, it was the Blood River Lord''s avatar.


    He held up a hand, which glowed with a crimson light, and the image of Tang Jie appeared within it.


    "I''ll ask again! Who has seen this person?! I will spare the life of anyone who talks!"


    The demons looked at each other and shook their heads.


    Upon seeing the terrifying and powerful methods of the Blood River Lord, they had given up on any thought of resistance.


    Seeing that nobody knew, the Lord of the Blood River sighed.


    He waved his hand, issuing a blood fog, and each drop of blood became a sharp needle, whistling the dirge of death as they instantly pierced through the more than one hundred members of the tribe.


    Blood flowed out from their bodies, turning into a blood fog.


    The Lord of the Blood River breathed in, drawing the blood fog into his body.


    Through ughter, he worked to calm his anger.


    It was hard to me him for being angry.


    He had originally been tracking the blood gem, but he had barely gotten halfway to the destination when the energy signal from the blood gem disappeared.


    The moment the Flesh Millstone ground down the blood gem, it also destroyed the power of the Blood River contained in it, preventing the Blood River Lord from using it as a tracking device. The thought of his essence blood being refined by that scoundrel had the Blood River Lord fuming.


    Only he could steal essence blood from others, yet this brat had stolen from him!


    The Lord of the Blood River instantly lost control of his seething rage, and threw his head back and roared, "Bastard! I''ll definitely find you!"


    This roar resounded through the world, and even Tang Jie in the faraway City of Freedom sensed it, instinctively turning to the scarlet ins.


    At the same time, in the depths of the Blood River.


    A ck skeleton drifted on the raging Blood River, bobbing up and down as if it had no weight. Finally, it was pushed onto the shore.


    Ity there motionless.


    When night fell, a Blood Fiend emerged from the Blood River. The greedy, voracious, and dumb Blood Fiend went up to the ck skeleton and examined those bones covered in teeth marks, attempting to scrape off any lingering flesh on the bones with its ws.


    It tore off that little morsel of dead flesh and put it in its mouth.


    This action obscured its vision, so it didn''t see the points of light shining in the skeleton''s eye sockets.


    The lights fell on that Blood Fiend, and the ck skeleton slowly opened its mouth.


    Sharp and cold light twinkled on the tips of its teeth.

 Chapter 549: The Five Sacred Mountains

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Celestial me Arena.


    Tang Jie was in a bout with another fighter.


    This fighter wore a white martial artist robe and held a crimson demon spear, which wasshing out like a bolt of lightning, countless ethereal spears thrusting at Tang Jie''s head. If he was careless enough to get struck by one, he could easily lose his life.


    This was the firstpetent opponent Tang Jie had faced since entering the arena. Relying on only ordinary methods, not using the Chaoswind Step, Flesh Millstone, or Sovereign de, Tang Jie was finding it rather hard to deal with him.


    The Rainfrost Sword unleashed wave after wave of sword energy, shing against those numerous spears and filling the air with sparks.


    The man wielding the crimson demon spear was a disciple of the Demon Gate. The disciples of the Demon Gate were called demons, but not because they had failed to ovee their Heart Demon and thus be demons themselves. Rather, they cultivated the Demon Gate Mantra, and because of this mantra, they cultivated methods that were far too cruel, so they were rejected by the orthodox path and considered demons.


    The Demon Gate had been exterminated long ago in the Rosecloud Domain, but in the Blood River Domain, the Demon Gate was a supporting pir of the demon race. This demon spear man was a disciple under the Blood River Domain''s Scarlet Refinement Sect, and his cultivation level was rather high. He hade to the Celestial me Arena to disy his skill, obtain resources, and increase his reputation.


    As the crimson demon spear danced, the Demon Gate manughed. "Brat, it''s your rotten luck to run into me. I''m new to the City of Freedom and have to start from the beginning. This Warrior bout is simply a small rest stop on my path upward, and you will be my stepping stone to Blood Hand!"


    "Oh, is that so? That''s quite the coincidence. You are also thest opponent I have to beat to be a Blood Hand," Tang Jie indifferently said.


    He had already won nine battles in a row and needed only this battle to be a Blood Hand.


    Tang Jie waved the Rainfrost Sword, sending out points of sword energy that transformed into a vast wave, a surging sea. Inadvertently, Tang Jie had reached a deeper level of understanding in the sword.


    The Divine Court Thousandshift was a secret art that could allow one to be proficient in all the weapons of the world, but only in the foundations. Deeper understanding and mastery required constant use.


    Swords were different from sabers. Sabers were domineering and fierce while swords were graceful and agile.


    This Tang Jie using swords was different from Tang Jie using sabers. When using a saber, Tang Jie got up close and used savage moves, putting his all into utilizing the unstoppable nature of the Sovereign de. But when he used the sword, he focused more on spell arts.


    At this time, he seemed more like a proper cultivator, calling upon the world''s spiritual energy with every move, unleashing a variety of spell arts while flitting about like an Immortal. Even on the dangerous stage, he was so elegant that he seemed more like a performer than a diator.


    This wasn''t intentional on Tang Jie''s part. It was just a part of the sword''s nature.


    Since he was using a sword, he had to grasp this nature, as only then could he advance along its Dao.


    Many cultivators in the universe used swords precisely because the nature of swords was most suitable for spell arts. Tang Jie had chosen the saber because the saber''s nature was more suited for closebat.


    The Sovereign de was a de that could take on any form, but he was ustomed to using it as the Heartbreak Saber, and by treating it as a saber this entire time, he failed to maximize its ability to transform.


    Now, starting with the sword, he had begun to switch up his weapons, precisely so that he could better use the Sovereign de.


    As those countless motes of sword energy formed a raging river, the demon spear man grimaced. With a cry, he manifested a ck snake on the tip of his crimson spear, which spiraled into the air in a cloud of ck energy.


    This ck snake was a secret art the man cultivated, imbued with powerful demonic mes which were further empowered by the crimson spear. The moment it appeared, it stirred up a ck cloud that engulfed the air above the stage.


    The demon spear man savagelyughed. This ck demon snake was a king of close-rangebat, perfect for these arena bouts. The moment it appeared, the river created by the Rainfrost Sword began to flow in reverse, and it was the ck smoke and the snake which began to take over the stage, pushing Tang Jie into a dead end.


    The snake''s mouth emerged from the dark cloud, like the giant maw of a dragon opening at Tang Jie.


    "Die!" the demon spear man arrogantly cried out.


    Tang Jie thrust out two Dragonlike Hands, but that demonic energy gathered around the ck snake dispersed only a little beforeing back together.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but frown at the ck snake and its overpowering demeanor. He knew that if he continued to hide his strength, he probably wouldn''t make it through this battle. But he had entered the arena to get resources and to improve himself through battle by solidifying his foundations. Thus, he was not willing to use his more powerful techniques.


    His mind whirred, and as Tang Jie nced at the ck snake, a light glowed on the center of his forehead, falling upon the ck snake. He instantly knew that this ck snake was a congregation of demonic energy and understood how to deal with it.


    As that ck snake bit down like a mighty dragon descending from the heavens, Tang Jie coldly snorted.


    He put away the Rainfrost Sword, and a violet sword appeared in its ce.


    This sword was three feet and seven inches long, the de long and slender, and it crackled with violet lightning that extended to the hilt.


    The Purging Lightning Sword!


    It was one of the ten treasured swords of Peerless Sword Pavilion.


    He waved his hand, and a violet bolt of lightning cracked through the air, striking the ck snake and throwing its body into disarray, rendering the demonic energy unable to condense back together.


    Lightning innately possessed anti-demonic properties, and the Purging Lightning Sword was a sword specifically meant for ying the wicked. All attacks made through this sword were imbued with a powerful Violet Lightning attribute, maximizing their power against the evil and wicked. Even the most casual blow would have the effect of suppressing demons.


    The demon spear man was startled by this attack as the ck snake''s body lost cohesion.


    Tang Jie swung the sword three times.


    In these three attacks, the ck snake was utterly vanquished.


    Just like that, the demon spear man''s secret art was undone. Enraged and stunned, he bellowed and rapidly thrust his spear, the crimson spear unleashing a powerful Astral Wind. This howling Astral Wind was even imbued with demonic energy, able to invade the soul with the slightest contact.


    The demon spear man was taking out his ultimate trump card for the sake of victory.


    Tang Jie didn''t dare to be careless in front of his demonic Astral Wind. As the gale approached, he changed swords again.


    This time, it was a giant sword of earthen yellow, the de so broad it could serve as a door nk, the hilt needing both hands to hold. It appeared more like a giant saber than a sword.


    One of the three divine treasure swords, the Sword of the Five Sacred Mountains!


    Tang Jie grabbed the giant sword and leaned his body forward. An earthen light expanded around him, manifesting into a small mountain, and though the Astral Wind unleashed by the crimson spear was fierce, it failed to break the mountain.


    Tang Jie swung the sword, and that small mountain flew over to crush the demon spear man.


    Aghast, the man swung his spear to block, and there was a thunderous boom as the mountain mmed into the spear, almost as if it was real. It had so much weight that the man''s feet sank into the ground, that stage made from Vajra Stone partially copsing.


    The Sword of the Five Sacred Mountains was imbued with the power of five mountains, five real mountains. At this time, the Five Sacred Mountains Sword was only using the power of one mountain, but the demon spear man was already at his limit. Tang Jie swung the sword again, and another mountain appeared.


    The demon spear man instantly reached his limit, the two mountains crushing him into a meat pancake so swiftly that he didn''t even have time to concede, obliterating the stage with him.


    The Five Sacred Mountains Sword was imbued with the Five Mountain Shift Divine Connection, so even among divine treasures, it was rather highly graded. The power of the two mountains was enough to squash the life out of that man.


    The audience was in awe.


    Nobody had imagined that a divine treasure would appear in a little Warrior bout. The spectators were amazed and envious, and some of them even began to harbor ill intentions.


    The City of Freedom was a gruesome ce that was home to all sorts of people who could do anything. Since Tang Jie had shown a treasure but not the strength befitting it, some avaricious fellows would naturally start to have dangerous thoughts.


    With this match over, Tang Jie had won ten matches in a row and had officially be a Blood Hand.


    At Blood Hand, the winner got one thousand coins instead of one hundred, or two thousand if they killed their opponent. It was much better than escorting goods. This was one of the reasons the arena could attract so many people.


    The Celestial me insignia on the jade tablet turned into that of a Blood Hand. Rather than participating in another match, Tang Jie returned to his inn.


    Upon returning to the inn, Tang Jie sat down cross-legged and began to meditate, and as his mind entered that state, a gray death energy began to cloud over him.


    This cold, gloomy, and frightening energy carried the horror of death, and where it was highly concentrated, one could even see shing Dao Runes of the Great Dao of ughter.


    After each bloody fight, Tang Jie deepened his understanding of the Dao of ughter. With the assistance of the Dao of Wisdom, he was able to more swiftlyprehend the Dao of ughter.


    Tang Jie broke down,prehended, and absorbed these Dao Runes, attempting to carve them into his body.


    Trying to enter the Dao without the Myriad Immortals Cauldron as a reference was exceedingly difficult.


    But Tang Jie was in no rush.


    The Celestial me Arena was the perfect ce to study ughter, and with his experience entering the Dao of Yin Yang and the help of the Dao of Wisdom, what was a massive chasm to others was only a matter of time for him.


    This was one of the advantages behind Tang Jie''s choice toprehend Wisdom back then. The Dao of Wisdom deconstructed the world. He had been able toprehend so many Dao Wills in these twenty-some years, and even enter the Dao of Yin Yang, entirely because he had the foundation of Wisdom, with lucky chance and motivation helping him finish the job.


    The gray death energy lingered around Tang Jie for a time before finally dissipating.


    Tang Jie opened his eyes and ceased his meditation on ughter. His lips curved into a smile. "Finally, sess."


    At this moment, a person''s voice suddenly came from outside. "Is Young Master Tang present?"


    It appeared to be the voice of the inn''s servant.


    Tang Jie''s eyes gleamed with a sharp light.


    This was because he knew that there were two demon cultivators standing behind the servant. They were already ready to kill him the moment he opened the door.


    The moment he revealed a divine treasure in the ring, he knew that someone would try something on him.


    Although the City of Freedom forbade personal fights outside of the arena, Tang Jie had never blindly believed in thisw. The rules were used to bind the obedient, but they were ineffective against bandits, and the City of Freedom had no shortage of them.


    If the temptation was great enough, they could do anything. In this world, even escorting goods carried the risk of death. Killing to steal was nothing at all.


    But the bandits clearly hadn''t expected Tang Jie to be ready. Before they came, Tang Jie already had Yiyi outside watching. She had watched them from when they arrived at the inn and asked where Tang Jie was staying, watched them as they forced that servant to lead the way.


    He softly pulled out the Purging LIghtning Sword, around which gray energy coiled. However, the lightning made it difficult to notice.


    Tang Jie replied, "What is this about?"


    The servant outside said in a shaky voice, "We just received a batch of fresh melons, and we would like to have our honored guest taste them."


    "Send it in." Tang Jie grabbed a wooden nk and threw it into the air. The wooden nk turned into Tang Jie and walked over to open the door.


    The door opened.


    Two sharp bolts of lightning struck the duplicate opening the door.


    Bang.


    The duplicate exploded like a balloon, leaving the ambushers stunned.


    A coldugh came from next to them, and the Purging Lightning Sword unleashed a dazzling sh of lightning that brushed past the servant''s face to stab into the head of a cultivator behind him. With one strike, he sliced open the head of that cultivator.


    That cultivator howled and mustered all of his blood energy to heal the wound. He had long ago shed his mortal body, so ordinary wounds couldn''t kill him. But his head was now infected by death energy, so no matter how much blood energy he used, he couldn''t heal the wound.


    That cultivator''s head was so split in two that it seemed like he had two heads, and he felt his life force rapidly leaving him. But he couldn''t stop it, and all he could do was shriek in fear.


    This was the power of ughter. Anything touched by ughter would have a hard time healing injuries. Not only that, the injuries would worsen and cause one''s life force to rapidly drain away. Tang Jie hadprehended ughter to a deeper level than back at the underground pce, and his attacks were also sharper. With one strike, he had severed that cultivator''s vitality.


    At the same time, the other cultivator realized what was going on, and with a howl, he threw out a jade stamp, which grewrger as it hurtled toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie chuckled and flicked his finger. As his fingertip touched the jade stamp, it turned to dust, leaving behind only a twinkling little golden grain.


    "How?" That cultivator was stunned at how easily Tang Jie had destroyed his art relic, not daring to believe his eyes.


    Tang Jie thrust out his left hand, pushing the servant to the floor as he swung the sword in his right hand across that cultivator''s throat.


    Blood fountained out of the throat, the gray energy lingering around the wound rendering his struggles to stop the flow futile.


    Tang Jie gazed at that energy as his mind worked, upon which that gray energy began to seep into the wound, devouring that cultivator''s life force as if it was a living creature. But after devouring a little, it stopped.


    Tang Jie sighed. He understood that he wasn''t at the level where he couldmand the power of ughter, only let it passively work. Having the power of ughter invade the enemy would probably have to wait until he entered the Dao.


    But this was fine. Even the most basic power of ughter could create irrecoverable wounds, making it extremely useful. It had to be understood that the stronger cultivators became, the greater their recovery abilities.


    For example, Tang Jie, as someone who had shed his mortal body, could still survive with his head missing so long as it wasn''t for too long. If he cultivated to an even higher level, he could even regrow the severed head. ughter stopped recovery, which had huge implications. s, he couldn''tmand much power of ughter, and he could still only use it in closebat. It would be much better if he could use it with spell arts.


    But that was clearly something that would require entering the Dao.


    As the two ambushers copsed, a boom came from behind him.


    A person broke in through the window.


    There was a third!


    A bright bolt of spear energy shot at Tang Jie''s head. The ambusher was a silver-armored demon general.


    Tang Jie swung the sword behind him to block without turning his head.


    The sword and spear shed in a melodious hum.


    To his surprise, Tang Jie wasn''t able to push back his foe, and the two of them backed away in unison.


    The two gasped in surprise, the silver-armored general even saying, "So you were hiding your strength."


    "Same to you," Tang Jie slowly said. He turned around and saw that the silver-armored general was wearing a mask, clearly trying to hide his identity.


    Tang Jieughed. "s, while you have the strength, you choose to hide yourself and rely on your strength to steal from others."


    The general roared in fury, "Shut your mouth!"


    He swung his spear, which began to shine like the morning sun.


    This inn wasn''t made of rare metals like the underground pce, and the moment the silver general unleashed his power, the inn shuddered. Just when it seemed like it was about to copse, Tang Jie suddenly thrust out his sword at the center of that sr radiance. Though it was a casual strike, it actually broke through that endless light.


    The light in the room dimmed as if the morning sun had been obscured by a cloud, the sunny day turning overcast. That overwhelming aura also weakened, which managed to stabilize the room.


    The silver general was rmed as Tang Jie thrust his sword again. This sword that had broken through the sun carried a somber energy that scared the silver general so much that he didn''t dare to linger. He hastily backed off and then bashed a hole through the wall, flying out of the inn.


    "Trying to leave? You have to leave something behind first!" Tang Jie shouted.


    A giant crescent de descended from the sky, mming into the general. The silver armor shattered and blood gushed into the air as one of the general''s arms was severed.


    A cry of pain came from the distance. "I won''t forgive you for this!"


    "Bring more people next time," Tang Jie said as he yed with the golden grain in his hand.


    He turned to that servant, who had managed to survive the battle and was trembling in fear.


    "Where are the melons?"


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    Author''s Note: I know that many reader friends find it weird. Zero Destiny''s writing style seems to have changed a lot and isn''t what it was before. He''s even written a standard xuanhuan tournament arc. This has caused much spection.


    Is my state not right? Am I ill? Is there some other reason?


    It''s actually none of them.


    Writing Immortal Path has always been a sort of test for me.


    Friends who have read Infinity Armament and All-Around Alchemist know that Zero Destiny is better at western-style conversations, preferring to reflect reality. All-Around and Infinity both have thought-provoking sentences, but there''s none of that in Immortal Path.


    Yes!


    Why?


    It''s a problem of style.


    I''m constantly trying to merge my style with xianxia, but in truth, my efforts have failed¡ªI''m quite surprised at what I''ve managed to achieve.


    My style has always been more realistic.


    But cultivation is all elegance, unworldlyness, transcendence.


    Thus, writing realistically is fundamentally in conflict with xianxia.


    This is why Immortal Path doesn''t have as much of what Zero Destiny is good at, because their natures are in conflict.


    I didn''t realize this at first, but I''ve always been thinking about it.


    It was onlyter that I realized why Immortal Path was said tock any sort of Immortal vor to it.


    This is a conflict of style and nature. It should be graceful and ethereal, but it''s being used like mud. It''s got an earthiness to it, but that takes away some of the Immortal vor.


    And Immortality perhaps should never be pursuing earthiness.


    An Immortal who''s down to earthcks that elegance, that Immortal vor.


    With gain came loss.


    There are also two other important reasons.


    The first is that being logical and being exciting are truly contrary to each other. If you emphasize logic for everything when writing a book, the story''s excitement will fall, and if you prioritize excitement over logic¡­ well fuck, the entire world will pick at your errors.


    Yes, this is the second problem. The more you try to write it so that there are no ws, the more readers will try to find them. Originally, I thought this was theiners'' fault, but now that I''ve thought about it, it''s still my fault. I tried from the start to give my reader a world without errors or ws.


    I was wrong.


    We write novels to give readers a nice world, not a world without mistakes.


    I forgot about this, forgot that I once said to myself that I could sacrifice a little logic for the sake of excitement.


    I singlemindedly pursued logic, but I failed to achieve logic while losing excitement.


    Stories are still about being fun.


    It doesn''t matter how logical a novel is if it''s not fun to read.


    Thus, after understanding all this, I started to try and change my writing style.


    This is a xianxia world, so I should write ording to the rules of a xianxia world.


    Not sticking with the old can lead to the development of new things, but you also lose some of the old excitements.


    Thus, even if some things are rather cliche, you should still have time.


    Cultivating is about those things: hidden realms, hunting monsters, killing people to level up. I was trying to be different from others, which means that I couldn''t have anything to do with those cliche excitements, which means that I would push away the readers who liked those cliches.


    Thus, the cliches that should be used need to be used, should be learned need to be learned!


    This is why we have the Blood River Domain as a change of map and the arena arc.


    Starting from this arc, Immortal Path will emte some of the cliches from other novels.


    I know that this might disappoint some old readers, causing the rating to fall, but I have to do this. All I can try my best with is to control the degree. While I have to learn what should be learned and keep what should be kept, I also have to break convention when I need to break convention.


    You can''tpletely copy ideas, but you also can''tpletely reject them.


    Thetter half of Immortal Path will be me relearning, improving myself from another angle. if you don''t like it, I express my apologies, but I''m truly trying. I''m not cking off, only changing my style, so some difort is inevitable.


    The above is in response to some readers who were concerned about me.

 Chapter 550: The Infinity Sphere

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    At the center of the Celestial me Arena was a scarlet pagoda nine floors tall.


    This was the famous Celestial me Pagoda, also called the Scarlet Pagoda.


    It was a pair with the ck pagoda in the eastern mountain range of the City of Freedom, together forming the famous Scarlet and ck Pagodas. The former represented the Celestial me Arena while thetter represented the City of Freedom. They could be considered the heart of the in of ughter.


    Upon bing a Blood Hand, one was permitted to enter the Scarlet Pagoda and select a promotion reward.


    The promotion rewards consisted of techniques, art relics, and various rare materials.


    This was one of the Celestial me Arena''s special reward programs. Many people came not for the money, but for the unique cultivation texts and treasures in the Scarlet Pagoda. Some of those techniques and treasures couldn''t be found in the outside world.


    The next morning, Tang Jie went to the Scarlet Pagoda.


    The inside of the Scarlet Pagoda was a vast space, its own little world.


    Upon entering the pagoda, Tang Jie found himself in a reception hall of monumental size.


    It had a height of one thousand feet and a radius of ten thousand feet, and there were eight giant doors arranged in a circle, seemingly designed for use by giants. In the center of the reception hall was a statue nearly reaching the ceiling. It was made from various essence metals and seemed majestic and solemn. One hand was turned up to the sky while the other hand held a ball of me that was constantly shifting between various forms. This me was known as the Pale Cloud me, one of the world''s divine mes.


    Tang Jie knew that this statue was probably that of the founder of the Celestial me Arena, the me Celestial Sovereign.


    The me Celestial Sovereign had entered the Dao of me, and the Pale Cloud me was his art relic, his weapon, his symbol.


    He hadn''t expected this sacred me to be ced on the statue, where it burned eternally.


    So long as the sacred me did not go out, the Celestial Sovereign would live on.


    And the Celestial me Arena would not fall.


    As he was looking at the statue, a vivacious girl wearing the uniform of the arena went up to Tang Jie and smiled. "Young Sir, what do you need today?"


    Tang Jie passed over his jade tablet.


    The girl saw the tablet and instantly understood. She smiled and said, "So you came to get your promotion reward? Young Sir, what sort of promotion reward do you want?"


    Tang Jie asked, "What is there?"


    The girl replied, "The Scarlet Pagoda''s promotion rewards are categorized into texts, treasures, materials, and cultivation areas, and they are further divided into lower, middle, and upper grade, corresponding to Blood Hands, Asuras, and God Killers¡­"


    As the girl went on, Tang Jie gradually grasped the rules of this ce.


    ording to the rules, when it came to texts, the Celestial me Pagoda had both ordinary ones and high-ss ones. The high-ss mantras and techniques might be divided into two or three parts, and low-grade rewards only allowed one to get a single part, not the whole thing. If one chose an ordinary technique, then one could get the entire thing.


    As for treasures, materials, and cultivation areas, they were divided ording to grade, and the cultivation areas could only be used for one day every time. If one wanted more days, one would have to buy the time.


    "You can buy them?" Tang Jie asked.


    "Right, but you can only buy rewards appropriate to your rank."


    "I see." Tang Jie thought it over before saying, "Then I would like to look at the technique manuals first."


    Techniques were different from mantras.


    Mantras primarily focused on cultivation. The Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra, the Violet Jade Mantra, and the Ninedark Mantra were all texts meant forying down a foundation for cultivation. The Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra tempered and refined, favoring the concentration of energy and the piercing of armor. The Violet Jade Mantra merged one''s body with the world so that one could seek the Heavenly Dao, making it easier toprehend and enter the Dao. The Ninedark Mantra, meanwhile, had the ability to improve spell arts in all aspects, but none of this had any directbat use.


    As for techniques, they werepletebat systems and made one''s spiritual energy possess more powerful attributes. If spell arts were skills, techniques represented all-around boosts.


    He Changan''s Formless Heavenly Demon Art was abat technique. Once used, one''s entire body would erupt with boundless strength that could even suppress Cang Qingfeng. If he had been able to unleash all his power, he would have been able to easily tten a city.


    And one could use spell arts on the foundation of techniques, multiplying their power.


    As techniques had their own special and particrly fierce attributes, making the wrong choice could easily result in double the work for half the efficiency. Only after a cultivator entered Celestial Heart and awakened their spiritual talent would they know what techniques suited them, so techniques were normally cultivated after one became a Celestial Heart True Person.


    This was why Tang Jie could only fully utilize his solid foundation after entering Celestial Heart, as only after entering Celestial Heart could he bridge the gap between mantras and spell arts.


    He had originally intended to wait until he returned to the Basking Moon Sect to pick a good technique to cultivate, but since he was here in the Blood River Domain, he might as well see what its techniques were like.


    The girl smiled at this. "Young Sir, pleasee this way."


    She led Tang Jie toward one of therge doors.


    Behind the doors were numerous texts, as if the me Celestial Sovereign had gathered up all the cultivation texts of the Blood River Domain. There were human mantras, demon techniques, and even the bizarre spell arts of the Hemos. He could see at a nce that there were tens of thousands of them.


    Tang Jie was momentarily dazzled. The girl giggled and said, "What is Young Sir''s talent? If you trust this servant, you can tell me and let me choose for you."


    After some thought, Tang Jie answered, "What if I said that I had no talent?"


    His Flesh Millstone had no effect on any of his other attributes, so it was fine to say that he had no talent.


    The girl was startled, and then she smiled and said, "Having no talent is fine. Though you have no specialty, you also have no restrictions and can learn what you want. But this means that I can''t really rmend anything to you."


    "Then pick the offensively strongest one."


    Techniques focused on battle, so the one with the strongest offense was naturally better.


    The girl went up and grabbed a book. "Young Sir, what do you think about the Ten Thousand Ghost Corrosion Art? When reaching greater attainment in this technique, you can summon ten thousand ghosts, spreading ghost energy across thend, and nobody will be able to stop you. It is number one when ites to ughter."


    Tang Jie shook his head. "While it''s powerful, when you cultivate it, you be neither human nor ghost. Forget it."


    The girl grabbed another book. "What about the Divine Lightning Prison Force? When you cultivate, you can cast nine bolts of Divine Lightning that will exterminate evil and cut down demons and fiends. But while this technique excels at sweeping away fiends and demons, it is rathercking in other aspects."


    Tang Jie also shook his head. "While it''s strong, its usage is rather narrow."


    The girl was in no rush, taking another book. "Then the Blueblood Massacre ssic? This techniquees from the Blueblood n of the Hemos, the technique of their royal lineage. At greater attainment, you will be powerful enough to suppress all."


    Tang Jie shook his head.


    Cultivating this technique required the blood of the Blueblood n, and those without this bloodline would find it difficult to reach greater attainment. Moreover, the Bluebloods didn''t like it when others learned their techniques, and even if the technique hade from the Celestial me Pagoda, they would not ept it. They couldn''t deal with the seller, but they could deal with the buyer.


    The girl brought out several other technique books, but Tang Jie was never very satisfied.


    It wasn''t that these techniques werecking in quality. In fact, the girl had mostly proposed top-ss techniques, ones that he could only get a part of as a Blood Hand. Even back in the Basking Moon Sect, these techniques would have been treasured.


    But Tang Jie wasn''t satisfied.


    He cultivated Immortal tform mantras, so he naturally had high requirements when it came to techniques.


    The girl seemed to realize what he was thinking, and she pulled out another book. "Young Sir, what do you think about the Infinity Sphere Art? When you cultivate this art, your energy will divide into Yin and Yang, which can transform into all things. It has the power of infinite transformation and the might of a god."


    ording to the girl''s exnation, the Infinity Sphere Art could convert one''s energy into Yin and Yang energy, which couldbine into all things.


    The Twelve Great Daos each governed a different aspect, and Yin Yang and Five Elements represented all the arts of the world.


    Yin Yang was the origin and the Five Elements were the subordinate, so whether it was mantras, techniques, or spell arts, they were all under the purview of Yin Yang, inextricably connected to the Five Elements.


    As Tang Jie hadprehended the Dao of Yin Yang, he had some understanding of Yin Yang energy. The technique and the Great Daoplemented each other, so they were bound to produce even greater effects whenbined.


    Thus, Tang Jie became interested and said, "Let me take a look."


    He took the book, and the moment he flipped to the first page, golden words strung together into a grandiose scene, and his mind was rocked with mighty waves while numerous loud sounds resounded in his ears. Tang Jie was so stunned that he almost threw the book away.


    He hastily closed the book, and as his mind cleared, he blurted, "What a formidable Dao Will!"


    The girl politely said, "It was this servant''s error in forgetting to warn Young Sir. This Infinity Sphere Art is the original text, and it was written by the Infinity Celestial Sovereign using a Divine Connection. The book contains a supreme Dao Will that cannot be recklessly looked upon. If Young Sir wishes to learn this technique, you can use a copy. But this technique is considered one of the finest techniques in this pagoda. There are seven levels in all, and at Young Sir''s current level, you can only borrow the first two levels. Even God Killers can only learn to the sixth level, as the seventh level is not to be transmitted."


    "Then what if I borrow this one?" Tang Jie asked.


    The girl was startled. "Young Sir wants to borrow the original text?"


    The copy was handwritten, so it could be partitioned, but the original text could not be divided in this way, so all seven levels of the technique were naturally contained within it. Most importantly, the Infinity Sphere Art''s Dao Will was closely linked to the Infinity Sphere Art itself, so reading the original text would not only allow one to learn theplete technique, but alsoprehend its divinity. This could never be done with the copy.


    ording to the rules of the Celestial me Pagoda, one who could learn the technique from the original text was a supreme genius, so the pagoda could make an exception for them.


    But was he that sort of genius?


    Tang Jie once more opened up the original text.


    The golden words once more began to light up, and all things in the world appeared before Tang Jie''s eyes, his mind was thrown into turmoil, and a hundred sounds resounded in his ears.


    But Tang Jie was ready this time. As he held the book in his left hand, his right hand formed the Clear Sword Sign, his mouth chanted the Jade Ocean Clear Sky Incantation, and his mind circted the Basking Moon Heart Questioning Mantra, a moon rising up behind his head.


    The Basking Moon Sect emphasized the state of one''s mind the most, and the Jade Ocean Clear Sky Incantation and Basking Moon Heart Questioning Mantra were holy texts that emphasized a clear mind. As Tang Jie did all these things, his mental sea calmed, those raging waves having been pacified.


    A vertical eye opened up in the center of Tang Jie''s forehead, the power of Insight dispelling all illusions and clearing up his vision.


    Lastly, he silently circted the Dao of Yin Yang. Tang Jie''s avatar, though he had not entered this Dao, hadprehended this Dao to the apex. While the Dao Will contained in the Infinity Codex was powerful, it was still within the domain of Yin Yang, so when he circted this Dao, the din at his ear ceased.


    With those three phenomena dispelled, the words of the Infinity Codex appeared before Tang Jie, and he immediately began to read them, treasuring every character and delighting in every sentence.


    As he was studying, the girl next to him reminded, "It is fine for Young Sir to study the original text, but you cannot take it with you, only read it here, and you cannot read it for more than thirty minutes."


    It wasn''t like there were no cultivators who could resist the effects of the Divine Connection in the codex and forcibly read it, but reading it all and remembering it in thirty minutes was no easy task.


    It had to be understood that this was the original text, influenced by the Divine Connection, so it could not be recorded into the mind through spell arts. One could only rely on their memory.


    This was also a test for geniuses. Merely breaking through the illusions was not enough.


    Tang Jie casually replied, "Thirty minutes? Enough."


    In his mind, the Dao of Wisdom turned, so everything he read would be marked down in his mind.


    This was not recording through spell arts, but simple memorization, so it was not affected by the original text.


    He did not seek understanding, only memorization, so he took in ten lines at a nce, scanning through the text and flipping faster and faster through the pages.


    The original text was not thick, so he quickly reached the end.


    Tang Jie closed his eyes, and once he had confirmed that he had memorized everything, he opened his eyes and returned the book to its original ce. He looked at the girl and smiled. "Have thirty minutes passed yet?"


    The girl was stunned, finally unable to respond.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    Upon returning to the inn, Tang Jie performed his daily rituals of examining the Pearl Lady statue and the Immeasurable Sword, after which heprehended ughter. After doing all this, Tang Jie began to cultivate the Infinity Sphere Art.


    As a technique written by a Celestial Sovereign, the Infinity Sphere Art was infinitely profound, and as Tang Jie cultivated, he couldn''t help but sigh in praise.


    Starting from this day, he stopped going to the arena and put all his focus into cultivating the technique.


    The Infinity Sphere Art seemedplicated, but learning it was surprisingly easy.


    This wasn''t because of the Infinity Sphere Art itself, but because Tang Jie hadprehended the Great Dao of Yin Yang, which made all techniques and spell arts easy to learn. While the Infinity Sphere Art was powerful, it was still under the purview of Yin Yang, so Tang Jie naturally encountered no difficulties in cultivating it.


    It only took a short ten-some days for Tang Jie to reach minor attainment in the Infinity Sphere Art.


    Today, Tang Jie was meditating, Yin and Yang manifesting in his hands, energy curling around them.


    The energy on the left emerged from the tips of his fingers and coiled around his hand like a silver snake, cool and aloof like snow.


    The energy on his right hand emerged from his palm and danced like a me, a searing red that dazzled like the rising sun.


    The Yin and Yang energies rose into the air and merged, each upying its own side. Through Tang Jie''s will, they took on various forms: a dragon and pearl, Yin serving as the dragon and Yang as the pearl; the Taiji Diagram, Yin and Yang assuming their respective ces; the sun and moon in the sky, Yin and Yang both forming their own stars as they danced in the cosmos; or the division of the heavens and earth, Yin and Yang ying the roles of the heavens and earth as they reenacted the beginning of the world¡­


    This was the transformation ability of the Dao of Yin Yang. All arts of the world were under Yin Yang, so Yin and Yang were capable of simting all arts. Of course, the Infinity Sphere Art did not focus on simtion, so this simtion here had only the form and none of the power.


    Finally, Yin and Yang came together in a sphere, and then transformed into a howling gale.


    This was the ultimate Celestial Sphere ability, the fusion of Yin and Yang producing boundless power. As for the actual power, that depended on how much Yin and Yang energy there was.


    Tang Jie was only able to produce a sliver of these energies, but this was still enough to produce a fierce gale.


    Tang Jie wasn''t in some rush about the Celestial Sphere Art. From the very start, he had cared more about the Yin and Yang energies. The fusion of Yin and Yang energies was simply one of the ways to use them. With his grasp of the Dao of Yin Yang, he could develop even more powerful methods. He was extremely sure about this.


    After twenty-some more days, Tang Jie finally finished cultivating the first level of the Infinity Sphere Art.


    Although the first levels of all techniques were not too difficult, it was extremely rare to get this far in only a month.


    Seeing that he didn''t have much money left, Tang Jie knew that he would have to go back to the arena.


    He had been in the City of Freedom for some time, but he had only made enough money for his daily expenses. It was only after bing a Blood Hand that his wallet would be less tight. But because Tang Jie had gone to cultivate immediately after bing a Blood Hand, he had yet to enjoy the benefits of matches of this level. Now, however, the time had finallye.


    The arenas for Blood Hand bouts were much bigger than those for Warriors. One was no longer restricted to a simple stage, but could choose from arenas with a variety of environments, and one''s opponents were also clearly much stronger.


    Starting from Blood Hand, Spirit Ring True Persons made up the vast majority of one''s opponents.


    From a certain perspective, Spirit Ring, Heart Demon, and Soul Transformation corresponded to Blood Hand, Asura, and God Killer.


    Before this, Tang Jie faced only opponents beneath him in cultivation level, but starting from now, he would be facing opponents who were at least on par with him in cultivation level.


    But for Tang Jie, most of these people still didn''t pose much of a problem for him. The real difficulty was how to keep hiding his true strength. Fortunately, with the Five Sacred Mountains Sword, he could still deal with most of his opponents. If he ran into someone too formidable and didn''t want to show his trump cards, he could just concede.


    As the days went by, Tang Jie gradually developed a reputation in the arena.


    Many people came to know that a guy had shown up at the arena who wasn''t especially strong but who had many treasures. Using a handful of divine treasures, he had managed to win twenty-some Blood Hand bouts.


    A few real experts started to watch Tang Jie, looking forward to when they ran into him.

 Chapter 551: You Wont Die If You Dont Seek Death

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie stepped onto a lush green meadow and grabbed a handful of grass.


    The abundant grass had that sweet scent unique to nts.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but take in a deep breath.


    He had spent too long in this blood-colored world, where everything he saw was red.


    The sky was red, the earth was red, and even the people were red.


    But in this arena, he could see green grass and take in its aroma, and he couldn''t help but sigh.


    This was Arena No.16 of the Celestial me Arena: Meadow.


    The meadow of lush grass billowed with waves of green.


    At the end of the green waves was a man d entirely in ck armor, his face obscured. Tendrils of ck smoke leaked out from the cracks in the armor, indicating that his opponent was a demon.


    "You are Tang Ran?" A deep voice came from behind the steel mask. "That guy with one divine sword and two ultimate-grade art relics?"


    "Tang Ran" was the pseudonym Tang Jie had registered to the arena under.


    Although he didn''t know that the Blood River Lord was looking all over for him, he did know about the Blood River Lord''s status in this domain, so he naturally didn''t use his original name.


    Tang Jie looked at the metal mask man and said, "You are Yuan Lian?"


    Yuan Lian was a rather famous Blood Hand.


    As a Blood Hand, he had a record of 95 battles and 95 victories, not a single loss.


    There was no doubt that this was someone who considered the Blood Hand level to be just a formality. He was making his way to Asura, or even God Killer.


    Inparison, Tang Jie had taken part in 31 battles, with 25 wins and 6 losses, far from being at Yuan Lian''s level.


    When Yuan Lian appeared, the crowd erupted in cheers, a sign of his poprity.


    Yuan Lianughed. "You''ve got rotten luck running into me. Hand over your sword and I''ll spare your life!"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "This is the arena, not a tform of life or death. Perhaps you can win, but you can''t kill me."


    Yuan Lian dered, "You''re wrong! If I want you to die, you will die!"


    With a roar, demonic energy erupted from his armor.


    This demonic energy was dense and powerful, rocketing into the sky as a me before turning into a metallic ck hand. This hand swatted at Tang Jie like it was striking a little fly.


    Yuan Lian arrogantly called out, "Die!"


    Sensing that immense pressureing from above, Tang Jie rapidly retreated while swinging the Purging Lightning Sword, unleashing a violet lightning bolt.


    Lightning was the best tool for suppressing demons.


    But the moment the violet lightning emerged, Yuan Lianughed. "Useless!"


    The violet lightning cut at the giant hand, but it failed to break the ck hand, only slicing away a little sliver of ck energy.


    Yuan Lianughed and tyrannically said, "Would my Deste Ancient Demon Art still be considered a High Antiquity demon art if it could be undone by your puny lightning bolt? Die!"


    The hand pressed down!


    Just as the hand came down, Tang Jie turned into a lightning bolt and just barely evaded.


    But a momentter, Yuan Lian''s giant ck hand flicked a finger: "Supreme Astral Finger!"


    A sharp st of energy turned into a slender ck sword and shot at Tang Jie.


    Yuan Lianughed again. "The power of Supreme Astral Finger is unstoppable when used with my Deste Ancient Demon Art. Die for me!"


    Tang Jie swung his lightning sword, sending numerous bolts of purple lightning to head off the ck sword.


    Plush! Plush! The slender sword broke through everything and approached.


    The barrier around Tang Jie lit up, and then the ck sword shattered it and mmed into Tang Jie. Tang Jie''s body shone with the golden light of the Formless Golden Body.


    Tang Jie grunted and fell back.


    Even though the barrier had weakened the blow and the Formless Golden Body had protected him, the finger sword had still done some damage to Tang Jie, so great was its original power.


    Yuan Lian sent three more finger swords at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie didn''t have time to put up another barrier. He put away the lightning sword and took out the Five Sacred Mountains Sword, holding it horizontally in front of him and manifesting a mountain to protect himself.


    Yuan Lian crazilyughed. "I knew you would use that!"


    Those three swords turned into three trails of smoke that moved around the mountain to get at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie knew he was in trouble and rapidly retreated, at the same time thrusting out the Five Sacred Mountains Sword. The five mountain souls flew out of the sword and turned into huge mountains. Meanwhile, Tang Jie was struck by the three streams of smoke and sent flying.


    Yuan Lian fearlessly raised his head. "So what if it''s the power of five mountains? Tyrant Body, grow and resist!"


    As he bellowed, his body instantly grewrger, and his armor grew with it. In a sh, he turned into a giant one thousand feet tall that roared as it faced the sky.


    The five mountains smashed into Yuan Lian''s back, and as he held up the mountains like As holding up the world, he let out thunderous roars that made everyone''s hearts chill with fear.


    The spectators cheered, excited at how Yuan Lian was resisting the Five Mountains Shift Divine Connection.


    It turned out that Yuan Lian was, like Wang Juemie, a body refiner. The demon mantra he cultivated refined the demon into the body, allowing him to possess tremendous strength that could resist the Five Mountains Shift Divine Connection.


    Of course, this was because Divine Connections from divine treasures generally had only power for one attack,cking any follow-up. Meanwhile, Yuan Lian could continue to gather the power in his body to resist. This was why Yuan Lian could resist an attack above his level and have his physical body hold back a Divine Connection.


    Even so, Yuan Lian was under immense pressure. Waves of power battered his body, shattering his armor, but ck energy would rise up from his body to repair it. It turned out that this was not a real suit of armor, but a manifestation of demonic energy. That giant surrounded by ck energy began to crack, and at the same time, the five mountains swayed, sheddingrge chunks that dissolved into spiritual energy.


    This fierce collision was even causing the surrounding defensive formation to sh with spiritual light.


    Finally, the mountains ceased pressing downward, the five mountains dissolving and their souls returning to the sword.


    Yuan Lian was also no longer able to maintain his giant form, and he gradually shrank back to his original size. However, the ck smoke was now tinged with blood, a clear sign that he had been rather badly wounded in the sh just now.


    Even so, Tang Jie was still very impressed.


    In terms of strength, that Tyrant Body alone could allow him to go toe to toe with a Heart Demon cultivator, and that wasn''t even considering that Deste Ancient Demon Art, yet this person was still at the same cultivation tier as Tang Jie. Thus, in the Spirit Ring Tier, this person could be considered top-ss.


    Even so, he was still a littleckingpared to Tang Jie.


    Those three Supreme Astral Fingers might have been powerful, but the damage they had done to Tang Jie was far less than what he had been led to believe. In truth, Tang Jie could have killed him while he had been busy with the five mountains.


    Tang Jie didn''t do this because he was impressed by this man''s talent and didn''t want to rely on the divine sword to kill him. Instead, he wanted a rematch with this guy at full power after they had entered Asura and he could reveal more of his moves.


    For this reason, Tang Jie shouted, "The Demon Gate''s Tyrant Body is truly formidable, even able to hold out against a Divine Connection. Admirable. But you must have suffered rather badly in doing this, no?"


    Yuan Lianughed. "Blocking this strike took up 60% of my power, but 40% is enough to deal with you."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "So you''re saying that if I use the Five Mountains Shift again, you''ll die?"


    Yuan Lianughed. "Don''t try and y with me. You''re only at Spirit Ring, so activating a divine treasure once will consume all your power. You want to activate it again? Why didn''t you just attack while I was dealing with the mountains, then? Hand over your life!"


    The demonic energy gathered above his head, and that ck hand once more pressed down.


    He was both right and wrong.


    An ordinary Spirit Ring True Person truly did have the power to activate a divine treasure only once.


    This was why everyone believed that Yuan Lian had won after resisting the five mountains, and some of those who had bet on him were already cheering.


    They didn''t think Tang Jie could do anything else.


    But Tang Jie had used a Crystallized Sandworm, so he had 30% more spiritual energy than his peers, and his Heavenly Spirit Law Body made it so that every cell of his body was packed with power, doubling his spiritual energy reserves inparison to others. Besides that, cultivating the Ninedark Mantra had made casting more efficient and also more powerful, which indirectly increased his spiritual energy reserves. Finally, his Spirit Ring had also expanded to the limit, and the Spirit Ring was itself a representation of the spiritual energy umted outside the body. Therger the Spirit Ring, the more spiritual energy one had.


    This was why Tang Jie could use a divine treasure''s attack three to four times while an ordinary Spirit Ring True Person could only use it once, and he was only at first level of the Spirit Ring Tier. As he continued to cultivate, his spiritual energy reserve would only grow.


    Tang Jie had no ns to reveal this. His original intentions had been to scare Yuan Lian into conceding. But since Yuan Lian didn''t believe it and was attacking again, he backed away while saying, "You''re right, so I''ll concede."


    If you won''t concede, then I''ll just concede, okay?


    Yuan Lian truly was powerful, so there was nothing wrong with conceding to him. He had already run into several good fighters. Some of them had used some method to block the Five Mountains Shift while others simply hadn''t given him a chance to use the Divine Connection. In any case, they were formidable enough to not be taken down by a single Divine Connection, and since Tang Jie was unwilling to show his real power, he chose to concede.


    All he was doing was repeating his past behavior.


    But the moment he said the word "concede", Yuan Lian let out a mighty roar.


    This thunderous roar resounded through the heavens, filling up the entire arena with its din.


    Tang Jie''s concession was drowned out by the thunderous roar.


    At the same time, Yuan Lian elerated, that giant hand pressing down at even greater speed.


    The winds howled within the arena, and an immense pressure weighed down.


    In a sh, Yuan Lian had unleashed all his power.


    He had prevented Tang Jie from conceding and was trying to finish him once and for all.


    Tang Jie moved like a bolt of lightning through the arena while shouting, "I said ''I concede''!"


    This time, he gathered the sound into a sharp needle and sent it straight into the referee''s ears.


    ording to the rules of the arena, the moment the referee heard the concession, they could immediately end the match. Anyone who kept fighting would receive the ruthless suppression of the arena.


    Even though Yuan Lian''s thunderous roar had drowned out all other noise, Tang Jie was sure that his concentrated needle of noise could reach the referee.


    But the referee didn''t move, seeming unaware as he continued to silently watch the battle.


    Tang Jie was startled, and then he realized that Yuan Lian had probably bribed the referee. Yuan Lian wanted his divine treasure, and the only way to get it was to kill him, so how could he just let Tang Jie concede? Thus, he had bribed the referee and then used his thunderous mor to drown out his voice, giving the referee the ability to say that he hadn''t heard.


    "Bastard!" Tang Jie cursed.


    Yuan Lian''s hand struck him, the Supreme Astral Finger sting apart his barrier and piercing through his golden body to leave behind several bloody holes.


    "Die! The divine sword is mine!" Yuan Lian continued to swing his hand as he roared, but he was actually roaring to suppress Tang Jie and prevent him from conceding.


    His steely body rushed forward with a wave of demonic energy.


    Yuan Lian rushed up to Tang Jie''s side, and that giant ck hand returned to him, forming a steel gauntlet around his right hand, which he swung at Tang Jie.


    This was the closebat form of the Deste Ancient Demon Art, and it was even stronger than its other form.


    Yuan Lian was a body refiner, and thebination of his Tyrant Body and Deste Demon Art produced unparalleled power. He became like a primal beast of High Antiquity, brimming with power. Besides that, the demon armor he had refined also possessed powerful closebat abilities.


    No one could match him in closebat!


    As Yuan Lian swung his steely fist, he felt like he could already see Tang Jie being pulverized, and the face under that mask savagely smiled.


    At that moment, Tang Jie raised his head.


    The eyes that looked upon Yuan Lian were cold and unfeeling, like he was looking at a corpse.


    "You¡­ are seeking death!"


    Another way of seeking death!


    This was Tang Jie''s evaluation of Yuan Lian.


    He pulled out a sword.


    The sword radiated with a dazzling cold light.


    The Army Crushing Sword!


    This was not one of the three divine swords, but one of the ten relic swords. Tang Jie didn''t want people to know that he could use a divine treasure''s ability several times, so he chose to use another ultimate-grade art relic sword.


    Crush an army of one thousand, subdue an army of ten thousand!


    This sword''s strength was power, a tyrannical power that could sweep through an army!


    The one who used this sword wouldn''t get some new ability, but it could concentrate, enhance, and magnify all the power a cultivator already had. Rather than putting everything into one attack, it emphasized the entire battle.


    One sword was endowed with peerless might!


    ng!


    The sword shed with the fist in a dazzling explosion of light.


    An expanding ball of light appeared in the arena, a shockwave rising to the heavens.


    Amid the dust and smoke, Yuan Lian and Tang Jie flew high into the air.


    Everyone fell silent.


    Nobody had expected Tang Jie to have the strength for this kind of attack.


    Surprise shed in Yuan Lian''s eyes, but as he flew up, he once more let out a frenzied roar, that ck hand reforming and blotting out the sun as it moved to grab Tang Jie.


    He still believed that he could win, that the attack just now was Tang Jie''sst desperate struggle. Thus, he kept up his roaring to prevent Tang Jie from conceding.


    Tang Jie''s eyes erupted with murderous intent. "If you want to die, then I''ll kill you!"


    Tang Jie put away the Army Crushing Sword and produced another one.


    This sword was three feet and three inches long, and the de was thick. The hilt had a ring hanging from it.


    As he grasped the sword and thrust it at Yuan Lian''s throat, the de shed with lightning, and he moved with such speed that his attack managed to reach Yuan Lian first.


    Yuan Lian rushed backward while the ck hand swung down and grabbed the sword. Tang Jie roared and thrust forward with all his might. ng! The tip of the sword ran into the armor around Yuan Lian''s throat.


    While the armor was deformed, it managed to block the strike.


    Yuan Lianughed. "It''s useless!"


    The ck hand grabbed the sword while Yuan Lian''s steel fist produced ck spikes, turning it into a mace as it hurtled at Tang Jie.


    "Is that so?" Tang Jie pulled back on the hand holding the sword, and there was a bright light.


    A shortsword emerged from the sheath.


    The shortsword shot forward like a bolt of lightning, striking at that deformed area of armor where the longsword had struck.


    It pierced through!


    The Mother Son Bolt Swords!


    "Awooo!" Yuan Lian let out a howl of unprecedented pain, but this time, it wasn''t to stop Tang Jie from conceding. Everyone winced as if Tang Jie had stabbed them as well as Yuan Lian, and the crowd fell utterly silent.


    "This is impossible!" Yuan Lian howled in unwillingness.


    He grasped his throat with one hand while reaching into his Mustard Seed Bag with his right hand, producing a set of ck gauntlets. He snarled, "You''re not the only one with art relics! Demon Dao ughter Gauntlet, Tribtion Stamp Hand!"


    As he roared, the ck gauntlets sent a torrent of energy at Tang Jie.


    At the same time, two dragons made of energy, red and white, appeared in the sky and merged together.


    The ck tide of energy collided with the red-and-white energy dragon and instantly melted like snow under the summer sun. The dragon mmed into Yuan Lian and sent him flying into the air.


    The energy dragon dissipated, and two swords were revealed to the crowd, one red and one blue. They made a circle in the air before falling back into Tang Jie''s hands.


    The me Dragon Sword!


    The Frost Drake Sword!


    Thebined might of fire and ice had heavily wounded Yuan Lian, and as he reeled in shock, he finally realized that he had made a grave error.


    He wanted to concede.


    But just as he was about to speak, Tang Jie roared.


    His bellow resounded like thunder.


    A deless sword chopped down from the sky, tearing away at Yuan Lian''s body with a heaven-rending force.


    The Mountain Parting Sword!


    Whoosh!


    Yuan Lian''s body was momentarily frozen in the middle of the raging sword energy, and then he exploded.


    It was clearly only a single sh, but Yuan Lian''s body had been sliced into several chunks.


    Even the formidable life force of a body refiner had basically been wiped out by this one attack.


    A deathly silence fell over the arena.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    The arena''s western viewing tform.


    A man wearing a veiled red robe was watching the battle.


    When Yuan Lian was meeting an explosive end to his diator career, the red-robed man chuckled. "Interesting, truly interesting. The report from that servant girl was correct. This person really did manage toprehend the original codex of the Infinity Sphere Art. Haha, she found another talent. I will be sure to richly reward her."


    Next to the man sat a woman in a blue gown. She smiled and said, "This is strange. In this battle, that man has only used art relics in battle, and he''s never used anything else. How is the Western Lord so certain that he hasprehended the Infinity Sphere Art?"


    The red-robed man replied, "That''s because you didn''t pay close enough attention to hisst two moves. Shui Yao (Water Fiend), you thought that the twin dragon strike was purely the power of those art relics? No, the real power was the energies of Yin and Yang! Those two swords simply maximized the power of Yin and Yang. Otherwise, how could Yuan Lian''s demon armor be so easily broken? But because he didn''t use Yin Yang fusion, which is the manifestation of the Infinity Sphere Art, and changed the face, you failed to recognize it."


    "I see." The eyes of the blue-gowned Shui Yao shed with admiration and reverence, a gaze which made the fiery man feel extremely smug.


    He liked it when women revered him. It made him feel superior and all-powerful.


    Pleased, he added, "That''s not all. Based on the thickness of the energy pirs, this person has already reached the first level of the Infinity Sphere Art. With such swift cultivation speed, he can be considered a genius."


    "He only needed a little more than a month to reach the first level?" Shui Yao was truly surprised this time.


    "Correct! It was worth it to watch so many bouts. This child is very good at hiding his strength. If not for Yuan Lian, it would truly have been hard for him to reveal himself. It appears that this kid is still hiding more.


    "Those in the arena want nothing more than to show everything they have to please the crowd, except this kid.


    "Demagogues don''t make it very far. Only those who hide their strength can take people by surprise, which will allow one to travel far rather than gain only a moment of glory."


    Shui Yao was startled, and then he said, "Western Lord, could it be that you favor this person¡­"


    The red-robed man drylyughed. "It''s hard to say. This person excessively hides his strength, so it''s hard to determine his limits. But his cultivation level truly is on the low side."


    "Then, the Western Lord means¡­"


    "Let''s keep watching. As the days go by, a person''s heart will be revealed. Let''s send a few more good fighters at him."


    "But this person doesn''t like to show off. He concedes the moment he runs into a strong opponent."


    "You can concede in the arena, but what about outside of it?"

 Chapter 552: Stellarite

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After winning the match against Yuan Lian, Tang Jie returned to his cave estate.


    The cave estate was on a mountain in the eastern part of the city. Tang Jie finally understood why the city had a mountain range: it was meant for cultivators.


    The mountain range was called the Heaven Manor Mountains, and it had a spiritual spring within that made the area rich in spiritual energy. A formation surrounded the mountain range, preventing spiritual energy from leaking out, and cave estates were distributed across the area. Anyone who wanted to get a good cultivation site would have to pay arge sum.


    One could say that cultivators fought to the death in the arena just to get a little farther on the path of Immortality.


    After taking part in twenty-some matches in the City of Freedom, Tang Jie finally had enough money to rent a cave estate.


    Upon entering the cave estate, Tang Jie immediately entered seclusion.


    The battle with Yuan Lian had been very enriching for Tang Jie. The aggressive style of the Demon Dao had allowed Tang Jie to see his shorings, and he had also deepened his understanding of the Dao of ughter. He needed to digest all these insights as quickly as possible so that he could get stronger.


    His seclusionsted for half a month.


    Only after digesting all the battle experience from that period did Tang Jie cease his seclusion. At this time, he remembered that there was still something he hadn''t done: look over the spoils from Yuan Lian''s body.


    The possessions of those who died on the battlefield all went to the winner, but normally, other than the art relics that they intended to use, nobody would bring anything extra for Tang Jie to take. Moreover, it wasn''t every match where one could kill their opponent, so in the twenty-some bouts, Tang Jie hadn''t exactly been able to strike it rich from the wealth of the dead. The one or two art relics he asionally got were turned into golden grains, as Tang Jie had been toozy to sell them off.


    But Yuan Lian was an exception.


    This man had thought that he was going to win for sure, so he hadn''t stored away his wealth, taking his Mustard Seed Bag to the battlefield, which allowed Tang Jie to take it all. When Tang Jie opened it up, he immediately saw more than thirty thousand ckstone coins, much to his delight.


    Besides the money, there were some medicines for treating injuries, a book for a Demon Dao technique, and those ck gauntlets.


    Tang Jie looked at the technique, but he saw that it wasn''t right for him and gave up on it. As for the ck gauntlets, they turned out to be an upper-grade art relic. While nice, it was also for the Demon Dao and not suitable for Tang Jie. However, he could sell it off for at least seventy thousand ckstone coins.


    With money in hand, Tang Jie could now buy materials, so he headed off to Heavenly x Street.


    If the City of Freedom was themercial center of the Blood River Domain, then the southern region was themercial center of the City of Freedom, and Heavenly x Street was themercial center of the southern region.


    Heavenly x Street was always the liveliest ce in the city. Here, one could find the most valuable medicines, the best art relics, the finest talismans, and the highest quality of materials in the Blood River Domain. So long as one had enough money, one could get anything they wanted.


    Tang Jie hade here more than once for the materials he needed. In truth, of the 11 materials he had yet to purchase, some of them had appeared in Heavenly x Street, but the sky-high prices had stopped him cold.


    While Tang Jie could afford them if he sold some treasures and materials, Tang Jie usually only kept around what he could use. Many of the materials he had couldn''t be found in the Blood River Domain, so once he sold them, he would find it very hard to buy them back.


    But the battle with Yuan Lian had finally resolved his capital problem, allowing him to step into Heavenly x Street.


    Warm Heart Market was thergest human-run store on Heavenly x Street. Tang Jie entered together with Yiyi, and a shopkeeper came up to attend to him.


    Tang Jie immediately said, "I want to see the Sterite you have here."


    Sterite was a most important material for making a teleportation formation, and it could also be used to cultivate space-type spell arts. This object could only be found in the void beyond domains, making it an extremely rare space-type material, packed with space energy. Teleportation formations broke through space to achieve teleportation, so they relied on space power, so Sterite was a core material. Its attributes were simr to the Space Crystal, though the actual power was far inferior.


    For this reason, when Tang Jie took out the Space Crystal to teleport, causing the spatial bnce of the Mountain River Diagram to copse, the Sterite in the teleportation formation had reced the Space Crystal in stabilizing space. But the Sterite in the formation shattered after brief usage, and half of it had been destroyed in that process.


    For Tang Jie, Sterite was necessary to repair the teleportation formation. Not only that, Tang Jie hoped to get extra. When using the Space Crystal, Tang Jie had realized that he might need to take out the Space Crystal in the future, so he would need sufficient amounts of Sterite to stabilize the Mountain River Diagram.


    The manager of the store instantly knew that this was a big customer, and he personally invited Tang Jie up to the second floor.


    "True Person Tang, how much Sterite do you need?" the manager asked after the introductions had been made.


    "Twelve," Tang Jie replied.


    A shopkeeper came forward with a jade box that held the Sterite Tang Jie needed.


    They sparkled like diamonds. Each crystal was the size of a walnut, which was the standard for Sterite epted across all the Ster Chiliocosm. Through processing, a Sterite had all its impurities removed, leaving only the spatial energy.


    Tang Jie picked up one. This 23-sided prismatic Sterite reflected a rainbow of colors, and Tang Jie could see countless selves traveling through the prism, being drawn out into long straight lines, and finally circling back to return to his eyes. What he was looking at was dragged out to infinity, as if the speed of light was slowing down.


    "The crystals are transparent and free of impurity. Very good!" Tang Jie sighed in praise. Warm Heart Market deserved its reputation as a top-ss store. The Sterite they cut had preserved almost all of the original energy.


    The manager grinned. "Each one will cost fifteen thousand ckstone coins."


    Tang Jie''s hand stiffened. "This expensive?"


    15,000 ckstone coins was 75,000 spirit coins, and twelve pieces was nearly a million. Although Sterite was one of the priciest of materials, Tang Jie still winced at this manager''s appetite.


    The manager said, "This crystal only exists in the void beyond domains, not a ce ordinary people can go, so it''s not easy to obtain. This small store doesn''t have many, and this is our store''sst bit of stockpile. Once we sell it off, there won''t be any left."


    Tang Jie shook his head. "Eight thousand!"


    "Absolutely not." The manager shook his head. "Fourteen thousand is the lowest I can go."


    The two of them haggled back and forth, Tang Jie doing his best to take the price under ten thousand, but the manager was immovable.


    Tang Jie made some calctions. Even after inheriting Yuan Lian''s wealth, the money he had now still wasn''t enough to buy the Sterite. After some thought, he said, "Fourteen thousand is fourteen thousand, but I only have one hundred thousand on hand. Can I put in a deposit? I would like your honored store to hold them for twenty days."


    Tang Jie was confident that he could make the rest in the next twenty days.


    The manager stroked his beard and said, "There''s naturally nothing wrong with that¡­"


    Before he could finish, a voice boomed, "Fifteen thousand apiece! I''ll take all the Sterite this store has."


    Raising his head, he saw a man stride in.


    This was an abnormallyrge Hemos male, his bare upper body revealing bulging muscle, and there were two battleaxes slung across his back.


    Although humans, fiends, and demons could trade among each other in the City of Freedom, in reality, everyone mostly kept to their own, buying and selling in stores run by their respective races. A Hemos would rarely run over to a human store to buy something, just like how a human wouldn''t go buying from a demon store.


    Of course, if they really did go, there usually wouldn''t be a problem.


    The Hemos went up to the manager and loudly said, "Fifteen thousand apiece! I want it all!"


    Tang Jie scowled. "Brother, doesn''t ''firste, first served'' matter anymore?"


    The Hemos man replied, "But so does the higher price!"


    "This isn''t an auction house."


    "It''s fine if the store is willing."


    The Hemos man turned to the manager.


    The manager appeared to be in a difficult spot.


    While stores sought profit, they also cared about their reputation. Although he really wanted to sell the Sterite to the Hemos man, he knew that this could easily affect his store''s reputation, and he would also be offending someone. After some thought, he said, "Since I have already agreed on a price with True Person Tang, I cannot so easily go back on my word. But my store has no policy on refusing business. So I would propose that instead of epting a deposit, True Person should simply buy as much as you can with the money you have avable. If True Person doesn''t have enough money and has treasures you want to sell, this lowly store will take them. After that, the rest can be bought by this friend. What do you think?"


    Before Tang Jie could reply, the Hemos man said, "I don''t like it. Why are you being such a wimp? Those with money can get all the treasure they want! Your store has 24 Sterite in all, and I have five hundred thousand here. I want it all."


    He threw a bag full of ckstone coins in front of the manager.


    Five hundred thousand ckstone coins was no small sum, and as it jangled on the floor from the impact, it shook the manager''s heart.


    He still wanted to maintain the reputation of his store, but then the Hemos man pointed at himself with his thumb and said, "My name is Na Shan (Mountain Taker)!"


    The manager didn''t dare to say another word, and even Tang Jie was startled.


    Na Shan''s reputation was too resounding. He was a prodigy of the arena and was an Asura. It was said that he was the person with the greatest hope of being promoted to God Killer.


    It had been many years since a new God Killer had appeared in the Celestial me Arena.


    One thousand victories had never been easy to achieve.


    The manager did not dare to offend a potential God Killer.


    Na Shan received the jade box and then nced at Tang Jie with a challenging look. "Don''t go shopping if you don''t have the money."


    Tang Jie chuckled, stood up, and walked out without a word.


    Na Shan was startled that Tang Jie wasn''t angry at all and had just left.


    Looking at Tang Jie''s departing figure, Na Shan suddenly shouted, "Trash!"


    Tang Jie paused.


    He slowly turned around and gave Na Shan a cold look.


    Na Shan proudly said, "What? You''re not convinced? All you humans are trash."


    Tang Jie suddenlyughed.


    He said, "Let me take a guess at what you''re going to say next."


    "Huh?" Na Shan was taken aback.


    Tang Jie said, "Next, you''ll probably say: ''Hey, kid, if you''ve got the guts, fight me. If you beat me, all this Sterite will be yours''¡­ Something like that, right?"


    Na Shan was stunned. It was clear that Tang Jie had spoken exactly what he had been meaning to say.


    Tang Jie continued, "Using Sterite as bait and humiliating words to provoke me into fighting you¡­ You didn''te to buy Sterite by coincidence, right?"


    Na Shan scowled.


    And then he erupted inughter. "Interesting! No wonder the Western Heaven King favors you."


    "''The Western Heaven King''?" Tang Jie was surprised. "Who is the Western Heaven King?"


    "You don''t even know the Western Heaven King." Na Shan smirked and suddenly threw the box of Sterite over, actually giving it all to Tang Jie.


    As Tang Jie was surprised, Na Shan said, "Just a minor gift aspensation for my rudeness."


    Giving away five hundred thousand ckstone coins'' worth of Sterite at the drop of a hat? Na Shan''s generosity was truly rming.


    But Tang Jie frowned and then pushed the box back to Na Shan. "It''s too expensive. I can''t take it."


    Na Shan raised an eyebrow. "What? Are you looking down on it?"


    "No, I just feel like there''s no such thing as a free lunch. At times, the cheaper something is, the more expensive it actually is. Thus, either you or that Western Heaven King behind you wants something, so you might as welle out and say it."


    "''The cheaper something is, the more expensive it actually is''¡­" Na Shan pondered these words, and then he threw his head back andughed. "Good! Good! An excellent saying! Not getting too emotional and not being greedy over a little profit! Brother Tang is truly a resolved and clear-headed person. Although it''s still not clear how strong you are, this mindset alone is very rare. The Western Heaven King''s eyes are as good as ever. It''s no wonder he asked me to probe you out. s, I''m too useless, unable to even get Brother Tang to exchange a few blows with me, and only turned myself into a petty person instead. Ridiculous!"


    He then gave the Sterite back to the manager and took his ckstone coins back. "I won''t be buying the Sterite anymore."


    He had earlier so easily bought the Sterite at over twenty thousand apiece, but after Tang Jie had exposed him, he had gone back on the deal, even taking his money back. It was truly shameless to the extreme.


    But that manager was cowed by his reputation and did not dare to say anything, only bowing his head and epting it. He then turned around and gave Tang Jie a pitiful look, wondering if Tang Jie would still buy them.


    Before Tang Jie could say anything, Na Shan impatiently said, "Sterites at fifteen thousand are too expensive. I think nine thousand is good enough."


    The manager''s soul almost left his body, but while he wanted to say something, Na Shan''s re silenced him.


    Na Shan then said, "Brother Tang, you have one hundred thousand, right? You have just enough to buy it. This won''t be a free lunch then, right?"


    The manager was in a panic. Nine thousand times twelve was one hundred and eight thousand! How could one hundred thousand be "just enough"!?


    But he tactfully remained silent.


    Tang Jie chuckled and took out his money. "Then I will have to thank Brother Na Shan for his friendship. But what are we doing next?"


    Na Shan replied, "It''s nothing. It''s just that you''ve hidden your power too well, and someone wants to see your real strength and wants me to trade blows with you."


    "I see." Tang Jie smiled. "Actually, it''s not a big deal for me to stop hiding my strength. I''m not actually someone who cares about being inconspicuous, but since I want to live long, I can only keep some strength hidden. If I run into a person that needs all my strength to deal with, Tang Ran definitely won''t hold anything back."


    Tang Jie wasn''t lying about this.


    He wasn''t hiding his strength so that he could y a pig to eat a tiger, nor was it so that he could put on an explosive performance. It was purely for safety. The arena was rife with hidden dragons and crouching tigers, and in the upper ranks, there were no mediocre fighters.


    Tang Jie had never believed that he could sweep the arena with his strength. This being the case, he needed to hide his strength so that he had some trump cards to use.


    Trump cards were trump cards because they were strongest when nobody knew about them. if they were discovered, their effects would be greatly reduced. But Tang Jie was hiding too many trump cards: saber intent, the Sovereign de, the Chaoswind Step, the Soul Refining Pearl, the Flesh Millstone, Insight, and so on. He was even unwilling to use the Heavenly Cloud de.


    "But you know how to concede, right?" Na Shan smiled.


    He no longer seemed like some bored fool who went around challenging people.


    Tang Jie scratched the back of his head. "I just haven''t run into anyone who''s worth showing my real strength."


    Na Shanughed. "As expected. Fine, Brother Tang, since you want to be straightforward, I''ll be frank¡­"


    He red at that manager and said, "What are you still standing here for? Trying to eavesdrop?"


    The manager mentally cried out in injustice, You''re the ones talking in my store, alright?


    But he didn''t dare to say anything extra and headed downstairs with the rest of the Sterite. But at this moment, Tang Jie said, "Keep the remaining twelve for me. I''lle and buy them in another few days, one hundred thousand."


    The manager almost fell over.


    Tang Jie sat down with Na Shan, sipping on the leftover tea. Tang Jie said, "If my guess is right, the one who requested Brother Na Shan''s help should be that Western Heavenly King, yes? But who is the Western Heavenly King, that he is able to request your help?"


    Na Shan chuckled. "I really have to hand it to you, fighting in the Celestial me Arena for so long without knowing who the Western Heavenly King is. You don''t know the Western Heavenly King, but you should know about the Four Heavenly Kings, right? And if you don''t know them, then you should know the Four Apostles, right?"


    Tang Jie realized upon hearing the term "Four Apostles". "Is the Western Heavenly King of the Celestial me Pagoda''s Four Apostles?"


    Although the me Celestial Sovereign had established the Celestial me Arena, he had not concerned himself with its affairs for many years. It was said that this person had ascended to the Immortal tform many years ago and spent most of his time wandering the Myriad Domains, rarely returning without a special reason. The Celestial me Pagoda was actually run by his four disciples, the so-called Four Apostles of the Celestial me.


    As they each ruled one of the four directions, they were called the Four Heavenly Kings.


    The Four Heavenly Kings were said to be Violet Pce experts, and since they were also the de facto rulers of the Celestial me Arena, it was no wonder they were able tomand the likes of Na Shan.


    But Tang Jie was curious as to why the Western Heavenly King was interested in him.


    Na Shan told him the truth.


    "You were able to read the entirety of the Infinity Sphere''s original codex, and you were able to cultivate to the first level in forty days. It was clear that you were capable of far more than what you actually showed."


    So I was still found out, Tang Jie thought to himself.


    In the battle with Yuan Lian, he had used the Yin and Yang energies together with the me Dragon Sword and Frost Drake Sword, and though he had hid the energies exquisitely, a few attentive watchers had still noticed. And he had read the original codex with that servant girl next to him, so it wasn''t strange for word of that to get out.


    Casually sipping his tea, Tang Jie said, "It''s no wonder the Celestial me Pagoda lets anyone who can read the original codex learn the full technique. So it had this sort of objective? But why is the Western Heavenly King interested in this sort of person?"


    Na Shan chuckled. "Why do you think the Celestial me Arena exists?"


    Tang Jie was surprised by the question. "It''s not for money?"


    "Money is naturally necessary, but what''s more important will always be the people!" Na Shan said. "The Celestial me Arena has always existed with the goal of selecting talented individuals. Battle is simply one of those selection methods, and reading the original codex is another."


    "''Selecting talented individuals''? For what?"


    "Do you want to know?" Na Shanughed.


    He removed the battleaxes from his back and said, "Fight me! Prove you have the right to join us by enduring ten of my moves."

 Chapter 553: The Immortal-Ascending Platform

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    High in the sky of the Blood River Domain, a jade tform floated in the clouds, like a castle in the sky.


    The tform was 880 feet long, 660 feet wide, and 330 feet tall, made entirely from white jade. Upon it were eighteen dragon pirs and eighteen phoenix pirs, tall and thick. Together with the clouds drifting about, they made Tang Jie feel like he was in a fairnd.


    Looking around at the tform, he couldn''t help but remark, "This is the legendary Immortal-Ascending tform of the Court of Myriad Domains?"


    Standing nearby, Na Shanughed. "The Immortal-Ascending tform was where the Court of Myriad Domains invested Immortals. It was a supreme Dao armament in itself, and when the Myriad Court shattered, it disappeared. As for this tform, it is a divine treasure the me Celestial Sovereign made ording to the legends of the Immortal-Ascending tform. Although it is a copy, it still possesses a supreme Divine Connection that can protect the people on the tform, making it perfect for sparring. Tang Ran, use all your strength. Let me see the strength of a genius who was able to read all of the Infinity Codex."


    Through Na Shan''s words, Tang Jie finally understood how this Immortal-Ascending tform worked.


    This was a specially-made dueling tform. The Celestial Rebirth Divine Connection imbued into it allowed it to protect anyone on the tform who suffered a lethal attack, ensuring that they didn''t die. It was the perfect ce for sparring. To put it in Na Shan''s words, one could use as much power as they had without worry of killing their opponent.


    After exining the powers of the Immortal-Ascending tform, Na Shan pulled out his axes. "Now, let me see what Brother Tang can do. Blood Demon ssic!"


    With this roar, Na Shan''s blood energy swelled, red energy surging out of him in waves.


    This red energy roiled in the air as a crimson fog, radiating a fierce, wild, boundless, and immense aura.


    Na Shan''s body grewrger andrger within the crimson fog, and in a sh, he had turned into a giant more than eighty feet tall. "This axe''s name is Sky Cleaver. It is forged from Deep Sea Refined Iron and weighs 998 catties. Brother Tang, be careful!"


    As he spoke, he swung the axe down.


    The axe tore through the air, and Tang Jie felt like nothing in the world existed except this axe.


    This simple axe swing seemed utterly undodgeable.


    Tang Jie didn''t dare to take on this Sky Cleaver weighing 998 catties with a sword, so he had no choice but to use the Chaoswind Step. His body blinked away and appeared on the other side.


    "Eh?" Na Shan gasped, clearly not having expected his opponent to have a spatial shift spell art, and then excitement and enthusiasm gathered on his face. "As expected, you really did have more tricks!"


    Tang Jie''splexion slightly darkened.


    This was the first person who had forced him to use the Chaoswind Step at the very first move.


    A momentter, Na Shan roared and turned around, swinging his axe in an explosive blow at Tang Jie. It appeared that he did not n to hold back, and the movement of the axe stirred up a powerful gale.


    Tang Jie unleashed his sword!


    Two streams of energy, white and red, turned into two dragons and rushed at Na Shan.


    The Frost Drake Sword!


    The me Dragon Sword!


    Tang Jie could no longer keep hiding his strength in the face of this powerful foe, using these two swords in his first attack. But this time, the two streams of draconic energy merged together as they surged forward, condensing into an even greater force.


    The Infinity Sphere!


    This was the essence of the Infinity Sphere Art, fusing Yin and Yang energies together to unleash the strongest impact. Although Tang Jie had onlyprehended the first level of the Infinity Sphere Art, the Frost Drake and me Dragon Swords had magnified the power of his attack.


    Two mighty forces mmed into each other.


    Awooo!


    Na Shan''s enormous body flew into the air with a mighty roar, the Sky Cleaver shattering the red and white dragons with unstoppable momentum, and the axe continued to swing at Tang Jie, its force unspent.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but grimace.


    Na Shan''s cultivation level was still at the Heart Demon Tier, but his real strength was almost at Soul Transformation. Hisbat power was frightening, and he lived up to his title of Asura and of being the man with the greatest hope of bing a God Killer.


    As the Sky Cleaver approached, Tang Jie had no choice but to use the Chaoswind Step to evade again. At the same time, he sheathed his sword and pulled out another.


    The Five Sacred Mountains Sword.


    The mountain souls emerged, and the mountains fell.


    Five mountains blotted out the sky, falling one after another.


    Rather than being rmed, Na Shan was delighted. "I was waiting for this."


    The blood energy on his body swelled, and his body grewrger again, turning into a giant that was around two hundred feet tall.


    This size was inferior to the giant that Yuan Lian had turned into, but Na Shan''s giant form was clearly more tempered, solid, and weighty.


    Facing the mountains, Na Shan roared:


    "I am Na Shan, Mountain Taker!"


    Na Shan jumped high into the air and swung his axe down on the mountains. "Starshatter Axe Art!"


    Boom!


    A massive shockwave swept out from the massive collision, so powerful that Tang Jie almost fell over.


    At that moment, he watched in stunned disbelief as the giant Na Shan wildly hacked away at the mountains with his giant axe.


    The axe shed with a blinding light, making it seem like a sun. As the axe hewed into the mountains, it also produced numerous phenomena. Countless stars twinkled in the sky, and streaks of me tore across the sky, mming into the stars and obliterating them.


    The Starshatter Axe Art!


    This terrifying axe art allowed Na Shan to cut away at the five mountains like they were melons.


    The Starshatter Axe Art was passed down from High Antiquity and was said to be able to even shatter stars, so the five mountains were nothing to it.


    This was Tang Jie''s first time seeing someone so easily break the Five Mountains Divine Connection. Although Tang Jie could use the Five Mountains Shift three more times, Tang Jie didn''t want to reveal his casting upper limit, and he also didn''t think that it would do any good against Na Shan.


    The best way to deal with someone like Na Shan was the Sovereign de, ignoring his tough body and cutting him into several dozen chunks. But Tang Jie clearly couldn''t do this, so he could only think of another idea.


    The five mountains had already crumbled, and this was only the second exchange.


    Na Shan spun around like a whirlwind, swinging the axe again.


    Tang Jie dodged again with the Chaoswind Step.


    But as he dodged, Na Shan suddenly punched out behind him.


    This punch created a powerful st of wind.


    Tang Jie was caught in the st the moment he appeared and was instantly bowled over.


    Na Shanughed. "Just dodging won''t do you any good!"


    His enormous body instantly turned into a streak of blood that chased after Tang Jie.


    A blood movement art!


    This fellow also knew a kind of spatial movement art, but while Tang Jie used his for evasion, Na Shan opted for pursuit.


    The streak of blood rushed up to Tang Jie''s side, where it turned back into Na Shan. The axe came chopping down once more as he roared, "Die!"


    If this axe struck true, Tang Jie would be pulverized, and he wasn''t sure if even the Celestial Rebirth could save him.


    Tang Jie had juste out of the Chaoswind Step and was reeling from the sudden st of wind, so he momentarily couldn''t use the Chaoswind Step to dodge again. Unable to dodge this attack, Tang Jie suddenly swung the Five Sacreds Sword at Na Shan''s axe.


    He was choosing to block!


    The sword radiated an intense light, and as sword met axe, the light actually stopped the Sky Cleaver''s downward momentum. And then, the light passed through the axe as if it wasn''t there and struck Na Shan in the chest.


    As that light swept past, Na Shan bellowed and backed away, a bloody wound appearing on his chest.


    It didn''t bite too deeply into his flesh, and in a split second, the severed flesh was restored. But regardless, that fierce Na Shan had been pushed back.


    That person observing from the shadows couldn''t help but be surprised.


    A finger dabbed the blood on the chest and delivered it to the mouth.


    Na Shan viciously smiled. "Good, very good. I didn''t think I would run into sword intent! You really are a capable sort!"


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled.


    He truly had used one of his trump cards, but it was saber intent, not sword intent.


    Using saber intent to control a sword had prevented Tang Jie from unleashing the full power of his saber intent, or else Na Shan wouldn''t have gotten off so lightly.


    But he was toozy to exin. Actually, when using saber intent to control the sword, he had felt a small sliver of the quintessence of sword intent.


    Sabers and swords shared the same origin. Both saber intent and sword intent involved using the mind to control the de, merging the weapon with the mind and entering a more profound state.


    Tang Jie had been in this state before, but that had been in fusion with the saber. Now that he was working with a sword, though there were some differences, he had an easier time understanding it.


    To go from not knowing to knowing was a learning process, but to go from saber intent to sword intent was a choosing process.


    The two processes simply weren''tparable.


    For this reason, if Tang Jie wanted to, he couldprehend sword intent without too much difficulty.


    As he was experiencing sword intent, Na Shan''s axe came howling over once more.


    But he was no longer as brazen after learning that Tang Jie could use "sword intent", applying a blood barrier to himself beforeunching his attack. While his right hand used the Starshatter Axe Art, his left hand stirred up a sea of blood such that Tang Jie would be affected by the sea of blood no matter where he blinked to.


    This was a man who had won thousands of battles, and so he had quickly realized that the Chaoswind Step was restricted to a certain area. This blood sea spell art was meant specifically to counter the move.


    "Use whatever else you have!" Na Shanughed.


    At this time, Tang Jie still had the Sovereign de, the Soul Refining Pearl, the Flesh Millstone, and the Realm of Insight.


    But Tang Jie shook his head and said, "Nothing else except this."


    Countless crescent des trailing chains dropped down from the sky¡ªthe Heavenly Cloud des.


    Through repeated tempering, Tang Jie had rebuilt the Heavenly Cloud des back to 81 in number. Although they weren''t as powerful as when unleashed through a formation, they still made for an extremely powerful attack.


    Moreover, Tang Jie wasn''t using the Heavenly Cloud des just once, but several times, unleashing three waves of Heavenly Cloud des at once.


    The nearly three hundred des pelted down in a deluge, each de the equivalent of a Gale de spell art. Hundreds of Gale des was something that even the tough Na Shan couldn''t endure.


    As de after de fell on his body, letting out a discordant nging, Na Shan staggered and stumbled like a giant trying to press through a hurricane.


    As the des battered him, they sted through his blood barrier, shattered his armor, and then began to fall on his granite skin. At first, they were only able to leave faint white imprints, but as the collisions came one after the other, even this steely skin began to show cracks.


    Geysers of blood erupted from Na Shan''s body, one after the other.


    Even then, this savage giant didn''t back down, pushing against the storm of Heavenly des to reach Tang Jie''s side. But the battering of the des had dampened his charge to nothing. Standing next to Tang Jie, Na Shan red, then opened his mouth and roared.


    "RAAAA!!!"


    This draconic roar shook Tang Jie''s mind, and a secondter, Na Shan''s steely fist swung at his chin.


    Tang Jie felt like he had been smashed by a hammer, his lower jaw pulverized.


    As he flew through the air, his spiritual energy began to repair the damage done to his body, and by the time hended, his chin was already 10% restored. Meanwhile, Na Shan was also rapidly recovering, and all of the wounds were already gone as if they had never existed.


    Licking his lips, Na Shan cracked a smile and said, "Not bad, putting me in this state!"


    Tang Jie''s jaw was in ruins, so he couldn''t speak, so he simply gave Na Shan a thumbs-up to say that he had also done rather well.


    Na Shan casuallyughed, but then his face suddenly darkened as he swung his axe again! "Cleave the skies and shatter the stars!"


    The axe unleashed a powerful st of light at Tang Jie. Rather than continuing with closebat, he had unleashed a powerful spell art akin to the Matchless sh. As the axe unleashed a sky-cleaving power, Tang Jie paled and instinctively used the Chaoswind Step.


    But he was a little too slow, and the st of axe energy swept over his leg.


    Boom!


    Flesh exploded as half of Tang Jie''s leg was obliterated.


    He appeared to Na Shan''s side rather than rear, but the blood sea still allowed Na Shan to detect his location, and thatrge body turned into a streak of blood and charged at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie had no time to resist, but thankfully, his jaw had recovered enough for him to make sounds again.


    "BRAH!" he roared.


    That bloody streak froze for a moment, which was just enough time for Tang Jie to thrust his finger at Na Shan''s forehead.


    The Jade Shattering Finger!


    "Aaargh!" Na Shan howled in pain as he rammed his head into Tang Jie''s belly, the two curved horns breaking through the Formless Golden Body and prating into Tang Jie.


    At the same time, Tang Jie thrust a second finger at Na Shan''s head.


    It was still the Jade Shattering Finger.


    This was a method he had learned from Zhu Yun''s Jade Shattering w, but Tang Jie could only use two fingers with the Jade Shattering Finger at the same time.


    Even so, the two sharp sts of finger energy pierced through Na Shan''s head, boring tworge holes through that bull-like skull.


    The two of them separated, flying away from each other.


    Tang Jie''s belly had two grisly holes, and one leg was done for, and Na Shan''s head also had two new windows. The wounds weren''trge, but their position was lethal. However, the tenacious life force of the Hemos showed its worth here, so even though his most fragile head had been heavily wounded, this guy still wasn''t dead. and even the Immortal-Ascending tform''s Celestial Rebirth had not activated. This meant that he was still some distance from being on the verge of death.


    His head swaying, he stuck a finger into the hole in his head and picked out some brains, after which he grinned. "So you''re even willing to risk your life. Haha, I like it!"


    Being wounded like this actually made him happy rather than angry.


    Tang Jie red at him, holding his stomach as he stood back up. In his hand, the Five Sacreds Sword began to glow.


    He was wondering if he should use the Five Mountains Shift to take down Na Shan, but he wasn''t sure if Na Shan had been using all his strength.


    In the face of such an opponent, Tang Jie felt like he had fewer and fewer trump cards left.


    Fortunately, at this time, Na Shan shouted, "There''s no need to keep fighting! I acknowledge your strength!"


    Tang Jie exhaled and sat down on the floor.


    Na Shan shouted, "Celestial Rebirth!"


    Two balls of hazy light appeared above the Immortal-Ascending tform and fell on the two.


    Their heavy wounds began to heal.


    With their recovery powers, they could have quickly healed the wounds, even without the Celestial Rebirth.


    But this sort of recovery would draw on their life force. Tang Jie hadprehended the Dao of Life, so he could use it to instantly heal his wounds, but he would pay for it with his lifespan.


    This was why, unless one was in a bitter battle to the death, everyone would choose to rely on external items to recover.


    The power of the Divine Connection quickly restored them to full health.


    Na Shan stood up and said, "You truly are pretty strong, but there''s something I don''t understand. You don''t seem to have any good sword arts."


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. "The ones I learned in the past are all too low of a level, and I didn''t find any better ones¡­"


    Tang Jie truly hadn''t learned any sword arts, or anything in the sword other than the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword all the way back then.


    Let alone sword arts, he hadn''t even learned any decent saber arts.


    This was because his real weapon was the Sovereign de, which could take on forms beyond sword or saber. And most importantly, in its early stage, the Sovereign de couldn''t be used with spell arts.


    The cultivation world''s saber arts didn''t mean some method of using the saber, but a spell art. Because of the limits of the Sovereign de, he had grown used to relying on spell arts for long-range attacks and weapons for closebat, so he didn''t really need any saber or sword spell arts. Moreover, he had the Divine Court Thousandshift to make up for it, so he essentially didn''t learn anything else.


    In the end, he managed to reach Celestial Heart True Person without learning a single saber or sword art, making him quite odd.


    But after this battle, he was considering filling in this gap.


    Now he thought about it, he currently had the manual for the "Sword of Longevity". As for the War God Mantra and the Free Roaming Divine Connection, the former was a mantra that could only be learned at the Heart Demon Tier and thetter was a Divine Connection that could only be cultivated at Violet Pce, or at least, he would have to wait until he reached minor attainment in his Divine Will. There was no hope of learning them in the short term.


    Na Shan didn''t know what he was thinking. He simplyughed and said, "This is rather simple. Join us, and you can choose any text within the Celestial me Pagoda."


    "Just who are you people?" Tang Jie asked.


    "Follow me," Na Shan said, cocking his head.

 Chapter 554: The Treasure Paradise

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie flew back to the ground with Na Shan, who then took him to the Celestial me Pagoda.


    His status in the Celestial me Pagoda was clearly extremely high, and nobody stopped them as they went up.


    They went all the way to the eighth floor, where Na Shan guided Tang Jie to a set ofrge double doors and pushed them open.


    The doors creaked open, revealing a spacious hall.


    This was clearly a martial exhibition hall. Various weapons were on disy, with the lowest being middle-grade art relics.


    There were three people in the center of the hall, sparring with each other.


    One person wore a water-blue gown and seemed to be elegantly dancing, ripples of watery light constantly appearing in her hands. This was none other than the Shui Yao who had been speaking with the red-robed man.


    Another was a person with a withered constitution and wearing an azure robe, vines wrapped around their body.


    Thest was surrounded in a haze of ck demonic energy, recognizable at a nce as a demon. He was a rather handsome demon youth, but the pair of dark circles around his eyes seemed to indicate that he hadn''t had a good rest in a long time.


    The three of them were sparring in the hall, various colors of mes intersecting. But when they saw Na Shane in, they immediately stopped.


    The demon youth said, "Big Brother Na Shan is back. What''s the situation?"


    Shui Yao cast Tang Jie an alluring gaze, and she flirtatiously said, "Since he''s here, he must have passed."


    Na Shanughed. "Of course. Come, Brother Tang, and I''ll introduce you."


    He pointed at the three. "Shui Yao, Qing Lian (Green Lotus), Hei Yan (ck Eyes). They''re all our people."


    Tang Jie had heard of all three. They were all illustrious figures in the arena.


    After introducing the three, Na Shan pointed at the principal seat of the hall. "This is the Western Heavenly King."


    Na Shan was pointing at empty space.


    But a momentter, the space distorted, and a man in a fiery cowled robe appeared before Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie saw a middle-aged man whose face was brimming with majesty. He had very special eyes, covered in concentric grooves that formed their own little maze. In the center of his forehead was a me insignia, which flickered ceaselessly as if it was an actual me. Just looking at it made Tang Jie dizzy.


    Those patterned eyes fell upon Tang Jie, and the Western Heavenly King smiled.


    He nodded. "Good, very good, extremely good!"


    He seemed to be extremely satisfied that Tang Jie had been able to pass Na Shan''s test.


    He then said, "My name is Hero. You may call me the Western Heavenly King or the Western Lord."


    "Hero"?


    Tang Jie was startled. This name had a very strong Hemos vor.


    As if he could see Tang Jie''s surprise, the Western Heavenly King removed his cowl.


    What Tang Jie saw was a pair of broken horns atop the Western Heavenly King''s head.


    "I am a Hemos," the Western Heavenly King said. "But I am also a Hemos that has abandoned this status. In the Celestial me Pagoda, there are only allies and enemies, no race."


    "''Only allies and enemies, no race.''" Tang Jie pondered these words.


    Turning his head, he looked at Na Shan, Shui Yao, Qing Lian, and ck Eyes, and then he looked at himself. Humans, Hemos, and demons were all standing together, and Na Shan had said that they were all on the same side.


    He turned back to the Western Heavenly King and said, "If there is no race, then who is the enemy?"


    Western Heavenly King Hero chuckled.


    He said, "There is only one thing that can transcend race."


    Tang Jie was startled, and then after some thought, he said, "Profit."


    Na Shan and the othersughed.


    Shui Yao covered her mouth and chuckled. "The Western Lord''s eyes are as sharp as ever. Brother Tang is very quick-witted."


    Hero nodded in satisfaction. "Correct. Only profit can transcend all boundaries and bring together different races. It is also profit that allows the Celestial me Arena to stand tall in this ce, and allows you to stand before me here today."


    He waved his hand, and the surrounding walls turned transparent, allowing them to see the outside world.


    He saw that they were high in the clouds, and beneath them was the morous Celestial me Arena.


    Countless braves were fighting to the death, blood sshing amid the rising and falling of cheers.


    Pointing down at the arena below, Hero slowly said, "All the world rushes here and there for the sake of profit. But different people are bound to obtain different profits. We are all cultivators, but some people will participate in battles where they have only a one-in-ten chance of winning to earn a paltry ten ckstone coins, whereas God Killers can take part in a single bout and gain tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of ckstone coins. Which would you choose?"


    "Thetter, naturally," Tang Jie replied.


    "But to be a God Killer, you must experience various dangers and tribtions," Hero said.


    Tang Jie smiled. "The Great Dao is the stage, and flesh and blood are the steps. The Immortal path has always been like this. One either bes a stepping stone for another or else climbs up on the bodies of others."


    Hero was taken aback, and then he erupted inughter. "Good, good, the Great Dao as the stage, and the flesh and blood as the steps! In other words, you''re willing to take risks for big profit?"


    Tang Jie replied, "Isn''t that the case for anyone who has entered the arena? For me, the question will always be this: ''Are the rewards appropriate for the risks involved? Am I getting enough for what I''m paying?''"


    Heroughed again. "Hahaha, good words! This is exactly the reason Master established the Celestial me Arena. As you said, those who enter the arena are people who are willing to brave the risks for the sake of profit, and what we need¡­ is exactly people like this!"


    "So you''re saying that the Celestial me Arena isn''t for making money?" Tang Jie asked.


    "''Making money''?" Hero chuckled. "Of course, that also yed a part, but it wasn''t the original purpose of the Celestial me Arena. From the very start, the Celestial me Arena has existed to choose the talents we require. And only this sort of person has the right to vie for huge profits!"


    "''Huge profits''?" Tang Jie''s eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"


    "Naturally, the only thing that can be considered ''huge profits'' for us is a tremendous fortune that can lead to the supreme Heavenly Dao, opening up our path to Immortality!" Hero proimed.


    "Then where do you n to get these huge profits from?" Tang Jie asked.


    "The Treasure Paradise."


    Tang Jie was instantly dumbfounded.


    On the subject of the Treasure Paradise, one first had to discuss something else.


    The Lustrous Treasure River!


    This was a legendary ce.


    It was said that in the depths of the Great Ster Chiliocosm''s infinite void was a resplendent sea of stars.


    That was the Boundless Sea of Stars.


    Nobody could say howrge the Boundless Sea of Stars was. All that could be said was that nobody had ever been able to cross this sea of stars and reach the other side.


    But everybody knew what was beyond the sea of stars.


    The Lustrous Treasure River!


    This was a river that consisted entirely of divine tools and Dao armaments, countless natural treasures of extremely high quality. These were much stronger than ordinary Dao armaments.


    Countless people had seen this river before, because while it was impossible to physically reach it, it was possible for the will to cross.


    When Tang Jie had charged at Mortal Shedding, his energy had linked with the heavens and earth and his mind had ventured into the void, so he had passed through this area before. He had gone even farther, seeing the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel andprehending the Dao of Insight. After that, he had experienced the same thing when his original body had reached Mortal Shedding.


    He knew that any one of the treasures in the Lustrous Treasure River could shake all of the Great Chiliocosm, yet they were as numerous as the grains of sand in the bank of a river, flowing endlessly through the cosmos.


    Only a small number of powerful wills couldmune with one of those treasures and borrow the power of its treasure light, even calling that treasure over to their side. And each one of these treasures was a divine weapon that could shake the world.


    The people who could reach this level were far too few in number.


    But there were always a few astounding geniuses who could do what others could not. When other cultivators were wondering if they could seed once in a lifetime, others could sessfullymunicate with treasures again and again as if they were fishing, pulling treasure after treasure out of the Lustrous Treasure River.


    Such a person was the famous Reverend Celestial Hook.


    He was called "Celestial Hook" because of his ability to fish out treasures.


    In his lifetime, this person had fished out more than eight hundred treasures from the Lustrous Treasure River. More than six hundred had been divine treasures and more than a hundred had been Dao armaments, and all of them were naturally formed. Many of the Dao armaments circting through the Great Ster Chiliocosm in the present hade from Reverend Celestial Hook, who had be shockingly wealthy.


    In the legends, this person was the only person who had more money than the Court of Myriad Domains.


    But this was exactly the reason he had died.


    It was said that several Titans of the Court of Myriad Domains had joined together to kill Reverend Celestial Hook, seizing his property for the Court of Myriad Domains.


    Even so, the Court of Myriad Domains still didn''t rest, and it began to seek out existences linked to Reverend Celestial Hook. Gradually, a rumor began to circte that Reverend Celestial Hook had a secret treasury that contained all of the real treasures he had gathered over the years.


    This was the Treasure Paradise.


    The Court of Myriad Domains had spent ages searching for the Treasure Paradise, but they ultimately found nothing. With the passage of time, the Treasure Paradise became nothing more than a myth.


    But some people still believed that the Treasure Paradise existed.


    The me Celestial Sovereign was one of them.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    The hall on the eighth floor of the Celestial me Pagoda.


    The transparent walls had been reced with shing golden walls.


    At the back of the hall was arge golden throne.


    Western Heavenly King Hero was seated on this throne.


    Beneath the throne were five long tables, and Tang Jie and the other four were seated behind them. Various exquisite fruits had been served, all of them of a spiritual nature.


    But Tang Jie wasn''t interested in eating. He was immersed in Hero''s story of the Treasure Paradise.


    "Master always believed that the Treasure Paradise existed. This is because Reverend Celestial Hook obtained some very famous treasures, but when the Myriad Court exterminated the reverend, they didn''t find these supreme treasures that were known as being the kings of Dao armaments. Thus, Master believed that Reverend Celestial Hook had kept them in the Treasure Paradise. The reason the Treasure Paradise has never been discovered is simply that it is too well-hidden. That''s why Master came to the Blood River Domain. He was hoping to find an answer here."


    "Why the Blood River Domain?" Tang Jie asked.


    "Because Reverend Celestial Hook was a native of the Blood River Domain," Na Shan replied.


    Since the reverend was a native, if he wanted to hide his most important treasures, he would naturally put them in the Blood River Domain.


    Upon arriving, the me Celestial Sovereign began searching for the Treasure Paradise.


    And he really did manage to find it.


    "Where is it?" Tang Jie couldn''t help but ask after hearing this.


    He asked despite knowing that this was important information that Hero probably wouldn''t divulge to him.


    But to his surprise, Hero pointed downward.


    Tang Jie was stunned by this action, and then he realized and blurted out, "Here?"


    "To be more precise: it''s under the arena," Hero casually said. "Three thousand meters under the arena is an entrance, the entrance to the Treasure Paradise."


    As Hero spoke, Tang Jie finally understood what had transpired.


    After arriving at the Blood River Domain, the me Celestial Sovereign, through herculean efforts, really did manage to find the Treasure Paradise''s entrance.


    But the Treasure Paradise was a sealed world. To be more precise: it had been created from a supreme Dao armament. Even the me Celestial Sovereign wasn''t strong enough to break that seal and enter the world to search for treasure.


    The me Celestial Sovereign had racked his mind for ideas.


    Gradually, he came up with the idea of the Celestial me Arena.


    The me Celestial Sovereign had several goals behind establishing the Celestial me Arena. The first was to establish his own territory and prevent any other Titans from interfering. The second was to gather talented individuals in preparation for his adventure into the Treasure Paradise, for the me Celestial Sovereign had already realized that the Treasure Paradise was brimming with dangers. Even if he opened the seal, he couldn''t just rush in. And the third reason was to set up a blood formation to open the seal.


    Very early on, Tang Jie had noticed something strange: even though many cultivators fought and died in the Celestial me Arena every year, the spiritual energy concentration was very average.


    Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators were insignificant in this regard, but if Celestial Heart Realm cultivators died, a spirit rain would appear. And if Soul Transformation cultivators died, a long deluge wasmonce.


    But even though he had spent some time in the City of Freedom, he had yet to see anything like this.


    He thought that this was because the Blood River Domain was different from the Rosecloud Domain and that Returned Remnants were less likely to appear.


    But this wasn''t the case at all.


    Under the Celestial me Arena was a Sanguine Death Sea Formation. All the cultivators who died in the Celestial me Arena would have their energies turned into blood by the formation, upon which it would seep into the ground and enter the blood sea in the formation.


    Once there was enough blood in that sea, it could wipe away the seal and open up the Treasure Paradise.


    "I see." Tang Jie finally understood why the me Celestial Sovereign had founded the Celestial me Arena.


    Now that he thought about it, it was only this sort of method that could cause mass death without causing trouble. As for making money, in front of the Treasure Paradise, this was truly just small change.


    After hearing the Western Heavenly King say all this, Tang Jie said, "The arena has been running for much longer than a few days, and the me Celestial Sovereign is now wandering the myriad domains. It looks to me like the me Celestial Sovereign has already opened up the Treasure Paradise and taken its treasure, no?"


    Hero chuckled. "Correct. If not, I wouldn''t have been willing to tell all of you such a big secret. But s, the Treasure Paradise didn''t have as many valuable treasures as imagined. There were five natural Dao armaments that had gone missing back then, but only four were found in the Treasure Paradise. The first became the Treasure Paradise and couldn''t be taken away, and the second and third had been merged into the Treasure Paradise to create a sealing treasure, so they also couldn''t be taken. As for thest, Master obtained it. Even though there weren''t many natural Dao armaments, there were plenty of divine treasures and art relics. Those things were of little use to Master, so most of them were left in the Treasure Paradise."


    Tang Jie seemed to understand. "Heavenly King must have been referring to those divine treasures and art relics left in the Treasure Paradise before, yes?"


    Hero nodded. "Correct. The huge profits I refer to are those divine treasures and art relics. The Treasure Paradise is opened up every twenty years, and we four martial brothers will send people into the Treasure Paradise to seek out treasures."


    Tang Jie frowned. "I don''t understand. Why didn''t the me Celestial Sovereign simply leave them to you, instead of opting for this method? And why don''t you four take the treasures yourselves?"


    Hero replied, "There are three reasons. As I said before, two Dao armaments merged with the Treasure Paradise. One of them is called the Divine Genesis."


    "''The Divine Genesis''?"


    "Yes. Unlike other Dao armaments, it has nobat ability, but it has the ability to create all treasures. Any item ced within the Treasure Paradise will be a treasure in the future, and ordinary beasts will evolve into fiends. This is one of the reasons that the Treasure Paradise has so many art relics. Rather than being put in there by Reverend Celestial Hook, they were created by the Divine Genesis. This Dao armament merged with the Treasure Paradise, and the Treasure Paradise is a small and isted world embedded into the Blood River Domain, so it cannot be taken away. We can onlye back at intervals to take the treasures. Thus, Master chose to leave everything in the Treasure Paradise for us to take ourselves."


    "I see."


    "The second reason is that the Treasure Paradise is not without danger. Of the two Dao armaments that merged with it, the Divine Genesis creates and produces countless art relics and terrifying fiends, but the other is a divine sword that can even kill Immortal tform Titans. After merging with the Treasure Paradise, its horrifying power was spread out across the Treasure Paradise, and you can never know when you might be killed. Even Violet Pce and Immortal tform cultivators face the risk of death. And in that ce, the stronger one''s cultivation, the more liable one is to trigger the power of the divine sword. I went into the Treasure Paradise in my early years, and there, I experienced some of the power of the divine sword. That scene¡­"


    Hero did not continue, but there was a hint of awe on his face.


    He shook his head. "Anyone who has experienced it once won''t want to go in again."


    Tang Jie understood. "This arena''s purpose, other than undoing the seal, is for selecting talented individuals to venture into the Treasure Paradise, and based on what the Heavenly King has said, what matters about the person entering isn''t whether they have a high cultivation level, but how strong they are among their peers."


    "Correct!" Hero nodded.


    He was currently at Violet Pce, so if he went in, he had an extremely high chance of dying, so he did not make the decision to go in lightly.


    "And the third reason?"


    Na Shan replied, "The third reason is very simple: some people are sent specifically to die. The Treasure Paradise is an isted world, and while it is powerful enough to simte its own universe and produce spiritual energy, only putting out without putting in is not a long-term solution."


    Is that what was going on?


    Tang Jie understood.


    From a certain perspective, the Treasure Paradise was like the Water Moon Paradise.


    If spiritual energy was the power source, they were the tools used to convert power. In the Water Moon Paradise, this spiritual energy was used to irrigate the fields and produce spiritual herbs. In the Treasure Paradise, the spiritual energy was given to the Divine Genesis to produce art relics.


    And the ideal vessel for spiritual energy was cultivators.


    In the Celestial me Arena, the dead were responsible for breaking the seal and providing energy while the living took the treasures and enjoyed the wealth.


    The Celestial me Pagoda didn''t need to hide this. Just as was said before, those who chose to enter the arena understood that they might have to offer themselves for the sake of wealth and profit.


    The Great Dao was the stage, and blood and flesh formed the steps.


    Either ascend on the bodies of others or be the body being stepped on.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    Author''s Note: In response to thements from all my friends, when I talked about learning from other novels, I wasn''t saying that I was going to abandon my own style and turn entirely to writing empty novels. The purpose of all these changes is for progress, not retreat.


    As for whether the changes are good or bad, I won''t make this judgment based on the opinion of others, but based on my performances, and I will keep adjusting and changing ording to it.


    Thus, don''t believe that I''m giving uppletely on my style just because I said I''m going to change.


    This is impossible.


    It''s just that I''m finally confronting some subjects that I''ve always avoided. For example, this sort of treasure hunting is a more popr topic that I''ve always done my best to avoid, but I''m not avoiding this time. This is what it means to learn from and use. But the contents will still be written ording to my style.


    So don''t be too afraid of change. Change has never been scary. What''s important is to evolve while changing.


    Compared to making mistakes while changing, staying in one ce is even scarier. If there''s a problem with the former, at least I can go back, but thetter means that I will be stuck in the same ce forever.


    Finally, the year 2015 hase, so I''m wishing all my friends who support me progress in your studies, a smooth time at work, a healthy body, and a harmonious home.


    At the same time, I wish for myself to write better works, get more fans, and have feweriners.

 Chapter 555: Making Ready

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    ording to Hero, not long after the me Celestial Sovereign had opened the Treasure Paradise and obtained that natural Dao armament, he broke out of the domain and began to wander about, leaving the Treasure Paradise and Celestial me Arena for his four disciples.


    He had taken all four disciples in the Blood River Domain, and they had remained here to handle business for him. In order to avoid conflict, the Four Heavenly Kings had decided after some discussion to use the Treasure Paradise to decide who would be the ruler of the Celestial me Pagoda.


    The one who could get the greatest number and most valuable treasures from the Treasure Paradise would rule the pagoda for the next twenty years.


    ording to the agreement, each side could send in twenty people, with no limit on cultivation level or means of obtaining treasure. Anyone who emerged alive with the treasure would be allowed to keep half, but in reality, less than half were usually able toe back alive.


    As it was opened and entered again and again, and with the silent permission of the Four Heavenly Kings, the secret of the Treasure Paradise gradually ceased to be a secret, and many people came to know that there was a world stuffed with treasure beneath the Celestial me Arena. As the me Celestial Sovereign still lived and there were no Dao armaments that could be removed from the Treasure Paradise, no Titans were tempted to take the ce for themselves, but the treasures did manage to draw over countless youths. They fought and struggled in the arena, hoping to draw the attention of the Four Heavenly Kings and gain the right to venture into the Treasure Paradise.


    Rewards, resources, treasures, and even the grudges between the races drew countless people to this ce, and their lives or the lives of their enemies were used to fill that endless sea of blood beneath the arena¡­


    "So I''m considered one of the twenty selected by the Western Heavenly King? If there''s supposed to be twenty, why is there only the five of us?"


    Tang Jie looked over to Na Shan''s group.


    Tang Jie had only needed to think a little before agreeing to this deal.


    He had no reason to disagree. This was a danger, a trap, but it was also an opportunity.


    Once Tang Jie agreed, Heroughed and took his leave, and only the five he had selected were left in the hall.


    Na Shan replied, "You think people are that easy to select? The Four Heavenly Kings have constantly been observing and selecting talented individuals in order to gather the finest talents. While twenty are chosen, they are actually chosen from hundreds to thousands of candidates."


    Hei Yan added, "It''s naturally not easy to select from so many people, but on that subject, if someone is particrly outstanding, they will naturally be chosen."


    Qing Lian added, "Thus, the earlier one is chosen, the more outstanding they are. The five of us didn''t need to be selected from the middle of that sea of people. Instead, the Western Heavenly King took a liking to us and had us join his team early so that we could go through more training."


    Tang Jie understood.


    Shui Yao smiled. "This again, using the opportunity to brag the moment you get one. Brother Tang, don''t listen to their boasting. In the end, it''s hard to say who is better and who is worse, and the Four Heavenly Kings actually have different standards. The Western Heavenly King explored the Treasure Paradise in his early days and barely survived, so he favors people with lower cultivation levels, as this sort of people will encounter less danger. But that''s less certain if they have to contend against the people sent by the other Heavenly Kings. It is said that the Northern Heavenly King favors those with the strongestbat power, and he doesn''t care about any risks. If he can choose Soul Transformation cultivators, he won''t go picking Heart Demon cultivators."


    Tang Jie frowned at these words.


    Although he could contend against those above his level at his current level of strength, his opponents were all experts chosen by the Four Heavenly Kings from the arena, so they all had this ability. When facing this sort of elite, surpassing one''s level was no longer so easy. Moreover, there could even be Soul Transformation cultivators. He could no longer hope for a simple victory if he wanted to ovee a gap of two tiers.


    "Regardless, being able to join early is a good thing," Na Shan said. "Starting from now, Tang Ran, all of your expenses in the Celestial me Pagoda will be covered by the Western Heavenly King."


    Tang Jie''s eyes brightened. "You''re saying that I can use anything inside the Celestial me Pagoda?"


    Hei Yan said, "So long as they are resources, techniques, and treasure grounds belonging to the Western Heavenly King, you can choose from them. As for materials, art relics, and other limited resources, so long as you don''t go too far, you can use them. So long as it''s for the sake of getting stronger, the Western Heavenly King isn''t stingy about investing a little."


    This was the greatest advantage of being selected early: the ability to use the resources within the pagoda to get stronger. It was a huge expense, so the Four Heavenly Kings only chose to invest in those with potential. This was also why Hero had focused so much on Tang Jie after learning that he had read the entirety of the original Infinity Codex. While this didn''t mean he was strong, it meant he had incredible potential.


    ording to Na Shan and the others, there were still 150 days until the official opening of the Treasure Paradise. In this time, everyone was thinking of every way they could to get stronger. If there was anything they needed, they could speak to the personnel within the pagoda, and the pagoda would provide them with it so long as it had it.


    With this promise, Tang Jie immediately listed out the materials he needed and had the Celestial me Pagoda seek them out for him. He even included the materials for the teleportation formation.


    Of course, even if he fixed the teleportation formation, Tang Jie wouldn''t be able to summon his original body within the Treasure Paradise.


    The reason was simple. The Treasure Paradise was its own isted world. Going from the Treasure Paradise to the Blood River Domain and then from the Blood River Domain to the Nine Executions Immortal Formation involved passing through multiple domain barriers, and a teleportation formation wasn''t capable of breaking through that many, unless it was an Immortal Grade formation. Tang Jie was able to link to the Martial Lord''s hidden realm inrge part because it was located in a domain fissure, which made it a perfect ry station. Through the Martial Lord''s hidden domain, the thickness of the barrier between domains was essentially halved.


    But this half was not to be underestimated. At times, even a sliver was enough to be a chasm. For a teleportation formation, double the thickness made the teleportation ten times more difficult. Only someone of immense power like the Lord of the Blood River could break such a domain barrier.


    But if the original body could first enter the Blood River, then summoning it would no longer be a problem.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    The fifth floor of the Celestial me Pagoda.


    Pushing open a pair of heavy double doors, Tang Jie was greeted by a grandiose sight.


    A cliff of ice spanned in front of him like an ancient cier, radiating a frightening chill. But on the other end of the ice cliff was a volcano which zed with fierce mes. At the intersection of these two ces, icy winds shed against waves of heat, immersing Tang Jie in a world of ice and fire.


    This was one of the Celestial me Pagoda''s famous cultivation grounds, the Cliffs of Fire and Ice, the best ce to cultivate the energies of Yin and Yang. The me Celestial Sovereign had used his supreme abilities to shift over a giant cier and a mountain of fire before linking them using the energies of Yin and Yang, stabilizing the entire thing with Sacred Eternium, creating this half-natural, half-artificial cultivation ground.


    Cultivating a Yin Yang technique in this ce would boost one''s efficiency by more than ten times.


    Tang Jie wanted to get stronger, and to do that, he first needed to get stronger in the Infinity Sphere Art. He had only cultivated to the first level of the Infinity Sphere Art, which had a limited effect on his strength. If he could get to the third level or higher, his strength would rise exponentially.


    With his understanding of the Dao of Yin Yang and the effects of the Cliffs of Fire and Ice, he was sure that he wouldn''t need long to reach the third level.


    He went to the intersection of the cier and the volcano, cing himself between extreme cold and extreme heat. Even with his constitution, he couldn''t help but shiver.


    The streams of frost and waves of heat assailed his body, the ice nearly freezing his blood and mes almost melting his body. Tang Jie knew that he needed to seize the moment, so he circted the Infinity Sphere Art. As he circted the technique, he absorbed and converted the energies of fire and ice into slivers of Yin and Yang energy.


    This Yin Yang energy rapidly gathered in his body, and Tang Jie could feel himself getting stronger and stronger, and he felt like he was cultivating in the Water Moon Paradise again. He couldn''t help but sigh in wonder at the power of this ce.


    But it was precisely because the Cliffs of Fire and Ice were so amazing that Tang Jie couldn''t monopolize them. He could only apply to cultivate here for up to six hours each day. Even so, six hours in the Cliffs of Fire and Ice wasparable to several days of cultivation outside of them.


    Six hourster, Tang Jie left the Cliffs of Fire and Ice.


    A servant was already waiting outside.


    "Has everything I asked for been prepared?" Tang Jie asked.


    The servant offered a pile of books and respectfully replied, "It has all been readied for True Person."


    These books had all been selected from the library ording to Tang Jie''s specifications. There were books regarding all sorts of weapons, whether they be sabers, swords, whips, tridents, axes, hooks, spears, or otherwise.


    Tang Jie took the books and left.


    That servant pursed his lips and muttered, "What does he want all of them for? He''s probably just trying to act impressive."


    He was unaware that Tang Jie was actually nning to learn all of them.


    Only by being proficient in all weapons could Tang Jie use the real power of the Sovereign de.


    Of course, while he was learning them, he still had his priorities.


    His first priority was still saber techniques. After all, that was his expertise. The saber manual Tang Jie had chosen was called the Hellyer Saber, a demon saber technique that was brimming with ughter. Tang Jie had chosen it primarily to use with the Dao of ughter he hadprehended. The demons were bloodthirsty folk, so their arts and techniques were oftenpatible with ughter and Destruction. Besides the Hellyer Saber, Tang Jie had also picked a manual going by the title of the Traceless Soulchaser Saber. This technique emphasized invisible strikes, focusing on undetectability over the Hellyer Saber''s focus on violence.


    As for sword arts, Tang Jie had chosen the Longevity Sword. The Longevity Sword had been valuable enough to be consecrated in that building, so it naturally had to have extraordinary value. Besides that, Tang Jie had chosen two other sword arts, but only to use as a smokescreen.


    As for the other weapons, he was mainly trying to get a grasp of them, not master them. He just needed to be able to unleash the Sovereign de''s power whenever it assumed the form of those other weapons.


    Even so, mastering the two saber arts and the sword art he had chosen was no easy task, so Tang Jie threw himself into cultivation.


    Besides cultivating on his own, Tang Jie also trained together with Na Shan''s group.


    As the five most favored by Hero, they needed to fight both alone and in a team. And in order to boost thebat power of the five, Hero had given them a specialbinedbat technique: the Minor Five Elements Combat Formation.


    The me Celestial Sovereign had obtained this formation when wandering the myriad domains, and he hadter given it to Hero. This formation could only be used with five people, and it had the disadvantage of covering a small range. But the power it unleashed far surpassed that of simr-sizedbat formations.


    In addition to cultivating, Tang Jie also fought in the arena. Hero did not confer upon him limitless resources, and the pursuit of strength was a bottomless hole. For this reason, after receiving support from Hero, Tang Jie didn''t stop earning money. On the contrary, he fought even more fiercely, spending the money almost as quickly as he made it.


    Time quickly passed in the middle of all this training, and in the blink of an eye, forty days had passed.


    Today, Tang Jie was cultivating in a private chamber when a voice came from outside: "True Person Tang, the resources you wanted have been delivered."


    Tang Jie grew excited. "Finally here? Send them in!"


    The door opened, and a group of Celestial me Pagoda warriors carried severalrge crates inside.


    Tang Jie opened them up and saw that they were packed with materials.


    Some of these materials were needed to repair the teleportation formation, but most of them were for other purposes. And these severalrge crates had used up basically his entire resource quota. Cultivators like him who had been selected early hadrge resource quotas that included cultivation medicines and art relics, but Tang Jie had chosen none of that stuff, having used all of his quota for materials.


    Not only that, he had even taken out all the money he had made from the arena, even potential revenue from the next one hundred days in the arena, to pay for the resources.


    He had asked for so many resources that even the Celestial me Pagoda had needed forty days to get them all.


    After seeing these materials, Tang Jie nodded in satisfaction. "I don''t want anyone to know about this. Am I understood?"


    The leading warrior saluted. "True Person, please be at ease!"


    Once those warriors had withdrawn, Tang Jie took out a formation diagram and began to ce the materials into it. At the same time, he began to draw formation lines on the diagram with a brush.


    It wasn''t long before he was done.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, and thirteen swords appeared and entered the formation diagram.


    Thus, thirteen swords appeared on the formation diagram.


    At the very top were the three divine swords, and in the center were the ten ultimate-grade art relics.


    There was arge nk spot below, waiting for treasures to fill it, though Tang Jie didn''t have any on hand.


    The Treasure Cosmos Formation.


    This was a formation used for controlling treasures. Treasures were ced in the formation, waiting to be released when the time was right. Art relics and divine treasures were all controlled through the formation, saving the cultivator the spiritual energy and focus needed for the task. In turn, spirit stones were consumed.


    The Treasure Cosmos Formation could hold ten thousand treasures, but Tang Jie had only thirteen. However, he was in no rush. After all, the Treasure Paradise would have plenty of art relics. Once he had enough art relics in the formation, he might even have enough power packed in there to take down a Violet Pce or Immortal tform cultivator.


    Of course, controlling that many art relics would take a shocking number of spirit stones. Fortunately, Tang Jie had no ns to gather ten thousand treasures. For him, one hundred was good enough. Considering that he had three divine treasures, he could already deal with a Soul Transformation cultivator.


    But this was only part of Tang Jie''s preparations.


    All those materials weren''t merely for the teleportation formation and the Treasure Cosmos Formation. He still had many more formations and formation diagrams to make and use.


    For the expedition into the Treasure Paradise, Tang Jie''s greatest resource wasn''t the Sovereign de, his saber intent, or the Flesh Millstone, but his knowledge of formations.


    One formation diagram after another unfurled, and materials were thrown into them.


    Other than what the Celestial me Pagoda had given him, Tang Jie also used many of his saved-up resources, investing them into formation after formation.


    If Hero had been here to see this, his jaw probably would have fallen off in shock. This was because the value of the resources Tang Jie was using up was already double what the average cultivator could take out from the Treasure Paradise.


    This enormous expense created extremely powerful formations. After using 80% of his materials, Tang Jie finally stopped, and he now had 17 formation diagrams.


    After this was all done, Tang Jie muttered, "Things are done here. All that''s left is the other side."


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    The Rosecloud Domain, the underground pce.


    A domain-crossing teleportation formation was in the middle of production.


    As Tang Jieid out the formation, he asionally exined what he was doing. "This formation line is to provide energy. If this area is damaged, it will lead to an energy shortage. In the best case, it just won''t activate, but in the worst case, you might teleport halfway before being kicked out. At that time, you will realize that you''ve been flung into the infinite void, or perhaps you haven''t even gotten through the domain barrier and will be exposed to the Gold Ignis Astral Winds, which will turn you to ash in a split second. Thus, you have to set up defenses around the formation so that no human or fiend can get close. Before every activation, you have to carefully inspect the formation for any mistakes."


    Xu Miaoran earnestly listened.


    As this was a fixed teleportation formation, it cost much less than the other one. Even so, it still needed more than a million spirit coins. Fortunately, Tang Jie had nothing if not money. The wealth from dismantling the pce was enough to build ten such teleportation formations. After selling off those jade foundations that couldn''t be turned into golden grains, Tang Jie was finally able toplete this teleportation formation.


    At that moment, Tang Jie was able to sessfully teleport between the Rosecloud Domain and the Blood River Domain.


    As Tang Jie exined to her how to use the formation, he put in thest materials, and a shining ball of light emerged from the teleportation formation.


    It was a sign that the link to the Martial Lord''s hidden realm wasplete.


    Tang Jie exhaled and then smiled at Xu Miaoran. "Are you interested in seeing the legendary hidden realm of the Martial Lord and the Blood River Domain?"


    "I''ve been looking forward to it," Xu Miaoran said, her eyes glowing.


    Trantor Notes


    It''s time for Tang Jie to be filthy rich! And also take his girl out on vacation.

 Chapter 556: Inter-Domain Trading

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    On a slope on the outskirts of the City of Freedom, Tang Jie took out the Mountain River State Diagram and activated the teleportation formation. Yiyi stood nearby, holding the little rabbit.


    As that cliff and waterfall appeared, a powerful shockwave erupted from the cave behind the waterfall, and a man and woman appeared.


    It was his original body and Xu Miaoran.


    "This is the Blood River Domain?" Xu Miaoran looked up at the sky in awe.


    Tang Jie walked over and hugged Xu Miaoran. "Yes, this is the Blood River Domain."


    Xu Miaoran looked left and right, a smile of happiness and wonder on her face. "I didn''t think that I would also be able to cross between domains one day."


    She didn''t seem to feel awkward about being hugged by two Tang Jies.


    This was the Great Ster Chiliocosm, and it wasn''t strange for a cultivator to have an avatar, so people had gotten used to it long ago. For the woman of this universe, it was no different from one person hugging with two hands.


    As Xu Miaorany in Tang Jie''s embrace, she could sense the same soul, the same heart, the same person in love with her. In truth, only this could be considered theplete Tang Jie. Before, when Xu Miaoran had been together with Tang Jie, she felt like he had been missing something. She had once spent time alone with the original body, and she had also once strolled in the moonlight with the avatar, but there had only been a part of him there each time. It was only when original united with avatar that that long-lost feeling finally returned.


    But Yiyi wasn''t used to it at all. She covered Tutu''s eyes and said, "Embarrassing, embarrassing, don''t look."


    Tutu was furious. I''ve lived for several thousand years, okay? You think there''s something I haven''t seen before?


    The two Tang Jies smiled and asked in unison, "Then, are you interested in strolling around the City of Freedom with me?"


    Xu Miaoran looked left and right before finally pping her forehead. "I''m still a little unused to you being two people all of a sudden. If we stroll around, won''t we cause a misunderstanding?"


    The original body smiled. "Don''t worry. Yiyi and I will take a walk around with you, but the avatar needs to go back to the Celestial me Pagoda to cultivate. In most circumstances, I will have one body cultivate and one keep youpany. What do you think?"


    "That''s better."


    The avatar put away the Mountain River State Diagram and returned to the Celestial me Pagoda, while Tang Jie took Yiyi, Tutu, and Xu Miaoran down the mountain.


    Women were fun-loving sorts, and the liveliness of the City of Freedom made Xu Miaoran''s eyes light up. The different races and the interesting things she had never seen before even made her cry out in delight. She and Yiyi began to sweep through the markets of the City of Freedom.


    Interestingly, Tang Jie didn''t try to stop their spendthrift ways, allowing them to spend as they pleased.


    As themercial center of the Blood River Domain, and considering its immense size, the City of Freedom was a ce of neverending amusement, with countless wonderful things to buy. Even a woman''s tireless desire to spend matched with a cultivator''s vivacious energy would need more than a few days topletely understand the city. But if three days weren''t enough, they could take ten, and if ten weren''t enough, they could take twenty. Tang Jie patiently brought Xu Miaoran and Yiyi through the streets of the City of Freedom, taking them to various stores and apanying Xu Miaoran as she haggled and bargained.


    In only ten-some days, they spent more than ten thousand ckstone coins.


    It had to be understood that this wasn''t for cultivating, but purely for ying around. Although Tang Jie had gained a lot from selling off the materials of the underground pce, after making the teleportation formation, he had limited reserves.


    Even Xu Miaoran couldn''t help but ask, "I say, do you not feel sore about this?"


    Tang Jie chuckled and answered, "You are my woman. How could spending money for your sake make me feel sore?"


    Xu Miaoran''s heart felt all warm and tingly.


    If there was something about Tang Jie different from others, it was how boldly he spoke romantic words. He was direct and forthright, never taking any detours, but this was exactly what Xu Miaoran was looking for.


    But while her heart was warm, she said, "That sounds nice, but you must have some other objective, right?"


    "How could I?" Tang Jie said as if he was being unjustly used, but a momentter, he still revealed his fox tail. "At most, I''m just getting a feel for the market."


    "''Getting a feel for the market''?" Xu Miaoran was surprised.


    Tang Jie nodded. "Mm. It''s rare to be able to cross between two domains, and it would be a great pity to leave the opportunity unused."


    Border trading always made the biggest profits.


    Trade between Sageheart and Dusnd could earn several times to more than ten times the original cost of an item.


    Rosecloud and Blood River were two different domains, and trade between them was certainly not easy. If one found the right source of goods, one could easily fetch hundreds to thousand times more in profit. Now that Tang Jie hadpleted the teleportation formation, he could freely travel between the two domains, so how could he give up this chance?


    This was a path to fortune, and with this path, he could go even further on the path of Immortality!


    Tang Jie had allowed Xu Miaoran to so liberally spend money precisely because he wanted to get a feel for the market and seek out a source of goods.


    Trade between two domains wasn''t established just because he wanted it to be. There wererge costs involved, which took the form of teleportation expenses.


    From the Rosecloud Domain to the Martial Lord''s hidden realm and then from there to the Blood River Domain was two teleportations, and each teleportation would cost thirty thousand spirit coins for a single person, or around fifty thousand for two.


    Thus, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran taking this trip had already cost one hundred thousand spirit coins, and that wasn''t even considering the trip back. A round trip cost two hundred thousand.


    This was the cost.


    Although the Blood River Domain had many goods that simply needed to be brought to the Rosecloud Domain tomand a high price, the pricey teleportation costs restricted the kinds of goods he could bring. This meant that Tang Jie had to be very picky about his sources.


    This was exactly what he was doing while keeping Xu Miaoranpany on her shopping.


    "I see." After hearing Tang Jie''s exnation, Xu Miaoran gave him a look that said, You''re definitely someone who would die if you weren''t scheming something. She then said, "Then did anything catch your eye?"


    "I was just about to discuss it with you. What do you think about Blood Pearl Grass? This thing basically has no cost in the Blood River Domain. You can go anywhere outside and gather up tons, but it''s excellent for refining blood energy. In the Rosecloud Domain, one stalk could probably sell for several dozen spirit coins."


    Xu Miaoran shook her head. "It''s not bad, but you''d need too much of it. A Mustard Seed Bag has limited space, but if you want to get back your cost, even seven or eight Mustard Seed Bags wouldn''t do. And it''s not like you don''t know that taking too many Mustard Seed Bags can cause them to affect each other and make space unstable. You run high risks if you teleport with that many. Rather than trading Blood Pearl Grass, it would be better to trade in Blood Jades. One high-quality Blood Jade would fetch you at least three hundred thousand spirit coins in Rosecloud."


    "The problem is that Blood Jades aren''t cheap. A single high-quality Blood Jade would cost at least one hundred thousand. Three times the profit is too low."


    "You can''t just look at the profit ratio, but also the actual value. Blood Jades are only the size of a palm, so a single Mustard Seed Bag can hold more than a thousand."


    "It also requires arge investment, and I don''t have that much money. And if we have too many high-quality items, selling them off will be difficult."


    "It''s fine. We have a monopoly, and the Rosecloud Domain is vast enough to eat up this paltry amount of goods. As for the investment and selling it, we don''t even need to worry about it. That just wastes too much time. Rather than selling it ourselves, we can just go to one of the six major sects. The Basking Moon Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion are both fine. We can trade directly with the six major sects, and if weck the funds, we can have them make up for it," Xu Miaoran exined.


    Tang Jie''s eyes brightened.


    Right! Since he had the monopoly over a channel, why should he sell to individuals?


    He could just sell wholesale.


    In the Rosecloud Domain, he could go straight to the Basking Moon Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion. In the Blood River Domain, things were even simpler. Tang Jie was the Western Heavenly King''s representative, and the City of Freedom was a trading paradise. With his status, there would always be merchants willing to work with him.


    What Tang Jie needed to consider was what he should sell to make the most money. Trading goods between the Blood River Domain and Rosecloud Domain had only costs in the tens of thousands of spirit coins, but the profits would be in the millions. What could be better than that?


    Tang Jie excitedly discussed the topic with Xu Miaoran. It was clear that they saw a road paved with goldid out before them.


    The temptation of endless money and immense resources had even Yiyi excited¡ªthis little girl also knew the importance of money.


    That night, the two of them plus Yiyi and Tutu got together and discussed all the various logistics, and they quickly drew up a list.


    As they didn''t have much money left, this first trade would be primarily focused on recovering their costs and opening up avenues, so they chose goods that didn''t have much cost, with good profit ratios but lower total profit.


    After purchasing the goods, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran took them back to the Rosecloud Domain. As he needed to return to the Basking Moon Sect, it was the avatar that went back this time, the original body remaining in the Celestial me Pagoda. In any case, so long as they didn''t have to fight, nobody could tell the difference between the avatar and the original body.


    Upon their return to Rosecloud, they split up and went to the Basking Moon Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion respectively to discuss business.


    Putting aside Xu Miaoran, Tang Jie''s return had all of the Basking Moon Sect in an uproar.


    In the conflict of Nadir Hill, the mighty Godhead Pce had not only failed to capture Tang Jie, it had suffered a bitter defeat, even losing a Celestial Chief. As the reputation of Godhead Pce fell, the reputation of the Basking Moon Sect rose by its most significant degree since Ming Yekong''s advance to Violet Pce.


    The Basking Moon Sect had even won a Dao armament from Godhead Pce because of it.


    Although it was an artificial Dao armament, it was still a Dao armament, and the Basking Moon Sect rose in power, showing signs of bing number one among the six major sects.


    Tang Jie returning under these circumstances was naturally treated with utmost favor.


    Tang Jie''s avatar had already entered Celestial Heart, so ording to the rules of the Basking Moon Sect, he had left the ranks of the disciples and be one of the main forces of the Basking Moon Sect. Thus, upon his return, the hall master of the Secret Hall issued a decree promoting him to Secret Hall Chambein.


    Chambein posts were usually held by Heart Demon Tier cultivators, but with Tang Jie''s current reputation and his contributions, nobody considered this a problem.


    But for Tang Jie, this was only the beginning.


    The second day after his return, Tang Jie received a summons from the Basking Moon Sect Master, Ling Xiao.


    This was Tang Jie''s first time meeting the Basking Moon Sect Master.


    In the eyes of the Basking Moon Sect''s disciples, Ling Xiao was a god-like existence, enveloped in a cloud of mystery from which he rarely emerged. Inparison, Xiao Biehan was much more human than god, and in external affairs, Xiao Biehan would appear. It was such that many people even forgot that the true master of the Basking Moon Sect was Ling Xiao. But those who actually knew about Ling Xiao knew how terrifying this sect master was. They would rather face two Xiao Biehans than deal with a single Ling Xiao.


    But for Tang Jie, all of this was a little too far off.


    The sect master he saw was an elegant and handsome middle-aged man standing beneath a tree, a cool breeze caressing him as a bright moon hung in the sky.


    This was the lecture tform of Starsnatch Peak.


    It was also Ling Xiao''s ce of residence.


    When he came to the lecture tform, he saw that Sect Master Ling Xiao was standing under a gxy of stars, and far in the distance, a red sun was rising, with little plumes of smoke beginning to rise from kitchens. It was as if he had walked into a painting.


    When Ling Xiao nced at Tang Jie, his eyes gleamed with admiration.


    His first words were, "You have already entered the Dao."


    Yes, Tang Jie''s avatar had entered the Dao¡ªthe Dao of Insight!


    This had happened not too long ago, thanks to the training in the Celestial me Pagoda.


    Although it was only a single Dao Rune, it had brought him numerous benefits, with the greatest being that he was much faster at learning those various weapon manuals. Nobody except Xu Miaoran and Yiyi knew about this, but Ling Xiao had seen through it at a nce.


    Tang Jie felt like he could have no secrets in front of the sect master, as if he was stark naked.


    Fortunately, Ling Xiao was delighted by the discovery. Stroking his beard, he said, "The path of Immortality is hard to walk, but the Great Dao forms the track. Since you have already entered the Dao, it means that you are already on the path. Wonderful!"


    Entering the Dao was being on the path?


    Tang Jie was baffled.


    As he stared at Ling Xiao in a daze, Ling Xiao smiled and said, "Are you interested in bing my disciple?"


    Tang Jie''s mind shuddered.


    He dumbly gazed at Ling Xiao. He had never imagined something like this.


    Bing Sect Master Ling Xiao''s disciple? This was a heaven-sent opportunity! It was something that countless people could only dream of, but it had been given to Tang Jie all of a sudden.


    The blessing hade too quickly and too simply, catching Tang Jiepletely off guard.


    Even more shockingly, Ling Xiao followed by saying, "I know that this has caught you unprepared, and I was originally just nning to get a look at you. But it''s no good. Old Third is in too much of a rush and is trying to take my disciple, so I can only strike first."


    ''Old Third''?


    Tang Jie didn''t understand what this meant at first, but then he realized, Isn''t that Xiao Biehan?


    In other words, Xiao Biehan also wanted to take him as his disciple, but then Sect Master Ling Xiao struck first and summoned Tang Jie.


    This was why Tang Jie was here.


    Tang Jie felt dizzy, but Ling Xiao didn''t wait for him to reply. "You did very well in Nadir Hill, greatly weakening Godhead Pce. To deal with you, Godhead Pce used up almost all of its financial strength¡­ Hah, they didn''t get any hidden realm and ended up suffering a massive loss instead. He Changan is one thing, but even more important is that they sealed off their borders to try and capture you. This has had broadly-felt and weighty effects that have badly wounded the vitality of Nadir Hill. This alone has cost Godhead Pce a billion spirit coins in losses, and your robberies and looting caused an additional ten million, andstly, the failure to capture you is another one billion. Inparison, a single He Changan is nothing. Godhead Pce was obsessed with finding the hidden realm, never imagining that all they lost in its pursuit would have been enough to make their own."


    Tang Jie broke out in a sweat. To tell the truth, he hadn''t been thinking that broadly, but now that he thought about it, he really had dealt devastating damage to Godhead Pce. And all of this was because they wanted to capture him alive to get their hands on the hidden realm. Any other person would have never caused such a huge mobilization from Godhead Pce. Greed was the driver of progress, but it was also the source of decline!


    Ling Xiao added, "Godhead Pce is a firm ally of the Beast Refining Gate, and weakening Godhead Pce is the same as weakening the Beast Refining Gate, so you have made a great achievement. But the rules of the sect do not allow rewards for actions against Godhead Pce, so no matter how much you have done, the sect cannot reward you, only make up for it through other means."


    Tang Jie replied, "This disciple understands."


    The Basking Moon Sect and Godhead Pce were not mortal foes, so there were no official bounties on the people of Godhead Pce. Thus, though they were happy about it, they could not openly reward him. However, in secret, they had still given him contribution points equivalent to He Changan''s value.


    But Ling Xiao was saying that this little reward was still too smallpared to what Tang Jie had done.


    Upon understanding this, Tang Jie understood why Ling Xiao wanted to take him as his disciple.


    This was another kind of reward.


    This was both showing appreciation for his talent andpensating him for all he had done. This also meant that if Tang Jie agreed to be Ling Xiao''s disciple, he would not receive any other benefits.


    Ling Xiao had said this so that he would understand.


    Tang Jie stepped forward, got down on one knee, and loudly said, "This disciple pays respect to his master!"


    He used his actions to give his answer.


    Seeing this, Ling Xiao nodded in satisfaction, clearly very happy with this new disciple.


    He waved his sleeve, and an invisible energy raised Tang Jie back up.


    Ling Xiao said, "Starting from today, you are my seventh disciple. As my disciple, you will no longer need to live on Immortal Spring Peak, and your new residence will be on Starsnatch Peak. As for your status as Secret Hall Chambein, it is up to you if you want to keep it or resign from it."


    "Yes." Tang Jie bowed, but he had an awkward expression on his face.


    Ling Xiao saw this and asked, "What? Is there a problem?"


    "It is like this¡­ Your disciple discovered a hidden realm¡­" Tang Jie stammered.


    Ling Xiao replied, "I know, but this is your good fortune, and this one will not meddle with it. Since you are my disciple, your strength is the Basking Moon Sect''s strength. All is fine so long as you are loyal to the sect."


    "Yes!" Even though he had already guessed that this would be Ling Xiao''s stance, he still sighed in relief. He then said, "But this disciple cannot move into Starsnatch Peak just yet."


    "Oh? What else is there?"


    Tang Jie exined what he had been through.


    "The Blood River Domain, Cang Qingfeng, a Myriad Court fragment¡­ a domain-crossing teleportation formation¡­" Even Ling Xiao was taken aback when he heard about all that Tang Jie had been through in thest year. He had never imagined that Tang Jie would have had such an adventure, even running off to the Blood River Domain.


    Actually, Tang Jie had been nning to keep the matter of the Blood River Domain a secret and find some other exnation. But since Ling Xiao didn''t even care about the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, he probably wouldn''t mind the Blood River Domain either. Moreover, the teleportation formation was under his control but not within Sageheart, so Tang Jie wasn''t worried about anything happening.


    And besides, while people had to be on guard against each other, there also had to be some people one trusted. Someone who was constantly telling half-truths would never be able to aplish anything great.


    Upon hearing that Tang Jie had alreadypleted the teleportation formation and was nning to engage in trade between the two domains, Ling Xiao couldn''t help but sigh. "Good child, you truly have some excellent ideas. In this way, you have opened up another source of revenue for my Basking Moon Sect."


    With Ling Xiao''s words, the trade between the two domains was officially established.

 Chapter 557: Getting Rich

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The trade talks went very smoothly.


    As Tang Jie was now Ling Xiao''s disciple, and because the Basking Moon Sect had also been very tolerant with regards to Tang Jie''s ownership of the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, Tang Jie decided to return the favor and let the Basking Moon Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion have some equity.


    As for the actual form of this equity: on the Rosecloud Domain side, the Basking Moon Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion would be responsible for all the additional funds, and they were also responsible for the selling and buying of goods. Finally, the Space Crystal was retained by Tang Jie, on the excuse of being needed to set up the teleportation formation, and officially "used up". And in terms of function, the Space Crystal truly was the best material for a teleportation formation.


    As investors, the two sects got half of the Rosecloud Domain profit. Meanwhile, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran took all of the profit from the Blood River Domain side.


    With the Basking Moon Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion putting in money and Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran providing the channel, the trade between two domains was established.


    For Tang Jie, the greatest advantage wasn''t just the solving of his capital problems, but also the tying of two major sects to his side. The bonds of profit were always the firmest, and this rtionship ensured that the Basking Moon Sect would always be his strongest backer, and it would also save him the criticism of taking everything for himself.


    For the same reason, he had now entered the eyes of the upper echelons of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Everyone knew that this deal would have had nothing to do with Horizon Ocean Pavilion if not for Xu Miaoran.


    Now that Tang Jie had been taken as a disciple of Ling Xiao, his status was on par with Xu Miaoran''s, so Xu Guanghua tacitly epted their rtionship.


    Originally, the Basking Moon Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion wanted to send some experts over to the Blood River Domain to "help Tang Jie maintain his foundation on the other side", but Tang Jie had tactfully refused. In the future, he might be able to ept the people from the Basking Moon Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion stepping into the Blood River Domain, but not now.


    To ensure safety, Tang Jie made another two teleportation formations to link up the Spirit Mountains so that he didn''t need to go through Nadir Hill to ess them. Unless Godhead Pce suddenly went crazy and activated its Heaven-Earth Lock Formation to cut off space again, Tang Jie would be able to freely travel in and out of Nadir Hill.


    Three dayster, Tang Jie took the first batch of goods into the teleportation formation, and through two more teleportations, he brought them into the Blood River Domain.


    Two hourster, these goods appeared on the counter of Warm Heart Market. The payment of more than ten million ckstone coins emptied Warm Heart Market of funds, along with arge number of its goods.


    Another two hourster, the goods from Warm Heart Market were teleported to the Rosecloud Domain, where they were divided into two shipments and sent to the Basking Moon Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    In the space of only four short hours, a transaction worth more than ten million wasplete, and Tang Jie easily made millions in profit.


    If it weren''t for the fact that both sides needed time to digest these goods, Tang Jie could make several trips a day and make tens of millions in profit.


    This number was big enough to even scare True Lords.


    But it was the inevitable result of a monopoly.


    Going between the Blood River Domain and the Rosecloud Domain was no easy task, and even Immortal tform Titans could only expend great quantities of energy to travel between them, and their costs were clearly greater than those of a teleportation formation. As for establishing a teleportation formation between two domains, it had been done before, just not to the Blood River Domain. But it had already been proved that establishing a teleportation formation between two domains had greater starting costs and greater maintenance costs over other methods, so the profits from this were limited.


    Once Tang Jie brought the Rosecloud Domain''s goods to the Blood River Domain again, rather than selling all of the goods, he bought a store and hired workers, officially opening the Rosecloud Store.


    He had already decided to let Xian Tao and Hong Yuan run the store.


    These two maids had been through life and death with Xu Miaoran, and though their strength was limited, they had long ago proved their loyalty and reliability. Xian Tao was mature andposed, making her perfect for managing the store. Hong Yuan had a more temperamental personality, but she was clever and sharp, so she was responsible for delivering the goods, freeing Tang Jie from having to do it himself.


    Although it was a store, it still mostly dealt in wholesale, working with big customers. Rather than Tang Jie going personally to Warm Heart Market to hawk goods, the wholesale transactions would be held in the store instead.


    In order to ensure the outgoing rate of the goods, Tang Jie would always bring in different goods each time. This meant that his profits would have highs and lows, but it also meant that the goods were bought much more quickly. This was especially true at the start, so that Tang Jie was making up to five trips a day, the value of the transactions almost hitting one hundred million.


    This was a rather frightening number, and even the City of Freedom wasn''t able to consume so many goods all at once.


    The Rosecloud Domain was somewhat better. While itcked a supermassive marketce like the City of Freedom, the tentacles of the two major sects reached everywhere. They couldn''t sell everything through one area, but through their numerous subordinates, they could deliver the countless goods to wherever they wanted.


    This allowed them to consume all the goods with the strength of an entire domain.


    As for Tang Jie, the ability of the Blood River to consume was limited by the ability of the City of Freedom to consume, so after that crazy spree at the start, the Blood River Domain''s rate of consumption fell such that only one trip was needed per day, and this even became one trip every three dayster on. And because of the wartime state the Blood River Domain was in, Tang Jie found it difficult to sell to the entire domain.


    With the Rosecloud Domain''s seemingly limitless ability to consume, the two major sects seemed to be able to eat up whatever Tang Jie brought from the Blood River Domain, and the teleportation formation ended up bing the limiting bottleneck. This meant that even when the two sects took their half of the profits, Tang Jie still ended up making a little more profit from the Rosecloud Domain than from the Blood River Domain.


    Monopolizing a market led to astonishing profit.


    In less than twenty days, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran umted more than twenty million spirit coins.


    Tens of thousands of spirit jades neatly piled up could dazzle the eyes, make one''s breath stop, and make one''s head feel dizzy.


    Even Xu Miaoran, who was from a True Lord family, had never seen this many spirit coins.


    Of course, this was because anyone with this much money would have already converted them into cultivation resources.


    A Violet Pce True Lord might have tens of millions in treasures, but it would be very difficult for them to take out tens of millions in coins.


    But this was only ten-some days of revenue for Tang Jie.


    This thought made Xu Miaoran feel dizzy.


    Looking at all the spirit jades, Xu Miaoranmented, "If you converted all this money into resources, you could take medicine every day and not run out, right?"


    One couldn''t endlessly consume medicines. ording to Xu Miaoran''s calction, with more than one million in ie every day, even if she treated spirit medicines as meals, she still wouldn''t be able to use up all this money, and she was momentarily dumbfounded.


    Since ancient times, making money had always been more difficult than spending money, but today, Xu Miaoran found that the opposite could also be true.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Silly girl, there''s no end to the Immortal path, so how could there be such a thing as resources that never run out? For the Parting ssic''s body refining, ten million spirit coins is just a single bath."


    Ten million spirit coins was just a single bath!


    Xu Miaoran was rendered utterly speechless.


    How extravagant did a bath have to be to cost ten million spirit coins?


    But that was the Parting ssic, saving time by spending resources, and it had no limit, always "the more, the merrier"!


    The original body cultivated the Parting ssic, and it had always been restrained by resources. Even in the hidden realm, it was constrained by this.


    The resources in that valley were protected by the firebird, and they also favored quality over quantity.


    For this reason, even if the firebird let him pick as he pleased, Tang Jie wouldn''t be willing to use them up¡ªten-thousand-year-old spirit nts weren''t easy to find.


    Each one had its unique value, and using them up in a bath was just too much of a waste.


    Thus, the original body''s cultivation had been restrained, and though it had entered the middle tier of the Diamond Body, it had yet to reach the peak.


    With this money, resources were no longer a problem.


    Of course, Tang Jie didn''t n to spend it all on himself.


    Xu Miaoran, Yiyi, Xian Tao, Hong Yuan, and even Tutu rapidly grew stronger.


    As Tang Jie''s power swelled, the people around him weren''t able to keep up. Tang Jie didn''t want them to fall too far behind, so he naturally needed to give them a boost.


    Especially Yiyi.


    Twenty years ago in the battle of the Beast Garden, Yiyi had reached the peak of Mind Opening, but she had still not broken through that threshold and entered Transformation.


    Sprites had a difficult time reaching Transformation, and without outside help, they could easily spend more than a hundred years at this threshold.


    And the Transformation pills necessary to help sprites break through this threshold were both expensive and hard to find.


    Tutu was facing the same situation.


    As a rabbit fiend who had fallen from Divine Division, it had long ago reached the peak of Mind Opening, but it also found it hard to push through the threshold. ording to Tutu, only at Transformation would the innate strength of the rabbit fiend be unleashed and it could be truly useful.


    Tutu hadn''t exined what this innate strength was, and Tang Jie didn''t know, but based on how vague it had been, Tang Jie knew that it didn''t refer to battle. Moreover, it didn''t seem very passionate about entering Transformation, so Tang Jie had paid it no mind.


    But everything was bound to be different now.


    With money, all problems ceased being problems.


    Everyone had to get stronger: Tang Jie, Xu Miaoran, Xian Tao, Hong Yuan, Yiyi, and also Tutu. Even if it didn''t want to get stronger, it would have to get stronger, even if it was just to see what this "innate strength" was.


    Money allowed one to be willful.


    Tang Jie made some rough calctions on how much he needed to spend.


    First were the Transformation pills. These were difficult to buy, as very few people made medicines for sprites, and medicines meant for the charge at Transformation weren''t cheap. Thus, if he really had no other options, he would have to have Xu Miaoran make them. Of course, Transformation pills were such a high-ss medicine that he couldn''t hope that Xu Miaoran would seed with one try.


    But messing up was fine, since he had money. They could just treat it as a learning experience.


    Tang Jie had already decided that he would let Xu Miaoran refine any medicines they needed, spending money to raise up a pill refiner. Someone of Xu Miaoran''s talent paired with no-limits education was bound to achieve extraordinary things.


    Besides that, Xu Miaoran also needed to get stronger. She was at Cognitive Creation and had yet to enter the Three Witherings. Normally, the Three Withering Tribtions took thirty years, and Tang Jie naturally wouldn''t ept such a long period. Fortunately, there were resources that could be used to cover this gap.


    Thus, Tang Jie nned to send Xu Miaoran back to Horizon Ocean Pavilion and have her go through the Three Witherings in the paradise of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, the Near Immortal Pavilion. Contribution points were no problem. The inter-domain trade was itself a contribution, and Xu Miaoran was a True Lord''s daughter, so she could easily get the right to enter the pavilion. Money could be used to make up the rest of the time. The six major sects all had a policy of exchanging donations for contribution points, but the exchange rate was poor, so few people did this. But Tang Jie had money, so he naturally didn''t care. Not only did he want to use money to trade for points, he also used money to buy all the spirit medicines he could.


    Back when Tang Jie had gone through the Three Withering Tribtions in the Water Moon Paradise, it had taken him nearly one hundred days.


    Xu Miaoran''s situation meant that she would undoubtedly get through the process faster than he had. Once she was through the Three Witherings, he would buy a Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill to help her reach Celestial Heart.


    In addition, the avatar needed money for formation diagrams. After all, the avatar still needed to adventure in the Treasure Paradise. While Tang Jie had already prepared ten-some formation diagrams, his limited resources meant that they were of average strength. Truly powerful formation diagrams, like aplete Treasure Cosmos Formation, were something beyond his power. But as his wealth grew, he could finally try for some of the more powerful ones.


    To be honest, business was going so smoothly and moneying in so quickly that he was rich enough to sleep on a bed of Immortal medicines, never having to worry about resources again. Inparison, the Treasure Paradise was nothing. From a certain perspective, nothing in the Treasure Paradise could match what he could make on his own.


    But Tang Jie still had to go.


    The first reason was that the Celestial me Pagoda had yed a huge part in his being able to get this far. He had already promised the Western Heavenly King that he would go, and he had spent the money of the Celestial me Pagoda to get many resources. Even if he tried to pay back the money and leave, the Western Heavenly King wouldn''t let him go.


    The second reason was that there were some things that money couldn''t buy. Money could buy art relics and divine treasures, but not Dao armaments, ten-thousand-year spiritual objects, Immortal pills, or divine medicines. There were always some things that money just wasn''t enough for. One of these was the Evercycle Rising Dragon Pill that Cang Qingfeng sought.


    The third reason was that he was very interested in the Treasure Paradise, and his powerful sense of adventure wouldn''t let him miss out on this experience.


    Last of all, Xian Tao and Hong Yuan also needed to get stronger, or else they wouldn''t be able to manage things on their own. But he didn''t need to spend too much on this.


    When Tang Jie had bought the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill at auction, it had cost him 2.5 million spirit coins. As for two Transformation pills, if Xu Miaoran was going to refine them, two million would be on the low side, and if things went poorly, those two pills alone would cost him ten million.


    The Near Immortal Pavilion would require Xu Miaoran to buy lots of time and lots of medicines to push through the Three Witherings, so he would need at least two or three million, and the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill was another two or three million on top of that.


    Formation diagrams were their own bottomless hole, as Tang Jie wanted some truly powerful lethal formations, each onemanding an astronomical price.


    After making these calctions, Tang Jie found that the twenty million he had on hand wasn''t enough.


    Xu Miaoran asked, "What do we do?"


    Tang Jie replied, "We''ll just wait a few more days."


    The two of them looked at each other and burst outughing.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    Forty dayster.


    The City of Freedom, the Heaven Manor Mountains.


    In his cave estate, Tang Jie''s original body sat in the middle of a custom-made giant bathtub the size of a pool. The medicinal liquid filling the bath was more like a paste, so concentrated the medicinal power was.


    After umting wealth for several dozen days, Tang Jie had finally begun his long-awaited body refining. Before this, Xu Miaoran had already gone back to the Rosecloud Domain to go through the Three Withering Tribtions in the Near Immortal Pavilion.


    Yiyi and Tutu had also begun their breakthroughs. With price being no object, it was only a matter of time for Young Lady Xu to refine Transformation pills.


    Outside the bath, one duplicate was adding water while another fed firewood.


    The zing mes under the bath dissolved the medicinal liquid, and through the Parting ssic, the medicinal power flowed into Tang Jie''s body.


    Tang Jie didn''t even remember how many baths he had taken so far.


    Unlike before, the herbal bath this time was particrly thick, and a massive amount of medicinal power was surging into Tang Jie''s body, rushing into every corner of his body. Tang Jie''s body greedily absorbed it all, as if every cell was a mouth that converted the medicinal power into pure energy and fused it with the body.


    Tang Jie gasped for air as if there were a me burning in his body, and the air he exhaled condensed into a thick silvery mist. This was a spiritual mist, a condensation of spiritual energy that was a step below spirit rain. It was excess energy created by the body''s conversion process, but it was precious energy nevertheless.


    Yes.


    Body refining essentially refined the body into a treasure, and at the end of cultivation, the body was a natural treasure in and of itself.


    But this sort of natural treasure had gone through great effort to attain this title.


    As the medicinal power worked, the tone of Tang Jie''s skin darkened, and the faint metal luster began to shine and sparkle as if someone had sprinkled gold dust all over him.


    This was how the Diamond Body received its name. At greater attainment, the entire body would shine like a diamond and be as tough as one.


    But just being as tough as a diamond wasn''t good enough. One also needed tremendous strength.


    Initially, Tang Jie was still seated in the center of the "bathing pool", but as his body grew in size, it gradually filled up the entire bathing pool, and a giant began to fill up the confines of the cave estate.


    This was an inevitable result of body refining. No matter how onepressed the strength, a restrained body would not be able to contain such terrifying strength, so it needed to growrger.


    In this aspect, the giant Tang Jie was Tang Jie''s true form, the shrunk-down Tang Jie simply a fake. Moreover, shrinking down also shrank his strength. It was only at his actual size that he could show his true power.


    Tang Jie''s true form had been around ten meters tall, but as he cultivated, his body began to grow evenrger.


    11 meters, 12 meters, 13 meters¡­


    Tang Jie''s body grew until it finally stopped at fifteen meters.


    A 15-meter-tall golden giant sat cross-legged in that giant bathtub, packing it to the brim.


    The medicinal paste was still giving off bubbles, and as the concentration dwindled, the aroma began to dissipate.


    Tang Jie let out a long breath and concluded his cultivation session.


    In this session, he had increased his strength by at least 60%. 50% came from the boost in strength that came with hisrger body, and 10% came from the toughness of his body.


    Condensing strength was always harder than expansion. If Tang Jie wished to reach greater attainment in the Diamond Body, he needed to be a 100-meter-tall giant.


    100 meters was the standard for peak Diamond Body.


    Body refining divisions were the same as those ofw cultivators, signifying a power gap of five times.


    Peak Diamond Body was a 100-meter-tall giant, middle-tier was only 20 meters, and the basic tier was only 4 meters.


    Butw cultivators were different in that they only needed to achieve five times the power inprehensive strength, so there was no unreachable gap between tiers. If an outstanding low-tier cultivator ran into a weak high-tier cultivator, they could make up or even exceed this gap.


    Tang Jie, Wang Juemie, Na Shan, Shui Yao, Hei Yan, and Qing Lian could take down high-tier weaklings like they were toys, and against the strong high-tier experts, Tang Jie and Wang Juemie still had some hope of winning.


    But the Diamond Body''s fivefold gap was only in reference to size. In terms of strength, the difference was far greater than five times.


    This was exactly why the Parting ssic''s body refining became more and more difficult the further one went, and also became more powerful. It was here where it began to truly pull away fromw cultivators.


    With the cultivation over, Tang Jie rose to leave the bath, but after putting only a little strength into his foot, he ended up breaching the floor of the bath made of Skyarrow Wood. Skyarrow Wood was an extremely tough kind of lumber that was often used to make bows and arrows. But just a light step from Tang Jie was enough to punch a hole through it.


    The foot punched through the bath andnded on the mes, and though the mes zed away at his skin, Tang Jie only felt a little warm.


    He looked down at the mes underfoot and then stood up.


    Thud!


    The cave estate shuddered as stones came raining down from above.


    In standing up, Tang Jie had rammed into the ceiling and made arge hole. Tang Jie had no choice but to bend his body, but he overbnced and lost his footing. He instinctively reached out an arm to steady himself against the wall of the cave, but he instead ended up tearing off arge chunk of the stone wall.


    Havingpletely lost his bnce, Tang Jie toppled over.


    "Shit, this is the terrible thing about the Parting ssic. I gain strength too quickly, so it''s hard to adapt to it." Tang Jie scratched his head and sat back up. Slowly, his body shrank down to the size of an ordinary human.


    He slowly stood up, put on some clothes from his Mustard Seed Bag, and walked out of the cave.


    It was already light outside.


    It turned out that he had unprecedentedly used an entire night cultivating.


    Since he was stronger, it was time to take care of some things.


    Slightly raising his head, he muttered, "He Chong, I''ming!"

 Chapter 558: Challenge

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    When the starlight from beyond pierced through the energy barrier to fall upon the hidden realm, it was a sign a new day hade.


    In the center of the mountains was a peak that looked like a squirrel looking up at the moon, so it was called Squirrel Peak.


    Standing on the right side of Squirrel Peak''s summit and looking into the distance, one could see through the energy barrier and vaguely make out the Gold Ignis Astral Winds rampaging in the beyond.


    The Rosecloud Domain was in that direction.


    Every morning, He Chong would sit here and look at those golden currents. Home was so close, yet so far. It was only one wall away, but he would never be able to go back.


    Putting aside the fact that he didn''t even have the ability to break through the hidden realm''s protective barrier, even if he did, he would just be walking out into the infinite void. Even if home were just next door, he couldn''t get through those Gold Ignis Astral Winds that could even devour Violet Pce Realm Titans.


    At the start, he had tried with all his might to capture Tang Jie, but as Tang Jie escaped again and again and grew stronger and stronger, He Chong knew that the moment had passed.


    Thus, in the end, all he could do wase here every day and dumbly look at home.


    But he knew that Tang Jie woulde to find him one day.


    He would bring with him an unstoppable strength.


    Today, just like before, He Chong was at the summit of Squirrel Peak, gazing at the golden clouds.


    Down below, Duan Fourth and Deng Yuqing were ying go.


    In this hidden realm, there were no amusements to speak of, so go became their only hobby. Ten-some years of arduous effort had ended up raising a pair of go masters.


    As he looked at that golden glow beyond the barrier and then looked around at the sea of grass, he inexplicably felt a sense of unease.


    A scene appeared in his mind.


    It was Xu Muyang.


    He thought of his battle against Xu Muyang at Jade Orchid Mountain.


    He thought about that little courtyard in Anyang where Xu Muyang had chosen to self-detonate.


    Why was he suddenly thinking of the past? He Chong shook his head and shooed away these random thoughts. A cloud drifted over from the distance, blocking He Chong''s sight. He waved his sleeve, sending the cloud off so that he could once more see that distant glow.


    And then He Chong saw a beam of light emerge from that distant glow, heading this way.


    This was¡­


    He Chong gazed at that beam of light in shock.


    He saw that beam of light fall upon the hidden realm''s energy wall in a dazzling burst of colors.


    This was a light that linked two worlds.


    It was teleportation!


    He Chong stood up.


    It was a teleportation between Rosecloud and the hidden realm, from the ancient battlefield to this paradise!


    Someone was finallying in through Ten Direction Valley!


    He Chong was so excited that he wanted to shout.


    He had stood watch here for ten-some years, always hoping that, one day, Godhead Pce would be able to send someone in through Ten Direction Valley.


    But all these years, none of the hoped-for reinforcements had arrived.


    Without Tang Jie, they couldn''t get in.


    Today, the teleporter between the ancient battlefield and here had finally been activated again.


    He Chong excitedly flew toward where the beam of light hadnded.


    He flew with the haste and anxiety of a drowning man clutching onto thatst stalk of rice.


    But when he got close, he saw a familiar figure and was left dumbfounded.


    "Tang Jie?"


    Standing before him was clearly Tang Jie himself, but unlike before, he was wearing a brand-new moon-white robe. There was someone next to him, wearing a veiled hat that obscured his face.


    He Chong was dazed, and then he realized and shouted, "You went! You can leave this ce, right?"


    Tang Jie had always kept the teleportation formation a secret from He Chong, for if he had known, he would have definitely scoured the world for it.


    All the peace and quiet concealed a despair at the inability to return, and any little bit of hope could be the spark for an uprising.


    Tang Jie naturally wouldn''t let that happen.


    But today, he didn''t need to keep hiding it.


    Wearing a brand-new robe, he hade in through Ten Direction Valley rather than the teleportation formation, as Tang Jie no longer needed to hide anything. He didn''t need to hide the teleportation formation from He Chong, and he didn''t need to hide his connection to the hidden realm from Godhead Pce.


    He had gone in through Ten Direction Valley because that was his only way to get to the ancient battlefield, which still had numerous treasures.


    Compared to his first time, Tang Jie was no longer as powerless against them as before. He made a circuit of the ancient battlefield, taking the high-value ones into the Treasure Cosmos Formation and shattering the low-value ones into golden grains, strengthening the Sovereign de. He didn''t even spare the corpses, taking them all into the Mountain River State Diagram¡ªTang Jie had set up a new teleportation formation in the Blood River Domain, freeing up the Mountain River State Diagram.


    After all, he had the money.


    Tang Jie smirked at He Chong. "Yes, the teleportation formation is on the other end of the mountain. There''s a little forest there, and if you go through it, you''lle upon a cliff. In front of the cliff is a tree, and if you circle around the tree three times, a cave will appear in the cliff. Don''t go straight into the cave. Instead, walk to the area three meters to the right of the cave entrance. That will get you safely into the cave, and inside the cave is the teleportation formation."


    "So that''s how it was¡­" He Chong muttered, his face devoid of excitement. He looked at Tang Jie and slowly said, "It seems that you''re confident in beating me?"


    "You know that I''m not the sort of person to be blindly arrogant," Tang Jie said, answering He Chong''s question in his own style.


    The person next to him took off the hat, and He Chong saw another Tang Jie.


    "An avatar!" He Chong''s eyes narrowed. He had long ago deduced that Tang Jie had an avatar.


    Even though there were two Tang Jies, He Chong could tell at a nce that the one who had been speaking to him just now was the body-refining original body. The one wearing the veiled hat was the avatar. Surprisingly, its cultivation level was at the Spirit Ring Tier. Despite all of its inherent restrictions, this guy had managed to raise the avatar to this level? It was dumbfounding.


    "No wonder you''re so confident. You have a Spirit Ring avatar, and you yourself have gotten stronger, so you''ve decided to finally tie everything up?" He Chong could naturally tell that even the original body had gotten stronger by leaps and bounds.


    But no matter how great its progress, his physical body was still at the middle tier of the Diamond Body.


    "One at middle-tier Diamond Body, and another at the Spirit Ring Tier, to deal with me, who is at Soul Transformation¡­ Don''t you think that''s still a littlecking?" He Chong chuckled. Using the Rosecloud Domain''s standards of strength, a single Soul Transformation was strong enough to deal with five Heart Demon cultivators. Tang Jie had only one avatar, but he thought he could win? Had he forgotten how bitter his previous losses had been?


    That was fine too. Youths had hasty personalities, which gave him a chance.


    He Chong savagelyughed as he flew into the air, his body swelling with power.


    Tang Jie was unmoved, simply replying, "My current level of cultivation does seem a little low to deal with you, but that''s what makes a battle interesting. If I waited until I was the same cultivation level to fight you, what would be the meaning of the victory?"


    "What did you say?" He Chong was taken aback. It sounded like Tang Jie was doing this on purpose, and also that he didn''t n to use his avatar.


    Tang Jie said, "I said that I alone am enough to deal with you. As for him¡­"


    He pointed at the avatar. "That''s just there to guard against any surprises, and also to watch your two subordinates."


    As he spoke, the figures of Duan Fourth and Deng Yuqing flew out from the distance.


    Tang Jie''s avatar immediately shot at the two. The pair instinctively unleashed a torrent of spiritual energy, but a momentter, the avatar punched out with both fists, red and white energies forming Dragonlike Hands that mmed into Deng and Duan and sent them flying.


    Aghast, Deng and Duan tried to fight back, but as they cast their spell arts, they felt their bodies grow heavier, a seemingly infinite amount of blood energy pressing down on them like a mountain, trying to squeeze the air out of them.


    What spell art is this!?


    The avatar ced his hands behind his back, blood energy coiling around him, growing thicker and thicker as it paralyzed the two. Only then did the avatar say, "If you stay here and don''t move, I won''t kill you. Otherwise¡­ death!"


    He Chong''s pupils sharply constricted.


    Although Deng and Duan had been imprisoned in the Martial Lord''s hidden realm all these years, the high concentration of spiritual energy in this ce had allowed them to rapidly advance. It had taken the pair only five years to pass through the Three Withering Tribtions, and though they were now stuck at the threshold to Celestial Heart, they were still peak Mortal Shedding cultivators, much stronger than before. But peak Spirit Masters seemed like nothing before Tang Jie''s avatar, having been routed in a single strike.


    Defeating two peak Mortal Shedding cultivators with one move wasn''t something the average Spirit Ring True Person could do. This meant that, just like the original body, Tang Jie''s avatar possessed strength far above its level.


    He Chong narrowed his eyes as he looked at the original body. "Good, good! So you do have some skill to back up your talk! Then let me see just how much stronger you''ve gotten!"


    He waved his sleeve, which swept toward Tang Jie like a long dragon. "Universe-Holding Sleeve!"


    Facing that long sleeve, Tang Jie didn''t move. As it was about to strike, he grunted, and his body instantly grew to several times its size. Transformed into a 10-meter-tall giant, he reached out and grabbed the long sleeve. "Get down here!"


    He Chong shook the sleeve, which extended as if it was an infinite spool of cloth, easily shedding Tang Jie''s boundless strength. This was aw cultivator''s greatest advantage against a body cultivator: the ability to not directly sh with that boundless strength.


    As he let his sleeve endlessly extend, he thrust his palm downward.


    The majestic palm crashed down as a mountain. Tang Jie faced it, baring his teeth, and then his body grewrger once more, going from 10 meters to 13 meters. At the same time, Tang Jie punched at the air.


    The st from his punch thundered through the air, striking that palm. He Chong was a Soul Transformation cultivator, so his palm truly did have the power of a mountain, but in this sh of palm and fist, it was the fist that won.


    The titanic strength of this punch could make even mountains crumble in a single blow.


    The wild strength of the fist st dispelled the giant hand and rocketed toward He Chong''s face.


    Just when it was about to make impact, He Chong''s body shed with golden light. A golden barrier protected him from the punch, but the sheer force still sent him flying back more than a thousand feet.


    Even so, He Chong wasn''t surprised. If Tang Jie hadn''t been able to block this attack, he wouldn''t have evene to find him.


    As He Chong was pushed back, he formed a spell art with his left hand, and a sawtooth saber appeared in the air.


    This saber was 180 feet long and seemed capable of sundering the heavens and crumbling mountains. This was not some simple spell art manifestation. Rather, it concealed He Chong''s art relic of many years, the Celestial Moongrave.


    This relic was not made of any metal, and it could take on all kinds of forms and even merge with spell arts. When used, it could unleash a power that could make all the world bow or be as delicate as a needle.


    Murderous intent gathered on He Chong''s face as he pointed at Tang Jie. "Go!"


    That giant saber swung down.


    Tang Jie didn''t use his fist to respond.


    He shook his hand, and a ck halberd appeared in it.


    "The Deste Heavens Halberd!" He Chong paled.


    He naturally knew about this art relic.


    But how had He Changan''s art relic ended up in Tang Jie''s hand?


    Could it be¡­


    He Chong didn''t even want to think about it.


    Tang Jieughed as he swung the halberd at the descending saber.


    Saber and halberd shed in an explosion of light.


    An invisible shockwave spread out from Tang Jie, causing an explosion of rock and dust as it mmed into a distant mountain.


    An enormous vortex appeared in the air. Tang Jie and He Chong stood like majestic gods, one savage and huge, the other like a shing golden emperor.


    "He Chong!" Tang Jie roared as he flew at He Chong, unleashing wave after wave of energy from the halberd.


    The body cultivator''s path of victory was found in charging, and charging, and charging again!


    No matter the difference in strength, a body cultivator had to always fearlessly press forward.


    He pushed through wind and lightning, facing down deafening sound waves, chilling frost, searing mes, and a deluge of swords.


    He Chong unleashed spell arts at a frantic pace. As a Soul Transformation True Person, he had reached greater attainment in his Divine Will. Although hecked the Violet Pce, his thoughts could still reach the world. This could not be considered "manifesting all arts with a single thought", but he could throw out spells as one would throw out flower petals at a wedding.


    Spell arts came down in a rain.


    Compared to this terrifying spell art deluge, Tang Jie''s actions were very simple. No matter how many spell arts there were, he would just keep charging and push through everything!


    A life-or-death battle yed out in the skies of the Martial Lord''s hidden realm.


    The hidden realm wasn''t small, but it also wasn''trge.


    They fought from the skies in the south to the ground in the north, from the mountains in the west to theke in the east. Even the firebird in theva pool was rmed.


    It awoke from theva, pped its wings, and took to the skies, where it floated in the air and observed the battle from a distance. The sun and moon rose and fell in its eyes, the stars blinking in and out.


    It had naturally seen the avatar and Deng and Duan, but it simply cocked its head and said nothing.


    It watched Tang Jie battle, watched as he charged through the torrent of spell arts, watched as he was roasted by fire, frozen by frost, and wounded by des, watched as he recovered each time and continued to chase He Chong. And as it watched Tang Jie chase He Chong through heaven and earth, it saw the light in his body, the glowing of Dao Runes, and the look in its eyes grew even more profound.


    Whoosh!


    The battle was still ongoing.


    Winds howled and smoke plumed.


    He Chong thrust out his palm, pushing Tang Jie back and using the chance to retreat. But his mouth felt a little dry.


    This guy really was much stronger than before!


    He Chong had already lost count of the number of spell arts he had thrown at Tang Jie.


    It had to be in the hundreds, perhaps even a thousand.


    Several of the hidden realm''s mountains had been ttened, but Tang Jie remained as lively as ever.


    This guy was an unkible giant, and any attack aimed at him seemed to have reduced effect. Moreover, the damage that was done was quickly healed by his powerful constitution. He Chong had once tried to deal so much damage that he wouldn''t have time to recover, but he soon found his judgment to be wrong.


    Tang Jie had seeminglyprehended the Dao of Life, and so long as he was willing, he could quickly restore his body.


    Besides that, he also seemed to have an extremely deep understanding of the Dao of Yin Yang, so he was able to easily tell which of He Chong''s attacks were feints and which were real. He was even able to use some sort of Insight ability to identify He Chong''s weaknesses¡ªthere was a gleam of starlight on the center of the avatar''s forehead, and what the avatar could see, the original body could also see. Finally, Tang Jie''s attacks were tinged with a hint of ughter which made even minor injuries difficult to heal for He Chong.


    In short, even though this was a savage who had achieved power through brute strength, in actual battle, he showed off much more than pure strength.


    This gave He Chong a terrible headache.


    The spiritual energy in his body was being constantly consumed.


    Although he was at Soul Transformation and couldplete a Circuit Heaven with a single breath, recovering spiritual energy at an extraordinarily fast rate, that still couldn''t match up to the rate at which he cast spell arts.


    In that frenzy of casting, his spiritual energy reserves were rapidly falling.


    But Tang Jie seemed to have neverending strength and was constantly giving chase.


    No, it wasn''t neverending.


    He Chong was able to tell that the strength from the original body had also decreased.


    Should he attempt a battle of endurance?


    He Chong had a sudden idea.


    But he almost instantly rejected it.


    If this were someone else, He Chong was confident that, being at Soul Transformation, he couldst out and win.


    But against the body refiner Tang Jie, he wasn''t sure.


    Strength was not spiritual energy. It was affected by one''s physical and mental state.


    Law cultivators couldn''t have sudden eruptions of strength, because when spiritual energy ran dry, there was no more. Without spiritual energy, even if your will was linked with the world, you would not be able to cast a single spell art.


    But strength was different. Whenever you thought that your opponent had reached their limit, your opponent might be able to give you a nice surprise.


    A powerful will wasn''t invincible, but a powerful will could push a body refiner to go beyond their limits and aplish the extraordinary.


    He Chong wasn''t too clear about this difference, but if they really fought to the very end, the one to ultimately fall might end up being him.


    Raaaa!


    Tang Jie was still charging at him.


    The image of Tang Jie swinging the halberd seemed to dominate the heavens. The wave of energy that the ck halberd unleashed rushed out like a mighty river, engulfing thend in a terrifying windstorm that tore up the clouds and made the trees shudder.


    As Tang Jie charged at him like a war god, He Chong took in a deep breath.


    He shouted, "You! Tang Jie! You think you''ve won!?"


    As he roared, He Chong suddenly stopped attacking.


    All of the spell arts stopped in unison, and then He Chong''s body began to radiate golden light. This meant that he was focusing all of his strength on defense. At the same time, his hands began to blur as they produced countless signs, and he began to chant something, and even though the words rang out like a bell, it was impossible to understand what he was saying.


    At Soul Transformation, he could cast spell arts with the flick of a finger, but even at his level, he had cast this spell art for much longer than it would normally take to cast a spell art, and he was even chanting an incantation. His intentions were clear.


    This was not a spell art, but a Divine Connection, and not your average Divine Connection.


    Tang Jie didn''t find this strange.


    Rather than attacking, he held back and watched He Chong cast. "Is it finallying?"


    Excitement danced in his eyes.


    A true brave never feared their opponent''s power, was willing to face the might of the world itself.


    As He Chong chanted, a golden figure manifested behind He Chong''s head.


    It was the figure of a standing human.


    The moment it appeared, it seemed to fill the world.


    It was ancient, vast, majestic, and divine. To look upon it was to be filled with reverence and feel an awe and fear that came from the depths of the soul.


    Tang Jie''s eyes grew even brighter.


    He gazed at that manifestation behind He Chong as if he was looking up at an ancient Buddha, softly muttering several words:


    "Godhead Manifest, Paramount Majesty!"

 Chapter 559: Violet Palace

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Many people thought that Godhead Pce was called Godhead Pce because of their defensive treasure, the Godhead Armor, and Godhead Pce made no attempt to deny this. But only the upper echelons of the other five sects knew that it was named such for another reason: because a Godhead really had appeared in this sect before.


    Godheads were above Celestial Sovereigns. Only an Immortal tform cultivator who could control the Dao was called a Godhead.


    Celestial Sovereigns were still something that could be seen in the Rosecloud Domain, but Godheads were legendary existences.


    And one such existence had appeared in Godhead Pce before.


    This person was none other than the illustrious Guangfa Celestial Sovereign, the creator of Nadir Hill and the founder of Godhead Pce.


    Not long after killing the ancient tapir from High Antiquity, the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign had broken through into Immortal tform and then wandered the myriad domains. At the time, the people of Nadir Hill established a temple and built a statue in his honor, calling it the Guangfa Temple, which was the earliest form of Godhead Pce. Not long after that, Nadir Hill once more faced disaster, and the people fled into the temple to pray. By chance, the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign had gained insight into the world at this time, and his Divine Connection had grown much greater, already at the level of speak-not, think-not. He sensed the people''s cries and sent a sliver of his Divine Will into the golden statue within the temple to vanquish the disaster. Afterward, that sliver of Divine Will remained in the golden statue to maintain the peace of Nadir Hill.


    From then on, Nadir Hill was under the protection of the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign, enjoying fine weather free of natural disasters. Guangfa Temple prospered, and some people even received the legacy of the golden statue. As Guangfa Temple flourished, it gradually turned into Godhead Pce.


    It could be said that the entirety of Godhead Pce was established on the legacy of the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign.


    Although the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign had not intended to establish it, he had an indescribable rtionship with it. Even now, that golden statue was still within Godhead Pce. So long as the Guangfa Godhead lived, the golden statue would not perish. Fortunately, this Godhead had no interest in the organization known as Godhead Pce. He cared only about the people of Nadir Hill, and he would not participate in Godhead Pce''s struggle for dominance, or else Godhead Pce would have long ago dominated the Rosecloud Domain. Even so, the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign had still left something behind for Godhead Pce.


    That golden statue with his Divine Will.


    This item contained the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign''s Divine Will, so it could be considered the supreme treasure of Godhead Pce,parable to the Basking Moon Sect''s Violet Jade Mantra and God-Conquering Merak Sword put together. The former represented legacy, and the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign''s legacy was passed down through the golden statue. As for thetter, it represented battle.


    But while the God-Conquering Merak Sword was a supreme Dao armament, it was not lightly used, and it was mostly used for intimidation.


    The Divine Will golden statue was different.


    This object was not ideal for battle. Because it had originally been made as an object of veneration within Guangfa Temple, it was made from ordinary y. Even if the Celestial Sovereign''s Divine Will had conferred spirituality on this ordinary substance, it was no natural treasure. But the Divine Will of the Godhead contained within the golden statue was extraordinary.


    Its greatest function was the ability to further partition the Divine Will in the golden statue, attaching it to a designated Divine Soul. So long as that divine soul existed, that sliver of Divine Will would also persist. This was the famous "Godhead Manifest, Paramount Majesty."


    The former referred to what was actually happening while thetter referred to the spirit.


    He Chong was deeply trusted by Godhead Pce, and when investigating the hidden realm, he relied on both his own strength and that sliver of a Godhead''s will. When he fully released the power of this Divine Will, even He Changan was no match for him.


    The manifestation wasplete, and an ethereal Guangfa Celestial Sovereign had appeared in the air. He Chong opened his eyes, and his voice boomed like a bell. "Tang Jie, you stand before the almighty Godhead! Hurry and kneel before him!"


    His voice was like ten thousand voices speaking in unison, shaking the soul. The avatar, Deng, and Duan all paled, with Deng and Duan even prostrating. Even the avatar had to fight the urge to bow.


    But a momentter, Tang Jie took in a deep breath and calmed back down.


    The original body gazed at that distant manifestation and coldly smiled. "Truly the mighty Godhead. When the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign left his Divine Will in the golden statue, it was probably less than a hundredth of his Divine Will, and for you to get the golden statue''s Divine Will, probably one hundredth of that would be decent. In other words, this sliver of Divine Will might not even be one ten-thousandth of the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign''s power, yet this sliver of a sliver is still so powerful and majestic. I can''t even fathom how powerful the man himself is."


    And then he really did prostrate to the Godhead manifestation.


    He Chongughed. "Tang Jie, you finally know fear."


    Tang Jie smirked. "Idiot!"


    "What?" He Chong was taken aback.


    Tang Jie replied, "I prostrate to the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign because I admire his character. Besides eliminating the savage tapir and linking the ind to the maind, he also protected his home and its people. Although he cultivates Immortality, he has not lost his humanity. This is why I respect him, not for his immense powers but for his great virtue. There are many people of immense power in the world, but few with great virtue, and even fewer with both virtue and power. Someone powerful and virtuous like the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign is someone I yearn to be. s, the juniors he left behind have no potential, only knowing how to lust for the treasures of others. As for this little bit of Divine Will you possess¡­ haha, although the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign has boundless might, you only have one ten-thousandth of a Divine Will. What''s there to be afraid of?"


    "Bastard!" He Chong roared. "The punishment for spheming the Godhead is death!"


    That manifestation behind him raised a hand and pressed it down at Tang Jie.


    Although this sliver of Divine Will had been left behind by the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign, in order to make it easier for Godhead Pce to control, the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign had long ago wiped his will from it, leaving only its power. Thus, under He Chong''s control, the Godhead manifestation thrust a palm at Tang Jie.


    It was the same kind of palm attack, but the power was on apletely different level.


    He Chong''s palm had been like a mountain, and the Godhead''s palm was like a falling star.


    The palm darkened the skies and sent down an unstoppable pressure. At that moment, Tang Jie felt like he was Sun Wukong facing down the Mountain of Five Fingers, helpless before the infinite might of the divine.


    (TN: In the Chinese novel "Journey to the West", the main character Sun Wukong takes a bet with the Buddha to escape the palm of his hand, but after flying all the way to what he thinks is the edge of the universe, he ultimately finds that the five massive pirs he sees are just the Buddha''s fingers. The Buddha then turns his hand into a mountain and traps Sun Wukong beneath it.)


    But a momentter, Tang Jieughed and jumped into the air. "Useless!"


    He thrust out the halberd against that sky-engulfing hand, and in the middle of a giant boom, that palm actually stopped.


    "What dogshit Godhead Manifest? No matter what heaven-sent powers you have, I will always be able to fight back!" Tang Jie bellowed, the strength erupting from his body allowing him to hold off this titanic hand.


    He Chong chuckled. "Just a frog at the bottom of the well, a summer bug who knows nothing of ice."


    As he spoke, that giant palm erupted with a shockwave that savagely mmed into Tang Jie.


    Boom! The palm bashed Tang Jie into the ground.


    Stunned, Tang Jie saw He Chong extend his hand and press down with it. His body erupted with light, and a violet radiance gathered above his head, taking on the appearance of a pce.


    "Violet Pce?" Tang Jie was rmed. "This Divine Will boosted you to the Violet Pce Realm!"


    That sudden increase in strength didn''te from the Godhead manifestation, but from He Chong himself. This multiplied the strength Tang Jie was dealing with by so much that he had been overwhelmed. And the words He Chong had said weren''t to activate the Divine Will, but rather to form a Divine Connection with the world, for the Divine Will manifestation had temporarily brought him to the Violet Pce Realm.


    At the Heart Demon Tier, cultivators developed Divine Wills, and at the Soul Transformation Tier, the Divine Will transformed into the Divine Soul, and the Violet Pce was the substantialization process of the Divine Soul. It tempered the Divine Soul and also served as an outer shell to protect it.


    Once achieved, the Divine Soul would have the ability to leave the body, so the Violet Pce Realm was also known as the Soul Projection Realm.


    The ability to project the Divine Soul outside of the body allowed for the Divine Connection with the world, for the ten thousand arts springing from a single thought. To be blunt, it was the soul fusing with the world. When one''s thoughts were the world''s thoughts, there was naturally no need for any signs or any sort of casting process. A single thought was all that was required to manifest the spell art, which was why it was called a Divine Connection. Thus, in the earliest period, Divine Connections were just another way of using spell arts. But the greater attunement of the Divine Soul allowed the power of many Divine Connections to far surpass that of spell arts and were beyond the ability of spell arts to replicate, so they became their own category.


    And this sliver of a Godhead''s Divine Will had the ability to mimic a Violet Pce, protecting the Divine Soul projection and allowing He Chong to temporarily achieve a Divine Connection with the world.


    The problem was that, from what Tang Jie knew, the golden statue''s Divine Will did note with this ability. While it could strengthen the Divine Will and spell art power of the user, and it possessed tremendous power of its own, it definitely did not have the ability to boost Soul Transformation to Violet Pce, even temporarily.


    Otherwise, when Godhead Pce fought with others, they would just need to partition that Divine Will to create a hundred Violet Pce True Lords, and nobody would be able to stand up to them.


    Although the Godhead Manifest was strong, it had its limits. Tang Jie dared to face it precisely because he had made his preparations.


    But He Chong had far surpassed his expectations. The Godhead Manifest was no longer simply the manifestation, but a soul-protecting Violet Pce!


    "Correct!" He Chongughed. "Hahaha, you didn''t expect this, right? Godhead Pce didn''t give me one hundredth of the Divine Will, but one tenth! And by imprisoning me here for ten-some years, you inadvertently aided me!"


    There were several reasons the Divine Will did not boost a Soul Transformation cultivator to Violet Pce. The first was that there was not enough of it, but He Chong had obtained much more of the Divine Will than Tang Jie had imagined. This was because the Martial Lord''s hidden realm had been left behind by the Martial Lord, so Godhead Pce was worried about some sort of trap that might even kill Violet Pce True Lords. The True Lords themselves did not dare to enter, and the weaker cultivators would just be going to their deaths, so He Chong was given more of the Divine Will. Even if He Chong died, it was fine, for the Divine Will would simply return.


    But nobody had ounted for He Chong being trapped in the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. And because he didn''t die, the Divine Will did not return.


    Another factor was that the Divine Will was normally not imnted for more than a year, and when the mission was done, it would be returned. But He Chong had ended up keeping it for ten-some years. In those ten-some years, that sliver of Divine Will had entered He Chong''s Cognitive Sea and gradually merged with it.


    It was precisely these circumstances that allowed He Chong to use the manifestation to rece the Violet Pce and allow the Divine Connection.


    At this moment, that sliver of Divine Will was his own, no longer belonging to the golden statue.


    As his palm pressed Tang Jie down, he wildlyughed, "Tang Jie, you might have impressive brute strength, but in the face of the world''s power, you can only submit!"


    The palm turned into a fist and punched at Tang Jie, making the world shudder with even this one move.


    There was no spell art or casting. A single thought was enough to create heaven-reaching mes.


    Vast amounts of spiritual power moved to He Chong''s thought, turning into the most terrifying spell arts and sting away at Tang Jie.


    He Chong had seemingly taken control of the entire hidden realm. So long as Tang Jie wasn''t strong enough to break this world, he would never be a match for He Chong.


    "Is that so?" Tang Jie simply snorted in the face of this divine might.


    Nearby, the avatar seized Deng and Duan and sealed their ability to cast spell arts, after which he flew up to join the original body.


    "It''s only a Spirit Ring cultivator. Even if he were at Heart Demon, what could he possibly aplish?" He Chong smirked.


    "I didn''t say I was relying on the avatar," the original body said, taking something out.


    "The Herding Yang Pearl!" He Changan''s eyes narrowed. "So you really did kill He Changan."


    There was still some hope with only the Deste Heavens Halberd, but the Herding Yang Pearl confirmed it.


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "I dug it out of his stomach. Although I''ve washed it many times, if possible, I really don''t want to swallow it."


    "How did he die?"


    "I''ll tell you if you defeat me."


    "Hahaha!" He Chong roared withughter. "No need. If he''s dead, he''s dead. One Godking He has died, so let there be a new Godking He! No¡ªa Celestial Sovereign He!"


    He Chong swatted arge hand at Tang Jie.


    The original body threw its head back and swallowed the Herding Yang Pearl. He activated the Three-Heads-Six-Arms Divine Connection, growing two heads and four extra arms. Two of the arms grabbed at the air, a long-handled warhammer and mountain-cleaving saber appearing in them.


    His body also grewrger, going to fifteen meters, and all three heads bellowed in unison.


    "Raaa!"


    With a mighty roar, the three weapons shed with that giant hand.


    The Herding Yang Pearl was a treasure that stimted one''s innate strength, and Tang Jie''s strength now doubled. Even He Chongbined with the Godhead Manifest couldn''t suppress him now.


    Vicious currents of air tore through the skies, and dark clouds roiled.


    Massive shockwaves swept through the world again and again as the two battled in the sky. Such was the ferocity of their battle that all the mountains in the area were ttened.


    Fortunately, He Chong was confident enough in his strength that he was no longer in a fighting retreat, or else the entire hidden realm would have been leveled.


    He didn''t back down, and neither did Tang Jie.


    He was like a monkey battling against the heavens, constantly thrusting his weapons at the sky.


    He roared with anger, arrogance, and spirit!


    Although the power of the world would push him back, he would always get back up and continue his dance among the heavens.


    When facing the Divine Connection with the world, Tang Jie might not be able to win, but he would never concede.


    No matter how fierce that Divine Connection was, he would not back down. In the middle of the frenzied battle, Tang Jie grew fiercer and fiercer, leaving He Chong amazed.


    But no matter how fierce you are, before the might of the world, your defeat is inevitable, He Chong inwardly sneered.


    If there were only one Tang Jie, that really might have been the case.


    But Tang Jie wasn''t alone.


    Behind him, the avatar was forming hand signs, manifesting a long and difficult spell.


    Finally, as the original body was sent flying away again, the avatar pointed at the sky, and numerous Heavenly Cloud des began to fall.


    But unlike before, they were alternately red and white, white like frost and red like fire.


    There were 81 Frost Heavenly des and 81 me Heavenly des. Lightning crackled around them as they whistled down, dragging out long pirs of ck smoke as if they were heralds of the apocalypse.


    The frost and fire were naturally the Infinity Sphere Art, and the lightning was the Astral Lightning ssic, a supporting technique Tang Jie had studied. As for the ck smoke, it was the Hellyer Saber. As for what brought them all together and allowed him to divide the Heavenly Cloud des into two groups, that was the Ninedark Mantrabined with the Dao of Yin Yang.


    This merger of countless spell arts and techniques produced a spell art of supreme power, and Tang Jie gave it a very fitting name: The Nine Heavens Cmity de.

 Chapter 560: The Power of the Godhead

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Nine Heavens Cmity de was one of the greatest feats Tang Jie had achieved from his cultivation in the Celestial me Pagoda.


    These des of cmity were so powerful that even He Chong found it extremely taxing to fend them off.


    Every Heavenly de he took would erupt in intense mes, and while this power was not as enduring as the original body, the instantaneous power was many times greater. Purely in terms of offensive power, they far surpassed Tang Jie''s original body.


    As for that lightning striking He Chong''s body, it was like lightning from the heavens, forcing He Chong to devote half of his energy to dealing with it.


    The consequence was that the attacks from Tang Jie''s original body instantly increased in frequency, the three heavy weapons howling as they swung at He Chong.


    He Chong could no longer restrain himself, and his eyes shed with ruthlessness.


    He knew that he could not stay like this forever. The cultivation boost from the Divine Will had a time limit, and once his cultivation level fell, he would be no match for Tang Jie.


    The original body was too tough to kill in short order, but the avatar was strong in offense and weak in defense, so he might as well start there.


    He Chong immediately turned to the avatar.


    His eyes simply shed with lightning, and a lightning bolt streaked out of the roiling clouds to strike Tang Jie''s avatar.


    The key here was to strike swiftly.


    Pa!


    The lightning bolt fell upon the avatar, sting him away. He Chong heartilyughed at this, even considering that subsequent strike from the original body''s weapon onto his body a worthy tradeoff.


    But a momentter, the tumbling avatar stopped and acted as if nothing had happened, his hands continuing to maintain the sign for the Nine Heavens Cmity de, causing countless Heavenly des to descend. After one round had passed, another round was unleashed, Tang Jie liberally using his power to rain down attacks.


    "How?" He Chong''s soul almost flew off.


    He knew his power best. Let alone Spirit Ring, even a Heart Demon cultivator couldn''t have taken it.


    But he then saw a suit of armor under the tattered robes of the avatar.


    The armor shed gold and appeared unusual, though the style was rather simr to Godhead Armor. But He Chong knew that there was no way this could be Godhead Armor.


    Ordinary Godhead Armor couldn''t take an attack from him, but his attack just now hadn''t even left a dent in that suit of armor.


    So what the hell was it?


    A ray of sunlight fell upon that suit of armor, and in that dazzling light, He Chong was finally able to clearly make out what this armor was.


    "Mother Cloud Essence Metal!" he shrieked.


    He had never imagined that the avatar would be wearing a suit of armor made from Mother Cloud Essence Metal.


    "Not just him! I have it too!" The original bodyughed. "Chop!"


    The cleaver once more sliced at He Chong''s head.


    "Hah!" He Chong roared as he punched.


    The fist st shed with the saber light, but it was the saber light that sliced through the fist and bit into He Chong''s arm.


    "Aaagh!" He Chong bellowed in pain as the original body''s saber shattered his arm.


    He frantically retreated, and as his mind turned, his lost arm was quickly restored. At the same time, the distant avatar threw out an item.


    It was a diagram, one that shed with countless dazzling stars.


    As soon as the diagram emerged, it filled up the world, countless beams of light surging out from it.


    There was a five-wed golden dragon spear, a three-legged golden crow with wings unfurled, a bull-headed man holding a giant axe, a half-man¨Chalf-snake holding a silver whip, a mandrill worshiping the sun and moon, a giant mountain descending from the heavens, a sacred pagoda circling in the air, a lotus tform shining with resplendent light, and also thirteen divine swords that broke through the firmament and danced among the stars.


    The Treasure Cosmos Formation!


    Not even He Chong could sit back and do nothing in the face of this formation that concentrated so many art relics in one ce, and he could only manifest spell arts to fight back. But as he was summoning all these countless spell arts, the original body restarted his offensive, the three weapons bashing open He Chong''s barrier and obliterating half of his body.


    Howling, He Chong desperately repaired his shattered body, but thebined attack of the original body and avatar refused to let him go. The avatar would hold him down while the original body attacked, and then the original body would defend while the avatar attacked. Two bodies shared by a single soul allowed for extreme flexibility, and nobody could possibly match their teamwork.


    In the middle of this frenzied offensive, He Chong found that even when he was at the Violet Pce Realm, he was still no match for Tang Jie.


    He cried out in fear, "This isn''t possible! It''s not possible! I''m at Violet Pce!"


    "Nothing is impossible," the original body coldly replied. "A Violet Pce cultivator has refined their Divine Soul until it is almost physical, the Violet Pce covering like a golden bell. While you have the Godhead Will to serve as the protective bell, has your Divine Soul been refined? Without the refined soul, how can youmand the will of the world?"


    His voice rang out like a bell, awakening He Chong from his arrogance.


    Yes, his Divine Soul had not been refined, so how could he be considered to be at Violet Pce?


    His true self was still at Soul Transformation, and even with the protection of the Godhead Will, he was still only a fake.


    "I¡­ am not at Violet Pce," He Chong dejectedly said.


    "So long as you understand!" Tang Jie shouted as he charged once more.


    Seeing that he couldn''t stop Tang Jie, He Chong snarled, "So what if I''m not at Violet Pce? This Godhead Will is real, and you think this is all it''s capable of? You''re wrong! Tang Jie, the power of the Godhead is far beyond what you can imagine!"


    As he roared, the manifestation behind He Chong erupted with light.


    He had given up on using the Godhead Will to protect his soul, instead truly unleashing the original might of the Godhead Will. Although it was only a single attack, it was imbued with a peerless divine might.


    That manifestation of the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign gradually solidified.


    He was like a giant standing in the sky, with a crown in the shape of a moth and a feathered belt, holding a book in his hand.


    He lightly raised a hand and pointed a finger at Tang Jie.


    Thus, all the world seemed to be reduced to this single finger.


    As if the pir of heaven was descending.


    Tang Jie even sensed that if he tried to block this finger, his body would be obliterated.


    Was this the power of one thousandth of a Godhead''s Divine Will?


    One thousandth was already this immense. What was the actual person like?


    Tang Jie felt a little dazed as that finger, that pir of heaven, descended.


    In the face of this attack, he even felt like conceding.


    This finger hadn''t even hurt him yet, but it had already damaged his mind and weakened his will to fight.


    The firebird''s eyes began to gleam upon seeing this, mes rising up on its body. It seemed to be considering whether it should intervene.


    And then Tang Jie suddenly erupted with fighting intent, shattering the heavenly pressure of that Godhead''s finger.


    Looking up at that descending finger mountain, Tang Jie fiercelyughed. "Even if the sky falls and the earth crumbles, I will feel no fear, raising up my de against the heavens. Who cares if you are a supreme Godhead? I will still fight it out with you! Kill!"


    As he shouted the word "Kill!" the avatar threw out the Sovereign de.


    Tang Jie''s fourth arm grabbed the Sovereign de and instantly turned it into a long and slender cudgel. Four weapons and two fists mustered up all their strength and thrust at the heavens.


    Charge!


    Charge!


    Charge!


    With all of his fighting intent and madness, Tang Jie charged, swinging his weapons at that descending finger.


    The strongest gale in this entire battle erupted in the sky.


    The gale swept away the clouds, and then it cracked open mountains, shook the earth, and even mmed into the barrier in the sky, letting off powerful mes of energy.


    Time seemed to stop.


    Tang Jie, He Chong, and the Godhead finger were all frozen in the air.


    A momentter, there was a crack.


    A long crack suddenly appeared on the fingertip.


    The crack began to spread at an insane speed, webbing outward until it covered the entire finger.


    The finger began to crumble, piece by piece, dissolving into the air, and that Godhead manifestation also began to copse. This copse traveled all the way to the head, but just when it was about to totally disappear, the firebird let out a sharp cry.


    The Godhead manifestation froze, and then it turned into a divine light that streaked toward the firebird. The firebird opened its mouth and swallowed up the divine light.


    At the same time, Tang Jie''s motionless body swayed and then exploded into a cloud of blood.


    The divine might of the Godhead finger had shattered every bone in his body, sting every bone down to the finest grain, and all of his blood and flesh had turned into a mist, leaving not even a shred of skin intact.


    Biologically, Tang Jie''s original body was thoroughly deceased.


    But as he exploded into a cloud of bloody mist, the avatar pointed at the remains, and that shattered flesh began to recover.


    The Dao of Life.


    This was also thanks to the avatar''s presence. While the Dao of Life was powerful, unless one was the Lord of Life, it was nigh impossible to recover from being dead.


    But Tang Jie was different. He was one soul in two bodies. From a certain perspective, one body was only half of his life. For Tang Jie, this wasn''t resurrection, but reconsolidation.


    Even then, this still wasn''t enough.


    Fortunately, he had alsoprehended the Dao of Yin Yang, and the first Yin Yang Dao Will he hadprehended was Life and Death.


    As the avatar thrust out his finger, life and death changed ces, the avatar throwing up blood as his aura weakened. But at the same time, for the original body, death shifted to life, and the me of vitality was lit once more, after which the Dao of Life strengthened the me and reconsolidated the original body.


    This was the hidden card that Tang Jie had been relying on the most in this battle.


    Even so, the original body was too powerful, so reviving it like this had used up 100 years of the avatar''s lifespan. And this was only a reconsolidation. If it had to be revived from nothing, draining the avatar dry wouldn''t even suffice until he deepened his understanding of the Dao of Life. The deeper one''s understanding of the Dao of Life, the smaller the lifespan one needed to pay.


    Through the Dao of Life, the mist of blood scattered, and the original body began to reform.


    He stepped into the air, brought back from death. But rather than being delighted at being reborn, he seemed to haveprehended a little about what it meant to be reborn from the ashes like a phoenix.


    He clenched a fist and muttered, "This¡­ is Life and Death!


    At that moment, 18 Dao Runes appeared and branded themselves into his body.


    After going between life and death, he had developed a greater understanding of these concepts, and that very direct experience had allowed him to instantly condense 18 Yin Yang Dao Runes.


    The moment the original body was revived, he waved his hand at the avatar. The avatar''s withering body grew healthy. It was now the original body''s turn to heal the avatar, but the ordeal was much easier this time.


    He then turned around and slowly said, "So, do you have anything else?"


    Without the Godhead Will, He Chong had nothing left with which to contend with Tang Jie.


    After a momentary daze, he bellowed, "NO!"


    He charged at Tang Jie.


    There was no thought for his life or his resentment, only onest counterattack born out of despair.


    He no longer wanted to win or kill Tang Jie. He was simply acting out of instinct, unustomed to giving up.


    The Celestial Moongrave gathered up a chilling saber energy in his hand and unleashed it at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie simply stood there.


    As that saber energy was about to strike him, he raised his hand and punched.


    This punch thundered through the air with seemingly boundless might, a little like the Godhead finger.


    He Chong''s final attack collided against Tang Jie''s fist st and became like a breeze blowing against a mountain, dissolving into nothing. Meanwhile, that mountain kept going and hurtled toward He Chong.


    He Chong closed his eyes and awaited his death.


    But as that fist st touched his body, he felt a gentle wind caress his face, and that frenzied fist st blew past him without hurting a hair on his head.


    "An illusion?" He Chong blurted. But he realized that if it had been an illusion, it wouldn''t have dispelled his attack.


    But what spell art could shatter his saber energy yet not hurt him?


    He Chong was baffled.


    Tang Jie casually said, "The Dao of Yin Yang. A little trick to interchange reality and illusion."


    After those Dao Runes entered his body, Tang Jie was finally able to control his attacks like the firebird. While it wasn''t to the same level of freedom as the firebird, as he was still unpracticed and unfamiliar, it still appeared like a work of the divine in He Chong''s eyes.


    "The Dao of Yin Yang, interchanging reality and illusion¡­" He Chong muttered. "You''ve alreadyprehended that many Great Daos?"


    He nkly looked up at the sky, a realization finally dawning upon him.


    He had lost!


    Any further struggle was meaningless. He had utterly lost, with no hope of turning the tables.


    In reality, he had long ago known that things would turn out this way.


    The ending had been decided from the day he entered the hidden realm. Tang Jie controlled everything here. He had just been unwilling to ept this, wanting to struggle a little longer to escape his foreordained destiny.


    But when defeat truly came, He Chong felt at peace.


    Gone were his hesitation, confusion, and fear. He Chong simply said, "I''ve already lost, so why aren''t you finishing it?"


    He closed his eyes and waited for death toe.


    "By killing you?" Like a giant looking down on an ant, Tang Jie sneered and said, "Why do I need to kill you? If I wanted to do that, you would have been dead long ago. You don''t have to wait until you''re strong to kill someone. For me, you''re more valuable alive than dead."


    He Chong was startled, and then he understood andughed, "You want me to sell out Godhead Pce? Tang Jie, are you dreaming? Kill me if you want, but it''s impossible for you to make me sell out Godhead Pce!"


    Cocking his head, Tang Jie sneered in disdain. "''Godhead Pce''? You think I need you to betray it for me to deal with it?"


    With a flip of the hand, the distant avatar produced the Supreme Mystery Bell. He Chong trembled. "Master Xuan Zhong¡­ You killed him?"


    "Not just him," Tang Jie callously said. "The 12 Hawks of the Hawk Hall, Elders Gold and Silver, He Yueyang, Li Song, Ao Chihu, Feng Buzhi¡­"


    One illustrious name after another came from Tang Jie''s mouth. Other than the people from Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate, there were also members from countless minor sects of Nadir Hill. He Chong shivered in fear, crying out, "No! No! It''s not possible!"


    "''Not possible''?" Tang Jie raised an eyebrow. The avatar came over with Duan and Deng, throwing out the Treasure Cosmos diagram. This wasn''t to attack him, but to summon the thirteen stars within it.


    Those were the thirteen divine swords of the Peerless Sword Pavilion.


    "The swords of the Sword Mound are all here. Most of them ended up like this¡­" Tang Jie thrust his finger at He Chong''s Celestial Moongrave.


    The art relic shattered, leaving behind a golden grain that fell into Tang Jie''s hand and fused with the Sovereign de, leaving He Chong stunned.


    "Now, you should understand that I truly don''t need you to deal with Godhead Pce." As he spoke, Tang Jie went back to his original size, blood energy radiating outward, congealing into a crimson cloak that draped his body in a majestic and intimidating aura.


    "Then why are you keeping me alive?" He Chong red at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "He Chong, although you are at the Soul Transformation Tier, your strength is rather poor among your peers. Your true expertise has never been in battle."


    "Formations?" He Chong finally understood what Tang Jie wanted.

 Chapter 561: Invitation into the Pot

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After many years of study, Tang Jie could now be considered a true formation master.


    In the past, he had only studied formations because he had talent in this field, but now, he truly liked the field.


    The more passionate about formations he was, the more progress he made, and the more Tang Jie felt like he was barely scraping the surface and still knew too little.


    The field of formations was vast and profound, and Tang Jie felt like there was no end to what he could learn. He drank up knowledge on formations like a sea on the verge of drying out. He Chong was Godhead Pce''s number one formation expert, second only to Xu Muyang, so there was no need to question his formation mastery. How could Tang Jie possibly let such an expert in formations escape his grasp? This was exactly why he didn''t want He Chong to die.


    Besides that, Tang Jie had a more practical objective¡­


    "Correct. I need your formation abilities to help me create a formation," Tang Jie replied.


    "''Create a formation''?" He Chong was bbergasted.


    He Chong was well aware that Tang Jie''s mastery of formations had long ago reached parity with his.


    In thest few years, when the original body had been bored, he woulde over to discuss formations. Even though He Chong had known that Tang Jie had ulterior motives, he was lonely, so he had given him a few pointers. Tang Jie''s meteoric rise in formation mastery could be said to bergely due to He Chong.


    If Tang Jie was asking for his help in making a formation, this formation could only be extraordinarilyplex.


    After some thought, he snorted and said, "The formation you want me to help you with is ultimately going to be used against Godhead Pce, right? I won''t fall into your trap."


    But to his surprise, Tang Jie shook his head. "It won''t be used against Godhead Pce. It''s not even an offensive formation."


    He Chong was baffled.


    Tang Jie opened his hand, the Mountain River State Diagram appearing within it.


    "This is¡­ the Mountain River State Diagram of the Seven Absolutions Sect. Why is it with you?" This was a formation treasure, so He Chong naturally recognized it at a nce. He had once dreamed countless times about how wonderful it would be to have such a formation diagram, and he had never imagined that it would appear in Tang Jie''s hands.


    The world within the diagram revealed itself to him. Amid the clouds, he could see the Space Crystal hanging high in the sky like a red sun, a waterfall falling from the heavens, and a mountain burning with eternal mes.


    "The Eternal Universe Formation, and also a teleportation formation!" He Chong saw the secrets within it. "So you put the teleportation formation in here! Borrowing the power of the myriad creatures, using a formation to establish a formation! Exquisite!"


    "It''s all thanks to the Profound Heaven Treatise of the Seven Absolutions Sect," Tang Jie chuckled. He suddenly turned to He Chong and asked, "Do you want to see it?"


    He Chong felt like someone had seized his heart.


    The Profound Heaven Treatise was a sacred text that every formation master dreamed of reading.


    But a momentter, He Chong''s face darkened. "Tang Jie, just what are you nning?"


    He couldn''t understand what Tang Jie was thinking.


    Tang Jie chuckled and gazed into that endless world within the Mountain River State Diagram. "The diagram dimension you see now is much bigger than what I initially had. At first, there was only that waterfall."


    He Chong froze, and then he cried out, "Impossible! Once the Mountain River State Diagram is established, the space is fixed. Unless you empty it out and start over, you can''t add onto that space!"


    Tang Jie replied, "Take a closer look."


    He Chong heard this and focused on the diagram.


    Finally, he was able to make out a few things, muttering, "This feeling¡­ it''s Space, the power of Space¡­ The dimension within the diagram is gettingrger¡­"


    He could clearly sense that the dimension within the Mountain River State Diagram was iprehensibly expanding.


    The Mountain River State Diagram had be a forbidden tool because its ability to take innd was an ability that cut away at the spatial fabric. As for when Tang Jie had used the Mountain River State Diagram to steal storehouses, he had been taking the physical substance within the space, so it had had nothing to do with the spatial fabric.


    But now, the Mountain River State Diagram''s space was beginning to expand on its own. This revtion was simply earthshaking.


    He looked at Tang Jie, who pointed at that prism-shaped red sun in the sky.


    He Chong was enlightened, realizing that this had to be some spatial treasure that gave the Mountain River State Diagram''s dimension the ability to grow.


    "Just what are you trying to do?" He Chong asked.


    Tang Jie replied, "This item is called the Space Crystal. True Person He should have heard about it before."


    He Chong grunted. "So it really is that! The grudge between Basking Moon and Beast Refining can be said to be deeply connected to this item. It''s been stored away in a secret ce by the Basking Moon Sect all this time, so I didn''t think that you would have it. With this thing, it''s no wonder the Mountain River State Diagram can infinitely expand."


    "But it also restricts the usage of the Space Crystal. I can''t take it out, or else the dimension in the diagram will copse." Tang Jie appeared indifferent as he said, "The Space Crystal is a supreme treasure, so using it only to expand the space in the diagram is rather a waste. That''s why I''ve been constantly looking for a way to switch it out."


    "A spatial formation." He Chong finally understood what Tang Jie was getting at.


    Tang Jie wanted to set up a spatial formation to rece the Space Crystal. After all, the dimension within the diagram was nowrge enough to hold one.


    But the Space Crystal was a Dao armament treasure, not something that any random formation could rece. Tang Jie wasn''t capable ofying down this sort of formation at his current level of strength.


    So he had thought of He Chong.


    Looking at that dazzling red sun, He Chong frowned. "It truly is rather difficult. The Great Daos are the underlying principles of the world, and every Dao armament embodies these principles. This is not something a formation can easily achieve. One first has to attain the Dao."


    Among the 12 Great Daos, the Dao of Formations belonged to Truth.


    If one had to exin the Dao of Formations, it was a special way of arranging materials that was in harmony with the principles of nature, leading to a special effect.


    And principles of nature were the Truth, the Great Dao.


    For this reason, the Dao of Formations was an existence extremely close to the Heavenly Dao.


    Only by trulyprehending the Dao of Formations could one have even the smallest hope of making a spatial formation that could rece the Space Crystal.


    Tang Jie smiled. "You don''t have to worry about that problem."


    Aghast, He Chong turned to Tang Jie. "Could it be that you''ve¡­"


    Tang Jie lightly nodded.


    He Chong shivered. "To what level?"


    After some thought, Tang Jie replied, "Greater attainment in Daoprehension, and I''ve alsoprehended a little of the Dao of Space, enough to use."


    He Chong was so stunned that he couldn''t stop himself from shaking.


    Creating a domain-crossing teleportation formation requiredprehension of the Dao of Space, as it was impossible otherwise. He Chong knew that Tang Jie had alreadyprehended the Dao of Insight, and based on the battle just now, He Chong could tell that Tang Jie had a rather deepprehension of Yin Yang and Life. This person seemed to have an astonishing ability toprehend Daos.


    "How could it be this fast?" He Chong shakily asked.


    "Is that fast? I don''t think so. If I weren''t restricted by materials, I might have already entered the Dao," Tang Jie casually remarked.


    It was true¡ªTang Jie''s progress in the Dao of Formations was far less than expected.


    It had to be understood that the Dao of Formations was the first Dao he had begun to study, and his most important talent was also in formations, yet hisprehension of the Dao of Formations ended up being one of the slowest of all of them.


    The main reason for this was that the material limitations were too great.


    Daos weren''tprehended simply because one wanted to.


    As Wang Poguan had once said, Daos were a kind of vista one would naturallye upon when one reached the peak of cultivation.


    Wisdom, ughter, Yin Yang¡­ no matter which Dao it was, one had to reach the ends of their respective paths in order toprehend them.


    To take Tang Jie as an example, his strongest Dao was the Dao of Wisdom.


    This was because he had used Wisdom the most. Whether it was to ovee stronger opponents or through prolonged use of the Celestial Eye, it was all progress on the path of Wisdom. The farther one went, the more one would naturallyprehend.


    For this reason, Tang Jie had entered the Dao of Wisdom not long after entering the Dao of Yin Yang. He had been able to enter the Dao of Yin Yang thanks to the Myriad Immortals Cauldron. Otherwise, his progress in the Dao of Wisdom would have left the Dao of Yin Yang choking in its dust.


    Inparison, while Tang Jie was talented in the Dao of Formations, theck of materials meant that his usage of it was always limited.


    It was only after the trip to the Celestial me Pagoda and the beginning of the inter-domain trade that Tang Jie finally had all the resources he wanted to go on a formation-making spree, allowing hisprehension of the Dao of Formations to rise by leaps and bounds. He easily gained initialprehension and swiftly reached greater attainment. It could be called an eruption of all that umted potential.


    He Chong was dumbfounded, muttering, "Surprising¡­ surprising, you actually reached this level already."


    "In the end, I''ve only barely opened the gate to Truth," Tang Jie casually said. "A day where I haven''t entered the Dao is another day where I haven''t really achieved anything great. And even when one has entered the Dao, there is still the difference in quantity of Dao Runes. The hall of the Great Dao is unfathomably deep, and every step through it is difficult. This path of Immortality¡­ is still plenty long."


    After entering the Dao of Yin Yang, Tang Jie had gained even greater insight into the Great Dao.


    If the Great Dao was a temple, toprehend the Dao was to stand outside it and look inside.


    To enter the Dao was to go through the front doors.


    Each Dao Rune was a single step.


    The temple was sorge that tens of millions of steps might not be enough to get to the end. And at the very end was the high tform.


    On the tform, one could look all around, and only then could one be said to control the Dao.


    This was Tang Jie''s understanding ofprehending, entering, and controlling. As for anything beyond that, he wasn''t sure.


    At the same time, Tang Jie understood that the lowest requirement to bing a Celestial Sovereign wasn''t entering the Dao, but tempering at least one thousand Dao Runes or else tempering aplete Great Dao Law that could be used.


    One thousand Dao Runes was the basic requirement for controlling the Myriad Immortals Cauldron and also the basic requirement for Celestial Sovereign, and it was a goal that was too far off for Tang Jie.


    But he was in no rush. He was still young and had time to take things step by step.


    Hearing this from Tang Jie, He Chong calmed himself down and said, "Since you''re already at this level, what do you need me for?"


    Tang Jie replied, "While I''ve attained theprehension, my cultivation is still shallow."


    Comprehension did not signify cultivation level, nor could it rece it, and no matter the time or ce, cultivation was the foundation of everything. Comprehension without the proper cultivation level was just schrly discussion, aplishing nothing of significance. Of course, cultivation withoutprehension was like an army without a general.


    As a simple example, when Tang Jie revived his original body, he relied on the Dao of Life, but rather than use the Dao of Life alone, he activated it through a healing spell art. The Dao of Life simply boosted the power of this spell art, allowing it to do much more than it was originally capable of.


    Without this spell art, with only hisprehension of the Dao, Tang Jie wouldn''t have been able to do anything. And because the healing spell art Tang Jie knew was far too low of a level, he over-relied on the Dao of Life, causing him to pay a huge price for it. But if Tang Jie had learned a more powerful healing spell art, then even if hisprehension of the Dao of Life did not improve, his avatar could still have saved many years of lifespan.


    Daos and arts had alwaysplemented each other. Unless one had an extremely profound level of understanding, one could not escape from spell arts.


    In terms of cultivation, the avatar was only at Spirit Ring while the original body was even worse. While the Diamond Body had the strength of the Heart Demon Tier, that did nothing for the Dao of Formations.


    A spatial formation that could rece the Space Crystal was not something he was capable of at his cultivation level, so he needed He Chong''s help.


    Of course, he secretly had another goal, which was to use the opportunity to gain more of He Chong''s formation knowledge, something that he wouldn''t stop until he had extracted everything he could from the man.


    He Chong considered the offer. Finally, he said, "It''s just to switch out the Space Crystal?"


    "Just switching out the Space Crystal," Tang Jie confirmed.


    He Chong considered this and then asked, "And once it''s done?"


    Tang Jie answered, "I will not kill you, but you know too many of my secrets, so I can''t let you go either. You will be imprisoned here until death. Of course, if you need anything, I will do my best to satisfy you."


    As he spoke, the avatar took out a bronze mirror.


    The bronze mirror had recorded their conversation, and Tang Jie dered, "This mirror will serve as proof."


    "You are serious?" He Chong took the mirror, still giving Tang Jie a disbelieving look.


    If Tang Jie said that he would let He Chong go, He Chong would have never believed him. As Tang Jie had said, he knew too many secrets.


    But imprisonment in the hidden realm wasn''t out of the question. After all, He Chong didn''t have some major grudge with him. It was just a matter of different allegiances, each fighting for their own side.


    He Chong looked at Tang Jie and asked, "How can I trust you?"


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Do I need you to believe me? You either help me, or you die. You only have these two choices. If you don''t believe me, then refuse. I''ll kill you and find someone else. The world is very big, and you''re not unique. You can also choose to believe me and help me with the formation. Whether I kill you or not once the formation is done, at least for now¡­ you can survive."


    He Chong was stunned.


    Yes.


    Tang Jie had no need to deceive. Even if it was only temporary survival, it was enough for He Chong to sell his services.


    Death was a terrifying prospect, and few people could quietly ept it when they were confronted by the prospect. When given the slightest opportunity, they would try to seize it as best they could.


    If Tang Jie had asked He Chong to betray Godhead Pce, He Chong might have chosen death, but if it was just toy down a formation, He Chong had no reason to resist to the end.


    Finally, he sighed, and said, "Fine, I agree. But I hope that you can also spare Duan Fourth and Deng Yuqing."


    Tang Jie replied, "They can be your assistants."


    He Chong sighed in relief after seeing how easily Tang Jie had agreed.


    But privately, He Chong still found it a little strange.


    From what he understood of Tang Jie, this matter couldn''t be that simple.


    Removing the Space Crystal meant that he wanted to use its teleportation ability.


    But using the Space Crystal for teleportation didn''t requirepletely switching it out. So long as one was prepared, like by having a sufficient stockpile of Sterite, there was no problem with temporarily taking out the Space Crystal to use it. Moreover, the Space Crystal needed a long time to recharge before one could teleport with it, so there was no point in having it to hand for such a purpose. Thus, using its spatial powers to expand the formation diagram''s dimension was its best use.


    Tang Jie''s current method was to put minor details over the essentials.


    But if that was what he wanted, He Chong wouldply. He simply said, "So how do you want toy it out?"


    Tang Jie replied, "This formation is difficult toy out. Before we do that, we need to find a suitable location, and then we need to survey thend and understand how to proceed. And then, we have to decide on the right formation. These things can''t be decided without being there, nor is it something that will be done in three or five days. It''s not like I can just take you three around with me, so I''m afraid I will have to trouble you."


    "You mean¡­" He Chong was startled, and then he pointed at the Mountain River Diagram in realization. "You''re not thinking¡­"


    "Correct." Tang Jie firmly nodded. "I''m requesting you to enter the world in the diagram. Only then can you understand the world in the formation, seek out the right location, make all the preparations, and finallyy down the formation. This also allows me to take you around with me."


    "But there''s nothing in there except barren earth and mountains. It''s not suitable for humans to exist!" He Chong and the other two protested.


    The world within the Mountain River State Diagram was ultimately a world that existed to satisfy the conditions forying down a formation, so it was extremely crude. Strictly speaking, it couldn''t even be considered a real world. Surviving in there for a short time was fine, but long-term survival was much more difficult, even for a cultivator.


    "If the environment isn''t good, then modify it. Man will always conquer nature, so you can''t go giving up right from the start. Once inside, there might be many inconveniences at the start, but please just bear with it. If you need anything, you can ask me. So long as conditions permit, I will do my utmost to satisfy your requests," Tang Jie expressionlessly said.


    "Now¡­ please enter the diagram."

 Chapter 562: Vermillion Bird

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    As the trio disappeared into the diagram, Tang Jie exhaled, relieved that one of his most important tasks wasplete.


    Putting away the Mountain River Diagram, Tang Jie was about to do something else when he suddenly sensed something and turned around.


    The firebird with zing wings was floating in the air.


    It was gazing at Tang Jie, the Southern Divine Fire flickering in its eyes.


    The two of them stared at each other.


    After a while, Tang Jie finally shouted, "You seem to have taken a prize that was rightfully mine."


    As he spoke, the firebird unfurled its wings, its entire body roiling with mes.


    The mes lit up the skies, sending waves of heat through the hidden realm, but not a single thing was harmed by them.


    The coiling mes shifted about and gradually condensed into the figure of a woman. The mes also condensed into a gown which floated onto her body, and a young girl with fiery-red hair walked out from the mes.


    She floated in the air, that gown of mes dancing in the wind. The girl of mes looked at herself as if she was seeing something new and interesting, and then a smile of unsurpassed glee appeared on her face, followed by a gigglingugh.


    It was a refreshingugh infused with an indescribable joy. It resounded through thend, filling all of the hidden realm with delight and tion.


    Afterughing for a while, the girl turned her head.


    She looked at him like a fairy descended from the heavens looking down upon a mortal. She covered her red lips with a hand and remarked in an extremely pleasant voice, "So petty! The first thing toe out of your mouth is a demand."


    Tang Jie was rather dumbfounded by this sight.


    After a long daze, he finally said, "You''re the firebird?"


    The girl giggled and waved her hand. "So rude. ''Firebird'' this, ''firebird'' that! It sounds so bad, like you''re calling me a turkey. I have a proper name, you know. You can call me the Vermillion Bird."


    So it really was the Vermillion Bird?


    Tang Jie wasn''t surprised by this answer.


    Ever since he learned about the White Tiger, he had thought more than a few times that the firebird imprisoned in the Martial Lord''s hidden realm might be the legendary Vermillion Bird.


    Now that it was finally confirmed, Tang Jie exhaled and said, "So you could transform and talk."


    The only time Tang Jie hadmunicated with the firebird was when he had asked for instruction on the Dao of Yin Yang from the firebird in his battle with Feng Buzhi. It hadmunicated mentally at the time, so Tang Jie had believed this entire time that while the firebird was a great fiend, it could not speak or change form.


    So the events of today were surprising.


    The Vermillion Bird chuckled. "My form was sealed, so I originally couldn''t speak or transform. Mentallymunicating with you was my upper limit. If I hadn''t obtained that Godhead Will, it would have been impossible for me to transform, and even more difficult to speak."


    She looked down and admired her body, a satisfied look on her face. She was clearly extremely happy to be free of the seal. She had been a powerful great fiend, but for some reason, she could only manifest in her original form, and even her mind had been dulled. Now that she had her mind back, how could she not be happy?


    "I see. So you were able to take human form because of the Godhead Will."


    "Yes." The Vermillion Bird pursed her lips. "If not for that will, I would still be sealed. But there was still too little of this Divine Will, so I can only maintain this form for a little while. Hah, if only there were a little more, maybe four or five more portions."


    Tang Jie''s eyes brightened. "This is simple. There is more of the Divine Will on the golden statue in Godhead Pce. You just have to absorb the golden statue''s Divine Will."


    Tang Jie was always happy to make more trouble for Godhead Pce.


    The Vermillion Bird rolled her eyes. "Are you trying to get me killed? Godhead Pce is a gathering ce of many powerful experts. If I were to go over, I would be butchered up and roasted on a spit."


    She was the mighty Sacred Beast of mes, yet she was talking about how humans would roast her on a spit. It was quite amusing.


    Tang Jie smiled. "The Vermillion Bird is a Sacred Beast, an existence above Immortal tform, yet you fear the puny Godhead Pce?"


    The Vermillion Bird covered her mouth andughed. "Has your desire to destroy Godhead Pce driven you mad? If I were above Immortal tform, would I still be imprisoned in this little world, with my mind and abilities sealed? And even if I did have that much ability, I still wouldn''t be able to go to that Godhead Pce. This Godhead Will has only allowed me to speak and transform, but it''s far from enough to let me break free of this prison."


    It turned out that she really was imprisoned here.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but ask, "Why are you imprisoned here?"


    The Vermillion Bird''s face darkened. She turned to that volcano and theke ofva as she began to recall her past. "I don''t know, either¡­ From the day I gained consciousness, I was here. I vaguely recall that I was initially just an egg, lying in the magma, absorbing its heat. After numerous years, I woke up and broke out of the shell.


    "Having just been born, I was muddle-headed and ignorant, believing this world to be everything. But at that time, I already had the thought of protecting thisnd, preventing outsiders from damaging it, only allowing those who passed the test to enter¡­ It''s very strange. I''d never met anyone, yet I still understood this. But for so many years, I never saw anyonee inside. I had nothing to do except sleep and grow in the magma. Until finally¡­ you came!"


    The Vermillion Bird''s eyes grew more and more confused.


    "So you''re like Bao''er, the descendant of a Sacred Beast," Tang Jie muttered.


    Unlike the White Tiger n, the Vermillion Bird''s descendant had been sealed in the hidden realm by the Martial Lord from the very start, and a seal had been imnted within it that turned it into the protector of this ce.


    Now that he thought about it, she was even more pitiful than the White Tigers. While the White Tigers had been imprisoned for generations, at least they had their own consciousness and could interact with the outside world. Meanwhile, the Vermillion Bird had been imprisoned here for more than ten thousand years, seeing almost no one else from the moment of her birth.


    She could still act like a normal person entirely because, just like the White Tigers, when her bloodline awakened, the memories branded into her blood had been awakened.


    But this was exactly why she knew that there was an even bigger world outside, which made her feel all the more lonely.


    But the power of the seal shackled her and prevented her from leaving.


    In this primitive environment devoid of anyone tomunicate with and the seal affecting her mind, the Vermillion Bird became like most sprites, her mind growing unclear and dull.


    Tang Jie''s arrival had given the Vermillion Bird her first opportunity to interact with humans.


    Still affected by the seal, the Vermillion Bird had instinctively and mechanically executed her mission.


    Even so, interacting with Tang Jie again and again caused her hazy mind to clear up a little. Her hope for freedom and desire for interaction also began to reawaken.


    The Vermillion Bird''s mind cleared up more with each passing day. Even though she was still savage and dumb most of the time, at least she could distinguish between Tang Jie and He Chong, possessing a basic level of understanding and intelligence.


    Twelve years ago, Tang Jie had attempted to speak with the Vermillion Bird, seeking guidance on the Dao of Yin Yang.


    The seal had never forbidden this. The mission the seal gave her was to test, not to limit his growth.


    The instinct tomunicate caused the Vermillion Bird to decide to help Tang Jie.


    She had been lucky. The Vermillion Bird, while still in a half-confused state, was like an amnesiac who had not forgotten how to eat. Even in her ignorant state, her understanding of the Great Dao was unaffected.


    If Tang Jie had asked to chat with the Vermillion Bird, on the other hand, this would have been a difficult task. Her mind was in a confused state, and the seal did not permit her to engage in pointless conversation. But since he was asking about the Great Dao of Yin Yang, one of the principles of the world, her mind was clear, unrestrained by the seal for the first time.


    What Tang Jie didn''t know was that while he had richly benefited from that conversation, the conversation had also allowed the Vermillion Bird topletely open the long-shut door to her intelligence. Memories came rushing back in, and she was once more enlightened.


    She began to observe, study, and ponder.


    s, the world of the hidden realm remained monotonous.


    Even with Tang Jie and He Chong around, the Vermillion Bird found herself sorelycking for interaction. Moreover, the two were at loggerheads and had no reason to seek her out for conversation in their free time. Thus, even with humans around, the hidden realm still had a deathly stillness to it.


    This meant that the Vermillion Bird was rather slow in recovering her intelligence. If this rate had kept up, she might have needed a hundred years to truly recover, and in the worst case, she might have fallen back into the darkness of ignorance.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie finally stopped sitting around.


    He took action.


    Together with his avatar, he battled it out with He Chong.


    As they sent shockwaves through the hidden realm, they also jolted the Vermillion Bird''s mind, scattering the clouds of ignorance and making her mind clearer and clearer. And the Godhead Will had been the final strike against those walls of confusion, and the most powerful one.


    In the short time after the Vermillion Bird swallowed the Godhead Will, her mind went through momentous transformations. Her rationality waspletely restored, and she even grew a little, able to escape part of the seal to take on human form and speak. It was no wonder she was so happy.


    "¡­Then, in other words, you will not and cannot give me back the Godhead Will?" Tang Jie finally said.


    "If it weren''t for me, that Godhead Will would have long ago scattered. In other words, at least half of it is mine."


    "So you''re saying I also deserve half?"


    Having this opening in her words seized like this made her blush in shame and anger. Finally, she said, "Hey, can you not be so mean? I''m still the girl who helped youprehend the Great Dao of Yin Yang."


    "You also burned me to charcoal with your mes," Tang Jie shot back.


    The Vermillion Bird frantically said, "That was the order from the seal. I had to obey!"


    "In other words, even now, if I entered the valley to pick herbs, you would still burn me?" Tang Jie once more seized on the key point.


    The Vermillion Bird turned red in the face as she lowered her head and replied, "Yes. This is the seal nted in my blood, and I must obey. Unless¡­"


    "''Unless'' what?"


    "Unless I had a few more pieces of Godhead Will like that. I might be able to borrow their power to break the seal."


    "That''s impossible. Is there any other way?"


    "If you pass the nine trials, I willplete my mission, and the seal wille undone on its own."


    Tang Jie mentally sighed. "You might as well have not said anything. To put it simply, although you can take on human form and can speak, you don''t have any other value except as a conversation partner. Moreover, if I wanted to enter the valley to pick Immortal herbs, you would attack me with no mercy, right?"


    The Vermillion Bird was furious. "What do you mean, ''I don''t have any other value except as a conversation partner''?"


    Tang Jie shrugged. "Then tell me what you can do to make up for my lost half of the Godhead Will."


    The Vermillion Bird fell silent.


    She racked her mind, but she really couldn''t think of any way she could help.


    The seal prevented her from picking the Immortal herbs in the valley, and the seal also made her hold nothing back against Tang Jie in order to test him. Now that she thought about it, she really had no value for Tang Jie.


    The Vermillion Bird grew angry at this thought. "Why should I give you half of that Divine Will? What does it matter if you deserved half? I''ve eaten it, and I''m not giving you anything for it! What are you going to do about it?"


    She ced her hands on her hips and put on an unreasonable attitude. It''s not like you can beat me, so what am I afraid of?


    Tang Jie was momentarily rendered speechless from shock. After a while, he finally smiled and said, "It seems like you''re quite the unreasonable little girl."


    The Vermillion Bird felt embarrassed. "Who''s a little girl? I''ve lived for eight thousand years. In terms of age, I could be your great, great ancestor."


    "If that''s the case, then, oh great ancestor, you can just stay there. I''ll be going now, so forgive this lowly one for not keeping youpany," Tang Jie retorted.


    "What? Where are you going?" The Vermillion Bird was startled. She had just regained rationality and was still enjoying the idea of conversation. She was very reluctant to see Tang Jie go.


    Tang Jie grunted, "You''re too unreasonable, taking someone else''s things and not giving anything in return, so I naturally have to keep my distance from a person like you. Venerable Ancestor, please stay here and amuse yourself in your own time."


    He acted like he was going to leave.


    The Vermillion Bird frantically said, "Hey, hey, let''s not."


    Tang Jie had struck right at her weak point. Putting aside the fact that she had just regained her intelligence and needed a partner to while away the boredom with, she needed Tang Jie to pass the trials in order for the seal to be undone. If Tang Jie became angry enough that he stoppeding, she would have no hope of gaining freedom.


    Now that she had regained her intelligence, nothing was more important for the Vermillion Bird than her freedom.


    As Tang Jie was about to leave, she could only mutter, "Alright, alright, I was just joking. It''s just that I don''t have anything I can give you."


    Tang Jie stopped, looked back at the Vermillion Bird, and smiled. "There we go! It''s fine if you don''t have anything, because we can negotiate that. What matters here is attitude. Only when you have the right attitude can we talk. Alright,e over so we can have a proper discussion."


    The Vermillion Bird shook her head. "Though you are only a little way away, I cannot step out of the valley."


    As expected.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but sigh for the Vermillion Bird.


    The hidden realm was actually ratherrge, but this pitiful girl could only look at it. Unable to leave, she could only roam about between thevake and the valley edge, slumbering the days away. It was no wonder her mind started to descend back into ignorance after regaining its intelligence¡­ it was a life that could truly suffocate you to death.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Then I''lle over."


    He walked toward the valley.


    So long as he didn''t try to pick the Immortal herbs in the valley, the Vermillion Bird did not need to attack him.


    As he entered the valley, the Vermillion Birdnded.


    Tang Jie went up to the Vermillion Bird and smiled. "Actually, you don''t have nothing. You have to realize that your body is your greatest source of wealth."


    The Vermillion Bird turned nervous. "What are you thinking? I''m telling you right now: there''s no chance of me bing your servant."


    Although she wasn''t too familiar with rtionships, her rationality having only been recently restored, the bloodline memories contained experience left by her ancestors, and one of those lessons was "don''t sell your body so easily". This lesson existed so that their juniors would not ignorantly sign a contract with a human and sell themselves off for a cheap price.


    Selling was notpletely out of the question. While the Four Sacred Beasts of High Antiquity were powerful, they weren''t at the very highest levels of power. If they ran into some supreme Titan, they could consider selling themselves off. But never for a cheap price.


    Tang Jie hadn''t expected the Vermillion Bird''s bloodline to contain such a valuable piece of experience, and he was momentarily taken aback at having his scheme exposed before he could even voice it. He could only throw his head back andugh to cover up his awkwardness. His mind worked quickly, and he changed up his tone by saying, "You''ve misunderstood me. How could I ask for the servitude of a Sacred Beast? If I wanted that, I would need several more portions of Godhead Will at the minimum."


    The Vermillion Bird nodded repeatedly, unaware that she had unwittingly given herself the price of several more portions of Godhead Will. Although this wasn''t a cheap price, it was still a littleckingpared to a Vermillion Bird. Most importantly, it was not some distant goal.


    Tang Jie saw that she had taken the bait and smiled. "But while all of you is no good, a part of you is not out of the question."


    "What? You want to chop me up and sell off the pieces?" the Vermillion Bird angrily said.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Got you nervous, right? You misunderstand again. What I mean is that every part of a Sacred Beast''s body is a treasure. If you are willing, you could give me some essence blood. That should be fine, right?"


    The Vermillion Bird finally understood that this guy wanted her essence blood.


    Now that she thought about it, this was actually workable.


    She turned to Tang Jie and said, "That''s not out of the question, but essence blood is different from ordinary blood. As the quintessence of a Sacred Beast''s blood energy, even we don''t have much of it."


    "I won''t ask for much."


    "How much do you want?" The Vermillion Bird didn''t know that Tang Jie was leading her by the nose.


    Tang Jie smiled. "One tenth should be enough."


    "What?" The Vermillion Bird''s body erupted with mes, her eyebrows rising as her eyes grew thick with killing intent.


    A tenth of her essence blood?


    This greedy bastard! Did he understand what one tenth of her essence blood signified?


    Over ten thousand years, even though the Vermillion Bird had done nothing at all, simply through her own bloodline power and the energy of theva pool, she was able to reach the peak of Divine Division, only a step away from Void Returning. And the main reason she couldn''t break through was that the Martial Lord had sealed this off, for Void Returning was equivalent to Immortal tform, and even the Martial Lord''s seal wouldn''tst for long at that point.


    But if she lost a tenth of her essence blood, her strength would immediately fall by a tier, which would have a huge effect on her.


    Tang Jie remainedposed. "Miss, don''t go rushing to conclusions. Hear me out first."


    "No matter what you say, it''s impossible!" the Vermillion Bird angrily said. "Your demand is too unreasonable. It will take centuries for me to recover one tenth of my essence blood."


    "I don''t think so." Tang Jie smiled. "Think about this, Miss Vermillion Bird. If I exchanged five portions of Godhead Will to have you serve me for one hundred years, it shouldn''t be a problem, right?"


    "''Five portions of Godhead Will''?" The Vermillion Bird considered this.


    Five portions of Godhead Will was just enough to help her break free, and if this was possible, it would be worth serving Tang Jie for one hundred years. At least it was better than being imprisoned here.


    She nodded and said, "Five portions would be suitable."


    Tang Jie went on, "Then since five portions of Godhead Will can buy your services, then isn''t half of a portion equivalent to one tenth of your value? So I''m not just randomly asking for one tenth of your essence blood. I have solid reasoning for it."


    Eh? How exactly was that calcted?


    The Vermillion Bird was gobsmacked.


    She cocked her head and began to think. She felt like something was wrong, but she couldn''t say what.


    After a while, she shouted, "I know! Haha, this doesn''t add up!"


    Tang Jie''s heart leapt as he thought to himself, She got it rather fast. Didn''t she only just regain her intelligence? Even if she has the experience from her bloodline, that can''t be a recement for her own intelligence. How did she manage to work through it so quickly?


    The Vermillion Bird dered, "I already took one portion of Divine Will, and another five is six portions. Half a Divine Will should be one twelfth, not one tenth!"


    "¡­" Tang Jie didn''t know what to say.


    Seeing how excited the Vermillion Bird was, he could only give a thumbs-up and say in admiration, "You''re a sharp one. I just knew that I wouldn''t be able to fool you. Since that''s the case, give me one twelfth of your essence blood."


    "¡­¡­"


    Trantor Notes


    Heartless Tang Jie, taking advantage of a young bird who barely has any experience in the ways of the world!

 Chapter 563: Spirit Lake

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Vermillion Bird was dumbstruck at the prospect of handing over a twelfth of her essence blood.


    Biologically speaking, the Vermillion Bird was more than ten thousand years old, but her mind had only been reborn today, so she was psychologically an infant. While her ancient bloodline had brought this to the level of a young girl, she was still no match for Tang Jie in a battle of wits.


    In this exchange of words, she had been utterly routed.


    Even though she had lost, she still didn''t give in. Stomping her feet, she shouted, "No, no, absolutely not!"


    Deep down, the Vermillion Bird knew that this was too important a decision to make lightly.


    Tang Jie was in no rush. He sweetly smiled and said, "I know that taking a twelfth of your essence blood all at once will have too much of an effect on you."


    "So long as you realize that." The Vermillion Bird was on the verge of tears.


    "Since that''s the case, we can change the method. What do you think about installment payments?"


    "''Installment payments''?" She had never heard this term before.


    Tang Jie gave her a general exnation of installment payments and then said, "Look¡ªyou can pay out that twelfth of essence blood over five hundred years. In this way, you only have to give an extremely small amount of essence blood every year¡­ about¡­ Yes, Sacred Beasts normally have around ten thousand drops of essence blood, right?"


    "That''s way too much. Even a Sacred Beast at its prime has only around three thousand. As for me, since I''m restricted from entering Void Returning, I have only 999 drops of essence blood, and not a single drop more," the Vermillion Bird responded, innocently revealing her bottom line.


    Tang Jie did some calctions. "Then let''s just use one thousand drops. One twelfth is 83.3, and if it''s returned over five hundred years, it would be about one drop of essence blood every six years. In this way, you won''t have to worry about your cultivation level falling."


    "Yeah, we can do that!" The Vermillion Bird happily nodded her head.


    One drop of essence blood every six years was nothing at all. Putting aside theck of cultivation decrease, it was also easy to recover from.


    The more essence blood one lost, the slower it recovered. Losing more than a hundred drops at once would mean that it would take several hundred years to recover them, but losing one drop would only take a little more than a month¡ªmany times faster.


    This was like how donating blood every month would have little effect, whereas suffering from traumatic blood loss would have huge ramifications.


    Thus, the Vermillion Bird was very happy with the n, not even realizing that she had essentially epted Tang Jie''s valuation.


    Looking at the Vermillion Bird, Tang Jie continued, "If that''s the case, then we also need to calcte the interest."


    "''The interest''?" The Vermillion Bird''s eyes bulged.


    "Yes, if you pay a loan by installments, you have to pay interest. You don''t know?" Tang Jie then exined the concept of interest to the Vermillion Bird.


    The Vermillion Bird was dumbfounded. "How much is the interest?"


    Tang Jie patted her on her shoulder. "Let me calcte it for you. Don''t worry; since we''re old friends, I''ll give you an extremely low rate. If we use an annual rate of 1%, with the principal being 83.3 drops of essence blood, a payment period of 500 years, using the equal principal payment method, paying once a year¡­"


    Tang Jie talked as he calcted, and with the Dao of Wisdom, he was able to swiftly reach a result. "0.83 drops a year, so let''s just make it one drop a year."


    "What? ''One drop a year''?" the Vermillion Bird cried out. "Doesn''t that mean I have to give you 500 drops!? That''s half of my essence blood! The interest is that scary? You must be trying to trick me!"


    Tang Jie looked at her with disdain. "I''m giving you the lowest interest rate."


    "That''s impossible!" the Vermillion Bird shouted.


    "You can ask anyone, but you won''t find a lower price."


    There were also money lenders in this era, and charging interest wasn''t anything strange.


    An annual interest rate of 1% was unprecedentedly low, almost charity. And this was mostly because Tang Jie had yielded a lot for fear that he would infuriate the Vermillion Bird.


    But the Vermillion Bird didn''t believe this for a second.


    Her ancestor existed in the era of High Antiquity, where civilization hadn''t been that developed. Thend was wild and untamed, andmerce was undeveloped. Money lenders were unheard of, and there was no concept of interest.


    And for the Vermillion Bird, five hundred years was just a night''s sleep.


    This was why she could never imagine how a simple night''s sleep could cause 83 drops of essence blood to rise to 500.


    For this reason, the Vermillion Bird shouted, "You''re deceiving me¡­"


    "If I''m deceiving you, you can take my life. If I''m not deceiving you, then you have to pay out the essence blood ording to the agreement."


    The Vermillion Bird shivered.


    Hearing this, the Vermillion Bird finally realized that she might have been mistaken.


    Although one drop of blood per year wasn''t impossible for her to pay, having someone extract her blood for five hundred years in a row wasn''t something she could easily ept.


    She timidly said, "It''s not like I can leave right now¡­"


    "While you can''t leave, you can attach a sliver of your Divine Will to me, right? And if that won''t do, I will do my best to pass the trials and let you free, but until you pay off your debt, you will have to follow me."


    Attach a sliver of her Divine Will to Tang Jie to see the outside world?


    The Vermillion Bird''s eyes lit up.


    Although she couldn''t leave this ce and enter the world, even just being able to see the world would be wonderful.


    Moreover, with that sliver of Divine Will attached to Tang Jie, the Vermillion Bird wouldn''t feel so lonely.


    She was no longer the same as before. With her mind opened, she was anxious tomunicate. Even if all she could do was talk, it was still worth it to attach her Divine Will to Tang Jie.


    "Is it really okay?" she asked.


    "Of course; why wouldn''t it be?" Tang Jie grinned.


    While he had lost the Godhead Will, the Vermillion Bird''s Will was also nice.


    Of course, he couldn''t consume it and make it his own.


    "Fine." The Vermillion Bird nodded. "If everything is as you say, then I agree."


    "How can I be sure that you won''t go back on your word?" Tang Jie asked, a sharp gleam in his eyes.


    The Vermillion Bird replied, "I pledge an oath on the Heavenly Dao. If I break this pledge, may the Heavenly Tribtion punish me!"


    A Heavenly Dao oath!


    Only an existence like the Vermillion Bird could pledge an oath on the Heavenly Dao, which could be considered the most reliable of oaths.


    Tang Jie was delighted. "Good; that''s what we''ll do."


    With this Heavenly Dao oath, Tang Jie no longer had to be afraid of the Vermillion Bird escaping his palm.


    The 500 drops of essence blood was only a part of what he sought. More important was that the Vermillion Bird couldn''t leave him until it had paid off all the essence blood.


    While she hadn''t signed a contract to sell herself as a servant, if she was at his side, would she not be serving him? Even if she nominally wasn''t a servant, Tang Jie had many ways of manipting her.


    Of course, the Vermillion Bird hadn''t regained her freedom, so he couldn''t make much use of this powerful ally for now.


    But Tang Jie was sure that he would get through the nine trials of this hidden realm eventually.


    As for the question of time, Tang Jie wasn''t worried. If he couldn''t pass the trial in 500 years, couldn''t he just slow down the repayments? The Vermillion Bird wouldn''t be such a fool that she would be rushing to repay him, right?


    So long as the debt existed, the Vermillion Bird wouldn''t be able to escape. It would probably be a very long time until she understood this.


    After settling the Heavenly Dao oath, Tang Jie stood up and said, "Alright; with this matter settled, let''s move on to the next one."


    "What is it?" The Vermillion Bird was confused.


    "The next fight, of course," Tang Jie said, cracking his knuckles.


    "ording to the agreement, I need to endure three of your attacks in order to take the Immortal herbs, right? In addition¡­ it''s about time I moved on to the next trial."


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    In the center of the valley was a tform made of white jade.


    There were no spirit herbs or Immortal nts on the tform, only a giant metal ring.


    This was the entrance to the next trial.


    A long time ago, Tang Jie had believed that the fifth and sixth formations of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation could be passed by someone at Mortal Shedding, but when he arrived, he realized that he was wrong.


    Starting from the fifth formation, which was when one was brought into this hidden realm, the difficulty of the trials began to soar.


    The white jade tform was in the valley, which was being watched by the Vermillion Bird, so getting to the white jade tform and the next trial meant enduring three of her me attacks.


    Three attacks was the standard for picking herbs, and it was also the standard for passing the trial. It was just that Tang Jie hadn''t realized this at first and had chosen to pick herbs.


    Such a high standard naturally couldn''t be reached at Mortal Shedding. Only someone with a Diamond Body had any hope.


    Perhaps this was why the hidden realm had these imposing mountains and a thick concentration of spiritual energy. The Martial Lord had arranged it so that the fifth formation was when one truly entered the formation, and only by cultivating in thisyer did one have the right to enter the next trial.


    As for the Duplication spell, that was for stealing nts from the valley. Cultivation with the Parting ssic was too slow if one relied only on the surrounding spiritual energy. Using the duplicates to steal nts, using the stolen nts to strengthen oneself, and then finally resisting three attacks from the Vermillion Bird, allowing one to enter the valley and ess the entrance to the next trial¡ªthis was probably how the Martial Lord had arranged things.


    But even the best ns couldn''t be followed perfectly by those who followed.


    The Martial Lord hadn''t imagined that Tang Jie would bring in He Chong''s group with him.


    It was precisely because He Chong was around that even after Tang Jie had realized what was going on, he still didn''t unlock the entrance. After all, He Chong had been more powerful than him at the time, so if the restriction on the valley were undone, He Chong could have used his strength to take it over, at which point Tang Jie would be in tears.


    Thus, Tang Jie had held back, always choosing to pick herbs as he passed the trial of the firebird again and again.


    Until today!


    Boom!


    mes lit up the valley, and as Tang Jie strode out of the fire, his carbonized skin began to recover. After ten steps, he hadpletely recovered, that cloak of blood draping his body once more.


    Three attacks had passed, and Tang Jie stood before the white jade tform.


    He walked up and grabbed the metal ring, and what greeted him was a familiar sensation¡ªthe metal ring was made of Mother Cloud Essence Metal.


    Tang Jie pulled the metal ring upward, but he couldn''t shift it.


    He chuckled. "So it really is a test of strength?"


    A momentter, his body grewrger, power surging out from it, an invisible tornado wrapping around him and throwing the clouds into turmoil. Tang Jie grabbed the ring and pulled upward.


    This time, the ring finally moved.


    As a metal chain was pulled out from the tform, a rumbling came from within.


    Four bronze pirs began to rise up around the tform.


    These pirs had strange carvings on them, and as Tang Jie nced at them, he instantly heard a great din at his ears, as if he was in the middle of a battlefield. The shing of weapons rang out in his ears and a crimson killing intent rocketed into the sky. He blurted out in shock, "Dao Runes!"


    It was clearly Dao Runes carved into the four pirs, the Runes of the Illusion Dao.


    Tang Jie had long ago realized that the Martial Lord was an expert in illusion spells.


    The Duplication spell was a sign of illusion mastery, imbued with the Illusion Dao. If he was right, it was probably like the Weapon Mantra, called a spell art but actually the transmission of a Dao through a spell art, which was one of the most incredible things about the Martial Lord.


    Illusion Dao Runes had clearly been carved into the four pirs.


    Was this the reward for passing the fifth trial?


    But he knew that this was wrong right after thinking it.


    A momentter, the four pirs started to glow, and Tang Jie found his surroundings changing.


    He appeared to be in the infinite void, surrounded by countless stars.


    He saw a giant standing in the sea of stars.


    It was the Martial Lord!


    He was majestic and imposing, appearing even greater than Godhead Guangfa.


    Standing in the void, the Martial Lord began to slowly move.


    Upon closer inspection, it was clear that he was making a punch.


    Even though it seemed simple, Tang Jie could sense that every movement was infused with universal principles.


    When he focused on the Martial Lord''s movements, he could even sense how power shifted around his body.


    He watched and followed the Martial Lord''s movements. Initially, he had only the form and not the meaning, but as he repeated those movements again and again, the energy began to rush through his body, and he gradually began to catch up with the Martial Lord''s tempo. Tang Jie felt more and more excited, and the more he repeated the movements, the more exuberant the energy within his body became, filling him with power.


    It was a power that came from the depths of his body, vast and majestic, as if his body was its own world. His blood was like a river, ceaselessly flowing as it delivered oceans of energy to every part of his body.


    Whoosh!


    Whoosh!


    Whoosh!


    On the jade tform, Tang Jie''s fists and feet were swinging around with great force. He wasn''t striking quickly, only making each move slowly like he was performing Tai chi, but the energy circling around his body grew more and more intense. By the end, as his movements became slower and slower, those energy currents gradually turned into a fierce vortex, drawing all the air toward him and forming a tornado.


    The tornado howled on the tform.


    The entire tform was engulfed, and all one could see was an enormous figure punching and kicking, that posture and demeanor a little like the majesty of the giant in the sea of stars.


    Finally, after Tang Jie finished his twelfth cycle of the star giant''s fist art, his right fist suddenly stopped in the air.


    An enormous fist of energy appeared in the sky, striking at the air, tearing through the clouds and colliding against the energy barrier.


    Boom!


    The sky exploded with a rainbow of colors.


    The power of this attack had been absurd.


    On the tform, Tang Jieughed. "The Devil Crushing Fist! It''s the Devil Crushing Fist!"


    The punch he had used just now was the Devil Crushing Fist, yet it was no longer an explosive attack that drained his power, but a properbat technique made specifically for body cultivators. And Tang Jie''s punch just now had been rather simr to the one made by the Gigantes King.


    This was the real technique of the Martial Lord, the kind of battle technique a body cultivator deserved.


    Only today did Tang Jie finally be aplete body cultivator.


    Before now, the spell arts he had learned were all forw cultivators, and while he was at the cultivation level where he could still use spell arts like the Chaoswind Step, his ability to use them was far inferior to that of the avatar.


    Only the Devil Crushing Fist was a real body cultivator skill.


    He hadn''t expected it to only appear after he finished the fifth trial.


    But after realizing that this punch had almost emptied him of strength, Tang Jie realized why this was the case. The Devil Crushing Fist was far more powerful than he had imagined, even surpassing average Divine Connections, so if onecked the cultivation and tried to forcibly use it, one could even exhaust themselves to death.


    The Devil Crushing Fist that Tang Jie had developed before would permanently lower his strength as the price for doing it. In this aspect, he hadn''t done anything wrong, for even the Martial Lord wasn''t able to use the Devil Crushing Fist at a low cultivation level. Tang Jie had managed to resolve this problem in his own way, though the price had been rather heavy.


    As Tang Jieprehended the Devil Crushing Fist, the illusions created by the four pirs disappeared, leaving him on the tform. Meanwhile, a ck hole had appeared in the center of the tform.


    Tang Jie went up to the hole and looked down, but he couldn''t make out anything in the inky darkness.


    Was this the sixth formation?


    As the hidden realm was outside the domain, Tang Jie thought that the next trial would be the unlocking of a seal like with the third and fourth formations rather than a change of scenery. So he was surprised to see this underground world opening up before him.


    This hidden realm was much bigger than he had expected.


    There was a stone staircase that led downward, and after traveling around one hundred meters down the stairs, Tang Jie finally reached the bottom.


    He extended a hand, and a fire appeared in it, lighting up his surroundings. Tang Jie saw that he was in arge cavern.


    Stctites extended from the ceiling, some of them shining with a crystalline luster. Tang Jie closely inspected them and found that these were Jadespring Bamboo.


    Jadespring Bamboo was an extremely rare spiritual resource.


    There was little value in the bamboo itself, but when they grew to a certain length, they would gain the special ability to condense energy into liquid.


    In other words, they condensed spiritual energy into spiritual liquid to produce Spirit Springs like the one in the Water Moon Paradise.


    This was where the name of Jadespring Bamboo came from.


    There were natural Spirit Springs and artificial ones, and Jadespring Bamboo was the best tool for making Spirit Springs.


    The distribution of the Jadespring Bamboo seemed chaotic, but there was actually a certain special order to them that exposed this arrangement as being nned. Spiritual liquid dripped down from the tips of the bamboo, which was why they had that crystalline shine.


    He had no idea how long it would take for a single stalk of bamboo to condense a drop of spiritual liquid.


    There were numerous grooves carved into the stone beneath the bamboo, and the spiritual liquid would drop into the grooves and slowly merge together into a little stream.


    Tang Jie followed the stream out of the cave, and ake appeared before him.


    It was ake made from spiritual liquid, one of even greater purity and size than the one in the Water Moon Paradise!


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but shiver.


    He had never imagined that there would be a Spirit Lake under the hidden realm.


    There was even a small ind in the center of theke, and he could vaguely make out a hut on top of it.


    Tang Jie instantly shot over to the ind. He found that various nts had been nted on the ind, but all of them were surprisingly ordinary nts, not spiritual herbs. He followed the little path in the garden and found that in its depths really was a thatched hut.


    He went over and found that the hut was empty. Besides some kitchen utensils and a bed, there was nothing else. There was also a Timedust Pearl on the roof, and the light shining from it kept the hut clean and even thwarted the decay of time.


    In terms of treasure, this Timedust Pearl was probably the only treasure on the ind.


    Behind the hut was another garden, which had spirit grains nted in it. They had stopped growing long ago, but they also had not rotted away.


    The Timedust Pearl''s influence meant that nothing on the ind grew or rotted, as if it had been fixed in time.


    Tang Jie made a circuit of the ind. Finding nothing, he turned and left.


    Just as he was about to leave, he spotted something out of the corner of his eye, and his mind trembled in shock.


    It was an ordinary-looking little ck cauldron made of wood.


    Trantor Notes


    Is this a little retirement home the Martial Lord made for himself? Or something else?

 Chapter 564: Merging with the Dao

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie had seen the ck cauldron before.


    In the Spirit Mountains, in the garden of that underground pce, he had seen a woman picking herbs.


    At the time, she had been picking a stalk of Nine Heavens Luan Grass, and she had nted that Nine Heavens Luan Grass in this little ck cauldron.


    The Nine Heavens Luan Grass was a divine herb, a mystical nt even in the era of the Court of Myriad Domains. s, in the dismantling process, Tang Jie had not seen this divine nt, and he had no idea if it had been used up or something else. But Tang Jie knew that there was also a Nine Heavens Luan Grass in the hidden realm''s valley.


    It stood in the very center of the valley, like a king of flowers, venerated by all the other Immortal nts of the valley.


    When he first saw that Nine Heavens Luan Grass, Tang Jie expressed his admiration for the Martial Lord''s power, that he was even able to get his hands on such a rare Immortal grass. It had to be understood that an existence like this grass was a concentration of the universe''s essence, a miracle of nature. There were few in the world, and to get one was more difficult than fishing out a natural Dao armament from the Lustrous Treasure River.


    But the moment he saw the ck cauldron, Tang Jie recalled the scene of that woman picking the grass.


    Could it be that the Nine Heavens Luan Grass in the valley was the same one the woman had dug out of the earth that day?


    Tang Jie was dumbfounded by the thought.


    If that was the case, what was the rtionship between that woman and the Martial Lord?


    He certainly hadn''t forgotten that vision he had seen in the Martial Mirror: the Martial Lord shattering the Court of Myriad Domains with his axe.


    At that moment, countless thoughts ran through his mind, his rich imagination producing countless versions of the story between the Martial Lord, the fairy and the Myriad Court, some of them romantic and some of them more conspiratorial.


    Tang Jie''s favorite was that of the fairy and the Martial Lord being lovers, and when the Myriad Court tried to break them, the Martial Lord reacted with violence. But there were two questions this story failed to resolve. The first was that the fairy''s location was unknown, and the second was that it failed to exin why the Martial Lord had challenged the Heavenly Dao.


    Unable to find the answer, Tang Jie gave up on his wild fantasies and picked the cauldron up.


    This cauldron had been used to hold the Nine Heavens Luan Grass, so it was naturally a treasure on its own. Its greatest function was to preserve the spirituality of the nt while safely transnting it.


    After taking the little cauldron, Tang Jie left the ind and went around the area. He found that there was nothing here except the Spirit Lake, no danger to speak of. It seemed like the danger levels were low around here.


    But how to get to the next trial and get the reward for it remained a problem.


    Tang Jie looked around and found no answers, so he decided to go back to the surface.


    Upon returning to the surface, he found the Vermillion Bird boredly waiting for him. Upon seeing him, she asked, "Are you going back now?"


    Tang Jie saw that the four pirs were still present, so after some thought, he said, "If you allow it, I would like to stay here andprehend the four pirs."


    The Martial Lord had carved Illusion Dao Runes into the pir, and though they were used to transmit the Devil Crushing Fist, that didn''t mean that they couldn''t assist him withprehending the Dao, or else there would have been no need to go through all the trouble, as a simple book would have done the job. Tang Jie naturally couldn''t miss out on such an opportunity.


    The Vermillion Bird was ecstatic.


    She was no longer in that confused state, and now her intelligence had been restored, her greatest fear was being lonely.


    If Tang Jie was willing to apany her, that would be wonderful, and she nodded her head repeatedly. "It''s fine, fine! So long as you don''t touch the nts, you can stay here as long as you want."


    This being the case, Tang Jie decided to follow his past strategy, the avatar leaving for the Celestial me Pagoda while the original body stayed to cultivate. But unlike before, if Xu Miaoran wanted to see him, she coulde over through the teleportation formation.


    The original body began to spend time cultivating in the Spirit Lake beneath the valley.


    The cultivation of the Parting ssic required absorbing the power of the natural treasures of the world, but it didn''t have to cultivate using only treasures. Actually, it was essentially like all other mantras, seizing the power of the world. It was just that the Parting ssic was simpler and more tyrannical, so tyrannical that the spiritual energy of the world was far from enough to satisfy its greedy appetite. Thus, natural treasures and various spiritual herbs needed to make up for it.


    The thick spiritual energy of the hidden realm and the Spirit Lake underneath the valley were suitable for cultivating the Parting ssic. Although they didn''t provide the rapid progress of the medicines, they could be used over the long term. And best of all was that Tang Jie no longer needed to find a bigger bath tub¡ªthe Spirit Lake was sorge that it would be enough for Tang Jie to cultivate in until he was a 100-meter-tall giant.


    Other than refining his body in the Spirit Lake, Tang Jie spent the rest of his timeprehending the four bronze pirs.


    Illusion Dao Runes had been carved onto the pirs.


    In terms of the Great Daos, the Illusion Dao belonged to Yin Yang, categorized under Reality and Illusion. But as the Illusion Dao could manifest all things, at greater attainment, it would also involve the other Great Daos, but it would have a different meaning depending on the Great Dao.


    Yin Yang emphasized transformation, dazzling facades that mixed truth and fiction. Wisdom focused onyers of confusing plots, a thick fog where one found it hard to identify the truth. Truth turned and of illusion into a country that seemed to have existed since time immemorial, and one would bepletely lost in this world, forgetting about high and low, night and day. And Time could make a thousand years simply fly by¡­


    For this reason, though the Illusion Dao was not one of the Twelve Great Daos, it had its own grandeur.


    Tang Jie''s Duplication spell was based on the Dao of Wisdom.


    Tang Jie had only understood this afterprehending the Illusion Dao.


    Tang Jie managed to grasp and study the Dao Runes on the pir at an unprecedented speed, only needing around twenty days to get a basic understanding of them. The reason for this was that Tang Jie was most familiar with the Daos of Yin Yang and Wisdom, which happened to be the foundation of the Dao Runes on the pirs, and Tang Jie was actually already familiar with the principles of these Dao Runes, just not with how to use them.


    Besides that, Tang Jie studying the pirs also had the advantage of speeding up his understanding of the Dao of Yin Yang.


    The Illusion Dao belonged to Reality and Illusion, which was under Yin Yang, soprehending Illusion also deepened his understanding of Yin Yang, speeding up the process of entering the Dao.


    In these twenty days, Tang Jie had even managed to condense three Dao Runes, leaving him overjoyed.


    s, after twenty days, Tang Jie hadpletelyprehended the pirs, so it was no longer possible to use them to hasten the entering of the Dao, which Tang Jie felt was a great pity.


    Today was Tang Jie''sst day, and as heprehended thest Dao Rune, he reluctantly stroked the pir and said, "A pity. I was only able to engrave three Dao Runes. I wonder when I will be able to get one thousand?"


    The Vermillion Bird walked over and said, "Cultivation is a matter of a thousand years. You''re still young, so why are you in such a rush? Rather than thinking about something so distant as condensing one thousand Dao Runes, it would be better to think about how to use what you already have."


    "''What I already have''?" Tang Jie didn''t get it.


    "That''s right!" The Vermillion Bird cocked her head and said, "You don''t think that you''ve already reached the limits of how you can use the Dao, do you?"


    Tang Jie was taken aback. "You mean there''s a more profound way of using the Dao above the Great Dao Realm?"


    When he said this, he suddenly realized that he had always been focused on how toprehend more Great Daos and condense more Dao Runes, never focusing on how to master the abilities he had alreadyprehended.


    Based on the Vermillion Bird''s tone, there was clearly a lot of room to improve.


    Sure enough, the Vermillion Bird said, "Daos are the supreme principles of the world. One must both understand what they are and be good at using them. But you just simply use the Dao Wills you''veprehended through spell arts, as if the wills of the Great Daos are simply used to boost their power. If that''s how you use them, how are they any different from art relics?"


    Tang Jie was stunned by these words. "Lady Vermillion Bird, please instruct me."


    The Vermillion Bird said, "Daos are the inner principles while arts are the external manifestations. Only by bringing together the inner and outer can it be called a Dao Art! This is known as merging with the Dao!"


    "''Merging with the Dao''?" Tang Jie seemed to wake from a dream. "I see; I get it now. The Dao is like cheating software. You can use it to help you, but you can also use it to make you stronger. All I knew about was to use cheats and find new cheats, but I forgot to think about how to use the cheats in a way that made sense. Actually, there are far too many limits to using cheats, so just having them is far from enough. It''s far better to use the cheats to make myself stronger, turning them into a part of my ability!"


    The Vermillion Bird was confused by what he was mumbling. "''Cheating software''? What''s that?"


    Tang Jieughed. "Nothing. I was just chattering nonsense!"


    He went off on his way.


    Starting from today, Tang Jie had an additional task: studying how tobine the Daos he knew with the arts he had learned to create his own power. In the cultivation world, this was called merging with the Dao.


    Cang Qingfeng''s Diagram of the Twelve Daos had been a result of Dao merging, possessing vast power and grandiose aura. But this person was too focused on the advantages of breadth and was severelycking in depth. Although it had the all-epassing nature of a Dao Art, it failed to plumb the depths of heaven and earth.


    To merge with the Dao, one had to at least enter the Dao first.


    Tang Jie had only entered the Daos of Yin Yang and Insight, and for Insight, he had only condensed a single Dao Rune, so he could basically put it aside. Thus, if he wanted to merge with the Dao, he could only look to Yin Yang.


    The Dao of Yin Yang covered a vast array of things: Reality and Illusion, ck and White, Yin Yang, Parting and Merging, Life and Death. Different branches had different meanings and different uses.


    The Vermillion Bird didn''t know what he was doing or how he was nning to merge with the Dao, only knowing he spent every day sitting in the Spirit Lake, very focused in thought. He would suddenly go from sadness to joy, tears toughter, sometimes spend his time with hands around his knees as he dumbly gazed at theke, and other times, throw his head back andugh like a madman.


    He even started to ignore the difference between young and old, treat day and night as the same, reverse ck and white, and even go between man and woman.


    One day, while the Vermillion Bird was messing around all alone in the valley, she saw a womaning out from the distance. As there was no one else in the hidden realm, it could only be Tang Jie, so sheughed and said, "When did you get the idea you wanted to be a woman?"


    But she quickly realized that she was wrong. The one skilled in transformation was the avatar, so when did the original body get this ability? She then realized what it was and chuckled. "So it''s a duplicate."


    The woman suddenly rushed over and thrust a finger at the Vermillion Bird.


    Duplicates didn''t have any offensive power, so the Vermillion Bird didn''t try to dodge. But to her surprise, that finger had a cold light upon it that exploded on the Vermillion Bird''s body in a burst of light¡ªan actual attack!


    The Vermillion Bird was shocked. While this attack was so weak that it couldn''t hurt, this meant that this was no longer a purely illusory spell. She let out a sharp cry, and a me issued from her finger and struck the woman, who exploded into a cloud of smoke.


    It truly was a duplicate.


    But it now had an offensive ability and no longer needed some physical item to serve as a basis.


    "So is this the fruit of your study into Dao merging?" the Vermillion Bird muttered. "It''s rather interesting, but the illusion attacks are too weak to be useful."


    "What if there were more?" came a booming chorus, and a momentter, a vast crowd rushed at the Vermillion Bird from all sides. There were people of all ages and genders in this group, each one seeming like a real person. Spiritual energy roared as countless bolts of energy issued from their fingers at the Vermillion Bird.


    The power of these bolts was about the same as a Spirit tform student, extremely weak, but tens of thousands of them unleashed together was a rain of arrows that left the Vermillion Bird stunned, even if she wasn''t afraid of them. But a momentter, one of them struck her with great force, as if she had been struck by a bolt of lightning.


    She shouted, "Tang Jie, you trickster!"


    This attack had clearly been made by Tang Jie''s original body, who had mixed in with the duplicates and given her a sneak attack.


    Tang Jie''sughter came from the crowd. "The Dao of Illusion is all about confusing the mind, to disy falsehood in the form of truth. The meaning of this is to use the illusions to obscure the truth. In the past, I only used the Duplication spell to escape, but this is an inferior use. To go from defensive to offensive is the better tactic. The illusory attacks are simply there to cover for the real thing."


    As he spoke, his illusions appeared all over the valley. The Vermillion Bird looked around and was unable to find Tang Jie''s true self. Her eyes shed red as she said, "You''re right, but you think this is enough to hide your true body? Keep dreaming! I''ll burn it all!"


    Sun and moon orbited in her eyes, and all those illusions began to explode into mes, but despite all the explosions, not a single grass or tree was harmed.


    But while all the countless duplicates had perished, there was no sign of the true body.


    As she was searching, a figure suddenly charged out from the smoke behind her¡ªnone other than Tang Jie''s real body. As he charged out, he swung a mighty punch at the Vermillion Bird. But just when it was about to hit, the Vermillion Bird''s eyes shed, and a disc bearing the sun and moon appeared to block him. The fist struck the disc and failed to move it. At the same time, a me erupted from the disc and morphed into a giant hand that pped Tang Jie like he was a leather ball.


    But as he was sent flying, he exploded into dust¡ªanother duplicate.


    The Vermillion Bird was taken aback, but in the middle of her surprise, the mes behind her billowed and formed into a shield. At the same time, arge figure charged into the shield. Boom! The immense force sent thatrge figure flying.


    Tang Jie tumbled through the air, and by the time he hit the ground, his scorched skin had recovered. He bitterly smiled and said, "In the end, I still couldn''t hit you."


    He didn''t have any delusions about defeating the peak Divine Division Vermillion Bird, but he wanted to try and wound her. Even if he couldn''t do that, he at least wanted to try and get an attack in.


    s, other than that first blow when the Vermillion Bird had been caught unprepared, the Vermillion Bird had no ns to let him even touch her.


    The gap between Heart Demon and the peak of Violet Pce was just too great.


    The Vermillion Bird shook her head and said, "You''ve already done very well. I didn''t think that you could already switch between reality and illusion¡­ So this was your true goal."


    The duplicate that the Vermillion Bird had shattered wasn''t actually a mistake on her part. Rather, the moment the Vermillion Bird had attacked, Tang Jie had switched ces with a duplicate.


    This meant that Tang Jie had reached a certain level in the ability to convert between reality and illusion, capable of using it on himself. This was a manifestation of Dao merging.


    For other people, reality-illusion conversion might not have been a big deal, but for someone with the Duplication spell, it basically boosted that spell into a divine skill. So long as he was willing, he could make tens of thousands of versions of himself and then freely move between them, and this ability to confuse was multiplied further by the Chaoswind Step. Of course, Tang Jie had only made some minor progress in the field and was far from reaching the apex state.


    But Tang Jie shook his head and said, "This is just a bonus. It''s not my goal for now."


    "This is just a bonus for you?" The Vermillion Bird looked at Tang Jie in shock. "Just what are you up to?"


    Tang Jie sighed as he waved his hand. The remaining duplicates converged upon and disappeared into Tang Jie''s body.


    The Vermillion Bird threw her head back andughed. "No wonder you were able to so quickly grasp reality-illusion conversion, and could use the spell without a medium and even give it offensive power. All of these illusions were made from your blood! It seems like you''ve begun to understand the meaning of merging with the Dao."


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "''Entering the Dao'' refers to condensing Dao Runes in one''s body, merging the body with the will of the heavens, and if one can condense a thousand Dao Runes, one can attain the Dao Body. As for ''merging with the Dao'', that meansbining one''s abilities with the Dao Body to make them more powerful. Each illusion here was made from my blood. Although the Dao power in my flesh iscking, it''s still enough for me to make a small breakthrough like this."


    The Vermillion Bird pped her hands and smiled. "Not bad, not bad. That''s what I was waiting to hear. I didn''t think you would have already reached this level of understanding. But if that''s the case, didn''t I just burn up a bunch of your blood?"


    "It was only several hundred drops. I can afford it."


    "Right, you haven''t said what you were cultivating," the Vermillion Bird said.


    "You still haven''t seen it? What else have I shown besides reality and illusion?" Tang Jie asked. He once more sent out numerous duplicates from his body.


    Seeing all those Tang Jies suddenlye together and then split off again left the Vermillion Bird confused.


    At a loss, Tang Jie finally said, "To gather and disperse, to part and merge."


    "So it''s Parting and Merging!" the Vermillion Bird said in realization, but then she became confused again. "Why are youprehending Parting and Merging?"


    The Dao of Parting and Merging was also under Yin Yang. It emphasized gathering and dispersing in the space of a single thought. It could turn zero into the whole to gather power for a single strike, or turn the whole into zero, having everything flee in every direction, possessing a powerful transformative effect.


    But for the duplicates, the Dao of Parting and Merging had little meaning. Even if all the duplicates merged together, they wouldn''t make Tang Jie any stronger.


    The Vermillion Bird didn''t understand why Tang Jie was pursuing this Dao.


    "The reason?"


    Tang Jie mysteriously smiled. "I''m nning something big."

 Chapter 565: Playing Host

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    While the original body was merging with the Dao in the valley, Tang Jie''s avatar was cultivating within the Celestial me Pagoda.


    The vast fortune brought by the inter-domain trade allowed Tang Jie''s strength to soar.


    All of the formation diagrams werepleted, and he also mastered the weapon manuals with dizzying speed.


    His grasp of the Infinity Sphere Art was also improving rapidly thanks to the Cliffs of Fire and Ice. It only took him a hundred-some days to reach the third level, and he wasn''t far from the fourth. In order to guarantee his progress, Tang Jie used ckstone coins to buy time beyond his allotted quota, robbing everyone else in the Celestial me Pagoda of the right to use this blessednd to cultivate and drawing manyints.


    Besides that, he practiced the Minor Five Elements Combat Formation with Na Shan and the others.


    Combat formations were also a part of the Dao of Formations, but had two different directions one could focus on. One kind focused on the man, with the formation serving as the support. The formation served to magnify the power of the cultivator,bining the power of individuals and allowing them to usebination attacks in battle. But the other kind was the exact opposite, where the formation took center stage and the people were the support. People existed primarily toy down materials or perform functions that materials could not.


    These two types of formations had their pros and cons. In terms of power, thetter had more variations and was stronger, able to better exhibit the power of formations. But it was ill-suited forbination attacks and adaptability. Formations like the Yi Wood Azure Heaven Formation and Hellfire Formation could be modified to this kind ofbat formation.


    But this had more demanding requirements on the cultivator. It required the cultivator to have the appropriate skills, since they had to rece the materials in the formation, and they also needed a sufficient understanding of formations. Those who did not understand formations would not be able to maximize their power, even if they had the right techniques. Finally, they had to know how to work together. The biggest problem with using humans to rece a formation was that a cultivator couldn''t possibly rece dozens of materials on their own, so they needed to work together with many people, which made cooperation crucial. And the more people there were, the more difficult cooperation was bound to be. This was particrly true because cultivators had carefree and odd personalities. Putting all these people together and having them strictly act as the formation demanded of them was extremely difficult.


    Inparison, the former was less of a problem. So long as one knew the mantra, one could use it.


    For this reason,rge-scalebat formations that involved hundreds of people mostly used the former. Rather than countless variations, they simply sought to unleash the power of the masses. Quantity at sufficient levels could be quality. Meanwhile, small groups of elites would prefer thetter. Through long periods of training, they could form up into a mobile formation. This allowed for immense power while saving many materials, allowing for repeated use of the formation.


    Tang Jie''s group was training in the second kind of formation.


    Na Shan, Shui Yao, Qing Lian, Hei Yan, and Tang Jie respectively represented Earth, Water, Wood, Fire, and Metal, each one controlling one of the five energies of the Minor Five Elements Combat Formation. With 137 possible variations, this formation had immense lethality. Of course, it was also extremely demanding.


    After more than a hundred days of training, the five of them finally had a basic grasp of the variations of the Minor Five Elements Combat Formation.


    Today, as on past days, Tang Jie was training with the other four on the eighth floor of the Celestial me Pagoda.


    After four hours, Na Shan said, "Alright, let''s stop here for today. You guys don''t need toe tomorrow."


    "What''s wrong?" Tang Jie asked.


    Na Shan replied, "There''s only three days until the opening of the Treasure Paradise. The war is upon us, so there''s no point in single-mindedly cultivating. Before the battle, you have to learn how to rx. Thus, starting from tomorrow, you don''t need to cultivate so diligently anymore and should properly rx."


    "Big Brother Na Shan, I was waiting for you to say that," Hei Yan chuckled.


    Among the five, Hei Yan was the youngest, so his personality was more carefree. Cultivating every day had started testing his patience long ago, so he was the happiest to learn that they would be resting starting from tomorrow.


    On the other hand, Shui Yao frowned and said, "There are still three more days. You don''t n on trying for thest three variations of the Minor Five Elements Combat Formation?"


    The group had currently grasped 134 variations of the Minor Five Elements Combat Formation, but thest three, which were the most powerful, had not been mastered. Shui Yao was clearly unsatisfied by this, which was why she had asked.


    Na Shan shook his head. "Forget it. Thest three variations are too difficult. Everyone has already worked very hard, but in the end, we''re still a littlecking. I don''t want to risk going for thest sprint only to end up in failure, causing everyone''s morale to fall."


    "True," Shui Yao sighed. "Now that I think about it, we all worked very hard, but we just couldn''t make it work."


    Qing Lian didn''t like to talk, so he just nodded firmly.


    Tang Jie said, "That''s because everyone doesn''t truly understand formations. We''ve been able to get this far primarily because of our cultivation, strength, teamwork, and our familiarity with the formation. But familiarity with the formation isn''t understanding the formation. If you don''t understand its principles, you will find it difficult to shift it around. Thest three variations of the Minor Five Elements Combat Formation are all-epassing, and because they are all-epassing, they must be adapted to the time, ce, and people. Getting them right can''t be aplished through rote memorization. For these three variations, let alone three days, even three hundred days wouldn''t be enough to learn them. Even so, the 134 we have learned should be enough."


    "I see. No wonder we couldn''t get it right no matter how much we trained. So there was this sort of factor!" Hei Yan scratched his head and chuckled. "Brother Tang Ran, you must be very skilled in formations. No wonder you were able to learn the fastest and never made a mistake."


    Tang Jie simply smiled, but Shui Yao rolled her eyes and said, "You only noticed now?"


    Tang Jie continued, "Since we''re going to take a break, I suggest we get together at night and share a drink. I''ll y host. Now that I think about it, we''ve been together for some time, but we''ve done nothing but cultivate. We haven''t even had a proper get-together yet."


    "Right, right!" Everyone nodded.


    More than a hundred days of cultivating together had increased their proficiency in the Minor Five Elements Combat Formation and also increased their friendship¡ªeven total strangers would be friends after spending so long together. Moreover, in their expedition into the Treasure Paradise, they needed trust and teamwork alongside strength. A team at odds with itself was bound for a bad end.


    But a friendship where they hadn''t gotten drunk together was clearlycking, which was why everyone excitedly agreed to Tang Jie''s proposal.


    Hei Yan said, "I know a pretty good restaurant. The food there is all made from primal beasts, both delicious and helpful to cultivation, but the price isn''t cheap."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Don''t worry about the price. You can order as much as you want so long as you can eat it."


    He was rich at the moment, so let alone primal beasts, he would even buy Nine Heavens Dragons if someone was offering.


    Everyone was delighted to hear this and voiced their approval.


    The Hundred Hills Pavilion that Hei Yan was talking about was located on Flying Immortal Street, not far from Heavenly x Street.


    The Hundred Hills Pavilion was famous in the City of Freedom for its expertise in cooking various kinds of primal beasts.


    The five of them went over, booked a private room, and then started to order food.


    Grabbing the menu, Hei Yan looked at Tang Jie and nervously asked, "We can order anything?"


    Tang Jie firmly nodded.


    Hei Yan pointed at the menu and said, "I want your most expensive dishes."


    The waiter politely advised, "We have several that could be considered the most expensive at this restaurant, one of which is Fried Phoenix Roon Liver. The Phoenix Roons of the eastern mountains are as crafty as foxes and as swift as lightning, making them extremely difficult to capture. This course consists of five pairs of livers, vored with 36 different kinds of spices. There is also Braised Golden Eyes. In the western sea is a creature called the Goldeye Beast, asrge as a boat and with a roar like thunder. This dish involves fully disying the essence of these golden eyes, and just two are enough for the dish. There is also Stir-Fried Rainbow Chicken Heart. Rainbow Chickens are a rare delicacy, difficult to capture, and as this dish only uses the essence of the Rainbow Chicken, seven or eight are needed¡­"


    The waiter listed many dishes, all of them extremely precious. Tang Jie waved his hand and indicated that they should all be served.


    Na Shan reached out and took the menu. "Let me order a few. You can''t just look at the price for food. It sounds like these dishes are all very small, which isn''t interesting at all and certainly won''t be fun. Eating one''s fill is far more enjoyable. Hey, this Roasted Goldhorn Bull looks pretty good. I''ll have one. And also two Arrowfeather Eagles. The wings of the Arrowfeather Eagle are delicious. And also one hundred-year Blood Python¡­ What are you looking at me for? You think I can''t eat it all?"


    The waiter said with a bitter look, "Not at all, but the table can''t hold it all."


    "¡­¡­"


    Hei Yan focused on price, Na Shan focused on quantity, and Shui Yao focused on the rare and exquisite. She wanted tea brewed with the snow from the Winter Dawn Mountain and fresh Azure Buds from the South Lake, Prsea Snowfish Rose that had to be transported and eaten in two days, and Red Mushrooms stir-fried using the dew that dripped down from the leaves of the Azure x in the early morning. Finally, she ordered a braised tongue of a Spirit Sensing Parrot.


    Na Shan viewed this with disdain. Gnawing on the leg of a Goldhorn Bull, he said, "What is all this? All of that together wouldn''t even be enough for a single bite for me."


    Shui Yao didn''t order very much food, but inparison, Qing Lian''s order could hardly even be called "food".


    This guy ordered rather bizarre things. There was Deep-Fried Ironthread Centipede. Even when deep-fried, the shells of these centipedes could shatter one''s teeth, yet Qing Lian enthusiastically bit down on one after another. There was Stir-Fried Demon Ghost Vines, a food that was both poisonous and delicious¡ªthe more poisonous it was, the more delicious the taste. Qing Lian had ordered the kind which still retained 70% of its poison, and when he ate it, green smoke curled out from his face. Finally, there was Live-Steamed Ghostface Mushroom, a kind of sprite. When it was served, the Ghostface Mushroom was still wailing and weeping. As Qing Lian chewed on it, that thing howled until it gradually fell silent.


    The four of them chowed down with great gusto, in love with the thought that they could get whatever they wanted. Although they had spent many years in the Celestial me Pagoda and made a lot of money, they had never eaten so freely before.


    But while eating like this was refreshing, Shui Yao, who was just about done eating, saw a list on the small table behind her. She took a look at the list and saw that it was their bill. She did some math in her head and found that they had eaten around one hundred thousand ckstone coins in value, scaring the wits out of her.


    What if Tang Jie couldn''t pay?


    She had been overjoyed while eating, but now, she suddenly felt a deep sorrow.


    Shui Yao secretly showed the bill to Hei Yan, who paled and told Qing Lian. The green smoke around Qing Lian''s face thickened, and he immediately lost his appetite and turned to Na Shan.


    Na Shan was startled, and the rate at which he tore at his Arrowfeather Eagle wing slowed. With a glum face, he said, "Shit, I got too into it¡­ I say, Brother Tang: you can pay this, right?"


    Tang Jie wanted to confirm this, but Hei Yan said, "Even if you can, you''ll be emptying your pockets. Damn these treacherous merchants, not even stating the price when we were ordering and only giving us the bill now. I think we should sneak out."


    He focused his vision and peered through the walls, upon which he discovered that there were quite a few cultivators standing outside. He shivered and said, "Ugh, we''re surrounded."


    Tang Jie was going to say that it was fine, but then Shui Yao said with a dark expression, "Get ready to fight our way out."


    Tang Jie''s heart leaped as he saw everyone begin to radiate murderous intent.


    Tang Jie hastily said, "Don''t, don''t. Let me handle it."


    Tang Jie walked out, found the manager, and paid the bill. When he returned, he found that the cultivators had all withdrawn. Suddenly, he had an idea. Striding into the room, he said, "Hurry!"


    "What?" Everyone was startled.


    Tang Jie replied, "I used my avatar art to draw away the guards. Let''s leave while we still can."


    "You really don''t have the money?" Hei Yan was horrified.


    Tang Jie said in an intentionally disgruntled tone, "Of course I do, but not this much. I didn''t think that you would be such pigs."


    Hei Yan frantically said, "I didn''t eat a lot. It was all Na Shan."


    Na Shan roared, "No matter how much I ate, it wasn''t as expensive as the rest of you, only choosing the rare delicacies."


    Shui Yao rolled her beautiful eyes at Na Shan. "I didn''t eat any delicacies, only dishes that required work."


    Qing Lian snorted and said nothing, a bitter look on his face.


    His dishes weren''t exactly rare, but they also weren''t cheap.


    Tang Jie grabbed them and said, "Gosh, now isn''t the time to talk. Let''s go."


    He rushed out with the four, and they flew out the window as if they were fugitives. As they ran, they muttered, "We''re celebrities of the City of Freedom, you know? But now we''re dining and dashing! It''s so embarrassing."


    Once they had run a distance, Shui Yao asked in confusion, "Eh? This isn''t right. Hundred Hills Pavilion has numerous high-tier cultivators protecting it, and also a formation, so how were we able to get out so easily? And even if they were really drawn away, shouldn''t they have realized by now?"


    Everyone came to realize that something was wrong.


    One hundred thousand ckstone coins wasn''t a small sum. How could Hundred Hills Pavilion just write it off? And how had those cultivators been so easily drawn away by Tang Jie?


    They turned to look at Tang Jie and found that he was still standing by the restaurant,ughing his head off.


    Everyone realized what had happened, and Na Shan shouted, "Tang Ran, I can''t believe you tricked us!"


    Tang Jieughed. "Who made you so naive as to instantly believe me? You''re prodigies of the City of Freedom, invincible experts of the ughterhouse, but a single meal had you all acting like robbers. Haha! I''ve got a hold on you guys now! If someone dares to go against me, I''ll go and spread the news about this incident!"


    The others all looked at each other.


    Hei Yan said, "What do we do?"


    Na Shan grunted, "Beat him up!"


    "Beat him up!"


    The four of them all shouted as they lunged at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jieughed and ran off, and the five began to run about the City of Freedom.


    It was alreadyte at night, and the City of Freedom was quiet.


    As fighting wasn''t allowed in the city, the five of them ran out.


    Tang Jie had barely left the city when Qing Lian raised his hands, green light surging out of the ground and turning into countless vines that sought to wrap around Tang Jie.


    Hei Yan thrust out a finger, and a ck pir of menced at Tang Jie. The me melded with the darkness of the night, almost imperceptible.


    Na Shan thrust his hands straight into the ground, and energy pumped into the earth. Sands began to rage as a yellow dragon of earth manifested.


    Finally, Shui Yao giggled, and as she giggled, countless blue geysers erupted from the earth.


    Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth all rushed at Tang Jie. It was clear that they were holding nothing back.


    Tang Jie saw that he couldn''t dodge, so he shot toward a distant forest. As he ran, he threw out his hands, and ten swords appeared: the art relic swords of the Peerless Sword Pavilion. They stabbed at that distant forest, and together with the vines, mes, earth dragon, and blue fountains, theynded in the forest.


    The five of them called out in unison, the five energies erupting with light and gathering into a majestic power. This power was so great that even Tang Jie''s original body wouldn''t have dared to take it on directly. It was none other than the Minor Five Elements Combat Formation.


    As the five lights made impact, a red wave of light shot out of the forest, pushing back against the power of the Minor Five Elements Combat Formation. But despite this figure''s power, a roar of fury came from the forest. It was clear that the owner of this voice was enraged and surprised by this sudden attack.


    As the red light fought back against the formation''s power, Tang Jie pulled out the Five Sacred Mountains Sword, and five mountains descended and crashed into the red barrier in an explosion of crimson.


    "Break!" Na Shan roared, his Sky Cleaver streaking through the firmament and mming into the red barrier. The barrier finally shattered, and a blood-colored person flew out of the forest.


    The moment they appeared, Hei Yan, Shui Yao, and Qing Lian attacked in unison, the three of them using the Minor Five Elements Combat Formation to be a furious tornado of mes. Just when they were about to devour that figure, that man thrust out a hand, and the me tornado abruptly disappeared as if it had been sucked into a ck hole.


    The three of them paled as a boundless sea of blood appeared before them.


    The vastness and grandeur of this sea of blood was such that it was hard to look at directly, and the three of them almost prostrated. Fortunately, Tang Jie rushed in front of them and thrust his sword at that man.


    This sword thrust seemed very ordinary, but it had some indescribable profundity to it, forcing that man to back away while they roared in fury, "Seeking death!"


    This cold and sinister roar both resounded in their ears and also echoed in the depths of their hearts.


    The Lord of the Blood River!

 Chapter 566: Battle Against Blood River

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Floating in the air, the Lord of the Blood River looked furiously down at Tang Jie.


    He had already lost his mind with rage.


    After all these days, the Blood River Lord had finally found Tang Jie, but to his surprise, before he could do anything, Tang Jie had ambushed him.


    Crucially, he still didn''t know how he had exposed himself.


    He was an Immortal tform Titan, so even though the avatar he was using was only at the Heart Demon Tier, he shouldn''t have been so easily exposed.


    He red at Tang Jie and roared, "Talk! How did you notice me?"


    That group attack had clearly been led by Tang Jie, so the Blood River Lord knew that Tang Jie had to be the one who had noticed him.


    And in truth, Tang Jie had never believed that the Blood River Lord would give up on him.


    When they had just arrived at the Blood River Domain, he had discussed the matter of the Blood River Lord with Tutu, during which they had guessed that the Blood River Lord was highly likely to give chase. Since that was the case, how could they not make preparations?


    Tang Jie had long ago ced surveince formations around the City of Freedom and tasked Yiyi with tending to them. Any existence suspected of being the Blood River Lord was put under watch.


    The Blood River Lord had no concept of counter-surveince, so when his avatar went in and out of the City of Freedom, he made no attempt to hide. Thus, it would''ve been stranger if Tang Jie hadn''t noticed him.


    This was exactly why he had found the Blood River Lord before the Blood River Lord had found him. After noticing him, Tang Jie stopped going to the arena, and since he remained in the pagoda, the Blood River Lord didn''t know where he was, could only vaguely sense that he was somewhere in the city and blindly search for him.


    Tonight''s feast was the only time Tang Jie had gone out.


    But to his surprise, the Blood River Lord immediately tracked him down.


    If he hadn''t deployed countermeasures, he would have never imagined that the Blood River Lord could sense him, so he had used the excuse of a fake dine-and-dash to run out of Hundred Hills Pavilion. Even so, the Blood River Lord still gave chase, so Tang Jie realized that the Blood River Lord had a way of tracking him and set up an ambush.


    Unexpectedly, even though it was just an avatar, the Blood River Lord was able to hold out against their joint attack. In the end, he was an Immortal tform Titan, so even a Heart Demon Tier avatar was far above his peers.


    Tang Jie chuckled and said, "You want to know?"


    The Blood River Lord instinctively nodded.


    Tang Jie smirked. "But I''m not telling."


    The Blood River Lord was so enraged that he almost fell from the sky.


    Tang Jie shot into the air and thrust out his hands, and des began to fall from the heavens.


    The Nine Heavens Cmity des!


    As des rained down from the heavens, Tang Jie shouted, "Attack!"


    Na Shan frowned. Although he was a straightforward and fierce warrior, he was no impulsive brute. He wanted to ask who this person was and why he had been following them. If Tang Jie hadn''t warned them that they were being followed, he really wouldn''t have noticed. Na Shan wasn''t afraid of battle, but he didn''t like to fight while still not understanding the situation.


    s, Tang Jie was all about attacking, giving the other party no chance to talk.


    What he didn''t know was that Tang Jie didn''t want them to know that this was the Blood River Lord. Such was the Blood River Lord''s reputation that few people would dare to attack him, which was why Tang Jie had immediately gone on the offensive and given him no chance to state his identity.


    Once the battle started, stating one''s name was a sign of weakness, and the Lord of the Blood River was too proud to do that.


    As Na Shan hesitated, Hei Yan charged out, two pirs of me shooting toward the Blood River Lord.


    Things were much simpler in Hei Yan''s view. Since this person had been following them, he must have harbored ill intentions, and since he was harboring ill intentions, there was no need to be polite with him. Asking questions was pointless, so they just needed to fight. Thus, he used his strongest move, the Charred Heaven mes, two ck me dragons rushing toward the Blood River Lord.


    At the same time, Shui Yao and Qing Lian attacked, vines crazily whipping at the Blood River Lord while blue fountains of water turned into bright points of light and rained down.


    Na Shan couldn''t just sit things out after seeing this, so he summoned the yellow dragon to assist the formation.


    The five of them attacking together filled the air with crisscrossing mes of energy that swept up the Blood River Lord.


    The Blood River Lord simply grunted, "Juniors."


    With his pride, he was unwilling to state his name in battle, and in his rage, he said nothing more. Thrusting out a hand, he manifested a giant crimson hand that reached toward one of Hei Yan''s me dragons.


    Hei Yan was delighted. The me dragons created by his Charred Heaven mes were immensely powerful. Though they seemed ck and unremarkable, their core temperature was extremely high,parable to magma. He could already imagine what would happen to that crimson hand.


    But to his surprise, though that crimson hand let out a hiss, the ck me dragon was still caught, and as it wriggled in the Blood River Lord''s hand, it rapidly shrank down.


    Hei Yan grimaced. Fortunately, at this time, green vines rose up and wrapped around the Blood River Lord, trying to strangle him to death. But as the vines wrapped around him, he melted into blood. Though the vines were dense, they could not hold the river. The bloody river water rushed out of the of vines, and its residue ate away at vines that could even resist the blows of axes, causingrge swaths of the vines to wither and fall.


    This sight frightened Qing Lian.


    He had never before seen anyone so easily destroy his vine, and he cried out, "Watch out! This guy''s a tough one! It''s bizarre! Where did hee from?"


    After seeing this man''s power, Qing Lian finally had some interest in learning who he was.


    The Blood River Lordughed. "I''m only here for Tang Jie. If you go now, I''ll spare your lives."


    He was so proud that Qing Lian had to speak up before he had a chance to exin his connection to Tang Jie.


    But to his surprise, everyone was taken back by these words, looking at Tang Jie and asking, "''Tang Jie''? Isn''t your name ''Tang Ran''?"


    Tang Jie shrugged. "I was being hunted by this person, so I fled to the City of Freedom and took on the pseudonym of Tang Ran to hide from him. But he still managed to find me. My apologies for dragging all of you into this."


    So that''s what was going on? Everyone seemed enlightened.


    They had all been nervous because they thought that this was some assassin sent by another Heavenly King.


    Hearing that it was one of Tang Jie''s old enemies had themughing instead, and Na Shan casually said, "That''s great. Anyone who dares to bully my brother should eat my axe!"


    The Skycleaver unleashed a dazzling wave of light.


    Hei Yan said, "I have a chance to pay you back for the meal."


    Everyone nodded in agreement.


    ''Great''?


    What''s great about it?


    The Lord of the Blood River was confused. He had said that he was here for only Tang Jie, so why were they attacking him even more aggressively now?


    Furious, he bellowed, "You''re seeking death!"


    That crimson hand moved to crush the five.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie shouted, "Five Dragons Transformation!"


    As he shouted, Qing Lian raised a hand, and those countless vines converged and formed into a green dragon.


    Shui Yao''s water fountains joined together into a blue dragon.


    Including Na Shan''s yellow dragon and Hei Yan''s ck dragon, there were now four dragons dancing in the sky.


    Tang Jie cast out the ten art relic swords and the Five Sacred Mountains Sword, the eleven swords radiating their sword energy. The sword spirits molded the energy into a dragon, with the head of the dragon being the Five Sacred Mountains Sword.


    The sword dragon let out a mighty roar and joined the other four dragons, swiping a w at the Blood River Lord.


    This was the Minor Five Elements Combat Formation''s Five Dragon Transformation.


    Even the Blood River Lord slightly paled at this sight.


    With his strength, he naturally wasn''t afraid of these five dragons, but things were different with this Heart Demon Tier avatar. No matter how strong his true form was, using the strength of the Heart Demon Tier against these five dragons was rathercking.


    As the dragon w descended, he had that crimson hand return to cover his head, rising up to meet the dragon w.


    The sword energy dragon''s attack copsed before it could reach the Blood River Lord, but a momentter, Na Shan''s earth dragon, Hei Yan''s fire dragon, Shui Yao''s water dragon, and Qing Lian''s wood dragon mmed into the hand, one after the other.


    While the blood hand of the Blood River Lord was powerful, it couldn''t take thisbination attack. After stopping the earth dragon and fire dragon, it finally reached its limit and was dispersed by the water dragon, after which Qing Lian''s wood dragon mmed into his chest and sent him flying.


    "Awooo!" For the first time in this battle, the Blood River Lord howled in pain.


    This was his first time being injured, and in a head-on confrontation! His anger could easily be imagined.


    The Blood River Lord cried out in fury, "All of you will die for daring to injure me!"


    Crimson light radiated from his body, manifesting a sea of blood around him.


    The waves of this sea of blood raged as if they wanted to engulf the skies.


    In this sea of blood, the Blood River Lord seemed particrlyrge and imposing. As he roared, countless creatures emerged from the sea of blood. Holding weapons in their hands, they angrily roared at the heavens.


    The Blood Sea Divine Connection!


    The Blood Sea Divine Connection was the Blood River Lord''s most important and most fundamental Divine Connection. The Blood Sea was his kingdom, and with a single cry, he could summon countless Blood Fiends and create a world of blood. In this crimson world, the Blood River Lord was the absolute ruler, able to use his power as he pleased.


    Although Divine Connections could only be officially used at the Violet Pce Realm, just who was the Blood River Lord? Breaking the limit and performing the connection with a Heart Demon Tier body wasn''t impossible. At worst, its power would be reduced, but this was enough to deal with these five.


    As the Blood Sea expanded, it swept up the five, and they paled as the wailing of ghosts and the howling of winds resounded in their ears.


    Hei Yan, Shui Yao, and Qing Lian weren''t Hemos, so didn''t quite understand what was going on, but Na Shan was a prince of a Hemos tribe, so the Blood River Lord was his god. As a result, he had some understanding of the Blood Sea Divine Connection. However, because the Blood River Lord had always been a stranger to the Hemos, he wasn''t very familiar with it.


    Upon seeing this raging sea of blood, Na Shan felt a sense of uneasiness.


    But he had never seen the Blood Sea Divine Connection before, only heard its name. Moreover, this was much less powerful than the vast sea that reached all the way to the heavens that the Blood River Lord''s true body could use. For the moment, he hadn''t thought about the possibility of an avatar, so he failed to realize that this was his god.


    The Blood Sea Fiends rushed at the five.


    "Five Dragons Grinder!" Tang Jie shouted.


    The Five Dragons Grinder variation of the formation was activated, and the five dragons coiled together, their scales rising up, turning the dragons into ded gears that minced up the Blood Sea Fiends. But moments after these fiends were obliterated, they would fall back into the Blood Sea and be reborn.


    The Blood River Lord''s strongest attribute wasn''t his offense or defense, but his constant regeneration that rendered him unkible. In a protracted battle, few in the Chiliocosm could match him. His Blood Sea Divine Connection exemplified this attribute, and while the grinder could kill the fiends, it couldn''t truly destroy them. So long as the Blood Sea existed, the fiend would be reborn.


    Numerous fiends continued to charge at the formation, and the five of them felt a great deal of pressure.


    Shui Yao said in surprise, "Tang Ran, what sort of monstrous being did you offend? He''s way too strong!"


    As elites among their peers, all of them had been able to ovee people stronger than they were, having at least one or two Heart Demon cultivators under their belts. And Na Shan, as a Heart Demon Tier cultivator, had even killed Soul Transformation cultivators before. But the five of them working together couldn''t deal with a single Heart Demon cultivator¡ªa truly incredible event.


    Everyone thought at the same time that if this person were to be recruited by another Heavenly King, they would probably all be leaving the Treasure Paradise empty-handed, if they were even lucky enough to get out alive.


    With this thought in mind, everyone except Tang Jie and Na Shan made up their minds to take down this man while he was still alone.


    The moment they thought this, the three of them shared a nce. Hei Yan flew out first and pointed a finger at the Blood River Lord. "Azure ck Dragon me!"


    A massive ck dragon of me erupted from his arm, muchrger than the one from before. It let out a mighty roar, carrying some of the majesty of a true dragon, and charged into the Blood Sea.


    With this charge, countless fiends were instantly obliterated, and the sea itself had arge hole punched through it.


    Shui Yao and Qing Lian also attacked. Shui Yao, instead of opting for a bigger water dragon, summoned a mighty deluge that fell upon the Blood Sea. In the space of a second, it had an incredible effect, each drop of water falling upon the Blood Sea delivering to the Blood River Lord a searing pain.


    And green lotuses began to bloom in the Blood Sea, each one causing a part of the Blood Sea to harden. As more and more lotuses opened, they managed to stymie the flow of the sea.


    With its currents impeded, the Blood Sea''s heaven-toppling might was affected, and the five dragons became much less restrained.


    "You guys!?" Na Shan grimaced.


    The three of them using their ultimate moves had left him momentarily stunned.


    Tang Jie''s eyes shed with ruthlessness. "My turn now!"


    He charged at the Blood River Lord.


    "Tang Jie, no!"


    "Tang Ran, don''t!"


    Hei Yan and the others called out in surprise.


    A momentter, a blood-colored ring emerged from under Tang Jie''s feet, forming a giant halo of blood.


    The Flesh Millstone.


    In this ring of blood, let alone the blood and the fiends, blood energy itself surged into the ring, strengthening the Flesh Millstone and making it stronger and more formidable.


    As he rushed out, the Flesh Millstone absorbed the Blood Sea''s power and grew.


    The Blood River Lord realized to his shock that he was getting weaker.


    rmed, he pped his hands on the sea, and drops of blood emerged from the sea and turned into arrows.


    He waved his hands and ordered, "Go!"


    Countless blood arrows fired at Tang Jie.


    As that swarm of arrows approached, Tang Jie produced a fiery sword. The sword was long, and the hilt was designed to look like a golden crow with two wings unfurled.


    He thrust the sword at the air, and a three-legged golden crow flew out of the sword. This crow spat out a great wave of mes that instantly burned away the blood arrows.


    The Sun Crow Sword!


    This was one of the three divine swords of the Peerless Sword Pavilion. It was inhabited by the soul of the Golden Crow, a creature of High Antiquity, and it had the Sr me Divine Connection.


    The Sr me Divine Connection obliterated the arrows, allowing Tang Jie to rush forward. The grinding of the Flesh Millstone meant that all those Blood Sea Fiends flooding in to attack him were simply turned to blood that made him even stronger.


    The Blood River Lord knew that he was in trouble, and he opened his mouth and spat out a stream of ck energy.


    This was the first time he had used a non-blood power, and Tang Jie felt an immense danger from it.


    Not daring to be careless, he produced an azure sword with his left hand.


    As he swung the sword, a hurricane of Astral Wind swept forth, blowing away that ck energy.


    The Annihtion Gale Sword!


    This was the strongest of the Peerless Sword Pavilion''s three divine swords, and contained within it was none other than the ceaseless Astral Wind of the Rosecloud Domain.


    A Titan of the Peerless Sword Pavilion had forged this sword, risking his own body to gather up those Astral Winds in the high heavens. Although he wasn''t able to plumb the depths to collect the real Gold Ignis Astral Winds like Immortal tform Titans, he had at least been able to gather the Astral Winds on the outermost edge.


    Although they weren''t able to melt down everything like the inner winds, they were still extremely powerful, with a single attack being like a weaker version of the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl. At full power, it could even exceed the pearl, and it also beat the pearl in terms of longevity and range.


    The ck energy was dispelled.


    Tang Jie rushed up to the Blood River Lord''s side.


    His swords unleashed a dazzling light.


    The Blood River Lord wanted to fight back, but before him were Astral Winds and golden mes, almost like he was fighting in the atmosphere of the Rosecloud Domain.


    Even the Blood River Lord wasn''t powerful enough to endure the attacks of these two swords, especially with the attacks of Hei Yan and the others holding back his power. In the face of these two Divine Connections, a tinge of fear finally appeared in the Blood River Lord''s eyes.


    This wasn''t a fear of death, but an unwillingness to be defeated and wounded.


    He finally shouted, "You dare! I am the Blood River¨C"


    "Raaaa!" Tang Jie let out an explosive roar.


    The swords came together in a resounding ng.


    Whoosh!


    Blood exploded, and the Blood River Lord was cut into three parts.


    His body dissolved into blood.


    But just when he was about to reform it, the Flesh Millstone turned, sucking up much of his blood energy.


    The Blood River Lord watched in disbelief as a part of his body was digested and absorbed.


    And then he saw the most terrifying thing of all.


    A momentter, Tang Jie crossed the swords in his hands, producing a bolt of lightning that took aim at specks of crimson light within the waves of blood.


    This familiar sight immediately made the Blood River Lord recall what had happened when Tang Jie had first entered the Blood River Domain.


    "Noooo!" The Blood River Lord let out a howl of despair, truly afraid this time. He shouted, "I am¨C"


    "You are a dead man!"


    As Tang Jie roared, his swords sliced through every drop of essence blood in the Blood River Lord''s body.


    Killed in one strike!

 Chapter 567: World Creation

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Blood Sea disappeared, leaving behind only a deluge of blood that fell from the heavens.


    Na Shan had a glum expression, as if someone owed him hundreds of thousands of ckstone coins.


    He looked at Tang Jie and asked, "So is your name Tang Ran or Tang Jie?"


    "Tang Jie is my original name," Tang Jie replied.


    "Then, Tang Jie, shouldn''t you give us an exnation about all this?" Na Shan sternly asked.


    Hei Yan and the other two shared a look, and then Hei Yan said, "Big Brother Na Shan, what do you mean? We just killed someone, is all. We''re allrades here, so why are you making such a big deal out of this?"


    "What do you know?" Na Shan angrily retorted.


    He might have been confused at first, but he was now pretty sure that Tang Jie had used them.


    Shui Yao saw the state he was in and asked in confusion, "Just what is the problem?"


    Na Shan opened his mouth, but he ultimately shook his head and said nothing.


    He didn''t dare to say anything until he was absolutely sure.


    Moreover, if it really was rted to the person he was thinking of, then this was a big problem, and he would be even less willing to talk about it¡ªonce the other Hemos found out he had killed an avatar of the Blood River Lord, the Hemos wouldn''t let him go.


    On the contrary, if he didn''t say anything, the Blood River Lord probably wouldn''t say a thing¡ªhe would be humiliated if it got out that he got cut down by a few juniors.


    Moreover, the Blood River Lord had always been a recluse, and even though the Hemos venerated him as their grand ancestor, he never cared about the Hemos, which could be seen from how he had created an avatar to hunt down Tang Jie.


    He had never even thought about using the Hemos.


    Thus, the best n was to y dumb. Moreover, privately, Na Shan was hoping that he was wrong. It could be some other person that cultivated a blood-type Divine Connection with a simr effect! If that was the case, then his words would just be misguided spection.


    Thus, when Hei Yan asked him what was wrong, he didn''t know what to say. After some thought, he pointed at Tang Jie and said, "This person has ulterior motives. I''m thinking that his ying host for us was because he wanted to use us."


    Everyone looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie shook his head to deny the usation.


    "You swear that you didn''t invite all of us to a meal because you knew that he woulde to find you?" Na Shan questioned.


    Tang Jie sighed. "Before inviting all of you to a meal, I did know that he had entered the city, but he hadn''t been able to find me. I invited you all because I wanted to be good friends. In my view, the City of Freedom is so big that even if he was really here, there was no way he would manage to find me. But to my surprise, he really did have a way¡­ It''s your choice to believe it or not."


    Even for Tang Jie, this matter was quite unfortunate. If not for tonight''s dinner, even if the Blood River Lord hade to the City of Freedom, it would have been extremely difficult for him to find Tang Jie. And in another three days, he would have entered the Treasure Paradise, at which point it would have been impossible for the Blood River Lord to find him.


    Who could have expected that the Blood River Lord would find him on his sole excursion?


    The moment he sensed the Blood River Lord chasing him, Tang Jie felt a deep helplessness.


    Na Shan was surprised, and when he saw that Tang Jie''s expression was sincere and unfeigned, he gained a little trust and asked, "You swear on your Heart Demon?"


    Tang Jie firmly said, "I swear on my Heart Demon that I had no idea that he would discover me when I invited you all to a meal. In truth, if you think about it, you would understand that we would be going to the Treasure Paradise in another three days, so I had no need to go and provoke him. Couldn''t I have just avoided him and then escaped into the Treasure Paradise when the time came? Why would I drag all of you out to fight him together? He must have some secret art to track me, but the secret art''s connection is not very strong and is easily broken, which is why thingssted until now¡­"


    As he spoke, he looked pensively at the piece of blood gem in his hand.


    Na Shan''splexion improved a little.


    Since the meal hadn''t been Tang Jie''s plot to get their help in a murder and this entire matter was a coincidence, Na Shan''s resentment to Tang Jie lessened a little.


    But the thought of inexplicably offending a Titan still left him unhappy.


    Tang Jie saw that he was troubled and indifferently said, "I thought someone capable of pulling up mountains would also be extremely bold, but you ended up being a softie the moment you ran into someone ruthless. If I knew things would be like that, I wouldn''t have invited you."


    "What did you say?" Na Shan red. "Do you know who you offended?"


    Tang Jie replied, "A true hero will even charge through a sea of fire and mountain of knives, braving any danger without hesitation. This sort of person would only ask where the enemy is, not who the enemy is. Am I right or not?"


    Na Shan fell silent, but Hei Yan pped his hands and smiled. "Right, right, Big Brother Tang speaks the truth. This person truly is powerful, but in the end, we still killed him."


    Na Shan rolled his eyes.


    Shui Yao saw the problem, though, and she said, "Does this person have an extremely powerful backer?"


    They didn''t know that this was the Blood River Lord''s avatar, but since his death had Na Shan so nervous, there was clearly something wrong here. But they imagined that they had killed a person from some powerful Hemos tribe, which was slightly troublesome. And as Na Shan was a Hemos, it was only natural that he was tense.


    After some thought, Na Shan nodded.


    On that subject, the original body could be considered the avatar''s backer, so it wasn''t wrong to say this.


    Shui Yao covered her mouth and chuckled. "Here I thought it would be some big deal. Could any backer be stronger than the Celestial me Pagoda?"


    Qing Lian tersely said, "Not afraid!"


    Na Shan rolled his eyes again at how brazen these guys were being, as if they were all true heroes. Just thinking about them shouting at the Blood River Lord, "We don''t ask who the enemy is, only where the enemy is!" had his head hurting.


    Even so, Tang Jie''s words had riled up Na Shan''s boldness.


    There was one thing that Tang Jie was right about. A powerful warrior who could pull up mountains was a heroic figure, and how could one be a hero if one felt fear at the mere mention of a powerful enemy?


    Na Shan and the others had all fought their way out of the arena, selling their lives for money many times. While it wasn''t right to say that they didn''t fear death, at least they wouldn''t instantly lose their courage upon hearing the mere mention of it.


    Na Shan had been angry because Tang Jie had been too secretive and also because the Blood River Lord was just too infamous.


    But now that Tang Jie had pointed things out, he realized that offending the Blood River Lord wasn''t too big of a deal. It wasn''t much more dangerous than their adventure into the Treasure Paradise. Their kind of people had always lived on the edge of the de, been willing to take risks so long as there was something in it for them.


    If that was the case, was killing the Blood River Lord''s avatar that big of a deal?


    Everyone needed some self-consoling. The past was the past, so rather than be afraid, it was better to bravely face it. Na Shan had been through countless fights, and after this self-consoling session, his confidence swelled. Casting off his fear, he loudly said, "Yes, who cares how strong the enemy is? Even if it''s the Blood River Lord or me Celestial Sovereign, I won''t back down!"


    Hei Yan and the others paled, shouting together, "Don''t go too far now!"


    "¡­¡­"


    Regardless of what Na Shan was thinking, there was no choice now except to deal with whatever consequences woulde. Fortunately, the Treasure Paradise was opening soon, and even with the Blood River Lord''s prodigious abilities, he wouldn''t be able to get here that quickly.


    Of course, the best way to solve things was still with money.


    Tang Jie gave each of the other four fifty thousand ckstone coins.


    After all, anyone treated to a meal or given a gift would find it hard to reject a request from the giver.


    If Na Shan still had some lingering anger, then this sumptuous gift dispelled it all. Of course, this was because he really didn''t have a choice¡ªthe job was already done. Not taking the money was idiotic, whereas taking the money would be acknowledging the transaction.


    Between being an idiot and acknowledging the transaction, Na Shan chose thetter.


    Thus, after taking the money, Na Shan began to wish for the day of their Treasure Paradise expedition toe a little faster.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    The matter had finally been settled.


    The other four returned to the Celestial me Pagoda while Tang Jie went to the Heaven Manor Mountains in the eastern part of the city.


    He still had the cave estate here, and Xu Miaoran and the others were staying here.


    Opening the seal on the cave estate, Tang Jie strode in and was weed by Xu Miaoran and Yiyi.


    "What''s the situation?" Xu Miaoran worriedly asked. Through a secret art, Xu Miaoran had already found out what had happened. Rather than actually asking about what was going on, it was better to say that she had asked out of an instinctive concern.


    "Everything is fine." Tang Jie hugged Xu Miaoran and gave her a kiss. "It was just an idiot who was delivering a blood gem."


    He stuffed the blood gem into Xu Miaoran''s hand. "You can use it to refine Blood Spirit Pills."


    Tang Jie''s casual demeanor inexplicably lightened Xu Miaoran''s mood. She nodded and put away the gem. "I''ll put it to the side for now."


    "No, use it as quickly as you can. I suspect that Blood River can sense his blood gems. He relied on this to find me."


    This gave Xu Miaoran a fright. "I''ll go and refine it right now."


    "You don''t need to be in that much of a rush," Tang Jie chuckled. "How''s the project going?"


    "Which one?" Xu Miaoran paused for a moment, and then she said in realization, "Oh, it''s about done. Follow me."


    She lightly strode into the cave.


    In the deepest part of the cave estate, a diagram was hung on the wall: the Mountain River State Diagram.


    The Mountain River State Diagram was half-open, and it was possible to see the scenes ying out within. Several people were busying themselves within the diagram¡ªnone other than He Chong, Duan Fourth, and Deng Yuqing.


    Underneath the Mountain River State Diagram was a shing formation that covered almost the entire floor of the cave estate. Inside the formation was a ck hole that led to some unknown ce.


    Standing next to Tang Jie, Xu Miaoran softly said, "This already goes more than ten thousand feet down¡­ they wanted a lot. Is this really okay?"


    Xu Miaoran looked worriedly at Tang Jie.


    "It''s only some soil, no big deal," Tang Jie soothed, patting Xu Miaoran on the shoulder.


    "But I don''t understand why we have to do this," Xu Miaoran said as she looked at the Mountain River State Diagram in confusion.


    Only she and Yiyi knew what they were sending through this formation into the Mountain River State Diagram.


    Large amounts of soil and other physical matter had been sent through this ck hole formation into the diagram. Of course, this wasn''t some precious resource, only soil, nts, and even air.


    "Because these are the foundations for creating a world," Tang Jie replied. "They don''t seem valuable, but they are still the foundation. And what we need to do is to use this world to enrich our own world."


    His gaze stopped at that ck hole teleportation formation.


    It was like a pipe that was stabbed into the insides of this world, constantly sending over everything the Mountain River State Diagram world needed.


    "Your intention in sending He Chong''s group into there was never to set up a teleportation formation to rece the Space Crystal, right?" Xu Miaoran asked.


    "Of course not," Tang Jie chuckled. "I needed their help toplete the world within the diagram, making it more real and rich."


    Xu Miaoran was surprised. "And why is that? Do you realize how many resources this will take?"


    "Of course I do, but I also know how important this is," Tang Jie replied.


    "How is it important?" Xu Miaoran asked.


    Tang Jie replied, "The first reason is that it will be our resource base. There are hundred-year blessednds, thousand-year paradises, and ten-thousand-year Immortal Realms, but I don''t ask for much, only a hundred-year blessednd."


    Xu Miaoran nodded. It was true. Other than serving as a formation, the Mountain River State Diagram''s greatest use was the ability to be a blessednd. In the past, cultivators had made the diagram take up vast tracts ofnd precisely because they had lost a paradise.


    Tang Jie had lost that first opportunity to take in arge tract ofnd, but thanks to the Space Crystal, he had the ability to constantly add physical matter to the space and add to thend. Since he had the opportunity to expand the diagram into a blessednd, how could he give it up?


    But turning the diagram into a blessednd was no easy matter.


    Tang Jie had only moved in that waterfall initially, so he wascking far too much physical matter and spiritual energy. The only area suitable for life was that limited space covered by the Eternal Universe Formation. Outside of this space was only barrennd¡­ and sometimes not even the nd".


    While the Space Crystal could expand the space, it expanded only the space. The physical matter that filled it had toe from somewhere else.


    And after being transported into the diagram, it also required people to process this material and put it to work, or else it would just be a pile of trash.


    This was why Tang Jie had persuaded He Chong into the diagram.


    He didn''t need to tell He Chong what to do, only get him into the diagram. He Chong would work to modify the environment for the sake of his own survival.


    An environment in which humans could survive was one where resources could grow. In this aspect, most humans, let alone cultivators, were even more "picky" than Immortal nts.


    Whatever He Chong asked for, Tang Jie would do his best to satisfy.


    The living circumstances of the diagram gradually began to change, growing more suitable for human habitation, for nt growth, for the existence of life.


    "If there''s a first reason, then is there a second reason?" Yiyi asked.


    "The second reason is actually what I realized in my battle with He Chong. It was only after that battle that I made up my mind to modify the diagram," Tang Jie replied. "The second reason is that it can help me fight against a Violet Pce cultivator."


    Fight against a Violet Pce cultivator!


    Yiyi and Xu Miaoran were dumbfounded.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    This was an extremely barren and destend, so deste that even dirt was a rarity.


    Standing in the air, He Chong looked at the ground below. The silt mixed with yellow soil was so thin that it seemed like a fruit peel.


    Rather than saying he was surveying the earth, it was better to say that he was looking for it, and rather than saying he was looking for earth, it was better to say that he was creating it¡­ That bastard Tang Jie probably wanted to use me to modify the environment from the beginning, right? He Chong bitterly thought to himself.


    After spending long enough, he had grasped Tang Jie''s "plot".


    This world had no stars, no mountains or rivers, no sky-obscuring forests, no oceans or birds or beasts.


    This world was so barren that even clouds were a luxury.


    Making a formation to rece the Space Crystal in this environment?


    It was pure bullshit!


    He had already spent so long here, but he couldn''t even see the framework for a spatial formation. Tang Jie had never given him materials for a spatial formation, only saying that the current environment didn''t fit the requirements.


    He was the formation designer, so if he said it wasn''t good enough, He Chong could only ept it!


    Raising his head, he looked up at that prismatic red sun zing in the sky.


    He Chong knew that this was the Space Crystal.


    The Space Crystal''s power had divided the diagram world into three parts.


    The core part was the Great Broken Stream.


    This was the space that Tang Jie had initially cut out from the world andpletely sealed using the Eternal Universe Formation, creating an isted world like a reclusive Immortal''s ind.


    In this "Broken Stream Immortal Ind", life could freely breathe, proliferate, and survive, and many creatures lived within.


    This ce was also most suitable for He Chong to live in.


    But Tang Jie, using the reason of protecting the formation, refused to let him in.


    Outside of this ind, arge swath of physical matter floated.


    This was all physical matter that Tang Jie had added to the diagram in various ways in the past that had been converted back into raw material. This raw material turned into a gray-red soil that spread out from the edge of that "solitary ind".


    If the Broken Stream Ind was the city, thisnd was the wilderness outside the city, the beaches to the ind.


    They were deste, barren, and devoid of anything.


    But at least they existed.


    Farther still loomed a volcano, the furnace that Tang Jie had created to melt everything down to its raw materials. It was like another core, taking in the substances that Tang Jie had no use for and spitting outrge quantities of "volcanic ash". This ash would fall to the ground and be the gray-red soil, but some of it would be the purest of most fundamental energy, fusing with the air and granting this world heat and wind.


    Thus, in this world, it was the volcano and not the sun that provided heat.


    The ind and the wilderness formed andmass.


    Beyond thendmass was the void created by the Space Crystal.


    There was absolutely nothing in the void, and the matter provided by the furnace was far from enough to fill it.


    It was like a sea,pletely encircling thendmass.


    The world furnace allowed this little piece ofnd to stubbornly and doggedly expand.


    The solitary ind, wilderness, and void were the three parts of the diagram world.


    He Chong was not allowed to enter the ind and was not willing to enter the void, so modifying this barren wilderness was his only choice.


    Even without Tang Jie''s encouragement, he would work hard so that he could live a better life.


    "Sir, the surveince formation is done," Deng Yuqing respectfully said as he came up to He Chong''s side. He passed a piece of paper to He Chong. "These are the results."


    He Chong took the paper and shuddered. "This big?"


    "Yes," Deng Yuqing replied. "ording to my calctions,pletely filling the void at the current speed would take at least ten thousand years."


    "We don''t have that much time," He Chong grimly said.


    "So long as the void is here, this ce will never be stable," Deng Yuqing said.


    Duan Fourth came over and said, "Sir, the Drought Schr Trees we nted a few days ago are all dead."


    "Even Drought Schr Trees can''t survive," He Chong muttered.


    Drought Schr Trees were an extremely hardy nt that could basically survive as long as there was soil, a symbol of hardiness in the nt world. But even a nt like this couldn''t survive in this deste soil.


    "We need water," Duan Fourth said.


    "Water¡­" He Chong''s eyes gradually brightened. "No, we need a sea!"


    "Where would we get a sea?" Deng Yuqing asked.


    "We make it ourselves, of course," He Chong replied.


    He gazed at the distant volcano. "Since there is a furnace formation, there should also be an ocean-making formation. Starting from today, we will start dividing up the matter here into soil, water, and energy. If the world will not do the dividing¡­ then I will do it for the world!"


    Trantor Notes


    He Chong has grand ambitions! Of course, it''s all for the sake of Tang Jie''s n.

 Chapter 568: Time

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    A jade amulet shed.


    Xu Miaoran grabbed the amulet on her waist and examined it. On it were details of the materials He Chong wanted and what he was going to use them for.


    "Making an ocean creation formation to use seawater to fill the void. There''s nothing wrong with the idea¡­" Xu Miaoran muttered.


    She slightly creased her beautiful brow as she tried to see if there was anything suspicious about He Chong''s request. If there was something she didn''t understand, she would take a look at the formation treatise Tang Jie had left for her. Although she could just ask Tang Jie, she didn''t want to distract him while he was preparing to enter the Treasure Paradise.


    An excellent woman should be able to handle problems for her man.


    After looking everything over, Xu Miaoran grabbed a brush, crossing out several items and reducing the amount a little. She then looked the list over again, and once she found that there were no problems, she let out a me from her finger.


    A maid entered, and Xu Miaoran passed over the list. "Go to Xian Tao and have her get me the things on the list. Send them over to the Heaven Manor Mountains tonight."


    The list was delivered to the Rosecloud Store on Heavenly x Street in the time it took to drink a cup of tea. Xian Tao, who was already the general manager, swiftly mustered her people and gathered up all the materials, which were delivered to the Heaven Manor Mountains that night.


    Yiyi was the one responsible for receiving them.


    She took all the goods into the cave, where they were sent through the teleportation formation into the diagram and into He Chong''s hands.


    Usually, Yiyi would also put some flower and grass seeds with the goods, and decorate them with pretty pictures. In her view, those three uncles in the diagram were rather pitiful, likeborers in a mine. In that lightless world, they were going to great pains to modify the world, offering up their energy to it.


    A beam of light lit up the wilderness, signifying that the goods had arrived.


    He Chong picked up that paper covered in elegant handwriting that had been ced in front of the goods. On it was written: "While a Jade Dew Bottle does have the ability to condense energy into rain and create sweet dew, it also has the ability to remake the world and hide from the heavens. As Sir might harbor ulterior motives, it is best if you did not have such a thing. Instead, I have sent three clumps of Spirit Firmament Clouds, which also have the ability to create clouds and rain. Please ept them. The Genesis Immortal Spring is everflowing and able to create all things, but while it is wondrous indeed, it is too expensive. Thisdy already spent all her money on the Three Witherings and cannot afford it, and if I could, I would use it for myself. After all, this is a divine item meant for cultivating Water spell arts, which just happens to be what I cultivate. Instead, use this Coldstone Stream as a recement. The Violet Radiance Stone Foundation sounds good, but did you know that it can be used as the foundation of a teleportation formation? Considering that the items you asked forst time are also linked to teleportation formations, I''m wondering: are you nning to make another teleportation formation? If you want one, you can just ask. There''s no need to secretly make another, as that''s a huge waste. So this item is forbidden. There''s a few other things that I won''t talk about, but I''m sure Sir knows what they are. Finally, Tang Jie''s understanding of formations isn''t any worse than yours, so please think carefully about your decisions."


    Bang.


    A me burned the paper into ash.


    He Chong gnashed his teeth and shouted, "That bitch!"


    He waved his hand, and Duan Fourth and Deng Yuqing came forward and began to sort through the materials.


    Deng Yuqing carefully put away the grass seeds that Yiyi had ced with the materials.


    Duan Fourth looked at him strangely. "What are you keeping those for? Thend here can''t sustain them yet."


    Deng Yuqing chuckled as Yiyi''s cute little face appeared in his mind.


    From a little babe to a little girl, Yiyi had now grown up a little more, appearing now like a young woman, showing signs of a city-toppling beauty. Tang Jie, who had grown up alongside her, waspletely unaware of the change, but other people had already started to eye that girl.


    As Deng Yuqing carefully put away the grass seeds and felt the warmth upon them, his mind recalled Yiyi''s form, and a satisfied smile appeared on his lips.


    It wasn''t long before a mountain of ice silently appeared to the east of the Broken Stream Ind. In the center of the ice mountain was an Iceseal Crystal, radiating a chill and formingrge quantities of frost around it.


    A cier was slowly taking form.


    An ice sea.


    This was the best way to turn the void into a sea. He Chong had thought of it but had said nothing, so Xu Miaoran had suggested it for him.


    Ice and fire were like the two poles of the world, silently resonating with each other from their respective positions in the east and west.


    This world had cold and warmth, so air currents began to form.


    As these air currents flowed over thendmass, they started to form rain clouds.


    This was the first rain within the Mountain River State Diagram.


    Its appearance had the creatures living on the Great Broken Stream in an immense panic. After a short while, the creatures gradually started to adapt.


    The ice sea to the east silently expanded.


    It wasn''t expanding very quickly, theck of matter remaining a bottleneck. Even Tang Jie did not dare to brazenly swallow upnd, only furtively steal some matter from under the Heaven Manor Mountains. Regardless, though, this was still a good start.


    As the area of water expanded, He Chong felt a sense of aplishment. He was creating a world, a real world.


    Not just anyone got this opportunity.


    As the ice sea was established, this world now had water, and the first specks of green appeared in the wilderness.


    They were scattered like stars, but they foretold that a green carpet would cover thend in the near future.


    It was the miracle of life.


    As the ice sea expanded, other parts of the wilderness also began to change.


    The earth was thickening and umting, with the thicker piles forming into mountain ranges and the thinner areas bingkes. And through guidance and instruction, rivers and forests would begin to appear, and the environment would improve.


    But this would have to wait for the future. There was something else that He Chong urgently needed to do.


    The Space Crystal, serving as the substitute for the sun, neither moved nor gave off heat.


    It only gave off limited light, and as it did not orbit this world, there was no sunrise or sunset, no night or day.


    Thus, this world''s light was forever dim and gloomy.


    An eternal dusk!


    Now that He Chong had solved the problem of water, he needed to solve the problems of light, heat, and time.


    He had designed a new formation for this, one that would create a new sun that would orbit the world together with the Space Crystal. The Space Crystal would be the moon, its light gentle and pure, while the formation would be the sun, blessing the earth with its dazzling light.


    Of course, this would require many materials to pull off.


    "He''s gone crazy!" Xu Miaoran cried out in surprise after getting the new list of materials.


    "Taking the role of the Heavenly Dao and creating the sun, moon, and stars truly is a crazy idea, but I like it." Tang Jie smiled.


    This was the day after the encounter with the Blood River Lord.


    Tang Jie had never expected to see something like this.


    "Suns, moons, and stars aren''t something that humans can make. Are you really going to give him what he wants?" Xu Miaoran asked, staring at him.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "What''s wrong with it? There are small suns and big suns. Big suns are so vast as to be worlds of their own, but small suns can be like fireballs, serving as bright suns only for antholes. While the world in the diagram isn''t small, it can''tpare to the vastness of the myriad domains. Ick a Divine Connection that can move stars or moons, but there''s no problem with making a little sun that can shine across a thousand miles."


    "If you want it to shine over a thousand miles, the cost won''t be small. Is that really necessary?" Xu Miaoran worriedly said.


    "It''s very necessary," Tang Jie replied. "Actually, even if He Chong hadn''t asked about it, I would have. So his bringing it up is perfect."


    "You''re going to make one?"


    "Mm! But not a sun," Tang Jie replied. "I was nning to make a time formation in the Mountain River State Diagram so that time flowed faster inside the diagram."


    "What?" Xu Miaoran said in shock.


    Tang Jie nonchntly replied, "If we want to establish a resource base, how can we not have control over time? It''s not like we can really wait ten thousand years to get a ten-thousand-year Immortal nt. What I want is a formation that can control time. What''s a sun inparison to that? It''s just a necessaryponent of the formation I really want."


    Xu Miaoran was stunned by Tang Jie''s tone. "The costs of such a formation are so immense that even the six major sects couldn''t do it."


    None of the six major sects of Rosecloud had a paradise with a formation that could control the flow of time. This was not because they didn''t want one, but because such a formation was far too difficult to establish, even more difficult and costly than a spatial formation that could rece the Space Crystal.


    Tang Jie wanting to rece the Space Crystal was a pretense, but his desire for a formation that could control the flow of time was real.


    Tang Jie replied, "You''re wrong about one thing, Miaoran. The six sects haven''t done such a thing not merely because of money, but more because of domestic and foreign concerns."


    The establishment of an enormous formation would be incredibly costly and affect numerous matters.


    Sects like the Basking Moon Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion might have had the wealth to build one, but in the process of doing so, they would run into all sorts of mishaps that would eventually lead them to failure. For example, an enemy faction would damage and threaten the project, as no one was going to just sit back and watch an opponent get stronger. And since a time formation of this magnitude would require huge amounts ofbor and resources, it would be easy to attack once discovered. Let alone one''s sworn foe, even other people might interfere and destroy it, even one''s ally.


    Besides that, while the six major sects had a lot of money, they also had plenty of ces to spend it.


    In truth, the more one approached the apex of political power, the more onecked money. For example, the emperors of China''s various dynasties had all been sorelycking in money, for there were ces all across the realm that demanded money to be spent, like bottomless holes.


    Something like a time formation would require a major faction to tighten up their belts and save for a few years before they started, and even if they had no opposition, they would not lightly make the decision to build one, even if everyone understood the benefits of sess.


    But Tang Jie was different.


    In terms of making money, while the inter-domain trade was profitable, it couldn''tpare to the revenues of the six major sects. But the six major sects had a lot of people to pay, a hundred thousand disciples, a million warriors. What was left over was actually very small.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie didn''t employ as many people, so much of his revenue was pure profit, which made his avable capital much greater than that of the six major sects.


    Secondly, his time formation would be made in the Mountain River State Diagram, which was like a portable cave estate.


    The greatest advantage of this portable cave estate was that he didn''t need to worry about interference from his enemies.


    If the Basking Moon Sect were to build one, it would definitely be in the Water Moon Paradise, so if the Beast Refining Gate attacked, there would be no running away. But Tang Jie didn''t have this worry, as he could just roll up the diagram and leave.


    Finally, Tang Jie was an individual, not a sect, so he wasn''t restrained by sect factional strife.


    As an example, if the Basking Moon Sect wanted to make the formation, the academy faction and radical faction would probably support it while the conservatives would oppose it. Opposition was natural, but someone even more petty might choose to secretly work against the project.


    The more distributed power was, the more difficult it was to get a major projectpleted.


    Again, Tang Jie did not have this problem, and he was himself a formation master. In addition, he had his greatest advantage: he was young and had entered the Dao. These two points meant that if he was willing and had the time, he could set up the time formation on his own.


    After hearing Tang Jie''s analysis, Xu Miaoran carefully thought it over. "How long do you expect it to take?"


    "If everything goes smoothly, it should take between two hundred and three hundred years," Tang Jie answered. "But that''s if we invest the majority of the money we''ve made so far."


    "''The majority''? How much?"


    "Eighty percent."


    Xu Miaoran gasped. "Do you know how much money that is?"


    Tang Jie nodded. "Of course, but I also know that money''s uses will be more limited in the future. The 19 Celestial Chiefs of the Basking Moon Sect are all sitting on huge fortunes, but in thest several centuries, the only one of them to reach Violet Pce has been Ming Yekong. The medicines needed at that level simply can''t be valued or bought with money. For example, if you wanted a Nine Heavens Luan Grass, you could offer an astronomically high price and still not find a seller. Cang Qingfeng lived a hundred lives and once possessed enormous wealth, but none of that could get him an Evercycle Rising Dragon Pill. The Immortal path is long, and the farther you go along it, the more difficult it is to traverse. It''s precisely because I understand this that I''ve made this decision. Moreover, this will have countless other advantages in the future, which I already exined to you yesterday."


    "But you cultivate the Parting ssic. You need those resources."


    That''s why I''m keeping 20%. Don''t worry. The hundred-meter giant isn''t the end for me. Above the Diamond Body is the Immortal Spirit Body and the Great Dao Body. Just the name alone, ''Great Dao Body''¡­ you think that''s something you can get with just money? Even the Immortal Spirit Body will require countless Immortal nts to attain. So¡­ that makes this even more necessary!" Tang Jie solemnly said.


    "What about He Chong? He wants to divide Yin and Yang, fix Qian and Kun, and partition time. If he knows that you want to make a time-controlling formation¡­ anyway, if I were him, I wouldn''t ept it."


    "Only at the start. But when he gradually begins to like thatnd, it won''t matter anymore."


    "''Like thatnd''?" Xu Miaoran was dumbfounded. "That barrennd in the Mountain River State Diagram? Do you think He Chong is crazy enough to like that ce?"


    "No one will dislike their own child¡­ So long as you truly devote your heart and soul to thatnd, you wille to truly love it and consider it like your own child. Moreover, while this child is a little ugly and barren right now, as you nurture it more and more, one day it will begin to sprout buds."


    Xu Miaoran fell silent.


    After a while, she finally nodded. "I grant that you''re correct, but the problem is the present. The present He Chong definitely doesn''t like thatnd yet, right?"


    "Of course, so he won''t know about this for the time being."


    "Then how are you going to start building the formation?"


    "I''ll do it myself."


    "You?" Xu Miaoran was just about to say that he was busy when she suddenly realized and blurted out, "Your original body?"


    Tang Jie nodded. "The Dao merging in the valley is basically about done. In two days, I''ll be heading into the Treasure Paradise, and I n to bring in the original body, so I''ll be putting it in the diagram. With the original body around, setting up the formation will be no problem. I just need all the materials to be sent over in the next two days."


    "You''re taking the original body into the Treasure Paradise? Why not use a teleportation formation?"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "That won''t work. The Treasure Paradise isn''t like the Martial Lord''s hidden realm. In order to be essed by a teleportation formation, the hidden realm started off with a weak barrier that could be easily prated. But the Treasure Paradise is the exact opposite. It is a Dao armament that has been sealed off, and even the Blood Sea Formation needs twenty years to open it up each time. A teleportation formation can''t ess this kind of ce, so the only method is the Mountain River Diagram."


    "Then bring me too!" Xu Miaoran said. "I want to adventure with you."


    "Silly fool," Tang Jie chuckled. "If you went too, who would keep watch over this ce? The inter-domain trade is too important for it to be left unattended. If you can''t rx, then refine a few more pills for me. While the Dao of Life is powerful, it consumes too much lifespan, so if possible, I would rather eat medicine. In the past, I couldn''t afford it, but now, I basically have to eat pills like they''re jellybeans."


    Xu Miaoran found this rather amusing, and she couldn''t help but giggle.


    Knowing that he was thinking for her sake, she didn''t push the matter. "Then you should take Yiyi and Tutu. They''re both at Transformation, so they will be of big help."


    Yiyi and Tutu had sessfully reached Transformation a few days ago, which Tang Jie had already been told about. Yiyi''s strength had soared because of this, and she truly could serve as a reliable helper for Tang Jie.


    As for Tutu, Tang Jie hadn''t seen it after it had attained Transformation.


    Only after hearing Xu Miaoran mention it did Tang Jie finally remember this. "Right, that rabbit! Why is it that I haven''t seen it once after it attained Transformation?"


    Xu Miaoran covered her mouth and giggled. "It doesn''t dare to see you."


    "Oh? Why?" Tang Jie asked out of curiosity.


    Xu Miaoran softly coughed. "Hurry ande out already."


    In the distance, two long ears suddenly popped out of the ground.


    The moment the ears appeared, Tang Jie''s heart huped.


    There was no doubt that they were muchrger than before.


    Xu Miaoran waved her hand. "What are you hesitating for? Come out!"


    Arge hole opened up in the ground as Tutu emerged.


    Tang Jie was gobsmacked, and it took quite a while for him to finally speak again. "Tutu¡­ you¡­ How did you get so big?"


    This rabbit fiend was now a big rabbit, ten feet long. Sitting on the ground, it seemed very reluctant to raise its head.


    Xu Miaoran chuckled. "This is why it doesn''t want to see you¡­ Heaven-Lost Rabbits are the best at traveling the void, not just because of their ability to orient themselves within the void, but also because of their incredible speed."


    Suddenly, Tang Jie recalled what the rabbit had told him once.


    "Back then, I traveled the void with my young master, searching for a treasure¡­"


    "Traveled the void with my young lord¡­"


    "Traveled the void¡­"


    As the voice bounced around in Tang Jie''s mind, he suddenly understood.


    He understood why Cang Qingfeng had brought this rabbit.


    It wasn''t because of its ability to orient itself within the void, but because he could ride the rabbit!


    Tang Jie cried out, "No wonder it was so uninterested in advancing despite having no ability¡­ The Heaven-Lost Rabbit race is actually a race of natural mounts!"

 Chapter 569: Going In (1)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Finally, the opening day of the Treasure Paradise arrived.


    Tang Jie went to the eighth floor of the Celestial me Pagoda at the appointed time and found it packed with people.


    The Western Heavenly King was standing in a corner of the hall, together with Na Shan and the others.


    The Western Heavenly King smiled at him and gestured that he shoulde over.


    Tang Jie went up to the Western Heavenly King and bowed. "I wish you well, Western Lord."


    "Everything is going well," the Western Heavenly Kingughed. "Na Shan has already told me of your problem."


    Tang Jie''s heart leaped, and the Western Heavenly King continued, "Don''t worry. While that existence is powerful, the Celestial me Pagoda does not fear him. While I can''t guarantee anything else, so long as you are within the Celestial me Pagoda, we can protect you."


    Tang Jie inwardly sighed in admiration. The Western Heavenly King really knew how to talk.


    Regardless of what the Western Heavenly King was thinking, these words would have had anyone else weeping in gratitude.


    This was a moment where good talent was needed, and if Tang Jie wanted the Western Heavenly King''s protection, he would need to work hard within the Treasure Paradise. No matter what happened afterward, Tang Jie would be wrung dry of value beforehand.


    Of course, on the surface, Tang Jie was the picture of gratitude, sobbing out his thanks.


    He joined the Western Heavenly King''s team, and the Western Heavenly King waved his hand. A hazy energy engulfed them so as to keep out any eavesdroppers.


    To avoid being targeted, nobody lightly exposed their strongest representative. Even the most arrogant of cultivators understood the importance of keeping a low profile on this asion. Being arrogant could wait until they were inside the Treasure Paradise.


    As they were talking, the other three Heavenly Kings also entered.


    This was Tang Jie''s first time seeing them.


    The Western Heavenly King was a Hemos. The Eastern Heavenly King was a human, appearing as a graceful schr. As for the Northern Heavenly King, he was a fiend, a towering dark figure of a man.


    As expected, the me Celestial Sovereign made no distinction between species when taking disciples.


    The Southern Heavenly King was a demon woman, and more than half of the people following her were also women.


    The Southern Heavenly King was a true demon, and her face was covered in various tattoos. When Tang Jie looked at the tattoos, he felt like they were moving like snakes. And as Tang Jie looked more, he felt like his mind was being drawn into them.


    Fortunately, he had formidable mental fortitude and recovered after a momentary daze, upon which he realized that these were not simple tattoos, but Dao Runes.


    This was a Celestial Sovereign who had entered the Dao!


    This woman had carved the Dao Runes onto her face. Given that they exuded boundless temptation, they were probably linked to the Dao of Charm.


    Tang Jie had broken free so easily entirely because this woman hadn''t activated these runes in earnest.


    Na Shan and the others recovered soon after he did. As for those who had been selected afterward, their eyes were still confused. It was only when the other three Heavenly Kings snorted that their minds regained rity.


    The Eastern and Northern Heavenly Kings weren''t exactly nice people either. The Northern Heavenly King had a very blunt personality and directly said to the Southern Heavenly King, "Junior Sister Liu, please withdraw your charming art. Your actions can already be considered acting against our representatives."


    The Southern Heavenly King covered her mouth and smiled. "Oh my, who used any charming art? Am I not allowed to just be naturally charming? Don''t me others for tempting you if you simplyck the focus."


    Her eyes drifted over to a delicate-looking youth behind the Eastern Heavenly King, and then to a shriveled old man behind the Northern Heavenly King, and finally to Tang Jie. She thenughed. "Brothers, you really have managed to find some talented individuals."


    It turned out that she had been testing the representatives. While the other three Heavenly Kings had tried to guard against it, that instantaneous reaction had still exposed a little of their foundations.


    Strong resolve didn''t mean that one was actually strong. However, there were definitely those skilled in charming arts among the Southern Heavenly King''s subordinates, and this probing allowed one to know which people could resist, which people couldn''t, and which people needed to be watched out for.


    For people who relied on charming arts, such information was extremely important. It meant that when they used their charming arts, they wouldn''t be targeting the wrong person and putting themselves in danger of being counterattacked.


    In short, this sudden move had allowed the Southern Heavenly King to get a good picture of what she was facing while the other three had no idea how strong the twenty representatives under the Southern Heavenly King were. However, there was nothing they could do about this. The charming arts of the Southern Heavenly King had always been formless and difficult to defend against.


    At this moment, Tang Jie lightly coughed. Seemingly afraid of disturbing the four Heavenly Kings, he hastily took out a handkerchief to cover his mouth and cover up the noise.


    As the Southern Heavenly King looked at the handkerchief, she froze for a moment, and then she realized something and turned around. Behind her, a young woman in a green gown was staring at the handkerchief in a daze. Incensed, the Southern Heavenly King lightly stomped a foot, and the handkerchief was instantly obliterated.


    The young woman seemed to wake from a dream, and she grimaced upon realizing she had fallen into a trap.


    The Southern Heavenly King red at Tang Jie and spat out, "A good illusion spell, even able to fabricate a Celestial Incense Brocade."


    The Celestial Incense Brocade was a legendary divine item with a Divine Connection associated with temptation. This item was useless to others, but it was a supreme treasure to those who practiced charming arts. This was a rare item that most cultivators couldn''t recognize, but back when Tang Jie had been flexing his academic muscle, he had taken full advantage of the Basking Moon Sect''s vast library. There, he had seen a picture of this item, which was why he was able to reproduce it. While there was no guarantee that the Southern Heavenly King''s representatives would recognize it, it would probably be recognized by those skilled in the charming arts.


    This was such a great treasure that when Tang Jie created an illusion of it, even the Southern Heavenly King fell for it for a moment. However, though she had reacted swiftly, the young woman in green had still been exposed. Let alone Tang Jie, the other Heavenly Kings had also probably realized that the young woman in green was probably one of the best users of the charming arts under the Southern Heavenly King.


    Although it was just a minor sh that would have no effect upon the final victor, this sort of invisible exchange could affect morale. The morale that had been lost with the Southern Heavenly King''s move was immediately gotten back, and Na Shan and the others were clearly reinvigorated. Even the Eastern and Northern Heavenly Kings chuckled.


    The Northern Heavenly King even said, "Hero, you found a pretty good kid."


    The Western Heavenly King nodded. "The Dao of Illusions isn''t about making the fake seem real, but taking aim at people''s minds. Tang Jie, you did a good job."


    Tang Jie bowed and replied, "Heavenly King, thank you for the praise."


    But that woman in green red at Tang Jie, clearly holding a grudge against Tang Jie for deceiving her.


    Na Shanughed and said, "Tang Jie, you better watch out. It looks to me like that girl hates you. She might even cause trouble for you the moment we''re inside the Treasure Paradise."


    Tang Jie shrugged. "Should I consider myself lucky or unlucky to be hated by a girl excelling in seduction? Does that mean that the harder she tries to kill me, the more flirtatious she''s being?"


    He spoke loudly enough that everyone heard and erupted inughter.


    All the men here understood the meaning of his words.


    The woman in green was trembling in rage.


    Although she was skilled in charming arts, those had more to do with the user''s mind than with their body. For those without the ability, any sort of flirting would only end up making a fool of oneself. But in Tang Jie''s mouth, it seemed like using a charming spell required taking off all her clothes, so how could she not be angry?


    It was again the Southern Heavenly King who turned and reminded her, "Focus and calm down. He''s provoking you on purpose."


    The woman in green was startled. Charming arts emphasized sowing discord in the enemy while remaining calm oneself. If her mind was in disarray, she could put aside any thought of messing with the enemy. She hastily nodded and said, "Master, thank you for your instruction."


    This woman was actually the Southern Heavenly King''s disciple.


    The Eastern Heavenly King said, "Since everyone is here, let''s go."


    He headed to the ninth floor.


    There was a teleportation formation here that could send them to the Treasure Paradise''s entrance.


    Everyone entered the teleportation formation, and with a sh of light, Tang Jie found himself in a giant underground cavern.


    In front of him were two doors made of stone, nearly a thousand feet tall. Standing in front of them made one feel tiny as an ant.


    This was the entrance to the Treasure Paradise.


    Above the stone gate was a golden stamp that turned in the air. Tang Jie immediately knew that this was the seal.


    A cloud of blood had gathered over the stamp, spinning like a vortex. asionally, blood would descend to wash over the stamp.


    The endless washing of the blood wore away at the light of the stamp.


    At the base of the gates were four elders, each seated at a corner. Upon seeing the Heavenly Kings, they simply nodded their heads rather than standing up to greet them. Besides these four elders were more than a hundred Celestial me Pagoda warriors wearing red robes, and behind them wererge cages holding various primal beasts and fiends.


    The Western Heavenly King said to Tang Jie, "Behind these doors is the Treasure Paradise. Before you enter, please have your belongings inspected by the four guardian elders."


    Inspection of belongings was one of the requirements for entering the Treasure Paradise. One reason was that they needed to know what treasures one was bringing in so that Tang Jie couldn''t bring the Sovereign de in and thene out and say that he had gotten it in the Treasure Paradise. Secondly, they needed to look for any banned items. However, as the expedition to the Treasure Paradise was meant to be a disy of one''s abilities, the Celestial me Pagoda didn''t ce many limits. While Tang Jie''s several dozen formation diagrams and several hundred art relics might make the inspecting elder take a few extra looks and make him wonder whether this guy wasing here to take treasure or deliver treasure, it was not against the rules.


    Moreover, one could not inspect formation diagrams, for once they were opened, they could have earth-shaking effects. This would both waste the diagram and also set off a disturbance that the cavern couldn''t endure.


    Thus, when that inspecting elder saw that Tang Jie was taking so many formation diagrams with him, while he was shocked, he didn''t say much. However, he hesitated at the Mountain River State Diagram.


    This elder was an experienced and erudite individual, so he could tell that this diagram was different from the other formation diagrams. It was an authentic spatial treasure that, if used properly, could affect the Treasure Paradise to a certain extent.


    Fortunately, the elder was a traditionalist who understood that such treasures could only take in a new space once, were unable to take in another space unless the owner died. And until the diagram was unrolled, it was just a painting of which it was difficult to see the contents. Thus, after some thought, the elder decided not to unroll the diagram.


    Tang Jie exhaled in relief upon seeing this.


    He knew that all of the contraband was inside this diagram, with the greatest contraband being four living people.


    As for Yiyi and Tutu, he was openly bringing them with him¡ªtamed fiends were considered part of one''sbat strength.


    Once everyone''s belongings had been inspected, the four elders nodded at the Four Heavenly Kings.


    Everyone knew that it was time to enter.


    A momentter, copious amounts of blood descended from the blood vortex, washing over the golden stamp and putting out thatst glimmer of golden light.


    The Four Heavenly Kings ced their hands on the stone doors, and with a great boom, the doors opened, a bleak and immense energy rushing out from within.


    At this moment, the Celestial me Pagoda warriors opened the cages and began to throw the primal beasts and fiends inside.


    The Treasure Paradise needed an energy supply to ensure its continued operation. Cultivators were one part of this supply, but it wasn''t enough. The primal beasts were also a source of nutrition for the Treasure Paradise, allowing the world within to be grander and richer.


    Upon seeing this, Tang Jie realized that developing the world within the Mountain River State Diagram would also require sending in living creatures.


    Every lifeform that had cultivated before was a miniature treasury, and if they were to be broken down within the world in the diagram, everything would continue to exist in some form or fashion within that world, exhibiting a different use.


    Thousands of primal beasts were thrown into the Treasure Paradise, and when thest one was thrown in, the Four Heavenly Kings nodded, indicating that all of them could go in.


    Hero exined, "The Treasure Paradise can only be kept open for one hundred days. You must return before then no matter what, or else you will be shut inside and won''t be able toe out. This ce is rife with unfathomable dangers, so everyone should be cautious."


    Everyone saluted, after which Na Shan led them into the Treasure Paradise.


    Once all eighty representatives had entered, the doors closed back up.


    Now, it was time for the Heavenly Kings to sit and wait.


    For Violet Pce cultivators, a hundred days was barely any time at all.


    Several days passed by as they sat in meditation. Suddenly, they heard a great rumbling from overhead: "Four Heavenly Kings, get out here right now!"


    The four of them opened their eyes.


    The Northern Heavenly King said in shock, "Is that the Blood River Ancestor? Why is he here?"


    The Lord of the Blood River was an existence who had lived since High Antiquity, and he was even older than the me Celestial Sovereign. Thus, the Four Heavenly Kings referred to him as "Ancestor".


    The four of them shared a look and then teleported to the skies above the City of Freedom.


    The moment the four of them appeared, a Hemos male flew out from the distance¡ªanother Blood River avatar.


    However, this one was no longer at the Heart Demon Tier, but a proper Violet Pce Realm avatar.


    The Four Heavenly Kings bowed to the Blood River Lord. "We pay our respects to the Lord of the Blood River. Ancestor, for what reason have you graced us with your presence?"


    The Lord of the Blood River immediately said, "Where is Tang Jie?"


    "''Tang Jie''?" Western Heavenly King Hero put on an expression of surprise. "Tang Jie has already entered the Treasure Paradise. For what reason does Ancestor want to see Tang Jie?"


    "''The Treasure Paradise''?" The Blood River Lord''s voice suddenly rose several octaves, his eyeballs bulging out. "As expected! No wonder I was only able to track his energy here before it disappeared. Hand him over!"


    Hero replied, "While I do not know what rtionship Ancestor has with Tang Jie, since Ancestor wants to see him, then once the one hundred days are over and Tang Jiees out, I will bring him to see you."


    "You don''t need to worry about our rtionship, but I want to see him now!" the Blood River Lord thunderously roared.


    Although he had already reached Immortal tform, he had always had a violent and temperamental personality. Most importantly, the Lord of the Blood River cared a great deal about his personal dignity, and his greatest concern was that people wouldugh until their teeth fell out if they found out that he had failed to capture Tang Jie twice and had even lost an avatar to him.


    But in reality, it was hard to me him for what had happened. Even though he was an Immortal tform cultivator whose Divine Connections spanned the world, who could easily cross the void and catch someone from thousands of kilometers away, he still had to obey the rules of this world, still had limitations ced upon him.


    When Tang Jie had fled using the Space Crystal, he had managed to get incredibly far away. Given the vast range and numerous people in the area, even someone with his Divine Will would have an extremely tough time finding Tang Jie, such that he could not use his powers to seize him through space. Thus, he could only send an avatar to track him down.


    But after finally finding Tang Jie, he found that he was in the City of Freedom.


    The City of Freedom was the territory of the me Celestial Sovereign, so even the Blood River Lord could not use a Divine Connection in this ce, as this would be a challenge to the me Celestial Sovereign. At the time, he didn''t think that there was a need to offend the me Celestial Sovereign over a single Tang Jie, so he decided to fight with the avatar, but to his surprise, Tang Jie had destroyed it. This incurred his wrath, and he wanted nothing more than to use his Divine Connections to reach across space and kill Tang Jie.


    s, Tang Jie was too cunning for that, fleeing back into the City of Freedom after the deed was done. Unless the Blood River Lord wanted to tten the City of Freedom, he could not kill Tang Jie through this method. Moreover, even if he wanted to, he couldn''t, for the City of Freedom was protected by a formation overseen by four Violet Pce True Lords. Thus, he could only send another avatar over, but he had still been toote. To his great surprise, Tang Jie had entered the Treasure Paradise.


    The Blood River Lord was in great pain, but he was unwilling to voice his frustrations. For this reason, he could only unreasonably roar that they hand over Tang Jie.


    The Four Heavenly Kings were rather taken aback by his unreasonable demeanor, and they looked at each other at a loss for what to do.


    In the end, Hero said, "This is rather hard to do. Ancestor, as you know, once the Treasure Paradise is opened, even we can no longer go in. Several days have already passed, so we have no idea where Tang Jie could be in the Treasure Paradise. Having hime out now is too difficult!"


    "Then let me go in!" the Blood River Lord shouted.


    "This is¡­" The Four Heavenly Kings grimaced.


    "What? You think I''m after those treasures of yours?" the Blood River Lord snorted.


    "Not at all," Hero helplessly said. He smiled and exined, "It is just that the Celestial me Pagoda has its rules, and Ancestor asking this of us puts us in a difficult position."


    "I don''t care! Either hand over Tang Jie or let me go in myself!" The Blood River Lord''s voice rumbled through the heavens.


    He was now in a state where he could no longer be reasoned with.


    Trantor Notes


    It looks like the Blood River Lord is deadset on getting into the Treasure Paradise! Does he really hate Tang Jie that badly?

 Chapter 570: Going In (2)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Having suffered a loss at Tang Jie''s hands twice, the Blood River Lord''s patience was only worsening, while his anger was rising. He was relinquishing his fear of many taboos, and he gradually started to stop respecting the dignity of others.


    The grimace on the faces of the Four Heavenly Kings became even uglier.


    The simrly temperamental Northern Heavenly King snorted and said, "Blood River Ancestor, we refer to you as Ancestor because you are our senior, but a senior must act like a senior. The in of ughter is not the Blood River region, and the City of Freedom is not a ce where Ancestor can act as you please. Ancestor, do you really think that my Celestial me Pagoda has no one around?"


    As he spoke, a light erupted from the City of Freedom, and a me shot up from the Celestial me Pagoda. This was a sign that the City of Freedom''s guardian formation was activating, and that me rising from the pagoda was none other than the me Celestial Sovereign''s Pale Cloud me.


    The four Violet Pce cultivators plus the guardian formation were more than enough to take care of the Blood River avatar, but what they truly cared about wasn''t the avatar but the sky above it.


    A blood-colored cloud roiled in the sky, exuding an intimidating pressure. This was the pressure from the Blood River Lord, the power of his true body.


    Even though he was a vast distance away, the supreme might he disyed was enough to make anyone tremble in fear.


    The Four Heavenly Kings looked at each other. Even the four of them together and supported by the formation could not stop the power that the Lord of the Blood River was transmitting through space, such was his power.


    Just how had Tang Jie offended him and managed to survive? Even Hero was somewhat starting to regret that promise to protect Tang Jie.


    At this moment, the statue venerating the me Celestial Sovereign suddenly moved.


    Like a y idoling to life, the eyes of metal blinked, and then they erupted with light that pierced through the walls of the pagoda.


    A resounding voice boomed, "So it is the Lord of the Blood River who has graced my Celestial me Pagoda with his presence. Senior has cultivated for ten thousand years, so how are you so easily moved to anger as to quarrel with these juniors?"


    "Master!" The Four Heavenly Kings shouted in unison and prostrated.


    The Pale Cloud me swelled, instantly filling up the world, and a huge human-shaped manifestation emerged¡ªnone other than the me Celestial Sovereign.


    At the same time, that blood cloud also morphed into a giant human figure, the Lord of the Blood River. Compared to this body, the avatar seemed puny.


    These two Immortal tform cultivators had manifested their will to engage in a confrontation across space. The me Celestial Sovereign stroked his beard and smiled while the Lord of the Blood River was furious and unhinged. In terms of demeanor, he clearly lost out to the me Celestial Sovereign.


    This was understandable. While Blood River was more senior than anyone in the Blood River Domain, in terms of strength, the me Celestial Sovereign was above him despiteingter. It was said that he was already close to the Godhead Realm, possessing unparalleled divine might.


    With just his will manifested through the me, he exuded an aura on par with the Blood River Lord, forcing the furious Blood River Lord to calm down a little. He said to the me Celestial Sovereign, "Hong Qianli, that child Tang Jie stole my essence blood and has now entered the Treasure Paradise. Your four disciples are foolishly protecting him. I require an exnation."


    The me Celestial Sovereign smiled. "It''s only a little essence blood, nothing worth being angry about. In the end, Senior is so furious because you cannot suffer even the smallest loss. And do not me them for not letting you in. My Celestial me Pagoda has its rules. Rules that are easily broken are not rules."


    The Blood River Lord stared at the me Celestial Sovereign. "Then what can I do to break the rules?"


    The me Celestial Sovereign casually said, "I have heard that Ancestor obtained a supreme treasure called the Deicide me, one of the unique mes of the world?"


    The Blood River Lord paled. "I was wondering why you suddenly sent your will over. So you were after the Deicide me! Yes, you entered the Dao through Fire, so you love the special mes of the world. The Deicide me can burn up all things, so it''s no wonder that you''re tempted. But this item is not mine; it''s something entrusted to me by an old friend, and in the future, he will trade with me for it. No matter what idea you have in mind, put aside any thought of getting your hands on it."


    The me Celestial Sovereign replied, "As Senior said, I entered the Dao through Fire, but I do not necessarily need to own that me. Senior only needs to lend me it for a while so that I canprehend it."


    "Is that so¡­" The Blood River Lord considered this. "For how long?"


    "That will just depend on when your friendes to get it," the me Celestial Sovereign replied with a smile. "It''s not like you''re doing anything with that me, so just leave it with me. When hees to get it, I''ll hand it over."


    "Swear an oath on the Heavenly Dao!"


    "Naturally."


    The me Celestial Sovereign swore an oath on the Heavenly Do, and then the Blood River Lord swung an arm through the air, upon which the Deicide me flew out.


    The me Celestial Sovereign reached out to the me.


    The Deicide me danced in the me Celestial Sovereign''s hand. He looked at the me and nodded in satisfaction. "Instantly melting down all metals, a me that can send gods to the underworld. Truly, an extraordinary me."


    "You can let me in now, right?" the Blood River Lord gruffly said.


    "Of course." The me Celestial Sovereign smiled. "But the Treasure Paradise is sealed, and opening it will consume ten years of the Blood Sea Formation''s energy. This is why my Celestial me Pagoda only opens it once every twenty years¡ªten years of umtion for going in, and another ten for going out. If Sir wishes to open it again, the blood power that must be consumed¡­"


    "I''ll pay it," the Blood River Lord tersely said.


    Ten years of blood power was not cheap, perhaps on par with one drop of ck Tortoise essence blood. It could be seen that the me Celestial Sovereign was right, that the Blood River Lord was no longer driven by his essence blood, but by his emotions.


    The me Celestial Sovereignughed. "That would be for the best. Oh, right, there is also another thing I must warn Senior about. The Treasure Paradise is a world made from a spatial Dao armament, the Qian Kun Bag, and then Reverend Celestial Hook ced several other Dao armaments within it. One of these was the Yin Yang Division Sword, a Dao-controlling armament of vast powers. Once this weapon merged with the Treasure Paradise, it absorbed some of the Qian Kun Bag''s power. It is so terrifying that even I do not dare to directly contend against it. Senior''s original body does not need to go in, for even if you manage to resist that weapon''s power, you will only end up destroying the Treasure Paradise and yourself, with no one ending up better off. Even this Violet Pce avatar is a little too strong. If you go in, you should be at Soul Transformation at most. And even that would be dangerous."


    The Blood River Lord snorted. "I know how to handle myself. You don''t need to worry about me."


    The Violet Pce avatar instantly split off nine other bodies, the one Violet Pce avatar turning into ten peak Soul Transformation avatars.


    The me Celestial Sovereign shook his head. "It''s still a little too strong."


    The Blood River Lord snorted, and six of the peak Soul Transformation avatars split off into thirty Heart Demon avatars. He then looked at the me Celestial Sovereign and asked, "Is it fine now?"


    The me Celestial Sovereign chuckled. "As you please."


    The four peak Soul Transformation and thirty Heart Demon avatars flew toward the ninth floor of the Celestial me Pagoda. It seemed like he knew that the peak Soul Transformation avatars would probably be killed by the Yin Yang Division Sword, yet he didn''t care, insisting on throwing them in to hunt down Tang Jie.


    Even if he had to sacrifice them, he wanted to kill Tang Jie.


    The Blood River Lord watched his avatars go in, and with a cold snort, he disappeared, leaving behind the me Celestial Sovereign''s manifestation. The Four Heavenly Kings looked at each other, not knowing what to say.


    Hero nervously nced at the me Celestial Sovereign and then said, "Master!"


    "I know," the me Celestial Sovereign replied, a smile on his face. "You didn''t do anything wrong. Without this matter, I wouldn''t have been able to get my hands on the Deicide me."


    "But, Master, I recruited Tang Jie as one of my subordinates. Isn''t doing this selling him out?" Hero worriedly said. "If everyone knew about this, it might harm the reputation of the Celestial me."


    The me Celestial Sovereign erupted inughter. "When did that happen? That Tang Jie hid his identity from us to use our Celestial me Pagoda to bear the pressure for him, and all I''ve done is let Old Man Blood River in. It''s not like I personally captured him. Moreover, who cares if other people don''t understand this? Whether it''s the City of Freedom or the arena, they are all tools for gaining resources. The Immortal path is the true goal. If you can''t understand which one is more important, then you will have taken yourself down the wrong path."


    The four of them immediately voiced their agreement, seemingly enlightened.


    The me Celestial Sovereign then said, "I, Hong Qianli, have always followed the principles of fair value exchange, emphasizing solid benefits over empty reputation. The Deicide me is the apex of the Fire Dao of the Five Elements and can increase my understanding of the Fire Dao. How could I let it go so easily?"


    The Deicide me in his hand radiated light as his hand closed over it.


    A momentter, the Deicide me retracted, bing a blue me floating in the air.


    The me Celestial Sovereign let out a long sigh. "I have absorbed the me Dao Will, so I must immediately go into seclusion now. I will leave this me here for all of you to slowlyprehend."


    It turned out that the me Celestial Sovereign needed only a few moments toprehend the Deicide me. The time he asked for was actually all for his disciples. He had entered the Dao of Fire many years ago and was already close to the Dao-controlling level. mes like the Pale Cloud me were no longer very important to him, which was why he had left it here.


    He threw out the Deicide me, which rushed into the Celestial me Pagoda. There, it fell into the open left hand of the statue. Despite being a divine me that could melt almost anything, it didn''t harm a single part of the statue, and the me Celestial Sovereign''s statue came to have two mes, one in each hand.


    The Four Heavenly Kings were ecstatic, prostrating together. "Many thanks, Master."


    The me Celestial Sovereign''s manifestation faded as he departed.


    At the same time, a boom traveled through the City of Freedom, signaling that the formation had been deactivated.


    The Four Heavenly Kings shared a look. Suddenly, the Southern Heavenly King sighed. "Ah, what a pity."


    But who was she pitying? Tang Jie? Or someone else?


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    A single step took them into a vast world.


    Tang Jie found himself in the air, and around him was a great mountain range.


    Jade mountains extended as far as the eye could see.


    The Treasure Paradise was truly a world of its own.


    There was no one around him. Every person that entered the Treasure Paradise would be teleported to a random location. Those who were lucky would be directly transported to a treasure, and those who were unlucky might be transported right into a lethal trap or the jaws of a vicious fiend.


    The Treasure Paradise also had fiends, as there were always some primal beasts and fiends that managed to escape the Yin Yang Division Sword. They survived and reproduced in the Treasure Paradise, adding some more color and variety to this world within a bag.


    But while it was a random teleportation, Tang Jie had a map, and everyone had already agreed on a ce to meet up.


    After looking at the map, Tang Jie guessed that he was in the southern part of the Treasure Paradise. However, as this was his first time here, he didn''t dare to be too sure, so he still needed to fly around for some distance.


    Tang Jie threw out Tutu, who he had been holding this entire time.


    The little rabbit expanded, ultimately bing the size of an elephant as it crouched in midair.


    Tang Jie stepped onto the back of the rabbit. Meanwhile, a flower fell out of his sleeve and turned into Yiyi, who also sat on the rabbit. She patted Tutu''s head and said, "Hurry up and get going."


    Tutu miserably sighed. A white cloud suddenly appeared under its feet and whisked them away. It was so fast that it outsped thebination of Tang Jie''s Wandering Celestial Peng Art and Violet Lightning Lunge, yet when sitting on it, one felt like the ride was incredibly smooth.


    It was no wonder the Heaven-Lost Rabbits were known as a natural race of mounts. While theirbat strength was low, their flight abilities were incredible. This ability would only truly manifest at Transformation, and as they got stronger, this ability would also be more formidable, ultimately allowing them to easily travel the void. Starting from Transformation, each additional tier a Heaven-Lost Rabbit rose by would cause its size to grow, and by Divine Division, they would be the size of a mountain, able to carry an entire pce on their backs.


    But it was precisely this attribute of the Heaven-Lost Rabbits that Tutu wanted to hide.


    Being a pet was always better than being a mount.


    In the past, it could have hidden this ability just by cking off on cultivating, but s, Tang Jie''s sudden wealth had ruined the n. Tang Jie had had so much money that he was even willing to raise those bean soldiers to Transformation if he could, so how could he let a little rabbit go?


    Having been forced to increase its cultivation level, Tutu had its original form exposed, and Tang Jie realized what its true purpose was.


    Its fate as a mount was decided.


    Yiyi patted Tutu and smiled. "This is great! So much faster than a Cloudpiercer Shuttle, and it also saves on spirit stones."


    "The most important thing is that I don''t need to give itmands." Tang Jiey down on the rabbit''s back, but he found that there wasn''t quite enough space, so he had Tutu grow a littlerger, after which he pulled up the tail andy on top of it, his arms crossed behind his head. "When riding a Cloudpiercer Shuttle, you have to look ahead so that you avoidrge birds, and also look out for any treasures or dangers. Meanwhile, mounts can make their own judgments."


    He patted Tutu and said, "Head straight west, following the rosy light in the sky. If you see any treasure auras, go over, and if you see sword energy, avoid it."


    Tutu grunted, wanting to cry.


    As a world created from a Dao armament, the Treasure Paradise was muchrger than the Water Moon Paradise. This mountain range alone extended for some five hundred kilometers. Even the Mountain River State Diagram dimension expanded by the Space Crystal was tiny whenpared to the Treasure Paradise. And the millennia had made this world a very interesting ce.


    On this flight, Tang Jie saw many rare beasts and fiends.


    Whether it was due to the umtion of millennia or the unique and isted environment of the Treasure Paradise, there were many beasts and fiends that Tang Jie had never even heard about before. Besides the fiends, there were also various rare nts that were scarcely seen in the outside world. While these were not spiritual nts, they were still hard toe by.


    Life here existed in apletely different form, and Tang Jie and Yiyi oohed and aahed in wonder. When they saw something particrly interesting, they would have Tutu fly down to get a closer look.


    Others entered the Treasure Paradise to risk their lives for treasure, but Tang Jie cared little for such things. He had the inter-domain trade and the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, so the Treasure Paradise''s treasure held little attraction for him. Rather than running around, he preferred to see the sights.


    Of course, if he ran into a treasure, he didn''t mind taking it. Since he was already here, he couldn''t leave empty-handed, particrly because he had already received so much favor from the Western Heavenly King. It wouldn''t do to not live up to that expectation.


    Thus, if he ran into any treasure, he went over to get it.


    Just like the Valley of No Return, the deeper one ventured into the Treasure Paradise, the more valuable the treasure and the greater the danger was.


    For the sake of these more valuable treasures, everyone else rushed inward, but not Tang Jie. While he had the divine speed of the Heaven-Lost Rabbit, he yed around so much that he made barely any progress at all and ended up falling behind the others.


    Tang Jie spent his time casually flying around the perimeter for three days.


    Today, he finally left that mountain range, and he spotted arge river in the distance.


    Blue flowers grew along the shore, forming what seemed like a sea of flowers.


    Before Tang Jie even said anything, Tutu weakly said, "Going to admire the flowers again? Understood."


    Tang Jie gave it a yful p. "You rabbit, you''re sozy that it''s no wonder you don''t want to be a mount. But you''re wrong this time. Don''t you see that shing treasure light in the sea of flowers? A treasure has appeared there."


    "I see it, but based on the glow, it''s a middle-grade art relic at best. I''m surprised it caught your eye," Tutu said in a scornful tone.


    Tang Jie smiled and replied, "You''re wrong on that point. It''s precisely because it''s not valuable that we need to go and get it. You see, if valuable treasures like upper-grade or ultimate-grade art relics, even divine treasures, were to appear, they would release such dazzling treasure light that everyone would know ande over, so you would have to fight to get it. Even if no one else had discovered it, there''s probably some great fiend guarding it. In short, it wouldn''t be easy to get. But middle- and lower-grade art relics are much better. No one cares about them, so we can just go and pick them up. Is there anything better than that?"


    The rabbit rolled its eyes, but it still flew down.


    As they approached, they found a tower of rainbow ss before them.


    This rainbow ss tower exuded a glow that indicated that it was a middle-grade art relic without a doubt.


    Tang Jie''s sleeve extended to envelop the rainbow tower, but just as he was about to take it away, he sensed danger. His body erupted with light as countless objects shot out of the sea of flowers and pelted him.


    Trantor Notes


    It looks like the Four Heavenly Kings sold Tang Jie out! And all for some fire.

 Chapter 571: Sword Soul

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The objects exploding out of the flower field were none other than the blue flowers.


    Each petal was like a poisoned knife, letting off a blue glow as they whirled around in the air and shot at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie knew that he was in trouble and activated the Frost Domain spell art.


    Frost and ice spread around Tang Jie, enveloping the flowers, but those flowers didn''t slow down in the slightest. They rushed at Tang Jie like swarming bees, and in a multicolored explosion, they pushed Tang Jie off the rabbit''s back.


    There was a ng as a golden suit of armor was exposed beneath Tang Jie''s tattered clothes¡ªa suit of Godhead Armor made from Mother Cloud Essence Metal.


    Without this suit of Godhead Armor, these flowers would have already turned Tang Jie''s heart into a sieve. While he probably wouldn''t have died, such a heavy injury would have required him to consume lifespan to recover from.


    This fierce attack scared both Tang Jie and Yiyi, and then they saw even more blue flowers rise up, swiftly forming into a tornado of petals to attack Tang Jie. Yiyi waved her hand at the flowers, but the flowers continued to dance, immune to her control.


    "Not good! It''s the divine sword''s power!" What he was seeing was none other than the might of the Yin Yang Division Sword that had been distributed throughout the Treasure Paradise.


    When Reverend Celestial Hook had ced the Yin Yang Division Sword in this ce, that supreme Dao armament had somehow gradually merged with this world.


    The divine sword no longer existed, but the Great Dao it had embodied became a part of the Treasure Paradise''s awesome might, tightly interwoven with every part of this world. For this reason, one would never know when one might suffer the might of the divine sword. Even a passing cloud or a field of grass might suddenly be the most terrifying existence in the world.


    Tang Jie had run into a sea of flowers that was imbued with the might of the divine sword.


    Because of the divine sword, the tender flower petals had be so sharp that they could pierce through spiritual energy barriers. These tens of thousands of petal knives howled over and threatened to devour Tang Jie.


    Because Tang Jie was at Spirit Ring, the divine sword''s reaction had not been too strong, but even so, Tang Jie did not dare to receive this attack.


    "Retreat!" Tang Jie urgently shouted.


    The rabbit immediately turned and fled, instantly bringing Yiyi and Tang Jie tens of thousands of feet away. The advantage of being on a mount now made itself apparent, as Tang Jie didn''t need to worry about the retreat and could focus entirely on casting spell arts.


    A vortex of spell arts collided with the petal tornado, and those blue petals shattered in a gorgeous eruption of blue light. From a distance, they seemed like blue-tinted sunset clouds. Unless one were right there, one could never have imagined that these were the aftereffects from a battle.


    The tornado of petals chased Tang Jie all the way to the perimeter mountains before finally giving up and howling back the way it hade, leaving behind three dazed people.


    Tang Jie and Yiyi stared at each other.


    Yiyi shrugged. "''We can just go and pick them up'', huh?"


    Tang Jie pursed his lips. "Our luck was bad."


    He patted Tutu and said, "Let''s go and take another look."


    "You''re going back?" Tutu was rmed.


    "Of course. We need to go and properly study it while this power still isn''t so strong that we can''t endure it," Tang Jie replied.


    The divine sword''s power was connected both to a cultivator''s cultivation level and to their location. The farther inside one was, the greater its power.


    Tang Jie had gotten the rare chance to experience the divine sword''s power on the perimeter, so he needed to use this chance. In his view, he could only take precautions against it if he understood it. If he didn''t study it at its weakest, when exactly would he study it?


    Helpless, the rabbit could only obey Tang Jie''smand and fly back to the sea of flowers.


    But everyone was much more careful this time, slowly approaching and stopping at the edge of the sea of flowers.


    Tang Jie jumped down from Tutu and cautiously approached. Surprisingly, even though they hade up to the sea of flowers, there was no reaction.


    Everyone looked at each other in surprise.


    Suddenly, Tang Jie reached out and grabbed a blue flower.


    Tutu instantly shouted, "Don''t!" and flew away, traveling a thousand feet in a single leap. When it looked back, it saw that Tang Jie was just standing there, nothing having happened to him.


    What was going on here?


    Tutu was amazed. It closely inspected Tang Jie several times before finally working up the courage toe back.


    Tang Jie smiled as he held the flower. "So it was just passing through."


    "''Passing through''? The might of the divine sword can be just passing through?" the rabbit remarked in surprise.


    Tang Jie nodded. "Although I don''t know for sure, it seems to be the case. We were just unlucky enough to run into it. That power has already gone."


    Tutu exhaled in relief upon hearing that the divine sword''s power was gone, but then, Tang Jie said something even more frightening. "We can''t let it escape. We need to chase it down."


    He flew into the sky and began to look for traces of that power.


    But it was hard to tell where it had gone. The flowers swayed in the wind, producing a scene of breathtaking beauty, bereft of that horrifying murderous intent.


    Tang Jie frowned. Throwing his head back, he shouted, "Come out! I''m waiting here for you!"


    "I''m waiting here for you¡­"


    "Waiting here for you¡­"


    "For you¡­"


    The call echoed through the distant mountains.


    This reckless and suicidal way of doing things had both Tutu and Yiyi trembling in fright.


    Everyone who entered the Treasure Paradise had always avoided the divine sword''s power, not challenged it.


    The rabbit and sprite looked at each other and then flew off, trying to get away from Tang Jie to stay safe.


    A light shed in the distance.


    Countless green streams of light rushed into the air.


    Those green lights were a mixture of leaves, grass, and dirt, madly dancing to a deathly dirge. It was even possible to see a savage face within them, mournfully wailing.


    Tang Jie was unmoved as he floated in the air. He took out the Mountain River State Diagram and lightly shook it.


    The original body appeared.


    It grew to its true enormous size.


    In this period of time, his body had grown another three meters, reaching 18 meters in height, very close to the limits of the middle tier of the Diamond Body.


    The original body looked at that torrent of green light and made a "simple and honest" smile.


    As that green light was about to make impact, he stepped forward and thrust out a palm.


    Countless "weapons" hidden within that surging green light barraged that huge hand, creating a ceaseless din.


    The original body seemed unaffected, smiling and saying, "This still isn''t enough."


    He extended his hand into the green light.


    The green light seemed to sense Tang Jie''s contempt. With a furious howl, it erupted with even greater light, and a sharp sword intent emerged, carrying the entirety of the green light with it as it stabbed at the original body''s palm.


    Plush! The green light pierced right through the palm.


    The more Tang Jie cultivated the Parting ssic, the tougher his body became, and even art relics found it difficult to hurt him now. This was the first time his palm has been so easily pierced through.


    Even though the wound was already beginning to heal, Tang Jie''s eyes shed with surprise. "So it really is only strong against the strong?"


    The power the divine sword had disyed was definitely greater than that used against the avatar, and this was clearly because the original body was stronger. Moreover, because the original body was still at thew cultivation tier of Nine Revolutions despite its strength, he concluded that the divine sword''s power was based on actual strength and not cultivation level.


    After stabbing through Tang Jie''s palm, the green light grew in size, sending countless bolts of light at the original body.


    But before this green radiance, the original body was unafraid,ughing as he said, "Come at me! Devil Crushing Fist!"


    He sent a thunderous fist at the green light.


    The Devil Crushing Fist was powerful enough to bepared to the Divine Connections of some Violet Pce Titans. The only difference was that Violet Pce cultivators could repeatedly use Divine Connections, while Tang Jie could basically only use the Devil Crushing Fist once.


    But regardless, this Violet Pce¨Clevel attack was enough to totally suppress the current power being used by the divine sword.


    Thus, a momentter, the st of power unleashed by the Devil Crushing Fist obliterated the green light.


    All of the green light was swept away in that surging torrent of energy, leaving only that radiant sword, which rose up from the current of fist energy like a rising moon.


    At that moment, the avatar''s third eye opened and stared at the sword light. The avatar focused all his mental power on the sword, with the Celestial Eye even bleeding a little.


    Suddenly!


    That sword of light flew into the sky, and numerous points of light began to converge upon it. Tang Jie watched as the sword grewrger and more real, growing many times more powerful.


    As the light swelled, it spread into the surroundings, and the energy of Tang Jie''s Devil Crushing Fist melted away like snow under the sun.


    The sword light was still expanding, filling up the world and engulfing all of Tang Jie''s vision.


    Not good!


    Tang Jie knew that he had thoroughly provoked the divine sword''s power. His punch had caused the divine sword''s power to grow to a level where it could obliterate a Violet Pce cultivator.


    Fortunately, he was ready for this. As the light grew, the avatar rolled up the Mountain River State Diagram, and the original body disappeared.


    A momentter, the divine sword''s radiance froze, having lost its target, and then it exploded, sting the entire area with lightning bolts.


    Even though Tang Jie had expected this, the avatar was still caught up in the barrage.


    He opened his hand, and the armor made of Mother Cloud Essence Metal became a wall. The sword beams mmed into it and unexpectedly pierced straight through.


    At the same time, Tang Jie activated the Chaoswind Step.


    The sword beams passed through the afterimage he left behind, slicing it into countless tiny chunks before vanishing into the wind with a howl.


    "My god!" Tang Jie couldn''t help but make a face at this sight.


    If he had blindly believed in the defensive power of Mother Cloud Essence Metal, he would have been left full of holes by those swords.


    Fortunately, after the original body disappeared, the divine sword''s power weakened again.


    Tang Jie proceeded to repeat what had happenedst time, fleeing on the rabbit until the sword gave up.


    The n to capture the sword soul had failed.


    "Ha, do you understand your position now?" Tutu mocked Tang Jie. "Trying to contend against the divine sword''s power? Even the master of the Celestial me Pagoda does not dare to do that."


    "I''ve never thought about contending against the divine sword, only about understanding it, and the best way to understand it is to fight it." Tang Jie''s expression remained indifferent, as if the experience had not affected him in any way.


    "''Understanding it''?" Tutu was surprised to hear this.


    "Right, ''understanding it''!" Tang Jie confirmed. "Only by understanding one''s opponent can one avoid them, defend against them, defeat them, or even use them."


    "So what did you understand?" Yiyi asked.


    "A lot," Tang Jie replied. "Look!"


    His Celestial Eye reemerged and began to y back the scene. Yiyi and Tutu saw that lightning sword rising into the air and the world lighting up with mysterious points of light.


    "These are¡­" Yiyi said in confusion.


    "Sword spirits!" Tang Jie replied. "To be more precise, they are remnants of a shattered sword spirit."


    Remnants of a shattered sword spirit?


    Was this the real face of the divine sword''s power?


    When Tang Jie had unleashed the Devil Crushing Fist, while the divine sword had only exposed itself for a moment, Tang Jie''s Celestial Eye had still been able to capture it and analyze it.


    The Yin Yang Division Sword was a Dao armament and soul weapon.


    When the sword merged with the Treasure Paradise, its body turned into the four great forbidden zones of the Treasure Paradise, but the sword spirit did not die as expected, instead bing remnant spirits that drifted about the world.


    For this reason, the divine sword''s power in the Treasure Paradise fell under two categories. One category was the forbidden zones created from the divine sword''s body, foremost of which were the four great forbidden zones. The essence of the divine sword had been gathered in these ces, making these the ces where its power was greatest and one''s chances of survival were the smallest. Fortunately, they didn''t move, so one simply needed to avoid those areas. The other category was the miniature zones of power created by the drifting soul remnants. While they were weaker, because they could move, nobody could say when one might run into one of them, so they were a headache to deal with.


    Tang Jie had run into some of these soul remnants.


    If they hid in the sea of flowers, the sea of flowers became a divine weapon. If they hid in the forest, the leaves and branches would be lethal devices. Wherever they went, the world itself would be weaponized. More importantly, it seemed to be capable of activating an even stronger power¡­


    Yiyi looked at all those points of light that had appeared around the sword soul. "What are these, then?"


    "The power of the world," Tang Jie replied. "The divine sword has already fused with the Treasure Paradise, so the Treasure Paradise is the sword and the sword is the Treasure Paradise. All that''s left is the sword spirit, its thousands of remnants drifting about the world. It was once the soul of the sword, so now it is the soul of the Treasure Paradise. Unlike other weapon spirits, because it was dispersed, it no longer has aplete consciousness, possessing only instinct."


    "I get it now," Yiyi said, partially understanding what had been said. "It''s strong only when dealing with the strong because the sword spirit is drawing upon the power of the world when it encounters someone strong?"


    "That''s only from the perspective of the wandering sword souls. For those within the Treasure Paradise, the sword soul is the spirit of the Treasure Paradise, capable of drawing upon the power of the world. In these circumstances, it''s understandable why even Violet Pce and Immortal tform cultivators can''t go against it. The power of the Violet Pce Realmes from mustering the power of the world, but opposing the sword spirit is opposing the world, so there''s no chance of using the Violet Pce''s power. Immortal tform cultivators are better off. Their bodies are worlds all on their own, but it still can''tpare to the world outside. Even if they could put up some stubborn resistance, they would consume so much energy that they might even experience a fall in cultivation level. For this reason, in the Treasure Paradise, Violet Pce and Immortal tform cultivators don''t need to be feared, for the world will not tolerate them!"


    "It''s no wonder the divine sword''s power grows stronger the deeper you go in. It''s because the sword spirit can more easily draw on the power of the world the closer you get to the core. That sword spirit just now can probably only muster the power of a limited area, not the entire world," Yiyi said, pping her hands.


    "Correct. That''s it exactly." Tang Jie nodded. "The Treasure Paradise is vast, and the power of the entire world is many times greater than what we saw just now. But even so, there''s basically no hope of beating it."


    "What''s the point in knowing all this?" the rabbit grumbled. "You still can''t beat it, right?"


    "If you can''t ovee it with strength, you just outwit it," Tang Jie replied. "Since we''ve already seen through the essence of the divine sword, things get a lot simpler. For example, we now know that this principle of being strong against the strong isn''t some Great Dao or ironw, but the instinctive judgment made by a remnant soul."


    "What about it?" the rabbit asked.


    "Since it''s instinctive judgment, it can make wrong judgments," Tang Jie replied. "Like with my Devil Crushing Fist."


    In normal circumstances, the divine sword would unleash power corresponding to the other party''s cultivation level.


    But Tang Jie''s Devil Crushing Fist had made the sword soul take Tang Jie to be a Violet Pce cultivator and almost annihte Tang Jie. This was something very rare.


    The reason for this was that the moment Tang Jie unleashed the Devil Crushing Fist, the sword soul had felt threatened.


    From this, one could see that the divine sword was not as inflexible as initially thought. On the contrary, it could adjust its power ording to the situation, and this flexibility was exactly what Tang Jie needed.


    The more flexible it was, the more easily it could be used!


    Today, Tang Jie was able to make the sword soul judge the middle-tier Diamond Body Tang Jie as a Violet Pce cultivator, so tomorrow, Tang Jie might be able to make the sword soul think the Spirit Ring Tier Tang Jie was at Mortal Shedding, and the day after next, he might be able to make the sword soul serve him.


    The problem was finding the right method.


    Tutu was rather gobsmacked by what it was hearing.


    It had cultivated for a thousand years, meeting many people and experiencing many things, but had never seen someone as meticulous as Tang Jie, able to find the smallest gaps to stick a needle in, or even making the gap himself.


    In the cultivation world of the Great Ster Chiliocosm, overwhelming strength was everything. While the asional tactical ploy was expected, analyzing, studying, probing, and exploiting every single opportunity at every single moment was something that no other cultivator did.


    Tang Jie''s mindset waspletely different from the cultivators of any domain in the universe, and Tutu just couldn''t understand him.


    In contrast, the behavior of the Lord of the Blood River wasmon throughout the Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    When it was using its own mindset to try and understand Tang Jie, Tutu felt like its head simply wasn''t big enough. But its habitual stubbornness meant that it continued to argue, "I don''t think you have much of a chance. You''re just wasting your strength."


    "You have to at least try first. You can''t just give up after the first failure. In life, you have to constantly struggle and try in order to constantly advance. Failure isn''t scary, and you can only make corrections when you find the mistakes. The experience of sess is found in constant attempts and constant failure. Now that I think of it, you''re a great fiend who has lived a thousand years, so how do you not understand something as simple as this? No wonder you can only be a mount! Principles aren''t just to be used in arguments, but actually applied! Don''t go understanding a thousand empty words, never acting on a single one of them!"


    He mounted the rabbit and pped it on the hindquarters, upon which the rabbit summoned a cloud and flew off.


    Trantor Notes


    Poor Tutu, it''s the one that has to do all the running around while Tang Jie has fun with his experiments.

 Chapter 572: Treachery

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    With some experience, Tang Jie was now watching out for the divine sword''s power.


    While others regarded the divine sword''s power as a danger to be avoided, he would rush over whenever he saw the divine sword''s radiance in order to "negotiate" with it.


    Tang Jie managed to encounter the divine sword''s power quite a few times.


    Most of the time, Tang Jie was chased off by the divine sword, sometimes even sustaining heavy injuries.


    As the divine sword primarily exhibited might depending on the target''s cultivation level, so long as one''s true strength exceeded one''s level, one would be much safer. Besides that, he also had a rabbit fiend to fly him around. Thus, so long as Tang Jie didn''t use his original body to unleash the Devil Crushing Fist, he would be much safer than the average person.


    But Tang Jie loved experimenting, and in the middle of all his constant provocation and experimenting, the danger he faced steadily rose.


    The worst time was when Tang Jie inexplicably angered the sword soul, and a dazzling sword light had cut him in half. In the end, Tutu had carried Tang Jie around for half a day in flight before finally throwing off that sword.


    When Tutu questioned Tang Jie, he found that he had "identally" taken out the Soul Refining Pearl while messing with the divine sword. The Soul Refining Pearl refined souls, and the remnant soul of the sword spirit was a special kind of soul, so there could be some connection between the two.


    So Tang Jie tried it again.


    And he was cut in half, again.


    This experiment proved two things. Firstly, the Soul Refining Pearl couldn''t be his golden finger, as he could not absorb the sword spirit''s remnant souls. Secondly, he could anger the remnant souls, and the consequence of this was that that the sword soul would grow at least one tier stronger.


    Tang Jie wasn''t satisfied with this "at least" and wanted to get a more urate result, but Tutu refused¡ªit was too dangerous!


    Considering that Tutu was an irreceable element in his ability to evade the pursuit of the divine sword, Tang Jie had to drop the matter.


    New challenges and tests continued.


    Searching for swords, challenging them, and being chased by them became almost all of Tang Jie''s life.


    As he interacted with the remnant souls more and more, he developed a greater understanding of them.


    He found that while the remnant souls had alle from the same sword spirit and shared a tight connection, this long period of separation meant that they had begun to develop their own consciousnesses. This developing thought manifested in the slightly different attack methods the sword souls employed. Only someone familiar with them would be able to tell the difference.


    In addition, the sword souls had their own likes and dislikes.


    All of them loathed tools that could refine souls such as the Soul Refining Pearl, and discovering such a thing would instantly cause their strength to soar. In addition, they also had a strong dislike for the powers of Darkness, ughter, and Destruction, and they ignored Life and Wisdom.


    Their favorite was the power of Yin Yang and the Five Elements, and when Tang Jie used the Infinity Sphere Art to fend off the divine sword, he felt like their attacks were at their weakest. But this didn''t mean that he could rely on the Infinity Sphere Art to deal with the sword, for he had only cultivated to the fourth level and still could not unleash the technique''s full power. Besides that, each of them had a different one of the Five Elements that they preferred. In addition, when Tang Jie tried to use the Weapon Mantra on them, it failed as expected, but it didn''t provoke the expected intense reaction, and the subsequent attack only stabbed a few holes in his body.


    Tang Jie guessed that this was because the Yin Yang Division Sword controlled the Dao of Yin Yang.


    In addition, they seemed rather interested in Karma and Fate.


    When Tang Jie attempted to use the power of Karma to find the sword souls, he managed to attract three of them. In the face of such "enthusiasm", Tang Jie could only take to the hills upon his rabbit.


    Finally, they also had a fondness for Space power. When Tang Jie used spatial methods against them, the weakness of the attacks was second only to when he used the Infinity Sphere Art.


    From this, Tang Jie thought that they might be interested in Time power, so he used his Time ability. But when he piled up all his spell arts and unleashed them at a single point in time, all he got was a gorgeous bisection at the waist.


    From this, Tang Jie drew a painful conclusion.


    The sword souls were fond of Space power because the Qian Kun Bag was a Dao armament of the Dao of Space. The sword had merged with the Qian Kun Bag, so they treated Space power with gentle hands.


    From this, he surmised that the sword souls found Karma more eptable not because Karma''s nature wasplementary with Yin Yang, but because Divine Genesis belonged to the Dao of Fate. The energies of the Yin Yang Division Sword and Divine Genesis hadmingled, so the sword souls were somewhat more considerate of objects rted to Karma, as you might act toward the grandson of your fourth aunt descended from your husband''s eighth greataunt on his mother''s side.


    Finally, Tang Jie found that the sword souls, because of their shallow intelligence, held grudges.


    If Tang Jie provoked them once, then came back after running away, he would face a stronger attack.


    But their memory wasn''t too good, and they would usually forget after a while.


    Because of all the testing and being chased around, Tang Jie basically didn''t get any treasures in this period of time.


    Of course, he didn''t care.


    But while he didn''t care, someone else did.


    Even though he wasn''t focused on progressing, as his exploration of the perimeter concluded, Tang Jie had to venture deeper in, so he couldn''t avoid running into other people.


    One day, as Tang Jie was flying about, he saw a little old man flying out from the distance, appearing around fifty years old.


    This old man wore a long robe, appearing like a schr, and he had a genial smile on his face.


    Tang Jie had seen this person before and knew that he was one of the twenty representatives recruited by the Eastern Heavenly King.


    Representatives had an odd rtionship with each other. The Four Heavenly Kings had never demanded that the representatives fight each other, only that they take treasures, but in order to do this, they would have to fight each other.


    Thus, Tang Jie was on his guard around this old man.


    The old man spotted Tang Jie and slightly bowed to him, indicating that he meant no hostility. He flew up to around a thousand feet from Tang Jie and stopped. "This one is Zuo Quanming. I pay respects to this Daoist friend."


    Tang Jie returned the bow. "This one is Tang Jie. I pay respects to you, Daoist friend."


    Through his Celestial Eye, Tang Jie could already see that this person''s cultivation level was a little higher than his, at the Heart Demon Tier.


    Zuo Quanming was ted by Tang Jie''s return gesture, and he said, "I did not expect to see Brother Tang here. I thought that everyone had gone farther in."


    Tang Jie replied, "But you haven''t gone farther in either, no?"


    "I am not a person who seeks advancement," Zuo Quanming said with augh. "Seeking peace and quiet, I prefer to stroll about the perimeter rather than going in."


    "Same, same," Tang Jie sighed. "I can only content myself with the trash outside."


    The two of them looked at each other and simultaneously erupted inughter.


    They had seemingly been polite, but they had actually been implying to each other that neither of them had ventured deep into the Treasure Paradise, so there was no treasure to be had from them.


    Finding that they shared the same intention, they bothughed.


    They saluted each other and then went off on their own ways.


    As he flew past, Zuo Quanming suddenly turned around, and a white jade tablet flew out of his sleeve at the back of Tang Jie''s head.


    As he threw out the jade tablet, Tang Jie also turned around, arge sword in his hand.


    The Mountain Parting Sword!


    The energy from the sword struck the jade tablet, instantly stirring up a gale.


    Zuo Quanming hadn''t expected Tang Jie to have the same idea. After a momentary pause, he grew angry and shouted at Tang Jie, "How could you be so shameless, trying to ambush me from behind?"


    Tang Jie was startled. "Weren''t you using the jade tablet to ambush me?"


    Zuo Quanming angrily retorted, "How can you call that an ambush? I was testing you, training your reaction time and seeing if you were vignt. As the saying goes, it''s no good to think about hurting people, but you have to be on your guard against people. My attack with the jade tablet drew upon these wise words, but you chose to return my kind warning with hostility¡­"


    He jabbered on and on.


    As Tang Jie was being rendered speechless by the shamelessness of this man, he saw Zuo Quanming grab his jade tablet and say, "Seeing as you''re aplete fool, I won''t argue with you anymore. Goodbye!"


    He brought his hands together and bowed before turning to leave.


    But Tang Jie wasn''t going to just let him leave because he wanted to. He coldlyughed and said, "I think you should stay right here."


    He reached out with his hand.


    As he was extending his hand, he could see a cunning look in Zuo Quanming''s eyes, so he instinctively activated the Formless Golden Body and his other protective spell arts.


    A momentter, Zuo Quanming separated his hands.


    His hands had been holding the jade tablet originally, but the act of bringing them together to bid farewell had concealed his hands behind the tablet and his sleeves. Now that he had separated his hands, it was revealed that his left hand held a golden dragon stamp while his right hand was casting abat spell. It seemed like he had been using his words to mislead Tang Jie into thinking that he was going to flee, but he was actually using his actions as a means of concealing his spell casting. He was truly a treacherous one.


    Now that the spell art wasplete, a dragon of golden energy stormed out of his sleeve, stabbing into Tang Jie''s body like a heavenlynce. Tang Jie instantly threw up blood as the sound of cracking bones came from his body. He crashed into a distant mountain and sent up great plumes of smoke from the impact site.


    "Big Brother!" Aghast, Yiyi flew after Tang Jie.


    Zuo Quanming thrust out his palm.


    An enormous palm of energy appeared, swatting at Tang Jie like he was a fly and ttening the peak of the mountain.


    Seeing that Tang Jie had stopped moving, he coldly snorted as he drew back his hand. "Trying to fight with me? Seeking death!"


    He flew above Tang Jie and closely examined him. He saw that Tang Jie was not breathing, clearly in by his palm.


    The Golden Dragon Stamp Art he had used was extremely powerful, but it took somewhat long to cast. For this reason, in every battle, Zuo Quanming would always try to swindle his opponents with words. He liked wearing long-sleeved robes because they were ideal for concealing his movements. For this purpose, the cloth he used was True Cloud Silk, which had exceptional anti-surveince properties. That white jade tablet was also for the purpose of throwing off energy detection.


    And when this blow struck true, even a Spirit Ring True Person would often be in in a single blow, and he even followed it up with a Heaven Topple Hand.


    He saw that Tang Jie was lifeless, a little girl hugging his corpse while weeping, and he mentally remarked, He should have stayed out of my way.


    He grabbed Yiyi with one hand.


    Yiyi iled and struggled, but Zuo Quanming ignored her, his other hand reaching for Tang Jie''s Mustard Seed Bag.


    But the moment he was about to touch it, he realized that something was wrong.


    That sprite girl had seemingly entered Transformation already, and even if her cultivation level wasn''t that high, she shouldn''t have been so easily captured.


    He instinctively turned and saw that Yiyi was coldly staring at him. Although she was still loudly wailing, there was no sorrow or grief on her face. Rather, there was a sinister smile.


    This smile made Zuo Quanming''s hair stand on end.


    He swiftly reacted, beating a hasty retreat.


    At the same time, the "deceased" Tang Jie suddenly opened his eyes and punched at his back.


    Zuo Quanming felt a powerful energy surge into his body. With a howl, he tried to escape into the skies, but he found that numerous vines had wrapped around him. Yiyi had opened her hands, unleashing numerous branches and vines that wrapped around Zuo Quanming like snakes.


    Only in this perilous moment did Zuo Quanming show off the qualities of a powerful cultivator. With a great roar, his body erupted with mes.


    The me was so powerful that it instantly burned up all the vines Yiyi had released. It had to be understood that Yiyi was much more powerful after reaching Transformation, and while she hadn''t learned any new spell arts, her original spell arts were much stronger. All the nts she summoned were as tough as steel, immune to most weapons, water, and fire.


    Whatever spell art these mes came from, they had instantly broken the vines, and Yiyi backed away in fright.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie''s second punch mmed into Zuo Quanming''s back. As for his right hand, it stabbed the Annihtion Gale Sword at the crafty old man''s head.


    Just when the sword was about to touch him, Zuo Quanming''s body suddenly faded, bing ethereal.


    The sword hit nothing solid, and Tang Jie looked to the distance in shock, where a human figure was emerging from the void. But while others emerged from the void with majesty and dignity, he came out like a loach struggling out of the mud, writhing as he emerged from space, even flopping around for a bit like a fish out of water. Finally, gasping for breath, he fearfully looked at Tang Jie.


    He pointed at Tang Jie and said, "You treacherous cad! How could you pretend to be dead?"


    Tang Jie was dumbfounded. He had clearly been treacherous first, ambushing him, so how could he criticize him without feeling the slightest twinge of guilt?


    He was about to say something when he suddenly realized that the situation wasn''t right. He gave the man a closer look and found that there was something odd about the finger he was using to point. Other people used their index finger, but he was using his thumb, his other four fingers drawn back and hidden.


    Tang Jie instantly knew that this was bad news, and he hastily flew up. At that moment, Zuo Quanming''s thumb lit up, and an energy sword shot out.


    Thankfully, Tang Jie had dodged quickly, or else this finger sword would have struck true.


    Tang Jie knew without even thinking that this finger sword was just as powerful as that golden dragon.


    Though he had only been pretending to be dead, that golden dragon had been quite savage. If not for the armor of Mother Cloud Essence Metal, those two attacks would have left him heavily injured, if not dead. Even then, he had been badly wounded. He hadn''t expected to almost fall for the same trick.


    Enraged, Tang Jie pointed at Zuo Quanming and shouted, "Shameless! Watch my sword!"


    He stabbed the Annihtion Gale Sword at Zuo Quanming.


    Zuo Quanming was going to block, but he realized that the sword''s attack wasn''t strong at all. As he was wondering why this was, he heard a wailing from above.


    Looking up, he saw countless crescent des descending, trailing long chains and shing with lightning. His soul almost left his body as he shrieked, "You''re the shameless one, faking your death and then telling me to watch your sword! What do you mean, your fucking ''sword''? Is this a sword? These are des, des!!!"


    But despite his wailing, he was moving rather quickly, taking an Eight Trigrams stone disc from his Mustard Seed Bag and throwing it into the air.


    The Eight Trigrams disc grew and began to fire off bolts of lightning.


    The crescent des failed to break through the disc, exploding against it in a rather beautiful sight.


    Tang Jie snorted. "Better than you! Watch my sword!"


    He attacked with his sword again.


    Zuo Quanming was going to scoff at this, but then he saw smoke spiraling and sensed trouble. With a shrill cry, he jumped into the air and repeatedly teleported while the sword gave chase. Like a snake, the old man wriggled through the skies, somehow managing to endure the sword''s might.


    It had to be understood that this was a Divine Connection.


    As expected, anyone who could be selected as a representative was extraordinary. Na Shan had been easily able to take the Five Mountains Shift, and this old man was able to evade the Annihtion Gale.


    Even so, the old man still moaned, "A divine treasure! A divine treasure! You actually have a divine treasure! So you''re that kid with the divine sword, and with more than one! I say, if you already have a divine sword, why did you evene?"


    "When ites to divine weapons, the more the better." Tang Jie produced another sword: the Sun Crow Sword.


    As he swung, a Golden Crow emerged, emitting boundless mes.


    The old man had already expended a great deal of strength to evade the Annihtion Gale, and another Divine Connection had him scared out of his wits. He shouted, "No more fighting! I surrender!"


    Tang Jie was somewhat tempted to ept.


    He was rather curious about this old man''s methods. Casting spell arts in his sleeve was merely a petty trick, but the methods he had used to burn up Yiyi''s vines and escape the sword were quite bizarre.


    He wanted to capture the old man and interrogate him, so he had the sword spirit stop attacking.


    The Golden Crow cried out unwillingly before flying back. As Tang Jie was about to talk, the old man thumped his chest and said, "What a formidable divine sword. You almost killed me. I didn''t think that you could use two Divine Connections. But you won''t be able to use another one now, right?"


    His eyes focused, and he rushed up to Tang Jie and swung a crimson scimitar in his hand, unleashing a wave of bleak and murderous energy.


    But Tang Jie was ready this time. Smirking, he said, "I knew you would try something."


    Putting away the divine swords, Tang Jie produced the Five Sacred Mountains Sword with his right hand, pointing it at the old man. "Suppress!"


    The five mountain souls descended.


    Zuo Quanming''s heart shivered in fear.


    He knew that Tang Jie had a third divine sword, but he didn''t realize that Tang Jie still had the strength to harness its power.


    Being able to tten a mountain peak with a single palm didn''t mean that he could take on five of them, and Zuo Quanming did not dare to take this attack. But this old man seemed to have a streak of stubbornness, suddenly shouting, "I''m taking you down!"


    He charged at Tang Jie with all his might, seemingly intent on taking Tang Jie down with him.


    Tang Jie wasn''t nning on going with him to the underworld, so he began to retreat. At the same time, he threw out palm sts to prevent Zuo Quanming from getting closer.


    But to his surprise, as he retreated, he found that Zuo Quanming was actually retreating as well. He clearly had his face toward Tang Jie, but he was actually flying backward, faster than when he flew forward! Moreover, he was also moving his hands and feet as if he was running forward, even though his body was clearly running backward. As such, by the time one realized what was going on, he had already retreated a great distance.


    Caught off guard, Tang Jie could only watch him run away. That face dwindling into the distance still had a savage look on it, as if he was in his final death charge. He was still even shouting, "I''m taking you down¡­"


    "Taking you down¡­"


    "Down¡­"


    While still making that determined battle cry, he disappeared from Tang Jie''s sight.


    There was a great rumble as the Five Mountains Divine Connection struck nothing. There was confusion in this rumbling, as if wondering how this old man had managed to escape them.


    Tang Jie''s eyes were wide open as he stared. After a long while, he finally squeezed out, "This guy''s a real talent."


    Trantor Notes


    It seems like Tang Jie''s met his match in shamelessness!

 Chapter 573: Divine Treasure

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie was filled with admiration, but there seemed to be not even the slightest shred of regret in his eyes over the escape of his foe.


    He turned to Yiyi and asked, "Sess?"


    "Of course." Yiyi proudly nodded her little head.


    She extended her hand, revealing a grass seed.


    This was the seed of the Lingering Bean.


    The Lingering Bean was a very ordinary nt, not even counting as a spirit nt, but it had many small hairs that let it easily stick onto things. It also exuded a special scent that lingered in the air. While ordinary people would find it very difficult to pick up this scent, Yiyi, as a sprite, could easily sense it.


    After that prolonged conflict in Nadir Hill, Tang Jie had been thinking about how to develop the cultivation world''s methods of pursuit and counter-pursuit, and the Lingering Bean was a method he and Yiyi had found. It was simple, safe, not easily discovered, and cheap.


    When Zuo Quanming had been battling against Tang Jie, Yiyi had sprinkled beans on the old man, but this was purely out of an instinct to always prepare for the worst case. But to their surprise, the old man really had managed to escape, and in such a bizarre manner.


    Upon learning that Yiyi had managed to get a bean on the old man, Tang Jie smiled and said, "Very good. Let''s see how he escapes this time. Come on!"


    The two of them jumped onto Tutu and flew off in pursuit of the old man.


    This old man was truly crafty. After running for a bit, he had changed directions, and if it hadn''t been for the Lingering Bean, they would have ended up chasing him in the wrong direction entirely.


    Even so, the old man was running with everything he had, flying for an entire hour even though he had seen no pursuers before fleeing into a mountain and disappearing.


    Tang Jie looked around and found that his final hiding space wasn''t far from where they had battled earlier. Amusingly, the old man had seemingly made a circle.


    But this old man probably hadn''t circled back because of something like "the most dangerous ce is the safest", which was an entirely illogical maxim that few idiots in the Great Ster Chiliocosm believed. Thus, Tang Jie believed that this old man could have another motive. Had he found something here?


    Thus, rather than immediately chasing the old man down, he cautiously approached and then hid in a cloud to secretly observe the area.


    With one nce, Tang Jie could tell something was wrong.


    The mountain at his feet seemed ordinary, but there was a secret hidden within the forest, thendscape in line with the principles of the Great Dao. This was clearly a naturally-formed lethal formation.


    This sort of formation was not man-made, but had emerged around the area, and this emergence indicated that there was probably a great treasure within. If it wasn''t a Dao armament, it had to be a divine treasure.


    It was no wonder the old man had sneaked back here after being defeated. He had probably noticed that this mountain was hiding something.


    This mountain had also been in Tang Jie''s flight path, so Tang Jie realized that the old man had most likely appeared in order to stop him from getting close to the mountain. In truth, if he had just been passing through, Tang Jie might not have been able to see the secret of the mountain at a nce. After all, such natural formations were hidden within their surroundings and were the most difficult to detect. But Zuo Quanming''s attempt to guarantee that the secret was kept had ended up with Tang Jie finding the secret while tracking him down. If he knew of this, he would definitely feel regret for his actions.


    Exposing the secret of this mountain was no easy task, but Tang Jie was in no rush.


    Since Zuo Quanming had discovered this ce first, he had undoubtedly already studied the mountain, so Tang Jie just needed to wait.


    This Zuo Quanming was also very patient. Upon his return, he chose to go into hiding. After an entire day, he finally reemerged, but he was now a middle-aged schr with a little beard.


    If not for some particr details, Tang Jie really might have failed to recognize the man.


    The moment the man appeared, he looked around. Once he was sure he wasn''t being followed, he stealthily flew over to the mountain.


    Landing upon an outcrop, Zuo Quanming looked out upon the mountains, his hands held behind his back, as if he was surveying the clouds. But Tang Jie was a formation expert, so he immediately saw that Zuo Quanming was standing at the seat abode for this mountain region.


    (TN: See Chapter 264 for a description of the seat abode and other importantnd locations for formations.)


    The seat abode offered aplete view of one''s surroundings, and it was second only to and nexus for a formation. There was no doubt that starting from here was the superior choice.


    From this, one could see that Zuo Quanming had to be an expert in formations who understood the principles of the world, allowing him to start off with such a critical location.


    As he stood at the seat abode, apparently gazing at the clouds, the hands hidden in his sleeves were already sending out streams of spiritual energy across the area to probe the formation. If Tang Jie hadn''t already exchanged blows with him and learned of this habit, he would have been taken in by this act.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but admire this person''s cunning nature, even putting on his act while attempting to enter the formation. But this "world within a sleeve" was truly an excellent technique, and Tang Jie was learning.


    After a while, the mountains trembled, and a cave opened up on a mountain on the other side.


    Delighted, Zuo Quanming flew toward the cave.


    Upon arriving at the cave, Zuo Quanming firstid down a small formation to hide the traces of the cave, and only then did he stride in.


    It was an exquisite formation that didn''t leak the slightest trace of energy, and a random passerby would find it basically impossible to notice anything. Of course, it was pointless against Tang Jie.


    Once Zuo Quanming was in the cave, Tang Jieughed and flew down from the sky. He said to Yiyi and Tutu, "You guys stand guard outside in case anything happens. I''m going to see if there''s anything good inside."


    He walked into the cave.


    The cave was dark, and all that was in it was a tunnel leading downward.


    Tang Jie activated the Celestial Eye and carefully inspected his surroundings as he pressed forward.


    As he was walking, he heard a sharp cry, and then several explosions.


    A few momentster, the sounds subsided.


    Tang Jie cautiously walked over and saw the corpses of several dozen spiders scattered about the ground.


    These spiders were as big as millstones, and Tang Jie could tell that they were venomous. They had hard carapaces that could easily shrug off des, and their venom was extremely strong, though Tang Jie couldn''t understand how they had grown to such arge size. Tang Jie saw that all of the spiders had had their armored carapaces shattered, indicating that Zuo Quanming was quite strong, possessing an armor-shattering spell alongside his bizarre me and spatial shifting.


    Besides that, Tang Jie noticed that several of the spiders were missing their venom sacs. The venom couldn''t be stored for long, but Zuo Quanming had still taken some, though rather than because he had a use for them, it was probably just because he was greedy. Tang Jie found this sort of behavior rather shameless, and then he took the rest of the venom sacs.


    As he moved forward, he soon heard the sounds of battle again.


    Once the battle was over, Tang Jie saw that an Evil Bloom had been burned into charcoal andy shriveled on the ground. The Evil Bloom was a fierce nt that was extremely difficult to deal with, but it had been burned ck. It had probably been the same me that had been used on Yiyi, but it was much stronger than before. Judging by the remaining roots, the me even had corrosive effects.


    Now that Zuo Quanming thought he wasn''t being followed, he naturally held nothing back, but in reality, he was exposing all his secrets to Tang Jie.


    It wasn''t long before Tang Jie came across a pile of rubble.


    Upon closer inspection, he found that one rock had what seemed very much like a human face on it, and the scattered rocks appeared to be arms and legs. It was just that the central core had been shattered, causing these pieces toe apart.


    "It was a stone monster," he muttered.


    This stone monster had probably been born from the surrounding mountain stone.


    This tunnel didn''t have any traps, but it had all sorts of strange creatures that left Tang Jie rather amazed.


    It was probably no coincidence that so many creatures were in one ce. It was more likely to be due to the treasure in the mountain.


    Treasures exuded a special energy that would draw all sorts of creatures around them to protect them, and if it couldn''t draw creatures over, it might produce creatures of its own.


    If this was the case, if this treasure wasn''t a Dao armament, it was a top-ss divine treasure on par with the Mountain River State Diagram.


    Tang Jie inwardly rejoiced at this realization, and he wanted nothing more than for Zuo Quanming to move faster.


    After walking for some time, he finally saw a light in the distance.


    Emerging from the tunnel, he came upon a picturesque valley.


    The scenery of the valley was gorgeous, a sea of wild flowers. A little stream flowed out of the distance, terminating in a little pool in the valley.


    On the walls of the valley, little monkeys frolicked, while Zuo Quanming looked up at them from below.


    But rather than the monkeys, he was looking at an item up there.


    It was a gray b of stone, floating in the air and exuding a profound and awe-inspiring energy that made one want to get down on one''s knees.


    This had to be the treasure.


    Though he didn''t know what it did, Tang Jie could tell at a nce that it contained vast power that made it at least an upper-grade divine treasure.


    Divine treasures were divided in the same way as art relics, with ultimate, upper, middle, and lower grades, with further differentiation within grades.


    The three divine swords were lower-grade divine treasures, but they were in the middle of the pack among lower-grade divine treasures. Currently, Tang Jie wasn''t strong enough to unleash the full power of these divine swords.


    The Supreme Mystery Bell was the lower of the lower grade.


    The Herding Yang Pearl was the upper of the lower grade.


    The Mountain River State Diagram was the upper of the upper grade.


    In truth, in terms of power, the Mountain River State Diagram could even be considered an upper ultimate-grade divine treasure.


    But the diagram required arge investment to reach this level, which made it inferior to other divine treasures.


    And the limitations the myriad domains had on this kind of treasure further limited its value, which was why it had ultimately been sold off for the price of a middle lower-grade treasure.


    For the Seven Absolutions Sect, this was basically the price of a cabbage. If Tang Jie hadn''t revealed the secret of the hidden realm and expressed a willingness to trade them rare materials at a discounted price, the Seven Absolutions Sect would have never been willing to sell the diagram, no matter how low its actual value was.


    They didn''t need that money.


    There was also theplete set of the Eight Gates Banners. That could be considered a divine treasure, but when they were split up, they fell to the level of art relics.


    As for this stone b, it gave off the same feeling to Tang Jie as the Mountain River State Diagram, vast and profound. But Tang Jie''s cultivation level had been lower then. Now that he was at Celestial Heart, he was less shaken. But from this sensation, Tang Jie was able to ascertain that this was an upper-grade divine treasure, perhaps even ultimate-grade.


    Ultimate-grade divine treasures were almost as valuable as lower-grade Dao armaments.


    But no, such items could no longer be bought with spirit coins. They were truly priceless.


    Even in the Treasure Paradise, getting a divine treasure wasn''t an easy matter. One could say that each one had a history of blood and conflict behind it.


    Zuo Quanming had clearly also realized how extraordinary this item was, and he was clearly barely containing his excitement as he looked up at it. What was a priceless treasure? It meant that if he could bring it out and no one else brought out aparable treasure, then without a need to appraise its actual value, the Eastern Heavenly King would immediately be made the winner, and as the greatest contributor to this, he would naturally be richly rewarded.


    If Tang Jie knew what he was thinking, he would undoubtedly express his disdain, for Tang Jie had no thought of handing it over. He had insisted on bringing in his original body through the diagram not just to add on to his fighting power, but also to try his hand at theft¡ªif he could smuggle things into the Treasure Paradise using the diagram, he could also smuggle things out.


    Zuo Quanming was no longer able to control himself, and reached for the gray b.


    Just when the stone b was about to fall into his grasp, a figure descended from the sky with a screech.


    rmed, Zuo Quanming backed away and used his spatial shifting spell art. Once he had evaded this assault, he realized that the attacker was a fiend monkey with a metal cudgel. Waving around the cudgel, it howled and yowled.


    "Just a monkey fiend." Zuo Quanming saw that the monkey fiend was incapable of speech and clearly hadn''t reached Mind Opening, so he calmed down. His hands began to form spell arts, and a golden beam of light shot out¡ªthe golden beam spell art he had previously used on Tang Jie.


    This time, he didn''t hide his hands in his sleeves, so Tang Jie saw that this spell art consisted of 128 hand signs and needed three seconds to cast, making it a ratherplicated spell art. It was no wonder the man resorted to deceiving words and obscuring sleeves, as his foes would not be likely to give him the time to cast this spell art.


    But as Tang Jie well understood, it was quite a powerful art.


    As the golden light appeared, it seemed like the monkey fiend was doomed.


    Unexpectedly, the monkey fiend swung its cudgel at the golden light, and there was a great boom. While the monkey fiend was sent flying, the cudgel had also weakened the golden light somewhat. The monkey tumbled through the air and crashed to the ground, but then it got to its feet again, perfectly fine except that it was a little wobbly, not even throwing up some blood.


    Zuo Quanming and Tang Jie were both stunned.


    How could a monkey fiend that hadn''t even reached Mind Opening be this formidable?


    The monkey, after a momentary daze, grew furious. Picking up the cudgel, it brainlessly charged at Zuo Quanming again.


    Zuo Quanming sneered. "Brute monkey, seeking death!"


    He produced a silver shortsword that he stabbed at the monkey.


    This sword thrust was hard to detect, and the technique was immacte. It was much stronger than that blood saber he had used earlier. It appeared that this person was like Tang Jie, but whereas Tang Jie openly used a sword while secretly attacking with a de, this guy openly attacked with a de while secretly attacking with a sword. Tang Jie once more felt admiration. Sure enough, this person had a reason to be so shameless. He had not even used his real weapon in their fight.


    As the sword thrust out, the monkey was enveloped in sword energy.


    Zuo Quanming felt like there was no way this guy would escape, but to his surprise, the monkey fiend jumped out while smashing down his cudgel, filling the air with cudgels made of energy. Each cudgel seemed to be imbued with the mastery of a cudgel expert, leaving Zuo Quanming dumbfounded.


    Although Spirit Sensing fiends had their own spell arts, natural spell arts and natural cudgel arts were twopletely different things.


    A fiend could let out fireballs or ice arrows without being taught how to do it, but there was no way it could use sword arts, saber arts, or cudgel arts without being taught them.


    That it had this ability could only mean that someone had taught it.


    But this was the Treasure Paradise. Who woulde here to teach a monkey fiend cudgel arts?


    Zuo Quanming saw this and instinctively shouted, "Is there a master present? This one is Zuo Quanming¡­"


    He once more fell back on his chatterbox ways.


    But all that came in reply was his echo.


    The monkey continued to dance with the cudgel, blocking all the sword energy and then furiously striking at Zuo Quanming.


    With no other choice, Zuo Quanming put away his sword and waved his palm, creating a screen of light that blocked the cudgel.


    This was Tang Jie''s first time seeing Zuo Quanming use a defensive spell. Unexpectedly, it was this monkey that had forced his hand. Since he had used a defensive spell art, Tang Jie decided to use his Insight to find this barrier''s weakness.


    In the past, because he was facing down an enemy, he had to use 90% of his focus on his opponent, so he found it hard to use his Eye of Insight to identify his opponent''s weaknesses. But he was now a bystander, not thebatant, so he could put all his focus on Insight, which naturally resulted in much greater efficiency. It only took a few looks for him to see its ws, and a smile of contentment appeared on his face.


    Meanwhile, Zuo Quanming and the monkey fiend were locked in battle.


    The monkey was agile and fast, and its afterimages were everywhere, along with its energy cudgels. Moreover, numerous monkeys were watching the battle from the cliff, chattering incessantly.


    Whenever that cudgel-wielding monkey went on a particrly fierce offensive, the monkeys would roar as if they were cheering it on, and they even wildly yelled and shouted.


    Tang Jie mentally tranted theirmentary:


    "Daring to oppose my king? That''s seeking death!"


    "Divine Monkey Demon Cudgel Art! Kill!"


    "Hmph, my great king only needs three cudgel strikes to knock down this human¡­ five¡­ seven¡­ one hundred¡­"


    "No one can save those who provoke my monkey tribe!"


    Zuo Quanming had no idea that Tang Jie was making upmentary for this fight, but he had realized that this was no ordinary Spirit Sensing fiend he was dealing with, and he started to get serious. But as that monkey grew bolder and bolder, Zuo Quanming lost his patience and shouted, "Ignorant thing!"


    He suddenly spread out his limbs, and an ancient gate manifested behind him.


    A giant hand stretched out from the gate, grabbed the monkey, and pulled it behind the gate and out of sight.


    "Eh?" Tang Jie gasped in surprise.


    Trantor Notes


    Zuo Quanming unknowingly showed Tang Jie all his cards! All that''s left is to break the bad news...

 Chapter 574: Surrender

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Zuo Quanming heard the gasp, and he immediately shivered as if he had been struck by lightning.


    After a few moments of paralysis, he slowly turned around.


    Since he had already made a noise, Tang Jie decided to stop hiding. He boldly emerged from the cave and waved at Zuo Quanming. "What a coincidence! You''re here too?"


    Disbelief appeared on Zuo Quanming''s face. He pointed a trembling finger at Tang Jie. "You¡­ you¡­"


    Tang Jie acted very displeased. "Hey, can you not act like you just saw a ghost? I just happened to be passing by, saw a cave, and came inside to take a look. I didn''t think I would find you here."


    Zuo Quanming''s face shifted between red and white.


    After a long while, he stammered out, "How long have you been here?"


    Tang Jie replied, "I just got here, and then I saw you. Eh? What''s that?"


    He turned toward the gray b.


    Seeing how amazed he was, as if he really had juste, Zuo Quanming actually believed Tang Jie a little. To be more precise, rather than believing Tang Jie, he simply hoped that Tang Jie was telling the truth.


    People were always willing to believe in what they hoped to be true.


    Thus, Zuo Quanming couldn''t help but get a little hopeful, working up some courage and viciously ring at Tang Jie. "If that''s the case, then you can go and die."


    He opened his hands, and that golden beam of light shot at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie smirked. "This tone almost makes it seem like I''m the one who got sent packingst time."


    As he spoke, he thrust out his palm three times,pletely neutralizing the golden light. While this light was powerful, Tang Jie had already seen Zuo Quanming use it twice, and he had also studied the traces the art had left behind in the tunnel. Having thus prepared, he could easily deal with it.


    Zuo Quanming wasn''t particrly surprised at his art''sckluster results. He then took out that blood-colored scimitar, swinging it at Tang Jie as he shouted, "Watch my de!"


    A sharp wave of saber energy sliced at Tang Jie''s head.


    As that crimson de was about to reach Tang Jie, Zuo Quanming took out his silver shortsword. All of the silver sword''s energy was drowned out by the power of the blood scimitar, allowing him to silently unleash its power on Tang Jie.


    It was a lethal blow aimed straight at one of Tang Jie''s weak points.


    Zuo Quanming could already imagine Tang Jie''s wretched appearance as the sword stabbed into his armpit, and a strange giggle came from his mouth.


    To his surprise, Tang Jie ignored the blood scimitar, only releasing a blood barrier to stop it. Meanwhile, he took out the Army Crushing Sword and thrust it at the silver sword.


    Zuo Quanming inwardly cried out. While this sword was an ultimate-grade art relic, its specialty was speed, agility, and sneak attack. It was incredibly sharp, but it was no good in a direct sh. The Army Crushing Sword was the exact opposite, imbued with immense and tyrannical strength that could multiply a cultivator''s power. In this aspect, it was superior to even divine swords like the Five Sacred Mountains Sword.


    In a sh of these two swords, the silver sword would undoubtedly be a loser, like a bobcatpeting in terms of strength with a bull.


    The two swords ran into each other with a ng, and the silver sword was sted back.


    A few sparks of starlight flew out of the silver sword. They made Zuo Quanming''s heart wince, for it was a sign that the sword had been damaged in the collision.


    Although art relics could automatically repair themselves, each instance of damage would affect the abilities of an art relic, and those of the agility type were more affected by this. It was like how Liu Xiang (Chinese athlete who won the gold medal in hurdling at the 2004 Olympics) was useless if he broke his leg, while a boxer could keep going even when their body was covered in wounds.


    As the silver sword was sted away, the Army Crushing Sword surged toward Zuo Quanming''s face. While Tang Jie swung his sword, he also shouted, "Daoist Friend, what is the reason for this? Why are you so quick to try and hurt me?"


    Zuo Quanming shouted, "A misunderstanding! Hear me out!"


    As he shouted, he rapidly backed away, creating distance between himself and Tang Jie. Against an art relic like the Army Crushing Sword, a direct sh was the tactic of a fool. It was better to barrage from it a distance with spell arts.


    Tang Jie called back the sword. "What do you want to say?"


    Zuo Quanming savagely smiled. "The divine treasure is mine!"


    Hepleted his hand sign, and a me erupted from his body, turning into a roaring dragon that lunged at Tang Jie, imbued with twice the power of the mes that had burned up Yiyi''s vines.


    If Tang Jie tried to deal with the mes based on this past experience, he was bound to suffer dearly.


    Sure enough, Tang Jie fell for it, activating the Frost Domain in a vain attempt to fight back with his own frost energy.


    Zuo Quanming couldn''t help butugh. "This me is the Grand me of the Nine Splendors Mountain, not something created from my Yang energy. You think you can so easily¡­"


    Before he could finish, Tang Jie pulled out a sword and pointed at the me. An ice dragon immediately came roaring out.


    This was the Frost Drake Sword used inbination with the Yin power of the Infinity Sphere Art. As the ice dragon swept out and collided with the Grand me dragon, they neutralized each other in a gorgeous melding of fire and ice.


    "H-how?" Zuo Quanming was dumbfounded by Tang Jie''s reactions.


    First he had countered the silver sword with the Army Crushing Sword, and then used the Frost Drake Sword to deal with the Grand me. He had just so happened to counter both of his major moves.


    This had to be a coincidence!


    Zuo Quanming inwardly yelled to himself, This guy is just lucky!


    His hands moved quickly, sending out several sharp needles.


    These needles seemed ordinary, but he had coated them in the venom of those spiders from before. This venom alone was bound to deal considerable damage to Tang Jie.


    But then he saw Tang Jie take out a ck sword and lightly wave it, upon which all the needles were drawn to the sword.


    The Primal Ma Sword.


    This sword was one of the ten art swords, and it had a powerful pull on metallic weapons. It was more suitable for body cultivators overw cultivators, so Tang Jie normally didn''t use this sword. But now, it was perfect to draw in those poisoned needles.


    Zuo Quanming''s eyes flew open, and he finally realized that something was wrong. Rather than having just arrived, this guy had clearly been following him for some time, only showing himself after getting an understanding of everything Zuo Quanming could do. His attempts at deception just now had all been futile, nothing more than a clownish act in this person''s eyes.


    Zuo Quanming was both angered and vexed by this thought. Just when he was about to say something, Tang Jie rushed up to him and thrust a finger at his body.


    Zuo Quanming cried out and used his Thousand Curtains spell art.


    The moment he used it, he realized that he had made a mistake.


    He had used this defensive spell art in the battle against the monkey, and since this scoundrel had been watching from the sidelines this entire time, could he have seen through the ws in the spell? He wouldn''t consider this possibility for another person, but since his earlier moves had all been countered, this thought now made him uneasy.


    A momentter, Tang Jie''s finger fell on the barrier, and then, the barrier shattered into powder.


    It really is rotational finger energy! Zuo Quanming inwardly shouted in rm.


    The Thousand Curtains Barrier was a protective barrier created through manyyers of spiritual energy. It was a wondrous spell that was powerful and longsting. Its only weakness was rotational energy attacks.


    It was clear that Tang Jie wasn''t skilled in rotational energy,cking both power and technique, so he had probably only just learned it. But against the Thousand Curtains, he had used it without hesitation. This couldn''t be a coincidence; it had to be because he had seen through the ws of the spell art.


    A cultivator who had all his spell arts seen through was like a naked woman, utterly exposed.


    Zuo Quanming felt his soul leave his body, and he knew that victory would be extremely difficult. But then he looked up at the gray stone b, and found himself reluctant to give it up.


    Gritting his teeth, Zuo Quanming snarled, "I''m going all-out!"


    His body syed out once more.


    Tang Jie knew that he was using the move that he had used on the monkey, and rather than attacking, he chose to retreat.


    Sure enough, an ancient gate manifested behind his head.


    As the gate opened, a giant hand emerged from it and reached out to grab Tang Jie.


    Zuo Quanming ruthlessly said, "You can''t break this one!"


    Large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, and his body trembled from the immense load it was under. It was clear that this spell art was an immense burden on him, and he was about to reach his limit after using it twice.


    And then he saw a light glimmering on the center of Tang Jie''s forehead. Tang Jie then let out a strange incantation, like a Buddhist chant, difficult to make out yet suffused with an ancient and grand power.


    As he spoke, the giant hand froze in the air.


    With this, Zuo Quanming was pushed into a dead end.


    Casting this spell was a huge burden, and the fact that it had stopped meant that Zuo Quanming would have to keep maintaining the spell. He felt like there was a mountain pressing down on him, and he almost copsed. He tried to push the hand forward, but no matter what he did, the hand didn''t move. On the contrary, his burden only increased. Stuck at an impasse and not knowing what to do, he could only stand there and hold on.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Aren''t you wondering why your Demon Calling Divine Connection doesn''t work on me?"


    Upon hearing this term, Zuo Quanming shuddered. "You¡­ How did you know?"


    Tang Jie sighed. "I can only say that you''re pretty unlucky. The Demon Calling Divine Connection, as the guardian secret art of the Five Gods Faith, truly is a Great Divine Connection. Although you can only use 10% of its power with your Heart Demon cultivation, it is much stronger than my Five Mountains Shift, Radiant Sun Crow, and Annihtion Gale. Anyone else would have been helpless, or at least it wouldn''t have been so ineffective."


    "You!" The mention of the Five Gods Faith had Zuo Quanming aghast. He finally understood why the giant hand didn''t attack Tang Jie, for Tang Jie had chanted the secret dharani of the Five Gods Faith. The secret dharani was a symbol of a member of the upper echelons of the Five Gods Faith, and this Demon Calling Divine Connection, unlike other Divine Connections, had a will of its own. After hearing this dharani, it would stop attacking.


    Now that Zuo Quanming knew that Tang Jie knew the dharani that made his Divine Connection useless, he hastily ended it. He then put on a ttering smile and said, "So Daoist Friend is an acolyte of the Five Gods Faith, so wee from the same sect! I was truly ignorant in striking without asking who you were¡­"


    His tone had changed now that he knew that he couldn''t beat Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie snorted. "I''m not an acolyte of the Five Gods Faith, nor am I of the same sect as you. Since your other methods have nothing to do with the Five Gods Faith, not even having the right mantra, you clearly aren''t part of the Five Gods Faith either. You must have obtained this secret art through some lucky opportunity. If you had learned theplete Five Gods Faith mantra, you should have been able to unleash 30% of the Demon Calling Divine Connection''s power, unleashing two hands rather than one, and with less burden."


    The Five Gods Faith excelled at cultivating Divine Will, and it had countless secret arts. Other than things like soul attachment and soul division, it had soul-protecting secret arts that allowed for the use of Divine Connections even when one was not at Violet Pce. Of course, they would be much weaker than true Violet Pce Divine Connections. Even so, it wouldn''t be so bad as Zuo Quanming''s situation, putting him under such a burden that he might exhaust himself to death before he could defeat his opponents.


    Zuo Quanming''s face turned red. "So Daoist Friend is like me,ing upon the secret art, but yours was much moreplete than mine."


    Tang Jie coldly chuckled. "You don''t need to try and test me. I truly did obtain the secrets of the Five Gods Faith, but only the mantra and not the spell arts. This Demon Calling Divine Connection was not recorded in the mantra, so I don''t know it. But I don''t mind. It''s not like being able to cast Divine Connections above one''s level is a good thing. Even if you have the soul-protecting secret arts of the Five Gods Faith, using it over the long term will inevitably affect you. It''s like putting weights on a child. Over the long term, it is bound to affect their long-term growth. For the sake of the future, it''s best to not use these methods lightly."


    Tang Jie wasn''t deceiving him here. While this sort of Divine Connection was nice, it had a significant effect on the body, and even the Five Gods Faith didn''t rmend usage of it beyond one''s tier, repeatedly emphasizing that it should only be used as ast resort.


    And Tang Jie had no need for such methods. He had many powerful techniques, like the Nine Heavens Cmity de or the Flesh Millstone. They were bothparable to the Demon Calling Divine Connection, so there was no need to drink poison to quench his thirst.


    Zuo Quanming was stunned. He was an unaffiliated cultivator, so while he had plentifulbat experience, hecked the knowledge base Tang Jie had. He put his hands together and bowed to Tang Jie, saying, "This young brother will not forget Brother Tang''s teachings."


    He began to retreat.


    Tang Jie was stunned by this guy''s tendency to tter and cajole in even the worst cases, but he still coldlyughed and said, "You don''t need to try that on me. I didn''t say anything about letting you go. Try and see what happens if you dare to take one more step back!"


    Zuo Quanming froze, not daring to take another step back.


    He squeezed out a smile and said, "It was my fault for offending Brother Tang, so I will acknowledge my error. This treasure now belongs to you Brother Tang, as will everything I own. I only hope that Brother Tang will spare my lowly life."


    He put his hands together and bowed.


    Tang Jie coldly said, "If you put your hands in your sleeves again, I''ll cut off all ten of your fingers!"


    There was a merciless tone to his voice.


    rmed, Zuo Quanming immediately tore off his sleeves, and then he earnestly said, "Little Brother should believe me now, yes?"


    He then ced his Mustard Seed Bag on the ground.


    He sneaked a nce and saw that Tang Jie had lowered his head as if he was actually thinking about letting him go. His eyes gleamed with ruthlessness, and he silently took out some items from his Mustard Seed Bag: Immortal-Binding Rope and that Eight Trigrams disc. He didn''t have any hope that these items would actually hold Tang Jie, only that they could dy him long enough so that he could get the gray stone b and run.


    Just when he was about to release the rope and disc, Tang Jie suddenly raised his head and eerily smiled.


    Zuo Quanming''s heart leapt when he saw this smile, and then countless des wreathed in fire and lightning descended. It was clearly that heavenly de spell art Tang Jie had usedst time, but this time even stronger and in even greater numbers.


    The Nine Heavens Cmity des!


    Tang Jie had seemingly been thinking, but he had actually been casting this spell art.


    "Shameless!" Zuo Quanming shouted as he jumped up, throwing that Eight Trigrams disc into the air.


    But as the disc flew out, Tang Jie focused his gaze and barked, "Ha!"


    Zuo Quanming and the disc both froze for a moment, upon which Tang Jie flew up and pointed at the Eight Trigrams disc.


    As the light from his finger touched the disc, the disc shattered, and a golden grain flew into Tang Jie''s hand. Tang Jie then grabbed the Immortal-Binding Rope that had been thrown at him. This rope was of a rather high grade, and because it was not metal, the Weapon Mantra couldn''t destroy it. Thus, it writhed in Tang Jie''s grasp like a snake.


    Meanwhile, Zuo Quanming was grabbing for the gray stone b.


    He was dead set on getting this treasure, and he was confident that his Illusory Snake Step could get him out of danger.


    But he hadn''t expected that the Eight Trigrams disc would be destroyed so quickly. The Nine Heavens Cmity des began to fall upon his body, nothing standing in their way.


    Zuo Quanming was at a crossroads, having to choose between life and treasure. In one thousandth of a second, he made a painful decision.


    He pulled his hand back and chose to defend.


    It was toote to put up a barrier, so his body erupted with spiritual energy that rapidly condensed into a solid mass. As a Heart Demon True Person, he had developed a nascent Divine Will. While it wasn''t enough to affect the world, it could affect the world within his Spirit Ring.


    The Heavenly des began to m into the spiritual cloud around Zuo Quanming, and amid fire and lightning, they pushed him earthward, farther and farther from the stone b, each push feeling like another stab to Zuo Quanming''s heart.


    Once the storm of Nine Heavens Cmity des had passed, Zuo Quanming was miraculously still standing. Tang Jie was amazed to find that he had survived the barrage without using a protective spell art.


    Even Heart Demon cultivators of the six major sects might not be capable of this, let alone an unaffiliated cultivator like Zuo Quanming.


    Of course, as a price, Zuo Quanming had expended almost all of his power, so in the end, a single thrust of Tang Jie''s palm would be enough to knock him down.


    And then something surprising happened.


    Zuo Quanming shouted, "Don''t kill me! I surrender!"


    Tang Jie was about to say, "And who''s going to believe you?" when Zuo Quanming waved his hand, calling back the rope in Tang Jie''s hand.


    This treasure had Zuo Quanming''s seal, so it wasn''t strange that it obeyed hismands. Shockingly, however, the first thing Zuo Quanming did after getting the rope back was to use it to tie himself up.


    That Immortal-Binding Rope instantly coiled itself around Zuo Quanming''s body countless times, turning him into a mummy with only his eyes and mouth exposed. He then shouted, "Look! Look! I''ve tied myself up! I''m no longer any threat! I really surrender! For real!"

 Chapter 575: Genesis

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Zuo Quanming, bound up in the Immortal-Binding Rope, had been hung from a tree next to the pool in the valley. When the wind blew, Zuo Quanming would swing around like a windchime, but he didn''t dare to move for fear that Tang Jie might misunderstand and chop off his head.


    Nearby, Tang Jie floated next to the stone b, carefully examining it.


    There were no words on the b, but it still exuded that grand, mysterious, and profound energy.


    But no matter how Tang Jie observed it or interacted with it using his Spirit Will, he received no feedback.


    Seeing that the stone b had no reaction, Tang Jie used his hands to touch it. To his surprise, there was no bacsh.


    When his hand touched the b, Tang Jie discovered that it was wrapped in a barrier of invisible energy, which prevented him from truly touching the b.


    But this energy was so attached to the b that it seemed like some sort of outer membrane. It didn''t stop Tang Jie from grabbing the b, but the membrane was so thick that there was an obvious gap between his hand and the b, making it seem like he was pushing at the b through the air.


    Tang Jie "pushed" the stone b downward.


    When it was three feet from the ground, Tang Jie could push it down no farther no matter what he did, as if this was where it should be.


    Tang Jie tried to activate its power, but he quickly found that his efforts were futile.


    No matter what he did, the stone b just floated there, neither moving nor exhibiting its divine might, leaving him at a loss.


    Tang Jie had tried to insert spiritual energy into the stone b, but it was like throwing dirt into the ocean, vanishing without a trace.


    He tried to attack it with spell arts, but there was still no reaction. None of the spell arts he used did any damage or drew any response.


    As for dripping blood, chopping with a sword, striking with lightning, burning with fire¡­ he tried it all. After an entire day of experiments, Tang Jie couldn''t move this b.


    What was it? What was it for? How did he use it? He didn''t have an answer to any one of these three questions.


    At the end of his experiments, Tang Jie even used the Nine Heavens Cmity de, but it still did nothing.


    Tang Jie clicked his tongue in wonder. "This is bizarre. Is its greatest use as a shield?"


    "If it''s a shield, itcks a handle," Yiyi replied, pursing her lips. Now that Zuo Quanming had been captured, she didn''t need to stand guard outside.


    Since this item was immune to spell arts, trying to control it from a distance was out of the question. He could only "hold" it in his hand, but as it had no handle, moving it around would require holding it with both hands.


    He had finally found a good treasure, but he didn''t know how to use it! Yiyi and Tang Jie were both deeply disappointed.


    Tang Jie shook his head. "Forget it. Let''s put it away for now."


    He moved to put the b into a Mustard Seed Bag, but to his surprise, when he brought the b to the mouth of the bag, an invisible force prevented it from going inside.


    Tang Jie was stunned. Like the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, this item couldn''t even be put in a Mustard Seed Bag.


    But this was so for the Myriad Immortals Cauldron because it was linked to the Great Daos, its power too strong and tyrannical such that it overfilled the Mustard Seed Bag and caused it to explode.


    He couldn''t put the b in the Mustard Seed Bag, but he also couldn''t just carry it out in the open.


    The only solution was the Mountain River Diagram.


    The Mountain River State Diagram had its own world. Let alone the stone b, it could even fit in Dao armaments like the Myriad Immortals Cauldron or Yin Yang Division Sword.


    As he was about to take out the diagram to put the stone b away, a voice called out, "Daoist Friend Tang, this one knows about this item. So long as you are willing to let me go, I am willing to tell you everything!"


    Tang Jie and Yiyi turned to see Zuo Quanming giving them a pathetic look.


    After some thought, Tang Jie said, "Then go ahead and tell me what this is."


    Zuo Quanming hastily said, "So long as Daoist Friend is willing to swear on your Heart Demon to let me go, this one will tell you everything. Even more, I am willing to give you all my treasures!"


    Tang Jie chuckled and shook his head. "It''s a good idea, but you want to trade a single piece of information for your life? It might not even be true, and even if it was, it''s not worth your life. As for all your treasure¡­"


    Tang Jie raised the silver sword. "Isn''t it already mine?"


    Zuo Quanming was speechless, thinking that this person''s shamelessness matched his own. Helpless, he could only reply, "You only say that because you don''t know this item''s value. If my eyes don''t lie, this item is a natural divine treasure, created by the world and not by man. Its value is far greater than you can imagine, even greater than some artificial Dao armaments!"


    "''A natural divine treasure''?" Tang Jie was slightly tempted when he heard this.


    "Natural divine treasure" referred to a divine treasure that was naturally formed, like all the treasures of the Lustrous Treasure River. The Yin Yang Division Sword, the Divine Genesis, and the Qian Kun Bag were all natural Dao armaments. The Myriad Immortals Cauldron and the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures were artificial Dao armaments, created by the hands of man. In addition, the treasures created through the Divine Genesis were also considered artificial treasures.


    Being natural or artificial didn''t determine a treasure''s grade. Upper grades would remain upper grades and lower grades would remain lower grades. But there was a big difference between natural upper grades and artificial upper grades, likeparing cultivators from major sects to wandering cultivators. At the Hundred Refinement Tier, Tang Jie was able to easily beat numerous wandering cultivators, but when he fought Beast Refining Gate cultivators, one versus four had been a tough battle for him.


    Natural items, being born from nature, were perfected by nature and innately wless. Regardless of their power, their quality was sublime, and they could allow one to unleash 100% of their power. An artificial divine treasure like the Annihtion Gale Sword was far inferior. In actualbat, Tang Jie could not use the entire power of the divine treasure at his current level of power, and it cost him greatly to use it. Besides that, natural treasures had greater potential for improvement.


    Zuo Quanming really was right to say that a natural divine treasure might even be more valuable than an artificial Dao armament.


    But Tang Jie still shook his head. "That''s true, but I don''t think it''s worth your life."


    Zuo Quanming grew even more frantic. "How could it possibly be worth my life? This lowly dog life of mine is basically worthless, but a natural divine treasure is rare, even in the Treasure Paradise. How could my lifepare to that?"


    But Tang Jie still casually shook his head. "Brother Zuo, that is too much. In my view, Brother Zuo is a great talent. Despite your status as a wandering cultivator, you were able to be a representative of the Celestial me Pagoda. It is clear that Brother Zuo is talented and virtuous, causing the Eastern Heavenly King to so favor you and entrust you with such a great mission. It would be a lifelong regret if I let you go."


    s, Zuo Quanming was all tied up such that he couldn''t stomp his feet or beat his chest. He could only vigorously shake his head. "What great talent? I was just a small-time thief who relied entirely on robbing tombs and plundering Immortal Realms to get this far. I''ve lived my whole time being chased by others, which is why I''m a little capable when ites to running for my life. The Eastern Heavenly King only saw my ability to serve as a lookout and a scout when he invited me to be his representative. This lowly one cannot possiblypare to a natural divine treasure from High Antiquity!"


    Tang Jie shook his head in admiration.


    In this conversation, one person was trying to devalue himself as much as possible while the other was trying to praise him. Zuo Quanming wanted to make himself dogshit while Tang Jie wanted to praise Zuo Quanming into a flower.


    Thus, Zuo Quanming''s value constantly shifted between flower and dogshit.


    The desire for life made Zuo Quanming particrlybative such that Tang Jie had no choice but to concede. He finally said, "This thing is mine, so I will find the answer with time."


    Zuo Quanming urgently said, "It''s useless. This thing isn''t meant for battle, so you could put it by your side for a thousand years and still not get any use out of it."


    Tang Jie''s eyes glinted. "It''s not for battle?"


    Zuo Quanming paled, his heart turning cold.


    Tang Jie began to mutter, "On the Immortal path, there are only swords and pills. If this isn''t used for battle, then it''s some kind of medicine-like resource. The Treasure Paradise has the Divine Genesis that can produce treasures. But the Divine Genesis is a Dao armament that has already merged with the Treasure Paradise, while this thing clearly has not. In addition, this mountain has a natural formation, while the tunnel had mutated spiders, nts capable of mobility, intelligent stone monsters, and also that monkey fiend that could use cudgel arts without a master and used them to protect the stone b. Could it be¡­"


    As Tang Jie muttered, he began to give that stone b an enthusiastic gaze.


    He mumbled, "So it''s a genesis treasure. Although it can''t match the amazing properties of Divine Genesis, it can grant intelligence to mundane objects. I wonder if there''s any connection with Divine Genesis."


    Zuo Quanming wailed, "You tricked me! You tricked me!"


    He wanted to trade information on the treasure for freedom, but to his shock, in just a few sentences, Tang Jie had figured out the truth. Ovee with grief, he began to wail and weep.


    Tang Jie hade across all kinds of cultivators: the brave, the heroic, the cowardly, the timid, the hypocritical, the arrogant, and even the wretched, silly, and dumb. But he had never met someone so shameless.


    He helplessly said, "Alright, alright, don''t cry. You seem to be someone of some experience. Since I''ve guessed at the treasure''s use, you might as well give me a clear exnation. If you want me to let you go, there''s no need to be so direct. As you know, when there''s no benefits to be had, you can focus on the rtionship instead."


    "''If there''s no benefits to be had, focus on the rtionship''?" Zuo Quanming''s eyes glowed as he said in glee, "Wise Brother Tang!"


    "¡­" Tang Jie dryly coughed. "Let''s focus on the stone b first. We can start nurturing our rtionship from here."


    Zuo Quanming nodded. "This one will tell Brother Tang everything he knows. This item truly does have a significant rtionship to Divine Genesis. This is most likely a divine object produced when Divine Genesis merged with the Treasure Paradise¡­ To put it simply, it''s the child of Divine Genesis."


    "''Child''?" Tang Jie chuckled at the term. "Dao armaments have no sex or life, so how can they have children?"


    Zuo Quanming firmly said, "Brother Tang is wrong on this point. Why can''t Dao armaments have children? Dao armaments are divine objects, so while they don''t have lives, they have intelligence, and while they don''t have sex, they have wisdom. Since they have wisdom and intelligence, how could they ept disappearance? And if you can''t survive, you reproduce to continue your lineage. But Dao armaments reproduce differently from humans. ''Child'' is only used as a descriptor. But regardless, this item exists to carry the will of Divine Genesis and carries a part of its abilities and can generate creatures."


    "That makes sense!" Tang Jie nodded.


    This old man had plundered many cultivator tombs, which had also broadened his horizons, making him know much more than the average person. When he wasn''t being such a wretch, his words made some sense.


    ording to the old man, this genesis stone b had probably been touched by the energy of Divine Genesis when it was being formed, and when Divine Genesis disappeared, this sliver of energy began to grow in the stone b, absorbing the genesis power of the Treasure Paradise to gradually grow stronger.


    There was a possibility that the will of Divine Genesis was contained within it.


    Worth noting was that Divine Genesis was a product of the Fate Dao, which was the most unfathomable of the 12 Great Daos. If the Dao of Fate was involved, then the disappearance of Divine Genesis could have influenced the growth of the stone b''s power, allowing everything to make sense.


    And in this aspect, this genesis stone b might truly be the child of Divine Genesis.


    As for thatyer of energy around the stone b, this was actually the protection of Fate power. Through this Fate power, the genesis stone b was able to grow and mature free from outside influence.


    Zuo Quanming added, "Genesis uses the energy of the heavens and earth to create the mundane world and fate. For this reason, the creation of a genesis object is intricately linked to the world. Divine Genesis was able to be a supreme natural Dao armament because of the countless worlds and lives of the Great Ster Chiliocosm. But this genesis stone b, though it has spent countless years in this world, can only reach the ultimate grade of divine treasures at best because the Treasure Paradise is only a single world. It''s not even able to reach the level of Dao armament, let alone advance toward the supreme Great Dao. By remaining here, it has dyed its development. I think Young Sir has some destiny with this item, so why not bring it out and seek out a good ce for it, a wider world? This would be a blessing for it, and it can also generate a world, creating water and soil."


    Tang Jie was dumbfounded by these words.


    What was clearly plundering treasure had been turned by this man''s words into this treasure''s fortune! He was clearly a prisoner, but in persuading Tang Jie to take this treasure, he was lionizing Tang Jie into a saint.


    If this guy hadn''t been hanging from a tree, he really might have believed it.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but chuckle. "While it''s a good treasure, using it is rather problematic. If it''s ced outside, it will undoubtedly be noticed by others and cause fights."


    Zuo Quanming quickly said, "You naturally ce it in a paradise or blessednd to nurture all within it."


    Tang Jie immediately retorted, "But ordinary paradises or blessednds can''tpare to the grandeur of the Treasure Paradise. ording to your words just now, wouldn''t I be robbing this divine object of the space to grow?"


    "This¡­" Zuo Quanming was unable to counter his own argument. His eyes darted back and forth for a while before he finally thought of something. "Young Sir, this is wrong! The treasures of the world all belong to the virtuous, and such a divine object can only be owned by a saint. Young Sir, you have a full forehead, a sign that you are rich in fortune and wealth, the visage of a sage! For this genesis stone b to go with such a saintly figure is its greatest fortune, so why would it mind a smaller piece ofnd? There is no problem with Young Sir taking it!"


    Tang Jie was amused by his argument.


    In truth, he really did have a ce where he could use this genesis stone b.


    Other people would worry over where to put it, but not him.


    He had the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, the Mountain River State Diagram, or even the Water Moon Paradise. All of them would be excellent ces for this item, though the Mountain River State Diagram would still be the best.


    A world''s growth needed the support of all kinds of treasure so that the world would be full of life and spirit.


    The number of treasures in the Mountain River State Diagram was limited, and the only one really worth naming was the Space Crystal. But while it could expand the space, it could not fill that space.


    This genesis stone b was truly very useful to Tang Jie.


    Thus, he stopped messing around. He took out the Mountain River State Diagram in front of Zuo Quanming and put the genesis stone b within it, at the same time informing He Chong of its use. At this time, He Chong was busy taking the ce of the Heavenly Dao in creating the sun, moon, stars, and all under heaven, and the original body was helping him and would note out unless it were needed. This genesis stone b was bound to be a huge help in bringing life to the world in the diagram.


    Zuo Quanming was stunned when he saw Tang Jie take the stone b into a diagram.


    He was well aware that an existence like the genesis stone b couldn''t be held in the space of a Mustard Seed Bag. Only an independent small world would do. In other words, there was an independent world within that diagram?


    That was a treasure on par with that stone b!


    Zuo Quanming''s heart began to rapidly thump.


    But a momentter, he realized he was in trouble. Since Tang Jie had shown such a treasure in front of him, didn''t it mean that he had no ns to let him go? If he started begging for mercy, he would probably end up receiving the reply of "You know too much."


    He started to panic.


    This guy wasn''t one to give up lightly. Other people might have already been desperately pleading for mercy or refusing to yield even if it meant death, but he was trying to exploit everything he had to survive.


    After seeing such an awful development, he knew that his hopes of surviving were small. His eyes darted around, and then he thought of a n and shouted, "Such divinity!"


    His shout startled Tang Jie.


    Zuo Quanming excitedly shouted, "Young Sir, your head is aglow with a divine aura, hidden behind your saintly visage. You are bound for great things in the future, Violet Pce and Immortal tform easily attained. To be a sage can be done as easily as turning over your hand, and even bing an Immortal Emperor is not out of the question! This untalented old man is blessed toe across this dragon among men and is willing to be your servant and workhorse, to serve you through water and fire until my life meets its end! Young Sir, please ept this old man!"


    Tang Jie gazed at him in shock. Finally, he replied, "You¡­ you say you want to follow me and be my subordinate?"


    "Correct!" Zuo Quanming firmly said, with absolute resolve.


    "Truly?"


    "Truly!"


    Tang Jie stared at him for a while before he finally asked, "Why should I believe you?"


    Zuo Quanming shouted, "If Young Sir is willing, this one will allow Young Sir to imnt a seal in my body that will y me if I betray you."


    Tang Jie was amazed by his resolve.


    But after some thought, he ultimately shook his head. "Although you seem a little useful, I don''tck people to use, so forget it."


    For logistics, he had Xu Miaoran, Xian Tao, and Hong Yuan. For battle, he had the original body and Yiyi. For cultivation, he had the Basking Moon Sect and the Vermillion Bird. It was true that he didn''tck people to use.


    But Zuo Quanming still didn''t give up. After thinking things over, he gritted his teeth and asked,


    "Then do youck ves?"

 Chapter 576: The Contraflame Mantra

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Raising his finger from the center of Zuo Quanming''s forehead, Tang Jie said, "Alright, this was thest spot."


    Zuo Quanming let out a long breath.


    He looked at himself. In only a little time, his body had been imnted with 49 seals, each seal made from countless small seals, intricatelybined together in aplex array. Even Tang Jie, with his cultivation and formation mastery, had needed to take two breaks and some restorative pills.


    Suchplicated seals would have presented a challenge even to a formation master like He Chong, but even so, Tang Jie couldn''t rx.


    "A challenge" didn''t mean "impossible", and if a Soul Transformation cultivator couldn''t do it, a Violet Pce one might be able to.


    Thus, Tang Jie also nted several beans in Zuo Quanming, and then attached the soldier-transforming secret art to them such that the beans would transform into soldiers if anyone tried to undo the seal. As a result, the beans would wreak havoc inside Zuo Quanming''s body.


    Tang Jie had even made a demonstration, "fighting" against one hundred bean soldiers for several dozen rounds and awing Zuo Quanming with their strength. The thought of these beans hidden in his body made his blood run cold, and hepletely suppressed that desire to rebel.


    After these two methods, Tang Jie used a secret art of the Five Gods Faith to ce a tracking mark and remote will secret art on him, ensuring that he could find Zuo Quanming at any time. Only then did he stop, casuallymenting, "Unfortunately, I haven''t reached the Heart Demon Tier where I can form a Divine Will, or else I would have nted a Divine Will seed in you, allowing me to kill you with a single thought. But it''s fine. We''ll just stick with this for now, and then I can add on to it once I reach Heart Demon."


    Zuo Quanming wanted to cry, but he didn''t dare toin. With a bitter look on his face, he said, "Master, is there any need for this? This old ve will definitely be utterly loyal to Master."


    Now that he had Zuo Quanming under control, Tang Jie directly asked, "The moves you used before are rather interesting. Can you tell me about them?"


    Tang Jie had taken Zuo Quanming''s treasures, and now he was after his cultivation techniques! Zuo Quanming knew that he had finally met a master more ruthless than he was, but he could only reply, "The golden light stamp art is called the Frozen Light Stamp. I obtained a jade talisman from an ancient tomb from which I learned this art. The spatial shift art is a spell art called the Illusory Snake Step, also something I got from a tomb. As for that me, it isn''t some Fire-type spell art, but an exotic me called the ze me. I refined it and took it into my body, where I nurture it and use it against my enemies. It''s much more useful than the average treasure."


    He released the ze me from his body.


    The ze me was a me with a ssy luster. It was a gorgeous me, but it was extremely insidious and even had corrosive properties. Normally, Zuo Quanming contained it entirely within his body, and when he used it, it would amazingly pass through his body without hurting him. But Zuo Quanming''s ze me hadn''t been fully matured, so its power was a little weak. Even so, it was an extremely powerful treasure, but s, Tang Jie had seen through it and developed countermeasures against it.


    Looking at the ze me, Tang Jie asked, "Did you also get this ze me from plundering a tomb?"


    Zuo Quanming turned red in the face, which was surprising from someone so shameless. "Yes! As for the Demon Calling Divine Connection, as Young Master already knows, ites from the same sort of ce."


    Tang Jie curiously asked, "Do you have an ability that doesn''te from tomb plundering?"


    Zuo Quanming quickly said, "This one''s sword arts were taught by my teacher."


    It turned out that this old man was not entirely a wandering cultivator. He had originated from a declining minor sect of the Blood River Domain. There, he had focused on cultivating and hadn''t been such a treacherous scoundrel.


    But a cmity befell the sect, and it was wiped out in a single night, with only the old man escaping. From then on, he was a wanderer. He had tried everything to get stronger, but the life of a wandering cultivator was hard, and he had ultimately resorted to grave robbing. Half of what he owned hade from this enterprise.


    When cultivators died, their spiritual energy usually returned to the world, but this wasn''t true for everyone. There were always some people who left behind remains for some reason or another. For example, cultivators who had yet to enter the Three Witherings and attain a spiritual body would naturally leave remains. Body cultivators who emphasized bodies that were tougher than steel would also leave behind remains upon death. There were also those who were poor at cultivating and had impure spiritual bodies. Finally, there were cultivators who cultivated some secret art that would also make them leave remains.


    In short, in the cultivation world, there were all sorts of weird and bizarre exceptions, so there were still cultivator tombs. It was just that the number with anything valuable was extremely small.


    Zuo Quanming had so many secret arts and treasures from grave robbing that he must have robbed many graves. Such frequent thievery was bound to get one chased down, and the old man was willing to do anything to survive, resulting in his current self.


    To put it in his own words, without his zeal for shamelessness, he would have died countless times by now.


    After hearing the old man''s recount, Tang Jie had Zuo Quanming write down the methods to the golden light stamp, the Demon Calling Divine Connection, and the Illusory Snake Step.


    He didn''t actually n on learning them, but these were all rather obscure arts, so their reference value was greater than their actualbat value. If he handed them over to the Basking Moon Sect, he could get quite a few contribution points.


    Zuo Quanming had no choice but to bitterly write down all the techniques, mantras, and spell arts he knew. After all, he was currently a "ve".


    Tang Jie looked through them all. As expected, most of them weren''t worth learning, but some were very good references that could allow him toprehend other fields through analogy.


    As he was avidly looking through them, he found a red page that hadn''t been written by Zuo Quanming. He asked, "What is this?"


    Zuo Quanming replied, "This page is something I got from an ancient tomb. A method to control fire is written on it."


    "''A method to control fire''?" Tang Jie pondered this response and then asked, "The same method you use to control the ze me?"


    Zuo Quanming replied in the affirmative.


    Now that Tang Jie thought about it, Zuo Quanming''s method for controlling the me was quite unusual. It had to be understood that most exotic mes were quite fierce, and special methods were required to refine them. Even the rather weak ze me was not easy to refine.


    That Zuo Quanming could refine and then take the me into his body was an indicator that there was something very special about his method, so Tang Jie gave it a close look.


    This method was called the Heavenly Yang Contrame Mantra, and it was a mantra for controlling fire. It had no power on its own, only allowing for a me to be refined and taken into the body to be used. Zuo Quanming initially hadn''t paid this mantra much mind, but then he found that the page that carried the mantra was very unusual, impervious to fire and water and unable to be torn apart. As the page was a treasure in its own right, Zuo Quanming decided to learn the mantra upon it.


    Not long after that, he came across the ze me, and when he tried out the Heavenly Yang Contrame Mantra, he was able to refine the me and make it his own. Now, that mantra had ended up in Tang Jie''s hands.


    "Idiot!" Tang Jie couldn''t help but scold Zuo Quanming after hearing his tale.


    After reviewing the Contrame Mantra, Tang Jie knew that this was Zuo Quanming''s real treasure. It was just that Zuo Quanming had utterly failed to properly use it, only using it to refine a low-level me like the ze me.


    But Tang Jie knew that the Heavenly Yang Contrame Mantra had far more uses than that. It could be used to absorb the ze me, so it could naturally be used on other exotic mes. Most importantly, this mantra had a few traces of the Dao.


    If the Weapon Mantra was a spell art that contained the Dao, with it essentially being the "Metal" Mantra of the Five Elements, then the Heavenly Yang Contrame Mantra could be called the "Fire" Mantra. It operated on the same principle, but it was able to transmit only the most surface-level information, far inferior to the Weapon Mantra. Even so, these few traces of Dao were enough to turn this art into an ultimate-grade secret art, the treasured art of a sect. s, Zuo Quanming had no understanding of its value, so it became pearls before swine.


    Tang Jie didn''t care about the art, but he did seek the Dao.


    After Yin and Yang were the Five Elements, and the best way to understand the Five Elements was through divine objects of these elements.


    He had the Sovereign de to study the Metal Element, but nothing for the other four.


    The Contrame Mantra was his stairway to the Fire Element.


    Inparison, the exotic me was of little value.


    But Tang Jie didn''t make his intent known. Rather, he put away the page andmented, "Your ze me is pretty good, but leaving it with you is a waste. Better to give it to me."


    Zuo Quanming inwardly cursed, For what reason is it not a waste with you? But he didn''t dare to say anything out loud. Silently nursing his grudge, he took out the ze me and handed it to Tang Jie, looking to see how Tang Jie handled it. But to his surprise, Tang Jie just took out a small bottle and put the me in it¡ªTang Jie had so many treasures that a bottle that could hold a me was easy toe by.


    Zuo Quanming bemoaned his bad luck and made up his mind to get revenge if he had the chance. But then he remembered the various seals imnted in his body that even a Violet Pce or Immortal tform cultivator might not be able to undo, so he could only hang his head in sorrow.


    Tang Jie saw his dejected appearance and soothed, "Don''t be so down. If you follow me properly, you''ll have your fair share of goodies."


    He reached into his Mustard Seed Bag.


    Zuo Quanming thought that Tang Jie was going to give him some treasure to make up for his loss, and he watched in anticipation as Tang Jie took something out and said, "Since you''re following me now, I will gift you this treasure."


    Zuo Quanming couldn''t help but tremble in agitation when he saw the treasure Tang Jie was giving him.


    Fuck you! That''s my sword!


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    Regardless, the problem of Zuo Quanming had been handled. With so many restraining methods, someone of Zuo Quanming''s craven personality would not dare to betray him.


    Tang Jie said, "This matter is concluded, so it''s time we left. You originally belong to the Eastern Heavenly King, so you should go back to them and carry on with your own business. Unless I order you to, you are not to expose yourself."


    Zuo Quanming felt like Tang Jie was ordering him to be his spy in the Eastern Heavenly King''s camp, which would stop him from being ordered around so much by Tang Jie. Although he knew that it was only a matter of time until he was exposed, any additional day of freedom was wee, so he quickly agreed.


    Tang Jie agreed upon some secret signals andmunication methods between them, and he also gave him a few message talismans. Heart Consonance was a secret art of the Basking Moon Sect, and even Xi Canhen had had to show a willingness to join the Basking Moon Sect in order to learn it, so there was no hope of this old man getting that chance.


    Once this was done, Zuo Quanming went off on his own.


    After bidding farewell to Zuo Quanming, Tang Jie left the valley and wandered about, taking in the scenery while trying to cultivate the Heavenly Yang Contrame Mantra.


    Cultivating this mantra wasn''t particrly difficult. The key to it was condensing a Divine me Seed in one''s body. Once the Divine me Seed was cultivated, one could attempt to nt a seed of fire andprehend the Dao of Fire, in the process strengthening the fire seed and oneself.


    Because Zuo Quanming''s original sect had been in decline, he knew many rumors and wild folktales but had pitiful amounts of cultivation knowledge. He only knew to take in the ze me for him to use, but not aboutprehending it, digesting it, and absorbing it, let alone improving it.


    Tang Jie wouldn''t make such a mistake.


    There were several methods to condensing the Divine Spark. The safest method was to spend every noon on top of a mountain, absorbing and refining Yang energy to gradually condense the seed. The most intense method was to venture into a volcano or simr environment and absorb the Fire energy within. But the best method was to eat an exotic me, converting that me into the Divine Spark.


    All these methods required converting Fire energy into one''s own power, and they all harshly tested one''s meridians.


    Zuo Quanming''s sect had fallen, and he had not properly cultivated his meridians, so he had chosen the most guaranteed method of absorbing sunlight atop a mountain. As for Tang Jie, he nned to eat the ze me and convert it into a spark.


    The ze me was a strong me that ordinary cultivators would find difficult to process. For example, if Zuo Quanming had dared to try and eat the ze me to make it a spark, he would just burn up his organs.


    The advantages of the orthodoxy of the Basking Moon Sect became prominent here.


    Having originated from an orthodox sect, Tang Jie had an extremely solid foundation, his meridians honed repeatedly by the surging of spiritual energy. Moreover, at Nine Revolutions, Tang Jie had focused on the Heart Revolution, which was strong in the Fire attribute, and the Grotto Metal Mantra also emphasized fire to melt metal. All these reasons meant that Tang Jie had long agoid down a strong foundation.


    Thus, Tang Jie used the ze me as the source for his spark.


    Every day, he extracted a little of the ze me and refined it ording to the method in the Contrame Mantra. Little by little, he absorbed it, and the energy gathered in his Spirit Sea, forming a red cloud.


    Tang Jie''s Spirit Sea was very unusual.


    ck crystals floated in the Spirit Sea, the Crystallized Sandworm having turned spiritual energy into crystals that floated like icebergs.


    Above the Spirit Sea were numerous crimson clouds, a phenomenon that had appeared when Tang Jie obtained the Flesh Millstone. These blood clouds were formed from the essence bloods of the White Tiger, ck Tortoise, and Vermillion Bird.


    After that battle in the valley, the original body had obtained a drop of essence blood from the Vermillion Bird as per their agreement. Rather than using it on his original body, Tang Jie had chosen to use it on the avatar, and the three drops of essence blood from three mythical beasts formed thick blood clouds in his Spirit Sea, a hint of the true power contained in this body.


    And now, a searing energy was slowly entering the Spirit Sea.


    Sincest time, Tang Jie had learned his lesson and was very careful with the absorption process. Those slivers of Fire energy entering his Spirit Sea didn''t merge with any other power, but floated between the Spirit Sea and the blood clouds, forming a little ball of me that burned in the air while the Spirit Sea provided it a constant stream of energy.


    Until the spark waspletely formed, nurturing the spark was a process that constantly consumed spiritual energy, burdening the body. Fortunately, Tang Jie had cultivated the Ninedark Mantra and had a Heavenly Spirit Law Body, so it was a burden he could endure. But he would still be affected in battle.


    Tang Jie estimated that the spark would need around sixty days to finish condensing, but greater attainment would require an even longer period of improvement and tempering. Tang Jie was in no rush, slowly refining the ze me to raise his spark.


    While refining the spark, Tang Jie continued to rove around the perimeter.


    It wasn''t long before Tang Jie had basically finished exploring the perimeter of the Treasure Paradise. He decided to venture farther in.


    The farther in one went, the more treasures one would find.


    Of course, he would face greater risks and run into more people as well.

 Chapter 577: Liu Qianyi

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    One day, Tang Jie was flying atop Tutu when he spotted a mountain in the distance.


    This mountain was covered with sharp spires that rose up from its sides, and down below was a dense forest with a babbling brook. It was a gorgeous ce, but there was also a treasure aura present, so Tang Jie had the rabbit descend.


    At this time, three others were flying in this direction, apparently also drawn over by the treasure aura. Tang Jie recognized one of them as that green-clothed maiden from before. She was also apanied by two men, clearly two representatives of the Southern Heavenly King.


    Tang Jie found it strange that he had run into her here. A woman of her status should have already reached the core region of the Treasure Paradise, so why was she still wandering about the middle region?


    While he found it strange, he had no interest in fighting with her. Since she wanted the relic, she could have it. Thus, he stopped.


    To his surprise, that green-clothed girl''s eyes lit up when they spotted Tang Jie. She turned and spoke to the two behind her, and then one of them flew down to the forest while the other and the girl flew straight toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie knew that he was in trouble.


    Sure enough, as the girl flew closer, she said, "Young Sir, why do you leave the moment you see me? Am I that bad to be around?"


    The moment the voice entered his ear, Tang Jie felt his soul tremble. It was clear that this woman''s charming arts had fused with her body such that even her voice was incredibly seductive. Hardening his mind, he said, "You''re right on the mark! You''re too ugly, and I was so rmed that I tried to leave as quickly as I could."


    "You!" The green-clothed girl trembled in rage, and a sheet of frost covered her face. But a momentter, she warmly smiled as if a spring night''s breeze had thawed all the frost. "Young Sir Tang, don''t joke around. While Liu Qianyi does not dare to call herself a beauty, she is confident that her face is not so unsightly."


    Tang Jie firmly replied, "I''m not joking. You''re really ugly. Your face is like a wash basin, your nose is like a hook, and your mouth is a city gate. It''s truly hard to look at."


    Liu Qianyi almost exploded.


    Her face was rather round, but it was also refined and delicate. How could it be called a wash basin? And while her nose was slightly curved, the arc wasn''t so bad as to be called a hook.


    As for her mouth, while it was ratherrge, that only made it more bewitching. How could it be a city gate?


    These three parts of Liu Qianyi''s body couldn''t even be considered ws, only enhancing her sexual appeal. But Tang Jie was making them out to be major issues.


    No matter how Liu Qianyi tried to suppress her anger, she ultimately failed. Her eyes bulged and her slender brows rose as she retorted, "You''re too much! I tried to be polite, but you repaid me with such rudeness!"


    Tang Jie sneered. "Miss, I can''t endure your kindness. The charming arts of the Southern Heavenly King are without peer. This one still knows a little about its ability to kill silently."


    At this moment, Liu Qianyi''s stern brows uncreased. "So it was to break through my charming art?"


    Charming arts emphasized having no form and leaving no trace, ensnaring victims while they were unaware. When you looked at a woman, you would never know whether it was because you were actually in love or you were beguiled by her spell.


    But it was precisely because charming arts had no form and were used without the slightest trace of expression that one using them could not be easily moved to rage. That wrathful expression on Liu Qianyi''s face had essentially cut down the effectiveness of her art by half.


    Only now did she realize why Tang Jie had been trying to anger her. rmed, she realized that she was still too young, to have been so easily provoked by a few words from Tang Jie. Clearly, she was sorelycking inposure.


    Her anger subsided somewhat once she understood, and her eyes became more cold and clear as they looked back at Tang Jie. An amused smile appeared on her face as she said, "Young Sir Tang is truly cautious, but Young Sir has misunderstood me. I did note here to settle ounts with Young Sir."


    "Oh?" Tang Jie didn''t drop his guard because of this, ordering Tutu to fly back. "Then why have youe to find me?"


    "Young Sir, is there a need to be such a stranger?" Liu Qianyi asked. "Qianyi has simplye to greet Young Sir. I didn''t think that you would treat me like this, calling me a heartless hag. Such words wound the soul."


    Her face darkened with sorrow, herrge and watery eyes tearing up into a pitiful expression.


    Even Tang Jie was somewhat shaken, thinking that he might have been a little too callous by saying such things. But a momentter, he realized that something was wrong. That woman hade rushing over with apanion the moment she spotted him, clearly harboring impure motives. Moreover, he had exposed her in the past, essentially offending her, so it was quite normal for her to want revenge, but now she was acting all innocent. And he was usually a stone-hearted man, so how could his heart soften just from a teary face?


    His mind trembled, and entirely out of instinct, he activated the Chaoswind Step.


    As he disappeared, a st of sword energy shot through the air, passing through and obliterating his afterimage. The one who had attacked was none other than the man who hade with Liu Qianyi, though it was hard to say when exactly he had appeared next to Tang Jie.


    This was the power of charming arts. When Tang Jie had been speaking with Liu Qianyi, he had been unwittingly entranced such that all his attention was on Liu Qianyi and no one else. In these circumstances, the sneak attack from that man became all the more difficult to detect.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie had a strong resolve and also the help of the Mindsoothe Bracelet, so he had quickly regained his senses. Another person would have fallen for the trap and been either in or heavily injured.


    "He ran?" Liu Qianyi was startled, blurting out, "Where?"


    The man realized something and turned his head to shout, "Watch out!"


    Liu Qianyi knew that she was in trouble, but just when she was about to respond, an immense energy came roaring out from behind her and engulfed her.


    Liu Qianyi was aghast. Realizing that Tang Jie had moved right behind her, she hastily cast a spell and tried to escape, but a blood-colored cloud engulfed her and held her fast.


    What was this power?


    Liu Qianyi was shocked.


    It had to be understood that, as the Southern Heavenly King''s disciple, she was no mediocre cultivator, yet she had been restrained barely moments after the battle had begun. In her shock, she prepared to counterattack, but then she heard a voice behind her. "Don''t move, or else I''ll have to destroy a flower."


    A sword pressed up against the back of her neck.


    Liu Qianyi stopped moving. The distant ambusher wanted to attack, but with a casual wave of his hand, Tang Jie sent a wave of sword light to block him. He then chuckled. "It''s no wonder people say that those who use the charming arts aren''t scariest when they''re seething with murderous intent, but when they''re all smiles. This is because their every smile and frown is brimming with boundless charm that can disorder the mind. I only saw your tearful face and almost fell for your trap. Formidable!"


    Liu Qianyi squeezed out a smile. "Young Sir Tang, what do you mean? This must be a misunderstanding¡­"


    As she spoke, she focused her power on a jade amulet she wore on her front.


    The jade amulet glowed, creating a white barrier that enclosed Liu Qianyi. But Tang Jie simply snorted and thrust out a finger brushing past Liu Qianyi''s cheek, right at the part of the barrier that was still forming.


    This protective barrier was at its weakest when still forming, but usually, it was difficult to find this part. Yet as Tang Jie thrust out the finger, there was a crack, and then the barrier shattered like ss, dissolving into light.


    As Tang Jie shattered the barrier, Liu Qianyi let out a sharp cry, and her body struggled out of Tang Jie''s grip and flew out.


    Tang Jie let out a gasp of surprise. While he had managed to immediately restrain Liu Qianyi, this was because he had used the Flesh Millstone. Normally, a person would be immobile under the power of the Flesh Millstone, but this woman had managed to force her way out, meaning that she was truly capable. But he had also not been using his full power.


    Despite his surprise, he reacted quickly. As Liu Qianyi flew out, Tang Jie thrust his sword at her back.


    He did not n on killing anyone, so his sword was more fast than powerful. But at this moment, a rainbow belt flew up from Liu Qianyi''s body, dancing like a phoenix and blocking Tang Jie''s sword energy. As the sword energy struck the belt, there was a burst of beautiful light that somewhat blinded Tang Jie. Knowing that this was the result of a charming art, he hastily focused his mind.


    At the same time, herpanion flew forward, thrusting his own sword at Tang Jie. The two of them worked together so well that it was clear that they had trained together for some time.


    Tang Jie coldly chuckled. This sword had been a feint, for the moment he thrust out his sword, he rushed at Liu Qianyi, his body erupting with a crimson light. Liu Qianyi was once more in the range of the Flesh Millstone.


    After catching Liu Qianyi again, Tang Jie held nothing back, exerting the full might of the millstone to suppress her.


    The Flesh Millstone was strong enough to be considered one of Tang Jie''s avatar''s strongest trump cards. After absorbing the blood gems from the Blood River Lord''s Heart Demon avatar, it had grown even stronger and covered an even greater range. Even a powerful cultivator like Na Shan might not have been able to break free, let alone someone who wasn''t skilled in directbat like Liu Qianyi.


    As the millstone grinded, Liu Qianyi let out a cry of pain.


    The Flesh Millstone was an area spell art, so while holding down Liu Qianyi, it also blocked the sword attacks from that man. The bloody light then turned into a giant hand and dragged that man in as well.


    The moment the two of them entered the range of the Flesh Millstone, they felt like a mountain was pressing on their bodies. All around them was a bloody-colored fog, with each wisp of blood energy seeking to crush the air out of their lungs.


    Liu Qianyi paled and shouted, "Young Sir Tang, stop! I concede!"


    "It''s not like we''re in the arena!" Tang Jie snorted. "I don''t care if you concede. What I care about is that you want to settle ounts."


    "''Settle ounts''? What ''ounts''?" Liu Qianyi put on a pitiful look.


    But Tang Jie was her bane, and all of her wiles were useless.


    Tang Jie ignored all of her charms and said, "Naturally, I''m speaking ofpensation¡­"


    Before he could finish, he realized something was wrong and dodged. A beam of sword energy shot through the ce he had just been standing, originating from that man who had gone to retrieve the treasure. It seemed he had returned.


    While Tang Jie had dodged the attack, he also ended up freeing Liu Qianyi and herpanion from the shackles of the Flesh Millstone.


    The two of them didn''t give chase, instead backing away while taking out protective art relics. It was clear that Tang Jie''s Flesh Millstone had given them a bad fright.


    Nobody had expected him to have a powerful ability like this.


    Liu Qianyi stared at Tang Jie in shock.


    Although she had long known that Tang Jie''s formidable resolve made him a direct counter to the charming arts, resolve had nothing to do with strength. The charming art used by the Southern Heavenly King was only looking for who could resist her disciple''s charms, but it didn''t say anything about their strength.


    In Liu Qianyi''s view, Tang Jie was just a Spirit Ring cultivator. No matter how much resolve he had, that said nothing about his other aspects, and besides, she had the advantage in numbers.


    Thus, she was stunned by the major defeat she had suffered.


    As Tang Jie scoffed and was about to attack again, Liu Qianyi shouted, "Hey, hey, wait! No more fighting!"


    Tang Jie grunted, "You think the fight stops just because you say so?"


    The Flesh Millstone expanded and turned as Tang Jie charged at the trio.


    Liu Qianyi was ready this time, throwing out a handkerchief.


    The handkerchief expanded in the air to block the blood cloud, yet the Flesh Millstone was too powerful, instantly crushing the handkerchief.


    rmed, Liu Qianyi clenched her teeth and pulled out a phoenix hairpin. As the hairpin flew into the air, it turned into a green bird that spat out mes.


    But as the blood cloud churned, all the mes disappeared, and it surged toward the bird. A thread of blood energy coiled around the green bird and almost pulled it into the cloud. Even though the bird escaped, it lost so many feathers that it shrieked in pain and flew high up into the sky, circling around and not daring toe back down.


    A stunned Liu Qianyi stomped her feet and shouted, "You two idiots!"


    The man who had ambushed Tang Jie first now stabbed his sword at Tang Jie, and ten thousand energy swords appeared and attacked him. The man who had gone to get the treasure and returned swung his sword at Tang Jie, his sword energy turning into a dragon that soared through the skies.


    The countless energy swords and the sword dragon exuded powerful auras as they converged on Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie waved his sleeve, and that blood cloud expanded once more, and out of the expanding cloud emerged countless heavenly des.


    Thebination of the Flesh Millstone and Nine Heavens Cmity des unleashed boundless power. The Heavenly Cloud des shed against those energy swords and shattered all of them. Meanwhile, the blood cloud wrapped around the sword dragon and ground it down to nothing.


    The three were dumbfounded. In their eyes, Tang Jie''s Flesh Millstone had be a most terrifying existence.


    As the blood cloud swept toward them, Liu Qianyi shouted, "I concede! Because I was the one who incited this, I am willing topensate Young Sir with one upper-grade art relic!"


    "I think it''s better if I just take it myself," Tang Jie coldly said.


    "Young Sir, don''t force my hand!" Liu Qianyi quickly pulled out a talisman, which Tang Jie recognized to be a Void Teleportation talisman.


    This talisman was simr to Tang Jie''s Free Roaming Talisman. While it couldn''t teleport as far as the Free Roaming Talisman, it had greater uracy, making them of equivalent value. With this talisman, there was no stopping her escape unless he had a Space-type Divine Connection.


    Capturing or killing her was now impossible. As for the two men, while they had shock and fear in their eyes, there was no despair. It was clear that they still had their own hidden cards to y.


    Tang Jie knew that representatives weren''t people to be messed with, and he didn''t want to force them to take desperate measures, so he said, "One upper-grade art relic per person, and also that treasure you just picked up."


    Liu Qianyi grimaced. "Young Sir, there''s no need for this."


    "If you don''t like it, then use that teleportation talisman," Tang Jie coldly said.


    It wasn''t easy to make such a talisman, and Liu Qianyi had only this one. Reluctant to use it, she could only agree. As for those two men, their trump cards were even more valuable than the talisman, so they naturally weren''t willing to take them out just to fight with Tang Jie.


    With four treasures in hand, Tang Jie said, "Let''s end the matter here. Bye."


    He prepared to leave.


    Liu Qianyi''s eyes darted around, and then she suddenly shouted, "Young Sir Tang, please wait a moment."


    "What?" Tang Jie turned around. "Still not satisfied?"


    Liu Qianyi smiled. "Not at all. Qianyi was still holding a grudge from the Celestial me Pagoda, so she thought to attack after seeing Young Sir, but in the end, it was Young Sir who taught me a lesson. I hope Young Sir will forgive me for this."


    Tang Jie shook his head. "As I said, that matter has ended."


    "Since that''s the case, can Qianyi make a trade with Young Sir?" Liu Qianyi looked at Tang Jie and sweetly smiled.


    "Another trade?" Tang Jie was confused. "What sort of trade?"


    "A trade of information!" Liu Qianyi replied. "I have some information on my hand that I wonder if Young Sir is interested in?"


    "That depends on the value of the information."


    "Hm¡­" Liu Qianyi cocked her head and thought it over. "It''s hard to say. The value of information depends on the individual. But this information is somewhat rted to Young Sir, so I think Young Sir should be interested. As for the price, I trust that Young Sir won''t treat me poorly once you confirm its value."


    "Then tell me."


    "It''s like this. A few days ago, while Qianyi was looking for treasure, she came across a Heart Demon Tier Hemos cultivator."


    "What about it?" Tang Jie nonchntly replied.


    Liu Qianyi replied, "I''ve never seen him before."


    Tang Jie froze.


    All the representatives had seen each other at the Celestial me Pagoda before entering the Treasure Paradise, though they knew little of each other''s power levels. How was there someone Liu Qianyi had not met before?


    He didn''t think that this was because Liu Qianyi had a bad memory. Since she had mentioned it in particr, she must have been sure that she knew everyone''s faces.


    Tang Jie stared at Liu Qianyi. "You''re saying¡­"


    "That Hemos wasn''t a representative!" Liu Qianyi confidently said.


    Tang Jie frowned. "How could there be a non-representative in the Treasure Paradise? Is it a native of the Treasure Paradise? Someone who went in and didn''te out? Or was another person let in?"


    "It was someone who was let inter," Liu Qianyi replied.


    "How can you be so sure?"


    "Because he mentioned you by name." Liu Qianyi stared at Tang Jie and very slowly and firmly dered:


    "He was looking for you!"

 Chapter 578: Scouting

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie''s eyes narrowed.


    Tang Jie was well aware of what a Hemos searching for him meant.


    He suddenly somewhat understood why Liu Qianyi had attacked him.


    She had clearly realized that something unusual was going on.


    A person that could make the Four Heavenly Kings break precedent and allow them into the Treasure Paradise had to be backed by a great power. This was the real reason Liu Qianyi had attacked him, with the grudge from the Celestial me Pagoda being a minor trifle.


    But she hadn''t expected Tang Jie to be so strong that three of them together were no match for him. In the end, she had ended up losing four art relics.


    This woman had been rather decisive, immediately selling out the Blood River Lord.


    She sweetly smiled at Tang Jie. "Young Sir Tang, what do you think the value of this information is?"


    Tang Jie threw back the four art relics to Liu Qianyi.


    Liu Qianyi took her treasures and smiled, but she seemed unwilling to leave. Looking at Tang Jie, she said, "This is money for the information. Then the silence fee¡­"


    Tang Jie coldly said, "I don''t have the silence fee, but I do have a knife for silencing witnesses. Do you want it?"


    Liu Qianyi pursed her lips. "You can''t even take a joke."


    She turned and flew off. The other two took onest unwilling nce at him before also taking their leave.


    Tang Jie''s face sank as he watched the three of them leave.


    Since the Blood River Lord was inside, he knew without asking that the Four Heavenly Kings had sold him out.


    Tang Jie didn''t know what sort of deal the two parties had made, but this wasn''t important. What was important was that his enemy was here. Fortunately, he had been careful and insisted on bringing the Mountain River State Diagram. With the original body around, a mere Heart Demon Blood River Lord was no problem.


    Wait!


    Tang Jie felt like something was wrong.


    Thest avatar the Blood River Lord had sent was at the Heart Demon Tier.


    The first time, it was very normal for the Blood River Lord to choose a Heart Demon avatar to chase after Tang Jie, but after that loss, he had no reason to yet again use a Heart Demon avatar.


    Had the old man gone senile and not realized what situation he was facing?


    Tang Jie didn''t think that the Blood River Lord was that imbecilic. Even if the Treasure Paradise limited the cultivation of those who entered, this wasn''t enough of a reason for the Blood River Lord to ignore his earlier defeat.


    Everyone had times where they were stupid and arrogant, as these were problems of personality. But repeating the same mistake was not a problem of personality, but intelligence.


    Tang Jie began to deeply ponder this news.


    After some time, he finally said, "Tutu, I recall you saying that the Blood River Lord controls the Blood River and can take countless forms and create avatars to walk the world. What sort of limits do these avatars have?"


    Tutu replied, "The Blood River Lord is famous for being undying and his avatars, famous for his countless forms and his true form being that of blood. If he was willing, he could easily form thousands of avatars. I suppose you can consider itpensation for the fact that his actual body can''t move. My former young master once said that everything has its pros and cons as decided by the heavens. But whenever he mentioned this, he would sigh about how he could never reach the peak despite his numerous reincarnations."


    "Scattering or congregating as his heart desires? It seems like he has attained some insight into the Dao of Parting and Merging. No wonder myprehension of the blood duplicate went so smoothly. It was probably because I had absorbed the blood gem," Tang Jie muttered. "Eh, forget it. Whatever the truth is, there''s no point in analyzing it. I have to face the facts."


    Tang Jie opened up the Mountain River State Diagram, and the original body walked out.


    The two Tang Jies looked at each other, and then they each scratched an arm, two streams of blood bursting out. They let out their blood for some time, only stopping when they were both about to reach their limit.


    By this time, a ratherrge sphere of blood had coalesced in the air. Gradually, as it writhed and roiled, it turned into an infant that was surrounded in a blood-colored womb. The infant grewrger andrger, ultimately bing an adult and bursting out of the womb, another Tang Jie emerging.


    Unlike other duplicates, this one could float in the air the moment it appeared, indicating that it could fly, understood spell arts. This was beyond the realm of an illusion and into the realm of an avatar.


    There were several levels to avatars a cultivator could possess. The highest level were avatars like Tang Jie''s. Below that were incarnations, which carried a portion of the original''s power, but they couldn''tst for a long time and couldn''t cultivate. The worst of all were shadow clones, also called illusory bodies. These shadow clones had no offensive power to speak of and could only be used for deceptive purposes.


    But now, using his blood, Tang Jie had turned this shadow clone into an incarnation, capable of using various spell arts and about as strong as the average cultivator. But this sort of incarnation had taken too much of his blood and had far too harsh of an effect on his body. In terms of overallbat power, he had actually gotten weaker. Of course, this was because Tang Jie''s cultivation level wasn''t high enough. An incarnation wasn''t something he should have been capable of at his level. Forcing it naturally cost him more.


    The moment the blood shadow clone appeared, it began to break apart, one bing two, two bing four, and so on. In the blink of an eye, there were hundreds of them. This was clearly the same method that the Blood River Lord had used before.


    By absorbing the blood gems, Tang Jie''s avatar had inadvertently obtained some understanding of that blood avatar art. Bybining it with the original body''s grasp of the blood duplicate method, he could simte the Blood River Lord''s ability.


    These duplicates no longer retained Tang Jie''s appearance, instead taking the form of various birds.


    Tang Jiemanded these birds to fly off in various directions.


    Under Tang Jie''s control, these blood birds flew off with the sole mission of finding the Blood River Lord.


    The thousands of blood birds scattering meant that his mind was also split a thousand ways, and through countless eyes, he began to survey thend. With every passing second, thousands of images were being sent to Tang Jie''s mind, the vast quantities of information making him dizzy. If he hadn''tprehended the Dao of Wisdom, the flood of information would have brought him down.


    The bird duplicates spread out like a, in an orderly fashion, and they flew freely in the skies, making no attempt to hide themselves.


    Either they would discover the target or be discovered by the target.


    Such an audacious way of doing things naturally ran into many problems.


    As a blood bird was flying along, a giant bird with wings that blotted out the sky like dark clouds flew over to it. It stretched out its neck and caught the duplicate in its beak, upon which the duplicate popped like a bubble, leaving only a few drops of blood. The giant bird let out strange coos in surprise at the abrupt disappearance of its meal.


    Another blood bird was flying through a forest when it came across a sword soul, and that surge of sword light instantly obliterated it.


    Another blood bird entered a danger zone, and it inexplicably ceased to exist before Tang Jie even realized what was going on.


    Many more of the duplicates fell to other representatives.


    There were always those people with itchy hands who were bored and attacked any bird they sawing their way.


    A blood bird was flying through the sky when a ck fire arrow pierced it, causing it to explode.


    Down below, on a mountain, Hei Yan drew back his finger and said in amusement, "This bird is quite amusing. Big Brother Na Shan, let''s go bird hunting."


    Na Shan rolled his eyes and then gravely gazed at the astrbe in his hand. "The Hall of Three Immortals is about to open. Tang Jie and the others should be arriving soon."


    For various reasons, nearly a third of the thousand duplicates were destroyed.


    But their sacrifices were not in vain. Casting his over such a wide area had finally allowed Tang Jie to find the Blood River Lord.


    It was a Heart Demon Tier avatar of the Blood River Lord.


    And Tang Jie quickly found a second, a third¡­


    In the end, he managed to find ten-some Blood River Lord avatars, one of them even being a Soul Transformation avatar.


    His spections had been verified, and his expression darkened. "11 Heart Demon and one Soul Transformation¡­ Shit, did he really send a Violet Pce avatar after me?"


    Even though he didn''t want to believe it, Tang Jie knew that this was probably true.


    The Blood River Lord must have gone crazy, sending out such a force against a single Spirit Ring Tier cultivator. Old bastard, was this really necessary?


    Tang Jie was slightly confused.


    But since the Blood River Lord was here, he would have to confront him eventually.


    The heavens were looking out for him, letting him know of the Blood River Lord''s presence beforehand and allowing him to avoid being caught by surprise.


    Using this opportunity would depend on his ability.


    Tang Jie fell into deep thought.


    Meanwhile, far on the other end of the Treasure Paradise.


    A Blood River avatar looked up at a distant blood bird. For some reason, it felt familiar to him.


    As avatars, the bodies all couldmunicate with each other.


    The Blood River Lord focused for a few moments and realized that his other avatars had also encountered this kind of bird.


    "This kind" didn''t refer to the shapes of the birds, but their energy.


    This energy made the Blood River Lord''s face turn grim. With a flick of his finger, he shot a bolt of energy at that bird.


    That bird broke apart, and a drop of blood fell.


    The Blood River Lord made a swiping movement with his hand, and that bead of blood flew toward him. Just when he was about to absorb that bead of blood into his body to better sense it, that blood dissipated into smoke.


    The Blood River Lord grimaced and breathed in that smoke. That blood mist quickly scattered, but he still managed to catch a whiff of a familiar scent.


    After a moment''s daze, he roared, "Tang Jie!"


    This roar resounded like thunder through the heavens.


    A momentter, the Blood River Lord''s body erupted with murderous intent, his face glowing red. "Brat! You dare to spy on me? But you''ve let me catch the scent of your flesh! Let''s see how you escape me now!"


    He closed his eyes and began to seek out the origin of that blood mist. Although it had only been a wisp, for the Blood River Lord, that was enough.


    Suddenly, he opened his eyes and gazed into the distance, a savage smile on his lips. "I found you!"


    As he spoke, the four Heart Demon avatars closest to Tang Jie began to converge on his location.


    Surprisingly, rather than all of them, the Blood River Lord had only sent four, falling quiet afterward.


    He sat among the clouds and gazed into the distance.


    Far off in the mountains loomed a majestic pce.


    The Blood River Lord greedily looked at that pce, muttering, "The day has finallye. Now that I think about it, I should thank you if I have the chance, Tang Jie. In gratitude, I will definitely tear you to shreds!"

 Chapter 579: Making a Plan

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The moment the blood bead shattered and the mist dispersed, Tang Jie sensed it, and he knew that the Blood River Lord had noticed him. Without the slightest hesitation, he had all the blood birds explode and dissipate.


    The more blood beads the Blood River Lord were allowed to obtain, the easier it would be to track him down.


    At the same time, Tang Jie stood up and formed a spell, casting his Illuminating Eye. After throwing the Illuminating Eye into the clouds, Tang Jie took out a formation diagram. The moment the formation diagram unfurled, it turned into blue skies and white clouds, fusing with its surrounding environment and obscuring the Illuminating Eye.


    This formation was being used just to cover up the one Illuminating Eye.


    After doing this, Tang Jie patted Tutu and said, "Go!"


    By now, the Blood River Lord probably knew where he was, so if he didn''t leave now, it might be toote.


    The rabbit leaped into the air, leaving behind a long white trail.


    Not long after Tang Jie left, the first Blood River avatar appeared at his former location.


    He looked around and then closed his eyes. As if he had locked onto Tang Jie''s position, he suddenly turned his head in the direction Tang Jie had fled. "Over there."


    He flew off in pursuit.


    It wasn''t long before a second, third, and fourth avatar arrived. This time, they took off in Tang Jie''s direction without even stopping.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie was observing the Blood River Lord''s movements¡ªbefore the beginning of their battle, there first had to be a round of surveince and counter-surveince, pursuit and counter-pursuit.


    In terms of strength, the Blood River Lord had the clear upper hand, but Tang Jie was more prepared and taking this more seriously.


    When the strong shed with the weak, what determined victory wasn''t who was stronger but how much both sides invested.


    In this conflict of surveince and counter-surveince, Tang Jie was superior.


    While mounted on the rabbit, he had a glow in his eyes, and the images of the Blood River Lord appeared before him. He saw the Blood River Lord looking around, tracking, and pursuing, and he muttered, "He''s able to lock onto me seemingly because he''s tracking down the source of the blood, but he needs to keep tracking and confirming, indicating that it''s not too reliable, so there should be a way of covering it up. When the first one found me, the others directly gave chase, meaning that these avatars canmunicate with each other. In terms of speed¡­"


    Tang Jie stared at the Blood River Lord''s fleeting figure, his mind spinning and the Dao of Wisdom turning. He swiftly calcted that the Blood River Lord was actually a little slower than Tutu. Tutu was a Heaven-Lost Rabbit, and as a natural mount, it had few other abilities except its speed. Of course, this was also rted to the Blood River Lord''s current cultivation level. If all his avatars were brought together, he could fly with some mighty Divine Connection, and probably even Tutu wouldn''t be able to outrun him at its current cultivation level.


    By relying on Tutu, Tang Jie was still the winner in the contest of pursuit and counter-pursuit, which meant he had plenty of time.


    He continued to stare at the Blood River Lord''s figure.


    When the fourth avatar passed, Tang Jie stopped seeing new ones.


    "Four¡­ He only sent four Heart Demon Tiers," Tang Jie muttered.


    Is he looking down on me?


    In terms of strength, four Heart Demon Tiers was enough to deal with just him.


    But if that was the case, why had he assembled such a great force?


    After gathering together so much of his power, he had ultimately sent only four Heart Demon avatars at him. It was like taking only a single bite from a sumptuous feast.


    Tang Jie narrowed his eyes.


    Regardless, this was good news. Originally, Tang Jie had been thinking that he needed to do some "divide and conquer", but it seemed like he didn''t have to waste his brainpower. The Blood River Lord had sent an opportunity right to his door.


    Four Heart Demon avatars could be called neither strong nor weak.


    Although Tang Jie had needed five people to deal with a single avatarst time, that was because Tang Jie hadn''t used his full power. If he had the Sovereign de and his formation diagrams, and even sent in Yiyi, he was rather confident in his ability to deal with a single Heart Demon avatar.


    As for the remaining three, the original body could deal with them. While there might be a big battle, he would undoubtedly be the winner.


    The only problem was that the Blood River avatars were all mind-linked. If his original body were mobilized, the remaining Blood River avatars would learn of it, and the Blood River Lord would now be able to urately assess his strength. And four Heart Demon avatars might not even be one tenth of the strength the Blood River Lord had sent in pursuit of Tang Jie. Was exposing the original body for this little worth it? But if he didn''t use the original body, how would he deal with them?


    Tang Jie began to ponder this problem.


    "Why don''t we use shadow clones to split them and then defeat them individually?" Yiyi proposed. She had been with Tang Jie long enough to have picked up on many of his tactics, and she understood the principles behind "divide and conquer".


    Tang Jie shook his head. "There''s little point, even without considering that Blood River isn''t that easily fooled. The minds of Blood River''s avatars are all linked, so if any avatar is attacked, the others will immediately know and go to give help. Trying to split up his avatars might not work, and what might happen instead is that one of his avatars will hold us down and rob us of the chance to escape."


    "Then what do we do?" Yiyi instantly grew worried. "What if¡­ we send the original body?"


    Tang Jie shook his head again. "No, that will just make the Blood River Lord take us more seriously. Next, rather than four Heart Demon avatars, it will be four Soul Transformation avatars."


    "Didn''t he already send a lot this time? We''ve already seen ten-some Heart Demon and one Soul Transformation," Yiyi grumbled.


    "They might not all be meant for me," Tang Jie replied. "There''s something weird going on."


    "What?"


    "Blood River needed a few months to find us the first time, but that was because he didn''t know where we were. After we destroyed him once, he knew where we were, so even if his avatar couldn''t get to the City of Freedom in three days, given that his original body is at Immortal tform, do you really think he wouldn''t have a way of getting his avatar to the City of Freedom as quickly as possible? You have to realize that I was ready to flee with a teleportation formation at any point within those three days, but he didn''te! It was just too unbelievable."


    Yiyi was startled, looking at Tang Jie in confusion.


    Tang Jie continued, "Three days¡­ those precious three days! But rather than seizing this opportunity, he only came three dayster, after I had entered the Treasure Paradise, making some deal with the Celestial me Pagoda to get in. Don''t you think that strange? He chose to foregoing early to deal with me, instead choosing to miss his chance and then pay an immense cost toe in. Once inside, he didn''t even pursue me with all his strength. With so many avatars, he could have split them up, casting a just like me, but I didn''t see a single sign of him this entire time, and in the end, I was the one who found him. Once he noticed this, he didn''t send all his avatars chasing after me, instead sending only four Heart Demon avatars¡­ Did he reallye inside for me? Did he really send such a strong avatar just for me?"


    Yiyi gaped. "You''re saying¡­"


    Tang Jie lowered his head in thought. "I tricked He Chong into the Mountain River State Diagram because I saw some things and understood some things in my battle with him, after which I made my decision. I imprisoned He Chong because I wanted to use him. Then Blood River¡­ What if he''s doing the same thing? Perhaps he saw an opportunity. Pursuing me just became an excuse to enter the Treasure Paradise."


    Tang Jie stood up and looked around, his eyes gleaming with confidence. "There must be something that he wants here. I''m just an excuse!"


    "I see. What we thought was a stupid and rash bull was actually a crafty old fox!" Yiyi said in realization. "So what do we do now?"


    Tang Jie replied, "No matter what his ultimate goal is, a battle between us is unavoidable. If that''s the case, we don''t need to go all-out. For this battle, I won''t use my original body to destroy his four avatars!"


    Tang Jie felt boldness welling up within him.


    "How can you do it if you don''t use the original body?" Yiyi asked in surprise.


    Tang Jie confidently smiled. "In a battle of wits, of course. Yiyi, I once taught you about ''divide and conquer'', and now, I will teach you some of the other wisdom our ancestors left to us."


    Yiyi was baffled. What does this have to do with our ancestors?


    The Great Ster Chiliocosm had for eons pursued the path of longevity, the road of immortality, but its knowledge of military tactics and strategy was limited. For Immortals, this was because they didn''t need it, and for mortals, it was because cultivators existed. Thus, they didn''t understand not because theycked intelligence, but because they had never been taught it. And in Tang Jie''s world, there was a saying that you had to both talk the talk and walk the walk, but what if you had never even been taught how to walk?


    But Tang Jie knew how.


    The wars his previous world had engaged in over thousands of years had made him fundamentally different from the people of this world.


    Tang Jie took out a map and looked at it. "The art of war is one of constant transformation, and the most important factor is your mind. ''Divide and conquer'' is only one of many strategies. In its essence, it''s just weakening the opponent by breaking them down. But breaking down isn''t the only way of weakening the opponent. Another way would be to use the time, weather, and location. And defeating the opponent doesn''t have to just be about weakening them. You can also seek to make yourself stronger. Thus, for this battle, we first have to select a good location¡­"


    Tang Jie began to move his finger across the map.


    Finally, his finger stopped on the corner of the map.


    That was a valley marked with a fire symbol.


    The Holy Fire Valley!


    The Holy Fire Valley was a famous danger zone of the Treasure Paradise, one of the few that was not due to the presence of the divine sword. It was said that when the me Celestial Sovereign entered this ce, he contended against the divine sword''s might, and the endless wildfire he used left behind a devastated area. However, Na Shan privately told Tang Jie that this was because the me Celestial Sovereign had been caught unawares, not knowing the situation in the Treasure Paradise, and the blood from his serious wound had created this area.


    The Holy Fire Valley was still aze, rivers ofva flowing, creating this infamous danger zone of the Treasure Paradise.


    "The Blood River Lord''s strongest attribute, other than his unkibility and his ability to divide and transform, is his Blood Sea. Hemands the world within the Blood Sea, everything going as he wills. Even his Heart Demon Tier avatars can control a small part of the world as if they were Violet Pce, possessing terrifying power. But everything in the world has itsplement and detriment. Water can counter fire, but fire can counter water. While the Blood Sea can counter fire, it also fears fire! As for me, I''ve recently condensed a spark and have the Vermillion Bird''s essence blood, so I have no fear of fighting in fire. Thus, we¡­"


    Tang Jie paused for emphasis. "Will fight here!


    "You have your sea of blood, and I have my sea of fire!" Tang Jie firmly dered, his eyes glowing.

 Chapter 580: Entering the Valley

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Now that the n was set, Tang Jie stopped hesitating and had Tutu fly in the direction of Holy Fire Valley. The Blood River Lord could sense Tang Jie''s location after getting that sliver of blood energy, so he would naturally follow. The two of them began a grand chase across the Treasure Paradise.


    As he was flying along, he suddenly spotted three people in front of him. It was Liu Qianyi''s group, as it turned out that this was the direction they had gone in.


    Tang Jie shouted, "Stand aside!"


    The rabbit charged straight at them, making no change to its trajectory.


    Liu Qianyi''s group was startled by Tang Jieing out of nowhere. At first, they thought Tang Jie was definitelying to cause trouble for them, unwilling to let them go. Seeing that Tang Jie wasing too fast, they cast barriers, with one of them even stabbing his sword at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie waved his sleeve, sending out a surge of spiritual energy that scattered the sword light, and then he zoomed past the trio without stopping. As he passed Liu Qianyi, he pinched her face and said, "Passing by!"


    Liu Qianyi was stunned, and then enraged by this sudden pinch to the face. And then she was confused. I had a barrier on, so how did he pinch me?


    As her face rapidly shifted between expressions, she turned to Tang Jie, who was already far off in the distance. She pointed at Tang Jie''s fleeing figure and angrily cursed. When she wasn''t using her charming arts, she appeared like a delicate young maiden, yet she cursed like a sailor, rming her twopanions.


    Once she was all cursed out, she prepared to leave.


    There was another rush of wind from behind them, four blood-colored people howling out of the distance: the Blood River Lord.


    The Blood River Lord came with even greater force than Tang Jie. Spotting those three in the distance, he bellowed, "Out of my way! Don''t block the road!"


    He thrust out his palm, sending the three of them flying while his avatars flew right on through.


    Liu Qianyi angrily huffed, "The skies are big enough to fly everywhere, so why do I have to stand aside? Tang Jie was like those, and so were those four bastards¡­ Wait. This isn''t right!"


    Liu Qianyi realized something and gazed into the distance.


    Those four people were identical, and she had clearly seen that person before¡­ He had been looking for Tang Jie.


    Liu Qianyi''s eyes lit up. "Come on¡ªlet''s go after them!"


    She followed behind the Blood River Lord.


    Holy Fire Valley was located on the western side of the Treasure Paradise. mes burned here throughout the year, but strangely, they didn''t affect the world outside the valley.


    Holy Fire Valley produced many Fire-type crystals, one of the rare treasures in the Treasure Paradise that were ssified as resources. Whether in the field of cultivation, pill refining, tool making, or formationying, they had special uses. Besides this, Holy Fire Valley also contained many Fire-type treasures, and it would attract numerous representatives every opening.


    Of course, where there was meat, there were wolves.


    Not every person obtained wealth by entering the valley. There were always people with other ideas.


    Not far from Holy Fire Valley, four men and one woman were flying through the air. If one looked closely, one would find that four out of five were at the Heart Demon Tier, which was quite high for a representative. The remaining one, a burly man, was at Soul Transformation.


    In the Treasure Paradise, this was an almost suicidal cultivation level, meaning that it was basically impossible for him to go into danger zones.


    These were representatives of the Northern Heavenly King.


    The Eastern, Western, and Southern Heavenly Kings all considered the risks presented by a representative''s cultivation level in the Treasure Paradise, so a significant number of their representatives had rtively low cultivation levels. But the Northern Heavenly King had no such problems, and he chose those with as high of a cultivation level as he could manage. If it weren''t for the fact that Soul Transformation cultivators weren''t easy toe by, he would have even dared to make all twenty of his representatives Soul Transformation cultivators.


    Too high of a cultivation level would basically make it impossible for Soul Transformation representatives to enter danger zones to take treasures, meaning that they could only wander around outside.


    But this was fine. If they couldn''t get it themselves, they could just steal. By killing other representatives, they could obtain the treasures they owned, which was just how the Northern Heavenly King did things.


    The Northern Heavenly King was a fiend, and those he recruited were also mostly fiends. The fiend representatives were prime examples of the principle of the strong eating the weak.


    These five fiend representatives were patrolling the area. A middle-aged man with a hook-like nose, sharp eyes, and a body covered in ck feathers abruptly said, "Someone''sing up from the rear!"


    The other four turned their heads, their eyes glowing.


    A white and chubby man shouted, "It''s that subordinate of the Western Heavenly King!"


    A scrawny man said, "I recognize him. He''s Tang Jie, a Blood Hand of the arena."


    "A mere Blood Hand dares toe to the Treasure Paradise?" questioned a snake-like woman with alluring features.


    Everyone else expressed their confusion.


    They didn''t know Tang Jie simply hadn''t had the time to improve himself, only that all of the representatives chosen out of the arena throughout the ages had always been Asuras at worst. When had a Blood Hand ever had the right to participate in the Treasure Paradise?


    The burly man standing at the front said in a deep voice, "Who cares what his rank is? Since he''s here, we''ll just capture him and take his treasures."


    This was the Soul Transformation¨Cequivalent cultivator, an upper-grade Transformation fiend.


    The fiend representatives were always very straightforward, avoiding the strong and bullying the weak. Let alone a Blood Hand, given that there were five of them, they would even dare to fight against an Asura, and this was without considering that they were essentially one Soul Transformation and four Heart Demon cultivators.


    Having made up their minds, the five of them moved forward.


    Tang Jie spotted theming from a distance and knew that they were here to cause trouble. Shit! he inwardly cursed.


    He patted Tutu and had it rush downward.


    When running into Liu Qianyi, he barged his way through, but now, he was making a detour.


    But those five refused to let him go.


    As they saw Tang Jie fly down, the burly man chuckled and pressed his hand down, upon which a giant hand came crashing down.


    Tang Jie snorted and swung his palm upward.


    The two energy palms shed in the air. Surprisingly, in this sh of Spirit Ring and Soul Transformation, Tang Jie managed to block the attack.


    The burly man gasped in surprise. "He really does have some skill, blocking a palm that had 20% of my power. What about this one, then?"


    He pushed his palm down, and another giant hand descended, but this time, along with it was a massive phantom tiger.


    Tang Jie wasn''t willing to go blow for blow with him. He had Tutu move to the side and elerate downward.


    "You can''t run!" The hook-nosed manughed. He opened his wings and turned into an Ironback Eagle that plunged from the skies.


    The eagle excelled at diving through the air, and this eagle was a great fiend. Wrapped up in a powerful gale, it dropped from the sky, shooting toward Tang Jie like an arrow.


    Bang! Tang Jie and Tutu exploded, and the eagle exulted, "Nothing much!"


    But he turned around and saw that there was not even a shred of gore from the body, only countless motes of light.


    "This is¡­" the eagle said in shock.


    The tiger man roared, "Idiot, it''s an illusion!"


    Turning his head, they saw that Tang Jie had used his illusion and shadow clone to charge ahead of them, and he was now looking back at them with a cold smile on his lips.


    He didn''t just leave. Instead, he stood on Tutu''s back and gestured at the tiger man. This gesture was amon sign of contempt in the Blood River Domain, indicating that these five were ipetent for failing to stop a single Tang Jie. Tang Jie then drew his hand across his throat, and only then did he turn around and leave atop his rabbit.


    Such arrogance had the tiger man furious. He pointed at Tang Jie and shouted, "After him! We can''t let this brat go!"


    They chased after Tang Jie.


    Thus, Tang Jie had another five pursuers.


    Tang Jie didn''t care one bit about this, charging right into Holy Fire Valley. The roaring mes of the valley drew closer and closer, and Tang Jie patted Tutu and said, "Go in!"


    With a sorrowful look on its face, Tutu lowered its head and plunged into the sea of fire.


    "They went into Holy Fire Valley!" the scrawny man shouted.


    "Follow them in!" the tiger fiend roared.


    "But it''s too dangerous in there!" The others grimaced.


    Holy Fire Valley wasn''t the remnant of the sword soul. Thetter could be avoided while the former was a natural danger zone. Once they went in, they would need to confront the frenzied holy mes. They could only rely on their own cultivation to resist it, and the higher their level was, the stronger the mes were.


    Based on the past experience of those who had entered Holy Fire Valley, the best cultivation level to enter Holy Fire Valley was the Spirit Ring Tier. It was somewhat difficult for Heart Demon Tier cultivators to hold on, and the mes a Soul Transformation cultivator needed to face were basically impossible to resist.


    This was why the five had always been wandering about the perimeter of Holy Fire Valley, hunting down representatives who had obtained treasures from the valley, weakening their foes while getting stronger.


    Had the tiger fiend been so provoked by Tang Jie that he wanted them to go in?


    "What are you afraid of?" the tiger fiend roared. "You just have to restrain your cultivation! This old man will have his head no matter what!"


    His body cracked and snapped, and his aura greatly weakened. The tiger fiend had dropped his cultivation level from Soul Transformation down to Heart Demon.


    This was the sealing secret art the Northern Heavenly King had passed down to them. It allowed them to temporarily drop their cultivation level so that they could go ces that they usually couldn''t. The Northern Heavenly King always recruited high-tier cultivators precisely because he had this secret art.


    But this art wasn''t a sure thing. After all, it was a self-applied seal, using one''s own strength to restrain oneself. If one went through a tough battle or ran into someone who knew what was going on, the seal might break, which could lead to unpredictable consequences.


    For this reason, the Soul Transformation great fiends would not recklessly enter the danger zones, even if they did have this secret art. Compared to such risks, it was safer to hunt around them.


    Of course, the representatives of the other kings were informed of the Northern Heavenly King''s way of doing things, so the fiends didn''t have an easy time with their hunting, and it was very possible that they wouldn''t catch anyone.


    This was why every target was treasured.


    This was also why the tiger fiend insisted on going in. It wasn''t just because he was angry, but he longed for prey and wasn''t willing to let one run off.


    After dropping his cultivation level, the tiger rushed into the sea of fire. The other four fiends had no choice but to follow.


    Not long after they went in, the Blood River Lord arrived at Holy Fire Valley.


    Looking at this valley of raging mes, the Blood River Lord coldly snorted. "Trying to use the mes of the valley against me? I suppose you have some brains. But if you just have geography and no strength, how do you expect to exploit your advantage? Hmph!"


    The Blood River Lord strode into the mes.


    A few momentster, Liu Qianyi''s trio arrived at the valley entrance.


    As the three of them gazed at the mes, the man who had previously ambushed Tang Jie asked, "Miss Liu, what is your view of the situation?"


    Liu Qianyi''s pretty face shed with anger. "Follow them in!"


    "''Follow them in''?" The two men shared a look.


    "Yes, go in!" Liu Qianyi sneered. "Since Tang Jie dares to enter Holy Fire Valley, why shouldn''t we? We can also go in and see what treasures are in the valley. Li Feng, Zhao Wei, if you''re afraid, you don''t need to follow."


    She took out a ne with a drop-shaped pendant and hung it on her neck, which created a transparent barrier around her that repelled the waves of heat. Liu Qianyi then rushed into the valley.


    The two men looked at each other, courage welling up within them. "Let''s just go in! I''m not afraid of anyone!" they said in unison.


    They boldly charged into the valley.

 Chapter 581: Spark

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The moment Tang Jie entered the valley, fire surged up and engulfed him. Even though he had a barrier around him, his body still hissed as it was seared.


    The startling waves of heat made it almost impossible for him to breathe, and everywhere he saw dancing mes that narrowed his field of vision. Even with his Celestial Eye, Tang Jie found it difficult to see more than shing sparks through the mes.


    Rivers ofva flowed across the ground, burning everything that could be burned. Tang Jie cautiously made his way through, maintaining his barrier. The barrier was his greatest tool of survival in Holy Fire Valley, and if he lost it, he wouldn''t be able tost long against the mes.


    Inparison, the original body would have no problem. This was an advantage body cultivation had overw cultivation: the ability to survive in most harsh environments. As forw cultivators, they would need to reach Immortal tform or enter the Dao of Fire to reach this level.


    Stripped of his vision, Tang Jie didn''t know when the Blood River Lord would catch up to him.


    He could only press forward, deeper and deeper. This also meant that his barrier was tested more and more, so he had no choice but to put in more spiritual energy.


    Tutu and Yiyi were soon to break, particrly Yiyi, her face turning bright red. She was a nt sprite, so her greatest fear was fire. It was already quite incredible for her tost this long in the sea of fire. Tang Jie put them in the Mountain River State Diagram and then continued on.


    After some time, Tang Jie suddenly stopped.


    His input into the spiritual energy barrier now matched his spiritual energy recovery speed. In other words, his spiritual energy consumption and restoration were perfectly bnced.


    If he didn''t use his energy on anything else, theoretically, he could perpetually maintain the barrier.


    For cultivators who entered Holy Fire Valley, this was a standard, a dividing line. Crossing this line meant danger.


    Spiritual energy recovery speed depended on the Minor Circuit Heaven, and when one cultivated to a certain level, there was a saying of "one Circuit Heaven a breath". This referred to the way that powerful cultivators could recover a certain amount of spiritual energy with each breath they took.


    Although Tang Jie hadn''t reached this level, his foundations were extremely solid. His Minor Circuit Heaven''s revolution speed had never been slower than that of his peers, and after attaining the Heavenly Spirit Law Body, he was more efficient in both recovery and consumption. This was further boosted by the Ninedark Mantra, meaning that Tang Jie actually wasn''t far from reaching the "one Circuit Heaven a breath". And the speed of one''s spiritual energy recovery decided how far one could proceed into the valley.


    For this reason, Tang Jie had a greater safe distance than the average cultivator, and his safety line was several thousand feet deep into the valley, allowing him to leave the others far behind him.


    After a slight pause, Tang Jie continued forward. This battle with the Blood River Lord was starting with a contest of recovery ability. In Holy Fire Valley, the one who could travel the farthest while consuming the least and recovering the fastest would be closer to victory.


    Tang Jie naturally wasn''t so naive as to believe he could outmatch the Blood River Lord in spiritual recovery.


    His foe was at Immortal tform, and his Minor Circuit Heaven was bound to have reached perfection long ago. In a real contest, he had no chance of winning. But the Blood River Lord had a natural weakness: these four were all avatars!


    Since they were avatars, and multiple avatars, there was one thing he was sure about: these four avatars wouldn''t be carrying any art relics or pills. Nobody would distribute art relics and pills to ten-some avatars, and he had confirmed this earlier when he had observed that none of them had been carrying Mustard Seed Bags.


    Thus, in this first battle, Tang Jie was reallypeting in logistics!


    The Blood River Lord had no logistics!


    After finding this weakness, Tang Jie would naturally exploit it.


    He wanted to go deeper and deeper until the Blood River Lord couldn''t take it anymore, and when most of his power had been used up, he would fight him there.


    With this in mind, Tang Jie advanced ever forward.


    Tang Jie was now in the middle region of Holy Fire Valley, where the mes licking at his barrier made it sh a rainbow of colors. His spiritual energy was used up faster and faster, and his Spirit Sea roiled as the icebergs melted and spiritual energy flooded out.


    Even Tang Jie''s sturdy foundation was gradually reaching its limit, and he had no choice but to take out a bottle of spirit-restoring pills from his Mustard Seed Bag and take a pill. Xu Miaoran had made these pills, and as they were one of the most important pills in battle, Xu Miaoran had refined several dozen bottles for him¡ªso many that he didn''t have space in the Mustard Seed Bag and had to store some in the Mountain River State Diagram. Tang Jie had only brought them along so that Xu Miaoran would rx, not thinking that he would actually need to use them.


    While the mes raged around him, Tang Jie steadily pushed through.


    It was only when he came before a fiery cliff that he stopped again. His barrier swelled with even greater light, signifying that the consumption of spiritual energy had reached another level. Here, Tang Jie''s recovery speed once more reached a bnce with consumption, but this time, it was his recovery speed after he had taken pills.


    "About here should be good enough," Tang Jie muttered as he looked around.


    In this position, Tang Jie had to take one pill per hour to maintain the bnce. This was the safety line he had chosen for himself, and this was already very close to the limit for the vast majority of people, with some weaker cultivators not even being capable of getting this far.


    For Tang Jie, this was only a safety line, and when the battle began, he could go deeper at any time.


    After setting his safety line, Tang Jie found a ce under the cliff to sit. He began to cultivate the spark in his body, absorbing the surrounding mes.


    But he quickly discovered that while the spark could absorb the surrounding mes, his spark was too weak to protect him for more than a split second. And trying to strengthen the spark using this ce was also difficult, for he had a barrier. This stopped the sea of fire from hurting him, but it also separated the spark from the fire, making the process of absorption extremely difficult.


    "As expected, it''s still no good," Tang Jie sighed.


    As he was sighing, Tang Jie noticed something sparkling at the base of the cliff.


    He reached into the searingva and picked out a fiery-red crystal. "Oh, a fire crystal."


    The glistening fire crystal seemed to haveva flowing within it. He knew at a nce that it was an upper-grade fire crystal, perfect for cultivating Fire-type techniques orying down Fire-type formations.


    "Not bad, not bad." Tang Jie nodded. He looked around and found several more fire crystals.


    The savage mes of Holy Fire Valley meant that very few people ever got this far, so the farther one went in, the more treasures there were. As for the outer edge, since it was easier to enter, it had basically been picked clean of treasures.


    After getting the fire crystals, Tang Jie sat down and began to cultivate the Contrame Mantra, attempting to absorb the energy within a fire crystal using his spark.


    Without the interference of the barrier, the spark pulled out the Fire energy very easily, and the energy within the crystal was naturally easier to extract and refine than the free energy of the surroundings, so the spark was able to quickly drain the crystal. After being drained, the fire crystal became a pale white while Tang Jie''s spark became ever brighter.


    In the past, the spark was just a ball of me floating above the Spirit Sea, but now, it appeared like a cloud.


    Tang Jie was delighted to see that this had worked, and he quickly grabbed another crystal. With each sessive fire crystal, the spark in his Spirit Sea condensed more and more.


    It began to transform, the mes forming a framework of a prismatic crystal within whichva flowed. It seemed a little like a special form of a fire crystal.


    Tang Jie saw what was happening in his Spirit Sea using inner sight and knew that this was a spark''s nascent form.


    Tang Jie immediately chose to absorb the rest of the ze me.


    He did it not sliver by sliver, but the rest of the ze me all at once, like a drunkard guzzling down alcohol. Tang Jie felt his body heat up as if something was roasting him, and his head felt a little dizzy. Tang Jie knew that this was a sign of excess Fire energy, but this feeling was exactly what he wanted, what was needed to sublimate the spark.


    A momentter, a storm swept through the Spirit Sea.


    A zing sun rose over the raging ocean, floating between the blood cloud and the waves, exuding endless light and heat.


    The spark had been formed!


    As the spark waspleted, Tang Jie''s body began to give off a red glow. Because of his barrier, Tang Jie appeared like a giant lightbulb.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie realized something and removed his barrier.


    The moment the barrier was removed, the sea of mes rushed in. Just when it was about to consume Tang Jie, the red glow around him erupted, and the mes rushed into his body, into the spark in his Spirit Sea.


    The spark greedily absorbed the mes, constantly giving off light and heat.


    It seemed more and more like a sun.


    Thus, a wondrous sight appeared in Holy Fire Valley: Tang Jie standing in a sea of mes that rushed toward him, but rather than burning him, they constantly entered his body like he was a ck hole.


    After a long while, Tang Jie felt a sense of fullness and knew that the spark had eaten its fill. He put the barrier back up, keeping out the mes once more.


    After absorbing the mes, the spark stopped giving off light and heat, falling silent.


    Tang Jie knew that the spark was digesting the mes to prepare for its second transformation.


    The spark existed to constantly transform and devour mes. Each devouring was for the sake of transforming and umting power, and each transformation would grant it more ability to devour. The two of them formed an endless cycle.


    After the first devouring, he could use the spark to unleash mes to attack the enemy, just like Zuo Quanming.


    But Tang Jie felt like this was a great waste.


    The one thing Holy Fire Valley didn''tck was mes. He wanted to use this opportunity to quickly nurture the spark, which was the only way he could deal with the Celestial me Pagoda after he left the Treasure Paradise¡ªthere was a price to be paid for selling him out.


    Of course, he first had to resolve the problem in front of him.


    He smiled.


    He suddenly shouted, "I''m here waiting for you. Come here if you have the guts!"


    "Come here if you have the guts¡­"


    "Have the guts¡­"


    "The guts¡­"


    His arrogant cry resounded through the valley.


    At that moment, the Blood River Lord and tiger fiend both looked over with murder in their eyes.

 Chapter 582: Provocation

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    With a howl, the Blood River Lord and the tiger fiend''s group charged in the direction of the voice.


    But Tang Jie didn''t wait for them. Immediately after issuing his challenge, he plunged deeper into the sea of mes.


    He still wasn''t nning on fighting.


    There was actually a lot of prep work needed before a battle. For an excellentmander, excellent preparations directly decided the oue. In fact, the oue of a battle was often decided before it even began.


    Tang Jie felt the same.


    The earlier scouting and escape were all a part of the pre-battle preparations, and the shout just now was also another part. If he had to call this strategy something, it would be "luring the enemy deeper".


    Only luring the enemy deeper would make the pressure from the sea of me consume more than the Blood River Lord could recover. Once he was weakened enough, Tang Jie would strike.


    The first to arrive at the cliff was the tiger fiend.


    With his four fiendpanions, he had pushed through the mes to arrive here. He angrily stared at the cliff and said, "Here! He was just here!"


    "That kid must have run in deeper again," the eagle fiend said.


    "He can''t be going in too deep," the tiger fiend said as he looked around. "This ce is already close to the limit. He might be nearby. After him!"


    The five fiends continued their pursuit.


    The farther in they went, the greater the pressure of the sea of mes became, particrly because the weakest of them was still at the Heart Demon Tier. While they were powerful, they had to endure mes of greater ferocity than Tang Jie. Thankfully, while they were fiends, the Northern Heavenly King had ensured that they had plenty of medicines, including spirit-restoring pills. With these pills, they were barely able to hold on.


    The Blood River Lord had no such things, but his recovery ability was more powerful, so his rate of consumption was much slower. After failing to find Tang Jie in the mes, his four avatars split up to search. As their minds were connected, the Blood River Lord wasn''t concerned that one of his avatars might be attacked. In fact, he hoped for it.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie continued deeper in.


    As the mes grew stronger, the barrier consumed more and more energy, and he went from having to use one pill per hour to two pills, and then three pills¡­


    He also began toe across more and more treasure.


    Tang Jie found that the ground was littered with fire crystals.


    They were just sitting around, waiting for someone to pick them up. Over the eons, countless representatives had entered the Treasure Paradise, but basically none of them had been able to enter the depths of Holy Fire Valley.


    Tang Jie was very close to the core region now.


    Tang Jie picked out the crystals from theva, and then he turned his head and shouted, "I''m over here!"


    He continued forward.


    Besides fire crystals, Tang Jie also asionally came across other treasures. These treasures were all Fire-type art relics. Lying in Holy Fire Valley, they were tempered by the mes and unharmed by them. And as he went in deeper, the grade of these art relics also increased.


    When Tang Jie had been in the outer edge of Holy Fire Valley, the few treasures he came across had been low-grade art relics. But after passing the cliff, he had not seen a single art relic below the upper grade. And in this part close to the core region, he found that the art relics were all ultimate-grade, their power on par with his ten art relic swords.


    Tang Jie put all these treasures into the Treasure Cosmos Formation to make it stronger.


    Farther in was the core region of Holy Fire Valley.


    Tang Jie saw a white me dancing in the center there.


    For some reason, even he felt an inexplicable fear upon seeing that me and was reluctant to approach it.


    Tang Jie spected that this was the fire essence bled by the me Celestial Sovereign when he had been injured¡ªin other words, the Pale Cloud me. The Pale Cloud me was one of the divine mes of the world, and Tang Jie knew that his barrier wasn''t enough to resist this me, so he had to stop.


    Tang Jie began to circle around the core, constantly changing his position, both to avoid the Blood River Lord and also to search for treasure. At the same time, he constantly called out to his pursuers, provoking them into continuing to chase him.


    In this contest of endurance, the first to leave the valley was the loser.


    Of course, Tang Jie didn''t think that anyone would be dumb enough to endure until death. But he was sure that his repeated challenges would make it so that nobody would concede until the veryst moment.


    This situation persisted for three days.


    Relying on his solid foundation and numerous pills, Tang Jie was able to travel across most of Holy Fire Valley. Other than the core region, he went basically everywhere, and in exchange, he obtained numerous fire crystals and hundreds of Fire-type art relics.


    In these three days, Tang Jie had eaten spirit-restoring pills like they were jellybeans, at least one hundred of them, such was the ferocity of the mes. But the terrifying sea of mes was also a harsh burden for the Blood River Lord and the fiends.


    Yet Tang Jie could sense that they still hadn''t reached their limit.


    Neither the fiend party nor the Blood River Lord had reached their limit! These people were so strong that Tang Jie couldn''t help but sigh in admiration.


    Tang Jie didn''t n to keep waiting.


    The Hall of Three Immortals would open in another few days, which was when the real treasures of the Treasure Paradise appeared. Na Shan and the others were probably already waiting, so he needed to quickly handle matters here and meet up with them.


    Tang Jie''s face gradually shifted in the middle of the dancing mes, eventually assuming the form of the Blood River Lord.


    If not for the mental link, even the Blood River Lord himself might have mistaken him for one of his avatars.


    After turning into the Blood River Lord, Tang Jie chuckled and rushed off.


    He was headed in the direction of the tiger fiend''s group. In these three days of moving around the area, they had seemingly gotten their hands on a few treasures, and Tang Jie hadn''t been willing to approach them. This time, however, the situation was different.


    As he flew over, he saw the fiends seated in meditation, which was a way of hastening recovery when onecked medicine. From this, it could be seen that the three days in the sea of fire had been a great burden on them.


    But the more this was the case, the more unwilling they were to give up, and this obsession drove them to keep going.


    Tang Jie came charging in, silently approaching the fastest of the fiends, the eagle, using the mes as a cover. Just as he got close to the eagle fiend''s back, the tiger fiend suddenly opened his eyes as if he had sensed something, just in time to see Tang Jie. He paled and shouted, "Old Eagle, watch out!"


    A momentter, Tang Jie''s jade-white finger thrust at the eagle fiend''s back.


    The finger pierced through the barrier as if it wasn''t there, and then the entire barrier shattered in a burst of rainbow light.


    The furious mes instantly devoured the eagle fiend.


    The eagle fiend had never imagined he would suffer like this, and he howled in the mes, trying to endure the pain of the mes and put up another barrier. But Tang Jie was ruthless, and just when the barrier was about to be put up, he thrust out a palm, dispersing the barrier. The eagle fiend yowled in pain and tried again, but Tang Jie once more intervened.


    Tang Jie interrupted the eagle fiend three times in a row, and without a barrier, the eagle fiend was burned up by the mes. The mes of Holy Fire Valley were so vicious that this little time he had been undefended by a barrier had left him badly charred, all his feathers having burnt away. He wasn''t far off from being a roast eagle.


    "Bastard!" The tiger fiend bellowed in fury.


    Just when Tang Jie was about to stop the eagle fiend a fourth time, the tiger fiend charged in and punched.


    A white tiger phantom appeared and charged at Tang Jie with a roar.


    In thest three days, the tiger fiend''s group had actually encountered the Blood River Lord. But they had sensed each other''s strength and had refrained from fighting.


    But to their surprise, the Blood River Lord had really made a move, and with one strike, he had heavily wounded the eagle fiend.


    Enraged, the tiger fiend attacked without mercy.


    Tang Jie thrust out a hand, and a bloody light rushed out of his body¡ªthe Flesh Millstone. But this time, the Flesh Millstone didn''t grind his opponents to death, instead defending him, the waves of blood forming a giant hand that caught the tiger fiend''s fury-driven fist.


    Meanwhile, the snake, boar, and rat fiends attacked.


    A white snake phantom made to coil around Tang Jie while the boar fiend turned into a massive boar that opened its mouth to bite down on Tang Jie.


    The rat fiend was most sneaky, chittering as it created countless illusory rats that attacked Tang Jie.


    With all four fiends attacking, Tang Jie snorted and said, "Count yourselves lucky. I was nning to use you guys aspensation since I couldn''t catch that brat, but it seems you have some skill. Forget it¡­"


    He retreated.


    "Trying to leave!?" the tiger fiend roared. He punched out another tiger phantom at Tang Jie. "You stay right there!"


    "If this old man wants to leave, who can stop me?" Tang Jie nonchntly said. His figure blinked through the sea of mes and soon vanished.


    The mes limited vision and made pursuit difficult. The tiger fiend hadn''t expected him to juste and leave at the drop of a hat, and he quickly lost Tang Jie. Enraged, he shouted, "Bastard, I won''t forgive you!"


    The tiger fiend was a very temperamental person, or else he wouldn''t have rashly charged into the valley.


    In his anger, he recklessly charged into the depths of the sea of fire.


    He wanted to find the Blood River Lord and tear that treacherous bastard apart.


    The other four fiends followed. While the eagle fiend had been severely wounded, fiends had astonishing recovery abilities, and he had also used a vitality pill gifted by the Northern Heavenly King. The five fiends set out, ready to battle to the death with the Blood River Lord.


    Of course, they had no idea that the real person who had ambushed them actually wasn''t that far away.


    Through the Celestial Eye, Tang Jie could see much more than the five fiends could. He saw the direction the five fiends were headed in and smiled. "That''s the spirit. If you had caught on and started fighting each other earlier, I wouldn''t have needed to do this."

 Chapter 583: Fight (1)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    One of the Blood River Lord''s avatars was still roaming about the sea of mes.


    Three days of fruitless search had left him very annoyed.


    His immense strength allowed him to endure even without spirit-restoring pills, but the trickling away of energy over thest three days had forced him into a dilemma.


    The Blood River Lord began to consider whether he should temporarily withdraw from Holy Fire Valley and rest up beforeing back in.


    But that was just another form of concession, which the Blood River Lord could not ept.


    Moreover, the Blood River Lord was certain that the more Tang Jie acted like this, the more he gave away that his strength was limited and that he was unwilling to fight him directly. Otherwise, why would he resort to these methods to weaken him? It was only in this sort of circumstance that Tang Jie was willing to fight with him. If he chose to retreat from the valley, Tang Jie would continue to evade battle. There was nothing wrong with him avoiding battle, but if he were to die in Holy Fire Valley, all of his essence blood would be refined, which would mean that the Blood River Lord would suffer a major loss.


    But the main reason he stayed in the valley was this: even at his current level of strength, Tang Jie couldn''t possibly be a match for him.


    It was this confidence that made the Blood River Lord stay and continue to search for Tang Jie.


    As he was searching, he suddenly sensed something.


    An intense sense of unease welled up in his heart.


    The moment this feeling appeared, he heard a rush of wind behind him.


    The Blood River Lord paled and immediately thrust out a palm behind him.


    But how could an attack made in hastepare to the full-strength attack of another? A roaring white tiger phantom pushed the Blood River Lord back.


    "The audacity!" the Blood River Lord shouted.


    He turned, and, sure enough, the one who had ambushed him was that tiger fiend.


    The Blood River Lord was furious. "A puny tiger fiend dares to be so arrogant as to attack me? Don''t you know who I am!?"


    "Of course," the tiger fiend coldly replied. "While the Lord of the Blood River is powerful, it''s not enough for the entire world to be afraid, and besides, this is just a little avatar, not anything worth fearing."


    "Bastard!" The Blood River Lord''s blood rushed to the top of his head, and a sea of blood surged out from his body.


    Although he was in the sea of fire, where his sea of blood was greatly suppressed and copious amounts of blood turned to steam, the immense pressure from the sea still weighed on the tiger fiend.


    The tiger fiend jumped back, coldly ring at the Blood River Lord with ridicule and contempt in his eyes before vanishing into the sea of mes.


    Only when he was extremely far away did the tiger fiend turn back into Tang Jie.


    With the Celestial Eye, Tang Jie had been able to find an avatar of the Blood River Lord before the tiger fiend''s group. Employing the same tactic, he ambushed the Blood River Lord, and since both parties had now been attacked, they would probably start fighting as soon as they ran into each other.


    It wasn''t that they were dumb. It was just that none of them knew about Tang Jie''s transformation ability.


    Both the Blood River Lord and the eagle fiend had the ability to see through illusions, and ordinary disguise arts couldn''t fool them. But it was precisely because they could see through illusions that they had fallen for it. If the Blood River Lord''s real body had been here, he probably wouldn''t have been fooled, but this was a Heart Demon avatar, which made seeing through the illusion almost impossible.


    Moreover, Tang Jie had even used the white tiger phantom.


    Now that he thought about it, it was rather lucky that the tiger fiend also happened to be a white tiger.


    Tang Jie couldn''t manifest any ck tiger phantom, but he didn''t have a problem with a white tiger phantom. After all, he had the White Tiger''s essence blood within him and knew the Blood Refining Spirit spell. The two of them put together could easily create a white tiger phantom.


    And the white tiger phantom made it so that the Blood River Lord had no doubts that it was the tiger fiend who had attacked him.


    The two parties soon met in the sea of fire. Their eyes filled with bloodlust, and they started fighting without a word.


    From a distance, one could see waves of blood surge and fiend energy run rampant.


    Both sides consisted of powerful experts, and their moves threw Holy Fire Valley into turmoil.


    In terms of strength, the Blood River Lord was naturally the strongest, but he was one person versus five fiends, and he was in unfavorable terrain, so he was quickly on the back foot.


    But as his three other avatars arrived, the tables quickly turned.


    Four Blood River avatars attacking in unison was a powerful force, and in a sh, the blood sea managed to suppress the mes.


    The rat fiend had been the weakest, and he was the first to suffer. First, his rat clones were washed away by the corrosive blood, and then one of the Blood River avatars grabbed the rat fiend with a blood hand and threw him into the sea of blood. As the waves washed over him, his body was corroded away, and his true form was revealed: a fiend rat the size of a millstone. A few momentster, his entire body was dissolved into the blood.


    Tang Jie had stolen his Flesh Millstone from the Blood River Lord. If Tang Jie knew it, the Blood River Lord naturally knew how to do it too.


    Absorbing the rat fiend''s essence blood allowed the Blood River Lord to recover some of his lost essence blood. Laughing, he waved his hand, targeting the boar fiend this time. The boar fiend was rich in blood energy, so absorbing him would stand to benefit the Blood River Lord even more greatly.


    The remaining four fiends finally realized what they were dealing with, and they felt fear and shock.


    The tiger fiend shouted, "Sir Hemos, we had no grudge with you, but you attacked us first¡­"


    "Shut your mouth!" the Blood River Lord sinisterly said. "It''s toote to beg for mercy now. Be blood and serve the endless Blood River!"


    As he spoke, the Blood Fiends began to emerge from the Blood Sea, howling as they charged at the four fiends.


    "''The endless Blood River''?" The tiger food was startled when he heard this term, and when he saw the Blood Fiends, he finally realized. Looking at the Blood River Lord in shock, he said, "You''re¡­"


    "It''s toote for realization," the Blood River Lord coldly chuckled. With a wave of his hand, blood rushed at the four fiends.


    In truth, by this point in the battle, he had already guessed that Tang Jie had yed some trickery and was trying to use these fiends to weaken him, or else the tiger fiend shouldn''t have been so surprised by his identity.


    But they were already fighting, and stopping halfway wasn''t his style. In any case, his Blood Sea Divine Connection could absorb blood and flesh to make their power his own. If he killed these fiends and absorbed them, he would recover all his energy and even make a little profit.


    Thus, he attacked without mercy.


    Countless Blood Fiends dragged the boar fiend into the Blood Sea.


    The scene from before yed out, the boar fiend madly shrieking as the Blood Sea ate away at him, unable to break free. As his flesh began to fall away and he was about to follow in the rat fiend''s footsteps, a voice whispered into the tiger fiend''s ear, "Kill it."


    Kill it!


    The voice exploded like a p of thunder in the tiger fiend''s mind. Entirely out of instinct, the tiger fiend roared and punched, and a white tiger emerged and lunged at the boar fiend.


    The Blood River Lord scowled. "No!"


    The white tiger phantom mmed into the boar fiend, and its vast energy surged into the boar fiend''s body and made it explode into pieces.


    "Bastard!" the Blood River Lord angrily said.


    The Blood River''s absorption of blood energy was not unrestricted. Only living creatures possessed formidable blood energy and had any value in absorbing. Upon death, the value would be greatly reduced. For this reason, Tang Jie''s Flesh Millstone and the Blood River Lord''s Blood Sea Divine Connection did not absorb existences that had been dead for a time, as there was no meaning to it.


    The tiger fiend had killed the boar fiend with one punch and obliterated him in the process, so more than half of the blood energy had instantly been lost, which was undoubtedly a major blow to the Blood River Lord''s hopes of recovery. The four avatars all red at the tiger fiend with murderous eyes.


    The tiger fiend trembled. He had just done as the voice had said, and only now did he realize what he had done. In a shaky voice, he said, "I didn''t do it on purpose. There¡­ there was someone else¡­ that guy¡­"


    "Die already!" The Blood River Lord had no interest in hearing the tiger fiend''s excuses.


    The victor didn''t need an exnation from the loser. Death was the best form ofpensation!


    The waves of blood swept toward the tiger, snake, and eagle fiends.


    "Run!" The tiger fiend knew that exnations were pointless, and only escape was left to them. He also realized that he had fallen for Tang Jie''s trap, and though he hated Tang Jie down to his bones, he first had to look out for himself.


    The three fiends turned into streams of light and fled in three different directions.


    The Blood River Lord snorted, and three of his four avatars split off to chase after the fiends, leaving only one behind.


    That avatar coldly said, "Tang Jie,e out. Didn''t you trick those little fiends into fighting me in order to weaken me? I''ve fought them now, so it''s time for you to collect your prize."


    As he spoke, the figure of Tang Jie emerged from the sea of mes.


    He smiled at the Blood River Lord and casually said, "I knew I wouldn''t be able to hide it from Ancestor. Even a mere avatar of Ancestor is not something a lowly person like me can fool. Ancestor fought that battle ultimately so that you could draw me out."


    The Blood River Lord grunted. "So long as you understand! I don''t deny that you managed to fool me for a bit. After all, I didn''t expect you to have an illusory disguise art. But the path of deception is not a long-term solution, and everything can''t go as you want forever. I was simply going with the flow, doing what benefited me. Now that you''ve appeared, that battle was worth it. This time, I won''t be letting you escape."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Now that I think about it, I feel quite aplished, having escaped from the Lord of the Blood River twice. But I think that being able to escape three times is even better."


    "What? You think you can still get away?" The Blood River Lord erupted inughter.


    Tang Jie had needed to bring together the power of five people to deal with a single Heart Demon avatar, and so even if this avatar was greatly weakened, it still wasn''t something that Tang Jie could handle. The Blood River Lord didn''t think that Tang Jie had any chance of escaping.


    "Things aren''t as sure as you think," Tang Jie casually replied. "What do you think about a wager?"


    "''A wager''?" The Blood River Lord instinctively put up his guard.


    "Yes." Tang Jie earnestly nodded. "A wager on whether your avatar can catch me. If I win, you need to answer one of my questions. If I lose¡­ since I lose everything regardless, you can do whatever you want."


    The Blood River Lord sneered, "It sounds like this is quite advantageous for you."


    Tang Jie smiled. "Then what about the location of the Immeasurable Sword''s sheath?"


    Tang Jie had been present when the Blood River Lord had brought up his deal with Cang Qingfeng, so he naturally knew what the Blood River Lord wanted. But he had kept this information secret in the hopes of using it to save his life in case the Blood River Lord ever captured him, so it was surprising that he was throwing it out now.


    "What did you say?" The Blood River avatar''s voice rose several pitches.


    Tang Jie raised a finger and made a "shhh" noise. "You haven''t said that you agree to the deal yet."


    "I agree! I swear on the Heavenly Dao!" the Blood River Lord roared.


    He waved his hand, and the boundless sea of blood roared at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie simply smiled, and as the waves washed over him, this Tang Jie shattered into countless motes of light. Amid the light, Tang Jie''s voice rang out, "You''ve lost! Don''t forget that you owe me one answer."


    This Tang Jie had clearly been a duplicate.


    "Impossible!" the Blood River Lord bellowed.


    Shadow clones had no magic power, so how could they release barriers to resist the mes? Even those blood birds had too little magic power to resist the mes for this long.


    A momentter, a fiery red jade falling from the sky gave the Blood River Lord his answer.


    An art relic!


    An ultimate-grade protective art relic of Holy Fire Valley! Tang Jie had been so extravagant as to use an ultimate-grade art relic to fool him. Just what sort of question could be so important to him?


    No, wait!


    The Blood River Lord suddenly shuddered. The problem wasn''t Tang Jie''s aim, but the fact that he was buying time.


    "Not good!" the Blood River Lord shouted as he flew off.


    At the same time, behind the tiger fiend who was fleeing for his life, a sharp sword energy dropped from the sky, shing the pursuing Blood River avatar and cutting it in half.

 Chapter 584: Fight (2)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The surge of sword energy sliced the Blood River avatar vertically in half. At the same time, Tang Jie appeared behind it like a ghost, the shining golden Sovereign de in his hand!


    "Awooo!" The Blood River avatar roared, still not dead, its tenacious life force sustaining him in the raging sea of me. Each half of his body raised a hand, releasing a crimson light that fought back against the mes. At the same time, blood gushed out from the severed ends and began to bring the body back together.


    The Blood River avatar was made from blood, and so long as its core, its essence, still existed, it would not die. Tang Jie''s strike had destroyed countless drops of essence blood, but not all, which was why it could survive. But the avatar had been greatly weakened, falling from greater-attainment Heart Demon to initial Heart Demon.


    But how could Tang Jie just stand back and let hime back together? His sneak attack had worked, so he was naturally going to use the chance to finish him off. The Sovereign de swung, shining with sword energy.


    The Blood River Lord''s avatar''s hands were too busy fending off the sea of mes, so as the de approached, he let out a strange shout and opened his mouth, from which a fountain of blood issued.


    This fountain of blood turned into a shield, and when the Sovereign de stabbed into the blood shield, it bizarrely failed to pierce through, sinking into it like it was mud. In the middle of his surprise, the blood shield turned into a hand that seized the Sovereign de. A face appeared on the back of hand, saying, "What a tough weapon! A good treasure, and mine now!"


    The hand pulled, trying to take the Sovereign de.


    Tang Jie coldly said, "You''d have to be able to take it first!"


    As he spoke, the sides of the Sovereign de erupted with countless spikes that pierced through the blood hand. A scream came from the blood hand as the Sovereign de transformed into a wolfteeth club, smashing into the blood hand and pulverizing it.


    The tiger fiend realized what was going on and stared at Tang Jie in shock.


    Tang Jie shouted, "What are you waiting for? Come and kill him with me!"


    The tiger fiend naturally hated Tang Jie, but his life was at stake here, and he couldn''t make decisions based on his emotions.


    As he was about to charge in, the Blood River Lord let out an eerieugh. "If you''re willing to help me kill this brat, I''ll forgive you for your previous offense."


    "Many thanks, Ancestor!" The tiger fiend was delighted by these words.


    He would have never dared to offend the Blood River Lord if he had known who it was he was dealing with. With this promise, he became unwilling to fight the Blood River Lord and turned to attack Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie sighed. "I knew this would happen."


    The Blood River Lord''s broken avatar had reformed, and the tiger fiend was charging over, so Tang Jie shook his head and fell back into the mes.


    The Blood River Lord grimaced. "He''s running. Stop him!"


    Tang Jie sneered. "If I want to go, who can stop me?"


    In a sh, he produced more than a hundred duplicates that ran off in every direction, with some of them even charging at the two. The Blood River Lord and tiger fiend couldn''t tell which one was Tang Jie and which were illusions.


    The Blood River Lord roared, raising his hands and summoning the Blood Sea. Several dozen duplicates were engulfed by the Blood Sea and instantly turned to nothing.


    But even his Blood Sea Divine Connection, which excelled at dealing with groups, couldn''t cover all those fleeing duplicates, and there was also the sea of fire counteracting him, greatly reducing the power and range of his Blood Sea.


    The Blood River Lord could only fume as Tang Jie escaped. He turned to the tiger fiend and said, "It''s all because of you! You made me get ambushed by that kid!"


    The tiger fiend was rmed. "Ancestor, you agreed to let me go!"


    The Blood River Lord sinisterly said, "It''s not like I swore on the Heavenly Dao, so what if I don''t let you go? Besides, I didn''t say I would kill you. Since I agreed to let you go, I''ll spare your life, but your cultivation will have to be crippled."


    ''Cripple my cultivation''? Isn''t that the same as killing me?


    This was the center of the sea of fire, and how could he resist the mes without cultivation? He would be almost instantly burned to ash.


    rmed and angry, the tiger fiend turned to run. The Blood River Lord grunted, "Where do you think you''re going!?"


    The Blood Sea extended, closing around the tiger fiend and pulling him in, and countless Blood Fiends rushed at him.


    "Fuck, you really think I''m afraid of you?" the tiger fiend roared.


    He was still a Soul Transformation great fiend, and he had only sealed his cultivation out of fear of the holy fire. In the end, the Blood River Lord''s avatar was only at the Heart Demon Tier, one tier lower than him. Even if the fact that it was an avatar of an Immortal tform cultivator made it stronger, it was still inferior to an authentic Soul Transformation cultivator. In a one-on-one, he had the upper hand, not even considering that the avatar had been greatly weakened by Tang Jie''s ambush.


    Since the Blood River Lord had gone back on his word and was going to kill him anyway, the tiger fiend was driven by his rage to stimte all his blood energy.


    Who cares if you''re the Blood River Lord? Who cares if you''re an Immortal tform Titan?


    If you want to kill me, then I''ll fight back! Even if I die, I''ll drag you down with me.


    As a cultivator, I go against the heavens, so why would I mind a battle against a powerful foe?


    At the brink of death, the tiger fiend suddenly felt bold and courageous.


    He roared, and his muscles bulged with immense power. A light radiated from his body, exuding a wild and berserk energy.


    The Blood River Lord was slightly taken aback by this aura.


    Soul Transformation!


    This guy had undone his seal and returned to his original cultivation level.


    A white tiger phantom rose up from behind the tiger fiend''s head. Although it was still far off from the true White Tiger n, it had a little of the divinity of this King of Beasts.


    Standing tall in the Blood Sea, the tiger fiend angrily red at the Blood River Lord. "Old scoundrel, I''ll fight you to the end!"


    He began to rapidly punch, instantly deluging the Blood River Lord in energy sts.


    These energy punches were suffused with divine might, containing all the strength a Soul Transformation expert was supposed to have, and even the Blood River Lord found it hard to block them.


    But even worse was that the tiger fiend undoing the seal caused a surge of energy to suddenly flow through Holy Fire Valley. It was as if the sea of mes had sensed this powerful existence and be incensed by it.


    All of the mes seemed toe to life, taking on the form of bulls, tigers, snakes, wolves, and even trees. The sea of mes became a world of fire spirits.


    Yes, the mes had spirituality.


    In Holy Fire Valley, there was a spiritual existence.


    This spirituality originated from that white me in the heart of Holy Fire Valley, the Pale Cloud me.


    Now, the Pale Cloud me had begun to move. Tendrils of white me dissipated into the surroundings, and in their ce were countless fire spirits. This was the special attribute of the Pale Cloud me. While the Deicide me burned all that touched it and the Southern Divine Fire burned away at the mind, the Pale Cloud me was the me of transformation. There was a saying that went "Clouds could even appear like pale dogs", hence the name of the me.


    Now, the Pale Cloud me had used only a sliver of its power to produce countless ordinary creatures, but even this was enough to give the Blood River Lord a hard time.


    The countless fire spirits rushed out. Their target was the tiger fiend, but because the tiger fiend was in the Blood Sea, the Blood River Lord suffered as well. The sea of me vaporized swaths of the Blood Sea, and the countless Blood Fiends wailed as they were burned to nothing.


    The Blood Sea instantly dried up, its power having been greatly reduced.


    Although the Blood River Lord used his essence blood as his core, ordinary blood served as his limbs. If it were all evaporated, he would find it hard to do anything, even if his essence blood remained.


    The Blood River Lord finally felt a sliver of fear, yelling and groaning as he beat at the mes, at the same time fleeing the tiger fiend like he was a guebearer. But the tiger fiend simply wasn''t going to let him run. He knew that he wasn''t strong enough to resist the mes of Holy Fire Valley now that he had undone his seal, so he naturally wanted to bring the Blood River Lord down with him. Thus, he ran to catch up with the Blood River Lord.


    While doing so, he yelled, "This is the price for oathbreaking! Burn!"


    The tiger fiend''s body shone with even greater light as he used a forbidden spell to make himself even stronger, pushing himself from the middle of the Soul Transformation Tier to the upper level. This made Holy Fire Valley react with even greater force, and more white mes drifted out to fuse with the world. There was a resounding screech as a phoenix emerged from the sea of fire, and a great peng with golden wings appeared.


    The peng and phoenix made even the Blood River Lord feel fear.


    It had to be understood that these were no normal illusions, but existences that carried a part of the Pale Cloud me''s true power, which was the scariest part about this me. And this was only a part of the Pale Cloud me''s simtion power. If the me Celestial Sovereign were using it, it would be a great horde of phoenixes, dragons, and qilins.


    The phoenix and peng charged at the tiger fiend and Blood River Lord. Majestic mes devoured the tiger fiend, whoughed in the mes and embraced the Blood River Lord in a bear hug.


    "Seeking death!" The Blood River Lord''s face glowed with murderous intent as he thrust a palm at the tiger fiend''s head, but the tiger fiend no longer feared death. He let the palm strike his head while mes devoured the Blood River Lord.


    "Aaagh! You can''t kill me!" The Blood River Lord unleashed all his strength, covering himself in a small Blood Sea. At the same time, another avatar appeared in the distance¡ªthe one who had made a bet with Tang Jie''s duplicate. He hade right in time to see his other avatar in the most dire of straits, and with a wave of his hand, he released a Blood Sea to hold off the attacks of the phoenix and peng.


    Meanwhile, the other avatar thrust his palm at the tiger fiend''s head again and again. Only killing this tiger could calm the mes.


    The Blood River Lord cared nothing for his image as he crazily iled his palm. "Die! Die already!"


    But fiends had most tenacious life forces, and the tiger fiend was at Soul Transformation. He had a will that would rather ept death than yield, but he just wasn''t dying, ring at the Blood River Lord as he tightly held on.


    The sea of mes battled against the sea of blood, life and destruction contending against each other!


    After several dozen strikes, the tiger fiend''s head had been obliterated and all of his bones were broken. Only now was he finally dead, his grip loosening.


    His body limply copsed, still a little unwilling to go.


    Perhaps he felt remorse that he didn''t listen to Tang Jie and fight alongside him.


    With the tiger fiend dead, the Blood River Lord''s avatar shivered, his body somewhat unsteady.


    With the fiend''s death, the berserk me spirits gradually fell silent.


    At this moment, a sword lit up.


    "Tang Jie!" As the Blood River Lord cried out in shock and anger, this unfortunate avatar was chopped in half again.


    This time, he had no chance to put himself back together.

 Chapter 585: Fight (3)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    In the middle of shining sword energy and sshes of blood, the Blood River avatar let out a crimson light. The drops of essence blood gathered in the air, ultimately condensing into a blood gem that fell into Tang Jie''s hand.


    Tang Jie took it with a smile. Strangely, he had no barrier around him.


    He just stood in the sea of mes, a light current of air flowing around him.


    The me creatures gradually disappeared, and the white mes reappeared. But rather than returning to the core of the valley, they circled around Tang Jie and flowed into his body.


    "Bastard!" the other Blood River avatar furiously roared.


    It had taken him considerable amounts of power to fight back against the sea of fire and save his avatar, and he hadn''t expected Tang Jie to suddenly kill it with one strike and take away all the essence blood. If he had known that this was going to happen, he wouldn''t have even tried saving the avatar.


    The Blood River avatar charged at Tang Jie.


    "Hey, wait a second. Don''t you want me to give this back to you?" Tang Jie asked as he tossed the blood gem into the air and then caught it.


    The Blood River Lord immediately stopped.


    Of course, he thought to himself.


    The blood gems were the Blood River Lord''s core, the key to his control over the Blood River''s power. From a certain perspective, they were also his life. So long as the blood gems existed, he would not die. Moreover, the blood gems were normally too well-hidden for the average opponent to detect, and even if they killed an avatar, they would find it difficult to destroy the blood gems. This was why he had the title of "the Undying King". The Blood River Lord''s fourth avatar had so desperately tried to save the third avatar precisely because of this essence blood. If not for that, he wouldn''t have minded its death.


    s, it had been his misfortune to run into Tang Jie, who had Insight that allowed him to take his blood gems, within the sea of mes, which could burn up everything, including his blood gems. Such counters were what made him fear death.


    The Blood River Lord stopped at Tang Jie''s words and viciously red at him. "What else do you have to say?"


    Tang Jie asked, "Can we not fight? Don''t you think that only peace is meaningful?"


    The Blood River Lord angrily said, "What nonsense are you saying?"


    Tang Jie shrugged. "I just think that fighting all day is rather pointless, and I think that there''s no need for it. Hey, don''t stare at me like that. It''s scary. Actually, I don''t like fighting at all, so if you really want the blood gem back, if you talk properly with me, I can give it back. The ck Tortoise''s essence blood too. Right, there''s also the Vermillion Bird. Have you heard about the Vermillion Bird? I actually have the essence blood of both the Vermillion Bird and the White Tiger. Hey, hey, don''t give me that disbelieving look! I''m telling the truth. We can really negotiate here¡­"


    Tang Jie chattered on and on.


    The Blood River Lord''s face grew darker and darker.


    He looked at the white me circling around Tang Jie and coldlyughed. "You''re just buying time, right? You''re using this opportunity to absorb the Pale Cloud me."


    "Egad, you saw through me." Tang Jie scratched his head andughed. "My apologies for showing you this embarrassing sight. I just find this Pale Cloud me to be pretty nice, so I want to absorb some and study them. You also know that they''re particrly powerful when they''re all gathered there. But the one over at the core is just too fierce for me to get close. Didn''t expect that old tiger to draw out some of the Pale Cloud me. When I saw them split off, I knew that this was my chance¡­"


    Tang Jie continued tough and talk, continuing to buy time as his spark greedily absorbed the Pale Cloud me.


    In normal circumstances, it was impossible for the spark to absorb the Pale Cloud me at its current level of power, but because the Pale Cloud me had separated off a part of itself, Tang Jie had a rare opportunity. He hadn''t been lying when he said that.


    He had first bought time with lies, and now he was using the truth. It was all the same when it came to buying time for him to absorb the Pale Cloud me. He would even confess his love to the Blood River Lord if that was what it took.


    The slivers of the Pale Cloud me entered the spark, that torrent of power causing the spark''s color to shift, going from a deep red to a silver luster.


    The white holy me gradually merged with the spark, modifying it and strengthening it.


    The spark began to rocket toward a higher level.


    And Tang Jie''s mood rose with it.


    The Pale Cloud me!


    The ze me was nothingpared to it. By absorbing the Pale Cloud me''s power, his spark was getting a huge boost in both quality and quantity. In just a few moments, he could feel that his spark had grown ten times stronger, and this was with Tang Jie limiting its growth because it was starting to get unstable from the ferocity of the me. Fortunately, the scattered Pale Cloud mes were now returning to the core, and Tang Jie let them go.


    But Tang Jie''s spark had now been reborn, and he no longer feared the core region.


    The Blood River Lord naturally didn''t know that all this was going on. He lost his impatience over Tang Jie''s chattering and roared, "You really think I''m afraid of a puny Pale Cloud me? Let alone a sliver, all of the Pale Cloud me here gathered up together is nothing to make me afraid."


    "Of course, but that''s if your original body were here." As a way to buy time, Tang Jie didn''t mind arguing with the Blood River Lord in the slightest. But the Blood River Lord clearly wasn''t interested in continuing the discussion. Once he knew that Tang Jie was buying time, he knew that there was no chance of Tang Jie giving him the blood gem back and that further talk was pointless.


    ring, he expanded his Blood Sea, arge hand of blood pping down. "Die, brat!"


    Tang Jie unleashed a Dragonlike Hand to block the blood hand while saying, "You really think you can kill me at your current level of strength? This avatar of yours had to contend against the sea of fire for three days and is much weaker because of it, and then you also expended your strength to save your avatar from the mes of Holy Fire Valley. The current you can''t even reach 30% of your peak, right?"


    "So what? It''s enough to kill you!" the Blood River Lord shouted back. Tang Jie had needed five people to kill himst time, so even if he had only 30% of his strength, it was still more than the 20% that Tang Jie could theoretically deal with.


    Of course, with these words, the Blood River Lord voluntarily ignored Tang Jie''s hidden strength. In a real contest of strength, Tang Jie might not be able to win in a one-on-one, but he definitely wasn''t something a Heart Demon avatar at 30% strength could finish off.


    "Then let''s try it out," Tang Jie said as he dodged several attacks. He then used the Chaoswind Step to teleport behind the Blood River Lord and stabbed his sword at him.


    As the sword beam pierced through the Blood River Lord''s body, the blood that made up his body scattered. Thus, the attack failed to harm him while Tang Jie now faced a corrosive wave of blood. The Blood River Lord had used the very same move back in the battle at the City of Freedom.


    But this time, it wasn''t so easy to use this move. As the blood attacked the target, it could do nothing against the surrounding mes, and much of it was instantly evaporated. Amid the white smoke, Tang Jie was able to easily evade the greatly-reduced wave of blood.


    The blood returned to the Blood River Lord''s body, but he now seemed to be in much worse condition. He had not battled before this day, or ever used this move in this environment, and only now did he realize that it had so many limitations.


    In reality, all of his spell arts that relied on blood were greatly limited here.


    Tang Jie swung his sword once more, and the Blood River Lord yelped and released his blood shield, clearly trying to use the Blood Sea''s power to fend off his foe as he did before. But Tang Jie simplyughed and summoned the Flesh Millstone.


    The Flesh Millstone and the Blood Sea were both suppressed by the sea of mes, making them much weaker. However, Tang Jie wasn''t using it for its grinding power, but for its ability to absorb blood energy. The moment it appeared, it began to draw power from the blood shield.


    This meant that the blood shield could no longer immerse the Sovereign de as before, and the sword stabbed into the Blood River Lord''s body. Through the power of Insight, it struck a point of blood essence, causing the Blood River Lord to howl in pain.


    The Flesh Millstone turned, absorbing more of the blood shield''s power.


    "Trying topete with me in blood absorbing?" The Blood River Lord snarled and snatched at the air, grabbing at the blood energy around Tang Jie, and Tang Jie felt as if his grip on the Flesh Millstone was loosening. He immediately knew that he was far from a match for the Blood River Lord when it came to controlling blood.


    But a momentter, Tang Jie widened his eyes and shouted, "Stop!"


    This use of the Four-Nine True Words shook the Blood River Lord''s mind, and at the same time, a me shot out from Tang Jie''s body, the power of the Pale Cloud me that was hidden within his spark.


    Since the spark was unstable from absorbing too much, he would just release some of it!


    ze, firebird!


    An enormous firebird flew into the air and unleashed a torrent of mes at the Blood River Lord, striking his blood barrier.


    The Blood River Lord had never expected this move from Tang Jie, and he stopped trying to take the Flesh Millstone and did his best to resist.


    "Useless!" Tang Jie roared.


    As he roared, the firebird screeched and mustered the power of the sea of mes, creating countless fire creatures that lunged at the Blood River Lord as if he was the fiend tiger.


    But the fire creatures were slightly weaker this time, though none of them attacked Tang Jie, only the Blood River Lord.


    The fire creatures charged again and again, letting another one of the Blood River Lord''s avatars enjoy this experience.


    This avatar was more unfortunate, though, for he suffered the attacks of both the fire creatures and the Flesh Millstone.


    The Blood River Lord was the Flesh Millstone''s bane, but the Flesh Millstone was also the Blood River Lord''s bane. The two countered each other, with the sole decider being strength.


    In terms of strength, the Blood River Lord naturally won out, but with the firebird holding him down, he could only allow the Flesh Millstone to draw away his power.


    There was no way he could keep fighting.


    If he used the power of the Blood Sea, the Flesh Millstone would drain it, and if he didn''t use it, the fire creatures would strike.


    The Blood River Lord finally understood why Tang Jie had chosen to fight him here: because this was his home court.


    Of course, he had forgotten about one other thing: he had only recently obtained the power of this me. If not for the tiger fiend, the fight wouldn''t have been this easy.


    It was precisely this development that let Tang Jie know of his unique advantage in Holy Fire Valley.


    The Flesh Millstone and spark yed off each other to perfectly counter the Blood River Lord.


    He had originally been hoping for his other two avatars toe to his aid, having already killed the boar and snake fiends, but once he realized this, he understood that his avatars would probably be of no help heere.


    The Blood River Lord no longer had any hope of winning.


    Knowing that his defeat was certain, he red at Tang Jie and said, "I''ve remembered you! Next time, I''ll definitely kill you!"


    "You''ve said that before," Tang Jie coldly replied.


    The firebird screeched, and the sea of mes retreated, the Flesh Millstone pulling in the Blood River Lord and grinding him down.


    At this time, the Blood River Lord''s other two avatars finally arrived.


    They appeared in the sea of mes and saw the avatar being ground down, but rather than going to its aid, they looked at each other and then retreated, one going left and one going right.


    "Trying to run?" Tang Jie smirked. "None of you are escaping!"

 Chapter 586: Yiyis Battle (1)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Mountain River State Diagram unrolled, and Tutu and Yiyi appeared.


    Tang Jie pointed at one avatar and said, "Go and hold that one down. He can leave the valley, but don''t let him get too far."


    "Eh?" Tutu''s head shrank back at the suggestion that it should try and hold down one of the Blood River Lord''s avatars.


    Tang Jie red. "Holding him down is Yiyi''s job. You simply need to bring Yiyi away when she reaches her limit. I just need you to hold him down so that he can''t run too quickly or get too far, in addition to keeping track of his location. I''m not asking you to capture him."


    "Understood." Tutu sighed in relief.


    Tang Jie threw the Treasure Cosmos Formation and a Mustard Seed Bag full of beans to Yiyi. "Use these two things to help you out. They should be enough to hold him down."


    "Understood!" Yiyi patted Tutu, and they took off in pursuit of the Blood River Lord''s avatar.


    At the same time, Tang Jie sprinted off in the direction of the other avatar. Thanks to that bird of white me above his head, all the other mes made way for him. Tang Jie even put down his barrier and found that not a single tongue of me burned him. It was an unprecedented sense of freedom that made Tang Jie want to throw his head back and yell.


    Madlyughing, he ran as fast as he could. As he didn''t need to waste energy on his barrier and was supported by his spirit-restoring pills, he threw all his energy into speed, so he quickly caught up to the Blood River Lord''s avatar. Once there, he did the same thing, the firebird summoning a wave of fire creatures.


    The Blood River avatar had no choice but to turn around and fight back, shooting Tang Jie a venomous re.


    The venerable Lord of the Blood River was being chased by a Spirit Ring brat? The humiliation alone could kill him.


    Though he was indignant, there was nothing he could do.


    Tang Jie wouldn''t give a second thought to his mood. Each Blood River avatar was a fine treasure to the Flesh Millstone. The blood energy from the avatar he had just absorbed was somewhat stronger than what came from a blood gem, and the Flesh Millstone''s power had been further refined, giving off some of the feeling of the Blood Sea Divine Connection. Once he absorbed this avatar, the Flesh Millstone might even be able to use some of that Divine Connection''s powers.


    Meanwhile, Yiyi and Tutu had caught up to the other Blood River avatar.


    As they were in the sea of mes, any nts she summoned would instantly be burned to ash, so Yiyi didn''t try to use them to attack. Instead, she threw out energy wall after energy wall. These walls wouldn''t hurt the Blood River avatar, but they would hinder him. Each time he had to force his way through a wall would slow him down a little and waste a little more energy.


    The Blood River Lord was incensed by this harrassment, but every time he turned around to deal with Yiyi, Tutu would run off. This rabbit wasn''t good at anything else, but its speed was just amazing, and nobody could match it in a short-term sprint. The avatar wanted to use the Blood Sea Divine Connection, but in the sea of mes, the weakened Blood Sea would be burned up before it could expand far enough. Even if he did manage to expand it, the rabbit was too fast to catch. Thus, the Blood River Lord could only give up and keep going, after which Yiyi and Tutu woulde back to throw up more energy walls and hinder his progress.


    The two parties continued this game of cat and mouse as they made their way through Holy Fire Valley.


    The Blood River Lord tried all manner of methods to deal with Yiyi.


    Sometimes, he would slow down and wait for Yiyi to get closer before suddenly lunging at her. But Yiyi had been with Tang Jie for many years and had seen all sorts of tricks, so such things couldn''t fool her.


    Other times, he would feign a pursuit, making Yiyi run, and then he would turn around and suddenly elerate. s, the rabbit was just too fast, so when it saw that the Blood River Lord was running, it would immediately put on the speed and catch up in a sh.


    After all the back and forth, the Blood River Lord just couldn''t throw off Yiyi.


    But as they had started in the middle region of the valley, while running at full speed, the Blood River Lord finally managed to reach the entrance of the valley.


    His heart rejoiced when he saw the clear and open world outside.


    Once they were out of Holy Fire Valley, he wouldn''t have to worry about his Blood Sea being weakened. Thinking this, he picked up speed.


    Yiyi smirked and waved her hand. Outside the valley, numerous nts rose up and formed a green cage. The moment the Blood River Lord ran out of the valley, he rammed straight into the thick of vines and was instantly bound up in them.


    "Tsk, the sea of mes restricted you, but it also restricted me!" Yiyi put her hands on her hips and crowed.


    The Blood River Lord struggled to break free and failed. He said with a nastyugh, "You think this is enough to hold me?"


    His body turned to blood that seeped through the openings in the cage.


    Yiyi snorted. "It''s not like I haven''t seen this before. I was ready for this!"


    She waved her hand, and countless roots emerged, stabbing into the blood and greedily drinking it.


    What she had summoned were Vampire Vines.


    Vampire Vines loved to drink blood, and they instantly drained a great deal of the power inside the blood, causing the avatar to yowl. Although he managed to break free of the Vampire Vines, he had lost a great deal of blood because of it, even a few drops of precious essence blood. The Vampire Vines didn''t have Tang Jie''s Insight, but the number of vines meant that some of them were absorbed purely through blind luck.


    The blood reformed into the Blood River Lord, and he angrily yelled, "Little girl, I''ll kill you!"


    The Blood Sea Divine Connection was activated, an ocean of blood expanded, and more than a hundredrge birds made of blood emerged from the ocean.


    The Blood Sea Divine Connection was the Blood River Lord''s fundamental Divine Connection, the basis upon which he could use various other mighty spell arts and Divine Connections.


    The blood birds were just one of these methods. These blood birds actually weren''t very strong, but they didn''t use much energy. The battles and constant draining forced the Blood River Lord to consider not just how to defeat his foes, but how to do so while using the least amount of energy.


    Yiyi had also emerged from Holy Fire Valley at this time. When she saw all the blood birds, she looked up and pointed at the sky in disdain. "Go!"


    The earth cracked open, and countless ck tentacle-like vines rushed out, a deep roaring from the abyss.


    It was ck Sin.


    Butpared to the previous times, Yiyi could summon a stronger ck Sin even more easily and quickly.


    After entering Transformation, Yiyi didn''t gain any new abilities, but her new power was used to strengthen her old abilities, and a lot of that power had been used on ck Sin.


    As her strongest move, ck Sin immediately revealed a heaven-shaking power, charging at the Blood River Lord with a guttural roar. Even though it had just been summoned and had no fiends to feed on, making it the weakest it could be, it still disyed a shocking level of power.


    In a pure sh of strength, the Heart Demon avatar might not be a match for ck Sin.


    But the Blood River Lord naturally wasn''t dumb enough to go head to head with a nt his foe had summoned. He had some of his blood birds fend off the attacks from below while other blood birds continued to fly at Yiyi.


    Yiyi cocked her head and pointed at the ground. "Rise!"


    Countless vines rose up.


    But rather than forming a simple cage, they intertwined and weaved together as they crept ever upward. As they grew, some of the vines took the form of giant hands that grabbed the attacking birds, whereupon Vampire Vines would greedily drink them up. As for the rest of the vines, they densely coiled themselves around branches to form cages, with leaves used as filling, creating tightly-packed constructions that even blood couldn''t seep through. In the blink of an eye, they crushed the diving blood birds.


    Once all the blood birds had disappeared, an enormous and beautiful verdant pce had appeared.


    The verdant pce had three floors.


    The lowest level consisted of arge number of green mats thatid out the foundation, speckled with a few petals. There were also flying arches made from intertwining green branches, eight of them in all, spanning the upper and lower level.


    The middle floor consisted of arge tform upon which there was a small hall made from vines and covered in flowers in a rainbow of colors. There were small doors on the sides of the hall, revealing the intricateyout within. Everything one might expect was here, including chairs, tables, beds, windows, and roof beams. This was no empty shell, but a real pce.


    On the highest floor of the pce was an eight-sided flower pavilion, made entirely from flower petals. It was a joyful sight, bringing together all of the world''s most beautiful colors.


    The Jade Blossom Pce!


    After reaching Transformation, Yiyi finallypleted her spell art, another powerful spell art to join her arsenal alongside the Silkheaven Net. Its greatest use was in defense, imprisonment, and support.


    It could even be of use while it was growing.


    Yiyi stood upon the eight-sided pavilion made from more than three hundred kinds of flowers and nts, wearing a rainbow crown of flowers, holding a floral staff, wearing garments made of flowers, and wearing shoes woven from petals. These were the Mystic Flora Regalia that Tang Jie had found for her, a set of four ultimate-grade art relics.


    Yiyi proudly looked down at the Blood River Lord and dered, "Big Brother ordered me to hold you down, and I know that this was for my sake. But actually, I want to try killing you!"


    The Blood River Lord was stunned. Had this girl gone crazy?


    Yiyi very earnestly said, "It''s not necessarily impossible. You''re at the Heart Demon Tier while I''m essentially at Spirit Ring. Although I''ve only just entered Spirit Ring, in the end, I''m only one tier weaker. I know that you''re an avatar of an Immortal tform cultivator, so even a Heart Demon Tier avatar can''t be underestimated, but you aren''t at full power, and you''re probably not even at 40% of your peak. With ck Sin and Tutu to help me, I can fight it out with you, and besides, I have other tricks as well."


    The Blood River Lordughed. "This old man''s strength truly has been affected, but that''s simply because I''ve used too much of my energy and can''tst in a long battle. My actual strength hasn''t fallen. You really think you can oust my energy reserves?"


    "I''m just trying it out. It''s no shame if I lose, and I can just run back to the valley.," Yiyi folded her arms while speaking as if she was like an old man.


    The Blood River Lord smiled in anger, and a giant hand formed in the Blood Sea and reached for Yiyi. Down below, ck Sin bellowed, and countless vines rose up. At the same time, Yiyi pped her flower pce, and countless petals flew out, gathering into a flower dragon that attacked the blood hand.


    Silkheaven Net!


    Supported by the Mystic Flora Regalia, the Silkheaven Net was three times stronger than before.


    The flower dragon of the Silkheaven Net and the vine dragon of ck Sin battled with the blood hand, and the area outside of Holy Fire Valley erupted with brilliant sts of light.


    The Blood River Lord saw that Yiyi was actually fighting him evenly. He snorted, and countless Blood Fiends emerged from the Blood Sea to attack Yiyi. These Blood Fiends weren''t strong individually, but they were rather troublesome to deal with, as they would explode on death, and their blood had corrosive properties.


    The Blood River Lord had never feared group battles, for his Blood Sea Divine Connection could produce countless creatures and take on infinite forms.


    The Blood Fiends swung weapons, pulled with their arms, or even just gnawed on the vines. Those vines which were tougher than steel were gradually broken apart, and the foundations of the Jade Blossom Pce began to loosen.


    Yiyi did not panic, sowing 1500 beans.


    The bean king, with his blood-colored crown and golden armor, proudly stood in the center of this army, jabbering and shouting.


    Yiyi patted him on the head and said, "Be good, be good. I''ve given you all the soldiers I have. There aren''t any more."


    The little bean king stomped his feet several times, expressing his dissatisfaction over theck of beanpower.


    While these two were messing around, the bean soldiers took up formation and charged, beginning their battle against the Blood Fiends.


    In thisrge-scale battle, themander-less Blood Fiends were clearly no match for the bean soldiers.


    Led by various bean generals, the bean soldiers assembled into various formations and charged through the battlefield. In just a few charges, they had the Blood Fiends running for their lives in aplete rout.


    "What¡­ what are these things?" The little beans boldly fighting and yelling left the Blood River Lord stunned.


    Even with his more than ten thousand years of experience, he couldn''t recognize where these beans hade from.

 Chapter 587: Yiyis Battle (2)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Blood River Lord knew that he was in trouble when those hundreds of bean soldiers appeared.


    Whatever these beans were made of, it made them somehow immune to the corrosive effects of his blood. Rather than hurting them, it only seemed to provoke them.


    After several charges, the Blood Fiends had been in, but the bean soldiers weren''t content to stop there, moving on to the Blood River Lord.


    The Blood River Lord angrily snorted, and the Blood Sea rippled, countless arrows shooting out from it.


    The bean soldiers simply raised their shields and kept going. In their eyes, the blood arrows were no different from any other arrows loosed by their foes, and their testudo formation could keep out any arrows. Even though the blood arrows had high prative power, thebined power of the bean formation wasn''t weak. It let off a white glow that stood fast against the barrages of the Blood Sea.


    Of course, this also had to do with their numbers. After all, Yiyi had sowed 1500 beans at once.


    700 bean soldiers could have a Spirit Ring True Person stumbling around on the ground looking for their teeth, so 1500 could defend against several attacks of a Heart Demon True Person without a problem.


    The Blood River Lord was greatly annoyed when he saw that the blood arrows hadn''t worked.


    His repeated casting had cost him a significant amount of energy. Just as he had said, his problem was that he was no good in a long battle. If this kept up, he really would be the loser of this battle.


    This thought made the Blood River Lord harden his resolve.


    Thus, he decided to stop holding back, risking using up all his power and being in by Tang Jie in order to have the pleasure of killing this girl and removing one of Tang Jie''s powerful allies.


    Having made up his mind, the Blood River Lord used up thest of his power, shouting, "A thousand waves, rise!"


    The Blood Sea erupted, wave after crimson wave sweeping toward Yiyi.


    This was no longer a part of the Blood Sea transforming, but the fiercest attack the Blood Sea itself could muster. The use of this attack meant that the Blood Sea Divine Connection had ceased to exist.


    This was the Blood River Lord''s strongest move, but it was definitely his final one, thest choice he made when hecked spiritual energy, converting the boundless Blood Sea into mighty waves that would crush and drown his foes.


    Even the bean king paled upon seeing these waves, and he quickly jabbered out his orders. The bean soldiers immediately fell back into the flower pce, for it seemed like the bean king had issued his first-ever retreat order.


    Yiyi also paled, and Tutu seemed ready to run.


    "No running!" Yiyi shouted.


    1500 bean soldiers were still here, and there was no taking them back. If they ran now, she might be able to escape on the rabbit, but the 1500 bean soldiers would be doomed.


    She could not ept such a huge loss.


    Yiyi''s little face hardened with determination.


    She raised her floral scepter, and the flower dragon in the sky received hermands and rushed at the crimson waves. Under those savage waves, the flower dragon created by the Silkheaven Net managed to only produce a little froth before disappearing.


    Even a Silkheaven Net that was three times stronger was no match for the thousand blood waves.


    ck Sin now sent out its vines, but a ck Sin that had had no fiends to feed on was also unable to stop the crimson waves, its vines being eaten away by the blood. The mighty power of the Blood River made ck Sin howl in pain, and while more vines quickly emerged from the abyss, they came toote to stop the onward rush of the blood waves.


    Yiyi spread out her arms, activating the defensive powers of the Jade Blossom Pce. Every leaf and branch began to glow, forming a green barrier that covered the entire pce. The blood waves battered the pce, but they failed to break the barrier, only causing the pce to shudder.


    Yiyi stood in the pavilion, raising up the scepter. The eight flying arches moved upward to the green barrier, forming a supporting structure. But a momentter, the power of the blood waves began to make them crack and shatter.


    Yiyi waved her hands, and the foundation of the flower pce flew up into the air, followed by the second level, the leaves, branches, and flowers that made them up going to support the green barrier.


    The frenzied waves of blood continued to pound down, washing away the vines sent out by ck Sin and pounding against the barrier, causing it to waver. But in the process, the blood waves lost much of their power.


    In the end, the green barrier could not oust the blood waves and shattered.


    As the blood waves descended, Tutu turned in fright and prepared to run, but Yiyi put her feet down and refused to move. She waved her hand, and a formation diagram flew out, countless treasure lights emerging from the diagram and creating a wall of light.


    The Treasure Cosmos Formation.


    The blood waves and white light wore away at each other, the blood evaporating into steam as if it was back in the sea of mes. The Treasure Cosmos Formation diagram also wavered, but this wasn''t because the formation was weak, rather because the 13 swords that formed its core, particrly the three divine treasure swords, had yet to be put back by Tang Jie. Besides that, Tang Jie himself was not here to manage the formation, which also greatly affected its strength.


    As they battled against each other, the bean king looked at Yiyi. Seemingly realizing something, he shouted and then jumped into the air.


    Yiyi frantically shouted, "Don''t!"


    The bean king disappeared into the blood waves, and his 1500 bean soldiers joined him.


    They followed their king in this bold and fearless charge, a shining white light pushing through the tide of blood.


    A storm breaking through the waves!


    The crimson glow weakened; the waves retreated!


    The blood waves lost all their power in the face of that rising white light, dissolving into nothing.


    Finally, thest crimson wave disappeared, leaving only the Blood River Lord floating in the air.


    He only had enough power left to keep himself in the air.


    He stared dumbly at Yiyi for quite some time, and then he suddenlyughed.


    He said, "Excellent! Excellent job, little girl. You''ve truly got some bloodthirst in you, and also some fighting resolve. These little beans are also pretty good. They seem like nt sprites, but that''s not what they are at all. They should be a form of nt, a special kind of lifeform."


    The Blood River Lord had sharp eyes and was able to quickly notice the special attributes of the bean soldiers.


    Yiyi blinked herrge eyes at the Blood River Lord. "In other words, you concede?"


    In truth, in the sh just now, Yiyi had used up almost all her strength. Regardless, however, she had still won, and this realization made her overjoyed.


    Looking up at the beans, she happily found out that they were unharmed, but the white glow they exuded was much dimmer. It was clear that, just like Yiyi, they didn''t have much power left.


    To be frank, the strongest individual present was actually Tutu.


    The Blood River Lordughed. "Yes, I concede. It''s just an avatar, so it''s fine if I lose. In fact, it''s not bad losing to a cute little girl like you."


    Since he had lost already, the Blood River Lord was rather open-minded now.


    In the end, it was just an avatar. He could take the loss.


    But he gave Yiyi a look of admiration and appreciation.


    He said, "Little girl, are you willing to follow me? If you are, I will take you as my adopted daughter, and reaching Divine Division will be as easy for you as flipping your hand over."


    "Then what about Big Brother? Will you also ept him?" Yiyi asked rather than outright rejecting him.


    The Blood River Lord snorted, "That bastard kid stole my ck Tortoise essence blood, killed several of my avatars, and took my essence blood. Why should I spare him?"


    "Then I don''t need it." Yiyi pointed at him and said, "If you won''t let my big brother go, I won''t let you go. ck Sin, catch him, but don''t kill him. Big Brother needs to take his blood essence!"


    Countless vines once more emerged from the abyss, coiling around the Blood River Lord.


    The Blood River Lord didn''t attempt to dodge, simply sighing. "Ah, forget it. Since there is no destiny between us, when we meet again in the future, I won''t hold back. In gratitude for the show you gave me today, since you want my blood essence, I''ll just give it to you. There''s no need to wait for Tang Jie."


    His body trembled, and red motes of light flew out of his body and congealed into a blood gem that flew into Yiyi''s hands. Meanwhile, the Blood River Lord''s body came apart and turned back into blood.


    Yiyi stared speechlessly at the blood gem.


    After some thought, she finally said, "The valley is too hot, so let''s wait here for Big Brother."


    The bean king ran up to Yiyi and gesticted at the blood gem.


    "Eh?" Yiyi was startled. "You want this blood gem?"


    The bean king vigorously nodded.


    "What do you want it for?"


    The bean king jabbered something.


    Once Yiyi understood, she replied, "Let me ask Big Brother first."


    She activated Heart Consonance and said, "Big Brother, I destroyed this Blood River avatar, but little Tang Dou wants the blood gem. He says that it can make him stronger. What do I do? Should I give it to him?"


    Tang Dou expressed his dissatisfaction at Yiyi''s actions by stomping his feet.


    "''Tang Dou wants the blood gem''?" Tang Jie was surprised, but then he recalled that the beans had needed his own blood to grow. While the beans were rather cute, Tang Jie had understood since he first saw them that they were actually quite savage and cruel. The bean king being able to use the blood gem to get stronger was something he could understand.


    Tang Jie nodded and said, "Fine¡ªgive it to him. Let me see how much stronger he can get."


    Yiyi gave the blood gem to the bean king.


    The bean king immediately took a big bite into it. Sure enough, he was nning to eat it.


    The blood flowed into his body, but nothing happened except that he briefly glowed red.


    Tang Dou swayed around like a drunkard, even belching.


    He waved his hand, summoning the fifteen bean generals and throwing them the blood gem. It seemed like he was full and letting his subordinates have some.


    Yiyi didn''t stop him, and she watched as each of the 15 beans took one bite, collectively consuming more than half of the blood gem, and their bodies began to emit a crimson light. Tang Dou pointed a finger at the remainder, which splintered into countless motes of light and rained down over the bean soldiers, causing them to cheer.


    Theck of response from the bean king formed a stark contrast to the reaction from the generals and soldiers, whose bodies grew much more muscr after they had absorbed the power of the blood gem.


    Yiyi could clearly sense the formidable strength flowing through their bodies, with the generals being several times stronger than before. The difference for the soldiers wasn''t as obvious, but Yiyi could tell that the power surging through their bodies had changed them.


    Most importantly, after taking in the blood gem, the bean soldiers could stick around even if they didn''t turn back into beans.


    In other words, they could umte power while in their bean soldier state.


    But in order to make them easier to carry around, Yiyi persuaded the bean king to have his soldiers turn back to beans.


    Tang Dou was very unwilling, and Yiyi had to expend quite a lot of words to finally make those 1500 bean soldiers put down their arms. But as the king, little Tang Dou refused to turn back into a bean.


    He jumped onto Yiyi''s shoulder and began to jabber away.


    Thus, Yiyi thought to herself, Big Brother stands on Tutu''s shoulder, I sit on Big Brother''s shoulder, and then Tang Dou stands on my shoulder! In the future, when we''re bored, we can try making a pyramid! The thought rather amused her.


    Which meant that she had epted the bean king''s state.


    Meanwhile, she carefully put away the 1500 beans and made sure to keep them separate from the other beans. Yiyi knew that these beans were fundamentally different from before now that they had absorbed the blood gem.


    The Blood River Lord had truly been very nutritious.


    We have to kill more of these avatars, Yiyi privately remarked.

 Chapter 588: Trade

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    When Tang Jie wasmunicating with Yiyi, the battle on his side was already wrapping up.


    Thebination of the Pale Cloud me and the Flesh Millstone was a perfect counter to the Blood River Lord. Let alone this weakened avatar, even a peak Heart Demon avatar wouldn''t have been able to fight back against it.


    He hadn''t killed the Blood River Lord solely because he wanted to research the Blood Sea Divine Connection.


    The Blood Sea Divine Connection was bursting with secrets, and while the avatar''s cultivation level prevented it from using the Divine Connection''s true power, the power it could already disy was shocking. Tang Jie had had a rich harvest from this battle.


    This harvest wasn''t in a boost to strength, but in the broadening of horizons, a widening of experiences. This allowed him to develop a deeper understanding of the many arts of the world and also of the higher powers.


    As thest of the surging waves of blood evaporated in the sea of mes, Tang Jie cut down thest avatar and began to absorb the blood gem that fell from its remains.


    After absorbing this third blood gem, his body began to give off a red glow, crimson waves rolling off him and extending into his surroundings, during which Tang Jie began to shake.


    It had to be understood that this was the blood essence of three Heart Demon avatars, and each one was packed with immense power. Although they weren''t theplete strength of a Heart Demon Tier cultivator, three of them together weren''t far off.


    Even Tang Jie''s Flesh Millstone wasn''t able to digest all of this frenzied power. The extra power rushed straight into his body, no matter how much Tang Jie didn''t want it to. This berserk power carried with it a crimson killing intent, and Tang Jie had no choice but to desperately cultivate his mantras to pacify this killing intent and gradually merge it with his body.


    To his pleasant surprise, Tang Jie found that his cultivation level began to rise in the process.


    As the blood energy poured into his body, he rose from initial Spirit Ring Tier to middle Spirit Ring Tier.


    Each increase in cultivation level had both a breakthrough requirement and an umtion requirement. Going from initial Spirit Ring Tier to upper Spirit Ring Tier was a long process of umtion.


    The umtion process varied from individual to individual, potentially being as long as a hundred years or as short as three to five. That Tang Jie was able to go from the initial to the middle level in only one year was stunning, and a sign of just how amazing the power contained in the blood gems was.


    And this wasn''t even all of the power, for Tang Jie had used much of the power on the Flesh Millstone.


    The Pale Cloud me meant that the sea of mes no longer attacked Tang Jie, so Tang Jie released the Flesh Millstone. Vast quantities of blood energy spread out, letting out a crimson glow. Each strand of blood energy, though appearing like cloudy wisps, was actually immensely heavy, hiding a boundless strength.


    A crimson fog drifted outward, floating over to a nearby cliff. As the wisps curled around it, the cliff groaned, shedding debris and gravel. The volcanic rock of Holy Fire Valley, tempered through thousands of years of mes, crumbled easily under the weight of this blood cloud.


    More of the crimson mist surged forth, enveloping the entirety of the cliff. In that red glow, more and more rock fell from the sky, and the cliff was ultimately turned to dust that disappeared within the sea of mes.


    Tang Jie was somewhat satisfied with this result.


    The Flesh Millstone finally had some of the grandeur of a powerful spell art.


    The Flesh Millstone could be small orrge, but its range decided its power. Therger the range, the lower the power had to be, and conversely, shorter range meant higher power.


    After testing its might, Tang Jie tested its range, and the crimson halo began to rapidly expand.


    The red tide unfolded across thend, and in a sh, it had gone past 1.5 kilometers, many times greater than before. Tang Jie could sense that this was not the limit of the Flesh Millstone, but at this distance, the Flesh Millstone was extremely weak. There was no point in further expansion.


    As he was nning to call back the bloody light, he suddenly felt like something was wrong. Had his Flesh Millstone juste in contact with someone?


    Tang Jie immediately shot off in that direction, and as he closed the distance, severalrge hands emerged from the mist of the Flesh Millstone and began to pull those existences hidden in the sea of fire toward him.


    The person on the other side seemingly hadn''t expected this development, and there was a cry of rm as they were seized by a blood hand.


    "It''s you guys?" Tang Jie was startled when he saw who was being pulled toward him. It was none other than Liu Qianyi''s group of three.


    Tendrils of red smoke coiled around Liu Qianyi like ropes, and no matter how she struggled, she couldn''t break free. Helplessly iling her feet, she angrily said, "Hey, let me go! It''s not like I did anything to you."


    "Then what did youe here for?" Tang Jie didn''t believe that their appearance in the area was a coincidence.


    "To find treasure, of course. It''s not like Holy Fire Valley is yours. You think you''re the only one allowed in?" Liu Qianyi brusquely replied.


    But her paleplexion gave away her nervousness.


    She was afraid!


    Tang Jie narrowed his eyes. "You guys¡­ You knew that I wasn''t the only one here. You were watching me?"


    Liu Qianyi snorted. "Who said!? Don''t think that you can get anything from us just because you caught us. I already knew that you weren''t the only one in the valley. There are also fiends and Hemos, and I saw them. But this girl runs quickly and wasn''t captured by them."


    "Maybe it''s not that you can run fast but that you can see far." Tang Jie smiled.


    Liu Qianyi shuddered and looked away, acting as if she didn''t know what he was talking about.


    Tang Jie said, "I used the same method to capture you before, but you struggled and escaped that time. Since you already ran away once, you should have been able to escape again, so why didn''t you even try this time?"


    Liu Qianyi was startled.


    Tang Jie said, "There can be only one exnation: you knew you couldn''t break free this time¡­ You saw me use this art earlier, right? In the sea of fire, vision is limited, and even I can''t see 1.5 kilometers, but it seems like you have such a method. That''s why you saw it, and that''s why you knew that you couldn''t break free, which is why you gave up! And this is also how you''ve managed to stay safe for so many days in the valley."


    Liu Qianyi paled. She hadn''t expected for Tang Jie to see through her via such a minor detail.


    Yes, she had a way of seeing extremely far within Holy Fire Valley, which was how she saw the battle between Tang Jie and the Blood River Lord and was horrified by it.


    The Blood River Lord''s supreme Divine Connection truly did leave her shaken, but Tang Jie''s methods left her dumbfounded.


    After seeing Tang Jie kill one Heart Demon expert after another, she realized how naive she had been when she had first challenged Tang Jie, and she was ovee by remorse.


    And when the Flesh Millstone soared in strength upon absorption of the blood gem, she was scared silly. This was why she didn''t try to resist when the Flesh Millstone caught her, or else she would trigger the strengthened grinding power of the Flesh Millstone, which she knew she had no way of resisting.


    Even so, Liu Qianyi stubbornly insisted, "Not at all. I just have a Void Teleportation Talisman, so I''m not afraid of you¡­"


    "The Void Teleportation talisman¡­" Tang Jie muttered. "You really think you have a chance to escape with a talisman in my Flesh Millstone?"


    As he spoke, the red mist gradually closed around Liu Qianyi''s group.


    What had initially been the sensation of being bound in ropes was now the sensation of being tightly squeezed. Under the weight of the blood cloud, Liu Qianyi felt like even blinking was difficult, let alone taking out the talisman and escaping.


    She frantically shouted, "Hey, hey, don''t! Fine, I admit it. I was watching you from afar, but it was purely out of curiosity. I meant no harm!"


    "''Curiosity''? It seems more like you were the fisherman waiting to catch the fighting sandpiper and m, no?" Tang Jie coldly smiled.


    Liu Qianyi panicked after having her intentions so easily exposed.


    She truly had nned to third-party the fight, but she hadn''t expected all of these people to be so terrifying. After seeing that battle, she had put aside any thought about intervening, but then she saw Tang Jie get stronger, and she felt that she had to stay and see exactly how much stronger he had gotten. This had ultimately caused her to lose her chance to escape.


    Tang Jie looked at her with narrowed eyes that glowed with murderous intent, and she knew that Tang Jie might be considering silencing witnesses. Working her brain, she shouted, "Wait! Don''t kill me! I can tell you an important secret!"


    "''A secret''?" Tang Jie said.


    To be honest, it was thanks to Liu Qianyi that he knew that the Blood River Lord had entered the Treasure Paradise and was able to get the initiative on him, ultimately allowing him to kill four Heart Demon avatars. So when Liu Qianyi said she had another secret to trade, he became rather interested.


    "What sort of secret do you have to trade?" he asked.


    "A secret regarding the Hall of Three Immortals!" Liu Qianyi swiftly replied.


    The Hall of Three Immortals was the source of all the treasures of the Treasure Paradise, the ce where all the best treasures could be found.


    But Tang Jie wasn''t very interested in this secret. After all, half of the reason he was here was to fulfill his promise. With the inter-domain trade, he wasn''t passionate about risking his life for riches, and there was also the threat of the Blood River Lord to consider. He shook his head and said, "I''m not interested."


    Liu Qianyi said in a panic, "I know that you''re a representative of the Western Heavenly King and that you must have learned many secrets about the Hall of Three Immortals from him, but what I''m going to tell you is something my master personally told me, something the Western Heavenly King doesn''t know!"


    "Oh?" Tang Jie finally developed an interest. "Why don''t you tell me what it''s about? Once I confirm its value, I will consider whether I ept it or not."


    Liu Qianyi gritted her teeth and said, "It''s a secret about the fifth natural Dao armament."

 Chapter 589: Blaze Eye

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    ''The fifth natural Dao armament''?


    Tang Jie was stunned to hear this. He raised his head to look at Liu Qianyi, and his tone suddenly became cold and sinister. "You think that this sort of boring lie can fool me?"


    "No, no!" Liu Qianyi frantically shouted.


    Tang Jie snorted. "The me Celestial Sovereign has already explored the Treasure Paradise, and if there really was a fifth Dao armament, he would have already taken it. Or are you telling me that the Southern Heavenly King managed to find what the me Celestial Sovereign couldn''t?"


    "No, to be more precise, it regards some information about the fifth Dao armament, not the Dao armament itself," Liu Qianyi quickly corrected herself. "This matter was not hidden from Grandmaster, but the Fate Celestial Compass is difficult to find, and even now, Grandmaster is unable to find it."


    Through Liu Qianyi''s recount, Tang Jie learned that while the me Celestial Sovereign had not found the fifth natural Dao armament of the Treasure Paradise, the Fate Celestial Compass, he had still found a clue regarding it in the Hall of Three Immortals, proving that it existed within the Treasure Paradise, though it had vanished from sight for some reason.


    After finding this clue, the me Celestial Sovereign hid it, but afterward, the Southern Heavenly King found the clue.


    "Why did he hide the clue instead of taking it with him?" Tang Jie asked.


    "Because the clue is a formation. It can''t be moved," Liu Qianyi replied.


    What the me Celestial Sovereign had found in the Hall of Three Immortals was an Elemental Simtion Formation left behind by the Fate Celestial Compass. This formation had been naturally formed from the influence of the Dao Runes carved into the Fate Celestial Compass and had been imprinted into the hall, bing one with the hall and Divine Genesis, which made it extremely difficult to move.


    This formation had no power of its own, but its ability to simte and calcte all things was extremely formidable. However, when the me Celestial Sovereign tried to use it to divine the direction of the Fate Celestial Compass, it failed.


    "Doesn''t sound very useful to me," Tang Jie coldly said.


    Tang Jie wasn''t so naive as to believe he could do something the me Celestial Sovereign couldn''t.


    Liu Qianyi anxiously said, "I''m not telling you to use it to find the Fate Celestial Compass, but you can use it on yourself. You can see your own future and developments to a certain extent. It''s just that Grandmaster''s cultivation level is so high that only the Celestial Compass would work for him, so the formation didn''t work for him. But for you, it is an incredible opportunity!"


    Tang Jie understood what she meant. "Your master knew of this, so she had you enter the Hall of Three Immortals toprehend the formation?"


    Liu Qianyi''s face turned red, and she dropped her head. "Back when my master discovered this formation in the Hall of Three Immortals, she activated it and ultimately managed toprehend its secrets, gaining three Infatuation Seeds and mastering the supreme Heavenly Charm Art. Master wanted me to take the same path, using the Elemental Simtion Formation to divine my fate and glimpse the will of the heavens, seeking out my fortune and a direction upon the Immortal path."


    Tang Jie fell silent.


    The Immortal path was clouded in fog, and the path ahead was difficult to predict.


    No one could say what problems, obstacles, or trials one might encounterter on, let alone how to deal with them.


    Major sects had so many more resources and experts than minor sects because they had Soul Transformation, Violet Pce, and even Immortal tform cultivators keeping watch, seniors to point the way and tell juniors what they needed to watch out for.


    Even then, these people couldn''t guide every single disciple.


    The path of cultivation wasplicated and multifaceted, and this wasn''t even considering individual differences. If the Immortal tform ancestor of Horizon Ocean Pavilion instructed Tang Jie, the effect might not be any better than if Ming Yekong had taught him instead. After all, Tang Jie was a Basking Moon disciple.


    Tang Jie still didn''t have to worry about the path ahead, for the Basking Moon Sect had plenty of people at the Celestial Heart Realm, with all kinds of different experiences. At the Celestial Heart phase, the foundation had already beenid down and leveled out, and everything that had needed to be pointed out had been pointed out, and there were plenty of different ideas to consider, both authoritative and non-authoritative. There were plenty of broad and open roads to take.


    But things were different at Violet Pce.


    The Basking Moon Sect had only five Violet Pce cultivators, and only one Immortal tform cultivator. There was only this small number of ancestors, and even if one considered those individuals who were already part of history, they could still be counted with one''s fingers. There was no vast sea of experience to draw from.


    The Fate Celestial Compass was a legendary Dao armament that could calcte the past and future of everything in the world. This treasure was so mysterious that it was said that the world could not tolerate it, and anyone who possessed it was liable to be afflicted by cmity, so it was also known as the yer of Fate. Thus, rather than being unable to find it, it might be that the me Celestial Sovereign didn''t dare to find it.


    But the Elemental Simtion Formation left behind by the Fate Celestial Compass, thoughcking the ability to divine everything in the world, had more than enough ability to predict a person''s future path of cultivation. While one wouldn''t be able to turn disaster into fortune, at least one could use it to avoid many unneeded detours on the path of cultivation.


    Until now, Tang Jie hadn''t gone down any detours, and his foundation was extremely solid. While others might regard every tier of Celestial Heart as a threshold, Tang Jie could cultivate all the way to Soul Transformation without a problem. But he wasn''t sure about what came after that.


    The difficulty of Violet Pce could be seen from Ming Yekong, who had been hesitant to challenge it even after one hundred years of preparation, for it could easily end in his death. If Tang Jie''s performance in the Immortal Fortune Conference hadn''t given him that final push, he might even now have been working up the courage to take thatst step.


    But things might be different with the simtion formation.


    The look in Tang Jie''s eyes changed.


    Liu Qianyi saw that Tang Jie was hesitating, so she quickly said, "Only I know where the formation is and how to activate it. Moreover, once the formation is activated, it has a Fog Dome ability that can protect the people in the formation from the divine sword. As you know, the Hall of Three Immortals is the ce where the divine sword''s power is the strongest, and the simtion formation is the safest ce. If you want to deal with that¡­ that man, you need this formation!"


    Tang Jie''s gaze sharpened. "You know who the person I need to deal with is?"


    Liu Qianyi froze, and then she said, "Those Hemos clearly weren''t four brothers, but four avatars. And how many people are there in the world who can have such powerful avatars that possess that level of blood essence¡­"


    Her voice dwindled away, her mind clearly uneasy. She couldn''t understand how Tang Jie had offended this kind of Titan.


    Her twopanions, Li Feng and Zhao Wei, however, were still confused.


    Tang Jie didn''t admit to anything, looking at Liu Qianyi and saying, "If you help me, aren''t you worried about him taking revenge on you?"


    Avatars ignored distance and couldmunicate across the world. Even though the Blood River Lord''s actual body couldn''t interfere in the Treasure Paradise, he could sense everything that was happening within it. If Liu Qianyi meddled, the Blood River Lord would definitely find out.


    Liu Qianyi casually replied, "While that man has heaven-reaching abilities, my grandmaster is not any weaker than him, so why should I be afraid? Moreover, my life is in your hands and hanging by a thread, so I don''t have the luxury of thinking that far ahead. And in the end, so what if I offend him? It''s better than dying here, right?"


    Tang Jie was startled, and he couldn''t but feel some admiration for this girl''s mindset.


    She was rather simr to Zuo Quanming, both of them fighting hard to survive. It was just that Zuo Quanming had nothing to sell except his shame and dignity, while she had somewhat bigger pockets. She could sell information, treasure, and strength, and sell them very thoroughly.


    After some thought, Tang Jie asked, "How should I trust you?"


    Liu Qianyi was delighted to hear this, knowing that she had kept her life. Smiling, she said, "Does Young Sir still not know any methods of managing people? If necessary, you should just use them. I just want Young Sir to swear an oath on your Heart Demon that if I have done anything to offend Young Sir, you will show grace and not kill me for it."


    "No problem. Not only that, I will allow you to keep all the treasures you obtained." Tang Jie swore an oath on his Heart Demon, and only then did he thrust out his finger, sending warm slivers of energy into the bodies of Liu Qianyi''s group of three.


    This wave of warmth made Liu Qianyi feel ufortable all over, and she felt embarrassed. Although she cultivated charming arts, she was actually unmarried. She couldn''t but think to herself, How could this man be so vulgar, using such lowly methods to bully me?


    But this was an unjust usation. While Tang Jie was skilled in many things, when it came to imprisoning and restraining methods, he was actually quite average. On the other hand, Liu Qianyi was the granddisciple of a Celestial Sovereign, and though she seemed to have only her charming arts, she actually had quite a few tricks hidden up her sleeves. It was just that power wasn''t her strong suit, so the Flesh Millstone had managed to restrain her. If she had been allowed to use her abilities, she definitely wasn''t someone to be underestimated, and that wasn''t even considering her twopanions. If Tang Jie had used ordinary methods, there was no predicting what might happen, so Tang Jie decided to nt sparks of the Pale Cloud me within their bodies.


    The Pale Cloud me was under his control, and if Liu Qianyi''s group did anything suspicious, he could activate this divine me, which would burst out from within them and burn them to ashes. While Liu Qianyi was the me Celestial Sovereign''s granddisciple, she didn''t cultivate the Dao of Fire, so she had no resistance to this me. Thus, she couldn''t even tell that it was the Pale Cloud me that had been nted in her.


    After putting in this restriction, Tang Jie called back the Flesh Millstone.


    As they were no longer enemies, everyone became a lot more talkative.


    Tang Jie asked Liu Qianyi how she had been able to see him from 1.5 kilometers away.


    Liu Qianyi took out an item, a fiery-red vertical eye. It seemed like a ball of me, but that vertical eye was constantly looking around.


    Tang Jie curiously asked what it was. Liu Qianyi replied, "This is the ze Eye, a Celestial Eye that my master refined whenprehending the Pale Cloud me. It has the abilities of Insight and the ability to see through obstacles. It was this that I used to see you through the sea of fire."


    When Tang Jie heard that it was an eye that had been refined from the Pale Cloud me, Tang Jie immediately became interested, and he quickly took it to observe. He found that while this eye really did have a major rtionship with the Pale Cloud me, it was also fundamentally different.


    The Pale Cloud me that Tang Jie had obtained was an actual me that could be absorbed, but the ze Eye had been refined from the will of the Pale Cloud me. It was not a real me, but an ethereal me that had been formed after one had absorbed this will.


    The me Celestial Sovereign''s Pale Cloud me had been left all this time on that statue in the Celestial me Pagoda, able to be touched, but across the millennia, nobody had dared to touch it. Even the Four Heavenly Kings only observed it every day, none of them daring to take it as their own.


    Even though none of them had ever held the Pale Cloud me in their hand, thousands of years ofprehension had allowed them to long ago grasp the will of this holy me, and the Southern Heavenly King had used her insights to refine this ze Eye. There were countless mysteries contained within it, and it had far more abilities than just Insight and the ability to see through obstacles. It was just that Liu Qianyi had a natural Water Spirit Body and had never cultivated the Dao of Fire, so she could not use the real power of the ze Eye.


    Tang Jie immediately realized the extraordinary properties of this time, and he blurted, "A good item! I want it."


    Liu Qianyi paled. "Master gave it to me. I can''t give it to you!"


    "That''s not up to you," Tang Jie said, putting the ze Eye away.


    "You bastard!" Liu Qianyi stomped her feet in rage. "You said that I could keep everything I had if I cooperated with you."


    "This part wasn''t in the Heart Demon Oath," Tang Jie indifferently replied.


    Perhaps unsettled by his own guilty conscience, after some thought, Tang Jie added, "I''ll justpensate you with some treasures."


    Liu Qianyi was so angry that she almost fainted.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    Just like with Zuo Quanming, after putting his restrictions on Liu Qianyi''s group, Tang Jie let them go.


    Once they were gone, Tang Jie took out the ze Eye and began to carefully examine it.


    The ze Eye twinkled with a strange light before Tang Jie.


    Just when Tang Jie was going to use the Contrame Mantra to absorb it, a voice rang out in his mind: "Kid, that''s not how you use this."


    It was the Vermillion Bird!


    Tang Jie''s agreement with the Vermillion Bird for one drop of essence blood a year also included a use that allowed the Vermillion Bird to attach a sliver of Divine Will to his body so that she could see the outside world.


    But this Divine Will was on the original body, not the avatar.


    The Vermillion Bird''s Divine Will could freelymunicate with the avatar like the original body, but she couldn''t tell what was going on around the avatar. Moreover, as the original body spent most of his time in the Mountain River State Diagram, the Vermillion Bird still actually didn''t know what was going on outside.


    But the original body asionally told the Vermillion Bird about what was happening outside, and he had just told the Vermillion Bird about the ze Eye. The avatar was currently hearing the message that the original body had passed from the Vermillion Bird.


    "Then how should I use it?" Tang Jie asked.


    The Vermillion Bird replied, "The real me is the vessel and the ethereal me is the will. Since it is a conceptual me, it should beprehended. Vainly attempting to use the Contrame Mantra to absorb the ze Eye is an absolute waste!"


    Tang Jie blushed in shame. He only knew that the me was valuable and was bursting with the concept of Fire, soprehending it was bound to let him advance far on the Dao of Fire, or at worst serve as a major supplement to the Pale Cloud me. He hadn''t expected there to be so many secrets to it.


    "But the concept of Fire is abstruse and difficult to understand, and my understanding on this is limited. The Contrame Mantra can only subdue a me, notprehend its concept, so it can''t help me. Would Miss Vermillion Bird be able to teach me anything?"


    The Vermillion Bird giggled. "Of course I know how to do it. But why should I teach you? You tricked me out of five hundred years of essence blood, and I have yet to settle that ount with you."


    While the Vermillion Bird was naive, she hade to understand with time that Tang Jie had swindled her. But the original body had regaled her with stories of the outside world while they were in the diagram, and she had found them very interesting. Their rtionship had improved to the point where she no longer minded this matter.


    Even so, the Vermillion Bird would still asionally bring up this matter and use it against Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie understood what she wanted and said, "Miss Vermillion Bird, if you are willing to teach me, I am willing to reduce your debt by ten drops of essence blood. What do you think?"


    "No, one hundred drops."


    "Then forget about it. It''s just a means of absorbing the concept of Fire. Even if you taught me, I wouldn''t be able to use it immediately. It''s not worth that much."


    "Hey, hey, when my Vermillion Bird Sacred Ancestor reigned, she controlled the Daos of Yin Yang and Five Elements. Although she had not reached Sovereign, she was still hailed as peerless in the cosmos, and the Dao of Fire is only one of the Five Elements. Absorbing the concept is a minor trifle for my Vermillion Bird Tribe. My blood contains memories concerning this, and if you learn it, you will be able to easily absorb the concept of Fire. You could even absorb the Pale Cloud me in the core of Holy Fire Valley!"


    Tang Jie was shaken by what he had heard.


    He had seen with his own eyes the power of the Pale Cloud me in the heart of Holy Fire Valley. But he wasn''t skilled enough in the Contrame Mantra to absorb it. Even that sliver of Pale Cloud me drawn out by the tiger fiend was but a tiny fraction of the me in the core.


    Using his little me to subdue the core me would take at least eight years.


    But grasping the concept of the Pale Cloud me changed things.


    Using that little bit of real me as the bait, and the concept of Fire as the lure, Tang Jie really did stand a good chance of subduing that ball of Pale Cloud me.


    It had already been proved that the Pale Cloud me would weaken the Blood River Lord''s Blood Sea Divine Connection by at least 30%, which was huge for Tang Jie.


    Realizing this, Tang Jie replied, "Twenty drops¡ªthat''s my limit. That Blood River Lord is fighting to the death with me for a single drop of ck Tortoise essence blood, so twenty drops of Vermillion Bird essence blood is pretty good value."


    The Vermillion Bird angrily said, "That Blood River Lord is a manifestation of the Blood River, so he naturally considers blood like his life. Moreover, his chasing you stopped having anything to do with essence blood a long time ago, and it''s more about face and dignity now. And one''s honor isn''t something to be taken lightly! But I''m different from him! If you want to learn from me, it will take at least eighty drops!"


    "Twenty-five drops, and that''s the most I can give, or else I would rather not learn it," Tang Jie firmly said. "Even without this concept of Fire, I can still absorb the Pale Cloud me. At worst, it will take more time for less, and it will have less transformative powers."


    "Hey, hey, haggling doesn''t work like this. You should be going up by ten while I go down by ten so that we agree to fifty drops!" The Vermillion Bird stomped her feet in Tang Jie''s mind.


    Tang Jie replied, "Don''t fret. You can tell that there are still many things on the path of cultivation that I don''t understand, while the knowledge from your bloodline memories is endless. In the future, there will be more opportunities where I seek you out, so do you really think you won''t be able to work down that debt of five hundred drops of essence blood?"


    The Vermillion Bird considered this and decided that it was true. s, while she had gotten smarter, her mind still worked rather slowly, and she had been intimidated by Tang Jie''s "stubborn" attitude and thought that he wasn''t going to offer any more. Moreover, she felt that Tang Jie wasn''t just going to give up on the Daos of Yin Yang and Five Elements aftering this far, so there would be opportunities in the future, so she ultimately agreed.


    The Vermillion Bird sent over a sliver of thought that transmitted to Tang Jie the method toprehend the concept of Fire.


    This method was called the Triple Sense Beholding Spirit Art. The spirit was used to enter the fire, draw out the fire, and control the fire, and it was the fundamental art the Vermillion Bird used toprehend the Dao of Fire. It could be used toprehend the mysteries of all the mes of the world, and it even surpassed the me Celestial Sovereign''s Ever-Burning Omnime Mantra. If the me Celestial Sovereign knew about the Triple Sense Beholding Spirit Art, let alone twenty drops of essence blood, he would have paid one hundred. Of course, he would have needed that much essence blood first.


    Tang Jie circted this art, and the ze Eye began to shrink in his hand as he gradually absorbed it.


    Just like that, the tiny bit of will that the Southern Heavenly King hadprehended through years of observing the holy me was absorbed by Tang Jie, and in his Spiritual Space, his spark flickered.


    It didn''t getrger or change colors, but it exuded more divinity, and if one looked closely, one would notice that there was more variation to this once-serene spark. Before this, the spark was rather still and lifeless, but now, it had more vitality and spirituality.


    Besides that, the center of Tang Jie''s forehead became a little hot.


    While the ze Eye had been refined from the concept of the Pale Cloud me, the ultimate result was still an eye. Tang Jie had absorbed its ability to see through obstacles, and his Celestial Eye had grown more powerful. The eye now asionally gleamed red, and a pattern had appeared around it.


    Another Insight Dao Rune had been born.

 Chapter 590: Seizure

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After absorbing the ze Eye, Tang Jie strode into Holy Fire Valley. The mes of the valley no longer burned him, even opening a path for him.


    This wasn''t because he was using the Pale Cloud me tomand the mes, but because his concept of Fire was making the mes retreat on their own.


    Tang Jie was in no rush to head into the core region. Rather, he created several hundred duplicates andbed the valley for treasures.


    Initially, if he wanted his duplicates to walk through the valley, they would have to be made from his blood, as only this kind of duplicate could cast protective spell arts. But thanks to the concept of Fire, he didn''t even need to use blood and could make duplicates purely from spiritual energy.


    Several hundred duplicates scattered through the valley, picking up all the treasure they saw.


    Whether they were Fire-type spirit stones or Fire-type art relics, Tang Jie grabbed them up like a thirsty fishing upon water, picking Holy Fire Valley clean.


    No location in the Treasure Paradise had ever received such treatment before, and in the blink of an eye, Holy Fire Valley had been plundered.


    All that was left was the core region.


    The white Pale Cloud me was still burning, and inside it was a fan.


    The Holy Fire Fan.


    This was a low-level upper-grade divine treasure, but thanks to the thousands of years of tempering from the Pale Cloud me, it was stronger than Tang Jie''s three divine swords, on par with the Herding Yang Pearl. It was something that the representatives would have found worth fighting over if they had the chance.


    But Tang Jie had little interest in this item. He had decided to give it to Liu Qianyi aspensation for the ze Eye. If she didn''t think that was enough, he would add some other stuff. In any case, he wasn''t returning the ze Eye, so she had no choice but to take this deal.


    Tang Jie sat down in front of the Pale Cloud me.


    As he silently chanted the Triple Sense Art and circted the power of his spark, the Pale Cloud me suddenly swelled and swept toward Tang Jie.


    This was no longer a sliver of holy me drawn out by the power of a Soul Transformation cultivator, but the entirety of this me.


    But just as that me was about to ignite Tang Jie, his eyes glowed with divinity.


    Countless mes danced in his eyes, taking in the form of the Pale Cloud me and reflecting an infinite expanse.


    The white me stopped its rampage, and it began to writhe and transform. With a screech, it transformed into a giant firebird with a wingspan of a thousand meters.


    At the same time, a firebird flew out from behind Tang Jie. It was also made from the Pale Cloud me, but it was much smaller, as if it was the child of the giant bird, even letting out a few quavering cries like it was a chick.


    The giant firebird pped its wings of white me, embracing that small bird like a protective mother, and its gaze towards Tang Jie turned gentler.


    Tang Jie remained seated, gazing at the bird.


    Thus, that firebird began to dissolve into tendrils of me that merged with the smaller bird.


    As the small bird absorbed the mes, it began to grow in size.


    Tang Jie''s body began to shake, and if one looked at the spark in his Spiritual Space, one would find that the spark was beginning to shed the outer shell it had formed not too long ago, the mes dropping into the Spirit Sea, where they continued to burn.


    The zing spiritual energy in the Spirit Sea surged upward and formed clouds that lingered about. Meanwhile, the spark continued to shed and reform its outer shell.


    Each reformation of the shell made the spark tougher, but it also consumed immense amounts of spiritual energy. Tang Jie had no choice but to take pill after pill to recover.


    The cycle of birth and destruction happened three times.


    By the spark''s third reformation, the giant firebird had shriveled up, leaving only a dim shell, and this too dissipated into the air. On the other hand, Tang Jie''s firebird was nowrge and majestic.


    If this firebird had originally been a chick, it could now be considered an adult.


    It unfurled its wings, revealing that they had a span of one thousand meters, and it let out a cheerful cry as if it had an intellect of its own.


    After letting out this cheerful cry, therge bird began to shrink, ultimately getting down to the size of a yellow oriole, andnded on Tang Jie''s shoulder. It pecked at his shoulder a few times and asionally gave him a puzzled look.


    He knew that the Pale Cloud me could transform into all kinds of creatures, but he had never heard of a spiritual firebird being born like this. Shouldn''t the Pale Cloud me that had been subdued have be a ball of attribute-less me?


    In the end, it was the Vermillion Bird who answered his question. "I didn''t think that your luck would be this good. This me is intelligent."


    "''Intelligent''? Do you mean like how a monster bes intelligent?"


    "Correct!" the Vermillion Bird confirmed. "The Pale Cloud me is the me with the greatest spirituality, or else it wouldn''t be able to transform into all things, but even so, gaining intelligence is something extremely difficult, and it has to have an opportunity granted by the heavens in order to achieve it. Yes, yes, this is the Treasure Paradise, and Divine Genesis is there to grant all things in the world spirituality, turning them into treasures. The me left behind by the me Celestial Sovereign was influenced by Divine Genesis, so it''s not strange for it to have the potential to gain intelligence."


    Only then did Tang Jie understand that Divine Genesis also had this function.


    But Divine Genesis alone wasn''t enough. The Vermillion Bird had also yed a factor.


    The Southern Divine Fire of the Vermillion Bird was a me that affected the mind. Tang Jie had the blood of the Vermillion Bird in his body, and he had also used the Triple Sense Beholding Spirit Art, both of which acted on the mind.


    Intelligence was gained only from the opening of the mind!


    Tang Jie had used the Triple Sense Beholding Spirit Art to draw out the Pale Cloud me, and as the Pale Cloud me already had the capacity for intellect thanks to its residing in the valley for so long, it finally gained intelligence. Although it was only a basic intelligence, it was no longer a dumb creature, but possessed the intelligence of a bird.


    As for why it had to be a bird, that could only be med on the Vermillion Bird essence blood in Tang Jie''s body.


    Under its influence, the Pale Cloud me that could transform into all things came to consider the firebird as its original form. Of course, once it got serious, it wouldn''t be restricted only to the firebird form.


    The Vermillion Bird''s exnation allowed Tang Jie to understand that in the process of subduing the Pale Cloud me, he had inadvertently turned it into a fire sprite or fire monster. Although it didn''t sound like anything much, having the Pale Cloud me turn into a fire monster was actually a major development, and Tang Jie could only be said to be just too lucky.


    Tang Jie had always acted based on nning.


    He had never ced his hopes on or relied on luck.


    But this didn''t mean that he couldn''t be lucky.


    Amid countless efforts, failure was inevitable, but there was also sometimes luck.


    And today was clearly Tang Jie''s lucky day.


    He had killed the Blood River Lord''s avatars, strengthened the Flesh Millstone, subdued the Pale Cloud me, and even gained an intelligent Pale Cloud me from it. Thest was undoubtedly a wonderful surprise.


    With a wave of his hand, the firebird turned into a ball of me and vanished, and when it next appeared, it was in Tang Jie''s Spiritual Space.


    At this time, the Spirit Sea calmed down, and the spark reformed itself into a bird nest.


    The little firebird roosted in the nest and fell asleep.


    After all thismotion, Tang Jie''s spark had reached greater attainment, the several refinements turning it into something extraordinary. What Zuo Quanming had needed decades to aplish had been achieved by Tang Jie in a single day. If Zuo Quanming found out, he would probably bitterly say something like "Comparison can anger you to death", and then he would ask Tang Jie to teach him.


    With this, the Pale Cloud me in the core region hadpletely disappeared.


    With its disappearance, the mes across all of Holy Fire Valley weakened.


    The mes still burned, but no longer with that demonic power that seemed capable of devouring everything.


    Tang Jie initially thought that he could take the mes with him to feed the Pale Bird, but after some thought, he gave up on it. This was primarily because the mes of the valley extended to the skies, so if he took them, he would essentially be telling everybody that something had happened in Holy Fire Valley.


    The Blood River Lord was definitely capable enough to grasp what was going on, and if he knew that Tang Jie had taken the Pale Cloud me, he would prepare for it. As for now, he would only think that Tang Jie would no longer have the holy me once he left the valley.


    In this battle, the Blood River Lord had both failed to make Tang Jie use all his trump cards and had actually given Tang Jie another one!


    This was the source of his tragedy.


    Finally, Tang Jie went up to the stone tform in the heart of the valley and took the Holy Fire Fan. Once he determined that there was nothing else, he left Holy Fire Valley and headed for the depths of the Treasure Paradise.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    Zuo Quanming inexplicably shivered.


    From atop Fog Mountain, one could see an Immortal pce in the distance. This was the Hall of Three Immortals.


    The Hall of Three Immortals was located in the middle of the mountains, floating atop a rainbow cloud. There were three halls in all, arranged in a triangr formation. The halls were respectively called the Soaring Immortal Hall, the Transformation Immortal Hall, and the Ascending Immortal Hall. Together, they were the Hall of Three Immortals.


    The three halls were said to be where Reverend Celestial Hook had cultivated, and there were all sorts of secrets within. Even now, it was protected by the Yin Yang Division Sword, and it was considered the most core region of the Treasure Paradise, bursting with treasures.


    Divine Genesis and the fourth Dao armament that the me Celestial Sovereign had taken away had both been found here.


    Even now, the Hall of Three Immortals was still rife with traps and treasures. When the me Celestial Sovereign hade to this ce, the pressure from the Yin Yang Division Sword and his own pickiness meant that many of the treasures had been left behind. And Divine Genesis was still creating more treasures, and the closer to Divine Genesis one was, the more likely it was to be a divine item, so there were many valuable items located within the hall.


    Every time the Treasure Paradise opened, the Hall of Three Immortals would be a major source of contention for the four factions. One could say that this ce was the decider for the oue of this battle, and everything before that was just a minor skirmish.


    As the most important area of the Treasure Paradise, the Hall of Three Immortals was protected by the original de of the Yin Yang Division Sword, and anyone bold enough to approach it would be ughtered. It was only at special times that the Hall of Three Immortals would be opened. Although the inside was still dangerous, it was still much safer than trying to force one''s way in when it was closed.


    This was why the Celestial me Pagoda had chosen this period to open the Treasure Paradise. After all the entrants had a certain period of free time, they would all gather here and prepare to enter the Hall of Three Immortals.


    For the representatives, the Hall of Three Immortals was an opportunity that they couldn''t miss out on!


    Starting ten days ago, the protective sword light around the Hall of Three Immortals began to retreat, which meant that it wouldn''t be long until that barrier would be gone and the Hall of Three Immortals would be opened.


    Many representatives had already sensed this development and abandoned their exploration to gather and wait for the moment to go in.


    This Fog Mountain that Zuo Quanming was on was the meeting ce that the Eastern Heavenly King''s representatives had agreed upon, but only thirteen people were here. The other seven either hadn''t arrived yet or had already died.


    Under a pine tree on the summit of Fog Mountain was a youth with a rather delicate and thin appearance.


    At first nce, he would be under the tree, but on second nce, he would be on the other side of the tree, and at a third nce, he would be on the other side of the mountain.


    That young man was actually just standing there, yet his location seemed to be constantly shifting, as if he was always moving around or else existed in multiple spaces at the same time.


    Zuo Quanming looked a little too long and felt his mind going fuzzy. Realizing that he was under that man''s influence, he hastily lowered his gaze, his heart shivering. He didn''t know this person''s name, only that he was a genius favored by the Eastern Heavenly King. He was called Young Master Hua, and though he was only at the Heart Demon Tier, he was much stronger than his peers, perhaps second only to Tang Jie.


    The thought of his master instantly made Zuo Quanming inwardly moan at his misfortune in running into such a master. He had failed to get a divine treasure and lost his freedom in the process.


    His only hope was that someone else killed Tang Jie so that he couldn''te, which would save him a lot of trouble.


    s, he had just barely had this thought when he felt a warmth on his waist, and he realized that Tang Jie had sent a message. He quietly looked over and saw that Tang Jie had given him a mission. This mission gave Zuo Quanming a big headache, but he had no choice but to do it. He heaved a long sigh.


    It was a rather loud sigh, and several people turned to look at him, that Young Master Hua even saying, "Sir Zuo, is there something on your mind?"


    Zuo Quanming became nervous, so heughed and said, "I was just thinking that when the Hall of Three Immortals opens, there''s bound to be a fierce battle, and I wonder how many of us wille out alive."


    A muscr man grunted, "I''m not sure who else is going to survive, but everyone knows about Sir Zuo''s cunning and escape techniques. I''m sure you won''t have a problem."


    Zuo Quanming knew that this man was mocking him, but he didn''t mind, saying, "The Zheng n of Hongwu''s Heavenly Son Fist is majestic and awe-inspiring, and this one is nothing before its righteousness."


    This person''s name was Zheng Yuanjie, and he belonged to Zheng n of Hongwu, which had long ago produced a mortal emperor, a Son of Heaven, who had developed the Heavenly Son Fist, which gathered together all of the kingliness of the mortal realm, and it could be considered a top-ss technique. The Hongwu Zheng n relied on this technique to make its name, and it was even rather famous in the Blood River Domain. In the end, this man had been recruited by the Eastern Heavenly King to be a representative in the Treasure Paradise.


    After being ttered by Zuo Quanming, Zheng Yuanjie couldn''t scold him too much. In the end, he just snorted and raised his nose to Zuo Quanming.


    Only then did Zuo Quanming say, "But while the Heavenly Son is righteous, it is hard to avoid hidden injuries from lowly people. A king must safeguard his dignity against lurking snakes!"


    Zheng Yuanjie narrowed his eyes. "What did you say?"


    Zuo Quanming hastily said, "Brother Zheng, don''t misunderstand me. This one just thinks that while the struggles in the Treasure Paradise, though always involving eighty representatives, have usually been able to control the level of losses, I feel like the situation this time is different¡­"


    He cast his gaze toward a distant mountain.


    Over there, an imposing Hemos stood¡ªthe Blood River Lord.


    He was gazing at the hall, looking at nothing else besides it. Behind him, hidden in the mists, were even more of his avatars. Though they did not show themselves, it was still possible to sense his immense power.


    This one was enough to intimidate everyone else to not mess with that man.


    The sudden appearance of the Blood River Lord left everyone bbergasted, and the four-way struggle became ratherplicated. Nobody knew who this new faction was, how strong they were, why they hade, or how they had gotten in, which was exactly why everyone was so wary. If not for that side''s impressive show of strength, someone might already have attacked them.


    Nobody liked a wrench to be thrown into their ns, and through his actions, the Blood River Lord was actually already stealing food from the tes of others¡ªafter all, half of the treasures here would ultimately belong to the representatives.


    There was another reason besides his strength that prevented anyone from attacking the Blood River Lord. It was that there were four factions, and not one, so they weren''t united.


    But at this moment, Zuo Quanming suddenly pointed his spear at the Blood River Lord.


    Hearing the meaning in his words, a representative said, "Since he''s here, he must have received the permission of the Four Heavenly Kings."


    "Aren''t we the same?" Zuo Quanming countered. "''Permission toe in'' doesn''t mean we aren''t allowed to fight him."


    "That''s right!" another person chimed in. "Moreover, the Four Heavenly Kings didn''t mention anything about this. It''s not right for these Hemos to juste out of nowhere!"


    "What about it? You want to go and kill them?" another person coldly snorted.


    "From their aura, these people seem to be extremely strong. Provoking them might break disaster on our heads instead. And looking further ahead, even if we win, don''t forget that the people of the other three Heavenly Kings are just looking to pounce," another person said.


    "What if we all work together?" Zuo Quanming asked.


    "''Work together''?" Everyone was startled, and then they shook their heads. "This is impossible."


    None of the representatives trusted the representatives of the other Heavenly Kings. Even if they agreed to move together, no one could say that nobody would turn around and sell out the other.


    Nobody here was naive. While they found the Blood River Lord annoying, they didn''t have some deep-seated grudge against him. Thus, working together to kill him was ultimately a joke.


    Zuo Quanming wasn''t worried. He was just getting started with his mission. His first priority was to put the idea of working together in their minds, letting everyone know that there was such a choice in the future.


    As for what came next, that would depend on other parties.


    Meanwhile, on Drifting Peak to the south¡­


    Liu Qianyi nced at Tang Jie''s message and helplessly sighed. "Everyone, don''t you think that guy who popped up out of nowhere is annoying? Just like that, a millennia-old rule was broken¡­"

 Chapter 591: Conflict

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Immortal Footprint Peak.


    Na Shan had his head lowered, seemingly in thought.


    Hei Yan jumped over in front of Na Shan like a monkey and grinned. "Big Brother Na Shan, are you still worried about that old Hemos guy? I''m sure we''ll think of a way to deal with him when the timees, so why be afraid of him?"


    Na Shan snorted. "Kid, what do you know?"


    He turned toward that distant red figure with an extremely gloomy look on his face.


    In the end, what shoulde had finallye.


    He hadn''t imagined that even hiding in the Treasure Paradise wasn''t enough to evade the pursuit of this ancestor.


    But that was only right. After all, even the Celestial me Pagoda had to show some respect to the name of the Blood River.


    But since he was here, why was he waiting for the Hall of Three Immortals instead of looking for Tang Jie?


    Guarding the garden to wait for the rabbit?


    Or did he have another n?


    Na Shan was baffled.


    Even though he couldn''t understand the Blood River Lord''s goal, Na Shan understood that Tang Jie wouldn''t appear while this guy was around, and they had practiced the Minor Five Elements Combat Formation in vain.


    Not only that, Na Shan had to worry about whether the Blood River Lord still held a grudge over that previous incident. If he was still angry about how they had killed that avatar, then they would be in trouble.


    As the leader of the representatives, Na Shan had to consider all future possibilities, which left him with many worries.


    Hei Yan and the others had a much more simple idea: since that old man wasn''t dead, they would just kill him again.


    Crude and violent.


    Na Shan wanted to cry and tell them who the old man really was, but he decided that this would only make things worse and opted instead to wait and see how things developed.


    As time passed, the sword light around the Hall of Three Immortals continued to recede.


    That blinding light gradually became thest rays of a setting sun.


    More and more people gathered around the Hall of Three Immortals.


    The thirteen members of the Eastern Heavenly King''s group added four to their number, making seventeen. Upon Drifting Peak, eighteen members from the Southern Heavenly King had gathered. As for Na Shan''s side, two others besides Tang Jie had note. The one with the fewest representatives was the Northern Heavenly King''s faction, only thirteen out of twentying. Seven had yet toe, five of them having died in Holy Fire Valley. The withered old man who led them turned green in the face at this result.


    Finally, as thest light began to fade from the Hall of Three Immortals, everyone moved out.


    As they flew toward the Hall of Three Immortals, the Blood River Lord remained motionless.


    The four factions gathered in front of the Hall of Three Immortals, maintaining a safe distance from each other, silent and vignt.


    In the end, Na Shanughed and said, "The Hall of Three Immortals is about to open. Everyone, what are your ns?"


    Although the sword light had retreated, that didn''t mean that it didn''t exist. If the people who entered were too strong, the sword light mighte back.


    Thus, there had to be an order for entering the hall, people going in one by one rather than rushing in as a crowd.


    Considering that the people who went in first had an advantage, the four factions would always quarrel with each other over the order, sometimes even fighting. Usually, the Northern Heavenly King''s faction won, as they had the highest cultivation level, but their harvest was always the lowest.


    Liu Qianyi smiled and said, "What else? I propose that we draw straws."


    Young Master Hua said, "It seems fine to me. It''s the simplest and also prevents any grudges from forming. But what does Sir Xuan Gui (ck Turtle) think?"


    In the past, the Northern Heavenly King''s faction would definitely have objected. They had always favored handling things with their fists.


    But a momentter, that withered old man actually nodded. "Agreed!"


    Liu Qianyi covered her mouth and chuckled. "It''s rare to see Reverend Xuan Gui in such good temper. Everyone thought that Sir Xuan Gui would disagree and start fighting without a word. That would be a problem."


    A representative next to her scoffed, "He wants to, but he has too few people."


    The Northern Heavenly King''s faction, because of their higher cultivation levels, were more aggressive andbative. But this time, they had lost seven people before even entering the Hall of Three Immortals, including that Soul Transformation tiger fiend. Seeing how poor the situation was, Reverend Xuan Gui had no choice but to yield.


    His eyes shed with murder upon hearing that representative''s words. "Seeking death!"


    Cold energy enveloped that representative.


    Liu Qianyi waved a handkerchief, and a gentle breeze blew away the chill. "Reverend, is there any need to care about such a trifle?"


    She then turned to that representative and said, "Luo Hong, you were rude to the reverend. As punishment, you won''t participate in the straw drawing and will be thest to enter the Hall of Three Immortals."


    "What?" That Luo Hong paled. "You¡­"


    "Daring to talk back!" Liu Qianyi grabbed Luo Hong and threw him into the distance.


    That Luo Hong was thrown such a great distance that he vanished into the clouds.


    This was enough to pacify Reverend Xuan Gui''s anger.


    Young Master Hua then took out a bunch of bamboo straws. "There are 65 straws here, each one carrying a number. Everyone will take one and then go inside ording to the number. Of course, as the one providing the straws, I won''t participate, and the veryst one remaining will be mine."


    He tossed the bamboo straws into the air, and everyone grabbed at them.


    These were cultivators, all of them with sharp eyes, so they instantly saw the number they wanted and reached out for it.


    Na Shan grabbed for the straw with "1" on it, but just when he was about to grab it, a gust of wind blew it aside, making Na Shan miss it. Another representative had pushed it away and reached out to take it for himself. But just when he was about to grab it, he was knocked away by another representative.


    Numerous people began to vie for the bamboo straws.


    This was thew of the cultivation world. Even a drawing of straws had a ce to show off one''s strength.


    Young Master Hua had made these bamboo straws from Coldbrow Bamboo from the Western Mountains, and they were able to endure the beating of spell arts. As everyoneshed out, the skies filled with brilliant mes.


    The bamboo straws with the smaller numbers were the most fiercelypeted for, with Reverend Xuan Gui, Liu Qianyi, Na Shan, and Hei Yan allpeting for them. Although it was only for a ce in line, they still went all-out, and the vicious streams of energy tearing through the space in front of the Hall of Three Immortals made it difficult to approach.


    That Reverend Xuan Gui lived up to his Soul Transformation cultivation, and as he unleashed his full power, the surrounding area was sealed in ice, and even Na Shan found it hard to move. He rushed up and grabbed the No.1 straw, saying with augh, "It''s mine!"


    With No.1 gone, everyone else turned to No.2, but it was another fiend Soul Transformation cultivator who got it.


    Na Shan got No.3 through his divine strength, pushing aside all opposition. Liu Qianyi took No.4. While she wasn''t the strongest, her charming arts made everyone waver, with some people even being willing to fight for her. In the middle of this chaotic battle, Liu Qianyi easily took No.4.


    Young Master Hua took No.5. For some reason, nobody paid any attention to this one, and it fell from the sky and right at his feet. Young Master Hua hadn''t done a thing, yet his cing wasn''t low in the slightest.


    Although everyone knew that this was definitely because he had meddled with the straws somehow, since nobody could actually tell what he had done, there was nothing they could say. If he had chosen No.1, nobody would be willing, but if it was No.5, given Young Master Hua''s strength, it was nothing too excessive.


    Of course, they forgot about something else: if the No.5 straw had been messed with, it was possible that the other straws had also been messed with.


    Zuo Quanming saw a straw and grabbed it, but when he saw that it was "32", he felt unlucky. Just when he was about to throw it away, the number changed from "32" to "16". After a momentary daze, he grew delighted.


    For his strength, 16 was an extremely good ce, so he decided to put away the straw and withdraw. Turning to look back at Young Master Hua, he saw that he was just standing there and smiling to himself as if none of this had anything to do with him.


    The battle over the straws quickly came to an end, with everyone getting a number.


    The Northern Heavenly King side had No.1 and No.2, the Western Heavenly King''s Na Shan had No.3, the Southern Heavenly King''s side had No.4, and the Eastern Heavenly King had No.5. It appeared that the biggest winner was the Northern Heavenly King and the loser was the Eastern Heavenly King.


    But if one looked carefully, one would find that the Eastern Heavenly King''s people had most of the upper ranks. No.6, No.8, No.10, No.12¡­ the Eastern Heavenly King''s people had almost every other number.


    The distribution of 65 straws ended like this, with thest one ending up with Liu Qianyi. There was no one to take up the ce of No.65, but this was because it belonged to the person that Liu Qianyi had thrown out, Luo Hong.


    Liu Qianyi let out a gasp of surprise. "I forgot about that despicable scoundrel. I restrained Luo Hong so that he can''t move, so he won''t being back on his own. And I threw him too far, so I don''t even know where he is. Reverend, look. Because of you, I even threw away one of my own people."


    She spoke thesest words with a very gentle and charming tone that made Reverend Xuan Gui''s heart waver. He said with a smile, "Lady Liu, is this really necessary? These old bones can''t take those bone-eating charming arts of yours. Ah, forget it. Hei He (ck Crane), you go and find that person back for thedy."


    A ck-clothed man opened his arms and turned into a ck crane that took to the skies.


    A few momentster, the ck-clothed man returned with Luo Hong, throwing him to the ground before going back to behind Reverend Xuan Gui. Liu Qianyi kicked Luo Hong, which undid the seals. "Get up."


    Luo Hong embarrassedly stood up. Probably too ashamed to be around the others, he immediately moved to the back of the crowd.


    Everyoneughed together as they waited for the Hall of Three Immortals to open.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    The Blood River Lord saw everything that happened in front of the Hall of Three Immortals.


    Smirking, he scoffed and said, "A pointless act."


    He turned to gaze into the distance.


    Several clouds drifted about, everything appearing quiet and peaceful.


    There was no sign of the person he expected to see, nor was there any sort of fierce torrent. Everything was calm.


    Tang Jie probably wasn''ting.


    The Blood River Lord sighed as he thought to himself.


    Tang Jie was no fool. He had been able to use Holy Fire Valley to destroy four of his avatars, but this didn''t shrink the massive gap in strength in any meaningful way. Tang Jie had probably realized that he was facing too much opposition this time, and it wasn''t something that he could digest.


    So he had given up.


    Giving up on the Hall of Three Immortals was probably his best option.


    Even though the Blood River Lord hoped that Tang Jie would be a little more courageous, it seemed that he hoped in vain.


    "Nothing more than a cowardly scoundrel," the Blood River Lord grumbled.


    But that was fine. He could focus his energy on the matter before him first.


    He hadn''te here for Tang Jie, who was just an excuse to get into the Treasure Paradise. The Hall of Three Immortals was his true goal. As for Tang Jie, once this matter was done, he still had time to clean him up, so he would let him struggle on for a little longer.


    As the Blood River Lord looked back at the Hall of Three Immortals, his eyes glowed with greed.


    Meanwhile, the light around the Hall of Three Immortals was growing weaker and weaker.


    The time of opening was drawing closer.


    Everyone began to tense up.


    Finally, as that sword light dwindled, a beam of sword energy suddenly shot into the sky.


    As it did, the Hall of Three Immortals erupted with light.


    Before this, the barrier around the Hall of Three Immortals could be described like a porcupine, but now, all of the spikes had been removed, leaving only a harmonious aura.


    "It''s open!" someone shouted.


    Therge doors to the Hall of Three Immortals boomed open, revealing a long corridor.


    Reverend Xuan Gui''s eyes shone as he moved toward the Hall of Three Immortals.


    Just when he was about to go in, someone roared, "Stand aside!"


    Arge hand reached for Reverend Xuan Gui''s neck.


    "Who said that?" Reverend Xuan Gui angrily struck back, icy energy surging out, but this was instantly dispersed by a rush of crimson energy, sted apart until nothing was left.


    A hand of blood appeared, striking Reverend Xuan Gui in the back. Arge turtle shell appeared on his back, but the hand ignored it, easily piercing through it and making impact, causing the reverend to throw up blood.


    A momentter, the blood hand grabbed Xuan Gui by the back of the neck and threw him aside.


    Everyone was stunned to see the person who had drawn the No.1 straw so easily cast aside.


    When they turned to look, they saw that the Blood River Lord had appeared in the clearing in front of the Hall of Three Immortals.


    It was a Soul Transformation avatar.


    As this avatar appeared, more and more avatars began toe forward. In a sh, there were twenty-some avatars, all of them cloaked in a crimson aura.


    After coldly ncing at everyone, the Blood River Lord avatar that had thrown aside Reverend Xuan Gui strode into the Hall of Three Immortals.


    His other avatars followed, disappearing into the Hall of Three Immortals.


    All of the representatives were too intimidated to stop them.


    Only then did they realize just how strong were these people who had suddenly barged into the Treasure Paradise.


    It was no wonder he hadn''t participated in the drawing of straws, because this was nothing but a children''s game to him. In the Blood River Lord''s eyes, no matter how they ordered themselves, he was going in first! Everyone had to stand aside until then!


    It was a very unpleasant realization.


    Finally, all of the Blood River Lord''s avatars had entered the Hall of Three Immortals.


    The representatives all looked at each other, after which Na Shan sighed and said, "Let''s also go in. Reverend, you first."


    As Na Shan knew who this man really was, he found the fact easier to ept.


    Reverend Xuan Gui took a deep breath and strode forward once more.


    The Blood River Lord wasn''t there to stop him this time, but Reverend Xuan Gui didn''t seem as energetic or bold anymore.


    Once thest representative had gone through the doors, this ce finally became peaceful and quiet once more.


    After some time, a crimson figure suddenly emerged from space.


    It was another Blood River avatar.


    He looked around and muttered, "It seems like he really doesn''t n toe. Forget it. I''ll let that little beast go for now. Once this is done, I''lle back to find you."


    He shot through the doors.


    Meanwhile, ten thousand meters away, high up in the clouds, Tang Jie had witnessed everything.


    He muttered, "He really did have another goal. That''s good. Only if one has a goal can there be conflict!"


    He paused for a moment, and then he added, "And what I need is¡­ to add fuel to the fire!"

 Chapter 592: All-Out Contest

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    As the Blood River Lord charged into the Hall of Three Immortals, he was greeted by a nk whiteness. The entirety of the Hall of Three Immortals was engulfed in fog.


    Through the clouds, one could see countless jade pirs, shrouded in violet clouds and radiating rainbow glows. There were even five-wed golden dragons curled up on the pirs. In the distance, the pce roofs were topped by blue-green ceramic tiles, and various exotic beasts decorated the flying eaves, the fog seeming to flow off them like waterfalls.


    Besides the three major halls, there were also several small halls scattered about theplex. They were connected by bridges made of white jade, and as the wind blew away the fog, it was revealed that beneath those bridges was an empty void.


    nts and flowers were nted in the clearings of the pceplex.


    These nts were growing in the clouds, and the clouds that served to hold them would be Cloud Mud. These were all spiritual nts, and the medicines made from them were bound to be the best of the best.


    There was even a gentle rain, its source unknown, wetting the clouds and dripping from the ceramic tiles.


    The several dozen Blood River avatars shared a nce, and then they split up.


    A Blood River avatar was walking along when the clouds suddenly rolled back, revealing a tusked, golden-armored man wielding two hammers of violet gold.


    That man looked at the Blood River avatar and swung a hammer without a word.


    The Blood River Lord grunted, and crimson light flowed out, turning into a blood river that engulfed the hammer, which was soon lost in the waters.


    The armored man said nothing, simply swinging his other hammer. The Blood River Lord''s eyes shed as he reached out a hand, and the hammer was stopped cold, unable to go any farther. The Blood River Lord snorted. "Trash!"


    He thrust out a finger, and the hammer shattered, after which that fingertip fell on the armored man. The golden-armored man swayed a few times, and then his body exploded into metal shrapnel¡ªit had been a puppet.


    While the Blood River Lord had seemingly disposed of the puppet very easily, it had actually been very tough and powerful, enough to hold down a Heart Demon True Person. Thus, after destroying the puppet with a finger, the Blood River Lord''splexion had grown slightly lighter.


    This finger thrust had expended a great deal of energy.


    But the Blood River Lord continued his rapid advance.


    He understood that Divine Genesis made it so that there was actually no end to the puppets in the Hall of Three Immortals. At certain intervals, more puppets would be created within the Hall of Three Immortals to protect everything within it. Thus, just getting past the sword light outside the hall didn''t guarantee one''s safety inside.


    It was just that these defenses, from the Blood River Lord''s perspective, were still rather weak. As he advanced, several more puppets appeared, wielding hammers, sabers, and spears. They swung their weapons at him, but the Blood River Lord easily tore them apart and obliterated them.


    Seething waves of blood cloaked the several dozen Blood River Lords as they advanced. Following in their wake would actually save one some strength.


    But the sight of the Blood River Lord pushing unstoppably through all opposition left the representatives stunned.


    At this time, a Soul Transformation avatar was walking toward one of the side halls when a white tiger suddenly blocked his path.


    Upon closer inspection, one would realize that this wasn''t a white tiger, but a tiger that had been carved from white jade, white only because of the stone that it was made from.


    A stone monster!


    Wherever Divine Genesis was located, all things would be blessed, so even jade could gain intelligence and be a monster.


    The stone tiger roared and charged at the Blood River Lord, its paws stirring up powerful gales.


    The Blood River Lord waved a hand, but a single palm failed to break the tiger, and he ended up being pushed back. From this, he concluded that the stone tiger had probably been intelligent for a long time and had already entered Soul Transformation,so its body was as tough as diamond and impervious to spell arts and treasures. This avatar was at Soul Transformation, so it had drawn over Soul Transformation monsters.


    But all that means is that I have to spend a little more effort, the Blood River Lord proudly thought to himself.


    He was about to activate the Blood Sea Divine Connection to destroy the stone tiger when the fog in the distance churned, and a lightning-wed gray wolf, a giant ape, and an iron-skinned bull appeared.


    These three beasts were also made from jade, and they were also at the Soul Transformation Tier. They turned to the Blood River Lord and immediately charged at him.


    The Blood River Lord felt slightly annoyed, and he was no good in a one-versus-four, so he immediately sent out a mentalmand, upon which several avatars in the area came to his rescue.


    Situations like this happened all around the Hall of Three Immortals.


    It wasn''t just the Blood River Lord. The representatives who came in after him were also unable to avoid these encounters. There were all kinds of various rare existences charging out of the clouds, from intelligent monsters to powerful puppets, and even some treasures that could transform.


    A Transformation stone monster came under attack by three representatives, and after a struggle, it died with a miserable wail, turning into a pile of debris. A representative with sharp eyes noticed something shining in the stone and hastily picked it up. He found that it was a jade marrow and said in delight, "Monster marrow! It''s monster marrow!"


    A giant wolf howled as it flew through the air, but in the end, under the concerted attacks of the representatives, it exploded into a puff of smoke. But this smoke didn''t dissipate, instead flying back into a snuff bottle. Someone then discovered that this was a divine treasure called the Wolf Snuff Bottle, and it could release a powerful Smoke Wolf to aid one in battle.


    A coiled golden dragon was brought down by a group, and the sharp-eyed and swift-footed Liu Qianyi got ahead of everyone, finding that what had fallen into her hand was a Golden Dragon Flute divine treasure. It could y a draconic song that intimidated souls and could also turn into a powerful dragon and strike.


    More and more treasures appeared in these battles. These had originally been part of the defenses of the Hall of Three Immortals, and they were influenced by Divine Genesis into attacking everyone who entered, revealing their true forms only upon their defeat.


    Everyone went crazy.


    They attacked every creature that they saw flying through the air, attacked everything they could attack, trying to see if any valuable treasures would reveal themselves. And the more difficult to deal with a creature was, the more powerful the treasure it represented.


    For this reason, the representatives weed these attacks.


    The standouts here were undoubtedly Xuan Gui, Liu Qianyi, and Na Shan''s group. Xuan Gui was at the Soul Transformation Tier, the highest level of cultivation among them, and so while he came under the strongest attacks, he also received treasures of the best quality. Moreover, as a ck turtle, his strongest point was defense, and seizing treasures while under heavy assault was his specialty. As for Liu Qianyi, while her charming arts had no effect on Tang Jie, charming arts were something that either had no effect or wondrous effect, so they were quite effective against other people. Quite a few men were converted by her seductive gaze and began to do as she said. Even those with stronger resolve couldn''t help but waver under Liu Qianyi''s charming arts, bing momentarily distracted. While this wasn''t enough for them to fall in battle, it often meant that they missed their chance and could only watch as Liu Qianyi seized the treasure. As for Na Shan''s group, even though they were missing one of their members for their Minor Five Elements Combat Formation, they were still able to use some of its power, and the overwhelming power was enough for them to get quite a few decent treasures.


    But all of their gains put together couldn''tpare to those of the Blood River Lord!


    Several dozen Blood River avatars ran freely through the Hall of Three Immortals, seizing all the treasure they could take.


    Upon encountering any formidable existence, the Blood River Lord would use his powerful Divine Connection to destroy it in a single strike.


    His strength was much higher than those of the same level, a single Heart Demon avatar able to go toe-to-toe against Na Shan''s group. Now that there were thirty of them and four Soul Transformation avatars, they were so strong that one could only sigh in wonder.


    The Blood River Lord''s figure could be seen everywhere, and with every sh of crimson light or gout of blood, another treasure would fall into his hands. These avatars were all mentally connected, and their teamwork was perfect. If any of them ran into trouble, several avatars would rush to their aid and swiftly dispatch the foe, after which they would withdraw and go back to their own business. Let alone talking, they didn''t even need to exchange nces. Their teamwork was simply immacte.


    Thus, the Blood River Lord dominated the Hall of Three Immortals, being everywhere and taking all the treasures.


    This conduct infuriated the representatives.


    He had already angered everyone by forcing his way in and ignoring the rules, but this group was so powerful that they could only stomach their rage. But now, he was helping himself so freely to all the treasure that they just couldn''t stand it anymore.


    Hei Yan sent a ck dragon me at arge yellow bird made of sand. It let out a shriek and fell to the floor, where it became a zither. Hei Yan was just about to take it when a Blood River avatar appeared in a sh of crimson, taking the zither and disappearing.


    "My Sand Phoenix Zither!" Hei Yan cried out.


    But the Blood River Lord hadpletely ignored him, vanishing without a word.


    "Bastard!" At the same time, Reverend Xuan Gui shouted in anger.


    One of his treasures had just been stolen by the Blood River Lord.


    "Raaa!" There was another mighty roar as another Soul Transformation fiend expert shot a beam of light at the Blood River Lord. This fiend was a ck bear with a violent temper, so when the Blood River Lord stole his things, he even dared to attack the Blood River Lord.


    But the Blood River Lord simply dodged the attack and disappeared, paying the fiend no mind.


    In his eyes, these representatives were all trash. If not for the Celestial me Pagoda, he would have killed them all long ago.


    As the Blood River Lord''s avatars flew around and seized treasures, they took the treasures into their bodies. The Blood River flowed within these avatars, and so even though the Blood River Lord had seemingly created various individual avatars, they were all connected as if there existed an underground river. When a treasure entered the body of an avatar, the surging Blood River would send the treasure through some spatial spell to the body of a specific Soul Transformation avatar.


    These treasures would then emerge from that avatar''s body. By this bizarre method, the treasures were all gathered in one spot.


    This avatar was also the only avatar who didn''t participate in the contest for treasure.


    He advanced firmly and steadily, his eyes gleaming with expectation and greed.


    Finally, he arrived in front of a small building.


    This hall was unremarkable, the most unremarkable among all the numerous halls in the Hall of Three Immortals. Inside the hall was an incense burner, behind which was a statue.


    The statue was of a white and chubby old man, like aughing Buddha, holding a fishing rod in his hand.


    The Blood River Lord stood in front of the statue and muttered, "We finally meet again, Celestial Hook, my old friend."

 Chapter 593: Master

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Blood River Lord stood in front of the statue, a look of nostalgia in his eyes. "It''s been more than ten thousand years, but I''m finally back. Celestial Hook, my old friend, you didn''t expect this, did you?"


    He chuckled.


    It was a strange and sinister chuckle, tinged with smugness, ferocity, and also a little mncholy.


    He looked around and muttered, "Back then, you went through all that trouble to create this Treasure Paradise, thinking to create your world and use it to be a Domain Lord, attaining the supreme Great Dao. For this purpose, you wouldn''t even tell your good friend its true location. That''s not friendly at all. You wouldn''t tell me, so what else could I do?"


    The Blood River Lordughed.


    It was a deepugh, and his shoulders trembled as heughed. "I just spread the news around a little, and that just so happened to provoke countless Heavenly Soldiers into hunting you down¡­ Yes, I was the one who sold you out and caused the Court of Myriad Domains to hunt you down!"


    The Blood River Lord began to crazilyugh, his face twisting in savagery as he red at the statue. "But even in those desperate straits, you refused to tell me the exact location of the Treasure Paradise, making me waste ten thousand years! In those ten thousand years, I had to borrow the hands of countless people to finally find this ce. I really didn''t think that you would hide it in a boundary crack. Haha, it was a good move. But so what? I still found it in the end!"


    The Blood River Lord''s eyes glowed as he fiercely said, "Hong Qianli, that imbecile! He thought that getting one Dao armament was something amazing, having no idea what was truly the best. The Treasure Paradise! The Treasure Paradise is the most valuable thing here!"


    He raised his hands and shouted, "An independent,plete world, one that has already begun to develop its own unique life, develop its own Dao! This is a domain! The fundamental proof needed to be a supreme Domain Lord, an existence that even the Court of Myriad Domains desired! It is the greatest treasure of all, surpassing everything else! How can a mere Dao armamentpare to aplete and independent world!?"


    As he roared, his eyes grew even more savage and ruthless.


    He drew his hands back and looked at the statue, chuckling, "And now, I''vee in! The Treasure Paradise will be mine!"


    As he spoke, the statue suddenly glowed, and a pir of light shot out from it.


    It was a majestic and grandiose beam of light, unleashing a most blinding light and most stunning sword intent. It was none other than the power of the divine sword.


    Butpared to the power the divine sword had shown in the past, it was clearly on a much grander scale, suffused with an undying will. One could vaguely make out a piece of a sword within it, which was the original form of the Yin Yang Division Sword.


    This ray of sword light was none other than the most core portion of the Yin Yang Division Sword, capable of ying even Immortal tform cultivators.


    When the sword light surrounding the Hall of Three Immortals had retreated, it had not disappeared, but instead hidden itself within this statue.


    This sword light had sensed the Blood River Lord''s hostility and finally emerged, once more shining over the Hall of Three Immortals. As it nketed the entire hall in sword light, everyone felt their blood go cold, confused as to what was going on.


    Thankfully, the sword will was intelligent and was only targeting the Blood River Lord.


    The sword light took aim, erupting with murderous intent!


    The Blood River Lord simplyughed. "Withering will, fallen soul, key to the realm, enduring wish! The divine sword has a spirit which serves as the substitute of the Heavenly Dao, the sword spirit serving as the domain spirit. I just need to subdue you to take all of the Treasure Paradise!"


    He raised his hands, and countless treasures flew out, charging at the sword light.


    The Treasure Cosmos Formation!


    He was using his own body as a formation diagram, utilizing all the treasure he had gathered to create a Treasure Cosmos Formation to attack the divine sword. In fact, he had learned this method from Tang Jie. After seeing Yiyi use it once, the Blood River Lord grasped the formation and made his own variant of it.


    The treasures flew out, clothed in a crimson light. Merging together, they created a giant light source that blocked the divine sword like a shield.


    The pir of sword energy tilted downward in a light sh.


    This one strike was enough to slice through the Treasure Cosmos Formation like it was made of butter, the edge of the divine sword slicing at the Blood River Lord''s head as if there was no resistance.


    But the Blood River Lord was fearless,ughing and saying, "It truly is sharp withoutpare. But this old man isn''t here for these little treasures."


    His eyes widened as he shouted, "Divine Genesis, hurry up and show yourself!"


    He thrust his arms at the air.


    With a boom, a light abruptly appeared in the sky.


    The light was like a hand pushing aside the clouds, like the sun illuminating all the world.


    This light source slowly rose like the rising sun, and as it shone upon the people, it was warm and gentle, like the hand of a lover.


    "Divine Genesis!" Everyone raised their heads in shock to gaze at that red sun.


    The dazzling light prevented everyone from seeing what was inside that sun, but everyone could feel that the power of creationing from it had created everything here.


    A beam of light fell upon a stone beast on a jade guardrail, upon which that stone beast jumped off the rail and threw its head back in a mighty roar.


    Another beam of light fell upon a fake mountain, upon which that mountain rumbled, and a stone man rose from it, roaring at the heavens.


    More light fell upon various parts of the Hall of Three Immortals, as well as outside of it.


    The mountains, trees, clouds, water¡ªalmost everything became a treasure, and then came to life, countless beams of treasure light rising to the heavens.


    The treasure lights gathered together and then charged at the Blood River Lord''s Treasure Cosmos Formation. More and more treasures appeared, formingyer afteryer, circle after circle, opposing the sword intent, and even the light of Divine Genesis wrapped itself around the treasures, soaking them in its radiance.


    At the same time, the image of an infant began to form with the pir of sword energy. Even though it was an infant, it seemed to span the heavens and earth.


    Rage appeared on the baby''s face, and it pointed at the world. Sword light immediately rose up to cut down the Blood River Lord, not even sparing the power of Divine Genesis.


    The two torrents of power mmed into each other, unleashing a powerful shockwave.


    The treasure light vanished, and the treasures were instantly obliterated by the divine sword. That Wolf Snuff Bottle, the Sand Phoenix Zither, the Gold Dragon Flute, the Violet Lightning Spear, the Worldshaker Armor, and countless puppets and stone monsters were all obliterated.


    The defensive barrier of the Hall of Three Immortals exploded with light as it was pushed to maximum power, just barely managing to protect the hall. But outside the hall, mountains crumbled, the world seeming about to copse.


    The representatives within the Hall of Three Immortals desperately cast spell arts to defend themselves, and this was just barely enough to survive the aftershocks from the divine sword''s attacks, with the weaker ones being pulverized.


    The ferocity of this attack left everyone dumbfounded.


    This was only the aftershock! If they had to take the actual attack, even a Violet Pce or Immortal tform cultivator would have died. It was no wonder the Four Heavenly Kings didn''t dare to step inside and even the me Celestial Sovereign had been heavily injured.


    In the end, Divine Genesis wasn''t an offensive treasure. With all those treasures shattered at once, its light grew much weaker.


    It once more began to recede into the shadows.


    The Blood River Lord did not try to stop it. While it had been a good move to harness Divine Genesis''s power for his own use, he could not use it again, as that move had cost too much of his essence blood. Even if he wanted to, he didn''t have the strength for it.


    But the Blood River Lord had only intended for it to block this one attack.


    As Divine Genesis and the sword energy receded, the Blood River Lord threw out an item: "Go, Immeasurable Sword!"


    A hiltless de flew into the air¡ªthe Immeasurable Sword.


    The several dozen Blood River avatars throughout the Hall of Three Immortals looked up at the Immeasurable Sword and began to fly toward it. As they did, their bodies dissolved into crimson rivers.


    The crimson rivers surged through the air and flowed into the Immeasurable Sword.


    The Immeasurable Sword was a blood-sucking sword. The more blood it drank, the stronger it became.


    At this moment, the Blood River Lord was offering up his own body to increase the sword''s power.


    Xi Canhen had been able to use only a tenth of his blood to kill someone two tiers above him, and the Blood River Lord had far more blood than Xi Canhen, and of higher quality as well.


    In a sh, ten Heart Demon Blood River avatars had been absorbed by the Immeasurable Sword.


    Like ck Sin, the Immeasurable Sword devoured the blood and began to radiate a terrifying and wild glow.


    When the glow reached a certain level, even the divine sword could suppress it no longer. Crimson light exploded over the Hall of Three Immortals,pletely engulfing the divine sword''s power.


    "Yaaa!" The infant within the sword light let out a cry of anger, and it once more shone with light, clearly preparing for another world-shaking blow.


    But the Blood River Lordughed. "It''s useless. This is the Immeasurable Sword. You are no match for it. Because¡­ it was your master''s weapon, and it carries your master''s will!"


    As the Blood River Lord spoke, it became apparent that the sword spirit could not strike the blow. Meanwhile, the crimson light of the Immeasurable Sword coiled around the sword spirit and pulled it into the Immeasurable Sword.


    The sword spirit infant struggled, but it couldn''t break free.


    This sword spirit that even an Immortal tform cultivator couldn''t kill became as weak as a real baby in front of the Immeasurable Sword.


    As the sword spirit was pulled into the sword, the Blood River Lordughed, "Hahaha! Once the sword spirit enters the de, it will no longer be a wandering spirit. The Immeasurable Sword will be your new home. Yin Yang sword spirit, it would be better if you listened. Starting from now, you will be the Immeasurable Sword spirit, and this Immeasurable Sword will be the key to controlling the Treasure Paradise! Unless somebodyes with the hilt and sheath, nobody else can restrain you. Starting from today, I am your master, and the master of the Treasure Paradise!"

 Chapter 594: Shock

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Hiss! The sword spirit''s manifestation screeched, still struggling while surrounded by blood energy. But no matter how much it struggled, it couldn''t break free of the blood energy. All it could do was constantly fire off beam after beam of sword energy.


    Any one of these beams of sword energy could slice open the earth, but it was all useless before the limitations imposed by the Immeasurable Sword.


    But the sword spirit clearly wasn''t nning on giving up.


    It threw its head back and howled.


    Its howl prated through the clouds, and in response, a buzzing rose up from the Treasure Paradise.


    Countless motes of sword energy rose up, rustling like leaves in the wind amid the buzzing.


    "This is¡­" Everyone was stunned, and even the Blood River Lord grimaced. "The other sword spirits? How!?"


    After the Yin Yang Division Sword fused with the Treasure Paradise, its sword spirit was shattered into countless remnant souls, which was why its power could be used throughout the Treasure Paradise. The Blood River Lord understood this.


    But he didn''t care, for what he had imprisoned was none other than the core sword spirit of the Yin Yang Division Sword, thergest and most important one. So long as he controlled this sword spirit, the others would have to obey.


    After all, the sword spirits had once been of one body and were mentally linked, just like Tang Jie and his avatar and the Blood River Lord and his avatars. No matter how many avatars there were, their minds were always linked. So long as he controlled the primary soul, the others would naturally be under his control as well.


    But he hadn''t expected this kind of development.


    Those scattered sword spirit souls hadn''t been affected by the primary sword spirit being imprisoned, were still able to move and act on their own, and now, they had answered the call of the primary sword spirit and gathered together, charging out with a murderous aura.


    This was truly a big surprise.


    Tang Jie perhaps wouldn''t have been that surprised. This was because Tang Jie had found through his study that the splintered sword spirits had, over such a long period, developed their own wills, making them a special lifeform that existed somewhere between a hivemind and individuals.


    They were linked together like a hivemind, but they could think on their own like individuals.


    When the primary sword spirit was in danger, their independent wills made them unaffected. On the contrary, they came together and went crazy.


    All of this was beyond the Blood River Lord''s expectations, catching him off guard.


    But he was still an ancient powerhouse who had lived ten thousand years. As those thousands of splintered sword spirits attacked, the Blood River Lordughed and said, "Fine! If that''s what you want, I''ll use you to open the seal and break the domain barrier!"


    He grabbed the Immeasurable Sword and swung it at the air in front of him, cutting open a fissure.


    A spatial fissure!


    Even more shocking was that within the spatial fissure wasn''t the infinite void, but a crimson wall of flesh. As the fissure opened, blobs of meat began to sprout from the flesh wall, swiftly repairing the crack.


    The domain barrier!


    When Reverend Celestial Hook made the Qian Kun Bag into its own world, he used a special method to embed the Qian Kun Bag into the domain barrier of the Blood River Domain, making it immovable and well-hidden.


    Even when the me Celestial Sovereign found the Treasure Paradise, this item had already fused with the Blood River Domain and couldn''t be removed, so it couldn''t be like the Mountain River State Diagram and be an independent world that could be carried around. Thus, it was wrong to say that the me Celestial Sovereign didn''t know the value of the Treasure Paradise. He just wasn''t capable of obtaining it.


    If the Blood River Lord wanted the Treasure Paradise, he also needed to deal with the domain barrier.


    But the Blood River Lord had an advantage over the me Celestial Sovereign: he could control the divine sword''s power.


    With the power of the divine sword, he could dig the Qian Kun Bag out of the domain barrier and take it with him.


    He was originally nning to wait until he hadpletely subdued the divine sword for this, but since all these sword spirits were attacking him, he didn''t mind borrowing their power for his own purpose. As an Immortal tform Titan, he had experienced countless things and was exceptionally shrewd. While this was an unexpected development, he was able to pick the correct countermeasure almost immediately, showing nothing of the recklessness he had when it came to Tang Jie. In the end, Tang Jie had just been an excuse to trick the me Celestial Sovereign.


    The Blood River Lord swung the Immeasurable Sword several times, each time opening a fissure. The crimson domain barrier erupted with flesh that reached through the fissures, those buds of meat quickly thickening into pirs, appearing like tentacles of blood.


    These tentacles weren''t something to be taken lightly. A representative identally touched one, and that tentacle instantly seized the representative and dragged him through the fissure, merging with the domain barrier. That representative ended up being squeezed into a ball of flesh, and his entire body was consumed by the flesh wall, bing a part of it. It was somewhat simr to Tang Jie''s Flesh Millstone.


    A representative had been devoured without even getting the chance to counterattack. Everyone was stunned by the sight.


    But the Blood River Lord continued to swing the sword, and outcrops of flesh continued to emerge from the fissures and il about, shing with the sword light.


    The meat pirs were severed, and the sword lights were pulverized, but both sides kept refilling their ranks.


    The Blood River Lordughed and continued to swing the Immeasurable Sword, cutting through space.


    The sword spirit was still resisting, but the power of the Immeasurable Sword alone was enough to cleave open the fabric of space.


    As flesh shed with sword and the Blood River Lord madlyughed, the Treasure Paradise started to loosen!


    At that moment, the Blood River Lord felt like nothing could stop him.


    At this moment, a sword light sliced at the Blood River Lord.


    The Blood River Lord instinctively cut open a fissure, and a flesh tentacle emerged from the fissure to block the sword light.


    But as they were about to collide, the sword light suddenly made a turn, moving around the fissure to directly attack the Blood River Lord.


    The Blood River Lord hadn''t expected this sudden swerve, and he yelped as he attempted to retreat. But it was toote. Such was the power of the Yin Yang Division Sword that this one strike cut his body in half.


    The Blood River Lord roared, and the severed part of his body instantly turned into blood and flew back to him, and his body was restored. Even so, the formidable power imbued in that strike made hisplexion whiten, and disbelief appeared in his eyes. "How could it be?"


    Since when could the sword spirits make feints?


    But a momentter, another two sword lights cut at him.


    The Blood River Lord was just about to dodge when those two sword lights disappeared. At the same time, a leaf was drifting through the air, floating past the sword energy and flesh tentacles to fall on the Blood River Lord''s neck.


    Whoosh!


    Sword light exploded.


    The Blood River Lord''s head went flying from his body.


    He howled, and his head turned to blood and returned. But as he was doing this, more than a hundred sword lights rushed out from nearby, instantly mincing up his Soul Transformation avatar.


    "No!" the Blood River Lord frantically cried out.


    His shattered body could turn back into blood and reform, and his undying trait allowed him to endure even the spirits of the divine sword, but the Immeasurable Sword fell from his grip and down among the representatives.


    A representative flew over and grabbed the sword, saying in delight, "It''s mine!"


    And then a crimson wave coiled around him, and though that representative yelled and roared, he couldn''t break free. His body was eaten away, and the Blood River Lord reformed.


    The divine sword had consumed a significant amount of his blood energy, but consuming this representative had restored some.


    But this infuriated the other representatives.


    They were already sick of him because of his casual disregard for the rules and his abrupt entry, but his strength meant that nobody was willing to step forward and oppose him. When the Blood River Lord had been taking treasure, some people had already started to attack him, but everyone had been too focused on the treasures to concentrate on him. But now, the Blood River Lord had thrown everything into disarray, even tearing open spatial fissures and battling with the Blood River Domain''s barrier, and then consumed a representative to restore himself. Everyone was nowpletely enraged.


    As they stared at the Blood River Lord, somebody shouted, "Kill him!"


    Countless treasures and spell arts flew out, forming a raging torrent aimed at the Blood River Lord.


    "Seeking death!" The Blood River Lord snorted, and his remaining avatars flew up to do battle with them.


    It wasn''t that he was so arrogant as to challenge all the representatives while also taking on the divine sword''s attack. Rather, these representatives were both a source of trouble and a source of energy.


    Compared to the representatives, the divine sword was ultimately more threatening, and he desperately needed more blood and flesh to heal himself. Since they had already attacked, he would just help himself. Originally, he had nned to leave some survivors out of respect for the Celestial me Pagoda, but since he was going to take the Treasure Paradise, he really didn''t care about exining himself to the Celestial me Pagoda anymore.


    His mind set on killing, he began to wave around the sword. The Blood Sea Divine Connection was unleashed, and with several dozen avatars using it, it truly became a raging Blood Sea.


    One Soul Transformation avatar floated above the Blood Sea, howling, "All of you must die!"


    A sword light attacked, and the Blood River Lord swung a sword to block it.


    But to his surprise, this was another feint, and it curved around and struck him in the back, slicing him in two once more.


    "Bastard!" the Blood River Lord angrily cursed. As he recovered, he began to wonder when these dumb sword spirits had suddenly be so cunning. As he was thinking this, a little ck dot fell on his left shoulder.


    It was so small that it was extremely hard to make out.


    And as this ck dot fell, at least thirteen sword lights followed it.


    He was about to block them when that ck dot suddenly moved downward, upon which those thirteen sword lights also moved down a little.


    Whoosh! The Blood River Lord was cut up into more than a dozen pieces.


    The ck dot disappeared, and the Blood River Lord sensed a familiar energy.


    "Tang Jie!" the Blood River Lord screeched.


    He finally understood what was going on.


    Tang Jie was in the Hall of Three Immortals!


    He had been in the Hall of Three Immortals the entire time!

 Chapter 595: Disguise

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie was in the Hall of Three Immortals!


    He had been in the Hall of Three Immortals the entire time!


    The realization made the Blood River Lord almost throw up blood in anger.


    The scene of Tang Jie disguising himself as the tiger fiend in Holy Fire Valley yed back in his mind, and the Blood River Lord realized what trick Tang Jie was using.


    He must have used that disguise spell to mix into the representatives. What a fool he had been to think that Tang Jie had been too scared toe!


    The Blood River Lord was infuriated by the thought, and heshed out with even greater ruthlessness, waves of blood sweeping everybody up.


    As the Blood Sea raged, someone with experience finally realized that something was wrong, shrilly crying out in shock, "The Blood River Lord! This is the Blood River Lord''s Blood Sea Divine Connection!"


    Everyone was scared out of their wits by this news.


    The Blood River Lord was infamous, but because he was such a far-off existence, he hadn''t been the first candidate on everyone''s minds. It was only when someone said it that everyone realized that these people looked somewhat simr to how the Blood River Lord was described. Their murderous intent faded, their will to fight disappeared, and they began to retreat.


    Hei Yan, Qing Lian, and Shui Yao were all gobsmacked. Hei Yan looked at Na Shan and asked, "Big Brother Na Shan, do you think he really is the Blood River Lord?"


    "An avatar!" Na Shan corrected.


    "In other words¡­ we killed one of the Blood River Lord''s avatars?" Hei Yan dumbly said.


    Na Shan gave Hei Yan a sympathetic look. "You finally understand."


    Hei Yan, Qing Lian, and Shui Yao all shared a look, and then they said in unison, "Fucking Tang Jie!"


    As they reeled in shock, the blood engulfed them.


    The four of them stopped hesitating and retreated while throwing out spell arts to try and hold back the Blood Sea.


    That Reverend Xuang Gui shouted, "This lowly turtle greets Ancestor. Ancestor, please be magnanimous. We would not dare to be opposed to Ancestor."


    "You think I''m worried about your opposition?" The Blood River Lordughed, and rather than stopping his attack, the offensive only became more vicious, Blood Fiends leaping out of the Blood Sea and charging at the representatives, and all of the Hall of Three Immortals was drowned in blood.


    There were many Hemos among the representatives, and when they learned that they were facing the Blood River Lord, they were so scared that they couldn''t move, and they instantly dropped to their knees. What weed them was the endless Blood Sea, the corrosive blood eating away at them until only white bones were left.


    This cruelty left everyone stunned.


    A voice shouted, "Those who submit will die and those who resist can survive! What are all of you still hesitating for? Let alone the Blood River Lord, even if it was the supreme Heavenly Dao, if I''m going to die, then fuck him!"


    "Fuck him!" everyone shouted, invigorated once more.


    "Tang Jie?" Na Shan and the others recognized Tang Jie''s voice, and their eyes lit up.


    But they looked around and couldn''t find him. The voice hade from all angles, so it was not possible to tell where he really was.


    Hei Yan was the most simple-minded,ughing as he said, "That''s right! Fuck him! Who cares if it''s the Blood River Lord? These are just avatars. If they dare to kill us, then we''ll kill him!"


    Na Shan frantically pped him on the back of the head. "What nonsense are you saying?"


    Hei Yan unleashed a me at the Blood River Lord before turning around and saying, "Big Brother Na Shan, don''t you get it? It''s not that we want to fight him, but this old man has no ns on letting us go! You saw it yourself! Those people who died just now were all your Hemos brothers. They didn''t die because they were weak, but because they believed in that old bastard. And how was their belief rewarded? That old ghost took their lives for his own!"


    Na Shan was speechless.


    In the distance, the Blood River Lordughed. "Since they considered me their lord, they offered themselves to me. What''s the point of their belief otherwise? I took their flesh and blood, making them a part of me so that they can worship me forever! Isn''t that exactly what they wanted? If they don''t even have the conviction to offer their bodies to their lord, they are not true believers, but heretics, and those deserve death! Na Shan, you are also a Hemos, and you worship me as your lord. Since you believe in me, offer me all your blood and flesh, and help me fend off the sword energy of the Yin Yang Sword. Once I refine the sword spirit, make this paradise mine, ascend to Domain Lord, and establish my own heavenly court, there will be a ce for you in my court!"


    He extended his hand and reached out for Na Shan.


    Na Shan dumbly stared at the Blood River Lord like a stone statue.


    Hei Yan grew frantic, and he rushed over and sent out a st of me to block the blood hand as he pushed Na Shan away. He shouted, "Big Brother Na Shan, what''s wrong?"


    He didn''t know just how big of a shock the Blood River Lord''s words had been to Na Shan.


    The Hemos had always worshiped the Blood River Lord as their god. In their eyes, the Blood River Lord was their lord, and they were under his protection. Even though the Blood River Lord had never answered their prayers, they simply believed that this was the dignity and majesty a god should possess, so they dared not talk about it.


    It was only today, after hearing what the Blood River Lord felt about their belief, that Na Shan realized how gravely mistaken he had been.


    The Blood River Lord had never taken them seriously!


    And the Blood River Lord''s word pointed out the contradiction of blind belief: If you believe in me, then die for me, and if you don''t believe in me, then you deserve death!


    In the eyes of the Blood River Lord, this fervent belief was nothing more than prayers that these idiots had entrusted to him all on their own. A true god had never cared about such things.


    The shock from having his entire world turned upside-down was far superior to any demonic art or illusion spell, obliterating Na Shan''s mind and leaving himpletely lost, which was why he made no attempt to resist the Blood River Lord''s attack.


    Thankfully, he wasn''t some zealot, and this shock left him stunned for only a moment. After this brief daze, Na Shan came to his senses, and a will to fight zed in his eyes.


    He looked at the Blood River Lord and sternly dered, "Lord of the Blood River, is this what you think of the Hemos? All the people who worship you are just your food? If that''s the case, then I don''t recognize you as the lord of the Hemos! So what if you''re the Blood River Lord? Today, for the sake of all the Hemos who have died, I will execute you, you greatest of evils!"


    He bellowed, and streams of energy surged from his body as he grew into a mighty giant.


    This giant was nearly a hundred meters tall and wielded a mountain-cleaving axe, his crimson skin cloaked in steam as he burned with resolve.


    Raising his bowed head, the giant thundered, "I! Am! Mountain! Taker!"


    As he roared, a light shed across the sky.


    It was like a lightning bolt, illuminating the heavens.


    "Starshatter Axe!"


    A giant axe smashed down with a great rumble, obliterating Blood Fiends and pushing back the Blood Sea.


    The grandiose Blood Sea created by two Soul Transformation avatars and ten Heart Demon avatars was cleaved in two, Na Shan using brute force to carve open a path through it.


    The Blood River Lord was rather shocked by this.


    "Good job, Big Brother Na Shan!" Hei Yan excitedly shouted.


    The others were also dumbfounded by this sight.


    Shui Yao shouted, "What are you standing around for? The only choice now is to fight!"


    "Fight!" the others shouted in unison.


    After seeing that the Blood River Lord had no thought of letting them go, everyone gave up on their delusions. The path of cultivation was a road of thorns, and the path of the arena was a road paved in blood and iron, so every representative had a ruthless streak in their bones. This ruthlessness was sometimes hidden, but in perilous situations, it would erupt with astonishing power. It was this power that gave them the will to fight, even when facing an expert like the Blood River Lord. Even if they couldn''t win, they would at least get in a bite before they died.


    With this attitude in mind, the several dozen representatives revealed a stunning and terrifying strength.


    Their collective light instantly drowned out the power of the Blood Sea, pushing back the Blood River Lord''s Divine Connection.


    The enraged Blood River Lord was about to focus his full strength on killing the representatives when he suddenly spotted a small ck dot falling toward him and instinctively evaded.


    Whoosh! A sharp sword light passed through a fissure in the Blood River Domain barrier, slicing toward him.


    Fortunately, he had been just barely able to dodge, and that sword light sliced into the Blood Sea, sending blood exploding into the air. This one strike had destroyed numerous drops of his essence blood, which made the Blood River Lord wince. At the same time, he wondered just how Tang Jie was managing to attack him.


    Before that little ck dot could disappear, the Blood River Lord inhaled, trying to suck the ck dot to him. But he didn''t find anything from this, only sensing a violent and dark energy.


    Then the Blood River Lord realized what it was. "Fragments of tortured souls! I didn''t think you had something like this!"


    Although the Blood River Lord hadn''t researched the sword spirits like Tang Jie, he had a basic understanding of the special attributes of the Yin Yang Division Sword. This was a sword born with righteous energy, fond of Yin Yang, close to Karma, disgusted by Darkness, and staying far away from Destruction.


    He hadn''t expected Tang Jie to understand it so well, even using a method to nt Darkness energy on him, causing the sword spirits to attack him.


    The Blood River Lord knew that Tang Jie would be a huge problem if this were allowed to continue. His most urgent priority was to force Tang Jie out into the open.


    The representatives recognizing him had interrupted his train of thought, and he now returned to this topic, wondering just which person could be Tang Jie.


    These representatives hade to the Hall of Three Immortals at different times and from different locations, so each had a chance to be Tang Jie in disguise.


    But the Blood River Lord knew that if Tang Jie wanted to be someone and not be recognized, he couldn''t havee early, as that was bound to get him exposed by someone who was acquainted with the person. The best way was to be someone right before the Hall of Three Immortals was about to open, as everyone would be too focused on the Hall of Three Immortals to notice that one of their friends had been reced.


    This greatly narrowed his scope.


    The Blood River Lord reyed the struggle in front of the Hall of Three Immortals.


    His eyes brightened.


    That representative that Liu Qianyi had thrown out.


    Luo Hong!


    It had to be him!


    The Blood River Lord understood.


    He turned to the crowd, where that man called Luo Hong was doing all he could to halt the spread of the Blood Sea.


    "He''s putting on quite the act!" The Blood River Lord cracked a smile and chuckled.


    The Blood River Lord didn''t expose him, simply sending his Blood Sea at the representatives. But beneath the surface, an enormous blood arrow was forming, each part of it made from his blood essence.


    The Blood River Lord was willing to go all-out to kill Tang Jie.


    If he could kill Tang Jie, nobody would be able to stop him!


    "Die!" The moment the blood arrow was done forming, the Blood River Lord roared.


    The crimson arrow sted out of the ocean, aiming straight for Luo Hong.


    Luo Hong seemed to have no idea that the Blood River Lord would abruptly attack him with all his might and was scared out of his wits. Although he activated all his defensive methods, covering himself in barriers and art relics, the blood arrow that concentrated so much of the Blood River Lord''s essence blood instantly sted through his defenses, tearing straight through Luo Hong''s chest. As the essence blood''s power prated through his body, it exploded, obliterating Luo Hong such that every piece of flesh was pulverized into molecules, wiping out any hope Luo Hong had of reincarnation.


    "Hahahah! Tang Jie, let''s see how you act up now!" the Blood River Lordughed.


    But he quickly realized that something was wrong.


    Tang Jie had absorbed his essence blood, and he should have been able to sense something from his remains, so why was there nothing at all from this corpse?


    Could it be¡­


    A shocking idea suddenly seized the Blood River Lord.


    At the same time, that fiend man called Hei He flew up behind the Blood River Lord.


    As he mysteriously smiled, he swung a brilliant golden weapon.

 Chapter 596: The Blood River Lords Flowery Killing Method (1)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    A golden light drew a bizarre curve through the air.


    First, it fell on Large Bone Point, and then it flew on the wind and entered the Shoulder Well Point, then it traveled to the Greater Vertebra Point on the back of the neck, after which it traveled downward on the spine, passing through the Pot Way, Body Pir, Divine Way, Spirit tform, Reaching Yang, and Muscle Spasm Points. At the Central Pivot Point, the golden light then veered off into the Liver Transporter Point, where it then passed through the Galldder Transporter, the Galldder Link, the Thought Abode, the Stomach Granary, and Triple Burner Points, then arrived at the Life Gate Point, where it continued downward, traveling to the right leg. Here, it traveled through the Holding Support, Hamstring Gate, End Crease, and Yang Confluence Points, after which it jumped to the left leg. Lastly, it turned around and finished things off with the Ordering Gate and Capital Gate, having cut its way throughout the Blood River Lord''s body.


    When it was all done, the Blood River Lord could no longer move.


    He was frozen for an entire second, after which he turned his head.


    He saw Hei He''s face melt away, turning into the one he was familiar with.


    "Ha!" Tang Jieughed at him.


    The Blood River Lord trembled. "I''m¡­ such a fool¡­ only focusing on¡­ Luo Hong."


    "I know." Tang Jie nodded. "It''s just human nature, and losing doesn''t mean that you''re a fool. I won''t mock you for it."


    The Blood River Lord wanted to say more, but he could no longer speak.


    A sloshing sound came from his body, and in a sh, he dissolved into blood.


    Tang Jie''s strike had severed all of the blood essence maintaining this body, so he could no longer maintain this Soul Transformation avatar.


    Killed in one strike!


    Arge blood gem fell into Tang Jie''s hand, and Tang Jie absorbed it without a second nce. The crimson glow around him swelled, and the power of the Flesh Millstone surged.


    At the same time, Tang Jie grabbed the Immeasurable Sword, and as he did, he felt a strange sensation, as if he had a connection with this sword.


    Tang Jie quickly realized why this was.


    "The sword hilt¡­" he muttered.


    He had the hilt and sheath of the Immeasurable Sword, and though he didn''t know how to use them, he had been on the scene when the Blood River Lord had demanded the hilt from Cang Qingfeng.


    And now, the Blood River Lord had used the Immeasurable Sword to control the sword spirit, and considering that he had once demanded the hilt and sheath, Tang Jie would have to be a fool to not see the connection.


    But he didn''t immediately take out the hilt and sheath.


    The Yin Ying Sword spirit was still struggling within the Immeasurable Sword, its independent will making it unwilling to be restrained. Even though the Immeasurable Sword had the will of its former master, the sword spirit stubbornly sought to break free. This made controlling the Immeasurable Sword extremely difficult, requiring immense strength to suppress the sword spirit. This was why the Soul Transformation avatar hadn''t even been able to dodge and had been in by Tang Jie in a single strike.


    And without the Blood River Lord suppressing it, the sword spirit was showing signs of breaking free.


    "Tang Jie, you haven''t won yet!" another Blood River avatar shouted as it charged in.


    This was yet another Soul Transformation avatar.


    The Blood River Lord had four Soul Transformation avatars in all. The one in the center who had wielded the Immeasurable Sword was killed by Tang Jie, two were working together with the remaining Heart Demon avatars to deal with the representatives, and thest one had been dealing with the remnant sword spirits. The oneing now was the avatar that had been tasked with this mission.


    Seeing the Blood River Lord furiously approaching and then looking at the sword spirit that was trying to break free, Tang Jie chuckled.


    He threw the sword.


    He threw the sword back at the Blood River Lord.


    This bbergasted the Blood River Lord, but he valued the Immeasurable Sword too much to not ept it.


    The moment he grabbed the Immeasurable Sword, he saw a ck dot on the de.


    It was the same sort of ck dot that had previously drawn the attacks of the sword spirits, but it was muchrger.


    The Blood River Lord instinctively shouted, "Shit!"


    When he looked up, he saw hundreds of sword lights breaking through the tentacles of the domain barrier and then instantly slicing him into several hundred pieces.


    At least the sword spirits'' attacks were not so targeted as Tang Jie''s attack, and the blood seethed as he began to reform his body.


    Tang Jie shook his head. "That won''t do."


    The crimson light rolled out from his body, instantly draining away more than half of the blood that made up that avatar.


    The greatest ability of the Blood River Lord''s avatars was that they could constantly reform from blood. So long as the blood essence in the blood remained, the Blood River Lord was unkible, but Tang Jie possessed the means to destroy him in two ways.


    When the Blood River Lord was intact, Tang Jie could use the Realm of Insight to find the locations of all the blood essence and destroy them all in a single strike. And when the Blood River Lord was liquid blood, he could use the Flesh Millstone to absorb it.


    In this way, the Blood River Lord''s unkible attribute waspletely useless in front of Tang Jie.


    The turning of the Flesh Millstone essentially robbed the avatar of more than half of its life force. The Blood River Lord was aghast, and he knew if this were allowed to continue, he would lose another avatar to Tang Jie.


    To lose two Soul Transformation avatars just like that? This was a little too much.


    The Blood River Lord couldn''t allow this to happen, so just when Tang Jie''s Flesh Millstone was about to drain away more blood, the avatars who had been fighting with the representatives suddenly roared in unison.


    "Yah!"


    This thunderous roar shook Tang Jie''s mind and made him freeze for a moment.


    The blood that made up the Blood River avatar used this moment to retreat, merging into the Blood Sea Divine Connection and borrowing its power to restore its form. As the avatar examined himself, he found that more than half of his strength had been drained away, dropping him from peak Soul Transformation to initial Soul Transformation, and he was so angry that he almost fainted.


    Worst of all, he had lost the Immeasurable Sword again.


    The Flesh Millstone, while sweeping away his blood, had also taken back the Immeasurable Sword.


    Tang Jie waved around the sword and said, "Come and get it."


    "You think I won''t?!" The Blood River Lord roared and charged out, arge crimson hand reaching for the Immeasurable Sword.


    He had learned his lesson fromst time, and as he grabbed the sword, blood engulfed the entire sword, washing away any sort of tricks Tang Jie might have nted on it.


    s, Tang Jie hadn''t done anything this time, but as he grabbed the Immeasurable Sword, the Blood River Lord sensed an unprecedented power attacking him.


    It was the sword spirit!


    Letting the sword change hands twice had resulted in the Blood River Lord losing any sort of suppression on the sword spirit, so the sword spirit was on the verge of breaking out of the Immeasurable Sword. Not only that, it could even use part of its power to attack him.


    Tang Jie wasn''t worried about the sword spirit running away, so he didn''t restrain it. Thus, the sword spirit didn''t cause trouble for him. But the Blood River Lord could not allow the sword spirit to run, so he used all of his power to suppress it, which earned the sword spirit''s ire.


    A momentter, a sword light lit up the center of the Blood River Lord''s forehead.


    This unfortunate fellow had been chopped in half again.


    Before he could recover, Tang Jieughed and rushed up, the Flesh Millstone turning and sucking away half of the Blood River Lord. But the other half of the Blood River Lord was able to get away in time, and unfortunately, it was this half that was holding the sword. Moreover, the Blood River Lord had a firm grip this time, so Tang Jie wasn''t able to get back the Immeasurable Sword.


    But Tang Jie was very content with getting two fish from the same bait.


    Once the body had reformed, it had unexpectedly fallen down to the middle of the Heart Demon Tier.


    The Blood River Lord gnashed his teeth in anger, but there was nothing he could do.


    Fortunately, he had gotten back the Immeasurable Sword, so his first priority was to refine the sword spirit.


    He knew that Tang Jie had returned the sword to him to bait him into refining the sword spirit, thus weakening him, but he had been after the Treasure Paradise for ten thousand years, so how could he give up on it? Even if Tang Jie killed off all his avatars because of it, it was worth it. Thus, the third Soul Transformation avatar took the Immeasurable Sword and began to refine it, while the remaining avatars were led by thest Soul Transformation avatar in dealing with the remnant sword spirits and representatives.


    In terms of strength, while the representatives were formidable, they were stillckingpared to the Blood River Lord''s avatars.


    Although the Blood River Lord had only fifteen Heart Demon avatars after offering up some of them to the sword, under the leadership of the Soul Transformation avatar, they far surpassed their foes.


    It had to be understood that Na Shan''s group of five had been needed to deal with just one Heart Demon avatar.


    And the representatives had lost their morale when they first recognized that they were dealing with the Blood River Lord, allowing the Blood River Lord to kill all the Hemos outside of Na Shan, which was a huge blow to their side. A third of the sixty-five representatives had been lost in one go, after which more were killed in battle, so only thirty-some were left.


    Thirty-some representatives versus fifteen Heart Demon and one Soul Transformation avatars put the bnce of power clearly on the Blood River Lord''s side.


    Moreover, the Soul Transformation avatar leading the battle was particrly powerful, taking on four people at once: Xuan Gui and Cai Jiu¡ªtwo Soul Transformation fiends¡ªand Na Shan and Liu Qianyi.


    Without Tang Jie suppressing him, the Blood River Lord could disy his full might, and the raging Blood Sea put them under immense pressure.


    Liu Qianyi was the worst off. She was the weakest of the four, and the Blood River Lord was trying to take them down one by one and was focusing all his attacks on her. If not for the others doing everything they could to protect her, Liu Qianyi would have died long ago.


    "Tang Jie, aren''t you going toe and help?" Given that Tang Jie had just killed a Soul Transformation avatar and badly wounded another, Liu Qianyi finally called out for help, not even caring if this caused others to suspect her of having a rtionship with him.


    Tang Jieughed, put away the Sovereign de, and flew toward Liu Qianyi''s side.


    The Blood River Lord roared, "Stop him!"


    Countless Blood Fiends howled as they rushed at Tang Jie, doing everything they could to stop him.


    At the same time, the Blood River Lord''s offensive intensified.


    As the Blood Fiends charged, Tang Jie chuckled and threw out arge number of bean soldiers.


    He held nothing back, sowing more than ten thousand beans at once¡ªall the beans he had umted over thest few years¡ªand in a sh, thend was covered in bean soldiers.


    The kingly little Tang Dou appeared with them.


    It seemed like he had nevermanded so many bean soldiers before, and when he saw all his soldiers, he became extremely excited. Rather than shouting for more soldiers as he usually did, he waved his little scepter, upon which banners unfurled in the air and war drums thundered.


    The more than ten thousand bean soldiers arranged themselves in units of one hundred and began to march through the air at the Blood Fiends.


    This grandiose disy had all the representatives dumbfounded.


    What in the world were these?


    The Blood River Lord was also stunned.


    He knew Tang Jie had beans, but not this many beans!


    The sight of 1500 beans routing his forces was still fresh on his mind, and now, ten thousand hade out!


    Moreover, among these ten thousand beans were fifteen hundred wearing crimson capes.


    They were taller, bigger, and stronger than the other bean soldiers!


    Fifteen bean generals led the army from the front, each one of them exuding an intimidating pressure, and the Blood River Lord could sense his own power within them!


    These guys could absorb his essence blood to get stronger!


    The Blood River Lord felt an inexplicable sense of fear.


    If this power were allowed to grow, one day, he would be their food source.


    He had to kill them all!


    There was no stopping this idea once it had taken root in the Blood River Lord''s mind.


    He threw his head back and howled, and then a giant white lotus blossom slowly rose up from the Blood Sea.

 Chapter 597: The Blood River Lords Flowery Killing Method (2)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The white lotus blossom rose out of the Blood Sea like a tform.


    After rising into the air, it began to glow, and then its petals began to peel open.


    As it bloomed, the petals began to shed from the lotus and spiral and dance in the air.


    The lotus blossom seemed to have no end, oneyer after another peeling away, more and more petals dancing in the air.


    A petal fell upon a representative, and there was a hiss as it tore open a long and bloody wound on his body.


    These enchanting petals glistened under the sun, but their toothed edges were the crimson of the sunset.


    Crystalline and translucent, yet brimming with danger.


    The petals spun faster and faster, and the air began to shriek, eventually turning into a de-packed gale, a furious storm that sought to engulf every existence in the area.


    "Watch out!" Tang Jie couldn''t help but call out.


    The first target of the storm was none other than the bean soldiers.


    After battling once with the bean soldiers, the Blood River Lord had grasped the trick to fighting them. Rather than trying to kill the bean soldiers one by one, he used arge-scale spell art to indiscriminately attack everything.


    In these circumstances, thebination arts of the bean soldiers were much less effective. Even if they could temporarily hold out against the storm, this omnipresent area attack fell on every part of the army, meaning that the bean soldiers had to endure the maximum force of this white lotus spell art.


    Most terrifying of all was that the Blood Sea White Lotus was still blooming, sheddingyer afteryer, and with eachyer, several dozen petals left the Blood Sea and entered the storm.


    The bean soldiers were like an army in a sandstorm, barely able to move in the powerful gusts, and once the bean soldiers ran out of energy, they would all die.


    "Ayaya!" Little Tang Dou anxiously called out.


    He pointed his scepter at the sky, and the 1500 bean soldiers wearing crimson capes raised their heads and howled.


    Then they pulled out longbows, aimed at the sky, and pulled back.


    1500 arrows were loosed into the sky, targeting the distant white lotus.


    "A puny trick!" the Blood River Lordughed in contempt.


    But a momentter, the arrows glowed and fused together into a single giant crimson-colored arrow.


    This was the power the bean soldiers had absorbed from the blood gem, something only these 1500 bean soldiers could do.


    This massive blood arrow, radiating an aura of death, forced the white lotus to stop blooming and withdraw, the petals that had yet to fully bloom forming arge barrier to protect it.


    The arrow mmed into the flower barrier with a metallic ng. Numerous petals were obliterated in an explosion of rainbow-colored mist, but the giant arrow fell to the ground, its power spent.


    Then the white lotus began to bloom once more, shedding its petals that danced in the air as they joined the battle.


    Tang Dou was dumbfounded.


    He didn''t seem to want to give up, stomping his feet and preparing to order another attack on the white lotus. At this time, Tang Jie suddenly said, "Yiyi, have him change targets and attack the Blood River Lord. Leave this side to me!"


    The center of his forehead shed red. "Go!"


    A little firebird jumped out of the center of his forehead, opened its wings, and spat out a tongue of me at the white lotus windstorm.


    The Pale Cloud me!


    As the me shed against the lotus, its domineering storm was instantly burned up into disarray.


    "The Pale Cloud me? How could this be?" the Blood River Lord cried out in shock.


    It was natural to be burned by this me in Holy Fire Valley, but to see the Pale Cloud me out here?


    This bastard had managed to subdue the Pale Cloud me!


    The frenzied mes instantly burned through the white lotus storm, and the remaining mes rushed at the white lotus itself, and the white lotus which had withstood that giant blood arrow was burned to ashes.


    Tang Dou was overjoyed, and he ordered his soldiers to loose their arrows again.


    1500 arrows once more fused into a giant blood arrow, but this one was targeting one of the Blood River Lord''s avatars.


    The Blood River Lord hadn''t expected this move, and he could only watch as the giant arrow punched through his body. Power flooded out of the arrow and sted his head into such small chunks that it couldn''t piece itself back together.


    The headless body swayed for a few moments, and then another head grew out, the Blood River Lord furiously ring at the bean king. "Seeking death!"


    "Jiji! Yaya! Yiyi!" Tang Dou shouted back.


    He pointed a little hand, and a third blood arrow flew out, sting apart the head that had just grown back.


    The Blood River avatar cried out in anger, but his life force was so great that he immediately grew another head. But it was barely finished before it was sted apart by another arrow.


    The two sides seemed to be having quite the fun time, one side growing heads and the other side shooting them.


    But with each new head, the Blood River avatar''s body was a little smaller.


    When the sixteenth head had been sted apart, this Blood River avatar could no longer maintain its form. With an unwilling scream, it dissolved into blood and merged with the Blood Sea.


    After seventeen arrows, those 1500 bean soldiers were clearly out of strength, the crimson glow on their body greatly dimmed and seemingly struggling to maintain itself.


    At this moment, Tang Dou waved his hand, and a crimson halo spread out from him. Those faltering bean soldiers were instantly energized. It appeared that Tang Dou, after absorbing the blood gem''s power, could help his soldiers recover their strength.


    Without the white lotus storm to hold them back, the bean army started to flex its might. As they charged here and there across the battlefield, they slew many Blood Fiends. Yiyi also had her Jade Blossom Pce and Silkheaven Net supporting them from the sides. As for ck Sin, while it was strong, it could only emerge from the ground, so it wasn''t suited for battle in the sky. It was useless here in the Hall of Three Immortals.


    The howling army put on a most dominating and savage disy, pushing back the enemy wherever they went. Let alone the Blood Fiends, even the Blood River avatars would have to beat a temporary retreat before these bean soldiers.


    The bean soldiers pushed back the Blood River Lord''s force all the way to the sky above the Soaring Immortal Hall.


    The pressure on the Blood River Lord allowed the representatives to finally rx a little.


    Some of them even had the chance to attack the Blood River avatar that was refining the sword spirit.


    Even though the bnce of power was temporarily even, the Blood Fiends were endless, and more of them were emerging from the Blood Sea and charging into the fray.


    The battle began to turn gruesome, with Blood Fiends and bean soldiers dying every moment. So great were the losses that neither side was willing to let this go on.


    "Big Brother!" Yiyi called out, grief-stricken over the deaths of so many bean soldiers.


    Tang Jie nodded and threw out a formation diagram.


    The Treasure Cosmos Formation!


    Countless treasures rushed into the air, creating spinning motes of starlight in the air. Each point of starlight was suffused with immense power that destroyed numerous Blood Fiends on contact.


    As the formation turned, it created rivers of blood in its wake.


    "Tang Jie!" The Blood River Lord roared in fury, and with a wave of his hand, a thousand waves rose up.


    This was none other than that powerful spell art he had used on Yiyi before, and now that it was being used with a Blood Sea Divine Connection made through ten-some Heart Demon avatars and several Soul Transformation avatars, it was many times stronger than before.


    But the Treasure Cosmos Formation was being presided over by Tang Jie now, so it was also many times stronger than when Yiyi had used it. As the blood waves rose, Tang Jie flicked his wrist, and the starlight moved to wee them.


    Blood waves crashed against starlight in a fantastical light show above the Hall of Three Immortals.


    Unexpectedly, neither side had the upper hand.


    Tang Jie snorted, and the Pale Cloud me rose to merge with the Treasure Cosmos Formation, upon which the stars began to ze.


    This was the benefit of being proficient with formations, being able to adjust and even add to the power of the formation as the situation demanded it. No formation amateur would have been able to do what Tang Jie had just done with the Pale Cloud me.


    Empowered by the Pale Cloud me, the Treasure Cosmos Formation instantly began to devour the Blood Sea.


    rmed, the Blood River Lord immediately had one of his avatars give up on his current opponent and go to deal with Tang Jie, fists flying as it sent out numerous powerful sts of wind. As he couldn''t win in a pure sh of spell arts, the Blood River Lord had no choice but to send an avatar specifically to deal with the situation.


    Tang Jieughed. "Still not enough!"


    He threw out another formation diagram.


    Tang Jie had brought several dozen formation diagrams with him into the Treasure Paradise, to be used when the situation needed them. Although some of them weren''t suitable for this situation, there were still twenty-some that could be used, any one of which could unleash heaven-shaking power.


    For Tang Jie, his most powerful trump card would always be formations.


    He was only a small corner of this iceberg.


    As the second formation diagram flew out, a dragon of mes appeared.


    The Earthfire Burst Formation!


    Tang Jie used Earthfire Lava of the Northern Mountains as the core of this Grade 6 Formation, with 146 other kinds of rare materials arranged around it. It was a powerful formation covering a wide area and suitable for frontal attacks.


    As the formation diagram unfurled, the dragon made of Earthfire charged at that Blood River avatar, and with the Treasure Cosmos Formation pushing aside the waves, the dragon had a free and clear path to the avatar, coiling its body around it.


    Tang Jie clenched his fist. "Explode!"


    The me dragon exploded, all of that fire essence erupting in the most intense fashion in the shortest amount of time possible.


    A me lotus rose up into the air, appearing from the distance like a mushroom cloud.


    The battlefield froze for a moment, as if someone had used a Time spell art to make everything stop for one second.


    The massive explosion and shockwave had everyone''s ears ringing and even their vision going blurry. It took several seconds for everything to clear up.


    The area of the explosion was empty.


    Another Blood River avatar had been in.

 Chapter 598: The Blood River Lords Flowery Killing Method (3)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The explosion of the Earthfire Burst Formation had not only destroyed a Blood River avatar, it had even sted away arge chunk of the Blood Sea, as if someone had scooped out the middle of it.


    The ferocity of the explosion was on par with a Violet Pce cultivator''s attack, many times greater than the st of a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl. And unlike the Heavenbane Lightning Pearl, it could chase down the foe, and if it couldn''t coil around the foe, it could resort to ordinary attacks rather than having to detonate, though of course, those attacks were on the weaker side.


    This was the Earthfire Burst Formation, one of the strongest formations in Tang Jie''s arsenal. Of course, the cost had been great. This single strike had cost Tang Jie more than two hundred thousand spirit coins.


    The death of this Blood River avatar was critical.


    It was like a turning point in the battle. The death of this Heart Demon avatar caused the bnce of power to tip in favor of the representatives.


    The Blood River Lord knew that if Tang Jie continued to destroy avatar after avatar like this, only defeat awaited him.


    Brimming with anger and loathing, he red at Tang Jie and shouted, "You think!? You''ve won!? No!!"


    He raised a head, and three Heart Demon avatars fell back and turned into blood, merging with the Blood Sea.


    As these three avatars disappeared, the Blood Sea''s power swelled.


    At the same time, the Soul Transformation avatar that was still refining the sword spirit raised high the Immeasurable Sword and cut at space with it, cleaving open an extremely long spatial fissure. He howled, "Open, passage to Blood River! Blood River Behemoth, get out here!"


    A heaven-shaking bellow responded.


    It was a sound somewhat like the roar of a dragon and also like the roar of a tiger, its deepness shaking the soul.


    Everyone could see a giant beast head slowly rising from the center of the Blood Sea.


    It was the head of a terrifying beast that was covered in small scales and whose eyes alone were the size of a house. As it rose higher and higher, it revealed more and more of its mountain-sized body, and it now appeared like a giant bear, thousands of timesrger than a normal bear, upying almost the entire Blood Sea.


    This Blood Sea that had a radius of several kilometers appeared like a bathtub for this behemoth, its bulkpletely packing it.


    The behemoth was still rising into the air, transcending all other existences. Compared to it, the hundred-meter-tall Na Shan appeared like a baby, and everyone else was like an ant.


    "Heavens¡­" Na Shan groaned. "The Blood River Behemoth! It''s the Blood River Behemoth!"


    The Blood River Behemoth wasn''t the product of some spell art, but an actual living creature.


    It lived in the depths of the Blood River, hibernating at the river bottom, only waking once every one hundred years, and it fed on Blood Fiends. One could say that it was the Blood River Lord''s pet.


    The Blood Sea Divine Connection was the Blood River Lord''s fundamental spell art, and through this Divine Connection, the Blood River Lord was able to cast various other kinds of spell arts. One of these was the ability to open a path and transmit energy. But opening a path required a huge amount of energy, and a single Heart Demon avatar wasn''t enough for it, which was why he hadn''t used it in that first battle. And in the Treasure Paradise, the fact that this was an independent world also made opening a path extremely difficult.


    But the Immeasurable Sword had the ability to break through domains, so by using it to create a spatial fissure and then sacrificing three Heart Demon avatars, the Blood River Lord had just barely managed to open a Blood River passage. This Blood River passage couldn''t transfer the power of his original body, but it was enough to bring over other kinds of power.


    The Blood River Behemoth was the power he was calling upon.


    As the Blood River Behemoth finished emerging, it threw back its head and let out a thunderous roar that shook everyone to their core.


    The Blood River Lord pointed down below and cried out, "Kill them all, my precious!"


    Arooo! The Blood River Behemoth howled and swatted a w down.


    The massive w was like a falling mountain, the sight inspiring despair.


    Na Shan roared and swung his axe to meet the w, stirring up a most vigorous resolve, but when the axe struck the w, it was like stabbing it with a toothpick, only drawing a tiny drop of blood. Meanwhile, the behemoth''s w swatted Na Shan away like he was a fly.


    Blood gushed out of Na Shan as he flew away, the collision instantly pulverizing many of his bones.


    "Big Brother Na Shan!" Hei Yan cried out in grief as he unleashed his Azure ck Dragon me, but it appeared like a little fire snake in front of the behemoth, not even able to break through its blood sma.


    The behemoth roared and swung its palm again, this time horizontally, seeking to sweep aside everyone.


    Everyone retreated in rm, but this arm was far too long to simply dodge, and they could only watch as it hurtled toward them.


    Reverend Xuan Gui was the first to be struck, and in a sh, he went back to his original form, a ck turtle, and retreated into his shell. But that tough turtle shell was like tofu in front of the behemoth''s palm, instantly splintering apart and sending Reverend Xuan Gui flying.


    Before he could get up, a giant foot stomped him into meat paste.


    This tyrannical strength also dealt massive damage to the bean soldiers, and even though Tang Dou had sensed that something was wrong and immediately ordered a retreat, some bean soldiers had been held back by the Blood Fiends.


    A giant foot had descended from the heavens, piercing through the clouds, but half of that beast''s body was still high in the clouds, its giant head far above.


    Holding up the heavens, standing upon the earth!


    "Raaa!"


    Its roars alone created mighty gusts of wind.


    Just the jets of airing from its nostrils swept up everyone like tornadoes.


    And then something even more terrifying happened. The behemoth reached out a w and grabbed a representative, dangling him in front of its eyes like a little chick. After "admiring" it as one would a delicious morsel of meat, it tossed the representative into its mouth.


    It chewed a few times, and those miserable screams came to a sudden stop.


    The appearance of the Blood River Behemoth had instantly rewritten the bnce of power, a single swing of its paw inflicting devastating losses on the representatives.


    Standing atop the behemoth, the Blood River Lord smugly crowed, "Tang Jie, do you have any more tricks?"


    Gazing deeply at the behemoth, Tang Jie grunted and said, "Pure strength? I like it!"


    I like it!


    These three words had the Blood River Lord shivering.


    He suddenly realized that he had never really seen through everything Tang Jie had.


    Tang Jie always had more tricks than he had imagined.


    A momentter, Tang Jie took out the Mountain River State Diagram.


    With a light shake, a boundless world appeared.


    "This is¡­" The Blood River Lord was aghast. "An independent small world? You have an independent world?"


    He had racked his brains on a way to get into the Treasure Paradise because of the Treasure Paradise''s nature as an independent world, and it was only existences of his level that understood its significance.


    This was something even more significant than a natural Dao armament, a summit on the endless Immortal path, a newyer, a new altitude.


    It was an end, a terminus, a coda, the penultimate, second only to the Heavenly Dao!


    Countless Immortal tform Titans had put their lives on the line to get an independent andplete world.


    But now, a puny little Spirit Ring True Person had an independent small world?


    Although it was still a young world, far less mature than the Treasure Paradise, it already had the nascent signs of a world, so the Blood River Lord could not help but be shaken.


    In the middle of his shock, arge figure charged out of that world.


    The moment this person hit the ground, he began to growrger andrger, exceeding Na Shan in size, and he only stopped growing after he had almost reached that behemoth''s height.


    It was Tang Jie''s original body!


    The original body''s true height naturally wasn''t this high, but the original body was also able to change forms, to shrink and also to grow. But his true strength wouldn''t change because of this. He had simply grownrger so that it was easier to fight with the behemoth.


    The original bodyughed and said, "You''re mine!"


    He swung a fist at the behemoth.


    The behemoth roared and swatted a w at the original body.


    Man and beast shed, hand and w mming into each other like two mountains, the shockwaves from their impacts creating such powerful gusts of wind that everyone else was blown away.


    The original body found that the sh had actually sent him back quite a distance.


    This was the first time his original body was outmatched in terms of strength. He had already pushed himself to the stage of the 20-meter-tall giant, the peak middle level of the Diamond Body, but this was still far from the behemoth.


    Even so, Tang Jie didn''t mind. On the contrary, he was even more excited.


    His eyes zed with fighting intent as heughed. "Ah! Refreshing! Again!"


    He roared and charged back in.


    The behemoth was very displeased by Tang Jie''s arrogance. Roaring, it swung a palm, striking the original body and sending him to the side.


    This behemoth was several times stronger than the original body, but this wasn''t enough to heavily injure him. Coupled with the original body''s formidable recovery ability, the end result was that the behemoth could keep sending the original body flying, but none of it did any good.


    The behemoth became rather angry.


    It bellowed, and its body glowed crimson, and then it swung its palm at the original body and sent him flying again.


    The original body threw up blood and then brashly said, "You can get stronger? So can I! Transform!"


    The Herding Yang Pearl activated, and the original body gained two heads and four arms.


    Besides four extra arms, the Herding Yang Pearl also provided the original body a boost in strength.


    This treasure that could multiply strength by three times was a treasure that every body cultivator dreamed of.


    The original body swelled with blood energy, every muscle pulsing with power.


    In his hands were an axe made of Mother Cloud Essence Metal and the Deste Heavens Halberd, both having berger.


    The three heads dered in unison, "Again!"


    He charged at the behemoth.


    Another round of heaven-shaking collisionsmenced.


    This time, the original body was no longer sent flying by the behemoth, instead fighting evenly with it. The fierce shockwaves prevented anyone else from getting close, and even the Blood River avatar refining the sword spirit was pushed back very far away.


    Before this avatar couldnd, the original body reached out to grab it.


    The head on the right shoulder chuckled at the Blood River Lord, and the Blood River Lord instinctively had a bad feeling.


    And then the original body lightly squeezed, crushing the avatar.


    Blood seeped out from the original body''s fingers as the Blood River Lord tried to bring his body back together.


    As it was reforming, the distant avatar Tang Jie shouted at Na Shan, "Na Shan, can you still fight?"


    After a moment''s pause, Na Shan shouted, "Of course! I''m still alive, and we Hemos warriors can fight so long as we live!"


    He stood back up and strode over to Tang Jie. Blood still flowed from his body, and his bones were still in the middle of healing, his entire body sending him terrible pain signals, but Na Shan seemed to not feel any of it.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "If that''s the case¡­ Minor Five Elements Combat Formation!"


    Hei Yan and the others shared a look and thenughed, shouting together, "Everyone, to your positions! Minor Five Elements Combat Formation!"


    Four pirs of energy¡ªck, yellow, blue, and white¡ªsoared into the sky.


    Tang Jie swung the Sovereign de, and a golden pir of light rose up. "With me as the center, Myriad Transformations!"


    "What? ''Myriad Transformations''!?" Everyone was rmed.


    Myriad Transformations was the mostplicated and most difficult variation of the Minor Five Elements Combat Formation, one of the three that they had never been able to pull off, and Tang Jie was using it now?


    Tang Jie smiled. "Trust me!"


    These simple words seemed to rile them up, and the four of them shouted together, "Okay!"


    The four beams of light fell on Tang Jie, the five lights merging into a fantastical spectrum of colors, as if all colors in the world were here, and in the middle of all these colors, one could see all living things in the universe.


    Myriad Transformations!


    But a momentter, the pir ofbined light swayed, and its color became turbid and disorganized.


    rmed, Hei Yan shouted, "Not good! The variation is too strong and is too difficult to maintain! The pir is about to crumble!"


    "Don''t panic!" Tang Jie replied, and a formation diagram flew out, creating another pir of rainbow light which stabilized the Myriad Transformations pir.


    Tang Jie turned the pir in front of him.


    At this time, the Soul Transformation Blood River avatar had escaped from the original body''s grasp.


    While the original body had herculean strength, he couldn''t grasp flowing water.


    The blood flew through the air, not even daring to reform. But as it was in the middle of escaping, the Myriad Transformations pir fell upon it.


    The blood was sucked into the pir of light, and no matter how the Blood River Lord struggled, he could not escape the surging lights within the pir. With a bitter scream, he finally dissipated into smoke.


    Another Soul Transformation avatar had died.


    Tang Jie''s Flesh Millstone turned, taking the blood gem, and then he reached out a hand and grabbed.


    The Immeasurable Sword had returned.

 Chapter 599: Blood River General

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie grabbed the Immeasurable Sword and threw it at thest Soul Transformation avatar without a second nce. "Keep going."


    The Blood River Lord almost threw up blood in rage.


    But no matter how much of a hot potato the Immeasurable Sword was, only by refining it could he truly control the Treasure Paradise.


    After taking the Immeasurable Sword, thest Soul Transformation avatar had no choice but to leave the battlefield.


    This made the tables rapidly turn.


    The behemoth was being held down by the original body, and the Blood River Lord had only ten Heart Demon avatars left, half of his original strength.


    The representatives had also suffered heavy losses, losing nearly half their number, including Reverend Xuan Gui, and falling from thirty-some to less than twenty. These people weren''t anything to be afraid of. The real problem was that Tang Jie''s strength was still intact, and the bean soldiers were still around, and the Treasure Cosmos Formation was also exerting a huge pressure on the Blood River Lord.


    Tang Jie had once more tipped the bnce in his favor. The Blood River Lord yelled, "It''s still not over!"


    He waved a finger, and countless Blood Fiends suddenly changed directions and charged at the Blood River Behemoth.


    The Blood River Behemoth saw all the Blood Fiends rushing at it and opened its mouth, sucking them all in like a ck hole.


    After eating its fill, the Blood River Behemoth grew stronger again, and with a frenzied roar, it stomped a foot down. As it fell upon the distant Drifting Peak, it ttened the entire mountain.


    This terrifying strength made even the original body grimace, and then he saw the behemoth sweep its arm at him.


    The axe of Mother Cloud Essence Metal hacked into the beast''s arm, and as blood sshed, Tang Jie was sent flying.


    The Blood River Behemoth''s strength was so fierce that Tang Jie guessed that he was no match for it unless he reached greater attainment in the Diamond Body.


    But this didn''t mean he had no way to deal with it.


    The distant avatar snorted and threw out several formation diagrams.


    The first diagram fell on his original body, and there was a sh of red as his body surged with blood energy. The behemoth was swiping a w at him when the four arms growing out of the original body''s back suddenly flew out and caught the w, stopping it cold. At the same time, the Mother Cloud Essence Metal axe and the Deste Heavens Halberd mmed into the behemoth''s chest, and this savage blow made the behemoth cry out in pain.


    Furiously roaring, it swung a w at the original body, seeking to tear open his stomach. At this time, the second formation diagram fell upon the original body, and his body shed golden.


    The sharp ws that could even tear through the fabric of space chafed against that light golden skin in a spray of sparks, but all it left was a shallow wound, startling the behemoth.


    The original body chuckled. "Having a good time? It''s about time I let you have a taste of my fist¡­ Devil Crushing Fist!"


    A massive, steely fist swung upward, striking the Blood River Behemoth in the chin.


    Everyone saw that seemingly invincible Blood River Behemoth being struck by a fist and sent skyward.


    It roared and iled its limbs, but it couldn''t stop itself from flying upward, and only when it struck the Treasure Paradise''s domain barrier with an impressive shockwave did it finally start falling back down.


    It was so massive that, even at this great distance, everyone could clearly see that its jaw had been smashed and half of its head had caved in.


    This shocking sight left everyone dumbfounded.


    Even so, this punch hadn''t been able to kill this behemoth with its immense life force, though it did manage to thoroughly enrage it.


    "Awooo!" It let out an enraged howl, its howl bing a mighty gale that pushed even Tang Jie''s original body back.


    The Blood River Lord''s eyes brightened. "That was his full-power attack. He has no more strength now. Kill him, quickly!"


    The Blood River Lord''s eyes were extremely sharp.


    But s, he was still wrong.


    The third formation diagram fell upon the original body, engulfing him in a healing light.


    Vitality pumped into his body, and the original body''s energy rapidly recovered. He chuckled and said, "This is just the beginning!"


    He immediately rushed up to the behemoth, taking on the beast''s w directly as he roared, "Open up!"


    The Mother Cloud Essence Metal axe thunderously swung at the behemoth''s head, while the original body took the behemoth''s w in return, and there was a series of bangs as the two traded blows.


    Even though he was empowered by the formations, the original body still wasn''t stronger than the behemoth. In terms of strength, only an eighty-meter-tall Diamond Body could contend against it.


    Although Tang Jie was currently a towering figure, his real strength was that of a twenty-meter-tall giant, far from an eighty-meter-tall one. Without the Herding Yang Pearl and the formations, he would have never been able to fight back.


    Even so, he still attacked for all he was worth, like a mad dog.


    He didn''t have the strength, but he had other tricks.


    He had formation diagrams!


    Another three formation diagrams came down, this time on the behemoth.


    As each one came down, the behemoth''s strength, vitality, and reaction speed weakened.


    He had six arms!


    He could return three punches for each w.


    He had weapons!


    The damage dealt by the Mother Cloud Essence Metal axe and the Deste Heavens Halberd could make up for hisck of strength.


    He even had three heads, the left and right ones able to bite at the behemoth and return three bites for every one he received.


    Through these various factors, he was able to shrink the gap, little by little. Blood gushed from both of them, and as they rolled about, mountain after mountain was ttened.


    The behemoth wasn''t able to win, so the Blood River Lord''s situation instantly turned dire.


    All of the representatives crazily attacked the Blood River Lord, everyone putting in everything they had, carpeting the sky in their strongest spell arts and art relics.


    Tang Jie used another two formation diagrams.


    One was a Frost Formation to freeze the Blood Sea and make it more difficult for the Blood River Lord to cast spell arts, and also make them weaker. The other was a Clear Skies Formation that would absorb the essence of the Blood Sea, working together with the Flesh Millstone to help him collect blood gems.


    The Blood River Lord grew frantic.


    A Blood River avatar suddenly charged at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie sharply sensed that something was wrong and shouted, "Retreat!"


    He activated the Chaoswind Step and appeared on the other side.


    At the same time, the Blood River avatar arrived where Tang Jie had been and exploded.


    Heart Demon self-detonation!


    The Blood River Lord had countless avatars and the undying attribute, so one of his strongest moves was actually avatar self-detonation.


    This explosion was on par with Tang Jie''s Earthfire Burst Formation, each drop of essence blood erupting into pure energy, sweeping through the area with supreme lethality.


    Even though everyone was rather scattered about because they were battling in the air, the explosion''s range was so vast that it still managed to catch eight representatives. Four of them died on the spot, and while Hei Yan, Qing Lian, Shui Yao, and Na Shan had been able to retreat a little thanks to Tang Jie''s warning, they were still a little slow, though at least they hadn''t been in the heart of the explosion. Even so, their wounds were rather serious, with Qing Lian''s being the worst, this explosion almost depriving him of all hisbat power. Na Shan was in the best condition, not because he was the farthest, but because he had the strongest constitution.


    Besides that, two bean soldier units were caught up in the Blood Sea and pulverized in a vortex.


    Tang Dou was so grief-stricken that he almost cried.


    The remaining bean soldiers were also about to hit their limit, so Yiyi hastily took them back. She counted them up and found to her great sorrow that they had lost a third of the beans.


    The Blood River Lord''s self-detonation had killed four representatives, heavily injured one, and forced the bean soldiers to withdraw, so the tables turned again. But he knew that he couldn''t use this move again, so he didn''t use it again, instead using the opportunity to sacrifice another one of his Heart Demon avatars to the Immeasurable Sword.


    The Blood River Lord now had eight avatars left.


    But the Blood River Lord didn''t care. He was at the final moments of refining the sword spirit, so no matter what, he had to endure. Failure was not eptable!


    The Immeasurable Sword tore open another spatial fissure.


    The Blood River Lord opened another Blood River passage.


    A Blood River passage opened with only one Heart Demon avatar naturally couldn''t call over an existence like the Blood River Behemoth, but the Blood River Lord was very confident in his new reinforcements.


    War drums began to thunder and horns began to re, a somber and grim energy instantly filling the air.


    The blood waves churned as soldiers wearing crimson armor and wielding spears emerged, much more majestic and impressive than the bean army.


    Wave after wave of soldiers appeared, leaving everyone stunned.


    Where had this armye from?


    Na Shan paled in shock.


    He stared at that army and cried out in anger and indignation, "Hemos! You refined my people into your soldiers!"


    These soldiers had been refined from the corpses of Hemos!


    The Blood River Lordughed, "As I said, since you believe in me, you should offer your body and soul to me! I made these one hundred thousand Bloodguards while I was bored, and I didn''t intend to use them for battle, only to enrich this Treasure Paradise a little once I made it my own. Since all of you are so stubborn and stupid, daring to oppose me, you can''t me me for using them as a vanguard to pacify you. Blood River General,e out! Lead my soldiers and exterminate them!"


    As he yelled, the Blood Sea churned, and a general slowly emerged.


    This general had a crimson battle robe, a suit of armor that had been through many battles, a red-tasseled helmet, and warboots decorated with cloud patterns. His head was concealed beneath his helmet, but one could see blood flowing through the openings in his armor, as if this armor didn''t cover a person, but an ocean.


    He held a spear made from the spine of a dragon, which writhed in his hand like a snake.


    For some reason, Tang Jie found this Blood River General to be a little familiar.

 Chapter 600: The Blood River Legion

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Blood River army''s sudden appearance had once more turned the tables.


    Vast numbers of soldiers surged out of the Blood Sea, the hundred thousand Bloodguards blotting out the sky, their numbers sufficing to make anyone''s blood run cold.


    Unlike the bean soldiers, these soldiers didn''t have the ability to fight together. Fighting together required a certain level of intelligence, but the Bloodguards were nothing more than mindless puppets, so they naturally couldn''t do this.


    But each Bloodguard had impressivebat abilities, all of them having the strength of the initial Hundred Refinement Tier, and all of them were body cultivators.


    One hundred thousand Hundred Refinement cultivators put together was a terrifying strength. Even a Heart Demon or Soul Transformation True Person would be pulverized if they carelessly took on this sort of charge.


    As this terrifying tsunami approached, Na Shan''s group also paled.


    "Big Brother Na Shan, what do we do?" Hei Yan shouted.


    "What else can we do?" Na Shan roared back. "Bring out your courage! Fight to the end!"


    "Right, fight to the end!" The representatives all shouted, their fighting will aroused.


    "Go and die!" Shui Yao shouted as she attacked first.


    Blue waves rippled through the air, sweeping toward the opposing army like an ocean, and within this ocean, the shapes of fiend beasts could be seen. The Bloodguards swept up into the waters were rushed by these fiend beasts and torn to shreds or simply swallowed whole. So many Bloodguards were swept up that the blue waters turned red.


    Qing Lian also made his move. This normally taciturn man was quite ruthless when he turned serious. His methods were extremely simr to Yiyi''s, relying on nts for battle. Green nts appeared out of nowhere and began to coil around enemies. With their sharp thorns and toothed coros, these gorgeous flowers were even more terrifying than man-eating beasts.


    Inparison, Na Shan and Hei Yan had simpler fighting styles.


    Hei Yan kept throwing out his ck mes, which were far more powerful than any spell art, burning Bloodguards to ash. As for Na Shan, he swung his Starshatter Axe again and again, unleashing wave after brilliant wave of energy. With each swing, a Bloodguard would be torn open and die on the spot. As he killed, he cried out in grief, "Apologies, my people!"


    Liu Qianyi''s charming arts were useless against puppets, but she had a prestigious master and so possessed many other various methods, and Tang Jie had also given her the Pentame Divine Fan, so with a wave of her hand, she conjured fierce mes that killed countless.


    Zuo Quanming was much more slippery. Rather than throwing himself into battle, he wielded his small silver sword and sought out isted or injured Bloodguards, finishing them off. It was a shameless way of doing things, but as the saying went, it was better to break one finger than injure ten, so his kill count wasn''t smaller than the rest.


    As for Tang Jie, he began to take out his formation diagrams.


    A yellow curtain appeared, and shouts began to rise and fall from within the Hall of Three Immortals as earthen giants emerged from the soil to meet the Bloodguards.


    The Earthen Legion Formation!


    The greatest use of this formation was to convert soil into puppets to do battle. It was the best for group battles and was one of the Tang Jie''s strongest formation diagrams. s, as they were in the air, there was no soil to convert, only some Cloud Mud to serve as a substitute, making the giants much weaker in numbers and strength. But under the pressure of the Blood River army, Tang Jie had no choice but to use it.


    After deploying the Earthen Legion Formation, Tang Jie took out another formation diagram. The diagram lit up, and eighteen scarlet bronze pirs rose up, each pir bearing four mirrors of Violet ss, for 72 mirrors in total. The mirrors rotated around, throwing off balls of light that fell upon the Bloodguards, who began to dissolve. The 72 mirrors caused Bloodguard after Bloodguard to fall mid-charge.


    Tang Jie then took out another formation diagram, but this one ascended into the sky, where it became a cloud that cast down bolts of lightning.


    Finally, he used the Nine Heavens Cmity des, sending a ceaseless barrage of des, each one taking the life of a Bloodguard.


    All the representatives also took out everything they had, going one versus a hundred, a thousand, cutting through the endless Bloodguards as one would chop vegetables.


    But no matter how many they killed, more and more Bloodguards kepting.


    The Bloodguards refined by the Blood River Lord did not know pain, fatigue, or fear, charging up like machines. They did not fear death or strong opponents, and with spears in hand, they rushed up to their foes and thrust. They didn''t seek to kill, only to add another wound, or even waste a little bit of spiritual energy. Their formidable constitutions meant that even if they didn''t have spell arts, they were able to endure for a while under the storm of spell arts. Under the cover of their fellow soldiers in front of them, they came in wave after wave.


    They were simple killing machines, with no thought or soul. All they knew was how to kill. Though weak, thousands upon thousands of them filled the air with suffocating murderous intent.


    And the Blood River General at the very front was an elite of ughter, a symbol of savagery.


    He flitted through the crowd, and suddenly, he was in front of a Cloud Mud giant. With a light flick of his spear, the giant was nailed to the ground, and then the general rushed off to the next giant. He thrust his left hand into the giant''s chest, and with a single swipe, he turned the giant into debris before the giant he had stabbed through with the blood spear had even stopped twitching.


    A lightning boltshed out at the Blood River General, but the general only swayed a little, seeming unharmed. He then ran over to a representative and thrust out his spear. That representative immediately swung his sword to block, and a barrier was raised up around him. The Blood River General then moved up and thrust out a wed left hand, which acted as if the barrier wasn''t even there and lightly touched the representative''s body. A momentter, five gouts of blood exploded from his body.


    Thankfully, the representative managed to retreat quickly enough that the general couldn''t dig out his heart, but he was still severely injured and incapable of fighting for the time being, and he stared at the Blood River General in shock.


    Tang Jie was startled, and that sense of familiarity intensified.


    The Blood River General threw his head back and screeched, upon which even more Bloodguards rushed out in a frenzied charge.


    Cultivators had limited energy, and this constant battle was rapidly draining their reserves. They had already been relying on pills to keep up, and the Bloodguards only made things more difficult.


    It wasn''t just thew cultivators. Even the body cultivators were faring poorly.


    While Na Shan was still swinging the Starshatter Axe with great gusto, he felt like it was getting heavier, his strength so spent that he was starting to feel dizzy. But more and more Bloodguards kepting.


    A representative finally ran out of spiritual energy and could no longer do anything. He could only watch as the Bloodguards came in like a flood and engulfed him. In a blink of an eye, he was buried under the Bloodguards, and all that could be seen was blood spears stabbing down again and again into his body. The powerful body of the Spirit Ring Tier meant that he could survive a hundred spear stabs, but it also meant he had to endure more pain. As more spears stabbed into him, he was left so full of holes that he was basically a fish, and with a wretched cry, he finally died.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie wasn''t having a good time either.


    After summoning the Blood River Legion, the Blood River Lord could focus all of his power on Tang Jie. Four of his eight Heart Demon avatars converged on Tang Jie, showing how much he hated him.


    Tang Jie had no choice but to bring back some of the bean soldiers to hold off one avatar. The Treasure Cosmos Formation held off another, and Yiyi and Tutu also handled one, while he dealt with thest one.


    Even so, four Heart Demon avatars exerted an immense pressure on him.


    The Blood River avatar battling with Tang Jieughed as he pressed a giant hand down on him. "Tang Jie, do you have anything else up your sleeve?"


    Tang Jie swung out with his fists, and two streams of energy, red and white, collided with the crimson hand. There was a massive explosion that made that giant blood hand dissipate.


    "The Infinity Sphere Art?" The Blood River Lord snorted. "I didn''t expect you to have already cultivated it to this extent. Bybining the powers of Yin and Yang, it truly is possible to temporarily create a great power, but¡­ how much Yin Yang energy do you have to use? You probably can''tst long like this, right? Hahaha!"


    There was another bout of crazedughter as another giant hand formed in the Blood Sea.


    Tang Jie had no choice but to punch with both fists again, using the Infinity Sphere Art to also block this attack. But while these blood hands had a barely noticeable effect on the Blood Sea, it took Tang Jie a great deal of time to refine Yin Yang energy.


    Even so, Tang Jie didn''t retreat, retorting, "What about you? How long can youst? You must also be reaching your limit, no? While I might be using a lot of energy, I have medicine. But what about you? What do you have?"


    He took out a bottle of spirit pills and dumped the entire bottle''s contents into his mouth.


    Yes, although the Blood River Lord wasn''t using much energy now, his total consumption was rather significant.


    The Blood River Lord''s face darkened. "It''s enough to kill you!"


    "That''s not for certain!" Tang Jie grunted, and with a flip of his hand, he revealed another formation diagram.


    The Blood River Lord''s heart shivered.


    Just how many formation diagrams did this bastard have?


    The Earthfire Burst Formation had made the Blood River Lord afraid of Tang Jie''s formation diagrams, so the moment he saw one, he swiftly retreated.


    But this formation diagram wasn''t meant for him. It was meant for the endless Bloodguards.


    As the formation diagram flew out, a crescent moon rose up over the sea.


    A bright moon had risen over the sea!

 Chapter 601: Danger

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    As the crescent moon rose, its silver light illuminated the world, and then the light of sunset shone on the horizon.


    Silver radianceplemented the red sunset, but in the middle of this strange and beautiful phenomenon was endless killing intent.


    The light was gentle like the hand of a lover, and the representatives didn''t feel anything as it touched them, but when it fell on the Bloodguards, it was like pouring boiling oil onto snow. Steam instantly roiled up, the light melting away all the blood it touched, and the Bloodguards began to crumble.


    "The Ethereal Ocean Moon Formation! Illuminating the world with purifying light!" the Blood River Lord howled. "You''re the Water Moon Celestial Sovereign''s disciple!"


    "That is the ancestor of my lowly sect," Tang Jie said with a smile.


    The formation he had just used was the Basking Moon Sect''s Ethereal Ocean Moon Formation, one of the guardian formations of the Basking Moon Sect. It was passed down from the Water Moon Celestial Sovereign and intended for subduing evil and purging demonic energy. The Bloodguards were the work of evil arts, so there was no better formation than this to deal with them.


    The moment he used it, almost all the Bloodguards that had appeared so far were exterminated, with only that Blood River General managing to jump back into the Blood Sea before the moonlight killed him. Even so, the blood sma covering him had been devastated by the moonlight.


    The representatives were delighted by this sight.


    Hei Yan shouted, "Why didn''t you use it earlier!?"


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. "Because it''s the only one I have, and the Bloodguards¡­ There are still more of them."


    As he spoke, more Bloodguards emerged from the Blood Sea and continued to charge at them.


    Tang Jie''s original n was to wait until all the Bloodguards hade out and then use the formation to kill them all, but the Blood River Lord was extremely cautious with his soldiers, sending them out in batches rather than mindlessly sending all of them out.


    In the end, Tang Jie waited until he saw that everyone else had reached their limit to finally make his move.


    The Ethereal Ocean Moon Formation had only brought everyone a little breathing room, but as more Bloodguards charged out, the littleeback he had staged was very quickly reversed.


    And at this time, the Blood River General who had escaped into the Blood Sea returned.


    The Ethereal Ocean Moon Formation hadn''t been able to kill him, but it had burned most of his external flesh, revealing the ck bones within.


    Tang Jie was stunned when he saw these ck bones.


    He finally realized where that sense of familiarity hade from.


    The ghost guard!


    Looking once more at the ghost guard who had now be the Blood River General, Tang Jie said with excitement in his eyes, "And here I thought I had already lost you, but it seems not¡­ That''s great, that''s great!"


    He heartilyughed.


    The ghost guard once more began to sprint at Tang Jie, and as he ran, the blood sma flowed over him, healing the wounds caused by the formation. He ran faster and faster, gradually turning into a crimson arrow aimed straight at Tang Jie, his eyes burning with ghostly mes. It was clear that he didn''t recognize his master.


    Tang Jie angrily barked, "Stop! Evil beast, hurry ande back already!"


    Using the power of the Four-Nine True Words, he essentially gave the ghost guard a sharp strike to the head, bringing him back to his senses.


    His sprinting figure suddenly froze, his eyes losing focus, seeming confused and trying to remember something.


    But then those ghostly mes shed red, and the ghost guard regained hisposure and continued to charge at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie knew that this was the reason the Blood River Lord could control the ghost guard.


    He didn''t know the exact method the Blood River Lord had used, but whatever it was, the ghost guard was his, and he was going to take him back.


    Tang Jie clenched his teeth and muttered, "You were mine in the past, and you will be mine in the future!"


    He threw his head back and howled.


    It was a mournful, sharp, and savage howl, like the wailing of a ghost.


    Tang Jie was using the Ghost Summoning spell, the strongest ghost-controlling spell recorded in the Ghost ssic.


    The ghost guard was fundamentally still a ghost, and no matter what method the Blood River Lord had used on it, so long as he didn''t change its nature, the ghost-controlling methods of the Ghost ssic would still work. Moreover, this howl was also suffused with the power of the Four-Nine True Words, making it even more effective.


    As expected, the ghost guard shuddered once more, and the ghostly fires in his eyes flickered, and then something began to crack and burst within his body.


    "No!" the Blood River Lord howled.


    He could already sense that the seals he had ced within the Blood River General were shattering and breaking apart, and the ghost guard was beginning to break free.


    He knew that this was trouble, so he thrust out a palm with a howl, attacking not Tang Jie, but the ghost guard. At the same time, Tang Jie felt something intrude upon his connection with the ghost guard and savagely attack his mind.


    As expected of an Immortal tform Titan like the Blood River Lord, he had used the moment where Tang Jie was subduing the ghost guard to send a sliver of his mind into the ghost guard and then attack Tang Jie through it.


    This mental attack was a Divine Will attack. The Blood River Lord was paying a rather heavy price in the hopes of killing Tang Jie.


    This was the most dangerous attack Tang Jie had encountered yet, and even though he had taken medicines that had increased his resistance to Divine Will attacks, as the attack wasing through his link to the ghost guard, even Tang Jie wasn''t sure he could endure it. At this moment, there was a bright and brilliant cry.


    A giant firebird manifested behind Tang Jie.


    This firebird was simr to the firebird the Pale Cloud me had turned into, yet these mes weren''t those of the Pale Cloud me, but of another kind of divine me.


    "The Southern Divine Fire?" the Blood River Lord bellowed, staring behind Tang Jie in disbelief. "How could this be?"


    The firebird suddenly shrank down into a violet me, and then a girl shouted, "So unlucky! I barely came out to y and there''s already a problem. Tang Jie, you owe me for this. You decide for yourself how many drops of essence blood to deduct. I''m going first!"


    The voice disappeared.


    Tang Jie knew that the Vermillion Bird had manifested using the firebird within his body and called upon the Southern Divine Fire to save his life. The Southern Divine Fire was a me that attacked the mind, so it could naturally block the Blood River Lord''s Divine Will. But the price for this was that the Vermillion Bird had burned up that sliver of will she had left in Tang Jie''s body.


    The same act had alsopletely undone the seals within the ghost guard, and with a howl, he charged out of the Bloodguards, went up to Tang Jie''s side, and got down on one knee.


    "Master!"


    "Very good." Tang Jie smiled in satisfaction. "I originally thought you were dead, not expecting to get you back. It seems like you''ve gotten stronger."


    Everyone was dumbfounded by this scene.


    This Blood River General that had been tearing through them had suddenly be Tang Jie''s subordinate, leaving them both shocked and delighted.


    Na Shan shouted, "See if you can''t have himmand the Bloodguards to attack the Blood River Lord!"


    The Blood River Lord chuckled. "''Attack me''? Ridiculous! The army is mine. You think that the defection of a single general can let you control my army? Keep dreaming! I''ve lost onemander, so I can just make ten more! Divide my soul and enter their bodies! Rise!"


    As he shouted, one of the Blood River avatars suddenly divided into ten and threw themselves into the bodies of ten Bloodguards.


    A momentter, the ten Bloodguards let out mighty roars, blood sma flowing over their bodies and turning into robes, armor, helmets, and boots. Together with the spears they were already holding, they appeared identical to the ghost guard.


    These newborn Blood River Generals each had Spirit Ring Tier cultivation, and while they were a little weaker than the ghost guard inbat, they were just as savage, powerful, and fearless.


    The Blood River Lord pointed at the representatives and ordered, "Kill them!"


    Under themand of the ten generals, the Blood River army charged.


    Everyone could only groan at this sight. The Blood River Lord was just too strong, able to split himself ande together, and he seemed to have an endless number of tricks up his sleeves.


    Even Tang Jie''s formation diagrams couldn''t turn the tables, and gradually disintegrated under the endless tide of the enemy.


    The stone giants were pulverized into debris by a forest of spears.


    The eighteen pirs were toppled by the Bloodguards, the 72 mirrors shattered.


    The lightning cloud had to deal with countless arrows and tossed spears from the Bloodguards below, the powerful blood energy infused into them exploding within the cloud. Hole after hole was torn in the cloud, until there was nothing left.


    They stomped through thorns and marched atop blood with neat and orderly steps. Raising their spears, they advanced through a storm of spell arts.


    They were silent, cold-blooded, savage, and cruel.


    They congregated into a mighty crimson torrent that devoured all, and even the Nine Heavens Cmity de became nothing more than a small drizzle to it.


    In the face of this offensive, the representatives finally started to pay a terrifying price.


    Zheng Yuanjie, inheritor of the Hongwu Zheng n, possessor of the domineering Heavenly Son Fist, released powerful shockwaves with each punch. Like a diligent farmer harvesting wheat, his every swing would take the lives of several dozen Bloodguards. At least two thousand Bloodguards had fallen to him, and only when the 127th spear stabbed into him was he finally harvested himself.


    Gu Qii was a young expert from a demonic sect of the west, and his body was always covered in ck demonic energy that obscured his face. Akin to Tang Jie''s Flesh Millstone, this demonic energy was his greatest weapon, constantly grinding away his foes and absorbing their power for him to use, allowing him to keep going seemingly forever. But even this seemingly eternal demonic energy had a limit, and as it killed and killed, it faded until it gradually revealed the youth''s face. Hey on the ground, allowing the Bloodguards to stomp over him as he recalled his master''s teachings: The day your demonic energy is removed is the moment of your death. "Master, you were right about that." Heughed as he looked up at the sky and then closed his eyes for eternity.


    Xia Houqian was a beast puppet expert from the frozen regions of the pr north, and he had thirty-some wolf beast puppets like Nine Abyss Wolves and Iceseal Wolves, each oneparable to an ordinary Spirit Ring expert. His overall strength was such that he served as the vanguard of the representatives. But the vast Bloodguard army drowned out his puppets, and as the wolf beast puppets struggled and tore at the Bloodguards, they howled in pain. Finally, they would fall, vanishing with sshes of froth into the Blood Sea. When all the puppets disappeared, Xia Houqian fell into despair. He charged into their ranks and detonated his Celestial Heart, ending his battle and taking three hundred Bloodguards with him.


    Yun Tian was a prodigy with an eight-cycle Jade Gate, and he had a divine grasp of Wind-type spell arts. He possessed a movement technique simr to the Chaoswind Step that allowed him to freely travel through the army, and the Bloodguards couldn''t even touch him. He didn''t die because he ran out of spiritual energy. Rather, his confidence got to his head, allowing a Blood River avatar to creep up behind him and lightly press a palm to his back. This light touch temporarily stripped Yun Tian of his ability to teleport about, after which countless Bloodguards rushed in and dragged him into their crimson tide.


    Pang Ziruo, Cao Fei, Zhou Xingchen¡ªone representative after another was felled.


    These people were all prodigies of their respective factions, top of the ss among their peers. They had been called here by the Four Heavenly Kings, thinking that they could make a name for themselves, but because of this, they had run into the Blood River Lord and met an early end.

 Chapter 602: Elemental Simulation

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The fighting continued, and the losses continued to mount.


    Qing Lian summoned fiendish vines that created a naturalndscape in the sky, but under the attack of the Bloodguards, this nature gradually withered. Blood polluted the rivers, ate away at the trees, and made the flowers wilt. Floods of iron and blood engulfed everything, including Qing Lian.


    Li Feng, the young swordsman who was together with Liu Qianyi, was one of her admirers. The divine fire fan failed to halt the advance of the Bloodguards, but it did make Liu Qianyi rapidly consume spiritual energy. When Liu Qianyi swayed and realized to her shock that she didn''t have much spiritual energy left, it was Li Feng who blocked a blow for her. His barrier shattered, and he was dragged into the ranks of the Bloodguards. But he didn''t give up fighting, bursts of sword energy erupting and obliterating anyone who got close to him. Though he continued to shout and fight, everyone knew that the light would disappear eventually. And when the sword light disappeared, another life would meet its end.


    Even Na Shan and Young Master Hua were gradually reaching their limits.


    They were constantly retreating, and as they watched more and more Bloodguards squeeze their way into the battlefield, their hearts filled with despair.


    "Tang Jie!" Na Shan shouted. "If you''ve got anything else, hurry up and use it!"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "I do have a few more trump cards, but I can''t use them yet."


    "''Can''t use them yet''?" Na Shan and Hei Yan grew frantic. "We''re already at our limits. If you don''t use them now, you won''t get a chance to use them!"


    "The problem is that he isn''t at his limits," Tang Jie said, looking at the Blood River Lord. "He still has some tricks he hasn''t used yet."


    What?


    Everyone was stunned to hear that the Blood River Lord still had more tricks.


    Liu Qianyi suddenly said, "Then if I can get rid of the Bloodguards, you should be able to deal with the Blood River Lord''sst move, right?"


    "Of course," Tang Jie replied. "I''m keeping it precisely to deal with him."


    "You?" Everyone looked at Liu Qianyi.


    What could she have left?


    Liu Qianyi clenched her teeth and said, "Alright. At this point, there''s nothing else that can be done. Protect me!"


    She suddenly broke away from the battle and rushed toward the nearby Soaring Immortal Hall.


    Everyone else didn''t understand what she was doing and thought she was trying to escape. Just when they were about to curse at her, Tang Jie said, "Cover her! She''s going to activate the simtion formation!"


    ''The simtion formation''?


    What is that?


    Nobody knew what this was, but given Tang Jie''s performance in this battle, everyone chose to trust him.


    A momentter, countless spell arts exploded around her, sting away the Bloodguards and opening a path for her.


    The Blood River Lord also realized that something was wrong. Although he didn''t know what Liu Qianyi was trying to do, he understood the principle that one should thwart everything one''s enemy was trying to do. Seven Heart Demon avatars howled, and a giant hand formed within the Blood Sea and moved to strike Liu Qianyi.


    Liu Qianyi kept going without even giving it a second look, choosing to trust herrades.


    A dragon of ck mes rammed into the giant hand. As it exploded into mes, Hei Yan''splexion turned ghastly pale.


    The giant hand kept going.


    A giant axe streaked through the sky like aet, and then dissolved into light upon contact with the hand, and Na Shan grunted as he was sent flying.


    Countless crescent moon des covered in lightning and fire flew over. The fingers of that giant hand flicked out, turning those des into ash. Having the Nine Heavens Cmity des forcibly undone caused Tang Jie to throw up blood.


    The blood hand formed from thebined power of seven Heart Demon avatars continued to press forward as if it had encountered no opposition.


    Young Master Hua suddenlyughed and drew a circle in the air. The sky rippled, and a bizarre ck hole appeared and began to exert a powerful suction that pulled vast quantities of blood from the giant hand. But the Blood River Lord didn''t stop, the hand continuing to press forward. The seven Heart Demon avatars were even willing to sacrifice their own bodies, pouring all of it into the ck hole. The ck hole finally reached its limit and exploded, the immense power of the explosion also wiping out the hand.


    But just when the blood hand was copsing, a finger broke free from it, prating through that destructive vortex and striking Liu Qianyi in the back.


    "No!" everyone shouted in unison.


    At this moment, a golden mirror appeared on her back in a sh of light. The finger struck the mirror, and time seemed to stop. And then the mirror shattered, and the finger pressed onto Liu Qianyi''s back and shattered her barrier. Liu Qianyi let out a cry, blood spilling out from her as she charged into the hall.


    Everything stopped.


    Everyone, including the Blood River Lord, stopped what they were doing and looked at the Soaring Immortal Hall.


    They didn''t know whether Liu Qianyi was still alive, whether she could survive taking an attack that had so much of the Blood River Lord''s power behind it.


    Time seemed to move so slowly that one second felt like a year.


    Perhaps it was only one or two seconds, yet it felt like eons. Finally, a light shone out over the Soaring Immortal Hall, condensing into a thick pir of light that extended to the heavens.


    "Whoo!" The representatives all cheered.


    As the beam of light shed, spilling its light over the world, countless flickering and unreal scenes began to appear in the sky.


    "This is¡­" The Blood River Lord stared up at those scenes in shock.


    Those images drifted down from the sky as if they had mass, and then everyone witnessed the Hall of Three Immortals be its own world.


    This world had mountains and rivers, cities and roads, birds and beasts, and even people to inhabit it.


    It no longer felt like they were in the Hall of Three Immortals, but out in the cosmos, watching a world pass through time. And then, in the blink of an eye, they had left the river of time and were within a bustling city.


    They saw pedestrians walking here and there,ughing and chatting. The representatives and the Blood River Lord looked at each other, neither understanding what was going on.


    Tang Jie seemed to understand a little, muttering, "The formation of simtion¡­ simting the secrets of the heavens."


    He thoughtfully gazed around him.


    But he wasn''t given much opportunity toprehend all this.


    While the representatives were stunned by the sights, the mindless Bloodguards continued their march.


    Ignoring the scenes around them, they continued to attack the representatives.


    rmed, everyone could only keep retreating. As they retreated, they found that, for some reason, they couldn''t fly within the simtion formation, only run.


    A representative shouted as he retreated, "What''s going on? After wasting all that power and effort, all we got were these illusions? Can anyone tell me how we''re going to kill those Bloodguards with these illusions?"


    Nobody replied.


    They didn''t understand the significance of the simtion formation, nor did they understand why Liu Qianyi thought that activating the formation could deal with the Bloodguards.


    But at this moment, Tang Jie noticed something.


    He pointed and said, "Look at those Bloodguards."


    "Look at what? Big Brother Tang Jie." Hei Yan widened his eyes and looked over and over, but he didn''t notice anything special.


    "They''re walking on the road," Tang Jie replied.


    Everyone was dumbfounded. One person angrily said, "Duh! If they weren''t walking on the road, what would they be walking on?"


    "But there was no road there before," Tang Jie replied. He pointed at the road and said, "Before the formation activated, that ce was just empty space. And over there was a hall protected by a barrier. There should have been no walking through it."


    Tang Jie pointed at locations on the road. With his incredible memory, he had a clear idea of where everything had been before the formation appeared.


    After pointing out all this, Tang Jie said, "If this is an illusion formation, why have all the obstructions been removed and a road appeared out of nowhere?"


    "Are you saying that we''re not in an illusion, but in a real world?" Shui Yao asked.


    Everyone gasped, their blood turning cold.


    "Big Brother Tang Jie, are you saying that all this is real?" Hei Yan asked.


    "Perhaps it''s not real, but it''s also not an illusion," Tang Jie muttered. "It''s the future."


    "''The future''?" This word left everyone stunned.


    "Yes, ''the future''!" Tang Jie replied. "This simtion formation simtes the future of every person. The future contains countless possibilities and countless directions. Because every kind of possibility can exist, every kind of possibility is real. But in the end, only one possibility can be realized, so every possibility could also be fake. This isn''t an illusion, but an existence between reality and illusion. And in this ce, reality and illusion can interchange."


    Everyone looked at each other, and after a while, Na Shan grumbled, "I don''t care about some changing between reality and illusion. I just want to know how we can use this formation to kill them."


    "The simtion formation is meant for simting the future, so it itself does not possess the power to kill." A voice came from behind them, and everyone turned around to see Liu Qianyiing out from a room. Some blood was flowing from the corner of her mouth, and her steps were unsteady. It was clear that the Blood River Lord''s palm had inflicted serious wounds on her. "But just as Young Master Tang said, the future is full of possibilities. Every decision we make could affect our future. The simtion formation simtes the future, so it''s constantly changing, and many of these changes will depend on your actions."


    "''Our actions''?" Na Shan narrowed his eyes.


    "Yes!" Liu Qianyi confirmed. "In this world, everything we do is interconnected, our every action influencing the future, and some of them are more important than most. The changes of the simtion formation are unfathomable, and it is suffused with the Great Daos. It has Yin and Yang, and it has Reality and Illusion. It has Space and Time, able to gain a foothold in the river of time and peer into the future. And it also has Karma and Fate. If you give it a cause, it will give you an effect."


    "I see." Tang Jie got what she was saying.


    He turned to the Bloodguards and muttered, "Bloodguards don''t have minds of their own, and their nature is to kill. I don''t know what sort of effect the simtion formation will give them, but I at least know what sort of cause they will give the formation¡­"


    As Tang Jie spoke, the charging Bloodguards began to ughter the surrounding pedestrians.


    Yes, those pedestrians created by the simtion formation were being massacred by the Bloodguards.


    They were killing machines and showed sympathy to no one. They simply advanced and killed all in their way.


    The representatives retreated while the Bloodguards advanced, and the existences within this illusory city suffered.


    Whether they were real or fake, the Bloodguards killed them all.


    Tang Jie felt like he was back in Basking Moon Academy''s Celestial Execution Hall, remaining unmoved as an entire city was ughtered.


    Blood flowed through the city, and cries of misery and sorrow rang out.


    If this was the future, it was a most tragic future.


    Finally, the people of the city were enraged by the Bloodguards.


    The scene suddenly shifted, and the representatives observed themon folk of the city pouring out with whatever they could use as weapons. With hoes, pitchforks, shovels, and scythes in hand, they charged at the Bloodguards. Chopping boards and pot lids served as their shields, kitchen knives anddles as their weapons. In vast numbers they charged into the fray andmenced their own massacre.


    Illusion turned into reality¡ªthat of an enraged popce rising up in rebellion.


    The Bloodguards, which had always had the advantage in numbers, were suddenly lost in the tide of the people''s war.


    Tang Jie saw people shouting and howling as they poured in from all sides like ocean waters.


    The Bloodguard army soon vanished like a rock thrown into the sea, throwing up a little froth before disappearing without a trace.

 Chapter 603: Wherever I Go, There Is the Immortal Path

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The unstoppable Bloodguard army was gone, just like that, leaving everyone stunned.


    The development was so absurd that everyone was still trying to understand what had happened.


    "Just¡­ gone?" Hei Yan weakly asked.


    "Gone," Liu Qianyi confirmed.


    "Who killed them, then?" Shui Yao asked.


    Liu Qianyi prettily smiled and cocked her head. She then answered, "I don''t know either. The formation can only simte ording to our choices. It is both real and unreal. If you have to say that the Bloodguards were killed by someone, then I think you can say that the Bloodguards killed themselves. They made a choice, and the simtion formation gave them the corresponding fate. Everything that happened just now was the process of realizing this fate."


    ''The Bloodguards killed themselves''?


    Everyone looked to the distance in confusion.


    The raucous crowd had dispersed, that berserk energy hibernating once more.


    The streets returned to peace and calm. The blood and bodies disappeared, and even the traces of battle gradually disappeared.


    The city was changing before their eyes, time rapidly and very obviously flowing past.


    They seemed to be standing in the river of time, watching new dayse and go, people living their lives from dawn to dusk. That bloody battle went from the future to history, vanishing without a trace.


    None of this could be described with words, or evenprehended, and their minds were filled with the fog of confusion.


    Perhaps it really was as Liu Qianyi said, that they had killed themselves.


    Liu Qianyi suddenly said, "To deal with the Bloodguards, I activated the simtion formation to the maximum extent, unleashing all of the power it had. Thus, after this, the formation will cease to exist. For everyone to be able to enter this formation is destiny, so you might as well use this opportunity to find your own destiny and also recover your spiritual energy and physical strength."


    "''Find our own destiny''?" everyone muttered.


    "Yes," Liu Qianyi replied. "Remember: every choice we make is connected to our future!"


    Hei Yan shouted, "What about the Blood River Lord? Are we not fighting with him anymore?"


    Liu Qianyi smiled. "This formtion simtes the secrets of the heavens and is bursting with secrets, containing an infinite world. Once you go in, you wille across many different encounters. It''s not something that you can easily interact with."


    Everyone then understood that they hadn''t truly entered the simtion formation yet and were only on the perimeter.


    They pped their hands and smiled. "That''s great!"


    Tang Jie was also happy, for it seemed like this fight had an intermission for resting.


    As Liu Qianyi had said, everyone was tired and needed time to recover. Searching for their destiny in the formation was killing two birds with one stone.


    That Young Master Hua then asked, "You said it''s not easily interacted with, but does that mean that it is possible to interact with it?"


    "That will depend on your choices," Liu Qianyi replied. "The simtion formation is a ce for simting fate, which is the most mysterious and inscrutable thing. Anything can happen in the future, and anything can not happen¡­"


    The mood turned solemn at these words.


    After Liu Qianyi was done talking, everyone closed their eyes and began to meditate, sending their minds into the formation.


    A few momentster, Tang Jie opened his eyes and found that he was no longer in the city, but atop a majestic mountain. Around him were other tall mountains, and floating around him were thick dark clouds. In the distance, he could make out a vast metropolis, aglow with light and alive with people, the embodiment of peace and prosperity.


    There was no one around him. Those people he had fought alongside were gone, and even Yiyi had disappeared.


    Tang Jie knew that everything starting from now would depend on his choices.


    After some thought, Tang Jie muttered, "As a cultivator, I stand above the mortal dust, which is why I start from a mountain. Down below is the impure and secr world, and above is the heavens. Since I seek the Immortal path, I should go up."


    He looked up at the sky and saw the clouds open up, revealing a spiraling ck vortex. Through the vortex, he could see a ray of light that illuminated a heavenly court where countless Immortals chatted andughed.


    Tang Jie chuckled and began to fly toward the vortex.


    He was midway when he heard someone calling out to him from below.


    He looked back and saw Xu Miaoran standing there, holding Yiyi. She was shouting something at him, but he couldn''t hear her.


    Tang Jie was about to fly down when he saw the vortex begin to contract. If he went down to pick up Xu Miaoran and Yiyi, he wouldn''t have time to enter the vortex.


    Tang Jie naturally understood that the Xu Miaoran and Yiyi down below were illusions, but he also knew that everything he did could affect the future, so he couldn''t make any decision lightly. Today''s illusion might be tomorrow''s most real truth.


    After taking onest look at the vortex, he flew back down without further hesitation. He returned to the cliff, and just when he was about to sweep up Xu Miaoran and Yiyi, the two of them turned into two horned ck devils that attacked Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was about to cut them down when he suddenly recalled Liu Qianyi''s words: every choice they made was connected to their future.


    He stopped his sword and put up his Formless Golden Body. Just as the devils were about to reach him, they suddenly turned back into Xu Miaoran and Yiyi and entered his embrace.


    So it was the devils that had been illusions.


    Was it saying that Xu Miaoran and Yiyi would turn into devils in the future?


    Or was there another exnation?


    Tang Jie didn''t know.


    He looked up and saw the vortex closing. In its veryst moments, Tang Jie saw that heavenly court behind the vortex shatter into a million fragments and fly up to the heavens.


    Dark clouds obscured the sky once more, all bing quiet.


    There was no more path to the heavens, but in the surrounding mountains, countless seated phantoms appeared, their forms blurry and indistinct.


    The path to the heavens has been severed!


    A voice resounded and echoed in Tang Jie''s mind, banging at his heart.


    Tang Jie shook his head. "No, this isn''t the future I want to know."


    He raised the Sovereign de and pointed it at the sky. "I seek the Great Dao, not to be some Immortal in the heavens. So long as the Great Dao exists, then there is a road. As for where this road leads, that''s not important! Wherever I go, there is the Immortal path!"


    Wherever I go, there is the Immortal path!


    As he spoke, a thunderp resounded through the heavens.


    The entire world seemed to pale.


    A gray and hazy color obscured the sky.


    Xu Miaoran and Yiyi disappeared.


    Tang Jie began to fly upward once more.


    There was no vortex in the clouds, no path, but Tang Jie didn''t care.


    He just flew upward, higher and higher.


    Suddenly, countless devils and fiends emerged from the clouds, charging at Tang Jie, and Tang Jie discovered that even the likes of Shi Wunian, the Blood River Lord, the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk, and the me Celestial Sovereign could be found among them. They let out enraged roars as they rushed at him, seemingly trying to stop his ascent.


    Wielding the Sovereign de, Tang Jie fearlessly soared upward.


    The Beast Refining Gate''s Heng Wudi was first to charge in, and he was cut down by Tang Jie with one strike.


    Next was Godhead Pce''s Shi Wunian, who was cleaved in two by Tang Jie''s de.


    Following him were the me Celestial Sovereign and the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk. Whoever it was, they were all killed in a single strike.


    All these Titans had was their intimidating auras,cking the resolve to halt his advance.


    But when the Blood River Lord appeared before Tang Jie, just when Tang Jie was about to strike him down, the Blood River Lord shouted, "Tang Jie, bing an Immortal is easy, but attaining the Dao is hard! I am bound to be one of those who stand in the way of your Immortal path!"


    "Then you are bound to be killed by me!" Tang Jie callously replied, swinging his saber.


    "No! This will not be reality!" the Blood River Lord howled.


    At the same time, elsewhere in the simtion formation, the Blood River Lord, who stood before a vast sea of blood, suddenly cried out, "How could this be? How could this brat Tang Jie be capable of ying me? Simtion formation, show me! I want to see how exactly he was able to kill me!"


    The scene in front of him shifted, and a simtion yed out before the Blood River Lord''s eyes.


    Upon seeing the very final scene, the Blood River Lord bellowed, "The sheath! So he was the one with the Immeasurable Sword''s sheath and hilt! No wonder he didn''t stop me from subduing the sword spirit! Bastard, bastard, bastard!"


    In the simtion, the Blood River Lord saw himself refining the sword spirit, and then he saw Tang Jie raising the hilt and taking back control of the Immeasurable Sword, resulting in the key to the Treasure Paradise changing owners, upon which Tang Jie gathered together the sword spirits and easily slew him.


    After his anger had passed, the Blood River Lordughed. "You are too kind to me! If you hadn''t activated this simtion formation to let me simte the future, I would have never known that Tang Jie had the sword hilt. Since I now know, let me see how you try to use it to take my treasure from me now! My victory in this battle is certain! Hahaha!"


    As he spoke, the Blood River Lord fell from the sky.


    The formation simted the future, but every person had only one opportunity.


    Whether or not this future would actually take ce, once the path was set, there was no going back to the start.


    Everything seemed ordained by destiny. Because Tang Jie had killed a phantom of the Blood River Lord in his ascension, the Blood River Lord had sensed it and so had chosen to glimpse the near future.


    But Tang Jie had chosen differently.


    For him, this battle was just a small interlude on the long path of Immortality, not worth stopping and squandering this precious opportunity.


    He wanted to glimpse the Heavenly Dao!


    This was why he charged his way upward, killing all in his path.


    The Sovereign de grew brighter and brighter in the process,rger andrger. Gradually, it became a mountain-cleaving axe, like the same divine weapon that had shattered the heavenly court.


    "Open!" Tang Jie yelled, his axe shining with the most brilliant light, seeking to tear open the firmament.


    The clouds broke apart, and the ray of light appeared once more.


    The vortex reappeared, exerting a powerful pull that guided him upward.


    Tang Jie felt this scene to be very familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.


    After thinking for a while, Tang Jie suddenly shuddered in realization. "The Dream Pearl Lady painting!"


    At this moment, in this vast mountain range covered in dark clouds, a vortex spiraled, and a single person ascended from the summit.


    This was exactly what he had seen in his dream of the Pearl Lady.


    Could it be¡­


    As he realized something, a finger suddenly emerged from the vortex.


    It was a pure white finger, like a pir of the heavens. It extended out of the clouds, pierced through the vortex, and stabbed into Tang Jie.


    Pulverizing his body in a single strike!

 Chapter 604: Foreboding

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    "Agh!" Screaming, Tang Jie grasped his head and sat up.


    He found that he had returned to that lively city.


    He was sitting in a restaurant, and around him were Liu Qianyi, Na Shan, and the others, but he couldn''t recall how he had gotten here.


    The scene before his death was still ying out before his eyes, and the recollection of being pulverized under that finger made him shiver.


    Just who did that finger belong to?


    Why had they killed him?


    Was this something he would inevitably experience in his pursuit of the Heavenly Dao?


    He didn''t find fighting Shi Wunian, the Blood River Lord, or even the me Celestial Sovereign to be weird, but that finger was inexplicable! It gave him a feeling familiar to the Dream Pearl Lady painting, but it left him utterly confused.


    As he was wondering what was going on, Liu Qianyi''s voice rang out next to his ear. "You''re awake? Young Master Tang, what did you inquire about, and what was the end result?"


    After some thought, Tang Jie replied, "I inquired about the Great Dao, and the end was a grisly death."


    Liu Qianyi covered her mouth and chuckled.


    "You?" Tang Jie asked.


    Liu Qianyi rolled her eyes at him and didn''t reply.


    Another voice piped up, "You need to ask? Miss Liu must have inquired about her marriage, seeking a husband that suits her desires within the simtion formation!"


    Hei Yan was the one who had spoken.


    Liu Qianyi rolled her eyes at him, but she still didn''t say anything. It seemed like Hei Yan''s guess wasn''t far off.


    Tang Jie asked him, "And what about you?"


    Hei Yan scratched his head and answered, "I''ve reached a bottleneck in my cultivation of the Charred Heaven me, so I put the question to the simtion formation and finally learned where the problem was. If I don''t die here, I will be able to make some progress."


    Liu Qianyimented, "Using your one chance at future simtion on a single art is too much of a waste."


    Hei Yan grinned. "I also know that it''s rather wasteful, but the Immortal path is too long, and seeking the Dao is too difficult. Big Brother Tang tried toprehend the Heavenly Dao, but what did he get? Only death."


    Tang Jie nodded. "Hei Yan is right. The more far-off the object of your desire, the more indistinct things are, and the more unreal and unfathomable the future that is formed. I sought the Heavenly Dao, but all I learned was clouded in fog, and I don''t even know how I died. If we really had topare, I''m worse off than Hei Yan and his practicality."


    Hei Yan giggled.


    At this moment, Na Shan also opened his eyes, his expression grim. "I saw the simted result of this battle."


    "How was it?" everyone asked.


    Na Shan replied, "We all died."


    Everyone turned gloomy.


    "How is it that we still lost even after all the Bloodguards died?" Hei Yan frantically asked. "He only has eight avatars left."


    Na Shan shook his head. "I don''t know, but I saw the Blood River Lord smuglyughing as he waved a sword, sending out countless rays of sword light. Under this sword, all of us were wailing, bleeding¡­ dying!"


    Tang Jie was startled. "You''re saying you saw him using the Immeasurable Sword against us?"


    Na Shan nodded.


    How could this be?


    Tang Jie''s mind was reeling.


    At this moment, another voice spoke. "How interesting! I saw an entirely different result."


    It was Shui Yao.


    Tang Jie turned to her, and she charmingly smiled. "I saw the heavens copsing and earth churning as they were reversed. I heard the Blood River Lord crying out in indignation, saw the world being purged by fire¡­ You''re right in that Blood River has one final trump card, and you have one as well. I don''t know what it is, but I know that you were fighting with him."


    "What about the result?" Tang Jie asked.


    Shui Yao shook her head. "I don''t know. I was dead by then."


    Everyone fell silent.


    After a while, a representative suddenly asked, "Why is it that two people looking at the same thing saw a different result?"


    Liu Qianyi replied, "It might not be a different result. There''s a possibility that these are just different phases. And I said before that different choices can produce different results, so it''s not strange for there to be differences."


    "Then what sort of choice led to the difference?"


    "I don''t know¡­" Liu Qianyi trailed off. "There are too many unknowns. Maybe it''s just an unconscious act like the raise of a hand or the wave of a head, a seemingly innocent smile, an inadvertent nce, a mncholic thought upon seeing the wind blow through the flowers. Na Shan and Shui Yao are twopletely different people, and with all those differences, they would naturally see twopletely different results."


    "In other words, even if there were more people who looked at this battle, they might getpletely different results, yet there''s a chance that none of it could happen, right?"


    "Yes."


    "Then what''s the point?"


    Liu Qianyi stopped talking.


    She also didn''t have an answer to this question.


    But she at least understood why her master had told her to only ask about cultivation and nothing else.


    The matters of the world were just too vast andplicated, so easy to change that they were simply impossible to predict.


    In contrast, cultivation was much simpler. It was no wonder her master had been able to cultivate a supreme charming art while she had only managed toprehend the Dao of supreme love.


    Liu Qianyi had no response to these doubts, but thankfully, Tang Jie spoke up for her.


    "Of course there''s a meaning. These effects cannote about without a cause. To deduce the cause from the effect is the meaning."


    "And what sort of cause can you deduce?"


    Tang Jie smiled.


    He took up a cup from the table in front of him and then threw out the water in the cup, sshing it onto the ground.


    "The cup in the water is the cause, and the drops of water spilled out are the effect. While they all share the same cause, each resulting effect has minute differences. It is for this reason that going from cause to effect isn''t very easy, and even the simtion formation will give a different answer for the same cause depending on the person. But if you work backward, from effect to cause, calcting from those countless spilled drops of water where the water came from, that''s still possible."


    He lightly waved his hand, and the water drops magically returned to the cup.


    "I have now seen two effects, so I need more answers. Only then can I understand where the critical inflection point is," Tang Jie casually said. "So¡­ is there anyone else besides Na Shan and Shui Yao who chose to look into today''s battle? I need more clues. Once I have enough effects, I can find out the cause."


    He looked around, but everyone silently shook their heads.


    Tang Jie looked at Young Master Hua, who replied, "Like you, I sought the Heavenly Dao and failed, but I managed to obtain some enlightenment within the painting."


    Tang Jie turned to Yiyi, who replied, "I saw Little Brother Bao''er¡­ in that ce."


    Tang Jie was surprised. "You saw him?"


    Yiyi earnestly nodded. "With you!"


    "''In that ce''?"


    "In that ce!"


    Tang Jie understood.


    He then looked to the others to learn what they had seen.


    There were others like Na Shan and Shui Yao who had looked at today''s battle, and their results werergely simr, with only minor differences.


    The future was unpredictable, and even the simtion formation found it difficult to glimpse.


    The answer was so absurd and iprehensible that even Tang Jie was left baffled.


    But their lives were at stake in this battle, and he couldn''t afford to be careless.


    He surveyed the room and saw that everyone was worried.


    Some people were ashamed that entering the formation had made them forget about the most important thing, and others were sighing as they pondered how to beat the Blood River Lord.


    The puzzling future had heaped another burden onto everyone''s hearts, Na Shan''s weighty words leaving all of them in pain.


    It was at this point that Tang Jie noticed that there was still someone who hadn''t said anything.


    He looked over and spotted Zuo Quanming seated in a corner, his head lowered in silence.


    Curious, Tang Jie asked, "What did you see? Why aren''t you saying anything?"


    Zuo Quanming shuddered at his question.


    He looked up at Tang Jie and squeezed out an ugly smile. "N-nothing."


    Tang Jie frowned. "If you say it''s nothing, then it definitely must be something. There''s no way you would say this if it had been about cultivation, so you must have observed today''s battle. Why aren''t you saying anything?"


    Zuo Quanming shrank back. "It''s really nothing."


    Tang Jie began to lose his patience. "Stop messing around and cough it up already. Even if you saw all of us die, it''s fine. It''s only if you tell us that we can take precautions against it, right?"


    Zuo Quanming thought it over for a long time before finally saying, "I¡­ I saw you die."


    There was stunned silence.


    This was the most definitive future event they had heard so far.


    And everyone understood how important Tang Jie''s strength was to this battle.


    Without Tang Jie, they had no hope of resisting the Blood River Lord.


    If Tang Jie died, none of them could even think about surviving.


    All of them were stricken by sorrow and grief.


    But Tang Jie''s brow creased, his eyes narrowing as he stared at Zuo Quanming. "Something''s not right. If this was the case, why would you be so reluctant to say it?"


    Startled, Zuo Quanming said, "I was worried about bringing down morale."


    Is that so?


    Tang Jie was even more suspicious.


    Someone of Zuo Quanming''s personality wouldn''t be so cowardly over something like this!


    He solemnly dered, "You. Are. Lying!"


    Zuo Quanming cried out, "No, I''m not!"


    Tang Jie suddenly grabbed Zuo Quanming by the neck and pressed him to the table. "Talk! What, exactly, did you see?"


    ng! He pulled out the Sovereign de and pressed it against Zuo Quanming''s neck. "If you tell me one more lie, I''m cutting off your head!"


    Zuo Quanming was aghast. He certainly didn''t have the ability to regrow his head like the Blood River Lord. With his abilities, if this saber took his head, his life was probably done for. He wailed, "No! No! It''s really nothing!"


    "Talk!" Tang Jie roared, his voice thundering in Zuo Quanming''s mind.


    He finally shouted, "I''ll talk! I''ll talk! I saw¡­ I saw¡­"


    "What did you see?!"


    Zuo Quanming took in a deep breath and finally said, "I saw me killing you!"


    "What?" Tang Jie was taken aback.


    Zuo Quanming fearfully replied, "I don''t why either! I really had no thoughts about wanting to kill you, but I saw¡­


    "Saw you dying to my sword!"

 Chapter 605: Fate Standard

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Slowly putting down his saber, Tang Jie sat back down by the table and released Zuo Quanming.


    Zuo Quanming exhaled in relief. He wanted to exin himself, but Tang Jie waved a hand and stopped him. "I know what you want to say. Don''t worry. I won''t kill you for this."


    Yiyi came over and whispered to Tang Jie, "Big Brother, don''t worry. Remember: I saw you going with me to see Bao''er."


    "But it could be another me, right?" Tang Jie replied.


    Yiyi immediately fell silent.


    There existed the main body and the avatar, so why couldn''t it be that Yiyi had gone to see Bao''er with the main body after the avatar died here?


    In the past, it wouldn''t have been all that important if the avatar had died.


    But now, after so many years of adventuring, the avatar had grown just as much as the original body, and Tang Jie could no longer treat it as just an avatar.


    The main body and the avatar were like his hands, and there had ceased to be a difference between them long ago. Losing either one would be a heavy blow!


    Tang Jie fell silent, closing his eyes as he began to think.


    He once more used his reserves of Karma power, trying to work backward from the effect to the cause.


    Countless scenes shed in front of him, episodes of tough and gruesome battle ying out before him. He saw the Blood River Lord madlyughing, saw him and everyone else locked in a bitter struggle against the Blood River Lord, saw them fighting a hopeless battle, saw all of his intricate arrangements being obliterated in front of the Blood River Lord.


    Suddenly, a scene appeared in front of Tang Jie that made him freeze in shock.


    "Did you think of something?" Liu Qianyi urgently asked.


    And then she saw a shocking sight.


    Lights were spinning in Tang Jie''s eyes, his white sclera and ck pupils bing ck and white Yin Yang fish, spinning like a Taiji diagram.


    Liu Qianyi was entranced, and she felt the world spinning around her.


    She felt like she had returned to her childhood, watching as she ran barefoot through a meadow, a man and woman lovingly watching on. Suddenly, an eagle swept down from the heavens, stirring up a mighty gust. In the middle of the whirling dust, the eagle seized her in its ws and flew off to a distant mountain, leaving behind cries of grief and misery down below. She was carried by the eagle for a very long time, until she saw a nest built on a cliff. She saw two chicks waiting to be fed, hungrily looking at her. The eagle dropped her into the nest, but just when she was about tond, she heard a voice shout, "Beast!"


    There was a boom, and when she opened her eyes, she found that she had fallen into the hands of a middle-aged beauty.


    "Master!" Liu Qianyi was stunned.


    These memories from her childhood had long ago faded into the past, but now, it was all being reyed before her without a single error or omission.


    As she watched her master embrace her, she began to cry.


    "Miss Liu, Miss Liu, what''s wrong?" Anxious cries woke Liu Qianyi up, and she discovered that she was still seated at the table. Tang Jie''s spinning eyes of ck and white had disappeared, and he was looking at her in concern.


    "Ah!" Liu Qianyi blushed. She looked down and said, "It''s¨C it''s nothing."


    Tang Jie looked at her and softly said, "I was reversing Karma to try and find the cause from the effect. The power of Karma might have affected others."


    "I see," Liu Qianyi softly whispered. "Young Master Tang possesses astonishing insight, understanding the Dao of Formations, Yin Yang, Five Elements, and even Karma and Fate."


    "I would not dare to im that I know about Fate, and I only have some meager understanding of the Dao of Karma. In fact, today''s events have increased my understanding of it a little more," Tang Jie indifferently replied.


    Unlike other Daos, the Dao of Karma primarily relied on understanding. If one understood it, one passed, and if one didn''t understand it, one could waste all the time in the world to no avail.


    Ever since Tang Jie hadprehended Karma back in the academy, though he had tried to work on his understanding, he had found it difficult to make progress. It was for this reason that he hadn''t expected that his attempt at reversing Karma would let him make so much progress in this long-stalled Dao.


    Because of this, when Liu Qianyi looked into his eyes, she was inadvertently pulled into the past and re-experienced her childhood. What she didn''t know was that Tang Jie had also seen her childhood, but Tang Jie was simply acting dumb and pretending not to know.


    Na Shan asked Tang Jie, "So?"


    Tang Jie replied, "I have an inkling, but I can''t be too sure about it."


    Na Shan smiled. "The future is constantly changing and has never been a sure thing. If you have some inkling, at least we can take precautions."


    "Of course!" Tang Jie nodded.


    "So then, what do we do next?" someone asked.


    Tang Jie looked around. "Have all of you finished recovering?"


    "My spiritual energy is all recovered. I can go three hundred rounds without a problem!"


    "Then what are we waiting for?" Tang Jie stood up and shouted, "Let''s fight to our heart''s content!"


    "Yes, let''s fight that old man to our heart''s content!" Everyone stood up and cheered.


    Liu Qianyi had recovered from her shock by now, so she smiled and said, "If that''s the case, I will stop the formation."


    She lightly waved her hand, and a silvery light flowed out from it.


    Everyone started to fly up into the air, leaving that thriving city far below them. It was the exact opposite of when they first entered the formation, and they flew higher and higher, up into the clouds, into the stars, through the domain barrier and into the infinite void.


    And then, everything began to shatter.


    It was like shattered ss, shard after shard falling away before their eyes!


    Tang Jie and the others felt like they were standing at the very edge of the world as they witnessed this all.


    Entering had brought forth new life, and leaving had brought forth destruction!


    Tang Jie cried out in shock, "Wait a moment!"


    Liu Qianyi replied in shock, "''Wait'' for what? The simtion formation is in the middle of closing. It can''t be stopped!"


    Tang Jie stared at the shattering world, feeling like he was on the verge of grasping something: this process of life to destruction was suffused with the essence of the simtion formation.


    It was the foundation stone of the world, the core of change, the source of all things, the pivot of the Great Dao!


    It was Fate!


    Tang Jie suddenly rushed forward.


    "Tang Jie!" Liu Qianyi cried out in fright.


    The simtion formation was in the middle of copsing, and if Tang Jie charged in at this moment, he was bound to be obliterated along with the formation, so dead that not even dregs would be left.


    With the world crumbling around him, Tang Jie charged in, his body flickering like it might also crumble at any moment.


    Tang Jie suddenly flung out his hand, and a beam of light issued from his body into the world below. In response, a beam of light rose up from the crumbling formation, and then a point of light flew out of the world, shooting toward Tang Jie like a lightning bolt and disappearing into his body.


    Tang Jie''s body shed, and then he seemed to freeze, along with the entire world.


    After a split second, the world returned to normal, but began to copse even faster. Tang Jie could feel more and more spatial fissures appearing around him.


    This was an omen of a world''s destruction, aplete copse in the fabric of space. If he didn''t leave now, he would join the simtion formation in the void.


    "Tang Jie!" Liu Qianyi frantically shouted.


    Tang Jie turned and flew upward.


    Almost at the speed of light!


    As he flew upward, space crumbled behind him, turning into an absolute void.


    In front of him, the figures of Liu Qianyi and the others began to fade.


    They were withdrawing from the formation.


    "Hurry!" everyone shouted.


    Tang Jie flew as fast as he could.


    Everyone grew fainter and fainter, and Tang Jie knew that when theypletely disappeared, the passage out would be severed, and he would be trapped.


    "Big Brother!" Yiyi shouted.


    She flung out a small hand, sending a green vine flying toward Tang Jie, but this vine still wasn''t long enough.


    As Yiyi threw out the vine, her body turnedpletely transparent and disappeared.


    The transparency traveled along the vine, a streak of green flying across the sky while an invisible monster gobbled it up from behind.


    As the green was just about topletely disappear, Tang Jie suddenly lunged forward, leaping through that corridor of space and grabbing the end of the vine.


    The invisible monster rushed up and swallowed Tang Jie whole.


    In a sh, Tang Jie was gone.


    Emptiness and darkness rolled forward,pletely engulfing this world and wiping it from existence.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    Thud!


    Tang Jie dropped to the ground on his knees.


    He looked up and found that he had returned to the Hall of Three Immortals.


    Around him were clouds and celestial pces, and in the distance, his original body was fighting with the Blood River Behemoth. These two had been far too big for Liu Qianyi to dare bring them inside the formation, or else the formation would have crumbled long ago.


    But Tang Jie didn''t mind. One could share two bodies, but there was only one Fate to be obtained.


    Even if his original body had entered the simtion, the Fate simtion wouldn''t have changed, for in the eyes of the simtion, his two bodies were still one person.


    Regardless of what others saw, in the eyes of the Heavenly Dao, the soul was that which decided what was a life.


    Otherwise, wouldn''t the Blood River Lord with his thousands of avatars have thousands of lives?


    "Tang Jie!" Liu Qianyi rushed up and shouted into his face, "What were you doing!? You almost killed yourself!"


    "I know," Tang Jie indifferently replied as he stood up. "But I was willing to take the risk for such a great reward."


    "What sort of great reward would be worth risking your life?!" Liu Qianyi shouted.


    "What do you think about a reward that can help us defeat the Blood River Lord?" Tang Jie raised his hand, and a light slowly rose from it.


    This light seemed to be a living creature, wriggling around like a worm. But it was unable to escape Tang Jie''s palm, only radiating dazzling beams of light.


    "This is¡­" Everyone was bbergasted, unable toprehend what they were seeing.


    "A Fate Standard," Tang Jie replied. "A remnant of the Fate Celestial Compass, the core of the simtion formation."


    This was a stunning revtion. Tang Jie had actually managed to take that thing out with him?


    Hei Yan called out, "What can it do?"


    "A lot," Tang Jie answered.

 Chapter 606: Deception

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Fate!


    The most mysterious of the Twelve Great Daos, the most unpredictable and iprehensible of the Great Daos, second only to the Heavenly Dao, leader of the Great Daos.


    Difficult toprehend, difficult to understand, difficult to observe, difficult to perceive.


    Tang Jie had essed the Twelve Great Daos through Wisdom,prehending Yin Yang, learning the Five Elements, studying ughter, knowing of Destruction, unraveling Space and Time, understanding Life, and even gaining insight into the Dao of Karma. But despite all this, he didn''t have a single link to Fate, such was the difficulty ofprehending it.


    A Dao Standard was an aggregation of Dao Runes, a symbol of Dao Laws, the apex of Daoism, a physical manifestation of a Great Dao, and a supreme treasure to those who cultivated the Dao.


    A Fate Standard wriggled in Tang Jie''s hand.


    It was like a collection of countless rays of light, solid yet not solid, and in its writhing mass, one could see Dao Runes flickering in and out,ing together and breaking apart.


    Like a restless mudfish, it flopped around in Tang Jie''s hand a little before burrowing into his palm and vanishing.


    Everyone felt envy upon seeing this.


    But as Tang Jie had risked his life to get it, they couldn''t say anything.


    Only Hei Yan remained excited, asking, "With the Fate Standard, doesn''t that mean that you can simte the future? Eh? Doesn''t that make you a fortune teller?"


    "¡­" Tang Jie didn''t know what to say.


    But in truth, Hei Yan wasn''t wrong.


    The most important ability of the Fate Standard was to simte the future.


    Although not even the Fate Celestial Compass could urately predict the ever-changing future, there was meaning behind any existing possibility, and with meaning, there came a need to understand it.


    Most importantly, even if it couldn''t simte one''s true fate, at least it gave a point of rtive reference for the ever-changing Fate when cultivating, saving a great deal of time.


    But Tang Jie still replied, "While the Fate Standard does have this ability, it''s still far from enough. Don''t forget that even the simtion formation was limited in what it could do, so a single Dao Standard will only be less capable. But if you use it as a foundation to study Fate, bing a diviner isn''tpletely impossible."


    "Then I''ll be finding Big Brother Tang Jie to tell some fortunes for me in the future!" Hei Yan said with augh. He wasn''t envious like others, but he stated his demands without apprehension. It was an expression of such straightforwardness that showed that he treated Tang Jie as a true friend.


    "Of course," Tang Jie replied.


    As everyone had been there to see it, he couldn''t hide the fact that he had obtained the Fate Standard. While he could have stubbornly refused to talk about it, that would definitely make people think that he was valuing treasure over hisrades. Doing something like this when a powerful enemy needed to be dealt with was just digging his own grave.


    This was why Tang Jie had boldly revealed it, additionally exining, "The Fate Standard has already fused with me and can''t be separated. But its greatest ability is to reveal the future, both for me and for all of you. Myrades-in-arms, if we survive this battle, then what''s mine will also be yours. If you need to use it, then you just need to mention it, and Tang Jie will do his best!"


    Everyone''s minds were set at ease by these words.


    They all knew that the Fate Standard couldn''t be used without limit. Tang Jie was being extremely generous with this attitude, and their envy disappeared. They now felt that Tang Jie was the ideal candidate for this treasure.


    Na Shan said, "Don''t you think it''s still too early to talk about this? Don''t forget that the battle''s not over yet."


    Tang Jie turned to see the eight Blood River avatars standing nearby.


    The Soul Transformation avatar held the Immeasurable Sword. The sword spirit had stopped moving and had seemingly already been subdued. This meant that the attacking remnant sword spirits were also gradually withdrawing.


    The seven Heart Demon avatars stood in a row, coldly smiling at them.


    The Soul Transformation avatar shouted, "You all are pretty good, to have destroyed all my Bloodguards. But so what? I have subdued the sword spirit, and the Treasure Paradise is mine! From now on, I am the master of this world!"


    "So what if you control this world?" Tang Jie shouted back. "It just means you can use the world''s power as your own, but you have a Soul Transformation avatar and seven Heart Demon avatars. If you put them all together, you''re basically half a step from Violet Pce, which is already capable of harnessing the power of the world. This little extra power probably won''t be of much use to you, right?"


    The Blood River Lord was taken aback, and thenughed, "Pretty good! I didn''t expect you to know a little about the secrets of Violet Pce. But your knowledge is still too shallow. You think owning an independent small world is simply for the sake of borrowing a little of the world''s power? Hahahaha! Wrong, wrong, wrong! In the end, your level isn''t high enough. A true independent world represents one''s own Dao!"


    "''One''s own Dao''?" Tang Jie was startled.


    The Blood River Lord crowed, "What do you think the Dao is? The Dao is the foundation of a world''s existence, thew by which all things operate. Since you have your own world, you musty the foundations for this world, write its Dao and enact itsw! You have your own independent world, but have you ever done such a thing?"


    Stunned, Tang Jie instinctively shook his head.


    The Blood River Lordughed. "Which is why you''re still an amateur who knows nothing! It''s no wonder I''ve never sensed any independent Dao Standards from that small world of yours, because you''ve never merged with this world. In a world that is truly your own, you are its Heavenly Dao!"


    You are its Heavenly Dao!


    These words dizzied Tang Jie.


    Was this the true meaning behind an independent world?


    If this was true, then his understanding of the Mountain River State Diagram was truly very shallow.


    It was no wonder the Blood River Lord was so obsessed with taking the Treasure Paradise.


    This was because it was only by owning this kind of world that he had a chance to glimpse the Heavenly Dao.


    Tang Jie gazed at the Blood River Lord in shock and then said, "Is that how it is? Ancestor, many thanks for unraveling Tang Jie''s questions!"


    He deeply bowed to the Blood River Lord.


    The Blood River Lord waved his hand. "It''s fine. You''re going to die anyway. Tang Jie, if you have anyst tricks, take them all out now. Take this opportunity to do whatever you can while I have yet to establish the rules and write the Great Dao for my new world."


    He seemed very generous, but he was staring at Tang Jie like he was expecting something.


    Tang Jie did nothing, simply staring at the Immeasurable Sword de.


    After some thought, he said, "I truly do have some tricks to counter the ancestor."


    "Then use it. There''s no point in all this extra chatter!" the Blood River Lord impatiently said.


    Amusingly, the two of them were both hemming and hawing with words rather than actually attacking each other.


    The Blood River Lord was being unprecedentedly generous, refusing to attack Tang Jie and urging him to use whatever he had. But Tang Jie seemed to be worried about something, constantly looking around and only talking rather than doing anything.


    The two continued to exchange words until the Blood River Lord finally lost his patience. "Tang Jie, I''ve given you the opportunity, but since you don''t want it, I won''t hold back."


    He threw out the Immeasurable Sword, which ascended to the sky while radiating light.


    As the light shone, the sword spirit within the sword called out, and the remnant sword spirits answered its call, all of the power of the divine sword scattered about the Treasure Paradise beginning to converge. If they attacked together, they would unleash a heaven-shaking blow that nobody would be able to resist.


    Na Shan paled. "This is it! This is it¡­ This is what I saw!"


    This sword light shone upon them all.


    Seeing that everyone was about to die, Tang Jie sighed and said, "If Ancestor is being so magnanimous, Tang Jie would not dare to be stingy. While the Immeasurable is powerful, a sword without its sheath will always have its edge out in the open, which makes it prone to being worn down."


    With his left hand, he raised a sword sheath.


    The moment the sheath appeared, the Immeasurable Sword''s light dimmed, and even the sword spirit cried out in protest.


    Tang Jie then added, "While the sword''s edge is formidable, it requires a hand holding it to give it direction. Immeasurable has no hilt, so it has no direction."


    With his right hand, he presented a sword hilt.


    The Immeasurable Sword fell from the sky and toward the hilt, inserting itself into the hilt and bing aplete sword.


    The Blood River Lord paled. "The sword sheath and hilt? How?"


    Tang Jie raised the Immeasurable Sword high into the air, and the sword spirit let out an unwilling howl and disappeared into the sword.


    Tang Jie ced the sword in its sheath and then threw it out. "Go!"


    The Immeasurable Sword arced through the air and once more let out a radiant light, the sword spirit activating once more. This time, however, it was targeting the Blood River Lord.


    "No!" the Blood River Lord cried out in terror.


    Everyone rejoiced, except Shui Yao, who was frowning as if she felt like something was wrong.


    The Immeasurable Sword, shrouded in boundless might, began to swing down, but just when it was about to strike the Blood River Lord, it suddenly froze, hovering right over his head.


    "Kill him!" everyone shouted in unison.


    But the Immeasurable Sword refused to descend any farther.


    The fearful Blood River Lord suddenly began tough. "You finally took the bait! Haha, haha, HAHAHAHA!!!"


    His crazedughter resounded through the world.


    The Blood River Lord''s Soul Transformation avatar suddenly pointed at the sky and shouted, "Ho!"


    All the light vanished, and the Immeasurable Sword ceased to exist. All of the sword light turned into crimson light that faded away, and even two of the seven Heart Demon avatars disappeared.


    All that was left was the sheath and hilt, floating in the air.


    The Blood River Lord reached out and grabbed them. "The sword sheath and hilt are mine!"


    "So all of this¡­" Na Shan blurted out.


    "Was an illusion!" Shui Yao finished.


    It turned out that all of this had been a smokescreen on the Blood River Lord''s part.


    He had never been using the Immeasurable Sword, only an illusion to fool Tang Jie into taking out the hilt and sheath.


    Nobody had expected this old monster to have illusion spell arts too, and they were so realistic that even Tang Jie''s Dao of Insight hadn''t seen through them.


    Of course, to do this, the old man had sacrificed two of his Heart Demon avatars.


    At the price of two Heart Demon avatars of essence blood, he had cast an incredible illusion that had fooled everyone and seeded in getting Tang Jie to use the hilt and sheath and essentially give them to him.


    He raised his hand, and the real Immeasurable Sword appeared.


    He first wiped Tang Jie''s mark from the hilt, and then he inserted the de into the hilt, creating theplete Immeasurable Sword. The Blood River Lord shouted, "I have to thank you for activating the simtion formation, allowing me to peer into the future and find out your scheme so that I could prepare for it. Otherwise, this sword spirit that I wasted so much time refining would have been taken by you, and wouldn''t that make me an utterughingstock? Now, your n has failed, so what else do you have to salvage the situation? Hahahaha, Tang Jie, just give up and die to my Immeasurable Sword already, bing a part of this Treasure Paradise. When I write the Great Dao and establish the principles of the heavens, you will be a part of the framework of my vast universe, something to be proud of!"


    He swung the sword, and countless sword lights rose up.


    This time, it was no illusion!

 Chapter 607: Doomsday

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The supreme power called up by the Immeasurable Sword pressed down like a dark cloud, filling everyone with despair.


    In the face of all this, Tang Jie looked up and smiled.


    He casually said, "You''re sure that you have the Immeasurable Sword''s hilt?"


    He raised his hand, revealing that he was holding another sheath.


    As this sheath appeared, the sword lights were once more suppressed.


    But the suppression from before had been the effect of the Blood River Lord''s illusion. This time, it was actually happening.


    "How!?" the Blood River Lord roared.


    The previous shock had been faked, but this shock was very real.


    As the sword sheath flew out, Tang Jie also produced the hilt. He pointed it at the Immeasurable Sword, and the scene from before reyed as if time had jumped backward.


    The Immeasurable Sword fell from the sky, and in the process, the previous sheath and hilt fell away from it like liquid gold. It turned out that these had both been manifestations of the Sovereign de.


    To prevent the Blood River Lord from noticing anything fishy, Tang Jie hadn''t used the Duplication spell, instead turning the Sovereign de into the shape of the hilt and sheath. Of course, if the Blood River Lord hadn''t been trying to fool him and had used the real Immeasurable Sword, then Tang Jie would have died the moment he took out the fake sheath. But the Blood River Lord had used an illusion, so when Tang Jie had taken out the fake sheath, the Blood River Lord kept up the illusion and made the sword light fade. In this way, the two tricksters ended up acting things out perfectly.


    Thus, Tang Jie had actually been gambling with his life. If he had lost the bet and the Blood River Lord had used the real Immeasurable Sword, all the sword light would have been real, and Tang Jie would have died.


    But this was reality!


    Reality would never give youplete information. Most of the time, everyone made their decisions based on limited information.


    The information provided by Na Shan and Shui Yao wasn''t enough to get him the correct answer, and his deductions had only let him find a few clues. In this information-poor environment, it took immense courage to make this sort of choice.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie had won.


    At that moment, the Immeasurable Sword fell from the sky toward the hilt in Tang Jie''s hand.


    Upon seeing that the Immeasurable Sword was about to fall into Tang Jie''s hand, the Blood River Lord roared with a fierce light in his eyes, "You won''t seed!"


    The Blood River Behemoth abandoned its battle with Tang Jie''s original body and charged over to grab the Immeasurable Sword.


    The original body was caught off guard by this sudden development and couldn''t stop it, but as the behemoth''s w reached toward the sword, Tang Jie waved a hand, and a power shot out and pushed the Immeasurable Sword to the side, away from the w.


    But at this moment, the six Blood River avatars roared, and a giant hand emerged from the Blood Sea and seized the Immeasurable Sword.


    This battle of deception and trickery instantly intensified to the maximum as almost everyone attacked that blood hand.


    Numerous spell arts filled the air, the blood hand and the behemoth blotted out the sky, and the Immeasurable Sword still shed with sword light, the various powers all shing against each other.


    There was a series of explosions, and then countless cries as everyone was sted away by the ensuing shockwaves, even Tang Jie and the Blood River Lord.


    At this moment, the original body caught up to the behemoth, swinging the axe made of Mother Cloud Essence Metal at the arm holding the Immeasurable Sword. The behemoth howled in pain and let go of the sword, but a sudden st blew away the Immeasurable Sword, causing it to miss the hilt.


    The original body yelled and made a flying leap, reaching out toward the Immeasurable Sword.


    Just when he was about to grab it, the giant hand the Blood River Lord had summoned once more bounced the sword away.


    The original body once more lunged toward the sword, but the behemoth grabbed him and threw him to the ground, knocking down numerous buildings in the process. As the original body sought to get back up, the behemoth jumped at the Immeasurable Sword.


    But just when it was about to grab it, the Immeasurable Sword changed directions, flying toward Tang Jie''s avatar. It was once more being drawn toward the hilt.


    Furious, the behemoth was about to make another grab when the original body leapt over and brought the behemoth down, the two of them rolling across the ground.


    This time, there was nothing left to stop Tang Jie from taking the Immeasurable Sword.


    "The sword is mine!" the Blood River Lord shouted, a savage gleam in his eyes. "If I can''t have it, no one can!"


    The giant blood hand came down, but this time, rather than seizing, it thrust out a finger imbued with immense power.


    The finger struck the Immeasurable Sword like a falling mountain.


    There was no furious storm or mighty shockwave, and time seemed to freeze.


    With a light crack, a fracture appeared on the de of the Immeasurable Sword.


    The fracture widened and spread, and in a sh, it had covered the entire de.


    Tang Jie paled. "No!"


    The Immeasurable Sword blew apart into fragments that rained down from the sky.


    Just like that, the Immeasurable Sword had shattered.


    With a bright cry, the refined spirit came out. It had already been refined, so even though it was free from its cage, it didn''t run and just floated in the air.


    "Tang Jie, you''ve ruined my ten-thousand-year n!" the Blood River Lord bellowed as he stared at the fragments of the Immeasurable Sword. Even though it was his finger that had shattered the sword, he put all the hatred from the thwarting of his n onto Tang Jie.


    In the past, he had chased Tang Jie as an excuse, but now, he was determined to chase Tang Jie down until one of them was dead.


    Tang Jie casually asked, "You think things are over?"


    As he spoke, there was a golden sh.


    Countless drops of golden liquid congealed in the air, turning into the form of the Immeasurable Sword, at which Tang Jie threw the hilt and sheath.


    The hilt flew up and stuck itself to the Sovereign-de-turned-Immeasurable-Sword.


    The sword spirit let out a cry and began to fly toward the new Immeasurable Sword.


    The Blood River Lord was startled, and then he shouted in realization, "Oh no!"


    But this time, he was toote to stop anything.


    The sword spirit flew into the sword, treating the Sovereign de as its new home.


    When the Sovereign de merged with the hilt, some of the Immeasurable Sword''s energy rubbed off on it, and when the sword spirit was refined, it came to instinctively consider a sword its home. Once it was stripped of a sword to call home, it instinctively looked for a new sword.


    As Tang Jie had given it this opportunity, it naturally seized it and hastily entered its new home.


    Compared to when the Blood River Lord had been constantly refining it, it now had much more freedom.


    The Blood River Lord had never imagined this development. He roared, "This isn''t the Immeasurable Sword, so it can''t be the key. Don''t even think about using it to control the Treasure Paradise!"


    As if he had spoken a prophecy, Tang Jie instantly sensed that even though had taken the sword spirit, there existed a gap between the Sovereign de and the Treasure Paradise that mademunication impossible.


    Using this to control the Treasure Paradise was basically impossible.


    But Tang Jie simply smiled. "If I can''t control it¡­ then I won''t. I can just take it with me instead."


    He threw out the Mountain River State Diagram.


    The Mountain River State Diagram flew high into the sky and began to shine a brilliant light over the Treasure Paradise, drawing it into the diagram.


    The Blood River Lord and everyone else were dumbfounded by the sight.


    Nobody had expected Tang Jie''s independent world to have the ability to take in morend. A momentter, countless mountains and rivers began to disappear into the Mountain River State Diagram.


    The sky copsed, the earth was flipped upside down, and the world began to perish!


    The Blood River Lord let out a cry of unprecedented anger and indignation, blood and mes filling the sky.


    "This¡­ This is what I saw," Shui Yao shouted.


    Liu Qianyi was right. What Shui Yao and Na Shan had seen hadn''t been two different potential oues, but two different points in time in the future.


    The world of the Treasure Paradise copsed and crumbled as Tang Jie callously took all there was in it for himself.


    He wouldn''t have been able to do this before, as attempting to take the Treasure Paradise would draw the frenzied assault of the sword spirit.


    But now that he had the sword spirit, even if he couldn''t control the Treasure Paradise, he was free from the sword spirit''s attacks, allowing him to do whatever he wanted.


    Bringing these two worlds together so as to expand and strengthen his own world!


    This was what Tang Jie wanted to do.


    Whether or not he could control the Treasure Paradise with the Sovereign de wasn''t his concern at all.


    Once he devoured the Treasure Paradise, everything would naturally be under his control!


    "Nooo!" The Blood River Lord was still howling in fury and shock.


    The Mountain River State Diagram was still expanding and devouring without mercy.


    The two worlds wereing together, and the doomsday of the Treasure Paradise hade.


    Even though the copse of the world appeared rather shocking, the Treasure Paradise was so vast that the merger took a rather long time, which meant that this apocalyptic sight would go on for some time.


    Everyone trembled in fear in the face of this world-ending cmity, but Tang Jie was flying high and smiling amid the destruction.


    He looked at the Blood River Lord as one would look at some pathetic insect, his eyes full of pity.


    "You think you''ve won?" the Blood River Lord roared, like a warrior bellowing in frustration at the heavens.


    "I know that you have onest move, so why don''t I just tell you what my guess is?" Tang Jie smiled. He casually went on, "Ordinary methods are no longer enough to deal with me, so you naturally need something heaven-shaking, and it has to be something rather costly, or else you wouldn''t have kept it until the end. Considering that you''re the Blood River, with countless avatars, you must be capable ofing apart anding together. I''m guessing that you should be able to merge all your avatars together."


    The Blood River Lord was startled.


    "Of course, bringing them together still isn''t enough. In reality, it won''t result in much of an increase in power. But if you add that guy, everything changes." Tang Jie pointed at the Blood River Behemoth.


    He looked at the Blood River Lord and asked, "Is my guess right?"


    After a momentary pause, the Blood River Lord started tough. "Good, very good! You really are a clever one! Yes, this is myst trump card, merging with the behemoth! s, once I do this, all of the essence blood in this avatar will disappear into the behemoth. The behemoth is mindless, but once it obtains my essence blood, its mind will be opened, which will make controlling it more difficult. It might even steal my treasures and run away. This is why I am unwilling to resort to this method. But at this point, I can''t worry about such things anymore. So long as I can kill you and take this Mountain River State Diagram, even if it ends up in the behemoth''s hands, it would still be better than letting you go free!"


    As he spoke, his remaining avatars flew toward the Blood River Behemoth.


    He very straightforwardly used all of them, not even attempting to leave behind a single avatar. He understood that this battle could no longer be won by a single Heart Demon or Soul Transformation avatar.


    Even if he left behind an avatar, he wouldn''t gain any sort of advantage.


    Only by fighting with all he had did he have any hope of salvaging this battle.


    The avatars dissolved into crimson light and flew into the behemoth.


    The behemoth threw its head back and roared, its thunderous tones forming human words.


    "Tang Jie, let''s see what you''re still capable of!"


    A giant palm swatted down!

 Chapter 608: Divine Genesis

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    As the giant hand came down, Tang Jie''s original body rushed in, raising his six arms to hold it back.


    In the past, the original body would have been strong enough to resist.


    But this time, as the original body''s six arms thrust upward, the Blood River Behemoth roared, "Out of the way!"


    With a frenzied bellow, the behemoth''s giant hand erupted with crimson light. It mmed into the original body, and Tang Jie felt an unprecedented force that sent him flying.


    The behemoth reached out, grabbed the original body, and threw him to the ground, the earth quaking at the impact, after which the behemoth stomped down with a foot. It was a savage and smooth series of actions, devoid of its earlier clumsiness.


    After merging with the Blood River avatars, the behemoth had be both much stronger and also immensely more intelligent in battle.


    Tang Jie instantly began to fight back against the behemoth, but even six arms swinging couldn''t stop the ceaseless offensive of the behemoth, and its prodigious strength had the original body staggering back. Seeing that he was no match, the original body could only beat a hasty retreat. The Blood River Behemoth did not give chase, instead swinging a fist and creating a powerful st of wind that howled across the world and struck Tang Jie''s original body, causing him to vomit blood.


    Blood spurted out of his mouth and descended like a crimson waterfall, leaving everyone aghast.


    The Blood River Behemoth sneered in disdain. "Trash! You understand what true power means now, right? Now that I''ve merged with the behemoth, my power has reached the apex in both physical andw power, the powersplementing each other! It''s not something you can contend against!"


    "Is that so," the distant avatar Tang Jie softly said.


    The Blood River Lord was shaken by his tone.


    He was no stranger to this sort of tone, and every time Tang Jie spoke with this tone, it meant he was about to do something that would give him a headache. Whenever the Blood River Lord heard this tone, he instinctively tensed. "What other tricks do you have?"


    Tang Jie smiled, a smile that made the Blood River Lord shiver.


    By this point, even though he had just been fighting a Spirit Ring kid, this kid had so many hidden cards, was so strong, and had made the Blood River Lord suffer so many times, that he had long since stopped treating him as a mere Spirit Ring cultivator. Even a smile from Tang Jie made him feel nervous¡ªa fact which was certain to have many people guffawing if they were to find out.


    Tang Jie shrugged. "It''s nothing. It''s just that I also happen to know this trick of yours."


    What?


    In the middle of the Blood River Lord''s shock, the avatar Tang Jie ascended into the air, turned into a crimson streak of light, and flew toward his original body, just like the Blood River Lord had done with the behemoth.


    The light soon disappeared into the original body, upon which a look of happiness appeared on the face of Tang Jie''s original body, like a father weing home a prodigal son, or a brother finding his long-lost twin.


    The merger of the two bodies seemed toplete this lifeform, as if one had finally found their other half. It was a sort of feeling that was difficult to describe.


    Everyone saw the brow of the towering original body rx, his entire attitude changing. It was like the clouds had opened up, allowing the sun to illuminate the world once more.


    The sensation filled Tang Jie with power like never before.


    He looked down at himself and muttered, "Yes, this is the real me, theplete me!"


    "No! How is this possible?" On the other side, the Blood River Lord let out a crazed howl of shock and disbelief.


    Tang Jie looked at the Blood River Lord and smiled. "As I said before, what you know, I know too!"


    The Dao of Parting and Merging!


    Tang Jie had spent all that time and effort in the valley studying the Dao of Parting and Merging precisely for this moment.


    After being separated for many years, he could now take back what he had once paid, and besides, he also obtained a profit far in excess of his cost.


    Now that the original body and avatar had fused, Tang Jie''s strength began to rocket upward.


    His original body had originally been at the peak of the middle Diamond Body, but it now broke through this threshold and entered theter stage of the Diamond Body, the power of the avatar pushing him almost all the way to greater attainment before finally stopping.


    A single Spirit Ring avatar naturally couldn''t empower him this much, but as these were two bodies of the same origin merging together, they created an effect that was greater than simple 1+1. Moreover, they had gained many blood gems from killing all those Blood River avatars, and what the avatar couldn''t consume had been left in reserve, and now, it was all being absorbed. Tang Jie was rapidly rising, reaching levels of power he had never imagined. Power radiated off his body, causing the Blood River Lord''s jaw to drop.


    He shook his head. "No, so what if you''ve gotten stronger? You''re still no match for me!"


    He had essentially merged together two half¨CSoul Transformation avatars into the Blood River Behemoth, which was better than Tang Jie''s single Spirit Ring avatar no matter how one did the math. He didn''t believe that Tang Jie''s merged form could surpass him.


    He once more swatted a giant hand at Tang Jie, seeking to turn this bastard into a pancake!


    "Awooo!" Tang Jie threw his head back and howled before charging at him.


    Giant and behemoth shed, with a copsing world as the backdrop to their mortalbat.


    The Treasure Paradise was still being drawn into the Mountain River State Diagram. More and more patches of void were appearing, then being swiftly filled in by the surrounding space. The world was dying, and the Mountain River State Diagram was expanding. Within the diagram, He Chong''s trio watched in dumbfounded shock as the world grewrger.


    Battling giants, a copsing world, shattering space, seething earth¡ªthese apocalyptic sights made everyone else despair over their chances of survival. Liu Qianyi and the other representatives were stunned and dazed, not knowing where to go.


    At this moment, Zuo Quanming suddenly pointed into the distance. "Look, over there!"


    Everyone looked at where Zuo Quanming was pointing and saw a giant spatial fissure.


    This was one of the spatial fissures that the Blood River Lord had opened, but there were no longer any flesh pirs writhing within it. The sword spirit''s attacks had broken down these pirs, and the Treasure Paradise had been cut away from the domain barrier and was beginning to draw away from it. This was why it was no longer the domain barrier, but the void, behind the spatial fissure.


    "We can leave the Treasure Paradise from there!" Zuo Quanming shouted.


    "But that''s the infinite void!" Liu Qianyi shouted.


    "It''s better than waiting here to die." Surprisingly, Na Shan supported Zuo Quanming''s n. "Although it''s the void, it shouldn''t be far from the Blood River Domain. If our luck is good, we might be able to find the way back to the Blood River Domain."


    "Once we enter the void, we won''t be able to orient ourselves, and a small error could lead us to being off by a huge margin. I''m afraid getting back to the Blood River Domain won''t be that easy," Shui Yao worriedly said.


    There was something she had left unsaid: the Dao of Space was constantly changing, and things weren''t as simple as they thought. You couldn''t say that since the Treasure Paradise had been linked to the domain barrier before, the fissure had toe out near the Blood River Domain now that the Treasure Paradise was free. Rather, it was highly possible that this small movement had caused that fissure to jump through countless worlds, and one would appear far, far away from where they wanted. Of course, Na Shan might have realized this and just been practicing the art of self-consoling.


    They all clenched their teeth and finally decided to risk the void. At least it was better than staying in this world, where they risked dying to the cmity, being obliterated in the void, or else dying in the battle of those two giants.


    They had just set off when a rumble came from the horizon.


    An object flew out of the distance, rising high like the sun and illuminating all around it. It was Divine Genesis.


    Tang Jie sought to take the Treasure Paradise, and Divine Genesis was merged with the Treasure Paradise. Thus, the process of taking the Treasure Paradise was the same as the process for subduing Divine Genesis.


    But Divine Genesis was a natural Dao armament, a god among Dao armaments, and its power was far beyond mortal imagining. Even if it wasn''t abat-type Dao armament, its Great Daows were not something an ordinary person could fight against.


    It felt threatened and had shown itself, and as its light shone, this chaotic world was shaken. Mountains floated into the sky, mes fell to the ground, rivers flowed in the sky, and grass and trees grew in the clouds as all thews of the world were thrown into disorder. Everything became eerie and quiet, and the fleeing representatives froze in shock and confusion.


    Only Liu Qianyi understood a little. Gazing at Divine Genesis which shone like the sun, Liu Qianyi muttered, "It''s Divine Genesis. It''s trying to stabilize and restore the world."


    "Can it do it?" someone asked.


    If Divine Genesis could do this, then they might not need to risk the void.


    Liu Qianyi shook her head. "I don''t know. Divine Genesis creates all things, and the power of the Great Dao is unfathomable. In terms of power, Tang Jie is definitely weaker. The problem is that it isn''t human. It has no life or intelligence, only knowing how to create life but not how to respond to the situation. The final oue is hard to predict."


    The Blood River Lord also grew excited by the appearance of Divine Genesis. "Haha, I can''t believe I forgot about this. Tang Jie, with Divine Genesis to keep things tamped down, you can''t take the Treasure Paradise!"


    "Tsk." Tang Jie sneered. "What I can''t take is the Qian Kun Bag, but I can take the mountains, rivers, and soil. Divine Genesis can hold down the world, but it can never keep every stalk of grass or mote of dust! Even if I can''t gobble up the Treasure Paradise in its entirety, I can still hollow it out!"


    He pointed at the sky, and the Mountain River State Diagram began to madly suck in again, but this time, rather than the spatial fabric, it was only targeting the physical matter of the Treasure Paradise.


    As expected, Divine Genesis couldn''t deal with this. It could stabilize space, but that was because it was merged with the Treasure Paradise. It could do nothing if something wanted to take every nt and tree in the Treasure Paradise. If it had this function, how could anyone who entered the Treasure Paradise take anything with them?


    Even so, the countless wills of the creatures within the Treasure Paradise warned Divine Genesis of the threat of this seizure¡ªthis was no ordinary taking of treasure, but the seizure of all physical matter within the Treasure Paradise!


    It wanted to fight back, but s, there was nothing it could do besides create treasure. Theck of intelligence was perhaps its only weakness. In its panic, instinct took control. It began to unleash its light, and then a shocking scene yed out.

 Chapter 609: Myriad Treasures

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    What was happening now was different from when the Blood River Lord had lured out Divine Genesis in order to create treasures so that he could use them against the sword spirit. At that time, the light from Divine Genesis had been like the morning sun, but now, it was the noon sun!


    The light from before had only turned objects that already had form into treasures, but Divine Genesis was now acting like a panicked monkey, frantically releasing all of its power, thousands of times greater than the power it had used before.


    This power affected the flowers drifting in the air, the flowing clouds, the floating dirt, and even crystalline drops of dew. Even the sky, the earth, and the mountains were affected by its divine light.


    The Divine Genesis crazily released its power as if it wanted every mote of dust to turn into a treasure.


    Thus, everyone saw the world undergo a stupefying transformation.


    Under the effect of Divine Genesis''s Dao Standard, they could see that almost everything they couldy eyes on began to radiate treasure light.


    It was a scene impossible to imagine. When every existence in the world began to radiate light, the intense light brought with it a deep darkness.


    Nobody could see anything, when absolute light engulfed all!


    The light even began to affect the representatives.


    They felt their clothes beginning to change, and even the hairs that they had shed and little bits of dandruff were tested by the treasure light.


    The only thing that didn''t change was themselves, the only thing Divine Genesis couldn''t affect.


    But that omnipresent treasure light closed around them, its formidable pressure making it difficult for them to breathe.


    They had never seen so many treasures before, let alone imagined that they would feel so much pressure and fear while being surrounded by them.


    The majestic might of the treasures filled the world, forming a pure energy to resist the devouring of the Mountain River State Diagram.


    But this method couldn''t truly stop the diagram. On the contrary, it only stimted its appetite. It crazily devoured the treasures, not caring for grade, size, or power.


    Within the diagram, He Chong, Deng Yuqing, and Duan Fourth were still gasping at the world''s sudden expansion.


    As chunks of soil appeared and expanded thend around them, He Chong muttered, "That bastard Tang Jie¡ªjust where did he get all thisnd from? And it''s evening together with spatial fabric¡­ Isn''t he worried about losing his skin once someone finds out?"


    "Given Tang Jie''s personality, if he dares to do something, then he''s not worried about being found out," Deng Yuqingmented.


    Duan Fourth snorted, "It''s hard to not be discovered, unless he''s devouring a small world."


    "Hard to say. Don''t forget that Tang Jie already has a small world," Deng Yuqing said.


    Duan Fourth remembered that the Martial Lord''s hidden realm was also a small world, and he fell silent.


    But because he had yet to reach the end and had yet to pick all the herbs, Tang Jie couldn''t kill this golden goose just yet. Moreover, thend that wasing into the diagram clearly wasn''t from the Martial Lord''s hidden realm.


    Fortunately, it wasn''t long before the devouring of spatial fabric stopped, and it was only physical matter that continued to be devoured.


    He Chong snorted. "It seems that this kid also knows that there are things he shouldn''t do and has started to give up."


    He was no friend to Tang Jie, and the better off Tang Jie was, the unhappier he became. If he weren''t stuck in this ce and trying to improve the environment for his own sake, he certainly wouldn''t have helped Tang Jie with all this. Thus, he felt happy on seeing Tang Jie''s devouring slow down.


    He had barely finished speaking when there was a sh of light in the sky.


    A flower drifted down.


    This flower had seven petals, each one a different color, radiating a splendid light as it spiraled down. Its light put it clearly as an upper-grade art relic, which left the three of them dumbfounded. They wondered what sort of person would be such a spendthrift that they would refine a flower into a treasure, and how Tang Jie could possibly be so generous as to allow this level of treasure to fall into the diagram.


    He Chong flew up and grabbed it, smiling. "It''s a pretty decent little thing. I''ll take it."


    Deng and Duan shared a look of helplessness.


    What could they do? They were weaker than He Chong.


    But a momentter, even more treasure lights began to fall from the sky.


    One treasure after another appeared in the skies of the diagram, falling like rain, like snow, like hail.


    The three of them shared a dumbfounded look. Suddenly, they shouted, "We''re rich!" and began to grab those treasures.


    He Chong even had a treasure-gathering spell that he used to draw all the art relics toward him.


    But more and more treasures were appearing in the sky, the downpour only growing denser and faster. The three of them couldn''t handle it all, so they could only watch as the treasures plummeted to the ground, sting craters into the ground and unleashing powerful shockwaves, and they were momentarily at a loss for what to do. And because of the treasure-gathering spell, He Chong was almost instantly buried in treasures, at the bottom of what quickly became a small mountain.


    He Chong had no choice but to cancel his spell. Treasures continued to fall from the sky, leaving him awestruck.


    Duan Fourth rxed his hand, and art relics fell to the ground.


    Deng Yuqing bitterlyughed and dumped out the treasures in his Mustard Seed Bag. "I''m such a fool. Wanting art relics and divine treasures in a ce like this¡­ These things aren''t ours at all. They''re Tang Jie''s."


    "How could he¡­ how could he have so many treasures?" He Chong looked up, his entire body trembling in shock.


    Those art relics and divine treasures that would have had countless people fighting over them were now piling up in great mounds like trash in andfill.


    After some time, after numerous "treasure mountains" had piled up on the ground, there were still treasures falling from the sky, but the rate had started to slow down.


    The three of them werepletely numb by now.


    The three of them thought in unison, If Tang Jie has this many treasures, he must be the richest man in the universe.


    But a momentter, Tang Jie''s cold voice rang out from the heavens.


    "He Chong!"


    "Yes?"


    "These treasures¡ªyou can pick some that you like, but the rest¡­ Throw them all into the world furnace!"


    "What?" He Chong blurted out in shock.


    "Now, at once!" Tang Jie didn''t give him any exnation, only strictly urging him on.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    While treasures rained down in the diagram, within the Treasure Paradise, Tang Jie was gradually losing ground.


    The Blood River Lord had been right about one thing. Even though Tang Jie was much stronger now that his avatar had merged with his original body, he was still much weaker than the Blood River Lord''s half¨CSoul Transformation avatars merged with the Blood River Behemoth.


    He hadsted this long primarily because of the Herding Yang Pearl''s power.


    But the Herding Yang Pearl had its own limit. Tang Jie could sense that, because his body had gotten stronger from the merging, the Herding Yang Pearl was already releasing the most power that it could, and because of the constant fighting, it was already beginning to crack. It probably wouldn''t be long before the Herding Yang Pearl finally broke.


    But the behemoth was still as energetic as ever, striking at Tang Jie again and again while madlyughing, "Useless! You''re no match for me!"


    A crimson hand swatted down, creating a mighty wave in the Blood Sea. Before Tang Jie could react, this wave thundered into Tang Jie''s chest, cracking several of his ribs as it sent him flying.


    Even though Tang Jie recovered from his injuries in just a moment, the Blood River Lord kept up the attacks, barely giving Tang Jie any chance to breathe.


    Tang Jie used the Chaoswind Step to move behind the behemoth. The merging hadbined thew cultivation and body cultivation in one body, and he no longer found it difficult to cast spell arts.


    But the moment he appeared, the Blood River Behemoth swung a palm around as if he had predicted it. The palm contained a crimson vortex that prevented Tang Jie from moving, and a momentter, a steely fist mmed into Tang Jie''s face, caving in his nose. The behemoth roared, "Useless! The true function of merging should be to fuse the flesh andw power to produce a new strength, not to simply use them together. Junior, you''re far toocking in this aspect! Blood River Roaring Punch!"


    Another punch imbued with immense power, the roaring of the Blood River vaguely audible within it, surged toward him.


    This was exactly the new power the Blood River Lord was talking about, the fusion of the Blood River Lord''sw bodies with the behemoth''s physical form. It was abat technique that even the Blood River Lord''s original body hadn''t used, but through his ten thousand years of experience, the moment he merged, he created this new technique of vast power. The only side effect was that he had to make up the name on the spot, and this "Blood River Roaring Punch" was quite the unpleasant name.


    Inparison, while Tang Jie had gotten stronger through the merging, he hadn''t been able to produce any new abilities. For him, after merging, strength was still strength, and spell arts were still spell arts. Other than the boost that came with stronger cultivation level, hisbat techniques weren''t very different from before, as opposed to the Blood River Lord, whose power had multiplied after the merging.


    And because the avatar''s spell arts were weaker than the original body, the original body still fought with fists despite the fact that he could now cast spell arts. The only truly useful spell art was the Chaoswind Step.


    But the Chaoswind Step clearly wasn''t enough. As he used it more and more, the Blood River Lord quickly grasped its tempo and was able to counter it.


    This was primarily because this was Tang Jie''s first merging. He had barely gotten a handle on the art, let alone gotten a deeper-level understanding of its uses.


    In this aspect, Tang Jie could be considered both lucky and unlucky.


    He was lucky because he encountered a professional on his first merging, who let him understand that merging was only a start, not an end, and there were still many abilities that needed to be developed. If he hadn''t encountered the Blood River Lord, he might have not realized this for a very long time. And he was unlucky because even a simple merging had given Tang Jie such a huge boost inbat power that the average opponent would have been obliterated by now. He could have even put up a good fight against a Celestial Chief¨Clevel cultivator. But he had run into a ten-thousand-year-old monster in the Blood River Lord, who was much stronger than him in all aspects, rendering many of his trump cards ineffective and pushing him into desperate straits.


    If Tang Jie didn''t have anything else, he was bound to fall under the Blood River Lord''s frenzied offensive.


    Fortunately, he really did have something else.


    This was truly his final move.


    Looking at theughing Blood River Lord, Tang Jie sighed and said, "He Chong¡­ Those treasures¡­ Throw them all into the world furnace¡­ now!"

 Chapter 610: The Power of a World

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    In the world within the diagram, He Chong took in a deep breath after hearing Tang Jie''s n.


    He wanted to refuse, but he knew that he didn''t have the right.


    While inside the diagram, he couldn''t know what was going on outside, so he didn''t even know that Tang Jie was throwing the world into disarray with his battle and on the verge of death. But he knew that Tang Jie controlled this world, and he didn''t even have the ability to fight back against Tang Jie while in the diagram.


    He could only obey!


    Rolling up his sleeves, he summoned a mighty wind that swept up the innumerable art relics¡ªbefore this, He Chong had never imagined that he would use "innumerable" to describe art relics¡ªand sent them to the distant world furnace.


    Ever since Tang Jie had left Nadir Hill, the volcano-like world furnace had not experienced a high-level smelting and refinement in a long time. Although it had been receiving precious ores and resources through the teleportation formation in the Blood River Domain, its limited transportation ability and sparse resources were far from enough to satisfy the world furnace''s gluttonous appetite.


    ¡­Until today, when it was finally able to enjoy another feast.


    The vast sea of treasures falling from the sky rained into the world furnace like tes of delicacies being dumped into the bottomless stomach of a glutton, disappearing without even the slightest ssh, like they had been tossed into a ck hole.


    mes spewed out of the furnace, carrying with them tons of dust, oceans of spiritual energy, and various rare materials that a world needed.


    In their most primal forms, they floated in the air, and then settled down, burying themselves and transforming into the deeperyer of power for this world, creating its foundation.


    He Chong didn''t understand these changes. He simply mechanically and numbly sent the treasures into the furnace.


    His heart was bleeding!


    But outside of the diagram, Tang Jie could clearly sense how the Mountain River State Diagram was changing.


    It wasn''t just gettingrger, it was bing more filled-in, bing richer!


    Richness was the foundation of a world. A single element could also create a world, but there was no meaning to it.


    After receiving all the plunder and loot, all the stolen soil and resources, the world of the Mountain River State Diagram finally had the nascent form of a rich and varied world, a foundation for the creation of all things.


    When physical matter reached a certain level of richness, matter ceased to be a problem. All that mattered was time.


    Of course, the diagram had yet to reach this point, but with each addition, it drew closer to the goal.


    As numerous treasures were melted down, the Mountain River State Diagram became richer and richer in terms of elements. Treasures were still raining from the sky, but the flow was already beginning to dwindle.


    If one looked at Divine Genesis now, one would find that it was much dimmer.


    Even Divine Genesis had a limit.


    After this frenzy, Divine Genesis was finally showing signs of energy shortage, but its instinct to escape danger made it persist in resisting this foreign invasion in its own way.


    It released light and heat, acting like a stubborn child.


    Even when its light dimmed and its energy retreated, it acted without regret or remorse.


    At the same time, Tang Jie''s resistance against the Blood River Behemoth was also reaching its end.


    Knocked away again and again, heavily injured again and again, recovering again and again¡ªby the end of this battle, Tang Jie was already using his life force to fight back.


    He was still waiting, waiting for more treasures to be smelted, waiting for the diagram to devour more. Every extra minute he dyed was extremely important for the future of the diagram.


    He looked up at the sky.


    Divine Genesis was like a shriveled-up sun.


    He smiled.


    He then said, "Since you''ve sworn to live and die with this world, then go and die!"


    He leapt into the air, casting aside the Blood River Behemoth and charging at the sun.


    The Blood River Lord was momentarily stunned. He didn''t know what Tang Jie was trying to do, but anything Tang Jie did gave him an instinctive bad feeling.


    With a roar, he jumped into the air and unleashed his strongest punch at Tang Jie''s back.


    The Blood River Roaring Punch!


    Frenzied physical strength melded with mightyw power, evolving into an awesome power. Tang Jie swung his hand, and the Five Sacred Mountains Sword sent five mountains down. This was not to suppress the Blood River Lord, only to dy him a little.


    The fist sted through the five mountains like aet, and Tang Jie threw out three of the Treasure Paradise''s mountains as well, but they were like tofu in front of that fist. Even a mountain that had been turned into a treasure was pulverized into powder.


    The roaring fist finally crashed into Tang Jie''s back, upon which Tang Jie froze and then exploded.


    Starting from the spine, Tang Jie began toe apart, turning into a sea of blood.


    From down below, it appeared like a giant was disappearing backward into a roaring river of blood.


    Even though Tang Jie had activated the Flesh Millstone, he couldn''t stop the Blood River from devouring him, and as his flesh and blood were devoured, the Blood River Lord grew stronger.


    Even then, Tang Jie didn''t stop flying upward.


    As he flew up to Divine Genesis, he punched out: "Devil Crushing Fist!"


    This strike thatbined the strength of two people was unimaginably strong, and even the Blood River Lord wouldn''t have dared to take it directly. But Tang Jie aimed at Divine Genesis.


    Even for the Devil Crushing Fist''s domineering power, destroying Divine Genesis was still impossible.


    However, Tang Jie''s goal with this punch wasn''t to destroy it. Rather, through the power of this fist, Tang Jie mustered up all hisw power and sent an illusion into Divine Genesis.


    This illusion was a culmination of all his understanding of the Dao of Illusion. Combined with the intimidating power of the Devil Crushing Fist, he sought to nt an idea: Divine Genesis was about to be destroyed!


    Tang Jie grabbed a recovery formation diagram with his left hand and used it up while he reached into Divine Genesis with his right hand, roaring, "Get out here!"


    Tang Jie then pulled something out of Divine Genesis that wriggled like a worm and radiated light like the sun. It appeared extremely simr to the Fate Dao Standard Tang Jie had obtained, but much brighter.


    "The Creation Dao Standard!" the Blood River Lord cried out in shock.


    He finally understood what Tang Jie wanted to do.


    There was no way Tang Jie would be strong enough to subdue a natural Dao armament like Divine Genesis.


    Since he couldn''t take the Dao armament, he would take the Dao Standard.


    Divine Genesis''s treasure creation frenzy had left it weak, so Tang Jie had used this chance to take the Dao Standard. Once the Dao Standard was lost, Divine Genesis would plunge in power, falling from Dao armament to divine treasure, or perhaps even lower.


    But the Creation Dao Standard was incredibly strong, not something that someone who hadn''t even reached Violet Pce could casually take. Even if Divine Genesis was incredibly weak, it was still thousands of times stronger than Tang Jie. This was why Tang Jie had done all this to create the illusion that Divine Genesis was about to be destroyed, and then he used the Fate Dao Standard within his body. As Creation was under Fate, he was able to pull out the Creation Dao Standard from Divine Genesis.


    Thus, rather than saying that he had pulled out the Dao Standard, it was more like he had fooled it out.


    Even so, making the Dao Standard give up on Divine Genesis was extremely difficult. The Dao Standard had been born within it, so asking it to abandon Divine Genesis was like asking a person to abandon their home.


    The Fate Dao Standard had been captured without resistance because the simtion formation was on the verge of destruction. If one''s home was about to be destroyed, then one no longer had a choice. But Divine Genesis was just tired out and was far from destruction, so the Dao Standard wasn''t giving up on it just yet.


    Thus, even though it was now separated from Divine Genesis, there was still a connection to it. Tang Jie could even sense that the Dao Standard in his hand was being called back by Divine Genesis.


    If this continued, the Dao Standard would probably return to Divine Genesis, and there was no way Tang Jie was strong enough to stop this.


    At this moment, the Mountain River State Diagram suddenly let out a beam of light that fell upon the Dao Standard.


    This beam of light caused the Creation Dao Standard''s resistance to fall.


    The resistance that the Blood River Lord anticipated did not happen. Instead, he saw Tang Jie toss the Creation Dao Standard at the Mountain River State Diagram.


    This sight gave him a rather bad shock, and he struggled to understand why this was happening.


    What he didn''t know was that this beam of light came from the genesis stone b within the diagram.


    The genesis stone b was rted to Divine Genesis as son was to father. Tang Jie couldn''t forcefully make the Creation Dao Standard submit, but drawing it into the genesis stone b was much easier. The familiar aura and the illusion that Divine Genesis was about to be destroyed caused the Dao Standard to fly toward the diagram.


    He Chong''s trio saw a rainbow light appear in the sky, falling upon that stone b that had been ced in here some time ago. The stone b immediately began to shine with a breathtaking light.


    At that moment, the stone b rose from divine treasure all the way to Dao armament.


    But as an artificial Dao armament, its power was a littleckingpared to Divine Genesis.


    Even so, with this item, the world within the Mountain River State Diagram rose to a new level.


    But the diagram world didn''t have only one Dao armament.


    Tang Jie threw out another object.


    The Myriad Immortals Cauldron!


    This was the first Dao armament Tang Jie had obtained, but he had never been able to use it because of hisck of cultivation.


    But the boost of strength from his merged bodies and having entered the Dao of Yin Yang allowed him to use it to a limited extent. It wasn''t enough to use it against enemies, but it was good enough for managing a world.


    As the cauldron appeared, it resonated with the genesis stone b, and the two treasures both exuded supreme Dao Wills.


    Tang Jie then took out the Sovereign de.


    The Sovereign de was no Dao armament, but it was a powerful weapon that transcended the Great Daos. It had its own mighty powers that Tang Jie hadn''t been able to fully utilize. Even so, the Sovereign de could be considered a peerless treasure, and besides that, it also contained the sword spirit of a Dao armament, so, all things considered, it did not lose out to any Dao armament.


    Once all three objects appeared, the Mountain River State Diagram world began to resound with sacred and solemn sounds.


    He Chong''s group saw Great Dao Runes begin to inscribe themselves into the heavens.


    They didn''t know what was going on, but Tang Jie raised his head and looked around. "s, in the end, I was only able to take half of thend of the Treasure Paradise. But regardless, I have to thank you. If not for you, I wouldn''t have obtained so much. If not for you, I wouldn''t have understood the importance of an independent world, only thinking that I could only borrow strength from it. The ancients didn''t lie when they said that what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger. Even so, I must still rely on my most shallow understanding and my most basic methods to defeat you, to kill you. Perhaps, one day, I will use a more profound method¡­ to kill your original body.


    "Today, though, I invite you to experience all the power of this independent world I went through so much effort to create." Tang Jie raised a hand.


    The Mountain River State Diagram stopped its devouring. But the moment that terrifying suction disappeared, a monstrous storm surged out of the diagram.


    The moment this storm appeared, it filled up the world, shaking time and space, causing the Blood River Lord to grimace.


    "World¡­ the power of a world¡­" he cried out.


    Calling upon the power of a world was what separated Violet Pce cultivators from other cultivators.


    But Tang Jie was doing it.


    Of course, he wasn''t at Violet Pce. But while he couldn''t call upon the power of the world he was in, he could call upon the power of a world that he controlled!


    The power of the Mountain River State Diagram.


    This was also why Tang Jie had wanted to trick He Chong into the diagram to help him develop his world.


    To have a world had no meaning on its own.


    It only had meaning when it became a power one could use!


    Calling upon the power of the Mountain River State Diagram was the most basic method of using a world, and it pushed Tang Jie''s power all the way to that of a Violet Pce cultivator. While his soul still wasn''t as strong as a Divine Soul, he was just as good as them when it came to calling upon the power of a world. And because his small world was very rich and was being anchored by Dao armaments, he could even call upon more world power than the average Violet Pce cultivator! When coupled with the power of Tang Jie''s original body, it made for a ferocious force.


    This was Tang Jie''s final move. At this moment, Tang Jie was pulling energy out of the Mountain River State Diagram, turning that entire world into an immense pressure.


    The Blood River Lord knew that Tang Jie had his own small world.


    But he hadn''t expected this small world''s power to have reached such a terrifying level!


    At that moment, Tang Jie appeared like a lofty mountain, towering high up in the heavens as he looked down at the Blood River Lord, his voice rumbling across the firmament. "Seal!"


    A hand descended from the heavens.

 Chapter 611: Slaying

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The giant hand falling from the sky was as big as a mountain.


    But the Blood River Behemoth that had sted apart ten mountains failed to break this one.


    This hand contained all of the strength that Tang Jie had umted. Even a Violet Pce Titan was not capable of directly receiving it, would not dare!


    The Blood River Lord was sharp-eyed enough to tell that this palm contained far too much power for his current self to contend against.


    At that moment, the Blood River Lord took the most straightforward response: run!


    Up until now, the Blood River Lord had been attacking, attacking, and attacking.


    All of the various techniques and spell arts he had used had disyed his prodigious strength and resources.


    But now, he was finally panicked, afraid.


    For the first time, when facing this sky-obscuring hand, the Blood River Lord felt helpless.


    He began to retreat, turning into a crimson streak of light as he attempted to evade the giant hand.


    Tang Jie shook his head. "It''s useless."


    The hand pped down on the Blood River Behemoth as one might swat down a fly, sending the behemoth flying. Its enormous body rolled on the ground, crashing through numerous mountains and rivers, finally stopping at a majestic mountain.


    "Awooo!" The Blood River Behemoth let out a startling roar.


    But the louder it roared, the greater the fear in its heart really was.


    A sheep in wolf''s clothing was the bestparison for it. In the sky, Tang Jie thrust a finger at the behemoth.


    The Blood River Behemoth turned and swung an arm at the mountain, loosening it, and then it picked it up and threw it into the air. Tang Jie ignored it, continuing to thrust his finger down, which grewrger as it continued downward. It pierced through the mountain like a pir of heaven, obliterating it and continuing onward, striking the behemoth''s arm. This arm that could lift up mountains was instantly sted apart by Tang Jie''s terrifying strength, the shattered flesh turning directly into mist.


    A hint of Destruction power infiltrated the stump of the behemoth''s arm, preventing it from healing.


    "No, don''t even think about killing me!" the Blood River Lord roared. "Blood River Roaring Punch!"


    The fist carrying the surging power of the Blood River hurtled toward Tang Jie.


    But this time, this punch that could crush all things wascking its earlier majesty. In the face of this crimson fist, the god-like Tang Jie simply snorted and thrust a finger down.


    Large amounts of world power pumped into his body and rushed into his finger, which touched the fist.


    At that moment, within the Mountain River State Diagram, the Myriad Immortals Cauldron suddenly flew up. Upon the cauldron, countless Immortalsughed and danced, sharing drinks as they conversed. Two beams of light, one red and one white, divided the world into day and night, and five colors of the rainbow made the clouds flow and thunder rumble. As for the genesis stone b, it cast its light over the world, expanding verdant green ins, filling them with life and treasure. The Sovereign de floated in the air like the moon, and the sword spirit appeared, causing the world to resound with sacred hymns, the mountains to be as sharp as swords, and murderous intent to fill the air.


    The projection of a world appeared behind Tang Jie''s head, reflecting the vistas within the diagram.


    Although the Blood River Lord was powerful, he couldn''t fight back against an entire world. Fist met finger, and under the endless power of a world, the Blood River Lord''s fist began to crumble, disappearing into the wind, and then the Blood River Lord''s right arm was gone.


    He had now lost both arms.


    Tang Jie''s body swayed, and then a storm suddenly stirred in the world projection behind him.


    The cauldron, stone b, and divine sword resonated with each other, and the world began to crumble. He Chong''s trio watched this from a distance, feeling awe and fear as doomsday approached.


    A single punch was able to shake the diagram world to such an extent, showing that the Blood River Lord lived up to his power and infamy.


    But this was his limit.


    The power of Destruction continued to infiltrate the behemoth''s body, Tang Jie having used all of that little bit of Destruction power he hadprehended and grasped at this moment.


    He didn''t have any other choice. The small world within the diagram still wasn''tplete, and there was no recovering anything that he used up. Whether it was because of the limited world power or the constraints of his body, it was impossible for him to stay for long in this state. Thus, ending this battle quickly was his only chance at victory.


    Wiping away the blood from the corner of his mouth, Tang Jie prepared to attack again. Suddenly, a light shed in the distance.


    A gate slowly appeared on the horizon¡ªclearly the gate they had used to enter this ce.


    The stone gate to leave the Treasure Paradise had appeared early!


    It was clear that the Celestial me Pagoda had noticed that something weird was happening in the Treasure Paradise, so they had opened the passage early.


    The Blood River Lord was delighted to see the passage opening.


    Although his avatars were doomed the moment they merged with the behemoth, the instinctive desire to live meant that he wasn''t willing to just sit back and wait to die, so he immediately ran toward the distant stone gate.


    "You can''t run," Tang Jie softly sighed.


    Tang Jie moved his body, crossing through all spacetime constrictions to appear in front of the stone gate, blocking the Blood River Lord''s path.


    The Blood River Lord stopped and looked at Tang Jie in despair.


    Tang Jie raised a finger. "If you block this attack, I''ll let you leave."


    He thrust his finger.


    The Blood River Lord wailed as he stared at that descending finger, "No! I won''t ept this!"


    Yes, he couldn''t ept this.


    He had spent much effort for the sake of this day. He had used the excuse of chasing Tang Jie to infiltrate the Treasure Paradise, but he had never expected that Tang Jie would be the source of both his sess and his failure. Not only had Tang Jie ruined his n, he had even killed all his avatars.


    "Tang Jie, I will kill you no matter what!" the Blood River Lord howled.


    His previous hatred had had ulterior motives, but now, he was truly someone who couldn''t share the same universe as Tang Jie.


    "I''ll be waiting," Tang Jie coldly said.


    The finger thrust down!


    It struck the Blood River Behemoth in the forehead.


    The behemoth froze, and then a crack appeared where the finger had touched, and then it began to spread across the forehead like it was porcin. In a sh, it had spread across the behemoth''s entire face, and then it continued downward, more and more cracks appearing across the behemoth''s body. Finally, it blew apart, sttering the area in gore.


    Tang Jie lightly waved his hand, and all the blood and flesh was drawn into the diagram world. Each piece of flesh and drop of blood contained great energy, and as they decayed in the diagram world and became dirt and soil, they would be a part of the framework of the world and restore a little of what Tang Jie had lost.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The Blood River Lord had died, just like that?


    That powerful, terrifying, and invincible monster had been killed by Tang Jie, just like that?


    The representatives were all dumbfounded by the sight, not daring to believe their eyes.


    Tang Jie still stood tall in the heavens, silent and cold.


    Suddenly he swayed, and then he threw up blood.


    The blood sshed down from the sky like a waterfall.


    There was a sh as a figure disappeared into the Mountain River State Diagram, upon which Tang Jie''s lofty appearance disappeared, and what appeared in the sky was none other than the avatar Tang Jie.


    He waved a hand, and the Mountain River State Diagram flew toward him.


    Holding the diagram, Tang Jie fell straight from the sky.


    "Tang Jie!" Na Shan, Hei Yan, and Liu Qianyi shouted together and rushed over.


    Liu Qianyi was still the fastest, getting ahead of the others and grabbing Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie''s face was as white as a sheet of paper, his breathing so weak that it seemed like he might die at any moment.


    "Are you okay?" Liu Qianyi frantically asked.


    Tang Jie weakly replied, "To kill Blood River, I forcefully manifested the power of a small world on my body. This was too much burden for me, and now I''m suffering the bacsh from the world power. I will need a long period of rest to recover."


    Upon hearing that Tang Jie was going to live, Liu Qianyi breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "You just need rest? Then your luck is pretty good. Blood River is dead, so you can take your time to rest."


    "Is that so?" a voice sinisterly said. "Sneaking a small world into the Treasure Paradise, destroying more than half of it in battle, and even doing away with the sword spirit and Divine Genesis! Tang Jie, do you really think that the Four Heavenly Kings will let you be, even if you manage to get out of here alive?"


    "Who said that?" Liu Qianyi angrily turned around.


    It was a fiend representative.


    This person was one of the only two surviving fiend representatives. The representatives had suffered grievous losses in the battle, and all four factions had only a few people left, with the fiends having suffered the greatest loss.


    As the fiend representative stared at Tang Jie, his eyes gleamed with indescribable greed.


    Liu Qianyi was startled, and then she realized that this fiend was after the Mountain River State Diagram!


    Most of the resources of the Treasure Paradise were now in the Mountain River State Diagram, and the Qian Kun Bag world had basically been left an empty shell. And the core of Divine Genesis and the sword spirit were all in the diagram world, and considering what Tang Jie had already umted, one could say that the Mountain River State Diagram was the new Treasure Paradise.


    Moreover, it was a treasury that could be carried around!


    If Tang Jie were at his prime, nobody would have dared to touch it.


    But he had publicly admitted that he was out of strength and unable to battle. Wasn''t this the perfect chance to take it from him?


    Earlier, they had fought alongside each other, but now, all of them realized the problem. Quite a few people began to avariciously stare at Tang Jie, with even that Young Master Hua showing a hostile gaze.


    Liu Qianyi knew this was bad news and shouted, "I''d like to see any of you try and touch him!"


    Liu Qianyi herself didn''t realize what it meant for her to step up at this time. She naturally had ample reason for doing this. For example, Tang Jie had nted a seal in her, so she was protecting Tang Jie for her own sake. But to be honest, when she stood in front of everyone, she hadn''t even thought about this problem.


    She simply didn''t want Tang Jie to be hurt.


    "With just you?" a representative chuckled.


    "Then what about me as well?" Na Shan rumbled.


    "And also me." Hei Yan also stood up.


    "And also me." Shui Yao came forward too.


    Young Master Hua snorted. "Na Shan, Tang Jie is already a dead man walking. Even if we don''t do anything, once he leaves this ce, the Four Heavenly Kings will take him. You''re part of the Western Heavenly King''s group, so why do something that upsets him?"


    Na Shan rumbled, "I can''t control whatever the Western Heavenly King wants to do with Tang Jie, nor do I care. But in the Treasure Paradise, Tang Jie is my brother, myrade-in-arms. I won''t agree to anyone touching him. As for once we leave¡­ let''s wait until we''re out first."


    "It will be toote once we''re out," a representative said while staring at the Mountain River State Diagram. "We have to get the diagram first. If we wait until we''re out to split it up, we won''t get a thing from the treasure."


    "Keep dreaming!" Liu Qianyi said, grasping the divine fire fan.


    The situation had taken a sudden turn, and the representatives had divided themselves into two factions.


    One faction was led by Liu Qianyi and Na Shan. It also included Hei Yan, Shui Yao, and that Zhao Wei who had assisted Liu Qianyi in ambushing Tang Jie once, making for five of them in all.


    The other faction was led by Young Master Hua, and he was joined by two representatives each from the factions of the Eastern and Northern Heavenly Kings, making for five people as well.


    There were eleven survivors in all. One person was still standing in the center, not knowing which side to choose: Zuo Quanming.


    Liu Qianyi looked at him and said, "Zuo Quanming, whose side are you on?"


    Zuo Quanming bitterly sighed. "Do I have a choice? Tang Jie''s, of course."


    He walked over to Liu Qianyi''s side.


    Liu Qianyi was happy to see this, as this gave them the advantage in numbers.


    Zuo Quanming walked past Liu Qianyi, seemingly intending to stand behind her.


    But as he brushed past her, Liu Qianyi suddenly had a bad feeling.


    She suddenly recalled Zuo Quanming''s words:


    "I saw you dying to my sword!"


    All the hairs on Liu Qianyi''s body suddenly stood on end.


    At the same time, Na Shan and the others also seemed to realize something, paling as they turned their heads in one direction, just in time to see Zuo Quanming standing next to Tang Jie.


    He reached for the Mountain River State Diagram with his left hand while the small silver sword gleamed in his right hand.


    The sword shed!


    Tang Jie''s head went flying high into the air.

 Chapter 612: Conflict

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    "Tang Jie!" Liu Qianyi cried out in disbelief.


    The gushing fountain of blood turned her vision red.


    In the blood, she saw Zuo Quanming grabbing the Mountain River State Diagram with a fierce smile and then punching out, the st of energy turning Tang Jie''s corpse and head into countless little bits of flesh and blood.


    Zuo Quanming retreated backward and then began to fly toward the stone gate.


    "Don''t even try to escape!"


    "Leave the diagram behind!"


    Cries rang out, and Na Shan, Young Master Hua, and the others began tosh out at Zuo Quanming in anger. Only Liu Qianyi remained frozen in ce, staring dumbly at the bits of flesh raining down around her.


    Tang Jie was dead?


    This man who had created countless miracles and even killed the Blood River Lord was dead?


    He hadn''t even put up a fight before death, dying most unjustly.


    She didn''t dare to believe her eyes.


    Meanwhile, spell arts howled at Zuo Quanming, who was flying as fast as he could while dodging left and right. With his strength, he couldst for quite a while without a problem, and if he could get through the stone gate in this time, he would be free.


    As he drew closer and closer to the gate, Young Master Hua suddenly called out, "Trying to run?" His face turned ruthless as he grabbed at the air, and that ck hole that had once stopped the Blood River Lord reappeared. Under the effect of its powerful suction, Zuo Quanming found it hard to advance.


    The attacks from the others began toe in.


    Zuo Quanming once more used his spatial spell art, disappearing and then emerging in the distance, thus avoiding Young Master Hua''s ck hole, after which he immediately continued his flight toward the gate.


    Just when he was about to reach the gate, Na Shan roared and swung his axe.


    This axe blow flew toward the stone gate. If Zuo Quanming tried to push through, he would have to take this attack, and even Tang Jie wouldn''t have dared to take Na Shan''s full strength.


    At that moment, Zuo Quanming seemed to grow eyes on his back and actually stopped. The axe st flew over his head and mmed into the stone gate in a brilliant explosion.


    Zuo Quanming charged forward again, and just when he was about to go through the gate, Young Master Hua waved a hand, upon which Zuo Quanming froze in the air. Two streaks of light converged on him, one a beam of sword energy and the other a lightning spell art, after which a ck dragon of me rushed up and threatened to m into Zuo Quanming¡ªnone other than Hei Yan''s ck dragon me.


    Zuo Quanming couldn''t dodge this time, so he finally clenched his teeth and did something shocking: he raised up the Mountain River State Diagram, using it as a shield!


    Everyone paled and shouted, "Don''t!"


    But it was toote.


    The sword light struck the Mountain River State Diagram first, and while this diagram had the ability to hold mountains and rivers, it was no defensive tool. The sword energy immediately cut it in half, and the following lightning sted it apart. Finally, Hei Yan''s mes burned the fragments to ash.


    As embers danced in the air, one could hear the wailing of countless creatures, and just like that, innumerable precious resources went up in smoke.


    A rare diagram that could hold a world, a supreme divine treasure, had been destroyed, leaving everyone grief-stricken.


    Zuo Quanming was clearly a ruthless sort. Rather than running, he snarled, "The diagram is gone. Are you all happy now?"


    "It''s all because of you!" one representative shouted.


    Zuo Quanming sneered, "Don''t even think about pushing the me onto me. The Four Heavenly Kings are right outside, so once I tell them about how you chased me down to try and get the diagram, let''s see who will be worse off!"


    Everyone froze.


    If the Four Heavenly Kings learned about this matter, the consequences would be very serious. In their rage, they might even kill the representatives.


    The thought made everyone pale, and they hesitated over what they should do.


    Young Master Hua sinisterly said, "Even if we suffer, you won''t be much better off."


    Surprisingly, Zuo Quanming nodded. "Yes, if the Four Heavenly Kings learn that the conflict between us led the diagram to be destroyed, thus making the Treasure Paradise unsalvageable, they won''t spare me either. So the only solution is for us to get our stories straight and work together."


    "Oh? Brother Zuo has a n?" a representative asked.


    "Yes," Zuo Quanming replied. "My n is simple. We shouldn''t even mention the diagram, instead ming the Blood River Lord for all the damage to the Treasure Paradise. It had nothing to do with Tang Jie or us."


    The Four Heavenly Kings had been the ones to let the Blood River Lord in.


    All the damage done by the Blood River Lord in the Treasure Paradise rightly belonged to the Four Heavenly Kings. Of course, the representatives didn''t think that the Four Heavenly Kings wouldn''t still try to settle ounts with them, but at least they had no reason to vent their anger on the representatives.


    But if the Four Heavenly Kings found that the damage to the Treasure Paradise had primarily been done by Tang Jie, with all the treasure ending up in the diagram that had been destroyed in an internal conflict among the representatives, it would be very strange for them to show the representatives mercy.


    Thus, Zuo Quanming''s suggestion to not talk about the diagram immediately received everyone''s approval.


    So long as they pushed all the me onto the Blood River Lord, the Four Heavenly Kings would have nothing to say, no means of expressing their frustration.


    "But the Blood River Lord''s original body is still around," a representative hesitantly said. "If he tells the truth¡­"


    Zuo Quanmingughed. "It''s the truth that he wanted to take the Treasure Paradise. Whether he seeded or not, he was bound to be a mortal foe of the Celestial me Pagoda, so what do his words matter? And what right does he have to argue his side? And even if he does, that''s a matter for the future. Let''s get through the trial in front of us first. As forter¡­ we should also get away from here as fast as we can."


    Everyone nodded in unison.


    Shui Yao walked over and asked, "Big Brother, what do you think?"


    Na Shan sighed. "At this point, it''s the only option."


    "We''re just letting this guy kill Tang Jie and get away with it?" Hei Yan was still reluctant to drop the matter.


    Na Shan gave Zuo Quanming a look and then said, "No rush. There will be another opportunity to settle this grudge. Right, did any of you see Yiyi?"


    Realizing that Yiyi was gone, Na Shan looked around, but there was no sign of the little girl and the rabbit. Even the Blood River General was gone.


    The battle earlier had been so fierce that nobody had noticed when they disappeared.


    "I think I saw Tang Jie putting them into the diagram," Hei Yan replied.


    ''Put them into the diagram''?


    Doesn''t that mean that Yiyi already died together with the diagram world?


    The thought of that cute and innocent little girl dying such a violent death filled Na Shan with sorrow, but there was nothing he could do except sigh. In the end, he lightly said, "I guess this is fate."


    Meanwhile, everyone had reached an agreement to say that the Blood River Lord had sought to take the Treasure Paradise, and his battle with the sword spirit had devastated the Treasure Paradise world and left numerous representatives dead. As for Tang Jie, he had just been one of these ordinary representatives, not possessing any earthshaking powers. The sword spirit had not been taken away, and there was naturally no incredible diagram that could suck up a world.


    In this way, the Four Heavenly Kings would only know that a battle had left the Treasure Paradise in tatters. But so long as all the physical matter remained within the Treasure Paradise, the Four Heavenly Kings wouldn''t be too worried and would think that everything would have recovered after twenty years.


    Zuo Quanming then took out a formation diagram and painted a few strokes on it. With augh, he said, "This is the Mountain River State Diagram. Anyone who wants it can have it."


    Everyoneughed.


    Suddenly, someone said, "Wait. Don''t forget that there''s a disciple of a Heavenly King among us. We can''t guarantee that she''ll keep the secret."


    Everyone turned to Liu Qianyi.


    Liu Qianyi''s face darkened. Just when she was about to say something, Zuo Quanming smiled and said, "So long as Miss Liu is willing to make a Heart Demon Oath, we can just trust her."


    A representative shouted, "How could that do? What if she tells the truth¡­"


    Zuo Quanming scowled. "You really want to face a Southern Heavenly King who has lost her beloved disciple?"


    The representative froze. After some thought, he realized that Zuo Quanming had a point, so he ultimately agreed.


    On the other hand, Liu Qianyi looked questioningly at Zuo Quanming. For some reason, Zuo Quanming wasn''t speaking like a conman anymore, instead giving off a mature and confident feeling.


    Everyone agreed to the n, and after Liu Qianyi swore the oath, they all left the Treasure Paradise.


    Once they passed through the stone gate, they returned to the cavern, where the Four Heavenly Kings were waiting.


    As agreed, Zuo Quanming told the story, his clever tongue and sharp wit enabling him to tell a convincing story and respond to any questions. Besides, he was the one to suggest this solution, so he was the best candidate for dealing with the situation.


    Sure enough, Zuo Quanming put on a great performance for the Four Heavenly Kings as he recounted their experiences in the Treasure Paradise. When he spoke of the Blood River Lord, he was filled with rage and sorrow, saying that the Blood River Lord started killing the moment he appeared while constantly talking about how he was going to take the Treasure Paradise, and how he even used the Immeasurable Sword to create a spatial fissure to deal with the sword spirit. If they hadn''t desperately fought alongside the sword spirit to finally thwart the Blood River Lord''s n, the Treasure Paradise would have been the Blood River Lord''s by now. Of course, they had suffered tragic losses, with even Reverend Xuan Gui dying.


    The Four Heavenly Kings were utterly stunned by these words.


    They truly had noticed some strange activity going on in the Treasure Paradise, but in the end, it was a different world, and even Violet Pce cultivators couldn''t easily find out what was going on inside. They simply had no means of confirming the details of Zuo Quanming''s story for themselves.


    But based on the looks of grief and anger on the faces of the others, it was probably true.


    At the end, Zuo Quanming even added, "We went hunting for treasure for the sake of the Four Heavenly Kings, but the Four Heavenly Kings broke the rules and let the Blood River Ancestor into the Treasure Paradise! Such conduct truly chills the heart!"


    There was an usatory tone to these words.


    While the Four Heavenly Kings were taken aback by his words, they could understand his anger, so rather than resenting him, they felt even more convinced that his story was true.


    The Southern Heavenly King saw that her beloved disciple was fine, so she sighed in relief and then angrily said, "I really didn''t think that old scoundrel Blood River would be harboring such intentions, pretending to have some grudge against Tang Jie while actually aiming to steal the Treasure Paradise! Master failed to notice it and ultimately fell for his trap."


    "This old bastard, treating our Celestial me Pagoda as if we don''t exist!" the Eastern Heavenly King grunted.


    The Western Heavenly King coldly said, "Things can''t be settled with just this, or else wouldn''t my Celestial me Pagoda lose all face in the Blood River Domain?"


    The most temperamental Northern Heavenly King shouted, "I''m going to find Blood River and settle things with him right now! Even if I can''t beat him, I need to fight it out first."


    He charged out of the cavern, leaving the Celestial me Pagoda and heading straight for the Blood River.


    The other three Heavenly Kings didn''t stop him, instead hardening their resolves and joining him.


    Before they left, Zuo Quanming shouted, "Heavenly King, please inspect the items we obtained."


    He took out a pile of art relics.


    The Southern Heavenly King was surprised to see that there was so little. Zuo Quanming exined, "The battle against Blood River was very costly, so this is all that''s left."


    She looked at the others, who were basically in the same situation.


    This was the truth. In that battle, everyone had used all the strength they could, including basically all the treasures they had, so they really didn''t have many left.


    The Southern Heavenly King sighed. "Ah, forget it. It was our mistake this time, so you can take the treasures you obtained. Consider it as a littlepensation for your loss."


    She turned and left.


    Four Violet Pce cultivators couldn''t beat an Immortal tform cultivator like the Blood River Lord, but the Blood River Lord had just lost a Violet Pce avatar and was at a low in strength. Besides that, they were backed by the me Celestial Sovereign, so they weren''t afraid.


    The representatives watched the Four Heavenly Kings leave and then shared a look, all of them hinting to each other that they should leave as quickly as possible.


    If the Four Heavenly Kings learned the truth, they would definitelye back to make trouble for them.


    The representatives had to be ready to live the life of wanderers from now on.

 Chapter 613: Taking Action

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Before the representatives left, they went through the usual inspection.


    Since the representatives could take back all the treasures they obtained, the four elders guarding the Treasure Paradise didn''t give them a close inspection, only counting up and recording what they had gotten before letting them leave.


    The representatives had guilty consciences, so they didn''t dare to linger, leaving as soon as they passed inspection.


    As she watched these people who had fought alongside her dispersing, Liu Qianyi felt a twinge of sorrow.


    Looking back at the stone gate, she knew that that fearless man who had won that bloodsoaked battle would never walk out of that stone gate.


    Her mood still swept in sorrow, she numbly epted the inspection and then walked forward. The wind delivered snatches of conversation to her ear:


    "What is this?"


    "Just some belongings left behind by a friend."


    "Belongings or treasure?"


    "Is this very important? The Heavenly King promised that we could take all of this¡­"


    It was Zuo Quanming.


    That damned scoundrel.


    Quite a few people had died in the Treasure Paradise, so he had probably looted their bodies.


    Although she wanted to discipline that bastard, Liu Qianyi knew that the ensuing ruckus would probably expose the lie. Moreover, Zuo Quanming had also spoken up for her, so she couldn''t just turn against him.


    Most importantly, Tang Jie wasn''t anything to her!


    Strictly speaking, they couldn''t even be considered friends. What right or reason did she have to take revenge for Tang Jie?


    Even so, deep down, this figure had left a very deep mark on her heart.


    In the end, she sighed and kept going.


    But the more she wanted to forget, the more she couldn''t forget.


    His voice and smile floated up in her mind, refusing to go away.


    It was an endless loop.


    Upon returning to the Celestial me Pagoda, she went to the spacious reception hall and thought back to her first meeting with Tang Jie.


    She stood where she had stood before, looking at the other side of the room, as if Tang Jie was standing there, faking a cough and taking out the Celestial Incense Brocade¡­ On their first meeting, she had been fooled by this man''s illusions.


    Liu Qianyi helplessly smiled.


    And then she blurted out in shock, "An illusion!"


    Everything she had just been through reyed itself in her mind.


    In the simtion formation, how Zuo Quanming had shouted that he had killed Tang Jie with a de up against his neck; when facing the Blood River Lord, how confident and assured Tang Jie had seemed while deceiving his adversary; how he had weakly fallen from the sky after killing the Blood River Lord; how Zuo Quanming had obliterated Tang Jie''s corpse after killing him; the mysterious disappearance of Yiyi and the rabbit; the destruction of the Mountain River State Diagram; Zuo Quanming''s confident way of speaking in the aftermath¡­


    All these scenes shed through Liu Qianyi''s mind, until that conversation from just moments before:


    "What is this?"


    "Just some belongings left behind by a friend."


    "Belongings or treasure?"


    "Is this very important? The Heavenly King promised that we could take all of this¡­"


    Liu Qianyi trembled as if somebody had dumped cold water on her, and she shouted, "Tang Jie!"


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    After leaving the cavern and running to the Celestial me Pagoda, Zuo Quanming didn''t leave the pagoda with everyone else, instead going elsewhere.


    After finding a deserted corner, he looked around before finally whispering, "We''re good."


    A flower emerged from Zuo Quanming''s sleeve, flew into the air, and transformed back into Yiyi.


    The moment the little girlnded, she made a turn, and another object appeared in her hand: the Mountain River State Diagram.


    As she opened up the diagram, a figure flew out of it: the avatar Tang Jie.


    "Big Brother!" Yiyi rushed into Tang Jie''s embrace.


    Hugging Yiyi, Tang Jie looked at Zuo Quanming and nodded. "Good job."


    Zuo Quanming hastily bowed. "I would not dare to take the credit. It was all thanks to Young Master''s divine foresight. This lowly one simply followed orders."


    At the same time, he thought to himself, I also didn''t dare to disobey your orders. Didn''t you have this little brat turn into a flower and follow me for fear that I wouldn''t open the diagram and let you out? With this girl keeping an eye on me, she could both help you convey your orders and also make sure I didn''t do anything. If I dared to show the slightest hint of disloyalty, Yiyi would probably order the beans in my body to grow and devour me.


    Of course, everyone understood this, but nobody was going to talk about it.


    On the surface, Tang Jie still smiled and said, "But regardless, it''s thanks to you that this matter was a sess. Rx. I won''t treat you poorly after you''ve done such an important thing for me."


    Tang Jie naturally could have transformed himself into Zuo Quanming, but he still had to get through the Four Heavenly Kings.


    He wasn''t sure what abilities the Four Heavenly Kings had, and if one of them happened to have Insight and saw through his illusion, he would have a problem on his hands. Thus, to be safe, Zuo Quanming had to carry out the entire n while Tang Jiemanded things from behind the scenes. Thankfully, Zuo Quanming hadn''t disappointed him and had been a consummate actor, fooling everyone.


    Tang Jie continued, "Now, you should immediately leave the Celestial me Pagoda and head to the Rosecloud Store. Find a girl called Xian Tao. She will arrange your departure from the Blood River Domain."


    "I''m leaving the Blood River Domain?" Zuo Quanming was rmed by Tang Jie''s words.


    "Yes, you''re leaving the Blood River Domain!" Tang Jie gave him a rough summary of his background before saying, "Once you leave the Blood River Domain, go to the Basking Moon Sect. With my introduction, you will be able to join the Basking Moon Sect, and from now on, you will serve under me and no longer be a lonely soul wandering the world."


    "''The Basking Moon Sect''?" Zuo Quanming had never left the Blood River Domain and had no understanding of the Basking Moon Sect.


    Tang Jie smiled. "A top-ss sect protected by an Immortal tform Titan."


    Zuo Quanming''s mind was spinning.


    Fortune hade so quickly that Zuo Quanming was caughtpletely unawares.


    A wandering cultivator like him was keenly aware of how difficult cultivation was without the guidance of a master.


    While Tang Jie had been able to get this far thanks to his own efforts, another important factor was that he didn''tck a master''s guidance, allowing him to avoid any detours on his path of cultivation.


    Even so, Zuo Quanming was still hesitant.


    After some thought, he asked, "Do I have to leave now?"


    "What? Can''t let go?"


    Zuo Quanming sighed. "In the end, this is the ce where I was born and raised. Leaving so suddenly is a little¡­"


    But Tang Jie shook his head. "I''m afraid you don''t have too much time to be all nostalgic. You''re different from the others. While the others were just momentarily deceived, you are my aplice. Neither the Blood River Lord nor the Four Heavenly Kings will let you go, particrly the Four Heavenly Kings. In less than a day, they''ll be back, so you have to leave now."


    "Not even a day?" Zuo Quanming was startled. "I don''t have any deep grudge with them, so even if I tricked them, they wouldn''te all the way back for¡­"


    He suddenly realized something and stared at Tang Jie with widened eyes, his entire body beginning to tremble.


    He pointed a shaky finger at Tang Jie. "You¡­ you¡­ you aren''t¡­ you aren''t thinking¡­"


    Tang Jie nodded. "Correct! You thought I faked my death just to run? You were wrong. I didn''t fake my death to run, but to better make my counterattack!"


    Tang Jie''s face darkened. "me Celestial Sovereign, the Four Heavenly Kings¡­ hmph, they sold me out. Today, I''ll let them know that there''s a price for selling me out!"


    "That''s one Immortal tform and four Violet Pces!" Zuo Quanming stammered out.


    Tang Jie wanted to teach a lesson to bigshots like this? Was he crazy?


    "So what?" Tang Jie smirked. "Didn''t I still destroy several dozen of an Immortal''s avatars?"


    "But that''s because the Blood River''s actual body can''t move. The Four Heavenly Kings don''t have this restriction!"


    "But they aren''t here right now," Tang Jie chuckled. "Who said that teaching them a lesson meant that I had to fight them?"


    Zuo Quanming said in shock, "Are you thinking¡­"


    Tang Jie casually replied, "Twenty years for each cycle, across a thousand years. After all those trips into the Treasure Paradise, the Celestial me Pagoda must have umted countless treasures, no? And if you consider how much money the arena makes, the Celestial me Pagoda must be filthy rich. Since I''ve taken the Treasure Paradise into my diagram, I should also properly take care of this Celestial me Pagoda and take away everything that should be taken away."


    Zuo Quanming was reeling from Tang Jie''s words.


    The Four Heavenly Kings would definitely go crazy if such a thing happened. It was no wonder Tang Jie said that the Four Heavenly Kings wouldn''t let him go.


    Tang Jie waved his hand and turned into Zuo Quanming, after which he said, "Hurry up and go already!"


    Zuo Quanming felt his vision go dark. He was filled with rage and sorrow at the knowledge that Tang Jie was removing all other options for him, but he could only turn and go. Fortunately, the promise of joining the Basking Moon Sect had greatly weakened his longing for his homnd.


    Once Tang Jie was sure that Zuo Quanming had left, he sent a message to Xu Miaoran exining the situation to her and telling her to be careful. Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran had kept their rtionship a secret in this ce, and almost nobody in the Blood River Domain knew about it, nor did they know about his connection to the Rosecloud Store. Thus, so long as Xu Miaoran and Xian Tao kept a tight lid on the information, Tang Jie could cause as big of a ruckus as he pleased without affecting the inter-domain trade.


    In that cave estate in the Heaven Manor Mountains, Xu Miaoran was busy refining an extremely important spiritual pill. She had already failed at refining the pill numerous times, and this time, she had finally passed the most difficult stage and was in the final stretch. The news came when the pill was on the verge ofpletion.


    Upon receiving the message, Xu Miaoran paled. "Tang Jie is going to go against the Celestial me Pagoda. We have to leave immediately to avoid causing him problems. In addition, there are too many traces of us left in the cave estate. We have to clean it all up, and when we leave, make sure that nobody notices."


    "But the pill will be done in just a few more hours¡­" Hong Yuan, who was serving as the assistant for this refining, frantically said.


    "At a time like this, you''re still worried about the pill?" Xu Miaoran kicked the pill furnace over. The lid came off, and mes spilled out.


    "No!" Hong Yuan cried out and tried to put the furnace back, but Xu Miaoran held her back.


    "Let it burn. Pack up all our things. We need to leave at once."


    "But this cave also has a formation, and the stuff we just nted¡­"


    "Get rid of everything we don''t need!" Xu Miaoran ordered. "So long as we''re still around, we can just get more things!"


    She waved her sleeve, sweeping up the items she considered most important, after which she grabbed Hong Yuan and flew off.


    The mes continued to burn behind her, swiftly turning the entire cave into a scene of devastation.

 Chapter 614: Stealing the Treasury

    <h4>Chapter 614: Stealing the Treasury</h4>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After sending the message to Xu Miaoran, Tang Jie made his way up to the seventh floor of the Celestial me Pagoda.


    Upon arriving at the seventh-floor lobby, he didn''t stop, proceeding along the corridor, and after traveling for quite some time, he arrived in front of a small door.


    There were two guards in front of the door, both Spirit Ring True Persons.


    Upon spotting Tang Jie, they shouted, "This is an important storehouse! Nobody is allowed entry without good reason!"


    This was the treasury of the Four Heavenly Kings, holding the umted fortune of a thousand years. Tang Jie had naturally developed some understanding of the Celestial me Pagoda in his time there. He now walked up and dered, "This one is Zuo Quanming. I havee on orders of the Eastern Heavenly King to take a treasure."


    "Present an edict from the Heavenly King!"


    "Of course." As Tang Jie strode over, he put a hand into his bag as if he was going to take out an edict. In just a few steps, he was in front of the guards, and with a flip of the wrist, he swiped the Sovereign de across the neck of a guard. The other guard was aghast, but just when he was about to take action, Tang Jie thrust a finger at his chest. Blood fountained out, and before that guard had time to shout, he was swept up in a cloud of blood that rushed into that hole in his chest and instantly ground him to bits. These two guards had been True Persons, so Tang Jie had to use all of his strength to take them down without setting off the rm.


    The turning of the Flesh Millstone cleaned up the corpses, and Tang Jie created two blood duplicates to take the ce of the guards.


    The ability to take the form of others was the greatest upgrade Tang Jie''s Duplication spell had received, and today, he finally had a ce to use it.


    The two fake guards kept watch at the entrance while Tang Jie went in.


    Within was a vast space evenrger than the pagoda itself. The Celestial me Pagoda itself was a valuable treasure that contained its own vast dimension, and this treasury was clearly no different.


    Standing in the center of the treasury, Tang Jie was surrounded by metal racks that were piled high with various treasures.


    And these were only middle- and lower-grade art relics. The treasury had three sections in total, with the more valuable items farther in.


    Tang Jie didn''t immediately grab the art relics. He knew that all of the treasures in this ce had seals that would trigger upon being touched, and all of them had been fixed in ce. Not only could he not take them, attempting to do so would tip off the Four Heavenly Kings. Only a Heavenly King edict could undo the seal, but there would be a numerical limit. Once one exceeded the quantity or level permitted by the edict, one would trigger the seal.


    As a formation expert, Tang Jie naturally had ways of undoing these seals. The problem was that each seal was different, so Tang Jie would need ages to undo them one by one. There were tens of thousands of treasures here, so even one hundred days might not be enough to properly undo all of the seals.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie had no ns on doing such a thing.


    He swiped the Sovereign de across his arm.


    Blood flowed out and turned into numerous duplicates, more than a hundred of them filling up this spacious treasury.


    They simply stood in the rows while Tang Jie himself continued farther inward, entering through the second door.


    The outer chamber contained middle- and lower-grade art relics, and the middle chamber contained upper- and ultimate-grade ones. Besides that, there were also numerous rare materials, which Tang Jie cared about more than the art relics. Looking around, he couldn''t help but marvel at all the rare materials.


    "Mindsoothing Lumber, Triheart Stone, Sunset Jade, Prism Ice Apple¡­ There''s quite a lot here," Tang Jie muttered.


    Many of these materials were hard toe by in both Rosecloud and Blood River, and among them were materials forying formations and divine herbs. For example, the Triheart Stone was a top-ss material for making pills for the charge to Heart Demon Tier, and Mindsoothing Lumber was an important item for nurturing the Divine Soul. And this was only the middle chamber! What would he find in thest one?


    Just like before, Tang Jie made a bunch of duplicates before heading farther in.


    He pushed open the third door and entered the inner chamber.


    There was much less here than in the other two chambers.


    ced here were primarily divine treasures, with not a single Dao armament in sight. If they did have such things, they probably wouldn''t have been left to gather dust in the treasury and instead would be carried around to be used.


    There were twelve divine treasures in all, much fewer than Tang Jie had expected. The Celestial me Pagoda was probably constantly selling its treasures, trading them for rare resources. After all, resources existed to be used.


    These divine treasures were mostlybat treasures, and Tang Jie wasn''t interested in them. But two of them did manage to draw his interest.


    One was a Heavenly Scent Lotus Lamp, a cultivation-type treasure. When lit, thismp would float in the air and exude an aroma that calmed the mind and made spiritual energy circte faster. This treasure could improve cultivation efficiency by 20% on average.


    He didn''t understand why the Four Heavenly Kings had just left it idle here rather than using it themselves.


    But after thinking it over, Tang Jie understood. Even treasures had their limits, just like how the Herding Yang Pearl had a threshold. While the lotusmp was a fine treasure, its effect on a Violet Pce cultivator was probably minuscule, much less than the imed 20%. As for others, they would need contribution points to trade for it, and without those, not even a disciple of a Heavenly King could take thismp away, which was why it had been sitting idle here for all this time so that he could take it.


    There was also the Jade Immortal Pavilion.


    This pce-type treasure, when used, could turn into a small pce capable of flight. Until the pce was destroyed, the people within would note to any harm. This treasure had extremely powerful defenses, and the insides were very spacious. While inside, one could continue cultivating while in flight. Sitting on a rack, it appeared like a model. While it was small, it had everything a pce should have, down to the smallest detail.


    The rarest thing about these two treasures was that there was no minimum cultivation level required to use them. Combat divine treasures would often demand a high price to be used by a True Person, and even someone of Tang Jie''s strength could only use them a few times without a supply of spirit-restoring pills.


    Besides the divine treasures, there were also materials, and those of the inner treasury were much more valuable than those outside. For example, the Yellow Dragon Holy Water was an item akin to the Pale Cloud me, one of the mystical waters of the world, possessing divine effects. It could be used both as a material and like an offensive art relic or divine treasure. The moment he saw this item, he immediately thought of formations like the Nine Bend Yellow River Formation, the Jadefall Yellow Springs Formation, the Water Genesis Formation, and the Seven Seas Dragon Formation.


    There was also Earthen Essence. Tang Jie hadn''t recognized these small ck stones at first, only realizing what they wereter on. This was an extremely rare kind of Earth Element material. With it, Tang Jie could produce formations like the Firesand Formation, the Hundred Mountain Prison Formation, the Vast Pitfall Formation, and the Red Dust Azure Satin Formation.


    Besides these numerous formation materials, there were also some rare medicines.


    Tang Jie found, to his delight, that the Celestial me Pagoda had such items as the umtor Divine Flow Pill and the Divine Stride Talisman.


    The umtor Divine Flow Pill was a cultivation pill whose production method was already lost in the Rosecloud Domain. Its greatest function was actually the same as that of the lotusmp, improving one''s cultivation. But the boost was huge, greatly reducing one''s needed cultivation time, and with no side effects.


    As for the Divine Stride Talisman, as its name indicated, it was a kind of treasure that improved one''s flight speed. But given that this was something that could be ced in the inner treasury of the Four Heavenly Kings, it couldn''t be some ordinary item. Tang Jie examined them and found something unusual about these three talismans. While they seemed like they only boosted speed, they actually gave the user the ability to fly through obstructions. In other words, upon using this talisman, one could fly through walls without a problem. While cultivators could burst through walls like they were made of paper, meaning that passing through walls without casting spell arts was nothing special, things were very different if it also meant passing through usually impassable barriers.


    After looking at all the treasures, Tang Jie chuckled, left behind another batch of duplicates, and walked out of the treasury.


    Once he was out, he walked back to the lobby.


    He slowly began to count down.


    Once he felt like enough time had passed, he gave the signal.


    The several hundred duplicates in the treasury simultaneously grabbed the treasures on the racks.


    As Tang Jie seized several hundred treasures, all the seals were triggered, and rms began to re within the treasury.


    Tang Jie''s duplicates ignored them all and continued to break the seals and seize the treasures.


    Several hundred duplicates put together still weren''t as strong as Tang Jie, but they were much better when it came to breaking seals and stealing treasure. As hundreds of hands reached out, seal after seal was broken and art relic after art relic was taken. A few momentster, the three treasuries of the Celestial me Pagoda had beenpletely emptied out.


    One of the duplicates waved a hand and put away all the treasures in the Mustard Seed Bag next to him.


    All of the duplicates began to charge out.


    They were just in time to run into the guards who hade in response to the rms, who were dumbfounded to see this giant crowd of peopleing out.


    When had the treasury be a marketce, packed with so many people?


    The duplicates ignored them and kept running.


    "Stop them!" a guard shouted.


    But there were several hundred of them, and stopping them was easier said than done.


    The duplicate with the Mustard Seed Bag, covered by the other duplicates, charged back to the lobby and threw the bag at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie grabbed it and began to make his way downstairs. At the same time, his duplicates scattered in various directions. They weren''t running, but extending their looting to the rest of the Celestial me Pagoda. It wasn''t like there were no other ces with treasure. They were just more scattered.


    "Stop them!" a guard shouted, rushing forward.


    Tang Jie walked past with his arms held behind his back. As he passed the guard, the guard froze, and then copsed with his hands around his throat.


    As chaos spread through the pagoda, Tang Jie came down to the lowest floor of the Celestial me Pagoda.


    Standing before the statue of the me Celestial Sovereign, he gazed up at the two zing mes on the statue and smiled. "I was wondering how he managed to get into the Treasure Paradise! So he used the Deicide me. Since you sold me off for the Deicide me, I''ll just help myself to it."


    He reached out for the Pale Cloud me.


    Earlier, he had at least been trying to hide his theft, but now, he was beingpletely brazen about it.

 Chapter 615: Taking the Flame

    <h4>Chapter 615: Taking the me</h4>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Pale Cloud me upon the statue seemed to sense the threat of Tang Jie''s outreached hand, and it suddenly expanded, the mes turning fierce. One could even see countless giant beasts of me within it, ring at Tang Jie and seemingly ready to rush out and do battle with him at any time.


    This sudden development dumbfounded everyone in the reception hall. Until now, the Pale Cloud me had always been an object of veneration, and no one had ever seen it react like this.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Even your master doesn''t want you anymore, so why resist? It would be better to just obediently follow me."


    A ball of me emerged from the end of his right hand.


    The moment the me appeared, it turned into a little bird that happily pped in the air like a little fire spirit.


    When this firebird appeared, the tense Pale Cloud me immediately rxed.


    The firebird flew up to the sacred me, flew three circles around it, and let out a cry. The Pale Cloud me immediately dwindled and began to merge with the firebird.


    The firebird was created from the Pale Cloud me, and it naturally attracted all mes, and as these mes hade from the same source, the attraction was even stronger. Thus, while stealing the sacred me was difficult for anyone else, it was as easy as could be for Tang Jie.


    As the Pale Cloud me surged into the firebird, the firebird trilled and pped its wings and grewrger andrger.


    At this moment, a powerful will emerged from the me, exerting a pressure on everyone''s minds.


    "Who dares to be so bold as to touch the sacred me!" a majestic voice resounded in everyone''s minds.


    The me Celestial Sovereign!


    This was the will of the me Celestial Sovereign. It turned out that he had left a sliver of his will in the Pale Cloud me.


    Everyone cried out and prostrated before the domineering majesty of the me Celestial Sovereign.


    Only Tang Jie remained standing. Having once battled with the will projection of the Guangfa Celestial Sovereign, he had no fear of the will of the me Celestial Sovereign. Sneering, he said, "So what if you''re the me Celestial Sovereign? You think a sliver of your will can do anything to me?"


    "Arrogant!" a dignified voice rang out.


    The Pale Cloud me stopped merging with the firebird, and the remaining me swelled and began to radiate searing waves of heat. The dancing mes formed into a face¡ªthe face of the me Celestial Sovereign.


    The moment this face appeared, it opened its mouth and spat out a tongue of me at Tang Jie.


    The me howled at Tang Jie like a dragon.


    Tang Jie simply snapped his fingers, upon which the firebird trilled and opened its mouth, sucking in that me dragon, even burping in satisfaction.


    A little firebird naturally wasn''t as strong as the me Celestial Sovereign, but this was only a sliver of his will, far away from matching the firebird.


    "Bastard!" The me Celestial Sovereign furiously roared upon seeing his attack devoured.


    With this roar, the people in the Celestial me Pagoda felt like thousands of needles were jabbing into their heads, and they covered their heads and moaned.


    The me Celestial Sovereign had decided to use a Divine Will attack, not caring about the cost. This Divine Will attack was so powerful that its aftereffects left bystanders in unbearable pain, let alone Tang Jie.


    But Tang Jie was fearless, and as he suffered the Divine Will attack, he shook open the Mountain River State Diagram, from which emerged his original body.


    The original body and avatar merged, and with a roar, he endured this Divine Will attack.


    Tang Jie was one soul sharing two bodies, each of which had developed on their own. When they merged, there was still one soul, but thebined body was much more powerful, so the me Celestial Sovereign had not only failed to wound him, he had greatly weakened his sliver of will in the process.


    Seizing this chance, Tang Jie raised his head, a crimson me burning in his eyes as he chuckled. "That really does have a kick to it, but I need to see what else you''re capable of!"


    After merging, Tang Jie was influenced by the fierce and savage personality of the original body, making his tone more brazen and arrogant. And the original body was like this because he cultivated the Parting ssic. It wasn''t strange for a cultivator to have their personality twisted and warped by the arts they cultivated, and the original body was just one of many. For this reason, the unaffected avatar was closer to his original self. But regardless of which body it was, they had the same soul, so there was no problem with merging. There might have been biological and psychological effects, but they didn''t reach to the soul.


    Merging would create a mixture of the original body''s brashness and the avatar''s meticulousness.


    As Tang Jie spoke, he swung a fist at that giant face of me.


    The me Celestial Sovereign''s will was basically spent after that attack, and it had no means of fending off Tang Jie''s attack and was sted apart by Tang Jie''s punch. The Pale Cloud me split into countless small balls of me, which turned into fire cranes, fire dragons, fire phoenixes, and other such fire creatures, all of them howling and screeching.


    "Seize!" Tang Jie shouted.


    His fist had sted apart the me Celestial Sovereign''s will so that he could take control of the Pale Cloud me.


    The firebird cried out, and the me creatures began to fly toward it, and the firebird''s body quickly grew to the size of an adult bird.


    "Seeking death!" Thest remnants of the me Celestial Sovereign crazily howled, and under his control, the Pale Cloud me twisted and writhed as he let out his most enraged roar.


    "Noisy!" Tang Jie callously said, pping that ball of me. But rather than scattering the me, he swatted the ball of me toward the mouth of the firebird.


    The me Celestial Sovereign''s will sensed that something was wrong, but it was toote.


    The firebird opened its mouth wide and swallowed up the me along with the remnants of the me Celestial Sovereign''s will.


    The firebird immediately shrieked, great torrents of me rolling off it. While its body did not grow anyrger, it began to radiate an immense pressure.


    "Keee!" the firebird excitedly cheered.


    "Oh, it upgraded," Tang Jie smiled.


    Devouring the me Celestial Sovereign''s will had made the firebird much more intelligent and had also greatly increased its ability to control fire.


    It extended its neck and pecked a few times, eating up the scattered embers of the Pale Cloud me, after which it then turned to the other ball of me on the statue: the Deicide me.


    The Deicide me could burn away all things, and while it was inferior to the Pale Cloud me in terms of transformation, it surpassed it in terms of pure power. Only someone who had entered the Dao of Fire like the me Celestial Sovereign or someone unkible like the Blood River Lord could subdue such a me without painstaking effort. Thus, even an intelligent me monster might not be able to subdue this me.


    Tang Jie''s original n was to first take the Pale Cloud me to increase his chances of taking the Deicide me by a few percentage points.


    Now that the firebird had devoured the me Celestial Sovereign''s will, it had clearly advanced in its Dao. But after looking at the Deicide me, it turned around and disappeared into Tang Jie''s body.


    Tang Jie was startled, thinking that the firebird had realized that it was no match for the Deicide me and given up on it. But a momentter, it appeared in his Spiritual Space, shaking its wings and then returning to its nest, after which the nest turned into a cocoon-like spark.


    The cocoon-like spark covered the firebird and began to spin in the air, mes spurting out from the openings. mes were once more sent rippling through the Spiritual Space, and the Spirit Sea was boiled into steam. As his spiritual energy was rapidly consumed, the spark once more began to condense.


    Tang Jie realized that the spark had leveled up again, but rather than one that he controlled, it was one that the firebird controlled.


    The spark grew stronger and stronger, and finally, a fiery-red, slightly transparent cocoon appeared above Tang Jie''s Spirit Sea. Even with his inner sight, Tang Jie couldn''t peer into it.


    A momentter, the firebird flew out from the cocoon, as cute and small as ever. The firebird had shrunk back to a small bird, but it now had three rainbow-colored crest feathers.


    After lightly jumping around a few times, the fire spirit emerged from Tang Jie''s body and charged at the Deicide me again.


    Flying above it, the firebird began to suck in the Deicide me. As that divine me of High Antiquity that nobody dared to touch entered its stomach, its belly swelled as if something was about to explode. The firebird opened its mouth and spat out a fierce me that instantly set the ceiling of the reception hall aze.


    The firebird fanned its mouth with its wing as if trying to say that this had been a rather spicy meal. Only then did it fly back to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie immediately felt an immense heat welling up within his body, almost melting him into a puddle. He looked at the spark in his Spirit Sea and saw that the blue Deicide me was seeping out of the spark, radiating intense light and heat that had the just-calmed Spirit Sea seething once more.


    Tang Jie realized then why the fire spirit wanted to level up the spark. Without this upgrade, the Deicide me would have turned him into a charred duck.


    Even with the spark''s suppression, the Deicide me''s shocking heat was still too much for Tang Jie to bear, and he almost cried out in pain.


    At this moment, Tang Jie saw the eyelids of the me Celestial Sovereign''s statue move.


    Tang Jie thought he was just seeing things at first, but then he saw the eyes slowly open.


    <i>Not good!</i>


    Tang Jie immediately knew that he was in trouble.


    The me Celestial Sovereign had probably sent down a projection.


    Although a projection was still much weaker than the original, the problem was that the me Celestial Sovereign was watching and could provide the projection a constant stream of energy, not like with the will, which was done for the moment it ran out of energy.


    Tang Jie immediately turned to run.


    But rather than running out of the pagoda, he ran to the higher floors.


    At the same time, the eyes fully opened, and a cracking came from the head.


    In the past, he would have been able to manifest himself much faster, but the Pale Cloud me had been stolen, and he had lost his usual host. Relying on the statue was much slower.


    As it watched Tang Jie run, the statue threw its head back and roared in fury.


    "Audacious junior! Death to those who steal my divine me!"


    With great difficulty, the me Celestial Sovereign raised an arm and swung it through the air.

 Chapter 616: Chase!

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Run!


    Tang Jie ran as fast as he could through the Celestial me Pagoda, moving through that vast space like a bolt of lightning as he made his way upward.


    He had barely made it a few floors before hearing a rumbling from below and an intense shuddering. A giant arm prated through several floors and swung at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie turned and punched back at the statue''s arm. This punch from the original body, strong enough to shatter mountains, sent the statue flying back.


    Bang!


    A me lit up on the arm, turning into a massive fist that continued to chase Tang Jie. Just when it was about to make impact, a clear cry came from the back of Tang Jie''s head, and the little firebird appeared, opening its mouth and sucking the me up.


    "Awooo!" The me Celestial Sovereign howled in fury.


    But he knew that, until his original body arrived, it would be too difficult to deal with Tang Jie using mes, since his sacred mes had been stolen. He could only extinguish the me and reach out at Tang Jie with the arm again.


    Although it was only a statue, empowered by the me Celestial Sovereign''s will, it possessed almost unstoppable power.


    The steely fist sted through walls and threw the surrounding spatial fabric into chaos.


    It had to be understood that the Celestial me Pagoda contained its own dimension, and each floor was huge. Having the walls between them broken threw the space into chaos, and thepressed spaces that had been isted from real space began to copse into real space, the dimensions of the various floors beginning to ovep.


    A strange scene began to y out within the Celestial me Pagoda, and someone outside of it would be able to clearly see what was going on inside of it. One could stand at one ce and see one dimension from various angles, or various dimensions from one angle.


    As the damage spread, the internal dimensions of the Celestial me Pagoda began to extend outward, going all the way to the vicinity of the Celestial me Arena. Two people fighting suddenly realized that they would asionally be in the arena and then asionally be inside the Celestial me Pagoda. The attacks they made would fly halfway across the arena before veering into the Celestial me Pagoda, so cultivators walking within the pagoda might suddenly be attacked, and they also might end up walking right into the arena.


    The spectators were also not excluded. They extended their hands and watched them disappear and reappear far away on the other side.


    But if they didn''t pull their hands back in time, they would quickly find them severed by an abrupt spatial fissure.


    Everything became eerie and bizarre, throwing the arena into chaos.


    The internal chaos of the Celestial me Pagoda was instantly brought to the outside, and like a snowball rolling downhill, it picked up speed and grewrger andrger, spreading into the rest of the city.


    But the culprit behind all this was still running around, evading pursuit.


    Tang Jie continued to rush as space was destroyed around him.


    If one looked carefully, one would find that everything was stable in front of Tang Jie, while behind him, chaotic space was chasing him like a frenzied beast. It was like every set of stairs he ascended would copse into a dark abyss.


    At the bottom of this abyss, the me Celestial Sovereign bellowed like a demon god: "It''s useless! Your body contains my Pale Cloud me, so no matter where you go, you can''t escape my palm!"


    He ascended from the abyss, waving a giant arm.


    One of his legs could now move, and he stepped off the tform.


    "Is that so?" Tang Jie chuckled. As the arm swung down, a me erupted from Tang Jie''s right arm and swept toward the me Celestial Sovereign''s arm.


    The Deicide me!


    Tang Jie found the heat from the Deicide me difficult for his body to endure, and the Pale Cloud me was losing its control over it. Thus, he decided to kill two birds with one stone and release the Deicide me.


    A blue ember fell on the approaching arm, upon which the arm began to melt.


    The Deicide me lived up to its reputation.


    The me Celestial Sovereign let out a strange yelp and drew back his arm. At the same moment, he roared at the Deicide me. The me flickered, and Tang Jie felt the me breaking away from him. As the me Celestial Sovereign''s actual body wasn''t here, Tang Jie could counter the mes he used, but when Tang Jie used mes on the me Celestial Sovereign, the me Celestial Sovereign could do the same. Given the me Celestial Sovereign''s specialty, he had far too many ways to take control of mes, and by releasing the Deicide me, Tang Jie had given him an opportunity.


    As the Deicide me was pulled out of Tang Jie''s body by the roar of the me Celestial Sovereign, Tang Jie bellowed and struck his right arm. Blood gushed out, and the Deicide me split into two, one half returning to Tang Jie''s body and the other half flying toward the me Celestial Sovereign.


    Tang Jie had made the bold decision to give up on half of the Deicide me to prevent the me Celestial Sovereign from taking all of it.


    Of course, even if he was giving up on half of the Deicide me, he wouldn''t let it fall into the hands of his foe. He threw out a mighty punch that sted apart the Deicide me, sending countless embers raining down.


    The blue embers fell on the statue, burning through everything they touched, melting its head and arm and leaving holes in its body.


    "Awooo!" The me Celestial Sovereign crazily howled once more.


    He couldn''t control so many mes all at once, and the blue mes zed all across his body.


    As Tang Jie continued to flee upward, the me Celestial Sovereign finally got his other foot moving.


    He looked up at the ascending Tang Jie and roared in fury, "You can''t escape!"


    The statue''s two legs pushed off the ground, carrying him flying upward at Tang Jie, even as the statue was melting.


    The mes were still burning, mercilessly destroying the statue that yed host to the me Celestial Sovereign''s will, but that heaven-obscuring hand continued to reach for Tang Jie.


    As if Tang Jie had eyes at the back of his head, he suddenly lunged forward and then used the Chaoswind Step, appearing some distance away and making the me Celestial Sovereign miss, his hand striking the wall of the pagoda and making the entire ce shudder.


    Tang Jie looked back and smiled. "You''re quite diligent about dismantling your own house."


    Without stopping, he kept running upward.


    "So long as I can kill you, what does dismantling the pagoda matter?" the me Celestial Sovereign roared, this sound infused with his Divine Will. Even the merged Tang Jie couldn''t endure this, and his entire body froze for a brief moment. Fortunately, this was the attack of a projection. A Divine Will attack from the original body would have killed Tang Jie in both body and soul.


    Knowing that he was in trouble, Tang Jie clenched his teeth and took out one of the Divine Stride Talismans he had taken from the treasury.


    He stuck it to his body and began to fly through the floors as if there was nothing in his way.


    Tang Jie was delighted to see that the talisman actually worked, so he stopped using the stairs and just flew straight upward. Behind him, the me Celestial Sovereign dismantled the pagoda as he gave chase.


    From the outside, one could see that the lower levels of the Celestial me Pagoda had already been emptied out, and only that giant covered in blue mes was left, roaring and iling its fists. But as it needed to break through walls and ceilings, it was much slower than Tang Jie.


    The floating tower of the pagoda appeared before the entire city, flickering in and out of existence.


    Xian Tao, Hong Yuan, and Xu Miaoran watched all this from a distance. Xian Tao said in shock, "Young Lady, could this be the work of the esteemed son-inw?"


    "Who else could it be?" Xu Miaoran replied, a smile on her lips. "As expected of my man, even pissing off the me Celestial Sovereign."


    Xian Tao and Hong Yuan were speechless, thinking to themselves, Is that something to be proud of?


    "Aren''t you worried about the esteemed son-inw being in danger?" Hong Yuan asked. "He seems to be in the pagoda. If this goes on, wouldn''t he be a turtle in a jar?"


    "I trust him! Since he dared to do it, he must have a way of escaping," Xu Miaoran answered. "Alright, enough spectating. Let''s get back to work. Remember to clean up anything that could connect us to Tang Jie. Just because Tang Jie isn''t around doesn''t mean we can stop business."


    At the same time, Tang Jie finally reached the ninth floor of the Celestial me Pagoda.


    Xu Miaoran was right. He had dared to do this because he already had a n to retreat.


    The ninth floor of the Celestial me Pagoda was his retreat n.


    He was running upward for no reason except that there was a teleportation formation up there. Through there, he could freely go wherever he wanted.


    But when he reached the ninth floor, he stopped.


    Someone was standing in front of the teleportation formation.


    Liu Qianyi.


    Their eyes met, and Tang Jie''s heart sank. He suddenly realized that she had seen through his entire n.


    But Liu Qianyi didn''t rush up. She looked at Tang Jie and smiled.


    Her eyes clearly conveyed her thoughts to him, as if they could speak: You really are alive.


    She didn''te here to stop me, Tang Jie realized.


    Liu Qianyi slowly stepped aside.


    Tang Jie understood.


    He rushed past her like a gust of wind.


    As he passed Liu Qianyi, he said, "Thank you."


    The smile on Liu Qianyi''s face bloomed with endless satisfaction.


    A momentter, Tang Jie was standing on the teleportation formation and activating it.


    At the same time, the me Celestial Sovereign crashed his way through the floor with his fist and emerged.


    Seeing Tang Jie on the teleportation formation, the me Celestial Sovereign finally realized what his n was and shouted, "No!"


    A giant hand reached for Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie waved his hand at the me Celestial Sovereign. "Bye bye!"


    In a sh of light, Tang Jie disappeared.


    As Tang Jie vanished, the me Celestial Sovereign roared, "Don''t even think about running!"


    The me Celestial Sovereign punched at the teleportation formation with all his might, using sheer force to send his energy into the spatial passage.


    Within the spatial passage, Tang Jie felt the space around him shudder, and amid fierce spatial turbulence, an abyssal ck hole appeared in the straight spatial tunnel.


    Unable to control himself, Tang Jie fell into that bottomless ck hole.


    Trantor Notes


    Tang Jie pulls off the heist? s, it doesn''t seem like he pulled off a clean getaway.

 Chapter 617: The Void

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie''s body spun as he plummeted downward.


    Howling spatial currents raged around him, enveloping him in shing multicolored lights as they tore at his body, almost ripping him open.


    Tang Jie knew that he was caught in one of a cultivator''s greatest fears: spatial turbulence.


    The damage to the spatial tunnel had destabilized the spatial energy, creating a vortex, and the mainponent of a spatial vortex was spatial turbulence.


    Spatial turbulence was highly destructive, and if he hadn''t been in a merged state with an extremely tough body, he would have been torn to pieces long ago.


    Even so, Tang Jie couldn''tst much longer. Once the spatial turbulence developed into a spatial storm¡­ even a Violet Pce True Lord would be torn to pieces.


    Realizing this, Tang Jie gritted his teeth and pressed forward, going straight toward that ck hole. That was the exit to the spatial vortex. At this point, there was no point in trying to avoid anything. The only hope was to charge against the current. A momentter, Tang Jie used all the defensive methods he had.


    The raging spatial turbulence swept over his body, obliterating his barriers and buffeting his tough skin, making it crack like bark and then dissolve into dust. A momentter, new flesh was generated from the damaged areas.


    Relying on his powerful recovery abilities, Tang Jie finally managed to reach the hole. Just when he was about to leave through it, a ck storm suddenly rushed out of it.


    Tang Jie knew that spatial turbulences around the vortex exit were the most frightening of all, but he knew that there was no backing out at this point. Clenching his teeth, he unleashed all of his power into a punch at the ck storm, forgoing any defense.


    "Devil Crushing Fist! Break!" Tang Jie roared.


    At this moment, Tang Jie had a realization. In the face of those practically unstoppable spatial turbulences, actively attacking was more meaningful than passively defending.


    This was the strongest attack Tang Jie had ever made, hurtling toward that storm rushing in through the hole with world-breaking force.


    With a sh of blinding light, the ck storm was sted apart, scattering into countless little vortices that Tang Jie pushed through as he charged into the exit.


    The moment he broke free of the spatial vortex, the world fell silent.


    All of the mor and chaos disappeared all at once, as if it had never existed. Tang Jie found himself in an empty space, with nothing at all around him. Behind him, the ck hole was copsing inward, growing smaller and smaller. Finally, it let out an air bubble beforepletely disappearing.


    Tang Jie knew that he was in the infinite void.


    After dropping out of the spatial tunnel, Tang Jie had finally reached this ce that it was said that only Immortal tform cultivators could easily traverse.


    If the infinite void was an ocean, each world of the Great Ster Chiliocosm was like an ind in this ocean. It was the infinite void and the countless inds rising up from it that made up the Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    But now, Tang Jie had jumped off a small ind and entered this vast ocean.


    Looking around, he saw only the void. He floated in this void with no heavens above or earth below, no east and west nor north and south. If not for a few scattered stars gleaming in the distance, Tang Jie might have believed that he was in absolute darkness.


    Those stars were probably little worlds within the Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    He didn''t know if the Blood River Domain was among those stars, and even if it was¡­ he didn''t know which one it was.


    Fortunately, he wasn''tpletely without solutions.


    At this moment, he thought to himself, Don''t I have Tutu?


    He shook the diagram, and Tutu came out from it.


    Tutu was dumbfounded as it stepped into the void. How had Tang Jie run off to the infinite void all of a sudden?


    Tang Jie didn''t waste time joking, giving Tutu a rough exnation of what had happened.


    Tang Jie asked, "Can''t you orient yourself in the void? Help me see which one of those stars is the Blood River Domain or Rosecloud Domain."


    The rabbit looked around and then closed its eyes for a few moments. Shaking its head, it said, "None of them are. I sense that the Blood River Domain is very, very far away from here, and returning to the Blood River Domain by traversing the void will be extremely difficult."


    Tang Jie''s face fell.


    The Dao of Space could allow one to cross a thousand kilometers in a sh, and it was an abstruse Dao that could not be understood usingmon sense. There was no guarantee that because Tang Jie''s teleportation had been interrupted the moment he entered, he had to be in the vicinity of the Blood River Domain. It was highly possible for the exact opposite to happen and for the spatial jump to carry him to the other side of the cosmos.


    Tutu was a Heaven-Lost Rabbit, with a natural gift for spatial orientation. If it said that getting back by traversing the void was difficult, then it was probably the truth.


    But at this point, Tang Jie didn''t have any other choice. He said, "Then find a closer world to enter first. Tutu, sense which of these worlds is closest to us."


    Tutu firmly replied, "This isn''t a problem of distance. Young Master, don''t forget about the Domain Astral Winds."


    Tang Jie froze. He only now remembered that he also had this difficult trial to deal with.


    The Domain Astral Winds served as fences for their respective worlds, and it was because of them that the spiritual energy within a world didn''t flow out in the void and invaders were kept out. But it was also because of them that the people within a domain were prisoners within it, unable to leave without great effort.


    Fortunately, the Domain Astral Winds weren''t all the same.


    Not every domain had Domain Astral Winds that only an Immortal tform Titan could push through and leave. Some of them were rather weak, making for lower requirements for ascension. And others had higher requirements so that even Immortal tform Titans couldn''t easily get through them.


    When it came to traversing the void, Tutu was a professional, so it immediately pointed out the w in Tang Jie''s thinking.


    If he went looking with this mindset and ended up flying straight into a world with stronger Domain Astral Winds, he would be throwing himself into the arms of death.


    Tang Jie was enlightened by Tutu''s words and said with a smile, "I forgot about this, but this is partially your fault. Didn''t you say that you once entered through a spatial fissure?"


    "Spatial fissures are things youe across, not find, so you can''t rely on them," Tutu replied. "In the past, my young master had the Immeasurable Sword, which he could use to break through domain barriers. Now that the Immeasurable Sword is shattered, how can you create a spatial fissure?"


    "¡­" Tang Jie was left speechless.


    The Immeasurable Sword was a domain-breaking sword. While the Sovereign de was strong, it couldn''tpare to the Immeasurable Sword in this aspect. It might have even yed a role in Reverend Celestial Hook''s ability to constantly fish items out of the Lustrous Treasure River.


    With the Immeasurable Sword shattered, the world had lost a domain-breaking treasure¡ªa true pity.


    "I see. Then can you see if there''s any world in the area that I can enter with my current strength?"


    "I''ll try!" Tutu dropped its head and closed its eyes.


    After a while, it suddenly pointed at a point of light. "The Domain Astral Winds there are the weakest. You might be able to get in with your body."


    "''Might be able to''?"


    Tutu replied, "My expertise is in spatial orientation, not Astral Wind strength analysis. Sensing this is already my limit. A more precise answer isn''t possible."


    In the end, he was justcking in cultivation level.


    Tang Jie sighed.


    With a True Person''s strength, traversing the void was basically suicide, so it wasn''t strange that the weakest world that Tutu had gone to such great lengths to find still wasn''t something he was guaranteed to enter, and this was with his current body, which had a toughnessparable to a Titan.


    But Tang Jie had no choice but to try.


    ording to Tutu, while this ce seemed close, flying over would take at least two years.


    The ck Tortoise had needed several decades to travel between the Heavenshade Domain and the Rosecloud Domain, so two years in this boundless void was truly incredibly short.


    Since he had made up his mind, Tang Jie began to fly toward that star indicated by Tutu.


    Rather than riding Tutu, he let out the Jade Immortal Pavilion.


    As a rare flying pce, the Jade Immortal Pavilion was perfect for traveling through the void. While it was slower than Tutu, it was much safer. Even if he encountered some sort of turbulence in the void, the Jade Immortal Pavilion could help him endure it, allowing Tang Jie to cultivate in peace.


    Yes, while flying to this unknown world, Tang Jie needed to cultivate.


    There was nothing in the infinite void, not even spiritual energy, so it was normally impossible to cultivate. Not only that, when fighting in the void, as one could not draw on the outside world, one could only use one''s own energy to cast spell arts. Linking to the world to harness its spiritual energy or using the Divine Soul to cast ten thousand arts with a single thought were basically impossible in the void. In this aspect, everyone became much weaker. But even if they were restricted to their own strength, Violet Pce cultivators were still far above Celestial Heart and Mortal Shedding cultivators, so one couldn''t hope to win just by relying on this fall in strength. But for a body cultivator, this was excellent news, as body cultivation waspletely unaffected by all this. If some cultivator who had just entered Violet Pce ran into Tang Jie in the void, they really might lose.


    While it wasn''t possible to cultivate in the void, Tang Jie had the Mountain River State Diagram.


    After absorbing the Treasure Paradise, the Mountain River State Diagram had expanded its area, growing sorge that it was now three times the size of the original maximum size of the Mountain River State Diagram.


    Butpared to the expansion of territory, the richness of the world was more important.


    The Mountain River State Diagram had previously been a desert, everything outside of the Great Broken Stream barren.


    Even after Xu Miaoran had sent in copious amounts of matter and He Chong had set up a formation, it was like pouring a cup of water on a burning cart. It was only the absorption of the Treasure Paradise that finally filled the Mountain River State Diagram''s stomach. It had both expanded in size and gained the countless resources umted in the Treasure Paradise over thest ten thousand years.


    These resources included ordinary mountains, water, grass, and soil. They all seemed unremarkable, but they were the most important and most basic parts of a world. Without them, spiritual energy would have no ce to exist.


    The Treasure Paradise had made up for what the Mountain River State Diagram hadcked, enriching itsnds. The area around the Great Broken Stream began to have mountains, valleys, rivers, forests, andkes. At the end of thend was a blue ocean¡ªthe fruits of He Chong''s ocean-making formation¡ªand it was continuing to expand. It was still in its formation phase, but it wouldn''t be long before it circled this entire continent.


    The onlyck was that there was still no life on thisnd. Let alone intelligent lifeforms, even the lowest cellr lifeforms had yet to appear. There was life in the Great Broken Stream, but they were satisfied with their current environment and had never left that Immortal ind in the center.


    All this said one thing: this world finally had spiritual energy.


    It was real spiritual energy, spiritual energy that was created and born in a constant cycle!


    This meant that Tang Jie could cultivate inside it.


    Just like with the Water Moon Paradise, after neverending investment, it was finally harvest season!

 Chapter 618: Charging at Heart Demon (1)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Thousand Return Mountain.


    This had once been arge mountain in the Treasure Paradise, but it had now moved into the Mountain River State Diagram.


    This change of location had caused it to fall from a height of 6800 meters to 4200 meters, its peak having disappeared and appeared on another end of the diagram. The t mountain head appeared like a massive za, and also like a person who had been cut in half at the waist.


    In the center of the za stood a lonely tree, but despite being a single tree, its crown was so lush as to match a forest.


    A single lotusmp hung from a branch of this tree. A small fire burned at the center of the lotus, exuding a clear aroma.


    Tang Jie sat meditating beneath themp.


    He sat cross-legged on the ground, with a spirit-gathering formation carved under his feet.


    His hands shifted between various signs, and as he breathed in and out, white tendrils went in and out of his nostrils, as lively as little snakes. After some time, he finally stopped cultivating. Looking up at the lotusmp above him, he let out a long breath.


    The lotusmp was truly a fine treasure. With its help, Tang Jie clearly sensed that his cultivation speed was much faster than before. At his level of cultivation, rising an additional tier was extremely difficult, and it had been a very long time since Tang Jie had been able to so clearly feel his progress.


    Two years went by in the blink of an eye, two years which Tang Jie spent cultivating within the diagram. As for the Jade Immortal Pavilion, he had the ghost guard control it.


    In these two years, Tang Jie gradually progressed from the middle phase of Spirit Ring to theter phase. Attaining such a level in only two years wasn''t due purely to the lotusmp and the spirit-gathering formation. The umtor Divine Flow Pills had also yed an extremely important role.


    The lotusmp and spirit-gathering formation were for more long-term and slow improvement, while the umtor Divine Flow Pills boosted him all at once in leaps.


    Each pill he took would improve his cultivation by a good bit.


    Without them, Tang Jie would have never been able to rise to this level of cultivation in only two years. s, he didn''t have many of these pills. Tang Jie had taken one every two months, and he was now on hisst one.


    Taking out the bottle, Tang Jie dumped out thest one and looked at it while muttering, "After I eat this one, it should be just about right."


    He tilted his head back and swallowed the pill.


    As the pill entered his stomach, the medicinal power dispersed through him, and he once more felt that familiar rush of warmth.


    Tang Jie began to methodically guide the medicinal power to the various parts of his body. Within his Spiritual Space, a deluge began toe down, throwing the Spirit Sea into turmoil. Beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead, and his body began to sway.


    Even though he had already taken this pill eleven times, he was still somewhat unustomed to the formidable medicinal power of this pill.


    Fortunately, it was still a cadence he was familiar with, and it wasn''t long before he stabilized the situation.


    Calm quickly returned to the Spiritual Space, and all that was left was the spiritual energy majestically surging through his body. A golden Spirit Ring began to expand outward from Tang Jie, extending all the way to the feet of the distant Yiyi while exuding power.


    Whew! "Finally got it!" Tang Jie wiped the sweat off his forehead.


    "Big Brother, have you reached theter phase?" Yiyi asked, blinking herrge eyes.


    Tang Jie nodded.


    "Oh, that''s great. Big Brother can go for Heart Demon now!" Yiyi waved her arms and shouted.


    "No rush, no rush. Let''s stabilize my cultivation level first," Tang Jie said with a smile.


    He truly could make the charge at the Heart Demon Tier now, but rushing things could lead to mistakes. Tang Jie nned to first stabilize his foundations.


    "Then you might be toote," Yiyi said, pursing her lips.


    By "toote", she was referring to Tang Jie''s desire to advance to the Heart Demon Tier before passing through the Astral Winds so as to increase his chances.


    Tang Jie smiled. "Don''t worry. Isn''t there still half a year? That''s enough. Moreover, the charge at Heart Demon Tier involves a lot of preparations that I have yet toplete. If possible, I also don''t want to charge at Heart Demon in this ce."


    Tutu had calcted the two years based on its own speed. The Jade Immortal Pavilion was much slower than Tutu, so he had to fly another half a year to reach his chosen destination.


    "Moreover, this isn''t the key to passing through the Astral Winds. That is." Tang Jie pointed with his chin.


    His huge original body was seated at the base of a distant mountain. Under him was aplicated formation that constantly shed and gleamed.


    Compared to the avatar, the original body had a much tougher time breaking through.


    The original body had an excessive reliance on spiritual nts, and now that the supply from the Blood River Domain had been cut off, its progress had basicallye to a stop.


    Even though he could still grow through the spiritual energy of this world, the cultivation speed was mind-numbingly slow.


    Worst of all was that the original body was currently in the critical step in his advancement into theter phase of the Diamond Body.


    This was equivalent to the Soul Transformation Tier. In the past, if he could gather enough natural treasures, he could just take a bath and be done with things, but without all that, getting past this threshold became excruciatingly difficult.


    No matter how hard the original body worked, even using all the spiritual herbs and nts Tang Jie had, it still wasn''t enough. While the diagram world had been enriched, it was still severelycking in natural treasures. Other than the physical matter requirements, it also just needed time. Getting things in short order just wasn''t possible.


    While the diagram had a teleportation formation, the distance was too great to send Tang Jie back, unless he found more resources to upgrade the teleportation formation. This was also a reason he needed to enter a world.


    His original body was on the verge of a breakthrough but unable to take that final step, which made Tang Jie feel very helpless.


    "It seems liketer-phase Diamond Body before entering the Astral Winds won''t be possible," Yiyimented.


    "That''s what it means when one says that losses and gains go hand in hand," Tang Jie replied.


    In these two years of cultivation, the avatar had progressed as quickly as the original body was slow.


    One lost and one gained, disying the way in which the world brought all things to bnce.


    After a mncholy sigh, Tang Jie sat down and continued cultivating. Yiyi didn''t ck off either, joining Tang Jie in cultivating.


    Farther off, He Chong''s group was diligently continuing their work of modifying the world.


    asionally, Deng Yuqing would nce at a distant mountain, the figure of a small person dancing in his eyes.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    Another half a year passed.


    The ghost guard informed him that they would arrive at the destination in another three days at most.


    Tang Jie hade out to take a look once, and that once-distant star had be a vast world, the Domain Astral Winds forming shing green waves that prevented anyone from seeing what was happening inside. All he could sense was that the world was brimming with vitality.


    Even so, the terrifying Astral Winds couldn''t be underestimated. Tutu also warned that it sensed a powerful strength from it and that Tang Jie probably wasn''t strong enough to safely pass.


    Tang Jie said nothing in response to this, silently returning to the diagram.


    Back in the diagram, Tang Jie dered, "I''m nning to attempt the Heart Demon Tier."


    Yiyi was aghast. "Didn''t you say that it wasn''t the right time for that?"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "We can''t wait."


    In this half a year, the original body''s progress had basicallye to a standstill, and it still hadn''t broken through thatst threshold.


    As he was unable to increase his original body''s strength, Tang Jie''s only option was to strengthen his avatar.


    Although the avatar was at greater-attainment Spirit Ring and had theoretically been able to break into Heart Demon for a while now, Tang Jie wanted to wait for the ideal moment and prepare things as best he could.


    But in reality, he couldn''t prepare for everything.


    There would always be something that he couldn''t perfect and just had to deal with.


    Even though Tang Jie understood this principle, his perfectionist heart always wanted to do things the best he could.


    Today, Tang Jie hade upon the first imperfection in his life: he had to push through the most dangerous and most difficult threshold in his cultivation life yet while not amply prepared.


    Was this his just desert?


    Why else would he happen to run into such difficulties only with the Heart Demon Tier?


    As expected, it was better to live life properly, as it wasn''t that the punishment didn''te, but that the time for it had been yet to arrive.


    But regardless, Tang Jie couldn''t back down.


    After doing some final preparations, Tang Jie prepared for the charge at Heart Demon¡ªin actuality, there weren''t many preparations, justying down a clear mind formation, using his Triheart Pill, Mindsoothing Lumber, and other such things.


    After doing all this, Tang Jie officially began his charge at the Heart Demon Tier.


    The charge at Heart Demon was the tempering of the soul, its transformation into the Divine Soul.


    The soul was originally formless, and tempering was needed for it to gain physicality.


    In the Mortal Shedding Realm, the tier of Cognitive Creation was for the purpose of refining the Spirit Will, and the Spirit Will, the will of the soul, was actually the first step to tempering the soul.


    The Spirit Ring was a manifestation of the Spirit Will''s ability. The area within the Spirit Ring was a cultivator''s territory, where they were much more powerful. Tang Jie''s Flesh Millstone had its range based on his Spirit Ring, which was why it was so powerful. It was just that absorbing blood gems had made it even stronger, but even so, the Flesh Millstone was still strongest within the range of the Spirit Ring.


    At the Heart Demon Tier, the soul would be tempered again into the Divine Soul.


    The greatest difference between the Divine Soul and the soul was that it was no longer purely a conceptual existence, actually having a form. This form was still rather ethereal and couldn''t be considered a physical body. But it also wasn''t like the soul, which could be neither seen nor felt.


    One thought was to be a god, and one thought was to be a demon.


    In the condensation process, a good will would be a god and an evil will would be a demon, so in this process, one could form either Heart Gods or Heart Demons. This was why this period was called the Heart Demon Tier, but it was also referred to as the Heart God Tier, the Divine Soul Tier, and the Divine Will Tier.


    Tang Jie concentrated his mind and began to circte his mantra.


    Countless thoughts immediately emerged in his mind.


    His brain instantly went into overdrive as countless events from his past reyed themselves in his mind.


    Tang Jie finally understood why the forgotten past could still be a Heart Demon, be nightmare creatures that could engulf a cultivator''s mind. This was because as the mantra circted and stimted the soul, all of one''s memories would be reactivated, making it so that there was no running away.


    The dizzying scenes surged through Tang Jie''s mind like the ocean. All sorts of cries and roars rang out in his ear as if ten thousand birds were calling out all at once, and his head felt like it was going to split apart.


    Familiar faces appeared in his mind: Xu Muyang, Wei Tianchong, Shi Yue, Wei Die, Cai Junyang, Xie Fengtang¡­ Each person represented a section of his memories, and the memories threatened to engulf him.


    In this flood of memories, a few voices were particrly resounding.


    They loudly shouted, "Give me back my life!"


    They iled their ws and gnashed their teeth at Tang Jie.


    If he looked carefully, he could see Zhuang Shen, Gu Changqing, Shu Mingyang, Mei Huaping, Chang Mingxin, Feng Buzhi, and others. These people who had died at his hand, whether he knew them or not, lunged at him one after another. There were so many of them that it was only now, when Tang Jie could see them all, that he realized how many people he had killed. After them were people like Ji Ziqian, Shi Mo, and Lin Lang, these people whom he didn''t have much of a connection to. They also appeared in this storm of memories, taking on most savage forms.


    Tang Jie knew that this was the first trial he had to face in the charge to Heart Demon, the Illusion Trial. The ughter and evil that one hadmitted and felt shame over would take the form of resentful spirits and shriek and howl within the mind of a cultivator, taking on various monstrous and savage forms to disturb the mind and break resolve.


    At this time, these stray thoughts couldn''t do anything except shriek and howl. One would be fine so long as one protected one''s Origin Heart.


    The Basking Moon Sect''s mantras emphasized a sturdy Origin Heart, so passing this trial was the easiest. Thus, Tang Jie wasn''t worried, standing firm and fortifying his mind as the torrent of shrieking souls passed over him.


    Gradually, a hazy and ethereal silhouette began to form in his Sea of Cognition.

 Chapter 619: Charging at Heart Demon (2)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie knew that this was his Divine Soul.


    The Divine Soul was only a wisp at this point, and Tang Jie needed to constantly nurture it in order for it to truly take form.


    Tang Jie continued to circte the mantra, sending spiritual energy into his Sea of Cognition, gathering his will upon that Divine Soul so that it could grow.


    The growth of the Divine Soul was the most important step for a Heart Demon cultivator, deciding how high their cultivation would be, but it was also the most dangerous step. From the moment the first wisp of the Divine Soul was formed, Demonic Wills would start to be born.


    As those countless wills turned into Divine Will and merged with the Divine Soul, the first Demonic Will was finally born.


    This was a Heart Demon with a blurry face, born from the wicked thoughts within the human heart. As it had no specific concept as its base, it had no specific form, appearing like a cloud.


    Unlike the stray thoughts of the Illusion Trial, Heart Demons were real existences, and their origin as evil thoughts meant that they had savage natures, and they were born within the most vulnerable Sea of Cognition. This was the scariest thing about Heart Demons. They weren''t necessarily powerful, but they were born where the cultivator was weakest.


    The moment this Heart Demon took form, it shrieked and lunged at Tang Jie''s Divine Soul.


    Souls were formless, so they couldn''t be attacked. But a Divine Soul did have form, which opened it up to attack. And if a Heart Demon were to destroy the soul, the person would die, which was why this tribtion was so dangerous.


    But the moment the Heart Demon appeared, Tang Jie began to chant a mantra.


    As he chanted the mantra, golden runes began to emerge from the Divine Soul, dissolving into golden light. The radiance of the golden light struck fear into the Heart Demon, leaving it trembling and unwilling to attack.


    A momentter, Tang Jie barked, "Go!"


    One of the runes shone its golden light on the Heart Demon, and the Heart Demon howled and melted away like snow.


    When the Heart Demon disappeared, Tang Jie felt his soul bing a little cleaner, and the condensation speed of the Divine Soul became a little faster.


    But the Divine Soul condensing faster also meant that Demonic Wills would appear at a faster rate.


    A momentter, two Heart Demons appeared.


    This time, Tang Jie saw a familiar face.


    Shi Mo!


    The youth''s face was twisted into a most fierce expression. "Tang Jie, give me back my life!"


    This sort of Heart Demon with an actual form was far more terrifying than the simple evil thoughts from earlier. They represented events that had actually happened! The previous were just evil thoughts, but these represented evil actions. This was a major difference that also indicated apletely different level of strength.


    Although Tang Jie felt no guilt over how he had treated Shi Mo, in reality, he could not say that he had no connection to Shi Mo''s death. For this reason, Shi Mo had still appeared, turning into a vicious spirit who hade to take his life!


    Tang Jie could only sigh. Shi Mo''s appearance had undoubtedly plucked at his once-pliable heartstrings.


    Even so, Tang Jie continued to chant, and the golden runes in his Sea of Cognition lit up and struck the Heart Demon that had taken Shi Mo''s form, vaporizing it into smoke.


    Tang Jie''s heart felt a little lighter.


    At that moment, he felt like he could see Shi Mo''s soul ascending, even giving him a nod.


    Tang Jie knew that this wasn''t actually Shi Mo smiling at him. It was his own heart washing away these matters that had gnawed at his mind, making his heart clearer, smoother, and more open-minded.


    To charge at the Heart Demon Tier was to create the Divine Soul, to battle with the past, to wash one''s soul.


    With each washing of the soul, the formation of wills would elerate. This eleration would increase the formation rate of the Divine Soul and the formation rate of Heart Demons, increasing the danger.


    But cultivators wouldn''t be willing to slow down just because of this. After all, the faster the Divine Soul formed, the stronger and moreplete it became.


    The consequence of uncontrolled speed was having more and more Heart Demons appear.


    This time, ten-some of them appeared, with dark faces and sharp fangs, wrapped in dark smoke. Screeching, they attacked Tang Jie, with quite a few of them being resentful spirits who had died to Tang Jie. These Heart Demons were clearly stronger than the ones that hade before.


    "Wicked creatures!" Tang Jie coldly snorted in disdain and continued to chant.


    The string of golden runes in the Sea of Cognition came together into a golden sword.


    With one swing, a Heart Demon was obliterated.


    The golden sword swung several more times, each swing taking down a Heart Demon. After ten-some shes, the Sea of Cognition was clean once more.


    Even Tang Jie couldn''t help but sigh in admiration at the power of the Wisdom Sword Mantra. It was truly the ideal technique for oveing Heart Demons.


    When other people took on the Heart Demon Tribtion, they primarily relied on various methods to protect the Divine Soul and secret arts to wear away at the Heart Demons such that the Heart Demons gradually died off over the course of their offensive. The greatest w to this method was that damage to the Divine Soul was unavoidable and the rate at which Heart Demons were eliminated was too slow. This meant that the formation of the Divine Soul was slow, causing it to be weaker.


    The Wisdom Sword Mantra chose a different approach, opting for offense as the best defense, killing the Heart Demons with supreme power. If it were paired with aplete defense, the excruciatingly difficult Heart Demon Tribtion would be like a small appetizer to Tang Jie.


    s, within the diagram, Tang Jie had limited resources to work with. Although he had the Wisdom Sword Mantra, hecked aprehensive method to protect the soul. His single Compassionate Clear Heart Formation was far from enough for defense. This meant that Tang Jie had to rely solely on the Wisdom Sword, and the slightest error would put him in danger.


    Charging at Heart Demon in this unideal situation pushed what was required of Tang Jie to new levels. Even the creator of the Wisdom Sword Mantra, the Cloud Ancestor, probably had neverpletely relied on it to ovee Heart Demons, but Tang Jie simply didn''t have a choice in the matter.


    As the third wave of Heart Demons was exterminated, more Heart Demons rushed in.


    Another person might still be going through the first wave. The speed and quantity at which Heart Demons were appearing for Tang Jie had far surpassed that of his peers.


    Several dozen Heart Demons appeared this time. Their leader had a body like inky smoke, but its face was Zhuang Shen''s. He floated in the Sea of Cognition, snarling, "Tang Jie, give me back my life!"


    Tang Jie sneered and spoke through his Divine Soul: "You wanted to kill but failed, and me striking back counts as self-defense. I don''t feel the slightest remorse about killing you. What right do you have to be my Heart Demon? Hurry up and vanish!"


    The Divine Soul erupted with light, and under this white light, the Demonic Will that had taken Zhuang Shen''s form shrieked, after which the Wisdom Sword swung down and dispersed it.


    The Wisdom Sword wasn''t the only way to remove Heart Demons. Asking one''s heart and finding no guilt was the proper path!


    A virtuous cultivator had no fear of Heart Demons.


    Tang Jie was no saint, but he did not think of himself as someone who killed for pleasure. Most of the people he killed were his enemies.


    Enemies weren''t necessarily evil, but just like there was no crime for killing in war, when fighting an enemy, killing them was considered self-defense. While it was impossible to not feel any guilt about these deeds, it wasn''t enough to unsettle one too much. Thus, even if they became Heart Demons, their power was limited.


    As for Zhuang Shen, he had ambushed Tang Jie, so Tang Jie had killed him without even the slightest hint of remorse. Thus, with these words, he turned the Heart Demon to dust.


    The Wisdom Sword radiated light and slew all the other Heart Demons, obliterating all opposition in its path.


    Tang Jie''s Divine Soul continued to grow more powerful and tough, and as it formed in the Sea of Cognition, it began to take on Tang Jie''s appearance.


    A momentter, hundreds of Heart Demons rushed at him.


    The Heart Demons were even more savage and powerful, and their leader was clearly Gu Changqing.


    s, whether it was Zhuang Shen or Gu Changqing, they had all been enemies, so whether they had been honest or lowly, they were all foes who needed to be killed without mercy. Tang Jie was fearless, continuing to cut down the Heart Demons without the slightest hesitation.


    The number of Heart Demons began to climb at a slower rate, but their strength began to soar.


    The people he had killed, hurt, or targeted all turned into Heart Demons and lunged at him.


    Shu Mingyang, Tai Zhou, Nan Ningjiang, He Changan¡ªHeart Demons with their forms appeared one after another. Even scoundrels like Chen Naixing, Chen Naian, and Qian Yingchen appeared to assail Tang Jie.


    The Heart Demons came in wave after wave, assaulting Tang Jie''s Sea of Cognition, battering at his soul.


    As the Heart Demons appeared, the memories of the past began to deeply affect Tang Jie, drowning him in a sea of recollection. Various sounds and past actions intersected in his mind, particrly his shorings, regrets, and sorrows. They threw his mind into disarray, bringing his mood down and weighing his soul with negative emotions.


    This sort of mental disruption was also a part of the Heart Demon Tribtion. It wasn''t conspicuous, but it was terrifying, slowly seeping into the heart like a light drizzle, affecting each and every cultivator. The umtion of negative emotions made a person feel tired,cking in confidence, and want to give up, weakening the strength of their counterattacks. Ultimately, it allowed the Heart Demons to infiltrate the soul.


    This was also the trial that cultivators found was most difficult to deal with in the Heart Demon Tribtion. For this reason, oveing the Heart Demon Tribtion involved three things.


    The first was the Origin Heart. If a person did not feel guilt, then while one couldn''t guarantee that there were no Heart Demons, there were bound to be fewer of them, making the Heart Demon Tribtion easy to ovee. Tang Jie felt no guilt about Heart Demons like Zhuang Shen and Gu Changqing, so he had no fear of them. But he had killed quite a few people, so there were quite a few Heart Demons.


    The second was the mantra. Regardless of the state of the Origin Heart, a powerful soul-protecting mantra was a necessary foundation. When cultivators cultivated, they ultimately cultivated their strength. And the Wisdom Sword Mantra was a powerful mantra for oveing Heart Demons. Without this mantra, Tang Jie would have been defeated long ago.


    The third was the will. One could not contend against the intrusion of Heart Demons and stray thoughts without a hardy will. Those who lost this trial wouldn''t die, but they would be demons.


    Fortunately, the Basking Moon Sect was an expert at this. Its mantras were righteous and hardened the will, and considering that Tang Jie had a tough will to begin with, he was able to hold on.


    Even so, the waves of Heart Demons still left Tang Jie exhausted.


    And as time progressed, the Heart Demons grew stronger and stronger, plummeting out of the sky like demons from beyond. Even though Tang Jie was constantly swinging his mantra sword, there was no end to the demons, and some of them didn''t even die to one blow anymore. As he looked around at the endless Heart Demons, he couldn''t help but sigh. This truly was Karma for all of the death and ughter he had produced.


    In this situation, Tang Jie couldn''t keep his Divine Soulpletely unharmed, and a Heart Demon would asionally ram into it.


    Each collision was like a scratch across his heart, leaving Tang Jie in immense pain.


    The defense provided by the Compassionate Clear Heart Formation was bing less and less up to the task, and the offensive from the Heart Demons only intensified.


    Tang Jie''splexion turned pale, meaning that the Divine Soul was starting to show damage from the endless attacks. The damage to the Divine Soul would directly affect the body so that Tang Jie felt it as well. And if the damage worsened, it would result in unheble injuries that not even the Dao of Life could restore. If the Divine Soul were destroyed, that meant certain death, which was exactly what made the Heart Demon Tribtion so terrifying.


    But Tang Jie couldn''t back out now. He had to face down these difficulties and conquer them.


    Tang Jie continued to chant the mantra and swing the sword. Those negative thoughts failed to infiltrate Tang Jie''s mind and instead were pushed back.


    The greater the danger, the more fearless he was!


    No negative emotion could affect him. As his situation grew more perilous, his voice became steadier, his words resounding like bells, dispelling the evil spirits within his Sea of Cognition.


    This allowed him to miraculouslyst until the very end, his Divine Soul continuing to grow. Finally, it attainedplete human form, taking on Tang Jie''s appearance. While it was all still made from smoke, all of his features were clear and distinct.


    As the Divine Soulpleted its formation, the Heart Demons unleashed onest desperate assault. They washed over the Sea of Cognition, nketing Tang Jie''s soul in darkness.


    As the ck smoke encroached, Tang Jie''s eyes turned red, brutality and ughter beginning to influence his mind.


    He was still chanting the mantra, the golden light was still shining, the Wisdom Sword was still ying, and the Divine Soul was still holding on, but all of this seemed insignificant, and there seemed to be no hope of victory.


    His will was wavering, his soul sinking into the darkness!


    The Heart Demons started tough and sing, celebrating a new member in their ranks.


    At that moment, augh suddenly came from that Divine Soul wrapped in darkness. "You really think you''ve won?"


    As that voice spoke, a shining radiance swept over the Sea of Cognition.


    The Heart Demons wailed as they melted away under this light, together with that endless demonic energy.


    Tang Jie''s Sea of Cognition was instantly clear and bright, the Divine Soul standing tall and proud.


    He had ovee the Heart Demon Tribtion!

 Chapter 620: Entering

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Under thatrge tree atop Thousand Return Mountain, Tang Jie slowly opened his eyes. A tinge of red appeared on his paleplexion while the red light in his eyes began to retreat.


    Whew! He let out a long breath.


    "Big Brother!" Yiyi shouted. "You did it?"


    Tang Jie nodded. "If I didn''t do it, you wouldn''t be seeing me now¡­ That was too close. It''s thanks to this that I managed to get through."


    Tang Jie turned his hand over, revealing the Fate Standard in his palm.


    That final burst of light hade from the Fate Standard.


    The majestic power of fate had ultimately suppressed the Heart Demons. Those former evil spirits and souls of the dead were all powerless to Fate, unable to resist, unable to argue, unable toin.


    For this reason, the Heart Demons had retreated under the light of Fate, their resentment vanishing, for this was all Fate!


    Tang Jie hated this exnation, but he had to admit that it truly was something that could exin everything.


    This was why the Heart Demons couldn''t resist it.


    s, the power of Fate was too ethereal, and his understanding of it was still limited, so he could only use the power of the Dao Standard a single time. This was why he had waited until the veryst moment to do so.


    It had been his final trump card.


    Fortunately, he had managed to ovee the trial.


    Tang Jie broke out in a cold sweat when he realized how tough the Heart Demon Tribtion had been even with the Wisdom Sword Mantra and the Fate Dao Standard. "The Heart Demon Tribtion truly lives up to its reputation. Fortunately, I never did anything that broke a Heart Demon Oath. Even a single incident would have killed me."


    Yiyi pursed her lips. "That''s because you''ve done so many unvirtuous things that there was no end to the Heart Demons, right? The difficulty of the Heart Demon Tribtion depends on the person. A good person wouldn''t have such a hard time."


    In a rare sight, Tang Jie had no defense, nodding and saying, "Yes, I''ve been struggling too much on the edge of life and death over the years. To survive, to progress, I''ve truly done some things that go against my conscience, so it''s no wonder my Heart Demons were rather formidable."


    "As long as you understand!" Yiyi stuck her hands on her waist and said, "In the future, pay attention to your actions and stop going overboard!"


    Tang Jie smiled. "I''ve already passed the Heart Demon Tribtion, dispelling the evil thoughts and clearing my heart, so I''m not worried about them causing me any more trouble. That means that I can go even more overboard in the future."


    "¡­" Yiyi was speechless.


    Tang Jieughed and gave her a big kiss. "I was joking with you!"


    "Ugh!" Yiyi kicked him, though it was hard to say whether she was disgusted by Tang Jie''s joke or Tang Jie kissing her.


    While ying around with Yiyi, Tang Jie was also observing the changes to his body.


    In his Sea of Cognition, after it finished forming, the Divine Soul had lost its human form, turning into a fog that drifted over the Sea of Cognition.


    This was because the Divine Soul stillcked power and could only maintain a form for an extremely brief amount of time. Only at the Soul Transformation Tier would its form truly be fixed.


    The Heart Demon Tier involved bringing the soul from nothing to something. Even though it was an ethereal body, it still represented an enormous advancement in strength.


    First of all, Tang Jie now had a Divine Will.


    It was a Divine Will of the thinnest level, yet this Divine Will could still extend for much farther than the Spirit Will.


    Just extending it a little allowed Tang Jie to sense everything within several hundred meters around him.


    It was no wonder people said that no tricks were of help against a Titan.


    This ability to sense everything in one''s surroundings would make it extremely difficult to ambush any cultivator at Heart Demon or above. Fortunately, while Divine Will could sense one''s surroundings, it couldn''t see through illusions. Tang Jie usually approached his targets under disguise, which was why he had managed to ovee them.


    In addition, Divine Will sensing had to be consciously released, and as the Divine Soul''s abilities were limited, the Divine Will was limited. Thus, nobody would recklessly throw out their Divine Will unless they had a purpose.


    Finally, Divine Will had a strength and range limit.


    Tang Jie tried to push his Divine Will to its utmost limit and found that he could get it as far as a kilometer and no more, much to his surprise and delight.


    Unlike the Spirit Will, the Divine Will''s range and strength would grow along with the Divine Soul.


    Those who had just entered the Heart Demon Tier would consider two hundred meters a decent result, but Tang Jie had one thousand as his base.


    Inrge part, this was because he had formed his Divine Soul very quickly.


    There was nothing to be done about that. Tang Jie hadcked effective defenses, so even though he knew there was danger ahead, he could only push forward. The result was that his Divine Soul was unprecedentedly powerful. It had to be understood that most people couldn''t reach human form during the Heart Demon Tribtion. When adding on his sturdy foundation, he had reached a height that none of his predecessors had ever achieved, even though he had just entered the Heart Demon Tier.


    He didn''t know how strong the Divine Souls of Xiao Biehan and others like him had been at the start, but he was sure that they weren''t as strong as his.


    Imperfect circumstances had led to a more glorious result. Tang Jie hadn''t expected this.


    Perhaps this could be considered fate.


    Tang Jie inwardly grumbled as he looked at the darkened Fate Standard in his body.


    Since he had ovee the Heart Demon Tribtion, it was now time to enter that azure world.


    ording to Tutu''s analysis, one had to at least be at the Violet Pce Realm in order to prate those azure Astral Winds, but Tutu didn''t know which tier of the Violet Pce Realm was required.


    Tang Jie''s merged form, defensively speaking, could be considered on par with an initial-phase Violet Pce cultivator, but if ater-phase Violet Pce cultivator was needed to break through that azure storm, then he would be throwing himself to his death.


    But he would never know unless he actually went inside, so he could only man up and head in.


    Tang Jie began to focus all his energy on his preparations.


    Three dayster, the Jade Immortal Pavilion finally reached that green world. He still couldn''t see into that world, but he could feel that vast sea of green radiating heat and light, like an emerald sun.


    Standing in the Jade Immortal Pavilion, Tang Jie looked at that green sun. He knew that there was no going back once he entered. Gritting his teeth, he finally took out the Mountain River State Diagram, summoning his original body.


    As the two bodies merged once more, a powerful energy rippled out, pushing away the waves of heat.


    Tang Jie put away the Jade Immortal Pavilion, turning it back into a small model, which he put together with the diagram in the Divine Pce within his body.


    After reaching the Heart Demon Tier, one could use the Divine Will to open up a special space within the body, which could store items. It was much more convenient than a Mustard Seed Bag. But a basic Divine Soul had unstable power, so the time this space could exist was limited. Thus, most Heart Demon cultivators still brought around Mustard Seed Bags. But in special circumstances, this sort of storage space was necessary.


    The current situation was such a circumstance.


    The Astral Winds were too powerful, and a Mustard Seed Bag would definitely be destroyed if it were left outside, so it would need to be stored in the Divine Pce.


    If he hadn''t entered the Heart Demon Tier, Tang Jie would have to go in alone, leaving everything outside. Once he was in, he would have to make a teleportation formation and bring his things in that way. Not only would this take time and effort, there was also a risk. Some Titan might pass by and say, "Oh? There''s some ownerless divine treasure floating around outside this domain? How lucky!" And then his precious goods would be someone else''s.


    In addition, by bringing his treasures with him, he could use them while pushing through the Astral Winds, which would raise his chances.


    With everything ready, Tang Jie charged into the Astral Winds.


    The Astral Winds swept over him like mes, and Tang Jie felt like he had returned to Holy Fire Valley. But the Domain Astral Winds were much more powerful than the mes of Holy Fire Valley, and they instantly exerted their immense might.


    Tang Jie''s barrier was as fragile as an eggshell before the Astral Winds, shattered with a single gust. Hurricane winds tore across Tang Jie''s body, ripping up his flesh as if it was peppered with metallic sand. Even the armor made of Mother Cloud Essence Metal wasn''t able to stop the infiltration of the Astral Winds, and those body parts exposed outside of the armor suffered immense damage. With each gust of Astral Wind, it was like tens of thousands of des had cut across Tang Jie''s body, each time taking awayrge chunks of his flesh.


    If Tang Jie hadn''t been in his merged state, he probably would have died to the first st.


    All Tang Jie could do was plummet downward as fast as he could, doing his best to put up barriers as soon as they were destroyed. Even if these barriers were obliterated in a single strike, just having them weaken the Astral Winds a tiny bit was enough.


    The farther he fell, the fiercer the Astral Winds became.


    It was like Tang Jie had fallen into a meat grinder, the savage Astral Winds crazily grinding away at every piece of flesh on his body.


    From a distance, Tang Jie appeared like a shooting star, the Astral Winds burning him away, his severed flesh serving as theet trails, leaving behind a long trail of red, the red of blood and the red of mes!


    As he slowly reached his limit, he took out the Jade Immortal Pavilion, which covered him. While protected by the Jade Immortal Pavilion, he swiftly ate several pills and used the Dao of Life to restore his heavily injured body.


    After he had recovered well enough, he put away the Jade Immortal Pavilion and continued his descent.


    When he reached his limit again, he took out the Jade Immortal Pavilion again.


    He pressed forward while continuing this cycle.


    But while the Jade Immortal Pavilion was powerful, it didn''t have Tang Jie''s recovery ability. Each use of it wore away at it permanently.


    Finally, with a boom, the Jade Immortal Pavilion broke apart, and in a sh, this divine treasure was turned to dust.


    Without the protection of the Jade Immortal Pavilion, Tang Jie could only keep going down. There was no option now except to get to the bottom. Only then did he have a chance of survival.


    Tang Jie clenched his teeth and continued his fall.


    The storm winds obliterated his clothes, burned away his hair, tore apart his skin, blinded his eyes, and as time went on and it annihted himyer byyer, it began to expose his bones. His powerful recovery ability was no match for the power of Destruction, and Tang Jie rapidly went from flesh to skeleton. His white bones were clearly visible, and even his organs started to be exposed to the mes of the Astral Winds. If not for his extraordinary cultivation and his Mother Cloud armor protecting his weak points, he would have already been ash in the wind.


    But this was Tang Jie''s limit.


    There was no telling when he would finally reach the end of the Astral Wind region, but he was already at the end of his rope. Tang Jie could only bitterly smile and curse his luck. It seemed like these Astral Winds could only be passed through by a middle-phase Violet Pce cultivator.


    Without the divine treasure, Tang Jie had lost his source of protection. Even if he took out the Mountain River State Diagram, he wouldn''t be able to protect himself.


    At this perilous moment, Tang Jie began to desperately swing his fists, unleashing all his strength and spiritual energy.


    He used everything he had, whether it was the Ninedark Mantra, the Infinity Sphere Art, the Flesh Millstone, or the Nine Heavens Cmity de. He went berserk on the Astral Winds, imagining them as enemies and attacking them with all he could.


    Even if he died, he would go down fighting!


    Tang Jie suddenly thought of the Martial Lord, of that giant that stood tall in the heavens, roaring at the world.


    His hands unconsciously formed a sign, the basic sign the Parting ssic used during body refining.


    But there was no bath of spiritual herbs here, so there was no point to this action.


    Yet a momentter, Tang Jie felt power surge into his body.


    As the green Astral Wind blew over him, he felt some of it enter his body and be converted into some unknown energy that circted through his body.


    "This is¡­" Tang Jie was stunned.


    But for some reason, he instinctively began to perform the Parting ssic.


    As he plummeted from the heavens, he cultivated the Parting ssic.


    With each movement, Tang Jie felt more and more power entering his body.


    He was still being assailed by the Astral Winds, which were still inflicting damage on his body. But the healing and resistance from his body was rising, allowing him to hold out against the Astral Winds.


    Tang Jie circted the Parting ssic again and again, and suddenly, there was a boom as if something had exploded. Tang Jie felt like he had entered a new world, and the scene before his eyes began to change.


    The sky was the same sky, the winds the same winds, but the green Astral Winds were no longer so terrifying. They were slowing down and weakening.


    Tang Jie knew that he had broken through!


    He was still plummeting, but the Astral Winds no longer threatened him.


    Now that he was through the Astral Wind region, the world began to brighten up.


    He descended into the clouds, leaving behind the roiling green Astral Winds above.


    He was finally out of the Astral Wind region!


    Tang Jie''s eyes got a little wet.


    He stared up at the green winds above him, allowing himself to fall. If anyone was watching from a distance, they would see a human falling out of the sky and smashing into the ground like an asteroid, throwing up a great plume of dust.


    Trantor Notes


    Well, it''s not the Rosecloud Domain, but it''ll have to do for now. Tang Jie is once more a stranger in a strangend.

 Chapter 621: Countryside

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    A gentle breeze caressed Tang Jie''s face, bringing with it the scent of flowers and the smell of moist dirt.


    This was a natural and beautiful world, brimming with life.


    Lying sprawled at the bottom of a crater like a frog in the bottom of a well, Tang Jie greedily breathed in the fresh air. At the same time, he used his sense of smell to evaluate this world that he had yet to properlyy eyes on.


    The Astral Winds meant that the sky in this ce was also green, and the clouds were thick and floated at a high altitude. The spiritual energy was rather concentrated, and he could asionally see a bird fly past.


    After some time, Tang Jie stood up.


    Tang Jie was basically naked, wearing only the Mother Cloud Essence Metal armor, and even that had been so badly deformed by the Astral Winds that it looked like scrap metal. Tang Jie took off the armor and circted his spiritual energy to form a set of clothing around him. Only then did he jump out of the crater to look at his surroundings.


    He was in a field, on which were nted numerous unknown golden nts, which looked somewhat like rice. On the other end of the fields was a range of green mountains covered in dense forests.


    While observing his surroundings, Tang Jie took out the Mountain River State Diagram stored in his Divine Pce. With a light shake, Yiyi jumped out from it.


    Yiyi let out a big sigh of wonder as she looked around. "Wow, so pretty! Big Brother, where are we right now?"


    "I still don''t know. We''re neers who know nothing about the area, so our first priority is to find someone and ask them about the situation," Tang Jie replied.


    "Where are we going to find someone?"


    Tang Jie pointed at the fields. "Look at these nts. They are spaced evenly and neatly, not at all as if they were naturally grown, so someone probably nted them. From the look of it, they appear to be some kind of cereal crop. If that''s the case, then there should be a farmer around here who we can ask."


    Tang Jie shook his body, and the avatar walked out from the original body as Tang Jie ended the merged state.


    And then the avatar entered the diagram.


    "Eh?" Yiyi gasped. "Big Brother, you''re doing things the other way around now?"


    In the past, the avatar had been outside handling business while the original body had focused on cultivation. But now, the situation had been reversed, and the original body was now outside while the avatar was inside.


    Tang Jie replied, "The original body and avatar are the same person, so who is outside and inside depends on the situation. I chose the original body to cultivate and the avatar to remain outside because the hidden realm had enough spiritual herbs to cultivate with, but right now, we don''t have anything, so only the avatar can cultivate now. It''s only natural that things be reversed. Moreover, while breaking through the Astral Wind region, the original body managed to break into theter phase of the Diamond Body. I suspect that this is because I can absorb those green Astral Winds using the Parting ssic for me to use. If that''s true, then I should make good use of it rather than keeping the original body hidden in the diagram."


    "You broke into theter phase?" Yiyi was delighted to hear this, jumping up and hugging Tang Jie around the neck.


    The two of them messed around for a while before finally stopping. Yiyi asked, "Doesn''t that mean that the entire Astral Wind region is a big supplement for you?"


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. "It''s not that great. I was able to break through primarily because I was only a step away, not because the power given to me by the Astral Winds was particrly strong. In truth, after absorbing all that, I only gained a tiny bit. But the benefit of the Parting ssic is that while that power might not have made me much stronger, it made me much more resistant to the Astral Winds. That was the key to my survival."


    "Oh, I get it." Yiyi was rather dejected to hear this.


    Tang Jie added, "But regardless, this is a path of improvement. Even if it only increases my wind resistance, it''s still worth doing. Thus, once the time is right, I n to go up and take a look."


    Tang Jie looked up at the sky, and he couldn''t help but think to himself that while he had cultivated almost entirely by relying on spiritual herbs, he rarely specifically cultivated resistance. Even the lightning resistance he had cultivated back in the Valley of No Return had gradually fallen behind, falling all the way to average or even unimpressive resistance.


    But breaking through the Astral Wind region had inspired Tang Jie.


    Other than seeking power and cultivation level, the original body might have needed to improve itself in other aspects.


    The Astral Winds were the best way to hone himself. In the past, Tang Jie had never thought about the benefits it could provide him, as the mere mention of the Astral Winds had people paling in fear, let alone actually messing around with them. This experience had broadened Tang Jie''s horizons.


    Sure enough, reading ten thousand books was no match for traveling a thousand kilometers. There were some things that one couldn''t know until one experienced them. Tang Jie was excited over this discovery, and he began to imagine how he was going to cultivate inside the Astral Winds in the future.


    The Great Ster Chiliocosm had many kinds of Astral Winds, and if he cultivated them one by one, his strength was bound to grow.


    These were all matters for the future. At present, he needed to find a local and ask them about the area, so Tang Jie brought Yiyi and walked along the paths that ran through the fields.


    It wasn''t long before they saw plumes of smoke from kitchen fires rising in the distance.


    Tang Jie and Yiyi looked at each other and picked up the pace.


    A few momentster, the two of them were standing in front of a vige.


    A group of children were ying around at the vige entrance. When they saw Tang Jie and Yiyi, rather than being afraid, they stopped and stared. They paid particr attention to Yiyi, perhaps because they had never seen such a delicate little girl before.


    One child stepped forward and jabbered something at them, but they couldn''t understand each other.


    Tang Jie used a trantion spell, upon which he learned that the child was asking them who they were and what they were doing here.


    Tang Jie replied, "We brother and sister are travelers from afar. Since we were passing by, we wanted to ask if there was a city nearby."


    The boy ran back into the vige, and a few momentster, a great crowd emerged, led by a wizened old man.


    The two conversed, and Tang Jie learned that the old man''s name was Cheng Shan. He was the chief of the vige, and the vige was called Daoxiang (Rice Fragrance) Vige.


    As Tang Jie didn''t understand the local customs, he didn''t dare to make up a story, so he just said that his name was Tang Jie and that he hade from very far away and had been seeing the sights until he had identally gotten lost. Put simply, he didn''t know anything about this ce, and if he said anything about his situation, they might not even know what he was talking about.


    The old man was very tactful and didn''t ask many questions.


    Although Tang Jie hadn''t said much about himself, cultivators had a certain aura about them, and one could see how unusual they were simply from how they carried themselves and spoke. And while Yiyi was a little girl, she was so delicate and tender that one could instantly tell that she was no country girl. This pair of siblings couldn''t be ordinary people if they dared to travel the countryside like this. This world also had cultivators, and while the vige chief had only heard about them and never seen them before, his many years meant that he naturally knew how to treat a guest. Thus, he treated Tang Jie and Yiyi very courteously, answering every question Tang Jie had.


    Thus, Tang Jie quickly learned that this ce was called the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    Unlike the Rosecloud Domain, in the Verdant Cloud Domain, power was held by the country, not the sect. And in the Verdant Cloud Domain, there was only one country: Fengshan (Phoenix Mountain). All the cultivators served the country, and while there were some small sects, they were all of mediocre strength and managed by the local government. The ruler of the country was a powerful cultivator,pletely different from the puppet rulers of the Rosecloud Domain.


    Besides this, the greatest difference between here and the Rosecloud Domain was that this ce was actually ruled by fiends.


    Unlike the Rosecloud Domain, where humans ruled everything, or the Blood River Domain, where three races vied for supremacy, the Verdant Cloud Domain was ruled by fiends. Four fifths of thend was upied by fiends, and desperate resistance by the humans had only been enough for them to keep the one country.


    Tang Jie had just so happened tond in the human kingdom. If he hadnded in fiend territory, he would have had to deal with countless fiends. Of course, which side would be the unlucky one there was hard to say.


    Fengshan had a total of 36 provinces and more than 200 counties. Daoxiang Vige was a small vige under the administration of An Province''s Changping Prefecture''s Wutong County. Changping Prefecture was forty kilometers to the south. As for what was beyond Changping Prefecture, and what level the strongest cultivators of Fengshan had reached and who they were, this old man of the vige couldn''t possibly know these things.


    After exining things, Vige Chief Cheng said, "This is an impoverished and desertednd. If our guests do not mind the crudeness of the vige, you may stay here for a while."


    Tang Jie wanted to leave, but this vige chief seemed to be very genial, so he decided to ept. Unlike in the Blood River Domain, he wasn''t being chased by anyone and could peacefully cultivate and travel. Since he was here, he might as well see the sights, or else wouldn''t this be a huge waste of opportunity?


    With this thought in mind, Tang Jie wasn''t opposed to staying in the vige for a few days.


    The vige chief had someone clean a room for Tang Jie and had Tang Jie and Yiyi stay there.


    The night passed without trouble.


    The next morning, after Tang Jie finished his meditation, he saw that Yiyi was outside, ying with the children they had met yesterday.


    He walked out and was greeted by several passing vigers. An auntie came over with a bowl of piping hot rice porridge, warmly asking him to drink it. Tang Jie did so and found that the taste was pretty good, but before he could offer his thanks, he found that the woman had already left.


    The people here lived simple lives, so while Tang Jie was a stranger, they treated him warmly, which left him very moved.


    Having nothing else to do, Tang Jie went for a walk, appreciating the vige''s scenery. It wasn''t long before he reached the threshing ground.


    A muscr young man was there, lifting arge millstone up and down. This millstone had to weigh around one hundred catties, but it seemed almost weightless in his hands, whooshing around.


    Tang Jie didn''t want to disturb him, so he simply watched from the sidelines. Perhaps feeling embarrassed, the young man stopped after a while and said, "You must be the Sir Tang from yesterday. My mother mentioned you."


    Tang Jie wore schrly robes and had a refined air, so he gave off the air of a schr. Hence the people in the vige called him "Sir".


    The young man seemed to think of something. Pointing at himself, he said, "Oh, right, my name is Er Hu."


    Tang Jie nodded. "Nice to meet you, Er Hu. Right, why were you waving that millstone around?"


    "This?" Er Hu scratched his head and smiled. "I was cultivating."


    "''Cultivating''?" Tang Jie frowned. "It looks to me like your Jade Gate was opened long ago, and your Spiritual Space is already formed, making you a Spirit Disciple. Why are you still cultivating using such a crude method?"


    Er Hu was startled. "Sir is a cultivator?"


    Before Tang Jie could reply, he dropped to his knees and shouted, "Sir, please teach me how to cultivate!"

 Chapter 622: Butterfly

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    "No one has ever taught you before?"


    At the threshing ground, Tang Jie helped Er Hu up while looking at him in surprise.


    Charging through the Jade Gate without anyone''s help was possible, but how had he formed his Spiritual Space?


    Yet Er Hu confirmed that no one had ever taught him before.


    Daoxiang Vige was just an ordinary vige, and few cultivators passed through the air. The closest contact the vigers had with a cultivator was spotting one soaring through the skies some distance away.


    In such circumstances, there was naturally no cultivator who coulde to teach Er Hu how to cultivate.


    "Then how did you open your Spiritual Space?" Tang Jie asked.


    "''Spiritual Space''? What is that?" Er Hu was baffled by the question.


    He concluded that Tang Jie was a cultivator because Tang Jie had said that his cultivation method was too crude. As for terms like "Jade Gate" and "Spiritual Space", he didn''t understand them at all.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie could only have him sit down so that he could slowly question him.


    Since Er Hu didn''t understand these things, Tang Jie simply asked him if he had ever had any sort of special feeling, like energy traveling through his body or the sensation of his head almost exploding.


    Sure enough, he got an answer.


    Daoxiang Vige was a small vige near the border of Fengshan. The mountains Tang Jie had seen earlier were the two mountain ranges that separated Fengshan from the fiends: the Saint Court Mountains and the Pegasus Mountains. Still, quite a few fiends crossed the mountains every year, and humans would also seek their livelihoods in the mountains, so there was the asional encounter.


    Three years ago, Er Hu had gone into the mountains with his father to hunt, but they had run into a fiend. After a fierce battle, while the fiend had been killed, the vigers had suffered heavy losses, with Er Hu''s father being one of the deaths. Er Hu himself had been heavily injured, but strangely, in the battle, he had felt a strange energy surging through his body, almost making him faint. But in the middle of that intense battle, he had clenched his teeth and endured it. From then on, Er Hu felt himself getting stronger by the day, and even the heavy injuries he had sustained in that battle had gradually healed.


    "A Jade Gate Heaven Charge¡­" Tang Jie muttered.


    What Er Hu had experienced was definitely the Jade Gate Heaven Charge. Once the Jade Gate was opened, one could harness spiritual energy, which was naturally a huge boost for a mortal. Thus, it wasn''t strange for the body to be enhanced.


    Tang Jie extended his senses into Er Hu''s body and found that he had a five-cycle Jade Gate. Given that no one had been there to help him, such a high number of cycles was rather shocking.


    This might have been because the Verdant Cloud Domain was richer in spiritual energy than the Rosecloud Domain. This wasn''t because the Verdant Cloud Domain had more resources than the Rosecloud Domain, but because itcked artificial blessednds and paradises like the Water Moon Paradise.


    But while a Jade Gate Heaven Charge could be experienced naturally, opening a Spiritual Space required the cirction of a mantra. Tang Jie knew just how much time he had needed to open up his own Spiritual Space, so how had this young man managed to open his Spirit Eye whilepletely clueless? Right now, just by breathing, he was condensing drops of spiritual liquid, and he was already at the Spirit Spring Tier. It was just that hecked a mantra, so the only thing he could use his spiritual energy on was swinging around that millstone every day, which made him very strong.


    Through Tang Jie''s repeated questioning, Er Hu finally remembered that when he had been fighting that fiend, he had be so desperate that he had started biting at the fiend and had seemingly swallowed something. At first, he didn''t feel anything, but at certain intervals, it would feel like his stomach was on fire. It only stopped after around a year, but ever since, he felt like there was something in his abdomen. There was no way of confirming it, but every time he breathed in, he felt like power would go in there, yet he had no means of using it.


    The only way he could use that power was through massive physical exertion, which was why he had been training hard every day since then.


    And though he didn''t know about Jade Gates or Spiritual Spaces, there were folk tales about how cultivation required passing some threshold. He guessed that he had inadvertently crossed this threshold, but because he had no master to instruct him, he couldn''t cultivate.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but sigh.


    If his guess was right, Er Hu had probably eaten that fiend''s pellet.


    A fiend that could be killed by a group of vigers couldn''t be some high-ss fiend. It was rare for such a fiend to produce a fiend pellet, let alone one that could open a Spiritual Space. Even Tang Jie had never heard of a fiend pellet doing such a thing.


    This Er Hu had basically experienced a miracle.


    But even stranger was that, ording to Er Hu, this wasn''t actually all that rare in the Verdant Cloud Domain. He had heard of many simr stories, and while those people had all been through different experiences, they all grew much stronger in the aftermath, their strength growing as they trained until some Immortal master finally took them away as their disciple.


    Thus, Er Hu had always been looking forward to this¡ªhe had already aplished the first half, so he was just waiting for the second half to arrive.


    Tang Jie was dumbfounded by these folk tales.


    While folk tales usually weren''t reliable, they had to have cropped up for a reason. ording to Er Hu, this was rathermon in the Verdant Cloud Domain. Didn''t this mean that there were some special circumstances in the Verdant Cloud Domain that made it easier for mortals to be Spirit Disciples?


    Although Tang Jie wasn''t personally interested in this, from a broader perspective, this was of great importance to the cosmos.


    Each world had its own unique attributes. Just like how he had used the Martial Lord''s hidden realm as a ry station, if possible, Tang Jie wanted to find a way he could use this world as well.


    Er Hu excitedly wanted to take Tang Jie as his master.


    He was sure that Tang Jie was a cultivator.


    Tang Jie saw that this youth was determined to make this happen, so he finally agreed to pass on to him a basic cultivation mantra.


    Having been part of several factions by now, he knew far more than just the Basking Moon Sect''s mantras by now. Putting aside everything else, he had looted countless cultivation manuals from the Celestial me Pagoda, so he could take out any sort of cultivation manual he wanted.


    After observing Er Hu''s condition, he found that Er Hu had a strong and healthy body, and while he was five-cycle, he had tough and broad meridians, making him rather naturally gifted. He found him a suitable mantra and also passed a few spell arts on to him, warning him that he shouldn''t use them lightly.


    Er Hu cultivated the mantra and found that he really could control the spiritual energy in his body. ted, he immediately prostrated and proimed Tang Jie as his master. But Tang Jie was unwilling to take him as his disciple. Since ancient times, there had always been certain customs to follow when taking a disciple, and if one took a disciple, one would have to see the whole process through to the very end. But he was only passing by, so how could he be willing to take a disciple? He made the excuse that his own knowledge wascking before leaving. Er Hu was disappointed, but he could only gloomily go back. Fortunately, the door to cultivation had been opened for him, and he would no longer be futilely wasting his time.


    Upon returning to his room, Tang Jie saw that Yiyi was still ying with the children.


    They were ying a game that involved throwing rocks, with the winner being whoever had the best aim. There was also a wager on the line, with the loser having to serve as a horse for the winner.


    Yiyi''s aim was extremely sharp, and the children were basically taking turns serving as her horse. One unlucky boy was almost on the verge of tears. The children saw how formidable Yiyi was and stopped wanting to y with her.


    Yiyi hadn''t yed much in her life, so she had been having a grand time. When she saw the children about to disperse, she frantically shouted, "Can''t you stay? Let''s y a little longer."


    The children all shook their heads.


    Yiyi cocked her head and began to think. "Then why don''t we do this! If you guys y with me, I''ll give you this."


    She took out a butterfly of red jade and threw it into the air, upon which the butterfly pped its wings and took flight.


    The children found it very fun and shouted together, "I want it! I want it!"


    What Yiyi had taken out was a low-grade tracking art relic. Its greatest function was to sprinkle pollen that could mark a target, after which the butterfly could follow them, tracking them down wherever they were so long as it was within a range of five hundred kilometers. Even better was that it didn''t require spiritual power to function, making it a treasure that anyone could use without regard for cultivation level.


    Tang Jie''s group had nothing if not an rming number of treasures. Even after selecting the best to be put in the Treasure Cosmos Formation, he still had a pile that he had no use for.


    Considering that he needed money in a new world, Tang Jie didn''t turn them all into golden grains. Yiyi was now using one of them to bribe small children, unting her ostentatious wealth.


    The children of the vige didn''t know about how valuable the treasures were, only that the butterfly was cool. But the oldest child wasn''t dumb, snorting and saying, "There are so many of us, but only one butterfly. Who are you giving it to?"


    Yiyi realized that this was true, so she took out more low-grade treasures, most of them rather useless and not needing the support of spiritual energy. "Is one per person fine?"


    "Oh!" The children shouted in delight.


    Tang Jie slightly frowned at this. "Children obsessed with money are liable to get in trouble. Don''t give these things to them. Take them back after they y with them for a while."


    Yiyi could only nod.


    The children didn''t understand his kind intentions and rolled their eyes at him, thinking that he was being petty.


    Tang Jie ignored them and entered his room.


    Since everyone saw that they weren''t getting any treasure, they lost interest in ying with Yiyi.


    Yiyi was put in a rather awkward spot. After all, she had promised the children a treasure earlier and now had to eat her words. Thus, after some thought, she gave the butterfly to the oldest child and said, "Big Brother didn''t want me to give you the treasures for your own sakes. This is for you. Just don''t let anyone know."


    This child''s name was Er Shouzi. Taking the butterfly, he happily ran off, followed by a pack of children who wanted to take it from him.


    Yiyi returned to the room and saw Tang Jie sitting down and thinking over something. Since he was so deep in thought, he probably didn''t know she had gifted the butterfly to someone, so she breathed a sigh of relief.


    A few momentster, Tang Jie came to his senses and said, "Yiyi, let''s go."


    "To where?"


    "To the mountains to take a look."

 Chapter 623: Fiend City

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Saint Court Mountains.


    Six thousand years ago, a human Titan proved his Dao and became a Saint here. Ten thousand Immortals came to congratte him, and the Titan ascended a tform and gave a lecture on the Dao here, enlightening countless cultivators. For this reason, this region was called the Saint Court Mountains. Within the mountains was a stone tform, the Dao-lecturing tform. "Proving his Dao" referred to the level above Immortal tform. When one reached greater attainment in controlling the Dao, one would attain the title of Saint Immortal, bing a Dao-Proving Saint Immortal. This sort of status was even above Godhead, and only this level of person could break the Dao''sw of intransmissibility to ascend the tform and lecture on the Dao.


    The Verdant Cloud Domain was just a small domain with a Violet Pce¨Clevel barrier, so a small pond like this normally couldn''t produce a big dragon like a Dao-Proving Saint Immortal. But if some passing Titan had been enlightened while in the area, the story made sense. Thus, it was hard to say whether this story was true or just an exaggeration, but in any case, the truth was long lost in the river of history.


    The heavily-forested andrge Saint Court Mountains were on one side, and on the other were the Pegasus Mountains, whose steep and narrow peaks made them appear like a flying horse. Together, these two mountains served as the dividing line between humans and fiends.


    Despite this, many fiends would cross this fence every year, passing through the forests to reach human territory, where they would hunt down and kill humans.


    It was said that humans were able to section off their own piece ofnd among all these fiends not because humans had been able to hold out against the fiends, but because the fiends treated humans as the six major sects of the Rosecloud Domain had treated fiends, cordoning them off and breeding them in the name of peace. At certain intervals, they would stille and attack the humans, but rather than destroying the country, they would seizerge numbers of humans each time.


    Holding his hands behind his back, Tang Jie strolled through the dense forests of the Sacred Court Mountains.


    Next to him was Yiyi. Curiously looking around, she said, "Big Brother, why did wee here?"


    "I want to take a look at those fiends," Tang Jie replied.


    "''Look at the fiends''?" Yiyi was confused. "What''s there to look at?"


    "We''ll see once we find one," Tang Jie replied.


    Tang Jie found Er Hu''s experience strange and iprehensible, and he found a fiend pellet being able to open a Spiritual Space to be absurd. Curiosity for the unknown had brought him to this ce to see if he could find any clues. Even if he didn''t find anything, getting a fiend pellet would be fine too.


    After reaching theter phase of the Diamond Body, Tang Jie urgently needed various kinds of nutrition for his original body. Herbs were difficult to find, but fiend pellets were easy to get. Since there were so many fiends in the Verdant Cloud Domain, with fiend territory being just on the other side of the mountain, Tang Jie naturally had to go over and stage a little raid, also contributing a little to the human race.


    With this thought in mind, Tang Jie came to the Sacred Court Mountains.


    The farther he went in, the more treacherous the terrain became. The thick foliage blocked out most of the light, making the forest dark and gloomy. The matted leaves rustled and cracked as he stepped on them, and in the distance, cicadas chirped and birds flew here and there.


    A beautiful budgerigar flew through the forest. To amuse herself, Yiyi waved her hand and sucked it into her hand, and she yed around with it for a while before finally letting it go.


    The two of them found ways to amuse themselves as they walked along. Suddenly, they heard a tiger roar and then smelled a stench on the wind.


    Yiyi sniffed the air and said, "One ising¡ªSpirit Sensing lower grade."


    Tang Jie''s original body was the one outside now, and it wascking in spell artspared to the avatar, devoid of both the Celestial Eye and Divine Will. Thus, when it came to detecting the enemy, Yiyi took charge. This was the limitation of body cultivators. While their tough bodies and immense strength made them terrors in battle, even allowing him to push through a Violet Pce¨Clevel Astral Wind barrier, it left him far inferior in other aspects.


    Tang Jie shook his head upon hearing the level of this fiend. Let alone him, even Yiyi couldn''t get excited over a fiend like this.


    As expected, a few momentster, a fierce tiger appeared before them.


    Before it could do anything, Yiyi waved a hand, and a vine shot toward the tiger. Just when it was about to pierce through the tiger, Tang Jie abruptly said, "Wait. Don''t kill it."


    The vine stopped three inches away from the tiger''s forehead, and at the same time, Tang Jie released his aura.


    His fierce aura had that mighty tiger instantly prostrate on the ground, not daring to move.


    Tang Jie inspected the tiger. After confirming that it had no pellet, he took out the Mountain River State Diagram and said, "Put it in here."


    Yiyi understood, and the vine wrapped around the tiger and sent it into the diagram.


    In the past, the Mountain River State Diagram was so barren that only beings on the level of He Chong could survive, so he could only send in non-living items. But now that the environment had improved, he could send in live creatures. Of course, the diagram wasn''t some imprisoning treasure, so living creatures needed to bepletely suppressed before they were sent in. If they resisted even a little, he wouldn''t be able to send them in. But Tang Jie didn''t need any fiends that were too powerful, for that could easily break the ecological bnce of the diagram world.


    The value of low-level fiends having been discovered, the minor fiends within the forest suffered a cmity.


    In the past, Tang Jie disdained to kill these fiends, but since there was now a purpose to them, he began to hunt them down.


    As he went deeper, he would capture any fiend he came across and send them into the diagram. Tang Jie then had another realization. Since he could send in weak fiends, then he could send more than that! In addition, while there were now fiends in the diagram, there was no suitable food.


    Tang Jie''s actions became even more frightening, grabbing anything that was alive and throwing it into the diagram.


    When he grabbed a snail and threw it into the diagram, Yiyi finally reached her limit and coughed a few times. Tang Jie embarrassedly stopped and said, "I''m just enriching the animal life."


    Yiyi rolled her eyes and indicated that she wasn''t believing a word he was saying.


    After they plundered their way through the Saint Court Mountains, the forest was much quieter. s, he failed to find a fiend pellet.


    Finally, upon arriving at a white cliff, he encountered a pack of rock wolves.


    This pack primarily consisted of upper-grade Spirit Sensing fiends, but the wolf king was at Mind Opening. s, this was nothing to Tang Jie, and he slew it with a single strike of his palm, after which he dug the pellet out of its stomach and put the rest of the wolves into the diagram.


    Tang Jie inspected the fiend pellet but didn''t find it any different from ordinary fiend pellets, so he just absorbed it using the Parting ssic. The power from the fiend pellet was nothing more than a drop of rain in the ocean for Tang Jie, but as he absorbed it, felt something sh in his body.


    It was a very strange sensation, but very weak, and Tang Jie wouldn''t have even noticed it if he hadn''t been looking out for something. In truth, Tang Jie even wondered whether he had just imagined it.


    Since one wasn''t enough to get a good feeling, he naturally needed to find more.


    Tang Jie continued his search.


    They quickly reached the edge of the Saint Court Mountains. Standing at the top of a mountain and looking down, they saw a vast in, and farther off in the distance was a city.


    A fiend city!


    Fiend territory couldn''t be treated like the fiends in the mountains. They had their own rules andws, as well as countless powerful great fiends. They had even established their own cities.


    The fiends that Tang Jie had captured and killed in the forest couldn''t even be considered part of the fiend race, strictly speaking. This was because the fiendws decreed that only fiends at Mind Opening or above were considered true fiends, with those below still considered fiend creatures.


    This fiend city was made from giant ck stones, and the walls were around two hundred feet high. But while they seemed impressive, there was no formation carved into them.


    Walls without formations were nothing but disy pieces to cultivators. The fiends who had built this city were ignorant enough to think that simply walls were enough, or were arrogant and using this method to mock the humans. The truth was probably closer to thetter than the former.


    Threerge words were written above the gates: "Hundred Battle City".


    As it was the city closest to the human-fiend border, the meaning of this name was obvious.


    Tang Jie''s eyes zed as he gazed at the distant city.


    Yiyi worriedly looked at him. "Big Brother, are you really thinking about going in?"


    "Of course; why not?" Tang Jie chuckled as he looked at the fiend city. "That''s the only way to make things interesting."


    A hint of helplessness appeared on Yiyi''s face.


    A cultivator''s personality was often influenced by the techniques they cultivated. Tang Jie''s original body had been cultivating the Parting ssic for many years, and the Martial Lord''s will had begun to subtly affect him long ago, turning him bold and courageous. While he normally still appeared like a schr, speaking in a refined manner, when it came to battle, that battle-crazed Tang Jie would show himself.


    This fiend city had to have tens of thousands of fiends, and there was no telling how many of them were at Transformation. Even if these fiends were weaker than Tang Jie, they could crush him through sheer numbers.


    But Tang Jie didn''t seem worried about this problem at all.


    After heartilyughing, he began to stride toward the city.


    Several fiend soldiers were boredly watching the gate of Hundred Battle City.


    Humans would never be bold enough to attack this city, so watch duty was simple and boring.


    A bear fiend paced back and forth while shouting, "This life is so boring! Ugh, I just want to go to human territory and kill to my heart''s content. Just the thought of human flesh has my mouth watering."


    A deer fiend shook the antlers on its head in disdain. "If you went, I''m afraid you wouldn''t be able toe back."


    "What did you say?" the bear fiend roared.


    The deer fiend harshly said, "You think I''m afraid of you? You talk big, acting as if you could single-handedly exterminate the humans, but I''m afraid that rather than eat humans, you might end up losing your pellet that you spent so many years cultivating."


    The fiends red at each other, neither willing to back down.


    At this point, a fiend pointed down below. "Look over there!"


    A man and a girl holding hands were making their way over.


    As they got closer, the fiends saw that it was a human holding the hand of a sprite.


    The fiends were dumbfounded, the bear fiend faintly saying, "Am I seeing things? Why do I see a human and a sprite walking together?"


    "You aren''t seeing things," the deer fiend solemnly said. "That really is a human and a sprite."


    "What''s going on here?" a wolf fiend asked as it came over. "What did that human eat to make it so bold?"


    An eagle fiend flew over, and after taking a look, it chuckled and said, "You idiots, can''t you tell? That human is clearly the sprite''s ve."


    Fiends weren''t very good at production, so besides eating humans, they also enved them, and there were currently many human ves within Hundred Battle City.


    The eagle fiend''s words made the wary fiends rx, and they decided not to sound the rm. After all, because sprites had always been few in number, they had always been under the fiend race and considered one of their own.


    But the bear fiend still asked in a daze, "How do you know that the human is a ve? He''s not wearing a cor."


    The eagle fiend was angered. "An idiot like you might not be able to tell, but how could my eagle eyes be wrong? That sprite looks like a little girl, but she''s actually at Transformation. We''re far weaker than her. So why would a puny Mortal Shedding human need a spirit-sealing cor? He probably doesn''t even dare to fight back."


    This eagle fiend''s eyes really hadn''t lied. Tang Jie''s original body was only at the Mortal Shedding Realm, so it was far inferior to Yiyi''s cultivation level.


    The fiends all nodded at this, believing Tang Jie to be Yiyi''s ve.


    The bear fiend asked, "Then do we still need to question them?"


    The eagle fiend pped the bear with a wing. "Go if you want to, but don''t go asking me."


    The likes of Transformation fiends and sprites had never had very good tempers, and they could easily kill someone if angered, so none of the fiends dared to volunteer.


    The fiends fell silent and allowed Tang Jie and Yiyi to go in.


    Tang Jie found it strange how easily he had been able to stroll through the gate. He asked Yiyi, "Why didn''t they try to do anything to us?"


    Yiyi shrugged. "I don''t know. Maybe they''re afraid of you."


    Tang Jie stroked his chin. "I don''t think I''m capable of that."


    He seemed to be rather aware of his own abilities at this time.


    "Then what do you think the reason is?"


    "¡­Maybe it''s because they''re pacifists."


    Trantor Notes


    Oh boy, Tang Jie about to go killing again.

 Chapter 624: The Way of Heaven

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Regardless of the reason, Tang Jie and Yiyi had gotten into the fiend city.


    Being unable to unleash his umted fighting intent was rather ufortable, but since he was in the city, he didn''t mind seeing the sights before fighting.


    A fiend city was extremely different from a human city. There was no morous marketce, nor was there an endless stream of people going back and forth. Instead, there were fiends in various forms striding through the streets, often followed by a few human ves.


    Every fiend Tang Jie passed would shoot him a bbergasted look.


    Tang Jie didn''t understand at first, but when he saw the cors tied around the necks of each human he passed and then looked at Yiyi, he finally understood.


    Yiyi also seemed to understand, shooting Tang Jie a strange look.


    Thus, the two of themughed.


    "What do we do now?" Yiyi asked.


    "There''s no rush. Let''s take a look around first," Tang Jie casually replied.


    There happened to be a restaurant nearby, so Tang Jie and Yiyi went inside.


    A human waiter came up and asked Yiyi in a quavering voice, "Might I ask what mydy requires?"


    Yiyi took the menu and saw that there were dishes like saut¨¦ed human heart, stir-fried human liver, human brain and potato orchid soup, steamed child, and so on, scaring her so badly that she almost dropped the menu.


    Tang Jie''s face darkened. Looking up at the waiter, he said, "Are these the dishes you''re offering?"


    The waiter didn''t know how he had offended this pair. As he trembled in fear, there was a mighty roar. "Such audacity! Daring to run into this personage!"


    Turning his head, Tang Jie saw a boar fiend standing at the stairs, a soup stain on its chest. A human waiter was prostrating in front of it, repeatedly bowing. There was a bowl of soup in his hand, and it was clear that he had spilled soup on the boar fiend.


    The boar fiend was so angry that it grabbed the waiter and bit off his head. As it noisily chewed, bits of brain flew out of its mouth, after which it finished off the corpse with another few bites.


    The waiter who had given them the menu trembled even more fiercely, but the fiends at the table next to theirsughed as if this wasn''t a big deal.


    The boss of the restaurant was a Transformation fiend. It came out to see what was going on and then said "one spirit stone" before turning around and leaving.


    Fiends didn''t use spirit coins and instead used spirit stones for their trading. The boar fiend pursed its lips. "So expensive." But it still obediently paid the deal.


    A new waiter was sent out to serve it.


    The menu was still the same menu, but Tang Jie and Yiyi no longer had any appetite.


    Yiyi nced at Tang Jie and was shocked to see howposed he was. "Let''s go," she said.


    Tang Jie silently stood up.


    "Big Brother, aren''t you angry?" Yiyi curiously asked.


    "''Angry''? Why should I be angry?" Tang Jie countered.


    "They were eating humans!" Yiyi said.


    Tang Jie smiled. "It''s not like you''re finding out that fiends eat humans for the first time."


    "But in the past¡­"


    "In the past, we just didn''t see humans being put on the dining table. But what''s so strange about it? Fiends have intelligence, so they would naturally imitate human behavior. We didn''t see it before because the fiends of Rosecloud and Blood River didn''t have that right, as they were often the ones who ended up on the table¡­ Humans can eat fiends, so why can''t fiends eat humans?"


    Yiyi was gobsmacked. She had never expected Tang Jie to say something like this.


    Tang Jieughed. "Of course, that''s not to say that I support their actions. I''m just saying that this ispletely normal from the perspective of the fiends. Humans eat everything, so everything can naturally eat humans. Nobody is more valued than anyone else. All that matters is who is stronger. That''s why humans are eaten by fiends. It''s not because fiends are cruel, but because humans are too weak. In this ce, I have no ns to talk about righteousness, only about who is weak and who is strong."


    Tang Jie''s reasoning almost made Yiyi faint. "Why is it that your words sound so reasonable yet sound so unpleasant to me?"


    "Because you''ve already started to consider problems only from the human perspective," Tang Jie replied. "You''re stuck on human principles, so naturally can''t ept my argument. What I''m discussing is the way of the world, far surpassing the way of humans. Of course, as a human, after seeing such a thing, I should at least express some indignation. Thus, when I kill them in a little while, I''ll put a little more force behind it."


    As he spoke, power surged through his body.


    This power came from nowhere and resonated with his body, but while it rumbled within him, nobody except Tang Jie could hear it.


    Tang Jie could tell that this was the celestial resonance of the Fate Standard within his body.


    The Fate Standard was brimming with mysteries, but Tang Jie had never been able to truly refine and absorb it. Yet as Tang Jie spoke, it began to send out slivers of Fate power into Tang Jie''s body. Tang Jie''s head buzzed as many principles that he had once so desperately sought to understand were suddenly revealed to him, and in a split second, Tang Jie had made a great stride upon the Great Dao.


    This stride wasn''t in any particr direction, but in all aspects. Tang Jie had developed a deeper understanding of cultivation, spell arts, and Dao Wills, with some difficult cultivation questions that he had yet to figure out being solved. His cultivation level even increased by a sliver.


    Tang Jie looked up at the sky in shock.


    He didn''t understand what was going on, and Yiyi looked at him curiously, wondering why he had stopped talking.


    At this moment, a voice boomed, "Hey, that sprite over there! What''s the meaning behind letting your ve run around without a cor?"


    Turning their heads, they saw a bull fiend pointing at Yiyi.


    This fiend was only middle-grade Mind Opening, yet it dared to shout at Yiyi. It was clearly one of those people whocked vision despite having eyes.


    Yiyi snorted and ignored it.


    The bull fiend saw Yiyi ignoring it and turned on Tang Jie, a malicious look in its eyes. "This human is quite sturdy, with much more meat than those other ves. Why not let me eat it? I''ll give you one spirit stone in return."


    It reached out to grab Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie didn''t move, letting the bull fiend ce a hand on his shoulder. He then nced at the bull fiend and said, "Three catties and seven taels."


    "What?" the bull fiend said in surprise.


    Tang Jie waved a hand, and the bull fiend shuddered and looked down in disbelief, seeing that Tang Jie''s hand had already disappeared into its chest.


    Extracting a bezoar from the bull''s body, he said, "I''m talking about this thing. Three catties and seven taels."


    "But¡­ how?" The bull fiend threw up blood. It wanted to take back its treasure, but it found that it couldn''t do anything and copsed.


    Everyone was stunned.


    A human had killed a fiend! It was as rare as a chicken killing a human back in human country.


    While all the fiends were stunned, Yiyi took the bezoar from Tang Jie and ced it on a bnce. She cried out in surprise, "It really is three catties and seven taels. How did you know?"


    "Simply Fate," Tang Jie replied. He once more reached out, grabbing a rainbow pheasant''s approaching w. With a squeeze, he obliterated the w, causing the pheasant to squawk miserably in pain.


    The fiends began to realize that this human was no ve, and they lunged at him.


    All sorts of spell arts began to fly toward Tang Jie.


    But the fiends were too weak, these various spells barely itching him. He didn''t even use defensive spell arts, pushing through the spell art storm to ughter the fiends.


    Body cultivators had always had very simple and brutal fighting styles. Tang Jie simply kicked and punched, basically killing anyone on contact.


    An upper-grade Mind Opening gray wolf fiend swung a cudgel at the back of Tang Jie''s head. There was a boom, but Tang Jie''s head came out perfectly fine. The cudgel, on the other hand, was now bent. Tang Jie swung a fist at the wolf fiend, and the wolf fiend''s head exploded.


    A weasel fiend rushed over and raised its butt, upon which thick yellow smoke spurted out. This smoke was chock-full of toxins, and the slightest whiff could make one faint. Tang Jie lightly sniffed and began to sway, upon which the weasel shouted in glee, "Fall, fall!" A momentter, Tang Jie kicked the weasel in the stomach, instantly piercing through its stomach and intestines. The weasel didn''t understand how Tang Jie could be so strong despite being struck by such powerful poison, but it had no idea that Tang Jie''s swaying had nothing to do with the poison, only with the stench.


    A hedgehog fiend charged in and arched its body, peppering Tang Jie with its spines, which struck Tang Jie with a great tter. When the rain of spines stopped, the hedgehog was barren, and Tang Jie was now standing in front of it with a sinister smile on his face. "Are you done shooting? My turn now!" He took a spine and shoved it right up the hedgehog''s rectum.


    "Raaa!" The boar fiend that had eaten that human charged out of the restaurant and rammed at Tang Jie with its long tusks. s, Tang Jie didn''t even give it the chance to test its tusks, thrusting out a palm that sent the boar fiend''s head into its chest cavity, after which he pulled out the tusks and stabbed them into the bodies of two other fiends.


    A few momentster, Tang Jie had the fiends in disarray, while Yiyi was busy cleaning up the bodies, skinning hides and digging out fiend pellets. As they were in the middle of the city, Tang Jie had no ns to take out the Mountain River State Diagram.


    The surviving fiends were horrified by the ughter they had just witnessed, but at this point, a resounding voice called out, "Such ability, such daring! So you were a body cultivator! But you think this is enough to wreak havoc in my Hundred Battle City?"


    Standing atop a nearby house was a fiend general in human form, wearing a suit of silver armor and holding a spear, coldly staring at Tang Jie. In a sh, hundreds of fiend soldiers surrounded the area.


    The fiend general pointed its spear at Tang Jie. "Kill him!"


    The fiend soldiers charged in.

 Chapter 625: Battle Maniac

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The fiend soldiers were clearly stronger than the fiends Tang Jie had killed earlier. This strength wasn''t just in terms of cultivation level, but also in terms of methods and teamwork.


    Almost all the fiend soldiers were at the middle grade of Mind Opening or above, and all of them were outstanding among their peers. There were ten to a squad, all trained inbination spells, and able to attack and retreat in unison, thus multiplying their power. Three squads of middle-grade Mind Opening fiend soldiers put together wereparable to a Spirit Ring cultivator. Even Tang Jie couldn''t help but silently praise the fiends of this ce.


    But while he felt admiration, this level of strength still wasn''t enough to pose a threat to him. As hundreds of fiend soldiers charged in, Tang Jie put two fingers together and chopped them down in front of him, upon which a sharp wave of energy sliced through the air, creating a fissure of more than a thousand feet along the street: the Matchless sh. This had originally been a saber spell art, but Tang Jie was now using his fingers as the saber. Despite this, he had no difficulties using it, and one swipe of his fingers instantly killed twenty-some fiend soldiers.


    Yiyi then waved a little hand, upon which countless vines shot out of the ground and began to greedily suck on the corpses, seizing their blood essence.


    The fiend general was furious and lunged at Tang Jie. A white bolt of energy shot out of his spear, beaming toward Tang Jie and serving as the general''s vanguard.


    Tang Jie raised a hand, and the bolt of spear energy struck the center of his palm in a ssh of blood.


    Looking at his palm, Tang Jie chuckled. "It could injure me? It seems you have some skill."


    The fiend general was aghast, crying out, "That''s impossible! My Silver Horn Spear can punch holes through metal and shatter jade. How could you so easily block it?"


    "''Punch holes in metal and shatter jade''?" Tang Jie smirked. "You think this attack is worthy of that description? Let me show what that truly means!"


    He rushed forward and thrust a finger at the fiend general''s forehead.


    The fiend general knew that it was in trouble, and with a roar, it got on all fours and resumed its original form, a silver-horned bull. Its silver spear was none other than the sharp horn growing from the top of its head. Upon assuming its original form, it lowered its head and charged at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was unmoved, continuing to thrust his finger.


    The finger instantly pulverized that tough horn, after which it pierced through the bull''s forehead, boring arge and bloody hole in it. The berserk power in the finger entered through the hole and wreaked havoc within the bull''s body, annihting its life force. Only then did Tang Jie slowly draw back his finger.


    The horned bull swayed as if in disbelief that a mighty Transformation great fiend had died to one finger from a single human, but in the end, it reluctantly copsed.


    The remaining fiend soldiers saw this and instantly froze, none of them daring to charge in.


    "Ah, lost a bull horn," Yiyi sighed in regret.


    "It''s fine. There will be more after this," Tang Jie replied.


    At this moment, a roar came from the distance. "What arrogant fool dares to wreak havoc in my Hundred Battle City!?"


    This thunderous roar resounded through the heavens, brimming with majesty. From the sound of it, this neer was clearly much stronger than the fiend general that Tang Jie had just killed.


    Tang Jie was unmoved as he whispered, "They''re here."


    A boundless cloud of smoke appeared in the distance, rapidly approaching. In the middle of this smoke was a vast army of fiend soldiers and generals. There were thirty-some generals, with seven or eight of them being at the middle grade of Transformation.


    The fiend general from earlier was only the vanguard. The main force had now arrived.


    At the rear of the fiend army was a war chariot.


    This war chariot was pulled along by eight golden eagles, and the chariot was circled by mes. Seated upon the chariot was a hulking man wearing arge red cape and a crown, carrying a hammer of violet gold. This was a fiend king who had to at least be at the upper grade of Transformation, and he was furiously staring at the two intruders.


    Yiyi panicked a little, but when she looked at Tang Jie, she found that his eyes were burning with fighting intent.


    The Dao of the Martial Lord was the Dao of a hundred battles!


    Having inherited the Martial Lord''s techniques, he had also inherited the Martial Lord''s will and attitude.


    And the Martial Lord''s will was to fight to the very end, never backing down!


    The cloud of smoke swept forward, and that fiend king in the clouds angrily looked down and roared, "I am the Violet me King, Lord of Hundred Battle City! Who is it down below that dares to kill the people of my fiend race?"


    Tang Jie red up at the fiend king and chuckled. Licking his lips, he said, "What''s with all the chatter? Let''s get fighting already."


    He turned around and reached out, his arm abruptly extending and seizing a nearby fiend. He then hurled this fiend at one of the fiend generals, who unexpectedly exploded into chunks of flesh upon impact.


    The Violet me King was furious. He pointed at Tang Jie and shouted, "Kill him!"


    Countless fiend soldiers descended from the sky, little ck dots instantly blotting out the sky.


    "That''s the way!" Tang Jie loudlyughed and then let out a mighty roar.


    "Raaaa!" Tang Jie''s body began to rapidly grow, swiftly turning into a giant that stood more than twenty meters tall. This was his real form.


    Upon regaining his original size, he swung his hand at the air like he was swatting flies. Any fiend soldiers he struck were instantly ttened, and his one swing swept up great numbers of them.


    Fiends fell from the sky like dumplings being dropped into a pot. Tang Jie kept swinging his arms, creating bursts of blood wherever he swung them.


    It was as if a cloud of mosquitoes were attacking a human. The human was desperately waving his hands to disperse the mosquitoes.


    Life instantly became worthless, the fiends being like moths to the me, all of them being obliterated from existence. But their attacks weren''t entirely useless. Just like how even tiny mosquitoes could eventually drain a person of blood, the storm of spell arts battering Tang Jie''s body was wearing away at him, no matter how tough it was. Although these were all minor wounds, the terrifying number of them instantly magnified the level of damage by hundreds of times. The worst of all was that the attacks were neverending, so even with Tang Jie''s tough constitution and impressive recovery, he inevitably started to feel the pain¡ªenough mosquito bites could kill someone.


    "Yiyi, let out ck Sin!" Tang Jie roared, his head drenched in blood.


    "Mm!" Yiyi excitedly replied.


    The fiend city had countless fiends, which was the ideal situation for ck Sin. It was just that a fiend''s entire body was valuable, and letting ck Sin eat them all was a huge waste, so Yiyi hadn''t used it and had tried her best to harvest them all herself.


    But now that the fiend army was attacking in full force, there was no need to keep hiding strength. As she raised her hands, the fissure Tang Jie had created widened, and mighty roars came from the abyss that made all the fiends pale.


    Countless ck vines wriggled out like snakes, and then they shot into the air and began to wrap around the fiends and pull them into the abyss. What followed were countless screams, with the volume rising and falling depending on the number of fiends swept up, creating some sort of vast and twisted symphony.


    As Tang Jie killed and ughtered without abandon, oceans of fiend blood drenched himpletely scarlet, but he didn''t care in the slightest, continuing to swing his fists at the clouds. His arm was like the wooden pestle used to pound garlic, with the clouds being the mortar and the fiend soldiers being the garlic. With each smash of the pestle, countless cloves of garlic would be pounded into paste.


    He killed so quickly and so profusely that Yiyi, who was focused only on collecting the corpses, was starting to get overworked, so Tang Jie had to call out the ghost guard. s, these two powerful allies had fallen to the status of corpse collectors.


    Blood deluged down, and the minor fiends who had been lucky enough to survive Tang Jie''s onught were scared out of their wits. They had never imagined that they would be facing an evil god in the form of a human, and they began to back away. As for those humans who had been captured as ves, their eyes began to glow as they finally saw hope.


    After being enved for several years under the fiends, they finally saw a chance at freedom and life.


    Some of the human ves began to furtively make their way out of the city.


    A fiend saw this and wanted to stop them, but a vine came shooting out of the distance and nailed the fiend to the wall. Yiyi then shouted, "Hurry and go!"


    The human ves were delighted and began to run out of the city.


    "Yiyi, there are also other humans here. Have the bean soldiers attack the city and cover the departure of the humans," Tang Jie shouted.


    Although he had given a spiel about how it was the way of the world, how it was perfectly normal, for fiends to eat humans, that didn''t mean that he would ignore it and refuse to save who could be saved. As he was now drawing the attention of the main fiend force, this was the perfect chance to save the humans.


    Yiyi nodded and sowed the bean soldiers. She spoke a few words to Tang Dou, who nodded and personally led his "army" in attacking the rest of the fiend city.


    The fiend king was furious at this. Pointing at Tang Jie, he shouted, "Work together and attack him!"


    The fiend generals called out in unison and flew up into the air. They thrust out their palms simultaneously, their energiesbining into an enormous w that descended toward Tang Jie.


    This was thebined power of thirty-some Transformation great fiends, so not even Tang Jie dared to underestimate it.


    His face turned serious as power began to radiate from his body. Activating the Formless Golden Body, Tang Jie jumped into the air and threw a punch at the giant w.


    The Dao of the Martial Lord was to never retreat no matter the adversary! Even though he knew that he was no match for thebined might of thirty-some fiend generals, Tang Jie still charged right in.


    Fist and w collided, and Tang Jie''s enormous body was sted away.


    The fiends cried out in victory. This giant had been far too terrifying, and the fiends rejoiced to see that it had finally been felled.


    But a momentter, Tang Jie mbered up from the ground and wiped the blood from the corner of his lips. With a savageugh, he shouted, "Ah, that''s the stuff! Again!"


    He jumped into the air and let out another thunderous punch.


    Aghast, the fiends hastilybined their powers again.


    Thebined might of thirty-some Transformation great fiends once more seeded in pushing Tang Jie back to the ground.


    The fiends heaved a sigh of relief, amazed at how difficult to deal with this giant was.


    Before they could even finish the thought, Tang Jie got back up again and roared, "Continue!" before charging back into the fray.


    The fiends were all baffled and horrified. Even the Violet me King stood up and shouted, "Madman!"


    The surging sts of energy from Tang Jie''s fists forced the fiends to once morebine their might.


    Tang Jie threw himself at the heavens again and again, and while his strength was currently no match for thebined might of thirty-some fiend generals, his tough body and recovery ability cared little for the little damage he was sustaining. The damage he sustained from each collision was quickly healed, and he would once more go on the offensive.


    He was like an inexhaustible tiger, exerting limitless strength.


    But the fiend generals weren''t so lucky.


    They didn''t have Tang Jie''s terrifying endurance and healing, and their repeated attacks gradually began to drain them dry. Finally, under Tang Jie''s berserk offensive, a fiend general faltered and was obliterated by the torrent of energy from Tang Jie''s steely fist.


    Trantor Notes


    Tang Jie is basically roleying as Godzi right now, or maybe King Kong, since he isn''t exactly spitting outser beams.

 Chapter 626: City Annihilation

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Violet me King could no longer sit still, finally standing up and charging out with his violet gold warhammer.


    He flew high into the air and shouted, "Arrogant fool, die!"


    The warhammer flew at Tang Jie, preceded by a tongue of violet me.


    "Using fire to burn me?" Tang Jie chuckled.


    He thought about letting out his avatar to take the me, but after thinking about it some more, he put aside the idea. This violet me didn''t seem like some high-ss me, so exposing the Mountain River State Diagram for it wasn''t worth it. Instead, he might as well temper his fire resistance.


    Thus, he let the violet me ze across his body, the immense pain causing him to howl. The Violet me Kingughed, "Let''s see how long you live when burned by my Violet Toxin me!"


    But a momentter, he saw that giant engulfed in mes jump up andugh, "Refreshing, refreshing!"


    He punched at the Violet me King.


    The Violet me King was caught off guard and hastily raised his hammer to block, but even though his cultivation level was on par with or even exceeded Tang Jie in some aspects, his strength was far inferior. His warhammer failed to block the fist, and it mmed into the fiend king''s face, caving in his face and sending him flying.


    "Awooo!" The Violet me King roared as he tumbled through the air and turned back to his original form: a violet-maned lion. It angrily roared at Tang Jie, and violet mes swept toward Tang Jie and sent him tumbling.


    The Violet me King then assumed human form and shot forward, appearing in front of Tang Jie. His violet golden warhammer let out a blinding light as it smashed into Tang Jie''s face, causing blood to flow freely from his nostrils.


    The two of them seemed to be evenly matched.


    The Violet me Kingughed. "What do you think of my Worldshaker Hammer?"


    "Not bad!" Tang Jie chuckled as he wiped away the blood on his face.


    If they actuallypared, the Violet me King wasn''t actually his match in strength, but he had already faced off against those thirty-some fiend generals earlier. Though he seemed to be brimming with fighting intent and only getting stronger as the battle went on, he had been greatly drained. It was just that the Dao of the Martial Lord ced the greatest importance on one''s resolve. So long as one could still stand, one would never lie down. Even if one was eventually beaten to death, one''s opponent would never be able to tell that their foe had actually been utterly exhausted.


    But there was no avoiding the effect on his strength, or else they wouldn''t be evenly matched.


    Nearby, the fiend generals were dumbfounded.


    Their king had been struck by a human!


    A mighty upper-grade Transformation great fiend, the Violet me Lion King, had his face all ck and blue from a human''s beating! If this matter got out, countless fiends would beughing so hard their teeth would fall out.


    It had been many years since the fiend race had experienced something like this.


    While the fiends reeled in shock, their king turned and shouted in displeasure, "What are all of you just standing around for?"


    The fiends woke from their stupor and began to rush at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie snorted and shook his right arm, producing the Deste Heavens Halberd.


    With a swing of the halberd, a powerful wave of energy swept out, engulfing the fiend king and his generals.


    The fiends put on a strong front, casting a spell in unison. A sandstorm stirred, filled with poisonous smoke that threatened to drown Tang Jie. Assisted by the fiends, the Violet me King was much stronger than before, and even Tang Jie couldn''t overpower him anymore. But Tang Jie was fearless, and his halberd shone with a brilliant light as it danced in the ck smoke.


    This was the Dao of the Martial Lord. So long as one still breathed, one would fight to the very end, no matter how many people one had to fight against!


    Even though he was vastly outnumbered, Tang Jie was not afraid, nor would he say that this was unfair. All he would do was fight, fight, fight!


    Of course, this didn''t mean that he was actually foolish enough to fight until death. To be unyielding was to be bloodthirsty, not stupid, and even the Martial Lord didn''t promote brainless battle.


    As the dark cloud encroached upon the city and fiend energy overflowed, Tang Jieughed and threw out a formation diagram.


    Countless stars instantly shone in the sky.


    The Treasure Cosmos Formation.


    Butpared to before, the formation was much changed.


    The most defining difference was that it waspletely full.


    Ten thousand treasures hadpletely packed the formation diagram, and while there were still some low-grade treasures there to fill space, there was no longer that previousck of numbers. The formation without sufficient numbers had basically been halfplete, meaning that none of the treasures within were able to fully unleash their power. But now, the Treasure Cosmos Formation was theplete product.


    This was a qualitative boost in power.


    Having added the divine treasures from the Celestial me Pagoda to the ones he originally had, he now had ten-some divine treasures within the diagram, and their powersbined were awesome to behold.


    The countless stars projected figures of light, and everything could be seen within them: sabers, spears, swords, axes, birds, fish, insects, beasts, pavilions and courtyards, zithers, books, paintings, pearls, jewels, silk brocade, and even pots, pans,dles, rice, oil, salt! And all the objects of the world also represented almost all the colors of the world, producing a most beautiful and magnificent sight.


    But this gorgeous light was brimming with endless lethality.


    Each beam of light, each wondrous vista, was brought together by the formation into a most terrifying power to assail the fiends.


    This power was on par with the full power of a Violet Pce True Lord, though it was somewhat more dispersed, more suitable for attacking groups rather than individuals¡ªperfect for the situation at hand. As the storm rolled in, the fiends were left stunned. The Violet me King was at the very front of this group and was struck by several hundred rays of light.


    Even though the Treasure Cosmos Formation was primarily intended for attacking groups, the several hundred rays of light still had him screaming in pain. It wasn''t long before he reached his limit and tumbled from the sky, throwing up so much blood that it was clear he could no longer be counted as one of the living.


    Tang Jie quickly grabbed that falling lion corpse, smoothly dismantling it and taking its fiend pellet.


    The thirty-some fiend generals were soon engulfed in the treasure light. At their peak, they might have been able to hold it off, but they were still fatigued from their battle with Tang Jie. One by one, they fell to the Treasure Cosmos Formation, the bodies of Transformation great fiends raining from the sky. In the end, only a few fiend generals managed to escape.


    The fiend soldiers were left dumbfounded.


    But they weren''t faring much better.


    They were facing the endlessly hungry and ever-growing ck Sin, after all.


    No matter how fiercely the fiend soldiers fought and how many vines they cut down, more vines would grow out, pulling one fiend soldier after another into the abyss, feeding the beast within. Theoretically, if there were enough fiend soldiers and if Tang Jie couldst long enough, he could have just waited until ck Sin had grown enough such that he wouldn''t have needed to use the formation diagram. Of course, theory was always difficult to put into practice.


    And while the Treasure Cosmos Formation had primarily been attacking the fiend generals, as it was meant for attacking groups, it also took down several hundred fiend soldiers in the process.


    The fiend soldiers were stunned by these horrifying events, and the surviving fiend generals ran as hard as they could, not even looking back. This sapped the remaining fiend soldiers'' will to fight, and they scattered and fled.


    The fiends scattered in all directions, so Tang Jie knew that he couldn''t kill them all. Thus, he decided to not even try. In any case, the formation had expended the power of the treasures. He waved a hand at the air, returning the formation to the diagram. It would need some time to rest and recuperate before he could use it again.


    Tang Jie shrank back to the size of a normal person and said to Yiyi, "Clean up the corpses. Let''s take everything we can and then get out of here."


    "Eh? Haven''t we already defeated them? Why are we in such a rush to leave?" Yiyi asked.


    "It''s only one city. News will quickly spread to the other fiend cities, and once the fiends concentrate their forces, we won''t be able to stop them. Let''s just make do with what we have," Tang Jie replied.


    Yiyi was curious. "Isn''t the Dao of the Martial Lord about never backing down? So why are we retreating?"


    Tang Jieughed. "Silly, going too far is just as bad as not going far enough. Principles are dead, but people are alive. While the Martial Lord''s Dao might be about pressing forward no matter the opposition, what it means is to emerge alive from desperate straits, not throw oneself into dire situations whenever one''s bored. We can only make a profit if we catch the enemy by surprise. If the fiendse in force, we''ll be the ones facing misfortune. Far better to just take the victories where we can and be content with it."


    "Understood."


    While they had been talking, the bean soldiers had been cleaning up the city.


    The bean soldiers had suffered in the battle in the Treasure Paradise.


    But after leaving the Blood River Domain, Tang Jie had nted the seeds in the Mountain River State Diagram, and two years drifting in the infinite void had allowed the bean soldiers to rebuild their numbers. They now numbered 25,000.


    The bean soldiers were organized in 100-bean divisions, and with 250 divisions in all, they swept the streets clean, like a monster invading a vige. Let alone ordinary fiends, even Transformation fiends didn''t dare to face them, either dying or running.


    The mighty Hundred Battle City was quickly emptied of both humans and fiends.


    Yiyi did some after-battle calctions and found that they had killed four to six thousand fiends in all.


    Tang Jie had killed around eight hundred, including the upper-grade Transformation fiend king and 34 fiend generals¡ª8 at the upper grade of Transformation and 26 at the lower grade.


    The bean soldiers had killed around 2,600 fiends, both soldiers and ordinary fiends.


    Finally, ck Sin had devoured one thousand to three thousand fiends. Theck of bodies made it impossible to give a precise count. However, it was certain that this guy had gotten much stronger.


    Finally, he had obtained around 1,100 fiend pellets. Around eight hundred of these were thanks to the bean soldiers, but most of them were spent. Tang Jie had gathered fewer¡ªaround three hundred¡ªbut most of them were intact. Besides that, there were copious quantities of hide, blood, and bones, and also some spirit stones.


    After putting this all away, Tang Jie gazed at this city that he had personally depopted and sighed. "I really want to put it into the diagram."


    An entire city disappearing would definitely draw the attention of a Titan, as something like the Mountain River State Diagram was taboo no matter where one went. While Tang Jie had nopunctions about challenging the fiends who reigned supreme in the Verdant Cloud Domain, he cared a lot about viting taboos.


    After taking onest look at the city, Tang Jie departed.


    Trantor Notes


    Even in another world, Tang Jie can''t help but pige and massacre cities. Will he ever change his bandit ways?

 Chapter 627: Murder Case

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Going back was much faster thaning, with Tang Jie and Yiyi flying straight back to Daoxiang Vige.


    Midway, Tang Jie had a sudden urge and flew up to the Astral Winds.


    Upon arriving at the Astral Wind altitudes, he felt an immense energy raging around him. Having already experienced it once, Tang Jie was well aware of how terrifying the Astral Winds were. He was much weaker in his unmerged state, yet as he looked at the green Astral mes burning before him, he took in a deep breath and then charged into the storm.


    The moment he entered, Astral Winds assailed him from all sides like countless shrieking devils. As they tore away at his body, he hastily performed the Parting ssic.


    As the Parting ssic activated, Tang Jie felt slivers of energy beginning to enter his body.


    Last time, the situation had been too urgent, but this time, Tang Jie had the time to intentionally sense this energy''s existence.


    Tang Jie found that exactly what he expected was urring. The Astral Winds weren''t actually giving much of a boost to his cultivation, and it had previously seemed that way primarily because he had originally been only a sliver away from a breakthrough. But the energy he was absorbing was the essence of the Astral mes, which could be used to increase his resistance to the Astral Winds.


    If he spent a long time bathing in the Astral Winds, he would eventually be able to freely travel through the Astral Winds without needing to be in a merged state, and he would also not have to worry about attacks of this nature.


    Upon realizing this, Tang Jie decided to cultivate within the Astral Wind region.


    As he was on the edge of the storm, Tang Jie would retreat whenever he reached his limit, recovering before heading back to continue his cultivation.


    This cultivation sessionsted ten-some days.


    Tang Jie cultivated like a maniac, barely resting. If he wasn''t tempering himself in the storm, he was recovering as quickly as he could outside the storm, waiting to go in. It was an endless cycle.


    When he was thirsty or hungry, he would use those fiends to sate himself. He was usingrge quantities of energy, and the blood energy of fiends was perfect for restoring all of it. He ended up eating many of the more than a thousand fiend corpses, and even Tang Jie was rmed by the number.


    It now seemed like a long period of cultivation in the Astral Winds also required arge amount of fiend meat and blood.


    The Parting ssic was the same as ever, requiring resources for everything.


    Fortunately, he had destroyed an entire city, which had gotten Tang Jie enough fiends. Moreover, their blood energy meant that they wouldn''t rot within ten-some days, which left enough time for Tang Jie to seal them with secret arts so that he could consume them more slowly.


    After ten-some days of cultivation, Tang Jie had gone from being able to stay in the storm region for two to three minutes to around fifteen minutes, which was remarkable progress.


    But all this nonstop cultivation had also pushed Tang Jie to his mental limit. The pain from having one''s body constantly torn at by the storm wasn''t something an ordinary person could endure. It could bepared to death by a thousand cuts, and this had gone on for ten-some days. Even with Tang Jie''s tough will, he was feeling dead inside, appearing dazed and depressed.


    Thus, Tang Jie had no choice but to stop cultivating for a few days so that he could recover his mental state, so he returned to Daoxiang Vige with Yiyi.


    Tang Jie arrived at the vige in the afternoon. To his surprise, white banners had been put up and the sounds of sobbing could be heard. It seemed that someone had died.


    Tang Jie hastily went inside and saw that a crowd had gathered in front of the vige''s ancestral hall, where six tablets were on disy.


    Six people had died? Tang Jie was stunned, and he knew that these probably weren''t natural deaths.


    The old vige chief, Cheng Shan, was seated in front of the memorial tablets, shaking his head as he wept. The crowd behind him was also weeping on their knees, and behind the tablets were six bodies, wrapped in white cloth.


    Yiyi couldn''t help but ask, "What happened?"


    A viger turned upon hearing her voice and spotted them, after which he staggered back like he had seen a ghost and shouted, "They''re back!"


    He ran off to the ancestral hall.


    The other vigers turned their heads, and when they saw Tang Jie, their expressions turned strange. That auntie who had given Tang Jie porridge once even lunged at him, but she was held back by the others. Unable to break free, she plopped onto the ground and began to weep.


    Tang Jie asked, "Might I ask what happened here?"


    The vigers simply stared at him. It was ultimately the vige chief who coughed and said, "Don''t be like this. Hurry and invite our guest in."


    The vigers gave way.


    Going down the path opened up by the vigers, Tang Jie went up to the old vige chief and looked at the memorial tablets behind him. "It seems like something happened here while I was gone?"


    The vige chief sighed. "It''s all fate. The two of you meant well, so you can''t be med for this. It''s just that everyone is rather agitated, so I seek your forgiveness, O Immortal."


    Tang Jie frowned. "Vige Chief, it sounds like the death of these six vigers is rted to me. But I have not been in the vige thesest few days, so I do not know why I have brought cmity to the vige."


    "It''s all because of that damned butterfly of yours!" the auntie wailed. "My poor son was beaten to death by that Bai n!"


    "''Butterfly''?" Tang Jie was startled, and then he felt Yiyi''s hand tighten. Turning to look, he saw that Yiyi had turned ghastly pale.


    Tang Jie immediately recalled that red jade butterfly he had seen in Yiyi''s hands ten-some days ago.


    He sternly asked, "You gave the jade butterfly to them?"


    Yiyi dropped her head. "They wanted it¡­ I thought it would be okay if I gave them one¡­ I told him not to show it to anyone else."


    After a moment of shock, Tang Jie sighed.


    He turned to Cheng Shan and said, "Vige Chief, please tell me the entire story."


    The old man told him.


    It was actually quite simple.


    Two days ago was the day the vigers went to the city. On this day, many vigers entered the city as a group to sell off their goods and buy some things their family needed. This was rathermon in farming viges located somewhat far from cities. Er Shouzi''s parents were in this group, and they brought their son with them.


    Events proceeded naturally. While the vigers sold their goods, Er Shouzi went off to y in the area on his own.


    Although Yiyi had told him not to show off the butterfly, how could children possibly restrain themselves? The city had all sorts of nice things to dazzle the eyes, and when he saw something he liked but couldn''t afford, his ego got the better of him, and he took out the butterfly.


    This caused trouble, as the young master of a certain Bai n who happened to be passing by saw the butterfly as something special and sought to buy it. But Er Shouzi refused, so that Young Master Bai lost his patience and had the child beaten. He then took the butterfly and left Er Shouzi two taels of silver.


    If only things had ended there.


    Er Shouzi went running off to his parents.


    The vigers of Daoxiang were rather temperamental, and when they saw that a child had been bullied and robbed, they chased after the offender. The two sides got into a fight, and in the end, three lives were lost¡ªtwo from the vige and one from the Bai Estate.


    Afterward, the government came forward and judged that the vigers had been greedy robbers. Not only did the vigers lose thewsuit, three more of them were beaten to death.


    After the remaining vigers returned, a wife of one of the deceased vigers, who had been pregnant, was so distressed by the news that she had a premature birth, which resulted in the death of both mother and child¡ªanother two lives lost.


    Six bodies and seven lives! The entire vige was drowned in grief and anger.


    This series of horrific events stunned Tang Jie and Yiyi.


    Yiyi dumbly said, "I didn''t think¡­ I really didn''t think that this would happen¡­ Big Brother!"


    She grabbed Tang Jie''s hand and looked up tearfully at him, her expression pathetic to behold.


    Tang Jie''s heart softened, and he stroked her face and said, "I know¡­ I know you didn''t do this on purpose¡­ but you must know that you aren''t free from me just because it wasn''t on purpose. What''s wrong is wrong, so you have to bravely ept the consequences. Do you understand?"


    "Mm¡­" Yiyi tearfully nodded.


    Tang Jie turned to Cheng Shan and said, "Vige Chief, I understand the reason for these events. This started because of the butterfly Yiyi gifted, so there is no denying her connection. For gifting something she shouldn''t have, she holds half the responsibility, but only half. The vigers were rash in their actions, so they should reflect on their own conduct."


    The vige chief nodded. "This old man understands. In the end, they were too impulsive, or else things never would have gone this far. cing the fault on you two is simply because they feel sad and helpless. Please do not take it to heart."


    "It''s fine," Tang Jie replied. "Regardless, as Yiyi has some responsibility, then I have some responsibility. I will take charge in this matter and seek justice for everyone."


    The vige chief was startled. "Sir, don''t be rash. The Bai n is a big family in the city. They have been working with the officials and merchants for ages, or else that dog official wouldn''t have taken three more lives from my vige. Sir is an extraordinary individual, but you are no match for these local tyrants!"


    He could sense that Tang Jie was a powerful figure, but he didn''t know how powerful, and he was worried that Tang Jie might bite off more than he could chew. Most importantly, if he was overestimating himself, the vige would suffer an even greater tragedy.


    The vigers'' rashness had cost them six lives. If Tang Jie was rash, the entire vige might be wiped out.


    Tang Jie knew what the old man was afraid of and coolly said, "Vige Chief, be at ease. No matter what I do, it won''t affect you¡­"


    He was going to say that he didn''t n to act in the name of Daoxiang Vige, but at this moment, a viger ran over and shouted, "Bad news! Er Hu is gone!"


    Everyone turned their heads, and the vige chief tottered over. "Do you know where he went?"


    The viger shook his head. "I don''t know, but the hunting knife and bow he had hung up on the wall are gone."


    Everyone was rmed, and the vige chief stamped his cane on the ground. "Curses! He must have gone after the Bai n, since his uncle was among those who died! When Er Hu''s parents passed away, it was his uncle who raised him."


    Tang Jie quickly asked, "How long has he been gone?"


    The vigers shook their heads.


    It turned out that nobody had noticed when Er Hu had left, only that he hadn''t been seen sincest night. It was just that everyone had been busy with their funeral arrangements and too saddened to notice.


    "In other words, he''s probably at the Bai n already," Tang Jie slowly said.


    Trantor Notes


    Oh no, who could have expected the butterfly that Yiyi gave away to turn out poorly?

 Chapter 628: Jungle

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie and Yiyi left the vige and flew all the way to Changping Prefecture. It wasn''t long before they saw a city looming in the distance.


    This city had walls made from giant, abnormally tough ck stones with formations carved into them, exuding the energy of dragons and snakes. Soldiers manned the walls, and the entire city was protected by a top-ss formation. It was theplete opposite of thezily-guarded Hundred Battle City.


    As they flew closer, they saw that the inside of the city was also arranged in a cultivator''s fashion, with each street being a formation line and each intersection being a formation eye.


    Tang Jie could immediately tell that flying over the city would be difficult, as he was bound to be attacked by the formation, so hended in front of the gates.


    Although the gate had guards, as they had seen Tang Jie descend from the sky, they knew he was a cultivator and didn''t dare to make trouble for him, letting him through without even taking the toll.


    But the moment he walked through the gates, a mirror above the gate let out a beam of light that lit Yiyi up. Yiyi yelped in fear and hid behind Tang Jie.


    In a sh, the soldiers on the wall aimed their bows at Tang Jie, the shining arrowheads indicating that these were no ordinary weapons. The officer leading them was a cultivator, and he shouted, "Hiding, fiend? Hurry and show yourself!"


    Tang Jie replied, "She''s my little sister, not a member of the fiend race."


    Although the Verdant Cloud Domain was ruled by fiends, it wasn''t like there were no cultivators who had subdued fiends, so a matter like this wasn''t considered rare. But there were also cases where fiends pretended to be pets and controlled humans in order to infiltrate cities and sow chaos. This was why the officer didn''t dare to be careless, saying, "If that''s the case, please follow me to be registered."


    It seemed like he would need to be questioned on his background, get registered, and even have a tracking mark ced on him before he could finally leave.


    Tang Jie frowned. He knew that this rule was needed for the sake of defense, but he was unwilling to be tracked like this.


    As he was considering what to do, a soldier suddenly ran over and whispered a few words into the ears of the officer.


    The officer paled and whispered to the soldier, "You''re sure you saw things right?"


    The soldier repeatedly nodded. "This lowly one wouldn''t dare to deceive you. I''m certain it''s them! If Sir does not believe it, others also saw them and can verify my testimony."


    The officer looked back at Tang Jie, a beaming smile on his face now. He jumped down from the wall and came up to Tang Jie. "Sir, are you¨C"


    Tang Jie cut him off. "Since you know I''m not a fiend spy, can I enter the city now?"


    He could immediately tell that that soldier was definitely one of the human ves who had escaped from Hundred Battle City. Soldiers were the primary form of resistance against the fiends, so they were the ones most frequently taken as captives. Thus, it wasn''t strange for a soldier to have seen him.


    It had been ten-some days since he had destroyed Hundred Battle City. A secluded ce like Daoxiang Vige might not have received the news, but he must have be a household name in Changping Prefecture by now.


    Now that the officer knew that this person was a cultivator who had single-handedly massacred Hundred Battle City, he naturally had no desire to make trouble for him, and he immediately started to fawn upon Tang Jie. But Tang Jie needed to save Er Hu and had no time to waste on small talk, so he cut off the conversation.


    The officer hastily said, "Of course. Please head inside, Sir."


    Tang Jie led Yiyi away.


    The officer wanted to exchange a few more words with Tang Jie, but he didn''t dare to give chase. He could only watch as this expert who had exterminated Hundred Battle City disappeared from his sight. He was going to report this to his superior, but he recalled that this person had interrupted him before he could finish saying anything, so he clearly didn''t want to reveal his status. If he meddled too much and reported the matter, he might infuriate this mighty figure and suffer.


    But now that he knew Tang Jie''s appearance, while he didn''t dare to send anyone to follow him, he could issue a secret order to keep an eye out for him and find out where he was. When the time came, if he properly served this man, he might be able to get something good. This was much better than the matter being publicly known and everyone desperately trying to get in his good graces, leaving no opportunity for himself. He smugly smiled at the thought, praising himself.


    He then ordered the matter silenced and also ordered that soldier who had recognized Tang Jie to not spread any rumors.


    Tang Jie had no idea what the officer was thinking, quickly entering the city with Yiyi.


    Changping Prefecture was a rather thriving city, its streets packed with people. Peddlers hawked their wares, toothless old granniesdled out bowls of soft tofu, artists performed on stone bridges, and storytellers told tales in restaurants.


    "That battle shook the world, making ghosts and gods weep. That warrior suddenly transformed into a mighty giant that stood a thousand feet tall! With a single strike of his palm, he had those fiend soldiers wailing and howling. With a punch, he shattered the heavens! With a kick, he made the mountains and rivers pale, the moon and sun seem dim. That Violet me Lion King was a peak fiend king, but he was dead in just three punches, his brains sttered across the earth, dying a truly miserable death¡­"


    A clear voice rang out from upstairs, and Tang Jie and Yiyi looked at each other and smiled.


    Humans had been suppressed by the fiends for too long, so such a momentous event naturally had everyone singing their praises. This story about that giant killing the Violet me Lion King in three punches had been told countless times, but everyone in the city, young and old, still loved hearing it. The storyteller basically had his entire year made by this one story.


    Yiyi said to Tang Jie, "You''re a hero now."


    Tang Jie shook his head. "Who cares about this sort of false glory? Ask around for the home of the Bai n''s Bai Zhanjun. Handling this matter is our first priority."


    "Mm."


    They quickly found out that the Bai n was the third house on Big Willow Street, on the western end of the city.


    The two of them immediately headed over.


    When they arrived, they saw a red gate nked by two stone lions and guarded by two servants wearing little hats and short jackets. With cudgels in hand, they appeared quite impressive.


    Tang Jie came up and asked, "Might I ask if this is the Bai n?"


    A servant looked at Tang Jie and said, "It is. And who are you?"


    "Bai Zhanjun''s Bai n?" Tang Jie asked.


    The servant impatiently said, "Of course! While Changping Prefecture might have many people with the surname Bai, there is no second Bai n! Exin your purpose, or else¨C"


    Before he could finish, Tang Jie nodded and said, "This is the ce, then. Yiyi, you''re the one responsible, so you handle this matter!"


    He fell back.


    Yiyi waved a hand, and two vines flew out and wrapped around the servants. She threw them to the side without a second nce.


    She thrust out a palm, and the gate blew apart.


    Yiyi strode inside while Tang Jie leisurely followed behind.


    Yiyi shouted, "Bai Zhanjun,e out right now!"


    "Who dares to make a ruckus in the Bai n!?" A pile of servants rushed out with cudgels, but when they saw that the intruder was just a tender little girl with two tiny arms and a face like a painting, they put down their cudgels and put on smiles instead. "Where did this little girle from? She''s quite amusing." "She looks quite pretty. The young master will definitely like her." "She''s a little young, though." "That''s no problem. We can just raise her for a few years before using her." "We can use her even without a few years."


    The servantsughed.


    Yiyi snorted and then snapped her fingers. Green roses grew from under the feet of the servants, instantly piercing through the soles of their feet.


    The courtyard of the Bai n was instantly filled with howls of pain.


    The servants now couldn''t leave even if they wanted to, and those green roses were still growing. They grew up to their chests, where they bloomed bloody maws that had the servants screaming in terror.


    One of the green roses bit down on a servant. This servant had spoken of Yiyi with the lewdest tone, so he was the first to suffer. The giant maw tore off a big chunk of flesh from his leg, chewing on it a few times before swallowing, and then it tore a chunk off his abdomen. Chunk by chunk, the flower was devouring this person alive.


    The others were so horrified that their souls left their bodies. At this moment, a voice rang out: "Who dares to cause trouble in the Bai n?"


    A sword flew out of the rear house at Yiyi.


    "It''s Immortal Master Li! Master Li has intervened!" the servants cheered.


    But a momentter, the sword simply began to fly around Yiyi, unable tond. Yiyi nced up and snorted, "Puny light!"


    With a flick of her fingers, she snapped the sword in two.


    The cultivator in the rear house grunted.


    This cultivator was only at Mortal Shedding, so he was no match for Yiyi. Just a small move from her had been enough to heavily wound him. He immediately knew that he was dealing with an expert and that attacking again would probably mean losing his life, so he took to the skies in an attempt to flee. But Yiyi wasn''t going to let him run, a vine flying out and dragging him back. In this entire process, she didn''t even nce at that cultivator.


    Yiyi casually entered the estate, using vines to tie up any servants she encountered and putting them to the side. Anyone who spoke rudely to her would be taught a lesson, and while she didn''t kill them, she did take a few chunks of their flesh.


    The Bai n was quickly thrown into chaos. Yiyi spread her nts wherever she went, soon filling the entire estate with nts that crazily grew upward, announcing to the world her astounding strength.


    The people of Big Willow Street bore witness as a green canopy grew over the Bai Estate. Within its walls, nts rapidly grew, turning the entire estate into a primordial jungle. At the top of every tree was bound a member of the Bai Estate, and one of them was naturally that Young Master Bai, Bai Zhanjun. They were suspended high up so that people could gawk and point, and everyone who saw this understood one thing: the Bai n had stirred up some trouble.


    The jungle continued to expand and grow so high that half of the city could see it.


    In the center of this jungle was a verdant pce.


    At the highest floor of this three-leveled pce, Yiyi sat cross-legged on the floor, ying with a red jade butterfly.


    A persony next to her.


    Er Hu.


    Trantor Notes


    First it was Tang Jie wreaking havoc in a fiend city. Now it''s time for Yiyi to wreak havoc in a human city!

 Chapter 629: Trial (1)

    <h4>Chapter 629: Trial (1)</h4>


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    A once-lively young man was now on hisst breaths.


    His arms and legs were broken, and his body was covered in horrifying wounds.


    The sight of these wounds made Yiyi even more furious.


    Thorned vines whipped the body of Young Master Bai, ying off his skin and flesh. This Bai Zhanjun had never suffered such pain before and began to cry in pain, even pissing his pants.


    The other members of the Bai n also cried and pleaded for mercy. Even the slowest among them knew that the butterfly was the cause of this disaster. The Bai n patriarch shouted, "It''s all the fault of my dog son! Immortal Fairy, kill him if you must, but the rest of us are innocent!"


    Yiyi grunted and pointed at Er Hu. "You make things sound nice, but look at his wounds. Are you saying you know nothing about it?"


    All of them fell silent.


    They naturally knew about where Er Hu hade from, or else they wouldn''t have beaten him so brutally. The Bai n considered him as some oaf from the countryside who needed to be taught a harsh lesson for daring to provoke the Bai n. They had never imagined that this would incur the wrath of a savage god, against whom even the Immortal Master they had hired at high price was no match and was captured in one stroke.


    The entire Bai Estate had been turned into a dense jungle that blotted out the sky. Such divine abilities were unheard of, and everyone was paralyzed with fear and could only beg for mercy.


    But Yiyi wasn''t going to just let them go. Her rare opportunity to do a good deed had be their cmity, and her unprecedented anger had turned her into a demon. She had her vines madly whip away at them until they were at the brink of death.


    As she was whipping away, a group suddenly flew out from the distance, led by a white-robed officer. All ten of the soldiers behind him were cultivators, but their cultivation level was very low, only at Spirit Disciple. Upon reaching the Bai Estate, the officer barked, "Who dares to cause chaos in the Bai Estate? Submit to capture ande with me to see the magistrate!"


    Relief and joy appeared on the faces of the Bai n people.


    In Fengshan, the country was supreme, and it wasmon for cultivators to be court officials, nobles, or generals. This small team was an official force meant specifically for dealing with cultivator problems, and it was called the Celestial Pivot Guard.


    The Celestial Pivot Guardmanded high prestige and authority in Fengshan, and their strength was great. This white-robed officer was only a bannerman of the Celestial Pivot Guard, not of particrly high status, but he was quite intimidating. He thought that the other party would submit the moment he arrived, but to his surprise, Yiyi looked up at him and said, "Your magistrate? I do n to see him. Of the six lives Daoxiang Vige lost, the Bai Estate took only two while your magistrate took three. If I don''t have a proper talk with him, how can I possibly go back to Daoxiang Vige with my head held high?"


    The officer was startled. "What did you say?"


    Yiyi stood up and pointed at the sky. "But before that, you should just stay right here!"


    Countless vines shot out of the jungle at the white-robed officer. The officer backed away in shock, but he was just too slow. The vines instantly wrapped around him, and even though the officer circted his energy in an attempt to break free, all this did was make the vines wrap around him more tightly, almost choking the breath out of him. Yiyi drew back her hand, and the vines pulled that squad of eleven into the jungle, hanging them up together with the Bai n so that people could point at them.


    The Bai n had thought that the bannerman would be their savior, but he had also been captured by Yiyi in a single strike, and they despaired. But some of them were actually happy¡ªoffending the Bai n and offending the Celestial Pivot Guard were twopletely different things. No matter how strong this little girl was, there was no way she could deal with the countless experts of the Celestial Pivot Guard.


    Yiyi didn''t seem to care about this. After seizing the officer''s squad, she began to think. She then said, "Your magistrate''s ruling was unjust, so you must have taken silver from the Bai n. Today, thisdy will have this case reheard."


    The flower pce turned into a courthouse, with a signboard that dered "The Bright Mirror of Justice Sees All". Several green roses took the forms of bailiffs, but they had the appearance of women. Looking at each other, theyughed and gracefully stood to the side. Theycked the intimidating aura of ordinary bailiffs, exchanging it for the enchanting allure of a woman.


    The Mystic Flora Regalia turned into the clothes of a government official, and Yiyi extended her right hand, upon which a fruit growing from a flowering vine jumped into her hand and became a gavel. She brought her hand down, and the tree trunk that the gavel struck became a desk, upon which she shouted, "Court is in session!"


    "Hah!" The female bailiffs shouted in unison, but their voicescked a little oomph.


    Yiyi shouted, "Today, this official will rehear the case concerning the fight between Daoxiang Vige and the Bai Estate. Bring forth the victim, Er Hu of Daoxiang Vige!"


    Two bailiffs brought Er Hu forward, a tform of vines raising him high into the air so that the questioning process could be seen by everyone in the city.


    The medicine Yiyi had given Er Hu had healed many of his wounds. He immediately prostrated before Yiyi and shouted, "Immortal Fairy, thank you for saving my life!"


    Yiyi raised a hand. "Do not discuss unrted matters. Let us focus on the case first. Er Hu, exin everything that happened to Daoxiang Vige. Today, this official will go before all of the people of Changping Prefecture and seek justice!"


    Er Hu''s eyes brightened. "Yes!"


    As he began to exin everything, a spell art magnified his voice so that everyone could hear.


    When he began to talk about the unjust judgment of the magistrate, and the casual disregard for human life that led to the vige losing seven lives, Er Hu loudly wept.


    The listening popce of Changping Prefecture were in tears themselves.


    Yiyi mmed the gavel. "Bring up the criminal, Bai Zhanjun!"


    Two bailiffs were about to bring him up when a group of fierce individuals flew over, led by a dark-faced man with a mountain-cleaving saber. Behind him were three officers and more than a hundred soldiers. The dark-faced man shouted, "Audacious fiend woman, daring to cause trouble in Changping Prefecture, taking a respectable family hostage and setting up your own court!"


    The white-robed officer from before excitedly shouted, "Bannerholder Wang, save this lowly one!"


    "''Taking a respectable family hostage and setting up my own court''?" Yiyi''s eyes shed with murder.


    She looked at the dark-faced man and said, "That''s a pretty good usation. It seems to me like you''re in cahoots with them!"


    She waved a hand, and more vines flew out at this new group.


    But the officer this time was much more powerful.


    The dark-faced man barked and waved his saber, cutting down the vines and preventing them from getting close.


    "Go, Bannerholder Wang!" the people from the Bai Estate cheered.


    The other people Yiyi had fought had all been captured with one strike of the vines, so when this man managed to block this move, everyone saw a ray of sunlight.


    Yiyi snorted. "Those who interrupt this official will not be lightly forgiven!"


    She mmed the gavel down.


    The entire jungle swayed, dislodging countless petals that floated into the sky. They gathered into a great torrent, a mighty dragon that charged at the dark-faced man.


    The Silkheaven Net.


    As Yiyi''s natural spell art, it had grown stronger as Yiyi advanced to Transformation, and even a Spirit Ring True Person might find it difficult to take.


    The dark-faced man was stronger than the white-robed officer, but he was still only at Cognitive Creation, powerless to stop this attack.


    The torrent of petals swept past, shattering the dark-faced man''s saber, a middle-grade art relic. The torrent continued forward, crashing through the group of neers and filling the skies of Changping Prefecture with gorgeous petals.


    When the petals scattered, everyone saw that Yiyi had captured Bannerholder Wang and all his soldiers, hanging them up in the jungle.


    Their recently ignited hopes were put out again, and the Bai n was on the verge of tears.


    Yiyi continued to hold court, bringing Bai Zhanjun up and asking him if he had any crimes to confess.


    Young Master Bai didn''t dare to defend himself, swiftly confessing to the matter, in addition admitting that they had gifted Magistrate Du Rusong a piece of first-rate jade turquoise in thanks. Jade turquoise was a valuable stone, carrying both value and prestige, and officials loved it. The people of the city were in an uproar upon hearing this.


    Although everyone knew that officials weren''t clean, it being a secret and being publicly known werepletely different things.


    The cowardly Bai Zhanjun had pushed the magistrate into the heart of the storm, so no matter how this matter turned out, Magistrate Du wouldn''t fare well.


    This was Yiyi''s purpose. She was using this method to bring down Magistrate Du as well. When dealing with a country, one couldn''t possibly rely only on brute force.


    Yiyi had clearly matured after the butterfly incident.


    While the crowd was in an uproar, anotherrge group came flying out of the distance.


    This time, there were a thousand of them, and themander leading them was a Celestial Heart Spirit Ring True Person. Behind him were three bannerholders and twelve bannermen.


    "It''s Commander Lin! Lin Guan himself hase!" the people of the Bai Estate said, but this time, they were clearly less excited.


    Yiyi didn''t fear a single Spirit Ring True Person, but all those people following him were definitely a problem. She wondered if she would have to release ck Sin, but ck Sin would probably wreck the entire city, which would make the aftermath difficult to clean up.


    At this moment, Tang Jie''s voice rang out in her ear, "Lure that True Person down, and then I''ll deal with him. You handle the rest."


    Yiyi was delighted and shouted, "Hey, that leader over there, do you daree down and fight me?"


    Commander Lin grunted, "Even a puny sprite dares to be so arrogant!"


    He flew down.


    Yiyi had shouted these words so that the entire city could hear. If didn''t go down, he would lose all face.


    Yiyi saw himing down and jumped into the jungle below, vanishing from sight.


    Commander Lin gave chase, at the same time applying defensive spell arts to himself in case there was some kind of trick.


    But when he entered the jungle, he didn''t see any traps, only a man standing under a nearby tree. In front of him was a tree stump, upon which a go board wasid out. The man was pensively staring at the board as if he was trying to find a solution.


    Yiyi stood next to the man. She smiled at Commander Lin before flying out of the jungle, summoning the Silkheaven Net with a wave of her hand.


    Lin Guan was furious, but as he moved to stop Yiyi, the man said, "Since Commander is already here, you should stay."


    He thrust out a palm.


    Lin Guan copsed.


    When he opened his eyes again, he found that he was hanging from a tree.


    Next to him were the white-robed officer and dark-faced man. They looked at each other and then helplessly said, "Commander, so you''re here too¡­"

 Chapter 630: Trial (2)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Bai Estate''s jungle now had more than a thousand people hung up on its trees.


    They were like fruit on the branches, a most magnificent harvest.


    There was no way this matter could be kept small now, as even amander had now been caught up in this mess.


    Celestial Heart cultivators were the main force in any domain, and in a domain like the Verdant Cloud Domain, where upper-echelon powers were on the weaker side, Celestial Heart True Persons had an even higher status.


    A Spirit Ring True Person had been defeated and captured, which pushed the level of this incident all the way to an upper-echelon battle.


    Although it wasn''t certain if this incident had been caused by someone at Heart Demon, Soul Transformation, or Violet Pce, it was a major powerhouse regardless.


    In these circumstances, Changping Prefecture finally stopped sending people to attack, and there was a rare pause. It was clear that they were discussing countermeasures.


    Their silence left Yiyi bored.


    The Daoxiang Vige case was actually extremely simple, particrly because she didn''t really understand how to run a trial and couldn''t think of a way to make itplicated. After hearing a few testimonies, she was done, and without any suspense, the verdict was that the Bai Estate was guilty. In any case, regardless of their guilt, they were already hanging from trees.


    In addition, that Magistrate Du was also judged as guilty in absentia, and the punishment was to be stripped of his position and jailed. As for the length of his term, it was yet to be decided. After all, there was no one to carry it out.


    Once Yiyi was done issuing her verdict and saw that Changping Prefecture still wasn''t sending anyone, Yiyi didn''t know what to do.


    At this time, one of the Bai Estate''s servants, who had been hung rather far away, had the tree carrying him extend past the walls of the estate. A beggar then ran over, jumped up and spat on the servant''s face.


    Curious, Yiyi asked the beggar why he had done this.


    The beggar told Yiyi that his house had suffered abuse from the Bai n, eventually leading to the fall of his family and death of its members, with him bing a beggar. He had spent day and night looking forward to the fall of the Bai n, and today, that moment had finallye.


    Yiyi''s eyes brightened.


    Right!


    The Bai n was a local tyrant, and they were definitely involved in more than one evil act.


    If that was the case, she should give the people a venue for theirints.


    A person should act while being farsighted, and when they said that to be righteous was to intervene when seeing injustice, it didn''t mean that one should only step forward for people one knew.


    And to be farsighted meant that it wasn''t just the Bai n''s people who needed to be judged. The other powerful ns who had also been abusing their power needed to be judged.


    Thanks to the Bai n, numerous rich merchants and powerful nobles of Changping Prefecture were to suffer a great cmity.


    Yiyi loudly dered, "This official will hold court at the Bai n today! All those who have suffered injustice cane to this official to lodge aint!"


    All of Changping Prefecture came alive.


    People ran around to spread the word, and numerous people began to crowd around the Bai Estate.


    Of course, not all of these people hade to report a crime. In actuality, most of them thought that Yiyi making herself a magistrate was bound to not end well. But there were always some people who had nothing to lose and would grab onto even the smallest sliver of hope.


    And there really were people willing to gamble their lives on this chance.


    Someone immediately used another major n, the Lin n, of illegally puttingnds under enclosure. The Lin n didn''t live very far away. In fact, they were right on Big Willow Street, which was a street where the wealthy lived.


    Thus, Yiyi waved a hand, and the ghost guard moved out, seizing all of the Lin n''s people and having them stand trial.


    This girl didn''t have much judicial experience, but she had Tang Jie behind her. Moreover, these cases were not veryplicated, with the rich using money to make things easier for them. There was no concern for things like evidence, but almost everyone knew who had suffered injustice. But these rich people had now run into Yiyi, and none of their old methods worked. After a few questions, they confessed the truth, and they all suffered like the Bai n, being hung up on trees.


    asionally, someone clever had destroyed all evidence and tried to argue their case, but they couldn''t fool Tang Jie, who was able to use a few small ploys to make them inadvertently reveal the truth.


    And he had a secret move: Immortal techniques.


    A single talisman was enough to distinguish truth from fiction, and liars had their punishment increased. Immortal techniques were truly mystical, so ordinary mortals had no way of knowing how they worked. Just using this method would have most liars confessing on their own.


    As for those cases where it was actually difficult to reach a conclusion, they could just be skipped. In any case, there were so many users that there was no way they could handle them all, so it was only natural to deal with the simple ones first.


    Yiyi held court for half a day and ended up handling several dozen cases, arresting over a thousand people.


    None of the ten-some households that lived on Big Willow Street were spared, and the primordial jungle spread out from the Bai Estate across the entire street, covering the entire area with a lush canopy.


    Yiyi was wondering why the government still hadn''t sent anyone, having no idea that it was because of the immense strength she had revealed in the process of arresting people.


    Initially, Changping Prefecture had decided on making another strong attack. Other than Commander Lin or wandering cultivators, Changping Prefecture''s government still had five Celestial Heart True Persons, one of whom was at the Heart Demon Tier. In terms of overall strength, they were still stronger, so they didn''t need to be afraid. If there were any problems, they could wait until the enemy was captured first.


    But then the ghost guard appeared.


    These two Celestial Heart¨Clevel cultivators left Changpring Prefecture stunned. After all, fiends normally weren''t on good terms with humans, meaning that these two non-human experts were probably beingmanded by an even stronger human expert. In these circumstances, Changping Prefecture didn''t dare to be confident about their victory. And even if they did win, they were bound to suffer immense damage in the process.


    A new round of argumentsmenced.


    After this round, everyone decided to give up on force and turn to negotiations. Given how this fiend woman had yet to kill anyone, it was clear that she didn''t want to take things too far, which meant that there was room for negotiation.


    But this woman had also stated that she wanted to put the magistrate on trial, which was uneptable. Their bottom line was that she would have to dere that all her previous judgments were just messing around and that the magistrate was not guilty. As for what happened after that, they could save that forter.


    But just when they had made this decision, they received word that a rabbit had rushed out of the Bai Estate, heading toward the other end of the city. It was moving so quickly that it was judged to also be at the Transformation level.


    It was Tutu, on orders to make an arrest at a somewhat more distant home.


    Three Celestial Heart¨Clevel opponents made everyone feel like the matter of the magistrate was not as unnegotiable as they thought.


    Of course, the magistrate himself couldn''t possibly ept this, saying that since all three were non-humans, this was clearly the work of fiends and couldn''t be allowed to pass. Changping Prefecture had a formation, and once it activated, even a Heart Demon True Person would be no match.


    Other people inwardly scoffed. Would fiends reallye here to hold a trial? Daring to activate the formation when there was no fiend attack was utterly ridiculous.


    But he was still the magistrate. So long as he still upied this post, nobody could do anything to him.


    While they were arguing, news arrived that a bunch of bean soldiers had emerged from Big Willow Street. They weren''t big, but they were quite fierce. They went from door to door arresting people, basically seizing everyone in Changping Prefecture with power and money who had done evil. Those Immortal masters that those nobles had hired at high price were all no match, thrown to the ground and tied up like pigs. Moreover, those beans flooded the streets, with seemingly no end to them.


    The magistrate despaired.


    He knew that he had run into a steel te.


    Considering that that human expert had yet to appear, even the entire force of Changping Prefecture might not be enough to turn the tables.


    The straw that broke the camel''s back was that officer who had been guarding the gate.


    After such a ruckus, he naturally now knew what Tang Jie hade here to do.


    He didn''t dare to hide the matter and quickly reported to his superior. When his superior heard this, his soul almost left his body, and he went to report this to his superior. This report worked its way up to the ranks until it finally reached the ears of the rulers of Changping Prefecture.


    When they heard the news, all arguments instantly ceased.


    The Heart Demon cultivator of Changping Prefecture immediately made the decision to arrest the magistrate, moving with extreme decisiveness. He then said, "Everyone, pleasee with me to see this mighty hero."


    The reaction from Changping Prefecture that Yiyi was waiting for finally arrived.


    As she was questioning the members of another major n, a group of five people flew out of the distance.


    The Bai Estate''s people cheered. "It''s Lord Weng!"


    But a momentter, the leader of the group, a man with a lean face and imposing body, put his hands together and bowed. "Chief Commander of Changping''s Celestial Pivot Guard, fourth-grade General Who Guards Distant Lands, Weng Tongrang, pays respects to the Immortal Fairy."


    "Changping Prefecture General Officer, fifth-grade General Who Subdues the Waves, Wei Yuanzhen, pays respects to the Immortal Fairy."


    "Commander of Changping''s Celestial Pivot Guard, sixth-grade General Who Bears Might, Yu Renjie, pays respects to the Immortal Fairy."


    "Changping Prefecture Military Supervisor, sixth-grade General Who Bears Might, Shen Peng, pays respects to the Immortal Fairy."


    "Changping Prefecture Provincial Supervisor, sixth-grade General Who Bears Might, Zou Yuanye, pays respects to the Immortal Fairy."


    These five people who had spoken up, together with the Commander Lin Guan who Yiyi had already captured, made up the six Celestial Heart experts of Changping Prefecture.


    Yiyi looked at them and gruffly said, "Given all the time you spent, I was sure you were going to send more people, but you only sent so few."


    Weng Tongrang was stunned by what he was hearing, hastily saying, "Fairy, do not misunderstand. We did note here to fight."


    At Hundred Battle City, thirty-some Transformation fiends, one fiend king, and thousands of fiend soldiers had been wiped out. Weng Tongrang did not dare to be rude.


    When everyone heard Weng Tongrang, a Heart Demon cultivator, being so polite to Yiyi, they knew it was over.


    "Then what have youe here for?"


    Weng Tongrang brought out the magistrate and said with a smile, "Since Fairy has already passed judgment on the magistrate, we have arrested him ande to deliver him to the custody of the Immortal Fairy."


    Everyone was in an uproar over these words.


    This meant that all of Yiyi''s judgments were legally binding!


    Weng Tongrang continued, "Of course, if Fairy and that mighty one do not mind, then you may pay a visit to my Celestial Pivot Headquarters. All the members of the Celestial Pivot Guard will be there to wee you."


    Yiyi didn''t want to stop just yet. "I still have cases to rule on."


    Weng Tongrang smiled. "If Fairy wishes to rule on cases, then please, continue. But there will never be an end to the number of cases. If Fairy is in no rush, then you can take your time ruling on them. After all, the magistrate has already been arrested, so Fairy can pay a visit to the magistrate''s office at any time."


    Yiyi was taken aback. "I''m not your official, but you''re¡­"


    Weng Tongrang sternly said, "The virtuous should uphold the justice of the world! Nothing could be better for my Fenghsan than to have Fairy impartially levy justice, clean up the officialdom, redress the wrongs suffered by the people, and seek justice for themon folk. With Fairy around, the rot that has spread through the bureaucracy can be cleared away, returning rity to Fengshan. How could we turn aside justice simply because of the Immortal Fairy''s status?"


    Yiyi was left speechless by these words.


    Tang Jie''s voice rang out. "Enough, Yiyi. Let''s stop things here."


    Trantor Notes


    It''s finally time for Yiyi to stop ying magistrate and for Tang Jie toe forward and talk business.

 Chapter 631: Mercenary

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Celestial Pivot Headquarters.


    As the base of the most important cultivator organization in Fengshan, this ce was at the very center of Changping Prefecture,manding the best location and built in a most luxurious style. Even the magistrate''s hall and mansion could notpare.


    It was early evening, and the headquarters were brightly lit and brimming with music andughter.


    A banquet was being held in the main reception hall, several dozen servants serving various kinds of delicacies.


    The guest of honor at this banquet was Tang Jie, of course.


    With the arrival of Weng Tongrang''s group, the matter of the Bai Estate was basically settled. Tang Jie got what he wanted, so he naturally knew what was good for him and yielded. But Weng Tongrang clearly didn''t intend to let this sort of powerhouse just leave, and invited him to a feast. To show his respect, Tang Jie had no choice but to attend.


    Seated as the guest of honor, Tang Jie was diligently toasted by Weng Tongrang and a host of other dignitaries.


    Weng Tongrang''s butt basically didn''t touch his seat, so frequently was he standing up to offer toasts and exin various delicacies.


    "Braised Phoenix Roon Heart, made from the heart of the Phoenix Racoons that live on Mount Wu, and they have to be under two years old. It''s incredibly tender and one of the finest tastes in the world. Sir Tang, you must try it out."


    Tang Jie extended his chopsticks and grabbed some. After tasting it, he nodded and said, "It truly is a mortal delicacy."


    Everyone was relieved to see that he had voiced his approval. One general with sharp eyes was even ready to order his men to make some more Phoenix Roon Heart to send over. But to their surprise, after making thisment, Tang Jie put down his chopsticks and stopped eating.


    The General Officer of Changping, Wei Yuanzhen, asked in confusion, "Sir, why have you stopped eating? Have we been impolite?"


    Tang Jie shook his head. He looked over at Yiyi, who was happily eating away.


    "Is it good?" he asked Yiyi.


    Yiyi nodded vigorously.


    Tang Jie gently said, "If it''s good, then you should eat less."


    Everyone froze, even Yiyi.


    Yu Renjie asked in confusion, "Sir, what do you mean?"


    After some thought, Tang Jie replied, "One who drowns himself in pleasures loses their sense of purpose. As a cultivator, my ambition is upon the Immortal path, and I have no other desires besides the Dao. Food, sex, authority, the wonders of the mortal world¡­ The more dazzling and beautiful they are, the more they eat away at the will. If I wish to advance on the path, I feel that I should distance myself from such things. For this reason, the more exquisite the food, the less I should eat of it. The more enchanting the woman, the more respectful and distant I should be from them¡­"


    As he spoke, he looked at the pretty maid who was constantly casting seductive looks at him.


    The maid paled and retreated several steps.


    Weng Tongrang and the other officials also paled, shocked at the strength of this person''s focus and resolve.


    Tang Jie wasn''t finished, adding, "Of course, there''s also that mortal authority. If I can go without, it would be better for me to not have it."


    Weng Tongrang and his colleagues grimaced, surprised that Tang Jie had already seen through their objective.


    Yes, Weng Tongrang was trying to recruit Tang Jie into bing an official.


    When facing a powerful enemy, the best method wasn''t to defeat him, but to recruit him.


    Almost all officials were well-versed in these methods, and they had done everything they could to try and recruit Tang Jie. After the incident, Weng Tongrang had sent a message via long-distance talisman to the capital of Fengshan, and the edict he received was to recruit him at any cost, even if it meant granting him an official post, rich rewards, estates, and so on.


    But they hadn''t expected Tang Jie to see through them at a nce, and their mouths ran dry of words.


    For almost ten thousand years now, the Rosecloud Domain had held to the principle that Immortals and mortals should not mix, that mortals should handle mortal affairs. All cultivators needed to do was receive tribute, adjust the weather, and peacefully cultivate, and there was good reason for this.


    One of the important reasons was to avoid being stained by too much of that mortal and secr air, particrly the air of officialdom.


    Authority could erode the will far more easily than beauty or food.


    Officialdom emphasized politics and smooth-talking, carefully observing the situation and weighing one''s words, analyzing the thoughts of one''s superiors and acting cautiously.


    The path of the cultivator emphasized a tough resolve, courageous advance, dauntless will, and fearlessly pressing forward no matter the opposition.


    The two fundamentally conflicted.


    This was why the six major sects of the Rosecloud Domain, despite being able to stand at the apex of the world through their heavenly powers, insisted on being aloof from mortal dust. They feared that the dust of mortality would stain their souls. Although some politicking and scheming was inevitable wherever there were people, overall, because there were fewer of them, there were fewer problems, and because everyone was focused on cultivating, there was also less socializing.


    In contrast, these people were both cultivators and officials, yet their meek and roundabout methods were devoid of a cultivator''s daring.


    From a more distant perspective, the decline of humanity and the rise of fiends in the Verdant Cloud Domain were probably because cultivators had inserted themselves into the government. If cultivators were officials, what time and energy did they have to be cultivators? It ground away at both their wills and their actual strength.


    But Tang Jie didn''t continue his lecture, only giving everyone a small reminder. In truth, it wasn''t like they didn''t understand this, but to go from thrift to luxury was easy whereas going from luxury to thrift was hard. Having these people give up on the wonderful lives they were used to wasn''t very possible.


    The officials all blushed in shame at Tang Jie''s words.


    Weng Tongrang stood up and brought his hands together. "Sir diligently cultivates, earnestly seeking self-improvement, and we are ashamed to admit our inferiority. But the fiends are powerful and humanity is in peril. If we do not unite to resist the fiends, humanity will eventually be annihted."


    He spoke with absolute sincerity and frankness.


    Tang Jie had heard a little about these generals beforeing, and he knew that while they had quite a few problems, they were generally quite dutiful, having fought against the fiends several times on the battlefield. Although they had no achievements to their name, they had still done their best.


    Tang Jie replied, "One does not need to be part of the government or army to work for the sake of humanity."


    Zou Yuanye said, "Civilian cultivators are like loose grains of sand, difficult to make use of. Sir is a great talent, so remaining a civilian would be a great waste."


    Unexpectedly, Tang Jie didn''t deny this, nodding and saying, "That''s true."


    Everyone was delighted, believing that Tang Jie had changed his mind.


    But Tang Jie then shook his head. "But I am used to going alone, and I have no desire to be stained by mortal dust. Let us do this. If the fiends attack, you cane and find me, but if there''s nothing, don''t bother me."


    "What of the matter of reward?" Shen Peng asked.


    Tang Jie replied, "That depends on what I need to do. It''ll be negotiated. But you may rx. As the fate of the human race is on the line, I won''t charge too high of a price, as long as all the spoils of war go to me."


    Tang Jie''s words put his status squarely as that of a mercenary, which was ideal for him. After all, while he could go without authority, he always needed resources.


    "Of course!" everyone agreed.


    While they had failed to recruit Tang Jie as an official, at least they had Tang Jie standing on the side of the human race, going in the same direction. And they were also relieved to hear that Tang Jie wouldn''t charge too high a price if the fate of the human race was on the line. As a fellow human, Tang Jie would definitely live up to this promise.


    With their worries alleviated, everyone rxed and stopped being so careful.


    Drunk on alcohol, Provincial Supervisor Zou Yuanye said, "Right, Sir said that you wouldn''t charge too high of a price if the fate of humanity was on the line. Doesn''t that mean that if it''s not something like the fate of humanity but a more personal affair, we can also ask for Sir''s help?"


    Tang Jie smiled and replied, "Of course. So long as it isn''t something outrageous and tyrannical, you maye and find me. The price will depend on what''s being asked, but it won''t be cheap."


    "Of course, of course!" Everyone smiled, countless ideas popping up in their minds.


    It sounded like Tang Jie was still willing to talk so long as money was involved, and they might evenmand him to do their own missions. If this was really the case, things would get a lot easier starting from today.


    It was just that they didn''t know the price.


    Yu Renjie asked, "How will Sir determine the price?"


    After some thought, Tang Jie replied, "That depends on the strength of the opponent. Right, how much is your monthly sry?"


    Wei Yuanzhen replied, "We are paid three thousand spirit coins monthly while General Weng gets five thousand. In battle, we will also receive additional rewards ording to our achievements."


    They didn''t have high sries, just like how officials normally didn''t rely on their pay to make a living.


    Tang Jie didn''t mind. After thinking it over, he said, "Then I will set the standard at ten times the monthly pay. One Spirit Ring for thirty thousand spirit coins, one Heart Demon for fifty thousand, one Soul Transformation for one hundred thousand, and I won''t take jobs for anyone higher than that. This is the private price. If it''s in battle against the fiends, the price can be a little cheaper, using five times the monthly pay as the standard. Of course, unless there is a specific request, all of the spoils will be mine. Everything else will depend on the situation."


    Everyone grew excited over these words.


    It was neither too expensive nor too cheap.


    It had to be understood that Fengshan wasn''t devoid of powerhouses like Tang Jie, but few of them were willing to sell their services for cash. They were all supported by officials and spent all day cultivating, not appearing unless humanity was in peril. And even then, they demanded astronomical prices just to intervene on the asion, not even considering the usual upkeep.


    Inparison, Tang Jie was basically giving his services away!


    They didn''t know that this was because Tang Jie''s cultivation method was different, only requiring resources and not time.


    For those other powerhouses, time was a resource, and they spent every day seeking to advance on the Immortal path. And sometimes, they just so happened to be in the middle of seclusion when some incident or another forced them toe out. The loss from this would be immense, so it naturally required astronomicalpensation.


    Tang Jie didn''t have these worries. Daily cultivation brought him little progress, and all he needed was resources. His original n was to go raiding for resources, or else he wouldn''t have gone off and massacred Hundred Battle City.


    If he could grab a mission that gave him some extra cash, why wouldn''t he take it?


    Finally, other powerhouses were just one person. Regardless of the mission, they would be going with their one body and all of its power, so they were not liable to lower their prices depending on difficulty. Tang Jie was different. He had an avatar, the ghost guard, Yiyi, Tutu, and even the bean soldiers. His ability to portion out hisbat power allowed him to charge lower prices and also take on more missions.


    In this way, he could increase his sources of revenue and grow stronger.


    Trantor Notes


    Tang Jie has lost his inter-domain trade, so now he''s all about that mercenary life. But in the end, it''s all about money!

 Chapter 632: Seeking

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After the banquet, when Weng Tongrang learned that Tang Jie had just entered the city and didn''t have a ce to stay in Changping Prefecture yet, he asked what sort of ce Tang Jie preferred, ending up granting Tang Jie a mansion to serve as his residence.


    The mansion was located in the suburbs of Changping, facing a city and backed up against a lush hill, which made it quite the beautiful spot. The mansion covered arge area, with six gates and eighteen buildings. In the center was a house on stilts, and to the left was a beautiful and secluded garden.


    He had also been offered twenty-some servants, but Tang Jie refused them with the excuse that he preferred peace and quiet.


    The next day, Weng Tongrang sent over another gift: a list of the Bai Estate''s assets.


    The Bai n''s people weren''t executed over the incident, but Yiyi had dered the seizure of most of their assets. Changping had epted her verdict, so they naturally carried it out, and the seized property was subsequently delivered to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie took this gift.


    Several dayster, the vigers of Daoxiang came to visit. The old vige chief had tears on his face as he thanked Tang Jie for upholding justice. The fully-recovered Er Hu even prostrated on the ground and insisted on following Tang Jie as a servant. Tang Jie wasn''t able to convince him otherwise, so he had him pick a house to stay in. This mansion was too big to not have someone to clean it up.


    Every morning, Tang Jie could see that simple and honest youth quietly getting up and earnestly cleaning up the courtyard, and once that was over, he would go off to the side to practice and train on his own.


    When he saw him, Tang Jie couldn''t help but think about how he was when he followed Xu Muyang.


    These scenes were so simr, but the positions were reversed this time. The page boy from before was now the illustrious figure admired by all.


    Not long afterward, the new magistrate for Changping Prefecture arrived.


    The first thing he did was toe and visit Tang Jie, speaking meekly and respectfully. Only when he received Tang Jie''s blessing did he wipe the sweat from his brow.


    As the days went by, the news of how Tang Jie had massacred Hundred Battle City gradually began to spread, and every day, people woulde to pay their respects to this celebrity. On ount of the gifts they brought, Tang Jie epted the visitors at first, but he gradually grew impatient and decided to stop seeing all guests other than Weng Tongrang''s group, spending every day in cultivation.


    With a fixed residence, he was now able to also bring out his avatar from the diagram to cultivate in one of the buildings, no longer needing to waste the spiritual energy of the diagram. He continued to temper his original body within the Astral Winds, but not as maniacally as before.


    Tang Jie''s resistance to the Astral Winds gradually increased, and he went from being able to endure for seven to eight minutes to around fifteen minutes. But his store of fiend meat was dwindling, soon to run out.


    Besides that, he exchanged the fiend pellets he had obtained for some herbs, and after a bath, he finally made some progress, his body growing to 21 meters in height.


    Even though the boost wasn''t great, it was still progress worth celebrating. Every step in theter phase of the Diamond Body was more difficult than thest, demanding many more resources. The Parting ssic''s cultivation was a glutton that could never be satisfied, always looking for more and more.


    This also meant that if he didn''t find new resources, his original body''s cultivation would stop again.


    At this moment, Weng Tongrang came to find him.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    In the main hall of the Tang Estate, Weng Tongrang first drank of the tea Er Hu had served and then casually said, "Sir, have you been doing well?"


    Tang Jie blew on his hot tea before replying, "Thanks to General Weng''s care, I am living veryfortably in this ce. I will probably miss this ce when I''m gone."


    Weng Tongrang was rmed. "Sir wants to leave?"


    Tang Jie shrugged. "Not exactly leaving, but too much peace makes one itch to move. Moreover, cultivation takes money, and I need to go looking for resources."


    "I see," Weng Tongrang sighed in relief. "Yes, cultivation requires immense resources, which is why I have no choice but to run around for the sake of five pecks of rice."


    "Exactly!" Tang Jie put down his tea. "But five pecks of rice in the cultivation world isn''t that easy to obtain."


    Weng Tongrangughed. "What a coincidence! This one just so happens to have a minor matter that would make one a few pecks of rice. Would Sir be interested?"


    "Tell me."


    Weng Tongrang exined that a group of fiends had recently intruded into the mountain forests to the south of Changping Prefecture. They were very strong and were wreaking havoc all over the ce. Changping Prefecture had dispatched people to exterminate them, but these fiends were cunning, hiding the moment they saw that they were outnumbered. Once the number of opponents had fallen, they rushed back in. Changping Prefecture also had the duty of defending the city, so its cultivators couldn''t keep wasting time like this. But as they couldn''t determine exactly how strong these fiends were, they found themselves at an impasse, until they thought of Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was strong enough that he could basically kill any fiend below Divine Division, and there was no need for him to worry about how strong his opponent was. Moreover, he was alone, so there was little chance of the fiends running at the sight of him.


    Tang Jie asked, "How should we calcte the price?"


    "We''ll calcte the price per head as you previously stated, and there will be an additional thirty thousand spirit coins as a thank-you gift after the job is done."


    "Deal!" Tang Jie immediately agreed.


    That afternoon, Tang Jie had Yiyi ride Tutu at the head of the bean soldiers, not even sending out the ghost guard. One dayter, these fiends disappeared. Without doing anything, Tang Jie had easily made a bunch of spirit coins, as well as a pile of fiend corpses.


    An auspicious beginning served as the foundation for close coboration, and starting from that day, Tang Jie began to draw closer to Changping Prefecture.


    As the Chief Commander of Changping Prefecture''s Celestial Pivot Guard, Weng Tongrang would frequently encounter problems that were difficult to resolve. The most frequent involved some powerful cultivator who was passing through, so proud of their strength that they refused to be bound by the rules. The Celestial Pivot Guard had been established mainly to deal with people like this. But even though Weng Tongrang was at the Heart Demon Tier, there were still some people he couldn''t deal with.


    Tang Jie''s existence allowed them to be extremely proactive. Whoever it was, if they wanted to unt their strength, they would first have to defeat the strongest person here. In the past, this had been Weng Tongrang, but now, it was Tang Jie, which was no minor increase in difficulty. For this reason, Tang Jie ended up beating up quite a few of those proud cultivators who always had their noses pointed upward. Of course, each tyrannical cultivator was like a walking moneybag for Tang Jie. Tang Jie liked these missions, because he couldplete them without taking one step out of the city.


    Besides that, there was dealing with the various fiends that infiltrated Fengshan. The battles between humans and fiends had been going nonstop for quite some time. If it wasn''t massive wars involving tens of thousands of individuals, it was a constant flow of small-scale battles. Powerhouses disdained to deal with such things and the weak couldn''t deal with such things, and this in addition to the cunning of fiends meant that fiends were constantlying in to rece the fiends that were exterminated, creating a big problem for Fengshan. But now Tang Jie had appeared and resolved many of these problems. Tang Jie also liked these missions, because he could reap double the rewards.


    There were alsomissions from rich ns, which covered a variety of topics and varied in price. There were rescue missions to save n members who had been enved by fiends, escort missions, and also just requests for Tang Jie to show his face so that the requestor could share a little in his limelight. Tang Jie also liked these missions, for people often offered a very high sum to do something extremely simple.


    Other than themission from Changping Prefecture, there were also manymissions from outside of it. So long as Tang Jie could do it without going out of his way to do so, he would take any job. This made it so that he quickly became one of the most famous and most weed people in all of Fengshan.


    Tang Jie naturally managed to alleviate his capital problem.


    With enough money, he could go on a spending spree for resources to improve himself. With his bags of spirit coins, he began to clean out the cultivation resources and spirit medicines of Changping Prefecture.


    Tang Jie quickly showed how much of an effect a powerful cultivator could have on the marketce.


    Over a few months, Changping Prefecture was basically emptied of cultivation resources, with the price of all herbs more than doubling. Changping Prefecture had no choice but to import resources in order to fulfill the needs of the market.


    In the face of the exploding prices, Tang Jie could only bemoan the consequences of his terrifying digestive powers: anything he bought would grow more expensive while anything he sold would grow cheaper. Over time, the value of hismissions had begun to slide downward, too.


    After spending all that money, Tang Jie steadily rose in strength. In only five months, Tang Jie had reached a height of 24 meters. Although this speed was still rather slowpared to what it had been right after Hundred Battle City, it won out in terms of steady progress. After all, he had taken the fiends by surprise back then, so there would be no second Hundred Battle City.


    If this continued, Tang Jie would only need ten years to reach the peak of Diamond Body. If he considered price intion, then twenty years would be enough.


    Twenty years to go from the initial phase of Soul Transformation to the peak of Soul Transformation was a shocking rate of growth for anyone. This was the power of the Parting ssic.


    While busying himself withmissions and gathering resources, Tang Jie didn''t forget his other important mission: finding materials for the teleportation formation.


    But on this matter, Tang Jie ran into a major roadblock.


    Creating an extremely long-range teleportation formation required some extremely rare materials, ones that were hard to find even if one scoured the entire Great Ster Chiliocosm. The Verdant Cloud Domain clearly wasn''t some world that was rich in resources, and humans controlled only a little corner of it. Even though he looked all around Changping Prefecture, Tang Jie found no leads on any of them, let alone buying anything.


    Tang Jie started to use hismissions to extend his feelers outward.


    But no matter how he looked, he failed to find a thing. It was like these materials simply didn''t exist in this world, with the local cultivators having never even heard of some of them. Even though he offered to buy them at high prices, or even pay for a sliver of information on them, all that awaited him was disappointment.


    Time slowly passed, everything seeming to tell him that this ce didn''t have the materials he required, let alone an opportunity to go back.


    The hope of going home was ground to nothing by failure after failure, but everything on the path of cultivation went smoothly, and Tang Jie got stronger and stronger.


    This Immortal path was seemingly destined to be that of a solitary traveler, going farther and farther away from home.


    Tang Jie cultivated as hard as he could, hardening his heart and using this method to drive out that sense of solitude.


    But deep down, that graceful figure asionally appeared in his mind.


    Do you know that I''m thinking of you?


    I''m not dead. I just haven''t returned from a very faraway ce¡­


    Trantor Notes


    Just how many chapters will have to go by until we finally return to the Rosecloud Domain...

 Chapter 633: Stare

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    In the third month of the year in Changping Prefecture, the spring breeze was tinged with a hint of cold.


    The air had that slight chill that, whilecking the bite of winter, carried that prating moisture unique to spring.


    As usual, Er Hu pushed open the gates to the mansion and began to sweep the area in front of the gate with arge broom.


    The frank and honest youth had grown into a healthy and strong young man. While his face couldn''t be considered handsome, the tough lines carved onto his face made him exude the aura of a real man.


    Although he was just sweeping the ground, he did so with deep earnestness, a system and purpose to every stroke.


    If one looked carefully, one would realize that this broom wasn''t even touching the ground, or even touching dust. There was an invisible barrier around the broom that isted it from the dust.


    A few momentster, Er Hu finished sweeping the ground. He looked up at the sky, but after failing to see the figure he was looking for, he sighed and headed back inside.


    Passing through the long corridors, Er Hu returned to his own courtyard.


    He took in a deep breath and started to practice his punches.


    This was a set of movements known as the Vajra Tiger-Conquering Fist, a fearsome and tough technique designed to toughen the bones and temper the constitution, while also being very practical inbat.


    Er Hu had been cultivating this fist art for more than a year and was extremely familiar with it, but for some reason, he felt like he wascking a little something.


    As he circted his energy and performed the 36th punch, the Crazy Tiger Subduer, he felt like his energy couldn''t keep up, and his body swayed, almost falling over.


    "It''s still not working!" Er Hu yelled in frustration as he plopped onto the ground.


    Sensing someone behind him, Er Hu turned and saw a person covered entirely in a ck cloak standing nearby, their face covered by a crimson mask.


    Er Hu exhaled in relief. "So it was Sir Ghost? You really scared me there."


    The ghost guard said nothing, but it suddenly assumed a posture which Er Hu recognized to be the Crazy Tiger Subduer.


    The ghost guard made a lunging motion, unleashing a powerful gust of wind that felt to Er Hu as mighty as the ocean.


    Er Hu was startled, and then he realized what was happening and delightedly said, "Sir Ghost, thank you for teaching me."


    He copied the ghost guard''s movements, carefully experiencing all the changes in his body.


    Er Hu was no genius, but he was persistent and steady,ying down strong foundations. Before he had known any sort of cultivation mantra, he had practiced all on his own for more than a year, indicating that he was naturally someone willing to endure hardship.


    While the Vajra Tiger-Conquering Fist seemed simple, it was actually one of the more exceptionalbat techniques to be found within the Celestial me Pagoda. It was not easy toprehend its essence, and it was inappropriate for those whocked resolve to cultivate it.


    As he mulled over the process, he suddenly punched out, and there was a st of wind, tinged with the rumble of thunder. Er Hu cried out, "Sess!"


    He had finally used the 36th move which had troubled him for so long.


    He was about to thank the ghost guard, but the ghost guard was already leaving.


    Er Hu knew that the ghost guard was always like this and didn''t find it strange. He looked up at the sky and found that it was time to move on to the next activity in his schedule. He went over to the kitchen and grabbed arge b of Azurewind Beast tenderloin. He threw it into the air, grabbed a cleaver, and swung it a few times. By the time the tenderloin fell to the ground, it had been neatly sliced into several dozen pieces.


    Throwing the pieces into a pot, he put in water and then snapped his fingers, upon which the firewood in the stove ignited. Er Hu blew into the stove, which made the mes burn even stronger, and the water was soon boiling. But before the meat was fully cooked, Er Hu plunged his hands into the pot and pulled out the meat,ying it out and pouring a little soy sauce on it. Once this was done, he waved his hand, putting out the stove me.


    Er Hu carried a pot full of tenderloin deeper into the estate.


    As this was all fiend meat, bursting with their essence, it was a powerful supplement. This was why it only needed to be boiled a little rather than cooked thoroughly.


    Er Hu did this every day. Although he knew that this meat was valuable, he had never once thought about secretly eating some himself.


    He went to one of the buildings and respectfully ced the meat next to the door, after which he retreated, though there was a hint of curiosity in his eyes.


    Three years.


    He had already been here for three years, but Er Hu only knew to deliver food here every day as Tang Jie ordered, never knowing who actually lived here.


    He didn''t even know if there was actually anyone inside.


    Although the food would always be eaten up, Er Hu had never heard any sounding from within.


    Today, he was going to leave as usual when a me suddenly ignited within the building.


    Er Hu was rmed. This was his first time seeing any signs of activity from the building, and he hadn''t expected it to be on such arge scale.


    It was as if something had broken out of its shell, mes leaping and dancing as they radiated terrifying energy. Shockingly, something seemed to be protecting the building such that the mes didn''t harm a single thing within it no matter how much they danced. Every time fire rushed at a part of the building, a white light would bounce it back. The mes were like a caged beast, rampaging around but unable to break through the invisible walls surrounding it.


    Suddenly, Er Hu saw a crack appear in that invisible wall. Though very small and disappearing a split second after it appeared, in that moment, a wave of heat was able to escape. Er Hu could see that pot of Azurewind Beast tenderloin instantly turning to dust as if it had aged ten thousand years in a split second.


    The heat wave hurtled forward, Er Hu dumbly standing in its way, unaware that the god of death was about to descend.


    At that moment, he heard a soft sigh.


    "Master!" Er Hu shouted.


    And then his eyes rolled over, and he knew nothing.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    When Er Hu opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a bed and wrapped up like a mummy.


    A familiar figure stood nearby, staring at him.


    "Master, you''re back." Er Hu struggled to rise.


    Tang Jie pushed him back down. "You''re not healed yet. Don''t move around."


    "Master, what happened to me? Ow!" Before Er Hu could finish, he felt an intense pain across his entire body that almost made him faint.


    "You were burned by the aftershocks from the Deicide me. It was aplete fluke that you even survived." Tang Jie took out a small bottle as he spoke, letting a drop of liquid from it fall into Er Hu''s mouth. Er Hu felt a sweetness spread across his lips and travel down his esophagus, upon which the pain wracking his body retreated. "I just so happened to get this bottle of Hundred Blossom Jade Dew on the mission this time, but now I''ve wasted it all on you."


    "''The Deicide me''?" Er Hu was still dazed and clearly didn''t know what was going on.


    He had no idea that the avatar had reached a critical moment in his cultivation when he had been delivering food.


    In these three years, besides ordinary cultivation, the avatar had been attempting to refine the Deicide me.


    But it lived up to its reputation as one of the divine mes of the world, with even the Contrame Mantra needing three whole years to refine it. Even then, Tang Jie was not able to truly subdue this violent me, and while trying to refine it, he had even identally allowed some of the heat to escape.


    It was just the remnants of a remnant, but even this little heat was enough to kill Er Hu several dozen times. Fortunately, the avatar had acted decisively, cing a barrier on Er Hu in time. Even so, the mes that had managed to get through the barrier were enough to heavily injure him.


    Fortunately, the original body was on his way back from a mission, so he rushed back and arrived in time to save Er Hu''s life.


    "Let''s not talk about this right now," Tang Jie said. "Hurry up and absorb the medicinal power. Circte your spiritual energy, and guide the medicinal power into your organs. Fire encroaches upon the heart, so remember to protect the Heart Meridian!"


    He jabbed several points on Er Hu''s body, and Er Hu felt a warm current flow through him. Tang Jie then began to slowly chant a mantra, and Er Hu copied him, upon which the medicinal power ceased scattering and began to converge on the heart. But as a price, Er Hu once more felt immense pain across his entire body.


    "Endure it. The Hundred Blossom Jade Dew is a spirit medicine meant for healing the organs. You have yet to enter Nine Revolutions, so you shouldn''t be able to take this medicine, as the medicinal power is so intense that it would destroy your organs. But the fire is invading your heart, canceling out the medicinal power, which makes this somewhat worth it. Use this opportunity to slowly absorb the medicinal power and fire power, strengthening your body, and you might end up turning a disaster into a blessing, growing much stronger. But if you can''t endure it, then forget about it."


    Er Hu clenched his teeth and said, "Master, I can hold on."


    "Very good. If you pass this trial, I will truly take you as my disciple," Tang Jie lightly said.


    Although Er Hu had been calling him "Master" all this time, Tang Jie had never actually taken him as his disciple.


    Thesest three years could also be considered a test of Er Hu''s mind. Only if he passed this test would Tang Jie truly ept him.


    Er Hu was delighted.


    Three years! He had waited three years for this day, for these words.


    All that pain suddenly no longer seemed so scary.


    Tang Jie lightly sighed when he saw how excited Er Hu was.


    Er Hu had finally waited until he got what he wanted, but what about him?


    How long would he have to wait?


    Apparently seeing the worry on Tang Jie''s mind, Er Hu softly asked, "Master, did you fail to find the Dragonbone Spirit Sesame again?"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "Dragonbone Spirit Sesame¡­ is a supreme spirit medicine that grows on the bones of a true dragon. It doesn''t exist if there''s no dragon, so finding it is easier said than done."


    "Master, don''t be anxious. The Verdant Cloud Domain is so big, and a true dragon should have appeared once in all these eons," Er Hu replied.


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. "What do you think true dragons are? They are high existences of the Immortal tform. The pool of the Verdant Cloud Domain is too small to raise this kind of dragon."


    "That''s not for certain. Isn''t there a legend about how a Saint Immortal proved their Dao on Saint Court Mountain? Even a true dragon can''tpare to that, so why couldn''t there be one? It''s just that my human race is too weak to spread across the Verdant Cloud Domain, making them difficult to find." Er Hu pushed through the pain, smiling as he replied.


    "Yes," Tang Jie muttered. "In the end, my human race is too weak, so I can''t search the entire domain. Perhaps¡­ perhaps I can find what I need in fiend territory?"


    Tang Jie''s eyes glowed.


    Er Hu was scared by his tone. "Master, you aren''t thinking about going into fiend territory, are you? You can''t!"


    Tang Jie did not reply, simply staring out the window.


    Trantor Notes


    Human territory is too small for Tang Jie. There''s not enough prey for him to hunt.

 Chapter 634: Hope

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Three dayster, Er Hu''s injuries began to visibly improve.


    The medicinal power of the Hundred Blossom Jade Dew seeped into his body, strengthening his bones and organs, allowing him to get the effects of body purification and strengthening before Mortal Shedding. Besides that, Er Hu had also absorbed some Fire Element power, which made his body possess the Fire attribute. In the future, he would be naturally talented whenever it came to Fire-type mantras and techniques¡ªa little silver lining to this disaster.


    Tang Jie officially epted him as his disciple. After passing onto him the zing Yang Mantra, he set off again to continue his travels.


    Most of the time, Yiyi would go with Tang Jie.


    Rarely, he would bring the ghost guard too.


    On those asions, Er Hu would be left all on his own in the estate.


    But after hisst experience, Er Hu didn''t dare to stick around that building, instead rushing off after dropping off the food.


    But asionally, when he looked back at that house, he would hear a familiar sigh.


    The time Tang Jie was gone varied.


    If he was fast, he would be back in as soon as a day, and if he was slow, it might be five days. The longest he had spent was half a month, and when he returned, he was covered in blood and radiating a savage, murderous aura. At times, he would bring back some fiend corpses, handing them to Er Hu and telling him to feed it to that person in the side house. The war between the humans and fiends had never really stopped. In thesest three years, while Tang Jie had never officially stepped onto the battlefield, he had killed many fiends who had infiltrated the rear, spilling copious amounts of blood. As time went on, even Er Hu became as familiar with these fiends as one would with the furniture in their own home¡ªespecially with how to cook them.


    But as time went on, the intervals between Tang Jie''s returns grew longer and longer. It went from the longest being half a month to the shortest being half a month, with the new record being almost two months.


    Er Hu knew that this was because Tang Jie was traveling farther and farther away.


    He was in the middle of traversing all of Fengshan, all the way until there was nowhere left to go.


    And then¡­


    Er Hu didn''t even want to think about it.


    Weng Tongrang would also visit every so often.


    Whether Tang Jie was there or not, he woulde bringing news, missions, and rewards.


    Er Hu knew that some of these missions were normal and recurring.


    These were missions from the ruler of Fengshan, inviting him to head to the battlefield between the humans and demons.


    As these were ordinary battles, Tang Jie refused them all.


    Other people simply thought that Tang Jie was cowardly and afraid of death, someone who only bullied the weak and feared the strong, only having enough guts to make easy money but not courageous enough to battle against the main fiend army. As for the battle of Hundred Battle City, who knew if it was the truth or just hyperbole?


    Only Er Hu knew that Tang Jie was unwilling to go not because he was a coward, but because once he went, he wouldn''te back. Thus, before he went, he had to explore every corner of Fengshan.


    With each foray into greater Fengshan, he got closer and closer to the battlefield.


    Weng Tongrang came again today.


    Surprisingly, Tang Jie was home this time.


    The wind brought their conversation to Er Hu''s ears as he was chopping firewood.


    "The situation on the front line has been growing rather tense. The fiends have been attacking Dongjin Pass like crazy, and we''ve suffered heavy losses among the soldiers. If this goes on, we might lose the pass."


    "The State Preceptor and Sovereign Liu have yet to move out, no? There''s nothing to be worried about."


    "The fiends are probably trying to force those people to intervene. The two sides signed a treaty that Violet Pce and Divine Division experts would not interfere in this war. At the time, the number of Violet Pce cultivators and Divine Division fiends was even, so the treaty served to keep both sides from ending up badly wounded. But in thest few years, the fiends have produced two more Divine Division great fiends, and the number of peak experts has tipped in one direction. Thanks to the Heavenly Dao Oath, those Divine Division great fiends won''t break that treaty lightly, so they''vemanded the lower fiends to crazily attack in the hopes of forcing us to break the pact first."


    "Isn''t there also a rule that armies shouldn''t exceed ten thousand?"


    "There is such a rule, but it is not bound by a Heavenly Dao Oath, but because the fiend ancestors had sought to breed humans. But now, some of the fiends have started to ignore this rule."


    "They no longer n to keep breeding humans?"


    "They''re just anxious to take down our Violet Pce cultivators. I hear¡­ the State Preceptor is about to break through."


    Weng Tongrang spoke in an extremely soft tone when he said this. Tang Jie raised an eyebrow.


    The State Preceptor of Fengshan, Feng Wuxiang, could be considered the number one expert of humanity, possessing profound cultivation and domineering strength. As a youth, he had overflowing talent, could memorize anything he saw, and was able to infer three things when he learned one thing, always learning the best and the fastest. He reached Celestial Heart after fifty years of cultivation, Soul Transformation after two hundred, and Violet Pce after five hundred¡ªa truly smooth path. It had to be understood that he didn''t have as many lucky encounters as Tang Jie, and he had attained such speeds purely through his own efforts. After he reached Violet Pce, the ruler of Fengshan granted him the title of State Preceptor, turning him into an official. This dyed his cultivation, or else he would have been able to ascend long ago.


    The fiends hadn''t been able to do as they pleased with the humans mostly because of this person. If he broke through again, the advantage in numbers the fiends had built up would be easily broken, and the humans would probably end up being the ones who forced the fiends to break the pact.


    This was why the fiends had recently intensified their attacks.


    After some thought, Tang Jie finally nodded. "Fine. If that''s the case, then I agree."


    "Many thanks, Sir!" Weng Tongrang was delighted that he had agreed. He was finally able to carry out the ruler''s orders.


    After saying a few more words, Weng Tongrang hastily left to report the good news.


    Tang Jie looked at the estate, softly sighing.


    He knew that this farewell might be a final one.


    He probably wouldn''t have a chance to return to this ce.


    Lightly stroking the chair he had been sitting on, Tang Jie walked out and saw Er Hu standing in front of him.


    Holding arge axe, he said, "Master, are you leaving?"


    "Mm." Tang Jie nodded.


    "Will you being back?"


    Tang Jie froze. He wanted to trick him and say that he would stille back, but when he saw the look on Er Hu''s face, he realized that the youth already knew the answer.


    He shook his head. "I''m afraid not."


    "Then Master should bring me along," Er Hu resolutely said.


    Tang Jie shook his head. "The ce I''m going is too dangerous. I probably won''t even be able to protect myself, let alone you."


    Deep disappointment appeared on Er Hu''s face.


    Tang Jie''s heart softened after seeing that disappointment, and he truly wanted to take Er Hu into the diagram.


    But in the end, he gave up on the idea.


    The world in the diagram was too cold, quiet, and lonely.


    Living in there wasn''t living, it was jail.


    He Chong was in jail, Deng Yuqing was in jail, Duan Fourth was in jail, and he himself had been in jail there for a time. There was no reason to have Er Hu suffer this.


    But after some thought, he said, "You''re too weak, so you can''t keep up with me. One day, when your cultivation has improved, if I''m not dead and haven''t left yet, you cane and find me. If you still insist on following me by then, I will let you."


    Er Hu only asked, "When will my cultivation be considered enough?"


    Tang Jie replied, "Celestial Heart. Only when you enter Celestial Heart will you be considered to have enough."


    Celestial Heart!


    Reaching Celestial Heart in this limited time was much easier said than done!


    Even Tang Jie had needed nearly thirty years to get this far.


    Thirty years¡­ Would Tang Jie wait that long?


    How could Er Hu get so far in so little time?


    Nobody knew.


    But Er Hu said nothing, only bowing to Tang Jie before turning and leaving.


    For him, this was a test that Tang Jie had given him.


    What he needed to do wasplete this test, not be scared out of his wits by this immense and seemingly impossible mission.


    "Wait!" Tang Jie suddenly said.


    Er Hu stopped.


    Tang Jie raised his head and began to write in the air. One shing character after another appeared in the air, finally turning into a stream of light that flowed into Er Hu''s mind.


    Tang Jie then said, "Your nature is honest and considerate, steady and determined, so rather than dabbling in many things, you should focus on one thing. This Blood Bane ssic is a secret I obtained. It enters the Dao through ughter and is extremely powerful, but it is no longer of use to me. I now pass it on to you, and if you cultivate it well, you might be able to rise up in the future. But this art has a w in that it is too focused on ughter, which is liable to create Heart Demons. This was also one of the reasons I did not learn it, but I think your will is resolute enough."


    This Blood Bane ssic was one of the arts that Tang Jie had obtained when he had cleaned out the Celestial me Pagoda. It could be considered the most valuable art within that ce, able to be cultivated all the way to Violet Pce. The only problem was that this was a Demon Gate mantra, which entered the Dao through ughter. Tang Jie didn''t care about any Demon Gate. In his view, what made it righteous or demonic was the way it was used. But Demon Gate arts affected the mind, and there was a very real chance of the user bing a demon, which was why he did not recklessly attempt to learn it. Moreover, he had been facing the Heart Demon Tier at the time, so he had no desire to add onto his problems.


    Even so, it was still a supreme mantra, so leaving it unused was a pity. Tang Jie didn''t dare to pass down the Basking Moon Sect''s high-level mantras without the permission of the sect, and after wracking his mind, he found that the Blood Bane ssic was all he could give. Moreover, it was the only mantra that gave Er Hu any hope of reaching Celestial Heart in a short time. As for the problem of bing a demon, based on these years of observation, Tang Jie found that Er Hu''s greatest advantage was his persistent and tough personality. And given that Tang Jie had also passed on to him some mind-purifying methods some time ago, he felt like Er Hu would be able to hold his own, which was why he was willing to pass on this mantra to him.


    He then took out a Mustard Seed Bag, which contained various art relics and talismans, and gave it to Er Hu.


    But Er Hu didn''t ept it.


    He took a few steps back and said, "Master, many thanks for your gifts, but I don''t need them."


    I don''t need them.


    These few words left Tang Jie stunned.


    The youth began to step back, his eyes brimming with resolve.


    Finally, he turned his head and left.


    As he looked at his departing figure, Tang Jie felt some mncholy and hesitation.


    He didn''t know what Er Hu''s future would be like, but he saw something in this youth: hope.


    Tang Jie wasn''t sure which was more difficult: finding the materials for the teleportation formation, or Er Hu reaching Celestial Heart. But he saw in Er Hu''s resolve and persistence a courage that could withstand any hardship.


    If even a youth could see the path of thorns before him and still push on, what reason did he have to be dejected and depressed?


    If he couldn''t find the materials, he would just keep looking.


    One day, he would have searched through all of the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    Whether there was anything there or not, at least he would have given it his best effort and would feel no guilt. He trusted that if Xu Miaoran knew of this, she wouldn''t me him, right?


    At that moment, Tang Jie felt a heroic feeling welling up inside of him, and he threw his head back and roared.


    Raaaa!


    This roar shook the world, as if some giant beast hade back to life.


    All the mncholy and disappointment that had built up over thest few years were swept away, and Tang Jie shouted, "Miaoran, wait for me! I will return!"


    Trantor Notes


    Unfortunately, Tang Jie can''t wait for this new disciple of his to grow stronger. He has a wife to get back to!

 Chapter 635: City Assault

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    If one traveled north along the Pegasus Mountains and then passed through that mountain range, one woulde across a vast in.


    These were the illustrious Dongjin ins.


    The Dongjin ins, vast and fertile, had been famous for their rich harvests. This ce was rich in spiritual energy and had an agreeable climate, and many spirit nts had been grown here. It had once been the human country''s most important resource in the rear.


    But defeat after defeat and the loss of territory had turned what was the rear into the front line, and the ins known for their rich harvest became ins brimming with ughter.


    There were few rare creatures or spirit nts here. War robbed everyone of the desire to develop this area, and what reced it was frenzied extraction and heedless destruction. There was only reaping and no sowing, so the amount of usable resources grew smaller and smaller.


    In the eastern part of the ins was a smallke called Vanguard Lake. Its original name was "Three Branch Lake", but the war led its name to be changed, for right behind it was Dongjin Pass.


    One of the three major frontline fortresses of humanity, Dongjin Pass!


    This was a massive fortress that would have been impossible toplete through only manpower.


    It was located on t ground about seven kilometers away from Vanguard Lake. The entire city had been painted icy ck, such that it looked like some squatting ck behemoth from a distance.


    Only when one got close would one realize how huge this "behemoth" really was. Its walls were a thousand feet tall, and to stand atop them and look down made one feel that one was looking down a cliff. These walls were seven and a half kilometers long and two and half kilometers wide, made entirely from an alloy of violet gold and Profound Metal, true walls of steel.


    There were no gates in these walls. They had never been made to allow people to go through them. Anyone who wanted to get in had to enter through Immortal methods, including mortals.


    Countless spell art marks, formation lines, and talismans had been ced on the walls, creating an enormous andplex superformation. It was made from 768 small formations, each formation having a different purpose. Any one of them losing effect would have minimal effect on the formation, but when they werebined, they were greater than the sum of their parts. One could say that they were the foundation of Dongjin Pass''s defense.


    There was no such thing as geographic advantage in Immortal wars, only formation advantage!


    This mighty fortress had been enduring invasions from the fiends from the moment it was finished, experiencing test after test. Blood had painted the walls scarlet again and again, and spell arts had restored them to their original color again and again. But the soil underfoot remained a dark reddish purple.


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    Another fiend assault on Dongjin Pass wasmencing.


    Tens of thousands of fiends had gathered, and though they greedily stared at the walls, they didn''t dare to draw close. The weakest of these fiends was at Mind Opening, and each group of one hundred fiends was led by a fiend general, the weakest of which was at early Transformation. If this were an ordinary human city, one of them could have destroyed it on their own. And behind the fiend army were three four-hooved, one-eyed beasts, standing a thousand feet tall.


    Skyshakers!


    Other than providing their own formidablebat power, these primal behemoths also served as the war drums of the fiend army. Their roars boosted the power of the fiend soldiers while striking fear into the hearts of humans.


    On the backs of the three Skyshakers were three people, three fiend kings.


    Therge-bellied, bowl-faced one on the left was a Moonswallower Golden Toad, and his title was "the Heaven Swallowing King".


    The white-faced, beardless schr on the right was a Whitehair Bei, and his title was "the Venomheart King".


    The blue-faced, long-nosed,rge-bodied one in the center was a Bluefur Elephant, and his title was "the Colossus King".


    These three great fiend kings looked at each other and nodded, and all the fiends that specialized in long-distance spell arts attacked in unison, countless spell arts pounding the walls in the distance. Wind, fire, and lightning filled the air above Dongjin and created bursts of rainbow light all across the walls. Without the protection of the formation, this wave alone would have doomed the walls.


    The human army also put up a strong front.


    The soldiers pulled back the strings on their bows and loosed their arrows, casting arge shadow over the earth with their deluge. These arrows were loosed by mortal soldiers, but they were using special Moonshot Bows with special Demon yer Arrows, and they were further empowered by the Heavenfeather Arrow Formation. These various boosts in power were enough to hurt any fiend below Transformation, particrly those that were not experts in defense. Although the damage would be small, the arrowheads were coated with powerful Immortal poisons that would severely weaken or kill anyone struck.


    The fiends could not ignore the arrows, instead striking back with savage spell arts, not giving the chance for the arrows to fall. Most of the arrows were destroyed, but a few managed to leak through, falling upon those small fiends and making them howl in pain.


    Long-distance exchanges were a necessary phase of a city assault. Fiends used this method to exhaust the formation''s power, while human cultivators used the formation and the arrows to wear away at the spiritual power and numbers of the fiends.


    For this reason, this early-stage battle was neither grandiose nor intense, only the bursts of rainbow light on the walls adding some color to this battle.


    After more than a hundred spell art salvos, the protective light on the walls of Dongjin finally began to dim.


    The protective formation was still operating, but it was now difficult to stop the fiends from forcefully breaking through it. Of course, this didn''t mean that the humans were powerless. But just like how the fiends didn''t send in their entire army, the humans couldn''t invest everything they had against this level of attack.


    Most importantly, the protectors knew what the fiends hade here for and what they needed to do.


    Upon seeing the formation dim, the Venomheart King chuckled. "We can begin."


    "Raaa!"


    The three Skyshakers let out heaven-quaking roars.


    These roars made the hearts of all the soldiers tremble, some of them even falling on their butts and pissing their pants. Those of weaker will failed to endure and fell from the walls, and to fall from these walls of one thousand feet in height would have one end up as meat paste.


    On the other side, the fiends let out frenzied howls and began to charge at the walls.


    Instantly, they tore off that civilized mask and showed that most savage side of war.


    The vast number of fiends charged at the walls, their height unable to stop the frightening strength of the fiends. Some of the fiends simply needed to jump to reach the top of the walls, where they tore through the formation. One of them immediately shot over to a human soldier and stuffed him into its mouth, noisily chewing away. The delicious vor made it so excited that it forgot where it was, and a momentter, several hundred arrows pierced through its chest, the powerful poison causing this fiend to pay for its arrogance with instant death.


    More fiends rose to the air, excitedly shouting as they lunged at the human soldiers.


    At the same time, atop a distant wall, a general wearing a purple cape waved his hand, upon which countless cultivators behind him flew at the fiends. They were fewer in number than the fiends, but they had been biding their time until now, and they now unleashed all their prepared spell arts.


    With one salvo of spell arts, nearly one hundred fiends died.


    But the fiends weren''t that easy to deal with.


    The counterattack from the fiends quickly followed, and a bloody battle began to y out on the walls of Dongjin Pass.


    Blood rained down from the sky, the frenzied ughter fully exposing the cruel nature of war.


    But such scenes could not move a veteran fiend king or general. For them, this was only the appetizer.


    A new recruit trembled as he watched the intense battle. Looking up at the sky, he muttered, "They can''t break through, they can''t break through."


    A veteran next to him shot him a look of disdain. "Of course they can''t break through, but that''s not even their goal¡­ What they want is life, blood, and ughter!"


    For the fiends, each battle was actually a hunt, and the bodies of the human soldiers were the finest spoils of war. As for the humans, they used mortal soldiers to hold down the fiends while the cultivators used this opportunity to kill the fiends. They couldn''t stop the fiends from eating humans. All they could do was kill as many fiends as they could until the fiends reached their limit and started to retreat.


    Both humans and fiends understood what was going on, which was why the fiends didn''t send in the entire army and the humans didn''t entirely rely on the formation. Both sides satisfied a few of the other side''s desires, getting a little back in return. In all this, the lives lost were just insignificant numbers.


    Even cultivators could die for the sake of war, so why would mortals be an exception?


    The new recruit was stunned by the veteran''s words.


    "You''re saying that the government drafted us to fill the stomachs of these fiends?" he asked in disbelief.


    "What else could it be for? How many fiends do you think you can kill with just a bow and some arrows? They''re fiends, fiends with spirit power! Brat, you think you''re smart? This is a cultivator war. In a war like this, a mortal makes a contribution if they can loose a few arrows and serve as bait so that the cultivators can get an opportunity to make a kill. All people like you and me can hope for is that they kill swiftly and brutally so that the fiends retreat faster. All we can do is try our best to survive," the veteran said to the recruit while lying in a pile of bodies.


    Fiends were all around them, and as the soldiers couldn''t retreat, some of the smarter ones yed dead. This recruit was lucky enough to follow a veteran, joining him in mixing into a pile of the dead and listening to his lessons on how to survive on the battlefield.


    "But we''ll still die, right?" the recruit said.


    The meat of the recently dead was still fresh, and fiends weren''t exactly picky.


    "That will depend on your luck," the veteran replied.


    As he spoke, a tiger-headed hawk fiend descended from the sky, grabbed the veteran, and flew up into the sky.


    "NO!" the recruit shouted, but he could only watch as the veteran disappeared.


    A momentter, a cat fiend rushed onto the walls and charged at the recruit.


    Just as the sharp ws were about to tear through his body, arge hand suddenly protected him.


    With a swat of the hand, the cat fiend was crushed into a pancake.

 Chapter 636: Battlefield

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    This day was undoubtedly the longest day in Zhao Qing''s life.


    On this day, he witnessed one of those fiend assaults spoken of in the legends.


    On this day, the old veteran who had been teaching him all this time was in in battle.


    On this day, he met a man who saved his life and changed his fate and the fate of countless others.


    Standing in front of Zhao Qing, Tang Jie casually swatted a cat fiend to death as one might swat a mosquito.


    He didn''t notice the excited gaze of that young soldier who had just been saved, only gazed into the distance.


    Flying fiends were howling and roaring as they devoured humans. A ming bull bellowed and rammed into the protective formation, its immense strength rapidly draining the formation of energy while its mes coiled up like snakes and instantly turned several dozen soldiers into ash. A giant ck bear stood on the walls, swinging its paws around with enough force to shake mountains, shattering the masonry around it. Countless fiend birds descended from the sky, lunging at their foes.


    At the same time, cultivators put up a brave fight, and several of them drew Tang Jie''s attention.


    A white-clothed man wielding a sword flitted among the fiends, moving with incredible speed and almost always striking at the weak points of his enemies. He probably had some sort of Insight ability. And while his sword light seemed ethereal and weightless, it was brimming with sharp murderous intent.


    A young woman holding a jade zither lightly strummed it, and countless musical notes struck the charging fiends, many of which died on the spot, unable to react.


    A person wrapped in a ck cloak waved what was clearly a soul-gathering banner, from which countless ghosts emerged, attacking the fiends as they wailed and wept. The surrounding people didn''t react at all, clearly used to such things. Many forbidden arts had ceased to be forbidden in a bid topete against the fiends, and ghost arts were clearly no taboo here.


    There was also someone controlling several dozen puppets. Unlike the puppets Tang Jie had seen before, these were pieced together from biological parts and regr metal and stone. Some of them had fiend heads connected to puppet bodies, while others had fiend hearts beating within a puppet body. There were also puppets that were just red masses of some sticky substance that could take on various forms. When they saw fiends, they would lunge at them and wrap around them like a cloth, rapidly digesting them into pus. The bizarre variety of puppets left even Tang Jie amazed.


    There was also a white-haired elder, who was probably the strongest among the cultivators present. He was at Soul Transformation, and he stood on the back of a yellow goat and held a white lotus in his hand. The white lotus spun in his hand, asionally letting out rays of light that would melt any fiends it touched.


    Finally, there were still some cultivators standing in the rear who had yet to move out. They were probably reserved for those three fiend kings in the distance.


    The power of these three fiend kings was enough to put Dongjin Pass in a crisis. It was no wonder the fiends had been able to bully the humans so easily.


    As he was in the middle of thinking, a foolish skrk fiend shot over to Tang Jie, thinking him to be a juicy piece of meat.


    The sharp skrk beak rammed into Tang Jie''s bare chest, but the bird felt like it had rammed into a mountain, its beak shattering on impact while still failing to punch any sort of hole in Tang Jie''s body. On the contrary, the bacsh sent it flying backward.


    Tang Jie nced at it in scorn and then proceeded to ignore it. He had just arrived and had no ns on immediately entering the battlefield. But that skrk wasn''t going to just let things be. It let out a sharp cry. While the skrk fiend wasn''t strong, it was well-liked among its fellow fiends, so its call had several other fiends immediately flying over.


    "Savior, be careful!" the recruit called out from behind him.


    Tang Jie didn''t even turn his head, but a figure flew out from behind¡ªYiyi had moved to intercept the fiends. Meanwhile, Tang Jie stomped to death that skrk that had caused him all this trouble.


    This was the equivalent of kicking a beehive, and arge number of fiends immediately converged on his location.


    "Truly a tree wishes for quiet but the wind won''t stop!" Tang Jie lightly grunted. "I suppose it''s to be expected. I''m already on the battlefield, so how can I expect to remain uninvolved?"


    Thus, Zhao Qing saw the man who had just saved him and who had been viewing the scenery suddenly move.


    This movement was like that of a mountain abruptly shifting, leaving Zhao Qing dumbfounded.


    Tang Jie raised a hand and grabbed at an approaching eagle fiend. That this eagle fiend was as quick as lightning seemed to be utterly irrelevant, so easily did Tang Jie grab it by the neck. And then, like he was strangling a hen, he snapped its neck.


    He casually tossed the corpse of the eagle fiend to Zhao Qing''s feet.


    "Can you help me out?" Tang Jie gently asked.


    Startled, Zhao Qing realized that Tang Jie was talking to him.


    Countless fiends were attacking him, but he was only looking at Zhao Qing. As for those fiends, he casually thrust out his hand at them, upon which blood rained from the heavens.


    Zhao Qing was so stunned by the sight that he forgot what Tang Jie had said.


    Tang Jie reminded him, "Hey, I''m talking to you."


    "Ah! Ah! Sa¡­ Sir, what is your order?" Zhao Qing stammered.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, and a pile of fiend corpsesnded at Zhao Qing''s feet. He then said, "Guard these corpses for me and make sure no one tries to steal my achievements. When I get back, I need to settle ounts with General Gu."


    Zhao Qing stared for a few moments, and then he awoke from his stupor and pulled out his saber. "Sir, be at ease. This one will definitely protect Sir''s spoils of war!"


    "My thanks." Tang Jie casually threw over an item. "This is to protect you."


    Zhao Qing hastily grabbed it and found that it was a jade pendant. The moment itnded in his hand, it released a faint yellow barrier around him. A small fiend flew over and rammed right into the barrier. Unable to get in, it could only turn to seek other targets. Zhao Qing was surprised and delighted. He hastily went over to the pile of fiends, swearing to guard this mighty expert''s spoils with his life.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie assumed his actual form, bing a giant, and strode into the fiends.


    Since he had decided to take part in the battle, he would show no mercy. Seeing a group of fiends gather in the distance, he chuckled. He started with a small jog, and then he suddenly elerated. Thus, one could see a giant atop the tall walls of Dongjin Pass, sprinting along and smashing aside all the fiends in its path. Yiyi followed along, her vines grabbing the fiends, killing them, and throwing them to Zhao Qing. In the blink of an eye, the pile of corpses next to Zhao Qing had grown into a small mountain.


    The humans all loudly cheered at the sight, their morale soaring. Of course, the fiends were deeply enraged, one of the fiend generals even charging at Tang Jie and shouting, "Such rich blood energy! Your flesh must be delicious!"


    This was a mantis fiend, and it attacked Tang Jie with twin sabers.


    Tang Jie sneered. "But you don''t seem to have any meat to eat at all."


    He allowed the sabers to hack at his body, and the mantis thought that its blows had struck true. But just when it was about to celebrate, it felt an intense pain, and it found that its "unbreakable" mantis des had failed to break Tang Jie''s body, almost like it was trying to hack through steel. Rather than hurting its foe, it had ended up breaking its own arms, so it was no wonder it was in such intense pain. It backed away in rm, but Tang Jie grabbed its arms and then tore them off with just a light tug. Tang Jie then threw a punch at the fiend''s thorax and then reached inside, pulling out a red object: the fiend pellet.


    The mantis didn''t even have time to let out a bitter scream before it died. Tang Jie threw this fiend general''s body next to Zhao Qing with all the rest.


    "Keep an eye on it," he said.


    Zhao Qing nodded.


    Tang Jie moved off to continue the ughter.


    The death of a fiend general finally drew the attention of the upper echelons.


    The purple-caped human general on the wall nced at Tang Jie and asked, "Who is this? I am unfamiliar with his methods."


    "Sir, this one has seen him before. His name is Tang Jie, and he was previously eliminating fiends within the country. He must have just arrived."


    "Tang Jie¡­" The purple-caped general mulled over this name. "That one who massacred Hundred Battle City in a single day and left the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor so furious that he ordered the fiends to attack my Dongjin Pass for three days and three nights, almost breaking the Heavenly Dao Oath?"


    "Precisely!"


    The general narrowed his eyes.


    While Tang Jie had been left quite happy after the ughter of Hundred Battle City, Fengshan had ended up bearing much of the consequences for him. But war was war, and the humans of Fengshan got along with the fiends as fire did with water. Each human had the duty of exterminating the fiends, and nobody would criticize another for killing the enemy too ruthlessly because of the enemy''s revenge.


    Before Tang Jie, there had been Soul Transformation experts who had gone over and ughtered many fiends, for which the fiends had crazilyshed back, but nobody had been used of any crime for this.


    Killing fiends was the greatest feat one could aplish!


    As for the enemy''s reaction, that wasn''t important, for they would never let the humans be, no matter how one treated them.


    For this reason, the purple-caped general didn''t me Tang Jie for the aftermath. He just wondered why Tang Jie had waited until today toe. He had been waiting for the arrival of this powerful expert for several years.


    Regardless, Tang Jie''s arrival was a good thing, and the old general felt relieved.


    At the same time, the three fiend kings also took note of Tang Jie.


    Therge-eared, broad-faced golden toad, the Heaven Swallowing King, narrowed his eyes and said, "Who is this? I''ve never seen such daring before, but I feel like I''ve heard about it somewhere before."


    The Colossus King said, "I feel the same. What does Brother Venomheart think?"


    The Venomheart King shook his head. "If my guess is correct, this person should be the butcher of my Hundred Battle City from four years ago, that human who killed the Violet me King, Tang Jie."


    "He''s Tang Jie?" The Heaven Swallowing King gasped. "The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor has promised a Fiend Bloodstone as a reward for this human''s head!"


    The Colossus Kingughed. "Wonderful, wonderful! I will take down this person and take him to the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor for the bloodstone!"


    He jumped off his Skyshaker and transformed into a blue-furred mammoth that charged at Tang Jie.

 Chapter 637: Solo Battle Against a Fiend King

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    A mammoth several hundred feet in height charged at the walls with an unstoppable momentum. Suddenly, it raised its long trunk, making it rise up over the walls like an enormous python. Coiling around Tang Jie, it pulled him off the walls.


    "Sir!" Zhao Qing shouted.


    The Colossus King''s smug voice rang out over the fortress: "Eat this!"


    The giant trunk threw Tang Jie at the ground.


    With a massive boom, a giant crater was sted open at the base of the walls of Dongjin.


    Afterpleting this strike, the Colossus King looked down below. Seeing Tang Jie lying motionless in the crater, it couldn''t help but mutter, "Already dead? Doesn''t seem that impressive to me."


    He had barely finished speaking when Tang Jie suddenly opened his eyes. "In return, you can eat this!"


    He grabbed the Colossus King by the trunk and swung it into the air.


    Shockingly, Tang Jie really did manage to fling the Colossus King''s massive body skyward.


    It was like a mountain ascending into the sky, blotting out the sun.


    In repayment for its attack, the mammoth smashed into the ground in the same manner as Tang Jie had.


    Boom!


    A fierce tremor rippled through the earth while a giant plume of dust billowed upward. A massive crater of several hundred feet in diameter had appeared.


    Within this crater were the groaning Colossus King and several dozen fiends who had been crushed to death¡ªTang Jie had made sure to throw in the direction of the fiends.


    And this was only the beginning.


    After smashing down the Colossus King by its trunk, Tang Jie grabbed its trunk and flung it skyward.


    The fiends flying around had not expected this cmity, and as that giant elephantid rocketed upward, all of the fiends in its path were bashed aside, which shattered their bones and caused them to throw up blood, with some of the weaker ones dying on the spot.


    The enormous body reached its apex and then started its journey downward, plummeting down toward an area where fiends were more concentrated, causing them to scatter in panic.


    The lucky ones managed to survive this round, but before they coulde to their senses, that mammoth went up again, causing them to pale in fear. "Again?"


    The Colossus King was like a flyswatter in Tang Jie''s hand, and the countless fiends flying in the sky were the flies. Tang Jie constantly waved the flyswatter to shoo away the fiends, instantly throwing the battlefield into chaos. The Colossus King desperately struggled, but it couldn''t break free from Tang Jie''s grip. Instead, its struggles only managed to kill off fiends that originally would have been able to escape.


    In the distance, the Venomheart King and Heaven Swallowing King paled. "This is bad!"


    The Heaven Swallowing King jumped up and opened his mouth in Tang Jie''s direction, and a ck flood rushed out at Tang Jie, countless souls bobbing within the waters. This was the Heaven Swallowing King''s Hell Belly Corpse Flood, created after he consumed the flesh of countless humans and stored a sliver of their souls within his belly, refusing to let them enter the cycle of reincarnation and styling himself the ruler of hell. As for the ck fluid, that was his stomach acid, and it was extremely corrosive. While this Hell Belly Corpse Flood didn''t have the most elegant of names, it was extremely powerful, and the slightest contact with it would cause one''s body to start rotting away.


    The Venomheart King also took action, shooting behind Tang Jie like a bolt of lightning and wing at his back. This w that shed with lightning was a move that he was most proud of, the Lightning yer w.


    Two fiend kings had joined together and used their strongest moves, and even the old general on the walls paled. Just when he was about to call for reinforcements, Tang Jieughed and swung the Colossus King at the Heaven Swallowing King. This also meant that most of the Hell Belly Corpse Flood ended up striking the Colossus King.


    "Awooo!" The Colossus King howled in unbearable pain. Even its thick hide was no match for the corrosive stomach acids of the Heaven Swallowing King. Its enormous body began to dissolve, and countless resentful spirits within the acid began to gnaw away at it. But in return, the Colossus King mmed into the Heaven Swallower King''s gut, causing that golden toad to throw up blood.


    Meanwhile, the Venomheart King''s Lightning yer w struck Tang Jie''s back. This move was much like Zhu Yun''s Jade Shattering Finger, and even Tang Jie''s formidable physical defense was incapable of stopping it. It plunged through the muscles on Tang Jie''s back, aiming straight for his heart. But at that moment, Tang Jie suddenly called out, "Stop!"


    The Venomheart King felt a boom at his ears, and he was momentarily dizzied. His attack slightly slowed, allowing Tang Jie to rush forward and break free before the w pierced his heart. Although his constitution was such that even having his heart pierced wouldn''t kill him, this was bound to affect his performance in battle. After all, he was facing three fiend kings.


    But the Venomheart King''s interference gave the Colossus King a chance, and by exerting all of its strength, it was finally able to free its trunk from Tang Jie''s grip.


    "Bastard!" The Colossus King angrily roared. Never before had it suffered such humiliation as losing to Tang Jie in a contest of strength despite calling itself the Colossus, and this wasn''t even considering that Tang Jie had used it as a shield, even causing much of its body to be eaten away by the Heaven Swallowing King''s Hell Belly Corpse Flood. Fortunately, it had a powerful vitality, and the Heaven Swallowing King had also sucked back much of its acid upon realizing that it was attacking the wrong target. The injuries were already starting to heal. But still, it was badly wounded from the sh.


    The three fiend kings angrily red at Tang Jie, the Venomheart King sinisterly saying, "He really does seem capable of killing the Violet me King."


    Tang Jie smirked. "Are you trying to find an excuse?"


    The three fiend kings blushed. But they all had thick skins, and the Venomheart King chuckled. "How could the rules of humans be suitable for fiends? In the eyes of us fiends, the best adapted survive, and the strong eat the weak."


    "That''s true." Tang Jie nodded. He cracked his neck and loosened up his muscles. "So then, what are you waiting for? Let''s get fighting already!"


    He roared and began to sprint, his body rapidly growingrger in the process. As he turned into a giant of nearly one hundred meters in height, he swung a fist at the Colossus King.


    The Colossus King had been rather frightened by its encounter with Tang Jie. Its greatest attribute was strength, but its fight against Tang Jie had beenpletely one-sided, traumatizing it. As Tang Jie rushed over like a tiger, it instinctively backed away.


    But this presented a problem.


    Even though the Colossus King had been suppressed by Tang Jie in terms of strength, it was still the only one who could go head-to-head against Tang Jie in terms of resilience. The other two fiend kings would have been smashed to death after such brutal treatment. Only the Colossus King could get back up as if nothing had happened.


    In backing away, it exposed the Heaven Swallowing King.


    This guy didn''t have as tough a body as the Colossus King, and probably only a few punches from Tang Jie would be enough to leave it hanging on to life by a thread. It jumped in fright and unleashed the Hell Belly Corpse Flood again. Tang Jieughed and threw out a jade bottle, which began to suck in the flood. Tang Jie then grabbed the bottle and threw it far into the distance, out of sight. A momentter, there was a boom, and a giant me appeared in the distance.


    "My Hell Belly Corpse Flood!" the Heaven Swallowing Kingmented. A single middle-grade art relic had destroyed all the acid he had gone to such great pains to refine.


    It didn''t know that Tang Jie had the power of Insight, so after seeing the corpse flood once, Tang Jie had gotten extremely lucky and seen how it worked. Thus, he had quickly found a countermeasure, which was the jade bottle. With its self-detonation, he had destroyed the corpse flood, handling the Heaven Swallowing King''s strongest move at the lowest price possible.


    This loss was so great that the Heaven Swallowing King could no longer control itself. Opening its mouth, it shot out its long, ck tongue at Tang Jie like a bolt of lightning.


    A toad''s tongue was the most powerful part of their body, and after the Moonswallower Golden Toad became a great fiend, it became its most powerful weapon. Like a spear, it stabbed at Tang Jie, but Tang Jieughed and let it strike him. At that moment, the Heaven Swallowing King suddenly remembered what had happened just before and silently cursed.


    But it was already toote. The tongue stabbed into Tang Jie''s palm, and Tang Jie grabbed the tongue like he felt nothing and snarled, "Let me see you run now!"


    The Heaven Swallowing King felt its heart freeze. "No!"


    Tang Jie pulled and swung the toad into the air, striking a fiend in the air, and then he pulled the toad back to the earth. It was just like with the Colossus King, except that he was holding a tongue rather than a trunk.


    The Heaven Swallowing King desperately wailed, but it was much weaker than the Colossus King. If that mammoth hadn''t been able to escape, how could a toad? Tang Jie began to fling it around by its tongue.


    While the Colossus King had been a flyswatter, the Heaven Swallowing King wasn''t big enough to catch that many flies. But its tongue was quite long, so Tang Jie ended up ying with it like a yo-yo, constantly adjusting its length. Sometimes, it was so close that Tang Jie could catch it with a sneeze, and sometimes, it was so far that it was like a chained ball, whizzing around and dazzling all the fiends.


    "Save me!" the Heaven Swallowing King cried out in a muffled voice.


    The Colossus King roared and charged in.


    But it wasn''t that easy to save the toad. The Colossus King had been so heavy that it had affected Tang Jie''s reaction speed, but this was not so for the toad, which was like a toy in his hands.


    As the mammoth charged in, Tang Jie grinned. "So you''reing again!"


    He charged at the mammoth.


    The people on the walls saw a giant and a mammoth sprinting at each other, and in a sh, they impacted in a heaven-shaking shockwave.


    A massive cloud of dust billowed into the air, and then there was a furious roar, followed by the body of the Colossus King tumbling away.


    In this sh of pure strength, Tang Jie had overwhelmingly crushed this fiend king.


    "Yeaaa!" All the people on the walls excitedly cheered.


    For the first time, a human cultivator was going one versus three and had three fiend kings running for the hills.


    Wait! Where is the Venomheart King?


    Startled, everyone realized that the Venomheart King had not done anything after that initial strike.


    Suddenly, an enormous figure jumped out of the dust cloud¡ªTang Jie.


    And then an even more enormous figure than a mammoth appeared in the dust. Letting out an intimidating bellow, it stomped a foot at Tang Jie.


    Skyshakers!


    All three Skyshakers appeared, stomping at Tang Jie with indomitable power, and sitting atop the leading Skyshaker was none other than the Venomheart King.


    This cunning bastard wasn''t satisfied with three versus one, even bringing the Skyshakers onto the battlefield.

 Chapter 638: Deception All Around

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The massive hooves of the Skyshakers came down like mountains.


    Tang Jie rolled to the side, and then a second hoof stomped down onto his chest, the impact so great that he threw up blood. Before he even had a chance to rise, another hoof stomped down.


    Under themand of the Venomheart King, the Skyshakers were taking turns stomping on Tang Jie, just like three elephants madly stomping down on a rat. The Venomheart King heartilyughed. "Die already, you bastard!"


    "As always, Third Brother is the smart one!" The Colossus King also arrogantlyughed, and then it charged forward. "Let me lend a hand!"


    It joined the ranks of the Skyshakers in stomping down on Tang Jie. After being flung around willy-nilly by Tang Jie, it finally had the opportunity to repay the humiliation it had suffered.


    Tang Jie tugged the Heaven Swallowing King with him under the hooves of the Skyshakers.


    The Heaven Swallowing King yowled, "Don''t! I''m down here too!"


    But the fiend kings were innately cold and unkind, and they cared little about their toad colleague. This was a rare opportunity, and they could not permit any mistakes, so rather than stopping, they intensified the stomping.


    The people on the walls mored, "General, save him!"


    The purple-caped General Gu waved a banner, and several of the cultivators who had been waiting in reserve flew out. They had been waiting to deal with the fiend kings, but Tang Jie had gotten ahead of them.


    They had barely flown out when a cry came from the distance, and another pack of fiends appeared, led by two more fiend kings.


    General Gu shuddered. "The Whitebrow King! The Ghostface King! How are the two of you here?"


    Having fought each other for a long time, these humans and fiends were very familiar with each other.


    The Whitebrow King was a White Brow Lemur and the Ghostface King was a Greenscale Ghost Serpent. These two fiend kings were under the Ironblood Fiend Emperor. As for the Colossus, Heaven Swallowing, and Venomheart Kings, they were under the ckwater Fiend Emperor. The Violet me King that Tang Jie had killed was under the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, and besides those were also the Aurora Fiend Emperor and the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, for five Fiend Emperors in all.


    The five Fiend Emperors didn''t exactly get along well.


    While Feng Wuxiang''s intimidating power had yed a part in humanity''s survival up to this point, as had the desire of fiends to breed humans, the most fundamental reason was that the five Fiend Emperors had their own conflicts with each other, preventing them from working together. It was precisely these circumstances that allowed humans to survive in the cracks.


    This was why the fiend kings in each assault were usually under the same Fiend Emperor. No one had expected the subordinates of two Fiend Emperors to work together, but their intentions were obvious.


    Five fiend kings attacking all at once made even the general of Dongjin feel an immense pressure.


    The Venomheart King chuckled. "I was thinking of catching you by surprise so that we could get some good piging in, but Tang Jie came out of nowhere. But this is fine too. We''ll first take this human that the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor has a bounty on. It''s at least better than those worthless mortal farmers. Brothers Whitebrow and Ghostface, help me hold back those cultivators!"


    The Whitebrow Kingughed. "Of course."


    It moved toward the cultivators, while the Ghostface King charged right at the general of Dongjin, Gu Pinzhang.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie continued to be stomped on by the three Skyshakers and the Colossus King, sixteen giant feet going in rotation and giving Tang Jie no chance to get up. The Heaven Swallowing King suffered with him, but as itcked Tang Jie''s tough body, the rounds of savage stomping gradually pushed it to its limit, and its body was soon falling apart, clearly dead.


    The Venomheart King and Colossus King rejoiced at Tang Jie''s helplessness, but Tang Jie abruptly said, "Do you really think you''ve won?"


    The two kings froze. It just so happened that the Colossus King was stomping down again, at which point Tang Jie raised his arms up to block, stopping fast this weighty attack. Four more arms grew out from Tang Jie''s back and mmed into the Colossus King''s stomach.


    "Awooo!" The Colossus King howled in pain from this attack that was stronger than any other attack it had received, sting its entire body into the sky.


    Tang Jie used this opportunity to jump to his feet and punch at a Skyshaker next to him, hitting it on the ear. This was the weakest part of a Skyshaker, and as the Skyshaker was sted back, it roared as blood gushed out from its eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. The power of Tang Jie''s punch had gone straight into its brain.


    Yet this beast still wasn''t dead. But a momentter, Tang Jie''s six arms unleashed nearly one hundred punches in a row at the Skyshaker.


    The frenzied punches coupled with Tang Jie''s roars stunned the entire battlefield. Under Tang Jie''s savage pummeling, the Skyshaker toppled over.


    The remaining two Skyshakers backed away in fear.


    The Venomheart King was also dumbfounded, staring at Tang Jie. "You¡­ you¡­ you were pretending!"


    Despite possessing this awesome strength, he had struggled to break free. It was clear that Tang Jie had been pretending.


    Sure enough, Tang Jie nced at the Venomheart King and then lifted the Heaven Swallowing King''s corpse. "If I didn''t, would you have let me kill this toad?"


    Fiend kings had powerful life forces, so even the Moonswallower Toad, which wasn''t known for its vitality, wasn''t easy to kill. Moreover, this guy was very slippery, so while its tongue had been caught by Tang Jie, it could constantly change its length, so Tang Jie was never able to deal the toad a fatal blow. Most importantly, the Colossus King and the Venomheart King were there to interrupt him.


    Tang Jie didn''t forget the Venomheart King''s w from when he had seized the Colossus King.


    While Tang Jie had seemed rxed and unstoppable, a body cultivator had to face a lot of risks in battle.


    As had been noted before, whether or not they could actually win, a body cultivator had to be bold and brash in battle. If they couldn''t even make it seem like they had an advantage, then there was no need to fight¡ªwhat future did a warrior have if they were being chased around by the spells of a mage?


    For this reason, Tang Jie wasn''t actually having as easy a time as it seemed. After all, these were three fiend kings, three Soul Transformation experts. Quantity had a quality all of its own, and while Tang Jie had seemed very impressive, it was actually hard for him to kill any one of them.


    But the Venomheart King''s scheme had given Tang Jie an opportunity.


    The Venomheart King was infamous for its shameless and poisonous heart, willing to even sacrifice its allies for the sake of victory. If it intended to stomp Tang Jie to death, then it would have to give up on the Heaven Swallowing King.


    What Tang Jie had to do was very simple¡ªhe just had tost longer than the Heaven Swallowing King under the hooves of the beasts.


    This wasn''t difficult at all.


    Once the toad was dead, Tang Jie borrowed the power of the Herding Yang Pearl to break free.


    Tang Jie opened his mouth and spat out the pearl.


    This thing had been damaged in the battle against the Blood River, and as Tang Jie continued to get stronger, it ced more burden on it, so it was impossible to use it for very long. Thus, after using it at the key moment, he spat it back out again.


    He threw out the corpse of the Heaven Swallowing King, and the toad arced through the air andnded next to Zhao Qing.


    "Mine," he said.


    In truth, nobody was going to try and take it from him. Everyone could see that he had been the one to kill it.


    Turning to the Venomheart King, Tang Jie scornfully said, "Trying to scheme against me? You''re not even close to my level."


    The Venomheart King trembled in rage. It was well known among the fiends for its intelligence and schemes, and through its countless plots, it never gave the humans the opportunity to fight a proper battle, with numerous powerful foes falling at its hands. But to its surprise, Tang Jie had turned the tables and used it to kill the Heaven Swallowing King.


    Removing one of the three fiend kings wasn''t simply removing a third of their power. One also had to consider how closely they worked with each other and their ability to offer each other support.


    Savagely smiling, Tang Jie began to walk toward the Venomheart King.


    The Venomheart King was aghast. It had just experienced Tang Jie''s terrifying strength, and it did not dare to let him get close. As it hastily retreated, it waved its hand, ordering the two Skyshakers to charge at Tang Jie. The Colossus King also bellowed, shooting its tusks at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie shook his arm, producing the axe made of Mother Cloud Essence Metal, blocking the tusks, and then he chopped at the Skyshaker on his right. This axe was perfect for dealing with huge beasts like the Skyshakers, a single chop causing blood to fountain from the beast. Tang Jie then raised the axe and instantly unleashed hundreds of blows, leaving the Skyshaker howling and forcing it to back away.


    But after blocking the Colossus King and the Skyshaker on the right, he had no means of evading the Skyshaker on the left. This massive beast rammed into him, a sharp horn stabbing into his body. If Tang Jie hadn''t been in his giant form, this strike would have pulverized his body. Having pierced through Tang Jie, the Skyshaker lifted him up.


    Tang Jie''s left hand shed, and a golden weapon appeared in it.


    The Sovereign de!


    The Sovereign de was bigger than before, and with a shake of a hand, he had it transform into a saber and swung it down at the horn, slicing it off. The Skyshaker howled in pain as Tang Jie changed the saber into a sword and stabbed it into the Skyshaker''s body. As the Sovereign de entered the body, it unleashed a blinding light that extended forward, piercing through the Skyshaker and out the other side, continuing its destructive path.


    The Skyshaker copsed with a howl, dying on the spot.


    The Skyshakers were famous for their power, and that one on the right had taken several hundred blows from the axe and was still alive. But the one on the left had died from a single sword strike, causing the remaining two kings to back away in shock.


    Tang Jie pulled out the Sovereign de and smiled at the Venomheart King.


    The Venomheart King''s heart grew cold, and it shouted, "Colossus King, hold him off while I use my Peerless Heaven w Divine Connection to kill him!"


    Divine Connections were powers that only those at Violet Pce or Divine Division could use, but the Colossus King epted the suggestion without hesitation, clearly not doubting that the Venomheart King had such power. It lowered its head at Tang Jie, and a powerful torrent of air shot out of its snout, moving toward Tang Jie like a tornado¡ªit was clearly no longer bold enough to directly attack with its trunk.


    Tang Jie jeered, "Idiot!"


    He pulled out the Skyshaker horn embedded in his body, causing blood to gush out, and used the horn to block this attack. At the same time, he said, "Why don''t you look and see if yourrade is really using that Divine Connection?"


    rmed, the Colossus King looked back and saw that the Venomheart King really was exerting all its strength into casting the Divine Connection rather than using the opportunity to run.


    Startled, it realized that something was wrong and turned to see Tang Jie''s enormous bodying down on it. "I said you were an idiot, actually looking back when I told you to!"


    Boom!


    A giant elbow mmed into the mammoth''s head, causing the mammoth to bend its forelegs and prostrate before Tang Jie.

 Chapter 639: Beheading

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After having brought the mammoth to its knees, Tang Jie grabbed its trunk again and threw the mammoth at the Venomheart King. "Fuck your Peerless Heaven w!"


    This sudden strike sent the Venomheart King flying. But while its head was thrown back and it threw up blood, it thrust a w at Tang Jie. Tang Jie instantly felt a huge danger approaching, and he raised the axe to block in front of him.


    A st of sharp finger energy deformed the axe and continued forward, mming into Tang Jie''s chest. It went right through him, punching five holes in his heart. Finally, the eyes of the Venomheart King glinted as it waved its left hand and shouted, "Go!"


    Thest Skyshaker howled and stabbed its sharp horn into Tang Jie''s back.


    Tang Jie roared and punched out with his right fist.


    Devil Crushing Fist!


    This punch blew apart the Skyshaker''s head.


    Tang Jie staggered back several steps with anotherrge hole in his body.


    This string of battles, all the twists and turns, had gone by at a dizzying pace, and they were also extremely bitter and fraught.


    The three Skyshakers were all dead, and the Venomheart King wasn''t in a much better state. It had been rammed into by the Colossus King, and then it had forcibly used the Peerless Heaven w, suffering a bacsh. Finally, it had used Divine Will to control the Skyshaker, which had been mentally taxing. It fell from the sky and struggled to get back up.


    As for Tang Jie, his injuries had grown more serious. Not even considering all the stomping he had suffered, he had been stabbed by the horns of two Skyshakers. These horns were like giant pirs, and the two of them had basically hollowed Tang Jie out. And there was the Venomheart King''s Peerless Heaven w. Even though it had been used in a hurry, it was still absurdly powerful. Putting aside its piercing power, it could be unleashed from a distance and controlled from a distance, allowing it to pierce through his heart. Even with his tough body, it was hard to endure such an attack. In a rare sight, Tang Jie was forced to use a divine medicine. The Dao of Life took life force, and he wouldn''t use it unless the situation was dire.


    The only one who was fine was the Colossus King.


    Even after taking that elbow from Tang Jie and then being thrown out, it still seemed okay. Shaking its head, it emerged from the fresh crater and red at Tang Jie. "You dare trick me!"


    It howled, two more tusks shooting out while its snout smashed down at Tang Jie.


    It no longer feared Tang Jie grabbing its trunk, as Tang Jie was clearly too injured for that.


    Sure enough, Tang Jie didn''t take on this offensive directly, instead dodging to the right.


    The Colossus King said in delight, "Even you have days like this!"


    It jumped up, hurling its huge body at Tang Jie. "Let''s see how you deal with this!"


    Looking up at that descending mammoth, Tang Jie snorted and said, "I have plenty of ways, but I''m afraid you won''t be able tost long enough to see them all!"


    He was in the middle of recovering and had also just used the Devil Crushing Fist, so he was short of strength, yet he didn''t panic in the face of the falling Colossus King, simply extending his right hand and snapping his fingers.


    A mighty roar came from the earth, and a giant fissure opened up. Countless ck vines emerged from it, shooting up into the sky and coiling around the Colossus King like snakes¡ªck Sin had arrived.


    While Tang Jie had been fighting down below, up on the walls, Yiyi had summoned ck Sin long ago. It was just that she had kept it hidden this whole time, waiting for a moment to catch the Colossus King by surprise. Now, no matter how the Colossus King bellowed, the vines continued to pull it down. While it was constantly breaking the vines, more vines poured out of the chasm, binding it tightly. ck Sin had been waiting for a very long time for this moment, and there was no way it was letting the Colossus King escape.


    As it was about to be pulled into the abyss, the Colossus King roared, "Devilbane Lock,e out!"


    As it roared, it spat out a giant stone lock, which flew into the sky and began to radiate multicolored light as it expanded and slowly descended.


    "The Devilbane Lock! It''s the Devilbane Lock!" Everyone in Dongjin Pass was in an uproar.


    The fiends weren''t creators, and they weren''t very proficient in fields like pills, talismans, formations, and tools, which was where fiends were the most inferior to humans, and it was one of the reasons they didn''t use many treasures in battle. But while they couldn''t create, they could take. There were always some human cultivators who fell in battle, and the fiends took their treasures and refined them for their own use.


    The Devilbane Lock had been the treasure of a powerful human cultivator. After his death in battle, the Colossus King had taken it and refined it, regarding it as a precious valuable that it was not willing to show to others.


    As the Devilbane Lock appeared, it filled the world with its majestic power, making everyone want to prostrate to it. It had the power to seal and suppress all things.


    Down below in the chasm, ck Sin shrieked, and all of its vines retreated. A momentter, it dissipated with a bang, and Yiyi turned ghastly pale and threw up blood.


    This was the first time ck Sin had failed at its task and bacshed onto its master!


    "Be careful! The Devilbane Lock is an item that suppresses all evil things in the world!" General Gu shouted.


    ck Sin was an evil creature, so it was naturally suppressed by the Devilbane Lock, and the result was not surprising. As for fiends, they weren''t actually evil creatures. "Evil" and "righteous" depended on the path one cultivated, and fiends did not innately belong to the evil path. The difference between them and humans was one of race, not morality.


    Tang Jie rolled his eyes. "You said it toote."


    He then looked at the Colossus King. "You want topete with me in treasure? Fine!"


    He threw the Treasure Cosmos Formation diagram into the air.


    Countless beams of treasure light fell on the Colossus King. They first fell on the Devilbane Lock, and while this lock was extremely powerful and was further empowered by the Colossus King, it was no match for thebined might of all these treasures. As the treasure lights swept over it, the lock lost all its light and dropped to the ground. The treasure lights then illuminated the Colossus King, who was instantly sted to the earth. Its body melted away like snow, and it let out a wail of unprecedented fear.


    It wasn''t dead primarily because it had a powerful vitality and because the Treasure Cosmos Formation was more of a wide-area attack, and it was difficult to concentrate its power. After a few moments of focused attack, its power began to disperse, bringing cmity upon the smaller fiends in the area. The addition of the Whitebrow King and Ghostface King had originally greatly increased the pressure on Dongjin Pass, and the losses had been starting to climb, but as the treasures let out their light, the fiends began to die in swaths. The one Treasure Cosmos Formation killed thousands of fiends, striking fear into the survivors'' hearts.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, calling the Devilbane Lock to him. Smiling, he said, "Another fine treasure."


    With a stroke of his hand, he wiped away the brand on the lock. At this time, the Treasure Cosmos Formation finished unleashing its might and returned to the formation diagram, which fell to the ground. Tang Jie grabbed it, took out an art relic and destroyed it, and then put the lock in. In this way, the formation went from sixteen to seventeen divine treasures, and he hadn''t even put in treasures like the Herding Yang Pearl or the lotusmp.


    The Colossus King threw up blood at this sight.


    This was a divine treasure! The Colossus King had expended much effort to acquire it, but now, Tang Jie had taken it away, and it couldn''t help but shout, "You thief!"


    "Ah, I wonder if the Heaven Swallowing King or Venomheart King have any treasures." Ignoring it, Tang Jie put away the diagram and looked at the nearby Venomheart King.


    His intent was obvious.


    The just-recovered Venomheart King trembled and shouted, "Colossus, hold him off so that I can burn my Divine Soul and y him with the Godking Whip! This time, you had better not take his bait!"


    Burning one''s Divine Soul to use a divine treasure would greatly increase its power. It was clear that the Venomheart King was going all-out.


    "Understood!" The Colossus King staggered back up, intending to fight to the very end.


    Tang Jie sneered. "A fool who only knows how to be used by others, wasting your life to cover someone else''s retreat."


    The Colossus King shouted, "Don''t even try that again! I won''t be falling for it this time!"


    Tang Jie shook his head and pointed behind it. "I''m telling the truth this time. He''s already run off, using you to cover his retreat."


    The Colossus King continued to stare at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie helplessly smiled. "Alright, it''s your choice to believe me or not. If you have the guts, just keep on waiting and don''t look back."


    Tang Jie folded his arms and waited. His injuries still weren''t healed, and this was the perfect opportunity to recover.


    The Colossus King''s mind was shaken. Clenching its teeth, it said to itself, I can''t believe this scammer!


    But after a few moments, when there was still nothing happening behind it, it finally began to get afraid.


    Why wasn''t the Venomheart King done yet?


    An irrepressible thought welled up, and the Colossus King slowly turned its head.


    It turned very slowly.


    It was afraid that Tang Jie would suddenly attack, but it was also hoping that the Godking Whip would appear and y this bastard.


    But when it saw what was behind it, it was dumbfounded.


    There was nothing behind it! The Venomheart King was gone, a distant multicolored light moving away like a lightning bolt.


    This bastard!


    It had abandoned him and run off!


    Dogshit ''burning Divine Soul''!


    Dogshit ''Godking Whip''!


    This shameless, vulgar, obscene, wicked bastard! It had run off to save its own hide!


    "NOOO!" the Colossus King howled.


    A dazzling beam of sword energy appeared behind the Colossus King.


    The Colossus King froze, and then itsrge elephantine head slid from its neck, blood gushing out from the wound and drenching Tang Jie''s body.


    The head rolled up to Tang Jie''s side, its eyes still open and staring at Tang Jie in disbelief.


    "I warned you not to look back," Tang Jie coldly said, stomping on the head.


    Pa!


    The elephantine head sttered.

 Chapter 640: The Bill

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    "Raaa!"


    As the mammoth head fell, cheers erupted from the walls.


    Human morale reached its maximum, and the fiends that hade with the three fiend kings began to run.


    The Whitebrow and Ghostface Kings saw the situation and realized that they wouldn''t be getting anything from this battle, so they sighed and gave the order to retreat.


    Before leaving, the White Brow Lemur nced at Tang Jie and chuckled. "Tang Jie, yes? You''re quite the fierce one, killing three fiend kings. We''ll be watching you."


    The two fiend kings hurried off.


    This bloody battle came to an end.


    Several people flew down from the walls. Their leader was the general of Dongjin Pass, Gu Pinzhang, and behind him were three people. One was a middle-aged schr holding arge brush, one was a blue-clothed man with arge broadsword on his back, and the other was an armored soldier with a spear. These three were the reinforcements who had been sent to help Tang Jie but had been intercepted by the Whitebrow and Ghostface Kings.


    Gu Pinzhang flew up to Tang Jie and bowed to him. "Gu Pinzhang pays respects to True Person Tang. In today''s battle, True Person Tang fought against three kings and slew two of them. Such a wondrous feat for my Fengshan is truly something worth celebrating!"


    "General is too polite." Tang Jie bowed.


    The three others also bowed to Tang Jie. After seeing Tang Jie''s power, even the proudest of them did not dare to look down on him. Gu Pinzhang introduced them as Sun Shuming, Liu Yunshan, and Zhang Tu.


    Tang Jie had heard of Sun Shuming before. This was a Soul Transformation cultivator who was also a famous calligrapher. He had once served as an assistant minister in the Ministry of Revenue, but after Dongjin fell into crisis, he had been transferred here to serve the army. In the battle just now, he had waved his brush in the air, tracing powerful words, which was rather like Zhang Shuhan.


    Liu Yunshan was the young lord of the number one sect of Fengshan, the Celestial Sword Sect, and the son of Sect Master Liu Zongchang. But while he was the "young lord", he had actually cultivated for more than four hundred years. He only appeared young, thirty years old at most.


    Zhang Tu carried the title of "the Iron Horse General". He had started off as a mortal general, and he had killed his way to his current achievements. He was currently the fiercest general of Dongjin Pass, and while he might not have been as strong as Sun Shuming or Liu Yunshan, he had killed more than any of them. His name hadn''t originally been Zhang Tu, but after taking an oath to exterminate the fiends, he changed his name to Tu (ughter).


    They exchanged looks, and then Gu Pinzhangughed and said, "Come,e,e. Today, we celebrate a major victory over the fiends, and True Person Tang is to be the guest of honor at the victory feast. True Person, please join me in the city."


    Tang Jie smiled. "There''s no need for a feast, but I must ask the general to settle the bill."


    "What bill?" Gu Pinzhang was startled.


    Tang Jie passed a piece of paper to Gu Pinzhang. "This is my contract with the government, and you can see it has the stamp of the ruler. General, please pay me ording to the contract."


    Gu Pinzhang numbly took the paper and looked it over, and then he paled. "1500 spirit coins for lower-grade Mind Opening, 2500 for middle-grade, 5000 for upper-grade, 15,000 for lower-grade Transformation, 25,000 for middle-grade, and 50,000 for upper-grade!"


    "It''s discounted," Tang Jie noted.


    He waved a hand, and Yiyi came over with the fiends Tang Jie had killed, cing them in front of the group. "More than a thousand fiends were killed in this battle. I''ve counted 312 lower-grade Mind Opening, 238 middle-grade, and 156 upper-grade. As for Transformation, there are 12 lower-grade, 1 middle-grade, and two upper-grade fiend kings, and also three Skyshakers. Also, the Treasure Cosmos Formation killed more than a thousand fiends, but it''s difficult to evaluate their grade because of the number killed."


    Tang Jie added, "We''ll take a big loss and count them all as lower-grade Mind Opening, and put the number at eight hundred. Skyshakers have no set price, so let''s count them as lower-grade Transformation."


    Tang Jie''s face exuded fairness.


    Yiyi nodded and began to flick around an abacus. Finally, she said, "In total, it''s 3,393,000 spirit coins."


    This number made Gu Pinzhang''s group dizzy.


    Tang Jie felt like this was a little much and said, "Let''s round down."


    Yiyi nodded. "Mm, then it''s three million."


    Shit, I was saying to only get rid of the 3,000!


    Gu Pinzhang was visibly unhappy. Frowning, he said, "You''re saying that this general must pay three million for your work?"


    "And those fiend corpses are mine." Perhaps noticing the coldness on General Gu''s face, Tang Jie made a concession. "Of course, it''s difficult to determine what was killed by the formation, so I can give up on that part."


    General Gu sternly replied, "Don''t you think three million is a little too much? My Dongjin Pass truly does determine achievements based on kill count, but nobody has ever been rewarded like this before. To be honest, even if I rewarded the entire army for this whole war, I wouldn''t spend this much money. Does True Person Tang consider me someone easy to trick?"


    Tang Jie indifferently replied, "General Gu, aren''t you going a little too far? These are the conditions I reached with your country. If you think it''s a lot, it''s not because I''m asking for a lot, but because I killed a lot."


    Gu Pinzhang narrowed his eyes.


    Yes, Tang Jie was right. He only felt like it was a lot not because the prices were high, but because the quantity was.


    In this battle, the forces of the three fiend kings had suffered disastrous losses, which meant that three fiend cities had suffered severe blows.


    In previous battles, just draining the enemy forces by a tenth was decent.


    If the costs were any greater, would the fiends still even be able to call it a hunt?


    Thus, before, they had only pushed back the enemy. Only this time could they be considered to have truly attained a victory.


    And behind this stunning victory was Tang Jie''s astronomical reward.


    A reward of three million spirit coins had even Gu Pinzhang wincing in pain.


    It wasn''t that he couldn''t pay. It wasmonce to spend millions on such battles. The activation of the formation alone required the investment of countless resources. Fortunately, he had the support of all of Fengshan. But never before had he paid out three million at one time, and to only a single person!


    In a battle, even a Soul Transformation cultivator normally got a reward of three hundred thousand at most.


    The fiends were no fools, and nobody would just stand there and let themselves be killed. Powerful cultivators would have to face off against powerful cultivators, and nobody was able to recklessly reap a fortune.


    Nobody could have expected to run into a freak like Tang Jie, harvesting a fortune of millions with a single formation diagram. Of course, if one considered his costs, then it wasn''t strange at all for him to reach these numbers. This was like putting in an investment of one billion, so the interest alone would be impressive. s, General Gu didn''t understand finance, so there was no point in exining it to him.


    Regardless, three million was a huge number to Gu Pinzhang. If this money had been used on city defense, it could provide even more energy to the formation, more arrows to the soldiers, more resources for the cultivators. In short, there were plenty of uses for this money. But to use it on a single person¡­ wasn''t that a little too expensive?


    Gu Pinzhang didn''t know about the Parting ssic. From his perspective, if this money were used entirely on cultivation resources, one could consume them nonstop for two years and still not be done with them.


    He looked at Tang Jie for quite a while before sincerely saying, "True Person Tang, the attacks of the fiends are ceaseless, and Dongjin Pass is crucial to preventing the enemy from getting through. When the country and humanity are in peril, everyone must step up and do their part. How can one quibble over small profits? If Dongjin ceases to be, humanity will be in dire straits. When the nest is overturned, no egg will survive, so what would be the point in being a rich man?"


    He spoke with great righteousness, and even Tang Jie couldn''t help but feel admiration for this old general. Who said that soldiers were brutes? This old general seemed to have quite the silver tongue. He was talking up righteousness and loyalty so that he could blow off this bill of three million spirit coins.


    Tang Jie sighed. "That''s why I''m giving a discount. If I calcted seriously, I could have charged as much as eight million."


    Gu Pinzhang''s eyes almost popped out.


    Tang Jie added, "Moreover, this money will be traded by me for cultivation resources. Cultivators have to be powerful in order to attain such achievements."


    "And also to seize more money," Liu Yunshan coldly said.


    Tang Jie chuckled, not angered by these words. "If you feel like I charge too much, then you just don''t need to hire me in the future. But it would be best if you paid this bill. General, you are actually benefiting. I didn''t take a single coin from the government for Hundred Battle City, and while Dongjin suffered for a few days because of it, ever since then, thends to the south of Dongjin have been under much less pressure. Am I wrong?"


    Hundred Battle City had been the fiend city closest to the border, and now that the city had been massacred, it was Fengshan who had benefited the most. Just the expansion of actual territory controlled and the reduction in pressure from fiends was worth celebrating, especially considering that Fengshan hadn''t lost a single soldier over it.


    The general gave Tang Jie a long look before finally saying, "Give it to him!"


    He turned and flew back to the walls, the three following close behind.


    As hended back on the wall, Gu Pinzhang suddenly said, "Tang Jie, in the future, you are not to intervene unless I request it. Otherwise, this old man might have to refuse the bill."


    Tang Jie bowed. "I obey the general''s order!"


    Gu Pinzhang turned and left.


    He had originally nned to fete Tang Jie at a banquet, but now, nobody was in the mood for that.


    Tang Jie didn''t care in the slightest.


    The biggest problem with him was that he wasn''t a native of Fengshan, so he had no concept of protecting the mothend. It was quite the opposite. He was spending every moment he had thinking of how to leave! For him, he and Fengshan were simply coborators. If Fengshan needed his strength, it needed to pay the price.


    In this, there was no right or wrong. Tang Jie wasn''t wrong, nor was Gu Pinzhang. Everyone had to consider problems from their own perspective.


    Ultimately, strength decided everything.


    He looked up at the sky. With the fiends dispersed, the clouds scattered, revealing the light behind them.


    Tang Jie cracked a smile and flew back to the city.

 Chapter 641: Straight Up to the Verdant Clouds

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The people on the walls were still celebrating the victory.


    Humans rarely had major victories like this against the fiends.


    When Tang Jiended on the wall, all the soldiers and cultivators looked at him with respect and reverence, and when Tang Jie walked through, everyone made way for him and sincerely bowed.


    Some cultivators came forward and tried to build a rtionship with him, and Tang Jie spoke with them without putting on airs. He quickly came to know these cultivators, including some of the people he had taken notice of earlier.


    That white-clothed swordsman with the power of Insight was called Ximen Changfeng, and he was a sword cultivator from the western regions of Fengshan. The zither yer was called Ice Phoenix, and nobody knew what her actual name was. The one using the soul-gathering banner was called Ye Xiao, and the one controlling puppets was Shentu Yuan, a member of Fengshan''s Shentu n. Thest one, who had been riding a yellow goat and holding a white lotus, was called Elder Yellow Goat. He was a hermit cultivator, and he had only emerged from his seclusion because humanity was in crisis.


    Although this was their first meeting, they got along very well.


    As they were chatting, an officer walked over with a silk box, which he passed to Tang Jie. "City Guardian Gu asked this lowly one to pass this to Sir."


    Tang Jie took the box and looked inside, and he found that there were thirty banknotes from the Huitong Bank, each one with the denomination of one hundred thousand. The Huitong Bank was a bank in Fengshan specifically servicing cultivators, and it had branches across the country. If Gu Pinzhang was giving him these, then there was probably a branch in Dongjin Pass.


    Tang Jie put them away and said, "Thank the general for his generosity for me."


    The officer left without saying much more.


    Tang Jie was tired from his battle, so he got away from everyone by iming that he needed to rest.


    Before he had gotten far, someone ran over and said, "True Person Tang, True Person Tang, please wait a moment!"


    He turned and saw Zhao Qing panting as he ran over, holding something in his hand. It was the jade pendant art relic Tang Jie had given him earlier.


    Zhao Qing said, "Sir, this is yours. I have to return it to you."


    Tang Jie smiled. "I gave it to you, so you can keep it."


    "How could that do? This lowly one did only a trifling task and does not dare to ept such a valuable gift," Zhao Qing hurriedly said, but from his expression, he seemed reluctant to give it back.


    "''A valuable gift''¡­" Tang Jie muttered. For a mortal soldier, this jade pendant truly was worthy of being a family treasure.


    After some thought, Tang Jie said, "Why don''t we do this? As I''ve just arrived in Dongjin Pass, I''m not familiar with the area. You can be my guide and take me around, and this will be your reward. What do you think?"


    Zhao Qing was taken aback.


    Just being a guide would let him get an art relic?


    "What? Do you not want to?" Tang Jie indifferently asked.


    Zhao Qing came to his senses and vigorously nodded. "I do! I want to!"


    "Then let''s go." Tang Jie started walking.


    Unlike other cities, while Dongjin Pass was big, it wasn''t bustling. Few civilians lived here, and almost everything here existed to serve the soldiers protecting the city. As a human fortress against the fiends, the entire city had been designed for war.


    The insides of Dongjin Pass were like a giant maze. Not only was there no gate, even the interior structure was arranged for tactical purposes. There was a space-restricting formationid out above the city that prevented fiends from flying in, and the streets below were narrow, with the buildings lining them being mostly made of steel. The windows faced the street, allowing those within to make attacks from them. The streets wereplicated and the buildings almost identical such that one would have to live here for some time to grasp theiryout and not get lost. There were also countless underground tunnels that linked to all manner of ces. Together with the buildings on the surface, they created a three-dimensional defensive system.


    Using spirit-sealing and istion formations, they could weaken the fiends and give ordinary soldiers the chance to earn some merit.


    Through these various methods, humanity had turned Dongjin Pass into an imprable fortress, making it so that even if the fiends broke through the walls, they wouldn''t necessarily win. All that awaited them was even more vicious and gruesome urbanbat.


    Cultivator wars were both different and simr to mortal wars.


    They differed when it came to abilities, which meant that cultivators didn''t have to deal with many of the restrictions mortals had to deal with. For example, cultivators could fly, soplex terrain was basically meaningless to them, but what reced it was huge andplicated defensive formations.


    Dongjin Pass was a massive city that relied on defensive formations, but this massive city was actually one of the cores of an evenrger formation, the Divine Heaven Devour Formation. It was this supersized formation that reced the mountains in keeping out the fiends, and it was what made Dongjin Pass a target that needed to be attacked. Besides Tang Jie, there were sixteen Soul Transformation cultivators on the Dongjin front, but most of them were distributed across other critical locations around Dongjin, creating a vast andplicated defensivework.


    Where the kinds of wars were simr was in tactics. Whether in mortal wars or cultivator wars, core principles like greater numbers oveing smaller numbers, elites beating out rank and file, and seeking to attain victory at the smallest cost did not change. They simply manifested in different ways.


    As Zhao Qing guided him through Dongjin Pass, Tang Jie came to understand this city more and more.


    The more he understood, the more excited he became!


    For Tang Jie, Dongjin Pass was like a paradise of formations.


    Everywhere he looked, he saw shing formation lines. The paving stones on the ground, the decorative beasts on the eaves, the signboards hanging over doors¡ªeverything had a deeper significance, with perhaps even theyout of the city being for the sake of a formation. Every street was a formation line, every special building a node, every winding alley a circuit, every refreshing well a formation eye.


    Once the fiends broke through the walls, rather than a harvest, what awaited them was a meat grinder of formations and soldiers, like hunters hunting caged beasts.


    The fusion of formations and nature had reached an apex in Dongjin Pass. Large formations covered small formations and small formations merged withrge formations, all of them interlinked. Tang Jie was enchanted by each node and formation line he saw.


    He was capable of some of these things, but there were also some things he couldn''t do, and there were even things he had never even imagined. Only after seeing them did he realize that formations could beid down this way.


    Formations of such size andplexity couldn''t be done by a single person. The formations here were the collective effort of hundreds of the best formation masters in thest thousand years of Fengshan''s history.


    For this reason, while other people might see Dongjin Pass as a ughtering ground, it was a formation heaven for Tang Jie.


    The moment he saw it, he liked it.


    For the next few days, Tang Jie resided in Dongjin Pass.


    Gu Pinzhang had arranged a residence for him. It should have been free, but General Gu had hardened up and charged him ten thousand spirit coins. Selling a single house for ten thousand spirit coins was quite harsh for General Gu.


    Tang Jie didn''t mind. He proceeded to throw himself into formation research. In the past, Tang Jie hadn''t liked the Dao of Formations, but the Dao of Formations had liked him. But as the years went by and Tang Jie immersed himself in it, he had developed a deep fondness for it. To research the Dao of Formations, he even gave up on his infiltration into fiend territory.


    Dongjin Pass''s formations were vast and profound, and Tang Jie was quickly fascinated by his research. People would often spot Tang Jie in some random corner of Dongjin Pass, sometimes silently gazing up at the sky and at other times squatting on the ground and watching ants. There were also times when he would draw like a madman or jump up and down, and in some extreme cases, he would activate a formation, causing a great ruckus. Fortunately, he was tactful enough to not cause too much trouble. As time went on, people came to understand that Tang Jie was a little crazy, and they started calling him Madman Tang Jie.


    Some of the more insightful people knew that Tang Jie was researching the formations of Dongjin Pass, but this made them wonder: weren''t all body cultivators brainless brutes? How could one be so enchanted by formations?


    Besides researching formations, Tang Jie also took some time every day to head into the Astral Winds to temper his body.


    He had obtained many fiend corpses from the Dongjin Pass battle, so this was the perfect time for another round of cultivation. Four years of constantly entering the Astral Windyer of Verdant Cloud had greatly increased the time he could stay in them. Although he still wasn''t confident that he could break through the Astral Winds, he was sure that as he got stronger, that day wasn''t far off in the future.


    Today, Tang Jie was finally on thest of his fiend corpse stockpile. His resistance to the Astral Winds had grown once more.


    Looking up at the sky, Tang Jie muttered, "It''s time to try."


    He had been able to enter the Verdant Cloud Domain thanks to the Jade Immortal Pavilion and the Mother Cloud Essence Metal armor, but this time, Tang Jie was going to rely on himself to push through the Astral Winds.


    He called out his avatar from the diagram, and the two merged.


    The merged Tang Jie had the tenacity of the original body and the elegance of the avatar.


    Gazing up at the green clouds above, he smiled and then soared upward.


    He sted upward like a rocket, and the green Astral Winds wrapped around him like mes. The higher he flew, the stronger the Astral Winds became, brimming with destructive power.


    But Tang Jie didn''t care, continuing to fly upward. The Astral Winds swept across his face like knives, but what did it matter? When he first entered, each gust would carry awayrge chunks of flesh with it, but the damage now was greatly reduced. Back then, Tang Jie had had to rely on his formidable recovery abilities to constantly heal his injuries, engaging in a desperate struggle with the terrifying Astral Winds.


    As someone who had entered the Astral Winds countless times, Tang Jie had long ago gotten a handle on their strength, and he knew that he was bound to be the winner. In the process, though, there was a small miscalction, which was that Tang Jie found that leaving the Verdant Cloud Domain took longer than entering the Verdant Cloud Domain, probably because falling would always be faster than rising.


    This miscalction meant that Tang Jie spent almost fifteen more minutes than he expected in flight, but in the end, he managed to endure it.


    As he broke through the Astral Windyer, Tang Jie returned to the infinite void.


    Looking down at the churning green clouds, Tang Jieughed, "I''ve done it!"


    A massive step!


    Starting from today, the Verdant Cloud Domain was no longer his cage! He was once more free to roam as he pleased!

 Chapter 642: Underground River

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    When the fiends weren''t attacking, Dongjin Pass was rather peaceful.


    Other than researching formations and tempering himself in the Astral Winds, Tang Jie also interacted with other cultivators.


    Today, Tang Jie was studying a Minor Celestial Jade Combat Formation diagram. This formation wasn''t tooplicated, and Tang Jie could easilyy out seven or eight of them in different styles, but this one was linked to andbined with other formations rather exquisitely. It wasbined with four other formations, and the ingenuity shown was well worth studying.


    If he couldpletely understand it, he would be able to greatly improve his ability to ovey formations.


    Tang Jie had always been an expert in the natural way of using formations,bining formations with nature. But his ability to ovep formations atop each other and increase their power wasparatively unimpressive.


    Now that he had a reference to study, he threw himself into learning. He inspected the formation lines before him, pondering the significance of how everything was organized, his fingers tracing across the ground and slicing through the stones as if they were tofu.


    The ghost guard and Yiyi stood at his side.


    As he was studying, someone outside shouted, "Is Big Brother Tang there? It''s us!"


    Tang Jie had gotten to know everyone rather well, so he could immediately tell that this was Shentu Yuan.


    He pped his hands, and the doors opened.


    Four people came in: none other than Ximen Changfeng, Shentu Yuan, Ice Phoenix, and Ye Xiao. Surprisingly, the four of them hade together to visit him.


    They saluted Tang Jie, and then Shentu Yuan nced at the formation lines carved into the ground and smiled. "I''ve heard that Big Brother Tang is a formation expert alongside being both bold and courageous, and it seems that this was no lie. I also happen to understand a little about formations, so if you have the time, we should exchange pointers."


    Now that they had gotten to know each other, everyone stopped referring to each other as True Persons, instead referring to each other as brothers. Tang Jie''s strength meant that the others called him Big Brother Tang, even though he was younger than them.


    "Deal!" Tang Jie agreed.


    The Shentu n was famous for its puppets, so they were naturally experts in formations as well.


    Ye Xiao nced at the ghost guard and stopped cold. Pointing at it, he stammered, "This¡­ this is¡­ the Ghost Dao!"


    This was Ye Xiao''s first time seeing the ghost guard, and it was like he had seen a peerless beauty, his feet fixed to the ground.


    Circling around the ghost guard, he praised, "Wondrous! Truly wondrous! I''ve never heard of such methods!"


    He failed to notice the ghost guard''s eyes following him.


    Tang Jie smiled. "I asionally dabble in some of the Ghost Dao''s techniques, but I''m far from reaching Big Brother Ye Xiao''s mastery."


    Ye Xiao shook his head vigorously. "In terms of technique, the creation method is rather amateur, not the work of any master, but the core secret arts are exquisite, and it could only be the secret art passed down by a great Ghost Dao sect. It''s just a pity that Big Brother Tang was not able to research it more deeply and only made this single ghost guard. If you had developed it more, you could have been a Ghost Dao genius, much better than some brute."


    He had be so engrossed in the topic that he even looked down on Tang Jie''s status as a body cultivator.


    Ice Phoenix gave him a nudge, reminding Ye Xiao that this was a Soul Transformation¨Clevel "brute" he was talking to, who could kill a scrawny "Ghost Dao genius" with a single p.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie knew how impassioned cultivators became and that this wasn''t an intentional insult, so he didn''t take it to heart.


    After ending Ye Xiao''s digression into the Ghost Dao, everyone turned to the main topic.


    After exchanging pleasantries, Ice Phoenix said, "We''vee to visit because there are two matters that we would like Big Brother Tang''s help with!"


    "I can hear you out," Tang Jie replied.


    "First, we would like to ask if Big Brother Tang still has the mammoth tusks and poison sac from the fiend kings killed that day. We would like to buy them from Brother Tang."


    As fiend kings were fiends who had reachedter-phase Transformation, all of their body could be considered a treasure, but the exact value of each part depended on the fiend. For example, the most valuable part of the Colossus King was its tusks, which could be used to refine offensive art relics to improve their quality and power. As for the poison sac of the Moonswallower Golden Toad, it was a rareponent for making medicines. When Tang Jie had taken down the two fiend kings, countless people had been eying his spoils, but they were too afraid of his strength to try anything.


    Ice Phoenix and the others hadn''t been familiar with Tang Jie at the time, and as they had no idea of his personality, they didn''t dare to suggest buying them. After all, there were plenty of cultivators with strange personalities. If they ran into a troublesome one, mentioning the possibility of purchasing those things might only end up offending him.


    But once they found that Tang Jie wasn''t hard to get along with and developed some friendship, they finally brought the matter up, confident that Tang Jie wouldn''t just hoard everything for himself.


    Hearing that they wanted it, Tang Jie nodded and said, "I have them. If you want them, you can make an offer."


    By no means did he offer to give them away. It wasn''t that he cared about this little bit of money, but social rtions weren''t just about treating people well. On the contrary, excessive friendliness could cause one to be looked down upon.


    The four were happy to hear Tang Jie agree, and they gave their offers. The prices were quite sensible, making clear that the four understood that they couldn''t rely on their status as friends to get some discount. Thus, Tang Jie agreed.


    After handing over the tusks and poison sac, Tang Jie asked about the second matter.


    Shentu Yuan said, "I have heard that Tang Jie has constantly been searching for some things, like Dragonbone Spirit Sesame, and is even willing to pay a high price for them?"


    Tang Jie was stunned. "You have news on Dragonbone Spirit Sesame?"


    "No," Shentu Yuan replied. "But I do have some information on Withering Yin Grass."


    Withering Yin Grass was another rare material that Tang Jie was looking for. This substance existed between reality and illusion, and it was said to be found only within the Nether River. But this river was located in the Nether Domain and nowhere else, so the grass was also extremely hard to find.


    Tang Jie was shaken at the prospect. "Where?"


    Shentu Yuan replied, "To be more precise, it''s not information on Withering Yin Grass, but on the ckwater River."


    "''The ckwater River''?" Tang Jie muttered.


    Ye Xiao added, "The ckwater River is an underground river that flows out from the Nether River."


    Some of the domains of the Great Ster Chiliocosm were rather special. Rather than existing in the infinite void, they existed in a parallel dimension and were connected to all other domains.


    The Nether Domain and Shadow Domain were examples of this kind of domain, and thergest of them all was the Primordial Fog Domain. These domains were the negative domains, the dark side of the universe.


    This connection meant that even if the Nether River was only found in the Nether Domain, there was a possibility it could appear in other domains, which was why there was also hope that he could find the Withering Yin Grass elsewhere.


    ording to Ye Xiao, the Nether River had appeared in the Verdant Cloud Domain once, and the distributary formed from it was the ckwater River. As the ckwater River originated from the Nether River, there was a high chance of finding the grass there.


    "Where is the ckwater River?" Tang Jie asked.


    Shentu Yuan and the others smiled in victory, after which they began to exin.


    It turned out that there was a chasm some fifty kilometers from Dongjin Pass called the Inkcloud Abyss. At the very bottom of the Inkcloud Abyss was the entrance to the Nether River. Every one hundred years, the passage would open, and the ckwater River would flow out. But at the same time, a certain kind of fiend called the ckwater Snake would appear in the river.


    "''The ckwater Snake''?" Tang Jie said in surprise.


    He had heard of this thing before. It was an extremely savage fiend that lived in aquatic regions thick with Yin energy, and when it attacked, it didn''t stop until it or its target was dead. But most important of all was that this creature was symbiotic with a nt known as the Umbra Cactus. Wherever this cactus could be found, one was bound to find ckwater Snakes. Umbra Cacti were a strange nt that bloomed once every one hundred years, and only for two hours.


    If someone plucked the flower at this time, they would find it to be a miraculous medicine.


    Tang Jie immediately knew what the four of them wanted. "So you guys want the flower of the Umbra Cactus?"


    Ice Phoenix covered her mouth and smiled. "In the end, we couldn''t hide it from you, Big Brother Tang. The Umbra Cactus was nted by a Titan of the human race long ago. The hundred-year opening of the Inkcloud Abyss and the hundred-year blooming of the Umbra Cactus are linked together thanks to the efforts of that Titan. Thus, every one hundred years, we humans would go and pick the flower of the Umbra Cactus. In the past, it was the government itself that went to get the flower, and minor characters like us had no chance at it. But ever since the fiends began to flourish and humanity was pushed back, the Inkcloud Abyss came under control of the fiends, which means that people can go and get the flower now without having to worry about the government."


    "Do the fiends know of this?" Tang Jie immediately saw the problem.


    Shentu Yuan replied, "Fiends have invaded many times over the years, and countless humans have been captured. Thus, it''s impossible to say that they don''t know, but there''s no telling what the exact situation is."


    "In other words, if we go, we might have to deal with both ckwater Snakes and the fiends?" Tang Jie asked.


    "And other humans," Ximen Changfeng said. "The Umbra Cactus is extremely valuable. While everyone is united against the fiends, the temptation might be enough to make us fight among ourselves."


    Ye Xiao added, "That''s why we don''t want Big Brother Tang to take the flower of the Umbra Cactus for it, only to travel together with us. While there is only one flower, there are five petals. One petal for each of us is enough."


    Tang Jie considered their proposal and nodded. "Fine. I agree."


    The four of them were delighted. A powerful ally like Tang Jie gave them a much greater chance at getting the flower.


    Tang Jie added, "But if I do this, I have some things I will need your help with."


    "Please speak, Big Brother Tang. We will do anything in our power."


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "It''s nothing much. I just want Brother Shentu''s help in making me a puppet."


    They had thought that Tang Jie would ask something difficult of them, so they sighed in relief.


    Shentu Yuanughed. "That''s no problem at all. A puppet is a trivial matter."


    "''Trivial''?" Tang Jie chuckled. "Is it still trivial if it''s made from this?"


    He threw out a piece of metal the size of a countertop at Shentu Yuan''s feet: Mother Cloud Essence Metal.


    After making his axe and armor, Tang Jie still had a lot of Mother Cloud Essence Metal umted from dismantling the fragment of the Myriad Court, and he had kept it precisely because he wanted to make a puppet from it. s, he had been so busy that he had never had a chance to hand it over to Wei Tianchong. Most importantly, Wei Tianchong still wasn''t strong enough to process Mother Cloud Essence Metal. Mother Cloud Essence Metal couldn''t maintain its spirituality for very long, and its spirituality had dissipated to the point where Tang Jie could no longer mold it with his mind, only adjust it with external force. This was why Tang Jie had been unable to reform the armor after the Astral Winds had twisted it up.


    In the end, it was still a kind of metal. Only the Sovereign de was alive.


    "This is¡­ Mother Cloud Essence Metal?" Shentu Yuan rubbed his eyes and looked in disbelief at the sparkling metal at his feet.


    Once he confirmed that it was Mother Cloud Essence Metal, he fell into a dumbfounded silence.


    Trantor Notes


    Tang Jie about to get an upgradedbat puppet! A shame that Wei Tianchong isn''t here to see it...

 Chapter 643: Puppet (1)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Shentu Yuan almost fainted at the sight of such arge piece of Mother Cloud Essence Metal.


    For a puppet master to make a puppet from Mother Cloud Essence Metal was like for a chef to be able to cook with top-ss ingredients, an opportunity that could only bee across, not sought.


    But Mother Cloud Essence Metal was far too hard, which made processing it extremely difficult. A chop at it might leave the metal unscathed and the tool shattered. Tang Jie throwing out so much at once made Shentu Yuan feel like he was being buried under coins.


    Shentu Yuan started to sweat as he squeaked out, "Mother Cloud Essence Metal is difficult to process. If you want it done before we head to the Inkcloud Abyss, I''m afraid it''s not possible!"


    As he spoke, he stared at the Mother Cloud Essence Metal, his eyes full of conflict and hesitation.


    Tang Jie asked, "What if I were to melt it down?"


    Shentu Yuan nodded. "It''s possible, but the melting temperature of Mother Cloud Essence Metal is extremely high and no ordinary me will do."


    Tang Jie immediately said, "I know of a ce that can melt down Mother Cloud Essence Metal."


    Shentu Yuan was stunned. "Where?"


    Tang Jie pointed at the sky.


    Shentu Yuan was puzzled at first, and then he realized, "The domain Astral Winds!"


    When Tang Jie had plunged into the Verdant Cloud Domain, the Astral Winds had melted down and deformed his armor made of Mother Cloud Essence Metal, leaving it useless. From this, one could see that the Astral Winds truly could melt down Mother Cloud Essence Metal, though it required some time. In truth, he could actually just do it with the Deicide me, but using it in this fashion was a little overkill. Moreover, refining metal took some time, and Tang Jie would find it difficult to maintain. In the end, it couldn''t match the convenience of the Astral Winds.


    As Tang Jie pointed upward, Shentu Yuan stood up and also gazed at the sky, muttering, "Using the world as a furnace, the Astral Winds as the me, Mother Cloud Essence Metal as material¡­ haha! haha! How did I not think of it? I can''t even imagine how powerful a puppet made this way would be!"


    He almost lost control of himself in his excitement. Even if he wasn''t making this puppet for himself, as a puppet master, he would be content just to see a puppet like this born through his own hands.


    Countless thoughts shed through his mind, and he continued to mutter, "Mother Cloud Essence Metal''s strong point is its toughness, but a puppet made purely from it would be too rigid, dumb, and inflexible. Some other materials are needed, like Mutton Fat Jade, Gravel Gold, Heavenstar Stone¡­"


    Shentu Yuan named ten-some materials, all of which were top-ss materials.


    "What about Earthen Essence?" Tang Jie asked.


    "''Earthen Essence''?" Shentu Yuan was delighted. "Nothing could be better! With this substance, the puppet''s Earth-type spell arts will be much more powerful. I could even carve an Earth Escape Formation on it, getting rid of the regret of puppet makers of puppets being unable to use escape arts! Hurry, hurry! If you have anything else good, take them out now."


    This person was just like Ye Xiao, forgetting about everything else when he got to talking about his field. Fortunately, Tang Jie didn''t mind, taking out all the materials he had for Shentu Yuan to look at.


    All the various rare materials dazzled the four.


    They had known that Tang Jie had money, but not this much money.


    The countless materials were piled up in a mountain, and Shentu Yuan''s hands were shaking.


    Thankfully, they were all experienced in the ways of the world and quickly calmed down. Shentu Yuan quickly selected some materials. As expected, he had extremely sharp eyes and only picked out the most valuable things.


    Suddenly, Shentu Yuan picked something up and asked, "What is this?"


    Tang Jie nced at it and saw that it was the crystal core he had picked up from the Myriad Court fragment. "I forgot I had that. It''s the core of a High Antiquity puppet, something I found on one of my past adventures."


    "''The core of a High Antiquity puppet''?" Shentu Yuan grew excited. "Wasn''t it a beast puppet? One that uses a crystal core rather than a formation to power it?"


    "Precisely."


    "Wonderful!" Shentu Yuan shouted. "This item contains the essence of High Antiquity puppetry. It''s capable of taking in spiritual energy and outputting wind and lightning, its powers mysterious and countless. The method for making them has long been lost, and when they''rebined with modern puppets, they can produce amazing effects. When I was exploring an underground pce, I managed to find one. Big Brother Tang, if you look at my strongest puppet, that was actually made with a crystal core as its power source!"


    "That''s quite the coincidence. I happen to have more than one." Tang Jie took out two more, the cores he had taken from the Taowu and Xiezhi he had killed when entering that central hall. Those puppets had both been peak Grade 6 puppets, so he was offering the best he had.


    Shentu Yuan''s eyes flew open.


    Soul Transformation crystal cores, and two of them!


    It had to be understood that the core Shentu Yuan had was only a Grade 4 core. With his current puppet techniques, he was able to unleash vast amounts of power from it.


    Shentu Yuan took in a deep breath and looked at Tang Jie. "Big Brother Tang, which one of these two do you n to use?"


    Tang Jie asked, "Can''t we use them both?"


    "Two together?" Shentu Yuan was dumbstruck.


    High Antiquity puppet cores only came as singles. No puppet had used two of them at once before.


    Tang Jie''s proposal had exceeded his imagination.


    Tang Jie said, "Yes, if we can use one, why can''t we use two? We can have a dual core. Wouldn''t it be better to have double the power?"


    This "dual core" concept had Shentu Yuan feeling dizzy with ideas.


    This guy grappled with the idea for some time before nodding and saying, "It seems usible. If it works, the puppet will be able to stay in battle for much, much longer. But this would require a lot of modification."


    He got down to the ground and started to draw on the paving stones, the various formation diagrams clearly attempting to find out how the cores should be arranged. Tang Jie also understood puppet formations, so he decided to join Shentu Yuan in exploring the possibility of a dual core.


    As they went back and forth, exchanging ideas, they seemed like bosom friends.


    After arguing back and forth for quite a while, Shentu Yuan said, "Putting the Yin Yang Cycle Formation at the ess point, having the two cores acting like the sun and moon, switching between each other, one going inbat while the other recharges, will let this maintain constant activity and win every battle! Brother Tang, your idea is amazing! It seems entirely possible to me."


    After resolving the dual core problem, Shentu Yuan began to look for more materials, asking as he did, "Right, I recall that Big Brother Tang has quite a few fiend corpses. Do you still have the corpse of the Heaven Swallowing King?"


    "You''re talking about the toad? I cooked and ate it a while ago," Tang Jie replied.


    "s, what a pity!" Shentu Yuan stomped his feet. "That''s a Soul Transformation fiend king, and its body is extremely valuable. If you had given it to Brother Ye Xiao, he could have refined it into a ghost general for you, which we could then merge with a puppet. This would have made the puppet much stronger!"


    These words made Tang Jie recall that Shentu Yuan had many puppets that were half-biological. Compared to ordinary puppets, those puppets were clearly much more adaptable and stronger.


    He then said, "Isn''t that simple? I can just kill another fiend king and have the two of you refine it."


    At this moment, the ghost guard suddenly walked over and stood in front of Tang Jie.


    Startled, Tang Jie looked at the ghost guard and asked, "What are you doing?"


    The ghost guard pointed at the Mother Cloud Essence Metal. "I¡­ want¡­ to merge."


    Everyone was startled, and Ye Xiao even jumped up and pointed at the ghost guard. "It¡­ it¡­ it''s intelligent."


    Tang Jie had found that the ghost guard was much more intelligent after its time with the Blood River Lord, and it was now able to talk and think. But it didn''t like to talk, so outsiders didn''t know it was capable of it.


    He hadn''t expected it toe forward and speak up, and to ask for something so big.


    Tang Jie looked at it and said, "Do you know what you''re asking?"


    The ghost guard''s body swayed as it struggled out, "Get¡­ stronger!"


    Get stronger!


    Was this what it was asking for?


    Tang Jie silently contemted the ghost guard.


    Deep down, he actually had his misgivings.


    After all, the ghost guard had been refined from Mei Huaping. As the ghost guard grew more intelligent, would Mei Huaping''s memories reawaken? If that was the case, would he resent him?


    He listened to his orders now, perhaps not because he didn''t hate him, but because he couldn''t beat Tang Jie and had no choice but to obey.


    If he were fused with the Mother Cloud Essence Metal puppet, his strength would soar, and if he had the ability to fight against Tang Jie, would he officially rebel? Even if he did rebel, he was still no match for Tang Jie, but that stab to the back would still be very painful. And even if he did resist that stab, it might result in all his investment into the puppeting to nothing.


    As Tang Jie was thinking, he silently stared at the ghost guard.


    The ghost guard silently looked back.


    But Ye Xiao and Shentu Yuan were jumping in excitement, shouting:


    "Hurry and agree! A Mind Opening ghost has the potential to grow stronger! The puppet can serve as its armor!"


    "The ghost guard as the bones, the puppet as the skin! More flexibility, more power!"


    "No, no, the ghost guard is the core, and it can just use the puppet as a suit of armor!"


    "Bullshit! It''s clearly the puppet that''s the main thing. The ghost guard is only there to control it!"


    As the two urged Tang Jie to agree, they also argued about which part contributed more, not caring at all about Tang Jie''s internal conflicts.


    He and the ghost guard stared at each other for a long time. Finally, Tang Jie said, "Shentu Yuan!"


    Shentu Yuan shut his mouth and looked at Tang Jie.


    Still staring at the ghost guard, Tang Jie said, "If the fusion happens, how will I control the puppet?"


    Shentu Yuan curiously asked, "Why do you need to control it if you have the ghost guard controlling it?"


    Tang Jie firmly said, "You have to add a method that grants me control, and one that can control it absolutely."


    "Is that so¡­" Shentu Yuan scratched his head and finally nodded. "It''s not impossible, but that would definitely take more resources."


    "Then that''s what we''ll do." Tang Jie then said to the ghost guard, "If you want to get stronger, I can agree to that. But I hope you understand that no matter how powerful or smart you be, you will always be my subordinate, my ghost guard!"


    The ghost guard nodded and silently retreated.


    There were no words, no argument. He silently stood there as if stating that loyalty did not require any sort of impassioned speech.


    Upon seeing this, Ye Xiao and Shentu Yuan seemed to somewhat understand what was going on.


    Trantor Notes


    Is the ghost guard going to remain Tang Jie''s loyal soldier for the rest of the story? Or will he one day rise up against his master?

 Chapter 644: Puppet (2)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    With matters settled, Tang Jie and Shentu Yuan started to design a brand-new puppet. As they had to consider the merger of the ghost guard with the puppet, Ye Xiao joined them. As for Ximen Changfeng and Ice Phoenix, they were responsible for purchasing materials. It had to be said that if this puppet werepleted, their chances of sess in the Inkcloud Abyss would be much greater.


    From the moment this team of three was established, Ye Xiao and Shentu Yuan began to argue about which would have the main role in the puppet, the ghost guard or the puppet.


    One design after another was drafted and thrown away. After countless arguments, brimming with venom and criticism, Tang Jie finally mmed the gavel and decided on the final design.


    This was the most expensive puppet he had ever designed, and even though he already had the principal materials of the Mother Cloud Essence Metal and the High Antiquity beast puppet cores, it still took at least four million in materials. Tang Jie already had around five hundred thousand in materials, but he had to buy the remaining 3.5 million. Fortunately, Tang Jie hadn''t finished spending all his spirit coins yet, and he had some treasures that he could sell. Even so, Tang Jie had to venture into fiend territory and huntrge numbers of fiends for their fiend pellets three times in order to get enough money. s, he couldn''t get anything from Gu Pinzhang for these adventures.


    This vast amount of resources served as the foundation of immense strength. ording to the designs of Ye Xiao and Shentu Yuan, when this puppet wasplete, it would be just as strong as Tang Jie, and with the potential to grow.


    Original-body Tang Jie was scary enough. A puppet who was just about as strong as him together with the avatar Tang Jie would even be enough to contend against a Violet Pce cultivator.


    Next, everyone threw themselves into the puppet creation process.


    The green Astral Winds above Dongjin Pass served as the forging location for the trio, the world as the furnace and the Astral Winds as the me. Tang Jie was responsible for the melting, every day taking the Mother Cloud Essence Metal and heading into the Astral Winds.


    Shentu Yuan was responsible for taking the melted material and modeling it.


    Puppet modeling wasn''t to be underestimated. It was more than just getting the form right.


    The Dao of Puppetry treated the body as a world, one that needed to contain the formations and seals. It required a broad perspective so that while modeling, one left enough space to carve the formations. The bnce was hard to achieve¡ªtoo much space would cause waste, but too little space would cause a deficiency. One also had to ensure that the body remained bnced and well-proportioned so that its movement wasn''t impeded. As for aesthetics, that was a minor matter. More important was the usage of the materials, structuring them such that the materials for the body and the materials for the formationsplemented each other rather than worked against each other. There were myriad materials in the world, so one had to carefully n everything out before actually starting the work. This required a master with abundant experience, and Tang Jie''s previous experience with Wei Tianchong was amateur inparison.


    Ye Xiao was responsible for modifying the ghost guard so that it could perfectly merge with the puppet. The techniques of the Ghost Dao represented their own profound field. Ye Xiao was already an outstanding talent, and in order to guarantee sess, Tang Jie even let him look at the Ghost ssic. Ye Xiao''s attainment in the Ghost Dao grew thanks to it, and he quickly managed to deduce the solution to many problems that had previously vexed him. Because of this, the modifications to the ghost guard went even more smoothly.


    While the two were experts in their respective fields, Tang Jie had a cursory understanding of them, so other than melting the metal, he also assisted the two, offering his opinions and helping out with a few tasks.


    In this way, the three of them formed an excellent team, the two each being responsible for their respective sides and Tang Jie mediating between them. After half a year of hard work, they finallypleted this unprecedented puppet.


    This was a humanoid puppet around four meters tall. This massive body had taken up quite a lot of resources, and in order toplete it, Tang Jie had even thrown his deformed suit of Mother Cloud Essence Metal armor into the Astral Winds. In this way, he had essentially used up all of his Mother Cloud Essence Metal other than the metal used in the axe for the creation of this puppet.


    This puppet had an inner part and outer part. The inner part had the ghost guard serving as the skeleton for the puppet, and all that was exposed of it were its eyes, two ghostly blue mes. It looked as if the ghost guard was wearing a giant suit of armor.


    The other part of the puppet was a dark red, thanks to the addition ofrge quantities of Bloodvein Steel. There were also many green runes. These were formation lines that connected the entire body, transferring energy to every part of the body.


    Worth noting was that none of the formations were exposed on the surface. Through an exquisite andplex method, the formations had been embedded into the puppet and could be controlled by the ghost guard within. The greatest advantage to this was that the damage suffered by the puppet in an intense battle wouldn''t break the formations and affect the puppet''s operation. This was one of the important functions of the ghost guard.


    The outer form of four meters wasrge enough to hold many formations. The Grade 3bat puppet Tang Jie had once worked on had only been able to fit seven spell formations despite his best efforts. But this time, the three of them together, with the ghost guard''s cooperation, had managed to carve 108 formations into the puppet. These 108 formations formed their own cycle,plementing each other and creating far more than 108 variations. It had basically any ability one might think of.


    Besides that, they used the Yin Yang Cycle Formation as the base for the dual core system. The two High Antiquity crystal cores allowed the puppet to fight for longer, and they could also be used in unison to unleash a sudden burst of power.


    Finally, there was the real core, the ghost guard.


    As the controller of the puppet, the ghost guard could be considered to have a rtionship to the suit akin to Iron Man''s to his power suit, though with its own twist. This was because the ghost guard could also infuse the outer shell of the puppet with its power, even granting it its abilities. And in the core of the ghost guard was a pearl.


    The Soul Refining Pearl!


    This pearl that Tang Jie had obtained long ago was enormously powerful. It was just that its insidious attributes made Tang Jie unwilling to use it. But in Ye Xiao''s hands, it proved to be very useful. This person cultivated the arts of the Ghost Dao, one of which could absorb refined souls to make the user stronger. Ye Xiao carved this formation into the puppet, linking it to the ghost guard and then installing the Soul Refining Pearl.


    In this way, whenever the puppet killed someone, the Soul Refining Pearl would absorb part of the soul and refine it, after which it would be transferred through the formation to the ghost guard so that it could grow stronger.


    The puppet itself couldn''t grow, but the ghost guard could, and in a way, the stronger the ghost guard became, the stronger the puppet became.


    This was why this puppet had so much potential to grow.


    In the past, while the ghost guard could grow stronger, as it couldn''t cultivate on its own, its rate of improvement was very slow. But with the soul refining formation, it only needed to kill now to get stronger.


    Once the puppet wasplete, Tang Jie had a battle with it. As he had predicted, the puppet was extremely strong. Its body made from Mother Cloud Essence Metal was difficult to damage through normal means, and this wasn''t even considering the numerous defensive formations Shentu Yuan had carved into it. Even a barrage of more than one hundred punches from Tang Jie''s original body was only able to make a small crack. But once Tang Jie stopped attacking, the puppet''s recovery formation quickly repaired the damage.


    Meanwhile, the attacks from the puppet were particrly brutal. Other than incredible defense and power, the puppet was also extremely fast, itsrge body not clumsy in the slightest. Enhanced by the ghost guard''s Ghostshadow Traceless Step, it was like a gust of wind or a bolt of lightning, so fast that it was difficult to catch or react to.


    Besides powerful closebat capability, the ghost guard nowmanded an impressive array of spells, no longer an existence simr to a body cultivator. It now seemed more like the merged Tang Jie.


    Regrettably, the ghost guard couldn''t use its strongest move, the Thousand Ghost Shadows, through the puppet. But it made sense. After all, the thought of several dozen puppet illusions being created through the Thousand Ghost Shadows frightened even Tang Jie.


    But Ye Xiao swore that this was simply because the ghost guard''s body was still somewhat weak. So long as the ghost guard absorbed enough souls, it would eventually be able to create puppet afterimages.


    Regardless, the results from practicalbat showed that Tang Jie couldn''t beat the puppet unless he merged or used Dao power. They had truly created a terrifying killing machine.


    This was the strongest puppet Tang Jie and Shentu Yuan had ever seen!


    Shentu Yuan and Ye Xiao were also excited to have taken part in the birth of this formidable puppet. Although the puppet belonged to Tang Jie, the two of them had put in so much effort that they already regarded the puppet as they would their own child.


    As a form of thanks, Tang Jie taught the rest of the Ghost ssic to Ye Xiao and gave his remaining low-quality High Antiquity crystal cores to Shentu Yuan. Despite their low quality, as the art of making them had been lost, they could still be considered to be priceless treasures, and Shentu Yuan was very satisfied.


    The team of five now had another powerful card up their sleeve, and they were brimming with confidence toward their adventure.


    Several dozen days went by in the blink of an eye.


    On this day, Ice Phoenix came to Tang Jie and told him the news: the Inkcloud Abyss was about to open, and it was time for them to move out.


    Trantor Notes


    A new powerful puppet in tow, the gang sets off for the Inkcloud Abyss!

 Chapter 645: The Inkcloud Abyss

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Inkcloud Abyss.


    It was located beneath a steep cliff off Phoenix Crown Mountain, to the west of Dongjin Pass.


    Looking down into the Inkcloud Abyss, one saw churning dark clouds, and it felt like one was looking down into the entrance of hell.


    And this wasn''t far from the truth. The Inkcloud Abyss was brimming with unpredictable dangers, and everyone except Titans had little chance ofing back alive. For centuries now, the Inkcloud Abyss had been a barrennd with few visitors.


    But every one hundred years, there would be a special case.


    And the moment hade once again for that special case.


    Today, the Inkcloud Abyss was visited by that once-in-a-century festival.


    Several figures shot down from the heavens, appearing at the base of Phoenix Crown Mountain.


    Their leader had a blue face with high cheekbones and horns growing from his head, and he appeared like a savage ghost. It was none other than the Ghostface King who had appeared at the assault on Dongjin Pass. Upon arriving at Phoenix Crown Mountain, he chuckled and said, "It seems like we got here first."


    Behind him was a short old man with long overhanging eyebrows and a distressed face. This was none other than the human form of the Whitebrow King. He chuckled and said, "Brother Serpent, don''t get careless. There might be many unseemly things hiding behind the curtains, silently watching us."


    As he spoke, a grumbling came from the distance. "This weasely Whitebrow, daring to call me an unseemly thing. Get over here and eat my bear paw!"


    As this voice spoke, several more figures appeared in the distance. Their leader was arge man with ck skin, fan-like ears, a tough body, and a booming voice. This was a bear fiend, the Mountain Sealer King.


    He was the one who had spoken just now.


    Behind him was another fiend king, but this one was a great beauty who had rosy cheeks and colorful clothes, with a peach blossom on their belt. It was actually a peach blossom that had attained the Dao. Its name had once been the Powdered Lord, but after bing a fiend king, it changed sex from man to woman and took on the title of Small Peach Queen.


    The Small Peach Queen covered her face as if she couldn''t stand to watch,menting, "Stupid bear, just one insult was enough to rile you out of your hiding spot."


    The bear king wasn''t convinced, nonchntly saying, "I already said that a true man does things boldly and frankly, not sneaking around like a rat. You were the one who insisted on hiding and watching. Watching, watching, watching, and for what? If anyone dares to take the Umbra Cactus flower from us, we''ll just p them down."


    His rumbling voice traveled far into the distance.


    The Small Peach Queen became even more distressed. "It''s over. You even mentioned the Umbra Cactus flower."


    Not every fiend king knew what was in the Inkcloud Abyss. Some only knew that a treasure was going to appear, but not exactly what it was. But now that the bear fiend had shouted it out, everyone who heard would know what it was, so the Small Peach Queen couldn''t be med for being worried and bemoaning her luck in making such an ally.


    Sure enough, another team of fiends appeared, led by a wildcat fiend, possessing arge, colorful face and two little cat whiskers. In a shrill voice, he chuckled and said, "So it was the Umbra Cactus''s flower! That''s quite the treasure. I, the Hundred Tribtion King, want it!"


    "Hmph, you big cat, you think you can do it?" Another group of fiends appeared, led by a rhino fiend.


    The bear roared at the rhino, "Bastard thing, you daree here!?"


    It seemed that there was a deep grudge between them. If the Small Peach Queen hadn''t been holding him back, he would have already rushed over.


    The rhino sneered, "What do I have to be afraid of? You dumb bear, no matter how big your mouth is, do you think you can do anything to me?"


    18 fiend kings and nearly a hundred fiend generals had appeared around the Inkcloud Abyss,pletely surrounding the ce. All of them hade after hearing the news carried along by the wind.


    The Ghostface King looked around and chuckled. "I knew a lot of fiends would being to see what was going on, so shouldn''t those humans also be hiding in the area? Hurry up ande out!"


    He spat at the air, and a powerful shockwave of energy rippled out.


    This shockwave contained powerful fiend energy. The fiend kings ignored it, but as the fiend energy spread out, strange ripples appeared in the air. And then one person after another began to appear in the sky.


    These people were led by Sun Shuming. He was joined by Liu Yunshan and Elder Yellow Goat, making up three of the Soul Transformation experts that Tang Jie had met at Dongjin Pass. Only that Zhang Tu wasn''t here. As a general, he was focused on killing, and he had little interest in fighting over resources. Besides these three, there were two other Soul Transformation experts, ones that Tang Jie had never seen before. These two had probably been stationed elsewhere. Finally, there were some Spirit Ring and Heart Demon Tier cultivators.


    Even though there were five Soul Transformation cultivators, they were facing 18 fiend kings. The humans were clearly disadvantaged.


    But Sun Shuming''s group wasn''t afraid. Instead, Sun Shuming saluted the Ghostface King and said, "Serpent King, why such a rush to tear open the curtain? That only puts you in a difficult spot. We have yet to enter the Inkcloud Abyss, and the Nether River has yet to open, so why is Serpent King in such a rush to fight with us?"


    He looked at the rest of the fiend kings.


    None of the fiend kings said a word.


    Although fiends and humans were opposed to each other, fiends had their own power struggles, their own internal conflicts. Some of them even had deep grudges, like the bear and rhino. Thus, if there were a fight, they might not be united at all. On the contrary, they might even have to watch their backs.


    Moreover, they were still outside the Inkcloud Abyss, where the open terrain made it easy to escape. Even if Sun Shuming''s group was no match, they were rather confident in their chances of escaping. At their level of cultivation, one could say without exaggeration that they could instantly travel tens of thousands of feet, and Dongjin Pass was only fifty kilometers away. Going back and forth took only a little time.


    This was why they just looked at each other.


    Perhaps they hoped that some other fiend king would attack and they could follow along and exploit the situation.


    After a little while, the Small Peach Queen giggled and said, "Since you''re here, you''re a guest. Now that I think about it, we fiends have never been into the Inkcloud Abyss, and we know nothing about it. The humans know the area more, so why not let the humans go in and open the way for us? That would be much more convenient. Once we''re at our destination, we''ll kill the humans. The limited space down there will also make it harder for them to run."


    She spoke of stabbing them in the back so naturally, but the other fiend kings simply nodded in agreement, and even Sun Shuming''s group simply smiled, as if they had expected this result.


    The Inkcloud Abyss had always been upied by humans, and the fiends had only managed to get it within thest one hundred years, so they knew far less than Sun Shuming''s group. It had to be understood that Sun Shuming was a major figure of Fengshan, so one hundred years ago, he had gone into the Inkcloud Abyss to take the flower for Fengshan. But back then, he had been backed by the sovereign and nobody dared to oppose him, so he had only needed to safeguard the flower and escort it back. Now, however, he had a host of fiends to contend with.


    Meanwhile, the clouds of the Inkcloud Abyss churned, andrge ck bubbles began to rise up as if there was boiling water down below.


    The fiends were confused, but a human barked, "The bubbles have appeared. The passage to the Nether River has opened, and the ckwater River has appeared."


    The fiends realized that this was a sign that the ckwater River had appeared. If they didn''t know this, they might really have missed out on this opportunity.


    Sun Shuming cupped his hands and shouted, "The ckwater River has appeared, but the area down below is still crawling with danger. This old man has gone down before, so if the fiend kings do not mind, this one will go down and serve as the vanguard."


    "Do as you please, Sir Sun," the fiend kingsughed, not trying to stop him.


    The fiend kings weren''t afraid of the humans so long as their side was stronger. Even if the humans did manage to use this opportunity to take the Umbra Cactus flower, that would only be this one time. So long as the humans sealed themselves up at Dongjin Pass, the Inkcloud Abyss would always belong to the fiends. After another one hundred years, the fiends would get what they wanted.


    It was this confidence that allowed the fiends to let the humans go and open the path so as to reduce their own losses.


    Sun Shuming began to fly down, the other human cultivators following him.


    As Sun Shuming was flying down, he nced upward and smiled. Without another word, he vanished into the ck fog.


    The fiends followed right after Sun Shuming''s group, descending into the abyss.


    Once all the fiends were inside, peace was restored to the skies of the Inkcloud Abyss.


    Only now did another group appear: Tang Jie''s group.


    Tang Jie called back his concealment formation diagram and smiled. "That Sun Shuming truly is formidable, still sensing us through the formation."


    Ximen Changfeng exined, "Sun Shuming uses the world as his canvas, the soul as his brush. His Divine Will is extremely powerful, at the peak of Soul Transformation. Our cultivation is shallow inparison, so even when we''re hidden by the formation, we still can''t hide from him."


    Tang Jie smiled. "It''s not a big deal. If we''re discovered, we''re discovered. Since they''ve all gone in, we might as well go in as well!"


    He led the way into the Inkcloud Abyss, followed by Shentu Yuan and the others.


    A few moments after the five had gone in, another human figure appeared in the distance. They appeared to be on a casual stroll, but they were moving deceptively fast, covering a great distance with every step. What appeared above the Inkcloud Abyss was a very refined man in white robes.


    As he floated above the abyss, the churning clouds ceased their motion.


    As the man nced down, his silver eyes rippled, reflecting the entire abyss¡­


    Trantor Notes


    It seems like we''ve got quite a lot of visitors to the Inkcloud Abyss, and one of them seems to be a real bigshot...

 Chapter 646: Plumbing the Depths

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    As one headed deeper into the Inkcloud Abyss, the dark fog grew thicker and thicker.


    Eventually, the dark fog became so thick that it turned into a viscous ink that cast all into darkness.


    ording to Shentu Yuan and the others, the dark fog actually came from the waters of the ckwater River. It would linger throughout the centuries, and whenever the passage to the Nether River opened, the ckwater River would surge out once more, making the fog grow even thicker.


    This dark fog had powerful corrosive properties, and thosecking resistance could easily be eaten away until nothing but bones were left. Thus, at a certain point, whether human or fiend, one would have to eventually put up barriers to resist the dark fog.


    Tang Jie was the only person who was unmoved by this level of corrosion, descending as if there was nothing wrong and drawing the admiration of Ice Phoenix and the others.


    The fog grew thicker as they descended, starting to act like water, and everyone started to slow down. The darkness around was deathly silent, devoid of any sound or sight, giving them chills.


    Ice Phoenix asked Shentu Yuan, "Why is this ce so creepy?"


    Shentu Yuan shrugged. "How would I know? This is my first time here. But it would be far stranger if something that came out of the Nether Domain wasn''t creepy."


    Ximen Changfengmented, "This ce really makes one ufortable."


    "I feel the same," Shentu Yuan and Ice Phoenix agreed.


    Only Ye Xiao chuckled, seemingly unaffected. As a cultivator of the Ghost Dao, he took to ces thick with Yin energy and ghosts like a fish to water.


    As they were descending, Shentu Yuan suddenly heard a softugh from nearby.


    He yelped in rm, "Who''s there?"


    Ice Phoenix immediately turned around, hand atop her zither, and Ximen Changfeng pulled out his sword.


    But nothing emerged from the ck fog, leaving everyone confused.


    Ice Phoenix asked, "What happened?"


    Shentu Yuan replied, "I''m not sure either. I heard augh just now."


    "What sort ofughter?" Tang Jie asked.


    "It sounded like a woman''sugh."


    Tang Jie flew in the direction Shentu Yuan indicated and looked around. Shaking his head, he said, "I don''t see any woman."


    "Maybe I was just hearing things," Shentu Yuan awkwardly replied.


    "Perhaps it''s because Brother Shentu is too lonely," Ye Xiao chortled.


    Everyoneughed.


    At this moment, Ximen Changfeng suddenly pointed at Tang Jie, a look of shock on his face. "Big Brother Tang, watch¡ª"


    Before he could finish, a pale face suddenly appeared behind Tang Jie.


    It was the face of a female ghost, possessing a long red tongue. The moment it appeared, it took a bite at Tang Jie''s shoulder.


    The teeth of the ghost prated straight through Tang Jie''s steely skin, biting into his flesh. An icy sensation immediately traveled through his body, as if he had been dropped into an ice house. The chill even froze his soul.


    But a momentter, Tang Jie roared, and the me of Life erupted within him, driving away the chill. The female ghost shrieked in panic and instantly dissolved into ck smoke.


    Everyone rushed over and shouted at him, "Are you okay?"


    "I''m fine." Tang Jie turned his head to nce at his shoulder, which waspletely unharmed.


    This eerie sight made everyone shiver. Ye Xiao flew over and said, "Be careful. This is a fog ghost, a Nether ghost that manifests in the ck fog. Its attacks can pierce through the real and attack the illusory, making it extremely hard to defend against. Tang Jie, how do you feel?"


    "I''m good," Tang Jie said, moving his arm around to confirm that it was fine. "This ghost should be afraid of Yang energy. While its ability to attack the illusory makes it difficult to defend against, its actual strength isn''t that great. Just a burst of my Yang energy was enough to obliterate it."


    Everyone sighed in relief. Ye Xiao said, "That truly is the case. In the end, fog ghosts are just congregations of Yin energy, so they can be easily killed. But everyone must be careful. Fog ghosts aren''t very intelligent and act entirely on instinct. They like to consume the blood and flesh of vigorous people, and when they run into a target, they''ll converge like moths to the me."


    These words made everyone shiver.


    Although they had known that the Inkcloud Abyss was a dangerous ce, encountering such a dangerous ghost right after entering made them really understand what "dangerous" meant.


    Sure enough, more and more fog ghosts began to appear, fearlessly attacking Tang Jie''s group. The greatest number of them attacked Tang Jie, for his blood energy was the richest, being a body cultivator. Fortunately, everyone was ready this time. As these fog ghosts feared Yang energy, they simply used Yang-type spell arts, so the experience was more harrowing than actually dangerous. In the end, they just needed to kill several hundred fog ghosts.


    After they descended some more, the fog grew even thicker, and they could hear the sound of running water from below.


    Everyone knew that they had arrived at the ckwater River.


    Once the passage to the Nether River opened, the ckwater River would flow out. By going against its current, one could arrive at the location of the Umbra Cactus. As for the exact location, perhaps the only one who knew was Sun Shuming.


    The riverside was much clearer than the surrounding area, the rays of light shining off the waters serving as the only source of light in this darkness.


    Everyone was curious and went over to find out exactly what this light was.


    And then they saw that rotted faces were floating on the surface, the lights the blue Nether mes burning in their eyes.


    "Watch out!" Ice Phoenix shrieked as the rotting corpses emerged from the river. mes twinkling in their eyes, they looked over at the group and began toe ashore. Women were innately afraid of corpses and ghosts, and even someone like Ice Phoenix, who was already at the middle phase of Heart Demon, still felt disgusted and afraid.


    "These are the Nether River Corpses!" Ye Xiao screamed. "Don''t let them catch you! They''ll drag you to the river bottom and then straight to the Yellow Springs, never to live again! Let''s get out of here! Head upstream!"


    The group retreated and began to make their way upstream.


    At this moment, screeches came from all around them, andrge numbers of fog ghosts appeared, rushing at them.


    An attack from both sides!


    "Push through!" Tang Jie bellowed, leading the way.


    Spell arts exploded among the fog ghosts, turning them back into smoke, but once these fog ghosts died, even more rushed heedlessly in like moths to the mes. There was simply no end to them, so they could only force their way through. Meanwhile, hands reached out from the river, countless creepy faces floating on the water.


    Tang Jie was somewhat regretting that he hadn''t let out the avatar. The Infinity Sphere Art and Pale Cloud me possessed by the avatarpletely countered the fog ghosts. Inparison, while the original body was rich in Yang energy, this was far inferior to what the avatar was capable of. Just when he was thinking about whether or not he should let out the avatar, Ice Phoenix came forward and strummed her zither. As the zither sounded, a silver wave rippled out, freezing all the fog ghosts it touched.


    As the fog ghosts had ethereal bodies, most of the spells from the group of five were ineffective, and so theycked any ways of dealing mass damage, until Ice Phoenix revealed this hidden move of hers.


    Shentu Yuan was delighted. "Good job! But why didn''t you use it earlier?"


    Ice Phoenix panted for breath, her face turning pale as she shot back, "Cut the nonsense. If I could use it so easily, I wouldn''t have waited until now. Let''s hurry up and go already!"


    Finally, they broke out of the encirclement of fog ghosts and had time to stop and catch their breaths.


    "Finally out." Shentu Yuan looked back and saw that the fog ghosts weren''t chasing them anymore. He sighed in relief and then started tough.


    Everyone also sighed. The Inkcloud Abyss was already this dangerous, so what was the rest of this adventure going to be like?


    Even so, they had to keep going. This was just how the path of cultivation was, necessitating a bold and fierce advance. As for adapting to this sort of danger, it wasn''t really anything at all to them. After all, Tang Jie hadn''t even used the ghost guard puppet yet.


    After advancing a little more, Ximen Changfeng suddenly pointed ahead. "Look!"


    He pointed with his sword, and a light appeared on its tip, revealing a fresh fiend corpse on the ground nearby, clearly belonging to a fiend general.


    Everyone was surprised by the sight, and they realized that the area ahead would be dangerous and they needed to watch their step. Tang Jie led the way while Yiyi was protected in the center.


    They didn''t get far before Tang Jie abruptly stopped.


    Shentu Yuan asked, "Big Brother Tang, did you notice something?"


    Tang Jie slowly said, "I feel like something is watching me."


    Everyone shivered at the words.


    They instinctively tensed up.


    Suddenly, a shadow shot out of the darkness.


    Shentu Yuan yelped and fired off a dark bolt of energy, and then Ximen Changfeng unleashed his sword energy, Ye Xiao thrust out a finger infused with Yin energy, and Yiyi cast out her vines.


    The shadow died a terrible death without even being able to make a sound.


    A ghostly me appeared on the tip of Ye Xiao''s finger, and in its light, everyone saw that they had just killed arge rat.


    Tang Jie casually said, "Clearly, it was no threat."


    Everyone chuckled.


    Ice Phoenix mocked, "Mistaking a bow reflected in a cup for a snake."


    Like Tang Jie, she also had not attacked.


    Shentu Yuan gave Ice Phoenix a thumbs-up. "In terms of focus, we''re truly inferior to mydy."


    Ice Phoenix chuckled and was about to say more, but then she paled and shouted, "Dodge!"


    There was a sudden gust of wind.


    A dark wave of energy swept toward the back of Shentu Yuan''s head!

 Chapter 647: Mother Cloud Combat Puppet

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Just when the attack was about to reach Shentu Yuan, Tang Jie roared, "Stop!"


    This thunderous roar caused the wave of dark energy to freeze in the air, giving Tang Jie the opportunity to pull Shentu Yuan to the side.


    Still, the energy wave had only paused for a moment, so while it failed to strike Shentu Yuan in the back of the head, it managed to collide with his back, and Shentu Yuan howled in pain as he was sent flying. A momentter, Ximen Changfeng and the others attacked.


    With a bang, a dark figure fell from the air andnded on the ground with a metallic ng.


    Borrowing the light from their attacks, the group saw that their assant was an existence covered entirely in ck armor and holding arge ck sword. Although it had suffered theirbined might, it still stood back up as if nothing had happened.


    "This is¡­" Everyone was stunned.


    "It''s a Nether General!" Ye Xiao shouted.


    As he shouted, the ghost general slowly raised its head, revealing a skeletal face made from condensed fog. It let out a noiseless roar and then charged at them, swinging itsrge sword.


    Tang Jie stepped forward and raised his right arm. The sword cut at the arm in a spray of sparks, failing to injure him. But a cold energy traveled through the sword into Tang Jie''s body, infiltrating his organs.


    It was then that Ye Xiao shouted, "Watch out! The Nether General''s attacks are like the fog ghosts'', able to affect the soul, only at an even more formidable level!"


    "A bitte for that," Tang Jie gruffly replied as he circted in his Yang energy, canceling out the ghost general''s Yin energy. But this was clearly a much stronger energy, requiring Tang Jie to expend more of his Yang energy.


    The ghost general swung its sword again, but Tang Jie had learned his lesson this time and dodged while throwing out a punch. Bang! The ghost general was sent flying, but this blow wasn''t enough to kill it. Its mouth cked as it swayed to its feet.


    This sort of ghost didn''t know pain or fear death. Unless they were obliterated, they would just keep fighting.


    "Quite sturdy," Tang Jiemented as he threw in a kick at the ghost general''s chest. The ck armor cracked open, and the ck fog flowed out, ultimately condensing into a drop of water in the air, which Tang Jie grabbed.


    "What is this?" he asked Ye Xiao.


    Ye Xiao excitedly said, "That''s Yellow Springs Water, an item of extreme Yin properties. Nether Generals take form using this water as their core."


    Upon hearing this, Tang Jie took out a bottle and put in the water drop, whichnded in the bottle with a clink.


    Ye Xiao said, "With the passage to the Nether Domain opened, it''s more than just the ckwater Rivering. Quite a few ghosts from the Nether Court have also probablye in. Ghosts have always been rare, and whether it''s ghost essence or Yellow Springs Water, they are all hard to find and very valuable. If you get a chance, you should definitely try and get some. These alone will make this trip worth it."


    Everyone became energized by these words and started to look for more ghost generals. Even Shentu Yuan, who was still groaning from his wound, began to look around.


    In the distance, he spotted a dark figure, clearly another Nether General. Shentu Yuan shouted, "Don''t fight with me for it! This one is mine!"


    He was only at the Spirit Ring Tier, but he had twenty-somebat puppets of the same level, which put his actualbat power on par with a Heart Demon True Person. With a wave of his hand, twobat puppets charged forward. Puppets had no souls, so the ghost general''s attacks were useless against them, and it was pushed back repeatedly by the puppets. But at this moment, the ghost general suddenly raised its sword and swung it forward. Rather than a chop, it seemed more like an order to advance.


    Several dozen figures appeared behind that ghost general, and upon closer inspection, all of them were ghost generals, marching toward the group.


    Everyone was rmed by the appearance of all these ghost generals. Shentu Yuan asked, "What do we do now?"


    "What else? Kill our way through!" Ximen Changfeng shouted as he unleashed a st of sword energy.


    The sword energy struck the leading ghost general, causing its body to sway. It threw its head back and screeched, upon which all the other ghost generals also began to screech.


    A sinister wind stirred over the ckwater River, and then it began to howl toward them.


    Everyone attacked, but more ghost generals began to appear behind them, the number ballooning from several dozen to almost a hundred. These ghost generals were all at almost Spirit Ring in terms of power, their attacks could affect the soul, and they had no fear, all of which made for a big headache for Tang Jie''s group. They finally understood why a fiend had died here, as there was simply no end to the ghosts of the ckwater River.


    "Hurry, hurry! We need to break through!" Ye Xiao shouted.


    But those ghost generals were just too difficult to deal with, a far greater challenge than the fog ghosts, and their encirclement wasn''t so easy to break through. And every exchange with those ghost generals would affect the soul to a certain extent, and as this effect stacked, everyone started to feel dizzy and confused.


    "Tang Jie, let out thebat puppet!" Shentu Yuan shouted. Puppetry required great mental power, and the disruption to his soul was starting to muddle his focus so that even his puppets were getting difficult to control. He could no longer control all twenty-somebat puppets and could only let them fight on their own. But if they relied purely on instinct, the puppets became much weaker.


    Tang Jie also could see that the time hade, and he raised his right hand and let out a golden-armored general, the Mother Cloud Essence Metal puppet controlled by the ghost guard.


    The moment the Mother Cloudbat puppet appeared, four ghost generals attacked it.


    The puppet didn''t dodge, and as the swords struck, they didn''t even raise sparks. The puppet then thrust a wed right hand forward, upon which a ghost general''s chest was pulverized. With a swing of the arm, its right arm turned into a long and broad saber which beheaded that ghost general. This transformation function was the most important closebat ability Tang Jie had given the puppet. For this purpose, he had even put a part of the Sovereign de into the puppet, which also made it unbreakable. Of course, this was only true for the right arm.


    At the same time, the Mother Cloudbat puppet''s left arm began to shine with circles of light.


    These circles of light were like countless stars, radiating an enchanting light as they gathered into an immense power that traveled into the palm. Thebat puppet raised its left arm and pushed, upon which a frenzied torrent of energy sted numerous ghost generals into the air.


    A momentter, countless stars twinkled and exploded in the air in a breathtaking sight. Shentu Yuan even muttered, "The Ster me Aurora Formation¡­ so beautiful!"


    What the Mother Cloudbat puppet had used just now was abination formation that Shentu Yuan and Tang Jie had worked together to make for the puppet, the Ster me Aurora. It was made from three smaller formations,bined into a single and more powerful formation.


    This one strike had killed ten-some ghost generals and left many more heavily injured.


    After this strike, another circle of light appeared on the puppet''s legs¡ªthe light of the Lightning Pursuit Formation, which made the puppet extremely fast. The puppet shot forward like a lion plunging into a pack of wolves. A red light glowed on its chest, and a momentter, a firestorm erupted around it.


    This was yet anotherbination formation.


    The ghost generals'' soul attacks were of no use against it, and ordinary attacks couldn''t break through the Mother Cloud Essence Metal, so these ghost generals that were such a headache for cultivators were like harmless pets to the puppet, and it easily swept through them.


    Spell art after spell art exploded among the ghost generals, thebat puppet flying between them and tirelessly reaping their lives. Its left hand fired off spell art after spell art, and with each spell art it used, a part on its body would light up. Meanwhile, its right hand used the simplest and most brutal attacks, killing a ghost general with each strike.


    Its legs shone as the Lightning Pursuit Formationbined with the Swift Wind Formation into the Illusion Aurora Formation, which allowed the puppet to kill with greater ferocity and speed.


    The number of ghost generals rapidly dwindled, and what had seemed like a neverending flood quickly seemed like not enough. In the blink of an eye, only two or three were left.


    The puppet''s right arm lengthened into a long saber, and with a single swing, the heads of the remaining ghost generals went flying into the air, dark fog billowing out of their bodies as they copsed.


    The battle was finally over.


    It had been a simple and brutal battle, a battle where one had been able to fight to one''s heart''s content.


    There was no suspense, no desperate counterattack, only a massacre. It had been a very simple battle, like a dancer dancing on the stage, disying all their elegance¡ªthe Mother Cloud puppet''s first battle had ended in a perfect fashion.


    Shentu Yuan and the others were dumbfounded.


    Although they knew that the puppet was powerful, ultimately, they had never truly seen it at full power before. All they knew was that Tang Jie hadn''t been able to get an upper hand against it in battle. But when they saw the Mother Cloudbat puppet using its power to the maximum extent, its simple yet brutal aesthetics left all of them satisfied.


    Of course, its achievements were also thanks to the fact that it naturally countered the ghost generals. The soul attacks of the ghost generals were a pain for anyone else, including Tang Jie, but they were of no use against the puppet. However, other puppets were controlled by cultivators, so the mental connection they shared meant that puppets would also be affected. But the Mother Cloudbat puppet was controlled by the ghost guard, so it didn''t have this problem. This was why it had been so easily able to put up such excellent results.


    Even so, there was no doubting the power of the Mother Cloudbat puppet, and everybody cheered.


    Tang Jie had the puppet gather up the drops of Yellow Springs Water that had condensed from the ck fog. Once it had gathered them all, it walked back to Tang Jie and got down on one knee, offering up the water drops.


    Tang Jie took them and gave some to the others rather than taking them all for himself.


    He then opened up the secret door on the back of the puppet and checked the crystal core. "It used 10%."


    Killing nearly one hundred ghost generals had only taken 10% of the power of a crystal core, which left everyone excited. Tang Jie activated the cycling formation so that the used core entered the recharge state. It wouldn''t be long before the used energy waspletely recovered.


    After doing this, Tang Jie decided to have the puppet lead the way.


    With this guy around, they had no need to worry about any sort of sneak attack.

 Chapter 648: Devastating Losses

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    With thebat puppet leading the way, the group had a much easier time pushing through.


    As they advanced, various ghosts appeared endlessly, and they also began to see more and more bodies on the ground.


    As Sun Shuming and the fiends had already been through here, and they had thebat puppet serving as their vanguard, Tang Jie''s group wasn''t under much pressure. Even so, Tang Jie still noticed that something was off.


    There were simply too many ghosts!


    Boom!


    A punch sted through a ghostly horse, and Tang Jie turned and asked, "How long until we reach our destination?"


    Shentu Yuan replied, "I''m not sure either. I just know that we''ll get there if we just keep following the river. Shit, when I heard them talk about this, they didn''t mention anything about there being this many ghosts."


    "Is that so?" Tang Jie whispered. Raising a hand, he sted apart a skeleton that had been charging in, but his eyes were fixed on the ground nearby. Therey the body of a fiend general,pletely drained of blood and apparently having died a most wretched death. Looking at this corpse, Tang Jie said, "Then did the person you talked with ever mention casualties?"


    Shentu Yuan shook his head. "There were casualties, but not a lot."


    "That means something is wrong." Ye Xiao pointed at the body. "Those fiends followed behind the humans, but we''ve run into more than twenty of their bodies. This isn''t something ordinary danger could cause!"


    Even Ye Xiao could see that something was wrong. The dangers they had encountered were clearly much greater than those they should have encountered. If not for the Mother Cloudbat puppet, even standing here would have been a problem.


    Tang Jie sternly said, "There are only two possible exnations. Either there''s a problem with Shentu''s information and exploring the Inkcloud Abyss has always been this dangerous, or there is no problem with the information and something has changed this time, leading there to be exponentially more ghosts and leading to a simr boost in danger."


    Everyone nodded in agreement with Tang Jie''s analysis. Ximen Changfeng said, "Then, Brother Tang Jie, which do you think is more likely?"


    After some thought, Tang Jie replied, "From what Shentu knows, Fengshan has been gathering the Umbra Cactus''s flower for one thousand years. If it had really been this dangerous, they wouldn''t have been so persistent about it. And to be honest, the person who told Shentu this had no need to lie. And if he wanted to hurt him, this method is a little too clumsy and inefficient. Thus, I would prefer thetter exnation¡­ Something strange must have happened here to cause the current situation."


    "What changed?" everyone asked in unison.


    Tang Jie didn''t directly answer the question, instead asking, "Don''t you think something has been missing among what we''ve seen so far?"


    What''s missing?


    They all exchanged looks, not understanding what Tang Jie was referring to.


    In the end, Yiyi was the smart one, shouting, "There were no human corpses!"


    Shentu Yuan and the others were struck by realization.


    That''s right!


    Why had they only seen fiend corpses and not human corpses?


    The humans were weaker than the fiends, and they were at the very front, so they should have suffered the greatest impact. But why was it that they had not seen any human deaths? That was just too abnormal.


    Ice Phoenix blurted out, "Could this be Sun Shuming''s trickery!?"


    Sun Shuming hade to the Inkcloud Abyss before to get the flower for the royal family, and he hade again. And the fact that he hade before a great host of enemies and volunteered himself to lead the way was a major problem. But if he was connected with everything that had happened, then everything that didn''t make sense now made sense¡ªSun Shuming nned to use the Inkcloud Abyss to weaken the fiends.


    It was no wonder he was bold enough to head straight in. He actually already had a n on what to do.


    Tang Jie sighed. "We still can''t be sure that he''s rted to all this, but they truly are the most suspicious."


    "Then what do we do?"


    "''We''?" Tang Jieughed and shrugged. "We keep following, of course. So long as the fiends are still in front of us, the sky won''t be falling."


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    "This isn''t right!" A frenzied roar resounded through the dark riverside.


    It was that dumb bear.


    Even someone as stupid as the bear fiend had realized that something was wrong. Why was it that they who were following the humans were being besieged by ghosts, but the humans had yet to leave behind a single corpse?


    Around them, ghosts were still emerging from the river. Fog ghosts, rotting corpses, skeletons, phantom horses, ghost generals, and other kinds of ghosts were popping up from the ckwater River so frequently that the river sounded like it was boiling.


    They far outnumbered Tang Jie''s group, but Tang Jie''s group was actually just dealing with the remnants of the battle with the fiends. And on the actual battlefield, the battle wasmencing on a grandiose scale, gales and mes ripping across the field while the lights of spell arts lit up the world.


    At the most intense areas of the battle, the frenzied mes melted everything in the surroundings, and it was so terrifying that not even someone as strong as Tang Jie would have dared to go in.


    "Those damn humans must have yed some sort of trick!" the Ghostface King said between clenched teeth. He was fighting alongside the Whitebrow King and the Small Peach Queen, but they had only a single opponent. This was a ghost wreathed in ck energy, wearing spiked ck armor, a cape, and a crown of white bone atop its head, and mounted atop a ck phantom horse. This phantom horse was muchrger than the regr ghost horse. Horns sprouted from its head, and its hooves trod upon the Yellow Springs, spreading yellow water wherever it went that corroded any fiend or human it touched.


    Despite it being three versus one, the Ghostface King''s group didn''t have any sort of edge.


    That ghost king repeatedly swung arge sword of white bone which flickered with ghostly mes. Every swing would send the mes spilling out, and just the slightest ember would eat away arge chunk of flesh from even fiend kings.


    "There''s no point in mentioning it now. We need to think of a way to push through first!" the wildcat fiend king said.


    There were myriad ghosts and only a single path, so pushing through wasn''t easy. But if they didn''t, they had no hope of stopping Sun Shuming, and even less of getting the flower.


    "Let me!" The rhino fiend king strode over. Getting down on the ground, he turned into a massive rhino more than forty feet tall. Aiming his horn forward, he spat out, "Follow me!"


    He lowered his head and charged forward.


    This charge wasn''t to be underestimated, the rhino obliterating all the ghosts in his way and instantly opening a path in the sea of corpses. But the rhino suffered for this, the attacks of those ghosts eating away at his soul. Even though he was at the equivalent of Soul Transformation, he was in so much pain that even death was preferable. With a moan, he copsed to the ground.


    "Hurry!" someone shouted.


    The fiends began to fight their way through the path the rhino had opened, and the ghosts flooded in. Several screams quickly arose from the fiends as several fiend generals failed to hold and were in by the ghosts.


    "Die!" There was a frenzied roar as a giant crimson w appeared above the ghosts and killed great numbers of them.


    The Ghostface King also got serious, his repulsive face twisting as he spat out a blue me at the ghost king. The ghost king let out a piercing howl, and then its imposing figure withered to nothing as it died. A blood-red pearl dropped to the ground: its ghost essence. This blue me had clearly cost the Ghostface King dearly, his face turning pale. Seeing the ghost essence, he grabbed it and smiled. "At least I got something out of it."


    The fiend kings all began to use their powerful moves, and while this finally pushed back the ghosts, it came at great personal cost. More than twenty of the fiend generals had been in, and the fiend kings had been greatly weakened from using some of their secret moves.


    The fiend kings were filled with resentment, having suffered such a setback before having even seen the flower, so they all made up their minds to subject Sun Shuming to excruciating torment once they caught up to him.


    With this thought in mind, the fiend kings rushed forward. Finally, they broke through the ghosts, and the world opened up before them.


    The dense fog dissipated, and the fiends saw a ck river gushing down from above.


    It emerged from the void, the water flowing out without end. Through that tear in space, one could hear countless faint wails, as if hundreds of thousands of ghosts were weeping.


    Suddenly, a ghost general jumped out of that tear in space. Shrieking, it tumbled through the river waters and began to make its way toward the fiends.


    Sure enough, the ghosts hade from the Nether Domain.


    But the fiends had never heard of so many ghosts crossing over from the Nether Domain.


    Upon examining the origin of the ckwater River more closely, they saw something sparkling.


    An eagle fiend looked over and shrieked, "Sterite! It''s Sterite! These humans used Sterite to widen the Nether Domain entrance, letting in more ghosts!"


    Using Sterite to widen the Nether Domain passage, allowing the ghosts to get in more easily, was truly a simple and practical method.


    The fiends were enraged over how Sun Shuming had hoodwinked them. But when they looked around, they found no sign of Sun Shuming.


    They wondered where Sun Shuming was. Suddenly, a fiend pointed at the ckwater River. "Look!"


    The surface of the river seethed as if countless fish were frolicking within it. If one looked carefully, it became apparent that these were actually little snakes, only as thick as a thumb, swimming down the river. Suddenly, they leaped out of the river, filling the air with hundreds of ck creatures.


    ckwater Snakes!

 Chapter 649: The Umbra Cactus Flower Appears

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The appearance of fiend snakes meant the appearance of the Umbra Cactus flower.


    Wherever the ckwater Snakes were, one would be able to find the Umbra Cactus flower. All the fiends knew this.


    Thus, they all became excited when they saw the snakes leaping out of the water.


    Nobody had expected the Umbra Cactus flower to be here, in this firstrgeke created by the source of the ckwater River. They were all in a joyful mood, and a fiend general immediately rushed at the water. He was only hoping to find the flower, not provoke the snakes, but as he flew above the snakes, all of them angrily hissed, their mouths opening to reveal their sharp fangs. These snakes that were only as thick as a thumb and no longer than an arm''s length jumped into the air, shooting at the fiend general like ck arrows.


    The fiend general thrust down a palm, and while it seemed like an ordinary attack, it gathered together all of his Transformation-level power into a powerful st that was like a giant boulder. But those fiend snakes passed through that palm st like it wasn''t there, lunging at the fiend general and taking huge bites from his body.


    Hundreds of fiend snakes rushed at the general, instantly engulfing him until he waspletely covered in wriggling snakes that madly bit away at his body.


    The fiend general struggled to break free at first, but after a while, he stopped moving. After another while, all of the fiend snakes dispersed, leaving only a white skeleton in the air that fell into the river.


    Everyone''s hearts shivered.


    A fiend king muttered, "ckwater Snakes are extremely territorial, and anyone who dares to intrude upon their territory wille under their assault. It seems that we can''t hope to get the Umbra Cactus flower unless we kill these fiend snakes."


    "Did the humans also get the flower by killing all the snakes?" a fiend king asked.


    "Who knows? This is our first time here. Unlike the humans, we haven''t experienced any of this."


    "It''s not easy to kill all these fiend snakes, and I feel like there''s something more threatening in these waters."


    "I think the same. Sun Shuming has disappeared, so he must be hiding around here and waiting for the right time to make his move. Since he''s giving us the opportunity to kill the snakes and take the flower, it means that the danger has to be more than meets the eye. There''s no telling what acting recklessly might cause." There were also smart ones among the fiend kings, and they quickly realized what Sun Shuming was trying to do.


    But just because they realized didn''t mean they had a solution.


    Fiends weren''t humans. Even with their minds opened, they were stillrgely driven by their natures. Many fiends were naturally temperamental and impulsive. This had nothing to do with how smart they were. It was simply their nature.


    Even humans, famed for their intelligence, had "bold heroes" who headed into situations they knew were traps, let alone fiends, who were heavily influenced by their natures.


    That dumb bear was the first to bellow, "Who cares about all that!? Since the ckwater Snakes have appeared, the Umbra Cactus must be near! The one who is able shall be the one to take it, while those who can''t should get out of the way! And anyone who tries to steal from us will be in without mercy!"


    He roared and extended a giant bear paw skyward. It grewrger andrger, growing to the size of a small mountain as it prepared to crash down onto theke. As a Transformation great fiend, he held little regard for such a smallke, and he thought nothing for the consequences of unleashing such terrifying might.


    Fortunately, the other fiend kings had brains and immediately shouted, "No!"


    They intervened to stop the bear paw.


    The bear fiend king angrily roared, "What are you stopping me for!?"


    "Idiot, this paw of yours would obliterate the Umbra Cactus flower along with theke!" the rhino cursed.


    The bear fiend froze, and then he realized that this was true. And then he also realized that the rhino had called him an idiot, to which he roared, "sted cow, eat my fist!"


    The bear paw came swinging around, turning into a divine fist.


    "You think I''m afraid of you?" The rhino snorted and rammed his head at the fist, and the two started to fight.


    In the end, several fiend kings intervened to split up these two impulsive fellows. Still, the two fiend kings red at each other, refusing to back down.


    The Ghostface King finally said, "Stop arguing. We all have to be careful so that those humans don''t get the chance to swipe the flower."


    This Greenscale Ghost Serpent had some prestige among the fiends, and when he spoke, all the fiends agreed.


    At this moment, a burst of light came from the center of the river.


    The fiends looked over and saw numerous ck lotuses appearing at the river bottom.


    These ck lotuses were asrge as water basins, and they appeared in great numbers, instantly covering more than half of the river. Countless snakes slithered beneath the leaves of the lotuses, seeming very docile and not at all like vicious maneaters.


    And in the center of all of these ck lotuses, a white flower was rising. That rainbow glow wasing from this white flower.


    "Isn''t this the Umbra Cactus Flower? But why is it white?" a fiend king hesitantly asked, unable to tell if this was the legendary Umbra Cactus Flower that could bring back the dead.


    None of the fiends had seen the flower of the Umbra Cactus before, so they shared looks of confusion, not knowing what to do.


    It was still the bear, always the fiend of action, who nonchntly said, "Whether it is or not, we should just get it first!"


    He reached out to take the flower.


    Fortunately, the Small Peach Queen stopped him in time. ring at the bear fiend with her enchanting eyes, she said, "Immortal herbs are never easy to get. Not even considering the fiends guarding it, there''s even an art to picking the nt. You don''t know the way to pick it and are also clumsy, so I''m worried that you''ll damage the divine nt."


    "Then what do we do?" The bear fiend was getting impatient.


    The Small Peach Queen took out a silk bag. "I have here a Rinsing Red Silk Pocket, which can hold all spiritual objects in the world and preserve their spiritual energy. Let me pick the flower."


    She prepared to do so.


    Before she could, another fiend king said, "What if you take the flower and just leave on your own?"


    The other fiend kings also began to grumble.


    The fiend kings were no united front, and while they had been able to work together against the ghosts, now that there was a treasure in y, their greed was magnified, and strife began to appear among them. There was no way they would allow the Small Peach Queen to take the Umbra Cactus Flower. They thought that the Small Peach Queen was just making up an excuse to the bear fiend. The bear might have been fooled, but the other fiend kings were not.


    As a result, the fiends started fighting with each other before they even got their hands on the treasure.


    As they quarreled, a fiend king lost their patience and furtively made a move on the flower. A light shed out of the crowd of fiends, a golden shuttle shooting toward the Umbra Cactus Flower.


    The other fiends were in an uproar over this, but just when the golden shuttle was about to cut down the white flower, a ck line shot out of the water and rammed into the golden shuttle, sending it back where it hade from.


    The fiends gasped as an enormous being began to rise from the water. This was clearly another ckwater Snake, but one of immense size, its head asrge as a three-floor building.


    As it rose higher and higher, countless smaller snakes gathered around it, letting out cheerful hisses. ckwater Snakes frolicked in the water, but that enormous snake in the middle was motionless, coldly staring at the fiends.


    The fiends took in a deep breath, one of the fiend kings saying, "As expected, a great fiend is always protecting a treasure. This long bug won''t be easy to deal with!"


    The Ghostface King''s face darkened at this description of the snake as a "long bug".


    "How strong can it be? Stronger than us?" a fiend king scoffed. "If it has any sense, it will leave, and since we''re both fiends, we''ll spare its life. And if it''s smart, surrendering isn''t a bad choice either. If it tries to guard it anyway, then only death awaits it."


    His words sounded very magnanimous, but the ckwater Snakes were from the Nether Domain, and they were fundamentally different from other fiends, more like fiend ghosts, ghosts that arose when fiends died. To consider them fiends would be trying to call a swan a goose and would get oneughed out of the building.


    The appearance of this giant snake did serve to end the arguments among the fiend kings. One fiend king said, "What are we waiting for? Let''s take care of this ckwater Snake and then take the Umbra Cactus Flower!"


    He waved a hand, and a rainbow beam shot toward the snake.


    The giant ckwater Snake angrily hissed and spat out a ck cloud. As the ck cloud made contact with the rainbow light, it devoured the light and then moved to engulf the fiends.


    "Be careful!" the wildcat fiend king shouted. "This is the doom energy of the Nether Court. Don''t let it get close to you, or else your flesh will rot away and you''ll be a ghost."


    As the Nether Court doom energy descended upon the fiends, the fiends struck back, lights of various colors exploding in the air.


    But the Nether energy continued to charge forward, swallowing up all the spell arts that touched it. In a sh, the spell arts were all gone, and only that wicked ck energy remained, evenrger than before. It even seemed to be burping, as if it had just had a meal.


    The fiend kings were stunned. What sort of trick was this?


    The wildcat fiend king shouted, "Oh no! This is extreme Yin doom energy!"


    While the majority of the Great Ster Chiliocosm used spiritual energy as the foundation for cultivation, there were a few domains that were an exception, the Nether Domain being one of them. There was no spiritual energy in this domain, only doom energy. The living could not cultivate it, only the dead, so the Nether Domain had always been forbidden to the living.


    Doom energy and spiritual energy were two extremes. If spiritual energy was life, then doom energy was death.


    And what the ckwater Snake had spat out was the purest extreme Yin doom energy of the Nether Court. It wasparable to True Astral spiritual energy, packed with power. And in the cultivation world, the most direct manifestation of True Astral spiritual energy was the domain Astral Winds.


    In other words, the ckwater Snake had spat out the domain Astral Winds of the Nether Domain, so it was no wonder it was so powerful. In front of extreme Yin doom energy, the opposing natures meant that all spiritual energy spell arts that came in contact with it would be broken down, devoured, and even converted.


    The fiends hadn''t expected the snake to be this powerful, and they were momentarily dumbstruck.


    The Ghostface King shouted at the wildcat fiend, "Save the useless talk and tell us how to deal with it!"


    The wildcat fiend shouted, "Attack the snake!"


    True.


    The eyes of the fiends glowed. While the Nether Court doom energy was powerful, could the snake''s body be as powerful?


    Ten-some fiend kings attacked the snake in unison.


    The power of all of these fiend kings put together was something that even a Violet Pce Titan might not be able to resist, and it was clear that the ckwater Snake couldn''t spit out a second cloud of doom energy. But as the fiends attacked, it suddenly opened its mouth and let out a loud hiss, upon which countless small snakes shot toward the fiends like thousands of arrows.


    An epic battle had begun.

 Chapter 650: A Sea of Ghosts

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Countless fiend snakes sted through the air like a barrage of arrows, piercing through the spell arts to attack the fiends. A fiend general standing at the very front was the first to be swept up in the wave of fiend snakes, which crashed into him like a tsunami, and when the wave had passed, all that was left was white bones. They were like army ants¡ªsavage, cruel, fearless, and devouring everything in their path. With one charge, several dozen fiend generals had been in, causing the other fiends to shiver in fear and the kings to be stunned.


    Meanwhile, the attacks from the fiend kings fell upon that massive ckwater Snake. The giant snake curled its tail around, bringing back the cloud of doom energy to block the spell arts. Palm sts, mes, lightning bolts, torrents of water, and other various spell arts collided with the doom energy, and all of them were devoured. But in the end, thebined assault of 18 fiend kings was something that even extreme Yin doom energy could not stop, and in the end, the spell arts of eight of them were able to make impact against the snake before they were devoured. These attacks were not something an ordinary person could endure, and even the giant snake howled in pain as almost half of its body was sted away. But there was no gore or blood, only tendrils of ck energy.


    In this first exchange, both sides had dealt severe damage to each other, and besides that, they had seeded in stoking each other''s anger.


    The giant ckwater Snake hissed, unleashing a powerful gale, and the fiends howled back and ughtered the smaller ckwater Snakes.


    The bear king swung a paw, which grew to an immense size and grabbed several hundred small snakes at once. A savage smile appeared on his face as he snarled, "All of you, just die!" He squeezed, and there was a series of pops from his paw, after which copious amounts of ck water flowed out.


    The Whitebrow King turned into a hurricane, sweeping across the ground and sucking in all the fiend snakes in his path, after which the winds blew them apart, raining down inky ck water over the area.


    The Small Peach Queen gave a flirtatious smile as she let out pink petals that gathered together into a great torrent to attack her foes. In the beginning, it was rather like Yiyi''s Silkheaven Net, but then the petals scattered into tens of thousands of peach blossoms, each one targeting an individual fiend snake like countless flying knives, slicing apart the snakes as they danced in the air. This required the mental power to control tens of thousands of petals at once, which was clearly something Yiyi wasn''t capable of.


    Inparison, the Ghostface King''s methods were rather simple. With a roar, he assumed his original form, a green serpent with a most repulsive face. Shaking his head, he soared through the air, consuming countless snakes in the progress. Landing back on the ground, he patted his belly and said, "Ugh, these are hard to digest!" after which he threw up ck water.


    The fiend generals also used their various moves to kill as many snakes as they could, and finally, the great swarm of ckwater Snakes started to thin.


    But as that giant ckwater Snake unleashed another fierce gale, thousands more fiend snakes appeared.


    Sure enough, it was creating those small snakes.


    Meanwhile, the cloud of Nether Court doom energy returned to the giant snake, and as it moved around its body, the snake''s severe injuries were instantly healed. But if one looked closely, one would find that there was now less doom energy.


    "Attack with as much as you can! Don''t give it the chance to attack with the doom energy again!" the Ghostface King shouted.


    The Nether Court doom energy was undoubtedly the strongest move the giant ckwater Snake had. It could be used for both offense¡ªeating away at creatures and converting them to ghosts¡ªand for defense¡ªdevouring spell arts and rendering them ineffective. It could even be used for healing, rapidly restoring severe injuries.


    Fortunately, while the extreme Yin doom energy was powerful, its weakness was that it was no spell art, but a kind of energy, so it couldn''t move very quickly. It was this w that gave them a chance. Striking swiftly and forcefully would prevent the Nether Court doom energy from being used as a weapon and cause it to be slowly consumed, so it was undoubtedly the best choice.


    The fiend kings were all veterans of the battlefield, so they didn''t need long to identify and target their enemy''s weakness.


    The fiend kings and generals all began to attack the giant snake.


    This was an unprecedented force, 18 fiend kings and several dozen fiend generalsbining their powers. It would have been enough to have Fengshan shaking in its boots, but now, this mighty force was being used on a single snake.


    Fierce winds, searing mes, explosive lightning, freezing ice, saber and sword energies, palm sts and fist gales, and countless art relics sted the ck snake in the river.


    While the fiend snake was powerful, in the end, it was still facing numerous fiend kings and generals.


    Even a Violet Pce cultivator wouldn''t have been able to singlehandedly fend off so many fiends. The Violet Pce Realm consisted of three tiers: Infant Tending, Deification, and Soul Projection. One would have to at least be at Deification in order to fight back against so many fiends.


    The giant ckwater Snake clearly hadn''t reached this level, so it quickly became a punching bag.


    Amid fierce mes, the snake roared in anger and misery. Spell arts exploded all over its body, after which the doom energy quickly healed its injuries, but rather than making it invincible, this formidable healing power only served to magnify its pain.


    Its body writhed in the water as the fiends on the shore barraged it nonstop. Even though they were easily beating down the fiend, the fact that it couldst this long was simply stunning.


    It had long been known that the Nether Domain was one of the great domains of the Great Ster Chiliocosm, its ghosts extremely powerful, second only to those of the Primordial Fog Domain. It now appeared that this was not a false reputation, for even this one ckwater Snake was so formidable.


    Of course, no matter how formidable it was, it was only one snake, and against all these fiends, only death awaited it.


    Seemingly realizing this, the fiend snake suddenly threw its head back and roared.


    The distant waters of the ckwater River suddenly began to flow backward.


    Normally, the waters from the Nether Domain flowed out of the passage and fell into a smallke at the bottom of the abyss before flowing downstream, forming the ckwater River. The Umbra Cactus flower and the ckwater Snake were both located in thiske.


    But as the snake roared, the waters flowing out of theke stopped and began to reverse their flow.


    The fiends were all confused, and then they saw the ghosts dwelling within the river beginning to travel with the river on its way back upstream.


    The fiends were horrified.


    In fact, ghosts had beening from the Nether Domain passage this entire time, but these ghosts all traveled down the river, rarely pausing in theke, as if they were in a world parallel to the ckwater Snake. For this reason, while the fiends had been beset by ghosts when making their way upstream, they hadn''t been attacked by ghosts much at all at the source of the river.


    But now, the river was reversing, and the ghosts wereing with it.


    The ghostsing out of the passage were no longer going downstream, instead remaining in theke, and those that had gone downstream wereing back, returning to the source.


    The ghosts rapidly gathered, floating up and down in theke as they turned their eyes of ghostly me to the fiends.


    Their stares made the fiends shiver.


    They hadn''t forgotten the price they had paid to get here. That damned Sun Shuming had expanded the Nether Domain passage, causing the number of ghosts crossing over from the Nether Domain to reach absurd levels.


    Now, it was the turn of the fiends to experience what it felt like to be bullied by numbers.


    A ghost zing all over with green mes rose up from theke, gripping a scepter of white bone and mounted upon a phantom horse. It looked at the fiend kings and nodded its head in greeting. Its jawbones clicked together as if it was asking how they were doing.


    This was clearly another ghost king.


    Like the fiend kings, every ghost king was unique, and this was clearly different from the one they had killed earlier.


    Of course, no matter what kind of ghost king they were, they all looked very creepy, theirmon traits being the disgust they generated with their ugly skeletal forms.


    Raising its scepter, the ghost king roared, and countless ghosts surged out of theke.


    "Shit! Flying Wheel King, Rainbow Screen King, Illusion King, Red Cloud King,e and help me deal with the ghosts!" the Ghostface King shouted. "The rest of you, hurry up and kill that snake!"


    Four fiend kings flew out, joining the Ghostface King in intercepting the ghosts, while the remaining fiend kings and generals focused their efforts on killing the giant ckwater Snake.


    But the snake was protected by the extreme Yin doom energy, and this alone served as a peerless defense, so killing it was easier said than done. As for the other five fiend kings, they were quickly overtaken by the "ghost wave" strategy, and despite their prodigious powers, the ghosts just kepting.


    The distant ghost king pointed its scepter at the fiends, and a ck arrow shot at a fiend general and turned into yellow water. The fiend general''s flesh rapidly began to slough off, and as that fiend general howled in terror, his body rotted away, and even his eyeballs rolled out of their sockets.


    With a miserable scream, the fiend general turned into a white skeleton and copsed.


    But it was still not over. The moment the fiend general died, a dark phantom appeared over his corpse, appearing just like the fiend general in life. The fiend general looked at himself and seemed to realize something, throwing his head back and bitterly screeching. But this time, he made no sound. His eyes gradually began to lose their light, turning muddy and dull.


    A sliver of darkness flew out of the Nether Domain passage, picking up the fiend general''s soul and flying off. As it flew over the ckwater River, the ghost king shrieked.


    The darkness dissipated.


    The ghost king waved a hand, and a sliver of doom energy flew out of the passage and struck the fiend general''s soul. The fiend general''s faded form solidified, and itnded next to the ghost king and prostrated to it.


    A ghost had been born.

 Chapter 651: Sneak Attack

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    This was a brand-new ghost, a powerful ghost.


    It was not born from a human, but from a fiend monkey, and the ghost still retained some of a monkey''s special traits. In front of the Ghostface King, he had been respectful, but his Transformation-level strength meant that he was a force to be reckoned with.


    If one looked carefully, one would find that this ghost shared some simrities with the ape Tang Jie had once refined long ago using the Ghost ssic!


    In truth, this was a ghost guard, but the Nether Court''s way of creating ghost guards was much simpler and more powerful. Many of the Ghost Dao secret arts used by humans were modifications of those used by the Nether Court.


    The ghost king stroked the head of that new ghost, and then it pointed forward. The ghost monkey stood up and roared at the heavens, then it leaped at the fiends. Even before it reached the fiends, its ws swiped at the air, creating countless ghostly ws that attacked the fiends.


    The ghost monkey naturally wasn''t strong enough to do anything to the fiend kings, but it was enough to hold down a single fiend general.


    And a momentter, the ghost king did what it had done before, firing another ck arrow of decay. It knew that the fiend kings were too strong to kill, so it aimed its arrow at the weaker fiend generals. It appeared that it nned to turn the fiends into ghosts one by one.


    The Nether Domain had its own conflicts, every ghost king trying everything it could think of to expand its power. But outstanding subordinates were hard toe by, and each powerful ghost guard needed a thousand temperings and refinements to create. Inparison, destroying some powerful creature and using a secret art to convert them into a subordinate, thus preserving the maximum amount of the strength they had in life, was a far superior way to get strong subordinates. For this reason, the ghost kings were always happy to cross over to the other side and engage in some ughter.


    And right now, that ghost king considered the fiend kings and generals as the finest materials, an excellent source of power.


    "Dodge!" A fiend king chopped a palm, cutting down that arrow of decay and saving one of his fiend generals.


    "Thank you, Your Majesty!" The fiend general was filled with gratitude, but he had barely spoken when the river waters erupted, turning into a giant hand that grabbed the general and pulled him into the river. A momentter, there was a sharp scream.


    "Bastard!" The fiend king was furious over having the subordinate he had just saved suffer this fate. A momentter, the waters churned, and a ghost covered in ck fog emerged, creepyughtering from its ethereal form¡ªanother ghost king.


    On the other end of the river, another two ghost kings appeared, one with a long and drooping tongue and a mourning staff in its hand, while the other ghost king was actually holding its own head in its hands, four ghostnterns floating around it.


    These bizarre ghosts cackled as sinister gusts blew around them, and the hearts of the fiends grew cold.


    But at this point, they had no choice but to fight. They could only split off a few more fiend kings to deal with the threat, but this meant that the offensive against the fiend snake weakened once more.


    Meanwhile, that ghost king who had appeared first continued to fire off ck arrows, and in the blink of an eye, it had created three more powerful ghost guards.


    As the fiends weakened, the ghosts grew stronger, and the battle grew more and more difficult. And as the attacks from the fiends weakened, the fiend snake found it easier and easier to endure their barrage, and it prepared for a counterattack.


    Aghast, the Ghostface King cried out, "It doesn''t make sense! It doesn''t make sense!"


    It truly didn''t make sense.


    Even if they considered that Sun Shuming had expanded the passage, the force protecting this ce shouldn''t have been this powerful.


    If the ckwater Snake was this absurdly powerful, how had Fengshan gotten the flower before? The Ghostface King didn''t believe that Fengshan sent the equivalent of 18 fiend kings and nearly one hundred fiend generals every time.


    Humans couldn''t afford to be this liberal with their power.


    So how did they do it?


    There had to be something going on!


    The Ghostface King had already realized this.


    But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn''t understand where the problem was, and the situation was only worsening.


    The Ghostface King knew that there was a high chance that they would bepletely wiped out if this continued. He shouted, "Whitebrow King, Nine Lives King,e with me to kill that ghost king."


    The Nine Lives King was that wildcat. Cats had nine lives, making them able to enter the Yellow Springs and return. The wildcat had died several times and returned, which was why he knew more about the Nether Court than most.


    The three fiend kings lunged at the ck arrow ghost king.


    This ghost king knew that it was a purew cultivator, strong in spell arts and weak in closebat. Conversely, fiends were innately strong, and almost every fiend was capable in closebat. The three fiends were intent on pitting their strong point against its weak point.


    As expected, this ghost king retreated while waving its white scepter, summoningyers of ghostly energy.


    The ghostly energy carried the powerful corrosive properties innate to the Nether Domain, and the fiends didn''t dare to touch it, thrusting out their palms to disperse it. But the ghost king continued to release this ghostly fog, which began to form into fog ghosts that shrieked as they lunged at the three fiend kings. While the fog ghosts were rather weak, their soul attacks were still a headache, and even the three fiend kings found them a problem.


    The Ghostface King lost his patience and opened his mouth, unleashing that blue me that had destroyed that earlier ghost king.


    This was his True Essence, a prodigious power he released by consuming the energy in his fiend pellet. But the Ghostface King was only powerful enough to use it three times. If he used it more than that, he would affect his cultivation and no longer be able to recover the energy he consumed. As for the other fiend kings, they were weaker than him, and even three times was asking too much of them. They wouldn''t use it unless their lives were in danger.


    As the blue light appeared, the ghost king shrieked and backed away, a barrier of ck smoke appearing in front of it. The blue light struck the barrier and prated through it, striking the ghost king. The ghost king wailed as green smoke boiled off its body. It still lived, but it had been badly wounded. At this, the other ghost kingsughed, and none of them went to its aid. It was clear that the ghost kings also didn''t get along well with each other.


    The three fiend kings were just about to kill the ghost king when a sharp cry came from behind them.


    A green bolt of light shot at the Whitebrow King.


    The Whitebrow King snorted and spat out a small red pearl, which radiated crimson light that protected him. This was a treasure that he had spent many years refining, and its effects were incredible.


    Poof! The green bolt struck the red pearl''s barrier and disappeared, upon which all the fiends sighed in relief. But a momentter, the red barrier shuddered and then exploded, the powerful shockwave sending the Whitebrow King flying.


    Arge sword flew out of nowhere and headed straight for the Whitebrow King.


    "Celestial Sword!" the Whitebrow King yelped. Not daring to take this attack, he instantly shot away and just barely managed to evade the sword.


    But as he dodged the sword, a white lotus flew through the air. As if everything had been calcted beforehand, it appeared right in the Whitebrow King''s path, radiating white light that paralyzed the Whitebrow King.


    And then arge golden character flew through the air and disappeared into the Whitebrow King''s head.


    The Whitebrow King howled as golden light began to shine from his head, and with a boom, his head exploded.


    But this still wasn''t enough to kill him, another head growing from his chest. Meanwhile, the Ghostface King came rushing over to save him.


    Two sts of wind intercepted him while a callous voice rang out, "Just go and die already!"


    Therge sword dropped from the sky, striking the Whitebrow King''s body and sting it into pieces, the fierce sword energy instantly obliterating the regenerative ability of every cell and ending any hope the Whitebrow King had of reviving.


    A fiend king had been in.


    "Sun Shuming!" the Ghostface King bellowed.


    It went without saying that all this was the work of Sun Shuming''s hidden group. Not only had they been long ready for this ambush, they worked extremely well together. There was someone for piercing through defenses, another for fixing the enemy in ce, another for intercepting reinforcements, and another for killing. They had even calcted the route the Whitebrow King would take to retreat. Only by working together had they been able to y a fiend king.


    "Hehe, serpent king, there''s no need to be so angry. It''s just a few small tricks, hardly worth mentioning." Laughter ensued as Sun Shuming''s group appeared over the ckwater River.


    He held arge brush in his hand as he looked at the Ghostface King. Smiling, he said, "I thought that even if the ckwater Snake and the ghost kings couldn''t destroy you all, they would at least have no problem heavily wounding you. Once we made our sudden attack, we would be able to easily kill a few fiend kings. But to my surprise, not a single fiend king died, and it was the ghost kings who were starting to falter. We had no choice but to strike earlier than nned, ultimately taking the life of only a single fiend king. What a pity."


    He spoke as if he had cooked a meal poorly and made an embarrassment of himself in front of guests.


    His brush began to draw in the air, and a bright "½£" (sword) character appeared. Sun Shuming dabbed the character with a brush, and the character turned into a sword.


    "Mighty are the men of Fengshan, dancing and singing of ying fiends to the vast sky! Go!"


    He was quite the straightforward one, moving to attack just moments after speaking.


    As Sun Shuming shouted, the sword shot at the Ghostface King.


    The Ghostface King hadn''t expected this man to be so direct. Enraged, he was about to shatter that sword when he felt a gust of wind behind him and realized that he was in trouble. Ignoring the sword, he turned around and thrust out his palm.


    A ck arrow rammed into his hand.


    The Ghostface King yelped as his body erupted with fiend energy to fend off Sun Shuming''s sword. Clenching his teeth, he chopped at his right arm, severing it. As the severed arm flew up, it decayed into white bone. A momentter, the Ghostface King regrew his right arm, but hisplexion had paled somewhat.


    Sun Shuming sighed. "I was even more rushed this time, as I saw that the ghost king was about to attack, but this meant I couldn''t cooperate with my colleagues, resulting in failure. Yunshan, if you had kept up and followed my attack with the Celestial Sword, you would have heavily injured¡ªif not killed¡ªhim. If any of you had made a follow-up attack of any sort, the Ghostface King would have been right behind the Whitebrow King. Missing out on such an opportunity is because you allck focus. Do not make the same mistake again!"


    The young lord of the Celestial Sword Sect, Liu Yunshan, smiled and said, "It was my mistake. I will definitely follow Sir Sun next time."


    The others agreed. On the other end, the fiend kings were baffled by this conversation.


    They looked over at Sun Shuming, who looked seriously at the Ghostface King and said, "Rx. Next time, I definitely won''t let you dodge."


    He flourished his brush, and another golden character appeared.

 Chapter 652: Counterattack

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The moment the "ɱ" character appeared, the entire area filled with chilling murderous energy.


    A bleak autumn wind blew, somber killing intent rising.


    Within these few brush strokes were crime and punishment!


    A single stroke of the brush caused that "Kill" character to radiate waves of cold killing intent.


    The fiends saw this character begin to spin, splitting off countless more "Kill" characters.


    These characters differed in size and style, as if the innumerable schrs of Fengshan over thest thousand years had alle together to each write this one character, each one brimming with the will to fight as they charged out.


    These "Kill" characters were like the frenzied attacks of an art relic, engulfing the fiends in their killing intent. And this immense power began to tear away at them, crush them, and squeeze them.


    They desperately resisted, but they were puny and weak before this vast power.


    A fiend general faltered with a wail, and a golden "Kill" character passed through his body like countless swords, filling him with holes. And then another fiend general fell, arge character slicing the fiend general as if it was countless knives. Each "Kill" character was like a falling hammer, obliterating a fiend general.


    Even the fiend kings felt a terrible pain from these "Kill" characters.


    "The Three Character True Talisman ssic!" the Ghostface King squeezed out from between clenched teeth.


    This was the technique Sun Shuming was the most proud of.


    Sun Shuming''s Three Character True Talisman ssic consisted of only three spell arts: "Kill", "Obliterate", and "End". They possessed earth-shaking power almost on par with a Divine Connection.


    But nobody had expected Sun Shuming to use this ultimate technique from the very start.


    Sun Shuming said, "It''s meant for dealing with groups, so it naturally needs to be used as early as it can to take down as many people as possible."


    He flourished his brush again and shouted, "Obliterate (Ãð)!"


    It seemed that he was intending to use the second of the three characters.


    The Ghostface King wasn''t just going to stand there and let him, shouting, "Stop him!"


    While the Three Character ssic was powerful, it was slow to cast. Two fiend kings attacked, one throwing out a golden shuttle that moved like a bolt of lightning while the other took on his original form, a Heaven Howler Dog, and lunged at Sun Shuming to bite him.


    But to their surprise, Sun Shuming lowered his brush, and the golden character that appeared was no "Obliterate", but "Óù" (Defend).


    rmed, the Ghostface King realized that he had fallen for Sun Shuming''s trap again, and he shouted, "Get back!"


    But he was too slow.


    The "Defend" character erupted with golden light, blocking the attacks from the two fiend kings like a shield. Meanwhile, Sun Shuming wrote a "Fear" character that illuminated the dog fiend king and rendered it immobile.


    Liu Yunshan bellowed, and his giant sword swung down from the heavens at the dog fiend.


    The Celestial Sword of the Celestial Sword Sect was just as powerful as Sun Shuming''s Three Character True Talisman ssic, and the dog fiend was no match for it, so he desperately attempted to move his head. But while he desperately tried to escape, Sun Shuming held him fast, and the other cultivators also barraged his body with spell arts.


    The fiend kings were stunned and enraged, but they were being held down by the ghosts. All they could do was watch as another fiend king was savagely beaten to death.


    Whoosh!


    As Liu Yunshan chopped off the dog fiend''s head, he shouted, "All of you will die here today!"


    The Ghostface King knew that the situation was dire. He howled, "You really think these tricks are enough to destroy us? Too naive!"


    He took out a rusted saber.


    Sun Shuming paled at the sight of this saber, his entire body trembling as he shouted, "The Ironblood Saber! How do you have it!?"


    The Ghostface King chuckled. "How else? The Fiend Emperor favored me so much that he lent it to me!"


    This Ironblood Saber was a divine treasure personally used by the Ironblood Fiend Emperor.


    As an owned divine treasure, it bore a sliver of the Ironblood Fiend Emperor''s will, which made it far more powerful than an ownerless divine treasure.


    The Ironblood Fiend Emperor had made his name with this saber, and its power was well-known.


    The Ghostface King bellowed as he swung the saber.


    This attack wasn''t aimed at Sun Shuming''s group, but at a ghost king behind him. This rusted saber exploded with a vast killing intent, and the spots of rust on the de began to tremble. Boom! Countless illusions appeared in the air, each illusion that of a peerless expert, exuding a supreme majesty that made others want to put down their arms and bow down.


    The majesty of these countless experts made the ghost king freeze to the spot.


    The Ironblood Saber swept across the ghost king''s neck, severing it. Ghosts were not easy to kill, particrly ghost kings. So long as the soul survived, they could be reborn. But when the Ironblood Saber swept across the ghost king''s neck, those countless wills weighed down, and the ghost king''s soul flickered like a candle in a storm. A momentter, it sputtered out, utterly unable to resist.


    A powerful ghost king had died.


    "Raaa!" The Ghostface King raised the Ironblood Saber and let out a frenzied roar.


    The Ironblood Saber had been alongside the Ironblood Fiend Emperor for many years and killed countless experts. Each spot of rust on its surface was a souvenir from an expert, carrying that expert''s inextinguishable will. Whenever the saber was swung, the wills represented by these spots of rust would be roused from their slumber, causing the target of the saber to feel like they were facing countless experts at once. Those of weaker will might even crumble from the pressure.


    For this reason, using the saber was not easy either, requiring the user to have a strong will. The Ironblood Fiend Emperor himself had once said that only one with an iron-blooded will could use the saber. This was why the Ghostface King hadn''t wanted to use it at first, as he would have to suffer from the pressure of countless wills.


    But he had no choice but to use it now. The wills of the experts within the saber were the bane of ghosts. With one swing of the saber, a ghost king had died, and the ghost guards under his control lost their will to fight, greatly reducing the pressure on the fiends.


    The Ghostface King raised high the Ironblood Saber, and the countless wills upon it activated, bing like a sun shining high in the sky and making the ghosts wail. Many of the ghosts were instantly destroyed by the wills of the Ironblood Saber.


    It only took a few moments for the ghost offensive to evaporate.


    Sun Shuming''s group was dumbfounded.


    It had to be understood that they had killed two fiend kings precisely because the ghosts had been restraining the fiends. The dual restraints of the ckwater Snake and the ghosts allowed the humans to snipe at the fiends, or else thebined power of 18 fiend kings would have been far beyond the ability of five Soul Transformation humans.


    "Surprised, right?" The Ghostface King turned around and cackled. "We expected you humans to have some scheme, so I kept this move in reserve precisely for you!"


    While keeping the Ironblood Saber until now was partially because it was difficult to use, it was also because he was using it as a safeguard against the humans. But the Ghostface King hadn''t expected Sun Shuming to be so treacherous, his sneak attack leading to the death of two fiend kings and preventing his victory from being perfect.


    But regardless, the might of the Ironblood Saber had neutralized the ghosts, and without the ghosts holding them down, the fiends were finally free to deal with the humans.


    Seven fiend kings and fourteen fiend generals flew toward Sun Shuming''s group, the remainder continuing to suppress the ghosts. The tables were instantly turned, with the fiends now beating down the ghosts and humans.


    Five versus seven meant that Sun Shuming''s group could only defend, with no more opportunity to attack.


    Golden characters appeared in quick session, but they were no longer graceful and elegant. Instead, the strokes were heavy and solemn, exuding an immense pressure.


    Liu Yunshan''s Celestial Sword also no longer seemed as mighty, its aggressive ferocity restrained, eight out of ten moves being used for defense.


    The onught of more than twenty fiends left the humans without any time to catch their breath, but the ghosts were even worse off. The wills of the Ironblood Saber suppressed them all, and the ghost kings screeched in unbearable pain. The fiends used this opportunity to sweep through them, and it seemed that the ghosts would soon break.


    "Hold! The wills of the Ironblood Saber are too powerful for ordinary people to resist! That old serpent can''tst for much longer!" Sun Shuming shouted.


    "How long can you hold on?" the Ghostface King chuckled. "You''re looking down on me too much."


    He suddenly took out a jade bottle, within which floated a drop of blood.


    This drop of blood had a little hint of brown, and while it was only a single drop, it exuded a bleak somberness, contained an awesome strength.


    "A fiend emperor''s essence blood!" Sun Shuming trembled.


    In front of him was clearly the essence blood of a fiend emperor, and he knew without asking that it belonged to the Ironblood Fiend Emperor.


    With this drop of essence blood, the Ghostface King would be able to endure for much longer. It was no wonder he was so confident.


    Everyone started to feel a hint of despair, except Sun Shuming, who looked very calmly at the Ghostface King.


    The Ghostface King reached for the essence blood while saying, "Once I consume this essence blood, I will grow so powerful that I will have no need to fear the rest of you. But everyone here must bear witness that I consumed it for your sake, not for my own selfish desires."


    Fiend emperor essence blood couldn''t be taken casually. The Ironblood Fiend Emperor had decreed that he was only allowed to use it at critical moments. Thus, before using it, the Ghostface King had to notify the other fiends so that they couldn''t im that he had taken it for his own selfish desires.


    All the fiends said in unison, "Ghostface King, be at ease! We will report this matter truthfully to His Majesty!"


    The Ghostface Kingughed and prepared to consume the blood.


    At this moment, Sun Shuming abruptly said, "Still not doing anything? Are you just going to watch as the humans are wiped out?"


    Startled, the Ghostface King realized that he was in trouble and prepared to swallow the essence blood.


    There was a dull boom.


    It was a very special boom, one created by something moving at high speed through the air.


    A figure instantly made its way through the chaotic battlefield, appearing in front of the Ghostface King.


    The Ghostface King looked at Tang Jie in shock as he desperately tried to bring the essence blood to his mouth, but he found that he was utterly paralyzed and bereft of strength.


    That sonic boom carried some sort of strange sound that had stripped him of the ability to move.


    "Actually, I was hoping that you would take it so that you could wipe out all those ursed ghosts, but since Sir Sun doesn''t want it, just forget about it," Tang Jie casually said as he plucked the drop of essence blood from the Ghostface King''s hand.

 Chapter 653: Formidable Assault

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The essence blood rolled around in Tang Jie''s palm like a crimson pearl. Tang Jie could feel the immense power within the blood, but unlike the essence blood he was using now, this essence blood also gave Tang Jie an indescribable sensation.


    Tang Jie didn''t know how to exin it. All he knew was that there was a voice warning him: Do not swallow this drop of essence blood.


    Tang Jie was bbergasted.


    Not by the essence blood, but that voice in his mind.


    As someone who calcted everything and always relied on logic, he had never once felt something through intuition. He had always relied on nning and hidden cards to fight.


    But today, at this moment, before this drop of essence blood, he suddenly had an intuition.


    There was no rigorous analysis or close inspection, only an inexplicable voice warning him. This left Tang Jiepletely baffled.


    Where had this feelinge from?


    Why was it appearing now?


    Tang Jie couldn''t figure out the answer.


    But at that moment, he still chose to trust the feeling, putting the essence blood in a jade bottle rather than consuming it,pletely ignoring the Ghostface King in front of him.


    "You¡­" the Ghostface King blurted out, staring at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie put the jade bottle into his bag and said, "What?"


    ''What''?


    ''What'' my ass, you motherfucker!


    The Ghostface King felt a deep sense of humiliation.


    You stand before me after stealing my things and ask me ''What?''


    Even though he knew his foe was powerful, the dignity of a fiend king did not permit him to back down.


    Savage killing intent appeared on his face as he roared, "DIE!"


    He swung the Ironblood Saber.


    To cut down this powerful foe, the Ghostface King activated the countless wills, and his aura began to soar. Unexpectedly, the powerful stimulus presented by Tang Jie had put him on the verge of a breakthrough, and saber intent erupted and engulfed Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie hadn''t expected to run into a foe who was about to break through mid-battle, and he was momentarily taken aback. The sense of danger in his heart soared, and Tang Jie knew that even his current constitution couldn''t take this blow.


    Shaking his right hand, he produced the Mother Cloud Essence Metal axe and used it to block the saber.


    But a momentter, the radiance unleashed by the de prated through the axe and struck Tang Jie, the wills of countless experts hammering into his mind, and Tang Jie couldn''t help but cry out in pain.


    He threw a punch in return, and with a bang, Tang Jie and the Ghostface King separated.


    While the Ghostface King''s chest was caved in, Tang Jie was bleeding from both eyes.


    Standing in the air with those bleeding eyes, Tang Jie looked quite horrifying.


    And even with his powerful recovery abilities, he wasn''t able to immediately heal this injury.


    Tang Jieughed. "Excellent! Quite the mighty saber! In your sudden enlightenment in the Dao, you managed to strike with some of the quintessence of ughter! Ghostface King, you''re incredible!"


    These words left everyone stunned.


    The Ghostface King had been suddenly enlightened in the Dao?


    This was the only exnation for why Tang Jie couldn''t heal his injury.


    While experiencing a breakthrough in the middle of battle was a very refreshing thing, having it happen to an enemy was equally as displeasing!


    But life was just like this sometimes. The good things couldn''t alwayse to oneself. There was also a chance that they might happen to the enemy.


    This was just what had happened here: a fiend had been suddenly enlightened to the Dao.


    Sun Shuming paled, and he sighed, "The heavens do not favor my human race!"


    For the humans, a breakthrough was a small matter, but the implication to Fate made Sun Shuming''s heart turn cold.


    "Precisely!" the Ghostface Kingughed.


    Although Tang Jie had stolen the essence blood, the sudden breakthrough had made the Ghostface King himself much stronger, tantamount to the drop of essence blood. The Ironblood Saber shone in his hand, the figures of countless experts shing as their powerful wills once more dominated everyone present.


    All of the ghosts howled under these terrifying wills, not daring to take another step forward. The Ghostface King was singlehandedly suppressing all of the ghosts, but because he was releasing the full might of the saber, he temporarily couldn''t move.


    "Kill him first!" the Ghostface King roared.


    Seven fiend kings remained to keep Sun Shuming''s group busy, while the remaining eight fiend kings charged at Tang Jie.


    "Tang Jie, watch out!" Shentu Yuan and the others called out from the rear.


    "Don''te over! Go and help Sir Sun!" Tang Jie shouted back. "I can deal with these guys."


    "Arrogant human!" the bear fiend roared in fury.


    One versus eight? Just who did this human think he was?


    He had never seen Tang Jie before and knew nothing of his abilities. With rage in his heart, he charged ahead and punched a mighty paw at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie didn''t dodge, thrusting a palm to meet the paw as he coldly replied, "If you have the guts, then you also break through in the middle of battle."


    Bang! The bear fiend was sent flying.


    Trying topete in strength with Tang Jie?


    Even the Colossus King had ended up on Tang Jie''s dinner table, so this bear wasn''t going to fare much better.


    But as the bear fiend was sent flying, the attacks from the other fiend kings arrived. Several fiend arts exploded on Tang Jie, and Tang Jie couldn''t help but grunt in pain.


    When cultivation levels were equal, numbers definitely mattered.


    Thebined power of eight fiend kings was nothing to be trifled with, and they even had an expert in defense-piercing attacks. Not even Tang Jie was powerful enough to take their blows directly.


    "A mantis trying to stop a carriage!" A fiend kingughed at the situation, lunging at Tang Jie and opening his mouth wide to eat Tang Jie alive.


    But as his mouth bit down, the Mother Cloudbat puppet appeared in front of Tang Jie.


    The teeth bit right down onto the puppet.


    In terms of toughness, thebat puppet forged from Mother Cloud Essence Metal was far superior to Tang Jie''s original body, and there was a sharp crack as the fiend king''s sharp teeth all shattered. The fiend king wailed in pain, but a momentter, thebat puppet threw a punch that sent the fiend king flying.


    The fiends were all stunned by the appearance of the puppet. Tang Jie took out the Herding Yang Pearl and put it in his mouth, after which he asked, "Can you block seven of them?"


    The Mother Cloudbat puppet made a gesture to indicate that it could only do so for around seven minutes.


    "That''s enough," Tang Jie said with augh, upon which he transformed into a three-headed, six-armed giant. Wielding the Mother Cloud Essence Metal axe, the Deste Heavens Halberd, and the Sovereign de, he charged at a fiend king.


    He needed to kill them as quickly as possible, one by one!


    At the same time, aplicated diagram appeared beneath the puppet''s feet, creating a vast cage of starlight.


    The Star Chain Formation.


    The Star Chain Formation prevented anyone from leaving the formation unless the master of the formation let them out or was defeated.


    The Mother Cloudbat puppet wasn''t just a weapon. Its existence also had huge tactical significance. One of its important uses was that it could hold down and divide enemies for Tang Jie. As the puppet locked the seven fiend kings within the formation, points of light began to light up across its body.


    It was activating both its defense and eleration formations.


    Thebat puppet''s mission currently wasn''t to kill its opponents, but to hold them fast, so the ghost guard controlling the puppet had given uppletely on offense and put all its energy into defense and speed.


    While the puppet was holding down seven fiend kings, Tang Jie began his hunt.


    Six armsshed out, all weapons striking at that fiend king.


    The fiend king howled in pain andshed back.


    But Tang Jie ignored the fiend king''s counterattacks, trading blow for blow, his six arms attacking the fiend king in rotation so as to kill him as quickly as possible.


    But he wasn''t facing just a single fiend king, but also fiend generals.


    "Save me!" the fiend king roared, and several dozen fiend generals rushed at Tang Jie.


    More than half of the fiend generals had died in the earlier battle, but even so, there were still several dozen of them. All of them together represented a power that could not be underestimated.


    But Tang Jie ignored them, one of his arms throwing out a formation diagram.


    The Treasure Cosmos Formation!


    Seeing this, the Ghostface King narrowed his eyes and shouted, "Watch out!"


    As a fiend king who had taken part in that city assault, he was well aware of how powerful this formation was.


    But the fiend generals did not know.


    Ten thousand treasures ascended into the sky, their lights shining down over the fiends, and they all wailed as they hurried to defend themselves. To keep the fiends off him, Tang Jie didn''t use the concentrated treasure beam. While this would raise the lethality, it would let some of the fiend generals escape and attack him. Thus, he chose to evenly distribute the light so as to hold down every fiend general. This made the treasure light much weaker, unable to kill a single one of the several dozen fiend generals, but it bought him precious time.


    Tang Jie''s six arms thrust out, sting the fiend king with all his power.


    The fiend king tried to run, but Tang Jie seized him and refused to let him go. Frenzied torrents of energy filled the fiend king''s body, threatening to make him explode.


    The fiend king struggled for his life and cried out for help, but nothing he did mattered. He was like a b of meat on the cutting board. Ultimately, he was cut into a pile of ground meat, losing all life.


    Tang Jie put away the corpse and waved a hand behind him. The Star Chain Formation shed as a fiend king was sent out.


    The fiend kings within the formation had seen what happened to theirrade, so the moment this fiend king got out of the formation, he released a thick ck smoke. This ck smoke contained countless fiends and devils, jumping and flying around, manifesting in various forms as the ck smoke spread outward.


    This was this fiend king''s strongest move, and its name was the Myriad Manifestation Hell. If one fell into this hell, one would suffer from countless illusions and be assailed by countless horrors until death.


    Tang Jie cared little about such things. He charged into the ck smoke and unleashed his blood energy, preventing all those wicked creatures from getting close. The moment those fiends and devils tried, his prodigious blood energy would wash them away. The ck smoke retreated as Tang Jie strode toward the fiend king.


    The fiend king cried out in shock and transformed into a giant mouth that attempted to bite Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie savagely smiled and thrust out his heads.


    The three heads opened their mouths and bit down on the fiend king. In his giant form, he was just as terrifying as his opponent, and rather than eating Tang Jie, the fiend king ended up being devoured, the three mouths messily tearing into him as he cried out for help.


    Tang Jie continued to attack with his three heads and six arms, seeking to kill the fiend king as quickly as possible.


    At this time, the light of the Treasure Cosmos Formation faded. While the fiend generals were all badly wounded, they still lived. As the formation retreated, the generals rushed at Tang Jie, trying to save the fiend king.


    But at this moment,ughter rang out.


    Yiyi''s graceful figure flew through the air, and as she grabbed the formation diagram, countless ck vines erupted from the earth, reaching for the fiend generals.

 Chapter 654: Savagery

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    An uninjured fiend general might not have been afraid of ck Sin.


    While ck Sin was powerful, that was only against weaker opponents. It was somewhat insufficient for dealing with Transformation fiends, at least for now.


    But after the barrage from the Treasure Cosmos Formation, all the fiend generals were injured, and these were not ordinary injuries. Even the fiend generals weren''t strong enough to immediately heal them. Moreover, they were also focused on rescuing the fiend king, so ck Sin managed to catch them unawares. In a sh, seven or eight fiend generals were caught in the vines and dragged into the abyss. And while many of the fiend generals managed to escape, ck Sin''s iling vines prevented them from getting close.


    Giggling, Yiyi summoned her Jade Blossom Pce and then cast her Silkheaven Net to work together with ck Sin to hold off the fiend generals.


    Individually, these fiend generals were on par with her, and together, they were definitely much stronger, but they were much weaker after being injured and Yiyi was focused entirely on defense. While winning was out of the question, she could buy time without a problem.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie''s ying of the fiend king was reaching a conclusion.


    After that unreasonable and frenzied beating, this fiend king quickly followed his colleague on the path to the afterlife.


    Amusingly, this guy had even tried to feign death in the middle of it all.


    But Tang Jie didn''t judge whether he had killed someone on whether they were moving, but on the strength of their life force. Life force was how one determined whether a cultivator was alive or dead, and anyone with sufficient life force coulde back from the dead if they needed to. Transformation great fiends all possessed formidable life force and boundless spiritual power, and while it wasn''t to the extent where they could revive from a single cell, there were quite a few who could revive from a tattered body. Thus, Tang Jie killed fiend kings by obliterating all life in their body, squeezing out every drop of life force that he could so that he was sure that there was noing back.


    With the second fiend king dead, the Mother Cloudbat puppet let out the third.


    This was the bear king.


    With its huge and powerful body, the bear king had a particrly formidable life force, and killing him would be extremely difficult.


    And Tang Jie had just about reached the Herding Yang Pearl''s limit.


    Ever since the Herding Yang Pearl had been damaged, every instance it was used would put an additional burden on it and shorten its usable period. After killing two fiend kings, Tang Jie felt like he had clearly reached the pearl''s limits, and using it any more would destroy it, so he had no choice but to take it out.


    When the bear fiend saw Tang Jie exit the three-headed, six-armed form, heughed and said, "You can''t kill me!"


    His life force was much greater than that of the in fiend kings, and Tang Jie had now lost his empowered form. While he was still stronger than the bear king, he was no longer as unstoppable.


    The bear fiend just needed to stall Tang Jie long enough for the five remaining fiend kings to destroy the puppet. By now, the Mother Cloud puppet had consumed immense amounts of energy, and it wouldn''t be able tost for much longer.


    But to his surprise, Tang Jie coldly replied, "Is that so? Actually, killing you will only take one swing of my de."


    "Bullshit!" the bear fiend roared.


    Tang Jie thrust out the Sovereign de.


    "Raaa!" The bear fiend swung a fist in response.


    The Sovereign de instantly transformed into a spear, and Tang Jie icily dered, "Heaven Lifting Spear Art, Rending Earth!"


    The spear transformed into a streak of light and stabbed into the bear fiend''s body.


    Tang Jie had diligently cultivated variousbat arts in the Celestial me Pagoda, and the Heaven Lifting Spear was one of them. Although it was just an ordinary spear art, as the spear pierced through the bear fiend''s body, the Sovereign de exploded with light.


    The light lit up the bear fiend''s insides like a sun, and a momentter, the bear fiend froze and then looked in disbelief at his body.


    This single spear strike had obliterated his vast sea of life force like snow encountering the searing sun.


    "A spear¡­ it was a spear¡­" He looked at Tang Jie in disbelief.


    "No, it was a de," Tang Jie whispered.


    The bear fiend froze, clearly confused by these words, and then he closed his eyes and toppled over.


    The Ghostface King saw all of this, and he was stunned once more.


    He suddenly recalled the battle at Dongjin Pass. When facing three Skyshakers, Tang Jie had used a weapon that could transform against one of them, and then there had been a sh of light, upon which that Skyshaker that had been brimming with life had died.


    It was just that the results of that battle had been so shocking that many people neglected this detail upon recalling the battle.


    It was only when the same thing happened that the Ghostface King remembered that terrifying strike.


    What sort of Immortal art could be so powerful as to annihte a Soul Transformation¨Clevel fiend king in a single strike?


    The Ghostface King just couldn''t understand.


    He dumbly stared at Tang Jie, watching as he slowly extracted the Sovereign de from the bear''s body, and his heart turned cold.


    A momentter, the Star Chain Formation shed, the fourth fiend king being sent out.


    Tang Jie didn''t use the same method this time. Instead, he used his domineering strength, swinging the Mother Cloud Essence Metal axe at the fiend king. As for the Sovereign de, he found it too light and not particrly fun to use, so he didn''t like using it unless necessary.


    While the fiend king tried his best to endure, he gradually began to falter under Tang Jie''s frenzied assault. As for the puppet, since there were only four fiend kings left, the pressure on it was greatly reduced, allowing it tost much longer.


    This was definitely the most speechless battle the fiends had ever been through. There was no battle of wits or clever tricks, only a glorious disy of blood and power¡ªa single human was enduring the attacks of other fiends and pummeling a fiend to death, switching them out for another once it was dead. It was more like a street brawl.


    But this simple and crude style had allowed Tang Jie to get rid of three fiend kings in one go, and he was in the middle of taking down his fourth.


    If this were allowed to continue, Tang Jie really might eat up all eight fiend kings.


    All of the fiends were dumbfounded, stupefied, and terrified.


    A single human was about topletely upturn the absolute advantage the fiends had held.


    The seven fiend kings assailing Sun Shuming''s group could no longer focus solely on the opponent before them. Two of them flew out to deal with Tang Jie¡ªthe Small Peach Queen and the wildcat fiend.


    Tang Jiepletely ignored these two fiends, continuing to pummel his foe. As for the attacks of the pair, he would just endure them.


    This was Tang Jie''s choice.


    A body cultivator''s way of fighting was barbaric and simple. No matter how many of youe at me, I''m only going one way!


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Savage fists and sharp axe blows fell on the fiend king while whirling petals and sharp cat ws sliced at Tang Jie, turning his back into a sea of blood.


    As the rain of petals sliced away, there was the asional ng of metal, like a knife striking stone.


    The sharp cat ws were even more vicious, digging deep into Tang Jie''s back as if they were trying to excavate a well, and in the blink of an eye, they had scooped out arge chunk of flesh. If Tang Jie hadn''t been in his giant form, it would have bored a hole straight through his body.


    Even a Diamond Body that was almost at greater attainment couldn''tpletely ignore the attacks of two fiend kings. When this power that could overturn mountains was concentrated on Tang Jie''s back, it became even more terrifying, and Tang Jie cried out in pain.


    "Awooo!" he howled like a crazed beast.


    But he refused to turn around, hacking even more savagely with his axe, venting all of his pain, anger, and strength on the unfortunate fiend king. No matter how the fiend wailed, defended, or countered, Tang Jie continued to pour out his strength.


    "Hold! You have to hold!" the wildcat frantically called out. "Heaven Shatter w!"


    His ws shone with a silver light as they dug into the body, his arms almost burying themselves into his flesh.


    But a momentter, Tang Jie let out another roar.


    The Mother Cloud Essence Metal axe came down.


    Time seemed to stop. The wildcat''s w reached Tang Jie''s heart, and the Small Peach Queen''s flowers sliced and diced Tang Jie''s flesh, and Tang Jie''s axe mmed into the fiend king''s chest.


    And then¡­ the fiend king fell.


    His eyes were full of disbelief, despair, and dread.


    "NO!" the Small Peach Queen and wildcat cried out in unwillingness.


    Drawing back his arm, Tang Jie turned around and faced the two fiends, a cruel smile on his lips. "Did you have fun beating me up?"


    This smile rmed the two fiends, and they instinctively backed away.


    This savage and terrifying fellow had robbed the fiends of all their confidence.


    Although the humans were still down in numbers, and both Sun Shuming and Tang Jie were injured from their battle, and even the Mother Cloud puppet was running low on energy, the demoralized fiends were no match for the humans.


    The following battle became very simple.


    Tang Jie used the moment the two fiends retreated to take some medicine, and then he began to pursue the Small Peach Queen and wildcat. Although it was two versus one, in their demoralized state, Tang Jie had them running for their lives.


    And the Ghsotface King was also reaching his limit.


    Without the Ironblood Saber''s pressure, the ghosts came sweeping back, and the fiends no longer had the power to fight back against them.


    The defeat of the fiends seemed set in stone.


    All of the fiends despaired.


    The mighty fiends were facing defeat, and it was all because of that human.


    All of the fiends looked at Tang Jie, unwilling to ept this result.


    At this moment, a soft sigh resounded in everyone''s hearts. "What a bunch of useless things. Outnumbering the humans by three times yet still utterly defeated by them. You have truly brought shame to the fiend race!"


    As this voice rang out, Tang Jie felt a huge danger approaching.


    He turned around and punched at the air.


    "Eh?"


    There was a gasp of surprise as a finger emerged from the void and tapped Tang Jie''s fist.

 Chapter 655: Crazy Talk

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Fingertip met fist!


    There was a brief pause, and then a shockwave rippled out from the point of impact, sweeping through the area.


    At that moment, every human and fiend felt an enormous danger approaching. Casting aside their individual battles, they put up their barriers.


    In the face of this shockwave, the fiends were like fish in a tsunami, carried along by the waves and sent traveling several thousand meters.


    The Ghostface King naturally couldn''t maintain the Ironblood Saber, and he was washed away. But the ghosts didn''t have much time to celebrate. Right after escaping the pressure of the Ironblood Saber, they were pulverized by the shockwave. The terrifying power also impacted against the giant ckwater Snake. To protect the Umbra Cactus flower, the snake covered it with the extreme Yin doom energy, but as a consequence, it was sent flying high into the air.


    As one of the creators of this shockwave, Tang Jie also didn''t fare well.


    As fist and finger collided, Tang Jie''s arm shattered, section by section.


    This horrifying strength obliterated his arm as if some giant beast was devouring it, leaving behind no blood or flesh. This was because this power was so outrageous that all matter was pulverized into the smallest molecules and scattered to the wind.


    Boom!


    Tang Jie''s massive body was carried up by the wind, and it flew for one thousand meters before finally stopping.


    Only then did the storm begin to dissipate. And at the very center of the vortex, behind that finger, a man gradually emerged.


    The way he appeared was very strange, appearing bit by bit, starting from the finger, like a personing out of a painting.


    Finally, his entire form was revealed: a long-haired, white-robed man with silver eyes.


    When his full form emerged, this person seemed to re-enter the normal flow of time, drawing back his finger and ncing at it.


    The finger crumbled like a burnt incense stick, dissolving in a cloud of dust.


    The man sighed and waved a hand. "You have some skill, to destroy one of my fingers."


    As he waved his hand, the finger regrew.


    He turned to the Ghostface King and the others.


    The fiends were all rmed when they saw the man''s face, and they got down on one knee and shouted in unison, "We pay our respects to His Majesty the Fiend Emperor!"


    Some of the fiend kings even got down on both knees, fully prostrating.


    Sun Shuming shuddered, appearing like he had seen a ghost as he cried, "The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor¡­ Why is it him? Why is he here?"


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor!


    One of the five Fiend Emperors, a Divine Division expert.


    Even Tang Jie couldn''t help but gasp at the appearance of this Titan.


    But what he found strangest of all was Sun Shuming''s attitude.


    On Sun Shuming''s face, he saw despair, helplessness, and even indignation.


    But Sun Shuming hadn''t been this way at all when facing 18 fiend kings, or when the Ghostface King had taken out the Ironblood Saber to turn the tables. It had to be understood that they had already been in a desperate situation at the time. Even though Sun Shuming still had Tang Jie up his sleeve, to be honest, the strength Tang Jie had shown before wasn''t enough to turn the tables. In other words, the defeat of the humans had still been quite likely. But in those circumstances, Sun Shuming had still been confident.


    Tang Jie suddenly realized something.


    He asked, "Sir Sun, do you have some way of dealing with this situation?"


    Sun Shuming sighed. "I prepared a lot for this battle, but I never imagined that the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor woulde. This fiend is at Divine Division, and his cultivation is far above the 18 fiend kings. With him around, none of my methods will do any good."


    "Is that so?" Tang Jie muttered as he looked ahead.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor stood with his hands held behind his back, gazing at the twelve kneeling fiend kings.


    One Fiend Emperor, twelve fiend kings and twenty-some fiend generals¡ªsuch a force truly was enough to make Sun Shuming despair.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor turned to Tang Jie and smiled. "You are the Tang Jie who killed Violet me?"


    Tang Jie shrugged. "And also the Colossus King, the Heaven Swallowing King, and four others. Of course, I''m guessing that they aren''t your subordinates, so you don''t care."


    Tang Jie was trying to sow discord among the fiends.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor chuckled. "Although they weren''t my direct subordinates, they were still fellow members of my race. Tang Jie, you singlehandedly killed seven fiend kings and countless generals and soldiers, rendering great service to Fengshan. In other words, taking your life will be like depriving Fengshan of an arm."


    Tang Jie curiously asked, "Now that you bring it up, I have a question I would like to ask the Fiend Emperor. Doesn''t the Heavenly Dao Oath prevent Titans like you from attacking those who have yet to reach your cultivation level like me? Does the Fiend Emperor n to ignore the binding of the oath and attack me?"


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor smiled. "That depends on the situation. While this pact does say that Violet Pce and Divine Division experts can''t attack weaker cultivators, this pact is for the sake of avoiding the massive loss of life that woulde from a sh of top-ss cultivators. It doesn''t mean that we can''t strike back when attacked or return insult for insult. If someonees to our door, or if it''s an individual affair, there''s no need to keep to the oath."


    ''Comes to the door''?


    Tang Jie was startled, and then he understood.


    The agreement that the Fiend Emperors hade to with Feng Wuxiang and the other human cultivators was only limited to wars. It didn''t forbid them to take action in other situations, like personal affairs or self-defense.


    Once he thought about it, it made sense. The pact was used to protect them, not to limit them. The Titans would never agree to a pact that might force them to kill themselves.


    This situation clearly didn''t fall under that pact.


    First of all, this was a battle over treasure, not a territorial battle.


    A battle for treasure was a personal affair, so the Silver Eyes Emperor naturally didn''t need to keep to the Heavenly Dao oath. Moreover, no Titan would be fool enough to even forbid fighting over treasure.


    Secondly, Tang Jie had actually attacked the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor just now, so the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor could just im self-defense.


    Even on a battlefield, even if a Fiend Emperor couldn''t make the first strike, if anyone dared to attack him, the Fiend Emperor had the right to strike back. Titans could be restrained, but their majesty could not be profaned. Anyone who dared to challenge them would die!


    Thus, today, the Heavenly Dao Oath had no restrictions on the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor. Sun Shuming clearly understood this, which was why hisplexion was so pale. He had never imagined that someone as respected as a Fiend Emperor would care about the Umbra Cactus flower. After all, at his level, cultivators essentially had two lives¡ªone for their physical body and one for their soul¡ªand the Umbra Cactus flower could only revive the physical body.


    But it now seemed that he was mistaken.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor coolly said, "If you kill yourselves, I can keep your bodies whole."


    His voice wasn''t loud, but it was imbued with an unquestionable dominance.


    This was the majesty of a Titan.


    Thebined might of 18 fiend kings might be a little stronger than an Infant Tending¨Clevel Fiend Emperor, but they would never be able to match the sheer dominance and majesty a Fiend Emperor could exert, robbing the will of others to fight.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, just by standing there and speaking, had the human cultivators trembling in fear, with some of them even turning their art relics to themselves, intending tomit suicide.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie interjected.


    He said, "Leaving the body intact would be fine. It''s perfect for roasting. When I kill fiends, I also like to leave the body intact. Roasting is always more delicious than a simple meat tter."


    These words left everyone stunned.


    Even the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was momentarily taken aback, and then he erupted inughter. "Good! Good! Excellent response! It''s a long time since I''ve run into someone so bold. It is just what I want. As your reward, I will leave your body intact and then roast you for a while. Rx. I guarantee that you will stay alive until you''re fully cooked."


    These cruel words made everyone''s hearts go cold, but Tang Jie was unmoved, simply saying, "Then you''ll have to be patient. My hide is rather thick and isn''t easy to roast."


    "That''s even better. It means I can listen to more of your moans and wails. In fact, I need to roast you for a few days and nights to get the most pleasure out of it."


    Neither side was backing down in this war of words, and even the fiend kings were dumbfounded.


    Such a pointed conversation could only ever have taken ce between Fiend Emperors and Violet Pce True Lords. A mere Soul Transformation saying this to a Fiend Emperor¡­ that was truly seeking death.


    But today, they had borne witness to such a conversation.


    Moreover, Tang Jie was even going to greater extremes.


    He called back the Mother Cloudbat puppet and asked Sun Shuming, "If I take care of Silver Eyes, can you deal with the remaining twelve fiend kings?"


    These words were crazy and arrogant to the extreme.


    A Soul Transformation body cultivator was iming that he could deal with a Fiend Emperor?


    Even the 18 fiend kings wouldn''t have dared to boast of such a thing.


    It had to be understood that 18 fiend kings could only be stronger than a Fiend Emperor if they worked together. But in a real fight, a Fiend Emperor, with their ability to cast arts with a single thought, could easily divide and conquer, just like how Tang Jie had dealt with four fiend kings earlier.


    The gap between Fiend Emperors and fiend kings was huge, not something that could be described with numbers on paper.


    As had been said before, the further along the path one went, the more difficult it became to challenge an opponent above one''s tier. There was no precedent for a Soul Transformation cultivator defeating a Violet Pce cultivator.


    Why was Tang Jie so confident that he could fight a Fiend Emperor? That puppet that was basically out of energy? Delusional!


    But he had asked, and asked very sincerely.


    Sun Shuming froze.


    He looked at Tang Jie for some time before finally managing a response.


    He nodded and said, "Of course. If you can deal with¨C no, if you can hold Silver Eyes down, I can deal with the fiend kings."


    Another crazy guy.


    Five versus twelve? Sun Shuming still thought he had a chance at winning?


    Even if the Ghostface King could no longer use the Ironblood Saber, the ckwater River''s ghosts had basically been wiped out. Without the help of the ghosts, just what gave him the right to be so arrogant?


    But Sun Shuming had also replied very sincerely, not at all appearing to be joking.


    The two of them had both said crazy things.


    Tang Jie chuckled.


    "Good. I''ll deal with the Fiend Emperor and you deal with the fiend kings. But you have to promise me something."


    "What?"


    "If I pull it off, you give me the Umbra Cactus flower."


    "Deal. If we can get it, it''s yours!" Sun Shuming swiftly replied.


    Tang Jie sighed after hearing this straightforward reply.


    His eyes gleamed with admiration, reverence, and a little helplessness.


    He knew how Sun Shuming nned to deal with the fiend kings.

 Chapter 656: Divine Division Battle (1)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie''s crazy boasts caused immense confusion to appear in the eyes of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor.


    He had seen many formidable juniors before, but none of them had ever been so arrogant as to challenge him.


    Moreover, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor couldn''t see any sort of reluctance in Tang Jie''s eyes.


    On the contrary, he saw excitement, like he was itching to fight!


    The Fiend Emperor couldn''t help but also start to get excited.


    He chuckled. "Good, good! It''s been a long time since I''ve seen such a pugnacious junior. It''s no wonder Fengshan has been able tost until now. Sure enough, the more dangerous the time, the more heroes that emerge!"


    Tang Jie smirked and was going to say that he had no connection to Fengshan at all, but he ultimately kept silent on that part, only saying, "If that''s the case, then I wee the Fiend Emperor''s instruction. But once we exchange blows, the world will crumble around us, and we stand a good chance of turning the entire Inkcloud Abyss upside down. Why don''t we change locations?"


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor narrowed his eyes. "''Our exchange of blows will cause the world to crumble''¡­ Haha, you seem to have a rather high opinion of yourself. Fine, fine, I''m quite interested to see how many blows you can take. You''d better not get crushed to death without even making a ssh. We don''t even need to talk about making the world crumble if that''s the case."


    Tang Jie smiled. "I will do my best to not disappoint you."


    He flew off.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor turned and said, "You lot, get rid of the humans here and get the Umbra Cactus flower for this emperor. Anyone who dares to take it for their own or doesn''t put in their best effort will be shown no mercy!"


    He flicked his sleeve and went off after Tang Jie.


    He flew so quickly that he almost instantly caught up to Tang Jie. "Little one, you fly too slowly."


    Tang Jie harrumphed. "Tsk, I''m a body cultivator, not an expert in spell arts, so what''s strange about me flying slowly?"


    "The problem is that this speed isn''t even enough to touch me, so how are you going to hurt me?" The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperorughed as he flew alongside Tang Jie, ying with him as a cat would a mouse.


    Tang Jie replied, "There is no need for you to worry. Since this one dared to challenge Your Majesty, it was because I had some confidence."


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor fell silent.


    He wanted to p Tang Jie to death, but he was also interested in seeing what this guy had up his sleeve.


    As a Divine Division great fiend, he had a heaven-reaching cultivation that ced him far above all the other denizens of the Verdant Cloud Domain. There was nobody above him and no trap that could harm him. His power made him bold, and he didn''t fear any tricks that Tang Jie might have. Thus, he just followed Tang Jie, so bored that he even started a conversation.


    Tang Jie didn''t try anything, flying out of the Inkcloud Abyss and high into the sky before finally stopping. "This ce will do."


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor looked around and then released his Divine Will. With his massive Divine Will, he instantly engulfed the area for five hundred kilometers around and confirmed that there were no traps. Of course, if there was some Violet Pce Titan lying in ambush, there was a chance that he might fail to detect them. But the chances of this weren''t high. After all, fights between experts of their level would break the oath, and the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was confident enough in his strength that he was sure he could escape, even if he couldn''t win.


    After confirming that everything was fine, he withdrew his Divine Will and looked at Tang Jie. "I have to say that at least you have courage. Use whatever you have. If I strike first, I''m afraid you won''t get the chance."


    Having grown back his arm, Tang Jie brought his hands together and bowed. "Thank you, Your Majesty."


    He took out a diagram.


    With a shake of the diagram, a person emerged¡ªhis avatar.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor trembled. "A miniature world!"


    It was clear that he also understood the value of a miniature world.


    After briefly gazing at the Mountain River State Diagram, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor turned to the avatar, saying in realization, "So you had already refined an avatar, and it''s at the Heart Demon Tier! not bad, not bad!"


    "This isn''t considered cheating, right?" Tang Jie asked.


    "It''s your own strength, so of course it''s not cheating!" the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor proudly said. He was even more rxed now that he knew his opponent''s confidencey in hidden strength. It was just a Heart Demon avatar, nothing much at all. On the other hand, he was greatly tempted by the treasure in Tang Jie''s possession, and he was very happy about Tang Jie''s choice of battlefield. If the fiend kings had been here, then once he had killed Tang Jie and taken his treasure, he would also have to permanently silence the witnesses. In this way, he had been saved a lot of trouble.


    As these thoughts were going through his mind, a bbergasting scene ensued: he saw Tang Jie''s original body and avatar merging.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor said in shock, "This is¡­ the Dao of Parting and Merging? So you''ve already entered the Dao!"


    He hadn''t expected to be facing an expert who had entered the Dao.


    Tang Jie chuckled and said, "So? Your Majesty, do I have the right to trade blows with you now?"


    After a brief daze, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor threw his head back andughed, "Good, great, excellent! I''ve finally found a worthy opponent, letting me fight to my pleasure! Attack as you please, Tang Jie. Don''t disappoint me!"


    This was the demeanor of a top-ss expert, feeling excitement rather than fear when encountering a powerful adversary.


    Tang Jie nced at the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor and said, "Then, please forgive me!"


    As he spoke, a wind howled.


    Pirs of ck smoke burst through the air, and then the sky lit up with saber energy, crescent des trailing chains descending from the sky. Wreathed in ice, fire, and lightning, they plummeted down with world-destroying power.


    The Nine Heavens Cmity des!


    Tang Jie''s Nine Heavens Cmity des were even stronger than before. There were 162 of them, each one infused with Destruction energy, intersecting with each other as they danced across the heavens.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor cried out in admiration upon seeing these resplendent des, "Good!"


    He stood in the gale, letting the winds engulf him. Gazing at the descending des, his silver eyes gleamed.


    The dark clouds exploded as a giant shockwave rippled through them.


    The shockwave surged upward, pushing back the heavenly des.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor said, "It''s impolite to not reciprocate a gift. For you!"


    A lightning bolt appeared from behind Tang Jie, sending him skyward.


    Ten thousand arts from a single thought!


    This was one of the terrifying things about Divine Division great fiends.


    Unlike Celestial Heart cultivators, existences at his level had their wills connected to the world and could cast arts with a single thought. There was no need for chanting, gestures, or hand seals. A single nce or thought would suffice to harness and control the spiritual energy of the world.


    Tang Jie needed to cast the Nine Heavens Cmity de, and no matter how hepressed this process, he still had to go through it. But the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor needed only a thought to manifest a spell art, easily blocking the attack and then countering with a lightning bolt that left Tang Jie scorched and roasted. It had happened so quickly that Tang Jie hadn''t even had time to cast a second spell art.


    Moreover, because he could cast spell arts with a single thought, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor could cast them at any point, including a location he couldn''t see, like behind Tang Jie. After all, while he couldn''t see it with his eyes, his Divine Will could.


    This allowed the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s attacks to be very unpredictable.


    Finally, his substantialized soul allowed him to harness greater amounts of spiritual energy, conserve more of his own power, and cast spells of greater power. Thus, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was able to block one of Tang Jie''s strongest spell arts with only a single nce.


    As the lightning bolt cracked down, the eyes of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor also shed. He smiled and said, "Tang Jie, use all of your strength!"


    "Of course!" Tang Jie cracked his neck as his skin rapidly healed, and he began to form various hand signs.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor chose simply to watch.


    It had to be said that Divine Division great fiends had a very elegant fighting style. No matter what ruckus one caused, they would stand there, majestic and immovable!


    It felt like he could summon clouds with a wave of his sleeve.


    Tang Jie finished his hand signs and pushed his hands forward, upon which a giant manifestation of Tang Jie appeared, as big as a mountain.


    "Heavenly King Mara Incantation!" As he crazily howled, the giant thrust out a palm.


    The Heavenly King Mara Incantation cast by the merged Tang Jie was far more powerful than before, towering in the sky as it sent an earth-shattering blow at the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor.


    A sliver of excitement and admiration appeared in the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s eyes.


    This art did not exist in the Verdant Cloud Domain, and it was his first time seeing it. Its power wasparable to a Violet Pce True Lord''s Divine Connection.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie also charged at the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor. What he was truly relying on was still his own divine strength.


    The giant hand and Tang Jie arrived at the same time, each one a powerful move. Even arts cast with a single thought might suffer a mishap if one had to deal with attacks on multiple fronts.


    The eyes of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor twinkled, his body floating like a leaf on the wind. He still had his hands held behind his back, but countless hands suddenly emerged from his back, as if he had be the Thousand-Hand Guanyin. Each hand formed a sign, not a single identical sign to be found among the thousand hands.


    These hands extended, moving to deal with Tang Jie and the giant hand, creating countless ripples around the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor.


    It was a very special defensive stance.


    A momentter, Tang Jie and the giant hand collided with the thousand hands.


    Ohm!


    A unique sound rang out as the thousand hands held back Tang Jie and the giant hand, exploding in blinding light. Tang Jie felt like he had run into a mountain¡ªno, he felt like he could push through a mountain, but he couldn''t even get one inch into this defense created by countless hands. As for the giant hand in the sky, it waspletely blocked off, stopped cold in the air. Ultimately, it exploded into pieces, returning to spiritual energy.


    As the giant hand disappeared, Tang Jie instinctively sensed danger.


    The thousand hands moved again, thrusting forward and striking Tang Jie, unleashing a series of shockwaves.


    As the countless palms mmed into him, his ribs shattered, and he vomited blood as he flew back, leaving a crimson arc in the air.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was still just standing there.


    He looked at Tang Jie and smiled. "You''ve done rather well, making me use the Thousand Hands. So¡­ do you have anything else?"

 Chapter 657: Divine Division Battle (2)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie flew more than a thousand meters before he managed to stabilize his body.


    His shattered bones healed, and as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, he said, "This move is called Thousand Hands? Not bad; I''ve been taught something. Then try this one on for size!"


    Tang Jie charged back into the fray.


    This time, he didn''t use any spell art at all, simply punching the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor kept his hands behind his back and simply watched as Tang Jie approached him. As Tang Jie reached him, the Thousand Hands emerged from behind him again, catching Tang Jie''s mighty punch. But as the punch was blocked, Tang Jie''s body shed with a crimson light, a bloody halo spreading out around him. As the bloody halo engulfed the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, crimson tendrils began topress his body with the weight of mountains, and even this mighty Fiend Emperor couldn''t help but cry out in pain.


    Plush!


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor even threw up a little blood, which was instantly absorbed by the Flesh Millstone, but it had no time to use it to increase its strength.


    For a momentter, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor let out a sharp bark, and a ck energy erupted from his body. As ck met red, there was a powerful shockwave that darkened the world for a brief moment.


    And then the two of them broke apart.


    Unlike before, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor swayed a little. As for Tang Jie, as before, he was pushed a thousand meters away before finally stopping himself, clearly badly injured.


    The immense gap in strength made him nothing more than a ball in front of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, kicked away again and again.


    But the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor wasn''t having everything go his way. The Flesh Millstone had actually managed to injure him.


    Although this was mostly because he had been careless, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor still felt inexplicably ashamed.


    He had been injured by a puny human cultivator!


    He angrily red at Tang Jie. "Hmph, so you really do have some tricks. Anything else?"


    Wiping the blood from his mouth, Tang Jie replied, "I''ve got more so long as you want to see it!"


    Tang Jie lunged forward.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was ready this time, a light silver barrier covering him as Tang Jie approached.


    While his Thousand Hands could both attack and defend, its w was that there were gaps in the defense, and it was impossible for it to defend against a flood-like attack such as the Flesh Millstone, which was how Tang Jie was able to get a blow in.


    But this additional barrier would make it much more difficult for the Flesh Millstone to repeat the feat.


    Boom!


    Tang Jie rushed up, and just when they were about to collide, Tang Jie thrust out his finger, which shone like jade. As it touched the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s Thousand Hands, plush! A small and bloody hole was punched in one of the hands.


    Although it was just a small hole, it was a gap in what had been a perfect defense. me entered through the hole, and the hand exploded. Meanwhile, the rest of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s hands thrust out, pressing on Tang Jie''s body, making him erupt in blood and gore as he was sted away. His injuries were even more severe this time, and he was unable to immediately get back up.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor looked at his exploded hand, his silver eyes glistening. With just a nce, the fire was extinguished and the flesh came back, and the hand was soon as good as new.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor chuckled. "Good, good! You were able to injure me twice! Excellent idea, going for closebat and then casting your spell."


    Lying on a cloud, Tang Jie said with a bitter smile, "As expected, I can''t hide anything from the Fiend Emperor''s sharp eyes."


    As Divine Division great fiends could create arts with a single thought, trying topete with the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor in spell arts was suicidal. Thus, Tang Jie had given up on his usual style ofbining long-distance spell arts with closebat, instead charging in and getting in close before using spell arts.


    The greatest advantage to this was that he shortened the reaction window to spell arts.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s arrogance meant that he only defended, confident that no matter what attack was used on him, he could immediately react and counter with his instant spell arts.


    This was what had happened to Tang Jie''s Nine Heavens Cmity de and Heavenly King Mara Incantation. No matter how fast or powerful was the spell art Tang Jie used, there was no way it couldpare to the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor. The ability to cast spell arts with a thought was just too terrifying.


    But getting close and then casting had proved to be a blind spot for the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor.


    Casting spell arts with a thought required the thought.


    In close quarters, the speed of the battle was so fast that a punch would have made contact before one even had time to think.


    It was like two people exchanging blows on a street. They were acting purely on instinct, without the slightest chance to focus.


    Without a time to form a thought, the arts could not be cast.


    Thus, Tang Jie''s choice to engage in closebat and then cast spell arts countered the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor.


    This was why the Flesh Millstone and Pale Cloud me were able to seed at injuring the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor.


    But all of this was because the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor didn''t attack first.


    He was still showing off, only defending and not attacking, letting Tang Jie make the first move.


    Once he got serious and started taking the offensive, all of Tang Jie''s little tricks would be pointless. At that time, Tang Jie would have to deal with wave after terrifying wave of attacks from the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, truly experiencing what it meant to create ten thousand arts with a single thought.


    Thus, Tang Jie''s tactics weren''t an actual counter, and besides, he was paying far too much to injure the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor. In each of these three attacks, Tang Jie had been severely injured.


    It was obvious that Tang Jie was still very far from reaching Violet Pce¨Clevel existences.


    Gaps at this level couldn''t be made up for with just power.


    But Tang Jie wasn''t willing to give up.


    He staggered back to his feet and shouted, "Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, I still have some tricks I haven''t used. Is Your Majesty still interested in seeing them?"


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor saw that Tang Jie''s eyes were still brimming with stubborn resolve despite his body being drenched in blood, and he sighed in admiration. Giving a nod of approval, he said, "If that''s the case, thene again."


    He had entirely abandoned the right to attack precisely because he wanted to see what Tang Jie was capable of.


    Tang Jie roared and charged forward. Just as he was getting close to the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, he suddenly used the Chaoswind Step and appeared to his side, throwing out a punch. But the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was ready for something like this. Several hundred hands appeared on his left side, creating a perfect arc that fended off that punch. But a momentter, Tang Jie appeared on the right, still throwing out his punch. The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor chuckled as a hundred hands appeared on his right, once more blocking the attack. And then Tang Jie appeared below him.


    He used the Chaoswind Step to the maximum extent, appearing above, below, to the right, to the left, in front, and behind, throwing out punch after furious punch.


    This time, he didn''t cast spell arts after getting close, focusing entirely onbat, his spell arts serving as a support for his physical blows. The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor became the center of a frenzied storm of fists.


    But the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s Thousand Hands defense was essentially perfect. No matter how Tang Jie attacked, there would beyers uponyers of hands to fend him off.


    Standing in the air, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperorughed. "Fun, fun! It''s been a long time since I''ve had such an enjoyable battle. s, the difference in cultivation realm isn''t something you can understand. You haven''t even reached the apex of cultivation beneath Violet Pce, and even if you did, you still wouldn''t be a match for me, and you never would be. In the history of the Great Ster Chiliocosm, a Celestial Heart cultivator has never been able to beat a Violet Pce cultivator. A mantis trying to stop a carriage is destined to be crushed under the wheels!"


    His eyes flew open and shed.


    The Thousand Hands drew back and instantly formed countless dizzying hand signs.


    All of the hands locked together into a massivebination sign made from a thousand hands.


    Tang Jie was stunned, blurting out, "You still need to form signs?"


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor smiled. "This isn''t forming a sign. This is ughter!"


    A terrifying energy swept through the world.


    The Thousand Hands moved in unison, pressing toward Tang Jie, each hand radiating a terrifying power that threatened to copse the fabric of space. As this power weighed down, Tang Jie felt like his body was going to be squeezed to the bursting point.


    "Aaaagh!" He desperately yelled, his heart thumping as he summoned all the strength he could muster. Power flowed out from his blood, bones, and organs, every cell being wrung dry. As Tang Jie roared, his power began to soar.


    Finally, this unprecedented torrent of power erupted from his body, sting back the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s Thousand Hands.


    Unprecedentedly, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was pushed back several hundred meters.


    Tang Jie stood tall like a mighty god, his body radiating herculean strength.


    "Interesting." The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor smiled. "I''ve long heard that body cultivators have formidable wills and grow stronger through setbacks, and it seems that it was true."


    Tang Jie looked at his fist and muttered, "The Dao of the Martial Lord is the Dao of Honing, and it has been a very long time since I honed myself."


    Tang Jie had known as far back as his battle with Gu Changqing that the Dao of the Martial Lord did not purely involve getting stronger through the Parting ssic. One could only be truly powerful through a baptism of fire and blood.


    s, he rarely ran into opponents that required his full power. Most of the time, he relied on his teamwork with his avatar, taking down his opponents through abination of wits and courage. As a result, the pressure that he felt had never been enough.


    But today, the immense pressure from the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had finally given Tang Jie the sensation of an imminent breakthrough.


    It was an indescribable feeling, like the sudden arrival of a long-anticipated blessing. Every cell in his body cried out in joy, and overflowing strength healed all his wounds. He no longer felt tired, and he felt an endless will to fight.


    He looked at the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor and shouted, "Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, I still have one more move. Do you dare to receive it?"


    "Oh?" The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor looked at Tang Jie and smiled. "If that''s the case, I can give you one more chance."


    "I won''t disappoint you." Tang Jie slowly took out the Herding Yang Pearl and swallowed it.


    "Raaa!" Tang Jie''s body began to grow.


    Three heads and six arms, a spine like a dragon, bones of steel, and a body wreathed in me.


    But it still wasn''t over.


    This towering giant took out two weapons.


    The Sovereign de!


    The Mother Cloud Essence Metal axe!


    As he gripped the weapons, red and white energies curled around them. Tang Jie mmed the two weapons together, upon which the Sovereign de transformed into a golden fluid and merged with the axe, using the axe as a handle for a giant saber, after which the Pale Cloud me curled around the saber.


    Then, Tang Jie''s body shed with crimson light.


    The Blood Refining Spirit spell.


    And then, the de of the saber gleamed with saber energy.


    Ultimate saber intent.


    In the Verdant Cloud Domain, Tang Jie realized that he had learned a lot of assorted things, and he began to focus on how to merge all these things together such that their power was multiplied. This was the result of his years of research.


    As it brought together the powers of the Herding Yang Pearl, the Sovereign de, the Mother Cloud Essence Metal axe, the Pale Cloud me, the Blood Refining Spirit spell, ultimate saber intent, the Parting ssic, and Yin and Yang, Tang Jie called it the Nine Extinctions de, the ultimate technique that he could only use in his merged state.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Six brawny arms gripped the saber, and even the tough Mother Cloud Essence Metal was slightly deformed from their strength. Staring at the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, Tang Jie roared, "Kill!"


    Saber energy of absolute madness and ferocity swept toward the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor.

 Chapter 658: Divine Division Battle (3)

    Table of Contents


    Next Chapter (Teaser) ?


    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The zing saber energy swept toward the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor in a resplendent wave.


    Even someone as strong as Silver Eyes didn''t dare to underestimate this terrifying strike, preparing to resist it with all his might.


    But as the saber energy was about to strike, it disappeared.


    As Silver Eyes froze in surprise, Tang Jie unleashed another attack, this time attacking from his side.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s Thousand Hands spread out, releasing a barrier.


    But again, the saber energy disappeared before making impact.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was again taken aback. Just when he was wondering what Tang Jie was up to, Tang Jie unleashed another blow.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was mentally prepared this time, and as expected, the saber energy disappeared before it reached him.


    Like a maniac, Tang Jie continued to swing his saber, each one fierce and savage. Silver Eyes was incensed by this behavior. "This is your strongest move? An illusion?"


    "No! The Dao of Time!" Tang Jie coldly replied after making his fourteenth swing.


    He threw aside the saber and punched!


    "Devil Crushing Fist!"


    A berserk roar rang out as Tang Jie put all of his strength into this punch.


    Immense power instantly locked down the space around the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, and he suddenly felt an unprecedented danger approaching.


    This danger hade so quickly and so fiercely that the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor didn''t even have time to defend.


    Ten thousand arts with a thought still requiring thinking.


    He had just begun to form this thought when the vanished saber energies reappeared, attacking the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor from various angles.


    "NOOO!" the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor crazily yelled.


    The Thousand Hands instantly radiated a blinding light.


    But this attack backed by the entirety of Tang Jie''s power wasn''t so easy to block. Those hands shattered under those zing saber energies, instantly obliterated, and the sharp des easily sliced through the silver barrier.


    The saber energies twisted together!


    Crying out, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor unleashed ck torrents of energy to contend against the saber energies.


    It was a savage collision, and then a violent explosion so savage that it threatened to tear apart the heavens spread out from the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, after which blood filled the air.


    "Awooo!" The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor let out a mighty howl, in the most pain he had ever suffered in this life. At least seven of the Nine Extinctions des had broken through the ck torrents to strike him. Even when weakened by the ck torrents, they still dealt him heavy damage.


    Law cultivators would never have as good bodies as body cultivators, and the Nine Extinctions de was far stronger than the average spell art. These seven strikes had been a severe blow for the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, three of them even cutting him open.


    But this was not the full extent of his wounds, for Tang Jie''s Devil Crushing Fist hade right behind. The power of this attack was already at the Violet Pce level, and this one punch pulverized many of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s bones.


    Blood gushed out, and a crimson light rushed out to devour the Fiend Emperor''s essence blood so that it could be turned against him.


    "Shameless! Despicable!" the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor cursed.


    He knew that he had fallen for Tang Jie''s trap after all.


    The Dao of Time!


    Who could have expected this guy to haveprehended a Dao Will of Time? And it was a Dao Will that allowed him to concentrate all his attacks at a certain point in time.


    While this was a powerful trick, the extremely long preparation time made it impractical, and there was also the location restriction. The opponent moving even slightly would cause everything to be for naught.


    But he had been arrogant and wanted to see what Tang Jie was capable of, so he had only defended and not attacked, which gave Tang Jie the opportunity to use a divine ability that he should never have been able to use in normal circumstances.


    Truly, his arrogance had been his undoing.


    But it was toote to rue his decision. The terrifying punch had shattered all his bones, and the fierce des had sliced him into four pieces. And before his immense vitality had a chance to show its power, a me rushed in, transforming into a phoenix, tiger, lion, and crane, each one engulfing a part of his body so that they couldn''te together. Meanwhile, the Flesh Millstone crazily absorbed his blood, and Tang Jie even used his remaining strength to throw out the Deicide me. This me that could burn all things fell on a piece of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s body and swiftly set it alight.


    Killing the enemy until there was nothing left!


    This time, Tang Jie really did use everything he had.


    He knew how powerful the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was, and he knew that this guy still had many more tricks that he hadn''t had the time to use.


    But this was why he had to kill him before then.


    He had to die a frustrated death!


    Show off as much as you want!


    Show off and eat lightning!


    Even though the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was still doing his best to resist, his silver eyes shing as he cast arts to heal himself, the twin assault of blood and fire made all his efforts futile.


    Who cares about your heavenly abilities, your ability to cast with a thought, your vast life force, your divine might!?


    If you don''t have the chance to use them, you''ll just be tormented to death.


    Tang Jie regurgitated the Herding Yang Pearl and watched the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor wail within the blood and fire. "Farewell, Your Majesty!"


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    Inkcloud Abyss, the ckwater River.


    Once Tang Jie and the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor flew out, all that was left were the fiends led by the twelve fiend kings and the humans led by five Soul Transformation cultivators.


    ring at Sun Shuming, the Ghostface King snarled, "Let''s see what tricks you have to win a five-versus-twelve."


    "Hey, ugly, what do you mean, ''five versus twelve''? There''s still us," Shentu Yuan grumbled.


    Ye Xiao pulled on him. "Be quiet, would you?"


    "What are you afraid of? Humans and fiends are enemies, so fighting is only natural. We just die at most, but at least it''s better than cowering like a turtle. We should learn from Tang Jie. Even if we''re no match, we still have to have the courage to face the enemy!" Shentu Yuan stubbornly said, not backing down despite the disparity in forces.


    Sun Shuming nodded in approval. "Good, good. This mindset means that my human race still has hope and my meticulous preparations for this battle were not in vain."


    "What did you say?" Shentu Yuan and the Ghostface King were both taken aback by these words.


    His tone made it seem like he didn''te here solely to take the Umbra Cactus Flower.


    Sun Shuming chuckled. "Do you really think I woulde here with no preparations whatsoever and sacrifice countless lives solely for the sake of a single flower?"


    The fiends all suddenly had a bad feeling.


    Sun Shuming pped the ground and roared, "Detonate!"


    As he roared, the upper reaches of the Inkcloud Abyss shuddered.


    They were located at the very bottom of the Inkcloud Abyss, with steep cliffs on both sides, and the ckwater River running through.


    An explosion sted through the Inkcloud Abyss, and countless boulders tumbled from the cliffs above, plummeting to the abyss below.


    "Oh no!" The Ghostface King paled.


    Before entering, they had scanned the area with their Fiend Wills, but other than the Sterite used to expand the passage, they had found no traps.


    But Sun Shuming had been cunning, cing the traps in the upper reaches of the abyss rather than the bottom.


    This explosion was now sending a mass of debris right down toward them.


    The impact of these stones wouldn''t do much to the fiends, but the uproar from above was so great that it seemed like half of the Inkcloud Abyss had copsed. This sheer tonnage of debris was enough to bury everyone alive. And even if the fiends survived, the terrain below would be destroyed, and maybe even the ckwater River would be finished.


    The Ghostface King was shocked and enraged. "Sun Shuming, have you gone mad? This might not even kill us, but the ckwater River will be finished, and the Umbra Cactus Flower will grow no longer."


    "It''s better than letting it fall into your hands," Sun Shuming sinisterly said.


    "What?" The fiends were aghast.


    They finally understood what was going on.


    Sun Shuming hadn''te to pick the flower.


    He hade to destroy the flower!


    Yes, from the very beginning, Sun Shuming had realized that it would be very difficult to get the Umbra Cactus Flower from fiend territory. The fiends were just too powerful to hope that they could snatch food from their jaws.


    Since he couldn''t get it, he wouldn''t let his enemy get it either!


    The gap in strengthpelled the humans to boldly choose to destroy everything.


    There was never any species more ruthless and determined than humans, and only humans could destroy what they could not have. While fiends were strong, even they were inferior to the humans when it came to cunning and ruthlessness.


    Not only that, the humans wanted to use this chance to kill all the fiends who came after the flower!


    As rocks plummeted from above, Sun Shuming pointed forward and shouted, "All things are born and die; the cycle is ever-changing. All living things suffer, and hell is eternal¡­ March of the Hundred Ghosts, rise!"


    The Sterite in the Nether River passage shed and then exploded.


    The copse of the Inkcloud Abyss had already destabilized the passage, and this instantly caused the passage to copse.


    But it did not simply vanish. Before the spacepletely copsed, Sun Shuming converted its energy and summoned a giant door. This door was made from countless white bones and radiated ghostly energy. The Ghostface King cried out in shock upon seeing the door. "A Nether Gate! You''ve opened a Nether Gate!"


    "How else could I destroy all of you?" Sun Shuming answered with clenched teeth.


    The Nether Gate opened, and countless ghost soldiers, generals, and kings rushed out.


    If the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had been here, he could have used his divine power to undo the spell art and close the Nether Gate, which was why Sun Shuming had despaired upon seeing him. Fortunately, Tang Jie had lured him away, so there was no one left to stop this frenzied assault from the Nether Domain.


    Stones were raining down from above as the Inkcloud Abyss copsed, and down below, ghosts surged and the giant ckwater Snake roared.


    The fiends, facing the double threat of being buried alive and devoured by ghosts, had lost all their cockiness.


    The Ghostface King shouted, "Hurry, leave this ce!"


    The Nether Gate couldn''tst for long, so they had to get out of here quickly. Once the spell art ended, they could return.


    But while he wanted to leave, Sun Shuming wanted him to stay.


    He shouted, "Stay right there!"


    He threw up a mouthful of blood.


    This blood was mixed with radiant golden particles¡ªit was essence blood that contained Sun Shuming''s power.


    He dabbed his brush in this essence blood and wrote out four characters:


    Heaven Canvas, Earth Net (ÌìÂÞµØÍø)!


    A giant golden formed in the air, sealing off this entire space.


    This didn''t stop anyone from flying, only neutralized all escape arts.


    Sun Shuming then used "Obliterate" from the Three Character True Talisman ssic.


    As the Obliterate character appeared, it exerted an immense power on all the fiends.


    This was Sun Shuming''s strongest area attack, so powerful that even the likes of the fiend kings had to use all their power to deal with it.


    Sun Shuming turned his head and said, "What are you just standing there for?"


    Liu Yunshan''s group was already prepared, immediately flying up once they heard this.


    Shentu Yuan''s group realized what was going on, but as they prepared to leave, they saw that Sun Shuming was still standing there.


    "Sir Sun!" the four of them shouted.


    Sun Shuming waved his hand. "The master must stay to entertain his guests."


    They realized that Sun Shuming nned to sacrifice himself to bring down the fiends.


    "Sir!" Shentu Yuan, Ximen Changfeng, Ice Phoenix, and Ye Xiao all cried out.


    They were truly moved by this honored figure''s resolve.


    Liu Yunshan''s group lost their patience,ing back and grabbing the four. "Hurry up! If you want to avenge Sir Sun, kill some more fiends in the future!"


    They all turned into streaks of light and flew off.


    The Ghostface King frantically flew upward. If he didn''t take this chance now, he would never be able to escape in the future.


    Swinging the Ironblood Saber, he let out a blue wave of energy that actually managed to destroy that Obliterate character.


    But Sun Shuming had already written the third:


    As the End character appeared, an even more tyrannical energy manifested, forcing the fiends to deal with it.


    "You can''t stop me!" the Ghostface King furiously howled.


    A blue light erupted from his body. He was even willing to sacrifice his cultivation to break out of Sun Shuming''s trap.


    Boom! The Ironblood Saber shed with the End character, annihting it, and the Ghostface King flew out.


    "Ghostface King, help me!" Down below, the Small Peach Queen wailed. While she was powerful, it wasn''t easy to so quickly break free of Sun Shuming''s spell art.


    The Ghostface King ignored her and continued flying upward.


    Meanwhile, Sun Shuming flicked a jade bottle at the distant ckwater Snake. Several drops of fluid fell out of the bottle, which the ckwater Snake delightedly caught in its mouth, after which it let out a pleased hiss and retreated into the water. The jade bottle then turned around, and the Umbra Cactus Flower flew into the bottle.


    With a wave of his hand, the bottle returned to Sun Shuming.


    "The Umbra Cactus Flower!" Only now did the Ghostface King realize that there was no need to kill the snake to get the flower.


    Seized by greed, he flew over to Sun Shuming and stabbed the saber at him. Sun Shuming was using his Three Character ssic to suppress the fiends, and he had no strength to resist, so the saber stabbed into his chest.


    Sun Shuming shuddered, but as he gazed at that saber, he smiled.


    The Ghostface King grabbed the bottle in his hand.


    Sun Shuming didn''t try to struggle, simply saying, "I have cultivated for seven hundred years, seeking freedom and immortality. But when fiends and ghosts invade my homnd, I sacrifice this body to protect my home! Hahaha!"


    He began tough as a brilliant light radiated from his body.


    "Shit!" The Ghostface King knew he was in trouble. He hastily took on his original form, swallowed the bottle, and took off into the air.


    But he was toote.


    This resplendent light, infused with world-destroying energy, erupted from Sun Shuming''s body.


    Celestial Heart detonation!


    And it was the Celestial Heart detonation of a Soul Transformation cultivator.


    The fierce shockwave pushed all the fiends back down to the earth.


    The Greenscale Ghost Serpent had half of its body blown away.


    But he still wasn''t dead, the powerful constitution of a fiend letting him survive this terrible blow, albeit in a grisly state. As he desperately waved his two forews and flew upward, he suddenly had an ill foreboding.


    He looked up and saw a giant bouldering from above.


    "NO!" the Ghostface King yelled.


    The boulder mmed him to the ground.


    Hended right next to the Small Peach Queen, who was drenched in blood. She looked at him andughed. "In the end, you couldn''t escape either, hahaha!"


    "I''m not trash like you!" the Ghostface King shot back. Raising the Ironblood Saber in his right w, he prepared to shatter the boulder. But at this moment, the Ironblood Saber hummed as if it realized what was about to happen. Breaking free of the Ghostface King''s grip, it flew away.


    "Come back!" the Ghostface King wailed in despair.


    But no matter how he wailed, the saber wasn''ting back.


    Looking back, he saw countless ghosts still flooding out of the Nether Gate, a dark tide consuming all the fiend kings¡­

 Chapter 659: There Is a Path in the Heavens

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The mes in the sky were still burning.


    The wails of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor were getting softer and softer, until they finally disappeared.


    Looking at the ashes left behind by the Deicide me, Tang Jie sighed.


    The disadvantages of using the Deicide me against an enemy were that it was difficult to control and that it was so powerful that it didn''t even leave behind a body.


    The corpse of a Fiend Emperor was gone, just like that.


    Although Tang Jie had wanted to use gentler methods to take down the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, his opponent was just too strong, and the ability to cast arts with a thought made it so that Tang Jie couldn''t hold back. It would be terrible if his desire for spoils meant that the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor managed to escape.


    After onest nce at the ashes, Tang Jie prepared to leave.


    Suddenly, an icy voice rang out all around him.


    "Want to leave? You really think that you killed this emperor?"


    The icy voice made Tang Jie''s blood run cold.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor!


    He wasn''t dead yet.


    Tang Jie hastily turned around and saw the ash behind him floating into the air, taking the shape of a human.


    A vague figure appeared in the air, none other than that of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor. It flew into the ash, and then countless rays of starlight came from the heavens, converging upon the ash. As the starlight surged in, the ash human began to be an actual human.


    "No! This isn''t possible!" Tang Jie cried out.


    Tang Jie had always been the one to make others say these words, but today, he finally had the fortune to say them himself.


    "What exactly is impossible about it?" The reforming Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor looked at Tang Jie. "Do you not know that entering Violet Pce makes one an existence with two lives?"


    "The soul life?" Tang Jie''s pupils constricted.


    Violet Pce was the substantialization process of the soul. Among Daoists, this process had another name: the Primal Infant, to cultivate the Primal Soul and manifest it as an infant. Its physical form was the physical form of the soul. This was why the first phase of Violet Pce was called the Infant Tending Period, the Infant Tender tending to the Primal Infant.


    When the Primal Infant was fully formed, a cultivator would essentially have two lives. One was the physical life, called the body life or the boat life, for the person who traversed the sea of bitterness used their body as a boat. But even though the physical body became just a boat after one formed the Primal Infant, it could not be so easily tossed aside. The second life was the Primal Infant life, called the soul life or the origin life. It was considered the root of a cultivator. Even if the physical body were destroyed, so long as the Primal Infant remained, one could remain temporarily in the world. "Possession" began from this phase. Before then, the person who had tended to a Primal Infant didn''t have the right to Possession. But Possession was extremely dangerous, and a Primal Infant at Infant Tending was extremely weak. Attempting Possession was almost always suicidal.


    For a cultivator, to lose the body life was to lose one''s boat and be forced to struggle and plead for aid in the sea of bitterness. And if the origin life were lost, one might die on the spot in serious cases or be rendered an idiot in light cases, acting purely on instinct like a wild beast.


    This was the difference between the two of them.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was at Divine Division, so he naturally had an origin life.


    But hearing these words from the Fiend Emperor, Tang Jie shook his head. "This isn''t possible. The Deicide me burns all, even souls. Even if you have an origin life, you shouldn''t have been able to escape the Deicide me, let alone the fact that I''ve never heard of an origin life being able to reforge the body."


    The origin life''s function was to extend the Divine Will to link with the world so that one could cast arts with a single thought, but it was not the foundation of life. That was the body life.


    The origin life alone could not reforge the body, or else Violet Pce Titans wouldn''t need to attempt Possession after they lost their physical bodies.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor chuckled. "It''s all thanks to this emperor''s Deathless Heaven Pearl!"


    Anger and hatred shed in his silver eyes.


    The Deathless Heaven Pearl was a divine tool he had forged using his own pellet as the base. It had the power of immortality and recreation, but it could only be used once. This was why he was after the Umbra Cactus Flower. While this flower wasn''t very useful to a Violet Pce physical body, if it were refined and merged with his pellet, he could use the Deathless Heaven Pearl multiple times.


    But to his surprise, before he even got the flower, Tang Jie took one of his lives, forcing him to use this pearl that he had spent one thousand years refining. How could he not be pained by this?


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor now loathed Tang Jie so much that he wanted to drink his blood, gnaw on his flesh, and pulverize his bones!


    Although Tang Jie didn''t know that the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had used his pellet as the basis for whatever this tool was, he could tell from the savage and furious appearance of the Fiend Emperor that this wasn''t a divine item that could repeatedly revive him.


    This knowledge made Tang Jie much moreposed. "In other words, I have to kill you one more time topletely finish the job."


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor smiled in anger. "Such audacity! If you have the ability, then do your best! This emperor would like to see what you have that can kill me one more time!"


    He red, and his silver eyes erupted with light, torrents of spiritual energy rushing toward Tang Jie.


    There were no spell arts or transformations. The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor chose to harness the most basic spiritual power of the world, gathering it into a great sea and sending it over in a mighty wave.


    He wanted to use this method to crush Tang Jie to death!


    Tang Jie immediately flew into the sky. He had just used the Devil Crushing Fist and didn''t have the power to fight for the moment, so fleeing was the far better option. He streaked upward, flying faster and faster, faster than he had ever flown before.


    The spiritual torrents were hot on his heels. The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor gazed up at the sky, his eyes shing with the mes of hatred as he whispered, "You can''t run!"


    Where his eyes pointed, winds stirred and clouds roiled.


    Lightning leaped to and fro as gales disyed the power of nature, and mighty deluges appeared within the clouds. These storms seemed ordinary, but they represented the supreme might of a Fiend Emperor, even a single drop of water being able to pierce through metal. When a gale swept over a mountain, the top of the mountain would be obliterated.


    The fury of a Fiend Emperor turned the skies into a living hell, the terrifying storms manifesting the rage in those silver eyes, radiating lethality and murderous intent.


    Without even turning around, Tang Jie threw out the Mother Cloudbat puppet.


    The Mother Cloud puppet had been called back by Tang Jie to recover after its battle with the fiend kings, and he hadn''t even used it in thest attack against the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, as there was no way of working its attacks into the Dao of Time. But now, he was finally using it again.


    The moment the Mother Cloud puppet appeared, its body erupted with starlight, and an enchanting gxy appeared around it. Each formation line was brimming with spiritual energy, each formation operating at maximum power. Even against the seven fiend kings, the puppet had not activated all 108 formations at once, but now, it was unleashing all of its power without inhibition.


    The gxy spread out to deal with the storms that raged across the world.


    Wherever the starlight shone, the winds died and the rain ceased.


    The starlight even reached toward the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s location.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s eyes shed with lightning. "Arrogant!"


    The Thousand Hands appeared behind him, forming a sphere in front of him and pushing it forward.


    This sphere was like a ck hole, sucking in the gxy thebat puppet had created such that its starlight could not reach the Fiend Emperor. Just like that, the puppet''s strongest attack was undone.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor snorted, and a bolt of lightningnced out of the heavens.


    But rather than disappearing, the lightning congealed into a giant spear and stabbed at the puppet.


    Lightning danced over the puppet''s body, creating explosive shes all across it. At least six of the formations were paralyzed, rendered unusable until they were repaired. This lightning spear was actually meant for directly damaging formations.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor flew into the air to pursue Tang Jie.


    As he flew up, the Mother Cloud puppet''s legs shed with starlight, and it lunged at the Fiend Emperor.


    "Out of the way!"


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor roared, his Thousand Hands opening and striking at the puppet.


    The puppet fearlessly charged in. It had no fear of death, and so long as it had energy, it would fight to the very end. In the Yin Yang Cycle Formation, the two High Antiquity crystal cores shone. To stop the Fiend Emperor''s attack, the puppet was using all of its power, no longer nning for a protracted battle. The ghost guard''s eyes shed with dazzling starlight, and ghostly energy coiled around a metal arm as it stabbed toward the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor.


    The Nether Ghost w!


    Swoosh.


    There was a light rush of air, and the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor grunted in pain. Looking down, he saw that an arm had prated through his Thousand Hands defense and into the right side of his abdomen.


    A puppet had injured him!


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s face darkened.


    He raised his head and howled. "Awoooo!"


    This was a howl of extreme anger and hatred, and a ck tide rushed out of his body, smashing into the Mother Cloud puppet. The sh of shattering formations erupted from the puppet''s body, and then it was knocked away like a pebble being caught up in an explosion, instantly disappearing into the distance.


    After knocking away the puppet, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor looked up, but there was no sign of Tang Jie. But he was in no rush, spreading out his Divine Will. Tang Jie''s figure immediately appeared in his Sea of Cognition, but it seemed like he was still flying upward with no regard for what was going on behind him.


    "There is no path up in the heavens! I''d like to see where you''re thinking of going!" the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor grunted, and gave chase.


    He was much faster than Tang Jie, and he rapidly closed the distance. But he saw that Tang Jie continued to fly upward, drawing closer and closer to the Astral Winds.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was startled and realized that something wasn''t right.


    It now seemed like Tang Jie''s apparently frantic escape had actually been nned.


    Although the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor hadn''t interacted with Tang Jie for very long, he could already tell that this guy had a decisive and cunning personality, as had been proved by his use of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s arrogance to y him with the Nine Extinctions de. He was now heedlessly flying upward, most likely with the intent to protect himself in the Astral Winds.


    Considering that he was a body cultivator, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor understood what was happening. His body was probably tough enough tost for a while within the Astral Winds, and the Astral Winds were too powerful for Divine Will to prate. He just needed to enter the Astral Winds, fly away through the Astral Winds for a while, and then leave them, which was enough to escape the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s pursuit.


    After understanding this and seeing that Tang Jie was about to enter the Astral Windyer, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor roared, "You just stay right there for this emperor!"


    The clouds shifted, transforming into a giant hand that reached for Tang Jie.


    "Trying to stop me? It''s not that easy!" Tang Jie smiled, and he instantly turned into more than a hundred of himself with the Duplication spell.


    He hadn''t been able to use it earlier because he had used up all his energy, but thanks to some medicine he had taken in his flight, he had regained enough power to use it.


    The hundred Tang Jies spread out. The hand mmed down, destroying several dozen of them, but even more Tang Jies continued to fly upward. The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor looked around, but he wasn''t able to identify the real Tang Jie, so he could only watch as Tang Jie vanished into the Astral Winds.


    "You can''t escape!" the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor bellowed with murderous intent on his face.


    He assumed his original form: an enormous centipede more than a thousand feet long. Coiling in the air, it let out a shriek and then flew into the Astral Winds.

 Chapter 660: The Dao of the Martial Lord

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Upon entering the Astral Windyer, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor felt a terrifying power assailing him from all sides,parable in ferocity to an attack from one of his peers.


    Worst of all was that there could be no evading these attacks. While in the Astral Winds, he had to resist this kind of attack at every moment.


    Fortunately, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor hade prepared, taking on his original form before going in. His original body was extremely tough, and on top of that, he also used the Imperial Ember Lotus Mantra. This mantra had been developed by a powerful fiend Titan and had wondrous effects. After attaining Mind Opening, Silver Eyes had inadvertentlye across this mantra, which was what had allowed him to reach his current level.


    In truth, fiends never had an easy time cultivating. The arts and mantras they possessed had always been few in number, so most fiends relied on their innate talent to cultivate, with very few of them actually developing a systematic mantra. This was why, even though the fiends of the Verdant Cloud Domain outnumbered the humans by several times, their high-endbat forces were always equal to the humans, three to three. It was only one hundred years ago, when two more Fiend Emperors emerged, that the bnce was finally broken. s, the Heavenly Dao Oath meant that these emperors were not allowed to intervene.


    The Imperial Ember Lotus Mantra put a light golden radiance around the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, which repulsed the Astral Winds blowing on his body.


    Although the Astral Winds of the Verdant Cloud Domain required a Violet Pce cultivator to be at the Deification Period to pass through, that was only topletely pass through it. It didn''t mean that a cultivator of a lower tier would die on contact. To be weaker meant that one wouldn''t be able tost for as long, and it would naturally be suicidal for the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor to attempt to pass entirely through the vast Astral Windyer. But staying in the Astral Winds for a little while was no problem.


    As he fended off the Astral Winds, he focused his eyes. His Divine Will was greatly reduced in this ce, so he had to rely on his physical eyes. As the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, he naturally had eyes with special powers. As he focused his vision, he saw that Tang Jie was still flying through the Astral Winds.


    He was flying upward.


    Such audacity!


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor snorted. His silver eyes shed, and a storm began to form.


    As the storm formed in his eyes, Tang Jie felt something strange happening around him. The Astral Winds stopped flowing, instead gathering into a ball as if they were gathering strength.


    Realizing that something was wrong, he hastened his ascent, but the surrounding Astral Winds had already begun to spiral around him. The Astral Winds were already vicious, and as they began to rotate, they grew even stronger. Tang Jie felt like his body was being put through a meat grinder, the Astral Winds shaving offyer afteryer of flesh.


    He was aghast. This fiend really was a divinely powerful being, able to even harness the Astral Winds.


    Down below, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperorughed. "Tang Jie, you tried to use the Astral Winds as a cover, so I''ll have you die within them!"


    His hundred legs began to move, traversing the empty space as if it was solid ground, and he drew closer and closer to Tang Jie. Meanwhile, the vortex of Astral Wind drew tighter and tighter, tearing away at him while also binding him.


    Tang Jie knew that this was trouble. When it came to Astral Wind resistance, he was naturally superior to the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, but in actual strength, he was still weaker. The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had ample strength to kill him before his time in the Astral Winds ran out.


    Thus, this battle was all about surviving until the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor reached his breaking point.


    If the previous ying of Silver Eyes was a test of his instantaneous offensive power, this was now a test of Tang Jie''s defensive ability.


    A momentter, Tang Jie erupted with all his strength, pushing back the restraining Astral Winds. The moment the restraints loosened, he activated the Chaoswind Step to leave the area. At the same time, the giant centipede barged in, biting down on empty space.


    Seeing that Tang Jie had escaped, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor raised his head and hissed at Tang Jie.


    The Astral Winds spiraled again, forming countless walls that pressed toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie bellowed and threw out punch after punch, and those walls were torn apart before they could get close. But more Astral Wind walls continued to rush in.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor chortled. "Let me see how long you canst!"


    Waving his one hundred feet, he rushed up to Tang Jie and opened his mouth, unleashing arge cloud of mist. This mist mixed with the Astral Winds and swept toward Tang Jie.


    This was the real power of a Fiend Emperor, able to open up the heavens with a simple action. The Astral Winds howled out with a power that could make the world tremble.


    Tang Jie barely held out against this flood, but he was slowly reaching his limit.


    While he was resistant to Astral Winds, this was not without limit. At most, because of the Parting ssic, he was able tost for a little longer than Silver Eyes. But right now, thanks to Silver Eyes'' heavenly power, the Astral Winds were multiplying in power, and the time Tang Jie couldst was shrinking.


    If this continued, he would fall before the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor reached his limit.


    Sure enough, the power of a Divine Division Titan was not so easily ovee. Even though Tang Jie had tried so hard, creating a miracle unprecedented in history was not easy. To kill one of Silver Eyes'' lives was already amazing enough, but keeping this victory until the very end would be very difficult.


    Tang Jie continued to struggle against the howling Astral Winds.


    Human and fiend suffered within these harsh winds, but neither of them wanted to back down.


    Even the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was bbergasted at how long Tang Jie couldst. As expected, there was a reason he had dared to charge into the Astral Winds.


    s, in the end, he had underestimated the abilities of a Divine Division fiend. While he might have been inferior to Tang Jie in terms of defense, he had many times Tang Jie''s offensive power.


    "DIEEE!" Silver Eyes howled, the wind growing even stronger.


    The concentrated winds squeezed at Tang Jie like airtight walls. Tang Jie threw up blood as his bones were dislocated, the winds prating into his organs and cells, the slivers of Destruction power ending any hope he had of recovery.


    Tang Jie knew that this Astral Wind was imbued with Destruction energy.


    The Astral Winds were born from the Dao of the world and had the ability to destroy all things, so it was natural that they belonged to the Dao of Destruction.


    When he first charged into the Astral Winds, Tang Jie had felt the existence of Destruction energy, and while he had tried to study it once, he had failed.


    The Astral Winds were no Myriad Immortals Cauldron. They were violent and unreasonable, giving nobody a chance to study them.


    As this Destruction energy entered his body, a grayyer started to cover his body.


    This Destruction power was death energy, a power that represented death.


    This was one of the reasons Astral Winds were so frightening. Tang Jie had once been assailed by this death energy, and at the time, he had not been able to undo it. It was just that when he left the Astral Windyer, the Destruction power ceased flowing in, so his Dao of Life was able to expel the remnants and begin the healing process. But now, it wasing back with even greater ferocity, and it was impossible for him to use the same solution.


    Thus, the scene from before began to rey.


    As the grayness spread, Tang Jie''s flesh began to peel off, and his life force was callously devoured. Though he bellowed and roared, there was no stopping the encroachment of death upon his body. As he desperately struggled, golden ripples radiated from his body.


    "A Great Dao Realm?" Silver Eyes was rather surprised, and then he heartilyughed. "I didn''t think you would even have a Great Dao Realm! But so what? It''s only a supportive realm with nobat power. As expected, a frantic patient will try to find a cure in anything!"


    But this truly was the case. No matter how Tang Jie struggled, he couldn''t break free of the restraints that Silver Eyes had ced on him. The golden light shed, but it brought him no sor, blood pouring from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose in a horrifying sight.


    His struggles gradually began to weaken.


    The grayness of death had almostpletely engulfed him, and Tang Jie looked almost like a corpse.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor exhaled. "So you still died? Damn little bastard, you made me use up my Deathless Heaven Pearl. But I guess getting a small world in return was worth it."


    As he reached out to grab Tang Jie''s corpse, Tang Jie suddenly moved.


    rmed, Silver Eyes saw Tang Jie opening his eyes and looking at him.


    He was smiling!


    He said, "I understand."


    Huh?


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was bbergasted.


    ''Understand'' what?


    Tang Jie casually went on, "The Dao of the Martial Lord is to advance despite facing tens of millions, an attitude that bravely charges forward and never speaks of defeat, to always be attacking no matter what. Isn''t it ridiculous? I was actually defending this whole time, trying to stall. It''s no wonder I was suppressed by you¡­"


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor narrowed his eyes.


    The gray energy began to retreat like the dawning sun was driving away the darkness of the night.


    Tang Jie looked at the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor and roared, "The Dao of the Martial Lord is to be aggressive, to hone oneself, to march into death''s arms ande out alive!"


    As he roared, a majestic power began to surge out of his body.


    The light of life was reignited within Tang Jie''s body, endless vitality restoring his withered form.


    Every cell of his body began to erupt with a formidable power.


    This energy had been hidden within Tang Jie''s body for far too long. In the earlier battle, a little bit of it had burst out, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. It was only now that it was fully unleashed.


    Under this majestic force, the Astral Wind walls created by the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor were blown to smithereens.


    With a single punch, Tang Jie scattered all of the Astral Winds around him.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor dumbly stared, and then he shrieked, "This is impossible! Did you break through?"


    "''Break through''?" Tang Jie examined his fist and shook his head. "No, this isn''t a breakthrough. I''m just using my real power!"


    He threw another punch, this time at Silver Eyes'' face.


    "No!" Silver Eyes shouted and leapt up.


    He didn''t dare to underestimate such a powerful punch. He instantly assumed human form, the Thousand Hands appearing and blurring as they formed countless signs before forming a massive sign and thrusting at the air.


    This was a spell art requiring signs from a Divine Division fiend, so it had to be enormously powerful.


    The howling st from Tang Jie''s punch rammed into the sphere formed by the Thousand Hands, and the resultant shockwave sted away the surrounding Astral Winds.


    A dazzling human figure appeared behind the head of Silver Eyes. It raised a hand and bellowed, "Imperial Ember Lotus!"


    A golden lotus bloomed in the space between the two.


    A wave of light surged out, mming into Tang Jie and sending him flying back, vomiting blood as his flesh and skin cracked apart.


    "As I said, a Celestial Heart stands no chance of defeating Divine Division!" Silver Eyes snarled. "Such a thing has never happened before in the Great Ster Chiliocosm! Die!"


    The Thousand Hands opened once more, merging together into a giant golden hand that flew forward.


    Even though Tang Jie''s strength had swelled under this pressure, a Fiend Emperor was still a Fiend Emperor, not something a simple eruption of hidden potential could deal with. It had managed to shrink the gap, but it had not brought them even.


    But Tang Jie felt no fear.


    The Dao of the Martial Lord epassed a lot of things, but fear definitely wasn''t among them.


    Even if he died, he would die while attacking, die while confident and arrogant!


    Standing in the air, Tang Jie took out the Herding Yang Pearl and nced at it. It was covered in cracks.


    He knew that if he used it this time, he probably wouldn''t be able to use it again, but he still swallowed it. Raising his hands, he produced the Sovereign de and Mother Cloud Essence Metal axe, bringing them together to form the Nine Extinctions de.


    Tang Jie dered, "All precedents have a day when they are broken. Today, I will bring an end to this legend!"


    He swung the long saber at Silver Eyes.


    This strike contained all his power.


    He no longer nned on wearing out Silver Eyes with the Astral Winds. He would simply charge forward, recklessly and boldly!


    "One strike of the Nine Extinctions de can''t kill me!" Silver Eyes snarled.


    His Thousand Hands opened to meet the saber.


    Tang Jie replied, his eyes like beads of ice, "I didn''t say this was Nine Extinctions¡­ Ten Extinctions de!"


    A gray energy appeared on the hilt and wrapped around the entire de.


    The de sliced forward!

 Chapter 661: Ten Extinctions Blade

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    What Silver Eyes didn''t know was that Tang Jie hadn''t just awakened thetent power in his body. He had also experienced something very special.


    The power of Destruction.


    This was the real foundation of Tang Jie''s terrifying power.


    The power of Destruction was a particrly frightening power. Unlike the power of ughter, which was only difficult to defend against and heal from, the power of Destruction annihted.


    If ughter was the process, Destruction was the result!


    These were corresponding Daos among the Twelve Great Daos, the beginning and the end.


    The power of Destruction that had entered Tang Jie''s body had brought the fate of death to him.


    The eruption of strength had only given him the ability to fend off the wind walls, but it couldn''t drive away the power of Destruction.


    Tang Jie was able to resist it entirely because he hadprehended the Dao.


    Thanks to He Changan in that battle against Cang Qingfeng, Tang Jie had interacted with the power of Destruction and gained some insight into the Daos of ughter and Destruction. And in the Blood River Domain, all the killing he had experienced in the Celestial me Arena had furthered his understanding. His adventures in the Verdant Cloud Domain had also allowed him to deeply experience the power of Destruction. Although he wasn''t able topletelyprehend the Dao, he had managed to gain a new level of understanding when it came to the precipice of death.


    Today, Tang Jie had once more been assailed by the power of Destruction. In fact, they could already be considered old friends.


    For this reason, when the power of Destruction invaded his body, Tang Jie knew that the best solution was to trulyprehend the Dao of Destruction.


    Tang Jie''s understanding of the Dao of Destruction before this had been far from reaching the level ofprehending the Dao, and besides,prehending the Dao also needed the right moment, which was why there was the concept of "sudden enlightenment". But besides sudden enlightenment, he actually had another option.


    For example, when Tang Jie had studied the Myriad Immortals Cauldron to enter the Dao of Yin Yang, this had not been sudden enlightenment, but studying andprehending the principles of the world.


    Studying was more systematic and convenient, and generally achieved more progress than sudden enlightenment, but there needed to be something to study.


    The Great Dao could not be transmitted, and only supreme items like Dao armaments could serve as objects of study, which was far too great of a cost. Even so, understanding a Dao through study wasprehending it through someone else, so the effects were limited. Only understanding through sudden enlightenment could be considered one''s own.


    This was why Tang Jie hadn''t obtained any great power after entering the Dao through the Myriad Immortals Cauldron. It wasn''t until he hadprehended a little of Parting and Merging in the sixthyer of the Martial Lord''s hidden realm that he was finally able to merge his original body with his avatar. To have entered the Dao of Yin Yang yet to have only had this little attainment was precisely because he had studied rather than been enlightened.


    Sudden enlightenment was to understand something to its essence, so while it wasn''tplete, one would be extremely proficient in whatever one hadprehended. A ssic example of this was Insight. Tang Jie had gained enlightenment in it purely on his own, and while it was only a small branch of Wisdom rather than the entire Dao, Tang Jie had been able to create a Celestial Eye from it, attain a Dao Realm, and enter the Dao. This was because he hadprehended it entirely through his own power.


    There was actually one other example: the Dao of the Martial Lord.


    There was no doubt that the Dao of the Martial Lord was the Weapon Dao, under the Five Elements, belonging to Metal. It was a minor Dao.


    But under the Martial Lord, this minor Weapon Dao had disyed a vast strength that could crush even the Myriad Court!


    Thus, it was difficult to say which of these two methods was better. After all, justprehending one of the Great Daos was a rare thing, and there were pros and cons to both.


    And in this current situation, Tang Jie couldn''t possibly choose sudden enlightenment, as this was not something that could be "chosen". Thus, he could only study, using the Destruction power in his own body as the subject of his analysis.


    Thus, as the Destruction power encroached upon his body, Tang Jie studied the Dao of Destruction.


    Of course, this wasn''t something that could be done simply through deration. At this time, Wisdom yed a critical role.


    Wisdom didn''t rest in deduction, but in discovery, understanding, calction, deconstruction, and summarization. Among these, Insight covered discovery and summarization.


    For this reason, the first thing Tang Jie needed to do was to find, discover, and see the power of Destruction.


    This was the easiest for him. The Dao of Insight involved seeing through illusions and distinguishing the real from the false, but it could also be used to peer into one''s own body. As the power of Destruction spread through his body, Tang Jie needed to activate his Great Dao Realm so that he could find those slivers of Destruction and observe them!


    He could then use the calction powers of the Dao of Wisdom to analyze, deconstruct, and summarize them!


    This was what Tang Jie needed to do.


    This was an extremely dangerous course of action. If he failed, then once the power of Destruction spreadpletely through his body, he would be utterly dead, and nobody would be able to save him. But he had no other choice than to take this gamble.


    In this perilous moment, his mind remained clear, and he rapidlyprehended, calcted, and deconstructed theposition and meaning of this Destruction power, at the same timeparing it with what he previously understood.


    This time, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had given him a big hand.


    In the past, he wasn''t able to analyze this power. Other than his ownck of strength, another important reason was that the Astral Winds were too violent and fickle, difficult to control. But the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had taken control of the Astral Winds and turned them into thick and sturdy walls, which meant that they were no longer so chaotic and violent. It was like rapids being turned into a waterfall. While thetter was more powerful, it was also easier to understand, to grasp its tempo.


    This was why Tang Jie dared to make this choice.


    It was dangerous, but it was also an opportunity.


    Comprehending the Dao on the spot wasn''t actually the only way to deal with Silver Eyes, but it was definitely the best and the most dangerous way.


    Tang Jie had made this choice both because of his personality and also because he felt like luck was particrly good in this world and that risky gambles were more bound to seed.


    This wasn''tplete nonsense. It was something he had felt in his many years in the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    For example, Er Hu had managed to bumble his way through a Jade Gate Heaven Charge, even opening his Spirit Eye, and this wasn''t particrly rare in the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    At various minor thresholds, he himself had received the blessings of the Heavenly Dao and gottens stronger because of it.


    The Ghostface King had experienced a sudden breakthrough in that battle.


    And there was his own eruption of potential.


    Besides that, over thest several years, Tang Jie had experienced many extremely lucky incidents, some that happened to him and some that happened to others. In short, all that he had seen and experienced told him that there was something particrly lucky about this world.


    Tang Jie persisted in this choice because he wanted to prove it.


    Tang Jie began to work his mind, the power of Wisdom turning it into a machine that took in and processed the nearby Astral Winds, analyzing the Destruction power within them.


    The power of Destruction began to spread across his skin and into his body. Tang Jie was in a race with it, his mind instantly reaching its calction limit, and its overloading was the real reason blood had flowed out from his orifices.


    It wasn''t just about buying time. His real purpose wasprehension!


    As the power of Destruction prated and strengthened in his body, Tang Jie also understood it a little more. In the depths of his mind, a gray energy was rapidly growing, Dao Runes shing within it. They twined together into an iplete spider web, and as he studied the Destruction power more and more, the holes in this web were filled in, each Dao Rune serving toplete it.


    When this terrifying power reached Tang Jie''s neck and was on the verge of killing him, Tang Jie finished his web of Destruction.


    In a ce the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor couldn''t see, within Tang Jie''s body, an astonishing reversal waspleted.


    The power of Destruction stopped its advance, and what had been dying was now reborn, and Tang Jie opened his eyes.


    Then, he spoke those words.


    He attacked!


    But what Silver Eyes didn''t know was that when he attacked, Tang Jie had finished absorbing that Destruction power and added it to his Nine Extinctions de.


    The Ten Extinctions de!


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    "Kill!"


    The zing wave of saber energy surged forth.


    Silver Eyes stared in shock as that grayness appeared in the saber energy. He cried out, "Destruction power!? That''s impossible!" The Thousand Hands emerged from behind his back, once more manifesting that giant orb.


    This orb had his Thousand Hands as its basis, created from their various hand signs, each hand sign having a different power. It seemed simple, yet there were countless variations that could be utilized against different attacks. Even something as sharp as the Sovereign de could be drawn off to the side through several dozen signs. This was Silver Eyes'' strongest defense and was basically impregnable.


    While Destruction was powerful, its real powery in lethality, not sheer offensive force. But if the Ten Extinctions de couldn''t pierce through his defense, this lethality would have no ce to work.


    As a Fiend Emperor, Silver Eyes had a great deal of experience to draw from, and his solution couldn''t be considered wrong. In this critical moment, he used his strongest defensive ability.


    But when that saber wreathed in gray mes chopped down, it suddenly erupted with white light.


    This white light had appeared once when Tang Jie had killed a Skyshaker and again when Tang Jie had killed the bear fiend. Each time it appeared, it had killed its target, but nobody knew what it was.


    But this was Silver Eyes, and he was on a wholly different level. With one look, he saw that this was a sword radiance, and within it was an infant. Yet despite its infant form, it gave off a tyrannical aura.


    It was the sword spirit of the Yin Yang Division Sword.


    The Yin Yang Division Sword''s spirit had merged with the Sovereign de, bing its sword soul. But because it wasn''t originally part of the Sovereign de, they were not a perfect match.


    This mismatch meant that the Sovereign de found it very difficult to restore energy to the sword spirit, making its recovery extremely slow. If it were used repeatedly, it could even have its strength permanently fall.


    This was why Tang Jie was unwilling to use the sword spirit in his attacks.


    Tang Jie had already used it to kill the bear fiend, and using it a second time was the limit. The sword spirit would need a long period of rest to recover. But even if the sword spirit was left weakened because of this, killing a Fiend Emperor was worth it.


    Although the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor didn''t know that this was the sword spirit of a natural Dao armament, he instinctively felt immense danger from this sword spirit.


    He knew that he couldn''t evade, so he hardened his heart, his silver eyes shing as thoughts became arts. A sword made of Astral Winds appeared and stabbed toward Tang Jie.


    Boom!


    The Ten Extinctions de mmed into the Thousand Hands Orb.


    The sword spirit shed, and the orb trembled before exploding like a popped balloon. This greatest defensive ability of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had been instantly destroyed by the sword spirit of the Yin Yang Division Sword, after which the Thousand Hands also exploded, leaving behind the original two hands.


    The Ten Extinctions de bit into the body of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, gouging out a massive wound that almost cut him in two. Gray death energy appeared on the wound and rapidly spread through his body.


    At the same time, the Astral Wind sword stabbed into Tang Jie''s body. It was a powerful blow, and Tang Jie threw up blood, both sidesing away heavily injured.


    But the eyes of Silver Eyes were filled with more shock than terror as he cried out, "A Dao Art¡­ You''ve already managed to merge the Dao into your arts? How?"


    Dao Arts were a fusion of the Dao with one''s arts, a method above Divine Connections. Only one who had entered the Dao could do this, and only at this level could one truly use the Dao, could one truly be considered to have entered the Dao.


    Cang Qingfeng''s Twelve Dao Diagrams had been a Dao Art, but his w meant that he couldn''t enter the Dao, so it was considered a pseudo¨CDao Art.


    Tang Jie''s was also a pseudo¨CDao Art. As he had yet to truly enter the Dao, he had simply stacked the Dao onto his art rather than actually merging them, but even so, it was immensely powerful.


    The Nine Extinctions de was simply a conglomeration of spell arts. While it was powerful, its level was limited. But with the power of Destructionid over it, the new Ten Extinctions de experienced a massive boost in level. One could even say that the tenth held more meaning than all of the previous nine put together.


    The first nine extinctions were just quantity, with thest one providing a qualitative improvement.


    "All thanks to you," Tang Jie said from between clenched teeth.


    If Silver Eyes hadn''t been here, he really might not have been able to do this.


    This was the first Dao Art he had grasped in his cultivation life.


    With this, he had a real ultimate move.


    The power of Destruction was still infiltrating the body of Silver Eyes. If this continued, Silver Eyes would die without any further intervention from Tang Jie.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor roared, "You think you can kill me with this? I won''t die!"


    This guy was quite the fierce sort. With a chop of his hand, he severed the half of his body infected by Destruction energy, preventing its further intrusion.


    He shot Tang Jie a venomous re and said, "Let''s see what else you can do!"


    Silver Eyes was worse off in terms of injuries, but he also had more abilities. The ability to cast arts with a thought wasn''t affected by the state of one''s physical body. On the other hand, Tang Jie was a body cultivator, so the inability to move meant that he could no longer fight.


    This was why Silver Eyes was confident that he would be the ultimate winner of this battle.


    He shouted, "As I said, a Celestial Heart has never been able to beat a Divine Division!"


    As he spoke, he readied a Divine Connection to destroy Tang Jie, but then he realized that there was no fear in Tang Jie''s eyes, only a tinge of derision.


    Startled, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor realized something. He looked down and then cried out in fear, "NO!"


    At some point, the Imperial Ember Lotus protecting his body had disappeared, and now the Astral Winds were tearing away at his body.


    The pain and shock from all that had transpired had slowed his reaction, and it was only Tang Jie''s reminder that made him realize that he had lost his resistance to the Astral Winds.


    The terrifying Astral Winds howled over the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor.


    When the two of them couldn''t move, Silver Eyes had the advantage.


    When the two of them were facing the Astral Winds, it was Tang Jie who had the advantage.


    Tang Jie coldly watched as the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor howled, struggled, and shrieked within the Astral Winds.


    This unfortunate Fiend Emperor had endured the Ten Extinctions de, endured the power of Destruction, even endured the attack of the Yin Yang Division Sword''s sword spirit, but in the end, he couldn''t endure the Astral Winds.


    Although he tried his best to plunge downward and escape the Astral Winds, they were in too deep.


    Tang Jie also let his body descend in a freefall. As he saw the Fiend Emperor wither in the Astral Winds, he sighed, "It''s true that I couldn''t beat you. I only killed you."

 Chapter 662: A Fortunate World

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was dead.


    Moments before dying, he had been able to glimpse the clear skies below.


    But in the end, he wasn''t able tost until that moment, dying right before he could escape the Astral Winds.


    It had to be said that this Fiend Emperor had truly been powerful and terrifying.


    Even though Tang Jie had awakened histent strength, even though he hadprehended the Dao of Destruction, he had still been a level below the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor.


    He had only been able to win because of the Astral Winds.


    The Astral Winds had weakened the Fiend Emperor''s Divine Will, reduced the number of methods avable to him, ground away at his defenses, and made him much weaker overall. And at the same time, they made Tang Jie stronger.


    Without this geographic advantage, Tang Jie would have never been able to create this miracle.


    In this aspect, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor could not be said to be wrong that a Celestial Heart had never beaten a Divine Division. The massive gap in strength between the two was not so easily filled. This was why Tang Jie had said that he hadn''t beaten him, only killed the Fiend Emperor.


    But at the same time, Tang Jie knew that he actually wasn''t that far away from catching up to the Violet Pce Realm.


    This was because his avatar was still at Heart Demon and his original body hadn''t attained mastery of the Diamond Body.


    In the future, just one of these two improving would put him on par with Violet Pce, and both would let him surpass it.


    He was bound to break the precedent one day, truly aplishing this miracle. Even if his miracle today had been due to external factors, tomorrow, he was definitely going to recreate it within his own strength!


    After leaving the Astral Windyer, Tang Jie put away the remaining half of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s corpse.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had refined his fiend pellet into the Deathless Heaven Pearl, which had been used in the earlier battle, and half of his body had been destroyed by the power of Destruction, so Tang Jie gained much less than expected from killing this giant centipede.


    Of course, even half of a Divine Division great fiend''s corpse was enough to make countless people envious. One piece of its flesh was equivalent to countless spirit medicines. But considering everything that he had paid for it, Tang Jie felt like it still wasn''t worth it.


    As if in response to his thoughts, a light pop came from Tang Jie''s body.


    The Herding Yang Pearl had shattered.


    After itsst bit of energy had been used, the Herding Yang Pearl had shattered from the overload.


    Tang Jie sighed. Without this divine treasure, he would no longer be able to use the three-headed, six-armed form, and he would lose one of his Ten Extinctions.


    As he was sighing, he felt a special pulse of energy in his body.


    Tang Jie didn''t think much of it at first, but he realized that there was something different about this energy: it was identical to the energy that hade from the Herding Yang Pearl.


    "This is the energy of the Herding Yang Pearl!" Tang Jie blurted out.


    Although the pearl had shattered, its energy still lingered in his body. Not only that, without the restraint of the Herding Yang Pearl, this energy was even greater than before, so not only did Tang Jie not lose ess to his three-head-six-arm form, he could go up to four heads and eight arms, and the boost to his strength would increase from three times to four times.


    But this would be thest burst from this energy. Once Tang Jie reached his maximum power, this energy would begin to fade away, disappearing from his body.


    I can''t let it disappear! Tang Jie thought to himself.


    No matter what, he had to keep it around so that he could study it and grasp its Divine Connection.


    Divine Connections were incredibly powerful, and they could only be learned after reaching Violet Pce.


    But the shattering of the Herding Yang Pearl had caused its energy to flow through his body, giving him a chance.


    The core of a Divine Connection was the Divine Will, which linked with the world to unleash its power, hence its name. Tang Jie''s Divine Will was far from reaching the requirements to use a Divine Connection, but the Divine Connection of the Herding Yang Pearl was different. It absorbed power and used it to strengthen the user, which was why he could frequently use it despite being at Celestial Heart. As for most of his other divine treasures, Tang Jie was only able to use them to a limited extent, unable to draw out their full power. This was why he didn''t use any divine treasures other than the pearl. After all, he had many treasures at his disposal, and if he could use them, there would have been no need to put them all in the Treasure Cosmos diagram.


    The Herding Yang Pearl''s special property allowed one to use it at Celestial Heart, and if he could grasp this sliver of energy, he might be able to learn a Divine Connection before his time.


    This was definitely a wonderful thing. After all, the function of the Herding Yang Pearl was just too important to him.


    Tang Jie unleashed all of his strength to analyze this energy so that he couldprehend it before itpletely faded away.


    Thus, right afterprehending the power of Destruction, Tang Jie began to frantically focus the Dao of Wisdom on studying the power of the Herding Yang Pearl.


    Overheating his mind twice in one day was a heavy burden, even for Tang Jie, and if he did this poorly, he might even turn himself into an idiot.


    But Tang Jie was confident that he wouldn''t.


    It was the same exnation asst time. This world seemed to have some mysterious fortune power that protected everyone.


    As the Dao of Wisdom turned, he rapidly analyzed this energy,prehending the entire method behind the Divine Connection''s existence.


    Compared to a supreme Great Dao like Destruction, this Divine Connection was actually very simple. And because Tang Jie had used this one so much, he was already somewhat familiar with how it worked.


    Thus, the process of deducing the Divine Connection was much smoother than imagined, and Tang Jie managed topletelyprehend it before the energypletely disappeared. As for the price, he didn''t even bleed a drop of blood, let alone get turned into an idiot. He just felt a little dizzy, which he recovered from after only a few moments of rest.


    Once he had finished deducing the Divine Connection, he used it, absorbing thest bit of energy and condensing it into a drop. This was the Divine Connection Seed.


    The Divine Connection Seed was a product ofpromise for when one''s cultivation was not enough. One could think of it as a recement for the Herding Yang Pearl, making up for the strength that Tang Jiecked. In normal circumstances, there was no need for some Divine Connection Seed.


    Tang Jie could absorb power through the seed and thus use the Three Heads, Six Arms Divine Connection. No, if he cultivated it, he could even make it more powerful, so one could say that Tang Jie had benefited from this mishap and grown even stronger than before. On the other hand, as Tang Jie had just grasped the Divine Connection, it would take some time to reach the original power of the Divine Connection. He could only maintain two heads and four arms, doubling his strength.


    But at least he had kept the Ten Extinctions de.


    After doing this, Tang Jie exhaled and then smiled. "This really is a world brimming with fortune."


    He had awakened histent strength,prehended the power of Destruction, and even grasped a Divine Connection. Everything was telling him that he was one lucky guy.


    But for the same reason, Tang Jie had a strange feeling¡ªwhen there were too many coincidences, they stopped being coincidences.


    Then if he was too lucky, was it really luck anymore?


    Tang Jie didn''t know, but he found this world more and more interesting.


    For the same reason, he somewhat understood why the fiends of this world were so strong.


    Humans were creatures that were extremely dependent on organization and systems, and cultivators were no exception. In society, they could transcend the system, but they couldn''t do the same in cultivation.


    Everything had its method and steps. Tang Jie had understood this all the way back when he was at the Basking Moon Sect.


    Inparison, fiends were disorderly when it came to cultivation. Theycked systems and primarily relied on talent and instinct to grow stronger.


    Whenparing systematic cultivation to non-systematic cultivation, thetter clearly had greater demands on one''s luck, which was why fiends had been able to grow stronger than humans here. While many humans were inexplicably able to open their Jade Gates and Spirit Eyes, the fiends were able toe upon many lucky opportunities that allowed them to make advances in cultivation.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was a most outstanding example. He had inadvertently obtained the Imperial Ember Lotus Mantra, which allowed him to get all the way to the rank of Fiend Emperor. In terms of lucky encounters, he had probably encountered just as many as Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie could only shake his head and smile at the thought.


    He put the Fiend Emperor''s corpse into the diagram and then called out Yiyi and Tutu.


    Tutu could move quickly, so he had it go and find the puppet, after which he flew down together with Yiyi.


    Midway, they encountered a group of humansing from the other direction. It was none other than Liu Yunshan''s group.


    Tang Jie went over to them.


    Everyone was stunned when they saw Tang Jieing over.


    Shentu Yuan expressed delight, shouting, "Brother Tang, you''re still alive! You actually survived!"


    Everyone thought that Tang Jie wouldn''t be able toe back alive after luring away the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor.


    Divine Division great fiends were far too terrifying, and many people would have chosen to take on the 18 fiend kings over a single Divine Division great fiend. After all, the former had the possibility of being divided and conquered, whereas there was just no hope of defeating thetter.


    Thus, everyone had considered Tang Jie a hero like Sun Shuming.


    Tang Jie''s return was both a shock and a delight.


    Liu Yunshan called out, "What about the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor?"


    Tang Jie thought it over, but he decided not to say that he had already killed him. He only said, "The ability of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor to cast arts with a thought was too terrifying and powerful. I was just no match for him, so I ultimately had to escape."


    "You could escape the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s pursuit?" The others didn''t quite believe him.


    Tang Jie thought to himself, You don''t even believe I could escape him, so would telling you that I killed him scare you to death?


    But he sternly said, "Of course I couldn''t escape him, but don''t forget that I''m a body cultivator. My body canst longer than his, so I fled into the Astral Windyer. Using the Astral Winds as a cover, I was able to escape. While the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor is powerful, he knows how dangerous the Astral Winds are. After some hesitation, he chased after me, but as Divine Will can''t go very far in the Astral Winds, he lost my trail, allowing me to escape."


    It sounded reasonable. After all, they had a limited understanding of what the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was capable of. Thus, they all breathed a sigh of relief for Tang Jie and praised his daring and ability. To escape alive from the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was no disgrace, but rather something worth admiring.


    Tang Jie then asked where Sun Shuming was.


    They told him what Sun Shuming had chosen to do.


    He had already guessed that Sun Shuming was nning to take his enemies down with him, but he still couldn''t help but give a mncholy sigh after hearing of his heroic death.


    Whenever the country was in peril, heroes would emerge.


    Sun Shuming had definitely been one of them.


    Considering all that this old man had sacrificed for the country, he decided to be generous and not seek the reward for killing a Fiend Emperor from Fengshan.


    After grasping the situation, Tang Jie said, "If that''s the case, I''ll be taking my leave first."


    "Where are you going?" Ice Phoenix asked.


    "To the ckwater River, to find Withering Yin Grass," Tang Jie replied.


    While the Inkcloud Abyss had been destroyed, the ckwater River was still there. If he missed this chance, he could put an end to any hopes he had of finding Withering Yin Grass.


    Liu Yunshan cautioned, "It''s best if you don''t go. The Nether Gate will need at least two hours to disappear, but the ghosts it released won''t be going back. Although those ghosts will ultimately disperse across my Verdant Cloud Domain and will eventually be exterminated by the fiends and humans, at least for now, that world below is a world of ghosts."


    "I will try to find the Withering Yin Grass as quickly as possible." Tang Jie did not n to change his mind.


    Ice Phoenix anxiously said, "The ckwater River is so big, and it''s crawling with ghosts. How are you going to find the Withering Yin Grass?"


    Tang Jie smiled. "It will all depend on my luck. It just so happens that I''ve discovered that this is a fortunate world. My luck is particrly good, so I''m sure I''ll find it."


    Everyone looked at each other, wondering how this world that was almostpletely conquered by fiends could be considered fortunate.

 Chapter 663: Devouring Ghosts

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After bidding everyone else farewell, Tang Jie flew to the Inkcloud Abyss.


    More than half of the Inkcloud Abyss had copsed, its depths filled with boulders, and wailing and shrieking could be heard from within.


    Tang Jie stood at the edge of the abyss and waited for a while, and soon, Tutu returned with the Mother Cloudbat puppet on its back.


    He had Tutu put the puppet down, upon which he saw that the puppet was covered in wounds. While the body made from Mother Cloud Essence Metal didn''t have any problems, the formations within had been greatly affected, with the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor having destroyed more than twenty of the 108 formations.


    Sure enough, there was nothing truly invincible in the world. While the main body of the Mother Cloud puppet was tough, the formations that made it so powerful were weak, and the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was able to notice this and destroy them. When it came to dealing with new enemies, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was rather formidable, much more than the Blood River Lord. Perhaps because of his unkible nature, thetter was rathercking in this sort of intelligence.


    Taking out materials to repair the formations, Tang Jiemented, "You did very well this time, living up to my expectations."


    The puppet''s eyes shed red as a voice croaked out, "Forever loyal to Master."


    "Very good." He took out some crystals for the puppet to absorb, as a way to have the crystal cores quickly recharge. "There are many ghosts down below. If we kill them and absorb them with the Soul Refining Pearl, they can make you stronger. Come on. We have many more fights before us in theing days. I need to improve, and so do you."


    The puppet nodded.


    After a while, Tang Jie finished fixing the formations, and he flew down with the puppet.


    The falling stones had blocked the passage down, so Tang Jie and the puppet used an earth escape art to directly travel through the stone.


    As they traveled down, the ghostly wailing grew louder, the biting wind colder and colder.


    Liu Yunshan had been right. The opening of the Nether Gate had let in countless ghosts from the Nether Domain, and they were all wandering around these depths. The boulders prevented them from going upward, but there were still some cracks that would let these ghosts crawl out, where they would be eaten up by the powers of the Verdant Cloud Domain as water disappeared into the ocean.


    But before that, they would be concentrated here and be obstacles to Tang Jie''s search for the Withering Yin Grass.


    Upon arriving at the lowest level, Tang Jie cautiously looked around.


    The steep cliffs meant thatrge rocks filled up most of the surrounding space, but the openings between the rocks were wide enough for a person to walk through them. The area above the ckwater River was narrow, so some of the rocks had simply been too big and were basically stuck above the river, so the area was more open. However, somerge rocks had fallen into the water, stopping up the flow. Still, however, at least there was a path that he could use.


    Thus, Tang Jie traveled upstream along the river, looking for Withering Yin Grass.


    Perhaps because the rocks had broken up the terrain, the fog wasn''t as thick, allowing him to see more.


    It wasn''t long before he spotted the staggering figure of a ghost general.


    Tang Jie gestured to thebat puppet, and there was a sh of starlight as the puppet rushed over to the ghost general. The ghost general swayed a little before silently copsing. The energy it exuded after death was absorbed by the ghost guard, and his eyes flickered with me.


    After dealing with the ghost general, Tang Jie continued traveling along the ckwater River. Many rocks were scattered around the river, so if there really was any Withering Yin Grass, it might have been destroyed by the falling rocks. But Tang Jie trusted that he wouldn''t be that unlucky. If Fate had eyes, it would be looking out for him.


    This was a sort of self-centered confidence, but his previous experiences told him that this confidence was not without reason. For him, what happened next would serve to prove or disprove his theory. If he didn''t find the Withering Yin Grass, all of this might have been a coincidence. If he did find it¡­


    Tang Jie looked down at his stomach. There, a small white light was shing.


    The farther they went, the more ghosts they encountered, but the groups of ghost soldiers and generals they ran into were all killed by the puppet.


    The closed space made movement difficult, and it also meant that the ghosts couldn''t group together, which ended up helping Tang Jie. The ghosts were unable to use their advantage in numbers, allowing Tang Jie to easily take them down.


    The numerous ghosts that Tang Jie encountered were almost all split up by the giant boulders, allowing him to hunt them down and kill them before moving on to the next area. Tang Jie began to clean up in the ckwater River in an orderly fashion.


    Of course, not every ghost was hindered by the terrain. Some of them could naturally ignore the terrain and travel freely, like the fog ghosts. While these ghosts were weak, they could turn into fog and freely travel around, passing through even the smallest of cracks. But Tang Jie was alone now, so he could freely use his powers, like the Pale Cloud me.


    The Pale Cloud me made the fog ghosts melt away like snow under the summer sun.


    Thus, it wasn''t long before Tang Jie felt like he was getting close to the source.


    The increasing number of ghosts seemed to verify this. They were all squeezed together in the small space, sometimes so closely packed that they couldn''t move.


    At times, Tang Jie simply needed to wave the Pale Cloud me to obliterate a swath of ghosts. But most of the time, Tang Jie left them for the puppet so that the ghost guard could grow stronger.


    This feeling was simply impossible to imagine. Those savage and horrifying ghosts, restrained by the terrain, became like wheat that Tang Jie could harvest at his leisure. As for the actual harvest, that was even better. While ghosts didn''t have flesh or blood that could be eaten for nutrition, the Yellow Springs Water was rather valuable. If he was lucky, he could even pick up ghost essences.


    If those cultivators who had advised him not to go down had learned what the actual situation was like, they would have been so shocked that their tongues would drop out.


    Finally, Tang Jie arrived in front of a giant pile of boulders. This ce was extremely close to the source of the ckwater River.


    The fallen stones had cut off the ckwater River, and the greater number of small stones meant that this seal was rather tight. It was like a stone wall had been erected that extended all the way to the surface.


    The wailing of countless ghosts could be heard from behind this wall, and ck energy churned.


    In the center of the stone wall were a few cracks, which the ghosts were squeezing through.


    Standing here, Tang Jie could see the ghosts squeezing out from the wall. If the scene were flipped by ny degrees, it would appear like the ghosts were emerging from the earth.


    "What a fine march of the ghosts. I can sense your longing for blood and flesh." Tang Jie smiled as he stood before the ghosts.


    A ghost charged out of a crack and lunged at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie flicked out a spark, which fell on the ghost and quickly set it alight. Such was the ferocity of the me that the ghost was a pile of ash by the time it reached Tang Jie.


    The mes curled up and turned into a firebird that flew onto Tang Jie''s shoulder. Tang Jie smiled and stroked its head. "Alright, alright, you''re very powerful indeed. There are plenty of ghosts left. Go on; give them a little stimtion. See if you can''t get them toe out, but don''t damage any of the nts here¡­ This ce is a very good battlefield."


    The firebird trilled and flew toward the stone wall.


    An intelligent sacred me could receive orders and be told what to harm and what to not harm. The firebird attached itself to the stone wall, applying ayer of me to it such that any ghosts that rushed in would die. It was just that these ghosts werecking in intelligence and fear, so they continued to charge in. Soon, shrieking wails resounded from behind the stone wall.


    Tang Jie''s actions had clearly enraged some powerful existences behind the wall.


    Tang Jie saw a figure gradually emerge, crossing the wall as if by walking out of the void, appearing directly in front of Tang Jie. This was a red-robed ghost king whose eyes were flickering mes. It opened its mouth to Tang Jie as if it wasughing.


    And then countless bony arms emerged from the ground and grabbed at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie beat a hasty retreat as numerous ghosts emerged from the mud.


    There was also movement from the ckwater River. Though the flow had been severed, there were still a few rivulets. Some ghosts used these rivulets to pass through cracks that they normally couldn''t pass through and then emerged from the surface of the river.


    Finally, some ghosts with spells that could let them ignore solid objects boldly passed through the wall of stones, heedless of the Pale Cloud me''s threat. While the Pale Cloud me wanted to burn them all to death, under Tang Jie''smand, it still let them through.


    In a sh, ghosts wereing from every direction.


    "I knew you guys could get through." Tang Jie was actually delighted to see all these ghosts.


    It was clear that most of the ghosts, rather than not being able toe through, would only react once they received a certain level of stimtion, and Tang Jie was the source of this stimtion.


    Countless ghosts now crazily rushed in. The ghost king opened its arms wide, and countless ck tendrils coiled around its arms, turning into ck chains that shot at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie smirked and looked behind him. "They''re yours. I hope you have a good appetite."


    The Mother Cloud puppet came forward, its chest shing with rings of starlight.


    As the starlight shed, a storm erupted around the puppet, grinding up all the ghosts in the vicinity. The Soul Refining Pearl then sucked up their energy, and the eyes of the ghost guard twinkled.


    At the same time, the Pale Cloud me dropped off the stone wall, turning back into a small bird that perched on Tang Jie''s shoulder. As it watched the puppet annihte the ghosts, it haughtily chirped as if to say that it would definitely have killed the ghosts faster than the puppet.


    "The ghost guard needs the power of these ghosts. Giving him time to grow will benefit all of us," Tang Jie soothed the firebird. He patiently said, "Don''t worry. You will also have a chance to show your power. The ghost guard won''t be able to handle all these ghosts."

 Chapter 664: Nether Gate

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie was right. The Mother Cloudbat puppet alone couldn''t handle all of the ghosts. Innumerable ghosts hade in through the Nether Gate and were piled up in the space behind the stone wall. They were constantly getting through the various obstacles in their way and entering the battle, in ceaseless wave after wave.


    Even the power of the puppet gradually started to run out in the face of this vast sea of ghosts. It had to be understood that the puppet had already taken down tens of thousands of ghosts in this time, including more than a hundred ghost generals and one ghost king.


    Tang Jie had the puppet go back to recover while the Pale Cloud me took its ce.


    A sea of mes swept through the area, obliterating almost every ghost that rushed in.


    Even so, ghosts continued to pour out from behind the stone wall.


    Sinister winds howled in, bringing with them a frigid chill.


    This frigid energy gathered together and charged at the Pale Cloud me, neutralizing it as water would fire. Even though the Pale Cloud me would extinguish the cold energy every time, more cold energy came in. Gradually, the Pale Cloud me began to falter, its me weakening.


    Upon seeing this, Tang Jie called back the Pale Cloud me and unleashed the Flesh Millstone.


    Blood fog ignored the chill, creating a crimson world in this ce. Any ghost that charged into this fog would be ground to powder by the Flesh Millstone.


    But the Flesh Millstone had to deal with the problem that the ghosts didn''t have any blood or flesh to devour, so there was nothing to absorb so that it could recharge. Tang Jie found it more and more tiring to use it.


    Gradually, the Flesh Millstone reached its limit, so it was Yiyi''s turn.


    The little girl''s Silkheaven Net and ck Sin became the main force against the ghosts, but the Silkheaven Net''s offensive power was clearlycking against this horde of ghosts. As for ck Sin, itcked interest toward the ghosts.


    Once Yiyi hit her limit, Tang Jie personally took action.


    But just like before, in the face of this vast sea of ghosts, tough flesh and closebat prowess didn''t matter much. No matter how strong a fist was, a punch was still only killing one person. No matter how tough one''s body was, it couldn''t protect the soul from damage. In the end, he relied on his avatar''sw cultivator power, and in the face of all these ghosts, the spell arts also gradually began to lose ground.


    Fortunately, after five rounds, thebat puppet had recovered enough of its power to rejoin the fray.


    The battle proceeded in this bizarre fashion for some time. Initially, Tang Jie felt there wouldn''t be enough ghosts, but after round after round of frenzied killing, there were still ghosts pouring in. Tang Jie began to wonder how he hadn''t killed all the ghosts yet.


    The more the killing went on, the more Tang Jie sensed that something was wrong.


    This was starting to get strange. The space behind the wall shouldn''t have been big enough to fit this many ghosts. So why were there still so manying in?


    Could it be¡­


    The answer appeared in Tang Jie''s mind: the Nether Gate wasn''t closed.


    This was perhaps the real reason for the endless ghosts.


    Although Liu Yunshan had said that the Nether Gate couldn''tst for long, it was clear that they had guessed wrongly.


    Something must have happened that allowed the Nether Gate to persist until now.


    It was fortunate that he had discovered this. If the ghosts had been allowed to gather together and rushed out onto the surface, all of the Verdant Cloud Domain would have suffered a heavy blow.


    Since he was guessing that the truth was hidden behind the stone wall, Tang Jie decided to stop relying on it for positional advantage. After one round of fighting, he used his original body''s formidable strength to st it down with a single punch.


    Arge hole was sted through the wall, the impact sending sounds bouncing off the walls and debris raining down.


    Upon stepping into the world beyond the wall, he saw that it was packed with ghosts.


    Above him, that gate of white bone floated in the air.


    Just as Tang Jie had predicted, it hadn''t been destroyed. It was still there, and ghosts were flooding out of it.


    Large numbers of ck-green vines had grown around the gate.


    The vines coiled around the gate, their roots sying out in the air as if they were rooted in the void, firmly keeping the Nether Gate in ce.


    Upon seeing those vines, Tang Jie knew why the Nether Gate hadn''t disappeared.


    This was the Withering Yin Vine, the upgraded version of the Withering Yin Grass.


    As a nt that existed between illusion and reality, its greatest attribute was its ability to stabilize space, which made it a necessity for extreme-distance teleportation formations. Withering Yin Vines had even greater effects and wider uses than the Grass. As they had spatial attributes all on their own, they could even be used to study and grasp the power of Space. This was why the gate was able to stay long past its expiration date.


    Tang Jie had only been nning to find some Withering Yin Grass, but he had insteade across arge growth of Withering Yin Vines.


    "I knew my luck was good," Tang Jie muttered.


    Since he had found what he wanted, Tang Jie stopped holding back. The Pale Cloud me and puppet charged in and began to clear out the ghosts.


    Tang Jie himself charged up, reaching toward the Withering Yin Vines.


    The ghosts weren''tpletely mindless. They realized what Tang Jie was trying to do, and numerous ghost generals flew up to intercept him. But Tang Jie wasn''t something they could stop, and he rammed straight through them.


    As he neared the Nether Gate, two ghost kings suddenly appeared.


    Tang Jie knew that these ghost kings were even stronger than the fiend kings, so he immediately brought his hands together, summoning a long saber that he swung at the leading ghost king.


    The Ten Extinctions de!


    This Ten Extinctions de was used with the two-heads, four-arms Divine Connection, and it wasn''t empowered by the Pale Cloud me, but even so, when that de radiating gray and ck energy shed against the ghost king''s heavy sword, it still sliced straight through, striking the ghost king and chopping through it as if it was made of butter. There was a frenzied rush of energy and a boom, and the soul fire within the ghost king''s body was obliterated, dissipating into ck smoke with a screech.


    He had killed one ghost king with a single strike, and this was without using the sword spirit or the Devil Crushing Fist. It was all Tang Jie''s own power.


    This blow certified that Tang Jie was invincible below Violet Pce.


    The remaining ghost king was cowed by this strike and didn''t dare toe forward.


    Tang Jie ignored it and flew up to the Nether Gate, grabbing at the Withering Yin Vines. As he did, lengths of vine emerged from the void, as if he was pulling out radishes. ck liquid was dripping from the roots of these Withering Yin Vines, each drop producing ripples in space.


    "The Yellow Nether Spring!" Tang Jie crowed in delight.


    The Yellow Nether Spring was the Nether River. It was said that this river was the mother river of the Nether Domain, linked to the underworld. Whenever someone died, they would travel through this river to the Nether Domain. For this reason, the Nether River was a river that transcended the power of Space, and Withering Yin Vines had such powerful spatial abilities because they grew within the Nether River.


    The Withering Yin Vines that Tang Jie had grabbed seemed to be binding the Nether Gate to this space, but in reality, they were still rooted in the Nether River. The Yellow Nether Spring was the soil that they grew in, and Tang Jie had pulled some out with the vines.


    This water was of the same source as the Yellow Spring Water he gained from killing ghost generals, but it lost its spatial attribute after turning into ghost generals, so it could only be kept as a substance of extreme Yin energy. This sort of water that had not been transformed was the real divine substance.


    Thus, Tang Jie hastily took out a jade bottle to gather these drops, and he quickly filled it up.


    Without the Withering Yin Vines, the Nether Gate began to sh and shudder.


    At the same time, an enraged roar came from behind the gate.


    So terrifying was the being behind the gate that its roar alone made Tang Jie dizzy.


    Tang Jie instantly knew he was in trouble. If the roar alone could do this to him, that thing behind the gate was definitely nothing to be taken lightly. It might have even been the reason for those vines being here, and he had inadvertently ruined that being''s ns.


    The realization made Tang Jie feel extremely uneasy, and he quickly retreated.


    A light erupted from the Nether Gate, and a ghost hand seething with sinister energy emerged from the gate and reached for Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie roared, his four arms gripping his saber and swinging, unleashing another Ten Extinctions de.


    This blow that could even injure an Infant Tending Violet Pce cultivator fell upon that ghost hand as if it had mmed into ancient unmeltable ice, sparks flying everywhere. In the end, Tang Jie''s full-strength strike managed to only leave a mark on that hand. All of the additional effects had been useless, the Sovereign de no longer as sharp and the power of Destruction unable to destroy.


    Tang Jie was stunned. Just how powerful was the owner of this ghost hand?


    Even so, the strike still made the owner of the hand let out a howl of shock.


    The howl resounded in Tang Jie''s mind, causing him to throw up blood as he jumped away.


    The ghost hand shot forward to grab him.


    Just when the ghost hand was about to catch up, the hands on Tang Jie''s back grabbed a ghost king and tossed him back.


    The ghost king was caught off guard and ended up being caught in the clutches of the ghost hand.


    The ghost hand squeezed, and the ghost king exploded.


    Sensing that this wasn''t its target, the ghost hand continued to chase after Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie continued to retreat, his hands throwing ghost soldiers and generals out to serve as his meatshields. That ghost hand was obscenely powerful, crushing everything thrown to it and getting faster and faster.


    In this limited space, Tang Jie was finding it harder and harder to evade the ghost hand.


    "Return the Withering Yin Vine to me!" A thought resounded in Tang Jie''s mind, suffused with a biting cold energy.


    Tang Jie knew that this was the will of that existence behind the gate, but he ignored it and continued to dodge.


    The existence behind the gate grew more enraged, and the ghost hand swept over as that will resounded in Tang Jie''s mind, "You must die for ruining my n!"


    The palm mmed down, sending out a shockwave.


    All of the ghosts were obliterated by the shockwave, saving Tang Jie from having to kill them. Yiyi was also sent flying by the shockwave, but thankfully, the puppet flew in and used its body to protect Yiyi.


    At the same time, the terrifying shockwave had paralyzed Tang Jie.


    The ghost hand reached over once more. "Die!"


    In this dire moment, Tang Jie simply smiled. "You think I will? Doesn''t look like it to me!"


    He activated the Chaoswind Step and blinked away, avoiding the grab and appearing right above the Nether Gate.


    He swung the saber down and roared, "Break!"


    Another Ten Extinctions de.


    This time, it was aimed at the Nether Gate.


    Having lost the Withering Yin Vines, the Nether Gate was already unstable, and after suffering Tang Jie''s attack, it erupted with light.


    "NOOOO!" The existence behind the gate angrily roared and tried to pull back its arm.


    But it was too slow.


    In a st of dazzling me, the Nether Gate copsed.


    As the Nether Gate copsed, the spatial passage it maintained began to rapidly constrict, imploding on itself. In the blink of an eye, it was gone, but as for that ghost hand, only half of its arm had managed to retreat through the passage. As the passage copsed, the rest of the arm was cut off.


    A massive skeletal hand fell from the air.

 Chapter 665: Little Three

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Once the Nether Gate disappeared, Tang Jie heaved a sigh of relief. His vision grew blurry, and he almost fell over.


    While the battle had been short, it had been just as dangerous as any other before it, and the slightest misstep would have resulted in his demise.


    He hadn''t expected there to be such a terrifying and dangerous existence in the Nether Domain. Sure enough, the Great Ster Chiliocosm was brimming with experts, and one could never afford to be careless. If his reaction had been just a little slower, that ghost hand would have reaped his soul.


    That ghost was also quite unlucky. It was probably some Titan of the Nether Realm, and it had probably sensed Sun Shuming opening the Nether Gate and used its Withering Yin Vines to stabilize it, trying to use the Gate to invade the living world. As for why its original body didn''t enter, he didn''t know, but there had to be some restriction that only allowed it to send over a hand. Its luck was clearly poor, for Tang Jie had unexpectedly returned, so rather than getting a chance to stroll about the mortal world, it had ended up leaving Tang Jie a hand.


    These were only theories, but Tang Jie had gotten the general picture right. Putting aside the rage and fury of that Nether Domain Titan, Tang Jie was currently standing next to that ghost hand, hesitant about what to do.


    A hand that could resist a blow from the Ten Extinctions de had to be a treasure.


    But there was nothing in the book about such a thing, and the ghost guard needed only the soul and not the bone, so he would need to study how to use it himself. Thus, after some thought, he put it away in the diagram.


    Looking around at the area, he found it to be a scene of devastation, that ghost hand''s palm m having destroyed all the ghosts.


    Ghosts had too much ghost energy to all be moved into the Mountain River State Diagram, as the excess Yin energy was detrimental to life. Thus, Tang Jie selected the best of the ghost remains to throw into the diagram.


    There were also some corpses with more value than most: the fiend kings.


    In a corner of this ce, Tang Jie found a pile of fiend king corpses.


    These former illustrious individuals had died to a pack of nameless ghosts. Their eyes were wide open in shock, unwilling to ept their fate.


    Most of them had died after exhausting all their Yang energy, so their bodies were like shriveled-up mummies.


    Corpses like these no longer had any value to speak of, and could only be thrown into the diagram world to serve as fertilizer. But since he was here anyway, Tang Jie decided to search the corpses, for he hadn''t seen the Umbra Cactus Flower anywhere.


    When inspecting the Greenscale Ghost Serpent, Tang Jie noticed that there seemed to be something in its body. Tang Jie shook the corpse, and a bottle rolled out. This bottle was made of a special kind of jade designed to hold rare spirit herbs. There was a small space inside that could resist spell arts and prevent damage to the contents.


    Tang Jie picked it up and removed the lid. He saw jade water within, and a white flower bobbing on the surface.


    Tang Jie chuckled and put the bottle away.


    s, he found no sign of Sun Shuming''s corpse. But after some searching, he did find some scraps of his clothing and his brush.


    Tang Jie gathered them up. Meanwhile, the Mother Cloud puppet came over, holding Yiyi.


    The m from the ghost hand had ruined the just-repaired formations again, particrly those on the back. But thanks to them, it was able to protect Yiyi.


    In previous dangerous battles, Tang Jie would first send Yiyi into the diagram, but this matter hade too abruptly, giving Yiyi a close brush with death.


    This matter reminded Tang Jie that Yiyi, who was only at the initial phase of Transformation, was no longer keeping up with him. He had to make her get stronger fast.


    But sprites weren''t good at cultivation and had higher demands when it came to natural resources, so Tang Jie didn''t understand how to make her stronger.


    If only they were back in the Blood River Domain.


    The inter-domain trade''s profits definitely could have given Yiyi a big boost.


    But now, he could only dream of them.


    Of course, those resources wouldn''t go to waste. He was sure that Xu Miaoran would make good use of them. Perhaps when he returned to the Rosecloud Domain, he would find that Xu Miaoran had already surpassed him.


    Thinking of Xu Miaoran made Tang Jie feel gloomy once more.


    Although he now had the Withering Yin Vine, this wasn''t the only material he needed for the teleportation formation. There were many other rare materials, like the Dragonbone Spirit Sesame. For now, going back remained a dream.


    "Right, what''s your current state?" Tang Jie asked the puppet.


    After killing all those ghosts and absorbing their souls, the ghost guard must have experienced a massive boost in power.


    The puppet replied, "I feel great. I think I need some time to digest this power. Once I''vepletely absorbed them, I should have advanced a level."


    "At the very least, it seems like you have an easier time talking," Tang Jie said with a smile. Looking at Yiyi, he added, "Thank you for saving Yiyi. This alone has proved your value."


    The puppet''s eyes shed, but it said nothing.


    Seeing that there was nothing else to do here, Tang Jie headed into the diagram. He found a scenic ce in the world, dug a hole, ced Sun Shuming''s clothes and brush within, and erected a gravestone. In this way, he showed his respect for a hero of the country.


    Tang Jie was about to leave when a spirit flew past him.


    Startled, Tang Jie blurted out, "Little Three?"


    What had flown past him was that small ghost he had tamed back in the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, Little Three (TN: Previously seen in Chapters 305 and 310).


    Because of the various taboos the Rosecloud Domain had against ghosts, he had never been able to let this ghost out. Tang Jie had tried to see if he could raise it, but he found that nothing he did worked, and the Ghost ssic had no record of such a ghost.


    Moreover, it had nobat power, so it couldn''t be used in any battle, so there was no point in taking the risk to use it like the ghost guard. Over time, Tang Jie stopped having any expectations of it.


    Later on, Tang Jie put the little ghost into the Mountain River State Diagram and let it be.


    For many years now, the little ghost had been the same as ever,pletely transparent and one foot high, like a child that never grew up.


    The little ghost clearly didn''t see Tang Jie, floating away at an incredible speed.


    Tang Jie grew interested in its anxious demeanor and followed.


    The little ghost would asionally stop and look around as if searching for something, and then it would continue flying.


    After a while, the little ghost stopped next to a stream and dove in.


    Tang Jie followed, and then he froze.


    Inside that stream was none other than the ghost hand he had thrown in earlier.


    The little ghost came up to the ghost hand and oohed and aahed like it was some valuable treasure, and then it went over to the stump and sucked on it. Tendrils of ck smoke emerged from the stump and were sucked into the little ghost''s belly.


    Its transparent belly grewrger andrger, and it was possible to see the ck smoke coiled up within.


    After sucking for a while, the little ghost seemed to have eaten its fill, and stopped. Rubbing its belly, it staggered like a drunkard, and then it copsed next to the ghost hand and fell asleep.


    This scene made Tang Jie fall into deep thought.


    Tang Jie had done many experiments on the little ghost, but nothing had worked. Now, it seemed like what the little ghost really needed was the quintessence of ghosts. Ghosts were extremely rare in the Rosecloud Domain, and the ghost guard was artificial, different from real ghosts. It was no wonder Tang Jie had failed to raise it.


    But this was the first time Tang Jie had heard of a ghost that ate only other ghosts, and he didn''t know what it was good for.


    The little ghost fell into a state of inactivity after sucking on the ghost energy, so Tang Jie decided to wait a few days and thene back. Thus, he found He Chong and gave him a few orders before leaving the diagram world.


    Upon returning to that underground space, Tang Jie said to the ghost guard, "Numerous ghosts just died here, so this ce is thick with Yin energy. Since you need to digest the energy in the Soul Refining Pearl, this ce is perfect for you to cultivate. For now, we don''t need to go anywhere, so we''ll leave once you''ve advanced."


    The puppet nodded and went off to cultivate. Tang Jie and Yiyi also began to cultivate in the Inkcloud Abyss.


    When he had nothing to do, he would head into the diagram world to see how the little ghost was doing.


    The little ghost was constantly feeding on the ghost hand, but nothing seemed to change about it except its ever-growing appetite. At first, a few tendrils were enough to fill its belly, but it was now able to keep sucking for quite a while before finally stopping.


    As the little ghost drained away at the hand, the hand''s condition worsened. At first, the ghost hand was so thick with ghost energy that ordinary people couldn''t get close, and everything around the stream withered. But this ghost energy grew fainter by the day, and it was growing less and less intimidating.


    Today, the little ghost was once more devouring the ghost hand''s ck energy.


    It was clear that the ghost hand was almost out of ck energy, which had be so faint that it was barely visible. Finally, nothing came out anymore.


    There was a gust of wind, and the ghost hand dissolved into dust.


    The little ghost looked at the powder and let a human-like sigh, after which it turned to leave.


    "As expected, you''ve opened your mind. You''ve gone from the lowest and weakest ghost to theter phase of Mind Opening, growing six tiers! This top-ss Titan''s body parts were truly rich in nutrients," a voice said with augh.


    Aghast, the little ghost raised its head and saw Tang Jie smiling at it.


    The little ghost naturally recognized Tang Jie, but rather than showing affection, it backed away.


    "Hm? A little skill has made you forget your master?" Tang Jie chuckled and reached for it.


    The little ghost yowled and flew away, its body growing fainter. It was already practically transparent, and it was soonpletely invisible.


    "Stealth? Interesting," Tang Jie chuckled. He first used a detection spell, but he found nothing. He then used the Illuminating Eye, but even this failed to find anything. Finally, Tang Jie opened his vertical eye, and a golden ring appeared at his feet.


    He finally saw that the little ghost was hiding behind a rock and warily looking at him.


    "Good, good! I had to use my Celestial Eye and Realm of Insight in order to find you! This stealth ability is pretty good!" Tang Jie was delighted.


    The little ghost had absorbed the bone marrow of a Nether Domain Titan. If it had only experienced a boost in strength, even reaching the Spirit Ring Tier, then Tang Jie wouldn''t be that interested. After all, Tang Jie didn''t really need a Spirit Ring helper at his current level of strength.


    What Tang Jie needed wasn''t a strong helper, but a special one, and this little ghost was very special indeed.


    Even the Ghost ssic had no records of its existence, and as it could absorb a Titan''s bone marrow, it must have had some special ability. And no matter what kind of special ability it had, Tang Jie was sure he could make good use of it.


    Tang Jie reached out and picked the little ghost up.


    The ghost struggled in Tang Jie''s grip, but there was no way it could break free.


    "Let me see what else you can do."


    The little ghost seemed to understand what Tang Jie meant. As Tang Jie loosened his grip, the little ghost passed straight through his hand and fled.


    "Passing through walls?" Tang Jie frowned. This skill had no value.


    No, it wasn''t as simple as passing through walls.


    Walls were lifeless, so any ghost could pass through them.


    He, on the other hand, was a living, breathing person, and he was rich in blood energy and Yang energy. A ghost that dared to pass through his body was seeking a second death. Even after absorbing the bone marrow of a Titan, a ghost still shouldn''t have been able to do it!


    Then what was this spell art?


    A thought urred to him, and Tang Jie muttered, "Could it be¡­"

 Chapter 666: Fiends, Sprites, Ghosts, Monsters

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Next to the stream, a farce was ying out.


    The little ghost in Tang Jie''s hand suddenly warped away, producing ripples in the air as it easily escaped Tang Jie''s grip. But then, Tang Jie would grab the ghost once more. Then the ghost would blink away, and Tang Jie would grab it.


    The human and ghost continued this game of tag. The little ghost could never escape Tang Jie''s grip, and Tang Jie could never truly catch the little ghost, for this ghost''s skill was some kind of spatial shift ability, one that was on an even higher level than the Chaoswind Step. Even Tang Jie couldn''t predict its movements, and there seemed to be no restraining it.


    But after several dozen rounds, the little ghost finally began to tire out.


    One had to use an ability to dodge, while the other simply needed to grab. The energy consumption just wasn''t on the same level.


    Thus, by the end, the little ghost finally gave up and let Tang Jie grab it, panting for breath. What kind of ghost needed to pant for breath?


    Tang Jie looked at it and smiled. "Not running anymore?"


    The little ghost shook its head.


    "That''s how it should be." Tang Jie shook it and said, "I was once your master, you know. Although I''ve left you all by yourself in thesest few years, it''s because I was looking for a way to raise you. After all, you were too dumb back then to tell me. And you''ve only been able to get this far now thanks to me, as I was the one who got you that hand."


    Tang Jie was afraid that it didn''t understand, so he pointed at the white dust and then at himself. "Mine! It was mine!"


    The little ghost understood what he meant and then turned away with a look of scorn on its face.


    "Hah, you''re throwing a tantrum?"


    Tang Jie turned the ghost''s head back, but the little ghost looked away again. Tang Jie pulled it back, and then it looked away, and this went on for several dozen times, until the ghost''s neck was so sore that it couldn''t move anymore, but its eyes continued to look to the side, not even ncing at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was amused by this little fellow''s temper.


    Seeing that the ghost was intent on ignoring him, he said, "Fine, fine, why don''t we do this? If you listen to me, I''ll find you more ghosts to eat, okay?"


    These words finally worked, and the little ghost turned to look at him.


    Tang Jie smiled and said, "You''re interested as soon as food is brought up? That''s fine. Follow me."


    Tang Jie brought the little ghost over to where he had thrown the ghost remains. Pointing at them, he said, "Will these do?"


    Unexpectedly, the little ghost nced at them and proceeded to ignore them.


    It wouldn''t eat them?


    Tang Jie was taken aback.


    He asked, "Are you full?"


    The little ghost shook its head.


    "You don''t like it?"


    The little ghost thought it over, and then it shook its head and then nodded.


    Tang Jie was rather confused by its attitude. After thinking it over, he questioned, "You think you''re above it?"


    The ghost nodded.


    Shit!


    Tang Jie inwardly cursed, and then he patiently asked, "Can you do with it for now?"


    The little ghost gravely shook its head.


    "Or what will happen?"


    The little ghost pointed at its body, and its translucent body briefly shone with a rainbow of colors.


    Tang Jie was startled. "You''ll change color?"


    The ghost grew furious, repeatedly shaking its head while gesticting at Tang Jie and shouting.


    s, this wasn''t in any sort ofnguage, so even a trantion spell wouldn''t make Tang Jie understand. He could only guess, but none of his ten-some guesses were right.


    Just when he was about to start throwing out guesses at random, Tang Jie suddenly recalled the ability the little ghost gained after absorbing energy from the ghost hand, and he understood, shouting, "It will affect your ability?"


    The little ghost nodded its head in delight.


    Thinking of that random jumble of colors, Tang Jie finally understood what they meant. "They will make your abilities impure?"


    The little ghost vigorously nodded.


    Tang Jie nowpletely understood.


    Looking at the ghost, he cried out, "Devouring¡­ Damn, your real ability is devouring!"


    A ghost with this devouring ability grew by devouring other ghosts, even gaining their spell arts, turning them into its own skills.


    This was the ghost''s real specialty.


    Through repeated "conversation", Tang Jie finally understood what was going on with the little ghost.


    Devouring was the natural ability the ghost had been born with, and even among ghosts, this ability was extremely rare.


    But devouring wasn''t an ability to be used lightly. Once the little ghost devoured a certain kind of ghost, it would gain a part of that ghost''s abilities, but this also meant that its future path was fixed. From then on, it could only devour ghosts of the same sort. If it devoured other kinds of ghosts, while it would gain more abilities, the mixture of abilities would result in them shing against each other and lead to an overall drop in strength.


    This was why the first target the little ghost devoured was quite important. The more open it was, the better its future development.


    It was actually quite lucky that Tang Jie hadn''t found a way to make the little ghost stronger when he had been weak. If he had given it just any random ghost, perhaps he would have ruined this promising ghost.


    But now, the little ghost had devoured a hand that belonged to a Titan of the Nether Domain, of peerless power and numerous abilities.


    When the little ghost devoured this hand, it had gained the core power hidden within that Titan''s soul me: Space.


    It was because of this Nether Domain Titan''s proficiency in the Dao of Space that it was able to immediately sense the Nether Gate''s existence, link up with it, and stabilize it with Withering Yin Vines.


    But it hadn''t been next to the Nether Gate at the time, so it could only use spatial methods to control everything from a distance, just like how Ming Yekong had used the Space Crystal to engage in a long-distance battle with Feng Muyuan. But this Titan was clearly much stronger than Ming Yekong, able to use such powerful spatial techniques without the Space Crystal and even able to send its hand through the Nether Gate to attack Tang Jie. This was like having ayover in the middle of one''s trip, one body simultaneously existing in three ces.


    This was much more impressive than what Ming Yekong had shown, and it required space to be much more stable. This was why Tang Jie had managed to destroy the arm that the Titan had sent over. For it to have suffered such a loss was like an expert swimmer drowning.


    After devouring the ghost hand, the little ghost had gained this spatial ability.


    Besides the spatial ability, the little ghost had gained a few other abilities, but they were not on the soul fire level, so their potential for improvement would be limited for the average cultivator. However, when a spell art was converted into a natural ability, its potential for improvement was greatly improved. That stealth ability had been gained in this manner.


    Besides space and stealth, the little ghost had gained three other spell arts, converting them into natural talents. These were Spirit Touch, Corpse Domination, and Nether River Crossing.


    Spirit Touch was a soul-type spell art, and that Nether Domain Titan had primarily used it to control ghosts. But now that it had been converted to the little ghost''s talent, it had even more potential for improvement.


    As for Corpse Domination, it was like that bone-decaying arrow used by the ghost king, able to control corpses and bones to use in battle.


    Nether River Crossing was one of the most mysterious abilities of the Nether Domain. It was said that when it was cultivated to the apex, it could link life and death, exchange Yin and Yang. As the Nether River was linked to the underworld, it was said that the Nether River Crossing had the ability to decide life or death with a single thought.


    The little ghost had gained five abilities by devouring the remains of a Titan, which was truly a great blessing. Even Bao''er, a descendant of the White Tiger, didn''t have this many abilities.


    Of course, this didn''t mean the little ghost was invincible.


    Gaining these five abilities meant that its future development was limited to these five aspects, and getting any other ability would be extremely difficult. While cultivation wasn''t impossible for ghosts, as a ghost that devoured to gain abilities, cultivation was its weakest aspect. Even if it were to gain other powers through cultivation, they would never be on par with the natural abilities it had gained through devouring.


    To put it simply, this sort of ghost had no cultivation prospects. It could only get stronger through devouring.


    Its advantage was devouring, and its w was devouring.


    But Tang Jie didn''t mind.


    For him, the little ghost''s unique ability was far more meaningful than pure cultivation level.


    Although it was still a little weak, that didn''t mean it wouldn''t be strong in the future. It had to be understood that the Verdant Cloud Domain wasn''t the Rosecloud Domain. This ce didn''t have some fear of ghosts, so Tang Jie could openly bring Little Three around to search for food. The Inkcloud Abyss alone had so many ghosts that he was sure that Little Three would find something it liked there.


    Tang Jie recalled that quite a few of the ghosts he had killed had spatial abilities.


    He took the little ghost out.


    Upon going outside, the little ghost really did be excited, rushing over to find suitable food.


    This guy had the best idea of what it could eat and couldn''t eat, and it flitted around, moving ghost corpses here and there.


    Yiyi recognized Little Three, though it had been a long time since she hadst seen it. Curious as to why it was rushing around, she asked Tang Jie, "What is it doing?"


    After some thought, Tang Jie answered, "Picking food."


    After a while, Little Three finally finished. It had made arge pile of bones and was standing atop it, shouting as if it was dering that this was its sacred ground.


    After picking out what it could eat, Little Three proceeded to go into a feeding frenzy.


    Although the quintessence of these ghosts was far inferior to that of a Titan, they made up for it with sheer volume.


    The little ghost''s strength rapidly grew, and it quickly reached the peak of Mind Opening. But it still needed some time to break through the threshold.


    In this time, Tang Jie and Little Three gradually refamiliarized themselves with each other, but Little Three still wasn''t willing to get close to Tang Jie.


    By now, Tang Jie understood that this wasn''t because it disliked him, but because he was too rich in Yang energy. While ghosts fed on Yang energy, Yang energy that was too concentrated would hurt ghosts. But once this guy grew stronger, this would cease to be a problem. Inparison, it was much more familiar with Yiyi, for Yiyi was a sprite and didn''t have so much Yang energy.


    Yiyi and Tutu didn''t feel so lonely now that they had another ymate.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "I once made a joke that I was going to get a fiend, sprite, ghost, and monster under mymand, so when I got this guy, I called it Little Three. But then I ignored it, never expecting that it would show up and regain its shine. Now, it seems like I really do have aplete set."


    There was naturally no need to exin Yiyi and the little ghost. As for the Mother Cloudbat puppet, while it was primarily made of Mother Cloud Essence Metal, it had the ghost guard as its will. From a certain perspective, it was extremely close to a monster.


    So it wasn''t wrong to think this way.


    Tutu happily said, "I''m a fiend, so I''m first."


    Tang Jie nced at it and coldly said, "The fiend I''m talking about isn''t you. You''re just a mount."


    The image of a little tiger surfaced in his mind.


    Bao''er, are you doing okay out there?

 Chapter 667: Hunter Ghosts

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The shattering of the Nether Gate had made the ckwater River disappear, and together with it disappeared the fiend snakes living in the river.


    The area where theke had once been was now upied by the Mother Cloudbat puppet.


    At the bottom of this depression, the four-meter-tall metal giant sat cross-legged, asionally expelling clouds of red mist.


    The ghost guard still needed some time toplete its advancement.


    In this time, other than his usual cultivation, Tang Jie primarily yed around with Yiyi and Little Three, improving their rtionship. asionally, he would also ride Tutu up to the surface to take a look. The death of 18 fiend kings and the copse of the Inkcloud Abyss had set off an uproar among the fiends. Some of the fiends weren''t content with this oue and came over to inspect the area, but Tang Jie killed them all.


    The Inkcloud Abyss region became a death zone. Humans wouldn''te, and any fiends that came would die. Even if a Fiend Emperor came, with the Astral Winds above him, Tang Jie had no need to fear them.


    Today, seeing that there was nothing to do, Tang Jie took out a Withering Yin Vine and began to study it. These nts were born with spatial powers, and it was said that studying them for a long period of time could help oneprehend the Dao of Space.


    But as Tang Jie inspected this withered vine, he didn''t feel anything special. Although the roots were covered in spatial ripples, as if they were deeply rooted in space, and they exuded a mysterious feeling akin to the Space Crystal, no matter how Tang Jie probed it, he couldn''t resonate with the vine. In fact, he was repulsed every single time.


    This feeling waspletely different from other spatial treasures Tang Jie had interacted with, as if it was in a category of its own.


    It was a strange feeling, one that Tang Jie had experienced only in the Verdant Cloud Domain. Yet it had nothing to do with the Verdant Cloud Domain, but with the Fate Standard in his body.


    What exactly was Fate? How did one use it, and what could it be used for?


    These were veryplex questions, and to be honest, Tang Jie still didn''t have an answer to them. But ever since he had obtained the Fate Standard, he had gained a special sense.


    It was a kind of intuition, inexplicable and unexinable, yet ever so trustworthy.


    This intuition waspletely contrary to the logic and principles that Tang Jie had once believed in, for there was no logic behind it, no rational analysis, no elegant strands of deductions weaving into an argument. There was just a feeling, a result that skipped all the steps in between.


    It was for this reason that Tang Jie initially rejected it.


    He didn''t believe in this intuition, or even think that it existed. He just felt like it was a misconception, a coincidence, and he took no action on the answers it gave him.


    But in the following years, this intuition proved itself, and Tang Jie gradually began to realize that it was no misconception or coincidence.


    Tang Jie''s understanding of the Heavenly Dao and his understanding of this world''s luck all came from this intuition. But he had no grasp on when this feeling came over him.


    If the Dao of Truth was the culmination of logical deduction, the representative of inevitability, the Dao of Fate was the exact opposite. It was far too random, difficult to grasp and fathom. It was the representative of chance.


    Perhaps for this reason, the Dao of Fate was considered the most enigmatic and iprehensible Dao.


    No one liked something made up from countless chances and coincidences, for such a thing was uncontroble. Thus, even though Tang Jie had the Fate Standard, he rarely tried to use it.


    Because Fate wasn''t meant to beprehended.


    This feeling had emerged again today, and it was working on the Withering Yin Vine, giving Tang Jie a very forthright answer: "This item is not suitable for you."


    Without this feeling, Tang Jie might have tried and failed many more times before finally confirming it. But now, thanks to this feeling, he could skip to the end.


    Was this the power of Fate?


    Tang Jie pondered the thought. He had grown more lucky, and his luck had gotten him the answer he needed, allowing him to avoid the wrong path. Was this what it meant to simte the heavens and peer into the future?


    Perhaps it was only the nascent form. When the Dao of Fate was cultivated to a certain extent, it could evolve into some prophesying power, or perhaps some luck-boosting power.


    Any one of the Twelve Great Daos cultivated until the very end would get one to some ultimate Dao Art.


    The Ten Extinctions de was a Dao Art, but it was of the crudest kind.


    Currently, Fate had given him an answer: the Withering Yin Vine wasn''t right for him.


    Thus, after ying around with it for a bit, Tang Jie stopped wasting his time.


    As he was putting it away, Little Three suddenly strode over while eating a ghost. Upon seeing the Withering Yin Vine, its eyes lit up, and it rushed over and began to jabber at Tang Jie while pointing at the vine.


    "You want it?" Tang Jie said in surprise.


    Little Three vigorously nodded, an impatient look on its face.


    "I didn''t think you ate veggies." After some thought, Tang Jie gave it the vine. After all, Fate had already told him that the vine would have no effect on him, so he might as well give it to Little Three and see if it could use it.


    The little ghost took the vine, but rather than eating it, it began to inhale those ripples that lingered around the vine.


    The misty ripples shed and then vanished into Little Three''s body.


    Through the Celestial Eye, Tang Jie saw that a sliver of spatial power had gone into Little Three''s body.


    As expected!


    Only ghosts could use items from the Nether Domain.


    It was no wonder Fate said that he couldn''t use it.


    And Little Three needed it not because it was a vegetarian, but because the vine had the Space attribute.


    After consuming that Titan''s hand and inheriting its spatial power, Little Three needed anything that could increase its Space power. If it hadn''t received a spatial talent, it might have had no interest in the vine.


    This also made Tang Jie recognize his mistaken understanding. While Little Three''s ghost-devouring ability had priority, it seemed to have ovee this restriction when it came to choice of food.


    Little Three quickly sucked up the Withering Yin Vine''s Space power, and the vine began to wither. Without the roots nted in space, the vine had no water to draw on.


    Inparison, Little Three seemed unchanged.


    Tang Jie wanted to test it out, so he grabbed it and said, "Let me see your abilities."


    Little Three understood and used its spatial shift to escape Tang Jie''s grip.


    This time, it appeared two hundred feet away from Tang Jie.


    The first time Tang Jie had captured it, while the little guy had been able to use the spatial shift several dozen times, the distance had been extremely short, so Tang Jie could capture it again without even moving. After eating those ghosts with Space power, it had grown stronger, but it was only able to jump ten feet. Now, after eating the vine, it was able to jump two hundred feet.


    "Continue!" Tang Jie shot over to grab it.


    Little Three thought that Tang Jie was ying with it, so it jumped away, and the two began to rey the game of tag from before.


    This time, however, they yed for much longer, and it was only after more than a hundred jumps that Little Three began to feel a little tired. Even then, it hardened up andsted for fifty-some more jumps. Tang Jie couldn''t help but be amazed by the Space power of the Withering Yin Vine.


    In truth, it wasn''t just because it was powerful. Even more important was the purity of the Withering Yin Vine''s Space power.


    The power obtained from devouring ghosts involved a process of separating the wheat from the chaff. In this process, rather than quantity, what was important was how to preserve the purity. Little Three had been lucky enough to get the hand of a Nether Domain Titan to start off with, but this meant that it had even higher requirements for purity, or else it would bepletely wasting its high starting point.


    The purity of the vine''s Space power was exactly what Little Three needed, which was why it had made so much progress.


    Seeing how useful the vine was for Little Three, Tang Jie decided to give all the vines except what he needed for the extreme long-distance teleportation formation to Little Three. "It''s all yours."


    Little Three almost fainted from delight.


    For the next few days, Little Three became an omnivore, and it was truly voracious, feasting on ghosts and sucking vines every day. These were happy days, and its rtionship with Tang Jie improved so much that it would asionally jump on his shoulder and y with him.


    s, happy days were always short ones.


    A day woulde when all the ghosts and vines were eaten up.


    Today, the day had finallye.


    Tang Jie felt helpless as he looked at Little Three, who was tearing up.


    After all, he had no means of producing more ghosts for Little Three.


    The hungry Little Three quickly became listless. Although ghosts wouldn''t die from hunger, this desire for power left Little Three in torment¡ªa human who had lived in luxury would find it very difficult to live the life of the impoverished, and the same was true for ghosts.


    Moreover, Little Three could sense that it was about to break through.


    This sensation of being only a step away haunted the little ghost, but despite racking its mind, it had found no solution.


    Tang Jie and Yiyi did their best to soothe it, but every day, the little ghost would look up at the sky and dream of going out to get food.


    It had to be said that Little Three was lucky.


    Ghosts that evolved through devouring actually all had rather savage natures. In a long-gone era, they had rampaged through the Nether Domain, throwing it into chaos. In the end, a Nether Domain Titan had taken action, annihting more than half of them.


    These ghosts ran off to the mortal world, but rather than learning their lesson, they became even more vicious. To gain more power, they began to kill people to create ghosts. As new ghosts were weak in power, just one or two couldn''t satisfy their massive appetites, so they used quantity to make up for quality. This meant that this sort of ghost would often paint thend red with blood to eat its fill, bing infamous throughout thend.


    In that era, they had a name: Hunter Ghosts.


    For these reasons, they were wee in neither the Nether Domain nor the mortal world, and this time, they provoked the Titans of the mortal world, who almost made the Hunter Ghosts extinct.


    Eons had passed since then, so long that Little Three had no idea of the history of its kind. And spending time with Tang Jie and Yiyi had ground away at its savage nature. It didn''t know of the murderous history of the Hunter Ghosts, and in the Inkcloud Abyss, there was nothing to tempt it, and it had even managed to pass through its first growing period in the safest way possible. All this served to greatly increase its resistance to such temptations.


    Little Three''s first obstacle to entering the mortal world had been silently ovee.


    Even so, sometimes, that primal desire would be triggered, and Little Three would sorrowfully look upward.


    Tonight was particrly quiet.


    Thebat puppet was still digesting the power of the Soul Refining Pearl, Tang Jie was meditating, and Yiyi and Tutu were sleeping on the side.


    The little Hunter Ghost was very bored, so it jumped around using its spatial ability. Its teleportation ability was extremely powerful, so if it wanted to run, Tang Jie wouldn''t have been able to stop it.


    Little Three blinked about the space, but in the middle of ying, it suddenly sensed a strange ripple of energy nearby.


    For Little Three, who had inherited the power of a Nether Domain Titan and turned its spatial power into its natural ability, this energy was very familiar.


    It was a spatial ripple.


    Behind this ripple was an extremely weak spatial barrier.


    So weak¡­


    That it could pass right through!


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    Author''s Note: Sorry, something was wrong with my head. Ipletely forgot about the Pale Cloud me bird. That''s a monster, so I''m noting the correction here.

 Chapter 668: Advancement

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Little Three dumbly gazed at the spatial barrier for a while. Finally, it decided to jump in and test it out.


    This was an extremely risky decision, for there was no telling what was behind it. It could be some forbidden ground that would kill it the moment it entered. Of course, there was also a chance that it was somend rich in resources. Or there might be nothing at all, only the empty void.


    But Little Three didn''t think about such things. It was only bored and thought this might be fun.


    Thus, Little Three needed very little time to make up its mind. It gathered up all its strength and leaped at the spatial barrier, and in a sh, it found that it had passed through the barrier and appeared in a gloomy space.


    The sky was overcast and devoid of sunlight, dust and haze obscuring everything.


    At the very end of the sky, a giant river emerged from the air.


    It emerged out of the void and descended from the heavens in a majestic waterfall. If one looked closely, one could see countless wailing ghosts within the river, desperately attempting to swim to the shore. The ck soil of the shore was covered in white bones and wreathed in ck energy. Some of the ghosts wereing ashore here, upon which they blindly wandered around.


    Little Three found that it was standing in the river. A ghost swimming along the river shed its ws and teeth at it. Out of instinct, Little Three used its spatial shift to evade the strike.


    Standing on the ck soil, it looked at those countless ghosts, and a deep hunger began to dominate its body.


    So hungry!


    So hungry!


    Food was everywhere!


    Little Three''s eyes began to glow.


    But Little Three had clearly forgotten about something here¡ªin the past, it had only dealt with deceased ghosts. Now, it was dealing with ghosts that could strike back, or even kill it.


    The dumb Little Three didn''t realize this, and its desire for food had it quickly setting its sights on a phantom horse.


    It lunged at the phantom horse, and the horse sensed the sneak attack from another ghost. The Nether Domain had never been a peaceful world, and battles between ghosts were plentiful. The phantom horse charged forward several steps and then kicked out with its hindlegs.


    Little Three hadn''t expected this reaction and was sent flying.


    It then saw the phantom horse charging at it, wreathed in ghostly mes.


    This terrified Little Three. Although it was a peak Mind Opening ghost, it was a just-awakened one. With Corpse Domination being its sole offensive talent, it had very little actualbat power. Thankfully, it didn''t forget its powers, and it dodged with a spatial jump. But the phantom horse was also adept in the Dao of Space and actually gave chase.


    Little Three had no choice but to make another spatial jump. As it was much stronger in the Dao of Space than the horse, it eventually managed to escape.


    The first hunt had failed and almost been turned around on it, leaving Little Three rather dejected.


    But its immense hunger whipped Little Three into once more stepping onto the path of danger.


    It quickly selected another prey, a fog ghost, not something particrly powerful.


    But before it could leap, the fog ghost disappeared, concealing its body.


    While Little Three could also be invisible, that didn''t mean it could see through the stealth abilities of other ghosts, even the lowest sort. It could only watch its prey escape again, and it was momentarily dumbstruck. In the middle of its daze, the fog ghost struck.


    For the first time in its life, Little Three was wounded.


    The third attempt was also a failure. This time, it had chosen a ghost that had the Corpse Domination ability, but clearly stronger than its own. With a howl, numerous white bones came to life and began to savagely beat Little Three, forcing it to scamper away.


    Three failures finally made Little Three bring up its guard.


    It didn''t give up, but it became more careful.


    It chose another target, a geist that was drifting about.


    Geists were incorporeal ghosts that excelled at tampering with the soul.


    Little Three concealed its body and cautiously approached the geist, which sensed no danger and continued to float about.


    Little Three patiently drew closer, and it was only when it got right up to the geist that the geist finally sensed something. It let out a shriek and began to flee, but Little Three lunged, biting on the geist''s cloud of a body. With a forceful bite, the cloud began to flow into Little Three''s mouth and into its translucent belly.


    The geist desperately shrieked, sounding like nails on a chalkboard. So sharp was the sound that Little Three''s soul me flickered, and its mouth loosened.


    The geist used this opportunity to escape and float away.


    But as it floated away, Little Three blinked above the geist, biting at the same ce and once more sucking up the geist''s body.


    This time, the geist didn''t escape, and Little Three ended up sucking the entire thing into its belly.


    Stroking its belly, Little Three felt a great sense of satisfaction. Sure enough, fresh ghosts were more delicious.


    It didn''t continue hunting, instead returning to that thin spatial barrier, leaping into it. A momentter, it had returned to the bottom of the Inkcloud Abyss.


    The cultivating Tang Jie and puppet clearly hadn''t noticed that Little Three had gone. Little Three returned to its usual ce andy down. It smacked its lips, recalling the taste of the geist. A sliver of Spirit Touch power from its meal began to flow through its body and strengthen it.


    Satisfied, Little Three took after Yiyi and went to sleep.


    It had no idea how lucky it was.


    There was no question that it had discovered the former Nether River passage. Even though the Inkcloud Abyss had been destroyed, that passage was still there, causing the spatial fabric in that area to be much thinner.


    But getting through it into the Nether Domain wasn''t easy. Firstly, the Nether Domain passage wasn''t very big, so nothing toorge could go through it. But Little Three had a small body, so it wasn''t affected by this. In addition, even if the spatial fabric was thin, that didn''t mean that one could just jump through it. It had extremely high demands when it came to Space power. But that was exactly what Little Three was good at, thanks to the Withering Yin Vine. It met the basic requirements to jump through that barrier.


    Even Nether Domain Titans couldn''t easily travel between the two domains, as there were far too many restrictions on it, but these restrictions didn''t exist for Little Three, because it didn''t belong to the Nether Domain. Ever since Hunter Ghosts had been driven out of the Nether Domain, they had ceased to belong to it, so they were not restricted by its rules.


    To be able to enter and exit the Nether Domain was extremely important for Little Three. It had to be understood that Hunter Ghosts were killed on discovery in the Nether Domain, but being able to leave meant that Little Three had greatly decreased the chances it would be discovered, and even if it were discovered, it could escape through the spatial barrier. Although Little Three didn''t know how unwee it was in the Nether Domain, its instinct for self-preservation meant that it chose to hunt in the Nether Domain and rest in the mortal realm.


    Starting from this day, Little Three stopped throwing tantrums about food.


    Tang Jie didn''t know that this guy had a hunting ground, and he wondered why its nature had suddenly changed. In the meantime, the ghost guard had absorbed most of the soul remnants in the Soul Refining Pearl and was entering the final phase of advancement. Thus, for safety''s sake, Tang Jie put all his attention on the ghost guard.


    Actually, Little Three had never even thought about hiding its deeds from Tang Jie, but it was always jumping around, and it wasn''t like it left trails that could be followed. And considering how far it could jump, Tang Jie simply thought it had gone out to y, not to another world entirely. Even if it jumped out of the Nether Domain right in front of Tang Jie, given that Tang Jie had no means of seeing where it hade from, he would simply think it hade back from ying.


    In these circumstances, Little Three began its free hunting within the Nether Domain.


    It gradually grew ustomed to this strange environment, grasping the tricks of the trade, and the hunting became smoother and smoother.


    In this long process, Little Three learned how to choose a target, how to approach it, and how to hunt it down.


    It started to understand which ghosts it couldn''t deal with and which it could.


    In truth, because of the nature of its abilities and its strength, Little Three currently couldn''t hunt many ghosts. Its primary food was the geists, mixed with the asional revenant, which were the ghosts that could use Corpse Domination. For this reason, Little Three''s Spirit Touch talent rapidly grew.


    Of course, Little Three still had the asional failure and ran into danger.


    Whenever this happened, Little Three would escape back to the Inkcloud Abyss through the spatial barrier. As it hadn''t run into any powerful ghosts and those lower ghosts were extremely dumb, nobody noticed a problem. Just like this, the little Hunter Ghost borrowed the power of this spatial crack to rapidly grow.


    Today, the ghost guard reached the final step of its breakthrough.


    The Mother Cloudbat puppet''s entire body was covered in starlight as the ghost guard activated all of the formations and began to fuse its boosted power with thebat puppet. As this happened, it meant that thebat puppet would no longer have to rely purely on the crystal cores for power, with the ghost guard bing one of the power sources.


    Finally, in a red sh, the ghost guardpleted its advancement. Although it didn''t seem to have changed very much, Tang Jie knew that with the advancement of the ghost guard, the Mother Cloudbat puppet had received a significant boost in power to all aspects.


    Tang Jie was about to issue a few words of praise when Little Three jumped out of space and rushed into his embrace.


    This was the first time Little Three had jumped into Tang Jie''s embrace, and Tang Jie was bbergasted. He was just about to say something when he suddenly felt something different about the little ghost.


    He examined it carefully and said in shock, "You''ve advanced!"


    Little Three had clearly advanced to Transformation.


    Both of them had advanced on the same day, much to Tang Jie''s delight.


    Before he could say anything more, Yiyi called out, "Me too!"


    He turned to see Yiyi''s graceful figure standing behind him, grinning at him.


    The immense energy radiating from her body told him that she had also advanced.


    Yiyi had also been working hard thesest few days. It was just that she hadn''t told Tang Jie so that she could surprise him.


    Three had advanced in a single day. This was truly a lucky day.


    After a while, Tang Jie broke out of his gleeful stupor and said with a smile, "I wonder if there will be a fourth."


    He looked at Tutu.


    Tutu shrank back and muttered, "I¡­ I''m just a mount."

 Chapter 669: Disguise

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The matter of three individuals advancing in one day was a pleasant surprise to Tang Jie, but he also sensed that something wasn''t right.


    Yiyi''s advancement was fine. Whether it was in the Blood River Domain or the Verdant Cloud Domain, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran had given Yiyi plenty of resources. Adding onto this Yiyi''s own efforts, it wasn''t strange for her to advance this quickly.


    But Little Three''s breakthrough was clearly abnormal. As Tang Jie was wondering what was going on, a voice rang out in his mind: "Father."


    Startled, Tang Jie wondered who had spoken to him, upon which he saw Little Three blinking its eyes at him and understood. "You''re talking with me."


    Little Three nodded. "My half-ethereal body can''t make sounds that are tooplex. While I could improve this ability, that''s too much of a waste of energy. After advancing, I can use Soul Communication."


    Tang Jie understood. Soul Communication was a derivative function of Spirit Touch. Little Three had reached Transformation by devouring many geists, so all of its power was focused on this aspect, which was why it could freely use Soul Communication.


    This ability was actually rather simr to Heart Consonance, both means of holding a conversation in the mind so that outsiders couldn''t hear. The difference was that Heart Consonance covered a huge distance while Soul Communication had a limited range. However, Heart Consonance could only work between two people while Soul Communication allowed one to hold conversations with multiple people at the same time. Little Three could make itself into amunication node, allowing Tang Jie, Yiyi, and Tutu to freely speak with it. As for the Mother Cloudbat puppet, it was somewhat more difficult. The ghost guardcked aplete soul, so it could only receive and not send out information. Fortunately, the ghost guard didn''t need to say anything unless there was something it needed, so it was fine that it could only receive orders.


    Being able to use Soul Communication was at least better than that game of charades they had earlier.


    Tang Jie asked, "How did you manage to advance?"


    "It was that!" Little Three pointed at the empty space behind it and told Tang Jie what it had discovered.


    Hearing that Little Three had enough Space power to pierce through a weak spatial barrier and enter the Nether Domain, Tang Jie couldn''t help but express his admiration for Little Three''s luck.


    Tang Jie was keenly aware of the advantages of being able to freely traverse two domains. The inter-domain trade had made him a fortune, and even now, it was the foundation which allowed Xu Miaoran to keep up with Tang Jie.


    But making this happen again with the Verdant Cloud Domain and Nether Domain was much more difficult.


    The Nether Domain wasn''t the Blood River. It was a world of ghosts, and any living being that entered it would be attacked by ghosts. Moreover, most of the resources within were only usable for ghosts, like the Withering Yin Vine, so most of them couldn''t be traded inrge amounts. As for human resources, ghosts mostly weren''t interested in them.


    But the Nether Domain had another special attribute: it was linked to every other domain in the Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    To put it simply, it was a massive ry station. If he went in, he might be able to find a path back to the Rosecloud Domain. This ry station was far superior to the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, which could only serve as a ry station because the Rosecloud Domain and Blood River Domain were very close in the first ce. Beyond this distance, it couldn''t serve as a ry station. But the Nether Domain had no such problem.


    But this was only theoretical. Practically, it wasn''t possible. Putting aside the fact that Tang Jie couldn''t go into the Nether Domain, even if he did, he would be a public enemy and would be beaten down until death. Even if he were a Godhead and beat down the Nether Court, he would still need to find the path back to the Rosecloud Domain.


    Thus, rather than putting his hopes on the Nether Domain, it would be better to keep working on the extreme long-distance teleportation formation.


    But Little Three''s appearance was like a ray of hope.


    Hugging Little Three, Tang Jie asked, "Can you enter the Nether Domain without that spatial weak point?"


    Little Three shook its head.


    While its spatial abilities were powerful, the barrier between two domains was even stronger. Without a weak point, even a Violet Pce or Immortal tform cultivator wouldn''t be able to pass through that easily.


    "Then what would be enough to allow you to?" Tang Jie asked.


    Little Three very seriously considered the problem. "Vines likest time¡­ ten times more of them!"


    Ten times more Withering Yin Vines?


    What sort of joke was that? Getting them the first time had been hard enough. Where was he going to find more?


    But Tang Jie remained calm, simply saying, "In other words, you just need to devour more Space power in order to freely travel to other domains?"


    "No other domains, only between the Nether Domain and the mortal ne," Little Three replied.


    Another limiting factor for traveling between domains was the special attribute of each domain. Domains like the Rosecloud Domain, Blood River Domain, and Verdant Cloud Domain all belonged to the mortal ne, sharing the same Great Dao, so there was no problem traveling between them. But the Nether Domain and Shadow Domain belonged to the spirit ne, which had a different Great Dao, and this Great Dao would hinder a human that tried to pass through the barrier. If a human attempted to enter the Nether Domain, the domain itself would reject them. Little Three was unaffected because it was a ghost. And when that Nether Domain Titan had entered the mortal ne, it had to push back against the rejection of the mortal ne. Thus, it released ghost energy and ghost soldiers to alter the environment and make it suitable for it to enter.


    On the same principle, if Little Three wanted to run off to some other domain, it would have to resist this rejection, but increasing its Space power could bypass this. Ten times the Withering Yin Vines was only enough to allow it to travel between the mortal ne and Nether Domain, which was an indicator of just how difficult it was to travel between domains.


    "That''s fine," Tang Jie said. "What I mean is that you only need Space treasures like the Withering Yin Vine so that you can devour their energy and get stronger, but you don''t need exactly the Withering Yin Vine, right?"


    Little Three nodded.


    "Great!" Tang Jie hugged Little Three. "Starting from now, you should just cultivate here. Father will get you Space treasures!"


    At that moment, Tang Jie felt like the worries that had clouded his heart for many years had been swept away, for he finally had a way to contact Xu Miaoran!


    Yes.


    Through Little Three, he couldmunicate with Xu Miaoran.


    Although he couldn''t return to Rosecloud through Little Three, even getting in touch with her and letting her know that he was alive was fine.


    Tang Jie had had countless nightmares where Xu Miaoran thought that he was already dead and ultimately sumbed to the pressure from her sect and father and married someone else.


    Tang Jie didn''t know if this would actually happen, but he knew that when a person had no hope, anything was possible.


    Thus, he had to think of a way to let Xu Miaoran know that he was still alive.


    If he was alive, there was still hope!


    Now, Little Three could enter the Nether Domain, but it couldn''t enter the Rosecloud Domain through the Nether Domain. Thus, Tang Jie''s first priority became to find it Space treasures so that it could get stronger.


    Little Three remained down in the Inkcloud Abyss, apanied by Yiyi and Tutu, while Tang Jie left with thebat puppet.


    Back on the surface, Tang Jie looked around and chuckled, after which he took on the appearance of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor.


    He hadn''t told Liu Yunshan and the others that he had killed the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor precisely because he had the idea of pretending to be him.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was one of the Five Great Fiend Emperors, so it was certain that he was incredibly wealthy. When Tang Jie killed him, he didn''t even have a Mustard Seed Bag on him, so he had to have stashed it all in his base.


    Tang Jie recalled that the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s base was called Silver Eyes City. Located far in the rear of fiend territory, it was one of the five fiend capitals.


    He quickly identified the direction and flew off toward Silver Eyes City.


    It took around seven or eight days, during which he encountered various fiends and primal beasts, their fiend energy seething into the air, demonstrating the immense power the fiends wielded. Even so, when these fiends saw the "Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor", they immediately prostrated in fear, none of them daring to approach Tang Jie, let alone check if he was the real thing.


    Tang Jie boldly charged forward, and eventually, he arrived before a city.


    Even from a distance, it was a majestic city, fiend energy radiating from it and countless fiends roaming about within it.


    Tang Jie knew that this was Silver Eyes City.


    This fiend city was muchrger and more orderly than other fiend cities he had seen. There was none of the raucous discord of Hundred Battle City, with every fiend keeping to the rules like humans. He didn''t even see many human ves, fiends doing everything.


    In the center of the city was a resplendent pce upon which the symbol of a silver eye had been carved. Tang Jie guessed that this was Silver Eyes'' residence.


    From the situation in the city, it could be seen that the residents of the city didn''t know that the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was dead.


    For them, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was a supreme god. Nobody could kill him.


    Tang Jie flew straight toward the pce.


    He didn''t know what sort of ruckus the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor would cause whenever he returned, so he decided to just ignore it andnded right in front of the pce. The fiends below saw that their emperor had returned and got down on their knees to wee him.


    A fiend wearing a white robe and sporting a mustache came over and said, "Your Majesty, you''ve returned."


    Tang Jie grunted and examined the fiend, which was a weasel. The weasel said in a fawning tone, "Your Majesty, how was your journey?"


    Tang Jiezily said, "It was fine. Did anything happen in the city while I was gone?"


    "Your Majesty, all was as normal. It is just that several of the concubines missed Your Majesty rather dearly," the weasel said with a chuckle.


    ''Concubines''?


    Tang Jie was taken aback. This Fiend Emperor seemed to really act like a human sovereign, having a pce, guards, and even a harem.


    Ah, yes, and fawning courtiers, Tang Jiemented to himself as he nced at the weasel.


    He said, "Understood. But I have business to attend to, so I''m not in the mood."


    Tang Jie began to walk into the pce.


    The weasel kept close behind him. "Your Majesty, do you have any orders?"


    Tang Jie said, "Pass on my decree. Starting from today, gather all treasures with a Space attribute."


    ''Space treasures''? The weasel said in surprise, "How many?"


    "As many as you can," Tang Jie tersely said. He didn''t dare to say too much for fear that he might expose himself. Thus, he issued an order to get the weasel out of the way.


    The weasel left with the order, and Tang Jie used this chance to dismiss everyone else.


    Just as he was about to begin inspecting the pce for treasures and to get a feel of the situation, there was a gust of wind behind him, and a figure shot toward him.

 Chapter 670: Tyrant (1)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Entirely out of instinct, Tang Jie turned around and dodged while his left hand sent a punch at his assant.


    As he punched, he saw a gorgeously-dressed woman wearing a phoenix crown and pce robes throwing herself at him, a smile on her face. He urgently tried to pull back his strength, but he was a little toote, and his punch ended up striking the woman in the face.


    "Eek!" the woman shrieked as she was sent flying by the punch. Thankfully, Tang Jie had pulled back more than half of his strength, or else this punch would have obliterated that woman''s head. Even so, the punch managed to make half of her face swell up.


    "Your Majesty!" The woman clearly hadn''t expected such treatment, looking up tearfully at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie awkwardly drew back his hand. "Ah, I didn''t think it was you. I thought somebody was ambushing me."


    Although he didn''t know who this woman was, he knew without asking that it was probably one of the concubines.


    The woman wept, "This ce is Your Majesty''s pce, so who would be so bold as to ambush you? And who would actually seed? With Your Majesty''s power, a sweep of your Divine Will would let you know everything in the region. Your feigned ignorance is clearly because you want to bully me."


    She began to cry even harder.


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. "While my Divine Will lets me know all around me, I have to release it first. I''ve just returned from a tough battle, and my mind is tired, so why would I release my Divine Will for no reason? Nor did I expect that you would be here."


    The woman sobbed, "I don''t care, I don''t care. I came all the way here to give Your Majesty a surprise, but this is how I''m treated? Look! My face hurts so much."


    Helpless, Tang Jie took out a bottle of medicine and threw it at the woman. "Oh, just use this and you''ll be fine."


    The woman cutely said, "Your Majesty, please apply it for me."


    She opened her arms as if wanting Tang Jie to help her up.


    Tang Jie only felt a headache from her cute mannerisms, wanting nothing more than to kick her away.


    But he knew that this woman had to be one of Silver Eyes'' beloved concubines that couldn''t be ignored, so he stepped forward to help her apply the medicine.


    Just as he gripped the bottle, the woman suddenly got up close and hooked an arm around his neck, amorously gazing at him with herrge eyes. As for the bruise on her face, it turned from green to red, recovering on its own and not requiring medicine at all.


    Tang Jie bitterly chuckled. "Is that really necessary?"


    The woman brought her luscious red lips closer to Tang Jie.


    All of this seductive behavior made Tang Jie''s heart skip, but he still forcefully pushed the woman away.


    The woman paled. "Your Majesty, do you not like Jiao''er anymore?"


    Thank the heavens! He finally knew her name.


    Tang Jie firmly said, "Jiao''er, don''t misunderstand. I''m just not in the mood right now. Like I said, I just went through a big battle, and my mind is tired and needs rest. First it was that stinkbug bothering me, and now it''s you getting on my case¡­"


    He helplessly sighed.


    Jiao''er covered her mouth in surprise. "Noble Spirit Cloud is just and fair, devoted to Your Majesty, and yet Your Majesty calls him a stinkbug? If he were to hear this, he might die from sorrow."


    It was the same stinkbug who hade up with a fawning expression, the first thing out of his mouth being that the concubines were waiting, and such a man was called just and fair? Tang Jie inwardly chortled, but at least he had a name now. His heart lightened, and he said, "I''m just joking, so don''t go spreading it around, or else I won''t spare you."


    It was just a casualment, but Jiao''er''s face tightened, and she immediately fell to her knees. "Jiao''er would never dare to casually spread Your Majesty''s words."


    Tang Jie was startled as he realized that the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was the sort who put on a gentle face but acted with brutality, which was why Jiao''er was so nervous. Thus, rather than soothing her, he indifferently said, "So long as you know. I''m tired, so you''re dismissed for now."


    Not daring to linger, Jiao''er swiftly withdrew.


    Once this woman was gone, Tang Jie exhaled in relief and looked around.


    While the pce of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was majestic and opulent, it contained only ordinary objects, like gold, silver, pearls, and jade. After looking around, Tang Jie failed to find anything that could be used as a cultivation resource. Someone of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s status naturally couldn''t be this poor, so he must have stored them away elsewhere.


    But where exactly was the treasury? It wasn''t like he could ask some minor fiend and say that he had forgotten where his own treasury was, right?


    After thinking it over, Tang Jie decided to walk around first.


    Behind the pce was the imperial garden, and Tang Jie used the chance to familiarize himself with the environment.


    While the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had fashioned his pce after human pces, it retained some fiend attributes. For example, there weren''t as many rules as humans would have. Tang Jie didn''t use the royal "We", concubines could enter his bedchambers without permission, and when Tang Jie was strolling around the garden, no fiend woulde to attend to him unless he called out for them. When it came to rules, the innately disorderly fiends couldn''tpare to humans. Even the formation beneath the pce was simply powerful,cking in technique, such that Tang Jie could easily undo it. Finally, the pce had buildings specifically for pill refining and tool forging.


    Fiends weren''t good at the auxiliary fields, and their pill refining houses and forges were run by humans that they had captured. But after seeing the formations of this ce, Tang Jie lost interest in these pill refiners and tool artisans. Sure enough, when he visited the pill refining house, he found that most of the pills were rather ordinary.


    But this couldn''t be med on the workers. The people the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had captured were figures of some repute in Fengshan. It was just that Tang Jie had only interacted with the cream of the crop and was used to seeing the best of the best resources. Those of slightly inferior make naturally could no longer meet his standards.


    As for the best masters¡­ if those grandmasters were so easy to capture, Fengshan would have been doomed long ago.


    Failing to see anything that caught his eyes, Tang Jie felt disappointed.


    He knew that there was a treasury here, but he couldn''t find it! It was a most unpleasant feeling.


    As he was thinking about what to do, he arrived at a building. He raised his head and saw the words "Imperial Study" written on the signboard.


    This appeared to be Silver Eyes'' office.


    Tang Jie impulsively stepped inside.


    Several minor fiends saw Tang Jie and immediately prostrated.


    Tang Jie headed straight up to the highest desk and grabbed a paper off the table.


    The paper recorded some recent events.


    Judging by the stack of papers, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor clearly wasn''t a diligent official. Most of the papers had been ignored.


    ncing at the paper, he had an idea, and he said, "The ck Death Fiend King has reported that there have been more and more Windcrows gathering at Sunset Rock as ofte, which is affecting the growth of the Celestial Azure Grass, but the Windcrow King is interfering with attempts to move the Windcrows. Notify the ck Death Fiend King that the number of Windcrows must be stymied. Since there are obstacles when attempting to move them, then just destroy some¡­ mm, destroy half of them."


    Windcrows were kind of a savage man-eating bird that lived within fiend territory. If not for his current position, Tang Jie would have wanted to see them all destroyed.


    A little fiend nervously said, "''Destroy half of the Windcrows''? Your Majesty, isn''t that too many?"


    "Oh?" Tang Jie pondered the question. "Then let''s destroy 80%."


    The little fiend was scared out of his wits and didn''t dare to say any more, obediently running off to issue the order.


    Tang Jie grabbed another paper. "The Scarlet Wind King reports that the Everjoy King invaded from Iron Blood territory several days ago, capturing 42 humans from my empire. Notify the Scarlet Wind King that the Everjoy King needs to be taught a lesson so that they understand that those who invade my borders will be punished no matter how far away they are¡­ Have him summon several other fiend kings and capture the Everjoy King."


    The five Fiend Emperors each had their own empire that they controlled, but unlike humans, they didn''t care that much about their borders. But Tang Jie didn''t mind using this matter to kill off a fiend king.


    Tang Jie wanted to issue an order to kill, but killing was much more serious, and the other fiend kings might not ept it, so he changed it to a capture order. Anyway, he was the one who would decide what to do with them afterward.


    The little fiend was dizzied by the order, thinking to himself, Is it really necessary to capture a fiend king over a few dozen ves? And the Scarlet Wind King had a grudge against the Everjoy King, which was why he was always trying to find ways to denounce him. But this time, his report had finally been epted.


    Tang Jie proceeded to handle several other "national affairs". Given who he was, he naturally didn''t care about the stability of fiend territory, so his orders were malicious and ruthless, bearing the demeanor of a tyrant, calling for killing fiends, exterminating ns, provoking challenges, and any other trouble he could think of. In this day and age, doing something good was very difficult, while ruining something was very easy.


    Tang Jie found being an ipetent sovereign to be rather fun. In a little while, his orders had managed to doom thousands of fiends, and he had even ordered for a fiend king of another country to be captured. All of the fiends he had killed through actual fighting had been easily matched by just moving his mouth! It was a refreshing feeling.


    Having authority really is important sometimes. I should more diligently attend to government matters in the future. With this thought in mind, Tang Jie was in no rush to leave.


    Tang Jie needed less than half the day to dispose of the matters in the study, and he rose to leave.


    A minor fiend came forward and asked, "Your Majesty, which concubine will it be today?"


    Concubines again?


    Tang Jie inwardly grumbled that Silver Eyes was definitely some sort of sex maniac, but he put on a serious face and said, "No need. I''ve gained some enlightenment in a battle a few days ago, and I need to meditate on it."


    "Yes. Your Majesty, are you going to the Meditation Pce, or the meditation chamber in the back mountain?"


    He had a meditation chamber in the back mountain?


    Startled, Tang Jie realized that this might be the ce the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor considered as actually important.


    He didn''t know what the difference was between the Meditation Pce and the meditation chamber, so he waved his hand and said, "To the back mountain!"


    The minor fiend led Tang Jie to the back mountain.


    The back mountain of the imperial pce was a pitch-ck mountain. When Tang Jie arrived, he felt an immense pressure descend upon him, as if some vicious beast ruled this ce.


    Tang Jie took in a deep breath, but he saw that the minor fiend was utterly unaffected. He brought Tang Jie up to the mountain gate and stopped there.


    Tang Jie took a look and realized he was in trouble. The mountain gate had a formation mechanism protecting it, and only someone familiar with the mechanism could open it. And this gate had no guards, and the minor fiend wasn''ting forward, so it was clear that Silver Eyes was the only person who knew how to undo the mechanism.


    The problem was that he didn''t know it. While his mastery in formations was enough for him to easily solve the mechanism, that didn''t mean he could do it instantly. Anyone who saw the Fiend Emperor fumbling in front of the mountain gate for some time before finally going in would probably start to get suspicious.


    At this time, the little fiend saw that Tang Jie was just standing there rather than going to the gate, and he became curious.


    Tang Jie hesitated, and just when he was about to make an excuse to leave, he smelled an aroma on the air, and a sweet voice called out:


    "Your Majesty¡­"

 Chapter 671: Tyrant (2)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Looking back, Tang Jie saw a beauty in a water-blue gown, her hair done up with two phoenix hairpins, standing behind him, giving him a bright smile. Behind her were two pretty maids, both clearly humans.


    Upon seeing this beauty, the minor fiend on the side hastily got down on his knees. "Greetings, Empress!"


    Tang Jie sighed in relief. As expected, bringing around this minor fiend was a good idea, or else he would have failed to recognize this person. Even if this fiend spent too long with him and started to get suspicious, he could just find a reason to execute him. After all, he was a tyrant, so who was he afraid of?


    Thinking this, Tang Jieughed and walked over. "So it was the Empress! It seems like you''ve only gotten prettier since west met."


    This opportunity allowed Tang Jie to avoid the awkwardness of opening the mountain gate.


    The fiend empress gave Tang Jie a thin smile while she darkly said, "Your Majesty''s words are also getting prettier and prettier, but s, your heart is still so cruel. You know it has been many days since you have seen this servant, so why do you note to see her upon your return, instead rushing off to see that woman? Fortunately, this servant predicted this and was here to head off Your Majesty."


    Huh?


    Tang Jie''s eyes widened, and he turned to look at the mountain gate.


    Shit, there''s another concubine behind this gate?


    How was it that there were literally concubines wherever he went?


    As he was thinking about this, the empress grabbed Tang Jie''s hand. "Your Majesty¡­"


    It was as mellow and sweet as a voice could be.


    With this touch, Tang Jie realized that the empress was a blue peacock fiend who had reached theter stage of Transformation. While she seemed sweet and gorgeous, she was quite powerful.


    From this aspect, one could understand why fiends normally turned into humans.


    The image of a centipede crawling over a peacock was rather unfitting, but if they were both human, it was a fine pairing.


    As the blue peacock came forward, Tang Jie didn''t dare to show any affection to her. He drew back his sleeve and coldly said, "Forget it. I''ll go to the Meditation Pce first."


    He had learned where the Meditation Pce was in his earlier stroll, so he turned in its direction.


    The beauty immediately started to tremble in rage. Pointing at Tang Jie, she cursed, "Wu Qianshan, you dare to treat me like this!? This isn''t how you acted when you first married me. Now that you''re at Divine Division and have be a Fiend Emperor, I''m no longer good enough for you! Is that it!? I''ve overlooked your womanizing ways so far, but you''ve only gotten worse and worse. Today, I put down my pride toe and find you, but you still treat me this way!? That''s too much! Don''t forget that I, Lan Ling, am not without foundations, and my father Pr Light is even stronger than you! If you have the guts, then dethrone me and put up that scoundrel as your empress!"


    She left in a huff.


    Tang Jie was still dazzled by this barrage of abuse.


    He had acted this way on purpose, primarily because of that Jiao''er''s attitude. He felt like he needed to act more intimidating so that others wouldn''t dare to get close and figure out that there was a problem. This was the special privilege enjoyed by an emperor, but he hadn''t expected there to be someone in this pce who didn''t hold Silver Eyes in such high regard.


    The daughter of the Pr Light Fiend Emperor¡­ Tang Jie had had no idea that Silver Eyes'' wife was the descendant of such a bigshot.


    The Pr Light Fiend Emperor was the oldest and most powerful of the five Fiend Emperors, and it was said that he was nearing a breakthrough. If Lan Ling was his daughter, it was no wonder she was so brazen. Her earlier words had just been a show of courtesy to her husband, but the moment she was humiliated, she immediately turned hostile. Tang Jie was still dizzy from the development.


    "But¡­" Tang Jie whispered. "If she''s really angered, doesn''t that mean conflict with Pr Light? That sounds pretty good. If Silver Eyes and Pr Light go against each other, there''s a chance that both their factions are ruined. Don''t you think so?"


    He suddenly turned to the minor fiend next to him.


    The minor fiend was shuddering in fear, not knowing how to answer.


    Tang Jie walked over and ced his left hand on the mountain gate, beginning to analyze its structure so he could find out how to open it.


    This made the minor fiend realize something, and he blurted out, "You''re not His¡ª"


    Bang!


    Tang Jie''s right hand punched at the fiend''s head, killing him. As he drew back his hand, he noted, "Correct answer."


    Several fiend soldiers came over upon hearing the noise and were left dumbfounded by the scene.


    Tang Jie put on an enraged appearance and barked, "Did anyone tell you toe? Out!"


    He acted like he had been infuriated by the empress''s scolding and vented his rage on his subordinate, as a proper tyrant should. Those fiend soldiers didn''t dare to say anything and withdrew.


    Seeing that no one was around, Tang Jie began to openly study the formation on the gate. After a while, he finished analyzing it, and lightly pushed on a groove on a beast head carved into the gate. A small outcrop on the gate sank down in response, and then the gate opened, revealing a pitch-ck passage.


    Tang Jie stood at the entrance for a while, looking in but not entering, and then he turned and went back. It seemed as if he was a deeply conflicted emperor with many worries on his mind, but he was actually wondering if there might be any other traps within, so he decided to find another minor fiend to lead the way.


    Upon arriving at the Meditation Pce, Tang Jie carefully inspected it.


    Thankfully, there were no concubines this time.


    He opened the door to the meditation chamber, went inside, and began to meditate.


    By now, he had realized that the Meditation Pce was probably the ce the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor used to rest for short periods, and the meditation chamber in the back mountain was his true ce of seclusion, so the treasury was also probably there. But for some reason, this guy had also stashed some bewitching concubine there as well, causing the empress toe and stop him.


    Regardless, he had managed to muddle his way through the first day. As the day where he knew absolutely nothing, the first day was undoubtedly the day where he was most liable to be exposed.


    After this first day, things should get easier, Tang Jie thought to himself.


    Gradually, he entered his meditation state¡­


    The next morning, Tang Jie found another minor fiend and had him go together with him to the back mountain.


    Tang Jie had the minor fiend take the lead, but thankfully, there were no mechanisms or traps.


    After going through the passage, Tang Jie arrived at arge hall. In the center of the hall was a statue, which appeared to be of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor himself. On the sides were two other passages, leading off in different directions, and an elder was seated in front of each passage.


    The two elders spotted Tang Jie. Standing up, they bowed and said, "Your Majesty, you''ve returned. Did Your Majesty get the item?"


    ''Item''? What item?


    Tang Jie silently cursed these two old men for not speaking clearly. He pretended to examine the statue while he guessed at what those old men were asking about. Was it the Umbra Cactus flower? But what did they want it for?


    One of the elders came over and asked, "Does Your Majesty want to take a look at that?"


    Tang Jie''s heart shivered, but his face remained unmoved as he grunted.


    The elder stood in front of the statue, grabbing one of its arms and pressing it down. There was a rumbling as the statue moved aside, revealing a pitch-ck opening.


    It turned out that there was a hidden passage.


    The moment this passage appeared, a howling and sinister gale swept out, bringing with it an immense pressure. It was the same pressure that Tang Jie had felt when standing in front of the mountain. It had disappeared after he had gone, but it turned out to being from this passage.


    The pressureing from the passage was so great that Tang Jie felt like he was in immense danger. He couldn''t help but lean his body forward, but then the elder said, "Your Majesty, be careful. This demon cave has devoured too many fiends. Your Majesty must not go in yourself."


    "I was just looking," Tang Jie replied as he slowly drew back and sighed.


    Sighs could convey a broad array of emotions and carried many different meanings, and different people would interpret them in entirely different ways. The fiend elder heard the sigh and said, "Your Majesty, don''t be anxious. So long as the Nine Yin Soul Sealing Formation ispleted, it will be able to suppress the evil energies of this demon cave, at which point Your Majesty can venture inside. I''m sure that major secret of the Ghost God who had the entire world wailing is within. If Your Majesty obtains it, you might even be able to transcend."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "I''ll take your word for it."


    He thought to himself, It seems that the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor came across this ce by ident, so he built his pce here. To protect this secret, he even turned the back mountain into his cultivation ce, even putting up a statue to serve as a cover. Besides that, he also set up a Nine Yin Soul Sealing Formation to suppress the demon cave.


    Tang Jie knew of this formation. It was a formation used to suppress evil energy and ghosts, and it required nine objects of an extreme Yin nature. This demon cave was thick with demon energy, so this formation truly would work on it.


    Tang Jie suddenly remembered that the Yellow Springs Water was considered an extreme Yin object. It seemed like the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s real goal in going to the Inkcloud Abyss was the Yellow Springs Water, not the Umbra Cactus flower.


    Tang Jie now understood what those two elders were talking about, and he took out the Yellow Springs Water. "Take it."


    The elder happily took it. "We now have seven Yins. We just need the Nine Splendors Ice and Frostheaven Dew for theplete set, and the cave will be open to us!"


    Tang Jie inwardly scoffed. These two objects truly did have extreme Yin natures, but they were extremely rare. If this was how the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was doing things, his Nine Yin Soul Sealing Formation would be absurdly expensive.


    But this formation didn''t actually need to be that expensive.


    There was a formation called the Minor Profound Yin Formation. Its effect was simr to that of one of these nine extreme Yin objects, so one couldy down nine Minor Profound Yin Formations to serve as the basis for the Nine Yin Soul Sealing Formation. Slight modification could make each formation different so that one could get an approximation of the target object, but it would be at significantly lower cost.


    Of course, Tang Jie wasn''t going to say anything of this. He simply grunted and looked to the two other passages.


    He had no idea where those two passages led, and he certainly couldn''t ask, so he just chose one and walked down it.


    After walking through the long passage, he found that there was a cage at the end, and a woman was imprisoned in it.


    The woman was disheveled and filthy, her face caked in dirt. When she spotted Tang Jie, she rushed to the bars of the cage and red at him, her eyes spewing hatred. This was clearly a real human.


    Was this the scoundrel Lan Ling was speaking of?


    Tang Jie inwardly chuckled. It was clear that this fiend empress had had no opportunity to enter the back mountain, as she hadpletely the wrong idea about the rtionship Silver Eyes had with this woman.


    At least it wasn''t a concubine, and Tang Jie sighed in relief. He was terrified that some woman would throw herself into his embrace.


    He nced at the woman. Although he didn''t know why Silver Eyes had imprisoned her here, he ultimately left without saying a word.

 Chapter 672: Tyrant (3)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Returning to the main hall, Tang Jie headed down the other passage and quickly reached a stone chamber.


    Just by looking at the stone chamber, Tang Jie knew that this had to be where the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor really cultivated.


    The entire chamber was made of Violet Crystal Jade, a variety of rare jade that was ideal for gathering spiritual energy and calming the mind, making it extravagantly expensive. For the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor to make an entire chamber out of it showed how fabulously wealthy he was.


    Entering the chamber, Tang Jie saw a red bed, which he could tell was made from Deepsea Crimson Coral and processed Blood Serpent Essence. Its use was akin to the Heavenly Scent Lotus Lamp, boosting one''s cultivation speed by around 10%. In tandem with the jade chamber, an effect simr to the lotusmp could be achieved. And even better was that all three could be used together. Although they would also affect each other in various ways, thebined effect was still around 30%.


    On the left side of the chamber was a row of medicines. At a nce, he could tell that these medicines were much more appealing than those in the pill refining chamber, and there were quite a few upper-grade spirit medicines.


    On the other side were some books.


    Tang Jie picked one up and found that the Imperial Ember Lotus Mantra had been written on it.


    Tang Jie was amazed as he flipped through it.


    It wasn''t that this was useful for him, but it was useful for Yiyi.


    Yiyi had actually never had a cultivation mantra suitable for her. What she was using to cultivate right now were parts of the Violet Jade Mantra and Five Gods Faith mantras that Tang Jie had selected for her. Besides that, there were some techniques he had gotten from the Celestial me Pagoda, but they were mostly low-ss. She had yet to find a top-ss mantra that was right for her.


    The Imperial Ember Lotus Mantra was a mantra that all fiends and sprites could cultivate, and it would have different effects depending on whether it was a fiend or sprite that cultivated it.


    The Imperial Ember Lotus meant nurturing a fire within one''s pellet, a source of limitless vitality that could draw upon the power of the world and create a divine art. ording to the mantra, if Yiyi cultivated it, she would no longer be restricted to nts, instead being able to harness wind, fire, and water as she liked, which was how a proper cultivator should be.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but loudlyugh three times before continuing to browse the books. Sure enough, these were all cultivation methods, some of them rather decent. Two thirds were suitable for sprites to cultivate, and the other third were good for humans.


    Tang Jie grew rather excited, but then he suddenly remembered that he had yet to see a treasury.


    A treasury had to be in a ce that the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was most intimate with, and this cultivation chamber definitely met the conditions. Thus, it might be nearby.


    Thinking this, Tang Jie released his Divine Will.


    The Divine Will of a Heart Demon cultivator wasn''t as far-reaching as that of a Violet Pce cultivator, but finding a treasury nearby was no difficult task. Sure enough, Tang Jie quickly discovered a suspicious bookcase.


    Although this was also a formation mechanism, this level of trap was useless against Tang Jie. Just a little messing around had him quickly finding the way to open it. He pulled out a book, and the bookcase swung aside, revealing a stone chamber that was brimming with treasure.


    These were no mortal items, but real cultivation resources and treasures.


    But Tang Jie didn''t go straight in, instead pushing down on an inconspicuous bulge on the wall. There was a ck, and while nothing in the treasury changed, Tang Jie knew that only now was he actually safe.


    Striding in, Tang Jie stood in the center of the treasury and gawked at the treasures.


    He had achieved his main goal.


    With a wave of his hand, he could take away all these treasures.


    But he suddenly didn''t want to.


    In the beginning, he truly did n to just pretend to be the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor so that he could loot the treasury and leave.


    But after yesterday''s events, Tang Jie found that the identity of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was extremely valuable.


    This personage controlled one of the five fiend factions, representing countless fiends, vast territory, and rich resources. With a single order, he would have numerous fiends giving their lives for him.


    Using such an identity simply to plunder a treasury was like killing the golden goose, far too much of a waste.


    Only by upying this position for a long time could he maximize its usage.


    Moreover, in the back mountain, the secret of the demon cave had yet to be uncovered. What was in there? The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had wanted to know, and so did Tang Jie.


    Of course, this was very risky. After all, the more he lingered, the more ws he would expose.


    But this was fine. Tang Jie couldn''t guarantee that he wouldn''t reveal a single w, but unless it was a more obvious w like with the mountain gate, minor ws, particrly personality ws, wouldn''t make people suspicious so long as he didn''t reveal too many.


    For example, if you had a friend who was in a bad mood one day, which made him more temperamental than usual, you couldn''t call him a fake just because of that. Even if his temper never improved, you would just say that he wasn''t like this in the past and wonder why he had be this way.


    A person was always changing. Whether it was one''s mood or personality, it was very difficult for them to be ever-constant, and this change grew even more obvious when looking over arge span of time. Humans were like this, and so were Mind Opening fiends. This was why Lan Ling hadn''t noticed anything wrong with Tang Jie''s change in attitude toward her, only thinking that he was getting worse and worse.


    In addition, Fiend Emperors were different from human emperors. They spent most of their time cultivating rather than dealing with government affairs, and the pce also didn''t put on as many airs as a human one. When they went out, they didn''t marshal up some giant host, simply flying out.


    This greatly reduced the time they spent interacting with the lesser fiends. With this increased freedom came greater inconspicuousness and lower chances of discovery.


    Finally, and most unreasonably¡­ so what if he were discovered? At his current level of strength, he was basically invincible against anyone below the Violet Pce Realm. Even if he were discovered, he would just have to fight, and without the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor around, who did he have to fear? Of course, if an entire country''s worth of fiends came out, he wouldn''t be able to hold, but then he could just run. With the Astral Winds above, Tang Jie could go wherever he wanted. He would love it if a great army of fiends followed him into the Astral Winds.


    In short, whoever''s fists were harder made the rules. With strength backing him, Tang Jie wasn''t worried about being discovered and felt veryfortable ying emperor.


    In the past, he had read a story about a fiend who had killed a human emperor and pretended to be the emperor for twenty years. If fiends could pretend to be humans, why couldn''t humans pretend to be fiends? He had made up his mind to spend the rest of his time in the Verdant Cloud Domain pretending to be a Fiend Emperor.


    Tang Jie grew a little excited at the thought.


    With his n set, Tang Jie nced at the surrounding treasures. In a first, he didn''t take them all, instead choosing a few spatial treasures before leaving.


    Tang Jie returned to the main hall. Seeing that he was about to leave, an elder asked, "Your Majesty, what''s to be of this little fellow?"


    Only then did Tang Jie remember that he had brought a minor fiend to lead the way. As he hadn''t encountered any problems, he had just left the fiend there. Tang Jie was startled by the question, and then he saw the greedy glint in that elder''s eyes and realized what was going on. "You can deal with him as you please."


    The two elders were delighted. They both got onto all fours and transformed into Gale Hous, which instantly ate up that little fiend, not even leaving behind bones.


    (TN: The Hou is a kind of mythical Chinese beast, also known as the "denglong". It is said to be a messenger between heaven and earth.)


    Tang Jie said nothing to this bloody sight, turning and leaving.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Starting from this day, Tang Jie officially lived as a Fiend Emperor.


    He spent every morning handling reports sent from across the empire, while his afternoons were spent in his study reading books or finding people to talk to, using various methods to probe the secrets of the pce. During the night, he went to the meditation chamber in the back mountain to cultivate.


    Given that he had decided on a long-term infiltration, Tang Jie was no longer as crude and violent as the first day, bing much gentler.


    He killed fewer fiends, but he issued more orders to gather resources, ordering a fiend king to mobilize the moment he heard of a ce that might have treasure.


    He no longer limited his orders to Space-type treasures, requiring all valuable treasures. It was just that Space-type treasures had priority.


    Of course, these treasures didn''te for free. While they were called "tributes", he needed to give the appropriate reward. Tang Jie used official status,nd, authority, money, and some low-grade resources to trade for them, trying his best to maximize his gain.


    This vampiric method wouldn''t seem like much at the beginning, but as time passed, it was bound to cause chaos in the empire. The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor would never treat his own people like this, but Tang Jie was just a passing traveler, doing his utmost to squeeze this country for everything it was worth in the limited time he had, even going out of his way to weaken it.


    But as Tang Jie spent more and more time in the pce and grew more familiar with the situation, the chances that he would be discovered shrank, and he grew more and more confident in his ability to stay in this position. Tang Jie even started to do some things beneficial for the country. For example, if there was a drought in the northwest, he would order several fiend kings to go and summon rain clouds. When the ghosts of the Valley of Souls in the southeast were causing trouble, Tang Jie went personally to pacify them¡ªthough he was actually taking Little Three to have a meal.


    Through this method, Tang Jie tried to extend the life of his parasitized host.


    It was many thin streams that created a great river. Since he wanted to bury himself in the body of the behemoth that was the fiend empire and suck its blood, Tang Jie couldn''t bring it down all at once. Instead, he had to make ample use of his abilities as a national-level shit-stirrer.


    A sea of treasures was being sent into the pce to support Tang Jie''s cultivation. The lotusmp was hung up in the meditation chamber so that the avatar could cultivate faster. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, except one thing:


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s concubines.

 Chapter 673: Favorite

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    A human''s nature could change, as could their likes, but there were some things that could never change.


    The harem was one of these.


    Even though Tang Jie did his best to find reasons to avoid the concubines, as time went on, he gradually found that they were unavoidable.


    More than half a month had passed, during which the concubines passionately threw themselves at him,ing one by one and almost melting him down purely through their love. Even though Tang Jie tried to stave them off with his government duties and cultivation, he knew that this was no long-term solution. If this continued, the concubines might end up exposing him.


    He needed a solution.


    In the study, Tang Jie held a book on fiends as his mind pondered this question. He was so immersed in the problem that he unconsciously began to tap his finger on the desk.


    "Reporting!" A minor fiend prostrated in front of the door.


    "What?" Tang Jie put away the book.


    "Your Majesty, the Mountain Holding King of the southwest has searched thend and found a Hoverstone that he offers as tribute. In addition, he also has gifted a pair of Spiritfeather Birds, saying that they are for the Jade Pearl Concubine."


    Hoverstone was an extremely rare Space-type material, almost as valuable as Withering Yin Vines. When those above took a liking to something, those below were bound to try to fulfill it. Since Tang Jie had said that he needed Space-type treasures, there would be those who would do their best to find them in order to gain his favor.


    As for the birds for the Jade Pearl Concubine, this was the Jiao''er who had appeared the first day. Through careful probing, Tang Jie had gradually managed to grasp the situation here and was no longer fumbling around like a blind man.


    The Jade Pearl Concubine was a rare beaver that had be a fiend. After attaining human form, she had skin as glossy as jade and as soft as satin. When Silver Eyes had his first taste of her, he had praised, "Icy flesh and jade skin, a national beauty."


    The Jade Pearl Concubine gained her title from this, referring to her "jade flesh".


    Before the death of Silver Eyes, the Jade Pearl Concubine had been the most favored woman in the harem, which was why she had been able to get into the pce and "ambush" him. It was said that at the peak of her favor, Silver Eyes had kept her in his pce for more than half a year, not spending time with any other woman in that period.


    Upon hearing this report from the minor fiend, Tang Jie said, "Understood. Reward him with ten thousand spirit stones and an ultimate-grade art relic. Also grant him Seahorn Mountain."


    The minor fiend didn''t leave, insteading saying in a soft voice, "The Jade Pearl Concubine dispatched this lowly one to ask Your Majesty if you have time to spend with her today."


    Tang Jie impatiently waved his hand. "I''ve been busytely, so not now."


    He stood up and paced back and forth for a while, and then he left the study.


    An hourter, he appeared in front of the back mountain.


    He opened the mountain gate and went to the central hall, where the two elders within bowed to him. "Your Majesty."


    "Elder Ice, Elder Fire," Tang Jie said.


    Tang Jie had managed to find out who these two old men were in the time he was here. One was Elder Ice, and the other was Elder Fire. Both were fiends who had followed Silver Eyes for a very long time,ter-phase Transformation fiends. They were willing to give up their status as fiend kings to be the servants of Silver Eyes, and they were his two most trusted fiends, and Silver Eyes usually treated them with utmost respect.


    After greeting the two, Tang Jie went down one of the passages, at the end of which was a metal cage.


    The woman in the cage didn''t rush to the bars like before, simply giving him an icy stare.


    Tang Jie first applied a seclusion spell over the area to prevent any noise from getting out. Taking a deep breath, he said, "What''s your name?"


    Tang Jie had gathered information about many things in his time in the pce, but he still knew nothing about this caged woman. This was primarily because few people knew of her existence. Even Elders Ice and Fire were notpletely inscrutable, since the pair at least knew about each other, but this woman was all by herself and shut away, so there was naturally no ce he could gather information from.


    In other words, he could only ask the person directly, which Tang Jie was prepared to do.


    But the woman didn''t seem at all surprised, grunting and looking away.


    Tang Jie considered this development.


    He suddenly asked, "Do I know your name?"


    This question drew a reaction from the woman, a hint of confusion in her eyes. She clearly didn''t understand why Tang Jie had asked this question.


    Tang Jie took out a meal box which carried a variety of gourmet foods. He didn''t know how long this woman had gone without eating, or even without water. While cultivators wouldn''t die forck of food or drink, food was still a source of energy. Surviving solely on spiritual energy was too monotonous and would eventually cause one''s condition to deteriorate, even affecting their cultivation. This was why even a Soul Transformation cultivator like He Chong still needed to eat.


    Sure enough, the woman''s eyes lit up at the sight of food.


    This was a body''s innate desire for food, something that the mind couldn''t control.


    Tang Jie took out a small dish and said, "Answer me and this will be yours."


    She looked at Tang Jie, and then, finally, she shook her head.


    Is that how it was? So even the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor didn''t know her name?


    In other words, he had not captured this woman because of her status, so she probably wasn''t some Fengshan princess. This made sense. A Fengshan princess would have been sold back to Fengshan at a high price rather than kept in a cage.


    He threw the food over to the woman, who caught it and began to eat it, bit by bit. While she might have been very hungry, her way of eating wasn''t sloppy, indicating that she had some education.


    Tang Jie took out a jar of water. "How long have you been here?"


    The woman looked at the water and then at Tang Jie, the confusion in her eyes deepening.


    She raised three fingers.


    "Three months?"


    She shook her head.


    "Three years?"


    She still shook her head.


    Tang Jie frowned. "It can''t be three hundred years, can it?"


    The womanughed, revealing a mouth full of white teeth, and a raspy voice issued from her throat: "Three hundred days."


    Tang Jie nodded and gave the woman the water jar.


    The woman hugged the jar and began to gulp the water down, and then she smiled as if she had partaken of some sweet elixir.


    "Why are you imprisoned here?" Tang Jie asked.


    But the woman didn''t answer.


    Holding the jar, she casually said, "I''m no longer hungry."


    Tang Jie frowned again. "If you aren''t stupid, you should know¡­"


    "Know that you''re not the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor? Does that mean I should trust you?" The woman coldly cut him off. "Who knows if this isn''t some plot, an attempt to deceive me into trusting you?"


    "I can prove it." Tang Jie''s face began to shift into his original appearance.


    But to his surprise, the woman shook her head in scorn. "You can transform, but so can the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor. Don''t you know that that piece of trash Silver Eyes is actually a centipede?"


    "Everyone can learn transformation spells, but to cultivate them so that others can''t tell is difficult," Tang Jie sternly said.


    The woman waved her hand. "It''s all the same to me. I wouldn''t even be able to see through the worst kind."


    Startled, Tang Jie was about to say something else when the woman added,


    "Because I''m not even a cultivator. I don''t know any spell arts."


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    Tang Jie was dumbfounded.


    Not a cultivator?


    If this woman wasn''t a cultivator, why was she in a cage made of Deepsea Cold Iron and guarded by two Transformation fiends, and how could she go three hundred days without food or water?


    The woman nodded upon seeing Tang Jie''s stunned expression. "It seems that you really didn''t know. Perhaps you really aren''t him."


    "So you trust me now?" Tang Jie asked.


    The woman scoffed, "Even if you''re not really him, so what? You pretended to be the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor and came here, exposing your identity in front of me, so you must be thinking about finding out the secret and then silencing me, right?"


    Tang Jie chortled. "You''ve got quite the imagination. You think I came for the back mountain''s secret? That I will silence the witness once I get the information I want? You think I''m only temporarily ying the role, but you''ve never imagined that I n to keep ying the role, never imagined that Silver Eyes might be dead, right?"


    The final words made the woman shudder.


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor was dead?


    She looked at Tang Jie in disbelief.


    Tang Jie was right. Although she realized that Tang Jie probably wasn''t some new ploy by the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, she had never imagined that the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor would be dead. She simply thought that some audacious fellow had pretended to be him and infiltrated this ce to learn the Fiend Emperor''s secret. Tang Jie''s words just now hadpletely overturned her theories and left her doubting her hearing.


    Tang Jie suddenly grabbed her chin, his other hand taking the water jar and pouring water over her face.


    No matter how the woman struggled, she couldn''t break Tang Jie''s grip, and the water washed away the dirt on her face, revealing a simple and elegant face.


    Tang Jie examined the face as he washed it.


    "Let me go!" the woman yelled in anger. Her voice, isted by the spell, echoed about this limited space.


    Tang Jie let go, and the woman retreated into the depths of the cage, warily eying Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie''s eyes shed with disappointment. "A pity."


    "What are you trying to do?" the woman barked, fury in her raspy voice.


    "''What am I trying to do''?" Tang Jieughed. "As you can see, I''m a human. I killed the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor and reced him, ruling the country and people in his ce. I''ve found this to be very advantageous. I can use this identity to do anything I want, including having those fiends gather resources for me, attack other fiend countries, release humans, and so on."


    The woman''s eyes gleamed.


    Tang Jie continued, "But there''s a problem here. It''s that I can''t be discovered¡­"


    Tang Jie voiced his troubles.


    When it came to the concubines, Tang Jie sighed. "I can''t do it with them, but the more I push them off, the more I risk exposing myself."


    "Why can''t you do it with them? Is it because they''re all fiends?" she asked. At some point, she had begun to follow along with Tang Jie''s words.


    "No, it''s because I already have a woman I love¡­ No matter what, I can''t betray her, no matter what the reason is!" Tang Jie firmly said.


    "For the woman you love¡­ I see¡­" the woman muttered. She seemed to be tearing up.


    She looked at Tang Jie. "But what does that have to do with me?"


    Tang Jie replied, "I need to find a reason to satisfy them. Cultivation or governance aren''t appropriate. Only one reason will work: a favorite.


    "I need a woman to be my favorite concubine."

 Chapter 674: Collaboration

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The caged woman understood what Tang Jie wanted.


    "You want me to be that favorite concubine, giving you a reason to not approach the other women?"


    Tang Jie nodded. "Of course, I won''t actually do it with you. We only need to act out this y on the outside."


    "Why me?"


    "It''s not like I can work together with another fiend, right? Moreover, I can give you your freedom. Once the matter is done, I will take you away with me, and you can go where you want."


    "How long will it take?"


    "Until thisnd has no more value, or I''m discovered." Tang Jie grinned.


    The woman dropped her gaze.


    After a while, she said, "What did you mean when you said it was a pity?"


    "You know," Tang Jie said, offering no exnation.


    "I''m not pretty enough," she said.


    Since he was going to pick a favorite out of the harem, his choice had to have beauty befitting one. After all, while an emperor might favor a woman who wasn''t beautiful, it was a little hard to solely favor her.


    Of course, if one really insisted, one might im to have a motherplex, but s, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor didn''t have this sort of problem. People might change many habits, but rarely did their aesthetic tastes change on a whim.


    As for this woman, she wasn''t actually ugly, her elegant face putting her in the upper ranks. But she was ratherckingpared to all the concubines.


    "But there''s still hope." Tang Jie smiled. "A little make-up, good clothes and jewelry, and you can be a supreme beauty too." In hisst life, he had seen countless examples of in women being turned into beauties, with masters of make-up being able to turn the putrid into the divine. This woman had a decent foundation to work with, so only a little effort would be needed to bring her up to the standard.


    "But I don''t know how."


    "It''s fine. I can help you."


    "You even know this?" The woman was amazed.


    "I can learn. A man learning how to paint eyebrows for his love is the stuff of romance."


    The woman''s face reddened. "You''re sure you won''t do it with me?"


    "I came to you exactly because I don''t want to do it with other women. Of course, to keep our cover, a little public affection is unavoidable." While Tang Jie was protecting his body for Xu Miaoran, he wasn''t so stubborn as to consider holding hands and kissing to be out of the question.


    The woman''s face reddened even more. Finally, she nodded. Really, she didn''t have much of a choice.


    There was one thing she was sure of. If she didn''t ept, Tang Jie really would silence her permanently.


    No matter how big of a secret she was hiding.


    She said, "My name is Lin Xin."


    ¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D¨D


    Just like that, the matter was resolved, and the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had a new addition to his harem: the Cloud Fairy Concubine.


    The sudden appearance of this concubine made the entire harem uneasy, for from this day forward, this was the only concubine Tang Jie visited.


    The other concubines were as frantic as if someone had lit their butts on fire, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn''t draw the Fiend Emperor from that woman''s side.


    Tang Jie was able to ovee this trial and continued to spend his days as he usually would.


    Under Tang Jie''s subtle direction, the Silver Eyes Empire repeatedly got into conflict with the other fiend empires.


    The Five Fiend Emperors had never gotten along well with each other, and it was only because humanity had yet to be exterminated that they worked together. Still, never once had their internal conflicts ceased. And through Tang Jie''s provocations, the conflicts intensified. Just in thest few months, several fiend generals had been in in battle, and that Everjoy Fiend King had been captured and brought before Tang Jie, who had executed him on the excuse that he had been rude.


    The Ironblood Fiend Emperor was enraged and immediately sent over a flying talisman with a message asking what was going on. But Tang Jie waved him away, saying that he shoulde over and fight if he had the guts.


    This infuriated the Ironblood Fiend Emperor even more, and he really did muster up an army of one hundred thousand fiend soldiers and marched it up to the border. This army was led by twelve fiend kings, and they threatened the eastern border. That Scarlet Wind King who had captured the Everjoy King immediately sent flying talismans asking for reinforcements.


    In response, Tang Jie ordered several of the nearby fiend kings to go and aid him, and a fiend cultivator war seemed imminent.


    Of course, this war was still limited to fiend kings. Neither the Ironblood Fiend Emperor nor Tang Jie nned to personally intervene. Ironblood didn''t want topletely fracture their rtionship, and Tang Jie simply didn''t dare¡ªhe would expose himself the moment he did.


    The eastern border of the empire was about to be engulfed in the mes of war, but the other ends of the empire weren''t cking off either. All those fiends searching for resources for Tang Jie had long ago begun to reach beyond the territory of Silver Eyes.


    This immense territory that upied four fifths of the Verdant Cloud Domain would have taken at least a hundred years for Tang Jie to search through, but all those fiends made everything much easier.


    In just a few months, Tang Jie had obtained many space treasures, and even some materials for his teleportation formation.


    Little Three''s spatial ability was rapidly improving, and Tang Jie''s treasury was growing.


    Every day, vast resources were being poured into the Mountain River State Diagram, as it greeted its second phase of frenzied construction after that time in the Blood River Domain. But this time, the driver was the plundering of a country''s wealth rather than inter-domain trade.


    Of course, behind this frenzied extraction was constant chaos throughout thend. The fiend kings and generals under Silver Eyes were like ravenous locusts, rushing wherever treasure might be, seizing resources and leaving blood and death in their wake.


    As the chaos spread, the trust between fiends began to crumble, and more and more struggles over wealth and treasure began to ur.


    The words of an author from his past life perfectly described the situation: the wretched ways of the world degenerated the public morals day by day.


    (TN: "ÊÀ·çÈÕÏ£¬ÈËÐIJ»¹Å"es from the novel "Flowers in the Mirror" by Qing Dynasty novelist Li Ruzhen.)


    Through Tang Jie''s shit stirring, the public morals of the fiends were rapidly dropping.


    All of this was what Tang Jie wanted. A powerful and united fiend race didn''t benefit humanity. What the human race needed was for the fiends to be broken up and caught in internal strife.


    This was only the beginning!


    He spent the rest of his time in the cultivation chamber.


    When cultivating, Tang Jie was of two minds.


    The avatar borrowed the lotusmp and the jade chamber to improve its cultivation level. Unfortunately, Yiyi couldn''te and enjoy this ce. While she was a sprite, she had showed herself in that earlier battle, and if she were discovered, it would expose Tang Jie''s real identity, which was a risk that Tang Jie couldn''t take. At times, Tang Jie felt like it would have been nice if his illusion transformation spell could work on others, but s, that was just wishful thinking.


    As the original body cultivated the Parting ssic and only needed to use up resources rather than time, he spent most of its time studying the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, continuing to strengthen his Dao Wills.


    Over thest few years of study, Tang Jie had brought the number of Dao Runes he had entered to 99.


    It wasn''t obvious on the surface, but if someone were able to see through that solid flesh and into the bones, they would see that his entire right hand was covered in Dao Runes.


    These Dao Runes were the principles of the Great Dao, that most fundamental of powers used to write the world, and carved into them was the method by which energy flowed.


    Each Dao Rune carved into his bones deepened his understanding of the Dao of Yin Yang.


    Although studying a Dao armament didn''t produce as deep of an understanding as sudden enlightenment through his own efforts, entering the Dao was entering the Dao, and it on its own had an effect. Tang Jie was gaining a deeper and deeper understanding of the world''s essence.


    Today, he continued his study of the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, the moon and sun rotating through his eyes. Slowly, a new Dao Rune formed in his hand.


    The 100th Dao Rune had been formed!


    As this 100th Dao Rune formed, all of his Dao Runes seemed toe to life, swimming through Tang Jie''s body like little mudfish. In the process, Tang Jie began toprehend a secret of this world.


    This world had a positive and a negative.


    The negative side was Primordial Fog, and it was truly the negative, existing opposite to the Great Ster Chiliocosm, existing with it like light and shadow, the Chiliocosm being the positive and Primordial Fog being the negative.


    With Primordial Fog were the Nether Domain and Shadow Domain¡­ This was why they could ess all the other domains, because these domains didn''t actually exist on the same ne as worlds like the Verdant Cloud Domain, the Rosecloud Domain, and the Blood River Domain. If one were to search for them in the infinite void, one could search forever and find no trace. They existed in another ne, on the opposite side of the Great Ster Chiliocosm, vast and unreachable.


    This wasn''t an understanding through lecture or experience, but something that he understood through his body. It waspletely different, like the difference between hearing and seeing.


    This was all thanks to the Dao of Yin Yang.


    Yin and Yang represented opposite sides, and these two nes represented the greatest pair of opposites.


    Other than allowing him to understand the essence of the world, the condensation of one hundred Dao Runes also affected his arts.


    Dao Arts meant to merge the Dao with one''s arts, and they could be considered even more important than Divine Connections.


    These one hundred Dao Runes were the most basic requirement to creating a Dao Art.


    Tang Jie had yet to enter Violet Pce and form a Divine Connection, but he already had a Dao Art¡ªthe Ten Extinctions de¡ªso he could be considered a freak. Now, he had the right to possess a second Dao Art, and this time, it wouldn''t be some pseudo¨CDao Art. Only a Dao Art of someone who had entered the Dao could be considered a real Dao Art, and one hundred Dao Runes was the most basic requirement to reach this standard.


    As he had just reached one hundred Dao Runes, he hadn''t decided what sort of Dao Art to create, so he decided to put it off for now.


    It had to be understood that creating a Dao Art was no game. Once created, it was not easily changed. Even if one carved more Dao Runes into one''s body, that would only make the Dao Art stronger, not change it. Forcibly changing it would mean damaging all the Dao Wills that one possessed, so a cultivator had to carefully weigh the pros and cons.


    Tang Jie was excited to have reached this milestone. Taking a look at the time, he found that it was about time, so he merged back with his avatar, took on the appearance of Silver Eyes, and emerged from the cultivation chamber.


    Leaving the back mountain, Tang Jie headed to Lin Xin''s Jade Fragrance Pce.


    Every morning, Tang Jie would personally apply Lin Xin''s make-up, showing that she was the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s most favored concubine and making Lin Xin more beautiful. Tang Jie wasn''t very good at it at first, but after study and practice, he was able to do a pretty good job. In truth, some things weren''t that difficult, and with Tang Jie''s knowledge from his past life, only a little more understanding was necessary.


    When he arrived, Tang Jie saw that Lin Xin was already waiting in front of the vanity.


    Dismissing the maids, Tang Jie picked up the eyebrow pencil and began to draw Lin Xin''s eyebrows, his actions slow and deliberate.


    Lin Xin watched Tang Jie work. She had been scared and uneasy at first, but gradually, she had gotten used to it. She had also developed an understanding of Tang Jie as a person, and she knew that he really was what he imed to be, having no desire for her and caring nothing for her secrets.


    The unease retreated and was reced by curiosity. What sort of man was this? How had he killed the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor? And how was he so bold as to pretend to be the Fiend Emperor and take control of his empire? Lin Xin couldn''t get an answer, but she knew that it was this man that had broken her out of the cage and given her freedom.


    She was grateful to him.


    Tang Jie knew nothing of what Lin Xin was thinking, continuing to seriously apply make-up to her face.


    The pencil tip drew a crescent over her eyebrows, making her eyes seem more vivid. Cosmetics were applied to her face, giving it a rosy blush. Through Tang Jie''s hands, Lin Xin''s pretty face became resplendent and rich, her beauty finally standing out from the crowd. It was just that her eyes were a little narrow, her chin a little too broad, and her neck a little too long. It was hard for make-up to fix such ws.


    Sighing, Tang Jie was about to stop when he felt a warm current flow out of his body.


    The one hundred Dao Runes within his body surged, returning to Tang Jie''s right hand and transmitting a will to his fingertips.


    As Tang Jie''s fingers touched Lin Xin''s chin, her face began to adjust itself, and those ws fixed themselves.


    Tang Jie was startled.

 Chapter 675: Reflections of the Floating Life

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Lin Xin didn''t know what had happened to her face, but she noticed Tang Jie''s face freeze. She looked at the mirror and noticed that something wasn''t right. "Eh? Your Majesty''s handiwork seems to be not like usual. Thisdy seems much more beautiful today."


    "Mm," Tang Jie simply grunted. A light suddenly appeared on the center of his forehead while a halo appeared under his feet.


    He then once more tapped Lin Xin''s face with his finger, upon which the face assumed its original appearance.


    Lin Xin said in shock, "What¡­ what just happened?"


    This time, she had clearly seen that Tang Jie''s finger had done this.


    "A little trick," Tang Jie casually said. He once more touched her face with his finger, and Lin Xin transformed into that more beautiful appearance.


    Putting down the eyebrow pencil, Tang Jie said, "I''m done now."


    He turned and left.


    No matter how beautiful this version of Lin Xin was, he couldn''t linger a second longer. His mind was currently in great turmoil.


    Only he knew that what had happened just now was no small trick.


    It was an illusion spell!


    The illusion spell of the Illusion Fox.


    When Tang Jie had first touched Lin Xin with his finger, even he had been fooled by this spell. Only by using the Celestial Eye and activating his Realm of Insight did he finally see the truth.


    The problem was that he had only ever been able to use this illusion spell on himself.


    This was the first time he had used it on someone else, and it was obvious that it had to do with the Dao Runes.


    But why could the Yin Yang Dao Runes do this?


    Tang Jie quickly understood why.


    The illusion spell was under the Illusion Dao, and the Illusion Dao belonged to the Dao of Yin Yang as a branch of Illusion and Reality.


    In other words, the illusion spell was under Yin Yang, and now that he had attained the basic entering of the Dao, it had affected the illusion spell in the way it could be used, which included being able to use it on others.


    This was the manifestation of a Dao Art, but because Tang Jie had yet to fix its form, its effects were limited.


    If it were aplete Dao Art, it would probably have an even stronger effect.


    At that moment, countless thoughts passed through Tang Jie''s mind. Suddenly, he understood what sort of Dao Art he wanted. Letting out a loudugh, he flew straight up into the clouds.


    Reaching a high altitude, he confirmed that no one was around and then began to activate the Yin Yang Dao Runes in his body. The one hundred Dao Runes came together, ck and white twining together into a single Yin Yang Standard. Tang Jie then waved his hand, sending out a spray of blood that congealed into a sphere.


    Inside the ball of blood, the Yin Yang Standard roiled, ultimately dissolving into the blood. The blood ball radiated a stunning light, and then, simrly to what had happened in the Treasure Paradise, the blood ball turned into a baby, and then it split off into countless duplicates, upon which hundreds of Tang Jies were standing in the air.


    Unlike the previous blood duplicates, these duplicates radiated a powerful fighting intent as they floated in the air.


    Suddenly, a duplicate blinked away and appeared next to another duplicate. It had used the Chaoswind Step! And then it threw out a thunderous punch. Another duplicate proceeded to form numerous hand signs, and as the signs were formed, a storm stirred, and a giant crescent de plunged from the heavens: a Heavenly Cloud de. Another duplicate ran out and unleashed a Star Finger, after which yet another duplicate used the Dragonlike Hand.


    Hundreds of duplicates attacked at once, throwing this region of the skies into disarray with powerful spell arts.


    These were no longer those blood duplicates that could do nothing except fly, but ones that could use actual spell arts. This made them carry an entirely different meaning.


    This was the Reality application of the Dao of Reality and Illusion, turning all that was illusory into real.


    Of course, this sort of real strength still had some limits and could not be consideredplete duplicates of Tang Jie. Each duplicate had only enough power for one attack, a single spell art, and it couldn''t be tooplicated, either. The Heavenly Cloud de was already the limit for these duplicates. The Nine Heavens Cmity de, Heavenly King Mara Incantation, and Flesh Millstone were all out of the question.


    Even so, hundreds of duplicates casting spell arts simultaneously was still an impressive force.


    Moreover, the duplicates themselves had been improved. They were no longer so easily destroyed and had much more survivability.


    In the future, he would only need to disperse these duplicates somewhat widely so that a Violet Pce cultivator couldn''t kill them in a single strike, and then he could unleash spell arts at an even greater rate than a Violet Pce cultivator and their ability to cast arts with a single thought.


    The realization of the duplicates had explosively increased Tang Jie''sbat power.


    But this wasn''t the end of it. After that flood of spell arts, all of the duplicates changed their appearances, turning into men and women of various ages.


    In the past, the transformative abilities of the duplicates had been on the lowest level, so it was basically pointless. But this time, even a cultivator skilled in Insight might not be able to see through the disguise. In the sky were Xu Miaoran, Wei Tianchong, Cai Junyang, Xie Fengtang, Sun Shuming, and all the other people he knew. Even Titans like the me Celestial Sovereign, the Blood River Lord, the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk, and the Gigantes King were present. He even went so far as to manifest fiends, ghosts, monsters, nts, trees, stones, and bugs.


    The duplicate that had turned into the me Celestial Sovereign roared and shot out a gout of me from its hand. The Pale Cloud me instantly swept over the heavens with even greater ferocity than that flood of spell arts. The Blood River Lord''s duplicate summoned the endless Blood River, and while it mixed together with the mes, they didn''t affect each other, countless Blood Fiends emerging from its waters. The Nine Disaster Fiend Monk summoned his lotus tform and the Gigantes King used his Devil Crushing Fist, each attack packed with heaven-shaking power.


    Such a majestic disy was certainly stunning, but if one looked closely, one would realize that not even the clouds had been touched. All of this was but a moon in the water, producing not a single ripple.


    This was the Illusion application of the Dao of Reality and Illusion, producing extremely realistic illusions.


    The Duplication spell was itself an illusion spell, as was the transformation spell, and the twobined had produced this effect. Not only could each duplicate be a realistic copy of other people, they could also have the corresponding spell arts and cultivation, at least so long as one had experienced them. Of course, all of these spell arts were illusions, not a single one real. This was why not even the clouds had been touched. But if they were using Tang Jie''s own spells, then they would still be actual attacks. Besides that, they could take on other forms, but of course, they wouldn''t have any spell arts to use.


    Even so, there was still a realism to these duplicates, enough to intimidate the enemy on the battlefield. If this were used in the middle of some chaotic battle, all those duplicated cultivators would make it difficult to tell who was real, who was fake, and who was on one''s side. Just telling the difference between friend and foe would give anyone a headache.


    Turning illusion into reality, granting duplicates the ability to actually attack, Tang Jie called "All Life".


    Gathering together the real to turn into illusions, allowing him to apply illusions to others and take on various forms, and unleash illusory attacks, Tang Jie called "Thousand Faces".


    All Life and Thousand Faces were the two Dao Arts Tang Jie had attained through the Dao of Illusion and Reality, and they could even bebined. This meant that the duplicates could have the illusion spell applied to them, allowing them to take on the appearance of others and use corresponding illusory attacks, but they could also use real attacks. He called this "Reflections of Floating Life".


    The scene that had taken ce just now was "Reflections of Floating Life".


    This was the firstplete Great Dao Art that Tang Jie possessed.


    He had established his direction in the Dao of Yin Yang. Any other direction on this Dao would now serve only a supportive function, and he would cease to have any new insights or developments. Only the path of the Reflections of Floating Life, which he had just set out on, would be without end.


    He waved his sleeve, scattering the clouds.


    The countless blood duplicates returned to Tang Jie''s body, and the Yin Yang Dao Runes settled down within Tang Jie''s body, but unlike before, these Dao Runes hade together into an image. The image had sparkling human figures dancing and singing, a manifestation of the Great Chiliocosm, a reflection of the floating life.


    From then on, every additional Yin Yang Dao Rune would enrich this picture a little more, and this would in turn make his Dao Art stronger.


    Now that he had Thousand Faces, Tang Jie no longer needed to worry about Yiyi being discovered.


    Tang Jie proceeded to use Heart Consonance to contact Yiyi and have here over to cultivate in the jade chamber. As for Little Three, this little guy was quite energetic, hunting ghosts and traveling freely through that spatial barrier. As it also had Tutu keeping itpany, Tang Jie wasn''t worried about it.


    As the Inkcloud Abyss was rather far away, Yiyi would take a few days to get here, so Tang Jie returned to the pce to wait for her.


    After waiting for a few days, one day, when he was in the imperial study, he suddenly heard a voice shout in his mind, "Big Brother, save me!"


    Putting down a report, Tang Jie immediately stood up, his sudden action causing all the minor fiends to get on their knees.


    Tang Jie called out in his mind, "Yiyi, what happened?"


    "A bad guy wants to catch me!"


    "Where are you?"


    "I don''t know. I was just flying in the direction you told me. There''s only mountains¡­" Yiyi was so panicked as to be on the verge of tears. She had only known to fly in one direction and had no idea what ces she had been going through. Asking her to tell him where she was was pointless.


    "Yiyi, hold on. I''ming over right now!"


    Tang Jie charged out of the study and shot off into the sky, his heart full of regret and self-resentment. He thought that Yiyi, as a sprite, wouldn''t run into any danger in fiend territory, and besides, Yiyi was in the middle phase of Transformation, so ordinary fiends wouldn''t make trouble for her. But to his surprise, Yiyi had still run into trouble.


    Even though he had told Yiyi to hold on, judging by how long she had been traveling for, it would take him at least four days to get to Yiyi''s position. Even if they were trying to meet up midway, that would be two days, and could Yiyi hold out that long?


    Tang Jie stirred up a hurricane in fiend territory as he flew forward.


    Yiyi was still sending messages to Tang Jie, but Tang Jie could sense that she was getting weaker and weaker.


    "They''ve caught up¡­ I¡­ I''m about to reach my limit. Big Brother," Yiyi muttered.


    "No, don''t give up!" Tang Jie shouted.


    But this was Yiyi''sst message.


    Tang Jie''s heart turned ice-cold.

 Chapter 676: Chasing the Culprit

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Allspring Mountain was the third-tallest mountain in the Verdant Cloud Domain. It was located in the center of the Verdant Cloud Domain and had steep sides. Because of the spring that flowed eternally from the summit, streams of water came pouring down its sides, making for a splendid sight, hence its name.


    This had once been a scenic sight of the human country, and even now that the fiends upied it, the uncultured fiends sighed in praise.


    But today, Allspring Mountain had encountered disaster.


    When Tang Jie arrived, he saw that a small part of the western face of the mountain had copsed.


    Petals and withered green roses could be found at the foot of the mountain.


    Upon seeing those petals and roses, Tang Jie knew that this was where Yiyi had fought.


    His eyes roved across the ground while his Divine Will scanned the area. He was pushing all of his Insight and Divine Will to the limit in order to find Yiyi.


    He was deeply conflicted. He wanted to find Yiyi, but he was afraid that what he would find was her corpse.


    But in the end, Tang Jie found nothing at all.


    This gave Tang Jie a tinge of hope. Yiyi had probably been captured.


    ording to Yiyi, she had been passing through a mountainous region when she hade under attack by a group of fiends, led by a middle-phase Transformation fiend. In a one-on-one, Yiyi wouldn''t have feared this fiend, but the problem was that this fiend was followed by three early-phase Transformation fiends and several hundred minor fiends, and one of the early-phase Transformation fiends was particrly strong, on par with a middle-phase fiend. He was of rather high status, able to order around that middle-phase Transformation fiend. He was also seemingly the one who had given the order to capture Yiyi.


    Yiyi was no match in these circumstances, so she could only run.


    If this group of fiends had captured Yiyi, they had probably gone back to their base. But who were they, and where was their base?


    The suddenness of the attack and the fact that almost an entire day had passed meant that these fiends were very difficult to track down, and as more time passed, the danger Yiyi was in escted.


    Thinking this, Tang Jie looked up and saw that the waterfalls of Allspring Mountain had disappeared, reced by barren cliff face. And at the top of the cliff, the water had been frozen into a cier, its chill still permeating the entire mountain, constantly freezing the water flowing out of the mountain.


    He could see that some ded weapon had severed a chunk of the mountain, leaving the shorn area as smooth as a mirror. Importantly, this wasn''t the power of some spell art, but the act of a casually swung de. Such a sharp saber technique was rare to see, even amongte-phase Transformation fiends. There was no way Yiyi would have survived this kind of attack, but given that it had fallen on the mountain and didn''t seem like an ident, it seemed that this move was meant to show off and intimidate.


    As for that cier, while the persistent freezing was formidable and required much more power than that de, in terms of profundity, the de far surpassed it.


    Tang Jie pondered this scene, and then he suddenly roared.


    This wild roar resounded through the heavens like rumbling thunder.


    Tang Jie then threw out a small g.


    This g expanded in the wind, revealing upon it the character "»Ê" (Emperor).


    This was a famous Fiend Emperor g. It was a sign that a Fiend Emperor was summoning all fiends in the area at Mind Opening or above.


    This was the summons of a Fiend Emperor, and any fiend that didn''t obey would be considered treasonous.


    Other than Space-type treasures, the most important thing Tang Jie had taken from Silver Eyes'' treasury was this treasure that represented his status, and he always kept it on his person.


    As the Fiend Emperor g rose, beasts began to howl from all around the Allspring Mountain region.


    Tigers, wolves, foxes, cranes¡ªeverything nearby came rushing out of the wilderness and converged on the mountain.


    These beasts came to Tang Jie''s feet and prostrated.


    They were led by a mountain goat fiend, holding a cane. He bowed to Tang Jie and said, "So it was Your Majesty, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor. Your Majesty, please forgive us for not weing you. Your Majesty, for what you have summoned us?"


    Tang Jie put away the g and pointed at the cliff. "Anyone who saw the battle that took ce here yesterday, step forward."


    The fiends looked up at the cliff, and a scorpion fiend immediately said, "Your Majesty, this lowly one saw it. Some fiends truly did battle here yesterday."


    Tang Jie swiftly asked, "Do you know who they were?"


    The scorpion fiend replied, "This lowly one is too weak and did not dare to get close, so I couldn''t see it too clearly."


    "Useless!" Tang Jie brusquely said. "If you couldn''t see it clearly, why did you even say anything? Does anyone else know? Or can anyone tell who the perpetrator was from that cier on the cliff? I will richly reward anyone with information!"


    An eagle fiend immediately said, "This lowly one also saw it. A group of fiends was chasing a girl, and that girl seemed to be a sprite."


    "I''m asking about the pursuers!" Tang Jie''s body seethed with murderous energy. This pack of idiots was on the verge of driving him crazy.


    The eagle fiend kowtowed in fright. "I only saw a fiend wielding a long saber that was wreathed in lightning. With one swing, there was a sh of lightning, and then the side of the mountain came down."


    The mountain goat fiend grew pensive. "A sh of lightning from a single swing¡­ it sounds like¡­"


    "''Like''?" Tang Jie prompted.


    The goat replied, "This one does not dare to be certain. I just feel that it is rather like the methods of the Thunder de Fiend Emperor."


    ''The Thunder de Fiend Emperor''?


    Tang Jie was startled.


    He naturally knew about the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, a Divine Division great fiend who had started as a Thunder Serpent. His Thunder de was converted from the horn on the top of his head and was extremely sharp, and he was the number one saber expert among the Five Fiend Emperors. Although the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor also used a saber, he primarily used the wills on the saber to suppress all, which had little connection to his saber technique.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor''s saber could have easily cut down a part of the mountain, and Yiyi hade from the east, so she had to pass through the Thunder de Fiend Emperor''s empire. Even so, Tang Jie knew that the pursuer couldn''t be the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, or else Yiyi would never have been able to escape capture for almost an entire day.


    The goat also seemed to realize this, shaking his head and saying, "Nobody could escape from the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, so it shouldn''t have been him."


    Tang Jie asked, "Who else besides him could use this saber?"


    The goat replied, "The Thunder de Fiend Emperor has a son known as the Little Thunder Emperor. He can also use it."


    "Yes, yes, the Little Thunder Emperor could do it," the other fiends mored in agreement.


    Another fiend shouted, "The Little Thunder Emperor has a general at his side, a thousand-year-old Ice Goblin with supreme control of frost and ice. They could easily freeze up these mountain streams."


    Tang Jie swiftly asked, "Is that Ice Goblin at the middle phase of Transformation, and is the Little Thunder Emperor at the early phase of Transformation?"


    "Precisely!" all the fiends said in unison.


    Tang Jie now understood. It had probably been that Little Thunder Emperor who had taken Yiyi away.


    "Do you know what sort of person this Little Thunder Emperor is?" Tang Jie asked.


    The goat grimaced and hesitantly said, "The Little Thunder Emperor is the only son of the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, and he''s always been spoiled. As for his personality, it''s said¡­ he''s rather free-spirited, delighting in pleasure¡­ Whenever he gets together¡­ you know, with a woman¡­ bad news spreads."


    While the goat''s hesitation made his sentence very fragmentary, Tang Jie understoodpletely what he was trying to say.


    It wasn''t that Yiyi''s identity had been discovered, but that some lecherous little prince had taken a liking to her.


    Daring to try something with my Yiyi? Tang Jie''s eyes seethed with killing intent.


    A majestic energy erupted from his body, his tyrannical pressure causing all of the fiends to prostrate and tremble in fear as they pled for mercy.


    Drawing back his aura, Tang Jie barked, "Where does the Little Thunder Emperor live?"


    The goat stammered out, "I''ve heard that he''s been appointed to Ji Province''s Celestial Saber City as the Blossom King."


    Tang Jieughed. "A puny early-phase Transformation fiend dares to call himself a king? Since Lei Yuelong (Thunder Leaping Dragon) seems to be an ipetent teacher, I''ll teach his son in his ce!"


    He immediately flew off to Ji Province.


    After one day, he arrived at Celestial Saber City.


    Floating above the city, Tang Jie barked, "Lei Biao (Thunder Whirlwind), you trash, get out here right now!"


    This roar threw Celestial Saber City into an uproar.


    An ignorant fool shouted in anger, "Who is so audacious as to cause trouble in Celestial Saber City!?"


    But the moment he saw Tang Jie''s face, he dropped to his knees in fear.


    Others were even so impulsive as to attack first and ask questionster.


    As spell arts shot into the sky, they revealed Tang Jie''s scowling face.


    Tang Jie simply grunted, "The audacity!"


    He drew a finger across his back, causing blood to ssh out.


    Countless drops of blood turned into hands that seemed to emerge from Tang Jie''s back.


    Tang Jie was using Reflections of Floating Life to imitate Silver Eyes'' Thousand Hands.


    Thousand Faces wasn''t restricted to only the human form. One of the most important reasons Tang Jie had created this Dao Art was that it could help him keep up his disguise on the battlefield. Of course, this disguise could never deceive another Fiend Emperor, or even a fiend king, but it was perfectly fine to deceive those weak minor fiends who were already cowed by the majesty of a Fiend Emperor.


    As the Thousand Hands appeared, they fired off streams of spiritual energy, forming an immense spiritual pressure that made it seem like arts were being cast with a thought. In reality, Tang Jie was using the Thousand Hands as a cover to release his own energy and split it off into countless different streams.


    Countless palms descended from the sky, crashing into the city and sting giant handprints into the earth. As buildings crumbled, birds and beasts scattered, and countless minor fiends were crushed to death before they even realized what was going on.


    Some of the more quick-witted fiends took to the air, but before they could do anything, the Thousand Hands behind Tang Jie threw out punches.


    While it was still his own strength behind the Thousand Hands, with each punch being much weaker than usual, it was still enough to send these fiends flying, or simply explode the weaker ones.


    There was a sh of lightning on the horizon, and an enraged voice roared, "Who dares to cause trouble in front of this king?"


    Without even looking, Tang Jie swung around a palm, pping that neer to the ground right as they were rising up.

 Chapter 677: Chaotic Battle

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The one who had risen up just now was undoubtedly the only son of the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, the Little Thunder Emperor.


    That p had knocked him to the ground and even sted a giant crater into the ground. It was clear that Tang Jie hadn''t been holding back.


    Fortunately for the Little Thunder Emperor, as a fiend, he had a tough physical body that allowed him to survive, but the impact still made him throw up blood and broke a few bones. Thus, he fainted on the spot.


    Tang Jie was about to make another p when an icy wind froze him stiff.


    A figure charged out, shouting, "Your Majesty, show mercy! We can talk about this."


    Upon seeing that icy figure, Tang Jie chuckled. "You''re the Ice Goblin? Did you not bring back a little girl yesterday?"


    The icy figure froze, but he didn''t dare to get into a fight. "Yes¡­"


    "Then there''s no mistake here," Tang Jie said, smashing the Ice Goblin into the crater next to the Little Thunder Emperor.


    Drawing back his fist, he asked, "Where is she?"


    The Ice Goblin realized why the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor hade. Throwing up blood, he said, "She''s in the Crown Prince''s pce. The Crown Prince hasn''t touched her yet."


    Just when Tang Jie was going to save Yiyi, he heard someone call out, "Your Majesty, show mercy!" And then a powerful fiend energy began to approach him, preceded by a streak of crimson energy.


    Tang Jie''s Thousand Hands thrust out to suppress this crimson light.


    Tang Jie immediately felt a great pressure and knew that he was in trouble. This power marked the neer as ate-phase Transformation great fiend.


    With his strength, a merete-phase Transformation fiend posed no problem. After all, he had been able to handle three fiend kings with just his original body, let alone his merged form. But he had dispersed his own strength to feign the fighting style of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, which made him unable to take this blow.


    There was a boom as Tang Jie''s Thousand Hands were thrown back, the shockwave causing Tang Jie to sway and take a few steps back.


    "The Crown Prince was ignorant and offended Your Majesty, so please¡­" That fiend energy rushed to the Little Thunder Emperor''s side, revealing itself to be a Violet Otter, and took on human form to protect the Little Thunder Emperor. Eachte-phase Transformation fiend was made a fiend king and ruled a city, so normally, every city would have only a singlete-phase Transformation fiend. But the Thunder de Fiend Emperor loved his son so much that he had crowned his son as a fiend king and let the fiend who should have been king serve as his bodyguard. That must have been this otter.


    The Violet Otter was pleading for mercy from Tang Jie when he suddenly stopped, confusion appearing in his eyes. He was clearly confused as to how his attack had pushed Tang Jie back.


    He had only struck out to hold off Tang Jie, and considering that he was attacking a Fiend Emperor, he had held nothing back. After all, he reasoned that someone of his power couldn''t injure a Fiend Emperor. But to his surprise, the Fiend Emperor had been pushed back by his one strike, which shocked him so much that he was rendered speechless.


    Tang Jie also knew that he was in hot water. Reflections of Floating Life only worked on lower fiends, and it would have a hard time fooling fiend kings and above.


    Tang Jie could tell from the otter''s expression that he was suspicious, so he could only sigh and say, "In truth, I had no intention of killing you all. I only wanted to teach a lesson and then leave with the captive. But it seems that my hand has been forced."


    Tang Jie decided to drop the disguise, calling back the Thousand Hands and throwing out a single punch.


    The Violet Otter fiend paled at the sight of this meteoric punch. He finally realized something and shrilly cried, "You aren''t the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor! You''re a fake!"


    His sharp cry could be heard throughout Celestial Saber City.


    Tang Jie simply snorted, "Idiot!"


    Those fiends might have had some chance of surviving before, but thanks to the Violet Otter, all of their lives were forfeit¡ªTang Jie could never let any of them leave alive.


    Tang Jie threw out a formation diagram.


    The formation enveloped the city, imprisoning them in it so that no living fiend could leave.


    Tang Jie reverted to his original appearance and punched down.


    "So you were a human! The audacity!" The Violet Otter jumped into the air, sending another streak of crimson light at Tang Jie.


    Once he knew that this wasn''t the actual Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, he grew bolder. Given that his attack had pushed back Tang Jie once, he was sure that he was stronger, so he stopped being afraid.


    But this time, he didn''t do so well.


    As the two energies collided, Tang Jie''s fist st obliterated the crimson light and mmed into the fiend, sending him flying.


    "How!?" the fiend roared in shock.


    He brought his hands together, gathering whorls of energy between them into a crimson sphere, which he pushed at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie punched again¡ªsimple, direct, forceful, and majestic. Purely in terms of aura, he didn''t lose to any Fiend Emperor.


    This majestic fist mmed into the blood sphere, which exploded into a rain of blood that sshed onto Tang Jie''s body and scorched his skin.


    The Violet Otterughed. "You''re dead now! Anyone who dares to take my Decaying Blood Art will rot away to nothing!"


    "Is that so?" Tang Jie casually replied.


    As he spoke, the blood fell from his body, and those rotted parts of skin instantly grew back. The Decaying Blood Art this fiend was so proud of had failed to do much to Tang Jie.


    This sight left the fiend dumbfounded, and he frantically shouted, "Impossible! Impossible! I even pushed you back with my earlier attack!"


    The setback had the Violet Otter distrusting his own eyes. He was still immersed in the "glory" of pushing back Tang Jie.


    At this moment, an icy figure shot up and shouted, "Die, human!"


    It was the Ice Goblin.


    Upon realizing that Tang Jie wasn''t Silver Eyes, the Ice Goblin also lost his fear and sent an icy gale at Tang Jie.


    All of the world froze under this gale, which covered all the buildings in a thickyer of frost.


    At the same time, several fiend generals flew into the fray¡ªthe fiend generals that the Thunder de Fiend Emperor had tasked with protecting his son had finallye to carry out their mission.


    In the past, Tang Jie would have had quite the headache dealing with several dozen fiend generals at once.


    But now, Tang Jie simply chuckled. With a shake of his body, numerous blood duplicates emerged to face those fiend generals.


    As they appeared, they changed appearances, bing identical to those fiend generals that they were charging at.


    The number of fiend generals quickly grew to hundreds, and those fiends were dumbfounded, unable to tell friend from foe.


    And then those numerous duplicates attacked the fiend generals in unison.


    mes, frost, wind, and swords instantly nketed the heavens.


    There were both illusions and real attacks mixed among them. All the spell arts that Tang Jie knew, like the Dragonlike Hand, Matchless sh, Hellyer Saber, Soulchaser Saber, and Infinity Sphere Art, were put into action, and all sorts of weapons threw themselves at the fiend generals.


    The mixture of real and fake left the fiends utterly baffled. Some of the more ruthless ones decided to just attack without regard for friend or foe, only looking out for themselves. There were also those who were hesitant, and when they were about to strike, a cry of "It''s me" made them hesitate again, upon which multiple duplicates would st them to bits with spell arts.


    Chaos rapidly spread through the fiends, and soon, duplicates even began to appear among the fiend soldiers down below.


    These duplicates disrupted the teamwork of the fiends, and it quickly turned into a melee.


    "Kill themander!" The Violet Otter realized that the situation boded ill, and he called for Tang Jie to be killed.


    But was Tang Jie someone so easily in?


    Tang Jieughed and rushed at the otter, and as he did, he took on the otter''s appearance and unleashed the Decaying Blood Art.


    The Violet Otter hadn''t expected Tang Jie to turn into him and even use his own spell art. Not realizing that it was an illusion, he dodged, and Tang Jie quickly moved into closebat with him. The Ice Goblin returned at this point, but even he couldn''t tell the real from the fake, let alone other fiends.


    "Help me! He''s the fake!" the Violet Otter fiend roared in fury.


    "He''s the fake one!" the other Violet Otter shouted.


    The fiends were dumbfounded. Those skilled in Insight had already used their spell arts, but Tang Jie had entered the Dao of Yin Yang, and his illusion spell arts were now beyond the level of these lesser fiends.


    The Ice Goblin was smarter. When he saw that one Violet Otter was being beaten ck and blue by the other, he pointed at the winning one and said, "This one is the fake."


    He had already seen Tang Jie savaging the otter, which was why he could make thisparison. All the fiends attacked on his order. That Violet Otter howled in anger, but no matter how he cursed, the other fiends were certain that he was the fake. Moreover, there were also duplicates in the mix. In his anger, the Violet Otter struck back.


    This counterattack made the fiends even more certain that he was the fake, so they redoubled their assault. Even though the Violet Otter was ate-phase Transformation fiend, he couldn''tst against this concerted assault. Gradually, the barrage wore him down, and his aura weakened.


    Bang!


    The attack of a fiend general struck the otter, and the otter howled as he plunged from the sky. Throwing up blood, he pointed at the Ice Goblin and said, "I-Idiot¡­"


    And then he died.


    The humanoid corpse turned back into its original form: a Violet Otter. The fiends were stunned.


    "He was the real one," a fiend said.


    Where was the fake?


    Looking back, they saw that the other Violet Otter was gone, and across the city, illusory fiends were battling with real ones, spawning chaos wherever they looked.


    The Ice Goblin was perplexed over what to do.


    Suddenly, he had an idea and shouted, "The pce!"


    He flew in the direction of the Crown Prince''s pce.


    Upon reaching the pce, he rushed to where Yiyi was and saw a girl standing under a tree.


    The Ice Goblin gleefully grabbed at Yiyi.


    Yiyi was restrained at this time, so the Ice Goblin easily caught her.


    But as his ws wrapped around her, he saw Yiyi look up at him and smile.


    The Ice Goblin''s heart turned cold, and then he saw Yiyi grab his hand and lightly twist, snapping off his arm, and what followed was a thunderous punch.


    The Ice Goblin looked at the gaping hole in his chest.


    "You¡­" The Ice Goblin stared in disbelief.


    The girl''s face turned back into Tang Jie''s callous expression.


    "You were toote."


    With a wave of his hand, Yiyi appeared on his shoulder.

 Chapter 678: Extortion

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The battle was over.


    Celestial Saber City had been devastated, all the fiends in.


    No¡ªthere was one survivor.


    The Little Thunder Emperor, the Blossom King, the offender who had led to the demise of Celestial Saber City, was still lying unconscious in the crater.


    "Big Brother, do you not n to kill him?" Yiyi asked, waving a fist at the Little Thunder Emperor.


    This lecherous pervert had almost caused her to lose her virginity, and Yiyi wanted to see him suffer a death by a thousand cuts.


    "No rush. He still has some value." Tang Jie smiled. "Moreover, he didn''t see who I really was."


    "You''re telling me that you''re going to sell him back to the Thunder de Fiend Emperor?" Yiyi was rather saddened at the thought that Tang Jie was going to release the Little Thunder Emperor.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Silly, how could I do that? Since he bullied you, he has to die. But before he dies, he has to put in a little work. Moreover, only if he''s alive can you vent your anger."


    Yiyi''s eyes lit up. "That''s right. Just killing him would be letting him off too easy!"


    The little imp''s eyes glimmered as she said, "Then let''s go."


    She was already starting to imagine how she would ruin the Little Thunder Emperor once they were in the pce.


    "Why are you in such a hurry? When you go to a treasure mountain, you can''t leave without taking any treasure. This Blossom King''s Celestial Saber City has a few treasures, so we have to search it properly." Tang Jie waved his sleeve, and countless duplicates rushed out from his body and swarmed over the city, gathering everything of value they could, whether it was something in the pce or the possessions of lesser fiends. If he weren''t holding himself back so as to not cause too much of a stir, he would have even taken the worthless things¡ªto the Mountain River State Diagram, even dirt was a resource.


    Two hourster, the duplicates returned with all the resources they could take, which included the fiend corpses, of course. Tang Jie tossed them all into the Mountain River State Diagram without a second look and then headed out with Yiyi.


    Another city looted.


    He had done this so much that Tang Jie was beginning to wonder if the Jie (½Ù) in his name wasn''t for "disaster" (½ÙÊý), but for "piging" (Ï´½Ù).


    Several dayster, the Little Thunder Emperor woke up to find himself in a giant cage, surrounded by darkness. Curses had sealed off the spiritual energy flow of his body, and all of his rich essories were gone.


    The Little Thunder Emperor cried out in fear, "Who is it? Who dares to treat me this way? Don''t you know who I am?"


    He had been knocked out the moment he had appeared back at Celestial Saber City, so he still didn''t fully understand what had happened.


    There was augh, and then antern zed to life and floated over, lighting up this ce like a ghostly me.


    A pale face appeared before the Little Thunder Emperor, with eyes streaked with blood. "I am a ghost¡­e to take your life¡­"


    "AAAAH!" The Little Thunder Emperor staggered backward, his butt hitting the floor.


    He shouted, "Don''te over!"


    Then he remembered his status, and yelled, "I''m the son of the Thunder de Fiend Emperor! Who dares to touch me? Leave at once, or I''ll cut you with my saber!"


    "''Saber''? You have a saber?" a voice scoffed.


    Thentern grew brighter, revealing a corner of this dark room.


    A man was seated there, ying with a saber: the Little Thunder Emperor''s Thunderbright Saber.


    "The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor?" the Little Thunder Emperor shouted.


    As the son of a Fiend Emperor, he had naturally seen the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor before.


    "You should be calling me Uncle," Tang Jie casually replied. Silver Eyes and Thunder de were of the same generation, so when they weren''t in conflict, the Little Thunder Emperor really did need to call the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor "Uncle".


    The Little Thunder Emperor was startled, and then he said, "Greetings, uncle. For what reason has Uncle imprisoned your nephew in this ce?"


    While the Little Thunder Emperor was a little tyrant, he wasn''t a fool. He naturally didn''t try to act tough in front of someone like the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor. If Tang Jie said something, he wouldply.


    Tang Jie remained nonchnt. "''Reason''? You kidnapped my little sister. Shouldn''t you be giving me an exnation?"


    "''Your little sister''?" The Little Thunder Emperor was stunned.


    "Yes, your aunt." Tang Jie pointed to the woman next to him.


    The Little Thunder Emperor was confused when he looked at the woman.


    He had never seen her before.


    "I¡­ kidnapped her?" The Little Thunder Emperor pointed at her. "She is your little sister?"


    Tang Jie nodded. "Correct."


    "This is impossible!" the Little Thunder Emperor shouted. "I have no interest in this sort of woman. I like the young ones, the younger the better!"


    "Like this?" Tang Jie pointed at the pale woman, and the woman''s appearance changed into that of Yiyi.


    Upon seeing Yiyi, the Little Thunder Emperor shuddered. "It was you? You were the little sister of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor?"


    Yiyi clenched her little fists. "You like them young? Hmph, you piece of trash, I wonder how many girls you hurt. This youngdy will remove this menace to fiend society today!"


    Tang Jie pointed again, and Yiyi assumed that other appearance, though without the paleplexion and streaks of blood at the corners of her eyes. "He''s yours, but remember not to kill him."


    "Rx," Yiyi said, waving her fists.


    She walked closer and closer to the Little Thunder Emperor, her face very much like that of some wicked stepmother out of a children''s tale.


    The Little Thunder Emperor was horrified by Yiyi''s appearance, shouting, "No, no! I know my errors. Release me, release me! Uncle, Uncle, save me! Out of respect for my father! I know I was wrong. I really didn''t know she was my aunt¡­"


    "¡­" Shaking his head, Tang Jie walked out of the dungeon, the screams of the Little Thunder Emperor ringing in his ears.


    Pretending not to hear, Tang Jie went for a stroll around the garden.


    Torturing the Little Thunder Emperor was a part of his n, serving both to soothe Yiyi''s anger and also deepen the Little Thunder Emperor''s familiarity with Yiyi''s new face, thetter of which would be extremely important to the next part of his n.


    One hourter, Yiyi emerged from the dungeon.


    She had a refreshed look on her face.


    "Done?" Tang Jie asked.


    Yiyi replied, "Mm, this Little Thunder Emperor is both useless and afraid of death, so he coughed up answers almost instantly."


    Yiyi gave Tang Jie two jade strips recording the two techniques that the Thunder de Fiend Emperor was most proud of: the Thunderbright Mantra and the Thundershatter Saber.


    Like the Longevity Sword, the Thundershatter Saber was a top-ssbat technique at the Divine Connection level. Although Tang Jie could cultivate it, he wouldn''t be able to use its full power while he wasn''t at the appropriate level.


    But Tang Jie was in no rush. He hadn''t obtained the Thundershatter Saber to cultivate it in the first ce.


    At least not right now.


    Putting away the jade strips, Tang Jie said, "This is only the beginning. Starting from now, you should give that brat a beating every day so that we can get what we need from his mouth. Remember to not ask him too much, to avoid drawing suspicion."


    "Rx; I know," Yiyi excitedly said. She adored this mission Tang Jie had given her.


    She was so excited that Tang Jie felt like she was developing into a little devil.


    "Great. Now, you can head off to the back mountain to cultivate the Imperial Ember Lotus Mantra, so that you won''t be so outmatched the next time something like this happens." Tang Jie smiled.


    "That was just because they had too many people." Yiyi pouted. But she still obeyed Tang Jie and went to the back mountain to cultivate.


    The fiends of the pce already knew that the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had gone out ande back with a girl.


    But nobody could have imagined what their emperor had done for this girl.


    Meanwhile, news of what had happened in Celestial Saber City quickly spread throughout the Thunder de Fiend Empire. A city had been massacred, and it was the city governed by the emperor''s only son! This was never going to be some small matter. It was said that the Thunder de Fiend Emperor was furious, and he immediately ordered for the Little Thunder Emperor to be found and for the culprit to be investigated.


    While the Little Thunder Emperor was difficult to find, finding the culprit wasn''t hard. Though everyone in Celestial Saber City had been massacred, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had a rather shy appearance, and besides, Tang Jie had also used the Fiend Emperor g to summon countless fiends.


    When the Thunder de Fiend Emperor learned from the goat and the other fiends that the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had been searching for someone, he had his answer¡ªhe was keenly aware of his son''s problem.


    Twelve days after the incident, Tang Jie was in the imperial study reading reports.


    A minor fiend came forward and said, "Your Majesty, an emissary from Thunder de is seeking an audience."


    "Oh?" Tang Jie raised an eyebrow. "Finally here? Please,e in."


    A fiend general entered the study and bowed. "Mighty Sea Marquis Bo Lai pays respects to Your Majesty Silver Eyes."


    Tang Jie had heard of this Mighty Sea Marquis before. This fiend was a golden swallow fiend. While he wasn''t strong, he had a very special talent, which was probably why Thunder de had sent him.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "So it was the Mighty Sea Marquis! You must havee for that Little Thunder Emperor, yes?"


    Bo Lai was startled, saying, "Your Majesty is saying that the crown prince truly is in Your Majesty''s custody?"


    Tang Jie casually replied, "Of course. I won''t hide it from you. I exterminated all the fiends who saw me that day and didn''t leave you any clues, but still, to need twelve days toe here¡­ you were rather slow."


    Bo Lai exhaled in relief. Everything was fine so long as the Little Thunder Emperor wasn''t dead. He smiled and said, "We were too ipetent, which ended up making Your Majesty wait. We already understand the cause of all this. The crown prince was rash and kidnapped one of Your Majesty''s people, so he needed to be disciplined. Now that this matter has passed, can Your Majesty please let the crown prince go?"


    "''Passed''?" Tang Jie looked at Bo Lai. "So you''re saying that you can decide this?"


    Bo Lai froze. Tang Jie leaned back on his chair and said, "You should just let me talk with Thunder de directly."


    Bo Lai sighed and nodded. "Yes."


    Beams of light shot out from his eyes, and another person appeared. This man wore a yellow dragon robe, a towering golden crown, and opulent boots, and he had an imperial appearance: the Thunder de Fiend Emperor.


    The moment he appeared, he said, "Silver Eyes, do you have my son?"


    Tang Jie smiled. "Your son was ipetent, daring to try something on my little sister, so I could only teach him a lesson in your ce."


    Thunder de sighed in relief when he heard that his son was still alive. He then scowled and said, "''Your little sister''? When did you get a little sister?"


    "I recently took one in." Tang Jie waved his hand, and Yiyi, who had already received the news and rushed back from the back mountain, presented herself to the Thunder de Fiend Emperor.


    She bowed and said, "I pay respects to the Fiend Emperor."


    Pursing his lips, Thunder de said, "You? That''s not right. You don''t suit my son''s tastes."


    Yiyi grunted. "Why don''t you just ask your son?"


    With a wave of her hand, a vine pulled out the Little Thunder Emperor.


    "Son!" the Thunder de Fiend Emperor roared.


    Yiyi kicked the Little Thunder Emperor in the back, and he felt his throat loosen, allowing him to speak. "Dad, save me!"


    Thunder de pointed at Yiyi. "For a woman like this, you ended up getting all of Celestial Saber City massacred?"


    The Little Thunder Emperor nced at Yiyi and fearfully nodded.


    "Trash! Good-for-nothing!" The Thunder de Fiend Emperor moved to p his son.


    Even though it was just an illusion, the p still floored the Little Thunder Emperor, and his cheek began to swell. At the same time, the Mighty Sea Marquis threw up blood. It was clear that he was the one who had to pay the price for this p.


    After pping his son, Thunder de angrily red at Tang Jie. "My son was the first to wrong you, so if you let him go, I won''t seekpensation for the annihtion of Celestial Saber City."


    Tang Jie sneered. "Thunder de, do you really think one city is enough topensate for my little sister''s purity? You might not want to seekpensation, but I do! You want me to let the Little Thunder Emperor go? Fine, then hand over your Profound Heavy Water and Holy Nullight Armor!"

 Chapter 679: Target

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor almost threw up blood on hearing Tang Jie''s request.


    The Profound Heavy Water was one of the divine waters of the world, sharing the same status as the Pale Cloud me and Deicide me.


    The Pale Cloud me''s specialty was transformation and flexibility while the Deicide me''s specialty was burning all to nothing, and the Profound Heavy Water''s specialty was absorbing and concentrating. A single drop of Heavy Water could hold countless spirit waters and Immortal springs. It was useful in both cultivation and battle and could be considered a supreme treasure.


    As for the Holy Nullight Armor, it was a suit of divine armor the Thunder de Fiend Emperor had made for himself using his own scales mixed with various divine metals, to miraculous effect.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor was the finest weapon artisan among the Five Fiend Emperors. His Heaven Thunder Saber, Holy Nullight Armor, and Crimson Glow Pavilion Warship were all middle-grade divine treasures with incredible effects.


    The saber was for offense, the holy armor was for defense, and the pavilion warship was a pce-type treasure that could be used to attack or defend, give chase or escape.


    These could be said to be Thunder de''s four most valuable treasures.


    Inparison, Silver Eyes had only his Deathless Heaven Pearl and cultivation chamber, seeming much poorer.


    For Tang Jie to immediately ask for two of them was straight-up extortion, so how could Thunder de not be angry?


    Moreover, he was well aware of how much wealth there had been in Celestial Saber City. The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had cleaned that entire ce out, but despite having a swollen belly, he still wasn''t satisfied, trying to use his son to get his hands on the Profound Heavy Water and Holy Nullight Armor?


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor''s anger was understandable.


    ring at Tang Jie, he said, "Silver Eyes, do you have any idea what you''re asking for?"


    Tang Jie waved his hand. "The Little Thunder Emperor humiliated my little sister. This crime is unpardonable, so either you hand over the Profound Heavy Water and Holy Nullight Armor or you give up on your son."


    "Silver Eyes, don''t you fear a war between our empires?" Thunder de bellowed.


    "After we make the trade, you cane and fight me whenever you want," Tang Jie coldly replied.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor was in a thundering fury, but he wasn''t physically present, so he could only point at Tang Jie and say, "Silver Eyes, you''re ruthless!"


    He disappeared, but he hadn''t said whether he agreed to the trade or not.


    With the transmission over, the Mighty Sea Marquis crumpled to the ground. As the vessel for Thunder de''s tyrannical will, the marquis had been under a heavy burden.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie coolly said, "Have the Mighty Sea Marquis go and rest."


    But he didn''t have him leave.


    The two Fiend Emperors clearly weren''t done negotiating.


    For the next few days, Tang Jie and Thunder de argued almost every day, openly cursing at each other as they haggled over the value of the Little Thunder Emperor.


    Only those witness to this argument knew that two prestigious figures like this were no different from ordinary people when they were angry at each other. Once they put down their airs, their otherworldly majesty and peerless power all seemed illusory.


    The two Fiend Emperors rolled up their sleeves and cursed at each other every day in the pce, issuing all sorts of profanity.


    But in the end, the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, his son held captive by the other party, had to yield.


    After twenty-some days of profanity, Thunder de finally agreed to Tang Jie''s trade. Of course, Tang Jie also took a step back, agreeing to return the Little Thunder Emperor''s possessions to him.


    The two agreed to make the trade at the Sky Mount, located on the border of the two empires.


    This was one of the highest mountains of the Verdant Cloud Domain, and its summit was ravaged by gales throughout the year. Even fiends rarely went up to the summit, as it was so close to the Astral Wind region that asionally gusts of Astral Wind would blow over the summit.


    Two dayster, the Sky Mount.


    Several figuresnded on the Sky Mount.


    Their leader was an imposing figure wearing an imperial robe: none other than the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, Lei Yuelong. Behind him were four fiends, all peak Transformation fiend kings.


    Looking around, Lei Yuelong grunted. "Very good. Rushing here was worth it to get here a day early. As expected, Silver Eyes isn''t here yet. Qiong Mo, Liang Tu, Zi Ye, Feng Jiao, the four of you hide in the area. Once I get back the crown prince, wait for my order to unleash the Four Poles Heaven Stamp to suppress this scoundrel!"


    "As youmand!" the four fiend kings replied in unison. They dispersed to find safe ces to hide.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor then found arge stone to sit on, venomously grumbling, "Silver Eyes, you dare to use my son to extort me? Even if I can''t kill you, I''ll have you know the price for offending me!"


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor had already made up his mind to use this opportunity to teach Silver Eyes a lesson. He didn''t n to kill him, but getting back his Profound Heavy Water and Holy Nullight Armor was a certainty. Moreover, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor also needed to spit back up all the wealth he had taken from Celestial Saber City, as well as pay the price for his conduct. He didn''t want much, only for the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor to hand over his Deathless Heaven Pearl, and also his cultivation chamber and Imperial Ember Lotus Mantra. Ah, yes, he also wanted that little sister. Since this woman was the cause of all this, she also needed to pay the price.


    Without all this, Silver Eyes'' strength and reputation were bound to plunge, at which point he could invade Silver Eyes and take some of his territory, thus strengthening his own faction. In the future, he might even be able to surpass Aurora and be the number one Fiend Emperor.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor privatelyplimented himself for his schemes as he dreamed about the future. All the time he had spent haggling had actually been to buy time to n all this, to build up for a counterattack so that he could turn misfortune into fortune, danger into opportunity!


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor felt like he could already see the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor under his feet, and he tightened his grip on his Heaven Thunder Saber.


    One dayter, two figures flew out from the distance.


    One was Tang Jie, and next to him was the Little Thunder Emperor.


    He really hade alone with the Little Thunder Emperor.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor was delighted. Suppressing his joy, he scowled and stood up. "Silver Eyes, you''rete."


    "Not toote," Tang Jie said as hended in front of Thunder de. "And the goods?"


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor grunted and threw out a jade bottle and a ck suit of armor that seemed to devour all light.


    Tang Jie took the bottle and saw a dark drop of water inside, seemingly brimming with weight. While there was only one drop, it contained a sea of water and was immensely heavy, so heavy that Tang Jie needed to circte a little spiritual energy in order to hold it up.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor scoffed, thinking to himself that at least he was superior to this bastard when it came to physical strength.


    He then said, "Can you give me back my son now?"


    "Of course." Tang Jie chuckled and pushed the Little Thunder Emperor toward Thunder de.


    Thunder de caught him, and with a few ps from his hand, he undid the seals on his son''s body. "Son, you''ve had it tough." He then turned to Tang Jie and snarled, "Silver Eyes, you dare to extort me! If you know your ce, you had better return those things to me, and also hand over your Deathless Heaven Pearl aspensation, and then I''ll let you go. Or else¡­"


    "Or else you''ll call out your four fiend kings and have them use the Four Poles Heaven Stamp on me?" Tang Jie scornfully replied.


    What?


    Thunder de was startled.


    Tang Jie casually went on, "You have your ns, so why can''t I have mine? Did you really think the seals on your son''s body were that easy to undo?"


    As he spoke, the Little Thunder Emperor yelped and copsed to the ground, his entire body convulsing.


    "Son!" The Thunder de Fiend Emperor rushed to help up his son.


    But as he helped his son up, he suddenly felt danger.


    This rm came from nowhere, but it was the sharp intuition of an expert who had been through countless mortal shes. Entirely through instinct, the Thunder de Fiend Emperor applied a powerful barrier upon himself.


    It was only because of his ability to cast arts with a thought that this could happen so quickly. As his Thunder Barrier took form, the Little Thunder Emperor suddenly looked up at the Fiend Emperor and gave a queer smile. At the same time, his right arm sted forward in a punch aimed at the Thunder de Fiend Emperor''s belly!


    "Devil Crushing Fist!"


    Raaaa!


    There was a heaven-shaking roar as the Thunder de Fiend Emperor was sted into the sky, the punch having almost emptied out his guts, stunning every fiend that witnessed this sight.


    "You aren''t my son!" the Thunder de Fiend Emperor howled as he took medicine to suppress his wounds.


    "You only just figured that out?" The Little Thunder Emperor slowly rose to his feet, his face changing into Tang Jie''s. But he didn''t try to stop the Thunder de Fiend Emperor from taking medicine, as he needed time to recover from using the Devil Crushing Fist.


    Both sides turned passive as they focused on their own recovery instead.


    But the Thunder de Fiend Emperor wasn''t satisfied, shouting, "Where is my son?"


    The nearby Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor turned into Yiyi.


    Giggling, she said, "Your son is here."


    She waved her hand, sending something flying into the hands of the Thunder de Fiend Emperor. It was the head of the Little Thunder Emperor.


    "NO!" The Thunder de Fiend Emperor couldn''t control himself when he saw his son''s head. "Kill them!"


    The four fiend kings appeared.


    Eight arms were raised, and eight beams of light shot into the sky, converging into a resplendent golden light that descended upon the world.


    Yiyiughed. "It''s useless. Rise!"


    As she raised a hand, a brighter light appeared around the four fiend kings, immobilizing the Four Poles Heaven Stamp the four fiend kings had summoned.


    "A formation?" the Thunder de Fiend Emperor said in shock. "Youid out a formation here? So you were here even before I was!"


    "You only made ns one day ahead, but we started making our preparations from the day we captured your son," Yiyi said with a smirk.


    "No wonder you demanded my Holy Nullight Armor¡­ It was to make it easier to kill me, no?" the Thunder de Fiend Emperor venomously said.


    Yiyi pped her hands andughed. "Exactly! As for the Profound Heavy Water, that was just a cover. We thought that without the Holy Nullight Armor, an ambush from ''the Little Thunder Emperor'' could take you down with one strike, but to our surprise, you lived. Sure enough, a Divine Division great fiend isn''t easy to deal with. Fortunately, my big brother''s Devil Crushing Fist wasn''t a waste. You''re so heavily injured now that my big brother can stand a fighting chance against you."


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor cried out in realization, "So you had nned this all out long beforehand!"


    "Correct. This entire operation was meant to target you, Thunder de Fiend Emperor." Tang Jie activated his Divine Connection, growing an additional head and two arms, and then he said in a grim tone, "After all, the Thunder Emperor has to be more valuable than the Little Thunder Emperor, right? Ten Extinctions de!"

 Chapter 680: Battle Against the Thunder Emperor

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    A brilliant wave of saber energy sliced toward the Thunder de Fiend Emperor.


    Even the Thunder de Fiend Emperor couldn''t help but tremble a little at the sight of this resplendent attack.


    But he was still a Fiend Emperor, a Divine Division fiend. In the face of Tang Jie''s almost invincible de, he first took in a deep breath, suppressing the heavy injury on his belly, and then he raised his hand. There was a sh of lightning, and his Heaven Thunder Saber rose up to confront Tang Jie''s Ten Extinctions de.


    There was another sh of lightning as the energies from the two des collided.


    First, two people crashed together, and then, two people were sent flying away from each other.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor was sporting another wound on his chest that was infected with gray-ck energy, but Tang Jie had a long wound on his face. It had only been a slight brush, but the Thunder de Fiend Emperor''s attack had almost cut him in half. Besides that, lightning was still dancing across his face, lighting up his face with brilliant sparks as it crackled.


    It seemed like both sides hade away wounded, but it also indirectly proved that Yiyi was right. Tang Jie''s Devil Crushing Fist had severely weakened the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, enough so that he couldn''t exert the power of a Divine Division fiend against Tang Jie.


    Even so, the Thunder de Fiend Emperor still majestically stood there, Heaven Thunder Saber in hand as he bellowed, "Who the hell are you? And where is Silver Eyes? Talk! Is all this some scheme by Silver Eyes?"


    Tang Jie cocked his head. "''Silver Eyes''? He left even earlier than you."


    "What?" The Thunder de Fiend Emperor was stunned.


    He recalled how Tang Jie had assumed another person''s form, and then he understood everything. He said in a trembling voice, "You¡­ you killed Silver Eyes, disguised yourself as him, and infiltrated the fiends?"


    "Once I kill you, the fiends and humans will be equalized, which will buy Fengshan some precious time to breathe¡­ Really, I wonder how they''re going to thank me," Tang Jie chuckled.


    "With only you?" The Thunder de Fiend Emperor fiercely smiled as he turned around and roared, "What are you guys still standing around for? Come and kill this bastard with me!"


    He was shouting at the four fiend kings.


    Although the formation had suppressed their Four Poles Heaven Stamp, it didn''t mean that they couldn''t fight.


    The Imprisoning Dragon Formation Tang Jie hadid down focused mainly on preventing his enemies from escaping so that they wouldn''t ruin his ns, and its secondary focus was concealment so that it wouldn''t be discovered. It was only its tertiary focus that was sealing and suppression, so the suppression was limited. While suppressing thebined seal of the four fiend kings wasn''t hard, suppressing the fiend kings themselves was basically impossible. As for lethality, that was at the very end, only serving a supporting role.


    The four kings were just about to join the Thunder de Fiend Emperor in encircling Tang Jie when Yiyiughed and jumped out. "Your opponent is me."


    "Scram, little girl." Any one of the four fiend kings could knock aside a sprite who had just entered the middle phase of Transformation, so none of them took her seriously.


    But just when a fiend king was about to attack Yiyi, a puppet appeared at her side.


    The Mother Cloudbat puppet!


    Starlight lit up the puppet''s body, and the puppet raised an arm and fired off an attack at that fiend king.


    The fiend king was sted away, leaving the other fiends stunned.


    A fiend king roared in anger, "You think a single puppet is enough to deal with us?"


    As the four kings prepared to attack together, Yiyi smiled and said, "What if we add in this, then?"


    With a wave of her hand, she sent out the Treasure Cosmos Formation, and as its treasure lights lit up the four kings, it caused them all to howl in pain and misery. The energy of so many treasures put together, even if they were only operating at the most basic level, was enough to upy the four kings for some time. Even though the four kings focused entirely on defense, they still suffered under the Treasure Cosmos Formation. Yiyi also understood that breaking one finger was better than injuring all ten, so she focused half of the formation''s power on a single fiend king, at the same time sending the puppet at him. Meanwhile, with a wave of her hand, she sent numerous vines coiling toward the other three kings, joining with the formation in holding them back.


    The puppet and formation were incredibly powerful, and the unlucky fiend king was one who wasn''t too skilled in defense, and the puppet even used multiple formations in its assault, so the fiend king ended up being almost instantly in.


    After killing one fiend king, the puppet lunged at its next target. This fiend king had to endure half of the initial salvo''s power, and a quarter of the formation''s power was not to be underestimated. While that fiend king resisted with all his might, he was still badly wounded, and the follow-up punch from the puppet left him even worse off.


    Finally, the treasure formation ran out of power, and with a unified attack, the three fiend kings managed to push back Yiyi and thebat puppet. Upon taking stock of their forces, they realized that one of their number was dead and one was heavily injured, which made them pale.


    The three fiend kings stared at Yiyi and said, "Scoundrel, let''s see what other tricks you have!"


    But Yiyiughed. "Thisdy has plenty more where that came from."


    She waved her hand, and the Jade Blossom Pce rose up, cutting off the three fiend kings from the Thunder de Fiend Emperor. And with another wave of her hands, she sowed numerous bean soldiers. As for ck Sin, she didn''t summon it. After all, ck Sin was more appropriate for chaotic battlefields, not powerful foes like these.


    Tang Dou stood together with Yiyi at the flower pavilion on the top floor. With a shout and a wave from his scepter, bean soldiers rushed toward the three fiend kings in a great wave.


    "What are these things?" The three fiend kings were dumbfounded.


    But regardless, it was clear that they no longer had the advantage in numbers.


    The puppet was already charging at the injured fiend king¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    "Don''t put your hopes on them," Tang Jie callously said. "Thunder de Fiend Emperor,e¡ªlet''s have a duel!"


    Holding his wound, the Thunder de Fiend Emperor grunted, "You think you can kill me? You look down on this emperor too much!"


    He grabbed at the air with his left hand. "A thousand threads to forge clouds! Congeal!"


    The countless clouds over the summit were twisted into ropes through the power of spiritual energy and moved to wrap around him like Immortal-Binding Ropes, but even tougher and more refined.


    At the same time, the Thunder de Fiend Emperor swung his saber, and three bolts of lightning lit up the sky. "Profound lightning generates the obliterating sh!"


    As the Thunder de Fiend Emperor roared, the three bolts of lightning merged into a single giant lightning saber. This was one of the ultimate techniques of the Thundershatter Saber Art.


    The most violent energies of the world had been gathered into this saber, and in the face of this power, even the earth would quiver in fear and mountains would yield the path.


    But Tang Jie simply nced at this saber. Flexing his four arms, he broke apart the ropes that bound him and swung the Sovereign de up toward that lightning saber.


    No matter how mighty your power, I will fight back all the same!


    This was the Dao of the Martial Lord.


    In the battle with Silver Eyes, Tang Jie hade topletely understand the meaning of the Martial Lord''s Dao. He still had some of his own habits, like making pre-battle ambushes to weaken opponents, but in his view, the Dao of the Martial Lord wasn''t some suicidal Dao, so he didn''t think that weakening a powerful enemy appropriately was anything inexcusable. One could say that Tang Jie had mixed his own personality with the Martial Lord''s peculiarities.


    Tang Jie had chosen to n things out before the battle and fight bravely during the battle.


    As the thunder saber shed with the Ten Extinctions de, the gray energy of Destruction and brilliant splendor of lightning attacked their respective foes. While the Thunder de Fiend Emperor gained yet another gray wound, Tang Jie had another bolt of lightning dancing around his body, and both of them grunted in pain.


    While Tang Jie had some lightning resistance, what was once formidable was no longer enough to meet the situation. In front of the lightning that the Thunder de Fiend Emperor had spent a thousand years cultivating, this little resistance might as well have not even existed.


    But the Thunder de Fiend Emperor wasn''t having a good time either. Tang Jie''s Destruction power had the ability to seep in and corrode, and it could even be considered more powerful than the Thunder de Fiend Emperor''s lightning arts. This realization left him stunned, and he couldn''t help but wonder where the humans had gotten such a powerful individual.


    After two exchanges, the Thunder de Fiend Emperor had realized that he had no advantage, perhaps was even slightly weaker, so he changed fighting styles.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor first wiped his wound with his left hand, getting rid of the Destruction power coating the wound. His eyes then shed, and those ropes of spiritual energy once more moved to coil around Tang Jie. Then, the clouds formed into a giant hand, after which he formed his Thunder Barrier, and as a finishing touch, he also created walls of energy in front of him in case his opponent decided to charge at him.


    He had cast four or five spell arts in the same second, and when he was doing all this, he even summoned three lightning bolts that shed at Tang Jie from three different directions.


    The ability to cast arts with a thought meant that defense and offense required only a split second to think it. This was the power of a Divine Division fiend.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor no longer had any ns to engage in closebat with Tang Jie.


    But Tang Jie didn''t care, pushing through the lightning and unleashing another Ten Extinctions de. Boundless strength surged through his body, snapping the ropes as soon as they touched his body. The giant cloud hand wasn''t able to bring Tang Jie down, but it made his body crack and splinter, and while those walls of energy couldn''t stop his charge, the impacts also wore away at his body.


    Who cares how many tricks you have? I''ll just push through them all!


    The Ten Extinctions de bit into the Thunder Barrier in a blinding burst of light.


    At the same time, the Thunder de Fiend Emperor''s three lightning shes fell on Tang Jie''s body.


    After trading one de for three, the two broke apart again.


    This time, Tang Jie had clearly taken a loss, his body swaying and almost falling to his knees, sporting three new wounds. Inparison, thanks to the Thunder Barrier, the Ten Extinctions de had clearly done much less damage to the Thunder de Fiend Emperor.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor looked at him andughed. "You must be done now, right?"


    "You think so?" Tang Jie sneered. "That''s not what I think! Again!"


    Tang Jie roared and jumped to his feet, unleashing another Ten Extinctions de.


    "Seeking death!" the Thunder de Fiend Emperor roared.


    Another torrent of spell arts surged toward Tang Jie.


    Thanks to the ability to cast arts with a thought, the Thunder de Fiend Emperor could cast seven or eight spell arts in the time it took for Tang Jie to swing his saber once. This was the difference in cultivation, not something that could be ovee through pure resolve, and it was the reason Violet Pce and Divine Division cultivators were able to dominate.


    By means of his Divine Will, the Thunder de Fiend Emperor controlled the world, truly disying the might of a Fiend Emperor.


    The world was his to use, and in terms of power and speed, he far surpassed his opponents, sending ceaseless spell arts surging toward Tang Jie in an attempt to drown him.


    But Tang Jie was like a small boat in a sea of spiritual energy, pressing onward no matter how fierce the waves became.


    He pushed forward against the waves and current, never backing down from the fierce downpour, as if he had gone insane. So long as he lived, he would never stop charging!

 Chapter 681: Heaven-Devouring Lightning Punishment

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie''s fighting style was very simple: constantly using the Ten Extinctions de.


    One blow, and another, and another!


    He just kept charging in and swinging.


    It was simple and direct, yet particrly vicious, each swing presenting an enormous threat to the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, allowing him to trade wound for wound.


    Gradually, the Thunder de Fiend Emperor realized that he was in trouble.


    Although each exchange ended up with Tang Jie more badly wounded, the difference in constitution meant that Tang Jie would eventually oust the Thunder de Fiend Emperor. More importantly, with each exchange of wounds, the Thunder de Fiend Emperor became less unable to suppress the wounds inflicted by the Devil Crushing Fist.


    The Devil Crushing Fist was Tang Jie''s strongest move, and while the Thunder de Fiend Emperor had managed to survive it, it had badly affected him. Even though he was able to suppress the wounds through sheer might, the endless assault was wearing him down. This was particrly because the Ten Extinctions de wasn''t easy to deal with, all because of that insidious sliver of Destruction power. Once it made contact, it clung to him like a parasite, and he had no choice but to resort to self-harm to get rid of it. This built up into a huge burden on his body, which caused the wounds inflicted by the Devil Crushing Fist to begin acting up again.


    Tang Jie was still lunging into the fray, tirelessly swinging away, and the Thunder de Fiend Emperor was losing his patience.


    He knew that if he kept dragging things out like this, he might really lose, so he summoned a magnificent warship which sported eighteen heavy lightning cannons across its body.


    This was none other than his Pavilion Warship.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor jumped atop his warship, and a barrier appeared over its deck. This barrier, even stronger than the Thunder de Fiend Emperor''s Thunder Barrier, directly took the blow from the Ten Extinctions de.


    At the same time, Thunder de pped the deck, upon which the two forward cannons slowly turned their barrels on Tang Jie.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperorughed. "Die, human!"


    Two thick bolts of lightning sted at Tang Jie.


    In terms ofbat strength, he was actually a little weaker than Spirit Eyes. Even in the Astral Winds, Silver Eyes'' Thousand Hands Orb had been able to resist the sword-spirit-empowered Ten Extinctions de, an attack which had been on par with the Devil Crushing Fist. But the Thunder de Fiend Emperor couldn''t evenpletely neutralize the weaker version of the Ten Extinctions de. When it came to forging tools, however, this fellow was publicly acknowledged as a genius among the fiends.


    Of his four divine treasures, only the Profound Heavy Water hadn''t been something he had made. The other three, he had gathered the materials for and personally forged himself. The best of them wasn''t actually the Heaven Thunder Saber with which he had made his name, but his warship.


    As a pce-type treasure, the warship couldn''t merely ride the waves, but it could also attack and defend. The deck barrier was the defense, and the eighteen lightning cannons were the offense.


    Two thick pirs of lightning sted at Tang Jie.


    Fortunately, when the two cannons fired, Tang Jie had already evaded them.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor pped the ship again, and the cannons fired again, forcing Tang Jie to dodge again. These lightning cannons seemed to have locked onto Tang Jie, firing salvo after salvo. Tang Jie was forced to run around, the deck barrier preventing him from getting close. But Tang Jie refused to leave the prow area so that only two of the eighteen cannons could attack him.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor used this opportunity to recover, swearing to himself that he would skin this human alive once he had fully recovered, avenging his son. Remembering that his son had been in by Tang Jie filled his heart with sorrow. He took out his son''s head to give it a closer look, tears welling up in his eyes.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor was a born tyrant, and it was only his son who he had ever spoiled beyondpare. In reality, this loss had been the greatest blow to him. In his sorrow, he noticed a glimmer in the head of the Little Thunder Emperor.


    Startled, the Thunder de Fiend Emperor instinctively felt that this was something bad. He was about to throw away the head, but then he realized that this was his son''s head. In this moment of hesitation, the head exploded.


    A surge of spiritual power mmed into Thunder de''s face, sting half of it away and sending an eyeball skyward.


    "Despicable!" The Thunder de Fiend Emperor threw his head back and howled in anger. The explosion had not only undone his recovery efforts, it had worsened his injuries.


    Worst of all was that the warship''s defenses had also been disabled by the st. The ship had been designed to face its defenses externally, not internally, and the explosion had ripped straight through the warship''s barrier.


    Tang Jie flew in and unleashed another Ten Extinctions de at the Thunder de Fiend Emperor.


    "Tyrant ying sh!" the Thunder de Fiend Emperor roared as he swung his saber.


    Having been injured this badly, Thunder de cast aside all his inhibitions and began to trade attack for attack.


    A de of lightning descending from the heavens, divine and majestic, peerless and unstoppable!


    A brilliant lightning bolt lit up the skies of the Sky Mount, shing toward Tang Jie.


    That lightning bolt cut through the firmament with such force that one despaired at the thought of enduring it.


    But in the face of this tyrannical de, Tang Jie continued swinging.


    Thus, the lightning came down, exploding on Tang Jie''s body and sting him into tiny bits.


    It''s over?


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor was startled, and then he bellowed and threw a punch behind him.


    Bang!


    Tang Jie appeared out of the void and punched back at the Thunder de Fiend Emperor. But this time, the Thunder de Fiend Emperor was no match for Tang Jie, and he was sted away. It turned out that Tang Jie had switched out with a duplicate while charging and used the Chaoswind Step to move behind the Fiend Emperor. This was one of the more exquisite uses of the Reflections of Floating Life¡ªhe wasn''t restricted to only using it to create numerous duplicates.


    But the Thunder de Fiend Emperor had already activated his Divine Will, so he had immediately noticed when Tang Jie appeared.


    However, while he had noticed Tang Jie, he no longer had the strength to go against him. As for that Tyrant ying sh, it had only destroyed a duplicate.


    As the Thunder de Fiend Emperor flew through the air, his hair began to stand up, and he raised his head and howled, causing more lightning to descend from the heavens.


    One thick bolt of lightning after another crashed down, lighting up the sky.


    "Origin Life Heavenly Lightning Art!" the Thunder de Fiend Emperor howled, spitting out mouthful after mouthful of blood.


    This blood coiled around the lightning, making it even more powerful.


    At the same time, the Heaven Thunder Saber stabbed into the air, drawing the lightning to it and having it coil around the Thunder de Fiend Emperor''s body and carry him skyward. Backed by countless streaks of lightning, he appeared like a thunder god descending to the mortal ne.


    He red at Tang Jie and roared, "Human, you must die!"


    He swung the saber in his right hand, sending that endless lightning rushing toward Tang Jie.


    But Tang Jie simplyughed. "You should have tried this long ago! That''s what makes it fun!


    "Raaa!" Tang Jie shook his arms, and his body instantly grew to the size of a giant. He charged at the lightning, swinging the enormous saber created from the fusion of the Mother Cloud Essence Metal axe and Sovereign de at the Thunder de Fiend Emperor.


    Lightning exploded on Tang Jie''s body while his saber energy stirred up the air into powerful vortices.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor was like the Thunder Duke, floating in the clouds and constantly unleashing lightning while thunder rumbled around him, while Tang Jie was like a giant rebelling against the heavens, bellowing at the sky.


    (TN: The Thunder Duke is the traditional Chinese god of thunder and lightning.)


    Fight! Fight! Fight!


    Tang Jie was by nowpletely immersed in frenzied battle, liberally unleashing his power and releasing the wild nature within him. But in the middle of all the wildness was a hint of cunning, savagery, and anticipation.


    He looked at the Thunder de Fiend Emperor as a hunter would look at his prey.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor clearly didn''t realize this. If he had seen this, he would have understood that Tang Jie''s plots had yet to cease.


    But in the middle of this berserk flood of power, he had no time to sense the malice of his foe.


    Tang Jie''s immense strength was putting more and more pressure on the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, and his badly wounded body was reaching its limit.


    He knew that he needed to deal with Tang Jie before his wounds red up again, or else he really might have no hope.


    At this moment, he made up his mind. He drew back the power suppressing his wound, and blood began to gush from his belly.


    As the Thunder de Fiend Emperor howled in pain, he threw his saber into the sky, where it became a streak of lightning.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor spread out his arms and began to draw the lightning toward him. In a sh, it had gathered between his arms into a thick pir of lightning radiating a blinding light.


    "Heaven-Devouring Lightning Punishment!" someone roared¡ªnot the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, but Tang Jie.


    Stunned, the Thunder de Fiend Emperor saw that Tang Jie had spread out his arms and taken up exactly the same position.


    A thin pir of lightning had gathered between his arms.


    This lightning was far weaker than the Thunder de Fiend Emperor''s, wriggling like a little snake, but the moment the Thunder de Fiend Emperor saw it, he cried out in fear, "NOOO!"


    "Goodbye!" Tang Jie smiled as he threw his lightning pir at the Thunder de Fiend Emperor''s lightning pir.


    As the lightning bolts made contact, the lightning pir in front of the Thunder de Fiend Emperor exploded.


    This was no small explosion, lightning devastating the surrounding area.


    As the person right next to it, the Thunder de Fiend Emperor had his defenses instantly torn apart and his body blown to bits, only his head left to fly into the air. The remaining power of the lightning explosion mmed into Tang Jie and set his giant body tumbling. Half of his arm disappeared into the lightning while a big chunk of flesh was scooped out of his chest, exposing his ribs and organs, and this was despite Tang Jie having put up his defenses and being farther away from the st.


    Farther off, even Yiyi and the three fiend kings were caught up in the shockwave, but as they were farther away and had also been able to flee, they didn''t suffer any lethal wounds.


    But the entirety of the Sky Mount had been ttened.


    "That was damn powerful," Tang Jie muttered as he looked up at the lightning still rampaging up in the heavens.


    This was the power of Heaven-Devouring Lightning Punishment?


    It really was scary. Even with his constitution, he would have been helpless against it.


    s, the problem with such frightening strength was that it was difficult to control.


    Even the Thunder de Fiend Emperor needed to use all of his strength on this move. If some outside force interfered, it would go out of control, with the result being what had just happened.


    This was why Tang Jie had been able to create such devastation with only a small lightning bolt. In fact, he had been waiting for this moment the entire time.


    As the howling sea of lightning finally dispersed, arge Thunder Serpent head tumbled from the sky.


    As the head hit the ground, a light shot out of it and flew toward the horizon. This was Thunder de''s soul. As a Divine Division fiend, he had two lives.


    But he had forgotten that Tang Jie had locked the area down. A momentter, a of light appeared and repelled it.


    Tang Jie strode over and grabbed the Thunder Serpent''s soul. "A Divine Soul is a great treasure, so it would be a great pity if you managed to escape. Besides, I still don''t have ns on revealing myself yet."


    The soul wriggled in Tang Jie''s hand as it howled, "How did you know? How did you know about the Heaven-Devouring Lightning Punishment''s weakness?"


    "You need to ask?" Tang Jie replied with disdain. "It was your precious son that told me, of course. Since I was going to kill you, how could I not learn about your ultimate technique? s, while you were willing to pay anything for your son, hepletely sold you out long ago. I know everything that you have! Thus, if you can''t teach your son properly, it''d be better to not have a son at all. While you can take on human form and learn how to forge tools like a human, you still don''t understand how to conduct yourself as a human, only knowing how to spoil him rotten. In the end, you sought your own destruction!"


    The Thunder Serpent was stunned. He had never imagined that he had been destroyed by his own son.


    Tang Jie put away the Divine Soul. This was a substantialized Divine Soul, which was a supreme treasure for improving one''s Divine Will.

 Chapter 682: Playing the Same Trick

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    When the Thunder de Fiend Emperor was in, Yiyi''s battle with the three¡ªno, two now¡ªfiend kings was also reaching its end.


    After that heavily injured fiend king had been in, thebat puppet and bean soldiers were more than enough to deal with the remaining two. But in order to reduce losses, Yiyi had the bean soldiers on rotation, grinding away at the fiend kings.


    The two fiend kings should have been able tost a while, but the death of the Thunder de Fiend Emperor had obliterated their confidence.


    As Tang Jie imperiously strode toward them, the two fiend kings looked at each other, both wanting to flee.


    But the Imprisoning Dragon Formation had "Imprisoning" in its name for a reason, and it wasn''t something they could escape that easily. In the end, Tang Jie slew them both.


    Having killed what needed to be killed, Tang Jie took the possessions of the fiends and tossed their bodies into the diagram. As always, he took everything that had value.


    The most valuable was the Thunder de Fiend Emperor himself, of course. His fiend pellet was the size of a goose egg, a translucent crystal brimming with lightning energy. As for the Heaven Thunder Saber, it had been transformed from the Thunder Serpent''s horn, and it had now returned to its original form. Besides that, the flesh and bones of the Thunder Serpent were also very valuable. Even though they had been sted to bits, Tang Jie still gathered them all up and put them together, leaving them next to the remaining half of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s centipede body.


    These were top-ss materials, and Tang Jie currently didn''t have the ability to fully exploit them, so he had decided to store them away for now.


    Besides that, Thunder de had also left behind his warship.


    Thunder de''s strongest divine treasure had been ruined from the inside out because of Tang Jie, but because Tang Jie had nned to take it from the beginning, he naturally hadn''t damaged it to an irreparable state.


    One could say that Tang Jie had calcted every step of his n, from pretending to be the Little Thunder Emperor, to throwing out the head, to waiting for the Heaven-Devouring Lightning Punishment, predicting all possibilities and preparing the appropriate response. What Tang Jie had used had only been a part of what he had prepared, and so even if the Thunder de Fiend Emperor had been hiding some other secret, Tang Jie would have been able to react to it. In this situation, it would have actually been an injustice if he hadn''t died.


    And the Fiend Emperor really had been done in by his own son. The Little Thunder Emperor had both revealed the w of the Heaven-Devouring Lightning Punishment, and also coughed up the properties of the warship.


    He had said even more, so much that Tang Jie had developed an even grander idea¡ªhe might as well disguise himself as the Thunder de Fiend Emperor.


    "Anyway, I have the Thousand Faces, so I can be anything. I''ve already pretended to be one, so why not two? Moreover, I heard something from the Little Thunder Emperor that I need to verify." Tang Jie said this to Yiyi once he had decided on his n. In the end, he summarized:


    "Regardless, plundering two countries is better than plundering one."


    Yiyi was dumbfounded by Tang Jie''s idea.


    But in the end, she agreed to it.


    It was true. Plundering two countries was better than plundering one.


    Of course, there was a w to this. The more he pretended to be others, the more he risked exposure. And so long as one Fiend Emperor was revealed to be a fake, the other would inevitably be exposed not long afterward.


    But Tang Jie didn''t care. He had already prepared for this.


    After putting everything away, Tang Jie split himself up again. The original body maintained the appearance of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor while the avatar turned into the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, taking the Profound Heavy Water, Holy Nullight Armor, and the warship back to the Thunder de Empire.


    The city in which the Thunder de Fiend Emperor resided was called Thunderopolis, and his pce was the Thunder Pce.


    After several days of flight, Tang Jie arrived at Thunderopolis and immediately descended toward the Thunder Pce.


    The fiends guarding the Thunder Pce saw this and immediately kneeled. "Your Majesty the Thunder Emperor!"


    Tang Jie ignored them and flew straight into the pce, but he didn''t make it far before throwing up blood.


    The fiends were all aghast, shouting, "Your Majesty!"


    Tang Jie waved his hand. "There''s no need to panic. I had a fight with Silver Eyes. The four fiend kings all died, and I was heavily injured. But he didn''t fare much better, losing one of his lives. If it wasn''t for that Deathless Heaven Pearl of his, there would already be no Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor in this world. But after losing this life, he has no more trump cards and will forever be the weakest of the five emperors! He won''t be able to act so cocky anymore, hahahaha!"


    The fiends were stunned. None of them had expected the battle to be this bitter.


    Four fiend kings had been in, Silver Eyes had lost a life, and Thunder de had been heavily injured.


    A fiend general stammered out, "Then is the Little Thunder Emperor¡­"


    Tang Jie''s face darkened. "Dead. I''ll avenge my son someday!"


    He walked into the pce while shouting, "I''ve been badly injured and need to immediately see to my wounds. Send words that I am in seclusion starting from today and won''t be seeing any guests!"


    "Yes!" the fiends called out.


    This was the method Tang Jie had thought of to resolve his problems.


    The avatar''s Heart Demon strength meant it would have a tougher time pretending to be a Divine Division fiend than the merged self, as the gap in strength was just too great. Tang Jie had originally nned to use his merged form, who would have an impressive enough aura that even a fiend king wouldn''t notice anything strange.


    His avatar would have a hard time maintaining such an aura.


    Thus, the best solution was to fake heavy injuries and use seclusion to avoid seeing anyone.


    Heavy injuries would mean his aura was weak, and seclusion reduced the number of people, so both greatly lowered his chances of being discovered.


    And through this method, he could also refuse seeing the Thunder de Fiend Emperor''s concubines¡­ Tang Jie hadn''t forgotten the headache Silver Eyes'' concubines had given him.


    Upon entering the pce, Tang Jie headed straight to the secret chamber. He wasn''t blind like he had been when pretending to be Silver Eyes. Thanks to the Little Thunder Emperor, he knew all about the pce, and he wound through the corridors and soon arrived at the imperial garden.


    Tang Jie took a small hammer and knocked three times on a fake mountain, upon which the mountain split down the middle, revealing an entrance.


    Tang Jie headed into the passage.


    After he had walked a long time, the passage brightened.


    In thatrge hall, as expected, an elder was standing guard. He was startled when he saw Tang Jie. "Your Majesty, you¡­"


    "It''s fine." Tang Jie waved his hand. "I had a fight with Silver Eyes¡­"


    After giving his excuse, Tang Jie said, "Open up the demon cave. I want to take a look."


    "Yes!" The elder went up to a wall and pped it several times, upon which the wall opened up.


    In front of Tang Jie was a cave from which a sinister wind sted out, exerting an endless pressure.


    If one looked closely, one would find that this cave was exactly the same as the cave under the statue in the back mountain of Silver Eyes'' pce!


    Tang Jie took in a deep breath.


    So it really was like that?


    When interrogating the Little Thunder Emperor, in order to get an understanding of the pce, Tang Jie had questioned him about every little detail, which caused him to find out that there was one ce here that the Thunder de Fiend Emperor considered extremely important and that exerted an endless pressure. His father had once sent many fiends to search it, but none of them had returned, not even fiend kings.


    Tang Jie found this strange, so he had wanted to take a look.


    It was also at that time he had made up his mind to kill the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, take on his guise, and infiltrate this ce.


    After seeing the cave, Tang Jie simply said, "Alright, Elder Wind, close it back up."


    The elder closed the stone wall, nced at the ¡°Thunder de Fiend Emperor¡±, and worriedly said, "Your Majesty''s aura is extremely weak, not even reaching one tenth of your prime, falling all the way to middle-phase Transformation. If this gets out, some ambitious scoundrels might start getting rebellious thoughts."


    "So I need to recover as quickly as possible and suppress those lowly beings," Tang Jie said. "I will be focusing entirely on recovery for now, so don''t let them disturb me unless it''s something important."


    Elder Wind prostrated. "Your Majesty can be at ease and recuperate. This elder will handle the empire''s affairs."


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "The Seven Seas King and the others can handle the empire, so there''s no need for you to worry about that. Your only duty is to provide the resources I need for my recovery."


    Elder Wind cast aside all his doubts at these words, saying, "Yes! As Your Majestymands!"


    Tang Jie walked deeper in.


    Just like Silver Eyes, Thunder de had a cultivation chamber, one that he had put together with the demon cave and his treasury. Perhaps this was because cultivation was so time-consuming that one could only rest easy if one''s valuables were close at hand.


    The Thunder de Fiend Emperor''s cultivation chamber was made of Thunder Crystal, and the meditation bed was made from Thousand Lake Bamboo. While this also had the function of gathering spiritual energy and calming the mind, it was far inferior to the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor''s chamber. However, the Thunder Crystal had a higher concentration of lightning energy, which was favorable to the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, who primarily cultivated lightning.


    Tang Jie closed the door of the chamber and then walked forward seven steps. Standing on the seventh brick, he turned to face the wall. As expected, one of the Thunder Crystals making up the wall was a little dimmer than the others.


    Tang Jie pressed that crystal, and there was a ck as the Thunder Crystal sank into the wall, and the wall of the chamber swung open to reveal a treasury.


    After seeing Silver Eyes'' treasury, Tang Jie was somewhat numbed to this one.


    It was the same sort of thing, and it was unlikely that there would be anything particrly exciting in it.


    But as the door swung open, something appeared before Tang Jie that made him freeze in shock.


    It was a pair of shoes, decorated with dragon and phoenix patterns woven from 9438 kinds of Phoenix Silk by the Celestial Compass Elder, with soles made from the hide of the Kui Bull of the Nine Raze Mountains, and threads that were actually tempered lightning, causing the shoes to sh and twinkle.


    Beneath the shoes was written, "Basic form, stillcking divinity."


    Tang Jie understood that this was the fourth divine treasure that the Thunder de Fiend Emperor had been working on. "Divinity" referred to a soul connection, which was the biggest difference between divine treasures and art relics. Once this step waspleted, a divine treasure could link to the world and be capable of a Divine Connection.


    This pair of shoes was stillcking this final step. Without it, it would always be an art relic, not a divine treasure.


    But what Tang Jie truly cared about was the power rippling through these shoes.


    The power of Space!


    This was a Space-type divine treasure! Tang Jie had realized this the moment he set eyes on it.


    There was no doubt that the Thunder de Fiend Emperor had wanted to imbue it with his own powerful Space abilities, but s, he had been in by Tang Jie before he could do this. If he had seeded in forging this item, Tang Jie would have had to deal with another variable to kill him.


    As for Tang Jie, these shoes were a pleasant surprise.


    These shoes were so rich in Space energy that they could definitely give Little Three a big boost.


    It wouldn''t be long before it could freely travel through the Nether Domain.


    Trantor Notes


    A pity that Tang Jie doesn''t have another avatar, or else maybe he could have tried out ying three emperors at once.

 Chapter 683: Exchange

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The battle between Silver Eyes and Thunder de soon had all of fiend territory in an uproar.


    It became even greater when the gruesome details got out: Silver Eyes had lost a life, Thunder de had been heavily injured, and the Little Thunder Emperor had died, along with four fiend kings.


    Firstly, the Iron Blood Empire issued a statement criticizing the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor for his unbridled and arrogant ways, provoking tensions on the border and killing innocents. The Thunder de Fiend Emperor had beenpelled to act in order to save his son, and now, he had to avenge the death of his son, so the rtions between the Silver Eyes and Thunder de Empires were bound to be like fire and water. All of this was Silver Eyes Wu Qianshan''s fault.


    The border conflicts between the Iron Blood Empire and Silver Eyes Empire had been worsening as ofte, and the intent behind this statement was clearly to give Thunder de a hand.


    The Silver Eyes Empire responded in kind, retorting that the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor was shameless, to say such things. The Iron Blood Fiend Emperor had attained the Dao through ughter, and the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor had always been the most bloodthirsty and murderous of the Five Fiend Emperors.


    The ckwater Fiend Emperor then came forward, stating that the fiends were a family and should be united against the humans. But such words were meaningless. If they had been threatened by some powerful enemy, the fiends might really have united, putting aside any internal conflicts. The problem was that the humans were weak and isted in a corner of the world, so they couldn''t be considered a powerful foe at all, so why should they put aside their grudges to deal with the humans? It wasn''t for no reason thatrger factions were more liable to be ruined by internal conflicts. An organization was like a deep sea creature. Without outside pressure,pressing them, they would burst apart from their internal pressure.


    Finally, the leader of the Five Fiend Emperors, the Aurora Fiend Emperor, finally spoke. He harshly criticized the two Fiend Emperors for disregarding the overarching situation and quarreling over such a minor matter, causing the fiends to lose strength. This was a dereliction of duty to the fiend race. He then expressed sorrow for the deceased, even saying that the Little Thunder Emperor was a talented genius and a rare good child, so his death was a great pity. Finally, he said that Silver Eyes should apologize and ask to be punished in order to resolve this grudge.


    Although the Aurora Fiend Emperor''s words radiated fairness and impartiality, being biased toward no one, absolute fairness was itself a sort of unfairness. After all, Silver Eyes was Aurora''s son-inw, so it was normal for him to speak up for Silver Eyes. And everyone could tell that there was something wrong in the Aurora Fiend Emperor''s words. It seemed like Aurora was somewhat discontent with Silver Eyes.


    This discontent was precisely why he had said the above, appearing fair while actually putting Silver Eyes in a tough spot¡ªhaving Silver Eyes seek forgiveness from Thunder de would be even more insufferable than having him killed.


    Considering this, some people realized that the rumor that Silver Eyes had recently made a human his favorite consort was probably true. Why else would Aurora indirectly criticize Silver Eyes like this?


    But it was hard to say if such words had any effect, for Silver Eyes made no public reaction to this¡ªTang Jie was too busyying down his teleportation formation.


    Of course, this wasn''t the extreme long-distance teleportation formation, but a formation between thends of Silver Eyes and Thunder de so that Tang Jie could go between them and handle affairs. The teleportation formations were ced in the cultivation chambers, the most secretive ce for any cultivator that even one''s closest confidants couldn''t enter, and whose other formations would normally cover up the existence of the teleportation formation.


    The cost for a teleportation formation covering this distance was much smaller, and there had been such formations in all of the major sects of the Rosecloud Domain. While fiends weren''t good at formations, captive human formation masters hadid them out on their behalf. But the fiend empires were on guard against each other and normally didn''t allow teleportation between empires.


    Tang Jie also installed two more teleportation formations, one of which led to the Inkcloud Abyss. What had happened to Yiyi had left Tang Jie paranoid, and he was no longer willing to let Little Three and the others casually travel around fiend territory. The other was located in the vicinity of Dongjin Pass. His identity as Tang Jie still had meaning among humans, so when he needed to, he would visit and do some trading.


    Tang Jie had once done well as an inter-domain trader, so bing an inter-race trader wasn''t out of the question. At worst, the profit margins were smaller, but at least there was still profit.


    So long as there was profit, Tang Jie didn''t mind making more money.


    Not even mentioning his original body''s appetite, the Mountain River State Diagram alone could swallow up all of the Verdant Cloud Domain without blinking.


    After setting up the teleportation formations, Tang Jie really did pay a visit to Dongjin Pass.


    Seeing Tang Jie return safely, the anxious Shentu Yuan andpany finally sighed in relief.


    Tang Jie returned with the Umbra Cactus Flower. As agreed, he split up the five petals, one petal per person, and the other four were deeply grateful. It had to be understood that no one knew that Sun Shuming had taken the flower, and nobody would have been the wiser if Tang Jie had remained silent.


    After staying for a few days, Tang Jie mentioned that he had a way of getting resources unique to fiend territory and that he wondered if the four of them had any way of selling them.


    The other four were all tempted by this business deal. As scions of great ns of Fengshan, they had many avenues to exploit. And after asking what Tang Jie had, they were even more delighted.


    "Ever since the Peak of the Divine was upied by fiends, the Rainbow Stone vein there was seized, and we humans were no longer able to get Rainbow Stones. I didn''t think Brother Tang was capable enough to get some," Shentu Yuan excitedly said. "This thing can increase a puppet''s recovery ability by at least 10%."


    "Godtear Grass is a necessity for creating Origin Spirit Pills, and we haven''t been able to get it ever since Thousand Illusions Valley was lost, which is why the prices for Origin Spirit Pills have remained so high," Ice Phoenix said. Origin Spirit Pills were a medicine that could improve one''s cultivation, a single pill providing a year''s worth of energy, and with no side effects! Medicines that could save cultivation time were useful for anyone, but s, after the valley was lost, they could no longer be refined. Every Origin Spirit Pill used was one lost forever, so the prices kept climbing.


    "Astral Trees, the hide of the Violet Mink, the fur of the Bluetail Wolf¡­ These are all excellent materials for making talismans," Ximen Changfeng excitedly said.


    The only products that didn''te from fiend territory were the Yellow Springs Water and ghost essences. With Little Three around, Tang Jie could also extract resources from the Nether Domain. Whenever Little Three headed into the Nether Domain, it woulde back with some Nether Domain products for him. The simplest of all was the Yellow Springs Water, which one simply needed to scoop out of the Nether River. This extreme Yin substance was extremely rare in the mortal ne, and had innumerable uses. When Tang Jie said he had as much as one might want, Ye Xiao''s eyes flew open, and he repeatedly asked what Tang Jie wanted for it.


    In truth, Tang Jie didn''t find anything special about Fengshan''s resources. In his several years among the humans, he had basically gotten everything that he had taken a liking to.


    But while Tang Jie had little interest in the natural resources of Fengshan, he cared a lot about its human resources. For example, the Origin Spirit Pill could only be made by the master pill refiners of humanity, and even the fiends would be drooling over them.


    Thus, Tang Jie primarily sold the natural resources of fiend territory in exchange for the finished products of human territory. He didn''t care about formations and tools, but he did need pills and talismans.


    "Origin Spirit Pills, Emptiness Pills, Green Jade Pills, and also Childtalk Talismans and Yin Devouring Talismans¡­ eh? Aren''t these talismans meant for dealing with ghosts?" Ice Phoenix remarked with surprise when seeing the list Tang Jie had proffered.


    "Senior Sun let in a lot of ghosts through the Nether Gate," Tang Jie replied with a smile.


    The Childtalk Talisman and Yin Devouring Talisman were both talismans used against ghosts, but what made them special was that they didn''t use pure Yang energy, so ghosts could also use them. These talismans were for Little Three. Little Three went hunting in the Nether Domain alone, and Tang Jie couldn''t help it, so he could only try and support it with resources. If the ghost had man-made ghost-extermination talismans, it would have an even easier time hunting ghosts. Besides that, the Emptiness Pill was also one of those rare medicines made for ghosts, one of the few that could make Little Three stronger.


    The Green Jade Pill was for Yiyi to improve her cultivation, and the Origin Spirit Pill was for his avatar. As for his original body, it didn''t really need anything.


    "But the things Brother Tang wants aren''t easy to find among humans. Take the Origin Spirit Pill. It required 148 kinds of spiritual materials, and a Celestial Heart pill refiner 49 days of time while using their own Pill me, all for a single batch. A single batch is twelve pills, but Brother Tang wants one hundred, and the more, the better¡­ That will be tough." Shentu Yuan shook his head.


    The "Pill Fire" referred to the pill refiner using the power of their Celestial Heart Dao Fruit in order to refine truly top-ss medicines, using their True Essence to stimte the medicinal power. And these top-ss medicines could only be made through this method.


    The amount of this energy consumed depended on the type of medicine. For example, the Origin Spirit Pill required the pill refiner to consume almost a year''s worth of energy, and this consumption couldn''t be recovered by using pills.


    In other words, twelve Origin Spirit Pills not only required more than a hundred kinds of materials, but also one year''s worth of cultivation from a Celestial Heart pill refiner.


    Tang Jie seemed to have very high standards. Although what he provided was good, he wanted better and more in exchange.


    Tang Jie replied, "I know it''s not enough, so I''ve prepared some other things."


    He threw over several Mustard Seed Bags.


    When the four opened up these bags, they were given a scare. These bags were packed with the fiend pellets, hides, and bones of fiends, and also various kinds of magical tools and materials. While none of them was particrly rare, the quantity was astounding.


    Just the number of fiend pellets was dazzling¡ªat least ten thousand.


    Shentu Yuan said in a shaky voice, "Where did you kill so many fiends?"


    Tang Jie chuckled, "In fiend territory, of course. s, General Gu''s not going to ept the bill, so I won''t be going to see him for any rewards."


    Tang Jie had naturally gotten these things from his pige of Celestial Saber City.


    While the treasuries of Silver Eyes and Thunder de were focused on value, Celestial Saber City had been more about quantity.


    While they were of low quality, there was just a stupendous amount. Tang Jie had already done the calctions, and the goods plus fiends of Celestial Saber Citybined wereparable to the treasuries of two Fiend Emperors. While he couldn''t empty those treasuries, there was no such concern when it came to the loot from Celestial Saber City.


    Moreover, Tang Jie had also put in the four fiend kings. Their bodies were the equivalent of peak Soul Transformation experts, and every part of them was a treasure. Tang Jie himself was unwilling to use them, so he gave them all to Shentu Yuan andpany as part of his exchange. All he left for himself were the bodies of the two Fiend Emperors.


    It wasn''t that Fengshan had nobody who could work them, but if they showed up, everyone would find out that the two Fiend Emperors were dead. Tang Jie couldn''t risk this getting out, so he just kept them to himself. As for the bodies of the four fiend kings, Tang Jie had dismembered them so that no one could make out where they hade from.


    This was more than enough to buy those Origin Spirit Pills. Tang Jie also indicated that if there was extra money, it could be used to buy more Origin Spirit Pills.


    One hundred Origin Spirit Pills were equivalent to one hundred years of cultivation.


    Time was the most precious resource. With these pills, the avatar would be able to get on par with the original body.


    Tang Jie wasn''t done walking the path of being invincible against all beneath the Violet Pce Realm!


    Trantor Notes


    Tang Jie finally turning all of his war spoils into something he can use!

 Chapter 684: Letters Home Are Hard to Send

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Once Tang Jie had finished negotiating the exchange, he asked Shentu Yuan and the others to help him look out for any Space-type objects. Through his diligent nurturing and hunting, he had been able to increase Little Three''s spatial abilities by leaps and bounds, and they were much stronger than before. He was sure that it wouldn''t be long before Little Three could officially break through spatial barriers.


    Tang Jie didn''t linger after saying everything he needed to say. He found an excuse to leave and said that they could contact him by message talisman if they needed anything.


    Once he left Dongjin Pass, rather than returning to the teleportation formation, he flew to the west.


    After flying for around four hours, he arrived at a vastke.


    This was Lake Anyang, one of thergestkes of the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    Floating high above theke, Tang Jie took out the Profound Heavy Water and tossed it out. The Profound Heavy Water instantly became a giant sphere of water floating in the air. Tang Jie then gestured at Lake Anyang, upon which the waters of theke roared upward, surging toward the Profound Heavy Water.


    Strangely, all this water surging into the Profound Heavy Water disappeared into it as if it was entering a bottomless hole.


    In just a few moments, the water level of Lake Anyang had plunged.


    Tang Jie didn''t suck theke dry. After all, there were still fish and shrimp in theke, and countless civilians who relied on theke to live. With another gesture, he called back the Profound Heavy Water. The drop of water rolled around in his hand, but one could now see waves crashing around within it.


    This was the function of the Profound Heavy Water: holding seas of water that, once refined, could be used against enemies to wondrous effect.


    After taking a little less than half of Lake Anyang, Tang Jie took out two bottles and poured them into the Profound Heavy Water. The yellow waters that emerged were the Yellow Dragon Holy Water that he had obtained from the Celestial me Pagoda and the Yellow Springs Water he had obtained from the Nether Domain.


    These two were also the finest type of water, but Tang Jie had never found a proper way to use them, so he decided to put them into the Profound Heavy Water so that he could begin tempering them.


    The water in the Profound Heavy Water roiled as it constantly changed form in Tang Jie''s hand, at times turning into a massive sphere of water containing majestic waves, and at times turning into a silver river falling from the heavens. It was stretched out, ttened, or kneaded into a ball, constantly changing form.


    A few momentster, the waves within the Heavy Water were calmed, and all of the water was condensed into the single drop of Profound Heavy Water. Tang Jie then attached a sliver of his Divine Will to it, allowing him to modify it at will, and this was a sign that the refinement had seeded.


    This was why he hadn''t been able to use the Profound Heavy Water that the Thunder de Fiend Emperor had already refined. The mind was linked to the treasure, and unless the mark were wiped away willingly, attempting to change owners would require refining all the water again. Thus, even though Tang Jie had obtained the Profound Heavy Water, he had only gained its most basic form, not all of the power that it had once held.


    This Profound Heavy Water was only the starter version. He would have to keep on sucking in more water and repeatedly refining it in order to unleash the water''s true power.


    Tang Jie threw out the Profound Heavy Water, upon which a roaring river flowed out, sting away half of a mountain. Tang Jie nodded, satisfied with the power of the Profound Heavy Water. After all, this was only the starter version, and it would only get stronger with more refinement.


    If hebined it with the Pale Cloud me, thebination of fire and water would be particrly impressive.


    Putting away the water, Tang Jie returned via the teleportation formation to the pce.


    With this teleportation formation, he had solved the problem of Thunder decking the proper aura, and he began to enjoy the emperor''s life.


    As Silver Eyes, he focused mainly on government affairs to keep his original body busy, and it wasn''t long before Tang Jie had a clear understanding of all of the Silver Eyes Empire, knowing more about it than even the real Silver Eyes.


    Thunder de''s side focused mostly on cultivation, spending most of his time in seclusion. It was very normal for Fiend Emperors to cultivate, so Thunder de was acting normally while it was Silver Eyes who was being strange. If it weren''t for the fact that Thunder de and Silver Eyes had fought each other, indirectly proving that there was nothing wrong with Silver Eyes, everyone might have started to get suspicious. Several monthster, the first batch of twenty Origin Spirit Pills was delivered.


    Twenty Origin Spirit Pills were equivalent to twenty years of cultivation. Tang Jie''s avatar had only been at the Heart Demon Tier for five years, so these pills would naturally give him a huge boost. But starting from Celestial Heart, rising a tier became extremely difficult. Previously, Tang Jie had had to go all-out in order to get the avatar ready to advance to Heart Demon, and getting beyond Heart Demon would require even more. Even twenty Origin Spirit Pills was nothing more than a cup of water on a burning cart for the avatar.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie was in no rush. He still had eighty more in the pipeline. After using all one hundred Origin Spirit Pills, even if he couldn''t reach the peak of Heart Demon, he should have at least reachedte-phase Heart Demon without a problem.


    Today, Tang Jie was with Yiyi, cultivating in the meditation chamber.


    The original body''s cultivation primarily consisted of studying the Myriad Immortals Cauldron to improve his understanding of the Yin Yang Dao.


    As he was in the middle of this, he suddenly sensed something and warily looked around.


    The space in front of him rippled, and a figure appeared before him.


    Just when Tang Jie was about to punch, he stopped and shouted, "Little Three?"


    The one who had suddenly appeared in the chamber was Little Three, who should have been back at the Inkcloud Abyss.


    But it hadn''te through the teleportation formation, instead appearing directly in front of Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was startled, and then he realized what had happened. "You can pass through spatial barriers?"


    Little Three looked at Tang Jie and proudly smiled. A voice rang out in Tang Jie''s and Yiyi''s minds. "Father, Aunt, I can freely pass between the Nether Domain and mortal ne now."


    "Call me Big Sister!" Yiyi loudly and seriously emphasized. She hated being called old. As for her calling Tang Jie "Big Brother" and Little Three calling him "Father", she decided topletely ignore the sort of family tree problems this created.


    "Wonderful." Tang Jie embraced Little Three.


    After all that searching and expense, he had finally managed to bring Little Three to the level that was needed. Tang Jie had been looking forward to this for a long time. While he had only spent one year ruling the two fiend empires, in this one year, he had basically emptied them of Space treasures, even seizing the Space treasures of the other three fiend empires and Fengshan through various methods. Space treasures were already rare, and they had be even more rare now.


    "Little Three, do you still remember what I need you to help me with?" Tang Jie asked the ghost.


    "Mm." Little Three earnestly nodded. "Once I''m able to freely travel the Nether Domain, I should look for a path to the Blood River Domain and find a woman called Xu Miaoran to tell her that you''re alive. If I can''t find her, then I should find the people of the Rosecloud Store in the Blood River Domain or find people of the Basking Moon Sect or Horizon Ocean Pavilion in the Rosecloud Domain. Everyone else, I should avoid as much as possible."


    "Very good." Tang Jie hugged Little Three and gave it a kiss. "Remember that you absolutely can''t be discovered. Blood River is better, but the Rosecloud Domain hates ghosts, so they''ll destroy you if they spot you."


    "Father, rx. I might not be able to beat them, but if I run, nobody will be able to catch me," Little Three proudly replied.


    This was the only thing that could reassure Tang Jie. In terms of speed, Tutu might still be faster, but when it came to the ability to escape, Little Three had long ago be the strongest. This little guy could freely jump between the mortal and ghost nes, so as long as it didn''t get careless, nobody would be able to capture it.


    "But you should still be careful. The world is big, and anything could happen. Your spatial abilities aren''t unstoppable, so you absolutely must not get careless. Before you arrived, I was able to sense youring. From this, we can see that you still can''t adequately suppress the ripples created when you pass through the spatial barrier. If you use this in front of a cultivator at Heart Demon or above, they might see through it and perhaps even take measures to counteract it," Tang Jie worriedly advised. "In short, never believe that you''re invincible just because you have a few tricks up your sleeve."


    Little Three nodded, but it was clear from the look on its face that it wasn''t taking these words to heart.


    In the end, it was still young and had the mindset of a child.


    Tang Jie knew that it hadn''t taken his advice seriously, and he couldn''t help but worry. But he could only let it, as he could offer it no help. All he could do was give Little Three a talisman.


    This was a Storage Talisman. Jumping through the spatial barrier was riskier than using a teleportation formation, and a Mustard Seed Bag couldn''t be brought along, so this Storage Talisman had to serve as a recement. Storage Talismans had much less space than Mustard Seed Bags, but they were more stable and could be stored inside the body. Tang Jie had prepared it specifically for Little Three, and inside it were some treasures that could save Little Three in times of crisis and some tokens which could be shown to Xu Miaoran and the others so that they could trust Little Three.


    As a father, he could only do this much for Little Three, and to be safe, Tang Jie had stuffed as many treasures as he could in there, not caring for the cost. Although Little Three had averagebat strength, with these treasures, the average Celestial Heart cultivator would have a hard time beating it.


    Little Three took the talisman and put it into its body. "Then, Father, I''m going."


    "Don''t rush." Tang Jie took out an item, wiped away his own mental mark, and gave it to Little Three. "This is also for you to use. Come; attach your Soul Will to it and you can freely use it."


    Little Three did as Tang Jie said and immediately felt the power of the Heavy Water. "Oh, it''s wonderful!" it shouted in glee.


    Chuckling, Tang Jie took out a string of pearls. These pearls were Century Cloud Pearls produced by the Southern Sea King. There were eighteen of these glistening pearls, and they had the effect of calming the mind. There was also a small spell art attached to the ne that could create a cloud of mist around the wearer to obscure them. While there was little power behind it, it was very practical. There was also a crystal pendant hanging from it that slightly enhanced the effect of illusory mist spells.


    Tang Jie pulled off this crystal pendant and put the Profound Heavy Water in its ce.


    He then hung the ne around Little Three''s neck.


    Tang Jie said, "Your body is translucent, so if you brought anything else, you could be easily discovered. With this thing, you won''t be easily seen through. Keep it on you, but don''t use it unless it''s absolutely necessary."


    "Mm!" Little Three turned serious.


    Tang Jie sighed. "Go, and remember to stay safe."


    Little Three disappeared, leaving spatial ripples behind.


    Tang Jie heavily sighed once more.


    While it was true that the Nether Domain led to the Blood River and Rosecloud Domains, finding those roads wouldn''t be easy. There was no telling when Little Three woulde back.


    But regardless, having hope was better than no hope.


    "Letters home are hard to send," Tang Jie remarked.

 Chapter 685: Pressure

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    A bleak and dark world under a gray sky.


    An endless river flowed out of the void, countless ghosts emerging from within.


    Little Three stood on the shore of the Nether River and looked around.


    Now freely able to travel through the spatial barrier, it no longer had to rely on that weak point in the Inkcloud Abyss. But traveling between domains still wasn''t easy. Each world of the Great Ster Chiliocosm had its corresponding space in the Nether Domain. Only when one was at the right location could one travel from the Nether Domain to the right world.


    It didn''t know where these locations were, so it could only search for them.


    The Nether Domain was veryrge, and finding it would take time, patience, and luck.


    Fortunately, Little Three had lived in the Rosecloud Domain before.


    Space experts could mark ces they had been to before, like the cultivation chamber. Little Three had been there before via the teleportation formation, so it had been able to use the Nether Domain to go between the Inkcloud Abyss and the cultivation chamber.


    Although Little Three hadn''t awakened its spatial gift while in the Rosecloud Domain and couldn''t ce a mark there, it had least experienced that world before and had some impression of it.


    This impression couldn''t be used as a marker, but it allowed Little Three to vaguely sense the Rosecloud Domain and move in the right general direction.


    After looking around, Little Three followed that guide in its heart and determined the direction it should go in.


    It didn''t know how long it would take¡ªa year, two years, ten years, a hundred years¡ªbut it would keep flying until it reached the other side of Fate.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The Rosecloud Domain, Great Wind Ind.


    This was thergest ind in Rosecloud''s southern sea region. It had an area of two million square kilometers and was surrounded by more than four hundred smaller inds, forming a giant archipgo.


    On the seas to the west of Great Wind Ind, an Immortal pce floated, traveling through the archipgo on a course that took it around the entire ind.


    This was the famous Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Unlike other sects, Horizon Ocean Pavilion didn''t have a headquarters with a fixed location. Rather, through their Dao armament, the "Horizon Ocean Pavilion", they could freely travel through the entire archipgo,pletely disregarding the ocean.


    This was why the people of Horizon Ocean Pavilion considered all of the sea to be their territory, open ins for them to ride across.


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion appeared like an iceberg, having only a circumference of one thousand feet and standing only ten floors tall. While it was still majestic, it was greatlyckingpared to the Basking Moon Sect''s mountain range or the mountain-turned-pce of Godhead Pce. But if one could look through the surface of the water, one would find that this Immortal pce truly was like an iceberg, the part underwater ten timesrger than what was on the surface.


    A massive underwater world was quietly advancing through the depths of the ocean, its countless windows of crystal ss revealing the young and energetic faces within.


    Xu Miaoran stood in front of a window, gazing at the rainbow schools of fish swimming past. She stroked a finger across the window, leaving behind a faint wisp of white energy that passed through the window and entered the water, where it turned into some spirit grains that countless fish immediately began to fight over.


    If someone saw this ability to create matter, they would praise Xu Miaoran''s remarkable development speed. The ability to create matter required someone to be at least at the Heart Demon Tier, which meant that Xu Miaoran was a Heart Demon cultivator.


    In less than ten years, she had risen from Spirit Ring to Heart Demon¡ªa truly praiseworthy speed. Only Xu Miaoran herself understood that this was entirely because she controlled the inter-domain trade. The vast sea of resources had been enough to turn even a pig into an Immortal, let alone Xu Miaoran, who was both talented and the child of a Violet Pce True Lord.


    As she watched the fish wrangle for food, the door behind her opened.


    Hong Yuan entered and said, "Young Lady, Young Master Lan wishes to see you."


    "Lan Yu?" Xu Miaoran arched an eyebrow. "What does he want?"


    "Naturally, to see my junior sister." A blue-robed young master, Lan Yu, came inside.


    Lan Yu was much more mature than he was in the past.


    Gone was that arrogant self-confidence, reced by a little sinister coldness. Worth noting was that spiritual energy energy rippled under his feet¡ªa sign that he was a Spirit Ring cultivator.


    To get this far in such little time was astonishing, for the Three Witherings were not easy to ovee. It was clear that Lan Yu had had his own lucky encounter.


    Standing next to Xu Miaoran, Lan Yu smiled and said, "It''s been many years since west met, but Junior Sister is still as elegant as ever. Right, I haven''t congratted Junior Sister on bing a Heart Demon True Person yet. Now that you''ve attained a nascent Divine Soul and unity of body, heart, and mind, you can cultivate the Immemorial Jewel Art."


    The Immemorial Jewel Art was one of the supreme secret arts of Horizon Ocean Pavilion and one of the foundations of the sect, so it could not be transmitted to outsiders. As the daughter of a True Lord, Xu Miaoran naturally had the right to cultivate it.


    Because of Tang Jie, Xu Miaoran treated Lan Yu very coldly. "What I cultivate has nothing to do with you. Our rtionship has never been good, so there''s no need for you toe and personally greet me."


    Lan Yu was not annoyed by this. "Junior Sister, don''t be a stranger. I know that Junior Sister is managing the inter-domain trade and is constantly busy. You''ve finally returned to Horizon Ocean Pavilion to take part in the five-thousand-year anniversary of the founding of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, so it''s only right that you get together with your juniors and seniors. I came specifically on Senior Brother Xin Yue''s orders to deliver to Junior Sister an invitation to Senior Brother Xin''s small party at Jade Splendor Pavilion tomorrow."


    (TN: No rtion to Xin Yue who was a lecturer at Basking Moon Academy)


    Although the six major sects had controlled Rosecloud for less than two thousand years, they had been founded long before then. This year was Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s 5000th anniversary, and disciples that were abroad were all returning to take part in the festivities. This was why this Immortal pce was full of hustle and bustle.


    Xu Miaoran snorted. "Not interested. Not going."


    Lan Yu casually replied, "Junior Sister, you shouldn''t be so hasty to refuse. After all, you have to give Senior Brother Xin a little face."


    Xu Miaoran''s eyes flew open. "What? If Xin Yue holds a party, I have to go? One might think that he wasn''t only inpetition to be Young Lord of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, but had already be Young Lord, or perhaps even Sect Master."


    A voice rang out. "Junior Sister, Xin Yue dares not ept the weight of such words."


    In a blur, a person appeared in front of Xu Miaoran, wearing martial robes and with arge fiery saber on his back. While he wasn''t as dashing as Lan Yu before his face had been disfigured, he also wasn''t ugly, his cold and angr face radiating determination.


    This person was Xin Yue, the most outstanding member of Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s junior generation.


    ording to the rules of the six major sects, anyone who had not cultivated for one hundred years was a junior.


    Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran had only cultivated for thirty-some years, but Xin Yue had cultivated for eighty-some years.


    Although he was also only at the Heart Demon Tier, Xu Miaoran knew that Xin Yue had worked for every step of this cultivation, so his foundations were firm and his strength prodigious. If they fought, she, having relied on medicines to get this far, would be no match. Even two or three of her would lose.


    Among the juniors, the only one who was certain to beat Xin Yue was the number one genius of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, Han Shuangyue, the one known as the Mourning Wind Maiden.


    This woman had been in the sect for fifty years, but ten years ago, she had already beaten all of her peers and was currently one of the Young Lords of Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    The status of Young Lord was not a unique one among the six major sects, nor was it a guarantee that one would be Sect Master.


    They represented the future manager ss of the sect.


    Besides Sect Master, important posts like elders, hall masters, and even the Sword Holder were selected from the Young Lords.


    For example, while the Mourning Wind Maiden was a Young Lord, her future path wasn''t Sect Master, but Helmsman of Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    This wasn''t strange. The six major sects had long ago passed the era where only martial might mattered. While the Sect Master couldn''t be weak, they didn''t need to be the strongest. Managing a sect didn''t require just martial strength, but also vision, ambition, intelligence, and bearing.


    There were countless examples of people who had only strength and no vision or intelligence that ended up steering their sect into the abyss.


    As for the strongest of the sects, there could be other arrangements.


    For example, the Sword Holder of the Basking Moon Sect was a post set up specifically for those who were the strongest but were unwilling or unsuitable for the post of Sect Master.


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s Helmsman was the equivalent post, and the Mourning Wind Maiden''s futurey there. Horizon Ocean Pavilion had already officially begun the training of the next Helmsman.


    This year was Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s 5000th anniversary. ording to the rules, another Young Lord post would be opened this year.


    Young Lords were only allowed to be chosen from the junior generation. Xin Yue had cultivated for 83 years now, and he was only 17 years away from leaving the junior generation. In other words, if he missed this chance, he probably wouldn''t get another.


    This was why Xin Yue was particrly active in thepetition for the Young Lord position this time, doing everything he could to recruit forces to his side.


    Xin Yue smiled and said, "Junior Sister, please don''t misunderstand. This foolish brother simply dearly misses Junior Sister after not seeing you for so long, so I asked Junior Brother Lan to bring you an invitation. But perhaps Brother Lan did not choose the right words, causing Junior Sister to misunderstand."


    "Then if I tell you right now that I''m not going, will that do?" Xu Miaoran shot back.


    Xin Yue replied, "If Junior Sister doesn''t want to go, this foolish brother would dare not force you. But Junior Sister, there are some things that need to be let go when the time is right. To continue holding onto them is not good for you."


    Xu Miaoran''s face turned cold. "What do you mean by this?"


    Xin Yue replied, "Junior Sister knows what I mean. Tang Jie is dead¡­ He''s noting back!"


    Xu Miaoran paled. "Bullshit!"


    Tears welled up in her eyes, but she managed through sheer willpower to prevent them from falling.


    Nothing had been heard of Tang Jie for thest few years, and while Xu Miaoran had always held tight this secret, the inter-domain trade was too big, and when its master disappeared, leaving Xu Miaoran alone to manage it, people started to get suspicious. Moreover, Ling Xiao had taken Tang Jie as his disciple, but Tang Jie said that he would only return to the mountain after he had finished handling matters in Blood River. Nothing had been heard from him after that, and as time went on, rumors began to spread that Tang Jie was already dead.


    Even though Xu Miaoran refused to admit it, nobody came out to refute the rumors, so the situation grew more and more serious.


    Xin Yue didn''t try to argue, simply backing up a few steps and saying, "In truth, it doesn''t matter if you believe it or not. What''s important is whether the True Lord believes it."


    Father?


    Xu Miaoran raised her head.


    Xin Yue smiled. "Right, I forgot to tell Junior Sister. I already submitted my marriage proposal several days ago."


    "You dare!" Xu Miaoran roared.


    "It''s already done," Xin Yue replied. "Moreover, the True Lord agreed to it. He said that if I officially be a Young Lord, he will marry Junior Sister to me."


    Xu Miaoran trembled. "I don''t believe it¡­ I don''t believe Father would do such a thing."


    Xin Yue''s face turned cold. "What''s not to believe? Didn''t you force him into this?"


    "''I forced him''?" Xu Miaoran was stunned.


    Xin Yue said, "Junior Sister and that Tang Jie have a great affinity for each other, and you''ve probably already done all those illicit things."


    Xu Miaoran shuddered.


    Xin Yue continued, "In addition, there have been rumors that when you two were in Nadir Hill, you exchanged vows and became a couple. At the time, Tang Jie''s fame was at its peak, and his strength was pretty decent. Given that the True Lord saw how devoted you were to him, he decided to recognize your rtionship. But now that Tang Jie is dead, these rumors can no longer be suppressed. You only care for yourself, but have you ever thought of your honored father''s reputation?"


    Xu Miaoran understood. "So my father has sold off his daughter that ruined his reputation?"


    "Not at all, but the daughter is all grown up, so she has to be married off," Xin Yue chuckled. "Although Junior Sister is no longer a virgin, I, Xin Yue, am devoted to you, so I can ept this little dishonor. Moreover, as a Young Lord, I would have a status fit for Junior Sister, which can calm the rumors."


    "And then?" Xu Miaoran asked. "Is there nothing else?"


    Xin Yue was surprised. "What else could there be?"


    Xu Miaoran snorted. "If my guess is right, after that, I would have to let you manage the Blood River trade, right?"


    Xin Yue grimaced. "I have no idea what you''re talking about."


    Xu Miaoran replied, "You know! The inter-domain trade has been running for so long that some secrets can no longer be kept. Moreover, that I was able to push through the Three Witherings, enter Celestial Heart, and achieve Heart Demon in so little time is bound to have drawn attention. Marrying a woman who''s lost her virginity is just the bonus. What you really want is the massive business under her control, no? With resourceses strength. Senior Brother Xin Yue, you''ve got quite the scheme!"

 Chapter 686: Counterattack

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Looking at Xu Miaoran''s eyes, Xin Yue paled.


    After a long while, he finally said, "Junior Sister is overthinking things."


    "I''m sure you know that more than anyone else," Xu Miaoran tersely replied.


    Xin Yueughed. "It seems that Junior Sister still has some misconceptions about me. It''s fine. With time, you''ll understand my feelings."


    He shot a nce at Lan Yu and walked off.


    Once the pair were gone, Xu Miaoran weakly sat down.


    Hong Yuan hastily moved to support her. "Young Lady, how could your father¡­"


    Xu Miaoran stopped her. "Don''t me Father for this. He has no other choice."


    "Eh?" Hong Yuan was stunned.


    There was someone who could pressure a Violet Pce True Lord?


    "It''s the other Violet Pce True Lords, of course!" Xu Miaoran replied. She then sighed. "The inter-domain trade has made some people grow envious."


    Marrying Xu Miaoran was just an excuse to take control of the massive business Xu Miaoran controlled.


    When Tang Jie was around, the Basking Moon Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion suppressed each other, both unable to say anything.


    Once Tang Jie was gone, Xu Miaoran became the sole powerholder, and people started to get ideas.


    A few years ago, someone had proposed that the Basking Moon Sect should have its share removed now that Tang Jie was gone. Only through Xu Miaoran''s strenuous objections had this n been put aside. But it was precisely this proposal that made both Horizon Ocean Pavilion and Xu Miaoran realize various problems.


    Xu Miaoran started to sense her sect''s greed, or else she would have never so easily guessed at the motives behind Xin Yue''s proposal.


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion realized that such a vast and important fortune was being controlled by a single woman, and one that was notpletely loyal to them. The problem was too serious, so they began to think about putting everything back under their own tent.


    It was just like the stance the Basking Moon Sect had had toward Tang Jie. Horizon Ocean Pavilion didn''t care if that wealth ended up in the hands of any one disciple. What they cared about was that this disciple was loyal.


    Thus, Horizon Ocean Pavilion started to think of ways to solve this problem.


    The best way was to find another man for Xu Miaoran.


    If Xu Miaoran were married to someone from Horizon Ocean Pavilion, her heart would eventually return to it, and the wealth from the inter-domain trade would all end up with Horizon Ocean Pavilion. After all, while she was unwilling, if the marriage were done, everything would be the husband''s. History had proved this far too many times.


    Thus, Horizon Ocean Pavilion applied pressure to Xu Guanghua, which was when the rumor that Xu Miaoran was no longer a virgin began to spread.


    If it were just these rumors, Xu Guanghua could have endured it.


    The problem was that there truly was no news of Tang Jie. He could ept the rumors, but he couldn''t ept his daughter being a widow. If the rumor spread, how could his daughter marry anyone else?


    As a father, Xu Guanghua loved his daughter, but every person had a different way of expressing their love.


    This was why the pressure from Horizon Ocean Pavilion gradually began to show results¡ªfinding an excellent man who wouldn''t shun his daughter became Xu Guanghua''s dream.


    In such circumstances, it wasn''t strange for Xin Yue to appear. After all, he was the most outstanding junior disciple Horizon Ocean Pavilion had produced in thest one hundred years, possessing both excellent looks and character. He was a great match for Xu Miaoran, and Xu Guanghua had no reason to reject him.


    As the daughter, Xu Miaoran could refuse her father''s arrangements, but she couldn''t criticize these arrangements for being mistaken.


    After all, it was nobody else''s fault that Tang Jie was so incapable that there was still no news of him.


    Xu Guanghua had already been very patient.


    "Then¡­ Young Lady, what do you n to do?" Hong Yuan panicked after hearing Xu Miaoran''s exnation. She had never imagined that worldly affairs would be soplex, that even her youngdy could be pressured into a marriage.


    "''What do I n''?" Xu Miaoran''s eyes gleamed with a ruthless light. "As they say, a general wille to head off the soldiers, and earth can be used to dam the waters."


    "Young Lady¡­" Hong Yuan saw the look on Xu Miaoran''s face and was momentarily taken aback.


    She took a deep breath, and the blush on her cheeks faded, reced by a hardy resolve.


    Xu Miaoran said, "They''ve made a mistake."


    "What?" Hong Yuan asked.


    "They underestimated me," Xu Miaoran answered.


    Yes, these people had plotted long and calcted well. They had seen through Xu Guanghua''s thoughts, allowing them to get him to agree to this marriage.


    But they had underestimated Xu Miaoran, or perhaps they had simply disregarded her will. After all, in this era, so long as the father gave the nod, the children mostly couldn''t refuse the marriage.


    Xu Miaoran stood up.


    Looking out the window at the swimming fish, Xu Miaoran said, "They believed that they could decide my fate by getting my father''s approval, but they''re wrong. If I don''t want to marry someone, then even an Immortal tform Titan won''t be able to marry me."


    "Right!" Hong Yuan clenched her fists and said, "Even if we have to struggle to the death, we can''t let them have their way."


    "''Struggle to the death''?" Surprisingly, Xu Miaoran rolled her eyes at Hong Yuan. "That''s the dumbest decision. Dying is very easy, but living is hard. I''ve cultivated so many years precisely so that I can live forever with eternal youth, so how can I speak so easily of death? Tang Jie was right. Death is defeat, and how can a defeated general ever speak of courage? Only those who survive can fight, canugh at the losers."


    "Eh?" The maid was somewhat taken aback. "But then how can we fight back? They could even kidnap you into the marriage if they wanted."


    "That''s why you need to use your brain," Xu Miaoran said. "Don''t always go around thinking about death like a fool. Dealing with your enemies requires being more cunning and ruthless than them."


    "But we can''t beat them," Hong Yuan sobbed.


    "Idiot!" Xu Miaoran scolded. "I''m telling you to use your brain."


    "Argh, Young Lady, I can''t use my brain that well. I just listen to whatever you say," Hong Yuan shouted, clutching her head.


    Xu Miaoran fell silent and began to think.


    After a while, she said, "I''ve got an idea. Didn''t Xin Yue say that my father would agree to his proposal if he officially became a Young Lord? If that''s the case, we just won''t let him be one."


    "But Xin Yue is the strongest among the juniors. Nobody except Senior Sister Han is a match for him."


    "If he doesn''t have an opponent, we''ll make one! Hmph, I was able to use my immense wealth to push me to Heart Demon in a short time, so I can do the same for others. While nobody in Horizon Ocean Pavilion canpare to Xin Yue in terms of martial might, how can anyonepeting for the right to be Young Lord be weak? Fan Chenglong, He Songxu, Luo Anbo¡ªthese senior brothers are each and every one a prodigy, a proud son of heaven. They''re only a littleckingpared to Xin Yue. I can just support one of them until they''re at the point where they can have a good bout with Xin Yue, and that just might be enough to ovee him."


    Hong Yuan''s eyes lit up. "Right, so long as you help someone else defeat Xin Yue, he won''t be able to be Young Lord! But it''s not far from the day of the tournament. Even if we stuff the candidate with medicines, it still can''t be easy to get those senior brothers to surpass Xin Yue, no?"


    Xu Miaoran nodded. "It truly won''t be easy. Spirit medicines still need time to work. There are only seven or eight days until the tournament, and even I can''t guarantee that they could catch up so quickly. But thepetition for Young Lord isn''t just about individual strength, but also reputation and the ability to gather people. It''s not something decided through pure strength, but through the support of the lower disciples and the Elder Council."


    "Young Lady, you mean¡­"


    Xu Miaoran snarled, "Bribe them! Bribe all the sect members that I can. No matter who they are, everything is fine so long as they don''t support Xin Yue. Give them different amounts of money depending on their strength and influence. Bribe everyone from elders all the way to the students, but no matter the price, Xin Yue can''t be Young Lord!"


    These words had Hong Yuan sweating.


    After operating the inter-domain trade over the years, Xu Miaoran was no longer that ignorant girl of the past. Ten years of trading had broadened her experiences and sharpened her wits.


    Ten years of fermentation had made Xu Miaoran much more mature, and there had also been Tang Jie''s teachings.


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion had underestimated her will, underestimated her love for Tang Jie, and underestimated her intelligence, which was why Xu Miaoran was bound to flip the tables in this sh.


    But Xu Miaoran clearly didn''t think this was enough. After some more pondering, she said, "But even if he can''t be Young Lord, my father might change his mind and decide to marry me to Xin Yue anyway."


    "What then?"


    After some thought, Xu Miaoran coldly said, "If you do something, make sure to do the best job you can! Since they fabricated rumors, I can do it too! If they spread rumors without evidence that I''m not a virgin, I can say that Xin Yue has a bastard son on the outside! Let''s see whose rumors are more vicious and numerous! I''ll fight with them to the end! Hong Yuan, in a little while, you''ll handle this matter. No matter how much you have to spend, hire as many people as you can to spread rumors about Xin Yue. I want his reputation in the cesspit, stinking up to the high heavens!"


    Hong Yuan worriedly said, "That will take a lot of money."


    "Then spend it. Are you afraid that we don''t have the money!?" Xu Miaoran yelled.


    "Money! Since they''re after my money, I''ll use all that money to make them eat shit.


    "This is apetition!


    "Xin Yue wants to be Young Lord and marry me, but I want him to fail!


    "Fighting to the end is a disy of resolve. I can''t use death to prove my resolve to Father, for there''s no turning back from that, but I can use my endless money to prove it. Father wants to see my resolve, so I will let him know just how much this resolve is worth!"


    Xu Miaoran raised two fingers.


    "Twenty million! I''ll throw in twenty million to ensure that Xin Yue doesn''t be Young Lord of Horizon Ocean Pavilion and to let everyone know what happens to people who want to marry Xu Miaoran!"

 Chapter 687: Birthmark

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Winter left and spring came, another three months passing by in the blink of an eye.


    A small boat floated on the surface of a smallke outside Silver Eyes City.


    Tang Jiey on the boat, basking in the sun, a veiled bamboo hat shading his face.


    Strangely, in the reflection on the water, the person on the boat was having a drink.


    "Big Brother!"


    A crisp and sweet voice rang out.


    Another figure appeared on the boat. It was Yiyi, who, despite being disguised, exuded the mindset of a little girl with every move she made. Standing next to Tang Jie, she saw that he was asleep and giggled as she lifted his bamboo hat.


    But behind the veil was a faceless person.


    Yiyi froze, and then she felt the back of her neck tense up as someone lifted her up.


    The space around her shifted. The water was still the water, and the boat was still the boat, but the boat on the water had switched ces with its reflection. The Tang Jie on the boat was now drinking wine and holding up Yiyi, while the reflection in the water was sound asleep, now missing his hat.


    Tang Jie grabbed the hat from Yiyi''s hands and pushed it into the water.


    The bamboo hat reappeared on the face of the reflection.


    Yiyi was dumbfounded. She looked at Tang Jie and then at the reflection. "Big Brother, what is this?"


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Just a little inversion of Reality and Illusion."


    "But¡­" Yiyi pointed at the hat and then at Tang Jie, clearly confused. If this Tang Jie was real, then the hat should be fake, so how could it have ended up in her hand?


    Tang Jie patted her. "Silly girl, when the real bes fake, fake bes real. How can you be sure that the one you''re speaking with right now is the real one?"


    Space shifted again, and the drinking Tang Jie returned to being a reflection. The Tang Jie before her took off the bamboo hat and grinned at her, no longer appearing faceless.


    Yiyi pped her hands andughed in understanding. "So Big Brother can switch between reflections. So fun! I want to learn too!"


    "That won''t be easy." Tang Jie hugged Yiyi and scratched his nose. "You should cultivate the Imperial Ember Lotus Mantra first."


    "Rx, Big Brother. Take a look." Yiyi waved a hand, producing numerous petals in her hand.


    Unlike before, as these petals drifted in the air, they spun on their own, whistling and giving off a golden luster. As a petal fell from the air andnded on the boat, flecks of hundred-year-old Ironwood, tougher than metal, went flying into the air, the petal only stopping after it had dug three inches into the wood.


    Yiyi waved her hand again, and all the petals fluttered down, bursting into explosions. The petal that had cut into the boat also exploded, sending half of the boat flying. But the boat still floated atop the water rather than capsizing.


    "What do you think?" Yiyi proudly asked.


    "Not bad. You''ve already managed to master the conversion to the Metal and Fire powers, but you stillck Water and Earth. Keep working on it." Tang Jie patted the boat, and the ruined boat became a reflection while the boat they were seated on becameplete.


    Yiyi was very curious about what Tang Jie was doing, but while she wanted to study it, Tang Jie said, "Today is the day to pick up the medicine. Go to Dongjin Pass and pick it up."


    "Oh!" Yiyi grew excited at the mention of the medicine''s arrival.


    The medicine from Dongjin Pass was the primary support for the cultivation of Yiyi and the avatar.


    Over the months, seven batches of medicine had been sent over from Dongjin Pass. Thanks to all the Origin Spirit Pills, the avatar''s strength had been able to grow by leaps and bounds, and not too long ago, it had attained the middle phase of the Heart Demon Tier.


    Of course, behind this high-speed improvement was numerous resources.


    The vast sea of resources Tang Jie had taken from the two fiend empires, other than what had been used to support Little Three, had been used for this purpose.


    With Yiyi gone to Dongjin Pass, Tang Jie had nothing to do, so he returned to Silver Eyes Pce.


    Just as he was about to head to the imperial study, a servant reported, "The Cloud Fairy Concubine has requested your presence."


    As Lin Xin was a human, Lin Xin''s servants were mostly human. In any case, it wasn''t rare for fiends and humans to mix together among the fiends.


    Tang Jie was taken aback by Lin Xin''s invitation. "Is there a problem?"


    "The concubine did not say."


    "Understood." After some thought, Tang Jie decided to make his way to the Cloud Fairy Pce. After all, the Cloud Fairy was nominally his most favored concubine.


    Over thest two years, Tang Jie and Lin Xin had worked together extremely well, even acting out various quarrels in the pce.


    In order to "steal back" their emperor from Lin Xin, the other women of the harem had done everything in their power. Initially, Lin Xin had suffered rather badly from all their backstabbing plots.


    s, the other concubines had no idea that they were fighting an unwinnable war. No matter how many times Lin Xin was framed, she would never be toppled. But the concubines didn''t give up when they saw that their efforts were having no effect, and they attacked with even greater frenzy. At the height of the harem conflict, Lin Xin was even used of having an affair, and someone even had her serve poisoned tea to Tang Jie. s, even the crime of attempting to kill the emperor couldn''t fell the Cloud Fairy Concubine. On the contrary, when Tang Jie investigated the matter, he discovered the plots of a few of the concubines and had them executed.


    In that period of time, countless dramas yed out in the harem, the concubines joining hands and crazily attacking Lin Xin, their daring matching the most exaggerated pce dramas. Lin Xin rapidly matured under all these assaults, and she managed to y several of the concubines through her own methods. Of course, she had no need to trick Tang Jie. After she framed someone, she would tell the truth to Tang Jie, appearing rather happy and pleased as she did. As for Tang Jie, he evaluated her ns, pointing out their ws and strengths, where she had done poorly and he had to clean up after her.


    This was perhaps the strangest pce struggle in the world.


    If those concubines had known that they were fighting a war they could never win, they probably would have died from sheer anger first.


    Tang Jie coldly watched on as these women battled it out in the harem.


    Over thest two years, the number of women in the harem had dwindled, several of them dying and quite a few being removed. The only one unaffected was the empress. Even though Lan Ling had also tried to frame Lin Xin several times, Tang Jie had warned Lin Xin never to touch Lan Ling. In any case, Lin Xin had the invincible shield that was Tang Jie, so nothing could touch her.


    Fewer women meant fewer people thinking of ways to get in bed with Tang Jie, so Tang Jie finally had some rare free time, and even Lin Xin could take breaks.


    Lin Xin sending over a servant to request his presence like today was rather rare.


    Upon arriving at Cloud Fairy Pce, Tang Jie saw Lin Xin seated on a silk-cushioned stool, eating fruit.


    Her slender fingers peeled a dragon''s eye fruit. Just as she was about to put it into her mouth, she saw Tang Jiee in. She smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you''re here."


    Without rising, she offered the fruit to Tang Jie, her movements indescribably elegant and refined, like a nobledy rather than that wild woman trapped in the cage.


    Tang Jie moved over and took a bite. Smiling, he said, "Fruit peeled by my beloved consort is always delicious."


    Dismissing the servants, Tang Jie sat down and said, "What did you want to see me for?"


    The alluring look in Lin Xin''s eyes suddenly disappeared, and she asked Tang Jie, "Don''t you want to know why Silver Eyes locked me up?"


    Tang Jie was stunned.


    When it came to Lin Xin''s personal affairs, Tang Jie and Lin Xin had a tacit understanding.


    Given that this woman could go three hundred days without eating or drinking, Tang Jie knew that Lin Xin had some secret in her body.


    But he didn''t ask, because this ensured that their coboration went smoothly.


    In these two years, while Lin Xin had yet to attain the freedom Tang Jie had promised, under Tang Jie''s protection, she had livedfortably, probably living better than she ever had among humans.


    But today, her sudden suggestion bbergasted Tang Jie.


    Lin Xin put a dragon''s eye fruit into her mouth. "Silver Eyes locked me up because I have something in my body. It''s precisely this thing that makes my body different from usual, unable to cultivate but also very tenacious."


    "What is it?"


    Sorrow shed in her eyes. "I don''t know. I only know that I had it when I was born."


    As she spoke, she opened up her clothes, her actions frightening Tang Jie.


    And then Tang Jie saw a small snake tattooed on her chest.


    The little snake rested right between her breasts and was a gray-green color.


    Tang Jie frowned as he wondered what this was.


    At this moment, the little snake moved.


    It began to move like it was alive, slithering around Lin Xin''s body before finally stopping at the side of her waist, freezing there as if it was a snake-shaped birthmark that had always been there.


    "What is this?" Tang Jie said in shock.


    He had never seen something so strange.


    Lin Xin shook her head. "I don''t know. I''ve had this snake since I was born, but it didn''t move then. The first time it moved was on my fifth birthday¡­ That day, my parents were so scared that they couldn''t speak."


    Lin Xin softly continued.


    "On my sixth birthday, it moved again. Father thought I was possessed, so he had an exorcist try and get rid of it. That exorcist cast spells around my home the entire day and then said everything was fine. The next day, the exorcist choked to death while eating.


    "On my seventh birthday, it once more moved. Father requested a Spirit Disciple toe and cast a spell art to drive out demons¡­ That night, that Spirit Disciple slipped into the water and drowned.


    "Father didn''t give up. On my eighth birthday, as expected, the snake moved again, but Father was ready this time. He requested a famous Spirit Master toe and drive out the ghost. That Spirit Master was ruthless, slicing off that part of my flesh carrying the snake with his sword. But after one day, my wound hadpletely recovered, not even leaving a scar, and the snake was still there. As for that Spirit Master¡­ he suffered spiritual energy bacsh while cultivating and died from energy corruption."


    Tang Jie''s blood ran cold at this tale.


    Lin Xin looked at Tang Jie and smiled. "Isn''t it rather scary? But it was only the beginning. Every year, on my birthday, this snake would move. Father thought of every way to stop it, but he always failed. Instead, all those Spirit Masters he hired at high price would die for various reasons. As time went on, this matter became known, and everyone regarded me as a star of cmity, an ill omen, and nobody dared toe and try to exorcise ghosts from me anymore.


    "At that time, my father seemed to ept it. Since this snake had never harmed me, why try and drive it away? Thus, he let it be on my body, until the day of my sixteenth birthday¡­"


    "What happened on that day?" Tang Jie asked.


    "I was raped."

 Chapter 688: Fate

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    From the moment Lin Xin could think, she could never remember a time her father had smiled.


    He was always looking at her with eyes full of worry.


    As a child, Lin Xin saw many people going in and out of her home. They wore strange clothes and made all sorts of strange gestures. They looked at her like a monster, their eyes confused, or fearful, or excited.


    While some of them brought cheer into Lin Xin''s life, most of them brought pain.


    Even after a long time, Lin Xin still remembered the pain that came from that Spirit Master cutting off a chunk of her flesh.


    This situationsted for a very long time before finallying to an end.


    Those strange people suddenly stoppeding, and the house of the Lin n began to grow more lonely.


    The Lin n had once been a prestigious n, but to save its daughter, it had spent far too much money, causing the n''s circumstances to decline. Thus, word quickly spread that the daughter of the Lin n was a star of disaster, that she was possessed by a ghost that spread misfortune.


    At the height of this rumor''s influence, people would even attack Lin Xin.


    Whenever Lin Xin went out, she would be assaulted by children, some of them throwing rocks at her and others spitting at her, and she would often break out in tears.


    But soon, Lin Xin found that people didn''t dare to provoke her.


    For those children who had thrown stones either got sick or fell, and one boy even fell into a well while ying and died.


    The local people were scared witless.


    They no longer dared to bully Lin Xin, or even approach.


    Lin Xin grew up in this lonely environment.


    Her sixteenth birthday.


    This should have been a day worth celebrating. In her area, girls were considered adults at 16, of marriageable age.


    But nobody cared about Lin Xin.


    There were no celebrations or cheer, for everyone knew that this was a star of cmity. Everyone feared her and so kept their distance.


    But there would always be some people who didn''t know.


    It was a dark and windy night.


    Sitting in the fields by herself, she counted the stars in the sky.


    This was the only method of celebration she could choose, breathing in the air of nature and enjoying the serenity.


    At that moment, a man walked past these fields.


    He was thirsty and hungry, worn from travel.


    He saw Lin Xin seated on a rock like one would see a little white flower growing in a field.


    Greed overcame his rationality, and he lunged at the maiden, ignoring her struggles and yells.


    Lin Xin felt a stabbing pain, and she thought that she was going to die.


    Her eyes blurred, and then she saw a green sh of lighte from her body.


    A green snake flew out from her, went up to the man''s head, and swallowed it.


    It swallowed the man whole.


    She dumbly stared at the sky, gazing at the snake as it flew about. After a while, itnded back on the ground and flew back to Lin Xin, where it returned to being a motionless tattoo.


    "From that day forward, I realized that it wasn''t hurting me, but protecting me," Lin Xin said, but her eyes were full of grief.


    "But you couldn''t tell anyone this," Tang Jie said.


    Lin Xin nodded.


    Yes, what did it matter that she understood?


    Nobody would believe her, and she couldn''t tell anyone, for that would let others know that she had been raped. For a woman, integrity was more important than life. And she couldn''t say that her snake had eaten someone, for she would end up in prison.


    She couldn''t say anything, only watch as others regarded her as a walking disaster.


    As the days passed and she grew older, it came time for her to be married off.


    But nobody dared to make a proposal.


    Nobody wanted to invite disaster into their home.


    By now, the Lin n had fallen intoplete ruin thanks to this reputation.


    A father''s love reached its limit, and through a matchmaker, Lin Xin was to be married off to an old man in his fifties.


    In this area, only that old man suffering from consumption was willing to marry her¡ªit wasn''t like he had long to live anyway.


    Lin Xin was horrified when she heard the news.


    She fled her home that night.


    There was no ce in her hometown she could go, so she just wandered through the wilderness.


    Without anything to eat or drink, Lin Xin believed that she would starve to death in the wild.


    But she didn''t die. Whenever she felt hungry or thirsty, she would feel a sliver of energy enter her body from the snake birthmark. Thanks to the birthmark, she could keep going. She found that she could go a long time without eating or drinking, and she rapidly healed from her injuries. Even falling from a high ce couldn''t kill her.


    Like this, she wandered about for twelve years.


    "''Twelve years''?" Tang Jie gasped.


    Lin Xin didn''t seem more than twenty to him.


    "Unexpected, right?" Lin Xin chuckled. "It''s a star of cmity, but it''s also a star of fortune. It made me live a life of suffering and robbed me of my home, but it also protected me and granted me eternal youth. Thanks to it, anyone who attempts to harm me will meet a nasty end, but it also means I can''t cultivate¡­ I once encountered a Spirit Master and incidentally helped him. As a reward, he taught me an introductory cultivation method, but he discovered that I couldn''t open my Jade Gate no matter what, so I couldn''t cultivate."


    "Then did you ever try to drive it out again?" Tang Jie asked.


    "No, but some others tried. They thought it was a treasure and wanted to strip it from my body, but they all ended up dying."


    "All of them?"


    "Except one." Lin Xin looked at Tang Jie and chuckled.


    Tang Jie understood. "The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor."


    Lin Xin nodded. "He''s the only one who didn''t die, but he didn''t fare well either. After running into me, he became certain that my birthmark had to do with the Azure Dragons of High Antiquity and wanted to devour it. He said that if he could have this birthmark, he could control the power of Fate. But he never seeded. Instead, after his failure to devour it, he suffered thirty whole days of bad luck. Crises popped up around the empire, the harem descended into mayhem, and fiends were going around killing each other every day. As for him, a mighty Divine Division sovereign, he would trip while walking, or bite on a rock in his rice, and there was even one time where he suddenly felt uneasy while cultivating, causing energy to flow the wrong way, resulting in energy corruption. Thanks to his immense strength, he managed to turn everything around and survive. But this made him even less willing to give up¡­ He tried many times, and he also failed many times, but he managed to survive, until he met you¡­ At times, I wonder if his death at your hands was a coincidence, or if it had to do with me. Could he have provoked my birthmark too many times, finally enraging it into calling you over? If that was the case, then even he didn''t manage to escape."


    "Is that so?" Tang Jie narrowed his eyes.


    He looked at Lin Xin. "Why are you suddenly telling me all this?"


    Lin Xin dropped her head and thought it over before saying, "In those years, I would asionally have bad dreams. Most of them involved my neighbors surrounding me as they cursed, criticized, and beat me. But sometimes, I would have other dreams."


    "What kind of dreams?"


    "They were all very strange. One was that I was caught by someone who sold me to an old man in the mountains to be his daughter. The very next day, I saw a person identical to the one in my dream. Scared to death, I immediately ran away. I never saw that man again, so I never knew if he was a ver or not."


    Tang Jie narrowed his eyes again.


    "There are also times when I dream about things that have nothing to do with me, like wars, or the world crumbling. I don''t know if these things actually happened or will happen, but I experience these things as if I was right there. One time, I even dreamed about a person falling from the sky, his body covered in mes¡­"


    Tang Jie''s heart tightened. "Do you have any dreams that you''ve verified?"


    "I do!" Lin Xin smiled. "A few days before the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor died, I dreamed that I was seated in his pce, garbed in luxurious robes and dining on the finest foods, servants attending to my every need. I thought that I had gone mad, to dream of something like that."


    "Then¡­ what did you dream about yesterday?"


    "I dreamed that I was seated in front of you like this, telling you everything."


    Tang Jie understood.


    It was no wonder that she had volunteered all this information, because that dream had guided her.


    "And then¡­?"


    Lin Xin shook her head. Clearly, her dream had stopped here.


    After some thought, Tang Jie nodded. "I understand. You can rx. I won''t try to take your snake. Right, is today your birthday?"


    Unexpectedly, Lin Xin shook her head. "No, it''s not."


    Tang Jie was startled. "Didn''t you say that it only moved on your birthday?"


    "In the past, but it changed. Now, it can move around at any time."


    "When did this start?"


    "The day I met you."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Keee!


    A Punisher Ghost let out a hoarse screech, but it was unable to throw off the transparent ghost on its back.


    This little ghost was like a bloodsucking leech, clinging to its body and sucking out all of its ghost energy.


    Gradually, its vision darkened, and it copsed, emptied of ghost energy.


    Little Three jumped down from the back of the Punisher Ghost, patting its belly in satisfaction.


    While searching for the two worlds, it was also hunting ghosts.


    Thanks to its powerful spatial abilities, it could hunt ghosts as it pleased.


    After hunting this ghost, Little Three sniffed at the air, seeking out the direction it should go. Within its translucent little belly was a shing white ball made from intertwined threads.


    This was the power of Karma and the light of Fate that Tang Jie had left in Little Three''s body, linking it to its distant destination. With the power of Karma and Fate, all it needed was to keep on the path to eventually reach its end.


    But Fate didn''t mean constant fortune.


    Not long after Little Three left, two figures, one ck and one white, appeared at the site where it had brought down the Punisher Ghost.


    Holding mourning staffs, they floated over to where Little Three had been standing, looked at each other, and took in a deep breath.


    A few momentster, the ck figure said, "Yes, it''s a Hunter Ghost."


    It was an unpleasant voice, like metal sheets being mmed together.


    The white figure had a weeping voice. "A Hunter Ghost has returned! This is noughing matter! We must inform the Nether Emperors and have it hunted down!"


    The two figures disappeared.

 Chapter 689: Failure

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    On therge central tform, several thousand Horizon Ocean Pavilion disciples were seated together. Upon a raised tform were the 32 elders of the Elder Council.


    In a clearing in front of the Elder Council, several disciples stood, Xin Yue among them.


    But the domineering Xin Yue didn''t seem very happy at this moment.


    His body was covered in bloodstains, and he had a rather dour expression.


    He shot a venomous nce at the honest-faced man next to him. His name was Fan Chenglong, his greatest rival in this Young Lordpetition.


    The Young Lordpetition tested candidates on two martial topics¡ªindividualbat power and battlemanding¡ªand one civil topic, sect management.


    The Elder Council was in charge of the civil examination, while the martial exams had half their points decided respectively by the Disciple Assembly and the Elder Council. The one who had the highestbined score would be dered the winner. Of these, the battlemand category required the candidate to recruit their own people. They could only select from members of the sect, and they were limited to twenty, with a maximum cultivation level of Heart Demon Tier. It tested not only one''s ability tomand, but even more importantly, one''s connections and prestige within the sect.


    Xin Yue wasn''t very confident in the civil exam, but he was quite sure about the martial exams. Whether in terms of his individual prowess or his reputation in the sect, he stood well above the other disciples.


    But reality took him by surprise.


    How had Fan Chenglong be so strong? In the contest of individual strength, Xin Yue had fought with Fan Chenglong for an entire day before barely managing to beat him out.


    But this was fine. After all, in the individual strength category, he still got first ce.


    But the battlemand category was very unexpected.


    Xin Yue thought that he had recruited many fine experts within the sect for the battle, but to his surprise, Fan Chenglong had managed to get even more, even the likes of Chen Shu, Han Chen, and Jiang Xin. But these were clearly He Songxu''s and Luo Anbo''s people!


    These guys were conspiring against him!


    Fan Chenglong, just how much did you give He Songxu and Luo Anbo, that they would be willing to give up on the Young Lord contest to stop me?


    Xin Yue was about to explode from anger.


    This sudden development had caught Xin Yue off guard, and in the battlemand category, Fan Chenglong had managed to get the upper hand.


    Moreover, Fan Chenglong''s people were all fierce like bulls on steroids, many times stronger than what he knew.


    In the end, despite Xin Yue''s best efforts, he was ultimately defeated.


    Worst of all, during the battle, one of Xin Yue''s people identally heavily injured an opponent, the blood even sshing onto Xin Yue.


    Injury in a tournament was a major sect taboo!


    Xin Yue could feel everyone giving him unfriendly looks.


    Even so, Xin Yue was still confident he could win.


    Because he knew that Fan Chenglong was worse than him in the civil examination.


    The Elder Council was currently announcing everyone''s civil exam grades.


    A white-haired elder stood up and said:


    "I will now announce the civil exam grades.


    "He Songxu, civil exam, A-minus."


    Everyone pped.


    The grades for Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s civil exam were divided into A, B, C, and D, each subdivided into ''plus'', neutral, and ''minus''. Getting an A was no easy task. He Songxu was the smartest among all the disciples, but he had a rather soft personality that made him prone to make numerous ns and waver between them. Besides that, his personal strength was limited, so even though he had a talent for sect management, hecked the power to convince the masses, so people said it was better for him to be an advisor rather than the man in charge. Thus, everyone had expected his high score, and nobody envied him for it, for they knew that he didn''t really have a chance.


    "Luo Anbo, civil exam, C."


    There was another round of apuse.


    For Luo Anbo, who was as forthright as a big ape, this grade was pretty good. This person was extremely strong in battle, but s, he was too brainless as a person, the exact opposite of He Songxu. From the very start, everyone knew that he would fail at the civil exam. In reality, everyone had guessed that he would get a D, which was why a C was worthy of apuse.


    "Xin Yue, civil exam, B-plus."


    Xin Yue exhaled in relief.


    Although he didn''t get an A, to be honest, this was the best grade he could have gotten. This grade was probably partially thanks to the examiners he had bribed. For this contest, he had spent all of the wealth he had umted over the years, more than two million spirit coins! The thought had his heart wincing. But it was fine if he could ovee Fan Chenglong. Given Fan Chenglong''s mind, he probably wouldn''t score any better.


    "Fan Chenglong, civil exam, B-plus."


    Thunderous apuse!


    Xin Yue shuddered, shouting out, "This is impossible!"


    "What did you say?" the announcing elder barked, his eyes ring.


    rmed, Xin Yue hastily said, "Elder, please forgive me. This disciple is merely confused. Haven''t Fan Chenglong''s grades always been in the Cs? Even at his best, it would be a B-minus. How did he suddenly get a B-plus?"


    "What a joke," He Songxumented. "Your best civil exam grade is only a regr B, so how did you suddenly get a B-plus?"


    "You!" Xin Yue furiously red at He Songxu, but He Songxu fearlessly red back.


    On the other hand, Fan Chenglong woodenly said, "Don''t interrupt the elder."


    While Fan Chenglong had a rather wooden personality, he was very fair and honest, which was why he enjoyed the respect of his peers.


    Even Xin Yue had no choice but to fall silent, restraining his anger. Still, it''s only a tie, so the final result will be decided by the Elder Council and Disciple Assembly, he consoled himself.


    The Elder Council had received the results long before the announcement of the grades.


    The elders engaged in some whispered conversation, and then, the white-haired elder announced, "In this Young Lordpetition, the victor is¡­ Fan Chenglong!"


    These words exploded in Xin Yue''s ears like a p of thunder, dizzying him along with his followers.


    "How could this be? Big Brother Xin lost?" Their jaws dropped and their eyes flew open, but the rest of the audience erupted with thunderous apuse.


    "No! I don''t believe it!" Xin Yue shouted.


    He had spent eighty years cultivating and running around for the sect, eighty years umting fame and reputation, all for this moment.


    But when the moment came, he wasn''t the winner! How could he ept this?


    He shouted at the white-haired elder, "I don''t believe it! How could I lose? Yes, Fan Chenglong beat me in the battlemand category, but I beat him in individual strength. And then we drew on the civil exam. Since we were essentially equal, why should I lose to him?"


    The elder wasn''t angry, simply ncing at him and coldly saying, "Then why do you think that you should be the one to win?"


    "''Why''? Because of my reputation in the sect. From the Elder Council down to the disciples, when has Fan Chenglong ever been able to ovee me in terms of reputation? So when the masses choose who they support, it''s naturally going to be the one with the higher reputation!"


    "Why are you so confident that your reputation is better than Fan Chenglong''s?" the elder sneered, pointing at the crowd. "Why don''t you look around you and see how many people are cheering for Fan Chenglong''s victory?"


    Xin Yue trembled and looked back, upon which he saw that countless Horizon Ocean Pavilion disciples were loudly cheering. Even the normally stern martial uncles were all smiles and pping to congratte Fan Chenglong.


    As for He Songxu and Luo Anbo, they even went over to Fan Chenglong and hugged him as if they had been praying for this moment.


    The elder said, "If you don''t believe it, then I can just tell you that in this election, those disciples voting for Fan Chenglong reached as high as fifty percent, while those voting for you¡­ heh, not even ten percent."


    ''Not even ten percent''?


    Xin Yue''s heart turned ice-cold. "How? How could it be?"


    The elder seemed to want to stimte him even more, adding, "Oh, right, even the Elder Council wasn''t that enthusiastic about you. Of the 32 elders, only nine supported you, but seventeen supported Fan Chenglong. Oh, right, I also supported Fan Chenglong."


    What?


    Xin Yue''s vision went dark, and he almost fainted.


    The congrattory cheers continued, but as the loser, they had nothing to do with Xin Yue.


    He left alone and unnoticed, like a stray dog. Even those people who had sworn loyalty to him did not follow him, only silently watching as he left.


    After gambling everything and losing, Xin Yue was no longer someone worth paying attention to.


    He numbly walked the paths of the garden, until two people appeared before him.


    It was Xu Miaoran and Hong Yuan.


    Startled, Xin Yue asked, "You¡­ Why are you here?"


    And then Xin Yueughed. "If it''s about the marriage, then you can rx. I lost, so your esteemed father won''t marry you to me."


    "I know," Xu Miaoran said. "I came to tell you why you lost."


    Xin Yue froze, and then he understood, shouting, "It was you? This was your handiwork?"


    "You''ve realized a little toote." Xu Miaoran strode over. "It was me who persuaded He Songxu and Luo Anbo to give up on the contest and support Fan Chenglong, both openly and secretly. It was also me who bribed numerous disciples and elders to stop supporting you and support Fan Chenglong instead. It was also me who made Fan Chenglong and his people stronger so that they could beat you in the team battle. It was also me who fabricated rumors to destroy your reputation so that the people I wasn''t able to bribe lost confidence in you. Even the injury inflicted in the team battle was arranged by me, as there were some elders who weren''t easy to bribe, so I had to find some other way of worsening their impression of you¡­ It was all me."


    "You!" Xin Yue exploded with rage. "Why? Why did you have to do this!? Don''t you know how much I worked for this day? To make them choose me, I spent more than two million in spirit coins alone! That took me five whole years to save up!"


    Xu Miaoran scornfully said, "Then do you know how much I used? I''ve already used 23 million in thest few days, and that''s not even considering what I''ve promised to pay out. I estimate that I still need to pay those people another ten million in the next fifteen days. What is your two millionpared to that? To deal with you, I can use ten times that amount, and more! Five years is nothing! I would spend my life savings to get rid of you!"


    "Foul woman!" Xin Yue was crazed from anger, and he raised a hand to p her.


    Xu Miaoran didn''t dodge, standing fast and waiting for his strike.


    Pa!


    There was a resounding smack, and a bright red handprint appeared on her face.


    A momentter, there was a roar. "Xin Yue, attacking a fellow disciple is a crime!"


    He turned around and saw an elder walking over, holding a crystal ball in his hand. On the crystal ball, the scene of Xin Yue pping Xu Miaoran was ying.


    Xin Yue gasped and looked at Xu Miaoran. He said in a trembling voice, "You tricked me!"


    Xu Miaoran callously replied, "I bribed so many people that there was no way I could hide, and you would find out eventually. Rather than let you hold a grudge and seek a time to carry out your vengeance, better to strike first and have you removed. Don''t panic. The sect won''t do much to you. But for you to turn the humiliation of your loss at the Young Lord contest into anger andsh out at the daughter of a True Lord is a grave crime. From now on, the main base of the Horizon Ocean Pavilion is no longer fit for you. The Elder Council will decide to banish you to Cold Spring Pass, never to leave without permission."


    Xin Yue copsed to the ground.


    Cold Spring Pass was an extremely cold, barren, and dangerous ce, and it had always been the worst ce Horizon Ocean Pavilion could assign one to. Someone banished there to protect it couldn''t even get contribution points, essentially working for free. But he couldn''t refuse, for refusal meant treason, which meant execution.


    As he looked at Xu Miaoran, he began to regret his past decisions.


    "Fiend woman!" he squeezed out from between his teeth.


    "Thank you for the praise." Xu Miaoran easily epted this evaluation. It wasn''t the first time the women of Horizon Ocean Pavilion had been called fiend women, but it was quite rare to be called that by a fellow disciple.

 Chapter 690: Sentimental Attachment

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    "Young Lady, congrattions on finally driving off that annoying Xin Yue. Nobody will dare to try and marry Young Lady now,"Hong Yuan said with a giggle as master and servant made their way back.


    Yet she couldn''t but feel like there was something wrong about congratting her master on her inability to get married.


    Xu Miaoran appeared as indifferent as ever. "This matter isn''t over yet."


    "Eh?" Hong Yuan was shocked. "Is Xin Yue going toe back?"


    Xu Miaoran snorted. "''Xin Yue''? He''s done for in this life. I''m talking about the people behind Xin Yue."


    Xin Yue''s marriage proposal was only an excuse. What he was really after was the immense wealth under Xu Miaoran''s control, or perhaps one could say it was those teleportation formations.


    Anyone who controlled the teleportation formations would control a sea of resources. And what they didn''t know was that the teleportation formations were even linked to the Martial Lord''s hidden realm.


    Xin Yue''s failure didn''t mean the people behind him had given up.


    Even a True Lord''s daughter couldn''t hold off the greed of the determined. At best, they wouldn''t try marriage again, but if they woulde up with something else eventually.


    Hong Yuan got worried after hearing Xu Miaoran''s exnation. "Then what do we do?"


    "You¡­ All you know is how to y. You should learn how to use your head a little. Even if you had only half of Xian Tao''s ability, it would still lighten my load a little." Xu Miaoran jabbed a finger at Hong Yuan''s forehead.


    When Xu Miaoran wasn''t around, Xian Tao managed the trade in the Blood River. She was steady and mature, and Xu Miaoran was always able to rx when she was handling the job.


    In response to Xu Miaoran''s scolding, Hong Yuan grumbled, "It''s because I can''t think of anything that I don''t even bother."


    As they were talking, they returned to Xu Miaoran''s Rainsong Pavilion.


    Rather than going to her bedroom, Xu Miaoran took a seat in the hall and said, "If that''s the case, then just stand there and watch. Don''t say anything."


    "''Watch''? ''Watch'' what?" Hong Yuan was confused, but as Xu Miaoran had spoken, she didn''t dare to ask anything more.


    After a while, a voice came from outside. "Fan Chenglong, He Songxu, and Luo Anbo seek an audience with the Pufeng County Lord!"


    "Enter," Xu Miaoran calmly replied.


    Fan Chenglong''s group entered and deeply bowed to Xu Miaoran. "Chenglong is deeply grateful for County Lord''s assistance."


    Xu Miaoran replied, "Brother Fan is my senior, and now you will be the next Young Lord. Your status ceased to be below mine long ago, so there is no need to be so polite."


    Fan Chenglong replied, "Although Chenglong is a crude person, he knows how to repay gratitude. Xin Yue was above me in cultivation and reputation, and even the likes of Junior Brothers He and Luo were my equal. Without County Lord''s assistance, I would have had no hope. Even though I am now the next Young Lord, I would never be impolite to County Lord."


    Luo Anbo added in, "Originally, none of us would have been able to beat that Xin Yue. Senior Brother is honest and sincere, so him being selected is good for all of us, and that is not even considering the amplepensation County Lord provided."


    He Songxu added, "Unity is better than division, but people tend topete against each other rather than help each other. Without County Lord serving as the needle and thread to sew us all together, we three would have never worked together."


    Befitting his status as the top scorer in the civil examination, he spoke with great eloquence.


    Xu Miaoran couldn''t help but chuckle. "Senior Brothers, please stop calling me County Lord. It''s almost like we''re strangers. I know that it is out of respect and concern, but outsiders might think that I was putting on airs. Since we''re all on the same side, let''s not act so courteous. Is there anything wrong with calling me Miaoran or Junior Sister?"


    The threeughed.


    He Songxu said, "I have long heard that Junior Sister Miaoran is a hero among women, and I now know that these were no mere rumors."


    Luo Anbo scratched his head and chuckled. "Now that I think about it, we have to thank Xin Yue. Without him, we would have never been able to truly walk together with Junior Sister."


    These people had generally only heard about each other, simply nodding and greeting each other if they ever happened to meet. After all, they were all from different generations. But through this matter, Xu Miaoran had managed to build rtionships with quite a few elite disciples of the sect.


    Before the Young Lord contest, everyone had been unable to rx around each other, as there was no telling who might be a traitor. After all, one could know a person for a long time without understanding who they really were. Now that the Young Lord contest was settled, they could drop their guard and let go of their apprehensions. Gone was their caution and defensiveness, reced by confidence and appreciation.


    The conversation went on for some time, and they got along so well that they almost resented the fact that they hadn''t met earlier. They talked until early evening, and Xu Miaoran personally saw them out.


    Returning to the hall, Xu Miaoran asked, "Did you understand what you saw?"


    Hong Yuan asked in confusion, "Didn''t they juste to thank you?"


    "Idiot," Xu Miaoran sighed. "It wasn''t just to thank me. Hong Yuan, you have to understand that rtionships between people sometimes require an opportunity. I''m a True Lord''s daughter, so there are actually quite a few people trying to get close to me to recruit me or get into my good graces. But I never cared about it in the past, nor did I think that this would do me any good. After Xin Yue''s matter, though, I now see them as a source of power. This isn''t the power of an individual, but the power of a group, the power of wealth."


    Xu Miaoran paused for a moment before continuing, "Disaster and fortunee together, and sesses and failurese in turns. The weak must always understand how to fully use everything they have. At the time, I didn''t quite understand what these words meant, but now I do. With the matter of Xin Yue settled, I have two choices. I can go back to before, leaving business as business, but that will end up with me spending a lot for minimal benefit, like how I spent tens of millions to reject a single marriage, and it means I''ll have to keep dealing with more trouble. The other choice is to use this opportunity to set up my own faction."


    "''Set up your own faction''?" Hong Yuan was dumbfounded.


    "Yes, Xin Yue was a rope that ties us all together. While those people who took money and resources from me might have helped me out, from their perspective, they just did something they were already going to do for a considerable reward, so they are naturally brimming with gratitude toward me. Particrly Fan Chenglong''s group basically did nothing for immense rewards. But this isn''t the most important part. What''s more important is that they saw my wealth. If I can take out this money now, I can naturally take out more in the future. Money has to be spent eventually. It''s just a matter of who it is spent on. I could use it on Fan Chenglong, or I could use it on some other Li or Zhang. Since we''ve already established a rtionship through Xin Yue, why not keep up this rtionship? They need my money, and I need their power."


    "I see!" Hong Yuan eximed. "So they came today to ce themselves under you?"


    "As a True Lord''s daughter, I have a powerful backer, and as the manager of the inter-domain trade, I control immense resources, so it''s not strange for people to want toe under me. But if they want toe under me, they need to see my personality and if I''m trustworthy. Thus, they came today not to follow me, but to probe me out first. After all, we haven''t been working together for very long, so they need to observe. Importantly, they also came to see if I''m interested."


    In the past, Xu Miaoran definitely wouldn''t have been interested.


    For her, wandering the world with Tang Jie would be the best, and she had no interest in participating in plots and conspiracies.


    But now that Tang Jie''s status was uncertain, internal strife had arisen in Horizon Ocean Pavilion. To protect the property that Tang Jie had left behind, she had no choice but to fight. Establishing her own faction to contend against those people who craved her wealth was the best option.


    Tens of millions of spirit coins had bought not just Xin Yue''s defeat, but also a group of fellow disciples who favored her. Only by seizing this opportunity would Xu Miaoran truly gain the authority to speak in Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Otherwise, she would have to spend tens of millions to deal with every new crisis, and even Xu Miaoran couldn''t sustain this level of spending.


    When Xu Miaoran made the decision to set up her own faction, Fan Chenglong and the others sensed that Xu Miaoran had the desire to control her own fate. In these circumstances, it wasn''t strange at all for the two sides toe together. Moreover, Horizon Ocean Pavilion was a sect that revered women, so there was nothing shameful about following Xu Miaoran. The only problem was that Xu Miaoran still wasn''t an official Young Lord. but given that she was a True Lord''s daughter, there was no doubt that she would be a Young Lord.


    Of course, today was only a probe, only a beginning. More trust and affection would be established through additional interactions and time. But regardless, through this session, everyone had confirmed each other''s desires, which made things much easier in the future. It wasn''t just them. Others who had benefited from Xu Miaoran would also use the chance created by Fan Chenglong''s group to join Xu Miaoran.


    But Hong Yuan still seemed worried after understanding this. "The only concern is if your father causes trouble."


    Xu Miaoran curiously asked, "Why would my father want to stop this?"


    Hong Yuan replied, "How could your father not be angry at your defiance?"


    Xu Miaoran chuckled. "Silly, you don''t get what Father is thinking at all. He agreed to Xin Yue''s proposal because he was worried that I couldn''t be married off. I''ve already used my actions to show my thoughts on the matter, so he won''t try and force things again. As for setting up my own faction, Father would be happy to see it. Fathers are always like this. If I said that I wanted to wander the world and live a happy life, he would definitely be unhappy, thinking that I wasn''t thinking about improving. If I said that I was setting about on some grand project, willing to go through whatever tribtions or pain were necessary, he would be overjoyed. It''s like we were born just to suffer and that anyone who dares to try and just lie back and rely on the achievements of their parents is a waste and an unfilial child. Thus, now that I''m struggling to swim against the current and seize power, he''s probably ted, so why would he try to stop me? Just watch. Once the rumors of this matter get out, Father himself wille to back me up."


    Hong Yuan was utterly dumbfounded.


    Xu Miaoran''s tone suddenly changed. "But while I say that, I don''t actually want him to do it."


    "Why?"


    "The advantage of an elder intervening is that they can be of huge assistance, but the disadvantage is that they might meddle too much and show too much concern, questioning you on every little thing. If you don''t act ording to their designs, they are easily angered. One could say that they are the greatest source both of assistance and of trouble." Xu Miaoran sorrowfully said, "Father is a man who is stubborn in his ways. He will definitely help me, but he will also definitely want me to do it his way. Who is good and who is bad¡­ I will have to take his opinion on everything and be in step with him. I''m willing to step into the filthy and turbid currents of politics so I can control my own fate, so why would I ept doing things ording to his way? Thus, while he might want to help me, I don''t want it."


    "Then¡­ then what? Fan Chenglong''s group still isn''t enough, right?"


    "It truly isn''t enough," Xu Miaoran replied.


    Tens of millions of spirit coins could bring the lower-level disciples under Xu Miaoran, but it wasn''t enough to have the stronger ones following hermands, and they would continue to treat all transactions as strictly business, helping her once and settling ounts, and doing the same the next time around.


    Thus, other than Fan Chenglong''s trio, Xu Miaoran was sorelycking for experts.


    In addition, Xu Miaoran couldn''tpletely trust these people. Who knew which of them might be spies sent by others to undermine her?


    She needed experts, but these had to be experts she could trust. This was the current problem Xu Miaoran was facing.


    "So what do we do?" Hong Yuan asked.


    Xu Miaoran shook her head. "You can''t rush this kind of thing, only proceed step by step. But it''s not like I''mpletely without solutions."


    "And what is that?"


    "We should be able to find allies beyond Horizon Ocean Pavilion," Xu Miaoran muttered. "Like the Basking Moon Sect. They receive so much money from me every year, so I should let them know of the troubles I''m facing. Moreover, Tang Jie made so many friends in the Basking Moon Sect. If his wife is in trouble, shouldn''t his good brothers offer a helping hand?"

 Chapter 691: Support

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Sunwatch Peak.


    In front of the Shen Star Pce, two people were rapidly moving about.


    One of them was none other than Wei Tianchong, his chubby form weathered by the winds and tanned by the sun into a bulky and stalwart figure. But hisrge body was surprisingly nimble, flying through the winds and rain, his Sunbreak Sword unleashing wave after wave of energy as he fiercely battled a man dressed in ck.


    The man in ck was only holding a short de, which he swiped left and right, yet every move of his threatened a weak point of Wei Tianchong and forced him to go on the defensive. Seeing that he couldn''t hold, Wei Tianchong suddenly retreated a step and pointed with his left hand. There was a gust of wind, and within that wind was a cold and creepy face, a Shadow Soldier that Wei Tianchong had summoned. But rather than the lowest level of Shadow Soldier that Wei Tianchong could summon before, this was a Shadow General.


    The Shadow General opened its mouth and bit at the man in ck.


    The man in ck suddenly moved, sweeping past the Shadow General like a beam of light, his short de stabbing at Wei Tianchong''s shoulder and piercing through it. He grunted, "This is what happens when you rely too much on others!"


    But as his de stabbed into Wei Tianchong, the man in ck froze. Looking down, he saw that tworge hands had risen out of the earth and grabbed him, holding him fast.


    At the same time, Wei Tianchong''s Sunbreak Sword unleashed multiple bursts of sword energy, which came back together into a mighty sword intent¡ªthe Wavebreak sh of the Nine Coronal Transformations.


    At this moment, the man in ck exploded into a cloud of smoke and reformed on the other side of the area.


    The sharp sword light simply flew through the empty space beforending on a distant rock and sting it to bits.


    The man in ck turned to Wei Tianchong, who waved his hand and said, "Alright, it''s over; you won. Fourth Senior Brother truly is formidable. I still can''t beat you."


    The man in ck looked at his foot and muttered, "Brat, you''ve got some skill. This one counts as your win."


    Being grabbed by the puppet meant being controlled. Although he hadn''t been injured, he knew that this was because Wei Tianchong had gone easy on him. Otherwise, there was no way he could have turned outpletely unharmed. In those circumstances, it would have been very difficult to avoid the Wavebreak sh, and he probably would have had to take it with his body.


    This Fourth Senior Brother walked the path of agility, so he wasn''t too confident in his ability to withstand the Wavebreak sh. This was why he had conceded.


    While Wei Tianchong''s victory had relied on some tricks, and the circumstances of their match meant that they were fighting in a limited area and such methods would be no good out in the wild, and he had also suppressed his cultivation, a loss was still a loss. This Fourth Senior Brother didn''t try to argue otherwise.


    That Wei Tianchong could think of this move meant that he had not just gotten stronger in these years. His mindset had also greatly matured.


    His wounded arm swinging beside him, Wei Tianchong walked over and said, "It was all thanks to deception. In the end, I''m no match for Senior Brother."


    His spell arts slowly healed that stab wound. In the past, he would have been hollering in pain from this wound, but now, it seemed like nothing at all.


    "Kid, that you were able to do this much is great. What, are you actually hoping to be stronger than Old Fourth?" A yellow-robed man standing on the sidelinesughed.


    These people were all Yan Changfeng''s disciples, and one could say that they were all elites of the Basking Moon Sect. It would be hard to not be strong if one had to exchange blows with these people every day.


    As they were chatting andughing, a small boy came out of the hall and said, "The mountain master wishes to see Wei Tianchong."


    He then went off on his own business.


    "Master wants to see me, so I''ll take my leave."


    "Go, go," his senior brothers said, waving their hands.


    Wei Tianchong gestured with his hand, and fivebat puppets emerged from the muck, each one corresponding to one of the Five Elements. Each of them was an intimidating and powerful Grade 5 puppet, much stronger than that Grade 3bat puppet he once owned, and they all followed Wei Tianchong.


    A man wearing light yellow robes was startled. "So many? No wonder Old Fourth fell into the trap. But where did this kid get so much money? From the Wei n?"


    "Third Brother, you rarelye back from your trips, so you don''t know that our junior brother has been working very hard in thest two years. You remember when Waterhead Manor was exterminated two years ago? It was our junior brother who chased after the culprit for seven days and nights and brought them back alive, getting himself quite the sum of contribution points," someone replied.


    "There was also the ckhill Tortoise. Junior Brother worked together with several juniors of the Freedom Society to take it down. He immediately sold off the ckhill Pearl he got. With all that money he''s bringing in, what''s making a few puppets? And he''s also very cunning. He doesn''t have the puppets enter the fray now, instead using them for traps. He says that it''s so that he doesn''t waste them, because people can recover on their own while puppets take money to repair."


    The senior brothers allughed. "I didn''t think he was a miser."


    In the past, Wei Tianchong would let the puppet fight while he took the rear, but now, it was the opposite. This was huge progress no matter how one saw it.


    The Third Senior Brother raised an eyebrow. "''The Freedom Society''? That society with Qi Shaoming and Cai Junyang?"


    "So Third Brother also knows about it."


    "Of course. For the past few years, the Freedom Society has been rather famous in my Basking Moon Sect, producing quite a few experts. Cai Junyang is called the Nine Deaths Gentleman, or the Unkible Cockroach. Whatever sort of strange art he learned, it seems like he only gets stronger the closer he gets to death. As for Qi Shaoming, he lives up to his reputation as a genius. He created the Passing Shadow Phantom Clone sh, which is said to have been added to the Divine Firmament Sword ssic. The money he makes every year from selling this technique could make one''s hands go soft. And Liu Hongyan is the disciple of True Person Yuliu. They call her the Jade Judge, and she''s no weakling either. And even Peng Yaolong and Ye Tianshang joined itter on, so how can I not know about it?"


    "You forgot one."


    "Who?"


    "Bei Canghan."


    "Oh? So he also joined the Freedom Society? No wonder the Freedom Society''s reputation has been rising among the juniorstely." The Third Senior Brother stroked his beard andughed.


    Standing nearby was Nan Baicheng, who couldn''t help but sigh at all thesements. Once, he had taken this disciple on his master''s behalf, and he had considered it his greatest failure. Who could have expected this result? Wei Tianchong had long ago grown stronger than him, and his master liked him more, even passing on to him the Nine Coronal Transformations and the Mind Parting Heart Anchor Art. As the saying went, the world was everchanging and beyond anyone''s ability to predict.


    Upon entering the Shen Star Pce, Wei Tianchong saw Yan Changfeng seated in meditation.


    Raising the hem of his robe, Wei Tianchong prostrated and said, "Disciple Wei Tianchong pays respects to Master!"


    "Rise," Yan Changfeng said.


    Wei Tianchong stood up and asked, "For what reason has Master requested to see me?"


    "Take a look at this government report," Yan Changfeng said, flicking a ray of light into Wei Tianchong''s mind.


    Wei Tianchong immediately felt information appearing in his head. A few momentster, he bellowed in anger, "This damn Horizon Ocean Pavilion, daring to bully around Tang Jie''s wife while he''s gone!"


    "You can''t just look at the surface!" Yan Changfeng said. "What they want isn''t Xu Miaoran, but the vast business Xu Miaoran controls. Fortunately, this girl isn''t dumb, using the resources she had to take down her opponent. But this is also why she wants to use this opportunity to rise up and gain the right to speak within Horizon Ocean Pavilion."


    "Doesn''t she have her father?"


    "She doesn''t want inherited authority, but one that she has gained all by herself."


    Wei Tianchong was momentarily taken aback, and then he grinned. "Ambitious! As expected of the woman Tang Jie loves."


    "But she has her own troubles. She feels that she doesn''t have the strength, and it''s hard to build a faction with wealth alone, so she has decided to seek help from the outside, hoping that the Basking Moon Sect can send some people to help her."


    Wei Tianchong finally understood. "I see. Master wants me to go help Xu Miaoran?"


    Yan Changfeng nodded. "Not only you, but also some others from the Freedom Society. Everyone knows of your close rtionship to Tang Jie, and because of this rtionship, you can help Xu Miaoran as a private matter without a problem. But when you''re over there, you must remember to keep personal and public matters separate. Not only do you have to help Xu Miaoran gain power, you also must ensure that my Basking Moon Sect''s welfare is not affected. You must make sure to bnce these two things¡ªunderstand?"


    "Yes," Wei Tianchong replied, but then he grimaced. "Xu Miaorancks strong people, not weaklings. I''ve only just entered Cognitive Creation, which is far from the level of people that she needs. I want to go and help her, but I''m afraid I won''t meet her standard."


    In the end, Wei Tianchong was not Tang Jie. Just getting to Cognitive Creation in thesest few years was extremely fast for him.


    Although he wasn''t considered weak among his fellow juniors,pared to the mission at hand, his level was quite low.


    Yan Changfeng replied, "You don''t need to worry about this problem. On this matter, the Sect Master and True Lords have alreadye to an agreement to open up the Water Moon Paradise to all of you so that you may enter and cultivate."


    "''The Water Moon Paradise''?" Wei Tianchong eximed.


    Wei Tianchong was well aware of the significance of the Water Moon Paradise. It was far more valuable than Sunwatch Peak''s small blessednd.


    "Indeed," Yan Changfeng said. "All the people on the mission are permitted to enter the Water Moon Paradise to cultivate, passing through the Three Witherings and making the charge at Celestial Heart. But there will be no contribution points for this mission."


    "Great, great!" Wei Tianchong was delighted. Helping Tang Jie and getting stronger while doing it¡ªwhat could be better?


    But then he frowned. "Pushing through the Three Witherings is easy, just a slow and grinding affair that the Water Moon Paradise can make shorter. But Celestial Heart is a threshold, and that isn''t so easy to ovee."


    He had heard from Tang Jie of his experience in the Water Moon Paradise, so he knew that while the Three Withering Tribtions were said to require thirty years of cultivation, one could make the process faster if one had enough resources. Meanwhile, the charge at Celestial Heart seemed like it could take only a day, but it required several years, or even decades, of preparation.


    Yan Changfeng replied, "Since you''re going to help the richest woman in the Rosecloud Domain, how could you not be rewarded? The sect will provide each of you a Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill. As for the bill, Xu Miaoran already paid it."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Whoosh!


    A translucent figure flitted past, and then a ghost general swayed and copsed to the ground.


    Hiss! Little Three proudly hissed as it felt itself grow stronger.


    The bodies of numerous ghosts were strewn around it.


    Although Little Three had also been rather badly injured in this battle, its innately cruel andbative temperament meant that it felt excited and fearless.


    At some point, Little Three hade to realize that more and more powerful ghosts were appearing in its path. They encircled it and chased it, attacking it as if they had gone crazy.


    But the nature of a Hunter Ghost meant that it felt no fear.


    After hunting down these ghosts, Little Three looked back and then flitted away.


    Around five kilometers away, a ghost king with cold, green eyes raised its sword of white bone and pointed forward.


    Behind it, countless ghosts screeched, their multitudes extending far off into the horizon¡­

 Chapter 692: Gathering

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Sang Hongmei sat in a hall, a dour look on her face as she listened to the report from her subordinate. A wrinkled hand clutched a dragonhead cane, and if one focused only on appearances, one would think that this was some old granny in retirement. Not on their life would they believe that this was one of the Eight Ocean Rakshasas of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, the Blood Fairy.


    Only that person prostrate below her understood what sort of terrifying strength was concealed in that old and declining body.


    The dragonhead cane lightly tapped on the floor, but that person down below felt like it was hammering on their heart, causing their heart to madly thump in terror.


    The old woman''s hoarse and unpleasant voice resounded through the hall. "So, Fan Chenglong haspletely turned to Xu Miaoran?"


    "Yes! Xu Miaoran officially established a society yesterday, the All-Talent Society. She is the president, and Fan Chenglong is the vice president."


    "''All-Talent Society''¡­ ''All-Talent Society''¡­" Sang Hongmei muttered, and then she grunted, "You mean ''the All-Money Society''! A fine little girl, openly using wealth to lure in talent and form her faction. No shame at all!"


    She tapped her cane several more times, sending thunderous booms through the hall, but none of the floor tiles made from Azure Metal shattered.


    A young schr seated next to her smiled and said, "Why so angry? It''s not like you don''t know what sort of person Xu Miaoran is. Thanks to her father, she''s always gotten her way and never tasted loss before. Thest incident clearly angered her, so this move is understandable."


    "What does she know?" Sang Hongmei barked. "Just a dumb girl who''s been spoiled rotten, only thinking about her husband. She doesn''t understand that she would have never had her current status without the sect. But let alone her, even her father doesn''t understand this."


    Publicly criticizing a True Lord was something probably only the Blood Fairy dared to do, and everyone else was rmed.


    But Sang Hongmei was fearless, continuing, "That Xu Guanghua is also a good-for-nothing. Master long ago told him to urge Xu Miaoran to hand over the teleportation formation, but he refused to listen. This stubborn parent and child! The teleportation formation is too important to be controlled by a single individual! Moreover, over thesest few years, the inter-domain trade has essentially be an open secret. If Horizon Ocean Pavilion weren''t covering for them, does he really think a single True Lord would have been able to fend off all those wolves? Originating from this sect and relying on this sect, yet never repaying its kindness, instead exploiting its power to benefit oneself, is utterly outrageous!"


    The young schr bitterly smiled. "You can''t put it like that. After all, it was Tang Jie who started the inter-domain trade. If you really had to trace it, it is clearly the Basking Moon Sect that has greater session rights. It''s only because Miaoran is his widow that we can so openly hold onto it. If it were really handed over to the sect, it would probably cause many disputes."


    Sang Hongmei red. "Lu Wuya, just on whose fucking behalf are you speaking?"


    The schr bitterly smiled. "I''m here to help you, of course. The Jewel Celestial Sovereign only wishes to obtain the exact location of the teleportation formation, just to be safe, not to officially take it over. But you''ve done a little too much, trying to get it through a forced marriage, which has made a mess of things."


    "Am I not doing this for the sect? All that money we have to give to the Basking Moon Sect every year! My heart bleeds!" Sang Hongmei pped her chest, and there was a hollow thud. "This fairy doesn''t understand all these reasons, nor do I care about them. What the Blood Fairy relied on was not persuading people through reason, but this!"


    Her wrinkled hand clenched into a fist.


    Her scratchy voice continued to resound. "The inter-domain trade is of utmost importance. It''s clearly under the control of someone from my Horizon Ocean Pavilion, so why should Horizon Ocean Pavilion get only an eighth, while Xu Miaoran takes the lion''s share? This situation must be changed!"


    mming her cane down, she shouted, "No matter what, we must find the location of the teleportation formation!"


    She then called out, "Have Qing Fenge and see me."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The Zephyr Mountains, Starsnatch Peak.


    The lecture tform of the Basking Moon Sect.


    In the past, Starsnatch Peak was quiet, harmonious, solemn, serene.


    Like an ancient Buddha, silently epting the veneration of others.


    But today, theughter of youths shattered this somber majesty.


    "Fatty!" With a resounding shout, someone flew over andnded next to Wei Tianchong, giving him a big hug. With an impressive bearing and arge sword slung across his back, it was none other than Cai Junyang.


    Cai Junyang had a more graceful bearing than before, his face seemed more aged, the muscles of his arms were more solid, and there was a deep scar on his forehead that he hadn''t removed for some reason. The only thing that hadn''t changed about him was his boldness, hugging Wei Tianchong tightly as heughed and said, "I didn''t expect you to be here."


    Wei Tianchong angrily pushed him away, jabbing a finger at his chest and shouting, "How many times do I have to tell you? Don''t call me Fatty anymore. Do I look fat to you? I''m stocky! And is there anything weird about me being here? If you cane, why shouldn''t I?"


    Another voice called out, "Young Master!"


    Wei Tianchong turned and saw Shi Menging over. He cried out in delight, "Shi Meng, you''reing too?"


    Shi Meng''s face fell. "If you guys can go, why shouldn''t I?"


    Wei Tianchong realized that he had just said these words to Cai Junyang, and he awkwardly smiled.


    Shi Meng had been cultivating hard all these years. The Eight Destions Spirit Gathering Art that Tang Jie had transmitted to him had made up for hisck of aptitude, and with his diligent effort, he had managed to keep up with everyone in terms of cultivation. Of course, in terms of actualbat strength, he was much inferior. It was just like Xu Miaoran had managed to reach the Heart Demon Tier but was still much weaker than her peers.


    In normal circumstances, Shi Meng wouldn''t have been chosen, but out of respect for Tang Jie, the Basking Moon Sect had given him this opportunity.


    As they were talking, several more people flew over: Peng Yaolong, Ye Tianshang, Bei Canghan, Wu Xianguang, Li Yunfan, Heng Wei, Liu Hongyan, Su Xinyue, and Meng Shixue.


    The three of them happily went up to greet them.


    While they were all good friends, they each had their own duties and normally couldn''t see each other. This was a rare gathering, and it was over something as great as being chosen to enter the Water Moon Paradise, so they were ted, hugs going all around as they chattered on and on.


    After a while, Wei Tianchong suddenly realized that something was wrong and scratched his head. "Eh? Why didn''t Qi Shaominge?"


    Since the Basking Moon Sect had chosen the elites of the Freedom Society, there was no reason for Qi Shaoming to be left out.


    At this moment, an icy voice rang out: This is a holy ground of the Basking Moon Sect! Loud noises are not allowed! Everyone will be fined ten contribution points!"


    A white-robed figure appeared before them, his clothes whiter than snow and his face colder than ice: Qi Shaoming.


    Everyone was delighted to see Qi Shaoming, and then they grew furious. "What!? A fine of ten contribution points? Qi Shaoming, you dare!"


    Qi Shaoming coldly replied, "If you keep shouting, I''ll fine you twenty!"


    Everyone shut their mouths.


    Five years ago, Qi Shaoming had officially been promoted to a supervisor of the Ritual Hall. This was a job that had no cultivation requirements, and it primarily involved patrolling the grounds in ce of the hall master. To put it simply, he was the eyes and ears of Li Hongyang, able to handle matters on his behalf. This was a sign of how much Li Hongyang valued his disciple.


    And Qi Shaoming didn''t let him down. He had entered Cognitive Creation long before, and he was now in the Three Witherings, the first one to reach this stage in their group.


    At the same level as him were Peng Yaolong and Cai Junyang. As for Bei Canghan and Wu Xianguang, as they had cultivated for longer, their cultivation levels were somewhat higher. Of course, the more advanced one was in the Three Witherings Period, the weaker one was, and their strength was greatly affected, so they normally didn''t go out and focused only on cultivating. And then, these joyous tidings had arrived.


    Everyone grimaced upon hearing that Qi Shaoming was fining them.


    And then Qi Shaoming said, "But as I''m in a good mood, I''ll let you off this time."


    Everyone was stunned, and then theyughed, Wei Tianchong evening over and saying, "Good job, Brother Qi. You know how to make jokes now."


    Qi Shaoming evaded his hug and said, "If you keep on shouting, I really will fine you. This is Starsnatch Peak, so no messing around is permitted. Do you really think no one is watching?"


    Wei Tianchong finally chose to stand still.


    But he had a flighty personality, so he looked around andmented, "So, is it just us this time?"


    As he spoke, two more people came over.


    One of them was Xi Canhen.


    After the battle of Nadir Hill, thanks to his rtionship with Tang Jie, Xi Canhen had been allowed into the Basking Moon Sect as an exception, and he had grown acquainted with Wei Tianchong and the others long ago. But because of his aloof personality, he hadn''t entered the Freedom Society.


    Wei Tianchong smiled and said, "If it isn''t Little Thirteen! That''s great."


    The nickname of Little Thirteen had followed him all the way from Nadir Hill, and the others often used it to tease him, but Xi Canhen didn''t mind.


    But the person next to Xi Canhen was unfamiliar. "This one is¡­"


    That schr bowed and said, "This one is Zuo Quanming. I am honored to meet you, young warriors."


    Tang Jie had asked Xu Miaoran to bring Zuo Quanming to the Basking Moon Sect¡ªin order to protect the secret of the teleportation formation, Zuo Quanming had been blinded by a spell art while traveling through it. As Tang Jie had disappeared in the aftermath, he had never been able to vouch for Zuo Quanming''s identity, and it was only out of respect for Xu Miaoran that the sect had taken him in. Thus, Zuo Quanming wasn''t valued much within the sect, and he was only given ordinary missions. Anything else would have to wait for Tang Jie''s return.


    Still, in a major sect, Zuo Quanming was able to experience the advantages of having a home. Moreover, he was someone who valued inconspicuousness, so he didn''t mind the Basking Moon Sect''sck of care. For this reason, few people outside of a few members of the sect''s upper echelons knew that this person was actually a Heart Demon True Person. Some Nine Revolutions cultivators even barked orders at him, which Zuo Quanming was happy to obey.


    Now that Xu Miaoran was in trouble, sending back the person she had brought wasn''t a bad choice at all. Moreover, a gaggle of Spirit Ring cultivators would need a Heart Demon cultivator to supervise them. However, while the Basking Moon Sect was certain of Zuo Quanming''s strength, they weren''t certain of his character.


    Wei Tianchong said in surprise, "So you''re also Tang Jie''s friend?"


    Zuo Quanming smiled and said, "I''m just someone who lost to the Young Lord and was convinced by the Young Lord''s character into serving him. Later on, Lady Xu''s rmendation allowed me to join the Basking Moon Sect. Now that Lady Xu is in trouble, this lowly one is willing to go to her aid. But this one is too weak for the Water Moon Paradise."


    In reality, he was already at the right level of strength and had no reason to go in. But he insisted on saying that it was because he was weak, as if he wanted the entire world to look down on him.


    Wei Tianchong and the others didn''t realize what an oddball he was, so they took his words for the truth.


    Once everyone was done talking, the party entered the Water Moon Paradise, only Zuo Quanming standing on the side like an attending old butler.

 Chapter 693: Comprehending the Dao

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    "Azure Dragon¡­ Fate¡­"


    Tang Jiey on the small boat, his hands cushioning his head as he looked up at the sky and muttered to himself.


    Ever since that conversation with Lin Xin, Tang Jie realized that Silver Eyes had been right. That green snake really was connected to the Azure Dragon of High Antiquity.


    If this was the case, then the entire Verdant Cloud Domain might share some close connection to the Azure Dragon, which would also exin the problem of luck that had confused Tang Jie in the past.


    But Tang Jie had never really believed in fortune.


    Fortune was too ethereal, unreliable.


    Cultivating Immortality was to seek the path of the celestial, but this was not the same as the fantastical or absurd.


    All spell arts had their own principle and reasoning that could be followed.


    This was why one could advance through diligent cultivation.


    If one cultivated something that did not operate on any reason orw, why did one even bother to cultivate? Everyone could just go and jump off a cliff and see if they got lucky.


    This was why few cultivators of the Great Ster Chiliocosm let luck guide their actions or cultivation. As for diviners and fortune tellers, there were such people, but few of them in high ces, mostly unaffiliated cultivators who wandered about.


    But most cultivators understood that there was a way that fortune could be understood or studied: the Dao of Fate.


    Fortune was under the Dao of Fate.


    But as the most enigmatic and ethereal of the Twelve Great Daos, the Dao of Fate was just too difficult toprehend.


    Comprehending any Dao was difficult for ordinary cultivators, let alone the Dao of Fate.


    It was for this reason that even though Tang Jie had interacted with almost all of the Twelve Great Daos, the Dao of Fate remained unfathomable to him.


    Although he had obtained the Fate Standard, he still couldn''tprehend its principles and make it truly his own.


    But Lin Xin''s words had lifted the veil of mystery by just a little.


    Fate was not fortune, but another form of power!


    Each of the Twelve Great Daos had their own power, like the power of ughter or the power of Karma.


    These powers appeared in their own special ways, and when they were congealed, they became Dao Runes and Dao Standards.


    Toprehend the Dao was to possess the ability to see, grasp, and use this power. Entering the Dao was to concentrate this power so that it could be used for even greater things, with those Dao Runes carved into the body serving as a physical manifestation of it.


    The same was true for the Dao of Fate.


    It was so mysterious and iprehensible not because it was rare. On the contrary, it was toomon, too broad, too vast, such that no one could see its entirety, which was why they were so mystified.


    They were lost within the vastness of the mountains, unable to see its true face.


    Understanding this finally gave Tang Jie a little insight into the meaning of Fate.


    Moreover, he also had a Fate Standard that could guide him, serving the same role as the Myriad Immortals Cauldron.


    But Tang Jie didn''t n to study it as he had with the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, instead choosing to use this opportunity to guide him into magnifying hisprehension and thus gaining a deeper understanding of Fate.


    Thus, Tang Jie broke precedent and decided to stop cultivating, instead choosing to read.


    He ended up reading books for a little less than half a year.


    In this half a year, Tang Jie read most of the books regarding the history of the Verdant Cloud Domain, getting to see the rises and falls, the shifts in the world, the ways of the ancients, the joys and sorrows that came from partings and reunions.


    For all of this was Fate.


    Fate was like a, going from past to present, spanning the entire universe, influencing all things and all beings.


    For this reason, it was everywhere in every possible way.


    It didn''t have a direct effect like the other Great Daos. It had a weak existence, never making its power known, instead subtly changing everything akin to the spring breeze or a light drizzle.


    To Fate, the universe was a chessboard, and everything else was a piece.


    Fate did not create, destroy, control, or manipte these pieces, but it would silently influence them so that they moved in particr directions.


    Fate was the link between all things, all things working on each other, influencing each other, changing each other.


    If Karma was a single line, Fate was a giant made from countless intersecting lines of Karma.


    This was why Fate was the ultimate manifestation of Karma.


    Almost half a year of reading and experiencing had allowed Tang Jie to develop a very deep understanding of Fate.


    He felt like he had already reached the threshold ofprehension. He just needed a little more time, a little boost.


    This boost was undoubtedly the Fate Standard. He would just need to use it, and he would immediately haveprehended the Dao.


    But Tang Jie knew that this was not the best choice.


    A voice inside him was telling him that the Fate Standard was only a guide, and personallyprehending it was what was most important. As the most important of the Twelve Great Daos, it could not be allowed to degenerate into a mere subordinate of Yin Yang.


    So Tang Jie continued to patiently wait.


    He spent his days reading history books and diligently ruling.


    The edicts issued from his mouth traveled across thend.


    Through Tang Jie, the Silver Eyes Empire began to quietly change.


    Under Tang Jie''s rule, humans were no longer existences that were raised and casually killed by fiends. Some humans of special ability were freed and entrusted with the important task of developing the city. In this way, numerous human ves became special free citizens, living within fiend cities. An unprecedented way of living was beginning to spread through Tang Jie''s territory.


    The participation of humans meant that the destitute fiend cities started to thrive. Although the heavybor made life tough for the humans, at least they were able to survive. And the thriving of the cities meant that the fiends'' way of living began to degenerate and decay, for the fiends found that they could get everything they wanted without needing to go through all the trouble, and that humans were not the only delicious beings in this world¡­


    As the Silver Eyes Empire prospered, the Thunder de Fiend Emperor "shamelessly copied" his old foe''s unconventional ways, putting humans to work in developing cities.


    Thus, both fiend empires began to prosper, which influenced the other fiend empires into ultimately doing the same.


    Of course, all of this would take a long time to take effect. In the short term, only the Silver Eyes Empire was benefiting.


    Thus, the Fate of the humans of the Silver Eyes Empire had been altered by Tang Jie, and a powerful link of Karma was formed between them and Tang Jie.


    These links created a vast and invisible web of Fate, with Tang Jie at the center. This web was expanding in all directions, and its various links were growing deeper and deeper.


    At this point, Tang Jie was finally able to sense the existence of that sliver of Fate power.


    And Tang Jie gained more insight into why cultivators found it so hard to grasp the Dao of Fate.


    Other than being "lost within the mountains", the other reason was that one could only experience the Dao of Fate if one was a part of the world, part of society.


    But the vast majority of the cultivators of the Great Ster Chiliocosm were isted from society, rarely concerning themselves with mortal affairs.


    Yet Fate considered all people equal. Whether one was cultivator or mortal, Fate would affect everyone. Mortals vastly outnumbered cultivators, so cutting oneself off from mortals was essentially cutting oneself off from the Dao of Fate.


    It was no wonder Fate was so inexplicable.


    For the same reason, he now understood why the cultivators of the Verdant Cloud Domain were somitted to the mundane world.


    Perhaps it wasn''t because these cultivators were greedy for political power, but rather that they had been influenced by Fate from the very start.


    Through the Dao of Fate, they joined society to cultivate.


    If this world really did share some connection to the Azure Dragon, making it replete with Fate power, cultivators would instinctively choose to join society, resulting in this cultivator empire.


    Finally, he recalled the history of the Verdant Cloud Domain. Not only were there oddballs like Er Hu who had their Spirit Eyes opened by sheer happenstance, there were also quite a few diviners and fortune tellers. Of Fengshan''s three Violet Pce cultivators¡ªtwo of them being Feng Wuxiang and Liu Zongchang¡ªthe third was a diviner, and people called him the Reverend Seer.


    All of this indicated that the Verdant Cloud Domain shared some close connection to Fate, and it finally allowed Tang Jie to take that most difficult step.


    After grasping that sliver of Fate power, Tang Jie knew that the time had finallye for him toprehend the Dao.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Today, Tang Jie was sitting on his boat, quietly staring at the water, light flowing in his eyes.


    He reached toward the water as if he was reaching out to his lover.


    Ssh! A fish flew out, flicking its tail and falling right into Tang Jie''s hand.


    It seemed simple, but if a cultivator were here, they would have realized that Tang Jie hadn''t used any spell art. He had only plucked the string of Fate, and everything else followed as a matter of course.


    But Tang Jie wasn''t satisfied.


    He shook his head. "It''s still not enough."


    He threw the fish into the air.


    The fish iled in midair, and as it passed by a fruit tree, its tail struck a fruit. The fruit fell from the branch, striking the head of a ck bear that waszing away in the sun. The ck bear angrily swung a paw, striking a snake that had been passing by, mangling its body and sending it flying. The snake flew through the air andnded on the boat. Meanwhile, that fish bounced off a tree branch and back into the water. After this harrowing experience, it fearfully fled down below, not daring to emerge again.


    "This isn''t bad." Tang Jie smiled as he picked up the snake, his eyes glowing.


    He hadprehended the Dao of Fate!


    At that moment, the world became less simple in Tang Jie''s eyes. Everything he saw was linked to everything else around him, each connection made of threads formed from the power of Fate,ing together in a giant web. By seeing it, understanding it, and grasping the way it worked, one could influence its direction.


    Everything that had happened just now was the result of Tang Jie plucking at the Web of Fate. This didn''t cost him much strength, as the Dao of Fate had never been very demanding when it came to strength, but it was very taxing on the mind. The Web of Fate was linked to too many things, most of them useless. Influencing Fate didn''t require power, but the ability to rify which among these myriad things was useful.


    While Tang Jie''s messing around with that fish seemed easy, this was because Fate was a web, and plucking any part of it could create an effect, but it might not be what one wanted. To get some desired result, one had to understand all the interlinking rtionships.


    Thus, while Tang Jie could control the Fate of any fish, or even any person, if he were to single out a particr fish to manipte, Tang Jie would have to put his mind into overdrive.


    Right now, Tang Jie was essentially firing an arrow and then drawing the target in front of it.


    But with the Fate Standard, things were different.


    Now that he hadprehended the Dao of Fate, he could finally truly use the power of its Dao Standard.


    As Tang Jie took out the Fate Standard, that twisted light erupted.


    Thanks to the Fate Standard, Tang Jie saw the area around him suddenly turn into empty whiteness, leaving only those countless threads extending in all directions.


    These threads were directly linked to Tang Jie''s Karma and Fate. They represented all the people or things that he was linked to.


    The thickest bundle of threads shot straight up into the heavens and off into the distance. Tang Jie knew that this led to the Rosecloud Domain.


    s, he still wasn''t able to follow these Fate Threads to the other end.


    But at the very least, he had found something else he wanted.

 Chapter 694: Seclusion

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    A lonesome gray Fate Thread led off into the unknown. On the other end of it was a shing point of light. Even though this thread was very, very long, that light continued to sh, never going out, guiding Tang Jie''s vision to far beyond his normal limits.


    Suddenly, the scene before him changed, and he appeared in a dark world. Under a dark and overcast sky, a translucent figure was running¡ªLittle Three.


    Behind it, a vast army of ghost soldiers was giving chase.


    At the very front were a ck figure and a white figure.


    These two figures eerily flitted around, always keeping close to Little Three so that it couldn''t escape no matter how much faster it went. Worst of all was that the mourning staffs they held released faint threads of gray energy that wound around Little Three and prevented it from escaping via its Space powers.


    As those ck and white figures got closer and closer and the ghost soldiers neared, Little Three finally revealed some panic and fear on its face. It had never imagined that its hunting in the Nether Domain would provoke such a terrifying existence, and despair appeared in its eyes.


    The Impermanence Ghosts?


    Tang Jie was stunned when he saw those two figures.


    These ghosts, very simr to the Ghosts of Impermanence spoken of in tales from his past life, were also famous in the Great Ster Chiliocosm. What was different was that there weren''t only two of them, but countless. However, they would always move in pairs, ck and white.


    (TN: The ck and White Ghosts of Impermanence are a pair of deities in Chinese mythology tasked with escorting the spirits of the dead. One is dressed in white robes and the other is dressed in ck robes.)


    They were the bodyguards of the Nether Emperor and killers for the Nether Court, chasing down souls to take their lives and resorting to any possible method toplete their task.


    Tang Jie didn''t know what Little Three had done to provoke the ck and White Impermanences, but let alone these two, even if the Nether Emperor hade himself, Tang Jie would not let them kill Little Three.


    As the Impermanence Ghosts neared, Tang Jie called out, "Little Three!"


    Little Three was mentally shaken. "Father."


    It looked around, but it couldn''t see Tang Jie anywhere.


    "You don''t need to look for me. I''m not there. I''m just using Fate power and the power of Karma I ced in your body to connect us so that we can talk."


    "Father, I''m in trouble!"


    "I saw it. Use the Profound Heavy Water, and then leave the rest to me."


    "You''ll do it?" Little Three was taken aback, but it still did as Tang Jie said, taking off that pearl ne and throwing it behind it, upon which a giant torrent of yellow water rushed out.


    The moment the Profound Heavy Water was used, a vast and roaring sea engulfed the area.


    And this water had a formidable ability to crush and pulverize everything within it.


    A group of ghost soldiers was instantly swept up in the flood and pulverized by its immense force. But those ck and white figures reacted quickly, soaring up into the sky and just barely avoiding the torrent. A momentter, though, the torrent formed a massive wave that smashed toward the Impermanence Ghosts.


    The two figures instantly split up, and with their incredible speed, they just barely managed to avoid the wave.


    But this interference allowed Little Three to get some distance, and those gray threads of energy tied around it started to extend. Once these threads werepletely taut, they would snap, upon which the Resentful Spirit Ropes that bound this Hunter Ghost would lose effect.


    The Impermanence Ghosts had chased Little Three multiple times, and they were well aware of this ghost''s abilities. While this little Hunter Ghost''s strength was average, it had particrly formidable Space abilities, which had allowed it to escape several times from their grasp. This was why Little Three had underestimated them all this time, which had allowed the Impermanence Ghosts to get close and use the Resentful Spirit Ropes. But if it managed to escape this time, it would have learned its lesson and not give them a second chance.


    Understanding this, the Impermanence Ghosts chased Little Three with even greater speed.


    But as they charged, another wave rose up.


    The Impermanence Ghosts made to dodge again, but at this moment, a ghost general behind them suddenly tripped, and as it did, its white bone sword flew out of its hand, shooting toward the back of the White Impermanence. The sword stabbed through it, and the White Impermanence let out a sharp shriek. Just as the wave was about toe down, the White Impermanence turned into a wisp of smoke and dissipated away from that sword that had pinned its body.


    But in doing so, it stretched the Resentful Spirit Rope bound to its mourning staff too far and snapped it.


    Little Three felt its body lighten and its speed improve.


    But the ck Impermanence''s mourning staff was still tied to it, and this one thread was enough to seal its ability.


    Little Three urgently shouted, "Father!"


    "Call back the Heavy Water!"


    Little Three called back the Profound Heavy Water, and that raging torrent surged back, and the ck Impermanence just happened to be in its path.


    The ck Impermanence sensed that something was wrong and pursued Little Three as hard as it could, instantly reaching its maximum speed.


    But at this moment, a herd of phantom horses came galloping out. Little Three ran straight through the herd and out the other side, and the herd charged right at the ck Impermanence. The ck Impermanence knew that this was trouble and tried to evade, but no matter where it ran, the phantom horse herd followed, and they mmed into each other. As the ck Impermanence was knocked back, it was still desperately trying to maintain the Resentful Spirit Rope.


    At this moment, a ghost general lurched out from the side and rammed into the ck Impermanence.


    The ck Impermanence finally lost its control.


    Pa!


    The rope snapped.


    As that gray energy dissipated, Little Three felt its entire body grow light.


    It let out a cheerful howl, and then it blinked away,pletely escaping the ghost army.


    "Keep going forward. If you follow the guidance of Fate, you will find the exit." Tang Jie''s voice faded away, and no matter how Little Three called out, he did not speak again.


    Opening his eyes, Tang Jie exhaled and wiped his forehead, which he found to be caked in sweat. As for the Fate Standard, its light was greatly dimmed.


    Without the Fate Standard, it would have been impossible for Tang Jie to pluck the Threads of Fate over such a long distance at only the Dao Comprehension level. Of course, another reason was that the Dao of Fate didn''t require much in terms of strength, and it wasmon to pull on one thread and set off a chain reaction. And to influence the Nether Domain from the Verdant Cloud Domain also wasn''t unreasonable. From a certain perspective, Fate had an even wider range than Space. Space actually still cared about distance, but Fatepletely ignored it.


    Even so, using the Threads of Fate to influence the ghosts was still greatly taxing for Tang Jie''s mind. Fortunately, he had entered the Dao of Wisdom, giving him unparalleled calction powers, making all this possible. Otherwise, even if he had been capable of remote maniption, he would have found it extremely difficult to be that urate.


    From this, one could see that the Daos were not separate from each other and could be used inbination.


    But Tang Jie didn''t know what the result of that would be.


    Personally, he had never heard of any Dao Art made from different Great Daos. Of course, this was because there were few cultivators who couldprehend a Dao in the first ce, and using two different Daos meantprehending multiple Daos, which was even more rare.


    Tang Jie could be considered to have a peerless talent when it came toprehending the Daos, which was why he had a rough understanding of all twelve. But he still had a long road ahead of him to improve them all. And until he reached the end of that long road, how could he even considerbining them? He was just getting started on the road of the Great Dao, so it was best to not get too many ideas.


    Even so, Tang Jie couldn''t help but be a little expectant. Perhaps this just might be his future path.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Leaning against the jade railing of a small bridge, Xu Miaoran gazed at the blooming lotuses in the pond and the red koi beneath them. She sprinkled some food, which set off a frenzy among the fish.


    A man in martial arts clothes rushed over to the bridge and stopped near Xu Miaoran, saluting her. "President."


    "What''s the situation?" Xu Miaoran asked without turning her head.


    "We''ve received word from Cold Spring Pass. A few days ago, Xin Yue went to a restaurant alone and got drunk as a means of alleviating his sorrow. In his drunkenness, he cursed out the Blood Fairy, saying that she had gotten rid of him as soon as he had ceased to be useful."


    "''The Blood Fairy''¡­" Xu Miaoran snorted. "So it really was her."


    Xu Miaoran wasn''t surprised to hear this name.


    There were few in Horizon Ocean Pavilion with both the intellect and the daring to scheme against her, and of them, the Blood Fairy was the likeliest suspect.


    Her master was the Jewel Celestial Sovereign, one of the three Violet Pce True Lords of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, whose status was even higher than that of Xu Guanghua. The woman herself was no weakling, being one of the Eight Ocean Rakshasas.


    The Basking Moon Sect had its 19 Celestial Chiefs; Godhead Pce had its Eight Kings and Nine Generals; the Beast Refining Gate had its Four Braves and Seven Warbeasts; the Seven Absolutions Sect had its One King, Two Phases, Four Heroes, and Nine Eminences; the Thousand Passions Sects had its Five Flowers, Six Leaves, and Twinhead Lotus; and Horizon Ocean Pavilion had its Three Sons and Eight Ocean Rakshasas. All of these were chief-level individuals.


    When it came to status, strength, and prestige, Xu Miaoran was no match for the Blood Fairy.


    After some thought, Xu Miaoran said, "Tell Chenglong and the others to not take any sect missions for now and to just stick to cultivating within headquarters. If they need to go out, they should go together and endeavor to not get split up."


    The Blood Fairy was one of the managers of Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s external affairs hall, with her primary responsibility being to issue missions.


    If she wanted to target Xu Miaoran, she would probably start with the missions, so Xu Miaoran immediately chose to call back her people and forbid them to go out.


    At this critical moment, she didn''t want anything to happen to her people.


    The man left with her order.


    At this time, Hong Yuan came over and said, "Young Lady, we''ve prepared the goods to be sent to the Blood River Domain."


    Xu Miaoran considered these words and said, "Let them sit. For now, there''s no need to go."


    "Eh?" Hong Yuan was surprised. "Why?"


    Xu Miaoran casually exined, "I know a little about the Blood Fairy''s personality. She''s ruthless and cruel, so if we''ve been targeted by her, we can''t be too careful. Until we get reinforcements, everyone should enter seclusion and not go out unless they need to."


    "But they''re still waiting for goods back on the Blood River Domain side. If we don''t keep up the business, where will the moneye from?" Hong Yuan anxiously said.


    Xu Miaoran replied, "Don''t we still have some stockpile? Just put it all out. I also still have 11 million back at home, which was Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s share of this season''s earnings. If we decide to seize it all and be a little conservative, it should be able tost for a bit."


    "What are we going to tell them then?"


    "Do I need to exin anything?" Xu Miaoran''s voice grew louder. "They understand more than anyone else why the trade hase to a halt. This 11 million is justpensation for my earlier expenses, but this is only the beginning, not the end! And if they anger me, then we''ll just part ways, and nobody will have a good time!"

 Chapter 695: Reaching the Summit

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Blood Plum Hall.


    Sang Hongmei sat in her raised seat. Down below stood a man in an azure robe.


    With a grim look on her face, Sang Hongmei asked, "Qing Feng, I told you to investigate the location of the teleportation formation, so why haven''t you found it yet?"


    The azure-robed Qing Feng replied, "Hall Master, startingst month, Xu Miaoran has ceased all trade and refused to go out. Not only that, all the members of the All-Talent Society have done the same, entering seclusion and cultivating, not even doing sect missions. Your subordinate simply has no opportunities to exploit."


    Sang Hongmei was stunned. "If she has stopped the trade, what about the contribution to the sect? And the materials she needs?"


    Qing Feng bitterly smiled. "What can be done? The materials from the Blood River Domain have been cut off. There are still some goods on the marketce, but once those run out, there will be trouble. As for the contribution to the sect, Xu Miaoran just put it off by saying that she has no money¡­ She has no intent on showing any respect to the sect."


    Sang Hongmei pped her armrest. "Such audacity, even daring to ignore a debt to the sect!"


    "But what can you do? She''s Xu Guanghua''s daughter, and she was the sole manager of the inter-domain trade. If she says she''s not doing it, nobody can force her hand. Refusing to pay her debts is clearly an expression of her dissatisfaction for the forced marriage. It''s not like the sect master can grab her and say that she has to resume the trading, right?"


    "Are they just going to let her be so willful?"


    "The sect master has already sent someone to persuade Xu Miaoran, but she''s stubborn and probably won''t lower her head. In my view, she''s probably¡­"


    "What is it?"


    "Probably using the sect master to apply pressure onto you."


    The Blood Fairy was startled at first, and then she erupted inughter. "''Apply pressure to me''? It''s a good n, but what wrong did Imit? I just had Xin Yue present a marriage proposal to Xu Guanghua. Was this wrong? Will the sect master demote me or kill me over this? Absurd!"


    She was right!


    Everyrge organization had its rules and regtions.


    No matter what ill intentions the Blood Fairy was harboring, so long as they didn''te to the surface, nobody would be able to do anything to her.


    Even the Sect Master of Horizon Ocean Pavilion couldn''t punish Sang Hongmei just because she had encouraged Xin Yue to propose. While everyone knew that Xu Miaoran had stopped the trading to guard against any more actions from Sang Hongmei, she couldn''t be punished for a crime that hadn''t even happened yet.


    Of course, while she couldn''t be punished, that didn''t mean she couldn''t be talked to.


    Not long after this, Sang Hongmei was summoned by the Sect Master of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign. She was given a harsh scolding and told not to push people too far. After all, Xu Miaoran was still the daughter of a True Lord, and acting without regard for her will would turn things into a deadlock. Horizon Ocean Pavilion losing out on its cut of the profits was a minor matter, but far greater was the loss of supplies from the Blood River Domain. After all, wealth was concentrated on the individual while materials benefited everyone.


    Sang Hongmei was resentful over this rebuke, but she could only lower her head and acknowledge her errors.


    Not long afterward, the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign sent someone to notify Xu Miaoran that she had rebuked the Blood Fairy and such things would not ur anymore, so Xu Miaoran could continue the inter-domain trade without fear of being disturbed.


    But Xu Miaoran refused.


    The reason for her refusal was simple: the Blood Fairy had not received any sort of substantial punishment, and this sort of rebuke was meaningless. On the contrary, it was more like a covert form of encouragement. If she continued the inter-domain trade at this time, it was hard to guarantee that the Blood Fairy would not try something.


    This made the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign a little unhappy. From her perspective, as a sect master, she had already done her utmost. It wasn''t like she could kill or imprison Sang Hongmei just to keep Xu Miaoran happy, right? Putting aside the fact that Sang Hongmei hadn''t even done what Xu Miaoran was worried about yet, even if she did, it wouldn''t be some big crime¡ªat least for Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    Thus, Xu Miaoran''s worries weren''t unreasonable, but the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign had also not done anything wrong.


    On this matter, both sides were actually being self-centered.


    Neither side was wrong, but both sides were wrong, because they only considered the problem from their own perspective and ignored what the other side felt.


    Regardless, Xu Miaoran stopping the inter-domain trade had huge effects on both Horizon Ocean Pavilion and the entire Rosecloud Domain.


    Those precious materials disappeared in a sh, and all the benefits that had been given to the sects disappeared.


    Both sect and individual suffered.


    The Basking Moon Sect fared a little better. Of course, they didn''t receive any materials or profits, but they knew that this was temporary. Xu Miaoran was simply waiting for the reinforcements from the Basking Moon Sect. Thus, the Basking Moon Sect had more confidence, because it knew when the inter-domain trade would start back up. As Horizon Ocean Pavilion didn''t know this detail, every day of waiting was torment.


    At the same time, the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign became keenly aware of how dangerous it was to have the inter-domain trade controlled by a single person, which was that this person could decide everything. She could ept losing ten million in profits, but a sustained loss was another matter entirely.


    In this way, Xu Miaoran could be said to have made a mistake.


    Stopping the inter-domain trade had brought her temporary safety and taught a lesson to Sang Hongmei and those others who were greedy for her wealth. It was a tactical victory.


    But the tactical victory was a strategic loss.


    Her previous opposition to cutting off the Basking Moon Sect had drawn displeasure from Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and now, this stopping of the trade hadpletely unsettled the upper echelons of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and those voicing support for Sang Hongmei increased. Even the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign felt that Sang Hongmei''s actions weren''t necessarily wrong.


    Xu Miaoran realized that she suddenly had more enemies. These people perhaps weren''tpletely opposed to her, but they began to understand, or even support, Sang Hongmei.


    Of course, in Xu Miaoran''s view, even if she had known this was going to be the result, she still would have done it. Disying one''s strength was always going to be a differentiation process, drawing some people to one''s side and also angering others. For a weak faction, in order to get stronger, appropriately sacrificing the future for the present wasn''t necessarily an unwise choice.


    To put it more bluntly, if she continued the inter-domain trade and the Blood Fairy continued to meddle, if she failed, then Xu Miaoran was sure that the sect master would fairly pass judgment. But what if she seeded? With the location of the teleportation formation, the Blood Fairy could simply submit it to her superiors to achieve enormous merit, and everything would change. Nobody would be willing to punish her then, and even if she were punished, the teleportation formation would have been exposed, together with the Martial Lord''s hidden realm.


    Everything Tang Jie had left behind would be eaten up.


    Thus, she couldn''t risk this gamble.


    This was why she refused to back down, even knowing that she would offend others!


    What had happened had happened.


    The inter-domain trade hade to a halt, and the Rosecloud and Blood River Domains fell back to their former states. Those materials whose price had fallen thanks to the influx in supply rose back to their old values, and those subordinates who had been so busy now had a break period and began to cultivate.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    For cultivators, time always went by quickly.


    A simple seclusion had two years go by in a sh.


    In the Water Moon Paradise, the fourteen elites of the Freedom Society, including Wei Tianchong, were still cultivating.


    They were seated at various altitudes of Water Moon Peak, each with different achievements.


    Bei Canghan sat at the 750-meter terrace, where the writings of the Cloud Ancestor were located. Spiritual energy pulsed under his feet¡ªa sign that he was already a True Person.


    As the senior of this group, he was the first to advance to True Person, and he was the first to reach the 750-meter altitude. But while Bei Canghan tried to go higher, after several attempts, he ultimately gave up. He had used the Three Withering Tribtions and breaking into Celestial Heart to get this far, so he wondered just how Tang Jie had managed to get to the summit.


    Several dayster, Wu Xianguang broke through and reached the 750-meter terrace. The two shared a look andughed, after which they sat down together and studied the writings of the Cloud Ancestor,prehending the Wisdom Sword Mantra.


    Cai Junyang, Qi Shaoming, Peng Yaolong, and Ye Tianshang followed, causing the others to click their tongues in praise.


    Everyone in the Basking Moon Sect knew that reaching the summit of Water Moon Peak was extremely difficult.


    To reach five hundred meters made one a hero.


    Although the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill allowed them to reach Celestial Heart within the paradise, that boost of strength lowering the difficulty a little, getting to 750 meters was still no easy task, and it was a sign that they all possessed outstanding aptitude.


    For six young warriors to be gathered on the 750-meter terrace was an extremely rare sight for the Basking Moon Sect, and those people watching from the shadows quietly nodded in approval. But s, none of them was able to reach the summit.


    After several failures, Wu Xianguang and the others gave up, but Cai Junyang kept going, charging at the summit again and again, each time covering himself in wounds, even almost dying. Even so, this madman kept going after he had healed, leaving the others speechless. But it couldn''t be denied that Cai Junyang got closer to the summit with every charge, closer and closer to his target.


    After several dozen more days, Wei Tianchong finally broke through.


    But this guy was ultimately not as persistent as the rest. While he managed to reach the 500-meter Terrace of Heroes, he ultimately failed at 600 meters, bing the first of their group to not go higher. But he wasn''t particrly dissatisfied by this, choosing to sit at the Terrace of Heroes and ponder the writing left by his predecessors.


    After Wei Tianchong, Xi Canhen, Li Yunfan, and Liu Hongyan also broke through, but Li Yunfan wasn''t able to go higher, so he stayed below and kept Wei Tianchongpany. The two of them looked up together and muttered, "This is a weird sight. There are more people who have been able to go higher than not."


    Fortunately, over the next few days, things started to go back to normal.


    Meng Shixue and Su Xinyue also broke through, but higher altitudes were not part of their destiny, and they had to apany the other two down at the Terrace of Heroes.


    The two losers had their mood much improved now that they had thepany of two beauties.


    Only Shi Meng and Heng Wei were left down below now.


    Heng Wei had been ssmates with Wei Tianchong and Tang Jie, and his strength had always been in the upper ranks. With bronze skin and steel bones, he had a defense that wasparable to Peng Yaolong''s. With his strength, it shouldn''t have taken him this long to seed.


    After a few more days, a beam of light suddenly shot up from down below, lingering for some time.


    This was a sign that someone had broken through.


    "It should be Heng Wei." Wei Tianchong and the others stood up and looked down the mountain.


    Of the fourteen who had entered the paradise to cultivate, Shi Meng was the weakest, so everyone instinctively believed that Heng Wei would seed before him.


    As the pir of light dissipated, a person began to make his way up the mountain.


    As that person got close, everyone discovered that it was Shi Meng, the Spirit Ring expanding from his feet indicating that he had be a True Person.


    "Shi Meng? Why is it you?" Li Yunfan said in shock. "What about Heng Wei?"


    Shi Meng sorrowfully said, "Senior Brother Heng failed to break through¡­ and died in the attempt."


    At this moment, a resounding cry came from the summit.


    Cai Junyang had seeded in reaching the summit!

 Chapter 696: Imminent Storm

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Immortal path was difficult and full of unpredictable dangers.


    These dangers could take the form of fiends, one''s peers, and also various personal difficulties.


    Starting from the charge at Celestial Heart, a cultivator faced the risk of dying upon failure. But the chances weren''t high, and the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill greatly increased the chances of sess and reduced the dangers.


    But so long as the risk was still there, there woulde a day when they eventually came to pass.


    Heng Wei''s death was a reflection of this risk, both a coincidence and an inevitability.


    Losing apanion made everyone depressed, and rather than cheering them, Cai Junyang''s sessful summiting worsened their moods¡ªlosing a friend would make one feel bad, and having a friend outperform one by too much would make one feel even worse.


    Not in their wildest estimations had anyone expected Cai Junyang to have the ability to reach the summit.


    When Tang Jie had divided the Ninedark Mantra and passed them on to everyone, each person had benefited, even using what they had been given to develop their own understandings and developing those chopped-up chapters into their unique personal arts, their trump cards and foundations. Even Tang Jie hadn''t done this, nor had he expected it. And among them, the one who had done this the best was Cai Junyang.


    The Hundred Tribtion Passage Art had been tempered through countless life-or-death trials, put to full use every time, allowing Cai Junyang to take it beyond its regr form and disy a style unique to himself.


    To push against the currents and fearlessly advance was the source of his confidence, and through all the countless missions he had gone on and the bloody battles within, he hadprehended a sliver of the Dao of ughter.


    Only those with the Dao of ughter could permanently kill the Reaping Wind Snakes and reach the summit.


    In each and every attempt, Cai Junyang umted understanding, until finally, heprehended ughter, upon which he cut through all opposition and reached the summit, much grander than when Tang Jie had used a Heavenbane Lightning Pearl to open the way.


    The moment heprehended ughter, he understood this Dao down to his bones. Tang Jie had entered the Dao through Wisdom, which allowed him to easily understand the Great Daos but made it no less difficult for him to grasp their essence. Cai Junyang hadprehended the Dao using his body, personally experiencing the Dao Will, so his level of profundity was much greater than Tang Jie''s.


    When heprehended ughter, he needed no master or guidance, immediately creating three powerful killing moves. When he stepped into the Moonlight Pond, even the spiritual liquid yielded to him.


    Seated in the Moonlight Pond, sensing the spiritual power rushing around, he sat there for three days and three nights.


    In these three days and nights, Cai Junyang not only rapidly stabilized his Spirit Ring foundation, he also merged with the world like Tang Jie. Not only did this help himprehend the Violet Jade Mantra, he also gained a sliver of a chance at entering the Dao, which was bound to be of infinite help to him in the future.


    He was refined and reborn in both body and mind, and he officially jumped to the top of the group, leaving even Bei Canghan in his dust.


    In truth, the moment Cai Junyangprehended ughter, Bei Canghan had be inferior, but now, even without the Dao of ughter, he would still be no match for Cai Junyang.


    Three dayster, Cai Junyang emerged from the pond.


    A bell rang out through the Water Moon Paradise, signaling that the cultivation period in the Water Moon Paradise for the fourteen disciples had ended.


    The Starsnatch Monkey couldn''t help but engage in a nagging session as it sent out the thirteen disciples.


    As they returned to the world, they all sighed in sorrow over the death of Heng Wei, and how it seemed like they had been reborn.


    After that was an audience with Sect Master Ling Xiao.


    From the moment they ascended to Celestial Heart, they were no longer simple disciples, but mainstays of the Basking Moon Sect. Although they were generationally still juniors, their outstanding strength made them the rising stars of their generation.


    The six major sects had numerous rising stars every year, but to have so many from one generation was still rare. While this was admittedly somewhat due to their own efforts, there was also no denying that Tang Jie had something to do with it. If he hadn''t divided the Ninedark Mantra, Cai Junyang might have been able to get to a rather high altitude, but he would have never been able to reach the summit. As for Shi Meng, there was no way he would have reached Celestial Heart, and there was no need to bring up Wei Tianchong. He owed far too much to Tang Jie. Even Bei Canghan and the others had benefited greatly from the Stone Gate Sect incident.


    Thus, as they sighed, they also expressed their gratitude to Tang Jie.


    Fortunately, this gratitude didn''t just have to stew in their hearts. It was time for them to repay the favor.


    "This trip to Endsea will be different from others. In the past, the Basking Moon Sect would have been your backer so that you could act without thinking of the consequences, but in a foreignnd, you must be careful about your every action. Although you have all entered Celestial Heart, you must understand that this level of strength is nothing to Horizon Ocean Pavilion. You are going in order to help Xu Miaoran out of her predicament, not to kill yourselves. If you cannot tell where this boundary is or the severity of it, then it would be better if you didn''t go¡­" Ling Xiao slowly said.


    The disciples sounded off their agreement in unison.


    "A snake cannot be without a head. Canghan, you shall be the leader."


    "I will carry out the sect master''s will!" Bei Canghan said with a bow.


    Although Cai Junyang had surpassed him in strength, leadership was an important role that wasn''t decided based solely on martial prowess. Bei Canghan was the oldest of the group, and had abundant experience as a leader and a cautious personality. Nobody objected to him being the leader.


    In truth, Ling Xiao had originally intended to have Zuo Quanming lead the group. After all, as a Heart Demon True Person, he was the strongest, and he had also wandered the world for many years, making him even more experienced than Bei Canghan. But when he had looked over at Zuo Quanming, this guy had instinctively shrunk back, so he knew that this guy had no sense of responsibility and had no desire to be a leader.


    But after some thought, Ling Xiao took out an item and said, "Zuo Quanming, you were the only disciple who did not enter the Water Moon Paradise to cultivate. Out of fairness, I grant you these two treasures to assist you."


    He threw over a jade tablet and a golden hoop.


    The two items seemed unremarkable, but the moment Zuo Quanming grabbed them, he felt an unusual power. After slightly examining them, he knew how to use them. It turned out that the jade tablet contained a Divine Connection personally sealed within by Sect Master Ling Xiao. As for the golden hoop, it contained a powerful defensive Divine Connection that could protect the group. Both were valuable treasures that delighted Zuo Quanming. Moreover, Zuo Quanming knew that these two treasures had a threefold purpose¡ªto make up for his loss in not entering the Water Moon Paradise, to make the group stronger as a whole, and to allow Ling Xiao to keep a watch on the group through the power of his sealed Divine Connections¡ªand he couldn''t help but inwardly sigh in praise. Of course, Ling Xiao was keeping a watch on the group not because hecked trust, but because he was concerned.


    After giving Zuo Quanming these treasures, Ling Xiao spoke with the group more.


    The Basking Moon Sect hadn''t been sitting on itsurels while Bei Canghan''s group had been cultivating in the paradise, and it knew everything that had happened in Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Some of the capable subordinates of the Search Hall had even establishedmunications with Xu Miaoran.


    The Basking Moon Sect had already nned out every step of the group''s journey.


    Once the details had been exined, the group of fourteen silently left that night.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Great Wind Ind, Cherryfall.


    Cherryfall had always been famous for its cherry blossoms, with the third month of spring being the blooming season. The flowers would bloom into a majestic sea of pink, and whenever a gust of wind blew, the petals would drift down, exuding an intoxicating fragrance.


    Every year, Xu Miaoran would pay a visit to the town at this time.


    Pacing among the sea of flowers, strolling among the trees, and having the petals rain down upon her, she would appreciate the picturesque scenery.


    This year, Xu Miaoran came to Cherryfall again.


    She went over to a sweets shop and shouted, "Shopkeeper, get me a bowl of jujube and longan soup, and add on a te of osmanthus cakes."


    An old man walked out of the shop, and his eyes brightened as he spotted Xu Miaoran. "Oh, if it isn''t Madame Xu! You''ve finallye! I''ve been waiting for a few days now for you to show up!"


    Xu Miaoran smugly threw back her hair and said, "I also wanted toe, but the blossom season hadn''te yet. Last year''s view wasn''t good, a big galeing out of nowhere and blowing down all the trees. This year, I''vee over to see if the flowers have bloomed as they should have."


    "Bloomed, bloomed, of course they bloomed." The old man brought Xu Miaoran her soup as he excitedly said, "You can see the spring colors all around you. Everyone has looked forward to Madameing to visit."


    As he was talking, a woman came out of the shop and bowed to Xu Miaoran. "Madame Xu, you''vee. I was wondering why the magpies hade to sing their joyful song to me today, and why the jasmines blossomed early. It seems like it was all to wee you, Madame."


    Xu Miaoran smiled. "Auntie Zhang is as good with your words as ever."


    Old Zhang served up the cakes and said, "Madame, taste this old man''s skill and see if I''ve gotten any worse."


    Xu Miaoran took a sip of the soup, and then her delicate hands picked up a cake and put it in her mouth. She then nodded in satisfaction. "The same old taste."


    Old Zhangughed. "Madame, if you like it, I can pack it up and send it to your mansion. There just so happen to be fourteen boxes in my shop."


    "''Fourteen boxes''?" Xu Miaoran was startled. "How bizarre. If there were fifteen, you''d have aplete set."


    The old man replied with a smile, "There were originally fifteen, but my olddy somehow slipped and dropped a box while she was wrapping them."


    Xu Miaoran''s expression sank. "Is that so? What a pity."


    "Madame, does this old man need to send these desserts to any particr ce?" Old Zhang asked.


    Dabbing a finger in the date soup, Xu Miaoran wrote on the table. "Just send them here, understand?"


    The old man narrowed his eyes. "Madame, be at ease. They will all be sent over tonight."


    "Very good." Xu Miaoran rose and left.


    Three dayster, Xu Miaoran returned to Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    Taking a seat in her reception hall, Xu Miaoran said, "Pass on my order. Starting from today, the restriction is removed, and everyone is free to go out. And have Hong Yuan get ready. Tell her¡­ that the trading is about to start back up."

 Chapter 697: Pursuit

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion suddenly became very lively.


    30% more disciples than usual were picking up missions, and if one looked into the details, one would find that these additional disciples belonged to the All-Talent Society.


    Such unusual activity naturally couldn''t be hidden from the watchful, and both enemy and neutral factions understood that Xu Miaoran had emerged from seclusion.


    Hidden Dragon Hall, the Wind Squad.


    Qing Feng sat in his seat, and down below, several men wearing ck were reporting the situation.


    Qing Feng stroked his chin. "Is she finally moving? It seems like Xu Miaoran has finally gotten whatever she was waiting for. Bei Wang, you''re responsible for keeping watch on Xu Miaoran. Has she done anythingtely?"


    The man called Bei Wang replied, "In thest two years, Xu Miaoran has rarely left her quarters, and when she does go out, it''s only around Great Wind Ind and not anywhere far. When your subordinate''s people followed her, they found that in thest few months, she has been boating on South Lake, snow walking in the West Mountains, and most recently, she paid a visit to Cherryfall to view the flowers. She gave the order to lift the movement ban on the All-Talent Society upon her return from that town. Thus, she should have gotten her confidence from there."


    "Do you know which people she interacted with?"


    Bei Wang took out a list of names.


    Qing Feng didn''t take it, waving his hand and saying, "Capture and interrogate them."


    "This¡­" Bei Wang hesitated. "But these are all normal civilians subject to Horizon Ocean Pavilion."


    "Hmmmm?" Qing Feng looked at Bei Wang.


    Bei Wang''s heart trembled as he replied, "As youmand!"


    Once Bei Wang was gone, Qing Feng stroked his chin for a while and said, "Since the All-Talent Society is finally moving, the inter-domain trade will probably start back up soon. Tian Lan, keep an eye on Xu Miaoran and Hong Yuan. Notify me when they start to move."


    Another man in ck appeared, grunting before departing.


    After giving these orders, Qing Feng sank deep into his chair, falling into deep thought.


    Was it all bravado? Or did she really have something to back it up?


    Qing Feng didn''t know, but he knew that it didn''t matter. His superiors had lost their patience.


    Sang Hongmei was waiting for news for him, and he did not dare to disappoint her. He could only hope that Xu Miaoran would start moving quickly.


    Xu Miaoran didn''t disappoint.


    After only two days, Qing Feng received word that Xu Miaoran and Hong Yuan had gone to Guiding Star Pce.


    Guiding Star Pce was where Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s teleportation formation was located. All disciples who were going afar but didn''t want to go by foot would teleport here. Of course, they would have to pay the costs themselves.


    Upon hearing this, Qing Feng immediately set off for Guiding Star Pce.


    A disciple was waiting there for him. He bowed to Qing Feng and said, "Wind Captain, my respects. Xu Miaoran and Hong Yuan just entered the teleportation formation."


    "Do you know where they went?"


    The disciple shook his head. "Only the manager of the teleportation formation knows."


    Qing Feng strode inside and went up to an elder that was seated within.


    He directly said, "Old Feng, might I ask where Xu Miaoran went?"


    Old Feng didn''t even look up as he replied, "Apologies; I am duty-bound by Guiding Star Pce to not divulge the destinations of others without orders from above. If Wind Captain wishes to know, please go to my Heavenly Secret Hall and get an order from the hall master."


    Qing Feng chuckled. "I would not dare to force you to do anything that would make you break the rules. But I suppose that nobody went into the formation after Xu Miaoran, yes?"


    Old Feng was taken aback as Qing Feng continued, "This one wishes to use the teleportation formation, but leave it on the current destination. This isn''t against the rules, right?"


    Qing Feng handed over a spirit jade, and then he handed over the spirit stones needed to activate the formation.


    The old man took the spirit jade and chortled. "As expected of the Wind Captain, your mind works rather quickly. Then, if you would please."


    Qing Feng waved a hand behind him, and the subordinates of his Wind Squad entered the teleportation formation.


    The formation activated, and the group appeared within the hall on the other end.


    After looking around, a Wind Squad member said, "It''s Scattercloud Ind, in the western part of Endsea, 1400 kilometers from Great Wind Ind."


    The Hidden Dragon Hall, simrly to the Basking Moon Sect''s Secret Hall, was charged with the shady jobs in Horizon Ocean Pavilion, like secretly investigating others, and it had people with various abilities under itsmand. That this man could tell where they were from a nce at the hall they were in was an indicator of just how well-prepared they were.


    Qing Feng showed the person on duty his Hidden Dragon Hall identity card and asked, "Where did Xu Miaoran go?"


    The person on duty didn''t dare to hide something from the Hidden Dragon Hall, and pointed. "They went south."


    The group charged out of the hall.


    A cultivator summoned a small dog, with a thin body and a pointed snout, almost like a fox. This was one of the Beast Refining Gate''s famous hunting dogs, the Longsnout Hound.


    The cultivator took out a piece of cloth and brought it up to the small dog''s nose.


    This piece of cloth hade from Xu Miaoran, and the Wind Squad had gone to great lengths to obtain it.


    The dog barked twice and then flew up, running through the air as it headed south.


    This was the ace card for the Wind Squad when it came to tracking. As for that question, it had just been for verification.


    The Longsnout Hound was slowpared to a cultivator, so it only ran a few steps before a cultivator picked it up, using it as a guide as they ran off in full pursuit.


    In a sh, they arrived at a small forest.


    After entering the forest, they spotted a hidden teleportation formation on the ground, which they discovered because it had just been used and had left behind traces of energy pulses.


    "Found it." The group was gleeful.


    Everyone knew that Xu Miaoran couldn''t possibly use Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s teleportation formation for the inter-domain trade. She was only using Guiding Star Pce to reach her own teleportation formation, which was why they weren''t surprised to see this new teleportation formation. On the contrary, they were full of anticipation.


    Although they saw that the teleportation formation was unguarded, none of them dared to be careless.


    Qing Feng waved a hand, and a cultivator let out a curtain of light. Under that gentle light, a small Warning Mouse appeared in front of the teleportation formation, snoozing away.


    But everyone knew that if they stepped into its rm range, this guy would let out a big shout.


    Xu Miaoran would undoubtedly sense this, for next to the Warning Mouse was a sound trap.


    After discovering the Warning Mouse, the cultivator who was holding the Longsnout Hound released a white fog. With this white fog, the Warning Mouse wouldn''t even wake up if it were being eaten alive. This person had learned part of the Beast Refining Gate''s mantra. Because this mantra was iplete, he would never be able to go beyond Mortal Shedding, but this was precisely why he could so diligently serve his sect.


    Other than the disciples originating from their respective academies, the six major sects would also recruit some people every year through special channels, teaching them arts and techniques that had little chance of aiding their advancement. This was precisely so that they would possess special abilities and focus on their missions because they had no hope of higher office. Otherwise, if everyone were focused on cultivating, who would be there to handle the small stuff? Some problems couldn''t be solved just by issuing missions.


    Once the Warning Mouse had been dealt with, the cultivator from earlier looked around again. Once he confirmed that there were no problems, he nodded at Qing Feng. On Qing Feng''smand, another cultivator went up to the teleportation formation and inspected it. After a while, he said, "It''s a small-scale teleportation formation with a maximum distance of five hundred kilometers."


    "I knew it wouldn''t be that easy," Qing Feng grunted.


    He had never hoped to immediately find the teleportation formation leading to the Blood River Domain. Putting aside the fact that it was too easy, the location wasn''t right either. Tang Jie couldn''t have possibly ced the teleportation formation in the territory of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, let alone in an unguarded little forest. If that were the case, then some random passersby might end up getting transported to the Blood River Domain!


    Multiyer teleportation!


    There was no doubt that this teleportation formation led to some other ce in Endsea, not the Blood River Domain.


    And on the other end of this teleportation formation, there had to be some cultivator or surveince spell art keeping watch.


    If Qing Feng''s group wanted to give chase, they had to go through this teleportation formation, which meant they were bound to be discovered. Nobody could obscure the pulses produced by a teleportation formation''s activation, not even Violet Pce or Immortal tform cultivators, nor was there time to take care of the watcher. The moment they stepped onto the soil on the other end, the rm would be triggered.


    Through this method, Xu Miaoran could easily discover anyone who was tracking her.


    This was also why they had not used any tracking methods on Xu Miaoran before this¡ªfollowing someone through multiple teleportation formations without being discovered was just too difficult.


    For this reason, for Qing Feng, the trust test of everyone''s tracking abilities started here.


    Qing Feng had prepared long for this day.


    After confirming that this formation couldn''t lead to the Blood River Domain, Qing Feng sneered, "Then what are you waiting for?"


    As he spoke, four more cultivators came forward, thrusting out their palms toward the formation, hazy rays of light emerging from their hands.


    This light fell on the teleportation formation, which immediately erupted in light, formation lines appearing throughout the forest.


    One could say that this was the real teleportation formation. The four cultivators were working together to suppress the View Gate of the teleportation formation so that it could no longer be hidden.


    "Hurry!" Qing Feng barked.


    The cultivator who had inspected the formation quickly moved up and began to examine the formation lines, asionally muttering words and numbers that someone on the side would write down and analyze.


    He was examining the entirety of the teleportation formation and deducing from its structure where it led.


    Unlike the teleportation formation of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, which was connected in many directions, formations like this, which Xu Miaoran was using to throw off her enemies, were meant to go in only one direction, so if one could deconstruct them, one could find out where they led.


    If they couldn''t pursue her through the teleportation formation, they would find out where it led. So long as it was in the Rosecloud Domain, she would never be able to escape the pursuit of the Wind Squad.


    This was Qing Feng''s pursuit method.


    No matter how manyyers of teleportation there were, he would slowly unwind the cocoon until the true form was finally exposed.


    As the four cultivators maintained the suppression, more and more numbers wereing out of the formation cultivator''s mouth.


    Finally, that cultivator shouted, "Found it! It leads to the eastern end of Southshore Ind!"


    "Clean up all the traces, and then we move out!" Qing Feng ordered.


    Everyone immediately went to work, removing any evidence that they had been there.


    The beast-taming cultivator raised his hand, and several points of starlight disappeared into the Warning Mouse''s body. The little mouse blearily opened its eyes, but when it saw that there was nothing around it, it went back to sleep.

 Chapter 698: Trap

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Creekside Ind.


    This was a small ind in the western part of Endsea, a remote and rarely visited ind covered in primordial jungle.


    Today, this normally deserted ind suddenly became very lively.


    Arge group of people abruptly appeared over the ind, led by Qing Feng.


    It was now seven days since they had begun. Xu Miaoran hade back to Horizon Ocean Pavilion on the very first day, with the Blood River Domain materials that had abruptly appeared on the market proving that she had gone to the Blood River Domain andpleted a major transaction.


    The Hidden Dragon Hall''s Wind Squad had still been in the middle of carefully tracing Xu Miaoran''s steps.


    They didn''t care about where Xu Miaoran was, only the path she had taken.


    Creekside Ind was already the sixth teleportation point that the Wind Squad had been to. For Xu Miaoran, this was just teleporting six times, but for the Wind Squad, it was a process of discovery, tracking, solving, searching¡­ In these seven days, while the Wind Squad had been rushing between teleportation points, they also cursed Xu Miaoran for going so far,ying down so many teleportation formations in order to cover her tracks.


    It had to be understood that this was all money!


    Teleportation formations had never been cheap, and even the lowest could easily cost a hundred thousand spirit coins.


    Xu Miaoran had to have spent millions for these formations.


    But no matter how much money she had, she couldn''ty them down forever. With each formation, they felt like they were getting closer and closer to victory.


    So what if she had spent two years in seclusion?


    So long as Xu Miaoran wanted to continue the inter-domain trade, she would never be able to escape the gaze of her watchers.


    This ind before them was remote and little-traveled, which made it much safer than the locations of the other teleportation formations. Everyone understood that they were probably close to the secret that Xu Miaoran was trying so hard to keep hidden.


    As too much time had passed, the Longsnout Hound could no longer pick up Xu Miaoran''s scent, but Qing Feng was ready for this.


    "Hui Xing!"


    A cultivator came forward, and as he looked down at the ind, his eyes glowed¡ªhe was a cultivator skilled in Insight. But while Tang Jie used the Dao of Insight, this cultivator was just using an ordinary spell art. It was of a much lower level, but it was fine for tracking purposes.


    A few momentster, he pointed in a direction and said, "There''s activity over there."


    Everyone was delighted and flew in the direction Hui Xing had indicated.


    A few momentster, a thick fog billowed out, so thick that they couldn''t even see their own hands.


    The cultivator proficient in formations looked around and said in a definite tone, "It''s a formation. There''s another world hidden behind the fog."


    Qing Feng''s eyes lit up. "This is it."


    An ordinary formation naturally wouldn''t have been so hidden. Being hidden by an illusion formation meant that some important teleportation formation was being protected here. Even if it wasn''t the teleportation formation leading to the Blood River Domain, it might only be one stop away.


    "Xuan Yong, can you get through this formation without being discovered?" Qing Feng asked.


    That cultivator called Xuan Yong proudly replied, "Didn''t you invite me here for exactly this? It''s no big deal at all."


    Qing Feng nodded in satisfaction.


    While Xuan Yong was of average strength, he was quite excellent when it came to formations. Otherwise, he would have never been able to deduce the destinations of the teleportation formations.


    This person led the way into the fog.


    Xuan Yong calcted as he guided the group, and he showed that he really did have some ability. It wasn''t long before the fog dissipated, and they found themselves before a mountain valley.


    As everyone grew excited, Qing Feng suddenly heard an almost inaudible rustling sound.


    It was very soft, but the moment Qing Feng heard it, he paled and shouted, "Watch out!"


    Countless cold points of light shot at the group.


    Xuan Yong, who was at the very front, was instantly struck and dropped to the ground with a howl. Frost instantly engulfed his body, freezing him solid.


    "Frost Needles! Don''t let them touch you!" Qing Feng shouted.


    Frost Needles were special art relics only employed by the Ice Fairy, one of the Eight Ocean Rakshasas. Each one was made from thousand-year Coldstone, and they were rarely given to outsiders, so it was surprising for Xu Miaoran to have them. But she did have a lot of money, and with enough money, was there anything that couldn''t be bought?


    The Wind Squad''s cultivators immediately put up barriers to guard them against this ambush, and some of the faster ones thrust out their palms and swung their weapons.


    "Leave some alive!" Qing Feng shouted.


    For them to be attacked the moment they left the illusion formation, this had to be one of Xu Miaoran''s heavily guarded bases, which meant that the teleportation formation had to be important.


    Since they had been discovered, Qing Feng decided to drop all pretenses and push through. Concealment was pointless now, and taking control before the other side could react was more important.


    The Wind Squad''s cultivators charged out.


    At the same time, several green-robed cultivators emerged from the mountain valley.


    These green-robed cultivators were clearly responsible for guarding the illusion formation''s exit, there to attack anyone who came out of the formation without reporting their presence first. But perhaps because this situation had never happened before, they seemed to be panicked. As the Wind Squad charged, one of these cultivators blew on a bamboo flute.


    Qing Feng knew that this was trouble, and he loosed a green bolt of energy from his hand. This was the full power of a Heart Demon cultivator, so it dealt a fatal wound as it struck the green-robed cultivator. But that cultivator still blew on the flute as he died, its shrill sound resounding through the valley. A momentter, a responding screech came from the valley.


    It was a long and intimidating screech, and Qing Feng realized that an expert was standing guard here.


    He turned and shouted, "Everyone, watch out! A strong foe ising!"


    As he shouted, a person rushed out of the valley, charging right at them.


    Qing Feng frantically moved up to confront them. The moment this person came out of the valley, he could sense that they were a Heart Demon cultivator, on the same level as him, so if he used all his strength, he could intercept them.


    But as he moved up, that person charged past him and made for the rest of the Wind Squad.


    Qing Feng was aghast. It had to be understood that of the men he had brought, only one was at Spirit Ring and the rest were at Mortal Shedding. A Heart Demon cultivator among them was like a lion among sheep.


    While these people weren''t strong, they possessed useful abilities, which was exactly why he had gathered them into his pursuit team. This also meant that he couldn''t let this person kill them.


    He immediately lunged back, thrusting a palm at that person''s back. That person thrust a palm back without turning their head, colliding with Qing Feng''s palm.


    Qing Feng felt an intensely cold energy enter his body, almost freezing his blood. The spiritual energy in his body was momentarily paralyzed, causing him to almost drop from the sky.


    Meanwhile, that assant used this opportunity to assault the Wind Squad, thrusting out their palms and unleashing a wave of frost.


    Several cultivators were struck by the wave and turned into blocks of ice. That person then blinked over and thrust out a finger that shattered those frozen cultivators, killing them before they could counterattack. One of these cultivators was the one called Hui Xing.


    The attacker moved to the next group, as swift as a phantom and possessing ruthless methods, even having extra strength to attack Qing Feng.


    Although Qing Feng was a Heart Demon cultivator, as captain of the Wind Squad, he had always specialized in pursuit and scouting, notbat. Meanwhile, this person was clearly abat expert, so Qing Feng was no match. Just where had Xu Miaoran gotten such a strong ally? Let alone Qing Feng, even two Heart Demon cultivators might not be a match for this expert.


    As that person killed, they grunted, "You dare to intrude on my Forbidden Frost Ground with this little skill? Seeking death!"


    ''Forbidden Frost Ground''?


    Hearing this, and seeing the intimidating cold energy unleashed by that person, Qing Feng blurted out in shock, "Is that Senior Brother Yue Lengxin?"


    "Mm?" That assant stopped. "That is me. How is it that you dared to assault this ce without knowing who you were facing?"


    Qing Feng shuddered.


    Yue Lengxin was the disciple of the Ice Fairy, her only disciple. He was extremely strong and devoted to his master. Five years ago, the Ice Fairy had engaged in a bloody battle with the Horned Dragon Emperor of the Northern Sea. The Horned Dragon Emperor was a Divine Division Great Fiend whomanded tens of thousands of fiends, and there were even countless cultivators who had pledged fealty to it. Even Horizon Ocean Pavilion couldn''t do much about it. Thankfully, while the Ice Fairy had lost, she had only been injured and managed to escape. Upon her return, she entered seclusion to treat her injuries, and Yue Lengxin followed her into seclusion. No one except the upper echelons of Horizon Ocean Pavilion knew where she was.


    He hadn''t expected to run into Yue Lengxin here.


    Could it be¡­


    A thought urred to Qing Feng, and he stammered out, "Could this ce be¡­ this ce is¡­"


    Yue Lengxin responded, "It''s where my master has secluded herself to treat her injuries. What, so you didn''te here to take down my master?"


    He could also tell that something was wrong and finally stopped killing. But by now, the Wind Squad was in tatters, almost half dead and the rest heavily injured. In order to survive, that cultivator who cultivated the Beast Refining Gate''s mantra had sacrificed all of his fiend beasts, including the Longsnout Hound, but he had lost a leg and he was crying on the ground.


    Qing Feng trembled as he finally realized what had happened.


    "We took the bait!"


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    "Raaa!"


    Cheers rose up from a farmpound on Prosper Ind.


    Seated on the right as the guest of honor was Bei Canghan, with Cai Junyang and the others seated next to him.


    On the other side was Xu Miaoran along with Fan Chenglong''s group.


    Bei Canghan put his hands together in a salute to Xu Miaoran. "Lady Xu''s calctions were impable. That Qing Feng took the bait as expected, ending up in a fight with Yue Lengxin where he suffered heavy losses. Following us will be much more difficult for him now."


    When it came to dealing with the people of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, the biggest problem she faced was that she couldn''t be too ruthless.


    Wherever one was, killing one''s own was no small crime.


    But just because she couldn''t kill them didn''t mean others couldn''t.


    In these circumstances, even if the Wind Squad had beenpletely wiped out, they could only consider themselves unlucky. Nobody had told them to barge into someone''s seclusion ground, even breaking through the illusion formation. Being killed was just deserts.


    Xu Miaoran smiled. "Big Brother Bei praises me too much. My calctions weren''t that great. The key was the people executing it. If Mister Zuo wasn''t so excellent at concealment and able to follow them, allowing me to have the initiative, I wouldn''t have anything to make my ns with."


    Zuo Quanming bowed and smiled. "Just some petty tricks that aren''t worth mentioning."


    When it came to concealment, tracking, and counter-tracking, Zuo Quanming was just as good as Qing Feng. It was precisely because he was watching from the shadows that they could make sure that everything was going ording to n, or else it would have been impossible to so precisely lure Qing Feng into the trap.


    "But won''t this offend the Ice Fairy?" Fan Chenglong worriedly said.


    Xu Miaoran replied, "She definitely won''t be happy to learn that she''s been used, so I''ve prepared some Returning Spring Pills for her. I''m sure that those pills will allow her to heal much faster."


    Returning Spring Pills were a wonder medicine that required extremely special and rare materials to make. But these medicinal materials were still possible to find in the Blood River Domain. The price of these materials still wasn''t cheap, though, so the profit margins weren''t great. Thus, they usually weren''t chosen as targets of the inter-domain trade.


    But Xu Miaoran had bought some and then hired the Seven Absolutions Sect to make a batch of these pills.


    After receiving such a generous gift, the Ice Fairy could have lost even more subordinates and still not minded.


    After resolving this question, Xu Miaoran grinned and said, "One bottle of Returning Spring Pills and those teleportation formations to get rid of half the Wind Squad is rather expensive, but a girl''s happiness is priceless."


    Wei Tianchong folded his arms and said, "You said that, but I expected to get a chance to fight this time. In the end, excepting Old Zuo, everyone else was just here to watch, which doesn''t feel that great."


    "What''s the rush? There will be plenty of opportunities in the future," Xu Miaoran casually replied. "Tang Jie said that when ites to hidden cards, the more you have, the better. You guys are my biggest trump card, and it''s only when you guys haven''t done anything that I can still feel confident.


    "Moreover, I know Sang Hongmei. That old granny is ruthless, revering only strength and always handling things in a domineering and bossy way, never caring about the rules of the sect. In her eyes, cultivating Immortality is so one can transcend all rules, or else there''s no point. When she finds that her current methods won''t do, she''ll resort to the most direct and most intense method¡­ force.


    "So there''s no need to worry about not getting the chance to show your strength. But before that timees, I ask that you be patient. Once Sang Hongmei finally resorts to force, that will be the time for all of you to make your move. I''m sure everyone will have their fill fighting a peak Soul Transformation chief-level individual."

 Chapter 699: Abandoned

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Pa!


    A resounding p to the face sent Qing Feng flying.


    Sang Hongmei''s grim face now seemed coated in ink, every wrinkle exuding thick killing intent.


    "Useless thing, this is the result you give me?"


    Qing Feng prostrated himself, not daring to rise. "Qing Feng was ipetent and disappointed the Fairy! But the Wind Squad took heavy losses this time, and I have no good exnation to give to Hall Master Yun. Madame Fairy, please support me on this!"


    Although Qing Feng had been acting on Sang Hongmei''s orders, Sang Hongmei was not the master of Hidden Dragon Hall. Qing Feng had been willing to obey her because Sang Hongmei was the one who had supported him. Although he was a part of Hidden Dragon Hall, he now belonged to her faction.


    It was like if Xie Fengtang had told Tang Jie to do something. Even though Tang Jie was part of the Secret Hall, he would still carry out the mission.


    The Wind Squad had now suffered a massive loss, but this loss was taken by Hidden Dragon Hall, not Sang Hongmei. The Hall Master of Hidden Dragon Hall, Yun Xiyang, was bound to be furious once he learned of this matter, and Qing Feng was bound to be punished.


    Thus, Qing Feng could only beg Sang Hongmei for help, as she was the only one who could take the me and ensure that he kept his post as captain of the Wind Squad.


    Sang Hongmei thumped her dragonhead cane and roared, "I haven''t even punished you for your ipetence yet, and you want me to take Yu Xiyang''s anger for you?"


    Qing Feng''s heart trembled. "Fairy, I was doing it for you!"


    "But you failed," Sang Hongmei said in disdain. "I waited for you for two years, but you didn''t manage to do a thing."


    Qing Feng''s heart was ice-cold, but he still struggled on. "Fairy, I''m only asking you to speak up for me!"


    "Bullshit! You think that these words are that easy to say? The Wind Squad suffered such heavy losses that there''s simply no hiding it. Do you really think a few words will be enough to make Yun Xiyang ignore it? To protect you, I would have to convince a whole group of people, begging them in a soft voice and epting all the conditions they propose¡­ impossible!"


    It wasn''t impossible, but she just didn''t think it was worth it.


    Qing Feng realized this.


    Despairing, he said, "In other words, you''re abandoning me, right?"


    Sang Hongmei smirked. "There''s no point in keeping around a dog that can''t do its job."


    "Sang Hongmei¡ª!" Qing Feng yelled.


    Pa!


    Another p sent Qing Feng flying, and Sang Hongmei coldly said, "Out of consideration for your past service, I''ll spare you this time. But if you dare to be so rude again, don''t think I don''t have the guts to kill you! Scram!"


    Throwing up blood, Qing Feng held his chest and returned to Hidden Dragon Hall.


    He was still the captain of the Wind Squad, but he knew that the countdown had already begun.


    Without Sang Hongmei''s support, once Yun Xiyang returned and learned of this matter, he would be removed from his post, with even a chance of being sent to the ck Prison.


    The Wind Squad''s quarters were a picture of misery, the unprecedented loss casting a giant shadow over everyone''s hearts. In the end, few were able to grow indifferent to death. Cultivators were people too, and they also felt fear in the face of such gruesome ughter.


    Qing Feng sat down, the entire world seeming dull and drab.


    After some time, a subordinate came over. "Captain, there''s news from the prison."


    "The ck Prison?" Qing Feng mechanically asked.


    The subordinate saw the state he was in and reminded, "It was the people you wanted me to seize from Cherryfall."


    Qing Feng then recalled that he had ordered for all the people of Cherryfall that Xu Miaoran had interacted with to be arrested and interrogated to see if there were any problems with them.


    "Take me there."


    Qing Feng went to the prison with the subordinate.


    The subordinate brought Qing Feng to the cell holding the old Zhang couple. He pointed at them and said, "This couple was running a dessert shop in the town. They came to Cherryfall two years ago and seemed like ordinary people, but when the Truth Returning Mirror was used on them, something seemed off. It was like their spiritual energy had been sealed."


    "You''re saying¡­"


    "They might be cultivators," the subordinate replied.


    Qing Feng narrowed his eyes.


    The Zhang couple had begun shouting that they were innocent when they saw Qing Feng, not realizing that their identities had been exposed. The Truth Returning Mirror was an inspection treasure made by the Seven Absolutions Sect and sold at a high price, and not even members of Hidden Dragon Hall could use it as they pleased. Qing Feng had used his status as captain to obtain one, and it had turned out to be very useful.


    "Do you know what sealing art it was?" Qing Feng asked.


    "We''re still not sure, which is why we''ve requested Captain''s help."


    Qing Feng''s strength was average, but his eyes were extremely sharp, and he knew the sealing arts of various sects like the back of his hand. Without this ability, he would have never been able to be captain of the Wind Squad, even with his connections.


    Qing Feng stepped into the cell, grabbed Old Zhang''s arm, and sent a stream of spiritual energy into the old man''s meridians.


    Old Zhang was aghast, realizing that he was in trouble, but it was toote to try anything.


    In the end, he was only a spy, so he hadn''t been especially strong in the first ce, not even considering that his powers were sealed. Qing Feng''s spiritual power swiftlypleted a circuit of his body, finding out everything that could be found out about him. On the side, Auntie Zhang tried to help her husband, but Qing Feng reached out with his right hand and grabbed the woman by the neck, sending in spiritual power that also gave her a thorough inspection.


    "Boulder," Qing Feng muttered, his words causing the Zhang couple to feel like their souls had left their bodies.


    The sealing art they had used was known as the Boulder, which was a reference to how when this art was used, one''s body would be like a boulder, spiritual energy no longer able to circte, such that even gods and Immortals wouldn''t be able to tell that one was a cultivator.


    This was an exaggeration, of course, but it truly was a wondrous sealing art, with most inspection methods having no effect. This was why the couple hadn''t fled and had let the Wind Squad capture them. They hadn''t expected the Wind Squad to be so capable as to see through it.


    To know that this was the Boulder Art was to know where Xu Miaoran''s confidencey.


    Because this was a special art of the Basking Moon Sect.


    The couple was filled with remorse. If they had known this was going to happen, they would have put aside any thoughts of surviving and tried to break out of the Wind Squad''s encirclement. But at the time, the couple had considered that they still might expose themselves as Basking Moon Sect members with the techniques they used, so they ultimately chose this approach. To their surprise, they had still failed to hide it, and they inwardly despaired.


    The subordinate hadn''t made out what Qing Feng had said, and got closer. "What?"


    But Qing Feng fell silent.


    He had finally found something, but so what? Finding out where Xu Miaoran had gotten her trump card from wouldn''t atone for his past mistakes. Yun Xiyang had no interest in Xu Miaoran''s affairs, and no matter how well he did on this particr matter, he could not soothe Yun Xiyang''s rage.


    As for Sang Hongmei¡­


    Qing Feng recalled Sang Hongmei''s loathsome expression and how she had callously abandoned him.


    This damn bitch!


    Better to believe in a pig than put my faith in her!


    Thinking this, he loosened his grip.


    "It''s nothing!" he said. "These two aren''t spies."


    "What?" Three people were taken aback, the Zhang couple so shocked that they had even forgotten how they should react¡ªreal ordinary people should have been praising the high heavens at this point.


    Qing Feng let go and said, "I said that they aren''t spies, just a couple selling desserts."


    The subordinate looked at the old couple, who were staring at Qing Feng, still digesting what had happened.


    The subordinate stammered, "But¡­ but¡­ the Truth Returning Mirror¡­"


    "The Truth Returning Mirror can be wrong," Qing Feng firmly said. "The one I got was the one in our stock that was showing problems, or else they wouldn''t have let me use it."


    "But there didn''t seem to be anything wrong when we were using it."


    "You guys think you could see the ws in a treasure? Nobody understands more than me what sort of mirror I picked!" Qing Feng harshly said.


    The subordinate realized that he had made a mistake. A superior was always right. How could he forget that? He hastily said, "Yes, this lowly one understands."


    Qing Feng raised his hand. "There are no spies here. Give the Truth Returning Mirror to me, and I''ll take it back. As for the others¡­"


    ncing profoundly at the old couple, Qing Feng said, "Let them all go."


    The Zhang couple finally realized what they should be doing and immediately prostrated, howling, "Oh Praise Lord Qing!" and putting on quite the convincing act.


    Qing Feng strode away.


    Three dayster, the news came.


    Yun Xiyang had demoted Qing Feng from Wind Captain to an ordinary executor of Hidden Dragon Hall. Because of his status as a Heart Demon cultivator, he hadn''t been demoted to the lowest level.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Without the Wind Squad''s spying, the inter-domain trade became active once more.


    Xu Miaoran now began frequently going in and out of the teleportation formation, and the starving market finally had a chance to eat its fill. No matter what sort of material was put into the market, it would be eaten up before it had time to get warm.


    At the busiest time, Xu Miaoran even had to make several trips between domains on the same day. This situationsted for around a month, and asrge quantities of materials entered the market, the prices gradually stabilized. Of course, Xu Miaoran was still obtaining unprecedented profit, and her shriveled Mustard Seed Bag once more began to bulge.


    At the same time, the All-Talent Society also began to thrive.


    Armed with immense wealth, Xu Miaoran spared no expense to support the cultivation of its members. To this end, she even put down in writing that each member of the society could receive a subsidy of spirit coins from the society, with the amount depending on the cultivation level of the member. The amount given was normally three times what the sect would give.


    For stronger cultivators, this amount of money wasn''t a big deal. After all, they had reached the stage where they no longer depended on the sect to get by, and going on a single mission would get them much more. But for weaker cultivators, this money was extremely important. If used properly, these spirit coins would ultimately be their strength. Having more moneying in than others meant that they would progress faster.


    For this reason, countless disciples of Horizon Ocean Pavilion were anxious to join the All-Talent Society.


    Xu Miaoran naturally didn''t take just anyone. She used this opportunity to recruit the elites of the sect.


    Money couldn''t help her control the upper echelons, but it could help her take control of the foundational power of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. As time passed and the disciples grew stronger, these people would ultimately be the backbone of Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    This was a long-term investment, and until they grew up, she would be paying out without receiving anything in return. And mishaps were inevitable, like death, giving up, or even betrayal. Even oaths upon the Heavenly Dao or the Heart Demon couldn''t stop those people harboring ill intentions. Nobody knew how many fruits the tree one nted would bear, or if the tree would be ruined before the fruit had ripened.


    But Xu Miaoran still chose to do it.


    Since she had made her choice, there was no going back. She could wait and she could pay. A power of her own began to grow within Horizon Ocean Pavilion.

 Chapter 700: Exit

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Half a year went by in the blink of an eye.


    In this half a year, Xu Miaoran engaged in aplete reversal from her istion policy of thest two years, encouraging everyone to go out on missions.


    Sang Hongmei was happy to use these opportunities to teach Xu Miaoran a lesson.


    The Blood Fairy was the hall master in charge of internal affairs, and she managed all the missions issued by Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Thus, members of the All-Talent Society who took contribution point missions often had to take on the more dangerous and troublesome ones.


    Although the rewards for these missions were greater, one had to carry them out with one''s own strength. If one''s strength wascking and one tried to push through regardless, then one would have to pay an immense price for it, regardless of sess or failure, up to and including one''s life.


    To be honest, this was pointless.


    Even if this method made things difficult for the All-Talent Society and caused deaths, it provided no details regarding the location of the teleportation formation, which was the real goal here.


    There were some things that not everyone could quite understand, and high status was no immunity against stupidity.


    There were countless incidents in history of those in high positions doing various dumb things because they didn''t understand the situation, and this wasn''t even considering that Sang Hongmei was the sort of cultivator who spent all her time cultivating and had reached her current position with her fists rather than her management capabilities.


    A thousand years of cultivation hadn''t made her wise, only made her more arrogant, violent, and conceited.


    Her anger toward Xu Miaoran and the desire to teach a lesson caused her to fail to realize that what she was doing had no real point. All she wanted to do was make things hard for Xu Miaoran.


    Surprisingly, even in this, she failed to achieve her goal.


    In the face of those challenges, the disciples of the All-Talent Society usually managed toplete their missions in an exemry fashion. Some of them did such good jobs and reaped such rich rewards that the old granny was almost driven to madness from her fury.


    This was naturally thanks to Bei Canghan''s group.


    For fourteen Celestial Heart True Persons, protecting the All-Talent Society''s members, who were mostly at Mortal Shedding, was no big deal. After all, no matter how much the old granny wanted to make trouble, she couldn''t give those disciples True Person missions.


    The days went by.


    Forced marriage proposals, tracking, making trouble¡ªSang Hongmei had tried everything she could, but she had failed to get a single thing that she wanted.


    She found that she was like a clown, performing on a stage while everyone around herughed.


    Some gossip began to reach Sang Hongmei''s ears, such as:


    "She wasted all those years and didn''t manage to get anything done, instead causing the sect to lose out on two years of profit-sharing. What a joke!"


    "Such a useless woman. I was hoping that she was going to bring Horizon Ocean Pavilion another source of revenue, fool that I was to believe all her promises and boasts."


    "Just a little girl, one who isn''t even relying on her father, and she can''t even deal with that! And this woman is a chief."


    "Brainless old woman!"


    These words almost made Sang Hongmei crazy.


    "Those guys don''t show themselves because they fear offending Xu Guanghua, but they have the nerve to mock this fairy behind my back! Bastards! A pack of bastards!"


    Within the internal affairs hall, Sang Hongmei grasped her cane and howled.


    Her deputy hall master, Lu Wuya, helplessly said from the side, "Although Xu Miaoran is young, she has a cunning personality that''s not easy to deal with. Most importantly, she has a lot of money and is also backed by Xu Guanghua, which allows her to do what other people can''t. A few days ago, I just learned that a year and a half ago, Xu Miaoran had the Seven Absolutions Sect forge a divine treasure for her."


    "''A divine treasure''?" Sang Hongmei was startled.


    "Correct!" Lu Wuya said. "A Divine Will Compass. It can detect and block any Divine Will probing within five hundred kilometers. It is incredibly effective and was specifically intended to deal with us. Last time, when I attempted to track her personally but was almost lured into the base of a Divine Division great fiend, it was because she had this item."


    Sang Hongmei sucked in a cold breath.


    She nodded. "I get it now. This little girl is able to run amok thanks to all her money."


    "Yes, she has money, and we have strength. But because we''re part of the same sect, we can''t recklessly use our strength, whereas Xu Miaoran can use her money however she pleases, which is exactly why we can''t do anything to her." Lu Wuya had concisely identified the reason for their losses.


    Xu Miaoran had a neverending amount of spirit coins that she liberally used, while the internal affairs hall had strength that it found hard to use. This was why Xu Miaoran had been able to suppress them all this time.


    Sang Hongmei scowled. "''Strength that we can''t use''¡­ Wuya, you''re right¡ªthis really is the case. I''ve always said that you can''t always be reasonable when doing things. If you have strength, you should use it. Insisting on sticking to the sect''s rules is just tying your hands and feet! As a cultivator, I fight with the earth, with man, with the heavens, with everything in the universe! So how could I be bound by some puny sect rules? It''s precisely because we have too many apprehensions that we''ve let Xu Miaoran ride all over us and turned intoughingstocks. Now, it''s time to correct this error!"


    Lu Wuya was rmed. "Hall Master, you''re not nning on moving against Xu Miaoran, are you? You absolutely must not! In the end, she''s still Xu Guanghua''s daughter. Attacking her is a major crime, and not even the Jewel Celestial Sovereign will be able to protect you."


    Sang Hongmei chuckled. "I won''t be striking that little girl. Isn''t that what she''s depending on? But while I can''t attack her, that doesn''t mean I can''t attack the people below her. Or can the light of the Sorrowgone True Lord protect both his daughter and his daughter''s subordinates?"


    Lu Wuya worriedly said, "But those are still our own people, which is still a crime."


    "But not a capital crime, right?" Sang Hongmei clenched her dragonhead staff. "Xu Miaoran has money, but this old body has a fist. I''d like to see which one is more powerful!"


    "Who do you n to target?"


    "Hong Yuan," Sang Hongmei replied. "This woman has followed Xu Miaoran for many years, and when Tang Jie was in trouble in Nadir Hill, it was her and Xian Tao who went with Xu Miaoran. Not long after that, when they returned, they had a teleportation formation. Since then, I recall that Hong Yuan has been with Xu Miaoran the entire time while Xian Tao is managing the Blood River Domain side of things. This old woman is sure that Hong Yuan knows everything about the teleportation formation."


    Lu Wuya''s eyes lit up. "That''s right. Hong Yuan definitely knows what''s going on. If we catch that maid, we can interrogate her about the formation''s location, and if ites down to it, we can use Soulscour, and then it''s done! But if we do this, whether we seed or fail, Hall Master won''t be able to avoid some punishment."


    Sang Hongmeiughed. "What about it? It''s precisely because we were worried about so much and restrained ourselves that we ended up in this mess. At this moment, such a small price is nothing. It should have been done long ago, and doing it now is alreadyte. But regardless, this brat Xu Miaoran can''t hope to escape my clutches this time!"


    She stamped down her cane, a shockwave silently rippling out from it. A few momentster, the entire courtyard copsed.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    "Keee!" A shriek resounded through the dark skies of the Nether Domain.


    Little Three sucked up the remains of that keening ghost before raising its head and letting out a proud and beautiful cry.


    Three years of wandering had made it so that Little Three no longer looked like a child.


    Its body was tall and stocky, and it was no longer translucent, instead thick with ck energy. This ck energy acted as if it was stuffed in a bottle, normally roiling within its body, and when it was needed, it could be spat out and turned into a ck flood.


    This wasn''t its innate ability, but a power it had nurtured through its countless hunts.


    Three years of wandering had also endowed Little Three with immense experience and greater knowledge, allowing it to understand the true vastness of the Nether Domain and also how tiny it was. No longer was it so arrogant and reckless.


    Using its innate spatial ability, it freely traveled through the Nether Domain. It stopped its frenzied hunting, became more furtive and cautious. It was less prone to challenging or fighting to the death, fleeing the moment the confrontation turned disadvantageous.


    In such a situation, with two major spatial abilities to escape and hide, Little Three was never again in such a risky situation as thest time, and its strength gradually grew.


    Even so, the mission to find the other two domains remained long and difficult.


    Little Three couldn''t see the end, nor could it sense the informationing from those two domains.


    The Karma thread in its body still led far into the unknown, and no end after three years had Little Three feeling perplexed.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie''s will would asionally cross over from the other end tofort and encourage Little Three, giving it the resolve to press on.


    But Little Three had no idea how long it would have to press on.


    Today, after hunting a ghost, Little Three smoothly cleaned up the remains and continued flying forward.


    Suddenly, it felt the thread of Karma within it pulse.


    Far off in the distance, a familiar sensation wasing from behind that misty space.


    Little Three''s mind trembled.


    It had sensed it.


    That familiar feeling was right in front of it.


    With a cheerful howl, it flew into the distance.


    It moved as quickly as lightning.


    But as it got closer, that sensation abruptly disappeared like a kite that had its line cut.


    Little Three grew frantic, but no matter what it did, it couldn''t get back that feeling.


    The thread of Karma returned to its inactive state, and the pointer of Fate only nudged a little before stopping again.


    "Don''t panic." Tang Jie''s voice resounded in Little Three''s mind.


    "Fathe!" Little Three shouted.


    "I sensed it," Tang Jie answered. "You have not arrived at the space where one of the two domains is located, but you''ve received some Karma."


    "''Some Karma''?" Little Three was confused.


    "To be more precise, it is my Karma. My thread of Karma was pulled out. Perhaps it can guide you into the two domains."


    "What should I do?" Little Three urgently asked.


    After some thought, Tang Jie answered, "Follow that feeling, and when you feel like you should stop¡­ wait!"


    Little Three heard this and closed its eyes.


    A few momentster, it turned to the distance.


    A giant river was surging out from the heavens.


    The Nether River.


    No matter how far Little Three went, it was always able to see this river.


    No beginning, no end.


    Thus, Little Three began to walk toward the Nether River, that feeling telling it that it could find the opportunity it was waiting for there.


    The exit was close!

 Chapter 701: Kidnapping

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    As Xu Miaoran''s close aide, Hong Yuan had her own residence, Clear Pavilion. The pavilion had four maids that were her personal servants. In addition, she also had tworge estates on Great Wind Ind and several hundred acres of private property, employing several dozen people for them. But Hong Yuan still spent most of her time at Clear Pavilion, close to Xu Miaoran so that she could attend to her whenever she was called on.


    Recently, Xu Miaoran had strictly ordered her to not leave the pavilion unless necessary, and if she did go out, she needed to go with someone. Xu Miaoran even ordered Bei Canghan and Cai Junyang to protect her.


    The other members from the Basking Moon Sect had even heckled them when they had been given this mission.


    A flute began to trill in the early morning air.


    In a small flower pavilion outside Clear Pavilion, Bei Canghan was ying a moving tune on a jade flute.


    The sound of the flute was as clear as a spring flowing into one''s heart, the meandering song of an oriole.


    Once the song ended, pping came from behind him.


    He turned to see Hong Yuan standing there with a smile on her face. Next to her was a maid holding a tray upon which was a bowl of lotus seed soup.


    Hong Yuan said, "Big Brother Bei is excellent with the flute. It is truly rare to find such a melodious flute on this earth."


    Her words were sweet and elegant, not at all like her usual hot and fiery self.


    Bei Canghan put away the flute and smiled. "Miss Hong Yuan, don''t tease me. It''s just something I mess around with when I have the time, nothing worth your praise."


    Hong Yuan walked up and offered the bowl of lotus seed soup. "Big Brother Bei has been through a lot in thest few days. I personally cooked this lotus seed soup this morning. While it''s nothing good, please ept my kindness."


    "How could I trouble you?" Bei Canghan wanted to refuse, but when he saw Hong Yuan pouting and seemingly about to cry if he refused, he epted it.


    Another voice rang out from nearby. "Miss Hong Yuan, how could you be so biased? I''m also protecting your house, so why is it that Bei Canghan gets lotus seed soup while I only get to drink the northwestern winds?"


    One would know who this was without even looking.


    Looking up, they saw Cai Junyang standing in front of the flower pavilion, dressed in martial attire with arge sword slung across his back. Rather than a cultivator, he seemed like a proper martial artist.


    His arms crossed in front of his chest, he was leaning against a pir and watching them.


    Hong Yuan''s face reddened. "Big Brother Cai, if you wish to have some, I will have my servant prepare some for you. There is no bias here at all."


    "Ah, forget it. In the end, I won''t be having any lotus seed soup made personally by Miss Hong Yuan. But seeing Miss Hong Yuan act so refined was worth hiding out this morning to watch the show, haha."


    Hong Yuan stomped her foot. "What are you saying?"


    Her face red, she ran off.


    Bei Canghan red at Cai Junyang. "You bbermouth. Here; drink up if you want it."


    He pushed the bowl of lotus seed soup to Cai Junyang.


    Cai Junyang clicked his tongue and shook his head. "She woke up early in the morning to personally make it for you, but you''re giving it to me without even trying it? You would break her heart if she saw this."


    He looked into the distance, where Hong Yuan was sneaking a peek, her face whitening after seeing Bei Canghan''s actions.


    But Bei Canghan gruffly replied, "My heart is on the Great Dao. There''s no ce for any man or woman."


    Cai Junyang immediately replied, "Love between a man and a woman doesn''t conflict with the Great Dao, and maybe the harmonizing of Yin and Yang is a principle of the world. I''ve never seen a True Lord or Celestial Sovereign who doesn''t get married when they should be getting married, or doesn''t have kids when they should be having kids."


    "Our Great Daos are different. Stop making trouble for me." Bei Canghan didn''t argue with Cai Junyang, putting down the lotus seed soup without drinking a drop.


    In the distance, Hong Yuan''s heart winced, and several teardrops fell from her eyes.


    In the middle of her heartache, a voice abruptly said, "Little girl, what pains you so? Do you need this elder''s advice?"


    rmed, Hong Yuan suddenly found that there was a person in front of her.


    This person wore crimson clothes upon which eighteen brilliantly blooming blood plum blossoms were woven, but their face was covered by a ck cloth. However, the wrinkles exposed on their forehead indicated that they were an elder. Not only that, they held a dragonhead cane and wore a pair of cloth shoes. While these shoes seemed simple, their treasure glow indicated that this was an ultimate-grade art relic.


    "Sang Hongmei!" Hong Yuan blurted out, having recognized her at a nce. It was hard to me her. Although Sang Hongmei had covered her face, she still wore her standard attire: the Coiling Dragon Cane, the Blood Lotus Robes, and the Phoenix Weave Shoes. Besides, her elderly appearance was like a scorpion''s shit, unique and absolutely poisonous.


    Such unique garb meant that her disguise was really just for show, and she had never had any intent on concealing her identity. Otherwise, she could have at least used a basic face-changing spell. Covering her face was most likely so that when she was brought to court, she could say, "How do you know that it was me?"


    She wanted everyone to know that she was the one who did it, but she also wanted to give herself room to deny it. This was how Sang Hongmei did things.


    She wanted to have Xu Miaoran know that she was the one who had done it and be helpless, thus gaining satisfaction from her anger.


    Looking at Hong Yuan, Sang Hongmei chuckled and said, "Little girl, since you''re not happy, why don''t youe over to this old granny''s ce?"


    She reached out to grab Hong Yuan.


    Whoosh!


    A sword light stabbed at Sang Hongmei''s arm: Bei Canghan was rushing over, his attack arriving first.


    Sang Hongmei let out a cackle and unleashed a white light with a wave of her hand.


    The white light mmed into Bei Canghan''s frigid sword, and Bei Canghan felt like he had run into an unstoppable force and was sent flying. That white light fell to the ground, upon which Bei Canghan realized to his shock that it was just a fingernail. For a single fingernail to hold such terrifying power, this old woman had to be extremely strong.


    Sang Hongmei gasped in surprise. "I didn''t think you woulde out fine from my attack. When did my Horizon Ocean Pavilion get such outstanding disciples?"


    She hadn''t intended to kill, so she hadn''t used her full force, only seeking to wound, but that her foe had so easily taken on the blow was a sign that he wasn''t weak.


    Hong Yuan shouted, "Be careful! She''s Sang Hongmei!"


    "Noisy!" Sang Hongmei grabbed Hong Yuan and sealed her ability to speak, after which she turned to leave.


    Bei Canghan once more attacked, cold motes of light rising from the tip of his sword and shooting at Sang Hongmei''s back.


    Without even turning her head, Sang Hongmei flung out another fingernail, forcing Bei Canghan to defend himself. But at the same time, in a sh of dazzling sword light, Cai Junyang''srge sword descended from the heavens.


    Of note was that it was covered with a special power, and Sang Hongmei instinctively sensed that something was wrong.


    "The ughter Dao!" she shrieked.


    As a peak Soul Transformation chief, she well understood how frightening this attack containing the power of a Great Dao was.


    The power of the Great Dao transcendedws. This power ignored the difference in cultivation levels, possessing a system of its own. Only other Great Dao powers could contend against them.


    To put it simply, even if the user was only a Spirit Disciple, the power of a Great Dao could affect a True Lord.


    Although Sang Hongmei wouldn''t die, injury would be unavoidable. But for Sang Hongmei, being injured by a junior was deeply humiliating.


    Sang Hongmei naturally didn''t want this, so she raised the cane in her right hand, upon which a crimson dragon rushed out and charged at Cai Junyang, sending him flying before his attack could make contact and making it miss.


    Sang Hongmei didn''t hold back this time. No Spirit Ring True Person could take a blow from her Coiling Dragon Cane.


    Blood gushed from Cai Junyang''s body as he was blown back, his barrier shattering under the crimson dragon''s attack, a frenzied energy running rampant within his body, almost bursting him apart from the inside. He crashed to the ground and stopped moving.


    "Junyang!" Bei Canghan shouted.


    "Damn!" Sang Hongmei was in a terrible mood.


    She didn''t know that Cai Junyang was a member of the Basking Moon Sect and took him for someone from Horizon Ocean Pavilion. And to kill a disciple who hadprehended ughter was no minor affair. Strangling a genius in the cradle came with severe punishment.


    Suddenly, Cai Junyang threw up a mouthful of blood, indicating that he still lived.


    Sang Hongmei was taken aback by this kid''s tenacious life force, but she also rejoiced over escaping potential disaster.


    In the distance, a warning arrow howled into the sky. The rm had been sent out immediately, and countless people were converging on Clear Pavilion, with quite a few Celestial Heart True Persons among them.


    "Quite the fast reaction." Sang Hongmei knew that it would be difficult to clean things up if she lingered any longer, so she charged out with Hong Yuan in tow.


    If she wanted to leave, there was truly no one who could stop her.


    She shot out like aet, and countless attacks flew at her, but none of them could affect her in any way. Thankfully, she still feared the sect''s rules enough to notmence a massacre.


    "Junyang, are you okay?" Wei Tianchong and the others ran over.


    Clutching his chest, Cai Junyang grinned and said, "Tang Jie saved me again."


    It was no longer a secret that the Hundred Tribtions Passage Art hade from Tang Jie, and the others already knew. When they heard Cai Junyang say this, they knew he was fine and sighed in relief.


    Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Cai Junyang said, "The Coiling Dragon Cane¡­ haha, I''ll remember this feeling. Next time, this move won''t take me down so easily."


    Cai Junyang''s constant tempering had long ago evolved the Hundred Tribtions Passage Art. Each time he took on the same kind of attack, he would grow more familiar with this power and be better able to resist it.


    As they were talking, Xu Miaoran arrived. Seeing the devastation, she asked in shock and anger, "What happened?"


    "It was Sang Hongmei. She kidnapped Hong Yuan," Bei Canghan said as he helped Cai Junyang.


    "Hong Yuan!" Xu Miaoran paled, and she immediately realized Sang Hongmei''s intentions. "Sang Hongmei¡­ good, very good. You really are ruthless!"


    Although she had known to expect something like this, this old fiend granny''s madness still left Xu Miaoran stunned.


    She had never imagined that Sang Hongmei woulde personally.


    It had to be understood that if she had made her subordinates do it, she could push the me onto them and im ignorance. After all, kidnapping someone from the same sect was a crime, so such a choice made the most sense. And if she had tasked her subordinates with it, Bei and Cai were strong enough to buy time if not win.


    Nobody could have expected Sang Hongmei to roll up her sleeves and join in, taking Xu Miaoran unawares.


    Every person had their set way of thinking, and it was precisely because those old schemers considered their opponents acting in the optimal and most reasonable way that they lost ground to opponents that acted unconventionally.


    In such circumstances, the mediocre could often ovee the excellent.


    Regardless, cold realityy before Xu Miaoran: Hong Yuan had fallen into enemy hands, which endangered her life along with the location of the teleportation formation.


    Xu Miaoran gnashed her teeth. "Sang Hongmei took Hong Yuan for the location of the teleportation formation. Soulscour isn''t reliable enough, so she probably won''t use it for now, so we have time to save her. Songxu, go immediately to Sect Master Jade Emptiness and tell her what happened here, and request that she metes out justice. Anbo, go and find Father and tell him what happened."


    To save Hong Yuan, Xu Miaoran decided to rely on her father, dispatching someone to inform him in the hopes that Sang Hongmei could be stopped before she resorted to lethal means.


    The replies came quickly.


    First was the sect master. The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign had only said, "Understood. I will send someone to investigate this matter." Nothing else. As for when it would be investigated and what would happen after that, no details were provided. It was clear that Horizon Ocean Pavilion was already of one mind on this matter, hoping to use this opportunity to monopolize the inter-domain trade.


    The reply from Xu Guanghua was even simpler.


    Luo Anbo came back with the news that the Jewel Celestial Sovereign had taken the Sea Anchor True Lord to have tea on Blossom Peak in the Bodhi-P Mountains, and that he wouldn''t be back for a few days.


    Xu Miaoran felt the world spinning around her.


    "So¡­ ruthless!" Xu Miaoran had nothing to say to this daredevil attitude.


    Everyone looked at Xu Miaoran, wondering if there was anything else she could do.

 Chapter 702: Demotion

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The garden of Clear Pavilion.


    Xu Miaoran stood in the center, and around her were the disciples of the All-Talent Society and Bei Canghan''s group.


    Everyone was looking at Xu Miaoran, their eyes all conveying the same question: What do we do now?


    Xu Miaoran suddenly felt panic.


    Before this, she had been working hard to build up her own faction so that she would be surrounded by people, but never had it been like this, and Xu Miaoran felt a deep sense of terror.


    This terror didn''te from only the threat presented by Sang Hongmei, but also all those expectant gazes.


    Everyone was waiting for her toe up with a n. Every leader had to possess the self-awareness for this.


    Money could bring people together, but only daring and resolve could prove that a leader had value.


    At that moment, Xu Miaoran knew that she couldn''t panic, couldn''t lose her head.


    If she lost control of herself, the All-Talent Society would lose heart, and all of the prestige she had built up would vanish.


    No matter what happened, she had to remainposed.


    Because she was the leader, the backbone of the group!


    Xu Miaoran took in a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.


    She emptied her mind as much as possible, pushing aside all her worries so that her mind could settle down and focus.


    Countless scenes shed before her eyes¡ªSang Hongmei''s smug and savage smile, and all the possibilities that might transpire¡­


    Xu Miaoran silently thought, saying nothing.


    A disciple lost hisposure and shouted, "President!"


    Bei Canghan pulled on him and shook his head. "Give her some time."


    All the Basking Moon Sect disciples put a finger to their mouth and made a "shush" gesture.


    The ce became eerily quiet.


    Xu Miaoran''s chest rose and fell.


    She took big breaths as she racked her mind.


    Her panicked eyes began to calm down in this rare moment of silence, and slowly, they began to glow.


    She said, "Sang Hongmei is the hall master of the internal affairs hall, yet without caring about right or wrong, she kidnapped an innocent maid servant, which is a huge mistake. She dares to do this because she''s sure that she can get the secret of the teleportation formation, and with it, she can use merit to cancel out her wrongs. And so long as the inter-domain tradees under Horizon Ocean Pavilion, she will naturally get her fair share of the spoils. For this purpose, Horizon Ocean Pavilion is assisting her from the shadows. But on this matter, they made a grave mistake."


    Everyone looked at Xu Miaoran.


    Xu Miaoran took in a deep breath and went on, "It''s that I still control the teleportation formation! If there''s no teleportation formation, then what does it matter that they know where it is?"


    What?


    Everyone was stunned by these words.


    Xu Miaoran shouted, "Songxu, go and see the sect master again. Tell her what I just said. I want Horizon Ocean Pavilion to immediately give me an exnation for this matter, or else they won''t be able to see another product from the Blood River Domain again!"


    "Audacious!" Before He Songxu could go and deliver the message, a voice resounded over the skies of Clear Pavilion. "Xu Miaoran, you''ve got quite a lot of guts, to threaten this great one!"


    A majestic figure appeared in the skies, enrobed in golden light that obscured their figure, seeming to span the heavens and earth, crossing the void. It was only a projection, yet it surged with awe-inspiring power.


    "Sect Master!" All the disciples of the All-Talent Society dropped to their knees.


    The Basking Moon Sect members gritted their teeth and stayed standing, but they felt like a mountain was pressing on their bodies.


    Xu Miaoran raised her head, not the slightest bit afraid. "Sang Hongmei kidnapped my maid servant, so I demand an exnation from Horizon Ocean Pavilion, or else I will burn down everything!"


    Such audacity left everyone horrified.


    Even the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign was startled, angrily grunting, "So bold! Xu Guanghua seems to have brought up a fine daughter! But do you think that this great one would let you do as you please after saying such things?"


    Xu Miaoran remained unafraid. "Then do you think I would dare stand in front of you and say such things if I wasn''t prepared?"


    Xu Miaoran extended her arm, an object appearing in her hand.


    "A Heavenbane Lightning Pearl?" The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign was startled.


    Xu Miaoran coldly said, "I had a friend bring this thing over from Sageheart. As for who this friend is, you''ve seen them. Wei Tianchong, tell the esteemed Sect Master how many I had your group bring."


    Wei Tianchong scratched his head and replied, "24. We wanted to buy more, but the Heavenly Extinction Sect didn''t have that many."


    Xu Miaoran held up a Mustard Seed Bag and said, "There are six here, and the other eighteen have all been ced in the teleportation formation, concealed by a secret art. If you don''t enter using the proper method, you''ll trigger them. If you''re strong enough, you''lle out fine, but the teleportation formation will definitely be done for. Of course, if Sect Master doesn''t mind putting down your pride and personally intervening over such a mere trifle, you could get rid of this problem."


    "Bastard!" The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign trembled in anger.


    Xu Miaoran suddenly dropped her demeanor. "Sect Master, Miaoran only seeks justice. What wrong have Imitted?"


    She nced at Bei Canghan, who understood and shouted, "We only seek justice from Sect Master!"


    Everyone understood what they needed to do and shouted, "Please, Sect Master, deliver justice!"


    The threats had been issued, but when it came to the Sect Master of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, threats weren''t enough. A way to gracefully exit also needed to be provided.


    It was a fact that Sang Hongmei had kidnapped Hong Yuan, and there was no way the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign was going to cover for her. She had simply wanted to use her to get control of the teleportation formation and so wanted to buy some time. But given recent developments, she said, "This great one will fairly judge this matter. Sang Hongmei has kidnapped a member of the sect, a major crime, and I have already sent someone to arrest her. But¡­"


    "''But'' what?" Xu Miaoran asked.


    "But she is not in Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and this great one does not know where she went," the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign replied.


    Xu Miaoran sucked in a cold breath.


    She was sure that the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign wasn''t lying about this, which meant that Sang Hongmei had been fully prepared for such a development and probably wouldn''t rest until she forced Hong Yuan to speak.


    Xu Miaoran''s face darkened. "Kidnapping a disciple of one''s own sect and fleeing is treasonous behavior! Just because she''s not here doesn''t mean that she shouldn''t be punished, no? Sect Master, please pass judgment. No matter what, Sang Hongmei''s words and actions means that she is no longer fit to manage the Internal Affairs Hall!"


    After some thought, the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign nodded. "You are correct. As Sect Master, this great one will not show any favoritism in this matter. Sang Hongmei has broken the sect''s rules in kidnapping a disciple of this sect, and then left without any exnation. For this grave crime, she is demoted from her position as Master of the Internal Affairs Hall, and the people of the Four Seas Hall are ordered to find her. Any other crimes will be discussed once she has been arrested!"


    She waved a hand, sending this edict out to all of Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    She then looked at Xu Miaoran. "Are you satisfied now?"


    "All hail the wise Sect Master!" Xu Miaoran said, offeringpliments when she should.


    The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign snorted and cast her gaze over at Bei Canghan''s group. "Have the people of the Basking Moon Sect been doing well in my Horizon Ocean Pavilion?"


    Bei Canghan bowed. "Bei Canghan pays respects to the Immortal Sovereign. Although we are disciples of Basking Moon, this trip has nothing to do with the Basking Moon Sect, but is because we have taken a mission from the youngdy to protect the people of her All-Talent Society."


    "''Protect''?"


    "Yes, to protect the disciples of Horizon Ocean Pavilion going out on missions as they kill fiends, eliminate demons, fight for spirit herbs, and seek out opportunities." Peng Yaolong grinned. "This task should have been left to the seniors of your honorable sect, but Young Lady Xu feels that since she was the one who established the All-Talent Society, she should take on a greater burden. As she had a personal rtionship with us, she hired us on in a personal capacity, and we epted out of consideration for the friendship shared between our two sects. Honored Sect Master has no need to thank us."


    He blinked his eyes at Shi Meng, who took out a document which contained the contract that Xu Miaoran had drafted between her and the fourteen Basking Moon Sect disciples, which was enforced by a secret art of Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    The disciples of the All-Talent Society also testified that this was the case.


    And there were no lies here. Xu Miaoran had called them over to boost her own strength, not to be spies, and with so many people to testify on their behalf, the fourteen did not feel any sort of guilt.


    The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign could only grunt at this. "Hmph, just make sure you behave."


    She disappeared.


    Once the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign was gone, everyone exhaled in relief.


    The scene just now had given everyone a bad scare. Thankfully, Xu Miaoran had been bold enough to talk big in front of the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign, even getting Sang Hongmei demoted.


    "But what do we do now?" Fan Chenglong worriedly said.


    "What else? We have to find that fiend granny and get back Xu Miaoran," Xu Miaoran viciously said.


    "Sang Hongmei isn''t easy to deal with."


    "No matter how hard she is to deal with, she''s still one person. Or do you think I was doing all that just for fun?"


    Everyone froze, and then they understood.


    The position of Internal Affairs Hall Master was a position that also represented a powerful faction.


    When Sang Hongmei upied this post, it meant that Xu Miaoran had to deal with both Sang Hongmei and all the people subordinate to this post. But now that Sang Hongmei had been demoted, it became possible to bury her under numbers.


    Xu Miaoran had been waiting a long time for this day.


    The fourteen from the Basking Moon Sect naturally weren''t enough to deal with Sang Hongmei, but the All-Talent Society also had people.


    In the All-Talent Society, Xu Miaoran and Fan Chenglong were Heart Demon True Persons. Besides them, Xu Miaoran had also used arge sum of money to hire the Heart Demon True Person Zheng Ran and the Soul Transformation True Person Zhou Peng.


    Zhou Peng was an elder who had followed Xu Guanghua for many years, which was why he had been willing to take Xu Miaoran''s deal. While she was constantly saying that she didn''t want to borrow her father''s power, as a True Lord''s daughter, she would be a fool if she didn''t use even a little. Moreover, if she distanced herself too much, it was liable to make others misunderstand that she didn''t have her father''s support, so Xu Miaoran still made limited use of her father''s power.


    As for Spirit Ring True Persons, she had He Songxu and Luo Anbo, and she had also recruited four other Spirit Ring True Persons. All in all, these were the more powerful members of the All-Talent Society.


    When adding in the Basking Moon Sect reinforcements, the All-Talent Society had one Soul Transformation, four Heart Demon, and neen Spirit Ring True Persons, along with nearly one hundred Cognitive Creation cultivators.


    This level of strength naturally wasn''t enough to deal with the Internal Affairs Hall, but it was definitely enough to deal with Sang Hongmei.


    Xu Miaoran had dared to deal with Sang Hongmei before because the Internal Affairs Hall was an official department of the sect while the all-Talent Society was just a society that Xu Miaoran had set up. Their natures were entirely different.


    The greatest difference between them was that if Xu Miaoran wanted a fight, she could bring the entire All-Talent Society with her, but Sang Hongmei couldn''t do this. The Internal Affairs Hall wasn''t hers, and she had no right to bring all of its members to beat up a single junior.


    She might have possessed greater strength than Xu Miaoran, but she was always fighting with one hand tied behind her back.


    But surprisingly, Sang Hongmei had cut off her other hand on her own¡ªthanks to Xu Miaoran''s pressure, Sang Hongmei had been demoted from her position as Hall Master.


    This being the case, Xu Miaoran was happy to pile onto her.


    At this point, everyone was itching to get moving.


    "But how do we find her?" Ye Tianshang asked.


    Bei Canghan replied, "I have a way. When the fiend granny kidnapped Hong Yuan, my Snowfall Sword left an Ice Mark on her. So long as she isn''t too far away, I can sense it."


    Qi Shaoming frowned. "Your Ice Mark won''t be able to fool the fiend granny."


    "It wasn''t on the fiend granny." Bei Canghan smiled. "It was on Hong Yuan."

 Chapter 703: Interrogation

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Bang!


    Hong Yuan''s body mmed into a wall and slid down. Only then did she realize that she was in a dark cave.


    "Talk! Where is the teleportation formation located!?" Sang Hongmei put a foot on Hong Yuan''s chest and roared.


    The fiend granny''s temper was crude and simple, and she had no experience when it came to interrogation, bluntly demanding information.


    It had long ago been proved that interrogation without breaking down the target psychologically had horrific chances of sess. And the chances were even lower if the target was particrly bold and loyal.


    Sang Hongmei didn''t understand this and immediately started with brute force, so the result waspletely expected.


    Hong Yuan sneered at Sang Hongmei. "So you''ve finally lost your patience?"


    "Still acting tough!" Sang Hongmei pressed down with her foot, sending spiritual energy into Hong Yuan''s body.


    This spiritual power was meant to punish Hong Yuan by making her feel pain, but the moment it entered her body, Hong Yuan threw up blood with such ferocity that she even spat out chunks of her organs. Her eyes then rolled over as she fainted.


    Sang Hongmei was stunned.


    She had already calcted her strength, and she felt that Hong Yuan should have been able to endure it with her Cognitive Creation constitution.


    But then she realized that Hong Yuan must have put down all her defenses and let the spiritual power infiltrate her, so it was only natural that she was heavily injured.


    Sang Hongmei was shocked and enraged, but she couldn''t let Hong Yuan die, so she had Hong Yuan swallow a pill.


    A few momentster, Hong Yuan woke up. Sang Hongmei thumped her cane. "Talk! Where is the teleportation formation!?"


    "Is that all you know how to say?" Hong Yuan coldly smiled. "Why don''t you continue the torture?"


    "Seeking death!"


    Hong Yuan raised her head and shouted at Sang Hongmei, "You would have to have the guts to kill me first! If you kill me, then how are you going to find out where the teleportation formation is? Do you know how much money the inter-domain trade makes? One million spirit coins! Every day, it makes at least one million spirit coins, equal to an ultimate-grade art relic! One every day, so if you went into seclusion, after five years, you would open up your eyes and find yourself buried in art relics! Hahaha, isn''t that a very nice feeling? Fiend granny, do you dare to kill me?"


    "Bastard!" Sang Hongmei pped Hong Yuan, and Hong Yuan''s cheek instantly swelled, several teeth flying out of her mouth.


    She jabbed a finger at Hong Yuan''s forehead. "Don''t say this old self didn''t warn you! This is yourst chance! If you don''t tell me, this old self will use Soulscour and find out all the same!"


    Hong Yuan spat on the ground. "If Soulscour was that useful, you would have already used it rather than wasting time talking with me. When Soulscour gathers thoughts, it turns the insubstantial into the substantial, but in this process, too many thoughts are lost or used up. No one can say whether the part lost will be that regarding the teleportation formation!"


    "In a rush, this old self has no choice but to take a gamble," Sang Hongmei sinisterly said.


    "But if your gamble is bound to fail?" Hong Yuan smiled. "Have you not heard of a secret art called the Heart Silencing Art?"


    "''The Heart Silencing Art''?" Sang Hongmei paled. "You can''t know this! It''s a secret art of the Basking Moon Sect!"


    The Heart Silencing Art was the secret art that the Basking Moon Sect had developed to resist Soulscour. Its only function was to grant the ability to control one''s thoughts when under Soulscour so that a specific part of one''s memories would be washed away. What was special about it was that it wasn''t affected by any sort of seal or restraint and would activate on contact.


    Without the corresponding memories, one naturally wouldn''t be able to find anything useful.


    The moment Sang Hongmei said this, she realized that something wasn''t right.


    She hadn''t forgotten the rtionship Xu Miaoran and Hong Yuan had with Tang Jie.


    Sure enough, Hong Yuan said, "Back in Nadir Hill, my master''s husband taught me a lot."


    "Bullshit! The Heart Silencing Art is a Basking Moon secret art. To safeguard it against traitors, it''s not passed down to just anyone," Sang Hongmei barked.


    Because of the special function of the Heart Silencing Art, if a traitor were to learn it, they would not only be able to spread it to others, they could also resist Soulscour. Thus, it was a secret art that was not recorded in the Divine Firmament Sword ssic. Only disciples who were absolutely loyal and were being sent undercover with important missions were permitted to learn it so that they could keep the sect''s secrets.


    Hong Yuan sneered. "Did you forget that my master''s husband is a disciple of the Secret Hall?"


    Sang Hongmei was shaken.


    Given that the Secret Hall''s disciples were often on top-secret missions, they had the highest chance of learning the Heart Silencing Art. Tang Jie was the most outstanding disciple of the Secret Hall, so there really was a chance that he had learned it.


    She didn''t know that while Tang Jie had the right to learn, he had been out so often that he had never had the chance to learn it, let alone pass it on to Hong Yuan.


    Hong Yuan had been lying from the start, and the biggest w was that even if Tang Jie had known it, he would have never passed it on to Hong Yuan.


    The rules of the sect were strict, and even in the dire circumstances back then, Tang Jie had never passed on Heart Consonance to Xu Miaoran. As for Xi Canhen, that had been salvaged by having him join the Basking Moon Sect, so how could he pass on the Heart Silencing Art, which was of an even higher level of secrecy?


    The problem was that Sang Hongmei didn''t understand Tang Jie, and she herself was someone who ignored the rules, or else she wouldn''t have gone and kidnapped Hong Yuan. In her view, so long as Tang Jie knew it, he had a high chance of passing the art to Hong Yuan.


    If this was the case, her Soulscour was bound to fail, so interrogation was better.


    Sang Hongmei''s face shifted between green and white as she hesitated over what to do.


    She wasn''t a particrly brainy person, and while she had lived a long life, she had focused on cultivating and was used to using her fists to solve problems, not her brains. When her fists could no longer solve problems, she was in the dark.


    She had been frightened by Hong Yuan''s words, and after hesitating for a while, she lost her patience and decided to resort to torture to get Hong Yuan to talk.


    s, she was no interrogation expert, whereas Tang Jie had taught Hong Yuan back in Nadir Hill how to deal with interrogations. It was Tang Jie who had told her to rx her mind and let spiritual energy invade her body, forcing Sang Hongmei to act with a lighter touch for fear of killing her.


    Even so, Sang Hongmei was ruthless. In rage, she grabbed one of Hong Yuan''s fingers and broke it.


    Hong Yuan shuddered in pain, but she clenched her teeth and refused to speak. Sang Hongmei proceeded to break several more fingers.


    A round of torture left Hong Yuan covered in wounds, but she refused to speak.


    Sang Hongmei was about to resume when she suddenly roared, "NO!"


    A startled Hong Yuan watched as Sang Hongmei smashed her cane into the wall, which caused the entire mountain to tremble, sending rocks tumbling down its sides as a manifestation of her fury.


    "Removing me from my hall master post! The audacity!"


    It seemed like she had received the edict from the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign.


    Demotion was an extremely serious matter, and Sang Hongmei just couldn''t understand why the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign would treat her this way. After all, she was working for the good of the sect.


    "No, I can get it back, I can definitely get it back. Once I get the location of the teleportation formation, I''ll be restored to my original post, or even be promoted, and then I''ll break through the bottleneck and advance to Violet Pce!" Sang Hongmei threw her head back and howled, madness appearing on her face. "Don''t try and stop me!"


    The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and she smashed the cave wall again and again. With each sessive boom, the mountain tottered, and it seemed on the verge of copse.


    Sang Hongmei didn''t care. She grabbed Hong Yuan, sted a hole through the mountain, and flew out.


    Much of her rage had been vented on the mountain, and as she looked at Hong Yuan again, her eyes burned with fervor. Chuckling, she said, "You¡­ haven''t learned the Heart Silencing Art!"


    Her mind had finally cleared, and she had finally seen through the w in Hong Yuan''s lies.


    Just as she was about to thrust her finger at Hong Yuan, a group of people flew toward her: Xu Miaoran''s group.


    Sang Hongmei''s destruction of the mountain had created such a ruckus that even without Bei Canghan''s Ice Mark, they would have noticed that something was going on.


    Upon seeing Sang Hongmei, they cheered. This was to celebrate finding their target, but it neglected the danger that came with it.


    Only Zhou Peng, the sole Soul Transformation True Person, had a grave expression and seemed to not be in a celebratory mood. If he hadn''t pledged his entire life to Xu Guanghua and found it impossible to reject a request from the Xu n, he would already be gone.


    "Sang Hongmei, you kidnapped a fellow disciple of the sect, viting thew. Hand yourself over and ept your punishment!" Xu Miaoran shouted.


    Sang Hongmei smirked. "Just a few brats, and you''re trying to arrest me? You think the Blood Fairy is that easy to bully? Or perhaps you think that you can overwhelm me with numbers?" She cast her gaze at Bei Canghan and the others. They were all Celestial Heart True Persons, but she didn''t recognize a single one, which made her finally sense that something was wrong. Carefully examining these unfamiliar faces and then recalling her previous sh with Bei Canghan and Cai Junyang, Sang Hongmei suddenly understood. "So you''re from the Basking Moon Sect! So you''ve really extended your hand all the way here?"


    Bei Canghan bowed. "Basking Moon Sect''s Bei Canghan pays respects to Senior Blood Fairy."


    "Cai Junyang pays respects to Senior."


    "Qi Shaoming pays respects to Senior."


    "Wu Xianguang pays respects to Senior."


    "Wei Tianchong pays respects to Senior."


    "Peng Yaolong pays respects to Senior."


    As they gave their names, Sang Hongmei found that she had heard of quite a few of them.


    Sang Hongmei couldn''t help butugh. "Quite a few genius disciples. I didn''t think that the Basking Moon Sect would be willing to send you over. But since you''re here, this old self will kill all of you so that Basking Moon won''t get too uppity and threaten my Horizon Ocean Pavilion."


    She said in a cold and sinister tone, "All of you¡­ must die!"


    She thrust out her palm, sending out a powerful st of wind.

 Chapter 704: Counter Current

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    When a person started acting without inhibitions, all principles, rules, and restraints became pointless.


    There was no meticulous analysis, reasonable conjectures, or masterful ns, only bashing and smashing, weapons shing and blood sshing.


    After experiencing so many things together with Tang Jie, Xu Miaoran had learned that when it came to cultivators, no matter what sort of schemes one had concocted, one would inevitably end up talking with their weapons. All calctions were merely a prelude to the decisive confrontation, to increase the chances of one''s victory and correspondingly decrease the chances of the other side winning.


    Strength was still what decided victory.


    Only strength!


    But only when the battle began did Xu Miaoran realize just how strong the opponent she was facing actually was.


    As that st of palm energy howled toward the group, they shouted in unison and thrust out their palms.


    Thebined power of twenty-some cultivators naturally wasn''t weak. Not only did it block the palm, it kept going, sweeping toward Sang Hongmei. But just when everyone was celebrating, Sang Hongmei threw out an Immortal-Binding Rope to tie up Hong Yuan and tossed her up into the clouds, after which sheughed and said, "These juniors dare to attack this fairy? Let me teach you why you are nothing but ants trying to shake a tree!"


    She threw out her Coiling Dragon Cane, which transformed into a blood dragon and charged at the group with a howl.


    "Be careful!" Cai Junyang shouted a warning, having already experienced the power of this cane.


    Ten-some cultivators attacked the blood dragon in unison, but as they did, the Blood Fairy rushed up to one of the All-Talent Society''s Spirit Ring cultivators, stretching out a w toward them. That person backed away in panic, but the w pressed up against his chest, shattering his barrier and leaving five deep holes in him.


    Several waves of sword and saber energy flew at her. Sang Hongmei dodged two of them and then weathered the attacks from three as she thrust out a w again, grabbing at that cultivator. She was so fast that she instantly had a grip on his head, upon which she closed her hand, crushing the cultivator''s head like iron pincers crushing a walnut.


    "Qin Yu!" Xu Miaoran shouted.


    In killing a person in the first exchange, Sang Hongmei had let everyone know what a real expert was like.


    Xu Miaoran shouted, "Group up in threes! Don''t let her divide and conquer us!"


    Unless there was some immense gap in strength, when the weak battled the strong and the numerous battled the few, the outnumbered side normally had only one tactic: to defeat opponents one by one.


    Sang Hongmei could not change this.


    This was why she hadshed out so savagely, seeking to weaken the enemy and lower their numbers. Once the numbers were small enough, she could turn the tables.


    But Xu Miaoran''s group understood this and were ready. Rather than looking to kill, they prioritized preservation, emphasizing helping each other out so that Sang Hongmei couldn''t take them down individually.


    Sang Hongmei cackled and once more rushed at one of them, this time targeting Peng Yaolong.


    Peng Yaolong bellowed, mighty torrents of power issuing from his fists as he chose to go blow for blow.


    The two powers shed, and Peng Yaolong felt five sts of air prate through his fist st and enter his right arm. A momentter, five spurts of blood fountained out of his arm as he was sent flying hundreds of feet.


    Just as Sang Hongmei was about to attack Peng Yaolong again, there was a rush of wind behind her. Ye Tianshang and Qi Shaoming attacked together, one sending a hurricane of sword energy and the other producing nine phantoms that charged at her.


    These attacks had been linked up perfectly so that they could intercept Sang Hongmei, but Sang Hongmei simply grunted. As the sword energy touched her body, she erupted in crimson light, and eighteen blood plum blossoms bloomed from her clothes.


    As the sword lights struck the blood blossoms, Sang Hongmei shot forward, thrusting her palms and striking Ye Tianshang and Qi Shaoming back, after which she charged at Peng Yaolong.


    Two more sword lights headed her off, this time from Bei Canghan and Wei Tianchong.


    Just as she had pushed back these two, Zhou Peng charged in.


    As a Soul Transformation True Person, though he was no match for Sang Hongmei, he was still able to hold her for a while. This was the mission that Xu Miaoran had given him, protecting the others so that Sang Hongmei couldn''t kill anyone.


    Hisck of caution had already let Sang Hongmei kill one, so after this dereliction of duty, he put his all into preventing Sang Hongmei from getting another chance.


    Zhou Peng''s interception robbed Sang Hongmei of her chance to kill Peng Yaolong, and he retreated and took a pill to rapidly heal. Xu Miaoran had gone all out for this battle, buying uprge numbers of healing medicines.


    Meanwhile, Xu Miaoran and Fan Chenglong had managed to hold down the blood dragon.


    When the strong battled the weak, the most important thing was to not be held down.


    Once one was held down, the battle became one of attrition, as if one was sinking into a swamp. This was not to Sang Hongmei''s advantage at all. No matter how formidable she was, she couldn''t exhaust almost thirty Celestial Heart True Persons. Even Tang Jie couldn''t do this.


    "Zhou Peng, you dare fight me!?" Sang Hongmei barked.


    "Fairy, my apologies, but I must carry out my duty." Zhou Peng was throwing out energy palms and doing everything he could to stop Sang Hongmei from killing Peng Yaolong, but he didn''t dare to be rude with his words.


    He was well aware that the Blood Fairy had yet to use her real power.


    Sang Hongmei''s face shed with cruelty. "''Your duty''? This fairy will teach you where your real duty lies! Blood Plums, bloom!"


    Zhou Peng paled and shouted, "Everyone, dodge!"


    He rapidly retreated as his hands thrust out again and again, throwing out countless wind sts to protect himself.


    The blood plum blossoms on Sang Hongmei''s robes flew out and attacked the cultivators around her.


    Each plum blossom was the size of a metal basin, spinning like a saw. Bei Canghan was closest to Sang Hongmei and was the first to be attacked. The plum blossom sliced right through his barrier and kept going, carving out arge chunk of his abdomen.


    Of the remaining blossoms, seven attacked Zhou Peng, and the rest of them were split up among Peng Yaolong, Cai Junyang, Qi Shaoming, Liu Hongyan, Wei Tianchong, Zuo Quanming, Ye Tianshang, Shi Meng, and the two Spirit Ring cultivators of the All-Talent Society.


    Zhou Peng didn''t dare to be careless against the Blood Plum Blossoms, and with his full strength, he only barely managed to hold them off. But this meant that he had nothing left to help others, such was the gap between him and Sang Hongmei.


    As for the others, they each employed their own method to deal with these terrifying plum blossoms. Cai Junyang used hisprehension of ughter to destroy his, Qi Shaoming dodged it with his Passing Shadow Phantom Clone sh, and Wei Tianchong had a puppet take the blow for him.


    As Zuo Quanming had yet to reveal his strength such that even Sang Hongmei hadn''t seen through him, he was only dealing with a single plum blossom. He was actually able to easily destroy it, but this wily fellow only neutralized 90% of the blossom''s power before letting it hit him in the belly. He howled as if he had taken on a heavy blow, but in reality, it was just a flesh wound.


    The remaining six were all hit.


    Peng Yaolong and Ye Tianshang had the lightest injuries. One had a tough body and strong defenses, while the other neutralized most of the blossom''s power with a sword gale. Shi Meng was the most badly wounded, this one strike essentially stripping him of the ability to fight. Thankfully, he was wearing armor and had chosen to protect his weak points, so he didn''t die. But he was forced to retreat while being covered by the others.


    The battle had only begun, but Xu Miaoran''s group already had one dead and one seriously wounded.


    The Blood Fairy wasn''t done attacking. As the eighteen Blood Plum Blossoms finished their assault, Sang Hongmei let out a crazedugh. "As expected, there are some pretty good fighters among you juniors, but that''s what makes a battle enjoyable! Since that''s the case, this fairy will show you a little of her true face!"


    As she spoke, her body glowed. Her wrinkles began to smooth out, time seeming to reverse, and her face became young and beautiful. In the blink of an eye, an old granny had turned into a maiden in the prime of her youth.


    Everyone was bbergasted, Xu Miaoran even blurting out, "The Counter Current Rebirth Art! You actually cultivated that!?"


    Her voice was thick with panic.


    The Counter Current Rebirth Art was a powerful secret art of Horizon Ocean Pavilion that could reverse time''s effect on the physical body. One could say that it was almost a Dao. One who cultivated this art would age faster than normal, even with a spiritual body. Only when one reached greater attainment in the art could one return to one''s youth. But as a positive, it greatly increased the power of one''s Divine Will, both making arts more powerful and also making the future charge at Violet Pce easier.


    One could say that the Blood Fairy must have been extremely determined when she chose to cultivate the Counter Current Rebirth Art. Of course, without this daring, the Jewel Celestial Sovereign would have never taken a liking to her and taken her as a disciple.


    But nobody had imagined that the Blood Fairy had actually achieved greater attainment.


    Upon regaining her youth, she was no longer old and repulsive, but she still had those cruel and haughty eyes.


    Looking at the group, Sang Hongmei coldly said, "Free my dead body, return my spring, follow my will, move my universe!"


    As she spoke, the eighteen Blood Plum Blossoms bloomed once more on her body.


    This move was one of Sang Hongmei''s trump cards, and each time she used it, she had to wait a long time until she could use it again.


    But with this chant, they were fully restored.


    With a wave of her right hand, the blood dragon returned to her, but it took on the form of a spear rather than a cane.


    Grasping that dragon spear, the eighteen plum blossoms morphing into a suit of armor, Sang Hongmei became a heroic woman general.


    The scene awed everyone.


    Sang Hongmeiughed. "You thought you could beat me with numbers, not realizing that before a truly fierce beast, sheep will always be sheep!"


    She thrust out her dragon spear, and its splendor illuminated the skies, threatening to pierce through the heavens.

 Chapter 705: Group Battle

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    In cultivator battles, the rtionship between quality and numbers had always been a very interesting mathematical problem.


    In the Great Ster Chiliocosm, numbers had never been irrelevant. There was no such thing as reaching a certain cultivation level that allowed one to look down on the entire universe and handle as many lower-ss cultivators as there could be.


    The Great Ster Chiliocosm''s advancement system was one of gradual progress. While each advancement in cultivation realm had its own meaning, there was no massive gap between them. If one had to take a hard look at the numbers, then the difference between Violet Pce and Soul Transformation was the greatest. However, even this was not something that could be ovee by numbers, and several dozen Soul Transformation cultivators working together could still take down a Violet Pce cultivator.


    Perhaps this was why the Great Ster Chiliocosm had always been a very ordered ce: when numbers had meaning, the weak could join together and make their voices heard. Sovereigns, bncing pros and cons, and management methods also retained their meaning, and from there, a hierarchical society with very distinct sses was born, not some savage society where fists did all the talking.


    But in this aspect, numbers also weren''t absolute. The strength of a cultivator could greatly minimize the strength of numbers.


    Using Soul Transformation as an example, not considering individual differences, around five Heart Demon cultivators could fight against a single Soul Transformation cultivator. Did this mean that twenty-five Spirit Ring cultivators could fight against one Soul Transformation cultivator? And 250 Cognitive Creation cultivators could fight against a Soul Transformation cultivator?


    The answer was "No."


    In cultivator battles, the basic idea was that the greater the gap of cultivation, the less effective the power of weaker cultivators became, and numbers gradually started to lose significance as the gap widened.


    While five Heart Demon cultivators could deal with one Soul Transformation cultivator, thirty to fifty Spirit Ring cultivators might be needed to deal with the same person. And if one switched them out for peak Cognitive Creation cultivators who had been through the Three Witherings, the number needed would rocket into the thousands. As for Nine Revolutions, no number could make it work.


    Thus, a core concept of cultivator math was that numbers only mattered within a single cultivation realm. Anything bigger made numbers irrelevant.


    On this basis, if one was dealing with a top-ss existence among one''s peers, the gap was even greater and more frightening.


    And Sang Hongmei was one of these top-ss existences.


    As a chief, even if she were facing opponents of the same tier, Sang Hongmei could deal with two or three Soul Transformation cultivators without a problem.


    In these circumstances, Xu Miaoran''s group, despite its greater numbers, didn''t actually have much of an advantage.


    What really gave Xu Miaoran confidence was the individual strength of the likes of Bei Canghan, Cai Junyang, and Qi Shaoming. Just like how Sang Hongmei was an outstanding Soul Transformation cultivator, they were geniuses of their tier, so the gap between them was smaller. In addition, Xu Miaoran had converted her immense wealth intobat power.


    At this moment, Sang Hongmei had used her dragon spear to send a wave of lethal energy at the group.


    Xu Miaoran grunted and threw out an item.


    It was a piece of gauze, and as it flew out, it dissolved into motes of spiritual light, which in turn congealed into little silver fish that pecked away at the dragon spear.


    She then threw out a jade bottle, out from which poured a sea that engulfed the skies.


    The fish swam within this water, mming away at the wave of spear energy and making it difficult for it to advance.


    "The Clear Stream Bottle! Silver Fish Gauze! That''s quite the trick you have," Sang Hongmei grunted. These two were both ultimate-grade art relics that had their power doubled whenbined. It was only because Xu Miaoran had money that she had been able to get her hands on them.


    But Sang Hongmei wasn''t the kind of person who would be stopped by such a little trick. With augh, her dragon spear swelled with power, shattering the fish and pushing back the sea. These two ultimate-grade art relics couldn''t stop her assault.


    "Let me!" Peng Yaolong shouted. He thrust his hands forward, and the massive image of Heavenly King Mara appeared behind him.


    As Peng Yaolong''s eyes widened, that towering figure sent a single finger at the dragon spear.


    The light of the dragon spear shed with the Heavenly King''s finger, unleashing a blinding radiance that prated through the clouds.


    The dragon spear''s beam of light then began to push through, obliterating the giant finger chunk by chunk, this powerful incantation unexpectedly failing to take on the spear that Sang Hongmei had thrown out. Peng Yaolong''s entire body shuddered, and he let out a furious bellow. "RAAAA!"


    His face turned blood-red, and a stream of energy erupted from the giant and stopped Sang Hongmei''s spear cold: Energy-Blood Simulflow!


    For Peng Yaolong to singlehandedly stop Sang Hongmei''s attack was a glorious feat, but as a price, the giant shattered, and Peng Yaolong was sent flying backward. This one strike had consumed 80% of his spiritual energy, and he would need to recover it before he could head back into the fray.


    But the others had used this opportunity toplete their own spell arts.


    "Tianshang!" Qi Shaoming shouted as he charged forward.


    Ye Tianshang understood and sent a sword gale sweeping out in the direction Qi Shaoming was charging.


    The sword gale opened a path for Qi Shaoming, who charged up at Sang Hongmei like a lightning bolt. As he drew close, he split up into nine, all of them attacking Sang Hongmei at once. The eighteen Blood Plum Blossoms bloomed, working together to block this strike.


    But the moment Qi Shaoming''s attack was blocked, Cai Junyang mysteriously appeared behind him. It turned out that Qi Shaoming was just a cover, and Cai Junyang was the real attacker.


    A st of sword light tinged with the power of ughter flew at Sang Hongmei.


    The plum blossom armor erupted with light, but it couldn''t block Cai Junyang''s power of ughter, crumbling away upon contact. The sword light cut into Sang Hongmei''s body, causing her to cry out in pain.


    She had finally been injured.


    "Bastard!" Sang Hongmei barked, thrusting out her palms, one blow to destroy his barrier and the other to kill. But Cai Junyang''s body shed with golden light from a protective talisman. It had activated the moment Cai Junyang''s barrier had shattered, fending off the follow-up attack.


    And a momentter, Zhou Peng, He Songxu, and Luo Anbo charged in.


    Once Sang Hongmei had dealt with this trio, Meng Shixue, Liu Hongyan, and Su Xinyue charged in.


    Xu Miaoran had teams of three taking turns attacking. Rather than seeking to do damage, she sought to minimize casualties. As twenty-some cultivators took turns fighting and recovering, they used all sorts of medicines and talismans, caring nothing for the cost.


    These things didn''te cheap, and they normally wouldn''t have dared to use them so carelessly, but as they were backed by Xu Miaoran''s preposterous wealth, they cast aside their concerns. As for Xu Miaoran, she stood on the side and threw out various treasures to attack Sang Hongmei.


    Only in an actual fight would one realize how strong Sang Hongmei was, and only in an actual fight would one realize how wealthy Xu Miaoran was.


    Under a watery blue sky, a fierce battle yed out.


    Twenty-some Celestial Heart cultivators surrounded Sang Hongmei and barraged her with spell arts and treasures, water, mes, and lightning flying through the air.


    Sang Hongmei was like a majestic warrior goddess, fearlessly taking on their attacks, her dragon spear thrusting out like a lightning bolt and her armor glistening like blood. Her every move exuded immense power that weighed on everyone.


    It was only in an actual fight that one could understand the massive disparity in strength. With a single attack, Sang Hongmei could easily shatter barriers and armor, but her attackers often needed tobine their powers to break her defenses just once, and the asional sess resulted in only a small wound. But a sessful strike from Sang Hongmei meant either heavy injury or death.


    After a while, another All-Talent Society cultivator was killed, and three were heavily injured.


    Fortunately, the heavily wounded could take medicines while being covered by the others, allowing them to quickly rejoin the battlefield.


    On the other hand, Sang Hongmei had no chance to rest, so even small wounds could umte into big problems. She didn''t have Tang Jie''s freakish recovery ability.


    If both sides had HP bars, one would be able to see that the HP bar for Xu Miaoran''s group basically either didn''t move, or else almost emptied out before quickly going back up when the injured retreated to heal.


    As for Sang Hongmei''s long HP bar, it was very slowly and steadily draining.


    As time went on, Sang Hongmei began to lose her patience.


    She knew that she had already fallen into Xu Miaoran''s tempo, and in a battle of attrition, even if she traded every one point of her spiritual energy for one hundred of the other side''s, she would never be able to beat out Xu Miaoran''s fortune.


    There was no telling how long she had been preparing for this battle, and she had umted a terrifying number of pills, talismans, and art relics. She seemed intent on establishing her Dao through wealth, her art relics alone sufficing to make one green with envy, and she had yet to use the same one twice. s, she wasn''t good at formations, or else she would have already deployed Tang Jie''s Treasure Cosmos Formation.


    Not willing to let this continue, Sang Hongmei suddenly drew back her spear and let out a shriek.


    This piercing shriek shook everyone''s souls and made their heads feel like they were about to split open.


    Xu Miaoran paled and shouted, "Watch out! She''s using her Divine Will to use the Haunting Demon Screech!"


    The most significant way in which Soul Transformation cultivators were superior to those of lower tiers was their powerful Divine Will. Any spell art activated with the Divine Will would be much stronger. It was just that this consumed a lot of Divine Will, so it wasn''t to be done recklessly. But it was only when Sang Hongmei used it that the true power of a Soul Transformation cultivator was put on disy.


    Xu Miaoran didn''t dare to be careless with this attack, throwing out a small golden bell.


    This bell let out a cling, and Sang Hongmei''s Haunting Demon Screech was greatly weakened. It seemed like Xu Miaoran had brought the bell specifically for this purpose.


    But Sang Hongmei was just too powerful, and this Heartguard Bell bought specifically to counter her could only partially neutralize her attack. The piercing sound still lingered, making everyone dizzy.


    Of course, Sang Hongmei didn''t fare much better, essentially hurting herself to hurt the other side.


    While Sang Hongmei''s face paled from all the power she had used, quite a few of Xu Miaoran''s people had blooding from their noses and mouths, with some of the weaker ones even fainting.


    Both sides were momentarily paralyzed. Sang Hongmei seized this chance to take a pill to restore energy, and Xu Miaoran''s people also took medicine to treat their wounds.


    Sang Hongmei and Xu Miaoran exchanged res.


    Xu Miaoran said, "Sang Hongmei, are you still not going to give up?"


    Sang Hongmeiughed. "What a joke! Why should this fairy concede? I will be the ultimate victor of this battle!"


    "Stubborn to the end!" Xu Miaoran snorted.


    As they stared at each other, they suddenly shouted in unison:


    "Strike now!"


    All of a sudden!

 Chapter 706: Sudden Shift

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    "Strike now!"


    Thismand came from both Sang Hongmei and Xu Miaoran.


    Sang Hongmei instantly felt an ill foreboding.


    She immediately stopped trying to recover, turning around and thrusting out a palm.


    There was a burst of blood as a figure was forced out of hiding: Xi Canhen.


    Xi Canhen had not once taken part in this battle, nor even showed himself, precisely so he could attack at this moment.


    In truth, he could have attacked before, but Sang Hongmei had been at her peak. The Sacrificial Sword was a move that resulted in either the enemy''s death or the user''s death. Sang Hongmei was so powerful that Xi Canhen wasn''t confident in his chances of killing her, so he could only wait until she was weaker to strike.


    Even so, he had still failed to kill her in a single blow. Fortunately, the sword strike had greatly weakened Sang Hongmei so that her palm strike hadn''t killed him, But he wouldn''t be able to dodge the follow-up blow.


    s, if it had been the Immeasurable Sword, she would have been dead for sure, Xi Canhen thought to himself right before he fainted.


    A distorted figure emerged from the void¡ªZuo Quanming. As he grabbed Xi Canhen, he thrust out a palm to block Sang Hongmei''s second attack, then retreated with Xi Canhen.


    At the same time, a small silver sword was stabbed into Sang Hongmei''s body.


    The sword wasn''t a big deal, but the immense energy it contained was sent straight into her body, almost obliterating her organs.


    Up until now, Sang Hongmei had been wounded forty-some times, but all of them were minor wounds. The most serious wound was when Cai Junyang had shed at her arm, almost cutting it off.


    But this sword''s power was so immense that it surpassed the total damage done by all the other wounds, so painful that Sang Hongmei felt like her heart had been torn apart.


    "Awoooo!" she crazily howled.


    At the same time, another howl erupted from the crowd.


    This one was from Zhou Peng.


    "Zheng Ran, you!" Zhou Peng stared in disbelief behind him.


    That cultivator called Zheng Ran had stabbed a ck dagger into his heart, from which a powerful energy was bursting out, swiftly destroying his life force. Zheng Ran said with a savage expression, "Apologies. I must obey my superior''s orders!"


    He kicked aside Zhou Peng and flew toward Sang Hongmei.


    Zhou Peng''s body flew through the air, blood turning ck as it spilled out from the wound.


    The blood painted the sky.


    "Uncle Zhou!" Xu Miaoran cried out in grief.


    Zhou Peng was an elder who had followed Xu Guanghua for many years, and it was only because of his rtionship to Xu Miaoran that he had acted against Sang Hongmei. While he hadn''t put on a conspicuous performance, he was a very reliable person who had firmly executed Xu Miaoran''s orders. Without him, Xu Miaoran''s side would never have gotten to this point with only two deaths. It was precisely because he had held down Sang Hongmei withoutints and protected everyone that Xu Miaoran had been able to minimize the losses.


    His death wasn''t just the third loss on Xu Miaoran''s side, it was also a major loss inbat power.


    The advantage brought about by Xi Canhen''s attack had instantly been undone, and with Zheng Ran''s betrayal, the bnce of power had tipped to the other side.


    "Zheng Ran!" Hugging Zhou Peng''s corpse, Xu Miaoran venomously red at Zheng Ran, the only Heart Demon True Person she had been able to hire.


    "Hahaha, you didn''t expect that, right? Little girl, you''re still far too young to fight with me!" Sang Hongmei crowed. "You thought this fairy would just let you do what you want and not make any ns? Zheng Ran was someone I supported, but very few people know this, since he isn''t part of the Internal Affairs Hall. Without my encouragement, he would have never epted your offer. However¡­"


    She suddenly turned to Zheng Ran and shouted, "Why didn''t you tell me about this expert assassin bastard!!!?"


    Xi Canhen''s sword had obliterated her organs, and if she hadn''t possessed a profound cultivation, she would already be dead. Though she was still holding up right now, her injuries would take some time to heal.


    rmed, Zheng Ran hastily replied, "Xu Miaoran has always concealed the identities of the people from the Basking Moon Sect, and only a few people know who they are. As for that person skilled in concealment, I''ve never even seen him before. I really didn''t know!"


    "Useless thing!" Sang Hongmei rebuked. "It''s one thing to not find the teleportation formation, but you couldn''t even dig up the secrets of the Basking Moon Sect! It''s all because of you that this fairy has be so weak! What are you still standing around for? Kill everyone except Xu Miaoran!"


    "Yes!" Zheng Ran affirmed, upon which he began to attack the others.


    "Zheng Ran, you beast!" Fan Chenglong angrily roared as he charged in.


    "You juniors!" Sang Hongmei''s eyes gleamed with ruthlessness, and she threw her head back and let out another Haunting Demon Screech.


    Although she was heavily wounded, her Divine Soul remained powerful, so she once more used up her Divine Will to unleash this move.


    Both sides had been badly wounded, but because of Zheng Ran, the tables had beenpletely turned.


    As the Haunting Demon Screech was being activated through Divine Will, it could be targeted. Sang Hongmei naturally didn''t target Zheng Ran, making it so that he was the only one unaffected.


    In a sh, he became a pivotal force on the battlefield.


    He thrust a palm at Fan Chenglong, sending him flying, at the same time stabbing that ck dagger into Fan Chenglong''s belly.


    "Chenglong!" Xu Miaoran shouted, throwing out a stone lock at Zheng Ran. But as she was affected by the Haunting Demon Screech, she couldn''t use the full power of this treasure, and Zheng Ran was able to block it with a chop of his hand. He then turned and thrust his dagger at Cai Junyang.


    By this point in the battle, he was already clear on what to do. The biggest problem was Zhou Peng, who was the strongest, and this problem had already been taken care of. The second problem was Xu Miaoran, who had numerous treasures that could suppress them, but he wasn''t allowed to kill her. The third problem was the unexpected Xi Canhen, but he no longer had the ability to fight. The fourth problem was Cai Junyang.


    Almost half of the forty-some wounds on Sang Hongmei''s body had been inflicted by him. The power brought by the Dao of ughter was just too great, and even Fan Chenglong and Zuo Quanming¡ªHeart Demon cultivators¡ªcouldn''t match it. Thus, Zheng Ran chose to kill him first.


    Cai Junyang was about to raise his sword to block, but then the screeching pierced through his mind, momentarily paralyzing him.


    As Zheng Ran''s sword was about to strike true, two puppets charged in,manded by Wei Tianchong to help. He was also affected by the Haunting Demon Screech, but the advantage of puppets became evident here, as they were unaffected.


    But the puppets couldn''tpletely block the charge of a Heart Demon True Person. Zheng Ran pushed aside the puppets, and then he thrust his dagger once more. At this moment, Li Yunfan lunged at Zheng Ran, and the ck dagger plunged into his chest.


    "Yunfan!" everyone shouted.


    Li Yunfan trembled once, and then he stopped moving.


    Dead in one strike!


    "NO!" Bei Canghan and hisrades were enraged.


    The Basking Moon Sect had finally lost someone in this battle.


    "Zuo Quanming, what are you still waiting for?" Peng Yaolong shouted.


    Zuo Quanming suppressed the pain he was suffering and shouted, "I know! I''m being affected by the screech, so my reaction is slow. Damn, I exposed myself to save this kid!"


    To save Xi Canhen, Zuo Quanming had finally revealed his true strength. Sang Hongmei had realized that this old man wasn''t what he seemed, so she had focused more of the Haunting Demon Screech on him, which made his reaction much slower.


    Now, he took out the jade tablet Ling Xiao had given him.


    Sang Hongmei instantly felt an immense power from it, and she paled. She also took out a jade tablet! It even seemed to have the same design.


    Two jade tablets were raised up and aimed at the opposing side.


    On Zuo Quanming''s side, a golden hand appeared out of a vortex of light, pressing toward Sang Hongmei. The moment it appeared, it unleashed a destructive aura that struck fear into everyone''s hearts.


    On Sang Hongmei''s side, a slender jade finger appeared. Although it was only a finger, it was like a pir of heaven, capable of holding up the skies, as it thrust toward the golden hand.


    As finger and palm shed, a powerful shockwave ripped through the world.


    Such was the force of the shockwave that everyone was sted back by it.


    They were sent flying tens of thousands of meters, and in the distance, clouds churned and waves roared. These waves were a thousand meters tall, like a wall of water, and when these majestic walls fell, they unleashed a tsunami.


    That immense shockwave cleared out everything within a ten-thousand-meter radius of the center, scattering all clouds, obliterating all birds, and even almost turning the ce into a vacuum.


    After the shockwave had passed, air rushed back in, forming a powerful vortex.


    "The Jewel Celestial Sovereign!" Xu Miaoran squeezed out.


    Just like Zuo Quanming, Sang Hongmei was also hiding a jade tablet from the Jewel Celestial Sovereign.


    Both sides were loath to use up this power, but then they had decided to use it at the same time. The result was like they hadn''t used it all, the attacks having canceled each other out.


    Though the attacks had been canceled out, that didn''t mean the fight was over.


    Sang Hongmei and Zheng Ran flew over once more.


    The screeching resumed. Sang Hongmei was clearly willing to use up her life to take down the group.


    Clenching his teeth, Zuo Quanming threw out the golden hoop Ling Xiao had given him.


    The golden hoop was a defensive treasure, and the moment it was used, it covered everyone in a golden light, creating a sturdy defensive barrier between them and the outside world.


    Sang Hongmei''s palm struck the golden light, but it failed to shake it.


    Everyone sighed in relief. Xu Miaoran ordered, "Use this time to recover. The fiend granny is badly wounded, so she won''t be able to recover as quickly. The moment we''ve fully recovered, she''s dead!"


    Everyone obeyed and sat down to rest and recover.


    Sang Hongmei knew that this was bad. She was badly wounded and had also consumed a great deal of Divine Will, so it was impossible for her to match their recovery speed. If she let them recover to their peak, then even with Zheng Ran helping, she couldn''t guarantee her victory. Moreover, the golden hoop wasn''t like the jade tablet and could be used more than once. If they felt like they were in trouble, they could use it again, repeating the cycle. Given all the resources Xu Miaoran had, there was no way Sang Hongmei could oust her.


    Worst of all was that this area was close to Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and she was basically a wanted fugitive. That the Four Seas Hall had yet to catch her was probably because they were intentionally ignoring her, but after such an earthshaking battle, it would be very difficult for Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s people to keep ying dumb.


    She didn''t have much time left, so she needed to force them out as soon as possible.


    Of course, she could try and break the golden barrier, but that was bound to cost her a lot of energy, weakening herself while the enemy grew stronger¡ªcertainly not a wise move. Thus, after some thought, Sang Hongmei waved a hand, and the figure of Hong Yuan came flying out of the distance.


    cing a hand on Hong Yuan''s head, Sang Hongmei shouted, "Come out, or else I''ll kill her!"

 Chapter 707: Nether River Crossing

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    "Hong Yuan!" Xu Miaoran paled.


    Although Hong Yuan was her maid, she had grown up with her and had long regarded her as a sister. In turn, Hong Yuan was devotedly loyal to Xu Miaoran.


    Seeing her held hostage by Sang Hongmei had her going red in the eyes, and she almost charged out. Fortunately, He Songxu was able to pull her back in time. "Young Lady, calm down!"


    But how could Xu Miaoran possibly calm down? At this moment, Hong Yuan shouted, "Young Lady, save me! Save me!"


    Her voice was shrill and miserable.


    If she had openly confronted death and shouted, "Forget about me!" Xu Miaoran really might have lost her head and charged out.


    But the panicked and weeping Hong Yuan who was begging for her life actually made Xu Miaoran calm down.


    Xu Miaoran took in a deep breath, suppressing her agitated emotions and gradually regaining herposure.


    Looking over at the wailing Hong Yuan, Xu Miaoran shook her head. "Hong Yuan, my apologies. I can''t sacrifice everyone else just for you."


    Sang Hongmei sneered, "Xu Miaoran, if you don''t want toe out, that''s fine too. If you hand over the teleportation formation, this fairy will turn around and leave right now. Aren''t you two like sisters? Sisterhood is priceless, and no price can be put on a human life. To sacrifice your own sister for material goods doesn''t seem like something someone as benevolent and righteous as you would do."


    Xu Miaoran raised her head and said, "Sang Hongmei, don''t try that on me. You have the nerve to talk about sisterhood and human life being priceless? How many people have died at your hands in thesest few years? You want the teleportation formation? Fine, thene and get it. Don''t rely on these lowly tricks!"


    Sang Hongmei heartilyughed. "Of course I will get it, but not from you. Instead, I''ll get it from this little girl. You think there are questions that Soulscour can''t answer? It''s just that a pretty little thing is going to be turned into an idiot, quite the pity. Xu Miaoran, why be so stubborn? Hong Yuan is in my hands, and you''re locked up in a cage, so the secret of the teleportation formation is basically already lost. The only difference is that if you say it yourself, you can protect this little beauty''s life, and if you don''t, I''ll use Soulscour, and you''ll lose both."


    Xu Miaoran snorted. "Hah, this is the first time I''ve heard of the Blood Fairy trying to be reasonable and analyzing pros and cons. I didn''t think a butcher would have such a silver tongue! These words of yours have even me tempted. But if Soulscour was that good, why even waste the energy wagging your tongue? You must be afraid that the scouring will be iplete, causing you to miss something big, no?"


    "In the end, it''s only a possibility. If I use Soulscour, there''s no telling if I''ll seed or fail, but this girl of yours will most certainly be done for. Are you really not concerned about her?" Sang Hongmei sinisterly said.


    "This¡­ hmm." Xu Miaoran put a hand on her forehead, seemingly in deep thought.


    Sang Hongmei thought that Xu Miaoran was really thinking it over, but when she saw Xu Miaoran''s eyes roving around, she realized what was happening. "Xu Miaoran, don''t even think about trying to buy time!"


    She ced a finger on Hong Yuan''s forehead. "I''m counting to three! If you keep trying to stall, I''ll do it!"


    Xu Miaoran scowled. Her attempt to stall had been seen through, and she couldn''t think of any good n at the moment.


    Hong Yuan cried out in fear, "Don''t! Young Lady, save me!"


    "One!" Sang Hongmei shouted.


    "Young Lady, please!"


    Xu Miaoran shook her head.


    "Two!" Sang Hongmei bellowed.


    Xu Miaoran looked apologetically at Hong Yuan.


    "Three!" Sang Hongmei was about to jab her finger down when Hong Yuan shouted, "Wait! If she won''t say it, I will!"


    What?


    Everyone was aghast. But Sang Hongmei was delighted.


    Hong Yuan howled, "She refuses to save me, so why should I acknowledge her as my master? Release me, and I''ll tell you where the teleportation formation is!"


    Sang Hongmei didn''t expect this development, and sheughed. "You should have done this earlier! Your youngdy casts you aside, so there''s no need to follow her to the end."


    She released the seal on Hong Yuan.


    Sang Hongmei wasn''t worried at all that someone as weak as Hong Yuan could do anything to her.


    With her seal undone, Hong Yuan stood up, but she said nothing, only looking at Xu Miaoran.


    She was no longer wailing in fear. Instead, her eyes shone with fearless resolve.


    Upon seeing those eyes, Xu Miaoran realized something and cried out in shock, "Hong Yuan, don''t!"


    "Goodbye, Young Lady," Hong Yuan muttered, and then she thrust out a finger. "Die!"


    A sharp st of energy stabbed into Sang Hongmei''s eye.


    "Seeking death!" Sang Hongmei roared in fury,shing out with her palm.


    But as she struck with her palm, she realized the mistake she had made. Hong Yuan rushed right in, letting the palm strike her, caving in her chest and shattering all her bones.


    "NO!" Sang Hongmei and Xu Miaoran cried out in unison.


    Sang Hongmei grabbed at Hong Yuan, still hoping to save her.


    But then Hong Yuan turned her hand around and thrust her finger at her own forehead.


    Plush!


    Her finger pierced through her forehead.


    Everyone was so dumbfounded that time seemed to stop.


    Hong Yuan firmly dered, "Fiend granny, you won''t get a thing."


    And then she fell from the sky.


    "HONG YUAN!" Xu Miaoran wailed in despair.


    She watched as Hong Yuan''s body vanished into the clouds.


    "Awoooo!" Sang Hongmei also howled in despair.


    She had lost her final card.


    Hong Yuan''s death made everyone feel great sorrow, so nobody noticed that when Hong Yuan''s body passed through the clouds, it bizarrely froze.


    The shore of the Nether River.


    Little Three was traveling upstream along the river.


    It didn''t know how long it would have to walk, but the Karma that was guiding it told it that this was the best direction.


    The ck river waters passed through the vast Nether soil, constantly delivering new souls, spirits, and corpses.


    From these, ghosts were born with an intense resentment, fierce and powerful. Some of them even instinctively attacked everything around them.


    A resentful spirit that had clearly entered the Nether River just recently rushed over to Little Three. Lacking intelligence, this resentful spirit acted purely on instinct. Little Three turned to nce at this resentful spirit, and its one nce made the resentful spirit feel an immense danger. With a shriek, it tried to run, but Little Three simply opened its mouth and sucked it into its belly, where it turned into a ck ball of smoke and dissipated.


    Little Three closed its eyes and quietly digested the energy from this resentful spirit.


    As a newborn ghost, the resentful spirit didn''t have an ability of its own, which was why it could be used to improve Little Three''s Nether River Crossing ability.


    Nether River Crossing was a most mysterious power of the Nether Domain.


    Everyone knew that the Nether River linked life and death.


    It originated in the ne of the living and flowed toward the Wheel of Samsara, its course taking it through the home of the dead, the Nether Domain.


    One could say that the Nether Domain existed only because of the Nether River. The Nether River existed between life and death, as the destination of all life and the passage to Samsara.


    Nether River Crossing meant traveling to and fro on the Nether River.


    It could allow the living to enter the ne of the dead, and the dead to get back to the ne of the living.


    Resurrection!


    Of course, Nether River Crossing had its limits. Each time it was used came at an immense cost.


    The Nether River flowed from the living ne to the Wheel of Samsara, so achieving resurrection meant going against the current, which was no ordinary burden.


    Three years of experience had made Little Three very strong.


    It was able to freely travel through the spatial barrier, hide itself within the Great Chiliocosm, touch souls, and control ghosts. The only thing it had never done was perform the Nether River Crossing, not even once. The vast force behind that ceaseless yellow torrent left even Little Three feeling helpless.


    But as it was digesting this resentful spirit, Little Three suddenly felt a strange throb.


    After a momentary daze, Little Three realized that it hade from the Thread of Karma in its body.


    That long-gone sense of familiarity had finally returned.


    Little Three was shaken.


    The Thread of Karma began to extend, leading straight to the horizon.


    Little Three ran along the thread.


    The source of the Nether River could not be traced, for it existed in every domain of the Great Ster Chiliocosm and was technically everywhere. But one could travel against its current, and at the moment a deceased soul entered the Nether Domain, one could find an exit leading to the other side.


    Little Three followed that Thread of Karma upstream, across the flowing torrents of the river and past countless ghosts, until it reached a part of the river from which fog billowed. This was the sign that a ghost was about to be born. Little Three saw that the Thread of Karma was leading straight into the fog. Suddenly, the ghost forming in the fog let out a miserable screech.


    "AAAAAH!!!"


    It was a screech brimming with anger, unwillingness, and deep loathing.


    The fog was obsession.


    The power of the Nether River rapidly congealed this obsession that was filled with so many negative emotions, turning it into a ghost.


    "Hong Yuan!" A voice rang out in Little Three''s mind.


    It was Tang Jie, shocked and uneasy. Through the Thread of Karma, Tang Jie had seen the ghost and realized who the deceased was.


    "Little Three, save her!"


    "Understood, Father." Little Three charged in and gave the fog a strike.


    As its fist struck the fog, the fog formed from obsession broke apart.


    Hiss! The resentful soul once more angrily screeched.


    Little Three grabbed this wispy soul and charged forward.


    Crossing the Nether River, traveling against the current!


    This was the power of Nether River Crossing.


    Waves raged on the river, surging toward Little Three.


    But Little Three evaded the waves and continued to charge forward. Empowered by the Nether River, the remnant soul twisted in its grip, attempting to take form, but Little Three crushed it up every time, refusing to let it turn into a ghost.


    If it turned into a ghost, it would be another form of existence and would lose any chance of resurrection. The only choice then would be reincarnation.


    Taking the soul, Little Three charged forward, guided by the Thread of Karma. It could sense that the exit was just ahead.


    The exit to the Rosecloud Domain!


    The Nether River seemed to be enraged by Little Three''s actions, the surging river waters threatening to engulf it.


    Going against the current required passing the trial of the Nether River. Only one who persisted through the frightening waves of the river could truly cross the Nether River.


    The vast power of the waves pressed on Little Three''s body, threatening to crush it.


    But Little Three was unmoved, fearlessly and stubbornly moving against the current.


    In truth, if it let go of this soul, it could have used its spatial leaping ability to find the exit, for after finding this remnant soul, the Thread of Karma had managed to find the exit. But Little Three didn''t want to do this.


    It wasn''t because the Nether River Crossing could control life and death. It was because this was Father''s order.


    Little Three''s eyes shone with resolve, and it bravely pressed forward with that soul in hand.


    At the end of the Thread of Karma, it saw a light growing brighter and brighter.


    It was the other side of the passage!


    Rosecloud Domain, I''ming!


    It cried out in its mind, and as another fierce wave mmed down, it blinked away, vanishing with that soul it had stolen from the Nether River.


    Trantor Notes


    Atst, Litte Three has finally found its way home! And it''s finally time to deal with Sang Hongmei!

 Chapter 708: The Other Side

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Opening her eyes, Hong Yuan found herself floating in the air.


    There was nothing around her except a translucent little ghost, ck smoke visible within its body, looking at her. Under its feet was a white cloud that was holding them up.


    "AH!" Hong Yuan shouted out of instinct at this bizarre scene.


    And then she remembered: wasn''t she dead?


    Was this the underworld? Was this a ghost emissary who hade to take her soul?


    But a momentter, she saw the raging waves below, and a small ind with its copsed mountain in the distance.


    I''m still in the living world? I''m still in Endsea?


    I''m not dead?


    Hong Yuan finally realized this and instinctively felt her forehead, where she found that the hole was still there.


    "You aren''t dead." Little Three''s voice rang out in Hong Yuan''s mind. "I brought back your soul."


    "My soul¡­" Hong Yuan froze, and then she started to remember.


    Yes, she had died, and her soul had been guided by the Dao of Samsara past some barrier and into the Nether River, and she had traveled along its current. But when the Nether River was turning her soul into a ghost, someone brought her back¡­


    It was this guy!


    Hong Yuan looked at the translucent little ghost.


    The fog of confusion finally cleared, and she said in a trembling voice, "You saved me."


    She was so shocked that she didn''t notice that Little Three was speaking directly into her mind.


    "It was Father who had me save you," Little Three gleefully said.


    "''Father''?" Hong Yuan was startled.


    Little Three didn''t exin, saying, "We can talk about thister. Although I brought back your soul, your body is still dead, so you cannot truly merge back with it, nor will you feel any pain. We have to get your injuries treated at once for you to trulye back to life. If your physical body can''t be restored to that of a living person within twenty-four hours, your soul won''t be able to merge back with it, and you will be a lonely spirit drifting about the Rosecloud Domain¡­ Right, this is the Rosecloud Domain, yes?"


    Hong Yuan dumbly nodded.


    "Wonderful!" Little Three jumped. "After searching for three years, I finally found it. Father says that your name is Hong Yuan, and that you''re Mother''s maid?"


    "''Mother''?" Hong Yuan said in confusion.


    "I mean Xu Miaoran."


    "Xu Miaoran!" Hong Yuan yelped.


    "Father''s woman should be called ''Mother''. There''s nothing wrong with that." Little Three was rather confused by the way Hong Yuan was acting.


    "''Father''s woman''¡­ Tang Jie¡­ Tang Jie¡­ It''s Tang Jie!" Hong Yuan loudly shouted, finally realizing what was going on.


    "Yes, yes, it''s Tang Jie. Tang Jie is my dad, and it was he who had mee looking for all of you." Little Three very seriously nodded, not at all aware that it would have saved itself a lot of trouble if it had just mentioned Tang Jie''s name earlier. Three years of traveling had greatly increased its strength, but it had made no progress on themunication front.


    "Tang Jie¡­ He''s not dead!" Hong Yuan was dumbfounded. "So he really wasn''t dead! Haha, that''s great! Where is he!?"


    "He''s in a very far, far away ce and can''te back, so he had mee to deliver a letter. Where''s Mother?"


    "''Mother''." Hong Yuan still needed a bit to realize who it was talking about. Pointing above them, she said, "She''s up there."


    "Let''s go and see Mother." Little Three took Hong Yuan and flew upward.


    Suddenly, Hong Yuan remembered that Sang Hongmei was still up there and called out in rm, "Don''t go up! There''s a bad person up there!"


    "''A bad person''? Then that means I have to go." Little Three charged up.


    It was so fast that it almost instantly broke through the clouds.


    Sang Hongmei was currently furious over having lost Hong Yuan, but there was nothing she could do against Xu Miaoran''s group.


    Just when things were going to end up in a stalemate, she saw Hong Yuan flying back.


    "Hong Yuan!" everyone shouted.


    She had clearly already died, so how had she suddenlye back to life, particrly given that her terrifying wounds were still there? There were even blood and brains stilling out from that hole in her forehead, such that she had to use a finger to block it up, which was a creepy sight to behold.


    As for that translucent little ghost next to her, everyone subconsciously ignored it.


    Sang Hongmei was both delighted and shocked to see Hong Yuan flying back. "You''re still alive! Wonderful!"


    She moved to grab Hong Yuan, but she had no intentions to use her as a hostage this time, instead choosing to gamble everything on Soulscour.


    As she reached over, Little Three remarked in realization, "This is the bad person."


    It didn''t seem to do anything in particr, but then the two vanished, and Sang Hongmei''s hand grabbed at air.


    Little Three appeared on the other side, looking over at Xu Miaoran and saying, "That must be Mother over there."


    It flew over to Xu Miaoran.


    "There''s a golden barrier over there. You can''t get in!" Hong Yuan shouted.


    At the same time, Sang Hongmei turned around and grabbed again. "Trying to run?"


    This time, her hand radiated Divine Will as it reached toward Little Three. This method had always worked on those who used spatial shifts. Spatial shifting wasn''t easy, and it was normally impossible to use unless one was extremely focused. But Little Three didn''t seem to notice the pressure of her Divine Will at all, vanishing once more.


    Hong Yuan''s shout was still resounding through the air: "You can''t get in¡­ can''t get in¡­"


    Little Three appeared together with Hong Yuan inside the barrier.


    Everyone was stunned. How had it gotten inside?


    Of course, unknown to them, Little Three could even get through the spatial barrier, so this golden barrier was not a big deal.


    Everyone stared in shock at Little Three. The spatial ability needed to perform a spatial shift while affected by the fiend granny''s Divine Will, and even bring someone with them, was something that even a Violet Pce or Immortal tform cultivator might not be capable of. How had this little ghost done it?


    Also, Hong Yuan was clearly still alive, so why was her bodypletely devoid of vitality?


    As all these questions were popping up, Little Three''s voice rang out in their minds: "Might I ask which one of you is Xu Miaoran?"


    It moved its gaze across Xu Miaoran, Meng Shixue, Liu Hongyan, and Su Xinyue.


    Xu Miaoran looked nkly at Little Three and said, "I am. Might I ask¡­"


    "Mother!" Little Three immediately blinked over, appearing right in front of Xu Miaoran without even giving her the chance to evade.


    This bizarre method of movement sent chills down everyone''s spines. This spatial shifting alone would be able to kill all of them instantly.


    But what was with that "Mother"?


    Fortunately, Hong Yuan saved time by shouting, "It was sent by Tang Jie! Tang Jie isn''t dead! He''s not dead!"


    "What?" Xu Miaoran shuddered.


    After the copse of the Celestial me Pagoda, Tang Jie had disappeared. As the me Celestial Sovereign had personally chased after him, many people thought that Tang Jie had died at his hands. Only Xu Miaoran was confident that Tang Jie had survived.


    But rather than actual confidence, it was better described as a form of self-constion. She used this self-constion to reinforce her convictions and stave off any sort of psychological blow. There was a saying very appropriate for this situation: she was the sort of person that refused to face reality.


    An objective analysis of the situation at the time ced the chances of Tang Jie''s death far higher than those of his survival. It was why, once the rumors began to spread, many people thought that Tang Jie couldn''t have survived.


    But today, the miracle had been verified.


    Xu Miaoran had waited long for her rewards, and the messenger from Tang Jie had finallye to quash all the rumors.


    Hong Yuan hadn''t tried to stay quiet, so even Sang Hongmei had heard her words. Grimacing, she said, "That''s impossible. Xu Miaoran, don''t try anything on me! I''m not going to be fooled by some random person."


    Xu Miaoran looked at Sang Hongmei and then at Little Three. Surprisingly, she didn''t retort, instead asking, "Just who are you? And where is Tang Jie? How can I be sure that it was Tang Jie who sent you?"


    Little Three raised its Mustard Seed Bag. "This is the proof."


    It took out some items from the bag: a little paper crane and a jade token.


    Xu Miaoran shuddered again. This was the long-range message talisman and message-receiving jade token she had given to Tang Jie. Tang Jie had always kept them safe to serve as proof of their love, but now, they had appeared in Little Three''s possession.


    "He''s alive, he''s really alive!" Xu Miaoran sobbed as she held the jade token.


    Everyone rushed over in excitement. Wei Tianchong shouted, "Where is he now?"


    "The Verdant Cloud Domain."


    "''The Verdant Cloud Domain''? What ce is that?"


    "A ce very far away, not even reachable by teleportation formation. Father has been looking for materials all this time, but he''s still missing a lot," Little Three answered.


    "Then how did you get back?"


    "I''m a ghost. I can use the Nether Domain to ess any of the domains of the living, but I had to find the door leading to the Rosecloud Domain first. If Big Sister Hong Yuan hadn''t died, her soul entering the Nether Domain and revealing the passage, I might not have been able to find this ce."


    Little Three gave a summary of the process needed to find the exit, allowing everyone to understand why Hong Yuan hade back to life and why Little Three had appeared here.


    "Oh, right, Big Sister Hong Yuan''s body is still dead. You should quickly treat her. If her body isn''t restored to a livable state within twenty-four hours, there will be no saving her."


    Everyone now understood why Hong Yuan''s body was lifeless despite her being alive. It seemed that while Little Three had brought back her soul, the physical form was still dead. However, because her soul remained, the body did not decay and could be treated.


    Everyone hastily took out medicines and began to treat Hong Yuan. With the spirit medicines they had,pletely healing Hong Yuan within twenty-four hours wasn''t possible, but restoring her body to a livable state was no problem.


    Little Three said to Xu Miaoran, "Right, Mother, do you want to speak with Father?"


    "I can speak with Tang Jie?" Xu Miaoran was surprised and happy to hear this.


    "It wouldn''t be possible normally, but Father has beenprehending the Dao of Fate thesest three years, governing a country and studying history. He has advanced in his understanding of both Karma and Fate, and he also has a Fate Standard. In addition, he ced a Thread of Karma within me, so if I act as a bridge, you can hold a short conversation without a problem. But time is limited, so you must be concise with your words."


    "Okay, okay, then please connect me to him." Xu Miaoran didn''t know what governing a country had to do with anything, but she already had too many questions on her mind, so she had to focus on the more important ones.


    Little Three closed its eyes and began to chant.


    A few momentster, a light rose up from its body and shot into the sky.


    This was the light of Fate.


    In this brilliant light of Fate, an invisible Thread of Karma extended from the great beyond.


    Countless threads of Fate vibrated, every particle in the air working together to produce a deep and vigorous voice within Little Three''s body.


    "Miaoran."


    "Tang Jie!" everyone shouted in unison.

 Chapter 709: Death By Words

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie''s voice was like that of a wanderer returning home, or like rain over a parchednd, and everyone grew excited.


    Wei Tianchong went up to Little Three''s ear and shouted, "Tang Jie, sure enough, you lived! I knew you wouldn''t die. Hey, can you hear me? It''s your young master! I''m at Celestial Heart now! Celestial Heart! Shi Meng''s here too! He''s also at Celestial Heart."


    Cai Junyang also ran over and shouted into Little Three''s ear. "Tang Jie, I''veprehended ughter! If youe back, I''ll definitely be able to beat you!"


    Before Tang Jie could respond, Peng Yaolong and Qi Shaoming pushed aside Wei Tianchong and Cai Junyang so that they could yell into Little Three''s ears too. Everyone came over and yelled at Little Three''s ears, and poor Little Three couldn''t even move for fear of interrupting the connection and had to just let them fight over it.


    Shi Meng couldn''t squeeze his way in, so he shouted from a distance, "Tang Jie, Tang Jie, are you doing well? When will you being back?"


    Tang Jie said in surprise, "So many people! What in the world happened?"


    Seeing the situation, Xu Miaoran quickly calmed down, and she chuckled.


    Her chuckle made everyone regain their senses, and they tactfully backed away.


    Husband and wife had yet to speak, so what were they getting all excited for?


    Xu Miaoran asked, "Tang Jie, are you doing alright?"


    "I''m doing well, but I won''t be back for the time being. You can ask Little Three about my situationter, so I won''t exin. Tell me what''s going on over there. Why are you all together, and why did Hong Yuan die?"


    Xu Miaoran gave a concise summary of what had happened.


    Tang Jie fell silent after hearing all this, and then the light over Little Three brightened, gradually forming into Tang Jie.


    Everyone was dumbfounded by this sight, wondering how he had done it.


    They saw Tang Jie look around and look outside the golden barrier.


    Out there, Sang Hongmei was looking over with an expression of despair.


    At this point, Sang Hongmei had lost all hope.


    She hadn''t left only because she had nowhere to go.


    After all, she was a member of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Even if her n had failed, she couldn''t actually leave, or else she would be a real traitor.


    Tang Jie spoke. "I presume that you are the Blood Fairy."


    "Tang Jie!" Sang Hongmei grunted.


    Even though she was unwilling to admit defeat, Sang Hongmei had no choice but to take Tang Jie seriously. Tang Jie was currently famous throughout the Rosecloud Domain, his fame on par with hers. When Sang Hongmei learned that Tang Jie wasn''t dead, she had felt an inexplicable sense of panic.


    Tang Jie chuckled and said, "The Blood Fairy is a chief of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and as expected, you live up to your reputation as one of the Eight Ocean Rakshasas. Even though Miaoran got in contact with so many of my brothers, they were still no match for you and forced to hole up behind this barrier. Truly admirable."


    "But we''ll win eventually," Cai Junyang stubbornly said.


    "Perhaps," Tang Jie replied. "But how many more will have to die? Even a dead centipede will take a long time to harden, let alone someone as formidable as the Blood Fairy. If she really goes all out, even if all of you can win, just how many lives will you have to pay for this victory?"


    None of them had anything they could say to that.


    Yes, even if they beat Sang Hongmei, how many of them would have to die?


    They had already lost good people in the previous battle.


    Although Sang Hongmei was heavily injured, her strength was not reduced, and Xu Miaoran''s group was now missing a core member in Zhou Peng and had to deal with the betrayal of Zheng Ran. With this shift in the bnce of powers, even if they managed to exhaust Sang Hongmei to death, it woulde at a painful price. If this woman was still holding back some trump card, half of them could end up dead.


    Every person''s life had value, so even if Sang Hongmei was at peak Soul Transformation, that didn''t mean they were willing to give up their lives to kill her.


    Tang Jie''s words had everyone falling silent and had Sang Hongmei''s eyes shining.


    No matter how dumb or arrogant she was, she could tell that Tang Jie was implying something with his words.


    Sure enough, Tang Jie said, "Thus, I hope that this matter will end here."


    "Nonsense!" Sang Hongmei shrieked. "You think it''s over because you say it''s over? Do you know how much this has cost me?"


    "Bullshit! Fiend granny, you think you''re the only one who has lost something? Quite a few people on our side have died," the people on Xu Miaoran''s side grumbled. If this fiend granny hadn''t been so strong, then even if they had to suffer heavy losses, they still would have tried to take her down.


    A pity that Tang Jie can''te back and can only talk, or else this fiend granny would be dead for sure, they thought to themselves.


    Both sides began to argue. Though each had their apprehensions, they verbally refused to back down.


    Tang Jie frowned and said, "I know that you''ve paid no small price, so I can make a concession. Why don''t we do this? You want the teleportation formation, right? I can let you join us, tell you the location of the teleportation formation, and give you the task of protecting it, as well as ten percent of the profits. What do you think? Of course, only you can know it, and you have to swear an oath on the Heavenly Dao to not tell anyone else."


    "What?" Everyone was in an uproar over Tang Jie''s words.


    Cai Junyang angrily said, "Tang Jie, what are you saying? If you do this, what were all our previous efforts for? Yunfan died, but rather than trying to get revenge for him, you want to work with the enemy?"


    Tang Jie replied, "I just don''t want to see more people die."


    Peng Yaolong was also angry. "Tang Jie, as a cultivator, don''t we all go through dangerous situations? I can ept death, but I can''t ept stomaching this resentment and anger! I can ept putting down arms to avoid further losses, but I can never ept turning around and working with the enemy! Tang Jie, this isn''t considering the big picture! This is called bending the knee. Tang Jie, have you lost your mind, doing something so disgraceful? Are you even Tang Jie? Maybe you''re some scheme Sang Hongmei thought up to fool us?"


    Dissenting voices rang out, and even Xu Miaoran stared in disbelief at Tang Jie.


    They couldn''t ept Tang Jie''s proposal. Sang Hongmei was also dumbfounded, having never imagined that things would develop in this way.


    What was Tang Jie up to?


    Was he sincerely trying to recruit her?


    Ten percent of the profit!


    Although she had to swear an oath on the Heavenly Dao, preventing her from sharing this benefit with the sect, ten percent of the profit was enough to recover her losses.


    Even if she handed over the teleportation formation to Horizon Ocean Pavilion, Jade Emptiness and her master could probably only give her this much, or even less.


    This thought immediately caused her heart to bloom. All the loss and suffering had be worth it! She was finally receiving her just reward!


    Sang Hongmei excitedly shouted at Tang Jie, "Deal! This old body agrees!"


    Tang Jie ignored theints, nodding and saying, "But before then, you have to agree to my condition."


    "What condition?"


    "Kill Zheng Ran. You see that my brothers don''t like my decision, so I have to have something to show them. Of course, I will also swear an oath on the Heavenly Dao that if I don''t carry out my promise to tell you the location of the teleportation formation after you kill Zheng Ran, I will never return to the Rosecloud Domain or meet Miaoran and the others again."


    Zheng Ran was aghast. "Fairy, don''t do it!"


    Sang Hongmei stared at Tang Jie, watching his every move to see if he was using an illusion to fool her when making his oath.


    Once Tang Jie hadpleted the oath to the Heavenly Dao, Sang Hongmei huffed and said, "Tang Jie, don''t think that your brothers can kill me without a loss if Zheng Ran isn''t here. I guarantee that you will be disappointed. If they attack, I will start killing from the person you care about the most. I''ll be so furious that I won''t even let Xu Miaoran go."


    "You won''t get that opportunity," Tang Jie indifferently said.


    Zheng Ran knew that he was in trouble, shouting, "Sang Hongmei, you''re not human!"


    He turned and ran.


    But how could he outrun Sang Hongmei? Sang Hongmei reached out without even turning around, and her arm extended toward Zheng Ran. Zheng Ran indignantly struck back, but he was no match for Sang Hongmei. He managed to fend off a few blows, and then Sang Hongmei wed into his chest, shattering his barrier and then striking him in the head, chest, and abdomen. Ten sts of energy erupted within his body, instantly obliterating him and leaving him as dead as one could be.


    This move had Sang Hongmei''s energy seething, and she threw up a few mouthfuls of blood.


    Everyone was delighted, and they looked expectantly at Tang Jie, waiting for him to give the order.


    Having the enemy take down one of their own generals without having to do it himself was Tang Jie''s style!


    But to their disappointment, Tang Jie didn''t give the order, simply saying, "Very good. I can now tell you the location of the teleportation formation. But you must remember to not let anyone else find out."


    "Of course." Sang Hongmei coldlyughed, and then she turned her head and barked, "You cubs over there, you''ve seen enough, no?"


    She pointed her cane, and a beam of spear energy sted toward a distant cloud. There was a cry of rm, and several people flew out of that cloud, all of them wearing the standard blue robes of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. On their chests was the emblem of a dragon dancing over the seas, the symbol of the Four Seas Hall.


    The Four Seas Hall was responsible for domestic security and arresting criminals. Aswkeepers of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, they had been tasked with arresting Sang Hongmei. But Sang Hongmei wasn''t someone they were actually capable of arresting. These people had clearly been here for some time, but they had chosen to watch from a distance. It seemed like Sang Hongmei was aware that they had been there, but she had waited until now to expose them.


    Tang Jie was also unsurprised. "Since that''s done, Fairy Sang, please swear an oath to the Heavenly Dao that you will not let others know of the location by any possible means."


    "Tang Jie, are you really giving her the teleportation formation?" Wei Tianchong shouted.


    Everyone once more grew restless.


    Tang Jie casually replied, "I was the one who established the inter-domain trade, and the ry station is also mine. As this is all my business, outsiders have no right to intervene."


    "You!" Everyone was so angry they wanted to throw up blood. Ye Tianshang even shouted, "Tang Jie, you''ve changed!"


    Tang Jie replied, "I''ve never changed. It''s just that none of you understand me enough."


    Sang Hongmei made the Heavenly Dao Oath to obtain the secret. She didn''t attempt any tricks, and to be honest, she didn''t have the brains toe up with a trick on such a short notice. Tang Jie whispered a few words to Little Three, and then Little Three flicked its finger, sending a mote of light out of the barrier and toward Sang Hongmei.


    Sang Hongmei let the light disappear into her head, and then she closed her eyes and reviewed the information. Sheughed and said, "I see, I see! No wonder you were able to pull off the inter-domain trade, and no wonder Xu Miaoran tried so hard to keep it a secret. So there was a hidden realm serving as a ry station! The legends were real, hahaha!"


    She turned to leave.


    "Wait!" Xu Miaoran abruptly called out.


    "What? Little girl, are you feeling regret?" Sang Hongmei turned to Xu Miaoran.


    Xu Miaoran replied, "I''ve installed Heavenbane Lightning Pearls in the teleportation formation. If you don''t enter in the right way, they''ll explode. Tang Jie doesn''t know about this. You have to use this method to stop them from triggering."


    She proceeded to tell Sang Hongmei the method.


    Sang Hongmei was startled. "When did you be so considerate?"


    Xu Miaoran exined, "If I didn''t tell you, I wouldn''t be losing just ten percent, but everything. Moreover, Tang Jie is my man. When he makes a decision, even if I don''t like it, I won''t object to it."


    She looked over at Tang Jie, who smiled back.


    This smile made Sang Hongmei somewhat uneasy, and she felt like something was off. But considering that Tang Jie''s appearance was unnned and that everyone was here, pulling off some sort of scheme would be very difficult. Moreover, since Tang Jie had told her the location of the teleportation formation, she had to go over and take a look, right? She couldn''t give up on it just because she was being paranoid, right?


    That being the case, she might as well seize this opportunity to rush over while they were all here. Without them around, she would feel safer.


    Thus, Sang Hongmei flew off for the teleportation formation without hesitation.


    After watching Sang Hongmei leave, Tang Jie turned to the Four Seas Hall disciples and asked, "This matter is over. Why haven''t you gone back already?"


    The lead disciple awkwardly said, "Our mission was to arrest Sang Hongmei¡­"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "No need. She won''t being back."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Sang Hongmei finally reached the teleportation formation Tang Jie had spoken of.


    Sang Hongmei thoroughly inspected the area and confirmed that there were no traps besides the Heavenbane Lightning Pearls Xu Miaoran had mentioned.


    Even so, Sang Hongmei chose to activate her strongest defenses before going in.


    But as she teleported through, she encountered no ambushes.


    Finally, after several teleportations, Sang Hongmei entered the Martial Lord''s hidden realm.


    Walking out of the cave, Sang Hongmei found herself in a paradise.


    "It was real! The hidden realm, it''s actually the hidden realm! No wonder it could be a ry station for the inter-domain trade! It''s actually located in a crack between domains!" Sang Hongmei was trembling in excitement as she flew forward.


    That flourishing valley in the distance was the location of the teleportation formation leading to the Blood River Domain that Tang Jie had spoken of.


    Sang Hongmei was about to fly in when she came to a sudden halt.


    "Jade Return Grass, Heavenly Secret Stone, Rebirth Fruit, thousand-year Whitefiend Lotus¡­" Sang Hongmei almost went crazy upon seeing the countless spirit nts growing in the valley.


    Greed didn''t make Sang Hongmei lose her sense, and she still inspected the area.


    There were no traps or illusions. Those Immortal grasses were all real.


    Sang Hongmei recklessly charged in, plucking a stalk of Jade Return Grass. Seeing that there were even more valuable Immortal nts growing within, she charged in deeper and began to gather them, stuffing them into her Mustard Seed Bag. She was so engrossed that she failed to notice a fiery being appearing overhead¡­

 Chapter 710: The Child Wishes to Offer Care, but the Parents Cannot Wait

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The Four Seas Hall disciples as well as the rest of Xu Miaoran''s group were all confused by Tang Jie''s words. Only Xu Miaoran was smiling.


    "Tang Jie, what''s going on here?" Peng Yaolong sternly asked. "Did you design some sort of trap for that fiend granny and have her run into it?"


    Tang Jie nodded. "It''s nothing, really, just that the teleportation formation is in a very dangerous ce, and you have to follow the rules to be safe. If one doesn''t know the rules and breaks them¡­"


    "What will happen?"


    "Nothing much. A fiend will show up and cause trouble for you."


    "''A fiend''? How strong of a fiend?" everyone asked in unison.


    This time, Xu Miaoran answered, saying in a soft voice so that outsiders couldn''t hear, "Peak Divine Division."


    Hiss! Everyone gasped.


    After a momentary pause, Bei Canghan and Cai Junyang both startedughing. "Great work!"


    Nobody would have expected such a fierce creature to be on the road leading to the Blood River Domain. Sang Hongmei had essentially killed herself by willingly throwing herself into the.


    Wei Tianchong sighed in relief. "I knew it. Tang Jie, you''re not that kind of person. Why didn''t you say it earlier? We could have avoided all the misunderstanding."


    "If I had said it earlier, would you have been able to put on such a good act? What if she managed to see through one of you?"


    Bei Canghan said with a smile, "Tang Jie, you''re really something else. Even when you''re not here, you managed to kill a chief with your words. Formidable, formidable. But, Lady Xu, since you knew that there was a great fiend there, why didn''t you try and lure her over earlier?"


    Tang Jie whispered, "You can''t me her for this. It involves a big secret that can''t be divulged to others. Moreover, that fiend has its own restrictions, so the n isn''t guaranteed to work¡­"


    While the Vermillion Bird was a powerful fiend, the location of the Martial Lord''s hidden realm was a secret, and if Xu Miaoran wanted to lure Sang Hongmei to the valley, she had to first guarantee that its location wouldn''t be revealed. In normal circumstances, it was very difficult for her to force Sang Hongmei to make that sort of oath. It was only when Sang Hongmei was at a dead end that she had agreed to it. Moreover, the Vermillion Bird was limited to the valley. While Sang Hongmei could never be a match for the Vermillion Bird, if she managed to escape the valley, the Vermillion Bird wouldn''t be able to give chase. Considering Sang Hongmei''s strength and the caution she was bound to show upon entering a strange environment, even if there was an entire realm of difference between them, it was impossible to say for sure that she couldn''t escape.


    But Tang Jie''s Daos of Karma and Fate had resolved this problem.


    He had used Fate to pluck one of the threads of Sang Hongmei''s heart, so when she saw all those rare flowers in the valley, she cast aside all her vignce and allowed her greed to guide her deeper in.


    In such a situation, without some escaping spell art like Duplication, if the Vermillion Bird still let her escape, then she couldn''t call herself the guardian of the valley anymore.


    Interestingly, the extremely long distance should have made it impossible for Tang Jie to try something like this on Sang Hongmei, but Sang Hongmei''sck of resistance had let him seed¡ªthe light sent into Sang Hongmei''s head contained both the location of the teleportation formation and also a Seed of Karma.


    In the end, it was the greed within her that had caused her to kill herself.


    Of course, Tang Jie wasn''t going into the details, only giving a general summary.


    As they were talking, the Four Seas Hall disciples shouted, "Tang Jie, you dare to scheme against a person of my Horizon Ocean Pavilion? Do you know who the Blood Fairy is?"


    Tang Jie coldly replied, "Of course I know. Blood Fairy Sang Hongmei is one of the Eight Ocean Rakshasas and the disciple of the Jewel Celestial Sovereign. Isn''t that exactly why she can be so bold and audacious? Even if my woman and brothers won this battle, I''m sure that Sang Hongmei still wouldn''t be killed over this matter, no?"


    Everyone froze.


    Yes, everyone had been so focused on the fight that they had forgotten about how the aftermath was going to be handled.


    Just like how Sang Hongmei didn''t dare to kill Xu Miaoran, Xu Miaoran also couldn''t casually kill Sang Hongmei.


    One could kill in battle with the excuse that there was no room to hold back, but killing after the oue had been decided was far more serious.


    Sang Hongmei hadmitted a crime. She could be punished for this, demoted for this, even imprisoned, but she couldn''t die!


    It was because she was the disciple of the Jewel Celestial Sovereign, one of the chiefs of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Her strength was prodigious, her status extraordinary. No matter what crime she hadmitted, so long as it wasn''t killing her master or betraying her sect, she wouldn''t die!


    Was this unfair?


    Yes.


    But this was reality!


    This world had rules, but it also had hierarchy!


    All rules were established with respect to one''s ce on the hierarchy, and while Sang Hongmei''s status wasn''t at the point where she could ignore thews, it did make her immune to the death penalty.


    This was why Sang Hongmei had been so confident.


    But while Xu Miaoran couldn''t kill her, Tang Jie could.


    He looked at the Four Seas Hall disciples and said, "In truth, I could refuse to say anything. With you guys as my witness, I have every right to say that I simply told Sang Hongmei the location of the teleportation formation. As for why she didn''te back? I could just say I don''t know, that maybe she took a liking to the Blood River Domain. But I don''t want to do this. I want the Jewel Sovereign to know that it was me who killed her disciple. I want Horizon Ocean Pavilion to know that I killed one of their chiefs. I want you people to know that even when I''m not here, I can still throw the entire Rosecloud Domain into chaos. Even if I can''t reach here, I can still kill whoever I want to kill. So, go back and tell the Jewel Celestial Sovereign that if she doesn''t like it, she can wait for me toe back and fight me!"


    The Four Seas Hall disciples were dumbfounded, while Cai Junyang''s group all cheered Tang Jie. As for Xu Miaoran, she gazed admiringly at him, and if this hadn''t been a projection, she would have already hugged him and given him a big kiss.


    Tang Jie''s eyes turned fierce. "Hurry up and scram already!"


    These words were like a thunderp, and the Four Seas Hall disciples took fright and ran off.


    Although this Tang Jie was just a projection, they truly had been scared silly by it.


    Xu Miaoran''s several dozen Celestial Heart True Persons hadn''t been able to kill Sang Hongmei, but he had killed her with a few words, so it wasn''t strange to be terrified by such a being.


    Once those people had gone, Tang Jie''s body suddenly shivered, and his figure became unstable.


    "Ah, I''m finally reaching my limit," Tang Jie sighed.


    "Tang Jie!" Xu Miaoran shouted.


    They had finally gotten a chance to speak to each other, but it was already over?


    "Don''t panic. Listen to me," Tang Jie said. "Starting from now, I will have to wait half a year to a year until I can contact you again. You ask Little Three for the specifics. In addition, Sang Hongmei is dead for sure, but I don''t know how many Immortal nts she managed to pick before that. You can go ahead and take them. Consider this as a contribution Sang Hongmei made using her life."


    When Tang Jie wasn''t around, there was no way to gather the Immortal nts in the Martial Lord''s hidden realm. Even the Vermillion Bird couldn''t touch them.


    Thanks to Sang Hongmei, Xu Miaoran could enter the valley and take what had already been gathered. Since they had been picked, they could no longer continue to grow, so they were not under the protection of the Vermillion Bird.


    This was Tang Jie''s method of providing some resources to Xu Miaoran. After all, not all resources could be bought with money.


    Xu Miaoran vigorously nodded, her eyes wet with tears.


    The flickering intensified.


    Tang Jie continued. "A third thing. Miaoran, I leave my brothers to you. It''s thanks to you that they were able to reach Celestial Heart, but they will still need your support in the future."


    "Tang Jie, what are you saying?" Cai Junyang grumbled. "We can earn our own spirit coins. We don''t need you for that. And I''ve alreadyprehended ughter¡­"


    "I''ve killed two Divine Divisions," Tang Jie coolly said.


    "What?" Everyone was dumbfounded.


    Cai Junyang was rendered speechless, dumbly saying, "D-Divine Division? On your own?"


    "On my own," Tang Jie firmly said.


    It was a dizzying statement.


    Divine Division!


    A peak Soul Transformation already had them on their knees, but Tang Jie had managed to kill a Divine Division by himself?


    It was no wonder he had decided to kill Sang Hongmei without hesitation, and even dared to challenge the Jewel Celestial Sovereign.


    Because he wasn''t afraid.


    Tang Jie smiled. "So, try not to get left too far behind."


    Tang Jie''s image began to fade.


    "Hey, hey, Tang Jie! Don''t go yet! I still have something to say!" Wei Tianchong shouted. "The Wu couple¡­"


    The fading image shuddered and came back into focus, looking at Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong shouted, "They¡­ passed away!"


    Bang!


    The projection disappeared.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Plush.


    Tang Jie threw up blood, staining his desk red.


    "Your Majesty!" The minor fiends down below jumped up in fright and rushed to his side.


    "Withdraw!" Tang Jie roared.


    This harsh rebuke had all the fiends retreating, tightly shutting the door behind them.


    Tang Jie let out a long breath.


    Three years ofprehending the Dao allowed Tang Jie to maintain a Fate connection without showing it. By cing the Fate Standard in his body, he could even work while maintaining the link. But he hadn''t expected this surprise.


    The news had shaken Tang Jie so badly that he had suffered a bacsh, butpared to the bodily harm, the mental sorrow was far greater.


    The Wu couple had passed away!


    Tang Jie had cultivated for about forty years now.


    The Wu couple should have been about one hundred years old.


    Although they had life-extending pills, these medicines couldn''t confer Immortality. It was already an achievement for the two to live to this age.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but criticize himself for failing to fulfill his filial duty as the adopted son.


    The voices and smiling faces of the old couple rose up in his mind as he muttered, "The child wishes to offer care, but the parents can''t wait! s! I''m such a fool! Ending up in this situation for such a small thing. Now, I can''t go back home, couldn''t even send them off¡­ Maybe¡­ maybe they even wanted to see me onest time, but couldn''t¡­"


    Tang Jie became mired in regret and self-me.


    Tang Jie''s guess was right. Before passing on, the Wu couple truly had wanted to see Tang Jie.


    Even at the moment of their deaths, they had wanted to hold Tang Jie''s hand and ask if he was doing well, but in the end, this wish had gone unfulfilled.


    At their side were Wu Xing, Wei Tianchong, and Zheng Shufeng, but there had been no sign of their "filial son"¡­

 Chapter 711: Traveling (I)

    Chapter 711: Traveling (I)


    The news of the Wu couple''s death had Tang Jie griefstricken for many days.


    It was a grief that came from his fondness for the old couple and shame for his conduct, and it was also a form of reflection upon his life.


    In the past, Tang Jie had worked hard to advance, never fearing any challenge.


    This meant that he was always putting himself in risky situations, and always reaping huge rewards for them.


    But this time, he suddenly realized that the result of going too fast was to miss out on many scenic points on his journey, and to miss out on many important people and events.


    The Wu couple was the most important stop he had missed on his journey of life, and the moment he missed this stop, there was no going back.


    So, then, how many more stops was he going to miss in the future?


    Tang Jie didn''t know, but he had realized that perhaps it was time to stop his frantic pace, to slow down and appreciate the scenery, to learn a more natural progression.


    Tang Jie recalled a story he had once read about a monk sweeping the floor, and he muttered, "When cultivating martial arts, one cannot forget to study the principles of Buddha."


    (TN: From what I can tell, the "monk sweeping the floor" is a reference to the "sweeper monk" from the Jin Yong novel "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils", a nameless monk who sweeps the floors of the Shaolin Monastery''s library.)


    Of course, Tang Jie wasn''t actually referring to Buddhist precepts, but to the truth of the world.


    The truth was the Great Dao of the world, and also the rules governing human rtionships.


    One had to both study the Heavenly Dao and understand human rtions, so one could not focus on the martial and disdain the civil.


    Upon understanding this, Tang Jie felt his mind broaden.


    Starting from that day, Tang Jie no longer focused his cultivation on breakthroughs and progress. Other than his daily cultivation, Tang Jie would take walks in his free time, experiencing human life in all its forms. Tang Jie had done this before, but it had always been in pursuit of some greater goal. But now, Tang Jie set aside these goals and chose to experience everything in a normal state of mind.


    It wasn''t to gain power, only for that moment of serenity.


    Even so, amidst the mor of secr life, Tang Jie felt like it was still difficult to find the true peace he sought.


    After several months of this, he finally made a decision.


    "Yiyi, I''m going to leave for a while. I''ll leave you to handle the affairs in the empire."


    "Big Brother, did something happen?"


    "It''s nothing. I just want to go out and calm myself down."


    He rose and walked out of the pce.


    He would have never expected that he would be gone for several decades.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    After leaving the imperial pce, Tang Jie began to travel all about the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    As he traveled the world with the mindset of a mortal, what was once unremarkable now became interesting.


    The dew on the grass in the early morning, the mottled sunlight peeking through the trees at noon, the clouds at sunset¡ªevery scene drew his interest, making him stop to admire the view and experience all the endless joy to be derived from it.


    To find peace of mind, Tang Jie headed for vast ces with few people.


    The open ins, dense jungles, soaring mountains¡ªTang Jie would go to all these ces to take a look.


    One day, he arrived at a grasnd.


    Grass as tall as a man extended like a green carpet to the horizon.


    Groups of deer in twos and threes wandered about the grasnd, warily eying their surroundings.


    A cheetah, its fur dotted with ck spots, crouched within the grass, slowly approaching some deer.


    Suddenly, it leaped at the deer, and the deer scattered in unison as if they had received some order.


    But their speed couldn''tpare to a cheetah''s, and the cheetah swiftly gave chase. Just when it seemed like it was about to catch a small deer, arge snake lunged out of the grass, stirring up a gale of fiendish energy as it opened its mouth. In its panic, the deer ran straight into its mouth. The cheetah realized it was in trouble and backed away in time, escaping the snake''s mouth. The snake, which was clearly a fiend, didn''t give chase,zily lying back down.


    Although it was a fiend that had only just reached Mind Opening, it was already a king of this area.


    It didn''t even need to wait, ambush, and give chase for its food. It simply needed to unleash a fiendish gale to sweep the food into its mouth.


    Fortunately, there weren''t too many fiends, or else it would have been impossible for ordinary creatures to survive, and when fiends achieved Mind Opening, they would leave for the fiend cities. After all, it was only there that they could find food with more spirituality and better ways to get stronger.


    Having lost its prey, the cheetah hobbled through the grasnd.


    When escaping, it had injured its leg.


    For a cheetah, which relied on its speed to live, this was undoubtedly a fatal wound.


    It returned to its den, where two little cubs ambled over on their little legs, affectionately rubbing against their mother''s legs, opening their mouths for food. But they did not see the food their mother had brought back, and they worriedly circled their mother. The mother cheetah could only lick the cubs with its tongue tofort them.


    At the same time, it also licked its wounds.


    It wasme and could no longer hunt.


    This meant that both it and its children would starve to death.


    The mother cheetah let out a mournful howl.


    It decided to take a risk for its children.


    A pack of grasnd wolves had hunted down a bighorn goat. Just when they were dividing the spoils, the mother cheetah arrived.


    It charged into the wolf pack and began to fight them.


    It only wanted a piece of meat to feed its cubs, but s, it didn''t know how tomunicate, only kill.


    The mother cheetah failed.


    The savage wolf pack callously tore it apart. Lying in a pool of blood, it looked weakly in the direction of its children, but s, a human blocked its view.


    Tang Jie had quietly watched everything, not intervening. He hade here to observe the world, not to interfere in every matter.


    The mother cheetah''s eyes ultimately lost focus, and the light within them went out. It died, and at the very end of its life, its only regret was its children.


    The wolf pack didn''t notice that human in the distance, and they crazily devoured the cheetah''s corpse.


    Today had been a bountiful day.


    After watching the cheetah''s corpse disappear into the mouths of the wolves, Tang Jie turned and left.


    He didn''t get very far before two little cheetah cubs ran over to him.


    They curiously examined Tang Jie, as if they were wondering if he was edible.


    But hunger quickly made them forget about Tang Jie, and they began to search for their mother while mewling like kittens.


    Without their mother, these two cheetah cubs were doomed to starve to death in these grasnds.


    Tang Jie watched the two cubs and then turned to leave, but as he did, he felt a pull on his clothes.


    Looking down, he saw a cheetah cub pulling on the hem of his clothes as if it was trying to tear at a piece of meat.


    Tang Jie''s heart was a little touched at the sight.


    "You''re also quite the tenacious little guy." Tang Jie smiled. "Fine, I guess I''ll help you two out."


    He turned back, grabbed the two cubs, and then walked back to the wolf pack.


    The wolves tensed up at Tang Jie''s arrival, threateningly growling.


    Tang Jie didn''t care, waving his hand and blowing all the wolves away.


    He ced the cubs next to their mother.


    The two cubs circled their mother, trying to make it get up.


    As if realizing something, that cub that had pulled on Tang Jie''s clothes let out a mournful howl, while the other one ran over to the bighorn goat and started to eat.


    It was just too hungry.


    Tang Jie smiled.


    He suddenly decided to stay here and raise these two cheetahs.


    Tang Jie gave them names.


    The one who had bitten on his clothes was a little smarter, so he called it Spiritfang, and the other one was more simple-minded, so he called it Tigerhead.


    Spiritfang and Tigerhead quickly got along with Tang Jie.


    They considered Tang Jie their father and yed around with him.


    At certain intervals, Tang Jie would bring them food, but he didn''t give them enough to sate their hunger entirely, normally leaving them half-full. In this way, he could raise them to have a desire to hunt for their own food. Tang Jie had no ns to tend to them for the rest of their lives.


    Under Tang Jie''s care, Spiritfang and Tigerhead quickly grew up.


    They started to try hunting on their own.


    Initially, they kept failing, but gradually, their hunting techniques matured, and their sess rate began to rise.


    Cheetahs had always had a higher hunting sess rate than their peers, but they often had to deal with the threats from other beasts. Wolves, hyenas, and lions would all fight with them over food.


    This meant they had to be constantly vignt.


    They even had a few lethal encounters. Fortunately, Tang Jie was around, and he plucked the threads of Fate to help the cheetahs escape cmity.


    But besides these things, he essentially did not interfere in their lives.


    Spiritfang and Tigerhead finally reached adulthood. At this time, the mother cheetah was supposed to drive them out so that they could live on their own.


    So Tang Jie left, the two cheetahs reluctantly howling behind him as his figure disappeared into the distance.


    As he wandered the grasnd, he quickly came across an eaglet that had lost its mother.


    As it miserably wailed in its nest, Tang Jie saved it and personally fed it.


    Not long after that, Tang Jie saved three lion cubs. Their father had been defeated by an outsider lion, and a new lion would normally kill the cubs of the previous pride leader so as to dominate the lionesses. Not even the valiant defense of the lionesses could stop it. While passing by, Tang Jie saved the lion cubs, calling them descar, Spotted Hide, and Sharpw.


    Just like that, Tang Jie took up life on the grasnds, living like a savage, and a year passed.


    In this time period, other than ying with the animals he had adopted, he basically didn''t do anything else. asionally, he would speak with Yiyi using Heart Consonance, asking about the situation and sharing his own experiences with her. Yiyi would also sometimes run into problems and ask for his help.


    Every year, when the Fate Standard finished recharging, Tang Jie would speak to Xu Miaoran through Little Three.


    This infinitely-long-distance call became their greatest mental support.


    Fortunately, cultivators didn''t care much for time. Now that Xu Miaoran knew that Tang Jie wasn''t dead, time was no longer a problem.


    As had been said before, at the Celestial Heart Realm, a single seclusion session mightst for ten years.


    Several sessions might result in a hundred years flitting by.


    Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran had both relied on numerous medicines to go from Spirit Ring to Heart Demon, but this wasn''t the proper path. Instead, one needed to let go of one''s worries and take one''s time.


    Thus, after they had exchanged information with each other, Tang Jie was no longer in a rush, slowly umting experience, quietly waiting, and sincerely feeling out everything around him.


    He made friends with apes, wolves, tigers, lions, and eagles, learning how they lived.


    He helped a lioness deliver cubs, fed a leopard milk, even taught a tiger that had lost its mother how to hunt.


    But he spent most of his time as an objective observer.


    He watched as the beasts lived their lives of chasing and struggling against each other. From the day they were born, they had been taught how to not be eliminated by thews of natural selection.


    He watched as they were injured and died in this cruel struggle.


    Few animals died of old age. In thisnd brimming with danger, old age meant weakness, meant the loss of the ability to survive. The hunted would lose the ability to escape and eventually be hunted down, and the hunters would lose the ability to catch their food and starve to death.


    Both ends were tragic.


    The meaning of life here seemed to be a struggle to survive ending in a tragedy.

 Chapter 712: Traveling (II)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    In Tang Jie''s second year in the grasnds, Tigerhead died.


    It had been injured in a hunt, and the burden of its injury ultimately had it following in its mother''s footsteps, starving to death, bing the first failure among Tang Jie''s countless adopted children.


    Half a yearter, an ape that Tang Jie had adopted became food for a fiend.


    Spiritfang fared better. After bing an adult, it found a partner and had two litters of cubs, most of which survived, all except one, who ran off in the middle of the night and never came back.


    Tang Jie''s three adopted lions also began to grow up.


    They quickly separated and set up their own families.


    In Tang Jie''s fifth year in the grasnds, Sharpw died.


    It had died in an internal fight, losing in a fight over mates with another lion. Injured, it had ultimately died in the wilderness, devoured by a pack of wolves.


    Two wolf cubs that Tang Jie had raised also died in the same year. In the third year, Tang Jie adopted twelve different kinds of animals, and in that same amount of time, he lost eleven.


    In the tenth year, the first eaglet he had adopted, Skyfeather, died.


    It had died in a very theatrical manner. While hunting, it had rammed into a tree branch and crashed into the ground. It hadn''t been badly injured and would have only needed a little rest to take flight again, but the heavens gave it no such opportunity¡ªit had run into a lion.


    descar.


    descar had callously devoured it.


    One of Tang Jie''s adopted children had eaten another one of his adopted children.


    At the time, Tang Jie had been watching from three thousand meters away. Even though he could alter the situation with a flick of his fingers, he did nothing.


    In his twelfth year in the grasnds, Spotted Hide died.


    It had died in the mouth of a fiend, bing the second of Tang Jie''s adopted children to go this way.


    By this time, descar''s lion pride was thergest in the grasnds, but descar was old. Lions didn''t have short lives, and a wild lion could normally live to seventeen. But in reality, few lions lived this long. For descar, the good times would notst for much longer.


    Soon, it was challenged by a younger lion and died in the fight.


    From that day, Tang Jie stopped adopting animals.


    Spiritfang was still alive.


    This cheetah cub that Tang Jie hade to know the earliest was still running about the grasnds, hunting and mating. Even though it was old, it was as hale and hearty as ever, swiftly hunting and bravely fighting. It fought against wolves to protect its food, even fought against lions once.


    It was a smart, courageous, stubborn and tenacious existence.


    Tang Jie had gone to see it once. Spiritfang still remembered him, excitedly running over and ying around in his embrace. It had even introduced him to its wife, a very beautiful mother cheetah.


    Three dayster, despite Spiritfang''s reluctance, Tang Jie left.


    In the fifteenth year, Spiritfang advanced.


    It became a fiend, a lower-grade Spirit Sensing cheetah fiend. It had transcended the limits of beasts and started off on the road to intelligence. Age was no longer its limiter, and it became young and strong once more.


    It was Tang Jie''s first adopted child to be a fiend.


    Through Spiritfang, Tang Jie came to understand how fiends came to be.


    They were born from the world and didn''t understand how to cultivate. But they struggled and fought to survive in the world, responding to the world in their own fashion.


    And this was cultivation!


    For the countless beasts, struggling in this world was a form of cultivation, as if they lived to cultivate.


    In the process of struggle, their energies melded with the energies of the world, and their strength began to grow. When this melding reached a certain point, their power would surge through a bottleneck, and they would advance from ordinary creatures into fiends.


    The scene at that moment was beautiful to behold.


    Tang Jie saw with his own eyes Spiritfang bing a fiend. Through his Eye of Insight, he could see every alteration to its body, understanding why and for what reason they came to be.


    Few people observed the birth of a fiend in such detail.


    But Tang Jie had done so, and when Spiritfang became a fiend, Tang Jie felt his own soul being refined.


    He felt like he hadprehended something, but he couldn''t describe what it was.


    It was only when he had a call with Xu Miaoran that he discovered that his call was able tost much longer.


    nting willows without intention was perhaps the true way toprehend and use Fate.


    (TN: The opposite of "nting willows without intention" is "intentionally nting flowers", with the result being that the flowers do not grow while the willows create shade, the meaning being that intentionality can sometimes result in poor results whileck of intention can sometimes lead to a pleasant surprise.)


    Starting from that day, Tang Jie changed his way of dealing with things.


    He began to intentionally pluck the threads of Fate.


    A small fox kit was left orphaned after the death of its parents.


    Tang Jie didn''t adopt it, instead quietly waiting. A pride of lions passed through the area and saw the little fox. In normal circumstances, they would eat the fox, but when Tang Jie plucked the string of Fate, the lions changed their minds and adopted the little fox, taking Tang Jie''s ce as the adopted parents.


    Not long after that, Tang Jie encountered simr incidents.


    He had a zebra adopt an antelope, an ape adopt a mole, and even a hippo adopt an alligator.


    Of course, this random matching rarely resulted in anything good. Most of these parents didn''t know how to raise their new children, trying their usual methods and ultimately losing these adopted children in various ways.


    The mole didn''t eat the food provided by the ape, which made it uneasy, but the mole didn''t starve to death. Instead, it fell from the ape''s tree to its death.


    The little alligator was trampled to death by the hippo, thatrge and clumsy fellow not even noticing that it had crushed its child.


    The little antelope suffered the most unjust death. The herd of zebras had disregarded the difference in height when fording a river, so it had drowned to death.


    Only the fox had lived to adulthood, but then died when hunting arge herbivore¡ªa zebra had given it a kick, causing it to die within two hours.


    Tang Jie''s adoption n ended in failure.


    But he was not dispirited.


    Since cross-species adoption was no good, what about cross-species mating?


    Thus, the Hulunta Grasnds was swept by a storm of cross-species romance¡ªwolves and hyenas, vultures and golden eagles, leopards and lions, even rhinos and hippos, yellow deer and giraffes.


    A jackal fell in love with a female elephant. It desperately tried to get onto the elephant''s back and get its tool into the elephant''s body. But this was too difficult, and it ended up being stomped to death by the elephant before it could aplish this challenging mission.


    Most of the cross-species marriages ended poorly. Even if they seeded in mating, they didn''t produce any descendants.


    But there were some sesses.


    By Tang Jie''s eighteenth year here, the Hulunta Grasnds had be a world full of oddities.


    The Web of Fate here had turned into aplete mess, almost every species being involved in some unusual rtionship, resulting in all kinds of special friendships and romances, producing countless unimaginable results.


    All kinds of never-before-seen and fantastical creatures roamed about the grasnds, turning the world into a dazzling and eye-catching ce. Even Tang Jie, the culprit behind all this, sometimes couldn''t tell what was what.


    In this time, Yiyi came to see Tang Jie twice, and she was dumbfounded by Tang Jie''s work.


    This sort of nonsensical matchmaking actually tended to produce a kind of delight and thrill that came from the sheer unexpectedness of it all, so she caught a lion wolf as her pet and also took a leopard fox with her to serve as Lin Xin''s pet. s, not long after they left the grasnds, they died.


    So Yiyi went and got a few more, but none of them were able to survive.


    This made Tang Jie realize that the creatures living on the grasnds might no longer be suitable for the outside world.


    It wasn''t because of some environmental factor, but something else: the Web of Fate.


    A distorted Web of Fate covered the Hulunta Grasnds, making everything here different.


    Tang Jie had spent twenty years weaving this web.


    It represented Tang Jie''s will, directly manifesting his will on the grasnds.


    The moment this web waspleted, if Tang Jie wanted to do anything, he simply needed to pluck a thread to have it done.


    There was no need to take direct action.


    Tang Jie was enlightened.


    This was the Dao of Fate!


    Comprehending the Dao had allowed him to see the Fate that was woven through the world.


    But the threads of Fate were not unchangeable. They could be plucked, used, cut, twisted, even reced.


    Twenty years of wandering the Hulunta Grasnds, dancing with the wolves, had allowed Tang Jie to inadvertently weave his first Web of Fate.


    Here, his will was all.


    If he wanted to, he could even use spell arts as a Violet Pce cultivator could, lightly plucking the threads of Fate to instantly cast arts.


    One could say that this was his home court. If he fought here, he needn''t fear Violet Pce cultivators.


    Of course, this didn''t mean he was invincible.


    The moment the Web of Fate was formed over the Hulunta Grasnds, it was under assault from the greater world''s Web of Fate.


    It was able to persist because Tang Jie was constantly weaving and had woven for twenty years.


    If Tang Jie stopped or left, all this would dissipate.


    Twisted Fate would gradually be righted and assimted by the world''s original Fate.


    Fate was always moving in a certain direction. If you were not assimting it, it was assimting you.


    If Tang Jie could weave his Web of Fate across the entire Verdant Cloud Domain, then he might really be the king of the world.


    But this was too vast and too difficult, and even if he could do it, beyond the Verdant Cloud Domain was an even greater Web of Fate that would encroach upon it¡ªthe Great Ster Chiliocosm''s.


    When the first Web of Fate over the Hulunta Grasnds waspleted, a group of Dao Runes silently appeared on Tang Jie''s heart.


    Not one, but a group.


    This was a sign that the Dao of Fate had been realized, not because of the Dao Standard, but because Tang Jie had entered the Dao through his own understanding.


    But Tang Jie didn''t care.


    Transcendence did not seek results. It was about enjoying the process, with the result simply being something that appeared at the end of the process¡ªTang Jie hadn''t even bothered to count the number of Dao Runes.


    He continued to roam the grasnds.


    He stopped trying to weave Fate, instead watching as it disappeared, as the Verdant Cloud Domain''s Web of Fate invaded and restored everything back to normal.


    The grasnds began to calm down, gaining back their former serenity.


    There were rises and falls, losses and gains.


    Tang Jie had weaved his first Web of Fate and watched it trend toward oblivion.


    The twenty-third year in the grasnds.


    Thest friend Tang Jie had made in the grasnds, a mutant badger bear, died of illness.


    After burying it, Tang Jie left this ce, leaving the Hulunta Grasnds for othernds.

 Chapter 713: Traveling (III)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After leaving the grasnds, Tang Jie drifted aimlessly.


    He crossed mountains, forded rivers, forged through forests, and ventured through swamps.


    He did not fly, relying on his own two feet to measure the earth. He ended up walking for three years.


    In these three years, he walked all about the Verdant Cloud Domain, traveling far and wide. He experienced seven attempted robberies, twondslides, one earthquake, four volcanic eruptions, and 62 attacks from wild animals.


    There were both natural and man-made disasters. Tang Jie experienced them all, silently taking it in.


    One day, Tang Jie came to a city.


    This was a fiend city, and Tang Jie walked in as a human.


    Strangely, the fiends treated him like he was empty air, none of them paying any attention to him.


    Tang Jie walked the streets of the city.


    He saw a decent-looking house and walked inside.


    The house was home to a Mind Opening deer fiend couple¡ªthe female deer being pregnant¡ªand two human servants.


    Tang Jie chose a guest room, tidied it up, and took up residence within it.


    Every day, the two human servants would make food for the deer fiends. Although these were yellow deer who had be fiends, they had meat with every meal, both that of ordinary beasts and also that of humans.


    But from the time Tang Jie took up residence, the deer fiends found that human meat had lost its vor.


    "How strange. When I ate human meat before, it was absolutely delicious, so why does it taste like candle wax now? No taste at all!" The male deer fiend expressed confusion.


    "Maybe you''ve eaten too much and gotten tired of it. Moreover, humans are hard to catch, and they''re so pricey. Isn''t it better to not like eating them? What if you ended up liking it so much that you butchered our two servants? It all sounds rather pathetic."


    "Wife, your heart seems to be getting softer and softer."


    "Perhaps it''s because of Yan''er, making me want to umte some virtue. Killing too much and shedding too much blood is no good thing," the mother deer said, looking at her belly.


    The little deer fiend had yet to be born, but its name had already been decided: Yue Yan.


    Standing under a tree, Tang Jie listened in on the couple''s conversation as he silently plucked a thread of Fate. Invisible motes of light melted into the fiends, silently altering them.


    Compared to the beasts of the grasnds, influencing fiends was much more difficult.


    Fate was not omnipotent. The stronger the existence, the more they resisted Fate.


    He was only influencing two Mind Opening fiends, but Tang Jie was already feeling immense resistance. He couldn''t have the fiends detest human flesh, only make them gradually dislike the taste of it. He couldn''t make fiendspassionate, only use their child to nt the seed of love.


    One could say that the strong were born defiant of the heavens.


    They resisted Fate, refusing its arrangements, transcending the Web of Fate.


    They defied the heavens, rising up against the current and breaking free of their shackles.


    These shackles were the Web of Fate.


    This was another principle Tang Jie hadprehended.


    But while the web could be broken, those chaining threads were difficult to shake off.


    Even the strongest existence could not prevent the threads of Fate from touching them and influencing them.


    Tang Jie couldn''t influence an expert yet, but he wanted to try and raise an expert, tangling them in the threads of Fate from the moment they existed.


    He had learned this in the Hulunta Grasnds.


    Time was the best weapon and could do many things that he couldn''t do without it.


    Upon thinking this, he sent the light of Fate silently into that mother deer''s body.


    After doing this, Tang Jie left.


    He proceeded toward Fengshan.


    He passed through Dongjin Pass and headed deep into its hearnd.


    He went to the seat of the emperor, the capital of Fengshan.


    As the capital of humanity, it was naturally a thriving ce.


    But Tang Jie didn''t care, casually walking its streets.


    He came to a small alley, where a boy riding atop a servant came charging out, waving a wooden sword.


    At that moment, he felt like he had returned to the first time he met Wei Tianchong.


    Compared to Wei Tianchong, this boy was more handsome and had a pair of lovable ck eyes.


    As he was happily ying, he saw a man appear before him.


    He had abruptly appeared out of nowhere.


    The boy wasn''t afraid, his eyes instead widening in excitement. "Are you an Immortal?"


    Tang Jie replied, "I am. What''s your name?"


    "You''re an Immortal, so why don''t you know my name?" the boy seriously asked.


    Tang Jie smiled. "If that''s what you want, then let me have a try."


    He ced a finger on the boy''s forehead, sending the light of Fate into the boy.


    Without drawing back his finger, Tang Jie said, "Your name is Li Yan, and you are the son of the Minister of Appointments."


    The boy excitedly said, "You guessed it right!"


    "You have a dream to drive out the fiends and restore the glory of my human race," Tang Jie continued.


    The boy said in surprise, "What sort of dream is this? I''ve never had one like that."


    The boy was still too young, and such a far-off dream wasn''t suitable for him.


    "You will," Tang Jie indifferently said.


    He took back his finger and said, "You are destined to be a great person in the future."


    "Even greater than my father?" the boy asked.


    "Even greater than him!" Tang Jie firmly said.


    "Oh, wonderful!" the boy shouted. Patting the servant under him, he said, "Big Zhu, did you hear? The Immortal said that I''m going to be a greater person than my father."


    "''Immortal''? Where?" The servant called Big Zhu looked around in confusion.


    "Isn''t he¡­" The boy raised his head, but Tang Jie was gone.


    Westsail City.


    The little deer, Yue Yan, was born after two months.


    This was a female deer with a pair ofrge and enchanting eyes. Newborn, it couldn''t think or talk like its parents. Strictly speaking, it wasn''t a fiend, but an ordinary deer.


    But as it grew up, the power of its fiend lineage would gradually awaken, and it would begin to exhibit the power of a fiend. Some of the more powerful fiend lineages could awaken multiple times, like Bao''er''s.


    For fiends, it was always better for the awakening to happen as early as possible.


    Little Yue Yan experienced her first awakening at three years old, and she disyed astonishing fiend power, far greater than usual.


    On that day, Westsail City weed a rising star of the fiend race.


    From three to thirteen, only ten years of time, Yue Yan went all the way from Spirit Sensing to Mind Opening.


    When this little deer that had yet to reach adulthood called out to her father and mother in her crisp and melodious voice, all of Westsail City was thrown into an uproar.


    Westsail City was under the rule of the Aurora Fiend Emperor, and its lord was the White Night Fiend King, a trusted aide of Aurora.


    The day Yue Yan attained Mind Opening, White Night summoned her and took her in as his adopted daughter, and the little deer fiend officially became a fiend princess.


    At the same time, in Fengshan, the humans had their rising star called Li Yan.


    Unlike Yue Yan, Li Yan didn''t have a smooth path. From his n to school, Li Yan had to deal with all sorts of plots and conspiracies. His mother passed away early, his stepmother was a venomous schemer, his brothers were arrogant and conniving, his schoolmates bullied him¡­ Li Yan basically experienced every pain a single human could suffer, as if the entire world was opposed to him.


    But every time, Li Yan was able to turn danger into fortune, gaining blessings from disaster.


    His strength rapidly grew.


    At the age of twelve, Li Yan entered Fengshan''srgest cultivator academy, the Luanshan Academy.


    (TN: The feng and luan are both phoenix-like birds in Chinese mythology, so Fengshan and Luanshan can be considered variations of "Phoenix Mountain".)


    There, he cultivated while also studying human history. Once he learned about humanity''s glorious past and its tragic present, he made his Great Aspiration: to drive out the fiends and restore the glory of humanity!


    Li Yan had already forgotten his childhood encounter, forgotten the words of that prophecy. He simply persisted on his path, never realizing that the Web of Fate entangling him was constantly controlling him and influencing him.


    Tang Jie was very busy.


    He was rushing between two ces, looking after both Yue Yan and Li Yan.


    The influence of the Web of Fate was constantly being assimted and assaulted by the greater Web of Fate of the outside world, only able to affect the moment and not a lifetime. Thus, Tang Jie needed to constantly fix and adjust it.


    Unlike his previous web, which had covered all of the Hulunta Grasnds, Tang Jie focused only on the two points of Li Yan and Yue Yan. All of the threads of Fate were targeted only on these two.


    Like a novelist, Tang Jie used his own method to write on these two youths the path he hoped they would take. Their ideals, their progress, everything that happened to them¡ªit was all arranged by Tang Jie.


    The scope had shrunk, but the depth was much greater.


    The light of Fate extended into the future, and along this line, Tang Jie could even see what could happen to these two youths several years on.


    Prophecy!


    Yes, this was the ability of a prophet!


    The Dao of Fate couldn''t see into the future. It arranged the future.


    The future was a part of Fate.


    Whether it was the Fate Tang Jie had woven or the original Fate of the world, these were all arrangements of the future.


    Just like how Tang Jie had woven Li Yan''s dream.


    When a person could weave Fate, could influence Fate, they gained the power to control the future.


    In this aspect, prophecy was simply the linear development of the Dao of Fate along the axis of time.


    Of course, Tang Jie was still far from being able to do this.


    He could only see into the future to a limited extent, could only influence a person''s ideals, could only control the Fate of someone weak like Li Yan.


    But ultimately, they would be strong.


    At that time, would they be able to break free of the Fate Tang Jie had woven for them?

 Chapter 714: Traveling (IV)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Two geniuses were rapidly maturing, one among the humans and one among the fiends.


    But not everyone was happy to see these geniuses. Some people didn''t like it when geniuses appeared in other people''s homes, sometimes even considering them to be roadblocks.


    Influenced by Fate, in fiend territory, a conspiracy was brewing against Yue Yan.


    Fiend General Tu Hou, one of the White Night Fiend King''s ten great generals, was currently holding a meeting at his estate, a dour look on his face.


    "The Great Fiend Tournament is upon us. Each city will choose a peerless genius to enter the capital, where they willpete for the right to be personally taught by the Aurora Fiend Emperor. This is an immense glory. If the young master is chosen, it will undoubtedly bring the general endless honors and des!"


    "Although the young master is a genius, there is a certain freak in Westsail City. He cannot ovee Yue Yan."


    The fiends argued back and forth.


    Murderous intent appeared in Tu Hou''s eyes. "Nothing more than a minor fiend from an ordinary family who White Night adopted as his daughter. She would dare topete over the spot with the great me? No matter what, I will not permit that Yue Yan to take away my son''s destiny!"


    Several dayster, little Yue Yan, who was out training, was ambushed and hunted.


    Yue Yan had no choice but to flee for her life.


    The chasested for three whole months, causing her to miss the selection. As a result, Tu Hou''s son ended up being chosen as the genius from Westsail to be tutored by Aurora, and Yue Yan was still being hunted.


    The dogged pursuers forced Yue Yan to flee to human territory, using the humans to barely throw off her hunters and running off into the deep forests.


    The hand of Fate once more cast a die.


    Luanshan Academy''s annual trial in the mountains hade.


    Li Yan followed his seniors and juniors into the mountain, searching for the spirit herb the school had indicated. After a difficult battle, he incidentally came across a little deer¡ªYue Yan.


    This was the first meeting of the human and fiend geniuses, but at the time, Yue Yan was heavily injured and barely clinging to life.


    When Li Yan saw a little deer lying badly injured on the ground, he didn''t think about eating it. Instead, he considerately tended to its wounds.


    Thanks to Li Yan''s care, Yue Yan rapidly recovered.


    Li Yan gradually realized that this was no ordinary deer, but a fiend deer. However, having already developed an affection for it, he swore an oath to not kill it.


    On that day, he ced an arm around Yue Yan''s neck and talked and talked¡­


    He talked about his hatred for fiends, his reluctance regarding the little deer, his past experiences¡­ Not knowing that Yue Yan was a Mind Opening fiend, he said everything on his mind. Yue Yan quietly listened.


    Once Li Yan''s ssmates were about to arrive, he patted Yue Yan and said, "Go on; leave this ce and don''te back. If another person sees you, they''ll kill you."


    Yue Yan gave Li Yan a long look before leaving.


    Two monthster, Yue Yan returned to Westsail.


    When she learned that Tu Hou''s son had gone to the capital of Aurora, she didn''t say anything, instead heading straight for Aurora City. At this time, the fiend geniuses from various parts of the empire were all fighting for the right to be the emperor''s student. Yue Yan entered the stage as a challenger and defeated countless geniuses, causing a great uproar.


    At this time, Tu Hou''s scheme was exposed, and the Aurora Fiend Emperor personally executed Tu Hou. Yue Yan became the Heaven''s Chosen and entered the Aurora imperial pce to be personally taught by the Aurora Fiend Emperor.


    All of this was as Tang Jie had expected and arranged.


    Of course, this didn''t include Tu Hou''s schemes.


    Fate was a web, and to pull on one part was to pull on the entire thing.


    To influence Yue Yan was actually to influence everything around her. Just like how the Verdant Cloud Domain''s Web of Fate was constantly trying to dominate Tang Jie''s Fate, the Fate that Tang Jie had manipted was influencing the Verdant Cloud Domain, producing more widespread effects.


    Tang Jie had not encouraged Tu Hou''s actions, but he had noticed them. So Tang Jie had borrowed Tu Hou to influence Yue Yan into reacting.


    In this aspect, Tang Jie could not set up a path and have his target go along that path until the end. idents would asionally appear on the track of Fate, which was why prophecies would have inuracies.


    Tang Jie could design a n for a person, but so long as he couldn''tpletely influence their surroundings, the Web of Fate from the greater region would influence Tang Jie''s target, creating all sorts of unknown variables.


    This was the uncertainty of Fate.


    The uncertainty of the future.


    This was another important principle Tang Jie hadprehended.


    Of course, even though this uncertainty existed, so long as Tang Jie was still watching, he could pull on the threads of Fate to adjust his ns.


    For example, he couldn''t make the Aurora Fiend Emperor directly take a liking to Yue Yan, but he could have Yue Yan put on a sufficiently outstanding performance so that Aurora would ept her without needing his influence.


    This was a natural development of the Dao of Fate, inpliance with the Great Dao.


    The Fate he had woven was in tune with the greater trend of the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    In this process, Tang Jie understood more and more, and he found it easier and easier to influence and control Fate.


    Twenty-eight years passed.


    A fiend genius was now a famous fiend princess.


    An ignorant student had be a hero of Fengshan.


    Two years ago, Yue Yan had reached Transformation, bing a peerless beauty that had countless fiends drooling.


    Li Yan had reached Celestial Heart, bing the most outstanding member of Fengshan''s younger generation.


    The threads of Fate finally brought them together once more.


    Dongjin Pass.


    A great battle was about to begin.


    There was a new general inmand, Gu Pinzhang having died in battle ten years ago.


    Fifty-some years had passed. The fortress still stood, guarded by armored soldiers.


    Many familiar faces had disappeared.


    Li Yan, as a leader of the new generation of Fengshan''s cultivators, appeared on this battlefield.


    On the other side were four fiend kings, led by the White Night Fiend King. As a fiend princess, Yue Yan also took part in this battle as a fiend general.


    Neither was aware that the other was on the battlefield.


    That brief encounter from many years ago had long ago been forgotten. Even if they appeared as they did back then, they still might not have recognized each other.


    But Fate was sometimes unreasonable. If it wanted, even a long-lost memory from thirty years ago could be reawakened. If it was willing, two people could meet on the battlefield.


    Thirty thousand feet above Dongjin Pass, Tang Jie went to work.


    This time, he went a little overboard.


    He no longer pulled on the threads of Fate. Instead, he connected Yue Yan and Li Yan with a thread of Karma.


    This thread would awaken their memories, make them recognize each other and know each other, even love each other.


    If the two were just Celestial Heart cultivators who wereplete strangers to each other, Tang Jie wouldn''t have been able to do this so easily.


    But he had influenced Li Yan and Yue Yan from a young age with the Dao of Fate, making them live ording to his arrangements. One could say that he had influenced everything from their habits to their personality, so resistance was impossible.


    Thus, everything went smoothly.


    A human hero met a fiend princess on the battlefield and engaged in a momentous battle. In the chaos, they gradually began to draw away from the greater battle. By the end, they were utterly exhausted and had ended up trapped in a dangerous area.


    It was only then that they recognized each other.


    They started to make peace with each other and work together to escape their predicament. In the process, Li Yan disyed his wisdom and Yue Yan disyed her intelligence. They found themselves attracted to each other, and their mutual affection began to soar.


    Finally, in a night overflowing with passion, everything was settled.


    In a cold, dark, subterranean world, two people hugged each other for warmth, creating a friendship and connection that transcended species.


    At this point, Tang Jie knew that his experiment was nearlyplete. Only thest step was missing.


    Snapping his fingers, he said, "You, Li Yan, despite being a human, love a fiend¡ªa thought which torments you. But this pain stimtes you, propels you forward so that you can one day be the sovereign of humanity, protecting the existence of humanity!"


    He snapped his fingers again and said, "You, Yue Yan, despite being a fiend, love a human¡ªan unpardonable sin. For the rest of your life, you will work for peace between humans and fiends."


    Two motes of light traveled along the threads of Fate into the bodies of Li Yan and Yue Yan.


    This was thest thought Tang Jie would nt in their minds.


    This idea was in tune with their minds and suitable for their circumstances, so it encountered no resistance. In this process, Tang Jie had seeded in influencing the mindset of these two geniuses in a major way.


    One day, if they were able to get that far, the belief that Tang Jie had nted in their minds would activate, and so his actions would influence the entire Verdant Cloud Domain, perhaps even alter its future structure.


    But Tang Jie couldn''t be certain, because he was no longer going to use the Dao of Fate to influence them. Li Yan and Yue Yan were going to leave Tang Jie''s influence and live their own lives.


    They might die, or run into some other sort of trial and get by without Tang Jie''s help, or perhaps, because there was no power supporting it, they would gradually forget the belief that Tang Jie had nted in their minds.


    Nobody would know what the future had in store for them.


    Tang Jie only knew that he had sowed the seeds, two seeds that concerned the future of humanity. But whether they would grow or not would be decided by the Fate of this world.


    The Seeds of Fate that Tang Jie had left behind would ultimately be assimted and create their own influences.


    The Fate of the Verdant Cloud Domain would be decided by the Verdant Cloud Domain itself.


    "If you don''t want to have a rebellious child, then you should let go when it''s time to let go¡­ This is the best method that doesn''t defy the heavens." Tang Jie smiled as he talked to himself.


    As for the soft grunts and moansing from that underground world, Tang Jie paid them no attention and left.


    He once more set off on his travels.

 Chapter 715: Traveling (V)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After leaving the lives of Li Yan and Yue Yan, Tang Jie still didn''t want to go back.


    Just like a tireless bird, he would keep pping his wings until he felt tired.


    He vaguely felt that there was still something important that he needed to do.


    But this feeling was like a rope blindly grasped in the darkness. Tang Jie himself could not see where it led.


    He could only keep walking until he finally found the light at the end of his tunnel.


    One day, as he was walking, a familiar scene appeared before him.


    In the distance, farmers worked their fields, waves of wheat billowing in the wind.


    Daoxiang Vige.


    He had inadvertently ended up at his starting point.


    After sixty-some years, the vige was still here, but the people had changed. A child of yesteryear was now a wizened old man who had no impression of Tang Jie.


    Standing next to the fields, Tang Jie watched the farmers at work. As he thought about his past encounter with this vige, he couldn''t help but sigh. In the middle of his daze, the farmers spotted him, one of them shouting, "Traveler from afar, if you''re thirsty, we have water over here."


    The forthrightness and simplicity of these farmers had Tang Jie smiling. "I am a little thirsty."


    He walked over and took some tea from that farmer, gulping it down.


    "Guest, where did youe from? And where are you going?" an old farmer asked with a grin.


    "I wander the four seas with no fixed home," Tang Jie casually replied.


    "Then how do you get by?"


    "I know a little handicrafts, and I asionally help others with small jobs." Tang Jie''s eyes fell on the wooden plow in the farmer''s hand. In this era, farmers mostly used rather simple plows made of wood.


    As he looked at the wooden plow, he suddenly had an idea and knew what he needed to do.


    "I can make you a new plow," he said.


    Three dayster, Tang Jie had made the first iron plow for Daoxiang Vige. Compared to the wooden plows used by the farmers before, the iron plows were more solid and durable, and they also took less strength to use, so they were happily adopted.


    Tang Jie quickly made numerous plows for Daoxiang Vige. Given his abilities, it was truly no trouble at all.


    Daoxiang Vige didn''t need so many plows, but that was fine. They could sell them so that more people could use them.


    A person couldn''t live only for themselves.


    When one became capable enough, one should seek to benefit the entire world!


    Tang Jie officially took up residence in Daoxiang Vige.


    He tried to remember the knowledge from his past life, most of which he had forgotten. But this presented no obstacle to him researching and recreating these things. This was really no problem for a cultivator. It was just that no one had ever done it before. In addition, some developments didn''t require new creations.Modifications that improved durability and ease of use were their own kind of contribution.


    He developed better plows, better water wheels, sturdier hoes, better axles, and asionally little practical items like springs.


    His inventions were all based on what already existed, nothing that was beyond the current era. To be honest, he couldn''t do any of the moreplicated stuff. But it was for this very reason that his inventions were more epted. And with the introduction of all these more convenient tools, the strain ofbor was greatly decreased.


    These inventions ultimately spread throughout the Verdant Cloud Domain. They seemed unremarkable, but the effects they had on the Verdant Cloud Domain were immense.


    This influence might not have been apparent in reality, but from the Web of Fate, one could see the ripples, like the vibrations created by a moth flying into a web.


    Tang Jie had done this, but no longer was he pulling the threads as an outsider, instead being someone within the web.


    Tang Jie silently observed¡ªnot others, but himself, observing the effects of everything he did on this world''s fate and also on himself.


    Of course, all of this required a long time to gradually manifest.


    He spent most of his time repairing tools for the vigers and making new tools to sell, though never too many.


    cksmith Tang was now the most highly-regarded person in the vige, and his reputation had spread to the city too. Someone had even invited him to the city, and when he refused, nobody tried topel him to go. It had been sixty years since Changping Prefecture''s butterfly incident. This was a long time for a mortal, but for cultivators, it was just like yesterday, so Daoxiang Vige was still a taboo subject for many people.


    When he was free, Tang Jie raised flowers and herbs in his house, or spoke with Xu Miaoran and Yiyi.


    Yiyi was acting more and more like a queen.


    While Tang Jie was gone, all of the Silver Eyes Empire was under the rule of his sister. In her fifty-some years of rule, Yiyi had experienced trickery, betrayal, bribery, treason, and all other kinds of wicked actions. The most dangerous time was when a fiend king led a rebel force into the imperial pce. This was the only time Tang Jie had intervened, crushing the rebellion with a single palm, causing all those restless people to sit back down. And after all these things, Yiyi gradually began to mature.


    As for Xu Miaoran''s side, things had been much simpler.


    After what had happened to Sang Hongmei, Horizon Ocean Pavilion stopped trying to make trouble for Xu Miaoran, with even the Jewel Celestial Sovereign not saying anything. But there were rumors going around that the Jewel Celestial Sovereign had been enraged, even smashing her beloved Seven Nightglows Cup.


    But it was hard to say whether this anger was because Tang Jie had killed her disciple, or because her disciple had ultimately let her down and made a personal deal with the enemy.


    Bei Canghan''s group didn''t return to the Basking Moon Sect. Their contract with Xu Miaoran was a long-term one, and they were there for the entire All-Talent Society, not just for a single incident. Most importantly, continuing to protect Xu Miaoran and strengthening the All-Talent Society was good for everyone. As Tang Jie had requested, Xu Miaoran shared a part of the resources gained from the inter-domain trade with everyone so that they could steadily grow stronger, and these thirteen heavenly eagles of the Basking Moon Sect became the main force of the All-Talent Society, establishing the foundation of Xu Miaoran''s faction.


    The only exception was Cai Junyang. Tang Jie''s feats had been a big blow to him. While they were good friends, the proud Cai Junyang wasn''t willing to be overshadowed so severely by Tang Jie, so he persisted on his own path, constantly wandering about. Only when Xu Miaoran needed him did he return to help. And his strength really did grow by leaps and bounds.


    In Horizon Ocean Pavilion, the juniors under Xu Miaoran''s banner were bing the rising stars of the sect. In thest few decades, a third of Horizon Ocean Academy''s prodigies had joined the All-Talent Society, and they were experiencing astonishing growth. Luo Anbo, Bei Canghan, and the others all experienced breakthroughs and reached Heart Demon.


    The only one who didn''t break through was Tang Jie''s avatar.


    While the one traveling around was the original body, the avatar''s mind was also affected.


    The process of changing Fate was also the process of changing the self.


    While traveling, Tang Jie had found that his body had many hidden problems. He had once believed that he had done a fine job ofying his foundations, but progressing too fast had brought its own set oftent concerns. These problems weren''t obvious yet, but they had a chance of turning serious in the future.


    Fortunately, during his travels, he had finally realized these problems and moved to fix them, beginning topensate for the side effects brought by his rapid progress.


    Ten years went by.


    Tang Jie''s new farming tools had spread out from Changping Prefecture and were now in use in half of Fengshan.


    The Web of Fate was altered once more, countless nodes beginning to form a connection with Tang Jie, because of those farming tools.


    Fate was an extension of Karma. Karma was a thread, and Fate was a web.


    When countless people of the Verdant Cloud Domain began to use the farming tools Tang Jie had invented and started to benefit from them, they created Karma with Tang Jie.


    This Karmic rtionship wasn''t especially strong, but with so many people creating Karma with Tang Jie, the Web of Fate formed from all these threads of Karma suddenly had a blinding point of light, as if this was the core of the Web of Fate. He became someone entangled by Fate.


    This entanglement was powerful, for it was formed by countless threads of Karma. Even though Tang Jie hadprehended Fate, he would still have a hard time breaking free of it. It was easy to tear off a single spider thread, but very difficult to remove an entire spider web clinging to one''s body. And at the level of the Web of Fate, this power became all the more terrifying.


    This made Tang Jie realize something: a single thread of Fate might not be powerful enough, but the power of Fate was infinitely stackable, could turn quantity into quality.


    This exined why there were people imbued with great fortune.


    Those emperors and kings could easily form Karmic connections with countless people, bing cores of the Web of Fate.


    Perhaps this was why the cultivators of the Verdant Cloud Domain had established a kingdom. In this world that had such a major connection to the Azure Dragon, the controller of the Dao of Fate, such a method was the best way to be in tune with the Dao of Fate. But simply ruling a country didn''t mean that they couldprehend the Dao. While they were within the, they could not move the world.


    The ultimate consequence of weaving the Web of Fate was to establish one''s own world where one could control Karma, and the ultimate consequence of fixing the track of Fate was to make prophecies. The ultimate consequence of entangling oneself within the Web of Fate, bing its core, was to obtain great fortune or belief.


    After bing entangled with fate, Tang Jie was able to see the Verdant Cloud Domain''s Web of Fate more clearly.


    This web did not have only one core.


    Besides him, there were several other points of light that were entangled by countless threads of Karma. Tang Jie currently couldn''t identify who these points of light belonged to, but he felt like they would be figures like the Aurora Fiend Emperor, Feng Wuxiang, and the King of Fengshan.


    But as he was examining the Web of Fate, watching the energy of Fate flow along those countless threads of Karma, a voice suddenly spoke: "Oh? Has someone else finally entered the Dao of Fate, bing one who is protected by the Heavenly Dao?"

 Chapter 716: Heavenly Secrets

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The voice traveled along a thread of Karma into Tang Jie''s mind.


    Fate was a web that covered the entire Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    Any person who could pull on this web could use the countless threads of Karma to transmit their will, even power!


    All that was needed was the coordinates.


    Tang Jie was able tomunicate with the Rosecloud Domain thanks to the point of Fate light and the thread of Karma in Little Three''s body.


    As for the current situation, this was clearly possible because Tang Jie had be a core of the Verdant Cloud Domain''s Web of Fate.


    There were few such cores, so a new one popping up would undoubtedly draw attention and have someone try tomunicate.


    As the threads of Fate vibrated, a wise and elderly consciousness resounded within Tang Jie''s mind.


    Tang Jie froze for a moment, and then he said in realization, "Reverend Seer?"


    In the Verdant Cloud Domain, perhaps the only person who understood how to use the Dao of Fate to such a profound level was the legendary third Violet Pce cultivator of humanity, Reverend Seer.


    But Tang Jie hadn''t expected that he had taken the path of Fate Entanglement.


    The elderly voice chuckled. "That it is. What should I call you, young friend?"


    After some thought, Tang Jie replied, "Tang Jie."


    "Oh, so it''s Young Friend Tang Jie." Reverend Seer had clearly heard of Tang Jie before. "It''s no wonder I haven''t heard about you in thest few decades. It turns out that you were experiencing mortal life in all its vors. Mm, it seems like fifty-some years have passed since your disappearance. Young friend, I didn''t think that you would get this far in such little time. Truly, you are overflowing with talent. Back then, it took me 150 years of traveling, being everything from a street peddler to a wealthy merchant, performing countless good deeds and umting endless virtue. Only then was I able to be entangled by Fate and receive the protection of the Heavenly Dao."


    Tang Jie wasn''t surprised to hear this. The existence of the Fate Standard had allowed him to avoid many wrong paths. The Fate Standard had made the mysterious Dao of Fate less mysterious, turning it into something he could research andprehend. In addition, he had entered the Dao of Wisdom. The Web of Fate, with all of itsplex interactions, made it difficult for many people to know where to start, even if they hadprehended Fate. They wanted to pull on the Web of Fate to reach their goal, but they didn''t even know where to begin. It was like putting a piano in front of someone who didn''t know how to y it. But thanks to Wisdom, Tang Jie could rapidly calcte the route, making him far more efficient than others. Finally, his act of upgrading farming tools to make life better for the people seemed simple, but it had enormous effects, enough to match all of the good deeds of Reverend Seer.


    What he truly found strange was that Reverend Seer didn''t seem to know that there were other paths on which Fate could develop. From the very start, he was standing on the path of being entangled by Fate and protected by the Heavenly Dao.


    After giving this some thought, Tang Jie cautiously said, "This junior didn''t have an easy time getting here. Exploring the path of Fate is fraught with dangers and detours. This junior almost took the wrong path several times, for which there would be no turning back."


    Reverend Seer immediately agreed, "Indeed, indeed! Fate is number one of the 12 Great Daos, a reflection of the secrets of the heavens and beyond all estimation. This old man also went astray several times. Fortunately, I managed to get back on the right path and finally get to this point."


    Tang Jie frowned even more.


    Whether it was weaving the Web of Fate, choosing a Child of Fate, or entangling oneself in the Web of Fate, they were all different methods of understanding and using the Dao of Fate, none of them above or below the others.


    But if one had to insist on it, then weaving the Web of Fate and establishing one''s own world was of the highest level, for it was essentially transcending the world and creating a new Fate. At its utmost, one could even simte the Heavenly Dao. Of course, this was the most difficult. Tang Jie had spent twenty years on the Hulunta Grasnds to establish a Web of Fate, but the world''s Fate had only needed ten days to assimte it.


    Entangling with Fate would definitely be the lowest level. As a person in the web, even if they were protected by Fate, they were also limited by Fate. Fortune was made by the heavens while belief came from the people. Neither of them relied on the self.


    So why was Reverend Seer focused only on this point?


    Tang Jie respectfully asked, "This junior is ignorant and was able to get this far thanks mostly to luck. But how did Reverend know which direction to go in?"


    "Eh?" Reverend Seer sounded surprised. "Did you not heed the guidance of Fate toe this far?"


    "''The guidance of Fate''?" Tang Jie was startled.


    What the hell was that?


    Tang Jie carefully replied, "When this junior was cultivating, he would asionally get a strange feeling, as if something was reminding me, calling me, telling me what I should do. But I only took this for a misperception. Are you saying¡­"


    Reverend Seerughed. "That was it! This is the guidance of Fate. Those whoprehend Fate have only two paths that they can walk: to obey the heavens andply with Fate, or to go against the heavens and change Fate. The guidance of Fate is the will of the heavens, the Heavenly Dao. Toply with it is to obey the heavens, earning its protection. As for other paths, they are all incorrect, going against the heavens, which will incur celestial punishment and should be avoided at all costs. Fortunately, young friend, you understood what was right and stopped yourself from stepping on the wrong path."


    "So that''s what was happening." Tang Jie understood.


    Putting aside the question of what exactly the guidance of Fate was, Reverend Seer was right that being entangled by Fate wasplying with the will of the heavens.


    One was already wrapped up tightly in the web, so how could one possibly resist the arrangements of Fate?


    As someone blessed by Fate, one was bound to be ensnared by Fate. Any attempt to escape the Web of Fate would earn the displeasure of Fate.


    It was no wonder Reverend Seer had said that this path was correct. When he was researching Fate, he had been influenced by Fate.


    But why hadn''t Tang Jie felt the guidance of Fate?


    Tang Jie racked his mind and came up with a reason: he wasn''t a native of the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    But that still didn''t make sense.


    The Web of Fate covered all of the Great Ster Chiliocosm, and while each domain would be somewhat different, they were generally all the same. For example, they all had humans and had the same kind of cultivation system. This was all the work of the Web of Fate. The different domains might differ innguage, specialties, and lifeforms, and other small details, but nothing that influenced the greater picture.


    If the guidance of Fate actually existed, it should have been found throughout the Great Ster Chiliocosm, not just the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    Thus, there was no reason for him to be unaffected just because he was an outsider.


    Then, what was the actual reason?


    Tang Jie didn''t know.


    He didn''t know if this was a problem with him or a problem with the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    Reverend Seer remained excited and began to discuss Fate with Tang Jie. While Reverend Seer had entered the Dao of Fate and sessfully be entangled by Fate, he had never found anyone in the Web of Fate that he could converse with before now.


    The others, like Feng Wuxiang or the Aurora Fiend Emperor, had not entered the Dao of Fate. Although they were entangled by Fate and were protected by it, they could not pull on the threads of Fate and speak with him in the web. As for those people in other domains of the Great Ster Chiliocosm who had entered the Dao of Fate, they were too far, so it was difficult to establish their exact coordinates.


    Finally, a second person who could walk the Web of Fate had appeared in the Verdant Cloud Domain, so how could Reverend Seer not be excited? He was reluctant to let Tang Jie leave.


    Starting from this day, Tang Jie would discuss the Dao with Reverend Seer whenever he was free.


    The Dao of Fate was profound and abstruse, difficult to exin. Even after sixty years of experiencing human life, Tang Jie found it difficult to describe its principles. Reverend Seer had cultivated for a thousand years. He hadprehended the Dao seven hundred years ago and entered the Dao four hundred and fifty years ago, experiencing all sorts of life andprehending countless things. Conversing with him was very beneficial to Tang Jie. Of course, Reverend Seer also gained from Tang Jie the sort of spirit and daring unique to youth. There were many things which Reverend Seer didn''t dare to attempt that Tang Jie did. While Reverend Seer gave Tang Jie abundant experience and a fruitful past, Tang Jie gave Reverend Seer an unconventional imagination and a limitless future.


    Another ten years passed like this.


    Tang Jie''s farming tools had spread throughout Fengshan.


    Besides this, through his research, he managed to invent ss, improve papermaking, and invent the movable type printing press. In short, so long as it wasn''t anything tooplex, he could develop it and bring it to the masses to enrich their lives.


    The living standards of the Verdant Cloud Domain began to rise, and more and more Fates became entangled with Tang Jie. As they wrapped around him more tightly, they became more difficult to escape, but at the same time, Tang Jie was able to get a clearer and clearer picture of the Verdant Cloud Domain''s Web of Fate.


    But Tang Jie felt like something strange was influencing him.


    Inexplicably, he felt like he was starting to take a liking to the Verdant Cloud Domain and bing reluctant to return home.


    Fortunately, he realized in time and spected that this was probably the will of the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    To bear the Verdant Cloud Domain''s Web of Fate was also to y host to the will of the Verdant Cloud Domain. This will wasn''t the will of thend, but the aggregated will of its countless inhabitants, a vast and immane will which subtly influenced him.


    Just like the assimtion of the Web of Fate, this will was assimting Tang Jie.


    This was the disadvantage to being entangled by the Web of Fate. While one was protected by Fate, one had toply with its arrangements.


    It was like how Tang Jie had influenced Li Yan and Yue Yan.


    The only difference was that Li Yan and Yue Yan had been influenced by Tang Jie''s singr will while Tang Jie was being influenced by the collective will of the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie wasn''t in too deep and was able to sense it.


    But he didn''t stop entangling himself in the Web of Fate. Even if he didn''t n to take this path to the end, he wanted to see how far he could walk.


    Of course, as a preventative measure, he silently began to guide some threads of Fate to others.


    Today, Tang Jie was wandering the Web of Fate, searching for other light nodes so that he could experience their lives.


    Suddenly, a point of light appeared in the distance¡ªone that gave Tang Jie a familiar feeling.


    Looking over at that light, he saw a figure within.


    "Er Hu!"


    He cried out.

 Chapter 717: Meeting Er Hu Once More

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Er Hu was flying as fast as he could under a crimson sky, but his speed was half as fast as usual, thanks to arge wound that had almost emptied out his chest. ck energy lingered around the wound, preventing it from healing, and a wicked energy was further infiltrating Er Hu''s body, almost making him fall from the sky.


    A pack of fiends wreathed in ck wind was chasing him, led by a Transformation ck bear fiend general. With an ugly face and savage expression, he roared, "Foul brat, you can''t escape! Obediently ept your death!"


    He elerated toward Er Hu, thrusting out a palm.


    Suddenly, Er Hu turned around, a red light in his hands. The ck bear fiend immediately knew he was in trouble and tried to draw back his hand, but his extended arm had already been chopped off in a crimson sh.


    "Awwooo!" The ck bear fiend was both stunned and infuriated, never having expected that this human would still be able to resist after taking his ck Bane Fist. But the ck bear quickly regrew his severed arm.


    Er Hu turned around and kept flying. But after that strike, his injuries had worsened. Inwardly, he groaned that that strike, despite containing thest of his power, had only been able to take the ck bear''s arm. Given how much life force the bear fiend had, it really wasn''t a problem.


    The fiends were catching up, and Er Hu didn''t have the strength to keep running. He inwardly cursed and wondered, Am I going to have to use my trick again?


    At this moment, a voice rang out in his mind.


    "Er Hu."


    Stunned, Er Hu called out, "Master!"


    He hastily looked around, but there was no sign of Tang Jie. He bitterly smiled and said, "So it was an illusion."


    But a momentter, something absurd happened.


    A small fiend among the fiends chasing him suddenly tripped and crashed into the fiend in front of it. Caught off guard, this fiend lost grip of its saber, which flew out of its hand and smacked the head of the ck bear fiend, who staggered. Although this saber hadn''t done any damage, the ck bear was enraged, roaring, "Who was it? Who dares to strike me?"


    But a momentter, the clouds roiled, and bolts of lightning began to bombard the fiends, throwing them into disarray.


    This lightning honestly wasn''t very powerful, but it had eerily appeared without any pulse of spiritual power, and all of the bolts were extremely urate when striking their targets. The ck bear was further enraged, yelling, "Who''s there?"


    But nobody replied.


    Er Hu watched all this in awe, upon which that voice rang out again. "Hurry up and get moving!"


    This voice wasn''t real, seeming more like a feeling, but it brought Er Hu to his senses, and he turned and ran.


    The ck bear wanted to give chase, but other than the lightning, his subordinates had fallen into disarray and were starting to mistakenly attack him, leaving him vexed and unable to catch up. He could only watch as that ursed human escaped, stomping his feet in rage.


    Upon finally escaping, Er Hu was in disbelief. If it was his master who had saved him, why hadn''t he appeared? And why had he used such strange and mild methods?


    As he was thinking, that bizarre feeling engulfed him once more.


    Er Hu blurted out in shock, "Daoxiang Vige!"


    For no explicable reason, Er Hu understood that Tang Jie was in Daoxiang Vige.


    Gritting his teeth, Er Hu turned and flew toward Daoxiang Vige.


    He had chosen to believe in this feeling, believe in the guidance of Fate!


    He ended up flying for several days.


    Finally, Daoxiang Vige appeared in the distance.


    As he flew closer and closer, that sense of familiarity grew stronger and stronger.


    Master was here!


    Master was here!


    Er Hu wanted to cry out in excitement.


    He flew right into the vige,nding on the ground, the directions in his heart guiding him toward Tang Jie''s house.


    And then he saw a tanned, middle-aged man standing in front of a furnace, holding arge hammer and forging a piece of metal. Around the building, several vigers were gawking at him.


    Er Hu ignored the vigers, looking only at the cksmith.


    The man raised his head, revealing an aged but familiar face, and smiled at him. "You''vee."


    "Master!" Er Hu shouted.


    And then he fainted.


    When he woke up, Er Hu found himself lying in bed. That terrifying wound on his chest had been healed so perfectly that not even a scar remained.


    He got up and walked out of the room. Outside, Tang Jie was repairing a broken plow. He turned at the sound of the noise and smiled. "You''re awake. There''s water on the side. You can pour it yourself."


    "Master¡­" Er Hu spat out, looking at Tang Jie''s "aged" face.


    He wanted to ask why Tang Jie looked like this, but he couldn''t bring himself to say it.


    The confident and far-sighted Tang Jie of his memories had been reced by a Tang Jie that forged farming tools. Er Hu found it impossible to imagine or understand.


    Tang Jie continued to busy himself with his work while saying, "You don''t have to look at me so strangely. While I''ve been working in the vige, the vigers will think it odd if I don''t appear a little weathered. But bying over, you''ve essentially exposed me. But it''s fine. Being exposed isn''t that big of a deal."


    Er Hu was startled by what he was hearing. "Master, how long have you been here?"


    "Twenty years," Tang Jie answered without raising his head.


    Twenty years.


    Er Hu was stunned.


    It was no wonder Tang Jie had to take on this appearance.


    But why would he stay in this vige for twenty years? And that sensation of being called out¡­ was that his master''s work?


    He had far too many questions he wanted to ask, yet he couldn''t get any of them out of his mouth.


    As he looked at Tang Jie, he suddenly felt sorrow welling up within him, and his eyes began to tear up.


    He dropped to his knees and bowed.


    He began to weep, "Master, I had such a hard time trying to find you!"


    He had spent eighty years on the battlefield and experienced countless close brushes with death and challenges, sometimes even despairing in the midst of his battles. But each time, he had struggled through and survived, all so that he could see his master again.


    Now that they were meeting each other again, all of his heartache, all of his suffering, all of his disappointment and sorrow, erupted. Er Hu clung onto Tang Jie''s leg and wept.


    Tang Jie sighed and patted Er Hu on the head. "In terms of age, you''re nearly a hundred years old, and in terms of cultivation, you''re already at Spirit Ring, so why do you still act like such a child?"


    Quite a few vigers had gathered around, quietly watching this sight.


    An old man with a dragonhead cane walked out and deeply bowed to Er Hu. "Might I ask if you are Senior Er Hu?"


    Er Hu raised his head and looked at the elder in confusion, lightly nodding.


    The old man immediately grew excited. "My father is Er Shouzi."


    "Er Shouzi?" Er Hu was taken aback.


    He looked at Tang Jie, who nodded to confirm that he already knew. He had lived in the vige for so long that there was no way he wouldn''t understand its ins and outs. It was just that he had never revealed this knowledge.


    Er Hu asked, "Where is your father?"


    The elder replied, "He passed away thirty-some years ago."


    Er Hu was stunned. "When Er Shouzi and I parted ways, he was just a naughty child¡­ but now, eighty years have gone by, and many people have passed away. I''m guessing that there is nobody left here that I know."


    Upon hearing these words, the vigers became sure that this was Er Hu who had left Daoxiang Vige all those years ago, and all of them prostrated.


    Not just to Er Hu, but to Tang Jie as well.


    Although there was no one left in Daoxiang Vige who recognized Tang Jie or Er Hu, their legends had remained, and today, they finally realized that cksmith Tang was actually Immortal Tang.


    That day was an unprecedented day of festivity for Daoxiang Vige.


    Daoxiang Vige celebrated their Immortal Tang who had been "protecting" this vige the whole time.


    Yes, in their view, Tang Jie had remained here to protect them.


    While the vigers celebrated, in the house, Er Hu recounted his eighty years of bloodsoaked life to Tang Jie.


    After separating from Tang Jie, Er Hu set off on his own path of cultivation.


    As the Blood Bane ssic required killing, he couldn''t cultivate it in Fengshan. His only choice was fiend territory.


    Thus, another vicious butcher appeared on the battlefield.


    Er Hu had been on the battlefield all this time. He started by killing the weakest fiends and slowly grew stronger and stronger, until the name of Sanguine de King Er Hu became renowned among the human cultivators.


    Thirty years ago, Er Hu finally broke through into Celestial Heart, and he became stronger and even more valiant in battle. But as he couldn''t achieve this in the appointed time, Er Hu believed that his master had already left. Even so, he did not lose heart and continued to fight on the battlefield.


    As he killed more and more fiends, he began to gain infamy among the fiends, with some fiends even opening bounties on him. As he gradually became a center of attention, he started to find life more difficult.


    This chase had simply been one of many.


    Even without Tang Jie''s help, Er Hu might have survived. This was because he cultivated the Blood Flight Art, which allowed him to flee by consumingrge amounts of his blood energy. But this escape art was too costly, and each time he used it, it would damage his cultivation.


    The reason Er Hu had not been able to reach Celestial Heart within thirty years despite the power of the Blood Bane ssic and all the fiends he had killed was the Blood Flight Art. It was Er Hu''s lifesaver, but it was also the culprit behind his slow progress.


    Hearing this, Tang Jie nodded. "No wonder I found that your blood energy had been severely consumed and your foundations exhausted and damaged when I was treating you. With the current state of your body, without some natural treasure or some supplement rich in blood energy, your progress will stop here for the rest of your life.''


    Er Hu sincerely said, "Er Hu doesn''t care about progress. Er Hu is happy enough to stay at Master''s side."


    Tang Jie smiled. "Silly! If you can''t progress, you won''t get any stronger, so even if you''re at my side, you can''t help me, only burden me."


    Er Hu''s heart froze. "Master, I¡­"


    "That''s why your Master won''t ept this state of affairs." Tang Jie stood up and walked out.


    "Master, where are you going?" Er Hu asked.


    "To get you some natural treasures, of course," Tang Jie casually said.


    "But¡­ natural treasures aren''t easy to find," Er Hu muttered.


    "True. The fiend pellets of fiend kings are easier to get. Just rest here. Your master will be back soon."

 Chapter 718: Child of Fate

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The next morning, Tang Jie returned with a handful of fiend pellets, one of them from a fiend king and the rest from fiend generals. He had also brought back the fiend corpses, which were also highly nutritious.


    Throwing a fiend corpse on the ground, Tang Jie said, "Skin its hide and bleed it. Once you''ve washed it, steam it on a gentle me for six hours. Remember to add in herbs as well."


    The vigers came up and began to prepare the corpse.


    Now that they knew Tang Jie''s identity, his status had changed, and none of them found it weird that he had brought back a fiend corpse.


    Wasn''t it normal for Immortals to hunt fiends?


    Thanks to Er Hu, the vigers of Daoxiang Vige went through a brief fiend meat craze. Fiend meat was packed with so much nutrition that those vigers with somewhat poor constitutions couldn''t endure. That night, many people started to bleed from their noses, forcing Tang Jie to portion out the meat for them.


    Starting from this day, Tang Jie would go out hunting at intervals to bring Er Hu fiend pellets and fiend meat so that he could recover. He also asionally brought back medicines, some from fiend territory and some he had made in Fengshan.


    All this nutrition filled up Er Hu''s hollowed-out body, and his strength began to grow. The Blood Bane ssic was a powerful art that relied on killing, but as it was a Demon Gate art, the excessive ughter could eventually bacsh on the body. Er Hu''s condition was the best example of this, but thanks to Tang Jie, the effects of the bacsh had been neutralized, allowing the power of the art to manifest.


    But Tang Jie wasn''t satisfied. His perfectionist personality didn''t allow for the smallest error, so he continued to search for treasures for Er Hu every few days. Of course, for him, "searching for treasure" meant killing. A fiend pellet cut out from the belly of a great fiend was also a kind of treasure.


    Fiend kings also had a poption limit.


    For each fiend-king-level fiend pellet Tang Jie obtained, another fiend king was felled.


    Moreover, Tang Jie focused his efforts only on the territory of the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor. After all, this guy was on bad terms with him and had been constantly causing him trouble. In his eighty years of traveling, while there had been no big wars, there had been quite a few minor actions, like repeated border skirmishes and various plots and conspiracies. The fiend king rebellion Yiyi had gone through was even apparently connected to the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor. Of course, Yiyi had returned the gesture, sending the Mother Cloudbat puppet into Iron Blood territory to sow some chaos before running off.


    And Tang Jie chose to reap the fiend pellets belonging to Iron Blood.


    In three short months, six Iron Blood fiend kings were in.


    This was no small number.


    The repeated death was akin to a p on the face, but the Iron Blood Emperor couldn''t even find the culprit, which left him utterly enraged. He even suspected that a human Violet Pce cultivator had taken action, or else how could those fiend kings have been in so easily?


    But Feng Wuxiang, Liu Zongchang, and Reverend Seer had all sworn Heavenly Dao Oaths. This sort of action would be breaking their word, which was bound to result in punishment.


    So who could it be?


    A new Violet Pce cultivator?


    But the world would react if someone had attained Violet Pce.


    Once this happened, everyone else would force the neer to swear a Heavenly Dao Oath to not interfere in human-fiend affairs.


    But if it wasn''t a Violet Pce cultivator, he really couldn''t think of anyone who could travel and kill so freely within fiend territory.


    To deal with this fiend king hunter, the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor even personally took action, investigating which city Tang Jie might strike next and lying in wait to ambush him.


    But Tang Jie decided to just head to another city. After all, he could identify whichever city Iron Blood was hiding in and avoid it.


    Through the entanglement of Fate, Tang Jie could clearly see that a bright point of light was linked to him through Karma, and through this Karma, he could see every move Iron Blood made.


    This was the advantage of Fate entanglement.


    The one who entered the Dao of Fate and walked the path of Fate entanglement enjoyed the protection of the Heavenly Dao. As fortune''s favored, they were almost guaranteed to never be ambushed.


    Only someone else proficient in Fate could hide their traces, which was what it meant to hide from the heavens.


    s, although the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor was entangled by Fate, he wasn''t proficient in the Dao of Fate. Unable to hide his traces, he could never trick Tang Jie.


    Thus, for the next two months, Tang Jie hunted down three more fiend kings and got off scot-free with his spoils, almost driving the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor insane.


    If he kept on killing, the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor would end up amander without any officers.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie finally stopped.


    The harvest of nine fiend king pellets was more than enough to restore the blood energy that Er Hu had lost. His strength rapidly rose, all the way to the peak of Spirit Ring, only one step away from the charge at Heart Demon.


    Tang Jie didn''t have Er Hu immediately make the charge, instead having Er Hu meditate and study the Heart Questioning Mantra.


    Demon Gate arts feared Heart Demons the most, and they could easily lead to death.


    The Blood Bane ssic involved vast ughter, and each killing left another lingering resentment. When one made the charge at Heart Demon, these would be vicious demons that woulde to reap one''s life.


    Even though Er Hu had a forthright personality, and killing fiends didn''t go against his Origin Heart, and he also had the Heart Questioning Mantra from Tang Jie, he had killed far too much for it to be that easily dealt with. After all, Er Hu had been killing for eighty years, and so many fiends had died at his hands that it would be difficult to add them all up.


    Perhaps things would be even better if he could give Er Hu the Wisdom Sword, but this was a secret art of Basking Moon that could only be passed on through that one high terrace in the Water Moon Paradise. Anyone who dared to transmit it through any other method would be a traitor to the sect. Thus, Tang Jie could only patiently wear away at the murderous intent in Er Hu''s mind.


    What had once been the power that supported Er Hu now became the greatest obstacle to his progression.


    Another ten years passed.


    The farming tools and other inventions had spread from Fengshan into fiend territory.


    More and more Fates became entangled with Tang Jie, and the binding power on him grew.


    In this process, Tang Jie gained an even clearer understanding of his surroundings, and a voice rang out in his subconscious, telling him that this was the correct path.


    That guidance of Fate had finally appeared.


    But the long-wary Tang Jie rejected this guidance.


    He didn''t believe nor trust in it.


    He was only letting himself be entangled so that he could one day break free.


    Only by obeying could one defy.


    Obeying wasn''t the goal, nor was defying. The goal was to not be bound and to walk one''s own path!


    Ten years of meditation had greatly calmed Er Hu''s mind.


    Those bitter ughters had put his nerves on edge, and he would often wake up in the middle of the night, swinging around his saber in a murderous state. Tang Jie would then intervene, and that omnipresent murderous intent that had soared toward the heavens would silently disappear.


    It was only at those moments that Er Hu felt a little peace.


    After ten years, Er Hu possessed a more profound cultivation and greater strength, and his mind had also beenpletely pacified. He joined the vigers in working the fields and drinking alcohol, joined the children in ying with kites, and he joined his master in working the bellows and forging metal, allowing his face to age.


    He was no longer the infamous Sanguine de King, only an ordinary viger of Daoxiang Vige.


    The vigers initially treated him as a god, with the utmost respect, but as time went on, they found that he talked and smiled like any other person, so they opened up and treated him as a friend, just as they used to.


    All that majesty and awe was ground away.


    Finally, Er Hu began his charge at Heart Demon, with Tang Jie personally attending to him.


    Seated cross-legged on the ground, Er Hu began to silently circte his mantra, and everything Tang Jie had experienced before began to y out again with Er Hu.


    Countless thoughts emerged in Er Hu''s mind¡ªmemories from the distant past.


    Er Hu''s recollections were mostly of killing, full of blood and wailing.


    All of these turned into Heart Demons and attacked, and Er Hu found it hard to defend himself.


    Even though Tang Jie had prepared so many things for him, even buying the most famous heart-calming medicines for the charge at Heart Demon at a high price, Er Hu''s Heart Demons were too strong and fierce, ten times stronger than what Tang Jie had to deal with. As they charged, Er Hu threw up mouthful after mouthful of blood, his eyes zing over with a dark purple light. This was a sign that the Heart Demons were infiltrating his soul and turning him into a demon.


    The Demon Gate was so called precisely because it was so easy to turn into a demon when one cultivated their arts to the apex.


    Once one entered the demonic path, one''s evil nature would grow immensely, and a person would no longer operate ording tomon sense. This was why cultivators had always despised Demon Gate members, considering Demon Gate cultivators the same as demons. In truth, there had originally been differences, but because humans had excluded them, demon cultivators ultimately chose to mix with demons and form their own race.


    The deep purple demonic energy in Er Hu''s eyes told Tang Jie that Er Hu was reaching his limit.


    Sighing, he said, "Oh well, perhaps this is also the work of Fate. The heavens had me meet you and pass onto you the Blood Bane ssic, causing you to throw yourself into killing, and then it had me entangle myself in Fate and meet you again right when I was about to break out. Ten years of Heart Questioning couldn''t grind away your Demon Will, so only the protection of the Heavenly Dao can ensure your safety. Today, I will pass on my thirty years of virtue to you, letting you be entangled by Fate in my ce, protected by the Heavenly Dao. From now on, you are the Child of Fate. Whether this is a blessing or a curse all depends on you."


    Tang Jie waved his hand like he was brushing off dust, and in another space, the threads of Karma began to fall from his body and onto Er Hu.


    Threads of Karma weren''t easy to remove, and thirty years'' worth of umted spider webs was hard for even Tang Jie to break out of. But what if they weren''t directly bound to Tang Jie? This made things different.


    It was like he had stretched out his arms before being bound up. No matter how tight the ropes were, so long as he took back his arms, the ropes would fall to the ground.


    Tang Jie had been entangled by Fate, but in reality, his body wasn''t actually entangled.


    He had been running a test from the very start. As he had no ns on going down this path, he had taken precautions from the beginning.


    Around him were the vigers of Daoxiang.


    The vigers were his outstretched arms, taking on the threads of Fate for him¡ªthey had been the ones to sell the farming tools, so the influence had actually been achieved through them rather than Tang Jie.


    So when Tang Jie didn''t need these threads of Fate anymore, he just needed to draw back his arm to break free.


    He then collected the free threads of Fate and attached them to Er Hu''s body.


    On the Web of Fate, one point of light disappeared, and a new one took its ce.


    Er Hu stopped shaking.


    The deep purple in his eyes began to fade. While it roiled and churned in his eyes, this was only itsst struggle.


    Gradually, his eyes cleared.


    The wailing and shouting disappeared from his ears, and his eyes began to glow golden, indicating a nascent Divine Soul.


    He had achieved the Heart Demon Tier!


    Raising his head to look at Tang Jie, Er Hu prostrated and said, "Master, thank you for this new lease on life!"


    The moment his Fate became entangled, he knew what had happened. While Fate entanglement was a shackle for Tang Jie, for Er Hu, it was a blessing that hade down from the heavens!


    "Rise," Tang Jie indifferently said. "This is your Fate."


    "My Fate is Master''s Fate!" Er Hu firmly said.


    At this moment, a tremor shook the Web of Fate.


    A vast and majestic will unleashed a furious roar:


    "TRAITOR!"


    Every intelligent lifeform in the Verdant Cloud Domain heard this roar as if it had been shouted straight into their ears.


    At this moment, in the secret chambers of Aurora, Iron Blood, ckwater, Silver Eyes, and Thunder de, a powerful energy erupted into the sky from the dark and bottomless caves in each of them, the five pirs of energy resonating with each other and transforming into an Azure Dragon.

 Chapter 719: Demon Cave

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    "Big Brother!" Yiyi''s panicked voice rang out in Tang Jie''s mind. "There''s a problem!"


    Looking up at the sky, Tang Jie replied, "I see it."


    That Azure Dragon phantom was coiled up in the sky, hanging over fiend territory like the sun, spanning all five fiend empires and visible to all.


    Each pir of energy was obvious to see, and one of them was clearlying from the direction of the Silver Eyes Imperial Pce.


    If this weren''t enough, his avatar was giving him a close-up view of everything going on in the Thunder de Fiend Emperor''s secret chamber.


    Those energy pirs wereing out of the demon caves.


    Five pirs of energy, one for each fiend empire. Even an idiot could guess at what was going on.


    It was clear that when the fiends discovered these demon caves, they realized the mysterious nature of the caves, so the five Fiend Emperors chose to found their empires around them.


    For all these years, no one had been able to find the secret of the demon caves. Instead, it was the demon caves that erupted with activity first.


    Recalling that furious cry of "Traitor" and then looking up at that Azure Dragon phantom in the sky, Tang Jie wondered, Could all of this be connected?


    Had his actions been the trigger for these developments?


    As he was thinking, those five pirs of energy began to withdraw, and the Azure Dragon phantom began to fade away.


    Yiyi''s voice rang out in his mind. "Big Brother, the energy pir''s going back."


    "Has anything changed?" Tang Jie asked.


    "The pressure from the demon cave has disappeared," Yiyi replied.


    At the same time, in Thunder de''s secret chamber, the avatar stood next to the demon cave. It also confirmed that the immense pressure radiating from the cave had disappeared. While there were still wisps of Yin energy, they posed no major problem.


    The five Fiend Emperors had once gone to great lengths in an effort to suppress the demon caves and plumb their depths, never expecting that the pressure would one day disappear on its own.


    This meant that the demon caves could now be explored.


    "Big Brother!" Yiyi''s voice came over again, this time brimming with anticipation.


    "Wait there for me. I''ll be back soon," Tang Jie replied.


    As he spoke, he began to transform.


    In his thirty years of life as a cksmith, he had aged, his hair turning white, his face wrinkly, and his back hunched.


    But now, as he straightened his back, his hair turned ck and the wrinkles were smoothed out until nothing remained, revealing a young and vibrant face. At the same time, his body began to exude a formless pressure.


    He turned to look back, and Er Hu, who had just advanced to Heart Demon, mentally trembled, a feeling of helplessness engulfing him, as if Tang Jie needed only a nce to crush him. He couldn''t help but cry out, "Master!"


    His entire body was caked in sweat!


    He couldn''t understand how the difference of a single tier would be so vast.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, sending a stream of gentle energy into his heart, and the pressure vanished.


    He then said, "It''s time to leave."


    Reluctantly looking over at the vige, Tang Jie said, "I have made my house here for thirty years, and this destiny has run its course, so it is time to leave. I will leave this house behind in memory of this period."


    With a wave of his sleeve, he swept up Er Hu and left.


    The vigers down below were already stunned by the appearance of the Azure Dragon. Tang Jie''s transformation and deration made them realize that Tang Jie was about to leave, and they prostrated and shouted, "Farewell, Venerable Immortal!"


    After Tang Jie left, the vigers, grateful for his kindness, preserved his house and treated it as a shrine, burning incense and offering prayers there in order to express their thanks.


    Several yearster, a fiend would enter the area, hunting for food, upon which a sword would fly out of the house and cut off the fiend''s head, killing it on the spot.


    The vigers only then would know that Tang Jie had left them a guardian treasure, which would cause them to treat the house with even greater piety. As time went on, the ce would be a revered holy site.


    Tang Jie flew with Er Hu toward the Inkcloud Abyss, where there was a teleportation formation leading to the imperial pce.


    All three Fiend Emperors were bound to have sensed this phenomenon and were definitely going to mobilize. Tang Jie was always going to be slower because he wasn''t on the scene, so he could only try his best to get back as soon as possible.


    Fortunately, there were no problems on the avatar''s side.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Thunder de''s secret chamber.


    Standing at the entrance to the cave, Tang Jie''s avatar said, "The evil wind is gone and the pressure has dissipated, so now is the moment to explore the demon cave. I will go to take a look myself¡­"


    "Your Majesty, be careful. This ce is very strange," Elder Wind nervously said.


    The avatar smiled. "You''re still worried about my injuries? In truth, I''ve basically recovered. I was keeping my aura weak on purpose to draw out any hidden scoundrels."


    As he spoke, an enormous aura began to rise from his body, filling the entire chamber.


    Elder Wind hastily bowed. "Your Majesty, congrattions on the recovery of your draconic body."


    A very subtle flush of red swept across Tang Jie''s face for a moment.


    Ten years ago, Tang Jie had finally broken through into Soul Transformation.


    Although he still wasn''t at the cultivation level of the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, if he unleashed his power, he could mimic the Thunder de Fiend Emperor''s majesty for a time. But this put a great burden on him, and he almost copsed. Fortunately, he rapidly took back his energy, and Elder Wind treated his sudden weakness as him continuing to act weak.


    But Elder Wind cautioned, "The cave is unfathomable, so even Your Majesty must be careful. Why not call a few fiend kings to go with you? It will be safer."


    After some thought, Tang Jie agreed. There was no telling what dangersy within, so he could bring a few fiend kings and have them led the way for him. Even the mighty He Changan had needed fodder to lead the way, and there was no harm with being careful.


    Elder Wind sent a message, quickly gathering four fiend kings and sixteen fiend generals, who joined Elder Wind and Tang Jie in entering the cave.


    Simr scenes were ying out in the other empires.


    The ckwater Fiend Emperor was bringing five fiend kings and neen fiend generals, and the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor was bringing four fiend kings and twenty-two fiend generals.


    In terms ofbined strength including subordinates, Iron Blood was a little stronger than ckwater, but thanks to Tang Jie, he had lost nine fiend kings in a row, so he didn''t have many subordinates he could call upon. After all, for such a risky endeavor, he could only bring fiend kings that he absolutely trusted.


    The Aurora Fiend Empire.


    The Aurora Fiend Emperor stood on a raised tform. On top of his head was a crown adorned with Rainbow Phoenix Feathers, and his robe glowed with the light of sunset. Around his waist was a White Python Jade Belt, and he wore Incense Step Cloud Boots on his feet. He was also holding a mirror divided into Yin and Yang sides, which he spun around in his hands.


    Two people stood behind him: a handsome young man in simple attire and with a long sword at his waist, and a gorgeous woman in colorful robes. This woman was none other than Aurora''s daughter and the queen of the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor, Lan Ling.


    This queen had finally grown sick of Tang Jie''s mistreatment and returned to her father''s side. Tang Jie learned of this news on his travels, to which he simply said, "Understood."


    Behind these three stood twelve fiend kings.


    Beneath the tform were a thousand fiend guards in sky-blue armor¡ªthe Millepluma Guard.


    They were fiends who had been personally selected by the Aurora Fiend Emperor and were utterly devoted to him. He had given each of them one of his one thousand feathers, and by absorbing the essence of a Divine Division fiend within these feathers, they were able to achieve Transformation. But as a price for this rapid advancement, they would be able to go no higher. The Aurora Fiend Emperor had also been greatly weakened by this act, slowing down his cultivation progress.


    But a force of one thousand initial-phase Transformation fiends was an immense power that could intimidate any Fiend Emperor. They were a part of the Aurora Fiend Emperor''s strength, and with him, they formed the peak faction of the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    In addition, twenty-eight fiend generals stood in front of the one thousand fiend soldiers.


    The 28 Star Generals.


    These 28 fiend generals of Aurora were also known as the 28 Constetions. They were individually powerful, but they were also proficient in abination formation that could hold down three to five fiend kings. They were also themanders of the Millepluma Guard.


    As the number one expert of the Verdant Cloud Domain, the Aurora Fiend Emperor possessed far more power than his peers.


    With a wave of his hand, the fiend soldiers began to march into the demon cave.


    Lan Ling asked, "Father, it''s just an exploration. Do you need to send in so many fiend guards?"


    "''Exploration''¡­" The Aurora Fiend Emperor chuckled and said in a raspy voice, "Perhaps the others still need to test the waters, but I don''t."


    Lan Ling was startled. "Father, do you know what''s down there?"


    The Aurora Fiend Emperor replied, "A thousand years ago, I found this demon cave. At the time, I was cultivating a spirit-seeing art, allowing me to trace this energy, and I found four other demon caves. Since then, I have always been probing the mysteries of this demon cave. I found that these five demon caves gather five energies and are distributed across five corners of the Verdant Cloud Domain, all of them resonating with each other. This is clearly a formation, a formation that covers the entire Verdant Cloud Domain!"


    A formation covering the entire Verdant Cloud Domain?


    Lan Ling gasped.


    This was a massive undertaking!


    Lan Ling asked, "Father, what''s the purpose of this formation?"


    The Aurora Fiend Emperor shook his head. "I''m not sure, nor do I dare to make any presumptions. If this is a formation, then the secret within is no minor matter. And based on my observations, the five demon caves might lead to the same ce."


    Lan Ling now understood why the Aurora Fiend Emperor had sent in all of the Millepluma Guard. It was because he knew that he would probably run into the other Fiend Emperors.


    "What ce is it?" Lan Ling asked.


    Again, her father shook his head. "I do not know, but based on some telltale hints from the formation, I suspect that some powerful existence is sealed there."


    Sealing a powerful existence?


    What sort of existence would require such a massive formation?


    Lan Ling was stunned.


    A fire burned in the Aurora Fiend Emperor''s eyes. "Although these are only spections, they shouldn''t be far from the truth. s, even though I discovered this secret, these five demon caves are too far apart, and some of them had even been in human territory at the time, so I couldn''t upy them all. All I could do was strengthen the fiend race and suppress the humans, even deceiving their three Violet Pce cultivators into swearing a Heavenly Dao Oath. Finally, I distributed the remaining four demon caves to the other Fiend Emperors."


    Lan Ling suddenly understood why her father had worked so hard to unite the fiends, even sacrificing his own cultivation to raise the Millepluma Guard. All of this was to take the demon caves from the humans. Without the interference of Violet Pce cultivators, the Millepluma Guard was a terrifying force on the battlefield, swiftly routing the humans. One could say that humanity''s defeat couldrgely be attributed to the Millepluma Guard.


    After upying the five demon caves, Aurora became much less aggressive. After all, humanity still had its three Violet Pce cultivators, and he didn''t want to push them too far. At the same time, he also needed to take precautions against the other fiends. So he divided up the demon caves among the Fiend Emperors. While this seemed generous, he was actually using them to guard the secret of the demon caves, sowing discord among them so that they wouldn''t work together to explore the caves, and ensuring that they wouldn''t figure out that the caves were connected.


    And in these years, the Five Fiend Emperors had trusted each other so little that the other Fiend Emperors didn''t even know that their peers each had their own demon cave, let alone that the caves were linked.


    Thus, while the other Fiend Emperors were still exploring, Aurora was boldly marching, preparing for all-out battle. No matter what was down there, the Aurora Fiend Emperor had been waiting for a thousand years. He refused to give this opportunity to anyone else.


    "Once we''re inside, anyone who tries to fight with me for this opportunity is my enemy, including Silver Eyes. Ling''er, you have to prepare yourself."


    Lan Ling ruthlessly said, "While I''m nominally his wife, we''ve long ago be strangers to each other. If you run into him, you may kill him as you please."


    In the Inkcloud Abyss, Tang Jie shivered for some reason.


    "Big Brother, are you there yet? I''ve been waiting for ages," Yiyi urgently called out. Behind her were Lin Xin and five fiend kings, ready to move out.


    "There''s no need to worry. Just wait a little longer," Tang Jie replied, casting his gaze into the distance.

 Chapter 720: Shadow Creatures

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    As Tang Jie stepped into the cave, he was buffeted by a cold and sinister wind.


    The ground beneath his feet was ice-cold.


    Looking around, he saw that this was a cold and dark passage that led into an unfathomable darkness.


    But the walls of the passage gleamed with lines of light.


    Formation lines!


    Tang Jie narrowed his eyes.


    As expected, it was arge formation, though he still didn''t know what type it was. From the scene before, he could ascertain that there were five ces like this, spread across the Verdant Cloud Domain. Could this be a formation that covered more than half the domain?


    Tang Jie was stunned by this, but this didn''t stop him from ordering a fiend general to lead the way deeper into the depths.


    The passage was very long and spiraled downward. On the way, Tang Jie saw shing formation lines everywhere, theplexity causing him to sigh in wonder. The most incredible thing was that the demon cave was still working after all these years. From this, he could deduce that the one who hadid down this formation was some peerless Titan, but he still didn''t know why they had done it. However, as he was exploring, he started to get some ideas.


    Those fiend kings and generals realized the same as him, clicking their tongues in praise and specting as to which Titan of High Antiquity had left this formation behind.


    Some of them even began to imagine treasures they might find at the heart of the formation.


    As they were walking along, a dark figure suddenly shot toward them.


    The fiend general leading the way was fast with his hands, sending out a st of wind that struck the dark figure, which shrieked and dissipated in the wind.


    The fiend general carefully examined the remains and smiled. "It was just a shadow spirit."


    Everyone sighed in relief.


    ces thick with Yin energy would generate existences called shadow spirits. Shadow spirits had no mind and acted purely on instinct, so there was nothing to be afraid of. This kind of monster had the easiest timeing into existence.


    This was how the Shadow Domain hade to be. That ce had originally been a domain of the Great Ster Chiliocosm with high concentrations of Yin energy, and there were countless shadow creatures within it.


    But other than the Shadow Domain, shadow spirits could also be born in other ces of Yin energy.


    This passage was thick with Yin energy, so it wasn''t strange for shadow spirits to be born here. Thus, everyone didn''t mind and continued forward.


    But the more they advanced, the more shadow spirits appeared, the asional one or two turning intorge groups.


    "How are there so many shadow spirits? Does this passage lead to the Shadow Domain?" a fiend generalined as he slew shadow spirits.


    "No matter how manye, they''re just going to die," another fiend general replied.


    These were the most basic of shadow creatures and posed no threat at all, so while everyoneined, they weren''t afraid.


    "Don''t get careless," Elder Wind barked.


    Although this old fiend was a servant, he was somewhat stronger than the average fiend king. With a push of his hand, he unleashed a vortex that shredded all the iing shadow spirits. These shadow spirits were congregations of Yin energy, and once killed, they turned into dark winds that sent chills through everyone''s bodies. Tang Jie unexpectedly felt his skin going numb.


    He slightly frowned, feeling like something was wrong, but he couldn''t tell what it was.


    As he followed the fiends, more and more shadow spirits appeared, and as they were killed by the fiends, the winds kept blowing. It was almost like when the Yin energy had yet to dissipate from the demon cave.


    Like when the Yin energy hadn''t dissipated?


    Tang Jie shouted, "Wait!"


    All the fiends looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie looked around at the shing points of light and formation lines in the passages.


    These formation lines were the foundation for this vast formation, and they were currently shing. With every sh, shadow spirits would rush over. Tang Jie said in realization, "These shadow spirits must be the sinister wind that had been sting out of the demon cave. No wonder those winds all disappeared. They had been turned into shadow spirits."


    "All the winds were turned into spirits? Doesn''t that mean that they aren''t natural, but created through that phenomenon?"


    "No wonder there are so many shadow spirits. But what''s in the cave that turns the chilling winds into spirits?"


    "It''s probably connected to the formation. Gathering Yin energy and turning them into shadow spirits, what''s the use of this formation?"


    The fiends all discussed this topic.


    Tang Jie heard a howl of wind and scowled. "Watch out!"


    As he shouted, a giant tornado came sweeping over. This tornado had eyes, ears, a nose, and a mouth, forming into a savage face that shrieked at the fiends. A fiend general was struck by the tornado, unexpectedly finding himself unable to chop through it. Instead, he was swept up by this shadow creature and thrown into the air.


    "A doom shadow! Damn it!" the fiend general screamed.


    A doom shadow was a shadow creature born from a concentration of extreme Yin doom energy. It was much stronger than a shadow spirit and had a cruel and savage nature.


    The doom shadow howled over to the rest of the fiends.


    The fiend generals attacked as one, various colors of energy sting the doom shadow into nothing.


    But since there had been one doom shadow, there was bound to be more, and the fiends could no longer be as rxed as before.


    Sure enough, more doom shadows began to appear among the shadow spirits.


    These savage creatures would lunge at the group the moment they appeared, and there seemed to be no end to them. Moreover, the number of shadow spirits began to dwindle, until eventually, it was almost all doom shadows lunging at them.


    Although these doom shadows were still no match for the fiend generals, they were having such a hard time now that even some of the fiend kings had to start helping out. Only Tang Jie remained indifferent¡ªif he didn''t, he would expose himself the moment he intervened.


    As they continued, the situation grew increasingly dangerous.


    A frigid storm crashed through, and even the fiend generalsbined couldn''t stop it. In the end, the four fiend kings working together just barely managed to stop this icy gale.


    "Damn it, it''s a shadow terminator!" a fiend king shouted.


    Shadow terminators were an even higher level of shadow spirit, their strength only a little weaker than that of a fiend king.


    If more shadow terminators appeared, the fight would be impossible.


    At this moment, everyone looked toward Tang Jie.


    At this moment, only the Fiend Emperor could settle things.


    But Tang Jie didn''t dare to take action, mentally groaning while his face remained unmoved.


    The shadow terminator was killed by thebined might of the fiend kings and fiend generals, turning back into a chilling wind. It was even colder than before, dropping the temperature of the passage significantly.


    However, while so many shadow spirits had died, the amount of wind in the passage remained about the same.


    Realizing this, Tang Jie shouted, "I get it! This formation can reform the dissipated shadow spirits, and with each reformation, it creates stronger and stronger existences."


    The first time, the winds produced shadow spirits. At that time, there were no doom shadows in the passage. But as they killed the shadow spirits, the formation started to produce doom shadows, and the same was true for shadow terminators.


    In this cave, the shadow spirits formed an endless cycle with the chilling winds. No matter how powerful one was, one would still find it hard to push through with force. It was just like the Reaping Wind Snakes from the Water Moon Paradise, but even more terrifying, for the Dao of ughter could not interrupt this conversion.


    "Let''s try this to find out!" Tang Jie clenched his teeth and unleashed a barrier brimming with lightning. In these years ying the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, he had moved to both increase his strength and also learn the various arts and techniques left behind by the Thunder de Fiend Emperor. The Thunder Barrier was one of the Thunder de Fiend Emperor''s ssic spell arts, so he had long ago familiarized himself with it. The only problem was that he still couldn''t cast the barrier instantly like the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, so he could only stand at the very back and keep his hands behind his back, casting the art in secret. The moment he finished speaking coincided with thepletion of the spell art, everything perfectly timed.


    The fiends were unaware of this, but when they saw Tang Jie put up his barrier, they threw aside any suspicions they might have had and put up their own barriers.


    Another shadow terminator rushed over. The four fiend kings looked over, and they struck, but rather than killing it, they sealed it. A giant cage appeared in the air, locking up the shadow terminator.


    Everyone pushed through with their barriers up. When they ran into doom shadows, they sealed the ones that they could and just pushed through while enduring the attacks of those that they couldn''t.


    Sure enough, as they charged through, they encountered fewer doom shadows, and no more shadow terminators. While there was a pack of doom shadows pursuing them, at least they weren''t as threatening.


    The fiend kings took turns creating obstructions to stop the pursuit of the shadow creatures, and the situation finally began to improve.


    After running like this for an entire day, they finally saw a light at the end of the passage.


    "Shit, we''re finally at the end," a fiend general said with a long exhale. "This passage is like a set of intestines¡ªlong, twisting, and stinking something terrible, worse than the worst farts I''ve smelled." Everyone found his description very appropriate, andughed.


    But Tang Jie knew that if this formation covered the entire Verdant Cloud Domain, then it wasn''t strange at all for the passage to be so long that it took an entire day to run through.


    The exit was right in front of them, and as they walked up to it and looked at the sight beyond it, they all gasped in wonder.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The three Fiend Emperors had run into the same problem as Tang Jie''s group.


    While they had also ultimately noticed the rtionship between the wind and the shadow spirits, they were a little slower than Tang Jie.


    The ckwater Fiend Emperor''s group had finally noticed the root of the problem after a little less than half of the wind had been turned into shadow terminators, by which point they had lost three fiend generals.


    The Iron Blood Fiend Emperor was even worse, realizing only when more than half had been turned into shadow terminators, so he lost five fiend generals.


    The Aurora Fiend Emperor had actually realized the earliest of the three, but as he had brought the strongest force which killed the fastest, things became a problem much more quickly, and he had much less time to think.


    In his passage, the Aurora Fiend Emperor was battling a massive dark and sinister figure.


    This dark figure shifted erratically between solid and ethereal, releasing freezing waves of energy from its hand that forced the Aurora Fiend Emperor back, his body shing with rainbow light.


    There were no shadow terminators or doom shadows, only this single creature.


    An Archshadow!


    Archshadows were the highest level of shadow spirits, their strength on par with Divine Division fiends and their status akin to emperors.


    It was formed from all the Yin energy in the passage, so the moment the Archshadow appeared, no more shadow creatures would appear. But a single Archshadow was more troublesome than all the other shadow creaturesbined.


    The moment it appeared, it killed forty-some Millepluma Guards.


    Even though the Millepluma Guards were strong and proficient inbined tactics, rumored to even be able to kill a Fiend Emperor if they worked together, this passage was no ce to exploit a numbers advantage, and the Archshadow was able to inflict heavy losses. If the Aurora Fiend Emperor hadn''te in time, the Millepluma Guard would have suffered even greater losses.


    In the face of this terrifying shadow creature, the fiends didn''t dare to linger, running as fast as they could while the Aurora Fiend Emperor held it off. Against this unkible menace, the Aurora Fiend Emperor was on the verge of throwing up blood.


    Fortunately, he managed tost until the exit and rushed out. When he turned to look at the Archshadow, he found that it seemed to be afraid, shrieking as it floated around the exit, not daring to go out.


    The Aurora Fiend Emperorughed and turned to leave. As he had expected, this shadow creature didn''t dare to leave the passage.


    He couldn''t have expected that not long after he left, the Archshadow stopped floating about.


    Seemingly having made up its mind, it floated out of the passage.


    The light beyond the passage spilled onto its body like sunbeams on snow, causing it to hiss. But the Archshadow didn''t move, enduring the light. After a while, it seemed to have adapted to the light. Its body shuddered, and then all the light that fell on its body was devoured by it, as if it had be a ck hole.


    "Keee!"


    Letting out a delighted cry, it flew off.


    The memories buried deep within it told it that there was a new passage with newpanions in that direction.


    The Silver Eyes Imperial Pce.


    With a silver ripple, Tang Jie finally appeared.


    Yiyi rushed over and grumbled, "Why are you only here now? You''rete by an entire day."


    "Beingte has its advantages," Tang Jie replied with a smile. "At the very least, we''ll have an easier journey. Rx. We''ll catch up to them."

 Chapter 721: Essence of Maternal Waters

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    It was a vast underground space.


    The rock ceiling was more than a hundred thousand feet from the floor, and it was impossible to see the end of the space. All around were clouds of yellow dust.


    In the distance was a fiery pir of immense size that soared upward. It was like a torch, lighting up what should have been a world of darkness.


    Nobody had ever imagined that such a grandiose world would be under the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    The fiends couldn''t help but sigh in wonder at the sight.


    "Your Majesty, where should we go now?" a fiend general asked.


    Tang Jie''s eyes fell on that pir of fire. "This structure clearly isn''t natural. Let''s go over and see if we can find anything out."


    Tang Jie threw out an item which expanded into a giant warship, none other than the Pavilion Warship.


    Tang Jie blinked over to the warship''s control position and sat down. Finally, he could catch his breath.


    It wasn''t that having the warship around made him rxed. Rather, he could use the excuse of steering the warship to not intervene.


    Although he had yet to see any danger, Tang Jie sensed that the path ahead was not going to be smooth.


    The fiend kings and generals boarded the warship, which majestically flew off toward the pir.


    While the pir of fire seemed close, it was actually extremely far away, and flying over to it took the better half of the day.


    As they approached the pir of fire, they began to hear a rumbling sound.


    Everyone turned to look toward the sound.


    A nearby mountain had started to move.


    Arge face appeared on the mountain, and then it blinked its eyes, sending rocks cascading to the ground. Finally, the mountain stood up, bing a towering giant that swatted a hand at the warship.


    The massive hand was like a moving mountain, and even Tang Jie wasn''t willing to take this blow directly, so he moved the ship to evade.


    The mountain giant threw out a punch.


    "Fuck, you think you''re impressive just because you''re big?" a fiend general roared, ready to jump out of the ship and fight with the giant.


    But Tang Jie said, "Let me."


    While steering the warship to evade the giant''s attacks, he had the ship''s eighteen heavy lightning cannons turn around and begin barraging the mountain giant.


    The lightning cannons were so powerful that even a Fiend Emperor couldn''t ignore them. While the mountain giant was huge and intimidating, in the end, it was essentially just a stone monster, its body far inferior to that of a Fiend Emperor. At best, its skin and flesh were a little sturdier.


    The warship''s cannons sent countless bolts of lightning mming into the giant. Chunks of rock were sted off, and lightning traveled through the giant''s body, scorching it ck.


    The fiends on the ship also used this opportunity to unleash various spell arts.


    Even a mountain would be ttened by such an offensive, let alone a small-mountain-turned-stone-monster that wasn''t even a hundred meters tall. The mountain giant crazily roared, but it ultimately copsed under the terrifying assault, turning into a pile of rubble.


    Everyone sighed in relief.


    A crow fiend general exhaled and said, "Killing one won''t cause more of them toe out, right?"


    But the moment he spoke, the mountains in the distance began to rise up, turning into mountain giants that lumbered toward the ship.


    While they weren''t fast, their strides wererge, each step triggering an earthquake.


    The crow fiend was dumbfounded, and a fiend king on the side cursed, "You and your crow mouth!"


    (TN: "Crow mouth" is used to insult someone who is too talkative and says something inauspicious.)


    The crow fiend grumbled, "But I''m a crow."


    "How could there be so many monsters?" Elder Wind questioned.


    Monsters were the rarest kind of creature in the world.


    Tang Jie had been through several domains, and while he had encountered countless fiends, sprites, and ghosts, he had only run into a few monsters.


    Who could have known that the bowels of the Verdant Cloud Domain would have so manyrge stone monsters?


    So many mountain giants gathered together was a strange enough sight to amaze even an Immortal tform Titan who had traveled a thousand domains, so how could the fiends not be stunned?


    But while they were shocked, there was still work that needed to be done.


    The mountain giants blocked their path to the fire pir, so whether they wanted to or not, they needed to fight this battle, and Tang Jie could only charge ahead.


    As the warship shot forward like an arrow, a giant charged into its path.


    If the giants were waves, the warship was a fish trying to swim through using its agility and speed.


    It swam gracefully through the waves, constantly firing off balls of lightning, which would brilliantly explode on the bodies of the giants.


    But the giants continued to charge in. They were like countless body refiner Tang Jies, but even more reckless and crazy, fearing no death or pain.


    Hundreds of arms swung through the air, forming a vast.


    Even the warship steered by Tang Jie couldn''t evade the swats of so many arms, and with a bang, a hand pped against the warship.


    The warship was sent flying like a ball, its barrier letting off an intense sh.


    Through strenuous effort, Tang Jie barely managed to stabilize the ship, but then another palm sent the ship flying again, making Tang Jie want to almost throw up blood in frustration.


    The warship navigating these countless mountain giants was like a butterfly trying to fly through the rain. No matter how it pped its wings, it would inevitably be struck by raindrops. But if they wanted to reach their destination, they just had to keep going.


    They could only rely on the ship''s defenses and the power of the fiends on board.


    But Tang Jie''s real concern was that if this continued, he would be forced to intervene.


    While the mountain giants were powerful, they were greatlyckingpared to a Fiend Emperor.


    If the Thunder de Fiend Emperor himself were here, he could have used a Thundershatter Saber to cut a way through.


    But Tang Jie didn''t have the Thunder de Fiend Emperor''s ability. He had the Heaven Thunder Saber, and he had practiced the Thundershatter Saber Art, but he was far from reaching the level of the real thing. If he took action, he would essentially expose himself.


    The situation grew more and more troublesome. Suddenly, Tang Jie hardened his resolve and stopped firing the cannons.


    The fiends looked at Tang Jie in confusion.


    Tang Jie said, "There''s no reason for there to be so many stone monsters. This definitely can''t be natural, so it''s probably rted to the formation. I''m worried that these stone monsters are like the shadow creatures, getting stronger the more you kill."


    As he spoke, there was a roar as a mountain giant more than three thousand feet tall rose up in the distance, much taller than the previous giants.


    The fiends tensed at the sight of this giant, while Tang Jie rxed.


    It went without saying that he had guessed right.


    Just like the shadow creatures, the mountain giants could constantly be reborn and get stronger and stronger in the process. Fighting with them would result in nothing good, so Tang Jie and the fiends chose to ignore them and try to push through with the warship.


    Thankfully, the warship lived up to its reputation as a divine object crafted by the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, managing to hold out against the pursuit of so many mountain giants.


    Once they got through that wide open area, the mountain giants really did stop chasing them.


    The fiends said in delight, "As expected, Your Majesty was able to find the solution to this trial."


    Elder Wind looked at the jungle before them and said, "Given what we''ve been through, this jungle is probably going to have the same dangers that only get stronger as we kill more of them."


    "It''s fine. Now that we''ve found the solution, oveing this trial won''t be difficult," the fiendsmented.


    The passage and mountain area had both featured monsters that started weak and grew stronger. So long as they weren''t killed, they could just endure through the attacks.


    But Tang Jie felt an unease, like things wouldn''t be that simple.


    Elder Wind saw the look on his face and asked, "Your Majesty, is there a problem?"


    After thinking for a bit, Tang Jie replied, "This ce¡­ has no formation lines."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Tang Jie''s original body was still working his way through the passage, followed by Yiyi, Lin Xin, Er Hu, Elders Ice and Fire, six fiend kings, and a group of fiend generals.


    With the lesson from the other passage, he was able to apply the correct strategy to the Silver Eyes passage, sealing off any shadow spirits they ran into, so they ran into no dangers or surprises.


    But as he was going along, Tang Jie suddenly stopped.


    "Big Brother, what''s wrong?" Yiyi asked.


    Tang Jie didn''t reply, simply staring ahead.


    Because of his avatar, Tang Jie was essentially looking at these formation lines for the second time. Thanks to the Dao of Wisdom, he had extremely good memory. With each additional formation line and node, Tang Jie was able to simte countless things and divine the significance of all these things.


    Tang Jie was using this method to analyze this formation.


    The avatar hadn''t been able toplete the job, but the original body was finally making some headway.


    The fiends gawked at him in confusion.


    A shadow spirit drifted over.


    Just when the fiends were about to seal it, Tang Jie suddenly grabbed the shadow spirit and carefully examined it. Raising it up to the air, he pressed it against a formation line.


    The shadow spirit let out a painful hiss as it melted away, leaving behind not even the faintest gust of wind. In the end, the shadow spirit disappeared entirely, leaving behind only a translucent drop of water.


    This drop of water had a little face, as well as hands and feet. The moment it appeared, this little guy flew toward the wall.


    Tang Jie certainly wasn''t going to let it run, grabbing the drop of water. The drop of water shifted in Tang Jie''s hand, but no matter what form it took, it couldn''t escape Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie smiled. "So it was all the work of this thing. No wonder they kepting and only grew stronger."


    "What is it?" Yiyi asked.


    "The Essence of Maternal Waters," Tang Jie replied. "One that''s attained semi-intelligence."


    Like the Profound Heavy Water, the Essence of Maternal Waters was a kind of special water. But its abilities were more akin to the Pale Cloud me, able to take on countless forms as well as scatter ande together.


    It was no wonder the shadow spirits were endless. It was all the work of the Essence of Maternal Waters. The Essence of Maternal Waters was a Yin substance, and as it could transform, it could fuse with the chilling winds and mimic a shadow spirit.


    Each shadow spirit was actually a drop of the Essence of Maternal Waters, and killing them would cause these drops toe together into an even stronger shadow creature.


    This was the reason for their unkible and ever-strengthening nature.


    As for the formation, it wasn''t producing the shadow creatures, but suppressing the Essence of Maternal Waters. It was this formation that kept the Essence of Maternal Waters split up and unable toe together. On the other hand, by killing the creatures, the fiends were helping the Essence of Maternal Waters break free of the formation.


    After realizing this, Tang Jie was able to view the formation in a whole new light. Pointing ahead, he said, "All of you, go ahead and wait for me. I''ll be back in a bit."


    He turned and headed back into the passage.


    Numerous shadow spirits came charging at him. As Tang Jie strode forward, he took out a nk formation diagram, bit his finger, and began to draw on the diagram with his blood. He was clearly drawing the formation lines of the passage, but as they were written in blood, they were rich in Yang energy.


    By the time the shadow spirits reached him, Tang Jie hadpleted his small formation. The formation unleashed a brilliant light that engulfed the shadow spirits. As they wailed, the same scene yed out, the shadow spirits shriveling into drops of water.


    Tang Jie collected all of these drops of water.


    He continued to do this, and he had soon collected all of the drops of Maternal Water Essence. All of the shadow spirits were dead, but no doom shadows had appeared.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie now had a water drop the size of a pigeon egg in his hand. It had little hands and feet as well as a savage expression, baring its teeth at Tang Jie. But it was restrained by the formation and unable to escape.


    Tang Jie knew that this thing was basically semi-intelligent, possessing a body but still forming its mind. If it were raised properly, it could be like the firebird.


    But looking at its savage disy, Tang Jie knew that even if it waspletely intelligent, it would be a pure brute with no humanity to speak of,pletely unlike the firebird.


    Raising such a thing would only bring him harm. After examining it and finding that he couldn''t discover anything else from it, he squished it. With a pop, the Maternal Water Essence exploded, turning into a vast stream of Water energy that flowed into Tang Jie''s body. This was primordial Water energy of the highest purity, so once Tang Jie absorbed it, he immediately gained some insight into the Dao of Water.


    The Dao of Five Elements wasn''t as abstruse as the Dao of Yin Yang, but Tang Jie had always had a very limited understanding of it.


    Absorbing the Maternal Water Essence cleared up many principles that had previously mystified him, and he greatly increased his understanding of the Dao of Water. It was like when he hadprehended the Dao through the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, but even faster. Whileprehending the Dao in this way would limit his attainments in this Dao, Tang Jie had no ns to travel very far on this Dao in the first ce.


    At the same time, that Archshadow was killing its way through another passage. As it killed, it gathered more drops of Maternal Water Essence around it, making itself stronger and stronger.


    Suddenly, the Archshadow stopped.


    It felt like a part of its life force had disappeared forever, and it instantly flew into a rage, letting out a furious screech.

 Chapter 722: The Weapon Dao

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    After gathering up the Maternal Water Essences, Tang Jie left the passage. He was linked to Yiyi through Heart Consonance, so he was in no rush to catch up,gging behind so that those fiends wouldn''t notice anything odd.


    After flying for a while, Tang Jie finally spotted a mountain giant.


    The mountain giant punched at Tang Jie the moment it spotted him, and Tang Jie didn''t try to dodge, aiming the formation diagram from before at it.


    But this time, the light had no effect on the giant, which still thundered over and punched at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie didn''t panic, tossing aside the formation diagram and using his finger to draw out a formation on the ground, the formation lines he had seen before all emerging in his mind.


    Regardless of which parts were the useful ones, he drew it all, seeking out a formation line that would counter the giant. But that mountain giant was terribly annoying, its brainless attacks constantly interrupting his train of thought.


    Once he got annoyed enough, Tang Jie took on giant form, grabbed the giant, and threw it to the ground, after which he stomped on it to restrain it under his foot. The mountain giant struggled, unable to break out, and Tang Jie began to draw in the air. Blood flowed out of his fingertip and was transfixed in the air by a special energy, and formation lines began to extend outward.


    Finally, as a set of formation lines was drawn, the mountain giant under Tang Jie''s foot trembled and shrank.


    Tang Jie said in delight, "This is the one!"


    With a wave of his hand, more formation lines appeared, instantly creating a formation.


    The moment the formation waspleted, the giant beneath Tang Jie suddenly stood up and let out a roar of reluctance and anger, and then it became still, turning back into a mountain.


    It was like a sleeping giant that had suddenly awoken and just as abruptly gone back to sleep.


    But this time, there would be no waking up.


    A yellow light shot out of the giant''s body and into the sky. With augh, Tang Jie flew up and swung his giant arm, grabbing the light and taking a look at it. As expected, it was an Essence of Stalwart Earth.


    This Stalwart Earth Essence was also semi-intelligent and savage, shrieking at Tang Jie.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie closed his hand, crushing the Stalwart Earth Essence and absorbing it. This primordial Earth energy transformed into slivers of Dao Will that increased Tang Jie''s understanding of the Dao of Earth.


    After doing this, Tang Jie returned to his original form and continued flying, no longer holding himself back.


    Whenever he encountered a giant, he would send over a formation stamp, upon which those giants would be annihted. Yellow lights flowed into Tang Jie''s body, strengthening his understanding of the Dao of Earth. By the time he reached the jungle, he had obliterated every mountain giant in his path.


    Tang Jie had been nning to visit other areas, as he had only gathered a portion of the Maternal Water and Stalwart Earth Essences, but he was too worried about the safety of Yiyi and his avatar to stay too far away.


    In the past, his greed might really have made him wander off.


    But after the passing of the Wu couple and his nearly one hundred years of wandering, Tang Jie had changed. Now, no matter what, he would never go for profit if it would put his loved ones in danger, so he was willing to give up on gathering more primordial energy in order to keep going.


    Because the avatar and Yiyi had gone ahead, Tang Jie knew what was in the forest already.


    Giant tree sprites.


    Just like the shadow spirits, the tree sprites were only a shell. Deep down, they were actually Essences of Pliant Wood that had turned into monsters. Upon understanding this, Tang Jie naturally found a tree sprite to perform experiments on, finding which formation countered them and then using that formation to annihte the tree sprites in the jungle, absorbing their primordial Wood energy.


    As expected, once he left the jungle, he stood before a golden desert.


    The desert was actually made of grains of metal, which were too heavy to be tossed around by the wind. But through Yiyi''s and Thunder de''s teams, Tang Jie had discovered that the metal grains would take the form of sand people and attack others like puppets.


    Just like before, even when they were sted apart, they coulde back together, even stronger than before.


    It seemed that the person who hadid down this formation had found the essences of the Five Elements and then used some special method to break them apart. They then used formations to seal them, thus creating a vast, subterranean Five Elements forbidden zone.


    Yes, this was clearly a Five Elements forbidden zone. This arrangement wasn''t actually meant to keep out enemies, or else it wouldn''t have been so uniform.


    Among the Twelve Great Daos, the Dao of Five Elements was the Dao of all things¡ªtheir growth,position, and transformation. If the Dao of Yin Yang represented the two sides of the world, the Dao of Five Elements represented the basic elements that formed the world.


    All things in the world were under the Five Elements, as were all arts.


    Thus, the meaning behind a Five Elements forbidden zone was to create a special environment. This special environment had many uses. It could be a hidden realm where one could raise natural treasures, or it could be sealed up and be the source for the elements needed to maintain a small world. It could also serve as the core of a formation that could keep one running for eons.


    Whatever the objective, only a Titan of High Antiquity could have created this Five Elements forbidden zone, and Tang Jie couldn''t but click his tongue in praise as he gazed at this golden desert.


    A puppet of golden sand appeared at this moment, its body shining with a metallic luster as it lumbered over to Tang Jie and threw a heavy punch. As it punched, it stirred up a powerful wind.


    Tang Jie had basically grasped the formation within the passage, so he quickly found the counter formation, handling the puppet in a single strike and getting a drop of Resolute Metal Essence in return.


    But just when he was going to use this formation to deal with more puppets, he suddenly recalled the Weapon Mantra.


    With this thought in mind, Tang Jie decided not to use the formation, instead punching at the next puppet toe up.


    There was a shriek as the golden grain puppet was obliterated by Tang Jie''s punch, all of those golden grains turning to dust and falling to the ground, leaving behind a particrlyrge golden grain floating in the air.


    Tang Jie weighed the grain in his hand and reached out his senses, upon which he discovered that, as expected, the golden grain was utterly devoid of life.


    In other words, the Essence of Resolute Metal in the puppet had been directly refined by the Weapon Mantra.


    This exined why Tang Jie was able to get such arge golden grain for the Sovereign de despite not having targeted any art relic.


    But a golden grain wasn''t what Tang Jie wanted. What he currentlycked wasprehension of the Dao of Metal.


    As he was thinking this, he suddenly felt a stream of energy flowing from the grain into his body.


    Primordial Metal energy!


    Tang Jie was shocked to find out the primordial Metal energy of the Resolute Metal Essence hadn''t been obliterated by his punch and hade out all on its own for Tang Jie to absorb.


    Not only that, the Dao Will brought by this primordial Metal energy was much greater and more distinct than what he had absorbed before, much to his pleasant surprise.


    He quickly realized what had happened.


    The Weapon Mantra was part of the Metal Dao, one of its branches.


    The Martial Lord was a heaven-defying genius, breaking the rule that the Daos could not be transmitted and turning the Weapon Dao into an art, passing down the Dao through the Weapon Mantra. This allowed the Weapon Mantra to transcend arts and destroy all treasures, creating the legendary Sovereign de.


    This was because the Weapon Mantra was no art, but a Dao.


    This was also why the Parting ssic had its name, because it was an action that contravened thews of the world and betrayed the Dao.


    It was also why Tang Jie had never truly grasped the Weapon Mantra, or perhaps it was better called the Weapon Dao.


    The true Weapon Dao was like when the Martial Lord had faced down the Myriad Court on his own, shattering all treasures with a single shout.


    The true Weapon Dao was the Sovereign de in hand, sharper than anything else in the world.


    This was the true Weapon Mantra!


    But Tang Jie had only learned the art, neverprehending the Dao within, which meant that he was never able to truly use the power of the Weapon Mantra or the Sovereign de.


    Pathetic and ignorant, he always felt that the Sovereign de was too weak, causing him to shatter any divine weapons he could get his hands on to make it stronger.


    Only now did he understand that he had done something unnecessary.


    He had been unable to use the Sovereign de with spell arts not because he hadn''t refined enough soul weapons, but because he hadn''tprehended the Dao.


    All that business with soul weapons had been a detour, and if he had kept it up, he would have wasted the Sovereign de by turning a Dao armament into a spell art weapon.


    Yes, the Sovereign de was a Dao armament!


    Moreover, it was a Great Dao armament, above all other weapons, which was why it was called the Sovereign de, a divine weapon that Xiao Biehan had once spected could exist. It was just that Tang Jie had neverprehended the Weapon Dao, so he was never able to use its full power.


    Tang Jie blushed in shame.


    He had spent a hundred years cultivating and had even entered the most difficult Dao of Fate, but he had somehow failed toprehend the Weapon Dao, which had even been turned into a spell art to make it easier toprehend.


    Perhaps this was what was meant when it was said that it was darkest under the light.


    At least absorbing that bit of primordial Metal energy had finally enlightened Tang Jie to his mistake.


    He stopped hesitating, charging forward with a howl.


    This howl drew countless golden grain puppets toward him, many more than what he had encountered in the first three areas. But Tang Jie was fearless,ughing at those puppets, "My de is my path! Open!"


    He sent out a thunderous punch.


    The st of energy from the punch swept up the leading puppet, and it immediately blew apart, a single golden grain flying out from it.


    This was the first time Tang Jie had unleashed the Weapon Mantra over a distance.


    Although it was still rather short in range and could only target one thing, it was enough to make Tang Jie excited. After all these years, this was the first time the Weapon Mantra had been visibly improved.


    Roaring, he punched over and over, obliterating one puppet after another, golden grains flying into the air.


    Tang Jie threw out the Sovereign de, and all of the golden grains flew toward it.


    The golden grains were the Sovereign de''s, and the energy belonged to Tang Jie.


    Slivers of primordial Metal energy flowed into Tang Jie''s body, increasing his understanding of the Metal Dao and the Weapon Dao.


    He constantly circted the form of the Weapon Mantra in his mind, and Dao Runes gradually began to form and merge with his body. Tang Jie''s understanding of the Dao of Metal had risen with incredible speed, skipping straight to the Dao entering level.


    This was the Weapon Mantra!


    This was the Parting ssic!


    Beyond all reason, the Martial Lord had passed down the Weapon Dao as a spell art, and today, Tang Jie had finally inherited it.


    Letting out a howl, Tang Jie grabbed the Sovereign de and swung it.


    A golden wave of light swept forth.


    It spread out like a shockwave, sweeping through thend. Any golden grain puppet it encountered, no matter where they were, even those buried deep underground, turned to dust, leaving behind golden grains that flew up into the air.


    One strike had turned a little less than half of this metal desert into a death zone.

 Chapter 723: Demon

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Tang Jie didn''t know how many golden grain puppets he had destroyed with his single strike, but the number of golden grains converging on him gave him a good scare.


    As those golden grains were absorbed by the Sovereign de, it grew noticeablyrger.


    As Tang Jie had already grown the Sovereign de to the size of a proper saber, he had rarely shattered weapons to make itrger as ofte. But as he grasped the Sovereign de, he suddenly understood something.


    He finally knew how damnably stupid he had been.


    The Sovereign de was far more powerful than Tang Jie had imagined. Since it could transform, it could naturally shrink, just like how his original body could also change forms. And its actual power was linked to its actual size.


    Just like with Tang Jie''s original body.


    Tang Jie''s original body could change its form, but his real power was fundamentally linked to his actual form. For example, his real body was that of an eighty-meter giant, and he had the strength of this level. Whether he grewrger or smaller wouldn''t change this. Of course, it was easiest to use his full power in his actual form.


    The Sovereign de was the same, able to transform and to grow stronger the more golden grains it absorbed.


    After understanding this, Tang Jie wanted nothing more than to give himself a good p on the face, cursing himself for being a pig and wasting so many opportunities.


    At that moment, he almost wanted to take out the Treasure Cosmos Formation and shatter everything in it.


    But in the end, he decided not to. This formation was extremely valuable and difficult to make, so shattering it all was a great waste. Moreover, Tang Jie''s understanding of the Dao of Metal was far from reaching the level where he could use the true power of the Sovereign de, so keeping the Treasure Cosmos Formation was the better choice.


    Tang Jie was still worried about Yiyi''s safety, so now that he had eliminated all the puppets in the vicinity, he kept moving forward. But he wasn''t done with the puppets of this desert yet, nning toe back and sweep up the remaining essences.


    After passing through the desert, Tang Jie arrived in and ofva.


    Theva contained fire monsters with savage natures and fierce attacks.


    But none of this was useful against Tang Jie. Not only did he have the counter formation, he also had the Contrame Mantra and the Pale Cloud firebird.


    Tang Jie quickly found the counter formation, and he used the same method against these fire monsters, absorbing their primordial Fire energy.


    With this, Tang Jie had found the formations to counter all five kinds of monsters.


    Other than the five primordial energies, Tang Jie''s greatest harvest was these five formations.


    For some reason, Tang Jie felt like there was some connection between them, but no matter what he did, he couldn''tbine them.


    These formations hadn''t been together in the passage either. They had been separated, each existing on their own.


    Merging them together would involve reworking them.


    Until he got a picture of the entire formation, even Tang Jie couldn''t do this, so after several failed attempts, he gave up.


    Once he was past the Five Elements forbidden zone, Tang Jie arrived at a wastnd.


    The pitch-ck earth was clouded by a purple fog that greatly reduced one''s field of vision. Even Tang Jie, who hadprehended Insight, could only see a hundred meters out when he focused.


    Most astonishing of all was that even Divine Will was affected. His avatar had tried to use Divine Will earlier, and it had been worse than just using his eyes.


    His avatar and Yiyi were still advancing through the fog. In other words, he had caught up.


    Thus, Tang Jie picked up the pace, not daring to dy.


    He didn''t go far before he started to see scattered piles of white bones, extending into the distance. Even though he couldn''t see very far, from what he could see, there were piles of bones spread out all across this wastnd.


    As he walked across these bones, he found that they came in all sorts of shapes and sizes.


    Some of them hadplicated structures, with seven or eight fingers on one hand. There were also skulls with horns, skulls with three eye holes, and also immense skeletons with leg bones taller than an adult human. Of course, there were also small skeletons that weren''t half the size of an adult human. And there were also various fiend bones, with tigers, panthers, bears, lions, turtles, cranes, insects, and anything else one might think of. Of course, there were also human bones. It appeared that some great inter-species battle had taken ce here.


    The treasures once used in this battle could also be found scattered about, but most of them were decayed to the point of uselessness, and those treasures that had managed to retain some of their power would no longer be the same.


    As was his practice, Tang Jie shattered any treasure he found so as to strengthen the Sovereign de.


    The white bones kept going on and on.


    After walking for a while, Tang Jie noticed a figure crouching in the distance.


    At first, Tang Jie took it for another pile of bones, but as he got closer, he realized that it was some scarlet creature that was scratching away at a pile of dirt.


    That creature seemed to sense Tang Jie''s approach and raised its head to look at him. Once Tang Jie got a good look, he found that it was some semi-human creature, not even reaching his waist. It had the face of a baby and a particrlyrge mouth, squatted on the ground like a small dog. But its expression was particrly savage.


    As it spotted Tang Jie, it opened its mouth and threateningly howled, baring its fangs.


    This was¡­ a demon?


    An image appeared in Tang Jie''s mind.


    This demon was called a Breeder Baby, and it was so weak that it didn''t even get a ranking in Basking Moon Academy''s Demon Codex. But it had a rather savage nature and could eat anything, even poison and dirt. It also had powerful reproductive abilities, so they were great in number. Among demons, they weren''t even considered cannon fodder, only food.


    Tang Jie was stunned to encounter a demon in the bowels of the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    In the Great Ster Chiliocosm, demons weren''t like ghosts. Ghosts could be born outside of the Nether Domain, but demons essentially only existed in the Primordial Fog Domain.


    While there were so-called demons outside of Primordial Fog, most of them were people who had be demons through cultivating demonic methods. While they were also considered demons and considered the same as the denizens of Primordial Fog, in the end, they were not true demons.


    But Breeder Babies were authentic demons of Primordial Fog!


    While a real demon would asionally appear in the Great Ster Chiliocosm, these were mostly remnants from Primordial Fog''s invasion. They had lost the chance to return but had no ce to go in the positive ne, so they could only seek out a safe ce to silently await the next invasion.


    Could it be that this Breeder Baby was one of the leftovers of the invasion?


    But Tang Jie quickly rejected this idea.


    Thest Primordial Fog Cmity was nearly two thousand years ago, and Breeder Babies were far too weak to survive this long.


    Could there be some great demon of the Primordial Fog here?


    This thought immediately raised Tang Jie''s vignce.


    Based on what he had seen so far, only someone of incredible talent and ability, a Titan, could have been behind such a massive formation and the Five Elements forbidden zone. If this was the work of some Archdevil to keep themselves hidden, then continuing to go forward would be suicidal.


    Let alone him, even the Fiend Emperors put together would be no use.


    Those called Titans were generally at Immortal tform or above.


    The White Tiger Ancestor and Nine Disaster Fiend Monk were true Titans, and a single one of such existences could obliterate the Verdant Cloud Domain. Compared to them, even the Cloud Ancestor of the Basking Moon Sect seemed a little weak.


    But back to the main subject, if there was really such a strong demon here, there was no reason for them to not have gone back to the Primordial Fog Domain. Those were existences that couldn''t be abandoned.


    Unless¡­


    Tang Jie thought of the White Tiger, who had died in battle.


    The Four Sacred Beasts were from the Martial Lord''s era, and ording to Cang Qingfeng, they were frequent guests of the Court of Myriad Domains.


    The Four Sacred Beasts shouldn''t have been able to survive its annihtion, either dying or going missing.


    The ck Tortoise, thanks to its Reincarnation Dao, had been able to pass down its memories, and after countless reincarnations, it had ultimately be Cang Qingfeng, who was probably the genius of some n at this moment and was probably casting all sorts of curses on a doll of Tang Jie.


    The Vermillion Bird''s descendant had been imprisoned in the Martial Lord''s hidden realm for what was now ten thousand years.


    The White Tiger had been better off, its descendants turning into demons, first bing demon lords of the Primordial Fog, and then running off to die in battle in the positive ne. Its descendants had carried on its will and had returned to the Primordial Fog Domain, though he didn''t know how Bao''er was faring right now.


    But the most enigmatic Azure Dragon hadpletely vanished. Perhaps, like the White Tiger, it had gone to the Primordial Fog Domain.


    If that was the case, then Tang Jie could put all the clues together into a reasonable exnation.


    Firstly, the Azure Dragon or its descendant had been one of the demon lords of Primordial Fog who hade along in the Primordial Fog invasion. The Azure Dragon then came to the Verdant Cloud Domain, where they either died or were severely injured, after which they were sealed by this formation. But the Azure Dragon controlled Fate and wouldn''t be willing to die like this, so it borrowed the Dao of Fate to leave a back-up n, which ultimately resulted in the variable that was Lin Xin.


    But there were several problems with this exnation.


    1. If the Azure Dragon was a demon lord of Primordial Fog, why had its name never been brought up before?


    The Primordial Fog Domain had 99 Demon Lords, all of prestigious status and immense strength, with every human knowing their names. Yet he had never heard about the Azure Dragon.


    2. When he broke free of the entanglement of Fate, what did that cry of "traitor" and the appearance of the Azure Dragon phantom mean?


    3. Lin Xin. Tang Jie was almost certain that she had some connection to the Azure Dragon, but he had no idea what this rtionship entailed. For ten thousand years, the Azure Dragon''s status had been a mystery. Why had Lin Xin only appeared now?


    Until he cleared up these three points, his theory had no basis.


    As he was thinking, the Breeder Baby shrieked and charged at him.


    As expected of a savage demon, it hugged Tang Jie''s leg and took a bite.


    But it might as well have bitten into a steel beam, its teeth instantly shattering.


    Grabbing the Breeder Baby, Tang Jie carefully inspected it, muttering, "Demon¡­"


    His gaze turned to that distant pir.


    Perhaps he would find the answer there.

 Chapter 724: Azure Dragon

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Bang!


    Elder Wind''s steely palm exploded the head of a Breeder Baby, sttering gore and blood over the purplish-ck earth.


    But he felt no excitement over this, darkly scowling at the body.


    A demon!


    All fiends who had been through the Primordial Fog Cmity understood what this thing meant.


    Almost every domain of the Great Ster Chiliocosm had been invaded by the Primordial Fog Domain, and the demons had spread their infamy to every corner of the universe.


    Just as all the domains shared the same system, they shared the same disgust and fear of demons.


    "I didn''t think a demon would appear here," Elder Wind rasped.


    He looked to the avatar. "Your Majesty?"


    Tang Jie understood what he meant and replied, "I know. Keep going. There''s no need to stop just because of one or two demons. We have to at least see what''s there before we make any decisions."


    "Yes!" Elder Wind said, leading the fiends forward.


    The deeper in they went, the thicker the fog became, reducing their field of vision. The ground was covered in bones that cracked as they walked over them. The thick fog, the eerie environment, and the asional demon charging out of the fog put everyone on edge.


    Suddenly, a dark silhouette charged out of the fog.


    A fiend general swung his saber at the dark silhouette, which dropped to the ground without a sound.


    As the fiends approached it, they saw that it was arge demon with a curled horn growing out of its head.


    "It''s an Aler," Tang Jie said.


    This demon was known as the "Aler", and it was a little stronger than a Breeder Baby.


    They hadrge bodies and prodigious strength, but they had no intelligence, couldn''t use spell arts, and couldn''t even fly. In the demon armies, they were normallyborers and servants who did simple work, asionally taking part in some ground battles.


    But the existence of an Aler meant that there had to be an even higher level of demon present¡ªthere could be no servant without a master.


    Everyone''s faces turned serious.


    At this moment, Tang Jie saw the Aler''s body twitch.


    Grimacing, he shouted, "Watch out!"


    A ck object flew out of the Aler''s body and shot into the fiend general.


    The fiend general shuddered and quickly inspected his body, but when he found that he had no wounds, he sighed in relief.


    Raising his head, he saw that all of the other fiends were backing away while giving him horrified looks.


    Startled, the fiend general said, "Why are you looking at me like that?"


    Nobody said anything, but the fiend general felt his face was a little itchy, so he scratched it. Plop! A chunk of flesh fell off his face and into his hand.


    Stunned, the fiend general instinctively felt his face and found arge hole in it,rge enough for his finger to go in.


    And then more flesh began to fall off his face, chunk by chunk.


    "My face!" the fiend general wailed.


    And then he saw that the rest of his body was rotting away, and his eyeballs fell out of their sockets and onto the ground, leaving him with only two bloody holes.


    He could no longer see his body, but he lost the senses in his legs, and then his kneecaps shattered, bringing him to the ground. He let out a helpless call for help, but in the end, he copsed into his own blood like a clump of mud.


    "A Rotpoison Needle!" Tang Jie said. "Be careful! There should be a Bone Rotter around here."


    Bone Rotters were ranked 248th in the Demon Codex. While they weren''t particrly powerful, they possessed an extremely corrosive poison ability. Even those who were stronger than them would almost always die on the spot when they were infected by their poison, with the fiend general serving as a ssic example. In a direct sh, the average Bone Rotter would have been no match for that fiend general.


    "Heeheehee." Sinisterughter came in from all sides, carrying a bone-chilling terror and an annoying sense of pride. "Since you''vee to this battlefield, don''t think about going back!"


    A dark object flew out of the fog, flying toward the back of a fiend general. This dark object gave off no energy, so even Divine Will would have found it hard to detect. At this moment, Tang Jie roared and swung his saber, striking that dark object.


    The dark object fell to the ground, revealing itself to be a small ck needle around three inches long. It didn''t seem to be made of metal, wriggling on the ground like a snake before dissolving into a puddle of ck water.


    It was no wonder no problem had been felt when the needle had struck. It turned out that the needle was made from the poison.


    The fiends began to barrage the fog with attacks, but the sting spell arts seemed to have no effect, that eerieughter ringing out again. "This is thend of my demon race! And killing me in demonnd isn''t that easy."


    "Is that so?" Tang Jie looked down at his feet. "Using the violet fog to block Divine Will, and then adding on your own concealment methods. You think that''s enough to make you unfindable?"


    If the other fiends hadn''t been here, Tang Jie would have used the Celestial Eye and easily found the Bone Rotter.


    The Bone Rotter''sughter rang out. "If you could find me, you would have found me ages ago rather than wait until now."


    "Is that so?" Tang Jie chuckled. "Then what if I do find you?"


    "What else? This life of mine would be yours," the Bone Rotter continued tough.


    Tang Jie sighed. "You''re so confident, so you must think that no one can find you just because you''re hiding in a corpse?"


    "What?" The Bone Rotter was aghast.


    The Aler''s body exploded, a little figure running out.


    The fiends attacked, and with a scream, the Bone Rotter was sted to bits.


    A fiend king examined the corpse and confirmed it to be a Bone Rotter. "Your Majesty is truly wise. Sure enough, the Bone Rotter was hiding in the Aler''s body. But how did Your Majesty know?"


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "The poison needle that killed ck Moon came from the Aler''s body. The second needle was meant to confuse us, making us think that our opponent was constantly moving and skilled in concealment. The problem is that I''ve never heard of Bone Rotters being experts in this¡­ I was talking with it to imply to it that concealment methods weren''t reliable, but it felt no fear, even provoking me. From this, I guessed that it wasn''t using some concealment art. Since it wasn''t hidden, it had to be near us, and as it isn''t a type known for traveling through the earth, where else could it be besides the corpse? Of course, this was only a guess to fool it. I didn''t think it would show itself."


    The fiends praised, "Your Majesty is truly wise."


    Only Elder Wind gave Tang Jie a deep look, saying nothing.


    Tang Jie continued, "Since even Bone Rotters have appeared, we can''t guarantee that there aren''t any others. Everyone, be careful. There''s no need to conserve your spiritual energy. Put up your shields before advancing."


    "Yes!" the fiends rang out.


    They were now extremely close to the giant pir. Tang Jie estimated based on the two days it had taken them to get here that this pir would have been located right at the center of the five demon caves if it had been on the surface.


    In other words, everybody was seeing the same pir, and as they were all headed toward it, it meant they were about to meet each other soon.


    A meeting of Fiend Emperors was bound to be a huge trial for Tang Jie''s acting skills, but Tang Jie was confident and unafraid.


    As they kept going, they encountered a few scattered demons, but there weren''t many of them, and they weren''t especially strong, so they were easily taken care of.


    After great effort, they finally arrived at the pir.


    This giant pir rising out of the earth was a tower of immense size, zing with a crimson light as if it was a pir of fire.


    Most astonishing of all was that the base of this tower was suppressing something. At first nce, it seemed like a giant mountain, but as the fiery light burned away the fog, it became apparent that this was a dragon!


    A vast Azure Dragon, its body like a mountain range!


    This giant dragon was coiled up in the center of thisnd, its head linked to its tail to form a circle. The tower was pressed down on the back of the dragon. If one looked carefully, one would realize that this dragon was long-dead, its face twisted in pain.


    Everyone was aghast by the sight of this dragon.


    Even Tang Jie was stunned by this.


    "Azure Dragon¡­" he muttered.


    Sure enough, the Azure Dragon was here, but unexpectedly, it was already dead.


    It seemed that it had been sealed by this tower. Unable to escape, after some unknown amount of time, it had finally died.


    Such a death was truly unjust. But what sort of Titan would be able to seal one of the Four Sacred Beasts, and why would they do it?


    But a momentter, Tang Jie thought of something that made him excited.


    Dragonbone Spirit Sesame!


    Since there was an Azure Dragon''s corpse here, there might be Dragonbone Spirit Sesame growing on it.


    Dragonbone Spirit Sesame was key for Tang Jie''s extreme long-distance teleportation formation. Without it, it didn''t matter how much of the other materials he gathered. But if he had this nt, he could slowly find recements for the other materials, or even nurture them on his own.


    Tang Jie hadn''t just spent thest hundred years wandering. He had also been searching for materials.


    He had gathered most of the materials he had been missing, but the Dragonbone Spirit Sesame remained elusive. And as this nt had to grow from dragon bones, even finding a substitute was difficult.


    To his surprise, he had finally found a dragon corpse.


    The hope of going home was right in front of him!


    Gazing at the giant dragon, Tang Jie found it hard to repress his excitement.


    At this moment, a voice came from the distance: "The Chaos Tower! I can''t believe it''s the Chaos Tower!"


    He turned to the direction of the voice and saw another group approaching from the distance, led by an obese man in a dragon robe, his belly somewhat unreasonablyrge. Tang Jie''s eyes narrowed. As expected, they hade.


    The neer was none other than one of the Five Fiend Emperors, the ckwater Fiend Emperor.


    The ckwater Fiend Emperor swiftly walked up to the tower, his entire body trembling in excitement, his eyes shining with greed. He flew around the tower as if he was admiring a lover before flying back to the ground.


    He then looked at Tang Jie and brought his hands together in greeting. "So it''s Little Brother Thunder de. Forgive your foolish older brother for losing control. I am a little excited over seeing the Chaos Tower for the first time."


    Tang Jie smirked. "Losing control is fine, but why exactly did you sprinkle poison around the tower?"

 Chapter 725: Trap

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The ckwater Fiend Emperor was startled at first, and then he erupted inughter. "Brother Thunder de, your eyes are as sharp as ever. I can''t hide anything from you. A joke, it was just a joke!"


    He had frankly admitted that he had flown around the tower to silently sprinkle his pufferfish poison around it.


    The ckwater Fiend Emperor was a pufferfish fiend, and he had been thest to be a Fiend Emperor among the Five Fiend Emperors, so he was also the weakest.


    Even though he was the weakest, no one had ever dared to underestimate him. He was the most cunning of the emperors, someone who beguiled with sweet swords while stabbing a sword in your gut. His bulging belly contained his tyrannical pufferfish poison, and even a Fiend Emperor would suffer harsh consequences if they were poisoned by it.


    This fiend was truly treacherous, sprinkling his poison around the tower the moment he arrived.


    Tang Jie sneered, "Since it was a joke, why haven''t you removed the poison already?"


    But the ckwater Fiend Emperor didn''t obey thismand, his eyes darting around as he fawningly smiled. "Big Brother Thunder de, you know that when ites to strength, among the Five Fiend Emperors, your little brother upies the veryst seat. I absolutely cannotpare to the others, so I sometimes need a few extra tricks. And also, Brother Thunder de, while you are stronger than your little brother, there''s still some gap between you and the others, no? Moreover, Big Brother, your aura still seems unstable. Is it not because your injuries from the battle with Silver Eyes aren''t fully healed? If that''s the case, can''t we work together?"


    Tang Jie smiled. "I do want to work together. I''m just worried that someone won''t want to."


    He then shouted, "The Iron Blood Fiend Emperor''s heroism is without parallel, so when did you start studying ckwater''s mouse-like manners?"


    A grunt came from the distance.


    This grunt was like a gong ringing out in everyone''s minds.


    A person appeared, garbed in beast hide, his upper body bare and his head bald, a saber slung across his waist. It was none other than the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor.


    The Iron Blood Fiend Emperor red at the ckwater Fiend Emperor before gruffly saying, "If I didn''t do this, how would I be able to watch such a fine show? Such treacherous tricks, ckwater! You''re growing more shameful by the day."


    The ckwater Fiend Emperorughed, his eyes darting around. It seemed like he had something he wanted to say, but he didn''t dare to say it.


    Another voice drifted out from the distance. "ckwater, if you want to work together with the two of them against me, you can try. This Aurora promises to ept it."


    The voice was like a wave, surging out from the distance and battering the ckwater Fiend Emperor, his face grimacing in pain. It was clear that some immense power was contained in this sound wave, but somehow, Iron Blood and Tang Jie were unaffected.


    This was fortunate for Tang Jie, as he would have been exposed otherwise.


    The Aurora Fiend Emperor''s party appeared.


    His vast array of forces left everyone stunned.


    The ckwater Fiend Emperor shuddered. "The Millepluma Guard! He actually brought the entire Millepluma Guard!"


    The Millepluma Guard could kill a Divine Division fiend if they attacked together, so he couldn''t help but be rmed.


    But he quickly noticed something was wrong, gasping, "But they seem to be missing some members?"


    The Millepluma Guard was the Aurora Fiend Emperor''s strongest trump card, and he cherished them and rarely let them suffer casualties. The rare losses over the ages had been swiftly restored, so why had several dozen gone missing all at once?


    Aurora was unwilling to speak of his troubles. His strength had been his greatest asset, but it had also been his downfall. He had killed his way through the passage too quickly, causing an Archshadow to appear, which had resulted in grievous losses. He was already unhappy, and ckwater''s words only made his mood worse. ring at him, he said, "Hurry up and remove your poison, or else suffer execution!"


    Terrified, ckwater hastily undid the poison around the tower.


    Iron Bloodmented, "I didn''t think that there would be a whole world under the Verdant Cloud Domain. Let alone the Five Elements forbidden zone, it even has a Chaos Tower sealing the Azure Dragon. Such a valuable treasure has to be fought over."


    He stood together with Tang Jie, looking at Aurora, clearly wanting to join with him to resist Aurora''s might. Tang Jie understood and also moved closer to Iron Blood.


    Tang Jie had also heard of the Chaos Tower. This was a supreme treasure of the Court of Myriad Domains, one that had existed before the heavens had been split from the earth and the thousand domains established, before the Heavenly Dao existed. It possessed immense power, being capable of sealing off all energies and suppressing all the worlds. It was the treasure which the Court of Myriad Domains had relied on to uphold its authority.


    But the Four Sacred Beasts had always been friends with the Court of Myriad Domains, so why would the Court of Myriad Domains use this treasure on one of them and then just leave it here? It didn''t make sense.


    But these were secret matters from High Antiquity, too far from the present era to find the truth, so nobody voiced the questions on their minds. They were all greedy for this treasure and warily eyed each other.


    Aurora said, "What''s the rush? Silver Eyes isn''t even here yet."


    Iron Blood''s face darkened at the mention of this name.


    The ckwater Fiend Emperor returned from undoing his poison, saying, "He might already be here, just hiding somewhere and waiting for us to fight so he can reap the rewards."


    This guy was so used to scheming that he always thought the worst of people, but he was actually right this time.


    Yiyi truly was holding her fiends back in the rear. In any case, Tang Jie''s avatar was there, so she knew everything that was happening there. Moreover, Tang Jie cared more about the Dragonbone Spirit Sesame and was far more interested in the Azure Dragon than the Chaos Tower sealing it. He wanted nothing more than for everyone else to start fighting so he could search for the Dragonbone Spirit Sesame.


    Tang Jie silently cursed ckwater as he said, "Silver Eyes has a savage and arrogant nature, but after I killed one of his lives and he lost the Deathless Heaven Pearl, he became much more womanly. I''m thinking that rather than hiding, he just didn''t dare toe. After all, he''s managed to offend three out of the four of us."


    On the surface, the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor had offended Iron Blood, Aurora, and Thunder de.


    Tang Jie''s words were truly some food for thought.


    There really was a high chance that Silver Eyes didn''t have the guts toe.


    "Then what are we waiting for?" Iron Blood reached a hand toward the Chaos Tower.


    He cultivated the Dao of Iron Blood, which was all about bravely advancing. Thus, even with the Aurora Fiend Emperor right there, he was still open about his desire for the tower.


    Aurora''s eyes shed, but he managed to suppress his impulse to strike.


    As the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor reached for the tower, there was a boom, and a howl came from the tower, after which violet clouds began to float out.


    "Primordial Fog Violet Clouds!" all the fiends cried out in rm.


    It was no wonder Primordial Fog demons were appearing here, because demon energy wasing from the tower! But why there was the demon energy of Primordial Fog in the Chaos Tower was yet another riddle that needed answering.


    This violet fog that engulfed the surroundings of the tower was particrly dense, impervious even to the crimson light of the tower.


    Shrieks and howls came from within the fog.


    A fiend king shouted, "Demons! Arge number of demons is approaching."


    "Careful!" the Aurora Fiend Emperor shouted.


    Arge number of Alers charged out of the fog, marching over the bones like an army out of hell.


    The fiend generals didn''t need Aurora''s order to begin attacking, spell arts tearing the demons apart.


    But more demons continued to emerge, fearlessly charging at the fiends.


    Meanwhile, the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor was still trying to take the Chaos Tower, but no matter how he exerted his power, the tower remained stuck in the Azure Dragon''s spine. Instead, more violet fog surged out.


    Tang Jie sensed that something was wrong and focused his vision. He no longer cared about exposing himself, revealing his Celestial Eye. As a beam of light fell on the Chaos Tower, he was stunned by what he saw.


    This wasn''t the Chaos Tower at all! It was a long and dark spatial passage that had been disguised by some great power to appear like the Chaos Tower, and violet fog was spilling out of the fissure. Above the spatial passage, a giant formation wheel was spinning, the countless Dao Runes on the formation forming aplex image that made Tang Jie dizzy after only a few looks. In the center of the formation was a talisman upon which the word "½û" (Forbid) had been written in gold. Above this golden character was an Azure Dragon holding a divine talisman in its mouth. It was coiled above the formation, suppressing the abyss. This was the actual Azure Dragon!


    At that moment, Tang Jie understood.


    The Azure Dragon wasn''t the one being suppressed, but the one doing the suppressing.


    The five demon caves, the Five Elements forbidden zone, and this formation, talisman, and the Azure Dragon¡ªall of it existed for the sole purpose of sealing this spatial passage!


    Tang Jie didn''t need to think to know what this meant.


    This was a spatial passage to the Primordial Fog Domain!


    It was no wonder the entire power of a domain had been harnessed to establish this seal. That talisman was something that had to have been written by a Titan who had reached the level of Dao-Proving Saint Immortal, and even then, the Azure Dragon had needed to preside over it toplete the seal. But if this passage hadn''t been sealed, rather than one cmity every three thousand years, this ne might have been turned into an eternal battlefield.


    Although this spatial passage had been sealed, over the eons, the Primordial Fog demons had kept up their attacks. Gradually, demonic energy had prated into thend, creating a Primordial Fog demon realm around the passage. However, thanks to the Five Elements forbidden zone, it hadn''t been able to expand.


    And then, some demon, unable to reach through the passage and tear off the sealing talisman, used the demonic energy to create an illusion, making people think that this was the Chaos Tower so as to lure them into a trap.


    Everything that had happened previously was probably connected to this.


    This illusion was so real that even Divine Division great fiends had been fooled. If Tang Jie hadn''t entered Insight, even he might have failed to notice.


    As for what the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor was pulling at, it wasn''t the Chaos Tower, but the talisman embedded in the formation.


    Through the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor''s strenuous efforts, a corner of the golden talisman had already been raised.


    After all, this was only a talisman, and one that was intended for sealing. After ten thousand years, it was a miracle that it could even endure the attacks of the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor. Dao-Proving Saint Immortals were truly astoundingly powerful individuals.


    Finally, the talisman began to slowly lift up, faltering against the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor''s attacks.


    As the talisman was raised, a flood of Primordial Fog demons rushed out.


    "STOP!" Tang Jie yelled, throwing caution to the wind.

 Chapter 726: Mayhem

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    "STOP!" As Tang Jie shouted, he swung his saber at Iron Blood.


    Iron Blood didn''t understand what Tang Jie meant, only thinking that Tang Jie was fighting over the tower with him, angrily shouting, "Thunder de, you¡ª!"


    "That''s not the Chaos Tower! It''s an illusion. This is a spatial passage leading to the Primordial Fog Domain!" Tang Jie shouted.


    What?


    Everyone turned to the Chaos Tower in shock.


    If this was an illusion, it was an incredible one, as it felt real if one touched it, and if one entered the tower, one would see the world within the tower, with no w to be seen. It was only someone who had entered Insight like Tang Jie who could see past such a realistic illusion and see the truth.


    The three Fiend Emperors couldn''t see the reality, and Iron Blood shouted, "Thunder de, what nonsense are you saying? This is clearly the Chaos Tower. Look!"


    He swung his Ironblood Saber, and it released a bleak wave of energy that shook the wills of all, even Tang Jie''s somewhat, but the tower was unmoved.


    Iron Blood said, "Other than the Chaos Tower, what could stop a blow from my saber?"


    An impressive boast!


    But Tang Jie could see that the saber''s energy had gone into the spatial passage and had probably killed a few demons on the other side. However, the illusion itself was utterly unharmed. He could only sigh and say, "If this wasn''t the case, then where do you think these demons areing from?"


    The fiends were startled again.


    At this moment, Tang Jie felt a sliver of will silently infiltrate his mind. This was a Demonic Will that was attempting to subtly alter his train of thought!


    A momentter, the ckwater Fiend Emperor said, "They''re naturally just little demons left behind from the Primordial Fog Cmity. They managed to hide out here and reproduce. Thunder de, you''ve definitely taken a liking to the Chaos Tower and want to take it for yourself, so you''re trying to trick us with your words."


    He lunged toward the Chaos Tower.


    Tang Jie inwardly cursed in anger, knowing that the Demonic Will from the passage had caused ckwater and the others to lose their sense of judgment. The only reason it hadn''t worked on Tang Jie was that he was one soul sharing two bodies. When his avatar was affected, his original body promptly realized what was wrong and corrected his train of thought.


    s, while he could keep his mind clear, he couldn''t break the illusion.


    At the apex, the Dao of Insight could shatter illusions, but Tang Jie had chosen the path of weakness detection. While he could manage to see through illusions, breaking them was out of the question.


    As ckwater reached for the Chaos Tower, Tang Jie grew frantic. Hardening his heart, he shouted, "Don''t even think about taking the tower!"


    A st of lightning issued from his Heaven Thunder Saber, slicing toward ckwater''s back.


    ckwater yelped and instantly turned into a blur, evading the attack. Tang Jie didn''t give chase, instead turning to Aurora and saying, "I''ve now offended both Iron Blood and ckwater. Aurora, are you just going to sit there and watch me die and then take them on yourself, or are you going to do something?"


    The Aurora Fiend Emperorughed. "If Little Brother Thunder de wants to work together with me, I''m happy to agree!"


    He red, and a beam of divine light shot out of his eyes at Iron Blood.


    Aghast, Iron Blood swung his saber to block while yelling at Tang Jie, "Thunder de, you idiot! Working with him is suicidal!"


    Of these four Fiend Emperors, Aurora was the strongest, and he had his Millepluma Guard, so the other three had to work together against him. But Thunder de had turned against them, leaving Iron Blood shocked and enraged. Even if Thunder de won, how was he going to deal with Aurora?


    He had no idea that Tang Jie had no desire for the tower, only seeking chaos. Since that demon had used its Demonic Will to stir up their greed and fool everyone into removing the talisman, Tang Jie couldn''t stop it, so he decided to use the greed to have everyone kill each other. As the four Fiend Emperors battled, the fiend kings and generals fought back the demons. The ce fell into total mayhem, and nobody had time to take the Chaos Tower, leaving that existence behind the passage fuming.


    On this side, the ckwater Fiend Emperor opened his mouth toward Tang Jie.


    An inky substance rushed out of his mouth like a ck river, surging toward Tang Jie.


    This was the Divine Connection he was most proud of, the ckwater Heaven River. It was extremely toxic, eating away at everything it touched.


    Tang Jieughed. "You''re a pufferfish, not a cuttlefish, so why are you spitting out so much ink? It''s disgusting. This emperor is quite hygienic, so I''d rather not be around you."


    He retreated from the battlefield.


    "Trying to run?" The ckwater Fiend Emperor snarled and gave chase, the ckwater Heaven River rushing after Tang Jie like a ck whip.


    Tang Jie threw out his warship andmented, "You have a river, and I have a boat. Little Brother ckwater, there''s no need to send me off."


    ckwaterughed as he continued to chase. "Avoiding battle? Given your weak aura, it seems, Big Brother, that your injuries have yet to fully heal. If I don''t turn you into Returned Remnants now, wouldn''t I be wasting a chance given to me by the Heavenly Dao!?"


    He pursued at full speed.


    Tang Jie inwardly chuckled.


    He hadn''t joined hands with Iron Blood and ckwater against Aurora because such a match could easily turn into a stalemate. The Aurora Fiend Emperor and his Millepluma Guard would make it difficult to win, even with the three of them working together, so he, as the weakest of the three, was bound to be exposed eventually.


    But if he worked with Aurora, they could each take on a Fiend Emperor, and Tang Jie could open a new battlefield¡ªso long as conditions permitted, Tang Jie wanted to try and keep his identity hidden.


    As Tang Jie flew along, he used the warship to barrage ckwater with lightning. But the ckwater Fiend Emperor simply moved his ckwater Heaven River to block the attacks, and the lightning vanished without a trace.


    "Thunder de, don''t focus only on running. Fight me one-on-one if you have the guts!" ckwaterughed.


    Tang Jie said in scorn, "Piece of trash, you''re only bold enough to challenge me because you know I''m still injured. If I was in my prime, you would be kissing my feet."


    He pped the lightning cannons, firing another two sts of lightning.


    Although the lightning cannons couldn''t do anything to ckwater, they made him waste power on defense. ckwater knew that if this continued, he would be falling into Thunder de''s trap. After all, there was no telling how severe Thunder de''s old wounds actually were. If the injuries weren''t that bad and this sort of reckless expenditure managed to bring their power levels even, he would be in a bad spot.


    The ckwater Fiend Emperor was no longer willing to dy, suddenly letting out a deep howl.


    With this howl, the ck river condensed into a ck spear, which the ckwater Fiend Emperor grasped in his hand.


    Tang Jie''s eyes immediately turned grave.


    The ckwater Fiend Emperor''s ckwater Heaven River was rather simr to the Blood River Lord''s Blood River, using the self as the core upon which countless transformations could be executed. The river turning into a spear was one of ckwater''s most important moves.


    As the spear thrust out, the entire world darkened.


    The spear unleashed a boundless might as the ckwater Fiend Emperor''s face darkened with murderous intent. "Break!"


    A beam of ck energy shot from the spear, shooting toward the warship.


    All light drained out of the world, as if the spear was the only thing remaining in existence.


    Tang Jie paled, and he poured all his energy into the ship.


    The beam of spear energy mmed into the warship''s barrier.


    There was a massive boom and an explosion of rainbow light, as if someone had chosen to paint a garish picture on the horizon.


    Amid this light, the warship tumbled in the air.


    The spear had sted a hole through the ship and sent it crashing toward the ground.


    "Shit, so powerful!" Tang Jie threw up blood as he mumbled in shock.


    He had long heard that the ckwater Fiend Emperor''s Heaven River Spear was on par with the Thundershatter Saber, and it seemed like it was true. Worst of all, once the Heaven River Spear had shattered the ship''s barrier, ck liquid freely rained onto the ship.


    All of this ck liquid was highly toxic, hissing as it struck the deck, and some of it even falling on Tang Jie. Fortunately, Tang Jie repelled the liquid before it could infiltrate his body. At his current level of strength, if he let this poison take hold, he would end up gravely injured, if not dead.


    The ckwater Fiend Emperor was clearly taken aback.


    He had originally believed that the Heaven River Spear shouldn''t have worked against thebined might of Thunder de and his warship, which was why he had also prepared a series of follow-up attacks. But to his surprise, his one strike had sent the ship bowling over. It seemed like Thunder de wasn''t able to use the full power of this divine treasure.


    Were his injuries that serious? Had he been just putting on a show this entire time?


    The thought delighted ckwater, and his avarice grew.


    It had to be understood that Thunder de was famous throughout fiend territory for his tool refining. As for ckwater, he only knew how to refine poison, so he was much poorer than Thunder de. If he could kill Thunder de, all those treasures would be his, and he could use them in the fight against Aurora.


    ckwaterughed, "Thunder de, so you were just feigning strength the entire time! You''re dead!"


    He waved his hand, and the ck water returned to his hand, turning into a bow and three ck arrows.


    The ckwater Skypiercer Arrows!


    The ckwater Fiend Emperor had a cautious personality, so even at thest moment, he wasn''t willing to enter closebat with Thunder de.


    As he was about to loose his arrow, a furious roar came from the distance. "Thunder de!"


    Turning his head, he saw another person rapidly flying over.


    ckwater was taken aback by this familiar figure, blurting out, "Silver Eyes?"


    The Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor continued to charge over, shouting, "Give me back my Deathless Heaven Pearl!"


    Only then did the ckwater Fiend Emperor realize that Silver Eyes was aiming for Thunder de.


    In that battle one hundred years ago, while Thunder de had been heavily injured by Silver Eyes, Silver Eyes had lost a life, so the two had be mortal foes.


    ckwater instantly rxed, and did the same to his bowstring, saying, "So it''s Big Brother Silver Eyes! With you here, there''s no way Thunder de can escape. But I was the one who injured Thunder de. While I can give you his life, you''re not allowed to take any of the spoils."


    "Of course!" Silver Eyesughed as he closed the distance with ckwater.


    He had changed direction so suddenly and flew so swiftly that he hardly gave ckwater time to think, charging right at him.


    Many years ofbat experience made ckwater instinctively feel uneasy, and he almost put up a barrier. But he suddenly remembered that he was the only one of the other four Fiend Emperors that Silver Eyes hadn''t gotten in a conflict with. So long as Silver Eyes was still sane, he wouldn''t attack him without provocation. On the other hand, putting up a barrier could put a metaphorical barrier between them as well.


    It was this thought that made ckwater hesitate.


    That moment of hesitation made him lose everything!


    As the Silver Eyes Fiend Emperor reached him, arge fist rapidly filled ckwater''s field of vision.


    "Devil Crushing Fist!"

 Chapter 727: Counter-Schemed

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    One punch exploded the ckwater Fiend Emperor''s head like it was a watermelon.


    But Tang Jie didn''t stop, the Sovereign de shing in his hand as he swung it into the ckwater Fiend Emperor''s body.


    An existence like the ckwater Fiend Emperor had all sorts of mystical spell arts and trump cards, so Tang Jie didn''t dare to be careless, mercilessly attacking him even after blowing up his head.


    ckwater''s body instantly dissolved into water and then started to reform. The saber''s energy swept through his body, but it failed to stop his recovery. His head grew back, revealing ckwater''s scowling face.


    "Silver Eyes!" the ckwater Fiend Emperor shouted, his voice still garbled.


    "I just knew you weren''t that easy to kill," Tang Jie casually remarked. "As expected, flogging the corpse is the right way to do things!"


    His avatar was already charging in, thrusting out a finger, the Deicide me bursting from its tip.


    Tang Jie''s ability to control the Deicide me was too limited to use it for killing the enemy, but it was perfect for destroying corpses. Anyway, this guy''s entire body was poisonous, so there was little point in keeping his body.


    Sure enough, the Deicide me caused the ckwater Fiend Emperor to howl in pain.


    This me burned all things, so his poison was entirely useless and was easily burned away. His body shrank as he cried out in agony, unable to reform, let alone counterattack. Even though he could cast arts with a single thought, none of it mattered against Tang Jie.


    ckwater used all of his energy to summon a great storm, but Tang Jie simply took it as a light breeze.


    As his life force rapidly withered and his power drained away, ckwater finally realized that he had reached the end of the road.


    He screeched, "I''ll remember you two!"


    A light shot out of his body toward the sky.


    "You can''t escape." Tang Jie extended his hand and grabbed that streak of light, which was none other than ckwater''s Divine Soul.


    The avatar recalled the Deicide me and reached into ckwater''s body, pulling out his fiend pellet.


    Tang Jie had taken him by surprise, so he hadn''t had time to use the energy of his fiend pellet. This was a rare Fiend Emperor pellet that was still intact, so its value was on par with a low-level upper-grade divine treasure.


    The avatar examined it and found that it hadn''t been that damaged. Exhaling, he said, "Close, close. I almost cooked it."


    ckwater''s Divine Soul struggled in the hand of the original body. "Just who are you people? Release me! I''m willing to serve you!"


    In the end, he was no fool. He had finally realized that these weren''t Silver Eyes and Thunder de.


    "A rare intact Divine Soul," the original body sighed. "Although you didn''t have many treasures, this soul is just asplete as that old serpent''s."


    "''Old serpent''?" ckwater''s Divine Soul was aghast.


    The original body took out some Mindsoothing Lumber, which he had stolen from the Celestial me Pagoda''s treasury all those years ago.


    Thunder de''s Divine Soul was in this block of wood, as this was the only kind of substance that could host a Divine Soul without it withering away.


    As Tang Jie took out Thunder de''s Divine Soul, ckwater was rendered speechless. The Thunder Serpent sighed, "ckwater, you''re here too? I just knew it would be like this."


    The two Divine Souls looked at each other, unable to say a word.


    "Alright, you two can keep each otherpany, so you won''t be too lonely. I''ll try and get Aurora and Iron Blood to keep youpany too." Tang Jie stuffed the two Divine Souls back into the Mindsoothing Lumber.


    "Heehee, we now have two Divine Souls and two Fiend Emperor pellets." Yiyi pped her hands as she flew over. Behind her was Er Hu.


    "I pay my respects to Master." Er Hu bowed to Tang Jie, not forgetting to sneak a nce at the avatar.


    Today, he finally understood that the existence in the side house had been his master''s avatar.


    Even more surprising was that this avatar had already entered Soul Transformation, and it seemed like Tang Jie''s two bodies had killed three Fiend Emperors. This was an achievement without precedent in thest thousand years of humanity''s history, and the entire power bnce of the Verdant Cloud Domain would shift because of it.


    From this day forward, humans would have more Violet Pce experts than the fiends!


    Er Hu felt even greater admiration for Tang Jie.


    "Mm." Tang Jie turned to him and said, "Er Hu, I had Yiyi bring you over because there''s something I need you to do."


    "Please speak, Master."


    Tang Jie lightly said, "As you now know, I have the ability to transform. I''ve killed both Silver Eyes and Thunder de and transformed into them in order to control the fiend empires, letting me sow internal discord, weaken the fiends, and support the humans so that more survive. But I only have one avatar, so I can only act as two Fiend Emperors, not a third."


    "Eh?" Er Hu was taken aback. "Master, you want me to turn into the third Fiend Emperor?"


    "Indeed," Tang Jie replied. "After all, I still haven''t emptied out ckwater''s treasury. No matter how powerful he was, he has to have had some treasures."


    "¡­¡­"


    At that moment, Er Hu finally saw the side of Tang Jie he had never seen before.


    Now that Tang Jie was no longer entangled by Fate or focused on the Heavenly Dao, he had seemingly gone back to his old self, much to Yiyi''s amusement.


    Seeing that Er Hu was dumbfounded, Tang Jie smiled and said, "I''m just teasing you. Aurora and Iron Blood are fighting up ahead. They''ve been fooled by a Demonic Will and have already lost themselves to their greed. We have to quickly stop them. Thus, I need you to transform into a Fiend Emperor and work with me to ambush them so we can capture them alive."


    "''Capture them''?" Er Hu took note of this detail. "Not ''kill them''?"


    Tang Jie replied, "A demon invasion is imminent. With such a powerful foe in front of us, a united front is better than internal conflict."


    "Yes, your disciple understands," Er Hu solemnly replied.


    "But before that, we still need to defeat them first so that they can listen to reason. Oh, ckwater is a cunning and scheming fellow, so your personality isn''t a good fit. You should be Silver Eyes."


    Tang Jie tapped a finger on Er Hu''s head, making him look like Silver Eyes. At the same time, his original body turned into Thunder de and his avatar became ckwater.


    The three looked at each other, and then the original body as Thunder de flew off, the avatar and Er Hu giving chase, making it seem like Silver Eyes and ckwater were both trying to kill Thunder de.


    The original body quickly returned to the fiend¨Cdemon battlefield.


    The battlefield wasplete chaos by now.


    The three-headed dog spewing ice, fire, and lightning onto the battlefield was an Ifrit. Although it wasn''t strong, its ferocity made it extremely difficult to deal with. There was also a bull-headed demon wreathed in ck smoke and holding a chain, a Vexbull. They were a rather bnced variety of demon, having both physical strength and spell arts, and their chains could smash open barriers. Although they were individually still rather weak, when there were enough them, they represented a powerful force. In the Primordial Fog invasion, there were records of a Vexbull army using their numbers to drown out a small domain. As for those disciplined soldiers wearing ck armor and visored helmets, and wielding spears, they were Demihuman soldiers. Demihuman soldiers were the descendants of humans who had been captured in the invasion and taken to the Primordial Fog Domain. These humans had been corrupted by the demonic energy of Primordial Fog, and most of them had lost all rationality and be ves to the demons, capable of using demon armor...


    Various kinds of demons were walking out of the spatial passage, and as the talisman loosened, more and more power was able toe through. This strengthened the Demonic Will, allowing it to influence the two Fiend Emperors even more.


    They became more and more convinced that this was the Chaos Tower, a peerless treasure that could let them dominate the Great Ster Chiliocosm if they took possession of it. As for those demons, they hade to stop them from taking this treasure, which was why they needed to be in as quickly as possible.


    This psychological influence pushed the fiends to fight even harder. asionally, another fiend would attack the Chaos Tower, attempting to take it for themselves. Of course, they didn''t notice that the demons were putting up a rather feeble resistance. They were just charging in to die, barely trying to stop the fiends from taking the tower.


    That talisman was quite formidable, most of it still sticking on despite having taken on thousands of attacks from the fiends. Those who could truly threaten the talisman, the two Fiend Emperors, were still fighting each other instead.


    The Iron Blood Fiend Emperor was gradually losing ground to the Aurora Fiend Emperor''s full-force assault.


    Even though he was constantly swinging the Ironblood Saber and releasing the powerful wills within, the divine light of the Aurora Fiend Emperor''s rainbow feathers came in wave after wave, almost jolting the saber out of the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor''s hand.


    The Iron Blood Fiend Emperor knew that this rainbow light was said to counter all treasures in the world. While the effect actually depended on one''s cultivation level, this rainbow light truly did have some neutralizing effect on treasures.


    The Aurora Fiend Emperor was already stronger than him, and the rainbow light countered his Ironblood Saber. If the Ironblood Saber weren''t supported by the countless wills within it, it would have been sent flying long ago.


    Aurora flitted around, releasing bursts of rainbow light that pushed Iron Blood back again and again.


    At this moment, Tang Jie flew over and shouted, "Your Majesty Aurora, help me! ckwater is working with Silver Eyes!"


    Aurora looked over and snorted, "Silver Eyes, you''ve got guts, toe here!"


    He had married off his daughter with the thought of recruiting one of the Fiend Emperors, and Silver Eyes was strong enough that with his help, he could have easily suppressed the other three Fiend Emperors. But to his surprise, Silver Eyes had quarreled with his daughter over another woman, and now, he was openly working with ckwater to hunt down Thunder de. How could he not be angered by this?


    Beating back Iron Blood with a burst of rainbow light, Aurora said, "You deal with Iron Blood. Leave these two to me!"


    He flew toward Tang Jie.


    Delighted, Tang Jie pulled out the Sovereign de, which was disguised as the Thunder Saber, and made as if he was about to attack Iron Blood. But as Aurora passed him, he unleashed a Devil Crushing Fist.


    Boom!


    The fist mmed into Aurora''s body in a dazzling explosion of light.


    But Tang Jie didn''t see Aurora''s body shatter, only countless streams of light scattering into the air as if he had punched a bubble.


    This was¡­


    Tang Jie was stunned, unease welling up in his heart.


    Not good!


    A rainbow palm emerged from the void, slightly pressing at Tang Jie''s back.


    This light push had Tang Jie tumbling through the air, howling in pain.


    A person walked out of space¡ªnone other than the Aurora Fiend Emperor. He thrust out his palm two more times, sending sts of energy at Tang Jie''s avatar and Er Hu. "Reveal your true forms to this emperor!"

 Chapter 728: Buying Time

    Chapter 728: Buying Time


    <em>Bang!</em>


    The original body, the avatar, and Er Hu were all sent flying. The original body was the worst off. Although it was the strongest, it had taken the fiercest attack, a strike of rainbow light that the Aurora Fiend Emperor had been saving for some time. Not only had his body been punched through, fiend energy was spreading from the wound into every part of his body, stripping him of his disguise and causing him to crash to the ground, sending up a plume of dust.


    <em>Plush!</em> Tang Jie vomited blood mixed with chunks of his organs. He looked at Aurora and said, "So you knew all along we were fake?"


    The Iron Blood Fiend Emperor was already sheathing his saber, seemingly not intending to fight Aurora at all.


    It seemed like this was all an act between the two.


    The Aurora Fiend Emperor slowly drew back his hand and casually replied, "I can''t say I knew all along. I was just suspicious. When Thunder de appeared, I was wondering why his aura was so weak. And don''t tell me it''s because of his injuries. Others might not be able to tell, but you think this emperor can''t? It''s clearly because your cultivation is insufficient to reach Thunder de''s level. Tang Jie, you''re very bold, to dare to even pretend to be a Fiend Emperor!"


    "Oh my, you even know my name." Tang Jie coughed up blood and smiled. "So how did you guess it, then?"


    "I have your old servant to thank for that," Aurora chuckled.


    Tang Jie looked at Elder Wind in shock.


    Elder Wind venomously red back. "Surprised, aren''t you, Tang Jie? When you were killing ckwater, I was watching the entire time. Both of us are at Soul Transformation, so when I''m following you, you would find it difficult to detect me."


    Tang Jie was stunned.


    Elder Wind was right. As they were both at the equivalent of Soul Transformation, so long as Elder Wind was cautious enough, Tang Jie would find it hard to detect him in the middle of battle. This was a consequence of cultivation levels, and there was essentially no solution for it.


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. "It seems like not taking action all this time drew your suspicion."


    Elder Wind coolly replied, "Thunder de was never one for using his head when he could use his fists."


    Tang Jie sighed.


    As expected, the problem was the difference in personality.


    In the past, his avatar was able to reduce social interaction with the excuse of remaining in seclusion to treat his injuries, giving even Elder Wind few chances to interact with him, so he didn''t have much of an opportunity to notice a problem.


    With this somewhat longer period of interaction, he had noticed a problem and followed him.


    Elder Wind continued, "Two Tang Jies, one the original and one the avatar, letting you ambush and attack from both the front and back. A fine move, as expected of a despicable human! His Majesty Thunder de was also probably done for by this trick of yours, yes?"


    "And also my husband, Silver Eyes!" Lan Ling stepped forward. "I was wondering why that heartless scoundrel treated me like that. It turns out he was being yed by someone else! No wonder you didn''t dare to get close to me."


    Tang Jie sneered. "''Didn''t dare''? It''s more like you weren''t worth my time! It certainly wasn''t me doing the endless pestering! If I knew that you were this thirsty, I might have paid a visit to your bed and left you unsatisfied so that you could find a man back home to make you happy. I have to wonder just how many affairs you had while Silver Eyes wasn''t watching."


    These vicious words had Lan Ling trembling in anger.


    The thought of how she had tried to get Tang Jie into her bed so many times utterly humiliated her, and Tang Jie had brought it up in front of everyone. Scowling in fury, she roared, "Tang Jie, you''re seeking death!"


    She raised her hand and sent a rainbow beam of light at him.


    The light struck Tang Jie and sent a torrent of energy into his body, which bashed around his insides and caused his entire body to contort as he repeatedly threw up blood.


    But Aurora stopped his daughter from going further. "Tang Jie, you''re quite talented, to kill three Fiend Emperors. Out of respect for your ability, this emperor will give you an opportunity."


    Tang Jie snorted. "Are you going to ask me to surrender and serve you? Right, and to be safe, you''ll put a few seals on my body."


    Aurora happily smiled. "They say you''re smart, and sure enough, you immediately understand. This is why this emperor even set up this trap Killing you is simple, but taking you alive is hard!"


    Tang Jie sighed. "The old saying was right. You can''t spend too long next to the river without eventually getting your shoes wet, and if you spend the entire year fighting geese, you''ll eventually get your eye pecked. I''ve schemed against many people, so to be schemed against once in a while is normal. So was being tricked by the demons also on purpose?"


    Since Iron Blood and Aurora were putting on a show, it went without saying that they had broken free of that Demonic Will''s influence. Otherwise, with the Chaos Tower in front of them, there was no way they would be working together.


    Aurora smiled. "Some treacherous fellow trying to fool this emperor with their little tricks? This emperor simply yed along."


    Tang Jie immediately said, "But the goal in ying around wasn''t me, right?"


    Hearing this, the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor grimaced and red at Aurora.


    Aurora was startled at first, and then he erupted inughter. "Kid, you really are something else. Yes, while the Chaos Tower is fake, the corpse of the Azure Dragon is real, as is the Five Elements forbidden zone. Moreover, if this Primordial Fog passage is used properly, it can be quite valuable. Since I was going to fight over all this anyway, I might as well pretend to be controlled so I can kill a few of my opponents. But I didn''t think that you would deal with ckwater before I needed to kill anyone, and Silver Eyes and Thunder de are already dead."


    Tang Jie nodded. "You were nning to use this opportunity to kill one or two Fiend Emperors and solidify your rule, after which you could push the me onto the Demonic Will. But then you found that there were actually only two Fiend Emperors still alive, so you extinguished any thought of killing Iron Blood. Haha, Your Majesty Iron Blood, you should be thanking me for saving your life."


    The Iron Blood Fiend Emperor''s face was growing uglier and uglier.


    Unlike Aurora, he truly had been affected by the Demonic Will. He thought that Aurora had been the same, but it now seemed that this wasn''t the case, which left him enraged.


    Aurora indifferently said, "There are only two Fiend Emperors left, which means the humans now outmatch us. The only solution is toe together, not break apart. Iron Blood, remember the big picture!"


    Iron Blood red at Aurora. "''The big picture''? You still have the nerve to say that? What if the talisman came off in our fight and opened up the passage, allowing the demons to invade?"


    Aurora smiled. "It''s nothing to be afraid of at all. It''s just a talisman. If it can be torn off, it can naturally be put back."


    He lightly thrust his palm at the talisman.


    The talisman was pushed back to its original position by the distant palm, and the violet clouds in the passage instantly disappeared.


    Aurora smugly stroked his beard.


    But a momentter, a gust of wind lifted up a corner of the talisman, and violet fog surged out once more, leaving Aurora stunned.


    He thrust out his palm again, ttening the talisman.


    But the talisman was like a naughty child, flying up again right after it had been put back.


    Aurora tried several more times, but he found it impossible to make the talisman stick, and his face started to turn red.


    Tang Jieughed. "Aurora, you really think a talisman left behind by a Titan of High Antiquity can be put back just because you want it? Hmph, the cmity of Verdant Cloud is bound to be your responsibility!"


    ttening the talisman couldn''t restore it to its ce, so the passage to Primordial Fog would always be partially open. Demons would always be flowing in, and while the stronger demons wouldn''t be able toe through, the demons that did would still bring countless disasters to the Verdant Cloud Domain. And all of this would be because of Aurora''s selfishness.


    Aurora''s face shifted several times before he finally grunted and said, "So what? Primordial Fog Cmitiese once every three thousand years. There have already been so many invasions, and nothing too bad has happened, so why should we worry about a single passage?"


    But he privately thought to himself, <em>Once I get my hands on this treasure, I''ll break into the next realm, after which I can wander the myriad domains, so why would I care about the Verdant Cloud Domain then? If this ce can''t hold me, there will be some other ce out there that can.</em>


    Of course, he would never say this out loud.


    Tang Jie grunted, "If that were really the case, you really think such a huge formation would beid down, even requiring the Azure Dragon to seal the passage?"


    "This" Aurora was rendered speechless. To be honest, he had no exnation for this problem.


    Tang Jie continued, "You''re no fool, but your greed makes you unwilling to see the cruel reality before you!"


    Aurora roared back, "Then do you know the reason?"


    "I don''t," Tang Jie frankly replied. "But I do know that if this was something a Titan of my world wanted to stop, then it would be best to not let it happen. Or else, I''m afraid you won''t be able to bear the consequences!"


    Aurora, Iron Blood, and Lan Ling all gasped and looked at the passage.


    What exactly was behind that passage? Why did it sound even scarier than the Primordial Fog invasions that took ce once every three thousand years?


    "No, that''s impossible!" Aurora shook his head. "It can''t be! It can''t!"


    As he shouted, his face began to turn murderous, and he red with hatred at Tang Jie, as if this was all his fault.


    Tang Jie sneered, "It''s not that you don''t believe me. You''re just unwilling to face the truth. But I seem to have touched a sore point, and I don''t think you''re in the mood to listen to me."


    Aurora coldly stared at Tang Jie. "You''re talking so much with me on purpose, trying to buy time. Are you trying to heal your injuries? But you''ve taken my rainbow divine light. Unless you''ve entered the Dao of Life and can recover from all damage, nothing you do will help. I can kill you as easily as crushing an ant!"


    Tang Jie sighed. "Your Majesty is right. I really am buying time. But there are two things I need to correct. First of all, while I haven''t entered the Dao of Life, I haveprehended it. While this alone isn''t enough to resist your rainbow divine light, I''m also a body refiner, so my recovery ability is a hundred times stronger than the average cultivator. Combining the two is barely enough to get by."


    Tang Jie spread apart his arms, revealing that the wounds inflicted by Aurora were basically healed.


    Aurora narrowed his eyes and was about to attack again when Tang Jie continued, "Secondly, my real goal in buying time isn''t to heal my injuries. After all, I have yet to enter Violet Pce, but I''m facing two Divine Division great fiends and more than a thousand Transformation fiends. Even I''m not so reckless as to think I could face so many opponents. Fortunately, beforeing here, I called for some allies, and while I was speaking with Your Majesty, they should have arrived."


    Tang Jie turned and shouted, "Hurry and show yourselves already, or do you guys really want me to die?"

 Chapter 729: Explosion (1)

    Chapter 729: Explosion (1)


    As Tang Jie spoke, resoundingughter came from the distance.


    Aurora''s eyes narrowed and his heart tightened, for he was far too familiar with thatugh.


    A man flew out from the west, his appearance majestic and imposing. He was flying atop a giant broadsword, and a sharp sword gale preceded him.


    Iron Blood''s face darkened. "Liu Zongchang!"


    This man was none other than the Sect Master of the Celestial Sword Sect, Liu Zongchang, one of humanity''s three Violet Pce cultivators.


    The man on the flying sword was followed by an old man appearing from the east, seated on the back of an old turtle. This old turtle was seemingly crawling through the air on its feet, but it was actually moving rather quickly. The elder gave off a celestial aura, stroking his beard and smiling, and on hisp was a set of counting rods.


    Tang Jie smiled. "Reverend Seer."


    This was none other than the Reverend Seer he had spoken with through the Web of Fate.


    Finally, a middle-aged, clean-faced schr strode out of the southern sky with a book in his hand and a crown atop his head, strolling through the air as one might stroll through one''s garden.


    Aurora couldn''t help but cry out, "Feng Wuxiang!"


    This man was none other than the State Preceptor of Fengshan, Feng Wuxiang!


    The three Violet Pce cultivators of humanity had all appeared at the same time, and with them were several dozen other human cultivators, including Shentu Yuan, Ye Xiao, Ximen Changfeng, and Ice Phoenix. When they spotted Tang Jie, Shentu Yuan and the others all waved at him. After one hundred years, they had also grown much stronger.


    As Feng Wuxiang appeared, he said to the Aurora Fiend Emperor, "My old friend Aurora, have you been well?"


    But rather than the Aurora Fiend Emperor, he spoke to that delicate youth behind him.


    Everyone was stunned, even Tang Jie, staring at the youth behind Aurora.


    The youth coldly chuckled.


    His voice was clearly Aurora''s voice.


    The youth said, "Feng Wuxiang, you old ghost, why didn''t you just stay in Fengshan? Did youe all the way here to die? Or perhaps you think that this little brat causing chaos has given you an opportunity to stage aeback such that you can even ignore the Heavenly Dao Oath?"


    Feng Wuxiang smiled. "This Feng Wuxiang would never dare to break the Heavenly Dao Oath, but this isn''t the battlefield, and we aren''t fighting over territory, but a treasure from High Antiquity. Fighting for personal gain can''t be considered breaking the oath."


    The Aurora Fiend Emperor looked around and said, "What if I were to give you the Azure Dragon''s corpse?"


    Feng Wuxiang was taken aback, seemingly not expecting this offer.


    Liu Zongchang replied for him, "We want the Azure Dragon''s corpse, but I also want your life, Your Majesty Aurora!!"


    The youthughed. "Good, good, so you''re so certain that you''ve gotten us? Then what are you waiting for? Come and fight me!"


    <em>''Come and fight me!''</em>


    The Aurora Fiend Emperor''s majestic roar resounded through the world.


    The old Aurora then pointed forward and said, "Millepluma Guard, attend me!"


    "Present!" the fiend guards all shouted in unison.


    "Your emperor orders you to kill these people!"


    "Attack!"


    With this shout, a mighty storm swept through the world.


    All of the fiend guards assembled into a thousand-man phnx, their nine-hundred-some spears, thrusting into the sky, forming a spear mountain. The 28 Constetion generals tookmand, ordering this phnx forward.


    A strike that concentrated the power of nearly one thousand Transformation fiends was something even a Violet Pce cultivator didn''t dare to underestimate.


    Feng Wuxiang pped his book, and a gale swept out from his body, stirring up a sea of clouds that surged toward the mountain of spears.


    At the same time, Reverend Seer threw out a counting rod.


    This counting rod grewrger as it tumbled through the air, unleashing a golden light as it joined Feng Wuxiang''s attack in holding off the phnx. Liu Zongchang also yelled, his broadsword flying and growing to the size of a small mountain and swinging at the air.


    "Defend!"


    The fiend guards shouted in unison, each of them raising a small golden mirror in their left hand.


    The nearly one thousand small mirrors let out a light that formed a giant barrier above them.


    The majestic Celestial Sword mmed into the barrier, a shockwave rippling out in all directions from the impact zone, but it disappeared when it reached Feng Wuxiang and Aurora.


    The strike of the Celestial Sword Sect Master had failed to injure even a single fiend guard.


    The Millepluma Guard that the Aurora Fiend Emperor had trained had been raised with the intention of ying a Violet Pce cultivator. This was the concentrated power of one thousand fiends, able to both attack and defend, advance and retreat. The formation fused their energies together, allowing them to kill one Violet Pce cultivator, fight evenly against two of them, and hold out for a while against three.


    The power of the Millepluma Guard was exactly what made the Aurora Fiend Emperor so frightening.


    Once the Millepluma Guard blocked the sword, Aurora shouted, "Focus on killing Liu Zongchang! Leave Feng Wuxiang to me! As for Reverend Seer, Iron Blood, he''s all yours!"


    The Iron Blood Fiend Emperorughed. "It would be my pleasure!"


    Although he hated Aurora, he was no friend of humanity.


    Now that the humans hade to their front door, he would have to put his grudges against Aurora to the side for now.


    The Ironblood Saber swept toward Reverend Seer, imbued with all of its countless wills, and Reverend Seer threw out his counting rods, streaks of golden light fending off the Ironblood Saber.


    The old Aurora charged at Feng Wuxiang, barraging him with rainbow light. Feng Wuxiang waved a sleeve, sending out gusts of wind to fend off the light.


    The human cultivators began to fight with the fiend kings and generals.


    Elder Wind roared as he charged at Tang Jie, "Tang Jie, give me back my master!"


    He transformed into a giant golden lion and lunged at Tang Jie.


    With him were Thunder de''s fiend kings and generals.


    As those fiends charged at him, Tang Jie snorted, "Seeking death!"


    He was just about to throw a punch and y Elder Wind when the young Aurora suddenly looked over at Tang Jie.


    This one look made Tang Jie shiver all over, as if he had been targeted by a venomous snake.


    He instinctively converted his punch into a block, and then his vision exploded with rainbow light as he was sent flying.


    The avatar charged in at an angle, instantly producing countless hands that unleashed a barrage that fell like a lightning storm on the young Aurora. But the young Aurora simply snorted, a brilliant aurora appearing behind him like a peacock opening its tail, easily neutralizing Tang Jie''s Nine Heavens Cmity des.


    Elder Wind also turned to attack the avatar, while the four fiend kings and sixteen fiend generals joined together to attack Tang Jie.


    Five fiends that were essentially at Soul Transformation and sixteen fiend generals that were at Heart Demon was a force seven to eight times stronger than him, almost on par with a Violet Pce cultivator. The avatar didn''t dare to take their attacks directly, choosing to retreat with Er Hu.


    The gap in strength between the two sides began to be obvious.


    Although the fiend side was down a Divine Division fiend, the subordinates the Five Fiend Emperors had brought were still around.


    These forces put together were on par with the humans, and with the Millepluma Guard dealing with Liu Zongchang, the fiends actually had the advantage in the middle and lower tiers.


    On the battlefield, a minor advantage could quickly be widened and ultimately converted into a total advantage.


    In this situation, Liu Zongchang lost his patience and finally shouted, "Tang Jie, you were able to kill Silver Eyes and Thunder de, even if it was only through sneak attacks. Is this all the strength you can show? While Aurora might cultivate the Twin Bodhi Willow Art, he''s being held down by Wuxiang, and he can only afford to use 10% of his strength on you!"


    At this time, Tang Jie''s tumbling original body finally crashed to the ground. Massaging his chest, Tang Jie said, "So his strength can be moved around between the two bodies?"


    The Twin Bodhi Willow that Aurora cultivated allowed one to have two bodies, and his strength could be moved around between them, one growing stronger while the other grew weaker. While this secret art had its limits, such as that the bodies could not be too far away, nor could they have strength above his cultivation level, it was still a most incredible art.


    He was able to dominate the Divine Division great fiends and cow the humans of Fengshan thanks to both his rainbow light and his Twin Bodhi Willow Art.


    As he was dealing with someone as powerful as Feng Wuxiang, he had concentrated most of his power there. Thus, the young Aurora only had enough strength to hold Tang Jie, not actually threaten him.


    Upon understanding this, Tang Jie charged in, shouting, "If that''s the case, then it''s time I started showing some of my ability!"


    Just when he was about to attack the young Aurora, Tang Jie sensed something and quickly shot back to the rear.


    Elder Wind, the four fiend kings, and the sixteen fiend generals had pushed the avatar to the brink. Each fiend king had seized one of the avatar''s limbs, and the sixteen fiend generals had pressed down on the avatar''s weak points, rendering him immobile. Elder Wind was now charging over in his golden lion form.


    Just as the avatar was about to have his head bitten off, the original body charged in, crashing into the avatar in an explosion of light.


    The light was so blinding that the golden lion couldn''t even open its eyes!


    And then it saw Tang Jie raise his head and smile. "My head''s not that easy to chew!"


    His body erupted with an aura that surged straight to the heavens.


    Tang Jie suddenly swung his arm.


    With this swing, those fiend kings and generals that were subduing him from a distance were all shaken off.


    They sensed an immense energy erupting from Tang Jie, so powerful that even the collected strength of so many fiends couldn''t suppress it.


    This surging majestic power was even stronger than that of a Fiend Emperor!


    Yes, "stronger"!


    Ever since his avatar had reached Soul Transformation, the merged Tang Jie could now fight evenly against Divine Division great fiends. Even if he still couldn''t win, he wouldn''t necessarily lose. No longer was he a Tang Jie that needed to rely on schemes and ambushes to win.


    He couldn''t cast spell arts instantly like Violet Pce cultivators, nor could he harness the power of the world, but he was physically stronger than them, and his body was tougher.


    Trying to suppress him? What an absolute joke! Even Divine Division fiends couldn''t suppress him, unless they had ascended to the next tier!


    "Raaa!"


    With a roar, Tang Jie raised his arm and sent those fiend kings and generals flying back. At the same time, Tang Jie punched out with his other hand at the golden lion, striking it in the belly.


    "Awooo!" Elder Wind roared in fury.


    Tang Jie callously said, "Since you''re such a loyal servant, you might as well follow him!"


    The power of his fist erupted within the lion, sting the golden lion into tiny pieces of gore.

 Chapter 730: Explosion (2)

    Chapter 730: Explosion (2)


    Elder Wind was dead.


    Tang Jie had killed him with a single strike.


    The explosion of blood filled the vision of the other fiends and made all of their hearts tremble in fear.


    This was a peak Soul Transformation fiend! Even a Fiend Emperor would have found it difficult to get rid of them so simply.


    Drawing back his fist, Tang Jie coldly looked at the other fiends.


    The four fiend kings shivered. One of them shouted, "Together!"


    They still hoped that their numbers could ovee their opponent''s power.


    Tang Jieughed in scorn. "I love fighting against groups."


    Tang Jie raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.


    With this clear snap, the fiends saw gouts of blood rise into the air.


    If one observed closely, one would realize that this blood was the blood that Tang Jie had thrown up earlier from Aurora''s palm strike. Besides this blood, there were also the chunks of organs. All of this had once been a part of his body.


    At Tang Jie''smand, they rose up like soldiers, flying up and scattering through the air, glowing with a dark red light.


    A momentter, the blood and flesh began to transform into humans. In a sh, there were more than five hundred of them.


    All of these were human cultivators. Some of them had taken on Tang Jie''s form, while others appeared like Feng Wuxiang, Liu Zongchang, Reverend Seer, Shentu Yuan, Ximen Changfeng, and so on. The moment they appeared, they flew over to whoever they were pretending to be, joining their original in battle against their opponents.


    This caught the fiendspletely off guard. Initially, they were able to identify the fakes from the real one, but in an intense battle, with everyone constantly moving around, they quickly lost track. Moreover, the human cultivators weren''t fools. Once they saw this move, they understood what Tang Jie was up to. They each used their own techniques to conceal themselves, working together with the illusions to attack. The fiends were soon being pushed back, and the tables began to turn.


    Liu Zongchang was the greatest beneficiary.


    The Aurora Fiend Emperor''s Millepluma Guard wasn''t to be underestimated, and he was having a rather tough time fighting against this force. If the battle dragged on, he could even lose.


    But Tang Jie had given him ten-some illusory clones, greatly reducing the pressure on him.


    After a few blinks, the Millepluma Guard lost track of him, and the battle grew chaotic. Liu Zongchang''s figure was everywhere, as was hisrge sword. The Millepluma Guard could only randomly attack and defend, and Liu Zongchang was able to seize this opportunity to unleash his most powerful move, the Celestial Gate Smash.


    To his surprise, when he used the Celestial Gate Smash, all of the illusions did so as well, and ten-some swords asrge as mountains descended from the sky.


    The Millepluma Guard couldn''t tell which one was real and could only react as best they could. The mountain of spears unleashed a web of light as they attempted to deal with the oing attacks.


    But at this time, the real Celestial Gate Smash arrived from the side rather than from above.


    Thebination defense of the Millepluma Guard was aimed upward, and the side was their weak point. Liu Zongchang''s Celestial Gate Smash sted apart the barrier, and its remaining power cut into seventy-some fiend guards before finally disappearing. The terrifying power of a Violet Pce expert caused these fiend guards to die instantly.


    Liu Zongchang didn''t let up the assault, harnessing his Divine Will and manifesting several hundred rays of rainbow light that shot at the fiend guards.


    This was a moment of weakness for the Millepluma Guard, their defensive barrier shattered and yet to be reformed, so Liu Zongchang''s light beams pierced through at least two hundred fiend guards. While these attacks weren''t necessarily enough to kill them, it would reduce theirbat strength. He then unleashed a furious wave of sword energy, and then a st of lightning from his palm. These three attacks in a row swiftly got rid of more than half of the two-hundred-some fiend guards, and punched arge hole in their defense line. At this time, the Millepluma Guard was finally able to put its barrier back up, and Liu Zongchang retreated so as to recover the energy that this round of attacks had consumed and also to heal the few wounds the fiend guards had inflicted on him in this assault.


    The tables had instantly been turned, the Millepluma Guard sustaining losses heavy enough to make the Aurora Fiend Emperor want to throw up blood.


    Liu Zongchang took only a few seconds to recover, upon which heughed and said, "Little Brother Tang, thank you for the help!"


    As a Violet Pce cultivator, there were few cultivators among the masses that he respected. That he would address Tang Jie as Little Brother showed how highly he viewed him.


    This was understandable. The Reflections of Floating Life could take on all forms and even copy spell arts, making them very difficult to see through. Just ten-some illusions would have been enough to break the deadlock, and Tang Jie had created several hundred.


    In a duel, such a spell art didn''t seem powerful, but it became incredibly useful in a group battle.


    Liu Zongchang didn''t know that this was a Dao Art, or else he would have been even more stunned.


    "You''re wee. But Sect Master Liu should be more careful," Tang Jie said with a smile.


    The ten-some illusions he had given to Liu Zongchang had all been destroyed, but the Millepluma Guard had been cut down to seven hundred, reducing their strength to the point where they would find it hard to threaten Liu Zongchang. Thus, he didn''t give Liu Zongchang any more illusions, letting him fight on his own.


    Tang Jie had produced more illusions of himself, thirty-five of them.


    These thirty-five Tang Jies joined together with him, all of them beginning to cast a spell art.


    The image of these thirty-six pairs of arms all performing the same hand signs was quite majestic. If they were all stacked on top of each other, he would seem like the Thousand-Hand Guanyin.


    The fiend kings under Thunder de shouted, "Don''t be afraid! They''re all fake!"


    "Is that so?" The thirty-six Tang Jies all chuckled.


    Then they all shouted, "Dragonlike Hand!"


    Thirty-six arms extended, unleashing thirty-six sts of wind, which transformed into dragons as they shot downward.


    Thebined might of thirty-six dragons was majestic to behold,pletely on par with the full-power strike of a Violet Pce Titan.


    Tang Jie''s thirty-six dragons seemed to dominate the world, everyone else''s battles paling inparison. Even Feng Wuxiang and Aurora were startled, wondering what this spell art was.


    They had sharper eyes than the fiend kings, and they could tell at a nce that these spell arts were all real!


    Nobody had expected Tang Jie''s illusions to not actually bepletely illusory. When his illusions turned into other people, their spell arts were fake, but when they became him, they were no longer illusions, but actually a sort of avatar. The Reflections of Floating Life made it so that each of the real avatars could use Tang Jie''s strength once, but they couldn''t use something on the level of a Divine Connection like the Flesh Millstone.


    Thus, these spell arts were all real!


    Thirty-six dragons howled down, striking a green-faced fiend king.


    This fiend king chopped through one dragon, and its immense power made his entire body shudder, so he shouted, "This one is real!"


    Another dragon came charging in, but the fiend king paid it no mind, thinking it was an illusion. But then the dragon mmed into him in a dazzling explosion, and before he could catch his breath, the other dragons came mming in, shattering his barrier and making him throw up blood.


    "How!?" the fiend king cried out in terror. He thrust out his palms, throwing out sts of energy, but it was toote. The thirty-six dragons merged together into a single massive dragon, and with a mighty roar, it trampled over the fiend king.


    In truth, if the fiend king had known about the unique properties of the Reflections of Floating Life and had focused all his energy on defending, he might have survived. After all, while there were many Dragonlike Hands, it was a rather average spell art. But in his carelessness, he had been wounded, which prevented him from putting up an effective resistance, so the thirty-six dragons had trampled all over him.


    Aghast, the other fiends tried to save him.


    The thirty-six Tang Jies rushed in to intercept them. Although these illusions could no longer use spell arts, their fists and feet remained real, and they had inherited a part of the original body''s strength, so they couldn''t be underestimated.


    A fiend king frantically bellowed, "Hurry up and die!"


    He spat out a shining golden object at the Tang Jie across from him.


    Whatever this golden object was, as soon as it made contact, this illusion that had been so full of life disappeared with a bang.


    The other two fiend kings used their own weapons. One took out two silver truncheons, which unleashed tens of thousands of sts of energy. The other turned into a snake and spat out venom. The remaining fiend generals also attacked the illusions.


    s, because they didn''t know which was the real Tang Jie, they couldn''t concentrate their attacks. As all of the illusions burst like bubbles, the real Tang Jie had already used the Chaoswind Step to appear behind a fiend king, right in the middle of all the fiends.


    He had appeared precisely in the moment right after all the fiend kings and generals had used their attacks, the critical moment where the old energy had been spent and new energy had yet to be gathered. Tang Jie ced a hand around that fiend king''s neck and twisted, snapping his neck.


    The fiend king roared, and he used his hands to put his head back on. Tang Jie broke it again, and he put it back on again, the two doing this several times in a single second. As the fiend generals moved to his rescue, Tang Jie''s body erupted with a red light, sweeping up the fiend generals. Meanwhile, Tang Jie used both hands and twisted the fiend king''s head more than ten times before finally tearing it off.


    The fiend king frantically grabbed for his head, and Tang Jie could see that the eyes were still looking around. He chuckled and said, "That''s quite amusing."


    At this moment, a fiend king managed to break through Tang Jie''s Flesh Millstone and charged at him, so Tang Jie immediately thrust the head behind him.


    There was a boom, and while the fiend king was pushed back, the head in Tang Jie''s hand was also shattered to pieces.


    "A pity. It was a good head." Tang Jie was about to leave when that headless fiend king grew another head.


    "Eh?" Tang Jie gasped in surprise. He used his left hand to chop off the new head, and another one grew out.


    <em>Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!</em> Tang Jie continued to slice away, and after eight heads had been cut off, the fiend king finally had no more, and its body copsed and turned back into its original form: arge, ck-feathered bird with nine necks, the heads atop them all gone.


    "So it was a nine-headed bird," Tang Jieughed. He thrust out his hand, pushing back another fiend king. Meanwhile, the churning of the Flesh Millstone had ground down a few fiend generals.


    In the blink of an eye, Tang Jie had killed two fiend kings and four fiend generals. The remaining two fiend kings and twelve fiend generals were all terrified, but Tang Jie had no ns to spare them, already moving on to the next fiend king.


    In this fiend king''s moment of peril, Tang Jie was sted by a beam of divine light.

 Chapter 731: Explosion (3)

    Chapter 731: Explosion (3)


    Tang Jie tumbled through the air beforending on the ground, one knee digging into the earth. Raising his head, he looked up at the sky.


    Up there, the young Aurora was coldly staring at him.


    "Oh, so you''ve finally started showing your strength," Tang Jie chuckled as he pped a demon that was rushing at him, obliterating it. And then he took a forceful leap off the ground, rising into the air and creating a bottomless fissure under him.


    With a flip of his right hand, he produced the Heaven Thunder Saber and unleashed a Thundershatter Saber against the young Aurora. At the same time, he produced the Sovereign de from his left hand, turning it into a long sword and stabbing it at the nearest fiend king. He was attacking two people at once!


    "Arrogant!" the young Aurora bellowed. Lightning gathered above his head, but then a rainbow burst out from his back, whisking him away from the lightning.


    At that moment, the old Aurora pushed back Feng Wuxiang with a burst of rainbow light, upon which the young Aurora abruptly grew stronger. He looked at Tang Jie, and a multicolored light surged out of his eyes and swept toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie immediately halted his attack, bringing back the Sovereign de and unleashing a wave of sword energy. Both sides exchanged countless blows in a split second.


    <em>Bang!</em> Tang Jie was thrown backward.


    As he was flying back, he turned the Sovereign de into a whip andshed it at a fiend general, coiling it around the general and slicing him in half. Meanwhile, his other hand began to form countless hand signs, manifesting a giant hand that flew toward Aurora.


    Aurora simply grunted, which reverberated like muffled thunder, and it grew louder and louder until it was like heavenly drums. These sound waves coalesced together into a spear of sound that stabbed at Tang Jie. At the same time, there was a bolt of divine light, and then a barrage of palm attacksthree attacks in all aimed at Tang Jie.


    This was the special privilege of Divine Division fiends. Thanks to the ability to cast arts with a thought, a Divine Division great fiend could make three to eight attacks for Tang Jie''s every one. Even though Tang Jie had cultivated the Ninedark Mantra, making his casting speed much faster than the average, it was impossible for him to keep up with Aurora.


    This storm of attacks instantly bowled him over.


    "Die for me!" the young Aurora snarled, the rainbow divine light sweeping over to wrap around Tang Jie like a belt and render him immobile.


    Thunder de''s subordinates used this opportunity to attack.


    The restraints made from the rainbow divine light were too powerful for Tang Jie to break free from, and even the Chaoswind Step was sealed. The fiends barraged him with spell arts and art relics, and even though he was a body refiner, he was still left battered and bruised. Worst of all was that these restraints of divine light were even absorbing his energy, preventing him from putting up any defenses and even reducing his recovery abilities.


    Tang Jie was like a live target before these attacks, and he was soon heavily injured.


    Liu Zongchang grew frantic at this sight, shouting, "Feng Wuxiang, what are you doing? Hurry up and hold down Aurora."


    It went without saying that the young Aurora was able to suppress Tang Jie because the old Aurora had given him a great deal of energy, which was why Liu Zongchang was questioning Feng Wuxiang.


    Feng Wuxiang replied, "The old thing is going all-out, taking my blows so he can eliminate Tang Jie first!"


    The book in his hand let out a dazzling light, sending waves of clouds at the old Aurora. Sure enough, even though the old Aurora wasn''t capable of dealing with them, he simply endured the attack rather than take energy from the young Aurora.


    In this way, Tang Jie wouldn''t be able to escape and could only endure the attacks of the fiends.


    The two fiend kings attacked with all their power. One of them swung an axe at Tang Jie''s neck like a woodcutter, causing blood to ssh all over him. As that fiend king hacked away, he shouted, "So tough! Hurry up and break already!"


    "Tang Jie!" Shentu Yuan, Ye Xiao, and Ice Phoenix all panicked.


    They were all dealing with their opponents and couldn''t get away, so they could only watch as Tang Jie was beaten up.


    The attacks from the fiends were not to be underestimated. Those fiends grew more and more excited, and that axe was already striking Tang Jie''s neck bone, each strike letting out a resounding ng, but Tang Jie still couldn''t escape.


    In this perilous moment, the voice of an extremely flirtatious woman rang out in his mind, "Hah, little brat, you''re at your limit now, aren''t you? Do you want this venerable one to save you?"


    Startled, Tang Jie was just about to ask who this was when he realized that something was wrong. Wasn''t this the result of Demonic Will infiltrating his mind?


    It was that demon on the other end of the passage.


    The other party seemed to know what Tang Jie was thinking, giggling as she said, "Smart! Besides me, is there anyone else who can save you?"


    "You can sense what I''m thinking?" Tang Jie asked in his mind.


    "My, I can''t believe you can even think about that at a time like this."


    "Answer me!"


    "Fine, since you''re not afraid of death, this venerable one won''t get worried for your sake. This one truly can read minds, but that depends on the target. Rx. It''s only because you''ve had your five senses and energy cirction cut off by that dumb peacock that this one can invade your mind. In normal circumstances, this venerable one wouldn''t be able to do it. And this one can only read what''s on your mind at the present, not read memories of the past. So? Are you satisfied now?"


    "But that could be because your body is on the other side and you can''t use your full power, right?"


    Theughter rang out once more.


    "You really are a clever little rascal. But is this really the time to be thinking about this, when you''re about to die? Wouldn''t it be better to"


    "''Wouldn''t it be better to listen to you and make a trade with you''? So long as you help me escape, I will help you tear off the seal and set you free. Is that what you wanted to say?" Tang Jie coldly replied.


    "Look at you! Really, talking with smart people really does save time. Young man, you don''t have much time left. If you don''t agree now, you won''t get another chance."


    Tang Jie sneered, "You really think I''ll die without your help?"


    "I can''t see how you can survive your current situation. That stinky peacock''s rainbow shackles aren''t that easy to shake off, at least not for the current you."


    "That''s just because you''re uninformed!" Tang Jie leisurely said, "Forget it. Today, I''ll give you some new knowledge, and I won''t even charge you a fee!"


    At this moment, under the frenzied attacks of the fiends, Tang Jie''s neck bone had almost been cut off, and his head was beginning to tilt to the side. The axe-wielding fiend king excitedly shouted, "DIE!!!"


    "''Die''?" Tang Jie suddenly said.


    That almost-severed head rose up a little, and a vertical eye opened up in the center of Tang Jie''s forehead, locking on to that axe-wielding fiend king.


    The fiend king froze, instinctively realizing that something was wrong.


    And then Tang Jie roared, "Then go ahead and die for me!"


    He opened his mouth wide, firing out a red beam that struck the fiend king at a point three inches below his left armpit.


    There seemed to be nothing remarkable about this location, but as that red beam struck it, the fiend king howled in pain.


    "AROOO!!!"


    He staggered backward, and then his body erupted in mes, the Pale Cloud me beginning to burn him from the inside out. The fiend king seemedpletely incapable of defending against the mes, howling in pain as he turned into a long-armed giant ape. He rolled on the ground, stirring up great clouds of dust, asionally shouting, "How did you know? How did you know? How did you know where my Life Gate was!?"


    The long-armed giant ape was a fiend with an extremely tough constitution, and normal attacks wouldn''t work on him. Even if his head were cut off, he could regrow it, and the Pale Cloud me wouldn''t have been able to do anything to him. But his Life Gate was located three inches below his armpit, and when the Pale Cloud me attacked from that point, it attacked from his very foundation, allowing it to terrorize his body. The fiend king couldn''t endure this, and the Pale Cloud me burned him to ash.


    At the same time, Tang Jie roared, "Stop!"


    The effect of the Four-Nine True Word made all the fiends freeze for a moment, and even the young Aurora felt his rainbow shackles tremble for a moment.


    He paled, realizing that this was trouble.


    Tang Jie used this brief moment to wag his finger.


    This was all it took for the Sovereign de to transform into a thread, coil around the rainbow shackles, and attach itself to one of their nodes.


    Tang Jie''s eyes shed. "Break!"


    As the Sovereign de constricted, the rainbow shackles exploded.


    Tang Jie immediately threw a punch, striking thest fiend king in the chest and punching arge hole in him.


    Fiends had tenacious life force, and he managed to survive this grievous wound, bellowing as he swung his truncheons.


    But they couldn''t even kill Tang Jie when he couldn''t move, so now that he could, their attacks became useless.


    Letting the truncheons bash his body, Tang Jie swung his right hand down, hammering that fiend king''s head into his chest cavity. The fiend king tried to pull his head back out, but Tang Jie reached through the hole in his chest and smoothly pulled out his head, throwing it over to Er Hu.


    "How could this be?" The young Aurora was stunned.


    He was well aware of the power of his rainbow shackles. The interlinking energy made them impervious to the cutting of edged weapons, but Tang Jie had seemingly recognized the weakest point of the rainbow shackles, shattering its structure in one strike and causing the chains to crumblerather than being cut open, they had been directly destroyed.


    In other words, Tang Jie had identified the weakness of the rainbow shackles in a brief moment, and besides that, he had identified the weak points of the fiends he was fighting.


    Tang Jie''s body shed red as the Flesh Millstone rumbled toward the fiend generals. But this time, rather than evenly spreading its power, the Flesh Millstone concentrated it into thin tendrils that wrapped around the fiends. Then, these tendrils transformed into whips, sabers, swords, and other weapons and stabbed at the weak points of the fiends. Tang Jie had used the Flesh Millstone to strike at the weak points of all of his opponents at the same time!


    <em>Plush! Plush! Plush!</em> All ten-some fiend generals had been nailed to the air.


    These fiends that wouldn''t die even if their heads were cut off had been instantly turned into corpses by Tang Jie''s single strike. Blood flowed out of the wounds, whereupon those tendrils-turned-weapons absorbed them, growing stronger as the corpses withered.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    The blood tendrils withdrew, and the bodies plopped to the ground.


    As Tang Jie let out a long breath, his injuries began to heal. Tang Jie had used the blood essence of the fiends to recover, and even that terrifying wound through his neck began to heal. Meanwhile, Tang Jie began to charge at the next group of fiends.


    With a swing of the Sovereign de, more illusions appeared, and Tang Jie began to move about the fiends like the Grim Reaper, taking the lives of fiends wherever he went. In a sh, he had already killed two more fiend kings and ten-some fiend generals.


    The tables had turned once more, the bnce beginning to tilt toward the human side, and all of the human cultivators cheered.


    This was the first time in a thousand years that the humans held the advantage in a battle against the fiends, and in such an important battle as well!


    After this battle, the fiends would be so greatly wounded that they wouldn''t have the strength to invade the humans. Perhaps the humans could evenunch a counterattack.


    All of this was because of one person: Tang Jie!


    Everyone gazed at Tang Jie in admiration.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    After killing another fiend, Tang Jie flew toward Aurora.


    A brilliant light gathered on the Sovereign de. "Die, Aurora! Ten Extinctions de!"


    In the face of this furious wave of sword energy and Feng Wuxiang''s attacks, Aurora simply chuckled. Ignoring Tang Jie''s attack, he focused all his power on Feng Wuxiang.


    The Ten Extinctions de seemed about to strike Aurora in the back, and given its power, if Aurora didn''t defend himself, it could easily cut him in two. But a momentter, the sword light changed trajectory, brushing past Aurora and biting into Feng Wuxiang''s chest!

 Chapter 732: Becoming a Demon

    Chapter 732: Bing a Demon


    "Aaaah!"


    Feng Wuxiang let out a wretched scream, and dust flew out of his book to neutralize the aftershocks of the sword energy. At the same time, he thrust out a palm to push Tang Jie away. But Aurora chuckled and sent out a wave of rainbow light, knocking aside Feng Wuxiang''s book and clearing the way for Tang Jie''s attack.


    Tang Jie pushed forward, the Sovereign de carrying Feng Wuxiang as its sword energy ran rampant in his body, tearing his organs apart!


    "YOU!" Feng Wuxiang threw up blood as he stared at Tang Jie, his eyes brimming with loathing.


    "Tang Jie!" Everyone cried out in rm.


    They couldn''t understand what had just happened.


    Tang Jie''s three eyes were locked onto Feng Wuxiang as he roared, "Die already!"


    His left hand gathered up an immense force and unleashed it at Feng Wuxiang''s skull.


    Just when Tang Jie''s punch was about to obliterate Feng Wuxiang''s head, Feng Wuxiang threw up blood and transformed into a gust of wind, causing Tang Jie''s strike to miss. Feng Wuxiang appeared behind Tang Jie, thrusting a finger at him.


    Tang Jie didn''t even try to dodge, throwing himself backward.


    Finger collided with back, and while Tang Jie earned himself arge hole in his body, Feng Wuxiang''s finger crumbled into dust.


    At the same time, that rainbow light engulfed the pair, Aurora''sughter ringing through the air. "Thank you, my friend Tang Jie, for giving this emperor the chance to secure the victory."


    "So your method of gratitude is to kill me with him?" Tang Jie said as he punched backward, the st of energy suppressing Feng Wuxiang so that Tang Jie could use him as a shield.


    Just when Feng Wuxiang was about to take on the full brunt of the rainbow light, a roar erupted through the air.


    A shing golden counting rod flew in at an angle, blocking more than half of the rainbow. The rest of the light struck Feng Wuxiang, leaving him bleeding all over.


    It was Reverend Seer.


    But to save Feng Wuxiang, he had let the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor take a swing at him with his saber, sustaining a rather bad wound.


    "Preceptor! Reverend!" The human cultivators cried out.


    Liu Zongchang feinted with his sword to misdirect any foes before retreating to Feng Wuxiang''s side to protect him.


    Reverend Seer, Feng Wuxiang, and Liu Zongchang all drew close to each other, and as they stopped fighting, so did everyone else. Even the demons silently retreated as if they had received some order.


    Thus, the battle entered a temporary ceasefire.


    But most of the humans were angrily ring at Tang Jie, and Tang Jie was standing between the humans and fiends, coldly staring at Feng Wuxiang as if he was resentful that he had failed to kill the man.


    Shentu Yuan shouted, "Tang Jie, what are you doing?"


    Ice Phoenix said in a trembling voice, "Why? Why did you do this?"


    All of the human cultivators stared at Tang Jie, and even the fiends were wondering what was going on.


    Only Aurora was chuckling as if he knew that this was going to happen.


    Tang Jie coldly replied, "That''s exactly what I want to ask. Lord Preceptor, might I ask what Tang Jie did wrong that made you want to kill me?"


    This question left everyone stunned.


    It wasn''t Tang Jie who was ambushing Feng Wuxiang?


    From Tang Jie''s tone, it sounded like Feng Wuxiang was trying to secretly get rid of Tang Jie?


    Ice Phoenix was smarter than the rest, and as she recalled the scene of Tang Jie being suppressed by the young Aurora''s rainbow shackles, she suddenly understood, shouting, "Tang Jie, you''re saying that the Preceptor wasn''t using his full strength so that Aurora would have the chance to kill you?"


    These words caused an uproar, and everyone looked at Feng Wuxiang.


    If that was the case, then Tang Jie really couldn''t be med.


    The one most hated would always be the one on their side who sold out their own, with second ce being the enemy.


    Feng Wuxiang scowled, holding a hand to his chest as he red at the vertical eye on Tang Jie''s forehead. After a while, he said, "The Celestial Eye of Insight?"


    "On the Dao-entering level," Tang Jie confirmed.


    Everyone gasped.


    He had entered the Dao of Insight?


    What sort of freak was this?


    It was no wonder he was able to identify the weak points of all those fiends and kill them in one strike.


    Shentu Yuan was originally going to say that Tang Jie''s words might all be spection, but he now understood. "You have Insight, so you were able to tell that the Preceptor wasn''t using his full strength?"


    Tang Jie nodded.


    His Insight hadn''t been meant for looking at Feng Wuxiang, but nothing could escape the gaze of the Celestial Eye, so when he was seeing the weaknesses of the fiends, he also discovered that Feng Wuxiang wasn''t using his full strength on Aurora at all, so it was no wonder Aurora was able to focus so much strength on him.


    It had to be understood that in terms of strength, an initial-grade Violet Pce cultivator couldn''t even beat him now. In other words, Aurora was actually using the majority of the power of his two bodies on him. This could only happen because Feng Wuxiang was going easy on him.


    How could Tang Jie not be shocked and angered by this? But he was a very cunning andposed fellow, so rather than acting out, he first killed some fiends to weaken the fiend side, continuing to fight on humanity''s side, while furtively reaching out to Aurora.


    Although Aurora couldn''t see that Feng Wuxiang was holding back, given that they were old rivals, he was already wondering why Feng Wuxiang had be so weak. Upon getting Tang Jie''s message, he immediately understood. Though he didn''t understand why Feng Wuxiang was doing this, he was happy to work together with Tang Jie to kill Feng Wuxiang if that was what he wanted.


    Of course, the fact that this fiend was bold enough to trust Tang Jie also yed a part. The average person would never have had the guts to expose their back to an enemy.


    But Aurora had won his gamble, and the two of them had sessfully worked together to deal Feng Wuxiang a heavy blow.


    If Reverend Seer hadn''t risked his own life toe to the rescue, they could have killed him.


    Tang Jie had given his reason, but most of the human cultivators were still unwilling to believe.


    Ximen Changfeng shook his head and said, "Impossible! This can''t be right! Tang Jie, you must have seen wrong! The Preceptor would never harm you!"


    Tang Jie coldly replied. "This is reality. Although I don''t know why, it''s clear that Preceptor Feng doesn''t want to see me survive. In truth, when I was heavily injured by Aurora, I was wondering why you guys had yet to arrive, but now I see that it wasn''t without reason."


    "Impossible!" the humans shouted.


    Tang Jie raised his head and pointed at Feng Wuxiang. "If you want to know if it''s true or not, you can just ask him."


    All the humans looked at Feng Wuxiang, expecting him to deny it.


    But they were disappointed.


    Feng Wuxiang silently gazed at Tang Jie, and only after some time did he finally speak. "Tang Jie, I have long heard of your reputation, and sure enough, you are no ordinary individual. I simply yed a few tricks, but you were able to see through them. Admirable, admirable!"


    The humans turned ice-cold.


    Ice Phoenix shook her head in disbelief. "Preceptor, why? It was Tang Jie who killed Silver Eyes, killed Thunder de, killed ckwater, and it was he who called us here and gave us the opportunity to wipe out the fiends. He was the one who gave humanity the chance to revive, so why do you want to kill him? You don''t even know him!"


    Feng Wuxiang said nothing, remaining silent.


    At that moment, Reverend Seer abruptly said, "It wasn''t him who wanted to kill Tang Jie. Preceptor was ordered to."


    "Why?" Everyone looked at Reverend Seer.


    Reverend Seer sighed, sorrow appearing on his elderly face. "Tang Jie, in the end, I underestimated you. I thought that you had only achieved sess in the Dao of Fate, but to my surprise, you''ve entered the Daos of Insight, Wisdom, and Yin Yang as well. You are a natural-born Child of Fate, possessing the strength to match Violet Pce despite having not reached it. In all the world, you are the first to reach this level. Such achievements are unprecedented, but s, the heavens have decreed that we should stand on opposite sides! What a great pity!"


    Everyone was in an uproar over these words.


    "What? Tang Jie has entered three Daos?"


    "''Strength to match Violet Pce''? How? I''ve never heard of anyone able to surpass this realm!"


    "What does Reverend Seer mean? Was he the one who asked the Preceptor to kill Tang Jie? But why?"


    The mor of conversation filled the air.


    Even Aurora and Iron Blood looked between Tang Jie and Reverend Seer in shock. Reverend Seer''s words had just been too much, and it was hard to me them for not believing it.


    They had no idea that even more shocking revtions awaited them.


    Tang Jie narrowed his eyes at Reverend Seer. "Reverend, it sounds like this was your doing. Although this is our first meeting, our conversations in the Web of Fate were quite enjoyable. I don''t feel that I offended Reverend in any way, so why do you suddenly want to kill me?"


    Reverend Seer''s eyes were filled with grief as he sighed and shook his head. "s, my young friend, you can no longer speak with me through the Web of Fate, no?"


    Tang Jie was startled for a moment, and then he nodded. "Two days ago, I severed all the threads of Fate and broke free from the entanglement of Fate."


    <em>What?</em>


    Feng Wuxiang and Aurora looked at Tang Jie in disbelief.


    Aurora even blurted out, "You entered the Dao of Fate, but you severed the entanglement of Fate?"


    Feng Wuxiang muttered, "No wonder, no wonder the Reverend ordered me to kill you."


    Even Liu Zongchang looked at Tang Jie in disbelief.


    But those cultivators and fiends who had yet to reach Violet Pce/Divine Division looked at each other in confusion.


    Reverend Seer nodded. "Then it''s true. No wonder I suddenly couldn''t find you when observing Fate. You disappeared from the Web of Fate and were reced by someone else. At first, I was unable to confirm what had happened, but when I saw him, I understood."


    Reverend Seer pointed at Er Hu.


    When Reverend Seer saw all those threads of Fate tangled around Er Hu, he understood what had happened.


    It was also at that moment that he gained a desire to eliminate Tang Jie.


    But this was exactly what confused Tang Jie.


    He asked Reverend Seer, "Why? Just because you think this is the correct path, just because I didn''t choose the path you chose? This makes you want to kill me?"


    "No!" Reverend Seer replied. "It is not I who wants to kill. It is the will of the heavens that wishes it."


    <em>What?</em>


    It was Tang Jie''s turn to be shocked.


    He suddenly recalled that furious roar of "TRAITOR!"


    Reverend Seer continued, "When you severed the entanglement of Fate, you betrayed Fate and abandoned the Heavenly Dao. You went against the heavens, so you must be punished by them. From the moment you severed the threads of Fate, I felt a sense of anger, a desire to murder, from the Web of Fate."


    Reverend Seer''s voice boomed, "You betrayed the will of the heavens, disrupted the operation of the Heavenly Dao, causing the formation to lose effect and allowing us all to go in."


    "Is that what happened?" Tang Jie chuckled. "So you feel that the will of the heavens ordered the execution of this traitor, so you decided to try and backstab me?"


    "Hahahaha!" Reverend Seerughed. "Tang Jie, I know what you''re thinking. You take me for a fool, singlemindedly believing in the Heavenly Dao, correct?"


    "Is that not the case?"


    "Of course not. I epted the will of the heavens because you have already be a demon!"


    Tang Jie was stunned. What did this have to do with demons?


    "What do you think demons are? Is it ugly appearances that make a demon?" Reverend Seer pointed at the fiends and shouted, "What of them? All of them are inhuman, but are they considered demons?"


    Of course they weren''t. Fiends were fiends and demons were demons. They were twopletely different things.


    "Or perhaps those who possess evil and wicked arts are demons? But what about him? Does he count?" Reverend Seer said, pointing at Ye Xiao.


    He was not, either.


    While ghost refining arts were wicked in nature, those that cultivated them were not demons.


    Everyone started to somewhat understand.


    Reverend Seer shouted, "Demons are those who go against the Great Dao! The Great Ster Chiliocosm is the positive ne, and the Primordial Fog Domain is the negative, and so its denizens, as residents of the opposite ne, are demons! Those who form Divine Wills and seed be gods, and those who fail be demons, which is why the opposite of gods are demons! Demons have nothing to do with appearance, origin, or cultivation technique, only with the Great Dao! Those whoply are gods, and those who oppose are demons.


    "And you!"


    Reverend Seer pointed at Tang Jie. "By severing the entanglement of Fate, you betrayed the Great Dao. As a rebel, you have be a demon.


    "You are already a demon, so you must be executed!"

 Chapter 733: Discussing the Dao

    Chapter 733: Discussing the Dao


    Reverend Seer''s words left everyone stunned.


    Even Tang Jie was dumbfounded.


    <em>''I''m already a demon''?</em>


    <em>Didn''t I just pick a choice on the Dao of Fate? How the hell did that make me a demon?</em>


    Tang Jie was utterly confused and had no idea how to respond to Reverend Seer.


    A deathly silence followed.


    Nobody said a thing, everyone staring at Tang Jie.


    At this moment, wildughter rang out.


    "Hahahaha, what an absolute pile of nonsensical dogshit!"


    "Who''s there?" Everyone looked around, but they were unable to identify the source, the wildughtering from all around.


    Only Tang Jie noticed that this was the voice of that woman who had spoken in his mind.


    It was that demon!


    The demon continued, "What is this bullshit? You be a demon because you go against the Great Dao? You think that your Dao is the proper one, so you consider all other paths wrong, even considering those who follow them to be demons? I''ve never heard anything more ridiculous! The Great Dao is limitless, and everyone can walk their own path. Who said that your Dao is the right and only Dao?"


    These resounding words roused Tang Jie from his stupor, and heughed and said, "Right, everyone walks their own path, so why is yours the correct path while the other paths are demonic? In my view, this attitude of everyone not on your path being the enemy is the real demonic Dao, the real heresy and evil! In the end, this sort ofck of tolerance orpassion is just ply and prosper, or defy and die'', pretending to act in the name of the Heavenly Dao while doing the work of a demon, trying to establish dominance over all!"


    Reverend Seer was infuriated. "Absolute nonsense! In the Great Chiliocosm, the Heavenly Dao is supreme, the only correct Dao. I act in ord with the Heavenly Dao, obeying the will of the heavens, so I walk the supreme and correct path! With your constant denials of the Heavenly Dao and your rebellious acts, if you are not a demon, who can be considered a demon?"


    He stomped his feet and pounded his chest as he spoke, filled with rage, as if that demon and Tang Jie had profaned the most sacred existence in his heart. For some reason, this felt rather familiar to Tang Jie.


    While he wondered where this familiarity came from, that demonughed and said, "What sort of bullshit seer are you? Although there are Twelve Great Daos and countless smaller Daos, there has never existed a Heavenly Dao!"


    Earthshaking news!


    There was no Heavenly Dao?


    Everyone looked at the Chaos Tower in shock.


    Reverend Seer was trembling in rage. pping his leg, he roared, "For spheming the Heavenly Dao, you deserve ten thousand deaths!"


    That enchanting woman shouted back, "Ignorant lowlife, presumptuously speaking of the supreme. This is nothing more than the inferiority of humans, always seeking a master to prostrate to. By worshiping that nonexistent supreme, you gain for yourself an ethereal sliver of safety and unearned hope, but in the end, this is nothing more than the absurd fantasies of a pack of fools."


    Whoever this demon was, she had a very sharp tongue, words like des. Reverend Seer threw up a mouthful of blood, and while he cried out "Nonsense", it seemed like he had nothing else to say.


    Tang Jie frowned and said, "This ipetent junior once saw the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel while at Mortal Shedding. Can this junior ask: if there is no Heavenly Dao, why is there the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel? And where does a Heavenly Dao Oathe from?"


    "So what is the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel?" the demon asked.


    Tang Jie had no response.


    To be honest, he had no idea what the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel was.


    The demon exined, "''The Heavenly Dao Law Wheel'' is just a name. If you say that what you saw is the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel, then it''s called the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel, and if you say it''s called the Carriage Wheel, then it''s the Carriage Wheel. What does it have to do with the Heavenly Dao? As for the Heavenly Dao Oath, that''s even more ridiculous. Oaths belong to the Heart, which is under Truth, and it has the function of ''my words bew'', and what does that have to do with the Heavenly Dao? Does that mean if we go ahead and call your Celestial Eye of Insight ''the Heavenly Ears'', it''ll be so?"


    Tang Jie''s jaw dropped, but he couldn''t say anything.


    He felt like this demon''s words were somewhat forced, but he also couldn''t call her argumentspletely unreasonable.


    That demon seemed to guess at what Tang Jie was thinking. Laughing, she said, "Regardless, that you were able to see that bullshit Heavenly Dao Law Wheel means that you''re quite the talented individual. Without such talent, it would have been impossible for you to break precedent by being able to fight Violet Pces while not being at that realm. But in some things, the world has influenced you too much, and you cannot break free of it to get a different perspective of the world. There is one simple thing that proves all of it. If there really is a Heavenly Dao in the universe, why has no oneprehended the Heavenly Dao?"


    Reverend Seer finally had the chance to retort,ughing, "Nonsense! The Heavenly Dao is supreme, so how can anyone recklesslyprehend it?"


    The demon casually responded, "What does it mean toprehend the Dao? To study the mysteries of the Great Dao and understand the wonders of the world. If the Heavenly Dao existed, no matter how supreme it was, nothing would be stopping us fromprehending it. It is like the clouds in the sky. While mortals cannot reach them, nothing is stopping them from observing, analyzing, orprehending the clouds. Thus, being unable toprehend the Heavenly Dao has nothing to do with its supreme nature. So long as it exists, it should be able to beprehended and understood. The Primordial Fog Domain serves as a perfect example. The Primordial Fog is the opposite of the Ster Chiliocosm, supposedly intolerable to the Heavenly Dao, so why can the demons of Primordial Fogprehend the Twelve Great Daos? But while the demons of Primordial Fog canprehend the Twelve Great Daos, not a single person in the Chiliocosm hasprehended the Heavenly Dao. Is that notughable? If you can''t even understand it haha, then how can you receive the will of the heavens?"


    There was a fit of giggling.


    Everyone was silent. It was true. If the Heavenly Dao could not beprehended or understood, where did the will of the heavense from?


    Reverend Seer replied, "Through the Dao of Fate. The Dao of Fate is the representative of the Heavenly Dao and is first among the Twelve Great Daos. I have entered the Dao of Fate for many years, and when acting for the will of the heavens, I have never made a mistake."


    The demon heartilyughed. "Hahahaha! As expected, the argument about Fate serving as the representative for the supreme Heavenly Dao. I thought that you might be something different, but it turns out that you''re just like the Azure Dragon, already a ve to Fate, truly a tragedy All of you are nothing more than pitiful insects being controlled by Fate!"


    Tang Jie creased his brow again. "Senior, your words are a little extreme. The Twelve Great Daos are the utmost principles of the world, so why do you say they are being controlled? As for the Heavenly Dao, to say that the Heavenly Dao doesn''t exist because nobody has been able toprehend it is a little forced. Perhaps the Heavenly Dao is just too profound? This one has yet to reach Violet Pce, but I can''t say that the Violet Pce Realm doesn''t exist just because of that."


    "Excellent words!" Reverend Seer couldn''t help but shout in support. He had already been rendered speechless by that demon and been looking for a retort, so he had momentarily lost himself in excitement. Upon realizing that it was Tang Jie who had spoken, he felt a little embarrassed.


    The demon coldly chuckled. "You''re quite the amusing child. I''m speaking up for you, but you argue against me."


    Tang Jie earnestly replied, "There are no sides to the truth. This junior only seeks the truth, to know and understand. If one hears the Dao in the morning, one can die content in the evening."


    These words moved the humans, and even Feng Wuxiang praised, "He truly is a young hero. No wonder he was able to make so much progress."


    Although he had been heavily injured by Tang Jie, he felt no hatred toward him. After all, he was the one who had been disloyal first. He wanted to use this chance to see if Reverend Seer was right or not.


    The demon replied, "At your cultivation realm, I cannot exin to you what I mean by being controlled, as that is liable to bring cmity on your head. As for what you said after that, that''s a very interesting thought. You say that you have yet to reach Violet Pce but cannot im that there is no Violet Pce Realm because of it, so let me ask you: if there were no Violet Pce cultivators in the Great Ster Chiliocosm, could you say that the Violet Pce Realm existed?"


    Tang Jie froze.


    Yes, if the highest level in the Great Ster Chiliocosm were peak Soul Transformation, then how could you know if the Violet Pce Realm existed or not?


    The demon then said, "Then let me ask you: do you know of the divisions of the Immortal tform Realm?"


    Tang Jie replied, "How could I not? There are four tiers in total: Earth Immortal, True Immortal, Gold Immortal, and Saint Immortal."


    The demon then asked, "Then why does the cultivation world speak of the Five Realms and Fourteen Tiers?"


    Tang Jie immediately replied, "Before High Antiquity, Immortal tform had only two tiers, Earth Immortal and True Immortal, so the Five Great Realms had only fourteen tiers. Later on, Titans began to break these shackles and reach even higher tiers, resulting in Gold Immortal and Saint Immortal, so there have actually been sixteen tiers for some time. But too few people manage to reach thest two tiers, making them the stuff of legends, and since everyone was already used to the Five Realms and Fourteen Tiers, the usage has remained until the present day."


    Tang Jie suddenly shuddered. "Fourteen tiers sixteen tiers"


    "You understand?" The demon chuckled. "There originally were no Gold Immortals or Saint Immortals. These tiers only came into existence when people reached them. Thus, it doesn''t matter if the Heavenly Dao exists or not. What does matter is if anyone has actually reached it. So long as one person hasprehended the Heavenly Dao, the Heavenly Dao exists. But if nobody hasprehended it, then it essentially doesn''t exist. The same is true for the ''supreme''. It exists rtive to the ordinary. If no one ordinary can sense the existence of the supreme, then why is it supreme? Thus, the Heavenly Dao does not exist, nor does the supreme!"


    Nobody had a response to these words.


    Tang Jie pondered these words for a long while, and then he bowed to the Chaos Tower. "Senior, thank you for guiding this junior through the darkness of ignorance!"


    As he spoke, his body emitted a brilliant light.


    This light rippled out like water from his body, radiating warmth. It was like Tang Jie was being baptized in holy light, almost making one want to prostrate to him.


    Reverend Seer staggered backwards in shock, shouting, "Truth! You''veprehended the Dao of Truth!"


    The crowd erupted in shock and awe.

 Chapter 734: Hostage

    Chapter 734: Hostage


    Tang Jie had delivered far too many shocks today.


    In just one conversation, Tang Jie had somehow been enlightened andprehended the essence of Truth. This was just too absurd!


    Why was it that none of the onlookers had felt anything from the same conversation?


    They didn''t know that Wisdom was the earliest Dao that Tang Jie hadprehended, and over thest one hundred years, Tang Jie had always been advancing on this Dao.


    Truth was a crystallization of Wisdom. Wisdom was the flower, and Truth was the fruit.


    But theck of cultivation meant that Tang Jie had never been able to turn his flower of Wisdom into his fruit of Truth.


    It was only now, after entering the Dao of Fate, reaching Soul Transformation, attaining strength on par with Violet Pce, and discussing the Dao, that Tang Jie finally managed to turn that flower into a fruit.


    Of course, this fruit of Truth was in its weakest and most infantile form, but he had taken that most important step, which made all the other problems much easier to resolve.


    But after he sessfullyprehended this Dao, he realized something. The Great Dao could not be transmitted, and the Parting ssic was a method that transmitted the Dao as an art, going against the Dao, so when he cultivated the Parting ssic, he was someone going against the Great Dao. And when he severed the entanglement of Fate, he once more betrayed the guidance of Fate. Now, in his discussion with the demon, they had considered whether the Heavenly Dao existed or not, and through this medium, he hadprehended Truth and created a fruit of Truth. If someone told him that this string of treasonous actions wasn''t betraying the Dao, he himself wouldn''t believe it.


    It was no wonder Reverend Seer would ept the will of the heavens and desire to kill him.


    But if the Heavenly Dao didn''t exist, where did the will of the heavense from? And what did it mean to be a ve of Fate?


    Tang Jie didn''t understand, but s, the demon wasn''t willing to talk.


    Turning his head, he saw that Reverend Seer had turned ghastly pale, clearly still stunned from what had urred. Tang Jie smiled and said, "Reverend, whether the Heavenly Dao exists or not, there''s actually no need to argue about it. It''s not like anything will happen because of it. At least right now, even if there is a Heavenly Dao and I cursed it as being a turtle''s son, it wouldn''t punish me with a bolt of lightning from out of the blue. And Reverend doesn''t seem to have gained anything from diligently carrying out the will of the heavens. Even if you don''t carry it out, the Heavenly Dao won''t punish you, so why don''t we end things here?"


    "''End things here''?" Reverend Seer angrily said, "Iply with the guidance of Fate, act in ce of the Heavenly Dao, so how can I stop? Tang Jie, you have already fallen into the demonic Dao. Hurry up and ept your death!"


    Tang Jie sighed. "I knew it would be like this. I was willing to not pursue the matter of you backstabbing me, but you still won''t let go. If so, then our only option is to fight!"


    He turned to Aurora, who understood his meaning andughed. "If Little Brother Tang Jie is willing to defect, Aurora is happy to wee you."


    While he hated Tang Jie down to the bones, he showed none of this loathing on his face, choosing to work together with Tang Jie.


    Reverend Seer snorted. "If that''s how you want it, don''t me me for this."


    He pped his hands, and a human cultivator flew out of the distance with two people in his hands: Yiyi and Lin Xin, both unconscious.


    Tang Jie''s eyes suddenly narrowed.


    Upon seeing Yiyi in enemy hands, Tang Jie realized that Yiyi had probably chosen to get rid of Silver Eyes'' subordinates beforeing. But as she was on the way over, Reverend Seer had arranged for one of his men to ambush Yiyi. Yiyi thought that this person was on her side, so she was caughtpletely off guard, taken down so swiftly that she didn''t even have time to inform Tang Jie.


    Reverend Seer was truly a cunning fellow, conspiring against Tang Jie without him even realizing it.


    Tang Jie growled in anger, "Good, good, truly wonderful. I eliminated fiends for the humans, but the humans treat me as an enemy, plotting against me and even using tricks against their own."


    Reverend Seer sternly said, "You went down the wrong path, so you are no longer one of us!"


    "It''s not up to you to say what the wrong path is!"


    Reverend Seer pointed at Yiyi and Lin Xin. "Tang Jie, if you don''t want your little sister and woman to die at my hands, immediately go and kill Aurora, and thenmit suicide. Out of consideration for your tribute to humanity, I promise that I will spare the lives of these two."


    Tang Jie gripped the hilt of his sword as he growled, "So all that I''ve done for humanity is only worth a suicide?"


    He was so furious that his body was shaking.


    Shentu Yuan couldn''t stand to see this anymore, shouting, "Reverend, Tang Jie has done so much for us. Killing him just because of a single order from the will of the heavens is a little too much, isn''t it?"


    Ye Xiao also said, "Reverend, are you not being a little too hasty, judging someone as a demon just because they go against the Dao? We cultivators must uphold the Heavenly Dao, but we must also uphold our humanity. Reverend, if you destroy your humanity byplying with the Heavenly Dao, you go against all virtue!"


    Ice Phoenix was the most straightforward. "Tang Jie has contributed a great deal to humanity, yet we repay his kindness with treachery. Suchck of loyalty and righteousness brings shame to the Dao!"


    Ximen Changfeng bowed and said, "Reverend, please reconsider!"


    "Reverend, please reconsider!" Quite a few human cultivators repeated the call.


    Even Feng Wuxiang and Liu Zongchang appeared hesitant.


    Yes, Tang Jie truly was standing opposed to the Great Dao.


    But were his crimes so great that Reverend Seer had to so diligently serve the heavens?


    What was the Heavenly Dao? Nobody knew if it actually existed, but if it really was all-powerful, it coulde and take Tang Jie''s life on its own rather than rely on the hands of another.


    While Tang Jie had gone against the Great Dao, he had not done anything unjust to humanity.


    Rather than relying on right or wrong, Reverend Seer was acting on behalf of the Heavenly Dao in the name of wiping out heresy when all he was really doing was killing off a dissident. This was one of the most repulsive acts in the world!


    But Reverend Seer didn''t seem to think so.


    "Shut up!" Reverend Seer shouted. "What do you understand? This old man has spent a thousand years immersed in the Dao of Fate, receiving the will from above and rectifying the world below, never feeling shame over my actions. Tang Jie has gone against the heavens and has long ago be a demon. If I do not kill him now, he is bound to be a cmity. Perhaps he is even the future 100th Demon Lord of the Primordial Fog! I am so resolved on this because I am thinking about the future of humanity!"


    He turned to look back at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie simply chuckled while softly muttering, "Ah, righteousness how many sins are carried out under your name!"


    The demon once more whispered into Tang Jie''s ear. "This time, it seems like you''ve got no other way out. Heehee, how about it? Do you want to ask for my help? So long as you''re willing to help me, I guarantee that your two loved ones won''t die."


    Her whispers were dripping with temptation.


    Reverend Seer''s crazed barks filled his ears while the demon''s temptations filled his mind.


    That seductive demonic voice seemed to be influencing Tang Jie, and he began to feel dizzy.


    But when he saw Yiyi''s sleeping face, his mind instantly cleared.


    Ignoring that enchanting voice, Tang Jie said to Reverend Seer, "If you want me to listen to you, you at least have to wake up my little sister so that we can say our farewells, no?"


    Reverend Seer considered this and decided it wasn''t asking too much, so he nodded at that human cultivator.


    The cultivator pped Yiyi awake, but he also ced a hand on Yiyi''s back, ready to kill her if Tang Jie tried anything.


    The moment Yiyi woke up, she realized that something was wrong, twisting her body as she shouted, "Release me!"


    Tang Jie shouted, "Yiyi, don''t move!"


    Yiyi looked at Tang Jie and shouted, "Big Brother! Aren''t they on our side? Why did they capture me?"


    "Because they''re afraid of Big Brother but can''t beat me, so they''re using you to threaten me." Tang Jie smiled and reassured her, "But you don''t need to be scared. Big Brother won''t let anything happen to you."


    "Mm!" Yiyi dropped her head and began to cry.


    Tang Jie continued to speak with Yiyi, but he was mostly trying tofort her, in addition giving her some missions to do, like that she should help so-and-so if she ever returned home. Yiyi simply nodded.


    Reverend Seer started to lose his patience. "Tang Jie, haven''t you said enough?" he barked.


    The annoying demon voice also continued to echo in his mind. "Tang Jie, you don''t have much time left."


    All these cries and calls ate away at his soul.


    Tang Jie let out a long breath before turning to Aurora. "In the end, it seems I will have to fight with you, Your Majesty."


    Aurora heartilyughed. "You humans, all you know is how to stab each other in the back. Tang Jie, since you were forced into this, you might as well let me kill you so that at least you won''t be used by them to waste my strength. With me around, at least you''ll get a chance at revenge."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "It''s a rare chance to fight fairly with a Divine Division fiend, so how could I miss out on it? Since I''m dead no matter the oue of this battle, I might as well have an enjoyable fight and see if I can actually break that ancient precedent of the Ster Chiliocosm!"


    While everyone was being moved by these heroic words, a thick energy began to rise from Tang Jie''s body.


    This energy was his will to fight, his undying spirit.


    At that moment, Tang Jie mustered all of his energy. When facing a peak Infant Tending cultivator, not only was he not afraid, he was itching to fight. Even the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor''s Ironblood Saber let out a resonant ng, clearly responding to Tang Jie''s will, as if it was shouting, "A true man!"


    "Your Majesty Aurora, please forgive this discourtesy!" Tang Jie shouted, and then he threw a punch.


    It was a majestic and righteous one, bursting with the power of the world.


    Even Aurora had to take this punch seriously.


    Both the young and old Aurora took action, their four hands releasing a curtain of rainbow light.


    As the iron fist mmed into the rainbow light, it created rippling waves of light that forced the Aurora Fiend Emperor back nearly a thousand feet.


    It was clear that Aurora was weaker than Tang Jie in terms of pure strength.


    But a momentter, his four eyes shed, and rainbow light surged toward Tang Jie.

 Chapter 735: Rescue

    Chapter 735: Rescue


    Under a heavenly pir of fire, a fiend and human battled.


    One was a long-reigning Fiend Emperor who had dominated Verdant Cloud for many years, and the other was a rising star who had created miracle after miracle.


    When they battled, it was a battle of awe-inspiring might and grandeur.


    Rainbow divine light lit up the entire sky like an aurora.


    Under the light of this aurora, divine power became like water, filling up every part of the sky, and the people within it felt every action to be difficult, whether it was moving or gathering energy, and even spell art casting took twice as long. But the Aurora Fiend Emperor was like a fish in this water, moving with even greater agility, numerous mighty spell arts appearing all at once and deluging Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie''s response to this storm of attacks was rather simple. He couldn''t cast arts with a thought like a Divine Division great fiend, but he had a sturdy body and immense strength. Thus, his fighting style was extremely simple and monotone.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    A steely fist sted through the surging waves, opening a path for Tang Jie to move through. A new storm of spell arts quickly filled in the gap, which Tang Jie simply punched again.


    The sh of his fists with Aurora''s spell arts produced enchanting and dazzling bursts of light in the sky.


    This was a sh between a body cultivator and aw cultivator, a sh of brute strength and spell arts, a fearless contest between one man and the power of the world!


    Skill, tactics, and variation became unimportant in this sh. Only courage, power, and will would decide the oue.


    In terms of cultivation level, Aurora was a Divine Division great fiend. In terms of strength, his two bodies each had 70% the strength of a normal Divine Division fiend, which was much more than the normal Divine Division fiend when put together. This was why Aurora was so confident he could beat the other Fiend Emperors even though they were all at Infant Tending.


    But in terms of courage, will, and even experience, Tang Jie was not at all inferior. The Dao of the Martial Lord was all about bravely pressing forward, and the Parting ssic emphasized fighting strong enemies and allowing one to get stronger by fighting.


    The two fought for half a day with neither of them being able to get the upper hand.


    The Aurora Fiend Emperor proved himself to be a peak Infant Tending cultivator, unleashing an endless number of spell arts such that Tang Jie was having a hard time fighting to a draw, let alone winning. In truth, in the past, he hadn''t even been able to beat the weakest Infant Tending cultivator without relying on ambushes. That he could now fight the strongest to a draw was a sign of his vast progress. However, he had yet to reach peak Diamond Body, so he still wasn''t able to ovee this threshold.


    Even so, the spectators were all stunned.


    "A young hero, a young hero!" Liu Zongchang sighed. To people like Liu Zongchang, Tang Jie, who had only cultivated for a hundred-some years, was still considered young.


    Reverend Seer snorted, "No matter how heroic he is, he is still an elite among the demons. You''ll regret it if he''s not strangled in the cradle!"


    "Raaa!" Tang Jie let out another frenzied punch.


    The punch pushed through the waves and got all the way to Aurora, erupting in a burst of brilliant light on his chest. Aurora''s face paled, but he quickly mustered his blood energy and managed to suppress the attack. "A good punch! So you''ve walked the path of refining the body into a treasure, seeking divinity through the physical body. But body cultivation goes against the traditional spiritual energy cultivation, so perhaps Reverend Seer was not wrong. You truly have done something that goes against the Heavenly Dao."


    He thrust out a finger, which punched through Tang Jie''s fist st and shot through Tang Jie''s leg, trading a wound for a wound.


    "Bullshit! Countless people in High Antiquity pursued the path of body refining, so why do they no longer exist?" The demon''s voice rang out again. She was on the other end of the passage and couldn''t see what was happening on this side, so she was relying entirely on what she heard.


    Tang Jieughed. "While the path of refining the body to achieve divinity is a fine one, it consumes too many resources. As those who came after started to run short of resources, they gradually began to abandon this path, and it has been in decline for several thousand years now. Although Senior is in Primordial Fog, since the Primordial Fog Cmity urs once every three thousand years, there should be some information exchange, so why does Senior not know?"


    That demon replied, "Ridiculous! How am I supposed to know? Do you lot really think this passage leads to the Primordial Fog Domain?"


    Tang Jie was so startled that his reaction slowed for a moment, allowing a st of rainbow light to mangle his flesh. "Is that not the case?"


    The demon replied, "Of course not. This is simply an independent small world used to suppress this venerable one. Even if you opened the passage, you would just be releasing this venerable one. There is no possibility of linking Primordial Fog to the Chiliocosm."


    Aurora said in disbelief, "Since it isn''t the Primordial Fog Domain, why is there so much of the Primordial Fog''s violet energy?"


    The price of asking this question was that Tang Jie''s Ten Extinctions de sliced through his barrier and caused blood to gush out of his body.


    The demon exined, "Because this small world was sliced off from the Primordial Fog. Just like how there are many small worlds that have been modeled on, created from, or cut off from the positive ne that is the Great Ster Chiliocosm, the Primordial Fog Domain''s negative ne also has many small worlds, just not as many as the Great Ster Chiliocosm. This venerable one is in one of them. Once thend of the Primordial Fog, it was cut off and used as this one''s jail Yu Cheng, I won''t forgive you for this!"


    That demon shrieked, her voice brimming with loathing and resentment.


    The name of Yu Cheng sent a shiver through everyone''s minds.


    "The Chaos Immortal Sovereign?" Tang Jie blurted out.


    "The Immortal Emperor?" Aurora questioned.


    "Yu Cheng" was a rtively unknown name, but if one were to bring up the founder of the Court of Myriad Domains, the Immortal Emperor, the Chaos Immortal Sovereign and Dao-Proving Saint Immortal, the true controller of the Chaos Tower, the highest existence of High Antiquity, many people would immediately understand who this was.


    Yu Cheng was this person''s name before they attained the Dao.


    Had this Titan personally sealed this demon?


    Tang Jie and Aurora were so stunned by this name that the pace of their attacks slowed.


    Reverend Seer howled, "Fight already and cut the chatter!"


    "Shut it!" Tang Jie and Aurora roared.


    Reverend Seer was instantly silenced, and the two shared a look and smiled.


    Tang Jie brought his hands together and bowed. "My apologies!"


    He used that moment to throw out another punch, at the same time asking, "How can I know you''re telling the truth and not lying to us so we can let you out?"


    The demonughed. "Does this venerable one need to lie to you? Even if this passage doesn''t lead to the Primordial Fog Domain, does that mean you would have the guts to let this one out? After all, this venerable one is a Boundless Gold Immortal. The moment I escape, I could crush you all with a finger, and this puny Verdant Cloud Domain could be overturned with a flip of my hand!"


    Everyone was stunned by these words.


    A Boundless Gold Immortal!


    If this female demon was a Boundless Gold Immortal, didn''t that make her even more terrifying than the 99 Demon Lords?


    It had to be understood that most of the 99 Demon Lords were only at the True Immortal tier, with only the peak Demon Lords being at Gold Immortal or above.


    The White Tiger Demon Lord who had invaded the Rosecloud Domain was a True Immortal, and the ancestors of the six major sects were all Earth Immortals. To deal with the White Tiger, the six Earth Immortals had used everything they had and deployed all their disciples, defeating the White Tiger with sheer numbers, and the ancestor of the Beast Refining Gate had even died, leading to the grudge between the Basking Moon Sect and Beast Refining Gate.


    But this demon was an even stronger Boundless Gold Immortal.


    It was no wonder a sliver of her Demonic Will could control Fiend Emperors and her illusions could fool the masses. In front of her, Violet Pce Titans were just ants. If it weren''t for the passage being blocked and sealed by the talisman, preventing her from using most of her power, she really might have crushed everyone with just a finger.


    Everyone was dumbfounded by this female demon''s strength.


    The demon called out, "Tang Jie, that Reverend Seer has ndered you as a demon, which is truly contemptible. If you are willing to help me break free, I will pass on to you an art that will give you a big boost in power, allowing you to easily kill Aurora and Reverend Seer, and even boost your chances of reaching Violet Pce. What about it?"


    She had stopped trying to tempt him in his mind, making her offer openly.


    Again, the crowd was stunned by her words.


    If this really was a Boundless Gold Immortal, then her words might not be pure boasting.


    A Gold Immortal''s power could not be underestimated!


    Tang Jie asked, "Can you protect my little sister?"


    As he spoke, he thrust out a finger, but this finger appeared to have no power behind it at all.


    The demon replied, "Fate controlling them, disaster and happiness are only a thought away from each other. Though this venerable one has heaven-reaching methods, this one cannot bring you to that level in an instant."


    "If you can''t save my little sister, what''s the use of your divine arts? I''ll just continue fighting with His Majesty Aurora." Tang Jie swung his de, but there was still no power behind it, so Aurora used that chance to get a few punches in.


    The demon said, "Attaining the Dao will grant you an eternity. If you wish to be Immortal, you must put aside your mortal rtionships. Having such obsessions, being mired in sibling affection or addicted to romance, is no way to transcend the Dao!"


    Tang Jieughed. "Does that mean transcendence first requires the annihtion of all human emotions? That''s not cultivating the Dao of Immortality, but the Dao of madness! And don''t give me some nonsense about how the ways of the heavens require the end of human desires. Humans aren''t nts or stone, so how can they be without emotion? I have to save my little sister. Anyone who kills her will be killed by me!"


    "You would even give up your life for this?"


    "Yes!" Tang Jie roared as he punched again.


    But this time, his punch was aimed at Reverend Seer.


    "Devil Crushing Fist!"


    This was the strongest attack Tang Jie had ever made in his life.


    It was a wild and untamed fist, brimming with the most frenzied power in the world.


    As he punched, the rainbow light from Aurora struck him, but Tang Jie ignored it and continued to attack Reverend Seer.


    Reverend Seer hadn''t expected Tang Jie to attack him in this situation. Grimacing, he immediately conjured a golden barrier around himself.


    But even a prepared Violet Pce cultivator would have found it hard to stop Tang Jie''s full-power attack, let alone one who had put up a hasty defense.


    That st of fist energy mmed into Reverend Seer like a meteor, shattering his golden barrier. Reverend Seer had no other choice than to use his limbs to defend against the tyrannical energy of the Devil Crushing Fist. <em>Plush! Plush! Plush! Plush!</em> His arms and legs exploded from that violent surge of power, and still more power charged into his chest, shattering all his ribs and causing him to violently throw up blood.


    Even so, Reverend Seer still howled, "Kill her!"


    The cultivator holding Yiyi immediately took action.


    He raised his palm and brought it down on Yiyi''s head.

 Chapter 736: Soul Seizing

    Chapter 736: Soul Seizing


    Just as the palm was about to touch Yiyi''s head, Tang Jie shouted, "Stop! Fix! Ban! Seal!"


    These four calls mmed into that human cultivator like massive waves, making him shudder and momentarily freeze.


    At the same time, a st of finger energy shot toward Yiyi.


    This finger energy came out of nowhere, but Yiyi seemed to have expected it. She straightened up her little body, allowing the finger bolt to strike. Her body trembled, and then she let out a great shout, numerous green vines appearing around her and tightly enclosing her. The finger bolt had undone the seal on her body!


    The human cultivator''s palm struck the top of Yiyi''s head, and even though the vine armor neutralized some of its power, Yiyi still threw up blood, staining the vines red.


    Just when that cultivator was about to attack again, a streak of sword light appeared from nowhere. This was the sword attack that Tang Jie had made earlier, appearing right after that finger bolt and attacking the human cultivator.


    Shocked, the cultivator prepared to dodge, but Yiyi''s blood-stained vines instantly began to burn, seizing the cultivator in a giant hand of me and bringing him toward the sword light.


    "The Imperial Ember Lotus Mantra?" Aurora cried out in shock while thrusting a palm at Tang Jie. Having just used the Devil Crushing Fist, Tang Jie was powerless to resist and was sent flying away, blood gushing from his body.


    At the same time, the sword light swept across the human cultivator''s neck. <em>Plush!</em> The head went flying, and blood fountained into the air.


    A momentter, Yiyi grabbed Lin Xin with her left hand while her right hand snatched her Mustard Seed Bag back from that human cultivator, and then she began to fall back toward Tang Jie''s side. While retreating, she sowed bean soldiers and let out the Mother Cloudbat puppet. Tang Jie reacted perfectly to everything she did, as if he was waiting for just this moment.


    "Don''t even think about running!" Reverend Seer roared.


    Tang Jie may have sted apart his four limbs, but a Violet Pce cultivator''s ability to cast arts with a thought was no joke. With this shout, three counting rods flew around thebat puppet and attacked Yiyi, Lin Xin, and Tang Jie.


    But as the counting rods flew out, Tang Jie thrust out his palms, sending torrents of energy at Reverend Seer, blocking both his counting rods and the attacks that Aurora and Iron Blood had furtively sent his way.


    "A formation?" Reverend Seer''s eyes flickered with shock.


    At some point, Tang Jie had set up a formation around him.


    The formation was very simple, even crude, but this crude formation yed a critical role in protecting Tang Jie, giving Tang Jie a chance to catch his breath. So long as he was given enough time, he could recover.


    At that moment, everyone finally realized that Tang Jie must haveid down this formation while fighting with Aurora.


    He had enough strength toy down a formation!


    He had never nned topromise. He had nned everything out, sustaining injuries so that he could impede Reverend Seer and get back Yiyi, after which he would use the formation to protect himself. Even Aurora had to praise his ability to make such meticulous ns in so little time.


    But a momentter, a little white hand grew out from Reverend Seer''s right arm stump, pping his skull. "Divine Soul, be a sword and exterminate this devil!"


    A white light emerged from the top of his head, and the formation failed to stop it. The white light threatened to pierce through Tang Jie, trying to kill him at all costs.


    After unleashing the Devil Crushing Fist and sustaining that heavy wound from Aurora, Tang Jie was powerless to fight back.


    At this moment, Lin Xin suddenly pushed Tang Jie away, and that white light punched through her body.


    "Big Sister Lin Xin!" Yiyi shouted, rushing over and embracing Lin Xin.


    Lin Xin''s heart had a huge hole, and she was already lifeless.


    Yiyi was dumbfounded.


    While Tang Jie had been on his century-long travels, Yiyi had been left in the Silver Eyes Imperial Pce, and Lin Xin had always been there to keep herpany.


    One hundred years of this had made them the best of friends long ago. For Yiyi, Lin Xin was like her big sister, always taking care of her, always helping her.


    When Tang Jie wasn''t around, Lin Xin was there to help make ns, rule the country, and share worries and hardships.


    The two women had supported each other and managed to turn a fiend empire into a fairnd, changing up the rtionship between fiends and humans.


    How could Yiyi not be grief-stricken, Lin Xin having died like this right in front of her?


    "Bastard!" Even Tang Jie gnashed his teeth in hatred.


    This formation had been hastily made during his battle with Aurora, and it was made of pure spiritual energy, with no materials. In terms of both power and range, it was extremely limited, so it was bound to have many shorings, one of them being that it could only defend against physical objects, not ethereal ones.


    The Divine Soul was an ethereal object, and while it gained physicality at Violet Pce, it could convert freely between the two states, so that Divine Soul Sword simply needed to be ethereal to pass through.


    But turning the Divine Soul into a sword was extremely dangerous, and if it failed to wound the enemy, its user might end up being the one injured instead.


    Who could have expected Reverend Seer to be so determined as to even gamble his Divine Soul in order to kill him? But now that he was heavily injured, he had no means of using this opportunity that Reverend Seer had given him.


    As he inwardly cursed, he suddenly realized that something was wrong.


    Reverend Seer''s Divine Soul Sword had not returned after stabbing Lin Xin, remaining in her body.


    Tang Jie hastily looked at Lin Xin. She was lying peacefully in hisp, motionless, but there was something glowing in the wound.


    Realizing something, Tang Jie tore off her clothes, upon which he saw that the little snake birthmark had begun to move, rapidly slithering around Lin Xin''s body as if something had stimted it, even opening and closing its mouth.


    Reverend Seer had also noticed something wrong. After the Divine Soul Sword stabbed into Lin Xin, it seemed to have been trapped by something and could no longere out no matter what he did.


    In his prime, Reverend Seer would have been fine with his Divine Soul temporarily absent from his body, but definitely not in his current heavily injured state. After only a few moments, Reverend Seer felt an unprecedented pain seizing his entire body.


    This was the immense pain that came from his severed limbs, a pain that he had never experienced in all his years of cultivation.


    The higher one''s cultivation level, the more resistant they became to pain, which was why he could fight even when his bones were shattered and muscles shredded. But now, without the Divine Soul to support him, Reverend Seer was like a mortal whose limbs had been severed, the pain beyond his capacity to bear.


    "AAAAH!" Reverend Seer screamed. "Come back!"


    But the Divine Soul ignored his desperate pleas.


    It grew brighter and brighter within Lin Xin''s body, exuding light and heat like a miniature sun.


    Aurora, Iron Blood, and Feng Wuxiang had begun to notice that something was wrong with Lin Xin, and even that demon on the other end of the passage gasped in surprise, seemingly sensing some unbelievable power.


    Tang Jie watched as that snake swam around Lin Xin''s body. It was no longer making a full circuit, instead swimming around that ball of light like a dragon ying with a pearl.


    Yes, a dragon!


    Tang Jie watched as that snake grew whiskers, ws, and horns. No longer a snake, it had be a true dragon!


    The Azure Dragon!


    Tang Jie raised his head and looked into the distance.


    Beneath the Chaos Tower, the Azure Dragon''s giant corpse still floated above the talisman.


    The body of the woman in hisp started to turn warm.


    "What''s going on?" Yiyi said in shock.


    "Don''t move!" Tang Jie wiped the blood from his mouth and let Lin Xin go, releasing her to the clouds.


    She should have fallen from the sky, but she simply floated there.


    Everyone saw a white pearl emerge from Lin Xin''s wound, a little human form inside with the appearance of Reverend Seer.


    "My Divine Soul!" Reverend Seer wailed.


    But he no longer had the strength to take it back.


    Lin Xin sat up.


    Her eyes were still closed, but the Azure Dragon birthmark on her body was growingrger andrger, the mouth opening up toward the white pearl.


    "NO!" Reverend Seer seemed to realize something, crying out in despair.


    A momentter, the white pearl flew toward the Azure Dragon, which slightly raised its head as if breaking free from Lin Xin''s body, upon which its mouth closed over the white pearl and swallowed it.


    Reverend Seer instantly froze, his eyes losing focus.


    Upon losing his Divine Soul, he even found it hard to maintain his rationality, and his mind began to degenerate.


    The Azure Dragon birthmark began to fade.


    It flew a circuit around Lin Xin''s body and opened its mouth wide, upon which a clear dragon roar came from Lin Xin''s mouth.


    "Hahahaha, after waiting for more than ten thousand years, the moment has finallye! I''m free!" An ancient voice came from Lin Xin''s mouth.


    "Azure Dragon, so it really was you. Your reincarnation is finally about to seed." The female demon''s voice came from the other end of the passage.


    "Yes! I have waited for this day for far too many years," the Azure Dragon crazily bellowed using Lin Xin''s mouth. "The Immortal Emperor did not deceive me. Immortal Ji Yao, in the end, I got my freedom before you did!"


    "Lord Azure Dragon!" Reverend Seer cried out in panic. "You are a Dao Controller of Fate, and I am a Dao Enterer of Fate. I am your servant, so why? Why must you devour my Divine Soul?! Please, show mercy! Release me!"


    Tang Jie sighed. "Reverend Seer, can''t you see? You''re the one he wants. After all, the Azure Dragon isn''t the ck Tortoise. Preserving his old memories and power in his new life is no easy task and onlyes about due to some special conditions. If my guess is right, the Divine Soul of a Dao Enterer is probably one of those necessary conditions, no?"


    <em>''The Divine Soul of a Dao Enterer''?</em>


    Everyone was horrified. <em>Could it be</em>


    On Lin Xin''s skin, the dimming Azure Dragon birthmark froze, and then with a loudugh, the Azure Dragon said, "Where did such a sharp kide from? You saw through the truth almost instantly. Hahahaha, that''s right, the Divine Soul of a Dao Enterer is exactly what this holy one needs to awaken and gain a new life! That''s exactly why this holy one moved this girl to take that strike, saving your life while getting my hands on the Divine Soul. Hahahaha, Reverend Seer, you were born for the purpose of this holy one''s survival. This is the arrangement of Fate!"


    "''The arrangement of Fate''?" Reverend Seer desperately shook his head. "No, this is impossible! I am the servant of Fate, upholding the operation of the heavens. How could Fate abandon me?"


    Tang Jie chimed in, "Fate didn''t abandon you. It''s just that on the track that Fateid out for you, you''ve reached your final stop. If you don''t obey, you will be betraying Fate!"


    "Me, ''betraying Fate''?" Reverend Seer said in shock.


    The Azure Dragon heartilyughed. "That''s exactly it! Fate had always arranged for you to be my sustenance. If you wish toply with the will of the heavens, then you should ept this. How could you only obey when Fate made you a king and then resist when Fate makes you food? To only obey for the good and betray for the bad makes one a false believer! And a false believer should be executed! Hahahaha!"


    As the Azure Dragon spoke, Reverend Seer threw up blood, his heavily wounded body copsing to the ground.


    He had already lost his Divine Soul, and this provocation from the Azure Dragon proved to be thest straw, and he died on the spot.


    Tang Jie looked at the dimming Azure Dragon birthmark and asked, "Then, with your revival, will Lin Xinpletely die?"


    "A mere mortal body should be honored to serve as my vessel. Thanks to my protection, she was able to live more than a hundred years, with eternal youth, and a life of luxury. What is there to be unhappy about?" the Azure Dragon replied, the birthmark growing even fainter.


    Tang Jie looked at the birthmark and coldly said, "Let me guess what''s going to happen next. Once the birthmarkpletely disappears, the Azure Dragon''s soul will break free of this body, and nearby is your own body. You will return to your own body, upon which you will truly gain a new life, an excellent disy of resurrection through another body!"

 Chapter 737: Spirits of the Five Elements

    Chapter 737: Spirits of the Five Elements


    The Azure Dragon was taken aback. "How did you know?"


    Tang Jie replied, "I guessed, but that''s not the only thing I can guess. I also guess that because of you, Lin Xin''s soul is still in this body and has yet to go to the Nether Domain."


    "What about it?" the Azure Dragon asked.


    For some reason, he suddenly had a bad feeling.


    Tang Jie coolly said, "It''s nothing. I just think that it would be better to have a friend I know act as the Azure Dragon rather than you."


    "What?" The Azure Dragon was startled, and then he realized what Tang Jie was saying and roared, "You dare!"


    Tang Jie suddenly thrust out his finger, striking that almost-vanished Azure Dragon birthmark.


    This touch made the birthmark light up once more.


    Tang Jie thrust a wed hand at Lin Xin''s chest, his fingers glowing with ck energy.


    The distant Ye Xiao blurted out, "The Soul Migration spell!"


    This was a ghost refining art that originated from the Ghost ssic. It was normally to help the newly dead possess someone else. Possession was normally only possible when one reached the Violet Pce Realm, whereupon the Divine Soul could freely leave the body. But the Soul Migration spell allowed someone whocked the proper cultivation level to perform possession. Of course, the risks were greater. Even a substantialized Divine Soul faced the huge risk of bacsh from the original body, let alone an unstrengthened soul.


    But things were different if the corpse had been prepared.


    Yes, Tang Jie''s goal was to swap Lin Xin''s and the Azure Dragon''s souls!


    Tang Jie had never cultivated this spell in the Rosecloud Domain. It was only in the Verdant Cloud Domain, where the Ghost Dao was not taboo, that he was able to truly grasp this spell, thanks to his conversations with Ye Xiao.


    The Azure Dragon''s soul was forced back into the birthmark, and instead, Lin Xin''s face grimaced with pain.


    Tang Jie knew that this was a sign that Lin Xin''s soul had regained control over the body, and he used this moment to grab Lin Xin and fly toward the Azure Dragon''s corpse.


    Lin Xin''s soul was that of an ordinary person, so it couldn''t be exposed. This meant that he had to take her to the Azure Dragon''s corpse toplete the migration.


    "You dare!" the Azure Dragon shouted, but the soul spoke directly this time instead of using Lin Xin''s mouth. His four ws iled as he shouted, "Junior, you think this holy one would carry on with my resurrection without the slightest preparation? Someone like you dares to suppress this holy one and attempt to swap souls? Seeking death! Grand Heaven Five Elements Formation, activate! Spirits of the Five Elements, I summon you!"


    As he roared, an immense power erupted from Lin Xin''s body, pushing Tang Jie back for the moment.


    This immense energy lit up the world in a frightening crimson.


    And then an enchanting five-colored light appeared in the air.


    In this rainbow, five howling figures arrived in quick session.


    Aurora and Feng Wuxiang paled at the sound.


    They were familiar with this howl. It was none other than the Archshadow they had encountered on the way here.


    The dragon soul had summoned the Archshadow!


    This was an order programmed long ago, branded in its foundation from the moment these spirits were born. This was their Fate, and they were powerless to resist!


    The Spirits of the Five Elements responded to the Azure Dragon''s call, and through the power of the Grand Heaven Five Elements Formation, they were able to jump through space and appear at his side, surrounding him like bodyguards.


    The azure-blue one was the Archshadow. Compared to when Aurora hadst seen it, it had clearly grown much stronger, having devoured the Essences of Maternal Waters in the other passages.


    There were four other monsters next to the Archshadow: the Spirit of Earth, the Spirit of Fire, the Spirit of Metal, and the Spirit of Wood.


    With all Five Elements present, the Azure Dragonughed and said, "The Immortal Emperor himself personally sowed the seeds of these Elemental Spirits, nurturing them within the Grand Heaven Five Elements Formation. Once an outsider enters, the Spirits of the Five Elements will be awakened and begin toe together, ultimately bing theplete Spirits of the Five Elements, able to protect this holy one and ensure my smooth survival, after which they can provide their essences to my noble self, allowing me to ovee those innate shackles and ovee that most critical step, allowing me to be a Boundless Gold Immortal! A puny body cultivator like you dares to eh?"


    The Azure Dragon suddenly stopped and turned his head to the Water Spirit, the Earth Spirit, then the Metal Spirit. His heart trembled as he roared, "What''s going on? Why is some missing? Who? Who absorbed my Five Elements primordial energy? Give it back!"


    The Azure Dragon seemed furious.


    In normal circumstances, when the Azure Dragon awakened, the elements would begin to merge together intorger Elemental Spirits, and in theirplete forms, they would be equivalent to a Deification cultivator (the second tier of Violet Pce, following Infant Tending). Five Deification-level monsters was a force basically unbeatable in the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    But the Azure Dragon found that the Spirits of the Five Elements were missing primordial energy to varying degrees and were much weaker than they should be, none of them having reached Deification.


    Worst of all was that this meant that the Azure Dragon''s dream of using this primordial energy to break his shackles was dead.


    The Four Sacred Beasts had been famous in High Antiquity. They were born with powerful abilities, and upon maturity, they would be Supreme True Immortals. In that era of only five realms and fourteen tiers, they were basically gods.


    But the world was always changing, and as the puny humans cultivated and grew stronger, they gradually surpassed the Sacred Beasts of High Antiquity. Through their own efforts, they broke through the shackles and pioneered new frontiers. From then on, what should have been the highest realm, True Immortal, for which they were called Supreme, was no longer, reced by Boundless Gold Immortals and Dao-Proving Saint Immortals.


    From that moment, the aloof Sacred Beasts were no longer so beloved by the world, and their status began to fall. The new master of the Great Ster Chiliocosm was the Court of Myriad Domains, headed by a Saint Immortal, the Immortal Emperor, not these mere True Immortals.


    The Azure Dragon tried hard to break through and be a Gold Immortal, but the innate bloodline he was so proud of now became his chains, preventing him from advancing.


    For thousands of years, as a Dao Controller of Fate, the proud Azure Dragon could only watch as these human cultivators stood atop his head, speaking to him like they were old friends and calling him a brother. Some of them were even weaker than him, but they used the status of the Immortal Emperor to look down on him. All of this left him fuming.


    But as a Controller of Fate, the Azure Dragon was different from others. He still had the chance to change his Fate.


    Of course, breaking the shackles of his lineage came at a high price.


    Thus, he cautiously yed with Fate, and after long waiting, he finally got the moment he was looking for.


    For the sake of suppressing Immortal Ji Yao, the Immortal Emperor had agreed to the Azure Dragon''s conditions, personallyying down the Grand Heaven Five Elements Formation and altering the fortune, legacy, and bloodline of the Verdant Cloud Domain. The Azure Dragon used his life to suppress Immortal Ji Yao for ten thousand years, but the formation preserved his soul, allowing him to find a host and wait for the day of his rebirth.


    The moment of his rebirth was when the Five Elements primordial energy was done maturing.


    At that time, his Azure Dragon body would simply need to absorb this primordial energy, and then his soul would take possession of his body, after which the chances were extremely high that he could ovee the limits of his bloodline and be a Gold Immortal.


    But now, someone had absorbed some of the primordial energy. How could the Azure Dragon not be panicked and enraged?


    He crazily roared, "Who was it? Who absorbed my Five Elements primordial energy?"


    A momentter, the Archshadow hissed at Tang Jie like a snake. It could sense a sliver of Water primordial energy flowing within Tang Jie''s body.


    The other four Elemental Spirits also hissed and roared at Tang Jie, each of them sensing power that should have been theirs within him.


    "It''s you!" The Azure Dragon understood, ring at Tang Jie.


    This damned human! Not only was he audacious enough to attempt soul swapping, he had even stolen his most precious Five Elements primordial energy!


    He cried out, "Kill him! Take back the primordial energy!"


    The Spirits of the Five Elements were still powerful, even though they had lost some of the primordial energy. The Archshadow had already been able to fight evenly with Aurora, and it was several times stronger now, and there were five such existences. Any one of them could sweep through everyone present.


    This was why the Azure Dragon was so confident.


    As the Elemental Spirits were about to charge out, Tang Jie pped his chest and threw up blood. His body then split into two Tang Jies.


    Their hands began to swing through the air, threads of spiritual energy mixing with his blood and weaving together into strange patterns.


    As these patterns appeared, the Elemental Spirits yelped in fright and stopped cold.


    "This is" The Azure Dragon was startled. As Tang Jie drew out those enigmatic patterns, the Azure Dragon somehow found them to be familiar.


    Tang Jie continued to draw in the air.


    He was drawing all the formation patterns he had found in the passagesfive different kinds of formation patterns, each stroke brimming with grandeur.


    He cultivated the Parting ssic, which involved countless natural treasures, so his own blood could serve as a formation material. And even though this was his first time drawing a formation in the air, he did it all smoothly without the slightest sense of awkwardness.


    But there was something strange. The formation lines in the passage had been long and winding like snakes, and each formation pattern had been its own independent existence.


    But as Tang Jie drew all of them at once, these formation lines gradually came together into a giant circle, the five formation patterns linking together, each line and node having its own proper ce in the circle. Although Tang Jie had never seen this image before, he instinctively felt that this was how the formation diagram should be drawn.


    The more he drew, the more brightly the formation shone, and the more terrifying it became to the Five Elemental Spirits.


    Tang Jie waspletely immersed in drawing the formation, and as he recalled each formation line, he was able to find its proper ce in the diagram.


    Finally, Tang Jie withdrew his hand, havingpleted the giant formation diagram with his blood.


    From a distance, this diagram appeared like a cultivator, standing upright and tall, a book in one hand and the other held behind their back, their body exuding a majestic aura. Its face was obscured, but one could see that this cultivator was standing on something.


    A giant Azure Dragon!


    "Immortal Emperor!" the Azure Dragon cried out.


    A momentter, that formation made from Tang Jie''s blood erupted with light that made the Elemental Spirits howl in pain.


    "The Grand Heaven Five Elements Formation!" the Azure Dragon roared.


    He finally recognized this formation. It was none other than the Grand Heaven Five Elements Formation! To be more precise, it was the central controlponent. Through it, one could use the power of the entire formation, and since the Elemental Spirits had been born from the formation, they could naturally be controlled as well.


    The Azure Dragon finally understood what had happened, and he wailed in grief, "Yu Cheng, you tricked me!!!"

 Chapter 738: Chaotic Battle

    Chapter 738: Chaotic Battle


    A cry of indignant grief resounded through the world.


    Even bystanders like Feng Wuxiang and Aurora now understood that this old dragon had probably been fooled by Yu Cheng, or else this method to suppress the Spirits of the Five Elements wouldn''t have been here.


    And this method had been left out in such an obvious fashion, and there was also that dragon being stood upon in that image, serving as the finest form of mockery.


    "Hahahaha!" Immortal Ji Yao, the demon on the other end of the passage, madlyughed. "Azure Dragon, so even you have days like these. When you were pulling the threads of Fate and tempting me to fall into demonhood, you should have known this day woulde. If Yu Cheng were that easy to fool, he wouldn''t have been the Immortal Emperor. s, all your scheming amounted to only doing the work for someone else! You waited for ten thousand years, but what you were waiting for was nothing but a Fate of total defeat! Hahaha, hrious! Just hrious!"


    As the female demonughed, the Spirits of the Five Elements began to melt, dissolving into motes of primordial energy that flew toward Tang Jie, rapidly increasing his understanding of the Dao of Five Elements.


    "This is impossible!" The Azure Dragon swam about Lin Xin''s body, iling his ws as he shouted, "I am the Controller of Fate! The Fate of the world is mine to decide! All of this was arranged by me, so there should have been no mistakes, no mistakes!!!"


    "You frog in a well!" Immortal Ji Yao said in disdain. "You think that Controlling the Dao is the highest level of the Dao?"


    "What?" the Azure Dragon said in shock.


    Immortal Ji Yao said, "Azure Dragon, you are an existence born at the dawn of the world from all the good this universe had to offer. As one beloved by the world, you were born with the capacity to be an Immortal, able to attain Supreme True Immortal without even trying and reigning over all. But this is exactly why you were too proud and content, thinking that you were so high and mighty that you didn''t need to improve. Thus, you were reced by humans. Your Dao is not something youprehended through diligent cultivation, but something you were born with, which is why you have no idea where the limits of the world are. You thought that you were the strongest just because you were beloved by the heavens, that because you were a Dao Controller of Fate, you could manipte Fate, but you never realized how gravely you were mistaken. You were neither the strongest, nor could you manipte Fate. In truth, you''re just like Reverend Seer, being manipted by Fate. To use the same words you said to Reverend Seer: how could you only obey when Fate made you a king and then resist when Fate makes you food?"


    The Azure Dragon froze as if he was thinking, but then he shook his head. "Impossible! I am the Dao Controller of Fate. Who could be above me, manipte me?"


    Immortal Ji Yao casually said, "Haven''t you already seen it?"


    The Azure Dragon shuddered. "Yu Cheng? How? Fate wasn''t even his expertise!"


    Immortal Ji Yao simplyughed.


    It was a sinisterugh that made the Azure Dragon despair.


    "No!" he shouted, and the Azure Dragon birthmark once more began to fade. After some effort, he managed to break Tang Jie''s lock and regain control of Lin Xin''s body.


    Tang Jie snorted, "You think you''re in charge here?"


    He thrust out his finger again.


    The Azure Dragon was suppressed once more.


    This time, there were no Elemental Spirits to help him escape.


    But at this moment, the Aurora Fiend Emperorughed. "In the end, the Azure Dragon Sacred Sovereign is a member of my fiend race, and since the Sacred Sovereign wishes to be reborn, how could we just stand back and watch? Better for us to assist the Sacred Sovereign and see if the Fate arranged by the Immortal Emperor can be ovee or not!"


    Four arms were raised, and a wave of rainbow light surged toward Tang Jie.


    The fiend was truly bold, daring to challenge a Fate he knew had been arranged by the Immortal Emperor, not fearing the will of the heavens. This was a true man, bold enough to go against the heavens.


    Going against the heavens might not have been correct, but it definitely took courage!


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but feel some admiration. "As expected of Your Majesty."


    As he spoke, he punched three times, fending off the rainbow light but being pushed back as a result.


    He had used the Devil Crushing Fist to save Yiyi and was attacked by Aurora in this weakened state, which had inflicted rather serious wounds. Even with his powerful constitution, he couldn''t recover so quickly, and in this weakened state, he was clearly no match for Aurora.


    Upon seeing this, Liu Zongchang angrily said, "Aurora,e and fight this old man!"


    Although the Celestial Sword Sect Master was renowned as being the master of the top sect, he still had a fiery temper, and he angrily swung his sword at Aurora. He hadn''t liked Reverend Seer''s actions from the start, but he had stood by for the sake of their long friendship. Now that Reverend Seer was dead, he was the first to defect and help Tang Jie.


    Aurora grunted and said, "Millepluma Guard, stop him!"


    With a roar, the seven hundred Millepluma Guard raised their mountain of spears to thwart Liu Zongchang.


    Intercepted, Liu Zongchang shouted, "What are you all standing around for?"


    Shentu Yuan was the first to react, shouting, "Kill!"


    The cultivators charged at the opposing fiends, and the temporary ceasefire came to an end.


    Only Feng Wuxiang remained motionless.


    As Liu Zongchang made attack after attack, he barked, "Wuxiang, what are you still waiting for? Are you still holding a grudge over Tang Jie''s sneak attack?"


    Feng Wuxiang sighed. "I''m not that petty. I schemed against him, so I deserved to be struck by his sword. It''s just that I feel like I will be letting down my old friend the Seer if I help him. I still don''t know if what he said was true or false, right or wrong"


    Liu Zongchangughed. "Who cares if it was true or false, right or wrong? At least Tang Jie is a human, and he helped us. This old man will help him in return. If he really does be a demon one day, I can just kill him then. How can you punish someone for a crime they have yet tomit?"


    "And if he bes a Demon Lord?" Feng Wuxiang asked.


    "If he bes a Demon Lord, so be it. The Primordial Fog Domain already has 99 of them, and the sky''s not going to fall if there''s one more or one less!"


    Feng Wuxiang was taken aback, but after thinking it over, he felt like there was truth to these words. In the end, he had been overthinking things.


    Reverend Seer was the servant of Fate, but he wasn''t, so he only needed to seek approval from his Origin Heart.


    Now that Reverend Seer was dead, he still needed to help the people that deserved his help.


    Realizing this, Feng Wuxiang sighed. "In the end, it''s Brother Liu who is more clear-minded. I was too focused on outer appearances."


    With these words, he flew out.


    He had barely gotten off the ground when the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor intercepted him. "Preceptor Wuxiang, if you would please."


    The Ironblood Saber unleashed a spray of stars, shaking Feng Wuxiang''s will as it sliced toward him.


    In terms of strength, Feng Wuxiang was originally above Iron Blood.


    But he had been badly wounded by Tang Jie''s Ten Extinctions de, and he didn''t have Tang Jie''s incredible recovery ability. As a result, he had yet to recover, so his strength was essentially on par with Iron Blood''s.


    With the battle restarted, there was no one left to help Tang Jie except Yiyi, who hastily let out the Mother Cloudbat puppet and sowed bean soldiers to assist.


    Aurora simply chuckled, not caring at all about these tricks. His intention wasn''t to kill Tang Jie, but to stop Tang Jie so that the Azure Dragon could be reborn. The moment the Azure Dragon was reborn, all of the humans here would cease to exist under his immense power. Not only would the Verdant Cloud Domain be united under the fiends, Aurora would be rewarded by the Azure Dragon for his help. Even if the Azure Dragon couldn''t be a Gold Immortal, a True Immortal was still something worth Aurora''s veneration.


    This was Aurora''s real goal in going against the heavens.


    While thebat puppet and bean soldiers were strong, Aurora simply sent out waves of rainbow light to hold back both them and Tang Jie, giving them no opportunity to interfere.


    Meanwhile, the birthmark began to fade once more as the Azure Dragon tried to break out of Lin Xin''s body and return to his corpse.


    But at this moment, an azure energy appeared on Lin Xin''s face.


    This azure energy prevented the Azure Dragon''s soul from leaving.


    "You bitch!" the Azure Dragon roared.


    He knew that this was Lin Xin''s soul strenuously resisting, pulling him back into the body.


    Lin Xin shouldn''t have been powerful enough to resist the Azure Dragon''s soul.


    But the Azure Dragon''s two previous attempts to break out had drained much of the Divine Soul''s power, and this was Lin Xin''s own body, so she had an innate advantage. Thebination of these factors finally allowed her an opportunity, and she grimly held fast to him and refused to let him leave.


    As they struggled, Tang Jie and Aurora''s battle intensified.


    Burdened by heavy wounds, Tang Jie was greatly weakened, and even the Ten Extinctions de was much weaker.


    Tang Jie swung his sword, but there was no corresponding wave of sword light. However, Aurora remained on guard, swiftly flying out. A momentter, that sword light appeared, shing at empty space. At the same time, Aurora conjured up a cloud of energy and sent it at Tang Jie, striking him in the side and causing him to vomit blood.


    Before Tang Jie could respond, a st of air swept through, but instead of attacking Tang Jie, it ground up all the blood that Tang Jie had thrown up, scattering it to the winds.


    Tang Jie had been nning to use this moment to use Reflections of the Floating Life, but he had now been robbed of his medium. He had no choice but to use the Chaoswind Step to evade, but the moment he reappeared, a wave of rainbow light mmed into him. He once more threw up blood, and another st of air scattered the blood.


    Auroraughed. "Tang Jie, I know everything you can do now, so none of it will work on me!"


    Whether it was the Dao of Time or the Reflections of the Floating Life, they had all their limitations and weaknesses. The Aurora Fiend Emperor was a powerful expert, so he could see at a nce where these ws were. He had even seen through the Chaoswind Step, allowing him to calcte where Tang Jie would appear and attack it.


    Although he couldn''t break the Dao Arts themselves, he could exploit their weaknesses. For example, whenever Tang Jie was injured and threw up blood, Aurora would immediately destroy the blood. When it came to casting speed, Tang Jie could only eat his dust. If it weren''t for the Mother Cloudbat puppet and the bean soldiers, Tang Jie would have had a hard time just staying alive.


    Tang Jie used attack after attackthe Flesh Millstone, the Nine Heavens Cmity de, the Ten Extinctions debut Aurora easily countered all of them.


    Now that he knew all of Tang Jie''s tricks, he found it easier and easier to deal with Tang Jie. He was now confident that even if Tang Jie had been at his peak, he could still defeat him. Such was the tragedy of someone who relied on tactics. The moment one''s opponent had grasped one''s tactics, they could use overwhelming strength to crush them.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    Another st of rainbow light struck Tang Jie, sending him flying back.


    Aurora proudly said, "In the end, this world is supported by power. Schemes can only get you so far. A pity, Tang Jie. Even though you were infinitesimally close, in the end, you were not able to create the miracle of defeating a Violet Pce cultivator while at a lower level. Now, you can die."


    Tang Jie raised his head and looked at Aurora. "Is that so? I don''t agree. My old tricks no longer work, so I might as well try some new ones. Aurora, you are destined to be my stepping stone, a monument I raise in the Great Ster Chiliocosm tomemorate my might!


    "Raaa!"

 Chapter 739: The Infinite Palace

    Chapter 739: The Infinite Pce


    "Raaaa!" A frightening energy erupted from Tang Jie''s body.


    This energy was simr to Aurora''s five-colored rainbow light, but it also contained majestic primordial energy. This was none other than the Five Elements essence energy that Tang Jie had absorbed and converted.


    As the light of the Five Elements appeared, Aurora''s rainbow light was pushed back. Meanwhile, the rainbow glow around Tang Jie began an astonishing transformation.


    The rays of light began tobine and weave together as if someone was painting on the sky, painting a most gorgeous and exquisite picture.


    What was being drawn was a most grandioseplex, like one of those dazzling imperial pces of the mortal world, but on an even grander and more majestic scale. It bore some simrity to that former fragment of the Court of Myriad Domains, but while each individual building stood on its own, none of them was actually an independent existence. All were linked to each other by corridors, bridges, arches, and other such architectural features, making it so that they were a single unit. This made it more simr to Horizon Ocean Pavilion, which was a giant singr building.


    Tang Jie stood in the center of the painting, on the most central tform, surrounded by countless rays of light in the process of conjuring a pce from light.


    And then Aurora discovered that when his attacks ran into that light, they would disappear without injuring Tang Jie in the slightest.


    He cried out in shock, "What is this?"


    While he was still in shock, the Azure Dragon in the distance realized what was going on. "A Dao Art? This is a Dao Art? You absorbed my Five Elements primordial energy and entered the Dao, even creating a new Dao Art No, I won''t ept this! Never!"


    The Five Elements primordial energy that the Azure Dragon had spent ten thousand years nurturing for the sake of breaking out of the True Immortal Tier had all been absorbed by Tang Jie and then used to create a new Dao Art. How could he not be furious over all his work being for someone else''s sake?


    This was none other than the new Dao Art Tang Jie had created from the Five Elements.


    Creating a Dao Art meant taking one''s own spell art and merging it with the power of the Great Dao to make it even more powerful.


    This was where the term "Dao Art" came from.


    But Tang Jie hesitated when it came to choosing a spell art.


    As he was creating it on the spot, he hadn''t given this choice any proper thought, nor did he know exactly how he was going to do the merging.


    It had to be understood that he hadn''t been enlightened to the Dao of Five Elements on his own, but had done it through absorbing primordial energy. This was a rare opportunity, and if he made a misstep, it could end up going to waste.


    But given that his life was at stake here, Tang Jie cast his apprehensions aside, thinking up what sort of Dao Art he was creating as he released Five Elements energy.


    The Dao of Yin Yang represented the two sides of the world while the Dao of Five Elements represented theposition.


    The Five Elements were the foundation of all things, and all arts originated from the Five Elements. Thus, it was said that the Dao of Five Elements was the most beneficial to spell arts and the most favorable to transformation.


    In this aspect, one could say that the Dao of Five Elements could be matched to any spell art to create a powerful Dao Art.


    But Tang Jie''s limited strength meant that he wouldn''t be able to use the full power of such a Dao Art, and it probably wouldn''t pose much of a threat to Aurora. After all, the Ten Extinctions de had the power of the Dao of Destruction, but what it had done to Aurora?


    The Twelve Great Daos were all very powerful, but the limitations of his cultivation meant that he couldn''t use it.


    He couldn''t even use the full power of Divine Connections yet.


    Thus, for this new Dao Art, he couldn''t focus purely on strength, but rather variation and adaptability, something that could help him defeat his opponent right now and also not gradually fall out of usefulness in the future.


    Countless thoughts passed through his mind in an instant, and he gradually gained an idea of what this new Dao Art would be.


    The painting began to expand, and Aurora''s attacks continued to be neutralized by that light.


    Aurora saw that his attacks were ineffective and realized that things would get worse if he did nothing, so he hardened his resolve and flew toward Tang Jie, diving into the light.


    He was bold and capable, and as he expected, the rays of light did no damage to him, simply whistling past him.


    Auroraughed and said, "As expected, it only defends from the outside and not the inside? ''Dao Art'', my ass! Better if I destroy something so useless!"


    He attacked Tang Jie.


    Now that he was in the painting, the rays of light posed no threat to him.


    But as he thrust out his palm, a light erupted within the painting, and a torrent of power swept toward him.


    This inexplicable attack startled Aurora, and he hastily evaded. Looking around, he didn''t see anything that could have attacked him.


    As he was wondering what was going on, the Azure Dragon shouted, "Idiot, hurry and get out of there!"


    rmed, Aurora hastily retreated.


    But it was already toote.


    Tang Jieughed, and those countless rays of lightposing all those buildings suddenly shed.


    And then those illusory lights began to solidify.


    ck streaks became bricks, tiles, dirt, and mud, the foundation that held up everything. Green streaks of light became wooden bridges, flowers, and grass, sources of vitality. Blue light becamekes, winds, and streams, flowing between the buildings and ensuring that everything was connected. Red streaks of light became mes andnterns, fierce and brimming with explosive aggression, a symbol of variation. The golden light became various metals that fortified the buildings, symbolizing defense.


    A vastplex of buildings was realized before everyone''s eyes, grand and majestic.


    This was the power of the Dao of Five Elements. These were the fundamental elements of the world, so Tang Jie could use their power to create an entire pce out of nothing.


    The retreating Aurora crashed into a pce wall with a mighty boom, but while he could normally ram through a mountain without a problem, he could do nothing to this wall.


    Atop a distant tower, Tang Jie pointed, and some lotus flowers on a recently formed pond flew up, spinning in the air and lunging at Aurora.


    Aurora red, and a st of lightning struck the lotus flowers and obliterated them.


    But a momentter, a distant grove of bamboo swayed, unleashing a barrage of leaves.


    Aurora bellowed and thrust out a palm, the st of energy obliterating the leaves. Not only that, Aurora raised a hand and sent a wave of rainbow light sweeping toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie stood motionless on the central tform, but a wall rose up out of a ripple of golden light and blocked Aurora''s attack.


    Tang Jie said, "Aurora, here, my will is everything, and I, too, can cast arts with a thought."


    He pped his hands, and the decorative beasts on the eaves of the buildings came to life and began to lunge at Aurora. Dragons, tigers, phoenixes, leopards, eagles, crocodiles, turtles, snakesa vast menagerie of fiends attacked, but they were of mediocre strength, with those phoenixes and dragons being empty shells. Even so, this cloud of them rather beleaguered Aurora. Not only that, the fish in the water, the blooming flowers, the bricks of the walls, and even the dirt itself were possible vectors of attack.


    They shattered under Aurora''s attacks and were restored by that primordial light, and as if some invisible hand was controlling everything, they were put back into the painting, restoring all that had been damaged or destroyed so that they could continue attacking. So long as he was in this pce, he would be constantly under attack.


    "This isn''t a spell art! It''s a formation!"


    "You finally get it?" Tang Jie crowed. "The Five Elements are the basis of all things, and with them as the foundation, one can create all things and arts, create the entire Chiliocosm. In other words, the best fit for it is my formations. With the Five Elements as my materials and the formation as the canvas, I can create a boundless pce. This is my new Dao Art the Infinite Pce!"


    The Infinite Pce was the new Dao Art Tang Jie had created, born from his understanding of formations and the power of the Five Elements.


    This was why every part of this pce was dangerous.


    Tang Jie could put down any formation he pleased in this ce.


    These formations didn''t need any materials, because the Five Elements could be the materials he needed. He didn''t need a formation diagram, because the Infinite Pce itself served as the diagram, but it was evenrger and more convenient to carry around. And he didn''t need to switch out formations, because the Infinite Pce could contain far more formations than any formation diagram.


    Of course, it wasn''t without w.


    The Infinite Pce''s formations could only be ced within the pce and only worked on those within.


    Thus, to the outside, it was only a defensive Dao Art. It was only lethal to those within.


    If Aurora had known about this property of the Infinite Pce, he would have realized that this Dao Art had its own limitations that he could work around. But he didn''t know, so he had charged right in.


    Thankfully, because this was Tang Jie''s first time using the Infinite Pce and creating the pce had taken too much of his energy, he wasn''t able toy down any truly lethal formations, only childish attacks. Otherwise, the Infinite Pce would have obliterated Aurora.


    The first time was the most important, as it was rted to the Dao Art''s future development and functions.


    This was why Tang Jie was very careful about how he arranged the Infinite Pce. In the future, it would be one of his most important tools against powerful enemies. Tang Jie had alreadye up with countless ideas on how to use it.


    At this moment, Tang Jie suddenly heard Yiyi shout, "Big Brother, Big Sister is about to reach her limit."


    In rm, Tang Jie looked over and saw that the Azure Dragon birthmark had faded again, and Lin Xin was grimacing in pain.


    To Tang Jie''s dismay, the Azure Dragon was about to escape.

 Chapter 740: Struggling Free

    Chapter 740: Struggling Free


    The Azure Dragon could not be allowed to escape, or else every human here would die.


    Tang Jie hastily pointed his finger at the Azure Dragon.


    As he unleashed another soul-shaking finger, Aurora threw out a st of rainbow light, intercepting it. "With me around, don''t even think about seeding!"


    In the Infinite Pce, he knew that he was no match for Tang Jie, so he could only ce his hopes on the Azure Dragon and try his best to impede Tang Jie. No matter what Tang Jie did, he wouldn''t let Tang Jie interrupt the Azure Dragon''s soul or let Lin Xin''s body get close to the Azure Dragon''s corpse.


    Tang Jie thrust out his finger several times, but he failed to suppress the Azure Dragon, only slightly dying it. If this continued, the Azure Dragon would inevitably escape.


    Tang Jie was at a loss for what to do.


    At this moment, the voice of Immortal Ji Yao, that female demon, rang out in his mind. "Tang Jie, I will teach you a method that can prevent the Azure Dragon''s rebirth."


    "If the price is letting you go, then forget it. I have no ns on stopping a dragon just to let out a demon."


    "How can you have such a one-track mind!?" Immortal Ji Yao was furious, but she suppressed her anger. "Ugh, forget it. You don''t need to do anything. This Azure Dragon has suppressed me for ten thousand years, and so if I can''t escape, he shouldn''t think about faring any better. The method I teach you can deal with that dragon''s soul."


    "You talk and I''ll listen!" Tang Jie finally agreed.


    "Brat," Immortal Ji Yao chuckled. "This method of mine is a secret art that creates a protective barrier around the soul. With this art, your chances of advancing to Violet Pce will be much greater. In the past, numerous people seeking to advance to Violet Pce came to seek this one''s help. Now, I want to transmit it to you, but you act as if I''m trying to hurt you."


    Tang Jie was stunned.


    A secret art that could increase the chance of advancing to Violet Pce?


    This truly was priceless.


    Tang Jie knew of treasures that could increase the chances of reaching Violet Pce, like Ming Yekong''s Bloodweeping Fiend Lotus. But as this lotus had been raised on Ming Yekong''s heart blood, he was the only one who could use it. There was also the Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill that he had found in the fragment of the Myriad Court. He didn''t know if it was still usable given all the time that had passed, so he had given it to Xu Miaoran for her to study it. There was also the Nine Heavens Luan Grass, which increased the chances of advancement for all cultivation realms, but it was so valuable that the Vermillion Bird had made it a priority protection target, and Tang Jie still wasn''t able to get his hands on it.


    For Immortal Ji Yao to have such a method was just incredible.


    This wasn''t something that could be reced by one or two natural treasures. After all, natural treasures were gone once they were used up or else required thousands of years to grow, but a secret art could be used over and over.


    To call it a divine art would not be an exaggeration.


    As if guessing at what Tang Jie was thinking, Immortal Ji Yao said, "Although my secret art can increase the chances of reaching Violet Pce, it ces great burden on the body. The user''s Divine Soul will be affected, and it will take several years to as long as a hundred years to recover, with the exact time hinging on the degree of increase and the strength of your Divine Soul. The greater the increase, the more your Divine Soul will consume and the weaker it will be. And while recovering, you can''t even cultivate, only spending every day with a terrible pain in your head. Thus, as I''m sure you can understand, it is not lightly used."


    "It seems right to me. Nothing in the worldes for free," Tang Jie replied. The Great Ster Chiliocosm was a world that revered bnce, and no art in the world was without w. Tang Jie had obtained peerless ancient arts like the Parting ssic and the Ninedark Mantra, but this hadn''t made him invincible. On the contrary, the people that Tang Jie had given sections of the Ninedark Mantra to, like Cai Junyang, had managed to create their own specialties and delve farther down their respective paths than Tang Jie ever had.


    This was because while secret arts were important, the people using them were even more so!


    The same was true for this Violet Pce secret art. Tang Jie didn''t find it strange that it had limitations. Rather, if Immortal Ji Yao had said that there were no ws, it would have put him on his guard.


    Immortal Ji Yaoughed. "You''re quite the clear-minded child. If that''s the case, I will transmit the secret art to you. Its name is the Peaceful Divine Abode ssic. Listen closely"


    She began to recite the ssic to Tang Jie.


    The mantra directly resounded in Tang Jie''s mind, transforming into golden characters that radiated an intense light that branded them into his memories. Tang Jie only needed to listen once to memorize it forever.


    Tang Jie began to circte the mantra and confirmed that there were no problems. This truly was a profound secret art that could create a Violet Pce barrier around the soul.


    The Violet Pce was the sacred temple of the Divine Soul.


    The process of a Soul Transformation cultivator ascending to the Violet Pce Realm was the process of substantializing the Divine Soul, giving physical form to the soul. This process was extremely dangerous and required creating the Violet Pce to protect the soul, which was where the name of the realm came from.


    The Peaceful Divine Abode ssic was a method for tempering the Violet Pce, even allowing one to create the Violet Pce outside the body and use it to protect weak souls. For this reason, it could also be used to extend one''s lifespan. But this method required expending the power of the user''s Divine Soul, so one had to be at the Heart Demon Tier at the minimum to use it. But at the Heart Demon Tier, the Divine Soul would be quickly used up. Things were slightly better at the Soul Transformation Tier, but one was still bound to be greatly drained after the ordeal. To use it to its full extent would require a person to be at least at the Violet Pce Realm.


    s, Tang Jie didn''t have much choice.


    Upon realizing this, Tang Jie split back into two.


    The avatar sat down on the tform and began to circte the mantra.


    The original body focused entirely on Aurora for fear that he might interfere. Ignoring his heavy injuries, Tang Jie let out a dozen punches, at the same time throwing out three banners: the rm Gate Banner, the Stop Gate Banner, and the View Gate Banner.


    The View Gate Banner was secondary, as its concealment effects were of little use in the current situation, but the rm Gate, which could disturb the mind, and the Stop Gate, which controlled variation, had powerful effects when put together.


    In the Infinite Pce, everything from a building to a grain of sand could be a lethal trap and attack Aurora. The original body was also taking various materials from his Mustard Seed Bag and recklessly throwing them into the pce.


    The Infinite Pce was already capable of generating all things, and his adding more materials was like adding oil to a fire. Various small formations took form, and the air filled with various natural phenomenathunder storms, sandstorms, firestorms, ice storms, and even giant vines. Even someone as powerful as Aurora was pushed back by all this. He knew that this did not bode well for him, and he shouted at the Azure Dragon, "Watch out!"


    Tang Jie''s avatar opened its eyes and looked at Lin Xin. A divine beam issued from his eyes and fell upon Lin Xin.


    As this divine light fell, the Azure Dragon bitterly cried out, "The Peaceful Divine Abode ssic? It is! Immortal Ji Yao, you bitch! No Stop him! Hurry and stop him! Don''t let him stare at me!"


    But the original body was doing everything he could to barrage Aurora. Aurora knew that this was Tang Jie''sst desperate struggle, and once he endured it, Tang Jie would be powerless. The problem was that Aurora couldn''t endure the barrage, and he had no choice but to fall back against the original body''s frenzied assault.


    At the same time, the Azure Dragon birthmark reappeared on Lin Xin''s body, apanied by the crazed roars and furious curses of the Azure Dragon.


    Meanwhile, above Lin Xin''s head, the see-through figure of a woman appearedLin Xin''s soul.


    As a mortal, her soul shouldn''t have been able to leave her body. If it did, it would either be instantly obliterated, swept away by the winds, or it would turn into a ghost and fall into the Nether Domain. Neither oue was positive.


    Soul projection had always been the privilege of Violet Pce cultivators.


    But now, Lin Xin''s soul was safely out, and her body glowed with a violet aura that protected her from both the searing energies of the positive ne and the call of the Nether Domain.


    The Violet Pce!


    Tang Jie had used his Divine Will to create a Violet Pce to protect Lin Xin''s soul. One could say that this was another method of advancing to the Violet Pce Domain.


    The only difference was that, since he didn''t need to substantialize his own soul, Tang Jie was able to save a lot of energy and focus entirely on creating the Violet Pce. This was much easier and safer than actually attempting to advance to the Violet Pce Realmafter all, if there were any problems, it would be Lin Xin who died.


    Under Tang Jie''s protection, Lin Xin''s soul slowly emerged from her body. Floating in the air, she looked at herself in disbelief, and then she saw her floating body, saw the distant battlefield where humans and fiends battled, saw Tang Jie fighting with Aurora, and she saw another Tang Jie protecting her and pulling her.


    At the other end was the giant body of the Azure Dragon.


    Was that going to be her future home?


    Lin Xin was dumbfounded.


    Her soul flew higher and higher. Finally, her soul broke free of her body. Just when it was about to fly toward the dragon''s corpse, a translucent dragon w grabbed her ankle.


    Lin Xin screamed.


    But as a soul, she couldn''t actually make a sound.


    She desperately shook her leg, but she couldn''t break free. Meanwhile, on the Azure Dragon birthmark, a w was disappearing.


    Forever!


    The old dragon was putting everything on the line to get back his body, even using up his Divine Soul in an attempt to break the seal.


    As Lin Xin''s soul drifted in the air, that Violet Pce that protected her began to reach its limit.


    Its structure began to crumble like an old building in the middle of an earthquake. In the end, Tang Jie was only at Soul Transformation, so a Violet Pce made from his Divine Soul couldn''tst long.


    The avatar threw up blood. He knew that if this continued and he consumed all of his Divine Soul, he would end up like Reverend Seer.


    But he still didn''t let go, gritting his teeth and pushing on.


    The old dragonughed and then snarled, "You''re not leaving!"


    Lin Xin soundlessly screamed in terror.


    As the Violet Pce began to crumble, she felt a terrifying power beginning to threaten her.


    Her soul was on the verge of disintegration.


    But at this moment, the distant Mother Cloudbat puppet suddenly turned its head.


    His eyes shed red as he looked at Lin Xin, the Azure Dragon birthmark, and that translucent dragon w.


    Wherever his gaze went, a ck vortex appeared, radiating death energy.


    "Begone, soul!" he said.


    The dragon w turned into ck smoke and was sucked into the vortex.


    Lin Xin''s soul was finally free, and it turned into a streak of light and flew toward the distant Azure Dragon corpse.


    "NOOO!" the Azure Dragon roared in despair.


    "Raaaa!" The roar of a dragon resounded through the world.

 Chapter 741: A Fox Exploits a Tigers Might

    Chapter 741: A Fox Exploits a Tiger''s Might


    A giant dragon slowly raised its head.


    This head was the size of a mountain, and its slight shift caused the world to quake.


    The azure dragon whiskers swayed in the wind like giant banners.


    Its eyes opened, and they exuded a grandiose pressure that silently spread over the entire area.


    Everyone stopped.


    Even Aurora and Tang Jie stopped fighting.


    In front of a majestic existence like the Azure Dragon, all existences were like ants, all fights like child''s y.


    Only the Azure Dragon''s soul within Lin Xin continued to howl, "My body! That''s my body!!!"


    But no matter how he howled, there was no getting back what he had lost.


    Aurora and Iron Blood trembled as they looked at the Azure Dragon.


    Failed!


    In the end, they had failed!


    They had failed to get the Azure Dragon''s soul back into his body, and that woman had taken it instead. Aurora was well aware of the consequences for this.


    From the moment the Azure Dragon appeared, this battle was going to end in one side getting wiped out.


    There was no point in trying to escape.


    In front of a Supreme True Immortal, any attempts to escape or resist were futile.


    Aurora and Iron Blood turned pale with sorrow and despair.


    Sure enough, the dragon opened its mouth, and Lin Xin spoke in a vigorous voice that resounded through the world.


    "This this is my new body. Heavens, I''m a dragon"


    And then she began to cry.


    For such a majestic voice to speak in such a scared and uneasy tone was truly bizarre.


    This was particrly so for that sobbing at the end. It left everyone feeling dumbfounded.


    How could one even describe what was going on here?


    When everyone was fighting over this dragon body, the only beneficiary seemed to be unhappy.


    But Tang Jie understood Lin Xin.


    It wasn''t that the Azure Dragon''s body was bad. It was just that this shift was too huge, too difficult to adapt to.


    In the end, it was like giving someone a choice between being a human and being a monstrously powerful fiend.


    Many people might choose to be a fiend, but there would definitely be many who chose to be human.


    No matter what sort of lifeform it was, because they had grown up in that sort of form, it was one they were most used to, most ustomed to, and perhaps even most fond of and unwilling to leave.


    Thus, in every circumstance, abandoning the human form was an immense price to pay.


    Lin Xin was weeping over this price.


    Understanding this, Tang Jie coughed blood and soothed, "I''m sorry that I did this without your agreement. You were fatally wounded by Reverend Seer, and this was the only way to save you."


    Fresh from that intense battle, his original body was bleeding all over the ce and seemed to be in a terrible state. As for the avatar, it had fainted from consuming too much of its Divine Soul and was currently being watched by Yiyi.


    With nothing to sustain it, the Infinite Pce fell apart.


    Even so, he still focused on consoling Lin Xin.


    "I know," Lin Xin replied from within the Azure Dragon''s body. "Although I wasn''t able to speak, I saw everything that happened. Thank you, Tang Jie. Without you, I would already be dead."


    Such tender words spoken with such a deep and majestic voice gave everyone goosebumps.


    The new Azure Dragon might be one of the most simultaneously powerful, timid, and iprehensible existences of the Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    Tang Jie replied, "Actually, there''s no need to be too sad. Supreme True Immortals possess immense powers. If you want, you can transform yourself into a human."


    "Mm," Lin Xin simply replied, and then she fell silent, quietly lying there.


    The world fell quiet.


    Only the old Azure Dragon was still howling. "If you don''t want this body, then give it back to me!"


    As he roared, the birthmark began to fade. But this wasn''t because his Divine Soul was about to break free. It was because his soul was merging with Lin Xin''s body.


    From now on, Lin Xin would be the Azure Dragon, and the Azure Dragon would be Lin Xin.


    Lin Xin looked at her former body with a hint of reluctance in those dragon eyes. "Although I have left my old body, I am unwilling to abandon it. Azure Dragon, since you''ve gained my old body, take good care of it."


    She raised a dragon w and flicked a drop of blood at her old body.


    While it was only a drop, it was asrge as a wash basin. It fell onto that hole in her body and began to repair this fatal wound. Her old body was currently in a state like Hong Yuan''s had been, the body having perished but the soul still lingering. With the Divine Soul maintaining the body, it coulde back to life so long as the injuries were healed. As the former body had never cultivated before, it was very difficult to heal, but the dragon blood of a Supreme True Immortal could heal even the most serious of injuries.


    The old Azure Dragon bellowed, "My blood! You would dare use my precious blood to save this mortal body!"


    "It''s now my blood and your body," Lin Xin coldly said. From her tone, one could tell that she was rapidly adapting to the new body, and new power came with this new status. "If you''re sure that you don''t need it, I can destroy it!"


    "With just you, you think"


    "Raaa!" A roar drowned out the old dragon''s voice.


    After roaring, Lin Xin said, "Tang Jie, help me take good care of this body."


    "As the Sacred Azure Dragonmands," Tang Jie replied, and he summoned Lin Xin''s former body to his side. This action was very taxing for him, causing all of his wounds to open, but thankfully, nobody tried to stop him.


    The old dragon continued to shout as he struggled. "Release me! That bitch will never"


    Before he could finish, Tang Jie had Yiyi stuff a clod of dirt into the dragon''s mouth so that he could no longer speak.


    Lin Xin cast her gaze at the assembled fiends and humans.


    All that her gaze fell upon shivered.


    This invisible pressure was so powerful and heavy that they couldn''t even raise their heads.


    Lin Xin said, "These fiends were helping the old dragon against you, almost stopping me from being reborn"


    The fiends felt their hearts turn cold.


    Lin Xin went on, "Tang Jie, how do you want to deal with them?"


    Tang Jie looked at Lin Xin and considered her question. "Aurora tried to stop you from seeding, so he deserves ten thousand deaths, but the other fiends were being coerced by Aurora, so they can be forgiven. If Aurora is willing tomit suicide, I rmend that you consider letting the other fiends off."


    <em>What?</em>


    Everyone was stunned by these words.


    Liu Zongchang shouted, "Tang Jie, what are you thinking? This is the best opportunity to eliminate the fiends, so why are you letting them go?"


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "I''ve been ruling in fiend territory for many years, so I''ve established much affection toward the fiends. And if there are no more fiends, humans will find it hard to prosper. Giving the fiends a way out is also giving the humans a way out. A country without an enemy is destined to perish. Without pressure from the fiends, it will be difficult to keep human cultivators energized. In short, I will not let the fiends perish here."


    Lin Xin nodded. "If that is your will, then so be it."


    These words made all the fiends sigh in relief and look toward Aurora. Even the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor looked over to him.


    "Father!" Lan Ling paled.


    Aurora waved his hand, ordering his daughter to be silent. Looking at Tang Jie, he said, "Are you being sincere?"


    Tang Jie casually replied, "In front of the Sacred Azure Dragon, do I need to deceive you?"


    "Mm! Mm!" The old dragon struggled as she tried to speak, so Tang Jie struck her in the back of the head and knocked her out.


    Looking up at the divine body of the Azure Dragon, Aurora sighed, "If that''s the case, then this old man doesn''t need you to swear a Heavenly Dao Oath. Just as you say, you have no need to trick me. Tang Jie, please give the fiends a path to survive!"


    "FATHER!!!" Lan Ling dropped to her knees and wailed.


    Aurora wanly smiled. "Since we failed, we have to ept the fate of the defeated. To have only me die is already the best ending."


    The two Auroras merged together and transformed into a rainbow peacock that crowed at the sky.


    The peacock began to exude a brilliant divine light while fiercely trembling.


    Seeing this, all the fiends dropped to their knees and shouted, "Your Majesty!"


    Lan Ling was on the verge of fainting from her weeping.


    "Tang Jie, I''ve put all of my life force into my pellet. I know that this is what you want. Now, everything I have is yours. I hope that you won''t go back on your words!"


    The peacock exploded in onest blinding burst, a shockwave sweeping through the world.


    As the winds died down, the rainbow peacock''s corpse slowly floated down, falling into Tang Jie''s hand.


    As Aurora hadmitted suicide, not only had he not used the energy of his fiend pellet, he had also put all of his energy into it. As a result, this was the perfectly intact body of a Fiend Emperor, the fiend pellet, flesh, and Divine Soul all preserved in their ideal state.


    This was for fear that Tang Jie might go back on his word.


    Now, Tang Jie had collected four of the Five Fiend Emperors'' corpses. All he was missing was the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor.


    All the fiends nervously looked at the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor.


    All of their lives depended on a single word from Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie said, "I want to take a look at your saber."


    The Iron Blood Fiend Emperor grunted and reluctantly threw over his Ironblood Saber.


    As Tang Jie grabbed it, he immediately felt an immense, almost suffocating, willing from it.


    Taking in a deep breath, Tang Jie eximed, "A good saber!"


    Iron Blood paled, but Tang Jie added, "Don''t worry. I don''t want your saber. I just want to borrow it for a hundred days to temper my Origin Heart."


    Iron Blood exhaled in relief. "Okay! When you don''t need it anymore, just throw the saber away. The saber will fly back to me on its own."


    "If that''s the case, what are you all still standing around for? Hurry and go already!"


    The fiends immediately fled as if they had been issued a general amnesty.


    Lin Xin gave them no trouble, simply floating in the air and watching them leave.


    Now that the fiends were gone, everyone else had no desire to linger much longer. Feng Wuxiang and Liu Zongchang came over to congratte Lin Xin and Tang Jie.


    Although they regretted the fact that Tang Jie had let the fiends go, they didn''t dare toin too much in this situation.


    After exchanging pleasantries, they asked if Tang Jie nned to leave as well. When they learned that Tang Jie was nning to cultivate here, they all bid their farewells and left.


    To be honest, under the Azure Dragon''s pressure, nobody dared to stay for too long. They didn''t even touch the fiend corpses, leaving them all for Tang Jie.


    Shentu Yuan''s group of four was thest to leave.


    As Tang Jie''s best friend in the Verdant Cloud Domain, Shentu Yuan bluntly asked, "What were you thinking, letting all those fiends go? After all, they were still valuable materials."


    Tang Jie smiled. "I wanted to keep them, but the problem is that I can''t."


    "''You can''t''? The Sacred Azure Dragon could easily kill them all, no?" Ye Xiao said.


    Tang Jie sighed. "If she really could use her power, then she naturally would. But what if she couldn''t?"


    <em>What?</em>


    All four of them were stunned.


    They looked at the Azure Dragon in the distance and saw fatigue and exhaustion appearing on her visage.


    Now that everyone was gone, Lin Xin stopped hiding her fatigue.


    Ice Phoenix said in trembling realization, "You mean, she she can''t control"


    Tang Jie replied in a breezy tone.


    "How could the soul of an ordinary person control a Supreme True Immortal? Being able to speak and move a w was already an ordeal for her."

 Chapter 742: Death

    Chapter 742: Death


    The real reason the fiends had been let go had been revealed.


    The soul of Lin Xin, an ordinary human, simply couldn''t control as powerful a body as the Azure Dragon, just like how a person with congenital brain stem atrophy would find it extremely difficult to even move a little.


    Lin Xin was a smart girl, so when she discovered this problem, she didn''t immediately call it out, instead pretending that everything was fine. If she had said the truth, then rather than veneration, she would have been weed by a dragon hunt.


    The only person who understood this point without needing to have it pointed out was the old dragon, which was why Lin Xin had interrupted him and handed him over to Tang Jie.


    That roar that had interrupted the old dragon and the request to catch the old dragon despite Tang Jie''s heavy injuries had made Tang Jie realize that something was wrong. And when Lin Xin asked him how the fiends should be handled, Tang Jie was certain that Lin Xin had encountered a problem.


    Given his mind, he needed only a little thought to realize that this was probably due to the strength of Lin Xin''s soul, so together with Lin Xin, he put on a y and let the fiends go.


    There was no telling what would happen if they pushed the fiends too far.


    "Then then you still had Auroramit suicide?" Ximen Changfeng stammered, pointing a finger at Tang Jie.


    This guy was so bold! Wasn''t he afraid that Aurora would fight for his life?


    Tang Jie was unperturbed. "If you don''t make any demands at all, you will fill the other party''s mind with suspicion. Aurora was the main culprit behind the effort to prevent Lin Xin''s rebirth, so while I could let the others go, I couldn''t let him go. And his daughter was here, so if he didn''t want to see his own flesh and blood die,mitting suicide was the best choice. Of course, the Aurora Fiend Emperor was also the leader of the Five Fiend Emperors, and his body and a thousand years of cultivation were worth the risk."


    "I feel like thest reason was the most important one," Shentu Yuan muttered.


    The four of them were speechless at the fact that Tang Jie had tricked Aurora into killing himself. For a mighty Divine Division great fiend, the leader of the Five Emperors, to die this way was truly aggravating. Fortunately, he was already dead, or else his rage might have brought him back to life.


    As for why Tang Jie had taken the Ironblood Saber, everyone understood.


    Rather than using it to temper his will, Tang Jie was taking it to weaken Iron Blood in case he realized what was going on and came back to cause trouble.


    Without the Ironblood Saber, even if Iron Blood and the Millepluma Guard came back, Tang Jie was confident he could deal with them. He had told this to Shentu and the others in the hopes that they could stay here and help him.


    "Of course, as a sign of my gratitude, all of this will be yours," Tang Jie said, pointing at the ground littered with fiend corpses.


    "Haha, as expected of a brother, you really are a loyal one!" The four of them were delighted.


    These fiend corpses were valuable resources, with many of them being great fiends in the middle orte phase of Transformation. The three hundred Millepluma Guards were enough to make countless people lose their minds.


    Since Tang Jie was asking for their help, he naturally wouldn''t treat them poorly.


    While they were happily splitting the spoils, Ye Xiao asked, "Right, when will the Sacred Azure Dragon be able to truly move freely?"


    Although he knew that Lin Xin couldn''t move, Ye Xiao still chose to speak respectfully, just in case.


    A True Immortal was a True Immortal. Even if she couldn''t move, a single breath could take their lives. This was not an existence that could be ignored.


    "That depends on how fast her soul improves," Tang Jie replied.


    The Sacred Beast lineages were extremely powerful, and now that Lin Xin''s soul was in the Azure Dragon''s body, it would be nurtured by this bloodline power. Slowly, she would grow stronger, and she would eventually adapt and fully merge with the body.


    But before then, she would have to hibernate here for some time.


    "But while Lin Xin''s soul is that of an ordinary person, the old dragon''s soul spent a long time slumbering in her body. The two of them influenced each other, and Lin Xin''s soul was probably long ago stained with the old dragon''s aura. This is why she was able to so smoothly upy the dragon''s corpse. Any other person, even a cultivator, might not have been able to do it. Thus, her progress shouldn''t be too slow."


    "That''s great." Everyone sighed in relief.


    So long as Lin Xin could control a little of the power in the Azure Dragon''s holy body, nobody in the Verdant Cloud Domain could cause her trouble.


    As everyone sighed in relief, Tang Jie suddenly grimaced, dropping to his knees and howling in pain.


    "Tang Jie, what''s wrong!?" The four of them jumped in fright and immediately moved to help Tang Jie up. Even the distant Lin Xin opened her eyes to look at Tang Jie.


    Grasping his head, Tang Jie shouted, "I''m fine! It''s my avatar that''s in trouble!"


    "Big Brother!" Yiyi''s cry came from the distance, and she flew over while hugging the avatar.


    In Yiyi''s embrace, Tang Jie''s avatar was lying quietly with its eyes shut, as if it was sleeping.


    Only Tang Jie knew that his avatar''s life force was growing weaker and weaker because it had consumed too much of its Divine Soul.


    This was an inevitable side effect of using the Peaceful Divine Abode ssic. The only thing that Tang Jie didn''t understand was that Immortal Ji Yao had said that the soul would recover through rest, so why was Tang Jie''s Divine Soul getting weaker?


    Could it be


    A thought urred to Tang Jie.


    "Hahahaha!" Immortal Ji Yao''s voice rang out. "What does it feel like to lose your soul? Don''t you feel like your entire body is drifting away?"


    Tang Jie grunted. "Immortal Ji Yao, so it really was your doing! But how did you manage to do it? I tested your Peaceful Divine Abode ssic, and there should have been no problems with it. Moreover, it''s impossible for you to create such a perfect fake art in such little time."


    Immortal Ji Yaoughed. "Hahaha! The art isn''t fake, but it''s divided into two parts. The upper part is the Peaceful Abode ssic, refining the Divine Soul into a Violet Pce, but the lower part is the Divine Restoration ssic, for restoring the Divine Soul. I only transmitted you the first part, not the second. And simple rest alone won''t heal your soul. So? Tang Jie, in the end, you still fell into my trap. Now that your soul is drying up, it''s beginning to degenerate. If you don''t have the Divine Restoration ssic, your death is inevitable! But if you''re willing to release me, let alone the Divine Restoration ssic, I can also transmit other Immortal arts to you!"


    Tang Jie coldlyughed. "No wonder you were so confident and so anxious to help, and in the end, I failed to notice this trick. But I haven''t experienced any sort of drifting feeling. Mm, true, you''re stuck on the other side of the passage and can only rely on your hearing, even your Demonic Will being suppressed, so there''s a lot you still don''t know You don''t know I have two bodies, right?"


    "What?" Immortal Ji Yao was dumbfounded.


    She truly did not know that Tang Jie had one soul in two bodies.


    While others could see it, having an avatar wasn''t something too rare. The only thing special was that Tang Jie had an avatar very early on and had cultivated it to an extremely high level. Thus, nobody had ever called it out.


    For this reason, Immortal Ji Yao had been unaware of his having one soul in two bodies and was stupefied by this news.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "As expected, you didn''t know. But now that you know that I have one soul in two bodies, you should have guessed that I''ve split my soul before, which means I have a way of restoring my soul."


    "Hmph, your method might not work," Immortal Ji Yao snorted.


    "Well, I have to at least try it first. Moreover, even if it dies, it''s only an avatar. I would still keep my life, so don''t even think about using my life to threaten me into releasing you."


    Immortal Ji Yao was so angry that she couldn''t speak.


    But Shentu Yuan and the others could see that Tang Jie didn''t seem happy at all, and he didn''t seem to be making any attempts to save the avatar.


    When making the avatar, he had used Soulnurture Grass, a Soul Guardian Pill, and Hanging Fate Grass, and the method he had used was the Three Corpses Conversion Art.


    But he had none of these herbs or pills now, and the Three Corpses Conversion Art''s method of soul restoration was of a very low grade and would have an extremely limited effect on a Soul Transformation cultivator. He was powerless to deal with the damage incurred from creating a Violet Pce.


    Thus, this avatar, without the Divine Restoration ssic, was bound to die.


    Although it was only an avatar, it had been with him for many years and had been crucial to many things, and it had even been cultivated to the Soul Transformation Tier. He couldn''t help but be griefstricken at its imminent death.


    Everyone sighed in sorrow.


    Yiyi dumbly hugged the avatar''s "corpse".


    Although she knew that Tang Jie was still alive and wouldn''t die from this, when she saw the avatar, she felt another big brother was leaving her, or like someone had suddenly had their lifespan cut in half. Tears began to well up in her eyes.


    In the end, Tang Jie said nothing, picking up the avatar and walking to the side.


    Everyone chose to leave him alone, knowing that he was in a bad mood.


    Tang Jie went to a clearing and punched arge hole in the ground, which he ced the avatar in.


    He seated himself next to the hole and looked at the body, feeling thatst sliver of its soul dissipate, its life force soon to follow.


    Yiyi sat down next to him and sobbed, "Big Brother."


    Tang Jie hugged Yiyi and smiled. "Don''t be sad. Life is all about experiencing various things, and isn''t experiencing one''s own death also rather fine? It''s not an experience that many people get to have. I might evenprehend the Dao of Reincarnation from it."


    Yiyi was so tickled by the notion that she giggled, but tears were still streaking down her cheeks.


    Thus, they sat together, chatting as they sprinkled handfuls of soil over the avatar, scenes of all they had experienceding to mind, particrly those he had experienced as the avatar.


    The struggles in the Langya Blessed Land, the battles with the Stone Gate Sect and Wang Juemie, those difficult trials in the Beast Garden, and also their times in Nadir Hill, the Blood River Domain, and the Myriad Court fragmentthe avatar had been there for all of them.


    Without the avatar, Tang Jie might still have been in the Martial Lord''s hidden realm with no chance to leave.


    Many of the treasures Tang Jie possessed were thanks to the avatar.


    Thinking this, Tang Jie reached into his bag and took out several treasures, throwing them onto the avatar. "It''s not like I need them anymore. In ancient times, emperors were buried with their treasures, so we should also put some inside."


    "Mm, alright." Yiyi reached into the Mustard Seed Bag and began to throw any art relics she found useless into the hole,menting, "This one is useless, we don''t use this one"


    These poor art relics would have been widely sought in the outside world, but Yiyi considered them all useless and used them as burial goods.


    In her enthusiasm, she grabbed something and said, "This one is also useless."


    She threw it into the hole.


    Tang Jie saw that it was the Dream Pearl Lady painting.


    He had gotten this long ago from Mei Huaping. Although he sensed that it held secrets, he had never been able toprehend them. When Yiyi threw it in, there was a moment he wanted to take it back, but then he decided to let it go.


    The painting drifted onto the avatar like a burial shroud.


    As it covered the avatar, it began to emit a gorgeous light.

 Chapter 743: Immortal Ji Yao

    Chapter 743: Immortal Ji Yao


    The light was gone in a sh, but it was like aet streaking across the dark canvas of the night, bringing hope to Tang Jie''s heart.


    At that moment, Tang Jie felt the withered Divine Soul in his avatar twitch, like someone noticing the fingers of a corpse trembling.


    "It''s glowing!" Yiyi shouted, pointing at the Dream Pearl Lady painting.


    Startled, Tang Jie grabbed the painting.


    He saw that the woman''s figure had turned around a little, revealing half her face. The face was covered by a veil that obscured its features, but Tang Jie was entranced, just like when Mei Huaping had used it to subdue his mind.


    But when his mind was entranced, Tang Jie sensed that his avatar''s Divine Soul had stopped withering.


    It was like something was protecting his avatar, ensuring that his soul didn''t go out.


    "The Dream Pearl Lady the dream So this is actually a painting that protects the Divine Soul," Tang Jie said in realization. He had always taken the painting as a tool toprehend the Dao, not expecting that it could protect the Divine Soul. It was no wonder it entranced the consciousness. However, because most cultivators kept their souls tightly protected, they rarely had the chance to experience this effect, and as for Mei Huaping, he hadn''t even reached Heart Demon, so he had never had the chance to uncover this secret. As a result, this function had remained undiscovered until now.


    Holding the painting, Tang Jie felt excited.


    He suddenly remembered something and took out the statue of the Pearl Lady from his Mustard Seed Bag.


    After getting this statue from the Myriad Court fragment, he had never found a use for it. Despite its value as a treasure being unknown, he had kept it at his side all this time.


    As he ced the statue in front of the painting, the light from the painting fell upon it, and the statue trembled.


    A light erupted from the top of the statue''s head, projecting the figure of a fairy-like woman with long and flowing sleeves. It was an enchanting sight that one would be reluctant to look away from. But there was clearly a man next to the woman,rge and imposing like a mountain, his face tough and determined, radiating willpower and resolve. And Tang Jie was familiar with the face, as well as unsurprised to see it here.


    The image of the woman was leaning against the man''s chest as they twirled around in the pir of light, revolving without end.


    "So beautiful!" Yiyi muttered.


    "So it was just a recorder," Tang Jie said in disappointment.


    This statue had been stored together with the Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill and the sheath of the Immeasurable Sword, so he had also taken it to be something of great value, but it turned out to be a recording art relic. However, it had a unique method of activation, requiring the energy of one of the people being recorded.


    This must have been an extremely valuable keepsake for its owner.


    Some treasures weren''t valuable in and of themselves, instead being valuable and treasured because of the significance their owner ced on them.


    The Pearl Lady statue was such a treasure.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but sigh over the fact that he couldn''t get what he wanted from the statue.


    As the statue unleashed the pir of light, Immortal Ji Yao''s trembling voice came from the other side of the passage. "What happened? Brat, talk! Why do I sense something so familiar?"


    She couldn''t see what was on the other side, and her Demonic Will was suppressed, but she could still sense an extremely familiar energy.


    Tang Jie looked at the Chaos Tower and muttered, "''The Pearl Lady'' ''Immortal Ji Yao'' Is it really a coincidence?"


    (TN: Ji Yao "" means "Concubine/Woman Pearl")


    Yiyi also realized, and she said in shock, "It really does seem like they''re rted."


    The two of them looked at each other and said in unison, "Could this be the arrangement of Fate?"


    And then theyughed.


    Tang Jie shook his head. "I like the result, but I don''t like the exnation. I am the master of my own Fate. Nobody else can control me."


    Immortal Ji Yao was still shouting, her tone vicious and not at all like some fairy, but Tang Jie paid it no mind.


    He covered the avatar with the painting so that thest ember of soul fire didn''t go out, and then he strode over to the Chaos Tower. "Luan Grass nted in the gardens of the royal court, a fairy in a dream ascending to the nine heavens, a sentimental keepsake recording a priceless memory stored away in a little tower, a fairnd across ake, where two lovers would rather be happily married than be Immortalhow is it that the Pearl Lady ended up falling to the Primordial Fog and bing a Demon Immortal!?"


    "Aaagh!" A screech resounded through the heavens.


    "Who!? Just who are you?!" Immortal Ji Yao howled.


    Even though it was impossible to see her face, Tang Jie could easily imagine that her face was stricken with fear, anger, and confusion.


    Softly sighing, Tang Jie said, "You were sealed here by the Immortal Emperor, so you probably don''t know that the Court of Myriad Domains is no more, yes?"


    "What did you say?" Immortal Ji Yao shuddered.


    She had been imprisoned here for ten thousand years, so she truly knew nothing of the outside world.


    In her view, the Court of Myriad Domains had been so prosperous and the Immortal Emperor so powerful that even if an eternal reign was impossible, ten thousand generations could easily be done. How had it perished so quickly?


    "So you really didn''t know." Tang Jie sighed. It seemed like she had been telling the truth. This really was an isted small world of the Primordial Fog Domain.


    "How did it perish?" Immortal Ji Yao barked.


    "It was the work of one person if I saw things correctly," Tang Jie replied.


    "One person? Who could be so mighty that they could destroy the Court of Myriad Domains? It''s impossible!" Immortal Ji Yao shouted.


    "His name was the Martial Lord."


    "''The Martial Lord''? Who''s that?" To his surprise, Immortal Ji Yao didn''t know this name.


    Only then did Tang Jie remember that "Martial Lord" was a title given by those who came after. Those of the same generation of the Martial Lord probably didn''t know of it. He exined, "A man of overbearing aura, proficient in the Weapon Dao. With a single shout, he could shatter all weapons into golden grains"


    Tang Jie noticed that there was still no reaction from Immortal Ji Yao, so he added, "Right, he was a body cultivator who was also proficient in illusions, able to create numerous illusions at once."


    "What?" There was finally a reaction. "What did he look like? What was his name?"


    "I don''t know his name, but his image was left in a statue, together with a fairy If you recognize this statue, perhaps you will know who he is." As Tang Jie spoke, he lifted the statue and walked closer to the Chaos Tower.


    The closer he was, the better Immortal Ji Yao was able to sense the energy of the statue.


    Her voice turned shrill. "Give that to me!"


    Tang Jie threw the statue into the Primordial Fog passage.


    A few momentster, Immortal Ji Yao''s voice rang out. "Li Jiuyang, it really is you. You bastard, I suffered so much because of you. You you actually AAAAAH!!!"


    (EN: It appears that the ''Ninedark'' () portion of the Martial Lord''s titlees from a rearrangement of his name, Li Jiuyang ().)


    Immortal Ji Yao''s words failed her, dissolving into a scream that shook the heavens and the earth, even jolting that Immortal talisman.


    When she had finally finished screaming, she began to sob. It was clear that she had lost herposure.


    After a while, Immortal Ji Yao finally calmed down. "Tang Jie, you said that he singlehandedly destroyed the Court of Myriad Domains?"


    "Yes."


    "But this just isn''t possible. I know very well how strong Jiuyang was. He was truly very strong, but not strong enough to destroy the Myriad Court all by himself. The Immortal Emperor alone could have crushed him! And also, how do you know that he was the one who did it?"


    Tang Jie described how he had obtained the Martial Mirror and viewed the scene within it.


    (TN: This scene can be found in Chapter 71.)


    Immortal Ji Yao fell silent.


    After a while, she said, "Based on your description, what you saw in the Martial Mirror really was the Court of Myriad Domains. Those four figures as radiant as the sun were probably the Four Sages of the Myriad Court, its Four Gold Immortals. But Li Jiuyang was only a little stronger than most True Immortals. Since when was he able to contend against four Gold Immortals and shatter the court? And what of Yu Cheng? Where was he?"


    "Presumably, his strength soared by leaps and bounds after he was separated from Senior. And this junior can now understand why the Martial Lord would shatter the Myriad Court. In the end, he was enraged over the loss of his love. As for the Immortal Emperor, this junior saw no sign of him. Perhaps he had fallen in battle. In any case, there has been no news of him since then, and it seems like the Martial Lord himself died in that battle."


    Immortal Ji Yao sobbed, "He really for me He did so much, and I never knew. I was even wondering why he hadn''te to save me! Jiuyang"


    She once more began to sob uncontrobly, falling into manic and uncontrolled weeping. She didn''t seem at all like that elegant Pearl Lady who had ascended to the heavens, and instead, the violet energy of Primordial Fog poured out of the passage. But Tang Jie already knew that this woman was a demon, so he didn''t find this strange. All he could do was sigh over how far the Martial Lord''s woman had fallen.


    Finally, Immortal Ji Yao stopped crying. "In other words, you''re his chosen sessor? Then after I left behind this statue, how did you get it?"


    "When the Myriad Court shattered, its fragments fell over all the domains. One of them fell into the Rosecloud Domain, and this junior had the opportunity to enter that fragment, where he came across this statue, whereupon I guessed that you had a rtionship with the Martial Lord. I just didn''t expect"


    "You didn''t expect to meet me here, and that I had already turned into a demon, right?" Immortal Ji Yao coldly said.


    Tang Jie said nothing.


    Immortal Ji Yao loudlyughed,ughter streaked with pain and misery.


    Even Shentu Yuan''s group, far off in the distance, had to cover their ears. Besides that, this conversation had made them realize Tang Jie''s origins.


    This guy wasn''t even from the Verdant Cloud Domain! And it seemed like his inheritance had a major connection to this demon.


    The four of them shared a look and then anxiously looked at Tang Jie. Their meaning was clear: regardless of her past or what sort of ancestor she was, right now, this woman was a demon.


    Demons didn''t think ording tomon sense, and a deep rtionship was no guarantee that she would return a favor with kindness.


    People who had turned into demons were normally deranged, drifting between sanity and madness. Just Immortal Ji Yao''s manic reaction alone was a sign that her mind wasn''t normal.


    If Tang Jie let her go because of his connection to the Martial Lord, he might end up hurting himself.


    Tang Jie nodded to indicate that he understood.

 Chapter 744: The Eternity Sarcophagus

    Chapter 744: The Eternity Sarcophagus


    After a bout ofughing and weeping, Immortal Ji Yao regained herposure. She said to Tang Jie, "You are Li Jiuyang''s inheritor, so you can consider me your teacher''s wife. Since I have fallen and be a demon, I won''t ask you to release me. I only hope that you''ll acknowledge me as your teacher''s wife. Are you willing?"


    Tang Jie didn''t mince words, immediately kneeling and saying, "Tang Jie pays respects to Master''s Wife."


    Immortal Ji Yao chuckled. "Very good, very good. I didn''t think that I would be able to meet Jiuyang''s sessor after being imprisoned here for ten thousand years. I can now die without regrets. Right, is your avatar still alive?"


    "It is still alive, thanks to mydy''s blessing."


    "''Blessing''? What blessing?"


    Tang Jie exined the Dream Pearl Lady painting.


    Although this painting depicted Immortal Ji Yao, it was painted by Zhan Mengqian, not Immortal Ji Yao, and she had had no knowledge of it.


    Upon hearing Tang Jie''s exnation, Immortal Ji Yao said in realization, "I understand. Someone must have witnessed me ascending to the Immortal Domain and seeded in imbuing my divinity into the painting. At that time, I had already achieved great sess in the cultivation of the Peaceful Divine Abode ssic, and my divinity had the ability to soothe the spirit, so it''s not strange that this painting can preserve your avatar."


    Tang Jie still found it strange. Zhan Mengqian was just a mortal, and unless he had entered the Dao of Painting, how he had been able to imbue his painting with the Pearl Lady''s divinity?


    But there were all sorts of strange things in the world, and perhaps that painting sage really had been just that incredible.


    What Immortal Ji Yao said next excited Tang Jie. "I suppose this is Fate. Since you are Jiuyang''s sessor and have even gained a sliver of my divinity through that painting, you have some destiny with me, so there is no need to keep the Divine Restoration ssic to myself."


    Tang Jie was shocked and delighted that he was getting the Divine Restoration ssic.


    Thus, Immortal Ji Yao imparted the ssic to Tang Jie, and with this art, the avatar''s Divine Soul stopped withering and began to slowly recover. And the Pearl Lady painting even sped up the recovery.


    But Tang Jie felt like he was in a difficult spot.


    Immortal Ji Yao had given him the Divine Restoration ssic, but he was unwilling to release his master''s wife, which made him feel guilty.


    Fortunately, Immortal Ji Yao became much more understanding now that she understood Tang Jie''s connection to the Martial Lord. "Now that I''m a demon, I am affected by my Demonic Will, which asionally turns me ruthless. If I were to be released, I would inevitably bring harm to others, so it is best if I remain here. If you feel guilty, you can stay here for a while and talk with me, allowing me to vent my emotions and gain a better understanding of the world. In this way, you can also protect the soul within the Azure Dragon. Moreover, I won''t have you do this for nothing. I am confident that I can give you some pointers regarding cultivation if you need it."


    Everyone was happy to hear this.


    After all, this was a Boundless Gold Immortal.


    What was the meaning of a major sect? Was it not their inheritances and their teachings, allowing disciples to make fewer mistakes on their path?


    Was there anything more valuable than the instruction of a Boundless Gold Immortal?


    Everyone agreed to the deal.


    Tang Jie and Shentu Yuan''s group took up residence in this ce so that they could cultivate.


    When they were free, they would chat with Immortal Ji Yao.


    Most of the time, Shentu and the rest talked while Immortal Ji Yao listened.


    The world had changed greatly over her ten thousand years of imprisonment, and she was desperate to learn about everything going on in the outside world, finding it all new and interesting. Thus, Shentu''s group of four split into two pairs. One pair would go out to find historical records and stories for her, even taking recordings of the outside world, and the other pair would read to her and chat with her.


    As a reward, Immortal Ji Yao gave them pointers on cultivation, answering every question they had. This female demon had a profound cultivation and vast experience to draw from. While her ways were somewhat out of date, when it came to anything to do with cultivation, she was always able to provide the most meticulous analysis.


    For Shentu''s group, there were still many things about Violet Pce and above that they didn''t understand, and for Tang Jie, while he was able to find other sources of instruction for Earth Immortal and below, even the six major sects didn''t have anything about the tiers above Earth Immortal.


    But Immortal Ji Yao could answer all their questions.


    There was more good news: there really was Dragonbone Spirit Sesame growing on the Azure Dragon''s body. The Azure Dragon had been dead for ten thousand years, and while his body hadn''t rotted thanks to the Five Elements formation, there was still some corpse energy, which gathered up the essence of the corpse and allowed the Dragonbone Spirit Sesame to grow. This nt was key for the extreme long-distance teleportation formation, and with it, Tang Jie had much greater hopes of returning home. He stillcked some materials and couldn''t immediately return, but he could already see a ray of hope, and he had tasked Iron Blood and Liu Zongchang with helping him find these materials. Iron Blood didn''t dare to defy his will, and Liu Zongchang had swiftly agreed. The two of them searching would be much more efficient than if Tang Jie himself tried it.


    Other than cultivating and conversation, Tang Jie devoted much of his energy to caring for Lin Xin and the avatar.


    Now that the avatar had the Divine Restoration ssic, its Divine Soul had begun to recover. Even better was that the Divine Restoration ssic also worked on Lin Xin''s soul, and she was gradually gaining control of her new body, capable of doing things like shaking her head or waving her tail.


    But there was still a long road until she could fly or use her abilities.


    Inparison, the old dragon in Lin Xin''s body was much more restless, beginning to shout the moment he woke up.


    He was much smarter this time, immediately shouting, "She can''t control my body!"


    s, the crowd had long since scattered, and only the winners were left.


    The old dragon saw the smiling faces of Tang Jie andpany and shivered.


    Even so, he still roared at Lin Xin and begged her to return his body.


    The old dragon''s Divine Soul was strong and energetic, so Tang Jie had no choice but to knock him out again to maintain the peace. But this was no long-term solution, and he was somewhat at a loss for what to do.


    At that moment, Immortal Ji Yao said, "The path of cultivation is actually the path of turning the soul into a god. In other words, cultivating the body is only a means of support, and cultivating the soul is the real goal. From Cognitive Creation, when one creates the Spirit Will, to the condensation of the Dao Fruit at Celestial Heart, and then the charge at Heart Demon, the transformation of the Soul, and the cultivation of the Divine Will, one is constantly working upon the soul. And when one reaches Violet Pce, the soul bes substantialized and is able to connect to the world, which further strengthens the soul. Infant Tending, Deification, and Soul Projection are also focused on the soul. But only at Immortal tform is the Divine Soul truly free of the Violet Pce and able to wander the outside world. At this moment, the "soul" part of "Divine Soul" can be removed, for one has be divine, has be a god. Thus they say, when the soul connects to divinity and the cultivator attains Immortality, one bes a God Immortal!"


    These words could be considered a most incisive summary of the Great Ster Chiliocosm''s way of cultivation.


    Immortal Ji Yao continued, "As a True Immortal, the old dragon''s soul has long ago connected to the divine, transcending the physical body, far more than the souls of Violet Pce cultivators. The Violet Pce soul has physical form and can link to the world, but it is still weaker than the physical body, and it still needs to rely on the body to do many things. To lose the body is to lose strength. But the Immortal tform Realm is different. While the body remains powerful, the god is even more powerful. Even if you destroy its physical body, so long as the godhood remains, it can still fight. For an Immortal tform cultivator, the physical body is just a shell, a suit of armor. Killing it is just destroying this shell. Of course, there are quite a few exceptions. Take the Blood River Lord as an example. As a monster born of the Blood River, it is able to take on countless forms and merge into the Blood River. But if the Blood River is destroyed, a part of the god will be destroyed. Although it is unkible and can take on countless forms, so long as it never concentrates this power, it will forever be stuck at Earth Immortal. As for the Azure Dragon, as a great fiend, he has a powerful physical body, much stronger than that of other Immortal tform cultivators, but his godhood is somewhat weaker, making things even. Even so, the godhood within the old dragon is enough to destroy a hundred Violet Pce cultivators."


    These words had everyone sweating. They had never expected just the dragon''s soul to be this powerful.


    In the end, it was because theycked experience and had no idea of the massive gap until Immortal Ji Yao exined it.


    ording to Immortal Ji Yao, the dragon''s godhood alone was enough to dominate the Verdant Cloud Domain. The reason he hadn''t used this power and had been so easily beaten was that it had been sealed.


    He had wanted his soul to constantly cycle through the world until the right moment came, so his godhood couldn''t be so powerful that no host would be able to tolerate it.


    Cultivators had to work to gain their cultivation, and they were all born mortals, so this power had to be weakened such that even the weakest mortal could ept it.


    Thus, the old dragon hadpletely sealed his godhood before entering the cycle of reincarnation.


    Of course, the Immortal Emperor might have had a way to help the old dragon resolve his problem, but since he was plotting against the dragon anyway, he wouldn''t have given it. As a result, while the dragon''s godhood was powerful, it was all sealed up, so Tang Jie was able to suppress him and get Lin Xin into his body.


    Immortal Ji Yao was saying that while the old dragon''s godhood was in Lin Xin''s body, it was still a godhood and couldn''t be bound by mortal powers. In the end, the seal woulde undone, and that power would awaken.


    Not only that, just like how the Azure Dragon''s blood could nurture Lin Xin''s soul, the Azure Dragon''s godhood could nurture Lin Xin''s body.


    Both parties were in the middle of adapting, and once the old dragon adapted sufficiently and undid the seal, the power he unleashed would be enough to tten Verdant Cloud.


    "So, if you want to forestall any problems, I advise you to quickly kill him," Immortal Ji Yao concluded.


    Although Tang Jie was tempted to take up this suggestion, Lin Xin objected.


    No matter what, she refused to see her old body destroyed.


    The reason for her objection was very simple: "The Azure Dragon can grow stronger, but so can I. Even if he gets up to no good in the future, I can stop him. Moreover, Tang Jie is here, and he would never let things get that far. We can use him as a well and draw strength from him."


    Tang Jie was also tempted by this idea, but Immortal Ji Yao sneered. "The power of others can neverpare to what you cultivate on your own. If you want to destroy your future prospects and stop at Immortal tform, then go ahead and absorb his power."


    Tang Jie was actually a rather ambitious person, and the education of the Basking Moon Sect had taught him to be a very careful person and to avoid narrowing his prospects, so Immortal Ji Yao''s words put an end to this idea.


    Even so, Lin Xin refused to let him kill the Azure Dragon.


    Immortal Ji Yao saw that her entreaties did nothing, so she changed tact. "If you don''t want to kill him, then we should seal him. I have a treasure called the Eternity Sarcophagus that can alter the flow of time. Its original purpose is to store corpses and prevent decay or to save someone on the verge of dying. This sarcophagus can put an end to any hopes the old dragon has of recovering."


    "Wonderful. Why didn''t you say this earlier?" Lin Xin spoke like a little girl with her deep dragon voice.


    "The problem is that this is a supreme divine treasure, and the Immortal talisman will have to be halfway lifted to send it out."

 Chapter 745: History

    Chapter 745: History


    After a brief period of shock, Tang Jie smiled and said, "If that''s the case, then I''ll just open it halfway."


    He walked over to the Immortal Talisman. After the battle, Immortal Ji Yao had removed the illusion, revealing the true appearance of the passage, as well as the shining talisman which illuminated this entire subterranean world.


    "Tang Jie!" Ice Phoenix shouted.


    Tang Jie turned to her and smiled. "I know what you''re worried about, but I don''t think that tearing off the talisman halfway will give her the ability to leave. If that were the case, then the more of the talisman that''s removed, the more power she should be able to send over, and she would be able to use this power as a primer and kill us all and tear off the talisman herself. Clearly, this hasn''t happened, which shows that the Immortal talisman''s seal is very tight, and removing part of it won''t be too much of a problem. So long as the talisman remains, she cannot use her power."


    "But what if"


    "There are no ''if''s. When I''m sure about something, I''m going to do it. It doesn''t matter if I''m wrong or right. I''ll ept the consequences no matter what they are, and if I can''t bear the consequences, then I just have to ept obliteration. Just like Senior Liu said, even if it''s another Demon Lord, what''s one more on top of the 99 already in Primordial Fog? The sky won''t fall just because of this."


    Ice Phoenix was speechless, but Immortal Ji Yaoughed in approval. "Excellent, excellent. You''re as bold as one should expect of Jiuyang''s disciple."


    Ever since her fit of madness, she had gradually begun to calm down, her words bing less shrill and morepassionate, acting like a motherly senior.


    As Shentu Yuan put it, her burgeoning motherly nature was suppressing her demon nature.


    Tang Jie grabbed the talisman and began to pull. When the talisman was half-removed, violet fog poured out of the passage, and the howls of countless demons resounded. These demons wanted to charge out, but a powerful force held them back.


    A few momentster, four Bullhead demons walked out of the passage with a gray coffin on their shoulderspresumably the Eternity Sarcophagus.


    Bullheads were one of the standard soldiers of the Primordial Fog Domain''s demon army, with strengthparable to body cultivators. When they charged in formation, they were simply unstoppable. The four Bullhead demons who hade out all seemed to be at the warlord level, their cultivation at the Transformation level. But when carrying the sarcophagus, they were panting for breath, which showed how heavy the Eternity Sarcophagus actually was.


    Upon exiting the passage, the Bullhead demons put down the Eternity Sarcophagus, upon which the earth shuddered. Fortunately, the demonized soil was so tough that the Eternity Sarcophagus only sank a little into the earth.


    Tang Jie walked over and grabbed the Eternity Sarcophagus, trying to move it, but he couldn''t even make it budge. He sighed in praise, "What a fine treasure! This material alone would make it a fine weapon for smashing enemies."


    Immortal Ji Yao chuckled. "You really are Jiuyang''s disciple. You even say the same things."


    Tang Jie was speechless.


    Having delivered the Eternity Sarcophagus, the four Bullhead demons retreated without causing any incident. Ice Phoenix realized that she had misunderstood Immortal Ji Yao and felt embarrassed. But Immortal Ji Yao didn''t mind, moving on to teach Tang Jie how to use the Eternity Sarcophagus.


    After teaching him, Immortal Ji Yao said, "Alright, hurry up and put the old dragon in the sarcophagus."


    "Yes." Tang Jie opened the Eternity Sarcophagus and put Lin Xin''s body in. He then adjusted the dial on the sarcophagus to slow down the time within the coffin.


    But Tang Jie still had some lingering questions.


    Just now, he had noticed that the inside of the Eternity Sarcophagus was covered in profound Dao Runes, as many as one would find on the Myriad Immortals Cauldron.


    In other words, this was clearly a Dao armament.


    But Immortal Ji Yao had said that this was a divine treasure.


    Of course, she could have been trying to be humble or just treated all her valuables this way. It waspletely possible for some Titan to take out a Dao armament and say, "I have this treasure here. Maybe it will work."


    Thus, for Immortal Ji Yao to call it a divine treasure was notpletely out of the question.


    The problem was that this was still a Dao armament. To just give it to Tang Jie was a little too generous.


    Of course, it could be that Immortal Ji Yao still had feelings for the Martial Lord and was treating Tang Jie as his proxy. Regardless, no matter how Tang Jie examined the Eternity Sarcophagus, even looking at it through Insight, he couldn''t find any problem.


    The stay continued, the group continuing to cultivate and converse.


    Tang Jie and the others told Immortal Ji Yao what had happened in thest ten thousand years, and Immortal Ji Yao told them stories about the Court of Myriad Domains.


    The era of the Court of Myriad Domains was a most magnificent era.


    It was said that, back then, the Primordial Fog Domain and the Great Ster Chiliocosm were not so obviously divided from each other, and there were actually many passages between them.


    They were like tworge bowls facing each other, connected by a thin passage. The bowl above was called the Great Ster Chiliocosm, and the bowl below was called the Primordial Fog Domain. Between these two nes was the nar barrier, steadfast and tough.


    Within the bowl of the Great Ster Chiliocosm were many grains of sand, each sand being a small world. Floating about the bowl, they were the main body of the Chiliocosm.


    As for the Primordial Fog, it didn''t have that many grains of sand. It was the opposite of the Ster Chiliocosm, but more importantly, it was an intact whole.


    In other words, this world was just as vast as the Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    This was why the Primordial Fog Domain, a single domain, could battle against the entire Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    Of course, the Primordial Fog Domain was a barren ce, its vastndscking in resources. Thus, it was sparsely popted, and most of thend was as deserted as the void.


    Theck of resources made the Primordial Fog Domain a primitive hunting ground, its inhabitants always living in hunger and struggle, always killing for food. This was exactly why invading the prosperous Great Ster Chiliocosm became so normal for them.


    In truth, the demons of the Primordial Fog Domain weren''t necessarily stronger than the inhabitants of the Ster Chiliocosm. While Primordial Fog was big, its size prevented its unity. But all the demons of Primordial Fog could risk their lives for the sake of food. They were born with aggressive natures, born amid constant battle. It was theplete opposite of cultivators who cultivated for the sake of eternal lifethose who sought eternal life would never embrace death.


    This difference meant that the Great Ster Chiliocosm had been in great peril at the time.


    The cultivators were always trying to fend off the demon invasion, and they were constantly being pushed back.


    But heroes would always rise up in a chaotic world.


    It was also at that time that some incredible individuals appeared in the Ster Chiliocosm, gaining fame and prestige in their battles with the Primordial Fog.


    Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng had been one of these people. He had joined together with all the other Immortals of the world in a joint offensive against Primordial Fog, leading an army of cultivators into the Primordial Fog Domain for the first time. There, they ughtered numerous demons, seeming unstoppable.


    Not long after that, the Immortals withdrew, but Yu Cheng did not stop his efforts, gathering treasures from across the heavens and refining them together into a single heavenly item: the Myriad Heavens Ster Divine Net, which created a barrier between the two nes, preventing the invasion of the Primordial Fog Domain. This was why this ne was called the Ster Chiliocosm, for the Ster Divine Net protected it from the Primordial Fog.


    This move stabilized the entire universe, and was seen as an act of immense virtue. Yu Cheng seized the momentum to establish the Court of Myriad Domains, venerated by all the worlds and attended upon by all Immortals.


    This was a world of Immortals, so it was where those of the Immortal tform Realm gathered.


    Here, the weakest person was at Violet Pce, with Deification cultivators being cannon fodder and Soul Projection cultivators being the lower ss. Earth Immortals were the primary force, and True Immortals were the upper echelons.


    The Court of Myriad Domains became the strongest force in the Great Ster Chiliocosm, and while other factions existed outside of it, as well as Dao-Proving Saint Immortals, none of them could match the Court of Myriad Domains. Gradually, all of the Chiliocosm was united.


    It was at that time that Immortal Ji Yao joined the court.


    A female cultivator of a lower domain, she finally attained the Dao after cultivating for a thousand years and ascended to Immortal tform. Upon reaching Immortal tform, she felt the summons from the Court of Myriad Domains and transcended her domain, bing an Immortal and joining the Court of Myriad Domains, where she was titled Pearl Lady of the Nine Heavens.


    The Pearl Lady was a great beauty who naturally drew countless suitors.


    But the Pearl Lady was devoted to the Dao and never showed affection to anyone. She was also overflowing with talent, so with diligent cultivation, she managed to be a True Immortal.


    It was then that she met the person who would change her life.


    "That day, I was meditating when I suddenly had an idea and set off to the Sea of Stars. The Sea of Stars is a dangerous region of the void, full of stars and asteroids, as well as ancient great fiends from the beginning of the universe. Even someone as strong as me has to be careful there. That day, as I was journeying through the Sea of Stars, I spotted a battle in the distance. Flying over, I saw a man fighting with an Ink Dragon. This Ink Dragon was a dangerous and tyrannical creature of the Sea of Stars, and even I would have a headache dealing with it. Yet this man was relying on only his two fists to fight the dragon. Finding it interesting, I stayed to watch. This went on for almost one hundred days, and in the end, that person finally seemed to falter against the Ink Dragon. Just when he was about to lose, I saved him.


    "I thought that he would thank me for saving him, but this person was extremely unreasonable and used me of interfering with his battle. I angrily retorted that he would have died if I hadn''t intervened, but he stubbornly insisted that he could win even without me. I said that he was clearly losing, but he said that this wasn''t a problem at all, that he had been on the losing side numerous times, but he had never once actually lost. I was frustrated with his absurd arguments, so we started fighting. I thought that he would be exhausted after fighting for a hundred days, but when we actually started fighting, I saw that it was really as the man said, that he grew stronger and bolder the more he fought, so I was forced to use my full strength haaa, I got a little too excited and used a newly-learned technique, the Thousand Blossoms Sword Finger. Having yet to fully master this technique, I lost control of it. It just so happened that at this time, this stubborn mule suddenly stopped fighting and said that I had proved myself and there was no need to keep fighting. In the end, my finger almost ended up killing him"


    Immortal Ji Yao''s voice drifted off.


    While she hadn''t said who this person was, even a fool knew she was referring to the Martial Lord.


    Everyone was entranced by the story, Yiyi even asking, "And what happened after that?"


    "After that after that, I brought him back to the Immortal Domain and treated his injuries."


    Yiyi pped her hands and giggled. "I know the rest! At that time, the Pearl Lady Immortal Sovereign and Senior Martial Lord must have developed affection for each other and eventually gotten together. After that, the Azure Dragon deceived the Immortal Sovereign into falling into demonhood, and she was suppressed by the Immortal Emperor. An enraged Martial Lord then charged into the Immortal Domain and destroyed the court, driven by the fury over his lost love!"


    Immortal Ji Yao indifferently said, "Since you can already guess the rest, I don''t need to exin. So, isn''t this a very clichd story?"


    Tang Jie chuckled. "All the stories of the world follow the same general paths, and there''s not much to be innovated on. But even the most clichd of stories feels different depending on the characters. Senior Pearl Lady falling in love with the Martial Lord should have been a good thing, but why did Senior fall into demonhood? Is it because of that business of going against the Great Dao?"


    After a few moments of silence, Immortal Ji Yao replied, "I don''t wish to answer this question."

 Chapter 746: Going Home

    Chapter 746: Going Home


    Although Immortal Ji Yao was unwilling to talk about herself, she told Tang Jie and the others many secrets of the Court of Myriad Domains, while also debunking the many legends of the court that had been passed down over the years.


    For example, she exined that the court wasn''t just a royal court. It also had a world of its own, known as the Vast Wilderness, an immense world of countless cultivators, the number one great domain of the Great Ster Chiliocosm. She also told them that Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng''s full title was the All-Virtuous Divine World-Confirming Celestial Emperor Who Brings Immortal Salvation, and that he had never been married, that the Holy Mother of the West was the leader of the nobles of the Vast Wilderness''s western region and one of the Four Sages of the royal court, not his wife. She also exined that the Disaster Dragon was actually a demon of the Primordial Fog and that just because it had "dragon" in its name didn''t mean that it had any rtion to the Dragon Ancestor. In addition, the Dragon Ancestor was also one of the Four Sages, but he was actually a little younger in terms of generation than the Azure Dragon, and that one shouldn''t think he was the Azure Dragon''s father just because he was the "ancestor". The Four Sacred Beasts were nurtured by the world, so while they had descendants, they had no forebears. She also verified that there was such a figure called the Scarlet Eyes Star Lord, but he was a very mature person who was not prone to over-drinking, that there was no such thing as him causing trouble in the court while drunk, at least in Immortal Ji Yao''s time. Moreover, what sort of wine could have a figure on the level of the Scarlet Eyes Star Lord so drunk that he would throw the court into chaos? It was more likely to be a story invented to amuse the masses


    In this way, Immortal Ji Yao lifted the curtain of mystery that hung over the Myriad Court, answering many lingering questions from High Antiquity. If these stories were collected and written up into novels, they would probably sell like hotcakes.


    Of course, Immortal Ji Yao knew nothing of what happened to the Court of Myriad Domains after she was sealed.


    When the Court of Myriad Domains shattered, most of its cultivators went missing. It was said that most of them returned to the Vast Wilderness, but Shentu''s group knew nothing about it, and even Tang Jie had only heard a few rumors back in the Rosecloud Domain.


    When she learned of this, Immortal Ji Yao sighed. "Back then, the Court of Myriad Domains was known by all thend, and all the Immortals came to attend upon it and show their respect. To think that it would be gone in a day, with not even a rumor left behind."


    Tang Jie soothed, "Ten thousand years can change a lot."


    "But it cannot change me," Immortal Ji Yao replied.


    Everyone fell silent.


    Ever since that day, Immortal Ji Yao stopped talking about the Myriad Court.


    She spent most of the time silently brooding on the other end of the passage, only responding when someone asked for her help. But at times, they were able to hear fits of grief-stricken sobbing from the other end.


    At times, Ice Phoenix became so upset that she proposed letting her go.


    And they were tempted to do so.


    But in the end, they were all veteran cultivators who were well aware of the danger demons posed, particrly a Boundless Gold Immortal, so they didn''t let emotions rule their decisions.


    They continued their life of subterranean cultivation.


    It wasn''t long before the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor paid a visit.


    He hade to take back his saber.


    He could have just summoned the de rather thaning to personally take it, so he had clearlye to test the waters. But Lin Xin''s soul had already grown in strength, and she managed to blow away the Fiend Emperor with a single breath, not killing him out of consideration for the promise.


    Feng Wuxiang and Liu Zongchang also paid a visit several times, perhaps also guessing at the truth. But when they learned that they had missed their opportunity, they weren''t dumb enough to keep probing, instead choosing to spar and converse with Tang Jie.


    While Immortal Ji Yao helped Tang Jie in the theoretical aspect, these two helped Tang Jie with actualbat experience.


    Status was gained through strength.


    The opportunity to train with two Violet Pce experts wasn''t something Tang Jie had gained through begging, but through his power.


    His opponents knew of his many tricks, and his avatar was much weaker now that its Divine Soul had been injured, so he was no longer a match for the two, but his sheer strength coupled with his numerous abilities and tricky fighting style gave the two Violet Pce experts a whole new experience. If they dropped their guards for a moment, Tang Jie could make them eat dust.


    As time passed, Tang Jie gradually recovered, and with Immortal Ji Yao''s instruction, he began to grow more ustomed to the fighting style of the Violet Pce Realm. Thus, even before his avatar''s Divine Soul had recovered, Tang Jie was able to fight the two to a draw, earning him their praiseTang Jie had not just created a miracle, he was continuing to build upon it.


    Yiyi went over to ckwater territory, thinking to plunder its treasury. But it turned out she hadete, and Iron Blood and Lan Ling had already cleared it outLan Ling seemed unwilling to be lonely, for she had married Iron Blood.


    Yiyi was deeply unhappy about this, so she went over to Iron Blood territory and threw a tantrum. The Iron Blood Fiend Emperor did not dare to offend her, so he personally delivered some treasures to alleviate her anger.


    The situation of the Verdant Cloud Domain had be rather strangehumans and fiends were still at war with each other, but they were also trying to get on Tang Jie''s good side, and Tang Jie clearly had no ns on letting the fiends fall to ruin. All he said was that he would support anyone who gave him the materials he required.


    The old equilibrium had been broken, and a new one was being established. Each side was repeatedly testing to see how far they could go, and the key to it ally in the hands of a young outsider.


    Three years went by in the blink of an eye.


    In these three years, humanity had finally managed to break out of Dongjin Pass and expand westward. The Heavenly Dao Oath prevented Violet Pce cultivators from intervening, so the progress wasn''t great, but Feng and Liu were already devising methods to get around the pact, and it seemed like the resurgence of humanity was not far off.


    As for Lin Xin, she had finally begun to adapt to the Azure Dragon''s body.


    She could already move, though she moved around like a slow and lumbering fatty, so she spent most of her time lying down.


    The recovery rate of Tang Jie''s avatar remained slow.


    It wasn''t because there was some problem with the Divine Restoration ssic. He had simply used up too much of his soul.


    ording to Immortal Ji Yao, overusing the Peaceful Abode ssic meant that it would take at least forty years to recover.


    Tang Jie had gone all-out to save Lin Xin, which meant that there was no avoiding these forty years. In this period, while his avatar''sbat power might be able to be increased, there was no hope of advancing in cultivation.


    This made Lin Xin feel extremely apologetic. After all, it was only to save her that Tang Jie had suffered such a huge loss.


    Tang Jie didn''t mind, simply saying that if she felt sorry, she could just give him a drop of Azure Dragon essence blood every year.


    Lin Xin immediately agreed. Tang Jie was her savior, and she was willing to give him an entire bowl''s worth.


    With this, Tang Jie had collected the blood lines of all Four Sacred Beasts, but s, there was no additional reward for his efforts.


    Tang Jie''s main focus was the extreme long-distance teleportation formation.


    Now that he had the Dragonbone Spirit Sesame, he finally had a hope of creating this formation.


    The only thing stopping him was the other materials, but most of these materials could be reced in some way through some mixture of processing andbination of other materials to get what he wanted.


    He had already sent out a list, and the most powerful experts of fiend- and humankind had personally given the order to search for these materials.


    As these precious materials were delivered to Tang Jie, he grew closer topleting the formation.


    Today, Tang Jie was ying hide-and-seek with Yiyi in the Infinite Pce when he saw Liu Yunshan flying over. He came over to Tang Jie and bowed. "Brother Tang, I''vee on order from my father and the State Preceptor to deliver this Coldwood Pith to you."


    "Oh?" Tang Jie immediately perked up. "You found the three Bloodvein Coldwood Pith Flowers?"


    Coldwood was an extremely tough kind of tree that grew in arctic oceans, and it was said that they only grew one inch a decade. In other words, they took hundreds of years to grow to maturity. Coldwood had a pith where their essence was concentrated, and it was extremely rare. The pith of Coldwood was very small, with a thousand-year Coldwood often having a pith the thickness of a finger, which was called a pith flower.


    It was said that spirit trees were easy to findpared to Coldwood, which was easy to findpared to Coldwood Pith, which was easy to findpared to a single Coldwood Pith Flower. Three flowers was simply unheard of.


    And Tang Jie needed the finest quality, Bloodvein Pith Flowers.


    Tang Jie had only been missing this onest material.


    Liu Yunshan said, "Indeed. Father had to cut down almost half the Coldwood in the Ice Ocean to finally get these three Bloodvein Pith Flowers, but we finally managed to get them."


    He handed over the Coldwood Pith.


    Tang Jie found that it truly was what he was looking for. "I''ve basically squeezed the Verdant Cloud Domain for all it has. Still, pass on my gratitude to Sect Master Liu."


    Liu Yunshan replied, "Brother Tang is being too polite. All the items on the list have finally been collected. Does that mean that you will beying down the teleportation formation and going back?"


    "Yes," Tang Jie frankly said.


    "When will you be leaving?"


    Tang Jie considered the question and replied, "I have to do some final preparations, so it should be about seven days from now."


    "Then that one?" Liu Yunshan nced at the distant form of the Azure Dragon.


    It was clear that Liu Zongchang and Feng Wuxiang were still worried about Lin Xin.


    They would be happy to see her leave with Tang Jie.


    The Verdant Cloud Domain didn''t need a mighty god like this that would have everyone trembling in fear.


    Tang Jie looked over at Lin Xin.


    Lin Xin didn''t open her eyes, but she seemed to know what they were talking about. She indifferently said, "Tang Jie, without you, I would still be a prisoner in that cage, or already dead, and I would have never experienced any of this. If you need me, I can follow you."


    "What about you?" Tang Jie asked. "Don''t you have your own opinion?"


    "''My own opinion''?" Lin Xin slightly hesitated. After a while, she said, "If it''s about my own opinion, then I suppose I do have one. I hope that I can one day walk out into the world and see its beauty. I''ve been a frog in a well for too long, and I really want to see how big the sky is."


    "That won''t be difficult for you." Tang Jie smiled. In Lin Xin''s current situation, she would only need a few more days before she could freely roam the blue skies, and even breaking out of the Astral Winds would be easy. "If you want to go, then you can go. You don''t need to worry about me."


    Lin Xin opened her eyes in shock. "You don''t want me to repay your kindness? I can be your strongest backer. With me around, you won''t even have to fear Immortal tform experts."


    Tang Jieughed. "I saved you because I wanted to save a friend, not because I sought repayment for my kindness. Moreover, the dragon blood and the Spirit Sesame are repayment enough. As for your help, I won''t go so far as to say I don''t want it, but it''s also not necessary. I''ve already been through countless storms on my own, so while having you around would be nice, even without you, I can still make do. Thus, it''s not important if you help or follow. What''s important is that we''re always friends."


    "''Always friends'' " Lin Xin muttered, chewing on these words. Finally, sheughed.


    "Of course! We''re friends, friends forever!"


    Turning to Liu Yunshan, she said, "Go and tell your father and Feng Wuxiang that they don''t need to worry. I won''t stay here for too long. Once I canpletely control this body, I will leave this ce. I want to roam the myriad domains and see the outside for myself. But no matter what happens, Tang Jie will always be my friend. What he wills shall be mymand!"


    By now, she longer minded admitting that she could not control this body freely.


    "By the will of the Sacred Emperor!" Liu Yunshan replied in a trembling voice.


    Seven dayster, the teleportation formation wasplete.


    Standing in front of the huge formation, Tang Jie nced at Lin Xin and then at Er Hu. "We will be journeying to a far-off ce, and even if the teleportation formation links them, returning won''t be easy. Are you sure you don''t have any second thoughts?"


    Er Hu firmly replied, "To be a teacher for a day means to be a teacher for a lifetime! Master, wherever you go, I will go too."


    "Okay!" Tang Jie smiled. "Then let''s go! We''re going home!"


    "Going home!" Yiyi excitedly shouted.

 Chapter 747: Return

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    As the trio stepped into the teleportation formation, they felt themselves transported into a strange space. Wrapped in immense power, they hurtled through a spatial fissure. This was something that would always happen when teleporting, but it normallysted only for an instant. This time, itsted for three whole days.


    In these three days, they were floating about this higher space, the frenzied spatial rapids blowing past their bodies, presenting various kinds of dangers. This was an inevitable consequence of extreme long-distance teleportation. Thankfully, Tang Jie was well-prepared and was able to evade all these dangers.


    Even so, they were still hovering on the brink of death. Yiyi and Er Hu reached their limit early on, and if Tang Jie hadn''t protected them, they probably would have broken apart in the spatial turbulence.


    Finally, light appeared at the end of the passage, and the three of them fell out of the teleportation passage and back into reality. Yiyi immediately plopped down on her butt, no longer able to stand.


    "Tired, so tired! I almost died there! If I knew this was how things were going to be, I would have gone into the Mountain River Diagram and let Big Brother take me over. That would have been so much less painful," Yiyi spat out her tongue and shouted. Talking wasn''t possible in the passage, so the first thing she did once she was out wasin.


    As Tang Jie walked out of the void, he smiled and said, "You little rascal, all you care about is cking off and avoiding hard work. I didn''t put you in the diagram because this is a rare opportunity to experience the power of Space in the teleportation tunnel. Normally, teleportation is too short for this, so this extreme long-distance teleportation is perfect to feel the power of Space. Why can teleportation formations let us cross such long distances, what happens when we pass through spatial tunnels, and why does Space power manifest this way? These are all topics that need to be pondered, observed, and analyzed so that one can truly understand the power of Space and thusprehend the Dao. Why do you think I spent extra resources to bring the two of you?"


    "Eh?" Yiyi chose to ignore thatst sentence, curiously asking, "If we''reprehending the Dao, shouldn''t it be through enlightenment? Where does observation and analysise from?"


    Tang Jie was so angry that heughed. "What do you think enlightenment is? Do you think you can just p your head and say ''Iprehend'' and be enlightened? Do you think no analysis, observation, or thinking takes ce? One whoprehends the Daoprehends the rules by which the world operates. To understand these rules is toprehend the Dao, and one uses these rules to enter the Dao."


    "Then what about controlling the Dao?"


    Tang Jie paused for a moment, and then he shook his head. "If the Great Dao is a hall,prehending the Dao is to see this hall, entering the Dao is to enter this hall, and controlling the Dao is to seat yourself upon the seat of honor. But based on what Immortal Ji Yao said, there''s a level above controlling the Dao, which is beyond my level of understanding. Thus, until we actually reach that level, we can''t really say anything about it. And now isn''t the time to think about such a thing. You should try and recollect what you saw and experienced. Don''t let it go to waste."


    "Mm!" Yiyi earnestly nodded.


    Tang Jie looked back and saw Er Hu standing behind him, curiously looking at his surroundings. They were in a cave.


    This was his first time leaving the Verdant Cloud Domain and traveling to apletely new world.


    Although there was nothing noteworthy around them, Er Hu still excitedly asked, "Master, are we in the Rosecloud Domain?"


    "No, this is the Martial Lord''s hidden realm. It can be considered my world. It''s located on the barrier of the Rosecloud Domain, between Rosecloud and Blood River," Tang Jie replied.


    Tang Jie didn''t n to hide anything from Er Hu.


    Tang Jie turned and walked out of the cave.


    Outside was a lush valley.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but be excited by this familiar scenery.


    After wandering about for more than a hundred years, he had finally returned.


    Standing beneath the sky of the hidden realm, Tang Jie let out a mighty roar.


    A me lit up the horizons in response.


    A girl dressed in red emerged from the mes¡ªthe Vermillion Bird.


    She floated above the valley, looking at Tang Jie with glee. Although she didn''t say anything, her eyes seemed to say: Tang Jie, you''re finally back.


    Tang Jieughed. "I haven''t seen you in a hundred years, but Big Sister Vermillion Bird is as graceful as ever."


    "And you seem to have gotten a lot stronger," the Vermillion Bird replied.


    "That being the case, what are you waiting for? Let''s fight!" Tang Jie charged forward with a roar, throwing a mighty punch at the Vermillion Bird.


    He hadn''t been home for even three minutes, but he was already starting a fight.


    Er Hu felt dizzy from this development.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    As expected, the Vermillion Bird beat him ck and blue, but Tang Jie was able tost for longer, and the Vermillion Bird praised him for using those one hundred years well and making incredible progress.


    Tang Jie ignored her praise, gesturing the number "12", which was the number of rewards he could select for his performance.


    The Vermillion Bird didn''t mind, pping her wings and letting him collect those herbs himself.


    While strolling through the valley, Tang Jie and the Vermillion Bird discussed what had happened while he was gone.


    For the Vermillion Bird, the time spent in the valley was always quiet and boring, punctuated by the asional surprise, such as when Tang Jie had fooled Sang Hongmei inside.


    "Up ahead is where she''s buried. Actually, I didn''t have any ns on killing her, but she was too greedy, picking seven nts in no time at all. ording to the rules, she had to take three strikes of my Southern Divine Fire for every nt, 21 strikes in all, each one stronger than thest¡­ She was pretty strong,sting fourteen rounds. s, I lost out on a conversation partner." The Vermillion Bird spoke with great regret.


    "I didn''t send her in to relieve your boredom."


    "So petty!" The Vermillion Bird rolled her eyes, but then she smiled. "Regardless, the death of a Soul Transformation expert has added some spiritual energy to this ce. Why don''t you trick some more people inside? They can help you get herbs and also give me some work to do. Lady Xu already took those seven nts that were picked. Perhaps when all the herbs in the valley are picked, I''ll be free?" The Vermillion Bird grew excited at the thought of this potential loophole.


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "The more people that know of this ce, the greater the risk. I only tricked Sang Hongmei into entering because I had no choice but to take the risk. If you''re not worried about being discovered and this ce being exposed, which will have the Earth Immortals of the six major sects rushing over to strip the valley bare and roast you on a spit, then I''ll do what you want."


    The Vermillion Bird was scared out of her wits and didn''t dare to make this suggestion again, but she was unwilling to show weakness, saying, "I''m a firebird, so I don''t roast well."


    Tang Jie had finished picking his twelve nts, but when he saw the reluctant look on the Vermillion Bird''s face, he smiled and said, "It seems there''s something you haven''t given me yet?"


    "What?" The Vermillion Bird''s heart thumped, and her expression became unnatural.


    Tang Jie acted like he was thinking hard, and then he pped his head and said, "Ah, now I remember! It''s essence blood! We haven''t met in a hundred years, so you owe me a hundred drops."


    "Hey, hey, you bastard, don''t get too greedy. If you take so much at once, my lifespan will be cut short!" the Vermillion Bird yelled.


    Tang Jie found her angry and panicked appearance quite adorable, and he couldn''t help butugh. "Alright, I''m just teasing. Why don''t you give me ten drops first, and we can just add on the rest to the end. Is that okay with you?"


    "That''s what I''m talking about." The Vermillion Bird waved a hand, and ten drops of essence blood flew into Tang Jie''s hand.


    Tang Jie gathered them into a jade bottle and threw it to Er Hu. "Take one drop of the essence blood in the bottle every three days. By the time you''re done, you will be able to bring your strength to the next tier."


    "Master!" Er Hu was both surprised and delighted.


    "Don''t be so shy," Tang Jie said, waving his sleeve. "You will be staying here for the next few days. You can keep the Vermillion Birdpany so that she stopsining about being bored."


    "Great, great!" the Vermillion Bird said in delight.


    The pain from ten drops of essence blood immediately went away, as it had seemingly been traded away for a conversation partner.


    Leaving Er Hu behind, Tang Jie and Yiyi entered the teleportation formation to the Rosecloud Domain.


    Cai Junyang, Wei Tianchong, and Xu Miaoran were still in Endsea, so Tang Jie decided to go to Horizon Ocean Pavilion first. In truth, he could use the Web of Fate and speak through Little Three, but Tang Jie wanted to give them all a surprise, so he didn''t send any notice.


    After several teleportations, Tang Jie arrived at Great Wind Ind. After asking for directions, Tang Jie set off.


    Cold Plum Vi.


    This was a base the All-Talent Society had set up on Great Wind Ind and was a ce for foreign affairs and honored guests. It was also responsible for the buying and selling of materials. After the Sang Hongmei incident, Xu Miaoran had set up Cold Plum Vi to show she could carry on some business without going through Horizon Ocean Pavilion, out of revenge and ack of trust for Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    In the main hall of the vi, Shi Meng was examining the ount books. "When we imported that batch of colored ss from Pure Qian Ind, we requested that the ss have at least 33 ice grooves in a palm''s worth of space, but when we did a count, there are only around 32 on average. I know that it''s only off by one groove, but the youngdy said long ago that the All-Talent Society always does business ording to the contract and won''t ept inferior products. We can''t ept a single problem, or else we''ll lose our reputation. Return the goods and stop importing from that shop."


    As the worst of Basking Moon''s 13 Eagles, he had been tasked with managing Cold Plum Vi by Xu Miaoran. He had worked as a servant in a merchant n, and the environment had allowed him to get a good grasp on business. All that was different now was that he was working with cultivator products instead of mortal products, so he was doing a rather good job.


    "What if they aren''t willing to take the goods back?" a steward inquired.


    "Then go to the Sparring Hall and find True Person Cai."


    The steward nodded in agreement.


    After some thought, Shi Meng added, "Right, also fire that guy we sent to pick up the goods. Then send someone to trail him. If he goes to Pure Qian ind, kill him. But if he doesn''t, you can just let him be."


    The steward was about to agree when a loudugh came from outside. "A corrupt subordinate should be heavily punished, but execution is a little much. Death shouldn''t be so recklessly thrown around. It would be better to give him forty strikes of the staff and three months of hardbor."


    "Who''s there? Trying to show off at my All-Talent Society?" As Shi Meng barked, his body surged with spiritual energy, engulfing the hall. As his Spirit Ring expanded, he took out his Thousand Frost Sword.


    But a momentter, Shi Meng froze, and he stammered, "Tang¡­ Tang Jie!"


    A familiar figure had appeared in front of Shi Meng.


    ng! The Thousand Frost Sword dropped to the ground.

 Chapter 748: Reunions (1)

    Chapter 748: Reunions (1)


    Shi Meng grabbed Tang Jie and looked him over while muttering, "It''s really you It''s really you!"


    Tang Jie chuckled. "What? Is someone pretending to be me?"


    To his surprise, Shi Meng actually nodded. "Twenty years ago, that rascal Cai Junyang transformed into you and messed around with the young master for a while."


    He had grown used to calling Wei Tianchong "young master" and had yet to correct this habit.


    Tang Jie teased, "Then how do you know that I''m not Cai Junyang?"


    Shi Meng smirked. "Hey, I''ve cultivated the secret arts of the Five Gods Faith, so while I can''t notice every exact detail like you, I can still see through ordinary tricks. Cai Junyang''s minor spells are no good against me, or else the youngdy wouldn''t have given Cold Plum Vi to me to manage. Right, have you gone to see her yet?"


    "Not yet. You''re the first, as you''re the only one I could find the location of."


    Shi Meng was ted. He grabbed Tang Jie and said, "Come on; I''ll take you to see them."


    Throwing aside the vi''s affairs, he walked off with Tang Jie. No one knew more than him where Xu Miaoran and the rest of the Basking Moon Sect''s 13 Eagles were.


    Mountain Cape.


    This was a promontory that jutted out from Great Wind Ind into the ocean, surrounded by waves, connected tond by a small path.


    This was once a famous scenic spot of Great Wind Ind. From here, one could observe the raging waves and experience the furious storms.


    But ever since Bei Canghan had decided to practice his sword here, it became a vista that he alone enjoyed.


    Every day, he would gaze into the ocean, swinging his Frostbite Sword against the endless waves. Motes of sword light radiating spiritual energy would form walls that would stand against the beating of the waves.


    The higher the waves, the higher the walls.


    No matter how high the waves crested, they could not break through Bei Canghan''s sword light.


    Today, Bei Canghan was practicing with his sword here as always.


    The freezing winds whipped up by his sword prevented the waves from advancing, sending them higher and higher such that they formed towering walls around Bei Canghan. So long as the sword light persisted, the walls of water would remain standing. Finally, when the energy ran out, they came crashing down in a majestic sight.


    Bei Canghan sheathed his sword and breathed out. Despite the howling winds and powerful waves, his body wasn''t stained by even a drop of water, and his figure in the wind seemed indescribably dashing and suave.


    Suddenly, a wave roared out. rmed, Bei Canghan waved his sword, but that wave split up into countless pieces and evaded the sword light as if it was alive. In his surprise, Bei Canghan thrust out his palm, sending out a powerful st of energy that stopped the wave cold. But the immense pressureing from the wave made it hard for Bei Canghan to push it back. Bei Canghan realized that he was in trouble and immediately thrust out his Frostbite Sword, and in a sh of frost, the waters were frozen solid.


    Panting for breath, Bei Canghan shouted, "Who''s messing around over there?"


    "Truly, the falling snowkes reflect a riot of colors. Senior Brother''s Snowke Sword has grown even more incredible."


    A voice rang out from behind Bei Canghan.


    He turned his head, only to see Shi Meng standing behind him.


    "Shi Meng, how is it you?" Bei Canghan said in surprise.


    When did Shi Meng get so skilled that he could force him into almost making a fool of himself?


    This thought had barely passed his mind when the frozen wave suddenly thawed.


    <em>Ssh!</em> Bei Canghan was drenched in sea water.


    At the same time, Shi Meng stepped to the side, revealing the smiling figure of Tang Jie behind him.


    Iron Mountain Monastery.


    The somewhat short Iron Mountain was not a work of nature, but the work of a top-ss formation master hired from the Seven Absolutions Sect by Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    The mountain wasposed of various kinds of metals and riddled with tunnels like an ant colony. The ce was dense with formation lines in which vast amounts of precious material had been invested, all to create a giant spirit-gathering formation so that this ce would be an ideal ce for cultivation.


    This was a ce where Horizon Ocean Pavilion received honored guests, but disciples and outside cultivators could also pay a fee to use the ce. One day of cultivation here cost up to one thousand spirit coins. This wasn''t much for a day or two, but it would be an enormous expense over time.


    Most disciples might scrounge up enough money for a few days per year here at best, but the All-Talent Society''s members never had to worry about money.


    After Sang Hongmei''s death, Basking Moon''s 13 Eagles had taken up residence in this ce, with Lady Xu covering all their expenses. Whether they actually lived in it or not, every one of them had a high-ss chamber here ready and waiting for them.


    Liu Hongyan was currently meditating in her chamber.


    Energy circted through her body, and with each breath, more energy rushed in, nurturing her from her physical body to her soul.


    Afterpleting a single Major Circuit Heaven, Liu Hongyan let out a long breath.


    The Iron Mountain Monastery truly lived up to its reputation. While it couldn''tpare to the Water Moon Paradise, as a cultivation area open to outsiders, it was truly an excellent ce. Cultivating here was twice as fast as normal.


    Suddenly, Liu Hongyan heard footsteps outside her chamber.


    They were neither too light nor too heavy, but Liu Hongyan was rmed to hear them.


    Iron Mountain Monastery was a ce for secluded cultivation, and every chamber had a formation around it that would prevent outsiders froming in without permission. But these footsteps were clearlying from the courtyard, yet she had not heard anyone asking toe in.


    It was like a ghost had passed through the formation and was walking closer and closer to her chamber.


    Liu Hongyan was instantly on her guard, and she immediately pulled out an emergency aid talisman and set it on fire. The talisman turned into a fiery streak and flew off to Wu Xianguang''s chamber nearby. She also bit her tongue and spat some blood onto her left hand, which immediately began to form countless hand signs. Meanwhile, her right hand raised up the Law Emblem of Basking Moon.


    The footsteps stopped right outside the entrance.


    Liu Hongyan pointed a finger at the entrance, and a stream of energy rushed out, transforming into a giant ck hook.


    The Sky Centipede Hook!


    The door opened.


    The ethereal centipede hookshed out at whatever was behind the door, but nothing happened.


    Liu Hongyan was startled.


    Tang Jie walked in with Shi Meng and Bei Canghan. "What a spicy girl, going straight for the kill without even looking to see who it was."


    And then the three backed up in surprise. "Did you throw up blood?"


    "Scoundrel, die!" A voice rang out behind them, followed by a boom, and then silence.


    They turned their heads in shock and saw Wu Xianguang lying outside the courtyard, burned ck by the formation.


    The Beast Park.


    This was where Horizon Ocean Pavilion tended to its fiend beasts.


    Although Horizon Ocean Pavilion wasn''t as skilled in controlling beasts as the Beast Refining Gate, it still had its own ranch to raise beasts. Here, fiend beasts could hunt for food, cultivate, and even fight.


    Because of the little fox, Luo Yue, Wei Tianchong liked toe here when he was free.


    Today, Wei Tianchong was standing in front of the fiend-sparring ring. The little fox was in the ring, battling with arge ck wolf.


    This was a fierce beast, moving around the ring like a bolt of lightning, its giant paws sending debris flying whenever they struck the floor.


    The fox had to use her Highsurge Step talent to repeatedly evade, her agile body flitting about the sky like a sea swallow.


    "Hit him! Beat him! Take him down!" Wei Tianchong clenched his fists and shouted, causing Su Xinyue next to him to repeatedly roll her eyes.


    Wei Tianchong had Luo Yue, and Su Xinyue had her ck wolf, Ash.


    The two were ratherpetitive, so when they had nothing else to do, they sparred, and such fights had be very routine.


    The ck wolf swung a paw, leaving sharp w marks in the air, but the little fox nimbly dodged the attacks again and again. Suddenly, the wolf roared, unleashing a ck st of energy from its mouth at Luo Yue. The fox saw that she couldn''t dodge, and her mouth unleashed a sh of cold moonlight. The two energies collided, but the ck energy shattered, and the Void de flew toward the wolf. The ck wolf moved quickly, but the de still brushed over its belly, leaving a terrifying wound, and it copsed onto the ring.


    "Ash!" Su Xinyue cried out.


    The little fox gleefully shouted, "I won!"


    But the wolf suddenly leaped up and made a space-shattering swipe that struck the little fox and sent her flying. Luo Yue shrieked as she was sted out of the ring, upon which the ck wolf grunted, "You celebrated too early."


    Wei Tianchong rushed over to the little fox and angrily shouted, "You trickster! You took that wound on purpose!"


    After all those fights, Wei Tianchong had naturally developed an understanding of the wolf''s abilities, so he knew that this ck wolf had pretended to be weak so that he could make a sneak attack.


    Su Xinyue said in disdain. "What do you know? It''s just tactics."


    Wei Tianchong angrily said, "You''re willing to have both sides injured in order to win? Su Xinyue, do you think there''s any meaning in such a victory?"


    He picked up the little fox and walked away.


    Su Xinyue was so stunned that it took ages for her to finally react. Stomping her feet in anger, she shouted in anger, "Who cares what you think!?"


    In their spars, sometimes the little fox won and sometimes the ck wolf won, but whichever side won, neither of them had ever thought about being humble, the winner always mocking the loser. The loser could only endure it until they could stage aeback.


    Recently, Luo Yue had beaten the ck wolf several times, leaving Su Xinyue feeling very ufortable. To help Su Xinyue feel better, Ash had taken on a wound in order to get a win, not expecting Wei Tianchong to so harshly criticize this tactic.


    Su Xinyue hugged the wolf, feeling aggrieved. "Ash, I''ve truly wronged you this time. You got yourself injured just so you could help me get one over that brat."


    The ck wolf didn''t mind. "This wound is nothing. As for you, why do you even need to keeppeting with him?"


    Su Xinyue red at Wei Tianchong before muttering, "I just don''t want him to win."


    "This again. You two are always arguing." A helpless voice rang out behind Su Xinyue.


    "Shi Meng, weren''t you managing Cold Plum Vi? Why did you suddenlye all the way here?" Su Xinyue answered as she turned her head. She saw Shi Meng, Bei Canghan, Wu Xianguang, and Liu Hongyan. And in the middle of them, a familiar face was grinning at her.


    "Tang Jie!" Su Xinyue shouted.


    Wei Tianchong, who hadn''t gone very far, heard this, and his ears immediately perked up. He instinctively turned around and saw Tang Jie.


    Their eyes met, and Tang Jie smiled. "Young Master, it''s been a hundred years. Have you been doing well?"


    Wei Tianchong started shaking, and then he did something Tang Jie could never have expected.


    His hands formed a sign, and a massive fireball appeared. Wei Tianchong roared, "Cai Junyang, trying to trick me again, you bastard!? Die!"


    <em>Boom!</em>


    A room-sized fireball was sent flying at Tang Jie''s face!

 Chapter 749: Reunions (2)

    Chapter 749: Reunions (2)


    The giant fireball scared everyone out of their wits.


    Shi Meng and Liu Hongyan shouted, "Don''t!" but it was toote. The fireball was about to crash into them, but just when everyone was about to dodge, Tang Jie thrust out a finger.


    The fireball stopped at Tang Jie''s fingertip, rotating in the air as it grew smaller and smaller, ultimately turning into a little spark before poofing out of existence.


    Wei Tianchong was stunned. "Cai When did this Cai kid be so skilled?"


    "It''s just the Contrame Mantra, able to absorb mes and make them one''s own. Haven''t you already known Zuo Quanming for a while now? How do you not know this trick of his?" Tang Jie said in surprise. "Although he can''t control fire as well as me, he should have been able to absorb and refine them."


    Wei Tianchong was dizzied by these words.


    Shi Meng said, "Young Master, do you still not understand? He''s the real Tang Jie!"


    <em>''The real Tang Jie''?</em>


    Wei Tianchong''s vision turned blurry as he stared dumbly at Tang Jie, his mouth opening so wide that he could almost swallow a ball.


    And then he let out a howl and shouted, "Tang Jie! It''s the real Tang Jie! You''vee back!"


    He rushed over and hugged Tang Jie,ughing like a child.


    Perhaps because he was still not sure, he even pinched Tang Jie''s face and cast a look at Shi Meng. After finally confirming things, he hugged Tang Jie tight and wailed, "You bastard, you''re finally back! How could you be gone for more than a hundred years!"


    "We''re all adults now. What are you crying for?" Tang Jie chuckled. "A hundred years for Immortals is like the snap of a finger."


    "But it''s a lifetime for mortals." Wei Tianchong''s voice grew softer.


    He said, "The Wu couple passed away. They were thinking of you the whole time. And forty years ago, my father also passed away."


    Tang Jie sighed. He had already been informed of the Wu couple''s passing, which was exactly why he had chosen to travel the world for a hundred years,prehending the mortal life, which had been the trigger for many other things. This was why he didn''t react much to this news.


    But he was rather surprised by Wei Danbai''s passing.


    He knew that Wei Tianchong had bought life-extending medicine for his parents. While the Wu couple had also taken this medicine, they were already very old, and they had a lifetime of old ailments, so the effect was limited. Wei Danbai and his wife, on the other hand, had taken the medicine while they were still young, and they didn''t have any sort of illnesses and had ess to plenty of resources, so they should have easily been able to live until two hundred.


    The end of their life shouldn''t havee yet, so how had Wei Danbai passed away forty years ago?


    "What of the madam?" Tang Jie asked.


    "My mother is still around, but she''s also getting old and probably won''tst for that many years. As for my father, he became depressed after losing the patriarch position. Though I found medicine for him, it could only extend life, not strengthen the body, so he was always somewhat unhealthy."


    Shi Meng added, "The old master had a mental disease, which requires a mental doctor and mental medicine. Other spirit medicines won''t do any good."


    Tang Jie sighed. "In the end, it''s because I went a little too far that time."


    "You didn''t do anything. He was the one in the wrong." But Wei Tianchong understood what Tang Jie was feeling and patted him on the shoulder. "Anyway, it''s all fine now that you''re back. If you have the time, you should go and visit my mother. She would definitely be overjoyed. She''s always been hoping to see you one more time before she dies."


    "Mm!" Tang Jie firmly nodded.


    The two looked at each other,ughed, and hugged each other again.


    Tang Jie then said, "Come on; let''s go to Seven ughter Pavilion."


    "''Seven ughter Pavilion''?" Wei Tianchong was surprised at first, but then he understood. "You''re going to see Qi Shaoming and Xi Canhen?"


    Seven ughter Pavilion was a cultivation hall erected by Horizon Ocean Pavilion. It was a series of trials, each floor containing stronger and stronger puppets. Qi Shaoming and Xi Canhen were frequent visitors, always liking to test their limits.


    Wei Tianchong was confused that Tang Jie was going to see those two. "Since you''re back, shouldn''t you go to see Xu Miaoran?"


    Xu Miaoran should have been Tang Jie''s most important person, the one he should want to see the most.


    "Are you dumb?" Su Xinyue looked at Wei Tianchong in scorn. "You think that there will be any time to see the rest of us once those two have met?"


    Wei Tianchong finally understood.


    If Tang Jie saw Xu Miaoran, they probably wouldn''t be separating for a while. But the news of his return would start to slowly spread, after which the rest of them would rush over and knock on his door


    Mm, it seemed a little inappropriate.


    It was best to save Xu Miaoran forst.


    Everyone talked as they walked.


    Tang Jie pointed at Su Xinyue with his chin and whispered, "What happened? Why does she seem to hate you?"


    Wei Tianchong brusquely replied, "I don''t really get this girl. All she wants is to fight me every day. And whenever I win, she seems extremely unhappy and gives me a good tongueshing. It''s so annoying."


    Tang Jie smiled. "You really are something else. Women shouldn''t be fought against, but loved."


    "I should love her?" Wei Tianchong pointed at her and whispered, "I can''t get away from her fast enough."


    Tang Jie coolly replied, "What? Still haven''t forgotten Ping Jingyue?"


    Wei Tianchong''s eyes dimmed.


    Wei Tianchong truly had been grief-stricken for a long time after Ping Jingyue''s departure.


    That shock from that one enchanting night had been so intense for Wei Tianchong that he had decided that she was destined to be his futurepanion. But cruel reality told him that those most intense existences in one''s life often could not apany one until the end.


    Ping Jingyue was like a hurricane, a thunderstorm, a rainbow, sweeping over Wei Tianchong''s heart, stunning him and awing him, before leaving without a trace.


    After bidding farewell to the heady days of his youth, Wei Tianchong set off on the path of maturity.


    Diligent cultivation used up the excess energy in Wei Tianchong''s body, and his lust and impulse became power that filled every cell of his body.


    His passion was no more.


    Life became dull and swift. But asionally, that beautiful figure would reappear in Wei Tianchong''s mind.


    Wei Tianchong shook his head at Tang Jie''s words. "After all these years, what''s past is past."


    "Then why don''t you try liking someone else?"


    "Her?" Wei Tianchong shook his head. "You know she''s not the sort I like."


    Su Xinyue was outwardly soft, but in her bones, she was a rather wild girl, just like the fiend wolf she raised: savage, fierce, independent, and a little cunning.


    But Wei Tianchong preferred traditional women: gentle, virtuous, generous, and diligent.


    "Even the fiercest woman has a soft and gentle side. Don''t forget that Miaoran is one of those famous fiend women, and she''s never treated the likes of Xin Yue and Sang Hongmei with any sort of gentle touch." Tang Jie put an arm around Wei Tianchong and said, "If a woman is always fighting with you, that means that you''re already in her heart, and perhaps she just wants to get your attention. Try and treat her in a gentler manner, and you might get an unexpected result."


    He winked at Wei Tianchong.


    Wei Tianchong was somewhat dumbfounded by these words. Scratching his head, he said, "Why does Tang Jie seem different from before? He didn''t use to be this passionate Could it be maybe he''s also a fake?"


    Thesest words almost made the little fox faint.


    Meanwhile, they had arrived at Seven ughter Pavilion.


    Tang Jie went over to the disciple guarding the pavilion. "Are Qi Shaoming and Xi Canhen inside?"


    The disciple looked up at thepass in front of the pavilion and said, "They''ve been in there for two hours and are currently at the 67th level. It will probably be another hour until theye out. You can wait here for them."


    "There''s no need. I''ll go in and find them." Tang Jie was looking forward to seeing Xu Miaoran and didn''t want to wait.


    The disciple rolled his eyes.


    Seven ughter Pavilion had 99 levels in all and was made to be open to cultivators up to Violet Pce. It was crawling with dangers, peppered with traps and puppets. Every 33 levels represented a tier, but there was no restriction on how far one could go. In other words, if one had the ability, one could challenge the higher tiers of the pavilion. Qi Shaoming and Xi Canhen had gone for this option. Even though they were both Heart Demon cultivators, they were already challenging the Soul Transformation levels.


    For this reason, the 69th level was a massive barrier for Heart Demon cultivators. To get this far was an achievement on its own, and the pair had even gone for the group option, so they were dealing with double the number of enemies.


    This person was saying that he was going to catch up with that pair while also taking the group option? He was clearly boasting, so that disciple couldn''t help but joke, "If you go in, then once theye out, they''ll be the ones waiting for you."


    But Tang Jie had already entered the pavilion.


    The booms of puppets being sted away could be heard from within, like some giant metal ball was rolling through everything in its path.


    The red dot representing Tang Jie was jumping around on thepass. Each time it appeared, it had progressed even more, drawing a long line on thepass that showed no signs of stopping.


    The disciple gasped, but when he looked over at Wei Tianchong and the others, he saw that they were all unsurprised. He muttered, "Might I ask as to the identity of that person?"


    Shi Meng replied, "Our big brother."


    Wei Tianchong puffed up his chest and added, "My servant student."


    The red dot drew closer and closer to the red dots representing Qi Shaoming and Xi Canhen.


    Finally, the three dots met after only fifteen minutes since Tang Jie had entered. The three dots remained together after this, and even though it was impossible to see if they were conversing or not, everyone else could already imagine how excited they were.


    In the middle of a bitter battle, Tang Jie suddenly dropped out of the sky and obliterated all the puppets. Such a scene would definitely be incredible to experience!


    "Right, what cultivation level do you think Tang Jie is at?" Wu Xianguang asked.


    They had been so happy to see him that they had forgotten to ask.


    Wei Tianchong shook his head. "I don''t know, but we do know that he had killed two Divine Division great fiends a hundred years ago."


    <em>''Tang Jie''?</em>


    The disciple finally knew who the new challenger was, and when he heard Wei Tianchong, he almost wanted to p himself for teasing the guy.


    Fortunately, Wei Tianchong and the others didn''t mind. On thepass, those three red dots had already set off again, crazily advancing. It seemed like they nned to keep on going in the pavilion rather thaning back.


    Seven ughter Pavilion was rather famous in Horizon Ocean Pavilion, so now that he was here, Tang Jie naturally wanted to y a bit.


    One red dot led the other two in a charge, with nothing seeming able to slow them down. And then there was a <em>bong</em>, a signal that someone hadpleted the Seven ughter Pavilion.


    In the past, only chiefs and young lords had been capable of this.


    "Who was it? Whopleted Seven ughter Pavilion?" Many people came asking this question.


    The disciple felt his mouth going dry. Only he himself knew that Tang Jie had not onlypleted Seven ughter Pavilion, he had also done it in the group option.


    In a sh of light, Tang Jie, Qi Shaoming, and Xi Canhen appeared before the group, shock and disbelief still obvious on the faces of thetter two. Only they knew that they hadn''t actually done anything on thatst stretch. Tang Jie had taken on triple the number of puppets, but even all those puppets hadn''t been able to slow him down in the slightest.


    pping his hands, Tang Jie said, "Not bad. It was a little interesting."


    The mighty Seven ughter Pavilion was only a little interesting in Tang Jie''s eyes?


    "Tang Jie, just how strong are you right now?" Wu Xianguang couldn''t help but ask.


    But Tang Jie indifferently replied, "There''s no ''weaker'' or ''stronger'' between brothers. Come on; let''s go see Cai Junyang and the rest. Where are they?"


    Shi Meng replied, "At the sparring tform. Peng Yaolong, Ye Tianshang, and Meng Shixue should also be there. But I don''t know where Zuo Quanming is. That guy is always moving around, and it''s hard to find out where he is. Let''s put him aside for now. Once you meet the other four, you should quickly go and see the youngdy."


    But Tang Jie simply said, "He''s alreadying."


    Everyone turned their heads in shock and saw that Zuo Quanming really was flying over. And next to him was none other than Xu Miaoran.

 Chapter 750: Detachment

    Chapter 750: Detachment


    When Tang Jie spotted Xu Miaoran, Xu Miaoran''s eyes also fell on Tang Jie.


    When their eyes met, the world seemed to stop, time freezing on a single moment. Everything ceased to exist except for the two of them.


    Xu Miaoran was so dazed when she looked at Tang Jie that she forgot to circte her spiritual energy and almost fell out of the sky. Thankfully, Zuo Quanming was there to grab her.


    "Tang Jie" she softly called out as she stared at Tang Jie, tears welling up in her eyes.


    Tang Jie dumbly looked back at Xu Miaoran.


    He had already nned everything out to first see his brothers before going to see his wife, but it seemed like his n couldn''t keep up with the situation. He hadn''t expected to suddenly run into Xu Miaoran.


    Their reunion hade so swiftly and so hastily that all of Tang Jie''s ns were ruined, and he inexplicably started to panic.


    He blurted out, "Howe you''re here?"


    He had imagined how their reunion would go countless times, even what his first words to Xu Miaoran would be.


    He would elegantly walk up to her side and offer up a flower. "You''ve gotten thinner."


    Or perhaps he would excitedly run up and hug her. "I''ve returned."


    These scenes and many more had yed out in Tang Jie''s mind, but never had he imagined that his actual first words to her would be like this, flustered like he had been caught in an affair.


    Perhaps realizing the ambiguity of his words, Tang Jie stammered, "I didn''t mean it like that I just got back, so I meant that I wanted toe and find you myself I''m trying to say that I wanted to surprise you"


    Before he could finish, Xu Miaoran rushed over, hugged Tang Jie by the neck, and gave him a deep kiss.


    Everyone was dumbfounded.


    This was out in the open!


    Even in Horizon Ocean Pavilion, this was considered outrageous behavior.


    The disciple standing guard at the pavilion immediately turned around, only daring to look out of the corner of his eyes at them.


    Liu Hongyan, who was always one for upholding the rules, snorted, "As expected of a fiend woman of Horizon Ocean Pavilion."


    "Daring to act as one wishes, daring to love and hate as one wishes, truly one of the unusual women of the world," the more fiery Su Xinyue praised.


    Wei Tianchongmented, "I wish that rascal Cai Junyang could see this." He still hadn''t forgotten how Cai Junyang had fooled him that one time.


    Bei Canghan and Qi Shaoming nodded in agreement. They were sure that if Cai Junyang saw this, he would realize how serious a crime it was to pretend to be Tang Jie.


    Zuo Quanming was, as ever, the most economical, saying nothing at all. But a recording stone had appeared in his hands, and he was quietly recording the entire scene.


    A deep kiss.


    A long kiss.


    A passionate kiss.


    That fragrant kiss was like the strongest me, melting Tang Jie away.


    All of those words he had been saving up merged together into a single gaze and a passionate kiss that carried all of his thoughts and emotions.


    Just like that, they amorously kissed, not caring what those around them thought or how they stared, tightly hugging each other. Only after a long, long time did they finally let go.


    Xu Miaoran still tightly clung to Tang Jie''s neck, her bright eyes staring at Tang Jie, examining his face as if she was looking for something.


    "If you''re thinking about checking whether I''m fake or real, it''s a littlete for that," Tang Jie said, rubbing his nose.


    Xu Miaoran chortled at these words, and then she threw herself into Tang Jie''s chest, snuggling him like she was a child.


    The tyrannical leader of the All-Talent Society who had proved her ability again and again over thest one hundred years was now acting like a child, leaving the bystanders gobsmacked.


    Many Horizon Ocean Pavilion disciples were converging on this location.


    They had been drawn here by the bell of Seven ughter Pavilion, but it was the reunion of Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran that had their attention.


    Although they had never seen Tang Jie before, they knew that there was only one man that Xu Miaoran would lie in the embrace of.


    Tang Jie!


    Tang Jie had returned!


    The news finally began to spread.


    The sparring tform.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    There was a powerful sh of sword energy, and ate-phase Heart Demon cultivator was sted off the sparring tform.


    "Anyone else?" Cai Junyang boldly dered from the tform, sword in hand.


    The Horizon Ocean Pavilion cultivators looked at each other, none of them daring to go up.


    "Wooo!!!" Down below, Peng Yaolong, Ye Tianshang, and Meng Shixue let out cheers.


    Peng Yaolong folded his arms and said, "If nobody dares to step forward, then we will be the master of the tform for this month too. Thank you, all of you, for being willing to stand aside."


    Several cultivators scowled, but while they were inwardly unwilling to give up, it truly was very difficult to find a cultivator of the same cultivation realm as Cai Junyang who couldpare to him. Perhaps some of the Young Lords were capable of this, but they were mostly focused on cultivation and rarely came to the sparring tform.


    As a result, Cai Junyang had dominated Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s sparring tform for thest few years, having seized the title of tform master more than ten times. Although this wasn''t a big deal, it was still rather humiliating and a source of resentment.


    At this moment, a voice came from the distance. "Cai Junyang, you''ve showed off enough."


    A woman elegantly floated over.


    She wore a veil over her face, and her bare feet trod across the sky, leaving ripples in her wake. She was on the horizon when she spoke, but by the time her words had arrived, she was already on the scene.


    The Horizon Ocean Pavilion cultivators cheered at this woman''s arrival, constantly yelling "Senior Sister Han!" and "Big Sister!" This was none other than the most outstanding disciple of this generation of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, the Mourning Wind Maiden, Han Shuangyue.


    The moment Han Shuangyue appeared, Cai Junyang was itching to battle. "Han Shuangyue, you''ve finallye out!"


    Not only did he not fear the number one genius of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, he was brimming with the desire to fight. He immediately brought up hisrge sword, assuming a battle stance.


    Han Shuangyue said, "Cai Junyang, you''re currently at Heart Demon Tier, one tier lower than me. I won''t take advantage of this and will suppress my realm to the initial phase of Heart Demon. If you lose, you are no longer allowed to appear at this sparring tform."


    In less than two hundred years, Han Shuangyue had already cultivated to Soul Transformationa terrifying rate of cultivation.


    Cai Junyang was currently at the middle phase of Heart Demon. By lowering herself to the initial phase, she was putting herself half a tier below him in cultivation level.


    Cai Junyang raised an eyebrow. "And if I win?"


    "You won''t!"


    Her toes lightly tapped on the ground, and then she disappeared, reappearing on the sparring tform. Without a word, she thrust a finger at Cai Junyang.


    Cai Junyang roared and swung his sword, unleashing a dazzling st of light at the Mourning Wind Maiden.


    To his surprise, the woman simply twirled in the air, and all that sword light dispersed. She thrust out an elegant hand, and a slender energy palm flew at Cai Junyang''s face. Cai Junyang instantly felt an explosion of murderous intent and hastily drew back his left hand, forming countless hand signs. These hand signs transformed into a Coiling Dragon Hand that moved to confront Han Shuangyue''s energy palm.


    <em>Bang!</em>


    There was an intense explosion, and the two broke apart. Cai Junyang''s body was covered in frost, and Han Shuangyue''s face was a little flushed.


    Cai Junyang roared and charged back into the fray. At the same time, Han Shuangyue raised her hand, sending out a red band of silk that sought to wind around Cai Junyang''s neck.


    Cai Junyang raised his sword to cut it, but the red silk refused to be cut, coiling around like a snake. Cai Junyang grunted, and his sword instantly turned into thousands of small swords that shot at Han Shuangyue.


    But Han Shuangyue simply tapped on the air several times with her bare feet and disappeared, her foot techniqueparing favorably to Tang Jie''s Chaoswind Step. When she appeared again, it was behind Cai Junyang, thrusting two fingers at the back of Cai Junyang''s head.


    But Cai Junyang had predicted this, a barrier lighting up around his body as he thrust a palm behind him. Han Shuangyue disappeared, again evading his attack.


    In a sh, the two of them had exchanged countless blows. One had sharp and prating sword arts while the other had unfathomable movement techniques. One had prodigious strength, while the other had bizarre spell arts. All of this came together into a splendid battle in which it was hard to tell who was superior.


    When those Horizon Ocean Pavilion cultivators saw how intense the battle was, they realized just how strong Cai Junyang really was.


    "To be able to battle Big Sister to this level, he must be the number one genius of the Basking Moon Sect in thest two hundred years."


    This was praising the opponent to maintain the dignity of their Big Sister.


    "It''s because he had Xu Miaoran''s resources."


    Others tried to attribute some of Cai Junyang''s strength to their own faction.


    "Hmph, Xu Miaoran is really something else, giving resources to people from another sect rather than her own brothers and sisters."


    Some tried to vent the anger from their inability onto others.


    Meanwhile, the battle intensified.


    Cai Junyang swung his sword andughed, "Be careful of this one!"


    The sword shed red as he swung it at the band of red silk in Han Shuangyue''s hand.


    "The Dao of ughter?" Han Shuangyue snorted. Her body swayed, erupting with an enchanting light in which countless human figures could be seen standing among glistening trees, and heavenly chanting resounded through the air.


    Cai Junyang''s sword dimmed before Han Shuangyue, the power of ughter failing to breach this splendorous world, a vast power pushing him back.


    "Big Sister used the Heavenly Book of Detachment."


    "Hmph, Cai Junyang shouldn''t even think about beating the Heavenly Book of Detachment!"


    The crowd began to chatter.


    The Heavenly Book of Detachment was one of the supreme arts of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, emphasizing detachment, the severing of emotions.


    The Dao of Emotion was a minor Dao, but it had its own attributes and style that were on par with a Great Dao, and because it was a minor Dao, it was easier to see its effects. The Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion both walked the Dao of Emotion. It was just that one focused on many emotions while the other focused on no emotions at all.


    Han Shuangyue cultivated the Heavenly Book of Detachment, severing her desires and vowing to never marry. In exchange, she had be terrifyingly strong. Although it was only a minor Dao, she hadprehended this Dao to a profound level, allowing her to disy a higher level of power.


    The enchanting light produced countless fantastical sights that shook the wills of the spectators and dazzled their eyes, even suppressing Cai Junyang. As everyone was fascinated and was cheering Han Shuangyue, believing that she was about to win, Cai Junyang erupted with light.


    Cai Junyang had somehow used some special method to defend against, weaken, and even absorb the terrifying power of the Heavenly Book of Detachment.


    This was Cai Junyang''s Hundred Tribtions Passage Art. A hundred years of usage and experience had allowed him to develop it to a great degree. As the art was iplete, Cai Junyang had used his own ways to fill in the missing parts, inserting much of his own understanding. This made the Hundred Tribtions Passage Art more suited for him and moreplete.


    Now, not only could the Hundred Tribtions Passage Art protect his life and stimte his potential, it could also absorb and analyze his opponent''s power and use it to strengthen his defense.


    With this art, Cai Junyang was able to grimly hold on. He trusted that his perseverance and tenacity would make him the ultimate winner.


    The battle turned into a stalemate. One was a peerless genius of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and the other was an iparable treasure of the Basking Moon Sect who had reached the summit of Water Moon Peak. It was hard to say who would win.


    At this moment, a voice made an untimelyment. "Quite the racket you have going on here."


    This familiar voice made Cai Junyang''s ears perk up. "Tang Jie?"


    His mind lost focus for a moment, and Han Shuangyue seized the moment, the power of the Heavenly Book of Detachment sweeping in and sending Cai Junyang flying.


    The enchanting light continued to charge at Cai Junyang, refusing to stop. If it struck true, it was bound to leave him severely injured.


    Tang Jie appeared above the sparring tform, and with a light wave of his sleeve, the enchanting light disappeared.


    Grabbing Cai Junyang by the shoulder, hended on the tform and casually said, "This is just a sparring match. Since the oue has already been decided, Mourning Wind Maiden, why keep pushing?"


    Han Shuangyue ignored this question, coldly staring at Tang Jie. "You are Tang Jie? Fight me!"


    "You want to fight me?" Tang Jie smiled. "Are you at Violet Pce?"


    Han Shuangyue was startled, instinctively shaking her head.


    "Then there''s no point."

 Chapter 751: Jewel

    Chapter 751: Jewel


    "Tang Jie!" Peng Yaolong, Ye Tianshang, and Meng Shixue shouted in unison.


    On the sparring tform, Tang Jie stood opposed to Han Shuangyue.


    His steps were unhurried, his expression rxed, his body radiating confidence.


    <em>''No point in fighting unless you''re at Violet Pce''?</em>


    <em>What sort of bravado and arrogance is this?</em> The spectators were somewhat bedazzled by this disy.


    But Han Shuangyue refused to back down, ring at Tang Jie. "You have to fight me!"


    Tang Jie looked at her and shook his head. "I''ve just returned to Rosecloud, so I''m not in the mood to fight right now, only to chat with my good brothers."


    He had barely finished speaking when a roar rose up from below.


    Countless Horizon Ocean Pavilion disciples were raising their arms and shouting, "Fight! Fight! Fight!"


    In the eyes of Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s cultivators, Han Shuangyue was an invincible war god. A mere Cai Junyang wasn''t enough for her to express her full power, and even Tang Jie might be no match for Han Shuangyue


    Tang Jie''s reply made all of them cry out.


    Even Cai Junyang said, "There will be time to converseter. Since you''re here already, it would be a pity if you didn''t fight a little."


    This kid was a martial maniac, treating fighting like a lifestyle. Victory was secondary, and he acted entirely ording to his nature. Really, he was the ideal sessor to the Martial Lord''s Dao.


    Tang Jie had no interest in bullying small children. His strength had soared after Verdant Cloud, so none of his peers were capable of fighting him, and only his seniors were a match. Han Shuangyue simply wasn''t worth fighting.


    After some thought, Tang Jie said, "Since you insist on fighting, then let''s do this. If you can take one punch from me, it counts as your win."


    "What?" Everyone was stunned, and then enraged.


    Han Shuangyue was the number one genius of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, superior to Tang Jie in aptitude, talent, and cultivation time, and she had even been nurtured by the sect. For Tang Jie to brazenly say that he was going to defeat Han Shuangyue in one punch was utterly humiliating.


    But for Tang Jie, this was absolutely normal. Although Han Shuangyue was in Soul Transformation, she was only at the initial level and far from the peak. There were even many fiend kings in the Verdant Cloud Domain who could beat her. One punch would settle things without question.


    Without another word, he punched at Han Shuangyue.


    It looked like a simple punch, but it was actually packed with the purestws of the world. As it flew toward her, Han Shuangyue felt like a giant sky-soaring pir was smashing toward her, rapidly filling up her vision.


    If not for the Heavenly Book of Detachment rendering her emotionless, such that even a cultivator who was about to be pierced through the heart by a thousand des or pulverized to bits would not show even the slightest emotion, she would have screamed.


    Her sense of danger told her that this punch was extremely threatening, so Han Shuangyue put all her power into her Detachment art, unleashing a splendorous glow that condensed into an enchanting forest.


    Tang Jie''s punch fell on that forest like a rock thrown into the water, creating countless ripples and shattering the reflections within.


    The forest copsed under Tang Jie''s punch, dissolving into rainbow motes of light.


    At the same time, Han Shuangyue was sent flying by this st of energy, her body drifting along like a falling leaf and elegantlynding on a corner of the sparring tform, as if Tang Jie hadn''t sent her flying at all.


    For a moment, the spectators didn''t know what was going on, thinking that Han Shuangyue had easily neutralized the punch and cheering her on. Only a few of them noticed Han Shuangyue suddenly paling.


    A gust of wind howled.


    Tang Jie drew his fist back and smiled at Han Shuangyue. "Your strength isn''t bad. Based on what I know, the only person at your cultivation level who can beat you is the Seven Absolutions Sect''s Wang Juemie."


    "What cultivation level are you?" Han Shuangyue asked. Tang Jie''s punch had been too strange and powerful, bearing the ferocity of a body cultivator and also the immense spiritual energy of aw cultivator.


    Tang Jie replied, "Part of me is at Soul Transformation."


    This reply confused Han Shuangyue, but after giving Tang Jie a hard look, she said, "I lost."


    These words threw the crowd into an uproar.


    Han Shuangyue had really lost!? And she had lost to a single punch! Some were unwilling to believe, shouting and cursing, some even suspecting that Han Shuangyue was colluding with Tang Jie and had lost on purpose.


    Han Shuangyue ignored all of them, turning to leave. After flying a great distance, however, she suddenly stopped. At this moment, she stopped suppressing her wounds and threw up arge amount of blood.


    Tang Jie''s punch just now had inflicted severe internal wounds.


    Han Shuangyue felt much better after throwing up this blood. She muttered, "Tang Jie, I didn''t think you had already reached this level. s, the pitiful me only has the title of a genius. All I knew was to bury myself in training, only asionally going out. As a result, I was stuck in the small pond that is Endsea, a mere frog in the well, never realizing that growth onlyes from truly experiencing tribtions and hardships!"


    Han Shuangyue''s eyes glinted with frost, and then she flew off again. She had made up her mind to go out adventuring in order to grow stronger.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie turned to Cai Junyang.


    Cai Junyang asked, "Why did you only get back now?"


    Tang Jie replied, "The roads were rather rough."


    The two looked at each other and burst outughing as they hugged.


    Peng Yaolong, Ye Tianshang, and Meng Shixue also jumped onto the stage, the five of them getting into a group hug. Xu Miaoran, Wei Tianchong, and the others also joined in, and these former ssmates, now supporting pirs of the Basking Moon Sect, were finally all together, all of themughing and cheering.


    Suddenly, a voice came from the heavens: "Tang Jie!"


    It was like a p of thunder, drowning out everyone''sughter and bing the only sound in the world.


    Xu Miaoran raised her head in shock. "The Jewel Immortal Sovereign?"


    A woman had appeared in the air, as majestic as a mountain, her face solemn and serene like a Bodhisattva, her face radiating dignity and might. This was one of the three power holders of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign.


    As this ethereal figure opened her eyes, she looked down at Tang Jie, and her eyes instantly exuded a supreme pressure that had everyone wanting to prostrate. Tang Jie felt this pressure the most, like a mountain weighing down on his head, trying to make his knees bend.


    Although Tang Jie could fight Violet Pce cultivators, that was limited to Infant Tending Tier Violet Pce cultivators. He was no match for Deification experts, let alone a Soul Projection expert like the Jewel Immortal Sovereign, who was many times stronger than Aurora.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s nce made Tang Jie feel what Han Shuangyue had felt just moments ago, the despair of facing the unstoppable.


    But all geniuses shared amon trait of being fearless against immense pressure, courageously facing it. Tang Jie let out a deep roar, and countless rays of light emerged from his body, weaving themselves into Tang Jie''s Infinite Pce Dao Art.


    The Infinite Pce had been further improved, and it now needed barely any time at all to take form, repelling the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s gaze beyond its walls.


    "Eh?" The Jewel Immortal Sovereign remarked in surprise, "A Dao Art?"


    With her sharp eyes, she could instantly tell that Tang Jie had used a Dao Art.


    He had only cultivated for less than two hundred years, but he already had a Dao Art? She was rmed by this rate of progress, and the desire to kill Tang Jie that had arisen from the death of Sang Hongmei grew only stronger.


    She raised a finger and thrust it at Tang Jie.


    With the thrust of a finger, a crack immediately appeared in the grandiose structure of the Infinite Pce.


    It wasn''t because the Infinite Pce''s defense wascking. The Jewel Immortal Sovereign was simply too strong.


    There was an entire cultivation realm between her at Tang Jie, likeparing a Mortal Shedding Spirit Master to a mortal. This attack could have killed swaths of cultivators of his level. To block her finger was something worthy of boasting about.


    But it wasn''t even over yet, for the Jewel Immortal Sovereign thrust out her finger again.


    The st of energy mmed into the Infinite Pce, and another crack appeared in theplex.


    As she thrust her finger again and again, the end of days was visited upon the pce, walls crumbling, towers vaporizing, birds exploding, and nts withering. As for all the traps and formations within, they didn''t even get the chance to activate before they were obliterated by that fearsome might.


    The Horizon Ocean Pavilion disciples were dumbfounded.


    While their Immortal Sovereign was divinely powerful, Tang Jie''s defenses were also formidable in their own right. The Infinite Pce had already blocked seven attacks in a row from a Soul Projection Titan. In other words, even with an entire cultivation realm over Tang Jie, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign was not capable of instantly killing Tang Jie.


    How was this even possible?


    But their surprise meant nothing to the situation. The Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s merciless finger continued to fall. The stronger Tang Jie appeared, the more she wanted to kill him.


    The ninth finger, the tenth finger, the eleventh finger! After these three fingers, the entire pce had been razed, with not a single building left standing. The Jewel Immortal Sovereign sent down her twelfth finger, aiming straight for Tang Jie, not even sparing those around him. She was already killing one, so she might as well kill fourteen!


    Just when her finger was about tond, Xu Miaoran rushed forward to hug Tang Jie.


    But the Jewel Immortal Sovereign simply pointed at her, rendering herpletely immobile, before continuing to send her finger at Tang Jie.


    At this moment, a streak of light shot from the sky toward her.


    What seemed like a simple streak of light forced the Jewel Immortal Sovereign to pull back her attack and go on the defense. As she fended off that light, she barked in anger, "Xu Guanghua, are you trying to stop me!?"


    A man''s rxed voice resounded across the heavens. "So you''re saying I should just let you kill my son-inw? Jewel, you''ve gone too far."

 Chapter 752: Appointment for a Duel

    Chapter 752: Appointment for a Duel


    "Father!" Xu Miaoran cried out in joy upon her father''s intervention.


    A little less than half of this happiness was because her father hade to save them in time. The majority was from the fact that her father had used "son-inw", which meant that he had officially acknowledged Tang Jie and dered it to the world, thus indicating that anyone who offended Tang Jie would be offending him. Tang Jie might not have cared too much about this, though His master was Sect Master Ling Xiao, his status higher than Xu Guanghua''s.


    "''Son-inw''? Xu Guanghua, he''s a member of the Basking Moon Sect! He killed my disciple and even challenged me!" the Jewel Immortal Sovereign shouted in anger.


    The clouds in the distance shifted into Xu Guanghua''s form. "So you knew he was a disciple of the Basking Moon Sect, but you were going to kill them? Are you trying to make another mortal enemy for my Horizon Ocean Pavilion? As for Sang Hongmei, when did Tang Jie ever kill her? In her own idiocy, she entered a death zone, so who can she me but herself? Moreover, she kidnapped a disciple of this sect and stole from my daughter, so she deserved death regardless. I haven''t even settled ounts with you over that, and you''re trying to settle ounts with me? Jewel, don''t go too far. Even if you''re an Immortal Sovereign, you can''t push me around as you please!"


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s eyes narrowed into thin slits. "You want to make an enemy of me?"


    Xu Guanghua grunted. "All I''m doing is protecting my daughter and son-inw, and you call that making an enemy of you! Jewel, you really are getting more and more unreasonable. It''s no wonder you had a disciple like Sang Hongmei. Let''s fight! Even if we have to bring this fight all the way to Master, I''m not afraid!"


    The two of them nced at each other, and in that instant, they raised their hands and attacked each other.


    "Enough!" a sharp bark interrupted.


    The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign appeared between the two of them, raising her hands and taking the attacks of Xu Guanghua and the Jewel Immortal Sovereign.


    "Sect Master!" The two of them immediately bowed their heads.


    Jade Emptiness snorted. After ncing at Tang Jie, she said, "You''re both already so old, but it seems like you don''t know the slightest bit of restraint. Fighting in front of the disciples, have you no respect for the rules? Do you want to let everyone know that my Horizon Ocean Pavilion is wracked with internal strife, two of its Violet Pce experts exchanging blows?"


    Xu Guanghua and the Jewel Immortal Sovereign said nothing.


    But at this moment, Tang Jie''s voice rang out. "All the people of the world are bound to find out. They will find out that I, Tang Jie, have returned, and they will know that the Jewel Immortal Sovereign is using her public identity to avenge a private wrong, and they will also know that the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign is protecting Jewel and not being impartial!"


    "What did you say?" Jade Emptiness angrily red at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie fearlessly stared back. "Sect Master Jade Emptiness, I just arrived at your sect, and then your sect''s Violet Pce expert tried to kill me. Fortunately, my father-inw was there to save me. But rather than punishing the culprit, you me both sides for having a fight, not even discussing who was right and who was wrong. How is that impartial in any way? I am the disciple of the Basking Moon Sect''s master, so attacking me is essentially a deration of war. I am sure that Sect Master understands this."


    Jade Emptiness narrowed her eyes. "You are very bold."


    Tang Jie casually replied, "Ah, so arguing with the Sect Master of Horizon Ocean Pavilion requires boldness and not reason? The more you know."


    "You!" The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign was so angry that she was speechless. While she might have been immensely powerful, Tang Jie''s charisma was on the Dao-Proving Saint Immortal level, and besides that, she was in the wrong. As a result, only a few sentences from Tang Jie were enough to silence her.


    But Xu Guanghua rebuked, "Tang Jie, be quiet!"


    He then said to the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign, "Senior Sister, please, calm yourself. Youths are always a little too energetic and bold."


    "He''s cultivated for more than a hundred years and can''t be considered a youth anymore." The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign nced at Tang Jie and suddenlyughed. "Tang Jie, you''re right. I did not do a good job on this matter."


    Everyone was stunned to see her openly admitting to her error.


    Only Tang Jie was unsurprised.


    Too many people had borne witness to this spectacle. Unless she killed everyone, it was impossible to keep it a secret. Just as Tang Jie had said, everyone was bound to know eventually. The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign could either choose to stubbornly persist or immediately correct her error.


    As a person, one could perhaps choose to fight until the very end, but as the leader of a major sect, one could not let emotions guide one''s actions. Rather, one had to choose the most beneficial option, to mollify conflicts, reduce troubles, and reduce all harmful influences.


    The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign was able to be the Sect Master not because she was the oldest disciple, but because she was the most mature, the one with the most restraint. This was why Tang Jie knew she would make this choice.


    As expected, the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign continued to profess her mistakes. "I was so focused on civility that I forgot about justice. I had given permission for the disciples of Basking Moon to stay in Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and they have not done anything to harm the sect in this time. For Jewel to attack them in anger, unjustly using her power against the weak, is a grave mistake. Jewel, you are to immediately go to the Meditation Pavilion and think over your sins for ten years."


    "But, Senior Sister, Tang Jie got my disciple killed. Or are we just going to forget that?" the Jewel Immortal Sovereign said. "She was doing this all for"


    "Silence!" Jade Emptiness bellowed. "Her individual actions have nothing to do with the sect. She only has herself to me. No one is allowed to start a fight over this matter from now on."


    Thesest words made Tang Jie and Xu Guanghua frown and made the eyes of the Jewel Immortal Sovereign light up.


    "Starting a fight over this matter is no longer allowed? Then if I were to find another reason, Sect Master would not object, yes?" The Jewel Immortal Sovereign turned to Tang Jie. "Tang Jie, I recall you once telling a disciple of the Four Seas Hall to ry to me that you were willing to fight this sovereign, no?"


    Tang Jie coldly snorted. "I said that I would fight with you, but now isn''t that time."


    "Then how long must I wait? Ten thousand years?" the Jewel Immortal Sovereign sharply said.


    "Of course not." Tang Jie coldly smiled. "I got here in less than two hundred years, so I only need another two hundred years at most to be able to defeat you."


    Jade Emptiness was startled by these words, Xu Guanghua frowned, and the Jewel Immortal Sovereignughed like she had just heard the funniest joke in the world. "Tang Jie, you think that because you can ascend three realms in two hundred years, you can ascend another realm in the same amount of time? You''re too naive! The path of cultivation only grows more difficult the more you travel it. Toward the end, each step is as difficult as ascending to the heavens, and many people get stuck for the rest of their lives. Going from Soul Transformation to Violet Pce alone has felled countless heroes. It''s not something a little cultivator like you can imagine. Two hundred years? Hongmei was at Soul Transformation for 480 years, but she was never able to cross that threshold. You really think you will be able to fight me after two hundred years?"


    Tang Jie coldly replied, "I only said that I would fight you in two hundred years. When did I ever say that I was going to reach Soul Projection in that time? I don''t need to get that far to defeat you. Deification is enough."


    "Absurd! Putting aside the vast difference in tiers, even Deification can''t be done in two hundred years!" Xu Guanghua barked. "Tang Jie, how many heads do you have, that you dare to be so rude? Take back your words and immediately apologize to the Jewel Immortal Sovereign."


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign replied, "Xu Guanghua, there''s no need to try and give him advice with your scoldings. Words spoken are like water spilled, with no taking them back. This sovereign can wait two hundred years, so I can grant this time to you, Tang Jie. When the timees, we will have a fair battle, and when I kill you, even Ling Xiao won''t be able to say anything."


    Tang Jie smirked. "You ''grant'' me two hundred years? Jewel Immortal Sovereign, while you have your experience and power, I have my potential. You might be very strong now, but in my eyes, that''s only for the moment. You think that you''re granting me two hundred years, but I think that I''m the one giving you these two hundred years. You''re right to say that the Violet Pce threshold is a massive barrier to ovee, but it''s precisely because it''s such an imposing barrier that what decides whether one can ovee it isn''t time, but the self. If you aren''t able enough, you could be given ten thousand years and still not ovee it, but if you are able, you could do it in a few days."


    Jewel said in shock, "Are you saying you''re going to make the charge at Violet Pce soon?"


    Tang Jie raised a finger. "I''ve yet to reach the peak of Soul Transformation, and my Divine Soul has been injured and can''t cultivate for forty years, so I can''t make that charge just yet. But once I''m healed, I need only ten years to do it. I will reach Violet Pce within ten years! The remaining 150 years will be used for reaching Deification."


    "I will reach Violet Pce in ten years!"


    In the Violet Leaf Pagoda, Cai Junyangughed as he put an arm around Tang Jie''s shoulders. "As expected of you, Tang Jie, so bold and heroic!"


    "It''s heroic, yes, but reaching Violet Pce isn''t child''s y," Wei Tianchong worriedly said. "That''s a life-or-death trial, and numerous people can go their entire lives without oveing it. Don''t go dying at the Violet Pce threshold before you can even fight the Jewel Immortal Sovereign."


    The others nodded in agreement. Besides Cai Junyang, nobody thought highly of Tang Jie''s chances, with Xu Miaoran being the only one who was smiling.


    "Hey, Young Lady, have you lost your mind?" Hong Yuan pushed Xu Miaoran. "When things are like this, how can you be in the mood to smile?"


    Xu Miaoran replied, "Why shouldn''t I smile? I know how terrifying the Jewel Immortal Sovereign is, but I still believe in Tang Jie, and I believe that he would never do something he wasn''t sure of. Rather than worrying about this and that, it would be better to just believe that Tang Jie can create a miracle so that you can live out these two hundred years in peace."


    "''A miracle''," Hong Yuan mumbled. "Rather than hoping for a miracle, it would be better to put your hopes on the venerable master."


    The venerable master she was referring to was naturally Xu Guanghua.


    Tang Jie having a duel with the Jewel Immortal Sovereign was worrying enough, and then there was the fact that this guy had admitted to his soul needing forty years to recover, meaning he only had 160 years to cultivate. Xu Guanghua had been so angry that he had turned and left without saying a word.


    Before this, he had never paid too much attention to his son-inw, and just when he had finally acknowledged him, this kid decided to court death.


    In truth, with Tang Jie''s current achievements, so long as he didn''t court death, he could have steadily advanced, and in one thousand years, he could be a proper Celestial Sovereign. But he insisted on courting death, leaving Xu Guanghua with nothing to say.


    Since the duel was already set, Xu Guanghua could do nothing but stalk away in rage. Even so, he still had someone deliver a Nine Splendors Morning Dew Pill. While this pill couldn''t help in advancing to Violet Pce, if one failed to condense the Violet Pce, the pill could protect the Divine Soul, increasing one''s chances of survival.


    Thus, one could see that despite his anger and dissatisfaction, Xu Guanghua still understood how to have some hope and confidence in his son-inw.


    While others were worried, Tang Jie knew that reaching Violet Pce really posed no difficulty to him at all.

 Chapter 753: Returning to the Sect

    Chapter 753: Returning to the Sect


    The charge at Violet Pce was really just the substantialization of the Divine Soul.


    It was very simr to the charge at Heart Demon. In the Heart Demon Period, the soul went from formless to a cloud, and at Violet Pce, the cloud turned into something with solid form.


    In this process, the cultivator''s Divine Soul would charge out of their body, exposing itself to the light of the world. The soul would be bathed in spiritual energy in order to take on form. As the soul was still fragile, this was extremely dangerous, and the rush of spiritual energy and the intense light of the sun could easily vaporize the soul, which was why the protection of the Violet Pce was needed.


    When Tang Jie used the Peaceful Abode ssic to protect Lin Xin''s soul, he was actually forming the Violet Pce. But when one was actually attempting to break into Violet Pce, most of the soul would be focused on substantialization, so there was less avable to protect the soul, and the soul needed tost longer, which posed a greater risk.


    This was why the Peaceful Abode ssic was actually an excellent method to cultivate for someone making the charge at Violet Pce. Its greatest function was for the cultivator to get some early experience in creating the Violet Pce.


    Difficulty''s greatest fear was repetition.


    Once something could be repeatedly tried, the chances of sess would only go up, and this was the advantage of the Peaceful Divine Abode ssic. Although it damaged the Divine Soul as a price, it was still better than attempting the trial, failing, and dying as a consequence.


    After protecting Lin Xin with his soul, Tang Jie had a lot of first-hand experience with condensing the Divine Soul, which was one of the reasons he was so confident.


    The second was that he was rich in resources, possessing them in both quality and quantity.


    In terms of quality, he had divine nts like the Nine Heavens Luan Grass, whose greatest effect was to improve the power and spirituality of the Divine Soul. As thetter part of a cultivator''s life was mainly focused on cultivating the Divine Soul, the Nine Heavens Luan Grass had the power to improve a cultivator''s chances of sess at every tier.


    Besides that, he had the twelve spirit herbs he had picked from the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, each of them a rare nt that could strengthen the Divine Soul or otherwise assist him in his push. He also had the four fiend pellets and Divine Souls of the Fiend Emperors, each one beingparable to a top-ss spirit nt.


    In terms of quantity, he had the treasuries of three Fiend Emperors and the vast wealth of the inter-domain trade, a fortune that could crush any middle-tier sect.


    He also had Xu Miaoran, who was a genius pill refiner. Tang Jie was confident that she could refine some of those legendary medicines that could help in the charge at Violet Pce.


    Finally, he had Immortal Ji Yao''s instruction, top-ss mantras like the Violet Jade Mantra, the Ninedark Mantra, and the Celestial Treasure Mantra serving as his foundation,prehension of many Great Daos, and the experience of two bodies sharing one soul. Tang Jie''s foundations were abnormally solid.


    Mantras, resources, foundations, and a little luckthese were the recipes to a sessful charge at Violet Pce.


    And for Tang Jie, who hadprehended the Dao of Fate, even luck wasn''t a problem.


    Fifty years of preparation was more than enough time for him to weave a Web of Fate around himself, letting him neutralize all unfavorable factors and widen his own advantages.


    In these circumstances, it would make no sense for him to not be confident.


    But he couldn''t give everything away yet, so he simply smiled at everyone to try and inspire some confidence.


    That night, everyone held a wee feast for Tang Jie, and everyone drank to their heart''s content, guzzling jars of wine. Although they had spiritual powers that made it very difficult for them to get drunk, this wine was superb spirit wine, and even the person with the best stomach for alcohol would be felled after several dozen jars of it.


    Tang Jie actually could have chosen to remain sober, but when he saw everyone excitedly advising him to drink, seemingly not prepared to let him go until he was dead drunk, he decided to guzzle away, letting the alcohol seep into his body, dull his nerves, and assail his Divine Soul.


    Everything gradually blurred, and while countless figures passed in front of him, he couldn''t recognize any of them.


    Finally, Tang Jie''s head thumped onto the table, and he passed out.


    When he woke up, he found that the sun was already high in the sky.


    He was lying on a perfumed bed, his body covered by arge red nket decorated with a scene of two mandarin ducks ying in the water.


    Tang Jie got up just as a maid walked in. She smiled at him and said, "Master Husband, you''re awake."


    She put down a basin of water, wet the towel in her hands, and moved to wipe Tang Jie''s face.


    Tang Jie immediately avoided it. "Where is Miaoran?"


    "The youngdy is in the study handling business," the maid replied.


    Tang Jie made his way over to the study, circting spiritual energy to expel the toxins ofst night from his body as he did.


    When he arrived at the study, he saw Xu Miaoran seated at her desk, writing something, several subordinates standing in attendance.


    Upon seeing Tang Jiee in, Xu Miaoran said, "You''re awake? Wait a moment. I''ll be done soon."


    Tang Jie found a chair and sat down, quietly watching Xu Miaoran work.


    He was seated at an angle where he could see Xu Miaoran''s profile, her soft yet tenacious face lightly done-up with make-up.


    More than a hundred years of grinding had failed to wear away her beauty, but they had transformed her aura. It was the same person, but that innocent and romantic woman now exuded the aura of a woman of great power.


    Not power as in strength, but the confidence that came from numerous trials, the aura of a great general who had all under control.


    Tang Jie was somewhat enchanted.


    After a while, Xu Miaoran''s voice woke him up. "What are you looking at? You''re so focused."


    He looked around and found that everyone else had left, leaving him alone in the study with Xu Miaoran.


    He immediately embraced Xu Miaoran, moving to give her a big kiss.


    Xu Miaoranughed and tried to avoid him. "When did you get so anxious?"


    "I''ve been holding back for a hundred years, so how can I not?" Tang Jie replied.


    "Tsk, who knows if you''re telling the truth, how many girls you bedded while in the Verdant Cloud Domain."


    Tang Jie sat her on his leg and bitterly smiled. "Don''t go unjustly using me. It''s all because I wanted to preserve my body for you that I brought a lot of trouble for myself."


    "Oh? Tell me about it." Xu Miaoran immediately grew excited.


    Tang Jie told her about all that had happened in the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    He had spent more than a hundred years there, so even if he picked his stories, he still had countless stories to tell.


    The two of them ended up chatting for more than half a month.


    In this time, they went traveling and whispered sweet nothings to each other, asionally interrupted by a tactless boor like Cai Junyang who came to get in on the fun.


    There was always something to talk about, a new sight to see, and the days were free and pleasant.


    But while they were not in a rush, others were.


    These people, Wei Tianchong among them, saw Tang Jie "enchanted by a woman" and "wasting cultivation time", so they came urging Tang Jie to focus on cultivating, as if he seized these twenty-some days, his cultivation would soar.


    But Tang Jie simply gave them nomittal replies and continued his romantic life with Xu Miaoran, infuriating countless people.


    Some people who were envious of him even spread rumors that Tang Jie had already given up and that the pressure from the Jewel Immortal Sovereign hadpelled him to set the duel for two hundred years from now. He knew that he couldn''t do it, so he had just thought of a way to live two hundred more years.


    Tang Jie could only smile at these rumors.


    Just like this, an entire month passed.


    Autumn Sigh Peak.


    This was a small mountain on Great Wind Ind.


    Today, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran were admiring the view from the top of this mountain.


    Xu Miaoran idly plucked at the grass and said, "I''ve done what you asked for. Things will officially get started tomorrow."


    "That''s good," Tang Jie said in satisfaction.


    "Are you leaving then?" Xu Miaoran asked.


    Tang Jie sighed. "There are some things that have to be done. It''s been a month since my return, but I''ve been at Horizon Ocean Pavilion this entire time. But am I a disciple of the Basking Moon Sect or of Horizon Ocean Pavilion?"


    Xu Miaoran giggled and put her head on Tang Jie''s shoulder. "When you go back, bring Wei Tianchong and the others with you."


    "Why?" Tang Jie asked.


    Xu Miaoran replied, "They came to help me protect the All-Talent Society and the inter-domain trade. Now that you''re back, everything has changed. If they stay, they might end up harming the All-Talent Society."


    Tang Jie considered this and nodded. "I overlooked that factor. In truth, rather than protecting you, over the years, it''s thanks to you that they progressed at such a rapid rate. Horizon Ocean Pavilion must have been applying a lot of pressure, and you''ve been enduring it all."


    Xu Miaoran smiled. "I didn''t even care about Sang Hongmei, so this pressure is nothing. This wasn''t what I meant by harm. Rather, I need to concentrate a lot of resources onto those matters you tasked me with."


    She looked at Tang Jie. "No matter what, I won''t let you die under that old witch Jewel''s hands."


    Tang Jie couldn''t help butugh at how Xu Miaoran had called the Jewel Immortal Sovereign a witch. He then pulled Xu Miaoran closer, and they silently leaned against each other.


    Just like that, they sat there on the mountain, from sunrise to sunset.


    They continued to whisper to each other, but there was still so much to say that they hoped that this day would never end.


    The next morning, Tang Jie left Horizon Ocean Pavilion.


    He brought Yiyi with him and set off on Tutu, heading off for the Basking Moon Sect alone. As for Cai Junyang and the others, they would return, but they needed to settle some matters first.


    Ten-some dayster, Tang Jie arrived at the Zephyr Mountains.


    After more than a hundred years, he had finally returned home.


    The mountains and rivers were unchanged, but he didn''t know about the people.


    Suppressing his excitement, Tang Jie flew toward the sect.


    At this moment, several Basking Moon disciples flew out of the mountains. When they spotted Tang Jie, they intercepted him. "This is the base of Basking Moon. Outsiders are not allowed inside without permission."


    Tang Jie was startled, and then he remembered that he had been so hasty to return that he had forgotten to put on the standard Basking Moon uniform. Fortunately, he had his identity token. "I''m not an outsider."


    The disciples nced at the token and hastily said, "So you were a fellow disciple! Our apologies!"


    "It''s fine." Tang Jie smiled and went on his way.


    The group watched him leave and were about to go on their way when a disciple, who had clearly joined recently, blurted out, "Senior Brother Lin, this guy''s name is really strange. It''s Tang Jie, the Jie () of cmity ()."


    That Senior Brother Lin had been so focused on determining the authenticity of the identity token that he hadn''t paid attention to the name on it. After hearing this, he grunted and said, "This world is a big ce, and people can have all sorts of names." Then he shuddered and cried out, "''Tang Jie''? His name is Tang Jie?!"


    He recalled the characters on the token and then he immediately flew off in the direction Tang Jie had gone, all the while shouting, "Tang Jie has returned!"


    By this time, Tang Jie had arrived at Starsnatch Peak.


    Tang Jie prostrated before the Hall of Divine Conference.


    "The unworthy disciple Tang Jie has returned to the sect and pays respects to his Sect Master and teacher!"


    <em>Boom!</em>


    A bell sounded.

 Chapter 754: Testing

    Chapter 754: Testing


    As the bell sounded, the doors to the Hall of Divine Conference opened.


    Tang Jie stepped into the hall.


    The hall had originally been empty, but the moment Tang Jie stepped in, five people appeared in the air.


    These five people were seated in the air, their expressions casual and rxed, but they exuded an immense majesty that merged together into a pressure that was heavier than any mountain, deeper than any sea, instilling reverence in all who looked upon them.


    Tang Jie prostrated and said, "The unworthy disciple Tang Jie pays respects to his Teacher and Sect Master, to the Heavenly Sword True Lord, to the Mystic Moon True Lord, to the Nine Splendors True Lord, and to the Night Sky True Lord!"


    "Rise," the figure seated at the center, Sect Master Ling Xiao, said.


    He raised his hand, and Tang Jie was forced to stand.


    "Sit." On Ling Xiao''s right, the Mystic Moon True Lord waved a sleeve, and a stone stool appeared in front of Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie replied, "With the venerable seniors present, this disciple does not dare to sit."


    "He told you to sit, so sit!" On Ling Xiao''s left, Xiao Biehan bent a finger, and Tang Jie felt his knees go weak, and he found himself sitting down.


    At the same time, Ming Yekong, who was next to Mystic Moon, opened his eyes, and the stool appeared behind Tang Jie, perfectly positioned as Tang Jie sat down.


    Finally, the Nine Splendors True Lord waved his sleeve and said, "Tea!"


    A cup of tea was created on the spot and flew into Tang Jie''s hand. Tang Jie reached out to take it, but the tea flew a circle around him and right to his mouth. Tang Jie tried to lean back to avoid it, but the tea gave chase. Completely out of instinct, Tang Jie lowered his head and rammed it at the cup, upon which the tea cup shattered, its contents sshing into the air and dissolving into motes of spiritual energy.


    Tang Jie was stunned, and he prostrated once more. "This disciple recognizes his mistake. Just now, for some reason"


    "There was no mistake. I used an illusion to influence you," Mystic Moon said.


    Tang Jie was startled.


    Ling Xiao asked, "How was it?"


    Mystic Moon replied, "His Divine Soul is on the weak side. It''s true that it was injured."


    Xiao Biehan said, "He''s rather strong. I initially used 5% of my strength, but I couldn''t move him a bit. In order to avoid injuring him, I carefully adjusted the power, and I had to do it 18 times before he finally moved, essentially 30% of my full strength."


    It turned out that when bending his finger, Xiao Biehan had actually secretly applied force almost twenty times. Compared to this, the ability for Aurora and Silver Eyes to cast arts with a thought was an absolute joke.


    Nine Splendorsmented, "He''s at Soul Transformation, but not at the peak. However, his foundations are extremely solid, and they share some simrities to Junyang and the others, so it should be that mantra he obtained from that hidden realm. Otherwise, there is nothing unsatisfactory. All in all, his physical body is extremely strong, hisw cultivation is on the upper end, and he also has Dao Arts. He should be capable of fighting an Infant Tending Tier cultivator."


    In just a few moves, these Titans hadpletely seen through Tang Jie, not even needing him to talk.


    Tang Jie blushed in shame, but just when he was about to exin, Ling Xiao said, "No wonder he dared to be so brazen in front of Jewel. As expected, he has something to back up his words. If that''s the case, Yekong, have a fight with him. See if he can really create a miracle that has not happened in thest one thousand years."


    "As the Sect Mastermands." Ming Yekong bowed.


    Tang Jie was rmed by thismand, hastily saying, "Sect Master, I''ve just returned, and there''s still a lot I have to say. There''s no need to"


    Ling Xiao raised his hand and stopped him. "These five old men didn''t alle together to have a leisurely chat with you. In the end, you are still my disciple. Although your own business prevented me from ever teaching you anything, since you have returned, I should carry out a master''s duties."


    Ming Yekong smiled. "Tang Jie, just where did the courage you faced Jewel with all go? Why are you suddenly afraid to fight me? We want to test you to see if you are worthy of receiving this instruction, to see what my Basking Moon Sect will end up with two hundred years from nowa powerful Celestial Sovereign, or the corpse of a genius. Come; fight me with all your power. Use your power to prove that you have the right to be taught by us, to fight with Jewel."


    Xiao Biehan was even more direct. "Brat, stop hesitating. Our time is very valuable and can''t be wasted on idle chatter. We already know about all those trifling matters of yours, so you don''t need to say anything."


    Tang Jie could onlyply. Looking around, he asked, "Right here?"


    "Right here. What, you think it''s small?" Ming Yekong asked with a smile.


    "This disciple would not dare." Tang Jie brought his hands together and bowed, at the same time firing a bolt of energy from his finger at Ming Yekong.


    He had struck first!


    Ming Yekong was rather amused by this. "Excellent, as bold as expected."


    He raised a finger at Tang Jie''s bolt of energy.


    An energy sword shot out.


    This was the most ordinary finger art of the Basking Moon Sect, but when Ming Yekong used it, it was like a celestial sword, manifesting the concept of an energy sword to the maximum.


    The two finger bolts collided and blew apart in waves of spiritual energy. Meanwhile, Tang Jie roared and threw out thirty-two punches in a row.


    The sts of wind from the punches were enough to shake mountains, but they couldn''t even cause a tremor in the Hall of Divine Conference. Each of the other four Violet Pce experts of the Basking Moon Sect upied a corner, and whenever a gust of wind passed them, it would vanish like a drop of water disappearing into the ocean.


    Meanwhile, Ming Yekong thrust out his finger several more times.


    It was just one finger, but in a sh, there were thirty-some of them.


    Every one of Tang Jie''s punches had a finger sword from Ming Yekong to block it, exactly 32.


    These punches that were enough to shake mountains were all neutralized by the finger swords, and Ming Yekongughed. "Not bad, but it''s still not enough."


    He blinked to Tang Jie''s side, stabbing a finger at the back of his neckthe Chaoswind Step! But the Chaoswind Step was different from before, as Ming Yekong was constantly moving around, his form appearing all around Tang Jie, moving so quickly that the eyes couldn''t keep up. The worst of all was that whenever Ming Yekong used the Chaoswind Step, it would leave behind an afterimage, and these afterimages seemed to have mass, able to punch and kick with force.


    In just a few moments, Ming Yekong''s afterimages had filled the Hall of Divine Conference, barraging Tang Jie from all sides. This move was countless times stronger than Qi Shaoming''s Passing Shadow Phantom Clone sh.


    In the face of such a vicious assault, Tang Jie had no choice but to use his full power, putting the strength of his physical body on full disy, enduring Ming Yekong''s attacks while swinging his fists.


    He was extremely familiar with the Chaoswind Step and had memorized every star coordinate, so he knew where Ming Yekong would appear and was able to remain calm. Even so, Ming Yekong was able to easily block Tang Jie''s every punch with a finger sword.


    Other than the Dao of Space, he was also extremely famous for his sword arts, his finger swords even sharper than most people''s divine swords.


    Ming Yekong started to lose his patience. "Tang Jie, use your real skills already. Don''t let us look down on you. And don''t worry about injuring me. You defeating me will only make me happy. If the Basking Moon Sect were that envious of the sess of others, it would have never reached its current status!"


    "Yes!" Tang Jie shouted. "Martial Uncle, be careful!"


    He summoned the Sovereign de, activated the "Two Heads, Four Arms" Divine Connection, fused together the energies of Yin and Yang, ignited the Pale Cloud me, imbued his weapon with the power of Destructionhe used everything at his disposal, unleashing a vicious wave of sword energy.


    Even as he was building up power for this attack, the four Violet Pce experts spectating this battle could sense the terrifying power within it.


    An unbreakable weaponbined with such terrifying power could hurt a Violet Pce expert.


    For the likes of Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan, this power was still a little weak, but for Ming Yekong, who had entered Violet Pce only a hundred-some years ago and was still at Infant Tending, it was a rather significant threat.


    Ming Yekong had also sensed this, and he was delighted rather than surprised. "An excellent move!"


    He produced a small sword made of paper and sliced it at the Sovereign de.


    When the unbreakable Sovereign de collided against that seemingly fragile paper sword, there was a massive shockwave of spiritual energy.


    Tang Jie was blown around like a leaf in a storm, with countless paper shards flying around him.


    Meanwhile, Ming Yekong was standing as if nothing had happened, though the paper sword was gone.


    This was the first time Tang Jie''s Ten Extinctions de had been blocked in such a direct manner, and his mind was reeling in shock.


    The Ten Extinctions de might not necessarily be able to kill a foe, but it definitely couldn''t be blocked, for the Sovereign de was unstoppable, unbreakable.


    How could it have been blocked? And by a paper sword!


    As if he could see Tang Jie''s shock, Ming Yekong chuckled. "Don''t panic. This is a Divine Connection I created after entering Violet Pce. Though it seems like a paper sword, it actually contains an isted space that can draw attacks into the endless void."


    Tang Jie now understood what had happened.


    "Since you know, let''s continue our fight!" Ming Yekong shouted, sending another finger sword at Tang Jie.


    The Ten Extinctions de was countered by Ming Yekong''s space sword, and he found it hard to use his physical body against Ming Yekong, so Tang Jie was clearly at a disadvantage.


    Ming Yekong said, "Use that art you used to resist Jewel."


    Tang Jie summoned the Infinite Pce, but in the Hall of Divine Conference, the moment the Infinite Pce was summoned, everyone was swept up into it. Ming Yekong found that rather than the formidable defense that Jewel had needed eleven fingers to break, he was instead dealing with numerous dangerous formations.


    He clicked his tongue in praise. "A Dao Art of this level? Remarkable."


    Despite his praise, he moved quickly, blinking around the Infinite Pce and activating all of its traps and formations. However, none of them could injure him, and his countless afterimages wreaked havoc within the pce. Meanwhile, Tang Jie kept activating formations in an attempt to encircle Ming Yekong, and in a sh, the entire ce was devastated. Thankfully, this wasn''t a real city, or else this fight would havepletely destroyed it.


    Even so, Ling Xiao and the other Violet Pce experts were stunned. While they understood that Tang Jie''s strength had possibly broken through that threshold, hearing waspletely different from seeing.


    Ling Xiao could no longer sit back, raising a hand. "Enough!"


    Ming Yekong and Tang Jie immediately stopped, and the Infinite Pce disappeared in a sh of rainbow light, as if all that had transpired was an illusion.


    "Teacher Sect Master!" Tang Jie bowed respectfully to Ling Xiao.


    Ling Xiao gave him a hard look, and then he smiled, stroking his beard. "Good, very good! Follow me!"

 Chapter 755: The Cloud Ancestor

    Chapter 755: The Cloud Ancestor


    Tang Jie followed Ling Xiao.


    They passed through the Hall of Divine Conference, circled around Starsnatch Pagoda, and began to make their way to the back side of the mountain.


    The ridges of Starsnatch Peak were tall and steep, but Ling Xiao simply walked along them rather than flying. Tang Jie could only obediently walk behind him. He wanted to ask Ling Xiao where they were going, but he ultimately managed to suppress his curiosity.


    In this unhurried manner, they walked along the long ridges of Starsnatch Peak before finally arriving at a small mountain.


    This small mountain was rather short and in,pletely unremarkablepared to the 19 Star Mountains and Starsnatch Peak. It didn''t even have a name. There was a small house made of thatch on the mountain, around which was a courtyard.


    In the courtyard, a small boy was watering the flowers.


    When Ling Xiao entered the courtyard, he bowed to the small boy. "I pay respects to the mountain elder."


    The boy asked without turning his head, "Ling Xiao, why did you bring this child here?"


    The voice was extremely old.


    Sect Master Ling Xiao immediately replied, "This child''s name is Tang Jie. He has cultivated for only a hundred-some years, but he has already reached Soul Transformation, and his strength isparable to an Infant Tending Violet Pce."


    "Oh?" The small boy immediately turned to Tang Jie, upon which Tang Jie realized that while this person had the body of a child, his face was extremely old and shriveled, densely covered in wrinkles.


    "Is he that formidable?" The boy let out an eerie cackle. "That must be tested."


    He threw his watering can to Tang Jie. "Youe and water the flowers."


    Tang Jie thought that he was going to test him with an attack, but it was just watering flowers? He grabbed the watering can.


    Only when he grabbed it did he realize how immensely heavy it was, and as a result, he almost let it fall to the ground. Fortunately, he immediately circted strength through his arms and managed to stabilize.


    How heavy was this watering can, that Tang Jie needed to circte energy in order to hold it?


    The elderly boy was also surprised that Tang Jie was able to grab the can with so little incident. He pointed at the garden and said, "Water!"


    Tang Jie nced at Ling Xiao, who nodded at him. He went forward to water the flowers, but just as he moved to tilt the can, he felt as if a massive torrent of water was attempting to surge out, like a raging river. If it were allowed to flow out of the can, let alone the garden, the entire mountain would be drowned in water.


    Tang Jie had to carefully control the mouth of the watering can so that only a little bit of this water spilled out to water the garden.


    Initially, he didn''t control it well, and a great gush of water came forth, but when it fell on the fields, it instantly disappeared.


    Gradually, Tang Jie grasped the method, and a trickle of water flowed out of the can, watering this seemingly eternally parched soil.


    The boy nodded repeatedly. "This Jade Waves Pot contains the water of the four seas, and to be able to water the flowers without letting it overflow shows that he has an exquisite and hard-to-find control over his strength. But this power doesn''te fromw power, but from physical power. It''s quite rare to see a cultivator who cultivates bothw and body. When did the body cultivation arts of my Basking Moon Sect be so powerful?"


    On the side, Ling Xiao said, "This child came across a lucky encounter and obtained the hidden realm left behind by an Immortal, most likely a body cultivator Titan. Based on what we currently know, it was probably left behind by the Martial Lord of High Antiquity. Earlier, in the Hall of Divine Conference, he had a battle with Yekong, where he used a special de. From its quality and attributes, it appears to share some simrities to the natural divine weapon Biehan described before, the sovereign of all weapons. It is suspected to have some connection to the Martial Lord."


    These words made Tang Jie sweat. He had never told the Basking Moon Sect about any of this, but it seemed like they had long ago guessed at everything and had simply chosen to remain silent.


    "''The Martial Lord''?" The elderly boy''s eyes shed. "No wonder he possessed such divine strength, allowing him to lift the waters of the four seas. He had the legacy of a High Antiquity Titan. The Sovereign de? Let me take a look."


    Tang Jie looked at Ling Xiao, who nodded again, so he took out the Sovereign de and offered it.


    The elderly boy took the Sovereign de and carefully examined it. "The Sovereign de is a legendary existence. It is said that there exists a natural divine weapon in the Weapon Dao, the sovereign of all weapons, transcending all weapons. It is able to simte all weapons and counter all weapons, so it is called the Sovereign de."


    Tang Jie was stunned by this news. This was his first time hearing the Sovereign de described in this way.


    "Able to simte all weapons"?


    Yes, the Sovereign de could take on countless forms, even taking on the form of actual divine weapons, but it had only the form and not the ability. Tang Jie had never been able to make it simte the powers of other weapons.


    "Counter all weapons"?


    This was true. It was unbreakable, so most weapons would be destroyed on contact with it. But there were still some things that it couldn''t shake, like Space, Time, or Fate, as well as all things connected to such concepts. The Sovereign de was also no good against top-ss divine treasures and Dao armaments.


    But the true sovereign of all weapons would be able to dominate the world and stand alone and unparalleled.


    This was why it was more a product of imagination than an actual treasure.


    But the weapon in Tang Jie''s hand had been able to manifest some of the traits of this legendary weapon, which was why Cang Qingfeng had called it the Sovereign de. It was also why Ling Xiao had judged it to be the Sovereign de and used it to conjecture the existence of the Martial Lord''s legacy.


    The elderly boy carefully examined the de and said, "This object does share some simrities to the legendary Sovereign de, but it is far from reaching the level of countering all weapons. I am guessing that it was a failed product created by the Martial Lord in an attempt to create the true Sovereign de, a pity."


    The elderly boy did not know that Tang Jie had created the Sovereign de from the Weapon Mantra, only that Tang Jie had gained it from the Martial Lord''s legacy, which was why he had drawn this conclusion.


    The elderly boy then muttered, "Ah, I was just getting ahead of myself. If the Sovereign de really did exist, then no treasure would be able to threaten the user, and wouldn''t that make them invincible? That''s impossible, so such a treasure cannot exist."


    Tang Jie''s mind was reeling from these words.


    All this time, he had focused on improving the Sovereign de''s power against his enemies, never thinking about its other uses.


    Only now did he realize that the way he had used it was wrong to begin with.


    The Sovereign de was the Sovereign de because it was the sovereign of all weapons.


    Perhaps its purpose had never been to kill enemies, but to deal with other weapons!


    This change of perspective immediately made him understand many things that had previously confused him. Poor Tang Jie had only ever thought about using the Sovereign de to kill his enemies. Instead, he should have thought about how to use the Sovereign de to first destroy his enemy''s treasures, and then he could have the Sovereign de transform into other treasures and use it to kill his now-empty-handed enemies.


    Yes!


    This was the Martial Lord''s fighting style!


    He suddenly recalled that scene from the Martial Mirror.


    With one shout, all weapons shattered.


    This was the might of the Martial Lord!


    Tang Jie didn''t know when he would be able to do the same as the Martial Lord, shattering weapons with a single shout, but at least he understood what direction he should take. Putting too much focus on trying to kill enemies with the Sovereign de was a mistake. Simtion and countering was the real future of the Sovereign de.


    The Weapon Mantra was a Dao Art, and this Dao Art''s purpose was to refine a weapon that could simte and counter. Right now, the Sovereign de could not destroy divine treasures or Dao armaments, but this was probably because the Sovereign de was not fully mature.


    Ever since he had attained the Sovereign de''s current form, Tang Jie rarely shattered other weapons. But now, he remembered that the Martial Lord was a body cultivator, meaning he had a body of immense size. The Sovereign de was currently the appropriate size for an ordinary mortal, but for the real form of a body cultivator, it was as small as a needle.


    In other words, the Sovereign de was only just getting started and was far frompletion, which was why he could only simte form and not ability.


    At that moment, Tang Jie suddenly regretted putting the sword spirit of the Yin Yang Division Sword into the Sovereign de.


    This was because the Sovereign de didn''t need a sword spirit. A mature sword spirit might be able to temporarily increase its power, but it would interfere with its simtion abilities.


    Tang Jie began to think of a way to remove the sword spirit and use it for something else.


    The elderly boy returned the Sovereign de to Tang Jie and took back his watering can. "Head on inside."


    Ling Xiao led Tang Jie into the thatch house.


    Upon entering the thatch house, they saw a white-haired old man inside, wearing a Daoist robe and holding a horsetail whisk, his eyes closed in meditation.


    Ling Xiao bowed. "Disciple Ling Xiao pays respects to Martial Uncle!"


    Although Tang Jie had already had his guesses and mentally prepared himself for this, Tang Jie still couldn''t help but be surprised by Ling Xiao''s words, and he hastily prostrated. "Disciple Tang Jie pays respects to the Martial Ancestor."


    This white-haired elder was none other than the foundation stone of the Basking Moon Sect, the Cloud Ancestor.


    Tang Jie''s Wisdom Sword had been created by this individual.


    The Cloud Ancestor didn''t move, letting Tang Jie prostrate, and as Ling Xiao didn''t say anything, Tang Jie continued to prostrate.


    After a while, the Cloud Ancestor opened his eyes. Ignoring Tang Jie, he said, "I know of your purpose ining, but I have long since ceased to intervene in the affairs of the sect and will no longer teach any disciples. You should take him back."


    Ling Xiao hastily said, "But, Martial Uncle, Tang Jie is a true genius. Although he has yet to reach Violet Pce, he is strong enough to battle against an Infant Tending cultivator, a genius not to be found in a thousand years. If Martial Uncle were to instruct him and protect him, he would have a much greater chance of reaching Violet Pce!"


    So it was about the charge at Violet Pce? Tang Jie now understood why the sect master had brought him here.


    Yes, the instruction of an Immortal would undoubtedly increase his chances of reaching Violet Pce, but while Earth Immortals were supreme existences to the people of Rosecloud, Tang Jie had received the instruction of a Boundless Gold Immortal, Immortal Ji Yao, so he did not care so much about it. However, this was a gesture of kindness from his master, and it was not right for him to say anything.


    The Cloud Ancestor still shook his head. "Does my Basking Moon Sectck for geniuses? Backed by the poption of an entire country, none of the six major sectsck for talents. Possessing the strength to battle against an Infant Tending cultivator is not bad, but there might be more people capable of doing it in the future. My ambitions are on True Immortal, my heart tied to the Heavenly Dao. I stopped focusing on the sect''s affairs long ago, so there is no need to bother me over such things."


    Ling Xiao had no choice but to yield to the Cloud Ancestor, sighing, "Yes, your disciple will obey."


    Seeing this, Tang Jie finally said, "The Heavenly Dao doesn''t exist at all, so why is Martial Ancestor so obsessed with it?"


    "What?" The Cloud Ancestor and Ling Xiao both stared at Tang Jie in shock.

 Chapter 756: Unrivaled Contribution

    Chapter 756: Unrivaled Contribution


    In the thatch house, the Cloud Ancestor stared at Tang Jie, his gaze carrying the weight of a mountain range, pressing down on Tang Jie such that he couldn''t even raise his head.


    Anxious, Ling Xiao was about to rebuke Tang Jie, but the Cloud Ancestor waved a hand to stop him. He then asked Tang Jie, "Why do you say this?"


    Tang Jie calmly replied, "If the world really had a Heavenly Dao, why has no oneprehended the Heavenly Dao"


    An entire argument spilled forth from his mouth, the answer that Immortal Ji Yao had given back then.


    This theory hade from a Boundless Gold Immortal, and it was like a resounding p to the Cloud Ancestor, waking him from a deep stupor and leaving him stunned and awed.


    He naturally wouldn''t be so easily convinced by Tang Jie''s words, so he began to question him. However, Tang Jie had stayed with Immortal Ji Yao for three years, and they had discussed the topic of the Heavenly Dao numerous times, so he was well-studied on the subject.


    He answered all of the Cloud Ancestor''s questions, with most of his answers being the ones Immortal Ji Yao had given him.


    The Cloud Ancestor had started with an almost inquisitorial attitude, but he grew more and more shocked as their conversation went on, and his expression followed in going from solemnity to surprise, and then to glowing with excitement, and finally nodding his head as if he had been enlightened. Thus, a supreme grandmaster had be an earnest student.


    Poor Ling Xiao had never seen such a thing before.


    Ever since he had taken up the post of Sect Master, whenever he came to see his martial uncle, he would always be greeted by this taciturn and solemn old fellow who was devoted to the Dao,pletely unconcerned for the world. When Feng Muyuan had led the Blue Sky Demon Wolves in raiding the Basking Moon Sect, the Cloud Ancestor had known about this matter, but he hadn''t even issued a warning, such was his aloof attitude to the ways of the world.


    Unexpectedly, Tang Jie''s words hadpletely upset his demeanor, and he was throwing out question after question without regard for his dignity.


    Tang Jie had been instructed by Immortal Ji Yao, so his vision had been greatly broadened such that he did not fear a discussion with the Cloud Ancestor.


    Thus, the two began to discuss the Dao in the thatch house, going on for three days and nights. As for Sect Master Ling Xiao, he was utterly ignored. Fortunately, as this discussion was not hidden from him, he was able to greatly benefit just by listening.


    But the feeling of benefiting from a discussion of the Dao between his disciple and his martial uncle was not particrly pleasant.


    Three dayster, the Dao discussion finally ended.


    It ended because Tang Jie could no longer answer the Cloud Ancestor''s questions.


    While he had learned a lot from his conversations with Immortal Ji Yao, because of his personal cultivation level, there were some questions that he couldn''t even think of, as they would only ur to him once he actually got that high. It was the same difference as between reading a book and actually doing what was said in the book.


    Cultivation level limited Tang Jie''s vision, which meant that the questions he had asked back then would inevitably becking. Thus, when the Cloud Ancestor asked him these questions, Tang Jie didn''t even understand what he was talking about.


    After three days, the Cloud Ancestor had seemingly identified Tang Jie''s weak spot, his every question leaving Tang Jie confused and unable to reply.


    But rather than pleased, the Cloud Ancestor seemed deeply disappointed.


    With his wisdom and experience, he could tell that Tang Jie was just copying someone else''s words, but given how thorough the arguments were, he could also see that Tang Jie had spent some time with this person.


    This made the Cloud Ancestor deeply interested in Tang Jie. "Tang Jie, tell me: who is the person who taught you all this?"


    "It''s a rather long story." Tang Jie gave a brief summary of how he hade to know Immortal Ji Yao. Since they had already guessed at his connection to the Martial Lord, there was no need to hide this matter from them.


    The Cloud Ancestor gave a mncholy sigh after hearing of the tragic romance between Immortal Ji Yao and the Martial Lord. "So the Court of Myriad Domains was destroyed by the Martial Lord who had gone mad over the loss of Immortal Ji Yao. I really couldn''t have imagined it. s, it is not my destiny to meet this Boundless Gold Immortal and seek instruction from her."


    Tang Jie quickly said, "Martial Uncle, there''s no need to worry about this. The extreme long-distance teleportation formation is alreadyplete, so you can still go if you want. But as the distance is so great, it requires an astonishing amount of energy, and the round trip is also rather time-consuming."


    Ling Xiao immediately said, "This is no problem. My Basking Moon Sect is more than capable of providing such resources."


    Meeting a Boundless Gold Immortal was also an immense opportunity for Ling Xiao.


    But the Cloud Ancestor shook his head. "It''s not as easy as you think. Tang Jie, you don''t know this, but when you ascend to Immortal tform, spiritual energy transforms into Immortal Essence and the soul attains godhood, so every action you take will influence the world around you. If I were to enter a teleportation formation, the teleportation formation would instantly explode under the load, and I would be tossed into the void."


    "Oh, really?" Tang Jie was astonished. He really didn''t know that Immortal tform cultivators couldn''t use teleportation formations.


    In truth, this was not the case, but a teleportation formation that could tolerate their power had even greater requirements and costs, more than the resources of Rosecloud, Blood River, and Verdant Cloudbined could provide.


    As for the one Tang Jie had made, as he had to settle for substitutes, let alone the Cloud Ancestor, even Ling Xiao would be rather risky.


    Ling Xiao was rather disappointed to learn that he couldn''t go.


    Tang Jie said, "If that''s the case, then this disciple will ry Master''s and Ancestor''s questions."


    "That will have to do," the Cloud Ancestor and Ling Xiao agreed.


    At this moment, Tang Jie pped his head in realization. "Right, I forgot about that guy."


    Tang Jie pulled out the Mountain River State Diagram and then took out the Eternity Sarcophagus from it.


    "A small world?" Ling Xiao eximed in surprise. He recognized the Mountain River State Diagram, but he hadn''t realized that Tang Jie had managed to develop the diagram into an independent small world. Moreover, he could also sense a sliver of the Space Crystal''s power from the diagram.


    "A Dao armament?" The Cloud Ancestor had more of his attention on the Eternity Sarcophagus and its upant. "This woman has an extremely powerful Divine Soul."


    "Martial Ancestor is correct!" Tang Jie answered. He then retold the story of switching souls.


    Tang Jie concluded, "The Azure Dragon''s soul is currently in this woman''s body. Although it isn''t a Boundless Gold Immortal, it''s still a Supreme True Immortal. Ancestor can directly ask it any questions you might have. Just remember to put it back into the sarcophagus when you''re done."


    While the Azure Dragon''s soul could alter the body and gradually grow stronger, that was a matter of years. Letting it out for a short while wouldn''t pose a problem.


    The Cloud Ancestor nodded. "I will greatly benefit from the personal instruction of a Supreme True Immortal, and with you also helping me convey my questions to that Boundless Gold Immortal, I am sure that many of my confusions will be cleared and the day I advance will not be far off. Tang Jie, this is all thanks to you. I did not think that your fortune could even benefit this old man."


    Ling Xiao was delighted.


    The Cloud Ancestor was the anchor of the Basking Moon Sect. With him around, even if all the other experts of the Basking Moon Sect died, the sect would remain standing.


    And an expert reaching True Immortal was what every major sect craved, for once it happened, that sect would shatter the power bnce of the six major sects.


    This was exactly why Tang Jie''s contributions were so great. It was such an unprecedented achievement that if it were converted to contribution points, the Basking Moon Sect would have to give him all the resources it had.


    "Martial Uncle, on the matter we discussed earlier?" Ling Xiao asked.


    The Cloud Ancestor chuckled. "Although the Immortal Ji Yao this child received instruction from is not at all inferior to me, Immortal Ji Yao has already be a demon, and the two of us cannot meet. In addition, Tang Jie originates from my Basking Moon Sect and has inherited my lineage of arts, so this old man should be able to instruct him on a few points. Tang Jie, starting from today, you cane here whenever you want, and you may ask me whatever questions you have. Of course, if I have my own questions, I will pass them on to you. At set intervals, you will take a trip to the Verdant Cloud Domain and seek answers on my behalf. As for the Eternity Sarcophagus, I will take temporary custody of it."


    "This disciple will obey!" Tang Jie replied.


    He had no qualms about leaving the Eternity Sarcophagus here. The Basking Moon Sect had even let him have the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, so he was sure that the Cloud Ancestor wouldn''t try and steal his possessions. Moreover, this item hade from a great demon, and Tang Jie was worried that there was something wrong with it. Although the Cloud Ancestor had already given it a thorough inspection, Tang Jie still hoped that it could be kept by someone more powerful.


    After saying all this, the Cloud Ancestor dismissed the pair.


    As they exited the courtyard, they saw that elderly boy standing outside, smiling at Tang Jie. "Ever since my master entered seclusion, he has rarely met with outsiders, and even the Sect Master has to make several requests before he is granted an audience. I did not think that you would gain the right to visit whenever you wanted. This is truly something worth celebrating. Sect Master has truly brought a talent this time."


    Now that Tang Jie had the right to visit at any time, the elderly boy had be much more polite.


    After exchanging polite words, Ling Xiao and Tang Jie left. As they were heading back, Tang Jie learned that this elderly boy was called the Mountain Shatter Boy. In his early years, he had been a ruthless wandering cultivator bandit, but the Cloud Ancestor subdued him and made him his boy servant. While he had the body of a boy, he was actually a Soul Projection cultivator, a hidden Violet Pce Titan of the Basking Moon Sect. It was no wonder Ling Xiao had treated him with such respect.


    In truth, all the sects had a hidden expert. If the Basking Moon Sect had a Violet Pce hidden expert, the other five sects probably had one too, or else the number of Violet Pce experts wouldn''t have remained so static for so long. As for why Ming Yekong hadn''t been kept a secret, that was because he was already a famous individual in the world. Since it was impossible to hide him, they might as well announce the news so as to raise the prestige of the sect.


    "In truth, in the cultivation world, strength is king. A hidden Violet Pce expert might be able to y a key role at a critical moment, but it still won''t mean as much as an Earth Immortal ascending to True Immortal. Tang Jie, you did very well this time. Even raising Martial Uncle''s chances of ascension by one thousandth of a percent is an unparalleled contribution."


    Tang Jie curiously asked, "The process of ascension is extremely dangerous. If Martial Ancestor fails, then won''t I be a great sinner that not even ten thousand deaths can redeem?"


    Ling Xiaoughed. "How could that be? When one reaches Earth Immortal, the body bes like a dragon, and the soul bes divine. One is essentially undying, and it bes very hard to die. The only possibility is to have one''s life force worn away from wounds sustained in neverending battle. This is why Earth Immortals are loath to intervene in conflicts, preferring to stand guard instead. Of course, advancing to the next tier is extremely difficult, and trying to ascend to the next level after having achieved an undying body is even more difficult! Just look at that Azure Dragon. To be Boundless, he was even willing to lie dead for ten thousand years for a single opportunity."


    Tang Jie was enlightened.


    "Since you have made such an enormous contribution, as Sect Master, I must reward you properly. Although Martial Uncle has already let you visit him whenever you want, it is not an official reward. So, Tang Jie, tell me what it is you want."


    <em>What do I want?</em>


    Tang Jie was taken aback. Looking at Ling Xiao''s face, he suddenly realized that this was the opportunity to make his outrageous offering price!

 Chapter 757: Death by Prestige

    Chapter 757: Death by Prestige


    After some thought, Tang Jie replied, "As a disciple, to contribute to the sect is my duty, and I would not dare to im too much credit. But the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s majesty is as heavy as a mountain, and this disciple will have to use everything he has against her. Since Master has asked, then I would like a mountain."


    "You want a mountain?" Ling Xiao was bbergasted. He thought that Tang Jie would ask for some rare spirit nt or mystical technique, or maybe even the permanent privilege to cultivate in the Water Moon Paradise.


    He hadn''t expected Tang Jie to ask for a mountain.


    "Which mountain?" Ling Xiao asked.


    "Heavenly Bnce Mountain, the Valley of the Eight Wilds."


    Ling Xiao was startled.


    Heavenly Bnce Mountain was arge mountain located on the eastern border of Sageheart. Its most unique property was that most of it was made of violet gold, which was extremely sturdy and made the ce a natural ore vein.


    But because it was located on the border, it didn''t entirely belong to Sageheart. Instead, the Basking Moon Sect and the Seven Absolutions Sect shared ownership of it.


    Ling Xiao frowned at Tang Jie''s request. "If you want violet gold, I can have the sect buy it for you. While violet gold is a decent spiritual material, there''s plenty of it being mined, so it''s not expensive."


    But Tang Jie replied, "This disciple doesn''t want the violet gold, but the mountain itself."


    "Why?" Ling Xiao asked in confusion.


    "I will have my duel with Jewel there!" Tang Jie dered.


    Ling Xiao''s mind was shaken, for he finally understood Tang Jie''s goal.


    Making sure that he had the home court advantage?


    It wasn''t a bad idea.


    "But why would you choose that ce?" Ling Xiao asked.


    "Because that ce is tough enough. A mountain made of violet gold only needs a little more reinforcement, and then even a Soul Projection Celestial Sovereign might not be able to destroy it. After all, no matter how good a castle is, there''s no point if it''s built on sand."


    Ling Xiao nodded in agreement. "An excellent idea. Your master will send this message to that Jewel. With her cultivation, she probably won''t care, not even if she knows that this is some ploy by you. But the Seven Absolutions Sect also has some ownership over this mountain, which is somewhat more difficult to handle."


    "Then we can negotiate," Tang Jie replied. "So long as you''re willing to pay, it''s just a mountain, so nothing is non-negotiable. If it''s really no good, we can just rent the mountain for two hundred years."


    Ling Xiaoughed. "Haha, so that''s what you were after. Fine. Your master will send someone to the Seven Absolutions Sect and buy the other half of Heavenly Bnce Mountain for you."


    "There''s no need to send someone. I''ll go myself," Tang Jie said with a smile. "I happen to have an appointment there, and this is the perfect time to make it happen."


    He needed to make some preparations before heading to the Seven Absolutions Sect, so he couldn''t set off immediately.


    Once they returned from the Cloud Ancestor''s thatch house, Ling Xiao assigned Tang Jie a new residence, located behind Starsnatch Peak. This ce was Ling Xiao''s residence, and the fact he had taken up residence here was a sign that Tang Jie had been officially recognized as a Young Lord of Basking Moon.


    As Young Lord, Tang Jie had many special privileges.


    For example, he could freely go in and out of Heaven One Pavilion and peruse its secret texts without restriction. He could enter the various halls and peaks and question them on anything, having been endowed with supervisory and advisory authority. He was also able to ess all the forbidden grounds of the Basking Moon Sect, even ess the Water Moon Paradise for three days every year without needing to pay contribution points.


    All of these special privileges were intended to make the strong stronger and the rich richer.


    Moreover, Tang Jie also had no limit on the number of days he could stay in the paradise, which was a right that Ling Xiao had fought for so that he could better deal with Jewel. In addition, Ling Xiao announced that the Space Crystal had officially been granted to Tang Jie. Given all that he had done for the Cloud Ancestor, there was really no treatment that could be considered too generous.


    Tang Jie''s name spread throughout the Basking Moon Sect. Everyone knew that Tang Jie had returned, and that when he returned, he had received unprecedented treatment that drew both admiration and envy. Of course, there were people who were happy, and there were also people who were terrified.


    Yu Yan recently hadn''t been sleeping well.


    After Tang Jie returned from Endsea all those years ago, Yu Yan had been very quiet, no longer pressuring people to attend his lectures. Those in the hall who knew what had happened with Yu Yan privately jeered that Tang Jie had scared him out of his wits. As the days went by, this mocking gradually became a thorn in his heart. But since Tang Jie had never made an issue out of the matter, he eventually went back to his old ways.


    When Tang Jie went missing, Yu Yan was one of the happiest, and he started to nder Tang Jie wherever he went. In his words, Tang Jie was a pervert and viin, a wicked bastard who only stopped at eating babies.


    This sort of wild ndering was like a psychedelic drug for Yu Yan, making him extremely happy, as if Tang Jie had dealt him some terrible injury that one time. And from this, almost everyone in the Basking Moon Sect learned that there was a madman who loathed Tang Jie. When Tang Jie was missing and his brothers were still in Endsea, this wasn''t a problem, but when Tang Jie returned, everything changed.


    Today, Yu Yan was cultivating in his cave estate.


    A disciple came to the entrance and asked, "Is Steward Yu present?"


    Yu Yan''s heart thumped. "What is it?"


    "The hall master has requested your presence. He has a mission for you."


    Yu Yan sighed in relief.


    Exiting his cave, he followed the disciple to the hall on the principal mountain.


    The hall was empty of anything but darkness.


    Upon entering, Yu Yan immediately got to his knees and shouted to the darkness, "Yu Yan pays respects to the hall master."


    Although he couldn''t see him, Yu Yan knew that Xu Baibing was here. It was just that nobody could see him unless he let them see him.


    The Secret Hall had many members, but only an extremely small number of them had ever actually met Xu Baibing. It was said that other than the Violet Pce experts and Celestial Chiefs, nobody, not even his deputy hall master Chang Tianshui, had seen Xu Baibing''s true face.


    Yan Changfeng was a fierce warrior that shone like the burning sun, Ming Yekong was an elegant sword Immortal, and Xu Baibing was the assassin lurking in the darkness. It was said that if he wanted to kill someone, then even if that person was a Violet Pce Titan, he could still kill them.


    <em>Bang!</em>


    A portrait flew out of the darkness andnded in Yu Yan''s hand, and a voice rang out. "Your mission is to kill this person."


    Yu Yan unrolled the portrait and then shuddered. "Li Chengfeng? This is a Celestial Heart True Person! Hall Master, your disciple is only at Cognitive Creation. How can I kill a Celestial Heart True Person? Hall Master, please withdraw your order."


    The voice in the darkness casually said, "The mission is the mission. No matter how difficult it is, you mustplete it. If you can''t, then offer up your life instead."


    Yu Yan''s body went cold. Suddenly, he realized what was going on and shouted, "Tang Jie! It''s for Tang Jie, isn''t it? You''re using the same method I used against him on me, right? Hall Master, have even you bowed to his pressure?"


    A person finally appeared in the darkness.


    It was a very honest and open face, one that could be found on any farmer in the countryside.


    This sort of appearance might not have matched the status of a hall master, but this was the Secret Hall''s style, a desire for the entire world to not pay them any attention.


    Putting his hands behind his back, Xu Baibing sympathetically looked at Yu Yan. "If I told you that Tang Jie never brought this matter up with me, would you believe me?"


    Yu Yan was startled. "How could that be?"


    Xu Baibing shook his head. "He has never paid you any attention. In his eyes, you are just an ant, something not even worth taking revenge on. But you''ve been far too annoying, ndering Tang Jie in both private and public over the years, and countless people know about it. Now that Tang Jie is the Young Lord, while he has never talked about removing you, if you live, you will be a malignant tumor for my Secret Hall, making everyone think that I am enemies with Tang Jie."


    Yu Yan protested, "But Hall Master, even if he''s the Young Lord, you are a chief! You don''t need to be afraid of him!"


    "CorrectI don''t need to be afraid of him. But the problem is: do I need to have him resent me for your sake?"


    This question made Yu Yan shudder, and he howled, "No! No! No!"


    He turned and fled.


    Xu Baibing didn''t give chase, indifferently saying, "In truth, I hoped that you would try to openly resist your fate."


    As he spoke, a sword shed out of the darkness, stabbing into Yu Yan''s chest. The young and callous face of Xi Canhen emerged from the shadows.


    Yu Yan cried out in despair, "Xi Canhen Xu Baibing, you tricked me. Tang Jie clearly had you kill me "


    He died before he could finish his words.


    Xu Baibing gazed at Xi Canhen in admiration. "Your stealth assassination skills are getting better and better, but you still have many ws. So what about it? If you are willing to follow me and be my disciple, then I guarantee that you will be the assassination grandmaster of the generation, and the post of master of the Secret Hall will also be yours. Moreover, this is the only way you can keep up with Tang Jie."


    Such a lucrative proposaling from the likes of Xu Baibing would have anyone picking up their jaw from the floor.


    Yu Yan had guessed wrongly. Tang Jie really hadn''t said anything about dealing with Yu Yan to Xu Baibing. Xi Canhen had appeared simply because Xu Baibing appreciated his talents and wanted to take him as a disciple. Yu Yan was basically a weing gift.


    When a person achieved a high enough status, they could just stand around and do nothing, and countless people would be working to fulfill their desires, sometimes without even a promise or request.


    Simr scenes yed out elsewhere.


    The Tribute Hall.


    A middle-aged cultivator was pleading on his knees, "Hall Master, it was this lowly one''s mistake. I shouldn''t have let my greed get to me and covet Tang Jie''s rabbit spirit beast. But this lowly one didn''t actually seed!"


    It was this man who had taken a liking to Tutu and tried to steal it, forcing Tutu and Shi Jingzhai to flee the sect, after which they had met up with Tang Jie in the fragment of the Myriad Court. Now, it was his turn to meet misfortune.


    An Yinglong flipped through documents as he casually replied, "Yes, you didn''t seed, which is why you don''t have to die. I''m just sending you off to the border for some hardbor, so there''s no need to despair. Rx. So long as Tang Jie doesn''t want you dead, I won''t be sending anyone to go all the way over there to kill you. Just stay there and cultivate, and perhaps you might get so strong that youe back and overthrow me."


    The middle-aged cultivator was in despair. The border was a ce barren of spiritual energy. What sort of prospects would he have cultivating in such a ce?


    And there were still more such incidents taking ce across the Basking Moon Sect.


    Fortunately, the Basking Moon Sect was a rather principled sect, and Tang Jie knew how to conduct himself well as a person, so he had few real enemies. There were some who went a little too far in trying to get Tang Jie''s favor and dug up minor quarrels to cause a fuss over. As a result, some of Tang Jie''s old rivals suffered, like Long Dao.


    This guy and Tang Jie hadn''t gotten along while they were in the academy, but he had been rather diligent after entering the sect, and he had officially entered Celestial Heart not too long ago. He had applied to be a steward, and since he was at Celestial Heart now, it should have been a smooth promotion. s, the moment Tang Jie returned, Long Dao''s application was met with an unprecedented rejection, and his career was given a heavy blow. Fortunately, the matter stopped there, and nobody tried to make things any worse for him.


    Tang Jie had yed a role in none of this.


    Of course, there was an exception.


    The Commerce Hall.


    This was a hall that specialized in international transactions and gathering resources for the sect.


    The hall master, Qian Ruhai, was a plump and fair man, adorned in luxurious clothes and sporting a jade ring. He usually carried a golden abacus, which he was always fiddling with. He had the appearance of a typical merchant, yet nobody dared to underestimate the chief of the Commerce Hall. The Commerce Hall was the richest hall of the Basking Moon Sect, and anyone who could be its master had to be strong. Qian Ruhai had relied on his golden abacus to kill his way to this seat.


    Everyone knew that when this smiling Buddha got angry, the mountains would flow with rivers of blood.


    And at this moment, this smiling Buddha was grinning at the man in front of him.


    This was one of his subordinates, clever and capable.


    This man had a fair and beardless face, and his eyes were rather furtive and sinister. But at this moment, he was looking up fearfully at Qian Ruhai. "Hall Master, what exactly did your subordinate do wrong, for you to treat me this way?"


    Qian Ruhai shook his head and sighed. "I also don''t know what you did wrong to offend Tang Jie. He didn''t even care about that Yu Yan who had offended him before, yet he personally came to find me and told me that he hoped that you would die."


    "Tang Jie?" The fair-faced man trembled. He just couldn''t understand. When had he ever offended this most popr figure of the Basking Moon Sect?


    "But" Qian Ruhai paused for a moment. "Tang Jie wanted me to pass a message on to you."


    "What was it?"


    "The Numb River Flooding of Mengmen Gully."


    The fair-faced man shuddered and fell silent.


    Seeing this, Qian Ruhai naturally understood what had happened. After all, after Tang Jie had entrusted him with this task, he had investigated the Numb River incident. It now seemed that this incident had not been without reason, though he didn''t understand why Tang Jie, who wasn''t from Mengmen Gully, had decided to execute justice on its behalf, nor did he care to find out. He sighed and said, "The heavens will shine a light on injustice, and divine retribution will alwayse eventually. Bai Tanzhen, have a safe journey to the Yellow Springs!"

 Chapter 758: Tiger Roar

    Chapter 758: Tiger Roar


    Basking Moon Academy.


    Westwatch Pavilion.


    "Looking to the west, the old home of yesteryear, the winds howling from south to north, and only the twilight" Standing at the window, Xie Fengtang gazed into the distance, suddenly gripped by mncholy.


    This bout of mncholy hade on suddenly, and Xie Fengtang couldn''t exin why.


    A voice rang out behind him. "The p of thunder and fall of rain all be the grace of kindness, the rosy clouds of sunset on the horizon, an unforgettable memento of a teacher''s love. Headmaster, were you thinking about me?"


    Xie Fengtang shivered at this voice and turned his head to see a grinning Tang Jie standing there.


    Delighted, he moved toward Tang Jie. "So you know to visit me."


    But rather than a hug, he grabbed Tang Jie by the ear.


    But then he realized that this was inappropriate. As the Young Lord, Tang Jie outranked him, so he quickly let go.


    Tang Jie didn''t mind, mischievously smiling. "I''m quite busy, you know. Right after I returned to the sect, Master took me to see the Cloud Ancestor, and he then dragged me to the back mountain and insisted on having me memorize the Twelve Meditation ssics of the Yellow Court. After that, I had to go visiting all the hall masters and leaders. Now that I''m the Young Lord, I have to understand how to rule. Even if my duel in two hundred years means I don''t have to worry about sect affairs in that time, I still have to meet everyone and get some familiarity with the system. After all that, I finally had some time toe out and see you."


    "I suppose you still have some conscience left in you!" Xie Fengtangughed, pointing at Tang Jie.


    He began to grope about his body and produced arge jar of wine. "Come; let''s get drunk."


    "Please, spare me! Everyone has been inviting me to drink thesest few days, so just let me off this time, Headmaster. Let''s have tea instead. Look; I''ve brought Moonstream Jade Orchid Leaves, just for you." Tang Jie took out arge bag of tea leaves and began to brew tea.


    Xie Fengtangughed and decided to go along with his n. The two sipped on tea in Westwatch Pavilion while conversing. Xie Fengtang didn''t have much to talk about. His life consisted of teaching students and sending them off. asionally, he would raise an outstanding student that he got along with, but when the time came, he would have to send them off, which would make him feel sad and reluctant to see them go. When this happened too many times, he would stand at his window and moan that he wouldn''t be a teacher in his next life. However, when the asional student returned for a visit, he immediately felt like everything was worth it.


    Tang Jie, on the other hand, had plenty of stories to tell, leaving Xie Fengtang amazed. His ount of how he had managed to escape from the likes of Godhead Pce, the Blood River Lord, and the me Celestial Sovereign, and then kill several Divine Division fiends left Xie Fengtang feeling dizzy. Any one of these would have been a lifetime achievement for him, but it was just one of many amazing feats in Tang Jie''s life.


    The two of them talked for a long while before finally stopping. Seeing that there wasn''t much time left, Tang Jie took out an item. "I have never yet been able to repay Headmaster for all the care you gave me in my ten years here. This is a piece of Celestial Spirit Stone I got after killing Feng Buzhi. Part of it has been used, but there should be enough to use it one more time. Please ept this gift, Headmaster."


    Celestial Spirit Stone was a treasure that could help in the charge at Soul Transformation, and his avatar had used it for this very purpose.


    Although Xie Fengtang was the deputy headmaster, he was so busy managing the school''s affairs that he didn''t have much time to cultivate. He was only at Heart Demon and still a step away from Soul Transformation. He had been preparing to take this final step for some time now, but he still didn''t dare to take such an important step, until now.


    If Tang Jie had given him something else, he might have exploded in rage and rebuked him, but he simply couldn''t refuse this Celestial Spirit Stone. At the same time, he sensed that Tang Jie was being sincere.


    He wanted to say more, but Tang Jie said, "I killed four Divine Division fiends and looted three treasuries in Verdant Cloud, and I looted the me Celestial Sovereign''s treasury in the Blood River Domain, and I also have the inter-domain trade. I have so much money that I don''t know where to spend it all."


    Before he could finish his thought, Xie Fengtang took the stone. "Right, there''s no need for me to be so courteous with a kid like you."


    Tang Jieughed, and then he said, "I also came this time with an idea in mind."


    "Tell me."


    "I n to donate a hundred thousand spirit coins to Basking Moon Academy every year that''s to be used tomend outstanding students."


    "What?" Xie Fengtang was startled by Tang Jie''s proposal. "Why is that?"


    "It''s nothing much. I just think that a person can''t always be looking out for themselves and they should sometimes help out their juniors. A hundred thousand spirit coins isn''t a lot to me, but it can help the people who need it. Of course, I will ce a limit. It''s mainly to be used to support those hardworking students whoe from poor families. I call this money a schrship."


    "''A schrship''?" Xie Fengtang considered the proposal and nodded. "It''s rather interesting."


    Every year, Basking Moon Academy would ept students who had excellent talent and mindset but couldn''t get to the next level because their families couldn''t support them. Tang Jie was giving them an opportunity.


    This would help the Basking Moon Sect gain more talents, and it would also help Tang Jie, for the students that got opportunities through his schrships would definitely be grateful and be his loyal fans.


    In truth, a simr n had already been implemented in Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and they had already be Xu Miaoran''s supporters. Tang Jie had given Xu Miaoran this idea while he was in the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    Now that Tang Jie had returned, he was naturally going to use it here.


    Xie Fengtang was very satisfied with the proposal, and the two of them decided on the fine details of the donations and limitations right there. As Tang Jie was providing the money, he was naturally the one to decide how it was distributed and used, and for the same reason, it also carried his name, being called the Tang Jie Schrship.


    Starting from today, Tang Jie''s name was bound to be one that every student admired and revered.


    After the discussion, Tang Jie said that he wanted to take a walk around the academy.


    Xie Fengtang happened to have work that he needed to do, so he let Tang Jie go wherever he pleased. After all, he was the Young Lord, so there was no ce in the sect that was forbidden to him.


    Tang Jie exited Westwatch Pavilion and began to walk along the mountain path.


    As he visited his old haunts, he started to feel nostalgic.


    The path was the same path, and the buildings were the same buildings, but the students had all changed. Familiar faces had been reced by strange ones, but both were brimming with energy and hope.


    Every student walking past him felt to Tang Jie like he was looking at himself.


    In a sh, he was at his former residence. The sign of the Carefree House had been reced, and it now said "Heaven Charging Pavilion".


    Tang Jie didn''t need to go inside to see within. The crude courtyard was now very neat and tidy, and a student was meditating within, circting Circuit Heavens and clumsily forming hand signs, and the spirit crops had been nted in the yard.


    Tang Jie tried to find the Violet Pomegranate he had nted, but he couldn''t find it.


    He was startled. Had the Violet Pomegranate failed to mature?


    He focused his vision on the ce where he had nted the Violet Pomegranate and found that the seed was no more, and only a stump remained.


    Tang Jie then realized that he had been away from this ce for more than a hundred years. The Violet Pomegranate had long ago matured, and some student had noticed this fine spiritual tree growing here and naturally sold it off for some spirit coins. As for the meaning behind the Violet Pomegranate, that student naturally hadn''t cared one bit about it.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but sigh.


    In the end, there was much Karma that he himself could not decide.


    Tang Jie continued his stroll.


    He passed through the school area and arrived at Tiger Roar Valley, going straight in. With his strength, the teacher guarding the valley couldn''t even try to cause trouble for him. He strolled through the valley and came to Tiger Roar Peak.


    At the summit, Tang Jie was stunned.


    There was a tiger there, but it was not Wang Poguan.


    This much younger fiend tiger venomously red at him, and then it roared and lunged.


    But as it got close to Tang Jie, a sliver of spiritual energy coiled around it and immobilized it, so all it could do was howl and roar.


    Tang Jie carefully examined it, feeling the energy in its body. Finally, he understood. "You''re Wang Xiao?"


    The fiend tiger was dumbfounded and stared at Tang Jie in shock.


    He finally said in human tongue, "How do you know that?"


    Tang Jie smiled in gratification. "Because I was the one who gave you that name."


    The fiend tiger said in shock, "Tang Jie! You''re Tang Jie!"


    The spirit rope was undone, and Tang Jie said, "It seems like you already know about what happened. So that means your father, Wang Poguan, already died at a student''s hand?"


    "Five years ago, a group of students came, and my father was killed in the battle. Since then, I have been the fiend tiger of this ce," Wang Xiao said in a tone dripping with sarcasm.


    Tang Jie sighed. Although he had expected that this would happen, Tang Jie still couldn''t help but feel extremely regretful over this news.


    "How is my little brother?" Wang Xiao asked.


    "I don''t know either," Tang Jie said, shaking his head. "I haven''t seen him ever since he went to the Primordial Fog Domain. But I''m sure that he''s still alive and is only getting stronger. He will definitely return to the Rosecloud Domain. Perhaps he won''t be a friend, but who cares?"


    "Wonderful, wonderful!" Wang Xiao sighed in relief, as if some great burden had been lifted from his heart.


    He sat up and looked at Tang Jie. "You are very strong. It seems like you''ve achieved astonishing progress in thest one hundred years. s, I am suppressed by the formation here and will forever be stuck at upper-grade Spirit Sensing!"


    His words were thick with hatred and sorrow.


    He raised his head again. "Tang Jie. Can you help me with something?"


    "Tell me. So long as it''s within my power, I will help you do it," Tang Jie answered.


    "Kill me!" Wang Xiao said. "Now that my younger brother has escaped, I no longer have to worry about the White Tiger lineage going extinct. My father has only recently died, and I have no descendants yet, so if you kill me, my White Tiger lineage''s fate of being ughtered for generation after generation in this ce will finallye to an end. If you don''t do this, they will eventually bring over another tiger and force me to impregnate it so as to foster the next generation. I don''t want this to happen, but the seals they have ced on my body prevent me from killing myself, so I can only ask you to do this."


    It was exactly as Tang Jie had guessed.


    After some thought, he finally nodded. "I can help you by removing the seals and then strip you of your ability to reproduce. After that, you can choose the time you want to die."


    Wang Xiao was delighted. "That would be great!"


    If possible, he naturally wanted to live a little longer, and this way would also prevent any suspicion from being cast on Tang Jie. Although Tang Jie wasn''t afraid of this, given his current status, it was still better to have less trouble to deal with.


    On this day, Tang Jie removed Wang Xiao''s seal and personally destroyed his ability to reproduce.


    The White Tiger lineage''s thousand-year torment was finallying to an end.


    After doing all this, Tang Jie flew off.


    The Primordial Fog Domain.


    A lonely figure advanced through the barrenndscape.


    A mountain that towered into the clouds loomed in the distance, like a ck monster.


    The figure reached the base of the mountain and immediately began to ascend it.


    The mountain was tall and the path difficult. Worst of all was that all spiritual abilities had no effect while on this mountain. The human figure could no longer be maintained, and the person turned into a white tiger.


    The white tiger continued to climb up the mountain, and as it climbed higher and higher, the temperature began to fall. Winds cut at its body like des, leaving bloody wounds, and the icy rock resisted any effort to dig in, making the climb only more difficult.


    But this white tiger did not stop, no matter how difficult it was.


    Its paws bled all over the path, leaving a trail of suffering that led up toward the summit.


    As it climbed and climbed, its white fur was dyed ck, and its eyes erupted with unshakable resolve.


    Finally, after three days and three nights, the white tiger arrived at the summit.


    The summit was t and smooth like a giant mirror, and on top of this mirror was a throne, gray and unremarkable.


    The white tiger walked over to the throne and sat upon it.


    Its blood seeped into the throne, and a light erupted from the throne and straight into the heavens.


    The white tiger roared, "Starting from today, the Myriad Fiend Peak has a master once more! Fiends and devils of Primordial Fog, old servants of the White Tiger, return at once!!!"


    This roar traveled far into the distance.


    "Awoooo!!!" The frenzied cries of fiends and devils across Primordial Fog rose up, and their owners began to rush toward Myriad Fiend Peak.


    In another part of Primordial Fog, in a blood-red pce atop a violet mountain, an old ghost suddenly looked up at the sky.


    A voice drifted through the pce. "What must return has finally returned, and what must pass away will finally pass away."

 Chapter 759: To Never Meet Again

    Chapter 759: To Never Meet Again


    Canglong Prefecture, the Wei n.


    The Wei n was in a joyous mood, for today was the birthday of the Wei n''s most esteemeddy.


    Zheng Shufeng was seated as the guest of honor, gripping her dragonhead cane as she happily epted the congrattions from all around.


    The years had turned this noble and gracefuldy into a weathered granny, but even so, nobody dared to look down on her.


    She had been the one to rescue the Wei n from the edge of decline, and not only that, she had orchestrated its revival, making it one of the biggest ns in all of Canglong Prefecture, all of the Ling Province. And now that Wei Tianchong was at Heart Demon and Tang Jie had be the Young Lord, it probably wouldn''t be long before another name was added to Sageheart Kingdom''s list of great ns. Although she was no longer the n head and no longer intervened in its affairs, she still had her prestige, and even the current n head did not dare to defy her will.


    Meanwhile, the steward was constantly calling out names.


    "Imperial Inspector Bai Cangqiong conveys his congrattions on your birthday and has sent ten bands of cloud brocade, one box of jade resin, and one box of silk!


    "Secretary Nan of Qiong Province and Canglong Magistrate Zhu offer their felicitations, wishing the venerabledy a life longer than the southern mountains and happiness as vast as the eastern seas. They present one Great Yuan Vase, ten boxes of brocade, and one Heavenly Fragrance Longevity Peach!


    "Canglong Branch Leader Li Tiansheng personally offers his congrattions


    "The Canglong Zhou n''s Patriarch Zhou hase with his daughter to wish you a happy birthday


    "The Jade Radiance Sect''s Sect Master Han conveys his well wishes"


    Local officials, medium and minor sects, and great ns all sent people to the Wei n to wish Zheng Shufeng a happy birthday, making the Wei Estate as busy as a marketce.


    Zheng Shufeng was happy to see all these guests.


    When one got older, one became afraid of being alone and came to like crowds, and for an olddy like her, such days like this wouldn''tst for long, so she would happily live out each day she could get.


    But deep down, she still felt a sliver of sorrow.


    It had been three years since Wei Tianchong hadste to her birthday party.


    For cultivators, several years was like several months, and Wei Tianchong couldn''t possiblye and visit every year.


    But this was exactly why Zheng Shufeng missed her son all the more.


    asionally, she would also wonder if Tang Jie woulde to see her now that he was back.


    Now that she thought about it, he had already been back for three months, and the news of his return had already spread to every corner of Rosecloud. If he wanted toe, he probably would havee by now.


    Since he had yet to send word, he probably wasn''ting.


    Moreover, Tang Jie had sworn a Heart Demon Aspiration that if Wei Tianchong ascended to Celestial Heart, Tang Jie would leave the Wei n.


    Now that Wei Tianchong was a Heart Demon True Person, Tang Jie naturally had no connection to the Wei n. But in her heart, Zheng Shufeng still hoped that Tang Jie would do something so that she could know that Tang Jie still cared for the Wei n.


    But this idea was a vain hope, and that figure she hoped to see failed to appear, leaving her to helplessly sigh.


    This sigh startled the servants around her, and they immediately asked if they had done anything wrong, but the venerabledy only shook her head.


    The mood became slightly heavy, but joyful music quickly washed it away.


    Late night approached, and the guests dispersed.


    The servants began to put away the chairs and tables and put out thenterns. The olddy was feeling tired and prepared to retire to her chamber.


    At this moment, a young man came to the gate of the Wei Estate.


    A servant spotted him and asked, "Who are you?"


    The man replied, "I''vee to wish the venerabledy a happy birthday."


    The servant replied, "You''vee toote. The birthday banquet has already concluded, and the venerabledy wishes to rest and is not seeing any more guests. You should return."


    The man said, "I came precisely at this time in order to save myself the trouble."


    "Mm." The servant was rather surprised and examined this visitor. He found him to just be a rather clean-faced youth with nothing special about him. While he was wondering what was going on, the young man said, "I''m called Tang Jie."


    The servant was frozen for a moment as he was trying to figure out where he had heard this name before, and then he realized, pointing a trembling finger at Tang Jie. "You you''re Master Tang? You are Master Tang?"


    Tang Jie didn''t realize that this was how the employees of the estate were addressing him now. He smiled and said, "So can I go in now?"


    "You you may" The servant nodded. And then he realized something and immediately rushed into the house, shouting, "Tang Jie is here! Tang Jie is here!"


    It sounded more like he was saying a bandit was invading.


    The venerabledy trembled and looked behind her in disbelief. "What?"


    She saw a young man casually following behind that servant.


    She rubbed her eyes and took a closer look, but her vision was still blurry, so she quickly said, "Zhi''er, Zhi''er, my eyes are going bad, so take a look and see if this is really Tang Jie."


    The middle-aged man next to her was none other than Wei Tianzhi. As he had cultivated before, his lifespan was somewhat longer. He bowed and said, "Mother, your son confirms that this is Tang Jie."


    Zheng Shufeng gleefully hurried over, but she had barely walked two steps when a figure appeared in front of her and supported her elderly frame. "Mydy, be careful to not fall."


    This familiar voice made Zheng Shufeng tremble, and she widened her eyes and felt Tang Jie''s face. "It really is you still the same as always, not changed at all!"


    Tang Jie smiled. "Mydy is as elegant as ever."


    "Me?" Zheng Shufeng shook her head. "Not at all. I''m an olddy, a monster who has lived for almost two hundred years. Now that I think about it, it''s you cultivators who are better off. No matter how well-off we mortals live, after a hundred years, it will all be gone, not at all like you not at all like you"


    Her voice trailed off.


    Tang Jie helped her along as they walked to the side. "Mydy, there''s no need for you to be envious. Cultivators have their own risks that they have to face, and many people fall on the path before they can ever get this far. This life isn''t much better than a mortal''s. I was only able to live this long because I was lucky. But maybe I might run into some powerful expert who kills me with a flip of his hand, and I will have to go ahead before mydy."


    "Pah, pah, pah, you crow mouth, don''t go saying such unlucky things," Zheng Shufeng said, waving her hand.


    "Yes, yes, this lowly one needs a beating for his clumsy tongue," Tang Jie said, acting like a servant.


    These words made Zheng Shufeng feel like she was seeing Tang Jie back when he was just a servant, and she couldn''t help but chuckle. "Who could have imagined that the kindness the Wu couple showed back then would result in such good fortune that even the entire Wei n was able to benefit? s, the old couple and Steward Qin are no longer here, unable to see you before they left."


    Tang Jie sighed. "This is also my regret. An impulse of mine left me stranded far away from home, such that I was only able to visit now. I truly went too far that time. Right, how is Wu Xing doing?"


    As they talked, the two of them arrived at a small pavilion.


    Tang Jie helped Zheng Shufeng sit down, after which Wei Tianzhi said, "He''s already passed away."


    "Huh?" Tang Jie was startled. "Wu Xing is dead? How did he die?"


    Just like Wei Tianzhi, Wu Xing had cultivated before, so there was no reason for him to have died.


    Wei Tianzhi exined, "Seventy years ago, cultivators raided a caravan Wu Xing was escorting, and Wu Xing died in the exchange."


    "Who would dare to rob a caravan of the Wei n? What about Tianchong?" Tang Jie was confused.


    "They were cultivators from Dusnd. We investigated the incident and found that it was the act of a minor sect called the Jade Spring Sect. After learning this, Tianchong found it difficult to do anything. If it had been a sect in Sageheart, he has enough status to deal with it, but he can''t do much about a sect in Dusnd. He doesn''t have the status to meddle in affairs on that side, and when ites to strength, the leader of the sect is a Soul Transformation True Person, and he has several Soul Transformation and Heart Demon True Persons under him, so he''s just not strong enough."


    Tang Jie understood why Wei Tianchong hadn''t gone to settle ounts with them.


    He asked, "Was this the will of the sect, or of an individual?"


    Wei Tianzhi replied, "This is a bandit sect that relies on plunder and theft to develop. They were originally just a minor sect ruled by a Heart Demon sect master, and it was thanks to methods like this that they were able to rapidly develop. But they''re very cunning, robbing the caravans of other kingdoms rather than Dusnd''s caravans, and they''re very careful with their targets, choosing those that aren''t protected by powerful cultivators. Besides that, they''ve also bribed some cultivators of the Seven Absolutions Sect. As a result, nobody has been able to do anything about them."


    "I see." He then asked, "Does the Wu n have any descendants?"


    "It doesa son and a daughter," Wei Tianzhi answered. "The son is called Wu Tang after you, and he''s currently 102 years old. The Wu n is also a thriving n of Canglong Prefecture now, and it is on good terms with the Wei n. My granddaughter has even married into their n."


    "That''s good." Tang Jie rxed after hearing that the Wu lineage had continued. He then said, "The Jade Spring Sect won''t exist after this."


    This one statement had decided the fate of an entire sect. Zheng Shufeng and Wei Tianzhi trembled, as they finally realized that the person standing before them was no longer that servant of yesteryear, but the mighty Young Lord of the Basking Moon Sect, Tang Jie.


    This realization made them be much more careful with their words.


    Tang Jie noticed this, and his enthusiasm waned.


    He couldn''t me them for this. Even though he had tried his best to hide it, he had still inadvertently revealed some of his majestic bearing.


    Continued conversation would simply be torture for them.


    Thus, Tang Jie stood up and said, "I still have things to do, so I won''t stay any longer."


    "You''re leaving?" Zheng Shufeng stood up.


    While she was still a little afraid, she was also reluctant to see him go.


    Tang Jie smiled. "Yes, I have an appointment with the Seven Absolutions Sect which should have happened a long time ago, but it''s been dyed until now because of me. A few days ago, the sect officially sent a letter to them telling them that I was willing to carry out our agreement, and the Seven Absolutions Sect has officially sent an invitation letter to me inviting me to their sect. I actually came to visit mydy because it was on the way, as I''m heading to Dusnd."


    <em>Of course, you''re also going to annihte the Jade Spring Sect while on the way,</em> Wei Tianzhi inwardly said. When he looked at Tang Jie, he saw a sliver of murderous intent in that smile.


    For him, this was really just a minor matter.


    Wei Tianzhi sighed and bowed. "If that is the case, then farewell, Honored Immortal."


    Tang Jie waved his hand and walked upward, striding into the sky as if there was an invisible staircase there, and in a sh, he was gone.


    Mother and son gazed at each other, and then they suddenly realized that after this meeting, they would probably never see him again.

 Chapter 760: Testing the Blade

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Upon leaving the Wei n estate, Tang Jie mounted Tutu and set off for Dusnd, to settle the agreement he had made all those years ago with the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    When he had made that agreement, he hadn''t even graduated from Basking Moon Academy yet, was just a puny Mortal Shedding Realm Spirit Master. This was exactly why he had been resistant to the idea of going to the Seven Absolutions Sect back then, as he simply didn''t have the right to negotiate there.


    But now, he was a Soul Transformation expert, so even if the Seven Absolutions Sect was a dragon''s den, he still dared to charge in.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect probably hadn''t imagined that Tang Jie would need only a hundred-some years to grow so powerful.


    Half a dayter, Tang Jie entered Dusnd.


    He was in no rush, seeing the sights and appreciating the mountain vistas of Dusnd.


    After around two days of flying, he arrived at a lush mountain flowing with clear waters.


    This area was known as Jade Spring Mountain.


    Tang Jie knew that this was the ce he was looking for, and he had Tutu fly toward the summit.


    As they approached the summit, a formation stopped them fromnding, so Tang Jie immediately came forward and punched it.


    With his understanding of formations, he was able to punch directly at the formation''s weak point, and his berserk power sted the formation apart.


    This was tantamount to kicking a beehive, and rms began to re across Jade Spring Mountain, all of its cultivators flying into the air.


    These disciples immediately assembled into a massive sword formation, with ten-some cultivators forming up into a vanguard. Their movements showed that they were well-trained and disciplined.


    Tang Jie was in no rush, putting his hands behind his back and waiting for them toplete their formation.


    He could see clearly that the Jade Spring Sect had three Soul Transformation, seven Heart Demon, and eighteen Spirit Ring True Persons.


    In addition, they had three-hundred-some disciples at the Mortal Shedding Realm. While they weren''t strong individually, the formationbined their powers and allowed them to exert an extraordinary might.


    Tang Jie had long known that the Seven Absolutions Sect was the major sect most skilled in the auxiliary fields, and the sects under them had simrly advanced deeply into this field, which could be seen from how a minor sect had been able to assemble a rather impressivebination formation.


    Tang Jie unhurriedly said, "Are you all ready now? If you''re ready, I will now attack."


    These words enraged the cultivators, but just when they were about to attack, their leader shouted, "Stop!" He bowed to Tang Jie and said, "This one is Yong Ziyu, who has been granted the honor of being the master of the Jade Spring Sect. Sir, who are you to attack my sect? Is there some misunderstanding between us?"


    Tang Jie coolly said, "Your Jade Spring Sect goes around robbing and killing without care, leaving both the heavens above and the people below enraged. Do you not understand how many enemies you''ve made? Is there any need to act so innocent?"


    As expected, everyone was calm and unsurprised.


    Yong Ziyu chuckled. "As expected. So that means that this fellow Daoist is not a native of Dusnd."


    Tang Jie shook his head. "I am not."


    Yong Ziyu immediately rxed, and a hint of murderous intent appeared on his polite demeanor. "Since you''re not, why are you acting so arrogantly in Dusnd? Do you not know that this area is under the jurisdiction of the Seven Absolutions Sect? No matter which sect youe from, once you''re in Dusnd, you are under the domain of the Seven Absolutions Sect! To dare attack a sect protected by the Seven Absolutions Sect, this is a provocation, no different from seeking death!"


    Through his constant mentioning of the Seven Absolutions Sect, it was clear that he wasn''t able to estimate how powerful Tang Jie was, so he was trying to scare him off. The Jade Spring Sect hadmitted many crimes and offended many sects in thest few years, such that he didn''t even bother asking which robbery had offended this person.


    In truth, this sect master knew that this business would go bad eventually.


    s, raiding was like an addiction, and once one started, it was hard to stop. The three-hundred-some people under him were all asking for resources, the invited retainers had their own expenses, and even the protective umbre over them cost bribes to keep up. If they stopped now, the internal conflicts would tear apart the sect before the external enemies would even have time to take revenge, so he could only stubbornly push on. He hoped that this troublemaker would be just like the others, some brat who didn''t know how high the heavens or how thick the earth were.


    Tang Jie was very amused. "Once I''ve exterminated you lot, I will go to the Seven Absolutions Sect to ept my punishment."


    Yong Ziyu immediately knew that this matter wasn''t going to end peacefully, so he hardened his heart and waved his hand. "Kill him!"


    One of his subordinates burned a message talisman. This was a signal to his local contact at the Seven Absolutions Sect. Once the talisman was burned, the Seven Absolutions Sect would send reinforcements. While the reinforcements from the local branch might not actually be stronger than what the Jade Spring Sect could offer, their status and identity were more intimidating. Perhaps this man wouldn''t be scared off by the name of the Seven Absolutions Sect, but what about the Seven Absolutions Sect itself?


    The three-hundred-some disciples attacked.


    Tang Jie didn''t even nce at them. "Yiyi, I leave them to you."


    "Okay!" Yiyi shouted, releasing the Mother Cloudbat puppet and sowing bean soldiers.


    Tang Jie could fight an Infant Tending expert on his own, so he gave these two trump cards to Yiyi, granting her a terrifyingbat power.


    The three-hundred-some disciples were scattered apart by thebat puppet before they could get close, and the bean soldiers rushed into the gaps in their formation andmenced a ughter.


    The cultivators were all shocked, for they had never fought such things before.


    Thebat puppet continued to wreak havoc in the formation, and the now-isted Mortal Shedding cultivators were assailed by the bean soldiers and in.


    Yong Ziyu shouted, "Audacious bastard, destroying my sect''s foundations! Everyone, join me in killing this fool!" Not caring for his dignity, he called on all his subordinates to attack together.


    Three Soul Transformation, seven Heart Demon, and eighteen Spirit Ring True Persons charged in¡ªa force that could even battle against an Infant Tending expert. As they pulled out various art relics, the skies erupted with colored lights. Winds howled, clouds churned, lightning shed, and all sorts of animals appeared, all of them brimming with murderous intent.


    But this murderous intent seemed insignificant in Tang Jie''s eyes. He coldly examined all these phenomena and muttered, "Perfect to test my de."


    He produced the Sovereign de and pointed it at an art relic.


    It was a simple thrust, but it contained all the essence of Tang Jie''s cultivation in the Dao of the Sword. As the tip of the de touched the art relic, there was a crack, and the art relic shattered.


    "My Primal Origin Bell!" a cultivator wailed.


    He had spent fifty-some years gathering materials to forge this bell. It was a powerful art relic with numerous uses, but before he had been able to fully use its power, Tang Jie had shattered it.


    As the bell shattered, a golden light emerged from it and fused with the Sovereign de, but it was such a tiny detail that nobody noticed it.


    As expected, Tang Jie thought to himself.


    While thrusting out the Sovereign de, he had used the Weapon Mantra,bining the two for the first time. He hadn''t been able to do this before. It was only after absorbing all of that primordial Metal energy in the Five Elements formation that he was barely capable of using it.


    When he used the Sovereign de with the Weapon Mantra, he sensed that shattering weapons did not take as much energy as when he used the Weapon Mantra on his own.


    At that moment, Tang Jie had broken through the limitation of the Weapon Mantra, and at the same time, the Sovereign de could finally disy its full power.


    As that cultivator wailed over the loss of his bell, the Sovereign de swung out toward more art relics.


    Sword light danced in the heavens, and all of these treasures shattered, golden grains flying out of the remains and into the Sovereign de.


    In the blink of an eye, the cultivators had been deprived of all their art relics.


    Art relics and the like were extremely important to cultivators. An ultimate-grade art relic could boost a cultivator''s power by 50% or more, and a cultivator with various kinds of art relics could practically double their power.


    The loss of these art relics greatly weakened the cultivators, and they were wailing so much that it was almost like the sword had shattered their hearts rather than their treasures.


    s, Tang Jie couldn''t simte the attacks of these art relics, so he simply swung his de.


    The cultivators reacted quickly, using various methods to retreat, but one Spirit Ring True Person failed to react in time and was chopped in half. Tang Jie then used the Chaoswind Step to blink into the enemy force, where his Sovereign de began to cut through them like he was chopping vegetables. Ending a life with each swing of his de was a refreshing experience for him and a terrifying experience for his enemies.


    They had never encountered such a terrifying cultivator. He used no spell arts or art relics, only a single sword, yet he had shattered all their art relics and was ughtering them like they were chickens. Any person he targeted was essentially dead.


    They had no idea that Tang Jie was sighing, "s, my sword skills are still rathercking." Unfortunately, he had yet to master the Longevity Sword. As a Divine Connection, it could only be used when Tang Jie was at Violet Pce, so he was using only ordinary saber and sword techniques. If he had been able to use the Longevity Sword, his enemies wouldn''t have even had time to howl, and a single strike would have reaped all their lives.


    Yong Ziyu knew that he was in trouble. Just when he was thinking about escaping, he saw several people wearing the uniform of the Seven Absolutions Sect approaching, led by his old friend Xiang Liang.


    Xiang Liang shouldn''t have been able to get here so quickly, but he happened to be nearby when Yong Ziyu sent the emergency signal, so he had immediately headed over.


    Yong Ziyu immediately yelled out in delight, "True Person Xiang, save us!"


    Xiang Liang was only a Heart Demon cultivator and was much weaker than Yong Ziyu, but he had a much bigger backer.


    Upon hearing Yong Ziyu''s cry for help, Xiang Liang bellowed, "Who dares to attack a sect under the protection of my Seven Absolutions Sect?"


    He was no fool, so he immediately stopped after letting out this shout, knowing that simply revealing his identity was enough. If revealing his identity didn''t stop this person, then heading in would just be sending himself to his death¡ªwasn''t the entire Jade Spring Sect already being butchered?


    The sight of all that blood drenching thendscape already had Xiang Liang inwardly shivering in fear.


    This was clearly some death god. If he had known that it was this bad, he wouldn''t havee over so quickly. All he could hope now was that his identity token from the Seven Absolutions Sect would be enough to intimidate this man.


    But he was disappointed.


    Rather than stopping, Tang Jieughed and said, "In other words, you''re their protective umbre? That''s good! I might as well do a little house cleaning for the Seven Absolutions Sect while I''m at it."


    A sword light swept toward Xiang Liang.


    Nobody would escape!

 Chapter 761: Mountain Lifters

    Chapter 761: Mountain Lifters


    The Jade Spring Sect was exterminated.


    It had been exterminated easily, without the slightest pressure on the perpetrator.


    Not only was the Jade Spring Sect finished. Tang Jie had also killed that True Person Xiang from the Seven Absolutions Sect. Of course, Tang Jie didn''t forget to loot the Jade Spring Sect, even though the treasures of such a minor sect were of little value to him.


    But what made Tang Jie the happiest was that he had verified the power of the Sovereign de.


    This battle had gone exactly as he had imagined. The Sovereign de was meant for dealing not with cultivators, but with treasures. Its ability to counter all weapons was even more destructive to cultivators than its sharpness.


    This was why he had been able to win so easily.


    It had to be understood that this was a sect that could fight against an Infant Tending cultivator in a direct confrontation. While Tang Jie also had this capability, it wouldn''t be an easy victory, and he might not even be able to beat an Infant Tending expert of one of the six major sects. Ming Yekong was such a case.


    If both sides used their full strength, Tang Jie had no chance of beating Ming Yekong.


    But when the Sovereign de showed its true power, everything changed. Tang Jie could feel that he had risen a level in body cultivation, reaching "invincible to everyone below Violet Pce" in both types of cultivation. Perhaps he could even be unmatched against Infant Tending experts.


    There was a big difference between being able to fight an Infant Tending expert and being unmatched against them.


    This thought left Tang Jie feeling very satisfied.


    Tang Jie threw all the bodies into his diagram world, burned down this bandit sect, and headed for the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect was located in the center of Dusnd, positioned toward the north, in the Middlecross Mountains.


    The Middlecross Mountains extended for five thousand kilometers and covered arger area than the Zephyr Mountains. The Seven Absolutions Sect had many disciples, being thergest of the six major sects, with some 25,000 cultivators.


    The principal peak of the Middlecross Mountains was the Ethereal Summit, and it was also where the headquarters of the Seven Absolutions Sect was located.


    There were many smaller mountains around the Ethereal Summit, tightly encircling it and protecting it. These mountains appeared to be natural, but each one was aligned with the principles of the world, and when put together, they formed a massive formation: the Universe Reversal Yin Yang Formation.


    It was said that it had taken the Seven Absolutions Sect a thousand years toy down this formation. Every year, the Seven Absolutions Sect would throwrge amounts of manpower and resources into its construction, the scale of which would be enough to make one''s blood run cold. Even all of Tang Jie''s wealth put together was only enough to build a corner of this massive formation.


    In return for such terrifying costs, the Seven Absolutions Sect received incredible defensive power, and it was said that during the Primordial Fog Cmity, the Seven Absolutions Sect received the least damage. This was also why they were able to stand among the six major sects even though they specialized in the auxiliary fields. There was truly no one who could outdo them when it came to formations, and even a formation genius like Tang Jie would be able to find a few rivals in this sect. But they wouldn''t be as ruthless as him, nor did they have as many resources avable to them.


    Despite all this, the Seven Absolutions Sect had never been happy about being known as an auxiliary specialist. They strived to grow stronger, recruiting talents and collecting mantras and techniques. They allied with Horizon Ocean Pavilion, the strongest yet also least populous of the six major sects, trading their resources for various profound mantras. Gradually, through their various dealings, they began to produce their own unique geniuses.


    Wang Juemie was a representative work of the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    This Great Brother of the Seven Absolutions Sect had been rising in reputation as ofte, his fameparable to Tang Jie''s, and people had already begun to put the two together and specte as to which was stronger.


    Annihtion (Juemie) Mountain!


    Wang Juemie stood on the summit of this mountain that carried his name, his upper body bare.


    Around him were eighteen men, each of them ten feet tall and covered in bulging muscles, stone staffs in hand, their bodies shing with a bronze luster.


    These giant men were powerful body cultivators that the Seven Absolutions Sect had produced along with Wang Juemie, but years of inhuman training had gradually deprived them of their humanity and intelligence, ultimately resulting in half-human, half-puppet existences that could only obey orders. They were called Mountain Lifters.


    These Mountain Lifters had the strength to lift up mountains, on par with a Soul Transformation expert, and what they were holding weren''t stone staffs, but eighteen mountains that forging masters of the Seven Absolutions Sect had refined andpressed into stone staffs. Thus, these stone staffs were called Mountain Staffs.


    The Mountain Lifters holding their Mountain Staffs were frightening in pure weight alone. If it weren''t for the fact that the Middlecross Mountains had been reinforced by the formation, Annihtion Mountain would have copsed just from the load.


    Wang Juemie cast his gaze across the Mountain Lifters and shouted, "Two of you,e!"


    Two of the Mountain Lifters stepped forward, swinging their Mountain Staffs at Wang Juemie. Just the swing of these staffs stirred the winds into a frenzy.


    Wang Juemie simply raised an arm.


    A Mountain Staff mmed into his arm with a deafening boom, but Wang Juemie seemedpletely fine. On the other hand, the attacking Mountain Lifter was shaken by the bacsh and had to take a step back. The other Mountain Lifter''s staff swung at Wang Juemie''s back. This strike made Wang Juemie stagger and take a step forward, the skin on his back slightly cracking. But the wound quickly healed, indicating the astonishing energy hidden within this body.


    Meanwhile, Wang Juemie swung a fist at the Mountain Staff, sending it flying together with its owner.


    "Four!" Wang Juemie yelled, unsatisfied.


    Four Mountain Lifters came forward, swinging their staffs. Wang Juemie roared, and his impressive body grew evenrger, thrumming with power. Wrapped in this immense strength, he charged at the six Mountain Lifters.


    <em>Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!</em> While Wang Juemie had blood seeping from the corner of his mouth and his fists were cracked, he had beaten down the six Mountain Lifters.


    "Another six!" Wang Juemie said, still not done.


    Another six Mountain Lifters stepped forward, making it a total of twelve Mountain Lifters attacking Wang Juemie.


    Wang Juemie was fearless, and even though the blows from the Mountain Lifters had him throwing up blood, he grew only more energetic as he fought.


    With punch after punch, he once more pushed back the Mountain Lifters. He roared, "All of you together!"


    Eighteen Mountain Lifters attacked Wang Juemie together.


    This was the equivalent of eighteen Soul Transformation cultivators attacking with their full strength. The only difference was that theirck of intelligence meant that theycked variation, meaning that they couldn''t make full use of their immense power and werecking in practicalbat. As a result, Wang Juemie had openings he could exploit.


    He suddenly raised his arms, blocking four Mountain Staffs and using the force of the blow to retreat. As he was blocking these four strikes, two more staffs swung at his back, but he knocked one Mountain Lifter away with an elbow strike, and brought the other Mountain Lifter down with a bear hug. He moved quickly among the Mountain Lifters, taking whatever blows he could and attacking wherever he could attack, engaging in a blood-pumping fight against the eighteen Mountain Lifters.


    Even though it was reinforced by the formation, Annihtion Mountain was devastated by these terrifying exchanges, rocks obliterated and trees copsing. The disciples spectating from a distance shook their heads. "Hah, right after we finished cleaning up Annihtion Mountain, we have to fix it up again."


    "Annihtion Mountain basically has to be rebuilt every time Great Brother cultivates."


    "There''s nothing we can do about that. At his current level of strength, there''s very few ces that can endure his power."


    As the disciples talked, their eyes were full of admiration and reverence.


    For them, Wang Juemie was basically a god. To reach this level after only a mere two hundred years of cultivation was simply unheard of.


    Someone even said, "Great Brother''s divine might is unparalleled, so how can Tang Jie and Great Brother possibly be on the same level? Hmph. The only one who can challenge the Jewel Immortal Sovereign after two hundred years will be our Great Brother."


    "Right, right!" the crowd agreed.


    Only one person smiled and said nothing, seated alone on the ground, hugging one knee: Mu Yi.


    A young cultivator saw this and snorted. "Mu Yi, do you have anything to add? Are you still not convinced by our arguments?"


    After graduation, Mu Yi was no longer that genius of the academy, only a member of the Seven Absolutions Sect. Countless geniuses werepeting in this ce, and everyone had their own strong points. While Mu Yi was intelligent, his naturally weak body was a w that was difficult to change, meaning that he couldn''tpete in strength, so it was difficult for him to stand out. If Wang Juemie hadn''t insisted, Mu Yi might not have even been able to sit here and talk with everyone.


    Mu Yi looked up at the sky andzily said, "If Tang Jie were that easy to deal with, he wouldn''t be Tang Jie. I''ve heard that he could already fight with a Violet Pce cultivator. Although Great Brother also fought Martial Uncle Jin to a draw, in my view, Martial Uncle Jin held back. Currently, Great Brother is still no match for Tang Jie."


    "Audacious!"


    "Absurd!"


    "Great Brother can even take on eighteen Mountain Lifters. What''s one Tang Jiepared to that?"


    Everyone berated Mu Yi.


    But Mu Yi ignored them all.


    <em>Bang!</em> With a mighty tremor, the eighteen Mountain Lifters were sent flying simultaneously.


    Wang Juemie walked out of the cloud of dust.


    He was drenched in blood, his bones were shattered, and his muscles were shredded. It was clear that the eighteen Mountain Lifters had beaten him up badly, but he had still won.


    He strode over to Mu Yi and said, "You believe that the current me is no match for Tang Jie?"


    Mu Yi nodded. "In terms of strength, Great Brother can overwhelm an Infant Tending cultivator, but youck in terms of variation. When you fought with Martial Uncle, you were able to draw with him in a contest of pure strength. If Martial Uncle Jin had used other methods, he would have been able to beat you. Tang Jie is both aw and body cultivator, and from what I know, his strength is on par with yours. If you add on his spell arts, with Horizon Ocean Pavilion even saying that he has a Dao Art, I think it will be very difficult for Senior Brother to beat him!"


    A cultivator interrupted, "Great Brother, don''t listen to this guy''s nonsense. All he knows is how to argue"


    "Get out of here!" Wang Juemie grabbed that cultivator by the neck and casually threw him, and he disappeared like aet into the distance.


    Wang Juemie said, "I also feel like I won''t be able to easily beat Tang Jie, given that he could take eleven fingers from Jewel, but do I not have even the slightest hope?"


    Mu Yi shook his head.


    Wang Juemie frowned, clearly very annoyed. It was obvious that he deeply trusted Mu Yi''s judgment.


    "In truth, if you want to beat him, there is a way," Mu Yi abruptly said.


    "What is it?" Wang Juemie urgently asked.


    "Wait! Wait a while! From the information I''ve collected, Tang Jie has been able to advance so quicklyrgely because of the resources he has obtained. But Tang Jie cannot possibly have so many resources to sustain him forever. One day, you will surpass him."


    Wang Juemie shook his head. "Too slow! Tang Jie has already said that he will being for his appointed meeting. He''s going to be here soon, and I don''t want to miss out on this opportunity."


    After some thought, Mu Yi replied, "Then there''s only one other method."


    Wang Juemie''s eyes narrowed. "You''re saying"


    "The Lifeless Path!" Mu Yi replied.

 Chapter 762: Seeking the Dao from the Yellow Springs

    Chapter 762: Seeking the Dao from the Yellow Springs


    Descending from the clouds, Tang Jie saw a majestic mountain.


    This mountain was called the Reception Mount, and it was where the Seven Absolutions Sect received guests. Any guesting to visit the Seven Absolutions Sect would have toe to this mountain first, or else they would be considered an intruder.


    Landing at the base of the mountain, Tang Jie made his way up the mountain.


    A disciple was waiting to receive him. He bowed to Tang Jie and said, "Guest, please state your status and origin and who you havee to see."


    Tang Jie casually replied, "Tang Jie of the Basking Moon Sect. I was invited by your honored sect. As for who I want to see, I suppose that would be your sect master, Ji Qingfeng."


    The disciple was rmed to hear Tang Jie''s name, pointing a finger at him. "You you''re Tang Jie?"


    Tang Jie smiled and nodded.


    Twelve fireworks wereunched into the air, signaling that an important guest had arrived.


    The only important guest that the Seven Absolutions Sect was expecting at the moment was Tang Jie, so the entire sect was thrown into a frenzy.


    Several people soon appeared in the distance. They were led by a man with a long beard and a purple face, a book in hand, his body exuding an extraordinary aura. There were two people behind him. The one on the left was a big-eared and fat man wearing a short gown, thus exposing hisrge belly. He held a shabby fan in his hand and carried arge wine gourd on his back. All in all, he was like a fusion of Iron Crutch Li and Han Zhongli. The man on the right had a dark and cold face, as if someone owed him money, and he held a hammer in his hand.


    (TN: Iron Crutch Li and Han Zhongli are members of the Eight Immortals of Chinese mythology. Iron Crutch Li is usually depicted carrying arge gourd, while Han Zhongli is depicted as being bare-chested and holding arge feather fan.)


    As the three of them arrived, the fatty carrying the gourdughed. "Little Brother Tang, you''re finally here. This old drunkard was waiting for ages."


    Tang Jie knew who these people were the moment he saw them. He bowed and said, "Tang Jie pays respects to Schr Zhu, Wine Immortal Lu, and Grandmaster Tie!"


    "Eh!?" The fatty waved his hands in annoyance. "''Wine Immortal''? I''m just a drunkard, Drunkard Lu. Don''t go trying to stick gold onto this Lu Duanchang''s face. I don''t like it!"


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but chuckle.


    These three were luminaries of the Seven Absolutions Sect, masters of the talisman, pill, and tool halls respectively. Schr Zhu was a master talisman maker, and when fighting with him, one had to watch out for his endless talismans. Although he was only at Soul Transformation, he could throw out so many talismans that his casting speed wasparable to a Violet Pce expert''s ability to cast with a thought. He was the only Soul Transformation cultivator who was also capable of making Divine Connection talismans. If one didn''t consider the cost, Schr Zhu waspletely capable of challenging an Infant Tending expert.


    The explosive effect of his numerous talismans meant that nobody would challenge him to a duel. While the other major sects had their own talisman experts, none of them couldpare to him.


    As for Wine Immortal Lu, he was the best pill refiner of the Seven Absolutions Sect, and Xu Miaoran had once asked for his instruction. This man was a lover of fine alcohol, and this was how Xu Miaoran had won his services, particrly because Wine Immortal Lu had developed a fondness for blood wine, which could only be imported from the Blood River Domain. As a result, he had developed a close rtionship with Xu Miaoran, and for this reason, he was very polite to Tang Jie. Besides that, the resources under Tang Jie''s control were exactly what he needed the most as a pill refiner.


    Tie Lian, on the other hand, was a grandmaster forger, and he was much stiffer than the frank and open Wine Immortal, always going around with a rigid and unfriendly face. But he was a master at forging tools. s, his specialty was useless in front of Tang Jie, who was basically his bane. No matter how fine the treasures he forged were, the Sovereign de could destroy them all.


    These three together with the Seven Absolutions Sect''s formation grandmaster, Hong Shenji, were known as the Four Absolutes. The fact that they were masters in the auxiliary fields meant that they were weaker than the average Chief-level cultivator, but their status was equal.


    It was a sign of how important Tang Jie was that three of the Four Absolutes hade to wee Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie could only say, "I can finally fulfill the agreement of yesteryear. Please forgive me for myteness."


    "It''s fine," Schr Zhu said. "Although you failed toe, we understood that it was not your will. First you were trapped in Nadir Hill, and then you had to go to Blood River, and finally, you fell into Verdant Cloud. Justing back was hard enough."


    Tang Jie smiled. "It seems like the Seven Absolutions Sect knows a lot about me."


    Schr Zhu profoundly said, "A hundred years is not too long, but neither is it too short. No information can be kept a secret forever. Such as the Martial Lord."


    Tang Jie was shocked to learn that the Seven Absolutions Sect had also guessed at his connection to the Martial Lord.


    Of course, they might not have guessed it like Ling Xiao. Instead, they had probably gotten it from their mortal foe, Godhead Pce.


    Over the years, Godhead Pce had realized that getting the treasures of the Martial Lord was basically impossible, so they no longer kept as tight a lid on the secret. Given that the two sects were opposed to each other, the Seven Absolutions Sect undoubtedly had numerous spies in Godhead Pce, so it was not strange at all for them to have gotten their hands on this information.


    In truth, the Seven Absolutions Sect didn''t have much interest in the Martial Lord. What mattered was that they had to destroy anything Godhead Pce wanted to get its hands on. After that deal they made with Tang Jie, Tang Jie had grown stronger by leaps and bounds, and it was thanks to Tang Jie that Godhead Pce was grievously wounded. That battle to hunt down and encircle Tang Jie had been costly and resulted in devastating losses, and even though they had even sent in He Changan, they hade away with nothing. On the contrary, the Seven Absolutions Sect had seized this chance to attack and expand its borders.


    This was why the Seven Absolutions Sect was very friendly to Tang Jie.


    As for Mei Huaping well, that was just an interlude. Nobody would bring him up at this time.


    The two of them happily chatted as they flew to the Ethereal Summit.


    On the mountain, two lines of disciples were waiting to greet him, cranes were weaving white clouds, peacocks were unting their rainbow feathers, white deer had their heads lowered in respect, and old turtles were raising up their heads in pride.


    Several dozen female cultivators in brightly colored clothes spread out fresh flowers, creating a path of petals that led to the headquarters of the Seven Absolutions Sect, the Brocade Harp Pce.


    Tang Jie was dumbfounded by the sight. "Such ceremony leaves this Tang Jie rather flustered."


    Schr Zhu smiled. "There''s no need to be polite. Putting aside the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, the battle in Nadir Hill one hundred years ago is enough for you to be weed as a hero by my Seven Absolutions Sect."


    Tang Jie was speechless to these words.


    The grudges among the six major sects had long ago be intractable. The Seven Absolutions Sect and Godhead Pce got along like water and fire, and the worse off Godhead Pce was, the happier they were. Otherwise, Godhead Pce wouldn''t have gone looking for Xu Muyang after discovering the Martial Lord''s legacy. After all, Hong Shenji was widely known as the number one formation master in the world.


    For the Seven Absolutions Sect, whether it was Tang Jie''s status as Young Lord of Basking Moon, his strength, the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, or his battle with Godhead Pce, any one of them was worth their respect, let alone all four at once.


    Tang Jie was escorted along the path of petals to the Brocade Harp Pce, where five people stood. He immediately knew these to be the five True Lords of the Seven Absolutions Sect, and he bowed. "Basking Moon Disciple Tang Jie pays respects to Sect Master Ji, True Lord Shen, True Lord Li, True Lord Yuan, and True Lord Du."


    The five nodded. The man at their head was none other than the Sect Master of the Seven Absolutions Sect, Ji Qingfeng.


    He smiled at Tang Jie and said, "When I invited you, you were still a student, and in the blink of an eye, you are now the Young Lord. The talent sent down from the heavens favors not only my Seven Absolutions Sect, but also the Basking Moon Sect. Wonderful, wonderful."


    "Sect Master is too humble. How could Tang Jiepare to the talents of the Seven Absolutions Sect? This untalented one once had the fortune to spar with Great Brother Wang Juemie and still cannot forget his divine might," Tang Jie replied. "Right, how is he doing now?"


    Ji Qingfeng replied, "He also finds it hard to forget you. When he heard that you wereing, he embarked on the Lifeless Path."


    <em>What?</em>


    Tang Jie was stunned.


    The Lifeless Path was not actually a path, but a mantra, a choice.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect had seven secret arts: the Wuji Diagram, the Animitta Music, the Heavenly Demon Revolution, the Dao Seeking Yellow Springs, the Exalted Dharma Manifest, the Horn Dragon Demon Body, and the Vajra Battle Will. Each one had its own divine might.


    Wang Juemie cultivated the Horn Dragon Demon Body and Vajra Battle Will.


    But of these seven secret arts, the most mysterious was the Dao Seeking Yellow Springs Scripture.


    This was a Ghost Dao art that primarily cultivated the soul. Once one cultivated it, one''s soul could roam the Yellow Springs, entering the Nether River. In other words, it let the soul enter the Nether Domain while maintaining a sliver of the will so that one did not be a ghost. As both souls and ghosts were ethereal bodies, one who cultivated this art could hunt down ghosts as a soul and swiftly strengthen the Divine Soul. It could be considered a cultivation shortcut.


    In the past, Mu Yi had cultivated the Heavenly Demon Revolution Scripture, drawing a demon soul into his body. After that, he had switched to the Dao Seeking Yellow Springs Scripture, which he used to battle with that demon soul in the Nether Domain and thus survive. But because he had used his own body as a channel, the ghost energy had intruded into and damaged his body. In the end, Wang Juemie had saved his life.


    But this was not the Lifeless Path.


    There were two ways of cultivating the Dao Seeking Yellow Springs Scripture.


    The first was to have the soul enter the Nether Domain.


    The other was to have one''s actual body go in.


    This choice was called the Lifeless Path.


    The efficiency of cultivating the Dao Seeking Yellow Springs Scripture was a thousand times better by sending in the true body rather than the soul. Whether it was hunting ghosts to strengthen the soul, absorbing spiritual nts to nurture the body, or linking with the Nether Domain andprehending the Dao of Reincarnation, they were all of huge benefit to a cultivator. One could say that entering the Nether Domain meant being able to enjoy a vast fortune that no one else could have a share of.


    But the living were forbidden to enter the Nether Domain.


    Even Tang Jie, who had so dearly wanted to go home, didn''t dare to try going back through the Nether Domain.


    Anyone who took this path grew stronger, or they died!


    This was the Lifeless Path!


    s, not in the history of this art had a single person who had gone into the Nether Domain returned. So dangerous was this ce that even the Titan who had created the art ultimately fell in the Nether Domain.


    He had never expected Wang Juemie to choose this path.


    "He did this to" Tang Jie couldn''t continue.


    "To defeat you," Ji Qingfeng supplied. "Juemie is my disciple, so I understand him best. He''s always been a fighter, never willing to admit defeat, and through his struggles, he''s always managed toe out victorious. After he learned about your feats, he knew that he was no match for you, so he chose this path, trying to make up for hisck of flexibility through this method."


    "Then why did Sect Master not stop him?" Tang Jie asked.


    "Why should I stop him?" Ji Qingfeng smiled. "This was his choice, and I have no need to object."


    "But what if he dies?"


    "Then he dies. Do you think the Seven Absolutions Sect has not lost many geniuses in its long history? Tang Jie, you should understand that a major sect doesn''t need those lower-tier disciples, but those of the upper echelon, the strong! If Juemie cannot be one of the strong, what does it matter that he''s a genius?" Ji Qingfeng casually replied. "Since he dares to go, I will let him go. The path of cultivation is that of the pounding waves washing away the weak grains of sand and leaving only the strong. I''ve already prepared myself to lose a most extraordinary disciple. For the six major sects, one Violet Pce or Immortal tform cultivator is worth ten million elites. The reason we have so many disciples, other than having them serve us, is that this is the basic number needed to foster Titans. The Great Ster Chiliocosm is home to trillions of sects, and all of them take this path."


    Tang Jie could only sigh.


    Was this the perspective of a sect master?


    Whether it was the value Ling Xiao ced on the Cloud Ancestor''s ascendance or Ji Qingfeng''s respect for Wang Juemie''s choice, their reverence for the strong was on full disy. It was no wonder Godhead Pce had cared so much about the Martial Lord''s hidden realm.


    At that moment, he suddenly felt endless admiration for Wang Juemie''s courage in taking the Lifeless Path, and he sincerely hoped that Wang Juemie would seed.


    He said, "The Dao Seeking Yellow Springs Scripture, right? I might be able to help a little."


    Author''s Note: Someonemented that Wang Juemie''s improvement doesn''t make sense, so let me exin. Firstly, when Wang Juemie was first introduced, he was already of a higher cultivation level than Tang Jie, so the two didn''t have the same starting point. Secondly, the Seven Absolutions Sect poured all its resources into raising Wang Juemie, so Tang Jie didn''t necessarily have more. Thirdly, I''ve never said that Wang Juemie was able to beat a Violet Pce. On the contrary, I said very clearly that Wang Juemie has the strength to draw against a Violet Pce, but he is dearlycking when ites to variation. You have to understand that Violet Pce experts can cast arts with a thought. Tang Jie also had more strength than a Violet Pce andcked in variation, so he also fought to a draw. Meanwhile, Wang Juemie can only draw with an Infant Tending Violet Pce, and the variation of his moves can''t evenpare to Tang Jie. Given that he''s weaker than Tang Jie in both aspects, how could he possiblypare? It''s impossible for Wang Juemie to beat an Infant Tending expert, and there is no problem with saying that he can only draw with an Infant Tending in a contest of strength.


    Finally, let me exin the formation. A reader believes that it doesn''t make sense for me to say that all of the resources Tang Jie has obtained can''t even make one corner of the Seven Absolutions Sect''s great formation. I don''t think so. How can several thousand years of umtion be the same as a single burst?


    No matter how big your annual bonus is, can itpare to the sry you umted over the entire year? And this is only a difference of ten times, not even considering that this is a major sect saving for thousands of years. You really think robbing a few warehouses can make up for it? Whose warehouse canpare to a thousand years of production? Can robbing your local granary feed you for two thousand years?


    Thus, there''s nothing strange about it. This was always designed to be the special property of formations.


    In my eyes, this is the real foundation of a sect. It doesn''te from nothing, but is truly the result of thousands of years of umtion.

 Chapter 763: Negotiating Price

    Chapter 763: Negotiating Price


    The Brocade Harp Pce, Splendor Year Hall.


    Ji Qingfeng sat at the highest seat, and down below were all the higher-ups of the Seven Absolutions Sect, with Tang Jie seated as the guest of honor.


    This treatment was on the level of a Violet Pce cultivator, and one who was at least at Deification. Nobody would believe it if they were told that this was all for a Soul Transformation cultivator.


    But the Seven Absolutions Sect seemed to not be satisfied yet, inviting Tang Jie to sit directly next to Ji Qingfeng. This was because Tang Jie had said that he could help with the Dao Seeking Yellow Springs Scripture.


    From this, one could see that while Ji Qingfeng had let Wang Juemie go and said that he no longer cared about whether he lived or died, deep down, he was still very worried about his disciple. However, the hope for the ascendance of the sect overcame his concern for Wang Juemie. No matter how many people died, for the Seven Absolutions Sect, it was all worth it if a single hero could be produced.


    After being seated, Tang Jie didn''t keep everyone in suspense, calling out Little Three.


    Little Three had spent so long with Xu Miaoran that it had essentially be her pet, so Tang Jie hadn''t asked for it back after his return, only calling for it when he needed its help.


    This little guy passed through the Nether Domain to directly appear here, and when everyone understood what had happened, there was a great uproar.


    Ji Qingfeng said in a trembling voice, "It can pass through the barrier between the domains! Such a ghost is extremely, extremely rare."


    Of course it was rare! Tang Jie had basically emptied the Verdant Cloud Domain of Space treasures in order to get this ability. How could a Hunter Ghost raised on the resources of an entire domain not be strong?


    Tang Jie asked for a portrait of Wang Juemie and gave it to Little Three. "Find this person, protect him, and bring him back."


    "Mm!" Little Three nodded and jumped through the spatial barrier, disappearing.


    Seeing this, Ji Qingfeng rose and bowed. "Young Master, thank you for your generosity!"


    "You''re wee," Tang Jie replied. "Brother Juemie is a peerless talent, and I don''t want to see him die in such a ce. As a fellow hero, I''m sure that he would do the same for me if the positions were switched."


    "Of course!" everyone replied.


    Once this matter was settled, the conversation became much livelier.


    The matter of Heavenly Bnce Mountain went more smoothly than expected. In any case, Tang Jie was only borrowing it, not taking it, so the Seven Absolutions Sect just let him borrow it, even giving him a generous discount on the price. In truth, so long as Tang Jie could save Wang Juemie, he wouldn''t even need to pay. However, since the Basking Moon Sect was paying, Tang Jie had no reason to use up all his favor here.


    After discussing Heavenly Bnce Mountain, they moved on to the matter of the Martial Lord''s hidden realm.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect had wanted to meet him all those years ago precisely for the resources of this hidden realm.


    Over the years, the Seven Absolutions Sect had gone to great lengths to nurture their own experts. They cared not about the quantity of spirit herbs in the hidden realm, but about the quality. If possible, the Seven Absolutions Sect was willing to trade tons of resources for a single ten-thousand-year spirit nt, and this was the primary reason Tang Jie was here.


    Since Tang Jie was here, Ji Qingfeng got straight to business. After exchanging some courteous phrases, he said, "Brother Tang, what sort of resources can be found in the hidden realm under your control?"


    Because of Wang Juemie, Ji Qingfeng had stopped referring to him as Young Master or True Person and was calling him Brother. Of course, this also had some rtion to the nature of the sect. As a sect that specialized in the auxiliary fields, the Seven Absolutions Sect was verymercial in nature, and they mostly used their real names over their Daoist names. Of the six major sects, it was the one with the most secrity about it.


    Other great powerhouses would frequently speak of the Seven Absolutions Sect with scorn, saying that they found it hard to achieve ascendancy because they were too secr and stubborn in their fantasy that they could produce experts by just pouring resources into people.


    Putting aside whether this was right or wrong, it was true that the people of the Seven Absolutions Sect were much more secr.


    Given that the Martial Lord''s hidden realm was bing less and less of a secret, and Tang Jie was no longer the same Tang Jie of the past, he was very open about it, saying, "It''s a ten-thousand-year hidden realm. The resources inside include Violet Sandalwood, Whitefiend Lotuses, Heavenly Secret Stones, Yellow Rebirth Fruit, Jade Return Grass, Jade Feather Red Treasures, God Giant Blood Fruits"


    Tang Jie didn''t hide much besides the Nine Heavens Luan Grass, listing out all the other spirit nts. Every name he stated drew an intense reaction from the crowd.


    Wine Immortal Lu in particr could barely control himself.


    "Yellow Rebirth Fruit! This is a superb herb for clearing the mind and stabilizing the soul. It can be used as the main ingredient for the Heart Cleansing Pill and Mind Stabilizing Pill, and depending on the age of the fruit, it can increase the medicinal effect from ten percent to several times over. In the Rosecloud Domain, a Yellow Rebirth Fruit that''s only a hundred years old can go for hundreds of thousands of spirit coins, but there''s not even enough product to supply the market. I hear that there are millions of people seeking them out. A ten-thousand-year Yellow Rebirth Fruit is simply beyond imagination! And Jade Feather Red Treasure! That''s an ingredient that''s used in pills that can condense the Violet Pce, able to raise the chances of reaching Violet Pce by five percent. A ten-thousand-year one could increase by as much as ten percent! God Giant Blood Fruit! There''s even God Giant Blood Fruit? If Juemie is able to get this fruit, his strength is bound to soar"


    As he described the effects of the various Immortal nts, he stomped his chest and pounded his feet as if he had lost out on a great fortune.


    Even Ji Qingfeng was tempted by the God Giant Blood Fruit.


    But Tang Jie exined that there had been only three of these fruits, and he had already eaten one. He currently had no ns on letting the other two go, as he was a body refiner.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect could only sigh, in response to which Tang Jie inwardly smiled.


    While a body refiner did need the God Giant Blood Fruit, it wasn''t irreceable.


    The Parting ssic''s way of refining the body allowed for any spirit nt to be converted into energy that strengthened the body, making it possible to convert quantity into quality.


    The God Giant Blood Fruit would be nice to have, but it wasn''t something that couldn''t be reced by arge amount of spirit nts. On the other hand, the Horn Dragon Demon Body and Vajra Battle Will that Wang Juemie cultivated required the best spirit nts one could get, so he had a much greater need for the fruit.


    Thus, so long as the Seven Absolutions Sect was willing to pay the proper price, he could be persuaded to let them go. Saying that certain goods were not for sale was just a means of raising the price. The real items that weren''t for sale, like the Nine Heavens Luan Grass, were never going to be mentioned in the first ce.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect didn''t know this, and frantically asked Tang Jie what price he was willing to sell at.


    Thanks to all the skills they possessed, the Seven Absolutions Sectcked for anything but money.


    Tang Jie hade to pilfer their pockets, so he was in no rush to bargain. He smoothly took out a sheet of paper and gave it to Ji Qingfeng. "The items I''ve described are what I can provide, and on this paper is what I need."


    As Ji Qingfeng looked at the list, he gasped.


    He gave the list to his junior brother, True Lord Shen Beiwang, who simrly gasped and passed it on to the next person. Just like this, the list was passed around, and everyone who saw it gasped and looked at Tang Jie in confusion.


    It wasn''t because Tang Jie was being very greedy, but rather, he was asking for very ordinary things, like various kinds of spirit grains, seeds of spirit grass, immature spirit saplings, juvenile fiend beasts, and so on.


    They weren''t worth a lot of money, but it was a veryprehensive list, covering almost every spirit nt and fiend in the Rosecloud Domain, and he was asking for huge numbers of them. For example, he was asking for five hundred catties of Painted Eyebrow seeds, seven hundred catties of Red Tear seeds, eight hundred catties of Violet Millet, and so on, and this was only the spirit grains. He was asking for even more when it came to other types of nts.


    It was like Tang Jie wanted to perform a great migration, taking all of the nts and animals of the Rosecloud Domain with him, so the Seven Absolutions Sect''s shock was understandable.


    Ji Qingfeng in a shaky voice, "These thingsisn''t this too much?"


    Tang Jie casually replied, "The Seven Absolutions Sect wants quality, and I want quantity. We both get what we want."


    Shen Beiwang thought it over and said, "If you want all this, then is Little Brother Tang thinking of establishing a blessednd or paradise?"


    These things definitely weren''t for his personal use. If Tang Jie wanted to eat them, he could go ten thousand years and not run out. The only exnation was that he was establishing a paradise.


    But as the Basking Moon Young Lord, and one who had the special privilege of freely going in and out of the Water Moon Paradise, and as someone who also possessed a ten-thousand-year hidden realm, what did he want to establish a paradise for?


    After some thought, Tang Jie decided to show them the Mountain River State Diagram.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect had sold him this item, so they were naturally familiar with it. The moment they saw it, they realized that something wasn''t right.


    Ji Qingfeng had to repeatedly look it over before finding out what was so strange about it. He remarked in surprise, "It''s turned into a small world? How did that happen?"


    Tang Jie frankly said, "As everyone knows, my Basking Moon Sect has a divine item called the Space Crystal."


    Everyone immediately understood, Shen Beiwang nodding and saying, "The Space Crystal is a Space treasure that can make a mustard seed hold a world. With this item, it''s not strange for the Mountain River State Diagram to be turned into a small world. Since Little Brother Tang has this treasure, it makes sense you want to use it. But while a small world has many uses, it also takes a lot of investment before you can actually put it to use, not something a single person can bear!"


    "Which is why I need everyone''s help. I will provide your honored sect top-ss herbs, and your honored sect will provide basic resources. What do you think?" Tang Jie said as he put away the diagram.


    "This" Everyone was hesitant.


    While Tang Jie was only asking for ordinary spirit items, he was asking for far too much in both quantity and variety. Gathering it all woulde at an immense cost.


    Considering this aspect, Tang Jie had actually stated an astronomical price. The manpower and resources required would be enough to keep the Seven Absolutions Sect busy for a while.


    But having a price was better than no price at all. After all, Tang Jie could offer what simply couldn''t be found in the Rosecloud Domain. So long as there was a price, there was room to negotiate that price.


    Thus, the two sides began to argue over the price. Tang Jie''s offerings were of fixed quantity, so the offers wereing from the Seven Absolutions Sect''s side. The subject of their negotiation was the goods demanded, and the Seven Absolutions Sect immediately asked for the quantity of each resource provided to be cut by two thirds. Tang Jie immediately refused, holding up five fingers, saying that he would only cut down each amount by five catties.


    For a time, Splendor Year Hall was filled with the sounds of haggling, the headquarters of a major sect turning into a marketce. It was probably only in such a heavilymercial sect as this that such a thing could happen.


    At the same time, outside Splendor Year Hall.


    "What? Tang Jie killed my disciple, along with the entire Jade Spring Sect?" A middle-aged cultivator paled. "Are you sure?"


    "It''s already been confirmed beyond doubt!" the disciple replied.


    The middle-aged cultivator looked toward the hall. "Tang Jie, you go too far!"


    He strode into the hall.


    The middle-aged cultivator went up to Ji Qingfeng and whispered into his ear.


    "Oh? Did that happen?" Ji Qingfeng slightly frowned, but then he rxed and said in a serious tone to Tang Jie, "Little Brother Tang, there''s something this old man would like to ask. I heard that when you were on your way here, you annihted a sect under the protection of my Seven Absolutions Sect and killed one of our disciples?"


    "Oh, are you talking about the Jade Spring Sect? I killed them. They were going around robbing and plundering as if they were bandits, even colluding with a disciple of your sect to continue their evil ways. I was infuriated by their unjust actions and uprooted them. There''s no need to thank me," Tang Jie casually replied.


    Ji Qingfeng frowned. "But they were still a disciple of my sect and a sect under our administration."


    Tang Jie leisurely said, "Where did we stop just now?"


    "Three hundred Sunset Trees is too much. These trees are very rare in Rosecloud."


    "Fine, two hundred then."


    "One hundred at most. And we also have to cut down the number of Weaver Ducks to one hundred pairs. This bird only nests on Sunset Trees. Since we''re already decreasing the number of trees, what do you need three hundred pairs of birds for?"


    "Deal."


    The haggling continued, and nobody brought up the deceased disciple or the Jade Spring Sect anymore, as if they had never existed.


    After a long while, the middle-aged cultivator awoke from his stupor and realized that this case had already been closed.


    Author''s Note: Regarding what I said yesterday about the resources needed to make the formation, there are still some people who don''t quite understand.


    I notice that this is actually a problem of perspective, so please permit me to say a little more. Of course, I''m just clearing things up, not arguing.


    Firstly, don''tpare storehouses to umtion. Storehouses are used to store resources that aren''t consumed, but making the formation consumes resources.


    Does a sect that has existed for several thousand years have more non-consumed resources or consumed resources?


    Say you live until sixty. What is greater: the resources you consumed up until sixty, or the resources you''ve saved up at sixty?


    Any major sect wouldn''t just let arge quantity of resources sit idle.


    They''re like an operating business. Nobody runs a business for several thousand years just so they can stockpile more and more resources. Warehouses are for holding reserves, and saving up for a few decades is enough. There''s no reason to save several thousand years'' worth. And the formation takes several thousand years to make. This isn''t a plothole I''m mending, but something I decided when I designed the setting. A true top-ss formation can''t instantly be built by a sect, but requires thousands of years of constant gathering and construction, building it up little by little as one would develop a country. This is how you show the value of an old sect, where age carries real meaning.


    Our national defense, our industrial base, what we''ve already used, is a true manifestation of our power and resources, not what we haven''t used and put in our warehouses.


    Additionally, in my calctions, things like magic treasures count as assets and not resources, so they''re not considered here.

 Chapter 764: Coming to the Rescue

    Chapter 764: Coming to the Rescue


    The negotiations continued for three days.


    Tang Jie made full use of the experience from his past life, patiently grinding down the Seven Absolutions Sect and fighting for every piece of profit he could get. By the end, the Seven Absolutions Sect was tired out, and after one final reduction of the resources wanted, they reached an agreement with Tang Jie.


    Despite the reduction, the Seven Absolutions Sect would still need to send out many people to gather the resources required, and it would probably take years until they collected everything.


    Of course, Tang Jie was in no rush. In any case, the items he had agreed to hand over were still in the valley, and if he wanted to get them out, he needed to grow stronger.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect then sought to have Tang Jie stay as a guest for the next few days. There were three reasons for this. The first was to develop a friendship with the sect. After all, this was only a single business deal. It didn''t mean that Tang Jie was immediately going to hand over everything in the valley. The second was to wait for Wang Juemie, since this guy was so anxious to have a fight with him. The third was that they wanted to discuss another deal with Tang Jie, one regarding Godhead Pce.


    Butpared to the hidden realm deal, the matter regarding Godhead Pce was much more delicate. Both sides understood that they were enemies of Godhead Pce, but they also wanted to be the reinforcer and not the reinforcee.


    Since the Seven Absolutions Sect wanted him to stay, Tang Jie decided to take their offer.


    An excellent residence was arranged for him, rich in spiritual energy, and he was served only the finest foods and attended to by the best servants. As he couldn''t cultivate for the time being, Tang Jie spent these days in leisure. When he was bored, he would go out to see other people in the Seven Absolutions Sect, meeting with Mu Yi and the others. It wasn''t long before he was getting along with everyone.


    A few dayster, Tang Jie met with the Seven Absolutions Sect''s formation master, Hong Shenji.


    It turned out that the reason he hadn''t been here earlier was that Hong Shenji had gone to the western border to repair a formation.


    As formation professionals, they immediately got along like old friends.


    Thus, when he had nothing else to do, Tang Jie would go over to Hong Shenji''s ce to exchange pointers regarding formations.


    As expected of a veteran formation grandmaster, Hong Shenji had a vast and deep store of knowledge, an understanding of formations above Tang Jie''s. But Tang Jie had a greater understanding of mathematics, which let him calcte faster, and his mind was more unconventional, letting hime up with new and interesting ideas.


    One had experience and knowledge and the other had creativity, so they were both able to learn a lot from each other and soon developed a deep friendship.


    It was also at that time that Tang Jie learned that Hong Shenji actually had the Death Gate Banner and Injury Gate Banner, and Hong Shenji learned that Tang Jie had the rm, Stop, and View Gate Banners. Thus, the two of them began to try to get the other side''s banners.


    Tang Jie argued that since he had more banners, Hong Shenji should sell his banners to him. But Hong Shenji argued that his banners were better, as the Death and Injury Gate Banners were both focused on lethality, which would greatly increase the power of any formation the two banners were used in. It was precisely because Tang Jiecked these two banners that the formations he was able to set out had always been very limited in might.


    Both sides refused to back down, wanting the other''s treasures while refusing to let go of what they had, happily squabbling with each other.


    A month soon passed.


    Today, Tang Jie was arguing with Shen Hongji about the banners again when there was a sudden burst of light over Splendor Year Hall. A bolt of lightning cracked down from the heavens, opening a fissure in the sky. Behind that fissure were endless ck clouds that roiled with evil energy.


    Arge figure jumped out of that fissure, brazenlyughing, "I''vee back alive!"


    Who else could it be but Wang Juemie?


    But this Wang Juemie was all mangled and maimed. There was arge hole in his chest, through which one could see that his heart had been broken up into several chunks, and a small part of his head had been cut off, exposing his brains and leaving one of his eyes to dangle around. Even so, Wang Juemie was still alive, and the little ghost riding on his shoulder was none other than Little Three.


    As Wang Juemie excitedly roared, a bellow of fury came from the fissure behind him.


    A massive hand of white bone reached out of the fissure, radiating tendrils of ck energy that condensed into wicked mes that extended toward Wang Juemie.


    But just when the white bone hand was about to capture Wang Juemie, a sword of light flew out from the distance.


    This sword of light shed into the bone hand, but the hand did not break. Instead, it gave off a cracking noise like shattering porcin, and countless ghost fragments broke off from it.


    A momentter, all of the bone fragments fell away from the hand, revealing the pitch-ck w underneath. It was smaller than the hand of white bone, but it was even more intimidating, threatening to paint all of the skies over the Brocade Harp Pce ck.


    A gale of sword energy erupted from Splendor Year Hall, and four beams of light assailed the ck hand. A howl of pain arose from that ck rift, and a sinister voice cried out, "I''ll remember you!"


    The hand retreated into the fissure.


    The fissure closed.


    "Pah, remember me all you want. I''m not afraid of you." Wang Juemie plopped on the ground, no longer able to stand, and started tough.


    Despite his horrifying injuries, his boomingughter was full of vigor and energy. In the distance, Mu Yi''s eyes shed. "Did he finally achieve a breakthrough?"


    The five True Lords of the sect, led by Ji Qingfeng, appeared above the mountain, their expressions grave.


    The five of thembined had failed to hold this Ghost Emperor''s hand. It was clear that this was no ordinary Ghost Emperor, but one of the Ten Emperors of the Nether Domain. Wang Juemie definitely wasn''t strong enough to escape from one of the ten Nether Emperors, so the answer was obvious: Little Three.


    Looking over that translucent ghost, they saw that it was lying weakly on Wang Juemie''s shouldera clear sign that it had taken on a huge burden in this escape.


    Ji Qingfeng bowed to the approaching Tang Jie. "Thank you for your assistance, Little Brother Tang."


    "It was nothing. Sect Master is too polite." Tang Jie called Little Three back and put it into the diagram so that it could rest. He then turned to Wang Juemie and smiled. "Greetings, Great Brother."


    Although Wang Juemie was severely injured, he was as energetic as ever, erupting withughter. "Greetings to you too, Tang Jie! You really are something else! I took the Lifeless Path in order to defeat you, but you sent your ghost to save me! I can''t believe it! But even so, I, Wang Juemie, will still have a fight with you. I want all of the Rosecloud Domain to know that the number one genius of the Rosecloud Domain is me! Nobody can defeat me!"


    He stood back up, his entire body overflowing with fighting intent that warped the air around him.


    It seemed like he was ready to fight as soon as Tang Jie agreed.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "We''ll have our fight, but what''s the point in forcing yourself? Take your time and recover first. We''ll fight once you''re all healed up."


    "There''s no need to wait that long!" Wang Juemie waved his hand. "These injuries are nothing! The only annoying thing is the Hearteater Nether Emperor''s Azure Nether Energy. But now that it''s not here, with Master''s help, its remnant energy can be neutralized."


    The five True Lords raised their hands, sending five streams of energy into Wang Juemie''s body. Wang Juemie began to circte his own spiritual energy, and gradually, the azure energy on his face began to disappear.


    A few momentster, all of the azure energy was gone, but his body remained injured.


    Wang Juemie didn''t care, saying, "With the Azure Nether Energy gone, I just need to have a meal now. Bring me wine and meat!"


    His call resounded through the heavens.


    Countless disciples immediately began delivering wine and food, but the food came in the form of whole pigs, sheep, and cows, all of them fed on the finest spirit grains. While they weren''t fiends, they were brimming with spiritual energy and good enough to serve as a restorative.


    Wang Juemie wolfed the food down, quickly devouring three cows, two pigs, and four sheep, though it was a wonder where exactly all that food went after it entered his stomach. Shockingly, as he ate, his wounds began to heal.


    It had to be understood that these were no ordinary injuries, but injuries inflicted by ghosts of theher Domain. Any ghost that could pierce his Horn Dragon Demon Body had to possess extraordinary strength, and the wounds were also contaminated with ghost energy of varying effects that made healing the wounds extremely difficult.


    But just by eating all this food, Wang Juemie was recovering from these wounds. His ability was on par with, if not better than, Tang Jie''s.


    "Life Dao entering!" Tang Jie murmured.


    He was now certain that Wang Juemie had entered the Dao of Life.


    He definitely hadn''t been relying on the nature of his constitution tost until now. Only a deep understanding of the Dao of Life and its usage could grant him such incredible recovery ability.


    In a contest purely of body cultivation, Tang Jie''s original body was slightly inferior.


    And in terms of spell arts, Wang Juemie had seemingly managed to improve what had been a major w. After eating his fill and healing most of his injuries, Wang Juemie took off into the air and flew around. The clouds churned and wrapped around him, turning into clothes.


    Wang Juemie shouted, "Tang Jie, do you dare fight me!?"


    <em>"Do you dare fight me!?"</em>


    His voice bounced around the mountains and valleys.


    The countless cultivators in the Middlecross Mountains raised their heads and saw that peerless figure above, and reverence appeared in their eyes.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie turned to Hong Shenji and asked, "Old Man Hong, who do you think will win in a fight: me or Brother Wang?"


    Hong Shenji proudly stroked his beard. "This old man naturally leans toward Juemie. Tang Jie, while you''re strong, Juemie has walked the Lifeless Path and grown much stronger, creating a miracle that hasn''t happened since the creation of the art."


    "If that''s the case, want to make a bet? If I win, you give me your two banners, and if I lose, I give you my three banners."


    "This" Hong Shenji immediately hesitated.


    "What? Don''t have the guts?" Tang Jie smiled.


    Hong Shenji hardened his resolve. "Of course I have! I''ll take the bet."


    "Great!" Tang Jieughed and looked up at Wang Juemie. "An opponent like Brother Wang is exactly what I''m looking for."


    He stood up and flew into the air.


    The two most famous prodigies of the Rosecloud Domain stood across from each other, zing with battle intent.


    Wang Juemie shouted, "Tang Jie, although you saved me, I won''t be holding back!"


    "I also have no ns on holding back," Tang Jie casually said. "Since we''re fighting, we naturally have to use our full strength in order to enjoy ourselves. On the battlefield, fighting one''s opponent with one''s full strength is the greatest respect one can show, not holding back."


    As he spoke, his clothes exploded, his body beginning to growrger and radiate power.


    "Hahaha, excellent words!" Wang Juemieughed, and his body also began to grow stronger, until a giant stood across from Tang Jie. Their auras shed, throwing the clouds into chaos and stirring up a gale that swept across the mountains.


    Seeing this, Ji Qingfeng ordered, "Quickly, activate the formation!"


    Once these two started fighting, if the formation weren''t activated, they would end up dismantling the entire mountain range.


    Although they weren''t at the level where they could shatter stars with their punches, a mountain was no problem at all.


    Upon seeing that the formation had activated, Wang Juemie crazilyughed. "Then let''s get started! Watch my fist!"


    A punch hurtled toward Tang Jie.

 Chapter 765: Fierce Battle

    Chapter 765: Fierce Battle


    <em>Boom!</em>


    Wang Juemie''s fist shook the heavens and made the mountains quake, as if a giant from beyond the stars had attacked.


    From the perspective of the cultivators below, it was actually impossible to see the shape of the fist, as it had be sorge that it had expanded to fill their vision, painting everything red.


    But for Tang Jie, this punch was only an appetizer.


    Tang Jieughed in the face of Wang Juemie''s punch. "Perfect!"


    He punched back.


    Two fists collided in the air like two mountains mming against each other in a frightening boom, the resultant shockwave rippling through the heavens and earth. All the surrounding clouds were swept away, leaving only that sunset glow high up in the heavens.


    "Tang Jie!" Wang Juemie roared as he punched again.


    "Wang Juemie!" Tang Jie shouted back as he returned the blow.


    The two of them began to exchange blows as if they were only two people in the world, hammering away at each other with great gusto. The shockwaves from their blows created bursts of rainbow light on the Seven Absolutions Sect''s protective formation, such was the power within them.


    In terms of power, their attacks were even above those of the usual Infant Tending Violet Pce expert.


    "Raaa!" Wang Juemie bellowed, and as his left fist met Tang Jie''s right fist, he suddenly squatted down and aimed at Tang Jie''s abdomen with a punch from his right hand, sending him flying.


    "Great Brother will win for sure!" All of the cultivators of the Seven Absolutions Sect cheered when they saw this.


    Wang Juemie rushed forward, but as he kicked at Tang Jie, Tang Jie grabbed his foot with both hands and gave Wang Juemie a kick in the belly, sending him flying back.


    Everyone instantly shut their mouths.


    The two of them fought by simply exchanging kicks and punches.


    They were both people possessing astonishing strength and astonishing toughness, both difficulty to injure. But they were using purely physical power, with not a spell art to be seen.


    The True Lords of the Seven Absolutions Sect couldn''t help but shake their heads. Shen Beiwang sighed, "This fighting style is like gangsters on the street. Is this how one fights? Even body cultivators should have their own divine abilities."


    Ji Qingfengughed. "No rush, no rush. They''re still testing each other. Once they''ve seen how much each other can take, they''ll start using their real power."


    Ji Qingfeng''s prediction was quickly proved true.


    Wang Juemie threw a punch and then smiled. "Brother Tang, I''ve learned much from your techniques, so I have to show you some of my real ability, or else Brother Tang will have a low opinion of me. Horn Dragon Demon Body!"


    As Wang Juemie roared, various totem-like tattoos appeared on his body.


    These tattoos were of a dark green color and drew various bizarre pictures on Wang Juemie''s body, radiating an enigmatic light.


    Tang Jie had long ago heard of the Horn Dragon Demon Body. If the Indestructible True Demon Body Refiner Art was the cultivation art, the Horn Dragon Demon Body was thebat art.


    These tattoos were etched into the body using valuable herbal concoctions, and when they were being etched or being used, they put the user through excruciating pain. But in return, they granted boundless power when used in battle. In this way, the user traded in great pain for bursts of great power.


    But Wang Juemie didn''t seem to be in pain at all. On the contrary, he seemed to be enjoying it.


    He licked his lips and thenughed. "Kill!"


    <em>Boom!</em>


    His fist flew out once more.


    But the ferocity of this punch was too much for Tang Jie to block, and he was smashed away like a leather ball.


    His power was terrifying.


    It was the first time Tang Jie had been overwhelmed in terms of strength.


    All of the spectators grew excited.


    After this sessful strike, Wang Juemie followed up with eighteen punches in a row, each one brimming with divine might.


    These eighteen punches had a name: the Coiling Fist. This was a proper body cultivatorbat technique, each punch shooting out like a coiled dragon.


    Tang Jie took on his Two Heads, Four Arms form and fired back with thirty-six punches. At the same time, his body erupted with a crimson light as he activated the Flesh Millstone, but for the first time, he used it for defense rather than offense.


    Even though Tang Jie countered with two punches for every one, Wang Juemie''s Coiling Fist still pushed through. Ultimately, the punches ran out of power in the Flesh Millstone, but they shook Tang Jie badly enough that his body swayed.


    But a momentter, Wang Juemie charged in again, the Horn Dragon Demon Body''s tattoos lighting up on his body as if he was the Mother Cloudbat puppet. With his movements, a purplish-ck light came sweeping forward, infused with a suffocating energy.


    Wang Juemie shouted, "Tang Jie, this is the power I obtained by hunting down and absorbing tens of thousands of ghosts on the Lifeless Path! All of this ghost energy stimted my demon body, allowing me to break through the limit. Taste my Heavenly King Unrivaled Fist! I am the Annihtion King!"


    With a roar, Wang Juemie brought his fists together and thrust them forward.


    This punch had only one strike, but it fired an almost solid pir of energy at Tang Jie.


    "Juemie, killing is not allowed!" several seniors of the Seven Absolutions Sect immediately shouted, fearing that Wang Juemie would lose control of his power and kill Tang Jie. This would make rtions with the Basking Moon Sect much worse.


    But a momentter, countless motes of light appeared around Tang Jie, rapidly flying around him and drawing a giant and glorious pceplex.


    The Infinite Pce!


    The terrifying fist st mmed into the Infinite Pce with a thunderous boom, like a hammer mming into steel, but the Infinite Pce was unaffected.


    It could even block ten of the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s fingers. While Wang Juemie''s Heavenly King Unrivaled Fist was strong, it still couldn''t match up to the Jewel Immortal Sovereign.


    "A Dao Art?" Rather than being surprised, Wang Juemie was delighted. "Tang Jie, you used your Dao Art first! Hahahaha, you''re done for now!"


    Tang Jie was startled. Did that mean that Wang Juemie had already condensed a hundred Dao Runes and created a Dao Art?


    That was incredible!


    It was no wonder Wang Juemie was praised as being the number one genius of the Rosecloud Domain throughout the ages. This feat alone was enough to put him above countless peers.


    Compared to him, the likes of the Mourning Wind Maiden and Qian Yingchen were nothing.


    But rather than being afraid, Tang Jie was excited to fight a proper opponent, shouting, "Thene and defeat me!"


    "Of course!"


    Wang Juemie charged into the Infinite Pce.


    The Infinite Pce repelled energy and not people. If one simply walked into the pce, the defenses within the pce were extremely weak.


    Although Wang Juemie had never seen the Infinite Pce, he was able to determine this property of the Infinite Pce with a single nce through his rich experience. As expected, the walls did not stop him, and Wang Juemie entered the pce.


    His body was sorge that he almost burst open the Infinite Pce.


    But the Infinite Pce proceeded to transform, growingrger so that Wang Juemie would fit inside.


    A majestic pce appeared in the skies, as if the Myriad Court had reemerged to grace the cosmos.


    "Interesting!" Wang Juemie said.


    Countless streaks of me shot toward him.


    This Infinite Pce was not the ad-hoc version that Aurora had faced, but Tang Jie''spleted Dao Art, packed with countless formations.


    When all of these formations werebined, they formed a massivebination formation: the Ster Net Astral Demon Formation.


    This was one of the ten supreme formations of High Antiquity,parable to the Nine Executions Immortal Formation, so powerful that it was said that at maximum power, it could even grind a Supreme True Immortal to nothing.


    Tang Jie naturally hadn''t been able toy down the formation at its maximum power, but he could slowly work on it. A Dao Art''s form could not be changed once it was decided on, but that didn''t mean it couldn''t be made stronger, and he could keep working on the Astral Demon Formation until it reached perfection.


    This iplete version of the formation was still able to disy terrifying might, and within the formation, Wang Juemie was assailed by countless gusts of wind. Within these vortices, each pebble and leaf was a lethal threat. But the most terrifying part was the ck columns of smoke rising from the formation, the demonized Astral Energy refined using the Violet Energy of Primordial Fog. An ordinary cultivator would be ground into power on contact with this demonized Astral Energy. Tang Jie had had the opportunity to gain some Primordial Fog Violet Energy from Immortal Ji Yao, which was why he couldy down this formation.


    The Primordial Fog Violet Energy lunged at Wang Juemie, and blood and flesh sttered from his body as if it was being ground down by a metal scrubbing brush.


    This was the extent of the formation''s power. This was partially because he had yet to demonize all of the Astral Energy, and also because Wang Juemie''s body was just too strong.


    Even so, the upper echelons of the Seven Absolutions Sect still winced, not having expected Tang Jie''s Dao Art to be so formidable.


    Within the Infinite Pce, the plumes of blood could be seen erupting from the ck smoke.


    Tang Jie floated high above, coldly watching Wang Juemie.


    He was well aware that Wang Juemie was far from reaching his limit.


    He still had a card up his sleeve!


    As expected, Wang Juemie looked up at Tang Jie and chuckled. "As strong as expected! An excellent Five Elements Dao Art, condensing all life and time into a formation, allowing you to simte a Violet Pce''s connection to the world. Tang Jie, your methods are truly incredible. But I haven''t lost yet. Let me show the prize I obtained from the Lifeless Path."


    He raised his arms and let out a mighty roar.


    This roar resounded through the nine heavens and jolted everyone''s minds.


    The Vajra Battle Will!


    Empowered by the Vajra Battle Will, Wang Juemie''s aura seemed to expand without limit.


    His body began to shine with a light golden luster, his eyes shing with divine light. He appeared like a god on high, proudly looking over the heavens.


    He thundered, "Tang Jie, experience my Dao Art! Manifest, Only I Am the Truth!"


    <em>Boom!</em>


    An immense power erupted from within the Infinite Pce.

 Chapter 766: Only I Am the Truth

    Chapter 766: Only I Am the Truth


    Under the savage torrent of energy, everyone could see Wang Juemie''s body glistening gold, standing in the center of the formation like a descending god.


    All of the tattoos of the Horn Dragon Demon Body had lit up, transforming into a dragon totem that swam around his body, and hisbat will had almost physical form, gathering into mes around him.


    This intensebat will pushed back Tang Jie''s demonized Astral Energy, the thick Life energy around Wang Juemie diluting it to nothing as soon as it got close.


    "''Only I Am the Truth''!" Tang Jie narrowed his eyes. Although he didn''t understand the principles of this Dao Art, he could tell that it was an immensely powerful one.


    Wang Juemie had always taken a very simple and violent path of cultivation, and his Dao Art was no different.


    Wang Juemie looked up at Tang Jie andughed. "My will alone is imperishable and undying. Under ''Only I Am the Truth'', no matter how many demonic mes you send at me, you won''t even be able to harm a hair on my body!"


    He began to stride toward Tang Jie, letting the energies of the Ster Net Astral Demon Formation assail him, for it could do him no harm.


    On the contrary, Wang Juemie began a new offensive. Empowered by the Dao Art, his punches were even more majestic, the sts of wind from his thrusts sweeping over the world.


    Tang Jie could finally see that this was a defensive Dao Art, one that used a formidable body as its foundation. One who entered the Dao of Life was already extremely difficult to kill, so taking this route wasn''t unexpected.


    And Wang Juemie''s "Only I Am the Truth" clearly wasn''t just a simple defense. That radiantbat will around him spurred him forward, and his Life energy turned into an endless sea, constantly pouring into his body and making him stronger.


    Dao, art, and body had been perfectlybined, creating an expert who was blessed by the heavens, his supreme power radiating through the four quarters. The disciples of the Seven Absolutions Sect wanted to get on their knees in worship, and even Ji Qingfeng and the other True Lords were trembling with excitement.


    Ji Qingfeng''s hands shook as he said, "He seeded! He finally seeded!"


    Whether he won or lost, the fact that Wang Juemie had created a Dao Art was enough to make him famous throughout the ages.


    Of course, Tang Jie had also created a Dao Art, but it was clearly inferior to Wang Juemie''s. At this moment, the formations within the Infinite Pce were being destroyed one by one, and Wang Juemie was getting closer and closer to Tang Jie. Moreover, as hisbat will zed, his strength grew to its apex, and his every word and action exuded the air of a tyrant.


    This was the essence of Only I Am the Truth: <em>No matter how fierce the storms are outside, only I stand majestic and unmoving, only I am the truth, standing above all and persisting through the eons, my foundations unchanging.</em>


    Tang Jie''s Ster Net Astral Demon Formation was destroyed by Wang Juemie. Although he still had the Sovereign de and the Ten Extinctions de, he also had his pride. Since Wang Juemie wasn''t using weapons, he didn''t want to use them either. In this scenario, the only thing he had that could threaten Wang Juemie was the Devil Crushing Fist.


    But the price for using the Devil Crushing Fist was too great. While it could potentially defeat his foe in one blow, he wouldy himself low in the process. And Wang Juemie seemed utterly untouchable, as if an entire army wouldn''t be able to move him, so Tang Jie wasn''t the least bit confident in his chances.


    "This is quite the problem," Tang Jie couldn''t help but mutter.


    While he didn''t say it very loudly, those Seven Absolutions Sect disciples who had focused on listening managed to catch it, and they all cheered in jubtion.


    "The title of number one genius of the Rosecloud Domain belongs to my Seven Absolutions Sect!" someone cheered.


    Cheers rose and fell across Brocade Harp Peak.


    Only Mu Yi was frowning, muttering, "Great Brother is still too stubborn."


    Meanwhile, Wang Juemie was still charging toward Tang Jie, having already destroyed the formation. Fortunately, this formation was linked to the Infinite Pce, so even if it was destroyed, Tang Jie could quickly rebuild, and all it would cost him was spiritual energy and Five Elements power.


    Even so, rather than reconstruct, Tang Jie let Wang Juemie charge at him, smiling. "In truth, I really didn''t want to do this. After all, I haven''t used this trick in Rosecloud yet, and I like to keep my cards hidden if possible. But if it''s for those two banners, I have to do it."


    As he spoke, Wang Juemie punched at him, and Tang Jie punched back.


    But rather than shing fists, they pummeled each other''s bodies.


    <em>Bang! Bang!</em> Wang Juemie paled slightly and staggered back several steps, but Tang Jie had several of his bones shattered, his organs damaged, and his veins fractured. He vomited blood, and the Infinite Pce instantly shattered.


    Wang Juemie shouted, "Tang Jie, surrender if you know what''s good for you!"


    He began to charge toward Tang Jie again.


    Tang Jie smiled. "You have to ovee this trial first."


    Wang Juemie was startled by these words, and then he noticed that something extremely weird had happened.


    The blood that Tang Jie had spewed out hadn''t fallen to the ground, instead splitting off and scattering into numerous little drops. Floating in the air like stars in the sky, they began to transform into people, all of them appearing like Tang Jie.


    In a sh, the sky was full of Tang Jies, the real Tang Jiepletely lost in the crowd.


    "An infinite clone spell." Ji Qingfeng frowned.


    He had heard about Tang Jie having such a spell art, and while it had nobat power, it was superb for escaping. Thousands of Tang Jies all running away at once made it very difficult to quickly identify the real one.


    Wang Juemie was startled, but then heughed. "It''s only an illusion. You think this can take me down? Only I Am the Truth is the best at dealing with illusions!"


    Empowered bybat will, his will was unshakable, fearing no storm and suffering no temptation.


    Other than powerful defense and healing, Only I Am the Truth also granted resistance to all manner of psychological attacks.


    In the Nether Domain, he was chased by nothing but ghosts, with all their various wicked energies. As a body cultivator, hisbat arts were simple and his Divine Soul tended to the weak side, so his greatest fear was illusions. Thus, after entering the Dao of Life, he created Only I Am the Truth so that he could be immune to all evil energies and illusions. It was for this reason that the demonized Astral Energy of the Ster Net Astral Demon Formation was destroyed by Only I Am the Truth before it could even get close to him.


    So how could he notugh when he saw Tang Jie using illusions against him?


    Tang Jie replied, "Then go ahead and try me."


    As he spoke, the hundreds of Tang Jies began to move in unison, and the sight of all of them making hand signs in unison made it seem like a great gathering of Buddhists.


    Wang Juemie roared, "Break!"


    Power surged from his body, sweeping through all the illusions.


    But when the gale passed, the clones still stood tall,pletely unaffected.


    This sight left everyone stunned. Ji Qingfeng''s eyes radiated a divine light, while Mu Yi stood up and shouted, "Oh no! Great Brother''s in big trouble!"


    Those around him shot furious res at him, but Mu Yi ignored them.


    He was keenly aware of Wang Juemie''s strengths.


    While Wang Juemie truly had gotten stronger after his journey onto the Lifeless Path, this improvement wasn''t what Mu Yi had envisioned, an attempt to make up for his shorings in spell arts and variation. Instead, it had strengthened his strong points.


    This bastard had a one-track mind to the very end,pletely ignoring his weaknesses and insisting on his straightforward and brutal fighting style, ying the part of a quintessential body cultivator. This was exactly why his strength was able to ovee that of Tang Jie, who had consumed countless natural treasures through the Parting ssic, because Tang Jie had taken the broader all-around path while he had taken the narrow one.


    Given that he had specialized in it, nobody couldpare to him when it came to pure strength.


    But fighting wasn''t like finding a job. When finding a job, a specialist would have a much easier time than a jack of all trades, but in battle, exactly the opposite was true. Having no weaknesses was much more important than being extremely strong in a single aspect.


    This was because every opponent was a human who could think and understood how to counter the enemy and attain victory, and they would focus on their foe''s weakness with their attacks.


    Wang Juemie''s spell art weakness meant that he was terrible at dealing with groups.


    Any other great cultivator would simply unleash a powerful spell art when facing so many clones, obliterating all of them in one go. This was precisely why the Reflections of the Floating Life was suited for battles with many people, not duels.


    But Wang Juemie basically didn''t know any wide-area spell arts. While the emission of hisbat will was intimidating, no matter how great the wind was, it couldn''t move a rock. If these were the old duplicates, perhaps Wang Juemie''s aura might have crushed them, but these new duplicates were much stronger, and minor spell arts couldn''t destroy them. For Wang Juemie to try and destroy them with his aura alone was extremely difficult.


    As a result, when other people could have used a few spell arts to destroy all these fake Tang Jies, Wang Juemie would have to eliminate them one by one, punch by punch.


    No matter how quickly he punched, he ultimately had only two fists. No matter how divine his strength was, even if he could atomize a clone with a punch, it was still just a single clone.


    Thus, Wang Juemie could only watch as all those clones cast spell arts at him.


    Dragonlike Hand!


    Countless dragon-shaped energies charged at his body.


    A single Dragonlike Hand was no different from a mosquito to Wang Juemie, but a thousand Dragonlike Hands


    Being bitten by a thousand mosquitoes all at once could be fatal.


    Although Wang Juemie''s Only I Am the Truth was incredibly powerful, in the face of all these dragons, he was still momentarily dumbfounded, only able to watch as those dragons mmed into him like he was a live target.


    And that wasn''t all. Tang Jie''s real body was hidden among all these clones, punching at him from the shadows.


    His punches were much stronger than the Dragonlike Hands, a dog bitepared to the mosquito stings, and Wang Juemie was swiftly covered in blood.


    But he was a formidable man, and even after taking all these attacks, he still didn''t fall. On the contrary, he battled valiantly, throwing punch after punch, destroying clones while also healing himself.


    But while he recovered quickly, Tang Jie attacked even faster, constantlyunching sneak attacks from the horde of clones. Wang Juemie could only see all those hundreds of Tang Jies punching at him, dazzling his vision. Unable to tell real from fake, he was pushed back again and again.


    After using their one attack, the clones primarily served as cover for Tang Jie. To prevent Wang Juemie from finding him, he retreated as rapidly as he attacked, not seeking to defeat his opponent, only get a slight edge on him.


    This meant that Wang Juemie''s injuries were never serious, but as the battle dragged on, his body started to bruise. Tang Jie''s attacks were simply too fast for Wang Juemie''s recovery to keep up. Right when the bruises on one side were healed, another bruise would pop up on the other side.


    Eventually, Wang Juemie''s head was covered in bruises and lumps, but Tang Jie remained like a slippery mudfish that Wang Juemie could never catch, no matter how he bellowed orshed out.


    The cultivators of the Seven Absolutions Sect were all stunned, and all their cheers died away.


    But the eyes of the five True Lords shed as they muttered in unison, "A Dao Art!"


    They all saw that Tang Jie was using another Dao Art.


    To have created two Dao Arts in only two hundred years, this was a person of unprecedented genius.


    Ji Qingfeng sighed, "For Juemie to lose to him is nothing to be ashamed of."


    There was no need to keep watching the battle. Everyone already knew the result. Ji Qingfeng''s words were essentially a surrender.


    When Hong Shenji heard this, he covered his face and sighed, "But I gotpletely scammed!"

 Chapter 767: Readying for the Breakthrough

    Chapter 767: Readying for the Breakthrough


    Wang Juemie lost.


    It was both a surprise and not a surprise.


    Having walked the path of strength this whole time, he truly did surpass Tang Jie when it came to pure power, but his fighting methods were too monotone andcking in variety. In the end, Tang Jie managed to seize this weakness and hammer away at it.


    Of course, only Tang Jie was capable enough to counter him. Anyone else would have been ttened by Wang Juemie''s storm of punches before they could even realize this weakness.


    After the battle, it was basically obligatory to hold a feast to celebrate bothbatants.


    During the feast, everyone tacitly chose to avoid bringing up the second Dao Art.


    Not only that, Ji Qingfeng had some disciples spread the exnation that Tang Jie had used his duplicates to deceive Wang Juemie and attain victory over him.


    The duel was toorge-scale to cover up, so all he could do was create some fake information. Tang Jie''s duplicates had stopped being a secret many years ago, so this form of cover-up both kept Tang Jie''s Reflections of Floating Life a secret and would also make everyone underestimate Wang Juemie, thinking that he couldn''t even deal with some simple illusions.


    After the feast was over, Ji Qingfeng invited Tang Jie to have a talk about Godhead Pce.


    On the matter of decision-making, Ji Qingfeng finally ceded ground.


    This was an extremely secretive conversation, and nobody knew its contents outside of Ji Qingfeng and Tang Jie.


    Not long afterward, Tang Jie left the Seven Absolutions Sect to return to the Basking Moon Sect. Of course, he took Hong Shenji''s two Eight Gate Banners with him. Thus, he now had five of eight, only missing three from the set.


    But Tang Jie didn''t care much about finding them. After all, each banner had its own unique properties and could work on its own. It wasn''t as if gathering all eight would let him summon a divine dragon.


    The day he returned to the Basking Moon Sect, a grandiose weing ceremony was held for him.


    The news of Tang Jie''s battle with Wang Juemie had already reached the sect, and the results were earthshaking.


    While Tang Jie had been in the Verdant Cloud Domain, Wang Juemie had dominated the headlines of the Rosecloud Domain, achieving countless shocking feats in battle. But now, someone had finally defeated him, and he was from the Basking Moon Sect! How could everyone not be excited?


    Normally, he should have been richly rewarded, but Tang Jie was already the Young Lord, and had many other privileges besides that, even being able to meet the sect ancestor whenever he wanted, so Ling Xiao had no idea how to reward him. In the end, he took up Tang Jie''s suggestion and gave Er Hu, Xi Canhen, Wei Tianchong, Cai Junyang, and the others the opportunity to enter the Water Moon Paradise. Of course, they would have to pay the required contribution points on their own, just like when Tang Jie had gone into the Water Moon Paradise that first time.


    Tang Jie took up residence in the back mountain of Starsnatch Peak.


    Sect Master Ling Xiao had seven disciples in all, with Tang Jie being the youngest of the seven. Of these, the third and fifth disciples had died in battle with the Beast Refining Gate, leaving him with three senior brothers and one senior sister.


    But while they were his senior sister and senior brothers, even the youngest of them had been cultivating for five hundred years. They spent most of their time in seclusion, going out so rarely that it was hard to meet them. It was only when Ling Xiao had a ceremony to wee his new disciple that they all came out at once, and they were neither warm nor cold to Tang Jie.


    The path of the Great Dao was so difficult that one always felt like there wasn''t enough time, even if one spent the whole day cultivating. Nobody had time to go around intentionally excluding other people. Their master could take as many disciples as he wanted so long as he continued to give them all the same amount of resources.


    The life of being the sect master''s disciple was surprisingly simple and quiet, but it was also rather lonely and cold, which took Tang Jie some time to adapt to.


    But then he realized: wasn''t this the life a cultivator was after in the first ce?


    Cultivating in peace and quiet in pursuit of Immortality, leaving all the other business to others, was why a sect existed. When one reached the upper echelons, one could just sit back and enjoy the benefits.


    This was why, at this point, there was nothing that Tang Jie needed to worry about. If he needed anything, he could just issue amand.


    Thus, Tang Jie began to live a peaceful and simple life.


    As Tang Jie''s Divine Soul was damaged and couldn''t cultivate, Tang Jie put most of his energy intoprehending the Great Daos.


    Heavenly Bnce Mountain had already been handed over to the Basking Moon Sect, and Ling Xiao had given it over to Tang Jie to serve as his privatend. Tang Jie began to spend his days weaving a Web of Fate, trying to turn the ce into his home court. He had alreadyprehended the paths one could take on the Dao of Fate, and he had already made his choice: creating his own Web of Fate. Although this was the most difficult path and the one most uneptable to the principles of the world, Tang Jie didn''t care. He would do whatever he set his mind to, without care for whatever that Heavenly Dao that might not even exist thought.


    Besides that, he also collected questions from the Cloud Ancestor, and when he gathered enough questions, he took the teleportation formation to the Verdant Cloud Domain to pass them on to Immortal Ji Yao. The Verdant Cloud Domain was the same as ever. Immortal Ji Yao was still sealed, Lin Xin still slept every day while her Divine Soul matured, and only Shentu and the others came by asionally to visit these two Titans, bringing with them their own questions on cultivation.


    Immortal Ji Yao treated them rather well, answering any questions they had, even passing on to Ice Phoenix the Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra.


    This mantra was an Immortal art that Immortal Ji Yao had cultivated while in the Myriad Court. Once she sessfully cultivated this mantra, Ice Phoenix would have a smooth path. Tang Jie had asked for this art and had the Cloud Ancestor take a look at it. He confirmed that it was an Immortal art, but s, it could only be learned by females, and it also required one to sever one''s emotions or else suffer bacsh. As for what this bacsh entailed, it was difficult to say. Ice Phoenix was a very aloof and cold person who had never fallen in love with a man before, so she was a perfect match for this art, much to Tang Jie''s relief.


    Tang Jie also went into the valley to battle with the Vermillion Bird.


    This time, he used all of his strength: the Infinite Pce, the Reflections of Floating Life, and also the Ten Extinctions de. Ultimately, as the Vermillion Bird gradually ramped up in power, he lost, but he was able tost for longer, allowing him to pick ten-some herbs from the valley and hand them over to the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect sent over the resources Tang Jie had asked for, all of which were dumped into the Mountain River State Diagram. When He Chong saw those mountains of seeds, he was utterly speechless.


    Just how long was this going to take?


    It seemed like Tang Jie wasn''t treating He Chong like an outsider at all.


    Not only that, resources were alsoing in from the Blood River Domain side, nts and materials unique to this domain constantly flowing in thanks to the inter-domain trade.


    As every nt had a different growing environment, it was He Chong''s job to use the resources he had on hand and create the various environments in the diagram world.


    This man-made nature was bound to be very different from reality, making it somewhat alien and strange.


    But regardless, the Mountain River State Diagram''s world was greatly enriched. Thanks to He Chong, mountains and rivers began to appear, and the diagram world was now a world bursting with colors, not a vast stretch of lifeless ck soil.


    The weather started to change, developing into four seasons.


    This was a change of immense importance. The presence of four seasons meant that life could develop in more directions, and some shifting of terrain allowed for further adjustment of the climate.


    The world gradually started to operate on its own rather than entirely relying on formations.


    It was at this time that He Chong noticed some problems.


    He found that when the world was operating on its own, strange things began to happen. asionally, powerful storms would form, and vicious beasts would appear.


    These natural disasters had serious effects on the diagram world.


    The creatures on the central ind were scared out of their wits. They prayed up to the skies for a solution, but they received no response.


    He Chong told Tang Jie about this problem, but Tang Jie was also perplexed.


    Logically, as he invested more and more resources, the world would be more and more perfected. Why was something like this happening?


    He couldn''t understand.


    Unable to find an answer, Tang Jie could only put the problem to the side for now and tell He Chong to keep an eye out to minimize the damage.


    Fortunately, the world was in a closed state, so all the losses were simply a form of energy conversion, with no energy being lost. It just made future development rather problematic.


    While Tang Jie was the one investing all the resources into the small world, it was He Chong''s trio that was putting all the time and effort into building the world. They weren''t happy to see such things ruining their work, so they did their best to minimize the damage.


    But until they found the root of the problem, the world''s development would be stalled. Additional investment would only increase the energy and the scale of the disasters rather than improve the world.


    Thus, once the Seven Absolutions Sect finished supplying its side of the resources, Tang Jie had Xu Miaoran stop sending him resources as well. He would stop throwing resources into the Mountain River State Diagram until he could find out why this was happening.


    His current priority was to heal up and prepare to break into Violet Pce.


    His Divine Soul recovered faster than he had expected.


    After only thirty-two years, Tang Jie''s Divine Soul waspletely healed.


    Since he had extra time, Tang Jie used the Peaceful Abode ssic to practice forming the Violet Pce several times, familiarizing himself with the process. Of course, he only needed to test the waters, not go all-out as he had done the first time. Thus, he only needed a few months to recover after each test.


    He spent eighteen years doing this, and soon, the fifty-year time limit he had set for himself was up.


    It was time for Tang Jie to break through into Violet Pce.


    Heavenly Bnce Mountain, the Valley of the Eight Wilds.


    This was a valleypletely encircled by the mountain, a mountain made entirely from violet gold.


    Tang Jie sat in the valley.


    Outside the valley, atop the mountain, several thousand disciples of the Basking Moon Sect''s Combat Department were assembled in arge formation that locked down Heavenly Bnce Mountain.


    The Basking Moon Sect viewed Tang Jie''s breakthrough with extreme importance. At least six chiefs had appeared here, along with Ling Xiao, Xiao Biehan, and Ming Yekong.


    If Tang Jie ascended to Violet Pce, the Basking Moon Sect would have six Violet Pce True Lords.


    The Basking Moon Sect would instantly jump to being the strongest of the six major sects, so they would not permit any mishaps in this charge at Violet Pce.

 Chapter 768: Shocking Development

    Chapter 768: Shocking Development


    Tang Jie sat in the very center of the valley.


    Beneath him was arge formation, its countless formation lines radiating a holy light, its symbols and marks extending all the way to the valley walls. Eighteen thick chains draped down from the heavens, thickly covered in talismans. There were 18,888 talismans in total, each talisman possessing its own unique function, and all of them having been personally made by the Seven Absolutions Sect''s Schr Zhua feat which had exhausted him so much that he almost threw up blood. The chains themselves were forged from abination of Deepsea Cold Iron and Divine Meteorite Essence, and they locked down the fabric of space around Heavenly Bnce Mountain, melding it into a singr mass. A vast sea of resources had been formed into the formation''s foundation, the five banners had each been ced in their respective corners, and in the center was a gray b. This was Divine Genesis, which Tang Jie had obtained from the Treasure Paradise all those years ago. It had been nurturing the diagram world all this time, but Tang Jie had now called it out to serve as the core of this unique formation.


    The Divine Genesis Immortal Ascension Formation!


    This wasn''t some ancient formation, but a formation that Tang Jie and Hong Shenji had jointly researched over thest fifty years, and its sole function was to assist someone in breaking through.


    But Tang Jie hadn''te up with the idea on his own. The Seven Absolutions Sect had already had such designs.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect had always been hoping to make a formation that could increase one''s chances at breaking through. Hong Shenji had been researching formations for a thousand years, studying all kinds of formations, and this formation was one of the iplete products of his research. From its name, one could see that Hong Shenji had been after a formation that could increase one''s chances of ascending to Immortal tform.


    But that was far too difficult. After taking a look at it, Tang Jie discussed with Hong Shenji how they could adjust the formation to increase one''s chances of reaching Violet Pce.


    After fifty years and the joint efforts of a formation grandmaster and a formation prodigy, the Divine Genesis Immortal Ascension Formation waspleted, just in time. ording to Hong Shenji''s calctions, the formation could boost his chances of reaching Violet Pce by ten percent.


    Though it was only ten percent, it had to be understood that this wasn''t a medicine. Once set up, the formation could be used again.


    Besides that, there were two bottles of medicine and two jade boxes in front of Tang Jie.


    The bottles contained the Nine Splendors Morning Dew Pill and the Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill.


    The boxes contained Triflora Divine Incense and the Nine Heavens Luan Grass.


    The Nine Splendors Morning Dew Pill would keep a cultivator alive if they failed to reach Violet Pce, and the Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill increased the chances of reaching Violet Pce by 25%. Xu Miaoran had analyzed that ten-thousand-year-old pill Tang Jie had recovered and made a new one, though it hade at an astronomical cost.


    The Triflora Divine Incense, on the other hand, strengthened the Divine Soul and made condensing the soul much easier, overall increasing one''s chances by about five percent. However, if one seeded, the incense would make one''s Divine Soul stronger than those of one''s peers, which was a more rare effect.


    As for the Nine Heavens Luan Grass, as a divine nt, it strengthened the Divine Soul on a fundamental level and made it so that one would have a 10% higher chance of ascending in all future breakthroughs.


    In this way, purely through these external aids, Tang Jie had increased his chances by 50%.


    Finally, his foundations were extremely solid. Someone unprepared who attempted to break into Violet Pce wouldn''t have even a 10% chance, but Tang Jie''s foundations were so solid that even if he had nothing else, he would have a 20% chance of sess.


    Thus, his chances of sess were 70%, and he also had adjusted Fate so that the fortunes favored him, which increased his chances by another 10%, bringing him to 80%.


    With all this, what did Tang Jie have to worry about?


    Tang Jie took a few long breaths to calm himself down, and then he retrieved the Triflora Divine Incense and thrust it into a jade cauldron.


    The cauldron itself was an upper-grade divine treasure that could double the effects of incense, and the sand within it was also extraordinary, Mother Sand from the Yellow Sands Vastness in the Eastern Sea mixed with Earthen Essence that Tang Jie had taken from the Celestial me Pagoda.


    The incense was ignited, and tendrils of smoke drifted into Tang Jie''s nose and circted throughout his body. Tang Jie felt his mind clear, and his wispy Divine Soul began toe together.


    This was the power of the Triflora Divine Incense: condensing the Divine Soul to make substantialization easier.


    Tang Jie then took out the Nine Heavens Luan Grass and Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill. Although he was somewhat reluctant, he swallowed them down together. The grass immediately melted into streams of pure energy that circted through his body before finally congregating in his Sea of Cognition, where they nurtured his Divine Soul. If Tang Jie released his Divine Soul right now, one would have been able to see it glowing with a holy light.


    As for the pill, one would have to wait a few moments for it to take effect.


    Tang Jie waited for a while, and once he felt that the time was right, he began to circte his mantra to push out his Divine Soul.


    The moment his Divine Soul left his body, it began to moan and screech under the ravages of the sunlight and spiritual energy.


    The weakness of a human''s Divine Soul was on full disy.


    Just when his soul was about to perish, Tang Jie formed a hand sign, and a light flew out of the Divine Soul and transformed into a cover that kept out the sunlight and spiritual energy, leaving only a small door to enter and exit by. With the torrents of spiritual energy having been greatly weakened, they could no longer destroy the Divine Soul, and it began to borrow the spiritual energy to form a physical body.


    The substantialized Divine Soul was called the Primal Infant, and it was why the first tier of Violet Pce was known as Infant Tending.


    This was the process of advancing to Violet Pce.


    The cultivator had to put all their power into this process to substantialize the Divine Soul within a limited time, but once they seeded, their Divine Soul would no longer have to fear sunlight or spiritual energy and could run around wherever it pleased.


    This was also the process by which one linked the Divine Will to the world, so that the spiritual energy of the world could understand one''s meaning with a single thought, this being the true essence behind casting arts with a single thought.


    Finally, there was the process of linking to the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel.


    Just like the breakthrough into Mortal Shedding, the breakthrough into Violet Pce also gave the cultivator a chance toprehend the Heavenly Dao.


    But only a tiny number of people were able to use this opportunity.


    This was because the breakthrough into Violet Pce was incredibly dangerous in its own right. To split off some focus to try to sense the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel was basically suicide.


    Perhaps one couldprehend a Dao, but one''s Divine Soul might end up perishing as a result, which was death.


    For this reason, few would choose toprehend the Dao while charging at Violet Pce, but if one missed out on this opportunity, it would unsettle the mind and prevent one fromprehending the Dao for a very long time afterward.


    This was why the likes of Tang Jie and Wang Juemie could already be entering Daos while many True Lords had yet to evenprehend Daos.


    The process of advancing to Violet Pce was also a test of one''s will. The Great Dao had no desire to satisfy those who only yearned for the Dao when not in desperate straits.


    But someone who had alreadyprehended Daos before this wouldn''t have as many problems.


    At this time, as the Divine Soul absorbed spiritual energy, its wispy body began to materialize.


    Everything was going smoothly.


    Ling Xiao and the others, who had been nervously watching all this time, rxed a little.


    Ming Yekong even noted, "This kid only allotted 30% of his soul''s power to form the Violet Pce, leaving 70% to condense the Primal Infant. It''s so bold that it scared me a little."


    He himself had used half of his soul to form the Violet Pce and protect the Divine Soul, and even then, he had almost perished. As for using this opportunity toprehend the Dao, that was simply out of the question.


    As for Tang Jie, from those tendrils rising toward the heavens, one could see that Tang Jie was already beginning to seek out the Heavenly Dao.


    "The mighty are bold. Given his personality and this sturdy foundation he''s gotten for himself, he wouldn''t be him if he didn''t seek a perfect breakthrough," Ling Xiao replied.


    A perfect breakthrough required using only 30% of the Divine Soul''s power to protect itself. In this way, the nascent Primal Infant could restore the Divine Soul power that was used up, thus achieving perfection. As for Ming Yekong, who had used 50% of his Divine Soul to create the Violet Pce, he had permanently lost a part of his Divine Soul''s power, so if all else was equal, his Divine Connections would be weaker than others''.


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion was said to be the strongest of the six major sects in thister period because they had a secret art that could allow one to even recover from a loss of 50% of the Divine Soul, which meant that all of its True Lords had perfect Violet Pces. For this reason, they also had the extra strength toprehend the Daos. This was the case for both Jade Emptiness and Jewel. Only Xu Guanghua had been a letdown, but one could see from how he treated Xu Miaoran that he had never been a particrly bold man.


    It was just that Horizon Ocean Pavilion had had a very difficult time in its early days, causing it to lose many of its upper echelons. As a result, it didn''t have as many True Lords.


    On his end, Tang Jie was reliving his experience back in the Langya Blessed Land.


    The boundless sea of stars appeared before him, the majestic Heavenly Dao Law Wheel filling his vision.


    Even though this wasn''t his first time seeing it, Tang Jie was still awed by its majesty. In his heart, there was nothing more holy and sacred than the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel.


    But deep down, Tang Jie already had a vague feeling that the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel wasn''t that impressive.


    It was an inexplicable feeling, a cry that came from the depths of his soul, but Tang Jie forced it back down.


    He then sent his will flying into the distance.


    He was once again going to choose which Great Dao he wanted toprehend.


    It took only a moment''s thought for Tang Jie to reach his answer.


    Reincarnation!


    It wasn''t that he had a particr need for Reincarnation. Of the Twelve Great Daos, Reincarnation was perhaps the one he had the least use for, because it only took effect once one died. When a cultivator died, they would be a ghost and enter the Nether Domain, and their will would remain so that when they reincarnated, they would remember a part of their past life. Or perhaps the ghost would have a mind and be able to choose where they reincarnated. There were various directions one could take, but they all involved reincarnation and rebirth.


    The ck Tortoise''s Dao was Reincarnation, which was why it could preserve the memories of its past life and essentially live eternally. But it had significant ws, for the new incarnation wouldn''t carry on the bloodline, which made further advancement very difficult.


    Tang Jie didn''t have any need for Reincarnation, but he hadprehended ten of the Twelve Great Daos, leaving only Space and Reincarnation.


    When it came to Space, he had already made a lot of progress through the teleportation formation to the Verdant Cloud Domain, and he was on the verge ofprehending it. But with Reincarnation, unless he found a corresponding Dao armament or died himself, he would find it very hard toprehend.


    Now, with the help of the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel, he had an opportunity to make up for this gap, and Tang Jie wasn''t willing to let this opportunity pass.


    Nobody in the world had ever been able toprehend all Twelve Great Daos. Comprehending two or three was already an incredible feat.


    Tang Jie naturally wouldn''t pass up the opportunity for aplete set, so he extended his will toward the Great Dao of Reincarnation.


    Countless Dao Wills rushed into Tang Jie''s mind.


    At the same time, Tang Jie''s actual body was seated cross-legged in the middle of the Divine Genesis Immortal Ascension Formation. All of the talismans of the formation were illuminated at this moment, protecting Tang Jie''s substantializing Divine Soul. Everything was going smoothly.


    At this moment,ughter resounded through the heavens. "Tang Jie, you brat, you have the guts to leave the Basking Moon Sect''s protectednds and charge at Violet Pce in this border region? You think so little of my Beast Refining Gate? Die!"


    A giant beast head descended from the sky, seeking to devour Tang Jie.

 Chapter 769: Battle

    Chapter 769: Battle


    Everyone immediately leapt into action.


    Ming Yekong was the first to react, thrusting his sword at the beast head. "Jin Shanyue, this isn''t a ce you can mess around! Go back to where you came from!"


    His sword erupted with blinding radiance that pushed back the beast head. It now became apparent that this was a fiend with the mane of a lion and the head of a panther, possessing two horns and three hoofed legs.


    This was a Spotted Char, an extremely rare fiend.


    Just as Ming Yekong blocked that fiend''s attack, a crimson palm appeared out of nowhere and flew toward Tang Jie''s head.


    "That Tang Jie killed my son. Once I kill Tang Jie, I''ll naturally go back!" that booming voice said with augh.


    Ling Xiao suddenly grunted, and that crimson hand shrank back as if it had been struck by lightning. At the same time, Ming Yekong swung his sword at the sky, which tore open like a curtain. A man fell out of this fissure in spacea man with a curly beard, thick brows, andrge ears. This was the Sanguine True Lord of the Beast Refining Gate, Jin Shanyue, Jin Yutang''s father.


    But to say that Tang Jie had killed his son was somewhat unjust. It had clearly been Xu Miaoran who had killed him. But as the two were a couple, there was nothing wrong with the husband taking the fall for the wife.


    After being forced out by Ming Yekong''s sword, Jin Shanyue roared in fury, "What are you all standing around for? You want me to deal with Tang Jie on my own?"


    A voice heartily replied, "You were in too much of a rush, so who can you me?"


    Another figure emerged, together with a giant blue wolf the size of a small mountain.


    The Blue Sky Demon Wolf, and the Blue Wolf True Lord, Feng Muyuan.


    Everyone instantly tensed.


    Feng Muyuan had an excellent appearance, appearing like a refined and elegant schr. The moment he appeared, he bowed to Ling Xiao and said, "I pay my respects to Sect Master Ling Xiao, Divine Lord Xiao, and True Lord Ming. It has been a hundred years since ourst meeting. Have you been well?"


    Ming Yekong grunted, "Your tone is so gentle, but deep down, you hate me to my bones, no? It was me who ruined your nst time."


    "It''s nothing, nothing at all. Once we kill Tang Jie, this grudge will naturally be resolved," another voice said.


    This familiar voice made Xiao Biehan tremble. "Shi Wunian!"


    The figure of Shi Wunian arrived on the scene.


    "Don''t forget me!" a voice boomed.


    A golden-armored man appeared, an extremely long saber slung across his back.


    "Zhan Wushang!" Ling Xiao said. The appearance of a fourth Violet Pce expert made his brow crease.


    Ming Yekong chuckled. "It''s only a junior attempting to advance into Violet Pce, and it attracts both the Beast Refining Gate and Godhead? You must have a very high opinion of my Basking Moon Sect. If there''s anyone else, you might as well show yourselves as well."


    "Since the Night Sky True Lord has asked, how could we remain in hiding? Children,e out and pay your respects to the True Lord!" Feng Muyuan said with augh.


    Giant warships charged out of the clouds, carrying numerous Beast Refining Gate and Godhead Pce disciples. As these warships emerged, they pointed the dark barrels of their cannons down at the valley, making the people down below pale.


    Only Xiao Biehan was unafraid,ughing, "What''s the point in bringing peons like these? Isn''t there anyone more formidable? And where''s sex pest Han Wuxin? I don''t believe he wouldn''te here."


    Shi Wunian coldly replied, "The Beast Refining Gate and my Godhead Pce mobilized six Violet Pcelevel experts in all, which is enough to deal with you. Old Fourth doesn''t like crowds, so he already went off on his own to take a stroll around your honored sect in case the Basking Moon Sect was up to something."


    This news left everyone stunned.


    A Violet Pce expert running around the territory of the Basking Moon Sect certainly wasn''t a good thing. Fortunately, Mystic Moon and Nine Splendors had remained, so they could hold him down, but this equally meant that they would be held down froming to the aid of the group at Heavenly Bnce Mountain.


    Zhan Wushang shouted, "Don''t worry. So long as you don''t try anything, Old Fourth understands restraint. We came here only to take Tang Jie''s life. If you''re willing to hand him over, our lowly sect will be endlessly grateful."


    Ming Yekong snorted. "My Basking Moon Sect has never cared for the gratitude of your Godhead Pce. You want to kill a disciple of this sect? Come and take it yourself if you can!"


    He stabbed his sword at Zhan Wushang.


    Zhan Wushang smirked. "Ming Yekong, you''re only at Infant Tending, still no match for me."


    He removed thatrge saber from his back and casually blocked Ming Yekong''s strike.


    At the same time, Shi Wunian, Jin Shanyue, and Feng Muyuan joined the Blue Sky Demon Wolf and the Spotted Char in attacking Tang Jie.


    Ling Xiao''s eyes shed, and a white barrier appeared over Tang Jie''s head. Thebined might of five Violet Pcelevel experts struck the barrier in a blinding explosion of rainbow light.


    Xiao Biehan also took action, shing at the three humans and two beasts.


    It was only one swing, but all five felt like they were the one being targeted, and it was impossible to escape. Their only option was to use spell arts to resist.


    Shi Wunian grunted and pushed out his hands. As soon as that sword light touched his palm, it disappeared.


    But Feng Muyuan, Jin Shanyue, and their pets retreated a step, clearly faring worse in this exchange.


    Although they had the greater numbers, the Beast Refining Gate''s True Lords were rather mediocre. Feng Muyuan and Jin Shanyue were both at Deification, while Shi Wunian, Xiao Biehan, and Ling Xiao were all at Soul Projection. Thus, even though it was two versus five, the two werepletely unafraid.


    On the other hand, Ming Yekong wasn''t faring well against Zhan Wushang. Zhan Wushang was at Deification, one tier higher than Ming Yekong, and he was also one of the best Deification cultivators when it came to actualbat. The difference in cultivation allowed Zhan Wushang to firmly suppress Ming Yekong, and Ming Yekong was dealing with a huge amount of pressure. Thankfully, because of his spatial shifting spell arts, he could at least endure, but even that was difficult against Zhan Wushang''s terrifying ughter War Saber. Fortunately, Ling Xiao had the upper hand against the Beast Refining Gate''s four Deification-level experts, so he asionally helped Ming Yekong.


    At the same time, the disciples of Godhead and Beast Refining charged at the Basking Moon Sect''s disciples.


    Therge force the two sects had brought made it clear that they were nning not only to kill Tang Jie, but to deal a heavy blow to the Basking Moon Sect''s foundations. Even if they couldn''t destroy the Basking Moon Sect, if they killed all their talents, then after one thousand years, the sect would have declined from ack of capable hands.


    The Basking Moon disciples held fast, activating the defensive formation they had set down and using its power to defend themselves.


    Arge-scale cultivator battle had begun.


    shing weapons and torrents of spell arts tore across the heavens in an awe-inspiring and gorgeous struggle to the death.


    Numerous people even charged up to Tang Jie and attempted to kill this mortal foe of the two sects, but they were powerless against Ling Xiao''s Limitless True Astral Barrier.


    Feng Muyuan barked, "Disciples, attack the Limitless Barrier!"


    "Yes!" the disciples of the sects roared, focusing their attacks on the barrier.


    Just like Wang Juemie against Tang Jie''s hundreds of clones, the barrage of attacks from all these disciples had the Limitless True Astral Barrier guttering like a candle in the wind.


    Seeing this, Ling Xiao grunted and added anotheryer to the barrier.


    But when experts fought, a split second''s distraction had massive ramifications.


    Dividing his attention for this brief moment slowed his reaction time, and Shi Wunian''s palm roared up and mmed into Ling Xiao''s chest.


    Ling Xiao grunted and staggered backward. Shi Wunian chuckled, "At Violet Pce, arts can be cast with a thought, and being distracted is the same as not reacting. Sect Master, how could you make such a mistake? It is only a single junior. Getting hurt for Tang Jie''s sake simply isn''t worth it."


    While talking, he unleashed Divine Connection upon Divine Connection at Ling Xiao.


    Ling Xiao snorted, his sleeves flying as he neutralized Shi Wunian''s attacks. "Shi Wunian, your Godhead Pce should worry about itself first. You think you''re the only ones with allies?"


    "You''re talking about the Thousand Passions Sect?" Shi Wunian let out a strange cackle. "Just forget it. Do you not know that the Thousand Passions Sect has long been unhappy about Tang Jie''s rtionship with Xu Miaoran? The inter-domain trade is so profitable, but rather than work with the Basking Moon Sect''s ally, the Thousand Passions Sect, Tang Jie chose to work with Horizon Ocean Pavilion instead. Just who is the ally of the Basking Moon Sect here? And what position do you think you left the Thousand Passions Sect in? Let me tell you something. The lord of our pce already paid a personal visit to the Thousand Passions Sect and convinced them to note to your aid so that you can know just who your real friends are. Casually damaging a rtionshipes at a cost. Since you got on good terms with Horizon Ocean Pavilion, go and seek reinforcements from them instead, hahahaa!"


    Shi Wunian heartilyughed.


    Ling Xiao scornfully said, "Who said that my Basking Moon Sect has to seek help from only the Thousand Passions Sect or Horizon Ocean Pavilion?"


    Shi Wunian was startled. "Not them? Then who is it?"


    But as soon as he asked, Shi Wunian knew that he had asked an unnecessary question.


    Since the Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion were out of the question, then there was only one faction the Basking Moon Sect could get help from: the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    Shi Wunian immediately shivered, questioning, "Where are they? Where are the Seven Absolutions Sect''s people?"


    Xiao Biehanughed, "They''re not here. They naturally went to Nadir Hill to raid your base!"


    Shi Wunian was dumbfounded.


    "That''s impossible!" he roared.


    "You''ll find out yourself once you get back," Ling Xiao replied.


    Shi Wunian erupted inughter. "I see! You''re trying to fool me into going back, right? Ling Xiao, you really think I''m that easy to trick? Whether or not the Seven Absolutions Sect is attacking my Nadir Hill, I won''t go back until I''ve killed Tang Jie! I dere my great aspiration to destroy the Limitless True Astral Barrier!"


    As Shi Wunian roared, a scarlet light appeared in his palm, shooting toward the barrier below.


    The palm st easily pierced through the barrier created by Sect Master Ling Xiao.


    At this time, Tang Jie''s Divine Soul was already 90% substantialized, and he was on the verge of reaching Violet Pce.


    At this moment, Shi Wunian''s palm came crushing down on Tang Jie''s head.


    With one strike, obliteration!

 Chapter 770: The Power of Spacetime

    Chapter 770: The Power of Spacetime


    The full-strength strike of a Soul Projection True Lord could copse mountains, sunder the earth, reverse rivers, and deprive the sun and moon of their light.


    As Shi Wunian thrust out his palm, he could already envision Tang Jie being obliterated, and he crazilyughed. "Tang Jie, you''re finally dead!"


    The losses and humiliation Tang Jie had inflicted on him over thest two hundred years had finally been purged. After letting go of the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, Shi Wunian felt like his heart was as light as a feather.


    Searching for the hidden realm for two hundred years had turned out to be a heavy burden on their hearts, and only now was this burden lifted!


    Shi Wunian let out a sigh.


    But as he drew back his hand, he saw something absurd.


    In that crater at the bottom of the Valley of the Eight Wilds, Tang Jie was still there! He was still sitting down, still condensing his Divine Soul,pletely unaffected. Even the shing formation, the shining talismans, and the nts in the valley were unharmed.


    Shi Wunian was dumbfounded.


    Was it an illusion?


    But this was impossible!


    He was Shi Wunian!


    He controlled Insight and cultivated the Celestial Eye that could see through illusions, could differentiate between truth and false, fiction and reality. There was no illusion that could escape his gaze, and at times, a simple re would suffice to break through weaker illusions and inflict bacsh onto his opponent.


    The moment he appeared, he had used the Celestial Eye to look at Tang Jie, and had confirmed that it was the real Tang Jie and not a fake. How could he have turned into an illusion?


    Shi Wunian was deeply confused.


    Perplexed, Shi Wunian took out a jade ruler and threw it at Tang Jie. This time, Shi Wunian clearly saw the jade ruler reach Tang Jie''s head, upon which water-like ripples appeared.


    These ripples made Shi Wunian shudder.


    With his rich experience and sharp eyes, how could he not tell what this was?


    "The power of Space!" Shi Wunian cried out.


    What surrounded Tang Jie was the power of Space.


    Shi Wunian instantly understood that Tang Jie really wasn''t using an illusion, but the power of Space.


    Tang Jie really was breaking through into Violet Pce, but the power of Space had distorted Tang Jie''s real location.


    In other words, what he was seeing wasn''t the actual location of Tang Jie''s breakthrough at all! It was no wonder his attacks had had no effect.


    A trap!


    This was a trap targeting Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate!!


    This thought emerged in Shi Wunian''s mind.


    In a sh between Violet Pce experts, to be distracted was to concede the round!


    His attack on Tang Jie and subsequent bewilderment at Tang Jie''s situation allowed Xiao Biehan to attack Shi Wunian with his Sky-Parting Sword, unleashing a lethal wave of sword intent.


    Shi Wunian had no time to properly block it, only having time to bellow and summon a golden light to protect him.


    When it came to defense, Godhead Pce was unsurpassed, and when Shi Wunian focused all his power on defense, even someone as strong as Xiao Biehan would find it hard to break through.


    But at this moment, Xiao Biehan''s eyes shed with a crafty light.


    When Shi Wunian saw this, his heart turned cold.


    But it was toote.


    Xiao Biehan''s Sky-Parting Sword exploded, unleashing a st of sword energy at Shi Wunian.


    The moment this sword energy appeared, all the world turned dark.


    This sword light seemed to be the only thing in the world, imbued with infinite destion and sorrow as it shot toward Shi Wunian.


    "The God-Conquering Merak Sword!" Shi Wunian screeched in fear.


    The Basking Moon Sect''s number one Dao armament, the God-Conquering Merak Sword!


    The Beast Refining Gate and Godhead Pce were both familiar with its powers.


    If he had known that Xiao Biehan had brought the God-Conquering Merak Sword, Shi Wunian would have never chosen to directly sh with Xiao Biehan.


    The God-Conquering Merak Sword was considered the strongest offensive Dao armament among the six major sects. Those struck by it were bound to die, because the God-Conquering Merak Sword directly attacked the Divine Soul.


    The God Conqueror conquered the soul.


    In other words, such was the power of the God-Conquering Merak Sword that even a Supreme True Immortal could have their soul obliterated by it.


    It wasmon knowledge among the other five major sects that one could never take on the God-Conquering Merak Sword directly.


    But Shi Wunian had been tricked by Xiao Biehan into doing so and thrown himself into a desperate situation.


    The cold light sliced through the world and then sliced through Shi Wunian''s defenses as if they weren''t there.


    Despair appeared on Shi Wunian''s face.


    At this moment, a streak of dark light appeared out of nowhere and struck the tip of the God-Conquering Merak Sword.


    It was only a little dot of dark energy, but it exploded with such power that it managed to stop the God-Conquering Merak Sword.


    Shi Wunian didn''t know who had saved him, but he immediately seized this chance to escape, elerating to his maximum speed with a single thought.


    But he was still unable topletely break free of the God-Conquering Merak Sword''s attack range. After that brief pause, the God-Conquering Merak Sword continued its attack, the grooves on the sword shining with a light that could awe souls and obliterate divinity. Shi Wunian felt like a needle had been stabbed into his brain and into his Divine Soul, threatening to burst it open.


    "AAAAH!" Shi Wunian screamed as he transformed into a streak of light and flew into the distance.


    "Just stay right there!" Xiao Biehanughed as he thrust out his Sky-Parting Sword. While the Merak Sword was strong, using it even once took immense energy, which was why he only used it at key moments.


    The energy from his sword transformed into a string ofets. This was the 19 Star Sword that Cai Junyang had learned before, but when Xiao Biehan used it, the power was on apletely different level. The 19 motes of light had a lethal allure, resonating with each other as they took aim at Shi Wunian''s weak points.


    Shi Wunian''s head was on the verge of breaking apart, so he was in no ce to defend himself. Just then, another dark mote of light flew out from the distance, striking the Sky-Parting Sword and interfering again with Xiao Biehan''s attack.


    "Meng Guanshan!" Xiao Biehan roared in fury over having been obstructed twice.


    With this roar, a figure emerged from the void: an imposing man with red brows. But most astonishing of all was the long tail extending from his back.


    The Half-Fiend Divine Lord, Meng Guanshan, the Master of the Beast Refining Gate, and the strongest person in that sect besides its Earth Immortal.


    The greatest difference between this man and the other True Lords of the Beast Refining Gate was that he had no fiends.


    To be more precise, he had fiends before, but he had refined all of the fiends he had raised into his body, turning himself into a half-fiend, half-human. This had made him tremendously powerful and turned him into the Beast Refining Gate''s strongestbatant.


    Meng Guanshan said nothing, only letting out a roar of extreme discontent.


    He had been lying in ambush so that he could kill either Xiao Biehan or Ling Xiao, but instead of killing, he had been saving instead. A perfectly fine ambush had been turned into a covering action, so he was naturally unhappy.


    With this bestial roar, Meng Guanshan began to sprout thick ck fur along his body, and ws began to sprout from his fingersas it turned out, those dark motes of light had been his fingernails. With fiendish energy howling around him, he swiped a w at Xiao Biehan.


    Five fingers tore through space!


    At the same time, Shi Wunian retreated at full speed. The God-Conquering Merak Sword had greatly injured his Divine Soul, and he was no longer fit for battle. Just when he was about to leave the battlefield, he saw Tang Jie down below, on the verge of substantializing his Divine Soul.


    Beneath a dome of violet energy, a little Primal Infant was solemnly floating in the air, radiating light as it melded with the surrounding environment.


    The divine linking to the world, the mind connecting to the universe.


    Now, Tang Jie only needed to bring the Violet Pce and Primal Infant back into his body to be considered as having sessfully reached the next realm. By this stage, there was really no danger left.


    At this moment, Shi Wunian saw slight ripples appearing around Tang Jie. These were ripples of Space power.


    From these ripples, Shi Wunian suddenly realized that this Space power was not particrly strong.


    He analyzed that this was only Space power derived from a most basicprehension of the Space Dao.


    If this was the case, the space that Tang Jie had distorted couldn''t be too far away.


    In other words Tang Jie was nearby.


    The moment he thought this, Shi Wunian began to look around.


    Where?


    Just where was Tang Jie hiding?


    Shi Wunian examined the mountains around him, looking here and there but finding nothing. All of Heavenly Bnce Mountain had be a battlefield, and there was no ce for Tang Jie to hide.


    If he was charging at Violet Pce, there were bound to be heavenly phenomena.


    But any heavenly phenomena had been scattered by the battle or covered up by all the spell arts flying here and there.


    As Shi Wunian was frantically looking around, he suddenly realized something and looked at Tang Jie again.


    Tang Jie was still sitting there, his surroundings peaceful, showing no signs of being disturbed.


    But Shi Wunian noticed that even the nts around Tang Jie were undisturbed.


    They didn''t move in the slightest, as if they were dead.


    Shi Wunian focused his vision.


    Illusion!


    Through the Celestial Eye, Shi Wunian saw that all of the nts and soil around Tang Jie were illusory.


    He wasn''t on the ground!


    Shi Wunian looked up at the sky in realization.


    But the battle was taking ce on both the sky and the ground. Just where in the sky could he be?


    Any higher was the Domain Astral Winds.


    An unbelievable idea appeared in his mind, one that made Shi Wunian shiver.


    He couldn''t have run off to the Domain Astral Winds to make the breakthrough into Violet Pce, could he?


    To be honest, this was the most likely possibility.


    Because only a ce free of obstructions like the sky could allow Tang Jie to maximize the Space power under his control, allowing him to stay far away enough from the battlefield to be unaffected. At the same time, Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate would never think that he would go into the Astral Winds.


    Although Tang Jie wasn''t strong enough to head into the depths of the Astral Winds, if it was just the much weaker Astral Winds on the edge, and if there was a Violet Pce Titan protecting him, it was entirely possible, and it just so happened that two of the Basking Moon Sect''s True Lords were not present.


    Shi Wunian shivered all over.


    By this time, Tang Jie''s ascension was entering its final phase.


    Shi Wunian put aside all his worries and charged into the clouds.


    He flew straight upward, right into the outer edges of the Astral Wind Zone. And just as he expected, Tang Jie was here.


    He was seated on a ship.


    The Crimson Glow Pavilion Warship.


    All of his arrangements had actually been performed on the warship, with Yiyi creating nts on the deck.


    The warship was surrounded by a giant defensive barrier that kept out the Astral Winds.


    The one who had created this defensive barrier was none other than the Mystic Moon True Lord.


    Being only at Deification, keeping out the Astral Winds, even those only of the outer perimeter, was taking all of his power, and he had no time for anything else.


    Shi Wunian was ted, raising up his Measure Heaven Ruler and swinging it at the barrier. If he could destroy this barrier, he could kill two Violet Pce experts of the Basking Moon Sect.


    "Tang Jie, you''re dead!" Shi Wunian howled.


    The Measure Heaven Ruler struck the barrier, but then those familiar ripples reappeared.


    What was going on here?


    Shi Wunian said in shock, "This is the power of Time!"


    He cried out, instantly realizing that he was in trouble.


    A giant fist barreled out of the Astral Winds and crashed into Shi Wunian''s body.


    "Devil Crushing Fist!"


    "Aaaaah!" Shi Wunian screamed, half of his body obliterated by the fist.


    With this punch, Tang Jie emerged.


    Shi Wunian was wrong.


    What Tang Jie had distorted wasn''t just space, but also time.


    He was already at Violet Pce!

 Chapter 771: The Myriad Immortals Cauldron

    Chapter 771: The Myriad Immortals Cauldron


    A shrieking Shi Wunian was sent tumbling through the air.


    As he was thrown back, a palm came shooting toward himthe Mystic Moon True Lord had attacked.


    Just when it seemed like Shi Wunian was doomed, his entire body erupted with golden light that blocked the Mystic Moon True Lord''s attack.


    Godhead Pce''s defensive abilities were unsurpassed, and the Mystic Moon True Lord was an entire tier below Shi Wunian, so as a result, the palm did nothing.


    But just as the palm was blocked, Tang Jie swung an item at Shi Wunian.


    The Myriad Immortals Cauldron!


    Now that Tang Jie had entered Violet Pce, he could finally use this Dao armament.


    A cauldron that fixed the heavens and earth, lorded over Yin and Yang.


    The moment the Myriad Immortals Cauldron appeared, Shi Wunian immediately felt its threatening pressure and cried out, "A Dao armament!"


    Shi Wunian fell into despair.


    If it was just Mystic Moon and Tang Jie, one Deification and one Infant Tending, then even with his injuries, Shi Wunian was not in apletely hopeless situation. After all, the cultivation gap was just too great.


    But things werepletely different if Tang Jie had a Dao armament.


    He didn''t know what function this Dao armament had, but he knew that all Dao armaments possessed supreme divine might and were not to be underestimated. If one tried to oppose one without understanding its nature, one could easily end up dead in both body and soul.


    His Divine Soul had already been injured by the God-Conquering Merak Sword, and then the Devil Crushing Fist had mangled his physical body. Injured in both body and soul, he had no confidence in taking on two Violet Pce experts supported by a Dao armament. He knew that he would lose if he tried to fight, so he hardened his resolve.


    His half-shredded body suddenly imploded, turning into a flood of crimson light that converged within Shi Wunian''s body. Shi Wunian turned into a bloody light and flew into the distance, and in the blink of an eye, he had escaped.


    "Damn it!" Tang Jie was frantic over the fact that his grand n had failed to kill Shi Wunian.


    He wanted to give chase, but Mystic Moon stopped him. "Don''t give chase. The old thing has put everything into escaping, so we won''t be able to catch him."


    Tang Jie clenched his fists. "This disciple understands, just is a little unwilling. After all, I went through so much effort to trap him, but he still managed to get away."


    The Mystic Moon True Lord smiled. "It seems to me that you''ve gotten used to getting your way back in the Verdant Cloud Domain, thinking that Violet Pce experts are that easy to kill. In truth, anyone who got to this point has something hidden up their sleeve. Shi Wunian is still a Soul Projection Tier cultivator. If he were that easy to kill, he wouldn''t be him. But his Divine Soul was heavily injured by the Swordholder, and then you sted his physical body, after which he had to use a forbidden art, greatly injuring his foundation. In my view, he will need at least two hundred years to recover. Moreover, such is the power of the God-Conquering Sword that if he doesn''t recover the right way, he will find it hard to advance any further in this life, and will perhaps even weaken in power."


    "Only two hundred years," Tang Jie muttered, clearly not satisfied with this answer. Although he could recover the strength used in that punch in only a few moments, he still was resentful over the fact that Shi Wunian only needed to recover for two hundred years.


    The more he thought about it, the more dissatisfied he was. "No, after doing all this, I''ll suffer a loss if I don''t kill one Violet Pce."


    Mystic Moon was startled. "What is your intention?"


    "Shi Wunian has escaped, but aren''t there still some Violet Pce experts down below?" Tang Jie sinisterly said. He turned around and took on the form of Shi Wunian.


    Mystic Moon was so stunned that he needed some time to react.


    Tang Jie said, "Come and chase me."


    He flew down below.


    The Mystic Moon True Lord realized that Tang Jie wanted to put on a show so that he couldunch a sneak attack as Shi Wunian.


    Mystic Moon had spent his entire life cultivating and could be considered a true homebody. When he fought with people, he was always open and honest, never relying on tricks, so he had never expected Tang Jie to do this and was momentarily taken aback.


    He didn''t know that Tang Jie was familiar with such methods and thought that he hade up with it on the spot. Hemented with a bitter smile, "Young people these days really have a lot of ideas."


    Though he shook his head in speechlessness, he still gave chase at incredible speed, flourishing his sword and roaring, "Shi Wunian, where are you running!?"


    Although his acting was somewhat poor and could be easily identified as fake, Shi Wunian''s allies down below didn''t have the concentration to spare. When they noticed Shi Wunian charging down, they thought he wasing to help them, and none of them tried to stop him. On the contrary, Ling Xiao sent a watery cloud sweeping toward him, causing Tang Jie to frantically use the Chaoswind Step to evade.


    "Eh?" Ling Xiao was startled by this sight.


    Tang Jie rushed up to the Sanguine True Lord and said, "Brother Jin, I''ll help you deal with Ling Xiao while you hold off that old man for me!"


    Jin Shanyue shouted, "Deal!"


    Shi Wunian had a higher cultivation realm than him, so having him deal with Ling Xiao while he dealt with Mystic Moon was much more preferable. As for why Shi Wunian, who was one tier higher than he was, was running from Mystic Moon, he didn''t have time to think about it.


    This was because when Tang Jie passed by him, he pulled out the Sovereign de and swung it at Jin Shanyue.


    The Ten Extinctions de!


    Jin Shanyue was facing Mystic Moon and had no idea that Tang Jie would attack him from behind.


    But the Spotted Char fiend sensed that something wasn''t right and charged at Tang Jie with a roar, spewing out a pir of ck smoke. If one looked carefully, one would see that this pir of ck smoke was actually made of countless flying ants. The Spotted Char was actually a strange symbiote, acting as an ant nest for countless Skyborn Toxin Ants. These ants were as big as grasshoppers, fierce by nature, and born with mandibles that could easily cut through metal. The moment the ants got onto someone, they would devour them until nothing was left.


    Not knowing the power of these ants, Tang Jie ignored them and continued to swing his sword. Just when the ants were about to reach him, Ling Xiao waved a sleeve, sweeping the ants away. It was clear that he had recognized his disciple.


    Feng Muyuan also realized that something was wrong, shouting, "Brother Jin"


    Before he could finish, the Ten Extinctions de swept through Jin Shanyue''s neck, sending arge head flying into the air. The power of Destruction attached to the head, swiftly destroying it.


    But Jin Shanyue still wasn''t dead. On the contrary, another head grew out from his chest cavity, and he turned to re at Tang Jie. "Shi Wunian, what''s the meaning of this?"


    But then he saw that Tang Jie had gone back to his original form.


    "Tang Jie!" Everyone was stunned to see Tang Jie, and they finally realized that they had fallen into a trap set by the Basking Moon Sect.


    As for the now-missing Shi Wunian, he had most likely been a hapless victim.


    Their confidence fell, and even the force of their offensive dropped. On the other hand, the Basking Moon disciples were energized and were able to strike back.


    "Eh?" Tang Jie was startled to see Jin Shanyue growing his head back so quickly.


    Although he knew that cutting off the head of a Violet Pce expert didn''t mean death, it was rare to see someone shake it off as easily as Jin Shanyue.


    While he was surprised, he still moved quickly, taking out the Myriad Immortals Cauldron. But rather than throwing it at Jin Shanyue, he instead targeted the Spotted Char.


    The Spotted Char was too focused on saving its master, charging in with no thought of dodging. Seeing the Myriad Immortals Cauldron approaching, it swatted a w at it. But Jin Shanyue could sense the threatening pressure of the cauldron and shouted, "My baby, dodge! Don''t try and take it on directly!"


    But it was toote.


    The Spotted Char''s w struck the cauldron.


    This strike activated all the patterns on the cauldron.


    The Immortals and fiends stirred, the clouds roiled, and the world was deprived of light. The Spotted Char''s body shrank into a mote of light and was sucked into the cauldron. The cauldron rotated in the air, and ck smoke began to rise from it. Inside, one could make out the ethereal form of a fiend tumbling about, screeching and howlingit was the Spotted Char battling with the Myriad Immortals Cauldron.


    Although Jin Shanyue didn''t know that this was the Myriad Immortals Cauldron or what function this item had, he knew of other treasures that could suck people into them. Once something was sucked inside, it would have toe out quickly or else be stuck inside forever.


    He frantically punched at the Myriad Immortals Cauldron.


    The Myriad Immortals Cauldron was busy with the fiend and couldn''t resist, which was one of its ws.


    But as Jin Shanyue punched, Ling Xiao waved a sleeve, easily neutralizing the attack.


    The Sect Master of the Basking Moon Sect was elegant and graceful, even in battle. His attacks weren''t sharp or vicious, but they were precisely ced, exhibiting a mastery in countering and neutralization. Although he had yet to kill a person, he had saved many disciples on his side. Under his protection, the likes of Ming Yekong and Tang Jie could fight as they wanted and fully exhibit their might.


    Jin Shanyue was intercepted, and at the same time, Mystic Moon and Tang Jie attacked him from two sides, a palm and a sword striking Jin Shanyue in the chest and the back, and Jin Shanyue screamed. But a momentter, his body swiftly grew back, even faster than Tang Jie could recover.


    "Even this is possible?" Tang Jie was bbergasted.


    Had this guy entered the Dao of Life?


    But Tang Jie knew that this definitely wasn''t it. The Sanguine True Lord was a True Lord, not a Celestial Sovereign, so while he might haveprehended the Dao, he couldn''t have entered the Dao.


    There had to be some unknown secret art at y.


    Just as Mystic Moon had said, any Violet Pce expert had a few hidden cards up their sleeves, and killing them was no easy task.


    But Tang Jie wasn''t convinced. He activated his Celestial Eye, and his Great Dao Realm of Insight appeared.


    His Insight was primarily focused on seeing through the weaknesses of his enemies.


    But this path was very difficult to follow, several levels more difficult than the Celestial Eye of Illusion. For this reason, it had never had a very prominent effect, only working on a few specially designated targets.


    Now that he was at Violet Pce and much stronger, his powers of Insight had also been greatly increased.


    Through the Celestial Eye, he saw that some strange substance was flowing within Jin Shanyue''s body. Carefully examining it, he smiled and said, "I get it now."


    He lightly swung the Sovereign de at Jin Shanyue''s shoulder de, and as it dug in, Jin Shanyue shuddered, his movements slowing down a little. With a flick of the de, Tang Jie removed a small red cicada.


    "So it was a parasitic red cicada. True Lord Jin, you really go all out when ites to your life." Tang Jie was startled at first, and then he spoke in a mocking tone.


    Everyone was startled to hear the parasitic red cicada being mentioned, with even Meng Guanshan and Feng Muyuan looking at Jin Shanyue in surprise.


    The parasitic red cicada was an extremely rare fiend, and its greatest attribute was that it absorbed a person''s life force and stored it up, feeding it to its master whenever they were injured. But the person who had their life force absorbed and the person the life force was fed to weren''t the same person. Instead, they had to be two closely rted people.


    Jin Shanyue had only one son: the deceased Jin Yutang.


    In other words, the parasitic red cicada had been sucking the life of his son. Thus, Jin Shanyue''s love for his son had been fake. For his own sake, he could sacrifice anything, so it was no wonder he was so irresponsible when it came to his son.


    He didn''t love his son, not in the slightest. But he feigned being a doting father precisely to create a weak point to deceive his enemies.


    This was most shameless behavior.


    This was a secret that Jin Shanyue had hid extremely well, but Tang Jie had picked it out with a swing of his sword. Suddenly, the Sovereign de turned into a metal umbre, opening up and sttering the cicada into pieces.


    Without the parasitic cicada, Jin Shanyue no longer had such freakish recovery abilities.


    A momentter, the Mystic Moon True Lord attacked Jin Shanyue and Tang Jie once more unleashed the Ten Extinctions de on Jin Shanyue''s back.


    This time, he couldn''t heal so easily.


    At the same time, the battle in the Myriad Immortals Cauldron came to an end.


    A Deification-level great fiend ultimately couldn''t ovee the pressure of a Dao armament. Its roars faded away into nothingness, and a new image appeared on the Myriad Immortals Cauldron.


    A roaring Spotted Char!

 Chapter 772: Major Victory

    Chapter 772: Major Victory


    Ruling over Yin and Yang, fixing the heavens and earth.


    This was the secret of the Myriad Immortals Cauldron.


    It could suppress all things and turn the real into ethereal, imprinting them like an image onto the cauldron for all time. The people etched into the cauldron were actually all the people it had sealed, and never again would they be able to break free of it.


    It could also turn the ethereal into the real, unleashing the existences within the cauldron to attack its enemies. Those images that had been sealed there for ten thousand years had long ago be real paintings and could no longer be summoned, but the newly absorbed Spotted Char could be used. But the Spotted Char was at the Deification level, stronger than Tang Jie, so even if it were released, rather than listen to him, it might attack him, so Tang Jie couldn''t use it for now. Thus, there was still a level requirement when it came to using the Myriad Immortals Cauldron. The higher his tier, the more of its functions he could use.


    The Myriad Immortals Cauldron could seal Soul Projection cultivators at the maximum. While it could seal Earth Immortals with great difficulty, even if they were sealed, an Earth Immortal could break out again. This was a limitation of the Myriad Immortals Cauldron. But while it had this limit when it came to quality, it had no limit in terms of quantity. So long as one was willing, the Myriad Immortals Cauldron could seal many people, and if one was strong enough, one could summon these people in battle and use numbers to drown their foe.


    Right now, while Tang Jie didn''t have the strength to fully use it, the sealing power of the Myriad Immortals Cauldron was enough.


    With the Spotted Char sealed, Jin Shanyue felt his connection with his beloved beast being severed, and he wailed as if his arm had been cut off, "My baby!"


    The sorrow this time was real. His son had existed only because of the parasitic cicada, and he had pampered him only to fool his enemies, but the Spotted Char was his true love. He treated it like an extension of himself, and he had grown up together with it. How could he not be enraged to see Tang Jie sealing it?


    While howling in grief, he madly lunged at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie sneered, his eyes shing as he released his Divine Will.


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    His Divine Will was connected to the world, and he felt like this entire region was under his control.


    Tang Jie knew that this was the Violet Pce Realm''s ability to cast arts with a thought.


    He imagined casting Nine Heavens Cmity des in his mind, and a cloud erupted in the heavens, des of lightning descending from it and falling towards Jin Shanyue. He had used thought casting to create these Nine Heavens Cmity des.


    Because he was a new Violet Pce expert, he had been relying on his old methods in the earlier battles. It was only now that he remembered that he was at Violet Pce. Other than using brute force, he could also use spell arts to fight.


    It was also at this time that he realized that thought casting wasn''t something as easily done as thinking a spell to cast it. There were actually many limitations.


    First of all, when thought casting, one had to distribute one''s Divine Will so that it could connect to the world and enter the proper state for thought casting. It was for this reason that fiends called the Violet Pce Realm "Divine Division".


    Secondly, when thought casting, one had to visualize the spell art in question, including how it came to be and its exact function. Thus, thought casting was a major challenge to one''s thinking speed. Of course, the slowest thought was still much faster than physically casting the spell.


    Finally, because of the reason above, a spell cast through thought casting had to be aplete spell. One couldn''t simply think a new spell art out of nothing.


    Still, now that he was at Violet Pce, Tang Jie could cast spell arts much faster than before, and because his Divine Will had substantialized, all of his spell arts were stronger.


    The Nine Heavens Cmity des rained down on Jin Shanyue, and their greater power left Jin Shanyue in a wretched state.


    Tang Jie still wasn''t satisfied yet. He had just ascended to Violet Pce and was still anxious to y with his new toy. With another thought, a giant appeared in the sky, thrusting a finger at Jin Shanyuethe Heavenly King Mara Incantation.


    But what had originally taken ages to cast now took Tang Jie only a thought.


    Following that were three Matchless shes and nine Star Fingers.


    Tang Jie was like a mischievous child, using every spell art he knew, firing them off like he was an artillery battery. But while he was all gleeful and giddy, Jin Shanyue was being pulverized.


    The Violet Pce experts of the Beast Refining Gate focused mostly on raising their beasts, which meant that they were a little weak on their own. In a one-on-one, Jin Shanyue wasn''t even necessarily a match for Mystic Moon, not even considering Tang Jie. Tang Jie had been able to fight an Infant Tending cultivator when he wasn''t even at Violet Pce, so now that he was, his strength wasparable to the Deification Tier, and he was currently using all the abilities at his disposal. Jin Shanyue threw out an art relic, and it was struck down by a swing from Tang Jie''s de. He threw out a divine treasure, and it met the same fate. He threw out one more divine treasure, and it was again struck down, all of them turning into golden grains that flew into Tang Jie''s hand. Jin Shanyue was on the verge of going mad from frustration. In such circumstances, he was no match for his adversaries, and the best he could do was just barely hold on.


    As his end faltered, Feng Muyuan also became endangered. He and his pet wolf were no match for Ling Xiao and were being heavily suppressed. Not only that, Zhan Wushang had been swept into their battle as well, Ling Xiao managing to easily handle all three Deification-level opponents. This freed Ming Yekong to rampage through the Beast Refining Gate and Godhead Pce disciples, and much to their vexation, he focused only on the capable disciples.


    The Beast Refining Gate and Godhead Pce had essentially gone all-out for this battle, the Beast Refining Gate sending five Violet Pcelevel experts and Godhead Pce sending three, basically sending all their experts besides the sect master. They thought that this force would be enough to easily bring down the Basking Moon Sect, but the Basking Moon Sect had still given them a surprise.


    The ultimate reason was that they had underestimated the Basking Moon Sect''s preparations. To protect Tang Jie, Xiao Biehan had even brought out the God-Conquering Merak Sword, and besides that, Tang Jie was able to control the power of Spacetime, warping both Time and Space. All these factors turned a battle to defend Tang Jie while he ascended to Violet Pce into a trap to exterminate the enemy.


    Now, Shi Wunian had fled after being heavily injured, the Spotted Char had been sealed, and the Basking Moon Sect had an additional Deification-level Violet Pce expert in Tang Jie. The bnce of power between the upper echelons of the two sides had shifted massively.


    Tang Jie didn''t think this was enough and wanted to shift the bnce in the lower ranks too.


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    He traded a blow with Jin Shanyue, using his thrown-up blood from Jin Shanyue''s palm strike to create thousands of clones, which threw themselves into the battle.


    Now that he was at Violet Pce, these clones were much stronger, with the greatest difference being that they could move on from Dragonlike Hands to Heavenly Cloud des.


    Although the illusory clones couldn''t thought cast, as their thousands of hands moved, countless shing des descended from the skies.


    One person could summon 81 Heavenly Cloud des, and there were thousands of them, so the number of des was simply astonishing.


    A terrifying deluge of des descended, covering the sky in sharp des and long chains.


    Some unfortunate cultivators were struck by several hundred des all at once and obliterated.


    Some Godhead Pce cultivators believed in their formidable defenses, casting barriers, shing their Godhead Armors, and calling out "The defense of Godhead is unshakable!" But a momentter, hundreds of des battered their barriers, which onlysted a few seconds before exploding into rainbow light, upon which their owners were sliced into fine meat paste.


    There were cultivators of higher cultivation realms who recklessly believed that they were strong enough to use attacks to deal with attacks. One Heart Demon cultivator saw that these were spell arts summoned by illusions and unleashed a storm of ice needles to dispel them. And he truly managed to do this, but as one batch of Heavenly Cloud des disappeared, even more came pouring in, sweeping over him andpletely consuming him.


    Tang Jie wasn''t satisfied and shook the Sovereign de in his hand, upon which it turned into 36 de rings of varying sizes. Tang Jie tossed them out, and they each flew at their specified target.


    Art relic shards rained down as several dozen were destroyed all at once.


    This was a new method of using the Weapon Mantra that Tang Jie had learned after reaching Violet Pce. Not only could he now use the Weapon Mantra at a medium distance, he could use the Sovereign de to extend the range even farther. While he couldn''t shatter all weapons with a single shout like the Martial Lord, he had made huge progress.


    As Tang Jie continued to assail Jin Shanyue, he also controlled the Sovereign de to shatter weapons and collect golden grains, and miserable wails resounded across the battlefield.


    Those wailing belonged to Godhead Pce, the Beast Refining Gate, and even the Basking Moon Sect.


    "My art relic!" a Basking Moon Sect cultivator wailed as he saw his art relic being shattered by a golden de.


    "Apologies; that was an ident," Tang Jie said with a shrug.


    Without an art relic, the enemy cultivators were assailed by thousands of Tang Jies, and even after these Tang Jies had used up their one spell art, they could still serve as cannon fodder. As a result, the battle of the lower echelons quickly turned into a rout.


    Feng Muyuan knew that the situation had taken a turn for the worse, and if they continued fighting, everyone would fall here. He could only shout, "Retreat, retreat now!"


    "Awooo!" Meng Guanshan let out a howl of fury, clearly dissatisfied with this decision. But he knew that this was the only option and said in a raspy voice, "Disciples, leave first!"


    All the cultivators began to retreat behind him, and the warships began to turn around and fly away.


    "Don''t pursue!" Ming Yekong ordered.


    He knew that his side was still outnumbered. The Basking Moon disciples were primarily relying on the formation to hold on. Once they left it, the cannon fire from the warships would quickly let them know what sort of mistake they had made. This arrangement favored defense to the detriment of offense, so if the enemy wanted to leave, they could only let them.


    But while the army could leave, one or two of the upper echelons would have to remain.


    As all the Violet Pce experts were preparing to retreat, Ling Xiao, Xiao Biehan, and Ming Yekong suddenly all turned on Jin Shanyue.


    This was exactly the moment when both sides were withdrawing, so when Jin Shanyue suddenly came under abined assault, he knew he was in trouble. With five Violet Pce experts attacking him at once, the most Jin Shanyue could do was defend. Escaping was out of the question.


    Seeing Feng Muyuan, Zhan Wushang, and Meng Guanshan leaving, Jin Shanyue called for help, but nobody was interested in rescuing him.


    Even though Jin Shanyue used everything he had, the desire to survive pushing him to his maximum potential, he was still only able tost three seconds against thebined power of five Violet Pce experts.


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    After three seconds, his barrier shattered, as did hisst defensive treasure. Xiao Biehan''s Sky-Parting Sword, Ling Xiao''s Cloudwater Sleeve, Mystic Moon''s Profound Space Palm, Ming Yekong''s Homesick Sword, and Tang Jie''s Sovereign de stabbed into his body.


    The Sanguine True Lord swayed and finally crumpled.


    Spiritual energy surged from his massive body, and Tang Jie quickly threw out the Mountain River State Diagram so that all of this valuable resource wouldn''t go to waste. This left Xiao Biehan and Ling Xiao rather speechless. This disciple was fine in all other respects, but he was a little too fast when it came to grabbing for resources.


    In the Mountain River State Diagram, He Chong looked dumbly at the sky.


    "Violet Pce!" he finally blurted out in shock.

 Chapter 773: Celebration

    Chapter 773: Celebration


    "Hahahaha, wonderful, wonderful, truly wonderful!"


    Xiao Biehan''s resoundingughter heralded the return of the victorious Basking Moon cultivators.


    The Nine Splendors True Lord, who had been tasked with standing guard, was already waiting at Starsnatch Peak. When he saw everyone returning, he called out, "Senior Brother, congrattions on your victory. Did youe away with any spoils?"


    Ling Xiao simply smiled in reply, so Xiao Biehan replied, "Jin Shanyue is dead, and that Spotted Char of his was sealed by Tang Jie. Shi Wunian went back with heavy injuries that will take him more than a hundred years to recover, and he won''t get any stronger for the rest of his life."


    The cultivators who had been left behind were delighted to hear this.


    They were mortal enemies with the Beast Refining Gate, so the Beast Refining Gate losing two Violet Pce experts was something worth celebrating. This truly was a major victory.


    s, their Earth Immortal was still around, so no matter how many people the Beast Refining Gate lost, it would never perish, and there was nothing that could be done about that.


    Ling Xiao asked, "Junior Brother, how were things here?"


    Nine Splendors indifferently replied, "Han Wuxin attacked, and I fought with him. He wasn''t able to get any sort of advantage, so he left."


    Although his tone was calm, a Deification cultivator had attacked, so he must have inwardly been rather shaken.


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    Ling Xiao knew Nine Splendors had a very quiet and calm personality. If he said that nothing had happened, then nothing had happened.


    Waving his hand, he said, "If that''s the case, everyone can rest. We will discuss awards and merits tomorrow morning."


    "Yes!" Everyone moved to withdraw.


    Xiao Biehan said in a loud voice, "Senior Brother is always so boring. Why do we need to wait until tomorrow? By tomorrow, this excitement will have passed, and there will be no point in the awards. In my view, we should celebrate their heroic feats right now."


    Xiao Biehan had a very straightforward personality and never put on any airs. He strode toward the Hall of Divine Conference, throwing out the God-Conquering Merak Sword as he did.


    The sword grewrger andrger, ultimately turning into a mountain.


    This was the Basking Moon Sect''s number one Dao armament.


    It had turned into a mountain to protect this ce, and whenever it was activated, it would y all that threatened the Basking Moon Sect.


    ording to thews of the sect, the sect master handled administrative affairs and controlled the Water Moon Paradise, while the Swordholder governed military affairs and controlled the God-Conquering Merak Sword.


    Ling Xiao could only shake his head.


    As the sect master, he exuded majesty and dignity with every move, and he couldn''t act so casual and free like Xiao Biehan. But after some thought, he felt that Xiao Biehan was correct. On such matters, it was better to strike while the iron was hot.


    He called out, "All disciples of the Basking Moon Sect, heed my words. Today, Tang Jie sessfully ascended to Violet Pce, bringing glory to my sect. This is the first piece of good news. This sect engaged in a major battle with Beast Refining and Godhead, ying Jin Shanyue and sealing the Spotted Char in a cauldron. This is the second piece of good news. The entire sect should celebrate these joyous events. Tonight, on Cloudscrape Peak, all disciples will participate in the celebration feast and awards ceremony. Those who have achieved merit will be rewarded, and those who have not can feast and drink to their heart''s content. For tonight, all etiquette and ceremony can be ignored!"


    This voice resounded through every part of the Zephyr Mountains. There was silence at first, and then an explosion of cheers.


    These cheers reached all the way to the heavens, and even elders who spent most of their time in seclusion were shaken from their trances.


    The Basking Moon Sect had another Violet Pce expert, and had killed Jin Shanyue and sealed the Spotted Char?


    What made everyone truly excited wasn''t the right to ignore etiquette or to drink as much as they wanted, but the information packed into this message.


    Every person who spent long enough in a sect would start to develop a certain kind of sentiment toward that sect.


    This sentiment was simr to that of patriotism, born from an intense sense of belonging.


    When they heard that their lifelong enemies had suffered a great loss, they all grew excited. Of course, some people who had long ago grown tired of the restraints of ceremony and ritual also celebrated their momentary freedom, even going so far as to unt it in front of the Ritual Hall disciples. This made Li Hongyang grimace and scowl in frustration, but as he was always scowling, people could hardly tell the difference. As for Qi Shaoming, he didn''t care at all, simply saying with a smile, "Today''s ounts can simply be settled tomorrow," which made many people quiet down.


    Regardless, tonight was a special night of celebration for the Basking Moon Sect.


    On Cloudscrape Peak, all the disciples except those abroad were gathered, tens of thousands of cultivators in one ce.


    There was no burying oneself in cultivation, nor were there anyplicated rules of etiquette to follow. There was only calling out to friends and loud conversation, the mor rising to the heavens.


    Some people were only meeting each other for the first time: "Eh? We live right next to each other! My, I''ve spent too long in seclusion." The more extreme among them didn''t even know who Tang Jie was.


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    It was a bunch of homebodies.


    But no matter how great the mor was, some ces would always be unaffected by the noise.


    At the summit of Cloudscrape Peak, on a raised tform, six tables and chairs had beenid out. In the center were the Soul Projection Tier Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan, and to their sides were the Deification Mystic Moon and Nine Splendors. Finally, on the outermost edges were the Infant Tending Tier Ming Yekong and Tang Jie.


    Beneath the tform was a circle of chairs, eighteen in total, meant for the 19 Celestial Chiefs of the Basking Moon Sect. As the 19th Celestial Chief was the head of the Combat Department, which was Xiao Biehan, there were actually only 18 peak Soul Transformation Celestial Chiefs.


    Yan Changfeng, Li Hongyang, Xu Baibing, Feng Hongluan, and An Fenglong were all seated here. While some of the chiefs were away from the sect, their seats were simply left empty.


    These chiefs that Tang Jie had once regarded as mighty figures were now seated beneath him. Tang Jie couldn''t help but find this sight strange.


    "You feel a little strange, right?" Xiao Biehan asked.


    Tang Jie nodded. "Yes. After all, not too long ago, they were my seniors, but now, I''m seated higher up than they are."


    "This is the reality," Xiao Biehan casually replied. "The cultivation world is one where the victor is king. All etiquette is only superficial. While one can''t go without it, if you blindly believe in it, haha, then you''re a fool. You were able to reach Violet Pce, which proves that you have the courage, strength, and right to sit here. Those people who don''t have the guts can only look up at you. Of course, they were your seniors in the past, and they are still your seniors now. Your seniority won''t change because of this, but that has no effect on your status. Do you understand?"


    Tang Jie firmly replied, "Yes, this disciple understands."


    Xiao Biehan nodded in satisfaction and raised his cup. "Come, drink!"


    He poured the entire cup of liquor down his throat.


    Tang Jie could only do the same.


    This alcohol was made from the spirit grains grown within the Water Moon Paradise. Spirits made from thousand-year spirit grains were all fine wines, possessing sweet and mellow vors, and such was their strength that they could seep into the Divine Soul. These were truly wines that could topple Immortals. Unless they focused on resisting its effects, even a Violet Pce expert would get drunk.


    Once they had drunk enough, Xiao Biehan and Ming Yekong got a lot more talkative and lost all of the dignity they should have possessed as top-ss experts.


    People naively believed that important people were all overly dignified people who didn''t even crack a smile, not realizing that important people were also people, not a different species from ordinary people. What separated them from ordinary people was that they understood more and could do more, not that they were devoid of emotions and desires. On the contrary, when they got crazy, they could be far crazier than ordinary people.


    Xiao Biehan, after having a little too much to drink, took out his sword and began to use its sheath to p a wine jar and sing.


    <em>Pa.</em>


    He had only sung a single verse before the jar shattered due to his uneven use of strength.


    A disciple immediately switched it out for a drum so that Xiao Biehan could continue his performance.


    <em>Bong! Bong! Bong! Bong!</em> Booms resounded through the Zephyr Mountains, like those of a war song, as if some battle was taking ce. But in reality, it was just some drunkard banging away on a drum.


    Subordinates followed the example set by their superiors, so once Xiao Biehan started, everyone down below started to put down their inhibitions.


    Someone a little tipsy even asked, "Celestial Sovereign Tang, might I ask if you have a Daoist title?"


    Tang Jie shook his head.


    Someone then proposed one for him.


    Thus, various Daoist titles were suggested.


    There were awe-inspiring titles, like the Warfury Celestial Sovereign, Unrivaled Celestial Sovereign, and Iron Blood Celestial Sovereign, but Tang Jie felt like these titles vilified him, so he rejected them. There were also more practical ones. For example, because Tang Jie had once been called Fierce Tiger Tang Jie, someone proposed "the Fierce Tiger Celestial Sovereign", but someone elseined that this made him seem like someone from the Beast Refining Gate. The initial suggestor then proposed changing it to "Tiger-Subduing Celestial Sovereign", but it didn''t sound right. Someone else chose to focus on what Tang Jie was skilled in and proposed things like the Thousand Transformation Celestial Sovereign, Golden de Celestial Sovereign, Myriad Forms Celestial Sovereign, and so on.


    But Tang Jie wasn''t inclined to wear his specialties on his sleeve, as that was basically telling his enemies what he was good at, so he rejected this line.


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    The final candidate wasn''t bad, and it was Feng Hongluan who made it. "When you were still a student, you swore to freely wander the Great Chiliocosm. You are now a Celestial Sovereign, so why not take on Freedom as your title?"


    "''Freedom''?" Tang Jie muttered. "Although the meaning is rather broad, that''s just what I want. One who seeks freedom aspires to be unrestricted and rxed, to roam the world and all its vastness. But above are the Astral Winds and all around are vicious devils and fiends, so where can one find true freedom? So when ites to ambition, ''freedom'' is not a weak ambition at all. To make it my title is to remind myself that Violet Pce is only the beginning, that the Immortal Path is still much longer than this, and that I cannot be satisfied with just this."


    "Great!" Xiao Biehan pped his hand on the table. "Then you will be called the Freedom Celestial Sovereign!"


    All the cultivators on Cloudscrape Peak stood up and shouted, "Tang Jie, congrattions on ascending to Celestial Sovereign! May you freely roam the thousand worlds for all time!"


    Thus did Freedom Celestial Sovereign Tang Jiee to be!

 Chapter 774: Reformation (1)

    Chapter 774: Reformation (1)


    The news of Tang Jie''s ascension to Violet Pce and the battle between the three major sects quickly spread throughout the Rosecloud Domain.


    Everyone now knew that the Basking Moon Sect had gained two Violet Pce experts in the span of two hundred years.


    Although they were only at Infant Tending, moving up one tier was much easier than moving up an entire realm. Moreover, so long as one could reach Violet Pce, reaching the Soul Projection Tier was only a matter of time.


    The potential strength of the Basking Moon Sect now leapt to the top of the major sects, and two Soul Projection, two Deification, and two Infant Tending cultivators formed a perfectdder, ensuring that there were sessors for each level.


    While the Basking Moon Sect was ascendant, the Beast Refining Gate and Godhead Pce were in decline.


    The Sanguine True Lord''s fall and Shi Wunian''s heavy injuries were also proof of the Basking Moon Sect''s strength.


    Worst of all, while the two sects had been attacking the Basking Moon Sect, the Seven Absolutions Sect had attacked Godhead Pce.


    They had been even more outrageous than Beast Refining and Godhead, sending four True Lords deep into Nadir Hill and all the way to Godhead Mountain. Formation Grandmaster Hong Shenji had personally taken action, using formation to break formation and cracking open a hole in Godhead Pce''s defenses. The four True Lords had joined together to plunder Godhead Pce, but then they simply left without killing a single person.


    They didn''t kill anyone for fear of provoking Godhead Pce''s Earth Immortal ancestor. Each Earth Immortal of the six major sects had their own standards. So long as the survival of the sect wasn''t on the line, they would not intervene. When Feng Muyuan had led an army of fiends against the Zephyr Mountains, the Cloud Ancestor had noticed but done nothing, and this time as well, the Cloud Ancestor was aware that Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate were nning abined attack, but he still did nothing.


    ording to the old ancestors, it was best if the juniors handled their own affairs themselves. If the old ancestors had toe out for everything, then what did they need all these juniors for? And at times, only when suffering a loss would one learn. Valuables and possessions could be lost and broken, for if there were no loss, how could one gain anything?


    At this stage of cultivation, everyone became much more broad-minded, like adults who disdained to see the squabbles among children.


    The six major sects had found out each other''s bottom lines thousands of years ago, and none of them was going to touch it unless they had to. But they would do anything they could above that bottom line.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect had charged in like a bunch of bandits, stealing everything that could be stolen and breaking everything that they could break, but they didn''t say anything provocative like "Godhead Pce is nothing!" or "Everyone in Godhead Pce is a fool!" When leaving, they even repaired the hole in the formation, like a child who had knocked down another child and then helped him up, leaving the adults to only shake their heads and sigh.


    When the people of Godhead Pce returned, they were greeted by a scene of devastation.


    That wasn''t all. The Seven Absolutions Sect had attacked the other branches of Godhead Pce in Nadir Hill as well, and here, the Seven Absolutions Sect showed no mercy, killing as many people as they could. That day, the branches were massacred. 42 branches in all had been attacked at the same time, with more than twenty being utterly annihted, and in the rest, there were a few survivors due to a variety of reasons and factors.


    Limited manpower meant that the Seven Absolutions Sect couldn''t attack every base, so it attacked only the most important ones, inflicting maximum losses on Godhead Pce.


    Wang Juemie also participated in this campaign, attacking the Jade River Branch. There, with seven punches, he slew one of Godhead Pce''s Nine Generals, Hegemon Marquis Li Zhongji.


    After King Canis He Changan, Godhead Pce had lost another Chief-level individual.


    Of course, they were very fortunatepared to the Beast Refining Gate.


    The loss of two Deification experts was an unbearable pain for the Beast Refining Gate, and this hade on the heels of the loss of the Beast Garden. The entire sect was in mourning.


    The Beast Refining Gate''s decline and Tang Jie''s ascendance had broken the bnce of power, and a new one was in the middle of being established. Those who understood how to read the trend all knew that the current structure where the six major sects reigned over the Rosecloud Domain was going to change.


    This change wouldn''t happen suddenly. So long as the six Immortals at the top remained, the six major sects would be able to hold onto their statuses, but the imbnce in the upper echelons of power would have serious ramifications on the rtionships between the sects. In non-strategic struggles for advantage, the stronger side was bound to have an advantage. So long as one preserved this advantage, it would slowly build up, small advantages bing big advantages, small victories begetting big victories, until one could finally settle things once and for all.


    This wasn''t something particrly rare in the cultivation world.


    Seizing more resources to raise more outstanding disciples, thus getting the opportunity to seize more resources and raise even more outstanding disciples, establishing a cycle of growth until one could eventually establish dominancethis was the path of development for many sects.


    This was how Godhead Pce had done it, ultimately going from a small fishing vige to its current form.


    The change subtly affected everyone like a soft and silent drizzle. A ssic example was that whenever the people of the Basking Moon Sect went out, they would speak somewhat loudly, but whenever the people of Godhead Pce or the Beast Refining Gate went out, they would be much humbler, and they began to pay more attention to the medium and small sects in their territories.


    In their view, while this failure had dealt them a grievous blow, they still had their foundations, and they could recover. Conflicts between sects had their rises and falls, and a momentary disadvantage might not amount to anything in the long run.


    But there were others who clearly did not share the same opinion.


    A year swiftly passed.


    In Freedom Hall, Tang Jie was reading a report.


    Freedom Hall had been specially built for Tang Jie after his ascension to Violet Pce. The True Lords of the Basking Moon Sect hadbined their powers to raise a mountain within the Zephyr Mountains. Between the 19 Star Peaks and Starsnatch Peak were the Five True Mountains, but now, Five had be Six. Freedom Hall was located on this sixth peak, a majestic hall befitting a Celestial Sovereign.


    But to everyone''s confusion, rather than entering secluded cultivation to charge at Deification and prepare for his battle with Jewel, Tang Jie chose to handle sect affairs on behalf of the sect master.


    In the mortal world, taking control over sect affairs might be considered a seizure of authority, but in the cultivation world, it was just taking on a veryplicated and annoying task that brought no benefits no matter how well one did. Cultivators ultimately relied on their fists to do the talking. No matter how good one was at organizing, if one was too weak, one would still end up getting beaten ck and blue.


    Thus, Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan were puzzled as to why Tang Jie would choose to do this.


    But they trusted Tang Jie somewhat now.


    After all, it was no easy task for a young man of his aptitude to get this far in only two hundred years. And the Martial Lord''s hidden realm could not be used as an exnation. Ling Xiao and the others now understood the situation in the hidden realm, and they knew that the most it could do was to refine a powerful body cultivator Tang Jie, not this current Tang Jie who cultivated bothws and body, hadprehended twelve Daos, was at Violet Pce inw cultivation and Immortal Spirit in body, and who dared to challenge the Jewel Immortal Sovereign.


    Yes, Tang Jie''s original body had finally had a breakthrough and attained the Immortal Spirit Body.


    There was a threshold between the Diamond Body and Immortal Spirit Body, but it was much easier than the Violet Pce threshold. The Parting ssic provided a long, smooth, and steady road. Each step might have required an immense sum of resources, but bottlenecks were not as prominent as the ones facingw cultivators. Moreover, after reaching Violet Pce, Tang Jie headed to the hidden realm and fought his way all the way to the seventh level, where he found a bottle of Primal Spirit Immortal Water.


    This water provided support in the ascension to Immortal Spirit. By rinsing oneself in this water, one could use the nurturing Primal Immortal power within to strengthen the body and thus gain an Immortal Spirit foundation.


    s, Tang Jie overestimated the progress he could make after reaching Violet Pce. He still couldn''t ovee the Vermillion Bird, so he was unable to reach the eighth level.


    Moreover, after ascension, his body''s appetite grew evenrger, and he devoured everything like a ck hole. In the past, when he spent a hundred thousand spirit coins on herbs and medicines, he could feel a clear growth in power. But now, he could spend several hundred thousand and feel nothing. Spirit nts less than a hundred years old were nowpletely useless, which greatly limited the resources Tang Jie could utilize.


    But this was getting off topic. In short, Tang Jie had experienced breakthroughs in both areas, so in terms of strength, he wasparable to Mystic Moon and Nine Splendors.


    To this, Ming Yekong could only bitterly say, "One year ago, I was so happy that I had broken free of my status as the most junior of Basking Moon''s Violet Pce experts, but now, I''m once again the most junior."


    He looked at Tang Jie like he was a freak.


    In these circumstances, if Tang Jie sought to handle government affairs, Ling Xiao and the others didn''t feel it was right to refuse him.


    They believed in Tang Jie, believed that he had a reason for doing this.


    "There was a drought in the north, but not only were Li Honglin and Qu Yangzhente in spreading rain by half a month, they only did it for half a day before running off. This is dereliction of duty. But this report mentions nothing about this, only saying that the twopleted their mission. Was it because they think that I only get my information through these reports? Perhaps the writer of this report thinks that they can y me for a fool?" Tang Jie nonchntly said, putting down the report.


    The cultivator on duty down below replied, "The writer of the report is Duan Guanghai of the Service Hall. He is good friends with Li and Qu, so it''s not odd if he chose to conceal this matter for them. In truth, the Basking Moon Sect has never meddled too much in administrative affairs, and even the sect master will skim over the reports and not rebuke them too harshly. Celestial Sovereign, they do not wish to fool you. It''s just that they''ve gotten too used to this way of doing things over the years. In any case, so long as the incident is not too severe, nobody will want to raise an issue over it. Half a day of rain will be enough for those people to get by."


    Tang Jie took up the report again. "Are you saying that I am meddling too much, rebuking too harshly?"


    The cultivator lowered his head. "This lowly one would not dare. I am only speaking frankly."


    "They do not wish to fool me, but they truly are fooling the Basking Moon Sect. Go and have those three arrested and punished ording to the rules of the sect."


    "Yes," the cultivator replied, and left to carry out this order.


    Tang Jie lowered his head and continued to review reports.


    He had been a Fiend Emperor for more than a hundred years back in the Verdant Cloud Domain, so he was extremely adept at managing a kingdom''s affairs. While he had just been a beginner back in the Verdant Cloud Domain,cking in confidence, he was an old hand now, with no fear whatsoever.


    Although the cultivators of the Basking Moon Sect were confused by Tang Jie''s methods, it was an objective fact that with Tang Jie''s strengthened administration, shirking of duties by the Basking Moon Sect''s disciples was greatly reduced, and themon people began to live better lives. Bandits were eliminated, wastnds were irrigated, hydraulic engineering projects were started, and some new agricultural tools and techniques began to spread.


    This time, Tang Jie wasn''t making all those tools personally, but instead using spell arts to produce them en masse and selflessly distribute them.


    These fresh and useful tools crafted by an Immortal fell into the hands of farmers to much surprise and interest.


    In the past, Immortals were aloof existences that they needed to nurture and feed using their own fragile bodies.


    But now, the Immortals had finally put down their airs and begun to work for the sake of mortals.


    The mortals were overwhelmed by this sudden show of favor.


    They quickly found out that all of this was because the Basking Moon Sect had a new Immortal, the Freedom Celestial Sovereign.


    Thus, many people erected shrines and began to worship idols of Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie had no intention of stopping this. On the contrary, he even secretly promoted it.


    Through these idols and incense, threads of Karma began to extend toward Tang Jie, forming a dense web.

 Chapter 775: Reformation (2)

    Chapter 775: Reformation (2)


    Unlike in the Verdant Cloud Domain, whenever a thread of Karma extended toward Tang Jie, he would immediately remove it and attach it to Er Hu, thus escaping the constraints of Fate from the very start.


    Er Hu took Tang Jie''s ce as the Child of Fate, and through Tang Jie''s instruction, he constantly adjusted his actions so as to influence these threads.


    It was like a puppet on strings, except in the opposite direction.


    A puppet''s actions were usually controlled by the strings attached to it, but Tang Jie was using the "puppet" that was Er Hu to control the strings and influence Fate.


    He transcended the Web of Fate and viewed everything from the perspective of a bystander, and then he used Er Hu to carefully pluck the strings of Fate.


    In this way, the Fate of the world was subtly changed.


    While these changes were minor at first, they would gradually umte like a snowball rolling downhill, gettingrger andrger until Tang Jie ultimately got the result that he wanted.


    This was also a long-term project. Through his diligent administration, Tang Jie also began to extend his reach wider and wider, even crossing the boundary between cultivator and mortal and stretching his ws toward the affairs of the Sageheart Kingdom.


    Although Immortal sects reigned supreme, rarely did they openly intervene in state affairs.


    All of Sageheart was thrown into an uproar, with numerous inflexible ministers criticizing Tang Jie for meddling too much in mortal affairs and bringing shame to the title of Celestial Sovereign.


    Tang Jie simply replied with scorn, "I have already issued the decree. Your job is to carry it out. If you don''t want to carry it out, I don''t mind changing to people who are more obedient."


    These words immediately calmed the waves of protest.


    In truth, the vast majority of Tang Jie''s state actions were beneficial to the people. It was just that no matter what sort of positive policy was proposed, it would inevitably end up affecting the profits of some group of people, and some people would even fight them to the death.


    It had to be said that reformation from top to bottom had always been extremely difficult. In contrast, the peasantry lighting up the fire of revolution was much simpler, because they would pulverize the old, which naturally made reconstruction simpler.


    Tang Jie had no ns on bulldozing everything and rebuilding, but if some people wouldn''t listen, then he wouldn''t mind doing a little bulldozing just this once.


    A hundred and fifty years was enough to set up a political regime ten times.


    All he needed was a regime that could obey and execute.


    Ling Xiao and the others were perplexed at how proactive Tang Jie was being in meddling with mortal affairs. One couldn''t say that he had lost his drive after reaching Violet Pce, for Tang Jie had more drive than anyone else, never ying around at all. But it was also difficult to say that he had some grand n, for what grand n involved arguing with mortals every day?


    They wanted to talk to him about it, but when they looked at the edicts he issued, they found that they were all sound. Although Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan didn''t put much work into caring for the people, they weren''t the sort who would stop other people from doing a good job just because they couldn''t. Thus, they decided not to try persuading him from this course of action.


    Ling Xiao simply limited himself to saying to Tang Jie in a grave and sincere tone, "Cultivators should ce more priority on their pursuit of the Dao," like he was telling an adult to not keep running off to the kindergarten.


    s, Tang Jie was set on being a kindergarten teacher and refused to change his mind. More and more decrees were issued from Freedom Hall, and the disciples of the sect started toin that Freedom Hall had seemingly grown more important than the Hall of Divine Conference.


    Ling Xiao saw that he was managing everything appropriately and was happy to let him be a free spirit so that he could quietly cultivate. But whenever he thought about the duel with Jewel in one hundred and fifty years, he couldn''t help but be worried. Deep down, he made up his mind that if it was really no good, he would protect Tang Jie, even if it meant sacrificing his pride and dignity.


    For the Basking Moon Sect, Tang Jie represented the future of the Basking Moon Sect, even the hope of uniting all of Rosecloud.


    It was just that while he had the qualities of a Swordholder, he insisted on taking the path of the Sect Master, which left many speechless. For most cultivators, the position of Swordholder was actually more attractive than Sect Masterwhat could be better than getting to control the God-Conquering Merak Sword and being able to focus on cultivation while still being respected the same as the Sect Master?


    Ten years went by in the blink of an eye.


    In these ten years, under Tang Jie''s tireless administration, the vast Sageheart Kingdom was brought to order, and all the people prospered.


    In the eyes of cultivators, such prosperity was a castle built on sand, easily destroyed if not for the protection of cultivators. But until it was destroyed, one couldn''t help but admit that the current state of things wasn''t bad.


    When themon people were happy and safe, even their efficiency rose, and with the constant fine weather, the spirit fields scattered about the country became more productive, and the Basking Moon Sect''s revenue rose. Tang Jie issued a decree that every member of the sect would receive a bottle of superior cultivation medicine at the end of the year, causing the entire sect to celebrate.


    The entire sect was growing more prosperous by the day.


    With this, the objections to Tang Jie dwindled even more.


    Everyone had to admit that while they perhaps couldn''t understand Tang Jie, he had truly brought prosperity to everyone in both the Basking Moon Sect and the Sageheart Kingdom.


    But this wasn''t all.


    Lands were linked together, and changes within a country would influence neighboring countries.


    With Tang Jie''s support, the inventions from Sageheart began to spread into the neighboring countries and slowly influence them in the same way, allowing Tang Jie''s Web of Fate to spread across the entire Rosecloud Domain.


    The gap in living standards and the influence from the Web of Fate started to cause many people in the surrounding countries to flee into Sageheart.


    Tang Jie ordered that all people should be epted no matter how many there were, and they should be helped into bing people of Sageheart as quickly as possible.


    For a prospering country, manpower was one of its most in-demand resources. In the past, this problem was solved throughrge numbers of births, but now, it was being solved through immigration.


    The other kingdoms didn''t care too much at first, but they quickly discovered that thends under their rule were starting to be abandoned, with some areas being as much as 90% vacant.


    The poor had fled, leaving acres ofnd uninhabited and leaving only the rich who didn''t work. The entire national structure started to show problems, which stirred up all kinds of unrest.


    But these problems would ultimately only make the mortals panic. Cultivators found no problem with it at all.


    They had never cared about mortals, just like how people didn''t care about the dirt under their feet.


    But if all that dirt one day floated away, where would humans stand?


    Nobody knew, and nobody understood what sort of major incident Tang Jie was in the middle of concocting.


    Everyone could see themon people moving away and their countries growing poorer, but the people who saw it couldn''t do anything about it, and those who could didn''t care.


    Cultivation was more important!


    Through Tang Jie''s efforts, the gap between Sageheart and the other kingdoms grewrger.


    This process went on for twenty years.


    In these twenty years, the poption of Sageheart doubled while the poptions of other countries decreased by varying degrees.


    Basking Moon Academy became overflowing with talents. In the past, one ss would have on average one Nine Revolutions genius, but now, there were several in each ss.


    Basking Moon Academy also began to recruit more students, taking in three times the past number every year.


    More and more outstanding disciples entered the sect, and the resources grew more and more abundant.


    The other sects experienced a decline in talent.


    Losing so many mortals meant that they had also lost fresh blood.


    Without fresh blood to sustain a sect, its number of cultivators would begin to fall, as well as its overall strength.


    This manifested itself in various ways, whether it was roaming abroad or in how the sect handled affairs. In all aspects, they were worse than the Basking Moon Sect.


    For example, if the disciples of two sects were exploring a shared region and came upon treasure, the disciples of one sect might only be able to call upon three to fivepanions, while the Basking Moon Sect''s people could call upon ten to dozens.


    In the shes between the lower cultivators, the Basking Moon Sect gradually started to gain an advantage.


    An advantage among lower cultivators would eventually be an advantage among middle-level cultivators, and then upper-level cultivators, and even top-level cultivators.


    This was an extremely long process. Originally, it might have taken several hundred years, but through Tang Jie''s pushing, it became evident in only twenty years.


    As the Web of Fate expanded, its influence strengthened, and the changes began to pick up speed.


    People quickly found out that what they had discounted at first had suddenly be a behemoth that could influence even those who lived up in the clouds.


    And now, that moment had finallye.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect, Ethereal Summit.


    A blue-robed, middle-aged schr was gazing up at the skies, calcting something with his fingers.


    He muttered, "The stars have shifted, a vortex forming in the sea of Fate. Could it be that the equilibrium that hassted over Rosecloud for more than two thousand years is finally going to change? But who will fortune favor this time?"


    His eyes were filled with confusion.


    Although he was an Earth Immortal, he had only a rough understanding of the Dao of Fate. He could not see through its secrets or unravel those tangled threads, so he could only see that the Web of Fate that had been bnced for more than two thousand years was rippling, a vortex forming. But he couldn''t see all the connections, nor could he see where the vortex had formed.


    But he had a vague sense and turned in the direction of Sageheart. "Could it be there?"


    In an unseen dimension, a Web of Fate covered the entire Chiliocosm.


    The Rosecloud Domain was in a small square of this web, which tightly enclosed it.


    In thest two thousand years, this web had essentially been unchanging.


    But now, from this transcendent perspective, one could see that a vortex had appeared on this web.


    Like a funnel cloud, it concentrated fortune in a single spot, and wherever this funnel was would be the person beloved by Fate.


    If one looked through this funnel of Fate, one would find that it was located over the Zephyr Mountains.


    However, it was not aimed at Tang Jie or at Er Hu, but at an old meditating man in a thatched hut behind Starsnatch Peak.


    The old man''s eyes opened, and he softly sighed, "Gathering the talents of the world and the affection of themon people, granting this body the protection of fortune This child is growing more and more formidable. There are already signs of a Dao Art."


    Unlike the schr, he knew what Tang Jie was doing.

 Chapter 776: Astral Winds

    Chapter 776: Astral Winds


    Emerging from Freedom Hall, Tang Jie looked up at that vortex of fortune above him and smiled.


    After thirty years of plowing the fields, it was finally time for harvest.


    With this vortex of fortune, the Cloud Ancestor would have even better chances of reaching True Immortal.


    Tang Jie hadn''t forgotten Ji Qingfeng''s lesson: It was always the person at the very top of the sect that would decide its status and size.


    So long as the Earth Immortal did not fall, the Basking Moon Sect would never fall, and if the Earth Immortal had a breakthrough, it would have an overwhelming advantage over the other sects. In other words, only the Cloud Ancestor could help Tang Jie realize his goal.


    Now that the blessing of fortune had taken form, it would only growrger with time, blessing the Cloud Ancestor more and more. This together with the instruction from Immortal Ji Yao made breaking through into True Immortal only a matter of time.


    <em>I wonder if it will be in time for my duel with the Jewel Immortal Sovereign,</em> Tang Jie thought to himself.


    <em>Bong!</em>


    A bell rang out from the area behind Starsnatch Peak.


    The Cloud Ancestor''s voice drifted into Tang Jie''s ears. "Come to my ce."


    Tang Jie flew toward the back mountain.


    Whenever Ling Xiao went to see the Cloud Ancestor, he first had to burn incense and take a bath, after which he would walk his way toward the back mountain, not daring to neglect a single rule, but Tang Jie could just fly right over. Hended on the mountain and entered the garden, waving hello to the elderly child Mountain Shatter before entering the thatched house.


    As he entered the room, the Cloud Ancestor opened his eyes and smiled at Tang Jie. "After thirty years of diligently ruling the country and plucking the Web of Fate, you really did manage to produce a vortex of fortune. Even this old man must admit he is impressed."


    Tang Jie bowed. "This is simply a gesture of sincerity from this disciple. Martial Ancestor, please ept it."


    The Cloud Ancestor nodded. "There is no gift in the world that could make me happier, but you have already given me two such generous gifts. How could I possibly thank you?"


    Tang Jie kept his head down and said nothing.


    The Cloud Ancestor smiled. "Let me take a guess. I suppose this should be about your charge at Deification, no?"


    Although the Deification threshold was not as dangerous as the Violet Pce threshold, it was still not easy and required a long period of umtion. If one hundred and fifty years were enough time, then Ming Yekong would have reached Deification long ago.


    While the Deification threshold wasn''t some impassable chasm, it also wasn''t something that could be settled in one hundred and fifty years. Normally, it would take around five hundred years to aplish.


    Even though Tang Jie had a vast fortune in spirit coins, the higher one went, the better the quality of resources one required, so money became less and less useful. Thus, trying to move at three times the speed with just money wasn''t very possible.


    But Tang Jie knew that he was not without opportunities.


    He smiled at the Cloud Ancestor.


    The Cloud Ancestor asked, "What idea do you have in mind?"


    "Godhead Pce, the Beast Refining Gate," Tang Jie replied.


    The Cloud Ancestor raised an eyebrow and then lightly dropped it. "I see. So you n to move against them?"


    Tang Jie replied, "They tried to interfere with my ascension to Violet Pce. Although they were defeated and also raided by the Seven Absolutions Sect, strictly speaking, the Basking Moon Sect hasn''t gotten its revenge yet."


    The Cloud Ancestor stroked his beard and smiled. "I like it. So how do you n to take revenge?"


    "I n to get the resources I need to reach Deification from them," Tang Jie answered.


    The Cloud Ancestor was so surprised that heughed. "You n to strip Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate naked?"


    "That won''t be needed," Tang Jie replied. "The Divine Will Golden Body and Imperial Sky Stamp will be enough."


    <em>Hiss!</em>


    The Cloud Ancestor sucked in his breath.


    The Divine Will Golden Body was Godhead Pce''s foundational treasure, and the Imperial Sky Stamp was the Beast Refining Gate''s number one Dao armament. These items were the lifebloods of their respective sects, and they would never let anyone take them away. If Tang Jie tried, the ancestors of the two sects would immediately respond and obliterate Tang Jie.


    When the Seven Absolutions Sect raided Godhead Pce, they didn''t even touch the Divine Will Golden Body, even sending people to protect it for fear that some fool might try to take it.


    One could say that the wars between the six major sects were all limited wars conducted under the supervision of the six Earth Immortals. So long as the battles didn''t go over the line, the Earth Immortals wouldn''t intervene, so as to spur the growth of their disciples.


    For them, a defeat was like letting a child fall on their face, a chance to temper the child. But taking the Divine Will Golden Body was kidnapping the child, which couldn''t be tolerated at all.


    Hearing this, the Cloud Ancestor finally understood what Tang Jie wanted. "You want me to do it?"


    Tang Jie nodded.


    The Cloud Ancestor immediately shook his head. "This is impossible. The six Immortals reached a tacit understanding long ago to not intervene in the struggles between sects. There are only two events that will make us take action: the survival of the sect is at stake, or else the Primordial Fog invades."


    Tang Jie casually replied, "A tacit understanding is just that, an understanding. It''s no contract, and even if it were, it can still be broken."


    The Cloud Ancestor''s eyes shed. "What did you say?"


    A junior dared to tell him to ignore the understanding among the six Immortals and take action? The audacity!


    Tang Jie was unafraid. "Martial Ancestor, if you have the Divine Will Golden Body, True Immortal will be close at hand."


    The Cloud Ancestor froze.


    How could he know not of the wondrous uses of the Divine Will Golden Body? Godhead Pce''s Earth Immortal couldn''t get much from it because they had already spent too long in its influence, but for the Immortals of the other five major sects, the Divine Will Golden Body was a delicious cake that everyone wanted a piece of.


    As for the Imperial Sky Stamp, it was a Dao armament of the Beast Refining Gate in the Dao of Life, emphasizing fusion. It was more used for increasing a cultivator''s strength, and its use in battle was secondary. Meng Guanshan had achieved his half-fiend body through this stamp, and it was so powerful that he could even be fearless in the face of Xiao Biehan''s God-Conquering Merak Sword.


    If he could get his hands on it, it would be of huge help in his ascension.


    The Cloud Ancestor thought about it but ultimately shook his head. "No, it''s no good. That Ye Yun is extremely strong, and I have no chance of winning against him. Let alone getting our hands on the Divine Will Golden Body, we''ll end up making ourselvesughingstocks of the world instead. Even if we really get it, we will be criticized by everyone in the world, which will stain my heart. Then, even with all the resources in the world, I will lose my way and be unable to ovee my mental block."


    He closed his eyes.


    "Then let''s change the method. What if Ye Yun attacked us? Can I request the Cloud Ancestor''s protection then?"


    "So long as you aren''t doing anything outrageous, he won''t attack you."


    "Then what if we weren''t doing anything outrageous, just a simple ident, yet it made Ye Yun break the rules first?"


    The Cloud Ancestor paused, and then his eyes opened again. "If he breaks the rules first, then this old man might have to intervene."


    Tang Jie smiled. "If that''s the case, then on the day my Basking Moon Sect takes revenge, I would request the ancestor''s protection."


    The Cloud Ancestor nodded. "Very well. So long as you don''t break the rules with your actions, if that old man dares to attack, I will protect you all."


    Such a promise from the Cloud Ancestor was very hard toe by. In normal circumstances, he would never concern himself with the affairs of the sect.


    "Of course." Tang Jieughed.


    "Do you n to get the Imperial Sky Stamp the same way?"


    "This child has his ways." Tang Jie smiled.


    The Cloud Ancestor didn''t ask any more, only saying, "When do you n to start?"


    "There''s no rush. Let''s wait a hundred years first," Tang Jie replied. "After a hundred years, the fortune blessing will make it so that even if Martial Ancestor hasn''t broken through into True Immortal, your cultivation level will have greatly risen so that you can win against Ye Yun, even if you can''t kill him."


    The Cloud Ancestor chuckled. "Since you''ve already thought of everything, then why are we still chattering away? Go now."


    He waved his hand, dismissing him.


    As Tang Jie was about to leave, the Cloud Ancestor abruptly said, "Right, after a few days, you should take a trip to the Verdant Cloud Domain."


    "This disciple understands." He bowed and left.


    After exiting the room, Tang Jie took to the sky. Mountain Shatter nced at him and muttered, "The brat''s getting more and more impolite."


    He lowered his head and continued to tend to the flowers.


    Tang Jie flew straight up, higher and higher, until he finally arrived at the green Astral Winds.


    The Domain Astral Winds were actually green, and it was only the reflected sunlight that made them so colorful. When one actually got close, they no longer seemed as impressive.


    But to those within them, the immense pressure from the Astral Winds was all too real, and all too dangerous.


    Even just standing outside the Astral Wind region, Tang Jie could still feel that terrifying power that could destroy, even from the faintest wisps of wind.


    The power of Destruction contained in these Astral Winds was countless times stronger than those of the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    Standing in the clouds, Tang Jie drew closer to the Astral Winds, and as he did, the Astral Winds grew ever stronger. Tang Jie''s flesh began to sear and burn, dry up and shatter, before turning into ash.


    But each time, a strange energy would emerge from Tang Jie''s body, nourishing and healing him, allowing him to recover much faster than before. And as time went on, the energy itself began to grow stronger. Tang Jie was using this method to temper his body.


    While Tang Jie had been busy ruling for thest thirty years, he hadn''tpletely neglected his cultivation.


    But he didn''t have much time, so he sought efficiency over all, and tempering his body through the Astral Winds seemed like the best option.


    Tempering the body through the Parting ssic had alwayse in two steps: nurturing the body by absorbing medicinal power through herbal baths, and tempering the body through beating and honing.


    Before this, Tang Jie had done more nurturing than tempering, which had left him with a strong body thatcked explosive power, and when it came to the Dao of the Martial Lord, the body was always in an explosive state.


    For the likes of the Martial Lord and Wang Juemie, exploding with 200% of the body''s strength came as naturally as breathing, and they could control and sustain this explosion of power. But Tang Jie''s explosion of power came passively, and he could get only around 150% and sustain it for only a brief period.


    Such a gap meant that Wang Juemie naturally overcame Tang Jie in strength.


    It wasn''t overwhelming because Wang Juemie was actually stronger, but because he could use more of his power.


    Upon realizing this, Tang Jie started to focus more on tempering.


    There was no better way of tempering himself than using the Astral Winds.


    Thirty years of tirelessly enduring the torment of the Astral Winds required tremendous willpower and perseverance. Even someone as strong as Tang Jie wanted to stop because it was just too painful, but the pressure from the Jewel Immortal Sovereignpelled him to keep going. As for Wang Juemie, who could keep honing himself for one hundred years, one could only say that he was a freak, and it was no wonder the Seven Absolutions Sect appreciated him so.


    But Tang Jie was confident that his thirty years of tempering could shrink that gap by arge margin. If they were to fight again, he could overwhelm Wang Juemie in strength alone.


    After tempering himself for two hours, Tang Jie withdrew from the Astral Winds to the perimeter.


    In a sh of light, Yiyi, the Mother Cloudbat puppet, and Tutu appeared, all of them with grave and solemn expressions.


    Tang Jie sat cross-legged on Tutu, and a small person appeared over his head in a sh of light.


    The Primal Infant had left the body!


    Tang Jie was letting out his Primal Infant in the Astral Wind region!

 Chapter 777: Freedom

    Chapter 777: Freedom


    Although the Primal Infant was able to leave the body once a cultivator reached Violet Pce, it was still very fragile. It was currently like a mortal, unable to endure much damage and requiring protection so that it could grow stronger.


    Deification was a manifestation of the Primal Infant''s growth, simr to how a Spirit Disciple reached Mortal Shedding by shedding their mortal body and gaining a spiritual one.


    Deification was a fundamental refinement of the Primal Infant, and this tier involved countless small thresholds and transformations, all of themplicated and difficult to pass. A cultivator needed to be cautious and careful when navigating them.


    But Tang Jie had boldly let out his Primal Infant.


    The Primal Infant floated in the air, three inches above Tang Jie''s head, its eyes closed and palms brought together in meditation. A Violet Pce appeared to protect it.


    Whenever there was a gust of Astral Wind, some of it would inevitably prate the Violet Pce.


    This force wasn''t great, but it was enough to have a massive influence on the Primal Infant.


    The Primal Infant shuddered, its face twisting in pain, and parts of its body sloughed off.


    This was the Divine Soul taking damage, and each piece that sloughed off inflicted immense pain on Tang Jie, but he endured.


    The Primal Infant opened its mouth and sucked in that Astral energy that had prated through the Violet Pce.


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    Condensing the Astral Winds to attain the supreme True Soul!


    Tang Jie was using a body-tempering method to temper his soul! This was a shocking move that would horrify anyone who heard about it. He hade up with this idea when he was ascending to Violet Pce in the Astral Winds. Since the Astral Winds could be used to temper the body, why not the soul?


    Since he had the Peaceful Divine Abode ssic, he felt like he could endure a certain level of damage, so he performed some risky experiments.


    He managed to prove that the Astral Winds could temper the Infant, making it more dense and powerful.


    But the ws were also extremely obvious: the Divine Soul was easy to damage and hard to heal.


    Without the Peaceful Divine Abode ssic, allowing him to erect the Violet Pce and heal the Divine Soul, this method would be suicidal.


    And even with this secret art, Tang Jie had been in danger several times.


    Some of these dangers were man-made, like someone passing by while he was cultivating such that he almost died from a sneak attack; and some were natural, like a stronger gust of Astral Wind tossing his Primal Infant about like a little boat in a storm, almost capsizing it. His own recklessness also yed a role. Thinking that his Primal Infant was strong enough, he once lowered the protective power of the Violet Pce, letting in more Astral Wind, upon which he learned what it meant to be young and fragile.


    Whenever the Primal Infant was injured, it needed a long time to recover.


    Even when Tang Jie was being careful, each injury would take ten-some days to heal. And when he wasn''t being careful and ended up more injured than expected, healing took several dozen days to a few months.


    Although this level of injuries wouldn''t affect his cultivation, it definitely lowered his efficiency.


    This made tempering the Primal Infant much more difficult than tempering the body. Although it had been thirty years, the number of times he had been able to do this tempering had been very limited.


    But as the Web of Fate approachedpletion, things began to change.


    Through the protection of Fate, those surprises became less possible. There was no way they could be rendered impossible, but the chances that they happened would be much smaller. As for those sudden strong gusts of wind, those actually became impossible, the Web of Fate ensuring that the weather remained predictable, even adjustable.


    Of course, there was no such solution for his own recklessness.


    His Primal Infant began to digest that wisp of Astral Wind while Tutu began to carefully take Tang Jie out of the Astral Wind region so that they wouldn''t be interrupted by another gust.


    This sort of thing had happened before, and Tang Jie''s Primal Infant had been so injured that it had taken half a year to recover.


    Ever since then, Tang Jie would always sit on Tutu when tempering the Primal Infant, and this seeded in allowing him to avoid many risks. In this way, Tutu was also able to gain back some of its value.


    After a while, the Primal Infant finished digesting the Astral energy. Tang Jie sensed its condition and found that the injuries were extremely light and only needed around three days to heal.


    He rejoiced, for he knew that this was a benefit of the Web of Fate''spletion. This was the first time he had encountered such ideal circumstances.


    Tang Jie''s ideal circumstances sought an Astral Wind that was neither too weak nor too strong, a perfect bnce of tempering the Primal Infant and minimizing the damage. Based on his thirty years of experience, he judged that three days was the best result. Any shorter meant that the wind wasn''t strong enough, but any longer would cut into his cultivation time.


    In thirty years, Tang Jie could count on one hand the number of times he had run into these ideal circumstances. He hadn''t expected that he would run into one the moment the Web of Fate waspleted. Tang Jie was extremely satisfied by this, and also more confident.


    Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate would have to be dealt with and looted, but if his n failed, he needed a back-up n, and this Astral Wind cultivation was his back-up n.


    Tempering the soul in the Astral Winds didn''t increase his cultivation speed, actually slowing it down, but it made him more adapted to the Astral Winds. If he couldn''t reach Deification within one hundred and fifty years, and the arrangements around Heavenly Bnce Mountain weren''t enough to deal with Jewel, the Astral Winds would be hisst shelter, and he could do the same thing he had done to Silver Eyes.


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    Starting from this day, Tang Jie concerned himself less and less with the Basking Moon Sect''s affairs, putting more time into his cultivation. Fortunately, after thirty years of cleaning up, Sageheart was a different ce, and so even when he was less involved in the political side, the influence from Sageheart continued to expand.


    Ling Xiao and the others were also delighted to see that he had finally "returned to the right path".


    Two yearster, Tang Jie put aside all of Sageheart''s matters and went to Horizon Ocean Pavilion, where he began to live a rxed couple''s life with Xu Miaoran.


    Life became much simpler.


    Other than cultivating, he spent his days tending to his garden and asionally going out traveling with his wife. Tang Jie was now at Violet Pce, one of the highest existences of the Rosecloud Domain, so nobody came to cause him trouble. With all these twists and turns out of the way, his days were smooth and simple.


    When a cultivator reached their final form, this was an inevitable sight. Right now, Tang Jie still had an interest in traveling with his wife, but at the Cloud Ancestor''s level, even this interest would be lost, and all that would be left was meditation.


    Sometime, Tang Jie wondered what was the point of this sort of cultivation.


    The higher one''s state of existence, the more boring and simple one''s life became.


    At that point, perhaps the only thing that drew one''s interest was that unknown power on the road yet to be explored.


    Perhaps this was why cultivators were always trying to get stronger.


    It wasn''t to be invincible. At Earth Immortal, one was invincible enough. What was the point of going further? And it wasn''t for eternal life. Earth Immortals had already grown indifferent to life, so what was the point in more lifespan? An eternal life with none of a human''s joys was no different from being a rock.


    They wanted to get stronger for the sake of getting stronger, for that was an all-new vista all on its own.


    It was a vista that no one could see, only experienced by those who got that far.


    This was the only reason people kept living. It was their goal to plumb the Immortal path, seeking its terminus and fulfilling that ultimate dream of cultivators.


    Perhaps, that was the Heavenly Dao.


    Upon understanding this, Tang Jie valued his time with Xu Miaoran even more.


    In the past, he had lived life too hastily, doing everything he could for more power but never deriving any joy from it. Even though he had roamed the world, he had never once felt free.


    Now that he had let everything go and enjoyed this ordinary rxation, enjoyed the warmth and gentleness of his wife, even while he was in the Rosecloud Domain, he felt truly free.


    <em>So this is what real freedom is like,</em> Tang Jie thought to himself.


    Heughed at himself for how he had busied himself so, never thinking that real freedom was right at his side.


    If Xu Miaoran hadn''t been so loyal, he might have missed out on it entirely.


    s, the pressure from the Jewel Immortal Sovereign was still there, and so even when Tang Jie understood this, he couldn''t truly put everything aside. He could only make as much time for Xu Miaoran as possible, though he still spent much of his time cultivating.


    Thankfully, Xu Miaoran knew Tang Jie''s situation and didn''t pester him, even often exining the properties of Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s mantras to him.


    "The Jewel Immortal Sovereign cultivates the Immortal Three Purities Mantra, one of the three greatest mantras of my Horizon Ocean Pavilion. It is a profound and mysterious art that I was fortunate enough to read once, but s, the rules of the sect prevent me from telling you of what I learned from it," Xu Miaoran regretfully said.


    The major sects had thought of all kinds of methods to prevent their secrets from leaking to outsiders. They could be simple oaths, to Heart Demon Oaths, to even Heavenly Dao Oaths. To make sure their disciples remained silent, sects would sometimes even nt seals in the bodies of their disciples, and the moment they sensed that a disciple was divulging secrets, the seals would attack. Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran were not exempt from this rule. It was why Tang Jie could teach Heart Consonance to Yiyi and Xi Canhen, but not Xu Miaoran.


    For the same reason, Xu Miaoran couldn''t tell Tang Jie her sect''s secret arts.


    Moreover, when she made up her mind to marry Tang Jie, Horizon Ocean Pavilion had agreed on the condition that she epted the imnting of a secret seal within her body that would prevent her from leaking any of Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s secret arts to anyone from the Basking Moon Sect.


    The cost of this seal was extremely high, and Horizon Ocean Pavilion was only willing to do it because it was Xu Miaoran. Xu Miaoran had agreed to this condition, or else Horizon Ocean Pavilion would have never allowed this marriage so easily. A legacy of a thousand years was at stake, so there could be no exceptions, not even for a True Lord''s daughter.


    But Tang Jie didn''t have any sort of seal. The Basking Moon Sect trusted that he understood restraint. Still, Ling Xiao would asionally have serious conversations with him on the subject.


    Tang Jie simply smiled. "I don''t need you to leak secrets to me for my battle with Jewel. It''s going to be a fair and open battle."


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    Xu Miaoran''s eyes twinkled.


    She knew that in the past, Tang Jie would have said something like, "I just need to examine her past battles to analyze the secrets of Jewel''s arts. Miaoran, I need you to gather Jewel''s battle records for me."


    But now, Tang Jie no longer needed to plot and calcte.


    Wasn''t diligently cultivating precisely so that one could overwhelm one''s opponent in an honest fashion rather than always relying on scheming?


    The current Tang Jie no longer needed this style of the past.

 Chapter 778: The Great Dao Does Not Exist

    Chapter 778: The Great Dao Does Not Exist


    The world within the Mountain River State Diagram was flourishing.


    The wastnd was no more, reced by and of mountains and rivers.


    In the center of thisnd was still that solitary ind.


    The Great Broken Stream was like an otherworldly paradise, nurturing countless lives.


    Creatures called the Lattici were the rulers of this paradise. They were one of the earliest inhabitants of the Great Broken Stream and had developed within its climate, ultimately bing the strongestmunity of animals on the lonely ind, an independent intelligent species.


    To be able to reach this stage of development in only a few centuries was certainly not the work of natural evolution, but thanks to the formation that He Chong and Tang Jie hadid out there in this period.


    The Cyclic Time Formation''s first part had beenpleted all the way back in the Verdant Cloud Domain, and while it still couldn''t cover the entire Mountain River State Diagram, it could at least influence its core.


    Time was advancing at one hundred times the normal rate on the ind.


    For every one hundred years in the outside world, ten thousand years had gone by on the ind.


    Tens of thousands of years of development and the meddling of the creator had caused the creatures on the ind to gradually develop intelligence, which was how the Lattici had developed.


    They looked simr to humans, but they had very long hands and feet, and their bodies were covered in numerous fine scales, which served as their skin. Spiritual energy could be pumped into these scales to turn them into a defense.


    The intelligent Lattici already had their own little feudal society.


    In this social system, there was a king and subjects, and the entire ind was their territory.


    They erected their homes on this territory, as well as their temples and pces.


    They were sun worshipers initially, prostrating toward the Space Crystal in the sky, after which they began to imagine gods.


    Their highest deity was the Supreme Godhead, to which they erected a temple and consecrated a statue within it.


    One would find that this statue looked somewhat like He Chong.


    Although He Chong had never appeared before them, Fate had seemingly guided the Lattici into taking his image as that of their supreme god.


    Another sun appeared in the sky, joining the Space Crystal in shining over this world.


    But the myth of Hou Yi shooting down the suns did not exist here. Instead, it was the legend of the Godhead who made suns.


    In the legends, this world was originally dark, devoid of light and rain.


    But then the Godhead appeared in this world, sowing the seeds of life, which led to the existence of the Lattici.


    Then, he felt the world was too dark, so he made the first sun.


    But even with the light of the first sun, the world was still too dark, so after a long, long time, he managed to make a second sun.


    From then on, the world had light.


    The first sun became the moon. It followed after the sun, and at certain intervals, it would move in front of the sun and block the majority of its light, creating the night. This told the Lattici that it was time to rest, and so the Lattici would rest until the next day came.


    Thus did the world turn and the Lattici thrive.


    As the Mountain River State Diagram world had spiritual energy, Lattici society had a basic cultivation system.


    But the highest a cultivator could reach here was Spirit Sea.


    They never left the lonely ind, regarding the world beyond as a wild, dangerous, and scary ce. Once, an independent-minded Lattician wanted to leave the ind and see the world beyond, causing panic among the rest of its kindthey killed that traitorous Lattician.


    Thus, the Lattici continued to live isted from the world, unaware of how big it was or how wondrous were the changes it was experiencing.


    The world outside had beenpletely transformed.


    Tens of thousands of years of development and the addition of so much additional matter had caused natural features to form.


    Tall mountains disrupted air currents, allowing different climates to develop, which led to different environments.


    Some of these environments were made by He Chong, but others were natural.


    In truth, with the increase in quantity and variety of basic materials, the Mountain River State Diagram began to evolve on its own.


    Lush grass began to grow on barren wastnds, creating grasnds and forests, and following nts, animals began to emerge.


    These weren''t species brought in from the outside world like the ones on the lonely ind, but creatures that had developed from the Mountain River State Diagram world.


    They came in all sorts of shapes and sizes. There were giant pupas that slowly crawled through the dirt, creatures with long mouths that were extendable so that they could extract resources from the area around them, animals with extremely sharp senses of smell that could let them smell water or nts from fifty kilometers away, and there were even clumps of mud that could freely change form.


    The Mountain River State Diagram had initially been an extremely barren world, so all of its creatures evolved with a focus on maximizing their resources.


    Thus, life was extremely varied.


    They didn''t have the intelligence of the creatures on the lonely ind, but they also weren''t as isted. On this vast world, they tenaciously survived, all of them contributing to a natural worldpletely different from the one Tang Jie knew.


    Deng Yuqing was interested enough to give these nts and animals names. He drew up an evolutionary tree and began to y the role of a botanist and biologist.


    Meanwhile, Duan Fourth began to gather up dead animals and nts and started to taste them. Whether it was roots or fruits, kidneys or brains, tasty or tasteless, poisonous or poison-free, disgusting or not, so long as he could put it in his mouth, he ate it up like he was Shennong when drafting his book on herbs, noting everything down. He quickly became a chef and herbalist.


    Time here moved faster than on the lonely ind, a thousand times faster than the normal rate, and even He Chong didn''t dare to step in for fear of being ground to dust by time. He spent most of his time outside the elerated time region, quietly watching the world evolve. In this process, his strength gradually grew almost to the peak of Soul Transformation, only missing thatst step. As for Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth, they both managed to reach the Heart Demon Tier.


    While observing the world evolve, He Chong felt like he had grasped the truth of this world, but for some reason, he couldn''tprehend a Dao.


    This left He Chong perplexed. Observing the transformation of the world was in itself a great opportunity toprehend the Dao. It was just that it involved such a vast span of time that it was extremely difficult to realize.


    Why was it that he could observe tens of thousands of years of development and feel inspired so many times yet still not feel the supreme Dao of the world?


    He Chong couldn''t understand why.


    Today, he was still sitting outside the elerated time zone. This area was still a wastnd, an undeveloped area, and on the edge of this continent was an endless sea that went all the way to the end of the world. The Space Crystal''s ability to expand space was not infinite, so this world had an end.


    As he was thinking to himself, Tang Jie appeared next to him.


    Upon seeing Tang Jie, He Chong stood up and bowed.


    In the past, He Chong had been forced into submission, but now, he waspletely subservient to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was now a Celestial Sovereign, above him in both cultivation and bearing.


    Even by just standing there, he exerted a mountain-like pressure on He Chong. This aura alone informed He Chong that while Tang Jie was only at Infant Tending, his true strength was at Deification.


    Breaking that barrier between tiers was as easy to him as breathing.


    It was no longer possible to fathom the methods of such an existence. All that was left was an awareness that they possessed a power that could make the heavens weep, could see through all thoughts and schemes.


    For this reason, He Chong had no choice but to submit and respect this person who was so much younger than him.


    Seeing how respectful He Chong was being, Tang Jie said, "Seeing as I''m in a good mood, do you have any worries on your mind? Any questions?"


    "Yes, Freedom Celestial Sovereign," He Chong said. "I just have a few small questions on cultivation that I wish to ask the Celestial Sovereign."


    "Let me hear them."


    He Chong recounted his observations to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie closed his eyes and pondered.


    He Chong stood to the side, not daring to disturb him.


    In the distance, Deng Yuqing and Duan Fourth had seemingly sensed Tang Jie''s arrival and ran over to see if he had any orders.


    Upon seeing the situation, they immediately stood off to the side. Deng Yuqing didn''t see Yiyi, and there was a hint of disappointment in his eyes.


    After a while, Tang Jie said, "Your question is very interesting, and I don''t have a definite answer right now. However, I have a possible reason that could exin your confusion and also the world''s constant disasters."


    Disasters were still wreaking havoc on the Mountain River State Diagram, and getting fiercer with time. A few days ago, there was even a ck fog that devoured all living creatures and was very difficult to kill. Even He Chong had needed to go to great lengths to finally eradicate it.


    These disasters and He Chong''s situation formed a great enigma that had bothered Tang Jie for a long time.


    But several dozen years of quiet cultivation had steadied Tang Jie''s temperament and solidified his foundations, and his vision and knowledge had both broadened, allowing him to develop a possible answer.


    He Chong''s group perked up their ears. "Please teach us, Celestial Sovereign!"


    Tang Jie slowly said, "I suspect the reason you can''tprehend the Dao is that the Great Dao doesn''t exist here."

 Chapter 779: Establishing a Dao for the Yellow Court

    Chapter 779: Establishing a Dao for the Yellow Court


    The Great Dao didn''t exist!


    Tang Jie''s answer made He Chong feel like he had been struck by lightning.


    "You are saying that this world has no Great Dao?" He Chong asked just to make sure.


    Tang Jie nodded. "It wasn''t me that said it, but the Lord of the Blood River."


    The Blood River Lord had once said to Tang Jie that the true signifier of an independent world was its own Dao.


    <em>"The Dao is the foundation of a world''s existence, thew by which all things operate. Since you have your own world, you musty the foundations for this world, write its Dao and enact itsw!"</em>


    In an independent world that was truly one''s own, the owner was its Heavenly Dao!


    This was the real meaning of a small world''s existence!


    Since one had to establish a new Dao, the small world naturally didn''te with a Dao.


    This was the reason He Chong couldn''tprehend a Dao.


    "Establishing a Dao establishing a Dao" He Chong was shaking.


    It was no wonder he couldn''tprehend a Dao no matter how hard he tried! Because no Dao existed here toprehend!!!


    Tang Jie sighed. "Creating a world is a process of constant expenditure, not just in the material, but also in the immaterial. Comprehension, understanding, and usage of the Dao is actually the ability to use the formlessws of the world. Spell arts have form, and the Dao has no form. Only by bringing the two of them together can one be considered to have a Dao Art."


    "And why is that important for us?" He Chong sternly asked.


    "What is being expended is matter, and what is being gained isprehension," Tang Jie answered. "If not for the Lord of the Blood River, I would have never understood the true importance of a small world, instead treating it as a personal garden to raise nts. But now that I understand it, we can use this small world as a blueprint upon which we can write our Dao. In the writing process, we will begin to truly understand the meaning of the Dao. It is simr to appreciating a painting. If you aren''t a painter yourself, you will find it very difficult to understand why exactly a painting is good. The same is true for the Dao."


    "I see" He Chong somewhat understood now.


    So this was the real purpose of a small world?


    He turned to Tang Jie. "Then why haven''t you established the Dao yet?"


    "Haven''t you already been doing that?" Tang Jie countered.


    He Chong froze.


    Tang Jie exined, "What do you think establishing the Dao is? Opening up the world, creating all things and setting their foundation, establishing thew for all beings, putting the four seasons into motion and establishing the cycle of the sun and moonis this not establishing the Dao? The Dao is thew of the world. You are writing thews of this world; you are establishing its Dao!"


    Only then did He Chong realize that he had been establishing the Dao this entire time.


    He couldn''tprehend the Dao because he had no need toprehend his own Dao, but he was also jailed in this small world.


    If he left this small world now, then with his many years of enlightenment, he would be able to instantlyprehend the Dao.


    "Then why is this world so chaotic and unstable?"


    "Because you didn''t do a thorough-enough job." Answering He Chong''s question seemed to have awakened Tang Jie from a dream, and he was finding answers to all these previously confusing questions. "Although you have established the rules of this world, you have yet to establish thews for its creatures. You control things on the grand scale but fail to clean things up in the miniature. You''ve left out too many things, so more and more problems ur. The disasters and monsters that keep appearing are all products of these gaps in the Great Dao, and this is why there is no end to them. To fix it, we mustplete the Great Dao."


    "How do weplete it?" the three asked in unison.


    Tang Jie shook his head. "You three probably can''t do it. It has to be done by me personally. But even though I''m the lord of this world, it will still be difficult. I still have no idea how to do it and will need to think on this problem for some time."


    He took off into the air.


    Once he was high enough, he waved his hand, and the Infinite Pce projected itself around him.


    Tang Jie sat at its highest point and released his Divine Will, linking to the world. Wherever his mind reached, no matter how far away it really was, it seemed like it was all right under his feet.


    There was no rule to abide by when it came to establishing the Dao. One had to figure out everything for oneself.


    Although He Chong had established the Dao by creating rules for the world, this was a crude way of establishing the Dao, emphasizing the big picture over the small details, and thus unable to achieve prating influence or apply delicate changes.


    Only Tang Jie, who had a Divine Will that could link to the world and who was also the owner of thisnd, could attempt this unprecedented feat of establishing a Dao.


    He first focused his mind to the maximum extent before finally allowing his Divine Will to merge with the world and thus understand all that was urring within it.


    Tang Jie began to chant while firing off sts of energy from his fingers.


    These sts of energy vanished in the void to seemingly no effect.


    Tang Jie continued to thrust out with his finger, meanwhile beginning to study how to turn his will into Dao Wills.


    This was a new experience for Tang Jie, another way of exploring the Great Dao.


    It was like developing a model in aboratory, but even more advanced.


    He would derive theories and evidence from this model and use them to draw conclusions on the situation in the Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    Tang Jie didn''t know when he would be able topletely establish the Dao, but starting from the day he seated himself up in the sky, he never stopped his experiments.


    This was an important and long-term mission. He would need countless attempts, testing each method he came up with, in order to find the answer.


    He sent his will deep into the earth, establishing thews of the world, dividing Yin and Yang, deciding upon all things. His will needed to prate so deeply so that even the smallest particle of matter would carry out his will.


    He even activated his Insight, the Celestial Eye serving as the most useful tool to study the microscopic world. His Divine Will was his emissary, the tool by which he altered the world. Through various methods, he nted his will into the soil, hoping to achieve the result he desired.


    These attemptssted for ten years.


    In these ten years, Tang Jie came to the Mountain River State Diagram world almost every day to spend some time establishing the Dao.


    s, he never received any positive feedback. This world seemed to ignore him, and the number of disasters actually increased.


    One day, Tang Jie was still attempting to turn his will into Dao Wills, but to no avail.


    Tang Jie was not surprised. By habit, he began to consider what he had done wrong.


    Had he been wrong from his base assumptions?


    Was there some other condition needed to establish the Dao?


    Was it a problem of cultivation level?


    This was impossible. Daos had nothing to do with cultivation. Daos had a system of their own, uninvolved with that of cultivation.


    Tang Jie continued to think and reject.


    Suddenly, Tang Jie sensed a battle in the distance.


    Deng Yuqing was battling with a devil.


    The battle had far-reaching effects, and by the time it was over, the surrounding fifty kilometers had been scorched.


    He Chong was startled when he arrived. "When did the devils here be so powerful?"


    Tang Jie carefully examined it and finally figured out the problem. "This devil was born in the deep sea, too far away from us, so we never noticed it. This gave it ample time to develop, and as we can see, these devils will also get stronger and stronger. Unfortunately, even my Divine Will can''t cover the entire Mountain River State Diagram."


    He Chong curiously asked, "Can Celestial Sovereign''s Dao of Fate not do it?"


    Tang Jie didn''t hide much from these three, so they knew that he had entered the Dao of Fate.


    Tang Jie shook his head. "There is no Web of Fate here, so I can''t use it to observe the entire area."


    "Then can''t you justy one out?" Duan Fourth asked.


    "It''s possible, but this will take too long. There is no Dao here, so I would have to start from scratch, which takes too much energy and effort. I''m too busy"


    Tang Jie suddenly stopped, and then he began to mutter, "Beneath the Heavenly Dao, Fate is the first. I am the Heavenly Dao, and Fate speaks for me I am the Heavenly Dao, and Fate speaks for me Damn it, how did I not realize!?"


    Tang Jie shouted.


    The trio saw him fly into the sky, sending out rays of light from his finger.


    These were threads of Karma energy, coiling around all things in this world.


    The threads of Karma grew longer and longer, spreading out from Tang Jie.


    Even with Tang Jie''s power, sending out so many threads of Karma quickly tired him out.


    He had to stop and rest a while before continuing.


    Starting from this day, he began the long process of weaving Fate.


    Just like a spider weaving a web, he spread his Web of Fate to every corner of this world.


    This was apletely new Web of Fate. Unlike the one in the Great Ster Chiliocosm, this one belonged only to Tang Jie.


    There was no preexisting system to hinder them, so Tang Jie''s weaving went very smoothly. Most importantly, once it wasplete, it wouldn''t disappear.


    The Web of Fate gradually expanded to every corner of the world, and in those unseen spaces, the threads of Karma weaved countless possibilities and futures.


    <em>Beneath the Heavenly Dao, Fate is the first.</em>


    <em>I am the Heavenly Dao, and Fate speaks for me!</em>


    With a new world, the first thing one needed to do was establish a Web of Fate.


    When the Web of Fate was in its nascent state, Tang Jie could already feel a different kind of energy.


    This energy was a kind of absolute control.


    It was impossible to describe with words. Tang Jie simply knew that he could clearly sense everything that was happening in the Web of Fate.


    There was no need to calcte or think too hard. A mere thought would send ripples through the Web of Fate, and everything would go as he desired.


    It was a wonderful feeling, something that even a Controller of Fate couldn''t achieve.


    Tang Jie didn''t know what to call this state, but he knew that in his world, under his Great Dao, what he could do was the utmost, the supreme.


    This meant that through this method, he could already feel how far he was from being truly supreme outside the diagram.


    This strange feeling made him feel like he could control everything with a single thought.


    In this world, he was the supreme god, omnipotent and omniscient.


    If there was still anything above him at this point, then it was probably philosophical in nature.


    For example, could he make a stone so heavy that he himself could not lift it up?


    But outside of paradoxical logic, he was god and could do anything he wanted.


    With a simple nce, countless threads of Fate intersected, and a giant mountain rose up from the earth.


    It stood up and strode over to Tang Jie, kneeling before him respectfully.


    Tang Jie walked over and lightly stroked the head of this mountain giant.


    At that moment, he knew that he was invincible in this world.

 Chapter 780: Establishing a Dao for the Yellow Court

    Chapter 780: Establishing a Dao for the Yellow Court


    Such was Fate!


    An absolute will, an absolute ruler!


    With his own Web of Fate, Tang Jie could transmit his will, converting it into a Dao Will and nting it within the world.


    Under the Heavenly Dao, Fate was first!


    While this was still no easy task, at least Tang Jie saw the path to sess.


    The reason it wasn''t easy was that Tang Jie''s Web of Fate was still very crude.


    The Web of Fate was awork that linked to every thing and every creature in the world, which was a number too vast to fathom. A single grain of sand might contain tens of millions of Karmas. In the microscopic world, one grain of sand was a world, one flower was a universe.


    To nt his Dao Will inside all of them, the Web of Fate had to keep expanding.


    As the Web of Fate extended deeper into the microscopicyer, the depth of his Dao Will would also deepen.


    For the same reason, as the Web of Fate''s granrization level increased, Tang Jie''s omniscience and omnipotence would grow.


    Right now, as the Web of Fate was still too crude, Tang Jie could only create a giant. To make anything smaller was impossible, as his Web of Fate had not reached this level.


    Tang Jie''s omniscience and omnipotence werepletely established on the Web of Fate.


    From this perspective, one could say that Tang Jie''s development in the Dao within the Mountain River State Diagram waspletely opposite from its development in the Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    In the Great Ster Chiliocosm, Tang Jie first had toprehend the Dao, then enter the Dao, then control the Dao, after which he could attempt those potential higher realms that no one had ever reached before.


    But here, he started out at the very highest level, the master of the Great Dao. But his Dao was too crude, and like a baby, he could only lurch around until he fully matured. Thus, he had to keep nurturing his Dao and grow more mature in order to get stronger.


    The paths of development werepletely opposite, but their ultimate goal was the same.


    On this path, Tang Jie finally saw a sliver of hope, and he finally understood many things which had left him confused.


    Establishing the Dao!


    For a cultivator, this was the most important property of a small world. Using the small world as a model, one could feel the Great Dao and its significance, allowing the seeker of the Dao to advance farther on their Dao in the main world.


    Two people were trying to find the right path. One of them was blindly fumbling around, but the other had already seen every possible path, thus identifying which path they should take, allowing them to bypass all obstructions and never be misled.


    If this foundation had another function, it would be the fact that it was his home court.


    If he encountered an enemy he couldn''t defeat, he could draw them into the diagram. Unless the gap in strength was truly too vast, the Domain Lord was invincible in their world.


    As for the garden for resources, that was just a bonus.


    As for the power of a small world, there was no need to talk about it, for now that Tang Jie was at Violet Pce, he no longer had a need for it.


    After understanding all of this, Tang Jie truly set off on the long path of establishing the Dao.


    He spent some time every day expanding the Web of Fate and then using the web to convert his thoughts into Dao Wills and nt them in the world.


    sts of air issued from his fingertip. They seemed very simple, but all of them contained his concentrated will, converting into Dao Wills that merged with the world.


    These Dao Wills did not belong to any Dao he hadprehended, nor were they among the Twelve Great Daos. His will was being directly converted into a Great Dao and imprinted onto the world.


    "All creatures have a limited lifespan, and reproduction is required to continue the species.


    "Where there is Life, there is ughter, there is Destruction, and there is also Reincarnation, so there is a path to the Nether Domain to exile the spirits of the dead.


    "The world is divided into positive and negative, spiritual energy divided into pure and filthy. Pure energy should remain and filthy energy should be expelled, letting the world be peaceful and pure, so there should be a passage to the filthy soil of the Primordial Fog where devils can be exiled.


    "All things have a cause behind their existence, and all things are connected. This is Karma. And the entanglement of Karma is Fate."


    As Tang Jie spoke, his Dao Wills merged with the world.


    Thus, in this world, thews he drafted became the Great Dao, his will became Dao Wills, and when he spoke, the world would obey. A single thought could overturn the world.


    The world underwent a massive transformation.


    Grass began to grow on the wastnd, with no need for the power from He Chong''s formation. Tang Jie''s will could resolve everything.


    Species began to flourish and expand, gradually spreading to every corner of the world.


    Life also began to appear in the barren seas, and the world grew richer and more varied.


    Tang Jie linked it to the Nether Domain and the Primordial Fog Domain. As the two great negative nes, they existed to absorb all the filth of the positive ne. It was only when he was establishing this small world that Tang Jie understood their purpose.


    The Primordial Fog existed as a giant cesspit. While one could hold one''s nose and look down at it, one could not go without it. And the result of linking to it was that the passage would expand every three thousand years, and the devils of the Primordial Fog Domain would counterattack. But regardless of how they counterattacked, they would ultimately have to return to the Primordial Fog Domain.


    Tang Jie didn''t know if his own domain would run into this situation, but even if the devils of Primordial Fog attacked, he wouldn''t be afraid.


    Because here, he was invincible.


    Perhaps it was for this very reason that so many domains were linked to the Primordial Fog?


    If that was the case, didn''t that mean that every domain had a Domain Lord?


    Or perhaps this was how the Great Ster Chiliocosm hade into being?


    Maybe even the entire Great Ster Chiliocosm was like the Mountain River State Diagram, the possession of some great Titan?


    Tang Jie didn''t know.


    But he knew that this possibility was very real.


    But he was just an infant taking his first steps on the path of the Domain Lord. He still needed many years to develop,prehend, and reach the end. Perhaps only then could heprehend its true secrets.


    Thinking this, Tang Jie suppressed his questions and continued to weave his Fate, excitedly ying around with the world in the palm of his hand.


    If one wanted to establish the Dao, one neededws.


    He gave his world a name: the Yellow Court.


    Establishing the Dao for the Yellow Court!


    In the Yellow Court World, he constantly plucked at the strings of Fate, performing various experiments. Just like back in the Verdant Cloud Domain, he was creating life and destroying life.


    He created various miracles, countless coincidences, and innumerable disasters.


    A storm of bizarrities swept up the world, and all sorts of strange incidents began to take ce.


    What decided how the world changed was no longer power, but a single person''s imagination.


    The world could be as strange as he imagined it.


    This pushed the world to the brink of copse, disasters urring more frequently than before the Dao had been established, but they were instantly wiped away.


    A tsunami could be there one second and then gone the next, and what was an ocean today could be drynd tomorrow. And of mes could be turned into a valley of ice, Yin and Yang interchanging, cold and hot switching, and in the middle of this sudden change of temperature, a wooly mammoth could be forever frozen in ice.


    The topography of the world also became moreplicated, gaining ins, hills, deserts, swamps, ice mountains, teaus, and so on.


    Tang Jie was so engrossed in creation that there was even a phase where he began recreating Earth.


    With a wave of his hand, the earth cracked apart into giant tes that began to slowly drift.


    The intense fluctuations in the earth''s crust and the more varied climates meant that most of the gigantic creatures died, and smaller creatures flourished in their stead.


    Life began to move toward smaller forms, beginning a long process of evolution. Some creatures even developed the ability to sense disasters via Fate, due to living in this era of disasters.


    Time went by quickly.


    A hundred years passed.


    In these one hundred years, Tang Jie hadpleted the vast majority of his modifications to the world.


    The entire world was brimming with vitality.


    Even He Chong had to admit that what Tang Jie had done in one hundred years had far surpassed what he had done in thest few centuries.


    The Great Dao had begun to take shape, and the world hadws and restrictions, making everything orderly.


    At this moment, Tang Jie knew that the time for his duel hade.


    He knew that it was time to leave.


    He had lived together with Xu Miaoran for one hundred years, and he had also established the Dao in the Mountain River State Diagram for one hundred years. These one hundred years of cultivation and one hundred years of leisure had been very fruitful.


    After isting himself from the world for one hundred years, it was finally time to step back into it.


    There were still many things he needed to do in the thriving world of the Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    Today, seated in the Infinite Pce, Tang Jie nced at the transformed world below and said, "A wheel in my hand to pluck the strings of Fate! Let all the world be in my hand!"


    A small golden wheel formed in his hand, and spinning within it were the utmost principles of this world.


    He ced this wheel in the air and said, "I have to leave for a while. You will take control of this Heavenly Dao Law Wheel. If you need anything done, you can do it through the wheel. Of course, if you want, you can alsoprehend the principles I imnted in the world through the wheel."


    He Chong said, "But this Dao will be your Dao, yes?"


    Tang Jie nodded.


    "In other words, no matter how much Iprehend or how deeply Iprehend it, I will never be able to surpass you, and with a single thought, you could even strip away all of my power, correct?"


    "You still want to surpass me?" Tang Jie asked.


    He Chong smiled. "I know that I probably won''t be able to surpass you for the rest of my life, but there''s a difference between having a small chance of surpassing you and having no chance. If I do notprehend your Dao, then even if I can''t surpass you, at least I''ll preserve for myself that tiniest sliver of hope. But if I do learn it andprehend it, walking upon the path you have drawn out, then this hope will be gone for the rest of this life. A person cannot be without hope. I have survived while being imprisoned by you precisely because of this sliver of hope.


    "Thus, I will not learn your Dao!" He Chong firmly replied.


    Tang Jie was somewhat taken aback.


    He hadn''t expected He Chong to think this way.


    But he also had no rebuttal to He Chong''s argument.


    If he didn''tprehend, at least he could keep something for himself.


    If he didprehend, his everything would belong to Tang Jie.


    This was He Chong''s reason for refusing. He didn''t want to surpass Tang Jie, only keep a little space that he could consider his own.


    Tang Jie was suddenly enlightened.


    He suddenly realized that if the Great Ster Chiliocosm really was the creation of some supreme existence, didn''t that mean that someone whoprehended its Daos would never be able to escape the palm of that existence?


    As this thought shed through his mind, Tang Jie blurted out:


    "The Parting ssic goes against the Dao!"

 Chapter 781: Red Sulfur

    Chapter 781: Red Sulfur


    Late autumn.


    The winds blowing through Nadir Hill had a somberness to them.


    There were few living creatures to be seen on the Gargantua in, and Godhead Mountain standing tall over the vast earth seemed bleak and depressing.


    Bleakness was a kind of misery, a sign that one was heading into one''s twilight years.


    At some point, that high and shining Godhead Pce started to feel like it was sinking down toward the horizon.


    In truth, Godhead Mountain was still Godhead Mountain, and Godhead Pce was still Godhead Pce. What had changed was not these majestic structures, but the people dwelling within them.


    In the past, the cultivators of Godhead Pce had been impressive and arrogant, receiving respect wherever they went.


    But ever since that incident 130 years ago, everything had changed.


    The emigration of the masses had led to a faltering economy and a much smaller pool of people to recruit from. Although there were still countless people fighting to get into the academy every year, the number of geniuses had fallen, and more people had to be recruited topensate. Overall, the quality of Godhead Pce''s cultivators had greatly fallen.


    Fortune no longer favored them. Natural disasters urred frequently on theirnds, and Godhead Pce disciples abroad would die for inexplicable reasons. Gradually, they started to lose more talents than they were bringing in.


    When an organization''s rate of losing talents began to outpace the rate at which it gained talents, it began an inevitable slide into decline.


    Many people started to panic.


    But while they panicked, few were able to take action to salvage the situation.


    Tang Jie wasn''t doing anythingplicated. He was just improving the lives of the people, allowing him to draw in more talents.


    But something so simple was actually very difficult to do well.


    Some people tried to handle the problem in the way Tang Jie had. However, they failed for several reasons. The first was that they simplycked the ability. Putting all their intelligence toward cultivation meant that they understood little about politics. Secondly, there was a problem with their attitude. Even someone as capable as Tang Jie had had to toil for thirty years to get the results he did, but those people simply thought that issuing a few decrees would get things done, having no idea howplicated things really were. Finally, the Basking Moon Sect was sabotaging them, and their efforts plus the abandonment by fortune meant that all their reforms ended in failure, even making things worse. Reform was like surgery. Surgery done well could grant a new lease on life, but a failed surgery could lead to death on the operating table.


    Godhead Pce had performed surgery on itself, but instead of healing old ills, they had thrown their internals into disarray.


    68 years ago, the Six Generals of Godhead Pce hadbined their might to ambush the Hawk King of Jade Pearl City, Shi Haomei, while Dragon King Chang Hong had been injured and fled. Afterward, the Hawk Hall and Dragon Pavilion were purged, leading to the deaths of a hundred and fortysome cultivators, including thirty-some Celestial Heart True Persons. The reason was that these two had been the main proponents of the reform.


    Godhead Pce Master Jin Wuyu had been furious over this, personally killing the main culprit, Heaven-Conquering Marquis Bo Nan. He wanted to kill the other five, but Shi Wunian, Zhan Wushang, and Han Wuxin managed to plead for their lives, and their death sentence wasmuted to one hundred years in the Frozen Hell Jail.


    One hundred and thirty years had passed.


    A hundred and thirty years was enough for ten-some political regimes toe and go, for society to be flipped upside-down, for themon people to turn into powerful bandits, and for a strong organization to decline.


    Godhead Pce had withered away in thesest one hundred and thirty years.


    For many cultivators, this was a little too fast. After all, one hundred and thirty years could be considered a rather challenging period of seclusion for cultivators, or a particrly long excursion, or perhaps enough time to consolidate one''s enlightenments.


    Yesterday had still been glorious, but today was like this!? It hade so quickly that they couldn''t help but be caught off guard.


    The Pce of No-Thought (''Wunian'').


    Shi Wunian stood on an eave of the pce, gazing into the distance.


    Opulent buildings extended off into the distance.


    A deste and bleak light appeared in his eyes, and he suddenly said, "Forty-five hundred years ago, the people of Nadir Hill emerged from their small ind, and it took more than four thousand years for them to create all this, shedding countless drops of blood and sweat in the process. Warrior Tie Cang braved the Sea of Trees alone, the Jadewood True Lord slew the Triclops Sea Fiend, the Divine Might Marquis conquered thends and hacked down a million contenders, the Unwithering Elder sacrificed himself in order to cover the retreat, and even my Shi n lost thirty-one of its members in all those countless campaigns throughout history. It was their blood and sweat that created the majesty of my Godhead Pce. My Godhead Pce can be defeated, but it will never be toppled! But now, we haven''t even been defeated, so why does it seem like we''re about to topple?"


    He let out a long sigh.


    The space above the Pce of No-Thought rippled.


    A golden-robed man appeared next to Shi Wunian.


    "You''ve been getting more and more excitabletely."


    Shi Wunian lowered his head. "It is this Wunian''s mistake, Pce Master. It''s just that when I think of my Godhead Pce''s situation as ofte, I can''t help but be worried."


    This golden-robed man was none other than the master of Godhead Pce, Jin Wuyu (''No Desire'').


    Jin Wuyu indifferently said, "There are simply fewer people now, and they are less happy. It''s certainly not the end of the world."


    Shi Wunian muttered, "These are all minor matters. The problem is the turning of the Heavenly Dao"


    He didn''t continue, for he saw his senior brother''s face darken.


    Just as Shi Wunian had said, the drop in people, the fall in quality, and theck of self-confidence were all nothing serious. So long as the foundations were there, these things could be brought back up. But the reversal of fortunes was far more serious. This matter concerned the survival of the sect and was an indicator of which way the wind was blowing.


    Although Godhead Pce didn''t understand Fate, it could sense Fate.


    It was easy to sense the effects the changing of fortune was having on Godhead Pce. Inexplicable disasters and various unlucky incidents were all on the rise. Disciples attempting breakthroughs would abruptly die, a 5% chance of death being multiplied several times over, and fiends were wreaking havoc.


    The Beast Refining Gate was in the same state. The territories of both sects seemed to have been abandoned by fortune.


    Inparison, the Seven Absolutions Sect, Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and the Thousand Passions Sect were unchanged, while the Basking Moon Sect was rising like the sun.


    Given such an obvious discrepancy and Tang Jie''s big reformation all those years ago, even a fool could tell what was going on.


    Using mortals as threads to influence the world was a power unique to Fate!


    Thus, Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate knew that Fate had abandoned them.


    Although this was man-made, there was no denying how terrifying it was to be abandoned.


    Some people had already guessed at where the shifted fortune had gone, and they grew even more concerned about the future.


    Not everyone needed to wait until the country was on the verge of copse to see its death. In truth, many people would sense it, but even if they knew, they couldn''t do anything about it.


    Even cultivators had times where they were helpless!


    Jin Wuyu said, "Your Divine Soul still hasn''t recovered from the injury inflicted by the God-Conquering Merak Sword, and so you are easily provoked. You should meditate more and think less about such things."


    Shi Wunian could only lower his head andply.


    At this moment, a cultivator came up. "Zheng Liang greets the Pce Master and the Aspirational Lord."


    Jin Wuyu looked at that cultivator. "Zheng Liang, are you ready to set out?"


    Zheng Liang answered, "All the Red Sulfur has been prepared, and this disciple will deliver it personally."


    Red Sulfur was an extremely rare material that was hugely nutritious when fed to fiends. But this rare material was only produced in small amounts in Nadir Hill and Dusnd, and of these two, Nadir Hill''s Red Sulfur was of better quality. Every year, the Beast Refining Gate would buyrge amounts of this substance from Godhead Pce, which was one of the connections bonding the two sects.


    Zheng Liang was Jin Wuyu''s third disciple, at Soul Transformation, his strength nearing the level of a chief. Jin Wuyu could rest a little easier with this man personally delivering this year''s Red Sulfur. But he still said, "To be safe, as always, you should go to the ancestor''s golden body and request the protection of a strand of Divine Will."


    He waved his hand, and an edict flew toward Zheng Liang.


    Zheng Liang received the edict and said, "As the Pce Master wills!"


    Godhead Pce divided up the Divine Will Golden Body very finely, a sliver being one hundredth, and a strand being one tenth.


    In thesest few years, Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate had been beset by disasters and misfortune, so Godhead Pce needed to be extremely careful. Something as important as the delivery of Red Sulfur not only had to be delivered by the pce master''s disciple, but also needed the protection of the golden body''s Divine Will.


    This was to guarantee that Godhead Pce would not suffer a huge loss. It was just that there were moreints now that the higher-level cultivators were being mobilized more often.


    Zheng Liang went off to the ancestral hall.


    A golden statue stood within the hall. It seemed unremarkable at first, a simple y statue of rather crude handiwork. But if one looked carefully, one would notice that this golden body flowed with a divine light that made it seem alive.


    Two elders sat cross-legged next to the divine statue, both of them Soul Transformation experts.


    Zheng Liang came forward and offered up Jin Wuyu''s edict. He then kneeled in front of the statue and said, "Ancestor, please grant me your protection!


    "Ancestor, please grant me your protection!" Zheng Liang repeated this phrase ten times.


    Finally, a golden light emerged from the statue and fell on the center of Zheng Liang''s forehead.


    Zheng Liang shuddered, and then an expression of immense satisfaction appeared on his face, as if this Divine Will had brought him immeasurable joy.


    Zheng Liang stood up, bowed to the statue, and withdrew from the ancestral hall.


    Upon leaving the hall, Zheng Liang flew out of Godhead Mountain.


    As he was leaving, a cultivator flew in from the distance,ing up to Zheng Liang with a beaming smile. "So it''s Senior Brother Zheng? Long time no see! Yourplexion is looking rather fine. This junior brother just gathered some Southern Jade Aroma tea leaves a few days ago and was about to invite a friend to enjoy them with me. Senior Brother, since we''ve run into each other, why not join us?"


    Zheng Liang quickly said, "So it''s True Person Huang! Zheng Liang appreciates True Person''s kindness, but my master has given me a mission, and I must carry it out without dy."


    "If it''s not too important, you can just head out a bitter," that True Person Huang insisted.


    Helpless, Zheng Liang dropped his head and whispered, "Master is having me deliver Red Sulfur to the Beast Refining Gate."


    True Person Huang turned solemn. "Delivering Red Sulfur? That is no small matter at all. Are you heading out right now?"


    Zheng Liang patted his Mustard Seed Bag. "Of course."


    True Person Huang nced at the Mustard Seed Bag and drilyughed. "If that''s the case, I won''t disturb you any further."


    Zheng Liang apologized and flew off.


    After seeing Zheng Liang leave, True Person Huang suddenly flew off in another direction.


    He flew far, far away, far enough that the pce master''s and the Aspirational Lord''s Divine Wills couldn''t reach. He then chuckled and said, "Senior Brother Zheng, please don''t me me for being heartless. s, the tree that is Godhead Pce is about to fall, and I have to give myself a way out."


    He took out a fire talisman, ignited it, and sent it into the sky.


    The skies to the south of Godhead Pce.


    Tang Jie was seated cross-legged on the outer edge of the Astral Wind region, unmoved as the winds buffeted him.


    His eyes suddenly opened, and he smiled. "The littlemb hase out."

 Chapter 782: Seizing the Will

    Chapter 782: Seizing the Will


    Tang Jie tidied himself up and then stood up, beginning to casually saunter downward. The fierce Astral Winds seemed more like a backdrop at this point, making Tang Jie appear all the more elegant and rxed.


    With each stride, a transparent stairstep would appear in the sky, and Tang Jie descended like he was going down a flight of stairs.


    He walked very slowly, his body exuding grace and confidence.


    When he had descended three thousand feet, aet-like figure appeared in the distance. It was none other than Zheng Liang swiftly flying along.


    As Zheng Liang flew closer and closer, he noticed that someone was up ahead.


    Although this man had his back to Zheng Liang so that he couldn''t be identified, Zheng Liang''s instinct for danger made him slow down and prepare for battle. At the same time, he attempted to fly around this man.


    But to his shock, even though this man clearly wasn''t moving, no matter what direction he went in, that man would be there.


    Zheng Liang was stunned, for this meant that this man had an extremely deepprehension of the Dao of Space.


    An existence who hadprehended the Dao of Space appearing in front of him was definitely not good. Zheng Liang instinctively thrust out his palm three times, sending out three powerful attacks that had the clouds churning and the winds howling. At the same time, his body began to ze with golden light, one of Godhead Pce''s special protective arts.


    Prioritizing survival over victory had always been the fighting style of Godhead Pce.


    A light shone from the center of Zheng Liang''s forehead as he readied the golden body''s Divine Will.


    Finally, he prepared a fire talisman in his hand so that he could call for rescue as soon as possible.


    In this string of actions, Zheng Liang showed that he was both cautious and decisive.


    s, the other party only needed to do one thing to make everything Zheng Liang had just done futile.


    Tang Jie activated the Infinite Pce.


    A resplendent pce emerged from his body, but this vastplex was muchrger than before, immediately blotting out the sun with its appearance.


    The moment the Infinite Pce appeared, back at Godhead Mountain, Jin Wuyu and Shi Wunian shuddered. "Oh no!"


    The two of them immediately flew out of the mountain.


    But no matter how fast they were, there was no way they could move faster than Tang Jie.


    The splendor of the Infinite Pce enveloped Zheng Liang, and in that light, Zheng Liang felt like he was in the middle of a swamp, the countless threads of light rendering him immobile and even preventing him from using spell arts.


    Upon realizing what art this was, he cried, "The Infinite Pce? Tang Jie! You''re Tang Jie!"


    Tang Jie turned around and casually said, "In truth, I had an even better way to deal with you, which was turning into someone close to you and then ambushing you. But I''ve been studying a lottely, and I''ve gradually realized that the world is only as big as one''s heart, and too much scheming can make one narrow-minded, so I decided on this way. Please forgive me."


    Zheng Liang didn''t know what there was to forgive, but when he saw that it was Tang Jie, his heart dropped to rock bottom.


    He understood that Tang Jie''s revenge against Godhead Pce had finally begun.


    But why now? And why him?


    Zheng Liang didn''t understand.


    Seemingly guessing at what Zheng Liang was thinking, Tang Jie said, "I''m not after you, but there''s something on you that I need."


    He flicked a finger, sending a st of energy at the center of Zheng Liang''s forehead.


    Zheng Liang cried out in horror, "NO!"


    <em>Plush!</em> The bolt of energy punched a hole in his forehead.


    Tang Jie dragged out the golden body''s Divine Will.


    It wanted to flee, but Tang Jie''s palm became like a, holding it fastthe Peaceful Abode ssic.


    This ssic was intended to protect the Divine Soul from annihtion, but it could also be used to imprison it.


    If this were the true will of a Godhead, Tang Jie naturally wouldn''t be able to stop it, but it was only one ten-millionth of the Godhead''s will, which was no problem at all.


    Tang Jie looked at the golden body''s Divine Will and suddenlyughed.


    He opened his mouth and sucked the Divine Will into his body.


    The moment he did, he felt an immense power filling him up.


    Unlike other kinds of power, this was a mental power. Upon entering Tang Jie''s body, it threw his Sea of Cognition into disarray. This ten-millionth of the Godhead''s Divine Will had realized what was going to happen to it, so it had gone into a frenzy in Tang Jie''s mind, stirring up wavesparable to powerful psychic attacks.


    If Tang Jie had tried to devour the Divine Will while not at Violet Pce, the bacsh might have killed him. But now that his Divine Soul had substantialized, it was like a mountain, unaffected by the storms. Meanwhile, that Divine Will wore away at itself with each struggle, and with no ce to draw power from, it only grew weaker and weaker.


    After enduring that first wave, Tang Jie simply needed to slowly digest and absorb it.


    Suddenly, a deafening roar erupted in the distance.


    "Brat, you dare!"


    This roar clearly came from very far away, but it exploded right in Tang Jie''s ear, shaking him down to his soul and causing him to throw up blood.


    A figure strode through the air, wearing a golden robe and grasping a golden spear, exuding the aura of a veteran general.


    The moment he appeared, he thrust his spear at Tang Jie.


    It was just a simple thrust, but Tang Jie felt like it had be the only thing in the world, that there was simply no escaping it.


    The Chaoswind Step was aplete joke in front of this spear. Only a spatial escape art gained through entering the Dao of Space would be able to evade this spear.


    He could only take the blow directly.


    Tang Jie mustered up all the power of the Infinite Pce.


    One hundred and thirty years of tempering had made the Infinite Pce much stronger.


    But in front of the golden-robed general''s spear, that majesticplex shattered and crumbled, the spear annihting all in its path.


    Unstoppable!


    The Infinite Pce that even the Jewel Immortal Sovereign had needed eleven fingers to break was so easily torn apart that Tang Jie couldn''t help but be awed.


    Was the gap between Violet Pce and Immortal tform this big?


    His old forms werepletely overturned.


    Tang Jie suddenly understood that if there was a massive chasm between Deification and Infant Tending, then the gap between Soul Projection and Earth Immortal was an entire universe.


    Tang Jie felt a helplessness and powerlessness, a sense that he would never be able to defeat such a foe.


    At this moment, a gust of wind blew in.


    It was a gentle and harmonious wind, quiet and nurturing.


    But the moment this wind appeared, the spear froze, and at the same time, the wind whisked Tang Jie away.


    Yes, Tang Jie was whisked off, and that spear he had thought impossible to avoid stabbed at empty space.


    Even so, Tang Jie still felt like something had stabbed into his heart, nting a seed of immense trauma within him.


    But then a clear stream flowed through his heart, washing away this trauma, and a voice sounded in his mind. "Guard your heart and don''t be intimidated by this aura."


    Tang Jie awoke with a start, realizing that the Cloud Ancestor had saved him.


    Not only had he saved Tang Jie''s life, he had also cleaned up that mental weakness that Godhead Pce''s Earth Immortal had nted in his mind.


    This was what made Earth Immortals so scary. Their physical bodies had be Immortal, and their souls had be Gods, making them God Immortals.


    As God Immortals, not only could their every move overturn the seas and topple mountains, they could also seep into the soul, making their opponents think that they were no match and stripping them of any thought of resistance. This was why numbers becamepletely irrelevant when it came to Earth Immortals, for a single thought was enough to traumatize everyone, after which they could do as they pleased.


    This was the first time Tang Jie was experiencing this terrifying aspect, and he now understood how scary it was to provoke such a being.


    The only one who could save Tang Jie from an Earth Immortal was naturally another Earth Immortal.


    As that gust of wind passed, the golden-robed general roared, "Yun Tian, you dare to break the pact!?"


    The reply was an angry snort. "Ye Yun, it was clearly you who attacked first. I was just saving him, so I did nothing wrong."


    "But that brat stole the Divine Will of my Godhead Pce''s golden body! You should know of this object''s importance to Godhead Pce! That isn''t something he can touch!"


    "So what?" The Cloud Ancestor''s voice drifted in from all directions. "He did not break the pact, charging into Godhead Pce and stealing the golden body. You can''t me him if your people can''t protect their valuables. After all, wouldn''t that mean that the people of Godhead Pce could just bring the golden body''s Divine Will wherever they went to be immune to the attacks of other sects? At that point, the Divine Will Golden Body would truly be a perfect treasure."


    Ye Yun was stunned, but he quickly roared back, "Then he shouldn''t have seized the Divine Will. If he immediately hands it over, I can spare him."


    "He''s already swallowed it, so how can he give it back?" the Cloud Ancestor disdainfully said. "Ye Yun, when Tang Jie was ascending to Violet Pce, I saw that Godhead and Beast Refining were going to attack, but I did nothing. You understand that Tang Jie is the number one genius of my Basking Moon Sect, and even for such an individual, I did not break the pact. How can you go and break the pact over this meager portion of Divine Will? And it''s not like you haven''t lost the golden body''s Divine Will before. He Chong lost ten percent, and now you''ve lost another ten percent, so you still have eighty percent."


    "''He Chong''?" Ye Yun shuddered upon hearing this name.


    When He Chong went missing, Godhead Pce knew that it wouldn''t be getting back this Divine Will.


    Jin Wuyu had even personally gone to apologize and seek punishment from Ye Yun and the ancestor statue, prostrating for an entire year without rest, food, or drink.


    Now that Yun Tian had brought it up, Ye Yun knew that Tang Jie had to be involved in this matter.


    Upon realizing that twenty percent of the Divine Will was gone just like that, he threw aside all apprehensions and furiously thrust his spear at Tang Jie.


    He was going to kill this bastard!


    But Yun Tian wasn''t going to let him seed. A horsetail whisk appeared, its tens of thousands of hairs erupting forward and wrapping around the golden spear.


    At the same time, a hand emerged from the clouds and pped Tang Jie''s body, sending him far away. A voice said, "What are you looking at? Hurry up and get to work."


    Tang Jie took a reluctant look back. A battle between two Earth Immortals was not to be missed! Thus, he threw up a mouthful of blood, creating hundreds of Tang Jies who all went flying over to the battle, but to spectate rather than fight.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie himself flew in the direction of Godhead Pce.

 Chapter 783: Group Battle (1)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    When Zheng Liang died, five streaks of light shot out from Godhead Mountain: Jin Wuyu, Shi Wunian, Zhan Wushang, Han Wuxin, and a woman dressed in ptial attire, her auraparable to that of Jin Wuyu and Shi Wunian. Zhan Wushang and Han Wuxin were both extremely respectful to her.


    Jin Wuyu shouted, "Zheng Liang''s run into trouble and the Divine Will was seized!"


    In Godhead Pce, Jin Wuyu had the strongest connection to the golden body''s Divine Will after Earth Immortal Ye Yun, so if he said this, then he couldn''t be wrong.


    The woman immediately raised her eyebrows. "Such audacity!"


    She took the lead in flying toward the site of the incident.


    The five Violet Pce experts of Godhead Pce had all been mobilized, such was the importance of the golden body''s Divine Will. It had to be understood that this Divine Will wasn''t important only because it could make one more powerful, but also because of the Guangfa Godhead''s numerous Divine Connections contained within. Byprehending the Divine Will, Godhead Pce was able to constantly develop powerful Divine Connections. While other sects had to rely on themselves to develop new spell arts, Godhead Pce simply had to study their Godhead''s divine statue. This sect was truly still living off the riches left by their ancestors.


    The sect could not ept the loss of the golden body''s Divine Will, and their anxiety spurred them to rush over as quickly as they could.


    But before they could get very far, several figures appeared in the distance to intercept them.


    It was Ling Xiao, Xiao Biehan, Mystic Moon, Nine Splendors, and one other, but rather than Ming Yekong, it was the Mountain Shatter Boy.


    Upon seeing this, the people of Godhead Pce knew exactly what was going on.


    Shi Wunian shrieked, "Basking Moon Sect! This is your doing!"


    Xiao Biehanughed. "Aspirational Lord Shi, it''s been a hundred and thirty years since ourst meeting. Have you been well?"


    A hundred and thirty years ago, Shi Wunian had battled with Xiao Biehan at Heavenly Bnce Mountain and had his Divine Soul heavily injured by the God-Conquering Merak Sword, which had caused him to develop a lifelong loathing for Xiao Biehan. Shi Wunian was furious now that Xiao Biehan had scratched at the scar, and he angrily grunted, "Xiao Biehan, don''t get too cocky. I dere a Great Aspiration to destroy all conditioned existences in the world!"


    As Shi Wunian roared, ripples of divine power seeped into the surrounding space.


    Xiao Biehanughed and swung his Sky-Parting Sword. "You can break all the existences you want. I''ll just respond with my sword. Shi Wunian, you''ve already lost to me twice, and you won''t be winning this time either!"


    Shi Wunian almost wanted to throw up blood.


    Xiao Biehan was an existence of the Basking Moon Sect on par with its sect master, and Shi Wunian was an existence on par with Godhead Pce''s pce master, just as strong as Xiao Biehan. But s, over thest few centuries, he had always been on the losing end.


    The first time was when he was chasing after Xu Muyang. He had been anxious to go after his new target and been uninterested in battle, so he had simply gone through the motions and then conceded, but deep down, he hadn''t been satisfied by the result. The second time, he had been ambushed by Xiao Biehan''s God-Conquering Merak Sword at Heavenly Bnce Mountain. This was the third time, but his injuries hadn''t healed yet, so it seemed like he was bound to lose this time as well. How could Shi Wunian not be mad?


    As the two of them began to fight, the others also paired off.


    Jin Wuyu''s opponent was naturally Ling Xiao, the two sect masters instantly stirring up a storm.


    Zhan Wushang battled against Mystic Moon while Han Wuxin fought against Nine Splendors. These four were all Deification cultivators, and the world trembled around them as they battled.


    The Mountain Shatter Boy and the pce beauty met gazes, and the woman snarled, "Jiao Hua, it really is you! I just knew that a dog like you wouldn''t die so easily! I should have killed you with a single p back then!"


    The Mountain Shatter Boyughed. "Hu Xuehua, if a scoundrel like you isn''t dead, how could I be willing to die? Really, all I did was see through your affair, but you ended up chasing me for three hundred years. That old turtle Ye Yun is quite the disappointment, letting his own maid servant carry out an affair under his nose. It''s no wonder he became an Earth Immortal, given all the time he spent curled up in that shell of his."


    This was an earthshaking revtion.


    The Mountain Shatter Boy had never brought it up before because this woman was backed by Ye Yun, so even when he was protected by the Cloud Ancestor, he didn''t dare to provoke her.


    But since the Cloud Ancestor and Ye Yun were already fighting, bound to shatter the equilibrium that had persisted over the Rosecloud Domain for more than two thousand years, the Mountain Shatter Boy decided to finally tear open that old wound.


    Hu Xuehua had thought that the Mountain Shatter Boy would remain silent, given that he had already been silent for one thousand years, which was why she had been so brash at first. But to her surprise, her instincts had been off, and the Mountain Shatter Boy had chosen to savagely poke at the wound. She paled in anger, and her blood energy was thrown into such turmoil that she actually threw up blood.


    The Mountain Shatter Boy erupted inughter. "Hey, hey, hey, we haven''t even started fighting yet, but Miss Xuehua is already throwing up blood? Does that mean you n to concede? Miss Xuehua, have you gotten lonely and started getting thirsty again, attracted to this hale and hearty body of mine? Hmhmhm, since that old turtle Ye Yun is already used to it and won''t care if it happens again, I don''t mind sacrificing myself one more time to satisfy your cravings."


    "Shut your mouth!" Hu Xuehua shrieked.


    After the Mountain Shatter Boy uncovered that scandal, Ye Yun had almost killed her. It was only because she had been lucky enough to birth a child for Ye Yun that she had been spared. Even so, she had still been jailed for one hundred years, but by the time she came out again, Ye Yun had lost all interest in her. She had racked her brains to get back on Ye Yun''s side, using every technique she knew and mastering the bedroom art, as well as engaging in numerous harem battles, before finally earning Ye Yun''s favor once more.


    A thousand years had passed, and Ye Yun no longer cared about that matter. After reaching Earth Immortal, he had grown indifferent to the opposite sex in general, dismissing his maids and leaving only this one woman whom he had shared a deeper connection with.


    Hu Xuehua had believed that most of the people who knew about this scandal had died by now, given all the time that had passed, and those left that did know, like the Cloud Ancestor, wouldn''t bring it up. But to her surprise, the Mountain Shatter Boy had survived her Hundred Blossom Soul Destroyer. This man had originally been a bandit, always speaking in a crude tone, and two thousand years had done little to change this. He had none of the dignity of a senior, and his tongueshing was at the Boundless Gold Immortal level, able to heavily wound Hu Xuehua with only a few words.


    Seeing how enraged she was, the Mountain Shatter Boy cackled, "Okay, okay, I''ll shut my mouth. With Miss Xuehua''s mouth always opening, nobody else needs to open their mouth."


    Everyone present understood the deeper meaning of his words.


    Unexpectedly, the Mountain Shatter Boy chose to start with his sharp words in his first battle, and in this aspect, he was veryparable to Tang Jie.


    As he spoke, he thrust a palm at Hu Xuehua, several bolts of cold light shooting out of it, each of them aimed at one of Hu Xuehua''s weak points.


    Despite all his tongue wagging, he wasn''t at all careless in his attacks. Hu Xuehua had been stronger than him back then, almost killing him with one strike, so just as Hu Xuehua loathed him, he equally loathed her.


    He might have been no match for Hu Xuehua back then, but then Ye Yun had locked her up for one hundred years, giving him time to catch up. Moreover, he was sure that Ye Yun had been much more conservative with her after that incident, no longer teaching her powerful Divine Connections. Overall, she might even be weaker than him right now, and then she had been provoked by his words, so the Mountain Shatter Boy was confident that he could win.


    Ten Violet Pce experts began to battle on an epic scale.


    Their battle turned the surrounding five thousand kilometers into a vacuum of spiritual energy, a vortex forming in the skies of Nadir Hill that sucked in spiritual energy.


    The center was a storm of fire, frost, lightning, and rain, various Immortal arts and divine weapons shing against each other in bursts of brilliance.


    It was possible to see these bursts of light from extremely far away, vague silhouettes shing in and out of vision. Mountains and rivers manifested in the sky, as did giant golden beings, sky-covering hands, and stunning waves of sword energy.


    The consequences of this battle were also awe-inspiring. The clouds above were ground up into nothing, and down below, mountains copsed, rivers turned to steam, and the earth quaked. Nothing in this region would be spared in a battle of ten Violet Pce cultivators.


    Some even drew down the Astral Winds from above to assist in their battle.


    Zhan Wushang bellowed and waved his hand at the air, upon which a gust of Astral Wind swept down, wrapping around his saber, which he swung at Mystic Moon.


    Mystic Moon didn''t dare to directly take on this attack empowered by the Astral Winds, and he summoned up numerous moons to neutralize it.


    But Zhan Wushang continued to swing away, the Astral Winds that burned on his saber, hand, and body seemingly having no effect on him. Seeing this, Mystic Moon thought to himself that while this move was powerful, it also harmed the user, and since he could use his Moonlight Frost to neutralize the attack, Zhan Wushang would eventually break first.


    Thus, he stopped trying to dodge and relied on his Moonlight Frost to defend, hoping to keep Zhan Wushang attacking.


    Sure enough, Zhan Wushang gradually started to reach his limit, the Astral Winds beginning to scorch his skin.


    Delighted, Mystic Moon pushed his Moonlight Frost to the maximum, beams of moonlight assailing Zhan Wushang.


    Finally, Zhan Wushang''s defense broke, and one of Mystic Moon''s beams of moonlight pierced a finger-sized hole through his chest.


    Ecstatic, Mystic Moon rushed in and thrust his finger at Zhan Wushang.


    This attack concentrated all his power, and he was sure that Zhan Wushang couldn''t block it.


    But at that moment, Zhan Wushang''s eyes shed with a cunning light.


    Mystic Moon saw it and knew that he was in trouble, but it was toote to draw back his attack.


    Zhan Wushang charged in, but as Mystic Moon''s finger jabbed into his heart, Zhan Wushang''s body erupted with a golden light that blocked the strike. At the same time, Zhan Wushang swung his saber covered in zing Astral Wind at Mystic Moon''s head, slicing it off.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Author''s Note: A reader asked a question in yesterday''s chapter about how the Divine Will was spoken of as being one tenth, but then it was said to be one ten-millionth, which is contradictory.


    Let me exin. "One tenth" refers to the Divine Will in the golden body. "One ten-millionth" refers to the Divine Will of the Guangfa Godhead. The reference point is different, so the description is different. After all, the Divine Will in the golden body simply came through a fraction of Divine Will sent over by the Guangfa Godhead all those years ago.

 Chapter 784: Group Battle (2)

    Chapter 784: Group Battle (2)


    The sudden reversal stunned everyone.


    The first pairs to have their oues determined should have been Xiao Biehan and Shi Wunian, and the Mountain Shatter Boy and Hu Xuehua. After all, Godhead Pce''sbatants in these match-ups had been hurt before the battle. But then Zhan Wushang hade out of nowhere.


    After his sessful strike, Zhan Wushang moved to slice Mystic Moon''s body in half.


    Thankfully, Ling Xiao intervened in time, his Water Moon Sleeve bouncing the saber away. This allowed Mystic Moon''s head enough time to fly back around and fix itself back onto his neck. The wound healed, but the shock on Mystic Moon''s face was clear as he cried out, "The Godhead Armor!"


    The thing Godhead Pce was most famous for was naturally its Godhead Armor.


    But the Godhead Armor Mystic Moon was referring to wasn''t the standard-issue Godhead Armor, but a true Dao armament, the object which all the other Godhead Armors copied.


    The Godhead Aegis!


    This was a golden suit of armor that was somehow as thin as a cicada''s wing, sticking close to Zhan Wushang''s body. When it wasn''t activated, it was almost undetectable, and it also didn''t do anything, not even blocking Mystic Moon''s finger. But when it activated, it blocked all attacks like an impervious fortress, even weakening Divine Soul attacks.


    If the God-Conquering Merak Sword was the most powerful spear, the Godhead Aegis was the most powerful shield.


    The sword was still stronger than the armor when they were directlypared, since the Godhead Aegis could only weaken rather than neutralize Divine Soul attacks, but when the sword wasn''t present, hurting someone wearing the Godhead Aegis was extremely difficult.


    Shi Wunian had always been the one holding the Godhead Aegis, so nobody had expected it to appear on Zhan Wushang. It was just as surprising as Xiao Biehan suddenly taking the God-Conquering Merak Sword out for a stroll instead of leaving it behind to serve its purpose as part of the Basking Moon Sect''s guardian formation.


    What had happened at Heavenly Bnce Mountain was reying itself, but this time in reverse, with Godhead Pce seizing this opportunity.


    Although Ling Xiao had saved Mystic Moon, waving his sleeve that one time had given Jin Wuyu an opportunity, thrusting his palm forward andpletely taking the initiative. As for Mystic Moon, he had also been greatly restrained by that saber strike. While he seemed to be fine on the surface, the Astral Wind on the wound was still affecting him, preventing him from truly healing the injury. With his strength, neutralizing the Astral Winds wasn''t difficult, but he couldn''t do it while Zhan Wushang was attacking at full force.


    The bnce of power shifted. On one side, Xiao Biehan and the Mountain Shatter Boy had the upper hand, while on the other side, Jin Wuyu and Zhan Wushang had the edge. As for Han Wuxin and Nine Splendors, they were evenly matched. These two were old foes, Han Wuxin being the one who had gone to attack the Zephyr Mountains during the battle at Heavenly Bnce Mountain, and Nine Splendors being the one to push him back with a single palm. But Nine Splendors had been able to win because he had been on home territory, assisted by the formation and countless disciples. While Han Wuxin had taken a blow, it hadn''t been fatal, and he had needed only a few days to recover. It was hard to say what the result of this battle would be.


    Now that the Godhead Aegis had appeared, the others stopped hiding their power.


    Hu Xuehua took out a phoenix hairpin.


    The moment the hairpin appeared, it transformed into a phoenix of mes that rushed at the Mountain Shatter Boy. This was no ordinary hairpin. Ye Yun had made it from Nine Mountains Cold Metal, and he had also caught a fiend phoenix from High Antiquity, devouring its meat and drinking its blood before forging its soul into the pin. It could be considered an upper-grade divine treasure.


    The Mountain Shatter Boy simply chuckled, a pair of gauntlets appearing on his hands. He began to throw out punch after punch at the phoenix, the storm of blows preventing the mes from getting close, somewhat recalling Tang Jie''s battle with Wang Juemie.


    But rather than cultivation, the Mountain Shatter Boy waspletely relying on this pair of Massacre Gauntlets, which multiplied his strength, also being an upper-grade divine treasure. Filling the sky with his punches, the Mountain Shatter Boy seemedpletely unafraid of this one-versus-two match-up.


    On the other end, Shi Wunian took out a small hammer made of wood and threw it into the air.


    As the wooden hammer flew out, it manifested a ck statue of a meditating old monk, which grasped the hammer and swung it at Xiao Biehan.


    This was a true Dao armament, but it had originallye in a set, a wooden fish and a wooden hammer, together creating the most valuable treasure of Godhead Pce after the Godhead Aegis. The Dao of this item was Sound, and when the hammer struck the fish, it would shake everyone''s soul. While the God-Conquering Merak Sword could only target one person at a time, this Dao armament could affect an entire group, so it was good in both single-target and group situations.


    s, in the battle of Nadir Hill, when Xiao Biehan had proposed that wager with Godhead Pce, the wooden fish had been Godhead Pce''s wager.


    The Celestial Sound Wooden Fish was a strong Dao armament, but it was at its most powerful only when they were used together. Xiao Biehan had only a single Dao armament, so he naturally couldn''t put it up for the set, but he was cunning and asked only for the wooden fish and not the hammer.


    If he couldn''t use it, Godhead Pce couldn''t use it either!


    Later on, just as he wanted, the Dao armament was divided, and the Dao of Sound could no longer be manifested. There was no choice except to strike directly with the hammer, activating the weapon soul within the Dao armament, but this way of using it dropped the Dao armament hammer to the level of a divine treasure.


    Even so, the strike of the wooden hammer couldn''t be underestimated, and Xiao Biehan didn''t dare to take the blow directly, instead opting to use thirteen spell arts in a row to neutralize it.


    The Celestial Sound wooden hammer was enough for Shi Wunian to bring himself back into the battle.


    On the other end, Jin Wuyu and Ling Xiao also took out their treasures.


    Jin Wuyu took out a book, while Ling Xiao produced a mirror.


    Both book and mirror shot out rays of light at their opponents. One treated characters like weapons, with each character exhibiting the sharpness and ferocity of a divine weapon, while the other was the exact opposite, drawing in all attacks and sucking them into the mirror before sending them back. This was a sh of two Dao armaments!


    But this time, it was Ling Xiao and his Heaven Earth Mirror that had the upper hand. This item was the second-strongest Dao armament of the Basking Moon Sect. Its Dao was Yin Yang, emphasizing the inversion of two aspects. As this was a full mobilization, the God-Conquering Merak Sword had been given to the Cloud Ancestor, the Starsnatch Pagoda had been left behind to keep the sect safe, and the Heaven Earth Mirror had been brought out. This Dao armament countered Jin Wuyu''s Divine Weapon Codex. This object''s Dao was Illusion, and it could convert all characters into weapons, so it excelled against both groups and individual targets. However, it was no match for the Heaven Earth Mirror, which could turn all of those attacks right back at him. Jin Wuyu had no choice but to put away his book, and in this way, Ling Xiao was able to recover the initiative he had lost earlier.


    The battle between Han Wuxin and Nine Splendors also began to intensify.


    Han Wuxin was a small and thin man, and his entire person was seemingly cloaked in shadow. The cold de he held in his hand was also a Dao armament. Its name was the Phantom de, and it excelled at silent ambushes. As for Nine Splendors, he held an ink-green snake.


    This little snake seemed like a fiend, but it was also a Dao armament. Its Dao was Life, and because this weaponcked a soul but possessed life force, it could be controlled, and could attack independently and change forms. It could even absorb life force from a target to strengthen itself. But its numerous functions meant that it was somewhat weak. It was this very Dao armament that Xiao Biehan had used for his end of the wager.


    Han Wuxin''s Phantom de was of the Dao of Assassination, sinister and wicked, while Nine Splendors'' snake emphasized endurance, so Han Wuxin was on the offensive while Nine Splendors focused on defense. It appeared that Han Wuxin had the upper hand, but everyone knew that if Han Wuxin couldn''t ensure his victory from the start, he would ultimately lose a protracted battle.


    Last of all was the battle between Zhan Wushang and Mystic Moon. Although Mystic Moon had taken out a divine treasure, it was noparison to the Godhead Aegis. Thanks to the Godhead Aegis, Zhan Wushang was able to call on the Astral Winds over and over, with no concern that these winds could hurt him. Perhaps this was the reason the Godhead Aegis had been given to him, so that he could fully utilize his offensive power.


    His Mountain Sea Saber was itself a divine treasure, with each swing drawing down lightning and setting the winds aze, its overwhelming divine power forcing Mystic Moon back again and again.


    It seemed like Mystic Moon was about to be the first to be defeated, and one defeat might result in aplete rout. Zhan Wushangughed, "So what if you alle together and attack us? This is thend of my Godhead Pce! We are the masters here. The home territory advantage is ours, and not even your Basking Moon Sect can do anything about it. Today, we will avenge the humiliating defeat from one hundred and thirty years ago."


    He once more swung his saber.


    With the Godhead Aegis protecting him, he had no need to worry about his personal safety and put all his power into attacking. The aftershocks of this attack alone were enough to prate the heavens.


    But at this moment, a voice rang out behind him. "I''m afraid you won''t be the one doing the avenging."


    At that moment, Jin Wuyu, Han Wuxin, Shi Wunian, and Hu Xueha all shouted, "Watch out!"


    Someone charged out of the void, thrusting a golden sword at Zhan Wushang. It was Tang Jie wielding the Sovereign de.


    Zhan Wushang brazenly shouted, "I have the Godhead Aegis protecting me. What can you do?"


    He ignored the attack and continued to swing his saber at Mystic Moon.


    Mystic Moon knew he was in trouble and focused all his power on defense.


    The Mountain Sea Saber shed with Mystic Moon''s Twin Dragon Umbre. Under Zhan Wushang''s berserk attack, this divine treasure was actually pulverized. Mystic Moon threw up blood as that torrent of power mmed into his body, shattering his barrier, crushing his bones, and pulverizing his body.


    A divine light shot out of Mystic Moon''s bodyhis Divine Soul. But instead of fleeing, it let out a shriek, upon which his shattered body began to converge and reconstruct itself. It was clear that Mystic Moon had not given up on this physical body that he had spent so many years cultivating. He was taking a gamble that Tang Jie could hold off Zhan Wushang.


    If Tang Jie couldn''t, then Zhan Wushang could deal the finishing strike on his Divine Soul.


    Zhan Wushangughed and charged forward, confident that Tang Jie couldn''t hurt him.


    But then there was a soft squelch.


    Zhan Wushang shuddered, and he looked down to see the tip of a sword emerging from his body.


    "This but how" Zhan Wushang said in stunned shock, blood flowing out of his mouth.


    A white light erupted from the sword, engulfing Zhan Wushang and ensuring that he saw nothing else.

 Chapter 785: Sect Annihilation Battle

    Chapter 785: Sect Annihtion Battle


    The burst of white light was naturally the attack of the Yin Yang Division Sword.


    Just like the God-Conquering Merak Sword, it had the ability to target the soul, so the Yin Yang Division Sword was also a powerful Dao armament that could sever the soul.


    When the sword erupted, the Yin Yang Division Sword became like the emissary of death, instantly obliterating Zhan Wushang''s Divine Soul. As it was nted within the body, its power swept through every cell of Zhan Wushang''s body, annihting any hope he had of escaping.


    Without even a chance to wail, Zhan Wushang died.


    This left everyone stunned.


    Dead in a single blow!


    The difficulty of doing this to a Deification cultivator was far too high, and even the likes of Ling Xiao and Jin Wuyu would find it extremely hard. Even Zhan Wushang, who had shattered Mystic Moon''s divine treasure and pulverized his physical body, still hadn''t managed to actually kill Mystic Moon. This was because people at their level were very tenacious, able toe back so long as they had even the smallest sign of life.


    That Tang Jie had done it demonstrated to everyone how immensely powerful this attack had been.


    Tang Jie pulled out the Sovereign de, upon which Zhan Wushang''s body dissolved into spiritual energy. But the Godhead Aegis did not turn into a golden grain. Rather, the hole that Tang Jie had punched through it began to heal, and it turned into a streak of golden light and flew toward Jin Wuyu. Tang Jie was a little slow to react, so he failed to catch it in time.


    Tang Jie sighed. As expected of a Dao armament, even with his upgraded Sovereign de empowered by the Weapon Mantra, the Godhead Aegis had still survived his full-power attack. All he had been able to do was punch a small hole in it, but it had quickly healed, such was its power. In truth, the Sovereign de had run out of power after piercing through the Godhead Aegis, and the Yin Yang sword spirit had needed to give it that extra boost. Otherwise, the wound he would have inflicted on Zhan Wushang would have been as small as a mosquito bite.


    But this eruption had used up all of the sword spirit''s power, and it once more fell into hibernation, probably needing as many as one hundred years until it could be used again.


    However, rather than letting that happen, as Tang Jie pulled out the sword, he also grabbed the slumbering sword spirit and pulled it out of the Sovereign de.


    After learning about the real use of the Sovereign de, he had been wanting to pull out the sword spirit and restore the Sovereign de to its original form. But the sword spirit''s sharpness made it difficult to extract, so he had put that matter to the side. Now that it was out of power, extracting it became much easier.


    Holding the sword spirit, Tang Jie shouted, "Third Martial Uncle, catch!"


    He threw the sword spirit at Xiao Biehan.


    Xiao Biehan didn''t know what he was supposed to catch, only seeing a white light flying toward him. But he trusted Tang Jie and knew that he wouldn''t hurt him, so he didn''t try to evade. The white light lunged at Xiao Biehan''s Sky-Parting Sword, fusing with it.


    The Yin Yang sword spirit was a supreme sword spirit, but it was aplete mismatch with the Sovereign de. While it resided within the sword, it could not fully use its power, instead having to hibernate for one hundred years after every burst of power.


    But upon merging with Xiao Biehan''s sword, it was like it had truly found a home. The Sky-Parting Sword immediately began to shine with a white light, radiating a surge of boundless, vast, and ancient sword intent from the de.


    "This is" everyone gasped in surprise.


    "A Dao armament!" Xiao Biehan was startled. As the sword''s master, he was best able to sense its changes.


    That white light that Tang Jie had thrown over had made his sword evolve, and the power of a Great Dao was gathering within it. Moreover, it was the power of ughter that Xiao Biehan was familiar with, as with the God-Conquering Merak Sword.


    The Yin Yang Division Sword and the God-Conquering Merak Sword were both des of ughter, annihting the soul. And in terms of pure power, the Yin Yang Division Sword was actually above the God-Conquering Merak Sword. Xiao Biehan had held the Merak Sword for many years and had grown very familiar with its ughter energy, and the simrity of aura had made him very attractive to the Yin Yang Division Sword.


    Unlike with the Sovereign de, it merged on its own, and the result was that it began to resonate with the Sky-Parting Sword.


    The God-Conquering Merak Sword was the guardian treasure of the sect, not to be recklessly used, while the Sky-Parting Sword was Xiao Biehan''s everyday weapon. Xiao Biehan cherished this sword and had invested countless materials into it so that it could get stronger, with the goal of upgrading it into a Dao armament. s, a Dao armament required a Dao Will to support it, which was difficult to acquire. Xiao Biehan had yet to even be a Celestial Sovereign, having onlyprehended the Dao of ughter, so he was still far from reaching this goal. But at least from a material perspective, the Sky-Parting Sword wasparable to a Dao armament.


    When the sword spirit fused into it, it filled in what the Sky-Parting Sword had beencking the most, allowing it to directly evolve into a Dao armament.


    Not even Tang Jie had expected this development, and he couldn''t help butugh. "I suppose sometimes you really have to find the right master, huh?"


    Xiao Biehan alsoughed. "Haha, kid, thanks for the gift!"


    He swung his sword at Shi Wunian.


    It was still the Sky-Parting Sword, but the power it contained waspletely different. Shi Wunian felt an immense danger, like he was facing the God-Conquering Merak Sword, though it was not exactly the same feeling.


    The God-Conquering Merak Sword was still the number one Dao armament of the Basking Moon Sect, its power unstoppable. While the Sky-Parting Sword had been upgraded to a Dao armament, it was an artificial Dao armament, inferior to a natural one. But this was Xiao Biehan''s everyday sword, so he found it easier to use. And besides, a weaker Dao armament also made it easier to use. In contrast, the God-Conquering Merak Sword was so powerful that Xiao Biehan couldn''t use it as he pleased.


    Thus, while the Sky-Parting Sword didn''t feel as dangerous, it was much more flexible, and Shi Wunian didn''t dare to defend against its blows. Even though Godhead Pce was famed for its defense, he still backed away again and again in the face of this soul-destroying Dao armament. He even altered his Great Aspiration Divine Connection from destroying all things to strengthening himself, the Divine Connection empowering him to evade these strikes. Even so, whenever a wave of sword energy brushed past him, Shi Wunian would be shaken down to his soul. The battle instantly took a turn for the worse.


    And Shi Wunian was not the only one to suffer.


    Tang Jie''s appearance and Zhan Wushang''s death hadpletely tipped the bnce of power.


    While Mystic Moon had been removed from the battle so that his injuries would not leave irreparable damage, he had been reced by Tang Jie.


    While he was just an Infant Tending cultivator, his actual strength was on par with Deification.


    With a smile, he took out the Myriad Immortals Cauldron and threw it at Han Wuxin.


    Although Han Wuxin had not seen this item before, he had been told about the battle at Heavenly Bnce Mountain, so he guessed that this cauldron was the Dao armament which had sealed the Spotted Char. Unwilling to let himself be sealed, he followed Shi Wunian in evading, running away in a streak of light.


    He was so fast that the Myriad Immortals Cauldron couldn''t catch up, so it hurtled toward Jin Wuyu instead.


    Jin Wuyu simply grunted and produced his Divine Weapon Codex. Golden characters flew up and shot at the Myriad Immortals Cauldron. <em>Cling! ng! Cling!</em> Unexpectedly, the Myriad Immortals Cauldron couldn''t ovee these magic weapons, instead being knocked around here and there, its Dao Runes bursting with waves of light.


    Tang Jie understood that the Myriad Immortals Cauldron wasn''t suitable for head-to-head battle and was about to call it back, but then Ling Xiao took out the Heaven Earth Mirror and shone it upon the cauldron. The sh of three Dao armaments resulted in an explosion of Dao Wills that made the world tremble.


    In the distance,rge mountains began to crumble into dust.


    Even Ye Yun and Yun Tian were stunned by the intensity of the battle taking ce on the other end.


    Ye Yun resentfully red at Yun Tianlian, but there was nothing he could do, for he realized that Yun Tian was alreadypletely above him.


    One hundred and thirty years of being favored by fortune and receiving instruction from a Boundless Gold Immortal and a Supreme True Immortal had allowed this Earth Immortal to achieve shocking progress. Although he had yet to advance to True Immortal, he had broken through his previous rut and be a half-step True Immortal.


    Ye Yun was no longer a match for him.


    He suddenly realized that Godhead Pce was probably going to be wiped out.


    But at the same time, Yun Tian frowned, shaking his head and muttering, "Brat, daring to trick me."


    In the distance, Ling Xiao asked in confusion, "Tang Jie, why are you here instead of Godhead Pce?"


    ording to the original n, while the two sides were fighting, Tang Jie would charge into Godhead Pce and seize the Divine Will Golden Body to help the ancestor break through.


    But instead of going to Godhead Pce, Tang Jie had joined the battle.


    Tang Jie punched several times at Jin Wuyu while replying, "Sect Master, don''t you think annihting Godhead Pce and then taking the golden body would be better?"


    "What?" These words left everyone dumbfounded.


    Perhaps because they weren''t mortal foes, the Basking Moon Sect had never held too much animosity against Godhead Pce. Even when Godhead Pce had led a major force against Heavenly Bnce Mountain, since they had been defeated and the Basking Moon Sect hadn''t suffered much damage, the hatred wasn''t deep. Not only that, they worried that the destruction of Godhead Pce might lead to a copse in the power structure, making the future difficult to predict. They were unwilling to be the ones to break the stalemate, which made them all the more unwilling to destroy Godhead Pce.


    They were seizing the Divine Will Golden Body because the Cloud Ancestor needed it to break through.


    In their view, if the Cloud Ancestor broke through, the Basking Moon Sect would be the sole hegemon. Thus, there was no need to risk a major conflict, which might result in many deaths and give an opportunity to others.


    But Tang Jie was different.


    He had loathed Godhead Pce from the very beginning. His number one enemy would always be Godhead Pce, not the Beast Refining Gate.


    He had sworn a Great Aspiration to destroy Godhead Pce.


    The Basking Moon Sect had never imagined that when Tang Jie had proposed his n to steal the Divine Will Golden Body to the Cloud Ancestor, he had already made up his mind to turn a heist into the annihtion of Godhead Pce.


    The Divine Will Golden Body?


    Just as Tang Jie said, once Godhead Pce was destroyed, this would be one of their spoils of war. There was no need to go and steal it in particr.


    Moreover, in Tang Jie''s eyes, waiting for the Cloud Ancestor to dominate was being too passive.


    What if someone else broke through before the Cloud Ancestor?


    Perhaps the ancestor of one of the other sects was closer than he was.


    Fortune did not favor just one person. While it wasn''t clear to Tang Jie who had had more resources before this, Tang Jie did know that the power bnce of the world had never been even. There would always be the strong and the weak. For example, the strongest among the six major sects in thister era had always been publicly acknowledged as Horizon Ocean Pavilion, not the Basking Moon Sect.


    What if Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s ancestor broke through before the Cloud Ancestor?


    Thus, rather than waiting, it would be better to conquer and take first, and then help the Cloud Ancestor break through!


    In his view, this method was more reliable.


    Besides, he was never the kind of person to entrust his fate to others.


    Thus, he had made a n to drag in the Cloud Ancestor and the upper echelons of the Basking Moon Sect.


    Of course, he wouldn''t do this alone. He needed allies and the opportunity.


    In this matter, Xiao Biehan and Ming Yekong supported his n.


    As for the opportunity


    Completely annihting Godhead Pce was best, taking the Divine Will Golden Body was apromise, and gaining a small advantage in the name of revenge was the worst option, but as for which one he chose, that would all depend on the situation. If the opportunity came, Tang Jie would resolutely choose the first option and execute aplete annihtion.


    The battle had already started, and the upper echelons of Godhead Pce were in peril. Even if Yun Tian wanted to withdraw, Ye Yun wouldn''t let him.


    Upon understanding this, everyone understood Tang Jie''s n.


    Shi Wunian roared, "Xu Muyang taught you well, you shameless bastard! But if you want to destroy my Godhead Pce, you''ll need far more than this! Retreat and defend within the formation!"


    Godhead Mountain had a guardian formation that could even keep out an Earth Immortal once activated. The six major sects had maintained their equilibrium not just through manpower, but also through abundant resources.


    Tang Jieughed. "You really think Godhead Mountain is safe? Did you forget who gave you that stab in the backst time?"


    The Seven Absolutions Sect?


    Jin Wuyu and the others froze in shock.


    A figure appeared in their minds.


    Hong Shenji!


    The Rosecloud Domain''s number one formation master.


    If there was anyone who could break the formation, it was Hong Shenji.


    If all of the experts of Godhead Pce were still back at the mountain, Hong Shenji naturally wouldn''t have the chance, but what if the upper echelons of the Seven Absolutions Sect were also present?


    Moreover, Tang Jie was only using his physical body to fight and hadn''t shown the abilities of Violet Pce. This clearly wasn''t theplete Tang Jie, so the avatar Tang Jie had probably gone to Godhead Pce.


    Thebined abilities of two formation masters were bound to break open Godhead Pce!

 Chapter 787: Elimination, One By One

    Chapter 787: Elimination, One By One


    The desperately battling Jin Wuyu andpany had naturally noticed the intense sh taking ce at Godhead Mountain, but at this moment, they were finding it hard to keep themselves alive.


    Zhan Wushang''s death had immediately turned the tables. While Mystic Moon was too injured to keep fighting, Tang Jie was a force that couldn''t be ignored.


    Tang Jie''s body had undergone a huge change in quality after reaching the Immortal Spirit Body level. That little bit of Immortal Spirit power had altered his blood energy such that it was no longer so vigorous, instead bing more refined and mature, dense with profound spiritual energy.


    If one had to describe it, one could say that Tang Jie''s original body was like that of a fiend, possessing its own essence blood. Each drop of essence blood was packed with Immortal Spirit power, which allowed Tang Jie''s original body to usew cultivator methods at critical moments.


    Tang Jie shook his arm, upon which a golden mote of light appeared on the Sovereign de, and he thrust the de at Hu Xuehua''s hairpin phoenix.


    Tang Jie had always kept his Weapon Mantra a secret in the Rosecloud Domain. When he had pierced through the Godhead Aegis, he had only revealed the sharpness of the Sovereign de and not the true essence of the Weapon Dao, so Hu Xuehua didn''t pay this attack any mind.


    But Shi Wunian sensed something wrong and shouted, "Elder Hu, watch out!"


    Before Hu Xuehua could react, the Sovereign de touched the phoenix.


    The woman smirked, thinking to herself, <em>My fire phoenix was made from the soul of a true phoenix, so even if you slice it into ten thousand pieces, it will still be reborn from the mes.</em> As a result, she didn''t think anything bad would happen.


    But a momentter, the phoenix let out a intive screech, as if it was in immense pain, and then the mes retreated, the hairpin returning to its original form. A light erupted from the golden hairpin as it fiercely shuddered, but then it gradually calmed back down.


    "What''s going on here?" Hu Xuehua blurted out in shock.


    Tang Jie pursed his lips. "So it''s still a littlecking?"


    He had already given up on Dao armaments and was only targeting upper-grade divine treasures like this for the Weapon Mantra to destroy, but to his surprise, the phoenix seemed to have the ability to protect its host, saving the hairpin from being shattered. But Tang Jie could tell that the hairpin was struggling to protect itself, meaning that he wasn''t far from sess.


    Tang Jie was at ease when he realized this, and he smiled. "Elder Mountain, hold down this old woman for a bit while I deal with this divine treasure."


    "Okay!" the Mountain Shatter Boy shouted.


    Although he didn''t know what sort of method Tang Jie was using, he was keenly aware of the phoenix hairpin''s abilities. If Tang Jie could deal with that divine treasure, then he wasn''t afraid of Hu Xuehua at all. The Mountain Shatter Boy unleashed a powerful punch at Hu Xuehua. Even though he was aw cultivator, his fighting style was no different from a body cultivator''s, unleashing punch after punch and leaving Hu Xuehua with no energy to worry about her hairpin.


    Tang Jie chuckled and stabbed his sword at the hairpin again.


    If one strike wouldn''t do, he would just make a few more. He was sure that the hairpin couldn''t hold on forever.


    The hairpin radiated a brilliant light, and the phoenix let out a screech of pain and despair.


    Tang Jie kept going, stabbing again and again while using the full power of the Weapon Mantra, determined to destroy the hairpin. The phoenix soul screeched again and again in the hopes of getting help from its master, but Hu Xuehua had no attention to spare. In the end, Jin Wuyu thrust a palm at Tang Jie, taking a blow from Ling Xiao in return.


    Thanks to Tang Jie''s Immortal Spirit Body, while this palm did some serious damage, he quickly recovered, and he continued to stab the sword at the hairpin. Gradually, the phoenix began to reach its limit and seemingly began to beg for mercy.


    But Tang Jie ignored it, continuing to stab away.


    The sword light falling on the hairpin was so incessant that the phoenix couldn''t evene out.


    Finally, with one more strike from Tang Jie''s sword, the hairpin shattered, and arge bullet-sized golden grain flew out and disappeared into the Sovereign de.


    At the same time, the phoenix soul was exposed, and it fled into the distance.


    "Eh?" Tang Jie was startled that the phoenix hadn''t perished with the hairpin. As expected of an upper-grade divine treasure, it truly possessed extraordinary attributes.


    But since it wasn''t destroyed yet, he couldn''t just let it go.


    Tang Jie reached out a wed hand, his palm exerting a pull on the phoenix that brought it back. Heughed and said, "Since you aren''t willing to be a part of my Sovereign de, then I''ll turn you into essence blood to nourish my body."


    He stuffed the phoenix soul into his mouth and devoured it. Circting his energy, he ground up the feeble soul, converting it into pure energy and absorbing it, increasing the Immortal Spirit power in his body by just a little.


    "My phoenix!" Hu Xuehua wailed.


    Tang Jie ignored her and turned to Han Wuxin. His target this time was the Phantom de.


    He had a firm understanding of his ce. The weakest person here was still a Deification cultivator.


    When his body was iplete, he was very limited in what he could do, but the Sovereign de''s power was limitless. By using it against Godhead Pce''s weapons, he could greatly restrain them.


    The Phantom de was a Dao armament, and while it was the very lowest tier of Dao armament, it enjoyed the protection of a Dao, so it wasn''t something Tang Jie could destroy. However, this didn''t mean he couldn''t restrain it. Moreover, the Sovereign de was still extremely sharp, even able to pierce the Godhead Aegis. Tang Jie was sure that Han Wuxin was unwilling to see his Phantom de cut up into a saw.


    Even if it could heal, he still didn''t want that to happen!


    As expected, the moment Tang Jie thrust out his sword, Han Wuxin immediately backed away in fright, not daring to take him on directly. He swiftly summoned rays of dark energy that shot at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie didn''t care. His Immortal Spirit Body didn''t have the ability to thought cast, but every swing of his arm and shout had the effect of a thunder spell.


    As the dark bolts of energy approached, he swung the Sovereign de, obliterating many of the bolts. The few that managed to get through harmlessly struck his body, only causing him to slightly wrinkle his brow. With a single stride, he instantly closed the distance and swung the Sovereign de again.


    This frenzied wave of saber energy could even tear apart the fabric of space, and Han Wuxin was forced to retreat again, but in doing so, he left an opening that the Nine Splendors True Lord seized to stab him.


    Han Wuxin howled, and a crimson ring of light erupted from his body.


    Seeing this, the Nine Splendors True Lord quickly fell back, shouting, "Retreat!"


    Tang Jie had also sensed the power of this attack, but he merely grunted and said, "The sessor of the Martial Lord doesn''t know the meaning of retreat."


    With a roar, he grew two heads and four arms. It was the Divine Connection left behind by the Herding Yang Pearl. After several hundred years, Tang Jie had finally managed to restore it to its full form.


    The six arms each grasped a weapon: the Sovereign de, the Mother Cloud Essence Metal axe, the Deste Heavens Halberd, the Thundershatter Saber, the Wildfire Spear, and the Annihtion Gale Sword.


    The Deste Heavens Halberd hade from He Changan. It had always been very useful, and while it had gradually fallen behind as Tang Jie grew in power, Tang Jie had never traded it in for a new weapon. Rather, he had requested Tie Lian to upgrade it into a divine treasure.


    The Thundershatter Saber hade from the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, and it was a very powerful divine treasure.


    The Wildfire Spear had been the Aurora Fiend Emperor''s weapon, and it was even stronger than the Thundershatter Saber. It was just that Aurora had been forced tomit suicide before he could even use it, and so it was now Tang Jie''s.


    The Annihtion Gale Sword was the strongest of the Peerless Sword Pavilion''s thirteen divine swords. Although it was inferior to the Thundershatter Saber and Wildfire Spear, the fact that it could store Astral Wind meant that it had be one of the everyday weapons for Tang Jie''s original body, who cultivated using the Astral Winds. As Tang Jie increased the intensity of his cultivation, the Astral Winds in the Annihtion Gale de grew more and more concentrated, making the sword more and more powerful.


    With six weapons in hands, Tang Jie charged at the crimson light.


    The moment the crimson light touched Tang Jie, there was a loud hiss, his steely skin immediately beginning to melt away, as if someone had poured acid on it.


    "Tang Jie!" Nine Splendors was aghast. He was the person most aware of the effects of Han Wuxin''s Heart-Eating Blood Poison. It was both extremely corrosive and difficult to remove, able to melt the average Celestial Heart cultivator into a puddle of blood in seconds. He had identally gotten a little of this poison on him in a previous battle, and he had needed ten-some days to finally expel it.


    By charging straight into the poison, Tang Jie was taking on a hundred times more than he had.


    Tang Jie simplyughed. "I''m fine!"


    He swung all six weapons at Han Wuxin.


    Han Wuxin was like a ghost, taking a step backward and disappearing. At the same time, a pitch-ck ghost appeared where he had stood, lunging at Tang Jie.


    "A ghost from the Nether hmph, Han Wuxin, you broke the taboo and cultivated Ghost Dao arts!" Nine Splendors angrily said.


    This ghost was a product of the Ghost Dao, and it was both powerful and difficult to catch. Nine Splendors felt fury over this unexpected card Han Wuxin had yed.


    "When your life is on the line, who cares about what''s taboo or not? Moreover, I sent my soul down to the Yellow Springs to catch this ghost. I didn''t make it out of a living person, so I didn''t break any sort of taboo!" Han Wuxin''s voice rang out from the surroundings.


    "A ghost?" Tang Jie chuckled. He couldn''t even be bothered to look at it. "Little Three, it''s yours."


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    Little Three jumped out of the void, a blinding white streak.


    The moment the ghost saw it, it let out a quavering shriek and ran away.


    "What?" Han Wuxin was dumbfounded.


    It wouldn''t have been surprising if the ghost had been killed. After all, it was just a form of support and wasn''t as strong as Han Wuxin himself. But this was his first time seeing a ghost turn tail upon seeing such a small ghost. It had to be understood that when Han Wuxin''s soul had captured this ghost, it had been an extremely strong ghost of the Nether Domain, able to contend against the average Ghost Emperor. So why did it run away?


    But there was no time for Han Wuxin to find out the answer, for as Little Three chased after the ghost, it waved at him while passing by. Han Wuxin immediately knew that he had been exposed and made a flying leap.


    His Dao of Concealment belonged to the Dao of Space, and while he had yet to enter the Dao, he was capable enough in the Dao that even the Dao of Insight couldn''t find him, allowing him to go around as he pleased. But Little Three had exposed him with the wave of a hand.


    The moment he jumped out from his concealed space, Tang Jie swung his six weapons.


    "NO!" Han Wuxin cried out in fear.


    <em>Plush!</em>


    Six weapons plunged into his chest.

 Chapter 786: Mighty Assault

    Chapter 786: Mighty Assault


    Godhead Mountain.


    This proud mountain that loomed over the Gargantua in was weing the greatest threat it had faced since its creation.


    Tens of thousands of cultivators hadpletely encircled Godhead Mountain, belonging to the Seven Absolutions Sect and to the Basking Moon Sect.


    Tang Jie stood high up in the air, and with him were Ji Qingfeng, Wang Juemie, and Hong Shenji.


    Ming Yekong stood to the side. He had not remained to protect the Basking Moon Sect, instead leading the members of the Basking Moon Sect''s radical faction toward the Seven Absolutions Sect in preparation for this battle.


    A golden light radiated from Godhead Mountain, covering the entire mountain like a golden bowl.


    "We were still a little toote. Godhead Pce realized something was wrong and activated the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation," Wine Immortal Lu sighed.


    The Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation sounded very ordinary, but it was a top-ss defensive formation. Godhead Pce had spent two thousand years investing countless resources into this formation, and while it might not be on par with the Seven Absolutions Sect''s Universe Reversal Yin Yang Formation, it wasn''t too far off. Once the formation was activated, even God Immortals would find it difficult to prate. It was a formation that could annihte Earth Immortals and hold back True Immortals, a formation that even thebined assault of the Seven Absolutions Sect and Basking Moon Sect couldn''t bring down.


    It had not had a chance to disy its might one hundred and thirty years ago when the Seven Absolutions Sect attacked. This was because the Seven Absolutions Sect had chosen a small elite squad, sending in a few Violet Pce experts rather than an army, so Godhead Pce hadn''t been able to react in time. Besides that, the Earth Immortal had still been present, so they didn''t feel like they were in danger and thus didn''t activate the formation.


    But everything was different this time.


    The invasion of the two sects and the tough battle their sect master was locked in had given Godhead Pce advance warning. Without their own Earth Immortal standing guard, they could only rely on the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation.


    Underneath this formation, the entire world was painted gold.


    Gazing at the golden turtle shell in the distance, Tang Jie smiled. "So what if we were toote? Weren''t we ready for this?"


    Hong Shenji stroked his beard andughed. "Indeed, indeed, we''re prepared. Formations are rigid while people are alive. While the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation is powerful and can block external attacks, it can''t stop internal destruction."


    He flicked his fingers, sending out a st of air.


    Ming Yekong did the same.


    Explosions rumbled across Godhead Mountain, and plumes of smoke began to rise. So many explosions had happened all at once that the golden dome over the mountain trembled, its color fading.


    This string of explosions seemed simple, but each location was actually meticulously calcted, each one targeting a node of the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation.


    After two thousand years of construction, this formation had 34,892 nodes in all, with 3,600 being critical. ording to Godhead Pce''s designs, if the formation came under attack, no matter where it was attacked, it would affect that specific area and not others. Something like a copse in one part leading to the copse of the entire line was impossible.


    But this meant that each node of the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation was its own independent cell that couldn''t sustain as much damage as the overall formation. If these nodes were specifically targeted and broken, the formation would weaken.


    Thus, before the Seven Absolutions Sect''s raid back then, Tang Jie and Hong Shenji had spent a great deal of time researching the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation.


    In that raid a hundred and thirty years ago, Hong Shenji had disguised himself and personally entered Godhead Pce. Everyone thought that the Seven Absolutions Sect had attacked to loot Godhead Pce; only the Seven Absolutions Sect and Tang Jie knew that the real goal of the raid was to prepare for today''s battle.


    Hong Shenji had used that raid to personally seek out some of the critical nodes of the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation, after which he ordered the spies they had nted to make some preparations. When the moment finally came, everything was put into motion.


    That the entire mountain was awash with mes was a sign that their preparations had seeded at wreaking havoc from within, and it was apparent that Godhead Pce was in chaos.


    A Seven Absolutions Sect cultivator holding a detectorpass shouted, "The Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation has suffered heavy damage! Its power has fallen by at least fifty percent!"


    Both sects were delighted to hear this.


    Ji Qingfengughed. "It''s all thanks to Brother Tang''s n from back then. Brother Tang, you truly are farsighted, always nning things out before making a move and opening our eyes to all the possibilities."


    "Indeed, indeed," the powerhouses of the Seven Absolutions Sect all praised.


    But Tang Jie frowned. "Only fifty percent?"


    This n had been in the works for nearly two hundred years and had taken immense manpower and resources, but it had only deprived the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation of half its power. To be honest, Tang Jie wasn''t satisfied.


    It had to be understood that the Basking Moon Sect and the Seven Absolutions Sect had basically exposed all their spies in Godhead Pce for this campaign. If they couldn''t take Godhead Pce, their spies would be wiped out, and the two sects would lose any intelligence on Godhead Pce for the next few centuries, making any further ns against it more difficult.


    Moreover, while the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation had lost half its power, this was because it had lost critical nodes, and was not a permanent loss. Godhead Pce''s formation masters werepletely capable of restoring this lost capability.


    Hong Shenji clearly understood this, saying, "Our current priority is to end this battle quickly! Brother Tang, it''s up to you."


    Tang Jie nodded, and the Celestial Eye on the center of his forehead opened, the Great Dao Realm forming around him. The divine light of the Celestial Eye engulfed Godhead Mountain.


    After a few scans, Tang Jie pointed at a location and said, "There''s a weak spot over there, so an attack from there will be effective."


    Ji Qingfeng shouted, "Disciples of the Seven Absolutions Sect, hear me! Attack!"


    As he spoke, thousands of disciples charged at that weak point.


    Tens of thousands of spell arts burst out in a glorious disy,ing down in a great storm.


    The Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation responded.


    A golden glow radiated outward, and a thousand golden dragons appeared. A majestic pressure radiated from the formation, pressuring everything in the area.


    But the moment this pressure appeared, Ji Qingfeng and the other four True Lords pushed back against it.


    Not only that, those thousands of disciples also assumed a formation, and their vast killing intent was merged together into a giant dragon.


    This frenzied dragon shed against the golden sunset glow in an explosion of rainbow light that broke through the clouds, so brilliant that it seemed like all the light of the world was gathered here.


    The ten-thousand-man formation shed with the guardian formation with such intensity that it even outshone the battle of the ten Violet Pce cultivators and two Earth Immortals in the distance.


    A momentter, numerous Seven Absolutions Sect cultivators were sent tumbling by the eruption of sunset light. Some of the weaker ones were instantly burned to ashes once they left the protection of theirbat formation.


    But even more cultivators gathered,bining their powers and turning quantity into quality. Together with Ji Qingfeng and the True Lords, they furiously battled against the formation.


    But the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation was truly not to be underestimated. Even with its internal structure in disarray and its weak point under attack by more than ten thousand cultivators, it still seemed to have endless power, not only holding off the attack but even firing off rays of golden light.


    With every ray of golden light, a cultivator was bound to fall. Even Heart Demon and Soul Transformation cultivators couldn''t block them.


    But the cultivators of the Seven Absolutions Sect fearlessly pressed the attack. The grudge between these sects had persisted for a thousand years, and nothing except death could make them back down.


    Countless spell arts and energy sts pounded the formation. Within the formation, one could vaguely make out countless disciples running about, with the asional explosion. There was a battle going on within, the spies of the two sects defending themselves now that their mission was done. They just needed to buy time until the army outside broke through to win, but most of them would not live to see that moment.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie and Hong Shenji were still seeking out the weak points of the formation.


    Ordinary methods would never break a formation like the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation. One had to constantly find its ws and then exploit them in order to weaken it.


    Tang Jie pushed his Celestial Eye to its limit, and through its divine light, he was able to find weak point after weak point, even future weak points.


    Hong Shenji was responsible for targeting these weak points, but rather than attacking them, he used his own methods to unravel them.


    The two of them were a perfect match.


    Tang Jie pointed at a node below and said, "Xun position 233!"


    In order to make things easier to point out, Tang Jie had used a surveince formation to draw out a model of Godhead Mountain, giving each position a code name and a number. Hong Shenji quickly found the right location, but the only thing on that level piece of ground was arge gray stone.


    Although he didn''t have Tang Jie''s eyes, he had rich experience with formations, so he quickly identified this stone as a diversion. The real node was one foot under the stone. Laughing, he flicked a st of energy at the node.


    A wave of golden light moved to block the st.


    This reaction meant that this truly was an important area.


    Master Zhu took out a talisman.


    The talisman turned into a streak of me that unexpectedly blocked that powerful golden light, leaving Tang Jie rather taken aback. But Master Zhu winced, for this talisman was capable of fending off the blow of a Violet Pce cultivator.


    Hong Shenji''s st of energynded at the target location and erupted in a cloud of ck smoke that engulfed the node. <em>Bang!</em> The node was destroyed.


    Tang Jie sighed in admiration. "The profundity of Master Shenji''s methods leave Tang Jie full of admiration."


    Every node was heavily protected and was not easy to destroy. Behind that casual st from Hong Shenji was the experience and might of a grand formation master, which was why it had so easily seeded. And if it hadn''t seeded, the node would enhance its defenses to counter it, making it even more difficult to destroy.


    Hong Shenji replied, "I am also full of admiration for the Freedom Celestial Sovereign''s peerless vision."


    "Stop ttering each other and destroy this formation already. Then we can charge in and kill to our heart''s content."


    Tang Jie pointed out another location.


    Wine Immortal Lu spat out arge mouthful of wine.


    The golden sunset moved to block again, but this time, Tie Lian waved a hand, and thirteen ck short swords flew out and intercepted the golden light. However, in doing so, the thirteen sword became slightly bent, which made this smithing grandmaster slightly scowl.


    This was enough for the wine to ssh down, and then Master Zhu''s me talisman followed, setting off a ze that destroyed the node.


    Wine Immortal Lu sighed, "That was some good wine, you know?"


    He had gathered countless spirit herbs to brew this wine, and its value wasparable to one of Master Zhu''s talismans. After spitting it out, he had gone a little pale.


    A massive battle had begun over Godhead Mountain.


    Cultivators were dropping like flies, and node after node was being destroyed.


    Blood rained from the heavens!

 Chapter 788: The Longevity Sword

    Chapter 788: The Longevity Sword


    As the six weapons plunged into Han Wuxin''s body, they erupted with six different kinds of power. Just when Han Wuxin was about to be blown into pieces, his body turned into a dark streak and fled, rendering Tang Jie''s attack ineffective. This ck energy flew off into the distance, where it reformed into Han Wuxin, blood flowing from his chest wound.


    The six weapons had managed to wound Han Wuxin, but because Han Wuxin had fled before they could unleash their power, it only served to give Han Wuxin a surface-level wound.


    A momentter, the wound was healed, leaving behind no trace.


    "A nice escape art," Tang Jie casuallyughed. Han Wuxin was a Deification expert, so for him to have one or two tricks wasn''t a surprise at all. Every sect had their oddballs, and Han Wuxin was his sect''s. He wasn''t actually good at direct battles, but he was more agile, attaining an extremely high level in escape arts. Furtively approaching, delivering a single lethal strike, and then fleeing was his specialty.


    Only Han Wuxin was capable of escaping the eruption of power from a weapon the moment it entered his body. Even a Violet Pce Tang Jie with the ability to thought cast couldn''t get this fast.


    Having barely avoided a lethal blow, Han Wuxin had broken out in a cold sweat. His face shed with ferocity as he waved his hand, and a pool of water appeared before him.


    Reflected in the pool of water was none other than Tang Jie.


    Han Wuxin stabbed the Phantom de into the water.


    Tang Jie felt an intense pain in his chest. Looking down, he saw that a de wound had appeared on his chest, and Han Wuxin was savagely smiling at him.


    "Striking through reflections?" Nine Splendors was stunned, and as he shouted, the snake in his hand shot at Han Wuxin.


    Han Wuxin simply chuckled and disappeared, reappearing elsewhere and once more stabbing the Phantom de, this time striking at the back of Tang Jie''s head.


    "Die!" Han Wuxin screeched.


    The Phantom de let out a bone-chilling energy.


    This cold and wicked energy exerted the unstoppable momentum of death. It was the power unique to the Shadow branch of the Dao of ughter.


    Seeing this, Nine Splendors shouted in rm, "Tang Jie, get back! He''s going all-out!"


    Dao armaments were Dao armaments because they possessed the power of the Dao. When this Dao power wastent, Dao armaments might not seem very strong, perhaps even worse than some of the better divine treasures. Only a Dao armament using its Dao power could be considered aplete Dao armament.


    But just like how Soul Transformation cultivators found it hard to really use divine treasures, Violet Pce experts actually found it very difficult to use Dao armaments. Entering Violet Pce simply gave them the right to use Dao armaments, but actually utilizing their power required one to reach Earth Immortal. This was why Xiao Biehan had used the God-Conquering Merak Sword once and then stopped.


    But it seemed like Han Wuxin was risking everything to activate the power of his Dao armament.


    The Phantom de was finally able to unleash the power of the Dao stored within it, and that chilling power infiltrated Tang Jie''s body and almost instantly froze him solid.


    The sinister energy continued to invade his body, plunging Tang Jie into an icy hell. His life energy began to freeze, and even his Divine Soul was in so much pain that it seemed to be on the verge of cracking apart.


    This was the sensation of near-death!


    Tang Jie had never been so close to death before!


    Only now was he realizing how truly terrifying a Dao armament exerting its real power could be.


    This power could annihte all and freeze the world, was a supreme and divine majesty that stood above all!


    "NO!" Nine Splendors roared.


    The snake in his hand turned around and stabbed at Nine Splendors'' chest. There was a burst of light as the snake absorbed the life force of the Nine Splendors True Lord. Since he couldn''t catch Han Wuxin, his only option was to use his own body to save Tang Jie.


    But s, he was toote.


    That cold energy had frozen Tang Jie down to his soul at stunning speed. But suddenly, that energy came to a stop.


    A mote of me zed within the ice.


    A red point of light emerged from Tang Jie''s body, growingrger andrger.


    <em>Crack! Crack! Crack!</em> Amid a loud cracking, Han Wuxin felt like something had stabbed him in the heart, and his face paled as he threw up blood.


    And then Tang Jie nced at Han Wuxin.


    It was a cold and silent nce, as if he was looking at a corpse, and it chilled Han Wuxin down to the bone.


    His entire body shuddered. "How is this possible?"


    He knew just how powerful the Phantom de''s Shadow y was, capable of killing even a Soul Projection Celestial Sovereign, condensing so much power into a single strike that even the Dao of Life wouldn''t be able to recover. Tang Jie was only at Infant Tending, so how had he blocked this power of the Shadow Dao?


    While he reeled in shock, the chilling energy that had invaded Tang Jie melted away, and Tang Jie began to walk over. But just as he took a step, he paled and almost fell over.


    Fortunately, Nine Splendors'' snake arrived.


    The inky-green snake bit Tang Jie on the arm, and immense life force was pumped into his body. A crimson glow radiated from his body, and his withered form began to recover.


    Tang Jie smiled at Han Wuxin. "Senior Han, you must be all tired out after forcing the activation of the Dao armament. As Violet Pce cultivators, we should be using Divine Connections! Try my sword!"


    He put away the other five weapons, only thrusting the Annihtion Gale Sword at Han Wuxin.


    The sword unleashed an unspeakably graceful and profound energy. Though it was a simple strike, it made one unwilling to block it.


    It wasn''t a matter of courage, but a matter of willpower.


    Han Wuxin dumbly gazed at the sword light, as if it was enchanting him somehow.


    "Wuxin!" A loud cry rang like a gong in Han Wuxin''s mind.


    Han Wuxin was jolted awake, just in time to see the sword about to reach him. Yelping, he fled in a streak of light and just barely dodged the sword. His face stricken with fear, he shouted, "What Divine Connection is this!?"


    Nine Splendors was also taken aback. "An excellent Divine Connection, able to disturb the mind. Tang Jie, what is this Divine Connection? Howe I''ve never seen you use it before?"


    A sword art that could confuse the mind wasn''t a big deal, but a Divine Connection that could confuse a Deification expert was truly hard toe by. Although Han Wuxin''s Divine Soul had been exhausted from activating the Dao power, it was still an impressive feat. At the very least, it meant he could confuse those of the same tier with no problem.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "The Longevity Sword. I got it from the Myriad Court fragment in Nadir Hill, but you have to be at Violet Pce to be able to truly use it. I had to wait many years until I could finally use it."


    "But you''re the body cultivator right now" Nine Splendors said in shock. "How can a body cultivator use a Divine Connection?"


    "Immortal Spirit power has innumerable uses," Tang Jie exined. Once he reached Immortal Spirit Body, that tiny bit of Immortal Spirit power had be his biggest trump card. It could let his body cultivator form use Divine Connections, and many more things besides that. It was the Immortal Spirit power that had stopped Han Wuxin''s Dao power, but in doing so, Tang Jie had been forced to expend quite a lot of it. It had taken a hundred years to umte his tiny little bit of Immortal Spirit power, and the effort had painfully taken a third of it. It was the remainder of his Immortal Spirit power that Tang Jie had used to activate the Longevity Sword. After replying to Nine Splendors, Tang Jie added, "Martial Uncle used your own life force to save me, so you should hurry and treat yourself. As for Han Wuxin, you can leave him to me."


    He once more thrust his sword at Han Wuxin.


    Han Wuxin helplessly raised his de. He wanted to keep attacking through reflections, but Tang Jie didn''t give him the chance, attacking him over and over.


    Once the Longevity Sword was activated, it was as ceaseless as a river, pushing back Han Wuxin again and again.


    Tang Jie felt like this Divine Connection was perfect for him, finding it much stronger than the Divine Connections of the Basking Moon Sect. Worth noting was that this Divine Connection sword art was verypatible with a body cultivator''s form, and Immortal Spirit power waspletely capable of utilizing the Divine Connection''s power.


    Han Wuxin had never imagined that Tang Jie could use a sword with such beauty, grace, and lethality.


    shing sword flowers bloomed before Han Wuxin like deadly white lotuses, radiating the beauty of death.


    Han Wuxin thought that with his Deification strength, he should have had high chances of defeating the early-phase Immortal Spirit Body Tang Jie. But not only had his strength fallen after his failed activation of the Dao power, Tang Jie''s Longevity Sword was also far more powerful than he had anticipated.


    The light from the sword was majestic and dominating. A chop created a sword mountain while a swing created a sword river. The sword rose like the sun and moon, and it sundered the skies as it fell, leaving a trail of stars in its wake. Han Wuxin was rmed and terrified by these sights, and Tang Jie himself was rather bbergasted.


    Tang Jie''s greatest weakness as a body cultivator had always been ack of abat technique that could fully utilize his strength. Up until now, he had only had the Devil Crushing Fist.


    But the Devil Crushing Fist''s w was too great and could easily put him temporarily out of the battle. Although Tang Jie had also gathered some body cultivatorbat techniques from the Celestial me Pagoda, all of them were crude techniques unable to truly utilize his strength. As a result, he had mostly relied on brute force until now.


    In this aspect, he was far inferior to Wang Juemie and his Horn Dragon Demon Body and Vajra Combat Will, and it was one of the reasons Wang Juemie had been able to overwhelm him in terms of strength.


    It was only when Tang Jie was using the Longevity Sword in his body cultivator form that he realized that the Longevity Sword was surprisinglypatible with him, resolving his greatest weakness and regret. Not only could it be used with Immortal Spirit power, allowing his original body to use a sword art through its immense strength, the Longevity Sword also gave the body cultivator the ability to use a Divine Connection.


    While each strike from the Longevity Sword seemed gentle and soft, each streak of sword energy was brimming with a power that could shatter mountains.


    This was a terrifying energy that a body cultivator could only possess upon attaining the Immortal Spirit Body, but it was being used through this graceful sword light. While itcked that proud and arrogant demeanor, it gained an all-epassing meticulousness and an allure that enchanted and bedazzled the soul.


    The Pearl Lady!


    A thought suddenly urred to Tang Jie.


    He understood now.


    When he found the Longevity Sword in the Myriad Court fragment, it had been ced together with the statue of the Pearl Lady.


    In other words, it was highly likely to be the Pearl Lady who had developed this Divine Connection. She was lovers with the Martial Lord, so it waspletely normal for her to develop a Divine Connection that a body cultivator could use, and it would exin why he was sopatible with it.


    Upon realizing this, he began to attack with even greater gusto.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    A sword light shed.


    This time, Han Wuxin couldn''t block it.


    As the sword light passed over his body, this seemingly gentle strike erupted with a mountain-crushing energy, instantly obliterating half of his body.


    Although Han Wuxin had peerless escape arts, his recovery ability wasn''t so impressive, so this strike essentially left him half-dead and howling in pain. His Divine Soul suddenly lunged out from his head, wielding a sharp de that he stabbed at Tang Jie. "Die!"


    He turned into a lightning bolt and shot toward Tang Jie.


    This strike contained all of his strength, but just when his Divine Soul was about to make impact, a streak of green stood in his pathNine Splendors'' snake. The snake stabbed into the Divine Soul, which began to rapidly shrivel up.


    "Nine Splendors!" Han Wuxin shrieked.


    The Nine Splendors chuckled. "My thanks."


    He called back the snake, which stabbed itself into his heart and began to pump life force into his body, restoring what he had lost to save Tang Jie.


    At the same time, Tang Jie''s sword unleashed a wave of sword energy at Han Wuxin''s body.


    Utterly obliterating him.

 Chapter 789: Sunfall Bolts, Immortal-Slaying Ballistae

    Chapter 789: Sunfall Bolts, Immortal-ying Ballistae


    Godhead Mountain.


    A fierce battle was still ying out.


    While the offensive side was unrelenting in its assault, the defensive side held fast.


    asionally, a flying sword or streak of light would emerge from the formation to attack the outsiders¡ªGodhead Pce had designed this formation to defend against attacks from the outside, so it naturally didn''t block their own attacks.


    But the Seven Absolutions Sect was notpletely unprepared. There were disciples for both offense and defense. Numerous cultivators had assembled around Godhead Mountain, grasping two bronze mirrors each. These were the standard-issue art relics of the Seven Absolutions Sect. When used alone, they were of mediocre strength, but when used together, they were truly able to magnify the power of numbers.


    These thousands of cultivators held up their mirrors, the beams of light emerging from them forming a formation of light.


    This light formation was like a giant wall, blocking the attacksing from Godhead Mountain and greatly reducing the damage the Seven Absolutions Sect sustained.


    But while Immortals had more methods than mortals, when it came down to it, they weren''t that different. For both types of people, there had to be attackers and defenders, with numerous exchanges where each side showed their mettle.


    When the Seven Absolutions Sect took out their light wall formation, Godhead Pce pushed out a cart.


    This cart was asrge as a horse carriage and was being pulled along by two powerful Windroar beasts. Coiled around the cart was a rare fiend snake, the Violetscale Lightning Serpent, famed for its tenacity. It was tied around the cart like a chain, moaning in pain as its body crackled with lightning. Various formation lines had been carved into the cart, and in the very center sat a giant ck arrow, tipped with a golden dragon decoration and fletched with the feathers of some extinct fiend. The entire arrow exuded the deathly gray energy of ughter, turning this arrow into a symbol of death and terror.


    This arrow was called the Sunfall Bolt, and the cart was called the Immortal-ying Ballista.


    Godhead Pce had rolled out four Immortal-ying Ballistae, each one holding three Sunfall Bolts.


    The ballistae began to fire the Sunfall Bolts at the light mirror formation.


    When the first Sunfall Bolt was fired, all of the Gargantua in seemed to darken.


    The bolt mmed into the light formation like a spear being thrust into a fire, sending gouts of light sshing in every direction.


    The rainbow light swept over the heavens and the earth. While today had already seen a lot of such light disys, this explosion was still particrly glorious and dazzling.


    With the strike of this Sunfall Bolt, the impervious light mirror formation showed a crack.


    A second, third, and fourth Sunfall Bolt followed.


    Each collision was apanied by a deafening shockwave and blinding burst of light.


    In this chain of collisions, more and more cracks appeared on the light mirror formation, covering it like a spiderweb.


    When the sixth Sunfall Bolt made impact, the light mirror formation finally shattered.


    The 7600 mirrors in the hands of 3800 cultivators all shattered in unison.


    Six strikes had destroyed 7600 art relics simultaneously, leaving Tie Lian wincing in pain. It was him and his disciples of the Forge Hall that had personally forged all of them. Although they were standard-issue art relics, their sheer quantity meant that they were extraordinarily valuable.


    It was the elite versus the masses, quality versus quantity!


    Godhead Pce had used the Sunfall Bolts to st through the Seven Absolutions Sect''s light mirror formation, but they still had six more of them.


    The seventh Sunfall Bolt took aim at Hong Shenji.


    They clearly understood that if they wanted to hold Godhead Mountain, they first had to deal with Hong Shenji. If Hong Shenji died, the Seven Absolutions Sect''s ability to break the formation would be greatly reduced, and if they could get Tang Jie next, it would be perfect.


    The eighth Sunfall Bolt was aimed at Tang Jie.


    Hong Shenji and Tang Jie were both extremely close, so the two bolts fired one after another almost instantly locked onto them.


    Master Zhu flipped over his hand to reveal a pile of talismans, which he liberally threw out. Countless wind walls, ice barriers, earth shields, and water prisons appeared, formingyer afteryer of defense to block the two Sunfall Bolts.


    The leading Sunfall Bolt sted through all these defenses as if they were no stronger than the paper they were inscribed on. In shock, Master Zhu threw out another stack of talismans, and this was finally enough to block this Sunfall Bolt. But this strike had expended most of his talismans, leaving him nothing to deal with the second Sunfall Bolt.


    Tie Lian roared and sent out his thirteen swords.


    Tie Lian had spent many years forging these thirteen swords, and while they weren''t divine treasures, their sword formation wasparable to a lower-grade divine treasure. A forging grandmaster had long ago surpassed the point where he relied on his materials to forge superb items. He was focused on the art of forging, seeking to forge high-quality treasures using lower-quality materials, and these thirteen swords were the quintessence of his forging art.


    But the Sunfall Bolt immediately bashed through them, making Tie Lian almost faint from the pain and anger, and he threw out some more art relics. The Sunfall Bolt rammed its way through quite a distance''s worth of them before finally stopping, having destroyed so many of Tie Lian''s precious items that he almost wanted to die. Master Zhu was basically feeling the same. While his talismans were cheaper, he had used plenty of them.


    Yet this was only two Sunfall Bolts.


    Two more came hot on their heels.


    Seeing that there was no other way to stop them, Yiyi suddenlyughed and said, "Let me deal with them."


    With a wave of her hand, a floral pce appeared, protecting everyone within its walls. She also threw out the Treasure Cosmos Formation diagram, the light of countless treasures focusing on the ninth Sunfall Bolt. The two energies collided, and the ninth Sunfall Bolt was obliterated.


    Another figure appeared in front of Yiyi: the Mother Cloudbat puppet. After entering Violet Pce and achieving the Immortal Spirit Body, Tang Jie had less need of thebat puppet, so he had given it, the Treasure Cosmos Formation, and the bean soldiers to Yiyi so that they could protect her. With these around, even an Infant Tending expert would find it difficult to kill Yiyi.


    The lines on the puppet shone with starlight as it pushed out its arms at the tenth Sunfall Bolt.


    There was another powerful sh of energies. The Sunfall Bolt punched through the starlight formation and mmed into the puppet, sending it flying in an intense explosion. Everyone was dumbfounded, but then they saw the puppet walk out of the smoke, seemingly fine. The massive hole left in it by the bolt began to slowly heal, while the lines of the starlight formation began to dim.


    At this moment, another two bolts came flying out. Godhead Pce was dead set on taking down Hong Shenji and Tang Jie, sending itsst two Sunfall Bolts.


    Yiyi frantically said, "Big Brother, Big Brother, we can''t block them anymore!"


    Tang Jie finally raised his head. "As expected of the Sunfall Bolts said to even be able to y Violet Pce experts. But s, they''re no use against me."


    Staring at the Sunfall Bolts, Tang Jie produced a golden shortsword.


    The Sovereign de!


    The original body had a Sovereign de, and so did the avatar.


    This weapon had no fixed form.


    As a special weapon made from countless golden grains, the Sovereign de could change its form, so it naturally could be taken apart and used separately. Originally, when Tang Jie had nurtured the Sovereign de to the point where it was aplete weapon, he had stopped using the Weapon Mantra, for he felt that there was little point. It was onlyter that he realized how mistaken he was, after which he had begun to use the Weapon Mantra again. The new golden grains could be used to make the original Sovereign derger, but they could also be used to make a new one, which was the one the avatar was holding.


    It was a shortsword primarily because Tang Jie had preferred peace in thest two hundred years and hadn''t been in many fights, and those golden grains he had gotten were all from scrapped items. The Freedom Celestial Sovereign currently had a reputation in the Basking Moon Sect for collecting scrapped art relics.


    Tang Jie thrust the Sovereign de at the Sunfall Bolt.


    When the bolt and Sovereign de shed, the impact almost blew Tang Jie up. Fortunately, with his ability to thought cast, he instantly applied 27 shields on himself, just barely holding off that terrifying shockwave. Meanwhile, the Weapon Mantra made the Sunfall Bolt shatter, leaving behind a single golden grain.


    Tang Jie thrust his weapon at the final Sunfall Bolt, once again activating the Weapon Mantra. The power of the Weapon Dao assailed the bolt, breaking it down. At the same time, Tang Jie''s body shed with light as barrier after barrier was broken. This time, however, Tang Jie failed to so easily neutralize the power of the Sunfall Bolt, and with a boom, his arm exploded under the pressure, and his body was thrown into the sky.


    "Big Brother!" Yiyi shouted in rm.


    "I''m fine." Tang Jie casually walked back, his arm already starting to regrow. The avatar didn''t have the original body''s vigorous vitality, so this swift recovery was aplished through the power of life force, expending lifespan. Wine Immortal Lu swiftly passed a rare pill to Tang Jie so that he could expend less of his lifespan.


    Looking down below, Tang Jie said, "The Sunfall Bolts lived up to their name. If there had been one more, I would have been heavily injured if not killed, and if there were four bolts, this body would have never been able to block them. No wonder they say that they can shoot down Immortals and fell suns. However, among the six major sects, it is the Seven Absolutions Sect that is famed for its skills in the auxiliary field. It would be rather shameful if Godhead Pce managed to outdo you in this aspect."


    Wine Immortal Luughed. "Freedom Celestial Sovereign, rest easy. If our Seven Absolutions Sect could be beaten in this aspect, we wouldn''t be the Seven Absolutions Sect."


    Nearby, Tie Lian grunted, "Forge Hall disciples, where are you?"


    "Hall Master, give your orders!" a group of Forge Hall cultivators called out.


    "Bring out the Demonyer Cannons!"


    "Yes!" A horn sounded, and in the distance, several dozen disciples pushed forward ten carts.


    Each cart carried a ck cannon.


    The cannons seemed unremarkable, but as a professional, Tang Jie could see that each cannon was covered in formation lines that were brimming with power. With one nce, Tang Jie could tell that these were extremely powerful weapons, on par with the Sunfall Bolts.


    Hong Shenji indifferently said, "Let Godhead Pce have a taste of our methods."


    <em>Boom!</em>


    The cannons fired.

 Chapter 790: A Cultivator Siege Battle

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    When the ten Demonyer Cannons were pushed out, the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation immediately slowed its offensive, the golden light retreating and entering a defensive stance.


    Master Zhu smiled. "This Chu Xitong is really sharp, and also bold."


    "''Chu Xitong''?" Tang Jie asked, wondering why he didn''t know this name.


    "Godhead Pce''s newly-appointed Human King, known as the number one strategist of Godhead Pce, and imed to be able to lead an army of ten thousand in defeating a Violet Pce expert," Ming Yekong said after suddenly appearing. "A master in leading the mediocre to defeat the elite."


    The six Sunfall Bolts had rmed both the Violet Pce experts of the Seven Absolutions Sect and Ming Yekong. Hong Shenji and Tang Jie were both precious individuals that they couldn''t afford to lose. Thus, Ming Yekong had rushed back. With him around, Hong Shenji and Tang Jie would be in much less danger.


    If this Chu Xitong was newly appointed, it was no wonder that Tang Jie didn''t know. Being in seclusion for one hundred years had left him too alienated from the world. He asked, "This sounds like a woman''s name. Do they have a rtionship with the former Human King, Chu Huang?"


    Tie Lian replied, "She is Chu Huang''s daughter. Seventy years ago, Chu Huang attempted to break through into Violet Pce and died in the attempt. There were hundreds ofpetitors for the vacant throne, so nobody expected it to eventually fall into the hands of his daughter. Generals often rear up tiger daughters, and Chu Huang seeded in raising a fine daughter, who has now be the number one problem my Seven Absolutions Sect has to deal with."


    "Every generation has its talents," Hong Shenji sighed. "Whenever invaders threaten a city, heroes will emerge. But no matter how heroic they are, nobody can go against the will of the heavens and the great cycle!"


    Hong Shenji waved a small g, and the ten Demonyer Cannons activated in unison.


    First, the spirit stones installed above the barrels shed, and then a powerful light began to gather within the barrels.


    This light became more and morepacted, condensing within the barrel into tiny points of light.


    Each cannon shuddered, and a beam of light issued out from the barrel.


    Ten beams of light descended from the heavens, crashing into the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation in an eruption of golden energy.


    Within this golden eruption, ten targeted critical nodes were destroyed, and the remaining power of the barrage tore ten holes through the formation.


    "Attack!" Hong Shenji pointed down below, and several hundred cultivators of the Seven Absolutions Sect''sbat division charged into the gap.


    However, Ji Qingfeng and the others didn''t go in. The Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation wasn''t on itsst legs yet, so even if they went inside, they would have to deal with the formation''s internal attacks, which had yet to be used and made going in incredibly risky. Thebat division cultivators were heading inside primarily to interfere with the operations of the formation and create more opportunities for the Seven Absolutions Sect. Of course, they were basically guaranteed to die.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect was willing to pay a high price to exterminate Godhead Pce.


    After sting open those ten holes, the Demonyer Cannons began to gather power for their second salvo.


    These cannons possessed stunning power, and their sts moved much faster than the Sunfall Bolts. Their only w was that they gathered energy so slowly and were easily discovered. However, they were very suitable to use against immobile targets like formations.


    Godhead Pce clearly understood that the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation would eventually be done for if the Demonyer Cannons were allowed to keep firing.


    Golden pirs shot out from the formation and toward the cannons, and other pirs shot at Hong Shenji and Tang Jie. Godhead Pce''s strategist was clearly still determined to take down these two.


    As the golden pirs emerged, Ji Qingfeng''s group of five, Ming Yekong, and Tang Jie all worked together to suppress the golden light.


    With the light mirror formation shattered, the seven Violet Pce experts hade forth to deal with 70% of the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation''s power. Of the remaining 30%, 10% was dealt with by the chiefs, the Celestial Heart cultivators dealt with another 10%, and the rest was dealt with using the Seven Absolutions Sect''s various art relics. This seeded in neutralizing the formation''s attack.


    But as the golden light was blocked, tens of thousands of dark streaks erupted from Godhead Mountain.


    These were needles crafted from rare and special materials, designed to pierce through barriers of spiritual energy.


    Ji Qingfeng and the others waved their sleeves, creating a giant cloud-like formation in the sky that swept up most of the needles. But some of the needles got through and peppered the Demonyer Cannons. As a result, four cannons were immediately destroyed, and one cannon that was already ready to fire detonated, the ensuing explosion devouring the twenty-some cultivators around it.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect countered with a barrage from numerous art relics, making the formation sway and shudder.


    This was a cultivator siege battle.


    One side had Violet Pce experts leading a powerful army, and the other side had a powerful formation they relied on like city walls.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect focused its power on destroying the formation, much like how mortal attackers in a siege battle attempted to ovee or destroy the walls. Meanwhile, Godhead Pce used its advantage in terrain to deal heavy damage to their foes in the hopes that the enemy would back off. To these ends, the battle began to intensify.


    Besides the Demonyer Cannons, the Seven Absolutions Sect also produced several other powerful formation-destroying weapons.


    Moon-Sniping Chain Ballistae, Lightning Chariots, Violet Radiance Statues¡­ It was a feast for Tang Jie''s eyes.


    This cultivator battle was one born out of revenge, but it was also a chance for Tang Jie to gain experience and understand the difference between sects.


    He had to admit that the Seven Absolutions Sect was truly superior when it came to the auxiliary fields, able to produce numerous Immortal tools of incredible power. Tang Jie had never even seen or heard about them before, and if it weren''t to attack Godhead Pce, the Seven Absolutions Sect might have kept them stashed away, perhaps to be used to give some unlucky fellow an unpleasant surprise in the future.


    Now, however, all these hidden cards were being disyed to Tang Jie. As Tang Jie looked at them, he noted their shapes and properties, analyzing the usibility of copying them and how he might deal with them.


    At the same time, Godhead Pce was also taking out everything it had. They didn''t have as many hidden cards, but with the protection of the formation, they could freely attack their enemies, and they managed to deal more damage than the Seven Absolutions Sect did to them. That Chu Xitong was also a capablemander, her every move striking a critical point.


    Although this woman had yet to appear herself, thanks to her, the Seven Absolutions Sect had already lost eight Demonyer Cannons, four Moon-Sniping Chain Ballistae, and five Lightning Chariots. Even one of those apexes of puppetry, the Violet Radiance Demon Statues that cost exorbitant amounts and stood two thousand feet tall, had been lost, and the remaining one, still bellowing and punching with its giant fists, was covered in injuries. When night fell, this giant statue also copsed.


    Tang Jie calmly had Yiyi sow some bean soldiers to go onto the battlefield and collect the remains of that statue. The bean soldiers rushed out like ants, carting those giant fragments back like they were morsels of food.


    Perhaps because he had sent too many bean soldiers, Hong Shenji spotted them. He coughed and whispered, "You''re still a Celestial Sovereign, so mind yourself a little."


    Tang Jieughed. "Curiosity, purely out of curiosity."


    But he ordered the bean soldiers to move even faster.


    Hong Shenji could only shake his head and pretend not to see.


    The battle remained hotly contested


    This cultivator war had already reached a fever pitch.


    Under the frenzied barrage of the Seven Absolutions Sect, the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation was on the verge of copsing. Although Godhead Pce had already cleaned out all the spies, and the formation masters were desperately repairing the damage, the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation was losing power far faster than it was recovering.


    The formation currently had only 20% of its power left.


    While this 20% was sufficient to stop the attacks of most cultivators, it could no longer threaten Violet Pce cultivators.


    Ji Qingfeng and the other True Lords were already starting to turn some of their energy from defense to offense, which hastened the copse of the formation. To deal with this, Chu Xitong was forced to send waves of Godhead Pce disciples out of the formation to do battle.


    They weren''t there to kill the enemy, but to break up the enemy forces, hindering them and buying time.


    Although they seeded in affecting the offensive of the seven Violet Pce experts, this made the losses of Godhead Pce skyrocket, with basically everyone who was sent out dying. This was also a sign that Godhead Pce didn''t have much left to deal with the situation.


    In truth, Chu Xitong had pulled off an incredible feat in leadership and tactics insting this long against an army led by seven Violet Pce True Lords, living up to her title as the Human King.


    But humanity''s thousands of years of history had proved that no matter how favorable the terrain, when the offensive side had three times the number of the defensive, in the majority of cases, it was the offensive side that won.


    The same was true for cultivator wars. Moreover, the seven Violet Pce True Lords and the internal damage made the gap in strength more than just three times.


    In these circumstances, aeback from Godhead Pce was basically impossible.


    At this moment, Godhead Mountain suddenly began to radiate an awe-inspiring energy.


    It was majestic, profound, and ancient, an infinite vastness that filled the heavens.


    The entire world seemed to darken, as if some terrifying existence hade to preside over thisnd.


    Everyone''s impression was of being ants looking up at an elephant, mortals gazing up at mountains.


    So majestic as to stop one in one''s tracks!


    A human figure appeared on Godhead Mountain.


    There was no dazzling golden armor or dominating aura. It was just an ordinary middle-aged man wearing a high crown and a long robe, grasping an Immortal text in his hand.


    Yet he seemed to tower into the heavens.


    At that moment, Godhead Mountain was him, and he was Godhead Mountain!


    "The Guangfa Godhead!" Tang Jie''s eyes narrowed.


    He was very familiar with this appearance. It was none other than the form of the Guangfa Godhead that He Chong had manifested.


    But this manifestation seemed much more real.


    Tang Jie instantly realized what was going on.


    The Divine Will Golden Body!


    Godhead Pce must have activated all of the Divine Will in the golden body to produce such a grandiose phenomenon.


    He Chong had only needed a tenth of the Divine Will to bring himself to Violet Pce, draining all light out of the world with one finger, and this was all of the Divine Will!


    Moreover, this was Godhead Pce''s home turf, which probably had many ways to magnify its power.


    The moment it appeared, its majesty reigned supreme over all the Violet Pce experts present.


    This was Godhead Pce''s most powerful move, and its activation meant that they were in desperate straits. If the Guangfa Godhead''s Divine Will failed to stop the enemy, Godhead Pce would face only annihtion.


    For Godhead Pce, this was a desperate matter, and for Tang Jie, it was a nightmare.


    He suddenly realized that the Divine Will Golden Body wasn''t inexhaustible.


    The moment the Godhead''s manifestation had appeared, the Divine Will had begun to be consumed.


    Theoretically, so long as the Divine Will was notpletely consumed, it could return to the golden body and recover. But once it waspletely used up, it would be like a nt that had lost its seeds. There would be no regrowth.


    And it seemed like Godhead Pce was prepared to burn everything down rather than leave anything behind for their enemies.


    Tang Jie grew frantic. He was attacking Godhead Pce precisely for the Divine Will Golden Body, as this was the only object that could help the Cloud Ancestor break through. If the Divine Will were consumed, then the only thing he would have achieved was his revenge. ording to his agreement, only the golden body would belong to the Basking Moon Sect, with the rest of the spoils going to the Seven Absolutions Sect. This was the only way to get the Seven Absolutions Sect to so heedlessly attack, for they knew that they could get back everything that they had lost from Godhead Pce. Otherwise, even hatred wouldn''t make them so crazed and reckless.


    Now that Godhead Pce was using up the Divine Will in the golden body, what reward was the Basking Moon Sect going to get?


    At this moment, Tang Jie saw a crafty light in Hong Shenji''s eyes.


    Startled, Tang Jie knew that he had fallen for the trap. The Seven Absolutions Sect had probably expected Godhead Pce to do this, which was why they had agreed to Tang Jie''s conditions. Perhaps they had even left behind a spy to propose this n at the critical moment so that the Basking Moon Sect was left with nothing.


    Although the two sects had joined together against theirmon foe, that didn''t mean they couldn''t scheme against each other.


    Tang Jie was filled with remorse, realizing that he had been too focused on being upright and frank, neglecting the scheming side, which had led him to be schemed against.


    But he wouldn''t take back his actions. It was the underdog that relied on schemes and thinking. When one was strong, one should walk the open and upright path. To always rely on scheming was not the correct path, nor was it a permanent one.


    Upon realizing this, he didn''tin. After some thought, he pointed at a node and said, "There! Four cannons, fire in unison!"


    The Seven Absolutions Sect was already used to receiving his orders.


    The remaining two Demonyer Cannons and two Moon-Sniping Chain Ballistae fired, punching open arge hole in that part of the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation.


    Tang Jie immediately rushed into the gap, Yiyi following him.


    Hong Shenji was a little too slow to react, only able to watch as Tang Jie disappeared through that gap without a word. After a momentary daze, he suddenly shouted in realization, "Not good! He''s going after the golden body!"


    At the same time, far off in the distance, Tang Jie''s original body howled and began to fly toward Godhead Mountain.

 Chapter 791: Charging into the Formation

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    To charge into the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation was to face surging golden winds.


    These golden winds were akin to the Domain Astral Winds of the Rosecloud Domain, brimming with destructive power.


    A spiritual barrier appeared around Tang Jie to hold off the golden winds.


    Before heading farther in, he first observed his surroundings.


    The Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation had both formidable external defenses and numerous internal mechanisms. Every location hid potential dangers, and every step had to be considered carefully.


    The inside of the formation was littered with corpses, belonging to both the Seven Absolutions Sect and Godhead Pce. There were also signs of various traps having triggered, with some being so powerful that even a Violet Pce expert like Tang Jie would have had to be careful around them.


    Scorch marks and weapon marks could be seen all around the ce as remnants from previous offensives, and as Tang Jie walked through, he felt like he was making his way through an abandoned battlefield.


    Suddenly, a ck wave rushed toward Tang Jie. Rather than attempting to stop it, Tang Jie hastily retreated, upon which the ck wave surged past, melting down all the corpses it passed over and leaving naught but white bones. Even Tang Jie couldn''t help but grimace at the corrosiveness of such fluid.


    Fortunately, the ck wave disappeared, and Tang Jie continued forward, but he made it only a few steps before a bolt of lightning came at him.


    This time, Tang Jie attempted to defend against it. The lightning bolt exploded on Tang Jie, and then, seemingly without Tang Jie doing anything, a rock in the distance exploded, and someone tumbled out from behind it, wailing. Before he could react, the wind turned into thousands of des and swept over him, slicing him into countless neat little pieces.


    Tang Jie continued, observing the formation as he ventured deeper and deeper in.


    He had to seize the golden body before all of its Divine Will was consumed.


    He was a formation master, and there was probably no one better at it in the Rosecloud Domain besides Hong Shenji. This plus his Celestial Eye meant that there was basically no trap in the formation that could hide from him. As he strode forward, all opposition in his path was vanquished.


    Godhead Pce''s current overseers quickly noticed Tang Jie.


    There was a small and quiet courtyard located in an unremarkable corner of Godhead Pce, peaceful and unaffected by the mes of war.


    Several people were seated in the courtyard. In the center was a beautiful woman as pale as the autumn moon, with a charming and lighthearted demeanor.


    In front of this woman was a formation that projected all that was taking ce outside. The bitter battle between cultivators, the storm of spell arts going back and forth, and the wavering of the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation under the Seven Absolutions Sect''s fierce assault were all on disy.


    The majesty of the golden body had forced the Seven Absolutions Sect to have three Violet Pce True Lords deal with it, giving the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation a chance to breathe. The formation masters were braving the spell arts and risking their lives to repair the various nodes, but these efforts were all futile.


    The resources and treasures stored within the pce were constantly being used up, and the cultivators were panicking as if it was the end of days. Some of them were even thinking about surrendering, but as Godhead Pce''s Violet Pce experts had yet to return, and their influence still weighed on everyone here, they temporarily put those thoughts to the side.


    In the middle of this chaotic battle involving more than ten thousand cultivators, the woman noticed a certain scene in the corner of the projection, a minor shift that was barely perceptible.


    She looked there and focused her eyes. With a wave of her hand, she magnified the projection.


    Upon seeing that figure strolling through the formation, the woman scowled. "Tang Jie!"


    All the others around the woman also grimaced. These people were bloodied and wounded and were here to rest, but when they saw that it was Tang Jie, they could no longer sit still.


    The name of Tang Jie had left far too deep an impression on Godhead Pce.


    Everyone knew that all that Godhead Pce was going through was linked to Tang Jie.


    A red-robed bald man red at Tang Jie''s projection. "Tang Jie¡­ Let me go and kill that bastard!"


    The woman darkly said, "Tang Jie entered Violet Pce a long time ago, and after a hundred years of cultivation, his strength is unfathomable. Fire King Miao, if you go, then this will probably be ourst meeting."


    The bald man didn''t seem to care, saying with augh, "If I die, I die. Ming Yekong and Tang Jie have appeared, but the True Lords and Ancestor have yet to return. Basking Moon and Seven Absolutions have pushed our sect to the brink, and while Human King Chu has sent the call for reinforcements, I''m afraid we won''tst until the Beast Refining Gate arrives. When the survival of the sect is on the line, what does the life of an individual matter? One death is worth it if it can stop that Tang Jie for a little longer. It''s not like we can let him walk around so freely, wrecking the insides of the formation."


    The woman, who was none other than Chu Xitong, sighed.


    Tang Jie wasn''t just anybody. As the finest formation master at Violet Pce, strong in both formations andbat, he could do far more damage to the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation than anyone else.


    But Chu Xitong felt like something wasn''t right.


    Tang Jie seemed to be focused not on destruction, but on heading farther into the formation, as if he was trying to pass through it.


    Although Tang Jie seemed to be strolling at a casual pace, considering that he was undoing the parts of the formation in his way, he was actually going as fast as he could go. At this pace, he wouldn''t need long to pass through the formation.


    What was he trying to do, that he was in such a rush?


    Chu Xitong didn''t understand, and she didn''t have the time to think. All she knew was that she had to stop anything her enemy was trying to do. She said to the Fire King, "If that''s the case, then I must trouble you, Fire King. I will muster all the power of the formation to assist. Remember that you don''t need to fight him to the death, only dy him. I will send another chief to help you."


    Fire King Miaoughed and then strode out of the courtyard. After just a few steps, he was in the formation and charging in Tang Jie''s direction.


    At the same time, Chu Xitong began to issue orders and adjust the formation.


    Tang Jie immediately felt the pressure around him increase.


    Firstly, the traps in the formation became more numerous and stronger, and secondly, more and more hidden cultivators began to appear. Although these cultivators'' ambushes were helpless against his thought casting, all of these distractions required Tang Jie to be constantly on his guard. Even when his Divine Will was at its maximum, the formation greatly reduced its effects. As the number of encounters rose, Tang Jie began to get annoyed, and his enemies managed to score a few wounds on him.


    Each of these wounds represented the life of one or more cultivators.


    They used their own lives to stop and impede Tang Jie, making Tang Jie seethe.


    At this moment, a powerful pressure suddenly descended.


    This was the most powerful energy Tang Jie had sensed since entering the formation, and he immediately realized that Godhead Pce had dispatched a true expert to stop him.


    Tang Jie abruptly stopped moving.


    A torrent of fire rushed toward him.


    With a blink of his eyes, Tang Jie conjured up a wall of air to block the mes, but he found that, rather than subsiding, the mes grew only stronger and stronger, spreading outward. He smiled and asked, "Is this Miao Lieyan (Raging me Miao), Fire King Miao?"


    "Indeed, it is I!" A mighty roar came from overhead.


    Tang Jie raised his head and saw a red cloud descending.


    Tang Jie smirked. "Just you? That won''t be enough."


    He lightly blew, and the moment the puff of air left his lips, it turned into a hurricane that howled toward the red cloud. But at this moment, a golden wind emerged from the formation, intercepting Tang Jie''s hurricane, and Miao Lieyan seized this opportunity to send a frenzied gout of me at Tang Jie.


    It was seemingly unwise for an avatar that was only at Infant Tending to ignore the full-force attack of a peak Soul Transformation cultivator, but Tang Jie seemed unafraid. As the me approached, he opened his mouth, and a firebird flew out, mming into Fire King Miao''s mes. The two mes shed in an explosion of embers that started fires wherever theynded.


    Tang Jie smiled. "Fire King Miao, why don''t we see how my Pale Cloud mepares to your Soulze Demon me?"


    In his early years, Miao Lieyan had been lucky enough toe across a divine me known as the Soulze Demon me. This was a tyrannical me that could attack the Divine Soul and burn it away to nothing. Later on, as he grew famous, he changed his name to Lieyan and took on the title of Fire King, all because of this me.


    But a me as strong as Miao Lieyan''s Soulze Demon me was merely a single entry on the list of Tang Jie''s lifetime achievements.


    As the Pale Cloud me fended off the demon me, Tang Jie threw out another me, the Deicide me.


    Tang Jie was much stronger after reaching Violet Pce, and he had clearly gained better control of the Deicide me, finally being able to use it against enemies instead of just for burning bodies.


    These two mes appearing together immediately caught Fire King Miao off guard.


    Just when Tang Jie was about to finish him, an icy energy wrapped in a bitterly cold wind suddenly blew toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was forced to dispel this icy light with a palm st, and then a crimson bolt shot at the back of his head, which was absorbed by a blood ring that emerged from Tang Jie''s body. Just after he blocked these two attacks, a golden wind, two finger sts, and a phantom whip attacked. But in a flurry of Tang Jie''s sleeves, he managed to block them all. Raising his eyebrow, he shouted, "Ice King, Blood King, and the Mountain Yang Marquis!"


    Three more people appeared in the formation¡ªthree more chiefs of Godhead Pce.


    Not only that, two more chiefs appeared in the distance. To deal with Tang Jie, Chu Xitong had mobilized most of the top-ss fighting power in the pce. Besides the chiefs, she had also assembled Godhead Pce''s secret guard unit, the Blood Knights. All of this was to kill Tang Jie.


    Fire and ice danced, weapons shed, and blood flew.


    An epic battle yed out within the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation.


    Six chiefs and more than a hundred Blood Knights¡ªany one of these would have earned the attention of a major character if they had gone outside the formation, but now, they were being used to deal with a single person.


    Tang Jie!


    Strolling through the ice and fire, he moved his hands here and there, spiritual energy surging and ebbing as he cast spell art after spell art. With a nce, a thought, he could harness the powers of the world to attack his foes and st apart their formations.


    But Godhead Pce continued to send in reinforcements.


    These cultivators were like suicide soldiers, lunging at Tang Jie and doing everything they could to hold him down, after which they died to Tang Jie''s spell arts.


    As for those six chiefs, they were particrly crafty, mixing in with the ordinary cultivators and using them to draw Tang Jie''s attacks while they joined hands with the formation to attack him.


    This was because the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation still represented the greatest threat. With every gust of golden wind, Tang Jie had to focus all of his power on blocking it, at which point the six chiefs seized the opening to attack. This forced Tang Jie to make a choice. He had to choose that which threatened him the least, butpletely evading the danger became impossible. Once their attack seeded, the six chiefs would immediately withdraw and continue to use the lives of other cultivators to cover for them.


    This tactic was essentially trading the lives of ordinary cultivators for a chance to attack him.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but admire the resolve and ruthlessness of the person nning this all out.


    He had to admit that this fighting style was quite problematic.

 Chapter 792: The Cloudsplinter Bow

    Chapter 792: The Cloudsplinter Bow


    <em>Thud!</em>


    A punch from the Warmspring Marquis mmed into Tang Jie''s back, the immense power within causing Tang Jie to stagger.


    "Hahahaha, Tang Jie, you will die today!" the Warmspring Marquis bellowed.


    No matter what the future of Godhead Pce was, at least they would be able to kill the culprit that had put them on the road to ruin. This result was enough to have themughing down to the underworld.


    This was perhaps why Godhead Pce was so fearless in its assault, and why Chu Xitong had mustered so many forces.


    By entering the formation, Tang Jie had put all the pressure on himself, inadvertently helping the Seven Absolutions Sect, making it easier for them to break the formation.


    But Tang Jie had no energy to spare to quibble over such things.


    He hade in to seize the Divine Will Golden Body, but he had been surrounded and stalled before he could even get out of the formation. He had to admit that the person who had arranged all of this was quite capable, and that his own ability to draw hatred was too good.


    In his unmerged form, Tang Jie''s avatar couldn''t use the Reflections of Floating Life or the Infinite Pce.Even so, a murderous energy bloomed in Tang Jie''s heart.


    Since entering Violet Pce, he had rarely wanted to kill so badly.


    The higher one went, the more indifferent andposed the mind became. Intense emotions faded and the desire to kill grew faint.


    But this didn''t mean that the mighty and powerful wouldn''t kill.


    A sovereign''s fury could have blood flowing across a thousand kilometers, and an Immortal''s wrath could plunge the world into darkness.


    When Tang Jie wanted to start a battle, an entire sect could perish.


    If Tang Jie wanted to kill someone, then nobody he saw would survive.


    Surrounded by enemies, Tang Jie roared, "Since you want to die, I''ll give you your wish!"


    His eyes shed.


    <em>Flesh Millstone, turn!</em>


    <em>Heavenly Cmity des, fall!</em>


    <em>Mother Cloud puppet, go!</em>


    <em>Bean soldiers, to arms!</em>


    He began to use his powerful spell arts.


    These spell arts were even more powerful than before, going beyond spell arts and bing Divine Connections.


    His Divine Will was linked to the world, allowing these great arts to manifest through nature!


    With a single thought, the air exploded with lightning.


    Crescent des began to fall from the skies, still 81 of them, still trailing chains, still wreathed in fire and lightning, but they exuded apletely different air.


    It was a more solemn and majestic aura, more awe-inspiring and powerful.


    In the past, the Nine Heavens Cmity des came down like a rain of des, but now, they felt like they truly represented the wrath of the heavens, their sword of punishment.


    They truly embodied the power of heavenly cmities.


    As the Nine Heavens Cmity des descended, they possessed a supreme power that could obliterate all. This was a true Divine Connection, able to sweep away and crush all before it.


    There was no resisting this sort of attack, only evading.


    But while the world was vast, the people of Godhead Pce had nowhere to run.


    The majestic des rained down, and though there were only 81 of them, they kepting back, over and over.


    One Godhead Pce disciple after another was cut down, executed, and exterminated by the des!


    Everything for five hundred feet around Tang Jie was turned to dust. Only the chiefs reacted quickly enough to retreat in time from this horrifying zone, their faces pale from fright.


    But this was only the beginning.


    As the Heavenly Cmity des passed, a crimson light emerged from Tang Jie.


    The Flesh Millstone.


    The Flesh Millstone was a spell art that Tang Jie had identally gained in the Blood River Domain, and its greatest attribute was that it was linked to his blood and could innately be thought cast. It was also the only Divine Connection Tang Jie had grasped before Violet Pce.


    The Flesh Millstone was even more powerful now that he was at Violet Pce, bing a mobile barrier that was able to both attack and defend.


    The rain of des had cleared out all the Godhead Pce cultivators around him, and Tang Jie now strode forward. This time, he was no longer being careful, instead fully unleashing the Flesh Millstone, letting it absorb the blood of all the dead around him before letting it roll forward, triggering countless traps along the way.


    But most of these traps were ground to nothing by the Flesh Millstone, and Tang Jie resolved the few that got through by other means.


    The chiefs were stunned. Although they had known that Tang Jie was powerful, seeing this power made them feel helpless.


    This was the absolute difference in cultivation level, the overwhelming difference in power and speed leaving one feeling helpless.


    But far away in the small courtyard, Chu Xitong frowned. "Strange."


    She could see what others could not. Moreover, Tang Jie was going to fight the Soul Projection Jewel Immortal Sovereign in twenty years. Although Tang Jie had showed some impressive strength, it was still far from that of the Jewel Immortal Sovereign. Chu Xitong estimated that Tang Jie was half as powerful as her.


    What was going on here? Was he hiding his strength? Chu Xitong hesitated and became reluctant to use some of her prepared back-up ns.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie had also summoned the Mother Cloudbat puppet and the bean soldiers.


    These powerful allies battled the Godhead Pce cultivators on Tang Jie''s behalf, allowing Tang Jie to advance. He hastened his way through the formation, the Flesh Millstone constantly turning. He didn''t care how much of its power he wasted so long as he could maintain his pace.


    Chu Xitong could sense Tang Jie''s concern, but she continued to wonder why Tang Jie was in such a rush.


    At this moment, an old granny next to her suddenly said, "Young Lady, the Godhead''s Divine Will isn''t going tost much longer."


    Chu Xitong raised her head in shock and saw that the Godhead''s manifestation was flickering and showing signs of disarray.


    As expected, the Godhead''s Divine Will alone was not enough to stop the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    Although she had known this would be the oue, she still felt a sense of regret.


    At this moment, she noticed that Tang Jie had gotten even faster, pushing through the golden mes and advancing at full speed, going from a stroll to a sprint.


    Chu Xitong cried out in realization, "The Divine Will Golden Body! He''s after the Divine Will Golden Body!"


    Pointing a slender finger at Tang Jie, Chu Xitong shouted, "Cultivators of Godhead, hear my orders! Stop Tang Jie at any cost! Don''t let him take away the golden body!"


    Chu Xitong drew back her hand, dismissing the screen, and then she walked out of the courtyard.


    "Young Lady, where are you going?" the old granny shouted.


    Chu Xitong''s face hardened. "There is still no news from the pce master and the Aspirational Lord, but there are spiritual shockwaves in the distance, which show that they are still locked in a tough battle. My Godhead Pce is facing its greatest crisis in history and is highly likely to cease existing today. Tang Jie plots to obtain the foundation of my Godhead Pce, so even if Godhead Pce perishes, he cannot have his way. I am going to the ancestral hall to protect the golden body. If things don''t go well, I would rather destroy the golden body than let Tang Jie get his desire."


    She headed toward the ancestral hall,pletely abandoning the battle. In any case, everything was in chaos, and what kept everyone going was no longer tactics, but blood and guts, the courage of a warrior and an unbending will!


    As Chu Xitong walked away, Tang Jie was caught in a tough battle.


    The cultivators of Godhead Pce rushed in from all sides, attacking him with no thought for their own lives, using their lives to attack, forcing Tang Jie to constantly cast spell arts and giving him no time to rest.


    Even with the ocean of spiritual energy an Infant Tending cultivator possessed and the ability to thought cast, this deluge of suicidal attacks was very agitating, and he still had to deal with the constant threat of the formation''s golden winds.


    As he confronted this terrifying assault, Tang Jie knew that he had kicked the beehive. It seemed like the people of Godhead Pce loathed him to their core, wanting nothing more than to kill him.


    <em>Shit, in running into the formation, I gave the Seven Absolutions Sect a big hand.</em>


    <em>Did those guys also ount for this in their calctions?</em>


    The world was home to many talented individuals, so it wouldn''t be strange if someone had actually calcted this oue.


    Tang Jie didn''t have time to consider it and could only charge forward as fast as he could.


    The Flesh Millstone gradually began to falter after all the attacks and use, the Pale Cloud me and Deicide mebined didn''t have time to burn all his foes, the starlight of the Mother Cloud puppet had dimmed, and even the bean soldiers had suffered grievous losses¡ªlittle Tang Dou''s voice was wracked with sorrow.


    A desperate battle!


    A difficult journey drenched in blood.


    Tang Jie had never imagined the full power of an organization gone mad, but now, he was getting the full experience.


    For a hundred years, he hadn''t really killed anyone or participated in violence. He had thought that he had bidden farewell to those bloody days.


    But in today''s battle, Tang Jie had already taken more than a thousand lives.


    Even Tang Jie couldn''t help but shiver at how many people he had killed.


    The dense spiritual rain falling from the sky was turned to steam before it could hit the ground. Spiritual energy surged here and there, golden winds zed, aggressive shouts could be heard all around, and he was surrounded by enemies on all sides!


    Tang Jie felt a hint of tiredness.


    He found it somewhat hard to move.


    He was at Violet Pce, but he was still a human.


    No matter how powerful he was, when faced with this sort of endless assault, he could still feel tired.


    As his progress started to slow, Chu Xitong''s final move made its appearance.


    It was a cultivator holding a longbow, young and handsome brimming with confidence.


    His name was Fu Yingjie, and he had once been acknowledged as the most outstanding member of Godhead Pce''s younger generation. (Last mentioned in Chapter 483)


    Several hundred years had passed, and a rising star was now a supporting pir of Godhead Pce¡ªhe was the newly-appointed Hawk King.


    Standing on Godhead Mountain, as he watched Tang Jie kill his way through the formation, he muttered, "Tang Jie, today is the day you die!"


    He raised the longbow.


    It was an extremely long bow, its body made entirely of ck wood. Its surface was covered in numerous carvings, and if one looked closely, one would realize that they were Dao Runes.


    A Dao armament!


    A Dao armament that Jin Wuyu''s group had not brought with them.


    The Cloudsplinter Bow!


    Fu Yingjie raised the bow and ced his fingers on the bowstring. As he began to pull the string back, a small golden arrow appeared on the bowstring.


    He took aim at the distant Tang Jie, resolve appearing on his face.


    The Dao Runes on the Cloudsplinter Bow began to light up.


    With each glowing Dao Rune, Fu Yingjie became slightly older.


    The Cloudsplinter Bow grew brighter and brighter, and Fu Yingjie grew older and older, turning into a decrepit old man. But the hands on the bow remained firm.


    At that moment, Tang Jie felt a hint of danger and looked to the distance.


    Looking into Tang Jie''s eyes, Fu Yingjie smiled. "Die!"


    Pouring in thest of his lifeforce, Fu Yingjie released the bowstring.


    <em>Twang!</em>


    The golden arrow shot toward Tang Jie.


    Fu Yingjie''s grip loosened.


    The Cloudsplinter Bow fell to the ground, and Fu Yingjie dissolved into dust.


    He had used all of his life force to loose this single arrow!

 Chapter 793: Speaking Forth the Law

    Chapter 793: Speaking Forth the Law


    The hour waste, but the battle continued unabated.


    At this moment, on Godhead Mountain, an arrow carrying all the life force of a peak Soul Transformation cultivator lit up the sky with a world-ending light, drawing the gaze of all experts.


    Tang Jie raised his head and saw a golden arrow flying toward him.


    At that instant, Tang Jie felt an unprecedented sense of danger. In that very first moment, Tang Jie understood that he could not block this arrow, nor could he afford to let it hit him.


    This arrow could kill even Deification experts. He might not have been able to endure it even in his merged form.


    This was a terrifying arrow infused with the destructive power of a Great Dao!


    There were no Violet Pce experts present in Godhead Pce, so who could have unleashed this sort of attack?


    Tang Jie didn''t know, nor did he have any time to think about it.


    The rm bells in his mind were ring at maximum volume, and his survival instincts were operating at maximum capacity.An indescribable feeling emerged in his mind. In his eyes, nothing existed in the world except that arrow.


    Gazing at that arrow, entirely on instinct, Tang Jie seemed to thoroughlyprehend something, and he suddenly shouted.


    "Go!"


    This cry was like a call of the heavens, awakening the soul of all who heard it.


    A small person appeared on his head¡ªhis Divine Soul.


    The Divine Soul looked at that golden arrow and slightly opened its mouth, upon which that golden arrow suddenly radiated light that formed into a golden ball, which was seemingly a kind of defensive system. However, the arrow also stopped cold in the air.


    At the same time, a person shot out from the horizon like aet: Tang Jie''s original body.


    He was charging through the air with no regard for what was in front of him, pushing through weapons and spell arts in his bid to get to the formation.


    But that golden arrow had only paused for a brief moment.


    "Slow!"


    Tang Jie shouted again, his face turning ghastly pale and the Divine Soul grimacing in pain.


    The arrow slowed down, and Tang Jie swiftly retreated.


    He didn''t seek to avoid the arrow. This arrow had already locked onto his soul and would seek him out, so it was impossible to avoid. All he wanted was to create some distance to give himself more time and opportunities.


    He swiftly retreated while his original body swiftly advanced, hoping to merge before the arrow arrived.


    At the ancestral hall, Chu Xitong saw this and shouted, "Stop him!"


    s, her order couldn''t travel as quickly as Tang Jie could move.


    Ignoring all attacks, the original body and avatar rapidly moved to converge.


    The golden arrow continued to advance.


    Tang Jie''s mouth once more bellowed:


    "Stop!"


    The arrow paused once more, as if something was holding it back.


    Immediately afterward, Tang Jie threw up blood, and this was no ordinary blood, but his essence blood. Blood also began to gush out from various parts of the Divine Soul. The Divine Soul was the Divine Will manifesting through spiritual energy and had no blood, yet it was somehow bleeding all over.


    "This is impossible!" Chu Xitong shouted.


    The Cloudsplinter Bow was a Dao armament that unleashed an Arrow of ughter. No energy was capable of stopping it.


    But Tang Jie had managed to do it.


    How could the Four-Nine True Words alone have done it?


    But in the sky, Ji Qingfeng had noticed what was off, blurting out, "The power of a Great Dao!"


    In Tang Jie''s cry, Ji Qingfeng had sensed the power of a Great Dao.


    A Dao Art!


    This was a Dao Art!


    Tang Jie had a third Dao Art?


    Ji Qingfeng''s mind was ovee with shock.


    The three shouts hadn''t stopped the golden arrow, and it was still approaching, but its light had greatly dimmed.


    But Tang Jie still couldn''t block it. He shouted again:


    "Fixate!"


    He once more threw up blood, and his Divine Soul let out a shout as its arms and legs turned to dust.


    The four True Words had greatly diminished the golden arrow''s power, but they weren''t enough to stop it.


    The golden arrow seemed to have a will of its own. As if sensing that an enemy was trying to stop it, it let out a furious shriek and erupted with light, upon which it elerated once more, hurtling toward Tang Jie''s head. At the same time, Tang Jie''s original body charged into the formation. He swung the Sovereign de, tearing through the golden light, and then rushed at his avatar.


    Three parties came together at the same time in a massive explosion, and the resultant smoke that plumed into the air was infused with the power of Great Daos such that even Violet Pce experts couldn''t see through it.


    "Shit!" Ji Qingfeng winced at the sight.


    The excessive scheming of the Seven Absolutions Sect leading to the fall of the Basking Moon Sect''s rising Celestial Sovereign would have the Basking Moon Sect looking to settle ounts with them.


    Sure enough, Ming Yekong paled, and he cried out, "Tang Jie!"


    But there was no response from the smoke.


    Everyone stopped fighting, as if somebody had pressed the "pause" button.


    Everyone looked down at the site of the explosion, wondering if Tang Jie was still alive.


    A few momentster, the smoke dissipated.


    All that was left at the location was a bottomless crater, an irreparable hole left in the seemingly impervious Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation.


    The aftershocks of the Cloudsplinter Bow had spilled into the surroundings, and though the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation had neutralized most of it, it had still managed to destroy arge number of traps.


    One could say that this arrow had led Godhead Pce to destroy a little less than half of its own Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation.


    But if this could kill Tang Jie, it was worth it.


    Chu Xitong had epted this price the moment she gave the order.


    But was Tang Jie actually dead?


    Nobody knew.


    Suddenly.


    A hand grabbed onto the edge of the crater, five fingers digging into the steel-like soil, and a man mbered out of the pit.


    As he stood up, the shing golden arrow in his chest became apparent.


    It was Tang Jie!


    "Tang Jie!" Ming Yekong shouted out in excitement.


    "YEAH!" The cultivators of both the Basking Moon Sect and the Seven Absolutions Sect cheered, and Ji Qingfeng sighed in relief.


    That was close!


    Things had almost be unsalvageable.


    Tang Jie looked down at his chest and muttered, "A fine arrow! It almost took my life!"


    It truly had almost killed Tang Jie. If he had not stimted his potential at thest moment and activated a Dao Art, his avatar would have been utterly annihted.


    "How could this be?" Miao Lieyan stared at him in disbelief, pointing a trembling finger at Tang Jie. "What did you do just now?"


    Tang Jie nced back at Miao Lieyan and smiled. "As you saw, it was a Dao Art."


    "What sort of Art?"


    "It was created by merging the Dao of Truth with my Four-Nine True Words. I call it¡­" After some thought, Tang Jie said, "''Law Speaking''."


    "''Law Speaking''." Miao Lieyan shuddered.


    Tang Jie had more than two Dao Arts.


    Seeing Miao Lieyan''s expression, Tang Jie sighed.


    What he left unexined was that this third Dao Art wasn''t actuallyplete.


    After almost two hundred years of cultivation, while he had entered the Dao of Truth, he had yet to reach one hundred Dao Runes, so creating a real Dao Art was still not possible.


    He had been able to use it by burning up his Divine Soul and infusing the power of Truth into his Four-Nine True Words, thus temporarily creating the effect of Law Speaking. But as a price, the avatar''s Divine Soul had been damaged. While it wasn''t as serious as when he had protected Lin Xin, they were still rather serious wounds that would need some time to recover.


    Besides his own Divine Soul, he had also been burning up Dao power.


    The little bit of Truth power he had gained had been mostly burned up¡ªa tragic loss.


    The only positive was that if he could recover, then Law Speaking, unlike the Reflections of Floating Life and the Infinite Pce, could be used when the avatar was alone.


    This was good news, for it meant Tang Jie had more flexibility.


    Putting aside his sadness, Tang Jie pulled out the golden arrow.


    As the golden arrow left his body, it dissolved into motes of golden light and dissipated into the wind, and the wound on Tang Jie''s chest began to heal. The power of ughter was somewhat simr to the power of the Sovereign de, focusing on murder and aggression, able to break through all arts and barriers, emphasizing the process and not the result, so healing from it was rtively easy.


    Tang Jie turned and resumed his progress.


    Seeing that he was going to leave, Miao Lieyan instinctively threw out his demon me.


    Tang Jie simply shook his head. "It''s useless."


    He activated the Contrame Mantra, opening his mouth and swallowing the demon me.


    The Soulze Demon me could burn up the Divine Soul and was one of the most difficult mes to absorb. Taking it in meant that he would need all of his strength to suppress it, limiting his movement, and Tang Jie prioritized the golden body, so he had chosen not to absorb it. But things were different now, and as the demon me entered his body, he called out:


    "Still!"


    The raging demon me instantly grew quiet, and the Contrame Mantra wrapped around it and pulled it into Tang Jie''s Spirit Sea. The demon me had been subdued before it had even touched his Divine Soul.


    Miao Lieyan had never seen such a mystical art before and was left dumbfounded. Tang Jie said, "Thank you for your me."


    He turned and left.


    The other Godhead Pce cultivators wanted to stop him, but they had been left terrified by that shocking scene just now.


    It wasn''t a fear of death, but the despair of facing the supremely strong.


    If even the Cloudsplinter Bow couldn''t kill Tang Jie, what could they do?


    All the Godhead Pce cultivators dumbly stared at Tang Jie, none of them attempting to stop him. Only the golden winds of the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation stubbornly continued to gust away at Tang Jie, attempting in vain to melt him down.


    Tang Jie gradually grew annoyed.


    The Cloudsplinter Bow had forced him to retreat, reversing much of his progress, and the Godhead manifestation was already beginning to give out.


    ncing up at the Godhead manifestation, Tang Jie grunted. "Fine, I''ll keep on disciplining you all until you''re satisfied!"


    His body erupted with countless rays of multicolored light, which interwove around him into the Infinite Pce.


    Controlling the Infinite Pce, Tang Jie charged straight ahead.


    This was no longer a casual stroll, but a full sprint, as fast as lightning.


    He triggered countless traps along the way, golden bursts of lightning erupting throughout the formation and various insidious spell arts pelting him, but all of them were blocked by the Infinite Pce.


    Relying on the formidable defenses of the Infinite Pce, Tang Jie charged his way through like a tank.


    All attacks were ineffective on him, all obstructions child''s y.


    He charged through all the obstacles, charged through the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation, charged into Godhead Mountain, charged into Godhead Pce, and charged right up to that golden body he had longed for.


    He encountered no opposition the entire way, nobody left to halt his steps.


    Just like that, Tang Jie arrived at the ancestral hall.

 Chapter 794: Negotiations (1)

    Chapter 794: Negotiations (1)


    Tang Jie stopped in front of the ancestral hall.


    The statue of the Guangfa Godhead was a little different from what he had imagined.


    It wasn''t very simr to that mighty Guangfa Godhead that was fending off three Violet Pce experts outside. After all,moners weren''t such lofty craftsmen. What truly endowed it with majesty was that sliver of Divine Will.


    Now that the Divine Will had manifested into the Godhead to do battle, all that was left within the statue was a tiny thread to serve as a connection, leaving the ancestral statue feeling rather dark and drab.


    Even so, there was no masking its holiness.


    Three people were kneeling before the statue.


    The two to the left and right were the elders responsible for guarding the ancestral hall. They were both peak Soul Transformation experts who had protected the ancestral hall for ages. But not every floor-sweeping monk could unleash divine power, and a thousand years of inactivity had not turned them into existences that could suppress all. When facing Violet Pce experts without the protection of the formation, they were nothing more than two ants.


    But the elders did not leave, kowtowing to the statue as if mourning their imminent fate.


    In the center of the two was a woman on her knees, one hand on her chest and the other hand ced on the statue''s feet as she silently chanted something.


    Tang Jie couldn''t see her face, but he could already guess at who she was.


    "Chu Xitong?" he said.


    The woman seemed to not hear, continuing to whisper, her hand remaining on the statue.


    Tang Jie frowned. "I have onlye for the Divine Will Golden Body. Remove your hand, and I can spare your life."


    Chu Xitong didn''t turn around, replying, "The Freedom Celestial Sovereign can cast spells with a thought, so why don''t you try and see if you can kill me before I destroy the ancestor''s statue?"


    The two elders abruptly turned around and red at Tang Jie.


    Even if they were ants, they still had the courage to bare their mandibles against a lion!


    Tang Jie felt deep admiration for these people.


    He had seen few cultivators of Godhead Pce who had surrendered in this battle.


    Perhaps they weren''t good people, but they had loyalty and fearless courage, were all true warriors!


    Most people had some degree of respect for brave warriors.


    Tang Jie was no exception.


    But while he could have respect, there were still some things that had to be done.


    He looked up at the sky and saw the Godhead manifestation faltering. But at this moment, three Violet Pce experts abruptly pulled back on their attacks.


    Tang Jie knew that this was the Seven Absolutions Sect creating an opportunity for him to seize the golden body.


    The Cloudsplinter arrow had almost taken Tang Jie''s life, and it had also chilled the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    No matter what, they did not want rtions with the Basking Moon Sect to turn hostile. The ancestor of the Seven Absolutions Sect had long ago sensed where all the fortune of the world was going, so while they could engage in small schemes, open hostilities were out of the question. Thus, they chose to ingratiate themselves at this moment.


    Tang Jie epted this gesture, calling out:


    "Sever!"


    <em>Pa!</em> Something in the air seemed to snap: the thread rising from the golden body. With it gone, the Godhead manifestation disappeared.


    Now, the Divine Will would not expire from overuse.


    But Chu Xitong''s hand remained on the statue, the two elders nking her.


    Even Tang Jie could do nothing about this situation.


    While thought casting was fast, Chu Xitong only needed to send out a stream of spiritual energy to shatter the statue.


    Remaining calm, he smiled and said, "If you wanted to destroy it, you would have done so long ago. I presume that you have some objective you want to achieve?"


    Chu Xitong sternly replied, "To have all of you leave at once!"


    "As expected." Tang Jie was not surprised.


    For Chu Xitong, this was her final lifeline. Whether it seeded or not, she at least had to try.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "While the Divine Will Golden Body is a valuable treasure, Godhead Pce is even more valuable. Human King Chu is putting too much value on the golden body if you think it''s enough to let Godhead Pce go. The Divine Will Golden Body isn''t that valuable."


    The Divine Will Golden Body was that valuable!


    Because Tang Jie was going to use it to help the Cloud Ancestor ascend to True Immortal.


    But Godhead Pce didn''t know, nor did the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    They had never seen True Immortals before andcked an understanding of things above Earth Immortal.


    Tang Jie and the Cloud Ancestor knew thanks to the soul of the Azure Dragon and Immortal Ji Yao. This granted them a whole new understanding of strength, and it also told them what sort of treasures in the Rosecloud Domain could help them be True Immortals.


    The Divine Will Golden Body was one of the few treasures in this domain that could assist Earth Immortals, and they were the only ones who knew how to use it. This was why Tang Jie was willing to give up everything else in Godhead Pce for it.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect didn''t know this, which was why they had changed their minds and given Tang Jie a chance to get the golden body.


    Godhead Pce also didn''t know, so when Tang Jie refused, the faces of Chu Xitong and the two elders darkened.


    They knew that they wouldn''t be able to kill Tang Jie, and it seemed like they wouldn''t be able to save Godhead Pce either, and their hearts filled with sorrow.


    Just when Chu Xitong was about to shatter the statue, Tang Jie said, "But if it was some other condition, I might be able to consider it."


    "Godhead is about to be destroyed. What other conditions are there to discuss?" Chu Xitong questioned.


    "Godhead Pce is under attack, but that doesn''t mean it needs to be exterminated," Tang Jie replied. "In today''s battle, I witnessed the loyalty and courage of the people of Godhead Pce, and I have to admit that Godhead Pce does notck for good men! Right, might I ask who was the fine individual who loosed that arrow at me?"


    "Fu Yingjie," Chu Xitong replied. She and Fu Yingjie had been lovers, and she instinctively did not wish for his name to disappear. Godhead Pce was on the verge of destruction, but this didn''t mean that the names of those who had died for it should be buried.


    Tang Jie nodded. "So it was him. Since he wasn''t at Violet Pce, then I presume he is no longer here?"


    Some things weren''t particrly hard to guess.


    Without even waiting for Chu Xitong''s reply, Tang Jie heaved a sigh and said, "A fine man! But wouldn''t it have been even better if he had been able to disy this divine might in battle against the Primordial Fog?"


    Chu Xitong shuddered.


    "Battle against the Primordial Fog"?


    It was two thousand years ago in the war against the Primordial Fog that the six major sects had established their supreme reputation and created the current system.


    Each war with the Primordial Fog was a reshuffling of the deck for every domain.


    Old factions would fall, and new factions would rise.


    For any major sect in power, the Primordial Fog Cmity was the ultimate trial. As those that stood at the apex, they could not evade this challenge, only confront it head-on!


    Godhead Pce had considered that they might not be able to hold out against the Primordial Fog Cmity, never imagining that intraspecies conflict would end them before the cmity had even arrived.


    In the Great Ster Chiliocosm, this actually wasn''t rare.


    Tang Jie''s suggestion agitated Chu Xitong. She turned her head a little to look at Tang Jie, revealing her slender eyebrows and charming face.


    Tang Jie ignored it, putting his hands behind his back and saying, "I have an old grudge with Godhead Pce, so in my mind, every member of Godhead Pce is wicked beyond redemption. But the reality is that I''m not the only person whose opinion matters in the world, and those that I hate might not all be evil and pernicious. Most of the conflicts in the world are about profit, and no one actually fights for justice. While Godhead Pce has lowly people, my Basking Moon Sect is no clear stream either. Even I have done some things that have gone against my Origin Heart, causing me to suffer the torment of Heart Demons. On the path of cultivation, all of us are taking risks with every step, willing to do anything to reach the peak. Thus, while I want to destroy Godhead Pce, I wouldn''t dare to criticize Godhead Pce for being evil. On the contrary, this battle has made me admire them."


    Chu Xitong snorted. "What''s the point in you saying all this?"


    "I naturally have a point." Tang Jie exined, "For so many worthy people of Godhead Pce to die on this battlefield is a great pity. If possible, I would hope to preserve them."


    "You?" Chu Xitong sneered. "You were the one who swore a Great Aspiration to destroy Godhead Pce."


    After bing a Celestial Sovereign, Tang Jie started to reveal some of his secrets. The matters regarding the Martial Lord had ceased to be a secret long ago, with the Basking Moon Sect, the Seven Absolutions Sect, Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and Godhead Pce all knowing. And his hatred for Godhead Pce was even more straightforward and direct.


    Thus, he decided to announce his aspiration to the public, and it was one of the important reasons the Seven Absolutions Sect had trusted him.


    Tang Jie casually replied, "I swore a Heart Demon Aspiration, and since I''ve passed the Heart Demon Tribtion, it no longer binds me. I have continued to carry it out because of my past hatred and my desire to carry out justice for Big Brother Xu. But the Primordial Fog Cmity is a matter that concerns the survival of the entire domain, and I still have some understanding of what''s more important. Let alone this nonbinding oath, even if it was still binding, I would choose to break it."


    "''You understand what''s important''?" Chu Xitong coldlyughed. "By ''what''s important'', you mean what''s more profitable, yes? I didn''t hear of any of this talk earlier. Why is it only now that I have the statue under my control that you speak of fighting against the Primordial Fog Domain together?"


    Tang Jie didn''t even blush, continuing, "That''s because I was still unaware that Godhead Pce had so many brave warriors. ''Profitable''? Yes, you''re right, I''m just a lowly and selfish viin who cares about profit, not righteousness. But regardless, at least I''m willing to say it and am saying it right now. Moreover, when ites to things I''ve said, I still have some sincerity."


    This was true. Although Tang Jie was cunning and greedy, and loved to trick others, he was never one to renege on his promises, basically fulfilling anything he had pledged to do.


    Chu Xitong had heard of this aspect of his reputation before.


    Chu Xitong clearly hesitated for a while before asking, "What do you want?"


    Tang Jieughed.


    That Chu Xitong asked this meant that there was room to negotiate.


    That was something he could work with.


    The greatest fear was if things became unnegotiable principles.


    The ancestor statue could very easily have be just such an unnegotiable principle.


    But with the survival of Godhead Pce on the line, a concession had to be made.


    Otherwise, Godhead Pce would cease to exist, and nothing would matter.


    Tang Jie smiled. "It''s very simple. You give me the Divine Will Golden Body, and I will let all of Godhead Pce''s disciples go free."

 Chapter 795: Negotiations (2)

    Chapter 795: Negotiations (2)


    Chu Xitong was not relieved to hear Tang Jie''s proposal. On the contrary, she snorted in derision, "Tang Jie, are you making a joke? My Godhead Pce''s disciples are in the middle of a gruesome battle. By saying that you would let us go free, aren''t you saying that you want us to surrender? It seems that you want me to give you the Divine Will Golden Body and also open up the gates and cease resistance, no?"


    Tang Jie simply indifferently looked up at the sky.


    He had left several clones outside to see what was going on, purely out of habit.


    He said, "In at most one hour, the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation will fall, at which point you won''t even have gates to open up anymore."


    "So what!?" Chu Xitong harshly replied. "Godhead Pce does not fear death, so how do you think you can threaten us with it? Tang Jie, if you want the Divine Will Golden Body, your two sects must withdraw!"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "Firstly, the Divine Will Golden Body isn''t worth that much. Secondly, even if it was worth that much, I''m not that good that I can make the Seven Absolutions Sect give up on a fruit that''s right in front of them. Keeping your people alive is already hard enough. Human King Chu, don''t get too greedy. If the people of Godhead Pce survive, at least your traditions will continue. So long as your traditions continue, hope remains. At least it''s better than the annihtion that awaits you right now. Moreover, even if you don''t consider yourself, shouldn''t you consider your sect''s ancestor? It is only when the ancestor exists that Godhead Pce can exist!"


    Chu Xitong anxiously said, "Where is the ancestor of my Godhead Pce?"


    The moment she asked this question, she fell into Tang Jie''s tempo.


    But it could not be denied that a Godhead Pce with Ye Yun had no reason to exist.Tang Jie replied, "Earth Immortal Ye is currently in battle with the Cloud Ancestor of my lowly sect and is at a disadvantage."


    "Not the Earth Immortals of Seven Absolutions and Basking Moon together?" Chu Xitong asked in shock.


    She had thought that it was two Earth Immortals that had left Ye Yun unable to return, but from Tang Jie''s tone, it seemed like Yun Tian alone was restraining Ye Yun, and he even said that Ye Yun was at a disadvantage.


    Chu Xitong shouted, "I don''t believe you! A thousand years ago, when Ancestor Ye exchanged blows with your sect''s Immortal Monk Yun, they fought for three days without reaching an oue, so how can your ancestor have the upper hand after only half a day now?"


    "The asional fortuitous opportunity here and some small progress there, nothing strange at all," Tang Jie coolly replied.


    Yun Tian spent every day meditating, so it was a little absurd to hear that he somehow also had fortuitous opportunities.


    Tang Jie didn''t exin, saying, "I can ask a favor from the Cloud Ancestor. If Ye Yun is willing to enter seclusion for eight hundred years, not appearing until the Primordial Fog Cmity, then his life can be spared. But Godhead Pce must forsake the current territory of Nadir Hill and return to that ind that is your homnd."


    For him, sparing Ye Yun and making use of him in the Primordial Fog Cmity was much better than killing him.


    Tang Jie could no longer consider problems just for himself, but considered the overall situation.


    These words suddenly filled Chu Xitong''s heart with grief.


    Ye Yun secluding himself for eight hundred years wasn''t a problem. After all, Earth Immortals secluded themselves regardless when they had nothing else to do.


    But being forced back to that ind was extremely difficult to ept.


    Chu Xitong found it impossible to ept, but she didn''t immediately refuse, asking, "What about the pce master and the Aspirational Lord?"


    "Them" Tang Jie hesitated before answering, "Zhan Wushang and Han Wuxin are dead, while Jin Wuyu and Shi Wunian are still struggling. I can consider letting Jin Wuyu off, but Shi Wunian has to die."


    Shi Wunian was the primary culprit who had forced Xu Muyang to kill himself, so Tang Jie would never let him go.


    Chu Xitong turned ghastly pale.


    Zhan Wushang and Han Wuxin had been in?


    Two of Godhead Pce''s Deification experts had died, the remaining upper echelons were suppressed, and the main base was under attack. This was a truly perilous state.


    From Chu Xitong''s expression, Tang Jie knew that he had toppled her mental defenses.


    In her despair, Chu Xitong had no reason to refuse his conditions.


    But at this moment, Chu Xitong suddenly stiffened, her wan face gaining back a little redness.


    Confusion shed in her eyes as she wondered and questioned.


    "That''s not right"


    These words made Tang Jie''s heart leap.


    Chu Xitong turned her facepletely around to face Tang Jie, her eyes twinkling as they gradually brightened.


    As she looked at Tang Jie, she finally cracked a smile. "Tang Jie, you''re trying to trick me!"


    Tang Jie felt his hands and feet go cold. "I do not understand what Human King Chu means."


    Still smiling, Chu Xitong said in a very definite tone, "The Divine Will Golden Body is very important to you, far more important than you let on."


    Tang Jie''s heart shuddered, but just when he was about to say something, Chu Xitong spoke again.


    "You feigned it very well, pretending that the Divine Will Golden Body was only a supreme treasure of my Godhead Pce and regarding it as only a treasure. But you forgot about one thing: you charged into the formation precisely to take the Divine Will Golden Body, even risking your life for it!"


    <em>Shit!</em>


    Tang Jie inwardly cursed, knowing that he was in trouble.


    Sure enough, Chu Xitong continued, "When you arrived and saw that I already had a hand on the ancestral statue, you pretended to not care and started to haggle with me. But don''t forget about your hatred toward Godhead Pce! Your opening offer seemed fair and tempted me, but you forgot all the hatred you aimed at Godhead Pce over thest several hundred years! This makes your offer seem even more overly generous!"


    Chu Xitong''s voice turned sharp, and the two elders began to shake in agitation.


    Through Chu Xitong''s words, they saw hope of preserving Godhead Pce.


    Tang Jie took in a deep breath. "Human King Chu, as expected, you aren''t easy. I truly do have a lot of use for the Divine Will Golden Body. I hope to use it to study the Guangfa Godhead''s power, which is far more valuable than the Divine Will itself, able to assist me in ascending higher on the Great Dao. I didn''t think that the Human King would see through me."


    Chu Xitongughed. "As they say, Tang Jie truly is a sly one. Tang Jie, you''re still trying to trick me? While the Divine Will of the ancestor is powerful, your Basking Moon Sect doesn''tck for this kind of treasure. No matter how formidable the abilities of other sects are, they can''tpare to the system of one''s own sect. While referencing them is possible, there''s no need to devotedly research them!"


    Cultivation was an extremelyplicated systematic undertaking.


    Cultivating a certain art wouldn''t make one invincible.


    To take the Beast Refining Gate for example, although the other five sects possessed the Myriad Beast Union Mantra, they would never be able to be the Beast Refining Gate.


    This wasn''t only because theycked theplete Myriad Beast Union Mantra. Even if they didn''t, they wouldn''t be able to make much use of it. This was because the Myriad Beast Union Mantra was only one part of a vast cultivation system that supported the Beast Refining Gate.


    For example, the beast tamers needed both the Myriad Beast Union Mantra and powerful fiend beasts.


    But where did the fiend beastse from? One could not rely only on subduing them. The stronger the fiend, the more unwilling they were to serve humans. Starting from Mind Opening, intelligent fiends would not easily submit. Raising the fiends was the only solution. Thus, the Beast Garden and the Red Sulfur disyed their value. Besides that, there were also various mantras, treasures, and spell arts that could strengthen fiends. All of these things were interlinked andplemented each other.


    Taking only one of them would have limited effect.


    Godhead Pce and the Basking Moon Sect were the same. They had long ago established their own systems. In these systems, only the core objects possessed by their respective sects were ideal. While things from other sects could be learned, learning them ultimately wouldn''t allow one to achieve great things. This was why sword cultivators of the Beast Refining Gate and beast cultivators of Godhead Pce could have their own unique uses but never reach the apex. This was what it meant that walking the unexpected path could lead to only a moment of power.


    This was why the methods left behind in the Guangfa Godhead''s Divine Will could beprehended and referenced, but focusing on them was the wrong path.


    For the Basking Moon Sect''s cultivation system, Godhead Pce''s system was inappropriate, unless Tang Jie didn''t mind spending one thousand years reconfiguring the entire system.


    A hasty lie would ultimately show some openings. Another person might not have noticed, but Chu Xitong had seen the w in time.


    Although she didn''t know what Tang Jie needed the golden body for, at that moment, she could feel Tang Jie''s anger, and even a sliver of panic.


    Yes, "panic"!


    This was the fear and immense disappointment that he might not get the golden body.


    This emotion appeared on Tang Jie''s body for only a brief instant, but the meticulous Chu Xitong still caught it.


    She stared at Tang Jie andughed. "Tang Jie, just as you say, in one hour, the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation will fall. When the formation falls, I will shatter the ancestral statue with my hand. Tang Jie, if you want it, then immediately stop the offensive of the two sects."


    "I can''t do it!" Tang Jie sternly said. "Do you think I''m someone that can order around the Seven Absolutions Sect?"


    "I don''t care!" Chu Xitong bellowed, no longer elegant and graceful. Like a person about to drown who had suddenly grasped a rope, she held onto it fast without regard for anything else.


    No matter what, she had to force Tang Jie into making the enemy withdraw.


    Upon seeing how fervent Chu Xitong had be, Tang Jie realized that anything he said wouldn''t matter. Chu Xitong was certain that she had his number.


    Lowering his head and thinking to himself for a while, Tang Jie suddenly turned and left.


    This left Chu Xitong and the two elders stunned.


    What was going on here?


    Tang Jie''s voice drifted in on the wind: "You are very agitated right now. Calm down first, and then we can talk."


    The three fell silent.


    Was this allowed?


    Those who hadn''t experienced Tang Jie''s past life would ultimately never be able to keep up with his train of thought.


    For Tang Jie, when negotiations were at a stalemate, changing perspectives and rethinking the issue waspletely normal. If negotiations weren''t working, then taking a break was also nothing to be surprised about.


    Standing outside the hall, Tang Jie fell into deep thought.


    What should be done?


    Just what did he have to do to make this woman give up on her mad delusions?

 Chapter 796: Martyr

    Chapter 796: Martyr


    When Tang Jie walked back in from outside, he had regained hisposure.


    Standing in front of Chu Xitong, Tang Jie spoke in a genial tone. "The defeat of Godhead Pce is certain, and attempting to preserve everything you have is a delusion. Human King Chu, I still suggest that you face reality."


    Chu Xitong stared at him. "Were these the only words you could think of in the time you went out?"


    She coldlyughed. "An hour isn''t that long, and my Godhead Pce''s Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation is about to hit its limit. Freedom Celestial Sovereign, if you continue to dy, I''m afraid there won''t be anything left to think about."


    That slender hand ced on the statue began to glow with spiritual energy.


    Before this, every blow to the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation felt like a nail in her heart, but now, she wanted nothing more than for the formation to shatter so that she could destroy the ancestral statue.


    Tang Jie was unhurried, smiling. "It''s still holding for now. Human King Chu, there''s no need to be so quick to die."


    Chu Xitong smiled. "It is my honor to die for Godhead Pce. It''s not something someone as selfish as you can understand."


    Tang Jie nodded. "In other words, you are a loyal subject?""Yes, so what about it?" Chu Xitong proudly replied.


    To her surprise, Tang Jie grinned. "Great, great."


    It seemed like his only fear was that shecked loyalty.


    Chu Xitong was stunned, but Tang Jie said no more.


    He closed his eyes as if thinking or waiting, leaving Chu Xitong baffled.


    Eventually, Chu Xitong lost her patience and said, "Tang Jie, just what are you trying to do? Let me tell you: if you can''t make the two sects withdraw before the formation breaks, then you can say goodbye to the ancestral statue."


    Tang Jie''s unfathomable actions had finally made Chu Xitong lose herposure.


    When a person was repeatedly emphasizing their threats, it meant that they had nothing else.


    Chu Xitong was in just such a situation.


    Chu Xitong''s state had a yful light twinkling in Tang Jie''s eyes.


    Chu Xitong''s sharp eyes quickly noticed, and she vaguely sensed that something was wrong, but she couldn''t figure out where her mistake was.


    She watched as Tang Jie waved his hand and summoned a tea table, upon which were arrayed a teapot and several cups.


    Tang Jie created a stool and sat down, and then he began to enjoy his tea.


    While sipping on his tea, Tang Jie said, "The attack of the two sects won''t stop, and they won''t retreat. I will say again that if you hand over the Divine Will Golden Body, then everyone except Shi Wunian can walk away from this alive."


    "I refuse!" Chu Xitong answered through gritted teeth.


    "I don''t need you to agree, only to execute," Tang Jie casually replied.


    <em>What?</em>


    Chu Xitong was startled. What did Tang Jie mean by this?


    What made him think he could order her around?


    Tang Jie smiled. "Do you take yourself for the master of Godhead Pce, able to make decisions on its behalf?"


    Chu Xitong suddenly paled as she realized something.


    Tang Jie stood up and poured out the cup of tea in his hand. As the tea fell, it began to coalesce into the form of a human.


    From the form, it was clearly Ye Yun!


    "Martial Ancestor!" Chu Xitong shouted.


    The Ye Yun formed from the tea sighed. "I know about what''s going on over there. Xitong, you''ve done very well, but with Godhead Pce threatened by cmity, keeping everything is impossible. Immediately pass on my order. All Godhead Pce disciples are to abandon Godhead Mountain and retreat to Nadir Hill Ind. Everything here is to be abandoned, including¡­ the ancestor''s divine statue."


    "Martial Ancestor!" Chu Xitong cried.


    Ye Yun sighed once more. "You don''t really think that the ancestral statue can get back everything, do you? You seized this chance for the sake of Godhead Pce, but if your ambitions are too great, you might end up with nothing. Xitong, the survival of Godhead Pce is at stake, so we can''t be too greedy. Go¡ªcarry out my order."


    Hearing this, Chu Xitong finally understood Tang Jie''s n: this bastard had gone around her and negotiated directly with Ye Yun.


    When he found that his opponent couldn''t be reasoned with, Tang Jie had sharply made the wisest choice: <em>I won''t negotiate with you, but with your manager!</em>


    Ye Yun was also no fool, but the biggest difference between him and Chu Xitong was that he wasn''t present.


    He couldn''t see Tang Jie''s desperate need for the Divine Will Golden Body, nor could he understand Chu Xitong''s resolve to have the two sects withdraw.


    On the contrary, he was being constantly pushed back under Yun Tian''s formidable pressure and was slowly reaching his limit.


    If this continued, there was a high likelihood that he would be killed.


    It was then that Tang Jie contacted him with an offer to talk peace through Little Three.


    His conditions were very simple: if the Divine Will Golden Body were given to him and Godhead Pce retreated from its current territory, everyone except Shi Wunian could live.


    For Godhead Pce, people were ultimately more important. From Ye Yun all the way down to the up-anding disciples, none of them could be reced in a day. If he refused, it would be a fight to the death, and there was no winning against thebined forces of two sects. If he agreed, he could get a temporary reprieve, and in the future, if they worked together with the Beast Refining Gate, they might be able to get back everything they had lost.


    In these circumstances, Ye Yun had no reason to refuse.


    Chu Xitong''s biggest problem was that she wasn''t the master of Godhead Pce.


    She could die for Godhead Pce, but she could never make decisions for it!


    Tang Jie had made his move, and it was right at her weakness.


    The Earth Immortal ancestor''s agreement was the agreement of Godhead Pce. Even Jin Wuyu couldn''t overturn it, and as for Chu Xitong¡­ her opinion wasn''t important.


    She might have been smart, wise, and perceptive, and she had seized the opportunity and had almost seized Tang Jie''s weakness, but Tang Jie had easily undone it all and forced her into a dead end.


    Her loyalty to Godhead Pce was precisely her weakness!


    At that moment, Tang Jie looked at her with sympathetic eyes. "Human King Chu, did you hear that? Hand the Divine Will Golden Body to me."


    Chu Xitong didn''t move.


    Seeing this, Ye Yun''s projection furiously said, "Xitong, are you disobeying my orders? Do you not realize that every second you dy, more Godhead Pce disciples die? Xitong, Yun Tian has already sworn a Heavenly Dao Oath. So long as you hand over the ancestor''s golden body, he will have everyone stop attacking. You were the one who got us this opportunity, so you are Godhead Pce''s most meritorious subject. But if you continue to hesitate or destroy the golden body, you will turn into a sinner!"


    The word "sinner" was spoken with particr harshness.


    Chu Xitong remained cold and silent.


    Her slender hand still ced on the statue, Chu Xitong softly said, "Xitong would not dare to disobey Martial Ancestor''s orders. But is Martial Ancestor truly not willing to bargain a little more for Aspirational Lord Wunian?"


    Ye Yun shook his head. "It is not that I am unwilling, but I am unable. The grudge between Tang Jie and Wunian is too deep, and coexistence became impossible long ago. I cannot give up on a chance for all the people of Godhead Pce to survive just for him alone."


    "But Tang Jie clearly ces a high value on the ancestor''s golden body. With it, he might grow even more powerful and once more threaten us!"


    "So what?" Ye Yun casually replied. "The ancestor''s golden body has existed for a long time, and we haveprehended all that there is toprehend. Even this old man finds it hard to gain any more progress from it. No matter how much Tang Jie benefits from it, he can never surpass me. So long as I am around, Godhead Pce will survive."


    Thesest words finally exposed his fear of death.


    For Ye Yun, the calctions were very simple. It was all fine so long as he didn''t die. Moreover, in his eyes, Tang Jie couldn''t possibly gain that much from the ancestor''s Divine Will. But he could never have imagined that the real person using the Divine Will wasn''t Tang Jie, but Yun Tian. If not for that, Yun Tian would never have agreed to peace so easily.


    Chu Xitong despaired.


    She knew that Ye Yun was determined to reach a ceasefire with Tang Jie, and nothing she said could convince him otherwise. For Earth Immortals, all else was immaterial, and only their lives and cultivation were eternal.


    It was not her ce to question, alter, or object to Ye Yun''s orders.


    Even if it was wrong, she had to carry it out, or else she would be a traitor of Godhead Pce, an eternal sinner.


    But she was unwilling, indignant, and grief-stricken, and also faintly disappointed.


    It was like a devoted general in the middle of a battlefield being abandoned by the very person they were protecting.


    This sorrow and anger had nowhere to go, so it became a me of hatred that poured out of her eyes as she red at Tang Jie.


    The fiery gaze threatened to melt Tang Jie away.


    Tang Jie looked back at her and said, "Tang Jie admires the Human King''s righteousness. But this is the will of the heavens, so do not try and force yourself."


    "You! Are not the will of the heavens!" Chu Xitong squeezed out from between clenched teeth.


    She angrily red at Tang Jie, speaking with all the strength she had. "Tang Jie, today, because of you, my Godhead Pce suffered countless losses, and itsnds were shattered. My Godhead Pce has a grudge with you as deep as the sea, and if you let us go, in the future, my Godhead Pce will annihte your Basking Moon Sect!"


    As she spoke, she erupted with light, her body surging with energy. With just a light push, she could obliterate the statue.


    The two elders were aghast, shouting in unison, "Human King, don''t!"


    rmed, Tang Jie thrust a palm at Chu Xitong.


    Tang Jie had no confidence that this palm could keep the statue safe from Chu Xitong, but he at least had to try.


    As he attacked, the light radiating from Chu Xitong''s body abruptly dimmed.


    Tang Jie''s hand pressed against Chu Xitong''s back.


    Chu Xitong raised her head, throwing up blood.


    The statue was painted red.


    "Ugh," Chu Xitong moaned in pain, dropping to her knees before the ancestral statue.


    "Xitong!" The elders hastily moved to help her, but they found that Tang Jie''s palm had obliterated her life force, and not even a Boundless Gold Immortal would be able to save her.


    Tang Jie shook his head. He knew that his attack hadn''t been strong. This had happened because Chu Xitong had withdrawn all her defenses.


    She didn''t want to destroy the statue, only to die!


    Chu Xitong called out, "Martial Ancestor! Xitong obeyed your order and handed over the statue. It was Tang Jie who went back on his word and killed me. The Heavenly Dao is not blind! Tang Jie has broken the oath, so the Basking Moon ancestor will be punished!"


    Tang Jie and Ye Yun were both taken aback, and at the same time, Yun Tian grunted, a trickle of blood seeping out from his left eye.


    Ye Yun sighed, "There was no need for that."


    Tang Jie''s face twitched. In the end, he had fallen for one of her ploys.


    Chu Xitong faintly smiled, and as she gazed up at the ceiling, her eyes eerily glowed.


    She muttered, "Yingjie, I''ming to see you."


    Her body went limp.


    Her breathing stopped.

 Chapter 797: Ambush (1)

    Chapter 797: Ambush (1)


    When Tang Jie emerged from the ancestral hall, the fighting had already stopped.


    The joint order from the high ancestors of the Basking Moon Sect and Godhead Pce could not be disobeyed.


    Although the Seven Absolutions Sect was unwilling, they knew that they had topromise over the Divine Will Golden Body. In the end, they had taken a rock and smashed their own foot with it.


    Getting caught up in too many schemes often ended up with one hurting oneself.


    Of course, they didn''t stop for free. Yun Tian had promised to give the Seven Absolutions Sectpensation.


    The cultivators of Godhead Pce began to retreat.


    Led by the chiefs, they abandoned Godhead Mountain and headed to their homnd, the ind once known as Tapir Hill, bringing with them only what treasures they were already carrying. On the other end, Ling Xiao followed Yun Tian''s orders and let Jin Wuyu and Hu Xuehua go. When Shi Wunian learned that he wasn''t allowed to go, a hint of sorrow appeared in his eyes, but he said nothing andmitted suicide on the spot.


    Under the threat of two sects, the mighty Godhead Pce had melted away.


    The Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation was opened, and the cultivators of the Seven Absolutions Sect charged into Godhead Pce and began to plunder to their hearts'' content.


    Tang Jie walked past them as if he saw nothing, but his mind was still agitated over Chu Xitong''s death.


    Had he really done wrong?


    This was his first time questioning himself.


    The images of all those who lunged at him, resolved to die, shed through his mind.


    They had all once been outstanding cultivators who had struggled on the path of cultivation and looked to the future with endless anticipation and hope. Some of these geniuses might have even been able to reach his level if they had had the chance.


    But all of this had been turned to nothing on the battlefield.


    Countless lives had turned to dust, countless dreams rotted into mud.


    It was all because of this cultivator battle¡ªa battle that he had started.


    Tang Jie suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of weight.


    Chu Xitong''s death had dealt a major blow to Tang Jie''s soul.


    In her, Tang Jie had seen some things that he had overlooked in the past.


    On his busy path of Immortality, he had missed countless sights and sounds, had abandoned morality and conscience.


    Those things he had once cast aside as burdens mystically appeared in his heart after this battle, weighing him down.


    When a person reached a high ce, they would begin to feel a sense of duty toward the world below.


    Tang Jie felt this way now.


    In the past, he hadn''t realized this, but at this moment in time, he finally felt it in a way that was all too clear andplete.


    He started to understand why Ling Xiao''s faction was unwilling to go to war.


    A cultivator''s wrath could leave corpses strewn across thend.


    It all sounded repressive, but behind it all werementations and wails that rose to the heavens.


    If everyone were like that, the world would be turned into a hell!


    Upon understanding this, Tang Jie sighed. "As a cultivator, I should be fighting to end wars and suffering, not create wars and battles!"


    "You finally understood." A voice drifted out from the distance, falling onto Tang Jie''s ears.


    Raising his head, Tang Jie saw Ling Xiao and the others floating above the summit of Godhead Mountain, and Ling Xiao was smiling at him.


    In truth, Ling Xiao hade to rebuke Tang Jie, but after hearing Tang Jie say that and understanding that Tang Jie had finally been enlightened, his anger dissipated.


    After all, Tang Jie had achieved a great thing for the Basking Moon Sect, so he couldn''t be criticized too harshly.


    Xiao Biehan, on the other hand, pursed his lips and said, "Why is this kid suddenly starting to pity the people of the world? A person should live to be happy, repaying favors and avenging wrongs. There''s no time to be so sentimental and sensitive."


    He had been fighting all his life, had risen through battle, and ced the highest priority onbat, so he treated thosepassionate sorts with disdain, maintaining a bold and heroic attitude. This was also why he had never advanced on the Great Daos of Karma and Fate and had insteadprehended much of ughter and Destruction. If he one day achieved a breakthrough in the Dao, it was bound to be in one of these two. In contrast, Tang Jie made the slowest progress on these two Daos, which made it evident that Tang Jie truly wasn''t someone who liked ughter and was the sort to scheme and plot excessively.


    Tang Jie flew up to them and bowed to Ling Xiao. "This disciple is guilty of deceiving Master and will ept any punishment."


    Ling Xiao waved his hand. "Ah, forget it. You''ve made such a great achievement, so what if you deceived me? Right, did you bring back the Divine Will Golden Body?"


    Tang Jie patted his Mustard Seed Bag. "I have already stored it away, but a great deal of the Divine Will was consumed, and it will take time to recover."


    "Good, good." Ling Xiao heaved a sigh of relief once he learned that the golden body was fine.


    "Right, how is the ancestor?" Tang Jie asked.


    Mystic Moon answered, "In killing Chu Xitong, you also burdened Martial Uncle, and he suffered some bacsh from the Heavenly Dao. Fortunately, he was not the one who broke the oath, and the oath was not broken too much, so the bacsh was something that Martial Uncle could bear."


    Tang Jie said in remorse, "It was all because I was unable to handle things properly."


    "You can''t be med for this. Who could have expected that Chu Xitong to be so unyielding? She was truly one of the talented women of the cultivation world," Ling Xiao said sadly. "War is always about pushing out the most outstanding individuals, leaving behind only the trash."


    He looked down below. Several cultivators were flying out from Godhead Mountain toward them. These were Godhead Pce cultivators that the Basking Moon Sect had recruited early on. These spineless fellows had sold out Godhead Pce, but they hadn''t been like the spies of the two sects, destroying the formation right before the battle, nor did they defect and try to create opportunities. Only after Godhead Pce had lost did theye out, regarding themselves as heroes as they switched sides.


    Even someone of Ling Xiao''s bearing was somewhat put off by these people, which was why he had said such words.


    At that moment, Tang Jie said, "Since they''re trash, we should treat them like trash."


    Ling Xiao frowned. "No matter how shameless they might be, they are all people we bought off and who contributed information. Treating them this way is inappropriate and would make others scared of working with us."


    Tang Jie shook his head. "I''m not saying we should kill them, just leave them neglected in some corner. Moreover, they''re cultivators, not officials, so we don''t need to be like them and can act on our natures. If they do something poorly, we can punish them. They''re just trash, so nobody will stand up for them."


    Ling Xiao smiled. "Tang Jie, you really have changed. You wouldn''t have done this in the past."


    "This disciple realized some things from this battle," Tang Jie replied. "I was a little too extreme in how I handled things in the past."


    "So long as you understand." Ling Xiao smiled in satisfaction.


    Tang Jie added, "But after this, this disciple might have to do another extreme thing."


    "Oh?" Ling Xiao said in surprise. "What else are you going to do?"


    "Go after the Beast Refining Gate, of course," Tang Jie answered. "They''re already on their way here, so we can go and meet them, catching them off guard. Only then can we gain a hundred years of peace for the Basking Moon Sect. Moreover, the Basking Moon Sect needs to get something from the Beast Refining Gate to make up for what we promised to the Seven Absolutions Sect, and I need the Imperial Sky Stamp to fight against the Jewel Immortal Sovereign."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Arge group of cultivators was flying high up in the clouds.


    Unlike cultivators who liked to fly on clouds, these cultivators were mostly flying on various fiend beasts.


    They were cultivators of the Beast Refining Gate.


    The Beast Refining Gate and Godhead Pce were tied together at the hip, so when it received Godhead Pce''s emergency request for aid, it immediately sent reinforcements. They should have been able to go through teleportation formations, but Tang Jie and Hong Shenji had prepared a formation to cut off the spatial connections, making teleportation formations ineffective, so the Beast Refining Gate could only fly. The two countries were far from each other, so they were bound to be toote.


    Worst of all was that they didn''t know that the Basking Moon Sect''s Yun Tian had taken action, thinking that the situation was akin to the one from one hundred and thirty years ago. As a result, they didn''t think about asking their ancestor to help. Otherwise, an Earth Immortal could have taken them across the entire domain as easily as one would visit one''s next-door neighbor.


    It waste at night, but the Beast Refining Gate''s cultivators were still flying.


    Their leader was a purple-robed man seated on a white elephant. The white elephant moved at a deceptively rxed pace, and if it weren''t for the cultivators behind it, it would have arrived at Godhead Mountain long ago.


    nking this purple-robed man were Meng Guanshan and Feng Muyuan.


    Feng Muyuan was seated atop his Blue Sky Demon Wolf, while Meng Guanshan was seated on ate-phase Transformation eagle.


    The three of them formed an arrowhead, and the man at the tip of the arrowhead was the master of the Beast Refining Gate, Li Nanfei.


    Seated on the back of the white elephant, Li Nanfei had a hand propping up his chin as he pondered something.


    He suddenly asked:


    "Is there still no word from Godhead Pce?"


    Feng Muyuan answered, "Sect Master, other than the few words in that first fire talisman, there has been nothing else. The area around Godhead Mountain has probably been isted by a formation, rendering both teleportation and message transmission impossible."


    "Which is exactly what confuses me," Li Nanfei said, subconsciously tapping his fingers on the back of the elephant. "I don''t doubt that Hong Shenji couldy down a formation to seal space, but this sort of formation has to be a massive undertaking that isn''t easily pulled off. And the area being sealed is Godhead Mountain. Not even considering Ancestor Ye, even Jin Wuyu and Shi Wunian wouldn''t have just stood back and allowed him toy down a formation around Godhead Mountain, no?"


    Li Nanfei didn''t doubt that the Seven Absolutions Sect couldy down such a formation, and he also didn''t doubt that the Seven Absolutions Sect could prate the borders and reach Godhead Mountain, but for the Seven Absolutions Sect to mysteriously reach Godhead Mountain and theny down a powerful space istion formation? That was rather unbelievable.


    Feng Muyuan considered the problem and replied, "They must have set it up during the battle. That''s also the only way to exin the first fire talisman."


    "So they only needed half a day to finish putting down the formation? And in this half a day, Godhead Pce was unable to send a second fire talisman?" Li Nanfei casually replied, then shook his head. "I don''t believe it."


    At that moment, the taciturn Meng Guanshan suddenly said in a raspy voice, "There is¡­ one¡­ method."


    "What?" Li Nanfei looked at Meng Guanshan.


    While Meng Guanshan looked brutish and cruel, he was actually an extremely smart person, or else he wouldn''t have be the Stamp Holder of the Beast Refining Gate. Even Li Nanfei put a high value on his opinions.


    Meng Guanshan cracked a smile, revealing a bloody maw. "Laid down¡­ beforehand."


    "''Laid down beforehand''?" Feng Muyuan frowned. "This is impossible. No formation diagram would be big enough."


    "Not a formation diagram." Meng Guanshan shook his head, surprisingly speaking rather smoothly. "A person can."


    Feng Muyuan was startled, and then he blurted out in realization, "You''re saying¡­"


    Li Nanfei followed up: "The Infinite Pce!"


    Tang Jie''s Infinite Pce had be famous across the world after the battle at Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and many of its properties had be known, such as the fact that it could hold formations.


    The Infinite Pce waspletely capable of holding a prepared space-sealing formation, which could be unleashed once Tang Jie arrived at the location, making it much better than a formation diagram.


    "Tang Jie!" Feng Muyuan hissed.


    He then realized that something was wrong. "If that''s the case, then the space-sealing formation should have been present from the beginning. Why was Godhead Pce still able to ask us for help then?"


    Li Nanfei instantly paled. "Shit! This is a trap! Everyone, halt!"


    Li Nanfei''s howl instantly brought the Beast Refining Gate''s force to a stop.


    As Li Nanfei was about to call to have them turn around, somebody sighed, "Daoist Friend Li is meticulous and decisive, swift to sense danger and pulling the reins right before the horse went over the cliff. An extraordinary individual indeed, though it''s a shame that my lowly sect''s arrangements won''t be able to be used."


    Someone thenughed, "I already said there''s no need to resort to plots to deal with the Beast Refining Gate. This kid Tang Jie was talking about he was all enlightened and that strength was king, but when it came down to it, he returned to his original nature andid a trap, saying that it would reduce our casualties. But see? It was all a waste. Hahahaha, but that''s just how I like it. Come,e,e. Meng Guanshan, Xiao Biehan has been waiting for you for ages. Let''s have a good fight!"


    A st of sword energy shot through the air toward Meng Guanshan. Heavenly Sword True Lord Xiao Biehan was here!

 Chapter 798: Ambush (2)

    Chapter 798: Ambush (2)


    A band of sword energy tore through space, aiming for Meng Guanshan''s head.


    Meng Guanshan howled and leapt up from the back of his eagle like a monkey. He thrust out his hands, his fingers like hooks, and managed to block this strike. At this moment, the Sky-Parting Sword unleashed a powerful shockwave. Meng Guanshan immediately realized that something was wrong and jumped away with a yelp, but he was still toote.


    There was a sh of sword light, and a streak of blood sliced across his chest.


    He instantly retreated ten thousand feet away, and as he stared at Xiao Biehan, he squeezed out, "Dao armament?"


    "Correct!" Xiao Biehan said with a heartyugh.


    Previously, he had used the God-Conquering Merak Sword to get the better of Shi Wunian, and this time, he had used the newly-ascended Sky-Parting Sword to get the better of Meng Guanshan.


    While Meng Guanshan had only a single cut wound on his chest which had almost instantly healed, in reality, the Sky-Parting Sword had also dealt a significant blow to Meng Guanshan''s Divine Soul. Although it wasn''t severe as the damage done to Shi Wunian''s, when these two fought, this damage woulde into y at key moments and be an important factor in the bnce of power.


    But Meng Guanshan was unafraid, baring his teeth at Xiao Biehan like a vicious dog. Just when he was about to lunge, Li Nanfei shouted, "Guanshan!"


    Unlike in the Basking Moon Sect, where the Sword Holder and sect master were peers, Meng Guanshan was subordinate to Li Nanfei, so he immediately stopped.


    Li Nanfei shouted, "Ling Xiao, aren''t you going toe out?"


    A group of people emerged in the distance: Ling Xiao andpany. At the same time, anotherrger group appeared in the distance, seemingly having heard the news that the ambush was off. The darkness concealed their numbers, leaving only arge mass like an ominous cloud, and the Beast Refining Gate gasped in shock.


    Those cultivators who had cultivated spirit eye spell arts peered into the distance and shouted, "It''s the Seven Absolutions Sect! The Basking Moon Sect has joined hands with the Seven Absolutions Sect!"


    These words made the hearts of the Beast Refining Gate cultivators sink.


    Li Nanfei asked, "Then what of Godhead Pce?"


    Tang Jie replied, "Starting from today, the Rosecloud Domain has only five major sects."


    Li Nanfei felt his entire body go cold. "This is impossible! With Earth Immortal Ye present, how could you have destroyed Godhead Pce so quickly?"


    Ling Xiao smiled. "Godhead Pce has an Earth Immortal, but so does my Basking Moon Sect! Ye Yun broke the agreement and attacked a junior, and he has already been defeated by my lowly sect''s ancestor, Yun Tian. He has sworn a Heavenly Dao Oath that he will lead Godhead Pce to their home ind and enter seclusion, not emerging until the Primordial Fog arrives."


    "What?" Li Nanfei shuddered.


    Ye Yun had lost to Yun Tian, lost so badly that he had been forced to make such an oath?


    While the six Earth Immortals normally didn''t show themselves, their unwillingness to do so didn''t mean that they couldn''t.


    But now, Godhead Pce had been turned into a turtle, holed up on their ind until the next Primordial Fog Cmity.


    "But they also had the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation!" Feng Muyuan shook his head.


    Even if Yun Tian canceled out Ye Yun, the two sects shouldn''t have been able to break Godhead Pce so easily.


    Tang Jie casually said, "Yes, without Ye Yun, they at least had the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation. But what about you? Mu Ziyang isn''t here, so what else do you have?"


    They all paled.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Tang Jie''s words had made everyone stop worrying about Godhead Pce''s fate and brought them back to reality.


    Yes, what was being worried about Godhead Pce going to do?


    They were going to have a tough time staying alive themselves.


    As this was a hasty deployment, the Beast Refining Gate had not mobilized everyone. Moreover, it had been on a constant decline, even losing two Violet Pce experts, and had be the weakest of the six sects, so it might not even be a match for one of the Basking Moon Sect or Seven Absolutions Sect, let alone both.


    Li Nanfei shouted, "Everyone, retreat!"


    Xiao Biehanughed. "But I think you should stay!"


    Sword energy ceaselessly barraged Meng Guanshan, while Ling Xiao and Ji Qingfeng looked at each other and flew toward Li Nanfei. As for the four True Lords of the Seven Absolutions Sect, they battled against Feng Muyuan and his Blue Sky Demon Wolf. In both cases, it was a two-to-one ratio. But when Mystic Moon sought to help Xiao Biehan, Xiao Biehan barked, "I don''t need your help. Go find someone else!"


    <em>''Go find someone else''?</em>


    <em>There''s only this much avable. Where am I going to find another opponent?</em>


    Mystic Moon and Nine Splendors shared a helpless look, after which they flew toward Li Nanfei.


    The white elephant under Li Nanfei trumpeted and transformed into a giant elephant-headed man wielding a hammer.


    Ming Yekong and Tang Jie were left behind with no opponents. Ming Yekong smiled and said, "Do you want topete in who can kill faster?"


    "Fine with me," Tang Jie agreed.


    The moment he was done speaking, Ming Yekong shot into the crowd of Beast Refining Gate cultivators. He didn''t even use his sword, summoning countless beams of sword energy with a raise of his hand and shooting them into the bodies of the Beast Refining Gate cultivators. Many of them died on the spot, and those few that managed to put up some defenses beforehand were still heavily wounded.


    In a sh, Ming Yekong had killed several dozen Beast Refining Gate cultivators. Tang Jie couldn''t help but shake his head. "This is a little shameless."


    When it came to speed, who could be faster than Ming Yekong, who was so proficient in the Dao of Space? The moment he entered the Dao, Ming Yekong would be a Celestial Sovereign of Space.


    Still, Tang Jie had no ns on conceding. With augh, he said, "If that''s how you''re going to be, then let me show off some of my ability."


    He threw up a mouthful of blood.


    Reflections of Floating Life!


    An intimidating army of thousands of Tang Jies appeared and immediately cast Heavenly Cloud des.


    A dense rain of des descended from the heavens.


    The Beast Refining Gate had already tasted the might of the Reflections of Floating Life once, one hundred and thirty years ago.


    It was also during that battle that Tang Jie became known for possessing two Dao Arts, for a time being the talk of the domain. The Reflections of Floating Life and the Infinite Pce became his trademarks.


    Upon experiencing this move again, the Beast Refining Gate felt like this move had be even stronger.


    This wasn''t a misperception.


    A hundred-some years of cultivation and growth had also made the Reflections of Floating Life stronger. The duplicates created were stronger than before, and they could now use spell arts three times rather than once.


    This was a qualitative transformation that essentially doubled the power of the illusions, and the result was an even more terrifying and inhumane deluge of des.


    The des were so densely packed that they were fighting for space, and as they mmed down, their long trailing chains blotted out the sky. Ming Yekong was left rather dumbfounded, muttering, "This guy''s spell arts are getting stronger and stronger."


    This terrifying attack left the cultivators of the Seven Absolutions Sect and Basking Moon Sect who arrived afterward feeling like they had nothing to do, so they decided to stay in the rear and spectate.


    Cai Junyang, Wei Tianchong, and Bei Canghan had also taken part in this operation. After nearly two hundred years of cultivation, they were now all Soul Transformation cultivators, new upstarts now supporting pirs of the Basking Moon Sect. A few years ago, a former Celestial Chief had failed in the attempt to reach Violet Pce and died, so Cai Junyang had defeated all otherpetitors and be the new Celestial Chief.


    After being stunned by Tang Jie''s power, he had worked and slowly closed the distance. He had thought that there was only one tier between them, and once he was ready, he might even reach Violet Pce before Tang Jie reached Deification, drawing even with Tang Jie for a moment. But when he saw Tang Jie''s strengthened Reflections of Floating Life, he sighed and finally acknowledged the gap between him and Tang Jie, putting aside any thought of catching up with him.


    Three waves of Heavenly Cloud des became like a heavenly punishment, ying countless Beast Refining Gate cultivators. Copious amounts of blood spilled from their bodies, raining over the world.


    This blood rain painted the mountains and valley red, dyed the rivers scarlet, and drenched the soil in crimson.


    It was to the extent that this ce became known as the Scarlet Land in the future, and because of all the cultivators that died here, the Scarlet Land became a somewhat famous blessednd. As time passed, the Scarlet Land gradually reced Nadir Hill as the name of the country, which became Scarlet Hill.


    But that was far in the future.


    Right now, Tang Jie''s Heavenly Cloud des had killed 30% of the Beast Refining Gate''s cultivators, heavily injured another 30%, and inflicted light injuries on another 30%. Few had been left unscathed. With the death of a third of their forces, the Beast Refining Gate''s force had basically lost all of its lower ranks, and its middle ranks had been heavily wounded. Ming Yekong sighed, "This kid¡­ I thought his nature had changed, but it seems that callous heart of his was just taking a nap."


    This massacre made the eyes of the upper echelons of the Beast Refining Gate redden in anger.


    Tang Jieughed and lunged at the heavily injured cultivators. With a wave of a hand, he summoned numerous roaring wind dragons, and those cultivators immediately fled, howling in sorrow and anger, unable to deal with Tang Jie''s brazen offensive.


    Meng Guanshan could no longer restrain himself, and with a howl, he abandoned Xiao Biehan and lunged at Tang Jie, bolts of dark energy shooting from his fingers at Tang Jie. At this time, he was the only one who could free himself to attack Tang Jie.


    The attack of a Soul Projection cultivator wasn''t to be underestimated, even for Tang Jie. He immediately activated the Infinite Pce to block the attacks as he fell back, Meng Guanshan right on his tail.


    Tang Jie didn''t fight with him, rushing toward the Beast Refining Gate cultivators to use them as human shields. Meng Guanshan attacked several times, but each time, Tang Jie used the Beast Refining Gate cultivators to evade it, making him almost want to throw up in anger.


    Ever since he had be half-fiend, his blood had gained the explosive properties of fiends, and his temperament had also be more irascible. He grew increasingly incensed by Tang Jie''s provocations, throwing out finger st after finger st.


    There were so many dark bolts flying from his fingers that one began to wonder where he had gotten so many fingernails, and his entire body seethed with blood energy as he charged after Tang Jie.


    This crimson tide of energy was Meng Guanshan gathering all of his blood essence into a Divine Connection. While it seemed simple, the terrifying lethality contained within was something even a Soul Projection cultivator couldn''t block, let alone Tang Jie.


    That he would use it against Tang Jie was solely because of his anger.


    But just as Meng Guanshan used this Divine Connection, there was a gust of wind behind him.


    He knew that Xiao Biehan hade, but he didn''t care. With a bark, white spikes of bone grew out of his back, winding together into a suit of armor to protect his rear. The bone armor couldn''tpletely block Xiao Biehan''s attack, but Meng Guanshan was willing to take an injury if it meant killing Tang Jie.


    But as the bone armor emerged, Meng Guanshan heard Li Nanfei and Feng Muyuan cry out in rm, "Guanshan, watch out!"


    Meng Guanshan was startled, but before he could react, Ling Xiao appeared before him, thrusting his palm at that crimson tide of energy.


    Limitless True Astral energy.


    Tang Jie turned around and charged at Meng Guanshan, sprouting an additional two heads and four arms, the Sovereign de lighting up with mes.


    The Ten Extinctions de!


    On his left and right, Mystic Moon and Nine Splendors had appeared, and behind him, Xiao Biehan''s Sky-Parting Sword erupted with a dazzling light.


    At that moment, Meng Guanshan finally understood that this was a trap aimed at him.


    From the very beginning, the Basking Moon Sect had really been targeting him!


    "Awooo!" At this moment of peril, he howled, and a golden light surged out of his body.


    The attacks of Ling Xiao, Xiao Biehan, Tang Jie, Mystic Moon, and Nine Splendors all fell on Meng Guanshan''s body.

 Chapter 799: Slain in Battle

    Chapter 799: in in Battle


    "I see now. As expected, you nned everything out. First, you used part of the Divine Will to draw out Ye Yun so that the Cloud Ancestor would have an excuse to intervene and suppress him. Then, you joined with the Seven Absolutions Sect to make a surprise attack on Godhead Pce. After dealing with Godhead Pce, you want to turn around and deal with the Beast Refining Gate. Since the Imperial Sky Stamp isn''t like the Divine Will Golden Body and is a Dao armament that can be carried around, you n to also seize it. It''s a very good n."


    Right after the battle of Godhead Mountain had ended, Ling Xiao slowly spoke to his disciple.


    He finally understood all of Tang Jie''s n.


    "But to get the Imperial Sky Stamp, you have to kill Meng Guanshan, and Meng Guanshan isn''t an easy person to deal with," Xiao Biehan said, shaking his head.


    "Oh?" Tang Jie curiously asked. "Is even Martial Uncle not capable of dealing with him?"


    A hint of pride appeared on Xiao Biehan''s face. "How could I be afraid of him? But Meng Guanshan holds the Imperial Sky Stamp, which he doesn''t treat like any other treasure. It has always been stored within Meng Guanshan''s body."


    "This disciple knows, which is why I devised this n. Otherwise, if he didn''t bring it with him, wouldn''t I have done all this for nothing?" Tang Jie casually replied. Although Meng Guanshan was carrying the Imperial Sky Stamp, the stamp wasn''t abat Dao armament. Itsbat power was actually rather low, at best making Meng Guanshan able to recover much faster andst longer in battle. It didn''t pose too much of a threat to his enemies.


    "But you definitely don''t know that Meng Guanshan has cultivated the Unlimited Golden Light Divine Connection, right?"


    "What?" Tang Jie cried out in shock.


    The Unlimited Golden Light Divine Connection was a powerful defensive Divine Connection of Godhead Pce, one that the likes of Jin Wuyu and Shi Wunian were all adept in, and it was only passed through Godhead Pce. Notably, its impressive defensive effects were further boosted whenbined with the Imperial Sky Stamp.


    This was why the Beast Refining Gate had paid arge price to obtain this Divine Connection so that its Stamp Holder could study it.


    But as had been said before, as their systems were different, the Beast Refining Gate found it difficult to cultivate this Divine Connection to its apex. If one was unable to cultivate it to the apex, one could not truly achieve resonance with the Imperial Sky Stamp. Tang Jie had been eying the Imperial Sky Stamp for a long time, so he understood many of the details concerning it, including this one.


    Now, Xiao Biehan was telling him that Meng Guanshan had actually sessfully cultivated the Unlimited Golden Light? How could he not be shocked by this?


    "When did this happen?" Tang Jie urgently asked.


    "Fifteen years ago. You hadn''te back yet," Ming Yekong answered. "To get this information, we lost a Celestial Heart¨Clevel spy."


    Every Celestial Heart spy was a treasure, and losing one made the heart wince.


    But the information gained was worth it.


    It was precisely because they knew this that they knew that Meng Guanshan had a real trump card.


    Ling Xiao said, "Meng Guanshan has cultivated the Unlimited Golden Light Divine Connection, so he can merge it with the Imperial Sky Stamp to create the Impermeable Golden Anchor Dao Art, a supreme defensive art. Protected by this Dao Art, he might not be able to defeat everyone in the world, but he can at least ensure his safety."


    Everyone fell silent.


    If he couldn''t win, he could run.


    As Meng Guanshan was half fiend, he possessed incredible speed and sharp attacks. When it came to speed, there was nobody who could keep up except in Horizon Ocean Pavilion. If this was paired with the Impermeable Golden Anchor Dao Art, killing him became excruciatingly difficult. And if he could flee back to the base of the Beast Refining Gate, Tang Jie and the others could do nothing to him. Yun Tian had just been in a battle, so unless Mu Ziyang came looking for him, he would not engage in a battle with Mu Ziyang.


    This new information presented a huge problem to Tang Jie.


    He seriously considered the problem for a while. "Meng Guanshan himself has yet to enter a Dao, correct?"


    Everyone nodded.


    Tang Jie then said, "A Dao Art has its foundation in the power of a Dao. Since Meng Guanshan has yet to enter a Dao, he should be relying on the Dao power within the Imperial Sky Stamp. If that''s the case, this art can''tst for too long, correct?"


    "A split second of invincibility is enough to do a lot," Ling Xiao reminded.


    Tang Jie shook his head. "What I mean is that if it can onlyst for a while, then if Meng Guanshan''s brain is working normally, he won''t wantonly use it, only when he is in the most danger."


    Ming Yekong understood what he was saying. "You mean¡­"


    "We just don''t give him the opportunity to use it," Tang Jie concluded. "My idea is to catch him off guard, killing him before he even gets a chance to use the Impermeable Golden Anchor."


    "Let''s hear it," everyone excitedly said.


    Tang Jie slowly exined his n.


    In truth it was very simple. First, they would have Xiao Biehan duel with Meng Guanshan, creating the false impression that Xiao Biehan refused to group against Meng Guanshan. This would make Meng Guanshan put down his guard and disregard his own safety. Tang Jie would then provoke Meng Guanshan and draw him into a pursuit, and during the chase, everyone would suddenly attack and kill him in a singlebined strike.


    It was a simple but effective trap. So long as Meng Guanshan didn''t sense it, then the full-force attack of five Violet Pce experts would heavily wound if not kill Meng Guanshan.


    "But I will have to wrong Martial Uncle Xiao," Tang Jie apologized to Xiao Biehan.


    A major consequence of this action would be the significant harm done to Xiao Biehan''s reputation.


    People who cultivated to this level didn''t ask for too much. Besides higher cultivation, there was only reputation and prestige.


    This was why the Cloud Ancestor refused to attack first for fear that it would mar his reputation. The lowly would be willing to cast aside their reputation and shame for the smallest benefit, while the great could have ck hearts but still had to maintain appearances.


    Xiao Biehan hesitated, but in the end, heughed and said, "You''re fighting the Jewel Immortal Sovereign in twenty years, so sacrificing a little of my reputation for this is no big deal. We''ll do as you propose!"


    "Martial Uncle, thank you for epting!" Tang Jie deeply bowed.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Golden light madly surged out from Meng Guanshan''s body, creating a golden eggshell. Just like the Infinite Pce, it was made from threads of light, constantly flickering in and out of existence before finally solidifying into a barrier.


    This was the Impermeable Golden Anchor, an extremely powerful defensive Dao Art, surpassing even the Infinite Pce in this aspect.


    Like the Infinite Pce, the Impermeable Golden Anchor took time to take form, and there was no avoiding the steps of manifestation and turning from illusory to real.


    Not much time was needed, but for some people, an instant could feel like an eternity.


    When the golden light first emerged, Ling Xiao''s Water Cloud Sleeve, Xiao Biehan''s Sky-Parting Sword, Tang Jie''s Ten Extinctions de, Mystic Moon''s Darkmoon Light, and Nine Splendors'' Heaven Frost impacted with various parts of Meng Guanshan''s body.


    Each person targeted a separate part, fully covering Meng Guanshan while not getting in each other''s way, unleashing a terrifying assault on Meng Guanshan.


    This attack could make mountains copse and seas dry up, and rob the light from the world. Even an Earth Immortal wouldn''t be able toe out intact.


    Meng Guanshan felt an unprecedented threat from this terrifying strike. His bestial intuition told him that it was impossible toplete the Impermeable Golden Anchor in the time he had left. Hardening his resolve, he let out a howl, and the golden light retreated back into his body. At the same time, ck smoke poured out of him. The phantom of a giant ape appeared behind his head, the savage beast rapidly growing to meet that terrifying attack.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    A ck gale swept out.


    Smoke burst out in the sky, mixed with golden flecks of light.


    In the st of wind, five people were thrown back¡ªclearly Tang Jie''s group of five.


    Thebined attack of five experts had been pushed back!


    A gust of wind blew away the ck smoke.


    As the ck smoke retreated, arge and savage beast was revealed.


    Its entire body was covered in thick ck fur, and it possessed particrly long hands and feet. It was like a primitive form of man from a million years ago, but it stood more than two hundred feet tall, its eyes shing with a ruthless light.


    At its heart was a golden stamp, pulsing just as a heart would. Everyone could keenly feel its beating as if it was the veins of the earth itself.


    The beast still lived. After experiencing thebined attack of five experts, this terrifying beast still stood tall, gazing at the five with a fierce and furious stare, growling in anger.


    "Guanshan!" Li Nanfei cried out in grief.


    Ling Xiao''s face turned grave. "Complete fiendification!"


    Complete fiendification meant utterly forsaking one''s human bloodline and transforming into a fiend. This transformation was irreversible, and from a certain perspective, Meng Guanshan had ceased to be a human and was now a fiend.


    It was only the toughness of a fiend and the powerful restorative abilities of the Imperial Sky Stamp that could let him survive such an attack.


    Even so, its injuries were heavy. Half of its head was missing, brains flowing and mixing with blood. A hole had been punched through its left arm, and some bizarre spiritual power was continuing to eat away at the wound, causing wisps of smoke to rise from it. The right arm had been entirely frozen, and whenever the ice was shaken off, it would swiftly reform. A wound had been opened up on the back, cutting so deeply that one could see the organs within. And even Meng Guanshan''s powerful recovery abilities couldn''t heal this wound.


    Most frightening of all was the wound that Tang Jie had inflicted on its chest. The power of Destruction burrowed in through the wound, eating away at its organs and burning away at its life force, bringing it to the brink of death.


    But Meng Guanshan was still roaring and bellowing, thumping its chest like a giant ape. It was constantly howling in pain and had seemingly lost its rationality.


    "Awooo!" It roared at Tang Jie, its crimson eyes burning with hatred as it lunged at him.


    "Tang Jie, dodge!" Xiao Biehan shouted.


    This was Meng Guanshan''s dying strike, so its power would definitely be extraordinary.


    Ling Xiao''s long sleeve swept out to coil around Meng Guanshan.


    But as the Water Cloud Sleeve touched Meng Guanshan, a powerful ck me, zing with murderous intent, pushed away the sleeve and jolted Ling Xiao back.


    The interception had failed!


    Meng Guanshan rushed at Tang Jie, two ck ws giving off an eerie sheen.


    It had gathered all of its strength and had burned up all its life force, emotions, and hatred so that it could kill Tang Jie.


    Despite the vastness of the world, Tang Jie felt like he could not escape this lunge.


    He knew that he couldn''t evade, nor did he want to.


    As countless people cried out in rm, Tang Jie''s eyes shed with resolve.


    He charged at Meng Guanshan as though into a roaring fire.


    The golden Sovereign de silently transformed into a ck wed gauntlet that covered his right hand. Tang Jie imitated Meng Guanshan, his wed hand thrusting at Meng Guanshan''s chest.


    <em>Plush!</em>


    Two rapidly moving figures came to a sudden stop.


    Meng Guanshan and Tang Jie''s hands had pierced through their enemy''s defenses, stabbing deeply into each other''s hearts.


    Meng Guanshan''s hand held a red heart that was still vigorously beating.


    Tang Jie''s right hand had also grabbed something.


    The Imperial Sky Stamp.


    The golden stamp rose up from Tang Jie''s hand like the rising sun, and its rise signaled the fall of an expert.


    "Aaaaah!" Meng Guanshan roared in pain.


    It watched the Imperial Sky Stamp rise higher and higher, helpless to take it back. Together with Tang Jie''s heart, its enormous body fell from the heavens, and as it fell, it dissolved into dust and was scattered by the winds¡­

 Chapter 800: Complete Victory

    Chapter 800: Complete Victory


    Ling Xiao''s long sleeves wrapped around the falling heart and delivered it back into Tang Jie''s body.


    But Tang Jie didn''t move, as if he wasn''t concerned about his heart. All he did was dumbly stare at the sharp w on his hand.


    The w transformed back into the Sovereign de andy calmly and peacefully in his palm.


    But Tang Jie could still keenly feel the sheer brutality, violence, and ruthlessness that had erupted from that sharp w.


    It was an indescribable feeling, a power that did not belong to the Sovereign de. Instead, the power it had disyed was that of Meng Guanshan''s Demon Ape Nether w.


    Simtion!


    A word appeared in Tang Jie''s mind.


    It was not simple mimicry, but the simtion of a treasure from its very roots.


    Wasn''t this the Sovereign de''s ability to simte all weapons in the world?


    Unexpectedly, he had used it subconsciously.


    It had been like a long-slumbering dragon, and as it returned to its original form, it let out a resounding ring, like it had released some pent-up energy and was crying out in relief and joy.


    In a sh, Tang Jie realized that the Sovereign de had only been able to do this because he had removed the Yin Yang sword spirit.


    When the Sovereign de had contained the sword spirit, while it had possessed great lethality, its simtion ability had been suppressed. It was only in this battle that this ability was finally released, and the first thing it simted was the Demon Ape Nether w of Meng Guanshan.


    The Demon Ape Nether w was a powerful treasure Meng Guanshan had made bybining numerous precious materials with the hand bones of a Scarlet Eye Demon Ape. It was on par with Xiao Biehan''s Sky-Parting Sword, and thanks to its strange heritage, it was able to exert even greater power.


    That the Sovereign de could even simte the ruthless nature of the Demon Ape Nether w indicated that its reputation was not false. The only reason it hadn''t been able to do this in the past was that it had yet to fully mature, but now, it had revealed its glory for the first time.


    While he rejoiced, Li Nanfei and Feng Muyuan had gone crazy.


    "Get back the Imperial Sky Stamp!" the two of them howled as they rushed at Tang Jie.


    "You should worry about yourselves first," Tang Jie said, putting the stamp away.


    This item had influenced Meng Guanshan for many years and had long ago merged with him, taking orders from nobody else. It could not be loaned out to others like how the Godhead Aegis had been loaned to Zhan Wushang, so Li Nanfei was powerless to get it back. As Tang Jie put away the stamp, he almost vomited blood in anger. This loss ofposure allowed Ji Qingfeng to give him a good strike of his Triflora Whip.


    Without Meng Guanshan, the Beast Refining Gate''s force had taken another blow, and their situation grew even worse.


    The sight of the Beast Refining Gate''s cultivators being in enraged Li Nanfei. He howled, "Muyuan, get them out of here!"


    In truth, the Beast Refining Gate had wanted to leave long ago, but they were being attacked by two sects and had speed experts like Ming Yekong on their tail, so running was easier said than done.


    Feng Muyuan was taken aback by Li Nanfei''s words, and then he realized, blurting out, "Senior Brother, you¡­"


    "Hurry!" Li Nanfei shouted.


    As he shouted, that Divine Division white elephant trumpeted mournfully and turned into a streak of white light, flying to Li Nanfei and disappearing into his body.


    A gray energy began to rise from Li Nanfei''s body.


    This energy was thick with murderous intent and carried the tragic and heroic resolve to die.


    The moment this gray energy appeared, Feng Muyuan shuddered, and grief appeared on his face. "Sect Master!"


    "Go!" Li Nanfei shouted. "Starting from today, you are the master of the Beast Refining Gate!"


    Feng Muyuan clenched his teeth and then howled, swiftly retreating. The Blue Sky Demon Wolf spat out a ck cloud from its mouth, which swept up everyone, and then it followed.


    Just when everyone was about to give chase, Tang Jie shouted, "Get back!"


    He didn''t know what sort of trick Li Nanfei was going to use, but in this critical moment, it went without saying that Li Nanfei was going to use some powerful move.


    No matter what his final move was, it definitely wouldn''t be easy to deal with, and it was bound to take its pound of flesh from them. In any case, the most important objective of obtaining the Imperial Sky Stamp had been achieved, and Tang Jie didn''t want to take a risk by chasing after a defeated enemy, so he called for a retreat.


    The cultivators from the Basking Moon Sect heeded his order. Even though Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan outranked him, they understood Tang Jie and trusted in his judgment. Moreover, they could also sense danger from Li Nanfei''s posture, so they tried to get as far away from him as possible.


    There were a few in the Seven Absolutions Sect who weren''t willing to listen to Tang Jie, going after Feng Muyuan with a mind to make a name for themselves.


    The gray wave of lethal energy began to expand from Li Nanfei, carrying with it a terrifying power that sought to destroy all things. It swallowed up those cultivators like an ocean, and those Heart Demon and Soul Transformation cultivators were instantly turned to dust, their power strengthening the wave as it continued to expand.


    "Retreat!" Ji Qingfeng shouted, his voice turning shrill.


    He didn''t even have time to wince over the loss of his men. As he swiftly retreated, he threw out powerful waves of energy to stop the advance of this lethal wave, his sect''s True Lords and the Basking Moon Sect''s True Lords joining him.


    But this lethal wave was built on the sacrifices of Li Nanfei and his white elephant, the sum total of their life force and energy. Even the Violet Pce experts of two sects couldn''t stop it. On the contrary, it continued to grow stronger and stronger.


    Waves sloshed out of this lethal ocean, and while tsunamis were nothing to cultivators, the waves of this ocean of death made one want to sigh in helplessness.


    Tang Jie''s body erupted in light as he activated the Infinite Pce to protect everyone.


    The waves of death mmed into the Infinite Pce, and beams of sword energy swept across theplex, sting apart its pavilions and towers, bringing them crashing to the ground.


    Tang Jie was forced back as if he had been struck by lightning.


    Tang Jie had once been able to resist eleven fingers from the Jewel Immortal Sovereign using the Infinite Pce, but now, Li Nanfei, who wasn''t a Celestial Sovereign and was on the same cultivation level as Jewel, had broken through his strongest defensive art in one blow, and this was after Tang Jie had spent one hundred years strengthening it. His heart was filled with shock, and at this moment, he understood that a Soul Projection cultivator going all-out was truly something to be feared, and that there was still a vast gap between him and the Jewel Immortal Sovereign. But this understanding didn''t make him afraid, only motivated him even more.


    Meanwhile, the resistance from Ling Xiao and the other True Lords suddenly magnified. Evidently, they had realized how scary Li Nanfei''s attack was and were getting serious.


    Ling Xiao used his Limitless True Astral Barrier, Xiao Biehan used one of his rare protective arts, and the Seven Absolutions Sect''s cultivators took out various treasures, one of them being the Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures, the Dao power within them enclosing everyone in a hazy halo of light.


    In the face of so many powerful defenses, the flood of death was finally stopped.


    Upon seeing that his lethal ocean could advance no further, Li Nanfei despaired, a hint of helplessness on his face. "In the end, I couldn''t kill a single one! Damn it!"


    He let out a frenzied roar.


    This roar shook the heavens and left everyone''s ears buzzing.


    But all the cultivators present simply watched him in silence.


    A few momentster, the roar stopped.


    Li Nanfei looked at them all and suddenlyughed. "Two thousand years ago, my Beast Refining Gate went back on its word, and though it managed to keep its ce in the six major sects because of it, it also formed a grudge with the Basking Moon Sect. We have fought against each other as enemies since then, but now, there is finally an oue. Even so, no one in my Beast Refining Gate will feel remorse over that decision. The Immortal path is unfathomably long, and to reach its summit, one must asionally step across the bones of others. This is the case for my Beast Refining Gate, for Godhead Pce, for the Basking Moon Sect, and for the Seven Absolutions Sect. There is no good and evil on the Immortal path, only victory and defeat. Congrattions. This time, you won."


    As he finished his words, his body crumbled away, dust in the wind.


    The surging wave of death receded, leaving behind a vast spiritual energy that fell upon the world as spirit rain.


    In the future, this ce was bound to be a blessednd.


    Tang Jie felt like this was a great pity, but seeing how quiet Ji Qingfeng and the others were, he knew that they had been moved by Li Nanfei''s words and ultimately chose to stay silent.


    Xiao Biehan also found it a pity. Gazing at the now-distant Feng Muyuan, he grumbled, "A pity, some of them managed to escape."


    "It''s fine," Ling Xiao said. "Li Nanfei and Meng Guanshan are dead, and we got what we wanted. A few rats escaping isn''t a big deal."


    Ji Qingfeng added, "After such a major wound, even if the Beast Refining Gate isn''t forced to retreat to its homnd like Godhead Pce, it will definitely fall from being a major sect. From now on, there will be only four major sects in Rosecloud. Sect Master Ling Xiao, if you are willing, we can continue to be friends."


    "Of course," Ling Xiao replied.


    After this campaign, the structure of the Rosecloud Domain had gone from six sects ruling over all to four sects vying for supremacy, and both the Basking Moon Sect and Seven Absolutions Sect had richly benefited from this battle.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect had obtained numerous resources and most of the territory of Nadir Hill, and the Basking Moon Sect had also gotten what it wanted.


    Both sects were bound to grow much stronger in the future, but nobody would know who would beughingst until the very end.


    After engaging in a few polite words, both sects went their separate ways.


    As Ling Xiao watched the Seven Absolutions Sect leave, he exhaled and said, "This matter is settled. Tang Jie, what''s your n next?"


    "What other ns can there be? We''ve gotten what we were fighting for, so now we digest. It''s time to see who can ascend first: the Cloud Ancestor or one of the other ancestors," Tang Jie replied with a smile.

 Chapter 801: The Peak

    Chapter 801: The Peak


    Freedom Hall.


    Tang Jie was seated cross-legged on his throne.


    In front of him floated the Imperial Sky Stamp.


    A four-wed golden dragon had been carved onto the top, winding in and out of some clouds, and on the bottom was the stamp, four characters carved onto it: "ÊÙÓëÌìÆë" (Life Equal to Heaven).


    This stamp''s original name was the Equaling Heaven Stamp, as this what was carved on it, butter on, the Beast Refining Gate felt like this was not impressive enough, so they changed to the Imperial Sky Stamp, meaning that this was the stamp of the emperor who had united all under the sky, such was their ambition.


    The Imperial Sky Stamp was a Great Dao armament left behind by the Beast Refining Gate''s founding ancestor, and its Dao was Life, its Will being Fusion. It was said that the Imperial Sky Stamp''s original use had been to absorb life essence to strengthen the self and elerate one''s cultivation speed. But for some reason, this function disappeared, so the Beast Refining Gate was forced to use its Dao power to fuse lifeforms. In the end, they ended up creating the half-human, half-fiend freak that was Meng Guanshan.


    Tang Jie naturally didn''t need to use it to fuse with a fiend.


    The Imperial Sky Stamp''s Dao was Life, and it could providerge amounts of life force. This alone made it a dream treasure for countless cultivators. Every advance had a cultivator facing numerous risks and dangers, so having a Life Dao armament was one of the best safeguards. The Imperial Sky Stamp was a stand-out in this category, granting cultivators a powerful protection, even able to keep a human-fiend hybrid alive.


    In terms of depth of arts, the Beast Refining Gate had always beenckingpared to the other five major sects. The reason it could have the most Violet Pce experts among the six major sects was the Imperial Sky Stamp. Without it, producing new Violet Pce True Lords or Divine Division fiends became excruciatingly difficult.


    Tang Jie didn''t need it to protect his life. Rather, he needed to borrow its pure life force to strengthen himself so that he could swiftly reach the peak of Infant Tending. To put it simply, he was treating the Imperial Sky Stamp as a giant supplement to make him more powerful. This was because the life force in the Imperial Sky Stamp was so pure that it could heal both the body and the Divine Soul, and healing the Divine Soul was exactly what he needed.


    At Violet Pce, every ascension was an ascension of the Divine Soul, and Deification was no exception.


    When an Infant Tending cultivator reached the peak, their Divine Soul would go through another refinement, attaining meridians and energy points, the ability to circte energy. This made their Divine Connections much stronger, with the most defining difference being that a Divine Soul in this stage could break free of the physical body and use Divine Connections and other spell arts.


    Han Wuxin''s Divine Soul had attempted to do this right before his death, but s, Nine Splendors had reacted quickly and destroyed it.


    People once thought that this was the greatest extent to which a Divine Soul could be cultivated, so this stage was called Deification.


    The intention was that the Divine Soul had already achieved godhood. Butter on, as cultivators grew stronger, they came to see an even taller mountain, and they gradually realized that they were still far from bing true gods. Even so, the name of Deification remained.


    Gazing at the Imperial Sky Stamp, Tang Jie pped it with his hand.


    A majestic energy erupted from the Imperial Sky Stamp, and Tang Jie felt a pure life force flowing into his body. Tang Jie guided this energy to his Divine Soul so as to nurture his Primal Infant.


    The little person within the Violet Pce smiled as if it was being caressed by a spring breeze, and its little face became translucent.


    If one looked carefully, one would notice that while the Divine Soul was still small, it was no longer in the form of an infant and appeared closer to an adult.


    This was a sign that the Divine Soul was growing and was the entire purpose of Infant Tending.


    Over one hundred and thirty years, Tang Jie had nurtured his infant into a youth, but there was still some childishness to its face, indicating that it was far from reaching the peak. A true peak Infant Tending cultivator would look like a youth in their twenties. At this stage, one could make the charge at Deification.


    If one didn''t make the breakthrough, the Primal Infant would continue to grow and mature. This mature Primal Infant would be stronger, but it would consumerge amounts of life force, reducing one''s chances at reaching Deification.


    Just like how one used a part of one''s power to create the Violet Pce in the ascension to the Violet Pce Realm, one could choose the moment one ascended to Deification. The longer one waited, the stronger one would be, but the greater the dangers one faced and the lower the chances of sess.


    Tang Jie''s immature Primal Infant didn''t even have the right to attempt ascension, so the little Primal Infant was truly like a hungry baby, greedily drinking up the nutrients from the Imperial Sky Stamp.


    As life force poured in, the Primal Infant''s face rxed in immense satisfaction. In just a little while, it seemed to grow half a year older, changing in both demeanor and appearance.


    s, the life force soon stopped.


    Tang Jie knew that the Imperial Sky Stamp''s Dao power had been used up, and it would take a long time to recover it.


    Tang Jie felt like it was a great pity.


    It had to be understood that the Primal Infant aging by half a year wasn''t worth an actual half a year of cultivation. Tang Jie had used a hundred and thirty years to age the Primal Infant to around thirteen, so the real exchange rate was ten to one.


    This wasn''t even considering the role yed by the resources from the Martial Lord''s hidden realm and the inter-domain trade. Another person might use twenty or thirty years. This was why going from Infant Tending to Deification could easily take five to six centuries.


    In other words, the half a year provided by the Imperial Sky Stamp was the equivalent of at least fifteen years of cultivation.


    This was why Tang Jie had been so focused on taking the Imperial Sky Stamp.


    s, the Imperial Sky Stamp was now out of power and would take a few years to recover. It would be rather difficult for him to use it to reach the peak.


    But Tang Jie didn''t care. He had been ready for this.


    The moment the Imperial Sky Stamp ran out of Dao power, Tang Jie produced countless fiends from his sleeve.


    He ced his left hand on the head of a fiend and his right hand on the Imperial Sky Stamp.


    A harmonious white light radiated from his body.


    The Dao of Life!


    Controlling a Dao armament required both sufficient strength and also an extremely important foundation:prehension in the corresponding Great Dao. Only the twobined could truly unleash the power of a Dao armament.


    Among the Violet Pce experts of the six major sects, there were few Celestial Sovereigns, and few who had evenprehended the Dao.


    For this reason, most Violet Pce True Lords had only Dao armaments that they had a hard time using, relying on their cultivation to just barely use them.


    But Tang Jie was the opposite. With the Dao of Wisdom as his foundation, he had been able to study all the Great Daos and hadprehended all Twelve Great Daos, bing a freak like Cang Qingfeng. What limited him was his cultivation, not hisprehension of the Great Daos.


    Upon reaching Violet Pce, he became more capable of using Dao armaments than most people.


    Tang Jie wasn''t activating the Dao of Life to heal himself, but to convert the life force of the fiends into energy to recharge the Imperial Sky Stamp.


    The Dao of Life could be used to save people, and it could also be used to kill. It was able to grant and seize life in equal measure.


    Tang Jie originally didn''t have a good enough grasp on the Dao of Life to do this, but he now had the Imperial Sky Stamp. He simply needed to activate it a little, and the Imperial Sky Stamp would extract the energy on its own. All Tang Jie needed to do was give it a helping hand.


    One fiend after another was sucked dry of life force by Tang Jie''s Dao of Life, withering and dying, their immense life force turning into thin strands of Dao power that passed through Tang Jie''s body into the stamp.


    If this Life Dao power remained in Tang Jie''s body, it could turn back into life force, and while it couldn''t increase the upper limit of his lifespan, it could restore whatever life force he had expended.


    This was perhaps the greatest benefit of cultivating the Dao of Life.


    A True Lord had a normal lifespan between three to eight thousand years, but one who cultivated the Dao of Life, so long as they possessed a decent Dao armament, could effectively live forever.


    But Tang Jie had no interest in this life force, sending all of it to the Imperial Sky Stamp so that it could recover its Dao power.


    Once all the fiends on hand had died, Tang Jie threw the bodies into the Mountain River State Diagram and produced another batch of fiends.


    This went on for several cycles, but even after Tang Jie had killed all of the more than one hundred fiends he had captured, the Imperial Sky Stamp had recovered only a sliver of power.


    "As expected, I''m still greatlycking?" Tang Jie muttered.


    He wasn''t surprised. The life forceparable to fifteen years of cultivation of a True Lord was immense beyond imagination, not something a mere one hundred fiends could satisfy.


    Tang Jie shot a bolt of wind into the air, and there was a ng.


    A page boy entered Freedom Hall and prostrated. "Celestial Sovereign, what is yourmand?"


    Tang Jie said, "Pass on my order. Starting from today, Freedom Hall has a standing mission to capture fiends, with no limit on the quantity."


    "Yes!" The boy withdrew.


    At Tang Jie''s level, if he wanted something, he naturally didn''t need to do it himself. He just needed to issue a mission, and there would be cultivators willing to serve him.


    Wasn''t this precisely what sects were for?


    Fiend hunting became very popr in the Basking Moon Sect.


    People quickly learned of Tang Jie''s new hobby after his one for shattering tools.


    If those above took a liking to something, those below had to satisfy them!


    Now that Tang Jie was famous for vanquishing Godhead Pce and defeating the Beast Refining Gate, countless people heeded his every word and action.


    Suddenly, countless cultivators across the Rosecloud Domain began to hunt fiends, from the Basking Moon Sect and from other countries.


    There were so many people hunting for fiends that gifting fiends became popr for the next twenty years. Fiends were killed to such an extent that their numbers dwindled and their value grew, and the rising prices served only to stimte the greed of others.


    Fiend-hunting cultivators becamemonce, and even the various fiend-raising grounds of the Beast Refining Gate suffered from poaching. Many people wondered if this was one of the stratagems the Freedom Celestial Sovereign had deployed against the Beast Refining Gate. After all, the Beast Refining Gate hadn''t retreated to a little corner of the world like Godhead Pce.


    The irreverent jokingly referred to Tang Jie as the Scrap Metal Violet Pce, the Fiend-Eating Celestial Sovereign.


    Tang Jie didn''t know about this, and he wouldn''t have cared if he did. He was too busy restoring the stamp.


    The vast quantity of fiends being sent into the Basking Moon Sect was being converted into pure life force through the Imperial Sky Stamp, then sent back into Tang Jie''s body.


    Tang Jie''s strength began to climb at a frenzied speed.


    Ten-some years quickly passed.


    An excited howl rose from Freedom Hall, and Tang Jie flew out of it.


    The cultivators attending upon him immediately dropped to their knees.


    Tang Jie shouted, "Hear this! Starting from today, there is no need to hunt for fiends."


    He flew off into the mountains.


    The fiend-hunting decree had been ended?


    The disciples looked around in shock.


    One of the disciples who understood what had been going on finally realized what had happened. "The Celestial Sovereign must have reached the peak!"


    He was right! Tang Jie had finally reached the peak of Infant Tending, only one step away from Deification!

 Chapter 802: Charge

    Chapter 802: Charge


    Tang Jie flew from Freedom Hall to the back mountain.


    Upon reaching the Cloud Ancestor''s hut, he tidied up his clothes and stood before the door.


    The Cloud Ancestor''s voice drifted out. "Come in."


    He pushed open the door and entered. Inside, the Cloud Ancestor was seated on a mat, and next to him was a woman with a delicate appearance: Lin Xin''s body, within which dwelled the soul of the Azure Dragon.


    Apparently, he had arrived when the two were discussing the Dao.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie smiled and said, "I pay my respects to Ancestor and to Senior Azure Dragon."


    The Azure Dragon rolled its eyes and looked away, ignoring him. Ever since it had entered this body, its soul had begun to resonate with it, and it had started to take on more feminine behaviors.


    Tang Jie didn''t mind her, saying to the Cloud Ancestor, "Ancestor, this disciple has reached peak Infant Tending."


    Yun Tian opened his eyes and scanned Tang Jie''s body before nodding. "You truly have reached the peak. I didn''t think the Imperial Sky Stamp would be so useful in your hands."Tang Jie smiled. "But how has the Divine Will Golden Body helped Ancestor?"


    Yun Tian red at him. "You''re asking this because you''re worried over whether I can help you ascend, right?"


    Tang Jie simply chuckled.


    Although the charge at Deification wasn''t as dangerous as the charge at Violet Pce, the difficulty was immense. Moreover, if one failed, even if one managed to survive, the Divine Soul would be damaged, the repair process easily taking years.


    Tang Jie had used fifteen years to reach the peak of Infant Tending and had only five years left. He essentially had no room for failure and had to seed in one attempt.


    That was why he had gone to the Cloud Ancestor.


    This was exactly what the Cloud Ancestor had promised. Tang Jie had done so much for him, so he naturally had to protect his junior and ensure that he safely broke through into Deification.


    For an Earth Immortal, protecting a junior was a minor trifle, but this sort of protection was extremely exhausting on them, so they did not do such things lightly.


    If Tang Jie had not aplished so much, gaining him the instruction of a Gold Immortal, blessing him with fortune, and getting him the Divine Will Golden Body, Yun Tian would not have agreed to this request.


    Tang Jie naughtily smiled, but Yun Tian said nothing, simply waving his hand.


    Tang Jie was suddenly surrounded by clouds, inside a pce in the sky rather than a thatched hut, Immortal cranes flitting to and fro while fairies smiled around him.


    In this pce, he was like one of those mortal kings, looking down upon all living things, insufferably domineering.


    For a moment, Tang Jie was dazzled by all these fantastical visions.


    Fortunately, he had a firm mind and instantly realized what was going on, shouting, "Break!"


    Under the Four-Nine True Words, the illusion was shattered. Yun Tian was still sitting in front of him, smiling.


    Tang Jie was startled at first, and then he shouted in realization, "The Wave-Generating Illusion Ocean Divine Connection! Martial Ancestor has already entered True Immortal!"


    The Wave-Generating Illusion Ocean was a powerful Divine Connection, but Yun Tian had never cultivated it before. Nevertheless, he had used it with great ease.


    Gods were omnipotent.


    A True Immortal''s limits were the limits of their imagination, their abilities surpassing the scope of spell arts and Divine Connections. Anything they had seen or thought of could be made real with a thought, which was why they were called supreme.


    This was the power wielded by Supreme True Immortals, their thoughts bing spell arts, shaping the world.


    Thus were they called omnipotent!


    At this level, cultivators battled on the fields of formless things like Great Daos and Divine Wills, not things with form like spell arts or Divine Connections.


    That Yun Tian could pull Tang Jie into an illusion with just a thought was a sign of this.


    But Yun Tian shook his head. "I have only had a glimpse of that realm, but I have yet to achieve it."


    Yun Tian had yet to achieve the final breakthrough, but after absorbing the Divine Will within the golden body, he had finally reached the peak of Earth Immortal, only half a step away from True Immortal. And thanks to the instruction from Immortal Ji Yao and the Azure Dragon, he hadprehended a little of the essence of True Immortal, unlocking some of the mysteries of the Divine Will, allowing him to instantly create an illusion. But since he had only had a glimpse, Tang Jie had been able to break out. Otherwise, a True Immortal was so powerful that even a Divine Connection they had never touched before would be able to lock up Tang Jie for some time.


    "But you''re only a sliver away," Tang Jie excitedly said.


    The Basking Moon Sect was finally going to get a Supreme True Immortal.


    The day Yun Tian broke through would be the day that the Basking Moon Sect dominated Rosecloud. The era of the six sects would be swept into the dustbin of history, reced by the rule of one single hegemon.


    This was something that every cultivator of the Basking Moon Sect dreamed. One could even say that reaching the summit, achieving the apex, was the meaning of human existence.


    But the Azure Dragon snorted. "It''s only a sliver, but it''s as sturdy as the spatial barrier."


    Tang Jie''s face went stiff. Yes, the final step was not that easy to make.


    Yun Tian smiled. "It''s fine, it''s fine. I''ve benefited a lot thanks to you, and the blessing of fortune has allowed me to slowly grind away at this barrier. I''m already 70% of the way there, and I guarantee that I can achieve True Immortal in ten years."


    These words instilled Tang Jie with confidence.


    But the Azure Dragon added, "But if you help him break into Deification, you will affect your own fortune. Without the protection of fortune, you will find it hard to advance for the next fifty years."


    The Azure Dragon held a deep grudge against Tang Jie and was willing to foil his ns whenever it had the opportunity, earning it an angry look from Tang Jie.


    Fortunately, Yun Tian was unaffected, chuckling, "It''s only fifty years. Kindness should be repaid in turn. Without this child, I probably would have never had this chance. Since that''s the case, I can''t possibly wrong him for my own selfishness. Fifty years will go by in the blink of an eye, but if he misses out on this opportunity to enter Deification, he will ultimately die to Jewel, which will leave me disturbed and restless."


    With a wave of his sleeve, he sent the Azure Dragon back into the Eternity Sarcophagus to be sealed once more.


    Yun Tian would always let it out once every few years to discuss the Dao with it, but it would never be allowed to remain outside, so as to avoid the dragon soul reawakening its power and bringing everyone trouble. Thus, even though it had been two hundred years since Tang Jie had brought back the Azure Dragon, the Azure Dragon had only experienced around a month of time and was still far away from recovering its strength.


    Once the Azure Dragon had been resealed, Tang Jie asked, "Right, Martial Ancestor, has the Azure Dragon shown any strange signstely?"


    Yun Tian shook his head. "All is normal, and I have detected nothing strange."


    Tang Jie grunted.


    Yun Tian understood what he was thinking. "What? You still think that Immortal Ji Yao is up to something?"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "For some reason, I feel like this matter is rather suspicious. While she was lovers with the Martial Lord, that''s ultimately a part of the past, not the present. Immortal Ji Yao has already fallen into demonhood, so I don''t believe that she doesn''t want to get out. It''s precisely because she''s behaving so casually that I have these doubts. The Eternity Sarcophagus is a Dao armament, yet she gifted it to me. This only makes me more uneasy."


    Tang Jie shook his head. "I hope that I''m just being paranoid."


    After all, Immortal Ji Yao was his master''s wife, so such spections were very disrespectful.


    After reaching Violet Pce, Tang Jie hade to care a lot more about etiquette and ritual, no longer acting as if they didn''t exist, and he became much more unwilling to assign wicked motives to others, so he quickly put the thought to the side.


    From this day forward, Yun Tian began to prepare Tang Jie for the charge to Deification.


    In truth, the Basking Moon Sect had begun preparing for this long beforehand, and Yun Tian primarily instructed Tang Jie in terms of mantras.


    Three years passed by in all this preparation.


    In these three years, Tang Jie adjusted his mindset to its optimal state.


    Only when Yun Tian thought that he was ready did he decide to begin his attempt.


    On this day, the summit of Starsnatch Peak.


    Tang Jie was seated high above, and down below, countless Basking Moon disciples looked up and watched.


    Tang Jie had be a banner for the Basking Moon Sect, and his every move and action was being watched. Moreover, this attempt at Deification was the fastest in the history of the Rosecloud Domain, only one hundred and fifty years having passed between Infant Tending and Deification. Thus, even the Seven Absolutions Sect, the Thousand Passions Sect, and Horizon Ocean Pavilion had sent people to observe.


    Thetter received particr attention, basically everyone except Xu Miaoran being kept under close watch for fear that they might try to sow chaos in Tang Jie''s ascension.


    The people of Horizon Ocean Pavilion scoffed at the idea, knowing that this was the worst time to cause trouble. On the contrary, even a fool could see that if the Basking Moon Sect was being so open about Tang Jie''s ascension, they wanted Horizon Ocean Pavilion to cause trouble.


    The reason was very simple. The chances of ascending to Deification were usually very low, and Tang Jie might be no different. Considering that his battle with Jewel was in three years, if he failed, he wouldn''t get a second chance. And if the people of Horizon Ocean Pavilion caused trouble, the Basking Moon Sect could push the me onto them and rightfully refuse to honor the duel. And in the eyes of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, even if Tang Jie did seed, there was still an entire tier between him and the Jewel Immortal Sovereign. Their only fear was not that he would seed, but that he would refuse to fight.


    This was why the people sent by Horizon Ocean Pavilion to observe had been repeatedly told not to cause trouble so as to avoid giving Tang Jie any excuses.


    In any case, Tang Jie''s charge at Deification took ce before a vast audience.


    Tang Jie was still, as if in meditation.


    Someone curiously asked, "Why hasn''t he started yet?"


    A cultivator who understood the secrets of Deification replied, "He''s already started."


    The crowd was confused.


    Another cultivator exined, "At Violet Pce and above, all changes take ce on the Primal Infant. A sh of Divine Souls is dangerous and unpredictable, but they are hard to see unless they willingly show themselves. Don''t be fooled by theposed figure of the Freedom Celestial Sovereign. Within the body, his Primal Infant within the Violet Pce is probably already in battle against the heavens, seeking to evolve."


    "Then doesn''t that mean we can''t see anything?" a cultivator dejectedly said.


    If everything took ce in the body, then there was no show to see.


    "No rush, no rush. Although the charge to Deification takes ce in the body, the Divine Will is connected to the world, so asionally, internal changes are projected outside," a knowledgeable cultivator said. He pointed into the distance. "Everyone, look over there."


    The crowd looked over to a distant part of the sky. Clouds had suddenly emerged here, quickly gathering into a dense and intimidating mass.


    A person could be made out within the clouds, with a form and appearance simr to Tang Jie''s.


    Even the most dimwitted cultivator who saw this understood that this was a manifestation of Tang Jie''s Primal Infant in the outside world.


    His Primal Infant was still in the Violet Pce and had not exited the body, but the connection to the world had projected its image onto the world, making it seem like a majestic figure in the sky. It was rather simr to the Divine Will avatar of the Guangfa Godhead.


    But the Guangfa Godhead''s Divine Will avatar had had far more power and presence than Tang Jie''s mere illusion, such was the vast difference between them.


    Of course, this was solely a difference in Divine Wills.


    Once the projection appeared, the crowd began to chatter.


    Everyone understood that Tang Jie''s attempt at Deification had begun.

 Chapter 803: Heavenly Tribulation (1)

    Chapter 803: Heavenly Tribtion (1)


    The Divine Will projection in the sky grew more and more defined, and as it did, a majestic power began to radiate outward, affecting everyone.


    It was like the descent of a god, making everyone tremble and want to prostrate in worship.


    And then, countless auspicious clouds appeared, transforming into golden dragons and disappearing into the projection. These were followed by various phantom mountains, which left everyone shocked and confused.


    Only a few cultivators understood what was going on.


    On Sunwatch Peak, Yan Changfeng sighed at this sight. "Floating clouds transforming into dragons, a mind set on the world. The Celestial Sovereign truly has lofty ambitions."


    "Master, what secrets lie behind these floating clouds turning into dragons and mountains entering the projection?" Wei Tianchong asked.


    After several hundred years of cultivation, Wei Tianchong had finally reached Soul Transformation. But while he was in the same tier as Yan Changfeng, he continued to act as his disciple, showing all due respect. After all, whether in terms of cultivation or strength, there was still a vast difference between Wei Tianchong and Yan Changfeng.


    Yan Changfeng chuckled at Wei Tianchong''s question. "Having a will connected to the world really means to imnt one''s own heart in the heart of the heavens, making the world one''s body and making the heavens act ording to one''s whims. You understand this, correct?"


    Wei Tianchong nodded. "This disciple understands. Starting from Celestial Heart, cultivators emphasize merging the mind with the world, making the world one''s hands and feet so that all things will go as one desires. Thought casting is simply another stage of this."Yan Changfeng replied, "Correct! Starting from Celestial Heart, everything is actually done with this goal in mind. Condensing the Celestial Heart is really a seed of our will nted into the will of the heavens. At Heart Demon, this seed buds, the will gaining a form, and at Soul Transformation, it is like a sapling, the will further evolving to the border of reality and illusion. At Infant Tending is the flowering, the will taking on physical form. It is only then that the cultivator''s mind is connected to the world and able to cast with a thought. But the flowering is not the end of cultivation. The fruit is! Deification is the fruit of this mind-world connection. It is also why it was known for eons in the Great Ster Chiliocosm as the first summit of cultivation and called Deification."


    "What is the difference between the flower and fruit?" Wei Tianchong asked.


    Meanwhile, the clouds around that projection of Tang Jie in the distance had grown turbulent, shing with lightning and rumbling with thunder.


    Yan Changfeng seemed enchanted, replying in a casual tone, "The Infant Tending cultivator can merge their will with the world, using the world as their body to cast arts with a thought, but the world is vast and not something a human can easily control. Thus, their soul entering the world is like a child trying to wield an axe, clumsy and slow."


    In other words, while an Infant Tending cultivator could thought cast, the power of the world was so vast that they found it hard to control. This could be seen from how Lin Xin''s soul was unable to control the Azure Dragon''s body. A weak soul entering a powerful body would find it difficult to handle.


    This was why Infant Tending cultivators were still limited in speed when thought casting. To use past battles as an example, the likes of Silver Eyes and Thunder de had been at the early phase of Infant Tending, so while they could thought cast, they could only cast about one art per second, and some powerful Divine Connections needed the assistance of hand signs. Meanwhile, when Xiao Biehan had tested Tang Jie, with one thrust of a finger, he had used almost twenty different spell arts, and he wasn''t even using his full strength!


    The greatest function of Deification was to strengthen the soul, enhancing one''s control.


    And to reach this stage, one had to further substantialize the soul.


    While the soul had a human form, its insides were still chaos. Deification''s purpose was to unlock the five senses and open the meridians, endowing it with human form both externally and internally, making the Divine Connection even stronger.


    This was the transformation the cultivator sought.


    From seed to bud to tree to flower, and finally, to fruit.


    When onepleted this step, one could be said to have reached the first summit.


    When those clouds had turned into dragons, this was actually a sign that the Primal Infant had formed its meridians.


    Each golden dragon had a corresponding ce inside its body, the little Primal Infant creating meridians and veins for itself.


    A dragon for a vein, a mountain for an energy point!


    Every step of Deification was difficult, so for Tang Jie to start off with so many at once made him more bold and dashing than the vast majority of his predecessors, and it was this daring that had earned him a sigh of praise from Yan Changfeng.


    He didn''t know that this was because Yun Tian was secretly protecting Tang Jie, and Tang Jie also had the boon of the Nine Heavens Luan Grass. If he weren''t so bold, then he would be wasting all his advantages.


    The projection had started out unreal, but the addition of those dragons and mountains made it more and more real.


    What once had been only a human-shaped puppet now seemed more and more like a real living being.


    Only at this moment could a Primal Infant be called a Primal Divinity!


    When the Primal Divinity was attained, the mind had no bounds!


    At this moment, a howling storm had built up in the heavens.


    Large rocks were swept into the air, and giant trees swayed.


    The light seemed to go out of the world, and Tang Jie seemed to be the sole inhabitant.


    Everyone knew that this was a critical moment in Tang Jie''s ascension, and they waited with bated breath.


    The features of the projection grew more distinct, and countless blood vessels began to form under the skin, wriggling like earthworms across its body, and as they expanded, the Primal Infant''s aura grew more and more powerful.


    Suddenly, the heavens rumbled with thunder.


    The dense mass of dark clouds suddenly coalesced.


    These clouds clearly weren''t created by Tang Jie''s own power, for they had stopped right over his head and were shing with lightning.


    "Heavenly Tribtion!" someone gasped.


    When a Violet Pce cultivator merged their soul with the heavens to take control of the world, they naturally had to deal with the resistance of the world''s will.


    This will was the Great Dao, Karma and Fate, the punishment levied by the heavens on the temerity of the humans who dared to usurp the heavens, an expression of its wrath!


    This was why people called it the Heavenly Tribtion.


    But others called it the Heavenly Wrath, or the Heavenly Punishment.


    The fury of the heavens, the punishment of lightning!


    This was the most dangerous part of the ascension to Deification.


    This was why Yun Tian helping Tang Jie pass the tribtion would cause him to lose the blessing of fortune and stall for fifty years.


    It was one thing for the person ascending to fight back against the heavens, but another for a bystander to intervene, as it would earn them the resentment of the Heavenly Dao, the abandonment of fortune. It was like the anger or displeasure one felt for a particr person. While it might notst for a lifetime, for a certain time period, they would not favor them. The old dragon had calcted that this period would be about fifty years.


    Swords of lightning began to coalesce in the air.


    Tang Jie looked up at them and smiled.


    With that single smile, the dazzling lightning abruptly dimmed.


    This was because Tang Jie had entered the Dao of Fate. The influence of Fate meant that even the punishment of the heavens was lightened somewhat.


    s, Tang Jie couldn''t make the Heavenly Punishment disappear, only weaken it.


    Even so, this was still very hard for many people to do.


    A momentter, countless swords of lightning shot down.


    Tang Jie, who had always used Heavenly des on others, finally got a chance to experience it himself, the swords of lightning shining with a lethal light as they stabbed at him.


    But Tang Jie was fearless, and as the swords came down, he simply called out.


    With one shout, the lightning swords began to shatter.


    "Stop!" Tang Jie used a single Four-Nine True Word to easily resolve the first assault of the Heavenly Tribtion.


    While the first wave of lightning swords had been shattered, more and more clouds were gathering.


    This time, these were fire clouds, preparing to unleash a raging inferno.


    The mes coiled together and transformed into a mighty me dragon.


    Tang Jie opened his mouth, and the Pale Cloud me bird flew out, greeting this me. Not only did it block the me dragon, Tang Jie thought that this wasn''t enough and used the Contrame Mantra to take this me for himself.


    The fire assault passed with no effect, and the heavens responded by forming a mighty river that threatened to engulf Tang Jie and sweep him away.


    Tang Jie didn''t panic, and the firebird took flight again, transforming into a sea of fire that evaporated the river into steam.


    Tang Jie used this opportunity to absorb the essence of this third wave of Heavenly Tribtions.


    The Heavenly Tribtions were a trial, but they were also an opportunity.


    Any cultivator could use it toprehend the world and strengthen the self.


    This power was also thest thing they needed toplete their ascension.


    This was why, although Yun Tian had promised to protect him until he seeded, he would only protect his Primal Infant from annihtion, not help Tang Jie endure the tribtions himself. Tang Jie wanted a perfect ascension, so he needed to have the power of the Heavenly Tribtions temper his body and refine his Divine Soul. Only then did he have a chance of attaining the supreme Great Dao in the future.


    The power of the Great Dao was right before him. Within the Heavenly Tribtions were Karma and Fate, ughter and Destruction, Yin Yang and Five Elements. If Tang Jie didn''t use this chance to make himself stronger, then he wouldn''t be Tang Jie.


    This was why Tang Jie courageously took it all on, excitedly rather than fearfully.


    That raging river seemed never-ending, and while under Yun Tian''s protection, Tang Jie decided to analyze this river.


    Back in the Verdant Cloud Domain, he had absorbed the essences of the Five Elements and had managed to immerse himself deeply in the Dao of Five Elements. But as these were notprehensions he hade to on his own, he often knew what something was but not why it was. With the Water Tribtion descending, Tang Jie focused and circted the Dao of Wisdom, analyzing the structure of the tribtion, and his Primal Divinity began to incorporate the insights he gained into the Dao of Water. Besides that, it also began to incorporate the Lightning Tribtion and Fire Tribtion.


    Once the river had subsided, the heavens shifted again, and this time, a giant mountain descended.


    Tang Jie saw this andughed.


    This Earth Tribtion was no threat at all to him.


    His body suddenly grew to the size of a giant, joining together with his projection. Raising his arms, he held up that mountain.


    As if holding up the mountain was no big deal, Tang Jie began to analyze the Earth Element power contained within.


    Other people had to focus on how to resist a Heavenly Tribtion, but not Tang Jie. With the Four-Nine True Words and the Pale Cloud me bird, he barely had anything to worry about, requiring no spell arts or Divine Connections. Even to hold up this mountain, he was using his physical strength, not spell arts. Added onto this was Yun Tian''s protection, so Tang Jie could use seventy percent of his strength on analyzing the tribtions, and the remaining thirty percent to continue his ascension.


    When the fourth Heavenly Tribtion ended, Tang Jie was untouched, leaving the crowd below sighing in wonder.


    One person said, "I have long heard of the Freedom Celestial Sovereign''s divine strength, and it seems that the rumors were true. If things are like this, Deification isn''t far off at all. I just wonder how many more Heavenly Tribtions are left."


    Someone heard this and replied, "Each Heavenly Tribtion is more dangerous than thest. While he managed to get through these ones easily, it only gets harder from here. The Celestial Sovereign still might not make it to the end."


    "What''s difficult for others might not be difficult for Tang Jie. I''m confident that he can safely pass," a voice sounded out.


    The speaker this time was none other than Cai Junyang, confidently gazing at Tang Jie. Next to him stood Qi Shaoming and the others.


    Despite Tang Jie''s position, Cai Junyang never called him "Celestial Sovereign", continuing to use his name. And no matter what Tang Jie did, Cai Junyang always, almost blindly, believed that he would seed.


    His tone was so certain that everyone around him was momentarily speechless. While they didn''t believe him, none of them dared to argue.

 Chapter 804: Heavenly Tribulation (2)

    Chapter 804: Heavenly Tribtion (2)


    After the mountain disappeared, a few moments passed before the new Heavenly Tribtion began to take form.


    But rather than from the sky, it came from the ground.


    The Heavenly Tribtion was the will of the heavens.


    But this didn''t mean that only attacks that fell from the heavens were Heavenly Tribtions. On the contrary, when the Heavenly Tribtions began, anything in the world could be one.


    It represented the wrath of the heavens, the rejection of the usurper.


    A gust blew past.


    Grass suddenly began to grow on the ground where Tang Jie was standing, rapidly growing into huge trees, creating a dense forest thatpletely enclosed Tang Jie.


    These countless trees swayed in unison in a majestic sight, their branches turning into arms, their wooden fists pummeling Tang Jie. Some trees even grew mouths and feet, running at Tang Jie and opening their tooth-filled maws.


    But Tang Jie was unmoved.The Primal Infant hid in his body and continued to evolve, the phenomena in the heavens continuing. Meanwhile, Tang Jie faced the trees and simply said, "Go."


    The Pale Cloud me bird again flew out, transforming into a sea of fire to burn away the trees.


    Such was the power of the Pale Cloud me that the trees were burned to cinders before they could get close.


    Sitting in the sea of fire, Tang Jie picked up a flower and smiled.


    In this seemingly casual movement, he was actually analyzing the power of the Wood Element, greedily absorbing every bit of experience and every principle of the Dao that he could.


    The Pale Cloud me had once more easily blocked a tribtion.


    Next was the Metal Tribtion.


    Countless weapons of various shapes and sizes began to manifest in the air.


    Although these weapons were made from illusions, as they were made with Metal Element energy, each one became real once they manifested.


    Once they had all manifested, they threw themselves at Tang Jie.


    But the way Tang Jie dealt with them was even simpler than before.


    He extended a finger and shouted, "Break!"


    There was a great shattering.


    All the weapons shattered, transforming into golden grains that flew toward Tang Jie.


    These weapons had been formed directly from Metal Element energy through the power of the Heavenly Dao. No cultivator had refined them, nor were there seals to protect them. They could be called the most basic of weapons, which was why the Weapon Mantra could so easily destroy them. He had destroyed all of them with one shout, finally emting some of the Martial Lord''s demeanor.


    "What sort of spell art is this?" The cultivators down below gasped in shock.


    "The Weapon Mantra," a voice softly said.


    The crowd turned to see Xu Miaoran elegantly standing nearby. She was looking up at her husband, her eyes thick with love.


    When the cultivators saw that Xu Miaoran hade over, they all backed away.


    The crowd opening up a path for her, Xu Miaoran walked through, like the moon ringed by the stars.


    "Fairy, might I ask what exactly the Weapon Mantra is?" someone asked.


    Xu Miaoran casually replied, "A divine spell from High Antiquity, an art of the Great Dao."


    As Tang Jie grew stronger and stronger, it became less necessary to keep things secret. Even the Weapon Mantra could be made known.


    Everyone cried out in surprise, realizing that this must be something Tang Jie had obtained from those ruins from High Antiquity. They heaved heavy sighs while also joking about how Godhead Pce''s efforts of many years had ultimately only benefited Tang Jie.


    The Heavenly Tribtions continued.


    After the Metal Tribtion, a powerful storm began to blow.


    The Wind Tribtion.


    This was no ordinary wind, but the Gold Ignis Astral Winds brought down from beyond the heavens.


    This dazzling golden wind was the fence that penned in the world, and also the wall that protected it.


    As it howled down from above, its boundless might terrified all the cultivators down below, who backed away for fear that they might be caught up in it, and they looked at Tang Jie in sympathy.


    The Gold Ignis Astral Wind! The seventh Heavenly Tribtion was the Gold Ignis Astral Winds! It was evident that Tang Jie''s ambitions had particrly incensed the heavens.


    But these Gold Ignis Astral Winds could still do nothing to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie had been borrowing the Astral Winds to temper himself, and he had long ago reached a refined state. Although he couldn''t break out from the Astral Winds and leave the domain like Earth Immortals, he could endure them for a time without a problem. While the golden wind tribtion was strong, it was simply one sliver of Astral Winds brought down to the lower world. Without a continuous stream of power, it was impossible for it to destroy Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie proudly faced the Astral Winds, and despite their savagery, he treated them like a gentle breeze.


    Everyone was dumbfounded.


    Just like that, Tang Jie had endured the Gold Ignis Astral Winds.


    As if sensing Tang Jie''s contempt, the sky let out a guttural roar of rage.


    The howling of beasts came from all around, and countless fiends emerged, brimming with the might of the heavens.


    These fiends had been manifested by the world, and bearing the will of the heavens, they wielded a pure energy that could take on any form.


    The beasts all charged at Tang Jie.


    Even a Violet Pce Titan would have to be careful when dealing with so many fiends, let alone one at a key moment in their charge at Deification. But Tang Jie was fearless, smiling as he threw out the Mountain River State Diagram.


    The Mountain River State Diagram transformed into a vast world in the sky, and the fiends mindlessly charged into this world. The moment they appeared in the diagram world, the power of the small world transformed into the most lethal traps and began to eliminate the fiends.


    This wasbatting the will of the heavens with the will of the heavens, using a small world to fight back against arge world. Despite the difference in size, one was using all the strength it had while the other was using a drop from an ocean, so in this contest, therge world was defeated. The countless fiends were devoured, absorbed, and digested by the small world, converted into their most fundamental energy to nurture the diagram world. Tang Jie swiftly put away the diagram before the Heavenly Tribtion could react¡ªthe small world was notplete and had too many ws, so this action had been extremely risky. It was only effective when dealing with the Heavenly Tribtions. If he had used it to deal with a cultivator of the same level, they would quickly notice the ws and attack them, which would make the costs outweigh the benefits.


    The Fiend Tribtion had been easily taken care of. Not only had it failed to hurt him, it had actually enriched him.


    Although all cultivators who had made the charge at Deification would use the Heavenly Tribtions to temper themselves, none of them had ever been so thorough about it.


    The will of the heavens was furious. Eight tribtions had done nothing!


    The heavens shifted again, white and ck emerging.


    Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan looked up at the sky and muttered, "The Yin Yang Tribtion is about to begin."


    Thest of the Nine Heavenly Tribtions was the Yin Yang Tribtion.


    All diametric pairs in the world would appear in the Yin Yang Tribtion: Life and Death, Light and Dark, ck and White, Illusory and Real, Cold and Hot. All of this would be converted into the most fundamental Yin Yang energy, creating a Heavenly Law Seal Yin Yang Wheel that would crush the target to death.


    This was the strongest and most terrifying of the Nine Heavenly Tribtions.


    Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan had both needed to expend numerous treasures to just barely fend off this tribtion, and even then, they had failed numerous times. After surviving the Heavenly Tribtion, they had to start over, and it was only after gaining some experience that they had seeded.


    Tang Jie was attempting to reach Deification in a single try, so he would have a much harder time of it.


    The Yin Yang power of the world had gathered. Because it was the world bringing this power together, Tang Jie couldn''t move proactively and try to dispel it beforehand, only quietly wait. As more and more Yin Yang energy gathered, it began to arrange itself as if a pair of invisible hands was drawing in the sky, and eventually, it turned into a giant wheel, ck and white, appearing rather like the Taiji Diagram.


    After this wheel formed, it began to turn, exuding such majestic energy that all cultivators below Violet Pce had to retreat, and only when they had retreated fifty kilometers did they finally feel at ease.


    But Tang Jie appeared indifferent inparison.


    He stood up and ced his hands behind his back, looking up at the heavens as if he was challenging the tribtion toe down. The spectating cultivators sighed in admiration,menting on how this person waspletely different from before, possessing his own majesty and grace.


    They had no idea that Tang Jie was internally reeling in shock.


    Through the Dao of Wisdom, he was analyzing the Heavenly Law Seal Yin Yang Wheel, and the more he analyzed it, the more stunned he became.


    The vastness of the Dao power contained in the Yin Yang Wheel was such that Tang Jie felt like his depth of understanding in the Yin Yang Dao was the size of a tiny ant. It was like a boy who had studied for several years suddenly walking into the hall of a sage.


    But Tang Jie didn''t feel humbled or panicked. Rather, after his moment of shock, he became even more anxious to analyze the deeper secrets of the Yin Yang Dao hidden within the wheel.


    As Tang Jie''s understanding of the Yin Yang Dao grew, his Yin Yang energy grew even more profound.


    He could have used the Dao of Fate to weaken the Heavenly Tribtion, but after his realization, he instead used the Dao of Fate to provoke the heavens. The wrathful heavens began to gather even more energy to make the wheel more powerful, thus extending the time needed toplete it. Tang Jie seized the moment to greedily drink up this knowledge, caring nothing for his safety¡ªafter all, Yun Tian was protecting him, so what did he have to be afraid of?


    Thus, everyone saw the Yin Yang Wheel growingrger andrger, and they began to wonder why it wasn''t falling yet. Even Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan were confused, worrying over whether this Heavenly Tribtion was trying to y some sort of trick.


    Someone even blindly spected, "The Freedom Celestial Sovereign has a rather fine name. Tang Jie, Tang Jie¡ªcould it mean to stall (tui tang) the Heavenly Tribtion (jie)?"


    This earned him many rolled eyes.


    Tang Jie''s body began to change.


    The concentration of Yin Yang power made him stronger and stronger, Yin Yang Dao Standards swiftly forming, even his Reflections of Floating Life Dao Art being enhanced.


    And Tang Jie finally began toprehend the secrets within the Yin Yang Wheel.


    As he analyzed the secrets, the Flesh Millstone suddenly emerged from Tang Jie''s body. It seemed like Tang Jie was using the structure of the Yin Yang Wheel to improve the Flesh Millstone, which left everyone speechless. Other people had to put all their energy into reaching Deification, acting cautiously with every step, but Tang Jie was putting all his energy into using this opportunity to get stronger.


    The wheel in the sky finally stopped turning and plummeted downward.


    Tang Jieughed. "Let''s use this Yin Yang energy to give this god thest bit of essence I need."


    His body grewrger once more.


    In a sh, he was a giant, radiating a golden light as he threw a punch at the Yin Yang Wheel.


    Offense was the best defense.


    "Open!" Tang Jie let out the most majestic and intimidating roar of his life.


    All the heavens trembled at his cry!

 Chapter 805: The Heaven Sword True Lord

    Chapter 805: The Heaven Sword True Lord


    It was a punch that made the entire world stop.


    The Heavenly Law Seal Yin Yang Wheel contained all lights and all colors in the world as it magnificently descended from the heavens.


    Yet this terrifying Heavenly Tribtion could not suppress, shake, or subdue Tang Jie.


    That heaven-opening punch confronted this flood of power head-on, and the ensuing st of wind melted away Tang Jie''s skin and flesh, as if he was snow under a searing sun, and all was turned to ash.


    Even the Freedom Celestial Sovereign could not stand up against the great wheel?


    But a momentter, everyone saw the little Primal Infant in the middle of that incinerated body, rapidly growingrger in the face of that apocalyptic Heavenly Tribtion, radiating a divine golden light.


    Protected by the golden light, the obliterated body was reforming, faster and more perfectly than ever before!


    Although Tang Jie''s original body and avatar had been able to fuse through the Dao of Merging, there had always been ack ofpleteness. The avatar was still the avatar, and the original body was still the original body. It was only through the power of the Dao that they were forcibly squished together.


    But now, everything was different.Through the power of the Yin Yang Wheel and through his ascension to Deification, Tang Jie had trulypleted his fusion.


    This was the trulyplete Tang Jie, the real original body.


    Although it could still divide into two Tang Jies, one body refiner and onew cultivator, they were both avatars.


    It sounded like just a different way of describing things, but in reality, they had both been strengthened to a whole new level, Tang Jie experiencing a huge boost in strength, spell arts, and his proficiency in using them.


    At the same time, the Primal Infant finally evolved into a Primal Divinity. Like a child maturing into an adult, it was more experienced and looked at things from a different perspective.


    That projection of the Primal Divinity opened its eyes, and the world immediately shuddered.


    The Primal Divinity spoke: "Retreat!"


    That lingering Heavenly Tribtion finally began to withdraw.


    His will had usurped the will of the heavens, so the Heavenly Tribtion retreating at his call was nothing strange.


    A momentter, the storm subsided, and the skies were so calm that it was like nothing had happened.


    All that was left was Tang Jie, standing tall in the heavens.


    The crowd was stunned at first, before someone finally shouted, "The ascension seeded!"


    Everyone came to their senses and began to shout, "The ascension seeded!"


    "Celestial Sovereign, congrattions, congrattions! After a hundred years of preparation, you seeded in a single day."


    "The Basking Moon Sect now has another Deification Celestial Sovereign."


    Countless people offered their congrattions.


    "The Basking Moon Sect really has been spoiled for talent recently. Within three hundred years, it''s produced two Violet Pce experts. It seems like the Basking Moon Sect alone will dominate the Rosecloud Domain in the future," someone with ill intentions provocatively said.


    "The six ancestors are still around, and it''s only an additional Deification, far from enough to im hegemony," a clear-headed Basking Moon disciple calmly replied.


    Even so, the Zephyr Mountains were engulfed in cheers, for everyone believed that, with Tang Jie''s current rate of progress, bing an Earth Immortal wasn''t out of the question, which would be the day the Basking Moon Sect truly ascended.


    Of course, they didn''t know that Tang Jie had no ns on waiting that long, and that the day of Yun Tian''s breakthrough drew ever nearer. Although his helping Tang Jie had weakened the blessing of fortune, fortune was not the sole determinant of sess. While protecting Tang Jie, Yun Tian had also absorbed the essence of the Heavenly Tribtions, allowing him to nudge aside a little more of that barrier to True Immortal, so much so that he realized that even without the protection of fortune for fifty-odd years, he could still break through within five years.


    He told no one except Tang Jie of this news.


    He let everyone keep their eyes on Tang Jie so that he could cultivate peacefully.


    As all the cultivators cheered, those who were on good terms cheered with particr gusto and enthusiasm.


    Cai Junyang, Qi Shaoming, Peng Yaolong, and the others rushed over, but when they got halfway, they suddenly remembered that Tang Jie was a Deification Celestial Sovereign, so going over in this manner might be too impolite. But as they were hesitating, Cai Junyang rushed up and gave Tang Jie a big hug, shouting, "I knew you would seed!"


    Tang Jie didn''t put on any airs, hugging Cai Junyang back and saying, "And just when you are nning to make an attempt at Violet Pce?"


    Cai Junyang immediately became embarrassed. "I''m still not ready yet."


    The charge at Violet Pce was an extremely dangerous one, and even someone as strong as Cai Junyang had to carefully consider it. Moreover, he had yet to reach the peak of Soul Transformation and still had some preparations to do. As for chasing after Tang Jie, Cai Junyang hadpletely given up on that.


    Before they could say more, another person flew up, pulled Cai Junyang aside, and gave Tang Jie a big hug.


    Cai Junyang was just about to get angry when he saw that it was Xu Miaoran.


    There was nothing he could say about a husband and wife embracing, so he could only awkwardly stand to the side. The others also circled around and congratted Tang Jie, but they were much humbler than Cai Junyang, not going up to hug him, which made everything seem a little more distant.


    Tang Jie could only sigh. Status was a natural barrier, and even cultivators found it difficult to pierce through it.


    He didn''t n to say much on this subject. There was a reason such things existed, and one just had to go with the flow.


    After the great mor came a great feast.


    The Basking Moon Sect had held two such feasts in thest two hundred years, setting all of Rosecloud astir, and they were both because of Tang Jie.


    As for the next feast, people expected it to be two years from now.


    Because that was when Tang Jie would battle with the Jewel Immortal Sovereign.


    Although there was still a gap between Tang Jie and Jewel, Tang Jie had already been able to block eleven of Jewel''s fingers while at Soul Transformation. In two hundred years, he had risen two tiers, and the much stronger Tang Jie was no longer so helpless against Jewel.


    Moreover, Tang Jie had already been able to defeat an Infant Tending expert while at Soul Transformation, creating an unprecedented miracle. Nobody thought it would be difficult for a Deification expert to beat a Soul Projection one. Thus, many people concluded that Tang Jie would probably create another miracle, and considering Tang Jie''s hidden strength, it might not even be considered a miracle.


    Thus, countless people toasted Tang Jie and ttered him in the hopes of earning his patronage.


    No matter how cool and collected Tang Jie was, he couldn''t escape from all this fawning.


    Suddenly, Xiao Biehan''s face turned dark, and he raised a wine jar and smashed it to the ground. "So fucking annoying!"


    The Heaven Sword True Lord''s sudden anger stunned everyone.


    How had he been offended? Had he grown envious from seeing all those people ttering Tang Jie?


    That was unlikely. Xiao Biehan had always praised Tang Jie, so he couldn''t possibly be this petty, right?


    Everyone spected as to the cause.


    Xiao Biehan strode over and said to Tang Jie, "Tang Jie, follow me!"


    Ignoring everyone else, he flew off.


    As he flew out, he snatched at arge mountain, upon which that mountain uprooted itself, transforming into the God-Conquering Merak Sword.


    What¡­ just what was he nning to do with this Dao armament?


    Everyone began to panic.


    Only Tang Jie remained unperturbed, saying with a smile, "My apologies; Martial Uncle is calling me, so I must take my leave."


    Xu Miaoran nervously grabbed Tang Jie. "What is Martial Uncle Xiao going to do?"


    Tang Jie smiled. "Don''t be nervous. He''s doing this for my own good."


    Xu Miaoran turned pensive. She was a smart woman, and she had simply been momentarily ovee by her concern. She immediately realized what was happening and released her grip.


    Tang Jie went over to Ling Xiao and said, "Master, Martial Uncle is calling me, so your disciple must go. Does Master have any advice?"


    Ling Xiao answered, "Biehan has always been domineering in his actions, and nobody canpare to him in terms of aura. This is why you have to match his aura when fighting with him. You have to go all-out and attack, and if you falter, you should concede."


    "Your disciple understands." Tang Jie flew off.


    Everyone realized that Xiao Biehan really did intend to fight Tang Jie.


    Some didn''t understand why Xiao Biehan wanted to do this now, but the smarter ones reminded, "The Jewel Immortal Sovereign."


    Someone blurted out in realization, "So you''re saying¡­"


    "It''s a test. Martial Uncle Xiao is willing to use his own body to see if the Freedom Celestial Sovereign is ready," someone exined.


    Far off on the horizon.


    Xiao Biehan proudly stood in the air, his sword at the ready.


    As he stood there, farther off in the distance, a crimson sun was setting.


    Tang Jie flew over.


    Xiao Biehan didn''t look at him.


    He loudly said, "I am very unhappy. Tang Jie, do you know why I''m unhappy?"


    Tang Jie bowed. "This fearful disciple does not know. Martial Uncle, please enlighten me."


    Xiao Biehan suddenly turned around. "I''m unhappy because of your arrogance! Tang Jie, do you really think that you can defeat a Soul Projection as a Deification just because you were able to defeat an Infant Tending at Soul Transformation? You think the gap between thetter was bigger, so you think you can pull off the former?"


    Tang Jie lowered his head. "This disciple does not dare to think this way."


    "You do!" Xiao Biehan bellowed. "That''s exactly what you think. It''s precisely because you think this that you made that two-hundred-year agreement with Jewel. In your view, so long as you could enter Deification, you had certain victory over Jewel. Hmph, the utter foolishness! Yes, I admit that you defeating an Infant Tending at Soul Transformation was an extraordinary feat, but that was because you cultivate the Martial Lord''s arts, your body refining able to make up for yourck of spell arts, and you were also dealing with those ipetent clowns from the Verdant Cloud Domain, and you needed a whole host of tricks and traps. But now that you''ve entered Deification, has your body cultivation also followed and risen to the middle stage of the Immortal Spirit Body?"


    These words woke Tang Jie up from his dream.


    Tang Jie trembled.


    Yes, to reach Deification, he had invested most of his time and resources into cultivating his arts. While had also tempered his Immortal Spirit Body somewhat, he had made little progress.


    Without his body cultivation to make up for the vast gap in levels, how could he dare to challenge someone above him?


    Yes, he had Dao Arts.


    But the Jewel Immortal Sovereign was also a Celestial Sovereign!


    She also had Dao Arts!


    She might not have as many as Tang Jie, but they were definitely stronger and more profound, more difficult to deal with.


    In these circumstances, just what made him so confident that he could win?


    "Moreover, this isn''t all that Jewel has," Xiao Biehan continued. "The Jewel Immortal Sovereign is the Helmsman of Horizon Ocean Pavilion and holds its Dao armament. She already knows a lot about you, both that you''ve entered Deification and that you''ve been able to defeat an Infant Tending expert while at Soul Transformation, so what do you think she will do? If I were her, I wouldn''t hold back at all, instead using everything I had, including Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s Dao armament."


    These words had Tang Jie sweating. While his Weapon Mantra was much stronger now, it still couldn''t shatter Dao armaments.


    Xiao Biehan slowly raised the God-Conquering Merak Sword and pointed it at Tang Jie. "I''ve battled with the Jewel Immortal Sovereign once. After three days in battle, I was defeated, and she didn''t even use a Dao Art.


    "Tang Jie, since you want to fight Jewel, then you have to get through me first.


    "I will attack with everything I have and give you a good beating so that you truly understand the difference between you and us.


    "Watch my sword!"


    A blinding wave of sword energy swept toward Tang Jie.

 Chapter 806: Mobilizing the Power of a Sect

    Chapter 806: Mobilizing the Power of a Sect


    <em>Boom!</em>


    Tang Jie plummeted from the sky like aet, smashing into the side of a mountain and leaving a massive crater.


    Even his formidable body couldn''t get him back up.


    If one looked carefully, one would find that almost every part of his body was covered in terrifying sword wounds, each wound thick with a frightening energy. Unless Tang Jie spent his life force to activate the Dao of Life or used some of his precious Immortal Spirit energy, he would find it impossible to heal these wounds.


    Xiao Biehan appeared above the mountain, grasping his sword. "Tang Jie, do you want to keep fighting?"


    Tang Jie gritted his teeth and tried to stand, but the moment he did, another wave of sword light came sweeping down.


    Xiao Biehan held nothing back, almost shattering his body with a single strike.


    If he hadn''t ascended to Deification and couldn''t muster energy to rebuild his body, this attack might have actually killed him.


    Dropping to a knee, Tang Jie began to cough up blood.Xiao Biehan coldly said, "Tang Jie, you''ve lost!"


    "This disciple understands," Tang Jie shakily replied.


    As his reward for a sessful ascension, Xiao Biehan had given him a callous and painful blow to remind him that he was celebrating too early.


    "Two years," Xiao Biehan said. "You still have two years to consolidate your cultivation and grow stronger. So long as you can block my Starlight Execution, you can go and fight Jewel. At that time, even if you can''t win, you can at least protect yourself, so at least you can lose without dying. But if you can''t even take my Starlight Execution, then it''s better for you to not take part in this battle. Jewel''s one finger is enough to crush you, and give her hatred toward you and her fear of my Basking Moon Sect, I''m confident that she wouldn''t pass up the opportunity."


    <em>Starlight Execution¡­</em>


    Tang Jie sighed upon hearing this name.


    This was one of Xiao Biehan''s strongest moves. He hadn''t even used it against Meng Guanshan, yet today, he had used it on Tang Jie.


    When he used the Starlight Execution, all of the heavens filled with his sword light.


    Every point of sword light was a rotating star, mincing everything around, as if it wanted to dice up the universe into a ck hole and devour all the energy within it.


    This was Tang Jie''s first time experiencing the horror of Xiao Biehan, his first time seeing his ultimate move, and he was dumbfounded. He was dumbfounded at how a Divine Connection could be as powerful as a Dao Art, stunned that even his Infinite Pce couldn''t block it.


    At that time, Tang Jie had used everything he had¡ªthe Infinite Pce, the Immortal Spirit Body, his strongest body strengthening spell art, his strongest barrier spell art, and even the Mother Cloud Essence Metal armor. And all this had just barely been enough to block the strike.


    But that seething flood of energy had still left him heavily injured and powerless to keep fighting.


    Under this sword, any other light would seem dim byparison.


    And this was only 30% of the Starlight Execution''s power.


    In this strike, Tang Jie understood why this man was called the Heaven Sword True Lord.


    Seeing that Tang Jie had been convinced, Xiao Biehan threw back the God-Conquering Merak Sword, letting it turn back into a mountain.


    Putting his hands behind his back, he flew off.


    Right after Xiao Biehan left, Ling Xiao arrived.


    "Master, this disciple was ipetent and was easily defeated by Martial Uncle," Tang Jie sighed.


    Ling Xiao was unsurprised. "If you were able to beat him, I would be wondering if this world was still governed by any sort of reason."


    Ling Xiao smiled and went on, "In truth, besides yourck of solid foundations, having just entered Deification, your defeat is also in part because, as Biehan said, your body cultivation strength is growing slowly, so it can''t serve as a powerful support like before. Didn''t you say that the Parting ssic emphasizes only resources and is able to turn quantity into quality? If you have enough resources, can you make up for the short timeframe?"


    "Yes, the Immortal Spirit Body uses an incredible amount of resources, and not just ordinary resources. Even if quantity can make up for quality, it starts from spirit nts that are at least several hundred years old, and huge quantities of them. Even with the wealth from the inter-domain trade, I couldn''t satisfy both the needs for the charge at Deification and for my Immortal Spirit Body," Tang Jie helplessly replied.


    "You alone aren''t enough, but what about the strength of the Basking Moon Sect, the resources of Sageheart? If we paid no mind to the costs, would it be enough?"


    Tang Jie was stunned. "Master!"


    Ling Xiao ced his hands behind his back. "Tang Jie, you''ve already created many miracles, but in the end, you are only one person. If you rely only on yourself, your ability to create miracles will ultimately reach its limit. This time, let the Basking Moon Sect be the support that allows you to create an even more glorious miracle."


    Mobilizing the entire power of a sect!


    What could possibly be more exciting?


    Tang Jie found it impossible to hide his excitement.


    It had to be understood that this wasn''t as simple as having the disciples go hunting for fiends. That had been a free mission, and not everyone would go and do it. Those that did were mostly lower disciples, and they mostly consumed resources intended for external use.


    Now, Ling Xiao was saying that he would mobilize everyone in the sect to serve Tang Jie, and they were going to empty the coffers, not only extracting resources from outside but also using a thousand years'' worth of savings on Tang Jie.


    In other words, a major sect was handing over a thousand years of its reserves for Tang Jie to use without restriction.


    This was exactly why Tang Jie was so stunned.


    Ling Xiao smiled. "Don''t get too excited. Martial Uncle has already told you that he will break through within five years. All of this is because of you. Today, it is Martial Uncle''s task to bring about the ascendancy of the Basking Moon Sect, but in the future, it will be your task. Is there anything better than to have a resurgence in the present and sessors to enjoy it? For me to have such a disciple, to see the Basking Moon Sect thriving and developing under my hand, means that I can go unashamed to face our ancestors."


    These words essentially confirmed that Tang Jie would be the future sect master.


    "Master!" Tang Jie dropped to his knees, unable to say a word.


    Ling Xiao smiled and waved his hands. "Enough, enough. It''s not like we''re dying, only passing on a mission. There''s no need to start weeping. After all, you are a Celestial Sovereign and the future leader of the Basking Moon Sect. You have to remember your image. As for investing all of the sect''s resources into you, don''t get too smug about it. In the future, this will have to be deducted from your inter-domain profits."


    Tang Jieughed. "Master is so awful. If you had mentioned repayment earlier, you would have saved me a lot of tears."


    "Brat." Ling Xiao pped Tang Jie on the head. "Don''t go acting cute whenever you want something."


    The totality of the resources the Basking Moon Sect was investing was so vast that it would take more than a hundred years of Tang Jie''s inter-domain trade profits to return, and he was even being generous by not charging interest. And this wasn''t even considering the manpower.


    Thus, starting from this day, the Basking Moon Sect began to pour resources into Tang Jie.


    In the past, Tang Jie would take baths that could expend ten thousand spirit coins at once, but now, one bath was worth several hundred thousand.


    The stronger the medicinal power, the longer the time it took to absorb.


    To satisfy Tang Jie''s needs, the Basking Moon Sect found a ce rich in Earthfire, cleaving a mountain to create ake and drawing out the fire from the earth so as to heat the water.


    Tang Jie took his giant form and entered thiske to cultivate.


    He ended up cultivating for more than a year.


    In this time, Basking Moon Sect disciples constantly dumped in various herbs.


    The youngest of these nts was at least five hundred years old. For the Immortal Spirit Body, any younger was useless. All these herbs dissolved into medicinal power for Tang Jie to absorb.


    The disciples felt both pained and envious to see all these resources being thrown into theke. But they were better off than the Storehouse Hall disciples, who were on the verge of tears¡ªwarehouses across thend were being emptied, depriving them of their jobs.


    The Agriculture Hall disciples were little better off. Some spirit nts that had been nned to grow for more than five hundred years had had these ns canceled and were picked ahead of schedule.


    The Commerce Hall and Service Hall were mobilized, the Basking Moon Sect issuing an order that all spirit nts five hundred years or older had to be sold to them, and anyone who refused to sell would be executed.


    In short, whether it was in the warehouse or still growing, on their property or someone else''s, it had to be handed over. Thend of Sageheart was picked clean of every nt that fit the criteria.


    In the center of his heatedke, Tang Jie immersed himself in this full service experience. For almost a year and a half, he didn''t move a muscle.


    His huge body became like a mountain, his solid muscles bing the hardest rock as he took root in the center of theke. The scalding heat could melt steel, but it couldn''t harm a single hair on him.


    Unlike with the Diamond Body, Tang Jie''s body no longer grew, despite the copious amounts of medicinal power he absorbed. As the medicinal power entered his body, it was all converted to Immortal Spirit power by the Parting ssic and stored within him.


    Immortal Spirit power came from Tang Jie''s own power, with each drop requiring him to basically squeeze himself dry, allowing the Parting ssic to refine this energy into Immortal Spirit power.


    This was a mysterious power that even surpassed the power of a Primal Infant.


    Tang Jie could clearly sense that the Parting ssic''s body cultivation path began to exceed thew cultivation path at this point. While the Diamond Body and Celestial Heart Realm weren''t too different from each other, the gap widened at the Immortal Spirit Body and Violet Pce Realm.


    When Tang Jie first attained the Immortal Spirit Body, he didn''t have much Immortal Spirit power, so he hadn''t been able to feel this difference. Even so, when he had been facing Han Wuxin, who had activated the power of his Dao armament, that little bit of Immortal Spirit power had kept him alive.


    Now, thanks to that endless stream of medicinal power, his reserve of Immortal Spirit power was growing, and bringing with it shocking progress.


    Tang Jie sensed that although he was far from the peak even of the Immortal Spirit Body''s early phase, the power within him was enough to match a Deification expert.


    In other words, with just this minor early-phase Immortal Spirit Body, he could fight against a Deification expert.


    He had to keep going!


    Driven by this clear progress, Tang Jie greedily seized all the power that the Basking Moon Sect offered, and even this wasn''t enough. When Tang Jie told Ling Xiao of his progress and the changes he had experienced, Ling Xiao unexpectedly decided to take a loan from the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    As the richest sect in the Rosecloud Domain, it was the only one capable of continuing to provide the vast quantity of resources Tang Jie needed.


    Initially, the Seven Absolutions Sect wanted to refuse.


    After that honeymoon period against Godhead Pce, the two sects had gradually turned cold to each other.


    After all, Tang Jie was going to fight the Jewel Immortal Sovereign of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and Horizon Ocean Pavilion and the Seven Absolutions Sect were allies.


    Just like how the Thousand Passions Sect was unhappy to see the Seven Absolutions Sect growing closer to the Basking Moon Sect, Horizon Ocean Pavilion had its objections toward the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    But every sect was independent, and so long as they didn''t break any longstanding principles, they wouldn''t meddle too much in each other''s business.


    But on this matter, the Seven Absolutions Sect truly couldn''t offer aid.


    However, Yun Tian soon paid a personal visit to the ancestor of the Seven Absolutions Sect.


    Nobody knew what they discussed, but after that meeting, the ancestor personally issued an order to unconditionally provide resources to the Basking Moon Sect.


    They weren''t as crazed as the Basking Moon Sect, emptying out everything and leaving nothing behind, but as the Seven Absolutions Sect had gained much of Nadir Hill''s resources and territory, essentially controlling two sects'' worth of wealth, just providing half of their wealth was like an entire Basking Moon Sect.


    Moreover, even the Thousand Passions Sect started to volunteer resources for Tang Jie.


    These women had seemingly realized something and started to put aside their grudges and mend their rtions.


    A little less than half of the Rosecloud Domain''s resources began to converge on Tang Jie, and Tang Jie was making full use of the Parting ssic''s voracious abilities, taking in everything he could.


    The Immortal Spirit Body soon went from early-phase initial-grade all the way to peak, upon which he easily broke through the threshold and attained a middle-grade Immortal Spirit Body.


    Although the Immortal Spirit Body consumed a huge amount of resources, the resources of half the Rosecloud Domain still outmatched it. If it weren''t for the five-hundred-year age limit, Tang Jie could have consumed resources all the way to the Great Dao Body.


    Still, Tang Jie managed to go all the way to peak middle-grade Immortal Spirit Body.


    At peak middle-grade, Tang Jie''s advance was halted, for he had reached another bottleneck. Although body cultivation bottlenecks weren''t a significant problem, Tang Jie had ultimately spent too little time in the middle grade of the Immortal Spirit Body, so he found it difficult to break through so quickly. While Tang Jie had needed much less time to go from lower-grade to middle-grade, it had to be remembered that Tang Jie had already spent more than a hundred years at lower-grade and had be extremely familiar with how to use Immortal Spirit power at that level. This wasn''t true for middle-grade, and he had yet to use his new powers.


    But if he had more time, the bottleneck would pose no problem.


    His strength had stopped growing, but the resources were still pouring in.


    Tang Jie decided to seize the moment. Since they were taking loans anyway, they might as well make full use of their credit, and he decided to take the resources into the Mountain River State Diagram.


    It was after quite a few days that Ling Xiao found that this bastard was embezzling goods, after which he "angrily" stopped the flow.


    Only then did the great resource rush that had involved four countries and more than half of the Rosecloud Domain finally stop.


    After this matter, while everyone still had some resources, finding anything more than five hundred years old would basically be impossible for the time being. Those that remained were either those nts growing in remote and uninhabited corners of the world, or they were more than a thousand years old, far too valuable to waste on Tang Jie.


    At this time, only half a year remained until the duel with the Jewel Immortal Sovereign.

 Chapter 807: The Combat Emperor Catalog

    Chapter 807: The Combat Emperor Catalog


    Upon attaining the peak middle-grade Immortal Spirit Body, Tang Jie went on a trip to the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, where he unlocked the eighth level of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation.


    In truth, he could have opened this at minor lower-grade Immortal Spirit Body, but as Tang Jie had been stuck at basic lower-grade Immortal Spirit Body this entire time, it had been left until now. Thus, he broke through the seal with little effort.


    The eighthyer was located in the underground depths of the hidden realm.


    When Tang Jie entered, he saw that he was surrounded by high walls.


    Eighteen images were carved onto the walls.


    The first image featured a giant stepping on the sky like a god. His hands were fitted with ck gauntlets, and he was punching at the sky.


    Next to it were carved the words: "Combat Emperor Catalog: Devil Crushing Strike."


    Tang Jie knew that the Martial Lord had once been known as the Combat Emperor, possessing all kinds of heaven-shakingbat techniques. But when inheriting his legacy, Tang Jie had gained nothing except the Parting ssic.


    It was only today that Tang Jie found abat technique suitable for a body refiner, and he was so excited that he almost threw his head back and howled.A line of small words was written under the Combat Emperor Catalog.


    Only after reading it did Tang Jie realize why he had not received this Combat Emperor Catalog before now. It appeared that these battle techniques could only be used at Immortal Spirit Body.


    The Devil Crushing Fist was clearly the firstbat technique of this Combat Emperor Catalog.


    It was no wonder Tang Jie had needed to use most of his strength to use it, because it wasn''t a technique that he had been at the right level to use.


    The Martial Lord had taken apart the Devil Crushing Strike and put it before this threshold primarily to keep his sessor alive, giving them something they could use for onest desperate bid at survival, at the same time letting them grow ustomed to the power of the Combat Emperor Catalog.


    The eighteen images found at the eighthyer were the trueplete Combat Emperor Technique.


    Under each image was a line of small words that exined the proper way to perform eachbat technique. The line under the image of the Devil Crushing Strike was no different from the Devil Crushing Fist that Tang Jie had learned, but it had added a part about how to use Immortal Spirit power, allowing the Devil Crushing Fist to no longer use all one''s strength in one strike.


    To be more precise, when one attained the Immortal Spirit Body and gained Immortal Spirit power, the Devil Crushing Fist began to use this new power instead.


    Of course, Immortal Spirit power wasn''t endless. Once it ran out, Tang Jie would end up like before, having to use his physical strength to use the Devil Crushing Fist.


    The Devil Crushing Strike unleashed through Immortal Spirit power was a little weaker than the original, but it was more solid and flexible, and also better for a longer battle.


    Tang Jie was delighted to obtain the Combat Emperor Catalog and began to examine the images. He found that each was extremely powerful, but they consumed astonishing amounts of Immortal Spirit power, and they demanded him to reach an extremely high cultivation level.


    The eighteen images were titled: "Devil Crushing Strike", "Ring Rending Strike", "Wave Reversing Strike", "Fierce Gale Strike", "Thousand Heavens Strike", "Void Light Strike", "Heart Devouring Strike", "Blood Spirit Strike", "Corpse Soul Strike", "Spirit Tearing Strike", "Illusion Crushing Strike", "Reincarnation Strike", "Star Shattering Strike", "Moon Embracing Strike", "Sun Shooting Strike", "Heaven Breaking Strike", "Immortal Hunting Strike", and "Immortal Executing Strike".


    Every six images corresponded to a tier. As Tang Jie was at the middle grade of Immortal Spirit Body, he could only learn the first twelve strikes.


    Judging by the names, the eighteen strikes of the Combat Emperor Catalog were extremely powerful, particrly thest two. That they were called Immortal Hunting and Immortal Executing meant that they could kill Immortals.


    Just like the gap between Soul Transformation and Infant Tending, the gap between Soul Projection and Earth Immortal was huge.


    That these strikes of the Combat Emperor Catalog could kill an Immortal meant that they had to possess vast power.


    In other words, once he reached greater attainment in the Immortal Spirit Body and grasped all eighteen of the strikes, he could use his body cultivator self to fight an Earth Immortal, which was much higher than his current state, where he needed his merged form to fight those above him. Of course, this was only a hypothesis, and he couldn''t say for sure until he reached that point.


    After memorizing the Combat Emperor Catalog, Tang Jie left.


    He proceeded to spend his days cultivating the Combat Emperor Catalog and sparring with Xiao Biehan.


    Xiao Biehan yed his role as a measure of Tang Jie''s strength well, volunteering to train and spar with Tang Jie.


    At first, Tang Jie was still no match for Xiao Biehan.


    As the Swordholder of the Basking Moon Sect, Xiao Biehan was domineering and vicious, and he possessed far more than just the Starlight Execution. Whether it was his Holy Starlight Sword or Star Moon Snatch, they were all enough to leave Tang Jie in tatters.


    But the Parting ssic was a path of cultivation that grew stronger through battle. This sort of repeated tempering and beating was exactly what Tang Jie needed.


    Through Xiao Biehan''s ceaseless honing, Tang Jie''s potential was unleashed, and as he grew more familiar with his new power, Xiao Biehan found it harder and harder to defeat Tang Jie.


    In particr, the astounding toughness of the Immortal Spirit Body meant that even Xiao Biehan''s Starlight Execution became incapable of defeating Tang Jie in one strike.


    But if one strike wouldn''t do, he could just make a few more.


    In thest battle, Xiao Biehan had used seven Starlight Executions in a row. These had all been unleashed at full force and had sent Tang Jie from the heavens almost straight to hell, letting him keenly understand that pure resistance wasn''t enough.


    Of course, after that battle, Xiao Biehan iled his hand and said, "Shit, he''s getting tougher and tougher. I almost overexerted myself."


    But he wouldn''t say that in front of Tang Jie.


    In the process, Tang Jie gradually grasped the gap in strength, understanding the strengths and unique attributes of Soul Projection cultivators.


    Soul Projection was actually a transition period between Deification and Immortal tform.


    In the past, people thought that Deification was the limit of cultivation.


    They were both right and wrong.


    Deification truly was a limit.


    It was the limit of a spirit cultivator.


    A limit to how one could use spiritual energy.


    But cultivators who refused to stop exploring and progressing were not satisfied with their current state.


    They constantly sought out a chance to grow stronger.


    They found that there was another possibility above spirit cultivation: Immortality!


    Soul Projection was the phase that led from Deification to Earth Immortal.


    In this phase, a cultivator grasped the trick to bing an Immortal, and their power also began to change. All Divine Connections and spell arts began to shift from using spiritual energy to using Immortal Essence, achieving even greater heights.


    For this reason, the Divine Connections and spell arts of Soul Projection cultivators all had a little sliver of true Immortal power, which was exactly what made them so scary.


    That was the true apex of power, and Tang Jie had experienced it once before¡ªJewel''s eleven fingers had shattered the Infinite Pce, her physical body breaking the Dao!


    Other than sparring with Xiao Biehan, Tang Jie also took sses from Ling Xiao every day.


    As his master, Ling Xiao naturally had to teach him some things. It was just that Tang Jie had had too many lucky encounters and had dabbled in too many things, so limiting his study material wasn''t ideal. Thus, Ling Xiao had let his disciple do whatever he wanted. It was only now that the battle with Jewel was imminent that he changed his attitude and began to teach Tang Jie.


    Even so, he didn''t teach spell arts or Divine Connections. Tang Jie had such things and didn''t need more.


    He taught Tang Jie how toprehensively utilize his powers.


    Tang Jie currently had a mishmash of moves at his disposal.


    He had three Dao Arts¡ªReflections of Floating Life, the Infinite Pce, and Law Speaking¡ªand four Divine Connections¡ªthe Combat Emperor Catalog, the Ten Extinctions de, the Flesh Millstone, and the Longevity Sword. In addition, he had the Nine Heavens Cmity de and the Pale Cloud me.


    The three Dao Arts were not offensive in nature, so while they were flexible and formidable on the defensive, they had limited use when attacking. Of the four Divine Connections, the Combat Emperor Catalog was naturally the strongest, outpacing the others by several city blocks. But these techniques required a lot of Immortal Spirit power, and while they wouldn''t leave him weak and helpless like before, they couldn''t be used for too long. With Tang Jie''s peak middle-grade Immortal Spirit power, he had just enough to use the twelve strikes of the Combat Emperor Catalog from start to finish, no more and no less.


    Such was the fierce nature of the Martial Lord, leaving no margin for error, no retreat when using this set ofbat techniques.


    Of the remaining three Divine Connections, the Ten Extinctions de was the strongest, and it was currently the Divine Connection Tang Jie used the most. The Flesh Millstone and Longevity Swordcked the explosiveness of the Ten Extinctions de, but they outdid it when it came to persistence, making up for the Ten Extinctions de''s weakness.


    Upon understanding the moves Tang Jie had avable to him, Ling Xiao began to design a strategy for Tang Jie, at the same time marveling at the Martial Lord''s might.


    When it came to explosiveness, the Combat Emperor Catalog was definitely enough. This had already been made evident in Tang Jie''s duels with Xiao Biehan. Whenever Tang Jie used the twelve strikes of the Combat Emperor Catalog, even Xiao Biehan had to keep his distance. In terms of reactivity, the three Dao Arts could basically handle the vast majority of situations. It was only in regrbat that Tang Jie was much weaker than Jewel.


    Xiao Biehan''s victories against Tang Jie all came from regrbat. A Celestial Star Cycle Sword Art was a basic attack for Xiao Biehan, but Tang Jie felt like he was facing a looming mountain and had no choice but to use his strongest moves to deal with it. Thus, when Xiao Biehan used his strongest attacks, he didn''t have much left to use.


    For example, when Xiao Biehan had used his seven Starlight Executions in a row, it was because Tang Jie had finished using his twelve Combat Emperor strikes, so he had nothing left for Xiao Biehan to be afraid of. Perhaps if Tang Jie had still had one or two moves left, he might have been able to fend off those seven Starlight Executions. Of course, Xiao Biehan might have just followed up with an eighth.


    Thus, Ling Xiao suggested that Tang Jie cultivate the ck Yellow Treatise.


    The ck Yellow Treatise was not abat art, nor was it a cultivation art. Its real usey in its ability to link together Tang Jie''s moves, making them even more useful and powerful.


    Merging together was always easier said than done. Otherwise, Tang Jie wouldn''t have needed so much time to cultivate the Ten Extinctions de, nor would he have needed the Heavenly Tribtion to merge his original body and avatar together. The ck Yellow Treatise was one of the supreme secret texts of the Basking Moon Sect and was personally kept by Yun Tian. Even Ling Xiao hadn''t learned it, but he still went to Yun Tian to request it for Tang Jie.


    When Yun Tian learned that Tang Jie needed it, he passed it over without a word.


    In this way, some problems that had always troubled Tang Jie were finally resolved. Through the ck Yellow Treatise, Tang Jie began to merge together all the various things he had learned, making them shine more brilliantly in new ways.


    Meanwhile, the day of his battle with Jewel drew closer and closer.

 Chapter 808: Ice Phoenix

    Chapter 808: Ice Phoenix


    As the battle drew near, more and more people began to turn their attention to it.


    They were all waiting for that duel between Tang Jie and Jewel.


    The sixth day of the sixth month.


    It was seventy-two days until the two-hundred-year appointment.


    Today, Tang Jie was meditating in Freedom Hall, floating in the air. There was nothing around him, but a vast vortex of energy spiraled around him, filling the air with an indomitable pressure.


    This meant that while Freedom Hall was empty, nobody could step in without his permission.


    A page boy prostrated in front of the hall and shouted, "Ancestor has asked the Celestial Sovereign to go over for a talk."


    Tang Jie formed signs with his hands, his eyes remaining closed.


    After a while, he opened his eyes and said, "Understood."The page boy''s vision blurred, and then he found that Tang Jie was gone.


    The back mountain of Starsnatch Peak.


    Tang Jie suddenly appeared in the thatched hut''s garden.


    "Disciple Tang Jie pays respects to Ancestor."


    Yun Tian''s voice came from the hut. "Come in. In the past, you never stuck to the rules, but you''re so polite today. You must be nervous."


    Tang Jie entered and smiled. "With the imminent duel against a powerful foe, it''s hard to not feel grim, whiches out on my face. It seems that I can''t hide anything from Ancestor."


    He openly admitted that he was nervous about his battle with Jewel.


    Yun Tian smiled. "If you admit it, then it means it''s not too serious of a problem. And this isn''t why I asked to speak with you."


    "What task does Ancestor have?"


    Yun Tian sent a slip of paper over to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie picked it up and found that questions on cultivation had been written there.


    "Go to the Verdant Cloud Domain and ask Immortal Ji Yao about these questions."


    "But, Ancestor, these questions concern Deification and Soul Projection," Tang Jie replied. When did Yun Tian''s questions fall to this level?


    But the moment he said it, he knew that he was being foolish.


    Yun Tian was clearly asking these questions on his behalf.


    Yun Tian saw the struggle between a Deification expert and a Soul Projection expert from a higher perspective, so he naturally had a more profound perspective and was able to think of more possibilities.


    The ones he was thinking of might or might not happen in Tang Jie''s battle with Jewel.


    But he needed to prepare for them nevertheless.


    He had already taught Tang Jie the solutions that he could think of, but there were some problems that even he couldn''t resolve. After all, he wasn''t the one fighting. Tang Jie was, and for a Deification to defeat a Soul Projection was not easy at all.


    Thus, Yun Tian had extracted these questions and had Tang Jie go and see Immortal Ji Yao.


    For Tang Jie, the questions themselves were extremely valuable. Putting aside the answers, they told Tang Jie what potential dangers he could face.


    Holding the paper slip, Tang Jie deeply bowed. "My utmost gratitude, Ancestor!"


    Yun Tian didn''t even raise his eyes, saying, "No need to be polite. Go off and thene back as soon as you can. You don''t have much time left. This old man needed a lot of effort to calcte these questions, and I need to rest."


    He waved his hand, dismissing Tang JIe.


    Tang Jie could only withdraw, and with the paper in hand, he took the teleportation formation to the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The Verdant Cloud Domain.


    In that emptynd of pitch-ck soil was a giant valley thick with demonic energy, leading to a demon''s nest. The golden talisman still shone over this demon valley, but that Azure Dragon that should have been positioned on the mountain in the distance was no more. Once Lin Xin was able to control this body, she had begun to take frequent trips from this ce to wander the cosmos, and she was not very inclined to return.


    Several small buildings had been erected in front of the demon valley.


    These had been built for Shentu Yuan''s group. Tang Jie and Feng Wuxiang had requested them to protect this ce in case someone harboring ill intentions sought to tear off the talisman. After all, there were all sorts of people in the world.


    Of course, they also didn''t spend all their time here, going out when they had nothing else to do. Among them, Ice Phoenix spent the longest time here.


    As Immortal Ji Yao had taught her the Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra, she had begun to call Immortal Ji Yao "Master", and she always felt guilty over being unable to free Immortal Ji Yao. On the other hand, Immortal Ji Yao was unconcerned, advising Ice Phoenix to not be concerned about this and focusing on instructing Ice Phoenix.


    Today, Ice Phoenix was still in that clearing in front of her house, cultivating.


    Two hundred years had left no sign on her face. On the contrary, she seemed even more attractive.


    She had originally possessed a pure and aloof nature, exuding a chill that made her difficult to touch, but not so distant that interaction became impossible. After cultivating the Iceheart Mantra, her nature became even more aloof and unworldly, able to transfix any mortal that set eyes upon her.


    Even the likes of Shentu Yuan and Ye Xiao, old friends of hers, would often forget themselves around her. Ximen Changfeng had even confessed to her several times, though he had been rejected every time.


    Ice Phoenix was like an ascetic who only sought the Dao, living a pure and unsullied life in Verdant Cloud. Everyone thought that Ice Phoenix had offered up her life to the Immortal path, which wasn''t too umon for cultivators. But only Ice Phoenix herself knew that she wasn''t as pure as she seemed at all.


    She had her own erotic dreams, her own beautiful memories.


    But that person in her dreams had never been hers.


    Her heart ached whenever she thought about it.


    After circting the Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra once, Ice Phoenix stopped, and the frosty energy around her weakened. With a wave of her hand, Ice Phoenix dispelled the demonic energy encroaching on her, her face shing with annoyance. If Immortal Ji Yao didn''t insist on having her cultivate in the Primordial Fog''s demonic energy, saying that it could be used to temper her body and fortify her will, she would have never cultivated here.


    "Little Phoenix," Immortal Ji Yao''s voice drifted out.


    "Master." Ice Phoenix bowed to the demon valley.


    "You''re basically done cultivating the Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra. With this mantra and the Peaceful Divine Abode ssic, you have at least a 50% chance of sess in ascending to Violet Pce."


    "All of this is thanks to Master''s instruction." Delight appeared on Ice Phoenix''s face, and she thought to herself, <em>I''m finally not going to fall too far behind him.</em>


    "But fifty percent still isn''t enough. You need to think of ways to increase your chances."


    Ice Phoenix replied, "Master, there''s no need to worry. Shentu and the others are already assisting me with this. I''ve heard that they''ve gathered many valuable materials to be refined into a Triflora Pill."


    "Hmph," Immortal Ji Yao snorted in disdain. "The Triflora Pill only increases your chances by five percent, and you can''t use it with many other medicines. How useful can it really be? Think about all that Tang Jie did in his charge for Violet Pce. He prepared far more than this."


    The mention of Tang Jie had Ice Phoenix cracking a smile. "Yes, Big Brother Tang is both capable and possesses many treasures. When Big Brother Tang camest time, he said that he was studying a formation called the Divine Genesis Immortal Ascension Formation, able to increase the chances of reaching Violet Pce by ten percent, and he had installed it on his warship. He said that when I made my attempt, he could lend me the warship. This would mean that I have a 65% chance."


    Immortal Ji Yao still wasn''t satisfied. "It''s still not enough! There''s still a 35% chance that you die. How could I let my disciple take such a big risk?"


    Ice Phoenix helplessly replied, "But what else is there?"


    Immortal Ji Yao answered, "Actually, there is one other way."


    "Please enlighten me, Master."


    "Tang Jie has consumed the Nine Heavens Luan Grass. This natural treasure can strengthen the Divine Soul, permanently increasing one''s chances of ascension by 10%, and you cultivate the Peaceful Divine Abode ssic, which also strengthens the soul. So long as he is willing to lend you the power of his Divine Soul, you can increase your chances by another 10%."


    "How will he lend it?" Ice Phoenix asked.


    "It''s simple: the intermixing of bodily fluids."


    Ice Phoenix immediately reddened. "Master¡­"


    "Haha, what? Not willing?" Immortal Ji Yao chuckled.


    "You are my disciple, so how can I not tell what''s on your mind? You started liking Tang Jie long ago, no?"


    Ice Phoenix lowered her head and said nothing, but she began to shift about ufortably.


    Immortal Ji Yao continued, "Since you like him, then tell him. There''s no point in hiding it away."


    "But¡­ but he already has a wife," Ice Phoenix muttered.


    "What about it? Since you like him, tell him. What does any of that have to do with him having a wife?" Immortal Ji Yao heartilyughed.


    Ice Phoenix spat out her tongue, thinking to herself, <em>Master truly is a demon, harboring the most absurd of ideas.</em> But after thinking it over, she replied, "Forget it. This disciple is not willing to disrupt Big Brother Tang''s happiness. Your disciple chose to cultivate the Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra precisely because she sought to freeze her emotions. Moreover, if your disciple cultivated this sort of unfeeling mantra and then went to confess to Big Brother Tang, wouldn''t there be a bacsh?"


    Immortal Ji Yaoughed. "Silly child, how could I not be considering your safety in all this? The tiny bacsh of the Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra is nothing to be worried about. It will just deal some damage to your Divine Soul, which you can heal with the Peaceful Divine Abode ssic. In any case, the charge at Violet Pce is a major asion that cannot be taken lightly. Other people may use a hundred years to achieve this additional 10%. How could you let this opportunity go? Stop dying, my child. When Tang Jie nextes, you should bring up this matter with him."


    "Then¡­ will Big Brother Tang agree?"


    "So long as you treat him sincerely, I trust he won''t refuse."


    Ice Phoenix thought long and hard before ultimately agreeing.


    She had long ago harbored a crush for Tang Jie, but since Tang Jie already had a wife, she decided to give up on it. But Immortal Ji Yao''s advice and her uing charge at Violet Pce had finally broken through her inhibitions. In truth, the charge at Violet Pce was only an excuse Ice Phoenix used tofort herself. When she agreed with Immortal Ji Yao on this matter, the me of love in her heart began to burn without restraint.


    She had already made up her mind to confess her love to Tang Jie the next time he visited.


    She didn''t seek eternal union, only a single day of possession.


    No matter what the result was, she would ept it without resentment or regret.

 Chapter 809: Becoming a Demon

    Chapter 809: Bing a Demon


    Three dayster, Tang Jie arrived at the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    He once more came down to that vast subterranean world. When he saw that the mountain was still the same mountain and the demon valley was still the same demon valley, he sighed in relief.


    For some reason, Tang Jie could never rx when it came to Immortal Ji Yao. Every time he came, he felt like Immortal Ji Yao could have run away, even though that had never once happened.


    Upon arriving, Tang Jie whistled.


    The figure of Ice Phoenix emerged in the distance.


    Her beautiful eyes twinkling with an enchanting light, she said, "You''vee."


    "Yes," Tang Jie answered. "I have some more questions concerning cultivation that I must trouble Senior with."


    Ice Phoenix nodded. "Mm. But Master entered meditation a few days ago and might not wake up for a while. You may have to wait a few days."


    "It''s fine," Tang Jie replied.This sort of thing happened frequently. Whenever Tang Jie came to the Verdant Cloud Domain, he would linger for a few days, and Ice Phoenix would keep himpany.


    Those were the happiest periods for Ice Phoenix. Being together with Tang Jie, with no one else in their world, was exactly like they were a married couple.


    Of course, Tang Jie didn''t know what Ice Phoenix was thinking. He treated Ice Phoenix like a little sister, and he treated these days of waiting as an opportunity to exchange pointers regarding cultivation. Therge difference in cultivation meant that Tang Jie spent most of his time instructing Ice Phoenix.


    He didn''t know that this simple sibling rtionship had been magnified into a romantic rtionship between Immortals in Ice Phoenix''s mind, so he didn''t have his guard up.


    Thus, for the next few days, Tang Jie took up residence in one of the buildings here, spending his days meditating and cultivating.


    Ice Phoenix knew that he was preparing for his decisive battle with the Jewel Immortal Sovereign, so she didn''t casually disturb him. But whenever Tang Jie stopped meditating, she would promptly appear and deliver fruits and snacks. Among them were valuable natural treasures that Ice Phoenix had traveled far to gather, and some were even the resources that Shentu Yuan and the others had gathered to help Ice Phoenix in her charge at Violet Pce.


    While Tang Jie didn''t pay attention to these small tokens of affection at first, he gradually realized that there was a problem.


    Tang Jie concluded his day''s meditation.


    As he let out a turbid breath, the door creaked open.


    Ice Phoenix entered with a bowl of fruits. "Big Brother Tang, you''re awake? Your little sister just got these two Redtear Fruits a few days ago and hasn''t finished them yet, so I brought them with me so that Big Brother can taste them with me."


    Tang Jie saw the fiery-red fruits in the bowl and casually replied, "Redtear Fruits grow in the south, and they are said to have been created from some lovesick girl who was so heartbroken that she cried day and night, the tears congealing into the fruit. They are said to be so delicious that to eat them is to experience the most wondrous romance in the world, and they are a divine substance when ites to spurring affection. It requires an extremely lovesick girl to fail to achieve her love and to weep so much that she starts to cry tears of blood, weeping and weeping until she dies. Only then can the fruit mature, a Redtear for a life! Little Sister can get your hands on such a fruit so easily?"


    Ice Phoenix nodded. "Big Brother, you misunderstand. Your little sister didn''t force anyone to create these Redtear Fruits. It was Shentu and the others who bought them for me. Master says that since I cultivate the Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra, this item can serve to temper my will. Other people regard it as only a delicacy, but for me, it can assist in my cultivation. Shentu and the others learned of this and went to get it for me."


    "If that''s the case, then Little Sister can eat this affection-spurring fruit. There''s no need to give it to me."


    Ice Phoenix''s face fell. "While this fruit can spur affection, that''s only to mortals. Could it possibly work on a Deification cultivator like Big Brother? I''m giving it to you simply because if people of opposite sexes consume it together, the fire of passion will be even more intense, so it will be an even greater trial to me and allow me to make more progress. I didn''t think Big Brother would treat me like this¡­"


    Her voice faded and began to gain a sobbing tone.


    Tang Jie was rendered speechless.


    Ice Phoenix inwardly rejoiced when she saw this. She was using the Redtear Fruits precisely so that she had a better reason to draw in Tang Jie. In the end, she was rather shy and was unable to get herself to speak directly, so she hade up with this idea.


    Seeing that Tang Jie was saying nothing, Ice Phoenix went up and offered one of the Redtear Fruits. "Eat, Big Brother."


    Tang Jie abruptly sighed. "Senior, is this the reason you''re faking meditation?"


    Ice Phoenix trembled.


    A sigh traveled through the air. "In the end, you still managed to guess it, Tang Jie."


    It was Immortal Ji Yao.


    It turned out she hadn''t been meditating at all.


    "Tang Jie came here to seek instruction from Senior on his battle with Jewel. If Senior is not willing to offer your instruction, then Tang Jie will leave."


    "Ah, forget it. Ask your questions."


    Ignoring Ice Phoenix, Tang Jie began to ask his questions, and Immortal Ji Yao answered.


    The question-answer session went by very quickly.


    It wasn''t long before Tang Jie was done with all his questions.


    After digesting Immortal Ji Yao''s words, Tang Jie rose and said, "Senior, thank you for your instruction. Tang Jie''s confusions have been cleared away, so I must hurry back to prepare for my battle with Jewel and won''t intrude on you any longer."


    He walked around Ice Phoenix and moved toward the door.


    Ice Phoenix dumbly stared at Tang Jie, momentarily at a loss for what to do.


    Immortal Ji Yao''s solemn voice rang out in her ear: "Silly girl, are you still thinking to miss out on thisst chance? Muster up your courage!"


    "But, Master¡­" Ice Phoenix muttered.


    She could already feel a strong sense of estrangement from Tang Jie. Was there any point ining forward at this time, just to confirm her defeat?


    "There are no ''but''s! If there''s even the slightest sliver of hope, you can''t give up!" Immortal Ji Yao''s voice turned harsh. "Do what you want to do, and then even if you fail, you''ll feel no resentment or remorse!"


    These words, infused with a demonic tone, stabbed into Ice Phoenix''s mind, and her body trembled as her eyes gleamed.


    She muttered, "Yes, I can''t give up like this!"


    She turned around and shouted, "Tang Jie!"


    Tang Jie turned to face Ice Phoenix.


    His expression was grave.


    "Tang Jie, I have something to say to you," Ice Phoenix shouted, gathering up her courage.


    Tang Jie coldly looked at her. "You''re sure? I hope that you consider it carefully first. Some words can''t be taken back once said."


    Ice Phoenix shivered, but she had been taught by Immortal Ji Yao for hundreds of years, and at that moment, her master''s orders overcame all.


    She shouted, "Yes, I''ve thought it over carefully! Tang Jie, I want to tell you that I like you and want to be your woman!"


    She spoke loudly and with great energy.


    But her great volume was just a cover for her extremeck of confidence.


    Tang Jie did nothing.


    He calmly looked at Ice Phoenix. "Are you done?"


    Ice Phoenix was dumbstruck. "I¡­ I''m done."


    She had imagined the reaction to her confession in countless ways: gleeful eptance, tactful rejection, harsh rebuke. She had imagined so many possibilities, but not this one.


    Tang Jie just looked at her and said, "Since you''re done, I''m leaving."


    He turned around.


    "Tang Jie!" Ice Phoenix shouted, tears in her eyes.


    She asked in a trembling voice, "Tang Jie, is this your position?"


    Tang Jie looked back at her and shook his head. "In truth, you knew this was my position from the start. So why did you still have to do it?"


    Ice Phoenix staggered back as if she had been struck by lightning. "I¡­ I just didn''t¡­ want to give up."


    Tang Jie sighed. "If you know that you can''t get it, wouldn''t it be better to give up on it earlier? As cultivators, we have long lives, and our ambitions are set on the Immortal path. Why should we trouble ourselves with the rtionships between men and women? I will treat this matter as a joke, so let''s put it aside."


    <em>''Put it aside''?</em>


    These words resounded in Ice Phoenix''s mind.


    Although she knew that her failure was certain, Ice Phoenix still had an unspeakable bitterness in her heart.


    Tang Jie inwardly sighed. He also knew that he had hurt Ice Phoenix, but this was the best method he could think of that wouldn''t provoke Ice Phoenix. If he showed a little hesitation, Ice Phoenix would never let him be, and if he harshly refused, she would be hurt even more. In the end, Tang Jie could only choose this. Although some emotional damage was unavoidable, at least her dignity could remain intact.


    As her face darkened, Tang Jie slowly backed away.


    It was best to leave her alone right now.


    But what he didn''t know was that Immortal Ji Yao''s voice was once more ringing out in Ice Phoenix''s mind: "Don''t let him leave! You have to keep him here! Even if it''s by force!"


    "I can''t let him leave," Ice Phoenix woodenly repeated.


    These words served as a boost of energy, making up for the strength she had lost from Tang Jie''s refusal.


    Her eyes shining with a dazzling light, she muttered, "Right, I can''t let you leave! Tang Jie, you stay right there! No matter what, I can''t let you leave!"


    She lunged forward, countless threads shooting out from her raised hands.


    These were the Emotion Threads of her Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra.


    Ice Phoenix cultivated an emotion-severing art, but the threads of emotion that were severed were not thrown away. Instead, they were stored deep inside, and they were now all being unleashed at Tang Jie.


    Although Tang Jie didn''t know what they were, he felt like they were very dangerous.


    He didn''t know the nature of this danger, but he was still angered by its existence, grunting, "Ice Phoenix, you''re going too far!"


    <em>Boom!</em> A shockwave radiated out from Tang Jie.


    The Emotion Threads were pushed back before they could get close, sent back into Ice Phoenix''s body. With them was a powerful st of energy that sent Ice Phoenix flying.


    The small building crumbled, and Ice Phoenix screamed as she was sted away.


    Tang Jie realized that he had struck back out of instinct and might have used too much power.


    Although Ice Phoenix was at Soul Transformation, against this sort of attack from Tang Jie, a serious injury was unavoidable.


    He was going to go over and see if she was okay, but then he considered that if he came forward now, Ice Phoenix would once more be unable to let go.


    While she was heavily injured, she wasn''t dead, so she could heal through her own abilities.


    So he stopped and icily said, "I''m only permitting this once. If you try this again, I will sever our brother-sister rtionship."


    As Ice Phoenix had attacked him, Tang Jie spoke more harshly than ever before.


    He turned and left.


    Seeing Tang Jie show no consideration for her injuries shattered Ice Phoenix''s heart.


    "Tang Jie, you''re really something else!"


    She howled.


    At that moment, all of her humiliation, suffering, and heartache erupted. All of the time she had spent protecting this underground world for Tang Jie, all of her attempts to earn his favor, her bold confession that had taken all her courage¡ªwhat had she received in return for it? This brutal humiliation, being heavily injured and abandoned without another look.


    <em>Tang Jie, just what lets you treat me this way? What lets you disregard my affections? Why can Xu Miaoran have you? This world has been unjust to me!</em>


    All of these resentful thoughts gathered in her heart, and all the while, Immortal Ji Yao continued to whisper in her ear. Finally, Ice Phoenix''s heart was filled with negative emotions like anger, envy, hatred, and sorrow.


    <em>Crack!</em> Something deep down in her heart broke.


    A ck energy began to rapidly spread from her heart, quickly infecting her entire body, some of it even boiling out from her and coiling around her like ck wisps of smoke.


    Demonic energy rushed in from all sides, engulfing Ice Phoenix''s body.


    This time, she didn''t reject it, instead crazily absorbing this demonic energy.


    As this demonic energy surged in, her face began to change.


    Her skin became as white as snow, but her eyes turned crimson, and a pair of massive ck wings grew from her back.


    "Awoooo!!!" Ice Phoenix let out a howl of anger and pain. "The world of humans is heartless, so I will be a demon! Tang Jie, you forced me to do this! One day, I will make you pay for what you did today!"

 Chapter 810: Before the Battle

    Chapter 810: Before the Battle


    Upon returning to Rosecloud, Tang Jie inexplicably heaved a sigh of relief, as if he had cast off a heavy burden.


    He had actually known about Ice Phoenix''s feelings toward him for a long time, but he had always believed that she would restrain it. This was because he understood Ice Phoenix''s personality. This girl had a rather aloof and proud nature, so if Tang Jie didn''t say anything, she should have never brought up the matter herself.


    But for some reason, she acted strangely this time, with even greater intensity.


    Perhaps she had lost control of herself after suppressing her emotions for too long, or perhaps spending too long in this demon territory had influenced her. Tang Jie had thought about advising her to leave the underground world for a while and do some traveling, but her condition made it unwise to meet her, so he decided to wait until after his battle with Jewel.


    The pressure from his battle with Jewel had upied all his attention, and he had no energy to think about anything else.


    When he returned to Freedom Hall, Xu Miaoran was already waiting for him.


    She went up to wee him, asking, "Is everything settled?"


    Tang Jie nodded. "Yes, but I will have to enter seclusion for the next few days to digest what I have learned. I''m afraid I won''t be able to keep youpany."


    Xu Miaoran smiled. "It''s not like this is the first time that''s happened. I''m used to it."She leaned against Tang Jie''s chest.


    The two of them embraced.


    A few momentster, Xu Miaoran said, "After this battle, let''s have a child."


    "Since you want it, why wait until after the battle? We can try for one right now." Tang Jie smiled and lifted Xu Miaoran up, carrying her into the hall. Behind them, a gust of air closed the doors, and the hall was filled with the air of spring¡­


    Time went by very quickly.


    The day of the duel arrived.


    Heavenly Bnce Mountain!


    The mountain was particrly lively today, with cultivators from all around gathering in this ce.


    One hundred and fifty years ago, Tang Jie had shaken all of the Rosecloud Domain by ascending to Violet Pce. Five years ago, he had shaken the world again by ascending to Deification. Now, for the third time, Tang Jie had be the center of attention, but this time, he was fighting not against the heavens, but against a human.


    Against the number one expert beneath Earth Immortal, the one known as the strongest Violet Pce expert, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign!


    This was an extremely important battle!


    If the Jewel Immortal Sovereign won, then the two-hundred-year rising momentum of the Basking Moon Sect would be put to a halt, and all would be naught but floating clouds.


    If the Freedom Celestial Sovereign won, then nobody would be able to stop Basking Moon''s ascendance.


    A great crowd of cultivators had gathered above Heavenly Bnce Mountain.


    Countless people were spectating, waiting for this earth-shaking battle.


    Someone impatiently said, "Why aren''t they here yet?"


    Another person replied, "Don''t rush, don''t rush. What wille wille."


    At this moment, an auspicious cloud appeared on the horizon, casting out a brilliant glow like a rising sun illuminating the world.


    From this splendid radiance, a luxurious wagon emerged.


    This wagon was made entirely from Ink Jade, its canopy was a rainbow cloud, and it was pulled along by nine Firess Snakes.


    The Firess Snake was a fiend snake with a translucent body that liked to eat fire. Its bones and blood were considered rare materials, and these fiends had long ago been rendered extinct in the Rosecloud Domain. Using nine of them to pull a carriage was a sign of immense wealth.


    On the Ink Jade wagon was a lotus tform, which was made from white jade, thus contrasting with the ck wagon. Each leaf of the lotus had a golden twinkle which enchanted the eyes.


    A person sat upon the lotus tform, holding a vase of pure water and bearing a solemn and majestic expression that made one want to worship her. This was the Jewel Immortal Sovereign. Behind her sat a little girl. She didn''t look old, but her face exuded an aura of elderliness and pride.


    The wagon stopped at Heavenly Bnce Mountain, upon which the girl shouted, "All people beneath Violet Pce must leave this ce and are not permitted to observe this battle!"


    <em>What?</em>


    These people hade from afar just to see this battle, but they weren''t allowed? This was going too far! All the cultivators immediately began to mor.


    But even if this was going too far, what could they do?


    No matter how they protested orined, they had to leave. The will of a Soul Projection Celestial Sovereign wasn''t something they could defy. Countless Horizon Ocean Pavilion disciples rushed to drive the cultivators away from Heavenly Bnce Mountain.


    Those with brighter minds guessed that this was a sign of how seriously the Jewel Immortal Sovereign was regarding this battle. If Tang Jie was an ordinary opponent, she could just end him with a p, and there would be no need for all this. But if Tang Jie was hard to deal with and the battle dragged on, then no matter whether she won or lost, her reputation would suffer.


    If there were spectators, then even if she won, people would start to say, "The Jewel Immortal Sovereign used all her strength, risking heavy injury and throwing up blood, turning into a crazed old granny, and only then did she manage to barely defeat Tang Jie, and there were also many othercking areas¡­"


    Jewel had no doubt that she would win this battle. That she was worried about her image after the battle was the greatest show of respect she could give Tang Jie.


    As for why she didn''t drive away the Violet Pce experts, that was because she had no means of driving them away. Moreover, those at Violet Pce had their own dignity to consider, and they normally didn''t lower themselves to spreading such gossip.


    But there were some people who weren''t at Violet Pce who she also couldn''t drive away.


    "Tang Jie is my husband. Why can''t I observe a battle where my husband is fighting?" Xu Miaoran raised an eyebrow, and the Horizon Ocean Pavilion disciples helplessly turned to Jewel, who nodded in assent to her request to stay.


    "I''m Tang Jie''s brother. Why can''t I watch when my brother is doing battle?" This time, the one speaking was Cai Junyang.


    This guy was truly audacious, directly speaking to Jewel.


    "Mm?" The Jewel Immortal Sovereign cracked open her eyes and looked at Cai Junyang.


    This nce made Cai Junyang feel like he was being drawn into a ck vortex from which he would never be able to emerge again. He was stunned and tried to fight back, but he was powerless to do so.


    He was a tenacious person, and the more dangerous and difficult the moment was, the less inclined he was to give up. Just when the vortex was about topletely consume him, he let out a roar and struck his own soul.


    There was a buzz, and then his soul erupted in light, and his jolted mind managed to break free of the ck vortex, upon which he found that he was still standing where he was, though he was now entirely drenched in sweat.


    "Eh?" The Jewel Immortal Sovereign was surprised to see that Cai Junyang was able to break out on his own. "The Basking Moon Sect really has been producing many talents in thesest few years."


    This casualment carried with it a thunderp that shook Cai Junyang''s soul once more, and he knew that Jewel was about to try again. But that nce just now had taken all his strength to break free from, so breaking out again was impossible.


    At this moment, there was a clear and brightugh. "Immortal Sovereign, why go to such lengths over a mere junior? Are you not afraid of lowering your status?"


    It was Tang Jie.


    As Tang Jie spoke, the thunderp in Cai Junyang''s ears subsided, as did that soul-shaking voice. Not only that, a power flowed into his body, soothing his spirit.


    After a moment of surprise, Cai Junyang realized andughed. "Many thanks, my good brother."


    Following hisugh was the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s furious roar of, "Tang Jie, you dare!"


    It turned out that Tang Jie''s interference had not only stopped her attack on Cai Junyang. It had also silently severed her sliver of Divine Will, leaving it in Cai Junyang''s body. Thus, rather than hurting him, it had enriched him. How could this not shock and enrage her?


    It wasn''t like this was some great loss. This bit of Divine Will was only a tiny fraction of the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s power. But that Tang Jie was able to silently sever it indicated that he possessed some extraordinary method of doing so. It had to be understood that he was weaker than her, yet he had severed the Divine Will of a Soul Projection Celestial Sovereign. This meant that his method was on apletely different level.


    Tang Jie had always used excess strength to make up for his shoring in spell arts, relying on his dual bodyw cultivation to challenge those above him.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign couldn''t help but be surprised at such an exquisite method.


    She didn''t know that this was one of the tricks Tang Jie had learned from Immortal Ji Yao. While Immortal Ji Yao harbored ulterior motives, she hadn''t held back in her instructions. For her, there was no need to ruin her n over this aspect. For this reason, when it came to technique, the methods Tang Jie had learned were on par with Jewel''s, and in profundity, they even surpassed hers.


    While that sliver of Divine Will was nothing to Jewel, it was a major boost to Cai Junyang, and as he quickly digested it, heughed and said, "Immortal Sovereign, my gratitude for the generous gift."


    This guy was really bold, daring to provoke Jewel in these circumstances.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign scowled and was about to strike again, but Tang Jie interrupted, "Jewel Immortal Sovereign, today is your battle with me, or did you forget? If you want to fight with Junyang, you can make an appointment for another day. But before that, we have to fulfill our own deal."


    "Tang Jie, no matter who wins this battle of ours, I''ll be seen as bullying you. You were clearly the one who incited this battle, but my reputation will be the one that suffers, so I have no desire to have spectators for this battle."


    Tang Jie replied, "If that''s the case, we can have most of the people withdraw, but do you need to be so strict when ites to my close friends?"


    "Indeed, indeed. There is no need for the Jewel Immortal Sovereign to be so inhospitable," voices sounded out in agreement as Ji Qingfeng''s group arrived.


    It wasn''t just wandering cultivators spectating this battle. Of the six major sects, all except Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate had sent spectators.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect and Thousand Passions Sect both had outstanding disciples that they wanted to nurture using this opportunity. After all, this was a battle between Titans, and even if theyprehended only the smallest iota from this battle, it would have boundless benefits.


    This was why everyone agreed with Tang Jie.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign saw that she had inadvertently ended up on the opposite side of everyone else. While she wasn''t afraid of them, when the fight actually began, to have everyone cheering for Tang Jie was not a pleasant feeling.


    While she was angry, in the end, she said, "If that''s the case, then every sect can have twenty people."


    "I think thirty," Tang Jie replied.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign was furious and wanted to object, but Tang Jie''s suggestion had the people''s approval, so she could only ept.


    But this wasn''t the end of it, as another voice rang out: "Each of the major sects have thirty spots, and we unaffiliated cultivators do not dare to ce ourselves together with the six major sects. But perhaps we can ask for three?"


    A figure appeared in the distance: a man with a three-pointed beard, followed by three youths.


    Ling Xiao called out, "So it is Reverend Wuwang? Wee, wee."


    This man was none other than the master of Apricot Pavilion, the Wuwang True Lord.


    It was from him that Tang Jie had once stolen a Wuwang Character, thusprehending the Dao of Insight.


    Tang Jieughed. "There is no greater honor than to be graced by the reverend''s presence! Three spots is nothing at all, and we could give you even more."


    "It''s enough, enough," Reverend Wuwangughed and stroked his beard, leading his disciples over to the Basking Moon Sect''s side and paying respects to Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan.


    Reverend Wuwang''s party had just settled down when another voice called out. "If that''s the case, then this lord will also participate. Might I ask for six spots?"


    A tall and thin man appeared, wearing a crown of white bone. This was the White Bone Divine Lord, a Violet Pce expert of Endsea. A while ago, one of Wang Juemie''s juniors had pretended to be a disciple of his but had ended up dying thanks to Tang Jie. This man was at Deification, a tier higher than Reverend Wuwang, and as he asked for double the spots, six ck-robed disciples appeared behind him.


    This person was on good terms with the Jewel Immortal Sovereign, who smiled and said, "Of course."


    The White Bone Divine Lord sat down on Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s side.


    Just when everyone thought that they could begin, an old man emerged in the distance, riding on a yellow bull. Though this bull seemed to amble through the sky, it moved with deceptive speed, reaching the mountain in the blink of an eye. Stroking his white beard, the old man said, "Good, good, I managed to make it in time."


    Ling Xiao, Ji Qingfeng, and the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign all bowed to this man. "We pay respects to the Immortal Elder of the Eastern Pole."


    The Immortal Elder of the Eastern Pole was an extremely old Violet Pce expert, said to be from before the previous Primordial Fog Cmity. In thest two thousand years, his cultivation had not advanced, but his seniority was on par with the six Immortals, so even the likes of Ling Xiao and Jade Emptiness showed respect to him.


    This elder had been in seclusion for thest one thousand years, and many people thought that he had already be Returned Remnants. The Immortal Elder nodded, epting everyone''s bows, and then he found a spot to sit down. With a wave of his sleeve, a group of youths appeared, chatting andughing amongst themselves. The old man didn''t bring up anything about asking for spots, and everyone else could only y dumb.


    Several more True Lords and Celestial Sovereigns arrived in quick session.


    Thanks to Tang Jie, this battle had drawn almost every great power of the Rosecloud Domain. Cai Junyang and Wei Tianchong had never imagined that there were so many powerful people outside the sect system, and even Tang Jie was meeting many of them for the first time, so busy bowing and greeting guests that the fight was continuously dyed.


    Meanwhile, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign could only watch as all these Violet Pce experts arrived, each one bringing with them their own people, and the small audience she had hoped for quickly ballooned into sixty to seventy Violet Pce experts and five hundred other spectators.


    She knew that it was impossible for her to keep this battle a private affair.

 Chapter 811: Wager

    Chapter 811: Wager


    Once it seemed like just about everyone had arrived, Tang Jie bowed to the Jewel Immortal Sovereign. "Immortal Sovereign, I havee to fulfill the agreement from two hundred years ago. Please instruct me."


    He thrust his hands down, and Heavenly Bnce Mountain erupted in light.


    This light was so brilliant that it was hard to look at directly.


    Heavenly Bnce Mountain shuddered and rumbled, and then it began to rise from the ground. As the entire mountain rose upward, it left an enormous crater in the ground.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s eyes narrowed upon seeing this magnificent disy. "Quite the excellent move. As expected, you prepared the ground beforehand?"


    Tang Jieughed. "Immortal Sovereign, don''t misunderstand. Tang Jie only made some arrangements so that our conflict wouldn''t affect anyone else. I have already refined this mountain using a formation, converting it into a battlefield. When we fight here, our power will be restrained within it."


    "Oh?" The Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s eyes sharply gleamed.


    Wasn''t this saying that his formation could hold a Soul Projection Celestial Sovereign?


    In other words, even if Tang Jie was no match for Jewel, he could use this formation to imprison and kill her.The Jewel Immortal Sovereign inwardly fumed, and she snorted and said, "If that''s the case, we have to test it out."


    She was rather happy that there were spectators now. If Tang Jie had some sort of trap or had messed with the formation somehow, everyone would be able to see it clearly. If Tang Jie was truly up to something, the cultivators gathered here wouldn''t permit it, and the Basking Moon Sect would suffer a drastic drop in reputation. She trusted that Tang Jie wasn''t dumb enough to do something like that.


    Tang Jie flipped his hand over, and the light from Heavenly Bnce Mountain subsided, and with a rumble, the mountain began to shrink. In the shrinking process, the mountain shed its trees and soil, revealing the violet gold interior, sparkling under the sunlight. This enormous mountain range that had extended fifty kilometers had turned into a much smaller violet gold mountain. In the middle of it was a giant circr valley, the Valley of the Eight Wilds. This was where Tang Jie and Jewel would fight.


    The violet gold encircled the valleypletely, ensuring that nothing could escape.


    After condensing, the tough violet gold had be even more solid, and it was further reinforced by the formation into an unbreakable barrier. Only the sky was left open, so that the spectators around the mountain could watch.


    "Immortal Sovereign, before we fight, why don''t we set down a rule?" Tang Jie said. He pointed at the valley below. "Let''s treat the Valley of the Eight Wilds as the stage. Whichever one of us leaves the valley is the loser."


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign chuckled. "Interesting. Is this to restrain my Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s Oceancrosser Step?"


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s Oceancrosser Step was regarded as the fastest movement technique in the Rosecloud Domain, so when Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s cultivators fought, they had always rapidly moved around arge area. They lived on the ocean, and the open seas and skies were perfect for them to use the Oceancrosser Step. But Tang Jie''s conditions happened to ce a huge limitation on the movement technique Horizon Ocean Pavilion was so proud of.


    Tang Jie smiled. "This is unavoidable. There are many spectators here, and if we didn''t ce any limitations and fought around here and there, taking our battle across the world, our spectating friends wouldn''t be able to keep up. In the end, with no referee, it will be hard to say who won or if our methods were appropriate."


    His argument made sense. If someone from Horizon Ocean Pavilion really started running, no one would be able to catch them, not even considering that this was a Soul Projection Celestial Sovereign. But did Tang Jie have the ability to have this Immortal Sovereign running for the hills? But it was true that if there were no limits ced, a battle between Violet Pce experts could throw a good part of the Rosecloud Domain into disarray.


    While the Jewel Immortal Sovereign was angry, in the end, she simply gave a cold smile.


    She was originally worried that Tang Jie had some sort of scheme, but now, it appeared that while there really was a scheme on this Heavenly Bnce Mountain, it was an open scheme, not a hidden one. This was good. After all, she had not intended to use such methods to deal with Tang Jie, for if she did, even if she won, she would lose all her reputation.


    She would go down into the Valley of the Eight Wilds and openly crush Tang Jie with her strength!


    But before that, there was one thing they had to discuss.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign said, "Tang Jie, this venerable one didn''t wait for you for two hundred years simply to have a match with you. If you lose this battle, I won''t kill you so long as you agree to a condition of mine."


    Tang Jie asked, "Is it handing over the inter-domain trade?"


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign snorted. "In the past, this condition would be enough. But you made this venerable one wait two hundred years to have a fight with you, so it no longer suffices."


    "Then what else do you want?"


    "It''s simple. The Martial Lord''s hidden realm!"


    Tang Jieughed. "The Immortal Sovereign has an excellent appetite. But what will you give me if you lose?"


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign took out a thin needle. "This Primal Yang Needle has been with me all over the world. It is a divine item made from 39 kinds of rare metal and is extremely sharp, able to pierce through all energy barriers. What do you think of this as a wager?"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "Immortal Sovereign, you want both the inter-domain trade and the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, but you only offer a single divine treasure in return? This is a little too petty. This is at least worth putting up a Dao armament as a wager, no?"


    Jewel furiously retorted, "What do you think Dao armaments are, that you think they can be so easily wagered? Is that inter-domain trade and the Martial Lord''s hidden realm worth so much?"


    This time, Jewel actually wasn''t being petty.


    The Primal Yang Needle she was offering was an upper-grade divine treasure, something that spirit coins could no longer buy. While the inter-domain trade made a lot of money, all of its money could never buy a treasure like this. As for the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign had not seen what it was like inside, so she had no way to appraise its value. But considering that Tang Jie had owned that hidden realm for a long time, it couldn''t have much value remaining.


    And this was true. As Tang Jie grew stronger, he had picked most of its Immortal nts, and it wasn''t like he could give her the arts and techniques. Thus, other than the unknown rewards in the ninthyer, there wasn''t much to offer to her.


    Thus, a single Primal Yang Needle for these two was not unreasonable.


    But Tang Jie had seen so many Dao armaments that he had started to discount divine treasures. In truth, he had been able to see so many Dao armaments primarily because of that battle involving four sects, where everyone had taken out their ultimate weapons. In normal circumstances, it was impossible to see that many Dao armaments. Moreover, true top-ss divine treasures were still extraordinarily valuable and were the main weapons of Violet Pce experts. Finally, at Violet Pce, a good divine treasure was sometimes easier to use than a Dao armament. After all, thetter had a cultivation restriction which made them hard to use.


    But Tang Jie didn''t care, simply saying, "The Martial Lord''s hidden realm is more valuable than this. You don''t know this, but I do. Only I know that the wager offered by the Immortal Sovereign isn''t enough, so I have the right to refuse. If Immortal Sovereign is not willing to add to this wager, then we can wager nothing and just fight purely for the oue."


    How could that be eptable?


    If that was really the case, then Tang Jie could just go through the motions with Jewel and then concede. What could Jewel do to him then?


    Had she waited two hundred years just to hear him say, "I concede"?


    Or perhaps she would ignore the consequences of enraging the Basking Moon Sect and Xu Guanghua and kill him?


    This clearly wasn''t possible.


    And there was no hope of Tang Jie caring about his pride and refusing to concede. Given Tang Jie''s previous behavior, he would never do this. Most importantly, given his age and cultivation level, it was no shame for him to concede.


    Thus, on this matter, Tang Jie had her dead to rights and could demand a high price.


    He casually said, "Even if the Martial Lord''s hidden realm is no longer valuable, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign is still a Soul Projection senior. In fighting me, Soul Projection versus Deification, Immortal Sovereign has an extremely high chance of winning. In these circumstances, isn''t adding to your wager only appropriate?"


    Now that he had brought up the betting odds, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign had even less reason to refuse. She could only ask, "What do you want?"


    Tang Jie replied, "Immortal Sovereign, as the Helmsman of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, do you not know what is the most valuable?"


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign scowled. "Do you want Horizon Ocean Pavilion itself?"


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s number one Dao armament was Horizon Ocean Pavilion itself. It was precisely because the Jewel Immortal Sovereign captained it that she was called the Helmsman.


    For Tang Jie to bring this up, did he want Horizon Ocean Pavilion to be wagered? If that was the case, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign would never agree. This had nothing to do with her dignity, but rather that Horizon Ocean Pavilion was simply not something she could wager.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie said, "What would I want Horizon Ocean Pavilion for? But if I win, I would like Immortal Sovereign to step down from the position of Helmsman."


    "You want me to step down? For who?" The Jewel Immortal Sovereign was taken aback.


    Tang Jie said nothing, merely looking at Xu Guanghua.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign understood what he wanted and threw her head back andughed. "Good, good! Tang Jie, you truly are a sly one. Fine, I agree. If l lose, I will cede the Helmsman position to Guanghua and lock myself up in seclusion at the Mountain of Blossoms, only emerging if the sect is in grave danger. Are you satisfied!?"


    Tang Jie nodded.


    To force the Immortal Sovereign this far over a wager had already been an extremely profitable transaction.


    "So then, what are we waiting for? Tang Jie,e and fight me!" The Jewel Immortal Sovereign pped her Ink Jade wagon, and the wagon flew toward the valley.


    Tang Jieughed. "Happy to!"


    In a sh, he also charged into the valley.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s eyes seethed with murderous intent. "Tang Jie, I admit that you''ve made incredibly fast progress. To reach Deification in four hundred years is unprecedented, and there probably won''t be anyone who does the same in the future. But you''ve progressed too quickly, and your foundations are shaky. You might be fine fighting someone of the same tier, but trying to challenge me will be much more difficult than you think. Today, I will have you understand how vast the gap between us is!"


    She raised her head and whistled.


    In response, the winds began to stir.


    This was not an attack. She was simply building presence.


    An infinitely vast and powerful presence.


    At the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s level, a battle was no longer about advantages in spell arts. Just like how a strategist didn''t concern themselves with the loss or gain of a single city, they focused on first establishing their presence.


    They wanted to make themselves as big as the world, crushing their opponent with sheer dominance.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s aura grewrger andrger, her supreme majesty sweeping over the world.

 Chapter 812: Battle Against Soul Projection (1)

    Chapter 812: Battle Against Soul Projection (1)


    Standing on the Ink Jade wagon, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign exuded a peerless aura.


    Although she couldn''t turn into a thousand-foot-tall giant like Tang Jie, when her mind became one with the world, her supreme will dominated all, pressing down on Heavenly Bnce Mountain such that even the air began to condense.


    The spectating cultivators nodded upon seeing this immense presence.


    An unaffiliated Violet Pce expertmented, "As expected of the Jewel Immortal Sovereign. With just her aura alone, she is extraordinary. In my view, while that Freedom Celestial Sovereign has progressed very quickly, it''s precisely the reason his foundations are unstable and that hecks experience."


    He resided in Endsea, so he spoke out in favor of Jewel.


    Another person sneered, "You haven''t even seen the Freedom Celestial Sovereign do anything, so isn''t this a little inappropriate? Moreover, for the Freedom Celestial Sovereign to dare challenge a Soul Projection expert while being at Deification means that he possesses extraordinary daring."


    As if responding to this conversation, in the face of Jewel''s grandiose presence, Tang Jieughed and said, "This doesn''t seem all that mighty to me at all!"


    With a shake of his arms, he took on his actual giant form.


    As that thousand-foot-tall giant rose into the air, it erupted with a majestic presence that was not at all inferior to the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s, leaving the cultivators speechless.As expected, Tang Jie had dared to fight Jewel because he had his own domineering abilities.


    As he revealed his true form and their auras shed, the valley was swept up in a furious storm, but when the winds reached its walls, formation lines shed, sucking up this energy. If one looked carefully, one would discover that Heavenly Bnce Mountain had seemingly be a little sturdier. It seemed that Tang Jie''s formation could use the energy absorbed to strengthen itself.


    In normal circumstances, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign wouldn''t have permitted him to benefit in this way, but as they were in a duel, she could only let it pass, snorting, "You have quite a few little tricks."


    Her eyes shed with a divine light.


    A momentter, a yellow beam shot toward Tang Jie, packed to the brim with lethal energy.


    Tang Jie didn''t dare to be careless, and with a light grunt, he summoned an azure wave of energy.


    Azure and yellow shed in a multicolored explosion, and the outpouring of lethal energy alone was enough to turn the world bleak and somber.


    But for Tang Jie and Jewel, this was only the pre-battle appetizer.


    These two were both experienced veterans, and they both intended to cautiously probe their opponent first rather than unleashing their strongest moves immediately.


    Jewel wasn''t surprised to see Tang Jie easily deal with her attack, and with a wave of a delicate hand, she threw out a banner.


    This banner was apricot yellow, and as it appeared, it stirred up a storm of dust.


    In the dust, one could vaguely make out a vast army charging at Tang Jie.


    Just like how Tang Jie had studied Jewel, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign had also studied Tang Jie.


    She was well aware that his strongest aspect was the powerful constitution granted to him by the Martial Lord''s secret arts, a fleshly body as tough as the strongest divine weapon.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign naturally had prepared a counter.


    This Five Armies Apricot Banner was a divine item intended to counter Tang Jie''s physical body. The banner created an endless army to attack the opponent. Each soldier wasn''t very strong, but they were like ants, and their constant gnawing could amount to a huge problem.


    Tang Jie had always dominated through his incredible toughness and recovery abilities, and this endless army was meant to counter his recovery. If he dared to let the army attack him, the Five Armies Apricot Banner would let him understand how horrifying it was to be devoured by ants. And if he didn''t, he would have to use some of his energy to deal with them, and while his physical body was strong, it dealt poorly withrge groups.


    Sure enough, Tang Jie frowned upon seeing the banner. Unwilling to waste energy on this army, in a sh of red light, he used the Flesh Millstone Divine Connection.


    The Flesh Millstone was the bane of an endless army, the seething crimson smoke able to devour an army of any size and use it to make itself stronger.


    But the Jewel Immortal Sovereign was unconcerned.


    Her eyes shed again, and the sky was suddenly full of lightning.


    The lightning condensed into thunderbolts, and without the slightest pause, they barraged Tang Jie.


    With his powerful body, Tang Jie naturally didn''t fear these lightning bolts, but they weren''t meant for him. They were for his Flesh Millstone.


    As the thunderbolts sted the Flesh Millstone, blood sshed out from the crimson flood.


    Lightning was brimming with Yang energy and was the perfect counter for all that was filthy and impure.


    The Flesh Millstone wasn''t exactly a filthy substance, but it wasn''t as fierce or domineering as the lightning. The deluge of lightning bolts soon sted the Flesh Millstone into bits.


    Tang Jie didn''t panic, merelyughing. As heughed, countless des erupted from the clouds, howling the dirge of death: the Nine Heavens Cmity des.


    The Heavenly des swiftly intercepted the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s lightning, their intersection producing a gorgeous light show.


    As Heavenly Bnce Mountain''s formation stopped the energy from their sh from flowing outward, focusing it only in the mountain, the resulting surge of energy was particrly fierce and focused on that sole opening in the sky. This vast flood of energy became a thick pir of light that pierced the heavens, leaving everyone dazzled and awed.


    Was this really a pre-battle appetizer?


    With the lightning impeded, the Flesh Millstone began to turn once more, and in the meantime, spiritual energy gathered around Tang Jie and formed into various spell arts that attacked the Jewel Immortal Sovereign. He mindlessly threw spell arts like Star Finger and Dragonlike Hand at the Jewel Immortal Sovereign, while at the same time activating his protective spell arts to defend himself.


    A battle at Violet Pce could involve several dozen exchanges in a single second. While Tang Jie could thoughtcast, Jewel could think even faster. The spell arts he created were sted apart by torrents of energy before they could even get close, and even more vicious attacks flooded toward Tang Jie.


    The two of them engaged in a frenzied spell art duel in the Valley of the Eight Wilds.


    It was frenzied only in that the two of them were creating spell arts far too quickly, manifesting new ones before the old ones had time to dissipate. Yet both of them were cool andposed, not even moving their hands. It was clear that they were still probing each other, their emotions unruffled, so it was far from appropriate to call this frenzied.


    Two tides of energy formed in the Valley of the Eight Wilds, oneing from Tang Jie to Jewel and the other in the exact opposite direction. At times, Tang Jie would have the upper hand, and at others, Jewel would hold an edge, like they were in a tug-of-war contest.


    But in this contest of basic arts, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign undoubtedly had the advantage.


    She sat calmly on her wagon, easily undoing Tang Jie''s attacks before they could even reach her. Meanwhile, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s attacks had Tang Jie barely fending them off, sometimes even failing and being struck. Although his body was tough and these attacks barely itched, he inevitably fell behind.


    If this continued, Jewel could simply strengthen her attacks, upon which Tang Jie would no longer be able to easily block them.


    Change always came from the weaker side.


    Seeing that he couldn''t beat Jewel when it came to ordinary attacks, Tang Jie wasn''t discouraged, saying with augh, "The Immortal Sovereign''s methods are profound and performed with ease. Tang Jie admits that he is no match when ites to thoughtcasting. In the end, I must rely on cruder methods to respond."


    A weapon appeared in his hand.


    Gazing at that golden sword, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign showed a little reaction. "The Sovereign de?"


    Just like the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, the Sovereign de had also gradually be more known.


    But while the Martial Lord''s hidden realm had already been confirmed as a fact, the Sovereign de had remained simply a rumor. Even Tang Jie wouldn''t dare to say that this weapon created from shattering thousands of weapons through the Weapon Mantra was actually the Sovereign de.


    But its authenticity and name did not matter. What mattered was its power.


    Grasping the Sovereign de, Tang Jie smiled and said, "Immortal Sovereign, please instruct me!"


    With a swing of the Sovereign de, a wave of sword light shot toward the Jewel Immortal Sovereign.


    The Longevity Sword!


    The long band of sword energy gleamed with a sacred aura.


    An invisible energy surged forth, and the Jewel Immortal Sovereign instinctively felt a hint of pressure. She knew that this was no ordinary move, and immediately applied numerous barriers around herself.


    At her level, one had long ago broken the limitations on the number of defenses that lower-level cultivators suffered from, and in a sh, she had created several dozenyers of defenses, at which point the wave of sword light arrived. The sword was clearly still in Tang Jie''s hand, and Tang Jie was still around a thousand steps away from Jewel, but this attack had ignored distance and almost instantly appeared in front of Jewel. All of Jewel''s defenses were like paper in front of this attack. At this moment, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s eyes shed with a divine light, and she spat out a cloud of breath.


    This ball of air wafted up like a cloud, covering Jewel''s face and blocking Tang Jie''s attack.


    As Tang Jie found that his attack had been stopped, Jewel''s eyes began to shine.


    She shouted, "Audacious!"


    With this cry, that ball of air twisted, and Tang Jie felt the Sovereign de trying to break free of his grasp. He hastily put away the sword, and the Longevity Sword was ended.


    Jewel swallowed back the ball of air and then pointed a finger at Tang Jie. "Die!"


    A st of finger energy shot out.


    Karmic Cycle Finger!


    It was the same Karmic Cycle Finger that Lan Yu had used, but it was on apletely different level.


    As this finger thrust out, the spectating cultivators felt like the only left in the world was this finger thrusting at Tang Jie.


    Upon seeing this, everyone understood one thing:


    The battle had risen to another level.

 Chapter 813: Battle Against Soul Projection (2)

    Chapter 813: Battle Against Soul Projection (2)


    Tang Jie knew that Jewel''s finger strike was trouble.


    He let out a howl and began to retreat, the Sovereign de in his hand transforming into a metal staff.


    He swung the metal staff over and over, creating numerous energy barriers in front of him.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s finger gave chase, punching through each barrier.


    Just like Tang Jie''s earlier attack, even though the Jewel Immortal Sovereign wasn''t moving, her finger seemed to ignore space and keep up with Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie swung the staff faster and faster, releasing circr energy barriers that were swiftly shattered, unable to stop Jewel''s finger as it drew closer and closer. Seeing that he couldn''t stop it, Tang Jie suddenly put away the staff and threw out a furious punch.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    Wreathed in immense power, his punch collided with the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s finger.


    Jewel''s finger froze, and then that jade-white finger trembled several times before finally dissolving into dust.The Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s finger had been sted apart.


    But Jewel didn''t seem to feel it, lightly drawing her hand back.


    She looked at her finger and softly said, "Excellent! An excellent body, and excellent strength!"


    While she was saying these words, her lost finger had already regrown. In terms of recovery speed, she was on par with Tang Jie.


    She raised her head and looked at Tang Jie. "No matter what happens after this, Tang Jie, you can be proud to have reached this level. You are the undisputed number one genius in the history of the Rosecloud Domain!"


    To earn such praise from Jewel was a sign that she had confirmed that Tang Jie had the right to fight with her.


    In terms of speed, Jewel had the advantage, and in terms of strength, Tang Jie was stronger.


    But while each had their advantage in basic attributes, there were even higher levels that they needed to stillpete over.


    As the Jewel Immortal Sovereign finished, she turned a hand toward the air and thrust her palm upward.


    Her attack was not aimed at Tang Jie, but at the fabric of space.


    Her palm acted as if it was pressing into mud, leaving a clear impression on the sky.


    As the spectators saw this, they murmured, "It''s here¡ªthe Hand of Myriad Wonders."


    The Hand of Myriad Wonders was one of the arts with which the Jewel Immortal Sovereign had achieved her fame.


    That handprint in the sky began to move as if it was being controlled, and it started to form hand signs on its own.


    All of the people from Horizon Ocean Pavilion were familiar with these movements, for they were the necessary steps to use the Blue Ocean Azure Sky Stamp.


    The Hand of Myriad Wonders condensed a finger that thrust down at Tang Jie: the Karmic Cycle Finger.


    This time, however, the Hand of Myriad Wonders didn''t unleash one finger, but eighty-one!


    Eighty-one illusory fingers appeared in the air, preparing to thrust at Tang Jie.


    Jewel''s fingers suddenly filled the sky.


    Even Tang Jie couldn''t help but be rmed by so many Karmic Cycle Fingers.


    He had heard that the greatest attribute of the Hand of Myriad Wonders was the ability to multiply all arts, which was useful in all sorts of ways. And now, he understood exactly what "multiply" meant.


    In the face of all these Karmic Cycle Fingers, Tang Jie could only toughen up and deal with them.


    Putting away his sword, he began to unleash punch after punch, more than a hundred of them.


    Each punch had the power to shatter mountains, and those illusory fingers were sted to pieces, the booms from the explosions deafening everyone''s ears and making Heavenly Bnce Mountain''s formation sh repeatedly.


    When the barrage of punches had ceased, Tang Jie was still standing, but there were three finger-sized holes in his chest.


    It seemed that three fingers had gotten through his punches and pierced him.


    Immense energy gathered at the wounds, but the Jewel Immortal Sovereign didn''t give him the chance to heal,ughing, "This is only the beginning!"


    The Hand of Myriad Wonders moved again.


    Eighty-one Karmic Cycle Fingers appeared once more, but as Tang Jie prepared to fend them off once more, they changed.


    The eighty-one fingers merged together into a single finger.


    This single white finger filled the heavens.


    Tang Jie suddenly recalled a scene from the past.


    It was quite simr to that finger he had seen descending from the heavens in the Blood River Domain.


    As he was thinking this, the giant finger thrust at Tang Jie.


    Karmic Cycle Finger!


    To be more precise, this was the 81 Karmic Cycle Fingers made into one!


    This congregation of supreme power had turned the Karmic Cycle Finger into a Divine Connection, and even Tang Jie felt like he was in grave danger.


    Of course, he wasn''t without ways to deal with it. Any move from the Combat Emperor Catalog was sufficient to deal with it, but this was Tang Jie''s strongest set of moves, and he wasn''t willing to use them so casually.


    As the finger descended, Tang Jie grew four arms from his back, and the Sovereign de turned from a staff into a saber of fire, which he swung at the finger.


    The Ten Extinctions de!


    Compared to the Ten Extinctions de of the past, this one was even more refined and solid, and whenbined with Tang Jie''s vast reserves of power, it was many times more powerful.


    The saber wreathed in mes and the power of Destruction shed with that finger in the heavens, unleashing a massive explosion.


    The saber''s light dimmed and the finger shattered, the shockwave sweeping out into the surroundings and being funneled upward, where it once more became a beam of energy that pierced the clouds and vanished into the Astral Winds.


    Tang Jie''s massive body was like a little house caught up in a tornado, spinning through the air.


    The Ten Extinctions de had not been able topletely neutralize this terrifying attack, and the remaining power had punched arge hole in his body, reaching all the way to his bones. Its immense energy lingered, stopping Tang Jie''s body from recovering. Another battle began in his body, his injuries recovering much more slowly than usual, and he was even weakened to a certain extent.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereignughed. "Tang Jie, is this little trick enough to put you on your knees? Hurry up and show your real abilities!"


    "You''ll get to see them," Tang Jie said, clenching his teeth. Energy surged out of his body, swiftly healing those unhealing wounds.


    Jewel grunted, "The Dao of Life¡­ Tang Jie, you truly are a genius atprehending the Dao, evenprehending the Dao of Life. But it seems like you''re still only at theprehending level in the Dao of Life. Breaking my Jade Purity Force with this Dao power, haha, you made this trade rather quickly!"


    Jewel loudlyughed.


    The Jade Purity Force was one of the three mantras of the Immortal Three Purities Mantra, a Divine Connection. This power could generate from itself and didn''t consume much other than some initial soul power and spiritual energy, but Tang Jie''s Dao power was made from consuming his lifespan, so he had paid far more than Jewel. Thus, she didn''t mind that her attempt had been thwarted, even happilyughing.


    In her view, she wanted as many such trades as possible.


    With a wave of her hand, another Karmic Cycle Finger was unleashed.


    This Hand of Myriad Wonders was a truly formidable ability, able to unleash Divine Connections of great power, in response to which Tang Jie could only gather his strength and defend. But while his Ten Extinctions de was formidable, it couldn''t stop the Karmic Cycle Fingers from leaving him covered in wounds. The spectating cultivators couldn''t help but frown at this.


    One person said, "I have heard that the Freedom Celestial Sovereign has a peerless physical body and immense strength, but it doesn''t seem like much to me. It can''t even stop the Hand of Myriad Wonders, so how will he deal with the Immortal Sovereign''s Three Purities Mantra, Immortal Essence, and supreme Dao Art?"


    "No matter how strong the body is, it can''tpete with the might of the world. As I''ve always said, the path of the body cultivator is only strong at the beginning, but the farther you go, the less capable it bes. Now, Tang Jie''s performance has proved my views," another cultivator smugly said. Because Tang Jie was at a disadvantage, he even directly used Tang Jie''s name.


    Another bystander said, "Yellow Dragon True Lord, I think you''re saying this too soon. From what this old man knows, the path of the body cultivator is vast and profound. It seems to be focused on brute strength on the surface, but there is another world inside it, with its own mysteries and secrets. It is just that since ancient times, very few people have been able to get this far. Since the Freedom Celestial Sovereign has inherited the Martial Lord''s legacy, perhaps he can excel on the path of the body cultivator? It''s just that he''s still too young and has yet to get that far."


    The one speaking was Reverend Wuwang.


    Their first meeting had been a positive one, so he had a good impression of Tang Jie and chose to speak on his behalf.


    The Yellow Dragon True Lord wasn''t on Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s side, but he was always one who went with the flow, favoring the stronger side. Although he was a True Lord, he had a rather mediocre temperament, so now that Jewel had the upper hand, he immediately started to talk her up.


    ncing at Reverend Wuwang, he snorted and argued, "If he were really this powerful, he wouldn''t have been pushed so far by the Immortal Sovereign."


    Someone who favored Tang Jie couldn''t help but say, "Perhaps he''s showing weakness. After all, the Freedom Celestial Sovereign is well known for having numerous tricks and spell arts."


    "Using up his lifespan just to show weakness? That''s a little too much, isn''t it?" the Yellow Dragon True Lord sharply retorted.


    Everyone was speechless.


    Yes, lifespan was truly too high of a price. In other words, Tang Jie was probably using his full strength. It was just that he was still being beaten up by Jewel, indicating that the gap between Deification and Soul Projection was so vast that not even Tang Jie could ovee it easily.


    Meanwhile, Jewel continued to send down one finger after another, her Hand of Myriad Wonders putting on a full disy of its power.


    It wasn''t just the Hand of Myriad Wonders exerting pressure on Tang Jie. The Jewel Immortal Sovereign herself was continuing to attack.


    The constant flood of attacks threatened to drown him.


    Tang Jie was frequently in a situation where he blocked one attack only to get sted by another.


    What had seemed like an even match had turned one-sided, and the crowd gasped in disbelief. If this match weren''t so important, someone might have even started throwing usations that this fight had been fixed.


    Jewel was extremely displeased by this. She was well aware that Tang Jie was far from reaching his bottom line, and there were still many trump cards he had yet to use. She shouted, "Tang Jie, what are you still waiting for? Where is your Infinite Pce, your Reflections of Floating Life? Use them against me!"


    Tang Jieughed. "Since the Immortal Sovereign wants to see it, then this one will do so."


    He howled, and the blood that he had shed throughout this battle all turned into avatars. Thousands of Tang Jies attacked Jewel as soon as they appeared, the radiance of their attacks stealing light from the sun and shaking the world.

 Chapter 814: Battle Against Soul Projection (3)

    Chapter 814: Battle Against Soul Projection (3)


    The moment Reflections of Floating Life was used, Tang Jie''s form filled up the world.


    Thebined might of thousands of Tang Jies made even the Jewel Immortal Sovereign turn a little more grave, and she inwardly praised Tang Jie as a peerless genius for being able to create such a Dao Art.


    Two hundred years of training had turned the Reflections of Floating Life from being primarily made up of illusions to having real ones mixed among the illusions.


    sts of wind, ice, me, and des rained down, seeking to wipe out the entire world.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign saw all this and simply smiled.


    The Hand of Myriad Wonders closed and then opened again.


    This simple motion seemed like a flower blooming,yer afteryer, one flower blooming to reveal another flower within it, forever and ever. This simple closing and opening contained countless mysteries, the secrets of the Great Dao.


    Through this hand, that terrifying storm of spell arts disappeared, and not only that, even all of Tang Jie''s clones vanished, flickering out like candles blown out by the wind.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign dered, "The Reflections of Floating Life is nothing at all.""Is that so?" Tang Jie said with a smile.


    Jewel froze, for this voice hade from behind her.


    Jewel immediately put all her energy into defense, but it was toote.


    A steely fist smashed right into her back.


    Even though the Jewel Immortal Sovereign had set up almost a hundredyers of defense through thoughtcasting, that punch sted through them as if they were made of paper, and the impact made the Jewel Immortal Sovereign throw up blood. The crystalline drops of blood rained down from the heavens, so rich with energy that even those outside Heavenly Bnce Mountain could feel it. Thus, all the nt life within the valley instantly began to thrive and grow.


    The fist wanted to go farther, but an azure ball of light appeared around Jewel, staving off Tang Jie''s attack.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign turned her head and angrily red at Tang Jie. "Seeking death!"


    She had truly gotten careless, not realizing that the Reflections of Floating Life had also been a diversion, not purely an attack. Tang Jie had used all those clones to draw her attention so that he could hide among them and deliver this punch.


    Even someone as powerful as the Jewel Immortal Sovereign couldn''t take this punch unscathed. Moreover, this punch was actually the first strike of the Combat Emperor Catalog, the Devil Crushing Fist.


    This had once been Tang Jie''s most powerful move, and it had been strong enough to severely injure a Divine Division great fiend. Tang Jie was only stronger now, and the Devil Crushing Fist had grown stronger with him while its side effects had subsided. Thus, even Jewel had suffered significant injury from this hit.


    This punch finally ignited Jewel''s fury, and she screeched, "Bastard!"


    Shepletely turned around, her eyes shing with divine lightning and azure light spewing from her mouth at Tang Jie''s face.


    The usually fearless Tang Jie unexpectedly retreated in front of this azure light, hastily using the Chaoswind Step to evade.


    But that azure light seemed to have a mind of its own, chasing him no matter where he moved.


    At the same time, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign raised the jade bottle in her hand, throwing it into the air. A beam of light shot out of the bottle, shining on Tang Jie and rendering him immobile.


    "Shit!" Tang Jie knew he was in trouble.


    The azure light flew at Tang Jie''s face.


    Unable to dodge, Tang Jie howled, his six fists punching at each other and unleashing a powerful shockwave. A de of lethal energy formed in his hands, and he swung it at the azure light.


    But this time, the Sovereign de that could shatter all weapons failed to achieve anything. The azure light let the Sovereign de pass through it like it was a gust of wind, seeming to have no mass, and then it struck Tang Jie.


    A momentter, Tang Jie''s face darkened, and he howled and flew off.


    The azure light left his body and went back into Jewel''s mouth.


    Jewel''s face, pale from Tang Jie''s punch just now, turned healthy once more, as if she had consumed some kind of medicine. Her eyes lit up in delight and surprise. "As expected of a body cultivator, such rich blood energy. But with my Three Purities Mantra, it will all be mine."


    The azure light once more shot out of her mouth toward Tang Jie.


    This light was called the Three Purities Divine Light, and it was an existence that was neither treasure nor spell art, cultivated over a thousand years of cultivating the Immortal Three Purities Mantra. Like Tang Jie''s Sovereign de, it could take on many forms and had numerous functions. It could be considered the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s number one Divine Connection.


    The azure light shot toward Tang Jie once more, but this time, it took the form of an azure cloud.


    The azure light was only one form of the Three Purities Divine Light, and it was now exhibiting its true might.


    That azure cloud transformed into a sea of trees.


    This sea of trees extended toward the horizon, and if one looked carefully, one would find countless creatures within the forest¡ªeagles soaring in the sky, monkeys frolicking in the trees, tigers roaring on the ground, and moles burrowing through the earth. There were even small insects gnawing at the trees. It was a scene of flourishing life.


    A small world!


    Tang Jie was stunned.


    Tang Jie had long ago heard of the Immortal Three Purities Mantra and understood that this was one of the core secret arts of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Unlike the Violet Jade Mantra, which helped oneprehend the world and merge with the Great Dao, the Immortal Three Purities Mantra was a mantra that was very useful inbat. At its apex, one could create a small world which could contain countless Divine Connections.


    This was why the Immortal Three Purities Mantra was the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s foundation. All of her powers were contained within, including the earlier Hand of Myriad Wonders.


    As the Three Purities Divine Light spread out, the sea of trees covered the world, and three figures rose up from this small world: three more Jewels.


    These were the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s three art bodies: the Supreme Pure Body, the Jade Pure Body, and the Grand Pure Body.


    The one on the left was clothed in white, her head adorned with a golden ring, her bare feet standing upon a cloud, a smile upon her face and a basket of fresh flowers in her hand: the Supreme Pure Body. On the right was one in ck, wearing a somber expression and a fiery-red longsword formed from the Primal Yang Needle, a snake coiled around her body: the Jade Pure Body. In the middle was a gray-robed olddy with a bitter expression, holding nothing at all and even missing her right arm. But the Hand of Myriad Wonders flew up to her and transformed into her missing right hand.


    The Three Pure Bodies were the foundation of this sea of trees, and they were what ensured the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s invincibility.


    As the Three Pure Bodies emerged, the Jewel Immortal Sovereignughed and said, "Let me show you the power of my avatars."


    She waved her hand, and the light from her jade bottle once more covered Tang Jie.


    This bottle was called the Fixlight Bottle, and it was meant to paralyze the body, whether that meant a spiritual body, physical body, or even Divine Soul. It was a powerful and extremely useful divine item, and Tang Jie found himself powerless to resist it.


    The Supreme Pure Body giggled and threw out her basket of flowers, and countless petals rained down, blotting out the sky in a rainbow of colors. But behind each of these gorgeous petals was a lethal energy.


    The Jade Pure Body coldly threw out the Primal Yang Needle, which set the sky aze as it shot toward Tang Jie.


    Finally, the Grand Pure Body sighed as if deeply reluctant to act. All she did was blow, upon which a gust formed. While this gust of wind seemed simple, it was a gale of death, the strongest of the three attacks.


    The original body moved to the rear, the three avatars taking charge of the offensive, and Tang Jie instantly came under the most frightening assault yet. Tang Jie knew that he wouldn''t be able to block these attacks as he was, so he had no choice but to summon the Infinite Pce.


    Five colored lights emerged around him, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth weaving together a divine and resplendentplex.


    Tang Jie''s body towered within this grandiose pce.


    The sky of petals, the sharp needle-turned-sword, and the howling dirge of death mmed against the walls of the Infinite Pce as floodwaters raged against a dike, unable to ovee its walls.


    Jewel was unsurprised by this. When eleven of her finger strikes had failed to break the Infinite Pce back then, she knew that this Dao Art possessed extraordinary defensive powers.


    Two hundred years had passed, and as Tang Jie grew stronger in the Five Elements Dao, the Infinite Pce also grew more powerful.


    But Jewel was unafraid, all four of her bodies assailing the Infinite Pce.


    One Divine Connection after another mmed into the Infinite Pce, her immense spiritual power battering against Tang Jie''s supreme Dao Art.


    In terms of level, a Dao Art was definitely stronger than a Divine Connection.


    Butparisons did not work this way in reality.


    Dao Arts were strong because they embodied thews of the world, which were unchangeable. But things were not so absolute when Dao Arts were used by humans. A human''s Great Dao power decided how well a human could act as an agent of the heavenly principles, and a sufficiently strong external force could break this Dao power.


    In the past, Tang Jie hadpared the Dao to a cheat, an unreasonable thing that allowed a human to do the impossible. But cheaters were not invincible. If they ran into an opponent who was powerful enough, even a cheater could be sent running for the hills.


    (TN: See Chapter 229)


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign was this kind of formidable opponent. She cared not for Tang Jie''s Infinite Pce, her Three Pure Bodies taking it on with their overwhelming strength.


    She harshly called out, "Tang Jie, you aren''t strong enough to make me use my Dao Art, or even the power of my Three Purities World. This venerable one can deal with you using only her Three Pure Bodies."


    As she spoke, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s four bodies barraged the Infinite Pce, sending thousands of Divine Connections and spell arts down at it.

 Chapter 815: Battle Against Soul Projection (4)

    Chapter 815: Battle Against Soul Projection (4)


    Heaven-engulfing power came down like a tsunami that reached toward the heavens.


    When the Jewel Immortal Sovereign unleashed all her might, everyone sensed just how terrifying her power really was, and they began to put themselves in Tang Jie''s shoes, specting on whether they could block this attack and how long they could do it for.


    That deluge of Divine Connections put the power of a Soul Projection Celestial Sovereign on full disy. If she were allowed to continue, she could even punch a hole through the heavens themselves.


    The Infinite Pce groaned under the weight of all these attacks.


    While the Five Elements Dao power was sturdy, it was not endless. Tang Jie could sense his Dao power quickly draining, the Dao Runes in his body dimming.


    The Infinite Pce had once shattered from eleven of the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s fingers, and it seemed like she was about to repeat her feat.


    But this time, Tang Jie wasn''t restricted to just helplessly watching.


    Standing on the raised tform, Tang Jie howled and unleashed seven Ten Extinctions de in a row at the Jewel Immortal Sovereign. These Ten Extinctions des were particrly powerful, wreathed in the Pale Cloud me.


    This me was a supreme sacred me once possessed by the me Celestial Sovereign, but in the past, Tang Jie had been unable to use its full power. As Tang Jie had grown in power, so had the Pale Cloud me, and it was no weaker than any other sacred me. As the me swept out, it transformed into countless fire birds and beasts to attack Jewel.Jewelughed. "You know I have a sacred beast that can eat mes, yet you still dare to try this?"


    As she spoke, her original body pped the Ink Jade wagon, upon which the nine Firess Snakes lunged at the Pale Cloud me.


    The Firess Snakes loved to eat fire, and they could even swallow the Pale Cloud me without a problem, so they directly countered Tang Jie''s me attack.


    Tang Jieughed. "I know you have fire snakes, but you definitely don''t know what I have."


    Jewel was startled, instantly realizing she was in trouble. Suddenly, the nine Firess Snakes opened their mouths and hissed in pain, spitting out blue mes.


    These blue mes were none other than the Deicide me.


    While Firess Snakes could swallow exotic mes, there were some that they could not digest, and the Deicide me was one of them.


    This me was simply too powerful, making up for what itcked flexibility-wisepared to the Pale Cloud me. Even after reaching Deification and entering the Dao of Fire, Tang Jie still couldn''tpletely control the Deicide me. But whileplete control was impossible, he could control its size, and with the Pale Cloud me serving as a cover, he had managed to hide the Deicide me within it. The Firess Snakes didn''t know this, but once they had devoured the mes, they immediately knew that they had eaten something they shouldn''t have. The Deicide me burned them up from within, but thanks to the innate attributes of the Firess Snakes, they were spared from being burned to ash. However, the me raging within them caused them to wildly pull on the wagon.


    The wagon was dragged around here and there, and since they were blocked from moving horizontally, the nine snakes rushed up to the sky, much to Jewel''s rm¡ªshe would lose if she left Heavenly Bnce Mountain.


    Shocked and enraged, Jewel hastily acted to stop the Firess Snakes.


    But having been burned by the Deicide me, the Firess Snakes weren''t easy to control at all, even spitting their mes at Jewel. Those raging blue mes were so powerful that even Jewel had to deal with them cautiously, which meant that she could no longer pay any attention to Tang Jie.


    Without the original body using the Fixlight Bottle to restrain Tang Jie, his movements were no longer hindered, and he bellowed and punched at the sky.


    As this strike mmed into the empty air, the air rippled like water.


    Yet these were no ripples, but waves of spiritual energy, howling outward like a furious storm.


    The Ring Rending Strike!


    This was the second of the moves in the Combat Emperor Catalog. While the initial strike hit empty air, the subsequent attack swept up everything in its surroundings in a furious tide of energy. Even the Three Pure Bodies were caught up in the wave and sent tumbling through the air.


    Tang Jie used this moment to make another punch, and Jewel saw a giant fist flying out of the distance, exuding an unstoppable aura that threatened to pulverize everything in its way.


    This was the strongest of the twelve Combat Emperor Catalog Strikes Tang Jie had learned: the Spirit Tearing Strike!


    The first six moves of the Combat Emperor Catalog focused on using physical power and were also aimed at physical power, while the middle six strikes targeted the soul, which was why they had names mentioning the soul or spirit.


    This strike wasn''t necessarily stronger than the Devil Crushing Strike, but it was many times stronger than it when it came to the Divine Soul. To deal with Jewel, Tang Jie had cast aside the order and used his strongest strike, but even so, thebat aura he exuded almost instantly doubledpared to what it was before.


    Jewel said in rm, "You were acting weak!?"


    Of course he had been. Having already reached the peak middle-grade Immortal Spirit Body, Tang Jie couldn''t possibly have been suppressed by Jewel''s assault. But he had been holding himself back so that he could find the right moment, and the Deicide me had thrown off Jewel enough for Tang Jie to unleash his explosive attack.


    He was well aware of how powerful and scary the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s Three Pure Bodies were. The fourbined could simply drown him to death with Divine Connections. If he let her use this strategy, he would end up losing like he had to Xiao Biehan. This was why he had chosen this strategy.


    He had even consumed his own lifespan to heal himself in order to keep up the act.


    The punch soared like a shooting star into the Jade Pure Body.


    The Jade Pure Body let out a scream of pain.


    Among the Three Pure Bodies, the Jade Pure Body had the strongest attack but the weakest defense. Tang Jie had put all his strength into the punch, unleashing a surge of supreme strength. At that moment, Jewel realized that she wouldn''t be able to protect the Jade Pure Body. The Jade Pure Body let out a sharp whistle and threw out the snake coiled around her body. Clenching her teeth, she formed a ck and red vortex around her to defend against this punch.


    Tang Jie''s punch struck the vortex, the energy within it rushing out. Much to everyone''s shock, all of that fierce energy was sucked into the vortex, leaving nothing behind. Could even this heaven-shaking strike from Tang Jie do nothing to the Jewel Immortal Sovereign?


    Suddenly, a crack appeared on the Jade Pure Body''s face.


    More and more cracks spread across her body, and ultimately, the avatar shattered and disappeared.


    Obliterated in a single strike!


    As the Jade Pure Body was only an avatar created through the mantra, its Divine Soul was much weaker than the original. This plus the fact that the Spirit Tearing Strike specifically targeted the Divine Soul meant that it had taken only one strike to destroy it.


    Of course, Tang Jie had nned everything out precisely for this moment. Repeating the feat would be very difficult.


    "NOOOO!" The Jewel Immortal Sovereign erupted in rage.


    Creating these Three Pure Bodies had not been easy, and each one had their own unique use. Moreover, together, they formed the Three Purities World, each one serving as a supporting pir. Tang Jie had now hacked one of them down, which had a massive effect on the small world, even threatening to copse it. How could she not be enraged over this?


    As the Jade Pure Body dissipated, the Three Purities World trembled and swayed, showing its instability.


    Jewel howled in anger, and she pointed at Tang Jie. "You will pay for this!"


    The Grand Pure Body and Supreme Pure Body raised their arms, and all of the Three Purities World began to sway, transforming into an azure gale that swept toward Tang Jie.


    This was the power of the Three Purities World, and one of the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s ultimate moves.


    s, Tang Jie had cut down one of its supports before she had even had a chance to use it, greatly damaging it. Enraged, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign decided to gather up all of its power and use it to crush Tang Jie.


    In this aspect, Tang Jie had actually made an error, for he had pushed Jewel into a dead end.


    But even if he had known that things would turn out this way, Tang Jie wouldn''t have regretted it.


    He wasn''t inclined to y the part of a punching bag. As that azure gale swept toward him, he simplyughed and threw a punch at the power of this small world.


    Wave Reversing Strike!


    This punch was all about pushing against the current. The stronger the attack, the fiercer the counter strike would be.


    As Tang Jie punched at the power of Jewel''s Three Purities World, the world swayed and its nts withered. The fierce power of the Wave Reversing Strike had not just fended off the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s attack, it even pushed her back.


    The spectating cultivators were all stunned.


    "Is this the power of the Martial Lord''s body cultivator legacy? As expected of a divine existence of High Antiquity!" Reverend Wuwang stroked his beard and smiled.


    The battle had reached a white-hot intensity.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign was no longer holding back, and Tang Jie had used two strikes of the Combat Emperor Catalog back to back and taken the advantage.


    But Tang Jie knew that advantage didn''t mean victory. The Combat Emperor Catalog was powerful, but its greatest w was that he could only unleash twelve strikes and would be powerless afterward. If he could not settle his victory in those twelve strikes, any advantage he had gained in the meantime would be pointless.


    But how could just a few punches be enough to defeat Jewel?


    Jewel''s face shed red as she howled, "A good punch, but this one would like to see how many more such punches you can make!"


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign had abundant battle experience and had immediately noticed the w of the Combat Emperor Catalog. Even though she was at a disadvantage, she remained unafraid. With a wave of her sleeve, that world power continued to surge forward.


    The Grand Pure Body and Supreme Pure Body also unleashed all their power. The Supreme Pure Body threw out her golden hoop, which transformed into a giant golden ring that sought to cast itself onto Tang Jie''s head. The snake the Jade Pure Body had thrown out before her death also turned into a giant snake and attempted to take a bite at Tang Jie''s head.


    The Grand Pure Body seemed very simple, but it had the Hand of Myriad Wonders, which granted her the greatest variety of moves. With a wave of her hand, she summoned a chilling wave that sealed the valley in ice.


    Jewel herself pointed her finger at the air, the bottle paralyzing Tang Jie once more and the nine snakes spewing the Deicide me back at Tang Jie, getting themselves out of their own crisis in doing so.


    Tang Jie knew that this was a critical moment, and as that wave of attacks approached, he let out a roar:


    "Stop!"


    Through the power of Law Speaking, the power of the world trembled.


    This single roar had even caused some of its power to copse.


    Tang Jie threw out three punches.


    Fierce Gale Strike!


    Thousand Heavens Strike!


    Illusion Crushing Strike!


    The Fierce Gale Strike stirred countless walls of wind. The Thousand Heavens Strike, though it was only one punch, filled the sky with phantom fists. As for the Illusion Crushing Strike, it was second to the Reincarnation Strike among the six middle strikes. It was stronger than the Spirit Rending Strike, able to make all things vanish in a single punch.


    The terrifying power of these three punches filled the valley. The valley couldn''t hold all this power, and it was sent upward like a volcanic eruption.


    These punches obliterated the endless army generated by the banner, halted the sea of trees, stymied the wave of ice, and stopped the golden hoop right over Tang Jie''s head. As for the Deicide me, Tang Jie called it back before it could hurt him. Only that massive snake from the Jade Pure Body refused to give up, throwing itself at Tang Jie in an attempt to devour him, and as a result, the Thousand Heavens Strike sted away half of its head.


    Even then, the snake didn''t give up. A dark bolt of energy shot out of its mouth. It just so happened that the Infinite Pce shattered at this moment, allowing that dark energy to strike Tang Jie in the shoulder. This threw Tang Jie''s blood energy into turmoil, which allowed the golden hoop to smash into his head, ttening his skull. But as he was knocked down, a punch flew out of the air and struck the Jewel Immortal Sovereign in the back, causing her to stagger and herplexion to pale.


    This strike was the Void Light Strike, the only stealth attack of the Combat Emperor Catalog. There was no indication given when this punch was made, allowing it to catch the opponentpletely off guard.


    In this round, both sides had suffered injury.


    Tang Jie''s injuries seemed worse than the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s, his brains sttered everywhere, but his recovery powers were also stronger than Jewel''s, so in an actualparison, it was Jewel who was worse off.


    The two of them gazed at each other, and then they roared in unison.


    Tang Jie''s berserk roar made him seem like an incarnation of the god of war.


    And with a wave of the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s hand, the Supreme Pure Body and Grand Pure Body merged with her, disappearing into Jewel along with the Three Purities World.


    As all of her power returned to her, Jewel began to radiate a supreme aura.


    Her terrifying presence made her seem like a god high in the heavens.


    The majestic Jewel Immortal Sovereign bellowed in fury, "Tang Jie, for the feat of destroying one of my avatars and forcing me this far, you can be proud! I have seen your Dao Arts, so now, let me show my own Dao Art!


    "Gale of Dancing Void!"

 Chapter 816: Battle Against Soul Projection (5)

    Chapter 816: Battle Against Soul Projection (5)


    Among the six major sects of the Rosecloud Domain, Horizon Ocean Pavilion was publicly acknowledged as the sect most proficient in the Dao of Space.


    Their founding ancestor had been an Immortal tform Titan who had entered the Dao of Space, so their foundational arts had been established on the Dao of Space. Their first Dao armament, Horizon Ocean Pavilion, was also a Space Dao armament, and their Oceancrosser Step was the Rosecloud Domain''s number one movement art because it could bebined with the Dao of Space. Only someone who used the Oceancrosser Step afterprehending the Dao of Space could be considered to be using the true Oceancrosser Step.


    The message talisman that Xu Miaoran and Tang Jie had used to establish their romantic rtionship had also been closely linked to the Dao of Space. Horizon Ocean Pavilion had been far more creative than one could imagine in this aspect. Whether it was their Dao armaments, arts, or Divine Connections, they were all connected to the Dao of Space in some way.


    People had long ago spected that the Dao Art that the Jewel Immortal Sovereign had kept a secret this whole time had to be from the Dao of Space, but nobody knew the exact details of this Dao Art.


    Perhaps it was some Dao Art that allowed her to move around undetected, or maybe it hid her in the endless void, or it could let her travel freely through the domain barriers. Or maybe it was just some powerful spatial attack.


    Although nobody knew what type it was, since it originated from the Dao of Space, reducing the amount of space avable for it to use would be the best way to deal with it. This was also why Tang Jie had used various methods to restrict the battle to within Heavenly Bnce Mountain.


    He dearly hoped that the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s Dao Art was a movement-type Dao Art, which would be of no use under these conditions.


    s, the heavens were not looking out for him this time.


    Gale of Dancing Void!From the name alone, Tang Jie knew that he had run into the kind of Dao Art he had least wanted to see.


    A spatial attack Dao Art.


    Ripples began to appear in the sky, but they were rather calm and didn''t exude any astonishing energy.


    But as somebody who hadprehended Space, Tang Jie could clearly sense the terrifying storm hidden behind the serenity.


    Those tendrils of Space power were condensing in the air, wandering about in an unseen space, another dimension, yet they were also affecting the space Tang Jie was located in¡ªthey were creating a fissure.


    A spatial fissure!


    Yes, this Space power was creating numerous unseen spatial fissures.


    As these fissures sliced at one on the spatial level, they ignored all toughness and could destroy all matter!


    Such spatial fissures were forming around Tang Jie in great numbers.


    The Gale of Dancing Void was really about creating numerous spatial fissures to attack one''s opponent.


    But thanks to her Dao Art, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign could control these spatial fissures.


    The Space power was constantly moving around, causing the spatial fissures to move with them. The movement of the fissures would create howling gusts of wind, so the moving fissures stirred up a massive windstorm, hence the name "Gale of Dancing Void". This windstorm was the sole phenomenon observable to ordinary cultivators.


    But on a level that the spectators couldn''t observe, Tang Jie saw those wriggling ck threads.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    A ck thread suddenly sliced toward Tang Jie.


    This was a spatial fissure moving to slice Tang Jie apart.


    Tang Jie swiftly dodged, and the ck thread of light shot past him.


    But then another two ck threads came at him, this time intersecting into a giant cross.


    Tang Jie was forced to fly higher to evade.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign gasped, clearly surprised that Tang Jie could see her spatial fissures. But she quickly saw what was happening and snorted. "So you''veprehended the Dao of Space as well. Just how many Daos have youprehended?"


    "You''ll find out once you beat me," Tang Jieughed, waving his arms and unleashing a flurry of spell arts.


    After cultivating the ck Yellow Treatise and merging together his various spell arts, his abilities had risen to a new level. These spell arts that he was casually throwing out had enough power packed in them to shatter the earth, and the watching cultivators shivered, shaking their heads as they realized that they would have a tough time dealing with just this barrage.


    Yet these tricks were far from enough to deal with the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s Dao of Space.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign said in contempt, "A frog in a well."


    With a wave of her hand, sixteen spatial fissures formed into a chessboard and flew toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie hastily retreated, shrinking in size as he did so. Once the chessboard got close, he suddenly charged forward, flying through a gap in the web.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign was slightly surprised, and Tang Jie used this opportunity to unleash another barrage of spell arts.


    As she was controlling the spatial fissures, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign could only trust in her barriers.


    Despite her immense power and formidable abilities, even she couldn''t endure being a punching bag. Under that ceaseless deluge, she finally groaned and was forced back several steps, a drop of blood appearing on the corner of her lips.


    It was just a little drop, but when it fell to the ground, it transformed into a sea.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign didn''t care, waving her hands and weaving the spatial fissures together to form a.


    Tang Jie knew that this was bad news. If the Jewel Immortal Sovereign were allowed toplete her web, he would have nowhere to left to run, and perhaps flying out of the valley would be his only hope of surviving.


    He immediately bellowed and threw out another punch.


    Heart Devouring Strike!


    This punch unleashed a ck wave at the Jewel Immortal Sovereign, which took the form of a vicious beast head that attempted to bite at the Jewel Immortal Sovereign. The Jewel Immortal Sovereign was unmoved, but behind her, the Grand Pure Body emerged and waved the Hand of Myriad Wonders. Hundreds of barriers were created in a sh, and in a great cacophony of collisions, the Heart Devouring Strike''s strength was spent. But as a result, the Hand of Myriad Wonders shattered, the Grand Pure Body herself bing unsteady and lightless.


    Tang Jie bellowed and unleashed another punch.


    Blood Spirit Strike!


    Tang Jie was truly putting his life on the line this time, throwing up arge mouthful of blood as he punched. This Blood Spirit Strike had not merely taken his energy, but also his own physical strength. It was a punch that the Grand Pure Body could not block, and at this moment, the Supreme Pure Body appeared, throwing out the golden hoop and basket of flowers to block this attack.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign used this chance toplete her of spatial fissures.


    Although those cultivators who had notprehended Space could not see these fissures or feel their danger, they could see from Tang Jie''s frantic expression and the hurricane tearing through the valley that this was a particrly fraught moment of the battle.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign thrust her hands forward, pushing the at Tang Jie. "Tang Jie, you still have time to retreat out of the valley, or else there will be no way to escape. Don''t have the Basking Moon Sect me me for not warning you."


    She shouted these words to exin herself to the Basking Moon Sect, such was her confidence in this attack.


    Tang Jie raised an eyebrow. "You think you''ve won?"


    His body suddenly began to distort as he took a step forward.


    The Chaoswind Step.


    As the Jewel Immortal Sovereign had entered the Dao of Space, all the Space power here was under her control. Without her permission, Tang Jie could not use Space-type spell arts like the Chaoswind Step. But at this moment, Tang Jie had unleashed all that he hadprehended of the power of Space. Although he had not entered this Dao, by putting up everything he had, he could barely manage this move.


    He instantly disappeared and reappeared behind the.


    Right after escaping the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s, Tang Jie punched at her. "You''re dead this time!"


    Corpse Soul Strike!


    The Grand and Supreme Pure Bodies had already been exhausted, the golden hoop broken, the Myriad Wonders shattered, the basket emptied of flowers, the snake defanged, the Three Purities World receded, and the Firess Snakes heavily injured, and the original herself was controlling the spatial fissures. There was no one left to block Tang Jie''s final strike.


    Just when it seemed like this punch was about to decide the match, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign suddenlyughed.


    Thisugh had all the spectators stunned, all of them inwardly groaning in unison!


    An azure lotus blossom bloomed out of the Jewel Immortal Sovereign.


    Xu Miaoran was rmed at the sight of this lotus blossom, shouting, "The Jade Ocean Lotus? Sect Master!?"


    The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign simply snorted.


    The Jade Ocean Lotus was the number two Dao armament of Horizon Ocean Pavilion. The Horizon Ocean Pavilion was a strategic-level Dao armament, but the Jade Ocean Lotus was for individual use.


    This item was normally held by the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign, but it wasn''t strange for Jewel to have it.


    But for a mighty Soul Projection Celestial Sovereign to use a Dao armament against a junior was a little shameful. After all, Tang Jie hadn''t even used the Myriad Immortals Cauldron or Imperial Sky Stamp. Of course, this was mainly because neither of them was suitable for a duel.


    Like the Imperial Sky Stamp, the Jace Ocean Lotus was established in the Dao of Life, but while the Imperial Sky Stamp emphasized fusion, the Jade Ocean Lotus emphasized rebirth.


    The lotus slowly bloomed, exuding mystery and wonder.


    As the azure lotus bloomed, the Grand and Supreme Pure Bodies were restored to their prime. Even the shattered golden hoop, Hand of Myriad Wonders, emptied flower basket, and in snake were reborn!


    This was the power of the Jade Ocean Lotus. It could bring back more than just living creatures, but also existences and treasures that contained soul.


    The withered Three Purities World was reborn, shining with a brilliant glow. Amidst a heavenly choir, the shattered Jade Pure Body was reborn.


    The Three Pure Bodies were reunited, merging with Jewel, the four bodies resonating with each other to create a most hallowed and supreme intonation.


    Thus, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign became the sole existence in the world.


    Strong, mighty, unparalleled.


    All attacks and schemes, all hard-thought ns, came to nothing.


    Through the Jade Ocean Lotus, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign was restored to her prime!


    As for Tang Jie, his Reflections of Floating Life were suppressed by the spatial fissures, the Infinite Pce was temporarily out of action, and he had already used eleven of the strikes of the Combat Emperor Catalog. Tang Jie had only one punch left, but could a single strike take down the Jewel Immortal Sovereign at her strongest?

 Chapter 817: Skyrend Swordfall

    Chapter 817: Skyrend Swordfall


    The spatial fissures once more began to gather.


    This time, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign was able to gather even more spatial fissures.


    It was no simple, but a giant web that covered all sides.


    There was only a single opening in this giant web, enough for a person to fly up and out.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign said, "Tang Jie, if you leave the valley and concede, you still have a chance to survive, but once I close this, there will be no going back, and not even I will be able to save you!"


    Tang Jie said nothing, staring hard at the Jewel Immortal Sovereign.


    He had been through countless battles in his career, but never had the situation been so dire.


    He was facing the Jewel Immortal Sovereign at her strongest, and he had nothing left to deal with her.


    The best choice here was to immediately concede.But Tang Jie stubbornly refused.


    It wasn''t because he didn''t want to let go of the inter-domain trade, or the Martial Lord''s hidden realm that had few resources left. He just didn''t want to lose!


    Even when facing almost certain defeat, Tang Jie still wanted to fight, still wanted to win.


    He had never desired victory so much before, had never been so unafraid of sacrifice.


    His eyes were afire as he stared at the Jewel Immortal Sovereign.


    Jewel was rather taken aback by this gaze, and she felt like something was happening.


    Tang Jie''s aura was rising.


    Rising without end!


    The Sovereign de was beginning to shine with a resplendent sword light.


    It was sword intent!


    Long after he hadprehended saber intent, Tang Jie''s sword intent had finally matured, but this was not the end.


    As his sword intent was born, a cold and drab energy began to silently creep into his surroundings, giving off an eerie sensation.


    "This is¡­" The spectating cultivators gasped in surprise.


    At this moment, Tang Jie drew back his left hand and instantly formed several signs.


    These were hand signs for the Nine Heavens Cmity de.


    But why use that now?


    And through this method?


    Nobody understood.


    But a momentter, Tang Jie''s Sovereign de turned into a golden sword and shot into the air.


    Radiating a golden light, it soared into the sky, and then a flood of sword energy descended.


    This sword flood was like a river pouring down from the heavens, sweeping through the skies and toward the Jewel Immortal Sovereign, who was looking up in dumbfounded shock.


    The silver river of sword energy threatened to engulf her.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign wanted to retreat, knowing this was bad.


    But at this moment, Tang Jie shouted, "Fix!"


    Law Speaking!


    "Fix" spoken through Law Speaking was incredibly powerful,parable to the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s Fixlight Bottle.


    The sword light swept down.


    Grunting, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign continued to weave her web, but she had part of her strength instantly transform into countless defenses.


    A momentter, the silver flood arrived, melting through the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s defenses like the sun''s rays melting the snow.


    Jewel''s defenses had never seemed so fragile than at this moment, and she scowled.


    With a thought, the Three Pure Bodies appeared once more, mobilizing the Three Purities World against the sword flood.


    The sword flood ceaselessly poured down, its sharpness making the Three Purities World tremble. A sword river surged into that small world, shaking the earth and toppling trees, leaving devastation and destruction in its wake.


    And beyond the Three Purities World, the sword flood continued, the vast energy leaving even the Three Pure Bodies strained.


    The little bit ofplexion the Jewel Immortal Sovereign had just regained quickly faded.


    It had to be understood that while she had borrowed the Jade Ocean Lotus to recover, a Violet Pce expert using a Dao armament was essentially using something beyond their level, and each use cost them dearly. The Jade Ocean Lotus had healed the damage she had suffered, but it could not restore the vast amount of energy it had taken to use the Jade Ocean Lotus. Her impressive exterior hid a deep exhaustion, though Jewel had ensured that nobody could see it.


    But the reckless Tang Jie had torn off Jewel''s disguise and exposed her false bravado.


    Jewel''s heart trembled as she cried out, "A Dao Art! A fourth Dao Art!"


    Yes, Tang Jie was clearly using a fourth Dao Art!


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s power hadn''t made Tang Jie back down. On the contrary, it had only stimted him into another breakthrough, allowing him toplete another Dao Art.


    Unlike his other Dao Arts, this was a truebat Dao Art.


    Its Dao was ughter, and its art was the Heavenly Cmity de.


    The Dao Art was a fusion of the ughter Dao with the Nine Heavens Cmity de and his sword intent, and Tang Jie named it: Skyrend Swordfall!


    It was a true waterfall of swords, ceaseless and powerful, and even the Jewel Immortal Sovereign found herself outmatched.


    Among the Twelve Great Daos, ughter and Destruction were the most offensively powerful. ughter emphasized the process while Destruction emphasized the result.


    To put it another way, the attacks of the Dao of ughter were fierce and unstoppable while the attacks of the Dao of Destruction had the most severe and lingering consequences.


    This was why it was extremely inappropriate to take on a ughter Dao Art directly.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign didn''t know the Dao of the Skyrend Swordfall and hadn''t expected Tang Jie''s attack to embody ughter, so she had chosen the worst method. As a result, the Skyrend Swordfall had washed away the majority of the Three Purities World''s power, and by the time that waterfall finally ended, only 30% was left.


    All the spectators were stunned.


    This was a small world! Yet it had been devastated to this level by a single Skyrend Swordfall.


    But ultimately, this attack had failed to heavily wound Jewel, and a momentter, she brought her hands together, upon which the web of spatial fissures erupted with energy, sending vicious gales sweeping through the valley.


    The spatial fissure web wasplete!


    But as she was about to make that giant web eviscerate Tang Jie, Tang Jie rushed forward.


    Ignoring the tight web of spatial fissures around him, he charged at the Jewel Immortal Sovereign and punched.


    It was a majestic punch, imbued with a profound and ancient energy. It was thest of his twelve strikes from the Combat Emperor Catalog:


    The Reincarnation Strike!


    A single strike to send one back into the cycle of reincarnation!


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign felt like she was engulfed by this punch, countless scenes flitting past her eyes.


    She saw herself as a vige girl, strolling through the countryside with a basket of flowers and a sweet smile on her face. Then suddenly, she was an intimidating man inbat robes. And then she was a butcher, and then a farmer hoeing his fields, and then a studying student¡­


    Faces and lives appeared one after another, and Jewel suddenly realized that those were her past lives.


    In the past, she had been a vige girl, a general, a butcher, a farmer, a student. Some of them had been fortunate, others destitute. Some had lived long lives, and others had died violently. That happy vige girl had been assaulted by a scoundrel on the way back home. The studying student ultimately hanged himself from the rafters after too many failures. That crude butcher was a drunkard and one day slipped, fell, and died. That old farmer was unfilial and lived his old age all alone. Yet it was that veteran general, someone who should have died an early death, who managed to survive all his numerous injuries and peacefully retire, living a peaceful life before dying at the age of one hundred.


    All of these experiences rushed into her mind, leaving the Jewel Immortal Sovereign unstable.


    It was only a few seconds, yet it felt like she had been through several lifetimes.


    In that instant, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign almost fell so deep that she couldn''t pull herself out.


    This was the power of the Reincarnation Strike.


    The six middle strikes of the Combat Emperor Catalog no longer focused on purely brute strength, attacking both the flesh and the spirit.


    Before the Reincarnation Strike made contact, it attacked the soul, awakening the memories of one''s past life and throwing the senses into disarray, so when the actual punch came, the opponent was powerless to resist.


    This was the true essence of the Reincarnation Strike.


    But the Jewel Immortal Sovereign was no mortal. As a Soul Projection Celestial Sovereign, she possessed a powerful soul. Realizing that something was wrong, she raised her head and threw up a mouthful of blood.


    It was just blood, but as a Soul Projection Celestial Sovereign, she had imbued it with that little bit of Immortal Essence she had gathered when strengthening her Divine Soul. The blood instantly dispelled the illusions, revealing Tang Jie''s fist flying toward her.


    "Seeking death!" the Jewel Immortal Sovereign roared, her hands moving and making the spatial web close around Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie didn''t even try to dodge, his fist shining.


    "Die!" Tang Jie bellowed, his words imbued with Law Speaking.


    Through the ck Yellow Treatise, this punch contained not just the Reincarnation Strike, but all of his other spell arts and Divine Connections!


    One strike to decide everything!


    One of them was going to die!


    <em>Boom!</em>


    Tang Jie''s fist mmed into the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s body, and those ovepping defenses were easily shattered, the surging flood of energy sting into Jewel''s body and obliterating half of it.


    The Three Purities World shook and swayed, appearing on the verge of copse, and the Three Pure Bodies merged with the original body in an attempt to neutralize the attack and heal Jewel. The Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s body was constantly changing colors as if an entire world''s energy was raging within her, and she spewed out mouthful after mouthful of blood.


    The blood rained down over the Valley of the Eight Wilds, the nine Firess Snakes wailed in pain, and the Ink Jade wagon was blown to pieces, unable to absorb this energy.


    Never before had the Jewel Immortal Sovereign been in so much danger. Never before had she been so heavily injured.


    Everyone was stunned by this sight.


    How could this be? How could thisst punch be so powerful?


    The Combat Emperor Catalog was truly powerful, each strike making the Jewel Immortal Sovereign pay a price, but they weren''t invincible. There was no reason for one strike to injure her so badly.


    They didn''t understand, but Tang Jie was in no ce to exin.


    As the spatial fissure web sliced through him, thousands of spatial des sliced him up evenly into tens of thousands of little pieces, turning him into a pile of meat cubes in the sky.

 Chapter 818: Number One Violet Palace

    Chapter 818: Number One Violet Pce


    Tang Jie was dead.


    Just like that?


    Everyone dumbly stared at the battlefield.


    In the end, had the number one genius of the Rosecloud Domain failed to create a miracle and died to Rosecloud''s number one Violet Pce expert?


    All of them felt like it was a great pity.


    The Basking Moon Sect had ultimately lost this duel.


    But it had been a Pyrrhic victory for Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Putting aside the heavy price the Jewel Immortal Sovereign had paid for this victory, even the wager she should have won had probably gone up in smoke along with Tang Jie.


    But while some felt pity, others celebrated.


    Only Xu Miaoran remainedposed.She gazed at the valley, her eyes firm. "No, my husband didn''t die. He''s a man who can create miracles, so he would never die like this."


    "Miao''er." Xu Guanghua sorrowfully looked at his daughter, wanting tofort her but not knowing what to say.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign heartilyughed. "How can the dead talk of miracles? Ling Xiao, I''ve won this wager. Starting from today, the inter-domain trade¨C"


    "Starting from today, the Immortal Sovereign must retreat from society and remain in seclusion for the rest of her days."


    A voice casually rang out, and everyone froze as if they had been struck by lightning.


    A person emerged from the void, strolling through the air. Who else could it be but Tang Jie?


    "How is this possible?" the Jewel Immortal Sovereign cried out.


    While a cultivator''s Immortal arts were powerful, in the end, they still had mortal bodies. Perhaps they couldpletely recover from injuries, even regrow heads, but that was normally because they had the protection of the corresponding Immortal art. But there was no record in the Great Ster Chiliocosm of someone being able to revive after being sliced into mincemeat.


    At the Violet Pce Realm, this was true. However, at Immortal tform, this was no longer, as those were true Immortals, undying and evesting.


    This was why nobody believed that Tang Jie could have survived.


    But Tang Jie had done it.


    He stood in the air and coldly gazed at Jewel. "It''s possible if you''ve prepared for it."


    As he spoke, an immense energy radiated from him, drawing that minced flesh back into Tang Jie''s body, making his body seem even more solid and powerful.


    Jewel was so familiar with this energy that she blurted out, "Immortal Essence power! How!?"


    Immortal Essence was the power of Immortals, one only those who had cultivated to Earth Immortal could truly control, and it was the greatest difference between Immortal cultivators and spirit cultivators. Only when one reached Soul Projection could one barely reach the threshold of Immortal Essence, so how could Tang Jie already possess it? And it seemed like he had even more than she did.


    She didn''t know that this was the strongest attribute of the Martial Lord''s body cultivation arts. Although the Immortal Spirit Body seemed to be on par with Violet Pce, in reality, it far surpassed it. The greatest difference was that cultivating the Immortal Spirit Body essentially allowed one to skip an entire realm thatw cultivators had to go through and grasp Immortal power early.


    The Immortal Spirit energy grasped by a peak middle-grade Immortal Spirit Body was already close to what an Earth Immortal could have. Butw cultivators normally used Immortal Essence to create even more powerful Divine Connections. While they would also nourish their bodies with it, as their bodies wereparatively weak, they used less of it on this aspect. One could say that thirty percent went to their bodies while seventy percent went to Divine Connections.


    Body cultivators were the exact opposite, spending the vast majority of Immortal Spirit power on their bodies and only a little on Divine Connections. This was exactly why body cultivators at Immortal Spirit Body, while still being able to cast arts, were vastly inferior at itpared to truew cultivators. Tang Jie had always been better with his fists than spell arts, so he had never wasted his Immortal power on spell arts.


    Thus, whilew cultivators used Immortal power in attacking, body cultivators used it for self-preservation.


    Earth Immortals were "undying and evesting" precisely because of Immortal power. Of course, they were not truly like this, but Immortal Spirit energy was able to keep one alive far better than spiritual energy.


    Earth Immortals like Yun Tian and Ye Yun were able to use Immortal energy to create endless Divine Connections to devastate the world, while all Tang Jie could do with his Immortal Spirit Body was make himself an unkible cockroach. Back during the battle of Godhead Pce, Tang Jie had been able to survive Han Wuxin''s ughter Dao strike that had sealed him in ice thanks to this Immortal Spirit power.


    Tang Jie had only had a little bit of Immortal Spirit power then, but now, he had the Immortal Spirit power of the peak middle grade, and the difference was like night and day.


    Tang Jie had kept this trump card in his back pocket, waiting until the veryst moment to use it.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign was able to restore her condition through the Jade Ocean Lotus, and he had his own ways of doing the same.


    Of course, restoring himself from such a shattered state was difficult through only Immortal Spirit power. But he hadid down a formation here.


    With all the spectators, Tang Jie found it impossible to pull any tricks with the formation.


    But being unable toy any traps didn''t mean that he couldn''t design it to benefit him.


    Heavenly Bnce Mountain''s formation was actually a formation that could boost one''s recovery, and its core was the Imperial Sky Stamp, a Life Dao armament. Tang Jie had also let the Spotted Char out of the Myriad Immortals Cauldron and had the Imperial Sky Stamp absorb it, filling it with life force. This and the formation meant that being in the Valley of the Eight Wilds would vastly boost one''s recovery abilities.


    This boost was impartial, affecting everyone, so even Horizon Ocean Pavilion couldn''t say anything. This was no longer a trick, only a battlefield that Tang Jie had chosen.


    This boost had little effect on the Jewel Immortal Sovereign, because she wasn''t trying to win the battle through out-healing her opponent.


    But it was extremely important for Tang Jie. After all, his recovery abilities were immense, and this boost only made them better.


    In addition, this formation also collected Immortal power. When Tang Jie''s body was minced, the formation activated this Immortal power, converting it into a vast flood of resurrecting energy. Even if Tang Jie had been left with only a single cell, he could still be reborn, truly bing undying.


    s, it could only be used once. The formation was spent of energy, and Tang Jie was spent of Immortal Spirit power, and it would take him some time to recover.


    Even so, this resurrection had brought Tang Jie to his full strength. Other than his Immortal Spirit power, he had everything, even being able to use the twelve strikes of the Combat Emperor Catalog again.


    Not only that, he had found to his delight that he had actually grown stronger.


    Meanwhile, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign had paid a bitter price to defeat Tang Jie.


    Although she could still fight, against Tang Jie at his full strength, she had no chance of winning.


    "Impossible! This is impossible! You were clearly dead! How could youe back to life!?" the Jewel Immortal Sovereign shrieked, unable to ept her defeat.


    Her eyes glinted with savagery, and she shouted, "Even if you''vee back to life, I''ll just kill you again!"


    She waved her hands, sending a hurricane sweeping toward Tang Jie.


    She did not use the Gale of Dancing Void this time. She no longer had the Dao power to sustain it.


    As for this attack, while it was fierce and powerful, it was nothing at all for Tang Jie.


    She was gambling, gambling that Tang Jie was putting up a false front.


    Tang Jie sighed. "Immortal Sovereign, if you insist, don''t me me for being harsh."


    "I''d like to see how tough you can really be!" The Jewel Immortal Sovereign reached out a hand, and an elegant hand emerged from the hurricane, reaching for Tang Jie. Even though she was at the ends of her strength, this hand could not be underestimated, and even the spectating cultivators were surprised at how much power the Jewel Immortal Sovereign still had left.


    Tang Jie chuckled, and then he said, "Devil Crushing Fist!"


    The punch thundered forth, shattering the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s hand.


    "No!" The Jewel Immortal Sovereign cried out in pain, and her body shed as her arm regrew. She still refused to give up, summoning the remaining energy of her Three Purities World to crush Tang Jie, her Three Pure Bodies illuminating the world in divine light.


    "Still not done?" A light emerged from the center of Tang Jie''s forehead, spreading out in a ring around his feet as a vertical eye opened and gazed at the Jewel Immortal Sovereign. This nce made the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s heart tremble as she inwardly cried out, <em>How could this be?</em>


    She knew that Tang Jie had the Dao of Insight, but as it was no use against people on Jewel''s level, Tang Jie had never taken it out.


    But now, Tang Jie had opened his Celestial Eye and activated his Dao Realm to observe Jewel.


    And the Jewel Immortal Sovereign felt like Tang Jie was seeing right through her.


    Tang Jie punched.


    He punched at a corner of the Three Purities World, a seemingly unremarkable piece ofnd.


    But when the punchnded, that furious surge of fist energy shook all of the Three Purities World.


    The three avatars all let out wails of immense pain and plummeted to the ground, while the Three Purities World began to crumble and copse.


    Just one punch had brought down the Three Purities and made the world copse. Just what sort of power was this?


    Just when it seemed like the Three Pure Bodies would shatter, Tang Jie waved his hand, and the Imperial Sky Stamp flew out of the valley. The stamp let out three rays of light, which fell on the Three Pure Bodies and protected them.


    "Tang Jie, what are you doing?" Everyone was dumbfounded.


    Tang Jie exined, "Jewel, you''ve already lost this battle. The Three Purities are the foundation of your Immortal Three Purities Mantra. If I were to destroy them, your strength would greatly fall. Let alone advancing any higher, you might even suffer a fall in cultivation. But the Rosecloud Domain has only a few Celestial Sovereigns, so losing one would be a great loss. In another eight hundred years, the Primordial Fog Cmity will arrive, and to deal with this cmity, I hope to preserve your strength. When the cmityes, there will be at least one human Celestial Sovereign to stand up and fight for the humans of the Rosecloud Domain."


    These words left everyone stunned.


    Nobody had expected Tang Jie to be so open-minded. After all, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign had just killed him once.


    But it seemed from Tang Jie''s expression that he was not faking it.


    And he really wasn''t. When he wascking strength, he had done everything he could to get his hands on resources and win, resorting to the lowliest of methods.


    But after reaching a certain level of achievement, one became much more open-minded and began to consider different problems.


    Those of high status took on responsibility for the world. Those who still only thought for themselves were not suited for such a position.


    Of course, this didn''t mean beingpletely selfless, which was why Tang Jie would still try to defeat Jewel. But so long as conditions permitted, he would always try to consider the greater picture.


    Tang Jie''s words left Jewel speechless, and even the spectators and several great powers who were watching from the shadows nodded in agreement.


    Immortal Essence suddenly flew out and fell on Jewel''s Three Purities.


    This power stabilized the Three Pure Bodies, and so long as the Three Pure Bodies existed, the Three Purities World could be rebuilt.


    A voice came out from the distance. "Jewel, you''ve lost, so follow me back to Horizon Ocean Pavilion. From now on, Guanghua will be the Helmsman of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, while you will enter seclusion to cultivate. Unless there''s a big incident like the Primordial Fog Cmity, you will not leave seclusion. You''ve always had a violent temperament, so being forced into seclusion after this loss might actually be good for you. If you do well, you might even be able to reach Earth Immortal."


    All the cultivators immediately prostrated. "We pay respects to Fairy Gu She!"


    Fairy Gu She, the Ice Mountain Fairy, was an Earth Immortal of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, a member of the former Four Absolutes of Near Antiquity. In terms of seniority, even Yun Tian was a little younger than her.


    Fairy Gu She''s words meant that the Jewel Immortal Sovereign had no choice but to concede.


    Throwing over the Primal Yang Needle, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign said, "I''ve lost today''s battle. The Freedom Celestial Sovereign, with his Deification cultivation, defeated a Soul Projection expert, creating an unrivaled miracle. From now on, you are the number one Violet Pce expert of the Rosecloud Domain. I hope that the Celestial Sovereign won''t be satisfied with this and will keep advancing. In the Primordial Fog Cmity, your power might be needed to save us all!"


    It didn''t matter if these words were sincere or not.


    After her anger had subsided, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign finally showed off the bearing proper of a mighty individual, no longer speaking about grudges or revenge, instead congratting Tang Jie on his achievement.


    After saying her piece, Jewel left.


    From now on, unless it was the Primordial Fog Cmity or her sect was in danger, she would not appear in the Rosecloud Domain.


    The spectators all looked at each other for a while, until finally someone shouted, "Freedom Celestial Sovereign, congrattions on bing the number one Violet Pce expert!"

 Chapter 819: The Truth (1)

    Chapter 819: The Truth (1)


    The Zephyr Mountains.


    As expected, today was yet another grandiose victory banquet.


    All the members of the Basking Moon Sect were celebrating Tang Jie''s victory, celebrating the Basking Moon Sect''s rising power.


    In today''s battle, Tang Jie had used his Deification cultivation to be the number one Violet Pce expert in Rosecloud, which meant that the Basking Moon Sect had officially be the strongest of the six¨C no, four major sects. Although the Earth Immortals meant that this was not an overwhelming advantage, it was enough to make everyone rejoice. Moreover, everyone else also harbored the idea that if Tang Jie could beat Soul Projection while at Deification, perhaps he could beat Earth Immortals while at Soul Projection.


    Moreover, the difficulty of reaching Soul Projection was much lower than reaching Earth Immortal.


    Until Immortal tform, minor tiers were always easier to advance into than major realms. So long as there were no idents, Tang Jie reaching Soul Projection was only a matter of time.


    For this reason, all of the Basking Moon Sect was wildly celebrating. But the main character of all this was not present for the festivities.


    The back mountain of Starsnatch Peak.


    In the thatched hut.Tang Jie respectfully stood before Yun Tian.


    Yun Tian waved his hand. "Sit."


    Tang Jie sat down.


    Yun Tian looked Tang Jie over before nodding in satisfaction. "You did very well this time. Although you defeated Jewel, you managed to win everyone''s hearts. Right now, there are even many people inside Horizon Ocean Pavilion who areplimenting you. Some of this is thanks to Xu Guanghua and his daughter, but more of it is thanks to your magnanimous attitude. This is how a proper person of authority should act."


    "This disciple does not live up to Martial Ancestor''s high praise."


    "There''s no need to be polite." Yun Tian waved his sleeve. "I had youe because there''s something I want to ask you. As I was observing your battle, I found that yourst strike, the Reincarnation Strike, seemed different from before, its power much greater. How did that happen?"


    The Reincarnation Strike Tang Jie had thrown out at thest moment had been shockingly powerful, and even the full defense of a Soul Projection Celestial Sovereign had been unable to stop it, causing Jewel to be heavily injured. And after Tang Jie recovered, this power boost had remained, his Devil Crushing Fist also bing much more powerful, shattering Jewel''s arm and then throwing the Three Purities World into disarray.


    Tang Jie replied, "This is thanks to the War God Mantra. Your disciple hadn''t expected this mantra to be a set with the Combat Emperor Catalog."


    Tang Jie had obtained the War God Mantra from the fragment of the Court of Myriad Domains.


    At the time, Tang Jie had obtained three mantras: the Longevity Sword, the Free Roaming Divine Connection, and the War God Mantra. Of them, the War God Mantra had been the only one that could be learned at the Celestial Heart Realm. Tang Jie had learned this art upon entering the Heart Demon Tier, and he found that while it had increased his body''sbat power, its effects were limited. Gradually, he put it aside. It was only after he had grasped the Longevity Sword that he realized that the War God Mantra might not be ordinary either, upon which he started cultivating it again. But he hadn''t gotten the Combat Emperor Catalog at the time, so he still didn''t feel any benefits, so he once again gave up on it. He also learned that Free Roaming Divine Connection, but s, this Divine Connection was good for long-distance traveling and of little use in battle. As time went on, Tang Jie forgot about the War God Mantra.


    In his battle with the Jewel Immortal Sovereign, in that final moment, Tang Jie had mustered all of his power, and through the ck Yellow Treatise, the War God Mantra had been activated as well. To his surprise, when the War God Mantra and Combat Emperor Catalog were put together, they created an unbelievable power, boosting the attacks of the Combat Emperor Catalog by at least forty percent.


    In an actual battle, forty percent was extremely useful, and as a result, Jewel had been heavily injured.


    Only then did Tang Jie understand that the War God Mantra and Longevity Sword were both meant to match with the Martial Lord''s skills.


    After hearing Tang Jie''s exnation, Yun Tian nodded. "I see now. This Immortal Ji Yao is truly an extraordinary person, able to create arts that are soplementary with the Martial Lord."


    Tang Jie agreed. "Yes. It''s a pity I didn''t know about it earlier. If I had and cultivated the War God Mantra to a more profound level, today''s battle might not have been as difficult. But it''s rather strange. When I was in the Verdant Cloud Domain, I once told her about what I had encountered in the Myriad Court fragment, so why didn''t she exin the function of these two arts to me?"


    "Perhaps she was testing you and hoping that you would find out yourself," Yun Tian replied.


    Powerful people had their own entricities that made them act strangely, which was why Yun Tian said this.


    Tang Jie shook his head, a pensive look in his eyes. "I don''t know, but I always feel like there''s something wrong about Immortal Ji Yao. I just don''t know what."


    "Oh?" Yun Tian was surprised. "What''s wrong about her?"


    After some time, Tang Jie replied, "I can''t describe it. From the moment I came to know her, she seemed to be engulfed in clouds of suspicion that obscure her true form. I feel like she''s trying to hide something."


    "''Hide something''?"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "I don''t know."


    Yun Tian lowered his head and pondered the question, and then he waved his sleeve. The Eternity Sarcophagus appeared, the Azure Dragon lying within it.


    "Since you don''t know, why don''t you ask this old dragon?" Yun Tian said.


    He took off the lid, and the Azure Dragon sat up.


    Coldly gazing at Yun Tian and Tang Jie, the dragon grunted, "Why have you so quickly called out this old Immortal once more? What questions do you have this time?"


    Yun Tian replied, "I don''t have any cultivation questions with which to trouble you, Honored Immortal, but I do have some questions concerning Immortal Ji Yao."


    The Azure Dragon snorted. "Immortal Ji Yao? What is there to say about this woman? She was originally a fairy of the court, but after she fell to demonhood, she rebelled against the court, and Yu Cheng ended up sealing her in that small demon domain for ten thousand years."


    This story was no different from what Tang Jie and Yun Tian knew, but it wasn''t what Tang Jie wanted to know.


    Tang Jie asked, "Could you go into more detail?"


    The Azure Dragon rolled its eyes. "I don''t have any deep rtionship to that demon woman, so how much could I really know? Moreover, you ruined my reincarnation n, so why should I tell you anything?"


    Tang Jie wasn''t angry over being talked back to by "her", smiling and saying, "She was the one who gave me this Eternity Sarcophagus. Without it, you might have recovered some of your power and broken free already. Don''t you resent her?"


    These words poked the old dragon''s sore spot, and it hesitated.


    But after a while, it shook its head. "In the end, I hate you a little more. I won''t help you."


    Tang Jie was in no rush, putting it to the side and saying to Yun Tian, "To get the Eternity Sarcophagus, I removed half of the Immortal talisman. I always felt like there was something afoot with that. Perhaps the seed nted on that day will be the fruit that allows Immortal Ji Yao to escape. We have to take precautions. Martial Ancestor, do you have a way of reinforcing the talisman?"


    After some thought, Yun Tian asked, "What is the state of your Mountain River State Diagram as ofte?"


    "It''s still in the middle of construction. I''ve recently gotten the stars to begin moving."


    Yun Tian nodded. "I will have Ling Xiao continue sending resources your way. Perhaps in a little while, I will be able to go in, but we can''t put this off for too long."


    Tang Jie understood what he meant. If too much time passed, Yun Tian would be a True Immortal, at which point the Mountain River State Diagram would once more be unable to hold him.


    A small world had its own power limits. The higher the power limits, the greater the power it could hold. Unlike with people, this limit could be increased by constantly investing resources into the world, with no upper limit. In the end, it could be like the real world, able to hold tens of millions of cultivators.


    Tang Jie''s Mountain River State Diagram already could hold Yun Tian, but it was rather forced, and some of his power would leak out, which was enough to affect the teleportation formation. As for an avatar, that was out of the question. An avatar formed from a spell art wouldn''t be able tost for the three whole days of teleportation.


    "If it''s really no good, we''ll have to find some materials to strengthen the teleportation formation," Tang Jie replied. "So long as we''re willing to think, there will be a way."


    Saying this, Tang Jie sighed. "Now that I think about it, Immortal Ji Yao is still my master''s wife, and she''s helped me a lot. It''s rather unfilial of me to constantly scheme against her."


    Tang Jie spoke these words with utmost sincerity. From his point of view, it was poor form to suspect Immortal Ji Yao without the slightest evidence.


    The old dragon was confused. "When did Immortal Ji Yao be your master''s wife?"


    Ever since she had been stuffed into the Eternity Sarcophagus, she spent most of her time sleeping within. Yun Tian was worried that she might recover her True Immortal strength, so he never let her out without good reason, and when she was let out to answer some questions on cultivation, she was immediately put back afterward. This was why this was the first time the three were holding a conversation in thest two hundred years. This was also because Yun Tian, who was nearing True Immortal, had gradually been able to sense the dragon''s recovery speed. He knew that she needed an extremely long time to recover, and besides, Tang Jie needed her help. Thus, in a first, he had not immediately put her back into the coffin.


    For this reason, the old dragon had not known about Immortal Ji Yao''s rtionship with Tang Jie, and hearing that she was his master''s wife had her so surprised that she couldn''t help but ask.


    Tang Jie slowly exined his tale.


    "That''s why the Martial Lord could be considered my master. And when I was in the Verdant Cloud Domain, Immortal Ji Yao used the Peaceful Divine Abode ssic to severely damage my Divine Soul. When my avatar was on the verge of death, I found that this item had the ability to protect the soul¡­"


    Tang Jie took out the Pearl Lady painting and statue.


    At times, one had to pay in information to get information, so Tang Jie decided to not hide these things so that he could get the information he wanted from the old dragon.


    When he described how he had given the statue to Immortal Ji Yao, who had recognized the Martial Lord and called him by his name of Li Jiuyang, the old dragon blurted out, "''Li Jiuyang''? The Martial Lord you''re talking about is Li Jiuyang?"


    "Yes." Tang Jie was taken aback at the fact that the dragon knew of the Martial Lord.


    The old dragon was a little dazed at first, but then she started tough. "Li Jiuyang¡­ So the master you''re talking about is Li Jiuyang. Immortal Ji Yao is your master''s wife? Ha! Ha! Ha! This despicable, shameless scorpion of a woman, rotten from the inside out, this woman that Li Jiuyang hated so much he would want to eat her alive¡ªwhen did she be your master''s wife? If Li Jiuyang still had some semnce of sentience down in the underworld, he would definitelye out and give you a p on the face, you idiot!"


    "What did you say?" Tang Jie said in rm.


    The old dragon loudly replied, "I''m saying that while it''s true that the Pearl Lady was Li Jiuyang''s woman, Immortal Ji Yao isn''t the Pearl Lady. Did you think that just because she had ''pearl'' (yao) in her name, she was the Pearl Lady? Hahahaha, you fell for it, you fool! No wonder Immortal Ji Yao gave you the Eternity Sarcophagus. She wasn''t trying to stop me from recovering my strength, but to prevent me from conversing with you and exposing her!"


    Tang Jie was left dumbstruck, as if a lightning bolt hade out of the blue and shocked the life out of him.

 Chapter 820: The Truth (2)

    Chapter 820: The Truth (2)


    Humans always had a tendency of getting stuck in a certain line of thinking.


    Only when the truth was revealed were many questions finally resolved.


    Now that Tang Jie thought about it, Immortal Ji Yao had never said that she was the Pearl Lady.


    At the time, Tang Jie had mistaken Immortal Ji Yao for the Pearl Lady entirely because the Dream Pearl Lady painting had saved the life of Tang Jie''s avatar, and Immortal Ji Yao had said that she had felt a familiar sensation. All this plus the "pearl" in Immortal Ji Yao''s name and her status in the court had made Tang Jie believe that Immortal Ji Yao was the Pearl Lady.


    If their interactions had been face-to-face, then he probably would have noticed a problem.


    But Immortal Ji Yao was imprisoned in that demon ne, so Tang Jie couldn''t see the look on her face. All he could do was conjecture based on her voice.


    All intelligence, insight, and analysis were established on basic information. If there was a severeck of basic information, there was nothing to draw on to extract intelligence.


    In this situation, Tang Jie had been fooled by his preconceived notions into making a grave error.


    After mistakenly taking Immortal Ji Yao for the Pearl Lady, he suddenly became a romantic poet.Luan Grass nted in the gardens of the royal court, a fairy in a dream ascending to the nine heavens, a sentimental keepsake recording a priceless memory stored away in a little tower, a fairnd across ake, where two lovers would rather be happily married than be Immortal¡ªhow was it that the Pearl Lady ended up falling to the Primordial Fog and bing a Demon Immortal?


    He felt like this poem he hadposed was rather good, but in reality, he had erred greatly in revealing some information regarding the Pearl Lady. Thest two lines in particr indicated that he believed Immortal Ji Yao was the Pearl Lady.


    Although Immortal Ji Yao didn''t know the exact circumstances, she saw an opportunity. And when Tang Jie gave her the Martial Lord''s statue and learned that Immortal Ji Yao really did recognize Li Jiuyang, a dramatic ymenced.


    Immortal Ji Yao wept over Li Jiuyang, confirming in Tang Jie''s mind that she was the Pearl Lady.


    Immortal Ji Yao went along with the flow, passing the Divine Restoration ssic to Tang Jie. s, Tang Jie didn''t release Immortal Ji Yao because of this, but she was patient, suppressing her impulses and never trying to force Tang Jie.


    She was well aware that so long as Tang Jie took her to be his master''s wife, he wouldn''t cut off rtions with her, and so long as this rtionship persisted, there was hope.


    But there was one big problem: the old dragon.


    The old dragon knew her real identity.


    Thus, Immortal Ji Yao decisively sent out the Eternity Sarcophagus to imprison the dragon so that it would have no opportunity to speak with Tang Jie.


    Everyone thought that Immortal Ji Yao''s goal in sending out the Eternity Sarcophagus was to get more of the sealing talisman torn off, ignorant to her real purpose.


    They had guessed wrong from the beginning, so they had naturally fallen into her trap.


    Immortal Ji Yao''s secret was safeguarded, and Tang Jie ended up recognizing her as his master''s wife for two hundred years.


    In these two hundred years, while Immortal Ji Yao hadn''t been able to escape using her rtionship with Tang Jie, she was able to maintain a connection with the outside world, which made it easier toy ns.


    As the old dragonughed away, Tang Jie turned ice-cold.


    After a long period of stunned shock, he finallyughed. "After spending all my days hunting geese, I didn''t expect a goose to peck out one of my eyes. As expected, retribution isn''t very pleasant."


    Yun Tian asked, "Who is this Immortal Ji Yao, that she could sense the energy from the Pearl Lady painting? I presume that she must have some connection to the real Pearl Lady."


    "Of course," the old dragon chuckled. "The Court of Myriad Domains was brimming with talents and Titans. The ones with the greatest status and power were naturally the Immortal Emperor and the Four Sages. But the most famous and admired were the Sisters of the Pearl Lake."


    "''Sisters of the Pearl Lake''?" Yun Tian and Tang Jie said in unison.


    "Yes, the Nine Heavens Pearl Lady and the Iceheart Lotus Lady."


    "''The Nine Heavens Pearl Lady'' and ''Iceheart Lotus Lady''," Tang Jie muttered. "So in other words, the Nine Heavens Pearl Lady is my master''s actual wife."


    "Correct, it was because of her that Li Jiuyang caused a mess in the Court of Myriad Domains. But the Li Jiuyang of that time, while possessing divine strength, was no match for the court. Let alone the Immortal Emperor and the Four Sages, even the Nine Heavens Pearl Lady was stronger than him. If it wasn''t for her doing everything she could to protect him, Li Jiuyang would have died long ago. I didn''t think he woulde back one day, much less overturn the Court of Myriad Domains," the old dragon chuckled.


    "Then Immortal Ji Yao is the Iceheart Lotus Lady."


    "Correct," the old dragon confirmed. "The Sisters of the Pearl Lake originally got along well, and both were born with heaven-shaking beauty. The Nine Heavens Pearl Lady was pure and elegant, with a kind and gentle disposition, while the Iceheart Lotus Lady was aloof and noble like ice and snow. They were actually good friends who called each other sisters, and they would often travel together, which would draw countless admirers to them."


    As the old dragon spoke, Tang Jie imagined a pair of beauties sauntering alongside each other in that heavenly pce.


    "s, everything changed after the Iceheart Lotus Lady came back from one of her journeys," the old dragon sighed, shaking its head.


    It recalled what had happened to Immortal Ji Yao.


    It turned out that the Iceheart Lotus Lady really was the one who had first met the Martial Lord. After injuring the Martial Lord in the sea of stars, Immortal Ji Yao brought him back to the court to treat his injuries.


    But Immortal Ji Yao cultivated the Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra and was estranged to the other sex, and she naturally wouldn''t personally care for him. Thus, she entrusted him to a maid and left, after which that incident was done with in her mind.


    Thus, she didn''t expect that Li Jiuyang woulde to know the Nine Heavens Pearl Lady in that time and develop affection for her. But as those two were sisters and frequently visited each other, it was very normal for the Pearl Lady toe to know the Martial Lord, who was staying at the Lotus Lady''s ce while he recovered.


    In a twist, for some reason, Immortal Ji Yao also began to like Li Jiuyang.


    What ensued was one of those dramatic love triangles, which became the talk of the town at the time.


    Nobody imagined that rtions would be so fraught that Immortal Ji Yao would turn into a demon.


    "You''re saying that Immortal Ji Yao''s fall into demonhood was connected to this?" Tang Jie hastily asked, realizing something.


    "Indeed." The old dragon nodded.


    Perhaps because it was so long since it had gotten the opportunity to talk, the old dragon had forgotten that Tang Jie was its enemy that it shouldn''t help. Immersed in its storytelling, it went on, "Immortal Ji Yao cultivated the Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra. While it makes one immensely powerful, those who cultivate it are forbidden to feel emotions, as to do so will break the art."


    "What happens when the art is broken?" Tang Jie asked.


    "It''s not a big problem. One will retain one''s original strength, but advancing any further on this foundation will be difficult," the old dragon replied.


    Tang Jie sighed in relief. "Is that it?"


    The old dragon sighed. "You will also suffer bacsh from your former strength."


    "''Bacsh from former strength''?"


    The old dragon answered, "The Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra tempers the mind and will, so it is best at resisting illusion, poison, demon, and other such arts. When one achieves sess, one can be called impervious to all evils. This is why those who cultivate the Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra have no fear of devils and demons, even using them to temper themselves. When Immortal Ji Yao cultivated this art, she would often go to dangerous areas in which evil and demons thrived, always remaining unsullied, recalling the lotus that blooms from the muck unsullied, which is why she was called the Lotus Lady."


    Tang Jie''s expression changed.


    He suddenly recalled that Ice Phoenix also cultivated this art, and the demon cave was awash in demonic energy.


    An ill foreboding began to emerge.


    Tang Jie said, "Are you telling me that breaking the art will result in a bacsh of demonic energy?"


    The old dragon snorted. "That''s not even the worst of it! Ordinary demonic energy bacsh will just make someone suffer, with consequences ranging from damaging one''s cultivation to endangering their life. But the Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra is even scarier. Because one spends so long in demonic environments, one''s body is actually covered in all that evil and filthy energy. If the Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra is unbroken, this demonic energy won''t affect the cultivator and even helps them grow stronger. But once the art is broken, one is essentially defenseless, and that demonic energy will attack the heart, invading the body and turning them into a demon. This was exactly how Immortal Ji Yao fell into demonhood."


    <em>Boom!</em>


    Tang Jie felt like his mind had exploded.


    Falling into demonhood!


    At that moment, he understood everything.


    "Ice Phoenix!" Tang Jie cried out.


    Hearing this name, the old dragon seemed to realize something. "Kid, are you telling me that you have a friend that cultivates the Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra?"


    Tang Jie weakly nodded.


    If Immortal Ji Yao wasn''t his master''s wife, he would have never allowed Ice Phoenix to learn a mantra given out by her.


    But after obtaining the Peaceful Divine Abode ssic, Tang Jie had subconsciously gained some trust in Immortal Ji Yao.


    This trust originated from the Martial Lord, originated from her status as his master''s wife, so despite his caution, he had ultimately fallen for it.


    At this moment, Tang Jie was full of resentment and remorse.


    The old dragon said in panic, "Have her immediately stop and leave any area of demonic energy, then purify her in clear springwater from the Jade Sea, after which you have to roast her in Triple True Yang Fire for 81 days. Perhaps then you can sessfully purge the demonic energy inside her. Even then, you have to be careful to not stimte her so that she doesn''t break her art!"


    "Toote," Tang Jie sighed.


    "What are you saying?" the old dragon and Yun Tian asked in a trembling voice.


    Tang Jie gravely said, "Not long ago, my good friend in the Verdant Cloud Domain, Ice Phoenix, confessed to me, and I rejected her. She cultivates none other than the Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra."


    The old dragon and Yun Tian were stunned.


    Tang Jie slowly stood up. "Several dozen days have already passed, so everything is toote now. If it''s as I expect, she''s already be a demon, and since she''s be a demon, she has no reason to keep Immortal Ji Yao imprisoned. At this moment, Immortal Ji Yao has probably already regained her freedom."


    "Haaa¡­" Yun Tian heavily sighed.


    Such a great demon being released had probably done immense damage to the Verdant Cloud Domain. She alone could destroy the entire ce.


    Yun Tian and the old dragon both scowled.


    Nobody could have expected Immortal Ji Yao to be so cunning, even pretending to be the Nine Heavens Pearl Lady. It was no wonder she didn''t know much about matters regarding the Martial Lord, because she wasn''t the Pearl Lady.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but hate himself for his neglect.


    He muttered, "It was all my fault."


    Yun Tian saw that his expression wasn''t right and soothed, "Jie''er, don''t me yourself. This was all because Immortal Ji Yao was too cunning. She plotted for two hundred years to finally reach this day. One can only be a thief for a lifetime, not defend against thieves for a lifetime."


    "But in the end, the responsibility lies with me," Tang Jie replied.


    His remorse had be a great ocean upon which he lingered.


    Tang Jie had never before hated himself so much.


    He could be lowly and shameless, even ruthless, but he at least had a bottom line, had principles.


    But demons had no bottom line.


    They were evil, the opposite of good, the origin of all wickedness.


    A Boundless Gold Immortal demon could do immense damage to a world. It was simply unimaginable. He might spend his entire life and not be able to fix it.


    This thought immediately filled him with guilt.


    Tang Jie was no longer the same Tang Jie. After reaching Violet Pce, he was no longer so shortsighted. Reaching a high ce had also imbued him with a responsibility for the world.


    When he saw his errors putting a world in danger, Tang Jie felt like he had to try and salvage the situation.


    He suddenly made up his mind.


    He raised his head and dered, "I''m going to the Verdant Cloud Domain!"

 Chapter 821: Goodbyes

    Chapter 821: Goodbyes


    Even though Tang Jie knew that he was bound to face numerous dangers, he still made up his mind to go.


    He could only be at ease once he saw things with his own eyes.


    If Immortal Ji Yao had really broken free, then Tang Jie''s first priority would be to destroy the teleportation formation before Immortal Ji Yao could cross over. Otherwise, he didn''t know if Immortal Ji Yao would be able to resolve the problems of the teleportation formation, and if she did and entered the Rosecloud Domain, she would wreak havoc on the ce.


    Yun Tian naturally objected to the n.


    He couldn''t just watch Tang Jie send himself to his death.


    But Tang Jie had already made up his mind to go.


    He said, "The teleportation formation leads to the hidden realm, and I don''t want to reveal its location."


    Yun Tian huffed and puffed in anger. "You brat, you think I''ve gone senile? You dared to wager the hidden realm against Jewel, and now you''re saying that you''re afraid of revealing its location? You''re just finding excuses for yourself!"


    "Yes, I want to go alone. I can''t let anyone go in my ce. I was the one who made this error, so I won''t let anyone take responsibility. Moreover, Immortal Ji Yao is no one to be messed with. If any ordinary cultivator goes, they''ll probably be taken control of by her without even getting a chance to meet her, so the trip would be pointless." Seeing that deception wouldn''t work, Tang Jie decided to frankly admit it."You think that you going will turn out any better? That''s a Boundless Gold Immortal! Even if I went, Immortal Ji Yao would crush me with a single finger!" Yun Tian said in trembling rage. "The Verdant Cloud Domain is probably and of the dead by now!"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "That''s not for certain."


    "What?" Yun Tian was startled.


    Tang Jie exined, "Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng used his divine might to seal Immortal Ji Yao, and one who is sealed generally doesn''te out in a good state. Being sealed for ten thousand years isn''t the same as cultivating for ten thousand years. Rather thaning out stronger, she might have be weaker. If Immortal Ji Yao is free, then if she is still rational, she won''t immediately start killing, instead seeking to recover. This is why I have to go now, because I still have a chance to save the Verdant Cloud Domain."


    After a moment of shock, Yun Tian shook his head. "I admit that what you say makes sense, but a Boundless Gold Immortal is still a Boundless Gold Immortal. Just one ten-thousandth of her strength is enough to kill you and everything there. What will you use to save it?"


    Tang Jie smiled. "I didn''t say I was going to fight. I just need that little opportunity to breathe."


    Yun Tian said in scorn, "And what will that get you?"


    Tang Jie firmly replied, "A chance to talk."


    "What?" Yun Tian was stunned.


    Tang Jie continued, "I just need a chance to speak with Immortal Ji Yao."


    The old dragon heartilyughed. "What? You think that you can use that silver tongue of yours to persuade Immortal Ji Yao back into that demon cave to be sealed?"


    Without creasing a brow, Tang Jie replied, "I don''t have the skill to persuade Immortal Ji Yao back into her cave, but there''s some hope of convincing her not to kill me or touch Rosecloud, perhaps even Verdant Cloud."


    The old dragon angrily snorted. "Stop dreaming! What makes you think you can talk Immortal Ji Yao into not touching the two domains? Because she''s your master''s fake wife? In my view, the wisest decision is to immediately destroy the teleportation formation!"


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "Because I have you."


    The old dragon trembled. "What do you mean?"


    Tang Jie casually replied, "Although you''ve put on a good act, Senior Azure Dragon, you forget that you''re still in the body of an ordinary human. You can''t stop your heart from selling you out."


    The old dragon trembled again. "Nonsense. What exactly am I trying to hide?"


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Actually, I''ve always had a very good memory."


    The old dragon was confused.


    Tang Jie continued, "It''s so good that I can still remember something from several hundred years ago. For example, I still clearly recall the conversations from that big battle down in the demon cave."


    The dragon scowled.


    Tang Jie went on, "For example, Immortal Ji Yao once said to you, ''Azure Dragon, so even you have days like these. When you were pulling the threads of Fate and tempting me to fall into demonhood, you should have known this day woulde. If Yu Cheng were that easy to fool, he wouldn''t have been the Immortal Emperor. s, all your scheming amounted to only doing the work for someone else! You waited for ten thousand years, but what you were waiting for was nothing but a Fate of total defeat! Hahaha, hrious! Just hrious!''"


    The Azure Dragon could no longer stop the shaking of its body.


    Tang Jie looked at the Azure Dragon, his eyes thick with derision. "Didn''t you just say that Immortal Ji Yao somehow also took a liking to Li Jiuyang? But I think you know why."


    The Azure Dragon sat up and fearfully looked at Tang Jie. "No, it wasn''t me!"


    "Still refuse to admit it?" Tang Jie''s face darkened. "Your lies might work on others, but it''s not enough against me. You should know that I''m also someone who has entered the Dao of Fate. But did you know that back when I was in the Verdant Cloud Domain, wandering the world, the first thing I did when weaving Fate was arranging marriage partners?"


    In Tang Jie''s one hundred years of wandering, while he was weaving Fate, the most absurd and enjoyable thing Tang Jie had done was match different species together.


    The Dao of Fate could be considered the strongest Dao when it came to connections, and if there was a Dao of Matchmaking, it would be under Fate.


    If even different species could be brought together, influencing a woman''s emotions so that she would like another man was easy work.


    While Li Jiuyang''s personal charm might have yed some part, the real culprit behind it all was the Controller of Fate, the Azure Dragon.


    But controlling the emotions of the Iceheart Jade Lady was no easy task, and the Azure Dragon had gone to great efforts to pull it off. And in the end, Immortal Ji Yao had seen through it, hence her usation back then.


    It was clear that Immortal Ji Yao deeply loathed the Azure Dragon.


    The Azure Dragon was truthfully the one most afraid of Immortal Ji Yao breaking free, but it had managed to keep itsposure and act as if nothing was wrong.


    s, it still failed to trick Tang Jie, neither his memories nor his senses.


    Tang Jie had easily sensed its panic, upon which he recalled Immortal Ji Yao''s words from back then.


    For him, this was his biggest chip in negotiating with Immortal Ji Yao.


    "No!" the Azure Dragon yelled in dismay.


    Tang Jie grabbed it and said, "The evil will get their just deserts in due time. Since you plotted against Immortal Ji Yao in the past, it''s time you made it up to her."


    Yun Tian sighed after understanding what had happened. "Have you really made up your mind to do it this way?"


    Even if he had the Azure Dragon, his chances were still slim to none.


    Yun Tian was asking if he had prepared himself for that final oue.


    Tang Jie firmly nodded. "Your disciple has decided."


    No matter how dangerous the path ahead was, Tang Jie was determined to go down it, with no looking back.


    That night, Tang Jie went to Xu Miaoran.


    After learning about all that had happened, Xu Miaoran hugged Tang Jie and refused to let go.


    Xu Miaoran, who had always firmly believed that Tang Jie would survive no matter what happened, had suddenly lost all her confidence.


    She was rmed and afraid.


    It wasn''t because she had stopped trusting Tang Jie, but because Tang Jie didn''t even believe in himself.


    Xu Miaoran''s confidence had always arisen from Tang Jie''s self-confidence.


    When Tang Jie lost his confidence, it was like the power source was cut off at the root, and Xu Miaoran''s confidence subsequently copsed. No matter how Tang Jie tried to soothe her, he could not ovee her fear.


    Husband and wife spent the entire night embracing.


    Xu Miaoran seemed to have a limitless appetite.


    Tang Jie knew that she wanted a child.


    And it was about time to have one.


    That night, Tang Jie put down all his barriers, intermingling with Xu Miaoran and achieving the greatest union of life.


    The next morning.


    Tang Jie went to Starsnatch Peak.


    Ling Xiao, Xiao Biehan, and the others had all been informed on what was going on.


    Although they strenuously objected to Tang Jie''s decision, they were no match for his resolve.


    It was his sin, and so he was the one who needed to atone.


    Ling Xiao saw this and knew that any attempts to dissuade him would be pointless. Sighing, he said, "I will inform all the world that the Freedom Celestial Sovereign is entering secluded cultivation, so you can be at ease and go."


    Tang Jie respectfully bowed. "This disciple has benefited from the Basking Moon Sect''s magnanimity and grace, but before he could repay it, he must go off to deal with this cmity, letting down the ancestors of the sect. But, for all life in the world, this disciple must go. If he is fortunate enough to survive, he hopes to once moree under the Basking Moon Sect. But in going, there is one person that your disciple is uneasy about and wishes for Master to care for."


    "Is it about that child Yiyi?"


    Tang Jie nodded.


    Tang Jie''s chances of survival this time were very low, so he could not bring her with him.


    Not only her, he couldn''t also couldn''t bring Tutu, little Tang Dou, or the Mother Cloudbat puppet. The only one who could follow was Little Three.


    Ling Xiao replied, "Rx. Starting from today, Yiyi will be at my side. I will ensure that she can cultivate in peace."


    "Thank you, Master!"


    Tang Jie deeply bowed to Ling Xiao and left.


    Everyone silently watched him leave.


    Finally, Xiao Biehan sighed. "Such fearlessness and courage! This is what it means to truly be strong. That naughty child from before has finally matured."


    Despite how high Tang Jie''s cultivation level had gotten, it was only today that Xiao Biehan truly regarded him as a Titan.


    This concerned the maturity of one''s mind, not their cultivation.


    Upon leaving the Basking Moon Sect, Tang Jie headed to the teleportation formation.


    After several stops, he arrived at the Martial Lord''s hidden realm.


    Before getting onto the final teleportation formation, Tang Jie went to see the Vermillion Bird.


    Seated in that lush valley, Tang Jie told the Vermillion Bird what had happened.


    "I might not being back from this trip. I''ve yet to have a chance to unlock the final level of the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, which means you can''t gain your freedom, for which I am truly sorry. I''m leaving the Martial Mirror in the valley. Inside are the Parting ssic and the Weapon Mantra. If I die, I ask that you pass them to Er Hu. In the future, perhaps he will be able to save you."


    The Vermillion Bird ced her hands on her hips and snorted. "The Verdant Cloud Domain is so far away, so how am I supposed to know if you''re alive or dead? Let''s do it likest time."


    With a wave of her hand, she sent a drop of essence blood into Tang Jie''s body. But this time, the Vermillion Bird gave much more than before, as only this amount of blood could transmit information back to the Vermillion Bird.


    But Tang Jie knew that with Little Three around, the Vermillion Bird didn''t need to do this. Her real goal was to protect him. Yet Immortal Ji Yao was a person who could even make Yun Tian sigh helplessly, let alone the Vermillion Bird, who was only at Divine Division.


    But in the end, he said nothing, bidding farewell and making his way to the teleportation formation.


    Stepping onto the teleportation formation leading to the Verdant Cloud Domain, he looked back onest time, onest "goodbye", before resolutely activating the formation.


    Spatial energy rippled outward, and Tang Jie disappeared.

 Chapter 822: Darkness

    Chapter 822: Darkness


    In a multicolored burst of light, Tang Jie appeared in the subterranean world beneath the Verdant Cloud Domain.


    This was a spacious valley surrounded by high and barren walls. Right in the middle of the valley was a giant teleportation formation.


    Tang Jie stood in the center of this formation.


    Looking around, he saw the sprawling mountains of the Five Elements forbidden zone, as well as that pir of fire rising to the heavens.


    Everything was like before, as if nothing had happened.


    Tang Jie, who had already prepared himself for the worst, couldn''t help but be stunned by the sight.


    Had Ice Phoenix not fallen into demonhood because of that earlier incident? Was Immortal Ji Yao still imprisoned?


    If that was the case, then there could still be a chance.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but get a little excited.He flew toward the demon cave and found that the entire region was still the same, awash in demon fog, the golden talisman floating high over the mountain. Nothing had changed, and even that row of small buildings was still there.


    Tang Jie sighed in relief.


    At this moment, a person came out of a building, wearing white robes and holding a zither, her eyes like stars: Ice Phoenix.


    As Ice Phoenix raised her head and spotted Tang Jie, delight appeared in her eyes. "Big Brother Tang Jie, you''re here!"


    Putting down the zither, she swiftly walked over to Tang Jie.


    Seemingly going too fast, when she reached Tang Jie, she actually tripped, her body falling toward him.


    Tang Jie grabbed her, and Ice Phoenix''s body fell into his embrace. Tang Jie wanted to push her away, but then he recalled the Azure Dragon''s words, which robbed this push of strength. Thus, the beauty fell onto his chest, and time seemed to stop.


    The two of them said nothing, one leaning against the other.


    Seemingly unable to endure this awkward stalemate, Ice Phoenix blushed, and she mumbled, "Big Brother Tang¡­"


    Tang Jie responded, "Have you been well?"


    Ice Phoenix''s face turned bitter. "After Brother Tang''s rebuke, Phoenix thought that she wouldn''t get the chance to see Big Brother anymore, and my heart was wracked by grief and pain. I thought that Big Brother wouldn''te to see me anymore, so when you suddenly came back, Phoenix forgot herself and acted rudely. Brother Tang, please forgive me for this."


    She extracted herself from Tang Jie''s embrace, clearly recalling Tang Jie''s previous attitude to her.


    Tang Jie sighed. "I was very rude to youst time. Everything is fine so long as you''re okay."


    "Could anything worse have happened to me? When you left, I was so furious that I almost fell victim to corruption. It took so long for me to recover¡­" She began to silently weep. Pushing at Tang Jie, she said, "Just go already. There''s no need toe and taunt me."


    Tang Jie hadn''t expected this reply from her, shamefully saying, "In the end, I let you down."


    He hade with a heroic resolve, ready to sacrifice himself, but all he had found was a resentful girl. All of his meticulous ns became useless, and he became distracted and hesitant.


    Ice Phoenix darkly said, "I was too impulsivest time, so don''t me yourself. I''ve learned my lesson, so there''s no need for you to apologize. Right,st time, you said that your battle with that Jewel Immortal Sovereign would be soon. Is it already done now?"


    She put on a happy face and changed the subject. Tang Jie also showed tact, nodding and saying, "I was fortunate enough to win."


    "That''s good," Ice Phoenix happily said. Then her face dimmed once more. "That must have been a wonderful battle. s, I couldn''t bear witness to it, couldn''t support you from the sidelines."


    "It''s not like you weren''t allowed," Tang Jie said. "You could havee to Rosecloud."


    In the past, Tang Jie definitely wouldn''t have invited her.


    But now, Ice Phoenix was cultivating the Iceheart Jade Lady Mantra with Immortal Ji Yao and was in danger of suffering bacsh from demon energy, so Tang Jie naturally wanted to persuade her to leave this ce.


    "Go to the Rosecloud Domain?" Ice Phoenix''s eyes lit up. But then she shook her head. "To do what? To see that Xu Miaoran of yours?"


    Tang Jie froze.


    Ice Phoenix continued, "Actually, I''ve wanted to leave the Verdant Cloud Domain for a long time now. I want to leave this small world and see what other domains are like. The Great Ster Chiliocosm is vast, so why should I be penned up in a small ce like this? s, so long as the Domain Astral Winds are present, I can''t leave. The only ce that I can go, the Rosecloud Domain, has the person I want to see the least¡­"


    Tang Jie was going to say, "You might not see Xu Miaoran even if you do go." But then he recalled that since Xu Miaoran was so famous now, even if she couldn''t see her, she would at least hear her name, which might be enough to make her unhappy. Rather than going to just get upset, it would be best not to go.


    Thus, Tang Jie also began to hesitate.


    Ice Phoenix said, "If only this teleportation formation could go to other domains."


    Tang Jie''s eyes brightened. "It''s not impossible."


    Teleportation formations could go to many locations. All that was needed was a set of coordinates.


    Tang Jie currently only knew the coordinates for Rosecloud and Blood River.


    He was just about to ask if Ice Phoenix wanted to go to Blood River when he suddenly recalled that Xu Miaoran also asionally appeared there, so he couldn''t bring himself to ask.


    But Ice Phoenix herself asked, "Then can you set the teleportation formation to lead to the Vast Wilderness?"


    <em>''The Vast Wilderness''?</em>


    Tang Jie was startled.


    Ice Phoenix nodded. "Master once said to me that thend there is extensive and abundant in resources, that it''s the number one world of the Great Ster Chiliocosm. There are countless powerhouses cultivating there, possessing all kinds of powerful abilities. Worlds like the Rosecloud Domain are nothing more than a vige to worlds like the Vast Wilderness or Primordial Fog."


    <em>''A vige''.</em>


    Tang Jie''s mind was in turmoil.


    What sort of ce was that, to receive such praise?


    Ice Phoenix grabbed Tang Jie''s hand. "Let''s go to the Vast Wilderness!"


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. "I''d like to take a look, but I don''t even know where it is."


    "Silly," Ice Phoenix chuckled. "You don''t know, but I do. Master told me the coordinates to a High Antiquity teleportation formation there. All you need to do is adjust the teleportation formation to link them up, and then we can head off to the Vast Wilderness."


    Tang Jie was tempted by the offer.


    If he really could go to the Vast Wilderness, then he was happy to, so he agreed.


    Thus, Tang Jie began to modify the teleportation formation.


    The modifications weren''t difficult. It was just adding another set of coordinates. Since it was already an extreme long-distance teleportation formation, distance wasn''t a problem. He just needed some new materials, but they weren''t too hard to find.


    For this, Tang Jie left the subterranean space and took a trip to the surface.


    On the surface, all was well in the Verdant Cloud Domain, with no news of any massacres, setting Tang Jie at ease.


    He went straight to the capital of Fengshan and went to see Feng Wuxiang.


    A few years ago, Feng Wuxiang had broken through into Deification and could now break through the Domain Astral Winds to wander the cosmos. But to protect this human country, Feng Wuxiang had chosen to remain as the guardian god for Verdant Cloud''s humans.


    Feng Wuxiang was delighted to hear of Tang Jie''s visit, going out personally to see him. But when he saw that Tang Jie had already entered Deification, he froze.


    After a while, he bitterly smiled. "As expected of a young hero. Tang Jie, your rate of progress is truly exceptional."


    The two chatted for an entire day and night.


    Several dozen dayster, Tang Jie returned to the underground with the materials he needed.


    Ice Phoenix went up to greet him, asking, "Well? Did you find all the materials?"


    "They''re all here," Tang Jie answered with a smile.


    "That''s good." Ice Phoenix pped her hands in glee.


    "But based on what Master''s wife said before, the Vast Wilderness is a ce where Violet Pce experts are like dogs and Immortal tform experts can be seen wherever you look. A little Soul Transformation expert like you might not even be able to deal with a bandit. Are you sure you want to go?" Tang Jie asked.


    Ice Phoenix rolled her eyes. "That''s all just exaggerated nonsense. While there are more Violet Pce and Immortal tform experts in the Vast Wilderness, the basic tier system is still maintained, with fewer people at the higher realms than the lower ones. Thus, while there are more Violet Pce and Immortal tform experts there, there are also more Mortal Shedding and Celestial Heart cultivators. Violet Pce and Immortal tform cultivators are still great powers that mortals barely get the chance to see, not something you can just randomly run across. And they certainly wouldn''t be bandits."


    Ice Phoenix covered her mouth and giggled, clearly amused by Tang Jie''s words.


    Tang Jie once more became embarrassed. "I''m just too dumb."


    Ice Phoenix jabbed his forehead with a finger. "Silly! If you were dumb, then there''s no one smart in the world. What are we wasting time chattering for? Hurry and modify the teleportation formation."


    "Understood." Tang Jie set about making the changes.


    While he was doing so, Ice Phoenix watched from the side.


    She seemed to be very interested in formations, asionally asking Tang Jie what this and that was for.


    Tang Jie patiently exined all the functions and meanings for his arrangements, as if he had taken a disciple.


    For this reason, a job that should have taken three days ended up taking two more on top.


    On the sixth day, Tang Jie finally finished adding the new coordinates to the teleportation formation.


    After doing this, he let out a breath. "Alright, it''s finally done."


    Ice Phoenix stared at the teleportation formation. "In other words, we can just activate the teleportation formation to reach the Vast Wilderness?"


    "Correct! So long as the coordinates are correct," Tang Jie answered.


    "Of course the coordinates are right. How could they be wrong?" Her eyes yfully gleamed, and then she coldly red at Tang Jie.


    Startled, Tang Jie cried out, "Ice Phoenix, you!"


    "Shut your mouth! You''re not fit to call my name!" Ice Phoenix roared.


    ck energy surged out of her body, and she flew high into the sky.


    Her snow-white robes turned purple, and thick purple-ck demonic energy engulfed her. In a sh, she had gone from a pure snow fairy into a demonic banshee.


    That woman wreathed in ck energy bowed to the horizon, calling out, "Disciple Ice Phoenix has carried out Master''smand andpleted the mission."


    "HAHAHAHA!" Crazedughter rang out.


    "Very good, my precious disciple!" A massive dark figure appeared in the distance.


    Darkness instantly consumed the world.

 Chapter 823: Teleportation

    Chapter 823: Teleportation


    Darkness!


    Endless darkness!


    When that person appeared in the sky, they brought with them a despairing darkness.


    From that night of deep ck, a woman flew out, her entire body formed from mist, constantly twisting and shifting, refusing to take on a fixed form.


    This was no illusion, but the truth.


    When a cultivator reached the level of a Boundless Gold Immortal, their soul became a God and their body became an Immortal, undying and evesting!


    The existence before him was a manifestation of this.


    With just this misty body, she was immune to most regr Divine Connections.


    An entire army of Deification cultivators like Tang Jie could be sent against her, and Immortal Ji Yao could still kill them all with a single p.As for Tang Jie''s theory that she had grown weaker from ten thousand years of imprisonment¡­


    Maybe, perhaps it was true.


    But this simply wasn''t important. No matter how much weaker Immortal Ji Yao had be, so long as she remained at the Boundless Gold Immortal Realm, she could still crush Tang Jie with her finger. The chance that Tang Jie had spoken of was just an excuse to soothe others.


    But both the deceiver and deceived were just pretending to believe.


    Immortal Ji Yao had finally appeared.


    As that ethereal body solidified, Tang Jie was finally able to get his first look at her true face.


    Her body waspletely cloaked in ck, her hair bound up in a tall bun, her feet bare, and her face beautiful like a plum blossom in winter.


    Ten thousand years had left no trace on her face, but that purple-ck demonic energy had branded the corners of her eyes, making her seem like she had put on some sort of exotic makeup. Those thick lines spread out from the corners of her eyes, extending to behind her ears and down her cheeks, entuating her beauty and evil.


    It was a wicked and formidable appearance, and anyone who saw it would be shaken to the soul and would want to prostrate.


    But Tang Jie didn''t move, staring at Immortal Ji Yao as if he was in a daze.


    "Hahaha!" Immortal Ji Yao threw her head back andughed.


    This elegant beauty now brazenlyughed like a madman.


    Theughter resounded like thunder, and it was some time before it finally subsided.


    Immortal Ji Yao began to walk over, her feet leaving ripples in the air.


    Standing over Tang Jie, she looked down at him and proudly said, "Tang Jie, you didn''t expect this, right? This venerable one still broke free in the end."


    Tang Jie swallowed. "Master''s¡­ Master''s Wife."


    "Don''t call me that! I''m not your master''s wife!" Immortal Ji Yao scowled as she thrust out her hand, and an invisible hand grabbed Tang Jie by the throat and lifted him up.


    Even with his Deification strength, he was powerless to resist, the immense power imbued in this hand instantly seizing control of his body.


    Immortal Ji Yao raised him into the air and savagely said, "Two hundred years! To gain your trust, this venerable one acted the part of the pretty little scoundrel for two hundred years, and hated every moment of it! But even then, you weren''t willing to let me go! If you had had some tact and let me out earlier, perhaps I might have spared you, but you made me stay in that lightless ce for another two hundred years. This crime alone deserves one hundred deaths!"


    As her grip tightened, Tang Jie struggled like a baby fighting to breathe. While he could stay in the void for a thousand days without dying of suffocation, in front of Immortal Ji Yao, all of his superpowers were gone, and he became as weak as a mortal.


    He struggled out, "You¡­ tricked me¡­"


    "Duh! If I didn''t trick you, how would I get you to make me a teleportation formation leading to the Vast Wilderness?" Immortal Ji Yao proudly answered.


    Tang Jie could barely speak. "So¡­ you came out a long time ago¡­ used Ice Phoenix to trick me¡­"


    "Of course," Immortal Ji Yao chuckled. "In order to properly deceive you, this venerable one restrained herself to not kill a single thing in the Verdant Cloud Domain. Ah, I so miss the taste of flesh¡­"


    Immortal Ji Yao licked her lips.


    Her tongue was as flexible as a snake''s. Suddenly, the tip split into two parts and licked Tang Jie on the face, numbing his entire body.


    Tang Jie shouted, "Immortal Ji Yao, this is killing the innocent!"


    "Naturally. What sort of demon would this venerable one be if she didn''t kill the innocent?" Immortal Ji Yao proudly replied.


    Surrounded by seething ck smoke that blotted out the sky, she really did seem like a demon king of darkness.


    Immortal Ji Yao threw Tang Jie to the side like a used-up rag, not even applying any seals to him. It was clear that she didn''t think it necessary to do anything extra for someone of his level. A single thought or nce was enough to kill.


    "Deification"? "Number one Violet Pce expert"? In front of a Boundless Gold Immortal, he was just another ant.


    As Tang Jie got up, Ice Phoenix flew over and bowed to Immortal Ji Yao. "Master, how should this person be dealt with?"


    After some thought, Immortal Ji Yao replied, "Jiuyang was able to singlehandedly destroy the Court of Myriad Domains. If there was nothing suspicious going on behind the scenes, then he must have achieved immense progress in strength. Since he left his legacy behind, which was obtained by this child, then the secret should also be on him. Interrogate him, and we might reap a great harvest."


    It turned out that this was the real reason Immortal Ji Yao hadn''t killed him.


    When it came to shrewdness, this person was truly on par with Tang Jie. Whether it was pretending to be the Nine Heavens Pearl Lady, deceiving Tang Jie and Ice Phoenix, or tricking Tang Jie into modifying the formation, they were all evidence of her cunning. And given her immense power as well, it wasn''t strange at all for Tang Jie to lose to her.


    "But, Master, this Tang Jie doesn''t seem that amazing to me," Ice Phoenix said in confusion.


    Once one became a demon, one''s memories would remain intact, but the demonic energy would greatly alter one''s personality. Thus, while Ice Phoenix''s understanding of Tang Jie remained the same, her evaluation of him was very different. In the past, she would have never said something like this.


    But there was actually nothing wrong with this statement. While Tang Jie had managed to defeat a stronger foe in the Jewel Immortal Sovereign, it was far from the Martial Lord''s momentous achievement of destroying the Court of Myriad Domains all on his own. How the Martial Lord, who hadn''t even been able to defeat Immortal Ji Yao, could defeat the Court of Myriad Domains, which had been established by a Dao-Proving Saint Immortal, was a great enigma. Even Tang Jie, who had seen the battle recorded in the Martial Mirror, couldn''t exin it.


    This was exactly why Ice Phoenix had asked this question.


    Immortal Ji Yao shook her head. "I also don''t know the answer to this question. It''s clearly wrong to say that this kid is too stupid to unleash the power of the arts Jiuyang left behind. Could it be that Jiuyang didn''t leave behind the secret? Or perhaps he hasn''t been able to get that far yet?"


    Tang Jie was slightly shaken by these words.


    The final trial was still waiting for him back in the Martial Lord''s hidden realm.


    Could this final level be hiding the real secret to the Martial Lord''s conquest of the Myriad Court?


    But this wasn''t the time to ponder this question. Tang Jie said, "Immortal Ji Yao, I remember you saying that it was the Azure Dragon who hurt you. I have the Azure Dragon in my hands, so if you want revenge¡­"


    He wanted to negotiate, but instead, Immortal Ji Yao crazilyughed. "Tang Jie, do you think I wanted you only toy down a teleportation formation to the Vast Wilderness? No, through Ice Phoenix, I observed the entire process, and I was able to grasp the various details. Although this venerable one still cannoty down a teleportation formation from scratch, altering the coordinates from the Vast Wilderness to Rosecloud is no problem at all. Starting from today, the Verdant Cloud Domain, Rosecloud Domain, and that Blood River Domain will all be under this venerable one''s control. With three domains in hand, what does a puny Azure Dragon matter? When I go to the Rosecloud Domain, he won''t be able to escape my grasp, no matter what corner of the world he runs off to! You don''t even have the right to negotiate with me!"


    Tang Jie''s expression turned ashen.


    Immortal Ji Yao added, "Once I unite the three domains, with their resources, I can infiltrate the Vast Wilderness. At that time, I can take on the identity of a righteous cultivator and incite internal conflict so as to kill some of those old undyings and weaken the Vast Wilderness. When the Primordial Fog invades, these three domains can serve as a base to wee the demon horde, and then this venerable one will lead the demons in sweeping across the world. Nobody will be able to stop me!"


    Immortal Ji Yao crazilyughed.


    It seemed that she had already nned everything out, all for the sake of the Primordial Fog invasion.


    If Immortal Ji Yao really conquered those three domains before the invasion and then sowed chaos in the Vast Wilderness, the primary anti¨CPrimordial Fog force in the Great Ster Chiliocosm, then the cultivators of the positive ne would truly be in great peril.


    Tang Jie angrily red at Immortal Ji Yao. "Immortal Ji Yao, you''re dreaming! This teleportation formation can''t take cultivators above Violet Pce. You won''t be going anywhere."


    Immortal Ji Yao sneered. "You think this venerable one doesn''t know that? But just because the Earth Immortals of your Rosecloud Domain can''t use it doesn''t mean that I can''t. A mere Earth Immortal finds it hard to control their Immortal power and thinks they can''t use teleportation formations because they''re too powerful, but that''s just because they haven''t learned how to restrain their might. They can be strong enough to suppress the four seas, or weak enough to be sent flying by a single p!"


    Immortal Ji Yao raised her hand, and a st of energy shot out from her finger, striking Tang Jie and rendering him immobile.


    At the same time, that terrifying cloud of energy around her began to recede and weaken. As that ck smoke retreated, her dancing hair fell back down and the strange tattoos around her eyes disappeared. In a sh, she turned into a weak and docile woman.


    And then, she stood on the teleportation formation.


    Tang Jie was stunned!


    Power was an objective existence, and all attempts to hide it only deceived the senses, not the actual reality.


    Yun Tian could also make himself look like an ordinary person, but regardless of how he changed, he couldn''t change the fact that an Earth Immortal possessed an Earth Immortal''s power. When he walked into a teleportation formation, his very real power would be a weight that the teleportation formation could not bear and make it copse, like a man weighing five hundred catties stepping onto a scale with a maximum limit of one hundred catties.


    But now, Immortal Ji Yao had stepped onto the teleportation formation without destroying it. This clearly meant that this was not merely a surface deception, but a true change in power. How could he not be shocked?


    Where had all her excess energy gone?


    If she were killed at this moment, would it trigger any spiritual flood? Did she still possess that heaven-reaching might?


    Tang Jie didn''t know.


    Immortal Ji Yao spoke once more. "Let this venerable one observe the Vast Wilderness and see what sort of state that ce is in right now. Little Phoenix, you stay here and watch Tang Jie. I will give you orders once I return. If I do not return in a timely manner¡­"


    After some thought, she suddenly sliced off a finger from her hand and gave it to Ice Phoenix. "Use this to deal with him."


    Atop a mountain, beneath brooding dark clouds, a pure-white finger descended from the heavens to obliterate him.


    This was the scene he had seen in the Elemental Simtion Formation.


    That finger and this finger were exactly the same!


    "As Mastermands!" Ice Phoenix respectfully replied.


    Immortal Ji Yao raised a hand, activating the teleportation formation and vanishing in a series of silver ripples.

 Chapter 824: Waiting

    Chapter 824: Waiting


    Tang Jiey like a statue fallen in the mud, dumbly gazing up at the air.


    His body had been sealed and rendered immobile by Immortal Ji Yao. The only thing he could move was his face.


    But there was not the slightest hint of despair on his face.


    His eyes shone with unprecedented brightness as they looked up at the sky, at Ice Phoenix.


    This gaze made Ice Phoenix feel an inexplicable chill.


    She walked over and stepped on Tang Jie''s face. "What are you looking at?"


    Tang Jie looked at her and said in a gentle tone, "It was my poor treatment of you that caused you to turn into this. But one day, I will save you."


    Ice Phoenix coldlyughed. "I''m doing very well, thank you very much, and I don''t need your saving. In the past, I must have been blind, to like a piece of trash like you. But on the day you rejected me, I was enlightened, and no longer will I be lost in those boring romances. As a cultivator, I should use all my strength to advance on the Immortal path. From now on, my goal is only the Great Dao."


    Tang Jie sighed. "If you were only pursuing the Dao, I would have noints. But your Dao is established on the lives of tens of millions of innocents. I have no choice but to stop you."Ice Phoenix was bbergasted, and then she threw her head back andughed. "''Stop me''? You''re already my prisoner, so how are you going to stop me? I''ve never heard anything more ridiculous!"


    She kicked Tang Jie.


    She seemed to hold a lot of hatred for Tang Jie, perhaps because he had rejected her, so she ended up kicking him several dozen times.


    Tang Jie took her kicks like he was already a corpse, remaining motionless.


    After kicking him for a while and getting no response, Ice Phoenix got bored and went to the side to cultivate.


    When she cultivated, she was like before, quietly meditating and adjusting her energy, but now, a purple-ck smoke engulfed her. When she breathed in and out, this smoke would go in and out of her ears, nose, and mouth, like tiny little snakes, and purple-ck energy would umte within her body.


    Seeing her, Tang Jie couldn''t help but think of the little tiger.


    The little tiger had also gone to the Primordial Fog Domain. How was he doing now?


    If the violet energy of Primordial Fog was this frightening, able to eat away at one''s emotions, would the little tiger also end up corrupted? When he returned, would he be cold toward Tang Jie, perhaps even want to kill him?


    But the little tiger had inherited his ancestor''s memories, so he should have known what would happen before going in. Might he have made some preparations to stop himself from being invaded by demonic energy? Of course, this was possibly just wishful thinking on Tang Jie''s part.


    Suddenly, Tang Jie realized that he truly had beencking concern for Ice Phoenix. Even in these circumstances, he was thinking about others instead of her.


    Mentally sighing, he stopped thinking and just quietlyy there.


    Three days quickly went by.


    In these three days, Ice Phoenix would beat up and torture Tang Jie whenever she had nothing else to do. When she became a demon, all her affection toward Tang Jie disappeared, and what reced it was the profound sense of humiliation and teeth-gnashing hatred that came from being rejected. Torturing Tang Jie was a way of venting her hatred.


    But Tang Jie didn''t strike back when struck or talk back when insulted, and since she couldn''t kill him either, she eventually grew bored. She stopped paying him any attention and began to patiently wait for Immortal Ji Yao''s return. As for Tang Jie, he was left to lie there. In any case, with his Violet Pce body, he just needed to breathe in the spiritual energy in the air and easily go five months without food. And besides, so what if there was a problem? Her heart certainly wouldn''t ache over it.


    Yet for some reason, Immortal Ji Yao still did not return after several more days.


    Ice Phoenix didn''t think much of this at first, but as the absence extended to more than ten days, she became perturbed.


    These worries lingered briefly at first, Ice Phoenix telling herself that her master was a Boundless Gold Immortal with immense power, so not even the Vast Wilderness could easily deal with her. Perhaps she had not returned because she was having fun in the Vast Wilderness and was unwilling toe back. After all, anyone who had been imprisoned for ten thousand years would want to unwind for a while.


    If not for luring Tang Jie into the trap, Immortal Ji Yao would have gone on a killing spree much earlier. Now that their goal had been achieved, it was naturally time for her to let loose.


    Ice Phoenix was greatly soothed by such thoughts, and she continued to wait and cultivate. But she inwardly thought to herself that while it was fine for her master to be happy, she shouldn''t forget about returning, as Tang Jie was still here.


    There was no such thing as an eternal seal. A seal as strong as the one suppressing Immortal Ji Yao would ultimately fade if there was no power to maintain it. That golden talismanid down by a Dao-Proving Saint Immortal was being maintained by a formation and could not be considered eternal either. Moreover, this seal from Immortal Ji Yao had been casually applied, so its power was limited.


    Twenty-some more days passed, but Immortal Ji Yao still did not return.


    Ice Phoenix was starting to get nervous.


    Had something really happened?


    Ice Phoenix''s mind turned once more to this idea, but she quickly rejected it again. Her master was a Boundless Gold Immortal. Even the Vast Wilderness World couldn''t do much to her.


    But what if the Vast Wilderness World discovered her identity and sent all its experts at her?


    Or what if her master had identally revealed the High Antiquity teleportation formation, causing it to be destroyed, along with her way back?


    Or what if her master didn''t understand how to set up the teleportation formation back?


    Or maybe¡­


    Ice Phoenix nced at the supine Tang Jie.


    Or maybe this guy hadn''t fallen for the trap and had been pretending this whole time?


    If that was the case¡­


    Ice Phoenix shivered and said to herself, "No way, absolutely not. My acting was so good that there''s no reason he wouldn''t be fooled."


    Ice Phoenix once more rejected these possibilities and calmed back down, and she continued to patiently await Immortal Ji Yao''s return.


    Another month went by.


    Immortal Ji Yao had vanished like a stone thrown into the ocean.


    Ice Phoenix could no longer remain still.


    She sensed that something was wrong.


    For Immortal Ji Yao to not show up for so long was definitely abnormal.


    Something must have happened!


    As she worried, she turned to Tang Jie with a murderous gaze.


    She considered Tang Jie to be an enormous threat right now.


    Even though Tang Jie was still sealed, he would eventually break free.


    What should she do?


    Should she kill him right now?


    But her master hadn''t given the order. What if she killed him and then her master returned?


    Her master still wanted to find out the secret of the Martial Lord''s hidden realm.


    Ice Phoenix grew frustrated. If she had known things would be like this, she would have kept up the act and tried to get the secret of the hidden realm out of Tang Jie, saving her all this anxiety. But considering that the Martial Lord''s hidden realm was Tang Jie''s foundation and given her own ce in Tang Jie''s heart, he would probably never tell her. Otherwise, her master would not have appeared so soon.


    Ice Phoenix fretted, her mind paralyzed by indecision.


    Then she remembered that she still had the finger left behind by her master. Even if Tang Jie really did break the seal, what could he do?


    She calmed down and continued to cultivate, anticipating seeing her master when she opened her eyes.


    She continued like this for two more months, alternating between calm and anxiety, but with still no sight of Immortal Ji Yao, she went from anxiety to disappointment, and then from disappointment to despair.


    She knew that she couldn''t keep waiting.


    In these two months, the seal Immortal Ji Yao had left on Tang Jie could break at any time.


    She went up to Tang Jie and angrily red at him. "Master has yet to return, but you don''t seem the slightest bit surprised. Talk! You knew this was going to happen, didn''t you?"


    Tang Jie looked at Ice Phoenix like he was looking at a stranger, deep sorrow and sympathy in his eyes.


    He said, "Immortal Ji Yao was the most cunning opponent I have ever faced."


    Ice Phoenix was confused by thisment.


    Tang Jie continued, "I have been cultivating for more than four hundred years. In these four hundred years, I have employed countless schemes and tricks, and I can say that there are only people that I''m unwilling to deceive, not people that I can''t deceive. Immortal Ji Yao¡­ She''s the first person to beat me through deception. Excellent methods, excellent ns!"


    Ice Phoenix nkly stared at him. For some reason, Tang Jie''s words struck fear into her heart.


    Tang Jie went on, "But it''s precisely because Immortal Ji Yao is too focused on shrewdness that she lost to it. In truth, with her ability, she would be invincible so long as she could leave the valley, and then she could simply use her strength to crush anything, with no need to resort to schemes. But she''s so ustomed to schemes that her stratagems take priority over everything¡­ just like the past me. She failed to realize that good swimmers often end up drowning. At times, what helps you seed can be the cause of your defeat. Schemes are the methods of the weak, not something the strong should rely on. The strong continuing to employ schemes only give their foes opportunities to exploit. Immortal Ji Yao made this exact mistake¡­"


    Ice Phoenix could no longer control her shaking, and she backed away as if she had seen a ghost. "You¡­ you¡­"


    Tang Jie looked at Ice Phoenix and smiled. "Have you thought about what the consequences would be if you failed to deceive me?"


    Ice Phoenix trembled, and then she lunged over and grabbed Tang Jie by the cor, lifting him up and yelling, "What did you do?! Talk!"


    Tang Jie let Ice Phoenix lift him up,zily replying, "It wasn''t much. I just secretly altered the coordinates."


    "What?" Ice Phoenix shakily said, "Where did you send her?"


    "Where else?" Tang Jie sneered. "The endless void, of course. The demon valley couldn''t hold her, so I can only have the Great Ster Chiliocosm''s endless void be her home."


    Ice Phoenix was dumbfounded.


    Tang Jie wasn''t lying this time. Immortal Ji Yao had truly been sent to the void.


    This woman had won thanks to her cunning and lost thanks to her cunning.


    If she hadn''t been so obsessed with her scheming and wanted to try and trick Tang Jie again, attempting to turn him into her guide to the Vast Wilderness, Tang Jie wouldn''t have had any opportunity.


    But precisely because she was so enthused by her plotting, enjoying the feeling of crushing her opponents through her intelligence, she ended up giving Tang Jie that chance he wanted.


    There were many such examples in history. Every sessful individual had their own "insights into sess". Before they failed, they had absolute confidence in their experience and understanding.


    As was often said, losers always thought that the error came from the outside and had nothing to do with themselves, while the sessful always thought that sess came from themselves and had nothing to do with external factors.


    The same was true for Immortal Ji Yao. She had sessfully tricked Tang Jie once, so she thought she could do it twice, and not only that, she considered it a pleasure and achievement. After all, she knew a lot about Tang Jie, knew that he was an outstanding youth with many tricks. To y around with this youth in her palm gave a far greater sense of achievement than defeating him through brute strength.


    One could say that this attitude had sent her to her grave.


    She could have never imagined that Tang Jie would already know about the Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra.


    If Tang Jie still fell for her tricks after this sort of foreknowledge, then he was truly an idiot.


    In that situation, Tang Jie very naturally made the choice to alter the teleportation coordinates.


    On the surface, the teleportation formation seemed to lead to the Vast Wilderness World, but in truth, it led to a lonely region of space. It was a vast and empty region, a desert in the river of stars. One could fly for a few centuries and not find a single small world.


    Immortal Ji Yao had essentially been exiled to the endless void, and she would have to rely on her luck to find another world.


    If she had been sent to the Nether Domain, then with her Boundless Gold Immortal strength, she could have killed her way back. In the endless void, no matter how immense her powers were, getting back within a few centuries was out of the question.


    Not even Tang Jie had imagined that things would be settled so easily.


    "Bastard! I''ll kill you!" Ice Phoenix turned crazy from rage, throwing a punch at Tang Jie''s face.


    Tang Jie''s head tilted to the side, but no mark was left on his face.


    Ice Phoenix continued punching, but she gradually realized that something was wrong.


    Tang Jie''s entire body gave off a crystalline sheen and showed no sign of damage. But his movements had been sealed, so how had he managed to block her attacks?


    In shock, she released her grip, but Tang Jie did not fall to the ground.


    He floated one foot above the ground, gazing at Ice Phoenix.


    His eyes were still brimming with sympathy.


    He said, "Why do you think I''m saying all this now? What do you think I was doing all this time?"


    His eyes shed with lightning, and Ice Phoenix felt a power seizing her and raising her up.


    Tang Jie had broken free!


    He had been free for some time!


    "NO!" Ice Phoenix shouted, her hand reaching for something.


    And then, her heart turned cold.


    "Are you looking for this?" Tang Jie opened his hand, revealing that elegant finger in his palm.

 Chapter 825: Salvation

    "Tang Jie, you won''t die a good death! My master will return, and when she does, she will skin you alive!"


    Down in the depths of the Verdant Cloud Domain, Ice Phoenix was lying on the ground, screaming and howling.


    The tables had been turned, and it was now time for Ice Phoenix to be sealed.


    Tang Jie gave her much better treatment, though, not torturing her and simply throwing her to the side. Even then, she was still incessantly cursing at Tang Jie, a far cry from that pure and aloof maiden from the past.


    But this made Tang Jie even more critical of himself and even more dutybound to save Ice Phoenix.


    Since Ice Phoenix had be a demon due to the encroachment of demonic energy, it seemed that one just needed to remove the demonic energy to restore Ice Phoenix.


    Thus, Tang Jie began to think about how to remove the demonic energy in Ice Phoenix''s body.


    But he quickly discovered that no matter what he did, the demonic energy simply couldn''t be removed from Ice Phoenix, as if it had taken root within her.


    To be more precise, this demonic energy had be like a cultivator''s spiritual energy. Removing it was no different from a cultivator casting spell arts. Even when it was all taken out, it would quickly regenerate.It was a power that was deeply imnted into Ice Phoenix''s marrow, rooted in every cell, a brand left on the most microscopic level. Tang Jie couldn''t eliminate it no matter what he did.


    In the end, he was no doctor. With no other choice, he brought Ice Phoenix back to the Rosecloud Domain.


    Nobody had expected Tang Jie toe back from Verdant Cloud alive, and they were surprised and ted.


    After hearing the story from him, everyone sighed. They all understood why Tang Jie was willing to go to great lengths to save Ice Phoenix, and even Xu Miaoran was very supportive. From her perspective, Tang Jie was ultimately the reason Ice Phoenix had be a demon, and Tang Jie had already proved himself to her, so there was no reason for her to not trust him.


    The Basking Moon Sect began to seek out doctors and medicine to treat Ice Phoenix.


    But all of the famous medical cultivators of the world could only shake their heads after seeing Ice Phoenix''s condition.


    As there were none in Sageheart, they sought out famed doctors from Horizon Ocean Pavilion and the Seven Absolutions Sect, but none of them could help.


    One doctor directly went to the heart of the matter. "For eons now, the cultivators of the Great Ster Chiliocosm have only prescribed a single treatment for demons: kill! Nobody has ever tried to save them, or perhaps there were a few attempts, but they have all ended in failure. And I''ve never heard of anyone being able to save someone who has already be a demon¡­ This is no longer a medical problem, so there is no use in consulting us."


    Unlike other demonic cultivators, Ice Phoenix had be a demon through the corruption of Primordial Fog demonic energy, which made her a true demon. For ordinary demon cultivators, it was a problem of the arts they practiced, but for true demons, it was a fundamental matter. Even if Ice Phoenix''s cultivation were crippled, it still might not be enough to save her.


    They were another kind of lifeform,pletely separate from humans.


    Helpless, Tang Jie went to Yun Tian.


    But this Earth Immortal who had participated in the war against Primordial Fog was also powerless to help Ice Phoenix. "She haspletely transformed into a demon. No medicine can save her."


    "Ancestor, is there really no way?" Tang Jie anxiously asked.


    "This¡­" Yun Tian stroked his beard and thought for a while. "There are other examples of cultivators falling to demonhood in the Great Ster Chiliocosm."


    While the Jade Lady iceheart Mantra could lead one to demonhood, it wasn''t the only way.


    The demons of Primordial Fog had developed many ways to invade the positive ne. The Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra was a slow-acting method that only caused demonhood as a side effect. In the eyes of the demons, it wasn''t worthy of taking on the heavy responsibility of tempting cultivators into bing demons. True methods were much faster, so there were actually many who had be demons. In the first ce, the Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra had been meant to resist demonic temptation.


    Among the countless stories of people who had be demons, Yun Tian recalled one in particr.


    "That is a very old story. It is said that long ago, there was a cultivator couple, two talented cultivators who loved each other dearly. One was the Violet Robe Wanderer and the other was the Scarlet Cloud Fairy, and together, they were the Violet Cloud Couple. The Primordial Fog Cmity came around at that time, and the Violet Cloud Couple joined the fight, ying countless demons and gaining unmatched fame and prestige. But this also drew the attention of an Archdevil of Primordial Fog, one called the Hearteater Demon Lord. This Demon Lord used their supreme arts to turn the Violet Robe Wanderer into a demon, causing husband and wife to fight each other."


    Yun Tian paused a moment before going on. "Not long after the Violet Robe Wanderer became a demon, he was subdued by the righteous cultivators. The Scarlet Cloud Fairy implored them to spare her husband, seeking to turn him back into a human. The cultivators sensed the deep affection they held for each other and decided to give them a chance. From then on, the Scarlet Cloud Fairy traveled with her husband, seeking a way to remove the demonic energy by the root."


    "What happened after that?" Tang Jie quickly asked.


    Yun Tian shook his head. "I don''t know¡­ Not long after that, the Primordial Fog Domain fissure closed and the demons retreated. The reputation of the Violet Cloud Couple faded into obscurity. asionally, however, one could still hear some legends regarding the couple. Some people said that the Scarlet Cloud Fairy failed to save her husband and the two of them died together. Others say that the Scarlet Cloud Fairy failed and was killed by her husband, and then her husband waster on killed by some other powerful cultivator. There are also ounts that say that the Scarlet Cloud Fairy did manage to save her husband, for the two were once seen walking alongside each other, talking andughing as if nothing was wrong. But this story was quickly rejected, for if this were truly the case, the Violet Cloud Couple would have no reason to stay hidden. Thus, while there are many rumors, none of them were believed."


    "So it was just a rumor?" Tang Jie sighed.


    Yun Tian nodded. "Yes, just a rumor. In this old man''s life, it is the only rumor regarding a demon being restored to a human. I know that this rumor has many problems and is not very usible, but the person who brought up this rumor to this old man took it rather seriously, taking it to be real. If there was anything about this story worth paying attention to, it''s the person who brought it up."


    "Oh?" Tang Jie grew interested. "What sort of person told this story to Ancestor?"


    After some thought, Yun Tian replied, "It was when I first became an Earth Immortal and wandered the myriad domains. In a ce called the Mountain Domain, I encountered a cultivator called Reverend Yellow Heaven. Like me, he was an Earth Immortal. He was the one who told me the story of the Violet Cloud Couple, and he said that he personally saw them and owed his current aplishments to their instruction. Iughed when I heard, saying that this was too absurd. If the Scarlet Cloud Fairy had saved her husband, she could have made a public announcement and informed others of this blessing. If the Violet Cloud Couple had been willing to fight against the demons, they should have been able to show this kindness to the world. From this, one could see that this rumor had to be fake. He became angry at this and argued with me, saying that the Violet Cloud Fairy must have had their own troubles, to not divulge the secret. I asked him what sort of troubles these might be, but he couldn''t tell me. We departed on unhappy terms."


    "In other words, that Reverend Yellow Heaven might have been telling the truth?" Tang Jie asked.


    Yun Tian sighed. "Rather than saying it might be real, it''s better to say that you hope it''s real."


    "Then does Ancestor know where to find this Reverend Yellow Heaven?" Tang Jie urgently asked.


    Yun Tian looked at Tang Jie. "You want to try?"


    Tang Jie firmly replied, "So long as there''s even the smallest chance, your disciple will try!"


    Yun Tian nodded. "If that''s the case¡­ then fine. Now that I think about it, perhaps this is the will of the heavens. The will of the heavens wants you to go there, which is why all of this was arranged."


    Tang Jie was startled, and then he realized. "Could it be¡­"


    "Correct," Yun Tian replied. "This Reverend Yellow Heaven came from the Vast Wilderness World. The Vast Wilderness World has 72 Divine States, with each state being evenrger than the Rosecloud Domain. Reverend Yellow Heaven is the ancestor of the Star Radiant Gate, a sect of the Western Bull Divine State."


    "Your disciple understands. If that''s the case, your disciple will take a trip to the Vast Wilderness World," Tang Jie said.


    Yun Tian sighed. "The Vast Wilderness is a ce of many experts, and even with your Deification cultivation, you cannot go around as you please. Let alone Immortal tform cultivators, you might not even be able to deal with the Soul Projection experts there. You must understand that your title of number one Violet Pce expert is only valid in the Rosecloud Domain. Outside of it, there are countless strong experts in the cosmos. There might even be Deification cultivators who can defeat you."


    Tang Jie replied, "This disciple is only going to see the Violet Cloud Couple, not to swagger about. If there are any problems, this disciple will avoid them, and he will not act ording to emotion."


    Yun Tian bemoaned, "The worry is that there are some troubles you won''t be able to avoid. Ice Phoenix has already be a demon, and if you bring a demon with you, do you really think it will be that easy to move around?"


    Tang Jie was dumbfounded as he realized what the problem was. He quickly said, "Then your disciple will put her in the diagram."


    Yun Tian shook his head. "It''s no good. Ice Phoenix has already be a demon, and her entire body radiates demonic energy. If you put her in the small world within your Mountain River State Diagram, if Ice Phoenix tries to force out the demonic energy within her, she could very likely contaminate your world. The Mountain River State Diagram World is about to bear fruit after all the investment you put into it, and here you are trying to put in a big bug, which might end up soiling all the fruit upon that tree."


    Tang Jie broke out in a cold sweat. He hadn''t imagined that Ice Phoenix would be so scary that she could singlehandedly contaminate an entire small world.


    In truth, this was because the small world was on the cusp of maturity. Once it had fully matured and beplete, Ice Phoenix naturally wouldn''t be able to contaminate it. But right now, the small world was at its weakest and most critical moment, so it could not tolerate even the slightest risk.


    If not for that, Tang Jie would have used it in his battle against the Jewel Immortal Sovereign.


    Realizing this, Tang Jie said, "If that''s the case, then I will have to resort to altering appearances."


    Yun Tian nodded. "That''s the only option. Even then, you must be careful. With this woman by your side, you will inevitably encounter problems."


    "This disciple will keep that in mind!" Tang Jie said, and bowed.


    Even Tang Jie hadn''t expected that he would be setting off again so soon.


    But things weren''t as desperate this time, given that the threat of Immortal Ji Yao had been removed, so everyone was much more rxed.


    It was still Xu Miaoran who remained anxious. Pulling on Tang Jie''s hand, she said, "Even though that Immortal Ji Yao is gone, you have to remain extremely cautious. The Vast Wilderness World isn''t like here. There are so many experts there, and just when you think you''re safe, you might actually be in great danger."


    Tang Jie smiled. "Rx. If something really happens, I won''t fight to the death. I''ll make running away my first priority. Besides, I also have Little Three. If there''s any trouble, I''ll have him notify all of you."


    "Mm!" Xu Miaoran vigorously nodded. At the same time, she stuffed the various medicines she had refined into Tang Jie''s hands.


    With the resources she controlled, she had been able to make a lot of progress in pill refining, seeding in refining quite a lot. All of this, she was now giving to Tang Jie, only asking that he stay safe.


    After saying his farewells, Tang Jie took Ice Phoenix and set off once more. But this time, before he left, Yiyi rushed into Tang Jie''s embrace and shouted, "Don''t even think about leaving me behind this time!"


    It seemed that Tang Jie leaving Yiyi behind to go to the Verdant Cloud Domain had left her rather heartbroken.


    Although he had tried to hide his return and subsequent departure from Yiyi, Yiyi was ready and had been waiting for him at the teleportation formation.


    After ambushing Tang Jie, she hung around his neck and refused to let go.


    Tang Jie didn''t know what to do with her. "The Vast Wilderness World is no ordinary ce. With so many experts around, if youe with me, I might not be able to protect you."


    Yiyi earnestly shook her head. "I don''t need Big Brother to protect me! I will protect Big Brother!"


    After four hundred years of cultivation, this little girl had be a maiden, her cultivation reaching the peak of Transformation. Even so, she was still much weaker than Tang Jie, and the help she could provide was very limited. But facing down Yiyi''s earnest gaze, Tang Jie couldn''t bring himself to say, "You won''t be of much help."


    After some thought, he finally said, "Fine. With you around, at least there will be another person to keep an eye on Ice Phoenix."


    He finally agreed to bring Yiyi along.


    Looking back, he saw that the upper echelons of the Basking Moon Sect, as well as Xu Miaoran, Wei Tianchong, Xi Canhen, Zuo Quanming, and Er Hu, were all looking at him, sending him off.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, and then he stepped into the formation and disappeared.

 Chapter 826: Immortal Estate

    Chapter 826: Immortal Estate


    <em>Boom!</em>


    Three figures emerged from a burst of coruscating light.


    Tang Jie exhaled. "We''re finally here."


    Every spatial teleportation over extreme distances was a torture. The only blessing was that if one hadprehended the Dao of Space, one could experience the power of Space in the teleportation process and increase one''s understanding of the Dao of Space, which meant that one did not have to suffer in vain.


    Tang Jie looked around and found that they were in arge hall.


    The hall was made of stone bricks, a simple and majestic structure that radiated age. The vast quantities of dust indicated that no one had been here in a very long time.


    Aplete teleportation formation had been carved onto the floor.


    This teleportation formation was very different from the ones Tang Jie knew, with some formation lines and nodes emerging from apletely different line of thought. Tang Jie was familiar with some of them, and when he spotted them, he couldn''t help but cry out, "A High Antiquity teleportation formation!"


    Yes, this set of coordinates had been provided by Immortal Ji Yao. A ce she knew about naturally had to be linked to High Antiquity.In other words, this hall had been around for ten thousand years.


    Despite its age, the structure of the hall was intact. Standing in the middle of it, he could feel an immense will filling this space, a powerful will that made him tremble.


    Tang Jie was better off, but Yiyi and Ice Phoenix clearly couldn''t stand it.


    Yiyi paled. "What a powerful energy!"


    "Mm." Tang Jie nodded. "This should be the will of a High Antiquity Titan, which protected this ce for ten thousand years."


    A will left from ten thousand years ago could be so powerful? Yiyi spat out her tongue and said in awe, "Who could be this formidable?"


    Ice Phoenix snorted. "You need to ask? Since it was Master who pointed this ce out, this will naturally had to be left behind by Master."


    But Tang Jie shook her head. "It''s not her energy."


    He had interacted with Immortal Ji Yao a lot and had developed a keen understanding of her energy.


    Ice Phoenix was unconvinced. "Perhaps it was before my master achieved sainthood."


    Those who fell to be demons didn''t call it such. They instead phrased it as attaining enlightenment and achieving sainthood.


    Tang Jie shook his head again. "That''s not it either. The Iceheart Lotus Lady had a proud and cold personality, but look at this hall. It is spacious and majestic, clearly the work of a male cultivator."


    No matter how stubborn Ice Phoenix was, she couldn''t say that her master before achieving sainthood acted like a man, so she could only grunt and ignore him.


    Yiyi widened her eyes. "Could it have been left by the Martial Lord?"


    Tang Jie shook his head again. "The Martial Lord''s Dao emphasizes battle, so if he had left behind this building, it would have been brimming with murderous energy. While this hall is grand and lofty, it doesn''t smell of killing and battle, so it shouldn''t have been him. It should have been left behind by some other great figure of the Court of Myriad Domains."


    "''The Court of Myriad Domains''?" Yiyi''s eyes gleamed. "Could this be the estate of some bigshot from the court?"


    Tang Jie nodded. "This is possible."


    Immortal Ji Yao had been imprisoned in the demon cave for ten thousand years and had basically known nothing about the outside world. Thus, when searching for teleportation points, she would have sought out a reliable one that would have survived ten thousand years. A secret estate some powerful figure had set aside for cultivating was definitely the best choice, and given her former status, she could easily have known about such ces.


    "Regardless of what sort of ce it is, we''ll find out once we go out there," Tang Jie said.


    The three of them walked out of the hall.


    What greeted them outside the hall was a gray fog.


    The fog was so dense that one could stick out one''s hand and lose sight of it, and the wailing of ghosts could be made out within it.


    "Nether Fog," Yiyi whispered.


    Yiyi had gained much experience in her years at the Basking Moon Sect, so she immediately recognized this as a kind of miasma. This miasma was highly poisonous, and prolonged exposure would turn one into ooze. Not only that, the soul would turn into a ghost that would wander the miasma, seeking out victims to devour. Thus, it was called Nether Fog.


    Tang Jie was startled to find such a frightening fog waiting for them right outside the hall.


    This sort of ghost fog was so powerful that even Violet Pce experts would have a hard time dealing with it.


    Fortunately, it couldn''t do much to him. With a wave of his hand, he covered Yiyi and Ice Phoenix in a barrier to keep out the fog. As for him, not even mentioning his Immortal Spirit Body that was immune to most evils, his Deification cultivation alone was enough to fend off this fog.


    The Celestial Eye in his forehead opened, and he peered through the fog and looked around.


    It turned out that this was an estate of immense size, and there were many buildings around them, though they had seemingly been abandoned for a long time. Nether Fog permeated the area, various savage ghosts lurking within.


    Perhaps sensing that a living person had appeared in this estate, the ghosts began to howl and converge on Tang Jie''s position.


    Tang Jie snorted. "Evil ghosts and spirits, begone from my sight!"


    He spoke these eight words through Law Speaking, and his words became edicts, turning into eight golden lights that had the ghosts wailing.


    These ghosts were notpletely mindless, so when they saw that this was no easy prey, they began to withdraw. But some of the more fearless ghosts continued to charge at Tang Jie, who simply called out, "Little Three."


    Little Three appeared on his shoulder, sitting on it like a monkey. Upon seeing all those ghosts, he excitedly yelled and rushed in.


    Nether Fog had no effect on ghosts, and Little Three moved in it like a fish in water. In a sh, he had reached a ghost and grabbed it. The innate aura of a Hunter Ghost, that bane of all ghosts, had that ghost trembling in fear. But then Little Three cast the ghost aside. Clearly, this was not the kind of ghost he was looking for.


    "Kill them if you''re not eating them," Tang Jie said.


    When Little Three heard this, he flew up to that falling ghost and flew straight through it. A momentter, that ghost dissipated in a puff of ck smoke.


    This stunned all the other ghosts, and they began to frantically retreat.


    Little Three doggedly gave chase, hunting them down one by one. He was in no rush, treating this like ytime and having a grand old time.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie took Yiyi and Ice Phoenix to the other end of the estate to see if they could find an exit.


    Whoever had established this estate, it was certainly arge one. Tang Jie had passed numerous halls, but he had yet to find an exit, though he did manage to find various treasures within these halls.


    But these treasures, while good, held little attraction to Tang Jie. He shattered most of them into golden grains, keeping a few of the more decent ones to put in the Treasure Cosmos Formation as a recement for some of the weaker art relics.


    There were also some medicines, though most of them had lost their effects from age.


    After walking for more than half a day, Tang Jie finally emerged from the foggy region and arrived at a garden.


    Tang Jie rejoiced upon seeing the garden.


    Numerous spirit nts grew here, all of them ten thousand years old. While they weren''t as rare as those in the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, they werepletely on par when it came to age.


    Tang Jie hadn''t thought that he would get his hands on another hidden realm. It was like a fortune falling from the heavens.


    This was perhaps the easiest fortune he had evere across, for which he had to thank Immortal Ji Yao. If not for her, he would never have been able to teleport right into the estate of a High Antiquity bigshot.


    After ten thousand years, what had once been valuable had be worthless and what had been worthless had now be treasures. This garden was much more valuable than all the treasures in the estate so far¡ªat least for Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie entered the garden.


    Eighteen statues stood in the garden. The moment Tang Jie entered, they all turned to him.


    "Puppets? Interesting," Tang Jie smiled.


    Tang Jie had seen such High Antiquity puppets before in the Myriad Court fragment, but those puppets had all been in the form of animals. He hadn''t expected to run into human-shaped ones.


    One of the puppets suddenly rushed at him.


    Tang Jie simply said, "Yiyi."


    Yiyi let out the Mother Cloudbat puppet.


    The two puppets crashed together, and while the Mother Cloudbat puppet''s punch pushed back the attacking puppet, the Mother Cloud puppet was also forced back half a step by the impact.


    "As expected, Soul Transformation level," Tang Jie muttered.


    These eighteen puppets were clearly all Soul Transformationbat puppets, though they were still a little weaker than the Mother Cloudbat puppet.


    This disparity wasn''t in the formations, but in the superb quality of the materials Tang Jie had invested.


    Mother Cloud Essence Metal, the ghost guard core, and then High Antiquity crystal cores! Each one was a valuable treasure.


    Still, Tang Jie''s eyes were gleaming as he looked at the eighteen Soul Transformation puppets.


    Even if the materials weren''t on the same level as his Mother Cloudbat puppet, given that they had been made into Soul Transformation puppets, they had to be on the higher end of quality. If he could collect them all and then study the formations, he might be able to boost the Mother Cloud puppet''s strength to another level, perhaps even the Violet Pce level.


    Although this wasn''t very useful for Tang Jie, it was extremely important for protecting Yiyi.


    After that puppet had been pushed back, it didn''t charge in again, instead retreating to the side.


    Realizing something, Tang Jie reached out and took a ten-thousand-year spirit nt from the garden.


    As expected, the puppets didn''t move.


    When Tang Jie moved to take a second, the puppet charged again, and this time, it brought a friend.


    Tang Jie still did nothing, continuing to have the Mother Cloudbat puppet fight.


    The Mother Cloud puppet was unafraid of a one-versus-two, its formations lighting up with starlight. Energy surged as it punched out, pushing back the two puppets. If one looked closely, one would see that a crimson light was mixed in with the starlight. This was the ghost guard''s own power, fusing with the formation to double its power.


    In its early stages, the Mother Cloudbat puppet had only been at the most basic phase of Soul Transformation, but after several hundred years of umtion and consolidation, it now stood at the peak, proudly looking down on its peers.


    After being pushed back, the two puppets stepped aside.


    Tang Jie took a second and third nt without reaction.


    But when he wanted to take a fourth, three of the eighteen puppets mobilized.


    "I see now. I can only take one nt for each one I defeat? And one more is added for each level of challenge?" Tang Jie chuckled. "That''s too troublesome. All of you should juste together."


    He waved his sleeve, unleashing a Water Cloud Sleeve at the puppets.


    He had inherited this from Ling Xiao, and while he had yet to reach the unstoppable power of Ling Xiao, it was more than what those eighteen Soul Transformation puppets could handle.


    <em>Bang! Bang!</em> In a few rounds, Tang Jie had taken them down.


    As expected, the eighteen puppets stopped attacking, all of them retreating and leaving the gardenpletely in Tang Jie''s hands.


    Tang Jie was just about to take all the flowers when he let out a gasp of surprise. Frowning, he stared at one of the flowers in the garden.

 Chapter 827: Immortal Estate (2)

    Chapter 827: Immortal Estate (2)


    It was an unremarkable purple flower, swaying in the wind, a red fruit growing from its heart.


    "A Violet Berry," Yiyi said.


    Violet Berries were fruit that were rich in spiritual energy, and they could be used after a mere one hundred years. When consumed, they could refine the bones and strengthen the body. They were practical fruit, but they weren''t especially rare. When cultivating the Parting ssic, Tang Jie had used a lot of them.


    The problem was that this Violet Berry was still red and yet to ripen to purple. It would be another few decades until it matured.


    There was a ripening fruit in a garden from High Antiquity? This was rather interesting.


    And there was only this one Violet Berry in the entire garden, which meant that it hadn''t descended from another one nted earlier.


    Tang Jie carefully examined the fruit, and then he looked around the garden and found several other spirit nts that clearly hadn''t grown long enough yet.


    Tang Jie confidently said, "Someone has been here."


    "Based on their ages, it should have been sixty years ago." Yiyi was better able to analyze the age of nts. After examining the nts, she confirmed, "These nts were all ntedter on."Tang Jie thoughtfully looked at the eighteen puppets. "Could it be¡­"


    As he was thinking, a boom came from the distance.


    His eyes shing, he suddenly rushed in the direction of the sound, ignoring the garden.


    As he emerged from the garden, a valley appeared before him.


    This valley was also quite special. The path split off into two here, one extending into a frost-sted and freezing area and the other extending into a scorching hot area.


    In the valley of mes, waves of fire danced, and a firebird screeched high up in the air. Several people were battling with the mes, onerge bearded cultivator fighting with the firebird, each punch unleashing a thunderp like the one Tang Jie had heard earlier. But despite all that sound, the fury of the punches was quite mediocre. In the valley of ice, several people were running, led by a blue-clothed woman. She was fast and nimble, moving across that dark ice like she was flying.


    However, these people were only Mortal Shedding cultivators. The ones with the highest cultivation level were the bearded man and blue-clothed woman, and they were both at the peak of Mortal Shedding, having already passed through the Three Witherings andnded only a step away from Celestial Heart. At this time, they were all charging toward the valley entrance.


    This was what amazed Tang Jie the most. Considering that it was Immortal Ji Yao who had provided the coordinates for this teleportation point, he was sure that the owner of the estate had been a member of the Court of Myriad Domains. In other words, they had to at least be a Soul Projection Celestial Sovereign, and was even more likely to be an Earth Immortal.


    When had the estate of an Earth Immortal been a ce a group of Mortal Shedding cultivators could wander around in?


    Thinking this, Tang Jie waved his sleeve and concealed his group. He wasn''t an expert in concealment arts, but with his Deification cultivation, even the lowest level of stealth spell was something these Mortal Shedding cultivators couldn''t see through.


    Those cultivators were still running through the valleys of ice and fire.


    The bearded cultivator sprinted ahead, enduring the attacks of the firebird. As the valley entrance neared, he excitedly yelled, "I, Tuoba Hong, will finally take first ce!"


    At this moment, the woman in blue shot forward like a bolt of lightning, catching up to the bearded man and giggling, "Senior Brother Tuoba, it''s still your junior sister that will take first this time."


    "Lan Yuyan, you scoundrel!" the bearded Tuoba Hong furiously said.


    Just when the woman was about to exit the valley, a handsome man flew past her.


    The woman in blue paled. "Senior Brother Du!"


    Just when that man was about to exit the valley, he suddenly stopped at the valley edge. Turning back, he said, "Since Junior Sister wants first ce, then Junior Sister can have it."


    Lan Yuyan broke into a smile. "Thank you, Senior Brother!"


    She ran past him.


    The bearded man followed, but that man didn''t show the same courtesy to him, so as a result, the bearded man ended up being third.


    He emerged to see Lan Yuyan affectionately standing with that Senior Brother Du, at which he could only shake his head. "I guess no matter how good your cultivation is, you just can''t beat a good face."


    But he didn''t indicate whose face he was talking about.


    The valleys of ice and fire were rife with dangers, and everyone had used quite a lot of spiritual energy to push through. Thus, there wasn''t much conversation after they were all out, everyone finding a ce to sit down and meditate.


    While they were resting, quite a few more cultivators emerged from the valley and started resting as well.


    A whileter, that Senior Brother Du took stock of the group and frowned. "Why isn''t Junior Brother Yuan here yet?"


    Someone chortled, "Do you even need to ask? His kind heart must have acted up again, and he went to save those weaker junior disciples."


    "That''s right, that''s right. With Junior Brother Yuan''s strength, if he went all-out, he would at least be able to get top three, if not first ce. That do-gooder attitude of his must have made him help out those good-for-nothings," another person agreed.


    The bearded man was very unhappy to hear this, because this was essentially saying that his third ce had been undeserved. But he had remained silent, tacitly acknowledging that this Junior Brother Yuan was stronger than he was.


    Senior Brother Du frowned, but he remained silent.


    After a while, ice and fire suddenly began to erupt from the valley.


    The cultivators gasped. "It seems like it''s about to reach its limit."


    Whatever this was referring to, that Senior Brother Du became very anxious, constantly peering into the valley. At this moment, a doll-faced youth ran out from the mes, carrying someone on his back.


    "It''s Junior Brother Yuan! He''sing out!" Everyone shouted.


    Someone added, "I knew that he wouldn''t being out alone."


    But not only was that Junior Brother Yuan carrying a person, he also had to put more energy into sustaining his barrier. Just as he was about to reach the end of the valley, he swayed as if he was tired out.


    Senior Brother Du paled. "Oh no! Junior Brother Yuan''s about to hit his limit!"


    He rushed over to the valley.


    It seemed like he was going to save Junior Brother Yuan, but the hidden Tang Jie could tell that he was actually trying to head Junior Brother Yuan off, blocking his way out. Most importantly, he was using spiritual energy to blow at the mes, which only served to make them fiercer.


    Openly helping while secretly hurting!


    Tang Jie inwardly snorted, and with a thought, he had the waves of me part.


    The sudden parting of the mes assailing the pair greatly reduced the pressure on Junior Brother Yuan''s spiritual energy, and he rushed forward, excitedly saying to the approaching Senior Brother Du, "Senior Brother Du, thank you for your help!"


    Senior Brother Du was also taken aback.


    He had always been wary of Junior Brother Yuan, and he wanted to use this chance to kill him in the valley. To his surprise, he had made a mess of it and failed to control the mes properly so that the waves of me opened, helping him instead. If he had known that this was going to happen, he wouldn''t have helped at all.


    Despite his thought, he was all smiles, going back with Junior Brother Yuan.


    Once they were out of the valley, his face darkened. "Junior Brother Yuan, it''s good that you have such a kind soul, but you need to temper it with a little reality. The martial uncles using all their strength can only suppress the Valley of Fire and Ice for a limited time. But rather than using this chance to get through, you waste your time on people who are bound to not pass. Isn''t this letting down your teachers? Even if you can help one person, can you help them all? Even if you can help him now, with his strength, do you really think he can get anything out of the trials ahead?"


    He red at the fellow disciple on Junior Brother Yuan''s back. On the surface, he was rebuking him for being so ipetent, but secretly, he cursed that this guy wasn''t more ipetent so that Junior Brother Yuan could be dragged down even more.


    But Junior Brother Yuan was too young. He bowed his head to this criticism. "I know that Senior Brother only means well, but as a cultivator, I always act withpassion for all life. If I can''t even lend a helping hand to the people at my side, what sort of cultivator would I be? As for this Five Origins Paradise, if I miss out on it, I miss out on it. After all, this is a free chance, and there will be another chance in forty years."


    Heughed, a rather silly and cuteugh.


    But Senior Brother Du was so angry that he couldn''t speak. He was about to give a good scolding when another voice shouted, "Little hoodlum, what nonsense is this?"


    The disciples looked up to see an old man floating in the air, seated on a small gray donkey and carrying arge wine gourd on his back.


    The old man jumped down from the donkey and gave Junior Brother Yuan a rap on the head. "Yuan Chenfei, has a Heart Demon entered your brain? Doing something like this!? What ''free chance''? ''Another chance forty years from now''? What sort of ce do you think the Five Origins Paradise is? An Immortal estate, with countless lucky opportunities all around, only opening once every one hundred years. That it opened early is a gift from the heavens, but you don''t value it at all, saying that it''s nothing and that there will be another chance in forty years. How do you know that it will open in forty years? Maybe it will be another one hundred instead. At that point, your cultivation will have long since gone past the threshold, and you won''t get another chance to enter the paradise, and you''ll be cursing yourself for having wasted this chance! And you almost lost your life! You want to anger your teacher to death!?"


    He struck that kid called Yuan Chenfei again and again, but while his strikes seemed heavy, they were actually very light. It was clear that he cherished this boy.


    Tang Jie also gathered some useful information.


    It seemed that this ce called the Five Origins Paradise had be the hidden realm of some sect. But this hidden realm clearly had limits on the cultivation level of the people who entered it.


    This donkey-riding old man was a Heart Demon cultivator, so he guessed that those above Heart Demon couldn''t enter.


    Someone like Tang Jie naturally would have been denied, but the seal was on the entrance to the hidden realm, whereas Tang Jie had entered through teleportation. And perhaps it was because of Tang Jie that this paradise had opened early¡ªsince it couldn''t deny him, it was trying to throw him out.


    From the tone of these people, these were probably all disciples of that sect.


    When Tang Jie came out of the academy, as an outstanding individual, he had just entered Nine Revolutions. But here, some random sect had disciples who were mostly at Mortal Shedding. Clearly, this Vast Wilderness World was a ce of crouching tigers and hidden dragons.

 Chapter 828: Immortal Estate

    Chapter 828: Immortal Estate


    Right after the old man had finished his lecturing, three more people flew out. These were a muscr man with a saber on his back, a blue-robed schr, and a middle-aged beauty. Like the old man, they were all Celestial Heart cultivators, all at the Heart Demon Tier. As Tang Jie had guessed, this ce probably permitted entry only to those at Heart Demon or below.


    It was probably these people who had suppressed the valley, allowing the disciples to pass through.


    This was most likely intended as a test and tempering for the disciples. Those that passed could continue exploring while those that failed had to either promptly turn back or die within the valley.


    Once all four were present, the man with the saber said, "The early opening of the Five Origins Paradise is a blessing for my Herding Yang Sect. Let the four of us lead this expedition. We must grab all the benefits for ourselves, before the Avatamsaka Temple and Verdant Goat Sect react. My Herding Yang Sect must end up the winner of this expedition. Does everyone understand?"


    "This disciple understands!" all the cultivators shouted, and they charged farther into the estate.


    Tang Jie now had a general understanding of what was going on.


    It seemed that it was three sects, not one, that jointly controlled this ce.


    Because they were wary of each other, no sect could put all their energy into exploring, so in the end, the three sects had reached an agreement, which was that four Heart Demon cultivators would lead a group of Mortal Shedding disciples into the paradise. This essentially made the paradise into a training ground for the disciples.


    This approach had its benefits, as the paradise became a location that could be repeatedly used, and each entry would have new discoveries and surprises. Earlier, Tang Jie had found quite a lot of nice things, and while they weren''t good enough to reach his level, for these low-level disciples, they were extremely valuable treasures.His arrival had caused the Five Origins Paradise to open early. The Herding Yang Sect was probably closer to the area, so it had probably decided to immediately muster up a group and head in first.


    Tang Jie had gotten one thing wrong. The four Heart Demon cultivators weren''t merely the result of apromise, but because the paradise was sealed with the Twelve Circuit Heavens Seal, which only permitted twelve Celestial Heart cultivators to enter each opening. This was why the three sides had agreed to send only four Heart Demon cultivators from each sect.


    The Herding Yang Sect could use their location to head inside the Five Origins Paradise first, but they did not dare to take up the remaining eight Celestial Heart spots.


    Once the disciples had dispersed, the four Heart Demon True Persons looked at each other and also departed. But they traveled together toward one location: the garden.


    The garden was the most valuable location of the Five Origins Paradise, but those eighteen High Antiquity puppets were the greatest challenge. Each one had the strength of an early-phase Soul Transformation cultivator, and this estate forbade anyone above Heart Demon to enter, which meant that one had to use Heart Demon strength to challenge Soul Transformation in order to get a spirit nt.


    It was no wonder so few of those spirit nts in the garden had been collected.


    But the garden was now under Tang Jie''s control, and the nts within had be his private property. How could he let anyone get their grubby hands on them? After some thought, he said, "Yiyi, what do you think about switching out one of the puppets?"


    Yiyi''s eyes lit up, and she pped her hands andughed. "That''s a fun idea!"


    Four Heart Demon True Persons would have a tough time beating a single Soul Transformation puppet, and the Mother Cloudbat puppet? They could tire themselves to death and still not get a single nt.


    But then Yiyi shook her head. "The puppets are too different to make it work."


    "True," Tang Jie sighed. The initial designs had only consideredbat strength, not any disguise ability.


    Ice Phoenix suddenly said, "I have an illusion art that can change the appearance of that puppet. I guarantee that those four Heart Demon cultivators won''t see through it."


    "You?" Tang Jie said in surprise. "You want to help me?"


    Ice Phoenix sneered. "Why can''t I help you? You''re stronger than me, so if I want to escape, I have to go for cunning rather than strength. Opposing you will only make you put up your guard against me, so it would be better to temporarily humble myself and obey yourmands. Once I''ve gotten you used to ordering me around, I''ll abruptly make my move. Wouldn''t that be much better? Now that I think about it, I''m a demon woman, so this is the path I should have chosen in the first ce. It''s just that I haven''t been a demon for long andck the experience, which made me forget about it. I apologize for showing you such a crude disy."


    Her tone was rather stiff and stern at first, but it gradually turned more and more polite and charming, leaving Tang Jie amazed. A few momentster, he nodded and said, "That''s right¡ªthis is how a demon woman should be. Compared to a real demon woman, the demon women of the Thousand Passions Sect are sorelycking."


    Ice Phoenix covered her mouth and giggled, but her face still exuded hatred. It was clear that she still wasn''t good enough at putting up a false front. She then asked, "So, do you dare or not?"


    Tang Jie indifferently replied, "Why not? If you''re willing to be my maid, why should I be afraid to be your master?"


    These words made Ice Phoenix''s face freeze, and she became so angry that she almost erupted. But then she took in a deep breath and smiled. "If that''s the case, your maid will apany Young Lady Yiyi."


    Yiyiughed and flew toward the garden. "Hurry, hurry. Those people have already gotten pretty far. If we let them get there first, it will be hard to make the switch."


    Tang Jie didn''t go after the two. Yiyi had been with him for many years and was no longer that silly little girl. He trusted in her deeply. Moreover, Ice Phoenix was at Soul Transformation while Yiyi was atte-phase Transformation, so the two were of the same cultivation level. But Yiyi also had thebat puppet, the bean soldiers, the Treasure Cosmos Formation, and even Tutu as her mount. Tang Jie had essentially given her everything except the Mountain River State Diagram and the Sovereign de, so he wasn''t afraid of Ice Phoenix trying anything.


    After some thought, Tang Jie flew off after those Mortal Shedding disciples.


    He wanted to take a look at that youth called Yuan Chenfei.


    Few could maintain a pure heart on the treacherous Immortal path. Since he had run into one, he might as well help him out.


    Moreover, Tang Jie vaguely sensed that there was something strange about this youth, which made him even more interested.


    Not long after Tang Jie left, two more groups charged out of the valley.


    One consisted of staff-wielding monks, and the other consisted of green-clothed cultivators.


    The leader monk had a square face,rge ears, and a muscr body. As he emerged from the valley, he looked around and thumped his staff. "Those rascals from the Herding Yang Sect got ahead of us. We must make haste and dy no longer."


    Those two groups of disciples went off in pursuit.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The Five Origins Paradise was veryrge, and of its locations, Tang Jie had only been to the Ghost Fog Pce and All Flora Garden.


    The Ghost Fog Pce was too dangerous, and anybody below Violet Pce would have a hard time surviving, which made it forbidden ground for the three sects. The All Flora Garden was too difficult, and only Celestial Heart cultivators had any hope of getting one or two nts. The disciples could only go to the Rainbow Meadow.


    Here, there was a vast field, lush forests, high mountains, and abundant water, all of iting together to form a treacherous andplex environment that was rich in resources.


    The Rainbow Meadow produced many fiends, but they were mostly at the Mind Opening level, with the asional fiend king at Transformation. The luck and adaptability of the disciples would be tested here. While the Rainbow Meadow was an extremely dangerous ce, it wasn''t a ce that Mortal Shedding disciples couldn''t go. If they were lucky, they could gather spirit nts and kill some fiends, which they could trade in for many benefits back at their sect.


    This was why the Rainbow Meadow''s nts were generally around one hundred years old, with only a few at around several hundred years. They were worthless to Tang Jie, but they were quite valuable to the disciples of the three sects.


    Disciples who had gotten through the valley could freely search for treasure on their own.


    The Herding Yang Sect''s disciples had all headed off to the Rainbow Meadow together.


    After traveling together for some distance, Senior Brother Du waved his hand, upon which everyone dispersed to search for nts. Although being together was safer, this meant that they would find less, and the question of splitting the spoils became a problem. Thus, in the vast majority of circumstances, the disciples would split up to search for nts, relying on their own abilities.


    In these circumstances, it wasn''t strange for people to die or go missing¡ªafter all, what was an expedition without any danger?


    Yuan Chenfei picked a direction to go off on his own. He had no idea that someone was following him.


    Yuan Chenfei carefully avoided the main road.


    Although he was a righteous fellow, he also wasn''t a fool. He knew that when exploring this hidden realm for treasure, he couldn''tpletely trust anyone, not even his fellow disciples. Hiding himself and doing his best to remain undiscovered was the way of survival.


    After traveling for a distance, Yuan Chenfei reached a smallke and spotted a green grass growing next to it.


    Yuan Chenfei had read the books in the sect, so he knew that this was a spirit nt called Moonlight Grass.


    The paradise had opened forty years early, so this Moonlight Grass was only sixty years old, but it was still rather valuable.


    Yuan Chenfei moved to get it, but after walking a few steps, he sensed that something was wrong. Removing a circr de from his back, he threw it into the air.


    The circr de buzzed through the air toward the Moonlight Grass.


    A momentter, countless silver fish jumped out of theke at the de.


    These silver fish were about a foot long, with slender snake-like bodies and a mouth full of sharp teeth. As their teeth bit into the de, they easily bit chunks out of the de, so swiftly that the de didn''t even slow down.


    The de flew a hundred meters, and before it could even reach the Moonlight Grass, it had been all eaten up by the silver fish, which made Yuan Chenfei''s heart shiver.


    "Scissor Serpents! That was close, close," Yuan Chenfei muttered.


    Scissor Serpents possessed a tiny bit of Silver Dragon blood, which was why they were called serpents. But they were probably the smallest serpents in the world, only growing around a foot long. They had savage natures, lived in groups, and were born with sharp knife-like teeth that could bite through almost anything. So long as there were enough Scissor Serpents, they could even bite a Celestial Heart cultivator to bits.


    If Yuan Chenfei had been attacked by those things, he would have been torn to shreds before he could even react.


    But now that he knew that these were Scissor Serpents, he knew how to deal with them. Yuan Chenfei looked around to confirm that there was no one else around, and then he extended his right arm and made a cut on it with his left hand, letting out a few drops of blood.


    He cast the blood into theke, and as the blood spread out, all of the Scissor Serpents scattered as if they had run into their worst enemy.


    Chuckling, Yuan Chenfei flew up to the Moonlight Grass and easily collected it, with not even a single Scissor Serpent attempting to bite him.


    "Eh!" In Tang Jie''s mind, the voice of the Vermillion Bird rang out.


    She shouted, "What a familiar scent. This is¡­"


    After pondering for a while, she shouted, "The Lithos Dragon bloodline!"

 Chapter 829: Immortal Estate (4)

    Chapter 829: Immortal Estate (4)


    In ancient times, there was an Immortal beast called the Lithos, with the form of a dragon, a voice like a bell, a strength that could lift mountains, and a fiery temper.


    This temper and power of this powerful fiend, as well as its draconic form, made others call it the Lithos Dragon.


    ording to the Vermillion Bird, in the era of the Court of Myriad Domains, one of the Four Sages of the Myriad Court, the Sage Lord of Cosmic Origin, personally subdued the Lithos Dragon, turning it into their mount. A fiend was turned into an Immortal beast, residing in the court.


    When the Myriad Court was destroyed, the God Immortals all went missing, as did the Lithos Dragon.


    Who could have expected that this Yuan Chenfei would have some Lithos Dragon blood in him, that he was part-fiend?


    Unlike Meng Guanshan, who had be part-fiend through the Imperial Sky Stamp, Yuan Chenfei was a natural human¨Cfiend hybrid that hade about through mating between fiend and human.


    As different species, they shouldn''t have been able to reproduce. Even a fiend that turned into a human couldn''t hope to produce children through intercourse with a human.


    But there were also exceptions and unique circumstances.


    The Lithos Dragon had left behind a descendant, and this descendant was a human!If the Vermillion Bird''s ancestor hadn''t been on good terms with the Lithos Dragon, and if those memories she had inherited from High Antiquity weren''t gradually starting to awaken, she might not have noticed Yuan Chenfei''s origins.


    It was no wonder those Scissor Serpents had frantically fled from Yuan Chenfei''s blood.


    The Lithos Dragon was a great fiend of High Antiquity, an Immortal beast of the Myriad Court. In terms of status, it had only been a little lower than the Four Sages. In the lower world, this would be the bloodline of an emperor, and it was only natural for those small fiends to be scared. This blood alone allowed Yuan Chenfei to boldly walk among these fiends.


    But everything had its pros and cons.


    Ordinary fiends would be scared away by this majestic scent, but a Transformation fiend might feel delight rather than fear.


    For Transformation fiends, Yuan Chenfei and his High Antiquity bloodline were the finest meal. If they could absorb his blood, they would receive a huge boost in strength, on par with a top-ss medicine.


    Fortunately, Yuan Chenfei seemed to know this. After picking the Moonlight Grass, he swiftly departed.


    Sure enough, not long after he left, a figure rushed out from the distance.


    What came up to thekeside was a bald man with a fierce face. He wasn''t entirely bald, for there was a tuft of red hair like a rooster''sb on the top of his head. Therge man looked around and then dipped his finger into the water, upon which he trembled. "An Immortal bloodline, as expected! One of those human cultivators must have Immortal blood. I can''t miss out on this chance."


    The man threw his head back andughed before sniffing at the air, upon which he went off in Yuan Chenfei''s direction.


    Meanwhile, as Yuan Chenfei was flying along, a voice came from behind him. "Junior Brother Yuan, wait a moment."


    Yuan Chenfei turned to look, and then he said in delight, "Senior Brother Du?"


    The speaker was none other than Senior Brother Du.


    Yuan Chenfei said, "Senior Brother Du, didn''t you go to the other side? How did you end up here?"


    Senior Brother Du chuckled and flew over. "I was just running around all over the ce and ended up here. Since we''ve met, we might as well travel together. That way, we can also keep watch for each other."


    Not finding anything suspicious, Yuan Chenfei nodded. "Alright."


    He flew off, and as Senior Brother Du nced at Yuan Chenfei, his eyes shone with a sinister light, and his lips coldly smiled. Only then did he follow.


    The Vermillion Bird sneered at this sight. "This Du guy is really stubborn, and this Yuan kid is a little too naive. It looks to me like the Du guy will eventually y him to death."


    Tang Jie smiled. "Since I''ve seen it, this won''t happen."


    "How do you n to stop it?" the Vermillion Bird asked.


    Tang Jie thought it over as he watched the pair.


    Suddenly recalling a story he had heard before, he said with bright eyes, "Let''s y around with them a little."


    "''y'' what?" the Vermillion Bird asked in confusion.


    Tang Jie simply gave a mysterious smile, and then he flew ahead of Yuan Chenfei and Senior Brother Du.


    Arriving at a forest, he looked around and nodded. "This is the ce."


    He transformed into a man wearing rough clothes.


    He then pointed at a tree, turning it into a sprite.


    "Eh? Are you¡­" the Vermillion Bird said in surprise.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "I heard many legends and myths in my childhood and always wanted to be that main character who ran into an Immortal. But actually, isn''t switching roles and being the mentor even better? Today, I will bring to life those folk tales and create a fairy tale."


    With a wave of his hand, the tree sprite extended its countless branches and picked him up.


    Then he began to scream, "Save me! Save me!"


    It was quite convincing.


    Yuan Chenfei was flying over this forest at the time, so he flew in, upon which he saw a man hanging from a tree.


    This tree was clearly a man-eating tree sprite, its branches wrapped around the man like tentacles and trying to stuff him into its mouth. That man was barely keeping himself alive by desperately kicking, but as he struggled, the branches tightened their grip, which only made him panic more.


    Upon seeing Yuan Chenfei, the man shouted, "Save me, please!"


    Yuan Chenfei was about to intervene when Senior Brother Du arrived and stopped him. "Junior Brother Yuan, stop! This is the Five Origins Paradise. How could there be an outsider? It must be some Transformation fiend trying to trick us. You must not get close."


    Yuan Chenfei smiled. "If he was a Transformation fiend, why even try to trick us? He could juste up and take us down. Regardless of how this person got here, since he''s in danger, how can I not save him? I''ll save him, so please stay back and keep an eye out, Senior Brother!"


    He shot out several sts of wind that broke the tree sprite''s branches, causing Tang Jie to fall to the ground. The tree sprite was furious and began to pull out its roots to charge over. But Yuan Chenfei was unconcerned, taking out a sword box from his Mustard Seed Bag.


    He opened up the box, revealing seven swords within.


    Red, orange, blue, green, indigo, yellow, and violet!


    Yuan Chenfei took out the red sword and threw it into the air, upon which a gout of me descended from the heavens and struck the tree sprite, causing it to wail in pain. Tang Jie had merely temporarily inspirited this tree through his energy, so it was instantly burned into charcoal.


    Yuan Chenfei called back the red sword and put it back into the box.


    Tang Jie staggered over.


    Senior Brother Du pointed a finger at him and barked, "Don''te any closer!"


    Tang Jie hastily stopped and stammered out, "This lowly one thanks Young Master for saving my life!"


    Senior Brother Du fired off several sts of air at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie let those sts of air touch his body, nkly staring at the two.


    Senior Brother Du sensed that his finger sts had triggered no reaction from Tang Jie''s body. Taken aback, he muttered, "No trace of spiritual energy or fiend power. Is he really just an ordinary person?"


    Yuan Chenfei put away his sword box and walked over. "Who are you? How did you end up here?"


    Tang Jie replied, "This lowly one''s surname is Tang, and my given name is Jie. I''m a woodcutter who lives in Little Lake Vige on the West Bull Divine State''s Mount Geda, chopping firewood for a living. For some reason, I was swept up in a fiendish gale that threw me up into the air. When I woke up, I was here. This ce is so scary, with man-eating fiends everywhere¡­"


    A pile of lies came out of his mouth.


    He was unfamiliar with the Vast Wilderness, but this ce was so big that Yuan Chenfei and Senior Brother Du couldn''t possibly know every ce, so he just made up locations.


    Sure enough, Senior Brother Du bought his story and hesitated. "''A fiendish gale''? Could it be that the early opening was due to this fiendish gale? But where did ite from, and how could it get into this ce? And where is it now?"


    He was baffled.


    He wanted to ask, but seeing as Tang Jie was an ordinary person, what could he possibly know?


    Tang Jie grabbed Yuan Chenfei''s clothes and said, "Immortal, please save me!"


    Yuan Chenfei sighed. "You are very unlucky, to have ended up in this ce. If nobody helps you, you probably won''t get far before some fiend eats you up. Ah, forget it. Follow behind me. Once Iplete the sect''s mission, I will take you out of this ce."


    Tang Jie delightedly bowed to Yuan Chenfei. "Many thanks, Immortal."


    Yuan Chenfei waved his hands. "Stop calling me Immortal. My crude skills don''t deserve that title. True Immortals are omnipotent beings."


    "Yes, Young Master!" Tang Jie said, quickly changing his tone.


    Senior Brother Du grew anxious, saying, "Junior Brother, how could you risk bringing along aplete stranger? We have no idea where this person came from, and in thest several thousand years, an outsider has never appeared in the Five Origins Paradise. Why is it that now that one has appeared, you believe everything he says?"


    Yuan Chenfei said in surprise, "Senior Brother, didn''t you already test him?"


    Senior Brother Du replied, "We''re weak, and if this is a particrly powerful great fiend, we could test him over and over and still find nothing."


    Yuan Chenfei smiled. "If that''s the case, then we should just ept our fates. We''re helpless against great fiends, and I think a great fiend willing to trick us is much better than a great fiend that wants to eat us."


    It was a very open-minded point of view that had even Tang Jie inwardly nodding in approval.


    Yuan Chenfei took out a flying cloud which he had Tang Jie ride so that he could follow. Senior Brother Du could only silently ept the situation.


    But he remained suspicious, thinking to himself, <em>This woodcutter called Tang Jie is really too suspicious. I have to test him again.</em>


    If Tang Jie was lying, then he needed to be careful. If necessary, he would use Yuan Chenfei as a human shield and immediately run off. And if Tang Jie was telling the truth, then he would kill him along with Yuan Chenfei, and this guy could only curse his own rotten luck.


    His ns decided, Senior Brother Du became much more rxed.


    Meanwhile, the Vermillion Bird''s consciousness said to Tang Jie, "Interesting, interesting. I didn''t think you were so good at tricking people."


    Tang Jie snorted and replied, "Back in my hometown, this isn''t called ''tricking people''. It''s called ''acting''."

 Chapter 830: Immortal Estate (5)

    Chapter 830: Immortal Estate (5)


    With the additional burden of Tang Jie, Yuan Chenfei and Senior Brother Du moved much more slowly.


    Precious spiritual energy couldn''t be used entirely on flying, so after flying for a while, the twonded and walked.


    Yuan Chenfei didn''t mind this, focusing on finding spirit nts that could be harvested.


    But Senior Brother Du was furious.


    However, as he couldn''t figure out Tang Jie, he didn''t dare to attack just yet and instead sought opportunities to test Tang Jie.


    As they were walking, Senior Brother Du suddenly spotted a stream in the distance.


    An idea came to him, and he said, "After walking this much, I''m getting a little thirsty. Junior Brother, let''s go over there and get some water to drink."


    Upon hearing this, Yuan Chenfei nodded and smiled. "I am a little thirsty."


    They made their way to the stream.


    Tang Jie blindly followed behind Yuan Chenfei, while Senior Brother Du stayed at the very back, murderously staring at the two in front of him.


    Yuan Chenfei stopped by the stream, but just when he was about to speak, Senior Brother Du snapped his fingers.


    A st of wind struck Tang Jie''s leg, and with a scream, Tang Jie fell over.


    This fall would have himnding in the stream, and at this moment, countless silver fish flew out of the stream¡ªnone other than those Scissor Serpents, opening up their mouths to take a chunk out of Tang Jie.


    A mortal was bound to die to their jaws.


    Fortunately, Yuan Chenfei grabbed him and pulled him back in time.


    Pulling him back to shore, Yuan Chenfei sternly warned, "There are fiends in the water. Don''t stray too far from me. I''ll protect you."


    This stream had been discovered by a predecessor from their Herding Yang Sect, and as its geographical location was rather prominent, it had been passed down through the generations. Both Yuan Chenfei and Senior Brother Du knew about it.


    "Young Master, thank you once again for saving my life!" Tang Jie prostrated, his head covered in sweat.


    Yuan Chenfei took out a gourd and used a water-controlling spell to draw the stream water into the gourd. After a while, he stopped and said, "This should be enough."


    Senior Brother Du was unhappy to see that Tang Jie wasn''t dead, cursing Yuan Chenfei for interfering. However, his wariness towards Tang Jie also fell a little. He harrumphed, "If that''s the case, let''s go."


    He set off on his own.


    Yuan Chenfei had just been about to give the gourd to his senior brother, only to have him walk away without even looking at it. He grumbled, "Strange. He was the one who said he was thirsty, so why doesn''t he want it?"


    The three of them continued forward, and they soon reached a grove of fruit trees.


    Senior Brother Du''s eyes lit up again.


    Just when he was about to try another trick, Yuan Chenfei said, "This is the Violet Bramble Forest. A kind of man-eating fiend bee lives in the forest, asrge as washbasins and with a poisonous stinger on their tails. You absolutely must not provoke them, nor should you pick any of those fruits, thinking that they''re tasty. Go, go; we should detour around this forest."


    Senior Brother Du was inwardly furious.


    But in the Five Origins Paradise, he knew the same stuff Yuan Chenfei did. Other than that first incident, where Yuan Chenfei hadn''t warned Tang Jie to not get close to the water, in all other situations, Yuan Chenfei would issue a warning about any dangerous locations, leaving Senior Brother Du with no way to implement his ns.


    He didn''t know that Tang Jie was also mentally grumbling. This was robbing this show of all its drama. Not only could he not exercise his acting skills, he couldn''t even guide the plot. How could this be good enough?


    We have to go to those unknown dangerous areas.


    Senior Brother Du and Tang Jie reached the same conclusion.


    Senior Brother Du stepped forward and said, "Junior Brother Yuan, the Rainbow Meadow has been searched countless times, so there won''t be any rare nts here. All that you''ve gathered so far are no more than one hundred years old. The early opening of the Five Origins Paradise is a good thing, but it also means that the nts arecking in age. If we keep doing this, we won''t being away with any big harvest."


    "Senior Brother means¡­?"


    "We must head deeper into the Rainbow Meadow. Only there can we find nts that are old enough. A single one of those is enough for us to strike it rich."


    Yuan Chenfei hesitated. "But the depths of the Rainbow Meadow are crawling with danger. I hear there are even Transformation great fiends living there."


    Senior Brother Duughed. "Transformation fiends aren''t fools who stubbornly guard their territories. Besides, we might have a Transformation fiend with us right now."


    He nced at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie''s face was the picture of confusion.


    He said to himself, I''m really not Transformation. I haven''t been at that level for ages! I''m at Violet Pce!


    Meanwhile, Senior Brother Du finally managed to convince Yuan Chenfei, and the three of them made their way to the depths of the Rainbow Meadow.


    Here, they felt a clear difference in the air.


    A light fog drifted in the air, and while it wasn''t that terrifying ghost fog, it affected their vision and added a hint of mystery to the air.


    As the three traveled, they asionally saw the remains of bodies on the ground.


    Yuan Chenfei sorrowfully said, "Perhaps seniors from our Herding Yang Sect are among these."


    Senior Brother Du inwardly scoffed. Even if they are, is it worth being so sad about? But he put on a somber face and heavily sighed. At the same time, he was constantly searching for potential dangers.


    Danger quickly came.


    A gray tiger appeared on a gale, lunging at the three.


    Inwardly cheering, Senior Brother Du shouted, "Junior Brother, watch out!"


    He began to form a spell.


    A spell formed at this time would clearlye toote, so Yuan Chenfei immediately took out his sword and chopped it at the fiend tiger, unleashing a powerful wave of sword energy that even Tang Jie nodded in approval at.


    At this moment, another fiend tiger popped out from the side.


    There were two!


    The fiend tiger rushed at Senior Brother Du, who immediately moved toward Tang Jie, flying behind in an attempt to make him the target of the fiend tiger''s attention.


    As expected, when the fiend tiger saw Tang Jie in its path, it opened up its mouth to eat him up.


    Tang Jie immediately squatted down in fear, which just so happened to expose Senior Brother Du.


    Senior Brother Du was taken aback when he saw the fiend tiger stilling at him. At this time, the spell art was ready, so he instinctively attacked, unleashing a wave of frosty light that froze the greater half of the tiger''s body. But with a roar, that tiger quickly broke free of the ice and began to battle with Senior Brother Du.


    Tang Jie used this chance to roll away from the danger zone and retreat to the rear.


    In the distance, Yuan Chenfei shouted, "Don''te over! Back up a little!"


    Senior Brother Du once more cursed his rotten luck, wishing that a third fiend woulde out and eat up the eyesore that was Tang Jie.


    Setback after setback had caused him to forget his original goal of killing Yuan Chenfei. He was now determined to kill Tang Jie.


    Seeing Tang Jie escape again, Senior Brother Du hardened his resolve and threw a punch at the fiend tiger.


    The force of this punch sent the fiend tiger in Tang Jie''s direction.


    As the fiend tiger tumbled to the ground, it saw a person right next to it and decided to try and gobble them up.


    At this time, a blue sword stabbed into the tiger''s head, nailing it to the ground¡ªit was Yuan Chenfei''s sword.


    He had already killed the tiger he was facing, and "saved" Tang Jie''s life just in time.


    His face stiff, Yuan Chenfei walked over. "Senior Brother, what was that for?"


    Senior Brother Du was taken aback. "I don''t understand; what is Junior Brother asking?"


    Yuan Chenfei angrily said, "You really think I can''t tell? All this time, you''ve been trying to get Tang Jie killed. That was clearly a Spirit Sensing fiend, so did Senior Brother really have to go through all that trouble for it? Did you need to form hand signs? And you just so happened to hit that fiend over to Tang Jie''s side. You''re clearly trying to kill him!"


    Senior Brother Du sneered. "This person''s background is unclear, so I''m just testing him. There''s nothing wrong with that. As for you, you''re too kindhearted, saving everyone without fear that you''re falling for someone''s trap."


    Tang Jie inwardly snorted, Nobody''s trap is more insidious than your own.


    Yuan Chenfei angrily retorted, "Even if you want to test him, you shouldn''t use such ruthless methods! What if he was telling the truth? Wouldn''t you have ended up killing an innocent then?"


    Senior Brother Duughed. "''What if''? So you also know how to say that? Which means you also think his background is suspicious?"


    "Yes!" Unexpectedly, Yuan Chenfei nodded in confirmation. "I also think that this person''s appearance is strange, and there are a lot of problems with him. But if there''s even the slightest probability that he''s a good person, I have no reason to give up on him."


    This time, Tang Jie was truly startled.


    He had taken Yuan Chenfei for a kid who was kindhearted to the point of foolishness, but now, it appeared that he was no fool. He just felt that he had to give everyone a chance so long as one existed. He valued life above all else, which made him seem rather foolish.


    Yuan Chenfei loudly said, "I know that Senior Brother must view me with great disdain. For you, everything on the path of Immortality is just a stumbling block, and you need to kick aside anything that stands in your way. But I have always felt that when we cultivate Immortality to possess power that mortals cannot have, we should also be more openminded than mortals. If we only have immense strength while maintaining a selfish and narrow mind, our future achievements are bound to be limited!"


    These words made Senior Brother Du tremble.


    In thesest few years, he had taken Yuan Chenfei as a powerful foe, someone he needed to remove to solidify his status as the Great Brother of his sect.


    But Yuan Chenfei''s righteous words were like an arrow piercing straight through his heart.


    Yes, the Vast Wilderness World had so many geniuses. He could remove one, but did that mean he could kill them all?


    He was putting all his energy into thinking of ways to remove hispetitors, and as a result, his cultivation had stalled. Inparison, Yuan Chenfei had always been open and honest, putting all his energy into cultivation, which was why his cultivation was advancing by leaps and bounds.


    Perhaps¡­ he knew this entire time that Senior Brother Du wanted to kill him.


    He had just been pretending not to know.


    Just as he had said, if there was even the smallest chance, he didn''t want to give up.


    Yuan Chenfei''s words were also a warning to Senior Brother Du.


    But this thought quickly vanished from Senior Brother Du''s mind, to be reced by another: As expected, he suspects me. If that''s the case, I can''t let him be. If he starts to spread the word, it will hurt my reputation! If I don''t kill him now while he''s weaker than me, when he catches up, I won''t even have the time to feel regret. The cowardly can''t be gentlemen, and you can''t be a true man unless you''re a little ruthless!


    His murderous intent grew even stronger.


    Just when he was about to attack, a Buddhist chant rang out in the distance.


    "Amitabha! Excellent, excellent! Benefactor has apassionate heart that pities all mankind. You should join my Avatamsaka Temple and join us in bringing salvation to all living beings."


    They turned their heads to see two monks, the speaker being one of them. Besides the two monks, there were also three green-robed cultivators.


    "Avatamsaka Temple!"


    "The Verdant Goat Sect!"


    Yuan Chenfei and Senior Brother Du shouted in unison.

 Chapter 831: Immortal Estate (6)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Yuan Chenfei and Senior Brother Du regarded the group of five as mighty foes, both of them putting up their guard. Senior Brother Du immediately put his murderous thoughts aside and stood alongside Yuan Chenfei.


    In thesest several thousand years, the Herding Yang Sect had fought with Avatamsaka Temple and the Verdant Goat Sect over the Five Origins Paradise countless times. Every time the disciples went in, rivers of blood would flow. This was why, even though the three sects normally addressed each other as brothers, they secretly regarded the others with hostility.


    The two knew that they were in trouble now that Avatamsaka Temple and the Verdant Goat Sect had joined forces. It appeared that the Herding Yang Sect going in first had angered them so much that they had put their differences aside to give chase.


    Seeing this, Yuan Chenfei said, "Tang Jie, get out of here right now."


    Tang Jie covered his head and scurried off.


    While the five on the other side were curious about Tang Jie''s origins, they didn''t have time to ask questions when facing their enemy.


    The monk from Avatamsaka Temple barked, "Benefactor, are you still not enlightened?"


    This roar had a mind-shaking effect, but it was nothing but a breeze in Yuan Chenfei''s ears.


    He smiled. "If we''re going to fight, let''s fight. There''s no need to waste time talking."


    He opened his sword box, and all seven swords flew out to oppose his enemies.


    The Rainbow Swords were an art relic his teacher had found in Rainbow Meadow, hence the name. These seven were a set that could form their own sword formation, and their full power was not to be underestimated.


    For him to use all seven meant that he was ready to fight to the death.


    Meanwhile, Senior Brother Du looked around as his hand began to form a spell. It appeared like he was about to attack, but he was really ready to run at a moment''s notice.


    The three Verdant Goat Sect cultivators yelled, "Fool!"


    They unleashed three green rays of light at Yuan Chenfei.


    The Herding Yang Sect and Verdant Goat Sect had battled for many years, so Yuan Chenfei knew that this green light was the Green Soul Nail, a powerful spell art that targeted the soul. He immediately sent the yellow, indigo, and violet swords at these rays of light.


    At the same time, the two Avatamsaka Temple monks began a Buddhist chant.


    A solemn and righteous golden wheel appeared behind one of them, and under the feet of the other one bloomed a golden lotus that radiated a holy Buddhist aura. The golden wheel and golden lotusplemented each other, unleashing a blinding golden light at Senior Brother Du.


    Senior Brother Du inwardly groaned, thinking to himself, What are youing at me for? but he could only finish his spell, unleashing a deluge of crystalline flowers.


    The flowers spun in the air, radiating a gorgeous array of colors.


    But the impact of these radiant colors with the Buddhist aura produced a light most lethal.


    Even so, the radiant array of colors began to falter against the Buddhist aura.


    Astonishingly, while Senior Brother Du was losing in a one-versus-two, Yuan Chenfei had the advantage in a one-versus-three.


    He was using all seven swords, which danced in the air and attacked in a vast variety of methods that put the three Verdant Goat Sect cultivators on the back foot.


    That wasn''t to say that Yuan Chenfei was stronger than Senior Brother Du. Rather, those two monks from Avatamsaka Temple were outstanding disciples among their peers, their statuses on par with Yuan and Du, as were their strengths. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have been so fearless upon encountering the pair. But those three Verdant Goat Sect cultivators were rather average, which was why Yuan Chenfei had the upper hand.


    As Senior Brother Du was pushed back, Yuan Chenfei shouted, "Senior Brother, hold on a little longer! I''ll be there to help you at once!"


    He pushed his swords to attack even more fiercely.


    The two monks also unleashed all their power.


    Whoever defeated their opponent first could go to the aid of theirpanions.


    Being just one step ahead could decide the entire battle!


    Objectively, in this situation, any side had a chance of winning. Even with his Insight, Tang Jie couldn''t say who would win.


    When both sides were equal, the victory was down in the details.


    If this was the moment of victory, then the victory could unite all inharmonious existences, and Senior Brother Du wouldn''t have tried anything. But now that his defeat and death seemed apparent, how could he die fighting for that constant thorn in his side?


    He finally reached his limit, and he brought his hands together, his ice flower erupting in light that pushed back the two monks. But rather than attacking, Senior Brother Du retreated, shouting, "The enemy outnumbers us! Junior Brother, hold them back while your senior brother goes to get help!"


    He turned into a smoke cloud and rushed off.


    "Senior Brother, you!" Yuan Chenfei hadn''t expected this move, and he was left both shocked and angry. His loss ofposure gave an opening to the three from the Verdant Goat Sect, who struck back, and the two Avatamsaka Temple monks didn''t chase after Senior Brother Du, but joined theirpanions in attacking Yuan Chenfei.


    The five of them finally caused Yuan Chenfei to falter.


    He desperately swung the Rainbow Swords, but their light dwindled in the face of his foes. Poor Yuan Chenfei was even surrounded so that he couldn''t run.


    "You finally got your wish, Senior Brother," Yuan Chenfei helplessly sighed.


    At this moment, a figure suddenly flew out, crashing into the battlefield and taking a Green Soul Nail for Yuan Chenfei, howling in pain.


    "Senior Brother?" Yuan Chenfei said in shock.


    "Du Tiande?" the five said in surprise.


    Hadn''t this guy run off?


    Why had hee back?


    The battlefield froze.


    Senior Brother Du jumped back to his feet, angrily yelling, "Who was it? Who dared to catch me and then throw me back?"


    Then he looked around and paled, after which he smiled. "My apologies. Keep fighting. I need to leave for a while."


    He prepared to fly off again.


    "Senior Brother Du!" Yuan Chenfei was just about to say something else when he suddenly realized that something was preventing him from speaking. Meanwhile, another voice came from his throat: "I knew Senior Brother wouldn''t abandon me. Senior Brother is noble and righteous, even willing to use your own body to save me. Chenfei understands. If that''s the case, Chenfei will go and seek reinforcements while Senior Brother holds the rear. Senior Brother, you have to hold on until Ie back, okaaaay."


    Thest syble was dragged out.


    Yuan Chenfei was stunned. That wasn''t what I wanted to say! But he had no power to object. A momentter, a powerful force grabbed him and whisked him away from the battlefield, as if he had flown off on his own.


    Senior Brother Du panicked. "Hey, hey¡­ since when was it my turn to hold the rear?"


    He wanted to give chase, but Yuan Chenfei, who had never specialized in speed, was somehow faster than him, gone in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, those other five cultivators began to fight once more.


    In the end, it didn''t matter which one they were beating up.


    Yuan Chenfei was flying so fast that he started to get dizzy, and when he finallynded, he couldn''t help but throw up.


    "Oh my; I didn''t know you would get motion sickness," a peculiar voice rang out.


    Yuan Chenfei turned and saw Tang Jie lying on the grass, seemingly asleep, a stalk of grass hanging from his mouth.


    "It was you?" Yuan Chenfei gawked at him and pointed. "You did all this?"


    "What are you saying?" Tang Jie blinked innocently at him.


    Yuan Chenfei shouted, "You were the one who sent my senior brother back and took me away, right? It must be you."


    Tang Jie shook his head. "I don''t know what you''re saying."


    "Don''t try and y innocent!" Yuan Chenfei jumped and shouted, "If it''s not you, then how did you get here? This ce is several dozen kilometers from the battlefield, and a mortal can''t walk that quickly."


    "Ha, I don''t want to hear that from you." Tang Jie jumped up. "The fiendish gale can sweep me up, so why can''t it sweep you up?"


    "''Fiendish gale''?" Yuan Chenfei was dumbfounded.


    Tang Jie went up to him and smiled. "Yes, ''the fiendish gale''! I was also brought here by the fiendish gale. It happened once, so it naturally can happen twice or thrice."


    "But why did it only take you and me? And why did it bring my senior brother back?"


    "It''s a fiendish gale. The intentions of fiends are unknowable." Tang Jie grinned.


    Yuan Chenfei dumbly gazed at Tang Jie, not knowing what to do.


    Although he didn''t believe these words, he momentarily couldn''t find a retort.


    Of course, he could be like Senior Brother Du and suddenly attack Tang Jie to see if he was really an ordinary person. But he wasn''t Senior Brother Du, so he wasn''t willing to injure someone if there was any chance that the person was innocent. Secondly, if Tang Jie was really lying, then he probably didn''t harbor any hostility toward him, or else he wouldn''t have saved him. Stabbing his savior just to prove that he was a liar was a little too foolish.


    While Yuan Chenfei had a kind heart, he was no fool. It was just that he cared about the dignity of others so much that he usually didn''t want to argue or expose anyone. If he was even willing to treat those who hurt him like this, he would naturally treat those who helped him the same way. Thus, while he didn''t believe a word Tang Jie said, he still nodded as if he did.


    Tang Jie needed this attitude, and he said with augh, "Since we''ve escaped the danger, let''s go and take a look around. This is a fine ce with many Immortal nts. If we don''t collect a few, we''ll be letting down all these natural treasures. Right, I recall seeing some Thousand Bamboo Flowers growing nearby, and they''re one hundred and sixty years old, perfect for gathering."


    "You saw those in the fiendish gale?"


    "If a fiendish gale wasn''t like this, would it still be a fiendish gale?"


    "Hey, hey, I''m talking about you, not the wind."


    "Right, which is why they''re called fiends!"


    "If it''s not like this, would it still be a fiendish gale?" Yuan Chenfei and Tang Jie said in unison.


    Tang Jie threw his head back andughed. "You finally get it! Come,e, let''s go and pick those flowers, and then we can go elsewhere. I saw quite a lot of things on the way here. Young Lord, there''s no need to be polite."


    Yuan Chenfei grunted and started to walk, but then he realized something strange and asked, "When did I be your young lord?"


    "What? You''re not afraid of death, but you''re afraid of being called ''Young Lord''?" Tang Jie asked with a smile.


    Yuan Chenfei looked at Tang Jie and suddenly said in realization, "You just need this kind of identity, right?"


    Tang Jie brightly smiled. "This lowly one is just used to serving people and calling them ''Young Lord''."


    Yuan Chenfei smiled as if he had caught a fox. "But I recall you saying that you were a woodcutter."


    Tang Jie was unmoved at having his lie used against him, calmly saying, "I also worked as a servant student."

 Chapter 832: Fortune

    Following Tang Jie, Yuan Chenfei really did find many rare spirit nts, and most of them were more than one hundred years old, which meant that they hadn''t been gathered thest time the paradise had opened.


    At first, Yuan Chenfei thought that he was just lucky. After all, most rare nts were guarded by fiends, who normally had symbiotic rtionships with them. But as he gathered more and more without encountering a single fiend, and then he looked over at Tang Jie, who hadpletely given up on acting and was grinning like a fool, he finally understood.


    As he collected an extremely rare Green Demon Vine from next to a small pond, carefully putting it away, he asked, "You again?


    "You could say that not encountering any fiends on the way so far is coincidence or luck, but a ripe Green Demon Vine will give an aroma most tempting to fiends, which is why they say that you''ll find fiends wherever you find Green Demon Vines. But there''s not a single one here. You aren''t going to say that this is all the work of that fiendish gale, are you?"


    Tang Jie coughed. "Why not? It''s fiendish¡­"


    "If it''s not like this, would it still be a fiendish gale?" the two sounded off in unison.


    Yuan Chenfei looked at him and suddenlyughed. "Fine; since that''s what you''re going to say, I''ll be helping myself, then."


    "What are you going to do?"


    Yuan Chenfei chuckled and ran off to the deepest part of the Rainbow Meadow.rmed, Tang Jie pulled on him and asked, "What are you doing?"


    "Stealing treasures," Yuan Chenfei boldly replied. "The spirit nts farther in are even better."


    "But you''re not strong enough."


    "Don''t I have you?" Yuan Chenfei replied. But then he corrected himself, "Oh, wait. I mean: isn''t there the fiendish gale? With this fiendish gale protecting us, all the fiends in the surrounding area have vanished. Clearly, I''m a person favored by fortune. If I don''t take this chance to head farther in now, when would I?"


    Tang Jie was taken aback by his response.


    This kid had smartened up. So he finally realized that he could be the fox borrowing the prestige of the tiger?


    Yuan Chenfei recklessly flew into the depths, gathering any spirit nts he saw, not even performing the most basic scouting or defense.


    He treated Tang Jie like freebor, flying here and there.


    He got so excited that he even headed straight into a beastir.


    That poor fiend was directly suppressed by Tang Jie''s will and could only watch with great indignation as Yuan Chenfei plundered all its belongings.


    In just half a day, Yuan Chenfei''s Mustard Seed Bag was full.


    Tang Jie clicked his tongue. "You have a rather honest face, but who could have imagined that you were so naughty?"


    "Even the honest have to eat," Yuan Chenfei boldly said. "If you were in my ce and had the protection of such fortune, would you do the same?"


    Tang Jie immediately replied, "You need to ask? Rather than the Rainbow Meadow, I would head straight to the Ghost Fog Region."


    The moment he said this, he knew he had made a mistake.


    As expected, Yuan Chenfei''s eyes lit up. "Right, why not the Ghost Fog Region? Why didn''t I think of that? That''s the real ce to get rich. Even Master and the other martial uncles don''t dare to go there. There must be countless treasures there, and they''ve probably never been touched. Let''s go!"


    He was about to run off to the Ghost Fog Region when Tang Jie pulled him back. "Slow down, slow down. Are you sure that you''ll be fine going to the Ghost Fog Region?"


    "Of course? Why wouldn''t I be? I''m protected by fortune," Yuan Chenfei loudly dered.


    Tang Jie helplessly said, "But what if your fortune runs out?"


    The Ghost Fog Region wasn''t some theme park. Even Soul Transformation¨Clevel individuals like Yiyi and Ice Phoenix needed Tang Jie''s protection in order to go in and out. This kid was far too weak. If Tang Jie was just a tiny bit careless, if this kid got into contact with the faintest wisp of Nether Fog, then he would be doomed.


    Besides, he had already cleaned the area out of all the good things, so he would be getting nothing.


    "It won''t. Since fortune has blessed me, nothing can stop me. Since I have this opportunity, I can''t pass on anything. You would do the same¡ªam I right?" Yuan Chenfei replied.


    Tang Jie''s face twitched, and he said in an earnest tone, "Young man, don''t get too greedy, or else the protection of fortune might be lightning from the heavens."


    At this moment, a figure charged out of the distance.


    Tang Jie saw it from extremely far away, identifying it as a Goldcrown Chicken fiend. An idea came to him, and he let that chicken fiende at them. This fiend was none other than that cockb man who had been chasing Yuan Chenfei since earlier.


    The chicken fiend followed the scent right up to the pair, and his eyes lit up. "I finally found you! Let''s see where you run now!"


    "A Transformation great fiend!" Yuan Chenfei cried out in rm, sensing the immense fiend energy radiating from this being.


    "What do we do now?" He looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie spread out his arms. "Run!"


    As if waking from a dream, Yuan Chenfei turned and ran.


    The chicken fiendughed. "Where do you think you''re going?"


    He shot over like a bolt of lightning, and as he passed Tang Jie, he reached out a w, thinking to take him as well.


    When restraining his energy, Tang Jie seemed like an ordinary mortal, so the fiend thought nothing about killing him.


    But he found that he couldn''t pull back his w.


    The chicken fiend froze, unable to advance a step farther.


    He turned his head in shock and saw Tang Jie holding his w. "Hey, what''s the meaning of this? I was just standing here minding my own business and you try to kill me? Don''t you know that I hate guys like you that randomly kill bystanders the most! You senseless and immoral creature! Don''t you realize that it was because of a bastard like you that I ended up transmigrating here in the first ce? Of course, you don''t understand what transmigrating even is, but it''s precisely because you don''t understand that I''m even telling you¡­"


    The chicken fiend was dizzied by Tang Jie''s tirade. He looked at Tang Jie, and then he looked at the fleeing Yuan Chenfei, after which he struggled out, "You¡­ let¡­ me¡­ go!"


    "And what if I don''t? Humans have to be reasonable. Oh, right, you''re not a human, you''re a fiend. What do fiends care about? Right, their fist." Tang Jie pped the chicken fiend on the forehead again and again as if he was reprimanding a child. "You understand me now? Huh? Huh?"


    The chicken fiend was furious and wanted to fight back, but he found that all of his strength had drained away, and he couldn''t move a muscle. This hand holding his w seemed ordinary, yet it was like a steel vise,pletely entrapping him.


    Tang Jie continued to p his face, and while the ps didn''t hurt him physically, they damaged his pride.


    "Enough!" he shouted, the cockb on his head glowing golden.


    But a momentter, the light vanished without a trace.


    Tang Jie shouted, "Even if you''ve had enough, you still have to take it!"


    He continued to p and p, scolding wordsing from his mouth.


    In the distance, Yuan Chenfei had stopped running and was cautiously making his way back, and what he was seeing left him dumbfounded.


    He knew what that golden light had been. It was an action that fiends did only when they had no other choice, an attempt to bring their foe down with them. But this so-called servant student and part-time woodcutter was able to prevent even a Transformation great fiend frommitting suicide.


    Violet Pce! This guy had to be at Violet Pce!


    He finally understood why there was no trace of fiends in the surrounding area.


    After pping the chicken fiend for a while, Tang Jie finally stopped.


    Without looking, he said, "Kid, are you done watching or what?"


    Yuan Chenfei awkwardly walked back.


    Given what he had done to the chicken fiend, Tang Jie couldn''t be bothered to keep acting. "We''ve gathered enough from this region. It''s about time to leave."


    "Mm, it''s about time to leave." Yuan Chenfei nodded in agreement.


    Tang Jie pped the chicken fiend again, and he began to shrink, eventually turning into arge rooster.


    Tang Jie stuffed the rooster into Yuan Chenfei''s hands, leaving Yuan Chenfei so surprised that he almost threw it away.


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "There''s no need to be scared. I''ve put a seal on this chicken, so it can''t do anything. Let''s go."


    "Oh." Yuan Chenfei started on the way back.


    The entire way, Yuan Chenfei had his head lowered in thought.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but ask, "Hey, what are you thinking about?"


    "I''m thinking about how my senior brother is doing."


    Tang Jie was stunned. "He treated you like that, and you''re still thinking of him?"


    Yuan Chenfei embarrassedly said, "He''s still my senior brother. Although he''s done wrong, if possible, I hope that he doesn''t have to die. But he still has to be punished for his crimes, so I will report this matter back to the sect and have Master handle it."


    Tang Jie really wanted to say that Yuan Chenfei was being too inflexible, and that his sect might not even do anything.


    But a momentter, he realized that while the smart who knew to adapt to circumstances weremon in the world, those stubborn and inflexible people were exceedingly rare.


    To Tang Jie, being clever and smart was no longer a positive trait. Only stubborn people like Yuan Chenfei earned his attention.


    Wasn''t all he had gained precisely because he had been so stubborn?


    <em>Besides, I don''t understand his sect, so how can I be so sure that his sect will protect that Senior Brother Du?</em>


    It wasn''t right to draw conclusions so soon.


    He put away his earlier words and gazed into the distance. After a while, he said, "He isn''t dead. He seems to have some sort of life-protecting treasure, which he used to escape, but he was heavily injured."


    "That''s good," Yuan Chenfei sighed in relief.


    "Since that''s the case, shouldn''t we hurry up?" Having already swept through the entire estate, Tang Jie hadpletely lost interest in the ce.


    "Mm." Yuan Chenfei set off together with Tang Jie.

 Chapter 833: A Moment of Levity

    Chapter 833: A Moment of Levity


    On the way back, Yuan Chenfei asked, "Right, is ''Tang Jie'' your real name?"


    "Indeed."


    Yuan Chenfei thought it over before shaking his head. "I''ve never heard this name before."


    Then he patted his chest and exhaled.


    Tang Jie didn''t get it. "What was all that about?"


    Yuan Chenfei replied, "Oh, I was thinking: what if you were some demon that was sealed here? If you are, then letting you out would be a grave mistake. If you get out, it might be a disaster for the three sects, perhaps for all of the Vast Wilderness World. If that''s the case, I should immediately fight you to the death!"


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Kid, what gave you the impression that I couldn''t leave this estate and needed you to bring me out?"


    Yuan Chenfei looked at Tang Jie in shock.


    Tang Jie sighed. "Think about it. If your home had a piece ofnd that was upied by you three brothers¡­""We aren''t brotherly sects."


    Tang Jie waved his hand. "That''s not important. Now imagine that you three families had a shared orchard¨C no, wait, a garden, one of those fancy sorts. Anyway, you guys didn''t establish the garden, but since it had no owner, you guys always took it as your exclusive property and didn''t let others touch it. Suddenly, one day, a guy came out of your garden, perhaps bringing with them the most valuable flowers. What would your three families think?"


    Yuan Chenfei immediately said, "Someone is stealing from our garden."


    "Right!" Tang Jie pped his hands. "And then?"


    "And then it would be a fight." Yuan Chenfei said in realization, "Then you would definitely be in danger."


    Tang Jie gave him a sympathetic look. <em>I''m not afraid of being killed by you. It''s more that I don''t want to kill you guys.</em>


    When it came to running away, with his Reflections of Floating Life, who did he have to be afraid of?


    Looking at Tang Jie''s expression, Yuan Chenfei seemed to understand. He muttered, "You''re not an Earth Immortal, are you?"


    Tang Jie shook his head.


    Yuan Chenfei sighed in relief.


    "But so long as they aren''t an Earth Immortal, I can probably kill them," Tang Jie lightly added.


    Yuan Chenfei jumped in fright.


    The Herding Yang Sect and its two rival sects were only local minor sects, without a single Earth Immortal among them. In other words, nobody in the three sects was a match for Tang Jie.


    Fortunately, this was a human and not a demon or fiend. Since he wasn''t here to kill, Yuan Chenfei truly did need to bring him out of this estate safely.


    Yuan Chenfei clenched his teeth and said, "If that''s the case, then this one will definitely take you out of this estate. But¡­"


    Yuan Chenfei hesitated. "I came alone."


    Tang Jieughed. "Who said that only a human coulde out? As a cultivator, I can take on countless forms. That fiend could turn into a human, so why can''t a human turn into a fiend?"


    In a sh, Tang Jie transformed into a rooster like that chicken fiend and jumped into Yuan Chenfei''s embrace. "Isn''t this fine?"


    He let out a loud cry, calling Yiyi and Ice Phoenix back.


    Yuan Chenfei looked at the two roosters in his hands, utterly speechless.


    One hourter, Yuan Chenfei had two hens as well.


    He was unable to hold them all, so they had to follow behind him.


    Curiously, while that chicken fiend tried to escape in various ways at first, after seeing Yiyi, he became reluctant to leave, particrly after Yiyi transformed.


    The four chickens following in a line were a rather amusing sight.


    This amusing sightsted until they reached the entrance to the paradise.


    This was a mystical ce, and in the center of it was arge hole. Around this hole was a glistening light that seemed harmless, but in reality, it was brimming with a lethal sealing power. Tang Jie could tell at a nce that this was no simple light. An extremely powerful formation had been ced by the estate''s master on the entrance, and one would need to be an Earth Immortal to break it, so it was no wonder the upper echelons of those three sects had been unable to enter. They also didn''t dare to notify the bigger sects, so all they could do was secretly and slowly digest the contents of the Five Origins Paradise on their own.


    Even with Tang Jie''s current cultivation, breaking through the formation was impossible. Fortunately, he was on the other side of it, and there were no limits for leaving.


    Yuan Chenfei flew toward the exit.


    Tang Jie and the others followed.


    Outside of the estate was a vast blue sky.


    Arge mountain protruded out of thendscape, its peak vanishing into the white clouds, its lower reaches covered in verdant forest. The Five Origins Paradise was located at the very bottom of this mountain, and before them was an immense in that stretched to the horizon.


    Three groups of people stood in front of the paradise, dressed the same as those who had entered. These were the three sects, the Herding Yang Sect in the middle and the Avatamsaka Temple and Verdant Goat Sect on the sides, everyone wearing rather nasty expressions.


    This was because the twelve Heart Demon cultivators had all returned, but they had met unprecedented failure at the garden. The puppet at the garden had suddenly gotten much stronger, and even all of them together had been no match for it. The three sects failed one after the other, and in the end, they were driven out of the garden by the eighteen puppets, and the entire garden was closed, leaving them with nothing.


    If those Heart Demon cultivators they had ced such high hopes on hade away with nothing, the lower disciples probably wouldn''t do much better.


    The early opening of the Five Origins Paradise had quickly turned into a farce.


    In this situation, Yuan Chenfeiing out immediately drewughter.


    Someone said, "Who is this? He managed to subdue four chicken fiends, very interesting."


    "But they''re only fiends that have just reached Spirit Sensing."


    "It seems to be an entire nest."


    "Isn''t this kid that genius Yuan Chenfei? I didn''t think he would fall this far, using Spirit Sensing fiends to try and fill his quota."


    Everyone chattered, none of them kindly.


    That chicken fiend was furious. <em>I''m Transformation, not Spirit Sensing!</em>


    But all of his fiend power had been sealed by Tang Jie, and he was unable to show off his power and could only resentfully roll his eyes.


    The elder from the Herding Yang Sect paled. Shooting a re at Yuan Chenfei, he said, "What did you bring back?"


    Yuan Chenfei stepped forward and respectfully opened his Mustard Seed Bag, pouring out the contents.


    The contents left everyone dazzled.


    "Carryblue Grass, Woodcherry Flower, Snow Incense, Ten Step Grass¡­ How is there so much?"


    "And they''re all more than a hundred years old."


    "This kid must have gone into the depths of the Rainbow Meadow to get this much."


    "As expected of a genius!"


    Derision had instantly turned into praise.


    Yuan Chenfei continued to keep his head down, deaf to both scorn and praise.


    The sect master of the Herding Yang Sect was ted, hugging Yuan Chenfei and shouting, "Great! Brilliant! You''ve done a wonderful job. You must have been through a lot to get all this. This time, you will definitely be richly rewarded. Come,e; stand behind me."


    "Many thanks, Sect Master!" Yuan Chenfei moved behind the sect master.


    Tang Jie could see that this sect master was only at the Infant Tending Tier. While he was weaker than Tang Jie, in the Rosecloud Domain, this would be enough to get a sect into the middle ranks, though he didn''t know if that was the same here.


    Meanwhile, the other disciples began to return, Senior Brother Du among them.


    Senior Brother Du was in a wretched state, heavily injured and having lost his Mustard Seed Bag. Tang Jie had taken that Mustard Seed Bag from him when sending him back to the battle, and then he had spent the rest of his time being chased around. Put simply, he hadn''t brought anything back.


    Yuan Chenfei looked at Senior Brother Du, wanting to say something, but he ultimately shut his mouth.


    "What? You still n to let him go?" Tang Jie transmitted his thoughts into Yuan Chenfei''s mind, much to his consternation. "Don''t be surprised. This is Divine Soulmunication. You just need to think of the answer."


    Yuan Chenfei replied, "I still want to give him one more chance. Moreover, if I report this to the sect master, how will I exin you? Rather than tell a lie, it''s better to not mention it at all."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "I worry that weing a tiger might only end up with the tiger wing you back."


    And then he fell silent.


    A few momentster, the Five Origins Estate Paradise began to close.


    As the hole healed, a waterfall spewed forth. If people hadn''t been going in and out moments before, one would never believe that the entrance to a hidden estate would be here. It was wondrously concealed, and it was easy to see how the three sects had managed to keep it a secret for so long.


    Once everyone had returned, the Herding Yang Sect Master once more effusively praised Yuan Chenfei.


    Senior Brother Du was envious and resentful of the excellent treatment Yuan Chenfei received, but he couldn''t find Tang Jie, so he secretly wondered where that man had gone.


    Three sects each went back to their bases.


    Worried about Tang Jie, Yuan Chenfei flew to the rear of the group and then found an excuse to leave for a moment.


    Once they were at a scenic spot, Tang Jieughed and assumed his original form, with Yiyi and Ice Phoenix following.


    Looking at Yuan Chenfei''s nervous face, Tang Jie guessed at what he was thinking and smiled. "What? Are you worried that I''ll suddenly kill you now that I''ve taken my true form?"


    Yuan Chenfei scratched his head in embarrassment. "A little."


    "Do you feel better about it now?"


    "Mm!" Yuan Chenfei earnestly nodded. Since Tang Jie hadn''t killed him once they had left the group, hadn''t "revealed his true self", he could naturally rx. "It''s just that I still don''t understand. Who are you? How did you appear in the Five Origins Paradise? And why did you help me?"


    "This¡­" After some thought, Tang Jie replied, "To put it simply, I took a liking to you, so I decided to help you out."


    "What if I want theplicated answer?"


    "This would be rather long. In truth, since I was young, I''ve always wanted some hero to descend from the heavens and grant me power, but s, it never happened, and I had to work hard and fight to get this far. Then, one day, I suddenly realized that if I couldn''t get some hero to bless me, being the hero wasn''t bad either. Messing around and ying around sometimes isn''t too bad."


    Tang Jie sighed. "There are some things that you will only understand after you''ve experienced them. While getting treasures makes you happy, giving away treasures has its own pleasures. And after many years of nothing but cultivating or killing, a little leisure, a little selflessness, a little giving back, a little kindness, is even more hard toe by. The path of cultivation is very long, so there''s nothing wrong with ying around once or twice. As for now, my moment of levity has passed, so it''s time to go!"


    Tang Jie waved his sleeve as he spoke.


    Yuan Chenfei saw that he was about to leave and anxiously said, "You still didn''t tell me how you got into the paradise."


    "This?" Tang Jieughed. "Young man, sometimes, it''s better for you not to know. Just think of me as some thief who snuck in. Nowe here and let me give you something nice."


    He gave some of the treasures he had gotten from the Ghost Fog Region to Yuan Chenfei.


    These were rather ordinary treasures in Tang Jie''s eyes, but they were extremely valuable to Yuan Chenfei, and his eyes widened. "Nine Son Rings, the Mother-Son Arrows, the Golden Wall Umbre, the Moon-Inviting Water Lotus! How do you have so many treasures?"


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Mm, everyone should get a share of nice things. Have I finally convinced you now?"


    Yuan Chenfei looked at the treasures for a long while before reluctantly looking away.


    He solemnly looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie didn''t understand his expression, so he asked. Yuan Chenfei replied.


    "These are all the sect''s treasure! They have to be offered to the sect, not kept for oneself!"

 Chapter 834: Framed

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The problem with people who were too righteous was that they weren''t cute in the slightest!


    Tang Jie helplessly shook his head and said, "Do whatever you want. Right, do you know what ce this is? How should I get to the West Bull Divine State?"


    Yuan Chenfei told Tang Jie that this was the country of Xing in the Gray Heron Divine State, specifically Heping County, under the Daye Prefecture and administered by Lan''an City. The Herding Yang Sect was one of the three sects of Heping County and had some influence in the region.


    Though Tang Jie had prepared himself for this, hearing that a sect with an Infant Tending Violet Pce cultivator was only a county-level force still left Tang Jie stunned.


    After a long daze, he finally sighed. "As expected, a frog living at the bottom of a well can''t understand how big the world really is."


    Yuan Chenfei was stunned by this mncholyment. Could these people havee from another domain?


    This was a huge matter, and Yuan Chenfei''s heart began to beat faster and faster.


    But in the end, he couldn''t say anything and only stared at Tang Jie in shock.


    Tang Jie then said, "Forget it. Since there is some destiny between us, before I go, I will give you a warning. That senior brother of yours is a schemer with big ambitions. Although you let him go, he might not do the same for you. If I were you, I would immediately leave this ce and find a new sect to join."


    Yuan Chenfei shook his head. "Master has treated me with immense kindness. I can''t do this."


    Tang Jie was unsurprised. "I knew you would say this. Everyone picks their own paths, and since you''ve made up your mind, I won''t say anything. This chicken fiend is a gift to you, a connection between the two of us. That''s all I have to say. We won''t meet again!"


    He tapped Yuan Chenfei on the forehead, passing the method to control the chicken fiend to him, and then he turned and left.


    Yuan Chenfei dumbly watched as he departed, his gaze lingering for a long time.


    As they were flying, Yiyi asked, "Since you said you wouldn''t meet again, why did you want me to nt a seed on him?"


    Tang Jie replied, "I don''t know why, but something told me that the destiny between me and him had yet to run its course, and we will probably meet again in the future. I had you leave a seed in case of this future encounter."


    Yiyi was confused, but as she had always listened to Tang Jie, she didn''t care much.


    The three of them set off for the West Bull Divine State.


    Meanwhile, Yuan Chenfei returned to his sect.


    Upon returning to the sect, Yuan Chenfei found that everyone was giving him weird looks.


    As he was wondering what was going on, a disciple came over and said, "Junior Brother, the sect master is waiting for you at the Hall of Knowledge."


    "Oh."


    As he was about to leave, the disciple whispered, "Be careful."


    Yuan Chenfei was left confused, but in the end, he shook his head and made his way toward the hall.


    He felt like he had done nothing wrong, so he headed to the Hall of Knowledge without worry.


    Upon entering the hall, he found that the ten-some major figures of the sect were all present.


    Seated at the very center was the sect master, Master Clear Spring, and behind him was Senior Brother Du.


    Seeing the sinister look and cruel gleam in Senior Brother Du''s eyes, Yuan Chenfei realized that something bad had happened.


    As expected, an elder sternly said, "Yuan Chenfei, you''ve got some guts! Do you still not know what you''ve done wrong?"


    Startled, Yuan Chenfei replied, "This disciple does not know of any crime that he hasmitted."


    The elder pped the table. "Still trying to argue! You and Senior Brother Du entered the depths of the Rainbow Meadow together and departed with many treasures. But on the way back, you ran into people from Avatamsaka Temple and the Verdant Goat Sect, and you actually abandoned him and ran away on your own! And you refuse to admit it!"


    What?


    Yuan Chenfei''s mind exploded.


    He looked at Senior Brother Du, and that insidious and smug gleam in his eyes told him everything.


    He had let him go, but he had wickedly reported him.


    Just as Tang Jie had said, just because he had weed the tiger didn''t mean that the tiger wouldn''t w at him!


    Yuan Chenfei was full of remorse for his decision.


    "What? Nothing to say?" that elder furiously said. Du Tiande was his disciple, and he was naturally enraged that his disciple had been betrayed by a fellow disciple, which was why he was pushing the issue.


    Yuan Chenfei shouted, "I didn''t do it! Listen to my exnation."


    And then he realized that he couldn''t exin anything.


    If he wanted to exin how Senior Brother Du had abandoned him, he would have to exin how he had reversed the situation, which meant giving up Tang Jie. And Senior Brother Du had clearly realized this, which was why he hadn''t brought it up either.


    If he gave up Tang Jie, that still didn''t change the fact that he was guilty, and the sect would also chase after Tang Jie. No matter who won, the Herding Yang Sect was bound to lose many people. These people had all been very good to him, and he didn''t want to see them die.


    Thus, his mouth opened, but no exnation came out. All he could do was point at Senior Brother Du and say, "It was him. He abandoned me and ran off on his own."


    The sect master roared, "If Tiande abandoned you, why did youe back unscathed, and with so many things? Are you going to say that you fought your way out from that encirclement of five people on your own and then headed deep into the Rainbow Meadow to plunder the fiend dens?"


    Yuan Chenfei shouted, "I''m telling the truth! If you don''t believe me, you can ask those people from Avatamsaka Temple and the Verdant Goat Sect."


    "I get it now!" Du Tiande suddenly shouted. "No wonder those five attacked me with all their strength but let you off easy, letting you get away. So you had nned everything out with them. And the price for selling me out is that you would work together to sweep the area, after which you would take all the spoils. That''s how you got so many treasures! You sold me out so that you could get more credit in the sect."


    Yuan Chenfei was dumbfounded, not having expected this move from Du Tiande.


    Du Tiande''s master chuckled. "An ambitious schemer who colluded with other sects to frame a fellow disciple! You should be executed for your crime!"


    "No!" At this moment, someone rushed in and shouted, "My disciple isn''t that sort of person."


    It was that donkey-riding old man with a gourd on his back.


    He tearfully implored, "Martial Uncle, you watched Chenfei grow up, so you know his nature the most. When ites to heart, no one in the sect has a kinder heart than him. All he thinks about is how to right the wrongs of the world and the duties of a cultivator. How could he frame a fellow disciple?"


    He prostrated and kowtowed several times, the sound of his head striking the Mountain Sea Jade bs resounding through the hall.


    The sect master''s brow slightly creased, and then he sighed. "I do know Yuanfei''s nature. But the natures of youth are most unstable, and even the kind and purehearted might be tempted into bing demons. The stubborn and obsessed are most easily turned to demons, and the kindhearted can be butchers. It is not strange at all for such things to happen."


    The elder despaired, and even Yuan Chenfei was stunned.


    He looked at the sect master and said, "Sect Master, don''t listen only to Senior Brother Du. He''s framing me, truly! Back in the paradise, someone helped me, and it was only because of that that I could escape¡­"


    The sect master couldn''t keep listening, and with a wave of his hand, Yuan Chenfei was silenced.


    "The Five Origins Paradise is a secret ground shared by the three sects. That you would make such an obvious lie as someone helping you escape is a clear sign that you''ve exhausted your tricks," the elder from before said in disdain. He then turned to the sect master and bowed. "Sect Master, how should this beast who colludes with outsiders and betrays his sect be dealt with?"


    After some thought, the sect master said, "Colluding with outsiders and framing a fellow disciple is an unpardonable crime. Cast him into the Demon Abyss."


    The donkey-riding elder shuddered upon hearing that his disciple would be cast into the Demon Abyss. He rushed over and grabbed the sect master''s leg, pleading, "No, please don''t! Sect Master, Chenfei is a good child. He would never do something like this. You have to give him a chance!"


    The sect master shook his head, and with a finger, he suppressed that old man and had him thrown out of the hall, where the old man continued to beg and weep.


    Yuan Chenfei copsed to the ground upon hearing his punishment.


    The Demon Abyss! He was being cast into the Demon Abyss! This was an execution!


    Two enforcer disciples came forward, seizing Yuan Chenfei and taking him away. The chicken fiend tried to run away, but one enforcer disciple grabbed him and put him with Yuan Chenfei. Just like that, they carried him off to the Demon Abyss, not even removing his Mustard Seed Bag.


    After flying for a while, the two enforcer disciples reached a ck fissure that was more than a hundred feet wide. This fissure was so long that it was impossible to see its end, and it seethed with ck energy. ncing at it would make one feel like one''s mind was being drawn away, and those of weak will might even bepelled to throw themselves into the abyss.


    This was an abyss that was said to cross the entire Vast Wilderness World, like a giant de scar that cut the world into northern and southern halves. And at the very bottom was the legendary Primordial Fog Domain.


    Yes, this was a giant passage that linked the positive and negative nes, and it possessed an unimaginably bizarre power.


    Every three thousand years, this passage would open, and countless Primordial Fog fiends and demons would rush out of the Demon Abyss to invade the Vast Wilderness World. At the same time, the barriers between other domains would thin, and the Primordial Fog''s Archdevils would break them and invade. But all of the other passages put together weren''t as big or as wide as this one.


    This Demon Abyss that ran through the entire Vast Wilderness World was the primary invasion route of the Primordial Fog Domain, making this world the front line against the invasion.


    When a cultivator was cast into the Demon Abyss, they would never be able toe out.


    Some said that they would pass through that abyss into the Primordial Fog Domain, because going from the positive ne to the negative ne did not require three thousand years.


    But this was impossible to verify, as there was noing back from this abyss.


    For this reason, many human cultivators treated it as a ce to execute disciples. Being thrown here meant only one thing: death!


    At the same time, they would let that disciple keep their treasures, giving them a chance to fight to the death once they entered the Primordial Fog Domain. Of course, that was only if they weren''t carrying anything too valuable.


    The two enforcer disciples stood in front of the Demon Abyss. One of them looked at Yuan Chenfei and sighed. "What a pity that a genius would do something like this.


    "Since you betrayed your sect and sold out your fellow disciple, you are no different from a demon, so you might as well join them."

 Chapter 836: Seizure

    Chapter 836: Seizure


    Tang Jie and Yiyi walked all around Guanshan City, having fun and buying quite a lot of things.


    The spirit coins used in the Vast Wilderness World were slightly different from those used in the Rosecloud Domain. The ones in the Rosecloud Domain were made from Inkcloud Stone mixed with ordinary silver, but Vast Wilderness used Violet Stone mixed with ck gold, which made the coins so tough that they could be used as hidden weapons.


    Tang Jie naturally didn''t have such spirit coins, so he sold some of the art relics he had obtained from the Five Origins Paradise.


    By noon, Yiyi had all sorts of fun new things, and was the perfect picture of an innocent and unaffected youngdy.


    The two had a grand time, and they soon arrived at a restaurant which was called "Drunken Book Pavilion".


    "''Drunken Book Pavilion''? An interesting name," Yiyi said. "Big Brother, let''s go in and eat."


    "Okay." Tang Jie had always agreed to Yiyi''s requests.


    As the three went up to the restaurant, they discovered that there was a sign on the exterior that read "Only cultivators allowed". Seated at the door was an old man who, despite his shriveled appearance, was actually a Mortal Shedding Spirit Master.


    Tang Jie was startled at first, but then he smiled in understanding. "Does this restaurant only cater to cultivators?"The old man nced at Tang Jie and said, "Sir has restrained his soul and is brimming with spiritual energy, so you are a cultivator without question and allowed to enter."


    Tang Jie was taken aback.


    Although he wasn''t using some high-level energy-controlling art, as he was a Deification cultivator, people couldn''t normally see his strength unless he wanted them to. But to his surprise, this Mortal Shedding old man had seen that he was a cultivator with a nce. This was truly some outstanding vision.


    He didn''t know that the old man was even more stunned.


    He had been hired as the doorkeeper for this restaurant precisely thanks to his pair of natural spirit eyes and the mantra he cultivated. His Sage Eyes allowed him to see through all things, and he could see through the illusions and energy-controlling arts of even someone who was an entire realm above him.


    But he could only tell that this person was a cultivator, not his actual strength. This could only mean that this person was above the Celestial Heart Realm, but didn''t that mean he was at Violet Pce?


    In Guanshan City at least, Violet Pce cultivators were still important people who needed to be treated respectfully.


    Fortunately, the old man was very experienced, so he managed to hide his shock and politely wee the trio in.


    Upon entering the restaurant, they saw that all the guests, seated in twos and threes, really were all cultivators, but they were mostly Mortal Shedding or Celestial Heart, with not a single Violet Pce among them. Although the Vast Wilderness Continent had many people, as well as many Violet Pce cultivators, they weren''t somon that one could see them wherever one went.


    Tang Jie immediately found a ce to sit, ordering some appetizers and then taking in the scenery.


    After a while, some more people came in.


    This was a group of young cultivators dressed in fancy and expensive clothes,ughing and talking.


    "So? The head madame of Leaning Jade Pavilion was rather nice, no?"


    "Brother Li, it was an excellent rmendation. That Lady Miao Yu was a prime specimen, with some of the finest features, and she even cultivates the Mercurial Yang Art. Intercourse with her will let one gain both Yin and Yang, which benefits the cultivation."


    "After another few days, I''ll introduce you to another nice ce. I''m sure it will make Brother Cheng forget to go home."


    These people loudly talked about such lewd matters without a care for what others thought.


    Tang Jie frowned, but he ignored them.


    However, Ice Phoenix''s eyes shed.


    Coincidentally, that party chose to sit at the table across from Tang Jie, and when they saw Ice Phoenix and Yiyi, they froze, their souls enchanted.


    But while there were many phnderers in the world, very few of them were actuallycking in manners. This was particrly true given that this was a cultivator-only restaurant. That Tang Jie''s group was sitting here could only mean that they were cultivators, so it was best not to cause trouble until they had been properly probed out.


    Although these young cultivators were rich good-for-nothings, they had received strict upbringings and knew that strangers were not to be lightly provoked. Thus, while they were tempted, they didn''te up to flirt, saving Tang Jie some trouble.


    But while they didn''t flirt, that didn''t stop Ice Phoenix from tempting them.


    Just a nce from her alluring eyes, a simple smile, was enough to make the hearts of those youths tremble.


    And then Ice Phoenix put on a sweet and delicate expression, flexing her charm to the maximum, making the legs of those young cultivators go soft.


    Tang Jie naturally noticed all this, and he frowned. "Are you finished yet?"


    Ice Phoenix paled at this rebuke, her expression bing one of abject sorrow, herrge eyes tearing up in a most pitiful disy.


    Those young cultivators immediately changed their attitudes, for it seemed like Tang Jie was bullying Ice Phoenix.


    One of the more impatient ones couldn''t help but say, "Hey, you over there, you think it takes a lot of skill to bully a girl?"


    He seemed so righteous that one might mistakenly think that his purposes really were so pure.


    Without raising his head, Tang Jie replied, "I can bully my woman however I want. It''s none of your business."


    The youths were startled.


    At this moment, Ice Phoenix shouted, "Who''s ''your woman''? You took me by force!"


    Everyone stared at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie scowled. "Shut your mouth!"


    The young cultivatorsughed. "So it was a bandit! If that''s the case, we don''t need to be polite."


    One of them grabbed at Tang Jie.


    These young masters were very well-mannered, to only attack now. They had already been looking for a reason to attack. It wasn''t important that Ice Phoenix didn''t want to be here. What was important was that they had an excuse to act. Ice Phoenix had now given them an excuse, so they didn''t need to think about the other problems.


    In a sh, they attacked in unison.


    A storm whipped up in the restaurant.


    At this moment, someone yelled, "Stop!"


    An invisible force blocked the attacks of those young cultivators and pushed them back.


    As for Tang Jie, he hadn''t even moved this whole time, so that force affected him in no way.


    As the force subsided, a middle-aged man with a three-pronged beard and a rather handsome face appeared in the restaurant.


    The young cultivators said in unison:


    "Lu Zhiliang, you''ve got guts, blocking our attacks."


    The man grimaced. "Young sirs, this Lu wouldn''t dare. But Drunken Book Pavilion doesn''t allow fighting. This rule was set down by the owner. As the manager, this Lu cannot stand by. Regardless of who is right or wrong, please do not cause trouble in the restaurant. This one cannot take the rage of the owner."


    The owner of Drunken Book Pavilion was clearly someone of significant background, for fear and trepidation appeared on the faces of those youths.


    Just when it seemed like things would be settled, a voice came from outside. "So if it''s my father, the owner won''t me you, right?"


    A red cloud rushed inside, lighting up the entire restaurant. Itnded on the floor, revealing itself to be a woman dressed entirely in red, with two bright and beautiful eyes.


    The young cultivators were shocked rather than ted, groaning, "Why is she here? This is bad."


    "That''s right! We just so happened to see two beauties, but now they''re going to fall into her hands."


    The woman cast her gaze at Ice Phoenix and clicked her tongue in praise, lust appearing in her eyes, even licking her lips. "Such beauties. One is cold and pure while the other is sweet and innocent. This Young Lady Xin wants them."


    She reached out to grab both Ice Phoenix and Yiyi.


    Ice Phoenix''s eyes gleamed with a harsh light, but she didn''t resist, instead sweetly smiling and putting on a most sympathetic appearance.


    But Yiyi snorted and raised a hand, thrusting a finger at Young Lady Xin.


    This condensed bolt of finger energy carried a powerful corrosive effect.


    Young Lady Xin was astonished at its power, drawing her hand back. "Soul Transformation?"


    These words left everyone stunned.


    Soul Transformation was second only to Violet Pce, and such people were of high status. Nobody would have expected a girl so young to possess such profound cultivation.


    But Young Lady Xin thenughed. "So what if you''re Soul Transformation? If Young Lady Xin takes a liking to a girl, there''s no escape."


    With augh, she once more thrust out a palm, unleashing a rumbling storm whose power was also at Soul Transformation.


    The young cultivators shook their heads in admiration.


    One of them said, "Stealing a girl in broad daylight! We Four Young Sirs of Guanshan haven''t even done this, but Young Lady Xin is already trying her hand at it."


    That Young Sir Li snorted. "What''s so strange about it? We''re the Four Young Sirs of Guanshan, but she''s the Shame of Guanshan! She''s got a whole pile of beauties back at her estate, and more than half she took by force."


    "A woman seizing other women, such a waste!"


    "What can you do? She''s the city lord''s daughter."


    They shook their heads and sighed.


    It seemed that Drunken Book Pavilion was owned by the Guanshan City Lord. It was no wonder these so-called Four Young Sirs of Guanshan didn''t dare to mess around here.


    Young Lady Xin began to fight with Yiyi.


    Although they were both at Soul Transformation, they didn''t use any earth-shaking spell arts. This was because they didn''t want to dismantle the restaurant, and they were also testing each other, seeing how much control the other party had. Thus, all their attacks were limited to their fists and feet, the shockwaves going no farther than three inches away. Even so, their concentrated lethality was so great that anything that even brushed against it would be obliterated.


    Thus, as the two flew around the restaurant, only what was in their path was destroyed, which showed how superb they were at controlling their strength.


    Tang Jie was still eating and drinking, but all the other cultivators fled from their seats in fright.


    That Lu Zhiliang inwardly groaned, but Young Lady Xin was only getting more and more excited, shouting, "Girl, you''re pretty good, but I advise you to quickly submit to me. In this Guanshan City, there''s no woman I can''t get my hands on."


    The Four Young Sirs of Guanshan sighed.


    Although they were used to it, whenever they heard this woman say such things, they couldn''t help but find it strange.

 Chapter 835: Metamorphosis

    Chapter 835: Metamorphosis


    As Yuan Chenfei fell into the abyss, he was full of anger, pain, and despair.


    It turned out that all of his convictions had been wrong!


    Kindness and chivalry was all fake! Only acting for one''s own sake was the truth. The only oue of being a good person was to be eaten up by others, without even a bone remaining.


    Regret and despair filled his chest, and Yuan Chenfei wanted to shout, but he couldn''t make a single noise.


    Surging ck fog rushed at his body, forming a vortex.


    Suddenly, something in Yuan Chenfei seemed to awaken, and a red light burst out from his body.


    <em>Boom!</em> The demonic tide retreated.


    Yuan Chenfei''s downward momentum was halted.


    He floated in the air, floated in that crevice between the positive and negative nes.His entire body was shing red.


    He floated there for some time before the chicken fiend finally pped his wings and shouted, "What happened? What happened? Somebody,e and save me!"


    He stood on Yuan Chenfei''s body, looking up at the sky and down at the abyss, so frantic that he was on the verge of tears.


    With his cultivation sealed, would he have to spend the rest of his life imprisoned in this ce that was neither sky nor earth?


    "Save me! Save me!" the chicken fiend shouted.


    His shouts truly did manage to stir a reaction.


    The chicken fiend saw countless pairs of sinister lights appear on the surrounding walls.


    Initially, the chicken fiend didn''t realize what they were, but as he looked closer, he realized that these were all the eyes of pitch-ck scaly creatures. ck fog radiated from their bodies, and crimson tongues issued from their mouths. Their four wed feet were attached to the wall, allowing them to traverse it like t ground, and they were in the middle of gathering.


    They looked at the chicken fiend like it was a delicious roast chicken on their dining table.


    "It''s over," the chicken fiend wailed in despair.


    He jumped on Yuan Chenfei''s body and shouted, "Get down there! Hurry up!"


    He would rather die from falling than being devoured by these creatures.


    One of these demonic creatures had already gotten close. It shot out its tongue, which flew at the chicken fiend like an arrow. The chicken fiend ducked to evade and jumped off Yuan Chenfei''s body without hesitation.


    But as he jumped off, Yuan Chenfei''s hand moved.


    It grabbed the chicken fiend.


    "Eh?" the chicken fiend said in shock.


    Yuan Chenfei''s eyes opened.


    Those eyes made the chicken fiend shudder.


    These were terrifying eyes, those of someone who had just crawled out of hell, burning with a desire to kill and ughter.


    Just one nce had the chicken fiend feeling like he had fallen into hell and his soul had left his body.


    "So hungry¡­" a rumbling voice came from Yuan Chenfei''s mouth.


    The chicken fiend swore that this wasn''t Yuan Chenfei''s voice.


    At this moment, one of the demonic creatures came over, spitting out its rock-piercing tongue.


    Yuan Chenfei did nothing except raise his hand, grabbing the tongue and pulling its owner over.


    And then¡­


    He opened his mouth and swallowed it down.


    The chicken fiend was dumbfounded.


    Yuan Chenfei shook his head. "Still hungry."


    He looked around.


    Those demonic creatures were still emerging from the ck fog, gathering around.


    Yuan Chenfei shook his head, and then he shook his body, upon which countless spikes made of flesh shot out, just like the tongues of those creatures. <em>Plush! Plush! Plush!</em> Each spike stabbed through one of those creatures and then brought them back to him.


    And then those creatures vanished into Yuan Chenfei''s body.


    The remaining demonic creatures wailed in terror and began to retreat into the ck fog.


    Yuan Chenfei rumbled, "I still need more."


    More flesh spikes shot into the darkness, bringing back more creatures.


    In the depths of the Demon Abyss, a shocking extinction event was taking ce. In the blink of an eye, all the demonic creatures in this region were devoured.


    The only witness, the chicken fiend, was so frightened that he couldn''t move.


    Yuan Chenfei''s gaze paused on the chicken fiend.


    The chicken fiend said in a trembling voice, "You, are you Yuan Chenfei?"


    "''Yuan Chenfei''?" Yuan Chenfei considered the question, and then he chuckled. "You could say that I am, but you could also say that I''m not. Yuan Chenfei is simply the shell that this old man has been dormant in. After ten thousand years of waiting, the day of awakening has finallye. The Immortal Emperor''s calctions were wless, and all has been prearranged. Under Fate, everything in existence has its meaning. This Demon Abyss exists to awaken me, and as for you¡­"


    He looked at the chicken fiend andughed. "Your use was to lure over enough food. Heheheheh, every action is preordained!"


    "''Imm¡­ Immortal Emperor''¡­ " the chicken fiend stammered out.


    "Yes!" Yuan Chenfei proudly replied. "This one is the mount of the Sage Lord of Cosmic Origin, one of the Four Sages under the Immortal Emperor¡ªthe Lithos Dragon. On the Immortal Emperor''s orders, Iy in slumber for ten thousand years so that I could rise again!"


    The chicken fiend was scared silly, his eyes looking around as he pped his wings. "Then¡­ then I''ve fulfilled my use, so¡­ so can I go now?"


    The Lithos Dragon looked at the chicken fiend and smiled. "Of course."


    The chicken fiend was delighted, thinking that he was going to escape, but then the Lithos Dragon closed his hand, squishing the life out of the fiend and throwing him into his mouth.


    "Raaaa!" He let out a mighty roar, and his body turned into an extremely long dragon that took to the skies.


    "Ten thousand years of slumber was for the sake of a single day. The Myriad Court''s return is imminent, the Immortal Realm''s emergence nigh. Anyone who refuses to obey will be executed! But before then, this one has something else he must do, which is to properly thank the Herding Yang Sect. Du Tiande, thank you for framing me and having me thrown into the Demon Abyss. As thanks, I will offer you all to my body so that I might recover my strength, hahahaha!"


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Tang Jie flew in the direction Yuan Chenfei had indicated, and after around a day, he saw a massive city.


    As he was thinking about flying over, Ice Phoenix abruptly said, "I''m a little tired after flying for a whole day. Let''s go down and rest."


    Tang Jie nced at her. He knew that with Ice Phoenix''s cultivation, she could fly for three to five days without feeling tired, so such an excuse was obviously fake. But rather than exposing her, after some thought, he agreed.


    He still felt ashamed over how he had treated Ice Phoenix, so as long as the conditions were suitable, he would satisfy her requests, even if he was aware that she was up to something.


    Moreover, this was his first time in the Vast Wilderness World, and Tang Jie was essentially going in blind.


    Taking the time to understand the situation was better.


    The three of themnded far off from the city and walked toward it.


    As they got closer, they saw that the words "Guanshan City" had been written above the gate.


    The city was thronging with people and seemed very lively.


    Tang Jie spotted someone who appeared to be a very experienced and erudite schr, so he went up and asked, "Sir, might I ask what sort of ce is this Guanshan City?"


    The schr gave Tang Jie a strange look. "Guanshan City is one of the twenty-six cities under the Daye Prefecture of the country of Xing. How do you not know of it?"


    From this, Tang Jie learned that after flying for a day, he hadn''t even left the Daye Prefecture, so he couldn''t help but grumble about the size of the Vast Wilderness.


    He hastily said, "This is my first time here, so I don''t know anything. Sir, please instruct me."


    He took out a few silver ingots and stuffed them into the schr''s hand.


    He didn''t normally bring silver with him, and these had been created on the spot.


    The schr was delighted. Putting the silver away, he smiled and said, "There''s no problem with asking. This one will tell you everything he knows. It just happens that I am familiar with Guanshan City. We can talk as we walk."


    Tang Jie agreed, and the four headed to the city together.


    In their talk, Tang Jie gradually learned more about the Vast Wilderness Continent.


    The Vast Wilderness Continent was divided into north and south by the Demon Abyss, each half consisting of 36 states.


    Each state was overseen by a True Immortal.


    Every state had numerous countries, and while the number of countries varied by state, every country had at least one Earth Immortal, so it was said that a ce without an Immortal could not be called a country.


    The schr didn''t know how many Earth Immortals the Vast Wilderness Continent had in total, but everyone knew the two strongest sects: the south''s Heaven''s Equal Sect and the north''s Ster Net Gate.


    These two sects were the leaders of the south and north respectively, and it was said that they were home to Boundless Gold Immortals.


    As for divisions under countries, they were prefectures, cities, and counties. Under the rules established by the two major sects, Soul Projection cultivators could establish prefectures, Deification cultivators could establish cities, and Infant Tending cultivators could establish counties. Those at Celestial Heart or under were not permitted to establish sects, and the best they could do was unt their power in towns.


    Tang Jie sighed. It appeared that the six Earth Immortals of the Rosecloud Domain could lead small countries at best in the Vast Wilderness Continent. Once Yun Tian broke his shackles and reached True Immortal, the entire Rosecloud Domain could be considered a state.


    The Primordial Fog had 99 Demon Lords and the Vast Wilderness Continent had 72 True Immortals, so it was no wonder it was said that the Vast Wilderness World was the primary resistance against the Primordial Fog invasion.


    After understanding all this, Tang Jie thanked the schr and bid him farewell.


    Guanshan City was huge,parable to the capital of a country in another domain. The level of prosperity had a "countryside hick" like Tang Jie clicking his tongue in praise.


    Yiyi was also very curious about the Vast Wilderness Continent. Whenever she saw something new and fun, she ran over to take a look, asking Tang Jie what it was. s, Tang Jie''s knowledge was limited, and he mostly wasn''t able to answer. Fortunately, the sellers found Yiyi cute and were usually willing to answer her questions, and Tang Jie managed to learn a lot about the local customs as a result.


    On this subject, the Vast Wilderness Continent was truly rich in resources, with many spirit nts that didn''t exist in the Rosecloud Domain beingmonce here. And there were also many wondrous Immortal birds and beasts he had never seen before.


    Tang Jie saw a person selling a pair of Immortal cranes.


    These cranes had red heads, could understand humannguage, and knew how to sing and dance, but they weren''t fiends and had simply been born this way. In the Rosecloud Domain, they would have been extremely valuable, but here, they were just being sold on the street like ordinary goods.


    "Big Brother, Big Brother, look over there." Yiyi pointed at a two-headed parrot in the distance and pulled Tang Jie over to take a look, and Tang Jie excitedly followed. As they were looking around at all these interesting things, Ice Phoenix blinked her eyes, a cunning gleam within them.

 Chapter 837: The Lord of Guanshan City

    Chapter 837: The Lord of Guanshan City


    Even after several rounds, Young Lady Xin failed to subdue Yiyi, which left her feeling rather embarrassed. Letting out augh, she said, "Girl, you''ve got quite some skill, so I have to be serious now. Rise!"


    She shook her arms and stopped holding back her power. A raging torrent of power surged out of her, carrying her and Yiyi up into the sky, sting through the ceiling of Drunken Book Pavilion.


    The entire restaurant was basically pulverized by the shock.


    But just when Drunken Book Pavilion was going to copse, a hand in the distance reached out and waved, and the copsing restaurant froze. A momentter, everything began to reverse, restoring the restaurant to its normal state without a sign of damage, as if no battle had taken ce. Only the shockwaves of energy and cries of battle up in the sky served as evidence of the earlier fight.


    "The Dao Will of Time!" Tang Jie narrowed his eyes.


    He hadn''t expected that the first Violet Pce expert he would encounter on the Vast Wilderness Continent would be a Celestial Sovereign, and one who had entered the Dao of Time.


    At that moment, Tang Jie was suddenly itching to fight.


    This wasn''t hostility toward an enemy, but in an instinctual desire to challenge the strong, a desire to rise to higher and higher heights!


    No matter what sort of summit it was, he wanted to go up there and take a look.As the building was repaired, everyone prostrated in shock, shouting, "City Lord!"


    A person appeared in the restaurant, a man in luxurious clothes carrying a person: Young Lady Xin. That man had apparently grabbed his daughter and brought her down.


    The man was tall and thin, with a face as long as a horse''s, wearing a cold and stern expression. He swept his gaze around, and everyone bowed their heads. Only Tang Jie remained seated.


    The man looked at Tang Jie and smiled. He then said in a deep voice, "My daughter is ignorant and offended Sir. Please do not take offense."


    These words left everyone stunned.


    Everyone knew that while City Lord Xin was only at Deification, he had entered the Dao of Time and possessed unfathomable power. Even some Prefecture Lords were respectful in front of him.


    Yet he was being so polite to this man. Didn''t that mean¡­


    The Four Young Sirs of Guanshan nced at each other, horrified by the realization.


    Fortunately, Young Lady Xin had interfered, or else they would have lost themselves in their "righteousness" and not even known how they died.


    They red at Ice Phoenix, inwardly cursing her.


    Ice Phoenix casually smiled back.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie replied, "It''s fine. Since they''re done fighting, we can leave now."


    As he spoke, Yiyi flew back to his side.


    "Since you''re here, why not sit for a while?" City Lord Xin asked.


    "No need." Tang Jie shook his head. "I have other business."


    Everyone was horrified to see Tang Jie refusing the City Lord''s invitation.


    This was City Lord Xin! Countless people were desperate to curry his favor, but he had refused without a second thought.


    City Lord Xin was also taken aback, but then he burst out inughter. "Sir, there''s no need to be so polite."


    He brought his hands together and bowed to Tang Jie.


    But when bowing, he brought down a concentrated mass of pressure on Tang Jie. Most shocking of all was that this pressure was limited to a sphere around Tang Jie, disying a skill many times greater than that of Yiyi or Young Lady Xin.


    But Tang Jie barely reacted to this pressure, simply drawing a circle on the table and replying, "There''s no need to be so courteous."


    That immense force vanished like a mud doll in the ocean.


    Although these were probing attacks, City Lord Xin was surprised at how inconspicuously the attack had been handled, and wariness appeared in his eyes.


    This wasn''t the Rosecloud Domain.


    In the Rosecloud Domain, Deification experts were the upper echelon, radiating supreme majesty, their words deciding all. There were very few opponents that drew their attention, so they cared far more about the Heavenly Dao and the Immortal path than dealing with others.


    But in the Vast Wilderness Continent, Deification experts made up the middle echelon. On this vastnd, there were far too many existences on par with or even stronger than them.


    When there were many powerful people, conflicts were inevitable. They constantly coveted the possessions of others, and were on their guard against others. Thus, Deification cultivators of the Vast Wilderness Continent were extremely vignt. These were not the transcendent existences of the Rosecloud Domain, but people who were still vying against others to survive.


    When a person ofparable strength suddenly appeared in one''s city, a Deification expert of the Rosecloud Domain would be over the moon, happy that another expert they could converse with had appeared in the Rosecloud Domain, freeing them from loneliness. They would even be in a rush to have a spar, as there were only so many opponents to go around, and they might quickly bond.


    But to Deification experts of the Vast Wilderness Continent, this might be a scouting mission before an attack. Perhaps some major faction had their eyes on their city. Unless one was a State Lord, even an Earth Immortal couldn''t rx.


    Thus, when Tang Jie revealed his strength, City Lord Xin''s first thought was, <em>Who is trying to take me down?</em> Seven or eight names immediately came to mind, all people he had formed grudges with. But his face remained calm as he drew a half-circle in the air with his hand and thrust his palm at Tang Jie.


    This was no longer a probe, but a serious attack.


    "The Chill Serpent Hand!" several people shouted.


    This was no ordinary move.


    A ck and icy snake emerged from City Lord Xin''s hand, lunging at Tang Jie.


    "Turning energy into a creature?" Tang Jie muttered.


    At their level of cultivation, spiritual energy was no longer the source, but could be molded into countless things.


    City Lord Xin had turned his spiritual energy into this Chill Serpent.


    Tang Jie was delighted rather than shocked, thrusting his finger at the serpent. Spiritual energy concentrated into his finger and shot forth as an arrow through the power of the Metal Element.


    Arrow and serpent collided, and the shockwave of power was impossible to hide.


    <em>Boom!</em> Drunken Book Pavilion was sted to pieces, and spectators were also sent flying.


    This time, the City Lord didn''t attempt to restore it, soaring into the sky and sternly asking, "Might I have your name?"


    "''Tang Jie''!" Tang Jie replied. "It''s only right to reciprocate gifts, so taste my punch."


    He thrust his fist at City Lord Xin.


    City Lord Xin howled, unleashing another Chill Serpent Hand. But as the serpent flew out, he suddenly threw his palm back, and the serpent grew two horns and sprouted four feet, transforming into a mighty frost dragon.


    "The Drorph Punch! It''s City Lord Xin''s Drorph Punch!" The crowd below shouted and pointed in excitement.


    At the same time, the protective formation of Guanshan City activated, a curtain of light covering the entire city.


    Those beneath the formation were nowpletely unafraid, gesturing at the sky in excitement.


    "I wonder what cultivator would dare to battle with City Lord Xin. Isn''t this suicidal?"


    "The Drorph Punch is bound to kill this person."


    There was all sorts ofmentary.


    As the frost dragon approached, Tang Jie shook his head. "A fake is ultimately just a fake, with only the form and none of the majesty of the real deal."


    He didn''t speak very quickly, but strangely, even after he had finished, that dragon had yet to reach him. It was as if there was some sort of warped space around him that the ice dragon couldn''t get past, and City Lord Xin grimaced.


    Tang Jie then raised a finger and thrust it at the frost dragon''s head. A mote of light left his finger and fell on the dragon, upon which it roared and disappeared, leaving behind only frost.


    Everyone was dumbfounded by this sight.


    City Lord Xin paled. His spell art being broken was one thing. Far more important was that he had failed to identify his opponent''s origins despite attacking twice. Anger built up in his heart, as did his desire to kill.


    The rage of a Violet Pce expert could rob the world of its light.


    A momentter, Guanshan City was engulfed in frost. Even protected by the formation, the city''s countless residents felt a bone-chilling cold, as if their souls had been frozen.


    Tang Jie sensed the City Lord''s murderous intent and was startled. He had just wanted to let loose a little and leave after exchanging blows, but it seemed like this fellow had a rather hot temper, already moving on to Divine Connections.


    This was a sign that he was going all-out.


    Frowning, Tang Jie said, "This Tang Jie was merely passing through."


    But these words only earned a sneer. "What? You want to leave after fighting? You think it''s that easy?"


    After two exchanges, City Lord Xin had already guessed that Tang Jie was only passing through.


    But so what?


    If Tang Jie was a scout sent by another faction, then he had to deal a vicious counterblow so that the other party understood that Xin Tianchou wasn''t old yet. And if he wasn''t, then he still had to take him down¡ªwhen it came to the strong eating the weak, the Vast Wilderness Continent was much more direct than the Rosecloud Domain.


    Thus, no matter who this outsider was, he wasn''t getting away so easily!


    This was his territory, and so even if the other party was a Deification expert, he had the terrain advantage, so he would be the ultimate winner. And besides, he was a Celestial Sovereign.


    The best oue from defeating Tang Jie would be subduing him and gaining a powerful subordinate, the medium oue was killing him and getting his treasures, and the worst was letting him escape, which would only give him another enemy.


    As for not winning, Xin Tianchou didn''t even think about this possibility.


    He opened his eyes, and countless snowkes descended.


    A blizzard in midsummer!


    As the snowstorm descended, Tang Jie felt his movement bing more difficult and his spiritual energy flowing more slowly, even his ability to think freezing up. If one couldn''t even think, how could one thoughtcast?


    This was Xin Tianchou''s Absolute Ice Prison Divine Connection.


    This Divine Connection froze both the body and the Divine Soul, slowing and numbing the entirety of one''s being.


    As the Absolute Ice Prison was unleashed, Xin Tianchou snarled and thrust a wed hand at Tang Jie.

 Chapter 838: Origin Return

    Chapter 838: Origin Return


    This outstretched w was like that of a mighty dragon, on apletely different level from the previous attacks.


    As Xin Tianchou thrust out this w, Tang Jie grew a little angry.


    <em>So you''re trying to take me down without even trying to understand the situation?</em>


    <em>Good, good! Very domineering of you, Guanshan City Lord!</em>


    The furious Tang Jie roared, "Since City Lord insists on making me stay, this Tang will take up your offer!"


    His words resounded with a force that shook the soul.


    The Four-Nine True Words.


    But Tang Jie didn''t use the power of the Dao of Truth, did not use Law Speaking. Even so, these words had the power of a Divine Connection, shaking Xin Tianchou down to his core and slowing his actions.


    That tyrannical hand weakened under the effect of the True Words, and what greeted it was a wall of fire.<em>You use ice, so I''ll use fire.</em>


    Tang Jie was rather proficient in the Fire Element, and besides that, he also had the Pale Cloud me and the Deicide me.


    Tang Jie wanted to use only his Deification cultivation in this fight, forgoing his body refining strength and the Sovereign de, so he used proper cultivator moves. This Triple Divine me was a Divine Connection he had cultivated at the Basking Moon Sect after grasping the ck Yellow Treatise. It had considerable power, but it had been no good against the likes of the Jewel Immortal Sovereign. However, it was perfect for an opponent like this.


    zing mes and dancing ice shed in the sky, two furious torrents of power surging through the heavens. The overflowing power from their impacts formed a powerful shockwave that cleared the sky of clouds. But a momentter, seething steam obscured the sky once more, and the remaining power from the attacks fell upon the city''s formation in a dazzling burst of colors that left all the onlookers stunned.


    This was the power of a duel between Deification cultivators.


    Cultivators at this level could lift mountains with a raise of the hand or boil seas with a wave.


    Na Shan, that Hemos from the Blood River Domain, had seemed divine when he could use his physical strength to hold up mountains, but in the eyes of Deification experts, this was like a child trying to lift up a bag of rice that weighed only ten catties in front of them, their swaying and tottering a subject of amusement.


    Tang Jie and Xin Tianchou were both Deification cultivators, able to thoughtcast, so in this brief moment, they had already exchanged several hundred blows.


    Xin Tianchou had numerous spell arts, but Tang Jie had his own array of tricks.


    He had learned all sorts of things. Besides the arts and techniques of the Basking Moon Sect and the Martial Lord, he had also learned things from the Five Gods Faith, Immortal Ji Yao, the Celestial me Pagoda, the Verdant Cloud Domain, the Vermillion Bird, and so on. In the past, he had had no chance to use all this knowledge, but after learning the ck Yellow Treatise in preparation for his battle against Jewel, he had gradually integrated all of this knowledge. But the boost in strength that came from this integration improved his ordinary attacks, only boosting his ultimate power a little, so it hadn''t been of much use against Jewel. Here, now, it finally had a chance to show off.


    Xin Tianchou was rmed by all the different spells Tang Jie could cast at once, and he felt like beating him would be extremely difficult.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie was getting more and more engrossed.


    He mostly fought in major battles and rarely used ordinary moves in fights, so he found all this rather enjoyable. In the past, he was either locked in a desperate battle or able topletely crush his opponents. Rarely had he fought opponents ofparable level.


    Excited, he shouted, "Go!"


    A sword appeared in his hand: the Primal Yang Needle.


    This divine treasure was his prize from the Jewel Immortal Sovereign for defeating her, and it was the best divine treasure he had besides the Mountain River State Diagram, the best of the upper grade.


    Although Tang Jie had numerous Dao armaments, at his current level, the Primal Yang Needle was actually easier to use.


    The Jewel Immortal Sovereign had needed several hundred years to forge this needle, gathering up several dozen kinds of rare metals from across the world. Without considering Dao power, it was just as powerful as a Dao armament, even surpassing them in some aspects.


    Tang Jie had ignored it before because he mostly used the Sovereign de, but since he had decided to not use the Sovereign de in this battle against the City Lord, it was now time to use it.


    The Primal Yang Needle transformed into a swordy in his hand, shining with a sr radiance, the searing heat of the sun melting away Xin Tianchou''s Absolute Ice Prison, allowing Tang Jie''s Triple Divine me to break through.


    Carrying the name of "Primal Yang", the needle was naturally a Fire-type treasure, a perfect match for the Triple Divine me.


    Rather than being shocked, Xin Tianchou rejoiced, greedily eying the Primal Yang Needle. He thought to himself, <em>This guy really is carrying around nice things. From the aura alone, this should be a middle-grade divine treasure at least. If I kill him, it will be mine.</em>


    His desire to kill grew even stronger, and he threw out a snow-white pearl.


    The moment the pearl appeared, it unleashed a snowy radiance that shed with the sunlight of the Primal Yang Needle, pushing it back and even suppressing it.


    Xin Tianchou cultivated ice and snow, and all of his treasures focused on it.


    But Tang Jie wasn''t primarily a cultivator of fire. Although the Primal Yang Needle had the Fire trait, that didn''t mean that controlling fire was all it could do.


    Seeing that the fire had been sealed by the ice, Tang Jie casuallyughed and thrust his sword at Xin Tianchou.


    In this thrust, Xin Tianchou felt a peerless and unstoppable majesty. In shock, he immediately createdyer afteryer of ice shields, utilizing his thoughtcasting to the maximum extent to create an imprable defense.


    At the same time, the Primal Yang Needlended on Xin Tianchou''s ice shields.


    As that pinprick of red light stabbed in, the ice shields exploded, the Primal Yang Needle sting through them. In the end, Xin Tianchou was unable to stop this sword, and the Primal Yang Needle pierced through his chest.


    "Aaah!" Xin Tianchou howled in pain and hastily retreated, while that ice pearl in the air began to unleash an even stronger cold to slow Tang Jie down. This allowed Xin Tianchou to back away, but there was now a zing hole in his chest.


    An ordinary cultivator would have been utterly in by such an attack, but this was only a minor wound for Deification cultivators. Even so, it was still rather troublesome, and multiple such wounds could pile up into a big problem.


    But Xin Tianchou simply looked at it and snorted, "You have some skill."


    He stroked the wound, upon which it disappeared, mes and all, and Xin Tianchou seemed like he had never been wounded at all.


    Tang Jie was dumbfounded.


    Was Xin Tianchou a body refiner? Based on his defense just now, he definitely didn''t have the defense of a body refiner, and besides, body cultivators only had faster recovery speeds than ordinary people. They still had to go through the recovery process, not directly heal the wound like what had happened just now.


    And if he had used the Dao of Life, there was also a process for that. It was faster than the body cultivator''s process, but not like this, done without a single trace.


    The Dao of Time!


    Tang Jie came to a sudden realization.


    "This is your Dao Art? Using the Dao power of time to return everything to a set point in time?"


    Xin Tianchouughed. "What do you think? My Origin Return Dao Art isn''t bad, right?" Despite carrying the same name, the Origin Return Dao and Origin Return Art were as different as night and day. The art had a form, and to use Origin Return, one was limited to lifeless objects and only to a certain limit. But the Dao of Time was a formless art that could be unreasonable as it wanted.


    The Origin Return Dao Art could reverse the time of all things. So long as Xin Tianchou wanted, he could reverse the time of any object in the world, which was a sign that Xin Tianchou had achieved an extremely high level when it came to entering the Dao.


    With this Origin Return Dao Art, Xin Tianchou was able to maintain a firm hold on his position as Guanshan City Lord. Once he reached Soul Projection, he could start aiming for the position of Daye Prefectural Lord, achieving even higher status.


    But while the Dao of Time was formidable, it had its limits. The more one yed around with time, the more Dao power one consumed. This was why a Dao Art that froze time was impossible, because that was essentially pausing the time of the entire Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    Freezing time in a localized region was possible, but this consumed far more Dao power than one could ept, and only a Dao Controller could pull it off.


    Xin Tianchou naturally hadn''t reached the level of freezing time. He didn''t even dare to use the Dao of Time on Tang Jie. But there was nothing wrong with him using the Dao of Time on himself.


    If the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s Gale of Dancing Void was the strongest spear, Xin Tianchou''s Origin Return Dao Art was the strongest shield.


    Protected by his Dao Art, Xin Tianchou grasped at the air, forming a spear of ice. "Just die already!"


    Radiating a boundless chill, the spear shot toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie had to be careful in the face of such a powerful spear, the Primal Yang Needle summoning a fiery gale and unleashing a radiant wave of sword energy. It sted through the spear and continued forward, stabbing into Xin Tianchou.


    Although he wasn''t using his body cultivator abilities, he still had the body and the strength, and the Longevity Sword was a Divine Connection that maximized the power of a body cultivator, so a casual flourish was enough to ovee Xin Tianchou''s attack.


    But Xin Tianchou didn''t even try to dodge, shooting a cold st of energy out of his finger at Tang Jie.


    Despite its size, Tang Jie felt an immense danger from this finger st, but it was toote to retreat.


    The Primal Yang Needle plunged into Xin Tianchou''s body as the cold light burst apart within Tang Jie. A freezing energy traveled through his meridians, almost freezing him solid in both body and soul.


    "How do you like my Freezing Soul Pearl?" Xin Tianchouughed, the Dao of Time making the wound he had just sustained disappear.


    With the wave of a hand, Xin Tianchou fired off another Freezing Soul Pearl.


    With this shield of Time, Xin Tianchou thought nothing of his safety, choosing to trade attacks with Tang Jie.

 Chapter 840: Discovered

    Chapter 840: Discovered


    "Aaaah!" A scream broke the temporary moment of silence.


    Everyone turned and saw Ice Phoenix with half an ear hanging from her mouth, crazilyughing, while one of the Four Young Sirs of Guanshan had half his face covered in blood.


    This person was a cultivator, so such an injury wasn''t a big deal.


    The problem was that it had been too sudden and unprompted, so he had screamed in pain.


    Enraged, he roared, "You foul woman!"


    He raised his hand and attacked Ice Phoenix.


    While Ice Phoenix was a Soul Transformation cultivator, Tang Jie had sealed all of her power, so she could only watch this palm chopping down. Yet she was fearless, even moving to meet the blow.


    The palm struck her in the chest, and she flew backward, throwing up blood.


    That Young Sir of Guanshan was going to deliver a follow-up strike, but Yiyi reacted, crying out, "Stop!" A green beam of light flew from her hands and blocked that man''s attack.But her attack drew the attacks of others.


    With a sharp cry, Young Lady Xin attacked Yiyi again, and the other cultivators of Guanshan City also began to join in.


    These people all belonged to the same city, and with amon enemy, Yiyi was no match for them.


    Tang Jie was rmed and was about toe to the rescue, but he discovered that Guanshan City was still under its formation, and he would be toote. He turned and shouted, "City Lord Xin, hurry and have them stop."


    Xin Tianchou snorted, "Your people started it first."


    He didn''t mind letting them go, but he had just spoken to Tang Jie with the attitude of a victor, and he would lose face if he immediately started doing as Tang Jie said. Thus, he wanted to at least say a few words to give himself the right atmosphere before finally saying at the very end that he would make an exception, showing off his magnanimity.


    But Tang Jie didn''t give him time to y his games.


    The crowd below was enraged and already attacking Yiyi, forcing her to let out thebat puppet and bean soldiers. But even this didn''t seem like enough, and she would be forced to use the Treasure Cosmos Formation diagram soon. Once it was used, casualties would be inevitable, which would make things even harder to resolve. Worst of all was that Yiyi also needed to protect Ice Phoenix, which further decreased the time she could hold out.


    Tang Jie had no time to waste talking with him, so he immediately punched at the formation.


    His forcing open the formation was no different from pping Xin Tianchou in the face, and he roared, "Such audacity!"


    He sent a gust of icy wind at Tang Jie.


    He had bought into the fiction that Tang Jie was in a weak state, so he didn''t even use a Divine Connection, thinking that a casual attack would be enough to defeat him.


    But Tang Jie didn''t have any patience, turning around and punching. "Out of my way!"


    <em>Boom!</em>


    Devil Crushing Fist!


    Tang Jie was no longer holding back, using the first move of the Combat Emperor Catalog. The immense force of the punch sted into Xin Tianchou, and Xin Tianchou felt like an unprecedented power was crushing him.


    This power was like a meteor descending from the heavens, smashing into the city''s formation in a multicolored explosion.


    The intense impact made everyone raise their heads in shock, and what they saw was their mighty City Lord whose prodigious powers had forced his opponent to concede being smashed into the formation. They were stupefied, not understanding what was going on.


    "Bastard, you¡­ sneak attacked me!" Xin Tianchou stubbornly clung to his dignity. At this key moment, he hade up with a bright idea, implying that Tang Jie had simply ambushed him rather than defeating him in a contest of strength.


    Tang Jie snorted. "Then what about this one?"


    He unleashed another punch, sting apart almost all of Xin Tianchou''s body.


    Shocked, Xin Tianchou hastily used Origin Return to restore his body, but a momentter, Tang Jie flew up, grabbed Xin Tianchou, and threw him at the formation. "And what about this!"


    He treated Xin Tianchou like a sandbag, swinging him at the formation again and again.


    Just like that, he used Xin Tianchou as a weapon against the formation.


    Everyone in the city was dumbfounded.


    Xin Tianchou, who had just been reveling in victory, was now being beaten up by Tang Jie without being able to fight back in the slightest, turning everyone''s world upside-down.


    Xin Tianchou was also very unfortunate. He was also very strong, but all of his powers were almostpletely countered by Tang Jie.


    Moreover, he had allowed Tang Jie to get close, having failed to realize the true extent of Tang Jie''s power. As a result, Tang Jie had been able to get multiple blows in andpletely suppressed him, removing even his ability to counterattack.


    His Origin Return was formidable, but each of Tang Jie''s attacks dealt him serious damage that he had no choice but to immediately restore, which left him no time to strike back. This created an endless and miserable cycle.


    In the end, Xin Tianchou''s Time Dao power was not infinite, and if this continued, his death was inevitable. Finally, he let go of his pride and shouted, "No more fighting! I concede, I surrender!"


    He raised his hands high in the air.


    Tang Jie''s hand stopped, and he grasped Xin Tianchou as one would hold up a chicken, shouting, "Open up the formation!"


    Xin Tianchou hastily pointed at the formation, upon which it opened.


    Yiyi grabbed Ice Phoenix and flew out of the city.


    Tang Jie saw that they were fine and sighed in relief. He then red at Ice Phoenix and said, "I''ll make you pay for this."


    Ice Phoenix was unafraid,ughing, "And how do you n to do that? Kill me? That''s exactly what I want! Hahaha!"


    Tang Jie was enraged, but he had no means of venting this anger, so he turned and gave Xin Tianchou another punch.


    Xin Tianchou had just recovered from his injuries, but this punch floored him once more. His face twisted as he said, "Why are you still hitting me¡­"


    Tang Jie ignored him, continuing to re at Ice Phoenix. "I warned you before to not think about trying to escape, nor should you attack someone who shouldn''t be attacked, that if you broke the rules even once, I would make you suffer. You still did it, so starting from now, I will not only seal your cultivation, but also your ability to move. Your eyes will not see, your mouth will not speak, and you will even have to be fed by someone else. You did this to yourself!"


    Ice Phoenix blinked at him. "Then what if I need to go do my business? Are you going to help me with that too?"


    <em>Bang!</em> Tang Jie punched Xin Tianchou in the stomach.


    "Why is it me again¡­" Xin Tianchou groaned in pain.


    He was a Deification cultivator and the ruler of a city, but he was serving as the target of Tang Jie''s rage in front of the entire city.


    He wanted to strike back, but Tang Jie''s ocean of strength hadpletely suppressed him, and his Time Dao power had beenpletely emptied. Now, he didn''t dare to use Origin Return, relying on spell arts to heal himself.


    Young Lady Xin didn''t dare to believe her eyes, shrieking, "Father!"


    Yiyi looked at her in scorn, as if saying, <em>Now you understand who''s more powerful, right?</em>


    Tang Jie was still ring at Ice Phoenix, the two of them like two fighting roosters, neither backing down.


    In the end, Tang Jie helplessly said, "Yiyi, watch her and make sure she doesn''t cause trouble again."


    "Oh," Yiyi said, taking custody of Ice Phoenix.


    Ice Phoenixughed. "Tang Jie, is that all you''re going to do, just lock me away? What else can you do to me?"


    Rendered speechless from anger by Ice Phoenix, Tang Jie punched Xin Tianchou again, sending him from the sky down to the ground.


    The mighty City Lord was being swatted around like a ball, and the crowd cried out in fear and ran off.


    By the time the bruised Xin Tianchou crawled out from his crater, Tang Jie had already left with Yiyi and Ice Phoenix.


    "Bastard!"


    Xin Tianchou had never been so humiliated before, and as he watched Tang Jie leave, his eyes zed with anger.


    "Father!" Young Lady Xin ran over.


    As his daughter ran over, Xin Tianchou suddenly grew angry. He swatted his hand, bowling over Young Lady Xin.


    Young Lady Xin hadn''t expected this treatment, saying in shock, "Father, you¡­"


    Xin Tianchou pointed at her and cursed, "It''s all because of you! If it weren''t because you caused trouble all day, I would have never ended up like this! My reputation is in ruins because of you!"


    Once word of his defeat got out, everyone would know of his humiliation, and he would lose all his dignity. Many people would even begin to doubt his strength, and the troubles woulde one after another. This thought made him even more indignant.


    But in the middle of his sorrow and despair, he suddenly sensed something strange.


    Xin Tianchou turned and saw a purple energy gathered on the ground nearby.


    "This is¡­" Xin Tianchou blurted out in shock.


    He forgot all his pain and rushed over.


    This purple energy came from a pool of blood on the ground.


    This blood was ck and brown, but it was infused with a bizarre demonic power that would make one dizzy if one stared at it for too long.


    Even though this dizzying effect didn''t work on Xin Tianchou, he sensed the demonic power contained within.


    "Demon blood! This is demon blood!" Xin Tianchou shouted. "Where did demon bloode from in my Guanshan City? Did a demon sneak in?"


    This demon blood represented an extremely grave incident!


    Xin Tianchou stopped hesitating and used thest of his Time power.


    This time, rather than using it to heal himself, he used it on the area, reversing time to see what had happened. He needed to see where this blood hade from.


    This was the other function of Origin Return, but as Xin Tianchou had chosen to focus onbat, he rarely used it in this way.


    Fortunately, this demon blood was clearly fresh, and Xin Tianchou had enough Dao power to reverse it.


    As time was reversed, Xin Tianchou followed the timeline down, witnessing all that had happened in this area.


    Quickly, Xin Tianchou saw the blood appear on the ground, and then he saw the blood fly into the air andnd in the mouth of a woman.


    Ice Phoenix!


    That cold woman with extremely cunning eyes!


    Xin Tianchou trembled as the illusion disappeared and the time reversal ended.


    Xin Tianchou cried out, "Tang Jie, you scoundrel! Colluding with Primordial Fog! Hahahaha, this time, you''re dead!"


    His face twisted into the smile that came from the glee of reporting an enemy.

 Chapter 839: Stealing Techniques

    Chapter 839: Stealing Techniques


    If Tang Jie hadn''t already decided topete with only hisw cultivation, Tang Jie would really have liked to test his own recovery powers, to see whether the Dao of Time or his body cultivation was more domineering.


    But since he had already made a decision, he had no ns on changing his mind. Besides, Tang Jie had another idea.


    Seeing that Xin Tianchou wanted to trade blows with him, Tang Jie snorted and waved the Primal Yang Needle, unleashing the might of the Longevity Sword.


    The Longevity Sword fully exhibited the abilities of its creator, the Pearl Lady, sword wave after sword wave forming an endless river that surged toward Xin Tianchou.


    The Guanshan City Lord didn''t mind trading blows, but he quickly found that the Longevity Sword made it very hard for him to actually trade blow for blow.


    The ceaseless river of sword energy blocked all of Xin Tianchou''s attacks, with more energy to spare to counterattack. If Xin Tianchou couldn''tnd his attacks, his strategy of trading blows became a joke. With only the ability to heal himself with the Dao of Time, he could only serve as a punching bag.


    Xin Tianchou was incensed by the situation, and he let out a growl, upon which one of his hands turned pitch-ck.


    Tang Jie immediately put up his guard.


    Chuckling, Xin Tianchou thrust that ck w at the air, and then it somehow appeared right in front of Tang Jie, pressing against his chest.It was an eerie attack, ignoring all of Tang Jie''s defenses and plunging straight into his body. Tang Jie quickly retreated, but he was still toote. As the w reached within, he felt a wicked power entering him and crazily extracting his life force.


    He immediately swung the Primal Yang Needle around and cut off the w. The needle wasn''t actually strong enough to break the w, but the impact was enough for Tang Jie to break free, upon which he turned the sword around and unleashed another attack.


    Xin Tianchou hadn''t expected Tang Jie to have the strength to strike back in these circumstances. This ghostly hand was a Divine Connection he had cultivated over many years called the Spiriteater Ghost Hand. The moment it made contact with the opponent, it would crazily devour the other person''s spiritual energy and life force. The victim would be greatly weakened if not killed, so counterattacking was difficult. But Tang Jie seemed fine, even attacking him! He didn''t know that Tang Jie was a body cultivator with an extremely strong body. Even if Tang Jie didn''t use this body''s strength, he still enjoyed its advantages when he was attacked.


    But this w had still stoked the mes of Tang Jie''s rage.


    He muttered, "It''s time you got a taste of my abilities!"


    A red light burst from his body, the Primal Yang Needle erupted with a white me, and countless des appeared in the sky.


    The Flesh Millstone! The Pale Cloud me! The Heavenly Cmity des!


    His anger toward Xin Tianchou had finally led Tang Jie to use some of his more powerful moves.


    The crowd below saw fire and blood fill the sky.


    The firepletely melted all the snow and ice, and the bloody light was like glue, making everything within it sluggish.


    In shock, Xin Tianchou realized that this crimson light was affecting his movements, even slowing down his thinking speed. It was the same effect as his Absolute Ice Prison!


    As Tang Jie''s cultivation advanced, his Flesh Millstone had also grown stronger. This Divine Connection that he had gained at the Heart Demon Tier was the only Divine Connection that actually kept up with him, growing stronger as he grew stronger.


    A vortex of blood instantly expanded to a radius of fifty kilometers, Tang Jie''s endless blood energy serving as the greatest foundation of its power. Using it together with the ceaseless attacks of the Longevity Sword, Tang Jie dominated the battlefield.


    Xin Tianchou was dumbfounded.


    Even though he had entered the Dao of Time and couldn''t be killed, under this fierce assault, he was starting to tire. One wound after another appeared and disappeared. The Primal Yang Needle was immensely powerful, each blow dealing far more damage than imagined, and Xin Tianchou had no choice but to immediately heal such injuries.


    As a result, his Time Dao power was rapidly consumed.


    Tang Jie''s attacks were only increasing in intensity, and he showed no signs of tiring.


    Xin Tianchou inwardly groaned, wondering why he had to run into an opponent like this. This person clearly wasn''t skilled in using any Great Daos, but his arts were powerful nheless. However, he failed to notice the ring that had formed at Tang Jie''s feet.


    This ring of light was inconspicuous enough that all the fire, blood, and sword energy concealed it from Xin Tianchou''s senses. Otherwise, the mysterious Dao Runes within the ring would have given it away.


    The Realm of Insight!


    With the Realm of Insight, Tang Jie could see all of Xin Tianchou''s attacks.


    However, Tang Jie had activated it not to beat his opponent, but rather to see through his Time Dao Art.


    The Dao of Wisdom was not noted for itsbat power, but it was incredible when it came to analyzing Dao Wills andprehending Great Daos.


    One could say that it had been mostly thanks to the Dao of Wisdom that Tang Jie had been able toprehend the Twelve Great Daos.


    Even so, he was still verycking when it came to the Great Daos. Thus, he seized every opportunity he had to study.


    Xin Tianchou had entered the Dao of Time, which made him a rare genius. Time was one of the most difficult toprehend of the Twelve Great Daos, and while Tang Jie hadprehended a little of it, the gap between them was vast. Tang Jie naturally would seize an opportunity to learn if it was presented to him.


    He was stronger than Xin Tianchou when it came to foundations, his body cultivation present even if he wasn''t using it, and he also had better divine treasures than Xin Tianchou. Thus, he inflicted wounds on Xin Tianchou and then sat back and watched Xin Tianchou recover.


    Through the Celestial Eye, he glimpsed those mysterious Dao Runes, saw how the Dao power operated, and gradually, the principles of Time unfolded before him.


    Someone who didn''t understand the Dao of Time would feel like they were admiring flowers in the fog, only half-understanding what they were seeing.


    But Tang Jie hadprehended the Dao of Time, even grasped how to use it to dy the timing of his attacks. As he observed how Xin Tianchou used the Dao of Time, he gradually understood his tricks.


    If once wasn''t enough, he would just try again.


    Thebination of the Longevity Sword, Heavenly Cmity des, and the Flesh Millstone constantly gave Xin Tianchou new wounds that he constantly healed.


    Xin Tianchou eventually realized that he was the only one getting injured in this battle.


    Even though he had an undying body, the power of the Time Dao was limited.


    In his shock, he finally began to feel a little fear. Realizing that he had met a tough opponent, he hardened his resolve and let out a howl.


    As he howled, a giant golden wheel appeared behind him.


    This golden light emitted a majestic radiance that made even Tang Jie''s heart tremble. He knew that this would be Xin Tianchou''s ultimate move.


    Although he knew that with his Immortal Spirit Body, Infinite Pce, and other moves, he had nothing to fear, he had no desire to reveal his own trump cards.


    Swinging the Primal Yang Needle to block one of Xin Tianchou''s attacks, he retreated and said, "City Lord Xin, there is no grudge between us, so why go to such lengths? The Origin Return Dao Art is extremely formidable, and this one has not been able to ovee it despite using all my arts. I am now out of power, no match for the Celestial Sovereign. Tang Jie is willing to concede. All I ask is that City Lord opens the and lets this one go. Otherwise, this one will have to go all-out!"


    While he seemed to be pleading for mercy, he was actually giving Xin Tianchou a chance, reminding him that he wasn''t the only one with a trump card.


    Startled, Xin Tianchou recalled Tang Jie''sckadaisical attitude and realized that he truly didn''t seem to be going all-out. And while this golden wheel also wasn''t hisst card, after witnessing Tang Jie''s strength, Xin Tianchou had no confidence in his ability to defeat him.


    He knew that Tang Jie was giving him a way to gracefully exit the stage, and after some thought, he epted Tang Jie''s kind gesture. Grunting, he said, "Since you''re apologizing, I won''t make further issue of this. Now you know that my Guanshan City isn''t a ce where anyone can juste and go. Remember this lesson and learn how to be respectful in the future."


    This guy certainly had a very thick face. He knew that Tang Jie had beaten him ck and blue, that he had lost enough limbs to make a centipede, but he talked like an emperor, as if the one being hacked apart had been Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie simply smiled and bowed. "City Lord, my gratitude for your grace."


    He had conceded.


    The crowd below didn''t understand what was going on. They only heard Tang Jie concede and started to cheer the power of the City Lord.


    Xin Tianchou stood proudly, as if he truly was invincible.


    Down below, his daughter Young Lady Xin smugly smiled at Yiyi. "So? In the end, my father won, right? Girl, forget that brother of yours ande under me."


    Yiyi rolled her eyes,pletely speechless when it came to this lily.


    (TN: In Chinese, a lily is used to refer to a woman who likes other women.)


    Nobody noticed Ice Phoenix coldly chuckling.


    She turned to a young man nearby, one of the Four Young Sirs of Guanshan, shooting him an alluring nce.


    The young man was thrown into a tizzy by Ice Phoenix''s gaze, momentarily forgetting to whom Ice Phoenix belonged. Walking over as if possessed, he said, "Miss¡­"


    "Shhh¡­" Ice Phoenix raised a finger, ncing at the nearby Yiyi.


    She softly said, "Can you help me with something?"


    The young man hastily said, "This one is willing to assist you, mydy, but if you want me to rescue you¡­"


    He hesitated, pointing at the sky. His meaning was clear: <em>the one who kidnapped you is a Violet Pce, so I can''t save you.</em>


    Ice Phoenix shook her head and smiled. "All I want¡­"


    Her voice suddenly became extremely soft such that the rest of her sentence was unclear.


    "What?" The young man didn''t hear her clearly, so he got closer, putting his ear up to Ice Phoenix''s red lips.


    Ice Phoenix''s eyes shed with killing intent. "I said¡­ I want to borrow your blood."


    And then she bit the young man''s ear.

 Chapter 841: Giving Up

    After leaving Guanshan City, Tang Jie''s group flew for a while, Tang Jie remaining grim and pensive the entire way.


    Ice Phoenix was worried by his behavior, asking, "Hey, what are you thinking that has you so out of it?"


    Tang Jie looked up at the sky and casually said, "I''m thinking about why you did such a thing."


    "What do you mean, ''why''?" Ice Phoenix acted like she didn''t know what he was talking about.


    Tang Jie nced at her and sighed. "You know what I''m talking about. You wouldn''t bite that man for no reason."


    "Perhaps I just wanted to give you some trouble?" Ice Phoenix smiled.


    Tang Jie shook his head. "Don''t try this sort of lie on me. It''s too low-ss. If I were so easily tricked by you, I wouldn''t be me. Although I don''t quite understand what sort of method you used, I''m sure that the trouble you could bring me wouldn''t be something as small as that¡­ Perhaps you''ve already exposed your identity."


    Ice Phoenix''s face twitched, and her voice grew softer. "How could that be? How could I do such a thing?"


    After seeing her guilty expression, Tang Jie sighed, knowing that he had guessed correctly."Was it that mouthful of blood?" he asked. "I didn''t think that after I sealed all your strength, you would still be able to force out a sliver of demon blood. In the end, I underestimated your abilities."


    Yiyi was startled. "Big Brother, are you saying she revealed that she was a demon? But why would she do such a thing? Isn''t that just causing trouble for herself?"


    Tang Jieughed. "If demons were reasonable, they wouldn''t be demons. Trying to use human sense toprehend demon sense is a fundamental mistake. It''s because I didn''t understand it before that I made this error. Ice Phoenix¡­ you are no longer Ice Phoenix, but Demon Phoenix!"


    Ice Phoenix scowled. "What do you understand? Demons are all about being true to yourself! Letting your nature guide you and not acting fake. If you''re not free, it would be better to die! Tang Jie, you deceived my master and then imprisoned me, and you even have delusions about freeing me of my demonic nature! For you, that''s saving me, but for me, that''s killing me! You will never understand how refreshing it felt to turn into a demon after you rejected me. Only then did I understand what it meant to really be true to yourself, did I understand that all those years before were a waste of time! I finally broke free of that righteous stereotype and was able to act my self, so how can I let you put me back into the cage? By saving me, you''re killing me. And by killing myself, I''m saving myself! You don''t understand demons, so even with your deep ocean of knowledge, you can never understand what we''re thinking, not understand our thoughts. With all that, is there anything strange about falling for my tricks?"


    Tang Jie gave her a weird look.


    There was a long silence.


    Ice Phoenix started to be rmed by his stare, and she finally asked, "What are you looking at me like that for?"


    Tang Jie calmly replied. "Is that how it was? I see, I understand. I''ve truly underestimated you, and I also didn''t understand demons too well. But thankfully, because of you, my vision has been broadened. Truly, looking at a problem from only one perspective is bound to make one narrow-minded. You''re right. From my end, I''m saving you, but from your end, I''m killing you. You''re doing perfectly fine as a demon cultivator, but by trying to save you, I''m putting in a lot of work while not making you happy either. Perhaps I really am wrong¡­"


    Ice Phoenix was dumbfounded by all these words.


    Tang Jie said, "If that''s the case, I''ll let you go off on your own."


    "Wha¡­ what?" Ice Phoenix didn''t dare to believe her ears.


    She had racked her mind for ideas to escape from Tang Jie, even exposing her identity.


    But to her surprise, these words had been enough for Tang Jie to let her go.


    She felt like she had given her all only to punch at a pillow.


    Not only did it feel like she had not punched anything, she had made herself ufortable and tired for the sake of it.


    But Tang Jie did as he said, pointing at Ice Phoenix and releasing her seal.


    Tang Jie then said, "Alright, you''re free now and can do as you please."


    He waved a sleeve and prepared to leave with Yiyi.


    Just then, Ice Phoenix frantically said, "Hey, hey, wait."


    "Mm?" Tang Jie turned to look at her. "Is there anything else?"


    Ice Phoenix angrily stomped her feet. "You''re just leaving me here and forgetting about me?"


    Tang Jie said in surprise, "Didn''t you want freedom? So why are you so unhappy now?"


    "But¡­ but¡­" Ice Phoenix stammered, finally gritting her teeth and saying, "But I''ve revealed myself as a demon cultivator. By letting me go now, aren''t you telling me to die?"


    "Is that so?" Tang Jie acted surprised. "In other words, you really did expose your identity?"


    Ice Phoenix was startled. Only then did she realize that Tang Jie hadn''t been sure before, but she had just confirmed his theory.


    But at this point, there was no point in trying to maintain the lie. She nodded and said, "Correct. I''ve already revealed that I''m a demon cultivator. What are you going to do about it?"


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "That gives me even more of a reason to let you go."


    "But that Guanshan City Lord probably already knows that you''re colluding with a demon!" Ice Phoenix shouted.


    Tang Jie nonchntly said, "He only knows that I''m together with a demon cultivator. Where did collusione from? Don''t forget that you said yourself back in Drunken Book Pavilion that I had taken you by force. In other words, you were my captive from the beginning. How can you call this collusion? Clearly, I came across a female demon in my travels, so for the sake of the positive ne, I subdued you. If theye after me, I''ll just hand you over. After all, since you''re not willing to be free of your demon nature, if I help you, I would basically be killing you. In that case, I''ll let you die at the hands of others. This could even be considered helping you get what you want."


    He turned and left.


    Ice Phoenix hadn''t expected this move from him, paling in fright. "You''re really letting me go?"


    Tang Jie ignored her.


    Ice Phoenix was both angry and frantic.


    This was just how humans were sometimes.


    In Tang Jie''s hands, Ice Phoenix thought of every way to escape Tang Jie, even revealing her identity.


    But when Tang Jie truly gave her her freedom, she panicked.


    While the Vast Wilderness Continent wasrge, every person here was her enemy, and any person who learned what she was would kill first and ask questionster. There was no ce here that could hold her, and other than following Tang Jie, she could think of no way to stay alive.


    She had said that she would prefer death to having her freedom taken away, but one could never take words said in anger seriously. If she really wanted to die, she had already had numerous chances to do so.


    Thus, she was hesitant and indecisive.


    As Tang Jie flew farther and farther away, Ice Phoenix finally decided to follow.


    Tang Jie saw this and said in surprise, "Didn''t I give you your freedom? What are you following me for?"


    Ice Phoenix snorted and pursed her lips. "Since you gave me freedom, what does it matter to you where I go? I just happened to also be going this way. We just happen to be sharing the road."


    "I see." Tang Jie nodded. "That''s true. But I''ve just remembered that since you''re free now, I don''t need to go to the West Bull Divine State. I might as well use this chance to look around the Vast Wilderness Continent, so I don''t n to head that way anymore."


    He turned and flew off in another direction.


    "You¡­" Ice Phoenix stomped her feet multiple times in anger.


    She looked around, inexplicably feeling like some righteous cultivator would suddenly appear and cut her down.


    Afraid, she clenched her teeth and followed Tang Jie again.


    Tang Jie turned to her and said in surprise, "And why are you following me this time?"


    Ice Phoenix pursed her lips. "Is that any of your business? Thisdy simply lost interest in the West Bull Divine State, so I''m not going anymore."


    But then she realized that Tang Jie would definitely say, "Oh, then I''ll go this way instead," and she would just end up being his ything. Indignant, she finally shouted, "Hey, what''s wrong with me following you? There are enemies everywhere, so if you don''t protect me, who will?"


    "''Protect you''?" Tang Jie scoffed. "I certainly can''t protect you. A person like you who values her freedom over her life might kill me at any moment if I bring you along. So let''s not. I can''t afford to provoke you, so aren''t I at least allowed to avoid you?"


    "Hey, you were the one who brought me here! Take responsibility!" Ice Phoenix angrily shouted.


    Tang Jie looked at her in scorn. "Fine. What if I send you back to the Verdant Cloud Domain? But are you sure that you can survive there?"


    Ice Phoenix shuddered. The Verdant Cloud Domain also belonged to the positive ne, and those people would also kill demons on sight. If she really returned to the Verdant Cloud Domain, she would inevitably be exposed, after which the entire popce would rise up to hunt her down.


    She had never considered this aspect before, but now that she fully understood her situation, she despaired. She then realized that Tang Jie was looking at her with eyes full of pity.


    "I¡­ I know my mistakes," Ice Phoenix muttered, lowering her head.


    "Eh?" Tang Jie gasped. "Aren''t you demons all about following your natures, preferring death over imprisonment? Why are you suddenly saying that you know your mistakes?"


    Ice Phoenix said in anger, "Hey, can''t you at least give me a way out? Demons are also human! They know when topromise when the situation isn''t in their favor. You think demons are fools? If that were the case, how could you have been tricked by my master?"


    Tang Jie stopped and turned to her. "In other words, you really want to follow me?"


    Ice Phoenix reluctantly nodded.


    "But bringing you along will cause me a lot of trouble. And didn''t you say that if I were to free you of your demonic nature, I would essentially be killing you?"


    Ice Phoenix impatiently said, "Not being a demon and being a demon both end in death. At least being freed of demonhood will bring a new life. Staying a demon will just end up with me being a ghost. How can you take someone''s words so seriously? I hurt you before because I thought you could protect me. I didn''t think you would just abandon me, making all of my nse to nothing."


    "Then, in the future¡­" Tang Jie trailed off.


    Ice Phoenix waved her hand. "In the future, I won''t cause you any trouble, okay?"


    After some thought, he nodded. "Alright, fine. This one will take you under his wing just this once. But next time, I''ll throw you out and not care one bit about what happens to you."


    "Understood!" Ice Phoenix squeezed out.


    Yiyi couldn''t help but cover her mouth andugh.


    Sure enough, one sometimes had to retreat in order to advance. In the past, when they had their guards up, she would try anything she could to hurt them, but now that Tang Jie had let her go, she had be meek and obedient.


    "But¡­ it''s already known that I''m a demon cultivator. What do we do?" Ice Phoenix nervously asked Tang Jie.


    "Ah, this." Tang Jie replied, "It''s simple. We can just change your face."


    He pointed a finger at Ice Phoenix''s face.


    "Thousand Faces" activated.


    (TN: "Thousand Faces" is the "Reality to Illusion" aspect of "Reflections of Floating Life", the "Illusion to Reality" aspect being "All Life". See Chapter 675.)

 Chapter 842: Time

    Chapter 842: Time


    With the wave of a finger, a beautiful maiden was transformed into an ugly peasant woman with pronounced cheeks, protruding lips, and a ttish nose.


    Drawing back his finger, Tang Jie was still dissatisfied, so he also made Ice Phoenix''s skin rough and jaundiced. Only then did he draw his hand back in satisfaction and fly off.


    After a few moments, Ice Phoenix cried out in anger, "Tang Jie, what sort of awful thing did you turn me into?"


    Tang Jie smugly congratted himself, considering this revenge for her previous treachery. He threw his head back and roared inughter, after which he waved his hand and transformed Yiyi, but keeping her beautiful, and then himself into an elegant schr. Taking Yiyi by the hand, he flew off, ignoring Ice Phoenix.


    Ice Phoenix stomped her feet in anger, but there was nothing she could do but follow.


    Now that he had changed appearance and had Ice Phoenix obediently following him, Tang Jie found himself in no rush to head to the West Bull Divine State.


    This was because he realized that rushing off to the West Bull Divine State to free Ice Phoenix from her demonhood was a mistake from the beginning. It was precisely because he was in such a rush to help Ice Phoenix that she had been able to cause so much trouble.


    Sometimes, that was just how things were. The more you thought for someone''s sake, the less they appreciated your kindness, perhaps even thought you were being malicious.


    cing oneself on the bnce wasn''t conducting good business.With this lesson, Tang Jie had an idea to stop trying to free Ice Phoenix from demonhood.


    Thus, Tang Jie was no longer in a rush and decided to casually stroll about.


    The abundantnds of the Vast Wilderness Continent were full of scenic sights.


    Tang Jie was a hick from the countryside that was the Rosecloud Domain, entering the wider world for the first time, so he couldn''t help but be dazzled. Thus, he and Yiyi had a grand old time ying around.


    But Ice Phoenix wasn''t as happy.


    This was because Tang Jie had made her too ugly. If Tang Jie and Yiyi were the golden boy and jade girl, Ice Phoenix was that coarse maidservant that apanied them.


    Tang Jie expressed that he was very satisfied by this.


    When he was free, Tang Jie digested the knowledge of the Dao of Time he had gained from Xin Tianchou.


    Of course, he didn''t intend to learn Xin Tianchou''s Dao Arts. Dao Arts belonged to the individuals, but he had his own Dao Will, and one could take a different path in understanding the Great Dao and end up at the same destination.


    No matter how the Dao Arts changed, the Great Dao was always there, ever constant.


    It was like a pipe spewing out a mist. No matter where each individual water drop went, they all came from the same source.


    Tang Jie already had one drop, the Dao Will of Time he hadprehended before, dyed attacks.


    And now, he had memorized another Time Dao Art, the second drop of water.


    When the first drop of water appeared, Tang Jie saw that fuzzy timeline, saw the countless versions of himself on that line.


    When the second drop appeared, this timeline grew clearer.


    It was unnoticeable at first, but with every additional day of study and exploration, recalling the traces left by the Dao of Time as Xin Tianchou used Origin Return, the changes became more and more obvious.


    As before, Tang Jie was standing in the center of the timeline. Behind was the past, and in front of him was the future.


    These countless Tang Jies spread across this line were all doing various things.


    Tang Jie could clearly see his past, and he could see a blurred future.


    The past was very clear, but it was an impassable wall that could never be crossed.


    The future was very blurry, and it was thin as a cicada''s wing, difficult to tread upon.


    Thus, one could trace back the past but not revisit it, and while one could touch the future, it was difficult to fathom it.


    Tang Jie''s dyed attacks were established on the principle that the future could be touched.


    But Xin Tianchou''s Origin Return was established on revisiting the past. To put it simply, he had broken through that limit, pushing aside that wall behind him, allowing the him standing on the timeline to step backward.


    When he took a step back, he returned to that point in time, achieving the goal of Origin Return.


    The more steps he took backward, the further back into the past he went.


    But this tookrge amounts of Time power.


    Tang Jie now knew how to reverse his own time. Once heprehended enough Dao Wills, entered the Dao, and umted enough Time power, he could break the wall of Time and revisit the past.


    Then, operating on the same principle, so long as he entered the Dao and umted enough Time power, he could see into the future.


    Seeing through that blurry and ethereal future was essentially a sort of prophecy.


    There was another Great Dao with the power of prophecy: Fate.


    But Fate''s prophecies were based on analyzing intersecting characters and events, whereas Time''s prophecies directly saw how a certain object''s future developed. While the Dao of Fate''s prophecies had something to back them up, the Dao of Time waspletely unreasonable.


    But for this reason, the Dao of Fate''s prophecies could be inurate, the future it saw altered through influencing the Fates of other objects. The Dao of Time''s prophecies were much more urate.


    Although the Dao of Time''s future was unchangeable, it did not extend on forever. It allowed only a limited future rather than letting one see an object''s Fate until its end.


    This was the difference between the prophecies of Fate and Time.


    The future of the Dao of Fate could go extremely far, being able to conjecture ten thousand years into the future if one had enough Fate power. But this prophecy could change, and most of the time, the prophecies of Fate only ended up revealing a tiny hint of the future.


    For example, the Elemental Simtion Formation had prophesied that Tang Jie would die under Immortal Ji Yao''s finger, but all it had been correct about was the existence of the finger.


    This was what defined a prophecy of Fate.


    The Dao of Time was the exact opposite. The difficulty in breaking through the Dao of Time meant that people would only ever be able to see a limited future, perhaps a second or only a few seconds. However, it was bound to be true. Of course, this wasn''t impossible to change, but there was no transcending time unless one could see through it.


    Besides returning to the past and seeing the future, the Dao of Time could also have other effects.


    Standing at the center of the timeline, gazing forward.


    Tang Jie closed his eyes.


    He stopped using his eyes to see, and instead focused his Divine Soul, using his Divine Will and mind toprehend the power of this Great Dao.


    Time washed past him, a vast and deep ocean slowly flowing around him.


    And then that scene from before appeared.


    Time began to elerate, whisking away his life force with it.


    This was the scariest thing about the Dao of Time. Every attempt toprehend it came at the cost of one''s lifespan.


    Thest time heprehended it, he had lost several decades of lifespan, and in exchange, he had gotten the ability to dy his attacks and a basic understanding of the Great Dao.


    But this time, Tang Jie wanted more, so he needed to endure more power, and lose more.


    The timeline began to move faster and faster, and what had been an endless road turned into a roaring river, its raging waters washing away year after year of Tang Jie''s life.


    But still Tang Jie stood there, unmoving.


    In the sea of his mind, his Divine Soul rapidly grasped the flow of Time.


    Dao Runes were condensing, and Dao Wills were emerging.


    Tang Jie''s body was rapidly changing.


    He was aging and withering, but at the same time, his understanding of time, the Dao Wills, was growing stronger and stronger.


    All of this was like what had happened in the Beast Garden all those years ago.


    The only difference was that Tang Jie now had Deification cultivation and an Immortal Spirit Body.


    Every white hair represented one year, and every wrinkle represented ten.


    But Tang Jie didn''t care, sacrificing his life to continueprehending.


    Finally!


    <em>Boom!</em>


    Something seemed to explode in his mind, and a massive Dao Rune appeared in his body and branded itself in the very depths of his body, in the Sea of Cognition, on the center of his forehead.


    He had entered the Dao!


    He drew back his mind.


    He went from the river of Time back to reality.


    He opened his eyes and saw the bored Yiyi in the distance standing up and shouting, "Big Brother!"


    She excitedly ran over.


    Tang Jie smiled and waved his hand.


    And then Yiyi discovered to her consternation that everything around her had slowed down.


    No matter how she ran, she couldn''t reach Tang Jie''s side.

 Chapter 843: Star Radiant Gate

    Chapter 843: Star Radiant Gate


    "What is this?" Yiyi curiously asked.


    And then she found that even her talking had gotten slower.


    It was just three words, but they came out of her mouth one by one. Her mind and body had be unsynchronized, and everything around her slowed down.


    She looked at Tang Jie in shock as he made his way over.


    He was just casually strolling over, but to Yiyi, it appeared as if he had moved instantly to her side.


    She then saw Tang Jie open his mouth as if he was speaking, but the sound was condensed into shrill noise in her ears, so Yiyi could only guess that Tang Jie was calling out her name.


    Staring at Tang Jie, she struggled out, "Big¡­ Bro¡­ther¡­ Let¡­ me¡­ go¡­"


    She could already tell that this was Tang Jie''s ability, so she shouted loudly.


    Tang Jie chuckled and waved his hand again, upon which Yiyi felt like she had returned to reality.Looking around, she found that everything was normal, as if nothing had happened.


    "Big Brother, what ability did you use just now?" Yiyi asked Tang Jie in rm.


    Tang Jie smiled. "It was nothing. I just slowed the flow of Time around you."


    The Dao of Time let one revisit the past and peer into the future, but it also allowed changing the flow of Time, making it faster or slower.


    Just now, Yiyi had been experiencing a slowed flow of time.


    "I see. Isn''t this like the Eternity Sarcophagus?" Yiyi eximed.


    Yes, this was the function of the Eternity Sarcophagus.


    But the Eternity Sarcophagus could only be used on the objects within it, whereas Tang Jie could designate any target, making it much more flexible. However, the Eternity Sarcophagus''s effect was constant, whereas Tang Jie''s effectsted for only an instant, which made it much less effective.


    The dyed attack was Tang Jie''s first drop of water, Origin Return was the second drop, and the Dao Standard within the Eternity Sarcophagus was the third drop.


    It was this third drop of water that had helped Tang Jie enter the Dao of Time.


    Yiyi excitedly said, "Oh, that''s great! Big Brother has grasped another Dao Art."


    In truth, what Tang Jie had used just now was far from being a true Dao Art. It was just a little trick using the small amount of Time power he had gathered after entering the Dao of Time.


    But now that he had entered the Dao of Time, the rest was only a matter of Time.


    Taking stock, Tang Jie had grasped the Insight Dao Realm, had two minor Dao Arts in the Skyrend Swordfall and Ten Extinctions de, and had three full Dao Arts: the Reflections of Floating Life, the Infinite Pce, and Law Speaking.


    Now, his Time Dao was also starting to show progress, which meant that Tang Jie had gained proficiency in using half of the Twelve Great Daos.


    This was a very significant event.


    Understanding, using, grasping.


    These were the three phases of the Great Dao.


    Comprehending was understanding, entering was using, and controlling was grasping.


    Tang Jie hadprehended twelve Daos and entered seven Daos, which meant that he had officially crossed the halfway point on this journey.


    No one person had everprehended so many Great Daos and developed them this much before.


    The ck Tortoise, even after countless reincarnations, had onlyprehended the Twelve Great Daos and not experienced a breakthrough in them.


    Even the Immortal Emperor had only controlled four Daos.


    Although Tang Jie had yet to reach the Dao-controlling level, his current progress was already unprecedented.


    Thinking back on it, Tang Jie was himself amazed.


    He had easily broken through what other cultivators considered high and impassable walls, a feat he now found hard to believe.


    Nearby, Ice Phoenix was also amazed.


    As someone who had been with Immortal Ji Yao for many years, she was keenly aware of how difficult the Daos were.


    A Boundless Gold Immortal like Immortal Ji Yao, one of the most formidable foes in the world, only controlled a single Dao.


    The Great Daos were profound and unfathomable.


    How could Tang Jie so easilyprehend such mysterious concepts?


    Despite her surprise, she coldly snorted, "What''s so amazing about it? The Great Daos are immensely profound, and they get more difficult the farther you travel on them. Better to control a single Dao rather than learn all twelve. You must understand that everything is but an ant to a Dao controller."


    Tang Jie wasn''t provoked by thisment at all. Smiling, he said, "Oh? From the sound of it, you seem to understand quite a lot about controlling Daos. It just so happens that I entered the Dao of Yin Yang quite some time ago, and have umted more than a thousand Dao Runes. Right now, when I cultivate it, all I do is add on more Dao Runes, but there''s no qualitative change. Do you have any pointers on how to proceed?"


    Ice Phoenix rolled her eyes. "Even if I knew, why would I tell you? I''m your pri¡­"


    She was going to say that she was his prisoner, but then she remembered that Tang Jie had released her and that she was the one who had insisted on following him, so she couldn''t bring herself to say it. Thus, after a pause, she red at Tang Jie and said, "I just don''t want to tell you!"


    She was anticipating Tang Jie trying to persuade her so that she could have something to act proud about, but Tang Jie simply chuckled and said, "If you don''t want to tell me, then don''t."


    Ice Phoenix felt rather disappointed to not get the answer she wanted, and she found Tang Jie even more despicable and annoying.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie began to look for a ce to rest.


    The price to enter the Dao of Time had been rather great¡ªfive hundred years of lifespan in a single go. This was about as much time as he had spent cultivating, and his hair had begun to gray. But at least this meant that he didn''t have to use Thousand Faces on himself.


    After cleaning himself up a little, Tang Jie once more set off with Yiyi and Ice Phoenix.


    They ended up traveling for a little less than half a year.


    In this time, Tang Jie truly experienced the Vast Wilderness, passing through various countries and encountering all sorts of incidents, with no small number of misunderstandings and embarrassing situations. After all this, they finally arrived at the West Bull Divine State.


    After half a year in the Vast Wilderness Continent, Tang Jie was no longer so blind. He knew that the West Bull Divine State was home to nine countries, with the country of Hanhai being thergest. It was ruled by the Celestial Splendor Sect, which had a True Immortal ancestor, so it was the lord of the West Bull Divine State.


    Of the remaining eight countries, Reverend Yellow Heaven''s Star Radiant Gate was the sect that ruled over the country of Shangyuan.


    Tang Jie made his way there.


    The West Bull Divine State was shaped like a giant bull, and it was said that it was born from the Returned Remnants of a divine bull. As a legend, it was naturally an exaggeration, but it was true that the West Bull Divine State was rich in resources.


    Shangyuan (Upper Head) was located at the head of the bull, hence its name.


    This was a vast country, many times bigger than Sageheart. The Star Radiant Gate had existed in this region for ten thousand years, so it possessed deep foundations and unfathomable strength.


    Tang Jie started to be careful to not cause any trouble here. And Ice Phoenix had also be very tactful after Tang Jie had almost abandoned her once, so everything went smoothly.


    On this day, Tang Jie andpany finally arrived at the main base of the Star Radiant Gate.


    This sect was located on a majestic mountain range with soaring peaks, befitting its status.


    ording to custom, Tang Jie presented his visitation card upon arrival.


    He had no status in the Vast Wilderness Continent, but while wandering for half a year, he had developed one as a cultivator of the Firebright Divine State''s Firebird Sect. This sect truly did exist, but it had already declined to a minor sect. On his travels, Tang Jie had saved the life of its head and gained this status in return.


    "The Firebird Sect''s Tang Jie seeks an audience with Ancestor Yellow Heaven?" The disciple guarding the gate searched his memories and concluded that this sect was not one of the two-hundred-some major sects of the southern continent, so he looked at Tang Jie with scorn.


    Some obscure disciple from a nameless sect was seeking an audience with their ancestor?


    He proudly replied, "Be off with you. An ancestor of this sect is not someone the likes of you can see as you wish."


    Tang Jie sighed, knowing that he wouldn''t get through unless he showed some of his ability. "Tang Jie seeks an audience with him over a problem. Please, ept this humble expression of my kindness."


    Tang Jie waved his sleeve, and a white lotus bloomed from the ground.


    In a sh, this white lotus had grown to the height of an adult man, upon which it bloomed,yer afteryer of petals unfolding seemingly endlessly. Only after 9999yers had bloomed was the jade ruyi art relic in the center of the lotus revealed.


    The disciple reached out, and the jade ruyi fell into his hands, radiating a gentle light. The disciple immediately felt his spiritual energy traveling through it, without the slightest inhibition. He pointed it at the air, and a st of green energy shot out from the ruyi.


    The disciple immediately understood that this was a rare treasure that could unleash a spell art. While this treasure wasn''t too powerful, it was extremely flexible, able to be used by almost anyone. Even if he didn''t want it, he could still sell it at an extremely high price.


    For this person to produce a lotus with a thought and casually gift an art relic, they had to be a person of immense power. That disciple immediately changed his attitude, saying, "Sir, please forgive me for my earlier disrespect. However¡­"


    He grimaced.


    "What? Is this still no good?" Tang Jie slightly frowned. Wasn''t this person being too greedy? Did simply reporting to his superiors cost a divine treasure?


    The disciple knew that he was misunderstanding and hastily exined. "It''s not that. It is simply that this sect''s ancestor is traveling abroad and has yet to return."


    "What?" Tang Jie was taken aback.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Author''s Note: An additional exnation.


    Dao Realms are not Dao Arts.


    Dao Arts manifest themselves like spell arts, but they use Dao power, allowing them to do what spell arts can''t. Thus, the specialty of Dao Arts is that their existence doesn''t need any theory to back them up, "making the impossible possible".


    But the specialty of Dao Realms is in authority, which is to say that when ites to simr kinds of spell arts, the Great Dao takes precedence, obscuring all. Thus, in the Dao of Wisdom, rather thanprehending a Dao Art, Tang Jie is choosing to constantly improve his Dao Realm, seeking this sort of absolute authority. Through the absolute authority of the Celestial Eye, Tang Jie is able to constantly develop new Dao Arts.


    You could say that the Dao Realm of Insight is the foundation for Tang Jie''s other Great Daos.


    As a price, this Dao has no art.

 Chapter 844: Establishing an Estate

    Chapter 844: Establishing an Estate


    Tang Jie learned through further questions that Reverend Yellow Heaven enjoyed traveling and rarely returned to the sect.


    The Vast Wilderness Continent''s structure was different from the Rosecloud Domain''s. In the Rosecloud Domain, if Yun Tian or another Earth Immortal wanted to go traveling, it would only be if there was another Earth Immortal to hold the fort.


    If there were none, they had to remain in the sect so as to intimidate the other sects and protect against any mishaps.


    But things were not the same in the Vast Wilderness Continent.


    Earth Immortals were not the strongest here. Every state had a major sect with a True Immortal to preside over things.


    While the Star Radiant Gate was a major sect, it had to follow the rules of the Celestial Splendor Sect. Thus, the presence of an ancestor like Reverend Yellow Heaven actually had little effect on the Star Radiant Gate. It wasn''t like another sect was going to attack just because he wasn''t present, and even if he were, those who could bully them would do so just the same.


    Earth Immortals here had much less responsibility and burdens than those of the Rosecloud Domain, so they could run around as they pleased, traveling the myriad domains in search of a breakthrough.


    Most importantly, it was only in other domains that they had a chance to break through.


    If Reverend Yellow Heaven sought out a breakthrough here, the True Immortal ancestor of the Celestial Splendor Sect might not be too happy about it. To ensure their status, they might even secretly interfere. But if Reverend Yellow Heaven went seeking a breakthrough elsewhere, nobody could do anything to him.Nobody could go and destroy a sect simply because their Earth Immortal was traveling and might experience a breakthrough.


    For this reason, there were numerous examples in the Vast Wilderness Continent of cultivators who had returned from their travels after achieving a breakthrough and led a mighty invasion.


    Reverend Yellow Heaven had been out traveling for a long time, but s, he had yet to break through, so he had not returned.


    Tang Jie felt deeply disappointed to hear this news aftering so far.


    The cultivator from the Star Radiant Gate found it awkward to give Tang Jie the bad news that the person he wanted wasn''t here after epting a gift from him. After some thought, he added, "Although Ancestor has yet to return, in a little while will be the sect''s ceremony tomemorate its ten-thousandth anniversary. The ancestor won''t be able to ignore such a grand asion, so perhaps he will return."


    "Oh?" Tang Jie grew interested. "Then when will your honorable sect be holding this ceremony?"


    "In another 148 years."


    "¡­¡­"


    Immortals didn''t feel the passage of time, so it made sense for 148 years to be "a little while".


    Well, some hope was better than none.


    Tang Jie thanked the cultivator and departed.


    Since he had to wait another 148 years for a possibility that Reverend Yellow Heaven would return, Tang Jie decided to take his time.


    He first had Little Three go back to report on his status, and then he went to the nearby Cloudfront Mountain, where he dug out a cave and established an estate for himself.


    148 years was long if waiting, short if cultivating.


    Tang Jie shut himself in the cave and meditated, passing the time as one of those ascetic cultivators who fed on the wind and drank the dew.


    Yiyi and Ice Phoenix couldn''t stand this lifestyle, so they often ran out to y.


    At first, Tang Jie was worried that Ice Phoenix would cause trouble, but this demon woman knew she was dead if her identity was exposed, so she didn''t cause much trouble. But her personality had gone from timid to lively, and while she didn''t cause any big trouble, she certainly riled up no small number of minor problems. Fortunately, the two weren''t average cultivators, so ordinary people couldn''t do much to them.


    The years silently went by, and through his long seclusion, Tang Jie''s cultivation was solidified.


    He had taken only 150 years to go from Infant Tending to Deification, but such rapid progress had made his foundations rather shaky.


    Fortunately, in Cloudfront Mountain, he was able to meditate and temper his mind every day, solidifying his foundation and steadily increasing his cultivation.


    Several decades went by in the blink of an eye.


    As time passed, the people in the area came to know that an Immortal hade to Cloudfront Mountain.


    With the arrival of this Immortal, the fiends around the mountain disappeared. And because of the presence of such a powerful cultivator, the ce became rich in spiritual energy, all sorts of spirit nts began to grow, and a mist swept over the ce, turning it into a fairnd.


    asionally, a woodcutter or traveling merchant would get lost in the mountains, upon which Tang Jie or Yiyi would send them out. Thus, some people said that the Immortal was a man, and others that it was a woman, causing all sorts of rumors to arise.


    But there was one detail that was constant: that this Immortal''s cave was called the Basking Moon Cave.


    "The master of Cloudfront Mountain''s Basking Moon Cave" became Tang Jie''s title to the outside world, and as time went on, it gradually became his name.


    At times, some cultivators would pay him a visit.


    Tang Jie met them regardless of their cultivation level. So long as they were properly courteous, he discussed the Dao with them, pointing out their mistakes and guiding them to the right path.


    This was amon practice for those hermit cultivators residing in the mountains.


    Ascetic cultivation didn''t mean shunning the world, only a desire for nature and serenity. But this didn''t mean forgoing everything else.


    Seeking outpanions to discuss the Dao was amon practice, allowing cultivators to know about the world without leaving their caves.


    After some time, Tang Jie truly did establish a friendship with some cultivators, and the fame of Basking Moon Cave began to spread, at least within Shangyuan.


    Interestingly, when the Star Radiant Gate learned that a cultivator had taken up residence in their country, they had sent someone to pay a visit.


    Upon confirming that this was a Violet Pce expert who had settled, they epted his presence and officially proimed that Cloudfront Mountain was under the management of the Basking Moon Cave''s master. The various major sects usually established rtionships with cultivators like this in such a manner, at the same time being able to use this rtionship to monitor these cultivators. Of course, this also meant that Tang Jie now held legal authority over Cloudfront Mountain.


    One day, as Tang Jie was cultivating in his cave, he suddenly sensed something.


    Raising an eyebrow, he shouted, "Daoist Brother, why do you pace in front of my door rather thaning in and sitting down?"


    Refreshingughter came from outside. "Ah, I can''t hide anything from you, Daoist Brother Tang. This Yin Yang Dust Mote Formation of yours is truly exquisite. I wanted toe in quietly, but I just couldn''t do it."


    There was a gust of wind outside, and then arge man with a curly beard charged in.


    This man was Kun Wu, an unaffiliated Deification cultivator that Tang Jie had be acquainted with a few years ago. Although Deification cultivators could establish their own cities, this didn''t mean that all of them wanted such power. There were many like Tang Jie and Kun Wu who preferred freedom and had their hearts set on the Dao. While these people didn''t have as much political power as those City Lords, they traveled around so frequently and made friends from all around such that they constituted a faction that could not be offended. This could be considered a means for unaffiliated cultivators to protect themselves. Whether it was out of interests, lifestyle needs, or safety, unaffiliated cultivators like to group together.


    Thus, Tang Jie had had many wandering cultivators visit him after he established his cave estate. The weaker ones who saw that Tang Jie was at Deification asked for his instruction before tactfully leaving, while the stronger ones would form friendships and drop by every so often to converse or exchange pointers.


    Kun Wu was one of these frequent visitors, and he was on quite friendly terms with Tang Jie. He was very interested in formations, and whenever he came, he would attempt to break the formation Tang Jie had set up to protect the mountain. s, he had never once seeded.


    The heavens were truly unfair at times. That child who had shown no love for formations was now a formation grandmaster while this formation fanatic was still an amateur.


    Kun Wu was followed by a young schr.


    This person was called the Wind Moon Schr. He was also a Deification cultivator that Tang Jie had be friends with in thest few years.


    Through brute strength, the two had pushed through Tang Jie''s formation to enter his cave.


    Tang Jie smiled. "Please forgive this Tang Jie for noting out to greet my friends."


    With a wave of his sleeve, he created a stone table and three chairs.


    The three of them all sat down.


    The Wind Moon Schr said, "This little brother just so happened to bring some fine tea today, and I invite the two of you to try some."


    With a wave of his hand, he produced a tea set, steam rising from the teapot. With another wave of his hand, a nearby tree turned into a small boy who bowed to the three and began to pour out the tea.


    Kun Wuughed and downed his tea like a bull, after which he shouted, "Good tea!"


    The Wind Moon Schrughed. "What does a brute like you understand about tea? This is Mooncreek Jade Orchid that was personally nted by my little sister, watered with the snow from the Ninefold Mountains and grown in the Cloudsoil of Rainbow Moon Mountain for five years. There are only twelve catties in all, so I only use a few leaves every time. But you just drank it all down without even trying to experience the vors. All you know is to shout ''good tea'', not even knowing what was so good about it."


    Kun Wu heartilyughed in response. "Yes, I''m a brute, my mind focused on cultivation and the Great Dao, with no extraneous thoughts."


    The Wind Moon Schr shook his head. "All things in the world have their principles. Daos arise from nature, so if your heart is on the Great Dao, you should go from small to big, mortal to Immortal."


    "The Great Dao is the supreme simplicity, and the principles of the heavens are all that matter. There''s no need to go through all that trouble. Sacrificing the simple to pursue theplex is attending to trifles while neglecting the essentials¡­" Kun Wu argued.


    The Wind Moon Schr shot back, "It''s steadily advancing toward the goal, not attending to trifles and neglecting the essentials! As for you, what you''re doing is seeking fast returns with no thought for the future!"


    The two of them began to quarrel.


    Tang Jie wasn''t surprised. Such arguments over the Great Dao had gone on for a long time, and everyone had their own opinions.


    Immortal Ji Yao had once argued that the Heavenly Dao was dead. While she wasn''t necessarily correct, her argument was not without reason.


    The same was true for Kun Wu and the Wind Moon Schr. They had their own backgrounds and experiences, so their understanding and views of the Great Dao were different.


    This was why cultivators discussed the Dao.


    They enriched themselves through the opinions of others.


    In the process of discussing the Dao, they made both friends and enemies.


    Fortunately, these two had known each other for many years, and though they often argued, they had never held grudges over it.


    Just when it seemed like their argument was about to get heated, Tang Jie smiled and said, "I say: did you twoe all this way just to argue in front of me?"


    The two of them shut their mouths.


    Kun Wu then said, "We truly do have some business to discuss. Brother Tang, are you interested in emerging from the mountain to take a trip?"

 Chapter 845: The Myriad Courts Reemergence

    Chapter 845: The Myriad Court''s Reemergence


    "''Emerging from the mountain''?" Tang Jie gave a nomittalugh. "Although I''m an ascetic cultivator, I''m not in total seclusion. Going out for a walk once in a while is no big deal. What''s key is that it has to be worth the trip."


    Kun Wu pped his hands andughed. "Brother Tang, I knew you would say that. What if I told you it was for a chance at a lucky encounter?"


    "''A chance at a lucky encounter''?" Tang Jie narrowed his eyes.


    Lucky encounters held a profound meaning for cultivators.


    Such encounters were decided by the heavens and were not something that could be run into just because one wanted to. If such a chance was being brought up, it meant that some new opportunity wasing. If not some rare treasure emerging, it would be something else making its descent.


    But all three present here were Violet Pce cultivators, and there were few lucky encounters that could draw their interest.


    Tang Jie looked at Kun Wu, who mysteriously said, "The Court of Myriad Domains is about to open."


    <em>''The Court of Myriad Domains''?</em>


    This name made Tang Jie''s heart leap.Kun Wu hade to find him for the Court of Myriad Domains?


    When the Martial Lord shattered the Court of Myriad Domains, its fragments had been scattered all across the Chiliocosm. As the Vast Wilderness Continent had been the closest, the main body had fallen here.


    While nobody had known about the Rosecloud Domain''s fragment, the Vast Wilderness Continent''s fragment was known about by everybody.


    It had not actuallynded on the Vast Wilderness Continent, instead floating ten thousand meters above it, engulfed in the Astral Winds throughout the year.


    Thanks to the Domain Astral Winds, the vast majority of cultivators of the Vast Wilderness Continent couldn''t get there. Not only that, when the Myriad Court fell, it activated its defensive formation. This formation kept out the Astral Winds, but it also meant that those Immortal tform cultivators who could break through the Astral Winds also couldn''t get in.


    This treasure that could not be entered had been the subject of much mncholy in the Vast Wilderness Continent for ten thousand years now.


    Over thest ten thousand years, the Myriad Court''s defensive formation had merged together with the Domain Astral Winds, bing inseparable. Time had not only failed to wear away at its power, it had only made it stronger.


    But the Court of Myriad Domains was notpletely impossible to enter.


    Cultivators discovered that the defensive formation would weaken for a time every one thousand years.


    This period of weakness wasn''t long, but it was enough for the stronger cultivators to head inside and see if they could get lucky.


    After all, this was the Court of Myriad Domains, a gathering ce of countless Immortals, the treasures contained within beyond number.


    Just a small fragment of it had greatly enriched Tang Jie, and the one on the Vast Wilderness Continent was the main body of the court, which was on apletely different level.


    ording to Kun Wu, in another thirty years, the court''s formation would weaken, and cultivators would have a chance to enter.


    This had happened several times before, and every time, some cultivators would head in, some people getting rich and some people losing their lives.


    This was how cultivation was: danger and fortune going hand in hand, a constant bncing act between life and death, gain and loss.


    For many people, the opening of the Court of Myriad Domains was a rare opportunity. The big organizations wanted to go in, and the wandering cultivators also sought outpanions to form groups.


    Kun Wu and the Wind Moon Schr had gone to find Tang Jie for exactly this reason. But besides the two of them, there were also several dozen other Violet Pce cultivators in their little alliance, seeking to gain something from this adventure.


    Several dozen Violet Pce experts was an overwhelming force in the Rosecloud Domain, but in the Vast Wilderness Continent, it was just a minor alliance, which made Tang Jie sigh.


    But Tang Jie was hesitant to ept the offer.


    This was because the Star Radiant Gate''s founding ceremony would be happening in thirty years, and he would be full of regret if he missed out on it.


    Tang Jie exined to them, "I''m looking for Reverend Yellow Heaven for a very important matter. For this reason, I established a cave estate here to wait for 148 years. I can''t afford to miss out on a meeting with Reverend Yellow Heaven over this matter."


    To his surprise, Kun Wu and the Wind Moon Schrughed.


    The Wind Moon Schr said, "Brother Tang, do you know how the Star Radiant Gate was established?"


    Startled, Tang Jie asked, "How did it happen?"


    The Wind Moon Schr said, "The Star Radiant ancestor obtained a supreme Dao armament in the Court of Myriad Domains, the Stardust Ring. Why is the founding ceremony of the Star Radiant Gate held at this time? Precisely for this reason. If that Reverend Yellow Heaven ising back, he will definitely go to the Myriad Court. As for that founding ceremony, it''s just an excuse to gather up people."


    Tang Jie was stunned to learn why that Star Radiant Gate cultivator had believed that Reverend Yellow Heaven would return. As an ancestor, there was no need for him to return for a simple founding ceremony. This seemed more like the real goal.


    Since the Star Radiant Gate had been established thanks to the court, it would naturally be extremely familiar with the interior of it. If Reverend Yellow Heaven hadn''t seeded in breaking through outside, he might turn his attention back to the court.


    If this was the case, then there was a high chance of him running into Reverend Yellow Heaven in the Myriad Court.


    Tang Jie excitedly said, "Great, then I''ll go!"


    Kun Wu pped his leg. "I was waiting for Brother Tang to say this. Brother Tang''s grasp of formations will be like giving wings to a tiger."


    The Myriad Court''s formations were formidable, and even after the shattering, numerous traps had remained intact. Tang Jie had experienced a few back in the fragment, and since this was the main body, he was sure that the arrangements would be even more formidable.


    It was no wonder Kun Wu and Wind Moon hade together to invite him. Both his strength and his understanding of formations had yed a role.


    But Tang Jie also needed their understanding of the Court of Myriad Domains, so the two parties drew up an agreement to meet at the court in thirty years, at which point they would enter and withdraw together.


    But it was hard to say how reliable such a temporary alliance would be.


    It was better than going in alone, but at critical moments, it was better to ce one''s hope on oneself than on others.


    After discussing their general ns, the pair departed.


    Tang Jie sat alone in his cave for a while in thought. Suddenly, he flicked his fingers at the air.


    A few momentster, Yiyi appeared.


    Yiyi asked, "Big Brother, did you need something?"


    Tang Jie replied, "I need to go back to the Rosecloud Domain for a few days."


    "You''re going back to Rosecloud?" Yiyi said in shock.


    In thest hundred years, Tang Jie had not returned to Rosecloud once, choosing to cultivate alone. Why did he suddenly want to go back?


    Tang Jie didn''t exin, simply saying, "There are some things that I have to go back for. You stay here and keep an eye on Ice Phoenix. Don''t be so focused on ying that you let her cause trouble."


    "Mm!" Yiyi earnestly nodded.


    After noting several other matters Yiyi needed to pay attention to, Tang Jie headed toward the nearby teleportation formation.


    He was now familiar with the Vast Wilderness Continent and knew that each state had a teleportation formation that he could take rather than flying over.


    After paying the fee, Tang Jie returned to the Gray Heron Divine State and flew toward the Five Origins Paradise.


    As he was on the way, he suddenly decided to go and see how Yuan Chenfei was doing, so he flew over to the Herding Yang Sect.


    But when he arrived, he found that there was nothing there, that Immortal sect having vanished into nothingness.


    bbergasted, Tang Jie found a local to ask, upon which he learned that it had been destroyed a hundred years ago.


    It was not too long after he had left.


    To his shock, ording to the local, the destroyer of the sect was a giant, one-horned ck dragon. It carried a mountain on its back, and its voice was so loud that it could shake mountains. Apparently, with a single swipe of its ws, the entire sect had copsed.


    Tang Jie was stunned. This was clearly the Lithos Dragon.


    Was the Lithos Dragon Yuan Chenfei?


    But Lithos Dragon blood didn''t make for a Lithos Dragon. What was going on here? And if it really was him, why had he destroyed the Herding Yang Sect?


    For thetter, Tang Jie guessed that it had something to do with that Senior Brother Du, but it was still a mystery how Yuan Chenfei became the Lithos Dragon.


    How could a dragon be in the body of a human?


    Tang Jie shook his head.


    But then he froze and muttered, "The Azure Dragon¡­"


    He suddenly realized that the Azure Dragon''s situation was extremely simr to the Lithos Dragon''s.


    Why were the survivors of the Court of Myriad Domains all living on in human bodies? And why were they all reviving at this time?


    A very troubling question appeared in Tang Jie''s mind.


    The scene of the Martial Lord fighting against the armies of the court appeared in his mind, and even now, the sight of him shattering the court still made him shiver.


    But now, Tang Jie felt a deep conspiracy going on in the background. It felt like a plot was brewing right now, but he didn''t know what it was about.


    Unable to solve this riddle, Tang Jie put it aside and headed to the Five Origins Paradise.


    The hundred-year interval between openings posed no difficulty to Tang Jie.


    He was a formation master and possessed great strength, and he had also messed around with things inside the paradise before leaving. Thus, after some work, he opened up the entrance and entered.


    But he was careful this time to not alert the other sects.


    Upon entering the paradise, Tang Jie paid a visit to the garden. He emptied the ce of its remaining nts and then took the eighteen puppets with him. He had left in too much of a rush the first time, but now, he finally had the time to empty the ce.


    If he merged these eighteen puppets with the Mother Cloudbat puppet, he could make a Deification-level puppet, which would be of great use when he went to the Myriad Court.


    However, this wasn''t all that Tang Jie nned to do for this adventure¡­


    Six dayster, Tang Jie returned to the Rosecloud Domain and stood before Ling Xiao and the others.


    After one hundred years, Tang Jie was still the same Tang Jie, but the Basking Moon Sect was not the same Basking Moon Sect.


    The Basking Moon Sect was now like the sun at its zenith.


    The Rosecloud Domain was no longer shared by six sects, nor was it ruled by four sects. Instead, the Basking Moon Sect dominated alone, the Seven Absolutions Sect, Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and the Thousand Passions Sect all acknowledging its supremacy.


    This was all for one reason:


    Yun Tian had be a True Immortal.

 Chapter 846: Open Positions

    Chapter 846: Open Positions


    Yun Tian had be a True Immortal twenty years after Tang Jie''s departure. It was a littleter than nned, but not too great of a deviation.


    With Yun Tian bing a True Immortal, the Basking Moon Sect immediately rose to be the true leader of Rosecloud.


    Back when the Seven Absolutions Sect and the Basking Moon Sect had joined together to attack Godhead Pce, the Basking Moon Sect had asked for the Divine Will Golden Body while the Seven Absolutions Sect had gotten to plunder all of Godhead Pce. At the time, the Seven Absolutions Sect felt like it had gotten the much better end of the deal and had already made ready to assume hegemony. And in reality, they truly had managed to thrive and prosper, producing more geniuses like Wang Juemie.


    But Yun Tian''s breakthrough immediately turned all of the Seven Absolutions Sect''s ambitions to nothing. Only then did they realize just how big of an opportunity they had missed out on.


    Despite their frustrations, after learning of this matter, the Seven Absolutions Sect still immediately congratted the Basking Moon Sect and yielded to its supremacy. Thanks to their past coboration, the Basking Moon Sect happily epted the Seven Absolutions Sect''s fealty and tribute.


    On the other end, the Thousand Passions Sect had already sought to restore rtions with the Basking Moon Sect. They had been deeply displeased over how the Basking Moon Sect had worked with the Seven Absolutions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion and gradually grown distant, but now that a True Immortal had emerged, the Thousand Passions Sect could no longer remain so cold. Given their past thousand years of friendship, everything was fine so long as they were willing to bow their head.


    Finally, there was Horizon Ocean Pavilion. Rtions between this sect and the Basking Moon Sect actually could not be considered good, but the rtionship between Xu Miaoran and Tang Jie meant that the two sects could never be opposed. Crucially, Xu Miaoran''s power within Horizon Ocean Pavilion had also risen by leaps and bounds. After several hundred years of development, the juniors of her All-Talent Society had be the supporting pirs of the sect andmanded immense influence.


    Xu Miaoran herself had be one of the Eight Ocean Rakshasas and herself wielded great authority in the sect. However, she had yet to break through to Violet Pce, and her progress had stalled.


    But regardless, with this level of rtionship, Horizon Ocean Pavilion found no difficulty in lowering its head to the Basking Moon Sect.Tang Jie was ted to hear all this, and he became even more confident in his n. He then told everyone of what he had seen and heard in the Vast Wilderness Continent.


    Even if he had three days and three nights, he still wouldn''t have enough time to recount all that there was in the Vast Wilderness Continent.


    Everyone was full of wonder and awe when they heard of that ce''s mountain-sized exotic beasts, its talking nts, the abyss that ran through the entire continent, and how there was a Violet Pce expert for every city and a True Immortal for every state.


    "This disciple returned primarily because of the Court of Myriad Domains." After giving a rough summary of the Vast Wilderness Continent, Tang Jie turned to the topic of the Court of Myriad Domains, telling them what Kun Wu and the Wind Moon Schr had told him.


    Everyone was very interested when the Court of Myriad Domains was brought up.


    Ling Xiao asked, "What are your thoughts on this matter?"


    Tang Jie directly replied, "Your disciple''s thinking is very simple. I want to go, and so should the Basking Moon Sect!"


    This was the biggest reason Tang Jie hade back.


    The Court of Myriad Domains was an opportunity, but it was also a challenge, the dangers just as big as the rewards.


    Since everyone else was forming groups, Tang Jie wasn''t so arrogant as to believe he could go all by himself.


    But rather than forming a group with Kun Wu''s people, he trusted the Basking Moon Sect more. Moreover, if he was going to have to split up the spoils, it was better to share it among his own people rather than unaffiliated cultivators he wasn''t very familiar with.


    Thus, Tang Jie hade back.


    He came back to gather up all the powerhouses of the Rosecloud Domain and take them to the Vast Wilderness Continent.


    Yes, the Rosecloud Domain was like a vige in the Vast Wilderness Continent, but this one vige had one True Immortal, several Earth Immortals, and a pile of Violet Pce cultivators. Put together, their strength was akin to that of a state.


    Such arge faction would be much more reliable in the Court of Myriad Domains than Kun Wu''s alliance of wandering cultivators.


    "You mean that you want to bring not just my Basking Moon Sect, but also the other three sects?" Ling Xiao asked in shock.


    Tang Jie nodded. "Originally, I was nning to bring only the Basking Moon Sect, but since Martial Ancestor has be a True Immortal and my Basking Moon Sect has be hegemon of Rosecloud, I have to slightly adjust my ns. Having the other three sectse with us will be even better."


    Tang Jie spoke in rather ambiguous terms, but his meaning was very clear.


    There was a risk in going to the Court of Myriad Domains, and nobody could say that nobody would die. If it were only people from the Basking Moon Sect who went, things would end poorly if there were some mishap. But if the Thousand Passions Sect, the Seven Absolutions Sect, and Horizon Ocean Pavilion also sent people, their force would be stronger, lowering the danger, and if there were some mishap, they would suffer equally, and the Basking Moon Sect''s grasp on power wouldn''t be affected.


    Everyone would be sharing the risks, which benefited the strongest faction.


    Ling Xiao nodded in agreement.


    Everyone was quite interested in the Myriad Court.


    While there was a risk, wasn''t cultivation always risky?


    Pushing for Violet Pce alone had a high chance of death, and every person seated in the Hall of Divine Conference had been through their fair share of risks to get this far. They were well aware that taking the next step would require both their own efforts and also some luck. For example, Yun Tian had only been able to break through thanks to an opportunity that Tang Jie had seized for him.


    Now, Tang Jie had brought them all another opportunity.


    Thus, everyone was eager to take up Tang Jie''s proposal.


    However, not all of the Basking Moon Sect''s Violet Pce experts could go, and the question of who stayed and who went had to be carefully considered.


    The Hall of Divine Conference was soon astir with chatter. These True Lords usually spoke in a calm and genial manner, but today, they were squabbling like never before. As the Swordholder, Xiao Biehan was naturally meant for such matters that involved so much fighting. But Ling Xiao responded that the Court of Myriad Domains wouldn''t require onlybat power, but also wisdom. This was a newnd, so not only did they have to find their fortune in the Court of Myriad Domains, they also had an opportunity to set up a base in the Vast Wilderness Continent. In addition, they also had to maintain their rtionships with the other three sects. This wasn''t something that could be done by a pure warrior, so the sect master would also have to go. Mystic Moon and Nine Splendors argued that this expedition would be extremely dangerous, and the sect master and Swordholder were the core of the sect, so their loss could not be allowed. Thus, those two should remain to supervise the sect while the dangers could be left to the two of them. Ming Yekong agreed, saying that the Court of Myriad Domains wasn''t a ce that could be forced through using brute strength and that one also had to move quickly. While he was the weakest, he was actually the most suitable. Moreover, if he died, his death would have less impact on the Basking Moon Sect than anyone else''s.


    They argued until they were red in the face, the sight of which certainly would have dumbfounded their juniors, who were so used to seeing these bigshots being so calm and somber.


    Tang Jie was rendered speechless by their passion.


    In the middle of the arguing, a voice came from the distance. "No more arguing. This trip to the Court of Myriad Domains will be extremely dangerous. The Basking Moon Sect cannot be without its master, so Biehan will go. In addition, he will bring Mystic Moon and Yekong."


    It was Yun Tian''s voice.


    Nobody would dare to argue against the ancestor.


    Xiao Biehan, Mystic Moon, and Ming Yekong were ted.


    Yun Tian said, "In addition, I will also go."


    <em>What?</em>


    Everyone was aghast.


    It seemed that even Yun Tian couldn''t help but be tempted by the Court of Myriad Domains.


    Tang Jie anxiously said, "Martial Ancestor, you''ve already be a True Immortal, so there''s no need to go."


    Yun Tian snorted and replied, "So because I''m a True Immortal, I don''t need to advance any farther?"


    Tang Jie was startled, and Yun Tian continued, "There is no end to the Immortal Path, and nobody who has gotten this far will say that they are satisfied. Tang Jie, you''ve also seen the wonders of the world. For you and me, we have only turned over a small corner of this mysterious world. Maybe mortals who know nothing of all these mysteries can muddle on with their lives, but after witnessing such beauty, how can we bring ourselves to stop? What does it matter that I''m a Supreme True Immortal? So long as we live, we must continue making our way down the Immortal Path. Only then can we live up to the grandeur of the lives we have lived."


    "But the Court of Myriad Domains is rife with danger, and even a Supreme True Immortal risks dying. You are the anchor of the Basking Moon Sect. Nothing must happen to you!" Ling Xiao advised.


    Yun Tian chuckled. "That''s why I have to go. The Court of Myriad Domains is far too dangerous for you juniors to handle alone. This old man needs to go personally to ensure your safety. Otherwise, any one of those True Immortals from those states can turn you to dust, and you won''t even get a chance at a lucky opportunity. With me around, at least you won''t die at their hands."


    Tang Jie said, "But the teleportation formation can''t hold Martial Ancestor."


    Yun Tianughed. "There''s no need to worry about that. While I can''t be like Immortal Ji Yao andpletely empty myself, now that I''ve be a True Immortal, I can still control my energy so it won''t imbnce the formation. Moreover, you''ve been in the Vast Wilderness Continent, so are you saying you got nothing that could strengthen the formation? Don''t be so petty."


    Tang Jie was utterly speechless.


    Once Yun Tian had decided on something, no matter how unreasonable it was, nobody could stop him.


    Everything was decided. The Basking Moon Sect would send five people: Yun Tian, Xiao Biehan, Mystic Moon, Ming Yekong, and Tang Jie.


    The other three sects were notified, each sect being able to send three people. Although it was not indicated that they should be at Violet Pce, for such an expedition, nobody below Violet Pce had any hope of going. As for Earth Immortals, the teleportation formation''s limitations meant that they also couldn''t go.


    The three sects soon sent word expressing their interest.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect''s team was personally led by Ji Qingfeng, and he was apanied by one Li Luoshui and one Wang Juemie, who had also entered Violet Pce. Such an adventure was perfect for him.


    The Thousand Passions Sect sent Fairy Violet Lotus, True Lord Red Leaf, and Bai Yingyu.


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion was sending Xu Guanghua and Celestial Miaoyin. Celestial Miaoyin was not one of the three leaders of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, but she was also a Violet Pce expert. Just like the Mountain Shatter Boy and Hu Xuehua, she was considered a hidden power of the sect. Xu Guanghua had once hoped to have his daughter enter her tutge.


    As for thest member of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, it was Xu Miaoran.


    Tang Jie had personally made this decision. Since this was a treasure hunt, he naturally had to bring his wife.


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion had objected, believing that Xu Miaoran wasn''t strong enough, as she wasn''t at Violet Pce.


    Tang Jie had casually replied, "If she''s not Violet Pce, we''ll just make her one."

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    The text is missing, perhaps a site error, report this to the admin #panic#

 Chapter 847: World Furnace

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Heavenly Bnce Mountain.


    This former battlefield of Celestial Sovereigns had now be Tang Jie''s private property. An enormous formation had turned it into a giant furnace. High mountains of violet gold formed the sides, and the inner valley was covered in formation lines and zed with mes.


    From a distance, the ce really did seem like a massive furnace.


    Within the valley, a man and a woman, bothpletely naked, were seated facing each other.


    It was Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran.


    Despite the fact that they werepletely naked, there was no hint of lust on either of their faces.


    Tang Jie was constantly striking Xu Miaoran''s body with his palm, each strike creating a hissing noise and causing blood to rush to Xu Miaoran''s face before rapidly fading.


    After a long while, Tang Jie finally stopped.


    Xu Miaoran let out a long breath, and then she slowly copsed onto Tang Jie''s chest.


    The look of suffering was gone from her face, and she was now bashfully blushing. "My husband is truly capable. Your wife truly does feel that her Divine Soul has gotten stronger."


    Tang Jie smiled. "I learned this method in the Vast Wilderness Continent. Big ces are different like that, home to all kinds of secret techniques and arts. It''s no wonder they have so many Violet Pce and Immortal tform experts. With this Soul-Stirring Hand, the Peaceful Divine Abode ssic, the Divine Genesis Immortal Ascension Formation, and Horizon Ocean Pavilion''s secret arts, your chances of seeding are forty to fifty percent."


    Xu Miaoran replied, "I''ve already refined the Triflora Divine Incense, but s, I didn''t have enough resources to refine the Supreme Imperial Jadefall Pill. However, I did manage to create the slightly inferior Heavenly Jasper Mansion Pill. The two of them together can raise my chances by twenty percent."


    "I''ll also adjust your fortune, which can bring your chances to at least seventy percent. Seventy percent¡­" Tang Jie sighed. "Although it''s still a little risky, you can still make an attempt. As long as you''re not too impatient and proceed steadily, you shoulde out fine."


    Seventy percent didn''t mean that one would fail three times out of ten, but that one had enough power to seed. The only worry was that various incidents or mental problems would make this power insufficient.


    Ascension wasn''t throwing a pair of dice. In truth, an artificial seventy percent waspletely different from a natural seventy percent.


    The reason other people had a low chance of sess when ascending was that they didn''t prepare as much as Tang Jie. After all, whether it was secret arts or Immortal medicines, they were all priceless and difficult toe by. Many people got only one or two before taking the risk, which naturally meant that their chances of failure were high.


    This was the case for Ming Yekong. His sess had truly been down to luck, the heavens looking out for him.


    But if someone like Tang Jie or Xu Miaoran failed after all their preparations, then one could only say that the heavens loathed them.


    This was why Tang Jie was willing to let Xu Miaoran make the attempt. He didn''t care what the heavens thought, only that Xu Miaoran had no mental obstructions.


    Xu Miaoran chuckled. "Aren''t you the one who''s always rushing forward?"


    Tang Jie was startled, and then heughed.


    Yes, he had always been the greediest person, seeking the maximal oue.


    Meanwhile, Xu Miaoran had always been very clear on where her limits were and was never worried about any potential losses.


    This made Tang Jie feel much more rxed.


    He said with augh, "It''s my bad."


    Xu Miaoran rolled her eyes and then threw herself into his embrace.


    The two of them nuzzled against each other for a while, after which Xu Miaoran asked, "Right, if it''s just cultivating, why did we have toe to this Heavenly Bnce Mountain? It seems that you''ve made some more modifications to this ce. Do you have ns for it?"


    "Indeed," Tang Jie admitted. "I n to forge something."


    "''Forge something''?" Xu Miaoran said in shock.


    What did Tang Jie want to forge?


    He was an expert in shattering weapons, not making them.


    Moreover, he already had the Sovereign de, and what could be stronger than that?


    Tang Jie smiled. "What I have in mind is different, rather special."


    "How is it special?"


    Tang Jie continued to smile. "You''ll find out once you see it."


    Tang Jie used spiritual energy to create some clothes, and then he flew up to a distant mountain top, motioning for Xu Miaoran to join him.


    Xu Miaoran elegantly flew up, Tang Jie embracing her, and then he waved his right hand.


    Heavenly Bnce Mountain rumbled as if something had rammed into it.


    Tang Jie''s arm shook as he roared, "Rise!"


    Heavenly Bnce Mountain fiercely shuddered.


    In the middle of this shuddering, Heavenly Bnce Mountain slowly pulled itself out of the earth, flying upward.


    It flew higher and higher into the sky, slowly turning as it did, radiating a faint violet light. From a distance, it appeared like a crudely shaped cauldron.


    Tang Jie stood outside of it, using his immense powers to push the mountain upward.


    Xu Miaoran was dumbfounded by this sight.


    Na Shan had been considered to have divine might due to being able to raise up a mountain, and the Sword of the Five Sacred Mountains had been considered a divine treasure.


    This mountain of violet gold was a hundred times heavier than an ordinary mountain, so it required even more strength from Tang Jie.


    A boy who had once relied on schemes for everything was finally a peerless powerhouse who could lift up mountains.


    Xu Miaoran couldn''t help but give a mncholy sigh.


    Heavenly Bnce Mountain was still rising higher and higher.


    Eventually, it entered the cloudyer and began to make its way toward the Astral Winds.


    "Go!" Tang Jie barked, waving his hand.


    The spinning Heavenly Bnce Mountain entered the Astral Winds.


    As the Astral Winds gusted, Heavenly Bnce Mountain let out a dazzling light, its defensive formation activating to thwart its destruction. But the howling Astral Winds still carved offrge chunks of the mountain.


    Rocks, dirt, and nts were burned up in the mes of the Astral Wind, leaving only the tough violet gold within, which was able to resist the intrusion of the Astral Winds.


    As that outeryer of stone and dirt was cast off, the drab mountain became smooth and bright.


    The Astral Winds carved away all the useless parts of Heavenly Bnce Mountain, leaving only the violet gold.


    This was a refining of unprecedented scale, refining the entire mountain in a single stroke.


    But Tang Jie wasn''t done yet.


    He began to fire off sts of energy from his finger, applying more formation lines to the mountain.


    These formation lines intersected with andplemented the existing formations, forming a vast. This vast began to contract and shift, until eventually, a giant furnace appeared.


    "You''re forging the mountain into a furnace?" Xu Miaoran finally understood what Tang Jie wanted to make.


    He was using the mountain as a basis to make a furnace.


    It was no wonder Tang Jie dared to try his hand at making something. This sort of method didn''t require any knowledge of forging or craftsmanship. His specialty was in vastness and grandeur, and he had no need to worry about small and intricate seals, for he had more than enough space to flex his abilities.


    Tang Jie then began to throw various treasures into the mountain.


    Tang Jie had gathered up these treasures over many years, and they now became decoration for this furnace. As each one fell onto a formation line, they added their glow to the mountain.


    Slowly, the mountain transformed into a furnace.


    A world furnace appeared before Xu Miaoran''s eyes.


    "This is like¡­ the work of a god!" Xu Miaoran couldn''t help but praise.


    She could easily imagine the capabilities of a furnace created in this way.


    Tang Jie worked on the furnace for 81 days.


    In these 81 days, Heavenly Bnce Mountain was constantly turning and being sted by the Astral Winds.


    After 81 days, the creation process began to reach its end. As the formation lines werepleted, the furnace began to radiate a majestic aura.


    In contrast, Tang Jie''s aura had reached its weakest point.


    81 days of forging had been an immense burden for him. If he didn''t cultivate both body andw, he might not have endured it all.


    But something that had taken Tang Jie so much energy was bound to be a priceless treasure if he seeded.


    "Miao''er, take out your medicine furnace!" Tang Jie shouted as his furnace approachedpletion.


    Xu Miaoran hastily brought out her medicine furnace and threw it toward Tang Jie.


    This medicine furnace was an excellent treasure that Xu Miaoran had purchased at a high price, capable of boosting her chances of sess and the quality of the medicines she refined.


    But Tang Jie threw it in without a second nce.


    As the medicine furnace flew toward the giant furnace, Tang Jie said, "With this as the soul, take form!"


    The medicine furnacended in the very center of the Valley of the Eight Wilds, the center of Heavenly Bnce Mountain.


    All the formations lit up in unison, and Heavenly Bnce Mountain began to spin even faster and shrink in size.


    The massive furnace ultimately shrank down to the size of a regr one, shaped exactly like Xu Miaoran''s medicine furnace.


    But Xu Miaoran knew that this was no longer her original furnace, but one with even greater functions than before.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, and the furnace once more grew to the size of a mountain.


    He smiled and said, "The world as the furnace, created by nature with Yin and Yang as its fuel, able to smelt and forge all things. Using Heavenly Bnce Mountain, 3,999 art relics, and the World Furnace Formation, I have created this Myriad Yin Yang Furnace. My dear wife, what do you think?"


    Her eyes shining with admiration, she flew around the furnace and inspected it. "What''s the purpose of this furnace?"


    "''Purpose''?" Tang Jie chuckled. "With the world as the furnace and the Astral Winds as the me, you can refine pills, forge tools, even refine people. Really, you can refine anything you want."


    With a wave of his sleeve, he summoned the Mother Cloudbat puppet from the Mountain River State Diagram.


    Thebat puppet flew right into the furnace, seating itself in the very center.


    Eighteen more puppets flew out¡ªthe ones he had taken from the Five Origins Paradise.


    These eighteen puppets circled the Mother Cloudbat puppet.


    Xu Miaoran understood what Tang Jie was up to. "You want to upgrade the Mother Cloudbat puppet."


    Upgrading this puppet was no easy task.


    When it had been upgraded to peak Soul Transformation, it had run into a tough bottleneck, just like any other cultivator.


    Just materials weren''t enough to push through this bottleneck.


    Materials were the bones, formations were the muscle, the Ghost Guard was the brain, the crystal core was the heart, and all of this needed a top-ss production method to finally create a peerlessbat puppet. Tang Jie had the first four, but he was missing thest.


    A production method was the same as a refinement method, a proper environment to grow the puppet as the womb was to the fetus.


    In the past, Tang Jie hadn''t needed a good refining method because he wasn''t looking to make puppets of that level.


    But now that he wanted a Violet Pce puppet, he needed theplete set.


    Tang Jie had racked his brains to resolve this problem.


    The Myriad Yin Yang Furnace had been one of the solutions Tang Jie hade up with.


    Tang Jieughed at Xu Miaoran''s words. "With the world as my furnace and the Astral Wind as my mes, I''m sure I can create a Violet Pce puppet. Go!"


    As he shouted, the Astral Winds outside of the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace howled.


    Heat traveled through the walls of the furnace.


    The first forging using the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace had officially begun.

 Chapter 848: Limitless

    Chapter 848: Limitless


    Tang Jie began to spend every day using the Soul-Stirring Hand to temper Xu Miaoran''s Divine Soul, after which he then used the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace to temper the body.


    While the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace was Tang Jie''s first try at forging a tool, the formations it contained were exquisite and granted it many functions. It could be used for both forging tools and tempering cultivators.


    The Soul-Stirring Hand increased Xu Miaoran''s chances of reaching Violet Pce, while the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace increased her survivability. While she couldn''t wield the immense strength of a body cultivator, it could greatly boost her life force.


    After all, entering Violet Pce didn''t mean that Xu Miaoran could boldly stride through the Vast Wilderness Continent. Even someone as strong as the Guanshan City Lord had been beaten ck and blue by Tang Jie. Any random county-level sect would have a Violet Pce expert, so Xu Miaoran needed to increase both her cultivation level and herbat power.


    While she was already one of the Eight Ocean Rakshasas, in Tang Jie''s eyes, she was still rather weak.


    The Myriad Yin Yang Furnace, by refining the bones and body, was a perfect means of improving one''sbat power. For Xu Miaoran''s sake, Tang Jie didn''t mind spending all his savings.


    Ten years quickly passed.


    Tang Jie spent all ten years nurturing Xu Miaoran''s soul and tempering her body. And after all this preparation, Xu Miaoran was finally ready to make the charge at Violet Pce.


    On this day, Xu Miaoran found a quiet ce and quietly prepared for her ascension.Tang Jie had ascended to Violet Pce surrounded by countless people and had even drawn attacks from Godhead and Beast Refining. Inparison, Xu Miaoran''s attempt was much simpler.


    They didn''t even tell anyone else. For Xu Miaoran, Tang Jie being at her side was enough.


    Before the attempt, Tang Jie grabbed her hand, gazing at her, reluctant to let go.


    After a long time, he finally said, "You have to be careful."


    Tang Jie put all of his love and concern into these few words. Not even for his own attempt had he been so nervous.


    Xu Miaoran saw how nervous Tang Jie was and sweetly smiled.


    She cherished such concern from her love.


    She lightly clenched Tang Jie''s hand and then walked off into the mountains, gradually disappearing from his sight.


    Tang Jie quietly waited outside the mountains, breathing in and out to calm his mind.


    After some time, a whistle came from the mountains.


    It was a pleasant sound that was suffused with an immense power.


    With a start, Tang Jie looked up and saw Xu Miaoran walking out.


    She walked step by step, but each step somehow covered a vast distance, and it was only five steps before she was right in front of Tang Jie, happily gazing at him.


    Tang Jie hugged her and excitedly said, "Miaoran, you did it!"


    Although he had always believed that Xu Miaoran would seed, it was only now that Tang Jie could shake off his hidden worries.


    Xu Miaoran reaching Violet Pce undoubtedly solved a big problem for Tang Jie. In the past, he had been unwilling to bring Xu Miaoran on his adventures because she hadn''t been strong enough, and he was worried that something would happen to her. Besides that, Horizon Ocean Pavilion needed her to stay here.


    But now that she had crossed that threshold and grown much stronger, she could finally join Tang Jie in his adventures, dealing with their problems together.


    "That''s not all," Xu Miaoran replied with a smile. She suddenly took a step forward and thrust a finger at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie took it in stride, casually thrusting a finger to block it.


    But this finger was more mysterious than he had expected. To his shock, even though this finger was right in front of him, no matter how he tried to block it, he simply couldn''t. Xu Miaoran''s attack seemed to be on another ne of existence that he had no means of dealing with.


    Still smiling, Xu Miaoran continued to thrust her finger forward, but not too quickly. She seemingly wanted to test Tang Jie.


    Howling, Tang Jie retreated and thrust out his palm eighteen times. Through thoughtcasting, he created numerous barriers around himself.


    But all of these were no obstacle to Xu Miaoran''s finger. That slender finger passed through everything and lightly tapped him on the forehead.


    It was warm and smooth, yet it sent a chill through Tang Jie''s heart.


    "You lost!" Xu Miaoran smuglyughed.


    His mind went over what had happened just now, and he blurted out, "This is¡­ the Dao of Space!"


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion truly lived up to its reputation as the sect most skilled in Space. The Jewel Immortal Sovereign had entered the Dao of Space, and Xu Miaoran had used her ascension to the Violet Pce Realm toprehend the Dao of Space.


    But what she hadprehended from Space was different from the Jewel Immortal Sovereign. The Gale of Dancing Void was a domineering Dao Art that created countless spatial des to slice apart all things.


    Xu Miaoran''s Dao of Space was more about using Space itself, controlling distance.


    For this reason, her attacks could ignore all spatial distance and lock onto her target.


    To put it simply, her attacks were guaranteed to hit.


    But a guaranteed hit didn''t mean a guaranteed kill.


    In using her attacks through the Dao of Space, Xu Miaoran was also limited by the Dao of Space, and she couldn''t use any powerful Divine Connections through it. Moreover, she had onlyprehended the Dao, so while she could make her finger elusive and impossible to avoid, a secret art like the Karmic Cycle Finger wouldn''t be as easy.


    Even so, after understanding what Xu Miaoran had done, Tang Jie was still excited,ing up with all sorts of ideas.


    He asked Xu Miaoran, "If that''s the case, can you use this technique on treasures and other items?"


    Xu Miaoran replied, "Of course, but like with Divine Connections, the more powerful they are, the more it takes. I''ve only barelyprehended this Dao, so I can''t use this ability on any treasures that are too powerful."


    Tang Jie smiled. "That''s enough. Miaoran, if you develop this Dao Will even more, it has infinite potential."


    Xu Miaoran was startled. "Husband, did you think of some way to use this ability?"


    "A lot. For example, Heavenbane Lightning Pearls don''t have much spiritual power, so you can send them over, creating a decent killing move. Of course, Heavenbane Lightning Pearls are rather weakpared to Violet Pce experts, but we can use quantity to make up for it. In addition, Mustard Seed Bags also don''t have much spiritual power. Miaoran, you can silently send things over, so presumably, you can also silently take them back, right? In battle, you can just reach out, and then¡­ haha."


    Xu Miaoran was dumbfounded.


    She had chosen the ability to ignore spatial distance primarily because she wanted to keep up with Tang Jie. The goal here wasn''t in attacking, but in escaping so that she wouldn''t hold Tang Jie back in battle, after which she could consider her options. This was what she had really been thinking.


    But Tang Jie had managed toe up with all sorts of ideas on how to use this ability, and it seemed like they covered offense, defense, and retreat. The only thingcking was that they were rather lowly¡­


    Extremely lowly!


    Xu Miaoran was dizzied by all the potential Tang Jie saw in her onlyprehending the Dao of Space.


    Anyone else might have already started scolding him out of shame and anger.


    But Xu Miaoran was a fiend woman, and there was nothing she feared. Moreover, all that mattered to her was that her man liked it.


    Thus, after that initial moment of shock, she pped her hands andughed. "Great idea! In the future, when you fight with someone, I''ll go and steal their Mustard Seed Bags."


    She suddenly grabbed at Tang Jie''s Mustard Seed Bag.


    Tang Jie hastily retreated, but Xu Miaoran''s hand followed him like his shadow, and he couldn''t shake it off. Just when it seemed like his Mustard Seed Bag would be taken, he suddenly pped it, upon which the Mustard Seed Bag began to radiate spiritual power, and Xu Miaoran''s hand bounced off it.


    Xu Miaoran yelped and drew back her hand. "You rascal!"


    Tang Jie knew Xu Miaoran''s ability, so he naturally understood how to counter it. While the Mustard Seed Bag itself didn''t have much spiritual power, it contained numerous treasures. Thus, slightly opening it and allowing the power to flow out would prevent Xu Miaoran from taking it.


    Tang Jieughed. "Alright, then I won''t use this method. Try again."


    Xu Miaoran reached out again, and this time, rather than trying to evade, Tang Jie thrust out a finger.


    Xu Miaoran didn''t dare to sh with him directly and could only draw back her hand.


    She had failed again.


    Tang Jie said with a smile, "There are no invincible methods in the world, only invincible people. The Dao of Space is far from enough. There are plenty of ways to counter your ability. We''ll do some testing today and see how to deal with them."


    He began to practice with Xu Miaoran.


    They ended up practicing for the entire day, husband and wife thoroughly researching this ability. Tang Jie gave it the name of "Limitless", for it could ignore all boundaries and limits.


    With Limitless, Tang Jie began to prepare items like Heavenbane Lightning Pearls for Xu Miaoran to use. This obviously meant going to the Heavenly Extinction Sect, which was basically tasked with making Heavenbane Lightning Pearls for Tang Jie for the next twenty years.


    Heavenbane Lightning Pearls used the Domain Astral Winds as a base material, which limited their annual production. But gathering the Astral Winds was a minor matter for Tang Jie, and he provided the Astral Winds inrge quantities. As a result, it was manpower and not material that became the limiting factor, and a constant stream of Heavenbane Lightning Pearls began to make its way to Tang Jie.


    After reaching Violet Pce, Tang Jie thought that he would never have a use for these pearls again. But now, he was crazily collecting them, and he was gathering hundreds of times more than ever before.


    In addition, Tang Jie also paid a visit to the Seven Absolutions Sect, having them design some special treasures that were low in spiritual power for her to use.


    Time went by quickly in the midst of all this preparation, and twenty years passed in the blink of an eye. The opening of the Court of Myriad Domains was nigh.


    On this day, everyone gathered their things and stepped into the teleportation formation, heading off to a whole new world.

 Chapter 849: Gathering

    Chapter 849: Gathering


    The Vast Wilderness Continent, the Mistcrown Vault.


    This was a region of rainbow skies, as if all the colors in the world had gathered here to create the most enchanting glow.


    But what created this multicolored light was the most dangerous thing in this world.


    Golden winds that yed to the bone, chilling winds brimming with wickedness, lethal ghostly winds, ck winds that ate away at the flesh¡ªany kind of dangerous wind that one could imagine was found here. They were mixed together in this ce, intertwining and merging, forming dangerous clouds and perilous torrents. They formed a region in the skies of the Vast Wilderness Continent called the Forbidden Death Zone.


    These were the Domain Astral Winds of the Vast Wilderness Continent!


    Unlike Verdant Cloud, Blood River, or Rosecloud, the Domain Astral Winds of the Vast Wilderness Continent were divided into two parts. One part was the ordinary Astral Winds, passable so long as one was at Immortal tform, through which one could ess the endless void.


    But there was another section of the Astral Winds, these rainbow Astral Winds located in the center of the continent called the Forbidden Death Zone.


    Worth nothing was that these Astral Winds could not be seen from the void.


    If one entered the void and looked back at the Vast Wilderness Continent, they would find that the area of the Forbidden Death Zone was perpetually ck, all color disappearing.This strange phenomenon had attracted the interest of countless people, and in the past some great Titans had attempted to test the limits of this region. But none of them returned. The rainbow Astral Wind region was like a terrifying behemoth. There was no problem with lingering next to its mouth, but recklessly going in was seeking death!


    In this Astral Wind region floated an immense structure. No matter how the Astral mes sted it, it refused to fall, exuding an ancient and supreme majesty amidst the rainbow winds.


    The Court of Myriad Domains!


    After being shattered by the Martial Lord, the main body of the Court of Myriad Domains had fallen out of the void into the Vast Wilderness Continent, entering this rainbow Astral Wind region.


    Fortunately, although the court had entered the Forbidden Death Zone, it was not in the unreachable depths.


    It was located on the lower end of the forbidden zone, so one only needed to hold out against the rainbow Astral Winds for a time to get there.


    This was possible for many cultivators.


    But the court''s defensive formation kept out both the Astral Winds and these same cultivators. Even if the cultivators could get through the Astral Winds, they were helpless against the formation.


    Yet over thesest ten thousand years, there were always people who refused to give up on the Court of Myriad Domains.


    A cultivator called the Abundant Treasures Celestial Lord discovered that the defensive formation would weaken at certain intervals, upon which he identified the right moment and managed to enter the court.


    Through this adventure, the Abundant Treasures Celestial Lord grew rich, and his strength soared.


    Such a transformation drew the covetous gaze of others.


    Through various schemes, the Abundant Treasures Celestial Lord''s secret was ultimately uncovered, and not only that, the other parties attempted to kill him. But the man was not called the Abundant Treasures Celestial Lord for nothing, and he used all of his many treasures to escape. He was filled with hatred, but the other party was too powerful for him to take revenge, so he decided to announce the secret so that it became impossible to maintain the secret of the court.


    From then on, everyone knew about the Court of Myriad Domains, and they even knew when the time of weakening woulde. As a result, such times became grand asions for the Vast Wilderness Continent.


    On this day, a cultivator flew out of the distance.


    He stopped outside the Astral Wind region, looked around, and then chuckled. "It seems this old man is first."


    With a wave of his hand, he summoned a lotus tform, seated himself on it, and closed his eyes.


    More cultivators began to arrive before long, and when they arrived, they immediately found a ce to rest.


    By the time Tang Jie''s group arrived, several hundred cultivators had gathered.


    Several hundred Violet Pce cultivators gathered in one ce was unheard of back in the Rosecloud Domain, but in the Vast Wilderness Continent, it was only the beginning.


    Tang Jie looked around and saw no sign of Kun Wu. Realizing that their group hadn''t arrived yet, he said to Yun Tian, "Ancestor, I''ll head out."


    Yun Tian nodded and waved his hand. "Go. You can leave everything to me and go about your business."


    Although Tang Jie had gathered the experts from the Rosecloud Domain and brought them here, Tang Jie had no ns on moving together with them. The Rosecloud Domain was his ultimate trump card, and he couldn''t let others find out about them. Before then, he would stick with Kun Wu''s alliance of wandering cultivators while secretly keeping in contact with the Rosecloud Domain group. As Yun Tian had never been to the Vast Wilderness Continent and nobody knew his actual level of power, he hid his cultivation and only disyed himself as a Soul Projection Celestial Sovereign.


    Tang Jie flew out with Xu Miaoran, finding their own spot to sit down.


    It wasn''t long before Kun Wu''s group appeared.


    Spotting Tang Jie in the distance, Kun Wu and the Wind Moon Schr flew over. "Brother Tang is truly trustworthy and showed up. This is¡­"


    They turned to Xu Miaoran.


    Tang Jie replied, "This is my wife, Xu Miaoran."


    The two of them immediately understood and said, "We pay our respects to Junior Sister."


    Xu Miaoran returned their bows.


    Several other cultivators quickly gathered around Kun Wu and the Wind Moon Schr, all of them members of Kun Wu''s alliance. More and more cultivators showed up, with the wandering cultivator group assembling thirty-some people. Four of them were at Soul Projection, twelve at Deification, and the rest were at Infant Tending. The four Soul Projection cultivators were very proud, not even ncing at the others upon arrival. They simply exchanged a few words with Kun Wu and the Wind Moon Schr before finding a ce to sit.


    Upon seeing this, Tang Jie surmised that this alliance had probably been organized by these four.


    After around half a day, nearly a thousand cultivators had gathered around the Astral Wind region, with some high-tier cultivators like Earth Immortals beginning to appear.


    Seeing so many cultivators of such high level had Yun Tian''s group aghast. Compared to the Vast Wilderness Continent, the Rosecloud Domain was truly too small. Only in circumstances like these did people realize that they had just been frogs at the bottom of a well.


    And more high-tier cultivators were still arriving.


    A man with white eyebrows and arge forehead appeared. Kun Wu and the Wind Moon Schr both went up to greet him, and with one nce at the man, Tang Jie knew that this was probably the true organizer of this alliance.


    He was an Earth Immortal.


    The two cultivators behind him were both at Soul Projection.


    Kun Wu and the Wind Moon Schr brought the white-browed man before everyone and said, "This is Reverend Whitestone, the leader of my Jadestone Alliance. I trust that everyone can see that the reverend is an Earth Immortal. With him around, so long as we don''t run into those High Antiquity exotic beasts or those fierce berserkers, we should be fine."


    Everyone went up to greet Reverend Whitestone, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran included. But the two thought to themselves, <em>An Earth Immortal has gathered so many Violet Pce experts. Does he really intend to be a nanny to everyone? We''re probably just here to be cannon fodder.</em> From this, they concluded that the court was probably crawling with dangers. They weren''t the only ones who hade to this realization, but being used by someone else was at least better than having no value at all.


    The court was too dangerous, and if one fell behind, it would probably take only a few moments for the dangers within the court to devour them, or else for other cultivators to do the deed. For this reason, even though they knew that they were being used, they were still willing to be used.


    After seeing everyone, Reverend Whitestone nodded in satisfaction. "Everyone, be at ease. This one has been to the court twice and returned safely each time. You could say that I am very familiar with the Court of Myriad Domains. I can ensure that everyone remains safe."


    <em>He''s entered and returned safely twice?</em> Tang Jie''s heart thumped. Everyone knew the dangers of the court, and many people were only willing to go once. If this person coulde and go twice and even be willing to go a third time, he either was a reckless daredevil or had something else to rely on. Reverend Whitestone didn''t seem like a daredevil, so it was probably thetter.


    But he kept his realizations to himself, joining everyone in thanking Reverend Whitestone. s, these mighty Violet Pce experts from all around were nothing special here and had to lower themselves. Even those four Soul Projection cultivators showed utmost respect to Reverend Whitestone.


    After saying a few more words, everyone sat down and continued to wait for the opening.


    An entire day passed.


    The wandering cultivators arrived first, followed by the cultivators of major sects, usually arriving in groups numbering in the dozens. Thus, the number of people gathered below the Astral Wind region quickly hit several thousand.


    Tang Jie was dumbstruck by this grandiose sight, but then he realized that only such a force could resist the invasion of the Primordial Fog.


    As the opening time drew closer, too many people had gathered to count them all, but one might find eight Violet Pce experts out of every ten people, with the remaining two people being at Immortal tform, perhaps even a True Immortal.


    As all these experts gathered and began calling out to their friends, Tang Jie felt like he had returned to his past life, those numerous bigshots loudly talking to each other as they boldly upied the good spots that had been upied by those who hade earlier, and the weak could only yield while inwardly seething.


    Tiers soon appeared below the Astral Wind region.


    At the very top were the sects that headed the various states, like the Celestial Splendor Sect of the West Bull State or the Myriad Mountains Gate of the Gray Heron State. Beneath them were the country-level sects.


    The Star Radiant Gate was among them, but s, Tang Jie saw no sign of Reverend Yellow Heaven.


    The Wind Moon Schr knew what he was thinking and soothed, "Don''t be anxious. The Court of Myriad Domains will remain open for a time, and people will being inter. That Reverend Yellow Heaven might not have been able toe back in time and might be a few dayste. You''ll get your chance to meet him."


    "I hope so," Tang Jie sighed.


    Behind the country-level sects were the prefecture-level sects. At this stage, some of the stronger alliances of wandering cultivators managed to squeeze their way in, and the divisions were no longer as obvious.


    But at the forefront of the state-level sects were still two empty clearings that no one had upied.


    Xu Miaoran curiously asked Tang Jie, "Why is there no one there?"


    Tang Jie chuckled. "That spot is naturally left for the strongest sects."


    "You''re saying¡­" Xu Miaoran said in realization.


    Tang Jie said nothing, looking into the distance.


    A group of a hundred cultivators had emerged from that direction, and if all went as expected, there would be another group of cultivatorsing from the opposite direction.

 Chapter 850: Entering the Court

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    The two groups of cultivators Tang Jie spotted were thergest so far, each consisting of a hundred Violet Pce cultivators, enough to make one''s blood run cold. Not only that, there were at least ten Immortal tform cultivators in each of these groups. Two of them in each group were escorted by the others, and while they had the auras of mortals, that only made them more unusual. From how respectfully the other cultivators treated them, it was clear that they were True Immortals.


    "Are those the Heaven''s Equal Sect and the Ster Net Gate?" Xu Miaoran whispered to Tang Jie.


    In thest few days, she had been able to grasp the situation in the Vast Wilderness Continent.


    Tang Jie nodded.


    It was clear that the remaining spots had been left for the two major sects.


    Xu Miaoran said in surprise, "Don''t the two major sects have Boundless Gold Immortals? Why do I only see two True Immortals?"


    Tang Jie considered the question and replied, "There''s only one exnation. Those Gold Immortals don''t care about the treasures in the court."


    Xu Miaoran made a face upon hearing this. If even the wealth of the Court of Myriad Domains couldn''t tempt them, what exactly could tempt Boundless Gold Immortals?


    But she realized that this was probably right.


    The Court of Myriad Domains had been ruled by the Immortal Emperor and his Four Sages. Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng had been a Dao-Proving Saint Immortal, and the Four Sages had been Boundless Gold Immortals. In other words, Boundless Gold Immortals were the top-level strength of the Court of Myriad Domains, so for cultivators of the same level, there really might not be anything in the court worth their attention.


    Of course, they couldn''tpletely ignore it. It was said that when news of the Court of Myriad Domains first spread, the Gold Immortals of the two major sects had paid a visit, so they had already taken anything that was worth their time. What was left were things that they couldn''t be bothered to take and had left for their juniors to vie over.


    The behavior of cultivators, especially those Gold Immortals, emphasized the world and the heavens, never doing anything to the extreme and only taking what one needed. If one took everything for oneself, then there would be nothing left for one''s descendants. Such behavior was severing the path behind them, forbidden by both man and the heavens, and the wise knew not to conduct themselves in such a way.


    Tang Jie himself had once plundered everything he could for the sake of getting stronger, but after he reached Violet Pce, his attitude had slowly changed, and he had begun to understand how to hold back.


    Even if Gold Immortals weren''t here, nobody dared to underestimate the Heaven''s Equal Sect and Ster Net Gate. Even when those two sects weren''t here, everyone else still left a ce for them.


    These two sects were also rather interesting, seemingly having agreed toe at the same time with around the same number of people and the same ratio of experts: two True Immortals and eight Earth Immortals. Upon arrival, they nced at each other before silently going to their own sides.


    Xu Miaoran whispered, "Are these two sects not on good terms?"


    Tang Jie chuckled. "What would be weird is if the two big sects of the north and south were on good terms. These two sects probably got here ages ago and were just watching each other, onlying out at the very end. That they''ve appeared now means that the court is probably about to open."


    As if to prove his words, a rumbling came from above.


    The rainbow Astral Winds began to spiral into a massive vortex that led to the court.


    "It''s open!" Tang Jie said.


    This was a sign of the court''s defensive formation weakening. The weakening of the formation allowed the Domain Astral Winds to assail the court, which created this vortex.


    This vortex was a passage into the court!


    As the passage to the court appeared, the Heaven''s Equal Sect and Ster Net Gate immediately flew upward, their bodies shing with barriers as they charged at the Astral Winds. The sh of the winds against the barriers created dazzling disys of color and a rain of zing light.


    But those cultivators ignored all this splendor, charging straight ahead.


    They had all cultivated for many years and had a tough mindset, and they were also confident in their strength. They were like fish swimming against the current of rainbow light, seeking to leap through the dragon gate.


    The cultivators behind didn''t immediately follow, instead waiting for the two sects to gain some distance before charging upward. The cultivators of the several dozen state sects were numerous, but not disorderly. They had seemingly decided on an order beforehand, charging into the Astral Wind in batches, maintaining a distance so that they didn''t conflict with each other.


    But after the state sects had gone, things got a little messy with the country sects. The Vast Wilderness Continent had several hundred countries, and the distances involved were so vast that some sects had never even heard of each other. Thus, there were no arrangements, and sometimes, three to five sects would rush in together.


    But these people were all rather powerful, so while there was some chaos, there were no major incidents.


    When it came time for the prefecture sects, city sects, and wandering cultivator alliances to go in, things fell into utter chaos.


    These groups weren''t on the same level of strength, nor did they have simr numbers of people, and since they werest in order, they were all impatient to go. As a result, they all flew up together as if they would be missing out on their big chance if they were just a littlete. In truth, the Court of Myriad Domains had been here for ten thousand years already and had been explored by countless cultivators, the best treasures already imed. But this was simply human nature. Nobody was willing to fall behind. Although they would yield to those who were stronger, they didn''t dare to show weakness against their peers, and they rushed forward.


    Tang Jie was ratherposed and felt like there was nothing wrong with goingst. But to his surprise, the others from the Jadestone Alliance all charged in, Kun Wu even shouting at Tang Jie, "Brother Tang, let''s go!"


    His kind gesture meant that Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran had no choice but to follow, but this vast crowd of people rushing into the Astral Winds was no different from moths to a me.


    The moment he entered the Astral Wind region, Tang Jie felt a powerful wind sting his defensive barrier. Tang Jie''s defensive barriers consisted of the Frostshield Barrier and the Godhead Divine Armor, both obtained from Godhead Pce, and now that he was at Violet Pce, he could stack his barriers, applying several dozen barriers with a single breath. But to his surprise, a single gust had theseyers of defense cracking like egg shells. It was no wonder Violet Pce was the minimum cultivation level for entering this ce. Even defensive barriers of this level couldn''t hold for long.


    He turned to look back at Xu Miaoran, who had already protected herself with the Autumn Dew Glow and the Vast Frostmist Barrier. Her cultivation was inferior to Tang Jie''s, so she also held a pearl that created a protective sphere of light around her, allowing her to fly alongside Tang Jie as gracefully as a fairy.


    Tang Jie was relieved to see that Xu Miaoran was fine, and he grabbed her hand and flew up with her.


    At this moment, as a cultivator was flying, a sinister ck wind silently blew past. It didn''t seem particrly strong, so that cultivator paid it no mind. But when that gust reached his body, it prated through his barrier and touched him. A momentter, his body rapidly began to rot away. The cultivator cried out in terror, but struggle only made his body crumble faster, and in an instant, he dissipated into powder.


    The other cultivators were all aghast. Only now did they understand that there were still winds in this region that could threaten them, and they began to avoid those dancing gusts of rainbow wind.


    The consequences of chaos now made themselves apparent.


    A golden gust of Astral Wind appeared in the distance, rushing at a cultivator. This cultivator immediately turned to run, but it just so happened that there was a cultivator flying right behind him. Unable to get out of each other''s way in time, they ran into each other, and that brief pause brought about by the collision caused the golden Astral Wind to devour them both. The two cultivators wailed within the Astral Wind as their bodies were gruesomely disintegrated.


    Xu Miaoran''s heart shivered at the sight.


    Tang Jie held her fast. "Don''t be afraid. I''m here."


    Looking into Tang Jie''s eyes filled her with confidence.


    Meanwhile, the crowd was falling into even greater disarray.


    All sorts of bizarre winds were ripping through the area, and everyone finally understood why the previous groups had all gone in orderly batches. These prefecture and city lords had only reached their current positions within thest one thousand years, and this was their first time here. Theirck of experience inevitably led to errors.


    But some people had been here before, like Reverend Whitestone. Why hadn''t he tried to warn them?


    Realizing this, Tang Jie looked back and found that Reverend Whitestone was flying through the Astral Winds with an emotionless look on his face. As an Earth Immortal, he naturally had nothing to fear from the Astral Wind region, and even if one of those winds actually reached him, he wouldn''t immediately die. And when Tang Jie looked at the path he was taking, he found that he was following the trail of deceased cultivators. Whenever a cultivator died, he would reach out and take the Mustard Seed Bags of the deceased.


    Tang Jie now understood why this old Whitestone hadn''t given any warning. He was using this opportunity to get rich from the dead.


    There were many who had the same idea. Those who understood this trick were all plenty strong. They just wanted to make some money on the side.


    Tang Jie immediately turned to Xu Miaoran and said a few words.


    Xu Miaoran''s eyes lit up, and she lightly nodded.


    At this time, another cultivator died, unluckily ground to death by a yellow wind. Reverend Whitestone saw this and was just about to take the Mustard Seed Bag when an elegant hand suddenly appeared out of nowhere, grabbing the bag and vanishing.


    Reverend Whitestone was startled, but he simply thought that another Earth Immortal like him had taken action.


    But when another cultivator died, that small hand once again appeared and took the Mustard Seed Bag. Reverend Whitestone found that he wasn''t able to get another Mustard Seed Bag, and the other nearby Earth Immortals were also as unfortunate.


    Just who was able to move so quickly?


    Reverend Whitestone was furious, but there was nothing he could do to this person that could steal without any regard for distance.


    Xu Miaoran''s Limitless spatial ability was a Great Dao ability and couldn''t be seen through by just any Immortal. Even someone as powerful as Reverend Whitestone, who could kill Xu Miaoran with a single p, couldn''t see through it until he had reached the appropriate level.


    Meanwhile, Xu Miaoran was having a grand time swiping Mustard Seed Bags. She was so focused on this effort that she was neglecting her defense. Fortunately, Tang Jie was there. Hugging Xu Miaoran, he activated the Infinite Pce.


    A splendid pceplex appeared in the Astral Wind region.


    Seated at the highest point of this pce, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran flew through the Astral Winds, up toward that Immortal pce in the sky.

 Chapter 851: Emergence

    Chapter 851: Emergence


    Flying through the Astral Winds was undoubtedly a major test of a cultivator''s defenses, reaction time, and flying ability.


    Some people were so skilled in defense that they could even fend off those special gusts of wind. Others were able to react quickly enough to dodge the winds in time. Still others just flew extremely fast such that they were able to quickly get through this dangerous region.


    There were also those who used valuable treasures to resist these natural dangers, but while this let them get through the Astral Winds, it made them a target of human greed. Tang Jie watched as a cultivator took out a protective umbre and was subsequently murdered by a wandering Earth Immortal over it. It had been done in an extremely furtive manner, but it hadn''t been able to hide from Tang Jie''s Celestial Eye.


    Inparison,rge-scale defensive Dao Arts like Tang Jie''s were much more rare.


    Kun Wu was approaching his limits evading all those gusts of wind, upon which he saw Tang Jie barging through, his pce blocking all the Astral Winds. Delighted, he shouted, "Brother Tang, help me!"


    Seeing this, Tang Jie waved his hand, drawing Kun Wu into the Infinite Pce.


    When Kun Wu entered the pce, he found that the storm had vanished without a trace. He sighed in relief and bowed to Tang Jie. "Brother Tang''s methods are truly impressive."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Just sit right there. Formations have beenid out in the pce, so don''t recklessly move around. I''m going to help the others."


    Since he had started rescuing people and since saving more people was no extra effort on his part, Tang Jie decided to pick up the cultivators of the Jadestone Alliance and send them into the Infinite Pce.These wandering cultivators were in a wretched state amidst the winds, and Reverend Whitestone was focused on stealing treasures and cared not for their safety. Thankfully, Tang Jie hade to rescue them all, and they all expressed their utmost gratitude. Tang Jie didn''t put on airs, simply smiling and continuing to save others. Other than the cultivators of the Jadestone Alliance, he even saved other wandering cultivators, and in the blink of an eye, nearly a hundred cultivators were seated in the Infinite Pce. However, they were all at Deification or below. Soul Projection cultivators were strong enough to deal with the winds.


    As for the Rosecloud Domain group, he wasn''t worried about them at all, for Yun Tian was there.


    Reverend Whitestone grunted,menting to himself, <em>This kid''s got a pretty nice way of buying hearts and minds. It seems that he must have entered the Five Elements Dao, using Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth to create this pce. The outside can serve as a defensive barrier while the inside is full of traps¡ªquite the ingenious concept. But exposing a trump card to save people is too unwise, and in a fight, it can now easily be dealt with. However, even if he has a Dao Art, he''s only at Deification, so I could still kill him easily, so what''s the point in thinking about all this?</em>


    Reverend Whitestoneughed at himself for wasting so much time on this topic, after which he went about his business.


    While Tang Jie was saving people, Xu Miaoran continued to steal Mustard Seed Bags. But since there were so many people around, she couldn''t open them, and she was also running into the problem of having so many Mustard Seed Bags that it was getting hard to hide them. Fortunately, they finally passed through the danger zone at this point, and a vast pceplex appeared before them.


    Such was the vastness of thisplex that it had to cover millions of square kilometers, and all the opulent buildings dazzled everyone.


    It was no wonder the Court of Myriad Domains had yet to be scavenged clean over all these years. In area alone, it was the size of a huge country.


    Back then, Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng had gathered the strength of countless Immortals to create this court within the endless void, and its grandeur was something an ordinary person could not understand. It was no wonder just a small fragment of this court had the Rosecloud Domain frothing at the mouth.


    When the Court of Myriad Domains appeared before Tang Jie, there was a boom within his mind, and that vision from before reyed itself.


    The Martial Lord wielding a giant axe stood in the void while countless Immortals attacked him, the resplendent Court of Myriad Domains wavering and trembling under his might until it finally shattered!


    Yes, this was the Court of Myriad Domains!


    As he gazed at thisplex, Tang Jie clearly recalled everything he had seen that day.


    He could even recall every corner and cranny as if he was viewing a three-dimensional map, able to examine it from every corner.


    This made Tang Jie tremble.


    He had never had such a clear memory before, so why was it that when he saw the Court of Myriad Domains, it seemed to awaken some sort of memory in him?


    His body shivered.


    Xu Miaoran noticed his strange expression and softly asked, "What''s wrong?"


    "Oh¡­ I''m fine." Tang Jie came to his senses and turned away from the court. "The Infinite Pce is just taking a lot, and I''m rather tired."


    The cultivators heard this and said, "It''s all because we''re dragging down Brother Tang."


    The more people to protect, the greater the energy he would have to consume. Everyone thought that Tang Jie was expending all of his Dao power for them, but in reality, Tang Jie had entered the Dao of Five Elements long ago. The Infinite Pce was a Dao Art he had mastered long ago, and he had umted more than a thousand Dao Runes and had added even more over time, so his Dao power was not easily consumed. But Tang Jie was happy to keep this a secret and gain some free sympathy points.


    Seeing that they were about to arrive at the court, Reverend Whitestone said, "Entering through the vortex here will get us into the court. As the formation has weakened, the winds have gotten in, which means you will still encounter some in the court. While it will be much less, everyone still needs to be careful. The court itself has numerous traps, so everyone must not get careless."


    "Thank you for your advice, Reverend. We will keep it in mind," everyone shouted, but their expressions were cold and unfeeling. <em>You said that you would protect us all, but you didn''t even try to save us. Instead, it was Tang Jie who protected us all. It seems like this Reverend Whitestone really isn''t worth trusting.</em>


    Reverend Whitestone didn''t care, and with a flick of his sleeve, he flew into the vortex.


    Tang Jie put away the Infinite Pce and flew with Xu Miaoran into the vortex.


    The vortex was made from Astral Winds, but while they were powerful, it wasn''t like those torrents of bizarre and sinister winds, so even Xu Miaoran could hold out against them. After traveling through the vortex for a time, they finally emerged in an area of devastation and ruin.


    Copsed buildings and debris were scattered all over the ce, and not a single de of grass grew in the soil. It was like someone had looted the ce and then burned everything for good measure.


    It was true that the ce had really been looted. The Court of Myriad Domains had already opened many times, so there would definitely be nothing left around the entrance. As for the burning, that was the work of those special gusts of wind.


    Ordinary Astral Winds were much weaker among the ruins, but asionally, a dazzling gust of wind woulde down from the sky, like howling ghosts.


    Down below, the ruins led to the other parts of the Court of Myriad Domains, and once cultivators entered, they would usually split up to search for treasures.


    Tang Jie didn''t act recklessly, instead joining everyone else in standing next to Reverend Whitestone.


    After a little while, everyone in the Jadestone Alliance had arrived. Reverend Whitestone looked them over and nodded. "Everyone is here. Very good."


    Everyone thought in unison, <em>It''s not like you did anything.</em>


    Reverend Whitestone then looked at Tang Jie. "Your name is Tang Jie?"


    Tang Jie bowed. "Tang Jie pays respects to the Reverend."


    Reverend Whitestone nodded in satisfaction. "You did very well. It''s thanks to you that we were able to enter this ce without losing anyone. But you shouldn''t have gone overboard and saved cultivators that aren''t part of this alliance. They not only aren''t our people, they might even be our opponents in the future. What''s the point in saving them?"


    Tang Jie replied, "This one let his emotions get the better of him. I will not repeat my mistake."


    Whitestone nodded.


    He didn''t have much to say if Tang Jie was using his emotions as an excuse. It wasn''t like he could say, <em>The Great Dao is heartless, so you should have let them die!</em> If that were the case, nobody in the alliance would follow him anymore. So he limited himself to, "One who seeks to aplish great things must not be restrained by small details. While we must keep benevolence and virtue in mind, we cannot let ourselves be too softhearted."


    The matter was ended there.


    The Wind Moon Schr asked, "Reverend, where should we go now?"


    Reverend Whitestone pointed in a direction. "That way."


    They followed Reverend Whitestone''s finger and saw a copsed archway in the distance.


    Three words were still visible on the signboard: "Southern Heaven Gate".


    This archway had been made of Snow Jade, but the years of erosion hadpletely ruined it. Perhaps for this reason, the structure had been left alone. As for the rest of the area, these ruins were ruins because everything that could be taken had been taken.


    Reverend Whitestone exined, "Past this arch is the Violet Firmament Pce, home of one of the court''s 28 Star Lords, the Violet Lightning Star Lord. It was there that this old man got the Violet Thunderbolt Sword. This pce has many traps, but there are also still many treasures within. This old man has only taken one ten-thousandth of it. Fortunately, in myst two adventures, I developed a deep understanding of this ce. Everyone just needs to follow me to get rich."


    Everyone''s hearts leaped in joy.


    The 28 Star Lords had been directly beneath the Four Sages, all of them peak True Immortals. Comparing them to regr True Immortals was likeparing Celestial Heart Chiefs of the six major sects to ordinary Soul Transformation cultivators.


    The treasures left behind by such a person were naturally worth looking through, so everyone followed Reverend Whitestone.


    Only Tang Jie was left frowning. As he watched them leave, he whispered, "Strange."


    "What''s wrong?" Xu Miaoran asked, wondering why her lover wasn''t moving.


    Tang Jie replied, "That doesn''t lead to the Violet Firmament Pce, but the Unbounded Pce, so why did Reverend Whitestone say that?"


    Xu Miaoran said in surprise, "''The Unbounded Pce''? The home of the Unbounded Immortal Elder? Isn''t that one of the court''s Four Sages?"


    "Correct." Tang Jie nodded. "The Unbounded Pce is the home of the Unbounded Immortal Elder!"


    "But how do you know that?"


    Tang Jie froze.


    <em>Yes, how do I know that?</em>


    He couldn''t find the answer.


    But he just happened to know. The moment he arrived in this pceplex, information regarding the Court of Myriad Domains had begun to emerge in his mind.<hr>


    Author''s Note: Replying to a question from the previous chapter. Mustard Seed Bags aren''t that sturdy. They''re able tost because their owners are protecting them, so when the owner dies, the Mustard Seed Bags are done for. Thus, stealing Mustard Seed Bags has to be done quickly, the moment someone dies. For this reason, those Earth Immortals have to put all their attention on the Mustard Seed Bags so they can act immediately. Meanwhile, Xu Miaoran is relyingpletely on her speed. I had already considered all this, but while I wrote, I realized that there was no space to exin, so I decided not to. It seems that some readers still managed to catch this detail, so I''m answering it now. If you have questions, you''re wee to bring them up, but don''t even bother if you can''t be polite about it.

 Chapter 852: Illusory Formation

    Chapter 852: Illusory Formation


    As Tang Jie was lost in thought, Kun Wu called out, "Brother Tang, keep up!"


    <em>This guy again.</em>


    Tang Jie was helpless against Kun Wu''s enthusiasm, and after some thought, he decided to follow for now.


    Whatever Reverend Whitestone was up to, he would have to see it with his own eyes first, so he followed everyone to the Southern Heaven Gate. Not long after they had left, another group appeared in the clearing: Yun Tian''s group. After looking around, they followed Tang Jie.


    As they ventured deeper, all they saw was ruins, with basically nothing intact.


    In addition, the howling winds also subsided, until they ultimately disappeared entirely.


    But the cultivators remained nervous, for they knew that the real danger was just beginning¡ªthe Court of Myriad Domains itself had countless dangers.


    But while everyone was nervous, two people remained rxed.


    One was the Earth Immortal, Reverend Whitestone, and the other was Tang Jie.While flying, Tang Jie acted like a tourist, asionally remarking on the scenery. "Miaoran, look at that bridge over there. Although it''s broken, the statues and carvings are executed exquisitely, almost like they coulde to life. It''s so vivid that it looks like a work of nature, so it must have been the work of a divine craftsman. s, those cultivators don''t recognize what''s really valuable. Once they see it doesn''t have any spiritual energy, they pass it by, or even destroy it. What a sad state of affairs!"


    Tang Jie shook his head and sighed.


    Kun Wu said in surprise, "Brother Tang, you''re in quite the fine mood if you can evenment on the scenery. This Court of Myriad Domains is crawling with danger, so it''s best if you stay on guard. It''ll be big trouble if you trigger some trap or fall into a formation."


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "There might be dangers in the court, but there definitely aren''t any here, so there''s no need to stress myself."


    Kun Wu said in surprise, "Why do you say that?"


    Tang Jie gestured at their surroundings. "Look around you. It''s nothing but ruins, and even the stones have been pried out of the road. This ce has been swept over numerous times, and after such treatment, what formation could be left, what danger could exist?"


    Everyone was dumbfounded. True! This ce had been picked clean long ago, and any dangers had been eliminated, leaving nothing but ruins. What need was there to be so wary?


    Tang Jie added, "That''s why, so long as we see ruins, we don''t need to be so nervous. But if we run into an intact pce, we have to be extremely careful. Anything that could stick around after so many expeditions must be packed with danger. And besides, don''t we also have the reverend?"


    Everyone called out in agreement, "Brother Tang is right!"


    Even the Soul Projection experts nodded.


    They ended up flying for quite a while before finally getting through that area of ruins.


    Aplex of buildings gradually appeared before them.


    This was an area dense with fog, the buildings looming within it.


    The cultivators stopped in front of the fog, upon which Reverend Whitestone said, "Everyone, starting from here, we need to be careful. This is the outer edge of the Violet Firmament Pce, and within is an illusory formation. Once we''re in, we''ll lose our sense of direction and not be able to tell left from right. But there''s no need to panic. If you just walk straight, you''ll be able to get out of the formation. But you have to watch out for the ghosts in the formation."


    "''Ghosts''?" a cultivator said in shock.


    "Indeed," Reverend Whitestone said. "Most of them came about from cultivators who went looking for treasure and died within, but there were a few existences from High Antiquity who transformed into vicious ghosts, and their strength is not to be underestimated."


    These words left everyone frightened.


    It wasn''t strange for there to be ghosts in the court. That shard of the court Tang Jie had explored in the Rosecloud Domain had also had plenty of ghosts. But this ce was on an entirely different level. The base of these ghosts was Violet Pce at the minimum, and those ghosts left behind by the Immortals of High Antiquity would be even scarier.


    "But everyone can be at ease. Such ferocious ghosts are concentrated in the deeperyer. The ghosts around here are mostly from the Violet Pce experts who died while exploring, and their strength is not what it was. Everyone just needs to be careful and not get lost, and you can get through."


    Reverend Whitestone entered the fog.


    Everyone exchanged looks and then followed. They hade all this way, so they couldn''t just shrink back at the first sign of danger.


    Upon entering the fog, Tang Jie found that it was so thick that he couldn''t even see his hand in front of him.


    He attempted to use his power to drive off the fog, but the fog refused to dissipate. Not only that, the illusory formation also hindered the usage of spiritual energy and Divine Will, so using Divine Will to probe the path was extremely difficult. Even sound could only travel an arm''s length.


    An illusory formation naturally had to obstruct all means of probing it.


    He felt pressure on his left hand, Xu Miaoran tightening her grip. She whispered, "Husband."


    "I''m here."


    "This ce is very weird. I can''t see a thing."


    Tang Jie patted her and said, "Don''t worry; I''m here."


    The center of his forehead cracked open, and the vertical Celestial Eye appeared.


    But whatever this fog was made of was even impervious to the Celestial Eye.


    Tang Jie chuckled, not worried at all, and a ring of light spread out beneath his feet.


    Within this ring, countless Dao Runes shed, forming enigmatic andplex patterns.


    The Realm of Insight!


    Empowered by the Realm of Insight, Tang Jie''s Celestial Eye fired off a beam of light.


    Wherever this beam of light aimed, all the fog scattered. All obstructions were cleared away, and Tang Jie could clearly make out his surroundings.


    This was the power of a Dao Realm. Its absolute privilege had the highest authority and could break through almost anything.


    Of course, this didn''t mean it was invincible. If one couldn''t use a simrly supreme authority to resist, one could use quantity.


    An example of this quantity approach was the Jewel Immortal Sovereign using eleven finger strikes to destroy the Infinite Pce. However, this was possible because her cultivation level had been far above Tang Jie''s.


    This High Antiquity illusion formation wasn''t able to gather the quantity sufficient to resist Tang Jie''s Celestial Eye, so Tang Jie could immediately see his surroundings.


    Without the fog, the formation''s power was more than halved.


    Holding Xu Miaoran''s hand, Tang Jie smiled and said, "Just follow your husband."


    He led her forward.


    With his vision, Tang Jie could see not only the road, but other cultivators. But this time, he didn''t lend a helping hand¡ªexposing the Infinite Pce was enough.


    Besides that, he could also see the ghosts drifting about.


    As these were born from deceased Violet Pce cultivators, these were extremely powerful ghosts, and cultivators that ran into them were set for a tough battle.


    While these ghosts had been at Violet Pce in life, their strength had greatly fallen upon bing ghosts, and in normal circumstances, they would be no match.


    But the living cultivators had lost their sense of direction and so had to keep going straight, which left them with no way to move around. In addition, the ghosts attacked in groups of twos and threes, which made the situation dangerous. asionally, a cultivator was forced to unleash a big move to destroy the ghosts, but this made them lose their sense of direction, upon which they would get lost forever in the fog. Not long after that, they would die, and a new ghost would be born.


    Such dangers were nothing to Tang Jie, who pulled Xu Miaoran and advanced.


    Not only that, he also used this opportunity to open up the Mustard Seed Bags Xu Miaoran had stolen and take a look at their contents. After all, nobody was able to see them, and not even the glow of the treasures could prate the fog.


    Xu Miaoran had gotten 23 Mustard Seed Bags in total. Tang Jie found that they contained 76 art relics and 25 divine treasures. Of the divine treasures, 16 were lower-grade, 8 were middle-grade, and one was upper-grade.


    Tang Jie was so rich now that let alone art relics, he even somewhat looked down on middle-grade divine treasures. Finding nothing special about the art relics, he shattered them for the Sovereign de. He then put the lower- and middle-grade divine treasures into the Treasure Cosmos Formation diagram, recing some of the art relics, which he shattered.


    This formation diagram that had once primarily consisted of art relics, with only a few divine treasures among their ranks, now had more than a hundred divine treasures. If this continued, it would soon be a Divine Treasure Cosmos Diagram.


    With ten thousand divine treasures, even if nobody was supporting it, the diagram would be strong enough to overwhelm an Earth Immortal.


    Of course, he was still far from that stage.


    In the end, Tang Jie chose to keep a middle-grade divine treasure and the upper-grade divine treasure.


    The middle-grade divine treasure was called the Violet Sunset Robe, and was an extremely powerful defensive treasure. While Xu Miaoran had some nice things, she had bought them all, so their quality was rather inferior. The Violet Sunset Robe was perfect for her.


    As for the upper-grade divine treasure, it was called the Yin Yang Mirror of Life and Death. The Yin side reflected Death while the Yang side reflected Life, and it was extremely powerful. s, it wasn''t a Dao armament, so its powers of Life and Deathcked authority, so a true expert would be able to block it.


    Still, it was a fine treasure. The moment it was activated, anyone that it reflected would die. It was an instant-kill weapon that was great against groups.


    Tang Jie also gave this mirror to Xu Miaoran, who happily epted it. s, in this illusion formation, she couldn''t see what the robe and mirror looked like and could only put them away.


    Besides these, there were also medicines and talismans. The medicines were nothing special, but the talismans, as items worthy of being held by a Violet Pce expert, were all valuable tools that could save one''s life.


    As the two were sorting through the loot and seeing if there was anything useful, a person walked by: Reverend Whitestone.


    Tang Jie was surprised when, as this man advanced, he suddenly stepped to the side.


    Stepping to the side meant that he was losing his sense of direction.


    Why was Reverend Whitestone heading off the straight path even when he wasn''t being attacked by ghosts?


    Tang Jie turned his attention to Reverend Whitestone.


    He found that the man was taking a rather strange path. After every ten steps, he would take three steps to the side and then keep going. Moreover, each step was exactly measured.


    Upon seeing this, Tang Jie somewhat understood what was going on.


    Saying nothing, he covered Xu Miaoran''s mouth and gestured for her to remain silent. Then, he began to follow Reverend Whitestone.


    They quickly arrived in front of a small building.


    This was a pceplex, so even though there was an illusory formation, the pces remained. It was just that one would find it impossible to enter those pces while in the formation.


    But through some weird method, Reverend Whitestone had managed to make his way to one.


    He pushed open the door and felt his way into the building.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    A cold sh of light shot toward him.


    Reverend Whitestone''s body shed white as he blocked the attack. There was a ng as the weapon fell to the floor: a Lightning Shuttle. There appeared to be nothing special about this weapon, but it had been so strong that it had actually prated his barrier. If this had been Tang Jie, blocking it would have been impossible. While he wouldn''t have died, he would havee out heavily injured.


    But Reverend Whitestone was delighted. "Excellent¡ªthere are defensive measures. That means that no one''s been here before and there are treasures within."


    He continued to feel his way forward.


    Tang Jie saw clearly that there was a desk in front of Reverend Whitestone, and on this desk was a brush that shone with a golden aura.


    Tang Jie reached out and took the brush.


    Momentster, Reverend Whitestone''s hand reached the desk. He felt all over and thenmented, "There''s nothing?"


    Undeterred, he continued forward.


    Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran followed, taking whatever seemed like treasure.

 Chapter 853: Herd of Horses

    Chapter 853: Herd of Horses


    Reverend Whitestone continued to feel his way through the building.


    He had discovered this ce on hisst visit, and through his own unique method, he had been able toe back to this ce without losing his sense of direction.


    But to his surprise, while there were quite a few traps in this small building, there was no treasure at all, which made Reverend Whitestone rather sulky.


    While this ce was only a small bonus in his n that wouldn''t affect the overall situation, it was still a depressing oue. He just couldn''t understand it. Nobody had been in here before, so why was there nothing?


    He didn''t know that Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran were still watching him from close by. Although Xu Miaoran couldn''t see, Tang Jie had written on her hand what was happening, and she was having a very hard time trying not tough.


    Reverend Whitestone went all the way to the very top floor, but after still finding nothing, he went back in dejection.


    Tang Jie followed closely, even gathering the hidden weapons that had fallen on the floor¡ªthese were all fine treasures, some of them still usable, and the unusable ones still had value as materials.


    Upon exiting the building, Reverend Whitestone left carefully, going exactly the way he hade.


    After watching him leave, Tang Jie smiled and said, "Let''s go.""''Go'' where?" Xu Miaoran asked.


    "To see the other buildings, of course."


    Tang Jie had no ns on leaving any of the nearby buildings alone.


    As they were in the illusion formation in a ce with many buildings, they managed to find quite a lot.


    Keeping to his usual habit, Tang Jie shattered the ordinary treasures to strengthen his de and stored the good stuff away to be used in the future. As for the medicines and talismans, the more the better, and the Mountain River State Diagram had plenty of space to hold them, like a bottomless spatial bag.


    Yiyi and Ice Phoenix were in the diagram right now, and when they looked up, they would asionally spot various treasures floating down from the heavens.


    He Chong was starting to grow numb to this sort of situation, so he simply said, "Has Tang Jie started plundering again?"


    "His name is Tang Jie, after all," Yiyi answered.


    He Chong looked up and sighed.


    Some people thought that the Jie (½Ù) in Tang Jie was for "cmity" (½ÙÄÑ), but only those who understood him knew that it was actually for "looting" (´ò½Ù).


    Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran roamed about the illusion formation, throwing whatever treasures they could find into the diagram, even shifting some of the buildings inside.


    As building after building fell from the sky, He Chong sighed, "He really is taking everything that isn''t nailed down, and even things that are."


    "It''s the Court of Myriad Domains, so even a de of grass is precious. If the Mountain River State Diagram is going to develop, we need it all," Yiyi said like she was an old veteran.


    "Sister Yiyi is right. All this treasure really does make one envious. Why don''t I go and take one?" Ice Phoenix said with a smile, and as sheughed, tendrils of ck energy began to rise from her body.


    Without even looking back, Yiyi said, "You can take whatever treasures you want, but if you think you''re going to pollute my big brother''s world by leaking out your demonic energy, then you''re seeking death. I can go and tell Big Brother right now that you''re breaking your promise. Big Brother doesn''t even need to kill you, just toss you into the court and just watch you die!"


    Startled, Ice Phoenix helplessly said, "No need to be intimidating. It was just a joke."


    But she still drew back her demonic energy.


    Putting Ice Phoenix in the Mountain River State Diagram was a choice made because Tang Jie had had no other options. Thankfully, with Yiyi around, Ice Phoenix wouldn''t be able to cause trouble for a bit.


    Outside, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran had emptied out the nearby buildings and had finally ended their looting spree. All that was left around them was empty space and a few drifting ghosts.


    Most of the cultivators had already left, and only a few remained in the back, slowly advancing.


    Two of them had somehow lost their orientation and were totally unaware of it. They kept going straight forward, but this only meant that they were getting farther and farther away from the right path.


    After some thought, Tang Jie ultimately couldn''t bear to see them lost in the formation, so he called out Little Three and had him go to fight with those two cultivators so as to bring them back to the right path.


    This wasn''t very easy, as those two cultivators were confident that they were going in the right direction and stubbornly refused to turn back. Tang Jie and Little Three went through great efforts to slowly drag them back.


    By the time this was done and Tang Jie came out, he found that the Jadestone Alliance group was gone.


    Tang Jie knew that this was probably because they had taken too long, and the main group felt like they had probably gotten lost and given up on them, choosing to forge ahead.


    Tang Jie wasn''t anxious over not being able to join up with the group. He already knew where they were going, and without them around, he found it much easier to work. Thus, he moved forward with Xu Miaoran.


    Past the illusion formation was a grasnd.


    The Court of Myriad Domains was asrge as a country, so while it had pces, corridors, and fountains, it also had mountains, valleys, and ins. This grasnd might have been the back garden of some True Immortal.


    Tang Jie stood there in deep thought for a few moments before saying, "This is the Shepherding Field."


    "''The Shepherding Field''?" Xu Miaoran curiously asked, "What sort of ce is it?"


    "It''s grazingnd. To be more precise, it''s where the court grazes its Heavenly Horses," Tang Jie replied.


    "''Heavenly Horses''? So you''re saying there are Heavenly Horses in the Court of Myriad Domains?"


    "There should be," Tang Jie somewhat hesitantly replied.


    The fragmentary memories in his mind were difficult to grasp, there for a moment and disappearing the next, and all the information was broken up and confused, even contradictory.


    Xu Miaoran said, "Just how do you know all this?"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "I think the problem might be with the Martial Mirror. When I got the Parting ssic from the Martial Mirror, I received a vision of the Martial Lord shattering the court with his axe, and I''ve never been able to forget it. The Martial Lord was once an honored guest of the court, so it''s not weird for him to be familiar with its internalyout. Perhaps he left his memories in the Martial Mirror, and it''s only now that they''ve awoken."


    Xu Miaoran replied, "Perhaps it''s more than memories?"


    Startled, Tang Jie said, "What do you mean?"


    Xu Miaoran exined, "Maybe the Martial Lord was like the Azure Dragon, leaving behind a back-up n. That hidden realm of the Martial Lord might really have been a trap meant to get him a body that he could possess and be reborn in, and the Martial Mirror contained his Divine Soul. Thus, when you used Soulscour, you obtained the secret of the mirror. What you didn''t realize is that the Martial Lord''s soul entered your body at the same time, and it''s been lying in wait until now, slowly getting stronger. This is why you only awakened the memories regarding the court today. Tang Jie, all your effort and cultivation might have just been for the benefit of someone else!"


    Xu Miaoran''s face turned very savage and fierce toward the end of her talk.


    Tang Jieughed. "You''ve got quite the imagination."


    Xu Miaoran spat out her tongue. "Is it funny? Do I not even get the pleasure of scaring you once in a while?"


    Rather than a Violet Pce True Lord, she seemed more like a naive and innocent maiden.


    With this interlude, the matter of how Tang Jie knew about theyout of the court was put to the side, and the two advanced into the grasnd.


    But deep down, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran were both thinking the same thing:


    <em>Could this joke actually be true?</em>


    With this worry, they flew ahead.


    Suddenly, they heard a strange roar in the distance.


    "What sound is this?" Xu Miaoran said in surprise.


    Tang Jie cocked his ear and listened. "It sounds like the call of some fiend."


    "Why would there be fiends in the Court of Myriad Domains?"


    "Why not? The court has its own zoos and menageries, and numerous fiends were raised as mounts¡­" Tang Jie suddenly grimaced.


    Xu Miaoran caught on to what he had said. "Then doesn''t that mean that if there are fiends, they should be ten thousand years old?"


    Tang Jie swallowed. "I hope we''re not that unlucky."


    As he spoke, a cloud of dust appeared in the distance.


    It seemed that something was rapidly approaching them.


    As the cloud drew closer, it turned out to be a herd of horses, crazily galloping through the air in a storm of ripples, moving as quickly as the wind.


    A herd of Heavenly Horses!" Xu Miaoran said in excitement.


    "Retreat!" Tang Jie shouted, grabbing Xu Miaoran and flying backward on a cloud.


    Xu Miaoran was about to say that these Heavenly Horses were rather harmless when the two cultivators that Tang Jie had saved happened to fly over. Upon seeing the herd, they cried out in delight, "Lucky us!"


    They flew toward the herd.


    Upon seeing these cultivatorsing at them, the herd actually picked up speed, stirring up even more dust.


    One of the cultivatorsughed and extended a hand, upon which a giant hand manifested in the air and descended.


    But to his surprise, the horses neighed in unison, upon which the hand shattered. The Heavenly Horses charged at the cultivator, and that cultivator thrust his hands forward, creating a ring to protect himself.


    But the herd crashed into the ring without a care, and with a boom, the ring shattered. The horses rammed into the cultivator, who fell to the ground with a wail. His body, which was immune to mortal weapons, threw up blood again and again under their pounding hooves. By the time the horses had passed, the cultivator was dead, not even having had a chance to send out his Divine Soul. The horse at the lead turned around and snorted at the corpse, upon which the cultivator''s body exploded into a cloud of gore.


    All of the horses opened their mouths and gobbled up the remains.


    These horses ate meat.


    In a sh, the Violet Pce cultivator had been devoured, and the other cultivator turned in fright and ran.


    The horses neighed again and set off in pursuit, moving with remarkable speed.


    The cultivator couldn''t outrun the Heavenly Horses, and as the herd drew closer and closer, he gritted his teeth and threw out a treasure. Upon appearing, the treasure exuded a sr radiance and immense pressure on the herd. But the horses seemed unaffected, and with a neigh, the treasure shattered, and the horses galloped up to that cultivator in a sh.


    Aghast, the cultivator applied countless defensive barriers to himself, even throwing out seven or eight defensive treasures.


    At the same time, the hundreds of Heavenly Horses raised their hooves, and illusory horses emerged from their bodies,bining into a single giant "Pegasus". Raising its hooves, the Pegasus passed through that cultivator''s myriad defenses like it was just a phantom, mming its hooves into the cultivator''s head. In one strike, the cultivator''s skull was shattered.


    A divine light shot out of his body: his Divine Soul.


    But the giant phantom Pegasus opened its mouth and devoured it.


    It then dissolved back into the smaller illusory horses which returned to their hosts, upon which the herd galloped off.


    "How could this herd of horses be so powerful¡­" Xu Miaoran said in shock.


    Tang Jie replied, "It''s not a herd of horses. Just one."

 Chapter 854: The Wailing Baby (1)

    "''One horse''?" Xu Miaoran looked at Tang Jie in confusion.


    Tang Jie didn''t exin, pulling on Xu Miaoran and saying, "Come on. Let''s get out of here so we don''t provoke that horse."


    He hastily flew away.


    Xu Miaoran had never seen Tang Jie so cautious before, which indicated to her that this horse was nothing to be messed with, so she followed.


    After flying for a while, Tang Jie finally stopped and said, "That was close. I didn''t think we would run into a High Antiquity exotic beast of the Void Returning Level here."


    "''Void Returning''?" Xu Miaoran yelped in shock. Didn''t that mean that this had been a great fiend of the Immortal tform Realm?


    It was no wonder Tang Jie had been in such a hurry to leave.


    "If not, how could it have so easily killed two Violet Pce cultivators?" Tang Jie said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.


    The Court of Myriad Domains really was rife with dangers. It was even possible to just randomly run into a Void Returning great fiend.But after thinking about it, he realized that this wasn''t anything strange. Any fiend that could live for more than ten thousand years would have reached this level.


    In the cultivation world, being old was essentially saying that one was strong.


    After avoiding the Heavenly Horse, the two continued forward. They ran into several more incidents, but they mostly managed to avoid them without trouble.


    The real things to be careful about were other cultivators.


    Tang Jie had run into cultivators several times who had seen that they were separated from a group, and tried to murder them for their treasures. There was one time where Tang Jie had killed them instead, and another two times where the other party had been strong enough that Tang Jie had chosen to run rather than risk a fight.


    This was aplex environment with pernicious humans, vicious fiend beasts, and bizarre traps and formations, all of theming together to make the Court of Myriad Domains a most treacherous ce.


    After passing through a sea of fire, they suddenly spotted clouds churning in the distance, spiritual energy erupting into the air. There was clearly someone fighting over there.


    Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran looked at each other and then flew over.


    As they drew closer, they saw that a group of cultivators was fighting a single fiend.


    These cultivators were mostly at Infant Tending and Deification, and their leader was at Soul Projection, so they seemed to be some small alliance of wandering cultivators. As this was the outer edge of the court, it was these small alliances that were the mostmon. The stronger ones had already headed deeper in.


    The fiend they were fighting was a deformed giant with an oversized head and enormous belly. Its entire body was green, and it was plopped on the ground and eating something. Next to it was a small mountain of white bones, and in its hand was a particrlyrge bone that belonged to some fiend.


    The cultivators circled around it, bombarding it with spell arts and Divine Connections, but the fiend seemedpletely unaware, engrossed in its meal.


    Once it was done eating, it reached out its hand, and somehow, it managed to seize a cultivator. It threw the cultivator into its mouth and began to chew.


    That cultivator in its mouth howled and tried to fight back, spiritual energy erupting from the fiend''s mouth, but the fiend kept chewing as if nothing had happened. It seemed to regard this cultivator as some gourmet delicacy, even moaning in contentment.


    Cultivators had formidable life forces and would not easily die, but this only meant that he had to endure even greater pain in the fiend''s mouth. As the fiend gnawed him to pieces, he was reborn again, and then he was gnawed apart once more. The fiend kept on eating, apparently in love with this endless source of food such that it didn''t instantly gobble the cultivator up, instead waiting for him to regrow. But no matter how strong this cultivator was, there was a limit to his ability to regrow, and once that cultivator had his head bitten off, he shuddered and finally stopped moving.


    The fiend sighed and then swallowed up the cultivator entirely, after which it grabbed another cultivator and started the process over.


    Seeing that this fiend was unkible and the cultivators it caught were essentially dead, the cultivators finally lost their nerve and began to retreat.


    The fiend let out a wail like a baby and then opened its mouth wide. A vortex formed in its mouth, so powerful that it began to pull all of them toward it. The cultivators panicked, and afterbining their powers, they barely managed to fight back against the pull, but escaping was no longer possible.


    The fiend began to pluck them from the air.


    This time, rather than eat them, it threw the cultivators onto the ground and jumped on them until they were so mangled that they couldn''t move anymore.


    Xu Miaoran had never seen such a crude and barbaric fighting style before.


    Cultivators had always fought primarily with shy spells. If one didn''t consider their lethality, it would have been a gorgeous sight to witness.


    But these beasts of the court were far more straightforward. The Void Returning Heavenly Horse had charged into its opponents, while this fiend ate and stomped, yet these moves were extremely effective, and the cultivators were powerless against them.


    "Is this also a Void Returning fiend?" Xu Miaoran asked Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie shook his head. "No, it''s not."


    <em>Whew,</em> Xu Miaoran sighed in relief.


    It was fine so long as it wasn''t at Void Returning.


    At Tang Jie''s current level of strength, he could easily deal with fiends beneath Void Returning.


    Tang Jie coolly added, "But it''s an exotic beast that has entered the Dao, the Wailing Baby."


    Exotic beasts were special beasts born from the essence of the world, protected by Fate.


    To exin it simply, unique fiends with special attributes were usually called exotic beasts.


    For example, the Four Sacred Beasts were considered exotic beasts. They were ranked as some of the most powerful exotic beasts, so they were given the appetion of "Sacred". In essence, however, they were still exotic beasts that had be fiends.


    Exotic beasts that had be fiends would be even stronger than usual, essentially invincible among their peers and sometimes able to challenge those above their level.


    As for exotic beasts that entered the Dao, those were even more incredible.


    Humans could enter Daos, and so could fiends.


    Starting from Transformation, fiends couldprehend the Dao like humans, and some fiends who had cultivated for a long time and possessed profound wisdom could easilyprehend the Dao as easily as humans.


    And exotic beasts, which started off from a stronger foundation, were even more terrifying after entering the Dao.


    "This Wailing Baby is exceptionally talented. Its namees from how it wails like a baby. When it was at Transformation, it hadprehended the Dao of Life. It developed a gluttonous nature, able to extract immense power and life force from what it eats. For this reason, so long as there''s food around, it could be said to be unkible," Tang Jie exined. "It once terrified the world, ying countless beings with its power. Later on, the Vast Ocean Divine Lord of the Court of Myriad Domains came down and imprisoned the Wailing Baby within the court''s jail. It seems that this fiend managed to escape after the court was shattered. After ten thousand years of cultivation, while it has yet to reach Void Returning, it''s clearly at peak Divine Division. This coupled with the endless recovery granted to it by the Dao of Life means that it''s just as scary as a Void Returning fiend."


    Xu Miaoran was rmed. "Then shouldn''t we hurry and go?"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "There''s no need to run. The Wailing Baby is strong, but it''s not fast. So long as you''re not in the range of its mouth''s suction, it can''t catch you. If you can find its weakness, you might even be able to kill it."


    "You can kill it?" Xu Miaoran said in surprise. "Didn''t you say it was unkible?"


    "Nothing in the world is truly unkible, just like how there''s no such thing as a perfect spell," Tang Jie said with a chuckle. "So long as you can find its weakness, you can kill it, and for this thing, food is its weakness."


    "s, it has plenty of food right now," Xu Miaoran sighed.


    In the distance, those cultivators were still being attacked by the Wailing Baby, and each one of them had thousands of years of cultivation. This was a huge source of nutrition for this fiend, and so much of this sort of food at once was like a human cultivator getting their hands on a big batch of thousand-year nts.


    The Wailing Baby had spent its entire life eating, and it got stronger just by eating. The reason it hadn''t broken through in thest ten thousand years was that there was too little to eat in the court. Fortunately, the cultivatorsing in had let it reach peak Divine Division. Perhaps this time, it would break into Void Returning. Thus, it excitedly bellowed, but despite the joy it was feeling, it sounded like a keening banshee.


    "So we have to save them," Tang Jie answered.


    Unlike other fiends, the Wailing Baby was stronger the more people were around, so one had to fight it with a small number of people. People hadn''t known this and ended up attacking inrge groups, which just meant that they all died together. But Tang Jie knew, so he understood that his first priority was to save those cultivators.


    After saying this, Tang Jie charged at the Wailing Baby.


    The cultivators were despairing from their imminent deaths at the hands of the Wailing Baby when they spotted Tang Jie flying over. Hope bloomed in their hearts as they shouted, "Daoist Brother, save me!"


    But as he got closer, they saw that he was only a Deification cultivator, and they despaired once more.


    All these Violet Pce experts, even a Soul Projection cultivator, had been no match for this fiend, so what could a single Deification cultivator do?


    The Wailing Baby, meanwhile, let out a weeping wail of excitement on seeing another cultivatoring, and it reached out.


    This simple grab was imbued with thews of the world, seeming to enclose the heavens and earth. Attempting to escape this was as futile as trying to escape the heavens and earth.


    It was no wonder those cultivators had failed to escape, for this grab was infused with a Dao Will.


    It was a Dao Will that had a life of its own.


    Tang Jie didn''t know why this was the case, for there was nothing about this ability of the Wailing Baby in his memories.


    In other words, either there was a gap in his memories or this fiend had gained this ability in thest ten thousand years.


    Tang Jie didn''t know which was the answer, nor did he care.


    As the Wailing Baby grabbed, he pointed a finger at it.


    An ancient and majestic energy emerged from his finger, a power that was seemingly transported from High Antiquity, and even the provoked fiend froze for a few moments.


    And then it found that its world had changed.


    Everything had suddenly gotten much faster.


    That approaching cultivator, all the meat right next to its mouth¡ªall of it changed.


    Split-Second Youth!


    This was the Dao Art that could control the flow of Time that Tang Jie had gained upon entering the Dao. He called it Split-Second Youth, for it could make one''s youth go by in a split second.


    While the Wailing Baby was caught in this split second, the cultivators flew away.


    "Hurry and go! I can''tst for long!" Tang Jie called out after pointing his finger.


    The cultivators saw that this powerful fiend was now just frozen there like a fool.


    No, it was actually still moving, but it was moving like a snail, every movement hundreds of times slower. The wed hand was still reaching for Tang Jie, but it was just moving incredibly slowly, so slowly that it seemed unreal.


    Tang Jie''s call stirred everyone from their stupor, and they hastily flew away.


    Without the fiend stopping them, they were finally able to escape.


    When they turned to Tang Jie, they saw that he was still facing the Wailing Baby, showing no intention of escaping. Everyone thought that he was trying to fight the Wailing Baby to cover their retreat. Moved, they developed the impression that this person had used some secret art to hold down this fiend, but this fiend was so powerful that the man had rendered himself powerless to escape.


    In this ce where everyone was looking to backstab each other, this man was willing to sacrifice himself for everyone else, as if he was a manifestation of justice, a representative of all that was good and light in the world.


    Filled with gratitude, they bowed to Tang Jie and said, "Savior, if you are able to survive today, then this one will definitely repay you with my life."


    Since this person probably wasn''t going to survive anyway and these would all be empty promises, everyone freely made grand oaths and heroic vows, which also helped to keep their consciences clear.


    After making their promises, they flew off.


    The court was a big ce, so it was time to go back to searching for treasure.

 Chapter 855: Wailing Baby (2)

    Chapter 855: Wailing Baby (2)


    The cultivators were gone, but Tang Jie was still in a stand-off with the Wailing Baby.


    Split-Second Youth was powerful, but the fiend was also formidable, its cultivation one level higher than his. Thus, the Time power needed to hold it was quite significant.


    Once all the cultivators were gone, Tang Jie immediately called back his Time power.


    Finally free, the Wailing Baby continued to grab at Tang Jie, but it found nothing there. Tang Jie had already retreated back to Xu Miaoran''s side.


    It then found that its earlier prey, including the prey that it had stomped half to death, had now all disappeared.


    Furious, it let out a sharp wail.


    And with this terrifying cry, the fiend began to chase after Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie didn''t even try to fight it, letting out Tutu and pulling Xu Miaoran onto the rabbit. "Go!"


    Tutu looked back, saw that giant fiend, and immediately ran for its life, not even needing Tang Jie''s prompting.The Wailing Baby was no speedster, and Tutu could easily outrun it.


    But Tang Jie didn''t let it do so, saying, "Slow down and try to maintain a set distance between you and that fiend."


    His eyes shed with divine light, and the clouds above began to rumble with lightning. A few momentster, the Nine Heavens Cmity des began to descend.


    In terms of pure power, Tang Jie naturally had stronger moves. The Ten Extinctions de, the Skyrend Swordfall, and the Combat Emperor Catalog were all more lethal. However, rather than those powerful Dao Arts and Divine Connections, it was these middle-tier Divine Connections that had the best bnce of strength and power consumption.


    The Nine Heavens Cmity de had long since fallen into the middle of the pack among Tang Jie''s moves, but it had several advantages that made it optimal for the current circumstances. One was that it used the power of the world, and when thoughtcasting, it ced the least burden on his body and would let himst the longest. Secondly, while it wasn''t particrly suited for one-on-one situations, each de was still very powerful. If he were facing some cultivator skilled in evasion, the effect would be subpar, but the Wailing Baby disdained evasion and defense, its immense life force leading it to never fear any kind of attack. This allowed the Nine Heavens Cmity de to maximize its power. The third factor was that it had a long enough range that he could use it from a safe distance and slowly exhaust this terrifying fiend to death.


    Tang Jie hade up with this n the moment he encountered the Wailing Baby. If food was the Wailing Baby''s first weakness, speed was its second.


    Tang Jie exploited this weakness.


    Lightning des rained down from the sky, barraging the Wailing Baby. As Tang Jie expected, the Wailing Baby couldn''t be bothered to dodge or defend.


    Like the spell arts of the other cultivators, the lightning des struck the fiend to seemingly no effect.


    Only Tang Jie, who had activated his Realm of Insight, could tell that the fiend''s immense life force was rapidly healing any damage it sustained, the speed of recovery even outpacing the rate at which damage was dealt. This was why it seemed like the attacks were having no effect.


    The Wailing Baby had the life force taken from all the food it had just consumed, but so long as it didn''t have enough food, this store of life force would run out eventually, no matter how much there was.


    Thus, Tang Jie was in no rush, continuing to send down the Nine Heavens Cmity des while having Tutu find an empty ce in the grasnds where they could fly in circles.


    Wave after wave of des rained down on the fiend, slowly grinding it down.


    The Wailing Baby wasn''t content to just be Tang Jie''s punching bag. Seeing that it couldn''t catch up, it wailed and began to suck at the air.


    A powerful wind kicked up, intent on bringing all of the world into the fiend''s stomach.


    Tang Jie was clearly far out of range of its suction, but he suddenly found himself uncontrobly being drawn toward the Wailing Baby along with Tutu.


    An rmed Tang Jie found himself getting closer and closer to the fiend''s maw, upon which he shouted, "Stop!"


    Law Speaking made the Wailing Baby freeze, and the suction from its open mouth instantly dropped in power.


    Tang Jie instantly regained his freedom. Mounting Tutu, he had it run off while unleashing another Split-Second Youth.


    The Wailing Baby was frozen in ce.


    By the time the Wailing Baby''s flow of time was restored, Tang Jie and the rabbit had gotten far out of its reach.


    It could use this powerful vortex whenever it wanted, so once it saw that Tang Jie had gotten away, it started chasing him again. Meanwhile, Tang Jie took the opportunity to recover his Dao power.


    By the time he had just about recovered, the Wailing Baby had seemingly done the same, once more opening its mouth and sucking Tang Jie toward it like a ck hole.


    As before, Tang Jie used Law Speaking and Split-Second Youth to escape.


    The two sides continued their chase, punctuated with these more hair-raising moments.


    Initially, Tutu yelped whenever it felt itself being pulled on, but it eventually got used to it. Whenever it saw that the fiend was about to start sucking again, it simply stopped running and let itself be drawn toward the fiend. Just when it seemed like it was about to fall into the fiend''s mouth, it would break free and keep running. Xu Miaoran also got used to it, so much so that she even conversed with Tang Jie while they were being pulled toward the fiend''s mouth.


    This battle went on for three days and three nights.


    After three days of chasing, both sides couldn''t be more familiar with each other''s methods, and the tempo of the chase had been engraved in their bodies.


    The Wailing Baby would open its mouth, upon which Tang Jie''s party would stop. Once they flew close, the Wailing Baby would stop on its own without Tang Jie needing to use Law Speaking. The Split-Second Youth, however, was required.


    This cycle couldn''t be kept up forever. In the process, some cultivators would pass through, bing surprise factors that broke the equilibrium.


    At those times, both sides would be extremely active.


    The Wailing Baby needed food to recover life force, so Tang Jie needed to sever the Wailing Baby''s supply.


    The two went all out for their respective goals, and it was only at those times that Tang Jie revealed his true power.


    Law Speaking, the Infinite Pce, Split-Second Youth, Skyrend Swordfall, the Ten Extinctions de, and even the Combat Emperor Catalog were used in these fierce fights, making the world quake and obscuring the sky.


    But in these fights, Tang Jie always came out the winner.


    Because if he couldn''t save someone, he could just kill them.


    After three days, with so much of its life force spent, the Wailing Baby was no longer so arrogant.


    Initially, Tang Jie''s attacks couldn''t even break its skin, but then wounds had started to appear, and now, they were healing more and more slowly.


    Its recovery abilities remained formidable, even on par with the body refiner Tang Jie, but as time went on, they continued to drop.


    The Wailing Baby gradually realized that it was in a bad spot. After chasing for another half a day, it finally stopped pursuing Tang Jie.


    But while it wanted to escape, Tang Jie had no ns on letting it go, ordering Tutu to turn around and give chase.


    Tang Jie was like a piece of chewed-up bubblegum, inedible and clingy, and no matter what the fiend did, it couldn''t drive Tang Jie off. All it could do was helplessly rage.


    But Tang Jie actually wasn''t in much of a better state. Three days of casting had left him running on empty. However, humans, unlike fiends, had medicines they could use to recover, and besides, he had Xu Miaoran helping him. She didn''t attack, but whenever Tang Jie was running low on power, she would transfer him energy. Without it, not even Tang Jie would have been able to keep up a barrage for three days straight.


    This wasn''t to say that cultivators couldn''t endure three days of battle. If circumstances permitted, they could even go an entire year without a problem.


    But this sort of endless bombardment was extremely rare, like trying to run a marathon at sprinting speeds, the higher rate of energy usage greatly reducing one''s ability to remain in that state.


    After one day, the fiend was even weaker, and its recovery abilities fell once more. Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran were also both out of energy and relying on medicines to keep going. Tutu, meanwhile, was panting from exhaustion, wanting nothing more than to fall over and sleep.


    But while the Wailing Baby still stood, nobody could rx.


    At this point in the battle, both power reserves and perseverance were being sorely tested. Everyone was struggling to hold on and see who couldst to the end.


    On the fifth day, the Wailing Baby''s situation was getting worse and worse.


    Its enormous body was covered in terrifying wounds, and even its giant belly had shriveled up.


    Tang Jie''s graceful steps had grown heavy, and he struggled to move his legs. The lightning of the Nine Heavens Cmity des grew dim, and their des no longer descended with such force and vigor. If the Heavenly Tribtion had been this pathetic, cultivators would beughing so hard that they couldn''t stand.


    On the sixth day, the Wailing Baby and Tang Jie were both scraping the bottom of their respective barrels.


    The fiend''s wounds were no longer recovering, but Tutu could no longer move.


    The two sides stared at each other, panting for breath.


    The Wailing Baby''s gaze remained vicious, as if it was saying, <em>I can''t kill you, but you can''t kill me.</em>


    As Tang Jie gazed at that gigantic being, he smiled and said, "It''s about time."


    With a wave of his hand, a puppet appeared.


    The Mother Cloudbat puppet!


    The Wailing Baby despaired when it felt the aura exuded by the puppet.


    It knew that it was finished.


    In truth, it was not truly at its limit. As a fiend of High Antiquity, it still had some intelligence. Just now, it had been pretending so as to lure Tang Jie intoing over and y him in a single strike. But Tang Jie was too cautious, even keeping a back-up n like this. And as a puppet wasn''t a living creature, it couldn''t convert it into life force.


    With no hope, the Wailing Baby let out a roar of indignation. Meanwhile, points of starlight began to light up on the puppet''s body¡­


    The Wailing Baby was finally dead.


    It had taken six days of arduous battle.


    This was the toughest battle Tang Jie had taken part in since entering Violet Pce, and he had only won because he had more people on his side. Although he still had some tricks up his sleeve, it wasn''t incorrect to say that he had gone all out.


    The fiend had just been that powerful.


    The Wailing Baby was a true peak Divine Division existence, an exotic beast that had entered the Dao and lived for ten thousand years.


    Only Tang Jie had the patience and the abilities to exhaust it to death. Anyone else trying it would have been exhausted to death themselves.


    Now that he had gained victory, it was time to reap the rewards.


    The Wailing Baby was an exotic beast, a peak Divine Division fiend that had entered the Dao of Life, so its corpse was extremely valuable.


    Tang Jie produced the Imperial Sky Stamp and aimed it at the corpse, upon which a vast torrent of life force began to surge toward the stamp.


    This was the power of the Imperial Sky Stamp, absorbing the life force of a fiend to make it one''s own.


    Tang Jie had been able to enter Deification in 150 years thanks to this stamp. It wasn''t very useful in battle, but it was immensely useful in cultivation. And given the pedigree and age of the Wailing Baby, its life force was extremely refined and pure, better than one hundred ordinary Divine Division fiends put together.


    The Imperial Sky Stamp began to let out a brilliant light, and the four-wed golden dragon on the stamp began to move among the clouds, exuding Immortal energy.


    Despite Tang Jie owning the Imperial Sky Stamp for so many years, he had never seen this sort of reaction from it.


    He stared at the stamp in dumbfounded shock.


    After a long while, he finally blurted out, "Immortal energy!"

 Chapter 856: Frenzied Rabbit

    Chapter 856: Frenzied Rabbit


    The world had both spiritual energy and Immortal energy.


    It was because of Immortal energy that the Immortal tform Realm existed.


    Spiritual energy was an energy that existed in nature.


    By absorbing, studying, and controlling spiritual energy, humans became stronger and could use spell arts and Divine Connections.


    Immortal energy was not at all the same. It was an artificial energy, transformed from spiritual energy when cultivators reached a certain level of cultivation.


    This was a qualitative transformation that created somethingpletely different from spiritual energy, which was why it was called Immortal energy.


    Immortal tform was the level at which spiritual energy was converted into Immortal energy, which included the spiritual body being converted into an Immortal body.


    Cultivators had gone through a simr process once before, during the Three Withering Tribtions of the Mortal Shedding Realm.


    This was aplete transformation from mortal to spirit, breaking free from all that made one mortal.Immortal tform was the same kind of transformation, breaking free of all that was spiritual to be Immortal.


    Upon bing an Immortal, one would grow stronger in all aspects.


    Putting aside cultivation, in terms of lifespan, Immortals were vastly different to spirit cultivators.


    Mortals, with their bodies of flesh, would die from severe wounds. Spirit cultivators, with their bodies of spirit, could not be harmed by ordinary wounds, and they could even regrow severed heads and shattered hearts. And once one became Immortal, one entered the evesting phase, and one was said to have the same lifespan as the heavens. Of course, this was an exaggeration. Even Boundless Gold Immortals couldn''t live forever, but to say that they were unkible was no exaggeration. Spirit cultivators could survive from being beheaded, but Immortals could be pulverized and survive, capable of rebirth if only a single cell remained. This undying nature was why Earth Immortals were willing to take risks. Of course, the actual details differed from person to person.


    In truth, Tang Jie had interacted with Immortal energy before.


    The Immortal Essence refined by his Immortal Spirit Body was Immortal energy.


    But it differed in some ways from real Immortal energy. Law cultivators converted spiritual energy to Immortal Essence and then used Immortal Essence to modify their bodies, turning them into Immortal bodies. Allw cultivators had to go through this step.


    As a body cultivator, however, Tang Jie went through a different process, the energy directly modifying his body with no intervening step. While he produced Immortal Essence, it was far less flexible than the real thing. Thus, all he had been able to do with this Immortal Essence was use a few more spell arts than usual.


    Long ago, Tang Jie had been delighted over the fact that he could use powerful spell arts after obtaining Immortal Essence, but when he found out the difference, that he could only use some ordinary spell arts, he became deeply disappointed.


    Thus, while Immortal Essence was essentially the same as Immortal energy, its true purpose was in strengthening the body, and itcked the heaven-toppling might ofw cultivators. And its method of strengthening was in physical might, not even allowing for rebirth from the ashes. In this aspect, one could say that it provided even less survivability than normal Immortal energy.


    A body cultivator had less survivability than aw cultivator!


    Then what was even the point!?


    He had gone through so much effort to cultivate both body andw so as to gain supreme power, but then he found that one path was a dead end that wasn''t even worth going down.


    Upon realizing this fact, Tang Jie had seriously questioned his life choices.


    But when he recalled how the Martial Lord had shattered the court in his rage, he regained his confidence.


    Although he couldn''t see any hope in body cultivating for the time being, the Martial Lord had left him a glimmer of hope in the Martial Mirror, letting him know that he was far from the end of this path, that there was something worth it at the end of it all.


    And now, Tang Jie found that the Imperial Sky Stamp could condense Immortal energy.


    It was the real thing!


    Tang Jie stared at the Imperial Sky Stamp in speechless awe.


    As he had cultivated Immortal Essence, he was keenly aware of what Immortal energy felt like, and he knew at a nce that this was Immortal energy.


    It was obvious that the Imperial Sky Stamp had been able to condense Immortal energy for only one reason: the Wailing Baby had been too strong.


    This guy had entered the Dao of Life, so its life essence was far greater than a regr peak Divine Division fiend''s. Thus, when the Imperial Sky Stamp harvested its life, the energy gathered broke through the limit and turned into Immortal energy.


    As Tang Jie attempted to absorb it, he felt a grandiose energy surging into him that soothed andforted his entire body, washing away all his fatigue and exhaustion.


    Was this the power of Immortal energy?


    Tang Jie was amazed. He hadn''t expected such a small sliver of energy to make him recover so much. It was no wonder Earth Immortals were so powerful. He couldn''t help but tremble at this power.


    At the same time, Tang Jie realized that this ability to convert spiritual energy into Immortal energy must have been the true function of the Imperial Sky Stamp.


    This was a real Dao armament!


    But this conversion clearly had extremely high requirements. The minimum requirement was an extremely powerful life force, but this clearly wasn''t enough. Tang Jie had never seen any sort of transformation despite all the fiends he had absorbed, so it clearly required some enormously powerful fiend.


    The Wailing Baby had been a peak Divine Division fiend that had entered the Dao of Life. Tang Jie didn''t know whether one or both conditions were required. If only one didn''t suffice, then it probably meant that he would have to have the stamp absorb Void Returning fiends to produce more Immortal energy. The Beast Refining Gate had only their ancestor as an Earth Immortal, so they naturally had had no Void Returning fiends with which to perform experiments, so it was no wonder they hadn''t known about this function.


    Void Returning fiends were fiends that had be Immortals, so the Imperial Sky Stamp producing Immortal energy from them was nothing strange, which dropped its value somewhat. Still, it was better than not having it.


    s, he didn''t have the ability to kill Void Returning fiends. If it was really no good, he could ask the ancestor to kill a few and see if he could get anything from them.


    As Tang Jie was thinking, a group of cultivators approached.


    These cultivators were all dressed in purple, clearly belonging to a single sect. However, he hadn''t seen them before, so they had probably enteredter.


    After all, not every sect arrived on the day the court opened. In truth, many great powers chose to enterter. For example, the Reverend Yellow Heaven that Tang Jie had been searching for all this time had yet to appear and probably wouldn''t arrive untilter.


    These purple-clothed cultivators probably didn''t belong to some big sect, for they were led by two Soul Projection cultivators.


    Even so, they were strong enough to deal with a single Deification expert like Tang Jie.


    These cultivators arrived to see Tang Jie pondering the Imperial Sky Stamp.


    Great Dao armaments naturally exuded an Immortal aura and light.


    They could tell at a nce that this was some incredible treasure, bursting with grandiose energy.


    They immediately wanted it for themselves.


    Upon seeing that the owner was a mere Deification cultivator, the two Soul Projection cultivators looked at each other andughed. "Lucky us! Hurry and seize that treasure!"


    The violet-robed cultivators charged.


    Tang Jie had witnessed people murder others for their treasures several times while in the court, but they usually tried to put on a kind face while looking for a chance, or even a pretext to strike. This was the first time he had seen someone so straightforward, skipping the excuses and going straight for the fight.


    Seeing that he was outnumbered, Tang Jie decided to run rather than fight. He patted Tutu and said, "Go!"


    Tutu pathetically said, "Master, I can''t run anymore."


    Tang Jie ced the Imperial Sky Stamp under Tutu''s nose. "A treat for you. Absorb a little of this."


    Tutu hastily breathed in.


    This was Immortal energy! Tutu naturally wouldn''t give up on this chance.


    As Immortal energy rushed in, Tutu felt all its fatigue disappear, and its body was filled with some indescribable power. With a cry, it shot into the air, several times faster than before. Before those cultivators could even get close, Tutu was gone, leaving them dumbstruck. The two Soul Projection cultivators sighed, for they had seen what Tang Jie had done. "Stimting the fiend''s power, giving it a huge boost in strength! It really was a treasure!"


    There was endless regret in their words.


    Meanwhile, Tutu was running along without a thought in the world, utterly lost in the ecstasy of speed.


    Seated on Tutu''s back, Tang Jie took back the Imperial Sky Stamp and cursed, "You beast, I only told you to absorb a little, but you took so much! This is Immortal energy, not something you can easily digest! You might end up exploding because of it!"


    Tutu was rmed, and as it felt its condition, it realized that the Immortal energy was swelling and expanding within its body. It was only a Soul Transformation fiend, two tiers lower than Tang Jie. Tang Jie had only needed a small sliver to fully recover, but it had absorbed more than Tang Jie, so it had basically stuffed itself to the point of exploding. Full of fear, it ran even faster, putting all of its power into flight in the hopes of using up the excess Immortal energy.


    But the Immortal energy was expanding faster than it could be used up. As the energy grew stronger, Tutu''s body heated up. It cried out in rm, thinking that its doom hade as it ran faster and faster.


    They had spent a long time in the outer edge of the court, but now that the rabbit was literally sprinting for its life, they quickly made up the distance and entered the depths of the court.


    Even so, that burning power left the rabbit in excruciating torment.


    The rabbit found that its body was uncontrobly expanding.


    Tutu cried out, "I''m going to explode! Going to explode!"


    "Hurry up and shed the excess power!" Tang Jie urgently said.


    This little thing had expanded to the size of a building thanks to the Immortal energy. Seated atop it and out of ideas, Tang Jie decided to punch the rabbit.


    This punch should have left Tutu in immense pain.


    But to his surprise, Tutu called out, "Oooh! That''s nice!"


    Running wasn''t the only way to use energy. Being beaten was also a means.


    The Wailing Baby had been defeated using this exact method.


    Seeing Tutu cry out in relief from this punch, Tang Jie began to punch it over and over.


    But this was still not enough, only slightly slowing Tutu''s growth.


    "What do we do?" Tutu yelled.


    At this moment, they flew past arge mountain.


    In the distance, a group of cultivators was fighting arge ape.


    This ape was a huge and powerful beast, jumping around and hollering.


    Seeing it, Tutu rushed over and mmed into the ape. Transforming into a giant rabbit man, it seized the ape and gave it a savage beating, shouting all the while, "Hit me! Hit me!"


    The giant ape swung its fists in fury. Its punches were so powerful that not even a Violet Pce cultivator dared to take them directly, but Tutu endured them as if they didn''t even exist, crying out in delight as it fought with the ape.


    The cultivators watched in dumbfounded awe.


    One of them said, "If I''m seeing things correctly, a singlete-phase Transformation rabbit fiend is fighting evenly with a Divine Division fiend ape!"


    "And the rabbit seems to be more powerful," another said.


    The rabbit and ape rampaged through thendscape, Tutu hammering the giant ape while taking the same brutal bashing in return. Finally, the giant ape let out onest howl and stopped moving.


    Tutu had knocked it out.


    After this fight, Tutu felt much better, saying in delight, "This way works!"


    It turned back into a rabbit and charged off again.


    Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran promptly mounted it, at the same time taking the ape for themselves. "We just lent a helping hand; no need to say thanks."


    And then they were gone.


    The other cultivators were startled, and then they turned furious. "Bullshit! You stole our fiend, you scoundrel!"


    They wanted to catch up and settle ounts, but that rabbit was already gone, off to find another fiend to fight.

 Chapter 857: Charging to the Next Tier

    Chapter 857: Charging to the Next Tier


    Tutu couldn''t remember exactly how many fiends it ended up fighting.


    All it knew was that it kept flying and kept fighting, charging at any fiend it spotted.


    Seething Immortal energy was fighting to get out of its body, and it was also addling its mind, leaving it so confused that it even charged at Void Returning fiends.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie still had his senses and was able to pull it away.


    Finally, that energy that was about to make it burst receded.


    As the power faded away, an unprecedented fatigue swept over Tutu, and it immediately fainted.


    When it woke, it found itself lying in the wilderness.


    Opening its eyes, it saw Tang Jie''s face.


    "Master!" Tutu recoiled in fear.Like a man who had awoken from a drunken daze, its first instinct was to prepare to be scolded.


    But the expected storm didn''te. Tutu cracked open its eyes and saw Tang Jie smiling at it.


    He said, "Awake now? If you''re awake, let''s get going."


    <em>Eh?</em>


    Tutu blurted out in surprise, "You''re not going to scold me?"


    It immediately regretted these words. Wasn''t this essentially asking for a beating?


    Fortunately, Tang Jie was magnanimous, casually saying, "What? So you want me to give you a scolding?"


    "Of course not!" Tutuughed. "I know I was wrong, so I won''t make the same mistake in the future."


    "Stop being so humble. After all, you''re a Divine Division great fiend now. You''ll be a joke if someone sees you being so meek and servile."


    "Oh," Tutu said.


    And then it froze.


    <em>''A Divine Division great fiend''?</em>


    What did he mean?


    Seeing that it was confused, Tang Jie indifferently said, "Hm? Have you not noticed yet?"


    A light shed behind Tutu''s head, and an ethereal rabbit rose up.


    This was the defining attribute of Divine Division and Violet Pce, the Divine Soul leaving the body.


    For humans, it was Violet Pce, and for fiends, it was Divine Division. The two had the same meaning, that being the condensation of the Divine Soul and linking with the world, from then on possessing a second life.


    Tutu also grew excited upon seeing its Divine Soul, muttering, "Divine Division¡­ I''m at Divine Division¡­ I''m finally at Divine Division!"


    It began to weep.


    Tang Jie understood what it was thinking. "Congrattions on regaining your divinity. Fortunately, you were once a Divine Division great fiend and had already had a basis on which to condense your Divine Soul, which is why the Immortal energy was able to give you that final push. Anyone else would never be able to ascend in such chaotic circumstances. Many things are much easier once you''re doing them the second time around, as you have both the knowledge and the feeling."


    Saying this, Tang Jie suddenly felt an idea flit through his mind, but he couldn''t quite grasp what it was, leaving him baffled.


    Tutu gradually calmed down.


    It had once thought that there was no hope of it returning to Divine Division, yet here it was, breaking through after a series of strange circumstances. After celebrating, it prostrated to Tang Jie. "Master, it''s all thanks to you that Tutu was able to get this far."


    Tang Jie replied, "You''re a Divine Division great fiend now, so you don''t need to prostrate to me anymore. In addition, we should change that name of yours. Instead of Tutu¡­ your name will be Shen Tu."


    Tutu said in delight, "Master, thank you for this name!"


    It turned into a gust of wind, whooshing here and there, even moving a little faster than its frantic pace from before.


    Its race, the Heaven-Lost Rabbit Race, had always been famed for its speed, and they had even been able to cross the void. Now that it had returned to Divine Division, even though it had yet to reach the peak, its speed had been given a great boost, and not even Tang Jie was able to keep up. Xu Miaoran was able to keep up if she used Limitless, but as her Space Dao power was limited, she would lose out on long journeys.


    Seeing this, Xu Miaoran happily said, "Now that Tutu has broken into Divine Division, even if itsbat power is still mediocre, its speed is without parallel. It seems like even an Earth Immortal might not be able to catch it, so you could consider it another means of saving your life. Husband, why not give some of the remaining Immortal energy to Yiyi and see if she can break through too?"


    Tang Jie had brought Yiyi to give her more opportunities, yet here, he shook his head. "The threshold of Divine Division isn''t something so easily crossed. Tutu was able to do it mostly because it had been there before, so it didn''t have to deal with a lot of the usual problems. Even then, it risked dying frombustion. Yiyi doesn''t have the same conditions. If she absorbs too little, she won''t have enough of a boost to go all the way, and if she takes too much, her death will be certain."


    Xu Miaoran felt like this was a great pity. "Then you should use it, my dear husband."


    Tang Jie nodded. "This Immortal energy is highly concentrated, so if I were to absorb it, I could go all the way to the peak of Deification, perhaps even use the opportunity to break into Soul Projection."


    Xu Miaoran was delighted to hear this. If Tang Jie entered Soul Projection, they would be even safer as they made their way through the court.


    Tang Jie hadn''t done this earlier because he needed to wait for Tutu to wake up. Now that Tutu was awake and fine, Tang Jie looked for a quiet ce to sit down so that he could absorb the energy and make the charge to Soul Projection.


    To be honest, this was extremely risky.


    The Court of Myriad Domains was full of danger, and if he attempted to reach Soul Projection here, he might encounter some cultivator harboring wicked motives.


    But now that Tutu had reached Divine Division, Tang Jie''s ability to escape received a huge boost, and he gained a little hope.


    Tang Jie went and found a mountain.


    This mountain was rich in spiritual energy, and it also had a valley which was the local nexus of spiritual energy, making it a natural ce to cultivate. s, the passage into the valley had been severed by rocks, turning it into a prison that sealed in the energy within.


    But for Tang Jie, who was looking to make a breakthrough in private, this sealing effect was exactly what he wanted. He even saw a cave situated within a slope, which was a perfect ce for observing the surroundingnd and absorbing the Immortal energy.


    Such an exquisite location seemed more artificial than natural. This made it only more necessary for Tang Jie to advance in this ce, to see if there was any opportunity lying in wait.


    He set up an illusion formation to conceal the entrance of this nameless small cave and obscure any signs of his breakthrough, and then he had Xu Miaoran and the puppet stand guard. Only then did he begin to absorb the Imperial Sky Stamp''s Immortal energy.


    Immortal energy surged into Tang Jie''s body, and he guided this energy through every point in his body, baptizing every part of himself in its power.


    This was the difference between Immortal Essence and ordinary Immortal energy. Even though they were made of the same substance, they manifested in different ways, regr Immortal energy being far more flexible.


    When this energy entered Tang Jie''s Violet Pce, it mixed with his Divine Soul, washing over it again and again. The Divine Soul howled, trembling and groaning in pain.


    This was a necessary part of the Divine Soul''s evolution.


    Infant Tending was condensing the Divine Soul into a Primal Infant, and Deification was granting the Primal Infant all the characteristics of a human. Soul Projectionpleted the Divine Soul, allowing it to leave its shell¡ªnot the body, but the Violet Pce. In other words, the Divine Soul would no longer need the protection of the Violet Pce and could fly freely through the world while exhibiting all manner of powerful abilities.


    But thispletion required the Divine Soul to be washed over again and again byrge quantities of energy, and there was a certain risk of annihtion. While the danger was much less than what was present at the Violet Pce threshold, it still couldn''t be underestimated.


    Tang Jie was unafraid. He had made steady progress in these years, ensuring that his foundations were solid, so one could say that any moment he picked to ascend was the right moment. Besides that, he had taken the Nine Heavens Luan Grass, which boosted his chances at all levels.


    In addition to that were all the Mustard Seed Bags Xu Miaoran had stolen. These had all formerly belonged to Violet Pce cultivators, and medicines that such people brought along all generally had some effect on the Divine Soul, which meant that Tang Jie could use them. While there weren''t too many, they were all quite valuable. Some of them were even medicines that could assist in the charge at Soul Projection. Now that they were Tang Jie''s, he was naturally the one who would end up benefiting from them.


    Finally, not only did he have this Immortal energy as a huge source of energy, the Court of Myriad Domains was also rich in spiritual energy, which made the environment optimal for ascending. All of these factors had led to Tang Jie''s sudden decision.


    To put it simply, any remaining danger in breaking through here wouldn''te from oneself, but from external factors.


    Xu Miaoran stood guard at the cave entrance, warily observing the surroundings and asionally looking back at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie''s aura was growing stronger and stronger, which was a sign of his ever-increasing cultivation, and once he reached the peak of Deification, he could use the excess Immortal energy to break into Soul Projection.


    Xu Miaoran was deeply concerned about his safety, so much so that she sometimes even hoped that there wasn''t enough Immortal energy to push Tang Jie to the peak. But after some thought, she also felt like it would be terrible to miss out on such a good opportunity, and she wavered between the two options.


    She could only watch Tang Jie and hope that the heavens were looking out for them so that no trouble came their way.


    But s¡­


    Xu Miaoran spotted a group of cultivators in the distance.


    Xu Miaoran nervously watched them, hoping that they would fly past rather than stop.


    But to her surprise, these peoplended in the valley.


    Xu Miaoran then saw that these were none other than the cultivators of the Jadestone Alliance, led by Reverend Whitestone!


    Why had theye here?


    In the middle of her shock and surprise, that group began to walk over.


    Reverend Whitestone led the way, saying, "Everyone, look here. This is a secret entrance to the Violet Firmament Pce. The Court of Myriad Domains has many traps and formations, and after the shattering, many of the formations activated, causing many of those divine pces to be hidden within them. These pces within the formations are the real treasure grounds. As for those exposed outside, they were mostly the residences of guards and servants, holding little value."


    Xu Miaoran heard some sourness in his tone, and she wondered why he considered all the things outside to be worthless. But then she realized that Reverend Whitestone was still dejected over having found nothing in the illusion formation and was saying such things tofort himself.


    She found the thought rather amusing, but she also couldn''t help but be concerned over the fact that the ce they had chosen for Tang Jie to break through was located near Reverend Whitestone''s so-called secret entrance.


    Fortunately, the cave entrance was concealed by a formation, and Reverend Whitestone remained unaware that Tang Jie was here. He pointed at a nearby mountain wall and said that the entrance was there and one only needed to undo the formation concealing it.


    The Jadestone Alliance had prepared a formation expert. Tang Jie had been counted as one, but as nobody had known how powerful he really was or how knowledgeable he was in formations, they hadn''t truly ced their hopes on him. Thus, when he seemed to be lost in the formation, nobody waited for him. The Jadestone Alliance had brought a true formation master with them, one that Reverend Whitestone had personally invited so that he could open the formation over the entrance.


    This cultivator, who bore the name "Truth Embracer", came forward and began to draw lines on the mountain wall in preparation to break the formation.

 Chapter 858: Soul Projection

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Formation lines rippled out from the mountain wall, spreading throughout the valley.


    Truth Embracer lived up to the fame that had caused Reverend Whitestone to recruit him. Under his hand, the formation hidden in the wall began to reveal itself.


    As the formation emerged, the entire valley began to light up, the ring of light reaching all the way to the cave where Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran were located. This meant that this cave was actually covered by that concealment formation.


    It was no wonder Tang Jie had found this ce ideal for breaking through and thought that there might be some hidden opportunity within, because Reverend Whitestone had already found this ce before!


    The light struck Tang Jie''s illusion formation, producing a rainbow burst of colors from the cave entrance.


    "Eh?" Truth Embracer let out a cry of surprise. "There was another small formation hidden within, stopping me from breaking therger formation."


    He didn''t know that Tang Jie had set this one up, taking it as having been there the whole time.


    Reverend Whitestone hastily asked, "Can you break this formation?"


    Truth Embracer proudlyughed. "A trifle. I can break it in a snap."


    He threw out several calcting rods, which radiated a divine light as they fell on the formation, upon which the formation swiftly began to crumble.


    Xu Miaoran panicked.


    If this continued, the formation would break and Tang Jie would be exposed, and nobody knew what the consequences of that would be. Although Tang Jie had saved many of the people here, the hearts of men were impossible to predict, and some of them might choose to forget his kindness. And there was also thepletely untrustworthy Reverend Whitestone.


    Suddenly, she remembered something and searched through Tang Jie''s Mustard Seed Bags for several items: the five Eight Gates Banners.


    Xu Miaoran had been with Tang Jie for many years, and some of his knowledge of formations had rubbed off on her. Holding the five banners, she calcted the source of that ring of light and thrust a banner into the ground in the corresponding direction.


    It was the Stop Gate Banner.


    The Stop Gate controlled variation, so it was best for responding to a situation.


    The Stop Banner was thrust into the Xun position (southeast), and Xu Miaoran swiftly formed eighteen hand signs, summoning lightning. A rumbling came from above, and a giant bolt of lightning cleaved down from the heavens.


    Truth Embracer was started by this sudden development. Fortunately, Reverend Whitestone blocked the lightning with a simple wave of his sleeve. It seemed like this attack had had more bark than bite.


    Even so, Truth Embracer was rmed enough that he no longer dared to act recklessly.


    This was the Court of Myriad Domains, and the traps here had killed countless Violet Pce experts. Although that attack just now had been rather weak, this might have only been a warning left behind by the Violet Lightning Star Lord. If anyone dared to recklessly venture in deeper, they might trigger an even greater danger.


    His caution meant that he slowed down on breaking the formation, always testing first before deciding on his moves.


    Reverend Whitestone viewed this all with impatience, but there was nothing he could do.


    He had found this ce on hisst visit to the court, and at the time, he had gone in after confirming that there were no dangers, so there shouldn''t have been any now. But he was no formation expert, so he couldn''t say anything for sure. After all, the court''s formation only weakened once every one thousand years, so why couldn''t the defensive formation of the Unbounded Pce also change?


    Yes, the secret passage behind this wall didn''t lead to the Violet Firmament Pce, but the Unbounded Pce.


    However, Reverend Whitestone had other ns, so he had kept this fact a secret.


    Although Truth Embracer''s formation-breaking speed had slowed down, the formation was inexorably being undone.


    Since the Stop Gate Banner could not maintain the formation, Xu Miaoran added in the Death Gate, Injury Gate, rm Gate, and View Gate Banners in swift session, and the skies over the mountain valley became turbulent.


    Truth Embracer was also growing anxious.


    He hadn''t expected that opening a single mountain passage would take so much time. Hardening his resolve, he began to remove supplies from his Mustard Seed Bag and set up arge formation. Spiritual energy gathered within the formation, turning into a raging torrent that mmed into the mountain formation. Light erupted through the valley¡ªa light that made Xu Miaoran despair.


    In the middle of her panic, Tang Jie suddenly grunted and pointed a finger.


    A ray of spiritual light struck the ground in front of Xu Miaoran.


    Startled, Xu Miaoran watched as the light from the five banners merged together, creating a smallke.


    Truth Embracer''s formation power surged into this smallke, and from there, it flowed into Tang Jie like a surging silver river.


    Xu Miaoran was confused at first, but then she realized with glee that Tang Jie was using his opponent''s energy to recharge himself.


    Tang Jie said, "Help me maintain it!"


    When attempting to reach Soul Projection, he discovered that he had been too simpleminded. Whencking sufficient preparations, even with his solid foundations and dense Immortal energy, he still faced many difficulties in reaching Soul Projection.


    He had noticed theing of the Jadestone Alliance, and he had been rather worried about it, but to his surprise, Xu Miaoran had somehow managed to get into a formation battle with Truth Embracer. She naturally didn''t have the skills to fight with Truth Embracer for long. However, the fight had caused Truth Embracer to put even more power into breaking the formation, drawing in spiritual energy from the surrounding area, through which Tang Jie saw an opportunity. He immediately used the five banners as a node to draw all that energy to him, using Truth Embracer''s power to ascend to Soul Projection!


    Poor Truth Embracer waspletely unaware of this. When he saw that spiritual energy rushing in, he thought that the work was almost done and the formation was about to open, so he poured in even more power.


    But all of this power vanished like a y doll thrown into the sea, drawing no response.


    Shocked, Truth Embracer shouted, "Brothers, please lend me a hand."


    Several cultivators came forward and began to send energy in the direction Truth Embracer indicated.


    At this point, Tang Jie had essentially connected himself to the Unbounded Pce''s defensive formation, taking its ce in enduring the formation-breaking attempts, using that pressure to temper his Divine Soul.


    His Divine Soul evolved more and more as the waves of energy washed over it, and that infant with indistinct features gradually turned into an exact copy of Tang Jie, an elegant and majestic Immortal.


    For a normal breakthrough, this level of growth for the Divine Soul was enough, but Tang Jie''s Divine Soul seemed unsatisfied. Shaking its head, it said, "Still not enough. A little more."


    It opened its mouth and began to suck in that torrent of spiritual energy. Its body became more and more realized, mystical Dao Runes appearing on its body that exuded such vast and profound energy that they were difficult to look at directly.


    These Dao Runes were the condensed understanding of the Daos Tang Jie hadprehended and entered. They formed a sphere of mottled light around the Divine Soul, each different shade of light representing a different Dao.


    The Divine Soul was unconcerned, and with a wave of its hand, it began to rise, slowly emerging from the top of Tang Jie''s head.


    Floating in the air, it gazed indifferently into the distance.


    Meanwhile, Truth Embracer was terrified.


    For some reason, this formation in front of him had devoured all their energy in a most tyrannical fashion. He had even sensed for a moment his own True Essence being affected, his cultivation level dropping by a little. He lost all courage and could only look to Reverend Whitestone, pleading, "Reverend, please assist me."


    Reverend Whitestone had also realized that something was wrong. There was some sort of mysterious power in these mountains that was draining away all the power being used against the formation.


    He thrust his hand at Truth Embracer''s formation, sending in a flood of Immortal energy.


    He wanted to see if this defensive formation could also absorb his Immortal energy.


    In the cave, the eyes of Tang Jie''s Divine Soul gleamed in excitement, and it faintly smiled. "That''s the stuff."


    Opening its mouth, it sucked up the Immortal energy as well, and it grew stronger and stronger. Finally, when it was the size of the adult Tang Jie, it stepped forward.


    This was no avatar, but Tang Jie''s Divine Soul, nowpletely independent, no longer needing the Violet Pce''s protection.


    The Divine Soul was the purest form of one''s will, but through the nourishment of the world''s spiritual energy, it matured and grew, bing a God, bing an Immortal.


    Tang Jie''s Divine Soul had just finished this process. His Divine Soul had finally transcended the limits of the soul and entered the realm of the gods.


    The soul had be a God, and the body had be Immortal, thus were they called God Immortals!


    And the moment the Divine Soul broke free of the body, Tang Jie had sessfully entered Soul Projection.


    Xu Miaoran said in delight, "Tang Jie, you''ve finally seeded!"


    She was just about to hug the Divine Soul when the soul opened its eyes and began to exude a boundless pressure.


    This pressure made one want to drop to their knees, those shining golden eyes seeming to be those of a true God that towered over the world.


    This was the aura of a God!


    Xu Miaoran had seen the Divine Souls of Soul Projection cultivators before, but none of them had ever been this strong, and she was momentarily dumbfounded.


    Gradually, the Divine Soul''s holy aura faded, and it returned to its normal self.


    The Divine Soul walked back into Tang Jie''s body, but before it did, it looked back at Xu Miaoran.


    It was a cool and indifferent nce, the look one would give a stranger, and it made Xu Miaoran shiver.


    And then everything returned to normal.


    Tang Jie opened his eyes and let out a long breath, after which heughed. "Who would have thought that Reverend Whitestone would help me reach Soul Projection? If I didn''t devour thatst bit of Immortal energy from him, I wouldn''t have been able to seed this easily. Now I''ve got the Immortal energy from both the Wailing Baby and Whitestone, so even though I''ve just reached Soul Projection, my foundations are solid, and I already have the Immortal Essence in my body, so Earth Immortal isn''t too far off."


    "Husband, are you okay?" Xu Miaoran asked, grabbing his hand.


    "Silly, how could anything happen to me?" Tang Jie smiled.


    Xu Miaoran sighed in relief when she saw the loving expression on Tang Jie''s face, with none of that coldness from before.


    Hugging Tang Jie around the neck, she softly said, "That''s good¡­ so long as you''re fine."


    She fell into Tang Jie''sp, and Tang Jie gently stroked her face.

 Chapter 859: Devouring

    Chapter 859: Devouring


    Reverend Whitestone''s surge of Immortal energy had also disappeared, and not only that, he had felt his energy reserve being pulled on. In shock, he grew even more suspicious of this formation.


    But in the middle of his confusion, the mountain wall began to rumble, and then the passage opened.


    After a moment of silence, everyone cheered, "All hail the reverend!"


    Truth Embracer wiped the sweat from his forehead, as the effort to break the formation had been very taxing. Although he still found it strange, given that there should have been no effect from their actions just now, since the formation had opened, he decided to not make more trouble for himself and keep quiet.


    The group began to enter the passage.


    The passage soon opened up.


    Before them was a pond, nked by mountains on either side. Only by traversing the winding corridor installed over the pond could they get to the other side. While they were all cultivators, they also understood that it was best not to casually fly about in the court. Since there was a bridge over this pond, taking it across was the best option so that they didn''t trigger any traps.


    Sure enough, Reverend Whitestone said, "Everyone, be careful. Don''t fly over the Ice Pond, or else you''ll trigger a formation. If you fall into the pond, you''ll be frozen into a block of ice for all of time."


    There were numerous statues in the pond, of both humans and fiends, all of them extremely life-like.After listening to Whitestone''s exnation, everyone realized that these statues were those who hade before them and been knocked into the pond. Fear was instilled into their minds, and they all stared silently at Reverend Whitestone, afraid to advance.


    Reverend Whitestone knew what they were thinking and chuckled. "Ah well, this old man will go first, then."


    He stepped onto the winding corridor.


    Everyone felt ashamed after seeing him being so "magnanimous", so they followed Reverend Whitestone onto the corridor.


    Not long after they had gone through, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran appeared.


    Tang Jie stood in front of the pond and silently observed it.


    "Husband, is there a problem with this ce?"


    Tang Jie replied, "There really is a flight restriction formation here that will knock down anyone attempting flight. As for the pond, based on the appearance of those statues, it doesn''t seem like Whitestone was lying. But this ce definitely isn''t the Violet Firmament Pce. My memories are telling me that this is a part of the Unbounded Pce. I don''t believe that someone who points at a deer and calls it a horse isn''t up to something. He''s being so magnanimous right now probably because he has yet to begin his plot. The real trap should be in the back."


    Xu Miaoran happily said, "Then let''s follow."


    Tang Jie shook his head. "Earth Immortals aren''t existences we can casually mess with. If not for the formation here interfering with energy signals, we would have been exposed long ago. With so many unknown factors, if we go in right now, we could easily be discovered."


    "Then are we just going to wait?"


    "Of course not."


    After some thought, Tang Jie sat down and began to activate his Fate power.


    He intended to use the Web of Fate to spy on Reverend Whitestone.


    But what he saw left him bbergasted.


    Tang Jie found that the Web of Fate in the Unbounded Pce had been cut up, leaving only a few connections. This had practically severed the ce from the Ster Chiliocosm''s Web of Fate, creating a semi-independent one.


    Tang Jie was stunned by this discovery. This definitely wasn''t natural. Some Titan in the Dao of Fate must have personally severed the Fate here.


    But who could have done this?


    Even Tang Jie, with his current profound understanding of Fate, couldn''t sever Fate.


    Just who had done this? And why had they done this?


    Tang Jie didn''t understand, but as he observed this isted Web of Fate, he found it to be a different color from the main Web of Fate. It was gray and gloomy, like a nt deprived of water that had withered away over the ages.


    And there were basically no points of light on this Web of Fate. This was normal. After all, it had been ten thousand years, so nothing could be living within the Unbounded Pce. What remained were ghosts and puppets, but these manifested differently on the Web of Fate.


    But in the center of this drab web, Tang Jie saw a different kind of light.


    It was a Fate light burning fiercely with vitality, sitting in the center of the web like a spider.


    Tang Jie was stunned by such a vigorous Fate light.


    What shocked him most of all was that the Fate lights of all the members of the Jadestone Alliance had begun to dim and flow toward that shining green beacon in the center.


    It was devouring their Fates!


    Tang Jie almost yelled.


    Although he didn''t know what the purpose of this was, he swiftly realized the enormity of the danger he faced.


    Without hesitation, Tang Jie broke his trance, grabbed Xu Miaoran, and shouted, "Let''s go!"


    He turned and left.


    He fled without stopping, trying to get out of the Unbounded Pce as quickly as possible.


    Xu Miaoran was perplexed, having never seen Tang Jie in such a panicked state before.


    A while after the two had fled, a vast will swept through the area. After finding nothing, it howled in anger.


    This was not a physical sound, but a mental one, a roar of fury that only the Divine Soul could hear. It didn''t shake the heavens, but it reached all the way into the soul and made it shudder.


    At that moment, everyone who had entered suddenly felt like they were in great danger.


    The cultivators of the Jadestone Alliance were all old hands who had been wandering for many years, so the moment they got this sensation, they sensed that there was some grave danger lurking in the depths of the pce and immediately began to retreat.


    But it was already toote.


    Dark clouds gathered in the air, and a mountain-sized figure emerged, radiating an ancient aura that left everyone shaking in fear.


    With a mighty roar, the clouds swirled into a massive vortex, and a giant hand reached out from the center of the vortex, grabbing at the cultivators.


    One cultivator tried to strike back, but all counterattacks seemed futile against this ck hand. He was seized by the hand and pulled, screaming, into the vortex.


    In shock, the cultivators tried to join together, but that will was so mighty that even all these Violet Pce experts couldn''t resist. One by one, they were sucked into the vortex.


    With each additional person sucked in, the dark figure grew more solid and more powerful.


    Only one person was unmoved: Reverend Whitestone. He stood there with his hands at his sides, but that ck energy ignored him and only attacked the other cultivators.


    Seeing this, Kun Wu realized that he had fallen for Reverend Whitestone''s trap. "Whitestone, you scoundrel! You colluded with a fiend in the pce to kill us all!"


    Reverend Whitestone chuckled. "''A fiend''? Ignorant fool, you should consider it an honor to offer up your lives to assist the Immortal Elder in his return."


    <em>''The Immortal Elder''?</em>


    Kun Wu turned his head in shock and saw a blurry figure in that darkness, a figure wearing a Daoist robe. Simply by standing there, he exuded a stunning divinity.


    "Unbounded¡­ Immortal¡­ Elder¡­" Kun Wu spat out.


    He finally realized what was waiting for him.


    The dark energy receded, the vortex having finally absorbed all the cultivators. The person in the air seemed more solid, exuding a transcendent aura rather than the dark wickedness from before.


    Reverend Whitestone prostrated and said, "Whitestone pays respects to the Immortal Elder. Were the offerings brought this time sufficient?"


    The man examined himself and grunted, "Still a littlecking. Two managed to escape, and that little bit would have been enough to break free and recover my true body."


    "''Two escaped''?" Reverend Whitestone was confused.


    "It''s fine." The man casually waved his hand. "If they''re gone, they''re gone. After all, I have you to make up the number."


    <em>What?</em>


    Reverend Whitestone hastily retreated in rm. "Immortal Elder, how could you go back on your word? You said that if I helped you break free, you would take me as your disciple. You swore an oath on the Heavenly Dao¡­"


    The manughed. "This one swore an oath on the Heavenly Dao, but that oath was for the Unbounded Immortal Elder. What does it have to do with me? Besides, when has this one ever feared the Heavenly Dao?"


    The man suddenly began to exuderge quantities of violet fog.


    "What?" Reverend Whitestone seemed to have been struck by lightning, and when he saw the violet fog, he finally understood. "You''re not the Unbounded Immortal Elder? You''re a demon!"


    "Just because I''m in the Unbounded Pce doesn''t mean that I''m Old Unbounded," the man said in disdain. "I just fell for that old man''s trap, which destroyed my body and imprisoned my soul here. But thanks to you deceiving so many cultivators here so I could absorb their energy, I finally have a chance at recovery. As thanks, I''ll take all of your Immortal energy and use it to reforge my divine body."


    The ck vortex reemerged, pulling on Reverend Whitestone.


    Whitestone was filled with remorse. When he had first inadvertentlye across this ce, all the other cultivators who hade with him had been devoured, but then this person had deceived him into thinking that he was the Unbounded Immortal Elder, and that the disaster had left him imprisoned here without a physical body. The man had told him that he needed the blood and energy of numerous cultivators to recreate his body, and he had promised Reverend Whitestone that if he brought enough cultivators the next time the court opened and helped him break free, he would take Whitestone as his disciple.


    The Unbounded Immortal Elder was one of the Four Sages of the court, a Boundless Gold Immortal, so being his disciple was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Besides, that person had sworn an oath on the Heavenly Dao, which convinced Reverend Whitestone that the man had been telling the truth. Thus, he had brought all these cultivators to be devoured.


    But in the end, he failed to escape the fate of being devoured himself, and the vortex finally devoured him. That man seemed to have eaten too much, letting out a burp and standing still for a while. Patting his stomach, he said, "Ah, I''m still too weak. It took me forever to digest all that."


    With this sigh, the blurry features finally became distinct.


    This was a handsome and refined schr. With a wave of his hand, he drew the demonic energy back into his body. He examined himself, and once he confirmed that this was apletely physical body, heughed. "I finally have a body. Mm, even though it''s only at Earth Immortal, it''s good enough to use. As for that man and woman who escaped, I don''t care about the woman, but that man seemed rather familiar. Suspicious, suspicious!"


    Waving his sleeve, he strode out of the pce.

 Chapter 860: The Wall of Dao Comprehension

    Chapter 860: The Wall of Dao Comprehension


    Seated upon Tutu, Tang Jie flew as fast as he could, and only after flying for a long distance and confirming that no one was giving chase did he stop.


    Wiping his sweat, he said, "That was close!"


    Xu Miaoran was startled by his reaction. "Was that some kind of Void Returning fiend?"


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. "If it were on the level of an Earth Immortal, I wouldn''t have been afraid."


    Tang Jie was already at Soul Projection, and he was also a body cultivator, so if he ran into an Earth Immortal, even if he couldn''t win, he could at least hold out for a while. He would no longer be so helpless like he was in his first encounter with Ye Yun, and with Tutu''s speed, he had an even better chance of escaping.


    Xu Miaoran slightly paled. "Was it a True Immortal?"


    "Perhaps even stronger," Tang Jie answered.


    Xu Miaoran almost fainted.


    In other words, a Boundless Gold Immortal? No wonder Tang Jie ran off so quickly."Could it have been the Unbounded Immortal Elder?" Xu Miaoran asked.


    Tang Jie shook his head. "It definitely couldn''t have been him."


    Others might know, but Tang Jie had a clear understanding of what had happened that day.


    When the Martial Lord had shattered the court with his axe, the Four Sages had all been engaged inbat against him. How could the Unbounded Immortal Elder be in his pce? Moreover, while that aura had been majestic, there was something odd about it. Tang Jie vaguely sensed that this being wasn''t as strong as its aura implied and seemed to be restricted by something.


    While he didn''t know that this being had had its physical body destroyed, having only Godhood and no Immortality, he instinctively noticed a problem.


    Even if he had known, Tang Jie wouldn''t have tried to fight this being. Even a Boundless Gold Immortal with only their Divine Soul left wasn''t something he could deal with. The Divine Soul of an Infant Tending expert was just a baby, and after Immortal tform, this Divine Soul became just as strong as the original, and at Gold Immortal, it became even stronger than the original body. The original body was just a holding device. The greatest disadvantage of not having a body was that it was difficult to recover, and the second was that one had limits on one''s power.


    Having escaped, Tang Jie looked back and suddenly sighed.


    He knew that the Jadestone Alliance was probably finished.


    Since Reverend Whitestone had visited the Unbounded Pce before, he must have known that there was some terrifying existence here. That he would so proactively bring people here did not bode well.


    That Gold Immortal existence was clearly imprisoned in the Unbounded Pce, and the severing of the Web of Fate was probably rted to this. Now that people had gone in and thereby reconnected the web, its escape was only a matter of time.


    But Tang Jie wasn''t worried about this. The Vast Wilderness Continent was a ce of crouching tigers and hidden dragons, and even a Boundless Gold Immortal couldn''t do as they pleased, let alone one whose strength had been affected. In any case, if the sky was falling, somebody woulde to hold it up. Tang Jie couldn''t be bothered to think about it and went off to search for treasure.


    The Court of Myriad Domains was very big. Since the Unbounded Pce was out of the question, he would just find another ce.


    The mysterious map of the court within his mind once more proved useful, and Tang Jie pointed ahead and said, "Let''s go over there."


    "What''s over there?"


    "The residence of the Bejeweled Star Lord. This person was the best crafter of divine weapons in the Court of Myriad Domains, and his pce had numerous treasures, though I don''t know how many of them people have taken over the years."


    "Sure, sure, let''s go take a look!" Xu Miaoran excitedly said, casting aside the danger of that Gold Immortal to the back of her mind. The two set off toward the Jewel Pce, Tang Jie also taking the opportunity to warn Yun Tian''s group to not approach the Unbounded Pce, as he suspected there was a Gold Immortal there.


    Yun Tian was rmed by this news, and he immediately ordered his group to turn around and leave. Thankfully, they didn''t run into that demon.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran flew toward the Jewel Pce.


    The Jewel Pce was a highly-trafficked area of the Court of Myriad Domains. They saw quite a few cultivators flying in the same direction, and more and more powerful experts appeared as they drew closer.


    On the outer edge, they mostly encountered Deification and Soul Projection experts, but now, Tang Jie was seeing more and more Immortal tform experts.


    Tang Jie felt a lot of pressure among such Titans, and he could only advance cautiously and avoid contact with others as much as possible to avoid conflict.


    By the time he reached the Jewel Pce, he found that many cultivators had already gathered here, includingrge sects.


    It turned out that the pces of the court were not all open at once. Some had a waiting period before they opened up.


    The Jewel Pce was one of these, which was why there were so many cultivators gathered outside of it.


    The sight of several dozen Earth Immortals made Xu Miaoran''s blood run cold, and she whispered to Tang Jie, "Why don''t we go somece else?"


    "No rush," Tang Jie answered.


    The more Tang Jie saw, the moreposed he became. If there were several dozen Earth Immortals gathered here, it had to be for a reason, and he couldn''t let this opportunity pass by.


    He stood with Xu Miaoran and carefully examined the Jewel Pce.


    The Jewel Pce consisted of 72 small pces, all of them circled by an outer wall, which was what was keeping everyone out. This wall seemed simple, but it was actually the basis of a formation that covered the entire pce.


    Some impatient ones had tried to force their way through, but the formation had drawn down endless lightning that had pulverized them.


    Countless motes of light shed on the walls, twinkling like the stars and bouncing around. Many powerhouses were gathered here, observing something.


    Tang Jie went over, but a single nce at the wall left him dizzy.


    But he also understood why so many people had gathered here.


    The stars on the wall contained the secrets of some Great Dao. Through some method, someone had turned the Dao Runes into these stars and imnted them in the wall.


    This was everyone''s first time seeing the Great Dao being manifested in such physical matter, so how could they not be attracted by it?


    Thus, this wall was called the Wall of Dao Comprehension, and was considered the number one treasure of the Jewel Pce.


    s, while everyone wanted toprehend the Dao from this wall, over the years, nobody had actually done it.


    At times, a cultivator would shake their head and sigh, giving up for the time being and sitting on the side to rest.


    Tang Jie took a few nces and found the light of the stars fascinating, and he was gradually drawn to the wall, transfixed before it.


    A yellow-robed man on the side saw this and advised, "Trying toprehend this wall if you''re not strong enough will only hurt you. You could even end up damaging your soul and bing unable to advance any further, so don''t try and look too much."


    Tang Jie thanked him, but he ignored the advice and continued to stare.


    The man shook his head and sighed. "Another that doesn''t know his own strength."


    The other cultivators chuckled, clearly amused at Tang Jie''s reckless stubbornness. Didn''t he see that it was only Earth Immortals in front of this wall and that all the Violet Pce experts were keeping their distance? Since he refused to take their advice, they would soon have a show to watch.


    Tang Jie didn''t care, continuing to focus on the starlight.


    The Wall of Dao Comprehension was truly mystical, and Tang Jie felt like every point of starlight was bursting with supremews and truth. Though impossible to grasp, it was also impossible to resist their temptation.


    After watching for a while, he found his mind full of those stars. He knew that there were mysteries hidden within them, but he found it impossible to solve their secrets, leaving him vexed and annoyed. It was no wonder all those cultivators were gathered here, refusing to give up. This sort of feeling of going to a mountain of treasure anding away empty-handed was truly excruciating.


    Being caught between giving up and pressing on left them more and more frustrated.


    As the frustration over being unable to understand grew, it built up in his chest, gradually taking on a physical form and beginning to rampage in his body. As his frustration made manifest barged here and there, each collision felt like a hammer striking his heart.


    <em>Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!</em>


    This hammering grew louder and louder, heavier and heavier, as if countless Wang Juemies were pounding away at his body.


    Finally, Tang Jie reached his limit. Throwing up blood, he flew backward.


    He then realized that he was still standing in front of the Jewel Pce, but his chest was now covered in blood, meaning that he really had thrown up blood.


    Some Earth Immortals looked at him and snorted in disdain.


    The yellow-robed man from before sighed and said, "I told you not to be reckless, but you refused to listen. Only those of Immortal tform can view this wall. The more you try to force it, the more serious your injuries will be. Seeing your injuries, it seems that you pushed yourself very hard indeed. Go to the side and rest. Once the Jewel Pce opens, we can look at it from the inside."


    It was hard to find such a kind-hearted cultivator in the Court of Myriad Domains. Tang Jie stood up and bowed. "Senior, thank you for your advice. This one knows his wrongs. But I''m fine and can continue."


    The yellow-robed man gave him a profound look. "As you wish."


    Tang Jie continued to gaze at the Wall of Dao Comprehension, but he was careful this time, adjusting his mindset before continuing his attempt.


    He couldn''t help but wonder, given his cultivation, how he could have so easily been moved to anger and frustration. Why could gazing at this wall cause his frustration to manifest into physical form and injure him?


    Was it some trick of the wall itself?


    Tang Jie felt like this conclusion was probably correct. The Wall of Dao Comprehension was most likely able to magnify one''s mental ws, causing their emotions to grow out of control.


    With this thought in mind, he looked at the others and found that those Earth Immortals were all grimacing. It was clear that these Immortal tform Titans also had a tough time dealing with this wall''s challenges. But their Divine Souls were strong enough to better resist the negative effects, so they were able tost for longer. They also had a lot more experience with the wall, so when they found themselves reaching their limit, they immediately stopped, allowing them to avoid the serious injuries Tang Jie had suffered.


    It was no wonder nobody had ever seeded inprehending this wall. Solving it required first understanding its trick.


    Now that he understood this principle, Tang Jie calmly began to observe the wall. Instead of trying to solve its secrets, he tried to understand how the wall worked.

 Chapter 861: Dao Formation

    Chapter 861: Dao Formation


    While the Dao Runes of the Wall of Dao Comprehension wereplex and abstruse, if one didn''t directly observe those stars and instead viewed things from a higher level, one would find that the movements of the stars were in tune with some heavenly principle.


    With his experience, Tang Jie quickly discovered that the Dao Rune stars were actually in a formation.


    A formation created from a Dao!


    Tang Jie''s mind was blown away by this revtion.


    This was a formation that used Dao Runes as its foundation. If his guess was right, then this was the Jewel Pce''s defensive formation. It was no wonder even Immortal tform experts couldn''t break through it!


    Within the formation, the stars operated in a unique fashion, and they seemed toplement each other in ways that Tang Jie could notprehend. Solving the secret of the stars was impossible for Tang Jie''s current level.


    But he was somewhat confident in breaking down the structure of the formation.


    Turning his attention away from the stars themselves, he began to focus on how they moved, and he immediately felt a change. While their movements remainedplex and difficult to understand, at least with his understanding of formations, he had some basis to work from.


    The traces left behind by those stars as they leapt around the wall became intersecting formation lines.Tang Jie pushed his Wisdom Dao to the limit, rapidly calcting those paths of lights, and the formation began to appear in his mind.


    This formation was far moreplicated than he had initially surmised, and even with his Dao of Wisdom, even drawing out the entire formation was a tough task, let alone dissecting and analyzing it.


    The formation itself was a supreme Immortal formation!


    This was the conclusion Tang Jie had reached.


    He had already thought of countless ways toy out this formation with regr materials.


    Everyone else was trying toprehend the Dao Runes on the wall, with Tang Jie alone tirelessly trying toprehend the formation that they formed.


    In truth, no small number of Immortal tform formation masters had also noticed this formation, but in the end, they had all been more tempted by the Dao Runes themselves.


    This was the Wall of Dao Comprehension, after all. What were they here for if not toprehend the Dao?


    Tang Jie was an exception, for he had little interest in other Daos.


    This was because he had alreadyprehended the Twelve Great Daos and already had his own path to walk. The Daos of others could only serve as reference and were much less valuable to him. But he was the only one in the world who had actuallyprehended the Twelve Great Daos, so the temptation of the Dao on the wall had always proved stronger than the formation. Besides, not many Immortal tform cultivators understood formations.


    For this reason, in the previous openings, nobody had diligently researched the formation as Tang Jie had, and if they did attempt it, they didn''t have the backing of the Dao of Wisdom.


    Still, Tang Jie ended up using three days on this effort.


    Tang Jie neither slept nor ate, focusing entirely on the wall.


    The other cultivators shook their heads at this boy''s recklessness.


    The Wall of Dao Comprehension seemed simple, but it had a powerful influence on the mind, making one impatient and irascible. For Tang Jie to be staring at it for three days meant that once he broke out of the meditative state, he would suffer severe mental damage, perhaps ruining his entire future.


    The yellow-robed man said, "What a pity that he''s so stubborn! My girl, persuade your husband out of this. If this goes on, he will die here."


    Xu Miaoran simply smiled. "I trust my husband. If he dares to look, then everything will be fine."


    The yellow-robed man had actually tried to convince Xu Miaoran multiple times to wake Tang Jie up, but Xu Miaoran hadplete faith in Tang Jie. She knew that Tang Jie was at a critical moment, and awakening him now would ruin everything. Thus, she stood guard at her husband''s side, preventing anyone from getting close.


    This was perhaps another reason that other Immortal tform experts had failed toprehend the formation. There were few women like Xu Miaoran.


    Three dayster, Tang Jie finally opened his eyes, letting out a long breath.


    "Husband, you''re awake?" Xu Miaoran happily asked.


    Tang Jie smiled and pulled Xu Miaoran over. "I put you through a lot over these past few days."


    Xu Miaoran replied, "I didn''t do anything, but you spent all this time studying the wall. Did youprehend anything?"


    Tang Jie nodded. "I had a rich harvest."


    "Pfft!" Laughter came from nearby.


    He turned and saw an elegant young master standing there. Despite his youthful appearance, he was already at Soul Projection, like Tang Jie. Holding a folding fan, he fanned himself a few times before saying,


    "The Wall of Dao Comprehension is an enigmatic ce from High Antiquity, and countless Titans have failed to solve its secrets, spending several dozen days contemting it to no avail. Yet you, a Soul Projection cultivator, dare to im a rich harvest? Have you no shame!?"


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "We''re both at Soul Projection, so there''s no need to nder me so quickly. It''s not your ce to say if I''ve gotten anything or not."


    "Hmph!" The young master closed his fan and red at Tang Jie. "You can talk big enough! Since you say you''ve gotten a rich harvest, then let me ask you: what Dao are the runes on the wall from?"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "I don''t know."


    "Haha!" The young master threw his head back andughed. "You don''t even know what Dao the Dao Runes on the wall belong to, and you dare to im some big harvest? Absurd! Ridiculous!"


    Tang Jie ignored him, instead looking toward the Jewel Pce and doing some silent calctions. He then said to Xu Miaoran, "In a little while, the Jewel Pce will open. Let''s go and wait on the side."


    This time, a whole group of people inwardlyughed. <em>What skill does this kid have, that he can predict the opening time of the Jewel Pce?</em> they thought to themselves in disdain.


    But a few momentster, the gates of the Jewel Pce really did rumble open, the energy surrounding the walls beginning to recede.


    In delight, everyone flew into the Jewel Pce, with only that yellow-robed man thoughtfully ncing at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie could have gotten just lucky, given how vague "a little while" was and how long they had already waited for the Jewel Pce to open, but the yellow-robed man sensed that Tang Jie probably hadn''t just made a random guess, that he might really have seen through how the pce operated.


    While the Jewel Pce was now open, it was full of traps and dangers. Knowing of them beforehand could allow one to turn disaster into fortune, increasing one''s chances at getting treasure. But in the end, he wasn''t acquainted with Tang Jie, so after some thought, he headed in alone.


    The ones who went in first were all Earth Immortals.


    The strong relied on their strength to rush in first and snatch up the treasure while the weak could only clear out the perimeter. The Court of Myriad Domains had been here for ten thousand years, and a set of rules had been developed long ago.


    Tang Jie patiently waited for everyone else to go in before finally entering with Xu Miaoran.


    Upon entering the pce, they found themselves surrounded by opulent buildings, pavilions, and fountains.


    Xu Miaoran spotted a pretty little building that no one was going into and wanted to take a look inside, but Tang Jie pulled her back. "Don''t. That''s a death trap."


    Xu Miaoran was startled. At this moment, a cultivator who had circled back around also spotted this building. Noticing that Xu Miaoran wanted to go in, he hastened inside first. As Xu Miaoran was sighing, the small building suddenly turned into a pagoda that erupted with mes to burn the cultivator alive.


    The cultivator in the pagoda tried to resist, but gradually, he fell to the mes and began to scream.


    Xu Miaoran turned to Tang Jie in rm and found him calmly watching. Earlier, he had wanted to get away, but now, he was in no rush to leave.


    A few momentster, the cultivator''s screams died away, as did he.


    At this moment, Tang Jie rushed into the pagoda, pping its walls eighty times, each strike aimed at a specific part of the pagoda. The pagoda didn''t attempt to resist, and with every strike, the pagoda shrank a little, until it was finally only a foot tall, small enough to sit on one''s palm.


    Tang Jie grabbed the pagoda andughed. "We got a fine treasure here. The Divine Fire Pagoda is a divine treasure that allows for the storage and usage of all exotic mes, a fine tool of the Fire Dao. Wonderful, wonderful. I have a ce to put the Deicide me now."


    He blew at the tower, and the Deicide me flitted into it.


    The Deicide me could burn away all things, and while Tang Jie owned it, he had never been able to subdue it, always finding it a struggle to use. Thus, he rarely used it in battle. Now that he had the Divine Fire Pagoda, he finally had a way of controlling the Deicide me.


    As he put away the pagoda, he saw the surprise on Xu Miaoran''s face and smiled. "This Jewel Pce is a huge formation, and all the treasures have actually been turned into formation eyes to support the formation, creating various lethal traps. If you show the slightest neglect, you could easily end up dead. But on the other hand, if you can break the formation eye, you can take the treasure. That guy just now triggered the formation with his body, which was why he was burned to nothing. But this gave me the opportunity, or else even with my understanding of the formation''s operations, I still wouldn''t have been able to undo it."


    "So what you wereprehending from the Wall of Dao Comprehension was the Jewel Pce''s formation."


    "Indeed. This is a Great Dao formation, each formation eye using a valuable treasure as its foundation, Dao Arts as the formation lines. Those stars on the wall actually represent formation eyes. They were showing the formation from the very start. Only someone who understands formations can take the treasures, with no other way to do it."


    The biggest difference between the Jewel Pce and other locations was that all the treasures were merged with the formation. At other ces, one could push through dangers to take the treasure, but here, there was no going around it. Only breaking the formation would give one ess. And every formation eye was independent, so breaking one would not affect the rest of the formation.


    Xu Miaoran gasped. "No wonder the Jewel Pce still has so many treasures despite the court being entered so many times. I didn''t think it would be this difficult!"


    "Of course. If you think about it, this is a kind of Treasure Cosmos Formation, but both the quality of the treasures and the level of formation are far higher than what''s in my formation diagram. Besides that, given the power of these formations, even I have to find the right moment to break the formation. Those who don''t understand formations will have an even harder time of it. Ordinary Earth Immortals definitely won''t be able to do it, and True Immortals will need some luck. Perhaps only Boundless Gold Immortals could force their way through, but they might not care about any of the treasures in this ce."


    "Dear husband, are you confident in being able to break the formation?" Xu Miaoran asked.


    Tang Jie pinched her cheek and said, "I don''t have the power topletely break it, but a few spots should be fine."


    Pulling on Tang Jie, Xu Miaoran said in glee, "Then what are we waiting for?"


    As the two walked off, deep in the Court of Myriad Domains, an Immortal suddenly sensed something and gazed into the distance, their eyes gleaming.


    "The Deicide me¡­ yes, it''s the Deicide me. I can''t be wrong. But why would the Deicide me be here? Could it be¡­ Could that kid havee to the Vast Wilderness Continent?"


    That Immortal immediately flew in the direction of the Jewel Pce.

 Chapter 862: Loot (1)

    Chapter 862: Loot (1)


    Jie and Xu Miaoran followed the path, avoiding every possible danger.


    Now that Tang Jie understood the formation, even if he couldn''t easily undo it, he at least knew where was dangerous and where was safe, allowing him to move freely through the Jewel Pce.


    As for those cultivators who could move about the formation despite knowing nothing about it, one could only say that they were just too strong.


    asionally, a gout of me would erupt from somewhere in the pce, or else shes of lightning or showers of snow, and what followed would be various Divine Connections unleashing a blinding disy of light.


    Tang Jie cautiously brought Xu Miaoran to a small pavilion, after which he thrust his finger several times at it, firing off bolts of energy. A few momentster, the pavilion shrank and turned into a basket that flew into Tang Jie''s hand.


    Tang Jie threw the flower basket into the Mountain River State Diagram without even looking at it, handing it over to Yiyi. The Jewel Pce''s treasures were truly out of the ordinary, all of them divine treasures. In the diagram, Yiyi saw a divine treasure falling from the sky and grabbed it. She proceeded to dance, filling the sky with petals that were as lethal as they were beautiful, happily giggling the whole time.


    He Chong''s group was at a loss for words.


    Ice Phoenix was unhappy, and after some thought, she tugged on Yiyi and said, "My good sister Yiyi, please ask for a treasure for your older sister."


    Her original nature had suited her name, cold and aloof, but she had gone through a huge personality change after bing a demon, making her charming and flirtatious, and also more shameless. If she wanted something, she would go straight to asking for it.She had been prepared to argue her case, but Yiyi surprisingly nodded. "So long as you''re good and don''t cause trouble for Big Brother, what''s the harm in asking for a divine treasure for you? These things might be priceless to others, but not for me and Big Brother. His Treasure Cosmos diagram already has more than a dozen divine treasures, and there are plenty of divine treasures in the Jewel Pce. The only question is if you will listen and be good. If you''re good, then Big Brother might even let you out so that you can get some fresh air."


    Delighted, Ice Phoenix quickly said, "Of course I''ll be good."


    "Alright then, I''ll pass on your words to Big Brother," Yiyi solemnly said.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie continued on his way, managing to pick up a plot of yellow soil, a jade cup, and a hairpin.


    The soil was called the Spring Autumn Soil, which was concentrated essence of the Earth Dao, as the Pale Cloud me was to the me Dao. The jade cup was called the Profound Essence Cup. Every day, it would refine a cup of Profound Essence Water, which could be used for a vast array of medicines.


    The hairpin was a sword hairpin, capable of turning into a powerful sword. Xu Miaoran''s original sword had been pretty good, but itpared poorly to this Soaring Heaven Sword. The Soaring Heaven Sword hairpin, plus the Violet Sunset Robe and Yin Yang Mirror from earlier meant that Xu Miaoran now had aplete set of divine treasures, which would leave anyone envious.


    The pair remained unsatisfied and continued to rove about in search of treasure.


    As they were walking along, they spotted a person fumbling around in the middle of a pond. The pond seemed very small, but upon careful inspection, they realized that there seemed to be another dimension inside it. The pond was actually a vast ocean, with heaven-reaching waves rising up all around.


    The person in the ocean was constantly using spiritual energy to summon walls while trying to escape, but they seemed to be reaching the end of their tether.


    This person was none other than that young master with the folding fan who had mocked Tang Jie.


    A pearl floated in front of him, and the ocean waters were being called upon by this pearl to attack the young master. If the young master could take the pearl, the waves would immediately die away, but s, he couldn''t do it.


    The young master spotted Tang Jie and shouted, "Help me!"


    Xu Miaoran was going to tell Tang Jie to ignore him, but Tang Jie said, "This is the Seven Oceans Pearl. It would be extremely useful ifbined with the Profound Heavy Water."


    The Profound Heavy Water was one of the treasures Tang Jie had gotten from the Thunder de Fiend Emperor, and he had given it to Little Three to use. After his return to Rosecloud, Tang Jie had taken the water back and ced it in the Treasure Cosmos Formation diagram. Although the Treasure Cosmos Formation could also use the power of the Profound Heavy Water, the formation diagram still limited its power to a certain extent, which was a pity.


    The Seven Oceans Pearl could hold an ocean, and it would have many uses whenbined with the Profound Heavy Water. Tang Jie had once sought after such an item, so finding it here was a pleasant surprise.


    Wanting to take it, he said to the young master, "I can save you, but you have to promise to give me the treasure."


    The young master immediately agreed.


    Tang Jie took action.


    He originally wasn''t strong enough to break the formation, but this young master changed things. Tang Jie fired off st after st from his finger, striking the water and stirring up the formation lines. In a sh, that vast ocean disappeared.


    He reached for the Seven Oceans Pearl.


    As Tang Jie reached for the pearl, the young master thought about how he had almost lost his life, all so that someone else would take the treasure, and he became filled with hatred.


    Just when Tang Jie was about to take the pearl, he waved his fan, sending a gust of wind at Tang Jie.


    Xu Miaoran paled. "Husband, watch out!"


    Just when the gust was about to reach him, countless rays of light appeared in front of Tang Jie, forming a wall¡ªTang Jie had summoned the Infinite Pce.


    While the speed at which he could cast this Dao Art was partially due to his rise in cultivation, it had more to do with the fact that Tang Jie had been ready and waiting. Regardless of what his opponent did, he would just unleash the Infinite Pce and block all attacks, allowing him to take the Seven Oceans Pearl. "Treacherous scoundrel, I knew you weren''t anything good. You need to be taught a lesson!"


    He unleashed a punch at the young master.


    The young master scowled. "Seeking death!"


    He waved his fan again.


    The fan unleashed a howling wound, as if the surrounding area was in the middle of a hurricane, or like the Domain Astral Winds that the cultivators had pushed through to get here, the winds vicious and unstoppable.


    This wind was Specter Wind that the young master had gathered and refined from the Domain Astral Winds for a thousand years, and it was extremely corrosive. The vast ocean of the Seven Oceans Pearl had drowned out its power, but now, it was revealing its domineering might. But that this sinister wind could block the endless waters of the Seven Oceans Pearl meant that it was quite formidable. After all, all the treasures here had been empowered by a formation and were as powerful as if they were being used by an Immortal tform Titan.


    The young master believed that a single gust would at least heavily injure him if not turn him into dust, after which he could take the treasure and that beauty next to him, the best of both worlds. But to his surprise, Tang Jie simply punched, and this punch felt utterly unstoppable, a terrifying force seeking to devour him. In a sh, he thoughtcastyer afteryer of barriers around him.


    But all of those barriers shattered like eggshells before this punch, dissipating into spiritual energy and vanishing into the wind.


    The young master was sent flying into a distant pond, which triggered another trap, and he was instantly bombarded by lightning.


    Tang Jie had already calcted where he was going to punch him.


    As the Specter Wind blew at his body, it caused parts of his body to wither, but it only destroyed what was on the surface, after which he quickly restored what he had lost, not even needing to use the Dao of Life or any recovery spells.


    "No! Save me!" the young master begged for his life.


    He hadn''t even been able to hold out against the Seven Oceans Pearl, so he certainly had no chance against the endless heavenly lightning of the Thunderstorm Bottle.


    "Focus your energy and mind and use the power of Earth to resist the lightning." To his surprise, Tang Jie instructed him on how to defend against the lightning.


    The young master did as he said, which bought him a chance to catch his breath. But it was only a chance. A momentter, Tang Jie struck, firing off sts of energy at the Thunderstorm Bottle, sealing its formation and stopping up the Eight Gates.


    The young master realized what was going on and shouted, "You''re using me to get the treasure!"


    Although Tang Jie understood formations, these formations were too powerful for a Soul Projection cultivator like him to break. He had only managed to get a few treasures, with the real good stuff being too powerful for him to get at.


    But with this young master, Tang Jie could use him as bait to take on the power of the formation while he himself grabbed the treasure.


    "You brought this on yourself," Tang Jie coldly replied.


    He reached out his hand, taking the Thunderstorm Bottle and putting it in a Mustard Seed Bag.


    The lightning immediately disappeared, but just when the young master thought he could escape, Tang Jie punched him again.


    It was the same supreme punch, punching the young master into another formation eye.


    The young master was furious, but there was nothing he could do but continue to hold back the formation to Tang Jie''s benefit. As bait, he took on all the punishment and got none of the profit, Tang Jie taking treasure after treasure without much effort.


    After taking one treasure, he would use a Combat Emperor punch to send the young master to another formation. Even though the young master tried his best, there was nothing he could do against those strikes. Moreover, as he was barraged by the formations, he gained more and more wounds and expended more and more spiritual energy, widening the gap between him and Tang Jie.


    By the eighth formation, he was on hisst breaths. He had helped Tang Jie take eight divine treasures, but he had nothing left in him.


    Under those countless shing des, he hardened his heart and decided to stop resisting, letting the sword energy pierce through him.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie finally stopped.


    He stood on the side and coldly watched the young master.


    "At thest moment of your life, you finally showed a little spine."


    Without the young master to serve as his bait, he couldn''t take the Myriad Immortals Sword.


    The young master red at him, throwing up blood. "You have dared to provoke my Thousand Nights Sect! My seniors in the sect won''t spare you."


    "The ''Thousand Nights Sect''?" Tang Jie cocked his head. "Never heard of it before."


    With a cry, the young master fell dead.


    At the moment of his death, his Divine Soul appeared. Venomously ring at Tang Jie, it turned into dust, and Tang Jie felt something attaching to his body.


    Startled, Tang Jie said, "To think he would sacrifice his Divine Soul to curse me so that the people of his sect could find me. Was that necessary? So small-minded! No wonder he would do something so stupid and suicidal."


    Xu Miaoran nervously said, "He put a curse on you? What do we do?"


    "I''ll just have to kill a few more people," Tang Jie replied.


    He couldn''t help but sigh.


    Xu Miaoran thought that he was sighing over the curse, but then Tang Jie said,


    "A pity¡ªwhile that Myriad Immortals Sword was of rather average power if used on its own, it was perfect for the Treasure Cosmos Formation¡­ Why couldn''t hest just a little longer?"

 Chapter 863: Loot (2)

    Chapter 863: Loot (2)


    Tang Jie regretted not being able to get the Myriad Immortals Sword, and he felt even greater regret over losing the excellent bait that was the young master.


    In truth, even if the young master hadn''t done anything, he would have found it hard to keep using him in that way¡ªhe could only use twelve of the Combat Emperor Strikes, after all.


    Having used it eight times, Tang Jie only had four left.


    "Where else am I going to find a nice guy like that young master?" Tang Jie worriedly said.


    Xu Miaoran couldn''t help butugh.


    As the two walked along, they ended up in front of a bamboo forest.


    They weren''t alone. Inside the forest was the yellow-robed man from before, surrounded by drifting bamboo leaves.


    Although they were bamboo leaves, they were brimming with lethal energy, and even an Earth Immortal like the yellow-robed man couldn''t escape them. Fortunately, the bamboo forest was only a divine treasure, and it was relying entirely on the formation''s power to imprison him. It was difficult for either side to ovee the other, so things had ended up in a stalemate.


    Upon seeing Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran, the yellow-robed man shouted, "Don''te any closer! This bamboo forest is strange, even able to prate barriers made of Immortal energy."Tang Jie smiled. "Of course. This bamboo forest is one of the core formation eyes of the Jewel Pce''s formation. Empowered by the ughter Dao, it can ignore all defenses, even those made of Immortal energy. Empowered by the Five Elements Dao, it can operate without end, until the heavens themselves grow old. Empowered by Reincarnation, it can continuously regenerate, withstanding your divine might."


    The yellow-robed man was stunned. "You know of this formation''s secrets? A Dao formation¡­ So it was a Dao formation!"


    The yellow-robed man finally understood.


    As someone who had be an Earth Immortal, he was no fool, and as he recalled how Tang Jie had spent three days observing the wall and imed to have had a rich harvest, he realized what had happened. "So that wasn''t the Wall of Dao Comprehension, but the Wall of Formation Comprehension!"


    Tang Jie smiled. "Exactly."


    He had a favorable impression of the yellow-robed man, so he didn''t keep this fact a secret. Moreover, knowing that it was actually the Wall of Formation Comprehension didn''t mean that one could sessfullyprehend the formation. That required talent and experience, and there was no time for that.


    He then said, "I have some understanding of this formation, but my cultivation isn''t enough to break it. But if Senior assists me, then I can help Senior escape."


    The yellow-robed man was delighted.


    With his ability, it wasn''tpletely out of the question to break out of the formation through force. While Dao formations were powerful, they weren''t invincible, just like how Tang Jie''s Infinite Pce was theoretically a peerless defense but had still fallen to eleven of the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s finger strikes. However, if he did attempt this, he would expend far too much energy. The Court of Myriad Domains was full of danger, and while he himself was very honest and upright, he knew that many others were not so pure. If someone ambushed him, things could possibly end very poorly.


    Since Tang Jie was willing to help him, he was naturally happy to agree.


    Tang Jie said, "Walk to the Kun position, form the sword sign, draw the wind and lightning to sever the Five Elements¡­"


    The yellow-robed man followed Tang Jie''s instructions.


    After several steps, the bamboo forest''s lethality began to weaken, and the pressure on him decreased. Finally, under Tang Jie''s direction, he thrust a finger at a certain clearing, upon which the bamboo leaves all disappeared. The entire forest uprooted itself and transformed into a single jade bamboo stem that flew into the hands of the yellow-robed man.


    The moment it touched his hand, the yellow-robed man felt its power and knew its origins. "The Verdant Bamboo! This is the Verdant Bamboo!"


    The yellow-robed man was happy to gain such a valuable treasure, but after some thought, he offered it to Tang Jie. "This item should belong to you, my young friend. If not for you, I would still be trapped in that bamboo forest."


    Tang Jie smiled. "Senior is too kind. Although I understand formations, my cultivation is insufficient. Without Senior, I would have never been able to take this treasure."


    Unexpectedly, both of them were trying to hand the treasure to the other, leaving this rare divine treasure momentarily without an owner. In truth, each of them had their reasons for their actions. For Tang Jie, it was rare to see someone of a higher cultivation level than him who showed concern for him rather than trying to kill a junior for their treasure. Such a senior naturally deserved his respect, even his ttery.


    For the yellow-robed man, Tang Jie had shown his value, and he knew that he should form connections with capable juniors like this. Thus, they were both extremely polite to each other.


    Xu Miaoran suddenly thought of something and said, "This Verdant Bamboo contains the essence of nature, is a divine item that sprites can use to refine their energy into divinity."


    The yellow-robed man nodded. "Indeed. You are very knowledgeable, mydy."


    He saw that Tang Jie had a startled look, so he guessed as to the reason and smiled. "My young friend, do you have a sprite with you?"


    Tang Jie nodded in embarrassment. "I have a little sister. Although she''s a sprite, she''s followed me since we were young, and we have an extremely close rtionship. She''s now at peak Transformation, but Divine Division is extremely difficult, and it''s not a step to be taken lightly¡­"


    He grew more embarrassed the more he said.


    The yellow-robed man smiled and said, "If that''s the case, young friend, what are you still being so polite for? Take this Verdant Bamboo. It can increase the chances of your little sister reaching Divine Division by at least twenty percent."


    Tang Jie could only ept it. Yiyi''s future was at stake here, and he couldn''t afford to be polite.


    Xu Miaoran saw this and smiled. "Husband, if you feel awkward about this, you can just help Senior get another treasure. After all, you understand the formation butck the cultivation to use this knowledge, while this senior is in the exact opposite situation. Aren''t you the perfect pair?"


    The two both trembled in realization.


    That was right! It wasn''t like swindling people was the only way things could be done.


    Working together would always have more potential than scamming and stealing from others!


    That young master had needed eight Combat Emperor Strikes to get eight treasures, but with the help of this Earth Immortal, they could take at least half of the treasures in the Jewel Pce.


    Crucially, the two of them had already worked together for the Verdant Bamboo, which had resolved the problem of trust.


    Anyone else would have the factor of mistrust that would make working together difficult, but although they had met recently and were still getting to know each other, they had a rough idea of each other''s characters, which freed them of their worries.


    Of course, Tang Jie could also choose to call over the Basking Moon Sect group, but they were far from this ce. Moreover, Yun Tian was leading the group in exploring another area and had seemingly found a great deal of treasure, which meant that they were already upied. In these circumstances, working with the yellow-robed man was Tang Jie''s best choice.


    The yellow-robed man smiled and said, "This is an excellent proposal. Might I ask for your name, my young friend?"


    "This one is Tang Jie, and this is my wife, Xu Miaoran. And Senior would be¡­"


    "Oh, this old man is Huang Wuji," the yellow-robed man replied.


    <em>''Huang Wuji''?</em>


    <em>Quite the domineering name.</em>


    Tang Jie bowed. "I greet Senior Huang."


    "No need to be so polite. Come; let''s go and break these formations." Huang Wuji grabbed Tang Jie''s hand and heartilyughed.


    The two of them working together represented a cmity for the treasures of the Jewel Pce. At each formation eye, Huang Wuji took the pressure while Tang Jie used the openings created to strike. Once they got the treasure, the treasure went to whoever needed it the most. If there was a treasure that both of them wanted, they would simply negotiate. It was a splendid partnership.


    They quickly swept through the various formation eyes of the Jewel Pce, even grabbing that Myriad Immortals Sword.


    The Jewel Pce had originally had fifty-some divine treasures, the most out of all the various pces of the court, but over thest several thousand years, the various Titans had taken some by force. In the end, only forty-some remained.


    Tang Jie had taken 14 earlier, and with Huang Wuji, he gathered another 28, which they split evenly, which was another 14 for Tang Jie. In this one trip, Tang Jie had gained almost thirty divine treasures, and all of them were middle-grade or above. These were treasures that could have countless cultivators fighting for their lives, but now he was picking them up like they were cabbages. Even Huang Wuji couldn''t help but sigh, "It''s all thanks to you, my young friend, that I can experience a little of what it felt like to be the Bejeweled Star Lord."


    Tang Jie ruefully said, "But the Bejeweled Star Lord doesn''t live up to his name. There''s not even a single Dao armament to be found in his pce."


    Huang Wuji was rendered speechless by these words. "The Bejeweled Star Lord was a master of forging, and these divine treasures were all made by him, so it''s natural that there are a lot. But Dao armaments are divine items that are not easily created through the hands of men. To be honest, there are fewer Dao armaments than there are Immortal tform experts, and most Immortals have to make do with divine treasures."


    "Like yourself, Senior?" Tang Jie joked.


    Huang Wuji turned red in the face. "Let''s end this topic here."


    It was clear that he had never been able to obtain a Dao armament in all his long life. If he had known that Tang Jie had the Myriad Immortals Cauldron and the Imperial Sky Stamp, and had gifted the Eternity Sarcophagus and the Cloudsplinter Bow to his sect, he might have been shocked enough to tumble from the skies.


    But Huang Wuji''s words made Tang Jie think of something. "Given the fame of the Bejeweled Star Lord, he must have had at least one Dao armament, so the current situation is still a little hard to believe. Senior, do you think the Bejeweled Star Lord could have hidden the real treasure somewhere else, or perhaps there''s a hidden dimension in the Jewel Pce that we haven''t discovered?"


    Huang Wuji was taken aback, but he nodded in agreement. "This is possible. If it was hidden somewhere else, then we should just forget it, since neither of us knows that location. If it was in the Jewel Pce, then what''s the reason you, who has been able to see through the formation, can''t find it? It might not exist."


    Tang Jie firmly replied, "I''ve only seen through what the Bejeweled Star Lord let me see through."


    Huang Wuji was stunned.


    True.


    Tang Jie understood the formation because he hadprehended what was on the wall. But that had been left behind by the Bejeweled Star Lord, which meant he had left it behind for those who came after.


    But what if there were things he didn''t n to leave for his juniors?


    Huang Wuji immediately regained his passion. Grabbing Tang Jie''s hand, he said, "Come on! Let''s go and look around!"


    The two of them began tob through the pce.


    One day passed, during which the pair searched every corner of the Jewel Pce, even lifting up the paving stones, but they found no secret areas or hidden switches.


    As the formation eyes were broken, the Jewel Pce''s formation began to disappear. Those cultivators who hade looking for treasure were left baffled, and when they saw that there was nothing for them to take, they departed, leaving only the pair to run around like headless flies.


    After one day of fruitless searching, Huang Wuji finally lost his patience.


    He sighed and said, "The time the Court of Myriad Domains is open is ultimately limited, and if we continue to waste time here, we won''t have time to search any of the other ces. My young friend, as you can see¡­"


    Tang Jie understood what he meant and said, "Senior, if you wish to leave, please do so. I want to keep searching."


    Huang Wuji gave no opinion on his continued stubbornness. Reaching into his Mustard Seed Bag, he took out a clod of cinnabar soil.


    He exined, "This Red Dust Soil is something I found when exploring a small domain. It doesn''t have much use, but sprites have an unusual appreciation for its vor. I took a mountain of this soil so that I could use it to deal with any powerful sprite I encountered. My young friend, since you have a sprite, I''m sure she will like it too, so this is for you, a sign of my appreciation."


    Tang Jie epted the soil and thanked Huang Wuji.


    Huang Wujiughed and departed.

 Chapter 864: Encounter With an Old Foe

    Chapter 864: Encounter With an Old Foe


    The Red Dust Soil in Tang Jie''s hand felt as heavy as a mountain and was as red as blood. It exuded an eerie feeling, and he really couldn''t understand why sprites would like to eat such a thing.


    After some thought, he called Yiyi out. Of course, if Yiyi went out, Ice Phoenix couldn''t stay in the diagram either.


    Tang Jie passed the Red Dust Soil to Yiyi, who examined it and asked, "Big Brother, what is this for?"


    "For eating," Tang Jie replied.


    Yiyi looked at Tang Jie like he was a ghost. "Big Brother, have you gone crazy? This is dirt! You want me to eat dirt?"


    Tang Jie said in surprise, "You don''t like it?"


    "Duh!" Yiyi ced her hands on her waist. "Why would I like something like this?"


    "That doesn''t make sense." Tang Jie was somewhat perplexed.


    Huang Wuji had said that sprites loved this stuff, so why did Yiyi feel nothing?At this moment, Yiyi suddenly felt something, and her face turned strange. "Eh? Tang Dou, what''s wrong?"


    She took out a small bean, which jumped from her hand and turned into a little person.


    After Tang Jie had given Tang Dou to Yiyi, he had be her cherished treasure, and she kept him with her every day like a child with a toy. Tang Dou wasn''t kept in a Mustard Seed Bag for fear that he might suffocate.


    Tang Dou spent most of the time in his bean form, sleeping in Yiyi''s pocket, so it was very surprising for him toe out on his own.


    When he saw the Red Dust Soil, he let out a cry of joy and jumped into it, beginning to eat the soil.


    Tang Jie, Xu Miaoran and Yiyi were all startled, and a thought urred to them.


    Were the sprites Huang Wuji had been talking about these beans?


    When these beans took on human form, they could easily be mistaken for sprites, but Tang Jie knew that their forms weren''t manifested from spiritual energy, but were a kind of form they could naturally assume.


    If that was the case, had Huang Wuji been to the home of these beans?


    Tang Jie was delighted and wanted to ask Huang Wuji, but s, the man was long-gone and had left no means tomunicate with him. He could only hope that they ran into each other again.


    Tang Dou happily nibbled away, and in a few moments, his belly was so round that he couldn''t stand. He swayed like a drunkard and plopped down onto the ground.


    Everyone couldn''t help but chuckle at how adorable he was.


    Tang Dou didn''t seem to understand, but when he saw everyoneughing, heughed along with them. As he wasughing, he suddenly took in a big breath, upon which his swollen belly ttened once more. The Red Dust Soil had seemingly vanished, but Tang Jie could immediately tell that Tang Dou''s body had grown slightly bigger.


    Tang Dou hadn''t grown at all since his birth.


    That he was starting to grow now pleasantly surprised Tang Jie. "So it turns out you can grow."


    When he looked at Tang Dou again, he saw he was giving off a faint glow, and he was growing stronger and stronger.


    Tang Jie was startled.


    While the bean soldiers were strong, as Tang Jie himself grew stronger, they gradually couldn''t keep up. This was primarily because they basically had no way to improve. Tang Jie had once thought of ways to increase the power of the bean soldiers, but the results had been minuscule.


    But now, Tang Dou was giving Tang Jie some hope.


    Perhaps it wasn''t that the bean soldiers couldn''t improve, but that Tang Jie had never found what they needed?


    And the Red Dust Soil was what they needed to grow stronger?


    Xu Miaoran and Yiyi had clearly thought the same thing, but just when they were about to speak, there was a cry.


    Tang Dou transformed into a streak of light and ran behind a nearby fake mountain.


    Confused, everyone followed him to see what he was doing, upon which they saw the little guy squatting down to take a shit.


    He had eaten too much and needed to excrete what needed to be excreted.


    Yiyi turned red in the face. "Shameless! Shameless!"


    She ran off.


    Tang Dou thought, <em>You were the ones who ran over to take a look!</em> s, he still couldn''t speak, so he could only scoot backward, but as he did, he seemed to hit something, and with a boom, the entire Jewel Pce began to rumble.


    The shuddering startled Yiyi and Xu Miaoran, and they shouted, "What happened?"


    Tang Jie''s eyes gleamed, and he appeared behind Tang Dou and picked him up with his fingers.


    Poor Tang Dou was still doing his business, so he urgently cried out as Tang Jie held him up in the air. He momentarily lost control, and ck and red chunks began to fall, causing two of the women present to blush. As for Ice Phoenix, she was unconcerned, curiously looking at Tang Dou.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie was examining the ground, where he found a sharp protrusion.


    Tang Dou must have stepped on this protrusion, which had triggered the shaking.


    But he was too small and weak, so he had only triggered the shaking and nothing else.


    "This is¡­" Xu Miaoran came over.


    "If my guess is right, it should be the secret area of the Jewel Pce," Tang Jie excitedly said. "The will of the heavens! This is the will of the heavens! After we searched all over the ce, Tang Dou ended up finding it with a single step!"


    "Is that so?" Xu Miaoran also grew excited. "Then hurry and open it up."


    Just as she was about to press the protrusion, Tang Jie stopped her. "Wait; look at that."


    Tang Jie pointed at the little protrusion''s surroundings. Tendrils of ck energy had begun to emerge from the ground.


    Xu Miaoran''s heart shivered. She knew that this switch was protected by some sort of trap. By triggering the secret area, Tang Dou had also activated the traps. Fortunately, Tang Jie had reacted quickly and picked Tang Dou up.


    Tang Dou had also stopped struggling, simply dangling in the air with his butt exposed to the winds.


    Xu Miaoran chortled. "You should put him down."


    Tang Jie did so.


    Tang Dou wiped his butt and ran over to Yiyi, who immediately tried to avoid him, saying that he was still filthy. Tang Dou was left rather baffled, upon which Ice Phoenix pped her hands and said, "Come over to Big Sister."


    Tang Dou was going to go over when Yiyi stomped her feet and said, "You''re not allowed to!"


    Tang Dou was once again at a crossroads, hesitantly looking back and forth.


    As they argued, Tang Jie examined the protrusion. He fired off several bolts of energy from his finger, trying to see how strong the trap was, what kind of trap it was, and how to deal with it.


    The more he observed, the more Tang Jie felt that, although there was just one trap, it was a manyyered trap with many secrets. He even started to analyze the trap with Wisdom and Insight, and after a round of frenzied calction, he finally understood the nature of the trap.


    Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he said, "That was close. I didn''t think that something so dangerous would be hidden right at the entrance. It''s a good thing that Tang Dou found this ce. If you or I found it, we might have given up our lives here."


    Xu Miaoran was just about to ask something when a red cloud appeared in the distance.


    This red cloud engulfed the horizon, setting the skies aze.


    Tang Jie looked up and immediately paled. "Oh no!"


    A voice boomed, "Tang Jie, you brat, it really is you! It''s time to die!"


    With a furious roar, a giant hand of me emerged from the clouds, pping down at Tang Jie, and the face of the me Celestial Sovereign appeared in the clouds.


    Knowing immediately that he was in trouble, Tang Jie howled and threw out a punch.


    The eleventh strike of the Combat Emperor Catalog, the Illusion Crushing Strike!


    Countless illusory fists appeared in the sky, and as they shifted into reality, they exuded an aura that could make the skies copse, facing down that giant hand of me with a righteous and majestic energy.


    The skies erupted with light as fists met hand. The mes shattered and the clouds were forced back. Not only had the me Celestial Sovereign''s attack failed, but his enemy''s counterattack had seeded in reaching him.


    The me Celestial Sovereign gasped in surprise.


    Although his hand had been a long-distance attack and not carried his full strength, he was still an Earth Immortal. For Tang Jie to stop his attack with one punch left him bbergasted.


    Tang Jie was equally shocked.


    The Combat Emperor Catalog represented the strongest attacks left behind by the Martial Lord. Through the Combat Emperor Catalog, he had been able to fight as a Deification expert against a Soul Projection expert, forcing the Jewel Immortal Sovereign to use everything she had at her disposal to deal with those strikes, and she had still been injured. But now, when there was only one tier separating him and the me Celestial Sovereign, the me Celestial Sovereign had beenpletely uninjured. All that he had done was push back the attack, and this had been a long-distance attack as well! The gap in strength was obvious.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie hadn''t nned on fighting with the me Celestial Sovereign. After firing off that punch, he swept Yiyi, Xu Miaoran, Ice Phoenix, and Tang Dou into the Mountain River State Diagram and fled.


    The me Celestial Sovereign savagelyughed. "Where do you think you''re going?"


    He thrust out a finger, setting Tang Jie''s surroundings ame. These tyrannical mes were the Origin mes that the me Celestial Sovereign had cultivated for a thousand years.


    Tang Jie didn''t dare to take them lightly, applying numerous barriers over himself and firing off eighteen punches in front of him as he retreated backward.


    Each of these punches was as strong as a Divine Connection, and they managed to slow the me Celestial Sovereign''s advance a little while Tang Jie retreated into the mes.


    The me Celestial Sovereign thrust out his hands, and the mes began to gain physical form, turning into giant pirs to cage Tang Jie. Tang Jie responded with 81 punches in a row, making the air in front of the me Celestial Sovereign explode.


    The two of them were thinking the same thing. The me Celestial Sovereign was trying to stop Tang Jie from leaving while Tang Jie was trying to escape and stop the me Celestial Sovereign from getting any closer. The two hadn''t even seen each other''s faces yet, but they were already engaged in a long-distance battle.


    The me Celestial Sovereign''s sea of mes was engaged in a fierce battle with Tang Jie''s divine strength.


    But in this contest, Tang Jie had unquestionably suffered a bitter defeat. His divine strength couldn''t match the Celestial Sovereign''s Divine Connections, and his iron bones couldn''t stop that Immortal energy. All of Tang Jie''s punches were obliterated by the me Celestial Sovereign''s power. On the other hand, Tang Jie still hadn''t been able to escape the cage of mes.


    The me Celestial Sovereign rapidly drew closer, shouting, "Tang Jie, you managed to escapest time, but today, you will finally fall into my hands! Hand over the Deicide me!"


    A giant hand reached for Tang Jie.


    "Trying to catch me? You think it''s that easy?" Tang Jie chuckled.


    He suddenly punched at that protrusion on the ground.

 Chapter 865: Escape and Pursuit (1)

    Chapter 865: Escape and Pursuit (1)


    With a boom, a beam of light erupted from the protrusion.


    This beam of light was like a majestic dragon, exuding an ancient and awe-inspiring energy.


    Countless people turned in the direction of the Jewel Pce and saw this dragon of Immortal energy lighting up the sky.


    In a valley of giant rocks, Yun Tian stood with his hands behind his back. At his feet was a three-headed fiend that radiated the aura of a Void Returning great fiend. But Yun Tian had chopped off its three heads, extracted its core, and refined its soul. Behind that fiend was a cave, from which Xiao Biehan and the others emerged. "We have fulfilled our mission and obtained the Heavenly Jade Divine Pill and Heavenly Pearl Diagram from the cave."


    Yun Tian smiled, but just as he was about to say something, he suddenly turned his head and gazed into the distance. Seeing that dragon of Immortal energy, he paled and shouted, "Not good! Tang Jie is in trouble! We need to go and save him!"


    He flew out.


    Elsewhere, near the Jewel Pce, Huang Wuji suddenly looked back in surprise. "Isn''t that the Jewel Pce''s location? Why did such phenomena appear? Did my young friend Tang manage to find that hidden pce?"


    This thought in mind, he flew toward the Jewel Pce.


    Farther off, a group of gray-robed cultivators were searching for treasure in a pceplex when they heard the rumbling of thunder and raised their heads. Their leader called out, "What a hugemotion! It seems that some valuable treasure has emerged.""What are we waiting for, then? All the treasures of the world should belong to my Heaven''s Equal Sect!"


    "Come on, let''s go!"


    The cultivators of the Heaven''s Equal Sect cast aside their current location and headed toward the Jewel Pce.


    At the same time, in a vast desert, a group of cultivators in silk robes speckled with starlight was chasing a wandering cultivator alliance. They were ruthless, swiftly ughtering all members.


    A cultivator coldly grunted, "Trying to oppose my Ster Net Gate? No different from suicide."


    Suddenly, he sensed something and turned his head, a fire lighting up in his eyes. "Draconic phenomena in the heavens. A valuable treasure must have emerged. It should be a Dao armament, most likely a natural Dao armament."


    The other cultivators all grew excited. "Then what are we waiting for? Let''s go!"


    "Go!" The cultivators all set off.


    To the west of the Jewel Pce, a handsome schr, the demon from the Unbounded Pce, was on a leisurely stroll. Behind him was a horse, and if one looked closely, one would find that it was the Void Returning Heavenly Horse that had scared Tang Jie out of his wits.


    The schr suddenly gasped in surprise and looked to the distance. "A dragon of Immortal energy, engulfing the eight directions. Imprisoning the dragon, sealing the heavens¡ªthe Five Elements Formation! Could someone have unlocked that ce? Hahaha, if that''s really the case, then that''s wonderful!"


    He began to walk toward the Jewel Pce, but while he seemed to be maintaining the same leisurely pace, each step covered a vast distance. The Heavenly Horse galloped after him, but no matter how fast it ran, it couldn''t keep up with the schr. Without turning his head, the schr remarked, "You''re moving too quickly, so it''s only natural that you can''t keep up."


    A bystander would have certainly been befuddled by this logic, but the Heavenly Horse seemed to understand. Its speed dropped and its hooves moved slower, yet it somehow began to close the distance with the schr.


    The schr chuckled. "That''s the right way. If you only have your Void Returning cultivation and no knowledge of the Daos of the world, you are still no different from a brute."


    He waved his sleeve, and his energy levels began to rapidly fall, going all the way from Immortal tform down to Mortal Shedding. He shook his head regretfully. "It seems that this is the best I can do. Ah, forget it."


    He mounted the Heavenly Horse, which let out a neigh and flew forward.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The Jewel Pce!


    The rising dragon of Immortal energy triggered by Tang Jie''s punch had shattered the me Celestial Sovereign''s cage with a single strike. The me Celestial Sovereign had taken such a heavy blow that he was throwing up blood. Realizing that this was trouble, he condensed his mes into a dragon and struck back.


    The fire dragon and light dragon shed, sending howling winds sweeping through the area, of such force that even Tang Jie found it hard to stand steady. He could only stimte his body cultivation powers while growing four arms and two heads so that he could hold onto the ground for dear life.


    For the first time in his life, he was using the Three Heads Six Arms Divine Connection to resist a storm so that he wouldn''t be swept away.


    As he stabilized himself, he saw that a pitch-ck cave entrance had appeared where the light dragon had emerged from.


    The unfathomable darkness of that cave gave Tang Jie a very familiar feeling.


    The Grand Heaven Five Elements Formation!


    This was clearly the same Grand Heaven Five Elements Formation that had sealed Immortal Ji Yao in the Verdant Cloud Domain. He hadn''t expected to find it here.


    Butpared to the one in the Verdant Cloud Domain, this one was even more powerful and domineering, such that even an Immortal tform expert like the me Celestial Sovereign couldn''t resist. The light dragon tore his me dragon apart, raining fire over thend, creating a sight both beautiful and lethal!


    Without hesitation, Tang Jie fled into the cave.


    "You''re not getting away!" The me Celestial Sovereign bellowed and gave chase.


    The light dragon, having just emerged victorious, swung its tail at the me Celestial Sovereign.


    The dragon tail of light seemed to have no power behind it at all, yet a single swing stirred up a furious gale that prevented the me Celestial Sovereign from getting close. Shocked and furious, he decided to go all-in, condensing the sea of fire into a human form, another me Celestial Sovereign.


    This me avatar immediately went to battle with the light dragon. It possessed only 30% of the me Celestial Sovereign''s power, which made it no match for the dragon, but it was enough to buy time. The me Celestial Sovereign used this chance to fly into the cave. Although he was now 30% weaker, his remaining power was enough to crush Tang Jie.


    But to his surprise, just when he was about to enter the cave, a string of explosions resounded.


    rmed, the me Celestial Sovereign instinctively raised up barriers around himself. A momentter, the light of Heavenbane Lightning Pearls engulfed him. It turned out that Tang Jie had thrown out several pearls as he was entering the cave, setting them to explode if anyone entered.


    But these items were meant to be used against Celestial Heart cultivators. They could consume a little energy from Violet Pce cultivators, but were utterly useless against Immortal tform experts. The explosions didn''t even create ripples on the barrier of Immortal energy before vanishing.


    The me Celestial Sovereignughed and descended.


    This cave was rather deep, and the me Celestial Sovereign flew for quite a while before finallynding. On the way down, he encountered several more waves of Heavenbane Lightning Pearls, but he didn''t bother trying to defend himself, simply keeping up his barrier as he flew down.


    As he finally hit the ground, he saw several more round objects at his feet. Noting that they were also Heavenbane Lightning Pearls, he paid them no mind and advanced. As the pearls exploded, the me Celestial Sovereign sensed that something was wrong.


    His sense for danger had been trained across several thousand years and tens of thousands of battles, and it had saved his life more than once. He immediately raised the power of his barrier, and at the same moment, an energy of unprecedented vastness erupted from under his feet.


    "Awooo!" The me Celestial Sovereign howled in pain as he jumped into the air, by which point his legs were drenched in blood.


    He had been injured!


    He had actually been injured!


    This cunning bastard had set up a formation beneath the Heavenbane Lightning Pearls, using the energy ripples from the pearls to conceal it. Together with the previous attacks, he had made him careless, allowing the sneak attack to work.


    The me Celestial Sovereign was furious.


    Tang Jie''s cold snort came from the depths of the cave. "I''ve always heard that one bes undying and evesting after reaching Immortal tform, so I thought they would be difficult to deal with. But it doesn''t seem that way at all. If you can be injured, that means¡­ that you can die!"


    "Audacious brat!" The me Celestial Sovereign furiously thrust his palm forward.


    A berserk tide of energy issued forth, but there was no reaction.


    It was clear that Tang Jie wasn''t at the same ce his voice hade from. He had most likely used some method to observe the situation and transmit his voice while the actual person was long gone.


    The me Celestial Sovereign was enraged and wanted to give chase, but given what had just happened, he didn''t dare to move recklessly.


    Tang Jie had been right. While Immortals called themselves undying and evesting, they had not attained true Immortality.


    Nobody could do this. Hadn''t even Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng and Martial Lord Li Jiuyang ultimately fallen? Countless Titans from Remote Antiquity and High Antiquity had all vanished in the river of time. Nobody had ever been able to truly escape death. Immortals were simply harder to kill than ordinary cultivators.


    The earlier strike had not carried Tang Jie''s full strength.


    He had been testing the me Celestial Sovereign''s power, trying to see how strong he really was. After all, everyone was different, and Earth Immortals could show vast differences between each other despite being at the same level. After this attack, he now had a better understanding of the Celestial Sovereign.


    Even so, it wasn''t enough. As Tang Jie ran through the cave, he sprinkled Heavenbane Lightning Pearls on the ground. These pearls weren''t meant to hurt the me Celestial Sovereign, but to numb him and dy him. If he ignored them, what awaited was a world-shaking blow, and if he treated them cautiously like he was walking among thorns, then his speed would fall, giving Tang Jie more time toy traps.


    As he reached a turn, Tang Jie took in his surroundings and chuckled. "The Death Gate! Excellent, wonderful. Let''s see how you deal with this trap!"


    He swiftlyid out his materials and then used lines of energy to create formation lines. After some thought, he took out the Sovereign de and lopped off a part of it. This severed part he carefully ced in the soil, after which he nted an Illuminating Eye in a hidden spot. Once this was done, he continued his flight.


    This time, he ran as fast as he could. After all, he had created a trap on the Metal Element Death Gate of the Grand Heaven Five Elements Formation. Once activated, it would bring down the formation''s power on the me Celestial Sovereign. Besides that, Tang Jie had also nted a part of the Sovereign de to pierce through barriers. In this move, Tang Jie was nning to kill the me Celestial Sovereign.


    As he was running at full speed, he kept looking back. Finally, the me Celestial Sovereign''s form appeared, rushing forth like a cloud of me.


    Tang Jie hadn''t left any Heavenbane Lightning Pearls at his trap.


    The me Celestial Sovereign had been habituated into thinking that traps were only found where Heavenbane Lightning Pearls were, and he hadn''t expected Tang Jie to change things up. The moment he stepped onto the trap, he felt the flow of energy shift around him, and he immediately defended himself with a barrier of Immortal energy.


    The moment he raised his barrier, countless golden points of light converged on him.


    This was the activation of the Five Elements Formation, the Metal Element Formation summoning ten thousand des to pierce his heart.


    "You think this can hurt me?" the me Celestial Sovereign roared. Waves of me rose up, turning into a giant shield.


    But among these golden lights, one was different. It pierced straight through the me Celestial Sovereign''s barrier as if it wasn''t there, plunging into his body and punching a hole through it before flying back to Tang Jie.


    "Aaaah!" The me Celestial Sovereign screamed, but he quickly discovered that the true terror was yet toe. The Sovereign de had done little damage to him, but it had pierced through his barrier!


    The ten thousand points of light were the lethal de created by the Five Elements formation, far beyond any ordinary attacks. They charged through the sea of mes, bursting through the fire shield and piercing through his barrier. Most importantly, the barrier had already been pierced through by the Sovereign de, so the countless des instantly broke through and turned the me Celestial Sovereign into a beehive.

 Chapter 866: Escape and Pursuit (2)

    Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Aw cultivator without their barrier was a wimp!


    This was a principle of the cultivation world that no amount of time could change.


    No matter how high a cultivator''s level reached, the degree to which they could improve their body had a limit, or else there would be no need for body cultivators.


    For the briefest of moments, when the me Celestial Sovereign was run through by those ten thousand des, Tang Jie thought that he was really dead.


    s, the me Celestial Sovereign quickly proved what made him an Immortal!


    As the des pierced through him, the me Celestial Sovereign bellowed, "RAAA!"


    As the sound boomed through the cave, an immense Immortal energy erupted from within.


    This Immortal energy was shockingly pure and majestic, and Tang Jie couldn''t even estimate how much stronger it was than his own.


    This Immortal energy prevented those des from prating his body any farther, even pushing them out. Moreover, the wounds left behind did not bleed and began to rapidly heal, akin to the healing of Tang Jie''s body cultivator self¨C no, even faster!


    It had to be understood that these weren''t just simple metal des. Each one was imbued with immense energy, but all of it crumbled away under the me Celestial Sovereign''s Immortal energy, unable to deal him any damage.


    This was the Immortal tform Realm!


    After reaching Immortal tform,w cultivators no longer had such flimsy bodies. Even if they sustained fatal injuries, Immortal energy would protect them and let them rapidly recover. Not only that, their bodies were also much stronger. The fact that those ten thousand des could pierce an Immortal tform expert''s physical body was proof of the attack''s power. Ordinary attacks wouldn''t have even scratched the skin.


    When one attained Immortal energy, the spiritual body was converted into an Immortal body, and one''s body became evesting. This was what it meant to ascend to the Immortal tform!


    This was the best way to describe Immortal tform. Perhaps "undying and evesting" was an exaggeration, but it also wasn''t an empty boast.


    From this, one could perhaps understand why body cultivators had gone extinct. It wasn''t just due to ack of resources, but becausew cultivators had far more potential. No matter how much body cultivators cultivated, they could only make their bodies so much tougher. As forw cultivators, once they reached Immortal tform, while they couldn''t make their bodies as tough as those of body cultivators, they nevertheless greatlypensated for their shorings. In the finalparison, the advantages of body cultivators were no longer so obvious.


    If not for the feats of the Martial Lord, even Tang Jie would have suspected the path of the body cultivator to be meaningless.


    But this wasn''t the time to doubt himself. After that strike of ten thousand des, the me Celestial Sovereign was making his way over.


    He extended his hand and picked up an eyeball.


    It was the Illuminating Eye Tang Jie had nted earlier.


    The me Celestial Sovereign dered, "Tang Jie, I know you''re watching. Your methods are pretty good, but if you think that this is enough to kill me, then you''re underestimating the Immortal tform Realm a little too much. I am the me Celestial Sovereign, an Immortal, not someone a puny character like you can think about surpassing. If you show some sense and hand over the Deicide me and all your other treasures, I can leave you with an intact corpse!"


    After saying this, he shattered the eyeball.


    Tang Jie received a small bacsh from the spell art, but given that it was a minor spell art, it presented little problem. He needed only a second topose himself before he continued his escape.


    "Stubborn fool!" Sensing that Tang Jie was still running, the me Celestial Sovereign harrumphed and continued the chase.


    He hadn''t gone far before he felt a corrosive wind blowing at him. This was a wind that Tang Jie had collected while passing through the Astral Wind region, able to melt away flesh. s, while it was a powerful wind, it could not be replenished, and after crashing into the me Celestial Sovereign''s Immortal energy barrier, it dissipated.


    The me Celestial Sovereign continued his pursuit, and what he faced next was wave after wave of ck water. Tang Jie had triggered the Water Element formation to assail him.


    The me Celestial Sovereign didn''t care, pushing through with his fire. As water and fire shed, steam filled the area. All of the ck water was evaporated without being able to hurt the me Celestial Sovereign in the slightest.


    The me Celestial Sovereign strode forward as if he had encountered no resistance.


    Farther on was the Earth Element tribtion, mighty tremors sending boulders crashing down and turning every location into a potential death trap. There was also the Wood Element tribtion, which sent thick roots and vines extending outward, joining the Earth Element in attacking the me Celestial Sovereign.


    But the me Celestial Sovereign didn''t seem to feel anything. Those elusive branches and roots were all burned to ashes by his guardian mes before they could reach him, and the crashing boulders were like gentle breezes against his barrier.


    All of Tang Jie''s traps had been useless, and even four of the Five Elements had failed. As for thest, the Fire Element, Tang Jie didn''t dare to use it, as using the Fire Element against the me Celestial Sovereign was like delivering food right to his door.


    But while the me Celestial Sovereign seemed at ease, he was inwardly furious.


    In his view, chasing down Tang Jie should have been an easy task, but Tang Jie had been more slippery than expected, and he was able to use the formation to constantly create problems.


    Although these problems weren''t lethal, they constantly wore away at his Immortal energy.


    This would be disadvantageous to him over the long term.


    The me Celestial Sovereign''s eyes viciously gleamed. "You little thief, you really think you can escape me? Die!"


    As he roared, a zing me erupted from his body, and he turned into a streak of me and charged forward.


    This me movement art was incredibly fast, leaving behind a long trail of me through the cave, with nothing being able to halt his advance. Tang Jie had set up three formation traps behind him to stop the me Celestial Sovereign so that he could increase the distance between them. However, by the time the formations activated, the me Celestial Sovereign had already left them far behind.


    Tang Jie saw all this through the Illuminating Eyes he had left behind. Stunned, he knew that this had to be some secret Divine Connection of the me Celestial Sovereign''s, but he hadn''t expected him to be so fast. As the me Celestial Sovereign came howling toward him, Tang Jie knew he was in trouble, so he clenched his teeth and threw something behind him.


    Meanwhile, the me Celestial Sovereign was closing the distance.


    He had moved faster than the speed of sound, so he arrived like a bolt of lightning, the sh of me preceding the boom of thunder.


    But the moment he appeared, the object Tang Jie had thrown out was flying toward him.


    The me Celestial Sovereign could see that it was a divine treasure.


    What had Tang Jie thrown at him?


    In the middle of the me Celestial Sovereign''s shock, the divine treasure suddenly lit up, exuding a dangerous aura.


    The me Celestial Sovereign knew that this was trouble, but he was moving too fast to stop. All he could do was put all his Immortal energy into his barrier as he rammed into the divine treasure.


    Boom! The divine treasure exploded, engulfing the me Celestial Sovereign in a massive shockwave. Spiritual energy rammed into Immortal energy, the lower-level spiritual energy inexplicably sting through the higher-level Immortal energy. The me Celestial Sovereign was thrown back as quickly as he hade.


    Bang!!!


    The me Celestial Sovereign was thrown into a stone wall. This stone wall was reinforced by the formation to be as tough as Mother Cloud Essence Metal, so the me Celestial Sovereign was dizzied by the collision.


    "Bastard!" The me Celestial Sovereign was so angry that he almost threw up blood.


    This bastard was so extravagant as to use divine treasures as explosives!


    The swine was throwing the pearls back!


    But it was precisely because all of the energy gathered within a divine treasure had been detonated all at once that it could st an Immortal tform expert back.


    A momentter, the me Celestial Sovereign pulled himself out of the wall, his Immortal energy instantly healing all the damage he had sustained. He once more turned into a streak of me while roaring, "Let''s see how many divine treasures you have!"


    He once more caught up to Tang Jie in a sh, but what awaited him was another divine treasure.


    The me Celestial Sovereign didn''t know how wealthy Tang Jie really was and hadn''t expected him to be so insane. Another explosion sent him flying back, and at this time, his words of "Let''s see how many divine treasures you have!" just reached Tang Jie''s ears.


    "Weirdo." Tang Jie smirked as he continued running. Although his heart winced from blowing up all these divine treasures, he had far more divine treasures than the me Celestial Sovereign thought he had. The Treasure Cosmos Formation diagram alone had one hundred, let alone the thirty-some upper-grade divine treasures he had gathered in the Jewel Pce.


    Even so, it still hurt to throw away those two lower-grade divine treasures. This was all money, resources! He could only hope that the me Celestial Sovereign would get a little intimidated after consuming all this Immortal energy and would stop chasing him.


    At this time, the cave exit was near.


    As Tang Jie charged out, he saw that, just like in the Verdant Cloud Domain, there was a whole underground world beyond the cave.


    In front of him was a vast sea of clouds that obscured all, as if he was in the sky. But Tang Jie knew that he was still in the Court of Myriad Domains, though he didn''t know where. Strangely, he had no memory of this ce in his mind. Perhaps the Martial Lord had never been here?


    There were both pros and cons to exiting the cave.


    The cons were that the formation lines were no longer as concentrated, so it was difficult to use the Five Elements formation against the me Celestial Sovereign. The advantage was that he had much more space and could finally let out his rabbit.


    With a wave of his hand, he called out Tutu and said, "Run!"


    Tutu was used to this routine. If he was being summoned, it meant it was time to run, so he started running without even looking at the direction.


    "Over there!" Tang Jie saw that he was running back to the cave, so he angrily turned the rabbit back around and pointed forward.


    Behind him, a red sh signaled that the me Celestial Sovereign had caught up.


    Thankfully, Tang Jie determined that the me Celestial Sovereign wasn''t as fast as light.


    He took out a third divine treasure and threw it at the cave, after which he rode away on the rabbit.


    Plumes of smoke rolled out of the cave as that figure was sted back in another explosion.


    After this, Tang Jie heard the me Celestial Sovereign cry, "I won''t let you escape!"


    Tang Jie sneered in disdain. "Viins always say such things. But to say so many ssic lines in one day¡­ you''re definitely the first."


    He had Tutu fly off.


    This was a race between Tutu and the me Celestial Sovereign.

 Chapter 867: Escape and Pursuit (3)

    Chapter 867: Escape and Pursuit (3)


    Although Tutu''s powers weren''t impressive overall, when it concerned only speed, there were truly very few people that could keep up with him.


    Tutu was frantically flying through the air.


    He had already been informed that it was an Earth Immortal chasing them, so he didn''t ck in the slightest, moving almost as quickly as the me Celestial Sovereign''s streak of me.


    But "almost as quickly" meant that he was still a little slower.


    Even though it was rather dismaying, Tang Jie had to ept this fact: even Tutu, whose specialty was speed, couldn''t escape the me Celestial Sovereign.


    Though rather than the me Celestial Sovereign instantly catching up, Tang Jie could sit on the back of the rabbit and watch that me draw closer and closer¡­


    <em>Shit!</em>


    But all the anger in the world couldn''t get Tang Jie out of his current predicament. And he knew that Tutu was doing his best. After all, Tutu had just reached Divine Division, whereas the me Celestial Sovereign was a peak Earth Immortal. The gap between them was just too big.


    Yes, peak Earth Immortal.Tang Jie''s attempts to stop him hadn''t been aplete waste, allowing him to find out just how powerful the me Celestial Sovereign really was. As he had interacted with Yun Tian for a long period of time, Tang Jie was no stranger to this level of power. It was just that only interacting with Yun Tian meant hecked reference points. This journey to the Court of Myriad Domains had let him see many more Immortal tform experts and broadened his horizons, increasing his understanding of the Immortal tform Realm even more. Just now, he had attacked several more times to continue his observations and confirm how strong this old bastard really was.


    He had confirmed that this guy was on the verge of a breakthrough, already at the peak of Earth Immortal.


    Just from how he was still giving chase, Tang Jie could tell that his reserves of Immortal energy were still healthy.


    Still, the explosions of the three divine treasures had left this peak Earth Immortal with a disheveled appearance. It had failed to lessen the hatred in his eyes, and he pursued Tang Jie like he was an obsessed lover.


    "Clingy bastard, you want to y? Fine, I''ll y with you!" Standing on Tutu''s back and staring at that approaching me, Tang Jie suddenly stopped panicking.


    He took out an item, holding it in hand as he waited for the me Celestial Sovereign to draw closer.


    Once they were close enough, Tang Jie threw it.


    The me Celestial Sovereign howled, and his barrier of Immortal energy pulsed. <em>Fwoom!</em> That item exploded in a me of light, but when it struck the barrier, it didn''t even cause a ripple.


    Startled, the me Celestial Sovereign realized that Tang Jie had only thrown an art relic.


    This bastard had tricked him again!


    But this sort of deception was useless. To save Immortal energy, the me Celestial Sovereign removed his barrier and continued the chase, but at this moment, several punches came flying out of the distance.


    The me Celestial Sovereign hadn''t expected this move from Tang Jie, and he took on the full force of the attack. Even though his Immortal body was tough, he still couldn''t match that of a body cultivator and was sent tumbling backward.


    "Tang Jie, you scoundrel!" the me Celestial Sovereign roared in anger.


    Drawing back his fist, Tang Jie muttered, "It''s been a while since someone made me act like a scoundrel."


    Yes.


    Ever since he had reached Violet Pce, his opponents had been few, and he had always been able to fight openly and honestly. It had been a long time since Tang Jie had had to be this lowly, so much so that people had forgotten that Tang Jie had gotten this far thanks to his schemes, plots, and tactics!


    <em>Fighting with you?</em>


    <em>I''m no match.</em>


    <em>But I can use all kinds of methods to weaken you, exhaust you, wear you out, numb you, until your edge is finally worn away! Then, we can fight to the death!</em>


    This was why Tang Jie hadn''t used Reflections of Floating Life.


    He wanted to fight against the me Celestial Sovereign and create the miracle of a Soul Projection cultivator beating an Immortal tform cultivator.


    In the past, no Soul Transformation cultivator had ever defeated a Violet Pce cultivator, but at least people had tried.


    A Soul Projection cultivator beating an Immortal tform cultivator was simply unimaginable. A normal Soul Projection cultivator wouldn''t even be able to stand straight in front of an Earth Immortal, let alone fight them.


    The realm separating them was an absolute wall that had existed for eons. Nobody could cross it!


    But today, Tang Jie wanted to create this new miracle.


    Of course, this miracle would not be established on fairbat.


    Tang Jie wasn''t arrogant enough to think that he could defeat an Earth Immortal in a fair duel, and he was also far from his peak form. He had just entered Soul Projection, and his body cultivator self was still in the middle phase of the Immortal Spirit Body. When he had defeated Jewel, both of his selves had been at Deification. Thus, to defeat an Immortal tform expert, he had to be at peak Soul Projection and peak Immortal Spirit.


    But just killing him didn''t require as much.


    He just needed to constantly wear down and weaken his opponent.


    First pull your opponent down to your level, and then beat him with experience!


    This was Tang Jie''s n.


    After pushing back the me Celestial Sovereign, Tang Jie conjured up the Nine Heavens Cmity des.


    Tang Jie seemed to want to reuse the strategy he had employed against the Wailing Baby.


    The me Celestial Sovereign didn''t know that Tang Jie was treating him like a fiend and trying to do some kiting, but he was also no Wailing Baby. The same methods weren''t as effective on him. With a coldugh, he said, "So even a firefly can give off a little light."


    With a snap of his fingers, a sea of fire emerged, meeting that rain of des in a fierce collision.


    There was no doubt that Tang Jie suffered a terrible defeat.


    The sea of mes sought to burn away the heavens themselves, obliterating the des before rushing toward Tang Jie.


    An ethereal giant appeared behind Tang Jie, extending a hand to suppress the sea of mes¡ªthe Heavenly King Mara Incantation! This spell art that had once cost so much energy to cast was now nothing but a simple trick to Tang Jie, but it was a hundred times more powerful. With a sweep of this giant''s arms, the sea of mes was pushed back.


    In the past, the me Celestial Sovereign would have just needed to add a little extra energy to have the sea of mes roaring back to crush his opponent.


    But they were now both moving at high speeds, so such opportunities were very brief. The ethereal giant only needed to push back the sea of fire for a moment so that Tutu could whisk Tang Jie away.


    The me Celestial Sovereign turned into a fiery streak of light to give chase, but he was weed by another round of Nine Heavens Cmity des, and the same scene reyed itself.


    The two fought and ran like this for a while, and the me Celestial Sovereign found that he actually couldn''t do much to Tang Jie.


    This was mostly because the rabbit was too fast, preventing him from attacking Tang Jie normally, with their shessting for only a second before they broke away from each other. While Soul Projection cultivators were much weaker than Immortal tform cultivators, they could still block one or two attacks. In addition, Tang Jie had grown ustomed to the pressure of Immortals through Yun Tian, so his mind couldn''t be shaken.


    As a result, while the me Celestial Sovereign could always beat down Tang Jie, the rabbit would always run fast enough that he couldn''t exploit his advantage.


    The me Celestial Sovereign actually had his own mount, but mounts normally had two functions: transportation and speed. If the mount wasn''t as fast as the master, then its only use was to serve as a means of transport over long distances. It had basically no purpose in battle.


    This was the case with the me Celestial Sovereign''s mount. Although it wasn''t exactly slow, it certainly wasn''t as fast as Tutu, which meant that it was better to not use it.


    The sight of Tang Jie being able to mess around with him thanks to his mount made the me Celestial Sovereign even more furious.


    "Kid, you really think I can''t do anything to you?" The me Celestial Sovereign took in a deep breath, sucking up his sea of mes. The me Celestial Sovereign grewrger andrger, eventually transforming into a giant that majestically towered over the world.


    Looking at the fleeing Tang Jie, the me Celestial Sovereign said in a rumbling voice, "Evil creature, there''s no escape!"


    He raised a foot and stomped at Tang Jie.


    This single step covered the world, seemingly ignoring all distance to appear directly over Tang Jie''s head. As that massive mountain-sized foot descended on him, Tang Jie''s eyes gleamed. "You think¡­ you''re the only one who knows how to turn big?"


    He threw his head back and roared, raising his arms.


    <em>Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!</em>


    As he grew two heads and four arms, his body turned into that of a giant. Though it wasn''t as imposing as the me Celestial Sovereign, it was also much more real and solid. Tang Jie raised all six of his arms upward, pressing up against the bottom of the me Celestial Sovereign''s giant foot, the impact unleashing a powerful shockwave.


    Tutu was unable to endure this terrifying force, jumping away with a scream. Tang Jie plummeted from the sky, his feet mming into the ground. The impact had the earth rippling like it was the ocean, the dirt bing soft and pliable.


    Tang Jie''s body sunk into the ground, but his arms remained held high, pushing back against the me Celestial Sovereign''s foot and leaving its owner stunned.


    Tang Jie pushed upward, throwing the me Celestial Sovereign into the air. Tang Jie used this moment to leap up, his six arms blurring as they drew out countless fantastical images as if he was the Thousand-Hand Guanyin. Ultimately, all of those countless illusory arms turned into a single arm.


    One right arm!


    And then it punched.


    "Reincarnation Strike!"


    As this berserk torrent of strength mmed into the me Celestial Sovereign, he unexpectedly found that he couldn''t block it!


    He, a mighty Earth Immortal, couldn''t block a punch from this kid!


    The heavenly wrath in this punch shattered his barrier of Immortal energy, sted apart his Immortal body.


    The me Celestial Sovereign''s enormous body of mes shattered, sending a me-colored plume of smoke rising into the air and waves of me sweeping over the earth.


    Tang Jie himself was dumbfounded by this sight.


    He knew that the Reincarnation Strike was powerful, and he had also infused it with the power of the War God Mantra, but he still hadn''t expected this strike to be that powerful.


    After a momentary daze, he began to crazilyugh.


    He had shattered an Immortal tform body with just one punch!


    What level of power was this!?


    At that moment, Tang Jie got something, and he seemed to rediscover the meaning of body cultivation.


    This one punch was enough to show that body cultivation wasn''t trash!


    The light of hope shone in his eyes.


    But a momentter, the waves of me came sweeping back, and Tang Jie saw the me Celestial Sovereign striding out of the destruction.


    His face seethed with fury, and his eyes shone with disbelief.


    An Immortal was undying and evesting!


    At this moment, Tang Jie finally understood the meaning of these words.


    To reach Violet Pce was to cast with one''s thoughts, which increased one''s offensive capabilities by tens of thousands of times. To reach Immortal tform was to be undying and evesting, which increased one''s survivability by tens of thousands of times!


    This was the gap!


    This was the difference!


    "A good punch!" the me Celestial Sovereign said in a rare expression of praise.


    No matter what, a punch that could destroy an Immortal was worthy of praise.


    But then he scowled once more. "s, such a fine punch will cease to exist from this world.


    "Now die!"


    A giant hand of mes descended.

 Chapter 868: Forging

    Chapter 868: Forging


    When Tang Jie saw the me Celestial Sovereign being reborn in the mes, he knew he was done for.


    It was no wonder a Violet Pce expert fighting an Immortal tform expert had always been something no one dared to imagine. The gap was just too big. In these current circumstances, trying to wear the me Celestial Sovereign to death was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.


    With this n having failed, Tang Jie stopped hesitating and activated the Infinite Pce.


    Retreating under the barrage of the me Celestial Sovereign''s attacks, he grabbed his heavily injured rabbit and threw him into the diagram, then flew off. Within the Mountain River State Diagram, Xu Miaoran began to pull out medicines to heal Tutu.


    Giant palms of me smashed into Tang Jie one after another, striking the pces and tearing them apart like a behemoth, the resultant shockwaves making it difficult for Tang Jie to maintain his Dao Art.


    The me Celestial Sovereign was surprised. "A Dao Art? So you do have some skill. But let''s see how far that can take you."


    He sent a finger flying like a shooting star at Tang Jie.


    Before, the me Celestial Sovereign had been going easy, but now, he was using his real strength, disying the might of an Immortal.


    This single finger pushed the Infinite Pce to the brink, and it showed clear signs of overloading. Although it was a defense formed from a Great Dao, it was not invincible. Under the me Celestial Sovereign''s unrelenting flood of heavenly might, it was gradually giving out.The me Celestial Sovereign''s finger was like the finger that Jewel had used to destroy the Infinite Pce all those years ago.


    But this time, Tang Jie didn''t need anyone to save him.


    As the finger flew through the air, Tang Jie became tens of thousands of Tang Jies.


    Reflections of Floating Life!


    The moment those countless Tang Jies appeared, they scattered in all directions.


    The me Celestial Sovereign snorted. "Trying to escape?"


    The finger also split off into tens of thousands of fingers, each of them transforming into crows of me that shot off in pursuit.


    A battle of man versus bird yed out, one crow for every man. The me Celestial Sovereign had locked onto every Tang Jie so that he couldn''t escape! But while he was strong, his illusions were far below the level of Tang Jie''s Reflections of Floating Life.


    If each of the clones created by the Reflections of Floating Life had one hundredth of Tang Jie''s power, the fire crows had only one ten-thousandth of the me Celestial Sovereign''s power, which actually made Tang Jie the stronger party. A momentter, a churning red cloud appeared in the sky, grinding away at those fire crows.


    The me Celestial Sovereign was startled. "Another Dao Art! To have entered two Daos, you''re a real genius. s, you offended me, so no matter how much of a genius you are, you must die! I''ll let you witness my Dao Art! Incinerate the World!"


    As the me Celestial Sovereign roared, his Origin me once more swept out, transforming into a boundless sea of fire that blotted out the sky.


    This was the me Celestial Sovereign''s Dao Art, "Incinerate the World".


    He had entered the Dao of Fire, and his Dao Art was much more powerful than Tang Jie''s. As he unleashed his Origin me, nothing could escape the scourge of his ze.


    There was nothing particrly profound about Incinerate the World. It simply relied on the tyrannical, berserk, neverending me to turn the entire world to cinder.


    This me melted away all metals, dried up the oceans, cracked the earth, and cast the entire world into despair. One could say that there was nothing that it could not burn, and such was its size that there was no ce to escape.


    Under this vast wildfire, Tang Jie''s Reflections of Floating Life was an utter joke. All of his clones shattered and disappeared before they even had a chance to escape.


    This secret art that had always helped him escape had been easily undone by the me Celestial Sovereign''s Dao Art.


    The fierce me didn''t stop there, rushing at Tang Jie''s original body.


    The me Celestial Sovereign felt like he could already see Tang Jie''s death, savagelyughing, "Setting aze the myriad domains, turning the entire universe into a furnace! Tang Jie, how will you stop my Incinerate the World?"


    "''Setting aze the myriad domains, turning the entire universe into a furnace''? That''s quite the boast!" Tang Jie snorted. "But there''s no need for you to make the universe your furnace. I have one right here! Let''s see if you can make this one burn!"


    With a wave of Tang Jie''s hand, an item flew out from the Mountain River State Diagram.


    The Myriad Yin Yang Furnace!


    Tang Jie had refined this furnace from Heavenly Bnce Mountain, and as Tang Jie summoned it, it assumed its original form and protected Tang Jie. Thanks to this enormous furnace, the me couldn''t reach Tang Jie.


    The me Celestial Sovereign was surprised that Tang Jie would possess such an item.


    While secretly harnessing the power of Karma, Tang Jie roared, "Hong Qianli, didn''t you want to make the universe into your furnace and set all the domains aze? Why don''t you try and melt me down first?"


    The Myriad Yin Yang Furnace was no defensive treasure. In the end, it was a furnace, and it had an opening at the top. The me Celestial Sovereign simply needed to end his Dao Art and use any other move to break through this defense. But Tang Jie''s words had provoked his temper.


    Everyone had a temper, and at times, even when one knew that they were making the wrong choice, their temper and stubbornness would still make them do it.


    The me Celestial Sovereign was doing just this, with the Dao of Karma further inming his temper, causing him to ultimately fall for Tang Jie''s provocation.


    <em>You think I can''t melt you down?</em>


    <em>Then I''ll do exactly that!</em>


    With a shake of his arms, his Origin mes began to roast the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace.


    This Origin me had been refined by studying all the mes of the world and creating from the Dao of Fire a true Great Dao me. As it began to ze away, even the violet gold from which the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace was made began to gradually melt, great beads of metal flowing down its side. If this continued, it wouldn''t be long before both it and Tang Jie were melted down.


    But Tang Jie seemed to be in no hurry, bringing out the Treasure Cosmos Formation diagram.


    The treasures within the diagram flew out, disappearing into the furnace in shes of light. In this way, they became one with the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace. As these treasures fused with the furnace, Tang Jie was also drawing various formation lines on the furnace, which stabilized its melting form.


    An onlooker who understood formations would understand that Tang Jie was drawing the Jewel Pce''s formation!


    The Jewel Pce''s formation seemed very simr to the Treasure Cosmos Formation, both using treasures as the material that allowed the formation to unleash a boundless power. They were different in that the Jewel Pce''s formation was a Dao formation while the Treasure Cosmos Formation was just an ordinary one. This difference mostly manifested in the power of the formation. The Jewel Pce''s formation could use a divine treasure to imprison an Earth Immortal, which meant multiplying the divine treasure''s power by tens of thousands of times. Meanwhile, the Treasure Cosmos Formation was the exact opposite, all the treasures within being unable to utilize their full power, relying purely on their numbers to push people around.


    Since Tang Jie had understood the Dao formation on the Wall of Dao Comprehension, he naturally had to use it. But Daos could not be transmitted, so while Tang Jie understood the formation, he didn''t understand the Dao within it. This formation without the Dao was only an empty frame.


    But not understanding the Dao within the formation was fine, for he had his own Dao.


    Nothing said that he had to use precisely the Jewel Pce''s Dao.


    But this also wasn''t an easy task. This kind of formation couldn''t be held by a formation diagram and needed a powerful medium. And even with a new medium, a powerful energy, ideally the power of a Great Dao, was needed to merge the formation with the medium. Lastly, this energy couldn''te from Tang Jie himself, because he would be busyying down the formation.


    Considering all the various difficulties, Tang Jie had quickly put the thought aside.


    He could have never imagined that the opportunity woulde so soon and so abruptly.


    The descent of the me Celestial Sovereign had brought him the external force he sorelycked, and it was the ideal Fire Element power, while the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace served as an excellent medium. Of course, violet gold alone wasn''t enough. To bring the furnace up to par, Tang Jie didn''t mind throwing all of his treasures into it, using the me Celestial Sovereign''s Origin me to melt them down into materials.


    The various spiritual materials that these treasures were made of swiftly increased the furnace''s quality as they were melted down. Not only that, Tang Jie also added in thest bit of Mother Cloud Essence Metal he possessed as well as the various precious metals from the buildings he had dismantled. As such, there was no worry about ack of materials.


    Finally, Tang Jie used the Dao of Karma to support the formation to ensure its sessfulpletion.


    The refining was the cause, and thepletion was the effect. As for the external factor that was the me Celestial Sovereign, the Dao of Karma made it so that he could only have a positive influence.


    Of course, this also meant that the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace carried the heavy marks of the Dao of Karma.


    Through all this, Tang Jie managed to forge a tool right under the eyes of the me Celestial Sovereign.


    As more and more treasures were thrown in, and more and more formation lines were drawn, the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace grew more and more solid. As the divine treasures were added into the furnace, they no longer melted away, instead being stored in the furnace in a special manner, able to be released to hurt Tang Jie''s enemies.


    It was somewhat like the Myriad Immortals Cauldron in this respect. The Myriad Immortals Cauldron sucked in fiends and let them out to attack enemies, while the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace did this for divine weapons. But while the Myriad Immortals Cauldron was strong, Tang Jie wasn''t at Immortal tform yet, so he couldn''t truly use the power of this Dao armament. Thus, Tang Jie tried to avoid using it for fear of a powerful bacsh. Moreover, to be honest, with the Imperial Sky Stamp, Tang Jie could absorb the power of fiends, which made him reluctant to put them in the Myriad Immortals Cauldron. One kind of resource could be used in two ways, and the Myriad Immortals Cauldron was the way he had not chosen, which meant it was going to waste. While it was a pity, there was nothing he could do about it.


    As for the Yin Yang Furnace, while it was weak, Tang Jie had personally forged it and couldpletely control it, and in the future, it would grow stronger as Tang Jie grew stronger.


    As the heaven-incinerating mes continued to burn, Tang Jie pped the furnace several times. With a resounding boom, the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace exploded with a dazzling light, suffused with the power of the Dao.


    "Sess!" Tang Jieughed.


    Using the power of the Fire Element, the treasures of the Treasure Cosmos Formation, and the formation of the Jewel Pce, he had finished refining the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace. Not only that, Tang Jie felt himself growing stronger in the Fire Dao¡ªhe had also entered the Dao of Five Elements, owning a small piece of primordial Fire Element, but it was like a fireflypared to the me Celestial Sovereign''s moon. However, by constantly using and absorbing the me Celestial Sovereign''s power, he had gotten a surprise bonus.


    Of course, what was most important was still the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace.


    The furnace''s eruption of light startled even the me Celestial Sovereign.


    He was no fool, so he finally realized that he had fallen for Tang Jie''s ploy and helped him forge a treasure.


    As for how he had only noticed this now?


    He didn''t know that Karma was involved, so he only felt rage and shock from falling for this ruse.


    Seeing this furnace showing signs of a nascent Dao armament, the me Celestial Sovereign was so angry that he almost threw up blood.


    "Tang Jie! You tricked me!"


    "That''s not all!" Tang Jie thunderously replied. He pped the furnace, and a divine light shot out of it.

 Chapter 869: Immortal Tomb

    Chapter 869: Immortal Tomb


    108 divine treasures rose from the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace, radiating divine light.


    This new treasure formation had only one hundredth as many treasures as the Treasure Cosmos Formation, but it was at least ten times more powerful.


    Unlike before, these divine treasures could now use their true power, and they were further empowered by the formation. Although various limitations prevented Tang Jie frompletely realizing the power of the Jewel Pce''s Dao formation, only realizing a part of it was enough.


    The 108 divine treasures lit up in unison.


    The treasures danced and gleamed in the light. There was a fiery red sword firing off searing sun beams: the Primal Yang Needle. And here were two hoops of gold and silver, rapidly spinning in the air and seeming to make the world turn around them: the Sun Moon Rings. And there was a golden brush that seemed to write thews of the world: the Spring Autumn Brush. There was also a sword that summoned tens of thousands of ethereal swords, creating an endless river of sword energy: the Myriad Immortals Sword. Here was a tree of jewels, its branches seemingly swaying among the stars and its fragrance washing over the world: the Ink Fragrance Tree. There was also a giant golden stamp that suppressed the world, a jade toad that swallowed wind and spat out fog, a ss pearl that radiated star light, phoenixes dancing, and dragons roaring.


    All of these treasures created their various phenomena, each one its unique existence with its immense power that would make others fight over it. Now, they were all joined together, and if an Immortal had been controlling them, they could have unleashed an even greater power.


    Their powers merged together into a sacred river of energy that surged toward the me Celestial Sovereign.


    The me Celestial Sovereign found that he couldn''t resist this enormous pressure.


    Unwilling to take on this attack directly, he hastily retreated.This was the first time Tang Jie had pushed the me Celestial Sovereign back.


    After all, it was 108 divine treasures. When they could use their true power, even an Immortal could only run.


    This was a victory of quantity over quality, the lower level oveing the higher level through numbers, just like how the Jewel Immortal Sovereign had shattered the Infinite Pce all those years ago.


    The band of divine energy swept through thend, wreaking havoc on thendscape and chasing the me Celestial Sovereign like he was a stray dog.


    Tang Jie grasped the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace and moved it around to keep the beam trained on his foe, ensuring that the me Celestial Sovereign couldn''t stop and catch his breath. As he inwardly raged, he moved just a little too slowly, and the divine ray ended up touching him and melting away one of his arms.


    Although he regrew the arm in a second, the pain, fear, and loss of Immortal energy were difficult for the me Celestial Sovereign to bear.


    He angrily growled, "Tang Jie, you brat, be proud! You''ve forced me to use this!"


    He took out a t-topped crown.


    This was a gilded crown with twenty-four tassels, twelve each hanging from the back and front, all made from thirty-six kinds of Immortal silk. Each tassel was also strung through twelve pieces of colored jade, in the sequence of red, white, blue, yellow, and ck. The red consisted of Everfrost Red Jade, the white was wless Mutton Fat Jade, the blue was Clear Sky Jade, the yellow was Boundless Southern Qiang Jade, and the ck was Great Dao Inksnow Jade. Each of these had wondrous uses, and they pulsed with a divine power that shook Tang Jie''s mind.


    The me Celestial Sovereign put on the t-topped crown, upon which a five-colored light engulfed him.


    As the divine ray from the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace fell upon him, the me Celestial Sovereign didn''t try to run. That seemingly unstoppable divine ray finally met its match, unable to break through that five-colored light. Mystical runes began to light up on the crown, and some of the divine light began to be reflected back to Tang Jie, causing him to hastily dodge.


    "A Dao armament!" Tang Jie shouted.


    This crown was clearly a Dao armament, one which specialized in defense and counterattacking.


    Tang Jie remembered something. When the me Celestial Sovereign had been searching for the Treasure Paradise, after he finally found it, he only found four of its original five Dao armaments. The Qian Kun Bag, Divine Genesis, and the Yin Yang Division Sword had all merged with the Treasure Paradise, so the me Celestial Sovereign took thest one.


    That was probably this crown.


    To be honest, the me Celestial Sovereign wasn''t a good fit for a defensive Dao armament like this, but Dao armaments were too hard to find to be picky about them. After several thousand years of searching, the me Celestial Sovereign had finally obtained one, and he treasured it dearly, being very reluctant to use it. After all, there were many Immortals stronger than he was, and if some True Immortal or Gold Immortal took a liking to it and took it, he would be helpless to stop it.


    But he hadn''t expected that a puny Tang Jie would force him to use his Dao armament, which left him particrly angry.


    ring at Tang Jie, the me Celestial Sovereign snarled, "Brat, let''s see what else you have! Go!"


    A beam of fire shot toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie could see that this was none other than the Deicide me!


    During that chase in the Celestial me Pagoda, while the me Celestial Sovereign had failed to kill Tang Jie, he had seized half of the Deicide me. Now, in the hand of the me Celestial Sovereign, the Deicide me was about the size of a pill, twinkling like an ember, a flickering candle me. But Tang Jie knew that this small me was extremely lethal, and considering that the me Celestial Sovereign had entered the Dao of Fire, granting him a tyrannical Origin me, the two made for a terrifyingbination.


    As the Deicide me approached, Tang Jie immediately pped the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace, sending a divine ray of light at the Deicide me to stop it from approaching.


    At the same time, Tang Jie rapidly retreated, at the same time shouting, "Hurry ande out!"


    Tutu flew out of the Mountain River State Diagram.


    It seemed that Xu Miaoran''s emergency treatment had seeded in bringing him back up to full health. But he was still as much of a coward as ever and knew that a fierce battle was taking ce, so he continued to y dead. s, Xu Miaoran and Yiyi wouldn''t let him keep up the act and had already notified Tang Jie.


    Now that Tang Jie was done fighting the me Celestial Sovereign, it was time for this rabbit to get back to work.


    Tutu tumbled through the air as he grew into a giant rabbit and began to fly.


    Tang Jie jumped onto his back, and the rabbit set off.


    While the Deicide me was strong, it wasn''t fast, not even considering that the divine ray was holding it back. Thus, Tang Jie managed to get farther and farther away from it.


    The me Celestial Sovereign was furious but helpless. He could only put away the Deicide me and transform into a streak of me, resuming the chase.


    While chasing, the me Celestial Sovereign inwardly cursed.


    His t-topped crown was incredible when it came to defense, able to block all kinds of spell arts and even bounce them back. Its Dao was that of Interchange, under Yin Yang, the shield to the Yin Yang Division Sword''s spear. The two had been born for each other.


    But it was extremelycking in offensive attributes. It was fine for use against powerful foes, but it wasn''t very useful against slippery rascals like Tang Jie. If he had had some more offensive Dao armament, then a single strike would most likely have killed Tang Jie, regardless of how tough his body was. The uselessness of his crown now that Tang Jie had run off left him with a suffocating feeling.


    Still, he had to give chase. The me Celestial Sovereign loathed Tang Jie and would never let him go, and they began to reenact their battle from before.


    But they each had new tools, the me Celestial Sovereign with his crown and Tang Jie with the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace¡ªpowerful defense versus powerful offense. While the attack couldn''t prate the me Celestial Sovereign''s defense, it could keep Tang Jie safe.


    Dazzling explosions of light filled the air, thunder rumbled, the clouds churned, and winds howled as the two shed.


    This went on for an entire day.


    This world beneath the Court of Myriad Domains was ratherrge,rge enough that even an Immortal could fly around for an entire day without reaching its end.


    During this day, Tang Jie used everything he had: the Infinite Pce, Law Speaking, Split-Second Youth, the Combat Emperor Catalog! When facing an existence of the me Celestial Sovereign''s level, he had to use all that he could.


    He didn''t use the Ten Extinctions de or Skyrend Swordfall¡ªnot because he was saving them as trump cards, but because attacking was useless. Rather than wasting Dao power on them, it was better to focus his energy on recovery.


    The only things he actually kept hidden were the Sovereign de and one other item.


    Those were Tang Jie''sst hopes, and he wouldn''t use them until the veryst moment.


    At the same time, Yun Tian, Huang Wuji, the Heaven''s Equal Sect, the Ster Net Gate, and that demon were also arriving at this underground world. As they walked through this world, they marveled at its immensity and began to search for its secrets. On the other hand, Yun Tian was doing his best to go after Tang Jie and save him, but Tang Jie and the me Celestial Sovereign had flown too far, and he needed to constantly lock onto Tang Jie''s location, which also affected his speed. Thus, while he was a True Immortal, he was still too far to help.


    Tang Jie knew that it would be extremely hard for Yun Tian to save him, so he could only keep flying. After flying for quite a while, he suddenly spotted a massive mound in the distance.


    Tang Jie initially took it for a mountain, but when he got closer, he saw that it was actually a tomb.


    This towering tomb was made entirely from jade and thickly covered in formation lines. In front of it stood a giant tombstone.


    Giant words had been written on the stone, exuding an endless majesty:


    "Here Lies the Chaos Immortal Sovereign, the Master of Karma and Spacetime, the Virtuous and Sagely Lord of All Realms and Immortals, Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng!"


    The tomb of Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng!


    These words dumbfounded Tang Jie.

 Chapter 870: Small World

    Chapter 870: Small World


    Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng was a legendary existence of the Great Ster Chiliocosm, the Dao-Proving Saint Immortal, the master of the Great Dao, the Immortal Emperor of the Myriad Court! This string of titles defined him as one of the strongest individuals of the Great Ster Chiliocosm over the eons. As the vanquisher of the Primordial Fog and the founder of the Court of Myriad Domains, he was the object of admiration for countless juniors.


    When Tang Jie had witnessed the shattering of the court through the Martial Mirror, he had wondered why Yu Cheng hadn''t appeared.


    When he saw this massive tomb, Tang Jie understood that Yu Cheng had been dead by that time.


    The mighty Immortal Emperor had died?


    And he had died without the slightest disturbance.


    How had he died? How could he have died? Was even a Dao-Proving Saint Immortal yet to reach true longevity?


    Tang Jie couldn''t understand.


    But he also didn''t have the time to understand.


    In the distance, the me Celestial Sovereign was still hot on his heels, his reserves of Immortal energy seemingly endless. Wearing that crown on his head, he shot toward Tang Jie like a fiery lightning bolt.Tang Jie nced at the approaching me Celestial Sovereign, that ever-expanding me, and then he looked at the tomb.


    There was a massive set of double doors at the base of the tomb, standing ten thousand feet high and etched with numerous lifelike images.


    Shockingly, the doors were open.


    These two giant doors had not been shut but had been left slightly ajar. Behind them was an endless darkness, like the maw of some beast.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie rushed into the tomb without hesitation.


    The me Celestial Sovereign also saw this. After some initial surprise from seeing the tomb of Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng, heughed and said, "Good, good! Since it''s the tomb of the Immortal Emperor, it must hold immense treasure. This Immortal tomb is mine! Tang Jie, by daring to enter the tomb, you''re digging your own grave!"


    The me streaked toward the tomb.


    As he flew into the tomb, he saw that there was another dimension with the tomb, the inside many timesrger than what the outside indicated, and theyout was extremelyplicated.


    As the me Celestial Sovereign looked around, he spotted Tang Jie up ahead.


    He grunted, "You''re not going anywhere!"


    He shot forward.


    But as he did, an arrow shot out from a nearby wall.


    The arrow seemed rather ordinary, but the me Celestial Sovereign felt like it posed an enormous threat.


    His sense for danger had already saved him countless times, so he immediately activated the crown. As the arrow mmed into the crown''s barrier, it exploded in dazzling colors.


    This small arrow had been packed with power.


    Besides that, extremely toxic ck smoke billowed out of the arrow. The me Celestial Sovereign, with his vast experience, could tell at a nce that this poison could melt even an Immortal''s body into liquid. He came to the realization that the tomb of the Immortal Emperor was peppered with traps and was no ce to be reckless.


    This was only right and proper for the tomb of the Immortal Emperor. The traps here had to be calibrated against intruders of the Immortal level, and the arrow just now was probably the weakest kind of trap.


    With this understanding, the me Celestial Sovereign didn''t dare to be careless. He cautiously advanced while privately grumbling¡ªif even he had to be so careful in this tomb, how could Tang Jie run around so freely? Moreover, he seemed to be causing quite the ruckus, the tomb asionally shuddering with triggered traps.


    Suddenly, he recalled how Tang Jie could produce countless clones.


    This damn Tang Jie! He must have used one of his clones to scout the path, and the Tang Jie he had seen earlier was no doubt one of them. This bastard had intentionally drawn him into a trap, the cunning scoundrel.


    But he also knew cloning arts.


    The me Celestial Sovereign threw out a ball of me, which split off into numerous clones that advanced forward.


    The me Celestial Sovereign followed behind his clones, but he didn''t get far before a lightning bolt suddenly shot toward him. This single lightning bolt contained so much power that it had gone from being light to solid, a spear aimed straight at him.


    The me Celestial Sovereign didn''t dare to take this attack directly, once more relying on the crown to defend him. The impact produced wave after wave of spiritual energy that lit up half of the tomb. In the distance, Tang Jie''sughter rang out in delight over the me Celestial Sovereign''s suffering.


    The me Celestial Sovereign gnashed his teeth in fury, and when he looked at his three clones, he saw that they were going forward, the traps ignoring them. He knew that his clones weren''t high enough of a level to draw the traps.


    This damn Tang Jie¡ªeven his cloning art was a Dao Art!


    He knew that imitating Tang Jie to chase him down would be very difficult. He hated Tang Jie down to the bone, but he was also worried that Tang Jie would steal all the treasures, so he snarled, "You have your cloning art, but I have my impregnable Dao armament! Let''s see which of us is faster!"


    He activated the crown, intending to rely on the crown to push through this passage of death.


    Not far from him, Tang Jie slowly got up from the ground, holding a sharp needle.


    This needle had just pierced through one of his clones, unleashing a terrifying killing power. But when Tang Jie had drawn that needle into his hand, he found that it was just a needle made from Mother Cloud Essence Metal, with no other special attributes.


    Of course, Mother Cloud Essence Metal was extremely valuable, but this was the tomb of the Immortal Emperor, and such a metal was clearly insufficient for traps meant to kill Immortals. Tang Jie thought that such traps would be at least at the divine treasure level, but they were somehow worse than those of the Jewel Pce.


    To disy such power, it either had to be coated in poison or empowered by a formation.


    It was the tomb''s formation, endowing all objects with a powerful piercing attribute.


    For some reason, this piercing attribute felt very familiar to Tang Jie.


    It was like¡­ the Sovereign de.


    Butpared to the Sovereign de, these methods using formations and poison were clearly less developed, which left Tang Jie confused.


    Had the Martial Lord made this tomb for the Immortal Emperor?


    He shook his head andughed.


    This was clearly impossible. The Martial Lord had shattered the court¡ªa clear sign that he was opposed to the Immortal Emperor. Considering that the Immortal Emperor was probably connected to what had happened with the Pearl Lady, the Martial Lord probably considered him a mortal enemy, so rather than making him a tomb, sending him into the tomb was more likely.


    Perhaps it was the Martial Lord who had killed the Immortal Emperor. He was the only one who had this ability.


    For some reason, Tang Jie had an indescribable confidence in the Martial Lord.


    He instinctively believed that if there was one person who could kill the Immortal Emperor, it was the Martial Lord.


    After confirming that the needle was now safe, Tang Jie put it away and continued forward, asionally splitting off clones to probe the way forward.


    Tang Jie''s Dao Art clones were truly a cheat code for this maze. This maze had many dangerous traps that could kill even Immortals, but Tang Jie casually strolled through it without the slightest concern, without encountering a single mishap.


    Even he was surprised by how smoothly things were going.


    Of course, he wasn''tpletely idle. He knew that Yun Tian''s group was following behind him, so he used Heart Consonance to contact him and transmit a path that they could traverse. So long as they took the road he had taken, they would encounter no danger.


    At the same time, Tang Jie inspected the maze''s formation.


    As a formation that could kill even Immortals, it naturally had its outstanding attributes, and Tang Jie wouldn''t be Tang Jie if he didn''t study it. Although the formation was hidden within the maze, such measures were nothing to his Celestial Eye.


    Through the Celestial Eye, Tang Jie quickly found the formation lines, and what was a maze within a tomb quickly became a giant formation.


    Tang Jie picked a spot and began to study it, and was quickly engrossed, almost losing track of time. Fortunately, the explosions created by the me Celestial Sovereign barging his way through reminded him that he was still being chased, and he parted from the formation as reluctantly as from a lover before continuing his advance.


    Still, he had gotten something useful from his research. He had found that the maze''s formation was quite suitable for his Infinite Pce.


    The Infinite Pce presented an impregnable defense on the outside while the inside was brimming with danger. s, he had never dared to do this, because if his internal measures failed to kill his opponent, he would be directly exposed to them.


    Thus, for a long time now, the Infinite Pce''s offensive abilities against people within it had seemed rather useless.


    But after studying the maze formation, Tang Jie felt like he could use it to make up for the shorings of the Ster Net Astral Demon Formation, and if he did it well, he could improve his Dao Art and bring it closer to perfection.


    As he thought and walked, he emerged from the maze into an open area.


    In front of him was a forest, and in the distance was a surging river. There was even a crimson sun hanging in the sky, and a majestic mountain looming on the horizon.


    He had guessed that some sort of dimension warping had been applied to the Immortal Emperor''s tomb, making the space insiderger than it seemed, but when he saw the truth, he was still left stunned. This was no tomb, but its own independent world.


    <em>An independent world?</em>


    Tang Jie shuddered.


    "Could this be¡­"


    He looked around and shouted, "The Immortal Emperor''s small world!"

 Chapter 871: Otherworldly Paradise

    Chapter 871: Otherworldly Paradise


    It was difficult to describe a small world in words.


    For a cultivator, a small world was both past and future, the ruiner of wealth and the foundation of prosperity, the beginning of the Great Dao and the end of the Great Dao!


    It was an object of both love and hatred.


    It was loved because the small world was the most worthwhile investment one could find.


    It was a real world that truly belonged to oneself, and it could offer the owner endless wealth in the future. For example, the Martial Lord''s hidden realm could serve as a base for resources, and for raising fiends, a Mustard Seed Bag of infinite capacity, or even a ce toprehend the Great Dao.


    But it also required boundless investment, and until it was nurtured to maturity, it was basically useless.


    Tang Jie had stuffed an endless amount of resources into his own giant Mustard Seed Bag, and the only time he had really used it was in his battle with the Blood River Lord. At the time, he had been able to wield the power of Violet Pce while still at Celestial Heart, which was quite refreshing, but the consequences on the small world had been severe, and he had needed to double the resources he had used.


    Even now, his small world had just developed a basic system, and for the sake of its future development, he was very unwilling to use it. Inparison, the Jewel Immortal Sovereign''s small world had shallow foundations which didn''t require much investment, so she was able to quickly put it to work. Of course, this meant that its power was limited. Still, Tang Jie had just barely managed to emerge victorious in their battle.


    He hadn''t expected to see a whole small world turned into a tomb.This small world was brimming with life, more like an otherworldly paradise than a tomb. From a distance, he could even make out someone belting out a song as they rowed their boat.


    Tang Jie flew in the direction of this sound and soon saw a vige. These vigers seemed to be in the middle of a festival, and from the look of it, all of them were mortals.


    After listening for a while, Tang Jie gained a rough understanding of their tones and pronunciations, which he confirmed to be a nativenguage not found in the outside world.


    For some reason, Tang Jie felt an innate closeness to them. Descending from the sky, he transformed his appearance and headed into the vige.


    Several vigers and some children ying around by the vige entrance spotted him and immediately ran off into the vige like they had seen a ghost. Tang Jie was unsurprised, perhaps seeking this very effect. Arge group of people soon rushed out of the vige, gawking at Tang Jie curiously. But they didn''t carry any kind of weapons, which had to mean that they didn''t live very dangerous lives and weren''t very wary around strangers.


    An old man holding a cane walked out of the crowd and said in a trembling voice, "Guest, where do you hail from?"


    Tang Jie had already used a secret art so that he could understand what they were saying, and he replied in the same tongue, "From the world outside."


    "''The world outside''?" The crowd grew restless.


    Someone loudly said, "I knew it! There had to be an outside world! All of you didn''t believe me, but now look! I was right!"


    The vigers were in an uproar.


    Thus, they invited Tang Jie into the vige so that he could talk about the outside world.


    Although he knew the me Celestial Sovereign was still chasing him, he felt like the Immortal Emperor''s small world was rather strange for having this group of people who didn''t cultivate. After all, this was his small world, rich in spiritual energy and possessing all the requirements for cultivation. Back in the Mountain River State Diagram, there were already creatures on the central ind that were starting to cultivate. For someone as powerful as Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng, to say that his small world had a country of cultivators wouldn''t be strange at all, perhaps with a limitation that nobody could cultivate above Violet Pce. Only that befitted his status.


    But the mighty Immortal Emperor had only a single vige? It was a little too crude.


    Tang Jie wanted to understand why, so he entered the vige.


    In the vige, he was served tea.


    The tea leaves were grown by the vige from some sort of dark nt, but it was rather fragrant, and the tea was clear. Tang Jie sipped a little and found it sweet, but nothing amazing.


    The vigers surrounded Tang Jie and questioned him about the outside world.


    After some thought, Tang Jie chose to answer some of the questions while gathering information on the vige.


    As expected, the vigers had lived here for generations, and as there were no seasons here, they knew nothing about the passage of time. But they had heard from their ancestors that they were not natives of thisnd and hade from the outside world, so they had known a little about the outside world. Through the passage of time, such matters came to only exist in their records, and the vigers that were born here had no impression of the outside. This vige had seen countless generations over the centuries, but the same could not be said of those records, which crumbled away over time, and the vigers gradually lost their knowledge of the outside world. What remained was a myth, a legend that existed only in the memories of the distant past and in their dreams.


    It was only today, with Tang Jie''s appearance, that everyone learned that there really was a bigger world out there, full of new and interesting things.


    "So you are the only people in this ce?" Tang Jie asked.


    The vigers nodded.


    They had explored this small world before, and it turned out that it was much smaller than Tang Jie had imagined. The vigers had long ago measured this ce with their own two feet. In their eyes, the world was only so big, and they couldn''t imagine anythingrger, much less and without any kind of boundaries. For them, the world had an end.


    Tang Jie asked what this end was like.


    The vigers gestured and said that it was a transparent barrier. Though it was transparent, they couldn''t see the outside world through it.


    Tang Jie was bbergasted, and he felt that there was something fishy.


    His Mountain River State Diagram also had a boundary, yet it was no transparent barrier, but the void, which could be expanded into. However, he had seen a transparent barrier like this before, around the Martial Lord''s hidden realm!


    For some reason, Tang Jie felt that this was all connected, but he had no evidence for it.


    He asked a few more questions, but these vigers, living in this limited space, had limited experience and really didn''t know much. They only knew that this dimension was rather bounded, having only this mountain and this river.


    Tang Jie found it hard to believe that such a small space would be the Immortal Emperor''s tomb. It had to be understood that his own Mountain River State Diagram was a hundred timesrger. Even without using dimension warping, the exterior of the tomb indicated somethingrger.


    <em>Hold on!</em>


    Tang Jie suddenly had an idea.


    He recalled how his own Mountain River State Diagram had a bunch of creatures living on the central ind, and while they believed that there was a bigger world outside, they had never once left their ind.


    For them, the ind was everything. Let alone the world outside the diagram, even the world inside the diagram was something they had never experienced.


    Tang Jie seemed to understand.


    There had to be a path leading to an unknown region in this ce.


    He quickly asked the vigers.


    His question immediately bore fruit. The biggestndmark here was the mountain in the distance. The mountain was covered year-round in clouds which crackled with lightning. People had once tried to reach the summit, but they had been scared away by the lightning, and ording to the vigers, nobody in all their history had ever made it.


    Thus, a rumor spread in the vige that anyone who reached the summit would be able to go to the outside world.


    Brave vigers who knew no fear had attempted this feat, and none of them ever returned. Had they seeded in reaching the other side, or had they gone to the afterlife instead?


    For a long time now, that high mountain had been a forbidden ground.


    Hearing this, Tang Jie knew that this mountain was most likely the path to heaven, though "heaven" in this case was the deeperyer of this small world.


    He hadn''t expected the Immortal Emperor''s world to also be multiyered.


    Now that Tang Jie knew where to go, he didn''t linger and set off.


    Before leaving, he advised the vigers that this ce was dangerous and that they should move.


    But most of the vigers were used to living here and were unwilling to leave. Tang Jie didn''t force them, only bringing the willing into the Mountain River State Diagram, giving them a new home, with Xu Miaoran and the others there to take care of them.


    This was the vigers'' first time seeing the feats of an Immortal, and they prostrated in fear. Many more vigers changed their minds after seeing this, more willing to follow an Immortal.


    But there were still some old and stubborn ones who refused to leave.


    Again, Tang Jie didn''t force the issue. In truth, the best choice here was to kill them so that they didn''t divulge any information to the me Celestial Sovereign, but this idea didn''t even ur to him.


    Tang Jie wasn''t the same Tang Jie of the past. In the past, he was willing to do anything to win, but now, he knew what should be done and what shouldn''t be done. Everyone had a life. He would do his best to offer aid, but when people chose their own Fate, he would not go out of his way to protect them. This was his current attitude.


    After leaving the remaining vigers, Tang Jie flew toward that high mountain.


    As he flew closer, the details of the mountain became apparent.


    It was a tall mountain with steep sides, and the clouds covering its peaks seemed to spiral into a giant vortex.


    For some reason, Tang Jie found this vortex and mountain to be very familiar.


    It was like he had seen them before.


    Suddenly, a scene shed before his eyes.


    It was from his time in the Blood River Domain.


    A tall mountain covered by clouds, a vortex formed above!


    Wasn''t this what he had seen in the Heavenly Simtion Formation?


    Tang Jie shuddered.


    Was he wrong about its conclusion? Was that predicted scene only happening now?


    If this was true, if he tried to fly, would a fingere down and pulverize him?


    He hesitantly looked up at the clouds.


    At this moment, there was a sh of fire in the distance.


    He knew without even looking back that the me Celestial Sovereign had caught up.

 Chapter 872: Finger

    Chapter 872: Finger


    The me Celestial Sovereign stared at Tang Jie, his eyes full of hatred.


    At this moment, he was in a bedraggled state, not appearing at all like an Immortal. An Immortal would not leave their body so filthy, but that fierce ordeal had cost him a great deal of energy. Besides that, the dejection on his face was a far greater indicator of his downtrodden state than his clothes.


    While the maze''s traps yed arge part in pushing a peak Earth Immortal this far, in the end, it was all Tang Jie''s fault. Whenever he thought about how Tang Jie had gotten him into this miserable state, he couldn''t help but gnash his teeth.


    Tang Jie was totally unaware of this, looking up at the vortex.


    He knew that this was the entrance to a mysterious world, but if he flew there, he might be facing some immense danger.


    Even so, Tang Jie still made up his mind to go in. After all, the me Celestial Sovereign left him with few other options.


    But before going in, Tang Jie used the Reflections of Floating Life to create a clone to fly into the vortex and test for attacks.


    His clone was created from a Dao Art, the highest level of clone, so theoretically, there was nothing that could see through it, and it would trigger any possible traps.


    But his clone flew all the way to the vortex without triggering any traps. However, the moment his clone entered the clouds, it shattered. Tang Jie felt a strange power severing his Great Dao power so that he couldn''t maintain the clone.This left Tang Jie bbergasted. Had his Dao Art been seen through, or were there simply no traps?


    But he couldn''t shake the image of the finger obliterating him.


    After some thought, he came up with a n: to separate his body cultivator original body andw cultivator avatar.


    He didn''t use his Dao Art this time, truly separating himself into two.


    If there was really danger in the vortex, a finger waiting to crush him, then he stood a better chance of escaping with two bodies. Most importantly, this created a scene different from what he had witnessed in the formation¡ªif one wanted to prevent a prophecy froming true, the best option was not to do everything one could to avoid it, as that was liable to make one walk straight into it. Instead, it was best to alter the details that were the easiest to change.


    When the details changed, it meant that the future had also changed.


    The Heavenly Simtion Formation couldn''t determine his Fate, for he was also proficient in Fate!


    As the me drew ever closer, two Tang Jies flew upward.


    The vortex turned, waiting for Tang Jie like an open mouth. Thew cultivator Tang Jie charged into the vortex first.


    No finger came down to obliterate him, and Tang Jie found another dimension through the vortex.


    Before he could inspect his surroundings, he suddenly felt something on his body shift and fly out.


    When he saw what it was, he paled.


    It was Immortal Ji Yao''s finger!


    As the finger flew out, it jabbed at his original body below.


    This was exactly the same as the vision Tang Jie had received.


    Immortal Ji Yao''s slender finger grewrger andrger, bing a pir of heaven as it mmed down, and his original body could only look up at that finger in shock and despair.


    "NO!" Tang Jie shouted.


    A momentter, the finger smashed into the original body''s head, its terrifying power obliterating the original body.


    "NO!" Tang Jie cried out as he pointed at the shattering original body.


    Split-Second Youth!


    Through Split-Second Youth, the original body was fixed at the moment of shattering.


    He pointed his finger again.


    Dao of Yin Yang, conversation between Life and Death!


    Many years ago, in his battle with He Chong in the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, the original body had been killed by the Divine Will of a Godhead. At the time, the avatar Tang Jie had used the Life and Death Dao Will of the Dao of Yin Yang together with the Dao of Life to revive his original body.


    But this time, the original''s physical body was not resurrected, and what remained were countless motes of starlight that neither scattered nor came together.


    Tang Jie knew that this was because the original body''s life force was too strong, so strong that he didn''t have the power to revive it.


    He instantly made the decision to have the Dao of Life extract life force from his avatar and transfer it to the original body.


    At the same time, the elegant finger, still with excess power, continued forward, this time taking aim at the me Celestial Sovereign, who hade up behind him.


    The me Celestial Sovereign had never expected this development, and his crown erupted with rainbow light to protect him as the finger sted toward him.


    This was the finger of a Boundless Gold Immortal, further empowered to unimaginable levels by the vortex, and even the light of the Dao armament couldn''t stop it. On the contrary, a grayish-ck energy appeared on the finger, making it a sharp de that began to slice through the barrier.


    "The ughter Dao! The Great Severing!" the me Celestial Sovereign shrieked.


    The Great Severing of the ughter Dao was the best method for destroying barriers, destroying it down to the root. When barriers were broken in other ways, one could only guarantee that one''s current attack would strike, but when the Great Severing destroyed a barrier, it would obliterate the barrier and make it unusable for a long period of time.


    But this Dao Art had only been in use during High Antiquity, and very few people could use it now, so why could this giant finger do so?


    Could the Immortal Emperor still be alive?


    This thought almost scared the soul out of the me Celestial Sovereign, and he retreated as quickly as he could.


    The finger shrieked as it swept through the crown''s barrier, cutting through it like an electric chainsaw, but it was a little slow, allowing the me Celestial Sovereign to dart away in his streak of me. The finger was thus only able to brush against his body, causing the me Celestial Sovereign to throw up a mouthful of blood rich in Immortal energy before vanishing.


    The finger didn''t give chase, retreating.


    It went back into the vortex, shrinking back down to its original size andnding in Tang Jie''s hand.


    "Damn it!" Tang Jie, who was busy reviving the original, grabbed the finger and threw it far away, after which he threw up a mouthful of blood and pushed it toward the original body.


    This blood contained all of his power and Dao Will, all of it mindlessly thrown out.


    There was a boom, and the ce where the original body was erupted with starlight.


    Amidst this blinding starlight, an immense energy stirred.


    Tang Jie sensed that this was Immortal Essence.


    The little bit of Immortal Essence the original body had cultivated through the Immortal Spirit Body had suddenly appeared, expanding at a rapid pace.


    But to his surprise, this rush of energy suddenly began to copse.


    It was imploding!


    Gradually, it became something like a ck hole, rotating in the air.


    Gradually, a human shape began to form around the ck hole.


    It was Tang Jie.


    He had appeared once more.


    Like one of those undying Immortals, he emerged from the void, and that ck hole began to fade, vanishing into his heart.


    The original body had been revived.


    At this moment, the finger in the distance suddenly began to fly back.


    "No!" Tang Jie angrily shouted, rushing to the vortex, willing to use his own body as a shield. At the same time, he mentally messaged the original body to quickly leave.


    He had expended almost all of his life force to rescue the original body. While he was a Soul Projection Celestial Sovereign, he had burned his life force down to almost nothing. The finger only needed to brush him to finish him off.


    But to his surprise, when he blocked the vortex, the finger stopped. Instead of attacking Tang Jie, it flew about, looking for a way to get past.


    Tang Jie was startled.


    He didn''t understand what was going on. Looking back, he saw that not only had his original body not left, it was angrily ring upward, its eyes abnormally red.


    It was a murderous red that was aimed upward.


    Tang Jie was aghast, and only now did he realize that there was seemingly some sort of barrier between him and the soul in the original body, preventing them frommunicating with each other.


    Even so, Tang Jie still felt an intense hatred from the original body.


    It was hatred that reached to the heavens, with roots reaching deep into the oceans.


    Why did his original body have such hatred?


    Tang Jie didn''t know.


    And then he realized that this wasn''t the will of the original body, but the Martial Lord!


    The Martial Lord''s hatred for Yu Cheng was being manifested through the original body. But why was this happening?


    Had the Martial Lord really been reborn in his original body? Or was the Martial Lord so strong that he could manifest his will through the strength he had left behind?


    Tang Jie was rmed.


    Having not reached that level yet, Tang Jie didn''t dare to draw conclusions.


    Regardless, Tang Jie couldn''t watch his original body get itself killed, so he urged it to leave.


    Finally, the original body seemed to sense the avatar''s will. After onest re, he turned and began to descend.


    Only then did Tang Jie exhale in relief.


    "I see now. What you were rejecting was only the Martial Lord''s strength?" Tang Jie muttered.


    While the finger was strong, what was controlling it was not Immortal Ji Yao''s will, but an existence buried deep within this tomb.


    He didn''t know what sort of grudges existed between Yu Cheng and the Martial Lord, but it was clear that they held an immense loathing for each other, so that even the powers they had left behind were mutually hostile.


    Or at least Tang Jie hoped that it was only their powers.


    With the original body gone, the finger flew in a circle before returning to Tang Jie.


    This glossy finger seemed much more drab now, and the bright red wound was much darker. It was clear that much of the finger''s power had been expended. Even so, this finger had been able to severely injure the me Celestial Sovereign, giving Tang Jie a little taste of a Boundless Gold Immortal''s terrifying power.


    He could only imagine how strong a Dao-Proving Saint Immortal was, or the Martial Lord when he had destroyed the court.


    All these matters were beyond his knowledge and understanding.


    All he could do was take a look at where he was. Only now did he truly have time for this.

 Chapter 873: Remote Antiquity

    Chapter 873: Remote Antiquity


    Behind the vortex was a void, with tiny points of starlight in the distance, akin to countless small worlds. Tang Jie felt like he had really ascended from the mountain to space.


    Not far from Tang Jie, a star was twinkling.


    Tang Jie looked at the star, and the star seemed to sense Tang Jie and began to approach him.


    Thus, Tang Jie flew over, but while that star seemed close, he actually needed quite a while to finally reach its side. There, he found that it was actually an asteroid, bright from a distance but rather unremarkable up close.


    Tang Jiended on the asteroid, and that asteroid began to fly through space, taking him to another giant rock.


    Tang Jie realized what he had to do and jumped onto the rock. The asteroid that had taken him here flew in a circle and went back the way it hade, while the new rock whisked Tang Jie away. A whileter, it paused next to two rocks.


    Tang Jie finally had an idea of what was going on, but he couldn''t be too certain. Looking left and right, he finally stepped onto the rock on the left. His former asteroid returned to its location while the new one shot off, flying here and there before arriving at a set of nine asteroids.


    Tang Jie was now certain that this was a maze. Compared to the maze from before, it was evenrger and moreplicated. Tang Jie didn''t know how many of these transportation asteroids there were, but recalling all those stars he had seen, he estimated that their numbers were in the tens of millions.


    Tang Jie recalled that there was a formation from High Antiquity called the Celestial Maze Formation, drawing inspiration from the stars to create a massive maze. This was very likely to be the formation he was dealing with. When this formation wasplete, there was a fixed method of traversing it. One wrong step would render every step after it a mistake.Guessing one''s way through was out of the question. All of these asteroids were constantly changing positions, making it impossible to get through unless one used the proper method. And flying through space was also out of the question. Putting aside the vastness of thebyrinth space, there were also dangers hidden in the void. This danger came in all shapes and forms, all of it dependent on the mood and strength of the person who hadid down the formation. Considering that this was the Immortal Emperor''s tomb, Tang Jie was under no illusions that he could push through with brute force.


    Once Tang Jie understood that this was a maze formation, he rxed.


    He was a formation expert, and solving formations was his specialty. Thus, he chose an asteroid and let it take him away, also making a mark on it. At the same time, in the Mountain River State Diagram, a star chart appeared. Whenever Tang Jie traveled on an asteroid, a corresponding mark would appear on the board so that Tang Jie could analyze them.


    This was long and slow work. Solving a formation meant first understanding how it operated before taking it apart. The more one wanted to take shortcuts, the less likely one was to seed. But Tang Jie ended up taking far more time than he had imagined.


    Tang Jie began to drift about this sea of stars, patiently recording every asteroid he rode and calcting their position and path.


    Initially, Tang Jie thought that he would quickly figure out how the formation worked, but he soon realized that this ce was far bigger than he had imagined, and itsplexity left him horrified. Just recording the stars took him ages.


    Fortunately, through his original body outside, Tang Jie knew that the flow of time was very differentpared to the outside world. Time here was elerated to a hundred times faster than normal, such that one day outside was one hundred days inside.


    This meant that Tang Jie could solve the formation in peace.


    In this seemingly ageless sea of stars, Tang Jie quietly worked away, until one day, Tang Jie felt a ripple as if someone had thrown a rock into a calmke.


    Tang Jie focused and found that the me Celestial Sovereign hade in.


    After being injured by the finger, he had recuperated on the outside, and he was probably going in now that he had recovered. s, the finger was no longer there to push him out again.


    Although the me Celestial Sovereign hade in, Tang Jie was unconcerned and continued to work away on his analysis. This maze formation was huge, and the chances they ran into each other were basically nil.


    The me Celestial Sovereign was delighted now that he was inside.


    He didn''t try and solve the formation like Tang Jie, nor did he have a body on the outside to inform him of the changed flow of time. Thus, after making several attempts and finding this maze formation difficult to solve, he decided to not try, flying straight into the void.


    He clearly nned to push through with the power of an Earth Immortal.


    But he didn''t get far before there was a boom in the distance, as if something had been awakened, followed by a resounding roar. It was like the roar of a behemoth from ancient history, instilling an inexplicable fear in all who heard it.


    Stunned, the me Celestial Sovereign immediately stopped, and he saw two points of starlight light up in the darkness.


    No, those weren''t stars, but eyes.


    Those two giant star-like eyes illuminated the darkness, revealing a savage face. Upon closer inspection, this was a giant snake, slithering through the void, its body exuding power and age.


    "This is¡­ an Epoch Behemoth of Remote Antiquity!" the me Celestial Sovereign cried out.


    This was clearly a being from the ancient times of Remote Antiquity.


    Such existences were difficult to ssify in terms of strength. After all, living this long was an expression of strength all on its own.


    The Remote Antiquity serpent seemed to sweep across the sea of stars as it slithered to the me Celestial Sovereign, and then it swung its tail at him.


    The me Celestial Sovereign didn''t dare to stay still, immediately shooting off in a streak of me.


    But the snake''s tail was even faster, mming into the me Celestial Sovereign. Fortunately, he had activated his crown in time, at the same time casting his Original Divine me Shield.


    This was his strongest shield, but when the snake''s tail made impact, the shield crumpled as if it was made of paper. The tail continued, mming into the crown''s barrier in an eruption of rainbow light.


    Living up to its reputation as a Dao armament, the crown managed to block the Epoch Behemoth''s strike, but while it had stopped the attack, it couldn''t neutralize the impact. The me Celestial Sovereign was sent flying like a ball, wailing as he elerated toward the vortex, and in a sh, he had gone through.


    The me Celestial Sovereign had survived thanks to the supreme defense of the crown, but this setback left him angered and confused. How could there be such a terrifying fiend in this maze formation? With such a fiend, even a True Immortal might not be able to push through.


    Tang Jie had gone in earlier, and if he had run into this Remote Antiquity fiend, he would undoubtedly have died. Of course, his death was secondary to the loss of the precious Deicide me. However, when he had been flying through the void, he had been able to sense the Deicide me''s presence.


    Could Tang Jie still be alive?


    If he was, how had he endured the strike?


    But after some thought, the me Celestial Sovereign soon realized that Tang Jie probably hadn''t tried to force his way through, choosing to patiently solve the formation instead, which spared him the wrath of that fiend. Right now, that giant serpent had stopped moving after sending him flying. It was clear that it bore no hostility to those on the asteroids.


    Realizing this, he managed to calm down, and he began to wonder if he should go back in.


    As he was thinking, a group of cultivators flew over, cheering once they saw the vortex.


    The me Celestial Sovereign hadn''t expected other cultivators toe here. In the middle of his shock, one of them pointed at him and said, "There''s someone over there. I''m guessing all this uproar has to do with him."


    "It seems like he suffered a setback and ran back out again without getting anything."


    "Ask him what''s inside," a cultivator said.


    One of them flew over to the me Celestial Sovereign.


    The me Celestial Sovereign was furious. He was no native of the Vast Wilderness Continent and hade across this ce while wandering the myriad domains. Upon hearing that the Court of Myriad Domains was open, he had gone inside, arrivingter than all the other groups by several days. Thus, he didn''t understand the organizations and factions of this ce.


    Seeing that this yellow-robed cultivator approaching him wasn''t very strong, he impatiently said, "Go away. I don''t have time to worry about you."


    "Mm?" In the group of cultivators, a white-browed elder suddenly opened his eyes.


    The moment he did, a flood of power rushed out, making the me Celestial Sovereign shudder. "True Immortal?"


    "Audacious!" the white-browed elder roared, thrusting out a palm.


    With the crown, the me Celestial Sovereign was sure that he could block this attack, but in his many years of traveling, he knew that he couldn''t show his treasures lightly. He had put the crown away the moment he had spotted those cultivators, and he certainly wouldn''t use it now that he saw a True Immortal was among them. Rather than dodging, he let the elder m him into the ground, pleading, "This lowly one was wrong to offend a True Immortal!"


    The elder saw that he wasn''t resisting and snorted. "This old man hates wandering cultivators like you, ipetent and blind, only living so long thanks to your shamelessness."


    The me Celestial Sovereign was inwardly furious, but he could only plead, "This lowly one was truly blind!"


    "You truly are blind to not recognize the uniform of my Heaven''s Equal Sect. Telling us to leave? That''s no different from suicide!" a cultivator harrumphed.


    "''The Heaven''s Equal Sect''?" The me Celestial Sovereign trembled.


    Although he was ignorant of this ce, he still knew about the Heaven''s Equal Sect. He felt like kicking himself for inadvertently offending the Heaven''s Equal Sect.


    The white-browed elder said, "Tell us what the situation is inside. If all the information is correct, I will spare your life."


    The me Celestial Sovereign immediately told him everything he knew. Of course, he glossed over the matter of Tang Jie, only saying that a brat he had a grudge against had fled into the formation.


    The white-browed elder was unconcerned once he heard that this person was only at Soul Projection. After some thought, he waved his hand and ordered, "Let''s go in!"


    He still dared to go in, even after learning that there was a fiend from Remote Antiquity inside. It seemed like the Heaven''s Equal Sect was extremely confident in their strength!

 Chapter 874: Seizing the Crown

    Chapter 874: Seizing the Crown


    Once the Heaven''s Equal Sect had disappeared into the vortex, the me Celestial Sovereign got up and spat on the ground, privately thinking, <em>I hope you all die in the mouth of that fiend!</em>


    As someone who had lived for ages and traveled the myriad domains, he would only grovel and let himself be stepped on if he was facing an existence stronger than him, and he certainly wouldn''t be happy about it. But this was reality. No matter how old and powerful one was, when facing apex existences, one would have to grovel all the same.


    Unbeknownst to the me Celestial Sovereign, far off in the distance, a person who had coldly watched all this transpire drew this conclusion.


    It was Tang Jie''s original body.


    He had been watching the me Celestial Sovereign all this time, and this experience had left an extremely deep impression.


    Cultivating the path of Immortality only had meaning when one reached the apex!


    Otherwise, no matter how profound one''s cultivation was, one would still be dirt under the foot of another.


    The me Celestial Sovereign had just finished spitting on the ground when another group flew over. When these cultivators spotted the me Celestial Sovereign, they shouted, "Hey, cultivator over there, do you know what''s up ahead?"


    The me Celestial Sovereign was furious. <em>I just ran into the Heaven''s Equal Sect, so this can''t be the Ster Net Gate, right?</em> But having already learned his lesson, he didn''t act too arrogant, simply shooting them a cold nce before ignoring them.Those cultivatorsughed when they saw him being so cold. "Such arrogance? He seems to have a tough spine."


    One of them said, "I''ll teach him a lesson."


    He threw a at the me Celestial Sovereign.


    The me Celestial Sovereign angrily thought, <em>I didn''t even provoke you.</em> Just when he was about to shoot away, he noticed that the looked rather familiar. Wasn''t this the Godcatcher Net the Ster Net Gate was so famous for?


    rmed, he dropped all idea of resistance and let the catch him.


    In truth, resistance would have been hard anyway. The moment the was thrown, it seemed to cover the entire world, countless secrets woven into its threads and knots. Even if the me Celestial Sovereign had used that movement technique of his, he probably would have failed. From a distance, Tang Jie could clearly see that this had the properties of a formation, seeming like a formation diagram in form.


    The descended, capturing the me Celestial Sovereign.


    The cultivatorughed. "You had some spine before, so why did it disappear after you saw the?"


    And then he said in realization, "Right, right, it must be some cultivator from a random corner of the universe who doesn''t know the uniform of my Ster Net Gate, so you ignored us. But when you saw the Godcatcher Net, you figured out who we were, which made you so scared that you didn''t dare to move."


    That person''s guess was right on the mark, and everyoneughed. The me Celestial Sovereign could only bow his head in embarrassment.


    The Ster Net Gate group questioned the me Celestial Sovereign, and the me Celestial Sovereign told them everything.


    When they heard that the Heaven''s Equal Sect had already gone in, the cultivators of the Ster Net Gate grunted, "They managed to get in ahead of us."


    Tossing the me Celestial Sovereign out of the, they flew into the vortex.


    Neither the Heaven''s Equal Sect nor the Ster Net Gate had ever thought about killing the me Celestial Sovereign, not because they were merciful, but because they just didn''t care. Of course, things might have been different if they knew about his crown. If they were stealing his treasure, they were naturally going to kill the owner.


    There was a moment when Tang Jie had wanted to shout.


    But in the end, he gave up on the idea.


    This was because he wasn''t sure that the two sects wouldn''t kill him as well. Moreover, he wanted to kill the me Celestial Sovereign himself.


    Once the Ster Net Gate had gone into the vortex, the me Celestial Sovereign sighed in relief.


    At this moment, another person appeared in the distance: a handsome schr with a horse.


    Looking at the vortex, he smiled and nodded. "This should be the ce."


    He flew toward the vortex.


    The me Celestial Sovereign knew how to act this time, standing to the side and not daring to disturb him.


    But to his surprise, that schr stopped midway and nced at the me Celestial Sovereign. "You''re giving me a very rude look."


    Aghast, the me Celestial Sovereign was about to withdraw when an immense energy suddenly descended and pushed him to the ground.


    The schr nodded. "That''s the right position."


    He continued to fly toward the vortex, but before going, he nced at Tang Jie and smiled, which made Tang Jie''s blood run cold. Although that schr had only given him a nce, it had put Tang Jie under huge pressure. Most terrifying of all was that the schr clearly wasn''t using his full strength.


    Without getting serious, he was still able to render an Earth Immortal immobile. Just how strong did he have to be to do this? Tang Jie was in shock.


    Meanwhile, the me Celestial Sovereign was inwardly cursing at the schr. He didn''t know that this was a demon who acted ording to his emotions, and that the me Celestial Sovereign had actually gotten off lightly.


    Three incidents in a row had heavily damaged the me Celestial Sovereign''s confidence.


    Once that pressure finally disappeared, the me Celestial Sovereign stood up, upon which he saw a yellow-robed cultivator flying over.


    This man spotted the me Celestial Sovereign and flew over. "My fellow Immortal, might I ask where the ce up ahead leads to?"


    The me Celestial Sovereign immediately kneeled and said, "This lowly one pays his respects! Ask me anything, and I will tell anything I know."


    He once more exined the situation.


    The yellow-robed cultivator curiously said, "Fellow Immortal, is there a need to be so polite when we''re just talking? We''re both Earth Immortals, so there''s no need for all that courtesy."


    <em>What?</em>


    The me Celestial Sovereign stared at him in shock.


    The man chuckled and flew upward.


    After a momentary daze, when he realized that he had prostrated to an Earth Immortal, he grew so embarrassed that he threw up blood.


    He was an Earth Immortal who had traveled the cosmos, but this was a particrly unfortunate moment, these three consecutive humiliations followed by his self-debasement leaving him so agitated that even his Divine Soul was damaged. It wasn''t just his heart bleeding at this point, but his soul, divinity, the foundation of his cultivation!


    When he threw up this blood, he immediately knew that this was bad news. He needed immediate treatment, or else the damage to his foundation would doom any chances of further advancement.


    He quickly sat down.


    But right after he sat down, another group arrived.


    The me Celestial Sovereign had been taught this lesson multiple times, so he quietly meditated, prepared to reply if the other party asked any question, remaining polite while also not being so skittish as to immediately prostrate.


    As that group looked over, they all shouted, "He''s the one!"


    "Go!"


    Countless attacks barraged the me Celestial Sovereign, causing him to jump up in fright. "Sirs, there must be some mistake. This one has no grudge with you¡ª"


    "No mistakes here. You''re the one we want to beat up!" a rather crude-looking man shouted, unleashing a massive beam of sword energy infused with the will of a Dao¡ªa sign that his sword was a Dao armament.


    The me Celestial Sovereign raved, <em>These people are getting more and more excessive. I''ve already yielded as much as I can, but they still won''t let me go! It''s only a few Violet Pce experts, yet they dare to act so arrogantly! I might as well kill them and take their treasures. Moreover, for some reason, that Dao armament in their leader''s hand seems rather familiar.</em>


    As he thought this, he turned his Origin me into a giant hand and reached for that weapon.


    But the moment he attacked, the elder at the back of the group suddenly reacted.


    Raising a white eyebrow, he snorted, "So bold!"


    This voice shook the me Celestial Sovereign down to his soul.


    A True Immortal!


    With one shout, he was paralyzed.


    At this moment, the wave of sword energy crashed into him, obliterating half of his body. Fortunately, the me Celestial Sovereign''s Earth Immortal cultivation meant that his body was evesting, and as his body was destroyed, he was reborn in a burst of me.


    But the attack had done more damage to the me Celestial Sovereign''s spirit than his body. This intense Dao Will was so familiar that he pointed at it and shouted, "The Yin Yang Division Sword? How? You! You! You!"


    He repeated himself three times, unable to say any more.


    The manughed. "Yes, it''s the Yin Yang Division Sword! I already said that there was no mistake. You''re the one we''re looking for, me Celestial Sovereign!"


    The mention of his name exploded in his ears like a p of thunder.


    The me Celestial Sovereign finally realized that these people weren''t just passing through.


    This group was none other than Yun Tian''s group. When he sensed that Tang Jie was in danger, they rushed to his rescue and had finally arrived.


    Xiao Biehan''s Sky-Parting Sword contained the sword spirit of the Yin Yang Division Sword, which was why it felt familiar to the me Celestial Sovereign.


    After learning that this was the Yin Yang Division Sword, the me Celestial Sovereign knew where these people hade from and what a bad situation he was in.


    At the same time, Tang Jie''s original body flew out from the distance, shouting, "Martial Ancestor, Seniors, be careful! This guy has the Deicide me which can burn all things, a crown that provides an impregnable defense, and an extremely fast me movement art. But the most troublesome thing about him is his thick skin. There''s simply no fathoming how shameless and thick-skinned he can be¡­"


    He divulged all of the me Celestial Sovereign''s secrets as he flew over.


    In truth, Tang Jie had informed Yun Tian about all these things long before their arrival, and besides, Yun Tian was a True Immortal and would never fall for the me Celestial Sovereign''s tricks. Tang Jie was saying all this mainly to provoke him.


    As expected, the me Celestial Sovereign could tell from thest few words that Tang Jie had seen everything that transpired, and his shame made him throw up more blood. Realizing that he had once again damaged his foundation, he immediately turned and ran, not daring to linger.


    "Hmph, you think you can escape?" Yun Tian sneered, reaching for the me Celestial Sovereign.


    This time, the me Celestial Sovereign didn''t sit idle. As Yun Tian attacked, he put on his crown, its dazzling light protecting him and blocking Yun Tian''s hand.


    With a howl, the me Celestial Sovereign disappeared in a streak of me.


    Yun Tian angrily growled, "You''re not going anywhere!"


    He once more grabbed, this time using all of his strength.


    The full strength of a True Immortal was truly terrifying.


    At that moment, the me Celestial Sovereign felt a mountain-toppling strength crashing down on him, and even with his crown, he still felt a vast pressure.


    If he put all his power into the crown, the Dao armament would definitely be able to block Yun Tian''s attack. But this would put them in a stalemate, and he wouldn''t be able to escape.


    For this reason, the me Celestial Sovereign stopped putting energy into the crown, instead extracting some of the crown''s energy and using it on himself.


    He instantly elerated to maximum speed, and the crown let out an explosion of light and broke away from the me Celestial Sovereign, shooting into the sky. The me Celestial Sovereign instantly ran off without looking back.


    Stunned, Yun Tian instinctively grabbed the crown, but by the time he turned his attention back to the me Celestial Sovereign, he was already gone. And he had used some method that prevented even a True Immortal from locking onto his position.


    Yun Tian ruefully said, "I let him escape."


    Tang Jie''s original body flew over and smiled. "He can''t run. We have the crown, so he''lle back to get it eventually."

 Chapter 875: Solving

    Chapter 875: Solving


    In space, Tang Jie was still studying the ancient Celestial Maze Formation.


    He was immersed in the secrets of the formation and hadpletely lost track of time.


    The model in the Mountain River State Diagram had already gone from a simple board to a vast canopy of stars, all of which were moving ording to some sort of mysterious rule, soplex that it might make one''s mind explode.


    Only when one looked at this dazzling disy would one realize just how absurdlyplex the Immortal Emperor had made this maze. Even with a map of the formationid out before them, one still might not be able to find the exit.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie had the Dao of Wisdom, and with its power, Tang Jie was able to slowly unravel this cocoon and find its secrets.


    On this day, he was still calcting, and the star map within the diagram was approachingpletion. Suddenly, a wave rippled through the space, which Tang Jie knew to be someone intruding. At this time, his connection with the original body had been almostpletely cut off, and he wouldn''tmunicate with it unless it was something extremely important. Thus, he didn''t know who the intruder was and took them to be the me Celestial Sovereign, so he ignored them.


    But not long after that, Tang Jie found wave after wave of energy rippling through the space, and even from his distant position, Tang Jie could sense how terrifying the source of this energy had to be.


    This was not a power an Earth Immortal could possess!


    Tang Jie was astonished.Was it not an Earth Immortal that hade?


    Moreover, given what was happening, it seemed they nned to use brute force to get through.


    He also knew of that Remote Antiquity fiend serpent, and he was surprised that it had failed to block the intruders. Tang Jie was rmed by the power of these intruders, and he began to speed up his calctions so that he could get through the formation before these neers.


    As he was calcting, the Heaven''s Equal Sect was engaged in a heated battle with the Remote Antiquity serpent.


    This serpent that could send an Earth Immortal flying with a single sweep of its tail no longer seemed as fierce. Fighting it were two people: the white-browed elder who had suppressed the me Celestial Sovereign with a palm, and a green-robed schr. All of the Heaven''s Equal Sect were dressed in yellow except this man.


    At this moment, both of them radiated a silver aura that protected them like a barrier. This silvery energy had the appearance of water, but it was actually condensed Immortal Essence.


    These two used their barriers of Immortal Essence to hold off the giant serpent, but rather than attacking, they were simply blocking the serpent''s attacks. Behind them stood a row of eight Earth Immortals, each holding a Dao armament that they aimed at the fiend serpent.


    This was the difference between big sects and wandering cultivators. Wandering cultivators found it excruciatingly difficult to find a single Dao armament, with the me Celestial Sovereign needing countless years and endless effort to find the Treasure Paradise. While he had his own organization in the Celestial me Pagoda, it wasn''t an actual sect, and until it was fully developed, it would be of no help to him. In the end, he was still a wandering cultivator. But the big sects actually had more Dao armaments than Earth Immortals! Ten thousand years of umtion could not be underestimated.


    The two True Immortals were the shield while the eight Earth immortals were the spear, the eight Dao armaments sting the Epoch Behemoth and covering it in wounds. But this fiend serpent had an incredible life force, surviving even this constant barrage of Dao armaments. Inparison, that Wailing Baby that had entered the Dao of Life really was just a baby.


    Even so, it howled and hissed in pain from all those sts of energy. However, no matter how crazily it struck back, the two True Immortals would always block its attacks.


    The fiend snake slowly began to lose ground, but just when it seemed like the Heaven''s Equal Sect was about to win, another wave rippled through space.


    "Someone''se in?" the two True Immortals said in shock.


    The white-browed elder looked over, his eyes shining with divine light. "Damn it! It''s those bastards from the Ster Net Gate. Everyone, faster. Don''t let them take advantage of our efforts!"


    The two True Immortals began to expend their energy to attack the fiend snake, and even the Violet Pce cultivators in the rear began to attack from a distance.


    But the life force of this Epoch Behemoth was just too terrifying. Even thebined might of one hundred cultivators of the Heaven''s Equal Sect couldn''t kill it so quickly.


    At this moment, the cultivators of the Ster Net Gate appeared in the rear.


    The leader was a woman in a pce gown. When she saw the Heaven''s Equal Sect, she covered her mouth and chuckled. "Oh my, is that Big Brother Whitebrow? Why aren''t you finished yet? Do you want your little sister''s help?"


    The white-browed elder grunted, "Yan Beiqiu, I don''t need your false sincerity. It was my Heaven''s Equal Sect that discovered and fought this Auspice Serpent. If you don''t want a war between our two sects, you''d best not interfere."


    Arge man dressed in purple flew up beside Yan Beiqiu andughed. "You speak as if our two sects haven''t fought against each other and killed each other for several thousand years already. Besides, the grudge between our two sects has a long history, so our sects decide for themselves when it''s time to fight or make peace. You think that we few can decide things like that?"


    These were mighty True Immortals, but in the eyes of others, they didn''t even have the right to start a war between the two sects. It was a shocking fact, but to them, it waspletely normal.


    The man shot toward the Remote Antiquity fiend called the Auspice Serpent, and while the Heaven''s Equal Sect angrily bellowed, they couldn''t do anything to him.


    Whitebrow Shaoughed and swatted a palm at therge man, unleashing a tsunami of energy.


    Silver light shed around therge man, blocking the attack, and the woman next to him used this chance to get close. The green-robed man immediately turned to the woman and fired off several rays of green light. The woman didn''t dare to underestimate these seemingly simple rays of light, raising up a barrier of silver energy around herself. The two sects immediately fell intobat.


    The serpent was no fool, immediately turning tail and running when it saw the situation.


    The two sects saw this and immediately gave chase, neither of them willing to let it go. As a fiend from Remote Antiquity, the Auspice Serpent was a living treasure for a cultivator. Consuming it would greatly increase one''s Immortal Essence, which alone was priceless. Thus, while they fought against each other, they also asionally attacked the serpent.


    Multicolored explosions erupted through space, dazzling waves of light sending tremors through the stars.


    These two sects were so powerful that theypletely ignored the formation around them as they fought. But the Immortal Emperor''s formation was not easily ignored. As the two sects pushed in deeper and deeper, they found the space around them solidifying, slowing their movements. Fissures began to open up around them, and countless ck figures poured out, keening as they rushed at the cultivators.


    "Wandering Souls! This is a passage to the Nether Domain!" the white-browed elder shouted.


    He could have never imagined this ce to have a passage to the Nether Domain. This definitely couldn''t be a coincidence, but something arranged by the Immortal Emperor. Anyone who disobeyed his rules and tried to use brute strength had to deal with the responses from the formation.


    These were responses nned by the Immortal Emperor, so even a Boundless Gold Immortal might not be able to pass them, let alone True Immortals.


    Only now did they realize that this ce was so dangerous, and they were both angry and remorseful. However, there was nothing they could do now that the Wandering Souls were already rushing at them except to fight back. The Wandering Souls weren''t particrly powerful, but they possessed the unique attribute of being essentially immune to spell arts, only kible through soul attacks. There were more than two hundred cultivators here, so they naturally had soul attacks, particrly the four True Immortals. With just a single thought, they could kill hundreds of Wandering Souls.


    But tens of thousands of Wandering Souls were emerging from the fissures, and the Immortals had to fight with all they had to not be overwhelmed.


    This flood of Wandering Souls also swept up Tang Jie. In order to survey the formation, he needed to travel every corner of it. As a result, he was at times far away from the group and at times close to them.


    He was riding an asteroid back around, studying how this asteroid moved when going in reverse. This was the most important asteroid, and once he figured out this asteroid''s position, he would be able to solve the formation. What he hadn''t ounted for was a flood of Wandering Souls rushing straight at him.


    Tang Jie was rmed at this sudden rush of ghosts, wondering where they hade from. He was in a critical moment of his calctions and couldn''t let them be disturbed, so he let out Little Three to protect him.


    Little Three was the bane of ghosts, and when he saw all those Wandering Souls, heughed and turned into a giant mouth that began to suck in all the ghosts.


    As those Wandering Souls were sucked into Little Three''s belly, it began to swell. Through his translucent body, one could see the Wandering Souls wriggling around like tadpoles, shrieking as they dwindled to nothing.


    He lived up to the reputation of his species.


    But in the end, there was only one Little Three and a sea of Wandering Souls. These ghosts were mindless and fearless, continuing to flood in, and Little Three''s belly swelled until he couldn''t eat any more. But the ghosts were still charging in, causing Little Three to wail in fear.


    Tang Jie was still in the middle of his calctions, so he could only let out Xu Miaoran, Yiyi, Ice Phoenix, and the Mother Cloudbat puppet to fight. He even had Tutu join the battle. But the few of them couldn''t hold off the flood.


    "Hey, hurry and think of something or we''re all going to die!" Ice Phoenix angrily shouted.


    "Don''t disturb him!" Xu Miaoran stopped Ice Phoenix and nced at her husband in concern.


    No matter what, she would always believe in her husband.


    As the flood of Wandering Souls drew ever closer, Tang Jie''s body began to sway from exhaustion. This extended period of calction and the constant use of the Dao of Wisdom had put an immense burden on his body.


    But Tang Jie didn''t stop, his finger moving among the asteroids, tracing the countless formation lines.


    Finally, the finger came down.


    There was an eruption of light from his star map.


    This light illuminated the entire space such that even Whitebrow Shao and Yan Beiqiu saw it. When they turned to the light, they spotted Tang Jie and called out in surprise, "There''s someone over there!"


    Whitebrow Shao''s sharp eyes even spotted Ice Phoenix. He grunted, "There''s even a demon over there!"


    The two sects could see that star map rising into the air, growing smaller and smaller, ultimately condensing into a small point of light floating at the center of Tang Jie''s forehead.


    Tang Jie felt an explosion in his head as all of the knowledge regarding the Celestial Maze Formation was branded into his mind.


    After gaining this knowledge, Tang Jie smiled. "Ah, I understand now."


    He pointed at a certain point in space, and there was a burst of silver light. Threads of silver light came together and ultimately formed a hole of light.


    "Is this the entrance into the hidden realm?" Xu Miaoran said in surprise.


    It turned out that the real entrance would only appear when one solved the formation.


    Not even Tang Jie had anticipated this.


    "Let''s go." Tang Jie smiled at Xu Miaoran.


    Holding hands, the two of them moved toward the hole of light.


    "Don''t even think about it!" Whitebrow Shao roared, his hand tearing through space to grab Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie ignored him and continued moving forward.


    Just when that hand was about to reach him, Tang Jie andpany vanished into the hole, upon which the hole blew apart and dissipated into nothing.

 Chapter 876: The Place of Dao Proving

    Chapter 876: The ce of Dao Proving


    Through the hole of light, Tang Jie''s group found themselves standing in a field.


    Thendscape was lush and pleasant to the eye, with wildflowers growing all around. s, all of these nts had no spirituality and were here purely for aesthetic purposes.


    "What is this? It was so hard to get in here, so I thought that this ce would be teeming with natural treasures, but instead, it''s nothing but ordinary grass and flowers. This damn Immortal Emperor was so boring!" Ice Phoenix grumbled.


    She was a demon, so she held not even a shred of respect for the Immortal Emperor.


    "It''s not like you contributed any of that hard work." Xu Miaoran rolled her eyes.


    While Xu Miaoran had long known about this woman, it was only now that they were officially meeting. This was probably intentional on Tang Jie''s part. Two women together might produce many problems out of nowhere. Things were much easier with Yiyi, who was pure and simple, always listening to her big brother. Xu Miaoran had nothing but trust in Tang Jie, but she had always had her own view on things. She might listen to Tang Jie when it came to other matters, but not this one.


    As expected, Ice Phoenix was incensed. "Is that any of your business?"


    Xu Miaoran coldly nced at her and said in disdain, "It was my husband''s work that got us here, so everything here belongs to the two of us. Thus, all treasures here also belong to us. My husband hasn''t said anything yet, so it''s not the ce of an outsider like you to sigh."


    Ice Phoenix red. Although she was a demoness, just being a demon couldn''t solve everything. Besides, Xu Miaoran hade from Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and she had once been hailed as a fiend woman.Thus, when it came to who could be the most wicked, it was hard to say who would win, but when it came to status, Xu Miaoran was far superior to Ice Phoenix. Her casual words had made Ice Phoenix choke on her words, but there was nothing she could do about it. Looking around, she spotted Yiyi, and her eyes lit up. But just when she was about to say something, Xu Miaoran waved her hand and said, "Yiyi,e over. This home belongs to your big brother and his wife, and it also belongs to you."


    Yiyi giggled and grabbed Xu Miaoran''s hand, bringing Ice Phoenix''s n to recruit reinforcements to an end before it could even begin. She turned to Tutu, who backed away a few steps. Only thebat puppet and Little Three remained motionless, apparently not minding partnering with her.


    Ice Phoenix resentfully looked at Tang Jie, who was ignoring this entire quarrel and pensively looking around.


    Realizing something, Ice Phoenix asked, "Is there some sort of formation here?"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "That''s precisely the problem. I just used the Celestial Eye to look around, but I didn''t find a single formation. It seems like nothing more than an ordinary garden."


    "Is that really possible?" Xu Miaoran said in surprise.


    Who would believe that the Celestial Maze Formation had been set up solely to guard an ordinary ce?


    If not some sort of Dao armament or divine art, there at least had to be some kind of mantra or special medicine. Only this could match the august status of the Immortal Emperor and the multipleyers of defenses.


    But Tang Jie saw no formations or mechanisms at all. This was just an ordinary garden, surrounded by emptynd, with arge tree in the distance. There was nothing else.


    "Could you have missed something?" Xu Miaoran asked.


    "Let me try again." The center of Tang Jie''s forehead lit up as the vertical eye appeared, and a Dao Realm appeared under his feet. With the Dao Realm, the Celestial Eye was at maximum power, and nothing in the world could hide from his eyes.


    But even in this state, Tang Jie found nothing.


    "This is really strange," Tang Jie muttered.


    He couldn''t understand how this ce was so ordinary, not even a spirit nt in sight, and the spiritual energy in the air was pitifully thin.


    Suddenly, Yiyi gasped and looked around.


    Tang Jie immediately asked, "Yiyi, have you noticed anything?"


    Yiyi scratched her head and awkwardly replied, "I just find it strange. Since this ce has existed for ten thousand years, why are the nts here only a few decades old?"


    "What did you say?" Tang Jie said in shock.


    He had been so focused on finding hidden formations that he hadn''t paid attention to the nts.


    Now that Yiyi had reminded him, as he looked at the garden again, he found that things really weren''t as they should have been. The grass wasn''t particrly overgrown, nor was that solitary tree in the distance particrlyrge. Even without Yiyi''s ability to sense the age of nts, he could tell that they hadn''t existed here for that long.


    But¡­ this ce had clearly existed for more than ten thousand years!


    "Time Stop!" Tang Jie blurted out.


    This was a supreme Time Dao Art!


    Only this kind of Dao Art could leave thisnd unchanged for ten thousand years.


    "What sort of person could use this kind of Dao Art?" Xu Miaoran said in shock.


    Tang Jie replied, "I heard from Immortal Ji Yao that Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng was a genius who controlled four Daos: Time, Space, Karma, and Fate. Nobody has ever been able to match his feat. This Time Stop Dao Art must have been cast by him. Only he is powerful enough."


    "It doesn''t sound like a big deal," Xu Miaoran grumbled. After all, she knew that Tang Jie hadprehended twelve Daos and entered six Daos, and had six Dao Arts. If he kept up this progress, he would eventually control six Daos. In other words, Tang Jie already outmatched Yu Cheng in terms of talent.


    Ice Phoenix said, "The problem is: why would he use such a method on this ordinary plot ofnd?"


    "Even Yu Cheng must have had a hard time stopping time for ten thousand years. Since the mighty Immortal Emperor went to such lengths to protect this ce, it can''t be ordinary," Tang Jie concluded. "Let''s look around. The key piece must be somewhere here."


    "But this ce looks ordinary no matter where I look," Tutu said.


    His casualint made Tang Jie''s eyes light up.


    "''Ordinary no matter where you look''¡­ ''ordinary no matter where you look''¡­" Tang Jie muttered. "Yes, if the secret was in a certain location, the Time Stop would only have to work on that ce, so why did he use it on this entire area?"


    "Husband, are you saying¡­"


    "This space!" Tang Jie firmly dered. "This space is itself the biggest secret. There must be something special about it. We just haven''t noticed it yet."


    He began to walk to the center of the garden.


    This time, he didn''t use the Celestial Eye to try and search for some hidden treasure, instead spreading out his Divine Will to fill every corner of this space.


    He was confident that if the Immortal Emperor had left behind some supreme treasure here, then what he needed to do wasn''t to search or discover, but simply to feel.


    In another ne, countless threads of Divine Will fanned, stabbing into the earth, the sky, the nts, and even the very air.


    Tang Jie''s Divine Will divided itself into millions of individual strands so that he could feel everything that there was to feel in this space.


    Sure enough, Tang Jie quickly found that there was some slumbering will in this ce.


    It was hard to describe.


    When Tang Jie interacted with this will, he simply felt an ancient and weathered power.


    This will was vast and majestic, bursting with wisdom. When Tang Jie touched it, he felt like was transported into the distant past.


    He saw a person walking.


    This person was covered in golden light that obscured his face, but just looking at him made Tang Jie shiver.


    That person walked over fields, through cities, atop mountains, over rivers. It was an unhurried pace, and he did not fly, but strangely, nobody paid him any attention.


    Nobody could see him, and nothing could stop him.


    Whether mountains or watersy before him, he simply walked straight ahead, as if nothing else existed.


    He walked for a very, very long time, and walked very, very far.


    One snowy night, the man reached a cold and deste field.


    Standing in that snow-covered field, he suddenly stopped.


    He just stood there and let the snow cover him.


    The unmelting snow gradually covered him up, turning him into a snowman.


    He stood there in the snow like he was dead.


    The snow stopped, but the snowman did not melt away.


    The snow turned to ice, and the ice turned to stone.


    A statue stood all by its lonesome in that barren field.


    Passersby would see this stone statue in the middle of a field and find it strange.


    At times, a fool would try to smash up the statue and use the stone for construction, or some person who was all too clever would try to move the statue so they could sell it off, and there were some who thought it was the work of a god, praying to it and burning incense¡­


    But none of these people seeded.


    Those who tried to smash it ended up swinging the hammer onto their own feet. Those who tried to move it tired out two horses to the point of copse without moving it an inch. And those who prayed to the statue suffered serious illnesses the same night, almost losing their lives.


    The stone statue cared for no one and required no one.


    Time slowly passed.


    Days.


    Years.


    A hundred years went by in the blink of an eye.


    On this day, the stone statue that had slumbered for one hundred years finally began to move.


    Large chunks of stone sloughed off like a mud doll wasing to life, and as the stone fell away, the golden man appeared once more.


    Heughed and said, "After one hundred years of meditation, I have finally proved my Dao! I didn''t think that the most important enlightenment of my life woulde like this. No attempt to hide, and no attempt to protect myself! If those enemies of mine knew what they had missed, they would probably be cursing themselves for the rest of their lives. Hahaha, this is destiny, destiny! When destiny wills it, the Heavenly Dao desires its sess. From this day forward, I am Yu Cheng!"


    (EN: "desires its sess" (Óû³É) is pronounced the same as Yu Cheng (Óñ³É))


    He looked around and sighed. "One hundred years of enlightenment has caused countless Dao Wills to obey my will and merge with this ce. No treasure canpare to the boundless Great Dao. This ce is where I proved my Dao, so I will leave it behind for those whoe after."


    He waved his hand, taking the entire plot ofnd and the surrounding space with it, making it so that this ce never existed in the world.

 Chapter 877: Destiny

    Chapter 877: Destiny


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    Tang Jie let out a long breath.


    It had been just as he had expected.


    There really was no treasure, because this ce itself was more valuable than any treasure¡ªthend where Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng attained the Dao.


    Tang Jie didn''t know what that enlightenment had brought Yu Cheng, but, judging from his bold promation of "the Heavenly Dao desires its sess", it must have been a rich harvest. Since he had left behind that memory of him proving his Dao here, Tang Jie was bound to benefit immensely if he could study this Dao.


    Thus, he immediately released his Divine Will so as to experience the Dao Will the Immortal Emperor had left behind.


    Xu Miaoran had also sensed the memory left behind, and while her lower cultivation level prevented her from getting as clear of a picture, she was at least able to get a glimpse. As for Yiyi and Ice Phoenix, their cultivation levels were too low for them toprehend anything. In contrast, Tutu was able to understand a little.


    They remained in thisnd where the Immortal Emperor had proved his Dao, experiencing its Dao toprehend its secrets.


    Thisnd was timeless.Thanks to the Immortal Emperor''s Dao Art, no matter how long one cultivated here, only an instant would pass in the outside world. With no need to worry about the passage of time, one could throw everything into cultivation.


    They felt the world around them,prehended its will, cultivated spell arts, and discussed what they learned, merging all that they had learned together.


    Although this space did not have spiritual energy to cultivate with, the Mountain River State Diagram did.


    Having reached a basic level ofpletion, the Mountain River State Diagram had finally started to show its use. With its own cycle and system, the Mountain River State Diagram was suspended in the air, constantly releasing spiritual energy into this space.


    Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran immersed themselves in cultivation.


    As there was no sunrise or sunset here, they didn''t know how long they cultivated, only that they were growing stronger and stronger. Time silently passed, and Xu Miaoran rose from the initial phase of Infant Tending all the way to theter phase. It felt like she had spent one hundred years cultivating.


    In these one hundred years, Tang Jie also made some small progress, nearing the middle phase of Soul Projection. It was only near the middle phase because Soul Projection required many more resources than Infant Tending, and because Tang Jie put most of his energy intoprehending this ce''s Dao Will.


    Strangely, Tang Jie found it impossible to trulyprehend it.


    It wasn''t because of anything wrong with Tang Jie. Rather, this Dao Will was very weird, not like any Dao that Tang Jie knew.


    It didn''t belong to the Twelve Great Daos!


    At first, Tang Jie took this to be a Spacetime Dao Will. After all, this ce was under the influence of the Dao of Time. When he realized it wasn''t, he turned to Karma and Fate, thinking that destiny must have yed a role in this legacy being passed down from ten thousand years ago. But he found that this wasn''t it either, and when he searched the other Daos, he found that none of them matched.


    Confirming this point took Tang Jie the equivalent of several decades.


    All things in the world were guided by a Dao, yet he couldn''t find the corresponding Dao, which left Tang Jie frustrated and perplexed.


    But Tang Jie wasn''t one to so easily concede, and he refused to leave empty-handed. Activating the Dao of Wisdom, he spent every day analyzing, calcting, and absorbing the Dao Will, asionally taking breaks to discuss it with Xu Miaoran.


    Another surprising fact was that Xu Miaoran had apletely different understanding of this Dao Will.


    Tang Jie thought that this Dao wasn''t among the Twelve Great Daos, but Xu Miaoran believed that thisnd contained an aggregation of Spacetime Dao Wills, and that the Dao was the Spacetime Dao. The evidence was that this space was fixed in space and time.


    Tang Jie thought that this istion in space and time was merely proof of the Dao Art''s power, not that the Dao Will the Immortal Emperor had left behind was connected to Spacetime. The reason behind this was simple. Before those one hundred years of enlightenment, the Immortal Emperor had already controlled the Dao of Spacetime. This could be seen in how he had passed through mountains and over seas, and how he had easily severed thisnd from time and space afterpleting his Dao Will. The enlightenment that made the Immortal Emperor call himself Yu Cheng had to belong to an even higher realm.


    Xu Miaoran believed that this higher realm could just be a higher level of the Dao of Spacetime. The Immortal Emperor''s actions could easily be done at the Dao-entering level, and the one hundred years of enlightenment had most likely allowed the Immortal Emperor to reach the Dao-controlling level.


    Tang Jie disagreed, thinking that this wasn''t enough to match the Immortal Emperor''s bold deration, and the two argued endlessly over the matter.


    When Tutu alsoprehended something, things became even more of a mess.


    This was because Tutu had felt apletely different kind of Dao Will: the Dao of Reincarnation.


    This was absurd.


    What did any of this have to do with Reincarnation?


    The Immortal Emperor controlled the Daos of Time, Space, Karma, and Fate. He was the only person in history to control four Daos, but he had never understood Reincarnation. And even if he did, why did Reincarnation deserve to be above Space, Time, Karma, and Fate? What made it worthy of the most important episode of enlightenment in the life of the Immortal Emperor?


    Thus, Tutu also joined their arguments.


    While the three Violet Pce experts argued, Yiyi and Ice Phoenix, whocked the cultivation realm toprehend the Dao Will, decided to y around with He Chong''s group of three. s, this isted space had only so much to offer, so they soon became bored. Eventually, their impatience got to them, and they began to pester Tang Jie with requests to go out and see what was going on.


    The way to exit this space was also simple. One simply had toy down another Celestial Maze Formation to create the exit. But Tang Jie didn''t dare to agree to Yiyi''s request. After all, they were still too weak, and there were still many powerful enemies lurking outside. The danger was just too great.


    But what Yiyi said was also true. Even if they could cultivate and grow stronger here, it was impossible for them to go all the way to True Immortal here.


    The reason was simply the world limit.


    Every world actually had its own limit. The bigger the world, the higher its limit was. The Mountain River State Diagram''s current limit was Celestial Heart. If one cultivated on one''s own, the highest one could cultivate to was Celestial Heart.


    Currently, there was already one Celestial Heart "Immortal" in the central ind of the diagram.


    Here, Celestial Heart cultivators were the equivalent of invincible Immortal tform Titans. One would never be able to break through to Violet Pce through one''s own efforts, and each step of Celestial Heart was extremely difficult. Compared to the natives of the Mountain River State Diagram, cultivators like Tang Jie had it much easier, with the small tiers being much easier once one had crossed into the major realms.


    This was why the most Tang Jie could reach here was peak Soul Projection. He could never break into Immortal tform, because this small world couldn''t support such a high cultivation level.


    Meanwhile, Xu Miaoran actually had some hope of reaching Deification. This was partially because she had many spirit medicines with her, but more importantly, it was because Tang Jie, a Soul Projection Celestial Sovereign, was temporarily able to break the world limit.


    But no matter what stage they reached, they would never be able to threaten those people on the outside.


    Still, wasn''t it a good thing to take a look outside and gather information in preparation for their future escape?


    Most importantly, Tang Jie felt a Thread of Fate.


    Yes, a Thread of Fate!


    This was an isted dimension, and no Web of Fate existed here. All Fates and Karmas were restricted to this space.


    But at this moment, Tang Jie saw a Thread of Fate passing through spacetime to link to Yiyi.


    He was baffled as to why this was.


    This reason alone made him want to go out and look.


    He wanted to see what was trying to tempt Yiyi, connect to Yiyi.


    It might be dangerous, but it could also be an opportunity.


    Thus, Tang Jie began toy out the Celestial Maze Formation.


    This Celestial Maze Formation was naturally many times smaller than the one outside, a small model. The countless stars twinkling within it were made from Tang Jie''s spiritual energy.


    Tang Jie chose a different position to see if this could change the location of the exit.


    Once this was all done, Tang Jie activated the formation, and the scene from before reyed itself.


    First, the Celestial Maze Formation condensed into a single point of light, upon which Tang Jie tapped it. The point of light exploded like it was reenacting the Big Bang before slowly transforming into a giant ck hole.


    "Let''s go!" Tang Jie said, pulling Yiyi into the hole.


    As the dimensions were not connected, when Tang Jie passed through the ck hole, he felt like he was passing through a two-dimensional crack. The only thing around him was a riot of colors, and he could feel himself being stretched out. After a long while, Tang Jie andpany emerged from the crack and found themselves in that vast sea of stars.


    But a momentter, Tang Jie paled. "Oh no!"


    He wasn''t saying this because of the Heaven''s Equal Sect or Ster Net Gate.


    Tang Jie changing the location truly had made it so that they didn''t appear at the same location, instead appearing in the middle of the void.


    But the void was a forbidden zone!


    Tang Jie was clear about this rule, and he knew that the Immortal Emperor had made it so that even Boundless Gold Immortals couldn''t casually force their way through.


    And now, they were standing in this void.


    This meant that they could trigger the Immortal Emperor''s traps at any time.


    "Not good!" Tang Jie quickly began toy out the Celestial Maze Formation so that they could return.


    At the same time, a deep roar came from the darkness, making all of them shiver.


    The Remote Antiquity serpent!


    It seemed that the Remote Antiquity fiend had ended up here after running off. Two lights appeared in the darkness: the eyes of that serpent.


    It appeared in the void, its huge draconic body making Xu Miaoran and the others despair.


    But that serpent didn''t attack, simply ring at Tang Jie''s group and angrily roaring.


    After a moment of surprise, Tang Jie examined the serpent and said in delight, "It''s heavily injured and about to reach its limit."


    Xu Miaoran happily asked, "Can we beat it?"


    "It will be somewhat dangerous, but for Yiyi, it''s worth it," Tang Jie replied.


    "''For Yiyi''?" Xu Miaoran said in surprise.


    "Yes. This is a Remote Antiquity serpent! Killing it and then refining it with the Imperial Sky Stamp will give Yiyi enough of a boost to reach Divine Division." Tang Jie smiled, looking between Yiyi and the serpent at the Thread of Fate connecting them.


    This was Fate, danger, and opportunity!

 Chapter 878: Hourglass

    Chapter 878: Hourss


    <em>Bang!</em>


    A mountainous serpent corpse fell from the sky into the garden dimension.


    Tang Jie and the others descended, trying and failing to not smile.


    They couldn''t help but smile.


    A Remote Antiquity giant serpent had fallen into their hands. This was a supreme treasure for cultivation.


    It hadn''t been easy to kill this Epoch Behemoth. While the serpent had been heavily injured, it still had its cultivation level, and its physical body was also formidable. Ordinary attacks were of no use against it. Fortunately, thanks to the me Celestial Sovereign, Tang Jie had refined the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace into a semi¨CDao armament. With the Infinite Pce for the defense and Tutu''s cooperation, he was able to once more try out his kiting strategy. In the end, through the Deicide me and the Sovereign de, he managed to take down the serpent. Again, he had to thank the me Celestial Sovereign. It was only because of that battle that he had been able to make this much progress.


    At the end, everyone had rushed in and barraged it with attacks, whether they worked or not, ultimately battering the serpent to death.


    While fighting, they didn''t hear anything from the Heaven''s Equal Sect or Ster Net Gate, so they were probably still fighting the Wandering Souls.


    After killing the fiend serpent, Tang Jie dragged it into the dimension. While the serpent was big, the dimension was mysteriously able to easily ept the fiend.Tang Jieughed, "This is an Epoch Behemoth that even an Earth Immortal couldn''t defeat. Its entire body is a treasure, so we definitely can''t pass up such an opportunity."


    He produced the Sovereign de, which was the only tool at his disposal able to cut through the snake''s tough scales.


    Tang Jie cut open the serpent and removed its massive fiend pellet. It was the size of a human head and translucent all over, a faint red light visible within. "With this pellet, we don''t even need Immortal energy. Yiyi can advance without a problem."


    Yiyi wrinkled her little nose at that huge pellet. "It''s so big. How am I going to eat it?"


    Xu Miaoran lightly tapped Yiyi on the forehead and smiled. "Silly, the fiend energy contained in this thing is too much for you alone to convert. It still needs to be refined. Fortunately, your sister is ready for this."


    She took out a pile of herbs from her Mustard Seed Bag while Tang Jie took out the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace and tossed in the pellet. Xu Miaoran fanned the furnace, which produced its own me. As the pellet floated in the furnace, Xu Miaoran began to throw in herbs and refine the fiend pellet.


    Tang Jie continued to dismantle the serpent.


    The scales of this snake could defend against all kinds of spell arts, and it was only the Sovereign de that could cut them off. Tang Jie asked for the Violet Sunset Robe from Xu Miaoran, after which he threw the robe and the scales together into the air and began to form countless hand signs such that the scales began to merge with the robe. The Violet Sunset Robe was a middle-grade divine treasure, and with the scales of this Epoch Behemoth added to it, it was upgraded to an upper-grade divine treasure, and it also appeared more majestic as a bonus.


    As for the rest of the scales, he refined them using the Imperial Sky Stamp, creatingrge quantities of Immortal energy. Finally, he sent the blood and organs into the Mountain River State Diagram so that they would be part of that world''s cycle.


    By the time he was done, Xu Miaoran had also finished refining the pellet into a pill. The moment the pill was finished, a golden light shot out of the furnace. Xu Miaoran was caught off guard, and the golden light flew high into the sky, but then it came bouncing back. It had run into this world''s wall and found it couldn''t escape, so all it could do was fly about this isted dimension.


    Her eyes gleamed savagely, and Xu Miaoran roared, "You want to run? Get back here right now!"


    As she reached for the golden light, she activated Limitless.


    Her hand drew back a small golden pill, flying about in her palm but unable to escape.


    Xu Miaoran smiled. "I''ve only seen this Celestial Fate Pill in a book. It said that this pill would ascend once it wasplete, but it seems like rather than a cultivator''s ascension, it refers to this pill gaining intelligence and actually flying up on its own. Fortunately, this world is very constrained, so it can''t fly away, or else it would have escaped."


    Tang Jie replied, "But no matter how far it flies, it will eventually run out of power and fall, and some random person will benefit from it. That''s why it''s called the Celestial Fate Pill, because it''s all up to destiny. Someone whocks sufficient destiny with this pill won''t be able to enjoy it. We had sufficient destiny, so this pill is ours, and nobody can take it from us."


    He took the pill from Xu Miaoran and ced it in Yiyi''s mouth.


    The moment the pill entered her mouth, it stopped moving, all of its spirituality transforming into medicinal power to nourish Yiyi. Tang Jie swept up Yiyi and said, "Come on. Your big brother will help you advance."


    He took Yiyi into the Mountain River State Diagram world.


    After some time, they once more flew out of the diagram.


    Yiyi''s eyes now shone with a divine light, her aura had receded into her body, and there seemed to be a light flowing across her body.


    Xu Miaoran pped her hands and smiled. "Sess!"


    Yes!


    Yiyi had ascended to Divine Division.


    After so many years, Yiyi had finally made this step.


    Of the people present, only Ice Phoenix remained at Soul Transformation.


    Ice Phoenix snorted and looked away, not at all happy.


    While Xu Miaoran and Yiyi celebrated, Tang Jie said, "Since Yiyi has entered Divine Division, she can cultivate together with us now."


    "Mm!" Yiyi vigorously nodded.


    Yiyi joined Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran in trying toprehend the Immortal Emperor''s Dao Will.


    Shockingly, Yiyi again reached apletely different conclusion.


    Yiyi felt that the Dao Will the Immortal Emperor had left behind was connected to Fate.


    Four people had all felt somethingpletely different from the Immortal Emperor''s Dao Will. Tang Jie was left utterly perplexed.


    He could only say that this Dao Will was too powerful, so powerful that one could see any principle of the world within it, with none of them truly getting to its core.


    Was this like in those martial arts stories, where only someonepletely ignorant of the Great Dao, perhaps who didn''t even know how to read, could trulyprehend the Immortal Emperor''s legacy?


    Tang Jie couldn''t help butugh at the notion.


    If that was the case, then all their efforts were pointless.


    He had be much more openminded ever since reaching the Violet Pce Realm, so sinceprehending this Dao Will seemed out of the question, he decided to just focus on growing stronger.


    In this isted dimension, advancing his cultivation should have been extremely difficult.


    Fortunately, he had the serpent, which had been converted by the Imperial Sky Stamp into even more Immortal energy than had been provided by the Wailing Baby.


    Thus, Tang Jie absorbed a little Immortal energy every day to increase his cultivation.


    In this timeless ce, he lost himself in cultivation, spending an untold amount of time.


    Once Tang Jie absorbed all the Immortal energy, his cultivation level reached peak Soul Projection.


    s, the limits of this space prevented Tang Jie from reaching Immortal tform.


    As Tang Jie awoke from his meditation, he looked around and found that everything was the same. Bound by the Time Stop, this ce was unchanging. Only Xu Miaoran, Yiyi, and Ice Phoenix showed a little sign of aging.


    Tang Jie knew that this was because they had spent too long here.


    While this ce was frozen in time, they were unaffected, and their bodies might have already experienced centuries, perhaps even a thousand years.


    This was because they were not natives of this dimension.


    The Dao the Immortal Emperor had left here ultimately only affected this space and what belonged to it.


    Tang Jie sighed.


    Suddenly, he seemed to realize something, and disbelief appeared in his eyes.


    "Could it be that that''s what the Immortal Emperor''s Dao Will is¡­"


    He once more began to extend his will into this space.


    After a while, Tang Jie finally noticed something suspicious.


    He suddenly stood up andpletely emptied his mind. Just like in those martial arts stories of the past, he gave up on thinking, feeling this dimension''s Dao Will with a nk mind.


    In the past, Tang Jie thought that he couldn''t reach the level of "not knowing how to read", but now, he knew that he could.


    ¡­Because he truly "didn''t know how to read". More specifically, he didn''t understand the words of this dimension!


    As he emptied his mind and gave up on his old preconceptions, he found this world to seempletely different.


    It was a sensation thatpletely melded with the soul. It waspletely unique to this world, like nothing else, beyond description. Tang Jie knew that this was the Dao that the Immortal Emperor had left behind!


    It wasn''t one of the Twelve Great Daos!


    Tang Jie didn''t know what it was, but he finally understood the Immortal Emperor''s purpose.


    In this dimension, he had created his own Dao!


    This was a level that countless people could only dream of.


    It was transcendence in the truest sense.


    Although Tang Jie didn''t know what it was, this didn''t stop him from studying it,prehending it, experiencing what had been left by his predecessor.


    He stood in the center of this "world", his Divine Will spreading into his surroundings, his empty mind experiencing the highest principles of this world, even experiencing that moment of ecstasy the Immortal Emperor had experienced at that moment.


    As thisprehension reached its apex, he heard the sound of a bell.


    Tang Jie saw an object appear on the horizon.


    It was a golden hourss.


    The sand in this hourss should have flowed down so as to track time.


    But the golden sand did not move.


    ¡­Because it had beenid t.


    As ity t, all of its sand motionless, time was also stopped.


    Tang Jie was awestruck.


    He muttered, "A Heavenly Dao¡­ Hourss!"

 Chapter 879: Nearby Horizon

    Chapter 879: Nearby Horizon


    The hourss in the sky was just like the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel Tang Jie had seen before, brimming with divinity.


    Although it wasn''t as majestic and gigantic as the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel, it was nevertheless glorious and unique in its own way.


    As Tang Jie looked up at that golden hourss, reverence and admiration appeared in his eyes. "Incredible¡­ incredible!" he muttered.


    Creating one''s own Dao in one''s own world, using this opportunity to ascend to the heavens andprehend the highest secrets of the Great Ster Chiliocosm, attaining the Heavenly Dao¡ªwas this not what every cultivator dreamed of? Was this not the end and apex of the Immortal path?


    Although Tang Jie didn''t know if the Immortal Emperor had gotten this far, he did know that the Immortal Emperor had created his own Heavenly Dao in his world!


    A Heavenly Dao Hourss!


    It was with this as the core that this isted dimension could exist.


    Suddenly, Tang Jie reached out to take the Heavenly Dao Hourss, but his hand ended up touching nothing.


    It ended up passing right by it.Startled, Tang Jie reached out to take it again, but again he came away empty-handed.


    The hourss was right there, neither close nor far, lying in a corner of this limited world, yet it seemed far beyond it.


    Even with Tang Jie''s divine abilities, he couldn''t reach it.


    This was a world ruled by time, and also a world ruled by space. It could be extremely small, and it could also be extremely big. Time could be frozen, yet it could also be passing by at a rate of ten thousand years per second.


    Tang Jie arched an eyebrow.


    He stopped trying to grab the hourss, simply standing there and thinking.


    Time passed as he continued to think.


    In this time, Xu Miaoran and Yiyi woke up and were stunned by the "sun" in the sky.


    They also tried to grab it, but were simrly unable to.


    But Xu Miaoran refused to give up, even using Limitless.


    At that moment, her finger prated through boundless spacetime and touched the hourss in the sky.


    She felt her fingertip heat up and instinctively pulled it away with a yelp.


    She looked at the hourss in shock.


    Only Xu Miaoran understood just what she had felt at that moment.


    It was Space!


    The infinite and profound power of Space.


    Comparing the power of Space possessed by this hourss to what Xu Miaoran had was likeparing the moon to a firefly.


    The pain from her finger was the bacsh an infant felt from running into a giant. Although it wasn''t too painful, it was so intimidating that Xu Miaoran wanted to prostrate herself in worship.


    She was just about to get down on her knees when a hand pulled her up.


    Looking back, she saw Tang Jie smiling at her.


    "Husband!" Xu Miaoran called out.


    Tang Jie said, "You did very well, but while admiration is fine, prostration is unnecessary."


    "You¡­" Xu Miaoran looked at her husband in a daze, finding his face to be brimming with confidence.


    He raised his head and proudly stared at the hourss. "This was left behind by the Immortal Emperor, the Heavenly Dao of his small world, fixing heaven and earth, locking space and time. Once you get your hands on it, you can inherit his Great Dao of Spacetime, inherit his Heavenly Dao Will from when he created this world, inherit the supreme Dao Will that we have been seeking for countless years in this ce."


    Then he looked at Xu Miaoran. "But I don''t want to inherit it."


    He chuckled. "I have my own path, and I have no need to walk his. But I can use his experiences as a reference to study and use. This was going to be somewhat difficult, but when you used Limitless to touch the Heavenly Dao just now, I got an idea."


    Tang Jie took a step forward.


    With this one step, he managed to shorten the distance between him and that unreachable hourss.


    He took one step after another, crossing that short and simultaneously interminable space, somehow managing to reach that Heavenly Dao Hourss. He then reached out and grabbed it!


    "Limitless!" Xu Miaoran blurted out.


    But then she realized that it wasn''t. Limitless couldn''t have supported Tang Jie over such a long distance. Only Xu Miaoran was able to understand just how great of a distance Tang Jie had crossed in that moment. This was a kind of transcendent speed, letting him cross through space like the Immortal Emperor had once traveled the world, with distance posing him no obstacle.


    This was now true for Tang Jie. At that moment, he had gone from the earth all the way to the heavens!


    Only by crossing that infinite gap between mortals and gods was he finally able to hold that hourss.


    Tang Jie stood the hourss up.


    He pointed at the hourss, using Split-Second Youth, and the sand began to flow.


    It began to go from the top to the bottom in an endless flow.


    Xu Miaoran knew that time had been returned to this frozen space.


    All things in this space began to change, grow, and die, all things entering their cycles. But because the Great Daos were iplete, the vitality of this ce was extremely weak. Thus, it wouldn''t be long before everything here died.


    The moment this ce had time was the moment this ce headed toward its death.


    Tang Jie strode back from the horizon to Xu Miaoran''s side.


    Xu Miaoran came forward and hugged her husband. "Husband, congrattions on entering the Dao of Space. What sort of Dao Art did you attain that''s so amazing?"


    Tang Jie replied, "Your Limitless increased my understanding of spatial movement. Considering all these powerful foes in the court and how the me Celestial Sovereign is constantly chasing me, and also adding in my desire to reach the Heavenly Dao Hourss, I chose an art suitable for escaping, without any other skills. This is a spatial movement technique that can contract space, allowing me to travel to any ce I can see. I call it ''Nearby Horizon''."


    Xu Miaoran''s Limitless could also be used as a spatial escape art, but it was much inferior to Tang Jie''s Nearby Horizon. Tang Jie''s Nearby Horizon allowed him to move to wherever his eyes could see, and not only that, he could use it repeatedly. The Dao of Space could be considered the Dao of Speed, and at its apex, one could travel almost instantly to wherever one pleased. It was the true Dao of Freedom.


    Tang Jie pursued freedom, and Tang Jie was also surrounded by enemies at the moment. Thus, whenprehending the Immortal Emperor''s Dao Will, influenced by Xu Miaoran, he chose Nearby Horizon without a second thought. He didn''t seek to kill his enemies, only freedom to roam the world!


    With the Nearby Horizon Dao Art, the me Celestial Sovereign would find it extremely hard to hunt him down.


    "When you say ''any ce you can see'', do you mean your ordinary vision or your spell art vision?" Yiyi asked.


    This girl was very sharp, asking a most important question. If this used spell art vision, it was extremely powerful. By activating his Celestial Eye, he could see far into the distance, and through a spell art like the Illuminating Eye, couldn''t he essentially go anywhere? If that was the case, then he really could cover thousands of kilometers in an instant, perhaps even jumping between domains.


    After some thought, Tang Jie replied, "Spell art vision is okay as well."


    "Wonderful!" everyone cheered.


    "But¡­" Tang Jie suddenly added.


    Xu Miaoran realized what he was about to say. "But it means that the Space power required will increase by a huge amount, and if the distance is too great, it might fail, right?"


    Tang Jie smiled. "You get it."


    This was the rule of the world. The Great Dao did not have limits, but people did. Theoretically, the Dao of Space could let one reach any part of the world instantly, even go from the Vast Wilderness Continent to the Rosecloud Domain. But the prerequisite was that one had the ability.


    There were only invincible Daos, not invincible people!


    Hearing this, everyone was still happy for Tang Jie.


    Only Tutu was rather glum.


    He was about to lose his job!


    When he was a mount, Tutu had resented his life as a mount.


    Only when Tang Jie no longer needed him did he realize that the most tragic thing in the world wasn''t to be someone''s mount, but tock even the right to be a mount!


    Yiyi saw what he was thinking and soothed, "Don''t worry. Big Brother doesn''t have endless Space power. Big Brother will definitely leave you as a back-up."


    s, from the main mount to a back-up.


    Tutu wanted to cry.


    Yiyi petted him and said, "If it''s still no good, there''s still me. You can be a mount for me or Big Sister Miaoran. We both need you."


    This little girl didn''t know how tofort at all, only making Tutu angrier.


    <em>Count yourself lucky that Tang Jie is stronger than me! You entered Divine Divisionter than I did, and yet you''re saying you''ll take me in like it''s an act ofpassion!</em>


    But when he considered how Yiyi and Xu Miaoran had both entered Violet Pce through Tang Jie''s help and might be just as strong as him in battle, he found that he really couldn''t say anything.


    He was at a loss, not knowing whether to be happy or sad.


    Nobody else knew what Tutu was thinking and were all celebrating. Suddenly, the ground rippled, and all the flowers and grass began to wither and die.


    "What happened?" Yiyi and Ice Phoenix shouted.


    Tang Jie sighed. "I restarted the Heavenly Dao Hourss, causing time to flow again, which has destroyed this ce''s foundation. This isted dimension is on the road to ruin."


    "It will copse?" Yiyi paled.


    If that was the case, everyone might die or be thrown into the endless void, which was no different from eternal exile. Even with Tang Jie''s Nearby Horizon, crossing the void was not easy.


    Tang Jie shook his head. "No, this ce won''t copse. While it''s an isted dimension, it''s attached to the outside dimension. Now that I''ve destroyed this ce''s Dao of Spacetime, it will start to merge with the main dimension until the two are one."


    "Doesn''t that mean we have to return to the Celestial Maze Formation?"


    "Yes." Tang Jie nodded.


    Ice Phoenix stomped her feet. "Geez, you could have done anything else, but you had to restart the Heavenly Dao Hourss. Now those people outside are going to catch us."


    She had already been exposed as a demon to the cultivators from the two sects, so those two sects would never let them go.


    Tang Jie smiled. "If I didn''t do this, I wouldn''t have been able to truly enter the Dao."


    Although he had used Nearby Horizon to reach the Heavenly Dao Hourss, it was only during thatst interaction where he had restarted the hourss that he had made up for thest bit that he was missing. Entering a Great Dao was no easy task, and if not for the Immortal Emperor''s legacy, he would have never been able to so smoothly create a powerful Dao Art. Countless people would have wanted this kind of escape art. Even the me Celestial Sovereign could only travel around as a streak of light, which was still far from the spatial shifting and spatial contraction of Nearby Horizon.


    Ice Phoenix red. "If that''s the case, what are we still waiting for? Let''s get ready to enter the diagram and run."


    Tang Jieughed. "Indeed, indeed. Please enter the diagram."


    With a wave of his hand, he pulled Ice Phoenix and Yiyi into the diagram.


    When it came to Xu Miaoran''s turn, she refused and smiled. "I want to fight alongside my husband. I can just enter the diagramter if it''s no good."


    Looking into Xu Miaoran''s eyes, Tang Jie smiled and said, "Okay. If that''s the case, then we will deal with those people together, as husband and wife."

 Chapter 880: Green Snake

    Chapter 880: Green Snake


    Even though Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran had spent several hundred years living in that isted dimension, to the people in the Celestial Maze Formation, only a little time had passed, so short that they were still battling with the Wandering Souls. If Tang Jie hadn''t gone out to kill the serpent, they might have had the false impression that Tang Jie had gone in one second ago and thene out a secondter.


    The white-browed elder was furious to see Tang Jie leave, but there seemed to be a neverending flood of Wandering Souls, and it was impossible to kill them all in short order. In the middle of this tough battle, Tang Jie suddenly reappeared again.


    The elder was startled, and then he crowed in delight, "Brat, let''s see where you run off to this time!"


    His hand prated through space to grab Tang Jie. Although he hadn''t entered the Dao of Space, this grab had its own mysterious properties.


    But Tang Jie simply stepped to the side, easily evading the w. He casually replied, "This one has never offended this honored Immortal, so why do you attack me?"


    The white-browed elder said, "The peasant has no crime, but harboring treasure is itself a sin! Hand over the treasure you got from the tomb and that demon, and I''ll spare your life!"


    On the side, Yan Beiqiu shouted, "Young Brother, don''t listen to this old Whitebrow. Give your things to me and my Ster Net Gate will ensure your safety. Not only that, we''ll ept you into our sect. Having cultivated to this level, you must understand that being a wandering cultivator is not easy. My Ster Net Gate has a Gold Immortal Ancestor and countless other Immortals. You can choose any one to be your master to instruct you in cultivation, at which point reaching Immortal tform won''t just be a dream!"


    Yan Beiqiu clearly offered better conditions.


    The green-robed schr snorted. "What the Ster Net Gate can offer, my Heaven''s Equal Sect can offer as well.""But without as much sincerity as my Ster Net Gate!" the purple-clothed muscr manughed. A human form appeared behind him, the man''s Divine Soul manifestation. It loomedrge like a mighty god, holding a bronze staff in his hand.


    The soul manifestation of an Immortal tform expert was a god!


    This True Immortal''s Primal Divinity made manifest raised the staff and pointed, upon which the staff transformed into a flood that surged toward the Wandering Souls. At the same time, the muscr man shouted, "Little Brother,e over here. I will protect you."


    When it came to public rtions, the Ster Net Gate was somewhat more formidable than the Heaven''s Equal Sect.


    The staff sted apart the Wandering Souls, and Tang Jie was amazed by the man''s disy of power.


    This disy of power was clearly a warning to Tang Jie.


    s, his warning might have been useful against others, but Tang Jie didn''t care at all.


    Tang Jie simply smiled. "Right after I entered the hidden tomb, I was pushed out by a mysterious force, so I don''t have any treasure to give you. The Ster Net Gate and Heaven''s Equal Sect are both good ces, and this one is willing to join either. But I wonder if you still want me after you learn there''s no treasure?"


    He began to walk toward an asteroid behind him.


    "We need to search you first," the white-browed elder barked. "Come over this instant!"


    His shout was imbued with divine power that erupted in Tang Jie''s mind. His mind grew dizzy, and he started to walk over to the elder.


    Fortunately, Little Three appeared and shouted at Tang Jie.


    It was a sharp wail, piercing into Tang Jie''s mind and instantly clearing his confusion. In shock, he realized that he had been too careless and fallen into the white-browed elder''s trap. He had somehow taken control of his Divine Soul. Thankfully, Little Three, with his ability tomunicate with souls, was able to awaken him.


    Only now did Tang Jie realize how big the gap was between him and True Immortals.


    He could only move wherever he could see, while these people could attack whatever they could see. Even when they were separated by a sea of Wandering Souls and a vast distance, they could still easily kill him.


    With his mind clear, Tang Jie didn''t dy, immediately taking a step and appearing on an asteroid. "This lowly one is too much of a coward topete with my elders, so I will be taking a step back for now."


    As he rode the asteroid away, he put upyers of barriers around himself, locked down his Violet Pce, and focused his will so that the white-browed elder had no opening to exploit.


    "Damn it!" the elder bellowed in rage.


    "Let me catch this boy," the schr grunted, shooting a green light at Tang Jie.


    As the green light howled through the air and rapidly closed the distance, it suddenly turned into a snake.


    Tang Jie didn''t dare to underestimate anything a True Immortal threw at him, taking out the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace. Nine divine treasures flew out of the furnace, condensing a beam of divine light and firing it at the snake.


    Thebined power of nine divine treasures was immense and majestic.


    But the green snake seemed to not feel it, putting up a green barrier and pushing through the rainbow beam, a savage look in its eyes. Its gaze seemed rather simr to that of its owner, the green-robed schr.


    Tang Jie pped the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace again, and eighteen divine treasures emerged, adding their power to the beam, but this still couldn''t stop the snake.


    27, 36, and finally 108 divine treasures were put into the fray. This divine beam that could even kill an Earth Immortal was just barely able to stop the green snake.


    But at that moment, the schr''s eyes shed, and then the snake hissed and suddenly forced its way past the beam, lunging straight at Tang Jie.


    Just when it seemed like Tang Jie would be caught, countless rainbow threads of light erupted from his body, instantly weaving themselves into a majestic pce.


    The Infinite Pce!


    The green snake mmed into the Infinite Pce. While the Infinite Pce could not be called a supreme defensive Dao Art, its defenses were not so casually broken. The green snake had a small part of a True Immortal''s power, but it was still at the Earth Immortal level, so it couldn''t break through with a single strike.


    At the same time, the shining golden Sovereign de sliced toward the snake!


    Tang Jie truly couldn''t hold back against a True Immortal, not even considering that he wasn''t even hisplete self at the moment, making it all the more necessary to use everything he had.


    The Sovereign de cut right through the snake''s barrier, and it proceeded to chop the snake in half.


    "Ah!" the green-robed schr shouted, throwing up blood.


    This golden blood was devoured by some Wandering Souls, which immediately transformed into even stronger ghosts that attacked the cultivators.


    Butpared to the transformation of the Wandering Souls, the green snake being cut in half was a far greater shock, this feat stunning even Yan Beiqiu and the purple-clothed man. But this matter wasn''t over just yet. As the barrier was destroyed and the snake was cut in half, the divine beam from the furnace once more took aim. There was nothing to stop the terrifying power of 108 divine treasures this time, so the snake howled in pain and immediately transformed into thousands of smaller snakes that scattered in all directions.


    "Trying to run?" Tang Jie snorted. He waved the Sovereign de, creating a torrent of ethereal swords.


    Skyrend Swordfall!


    Tang Jie was truly going all-out, and this was just to deal with a green snake this True Immortal had casually thrown out.


    A thousand phantom swords rushed forward like a celestial waterfall.


    The Skyrend Swordfall had its name for a reason, and when coupled with the unstoppable killing power of the Sovereign de, it served as one of Tang Jie''s strongest trump cards. Even the me Celestial Sovereign hadn''t forced him to use thisbination. But this move that was only some percentage of a True Immortal''s power had made Tang Jie use it.


    Once the waterfall of des had passed, the divine beam also ceased. Not a single snake had survived, and their spiritual energy gathered together into a nail shaped like a green snake.


    Tang Jie picked it up and found that it was only a hidden weapon on the level of a divine treasure. However, when empowered by a True Immortal''s Divine Will, it was capable of disying a terrifying might.


    In the middle of his shock, he still remembered to shake his hand, upon which the Sovereign de dissolved into countless golden kes.


    Tang Jie did this on purpose to trick his foes into thinking that the treasure he had used to destroy the green snake was only a one-time-use item, thus concealing the secret of the Sovereign de. In truth, Tang Jie didn''t think this would actually work, but he did it out of habit.


    In the Rosecloud Domain, his high status and peerless prestige allowed him to act frankly and openly. But in the Vast Wilderness World, where numerous Immortals had gathered, every step held potential danger, and everywhere he looked were existences stronger than him. As a result, his old cunning and cautious habits started to return, the scheming Tang Jie once more taking the fore.


    From this, one could see that it was the environment that changed the person. A person''s personality, thoughts, and methods were closely connected to their circumstances.


    Tang Jie collected the shattered Sovereign de into his sleeve, putting on a reluctant appearance. As he was flexing his acting skills, he fled away on the asteroid.


    The green-robed schr and Yan Beiqiu were both dumbfounded.


    Yan Beiqiu suddenly covered her mouth and giggled. "Who would have thought that Yu Hualong''s Green Snake Nail would fail? Not only that, you even lost one of them. With one of the 36 Green Snake Nails missing, your Dracoform Astral Formation will be impossible toy down. Hahaha, we must celebrate this!"


    The green-robed schr was still in shock.


    Just as Yan Beiqiu had said, though one divine weapon was a trifle to a True Immortal, a lost Green Snake Nail preventing him fromying down a formation was a big deal.


    The schr was so enraged that Tang Jie had taken one of his nails that he threw up blood again, once more causing several Wandering Souls to transform.


    Whitebrow Shao snorted, "Just a Soul Projection brat. He just managed to survive thanks to some treasures he found, yet he dares to act so arrogantly!"


    In his view, Tang Jie must have found the sword he had used to slice through the barrier and chop apart the green snake in the Immortal Emperor''s tomb. s, it seemed to have shattered after doing its job. However, the Immortal Emperor''s tomb couldn''t only have had that sword. There were probably even better treasures, or else he couldn''t exin how Tang Jie could both survive a True Immortal''s attack and even seize a treasure.


    Whitebrow Shao said, "But so what if he''s gained some of the Immortal Emperor''s legacy? There''s only one exit. We''ll just go back and stop it up!"


    "That''s right!" Yu Hualong snarled.


    Because of the Green Snake Nail, he could never let Tang Jie go.


    Yan Beiqiu chuckled. "If that''s the case, we''ll join in too. In my view, there''s no need for us to keep fighting. We can evenly split the spoils."


    "Of course," Whitebrow Shao replied.


    The two sects had fought for more than ten thousand years, with neithering out ahead. Thus, it was better to split the profits rather than fight.


    "However, Big Brother''s Green Snake Nail will have to be considered as an artificial Dao armament when ites to calcting the share," Yan Beiqiu added.


    Yu Hualong almost threw up blood again, for Yan Beiqiu was saying that the Heaven''s Equal Sect was essentially losing out on half a Dao armament''s worth of loot, but there was nothing he could do about it.

 Chapter 881: Demon Sovereign

    Chapter 881: Demon Sovereign


    Having settled their n, the two sects flew back the way they hade.


    Since they were flying back, they encountered no traps, making for a smooth journey. Meanwhile, Tang Jie, who was taking the Celestial Maze Formation''s asteroids back, had to go through all sorts of detours, so he would definitely get to the exit more slowly than the two sects.


    So long as they guarded the exit, Tang Jie would walk into the trap all on his own.


    The n was an excellent one, and in truth, Tang Jie anticipated that it would take a long battle for him to ovee it, perhaps even that he would have to drag things out until the Court of Myriad Domains was about to close. It wasn''t like they could block the exit forever. At that time, he would use Reflections of Floating Life to escape.


    But the situation developed in an unexpected direction.


    As the two sects were flying back, they saw a handsome schr.


    The schr was followed by a horse and was casually strolling through the void, asionally looking around at the vast emptiness as if this was some scenic sight.


    The sects instinctively nced at the schr.


    Anybody who could enter the Court of Myriad Domains could not be an ordinary person, with the weakest being at Violet Pce. But with one nce, they saw that this person was only at the Mortal Shedding Realm.They were dumbfounded.


    One cultivator rubbed his eyes and looked again, his eyes now shing with lightning. This person cultivated a profound vision-based Divine Connection, and only Dao Arts like Reflections of Floating Life could hide from his eyes.


    But the man was still at the Mortal Shedding Realm, with no disguise whatsoever. Meanwhile, the horse behind him was shockingly a Void Returning Heavenly Horse.


    But everyone knew that a man that could have a Void Returning Heavenly Horse following him could not be a mere Mortal Shedding cultivator. This man had simply used some method to hide his real cultivation level.


    With no confidence, they looked to their leaders.


    The four True Immortals gave each other weird looks.


    Meanwhile, the schr walked up to the four and bowed. "Might I ask if there is a passage to the Nether Domain up ahead, containing countless Wandering Souls?"


    The four True Immortals said in shock, "Who are you, and how do you know this?"


    The schr ignored the question and muttered, "Then this is the ce? What happened to the snake? Right, you guys must have driven it off. Although that dumb snake was a survivor from Remote Antiquity, it was no divine beast. All it had was its age, so it was naturally no match against you guys. But why did youe back? The Nether Domain passage is only open for a limited amount of time, and you just need to oust it. Four True Immortals and ten-some Earth Immortals¡ªlet me calcte¡­ mm, enough to get through half of the traps. If all of the traps of the Celestial Maze Formation are undone, the formation will open on its own, revealing the hidden ce. If they didn''t mind casualties and used these Violet Pce juniors as bait, they could get through the majority of the traps, but all of them would be extremely difficult. With me, they would be able to break them all. What do you think about working together, breaking through that scoundrel Yu Cheng''s traps and plundering his tomb?"


    After muttering to himself for a while, the schr suddenly smiled, but this made the blood of the cultivators from the two sects run cold.


    "Using Violet Pce juniors as bait"? It sounded like he wanted to sacrifice all the Violet Pce cultivators here to break this "Celestial Maze Formation".


    "Such audacity!" a Soul Projection cultivator roared.


    He threw a ck bolt at the schr.


    This ck bolt was actually a treasure the cultivator had refined for many years. It was extremely corrosive, able to instantly melt a person down into blood. One could see that even though this cultivatorshed out in rage, he was still being extremely cautious.


    The others, wanting to see just how powerful this schr was, didn''t try to stop him.


    The ck bolt struck the schr''s face like it had hit a pool of water, creating a series of ripples. But even water should have erupted in mighty waves after such an impact, yet this ck bolt simply disappeared into the schr''s body like a stone thrown into the ocean.


    Gone, vanished, devoured!


    Everyone was stunned.


    The schr turned to the cultivator who had attacked him and smiled. "Ah, so it was Pentacolor Divine Sand made from Winter Star Metal and Thousand Light Stone. s, the method of use is rather inexperienced, and there are several parts missing. Some parts must have gotten lost over the many years of transmission. You should¡­"


    He began to instruct the cultivator on the correct way to refine the Pentacolor Divine Sand.


    The cultivator was both stunned and delighted.


    As the schr had said, he had obtained the method to craft the Pentacolor Divine Sand by chance many years ago. Although he had his own legacy, he still wanted the Pentacolor Divine Sand to increase his personal power. Even so, after all these years, he had only seeded in crafting this corrosive ck sand, far from theplete Pentacolor Divine Sand, and even farther from a Five Elements Dao armament. The reason for this was that the method wasn''tplete.


    This schr was now teaching him the correct method, and it all made sense and matched with what he already knew. He was so excited that he forgot he had just tried to kill the man and attentively listened.


    The schr seemed to have gotten tired of talking, saying, "Forget it. I have the crafting method for the Pentacolor Divine Sand right here. Go ahead and look it over."


    He took out a tablet made of jade and offered it.


    The cultivator instinctively took it, at which Whitebrow Shao frowned. He couldn''t help but feel like something was wrong here, but he also knew this cultivator had been obsessed with the Pentacolor Divine Sand for many years, and also wanted to see what this schr was capable of, so he let the exchange happen. Meanwhile, Yan Beiqiu inwardly scoffed. <em>This person uses the Pentacolor Divine Sand, and that schr just so happens to have the method to make it? There''s definitely something fishy going on.</em>


    The cultivator took the jade tablet. Cautious, he first examined the tablet for anything suspicious, and then he asked Whitebrow Shao to confirm that everything was okay. Only then did he p the tablet, upon which a light flew out and entered his mind. As he read the contents, delight appeared on his face. It was clearly the crafting method for the Pentacolor Divine Sand.


    Everyone was bbergasted to see he was fine.


    Someone couldn''t stand it anymore and used the schr, "You there, what exactly are you up to?"


    The schr chuckled. "If you like it, you can get the same treatment. You have a sonorous voice like a p of thunder, and your blood energy is vigorous, so you clearly cultivate an art emphasizing blood energy. I happen to have a method for refining a Holy Blood Pill, a medicine used often by body cultivators of High Antiquity. I will gift it to you, and you can have someone refine the pill for you when you get back. You will definitely benefit from it."


    He sent over another jade tablet.


    This muscr man was from the Ster Net Gate, and he was startled by the schr''s behavior. He examined the jade tablet and found no problem with it, and then he looked to Yan Beiqiu. She also scanned it with her divine eyes and found nothing, so the man began to read the tablet. He was ecstatic to find that it was real.


    Since Whitebrow Shao and Yan Beiqiu had both found no problem, everyone came forward to ask for instruction.


    Their thoughts were very simple. If even a True Immortal couldn''t find a problem, it could mean only one of two things. The first was that there really was no problem, which was naturally the best. The second was that there was a problem, but the person behind it was stronger than a True Immortal.


    But only Gold Immortals were stronger than True Immortals, and if that was the case, everyone put together was no match for him, so there was no need to resort to schemes.


    As the cultivators from both sects sought instruction, the schr answered all questions and showered them with gifts. It seemed like he was hiding a Mustard Seed Bag in his clothes, as he was able to take out anything and everything.


    Shockingly, as he issued gifts, his cultivation level began to rise.


    He rose from Nine Revolutions Tier to Cognitive Creation, then Celestial Heart, Heart Demon, and then to Soul Transformation. It seemed like he was soon about to break through into Violet Pce.


    Whitebrow Shao realized that something was wrong, but he couldn''t tell what, and his heart was seized by an inexplicable terror.


    As he looked at the schr surrounded by cultivators, he suddenly tensed up.


    <em>Strange¡ªwhat happened to me?</em>


    <em>Weren''t we chasing that brat?</em>


    <em>Why is it that some person offering arts and techniques has everyone rushing to ept his offer, and why didn''t I do anything to stop it?</em>


    As Whitebrow Shao put up his guard, Yan Beiqiu''s aura also began to rise.


    These two were the captains of their respective groups, as well as the strongest, so they both regained their senses at the same time.


    His eyes shing with killing intent, Whitebrow Shao roared, "An excellent confusion art to confuse the soul and bewitch the mind, so subtle that even this old man fell for it! All of you, back away at once!"


    Hisst words were to his subordinates.


    This thunderous roar boomed in everyone''s ears, shaking them out of their trances. They all looked in shock at the schr, wondering how they had fallen for his trick and vigntly retreating.


    The schr stopped distributing his texts and waved his hands in denial. "Not at all, not at all. Confusing the soul and bewitching the mind are two different things that can''t bepared at all. Confusing the soul involves an outside force sowing chaos in the Divine Soul. Words are a psychological attack meant only to assist the outside force in prating the soul. Bewitching the mind, on the other hand, involves using various methods to pique your desires, causing you to trip over yourself. Words and psychological attacks are the primary method, with spell arts serving as a support, and one works from the inside out. The effects aren''t as apparent as the former, but that''s because it is much more subtle. This one used a mind-bewitching art, not a soul-confusing one¡ªremember that!"


    "So bold! What exactly did you do to us?" a cultivator shouted. Everyone was nervous after realizing that they had been inexplicably put under his spell.


    The schr chuckled. "Don''t be afraid. This one didn''t do anything lethal. On the contrary, I shared some of my cultivation with all of you. If I didn''t, I wouldn''t have failed to suppress my cultivation, which caused these two to see the w in my disguise."


    Sharing cultivation, suppressing cultivation?


    Everyone was dumbstruck.


    Whitebrow Shao realized something and scowled. "You gifted cultivation? What kind of cultivation?"


    "Naturally, the supreme demonic energy this one has cultivated for ten thousand years." The schr threw his head back andughed.


    As heughed, a purple-ck energy began to leak out of his body, swiftly engulfing him in a demonic cloud. Transforming along with him were that Void Returning Heavenly Horse and the several dozen cultivators he had given gifts.


    ck smoke erupted from these cultivators as they began to scream in unison.


    "Demonification!" Yan Beiqiu cried out. "Not good¡ªhe''s a demon!"


    Whitebrow Shao looked at the seething purple-ck demonic energy with despair in his eyes. "No, he''s a Demon Sovereign!"

 Chapter 882: Primordial Heavenly Demon

    Chapter 882: Primordial Heavenly Demon


    It was said that the 99 Demon Lords of the Primordial Fog Domain jointly ruled it, but in reality, there was a hierarchy. Of the 99 Demon Lords, the 9 strongest were called Demon Sovereigns.


    Thus, the title of Demon Sovereign was not used lightly.


    For Whitebrow Shao to call the schr a Demon Sovereign left everyone stunned.


    Even the schr himself gasped. "Old man, you''ve seen some things. Do you know who this sovereign is?"


    Whitebrow Shao said in a trembling voice, "Whitebrow Shao, disciple of the Blood Stupa, pays respects to the Lord Primordial Heavenly Demon."


    Yan Beiqiu paled when she learned who this person was.


    The Primordial Heavenly Demon was one of the most infamous demons of the Primordial Fog, his strength renowned and feared throughout the Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    The most terrifying thing about him was that he was an expert in inciting demonification.


    He cultivated the Supreme Heavenly Demon Art, one of the foundational demonic energy cultivation techniques of the Primordial Fog, and those who fell victim to it would be demons. During the Primordial Fog Invasion, he had turned countless cultivators into demons to serve him. He thrived against groups, bing more dangerous the more people he faced.It was the Unbounded Immortal Elder of the Court of Myriad Domains who had ultimately in this demon with his Unbounded Staff. How had he managed to survive?


    "''The Blood Stupa''?" The Primordial Heavenly Demon cocked his head and seemed to realize something. "Are you talking about Tie Tufu (Iron Stupa), the Blood Hand True Lord, one of the 28 Star Lords?"


    "That is my master!" Whitebrow Shao respectfully said.


    The Primordial Heavenly Demon threw his head back andughed. "I can''t believe an acquaintance from thirteen thousand years ago is still alive! It seems like not only did Tie Tufu survive, he even founded himself some Heaven''s Equal Sect. Putting himself on the level of the heavens? He has some big ambitions."


    Yan Beiqiu also stammered out, "The Longevity Hall''s Yan Beiqiu also pays respects to the Primordial Heavenly Demon."


    "''The Longevity Hall''?" The Primordial Heavenly Demon shook his head. "I haven''t heard of that one before."


    Yan Beiqiu could only helplessly add, "This lowly sect is not as old as the court, but it has heard of the might of Lord Primordial Heavenly Demon."


    "You mean to say you''ve heard of this sovereign''s infamy, no?" the Primordial Heavenly Demon sinisterly said.


    The demonic energy around him expanded to cover the entire area, and those cultivators under his control wailed as they began to take on savage and gruesome appearances, causing the two True Immortals to wince.


    These were the elites of the sect, the sects having gone to great lengths to nurture every Violet Pce expert. But the Primordial Heavenly Demon had turned them all into demons, with no hope of redemption. This was even more infuriating than killing them. Moreover, the fact that these were former brothers, friends, and teachers filled them with immense sorrow.


    Suppressing his rage, Whitebrow Shao said, "Since it is the honored Lord Primordial Heavenly Demon, how could we dare to try and stop you? This Immortal Emperor''s tomb belongs to you, and this lowly one will withdraw."


    He waved his hand, ordering the rest of his men to quickly retreat.


    The Primordial Heavenly Demon had been a Boundless Gold Immortal more than ten thousand years ago. They were no match for him then, so they certainly wouldn''t be a match for him now.


    "Did I let you leave?" the Primordial Heavenly Demon chuckled. "This old man just mentioned that forcing one''s way through the Immortal Emperor''s tomb would require sufficient lives and bait. Since you are all here, shouldn''t you all serve me with your very lives?"


    The demons around him howled. Having been turned to demons by the Primordial Heavenly Demon, they were absolutely loyal to him.


    The cultivators paled, and Yan Beiqiu shouted, "My lord, the Immortal Emperor''s tomb has already been plundered. There are no treasures up ahead, all of them with that thief."


    "What?" The Primordial Heavenly Demon was stunned.


    As if in response to her words, there was a great rumbling as a piece ofnd appeared in the void: the ce where the Immortal Emperor had proved his Dao. Now that Tang Jie had restarted the Heavenly Dao Hourss, thisnd had finally begun to merge with the main world and show itself.


    The Primordial Heavenly Demon could tell at a nce that thisnd was empty, and his face darkened. "The Dao Will remains awe-inspiring, and the power of the Dao still remains, but the two worlds are merging together. Sure enough, someone has gone inside, and there''s nothing in there!"


    In truth, there had been nothing there from the very beginning, and the Immortal Emperor''s tomb had been an empty shell, so Tang Jie was unjustly taking the me. But someone with many debts didn''t mind another, and since everyone was chasing him anyway, he probably wouldn''t think much about another pursuer.


    As this piece ofnd appeared, giant ripples began to pulse through the space, like furious ocean waves.


    The Primordial Heavenly Demon scowled. "Not good! This ce is copsing!"


    This formation was meant to protect the ce of Dao Proving, but now that thisnd was merging with the surrounding formation, all arrangements were thrown into disarray, and the formation had lost its purpose for existence. As a result, the Celestial Maze Formation was showing signs of copse.


    This was a formation that even Boundless Gold Immortals had to be careful around, and those ripples were now triggering all of the formation''s traps!


    Listening to the roars in the distance, the Primordial Heavenly Demon knew that bad things wereing his way, and he immediately ordered, "Go!"


    He immediately flew toward the exit.


    Whitebrow Shao and Yan Beiqiu saw this and naturally sought to leave as well.


    To their surprise, the Primordial Heavenly Demon turned back to them andughed. "It''s better if the rest of you stay there."


    With a wave of his sleeve, he unleashed a torrent of power at the two groups.


    The cultivators were stunned and furious, not having expected the Primordial Heavenly Demon to attack them in this situation.


    As Whitebrow Shao blocked the attack, putting upyers of defenses around himself, he shouted, "Primordial Heavenly Demon, have you gone crazy? This formation is about to copse, so you should hurry and flee for your life. What good does attacking us do?"


    The Primordial Heavenly Demonughed. "If we acted ording tomon sense for everything, why are we even demons? Demons act ording to their desires, and that''s exactly what this old man intends to do! Arguments of justice and righteousness are useless against us, and so are arguments of reason and logic. I''ve been imprisoned for ten thousand years, so now that I''m finally out, I''m going to eat my fill. The opportunity hase, so how can I let it go? Regardless of whether the Immortal Emperor left a treasure or not, this old man is going to feast!"


    With a howl, he turned into a ck cloud from which a giant hand emerged and grabbed a cultivator. This cultivator was pulled into the ck cloud, and there was a terrible scream, followed by silence.


    A Violet Pce cultivator had been devoured, just like that.


    Whitebrow Shao and Yan Beiqiu were enraged and shocked, while Yu Hualong threw out three Green Snake Nails. At the same time, the purple-clothed man unleashed a storm of staff blows. The sixteen Earth Immortals and several dozen Violet Pce experts also began to barrage the Primordial Heavenly Demon with attacks.


    Anyone else might have been scared to death when surrounded by so many Immortals, but when against a Boundless Gold Immortal like the Primordial Heavenly Demon, they had little confidence. They knew well how terrifying Gold Immortals were, a single nce or thought being enough to shake the heavens. Even four True Immortals working together had little chance of winning.


    The Primordial Heavenly Demonughed as if he didn''t care. "All of you,e into this old man''s belly."


    A wave of demonic energy swept toward them.


    Whitebrow Shao shouted in rm, "Watch out! This is Origin demonic energy. If it invades your body, you''ll be turned into a demon!"


    The jade tablets the Primordial Heavenly Demon had given out were made from this demonic energy, which was why he was able to easily take control of several dozen cultivators.


    Since they naturally weren''t going to fall for his trick this time, he could only use force.


    As the demonic energy roared toward them, all the cultivators put up barriers.


    This demonic energy was like the Astral Winds, making their barriers flicker and shatter. While the Immortal tform experts could hold on for a while, the Violet Pce cultivators could not. The gap between them and Gold Immortals was too great, and this wasn''t even an offensive kind of demonic energy. Otherwise, one strike could have killed them all. Even so, the cultivators gradually began to falter.


    An Infant Tending cultivator was the first to fall, his barrier shattering and demonic energy flooding into his mind. His vision went dark, and when he next awoke, it was to a crimson world of blood¡­


    Whitebrow Shao inwardly cried out in pain with each cultivator that was turned into a demon. Finally, he clenched his teeth and said, "Leave this ce! Don''t try and fight!"


    The cultivators elerated toward the exit.


    The Primordial Heavenly Demon was crazy, but they were not. They knew that if they fought here, only death awaited them, either at the hands of the Primordial Heavenly Demon or by the copsing formation.


    The Primordial Heavenly Demonughed and continued to extend his giant ck hand, grabbing cultivator after cultivator and devouring them. With each one he devoured, his demonic energy grew.


    But he only grabbed Violet Pce cultivators, ignoring the Immortal tform experts.


    Thus, the twenty Immortals were able to make a mad rush for the exit,pletely casting aside the Violet Pce experts.


    At this moment, a voice called out.


    "You idiots, you''ve fallen for his bluff!"


    "What?" The cultivators looked around in shock, but they couldn''t find the speaker.


    That voice, Tang Jie''s voice, continued to resound through the space.


    Tang Jie said, "Use your heads. Demons might be crazy, but even the mad know to cherish their lives. Why is he attacking you now? Because he doesn''t want to give you time to think. In another ce, in another form, you would definitely fight to the death with him, thus exposing his weak foundation."


    The Primordial Heavenly Demon was startled, and then he realized. "It''s you! That kid from the Unbounded Pce?"


    Whitebrow Shao and the others looked questioningly at the Primordial Heavenly Demon.


    Was this person really bluffing?


    But his flood of demonic energy had been real, as had the cultivators he had converted and killed.

 Chapter 883: One Versus One Hundred (1)

    Chapter 883: One Versus One Hundred (1)


    "Are you telling the truth?" Whitebrow Shao shouted.


    Tang Jie replied, "I personally saw him escape. The news of this devil''s death wasn''t false. It was just that some of his Primal Divinity remained, somehow surviving despite being sealed within the Unbounded Pce for ten thousand years."


    Whitebrow Shao said in shock, "In other words, only his Primal Divinity is a Gold Immortal, while the rest isn''t?"


    "Correct. This is why he doesn''t eat Immortal tform cultivators, because Earth Immortals are too hard to digest. Once he devours one, he needs a while topletely absorb them. This is why I was able to escapest time. But here, if he were to absorb an Earth Immortal, you would definitely notice something wrong. That''s why he started with Violet Pce cultivators. Once he''s absorbed all the Violet Pce cultivators, he will be strong enough to eat Earth Immortals. You had fallen for his scheme and were only thinking about escaping, unable to distinguish the truth, and by the time you realize something''s amiss, it would already be toote."


    "Shut your mouth!" the Primordial Heavenly Demon roared in anger.


    But no matter how he shouted, Tang Jie''s voice continued to ring out, reaching the ears of all the cultivators present.


    Tang Jie even sneered, "He can''t even find me or cut off my voice, so you can tell that this Lord Heavenly Demon is actually quite weak. With that little bit of Gold Immortal Primal Divinity, he''s invincible against Violet Pce experts, and terrifying to Earth Immortals, but against four True Immortals, he has little advantage to speak of. So are you still going to run away?"


    Whitebrow Shao and the others stopped and turned to re hungrily at the Primordial Heavenly Demon.


    Tang Jie was right. This Primordial Heavenly Demon was strange.The fact that he had to resort to mind-bewitching arts to trick cultivators into absorbing demonic energy was a sign that he had not yet fully recovered.


    It was just that they had been intimidated by his aura and also habituated to the fact that demons often did things that didn''t make sense.


    The Primordial Heavenly Demon knew that he was in trouble.


    He chuckled. "Think you can deal with this old man? Hah! Keep dreaming! Go, my minions!"


    The demon cultivators he controlled rushed forward while he used this chance to run.


    Thispletely exposed him as putting up a false front, proving Tang Jie''s words.


    The cultivators furiously pursued, but the demon cultivators held them back.


    These cultivators-turned-demons were all at Violet Pce, far weaker than Whitebrow Shao and his peers. But they were former friends andrades, and the cultivators found themselves reluctant to y them.


    Meanwhile, the Primordial Heavenly Demon roared, "Brat, I''ll remember you! If I find out who you are, I''ll turn you into a demon, make you my ve, and humiliate you every day!"


    "This Hong Qianli will await the Heavenly Demon''s visit!" Tang Jie shamelessly pretended to be the me Celestial Sovereign.


    "''Hong Qianli'', is it? I''ll remember that!" the Primordial Heavenly Demon roared as he flew off.


    "You stay right there!" Whitebrow Shao and the other True Immortals flew as swiftly as they could. In any case, they were all headed toward the exit anyway, though now the sides had been reversed.


    As thebatants departed, two people emerged from the void: Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran.


    As he appeared, the formation''s copse greatly slowed.


    It turned out that Tang Jie had been the one pushing its copse.


    The merging of the Immortal Emperor''s ce of Dao Proving was a slow process, and while this process would cause tremors and copse, it certainly wouldn''t be this intense. Tang Jie had used his knowledge of the formation to throw everything into chaos and disarray, allowing himself to hide. Otherwise, a Boundless Gold Immortal would have been powerful enough to sense him.


    As he appeared, the chaos began to stabilize, but through Tang Jie''s maniptions, it intensified near the exit, forcing everyone to leave as quickly as they could so that Tang Jie could have his own chance to escape.


    ncing in the direction of thebatants, Tang Jie grumbled, "This demon is a crafty one. Those people are eventually going to lose a few people to his machinations."


    "Husband, why do you say that?" Xu Miaoran asked.


    Tang Jie coldly chuckled. "While the Primordial Heavenly Demon hasn''t regained his Gold Immortal strength, a Gold Immortal Primal Divinity is scary enough. In a real fight, he could just kill a few and then make his escape, not like right now, where he''s running off without even a fight. He put on a show of strength before so that he could subdue his enemies without a fight. Now that I''ve exposed him, he''s pretending to be weak so he can suddenly strike back and kill a few."


    Xu Miaoran was stunned. It sounded like the Primordial Heavenly Demon had never done anything sincere from start to finish.


    "It''s rather like you," Xu Miaoran said after some thought.


    Tang Jie immediately grew angry. "Have I ever been this lowly?"


    Xu Miaoran rolled her eyes. "What do you think?"


    Tang Jie seriously considered the question, and then he sighed. "Fine, I admit that I''ve sometimes been a little shameless. It''s because I was too weak at the time."


    "So what do we do now?" Xu Miaoran asked.


    Tang Jie chuckled, his eyes shing with murderous intent. "Do you need to ask? The four True Immortals and sixteen Earth Immortals have gone after the Primordial Heavenly Demon, leaving behind a group of Violet Pce experts who are fighting among themselves. Wouldn''t we be losing out big time if we didn''t use this opportunity? Come on¡ªlet''s kill those guys and take their treasures!"


    He grabbed Xu Miaoran''s arm and flew forward.


    Xu Miaoran couldn''t help but cover her mouth and giggle. "You''re strong now, but you''re still acting shameless."


    Tang Jieughed and then acted like he didn''t hear anything, stuffing Xu Miaoran back into the diagram.


    At his current speed, catching up to the fighting Violet Pce experts was as easy as could be.


    Using Nearby Horizon, he could travel to wherever he could see, so he reached that battlefield in a sh.


    The moment he appeared, he thrust a finger at a demonized cultivator.


    This demon cultivator instantly felt danger engulfing him and threw upyers of defensive barriers. But Tang Jie''s finger sted through them as if they weren''t there, shattering the barriers at first contact. The finger touched the demon cultivator''s forehead and unleashed an explosion of light. Thest thing the demon cultivator saw was a blinding light that utterly devoured him.


    In the eyes of others, Tang Jie had melted away that demon cultivator with one finger.


    This nameless move seemed simple, but it actually integrated all that Tang Jie had cultivated over the years through the ck Yellow Treatise, exuding the aura of a grandmaster. This was why such an understated action was able to unleash such a destructive attack.


    One could say that Tang Jie was beginning to go from spell arts with form to those without form.


    Even Tang Jie was satisfied at his feat of killing a Violet Pce expert in one strike. He immediately turned and flew to another demon cultivator. He swatted his hand at him, but his hand at this moment was imbued with a mountain-crushing strength. The demon cultivator countered with a punch, palm striking fist. The demon cultivator''s fist froze for a moment, and then it came apart like it was made of sand, the copse traveling up his arm all the way to his shoulder. It turned out that Tang Jie had put a trace of Time power into his palm, which made the demon cultivator lose his entire arm.


    He easily killed this second demon cultivator. Emboldened, heughed and moved on to the next.


    He had only intended to kill the demon cultivators and not touch the human cultivators from the two sects, but his actions ended up infuriating the two sects anyway. These demon cultivators had been their fellow disciples, some of them having been friends for a thousand years, so even though they had turned into demons, they were still unwilling to attack them. So when Tang Jie began to ughter them, how could they not be angry? As a result, they began to charge at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie might have been the person who most understood this emotion, but understanding didn''t mean support. He felt no kindness toward the two sects, as they were after him for the Immortal Emperor''s treasures, so since they weren''t willing to let him go now, Tang Jie also chose not to hold back. His face darkened as he barked, "Seeking death!"


    "Brazen fool, you really think you alone can deal with the more than one hundred people here?" a cultivator roared as he fired off a bolt of purple energy. At the same time, the other cultivators, even the demon cultivators, began to use various treasures on Tang Jie. These people who had been fighting each other to the death had now joined hands, barraging Tang Jie with attacks.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but moan, "Am I really that hated?"


    As he spoke, his body vanished.


    Startled, the cultivators began to look around for him, wondering where he had gone.


    There was a sh of light in the distance, and only then did they realize that Tang Jie had somehow moved extremely far away, and he had brought a cultivator with him that he was now inbat with.


    Aghast, the rest of them hastened to catch up.


    A golden saber energy rose from Tang Jie''s hands, and that Soul Projection cultivator he was fighting tried his best to block. But somehow, Tang Jie managed to chop him in half nevertheless. There was a massive explosion that obliterated the cultivator, killing him in body and soul. With another p, even the remains disappeared, taken into the diagram. The cultivators he had killed before were demon cultivators, and their demonic energy would have contaminated his small world. But the one he had killed just now was a normal cultivator, so his remains could be used to nourish the world and recover some of what had been lost in thest one hundred years.


    By the time this was done, the cultivators had caught up. Tang Jie simplyughed and did the same as before, grabbing a cultivator and leaving, then using the Sovereign de to kill them.


    With his absurd speed, he was able to constantly create one-on-one situations and prey on the cultivators.


    It had to be understood that this was in his unmerged state. Tang Jie had never before been so brazen and rxed, casually and easily dealing with an enemy that outnumbered him by more than a hundred times.


    This was all thanks to Nearby Horizon. Without it, he would have to rely on his strength to fight these cultivators. It had to be understood that there had originally been more than two hundred of them, and there were still 134 after the Primordial Heavenly Demon had massacred them.


    Even an Earth Immortal wouldn''t be confident about their victory against them. Theirbined power could devastate thends and seas, and in a Rosecloud Domain where Yun Tian had not yet broken through, they could tten the entire ce.


    But with Nearby Horizon, Tang Jie could avoid direct confrontations and always make it so that he was fighting isted targets. With the Sovereign de to pierce through defenses and his Divine Connection to y his foes, even a Soul Projection cultivator could block no more than ten of his blows. As for Deification cultivators, those would be in in one blow.


    With each person he killed, he would take their belongings. The demon cultivators he would leave, but the regr cultivators he would throw into the diagram.


    Some of these Tang Jie had killed himself, and some of them had been in by the Primordial Heavenly Demon and had had their remains carried away by theirrades. In any case, Tang Jie threw them all into the diagram. These people had such profound cultivations that even their Returned Remnants took some time to settle, which gave Tang Jie an opportunity.


    Whether it was bodies or treasure, he wanted them all!


    Back in the Mountain River State Diagram, He Chong and Xu Miaoran looked up and saw one body after another falling from the sky, all of them belonging to Violet Pce cultivators.

 Chapter 884: One Versus One Hundred (2)

    Chapter 884: One Versus One Hundred (2)


    "23¡­ 28¡­ 34¡­ 41¡­" Yiyi counted.


    Duan Fourth was almost cross-eyed as he tried to keep up. "Violet Pce¡­ they''re all Violet Pce¡­ Why are they all just being thrown in like trash?"


    Violet Pce cultivators had once been revered existences, and just seeing a living one would leave him excited for half a day. But now, one dead Violet Pce cultivator was being thrown in after another. It was mostly Infant Tending at first, and then Deification, and by the end, even Soul Projection cultivators were appearing. This was because Tang Jie had basically picked all the easy fruits and was left with the more difficult ones. Duan Fourth was even beginning to wonder if one or two Earth Immortal corpses would be thrown in.


    To this, Xu Miaoran firmly replied in the negative. But even if it wasn''t happening now, that didn''t mean it wouldn''t happen in the future, for there was an Earth Immortal who had recently been courting death and always causing trouble for them. If things continued to develop as expected, this Earth Immortal wouldn''t be living for long.


    He Chong and Duan Fourth didn''t understand why Tang Jie killing an Earth Immortal was part of the normal course of events, but just the corpses being thrown in represented as much spiritual energy as an Earth Immortal.


    Everyone sighed and continued to watch the Violet Pce bodies fall from the sky, like mortals watching gold fall from the heavens.


    In the void, Tang Jie was still battling.


    After Tang Jie''s brazen ughter, only sixty-some of the cultivators remained.


    But these were the strongest of the lot, almost all of them at Soul Projection, the same level as Tang Jie. Some of them had even entered Daos and could use one or two Dao Arts.Meanwhile, Tang Jie had expended much Space power from constant use of Nearby Horizon.


    Seeing that his Space power was running low and there were still sixty-some people, Tang Jie knew that further fighting would do him no good, so he turned to run.


    "He''s running!" the surviving cultivators shouted. Originally, they had been scared stiff by Tang Jie''s power and were only fighting him because they had to. Now that Tang Jie was running, they regained their courage. One cultivator threw out a pair of golden scissors. The scissors turned into a golden serpent that took a big bite out of Tang Jie''s flesh.


    Blood spilled out.


    The cultivators cheered, for they had once again proved that Tang Jie was feigning his strength, and they chased after Tang Jie. They failed to notice that the blood remained suspended in space. Once all the cultivators had flown past, it began to spread and writhe, ultimately taking on the appearances of those cultivators. At the same time, Tang Jie continued to sow chaos within the formation, and as the formation neared copse, a strange fog began to appear. Tang Jie flew into this fog, hiding himself within it, and the pursuing cultivators found nothing suspicious about it and rushed into the fog.


    A cultivator was searching when he suddenly felt something weird. Fortunately, he reacted quickly enough to block the oing attack. When he turned to look at his assant, he found it to be a familiar face. "Fu Feng, why did you attack me?"


    The manughed. "I''m a demon, so I''ll attack who I want."


    His attack having failed, he turned to run.


    That cultivator wanted to give chase, but after some thought, he decided that there were bigger priorities, the first being to catch that kid called Hong Qianli. This guy had entered the Immortal Emperor''s tomb, so he must have obtained some important treasure. The one who killed him first would get this treasure, at which point they could turn to handling the demon cultivators.


    But while he thought this, others didn''t hold the same opinion.


    Sounds ofbat came from all around, punctuated with the asional cry.


    "Bastard, we haven''t even finished off ourmon foe yet, so why are you already attacking your allies?"


    A voice scoffed, "Have you righteous cultivators lost your heads? When did we be your allies?"


    "But we were originally allies."


    "As a demon, I can only be your enemy, not a friend."


    "That''s right. That kid is hard to deal with, so we might as well deal with you guys first. After all, we demons are enemies wherever we go in the positive ne, so we might as well have some fun before we''re killed."


    "Agreed."


    "I knew you demons couldn''t be trusted. What are we wasting time for? Kill them!"


    "Senior Brother Luo, my apologies. Although you showed such kindness to me in the past, now that you have be a demon, I must y you to uphold the Dao."


    "You put it in such a pretty way, but there are plenty of demons here, so whye for me? You must be after my Thousand Gold Rope. I always knew you were a thankless wretch."


    The sounds of arguments came from all around.


    Some of the sharper ones wondered why they were suddenly turning against each other and thought that that "Hong Qianli" might have had something to do with it, but s, battles were easier to start than stop. When Tang Jie had been theirmon enemy, they had been able to work together, but what they really had been after were the treasures Tang Jie had. Now that Tang Jie was gone, they had started to fight each other once more, not caring for the reason.


    As one of them had said, since they were going to fight eventually, there was no problem with fighting right now.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie secretly turned around and went up to a cultivator.


    This cultivator reacted quickly, sensing Tang Jie''s approach and taking out a bell, which let out a thunderous p. This thunder p dizzied Tang Jie''s mind and threw his energy into disarray, allowing that cultivator to savagely thrust a finger at him that contained all his power.


    In the end, Soul Projection cultivators were existences of the same level as Tang Jie, and even though Tang Jie could beat any Soul Projection cultivator he came across, when his foe was going all out, they could still cause trouble for him.


    But Tang Jie didn''t panic, shouting, "Fixate!"


    Through Law Speaking, the cultivator was frozen on the spot.


    Tang Jie swung the Sovereign de, easily slicing through the bell, which exploded into countless metal shards while a golden grain merged with his sword.


    Before the cultivator could say anything, a phantom bell emerged from the Sovereign de.


    <em>Bong!</em>


    The bell rang out.


    The sound exploded in the cultivator''s mind, paralyzing his body and causing blood to seep out from his nose and mouth.


    "My Thunderp Bell¡­"


    He couldn''t understand why that sword could emte his Thunderp Bell, and make it even more powerful!


    Tang Jie wasn''t interested in exining anything to him, the Sovereign de slicing through his body. Thunderous explosions ripped through the cultivator, sting him to bits.


    This was the power of the Sovereign de, shattering all weapons and emting all weapons.


    In truth, the Sovereign de had been able to emte weapons for a long time now, but this ability needed time to mature. Initially, the Sovereign de could only emte a tenth of the power of the treasures it shattered.


    Through research and strengthening, Tang Jie was able to bring it to 100%. He had thought that this was the limit, butter, Tang Jie discovered that the Sovereign de was far from reaching the end, that it could disy more power than the original treasure.


    It was only now that Tang Jie realized how terrifying this secret art was. This was a true sovereign of weapons. In front of it, all other treasures could only bow their heads.


    The Sovereign de had yet to reach its full power, but as it grew stronger and stronger, it had be one of the best tools in Tang Jie''s box. With this attack, Tang Jie had shown just how scary he could really be.


    Putting away the Sovereign de, Tang Jie shot over to his next opponent, a demon cultivator.


    The demon cultivator spotted him and swung his fiery saber, raised up a watery barrier around himself, put on a draconic suit of armor, summoned a rainbow pir, and manifested a thousand hands. In a sh, he had used all of his Divine Connections and treasures to deal with Tang Jie''s attack.


    Tang Jie only used one strike!


    The Sovereign de cleaved through the thousand hands, obliterated the pir, shattered the barrier, and sliced through the armor, biting into the cultivator. The de instantly transformed into countless tentacles that slivered through the cultivator, every tentacle containing the power of Destruction.


    Thus, the demon cultivator''s body instantly disintegrated.


    Tang Jie kept the bodies of regr cultivators intact to throw into the diagram, but he obliterated the bodies of demon cultivators.


    Taking his opponent''s Mustard Seed Bag, Tang Jie began to look for his next target. Suddenly, he sensed an attack and immediately threw out the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace. The Myriad Yin Yang Furnace radiated a divine aura as the attacks of two treasures shed with it. While the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace was unmoved, the attacking cultivators were pushed back with a groan.


    Tang Jie disappeared, appearing next to the two cultivators and unleashing Skyrend Swordfall with the Sovereign de, drowning those two in a flood of swords.


    As he sheathed the de, two more had lost their lives.


    Tang Jie moved on to the next battlefield.


    He crisscrossed the battlefield, exploiting the features of the Celestial Maze Formation to create openings and hunt down the cultivators. The Infinite Pce, Law Speaking, the Ten Extinctions de, the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace, and the Sovereign de were all used without inhibition. It was only at this moment that his foes realized just how terrifying their opponent was.


    Perhaps he still couldn''t fight an Earth Immortal directly, but he had so many tricks that he far surpassed a regr Soul Projection cultivator. Most shocking of all was that he possessed at least three Dao Arts.


    This horrifying disy robbed the cultivators of their will to battle, and they began to retreat.


    But there was no escape.


    Tang Jie sneered. "You''ve seen everything I have, so do you really think you can escape? All of you will be staying here."


    He suddenly elerated.


    Time Dao Art, Split-Second Youth!

 Chapter 885: Combination (1)

    Chapter 885: Combination (1)


    Rather than on his enemies, Tang Jie used Split-Second Youth on himself.


    After using Split-Second Youth, Tang Jie used Nearby Horizon to appear next to a distant cultivator. There was a blur, and then his head was separated from the rest of his body. At this moment, he was still alive, his rising head still wondering how his opponent could be so fast as a hand swung toward him at an absurd speed, pulverizing his body and annihting his life force. This cultivator wasn''t an Earth Immortal andcked the undying attributes of that level, so he died, in so quickly that it left everyone else in disbelief.


    A momentter, Tang Jie blinked again, appearing behind another retreating cultivator. This cultivator instinctively sensed Tang Jie''s pursuit and hastily put up a barrier. As a Violet Pce cultivator, he could apply a barrier with a thought, but before the barrier could rise, he felt a pain in his back, saw a hand prating through his body, grasping a still-beating heart. <em>Is that my heart?</em> the cultivator wondered in shock. He didn''t even have time to wonder how Tang Jie could attack faster than he could think before an explosion ripped through his body.


    Blood rained over the world within the Mountain River State Diagram.


    Yiyi pursed her lips. "They''re not evening in intact now."


    Tang Jie continued to hunt the fleeing cultivators.


    Using Split-Second Youth on himself elerated Tang Jie to an absurd level, and the Sovereign de in his hand became like the reaper''s scythe, taking lives as it unleashed golden wave after golden wave of energy.


    The several dozen cultivators had scattered in all directions in their bid to escape, but none of them were able to evade Tang Jie. Tang Jie could be seen everywhere, and those who ran the fastest were the first to be targeted by him. But whenever he had a choice, Tang Jie would choose to prioritize the people of the Heaven''s Equal Sect and Ster Net Gate.


    This wasn''t because he hated the human cultivators more, but rather because if the people from these two sects escaped, information on him would leak, and the two sects would never let him go. As for the demon cultivators, nobody would believe what they said, or even give them a chance to talk before they were in. Thus, Tang Jie was more willing to let them go.Of course, ideally he would let no one go, and that was what he aimed to do.


    At this moment, Tang Jie was truly invincible. He himself had not imagined that using Split-Second Youth and Nearby Horizon together would be this powerful.


    Before, Tang Jie would use his Dao Arts one by one, never at the same time.


    But this trip into the Immortal Emperor''s tomb had given a big boost to Tang Jie''s Dao Will. Not only had he entered the Dao of Space, he had gained a deeper understanding of the essence of the Great Dao, which allowed him to use two Dao Arts at the same time.


    Of course, he was only a novice at this, so he could only use two Dao Arts that were of the same category, like Space and Time, or Yin Yang and Five Elements. Still, this represented an enormous boost in strength.


    Tang Jie was able to reach an unimaginable level of speed with the Dao Arts of Space and Time working together, moving around like a streak of light. He could be attacking a Heaven''s Equal Sect cultivator, kicking a Ster Net Gate cultivator, beheading a demon cultivator, and then ramming into another cultivator all in the same second. All of his moves were brimming with ferocity, seemingly simple yet imbued with immense lethality. It was rather like Feng Buzhi''s "Catch the Wind, Seize the Moon", except thousands of times faster.


    He was a one-man, catching everyone present.


    Such a terrifying fighting style chilled the hearts of the cultivators, but just when they were all about to despair, Tang Jie''s lightning-fast body suddenly stopped, and besides that, his ck hair now had many streaks of white.


    After a moment of surprise, everyone realized what had happened and shouted in glee, "So he was also at his limits!"


    "He''s out of energy!"


    "Kill!"


    The cultivators cheered.


    Tang Jie truly was out of energy.


    He had already been running low on Space power, and this repeated use had squeezed him dry, and he didn''t even want to talk about Time power. Split-Second Youth was powerful, but using it to elerate oneself also meant that he had elerated himself through the river of time, which was another way of consuming life force. Tang Jie had already used a lot of life force to save his original body, and he was fortunate that the Remote Antiquity serpent had let him recover a little. But the serpent had mostly helped with his cultivation, and the help it had provided to his lifespan was limited.


    A Soul Projection cultivator, barring special circumstances, normally had a lifespan of five thousand years. In reality, most cultivators didn''t get this far, because cultivators were frequently involved in battles. Luo Hanzhen was a ssic example of someone who had been worn down by so many battles that he could only wait to be Returned Remnants. And through his earlier battles, Tang Jie had run down his four thousand years of lifespan to less than one thousand years. Thus, when he used Split-Second Youth on himself, he worsened the situation, resulting in these visible signs of aging.


    Tang Jie didn''t care. Lifespan could be lost, but it could also be restored. Just rising to the next level and bing an Earth Immortal could extend his lifespan and reverse his aging. Thus, so long as he could beat these people and use them to enrich himself, some lifespan posed no problem.


    In that frenzied Space¨CTime dance just now, Tang Jie had killed seventeen or eighteen Soul Projection cultivators and prevented the rest from escaping.


    These were Soul Projection cultivators!


    Without any sort of schemes, Tang Jie had cut down almost twenty Soul Projection cultivators like they were vegetables. This alone was enough for him to say that he was invincible among his peers.


    But for Tang Jie, this clearly wasn''t enough.


    As the cultivators rushed at him, Tang Jie smiled. "That''s exactly what I wanted you to do!"


    An explosion of five-colored light erupted from his body, threads of light weaving themselves into a majestic pceplex: the Infinite Pce! This time, though, Tang Jie wasn''t using the Infinite Pce for defense, but to kill. The lights of the Five Elements didn''t harden the buildings, instead expanding theplex and letting the cultivators rush in. Only when all of the cultivators had entered did it go from illusion to reality. At a nce, it appeared somewhat like the Court of Myriad Domains, but this was simply something Tang Jie had done to amuse himself after studying the structure of the court.


    The cultivators found themselves in a maze of buildings, but not a single other person in sight. As they were wondering what was going on, the surrounding nts suddenly hurled themselves at them.


    Fortunately, these were all Violet Pce experts who didn''t fear some traps. Still, this made them realize what their situation was: "Be careful! There''s a formation here!"


    Winds howled, thunder boomed, and a ghostly fog rose up: the Ster Net Astral Demon Formation!


    As this formation emerged, Tang Jie''sughter resounded through the pce, and the cultivators saw Tang Jies appearing in all directions.


    Reflections of Floating Life.


    Thebination of Yin Yang and Five Elements Dao Arts had appeared. To be honest, Tang Jie didn''t understand what the result would be, but he wanted to try.


    A momentter, countless Tang Jies began to attack the cultivators.


    "Just a formation and some illusory clones! Watch me destroy them all!" a cultivator roared, throwing out a wave of golden light. These golden lights were actually countless golden cicadas, each one the size of a fist and with a stinger on their tail that contained a powerful toxin. These golden cicadas were a rare mutant that was resistant to most spell arts. By sending them out, the cultivator intended to fight numbers with numbers.


    As a Dao Art, Reflections of Floating Life emphasized more of its ability to resist illusion detection than power. In normal circumstances, these cicadas would have countered Reflections of Floating Life. Its greatest weakness had always beenrge-scale spell arts. But the situation was somewhat different this time.


    As the cicadas flew out, the countless Tang Jies suddenly flew off to the side and disappeared. Having lost their targets, the cicadas aimlessly buzzed around. Meanwhile, countless waves of saber and sword energy emerged from various buildings¡ªTang Jie''s clones were hiding themselves in the formation andunching attacks from their hiding spots.


    At the same time, the formation began to unleash its own power,bining with the attacks from the clones to unleash a terrifying offensive. The cicadas were the first target, the storm of spell arts tearing them apart, their so-called resistance to spell arts instantly turning into a joke.


    This wasn''t anything odd. Even a defensive Dao Art like the Infinite Pce could be broken down by eleven ordinary finger strikes, so how could some little cicadas be able to truly resist spell arts? In this world, quantity had always been extremely significant, and unless the gap was just too big, it was impossible to ignore the power of numbers. In normal circumstances, this gap had to be at least two major realms.


    The cicadas were just little killers raised by a Violet Pce expert, so they were naturally unfit for this situation. As a result, they were torn apart, breaking that poor cultivator''s heart.


    But this wasn''t the end of it. A greater storm of spell arts swept toward the cultivators, and they had no choice but to focus everything they had on defense.


    But while this storm was fierce, it wasn''t especially lethal, and thebined power of the cultivators was enough to hold it off. But at this moment, a sword shed, upon which a cultivator was cut in half. Without caring whether this cultivator had survived or not, the attacker retreated. rmed, the cultivators attacked Tang Jie, but this Tang Jie instantly blew up in a puff of smoke¡ªit was a clone. Yet the person who had attacked just now was definitely the real person. Tang Jie had somehow managed to switch between the real person and the clone.


    Meanwhile, another storm of spell arts was approaching, and one Tang Jie clone after another attacked, threatening to drown the cultivators.


    This was a direct confrontation this time, but everyone realized that the power Tang Jie disyed was no less terrifying.

 Chapter 886: Combination (2)

    Chapter 886: Combination (2)


    The cultivators were all actually overestimating Tang Jie.


    There were still about forty of them left, and no matter what, Tang Jie couldn''t possibly fight against forty Soul Projection cultivators at once, even if he were an Earth Immortal.


    But thebination of Reflections of Floating Life and the Ster Net Astral Demon Formation had done a lot to solve this problem.


    The number one strength of Tang Jie''s Reflections of Floating Life was its ability to confuse truth and illusion, and its second strength was its ability to deal actual damage. Its weakness was that it wascking in defense. But the formation allowed Tang Jie''s countless clones to protect themselves and unleash their power. If his clones used up all their spell art uses, they coulde out and draw fire to cover the real Tang Jie. In the end, they were all the same person, able tomunicate and coborate with a single thought, achieving perfect teamwork.


    The Ster Net Astral Demon Formation also benefited.


    In terms of power, this formation was actually above Reflections of Floating Life, the demonic energy it contained dense and lethal. But the formation couldn''t distinguish between friend and foe, couldn''t choose what method to attack with, and couldn''tbine its attacks, and some of its more powerful traps even needed special conditions to activate.


    Reflections of Floating Life made up for these shorings. There was no need to distinguish between friend and foe, as all the friends were Tang Jie, sharing the same energy, and the clones could control the attack methods. Best of all was that those special traps, which were hard to trigger because cultivators were generally very cautious when it came to ces they were unfamiliar with, could be triggered by his clones, who could y the part of terrible teammates.


    It would be strange for these cultivators not to be on the back foot in this situation.


    The Ster Net Astral Demon Formation was vast and powerful while Reflections of Floating Life was nimble and flexible. The two made up for each other''s weaknesses and made their strengths even stronger. This was why he could fight against forty cultivators at once.Interestingly, there was another reason he could create this situation: the violet energy of the Primordial Fog. This formation used the violet energy of the Primordial Fog Domain as its basis, hence "Astral Demon". The original violet energy used had been received from Immortal Ji Yao. As Tang Jie wasn''t a demon cultivator, he didn''t dare to use too much, only gradually using more as his cultivation level increased.


    After Immortal Ji Yao''s "exile", Tang Jie lost his source of violet energy, which meant that he could no longer strengthen the formation.


    But many of his opponents this time were demon cultivators.


    These demon cultivators couldn''t fertilize the Mountain River State Diagram''s world, but they were great for the Ster Net Astral Demon Formation. Thus, Tang Jie had sent some clones to bring back the bodies of the demon cultivators to let the formation absorb them, and he was also now specifically targeting demon cultivators.


    He used the Space and Time Daos to kill regr cultivators, and the Yin Yang and Five Elements Daos to bring doom to the demon cultivators.


    Hiding in a sea of clones, Tang Jie would asionally strike, and each time he did, he was bound to kill someone.


    As the demon cultivators died, the demonic energy of the formation grew even denser, constantly creating new and more powerful traps.


    The surviving cultivators were stunned by what they were seeing.


    <em>Shit, just who said he was out of power and unable to battle?</em>


    True, that eerie movement technique was no longer being used, but what was with this terrifying formation and army of clones?


    After gueri warfare, he had decided to reenact a siege battle, and what was next?


    They didn''t know, but they would soon have their answer.


    Another scream sounded out as Tang Jie cut down another cultivator, and the fear and shock within the hearts of the cultivators reached a breaking point.


    Someone shouted, "Throw out all your treasures and detonate them! We can use the explosion to get out of this formation!"


    These words finally exposed the weakness of the Infinite Pce.


    Nothing was truly invincible, and even when Yin Yang and Five Elements Dao Arts were used together, thebination was still not wless. The Infinite Pce defended against those on the outside and attacked those within, which meant that its internal defenses were actually far weaker than its external defenses. Once these cultivators detonated their treasures, they really did have a chance of getting out.


    Thus, the moment Tang Jie heard this, he stopped attacking. "If you guys don''t detonate your treasures, I can give all of you an opportunity. Duel me, one on one, and anyone who can block one attack me from me, I will let go!"


    <em>What?</em> Everyone was dumbfounded at Tang Jie''s suggestion.


    Someone yelled, "Brat, what are you scheming now?"


    Tang Jie answered, "I just don''t want the treasures I''m about to gain to be lost in detonation. So? All of us are at Soul Projection. One versus one, and anyone who can survive one attack from me will be let go."


    It was a tempting offer.


    Although Tang Jie had revealed a formidable strength, one-versus-one and one-versus-many were very different. In the previous battles, Tang Jie had only been able to instantly kill the likes of Infant Tending and Deification cultivators. Soul Projection didn''t seem realistic for him, or else the battle wouldn''t havested until now.


    To boost their confidence, Tang Jie added some spice. "I also won''t use this weapon."


    He put away the Sovereign de.


    This set off an explosion.


    All of the cultivators had borne witness to the sharpness of the Sovereign de. To be honest, without the unstoppable properties of the Sovereign de, even Infant Tending cultivators would have been hard to kill with a single blow.


    The cultivators grew restless. If possible, who would be willing to give up the treasures they had worked so hard to obtain? Most importantly, detonation of the treasures didn''t guarantee that everyone would be able to escape. Given the strength of this "Hong Qianli", many would die in the ensuing pursuit. Taking this gamble might be better, particrly as this person had clearly used his strongest moves and seemed incapable of using them again.


    Subconsciously, the cultivators were unwilling to believe that Tang Jie was so strong that he could instantly kill a peer, so they credited all his power to the Sovereign de.


    A cultivator said, "First make a Heavenly Dao Oath."


    Tang Jie smiled. "Of course. But the rest of you also have to make an oath so that you don''t use this chance to escape."


    The cultivators looked at each other and agreed. "So long as you don''t try anything."


    Tang Jie firmly replied, "All will depend on one''s strength, not trickery."


    He made the Heavenly Dao Oath.


    In truth, afterprehending the Dao of Fate, Tang Jie understood that a Heavenly Dao Oath was actually a Fate Oath. The oath used the Divine Soul as a channel to link the pact to the Web of Fate. Someone who broke the pact would receive the punishment from the Web of Fate. The so-called Heavenly Dao Oath was actually just something imagined up by everyone, and it actually had nothing to do with the Heavenly Dao. This was something Tang Jie had realized as hisprehension of the Dao of Fate deepened.


    In other words, with his current understanding of the Dao of Fate, the Heavenly Dao Oath had no binding effect on him¡ªunless there really did exist a Heavenly Dao out there.


    Even so, Tang Jie didn''t n to break the oath. Fate was a web, so even breaking free of it would result in a bacsh, just like a spider web couldn''t hold a person but could certainly get all over them. The Web of Fate was almost infinitely vast, and to use hisprehension of the Dao of Fate on this aspect was a waste, an extravagance.


    Of course, the most important thing was that it wasn''t worth it.


    Tang Jie was already sure that he could kill every cultivator here in one strike.


    Once everyone had made their oath, the first cultivator came forward.


    He looked at Tang Jie and growled, "This one is Yue Zhongshan. Please instruct me. I confess that you are very strong, and I am no match for you in normal circumstances. But you are exhausted from this long battle, unable to use your more powerful moves. I don''t believe that I can''t block one of your attacks."


    "If that''s what you think, then prepare yourself. You win if you can block this attack of mine and will be free to leave," Tang Jie indifferently said.


    A vertical eye opened on the center of his forehead, and a halo of light emerged beneath his feet.


    "A Dao Realm!" the cultivators gasped.


    "Another Dao Art! Who is this guy, that he can use three Dao Arts?"


    Tang Jie had used Nearby Horizon, Split-Second Youth, the Infinite Pce, Reflections of Floating Life, Skyrend Swordfall, and the Ten Extinctions de, which totaled six Dao Arts, but these cultivators hadn''t been able to recognize all of them. Skyrend Swordfall and the Ten Extinctions de were notplete, so they hadn''t been recognized as Dao Arts. Split-Second Youth had been used together with Nearby Horizon, and nobody believed that Tang Jie could use two Dao Arts at once, so they mistook it for a single Dao Art. Reflections of Floating Life actually relied on the main body for its offensive power, so it was mistaken for a Divine Connection. The Infinite Pce had been judged to be a Dao Art, as it obviously belonged to the Dao of Five Elements.


    Thus, they thought that Tang Jie had only two Dao Arts, with the Dao Realm of Insight being considered a third.


    Still, this was enough to leave them reeling in shock.


    In the Vast Wilderness Continent, entering a Dao was a little rare, but it was not abnormal. Entering two Daos, however, was enough to mark one as a genius, and anyone who could enter three was a super genius. As for four Daos, that was simply unheard of.


    When Tang Jie released his Dao Realm, everyone grew nervous and then rxed. They grew nervous because they thought that this was another Dao Art attack, but they rxed because this proved that Tang Jie had no ns to rely on tricks.


    The cultivator facing Tang Jie was taken aback. Despite his disbelief, he still shouted, "To be proficient in three Daos makes you an unparalleled genius. To exchange blows with such a man means that I can die without regrets. But it seems that this Dao Art of yours belongs to the Dao of Insight, and this Dao is not enough to kill me!"


    Although he said that he would die without regrets, hisst words betrayed his fear.


    As he spoke, countless barriers had formed around him.


    Tang Jie opened his Celestial Eye, casting a ray of divine light at the cultivator. At the same time, Tang Jie began to form hand signs, thirteen in all, after which he shouted, "Shake, Scatter, Part, Copse, Go, Charge, Appear!"


    As he spoke these seven words, they resounded in the cultivator''s mind like a ringing bell, and the barriers around him began to disperse. At the same time, Tang Jie''s Celestial Eye thoroughly scanned the cultivator.


    "Found it!" Tang Jie barked, suddenly charging forward and thrusting out a finger.


    This finger was aimed at the cultivator''s left armpit. There seemed to be nothing special about this finger, but when it touched the barriers, those barriers instantly shattered. The finger passed through all opposition and touched the cultivator''s body, erupting in a multicolored burst of energy that swallowed up that cultivator as he yowled in despair.


    Drawing back his finger, Tang Jie dered, "Next."

 Chapter 887: Heavens Wrath

    Everyone was dumbfounded.


    Nobody had expected Tang Jie to aplish killing a peer cultivator seemingly without using any kind of powerful ability. For a moment, nobody dared toe forward.


    Tang Jie smiled. "If nobodyes up, I''ll have to choose someone."


    He pointed at a nearby demon cultivator. "You''re up."


    rmed, the demon cultivator wanted to back away, but he found that everyone was staring at him. They had all sworn an oath, so backing out was no longer an option. The demon cultivator could only steel his resolve, dering, "I am protected by Golden Silkworm Armor that can stand up to all manner of divine weapons. I''m not afraid of you!"


    He flew forth, golden armor appearing on his body. This Golden Silkworm Armor released a golden aura thatpletely covered the demon cultivator, and the cultivator applied various barriers on top of it.


    Tang Jie''s face hardened up as he focused his vision on the demon cultivator, his Celestial Eye once more releasing its divine light.


    For these bouts, he was relying on thebination of his Celestial Eye and Law Speaking.


    This could be considered abination of Wisdom and Truth Dao Arts.The Celestial Eye had many functions, like seeing through illusions, but its most useful one was that of finding weaknesses, which was the direction Tang Jie had chosen to develop his Insight in.


    But this was the most difficult path¡ªnot in terms of cultivation, but rather in terms of targets. The higher a cultivator''s cultivation level, the fewer weaknesses they had and the harder they were to discover. For example, when facing Godhead Pce''s ancestor, he hadn''t even been able to stand straight, let alone find a weakness.


    Searching for weaknesses was primarily something the strong could do against the weak, but why look for weaknesses when you could overwhelm with strength?


    Thus, over the years, Tang Jie had had little reason to use this ability of the Celestial Eye.


    But with Law Speaking, everything changed.


    What made Law Speaking so different from his other Dao Arts was itspleteness.


    It hadplete coverage of all abilities!


    All things bowed to the Dao of Truth, and his every word wasw!


    To put it simply, there were only things that it did poorly, not things that it couldn''t do.


    With Law Speaking, his words could embody every art in the world through the Dao of Truth. In a sense, he had touched the level of True Immortals, who could manifest their arts through the natural world, though the basis of this ability was different.


    The seven-word mantra Tang Jie had chanted through Law Speaking was a sort of brute force mantra that forcibly expanded an opponent''s weakness. The soul was shaken, the divinity was scattered, the energy departed, the will copsed, the Primal Divinity was expelled, control of the body was stripped away, and then one final charge with the mindpleted the mantra, revealing the weakness so that his finger could deliver the finishing blow!


    This one finger was actually a lethal strike created through the power of two Dao Arts.


    Thebination of Split-Second Youth and Nearby Horizon was a peerless killing technique for guerri warfare, thebination of the Infinite Pce and Reflections of Floating Life was a formidable move for a siege battle, and thebination of the Celestial Eye and Law Speaking was the bestbination for a duel. Whichever kind of opponent he faced, Tang Jie could find their weakness and y them in a single strike.


    As that demon cultivator''s armor shone, Tang Jie shouted seven more words: "Move, Truth, Sharpness, Power, rm, Appear, Break!"


    He had changed up the words of his mantra.


    The armor was stronger than a barrier, but it was still not without weakness. Unlike a cultivator, it could not adapt to a changing situation, so its weaknesses were easy to detect but hard to break.


    Tang Jie sought to Move the light of the armor, to use Truth to enhance his vision, and Sharpness and Power to boost his attack. His previous mantra had been more focused on weakening his opponent while this one strengthened himself.


    Finally, he rmed the soul and made the weakness Appear so that he could Break it in one strike!


    Different enemies required different tactics, which was where Law Speaking showed its use.


    The light from his center eye intensified, and a lethal light began to gather on his fingertip as he thrust it at the demon cultivator.


    The finger pierced through the armor as if it were the finest sword, and then the scene from before reyed, the barriers breaking and body shattering.


    The only difference was that Tang Jie gained a new suit of armor.


    But Tang Jie found that it was only a lower-grade divine treasure, so he took out the Sovereign de and destroyed the armor, causing the cultivators present to swoon.


    <em>Just who is this person? He doesn''t even want divine treasures, taking them just so he can destroy them!</em>


    <em>You could just wear it yourself!</em>


    What they didn''t know was that Tang Jie didn''t need armor, as his original body was a body cultivator. Body cultivators grew stronger the more they were wounded in battle, and injuries stimted them rather than hurting them. This was why Tang Jie didn''t use armor.


    After shattering that Golden Silkworm Armor, Tang Jie said, "Next."


    The cultivators were speechless, horrified by the power he had disyed.


    They simply looked at each other, none of them daring to step forward.


    Tang Jie said, "Then I''ll choose again¡­ You."


    The person he picked this time was a cultivator of the Heaven''s Equal Sect.


    The Heaven''s Equal Sect cultivator knew he couldn''t avoid this fight, and stepped forward. He thought to himself, <em>This person''s attacks are too lethal, so relying only on defense isn''t good enough. It seems I''ll have to try to attack first. After all, it''s only one move. So long as I can get through one move, it''s fine.</em>


    He took out his treasure, a bejeweled tree. This tree grew from the center of his left palm, swiftly growing and sending giant branches at Tang Jie.


    A savage look appeared on the cultivator''s face as he thought, <em>It took me three hundred years to make this Law Jewel Tree. It''s incredibly powerful, able to drag anyone into the Jewel Tree World the moment they get careless. Even with all your powers, you can''t ignore it. Let''s see how you try to kill me while dealing with it!</em>


    As the jewel tree attacked, the cultivator cast numerous barriers on himself. However, because he had to divert some of his energy to offense, his defenses were clearly weaker than the two who hade before him.


    As those tentacle-like branches reached toward him, Tang Jie snorted. "This one''s easy. Swift, Fire, Wind, Move, Control, Appear, Break!"


    With another seven-word mantra, he flicked his fingers, sending out the Deicide me. Due to its strength, Tang Jie had always found it difficult to control the Deicide me, but the massive progress he had made in the Dao of Fire through his battle with the me Celestial Sovereign and the power of Law Speaking finally allowed him to use it. But his level of control was still low, and his opponent could dodge it if he put in the effort. However, he had to both defend and attack at the same time, which left him no energy to spare to avoid the me, which made Tang Jie a bit more bold.


    The Deicide me instantly set the jewel tree ame, and the tree began to scream. It was an actual living being, crying out in frenzied fear. The Pale Cloud me followed, the two mesbining to burn away the tree. As the tree wailed, Tang Jie''s finger pierced through the mes and struck the cultivator''s weakness, killing him.


    The tree was still screaming, so Tang Jie thrust out a palm, extinguishing its soul. He took back the Deicide me and Pale Cloud me and then threw the corpse of the cultivator and the jewel tree into the diagram, making no attempt to hide the presence of his small world. Yiyi took the tree and absorbed it to grow stronger.


    The cultivators were stunned once more, and now that they had witnessed Tang Jie''s full power, they lost all courage and confidence, some of them even shouting to run.


    But they had barely made it a few steps when there was a boom of thunder.


    A pack of dark clouds appeared, shing with lightning, and then a massive lightning bolt condensed into a spear and struck a fleeing cultivator.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    The lightning spear passed through the cultivator like it was an illusion.


    The cultivator froze for a few moments, and then his body erupted with lightning. He howled as lightning crackled around his body, which swelled up and up until it finally exploded.


    Tang Jie felt a massive thunderstorm forming and instinctively raised his barrier, and then a massive shockwave sent him flying. Just the aftershocks from this explosion were difficult for him to endure, and even the Infinite Pce was blown to pieces!


    Tang Jie was dumbfounded.


    "Heaven''s wrath! It''s the wrath of the heavens!" someone shouted.


    Tang Jie understood now.


    Yes, the wrath of the heavens!


    It was the punishment for breaking the Heavenly Dao Oath!


    But wasn''t the Heavenly Dao Oath simply an Oath of Fate?


    Because it was an Oath of Fate, breaking the oath would result in a gradual punishment, usually affecting one''s cultivation or mental state. People were so sure of the Heavenly Dao Oath''s effectiveness because there had been countless incidents proving its effects.


    But today, breaking the oath had resulted in a most direct manifestation of wrath, which Tang Jie had never heard of before.


    Tang Jie focused his vision.


    He saw several dozen indistinct threads extending from each person up into the sky and into the distance, himself included.


    Even with his vision, Tang Jie found it difficult to make out these threads.


    But as he looked at the thread tied to himself, he suddenly hardened his resolve and shouted, "Strength, Strength, Strength, Strength, Strength, Strength, Strength!"


    Using "Strength" seven times in a row, he pushed his Celestial Eye to the limit, and his will began to travel up that thread.


    As his will advanced, his vision pierced through the veil.


    At that moment, he pierced through countless dimensions, transcending all existences and shattering the fabric of space.


    And then he saw that light deep in the void that the thread led to.


    It was a majestic object, a golden brilliance that was impossible to look at directly. Beneath, a giant pendulum swung, the ticking of a clock resounding in his heart.


    The Heavenly Dao Law Wheel!


    Tang Jie was stunned.


    This was his first time experiencing the enlightenment of the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel when not advancing to the next cultivation realm.


    The Heavenly Dao Oath!

 Chapter 888: A Hundred Past Lives

    Chapter 888: A Hundred Past Lives


    Why had a Fate Oath turned into a real Heavenly Dao Oath? Tang Jie couldn''t understand.


    But what he did understand was that this was a rare opportunity that he couldn''t let pass.


    A smart cultivator would never pass up any opportunity to grow stronger. Through the Celestial Eye, Tang Jie had traced the thread back to its origin, and as a result, he was once more standing before the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel, so how could he not try to once more glimpse its secrets?


    Although he had alreadyprehended the Twelve Great Daos, the path of the Great Daos was endless. He had onlyprehended a small corner of them and was far from seeing the entire thing.


    But which should he choose?


    After some thought, Tang Jie ultimately chose the Dao of Reincarnation.


    Reincarnation had always been Tang Jie''s weakest category. Hisprehension of Reincarnation was entirely thanks to that one-time linking of his mind with the world in his ascension to Violet Pce.


    Without his own understanding of Reincarnation, this level of Daoprehension was not very useful. With Wisdom and Yin Yang, although Tang Jie hadprehended these Daos through studying external objects, after heprehended them, he had been using what he learned, constantly deepening his understanding and experience, therebyprehending new things.


    Only with the Dao of Reincarnation had he never had a chance to use what he hadprehended.It was like knowledge gained from reading a book. Some of what was read would be frequently used and be one''s own knowledge, but some of it would never have any practical use at all, making learning it pointless.


    Wisdom and Yin Yang represented the former while Reincarnation represented thetter. As he had never used it, not only did he not add to his knowledge, this idle knowledge even began to fade a little.


    But Tang Jie didn''t n to give up on it.


    He had alreadyprehended all Twelve Great Daos. If hisprehension of one of them faded, his set would no longer beplete, which he just couldn''t stand. Moreover, for some reason, Tang Jie felt like there was a voice telling him not to give up.


    For these reasons, Tang Jie chose Reincarnation.


    He had started to forget what he had learned, so he needed to hit the books again.


    Tang Jie''s mind flew toward the Dao of Reincarnation.


    As his thread-like will twined itself around the Dao of Reincarnation, he suddenly found countless scenes shing through his mind. They were countless memories of countless beings, and Tang Jie traveled amongst them as if he was seeing countless incarnations of himself. In a split second, Tang Jie went through innumerable lives, as if he had been everything from revered emperors all the way down to lowly peasants.


    But Tang Jie knew that these were not his past lives.


    He had no past life in this world.


    He wasn''t a person of this world, so he had no past here to speak of. All of this was an illusion.


    Perhaps this was a reason he found it difficult to enter the Dao of Reincarnation.


    All in the Dao of Reincarnation had past lives. He was the only one who had transcended Reincarnation.


    If he did not enter the cycle, he could not enter its Dao, andprehending its Dao Will granted him no understanding of its operating principles.


    As he realized this, when he looked at those past lives again, he felt like they all belonged to someone else and had nothing to do with him. He was just a spectator to this world, and as a result, his mind grew more and more indifferent.


    In these circumstances, even with Dao Wills flooding through his mind, he found it hard to understand their meaning orprehend their spirit.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but be annoyed.


    Was it going to be likest time, onlyprehending the Dao and not being able to enter it?


    In the middle of his vexation, he saw a past life that had an appearance somewhat simr to his, whose way of speaking and acting was also familiar. As he was wondering what was going on, he remembered something. Wasn''t this the past life of Little River Vige''s Tang Jie?


    When his soul had crossed over into Little River Vige''s Tang Jie, the boy had already died from his injuries. But no matter what, he was still the former owner of this body. Thus, while Tang Jie couldn''t see his own past lives in the Dao of Reincarnation, he could see the past lives of that Tang Jie.


    Since he himself had no past life, he would experience the past lives of the old Tang Jie.


    "My apologies. Not only did I take your present life, I even have to borrow your past lives," Tang Jie said with a bitter chuckle.


    Concentrating all his will on this past life, Tang Jie focused his mind. The scene began to elerate, everything ying out before Tang Jie''s eyes at maximum speed. He saw a schr earnestly studying and his efforts finally paying off in a high position at court, but then falling to court intrigues and being thrown into jail, a prosperous life turning to nothing. Further back, Tang Jie was now a bandit, savage and cruel, killing without regard, ultimately being hanged by the government¡­


    Tang Jie moved further into the past, seeing each one of the old Tang Jie''s past lives go by, and through these constant cycles, he finally began to deepen his understanding of the Dao of Reincarnation.


    This sessionsted for ten thousand years.


    Tang Jie observed a hundred of that Tang Jie''s past lives.


    As another life passed and Tang Jie was about to end this session, the scene suddenly changed, and Tang Jie saw a flying cultivator. From his appearance, he appeared rather simr to Tang Jie, which marked him as yet another one of that Tang Jie''s past lives.


    So that Tang Jie had also been a cultivator in a past life.


    Moreover, from how he gracefully flew through the skies, he was clearly a cultivator of immense power, at least an Immortal. This was because Tang Jie saw this cultivator passing straight through some Astral Winds, traversing the gap between heaven and earth in an instant and stepping into the endless void.


    In the darkness, a giant dragon swam over to that Immortal, and Tang Jie thought he was about to see the Immortal be devoured or engage in some vicious battle. But to his shock, the dragon flew beneath that Immortal''s feet, a fawning expression on its face.


    The Immortal stood on the dragon''s head and waved his hand.


    The dragon flew off into the void.


    As they traveled through the void, Tang Jie saw a majestic pce shining in the depths.


    "The Court of Myriad Domains!" Tang Jie cried out.


    As he shouted, that Immortal seemed to sense something and turned to look back.


    This gaze transcended Time and Space to meet Tang Jie''s gaze, and then Tang Jie saw nothing at all, a blinding light devouring him whole.


    "AH!" he shouted.


    His mind was returned, and his physical body staggered back a few steps.


    Only then did he realize that he was still standing in the Infinite Pce.


    The Heavenly Dao Law Wheel, the Dao of Reincarnation, his hundred past lives, and that ancient Immortal were all gone.


    Tang Jie panted for breath, his mind still reeling from the shock.


    Thatst nce from the Immortal felt particrly eerie, as if there was something connecting all of this.


    Everything seemed to be foreordained.


    This indescribable feeling weighed heavily on his heart.


    What he could not understand now, he might understand in the future. Of course, there was also the chance he might never understand it.


    As he pondered this question, Tang Jie inspected his body and found that he now had a rune of the Dao of Reincarnation.


    He had entered the Dao of Reincarnation.


    Two attempts atprehending the Dao of Reincarnation and the experience of the other Tang Jie''s past lives had finally filled in what Tang Jie wascking, allowing him to make a big leap in progress. Although he had not created a Dao Art yet, as his cultivation advanced, a Dao Art would only be a matter of time.


    Satisfied, Tang Jie turned to the cultivators. "Then¡­ shall we continue?"


    Hisprehension of the Great Dao and the hundred past lives had only taken an instant. The cultivators were still shaken by the heavenly punishment, and none of them knew of the transformation Tang Jie had just experienced.


    Seeing that Tang Jie wanted to continue fighting made them despair, but they had no choice.


    The heavenly punishment meant that they couldn''t escape, only fulfill their side of the promise.


    Thus, the duels continued.


    But thebination of the Celestial Eye and Law Speaking meant that none of the cultivators here could endure Tang Jie''s single attack.


    Tang Jie was always able to find their weakness and pierce through it.


    Never before had the Celestial Eye''s weakness detection been able to so fully disy its power. It was a refreshing feeling, and his Celestial Eye even improved thanks to this repeated use.


    Tang Jie had hugely profited from this trip to the Court of Myriad Domains. Not only had he risen from Deification to Soul Projection, he hadpleted the Treasure Cosmos Formation diagram, upgraded the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace, and advanced greatly in his understanding of the Dao. And not only had he gotten stronger in all these aspects, those around him had gotten stronger as well.


    One by one, the cultivators on the other side fell to his hand.


    The surviving cultivators werepletely cowed. One of them shouted, "Hong Qianli, do you not fear offending the Ster Net Gate and Heaven''s Equal Sect with your bloodlust?"


    Tang Jie snorted. "What a joke! If I didn''t offend you, wouldn''t your True Immortals still try and kill me on sight? And when I appeared to kill those demon cultivators, wasn''t it you who attacked me? I did not intend to start a massacre, but you people were too despicable, forcing me to counterattack. It''s precisely because I fear the power of the two sects that I have to kill all of you now and leave no survivors!"


    He made another strike, ying another cultivator.


    The remaining cultivators gave in to their desperation and cried out, "Together!"


    The remaining seven or eight cultivators charged in together.


    But before they could reach Tang Jie, thunder rumbled and lightning shed, massive lightning bolts descending from the heavens. The power of the heavenly punishment was not to be underestimated, and the cultivators screamed. But one of the cultivators managed to endure the heavenly punishment, howling, "As a cultivator, I defy the heavens, so what can the punishment of the heavens do to me? If I break the oath, I break it! If I can endure the punishment, I''m free! Haha!"


    He moved to escape, but at this moment, a golden light swept across his neck. Blood fountained from his neck, and as his head flew into the air, he wondered, <em>Who killed me?</em>


    He saw Tang Jie holding the golden Sovereign de.


    In realization, the cultivator mouthed, "You lied¡­ wouldn''t use¡­ heavenly¡­ punishment¡­"


    His movement ceased.


    Sheathing his de, Tang Jie casually said, "If even some nameless guy like you can break the oath and resist the heavenly punishment, why can''t I? Besides¡­ you broke the oath first, so me acting afterward can''t be considered breaking the oath."


    He looked up and found that the skies were clear.


    Smiling, Tang Jie raised the Sovereign de and moved on to the next cultivator.

 Chapter 889: Deceiving

    Chapter 889: Deceiving


    The Infinite Pce.


    Tang Jie stood atop a building, surrounded by bodies.


    These bodies were all those of demon cultivators, with the regr cultivators having been sent into the Mountain River State Diagram to enrich the small world. The demon cultivators would be used to strengthen the Ster Net Astral Demon Formation, and as their demonic energy poured out, the formation grew stronger and stronger.


    As these were all Soul Projection cultivators, with vast amounts of spiritual energy, Tang Jie had to let them digest for quite a while before all the "nutrients" could be absorbed.


    Once all the corpses were gone, Tang Jie grabbed their treasures and put them away.


    He muttered, "Ha, more treasures again. I''ve already collected 108 divine treasures for the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace, and it can''t hold any more, yet I also don''t want to shatter them for the Sovereign de¡­ They''re like chicken ribs¡ªa hassle to eat, but you don''t give up the meat either."


    Anyone who heard that these divine treasures that countless people would go crazy for were beingpared to chicken ribs by Tang Jie would be so shocked that their jaws might drop off.


    But that was the way of the world, the full eating to the point of bursting while the hungry starved to death. While others might be working toward their first decent art relic, Tang Jie had so many divine treasures he couldn''t count them, and even a few Dao armaments. He was so wealthy that peerless treasures became worthless in his eyes.


    As Tang Jie said this, he put away the Infinite Pce and began to leave.This space was still copsing, but it was a slow copse that would probably take seventy to eighty days, so Tang Jie was in no rush.


    His original body had messaged back that the two sects chasing the Primordial Heavenly Demon had left behind an Earth Immortal each at the exit for the other members of their sects to join up with, but Tang Jie had Reflections of Floating Life, so he wasn''t afraid.


    As he was flying to the exit, he spotted someone flying in the opposite direction.


    He took a closer look and found that it was Huang Wuji.


    At this moment, Huang Wuji had a ghastly look on his face, as if he had experienced a major scare.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie quickly called out, "Big Brother Huang, why did youe back?"


    Huang Wuji turned his head and spotted Tang Jie. He said in delight, "So you really are here! If my guess is correct, it must have been you who opened the Immortal Emperor''s tomb, right? You really did manage to find the secret."


    When the two had worked together, Tang Jie had believed that the Jewel Pce still had a secret, but Huang Wuji hadn''t had the patience to keep searching. For this reason, when he saw the phenomena over the Jewel Pce, he hastened back, and when he saw Tang Jie, he knew that his guess was correct.


    Tang Jie smiled. "I managed to open it up, but it also ended up attracting a pack of wolves. With no other choice, I had to flee here."


    "Not just wolves, but also tigers!" Huang Wuji sighed.


    Realizing something, Tang Jie said, "It seems like Big Brother Huang ran into the people from the Heaven''s Equal Sect and Ster Net Gate?"


    Huang Wuji nodded. "There was also a terrifying demon. He seemed to be at least a Demon Lord. With just a wave of his hand, he could¡­"


    Deep shock appeared on Huang Wuji''s face.


    It turned out he had run into the Primordial Heavenly Demon being chased by Whitebrow Shao andpany. When Whitebrow Shao saw Huang Wujiing, he shouted at him to stop the demon.


    Huang Wuji saw that the Heaven''s Equal Sect and Ster Net Gate were hunting this demon, and since he didn''t want to offend them, he naturallyplied. But then the Primordial Heavenly Demon simply sent him flying with a wave of his hand, disying a horrifying strength. Not only that, he had nted a demon seed within him in an attempt to turn him into a demon. Only then did he realize that this was the infamous Primordial Heavenly Demon.


    When the two sects saw that a demon seed had been nted in him, they immediately wanted to kill him. Fortunately, Huang Wuji reacted quickly and fled for his life, and those cultivators prioritized chasing the Primordial Heavenly Demon and let him go.


    Tang Jie was also taken aback, looking at Huang Wuji in disbelief. "Big Brother Huang, how is it that you were able to resist demonification after having a demon seed nted in you?"


    "It just so happens that your big brother has some means of resisting demonification. Of course, it''s also because that Primordial Heavenly Demon was too busy fighting to deal with me, or else my little trick might not have worked. In any case, I got lucky. Sadly, the True Immortals of those two sects wouldn''t listen to me, attacking me the moment I had the demon seed nted in me, the scoundrels."


    Tang Jie grew excited. "What sort of trick?"


    Because of Ice Phoenix, he was interested in all means of resisting demonification.


    Huang Wuji replied, "Telling you would take a while, but we should think about getting out of here first. This ce seems to be in the middle of copsing and won''tst for long. Ha, I can''t believe I flew into the middle of this death trap."


    Huang Wuji stomped his feet in remorse.


    Tang Jie smiled. "Big Brother Huang, don''t panic. I can help out on this."


    "Oh, how so?"


    Tang Jie recounted how the two sects had left behind their Violet Pce cultivators here. "If we turn ourselves into them, we can sneak out."


    "But what about the actual people?"


    "They wanted to kill me, so I naturally killed them," Tang Jie coolly replied.


    Huang Wuji was stunned. He could see that Tang Jie''s cultivation had experienced a huge leap, going from early-phase Soul Projection all the way to peak Soul Projection, but even with that, killing a few Violet Pce cultivators was no easy task. He was unaware that Tang Jie had been dealing with more than a hundred.


    "To even dare to kill the people of the two supreme sects, my young brother is truly bold. But even if we disguise ourselves, we might not be able to fool a True Immortal."


    "Perhaps my methods can." Tang Jie smiled. "Big Brother, please watch."


    He pointed at Huang Wuji and activated Thousand Faces, upon which Huang Wuji turned into one of the deceased cultivators. Huang Wuji projected his Primal Divinity and observed himself, and he found that he couldn''t find a single w, as if this was just how he had been born. Surprised and delighted, he said, "It''s a Dao Art! No wonder you''re sure that even Immortals will be fooled. Only an Insight-type Dao Art would be able to see through it."


    Tang Jie said to himself, <em>I have one of those, and I truly can see through it.</em>


    Huang Wujiughed, "With this, we can sneak out, but how do we exin our numbers?"


    Tang Jie had Xu Miaoran, Yiyi, and Tutue out from the diagram. All three were at Violet Pce and could be disguised. As for Ice Phoenix, he had the Mother Cloudbat puppet and He Chong keep an eye on her.


    But Huang Wuji''s attention was drawn to the Mountain River State Diagram as a result.


    "A small¡­ a small world¡­" Huang Wuji''s eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets. <em>Just who is this kid, with so many Dao Arts and treasures!? No wonder he''s so confident. Good thing it''s me here. Anyone else would have already thought about killing him for his treasure.</em>


    Of course, he didn''t know that ever since Tang Jie hadprehended the method of using Dao Arts inbination, he no longer feared Earth Immortals. Even if he couldn''t beat them, he could just run away. And if he merged with his original body, used the Sovereign de, and perhaps used Immortal Ji Yao''s finger, he could even kill an Earth Immortal. In other words, after creating the miracle of a Soul Transformation cultivator defeating a Violet Pce cultivator, he was on the verge of creating another one, that of a Soul Projection cultivator defeating an Earth Immortal.


    It was for this reason that he wasn''t afraid to show off in front of Huang Wuji, at the same time once more testing his character.


    As expected, Huang Wuji was a reliable sort, his eyes showing only admiration and no greed. Hemented, "Young Brother, you are proficient in formations, so you must have been to many well-protected treasure grounds. It''s no wonder you have so much. s, as for me, even though I''ve wandered the myriad domains and been to countless secret grounds, myck of experience has limited my harvests."


    He gave a mncholy sigh.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "If that''s the case, then I''ll go together with Big Brother Huang, revisiting those old ces and searching for treasure so you can grow stronger. How about it?"


    Huang Wuji was ecstatic. "Great! With Young Brother''s understanding of formations and Dao Arts, the entire world is ours for the taking."


    The two looked at each other andughed.


    Tang Jie turned Xu Miaoran, Yiyi, and Tutu into cultivators and nodded in satisfaction. "We''re missing a few, but this should be enough to get us through."


    Huang Wuji had no idea that they were missing at least a hundred people and thought that they had enough, so he nodded. "Great; let''s go back."


    He nced at this copsing space and sighed. "It''s a pity. This is the Immortal Emperor''s tomb, but I have to leave before I really got a chance to see anything."


    Tang Jie replied, "Big Brother Huang, you should be happy with what you have. Most people don''t even get the chance to peep inside. Moreover, this is just a fake tomb, and there was nothing in it at all."


    "Oh? Young Brother, did you find anything?" Huang Wuji''s eyes widened in surprise.


    Tang Jie revealed his findings, since the ce was empty anyway. He told Huang Wuji that the ce of Dao Proving had been within, which left Huang Wuji speechless. After a while, he said, "No wonder the two sects want to kill you."


    "Indeed. Fortunately, while the ce of Dao Proving had no treasure, it did have a Dao Will, and I was able to richly benefit by studying it, my strength soaring. This allowed me to kill them one by one."


    "I was wondering how Young Brother had grown so strong so quickly despite our brief parting. Young Brother, you are being very honest with me."


    "It''s because Big Brother Huang is a righteous person that I don''t need to hide anything from," Tang Jie indifferently replied, mentally adding, <em>except for the stuff that I identally left out.</em>


    The group of five talked as they flew to the exit.


    As expected, two Earth Immortals were standing guard there.


    Tang Jie and Huang Wuji nced at each other and then flew to the exit, Huang Wuji suppressing his cultivation to Soul Projection so that he didn''t seem suspicious.


    The two Earth Immortals saw five people flying toward them, and one of them said, "Zhou Ke, why is it only the five of you? Where are the rest?"


    Tang Jie had been too immersed in killing to get anyone''s names. There had been more than one hundred people, and who would go around asking them all? Not knowing which one was Zhou Ke, he came forward and said, "Honored Immortals, they''re still battling with the demonified cultivators of our sect. The five of us came out first to take a look at the situation and make sure everything was alright."


    The Earth Immortal frowned. "I didn''t ask you. Zhou Ke, why aren''t you answering me?"


    He cast his gaze at Huang Wuji.


    Only then did Huang Wuji realize that he was the one being questioned, so he replied, "Honored Immortal, the situation is as he said."


    To his surprise, the two Earth Immortals scowled and shouted, "You aren''t Zhou Ke! Just who are you?"


    The Earth Immortal who had questioned thrust a palm at the surprised Huang Wuji, who had no choice but to respond, the massive shockwave from their colliding attacks pushing both of them away from each other.


    The Earth Immortal shouted, "It''s you! That Earth Immortal who ran away! You didn''t turn into a demon?"


    Then his face twisted in anger. "Whoever you are, since you dared to disguise yourself as my nephew, you must have already taken his life, so die!"


    The two Earth Immortals attacked.

 Chapter 890: Battle Against Immortal Platform

    Chapter 890: Battle Against Immortal tform


    When the Earth Immortal spoke, Tang Jie and Huang Wuji realized how they had been exposed, and they could only curse their rotten luck. Out of all those cultivators, they just had to choose an Earth Immortal''s nephew.


    Tang Jie was the most remorseful. With his proficiency in Fate, he could have observed the threads of Fate and identified this rtionship. But after all those major battles, he didn''t have the energy to think about things like that, and this was the result of his neglect.


    As the two Earth Immortals attacked, Tang Jie shouted, "Big Brother Huang, let''s push our way out!"


    As he spoke, he took out Immortal Ji Yao''s finger and threw it into the air. The finger turned into a giant pir that descended toward the pair, radiating an endless power that could make even Earth Immortals tremble.


    "This is¡­" the two Earth Immortals cried out.


    They immediately put all their strength into defense, mighty waves of multicolored Immortal energy sting the finger while Tang Jie did his utmost to unleash the finger''s power. Four Earth Immortal hands shed against a single finger from a Gold Immortal, resulting in a massive explosion of Immortal energy.


    The explosion was so intense that even the shockwave had sufficient energy to obliterate the surrounding area. Tang Jie put up the Infinite Pce to defend himself as soon as he could, and Huang Wuji put up his own Immortal barrier.


    Even so, the two were thrown back a long distance by the shockwave.


    Looking at the center of the explosion, they saw that the two Earth Immortals had been pulverized.But "pulverized" wasn''t the same as "killed".


    Two hazy figures appeared: the two Earth Immortals, undying and evesting, being reborn from the ashes.


    Tang Jie called back the finger and shouted, "Let''s go!"


    Sweeping up Xu Miaoran and the others, he activated Nearby Horizon and instantly appeared at the exit, charging right through.


    Huang Wuji wasn''t as fast as Tang Jie, but he still managed to reach the exit and leave before those two Earth Immortals finished their rebirth.


    Once they were back in the outside world, they rxed a little.


    Huang Wujimented, "Hm? They aren''t here?"


    Tang Jie replied, "They''ve already left to chase the Primordial Heavenly Demon."


    "How do you know that?"


    Tang Jie simply smiled.


    He naturally knew, because Yun Tian and the Rosecloud group were following right behind them to see if they could get anything good. The Primordial Heavenly Demon was very strong, and since he was feigning defeat and running, he had to have some kind of back-up n. Thus, by watching from a distance, they might be able to get the belongings of a True Immortal or two.


    If not for that, Tang Jie wouldn''t have been so insistent on getting out.


    As they were talking, the two Earth Immortals finished their rebirth and charged out of the exit.


    Tang Jie was unafraid,ughing and saying, "Big Brother Huang, how about I take one and you take one?"


    "You?" Huang Wuji said in shock.


    <em>Can you do it?</em>


    <em>This is an Earth Immortal!</em>


    <em>Even if you''re at peak Soul Projection, so long as you haven''t broken through that threshold, the gap between you and Earth Immortal will remain as that of heaven and earth, as of mortal and cultivator.</em>


    But there was no other choice. The two Earth Immortals had already caught up, so Huang Wuji could only try to deal with his opponent first. At the same time, he remembered to asionally shoot a bolt of energy at Tang Jie''s opponent to take some pressure off him.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, summoning the Infinite Pce to block the attack from the opposing Earth Immortal, also putting Xu Miaoran and Yiyi within. The three of them attacked from within the pce while Tutu reprised his role as a mount, whisking Tang Jie through the air. Although Tang Jie was now faster than him, he had already consumed too much Space power, so he could only rely on Tutu.


    The one opposing Tang Jie was a dark-faced Immortal, and when he saw that Tang Jie''s group dared to go on the offensive, he grunted, "Seeking death!"


    He thrust a finger at the Infinite Pce.


    The finger had previously pulverized him, and while he had recovered, he had consumed a great deal of Immortal power to do so, which left him furious. Now, he naturally wanted to kill Tang Jie in the same way.


    But as he thrust out his finger, a mighty figure charged out of the distance, unleashing a heaven-shaking punch.


    The immense power of this punch had even the dark-faced Earth Immortal feeling the pressure.


    Turning his head, he found that it was another "Hong Qianli", this one featuring bulging muscles rather than the schrly one he was facing.


    In the middle of his shock, Tang Jie''s original body unleashed several more punches and flew toward the avatar Tang Jie, the two once more merging together.


    "Raaaa!" Tang Jie let out a frenzied howl, a tangible pulse of power radiating out from his body and stunning the three Immortals.


    "I get it now," Huang Wuji muttered.


    It was no wonder Tang Jie had given off a sense of ipleteness, because he had divided himself into two, one cultivating the body and the other cultivating arts.


    Tang Jie had been willing to use the Gold Immortal''s finger to get out precisely because he wanted to merge together with his original body. After all, his original body couldn''t enter that space without being attacked by the finger, but this was no problem outside of it.


    Now that he was hisplete self, his strength soared, and he coldly red at the dark-faced Immortal.


    Body cultivators innately possessed a wild and frenzied aura, never fearing their opponent, whoever they were.


    As his original body returned, Tang Jie felt a boldness swelling up within him.


    He said in a rumbling voice, "An Earth Immortal, right? I''ll take you down all the same!"


    He took on his three-headed, six-armed form.


    The middle head had a hardened and tough appearance, and itmanded the two upper arms: the body cultivator. The left head had a handsome and delicate appearance, and itmanded the middle arms: thew cultivator. The right head had a dignified and enigmatic air, and it controlled the lower arms: the Primal Divinity.


    The three heads roared and began to unleash a barrage of punches at the dark-faced Immortal. There was no variation to these punches, all of them simply packed with a seemingly unstoppable power.


    The dark-faced Immortal simply sneered. "Courting death!"


    He continued to thrust his finger.


    He had gathered his Immortal energy on this finger, turning into a giant pir akin to Immortal Ji Yao''s finger. He had been killed by a Gold Immortal''s finger once, so he naturally wanted to return the favor.


    With a snort, Tang Jie began to wave his six arms around, creating so many ethereal arms that it seemed like he was mimicking the Thousand-Hand Guanyin, instantlyunching countless attacks against the finger. In a series of booms, Tang Jie was sent flying, but the Earth Immortal''s finger strike also copsed.


    "How could this be?" the dark-faced Immortal gasped. Hispanion fighting Huang Wuji was also stunned.


    Tang Jieughed. "Have a taste of my fist!"


    The six arms came together and unleashed a singr punch against the Earth Immortal: the Devil Crushing Strike!


    The Combat Emperor Catalog represented the supremebat techniques left behind by the Martial Lord, the ideal moves to ovee those above one''s level. The War God Mantra, meanwhile, was aw cultivator mantra the Nine Heavens Pearl Lady had created for the Martial Lord to maximize his strength.


    Tobine the two was to usew cultivation to unleashbat techniques, making the best use of one''s power. Moreover, now that Tang Jie had learned how to use two Dao Arts together, he was even more able to use these two together. Originally, Tang Jie had only been able to boost his technique''s power by 40% by consuming a set amount ofw power, but now, Tang Jie was able to put in as much power as he wanted.


    With this Devil Crushing Strike, Tang Jie put in fifty percent of hisw power, tripling the Devil Crushing Strike''s power, bringing it to a world-destroying level.


    The dark-faced Immortal didn''t know what he was facing, and when he saw Tang Jie unleash only a single punch, he scoffed and punched back.


    As the two fists shed, the dark-faced Immortal felt a vast torrent energy of engulfing him, instantly devouring his attack and then his body.


    "How¡­" the Immortal shouted before Tang Jie''s punch obliterated him.


    The two Earth Immortals fighting on the side were dumbfounded.


    After unleashing this punch, Tang Jie let out a long breath. While this punch was powerful, it was also a great burden on Tang Jie. Fortunately, Xu Miaoran had already taken out some pills for him. Fifty percent of hisw power was no small expenditure, so Yiyi and Xu Miaoran also ced their hands on Tang Jie''s back and transferred him energy. The two were too weak to help inbat, but they were immensely useful when it came to maintaining his ability to fight.


    In the middle of his break, the dark-faced Immortal began to reform.


    "Shit; I knew it would be like this!" Tang Jie helplessly said.


    This was what made Immortals so terrifying. Reaching Immortal tform didn''t grant one just greater power. Far more important was that the soul became God and the body became Immortal, allowing one to be undying and evesting. Tang Jie could kill him once, but he could juste right back. So long as the Primal Divinity was not destroyed and the Immortal Essence remained, one could reforge the Immortal body using Immortal Essence.


    This was why Violet Pce experts were never able to kill Immortal tform experts.


    One could say that reaching Violet Pce let one cast ten times faster while reaching Immortal tform gave one ten more lives, and this was without considering the increases in other aspects.


    Who could even fight a battle like that?


    Thus, for eons now, there were no examples of Celestial Heart experts defeating Violet Pce experts or Violet Pce experts defeating Immortal tform experts. The gap was far too big to make up for.


    But Tang Jie didn''t believe it.


    He had already created one miracle, and he nned to create a second.


    As the dark-faced Immortal reappeared, Tang Jieughed and took out the Gold Immortal finger, making it unleash another attack.


    The dark-faced Immortal just finished remaking himself when that finger attacked, scaring him out of his wits and pulverizing him before he even had a chance to run.


    But after being used three times, the Gold Immortal finger was now almost out of energy and hadpletely lost its luster.


    In the end, this was Immortal Ji Yao''s severed finger. Unless it were recharged, it would naturally run out of power from repeated use. If Tang Jie hadn''t been holding back this time and instead used it as he had when getting to the exit, it would have shattered.


    Right now, it seemed like he could use it one more time.


    But Tang Jie didn''t mind. As the dark-faced Immortal started the rebirth process, Tang Jie brought his six arms together once more. "Ring Rending Strike, Wave Reversing Strike, Fierce Gale Strike!"


    He was using three moves from the Combat Emperor Catalog at once, but this time, he used only 10% of hisw power. However, three Combat Emperor Catalog strikes in a row was no less powerful than the Devil Crushing Strike from earlier, and it once more obliterated the dark-faced Immortal.


    At this time, the two Earth Immortals standing in the distance were numb from shock.


    Everyone was waiting to see how many times Tang Jie could kill the dark-faced Immortal.


    This battle seemed to be a contest between an Immortal tform expert''s life force and a top-ss Violet Pce expert''s offensive might.

 Chapter 891: Slaying the Immortal

    Chapter 891: ying the Immortal


    An unprecedented battle was taking ce in the Immortal Emperor''s tomb.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    With another punch from Tang Jie, the dark-faced Immortal was in once more.


    On his fifth rebirth, Tang Jie used the Void Light Strike and Heart Devouring Strike inbination with twenty percent of hisw energy.


    On the sixth rebirth, Tang Jie once more used the Gold Immortal finger, which made the finger shatter.


    On the seventh rebirth, Tang Jie used the Blood Spirit Strike and the Corpse Soul Strike inbination with twenty percent of hisw energy.


    On the eighth rebirth, Tang Jie used the Spirit Tearing Strike and Illusion Crushing Strike inbination with twenty percent of hisw energy.


    On the ninth rebirth, the dark-faced Immortal''s face had be ghastly pale. It was clear that he had usedrge quantities of Immortal energy and was reaching his limit. But Tang Jie was faring no better, these consecutive attacks wearing him out in bothw energy and body. Even Xu Miaoran, Yiyi, and Tutu were exhausted from transmitting spiritual energy to him. Tang Jie was like a bottomless hole, devouring any spiritual energy they could put in before unleashing it once more.


    Both sides were suffering. While the dark-faced Immortal was stunned at Tang Jie''s deep energy reserves, Tang Jie was also stunned at how many times the Immortal could revive.In truth, the number of times an Immortal tform expert could revive was closely rted to how much Immortal energy they expended. In this battle, both sides were actually doing only one thing, with the dark-faced Immortal being obliterated the moment he revived, unable to do anything else¡ªTang Jie knew he had a Dao armament, so he couldn''t give him that chance.


    Thanks to the Celestial Eye, he was able to grasp the moment his opponent was weakest. As a result, the Immortal was blown up again and again, and all his Immortal energy was used on rebirth, which greatly increased the number of times he could be reborn. On the other hand, in a protracted battle that dragged on for days, where every drop of Immortal energy was squeezed out, even a Boundless Gold Immortal wouldn''t be able to revive.


    As the dark-faced Immortal revived for the ninth time, Tang Jie didn''t even have the energy to curse.


    This life force was truly tenacious! Even an Immortal who was caught by surprise was squeezing him dry, so he could only imagine how terrifying and powerful a prepared one was.


    Clenching his teeth, he unleashed his final move, the Reincarnation Strike,bining it with thest of hisw power.


    The dark-faced Immortal put his all into defense, and once the wave had passed, while he had arge hole in his chest and was mangled and bloodied all over, his face almostpletely destroyed, he still stood.


    The dark-faced Immortal saw that he was still alive and wildlyughed, "Brat, you''re finally out of strength! It''s time for me to kill you!"


    But as he spoke, explosions rang out around him, obliterating him and sending him back to the underworld.


    As his face reformed, it showed an expression of shock, fear, and disbelief. Even before he had finished his revival, he shouted, "How could this happen?"


    "Be careful! When he killed Fu Feng and the others, he took their treasures, and now he''s detonating them!" the Earth Immortal in the distance shouted.


    He could see that the dark-faced Immortal had died because Tang Jie had thrown out four divine treasures after using the Reincarnation Strike.


    The explosion of one divine treasure was huge enough, and Tang Jie had used four. The dark-faced Immortal had already been barely hanging on to life, so he naturally died instantly.


    But the warning came toote.


    As the Earth Immortal reformed, Tang Jie threw out twelve divine treasures in all, arranging them around the dark-faced Immortal.


    Smiling, he shouted, "Explode!"


    In a fierce explosion, the dark-faced Immortal was once more blown to bits.


    "AAAH!" A bitter scream tore through the air.


    This time, the dark-faced Immortal didn''t revive. All of his Immortal energy had been exhausted.


    Even so, he refused to give up, a divine light shooting out and fleeing into the distance¡ªhis Primal Divinity!


    "Trying to run?" Xu Miaoran snorted, an elegant hand reaching for that Primal Divinity.


    Limitless!


    While the Primal Divinity moved swiftly, it couldn''t escape from Limitless.


    At his prime, the Immortal''s Primal Divinity could have shattered Xu Miaoran''s hand with a single shake, but he was nowpletely drained and incapable of breaking free. "Release me!"


    "As you wish!" Xu Miaoranughed, spiritual energy erupting from her hand and blowing up the Primal Divinity.


    The Primal Divinity exploded into rainbow light.


    An Immortal tform Primal Divinity was extremely powerful, capable of casting spells and also creating their own pocket dimension in which they stored treasures, though this space was limited. Thus, Immortals would keep ordinary treasures in their Mustard Seed Bags and put the important ones in their Primal Divinity.


    When Xu Miaoran detonated that Primal Divinity, numerous treasures sted outward, one of them clearly a Dao armament. The poor Earth Immortal hadn''t had a chance to use it before Tang Jie sted him to death. Xu Miaoran simply swept up everything without taking a close look.


    "Bastard!" the other Earth Immortal cursed.


    But then he saw Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran turn on him, and he knew that he was the next target.


    He grunted, "You really think this old man is that easy to deal with?"


    He took out an item.


    It was a small hammer, which he struck at the air, upon which thunder rumbled and lightning began to fall, as if a god of lightning had descended.


    These lightning bolts had powerparable to the Heavenly Punishment, and Huang Wuji grimaced. "Be careful! It''s a pseudo¨CDao armament!"


    But Xu Miaoran simply smiled and took out a jade ruler¡ªthe Dao armament she had taken from the in Earth Immortal. Using Limitless, she ced the jade ruler in Huang Wuji''s hand.


    "Use it!"


    Huang Wuji instinctively transferred his Immortal energy into the jade ruler, upon which mist began to pour out of the jade ruler, its Dao Runes shing.


    He waved the jade ruler, upon which all the lightning clouds dispersed. He couldn''t help butugh in excitement, "A fine treasure!"


    Swinging the jade ruler, he began to fight with the Earth Immortal.


    The Earth Immortal inwardly groaned, <em>How did I forget about that?</em>


    In truth, he hadn''t forgotten. It was just that Dao armaments were so valuable that many wandering Earth Immortals could go their entire lives without getting a single one. Who could have expected Xu Miaoran to be so generous as to gift one to Huang Wuji?


    If he had known that this was going to happen, he would have gone to that dark-faced Immortal''s aid.


    While those two had been standing guard together here, they weren''t actually from the same sect.


    The dark-faced Immortal was part of the Ster Net Gate, while he was from the Heaven''s Equal Sect.


    The two sects weren''t exactly united, so while they fought alongside each other, they didn''t go out of their way to help each other. On the contrary, they were happy to see each other eating dirt, which was why he had just watched that Ster Net Gate Immortal die a miserable death.


    But watching an ally fall to misfortune was one thing, and to suffer misfortune oneself was another.


    He had certainly had fun watching the show, but once the show was over, and it was his turn? It wasn''t so fun anymore.


    Worse still was that it was two versus one, and that kid would be able to join in the battle once he had rested. Once he properly joined the battle, one of them could hold him down while the other could focus entirely on attacking, and it would only take a few rounds before he waspletely dead.


    He was full of remorse, but remorse was pointless now. He lost the will to fight and sought a chance to escape.


    Tang Jie could tell what he was thinking and shouted, "Brother Huang, don''t let him. If the Ster Net Gate and Heaven''s Equal Sect find out what happened, both of us will be wanted criminals."


    Huang Wuji naturally understood the gravity of the situation, and he swiftly wove a of Immortal energy to prevent the Earth Immortal from escaping. "Brother Tang, rest well, and once you''ve recovered, we can take him down. It''s only a pity that nobody will know that Brother Tang was able to pull off a miracle of a Violet Pce expert ying an Immortal tform expert."


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "I couldn''t do it alone and had to borrow the help of my wife and little sister, so it''s not exactly a glorious victory. Moreover, that Earth Immortal was far from the peak of the tier."


    For him, this could not be considered a real victory over an Earth Immortal, but to Huang Wuji, this sort of help didn''t really count. Any three Violet Pce experts joining together to kill a single Immortal tform expert was a matter of immense glory, and those who could pull it off were bound to be some of the most illustrious people in all of history.


    But Tang Jie was in no rush.


    He knew that he would have a chance, that he could do better.


    Hisw cultivation had reached the peak, but not his body cultivation. There was still a little way to go.


    Once his body cultivation strength reached its peak, he was sure that he could singlehandedly kill an early-phase Earth Immortal without a problem, considering that he hadn''t used any Dao Arts in this battle because he had already consumed so much Dao power. If he used the Sovereign de, his treasures, and his Dao Arts, he might even be able to take down a peak Earth Immortal.


    It was this confidence that made Tang Jie not care too much about this achievement.


    Huang Wuji couldn''t help but admire Tang Jie''s temperament, though his admiration didn''t stop him from applying maximum pressure to his opponent. Using force to keep the Earth Immortal here meant he was using more energy, but he waspletely unafraid, because Tang Jie was right there. At this moment, Tang Jie, Xu Miaoran, and Yiyi were furiously consuming pills to recover their spiritual energy.


    The Earth Immortal knew that this was trouble and that he couldn''t let it go on. Hardening his heart, he took out a divine treasure, learning from Tang Jie and detonating a divine treasure to escape.


    But just how had Tang Jie detonated his treasures?


    He used four to kill a half-dead Immortal, and twelve against an intact Immortal who had yet to put up any defenses.


    But this guy was trying to use a single one against an opponent who had alreadyid down aprehensive defense.


    Was this a joke?


    As a result, Huang Wuji pushed through that divine treasure''s explosion and sent that Earth Immortal tumbling through the air with a swing of the jade ruler. If not for the fact that Huang Wuji was still getting used to the Dao armament, this blow would have been enough to heavily injure him.


    Even so, the Earth Immortal had still been dealt a staggering blow.


    Tang Jie sneered, "Such a bigshot, yet so petty! And this is an Earth Immortal! You should learn a thing or two from us instead."


    On the side, Yiyi stood up and giggled, numerous vines growing from under her feet and creating a massive tree. From each of this tree''s branches hung a divine treasure, their sheer number dazzling the eye. The Earth Immortal shrieked when he saw them, "The Jewel Ring, the Eight Treasures Lamp, the Everchanging Sword, the Parting Hook, the Moon Fog Mirror, Red Cloud Sleeve, Celestial Heart Stone, Seacloud Lock, Sealing Star Net, Leopard Tiger Chariot, Heaven Lotus Throne¡­ How could this be? How could this be?"

 Chapter 892: Flogging a God

    Chapter 892: Flogging a God


    The Earth Immortal had to repeat himself several times in a row in order to express the immense shock in his heart.


    Some of these treasures he recognized, and some he did not, but of those he recognized, they had belonged to cultivators of his sect, and those he did not recognize, he had seen in the hands of the cultivators of the Ster Net Gate. He counted more than a hundred of them, and this could only mean one thing.


    More than a hundred Violet Pce cultivators!


    They were all dead!


    The Earth Immortal''s eyes were almost going to pop out of their sockets in sheer anger. Even if he went back, how was he going to exin this?


    Even Huang Wuji was so shocked that he inadvertently eased the pressure, which gave the Earth Immortal an opening to run.


    "Where do you think you''re going!?" Yiyi shouted. She had already selected which treasures to detonate, the branches throwing various weapons along with things like pots, books, and zithers at the Earth Immortal. First came four that surrounded the Earth Immortal and exploded, and then another four at the center, their shockwaves rippling through the fabric of space and neutralizing any potential escape arts. Finally, another four treasures once more surrounded the site of the explosion, hardening the fabric of space and slowing down anyone who tried to fly through the area.


    These twelve divine treasures weren''t meant to kill the enemy, only to hinder and obstruct.


    Another thirty-six divine treasures flew out, and Tang Jie thrust out his finger, cing them in specific locations to assemble a formation that fully locked down the area and ensured that the Earth Immortal couldn''t escape.Although such a hasty formation had far too many ws, Tang Jie didn''t mind. He had so many divine treasures that he could put in a recement if any of them broke.


    Once this was done, Yiyi began to choose treasures.


    Rather than grabbing them by bunches, she began to carefully analyze which ones should be sacrificed, ranking them by their function, quality, and necessity.


    Even the rich had to be scrupulous with their wealth.


    On the other end, Tang Jie took out the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace.


    The sight of another 108 divine treasures gathering their power into a single ray of divine light almost gave Huang Wuji a heart attack. This kid seemed to have more treasures than even the Bejeweled Star Lord. Two hundred divine treasures! It was enough to scare one to death.


    As the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace focused its energy on that Earth Immortal, he began to experience a new kind of suffering. Although it wasn''t as instantaneously dangerous as a divine treasure detonation, the constant damage meant that it was just as threatening over the long term.


    This ray focusing on the Earth Immortal was the equivalent of a single divine treasure exploding at every passing moment.


    The Earth Immortal couldn''t stand this beating and tried his best to escape. s, the formation and Huang Wuji worked together to keep him there. He began to consume his Immortal energy to try and force his way through. <em>Boom!</em> His collision against the formation caused one of the divine treasures making up the formation to explode, and the Earth Immortal was caught up in the resulting explosion. But he ignored the damage and rushed into the gap.


    However, Yiyi had already chosen the next divine treasure to be sacrificed. Xu Miaoran delivered it to the gap, and a wave of Tang Jie''s finger added it to the formation, closing the opening.


    The Earth Immortal''s attempt to break out had failed.


    He tried several more times, but Tang Jie andpany used the same method to stop him.


    The Earth Immortal, his efforts to escape having been thwarted again and again, despaired and began to beg. "My fellow Daoists, it was this one who was wrong. This one is willing to paypensation, so there''s no need to take things too far."


    <em>If you can''t win, run, and if you can''t run, beg!</em> Tang Jie had seen this sequence many times, and he simplyughed. "Brother Huang, don''t show any mercy. This person belongs to the Heaven''s Equal Sect, so we have to keep today''s matter a secret. Otherwise, word will spread, and both of us will be hunted down."


    "I know that," Huang Wujiughed. In the past, Huang Wuji would have thought Tang Jie was being rude in calling him "Brother Huang", going beyond what was proper given their friendship. But after Tang Jie had singlehandedly blown up an Earth Immortal, Huang Wuji felt like Tang Jie could call him anything he wanted.


    He had the right.


    The Earth Immortal wailed, "You won''t die a good death!"


    As he cried out, a majestic will began to fill the world.


    Huang Wuji said, "Be careful! He''s using his Primal Divinity Transmission to notify the two sects."


    Primal Divinity Transmission could instantly cover vast distances, which was how Earth Immortals could know what was going on throughout the world without ever leaving their homes.


    Tang Jie coldly replied, "It''s not like I''ve never interacted with Earth Immortals before. You think everything Iid down was just for show?"


    He flicked a finger, and the 36 divine treasures began to resonate, shaking the fabric of space and creating a powerful storm that could grind up the Primal Divinity. While the Earth Immortal''s Primal Divinity was strong, outside the protection of the Immortal body, it was scattered in the wind and ground to pieces, unable to get out even the smallest bit of information.


    Tang Jie even used this chance to counterattack, a thrust of his finger dealing the Primal Divinity a heavy blow that made him wail in pain. "Ah! The God Flogging Finger¡­ How do you know that¡­"


    "Hmph, the inexperienced find everything strange and new," Tang Jie replied in disdain.


    This God Flogging Finger wasn''t a spell art, but rather the exploitation of a temporary weakness.


    Tang Jie originated from a major sect and had interacted a lot with an Earth Immortal, and he had also been personally instructed by a Boundless Gold Immortal, so when it came to cultivation experience, he was on par with or even outdid members of the Ster Net Gate and Heaven''s Equal Sect. After all, while these two sects also had Boundless Gold Immortals, they weren''t so idle as to personally instruct disciples every day.


    Tang Jie had been instructed by Yun Tian and Immortal Ji Yao and also had realbat experience against an Earth Immortal when he destroyed Godhead Pce, so he had already had a foundation to work from. Thus, while that Earth Immortal''s Primal Divinity Transmission had only a few small openings, he was able to find them, and the Celestial Eye was able to grasp the right moment for him to strike.


    As the Earth Immortal''s head was wracked with pain from the injury to his Primal Divinity, Tang Jie attacked.


    The 108 divine treasures of the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace unleashed their light.


    Tang Jie had carefully selected these 108 divine treasures, the worst of them being of middle grade. At full power, it was like 108 Violet Pce experts armed with divine weapons descending on a single enemy. The beam of light sted through the Earth Immortal''s defenses and mmed into the Earth Immortal, and while it didn''t obliterate him, it did leave him badly injured.


    Huang Wuji followed with a strike from the ruler.


    This time, the Earth Immortal had nothing to defend himself with, and he was obliterated.


    <em>Whew!</em> The pair exhaled.


    With this first death, everything became much easier.


    Like with many things, the first time was the most difficult, but once that was done, the second and third times became much easier.


    As their opponent began to reform his Immortal body, Tang Jie casually said, "Thankfully, he''s not a True Immortal. The Primal Divinity of a True Immortal is even stronger, able to flee with their Immortal energy instead of being reborn on the spot, so spawn camping isn''t as easy."


    Huang Wuji found this term both strange and amusing. "I didn''t think that Young Brother would understand so much about the tiers of Immortal tform."


    Ordinary people only knew that those at Immortal tform were Immortals, not of how the soul was made a God and the body was made an Immortal, let alone about this secret linked to the ying of Immortals.


    Tang Jie smiled. "There are benefits to having seniors at home."


    Although Tang Jie had basically fought for all his achievements, he had to admit that he had learned a lot from Basking Moon, which made him very different from wandering cultivators.


    Still, there was something that Tang Jie didn''t understand quite yet.


    He asked, "Big Brother Huang, your young brother is still confused about something."


    "Go ahead and ask. Your brother will answer if he can," Huang Wuji said with a smile.


    As Tang Jie was about to speak, he saw that the Earth Immortal was about to revive, so he had the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace unleash its full power while Huang Wuji swung the jade ruler.


    The Earth Immortal was in once more.


    Tang Jie then said, "I heard Brother Huang talk about a pseudo¨CDao armament just now. What''s the difference between a real Dao armament and a pseudo¨CDao armament?"


    Huang Wuji was surprised by the question. "How is it that you know about the Primal Divinity''s weak spot at the moment of transmission but don''t even know about real and pseudo¨CDao armaments? Are you not from the Vast Wilderness Continent?"


    Tang Jie nodded. "Indeed."


    Huang Wuji heartilyughed. "No wonder I''ve never heard of Brother Tang''s name. Otherwise, given that Brother Tang can kill an Earth Immortal at Soul Projection, even if it was with some tricks, you should have been renowned throughout the world by now."


    ncing at Yiyi''s tree of treasures, he bitterly smiled. "''Killed a few''¡­ Young Brother, you really know how to talk."


    Tang Jieughed. "I was just being modest."


    Huang Wuji almost fell from the sky at the shamelessness of this reply. In the middle of his mental turmoil, the Earth Immortal finished reviving, so he swung the ruler again. The Earth Immortal managed to barely block the attack, so Huang Wuji thrust out his left hand, striking the Earth Immortal with a golden light that pulverized his body. In a one-on-one, Earth Immortals found it very difficult to kill each other in one strike, even if one of them was spawn camping the other. Otherwise, there would be no point in even attempting revival. While Huang Wuji''s strike seemed simple, it was actually one of his more powerful moves.


    Drawing back his hand, Huang Wuji finally said, "Kid, you seem honest, but you''re actually very cunning and shrewd. However, I like that about you. As for real and pseudo¨CDao armaments, it''s a way of ranking Dao armaments in the Vast Wilderness Continent. Here, Dao armaments are sorted into three categories: pseudo¨CDao armaments, artificial Dao armaments, and natural Dao armaments. These three categories are further divided into three levels¡­"

 Chapter 893: Return

    Chapter 893: Return


    Huang Wuji''s exnation somewhat cleared things up for Tang Jie.


    "Pseudo¨CDao armaments" referred to Immortals applying their Dao Arts onto divine treasures using their power.


    To put it another way, they were divine treasures sporting ayer of paint made from Dao Runes, thus somewhat embodying the concept of Dao armaments. But they were far from real Dao armaments and were somewhere in between, which was why they were called pseudo¨CDao armaments.


    This kind of Dao armament had the profundity of Dao Arts, but they had limited abilities and power, and there were many restrictions when using them. This was because they were not truly integrated with the Dao, which left them with the most surface-level functionality.


    The Seven Absolutions Sect''s Seven Inferno Heaven Treasures, Godhead Pce''s Cloudsplinter Bow, Han Wuxin''s Phantom de, and Nine Splendors'' Soulless were all pseudo¨CDao armaments. The Sky-Parting Sword also belonged to this category, but as it had the Yin Yang Division Sword''s sword spirit, it had the potential to advance to the status of an artificial Dao armament in the future, though this would require Xiao Biehan to carefully nurture it.


    As for the upper, middle, and lower levels, this depended on the power of the underlying divine treasure. Pseudo¨CDao armaments weren''t able to use too much of a Dao Art''s power, so they usually also had to use some of the divine treasure''s innate power. Thus, at the level of pseudo¨CDao armaments, there was meaning to this division of levels. But with artificial Dao armaments, this difference started to lose meaning, and the main difference came in the Great Daos.


    Artificial Dao armaments were also creations of cultivators, but the level of creation was different. Dao Runes were no longer paint, but carved deeply into the items,pletely merged with the divine treasure such that the full power of the Great Dao could be used.


    To control a Dao armament meant controlling a Dao Art, which manifested not just in power, but also in the absoluteness of the Great Dao! No matter how strong one was, if one fell into the realm of a Dao Art, one would die all the same.


    The Myriad Immortals Cauldron and God-Conquering Merak Sword were both artificial Dao armaments. The beast absorption of the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, the god-conquering strike of the sword, and the life conversion of the Imperial Sky Stamp were all considered Dao Art Realms. It was just that the Myriad Immortals Cauldron and God-Conquering Merak Sword were never able to use their real power, as they were used by Violet Pce cultivators.As for natural Dao armaments, those couldn''t be made by humans.


    They existed only in the Lustrous Treasure River in the Boundless Sea of Stars.


    These were treasures formed from the power of nature, each an innately divine object upon which the Great Dao had been naturally carved. Whether the Dao they embodied was major or minor, they were all natural existences that naturally formed like trees or grass, without even the slightest sign of being worked. Such Dao armaments were also naturally easy to use, and they didn''t need an Immortal tform cultivator to use them. This was because they were born perfect, so even without the user inserting energy, they could use their full power.


    Natural Dao armaments were the opposite of pseudo¨CDao armaments. Thetter used Dao Runes as a supportive function, with the real powering from the divine treasure itself. Natural Dao armaments cared only about the Dao, and if the Dao were removed, they would have no power whatsoever. This was because they were not weapons crafted to kill, but vessels of the Great Dao nurtured by nature, with some top-ss natural Dao armaments even being manifestations of Great Daos.


    The Eternity Sarcophagus was such a natural Dao armament. When it came to its Great Dao, it was more profound than anything else, but when it came to practical use, it might not even match up to a pseudo¨CDao armament. But natural Dao armaments had the mostplete Dao Runes, so even if theycked the functionality of pseudo¨CDao armaments, they could be studied toprehend the Dao, while the same could not be said for pseudo¨CDao armaments. Artificial Dao armaments could also be used toprehend the Dao, but theprehension was limited. The Myriad Immortals Cauldron was created by the Court of Myriad Domains, so it could be considered the best kind of artificial Dao armament, which was why Tang Jie couldprehend the Dao from it. If it had been anything else, Tang Jie probably wouldn''t haveprehended so much of the Yin Yang Dao.


    Huang Wuji''s exnation gave Tang Jie apletely new understanding of Dao armament categorization.


    As expected, the experience in bigger ces was different, and it was no wonder wandering cultivators were usually without a single Dao armament whilerge sects had plenty to go around, because of these pseudo¨CDao armaments. The vast resources wielded by arge sect manifested in ways like this.


    This categorization method made Tang Jie remember another item in his possession.


    The Imperial Sky Stamp!


    ording to this method, the Imperial Sky Stamp also wasn''t a natural Dao armament, right?


    When it came to Dao armaments like the Myriad Immortals Cauldron or God-Conquering Merak Sword, he found it very tiring to use them, and he was never able to use their full strength, but he never had this feeling with the Imperial Sky Stamp. He had thought that this was because the Imperial Sky Stamp was a support-type Dao armament, as the Eternity Sarcophagus was also a support-type Dao armament that was very easy to use.


    But after hearing Huang Wuji''s exnation, Tang Jie realized that this might not actually be the case.


    He took out the Imperial Sky Stamp and gave it to Huang Wuji. "Brother Huang, could you see if this is a natural Dao armament?"


    He also used this chance tounch an attack at the just-revived Earth Immortal.


    Huang Wuji looked at the stamp and became so agitated that his ruler almost missed the mark.


    He grabbed the stamp and inspected it. "It really is a Dao armament, and a natural one? How do you have it? How did you get it?"


    He was so excited that he forgot to attack the Earth Immortal.


    Tang Jie hastily punched and kicked to suppress the Earth Immortal. "I just wanted you to see if it was a natural Dao armament, so why are you so excited? You have to give it back, you know!"


    Huang Wuji carefully examined it again and nodded. "Yes, of course it is. If this isn''t a natural Dao armament, then what is?"


    He gazed at Tang Jie in shock and surprise.


    This kid taking out more than two hundred divine treasures was shocking enough, and now he was trotting out a natural Dao armament! While he, on the other hand, had been searching for half of his life without finding a single one!


    He also didn''t know that Tang Jie had more than just one.


    On his end, Tang Jie inwardly sighed.


    Sure enough, the Imperial Sky Stamp was on a higher level than the God-Conquering Merak Sword, which was why it was so easy to use and able to convert anything, even the Wailing Baby and the Remote Antiquity serpent.


    s, the Beast Refining Gate had been unaware of the treasure they had possessed.


    When he thought about it, though, it wasn''t too surprising. They were a sect that primarily refined beasts to use as theirrades in battle, so how could they convert them into energy? As an example of the opposite, one could see how Tang Jie didn''t really use the Myriad Immortals Cauldron for its original purpose of capturing fiends after getting his hands on the Imperial Sky Stamp. Besides that, none of them had been proficient in the Dao of Life, so they were unable to grasp the deeper secrets of the stamp.


    Unfortunately for Tang Jie, he had been so obsessed with using it to make himself stronger that he hadn''t even considered studying the stamp toprehend more of the Dao of Life.


    Thanks to Huang Wuji, he now knew what he needed to do.


    "Give it back once you''re done looking at it," Tang Jie reminded.


    Startled, Huang Wuji gave Tang Jie a weird look.


    He didn''t understand. Why was this kid so certain he would give it back?


    In truth, every person had their price. Perhaps he didn''t want the divine treasures of the Jewel Pce because they didn''t meet his standards, but this was a natural Dao armament! It was impossible for him to not want it. So why was this kid so confident?


    Did he really think he could beat an Earth Immortal?


    By this point, Huang Wuji had some understanding of Tang Jie''s abilities. The punches he had used to destroy the dark-faced Immortal seemed to be limited to twelve, after which it was very difficult to use them again, or else he wouldn''t have needed to use sixteen divine treasures for thest two kills.


    This meant that he was much weaker than before, while Huang Wuji was still mostly at full power.


    So why was he so confident?


    Tang Jie simply grinned at him.


    Huang Wuji was frozen for a while before he finally shook his head and returned the Imperial Sky Stamp, grumbling, "Count yourself lucky."


    He didn''t think that Tang Jie had any more hidden cards. It was just that he couldn''t persuade himself. He wasn''t the kind of person who killed people for their belongings, and he couldn''t bring himself to break this rule of his.


    Moreover, hardening his heart and doing it might not bring him any benefits. Even if he got a natural Dao armament, his mind would no longer be at peace, and he would find any further advancement difficult.


    This is why he called Tang Jie lucky.


    He didn''t realize that Tang Jie had a good reason for his confidence.


    It was Yun Tian.


    Yun Tian was in the distance, having followed the two sects until they left the tomb, after which he kept watch at the entrance.


    In other words, if Huang Wuji ran off with the Imperial Sky Stamp, he would just end up dying to Yun Tian''s rage. After all, the Imperial Sky Stamp wasn''t meant for battle, so Yun Tian had no need to worry about it.


    As for killing Tang Jie, that was impossible.


    Tang Jie had already recovered some of his Space power. It wasn''t enough to kill, but more than enough to run.


    Tang Jie wanted to use this opportunity to see if Huang Wuji really was a friend he could trust.


    It just so happened that the Immortal had stopped reviving and seemedpletely dead, and because of the God Flogging Finger, the Primal Divinity couldn''t even escape.


    Tang Jie put away the thirty-six divine treasures and then picked up that Earth Immortal''s Thunderp Hammers. "These are two pseudo¨CDao armaments, so let''s each take one."


    Pseudo¨CDao armaments were still Dao armaments. Tang Jie gave his to Xu Miaoran, who frowned. "s, it''s just a hammer. Using it is rather ungraceful."


    Tang Jie replied, "Just use it for now. I''ll find you a better er."


    Xu Miaoran instantly smiled.


    Huang Wuji was speechless. This was still a Dao armament, yet it seemed like it just barely met the standard for those two.


    With the Earth Immortal dead, the two split the spoils. Seeing that there was nothing else, Tang Jie said, "We should leave now."


    Huang Wuji agreed, and the two began to fly toward the tomb''s exit.


    The vige he had passed through on the way here was now utterly devastated, with no survivors, just as Tang Jie had expected. Tang Jie didn''t know if this was the work of the two sects or of the Primordial Heavenly Demon, and he could only sigh.


    Just as he was about to leave, he noticed one of the bodies in the vige twitch.


    He immediately flew over and saw a viger lying in a pool of blood but still clinging to life.


    "Well, since you''re still alive, I will lend you a hand," Huang Wuji sighed, thrusting a finger at the viger.


    The finger released a gentle white light that slowly healed the viger''s injuries, and his breathing stabilized.


    Tang Jie sighed, "Brother Huang, even if you''ve saved him, he''s the only one left. How is he going to survive, having already lost everything?"


    Huang Wuji was startled. "Then Young Brother, do you mean¡­"


    "It''s fine. I''ll find him a ce to live," Tang Jie said. He waved his hand, intending to bring this person into the Mountain River State Diagram.


    But then he froze in disbelief.


    This person couldn''t be taken into the small world!


    Confused by Tang Jie''s reaction, Huang Wuji asked, "Young Brother, what happened?"


    After a moment, Tang Jie finally said, "Forget it. In the end, we didn''t ask his opinion. If he''s not willing, it''s not right to force him."


    He waved his hand, and a flower floated down. With a thrust of his finger, the flower transformed into a beautiful woman who prostrated before Tang Jie.


    Pointing at the fallen man, Tang Jie said, "From now on, you are husband and wife, living together in this ce until death do you part."


    The flower girl prostrated again. "By your holy will."


    Tang Jie drew his hand back. "Let''s go."


    They flew toward the exit.


    Not long after they left, the viger began to wake up.


    The flower girl came over with a bowl of water and smiled. "Husband."


    As this viger with a simple and honest appearance turned to the flower girl, a sharp light shed in his eyes. "A puny little sprite dares to call this lord her husband?"


    "''This lord''?" the flower girl said in fright.


    The viger raised his hand and grabbed the flower girl by the head. With a scream, the girl turned back into a flower and fell to the ground.


    The viger drew his hand back and muttered, "After ten thousand years of waiting, I have finally returned. What is the world outside like now? And how are the others doing?"


    As he muttered, a majestic energy radiated from his body, an imposing shadow manifesting behind him, growingrger andrger until it upied the entire tomb.


    When the viger turned around, his simple and honest appearance was no more, and in its ce was a divine figure, wearing a tall crown and a jade belt.


    If one looked closely, it was rather simr to the statue in the main hall of the Jewel Pce.

 Chapter 894: The Bejeweled Star Lord

    Chapter 894: The Bejeweled Star Lord


    Tang Jie and Huang Wuji flew to the exit of the Immortal Emperor''s tomb. But in Tang Jie''s right eye, a vortex was turning, and within the vortex, the actions of the surviving viger yed out.


    When Tang Jie witnessed the viger kill the flower girl, he shivered, and when that man''s aura began to expand, the Illuminating Eye Tang Jie had nted there earlier was utterly destroyed. But no longer being able to see what was happening there did nothing to quell the waves raging within Tang Jie''s mind.


    Right before the image vanished, Tang Jie had seen that person''s face.


    The Bejeweled Star Lord!


    Was that man the Bejeweled Star Lord''s reincarnation?


    But it didn''t seem like a reincarnation.


    With the Dao of Reincarnation, one had to cultivate from the beginning with each incarnation, just like the ck Tortoise Cang Qingfeng. So how could the Bejeweled Star Lord be so powerful the moment he appeared?


    Tang Jie could make no sense of it.


    But before he even had time to think about the problem, he felt an immense pressure roaring up behind him."This is¡­" Sensing the pressure, Huang Wuji turned around in shock.


    Tang Jie shouted, "Run!"


    "What?" Huang Wuji said in confusion.


    And then he saw Tang Jie shoot away.


    At the same time, a majestic voice resounded through the world. "Audacious thief, intruding into the Immortal Emperor''s mausoleum? Since you have alreadye in, this lord will have you stay."


    A giant hand emerged on the horizon, reaching for the two.


    "A True Immortal!" The vast energy radiating from this hand immediately informed Huang Wuji of the level of its owner. So pure and majestic was this energy that even among True Immortals, this had to be a terrifying existence.


    How had such a powerful existence so suddenly appeared in the Immortal Emperor''s tomb? Huang Wuji was baffled.


    Tang Jie shouted again, "Hurry and run!"


    As he spoke, he put Xu Miaoran and Yiyi into the Mountain River State Diagram and flew off like a bolt of lightning. Huang Wuji finally came around and began to run after Tang Jie.


    The giant hand pursued the pair. It moved much faster than the two, drawing closer and closer.


    Huang Wuji saw this and swung the ruler. The jade ruler shed with the light of a Dao Art as Huang Wuji put all his energy into this attack.


    "Hmph, trying to attack this lord with a treasure!?"


    The full strength of a pseudo¨CDao armament earned only a snort of contempt from that voice in the distance.


    The giant hand simply pointed at the pseudo¨CDao armament, and the light upon it dissipated. Not only that, the jade ruler broke free of Huang Wuji''s grip and flew toward the hand. Aghast, Huang Wuji lunged out and grabbed the ruler, trying to prevent its escape.


    After all, this was still a Dao armament, and Huang Wuji could not possibly let it go so easily.


    The giant hand swatted at Huang Wuji.


    Unable to dodge in time, he raised up countless barriers around himself, but as the palm struck, the barriers all shattered, and Huang Wuji was sent flying while throwing up blood.


    Huang Wuji was a peak Earth Immortal, yet this one strike from the hand had left him heavily injured, much to Tang Jie''s consternation.


    The giant hand reached out again, and, sensing trouble, Tang Jie threw out two divine treasures. Just when they were about to explode, the hand waved at them, upon which the divine treasures were fixed in the air. With another wave, the hand collected those two divine treasures.


    Tang Jie''s soul almost left his body. He had already guessed that this was the Bejeweled Star Lord, and he probably had a divine ability to counter treasures, but he hadn''t expected him to even be able to stop the detonation of divine treasures.


    As the hand reached out again, Tang Jie could only use Nearby Horizon to flee.


    The Bejeweled Star Lord gasped in surprise.


    At the same time, Huang Wuji attacked with all his strength, a majestic river issuing from his hands, blocking the hand''s path.


    But a momentter, the hand transformed into a roaring dragon, savagely rushing forward and pushing through the river.


    Just when it seemed like the pair were about to be caught, Tang Jie suddenly took on the form of a giant, and a golden halberd formed in his hands.


    "This is the Bejeweled Star Lord! Don''t use any kind of treasure in front of him!" Huang Wuji shouted, clearly having realized who their pursuer was.


    But Tang Jie swung the halberd as if he hadn''t heard this warning.


    Shockingly, the golden halberd tore through the air, chopping into the dragon''s head. With a furious howl, the dragon shattered, turning back into a giant hand, but it had been sliced in two, zing golden blood falling from the wound.


    "The Sovereign de!" the Bejeweled Star Lord roared in disbelief, fear in his voice.


    "It''s good that you know!" Tang Jie shouted, the halberd turning into a mallet that he swung at the hand. The giant hand retreated almost as quickly as it hade.


    Huang Wuji was stunned by this sight.


    But Tang Jie didn''t give chase, turning to Huang Wuji and shouting, "Let''s go!"


    He flew toward the tomb''s exit.


    Huang Wuji came to his senses and flew after him, asking, "What is this weapon, that it can be immune to the Bejeweled Star Lord?"


    Tang Jie replied, "There are many treasures that are unaffected by the Bejeweled Star Lord. Do you really think he can control all of them? With that ability, he could go fishing in the Lustrous Treasure River for Dao armaments. He can''t evenpare to Reverend Celestial Hook, yet he dares to make such boasts? Hah! At best, he can influence divine treasures, not even being able to influence Dao armaments, or else he would have seized that jade ruler of yours already."


    Huang Wuji was dizzied by his words. Unable to find a reply, he focused on running, the exit nowing into view in the distance.


    At this moment, there was a gust of wind and a wave of pressure from behind them. This time, the Bejeweled Star Lord hade personally.


    "Stilling?" Tang Jie cursed, but he knew that the Bejeweled Star Lord had definitely noticed something wrong.


    Sure enough, as the Bejeweled Star Lord''s imposing face appeared, there was no trace of fear upon it. Heughed, "I didn''t think that after ten thousand years of hibernation, the moment I emerged, I would run into Li Jiuyang''s sessor. Fortunately, you have only the form and not the spirit. But since the Sovereign de has reemerged, I cannot let you live, so hurry up and die!"


    He reached out to grab Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie froze in front of the hand as if he had been scared out of his wits.


    Huang Wuji frantically said, "Young Brother, dodge!"


    He didn''t understand why Tang Jie didn''t dodge despite having Nearby Horizon, and since the Bejeweled Star Lord dared to attack, he clearly had the means to deal with that Sovereign de.


    As that giant hand descended and Tang Jie still seemed to be scared stiff, Huang Wuji clenched his teeth and charged forward, the jade ruler in his hand shining. As he moved to face the hand of the True Immortal with all the power he could muster, he inwardly grumbled, <em>I haven''t even known this guy for that long, so why am I risking my life for him?</em>


    But as the palm descended, an object suddenly appeared over Tang Jie''s head.


    It was a t-topped crown with numerous Dao Runes etched into its surface, its dazzling light profound and mysterious such that one nce could leave one dizzy.


    It was impossible to fathom or understand, yet majestic enough to shake the soul.


    Tang Jie bathed under its golden light.


    The Star Lord''s giant hand struck Tang Jie, but there was no effect, as if it had mmed into an imprable wall.


    At the same moment, a voice called out, "Since you have been gone for ten thousand years, why did you return? This world is no longer yours, so the old can take their leave!"


    Another hand appeared in the air.


    The Bejeweled Star Lord''s hand was fierce and tyrannical, bursting with destructive power, while this hand was like the clouds frolicking in the winds, the froth of the ocean waves, flitting onto the scene and gently pressing against the Bejeweled Star Lord''s chest.


    As the palm pushed forward, the fabric of space in front of the Bejeweled Star Lord began to copse, the palm pushing throughyer afteryer of Space power. The Bejeweled Star Lord''s body shed withyers of resplendent light as he attempted to stop the palm from getting closer, and the owner of this palm seemed to slowly reach their limit.


    Tang Jie''s eyes suddenly shed with a sharp light. "Even if I only have the form, I can y an Immortal to prove my Dao!"


    He once more turned into a thousand-foot-tall giant, while the Sovereign de turned back into its original form, appearing like a dagger in his hand. With a shake of his hand, Tang Jie had the Sovereign de thin and lengthen into a long metal bar.


    Tang Jie thrust the metal bar forward. "Break!"


    All of his power, intelligence, and knowledge was focused onto this thrust, prating through all the numerous spatial barriers the Bejeweled Star Lord had ced in front of him.


    The graceful hand thrust forward, glowing with a crystalline light and striking the Star Lord''s chest.


    "AAAAH!" the Bejeweled Star Lord screamed, throwing up blood, his body instantly vanishing into the distance. This palm had pped him all the way back to the vige.


    The figure of Yun Tian appeared in the air.


    "Hurry!" Yun Tian roared.


    He grabbed them, one to each hand, and retreated to the exit.


    "Thank you for the rescue, Martial Ancestor," Tang Jie said.


    The moment he had run into danger, he had used Heart Consonance to contact Yun Tian, and he had managed tost until the man himself had arrived.


    To his surprise, Yun Tian grunted, his face momentarily shing red.


    "Martial Ancestor, are you injured?" Tang Jie said in rm.


    Yun Tian indifferently replied, "A minor wound, nothing major. The Bejeweled Star Lord is truly a Titan of High Antiquity."


    Although they were both True Immortals, one was a True Immortal who had been slumbering for ten thousand years while the other had only recently be one, so the difference was obvious. It was only because it was a surprise attack with Tang Jie''s help that Yun Tian had been able to injure the Star Lord.


    He then said, "We''ll talk once we''re out of here."


    Carrying the two, he flew toward the exit.

 Chapter 895: Yellow Heaven

    Chapter 895: Yellow Heaven


    Xiao Biehan''s group was waiting outside of the Immortal Emperor''s tomb.


    When they spotted Tang Jie, they immediately circled around.


    "Good going, kid! I can''t believe you killed an Earth Immortal on your own! Not a bad job at all," Xiao Biehan said with a bigugh.


    Through the previous contact from Heart Consonance, Xiao Biehan and the others already knew what happened, and the news that Tang Jie had killed an Earth Immortal had left them stunned.


    "Now isn''t the time to talk about this. Let''s hurry up and get out of here," Yun Tian said.


    "Hold on." Tang Jie turned to the Immortal Emperor''s tomb, and after some thought, he suddenly pointed his finger at it.


    The tomb gave an earthshaking rumble.


    Joy appeared on his face. "Got it!"


    He thrust out his palm at several locations around the tomb, at the same time shouting, "Seniors, please lend me a hand and focus your attacks on the locations I''ve struck!"While everyone else was still in shock, Wang Juemie took the initiative, throwing punches at the indicated locations.


    The shuddering from the tomb intensified.


    "You want to close the tomb?" Ming Yekong realized.


    "Exactly!" Tang Jie shouted. "Since he''s a person from ten thousand years ago, he can just die in there. There''s no need for him toe out."


    As he spoke, he let out Xu Miaoran and Yiyi and then manifested a thousand hands to attack various points around the tomb.


    These words made everyone excited, and they all joined Tang Jie in attacking the tomb.


    As the attacksnded, the open door to the tomb gradually began to close.


    "Awooo!" The furious roar of the Bejeweled Star Lord came from the tomb.


    Along with this howl came an immense tide of spiritual energy that almost sent everyone flying.


    "Martial Ancestor, please hold him down!" Tang Jie said, grabbing the crown from his head and throwing it toward Yun Tian.


    Yun Tian put it on and thrust his hands toward the tomb, pushing back the torrent of spiritual energy.


    With everyone working together, the tomb entrance erupted with light, and the massive tomb doors once more shifted. This tomb was made from the precious resources gathered by the Court of Myriad Domains and the effort of Immortals, paired with a supreme formation. Once it was closed, even the Bejeweled Star Lord wouldn''t be able to break his way out.


    The Bejeweled Star Lord panicked, roaring as he flew forward with all his strength, his hands once more piercing through space and reaching out through the door to try and stop Tang Jie from closing the tomb.


    Yun Tian did his utmost to thwart these attempts, pushing the crown to its limits as he used his body as a shield to stop the attacks from those two hands.


    Tang Jie''s hands were moving faster and faster, and Xiao Biehan andpany followed him in striking the nodes of the mausoleum, pushing the door closed. Just closing the door had ten-some Violet Pce experts working themselves to the bone, their backs drenched in sweat.


    Fortunately, there was also an Earth Immortal in Huang Wuji to help them, the equivalent of ten-some Violet Pce experts all by himself. He greatly increased the speed at which the tomb closed, and with a great boom, the door finally shut.


    "NOOOO!!!"


    The Bejeweled Star Lord cried out in despair.


    His actual body had finally reached the entrance, just in time to see the door closing. He suddenly reached out with his right hand, sticking it into the gap to stop the door from closing even if he had to sacrifice his hand to do so.


    He was well aware of this tomb''s might. Once it was closed, he had no hope of getting out.


    The Bejeweled Star Lord then rammed his body into the door, trying to push it back open.


    His divine might left Yun Tian deeply stunned.


    But all of this was futile!


    Gazing at the hand stopping the door from closing, Tang Jie suddenly had an idea. "I''ve lost a Gold Immortal''s finger, so I''ll take a True Immortal''s hand inpensation."


    He raised the Sovereign de.


    The sword shed!


    "Aaaah!" the Bejeweled Star Lord howled in pain, golden blood gushing from the wound, and as his arm and hand were separated, the door to the tomb closed with a bang.


    The Bejeweled Star Lord who had waited ten thousand years to finally awaken had been reburied in his tomb.


    Everyone sighed in relief.


    Tang Jie staggered back several steps and copsed to the ground.


    The pursuit just now hadn''t been as difficult as the battle with the Earth Immortal, but it had been far more nerve-racking.


    Meanwhile, Huang Wuji bowed in gratitude to Yun Tian. "Long time no see. It seems that Brother Tian has advanced to True Immortal. Congrattions!"


    Tang Jie said in surprise, "How do you two know each other?"


    Yun Tian was taken aback. "Huh? Did you not know? This is the Reverend Yellow Heaven that I had you go and find!"


    Tang Jie was dumbfounded. "''Reverend Yellow Heaven''? You''re Reverend Yellow Heaven?"


    "You were looking for me?" Huang Wuji said in surprise.


    Things got a little noisy, and the two ended up needing quite a lot of words to finally get across that Huang Wuji really was Reverend Yellow Heaven.


    His original name was Huang Wuji, and he originated from a mortal imperial n. This n offended some Titan, and their country was annihted. The descendants of the imperial household fled and ended up taking "Huang" (Imperial) as their surname. By the time of Huang Wuji''s youth, the Huang n was in a state ofplete decline, and the name Huang Wuji, being an extremely arrogant and domineering name, ended up bringing him a lot of trouble. Thus, Huang Wujiter changed his name from Huang to Yellow (Huang) and Heaven in ce of Wuji, thus bing Reverend Yellow Heaven. His original name gradually fell out of use.


    Reverend Yellow Heaven hade back to participate in the opening of the Court of Myriad Domains, but as he had beente by several days and missed the opening, he had gone straight in without returning to the Star Radiant Gate, so he had no idea that Tang Jie was looking for him.


    Tang Jie was stunned by this recount.


    In this world, coincidences might not be pure coincidences. Each coincidence might carry some factor of inevitability behind it.


    As someone who hadprehended the Dao of Karma, as he searched for Reverend Yellow Heaven, he inadvertently created a thread of Fate that tied the two together.


    Perhaps this was the real reason they had met in this ce.


    Karma wouldn''t influence Reverend Yellow Heaven''s return, but if he did return, Karma would make it so that they met.


    This was Karma, as well as Fate.


    It was a result created by the influence of Fate by he who hadprehended Fate. Even if it wasn''t his intention, it was done nevertheless.


    As he understood this, his understanding of Karma and Fate deepened, and he felt himself immersed in the energy of Fate.


    This energy manifested in a mysterious fashion, making Huang Wuji, Xiao Biehan, and Xu Miaoran suddenly unable to make out Tang Jie clearly for a split second. Despite the fact that he was standing right there, they couldn''t perceive his strength or cultivation, as if he was far on the horizon. Only Yun Tian could see through it, saying with a chuckle, "Child, it seems that this coincidence has enlightened you to something. Others can have a nine-cycle Jade Gate and be bursting with talent, but it seems that you were instead blessed with nine open orifices that let you easily grasp everything."


    Humans had seven orifices, and themon people often referred to the idiotic as those with no open orifices, while the intelligent were praised as having seven open orifices. Here, Yun Tian was praising Tang Jie as having nine open orifices, as a sign of his deep admiration for Tang Jie''s ability toprehend the Dao.


    Meanwhile, Huang Wuji, as an Earth Immortal, was finally able to focus Tang Jie''s appearance, and he sighed in praise, "As expected of a man who can defeat an Immortal. Young Brother Tang, it seems that it won''t be long until you form a new Dao Art."


    Tang Jie replied, "The Fate ordained by the heavens is unfathomable, and the minds of people are unpredictable. The Dao of Karma is no easy path. But to achieve greater enlightenment having already reached the apex is a good thing, so I will do my best."


    As he spoke, that air of mystery dissipated, and he once more regained his clear and calm appearance.


    Huang Wuji then said, "Right, so what exactly were you looking for me for?"


    Tang Jie told him about Ice Phoenix.


    At the end, Tang Jie said, "ording to Martial Ancestor, Reverend once encountered the Violet Cloud Couple and learned that the Violet Robe Wanderer had broken free of the Demon Dao. Thus, I havee to inquire on the location of the Violet Cloud Couple in search of a method to cure Ice Phoenix."


    Huang Wuji heavily sighed. "You want to save her, but she might not want to be saved. Falling into demonhood doesn''t make one delirious. The demonic energy entering the body simply amplifies the desires, causing the individual to act ording to their nature, without caring for the method. This isn''t some physical modification, but aplete inversion of one''s way of thinking. Being able topletely indulge in one''s desires allows one to experience untold pleasures and make one feel that the life one lived before was utterly pointless, and the cultivator will take this life of pleasure as the true life. Even if you expel the demonic energy, their mind will be forever mired in their past experiences. That isn''t a poison, but an understanding, an understanding of happiness, indulgence, and utmost passion, a kind of experience that one can never forget."


    What Huang Wuji meant was that bing a demon was like taking drugs. Once you were addicted, it became impossible to get rid of the habit.


    Even so, Tang Jie still felt a little hope. "Then Reverend means that there is a way to expel the demonic energy?"


    Huang Wuji nodded. "But it will be extremely dangerous and difficult."


    "Reverend knows of the method?" Tang Jie excitedly asked.


    If Huang Wuji knew, then he didn''t have to go and find the Violet Cloud Couple.


    Huang Wuji sighed. "I do know, but I advise you not to do this. It''s too dangerous, and it might not save Ice Phoenix while also causing us to lose a peerless genius."


    "Reverend, please enlighten me! This one will determine on his own how to proceed!" Tang Jie replied.


    Huang Wuji shook his head. "I just don''t want to end up hurting you."


    Tang Jie was so frustrated by his stubbornness that he had to stop himself from seizing the man and interrogating him.


    In the end, Yun Tian said, "Reverend, I would ask that you please give Tang Jie a chance. If it is imusible, we will not permit him to casually take risks."


    Huang Wuji heard this and nodded. "If you wish to expel the demonic energy, you have to start from the source."


    "''The source''?" Everyone was startled. "Do you mean¡­"


    "The Primordial Fog Domain!" Huang Wuji replied. "Only there can you save those who have fallen into demonhood."

 Chapter 896: Departure

    Tang Jie said nothing.


    After nearly five hundred years of cultivation, his mind was mature, the rashness of youth diluted by time. No longer would he so casually say something like "at any price".


    Ice Phoenix was very important, but saving her was more for his peace of mind, a way to exin himself to his Origin Heart.


    Losing his life for the sake of his Origin Heart was putting the cart before the horse, and Tang Jie scoffed at such acts. Moreover, let alone his matured self, even his bold and adventurous younger self wouldn''t make such a choice.


    But he was also unwilling to just give up here.


    The path of Immortality was rife with difficulties, and not giving up was the instinct of every sessful cultivator¡ªany cultivator that reached Violet Pce could be considered sessful.


    For this reason, Tang Jie didn''t say anything, silently considering his options before asking, "What does the Primordial Fog Domain have that can save the person?"


    Huang Wuji answered, "I''m not sure about that. When I met the Violet Cloud Couple and learned of their sess, all they told me was that they had gone to the Primordial Fog Domain and safely returned, but the experience itself had been perilous. ording to the Scarlet Cloud Fairy, getting back alive was ten percent strength and ny percent luck."


    It was no wonder the Violet Cloud Couple had been unwilling to speak on this matter, because the method of redemption was so difficult that it was more likely to get one killed. And there was probably a story behind the Violet Cloud Couple being able toe back alive, and if the two refused to talk, Huang Wuji wouldn''t know. But he suspected that something unseemly had happened.This was because Huang Wuji knew that one couldn''t survive in the Primordial Fog Domain by relying on one''s own strength. On the contrary, it required the help of the demon being redeemed!


    Tang Jie only needed to work his mind a little to understand the reason the Violet Cloud Couple weren''t willing to announce their findings. Not only would announcing it do no good, it would end up hurting them.


    The past was in the past, and nobody wanted to look back on it, but they did need to face the present.


    Huang Wuji asked, "Young Brother, do you still wish to persist? If you go there, instead of saving that woman, you might end up bing a demon yourself!"


    Tang Jie calmly said, "Big Brother Huang, rx. Your young brother knows to not casually walk into danger. I will pay close attention to the matter of the Primordial Fog Domain. If the opportunityes, I''ll seize it, but if there is no opportunity, I won''t try to force it. Everything will depend on destiny."


    These words were a relief to everyone.


    Xiao Biehan''s greatest fear was that he would state his willingness to die to save Ice Phoenix. Grabbing Tang Jie''s hand, he said, "So long as you keep this principle in mind."


    Tang Jie answered, "I have a wife, a little sister, and countless seniors and friends. Even when I want to save someone, I also have to consider them. Forgetting about my family to save someone isn''t being righteous, but dumb."


    With this, the matter of saving Ice Phoenix was temporarily settled.


    ncing at the Immortal Emperor''s tomb, Yun Tian asked, "How do you n to deal with this matter?"


    Despite the fact that he was a True Immortal and the ancestor of the Basking Moon Sect, he was asking for Tang Jie''s opinion, so highly did he value Tang Jie.


    After some thought, Tang Jie replied, "Whitebrow Shao''s group will probably fail to catch the Primordial Heavenly Demon, so they will being back to get the rest of their people. We have to leave quickly. This Immortal Emperor''s tomb isn''t a real tomb. While it''s formidable, with Whitebrow Shao''s group working together and the Bejeweled Star Lord trying to break out, it will eventually be opened. Mm, since that group of people died in the tomb, we might as well set them against each other."


    Taking the Bejeweled Star Lord''s severed hand, he removed a finger from it, after which he removed two bodies from the Mountain River State Diagram. He ced those bodies in front of the tomb and then stuffed the finger into the chest of one of the corpses. Meanwhile, the other corpse was ced against the door as if they were trying to close it.


    Everyoneughed when they saw it. "That''s a fine way to frame someone."


    When Whitebrow Shao''s group saw this, they would probably go mad with anger, and once they opened the tomb, they definitely wouldn''t treat the Bejeweled Star Lord kindly.


    Yun Tian looked over at Tang Jie. "I thought you stopped using such tricks after reaching Violet Pce."


    "I don''t use them against those weaker than me, but against the strong, they need to be used when appropriate." Tang Jie smiled.


    "Exactly. Don''t resort to strength when you can rely on intellect," Huang Wuji agreed.


    "There''s not much time. Those people mighte back soon, so we should leave first," Tang Jie said, nting an Illuminating Eye on the tomb. The tomb''s formation would serve to cover this spell art.


    Finally, he exposed a w in the formation so that those who cameter could open the tomb, after which the group departed.


    Not long after they left, Whitebrow Shao''s group returned, though they were much more dejected, having even lost two Earth Immortals.


    When they arrived at the tomb, they saw that the door was shut, with two corpses in front of it. Whitebrow Shao trembled, his worries proven true. Something had happened in the Immortal Emperor''s tomb, and it had been no minor matter.


    "How could this be?" Yan Beiqiu said in shock.


    There had been more than one hundred Violet Pce experts and two Earth Immortals. Who could have been so powerful as to force them to run?


    Whitebrow Shao saw the finger in the chest of one of the bodies, and the powerful energy it exuded made his voice tremble. "True Immortal!"


    There was a True Immortal inside, so they weren''t optimistic about any survivors. All they wished was that the enemy inside was still alive.


    He roared, "Open the door!"


    <em>Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!</em>


    The Immortals jointly worked together to shake the formation, and the w Tang Jie had exposed gradually widened. The Immortals seized this opportunity and redoubled their assault. Although they didn''t understand formations, the power of ten-some Immortals was terrifying, and they sted through the formation with sheer force.


    <em>Boom!</em> The tomb doors opened.


    Before they could exhale, the Bejeweled Star Lord charged out of the tomb and furiously roared, "All of you will die!"


    A furious storm of Immortal energy howled out.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    After one day, Tang Jie''s group returned to the Jewel Pce.


    They saw utter devastation.


    They had already spent some time in the Court of Myriad Domains, and the court was about to close.


    Thus, they didn''t stick around, leaving the court early.


    Several dayster, when they were finally out of the court, Tang Jie activated the Infinite Pce. The powerful defense of the Five Elements Dao Art prevented all Astral Winds from getting close. As a result, even Huang Wuji and Yun Tian decided to leave the job to Tang Jie, who easily carried them through that lethal Astral Wind region.


    Huang Wuji couldn''t help but sigh in admiration.


    Once they were out of the Astral Wind region and were safe and sound, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.


    Every person could be said to have richly benefited from this trip to the Court of Myriad Domains.


    The one who benefited the most was naturally Tang Jie. Not only had he gained many treasures, he had increased his cultivation from Deification to peak Soul Projection.


    Yun Tian said, "Everyone has benefited from this trip to the court, so it is now time to devote yourself to cultivation and grow more powerful. Rather than linger, we should immediately return to Rosecloud."


    Xiao Biehan and the others wanted to see the sights of the Vast Wilderness Continent, but they could only reluctantly ept Yun Tian''s words.


    Tang Jie smiled. "It''s not like Martial Uncle Xiao and the others cane to the Vast Wilderness Continent all the time. There''s no need to rush off so soon. Let them see the sights a little before leaving."


    While the others might be hesitant, he felt no fear at all about speaking up in front of Yun Tian.


    Yun Tian sighed. "I''m doing this for their own good. The Ster Net Gate and Heaven''s Equal Sect aren''t that easy to fool, and they''ve probably realized that something is wrong. Once theye to their senses, they will go looking for the people who appeared in the Immortal Emperor''s tomb. Although we''ve never met them, we have met the me Celestial Sovereign. With him around, the connection between you and us will eventually be exposed."


    Tang Jie turned serious. "Your disciple understands."


    Since Yun Tian had spoken, everybody decided to return to Rosecloud as soon as possible.


    Yun Tian turned to Huang Wuji and advised, "Reverend, as you''ve also encountered the people from the two sects, it would be safer if you continued your wanderings."


    Huang Wuji nodded in agreement.


    Yun Tian then turned to Tang Jie. "What about you?"


    "This disciple ns to make preparations for the charge at Immortal tform and hopes to remain here."


    Yun Tian lowered his head in thought before nodding. "If you want to attempt Immortal tform, it truly is better to remain here."


    The charge at Immortal tform didn''t just require cultivation, but also resources, experience, andprehension.


    And the Vast Wilderness clearly had this in much more abundance than Rosecloud.


    It was said that the environment created the person, and the Vast Wilderness Continent was able to have so many Immortal tform experts not merely because it had more people and morend, but also because of the environment. The Court of Myriad Domains alone was a special factor that any other world wouldck.


    And there were many factors like it in the Vast Wilderness Continent.


    Thus, if Tang Jie wanted to reach Immortal tform, staying here was the best choice, like how a countryside boy would have to leave his mountain hamlet if he wanted to get rich.


    Yun Tian understood this principle, which was why he gave Tang Jie his permission.


    As for himself, because he needed to protect the sect, he didn''t dare leave for too long. One day, if Ling Xiao or Xiao Biehan reached Earth Immortal, he might once more be able to wander the myriad domains. In the past, this seemed impossible, but things seemed much more hopeful now.


    So long as Tang Jie could mature, the Basking Moon Sect was bound to grow stronger, and even establishing a sect in the Vast Wilderness Continent became a possibility.


    Thinking this, Yun Tian threw over the crown. "This crown is a natural Dao armament that possesses formidable defensive power, and you can also use it toprehend the Dao. You should take it."


    Tang Jie was surprised and delighted that Yun Tian would give him the crown.


    He now had three Dao armaments: the crown, the Imperial Sky Stamp, and the Myriad Immortals Cauldron.


    "Many thanks, Martial Ancestor!" Tang Jie deeply bowed to Yun Tian.


    "Stay safe, ande back whenever you have the time."

 Chapter 897: Hesitation

    Chapter 897: Hesitation


    After bidding farewell to Yun Tian andpany, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran began to travel about the Vast Wilderness Continent.


    Cultivation wasn''t just about cultivating spiritual energy, but also about cultivating the mindset and experience. The size and wealth of the Vast Wilderness Continent made it the perfect ce for such things.


    This was a process that many cultivators who wanted to ascend to Earth Immortal had to go through. Only by experiencing all manner of human life, seeing the world in all its forms, could one see through the ways of the world and achieve Immortality.


    Tang Jie wanted to reach Immortal tform, so he needed to experience this life, cross this threshold.


    Husband and wife traveled with Yiyi around the world, living a free and easy life.


    Tang Jie''s ambition had always been for freedom, and to a certain degree, he already achieved this goal. At his current level of strength, ordinary people wouldn''t dare to cross him, and could do nothing to him if they did. While there had been many Immortal tform experts in the Court of Myriad Domains, that had been because all of the Immortal tform experts in the Vast Wilderness Continent had gathered there. Away from the court, the Earth Immortals were so scattered across the vastness of this world that one couldn''t even notice the ssh they made.


    When Tang Jie realized this, he suddenly had doubts, wondering if it was worth all the effort it took to keep ascending.


    The moment this doubt was born, it took root in his mind.


    Tang Jie knew that this was the hindrance of knowledge.When one cultivated to a certain level, if one''s heart had doubts, it was easy to stir up confusion with regards to one''s understanding of the world. This was a result of one''s strength not being united with one''s mind, and it was one of the trials one had to face before making the push to Immortal tform.


    The hindrance of knowledge could not be ignored, nor could it be forcibly reversed. One could only slowly correct this understanding over a long time, understanding oneself and the world from a new and higher perspective.


    Thus, Tang Jie was in no rush, continuing to travel and enjoy his life of freedom.


    They wandered all around. Unlike when he was cultivating in seclusion in a single ce, he made friends wherever he went. At each ce, they would visit a local cultivator and discuss the Dao.


    One day, Tang Jie had taken up residence in a city and was reading a book under a light.


    But his way of reading books was different from the usual, as he was using a divine treasuremp as his light, its light focusing on only one part of the page and moving with Tang Jie''s eyes, not leaking a single bit of treasure aura.


    As Tang Jie was calmly reading, he suddenly heard a noise outside.


    He perked his ears and found that somebody was discussing the Dao.


    Tang Jie exited his house and found that an old man next door was holding a book and lecturing, "The Dao of Heaven is to lead the world with great virtue, to constantly seek self-improvement, to see the will of the heavens in the will of the people, to strive along the correct path and never go against one''s heart¡­"


    A group of children was earnestly listening.


    Tang Jie also found a ce to sit down, immersed in the old man''s lecture.


    After a while, the old man put down his book and said, "Today''s ss ends here. You are all dismissed."


    The children all departed.


    As the old man was cleaning up his things, he spotted Tang Jie and smiled. "Sir, where do youe from?"


    Tang Jie replied, "From next door. I heard Sir teaching a ss, transmitting the Dao, and I was so delighted that I invited myself over. Please forgive me for the offense."


    The old man said with a smile, "It''s no offense at all. This old man''s learning is too shallow and crude, unworthy of your ears."


    Tang Jie replied, "Elder, you''re being too polite. From what I heard, you have a unique understanding of the Yellow Dao ssic. I also happen to have some views on it that I hope to discuss with you."


    "Oh?" The old man grew excited. "I am willing to listen."


    Thus, Tang Jie began to discuss the Dao with the old man.


    They conversed for an entire night, so immersed in the discussion that they lost track of time.


    As the horizon began to lighten, the old man pped his thigh and said, "Oh my, I''m almostte. My friend, please forgive me, but this old man has business."


    Tang Jie said, "Elder, you may leave whenever you please."


    The elder bowed and withdrew. At this moment, a ray of sunlight struck his body, and a long tail suddenly grew from his back, wagging in the air.


    The old man hastily put the tail away, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he muttered, "I was almost discovered. I''d better get out of here."


    He got on all fours and turned into a mouse that scuttled into a hole in the ground.


    Tang Jie remained, leaning against a tree and reading a book, asionally taking a sip of tea.


    Xu Miaoran sauntered over and sat down next to Tang Jie, teasing, "Only you have so much free time as to chat for an entire night with a mouse fiend who has only reached Mind Opening."


    This mouse fiend was able to transform without having reached Transformation thanks to a spell art, but this art had the w of losing effect in daylight, so he only dared to appear at night.


    Tang Jie indifferently replied, "Seeking Dao makes no difference between human or fiend. All it requires is a heart that yearns for the Dao."


    "Oh?" Xu Miaoran filled Tang Jie''s tea cup and remarked, "Your mental state seems to have changed."


    "Yes, how could it not?" Tang Jie replied. "At this level of cultivation, where one''s spiritual energy is full and one''s Divine Soul no longer grows stronger, from a certain perspective, one has already cultivated to the limit. I think that, a long time ago, people thought that the highest level of cultivation wasn''t True Immortal, but Soul Projection. When you reach this level, it''s like you''ve reached the apex of life. You will find that there''s no more path to walk, and you will lose your goal in life, which leaves the mind restless, tossing and turning, rising and falling."


    Tang Jie sighed before continuing. "We are both lucky and unlucky. Now, everyone knows that there''s also Immortal tform, that Soul Projection isn''t the apex, only a small mountain. Even so, I can still feel the pain from my cultivation having reached a standstill and having no path to tread¡­ Right now, no matter how much I cultivate, I can''t increase my spiritual energy by a sliver, or perhaps you could say that any increase is pointless."


    He spoke slowly and calmly, but there was an inexplicable sorrow in his voice.


    As Xu Miaoran gazed at her husband, she somewhat understood his state of mind.


    Leaning on his shoulder, she said, "ording to you, isn''t a cultivator''s Fate to constantly seek out the end and then break through the end? Isn''t that a road of no return that has no end?"


    "What do you think?" Tang Jie smiled. "The Immortal path has always been a path of no return. When a road exists ahead of you, you have to run with all your might. When you reach the Spirit tform Realm, you have to sprint for the Mortal Shedding Realm, and when you reach the Mortal Shedding Realm, you have to sprint for the Celestial Heart Realm, and after that, it''s Violet Pce, and then it''s Immortal tform, and then True Immortal, Gold Immortal, Saint Immortal! Once you finally reach the highest peak, you have to keep going, soaring into the heavens¡­ I really wonder what Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng felt when he became a Dao-Proving Saint Immortal."


    "Perhaps he was very lonely?" Xu Miaoran replied.


    "''Lonely''?" Tang Jie smiled. "Perhaps not."


    Sipping from his tea, he said, "If there''s no path ahead, you need to make one yourself¡­ Someone who could get that far won''t feel lonely. They always have a n. They know what they need to do, what they''re facing, and how to deal with it."


    Xu Miaoran gazed at Tang Jie with wide eyes. She had felt something from Tang Jie''s words, but she wasn''t sure what.


    Seeing her state, Tang Jie chuckled. "I''m just mouthing off. Don''t take it too seriously."


    "This isn''t some casualment from you," Xu Miaoran argued. "You seem to be worried about something?"


    Under his wife''s concerned eyes, Tang Jie conceded. "Fine, I''ll talk. There''s just something that puzzles me."


    "Yes?"


    After some thought, Tang Jie continued, "In the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, there are nine levels, with each level having some treasure for his sessor. For thest level, I have to be at Soul Projection to ess it."


    Xu Miaoran said in surprise, "So you can get the treasure now?"


    Tang Jie nodded.


    "Then why don''t¡­" Xu Miaoran stopped before she could finish her sentence.


    She understood why Tang Jie didn''t take the treasure.


    The doubt he had felt in the court had shaken his resolve.


    If what he worried about was really the case, then what was in thest level was no treasure, but some kind of horrifying trap.


    Tang Jie didn''t know, but he was hesitating.


    This was why he said that people who "got that far" wouldn''t feel lonely, would always have a n.


    People like the Immortal Emperor and the Martial Lord were heroes among men, elites among Immortals. Everything they did had some deeper meaning that could not be ignored.


    Who knew if what Tang Jie had seen in the Martial Mirror was the truth?


    Perhaps that was just an illusion created by the Martial Lord!


    After all, as could be seen from the Duplication spell, illusion arts were one of the Martial Lord''s strong points.


    A body cultivator that knew illusion arts was something worth pondering.


    Back then, the Martial Lord was able to dominate the world as a body cultivator, singlehandedly destroying the court. So why was it that Tang Jie was finding his body cultivator strength more and more difficult to use? While the Combat Emperor Catalog was formidable, it wasn''t enough for him to defeatw cultivators of the same level.


    This was at odds with the impression the Martial Lord had left behind, so Tang Jie couldn''t help but have his doubts. This was why he had yet to take thest treasure left behind by the Martial Lord.


    His mind was beset by contradiction.


    It wasn''t about whether he wanted the treasure or not, but whether he could still trust the Martial Lord.


    Although Tang Jie had never met the man, he couldn''t deny that his life was already deeply connected to the Martial Lord, and he didn''t want things to develop in the worst direction.


    Thus, Tang Jie wasn''t afraid that there was a trap, but rather that the trap would shatter all the trust and affection he had.


    Thus, he hesitated and faltered, his mind suffering from the hindrance of knowledge and his mindset growing unstable, changing again and again. Despite the fact that he was wandering the world and experiencing life, he couldn''t pierce through the veil of mystery, couldn''t untie this knot.


    When Xu Miaoran understood the key to Tang Jie''s inner conflict, she also understood what he was thinking.


    Gazing at him, she said, "If you have to face it eventually, why not do it sooner rather thanter? Haven''t you always done things this way?"


    "This time is different," Tang Jie said with a shake of his head.


    His voice waspletely bereft of his former vigor and daring.


    Xu Miaoran knew that this was a result of his cultivation being stalled and his mind being thrown into disarray. After hundreds of years of cultivation, he had abruptly run into a hard wall, setting him off bnce. This together with his worries would inevitably create hesitation.


    But Xu Miaoran believed that Tang Jie would untie that knot and emerge from his predicament.


    Stroking Tang Jie''s face, Xu Miaoran said, "No matter what happens, I will be at your side. Even if everyone in the world might hurt you or deceive you, I will never deceive you."


    The earnest expression on Xu Miaoran''s face momentarily enchanted Tang Jie.

 Chapter 898: Falling Stars

    The Chessboard Mountains were located in the southwestern region of the Heavenly Summit Divine State. This sprawling mountain range was said to be home to 9,481 mountains, and while some suspected this number to be exaggerated, nobody doubted that it was thergest mountain range in the northern continent.


    The headquarters of the Ster Net Gate was located here.


    The highest peak of the Chessboard Mountains was the Heavenly Essence Mountain, its peak thrusting into the clouds. Upon this cloud-ringed summit was a majestic pce, the principal pce of the Ster Net Gate: the Eonic Pce.


    Owing to its altitude and the surrounding cloudyer, the Eonic Pce appeared like a heavenly Immortal pce, glowing with a divine light and circled by flocks of cranes. On asion, one could see Immortals flying about, on their own or atop clouds, adding to the divinity of this ce.


    But the normally rxed atmosphere was broken today by the ringing of a bell.


    This was an ancient bronze bell suspended above the Eonic Pce. It was surrounded by twinkling stars, and with every toll, one of those stars would go out, and the next toll would be even deeper.


    This was the famous Fallen Star Bell of the Ster Net Gate.


    Although the Fallen Star Bell was just a divine treasure, its reputation had nothing to do with its sonic powers. This bell had been forged by Reverend Celestial Music of the Vast Wilderness Continent, and it was capable of letting out sorrowful tones that confused the mind, casting opponents into immense sorrow that drained them of their will to fight.


    But this treasure had the special property of growing stronger with each toll. To express the power of a real divine treasure, it would need ten-some tolls, but at a hundred tolls, it was said that it could make the heavens and earth themselves wail in grief, the sun and moon shed tears.But cultivators weren''t foolish enough to let their opponents umte power for such a powerful attack. Usually, the bell was only able to toll a few times before the opposing party threw over a few spell arts, which was enough to interrupt its tempo, so the bell wasn''t very practical. Reverend Celestial Music was ultimately ovee with indignation and sorrow over the limitations of the bell, and one day, holding it in his hands, hemitted suicide. His will attached to the bell in death, increasing its power but doing nothing to fix its ws.


    Not long after that, the Ster Net Gate bought the bell and hung it over the Eonic Pce. They applied a secret art to it that surrounded the bell with stars, each star representing a cultivator at Violet Pce or higher. Each new Violet Pce cultivator would mean a new star. At Earth Immortal, this star would be a moon, and a sun at True Immortal. Gold Immortals would no longer be tracked on the bell.


    In the same fashion, with the death of a Violet Pce cultivator, a star would go out, and the bell would toll.


    Over the years, the number of stars on the Fallen Star Bell had risen from the initial 212 to 388, manifesting a sect''s ascent and glory.


    In this period, the bell had tolled only once or twice at a time, mostly for a person reaching the end of their lifespan.


    But today''s tolling broke the pattern.


    When the first toll rang out, the Immortals of Heavenly Essence Mountain were startled and wondered which of their colleagues had passed. They hadn''t heard of anyone reaching the limits of their age recently, so it must have been one of those who had gone to the Court of Myriad Domains. This was a dangerous adventure, so it wasn''t strange for one or two to die.


    Just when they were about to go back to their business, the bell tolled a second time, and then a third, a fourth¡­


    The Immortals were stunned, but the bell continued to ring, each toll pounding against their hearts and unsettling their minds. The resting found it hard to sleep, those ying chess couldn''t bring themselves to y their pieces, those ying zithers snapped their strings, and the painters spilled their ink. All of them stared in dumbfounded shock at the Eonic Pce as the bell tolled for the eighth time.


    The Fallen Star Bell did not care about their reaction, continuing to ring out, and as the number of tolls climbed, the tolls became all the more tragic.


    The sound was of mourning, weeping!


    The Immortals began to tremble, one of them shouting, "Impossible! There must be something wrong!"


    Yes, everyone chose to reject the sound in their ears, preferring to believe that some heartless bastard was ying a trick, some idiot was messing around¡ªeven though they knew that there were no idiots in the Eonic Pce.


    No matter what they thought, the bell continued to toll, and none of their prodigious power could stop it. In front of this bell, they trembled like helpless children.


    No longer able to contain themselves, they flew to the Eonic Pce, and all the while, the bell continued to ring, thundering in their hearts, stirring up clouds of sorrow and tears of misery.


    When the bell tolled for the thirtieth time, the sorrow began to flood out of the mountain, and even those who didn''t know the bell''s meaning began to feel an inexplicable sorrow, each toll like a knife stabbing into their hearts.


    By the time they reached the pce, they found the doors open. A man in a robe adorned with silver stars held a mallet and sorrowfully struck it against the bell again and again, and with each swing, a star disappeared.


    "Sect Master!" the Immortals all cried out.


    And then they saw a group of people kneeling in the square: none other than Yan Beiqiu''s group.


    But this group that had left with more than a hundred people now only had ten-some left.


    Why was there even an Earth Immortal missing?


    Could it be¡­


    Their vision went dark.


    "Beiqiu, what''s going on here?" A True Immortal charged out and roared, "Where''s everyone else? Why were you guys the only ones toe back?"


    The normally cunning Yan Beiqiu simply wept.


    Her behavior and the endless tolling of the bell made their hearts go cold.


    The tolling grew increasingly mournful. In all of its existence, it had never before so fully manifested its power, and its moment had finallye. Even Immortals with their godly wills could not maintain theirposure before this flood of sorrow, all of them kneeling before the steps and beginning to weep.


    The sounds ofmentation grew louder and louder, and when the bell tolled for the hundredth time, its sound resounded throughout the entire Heavenly Summit Divine State, and everyone seemed to hear that weepinging over the horizon.


    The bell rang 104 times in total before finally stopping, and with thest toll, a moon representing an Earth Immortal also went dark.


    This world was finally able to experience the immense power of the Fallen Star Bell, everyone plunged into an immense sorrow, even the trees and stones shedding tears.


    Numerous disciples, True Immortals, Earth Immortals, and True Lords were prostrate in the square, all hierarchy or concerns about image disappearing, everyone holding their heads and weeping.


    Only the sect master seemed to ignore the Fallen Star Bell''s power. After striking the bell for the 104th time, he turned and entered the hall.


    In the depths of the pce, the sect master fell to his knees and shouted, "This ipetent Xing Lan caused the deaths of the supporting pirs of the sect. Ancestor, please punish me!"


    A sigh resounded. "I already know of this matter. Did we find out who did this?"


    Yan Beiqiu immediately replied, "This disciple is ipetent!"


    She naturally meant that she hadn''t been able to find the culprit.


    "Did you bring back any bodies?"


    "Only one," Yan Beiqiu said, taking out a body. This was one of those that Tang Jie had used to frame the Bejeweled Star Lord. Yan Beiqiu had taken it and used a secret art to seal it and prevent it from turning into Returned Remnants.


    A wind blew over the corpse, and two beams of light issued from the corpse''s eyes, projecting an image into the air. In the image, thest thing he saw was disyed: Tang Jie swinging his de down.


    "It was him?" Yan Beiqiu shuddered.


    She naturally couldn''t forget this person.


    "Do we know this person''s name and background?" Sect Master Xing Lan asked.


    A person on the side replied, "This person is called Hong Qianli. His cultivation is at Soul Projection, but his sect is unknown. He seems to be a wandering cultivator."


    "''A wandering cultivator''? How could a wandering cultivator dare to attack my Ster Net Gate? And how could he kill more than a hundred of my sect''s elites? There must be a conspiracy behind this!" that elderly and majestic voice resounded.


    Xing Lan immediately replied, "Master, can you reverse the scene any more than this?"


    The majestic voice sighed. "No. It''s been too long since the incident, and his soul has already dissipated. Being able to see hisst moment was the limit. But since we have an appearance and a name, then no matter where this person runs, he can''t escape the Overflowing Heaven Divination."


    "''The Overflowing Heaven Divination''?" Xing Lan said in rm. "Master, are you speaking of that senior?"


    The elderly voice in the pce replied, "Didn''t the Heaven''s Equal Sect also lose many people? If they have no idea on the culprit, then even the Overflowing Heaven Divination can do nothing. They need our information, and we need them. Go¡ªtake this information to the Heaven''s Equal Sect. They will tell us where this Hong Qianli is."


    "Master, please punish me!" In a small room in the back mountains of the Heaven''s Equal Sect, Whitebrow Shao kneeled on a mat, his body trembling as he tearfully spoke.


    Shockingly, the person he was prostrating to seemed to be a child of only seven or eight.


    The boy waved his hand and had Whitebrow Shao rise, and then he gave an elderly sigh. "Forget it. This was a cmity that they were destined to encounter. For this trip to the court, I performed a divination. I saw that while there was great danger, if they could turn this danger into fortune, they would be able to seize the blessing of the heavens. s, this was not their destiny."


    "''The blessing of the heavens''?" Whitebrow Shao was aghast. "Was the person who killed them someone favored by Fate?"


    The boy slowly nodded. "If not for that, how could he have killed so many members of the Heaven''s Equal Sect and left us with no clue to find him with?"


    "Then¡­"


    "Don''t panic, don''t panic," the boy said. "The clues will naturallye. There are plenty of ways to ovee Fate and catch the criminal. At the very least, that old friend of mine has a lot of experience in this."


    Whitebrow Shao was once more shaken. "Master, do you mean that other master? But would he agree?"


    "He will. Even without using the Overflowing Heaven Divination or peering into Fate, I know that he wille." The boy suddenly stopped speaking, gazing into the distance. "He''s more impatient than I expected. He''s already here."


    A few momentster, several figures flew over, led by an Earth Immortal in blue robes, the image of a rooster emzoned on his chest. This man prostrated in front of the hut and said, "On orders of the Godhead of my lowly sect, the lowly Mou Siming pays respects to the Ageless Immortal Elder."


    The boy nodded and said, "Did you bring what I need?"


    "Yes, Immortal Elder." Mou Siming raised his hands, and a projection emerged from his palms, disying Tang Jie.


    "This person is called Hong Qianli, and he is a Soul Projection cultivator. He participated in the massacre of my sect''s cultivators. We currently do not have any other details."


    Unexpectedly, the boy''s eyes glowed as he said, "He is circled by such powerful Fate energy, the sign of one blessed by the world¡­ Having him will be enough!"


    He threw out an eight trigrams mirror, which reflected the image of that projection, next to which appeared the words "Hong Qianli."


    This image in the mirror ascended, and an image of the Vast Wilderness Continent appeared beneath. Tang Jie''s projection circled in the air before suddenly rushing toward the continent below.


    "Found him!" Mou Siming shouted in delight.


    But the area indicated by the mirror was so vast that it was impossible to disy it in its entirety within the mirror.


    "Such a big area?" Mou Siming was startled.


    The Overflowing Heaven Mirror was a Fate Dao armament. As it was able to control Fate, so long as one had sufficient details, the mirror could reveal everything. But for the mirror to only disy a region was very rare indeed.


    Even the Ageless Immortal Elder was startled. He concluded, "Perhaps it has to do with the power of Fate surrounding him. We might be able to narrow the area down if we''re closer."


    He was unaware that Hong Qianli was a fake name. With one of the conditions incorrect, it was naturally difficult to pin down his location. There were many people with simr appearance who shared the same name, but basically none who had both the same name and exactly the same appearance. For this reason, the Overflowing Heaven Mirror required these basic conditions, with additional details enhancing the result. If the basic conditions were wrong, it would naturally be difficult to get an urate result.


    In the past, the Ageless Immortal Elder would have definitely noticed a problem. But the Heaven''s Equal Sect had never made such a low-level mistake before, so he wasn''t mentally prepared for such a situation, and Tang Jie was also tangled in threads of Fate. The Dao of Fate was mysterious and unfathomable, and its powers could manifest in all kinds of ways. It wasn''t strange for one of these abilities to be countering divination.


    After some thought, the Ageless Immortal Elder said, "Whitebrow, you have made a grave error which led to devastating losses to my sect''s elites. You are to immediately go to the Heart Devouring Stream and be punished for five hundred years."


    Whitebrow Shao said in a trembling voice, "Yes!"


    The Ageless Immortal Elder added, "Flowing Wind, take the Overflowing Heaven Mirror and go with them to catch that Hong Qianli child."


    "Your disciple will obey." A young man emerged from the void, bowing to the Ageless Immortal Elder. Taking the mirror, he flew off.


    "As youmand!" Xing Lan deeply bowed.

 Chapter 899: Heaven and Man in One Body

    That night, Tang Jie felt much better after divulging his worries to Xu Miaoran.


    After sorting through his emotions, Tang Jie, Xu Miaoran, and Yiyi continued their travels. Wandering the world both widened their experiences and also helped them better understand and recognize themselves.


    Cultivation was a process of understanding the world and the self, finally bringing together man and heaven in a perfect fusion. To reach this stage was to reach the apex. To make this breakthrough involved evolving to a higher ne, which was the conversion of the spiritual to the Immortal.


    Tang Jie was currently in this "Heaven¨CMan Union" phase. In this process, he experienced his self, the world, and all that happened within it, which would affect his emotions, creating that "hindrance of knowledge". This was because the distress he felt was not just his, but the world''s.


    At that moment, Tang Jie''s emotions were connected to the emotions of the world.


    This distress seemed simple, but it was actually dangerous and unfathomable. It was easy to get swept up in the distress of the world and be forever lost within it. Fortunately, Tang Jie had Xu Miaoran at his side at this most critical moment to counsel him. She had served as his guiding light in the sea of suffering, preventing him from getting lost.


    But Xu Miaoran wasn''t enough. Tang Jie had to work individually to break free of this sea.


    The turning point came a monthter.


    As the three were traveling through a mountain range, Tang Jie frowned. "The resentment in this ce is very deep."In his "Heaven¨CMan Union" state, he was extremely sensitive to the surrounding emotions of the world, so both Xu Miaoran and Yiyi put up their guard.


    At this moment, they spotted the smoke of a fire in the distance. The three went over, and after passing through a bamboo forest, they discovered that someone was living there. A woman had lit a fire in front of her home to make her meal, and when she spotted Tang Jie''s party, rather than being afraid, she smiled and weed them. "Did you get lost while traveling through the mountains? Why don''t you sit down? Have some tea and take a break."


    Xu Miaoran carefully examined the woman and found no problem, so she turned to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "It''s an excellent illusion. If not for the thick resentment filling the air, even I would have been fooled. But by encountering me today, you''ve finally run out of luck!"


    A vertical eye opened on the center of his forehead.


    As the Celestial Eye opened, a golden ring appeared under Tang Jie''s feet: his Realm of Insight. As the golden ring expanded, the scene around them disappeared, the lush bamboo forest bing a sea of corpses. Skeletons were scattered all around, and the beautiful woman had transformed into a vicious fiend who exuded a kind of fog. As the fog scattered, one could vaguely see illusory sights within it. It was clear that all they had seen before was the creation of this fog. Now, the golden light of Insight had seen through it all, and the fiend wailed in pain.


    "So it''s a giant m fiend! No wonder the illusions were so potent." Xu Miaoran coldly smiled.


    Giant ms were fiends innately skilled in illusion, enough to be considered illusion masters. s, spell arts were still spell arts, and they could not ovee the Great Daos. Tang Jie''s Celestial Eye had seen through everything, and this illusion had been linked to the fiend''s life. With the illusion shattered, it was now bound to die, and all it could do now was howl and wail in pain.


    Yiyi looked around at the numerous remains, saying in shock, "This giant m fiend has killed so many people!"


    Giant ms didn''t actually like eating humans, but with each human they ate, they could absorb the souls, adding to their intelligence and strengthening their illusions. This could be considered a form of cultivation, and it was why this fiend had hunted humans.


    Screaming, the m fiend died a painful death, and as it perished, numerous ghosts appeared. These had all been the souls the m fiend had absorbed over the years. They floated in the air, silently screaming and stirring up icy winds, but Tang Jie''s group didn''t mind, simply watching those ghosts.


    After screaming for a while, the ghosts had seemingly vented all their pent-up emotions. They bowed to Tang Jie before departing to the Nether Domain.


    Yiyi looked up and said, "With these ghosts gone, this ce seems a lot morefortable."


    Tang Jie trembled as if he had sensed something, and a look of disbelief appeared in his eyes.


    If Yiyi could sense it, how couldn''t he? In fact, he felt far more than Yiyi. In Tang Jie''s eyes, all of the endless sorrow that had engulfed this ce had disappeared. The skies were now clear, the surroundings brimming with life and joy.


    So he could experience not just the sorrow of the world, but also the joy of the world?


    But sorrow always cut more deeply than joy, which was why Tang Jie had mostly only experienced the heaviness of sorrow in his travels.


    Only today, when the death of the m fiend freed the ghosts, making them joyful and grateful for their release, did Tang Jie finally have a chance to feel the joy of the world. All of those extremely heavy and downcast emotions were dispelled, reced with unprecedented happiness and joy.


    Tears welled up in his eyes.


    Xu Miaoran saw that he was acting strangely and nervously held his hand.


    Tang Jie shook his head to indicate that he was fine.


    He exined, "I understand now. Since heaven and man are one, changing the world is also changing oneself!"

 Chapter 900: All Life (1)

    Chapter 900: All Life (1)


    Killing the giant m fiend had opened Tang Jie''s mind.


    He now truly understood why so many Titans wandered the world and experienced life in all its forms. They were not just experiencing life, but participating, changing!


    In the past, he felt like cultivators were cultivators while mortals were mortals, that medding too much in mortal affairs would only hinder his transcendence. And people were always suffering, so he alone could not change anything, and anything he did change would only be momentary.


    But he now understood that he was wrong. If he did not clean up the muck of the mortal world, how could he clear away the clouds over his heart?


    The turbidity of the mortal world was a reflection of his own mental state. Changing the world was also changing himself!


    Tang Jie was so ted from understanding this that he let out a loudugh. Sweeping up the pearl left behind by the m fiend, he flew into the sky.


    Xu Miaoran and Yiyi didn''t understand why he had suddenly be so happy, but seeing himugh so loudly after so many days of depression was a good thing. They sighed in relief, smiled at each other, and then followed.


    As the three of them flew over the mountains, they spotted a vige.


    Frowning, Tang Jie said, "This ce is thick with a crimson light, so a fiend must have terrorized this ce. Let''s go over and take a look."He flew toward the vige.


    Given that he flew straight in, the vigers cried out and immediately began to prostrate to him.


    Tang Jie didn''t waste time, immediately asking if a fiend had been doing evil around here. The vigers said that this was indeed so, that a mountain fiend asionally came down to wreak havoc. At this, Tang Jie summoned Tutu and had him take down the fiend. A few momentster, the rabbit came back with the body of that mountain fiend in his mouth.


    The vigers dropped to their knees in worship, which Tang Jie epted. He opened his mind and merged with the world. Before, the endless sorrow of the world would have left in so much pain that he would have wanted to kill himself. Now, while it was still somewhat difficult to bear, that feeling of overwhelming misery had lessened somewhat.


    Thus, Tang Jie understood that he would have to carry this heavy burden for a long while yet.


    Starting from this day, Tang Jie would pay attention to every ce he visited, pacifying any unrest he encountered.


    He didn''t intentionally seek it out, but followed the guidance of his heart.


    Whenever he felt seething resentment, he would resolve the source of it. The source could be a fiend running rampant, an evildoing cultivator, a greedy official, or the local vige boss, but whoever it was, so long as they were the source of grudges, Tang Jie would eliminate them.


    But if the resentment was not particrly thick, Tang Jie would ignore it. He was aware that evil was endless, andpletely wiping it out was a delusion. In the end, he wasn''t seeking to measure the world, only measure himself.


    To measure his sorrow, his joys, his pain, his confusion.


    In this process, Tang Jie gradually recognized himself and discovered various problems in himself.


    One day, Tang Jie arrived at a river. Sensing the resentment here, he quickly learned that there was a fiend living in the river that demanded a boy and girl to eat every year. The vigers nearby were helpless and could only make this annual sacrifice.


    Tang Jie immediately hunted down the fiend, and after half a day of battle, Yiyi finally took down the fiend.


    But to his surprise, the resentment actually thickened.


    Tang Jie didn''t understand the reason, so he could only inquire in the vige. There, he learned that this vige had been gued by other fiends before this, and the water fiend had driven them all away. While it had demanded annual sacrifices, one boy and one girl was much less than the damage inflicted by the other fiends. Thus,paring their options, the vigers much preferred the water fiend.


    With this fiend dead, the vigers worried that the other fiends woulde back, and their fear led to the thickening resentment.


    Tang Jie was rather speechless from this. After a while, he said, "If that''s the case, I will leave something for all of you."


    A drop of blood flew out, and as it sank into the soil, the soil formed into a statue.


    "This statue will protect you," Tang Jie said before leaving. This statue stood sentinel by the river, and as the days passed, the vigers simply treated it as an ordinary statue, and it did nothing to reduce the surrounding resentment.


    But one day, the vigers found the body of arge toad on the shore. They knew it was a fiend, but they didn''t know why it had mysteriously died, which filled them with fear and unease. However, once somebody noticed that the sword held in the hand of the riverside statue was stained with blood, they connected the dots.


    A temple was erected, and the statue was moved in. From then on, the area around the vige was no longer troubled by fiends.


    Later on, people thought it improper that this templecked a name, but they also didn''t dare to name it themselves, so they burned incense and prayed every day. One day, the statue spoke the words "All Life". From then on, the temple was named the All Life Temple, and it venerated the Divine Lord of All Life, which was a much more domineering title than "the Freedom Celestial Sovereign".


    The flowers bloomed in spring as another year arrived.


    A group of children were ying alongside a willow-lined dike, running along with kites.


    Suddenly, a kite string snapped, drifting into the distance before finallynding on a temple.


    The owner of the kite was a child of seven or eight, and he ran over and began to climb up the temple. This temple was rather tall, but the boy was very nimble and steadily climbed toward the roof.


    A woman who hade to burn incense saw this and scolded, "Where did this naughty childe from, daring to climb onto the All Life Temple? You''re climbing over the Divine Lord''s head. Are you not worried about incurring his wrath and getting struck by lightning?"


    The temple''s attendant came out and also shouted, "Hurry ande down!"


    The boy was thrown into a panic, and it just so happened that the tiles were still wet from a passing shower, so his hand slipped and he fell from the top of the temple. Everyone yelled in rm, for this temple was tall enough that the boy would either die or be crippled from the fall.


    At this moment, a gust of wind lifted the child and gently brought him to the ground, safe and unharmed.


    Everyone was stunned, and then they realized what had happened and prostrated, shouting, "The Divine Lord has shown himself!"


    These cries gathered together and flowed into the temple. There, behind the incense burner, a statue stood. It bore Tang Jie''s appearance, the hand of a craftsman making him seem more imposing and majestic. At his feet was a rabbit¡ªTutu¡ªand he was nked by two women¡ªXu Miaoran and Yiyi, each with their own title. Xu Miaoran, with her Violet Sunset Robe and Yin Yang mirror, was called the Subtle Fairy. Yiyi, with a crown of blossoms on her head, a golden lotus in her hand, and a treasure tform at her feet, was called the Green Rose Saintess.


    The smoke of the incense made the three statues seem all the more solemn and serene. As the sounds of praise entered the temple, a light shed from the forehead of the Tang Jie statue. Those prayers then transformed into invisible threads that entered the statue.


    Through the statue, one could see a drop of crimson blood, still as bright as if it had just been bled. Those threads of thought were absorbed by the blood and further refined into a thread of Divine Will which drifted into the distance. Traveling across thend, this thread of Divine Will came to a cave in a cliff, entering the forehead of a person.


    It was Tang Jie.


    After absorbing this will, Tang Jie opened his eyes. "As expected. When I absorb this will, I strengthen my Primal Infant. This is precisely the method to deify the Primal Infant."


    Killing the river fiend had given Tang Jie an idea.


    He realized that he could do a more thorough job when it came to his altruistic acts.


    After all, he had Reflections of Floating Life, so why not use it to bring true blessings to the people of thend?


    Thus, wherever Tang Jie went, he left behind a drop of blood to protect the area.


    As the people found that these statues could act on their own, they established temples and prayed to them for protection. If this were anyone else, they would need to send a part of their soul to keep watch, but Tang Jie didn''t need to do this. The clones created by Reflections of Floating Life could resolve things on their own, and only when they couldn''t resolve the problem did Tang Jie have to go in person.


    In this way, the All Life Divine Lord was able to prove himself far more than any other god, which earned him many more believers.


    Tang Jie originally demanded nothing of his believers, as he simply hoped that helping the world would help himself so that he wouldn''t have to experience the immense suffering of the world as he merged himself with it. But through this Heaven¨CMan Union, Tang Jie came to understand the significance of all this incense and worship to Immortals. It wasn''t because he derived some power of belief from it, but because it aided in the connection between man and heaven.


    The incense established a special connection between Tang Jie and all other life. Through the incense, Tang Jie could quickly find out what was happening in all the areas where he had temples and handle any problems, at the same time receiving the joyous feedback from these locations.


    This was why great powers frequently appeared before the people. Like Tang Jie, they wanted to use this to experience the connection between man and heaven. A ssic example was Godhead Pce''s Guangfa Celestial Sovereign. He had left a sliver of his Divine Will in the statue within Godhead Pce because when Godhead Pce prospered, he would prosper as well. The Titans of other sects would probably do the same so that they would thrive when their sect thrived.


    Of course, once they had ovee this trial and truly transcended into Immortality, they no longer needed to concern themselves with mortal affairs, after which most of these incense burners would be ignored. By then, new people woulde up to rece them.


    For this reason, while God Immortals were worshiped in the Great Ster Chiliocosm, these religions did notst long, and people would change to new gods once a certain amount of time had passed.


    When it came to Tang Jie, though, things were somewhat different.


    Changing the world and experiencing oneself was a huge andplex undertaking, and constantly splitting off parts of the soul to keep watch over thend was bound to be extremely exhausting, affecting one''s cultivation. This was why the vast majority of cultivators didn''t try to change too big of an area, usually focusing on the part of the world they dwelled in. After all, the Heaven¨CMan Union wasn''t without limits. Nobody could truly merge with the entire world, so most cultivators merged with the part of the world they were in at the time, or else a particr area that they cared about.


    Here, Tang Jie was the exception.


    Reflections of Floating Life allowed him to greatly expand the region under his protection, which made Tang Jie wonder: what would happen if he expanded the limits of Heaven¨CMan Union as far as he could go?


    And his experiments had borne fruit.

 Chapter 901: System

    To understand what Tang Jie had discovered, one had to first understand the meaning of Immortal tform.


    Every tier had a specific reason for its existence. Going up a tier didn''t only mean that one had gotten stronger and could live longer.


    They each had their own structure, meaning, and foundation.


    For example, opening the Jade Gate granted the ability to absorb spiritual energy, opening the Spirit Eye granted the ability to store spiritual energy, and the Spirit Spring, Spirit Lake, and Spirit Sea determined how much spiritual energy could be stored. In the Hundred Refinement Period of the Mortal Shedding Realm, one could use spiritual energy to refine and strengthen the body. In the Nine Revolutions Period, one used spiritual energy to bathe the organs and extend one''s lifespan, thus gaining a lifespan greater than an ordinary mortal''s for the first time. But besides this, there was no other fundamental change. Cognitive Creation nurtured the Spirit Will, which was the first step to strengthening the soul. The Three Withering Tribtions were meant to create the spirit body, and the Celestial Heart Realm was meant for sensing the will of the heavens¡ªthe first step to linking with the world and strengthening the soul once more. Spirit Ring expanded one''s powers, while Heart Demon was when the soul began to turn physical, with Soul Transformation further pushing things along.


    Each step had a clear and different meaning. This was what was meant by advancement!


    The same was true for Immortal tform.


    Advancing to Immortal tform was to go from a spiritual cultivator to an Immortal cultivator, and only here could one truly be called an Immortal.


    This was simr to the Three Withering Tribtions. Before the Three Witherings, a cultivator couldn''t be called a spirit cultivator, only a mortal who knew a few spell arts. After them, the mortal body died and the spirit body was born. The cultivator, now endowed with greater power and lifespan, could now truly call themselves a spirit cultivator.


    This was a fundamental evolution, escaping the flesh and shedding the bonds of mortality, hence its name.When one ascended the Immortal tform, one converted from a spirit cultivator to an Immortal. For this reason, many people regarded the spirit cultivator phase as only the process of bing an Immortal, with attaining Immortality being the real dream.


    But going from spirit to Immortal was much more difficult than shedding mortality.


    The reason was that this world did not have Immortal energy. To be more precise, there was no pre-made Immortal energy.


    Unlike spiritual energy, Immortal energy was not produced by the world, but had to be refined,pressed, converted, and sublimated by the cultivator, like the difference between iron and steel. The former could be found naturally in mines while thetter required special processing. Thus, the Imperial Sky Stamp could produce Immortal energy because it was essentially an Immortal energy processor, with the materials it processed being spiritual energy.


    Mortals needed to cultivate spirit bodies, which necessitated areas that were rich in the spiritual energy that they would use to forge their bodies. So without natural Immortal energy, how could one forge the Immortal body?


    Those cultivators thirsty for Immortality thought of every idea they could.


    Before that first person realized this dream, countless peerless geniuses sacrificed themselves to pioneer the Immortal path, until finally, the first Immortal was born.


    The method he found to be an Immortal was to first be a God!


    A God was the apex of the soul, and what was the soul? It was the physical manifestation of an individual''s mind. Instead of the brain, the soul now controlled the thinking process.


    The Celestial Heart Realm and Violet Pce Realm both cultivated the soul, and when it reached a certain level, it could connect with the world and allow for the usage of more powerful spell arts. At Violet Pce, one''s soul could merge with the world and control a small part of the world, including all of the spiritual energy in the area, allowing for thought casting.


    But this fusion was momentary, and no soul could do this for too long. Why was the Violet Pce Realm called so? Because the Violet Pce was the house of the soul, its suit of armor. The soul itself was still weak and unable to live on its own, and only at Soul Projection did the situation somewhat improve. Soul Projection simply meant that one could finally leave the protection of the Violet Pce.


    But only when one truly no longer needed the Violet Pce could one be called a God, also called a "Yang God". The Divine Soul before then could also be called a "Yin God".


    Regardless of what they were called, when reaching the Yang God level, the cultivator''s Primal Divinity could travel a vast distance, and even if their physical body died, they could control their Immortal energy to be reborn. This was the secret to the deathlessness of Immortals.


    From this, one could understand how cultivators created an Immortal body.


    One first became a Yang God, and then the Yang God refined Immortal energy and used it to create the Immortal body, thus making one an Immortal. In essence, this was a kind of rebirth. The difference was that rebirth was mechanical repetition, a copy, while forging the Immortal body was drawing on a nk piece of paper. Rebirth used one''s umted Immortal energy to build, while forging involved creating Immortal energy at the same time as one forged the body.


    Thetter was a hundred times more difficult.


    Finally, bing a Yang God was itself a major threshold, with many people even failing to get this far.


    The Heaven¨CMan Union was the first step to bing a Yang God. Like with the Three Withering Tribtions, experiencing this phase would allow the soul to evolve into a God.


    In truth, this state was an improved version of the Violet Pce soul merging with the world, no longer being restricted to control of spiritual energy. In this state, one could feel the emotions of the world, which was the reason behind Tang Jie''s emotional state.


    And in this process, Tang Jie had made a surprising discovery.

 Chapter 902: The Function of Belief

    The surprising discovery originated from Tang Jie''s statue clones.


    At first, Tang Jie used these clones purely for their convenience. Through Reflections of Floating Life, Tang Jie could swiftly handle problems in a certain location and thus alter the atmosphere of the entire world in the shortest amount of time, allowing him to enter a more harmonious state. A direct result of this was that people worshiped the statues, the number of All Life Temples far exceeding those of the typical Immortal.


    Every day,rge quantities of incense would carry the thoughts and prayers of his believers to him. While Tang Jie didn''t think much of this at first, he gradually realized something about them.


    Each thread of will conveyed by the incense had a sliver of Fate power attached to it.


    This power was so faint that even someone as proficient in the Dao of Fate as Tang Jie only discovered it by sheer coincidence. At the time, he had been in the Heaven¨CMan Union state when he had a sudden feeling and entered the Fate state, whereupon he found that there were many more threads of Fate tangled around him. He didn''t find this strange at first, as saving so many people inevitably led to a lot of Karma with mortals. This was one of the ws of changing the world in order to baptize oneself and was what made the entire experience so difficult. However, Tang Jie was proficient in Fate, so he wasn''t afraid of this. Just when he was about to sever all of this mortal Karma, a ray of light shot out of the distance.


    This light existed only on the ne of the Web of Fate, was invisible to his physical eyes and also to the eyes of cultivators. Only those proficient in Fate could see it.


    It was like an arrow, shooting straight at Tang Jie, but just when it was about to hit him, the Web of Fate blocked it. At that moment, Tang Jie found that the mortal Karma that tangled his body erupted with light to prevent the intrusion of the arrow. As a result, arge swath of the Web of Fate snapped apart while that arrow of light also disappeared.


    At the same time, the numerous mortals worshiping at the various All Life Temples had the strange sensation that their belief in the All Life Divine Lord had grown fainter, and their zeal that made them entrust their Fates to him also grew fainter. This was the inevitable result of the Karma being severed. But so long as the statues within the All Life temples continued to disy their power, the people would continue to pray to them, and the threads of Fate would reappear.


    Tang Jie was rmed by that abrupt attack, and he immediately realized that this was a Fate attack that had thankfully been blocked by the Web of Fate. All of that mortal Karma was a burden that hindered his transcendence, but it was also his strongestyer of protection in the mortal world, making him immune to any attempt to search for him through Fate.Tang Jie broke out in a cold sweat, understanding that the Titans of the Heaven''s Equal Sect or Ster Net Gate were personally looking for him. His individual Fate-obscuring powers had failed to repel this search, and he had needed topletely rely on the mortal Karma to remain hidden.


    It was also this attack that made Tang Jie realize the great power hidden within that Karma.


    Thus, Tang Jie began to research it, and as he began to develop ways of using this Fate power, his progress in the Dao of Fate soared.


    Fate was the most enigmatic of the Daos, and the power of Fate the most difficult to grow. But through this discovery, Tang Jie was able to greatly elerate the growth of his Fate power, and it wasn''t long before he entered this Dao.


    In this aspect, the power of belief really did exist. It was another name for Fate power, though it was difficult to discover and too difficult to use.


    Incidentally discovering a way to absorb Fate power while cultivating the Heaven¨CMan Union was definitely a pleasant surprise.


    And it wasn''t the only one.


    As the number of clones grew, so did the region which Tang Jie could achieve union with.


    Although one could merge the soul with the world at the Violet Pce Realm, using it to achieve thought casting, this clearly didn''t refer to the entire world, only to the range of one''s Divine Will.


    All the spiritual energy of the world up to the limit of the Divine Will was theirs tomand, which was what made Violet Pce cultivators so scary. After all, the Divine Will of a Violet Pce cultivator could cover a vast range, meaning a huge amount of usable spiritual energy.


    The region of Heaven¨CMan Union was normally the same as this region, unless one had a clone to expand it in ce of one''s Divine Will.


    With Tang Jie, this concept gained an entirely new meaning.


    These were hundreds of Dao Art clones, and even if these clones had only a hundredth of the original''s Divine Will, they could still expand Tang Jie''s range by as much as three times.


    And because he had solid foundations and a stronger Divine Will than most, this "three times" could go to "five times", so his Heaven¨CMan Union state was very different from normal.


    At that moment, he sensed that he was at a very subtle threshold. ording to the normal process of attaining Immortal tform, once one perfected the Heaven¨CMan Union, one would leap into a new level, which was called "Shattering the Void". Then, one would be reborn as a Yang God.


    But if he expanded his region to five times the expected size, didn''t this mean that he needed five times the power to be a Yang God, that the difficulty would be five times as great?


    Five times the difficulty was no joke. Many people had wasted their entire lives at this threshold, and while Tang Jie had solid foundations and had taken the Nine Heavens Luan Grass, he still trembled when thinking about such a challenge.


    Should he continue, or pull on the reins before his horse rode over the cliff?


    Tang Jie considered this problem for three whole days.


    In the end, hepromised.


    Three times the normal region.


    Tang Jie had made meticulous calctions before arriving at this number. First of all, his Divine Soul was stronger than average, and the most important factor in the charge at Yang God was the strength of the Divine Soul. Secondly, to say that the size of the region would decide the difficulty was a very rough estimate, with the actual difficulty being influenced by various other factors that he could take measures to mitigate. Finally, his proficiency in the Dao of Fate made Tang Jie confident that he could neutralize most dangers, and this would only improve as he umted more Fate power.


    For this purpose, he began to crazily absorb the incense power provided by the people, refining it into Fate power and strengthening his Heaven¨CMan Union, thus nurturing his Divine Soul.


    One day, as Tang Jie was cultivating, he suddenly raised an eyebrow. "Some troublesome people havee."


    "Is it the Heaven''s Equal Sect and Ster Net Gate again?" Xu Miaoran asked.


    "It should be," Tang Jie said as he did some calctions. While he had never specifically learned divination, anyone who understood the Dao of Fate was naturally gifted in it, just like how every fish knew how to swim from birth. Those calctions were actually his means of divining through Fate.


    "Are we going to fight with them, Big Brother?" Yiyi asked.


    "No!" Tang Jie shook his head after some thought. "The moment hasn''t arrived. I can''t fight against them right now, and besides, leaving them and ying hide-and-seek is helpful for understanding Fate¡­ We''ll avoid them for now."


    He stepped out of his cave, and with a wave of his sleeve, he wiped away all signs that someone had lived here, after which he departed.


    One dayter, a group of people arrived, led by that man called Flowing Wind.


    Holding the Overflowing Heaven Mirror, he looked around and said, "He should have been here earlier. Damn; he sensed us beforehand and ran off again."


    The cultivators behind remained silent, unsurprised and annoyed. They had been chasing Tang Jie for many years, and he had escaped from them time and time again.


    The good news was that while Tang Jie had destroyed most of his traces, a cultivator of the Ster Net Gate was still able to extract the approximate time and direction he had left from the surrounding nts and air.


    "It was only one day! We''re getting closer and closer!" a cultivator said.


    Flowing Wind stroked the mirror.


    They were able to make this much progress mostly thanks to the Overflowing Heaven Mirror. He had performed divinations with it countless times, and while he was never able to get Tang Jie''s exact location, they were slowly narrowing the range. By now, they had already guessed that Hong Qianli was a fake name. After they gave up on this piece of information, the mirror had be much more urate.


    The first arrow of Fate that had been aimed straight at Tang Jie was a result of the first divination they had made after discarding the name. If not for all those entangling threads of Fate, Tang Jie would have already been discovered.


    The good news energized everyone.


    "s, we''ll have to wait another month to use it again," Mou Siming sighed.


    "It''s fine. Our divinations will eventually find him. This man has already killed so many members of our sects. We can''t let him go!" Flowing Wind snarled.

 Chapter 903: Lifespan

    Once Tang Jie learned about the unique use of incense, he began to enthusiastically research it.


    He didn''t know if the cultivators of the past had ever made this discovery, but even if any had, there couldn''t have been many. After all, the requirements to discover this use of incense were far too high. One had to be at peak Soul Projection, proficient in the Dao of Fate, and able to split off one''s mind into many parts.


    Tang Jie felt like a whole new world of cultivation had opened up for him. He sensed that as he absorbed more incense, his Fate power was growing stronger and stronger, as was his Heaven¨CMan Union.


    As this union grew stronger, Tang Jie felt like he was the sky, he was thend, he was the ruler of all things, able to create earthquakes with a single thought. Tang Jie knew that this was a natural result of his Primal Infant''s Deification. This was no illusion, but his soul filling the world, experiencing all that the world did. The day this sensation reached its maximum limit, it would mean he had reached the end of the process.


    He would then have to think about charging to a higher level, achieving true transcendence and bing a God.


    But this process was all about umtion, and Tang Jie estimated that it would take at least two hundred years. It was no wonder bing an Immortal was so difficult. And this was only the first and most simple step!


    And because he sought a region that was three times asrge as normal, he would need three times as long to get through this easiest step. And while he could use preparations to lower the difficulty in other parts, he had nothing that could lower the time he needed for umtion.


    But Tang Jie really couldn''t wait six hundred years.


    At this speed, by the time he became a Yang God, the Primordial Fog Cmity would have already passed."I have to speed things up," Tang Jie muttered one day after ending a cultivation session.


    Xu Miaoran replied, "Husband, there''s no need to be in such a rush. Reaching Immortal tform can''t be done all at once. Cultivators can easily use a thousand years to attain Immortality. You''ve chosen to expand the region you cover, which is bound to make things even more difficult. You''re still young, having only cultivated some four hundred years, and you have plenty of time¡­"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "I don''t have that much time at all. When the me Celestial Sovereign was chasing me, I consumed too much lifespan to revive my original body. I might not have even six hundred years left."


    Xu Miaoran was startled. "How could this be? That big serpent¡­"


    "I managed to recover a lot thanks to that snake, but the dangerous situation outside meant that I put most of the energy into cultivation. Moreover, lifespan and life are two different things. Some things are easy to use up but difficult to recover. I''ve been through numerous battles in my time, and I''ve drawn on my potential lifespan more than once to heal my injuries. How could thise without a price?"


    Xu Miaoran was stunned.


    Had Tang Jie paid such a heavy price toe this far? s, she had known nothing about this and hadn''t been able to help at all. Whenever the battle grew difficult, she would retreat to the side so as to avoid holding Tang Jie back, never even realizing that Tang Jie had drawn on too much of his lifespan.


    Her eyes immediately grew wet with tears.


    Tang Jie knew what she was concerned about. Hugging her, he said, "You''re already several hundred years old, but you still cry at the drop of a hat. Isn''t that a little embarrassing? Besides, aren''t I perfectly fine? Six hundred years isn''t long, but it''s also not short. So long as I''m prepared enough, there''s still hope of reaching Immortal tform. So long as I be an Immortal, lifespan won''t be a problem anymore."


    Bing an Immortal was totally shedding mortality and escaping the cycle of the Five Elements, and one''s lifespan would greatly increase. After all, if the dead coulde back to life, longevity was even easily more achieved.


    This was why there were so many Immortal tform experts despite the difficulty in achieving it¡ªthere were far too many old ones that had umted over the years.


    "You speak of achieving Earth Immortal in six hundred years so easily, as if you sell manuals just for that purpose," Xu Miaoran said, wiping her tears. "Others can''t do it even if they devote their all to it, but you say that you want to do it fast and with three times the difficulty!"


    Xu Miaoran''s voice had turned shrill by the end.


    If Tang Jie had told her this earlier, she would have never agreed to him taking a region three times the normal size.


    But in this matter, Tang Jie was actually innocent.


    Lifespan was very unpredictable and not as easy to calcte as it seemed. It depended on many factors that could change at any time, so it was difficult to measure it unless one was approaching their end.


    Tang Jie only found out because of his progress in the Dao of Fate, where he learned that his lifespan had been affected more than he had thought.


    She grabbed Tang Jie''s hand. "If it''s really no good, let''s give up on the original n."


    Tang Jie bitterly smiled. "At this point, the Heaven¨CMan Union region is fixed. If I give up, not only would I have to do it all over again, I would also have to give up on all the time and energy I''ve already invested. Besides, what happens if I give up? Do you really think that will be enough?"


    Xu Miaoran was startled. "Then what do we do?"


    Her face was panicked as if Tang Jie was going to die right now rather than in six hundred years.


    Tang Jie patted her hand and soothed, "You''re already so old, so why is it still so easy for you to panic? In truth, I do have a means of shortening the time, but it''s a little risky, and I only have a concept of it right now. I have to do some experiments before I know if it will actually work."


    "No matter what method it is, it''s fine if it can save your life!" Yiyi couldn''t help but shout.


    Tang Jie''s face twitched. They were really treating him like someone about to die.


    But when facing down their stares, Tang Jie could only nod. "If that''s the case, then I''ll try. After all the investment I put in, it''s about time I got some return."


    He began to slowly unroll a diagram.

 Chapter 904: Divine Kingdom Plan

    This was a wondrous world.


    A rhombus-shaped sun hung high in the sky, and the soil was a fiery red.


    Spotted rodentapedes were happily basking in the sun. They were like fusions of rats and centipedes, with the heads of rats but segmented bodies and six legs bearing sharp ws that could help them swiftly dig through the soil.


    Oileye butterflies beat their wings as they sought prey. These were carnivorous butterflies that wouldnd on their targets and then jab them with their long and sharp proboscis, injecting a kind of liquid that would liquefy the flesh into something they could suck up. While they were doing this, they wouldn''t let go or even move, even if one tried to grab them.


    A three-headed monkey sat on a ghost-faced tree, boredly looking around. Grabbing a louse from its body, it was unable to decide which head should eat it, so it instead offered it to the face on the tree. The face opened its mouth, grabbing the louse with a green tongue and chowing down, moaning in satisfaction.


    Rain didn''te from the sky, but from down below.


    asionally, threads of rain would emerge from the ground, not gushing up like fountains, but like fine tendrils of mist.


    Whenever this happened, the creatures of the ins and forest would cheer as they weed the rain season.


    The rain season was the season of growth, growth for all living things.The rain season wouldst one hundred sunsets.


    It was followed by the fire season.


    When the fire season arrived, the rain would disappear, and that zing red mountain in the distance would begin to spew endless mes. The heat from the broiling mes would cause all the animals living on the red grasnds to hide underground and begin hibernating. But some creatures instead weed their spring.


    Amid the spewing mes, the fire monkeys would wake from their slumber and frolic in the rain of fire, drinking down the mes as if they were fire fairies. Of course, they had to be careful of other fire creatures like them, such as the zing bears and firegreed snakes.


    The fire season was shorter than the rain season, only fifty days. Thus, the fire monkeys were creatures that were only active for fifty days out of the year, and they lived for only three years.


    The sleeping otters were much more fortunate inparison, active in the rain, earth, and wood seasons.


    When the light of the mes faded, the sky started to turn gloomy and dust filled the air. This was a sign that earth season hade.


    Earth season was the season when mostndbound creatures were active. When the surface of this world was silent, the underground world became active like never before.


    The soil at this time became very loose. Large numbers of insects began to reproduce, after which the centipedes, rodents, and snakes became active, and these creatures just so happened to be the favorite food of sleeping otters.


    Sleeping otters only hunted during earth season. They spent the remainder of their time sleeping, with some asional activity in the rain and wood seasons. The rain season was when they reproduced, and the wood season was when they found mates. In that season, they would emerge on the surface and begin looking for mates, but they had to be careful, or else they could end up as food for the giant elephants.


    Wood season was the season where all things thrived.


    After the earth season passed, the entire world entered a season of flourishing. The nts would grow to a huge size and bear fruits, and the surface animals would begin moving again. With the abundant food around, they could go into heat and mate as they pleased.


    The wood seasonsted for forty days.


    After forty days, the nts would stop growing, and a golden wind would begin to blow in the sky. This golden wind would bringrge numbers of golden grains wherever it went, a terrifying golden storm that would annihte all life it passed.


    In fire season, at least the fire elementals could survive, but in metal season, the golden wind mowed down everything in its path.


    Thus, the metal season was also called the season of annihtion.


    After the season of annihtion, another rain season started.


    This was the Yellow Court World!


    There were five seasons, a polygonal sun, and a continent ringed by an ocean. It was a worldpletely unknown to humans!


    Tang Jie had invested countless resources into this world, and through the management of He Chong''s group, it had gone from a barrennd to its current thriving state.


    A thriving small world!


    It was a dream sought by countless cultivators.


    This small world had many uses.


    For example, having a small world was like having a blessednd or paradise like the Water Moon Paradise. If it was developed well, it could produce many spiritual resources. Of course, the exact kinds would depend on the Great Daows. If this world''s Great Daos weren''t suitable for the growth of those spiritual resources, then it couldn''t be used for that purpose. s, this world was not suitable for such things. After all, he already had the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, so he didn''t want another one.


    But what the Yellow Court World could produce was something that the Great Ster Chiliocosm did not have. Currently, this world had already produced all manner of strange creatures and nts, though theck of time meant that they had yet to evolve into fiends.


    The Yellow Court World could be said to have moved from its barren phase into its wild phase, and a period of great development was imminent. Once they were ripe, Tang Jie would have an army of fiends and sprites and materials that had never been seen or heard of before! Most of these materials might not be of any use, but any that did would be Tang Jie''s exclusive merchandise.


    But more important wasprehension of the Great Daos.


    He could use the creation of this world and the writing of its Great Daos toprehend the Daos of the Great Ster Chiliocosm¡ªa method which many cultivators would never be able to replicate. It was the same as building a small-scale model before carving an actual statue, and one could say that it was almost necessary toprehend the Great Daos.


    Today, however, Tang Jie had found another use for it: the Heaven¨CMan Union.


    "You''re going to perform the Heaven¨CMan Union here?" Xu Miaoran asked Tang Jie in shock.


    "To be more precise, I n to establish a divine kingdom," Tang Jie answered. "I n to build an Immortal pce here, and if those mortal believers are sufficiently pious, I will let them enter my Yellow Court World. In this world, everyone will have happy and peaceful lives, and their existence will help meplete my world and bring it closer to perfection."


    "You''ll let humans inside?" Xu Miaoran gasped. "But the Yellow Court World still isn''t a suitable ce for mortals to live in, is it?"


    "Indeed," Tang Jie sighed. "At first, I was nning on building a special world that would be primarily used forprehending the Great Daos, producing resources on the side, and I didn''t n to let people in. But while the outer world is no good, the inner world is fine."


    Tang Jie pointed at the "Immortal ind" in the center.


    This ce was closest to the human living environment, and it was rich in spiritual energy and home to many human-like intelligent creatures.


    Tang Jie wanted to pull this ind into the sky and use it as the foundation for an Immortal court where people could live. This would help him both with the Heaven¨CMan Union and also with his continued alteration of the world.


    He naturally copied these ideas from a certain religion of his past life, but it was fine so long as it worked.


    Xu Miaoran was stunned by Tang Jie''s unconventional idea, but once she thought it over, she found it feasible.


    "But even then, this environment is still rather poor. The Yellow Court World doesn''t have the power to assist you in the charge to Earth Immortal," Xu Miaoran said.


    Actually, the more than a hundred Violet Pce corpses Tang Jie had thrown into the diagram had given the world a massive boost that theoretically should have been enough for him to reach Earth Immortal. However, not enough time had passed for this energy to be digested, and besides that, Tang Jie was too ambitious, going for three times the normal region for his Heaven¨CMan Union, which left the power sorelycking.


    "Yes." Tang Jie nodded. "I''m stillcking some, so I should add in some more."


    "Are you nning to go out plundering again?" Xu Miaoran said in rm.


    Tang Jie grinned. "Is there anyone with a treasury big enough to upgrade a world?"


    "Then you¡­"


    "Throwing in a few Earth Immortals shouldn''t be a problem. And it just so happens that there''s some people who just won''t leave me alone. It''s about time I dealt with them, killing two birds with one stone," Tang Jie casually said.


    Xu Miaoran was dumbfounded.


    These were Earth Immortals Tang Jie was talking about! He was even thinking about going after them now! Although he had been beaten two already, he had relied on Huang Wuji and therge number of divine treasures he had. Huang Wuji wasn''t here anymore, and the number of divine treasures was limited, so he couldn''t depend on them alone.


    "Husband, are you confident in beating Earth Immortals now?"


    "''Now''? To be honest, no." Tang Jie shook his head. "Thus, we have to go to another ce first."


    "Where?"


    "The Martial Lord''s hidden realm," Tang Jie replied.

 Chapter 905: Breaking the Realm (1)

    In a quiet valley, lush spirit nts of all sorts covered thend.


    Once, thousand-year-old flowers had bloomed here, and while many of them had been picked and their numbers thinned out, as the centuries went by, a new batch of spirit nts had grown.


    They weren''t as old, mostly several hundred years old, but they at least enriched thendscape.


    Xian Tao liked this valley. Whenever she was bored, she woulde here to take care of the nts and keep the little firebird girlpany. While Tang Jie had taken a sliver of the Vermillion Bird''s soul with him, the Vast Wilderness Continent was too far away for the Vermillion Bird''s will to transmit information frequently. Thus, in the end, she relied on Xian Tao''spanionship, and the two had be good friends.


    Today, as usual, she came to the valley, grabbed a flower, and shook it.


    All of the nts were under the influence of the formation, and the Vermillion Bird would sense if they were touched ande out to protect them.


    Xian Tao had never picked the nts, but using it as a means to notify the Vermillion Bird saved a lot of time. A firebird appeared in the sky with a brilliant cry, and then it transformed into a girl in red robes who descended to the valley. She turned to Xian Tao and happily said, "Miss Xian Tao, you''re finally here! I''ve been waiting forever."


    Xian Tao covered her mouth and chuckled. "''Forever''? Myst visit was only three days ago!"


    The Vermillion Bird replied, "It''s so boring all by oneself. All I can do is wait for you toe and relieve my boredom. That damn Tang Jie neveres back. So long as thest trial is still undone, I can''t be free."Xian Tao had told the Vermillion Bird around a year ago that Tang Jie had reached peak Soul Projection. Ever since then, on each meeting, the Vermillion Bird wouldin about how Tang Jie hadn''te to release her yet. Xian Tao was used to it by now.


    Xian Tao giggled again. "The master has always known to act appropriately. He wille when it''s time toe. You don''t need to panic."


    The Vermillion Bird smirked. "I''ve been watching him. He seems to be having a lot of fun ying outside and has long since forgotten about me."


    Just as she said this, she suddenly shuddered as if she had sensed something.


    A resounding voice called out, "Even if I forgot about you, I wouldn''t forget about the Martial Lord''s final legacy!"


    The Vermillion Bird immediately transformed into a firebird and cried out, "Tang Jie!"


    Three people flew out from the distance: Tang Jie, Xu Miaoran, and Yiyi.


    He had just arrived to the hidden realm through the teleportation formation when he heard the Vermillion Bird''sment, so he had naturally replied.


    "Young Lady!" Xian Tao also grew excited when she spotted Xu Miaoran. Although Xu Miaoran had already been married off, in her eyes, Xu Miaoran would always be the still-unmarried Young Lady.


    "Tang Jie, so you still know toe back!" Reassuming human form, the Vermillion Bird ced a hand on her hips. While she spoke like a jilted lover, she had grown much more maturepared to before.


    Tang Jieughed as he flew over. "I''m onlyte by a year, but you''re so anxious that you''ve turned from a bird into a monkey. You''ve already endured ten thousand years, so howe you can''t endure a few hundred days?"


    The Vermillion Bird turned red in the face. "That''s different. This girl was still ignorant back then and couldn''t feel the passing of time, so ten thousand years was like a single day. Now that I''ve returned to normal, a day like this might as well be a year."


    Tang Jie praised, "From how you speak, it''s clear that you''ve made a lot of progress, which I must thank Xian Tao for."


    Meanwhile, Xu Miaoran descended and began to speak with her servant.


    Tang Jie didn''t dy, knowing that the Vermillion Bird was anxious for her freedom. "I came back today to challenge thest trial. Do you know where it is?"


    The Vermillion Bird replied, "It''s simple. I''m thest trial. If you defeat me, thest level will be unlocked, and at the same time, I will gain my freedom."


    "''Defeat you''?" Tang Jie was startled, and then he bitterly smiled and shook his head. "You should have told me that earlier. If I had known, I could have opened up this ce a hundred years ago, before I set off for Vast Wilderness."


    The Vermillion Bird jumped up in agitation. "Don''t underestimate this bird! You aren''t invincible just because you managed to defeat the Jewel Immortal Sovereign while you were only at Deification. I am still the descendant of a Sacred Beast, born having entered a Dao, and this Primordial Chaos Volcano has even further empowered me in the Daos of Yin Yang and Five Elements. I''m on a different levelpared to the Jewel Immortal Sovereign. If I used my full strength, you would definitely have been no match for me, and even now, you won''t win so easily."


    Tang Jie waved his hand. "If that''s the case, this one will go back and practice for another eight hundred years beforeing back."


    He turned to leave.


    The Vermillion Bird anxiously called out, "Hey, hey, what are you leaving for?"


    She was so frantic that everyone couldn''t help butugh.


    Only then did the Vermillion Bird realize that Tang Jie was teasing her, and she viciously red at him.


    Tang Jie knew that it was time to stop joking, saying with a smile, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let''s begin."


    He threw a punch at the Vermillion Bird.


    One hourter, the mes in the sky dispersed, the light of the spell arts faded, and peace returned to the world.


    Tang Jie pulled back his fist and sighed. Truly, she was one of the Four Sacred Beasts, far more powerful than he had expected. The Southern Divine Fire directly attacked the Divine Soul, and she had two Dao Arts. The Yin Yang Dao Art allowed her to shift her mes between Reality and Illusion, which made the strikes of her Southern Divine Fire unpredictable and difficult to defend against. Her Five Elements Evasion Art allowed her to avoid the vast majority of attacks ande in and out wherever she pleased, and she further had the power of the Primordial Chaos Volcano. In terms of power, she truly was far above the Jewel Immortal Sovereign.


    It was no wonder she had imed that the past Tang Jie was no match for her, and she had beenpletely correct. To defeat her, Tang Jie had even used thebination of his Realm of Insight and Law Speaking.


    Of course, she had still lost in the end, three strikes of the Combat Emperor Catalog leaving her ck and blue.


    Even so, this bruised beauty let out the most excited cheer of her life. "I lost! I finally lost! I''m free!"


    With this yell, an immense energy erupted from the Martial Lord''s hidden realm.


    In the distance, a mountain shuddered and then split into two!


    A golden statue slowly rose out of the earth.

 Chapter 906: Breaking the Realm (2)

    The statue was enormous, around a thousand feet tall, and it depicted a man brandishing an axe and roaring at the heavens. The man''s angr face and determined expression were aplete match for the Martial Lord that Tang Jie had seen in the Martial Mirror.


    Although it was just a statue, as Tang Jie gazed at it from a distance, he felt an immense pressure that made him want to drop to his knees and bow.


    This pressure did note from nowhere. Numerous lines had been carved into the statue, each one bursting with the supreme mysteries of the world: Great Dao Runes!


    It took only a nce for Xu Miaoran to get dizzy. Realizing that this Dao was too unfathomable for someone of her level to glimpse, she closed her eyes. Tang Jie had a much easier time, for when he saw those Dao Runes, he could tell that those were the Dao Runes of the Weapon Dao.


    The Weapon Dao was a minor Dao under the Metal Dao. Theoretically, as Tang Jie had already entered the Five Elements Dao, which covered the Weapon Dao, he should have been able to grasp these runes. But when Tang Jie saw these Weapon Dao Runes, he felt mystified and confused, like he had neverprehended them before. Still, this put him in a better state than Xu Miaoran. While he was shaken by their profundity, he could at least still interact with andprehend them.


    As he immersed himself in the Weapon Dao, he realized just how shallow his understanding of this Dao really was.


    Only then did he realize that while he could boast about the breadth of his Daos, when it came to the depth of his Daos, he was like a childpared to the Martial Lord!


    And when the Weapon Dao Runes entered his eyes, many questions that had puzzled Tang Jie for a long time were finally answered.


    <em>Ding!</em>With a clear ring, the Sovereign de flew out.


    Under the majestic pressure of the statue, the golden de began to transform, shifting between countless weapons. A close look would reveal that those were none other than the weapons that Tang Jie had shattered to make this de. They had never truly disappeared, only been in hiding, waiting for this day toe.


    As it shifted between weapons, powerful waves of energy sted through the heavens, for with each transformation, the Sovereign de resonated with the power of another weapon. Thus, all manner of phenomena appeared in the heavens¡ªwind, rain, lightning, fire, ice, mountains, oceans!


    "The simtion of all weapons!" Xu Miaoran and Yiyi cried out.


    This was what Tang Jie had been pursuing all this time. Now, something that he had only ever been able to make limited progress in had been easily aplished.


    Tang Jie continued to focus on the Dao Runes, but he no longer used his eyes, using his mind to experience and understand them.


    He closed his eyes, and the intense Dao Wills radiating from his body only grew stronger.


    Xu Miaoran sensed that Tang Jie had begun to emit a powerful pressure.


    This pressure was like an unsheathed weapon, sharp and vicious. Xu Miaoran sensed danger and immediately retreated with Yiyi, the Vermillion Bird following suit after sweeping up Xian Tao. The two both moved as quickly as they could, Xu Miaoran even using Limitless, but this still wasn''t even to avoid that sharp energy.


    There was a gust of wind, and Xu Miaoran''s face was instantly covered in thin crimson lines. Although they were instantly healed, her face was still stricken with shock.


    This was just an inadvertent gust created by Tang Jie''s pressure, and it was already breaking through her defenses. What if Tang Jie had been serious?


    Tang Jie''s pressure was continuing to soar. Although his eyes were closed, he could clearly sense every point of Dao Will on that statue.


    Tang Jie had never been in this kind of situation before, but at this moment, he already understood that this was the Weapon Dao, the real Weapon Dao!


    It was impossible to describe it in words, but Tang Jie could truly feel the profound level the Martial Lord had reached in the Weapon Dao. It was definitely at the Dao-Controlling level, perhaps even further.


    And Tang Jie hadn''t been able to truly use the Sovereign de before this not because of anything wrong on his part, but because the Martial Lord had transmitted the Weapon Dao in the form of a spell art.


    The Weapon Mantra was the Martial Lord''s Dao Art, a powerful art that could shatter all weapons to forge the sovereign of all weapons, the tyrant of weapons. He had simply called it the Weapon Mantra and disguised it as a Weapon Dao Art to conceal the fact that it was the Dao itself, such was the Martial Lord''s boldness.


    But in the end, an art was not a Dao, so in the end, the best that it could do was shatter weapons and forge the de, not unleash the invincible might of the Sovereign de. This was why Tang Jie had never been able to make much progress despite all his efforts.


    But now that he had seen the Martial Lord''s Dao, Tang Jie''s mind was opened, and all of his confusions had been resolved. The art had been upgraded to a Dao, and the Sovereign de that had been fettered for several centuries could finally reveal its fangs.


    As Tang Jie''s mind spun, the Sovereign de in the air suddenly rose up and chopped at a distant mountain. The actual de did not touch the mountain, only its sword energy, but the mountain slowly split apart. The sword energy had sliced through the mountain! In the past, when relying solely on its inherent sharpness, the Sovereign de would have never been capable of this.


    The Sovereign de then transformed into thousands of swords that rained down, instantly cutting down all the trees atop that split mountain while not harming a sliver of the actual mountain itself. This was the Divine Connection of a weapon the Sovereign de had once shattered, but it was even stronger and easier to use now.


    Finally, the Sovereign de radiated green light, upon which the hewed trees began to grow back.


    This was another Divine Connection from a weapon the Sovereign de had shattered, this one focused on rebirth rather than killing. Tang Jie had never used non-offensive Divine Connections with the Sovereign de before, having believed this to be a restriction of the Sovereign de, but today, he realized that he was wrong.


    "This is the real Weapon Mantra!"


    Tang Jie finally opened his eyes, looking up at that golden de in the sky.


    No¡ªto be more precise, it should be called the Weapon Dao!


    The supreme Dao Art of the Martial Lord had finally been inherited in its entirety by Tang Jie. Moreover, by breaking the limit of a person being able to cultivate only one Dao Art per Great Dao, it inadvertently created a miracle.


    At the same time, an image appeared in Tang Jie''s mind.


    This was the scene he had seen once before in the Martial Mirror. In the endless void, a mighty giant battled with countless Immortals. With a single shout of "Weapon!" all weapons shattered, and then the Martial Lord swung his mighty axe at the heavenly pce.


    But the scene did not stop here.


    As the axe fell, the pce shattered, its shards shooting in all directions. The Immortals cried out in horror.


    At this moment, a great rumbling like the pounding of drums could be heard, resounding through the universe!


    And then a familiar object appeared on the horizon, exuding a boundless majesty.


    "The Heavenly Dao Law Wheel!" Tang Jie cried out.


    The Heavenly Dao Law Wheel had suddenly appeared on the scene!


    At its appearance, all the Immortals prostrated, with only the Martial Lord brazenlyughing.


    And then, that wild man swung his axe at the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel!

 Chapter 907: Preserved Pill

    Chapter 907: Preserved Pill


    "Ah!" Tang Jie shouted as he awoke from the dream.


    Looking around, he found himself floating in the air, gazing at the Martial Lord''s statue, and he sighed in relief.


    Xu Miaoran heard his cry of rm and asked him what had happened. After some thought, Tang Jie shook his head and replied, "I''m fine."


    Calming himself, Tang Jie once more gazed at the statue, his heart brimming with admiration. After all, he had never heard of anyone in the past ten thousand years who dared to swing their axe at the Heavenly Dao. The daring of the Martial Lord alone was enough to earn his admiration.


    As Tang Jie came to his senses, the thousands of Dao Wills gradually ceased to be. The Sovereign de ceased its transformations and fell into Tang Jie''s hand, and all became peaceful.


    The statue had now lost all of its intimidating pressure, and the Dao Runes on its body hadpletely disappeared.


    Xu Miaoran and the Vermillion Bird were both startled by this development, but Tang Jie had a vague idea of what was going on.


    And that massive statue cracked apart and toppled over.


    "Husband!" Xu Miaoran shouted, no longer able to restrain herself.Tang Jie sighed. "The world won''t tolerate it? Is the world not able to tolerate it?"


    Since the Martial Lord had dared to swing his weapon at the heavens, he had to endure the wrath of the heavens. His appearance, person, and Dao were all forbidden to appear in this world.


    Tang Jie hadn''t felt anything when first learning the Weapon Mantra, but afterprehending theplete Weapon Dao, he could finally feel a sense of repulsion from the world. Fortunately, he hadprehended the Dao of Fate. Even though severing the threads of Fate meant it was very difficult to use Fate power to protect himself, at least he could see and evade, and at least he had those threads of Fate created by incense to protect him. Thus, it presented no problem for the moment. Over time, however, it was bound to constantly frustrate him.


    As the statue crumbled into dust and a cloud rose into the air, a green light suddenly shot up from the ground and flew toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie grabbed it and found that it was a silk box. Within the box was a pill.


    The pill waspletely white, and in its center was a small hole that constantly spun like a vortex. It constantly produced white tendrils of energy and sucked them back in a constant cycle¡ªan eerie sight that left Tang Jie feeling dizzy.


    Was this actually the Martial Lord''sst inheritance?


    Just when Tang Jie was about to take the pill¡­


    "Husband!" Xu Miaoran shouted, her face pale.


    Tang Jie nced at her, understanding what she meant.


    In the end, she couldn''t help but be worried.


    Tang Jie replied, "Without the Martial Lord, I would have never gotten this far. No matter what, I don''t believe such a person would hurt me."


    He picked up the pill and attempted to swallow it, but he found that his body somewhat rejected it. After some thought, he understood what was happening and separated himself into his original body and avatar.


    As expected, the original body immediately exuded a desire for the pill while the avatar seemed to dislike it. And the world''s rejection was only targeted at the original body, not affecting the avatar in the slightest.


    Tang Jie didn''t mind this, and the original body threw the pill into its mouth.


    Everyone stared at him, wanting to see what effects it would have, Xu Miaoran so nervous that her heart almost leaped out of her chest.


    But Tang Jie simply smacked his lips and remarked, "There''s no reaction at all."


    No reaction?


    They had worked so hard to get here and unlock thest level, worked up the resolve to take the pill, only to get no reaction?


    They didn''t want to believe their ears!


    But that was the reality. Tang Jie couldn''t feel the slightest change in any aspect. That pill had entered his body and disappeared like a doll thrown into the ocean, without stirring a single ripple. He was also somewhat unable to understand this, resentfully saying, "Maybe too long has passed and it expired."


    <em>''Expired''¡­</em>


    Xu Miaoran and the others were speechless.


    In the end, the Vermillion Bird said, "Since it was a pill left behind by the Martial Lord, it can''t be useless. It probably doesn''t take immediate effect and needs time to work."


    Tang Jie pped his hands and smiled. "If that''s the case, then let''s put it aside for now. In any case, I didn''t have any expectations for that when I came here anyway. Other than oveing thest trial and setting you free, my other purpose was to use all of the herbs in this valley for a bath."


    Yes, this was Tang Jie''s main goal. With this herbal bath, he nned to reach greater attainment in the Immortal Spirit Body, which he judged enough to fight against an Earth Immortal.


    Tang Jie gathered up the remaining spirit nts in the valley, including thest God Giant Blood Fruit.


    Brewing up all these spirit nts into the most valuable herbal bath in the world, Tang Jie''s original body jumped in.


    The moment he entered the bath, he felt a strange sensation in his body. At that moment, he felt like he was the center of the world, a vortex that all power converged on.


    The power surging into him was so immense that he felt like even a body as formidable as his couldn''t bear it, like it was about to explode. But at this moment, a vortex appeared in his body, like the vortex on the pill. Rapidly spinning, it sucked up all of that surging power.


    Tang Jie felt a sense of fullness in his body.


    Meanwhile, Xu Miaoran and the Vermillion Bird were seeing something else.


    They saw all the herbal liquid spiraling into Tang Jie''s body, drilling into his pores, and a great cloud of steam rising up. Gradually, the entire bath of medicinal liquid evaporated until nothing was left.


    But this seemed to not be enough. Tang Jie was still crazily absorbing energy, drawing in so much from the surrounding area that it created a tornado around him.


    This tornado rapidly expanded, gradually engulfing the entire hidden realm, as if it wouldn''t rest until it had absorbed all of the spiritual energy in this ce. As the storm spread, the hidden realm turned dark and gloomy, and everyone else was forced to take shelter.


    After some time, the storm finally stopped. The hidden realm, once thick with spiritual energy, was now practically void of it.


    Tang Jie finally opened his eyes.


    He let out a sigh. "Now I know what that medicine was. So this is the actual Immortal Spirit Body!"


    As he spoke, a white fog emerged from his body,pletely engulfing him.


    "Immortal energy!" Xu Miaoran blurted out.

 Chapter 908: Heavenly Wrath

    Tang Jie finally understood a problem that had troubled him for a long time.


    This problem was that after attaining the Immortal Spirit Body, he had felt that a body cultivator was clearly weaker than aw cultivator.


    Other than the twelve Combat Emperor strikes, body cultivation seemed to have very limited use.


    Only now did he understand that his Immortal Spirit Body had never beenplete. The real Immortal Spirit Body meant a mastery of Immortal energy.


    Being able to master Immortal energy at the equivalent of the Violet Pce Realm was an enormous achievement, proof that the Martial Lord had possessed heaven-defying talent, and this wasn''t even considering his other feats like the Parting ssic and the Weapon Dao.


    Perhaps it was precisely because he was so heaven-defying that the world could not tolerate his existence. When Tang Jie''s Immortal Spirit Body waspleted, he felt an enormous rejecting force from the world.


    A momentter, dark clouds gathered, lightning shing within them.


    Tang Jie knew this spelled trouble. "Get out of the way! It''s a Heavenly Tribtion!"


    The Parting ssic went against the Dao, and the world would not tolerate it!Tang Jie finally realized why the Martial Lord had not transmitted theplete versions earlier: because the heavens themselves would not stand for such a thing!


    Everyone backed away, leaving Tang Jie''s original body gazing up at the sky, a fiery will to fight burning in his eyes.


    So what if the world would not tolerate it?


    A cultivator defied the heavens! If it incurred the wrath of the heavens, it meant it was a path worth walking!


    A purple bolt of lightning, suffused with destructive power, cleaved through the sky. Such was its savagery that it seemed capable of tearing through anything in its path, shattering mountains or plowing through the earth if it had to!


    Xu Miaoran had never seen such a terrifying bolt of lightning before, and her heart almost leaped out from her mouth. But Tang Jie''s original body roared and jumped into the air, swinging a fist at the lightning bolt.


    <em>BOOM!!!</em>


    A massive shockwave tore through the world.


    The shockwave was so powerful that even Tang Jie''s avatar, Xu Miaoran, and the Vermillion Bird, who had all retreated a great distance, were instantly sent flying.


    As they looked at the site of the impact, they saw a scene of devastation, with only a giant standing tall¡ªTang Jie. One arm was drenched in blood, swiftly recovering through Immortal energy.


    But the heavens were clearly not ready to give Tang Jie a chance to recover. The second lightning bolt had already congealed, and it cleaved down.


    Tang Jie''s original body gave another wild punch.


    Each lightning bolt was more savage than thest, but the original body seemed to only grow more excited. The entire hidden realm shuddered under their sh, the skies shing with rainbow colors, seeming about to copse.


    It had to be understood that the sky was actually the barrier of the hidden realm. It was so sturdy that even the Guangfa Godhead''s Divine Will finger hadn''t been able to destroy it, but now, it was being taxed by this battle!


    Xu Miaoran cried out, "Why is this Heavenly Tribtion so frightening?"


    A Heavenly Tribtion hade down when Tang Jie had entered Deification, and if it had been this powerful, Tang Jie wouldn''t even exist right now.


    Tang Jie casually replied, "It was just part of the process at that time, while it''s true wrath this time. The two can''t bepared."


    Xu Miaoran was stunned.


    As she looked into the distance, she saw Tang Jie''s original body drenched in blood and immersed in battle, even using the Combat Emperor Catalog''s twelve strikes. Now that he had reached greater attainment in the Immortal Spirit Body, he no longer had a limit on the number of times he could use the strikes, and he threw out punches so fast that the afterimages of his fists seemed to fill the heavens. So powerful and intimidating was the pressure he exuded that it was like the Martial Lord had been reborn. Xu Miaoran and the Vermillion Bird were enchanted by the sight, and even Ice Phoenix had been let out at some point, her eyes gleaming with excitement.


    The Heavenly Tribtion continued, the lightning growing stronger and stronger, each bolt suffused with the ck-gray energies of ughter and Destruction.


    The power of ughter ignored the original body''s tough constitution, slicing off chunks of flesh and causing blood to flow. Meanwhile, the power of Destruction constantly harassed him, eating away at his flesh and stripping away his healing powers.


    The power of Destruction and ughter filled the world, robbing it of all life.


    Xu Miaoran turned pale, and she turned to Tang Jie''s avatar. "Aren''t you going to help?"


    Tang Jie replied, "This is his trial, his Fate. He needs to endure it on his own."


    <em>But isn''t he you?</em>


    Xu Miaoran was confused.


    As if he could see what Xu Miaoran was thinking, the avatar smiled and said, "The original body cultivates the Martial Lord''s Dao, which the world cannot tolerate. If I help him, I will only draw the wrath of the heavens onto myself. Don''t worry. He''ll be fine. If what the Martial Lord had left behind were so easily undone, he wouldn''t be the Martial Lord."


    These words made Xu Miaoran sigh in relief.


    "But this hidden realm might be lost," Tang Jie sighed.


    As if to confirm his words, a bolt of lightning sted a hole through the sky curtain. This hidden realm was located in a crack of the Rosecloud Domain, so the moment this hole was created, the Gold Ignis Astral Winds rushed in.


    The avatar waved his hand, summoning the Mountain River State Diagram and pulling in Xian Tao and Ice Phoenix, who were too weak to withstand the Astral Winds. He then suspended the diagram in the air, seeking to absorb the survivingnd before the Astral Winds destroyed everything.


    Meanwhile, a new kind of lightning had appeared in the sky.


    Unlike before, this lightning remained in the air, and as bolt after bolt appeared, they interlinked and umted power, gradually taking the form of a mountain.


    A giant mountain formed from intertwined lightning!


    And this mountain of lightning was brimming with ughter and Destruction.


    It began its descent, and though it was not fast, it annihted anything and everything in its path.


    Tang Jie''s original body turned grave.


    He roared, his entire body emitting white energy as he grew two heads and four arms, and then he punched with all his strength!


    <em>Boom!</em>


    Another world-shaking sh!


    The berserk energy overflowed into a frenzied tide of destruction that devoured all and turned it into void.


    And in the center of this vortex of power, the original body froze, and then he began to crumble, swiftly dissolving into dust in the wind¡­

 Chapter 909: Completion

    After shattering Tang Jie''s original body, the Heavenly Tribtion finally dispersed, leaving behind only the devastated hidden realm.


    Xu Miaoran, Yiyi, and the Vermillion Bird were all stunned.


    The original body was dead?


    They didn''t dare to believe their eyes.


    But before they had any time to be sad, energy roiled, and a person stepped out of the void. Who else could it be but Tang Jie?


    "Tang Jie!" Xu Miaoran and the others said in delight, and then they entered a state of shock.


    Wasn''t being reborn from ashes the power of an Earth Immortal? How could the original body do it?


    "Why do you think it''s called the Immortal Spirit Body?" the avatar Tang Jie casually remarked.


    A body cultivator couldn''tpare to aw cultivator when it came to spell arts and flexibility, but it was far superior when it came to life force. Aplete Immortal Spirit Body could disy the ability of an Earth Immortal, which alone proved the value of the Parting ssic.The original body flew over to Xu Miaoran andpany.


    Xu Miaoran gleefully threw herself into Tang Jie''s embrace. "It''s finally passed. Is everything okay now?"


    "''Okay''? Temporarily," Tang Jie sighed.


    Xu Miaoran was taken aback. "Are you saying that there''s going to be more trouble?"


    After some thought, Tang Jie recounted how he had seen the Martial Lord swing his axe at the Heavenly Dao.


    "The Parting ssic goes against the Dao, and because the Martial Lord took a path that defies the heavens, the heavens could not tolerate his existence. Since I''ve inherited his legacy, I''ve be hated by the world. Unless I give up on the legacy, Heavenly Tribtions like this will be unavoidable¡­"


    Xu Miaoran and the others were aghast to hear that there would be more toe.


    Seeing how horrified they were, Tang Jie decided to not say the second part of his sentence: "and they will be harder and harder to deal with." Changing his tone, he said, "Don''t worry. I held out once, so I''ll naturally be able to hold out in the future."


    Everyone heaved a sigh of relief.


    Xu Miaoran had always believed in Tang Jie. Since he said it was fine, then it would be fine.


    But Yiyi was still worried. "Big Brother, why don''t you stop cultivating the Weapon Dao. Defying the heavens and being rejected by the world¡­ There''s still time to stop."


    Tang Jie shook his head. "Putting aside all of the mysteries within the Martial Lord''s Dao, even if there weren''t any, I got where I am today thanks to the Martial Lord''s legacy. I can''t give up just because there''s danger. A real man holds up the heavens, so going against the Dao is only a minor matter."


    He spoke these words with great indifference, but this only made him seem more heroic and admirable in the eyes of these women.


    While Tang Jie''s original body was domineering and heroic, the avatar Tang Jie was a transcendent and elegant schr.


    Now that the original body had said his piece, the avatar said, "A while ago, Immortal Ji Yao said that since nobody couldprehend the Heavenly Dao, it must not exist, but it appears now that she was wrong. The Heavenly Dao cannot beprehended, but people can go against it! Since people can go against this Dao, then it must exist!"


    Yiyi didn''t understand the meaning of this. "Why does that matter? Its existence doesn''t concern us."


    "Wrong!" the two Tang Jies said in unison. "It is very important."


    "How so?" everyone asked.


    "To know of the Heavenly Dao''s existence is to know that the cultivator is still far from reaching the end of the Immortal path. To know of the Heavenly Dao''s existence is to know that we have a new and even greater goal to pursue. To know of the Heavenly Dao''s existence is to know thatprehending it is no longer impossible despite no one ever seeding before¡­ To know of the Heavenly Dao''s existence is to give a cultivator''s life a new purpose¡­"


    Tang Jie''s voice drifted off as he became immersed in excitement for the future that awaited him.


    This endless desire toward the Heavenly Dao was a characteristic that every great powerhouse was bound to have, or else they would have never be so powerful in the first ce.


    This was why discussing the Dao was so important for cultivators, as that was the only way to light the path forward.


    Through this revtion, the avatar Tang Jie suddenly shed with divine light that signaled that he hadprehended something.


    Xu Miaoran smiled. "Husband, what did youprehend this time?"


    Tang Jie smiled and shook his head. "Thanks to the blessing of the heavens, as the Heavenly Tribtion sted the original body with the powers of Destruction and ughter, I was able to absorb the Dao Wills within them and derive some benefit."


    "What kind of benefit?" everyone asked.


    Tang Jie coolly replied, "It''s nothing much. I justpleted the Skyrend Swordfall and Ten Extinctions de."

 Chapter 910: Searching

    The Vast Wilderness Continent.


    The Gray Heron Divine State, Daye Prefecture.


    On a distant barren mountain, the Flowing Wind Celestial Sovereign pensively gazed at the Overflowing Heaven Mirror in his hand.


    Members of the Ster Net Gate and Heaven''s Equal Sect stood behind him.


    Ever since he had led his group to this area three months ago, the Overflowing Heaven Mirror hadpletely lost track of Tang Jie''s location, and they could no longer find any trace of him.


    Flowing Wind had no choice but to wait and see when the information on the target would reappear.


    He hadn''t imagined that he would end up waiting three months.


    Three months was a period of time that was neither too long nor too short for a cultivator. During meditation, this time could go by in the blink of an eye, but it waspletely different when they had worries that made it difficult to focus, or they couldn''t cultivate at all. After all, many of them had cultivation secrets that they couldn''t expose to outsiders.


    For someone who had nothing to do, three months was rather long.Today was as usual, the Overflowing Heaven Mirror showing no information on Tang Jie.


    A cultivator finally lost their patience, saying, "When are we going to be done with the waiting?"


    This person was Jade Truth, an Earth Immortal of the Ster Net Gate.


    The Heaven''s Equal Sect had never been on good terms with the Ster Net Gate, and it was only because of Tang Jie that they were working together. But after two years of no results and their progress havingpletely stalled, being together was insufferable, like a fish bone stuck in one''s throat.


    Flowing Wind nced at him and indifferently said, "Reverend Jade Truth has already lost his patience?"


    Jade Truth heard the derision in his voice and raged, "When this old man was in seclusion for five hundred years, you were probably still a pup! Waiting patiently is one thing, but blindly waiting when there''s no hope at all is another. I just think that there are some people who are too ipetent. ''Fate Dao armament''? ''Overflowing Heaven Mirror''? All this talk about iparable foresight and prediction seems like empty boasting to me."


    A Heaven''s Equal Sect cultivator angrily rebuked, "Junior Brother Flowing Wind is the number one genius of my Heaven''s Equal Sect, who only needed 2,200 years to cultivate to this state, even earning the ancestor''s guidance and entering the Dao of Fate, grasping the Overflowing Heaven Divination method. He''s not something that an ipetent old thing like you canpare to!"


    Jade Truth was furious. "What did you say?"


    "I called you ipetent!" the cultivator bluntly said.


    Jade Truth threw his head back andughed. "I''m ipetent? We''ve been hunting for two years with no results, so I wonder who the real ipetent is here."


    "That''s all because you gave us the wrong name at first."


    "We can''t know that the name is fake until we actually catch him. Besides, when that kid gave the name, your Heaven''s Equal Sect''s people were there also."


    "But we didn''t offer it up like it was some kind of treasure."


    The two argued back and forth, neither backing down. After all, they were both Earth Immortals, so they had nothing to be afraid of.


    In the end, Flowing Wind sternly said, "Enough. You''re all at Immortal tform, your souls turned to Gods and your bodies turned Immortal, so why is it that your heart is still in the mortal world, obsessed with winning a war of words?"


    "Junior Brother Flowing Wind, you shouldn''t say that. The Dao of Immortals is only on cultivation and has no connection to one''s mental state. Junior Brother, don''t fall for the trap of those monks and nuns. All that talk about mental state is just nonsense. If achieving a transcendent mental state were all it took to attain the Great Dao, why would we need to cultivate? And don''t those demons of the Primordial Fog Domain all get involved with those vile mortal businesses? The thought that those who attain the Dao must be of high virtue is only an assumption. Have you not seen all those ruthless tyrants who control the world through violence, and those Immortals bickering back and forth? The unaware take this for a war of words, but those in the know realize that they are discussing the Dao! Hahahaha!"


    The one who spoke was Mou Siming, the Prison Envoy of the Ster Net Gate. His profession was that of punishment and pursuit, and his subordinates were all rather shady. People called him the God of the Fate Department (Siming), which was how he got his name, and it seemed like he also had quite the silver tongue.


    Heughed so hard that everyone else was rendered speechless.


    But Flowing Wind remained indifferent. "If the Overflowing Heaven Mirror can''t divine this person''s location, there are only two possibilities. The first is that this person is even stronger in the Dao of Fate than me together with the Overflowing Heaven Mirror. However, judged by his past performance, while this person has some abilities in the Dao of Fate, he has not reached this level yet. The other possibility is that he is no longer in Vast Wilderness."


    "''No longer in Vast Wilderness''?" a cultivator said. "Then where did he go? Could it be¡­"


    Flowing Wind nodded. "Yes. There''s a very high chance that he went to another domain."


    "But there''s no way someone of his strength could pass through the Domain Astral Winds," Mou Siming said.


    The Astral Winds of the Vast Wilderness Continent were much stronger than those of other domains, and one had to at least be an Earth Immortal to pass through them.


    "I didn''t say that he left through the Astral Winds. If he had done that, the Overflowing Heaven Mirror would have ced hisst location as beyond the heavens, not here."


    "You''re talking about a teleportation formation?" Mou Siming said in shock.


    A teleportation formation that could cross between domains was no small matter, and even the Vast Wilderness Continent only had a few, all under the control of various major sects.


    And any domain linked by teleportation formation had already been vassalized by the Vast Wilderness Continent. From a certain perspective, the Vast Wilderness Continent wasn''t too different from the Primordial Fog Domain. They both constantly invaded other domains. At best, because they were from the same ne, they treated the other domains a little better.


    Thus, Mou Siming couldn''t help but be excited at the news of another teleportation formation appearing.


    This was also why Flowing Wind had been unwilling to talk about it.


    The internal strife had finally forced him to bring it up in order to calm everyone down.


    He slowly said, "Since this person disappeared around here, the teleportation formation must be here. s, we can''t grasp his exact route, so it will be difficult to locate the teleportation formation. This is why I''ve been waiting here. Once he reappears, it will be at the location of the teleportation formation."


    Mou Siming chuckled and shook his head. "If that''s the case, then we will wait here."


    Flowing Wind shook his head. "There''s no need. Since this person has a teleportation formation, he probably isn''t a Vast Wilderness native. Given that he hasn''t appeared in three months, I''m very worried that he''s noticed a problem and run off, never to return."


    "What then?"


    "There''s only one option: to investigate this person''s details. The more details we have of him, the more effective the Overflowing Heaven Mirror is. We might even be able to find the teleportation formation."


    "Alright, so how will we investigate him?"


    "Have both sects issue orders to gather the people in the area and investigate this person. Since he came through teleportation, he can''t havee out of nowhere, nor could he have left no trace on his way, particrly since he was traveling in a group with two women, one of them being a demon cultivator," Flowing Wind swiftly said.


    "Okay!" everyone agreed.


    "What about you?" Mou Siming nced at Flowing Wind.


    Flowing Wind smiled. "I''m going to find a person."


    "Who?"


    "Hong Qianli." With a wave of his hand, the figure of the me Celestial Sovereign appeared in the Overflowing Heaven Mirror.

 Chapter 911: Searching (2)

    As a streak of me, the me Celestial Sovereign ran for his life.


    He didn''t dare to stop, for there were several Earth Immortals hot on his heels. They had suddenly appeared half a month ago, barging into his ce of seclusion, the Firecloud Cave. If he hadn''t had a special treasure thatid down a Red Dust Illusion at the cave entrance, and if he hadn''t possessed the resolve to give up on the treasure and run, his life would have already been in their hands.


    But he didn''t think his enemies would be so stubborn, and also faster! No matter how he ran, those people were always able to catch up. After the me Celestial Sovereign had used everything he had and ensured that he left behind no tracks, he realized that the other side probably had some kind of divination art. He inwardly groaned, for anyone in possession of such an art had to be an extraordinary person. Why were theying after him? He wanted to stop and ask what was going on, but he was also worried that this would mean he had lost his chance to escape, so he decided to keep running.


    He ended up running for more than half a month, but he still wasn''t able to throw off his pursuers. On the contrary, they had managed to get closer and closer. As his chances of escape approached zero, the me Celestial Sovereign was indignant. <em>In my travels across the myriad domains, when have I ever been in such dire straits? These people are going too far!</em> Since he couldn''t escape, he decided to fight.


    He immediately stopped running, quietly waiting for his enemy while recovering as much as possible for the uing battle.


    Around two hourster, a group of people appeared in the distance.


    One of them angrily smiled at the me Celestial Sovereign. "Finally stopped running? What a slippery fellow; you made us chase you for quite a while!"


    This man was Jade Truth from the Ster Net Gate.


    The me Celestial Sovereign''s flight had left him with a belly full of anger. <em>We were just going to ask you a question, okay? What were you running for, and so fast too! We wasted so many days on you!</em> As for how they had just barged in, not at all like they were just going to ask him a question, he ignored that. The two major sects had dominated the Vast Wilderness Continent for ages, and barging in was normal business, almost necessary in order to keep up their dignity and ensure that nobody underestimated them.The me Celestial Sovereign angrily red back. "This one is Hong Qianli. How have I offended you, that you would chase me so doggedly?"


    He had no hope that anything woulde of these words. Subconsciously, he expected an answer such as "On X day of X month of X year, you passed through Y ce and killed Young Master So-and-so of my sect." This was the most likely answer in his view.


    But the other side clearly had no ns to take such a clich¨¦d route.


    Flowing Wind cut to the chase, producing the Overflowing Heaven Mirror. "We wanted to ask you if you recognized this person."


    The image of Tang Jie appeared in the mirror.


    The me Celestial Sovereign saw that it was Tang Jie and finally understood. He shouted, "So you came for his sake! If that''s the case, we have nothing to talk about!"


    He unleashed a raging sea of mes.


    Nobody had expected him to attack so suddenly, and they were caught off guard. But as there were several Earth Immortals among them, possessing formidable strength, they weren''t about to let him have his way.


    Two of them attacked, one taking out his Heavenly King Mirror, which projected the intimidating image of a Heavenly King. The other threw out a Thousand Autumns Pearl, which sought to bring calm and peace to everything.


    One treasure focused on suppression and the other focused on stabilization. Thus, even though the me Celestial Sovereign''s Origin me had absorbed the essence of the Pale Cloud me and could simte many things, this doubleyer of suppression prevented it from showing its might.


    The me Celestial Sovereign knew this was a problem and activated his True me, using his "Incinerate the World" Dao Art.


    This Dao Art was his trump card, and at full strength, its power was not to be underestimated. The two treasures failed to hold it back, and a zing cloud began to engulf the heavens.


    At this moment, a clear voice rang out. "Wildfires scourge the world, but clouds and water are the genesis of all things."


    It was Flowing Wind.


    As he spoke, a cloud flew out, bringing wind and fog that greatly weakened the me Celestial Sovereign''s world-incinerating mes, even extinguishing much of his Origin me, to his great heartache.


    It had to be understood that these Origin mes had been refined over the millennia, and the loss of so much of it all at once was extremely painful.


    Flowing Wind said, "It seems that Sir is on the same side as him. No wonder he dared to act under your name. If that''s the case¡­"


    Before he could finish, the me Celestial Sovereign said in surprise, "''On the same side''? You''re saying I''m on the same side as that bastard? He used my name?"


    When everyone heard him call Tang Jie a bastard, they all rxed, and Flowing Wind''s eyes gleamed. "You''re not on the same side? Then why did you attack us?"


    The me Celestial Sovereign finally realized that something wasn''t right, replying, "I thought he had sent you to kill me."


    "Absurd!" Jade Truth shouted. "This person called himself Hong Qianli and killed many members of our sect. We want nothing more than to consume his flesh and drink his blood!"


    Everyone realized that this had all been a big misunderstanding.


    s, they couldn''t reverse the battle that had already happened. And both sides had suffered losses, the me Celestial Sovereign losing his Origin mes and Flowing Wind using up many of his Genesis Clouds.


    After all, Incinerate the World was a Dao Art and couldn''t be dealt with using ordinary means. Both sides had something to wince about.


    Afterwards, they proceeded to exchange information. When the me Celestial Sovereign heard that Tang Jie had killed more than two hundred Violet Pce experts belonging to the two sects, he almost fainted.


    Even though he was an Earth Immortal, the only thing he was sure about in a battle against two hundred Violet Pce experts was his defeat. He really couldn''t imagine how Tang Jie had pulled it off.


    He immediately divulged Tang Jie''s real details.


    "His real name is Tang Jie, and hees from the Rosecloud Domain."


    Flowing Wind sent this information into the Overflowing Heaven Mirror, which erupted with light and then disyed the form of Tang Jie.


    "Found him!" everyone shouted in unison.

 Chapter 912: Mountain Water

    Chapter 912: Mountain Water


    <em>Bang.</em>


    In a burst of rippling light, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran appeared in the Five Origins Estate, though this time, they were apanied by the Vermillion Bird.


    After spending more than a hundred days in the Rosecloud Domain, they had finally returned to the Vast Wilderness Continent. They had spent so long mostly because they had gone back to their sects to take a look around and stay for a time.


    Xu Miaoran had gone back to Horizon Ocean Pavilion to see her father and handle all the sect matters that had umted while she had been gone. As the newly-appointed "Myriad Wonders Celestial Sovereign" of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, Xu Miaoran wasn''t as idle as Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie went to the Basking Moon Sect, where he left behind some of the treasures he had gained from the Court of Myriad Domains.


    He had killed many people in the Court of Myriad Domains and obtained countless treasures. While some had been used to refine the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace and some had been detonated on his enemies, he still had many left, which he now contributed to the sect.


    The Basking Moon Sect had done a lot for him, after all, mobilizing all its power to help him attain victory in his battle against the Jewel Immortal Sovereign. This had been partially in repayment for his maniption of Fate to assist Yun Tian in his ascension, but it was also a reflection of how highly the Basking Moon Sect valued him. Now that he had the chance, he had to repay this kindness.


    Taking out a hundred divine treasures all at once was truly a blinding sight.


    Other people risked their lives and took hundreds of years to get a single divine treasure, but he was throwing a whole pile to the sect, leaving everyone speechless.Of course, Tang Jie didn''t intend to go back empty-handed. He had the Basking Moon Sect gather materials for him, primarily forying down formations, and he also took back the Eternity Sarcophagus.


    The old dragon was still sleeping in the coffin, and Tang Jie wanted it primarily toprehend the Dao of Time.


    After all this was done, Tang Jie returned to the Vast Wilderness Continent with Xu Miaoran. It was a lucky thing he hade back at this time, for if he hade back a littleter, Flowing Wind, equipped with Tang Jie''s name, might have been able to trace him all the way to the teleportation formation, at which point the passage between the Vast Wilderness Continent and Rosecloud would be open, with disastrous consequences.


    Even so, the moment he returned, Tang Jie felt the power of Fate locking onto him.


    "Not good!" Tang Jie frowned. "The Ster Net Gate and Heaven''s Equal Sect must have found me."


    "How did they find you?" Xu Miaoran urgently asked.


    Tang Jie began to calcte with his fingers, but then he shook his head. "No good. The other side is protected by Fate and is stronger than me in this aspect. I can''t find out."


    In truth, Flowing Wind''s grasp of the Dao of Fate was not actually stronger than Tang Jie''s. It was just that Tang Jie had chosen to weave Fate to create his own system within the Yellow Court, which meant that he had removed himself from the greater Web of Fate. As a result, he could no longer gather detailed information.


    "But just because I can''t divine it doesn''t mean I can''t guess. These people hadn''t been able to catch me before. Such clear targeting can only mean one of two things. The first is that their Dao Art suddenly grew much more powerful, but making a Dao Art more powerful in so little time is no easy task, which leaves the other scenario: they gathered more clues about me."


    "Who could it be?"


    After some thought, Tang Jie shook his head. "Hard to say. I spent a hundred years in Vast Wilderness and left behind a lot of traces. If someone was diligent, they could easily pick up on those things. But this isn''t important. In any case, I nned to have a battle with them so that I could kill a few Earth Immortals and upgrade my Yellow Court World."


    Tang Jie spoke of killing Earth Immortals like they were dogs, making the Vermillion Bird roll her eyes. Even though she knew that Tang Jie had killed two Earth Immortals, she still couldn''t believe it.


    Earth Immortals!


    These were Earth Immortals they were talking about! The disparity between realms was most apparent here!


    But Tang Jie had not only created a miracle never seen before, he nned to keep it up and kill a few more, to which the Vermillion Bird really had nothing to say. However, she was keenly aware of his current level of strength, and this freak was so absurdly strong that the average Earth Immortal really might not be a match for him.


    "Before that, however, we have to move this teleportation formation. If it''s discovered, it will bring endless disaster." As Tang Jie spoke, he collected the hall in which the teleportation formation was located. But rather than putting it into the diagram, he used his powers to refine it into a treasure and shrink it down so that he could put it directly into his body''s Divine Pce.


    The Divine Pce was a small dimension created in the cultivator''s body by their Divine Will and was much more reliable and convenient than a Mustard Seed Bag. However, the space inside was limited, so most cultivators used both methods. It took some time and effort to eventually get that hall inside.


    He then said, "They probably already know of this location, so we might as well turn it into the battlefield. I have some time to get ready before they get here."


    He took out the Mountain River State Diagram and threw it into the air, and for the first time, he fully revealed the Yellow Court World contained within this diagram.


    Thisnd slowly descended, half-real and half-illusory, like andscape painting brought to life. As it descended, it began to ovep with the Five Origins Estate.


    Despite these being twopletely different worlds, there was no conflict. They bizarrely existed at the same time, neither of them influencing the other.


    Tang Jie began to take out arge number of materials.


    As these materials were thrown out, the two worlds began to seep into each other.


    It was a strange kind of incursion, a kind that transcended the concept of space, iprehensible yet happening nheless. Just like that, these two different worlds slowly merged together, like two paintingsid on top of each other.


    Then, the Yellow Court World began to retreat and fade, the entire world once more taking on the appearance of the Five Origins Estate. But everyone present knew that this was only true on the surface.


    Another, more majestic, world was hidden behind it.

 Chapter 913: Seal

    Fifteen dayster.


    Flowing Wind stood in front of a wall, examining the Overflowing Heaven Mirror in his hand. "This is the ce."


    A cultivator reached out, his hand brimming with power as he wed at the wall. With a boom, the wall disappeared, to be reced by a dazzling curtain of light.


    "As expected, a hidden paradise. It''s not strange for such a ce to have a teleportation formation to another domain," a cultivatormented. "It seems like Tang Jie is hiding here."


    Beforeing, they had gathered the details and discovered that three sects once searched for treasure here.


    "It''s about time for us to make some money. Once we find that brat and take the teleportation formation, a world will be ours," another cultivator said with augh.


    One of them was so impatient to explore that he threw out a punch, causing that curtain of light to ripple. Not only did he fail to break it, his attack incurred such a powerful counterattack that he was forced to use Immortal energy to block it. He said in shock, "This estate must have belonged to a True Immortal at the minimum. This seal is very difficult to break, and it only opens once every one hundred years."


    "It''s a True Immortal''s seal?" everyone gasped. This was no simple matter. This ce was clearly very valuable. And even they would find it difficult to break the seal of a True Immortal.


    A cultivator questioned, "With such a seal present, how did Tang Jie get in?"Flowing Wind examined the seal and said, "The seal shows no signs of being destroyed, so he clearly didn''t force his way in. Thus, there''s only one other way of entering this estate: spatial teleportation."


    Mou Siming muttered, "I see now. Tang Jie is from another domain, and he somehow found a teleportation formation that led him to Vast Wilderness. Thus, he naturally knows the coordinates of this teleportation formation, and all he needs to do is set up a small formation on the outside to link to it, and he cane in and out as he pleases."


    "That must be the case," everyone agreed.


    Flowing Wind added, "Even so,ying down a small teleportation formation requires a profound mastery of formations. It seems that this Tang Jie not only possesses formidable cultivation but is also quite the expert in formations. Hong Qianli, why didn''t you mention any of this?"


    Not far from them stood the me Celestial Sovereign, Hong Qianli.


    After gaining Tang Jie''s information from the me Celestial Sovereign, Flowing Wind had not let him go, instead ordering him to follow their group. In his words: "Since you and Tang Jie are enemies,e with us to kill Tang Jie." But the me Celestial Sovereign knew that his real concern was that he had lied, so he was being forced toe along just to make sure. If the me Celestial Sovereign was friends with Tang Jie, then they would be able to take care of the two together.


    The me Celestial Sovereign hastily said, "In truth, it''s because this one knows too little about Tang Jie. I only learned many of the details afterward when I asked the Lord of the Blood River. On the matter of formations, the gap between me and him was so vast back then that he had no opportunity to use it, so this one was unaware."


    In truth, however, he was inwardly cursing everyone present.


    He actually knew about Tang Jie''s skill in formations. Not even considering how Tang Jie had exposed everything he had in the mayhem he had created in the Blood River Domain, the ad-hoc formations Tang Jie had created in the Court of Myriad to use against him were proof alone of his talent.


    But the me Celestial Sovereign hated both Tang Jie and these people. Whether back in the court or now, the two major sects had treated him very poorly. Angered, he naturally kept some information to himself. In any case, all of these Earth Immortals were certain to kill Tang Jie, and he didn''t mind Tang Jie giving them some trouble before he died.


    Privately, he also worried that these people would get rid of him once he ceased to be useful, so it was better to keep some cards in his hand.


    Thus, he also added, "In truth, even if he does understand formations, with his resources, he wouldn''t be able toy down some huge formation, only a few mediocre ordinary formations."


    These words were exactly what everyone wanted to hear, a cultivator saying, "He''s only at Soul Projection, so even if he''s strong, how strong can he really be? If he hadn''t killed so many people from our sects, requiring us to investigate anyone who might have helped him, there would have been no need to mobilize four Earth Immortals. The real problem is this True Immortal seal."


    Mou Siming replied, "No matter how problematic it is, it''s not alive. If that True Immortal were still here, things would be different, but this is just an empty shell of an estate, so its power is limited. If we work together, we can break through it!"


    "Agreed!" everyone shouted.


    Three Earth Immortals and several True Lords attacked the seal together, with only Flowing Wind calmly standing on the sidelines.


    The earlier cultivator hadn''t used his full strength in his attack, so the response from the seal hadn''t been too fierce, but now that everyone was working together, the seal unleashed its full heaven-shaking might.


    The cultivators immediately put up their barriers, but this counterattack was formless, ignoring their barriers and directly striking them. The Earth Immortals merely groaned, but the True Lords screamed as they were sent flying.


    This seal''s response intensified ording to the strength of the attack. Originally, their attacks wouldn''t have been enough to injure themselves, but unfortunately for them, they had attacked alongside Earth Immortals, which strengthened the response so much that they ended up severely injured.


    "Retreat at once and don''t attack again!" Mou Siming shouted. He then once more raised his hand, thrusting it at the seal. A giant crimson hand descended upon thend, robbing the world of its light. As it fell on the seal, a mighty wave of killing intent surged out, so powerful that this mighty Earth Immortal began to weep blood. But he refused to back down, and as his blood turned to steam, his crimson hand grew stronger and stronger.


    The two other Earth Immortals used their own attacks, and the seal erupted in multicolored lights. Even Flowing Wind finally took action, summoning that cloud tond on the seal. Though the seal was not extinguished, its killing intent immediately weakened by thirty percent.


    Even so, this seal had been set down by a True Immortal, and it was not to be taken down so easily. Mou Siming, seeing that the seal was still stubborn, turned his head and barked, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and help!"


    The me Celestial Sovereign was a Titan, an Immortal tform expert, so it had been several thousand years since anyone had ordered him around.


    To have Mou Siming barking orders at him filled him with rage, but he couldn''t afford to give offense, so came forward to help.


    While the seal was powerful, without anyone to support, it ultimately began to weaken under the strength of five Earth Immortals.


    Meanwhile, within the Five Origins Estate.


    Tang Jie stood within a hall.


    Forty-ninenterns zed brightly within the hall, and in the center was a jade b.


    The jade b disyed the sight of Mou Siming andpany attacking the seal.


    Tang Jie examined each person in front of the estate, studying their forms of attack and the particrs of their cultivation techniques.


    "Four Earth Immortals is rather troublesome, but it''s not outside of my expectations," he whispered. As for those Violet Pce experts, he didn''t even consider them.


    His eyesstly fell on the me Celestial Sovereign, upon which he smiled. "And there''s even a bonus."

 Chapter 914: Heading In

    In front of the Five Origins Estate, the cultivators were still breaking down the seal.


    Thebined attack of the gathered Immortals was gradually making progress.


    Just when the seal was about to break, it suddenly began to abnormally brighten.


    Flowing Wind was startled, and then he shouted, "Not good! Retreat!"


    He quickly backed away, with the others right behind him. At that moment, the curtain of light exploded, unleashing a destructive wave of energy that obliterated everything in its path.


    The Earth Immortals weren''t fast enough to dodge, so they had to resort to other means to defend themselves. Mou Siming threw out his Blood Bodhi, Jade Truth used his Thousand Autumns Pearl, Origin Defender raised up his Lightfreeze Pagoda, and even the me Celestial Sovereign took out a divine treasure called the Pentame Barrier.


    A momentter, the tsunami of light engulfed them. The Blood Bodhi instantly lost all its luster, the Thousand Autumns Pearl became covered in countless fine cracks, the Lightfreeze Pagoda toppled over, and the Pentame Barrier shattered.


    As these four protective treasures were broken, the four Earth Immortals threw up blood, clearly badly hurt. When they saw that the wave of light was stilling, they paled. Although they were Immortals and could be reborn, there was no avoiding the pain that came from death, and rebirth took a lot of Immortal energy. Most importantly, Immortal energy rebirth was not uncounterable. Certain special energies, like the power of Destruction, could obliterate Immortals in such a way that it was very difficult for them to be reborn, and nobody knew what sort of consequences such a terrifying wave of light could have. Thus, it was better not to die if they could avoid it.


    As the wave of light neared, Flowing Wind threw out his cloud.The cloud spun in the air and unleashed a wave of rainbow light that somehow managed to stop the destructive wave.


    As the cloud spun, the wave of light was neutralized, and the Immortals sighed in relief.


    As they looked at the paradise again, they found that the seal had disappeared. It was clear that the previous attack had used thest of its power.


    But thisst assault had destroyed four divine treasures and injured four Immortals, so the losses were rather severe. Although Immortals didn''t fear injury, they still needed to use Immortal energy to heal them.


    At this point, they could only count themselves unlucky and hope that they could recover their losses after killing Tang Jie.


    The irascible Jade Truth was about to go in when Flowing Wind said, "Hold on."


    "Does Sir Flowing Wind have some advice?" Jade Truth turned to Flowing Wind.


    He initially didn''t pay much mind to this genius of the Heaven''s Equal Sect, but from his reaction speed just now, Flowing Wind was clearly a cut above the rest of them. Moreover, his Genesis Cloud was a divine object from High Antiquity, and it had been immersed in the Dao when it had been owned by the Ageless Immortal Elder, so it could not be underestimated. If he hadn''t intervened just now, the four of them would have had to lose a life. Thus, he spoke in a much more polite tone.


    Flowing Wind indifferently said, "When cultivating with the ancestor, Iprehended the principles of Heaven and Fate. Although I am not proficient in formations, I have some experience in the field. From what I can see, this seal primarily focuses on defense, warning, and intimidation. It shouldn''t have possessed this lethal move."


    "Sir, do you mean¡­"


    "Tang Jie modified the seal."


    Everyone gasped.


    Being able to modify a True Immortal''s seal meant one of only two things: one either was stronger than the True Immortal or possessed an unimaginable mastery of formations.


    Tang Jie definitely wasn''t stronger than a True Immortal, so it had to be the second exnation.


    Such mastery of formations made them shiver.


    But a momentter, Mou Siming chuckled. "So what if that''s the case? Does that mean we shouldn''t go in? Five Earth Immortals are so scared of a single Soul Projection cultivator that they don''t dare to go in?"


    Flowing Wind smiled. "Of course we''re going in, but we have to look at how we go in. Given how crafty this man is, since he has modified the seal at the entrance, he must have prepared beforehand. When one has reached the apex of formations, it bes much easier to kill those above one''s level, so we can''t afford to be careless. On this matter, I must look to Junior Brother Origin Defender."


    Origin Defender belonged to the same sect, and he knew what Flowing Wind meant, saying with a smile, "It is my duty."


    He took out a jungle chess board. On the board were vermillion birds, white bulls, peacocks, bronze tigers, and other kinds of beasts¡ªfourteen kinds of beasts totaling 58 in all. The weakest was lower-grade Divine Division, while the strongest were at Void Returning, a dragon and a phoenix.


    (TN: Jungle chess is a Chinese board game where the board has squares representing different terrain features and the pieces represent animals rather than soldiers.)


    Heaven''s Equal and Ster Net dominated Vast Wilderness, so they could provide almost every Earth Immortal under theirmand with a pseudo¨CDao armament.


    The jungle chess board was Origin Defender''s pseudo¨CDao armament. Fiends could be caught and stored within the board like the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, though it was a far inferior version. This was because it could only hold two fiends of the same level as the user, with the remainder of the spots being filled out ording to the ranking of the chess pieces. With each two kinds of fiends, the permitted cultivation grade would be lowered by one and the number permitted would be doubled. Thus, there were four kinds of Soul Projection fiends, eight in total; four kinds of Deification fiends, with sixteen in total; and four kinds of Infant Tending fiends, with thirty-two in total. The dragon and phoenix upied opposing sides of the board, serving as the respective kings. It was easy to see that it could hold far fewer fiends than the Myriad Immortals Cauldron.


    But because of the Imperial Sky Stamp, Tang Jie refined all the fiends he caught, leaving nothing for the Myriad Immortals Cauldron. He had even refined the Spotted Char he had captured long ago. Thus, the Myriad Immortals Cauldron was empty, and when it came to actual use, it couldn''t evenpare to this pseudo¨CDao armament.


    Origin Defender threw the board into the air, and the fifty-some pieces turned into fiends and charged out.


    Origin Defender smiled. "These fiends will save us a lot of trouble."


    He raised the board, which could also disy what the fiends were seeing, unlike the Myriad Immortals Cauldron.


    On the board, the fiends charged into the estate. They arrived at a field and charged right through, encountering no opposition or traps.


    Origin Defender smiled. "It''s fine. We can head in."


    He strode into the estate.

 Chapter 915: Seizing Fiends

    Once Origin Defender entered, the others followed.


    As they entered, they found themselves on a mountain.


    Turning back, they discovered that the entrance had disappeared.


    Flowing Wind slightly frowned, but before he could say anything, Jade Truth shouted, "What''s going on? What sort of ce is this? Where are your fiends?"


    Origin Defender was also deeply puzzled.


    Looking down at his chess board, he saw that his fiends were still running about the grasnd,pletely unaffected.


    But from this high mountain, they couldn''t see a single fiend, and what they saw waspletely different from what they saw on the board.


    This space they were in was very strange. The sun was in the shape of a rhombus, mes zed across the sky, and the fiends roaming the earth were like nothing they had ever seen before. They had entered a world so strange that they felt like they were in an illusion.


    In the middle of their shock, Tang Jie''s figure appeared on the board, flying toward the fiends.The fiends saw Tang Jie and rushed at him, at which Tang Jie chuckled and took out arge cauldron.


    The moment this cauldron appeared, it erupted with golden light that had all the fiends trembling in fear. Even the Void Returning dragon and phoenix let out horrified cries, as if they had run into their natural enemy.


    Tang Jie had taken out the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, the bane of all fiends. The moment it appeared, it exerted an immense suppressive power on the fiends. As the Myriad Immortals Cauldron began to turn, the fiends began to fly toward it.


    Origin Defender shouted, "Not good! He''s stealing my babies!"


    Tang Jie was stripping him of his ownership of the fiends!


    After all, one was a peak artificial Dao armament while one was a pseudo¨CDao armament. The gap was already great, and Origin Defender wasn''t controlling the fiends. As a result, Tang Jie could easily seize the fiends.


    The only ones to resist were the dragon and phoenix.


    Just like the jungle chess board, the Myriad Immortals Cauldron had a limit when sealing Earth Immortals, and the chance of sealing them was greatly reduced. In addition, Tang Jie, while having thebat power of an Earth Immortal, had yet to actually be an Earth Immortal, so he still found it hard to use the full strength of the Myriad Immortals Cauldron. This lowered the chance even more, so as a result, the two fiends could still resist the pull. However, they no longer had any excess energy with which to attack.


    This was the power of a Dao armament. So long as it was used in the right ce, a single treasure could easily suppress an opponent. The Immortals were stunned to see two Void Returning fiends so easily restrained by Tang Jie. Moreover, as Tang Jie transmitted more energy to the cauldron, it continued to suppress the dragon and phoenix.


    His idea was very simple. It didn''t matter that the chances were low. If he kept trying, he would seed eventually. And now that he had reached greater attainment in the Immortal Spirit Body, he now had Immortal energy. He now had the "Immortal Body" part of an Earth Immortal, onlycking the deified soul. Thus, if he poured all his Immortal energy into the cauldron, he could temporarily activate its full power. But he was unwilling to do this, more willing to waste spiritual energy with a lower chance. After all, he had as many attempts as he could want.


    Origin Defender was starting to panic.


    It had taken him great effort to gather these fiends, each one the best of its peers, and train them inbination attacks. This was particrly true for the dragon and phoenix. It had taken him a thousand yearsbing the Great Ster Chiliocosm to find two suitable fiends, and he had even hired members of his sect at a high price to help him capture them.


    He frantically shouted, "Find the exit!"


    Mou Siming grunted, "Tang Jie must have set up an illusion formation. I''ll break through it at once."


    He formed hand signs and chanted, "The cock''s crow announces the dawn and scatters the fog. Break!"


    His robes fluttered, and that giant rooster woven into the cloth jumped out and grewrger andrger. It let out a mighty crow that resounded through the world, clearing the surrounding skies.


    But the scene remained the same, and no matter how they flew about, they couldn''t enter the world Tang Jie was currently in.


    Mou Siming grimaced and made more hand signs. "Great radiance, herald the dawn and expel all evil spirits!"


    As he roared, the rooster let out another crow, and this time, the faint wailing of ghosts could be heard as they were extinguished. All Yin energy existing in thisnd was dispelled, and if this illusion formation had been formed using Yin energy, it would also be broken.


    But this also did nothing.


    The mountain was still the mountain, the waters were still the waters, and the sun remained in all its polygonal glory.


    Mou Siming used several other methods, but none of them worked.


    All the other cultivators were aghast. What sort of illusion formation was this that even the God of the Fate Department couldn''t break?


    It had to be understood that Mou Siming''s Shining Radiance Divine Connection was the counter to all Yin-based illusion arts.


    "This is impossible!" Mou Siming roared.


    He knew that there were illusion formations that he couldn''t break, but they would never manifest themselves in this way.


    Origin Defender shouted, "Sir Flowing Wind, Sir Siming, hurry and think of something! Qing''er and Huo''er won''t be able tost much longer!"


    On the board, the dragon and phoenix were still holding on, but their miserable cries were a sign that they were on theirst legs.


    Origin Defender was beside himself with panic.


    "Damn it! What kind of illusion formation is this!? I can''t break it at all!" Mou Siming cursed.


    Flowing Wind casuallymented, "If even Sir Siming can''t break it, it probably isn''t an illusion formation."

 Chapter 916: Resolve

    "Not an illusion formation"?


    The other Immortals were stunned to hear this.


    Their preconceived notions had made them believe that they were in an illusion formation, and it was only Flowing Wind''s words that made them think differently.


    If this wasn''t an illusion formation, it made sense that Mou Siming''s methods were all proving ineffective.


    "But if this isn''t an illusion formation, where is Tang Jie right now? Why can''t we see him?" everyone asked.


    Even the me Celestial Sovereign was stunned. "Could he have some sort of ability to kill people while in an illusory state?"


    "''Killing in an illusory state''?" Flowing Wind shook his head. "If he had entered the Dao of Yin Yang to an extremely profound level, he might be able to do it, but Tang Jie doesn''t have this ability."


    Flowing Wind was both right and wrong.


    With Tang Jie''s mastery of the Dao of Yin Yang, it would be possible for him to kill while in the illusory state, but his Yin Yang power had manifested in his Reflections of Floating Life Dao Art, not in the power to shift his own body between illusion and reality. But if he rose to the Dao-controlling level, he might be able to grasp this ability."Then how did he do it?" Origin Defender shrieked. The blow from having his fiends seized was far too great.


    "If it''s not an illusion, then it has to be reality," Flowing Wind muttered. Suddenly, his eyes shed, and he shouted, "Everyone, be careful! This might be an ovepping dimension formation!"


    <em>''An ovepping dimension formation''?</em> This left all of them aghast.


    Just as was implied by the name, this was a special method to ovep two dimensions on top of each other. Both were real, and one could travel between them. Flowing Wind had heard of this method from his teacher, and it was said that only formation grandmasters could employ them, and only after satisfying two conditions: entering the Dao of Space and having aplete small world.


    <em>''A small world''?</em>


    As this term came to mind, Flowing Wind realized what was going on, shouting, "Be careful! This might be that Tang Jie''s small world!"


    "What?" everyone said in shock.


    The Vast Wilderness Continent was a ce of vast and profound knowledge, so they were all aware of what a small world signified.


    It was one thing if this small world was still iplete, but another if it wasplete, as it meant that they had entered the home base of the enemy.


    This was because the entire world could transform at that moment to greatly limit the people within. As for how they were limited, that would depend on the world. If Tang Jie wanted, he could create a world with no spiritual energy, forcing all cultivators to rely on their personal spiritual energy reserves rather than drawing spiritual energy from the surroundings.


    Flowing Wind raised the Overflowing Heaven Mirror and spat a mouthful of blood onto it. Mysterious runes immediately emerged on its surface, shimmering in various colors, radiating a wondrous light.


    Gazing at this light, Flowing Wind said, "The framework of this small world is basicallyplete, but while the establishment of its Dao has begun, it is not yet done. Damn it; just how did this kid manage to develop a small world this far?"


    Even someone asposed as him couldn''t conceal the shock in his voice.


    While small worlds were nice to have, the investment needed to make them was so great that even a genius of the Heaven''s Equal Sect like him did not have one. How could Tang Jie have one, and have developed it to such an astonishing level?


    But a momentter, greed appeared in their eyes.


    A small world! Aplete and independent small world, with aplete framework and a nascent Dao! If they could kill Tang Jie, this small world might be theirs.


    The me Celestial Sovereign was also stunned. Tang Jie had clearly possessed this small world for a long time, and he could even identify a few special attributes of the Blood River Domain within it.


    But in their battle at the Court of Myriad Domains, Tang Jie had never used it!


    What did this mean? It meant that even when Tang Jie was being chased around like a dog, he had actually been holding back.


    If he was holding back in a situation like that¡­ The me Celestial Sovereign suddenly felt like Tang Jie''s real strength was much higher than he had assumed, and victory no longer seemed so certain.


    Meanwhile, the others were all the more eager to take Tang Jie down, their appetites piqued by this small world.


    Even the normally indifferent Flowing Wind had gotten emotional. ncing at the Overflowing Heaven Mirror, he said, "Since these are ovepping dimensions, there should be a passage between the two. Everyone, split up and look. Look for Space power. Any ce you find spatial ripples should be the passage between the two dimensions."


    The cultivators agreed and flew off in all directions.


    From a distance, Flowing Wind shouted, "If you find the passage, inform everyone else. Don''t try and go in alone!"


    Everyone sneered, ignoring this advice.


    This was a small world! Whoever killed Tang Jie would take it! This was what all of them were thinking.


    Meanwhile, in the Five Origins Estate dimension, Tang Jie suddenly let out a gasp of surprise. Turning around, he smiled. "As expected, they split up."


    The small world was his, so he naturally knew everything going on inside it.


    But he was in no rush. Their splitting up was part of his n, so he continued his struggle against the dragon and phoenix.


    The dragon and phoenix weren''t just Void Returning fiends in name.


    This dragon was a thousand feet long, a sky-blue ice dragon. A single breath could nket the world in ice.


    The phoenix was arge firebird, and its Wildfire me even surpassed the Vermillion Bird''s Southern Divine Fire. However, as it wasn''t proficient in a Great Dao, it couldn''t constantly shift between illusion and reality like the Vermillion Bird.


    In normal circumstances, even with the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, Tang Jie would have never been able to subdue these two. Luckily, these were fiends who had already been subdued once, and their wild nature had long ago been tamed. The Myriad Immortals Cauldron''s real target of suppression was the jungle chess board, seizing its control over the fiends, which was how it was holding down the fiends.


    Tang Jie originally didn''t n to subdue these two fiends, but such an excellent opportunity had presented itself right at the start, so he couldn''t just let it go. As he put his full might into suppressing the fiends, the dragon and phoenix wailed.


    Origin Defender saw all of this, which only made him more frantic. He knew that these two fiends were at their limit, but he still hadn''t found the passage. By the time he found the passage, Tang Jie might have already subdued the fiends.


    Origin Defender naturally knew that Tang Jie subduing two Void Returning fiends would pose a major problem.


    Hardening his heart, he shouted, "Even if I have to lose this Dao armament, I won''t let you seed!"


    He chopped his hand at the jungle chess board.


    This was truly a fierce resolve! Just like that, he shattered this pseudo¨CDao armament.


    Just when the two fiends were about to be subdued, the dragon and phoenix suddenly let out mighty cries, unleashing an unprecedented strength that sent the Myriad Immortals Cauldron flying.


    "Not good!" Tang Jie paled.


    Seeing this, how could he not understand what had happened?


    He just hadn''t expected that Origin Defender to be so willing to destroy a pseudo¨CDao armament. In the end, he wasn''t the only one in the world with a powerful resolve.


    And Origin Defender''s act had created a lot of problems for Tang Jie.


    The ice dragon and fire phoenix lunged at Tang Jie.

 Chapter 917: Vermillion Bird

    Now that the dragon and phoenix were free, Tang Jie knew he was in trouble.


    These were Void Returning great fiends! If they were allowed to use their full strength, Tang Jie would find it hard to deal with them.


    At that moment, Tang Jie shouted, "Miaoran, Vermillion Bird, Yiyi!"


    The three of them appeared the moment he called out.


    Tang Jie pointed a finger at the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, upon which two rays of dark energy shot out of the cauldron andnded on Xu Miaoran and Yiyi. This was Tang Jie passing control over the Myriad Immortals Cauldron to them. "The two of you, hold down the dragon while the Vermillion Bird and I take down the bird!"


    "Understood," the two women replied, taking control of the Myriad Immortals Cauldron and using it to suppress the dragon. One of them alone would have a rather hard time operating the cauldron, so two of them were needed.


    Tang Jie and the Vermillion Bird charged at the phoenix.


    The phoenix spat a gout of searing me, its intense heat a true manifestation of a Void Returning fiend''s power. s, its poor luck meant it had run into its bane.


    One of its opponents had an Immortal Spirit Body protected by Immortal energy and had also entered the Dao of Fire, which granted him a strong resistance to fire. The other was born having entered the Dao of Fire and had no fear of it. As a result, they charged right over without a care.Tang Jie immediately attacked with the Devil Crushing Strike.


    This terrifying power unleashed by the punch made the phoenix shriek. In response, the phoenix shed a w at Tang Jie and unleashed a massive cloud of fire, which flowed out of its mouth likeva and flooded over its surroundings.


    Even Tang Jie with his tough body and the Contrame Mantra would have a hard time resisting thisva-like me.


    At this moment, the Vermillion Bird let out a brilliant cry and began to suck in that me. She then smacked her lips and brightly said, "Delicious! All of the Immortal energy within is great for me. Tang Jie, I want this bird. I might be able to use it to reach Immortality!"


    The Vermillion Bird was a peak Divine Division fiend, but had been constantly restricted by the hidden realm and unable to break through. Now that she was free and the restriction had disappeared, she could finally advance, though she hadn''t expected the opportunity toe in her first battle.


    Of course, actually breaking through wasn''t easy, and even devouring a Void Returning fiend bones and all might not be enough. All it did was increase her chances.


    Tang Jie sighed. "Fine; it''s yours."


    The Vermillion Bird angrily said, "What''s the sigh for? Are you not willing to give it to me?"


    Tang Jie helplessly said, "My dear, I was simply sighing for the Myriad Immortals Cauldron. Because of the Imperial Sky Stamp, I''ve never had the opportunity to use it. Now that I''m stuck at a threshold and can''t really use the Imperial Sky Stamp to grow stronger, I currently don''t need to refine fiends, and there just so happen to be fiends here that I can use to fill the Myriad Immortals Cauldron. But now you''re asking for one, so I can onlyment the fate of this poor cauldron."


    The Vermillion Bird smiled. "Mm, that''s good."


    As they were speaking, Tang Jie had unleashed the eighteen strikes of the Combat Emperor Catalog on the phoenix.


    The poor phoenix, though not weak at all, was clearly no match for this pairing. Its powerful mes were suppressed by the Vermillion Bird, and its strength was being countered by the barbaric power of Tang Jie''s original body.


    Not only that, while the original body barraged the phoenix with punches, Tang Jie had his avatar take the Sovereign de and chop at the phoenix''s head.


    With one slice, the phoenix was beheaded, but it still lived, the head transforming into mes and returning to the body.


    Tang Jie didn''t find this strange. Not even considering that Void Returning was the equivalent of Earth Immortal for fiends and allowed the reforging of the Immortal body, the phoenix would have been hard to kill regardless. After all, this was a famous undying phoenix, capable of being reborn from the mes.


    Unfortunately, the Vermillion Bird countered this ability too, opening up her mouth and consuming the mes of the head before they could return. The phoenix, unable to recover its head, let out a screech, and a gusher ofva erupted from its neck and formed into a new head.


    s, the moment it grew back, Tang Jie chopped off its head once more, and the Vermillion Bird sucked up the resulting mes. The phoenix grew frantic and attempted to escape, but the original body held it fast. Again and again, it was beheaded, and the Vermillion Bird sucked up its mes in an attempt to break through.


    The phoenix wailed and shrieked, finally knowing fear, but it was toote. The two ignored its feelings and continued to torture it to death.


    As Tang Jie chopped again and again, its massive body grew smaller and smaller. Gradually, its body grew so unstable that it began to turn into flickering mes.


    The Vermillion Bird shouted, "Tang Jie, hurry and let out the Pale Cloud me and Deicide me!"


    Tang Jie didn''t know what she was going to do with them, but he still released the two mes.


    The Vermillion Bird opened her mouth and consumed the rest of the phoenix together with the Pale Cloud me and Deicide me.


    Her body erupted with crimson light, and mes zed to life as her body melted away.


    Tang Jie knew that this was the Vermillion Bird''s rebirth.


    The moment of her rebirth was the moment she achieved Void Returning.


    This was thanks to the fact that she was the descendant of a Sacred Beast, her bloodline naturally containing a Void Returning foundation. Any other fiend would have encountered just as many problems as Tang Jie.


    As the mes burned, a new Vermillion Bird was being born within them. Her body soon formed, bursting with energy and majesty.


    "Sess?" Tang Jie asked in joy.


    "Failure," the Vermillion Bird replied from within the mes. "I only managed to reforge my body. My fiend soul failed to enter Void Returning. I suppose you could call me a half-Immortal."


    "Doesn''t failure to ascend mean death?" Tang Jie said in surprise.


    "Indeed." The Vermillion Bird nodded. "But as the Vermillion Bird, I''m the exception. Any bird that dares to y with fire has a few lives. It''s fine if I fail this time. At least I seeded with half of it, so I can just do the other half next time. No amount of difficulty can knock me down."


    "You call that ''difficulty''?" Tang Jie smirked.


    She could ascend faster than anyone else, and she could retry if she failed. Any human cultivator that could do this would be over the moon with happiness.


    Of course, they had their own restrictions. Once they reached the limits of their bloodlines, any further advancement would be excruciatingly difficult, just like with the Azure Dragon.


    At this moment, with a loud roar, the ice dragon knocked aside the Myriad Immortals Cauldron and flew into the distance.


    In the end, Xu Miaoran and Yiyi couldn''t suppress it, and it had found an opportunity to escape.


    Tang Jie was about to give chase when he suddenly stopped.


    There was a sh of light in the air, and Tang Jie knew that someone had found the passage and wasing out from the Yellow Court World.

 Chapter 918: Glass Flame

    The ripples from the passage forced Tang Jie to give up on the pursuit. In any case, since the dragon was stuck in this world, there was no way it could escape.


    Tang Jie spread out his Divine Will across the world, and a momentter, he spotted a Violet Pce cultivator standing in front of the passage. He looked around, and then, rather than leaving the passage, he went back into the Yellow Court World, where he patiently waited for the others to arrive.


    Although he didn''t know much about Tang Jie, his feat of killing more than a hundred Violet Pce experts in the court was enough to mark him as someone that was not to be underestimated. Thus, this cultivator didn''t recklessly rush in. Once he found the passage, he notified the others, acting rather cautiously.


    Tang Jie didn''t mind.


    While this meant his enemies wouldn''t be divided, it also meant that they had lost the initiative.


    Tang Jie needed only one nce to know where this passage led: a hill located in the Rainbow Meadow.


    Smiling, he produced a crystal ball. Upon this crystal ball was the merged world of the Five Origins Estate and the Yellow Court World, mixed together in a fantastical and dazzling mess.


    With a wave of his hand, the scene on the ball became much clearer. Tang Jie found that hill and pointed a finger at it. Thus, a giant illusory finger appeared in the air, squashing the top of the hill into arge crater.


    Tang Jie waved his finger, and numerous formation lines began to weave across the sky. Tang Jie hadn''tid down these formation lines. Rather, they were from the Five Origins Estate and had been triggered just now.Lava began to fill the crater, scorching mes emerged in the surroundings, and what had been a safe entry point was turned into a death trap in the blink of an eye. The Vermillion Bird then shouted, "Tang Jie, let me return your mes."


    She spat at the crystal ball, sending a ss-like me into it. A momentter, a zing me appeared over the crater, sinking into theva and increasing its intensity.


    Tang Jie let out a gasp of surprise. "Is this the Deicide me or the Pale Cloud me? Why did it be like this?"


    The Vermillion Bird smugly said, "It''s both. I borrowed the power of these mes to advance, and while I couldn''tpletely reach Void Returning, I managed to merge your Pale Cloud me and Deicide me together. This ss me can burn all things like the Deicide me, and it also has the transformative powers of the Pale Cloud me. Besides that, it also possesses the mind-burning powers of my Southern Divine Fire. You could call it a minor Fire Dao Essence."


    "''Minor Fire Dao Essence''?" Tang Jie asked.


    "Yes, just like how your Sovereign de is actually a manifestation of the Greater Metal Dao Essence. Each of the Daos of the Five Elements has their own essence, with the core of the Sovereign de being the Metal Essence. This small ball of fire is the Minor Fire Essence. Although you''ve made great progress in entering the Dao of Five Elements, in the end, you borrowed power to get this far, and you have only a shallow understanding of the various minor Daos. One day, if you are able to refine the Greater Fire Dao Essence, also called the First me, you will have reached the Dao-Controlling level," the Vermillion Bird exined.


    "''Dao-Controlling''¡­" Tang Jie muttered.


    The Vermillion Bird''s casualment had triggered something in Tang Jie. Finally, he had some concept of what it meant to control a Dao.


    But it was still a little early to discuss that. The Vermillion Bird continued, "This ss me is still far from reaching the First me, but at least you no longer need to worry about the question of controlling this me now."


    "You''re saying I can control it?" Tang Jie said in delight.


    Tang Jie found that he really could control that me, and with a thought, the me merged together with the earlier me formation.


    The Deicide me had always been too tyrannical for him to fully control, so he was delighted that this problem was finally resolved.


    As he wasying down his formation, on the other end, that cultivator waspletely unaware, still waiting for the others to arrive.


    Mou Siming was the first to arrive. Looking at the passage, he asked the Violet Pce cultivator, "Did you go over to check?"


    The Soul Projection cultivator answered, "Sir, I went over and took a look. The exit came out on top of a hill that was surrounded by grasnds. From the terrain, it appeared to be the region Tang Jie was located in."


    "Alright. Let''s see how this brat gets away this time," he said, stepping toward the entrance.


    The cultivator hastily said, "Sir, are you not going to wait for the other Immortals?"


    Mou Siming sinisterly said, "A single Earth Immortal being sent to deal with one Violet Pce cultivator is already an immense honor. Do we need all four at once? This old man can''t ept that disgrace!"


    Ignoring the cultivator, he stepped into the passage.


    The moment he stepped through, his surroundings shifted into a sea of fire.


    Mou Siming had been thrown off by that Violet Pce cultivator''s report. He had expected to appear on a hill with no traps, so he hadn''t even applied a barrier. As a result, he appeared directly in theva, which almost instantly engulfed him.


    Even with his Immortal body and ability to thoughtcast, he was so caught off guard that he was left covered in burns.


    While he quickly used Immortal energy to heal these wounds, the immense pain still had him howling. Only then did he realize that these were no simple mes, and the damage they inflicted was far more serious than he had imagined. Not only had he consumed more Immortal energy than expected, even his Divine Soul had been scorched.


    "Bastard! Ambushes and traps aren''t the acts of a hero!" Mou Siming roared.


    He opened the passage back up and shouted, "Don''te over; there''s an ambush!" Only then did he fly upward.


    But this was a grave mistake.


    If he hadn''t said anything, that Violet Pce cultivator wouldn''t havee over, but his shout made the cultivator think that the battle had already begun.


    This Violet Pce cultivator was a member of the Ster Net Gate, so when his superior was in battle, he had no excuse for standing idle. Moreover, Mou Siming hadn''t given any further detail about the battle, so he didn''t imagine that Mou Siming could be in actual danger. Thus, after some thought, he decided to go against the order and go in to show his concern. Of course, before going in, he messaged everyone else and marked the location down.


    Meanwhile, as Mou Siming shouted, Tang Jie also made his move.


    He hadn''tid down this formation just to give someone a few burns. His eyes brightened as theva surged upward, forming giant pirs of me. In a sh, a cage ofva had been formed around Mou Siming.


    Tang Jie then closed his fist, upon which the cage shrank down and plunged Mou Siming to the bottom of theke ofva. Surges ofva battered against the barrier, attempting to get through, but Mou Siming had plenty of Immortal energy and didn''t mind such attacks. Just when he was going to break out of the cage, Tang Jie pushed his hand down, upon which the hill rumbled and began to sink underground.


    Mou Siming was so angry that his eyes almost burst out of their sockets. "Tang Jie, you bastard! You would use a formation to imprison me!? You can''t kill me, and once I get out of here, you''re dead!!!"


    "I didn''t n to kill you in the first ce," Tang Jie said in scorn.


    Earth specialized in defense while Fire specialized in attack, so he used Earth to imprison and Fire to torment. His goal here was to exhaust the energy of this Immortal, and he had never even considered using these two formations to kill him. It wasn''t impossible, but the costs were too high, only the best formations being able to kill an Earth Immortal. Imprisoning and wearing one down came at a much lower cost.


    As Mou Siming was sinking into the ground, that Violet Pce cultivator from before appeared in the air.


    But he clearly hadn''t expected to appear in the air, so he immediately began to fall.

 Chapter 919: Broken Mirror

    Taken by surprise, the Violet Pce cultivator quickly stabilized himself. Just as he was wondering why the hill had disappeared, Tang Jie used Nearby Horizon to appear at his side.


    Before the cultivator could react, Tang Jie seized him by the throat, upon which the cultivator found that he couldn''t resist.


    Tang Jie said, "How many people came with you, what''s their cultivation level, what treasures did they bring, and what is their objective? If you tell me, I''ll spare your life."


    As he spoke, this cultivator attempted as many as eighteen methods in a row to try and break free, but they all failed. On the contrary, the more he struggled, the tighter the restraint became. After finding that all escape attempts had failed, he finally said in panic, "Five¡­ five people!"


    "Lying will be punished by a severed arm," Tang Jie said, tearing off one of the cultivator''s arms.


    The pain left the cultivator wanting to die, but Tang Jie prevented him from healing the wound. He could only shout, "Nine people! Five Earth Immortals and four True Lords."


    He began to give the name and cultivation level of each person.


    "¡­We came on the orders of our ancestors to interrogate you on the criminal who killed the disciples of our sects," the cultivator fearfully said.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "You think there''s someone behind me?""Only you couldn''t have dealt with so many people."


    Tang Jie coldly replied, "It wouldn''t be harder than dealing with five Earth Immortals."


    The cultivator was stunned. "Could you really have singlehandedly¡­"


    "Correct answer," Tang Jie said, closing his fist and blowing the cultivator to pieces. Before the flesh could fully erupt, he sent the remains through the passage and back to the Yellow Court World.


    It just so happened that the Immortals arrived at this time. One of them reached out, only to grab a corpse in the middle of exploding, which showered them all in gore.


    "Bastard, you dare!" Flowing Wind bellowed in fury.


    He shot a ray of dark light from his finger at Tang Jie, but there was simply a ng as Tang Jie moved to retreat, acting as if nothing had happened.


    "Stay right there!" Jade Truth turned into a beam of light and charged into the passage. But he was much more careful than Mou Siming, applying barriers before entering. Through the passage, he found himself in a deste area, and Tang Jie was in the distance, swiftly flying away.


    "Don''t even think about escaping!" Jade Truth roared, a horsetail whisk appearing in his hand and swinging at Tang Jie. The threads of the whisk grewrger and lengthened, turning into a jade dragon that sought to coil around Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie turned and punched at the whisk dragon, the impact setting off a powerful shockwave. While Tang Jie was knocked back with a groan, the jade dragon was scattered into three thousand threads, though they still sought to coil around Tang Jie.


    This whisk was the divine treasure that Jade Truth usually used as a weapon. Though it wasn''t a Dao armament, it had many wondrous uses.


    As the whisk threads coiled around him, Tang Jie blinked away. At this time, Origin Defender and the me Celestial Sovereign arrived and attacked.


    But as the me Celestial Sovereign was about to attack, Flowing Wind stopped him. "Take him alive!"


    And then his Genesis Cloud extinguished the me Celestial Sovereign''s Origin me.


    At the same time, Origin Defender grabbed at Tang Jie with a draconic w. He hated Tang Jie for forcing him to destroy his Dao armament, so he didn''t hold back. Even if he had to take Tang Jie alive, he was going to heavily injure Tang Jie first.


    Tang Jie simply used Nearby Horizon to dodge.


    "The Dao of Space!" Flowing Wind''s eyes shed.


    He had heard of this kid''s numerous Dao Arts from the me Celestial Sovereign. He hadn''t put much stock in his ims at first, but now it seemed that it was true, and this Space Dao Art was even one of those that the me Celestial Sovereign didn''t know about.


    Even so, he still shouted at Tang Jie, "Tang Jie, hurry and surrender. If you hand over the schemer behind you, we will spare your life on ount of your talent!"


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Sir thinks you can win?"


    Flowing Wind snorted. "You really think you can win against thebined might of five Earth Immortals?"


    Tang Jie coldly said, "When your people tried to take my treasure, they said the same thing, but now they''re all fertilizer for my Yellow Court World. I really have to thank them. Without these two hundred Violet Pce experts, my Yellow Court World would have nevere this far. But it seems that greater glory will require the blood and bone of a few Immortals. I will use your lives to fulfill this."


    As Tang Jie spoke, he presented the crystal ball in his hand.


    The crystal ball spun, and the clear image became muddled once more.


    The two worlds were merging, and as the image in the ball changed, everyone found that the terrain changed with it.


    It was no longer a single world around them, but countless ovepping images resulting from the merging worlds.


    Everything became fantastical in this ovep, and it became impossible to tell what was real and what was fake, what was on the surface and what was beneath.


    This was not a mere image, but reality.


    Strange things appeared on the meadow. A mountain appeared out of nowhere, but only half of it, as if the other half had been lopped off. A river had originally run where the mountain had appeared, and now this river wasing straight out of the mountain, with no sign of its upstream source.


    The river appeared midway, but one could see severalrge fish swimming about the now river-less meadow. Yes, these fish flew through the air as if it was water. As they swam along, the river suddenly reappeared, continuing its winding course.


    In the sky, half a bird was pping its wing, flying through nts and mountains as if they weren''t there.


    "What is this?" everyone asked in unison.


    "Broken Mirror," Tang Jie replied.


    "What?" The answer merely confused them.


    Tang Jie proimed, "The name of this formation is ''Broken Mirror''. I created it myself. Mighty Titans, please point out any mistakes."


    Tang Jie flew away, ignoring the Immortals.


    Just as the Immortals were about to give chase, Flowing Wind shouted, "Don''t move!"


    He took out a talisman and threw it into the air. This talisman turned into a boar and rushed forward. But it didn''t make it far before there was a sh of light, and the boar split into two and reverted back into two halves of a talisman.


    Flowing Wind''s eyes shed with shock, and he shouted, "Spatial fissures! These are spatial fissures! Everyone, don''t make any reckless movements!"

 Chapter 920: First Kill

    ''Broken Mirror''!


    Just as described, this formation was like a broken mirror, the spatial fissures the cracks spread across the ss.


    These fissures were created from the ovep and intersection of two worlds, randomly scattered about and only asionally visible. Only the formationyer knew exactly where they were.


    The moment this formation appeared, Flowing Wind knew that they were in trouble.


    Tang Jie waved his hands, and there was a whistle in the air. A silver wave of light suddenly flew over, and Flowing Wind swiftly evaded, recognizing it to be a spatial fissure.


    Tang Jie was the one who hadid down this Broken Mirror Formation, and it seemed like he could actually control the spatial fissures.


    Stunned, Flowing Wind finally realized that Tang Jie had to be a formation grandmaster. s, this realization hade toote.


    The countless spatial fissures swept toward them like the sharpest des, and even Immortal tform experts could only dodge.


    But Tang Jie began to retreat.His foes were too busy evading the spatial fissures to stop him.


    Perhaps because he was too arrogant, Tang Jie retreated rather slowly.


    Seeing this, Origin Defender roared, "Don''t even think about running!" and chased after Tang Jie. Several spatial fissures immediately shot toward him, slicing him into several chunks. But he instantly put himself back together and continued the chase.


    Having lost his Dao armament, he hated Tang Jie the most, and he was willing to push through any obstacles to capture Tang Jie.


    He extended a hand, and a giant hand appeared in the distance.


    There was a sharp whistle and a sh of light, and a finger fell from that hand. It just so happened that the hand had passed through a spatial fissure, which had cut off one of Origin Defender''s fingers.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "When fighting here, ''bigger'' doesn''t mean ''better''."


    He continued flying away.


    This giant hand ignored all, surging forward, sputtering blood as if it was a boar charging through a forest of spears. In a sh, that domineering hand had been chopped and diced, and by the time it reached Tang Jie, only half of a hand was left.


    Even so, its power could not be underestimated, and as it flew at Tang Jie, Origin Defender thunderously roared, "Die!"


    Tang Jie simply grunted and retreated again, using Nearby Horizon to appear far off in the distance. When his attack missed, Origin Defender simplyshed out again, crazily pursuing Tang Jie with little regard for his body.


    A spatial fissure swept across his palm, cutting it open, but the wound instantly healed, surging Immortal energy even regrowing the lost fingers.


    The two continued their chase and had soon traveled a great distance. Origin Defender was so focused on killing Tang Jie that he utterly ignored the cries from Flowing Wind and the others.


    He was getting closer and closer, and perhaps because Tang Jie had sent most of his spatial fissures to deal with Flowing Wind and the others, he was also encountering fewer of them.


    Origin Defender picked up speed, closing the distance to Tang Jie. Origin Defender roared, "I''m an Immortal, undying and evesting! Your puny tricks are useless against me! Today, I''ll teach you what it means to be an Immortal! Have a taste of my Immemorial Lightning Incantation!"


    As he roared, frenzied bolts of lightning appeared in the air, turning the entire region into a lightning hell.


    These lightning bolts were all golden, and like the Pale Cloud me, they took on the forms of birds, beasts, bugs, and fish. They had a mind of their own and could find their own targets.


    But Tang Jie viewed this all with disdain.


    How could this lightningpare to the Heavenly Tribtion he had encountered in the Martial Lord''s hidden realm?


    The way of the Martial Lord was to grow stronger the longer one fought, and after that Heavenly Tribtion, Tang Jie''s lightning resistance had attained new heights. Origin Defender using lightning on him was simply suicidal.


    Seeing that they were far enough from the others, Tang Jie snorted, "What dogshit Immemorial Lightning Incantation is this? Break!"


    With a roar, he assumed his three-headed, six-armed form. Although he didn''t gigantify his body, he nevertheless exuded a domineering majesty.


    Gazing up at the thunderclouds, he threw out punch after punch, each punch sting through the firmament, and those clouds soon showed signs of dispersing.


    Origin Defender hadn''t expected Tang Jie''s physical strength to be this terrifying, his fists alone enough to destabilize his lightning art. Shocked and enraged, he unleashed his lightning before it had time to fully gather. The golden lightning rained down, sting at Tang Jie''s flesh.


    Tang Jie simplyughed like a madman.


    This lightning brought immense damage, but the greater his wounds, the more power Tang Jie umted.


    Raising his six arms in the face of the lightning, Tang Jie roared, "Taste my attack as well!"


    With a bellow, Tang Jie swung the Sovereign de at Origin Defender.


    He had gathered all his power into the sword, even imbuing it with Origin Defender''s own lightning, and the sword erupted with an overpowering radiance. Origin Defender instantly applied numerous barriers on himself, but in the face of this heaven-shaking strike, all defenses were useless.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    The sword chopped down.


    A line of blood appeared down the center of Origin Defender''s forehead, and then more and more appeared, spreading across his entire body. <em>Boom!</em> Origin Defender exploded into a cloud of flesh and blood.


    "Sess." Tang Jie exhaled.


    His attack just now had seemed simple, but it had actually contained all his strength. Besides that, it had also simted the power of a divine treasure called the Ten Thousand yer Sword, which was said to kill ten thousand times in a single strike.


    The Tang Jie of the past wasn''t capable of this, but since his return from the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, simting all weapons was no longer a problem. He could have the Sovereign de simte any weapon it had shattered at any time.


    Origin Defender hadn''t known of this attribute, so he had been in in a single blow.


    But a momentter, Immortal energy began to gather, consolidating into the form of Origin Defender.

 Chapter 921: Annihilating an Immortal

    As Origin Defender reformed, he looked at Tang Jie in disbelief. "You managed to kill me once!?"


    "Do you find it strange?" Tang Jie smirked.


    "The audacity!" Origin Defender roared. "Autumn Canopy of Nine Dirges, go!"


    He spread out his arms, and his body erupted in threads of yellow and ck that swept toward Tang Jie. Even before they touched him, Tang Jie felt an immense danger from them.


    This manifested as a kind of chill and sorrow that came from the depths of his soul and made his body tremble.


    Tang Jie actually felt helpless before the Autumn Canopy of Nine Dirges.


    He immediately bit his tongue and let out a thunderous roar.


    This roar seemed to twist time and space, swaying the threads of yellow and ck, breaking through the darkness and sweeping away that air of sorrow.


    Tang Jie threw several punches at Origin Defender, the power of the Combat Emperor Catalog making each punch like a shooting star. Origin Defender knew that these punches were not to be trifled with and raised a barrier, but in the face of this terrifying attack, he knew that this wasn''t enough.<em>Boom!</em> The barrier shattered, and Tang Jie''s fist mmed into his cheek and blew away half of his head. A momentter, Origin Defender recovered, but while his physical wounds were gone, his mind remained shaken.


    "How could this be?" he cried out.


    The first time could be written off as carelessness, but just now, he had used his strongest Divine Connection. The Autumn Canopy of Nine Dirges could not only corrode a cultivator''s will to fight, it could also attack and defend. Unless one had a mind and a body that were both as tough as steel, it was very difficult to break through. But Tang Jie had broken it with a single shout.


    "Nothing is impossible. Taste another one of my abilities!" Tang Jie roared, swinging the Sovereign de.


    Origin Defender knew of this de''s sharpness and didn''t dare to take it on directly. Opening his arms, he manifested countless threads to wrap around the Sovereign de, using the soft to counter the hard.


    As that vast cloud of spider threads coiled around the Sovereign de and rendered it immobile, Origin Defender exhaled. "So you were actually a brute! On ount of how youid down that formation, I took you for a meticulous nner, but you were actually one of those reckless barbarians. Now that I know the limits of your strength, let''s see what you can do now! Capture him!"


    Even more white threads shot out from Origin Defender, as if he was a spider.


    These white threads were actually manifested from his Immortal energy and almost unbreakable. After wrapping around the Sovereign de, they proceeded to wrap around Tang Jie, and asyer afteryer covered him, Origin Defender rxed and finally began tough in celebration.


    "Junior, how could a Violet Pce fight with an Immortal? I have an endless number of lives, so I can just try again if I fail,ing at you again and again until you finally fall. But you, even if you''re a dragon among men with a powerful weapon and other such tricks, can''tpare to me and my boundless Immortal might. Just one attack from me is enough to kill you!"


    "Are you done talking?" Tang Jie sneered.


    "Eh?" Origin Defender was taken aback.


    By now, Tang Jie was already wrapped in a cocoon, only his head still free. Suddenly, his eyes erupted with light.


    This light left Origin Defender stunned and with the vague sense that he had made a mistake.


    He heard Tang Jie say, "As you said, you''re an Immortal and have many lives, which makes you hard to kill. But for me, what''s important isn''t how to kill you, but how to kill you in a way that preserves most of my strength. After all, you''re not the only Immortal I n to kill. So¡­ it would be better to save strength and kill you a few less times."


    As Tang Jie spoke, a me erupted from the Sovereign de, which instantly melted away the white threads of Immortal energy tangled around it.


    "How could this be?" Origin Defender cried out in shock. These were made from Immortal energy, so how had Tang Jie so easily burned them away?


    But as he gazed at the mes on the sword, he felt a terrifying destructive energy from them.


    "The power of Destruction!" Origin Defender shrieked.


    He finally understood what had destroyed his white threads. This was the power of Destruction fused together with an exotic me, the power of a Great Dao.


    Although his Immortal threads were strong, they clearly didn''t match the level of a Great Dao, and the power of Destruction specialized in annihtion. As a result, the white threads had simply melted away like snow thrown into a bonfire.


    "No, no!" Origin Defender crazily yelled. He tried to pull back his threads, but it was toote.


    The mes flew off the sword, burning away many of Origin Defender''s threads. At the same time, Tang Jie closed the distance. "Ten Extinctions de, go!"


    The Sovereign de sent out a dragon made from those destructive mes.


    Thepleted Ten Extinctions de was far more powerful and terrifying. With just one swing, it unleashed an unstoppable aura of Destruction!


    Origin Defender did his best to defend himself, but he was cut in half all the same.


    This time, the Sovereign de didn''t simte the Ten Thousand yer Sword. Although that sword was strong, it wasn''t uncounterable, and Origin Defender was bound to be ready for it this time.


    He also had no need to use it.


    As the sword sliced through, Tang Jie had the power of Destruction invade Origin Defender''s entire body and obliterate him. The greater form of the power of Destruction could even obliterate Immortal energy and prevent an Immortal''s resurrection. s, Tang Jie couldn''t do this, but even so, he managed to destroy so much Immortal energy with this attack that he took away at least one extra life, killing Origin Defender twice for the price of one. This together with the white threads that had been burned up meant that Origin Defender had suffered a heavy loss.


    As he was reborn again, he snarled, "There might be Violet Pce cultivators out there who can kill an Immortal tform cultivator, but none that can exterminate an Immortal tform cultivator! You can''t beat me! You can''t!!"


    He rushed at Tang Jie.


    He still thought that he could win.


    Because for him, there was no precedent in the Great Ster Chiliocosm for a Violet Pce cultivator who had ever exterminated an Earth Immortal.


    Origin Defender didn''t believe that this record would be broken with him.


    Tang Jie simply grunted and used the Combat Emperor Catalog. Those punches packed with the power of Destruction instilled fear in Origin Defender''s heart.


    He used all his Divine Connections and treasures, holding nothing back against this man who had killed him twice and made him use almost half of his Immortal energy.


    But the more he fought, the more stunned he was by Tang Jie''s strength. Tang Jie was far stronger than he had ever imagined.


    How could this be the strength of a Violet Pce cultivator?


    His strength surpassed Earth Immortal, surpassed that of most Immortals he had met.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    With another chop of a sword, Origin Defender died and was reborn again.


    Tang Jie remained as terrifying as ever, and Origin Defender finally grew afraid. Shaking off his shock and disbelief, he turned and ran.


    He was running away!


    Tang Jie snorted. "You''re not going anywhere!"


    He gave chase.


    Origin Defender shouted as he fled, "Tang Jie, you can''t exterminate me! There might be Violet Pce cultivators who can kill Immortals, but none that can exterminate Immortals! You can''t do it! You can''t!"


    He flew as quickly as lightning!


    "What a chatterbox." Tang Jie activated Nearby Horizon, appearing in front of Origin Defender and chopping him in half with his sword.


    Origin Defender reformed and fled again, but he could never escape Nearby Horizon.


    With each death, Origin Defender despaired more and more.


    He kept shouting, "Impossible¡­ No Violet Pce can exterminate Immortals¡­ No Violet Pce can exterminate Immortals!!!"


    After another several dozen swings of the sword, Origin Defender crumbled in the wind.


    In the breeze, he struggled to reform himself, still screaming in disbelief, "No¡­ Violet¡­ Pce¡­ can¡­ exterminate¡­ Immortals¡­"


    "There is one that can now," Tang Jie said, waving his hand, shooting off a st of wind that blew apart that human-shaped cloud.


    It didn''t reform this time.

 Chapter 922: Duel

    In the Five Origins Estate, various spatial fissures flew about, turning the entire region into a death zone. Even Earth Immortals had to be careful when moving around here.


    As Flowing Wind''s group advanced, Jade Truth anxiously said, "Just when are we going to escape this damned formation?"


    Flowing Wind looked at the Overflowing Heaven Mirror and replied, "Don''t worry. We''ll be out soon."


    Although his understanding of formations was limited, the Dao of Fate epassed all, and the Overflowing Heaven Mirror could calcte the secrets of the formation. Gradually, they were leaving the main concentration of spatial fissures.


    Jade Truth grumpily said, "''Soon'', ''soon''! That''s what you said a while ago. Just how much longer do we have to travel?"


    Flowing Wind shot him a scornful look and was about to reply when a ripple of Fate energy came from the Overflowing Heaven Mirror. Flowing Wind reached out with his senses and then came to a shuddering halt.


    A cultivator saw him stop and asked, "Sir, did something happen?"


    Flowing Wind stiffly said, "Junior Brother Origin Defender¡­ has been in."


    "What?" everyone said in shock.The me Celestial Sovereign frantically asked, "Was it Tang Jie? Or someone else?"


    Flowing Wind shook his head. "I''m not sure."


    Fate could only give the result, not the reason.


    Jade Truth snarled, "There must be someone else helping him from the shadows!"


    No matter what, he would never believe that Tang Jie was this powerful.


    Thousands of years of inertia made everyone think this way, and even Flowing Wind didn''t think Tang Jie was capable of this. Only the me Celestial Sovereign felt like Tang Jie might have done it. When he was chasing Tang Jie, Tang Jie had already disyed a transcendent strength that was enough for him to fight with an Earth Immortal, and he didn''t even have Nearby Horizon at the time. Tang Jie had clearly grown stronger since then, and this was his territory, so in a one-versus-one, Tang Jie really might have been able to do it.


    This thought filled the me Celestial Sovereign with fear.


    Flowing Wind said, "Everyone, be careful. Whether he did it or someone else, what''s certain is that he currently doesn''t have the strength to deal with all of us, which is why he''s thinking of ways to split us apart. Try and stick together."


    These people were all Titans who would make an entire region tremble in awe, but now they were being forced to group together because of a single Violet Pce expert. The thought of it was humiliating.


    The irascible Jade Truth was the first to grow sick of it. He shouted, "Tang Jie, get out here! If you''re a man, don''t hide in your formation like a turtle! Come out and fight!"


    Tang Jie replied, "You brought five Immortal tform and four Violet Pce cultivators toe and find me, and I didn''t even say anything, just used a small formation, and that makes me not a man? Ridiculous!"


    The voice came from all around so that they couldn''t tell where he was.


    Jade Truth, "Come out and I''ll have a duel with you!"


    "If you want to fight me alone, I wee it, but I''m afraid yourpanions won''t agree," Tang Jie answered.


    "How are they not willing? You just need to not have anyone else lying in wait to ambush me!"


    Tang Jie immediately replied, "If that''s the case, then you can have yourpanions wait here while I lead you out of the formation to fight with me. Do you dare ept?"


    The Immortals looked at each other.


    Flowing Wind shouted, "How can we know that you''re not lying? What if you have people outside in hiding? Won''t doing this be walking right into your trap?"


    "That''s right!" the me Celestial Sovereign agreed. "The death of Origin Defender is proof."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "You definitely wouldn''t believe it if I said that I killed Origin Defender all by myself. Why don''t we do this? I''ll swear an oath on the Heavenly Dao that I will have a fair match with Jade Truth. At the same time, I will use the Water Curtain art to disy my match with him to serve as proof. What do you think?"


    They were all taken aback by this proposal. Had Tang Jie really killed an Earth Immortal all by himself?


    Jade Truth shook his head. "No, this is impossible. He''s lying to try and scare us."


    While it might be a lie, it does present an opportunity," Flowing Wind muttered.


    "What do you mean?" Jade Truth asked.


    Flowing Wind told everyone, "I have a method that allows me to peer across space such that if Tang Jie does y the scene of his battle, I can trace it back and find his real location."


    "Seriously?" Jade Truth said in delight.


    "Of course. But it needs some time, and I don''t know if Brother Jade Truth can¡­"


    Jade Truth immediately understood what he meant, coldly chuckling. "You think I wouldn''t be able tost a few rounds against this brat?"


    Flowing Wind smiled. "Brother Jade Truth, don''t misunderstand. I''m just wondering if that Tang Jie might y a trick."


    Jade Truth proudly answered, "Even if he''s yed a trick and has several Earth Immortals waiting to ambush me, so long as there''s no True Immortal, I canst for half a day without a problem."


    He took out a snow-colored robe, which had the Taiji diagram woven on the back, the flowing Dao Runes upon it indicating its nature.


    This was Jade Truth''s pseudo¨CDao armament. It was purely defensive, which was why Jade Truth dared to make such a im.


    Flowing Wind smiled. "If that''s the case, then I will leave this task to you, Brother."


    He bowed to Jade Truth.


    Laughing, Jade Truth shouted, "Tang Jie, I agree to your terms. Transmit the image!"


    "Okay!" Tang Jie agreed.


    A painting scroll appeared in the sky, showing Tang Jie standing. At the same time, the spatial fissures harrying the Immortals spread apart to open a path.


    "Immortal Elder Jade Truth, pleasee along this path. The rest of you will wait here," Tang Jie said, after which he made his Heavenly Dao Oath.


    Seeing this, Jade Truth turned to Flowing Wind and said, "I''ll be waiting for all of you outside."


    Flowing Wind answered, "Sir, please be at ease."


    He bowed to Jade Truth again, which left him very satisfied, and he departed with augh.


    In doing so, he missed the cold glint in Flowing Wind''s eyes.


    The me Celestial Sovereign sighed. "With a major foe before us, why bring ourselves more trouble?"


    Flowing Wind lightly nced at him and said, "Jade Truth, that buffoon, has offended me many times before this, and I truly do want an opportunity to kill him. But I wasn''t lying just now. If Tang Jie transmits his image over, I have the means of finding him."


    "But you''re the one who decides when to go and find him, right? Regardless, Brother Origin Defender is already dead. Whether Tang Jie did it alone or with a group, it proves that the enemy has the ability to kill an Earth Immortal. Having him go in such circumstances is too risky."


    Flowing Wind indifferently replied, "This was his own decision. What does it have to do with me? I only need to see the truth. If his strength iscking and he''s killed, that''s his own problem, not mine."


    Flowing Wind shot a bolt of energy at that painting scroll, and his mirror shed with light as it began to calcte Tang Jie''s position.


    The me Celestial Sovereign chuckled.


    Flowing Wind wanted Jade Truth dead, but didn''t he want them dead as well?

 Chapter 923: Interference

    "I didn''t think he would reallye out," the Vermillion Bird said as she looked up at the image in the sky.


    Jade Truth had already appeared before Tang Jie, even exchanging a few words with him before their bout, but there was no sound to be heard. It wasn''t because Tang Jie didn''t have the ability to transmit sound, but because he wasn''t willing. He wouldn''t do anything that he hadn''t promised to.


    Xu Miaoran smiled. "The Heaven''s Equal Sect and Ster Net Gate don''t exactly get along. They''ve fought against each other for domination of the Vast Wilderness Continent for ten thousand years. While they seem to get along, they would never actually be willing to peacefully work together. If that Jade Truth wishes to see his death, my husband is happy to send him on his way."


    "But in this way, Tang Jie''s strength will bepletely exposed before the others," the Vermillion Bird replied.


    "But they have to be able to see it first," Xu Miaoran giggled. She produced a crystal ball in her hand, one exactly like the one Tang Jie had been holding.


    At this time, Jade Truth swung his whisk at Tang Jie, signaling the start of the battle.


    Xu Miaoran stroked a finger over the crystal ball, upon which ck fog began to appear within.


    At the same time, the me Celestial Sovereign and the others who were focused on the battle found themselves surrounded in the same ck fog.


    The me Celestial Sovereign bellowed, "Tang Jie, you liar! You said that you would let us see the battle!"A pleasant voice trilled, "What a load of dummies! Big Brother said he would let you observe the battle through the Water Curtain, but he didn''t say anything about not attacking you. So long as you can survive the Heaven Earth Reversal Five Elements Formation, everyone can observe the battle as much as they want, and Big Brother won''t do anything to stop you."


    As she spoke, the ck fog rushed at them, bringing with it a vast killing intent.


    "''The Heaven Earth Reversal Five Elements Formation''?" Flowing Wind grimaced at this name.


    He had heard of this formation before. It was a lethal formation from High Antiquity, said to possess the power to execute Immortals and vanquish devils.


    But a momentter, he shouted, "Don''t believe him! A Violet Pce expert can''t haveid down this formation alone, and if he really did manage toy down this formation, he wouldn''t have needed to wait around for so long. He would have just activated the formation and killed us!"


    Everyone realized the problem with the words from before.


    One of them attacked the ck fog, and there really was no reaction. This ck fog seemed to exist only to obscure their vision, so they ignored it and continued to observe the battle in the sky. The ck fog used this chance to draw closer and closer, and once it was close enough, it suddenly erupted with thousands of ck chains that shot at the group.


    Caught off guard, a Violet Pce expert was ensnared by three chains and pulled into the fog. A terrible scream came from the fog that made everyone''s blood run cold.


    A person asked, "What''s going on? Wasn''t it supposed to be fake?"


    An idea suddenly urred to Flowing Wind, and he shouted, "The Thousand Chains Thresher Formation! This is the Thousand Chains Thresher Formation! Everyone, be careful! Don''t let the fog touch you!"


    Yiyi''s voice rang out once more. "Heheh, just like Big Brother said. The moment I mentioned the Five Elements Formation, these people would fall for their own cleverness and take the bait, and they would stop paying attention to the fog. And the more you make them not see the battle, the more they want to look, which makes them neglect the danger around them. In truth, what does it matter that they get to see? Once they''re all dead, who can know about Big Brother''s secrets?"


    Flowing Wind and the me Celestial Sovereign were so enraged that their eyes almost popped out of their sockets.


    The Thousand Chains Thresher Formation wasn''t usually hard to deal with. While it was very powerful, it was inflexible and took a long time to charge. So long as it was scattered before it could fully take form, the formation would be broken. But they had fallen for Yiyi''s words and mistakenly believed that the fog was just meant to distract them, which gave the formation time to charge.


    With the Thousand Chains assembled, it continued to assail the cultivators. The me Celestial Sovereign scowled and sent out his Origin mes.


    But these ck chains were made from the fog, and his Origin mes were unable to burn them away. More and more chains erupted out of the fog, giving the cultivators no time to observe the battle in the sky.


    Seeing the situation worsen, Flowing Wind shouted and threw out his Genesis Cloud. As the cloud churned, all the ck chains it encountered dissolved back into fog.


    Just like that, the Thousand Chains Thresher Formation was undone.


    Flowing Wind called back his cloud and grunted, "You think a mere Thousand Chains Formation can do anything to me?"


    The ck fog assembled into Yiyi''s head, and the little girl put a hand over her mouth and feigned shock. "Wow! So powerful! Big Brother needed a lot of effort toy down this Thousand Chains Formation, and even an Earth Immortal wouldn''t have an easy time of it. I didn''t think you would break it with a single move."


    Flowing Wind snorted. "Now that you know my power, submit or die!"


    Yiyi suddenly smiled. "Look¡ªJade Truth is dead!"


    Everyone raised their heads in shock and saw that Jade Truth was still locked in fiercebat with Tang Jie and very much alive and well.


    The fog suddenly rushed forward.


    The crafty little girl had seized this chance for an ambush.


    Flowing Wind noticed in time and grunted, "Trying to stage aeback?"


    He chopped a palm at the ck fog.


    But to his surprise, this palm stirred up great ripples, and then they heard a buzzing from the fog, and countless ck flies emerged.


    Yiyiughed. "Be careful! These are the metal soulbugs, unique to the Yellow Court World. They''re savage little fellows, and if they bite you, you might end up in pain for three days."


    This time, Yiyi wasn''t lying. The metal soulbugs were born in the metal season of the Yellow Court World. Naturally gifted in the Metal Element, they possessed exceptionally tough bodies and the ability to pierce through armor and energy, so ordinary barriers were useless against them. Tang Jie had raised them over several generations to enhance their special traits, but s, the breeding process was not entirely sessful. At this time, they still couldn''t recognize their master and acted entirely on instinct. Moreover, they had ratherzy natures and weren''t particrly aggressive. However, they had a strong tendency for revenge and would hunt down anyone who dared to provoke them.


    This was why Yiyi had used the Thousand Chains Formation first and then the bugs, baiting Flowing Wind into attacking them.


    Unaware of what was going on, Flowing Wind had naturally fallen for it.


    This was the advantage of a small world. It had things unique to it, including its own unique species. Nobody understood what they could do or what use they had except the master of this world.


    A monstrous flood of bugs blotted out the sky as they crazily rushed at Flowing Wind''s group.


    Yiyi pped her hands andughed. "Fun, fun! Make sure you handle them properly! Big Brother prepared more than thirteen hundred kinds of animals for this battle and forty-some kinds of formations. You have to hold on! It''s not fun if you can''t hold out until Big Brother can use all his cards, and all those days we prepared would have been a waste!"


    Everyone was stunned, nobody knowing if she was telling the truth or not.


    Suddenly, Yiyi shouted in surprise, "Oh no! Jade Truth was killed by Big Brother."


    Having fallen for itst time, nobody looked up.


    Yiyi pouted. "Hey, I''m telling the truth this time. Just look up and see."


    Finally, someone decided to look up.


    What he saw made his heart go cold. In the sky, Jade Truth was gushing blood. He had been chopped in half and his head sent flying into the sky.


    Tang Jie''s callous voice rang out: "Second match, First Blood!"

 Chapter 924: Predicament

    Nobody had seen how Jade Truth had died.


    But they had at least confirmed one thing. Tang Jie had killed Jade Truth using his own strength.


    Together with Origin Defender''s death, everyone came to the terrifying realization that reality had developed in the worst direction¡ªthew that had stood for thousands of years had been overturned, and a new miracle was being born.


    s, the role they yed in this process was not the creator of the miracle, but the stepping stone.


    The me Celestial Sovereign felt fear and panic, as he found that the position of hunter and prey had been reversed. Tang Jie was now the hunter, not them!


    Calmly and patiently, using the terrain, he was hunting them down, one by one.


    <em>No, this can''t be real!</em> the me Celestial Sovereign inwardly bellowed. He harnessed all his Origin mes and burned up all the metal soulbugs, causing their carcasses to fall from the sky.


    But Yiyi then unleashed a new set of animals. These were rainbow spotted toads that spat out a colored gas that one could instantly tell was toxic. But when they directly interacted with it, they found that the toxicity was pitifully low. On the other hand, their croaks had the ability to attack the soul directly. One toad''s Divine Soul attack was naturally insignificant, but thousands of toads attacking together and empowered by a formation couldn''t be ignored. The Origin mes once more swept out, obliterating those toads.


    Right after they had finished the toads, Yiyi threw out another lot. As the previous pack was killed, another was released, and with a small world backing her, Yiyi had an endless number of strange creatures to pick from. Some of them were in forms that they recognized, like toads, snakes, and giant mosquitoes, but there were also two-headed rainbow bugs, finned fishes that flew onnd, trees with ghost faces, and a bizarre transparent creature that could reflect all light.While these strange creatures weren''t very strong, their various entricities created many problems.


    As more and more animals appeared, their surroundings also constantly shifted, going from cantankerous thunderstorms to searing droughts. They were battered here and there by lightning, sandstorms, hail, mes, frost des, and even a sea of blood.


    Formations alongside exotic beasts made for a terrifyingly powerfulbination, and the fiends and creatures Yiyi threw out were only getting stronger and stronger. In front of Earth Immortals, their power was limited, as they could be eliminated with the wave of a hand, but it still required that "wave of a hand."


    It seemed like Yiyi really did have more than a thousand kinds of creatures and several dozen formations.


    Although it was impossible for tricks of this level to exhaust them, with them being capable ofsting more than a year at this intensity, Yiyi''s intention wasn''t to grind them down, but to buy time.


    In that image in the sky, Tang Jie was on a Killing Spree¡ªJade Truth had died two more times.


    They hadn''t been able to see what had happened the second time, but during the third time, they finally saw something.


    A sword!


    It was a shing golden sword that created hundreds of illusory swords in the sky that poured down like a waterfall, engulfing Jade Truth. And thus, Jade Truth died.


    The defensive robe he had worn, the Imperishable Law Robe, had been sliced and diced into shreds.


    The Imperishable Dao Robe actually was not a purely defensive Dao armament. Its Dao was Life, and a spirit dwelled within the robe that could use the Great Dao to constantly regenerate. Even though it couldn''t stop Tang Jie''s Skyrend Swordfall, it coulde back again and again. While it did have some defensive ability, it was all too fragile in front of Tang Jie''s Sovereign de and ughter Dao Art, so it joined its master in dying and being reborn again.


    As the cultivators watched on in shock, Yiyi continued to happily throw out a random mishmash of things.


    The me Celestial Sovereign frantically asked, "How have you not found that little bastard yet?"


    Flowing Wind shook his head. "She''s in that small world and using a spatial passage to release all these strange things at us, which is why I haven''t been able to trace her so far. But don''t panic. I''m in the middle of calctions right now, and I will soon be able to find that girl."


    He was right on the mark. Yiyi was in the Yellow Court World, and with her were Ice Phoenix, He Chong, Duan Fourth, and Deng Yuqing. Behind them, a formation was drawing vast numbers of exotic beasts into a spatial passage.


    Floating above them was another crystal which disyed Flowing Wind and the others.


    Although Yiyi wasughing and giggling to tease those cultivators, she actually had a very serious expression. She was well aware that fooling several Earth Immortals, particrly one proficient in the Dao of Fate, was extremely difficult.


    She was mocking them, poking fun at them, throwing out various kinds of exotic creatures, and activating formations all for the sake of confusing their senses and forcing them to be cautious. If she made the slightest mistake, Flowing Wind might be able to sense her location, and a single attack would be enough to kill all of them.


    As Duan Fourth let out a cloud of fog grasshoppers, Yiyi suddenly felt a strange energy traveling along the passage.


    Grimacing, she said, "Not good! He found the passage."


    She pped her hand on the passage, instantly destroying it. She then waved her hand, summoning a new one.


    Tang Jie had prepared ten-some passages and used a secret art to conceal them so that they could be rotated through. Once one was discovered, it was destroyed.


    This was the fifth that Flowing Wind had discovered, and Yiyi still had twelve she could use, which was theoretically enough. But Yiyi sensed a hidden threat¡ªas Flowing Wind grew more and more familiar with Yiyi''s methods, he found the passages faster and faster. Currently, the me Celestial Sovereign and the others had taken on the task of breaking the formations and killing fiends while Flowing Wind focused solely on finding the passages.


    This allowed him to slowly get immersed in his work and find passages faster.


    Not only that, this guy also used schemes against schemes. He freely released his energy in every direction, so that it might creep into a passage even if he hadn''t found it yet, at which point Yiyi might sense Flowing Wind''s energy and destroy the passage, reducing the amount of work he needed to do.


    Yiyi sensed that this might be a trick from Flowing Wind, but she had no choice but to respond this way. After all, the one time it was real could result in disastrous consequences.


    Time passed, and the number of passages continued to fall.


    In the sky, Tang Jie was already at Rampage, but seven of the passages had been lost.


    Yiyi didn''t know how much longer Jade Truth couldst, but she had to hold on. If Flowing Wind got out, then he would ruin Tang Jie''s n to kill another Immortal. If Jade Truth got a chance to catch his breath, all their previous effort would be for naught.


    Thus, Yiyi had to focus even more.


    Flowing Wind smiled. "The mocking has decreased while the creatures have grown stronger. s, seeing as there are no more new tricks, it seems that she''s running out of ideas."


    The me Celestial Sovereign said, "But Brother Jade Truth might not be able tost much longer!"


    "Even better," Flowing Wind casually said. "My Heaven''s Equal Sect has lost one person, so why shouldn''t the Ster Net Gate? And don''t we also have Sir Mou?"


    "We don''t even know if he''s alive!"


    Flowing Wind answered, "He''s still alive. His light can still be found on the Web of Fate. He has been temporarily imprisoned by a formation and two women. But it won''t be long before he escapes¡­ perhaps even before us."

 Chapter 925: Pill Master

    "Awooo!" Mou Siming let out a mighty howl.


    His body was bound in thick chains.


    These were Chains of Earth, chains created with soil through the power of the Earth Dao, making them exceptionally tough.


    And around him, numerous mes threatened to engulf him.


    A single spark from these mes could turn the skies crimson for a thousand kilometers, but here, when gathered to burn a single person, they couldn''t even get close to him.


    A faint white light circled around Mou Siming, preventing those mes from getting closer. Not only that, the white light was expanding, slowly pushing back the mes.


    Even the Chains of Earth were beginning to creak.


    This wasn''t because the power of Earth was not powerful enough. Normally, only another Great Dao power could effectively break them. But all Great Dao powers shared amon weakness: the person that used them.


    Dao power was limitless, but humans were limited.This was the method the Daoless had for breaking Daos, just like how the Jewel Immortal Sovereign had used quantity to ovee the quality of Tang Jie''s Infinite Pce.


    As for right now, Tang Jie wasn''t some master of the Earth Element, and he wasn''t even present, so he had limited ability to maintain the power, which gave Mou Siming the opportunity. If the two women nearby weren''t doing their utmost to maintain the power, he might have already escaped.


    "Oh no! This guy is getting stronger and stronger. I''m about to reach my limit," the Vermillion Bird said as she controlled the mes.


    "Hold on a little longer. Tang Jie''s about to kill that bastard." Xu Miaoran had the crystal ball which let her see what was going on outside. At this moment, she was constantly forming hand signs to maintain the cage.


    Mou Siming growled, "You two silly girls dare to oppose me? Once I get out of here, I''ll kill you all!"


    Energy erupted from his body, pushing back the cage of earth and mes some more.


    Seeing this, Xu Miaoran clenched her teeth and took out a small blue bottle. She tipped a pill out and swallowed it down, upon which her body instantly began to radiate an immense energy.


    "This is¡­" Mou Siming was stunned. "The Astral Origin Spirit Pill?"


    The Astral Origin Spirit Spill was abat pill that gave one''s cultivation a huge temporary boost. It was extremely valuable in battle, but it was also extremely difficult to refine, requiring both numerous high-ss materials and an excellent pill refiner.


    Mou Siming was momentarily dumbfounded at the fact that Xu Miaoran would have such a pill.


    Xu Miaoran had made it herself.


    Thanks to the inter-domain trade, over thest several hundred years, Xu Miaoran''s pill refining capabilities had rapidly progressed, and she had long ago be the top pill master of the Rosecloud Domain. Even in the Vast Wilderness Continent, there were few who couldpete with her skill.


    Although the Martial Lord''s hidden realm had been destroyed, the Yellow Court World had reced it. While several hundred years had passed on the outside, through the formation, this had been turned into several thousand years, giving her ess to many thousand-year spirit nts. This included some spirit nts that had been moved over from the Martial Lord''s hidden realm.


    With both the appropriate skill and resources, Xu Miaoran began to finally reveal her power as a pill master, refining all kinds of rare medicines, one of them being this Astral Origin Spirit Pill. But even with her resources, Xu Miaoran had only been able to refine three, and she had given one each to Tang Jie and Yiyi.


    Xu Miaoran was at Deification, and after taking this medicine, her strength rose all the way to the peak of Soul Projection. She and the Vermillion Bird, who was half-Immortal, were able to push Mou Siming back together.


    Mou Siming furiously roared, "Trying to suppress this old man after taking only one pill? Naive! Break!!!"


    With a roar, his body exploded with even more light that once more pushed back the cage.


    "If one isn''t enough, I''ll take more!" Xu Miaoran harrumphed. Another bottle appeared in her hand, and she immediately downed the pill inside.


    Through her normal pill refining, she had umted numerous medicines. Some were used for cultivation, and others were used forbat. Tang Jie normally didn''t like taking medicine for fighting, so she had kept them for herself. She normally didn''t use them, but when she did, she used them in vast quantities, letting someone fully experience how terrifying it could be when a top-ss pill master went absolutely crazy.


    Xu Miaoran''s body raged with terrifying energy that poured out to suppress Mou Siming, so much so that he was rendered immobile.


    He cried out in fear, "Crazy woman! You''re crazy!"


    Pills weren''t talismans. Eating so much could easily cause damage to oneself, with consequences ranging from energy corruption to death.


    But Xu Miaoran ate them without any regard for the bacsh, the medicinal power rampaging out of her body and forming a howling tsunami of energy. As the filter, Xu Miaoran was like a small dam, and the slightest mistake could cause the dam to copse and her to die.


    Yet Xu Miaoran stood strong. As a pill master, nobody understood this medicinal power more than she did. Swimming in that sea of energy, she never faltered, sending out wave after wave from her body to rush at Mou Siming.


    In truth, Mou Siming was sharing the burden of power with her. If he gave up resistance, Xu Miaoran''s power would have nowhere to go, and her life would be in danger. However, he was unaware, unable, and unwilling to give up resistance. His instinct as an Immortal told him that he needed to break out of this cage to recover his dignity and rescue Jade Truth¡ªTang Jie was on the verge of reaching Godlike.


    But Jade Truth also wasn''t that easy to deal with, with his own tricks and also his defensive pseudo¨CDao armament. Although these things seemed unable to stop Tang Jie''s attack, in reality, Tang Jie needed to expend some effort each time.


    Thus, Mou Siming couldn''t give up. As the three people struggled on and the medicinal power continued to rush out of Xu Miaoran''s body in the form of energy, not only did she not fall, her eyes grew brighter and brighter, and a special aura began to emerge in her body. Xu Miaoran''s cultivation level was visibly increasing.


    Even the Vermillion Bird was startled. "You advanced?"


    Xu Miaoran smiled. "Not yet, but the surge of medicinal power widened my meridians."


    Horizon Ocean Pavilion had been able to be one of the top sects of the Rosecloud Domain, so it had just as many secret arts and techniques as the Basking Moon Sect. One of its mantras was called The Sea and Sky as One. This was a special spell for guiding the flow, which Horizon Ocean Pavilion had given a pretty name. This spell art could guide spiritual energy to widen the spirit meridians, increasing the recovery speed and ease of use of spiritual energy. It sounded ordinary, but it was actually a formidable secret art. It was just that expanding the spirit meridians took far too much spiritual energy, and one needed at least three Violet Pce experts assisting on the side.


    Xu Miaoran had reached the same result through sheer quantity of medicines, guiding the flood of energy to widen her meridians and sending the rest at her enemy to bear, wasting nothing.


    As this was her first time doing this, Xu Miaoran hadn''t been sure it would actually work, but it appeared that her gamble had paid off.


    If Tang Jie had known about this, he definitely wouldn''t have approved. However, Xu Miaoran had had enough of sitting on the sidelines while Tang Jie fought, and she was willing to take risks to grow stronger.


    Meanwhile, Mou Siming had started to panic now that his counterattack had been pushed back.


    He opened his mouth and spat out a small silver ring which flew at the cage.


    "Starshatter Ring, destroy it!!!"

 Chapter 926: Jadefication

    In the Five Origins Estate, Jade Truth was still fighting with Tang Jie, but he was no longer as arrogant as before. On the contrary, his eyes were full of fear.


    While the first death could be written off as carelessness and the second death as good luck on his opponent''s part, the third and fourth deaths were rather hard to exin. His mind was somewhat unable to handle what had happened, and he could only shout "How?" over and over. After the fifth and sixth deaths, his mind finally cleared, and he began to reluctantly ept the reality that he couldn''t beat Tang Jie.


    A mighty Earth Immortal like him couldn''t beat Tang Jie!


    How could this be?


    But the following two deaths proved this fact. Even though Jade Truth used all his strength, he still couldn''t prevent his defeat.


    Thus, after the seventh and eighth deaths, Jade Truth finally went from astonishment, anger, panic, and disbelief to fear.


    The fear of oblivion!


    He was well aware of how much Immortal energy he had used in this battle and how many more times he could be reborn.


    Only two more times!After two more times, he would be utterly dead.


    Jade Truth no longer wanted to keep fighting. He began to retreat, waving his horsetail whisk and stirring up powerful gales to stop Tang Jie from getting closer. These winds contained mouths that bit and tore, could tear to shreds anything that entered them.


    Tang Jie charged forward without a care.


    He let the bitter frost st his face, the des bite into his body, the mes roast his flesh, the poison seep into his skin, the cold stab into his bones. As the storm tore away at his body, new flesh grew in its ce, recovering at least as quickly as an Earth Immortal could. He raised the Sovereign de and once more swung it at Jade Truth.


    Jade Truth had already experienced the power of the Sovereign de and knew that it could ignore defenses. Not daring to take the attack, he retreated as quickly as he could. But no matter how far he fled, if Tang Jie unleashed that waterfall of swords, he would have nowhere to run.


    The biggest difference between the Dao of ughter and the Dao of Destruction was that the former was the process and thetter was the result. When ughter was used, it was like the god of death swinging their scythe. Nobody could avoid it, not even Earth Immortals, so there was no evading Skyrend Swordfall. Although a ughter Dao Art didn''t have the same effect of termination as a Destruction Dao Art, bringing death to all who were struck, Tang Jie could deal so much damage to Jade Truth with each use that it ultimately led to Jade Truth''s death.


    He chased right after Jade Truth, and no matter how fast Jade Truth was, he couldn''t outrun Nearby Horizon.


    As one wave of sword energy after another came down, Jade Truth inwardly groaned and cursed over the fact that Flowing Wind and the others still hadn''te to support him.


    If he were just given a little time to rest, he could rapidly recover the Immortal energy he had used.


    So long as there was Immortal energy, an Immortal would not die!


    But Tang Jie wasn''t giving him this chance, each attacking right on the heels of the previous one.


    Just a little!


    Just a little!


    All that awaited him was a savage blow from Tang Jie''s sword that once more turned Jade Truth to dust.


    Immortal energy gathered, and Jade Truth was reborn once more. Before Tang Jie could attack, he shouted, "Brother Tang, we can talk about this!"


    "Now I''m your brother?" Tang Jie snorted as he once more unleashed Skyrend Swordfall.


    Tang Jie knew his condition best, and dealing with an Earth Immortal in prime condition was no easy task. To kill Jade Truth, Tang Jie had used everything he had. The Imperishable Law Robe had limited the usefulness of the Ten Extinctions de, so he had been forced to repeatedly use Skyrend Swordfall, which severely depleted his ughter Dao power. He was now running very low, and without Skyrend Swordfall, it would be very hard to deal with this Earth Immortal.


    Tang Jie was able to annihte Earth Immortals at Violet Pce thanks to his tough body and numerous Great Dao Arts. These were his foundation, but Dao power was not endless, and the constant fighting had eaten away at this base.


    This was why Tang Jie could not let Jade Truth go. Any chance he had to catch his breath meant restored Immortal energy, and if he umted enough, it was another chance to be reborn.


    Thus, he attacked with all his might, waves of sword energy throwing up rains of blood as they swept over Jade Truth.


    "Awooo!" Jade Truth howled. "You go too far! Let my body be the Yellow Springs!"


    As he roared and moved his arms, the blood gushing out of his body turned into savage ghosts that lunged at Tang Jie.


    "Nothing more than some cheap tricks!" Tang Jie could tell from the fact that Jade Truth was using Ghost Dao spell arts that he was at his limit. With a snap of his fingers, he summoned Little Three, who proceeded to devour the blood ghosts while Tang Jie continued to charge at Jade Truth.


    "Hurry up and help me¡­ May the eternal will of the heavens protect my spirit! Heavenly Jadefication!" In panic, Jade Truth pped the top of his head, and his soul emerged from his body, appearing as a fair-faced boy with red lips. This was Jade Truth''s True God, evolved from his Divine Soul after he had attained Earth Immortal.


    The moment the boy opened his eyes, Tang Jie felt the air around him solidify, and he could no longer move. Immense pressure surrounded Tang Jie on all sides, attempting to tten him. As that boy''s eyes shone with a divine radiance, the entire region started to possess a crystalline luster.


    This was Jade Truth''s Supreme Divine Connection, Heavenly Jadefication.


    Divine Connections had two meanings. The first was the Divine Will linking to the world to create supreme arts, which was the level of Divine Connection that Tang Jie possessed. But the second was when an Immortal used a True God''s power. This was called a Supreme Divine Connection, also known as an Immortal Art.


    Immortal Arts could normally only be used at the level of a True Immortal, but a few powerful Earth Immortals could barely manage it.


    Jade Truth had been secretly able to use this Supreme Divine Connection for many years. When it was used, the entire world would be as he envisioned, turned into jade.


    Not even Tang Jie could escape, sealed within.


    Wiping the blood from his mouth, Jade Truth snarled, "I can''t believe you forced me to use this move! Die!"


    He thrust a hand at Tang Jie''s head.


    "Big Brother!" Yiyi shouted in rm.


    Flowing Wind heard this shout, and his eyes opened wide. "Over there!"


    He pointed at a distant point in space, and a sharp bolt of energy shot through the passage. With his peak Earth Immortal power, only one strike was needed to obliterate Yiyi.


    At the same time, Mou Siming spat out that small silver ring, which mmed into his cage and smashed it open. The earth shuddered as Mou Siming broke free and triumphantly crowed, "Juniors, you dared to imprison me? Die!"


    His hands formed into hooks and swung at the heads of Xu Miaoran and the Vermillion Bird.

 Chapter 927: Instant Kill

    The tables had instantly turned.


    Although the shift had taken ce across the three battlefields at the same time, it was Tang Jie who reacted the fastest.


    As Jade Truth''s hand pressed toward Tang Jie, a power that could rend open the skies gathered in his palm, as he nned to obliterate Tang Jie with one strike.


    Just when his attack was about tond, Tang Jie suddenly shouted, "Fixate!"


    Through the power of Law Speaking, Jade Truth froze, his hand stuck in ce, and even Flowing Wind was paralyzed, unable to continue his attack. However, the bolt of energy he had already fired continued to shoot toward Yiyi.


    "Out of the way!" At this moment, a figure charged out from the side and pushed Yiyi aside, their body exuding an astonishing amount of energy that drew the bolt of energy toward them.


    It was Deng Yuqing!


    A momentter, the st pierced through his body like a beam of light.


    Deng Yuqing''s body froze, and he looked at Yiyi and tried to say something, but in the end, he failed to speak.<em>Bang!</em> His body exploded into dust.


    "Aaaah!" Yiyi screamed.


    A giant fist of energy descended from the sky, striking the passage and shattering it, preventing Flowing Wind from making any more attacks. This was Tang Jie''s work. He had sensed something wrong down below and sacrificed the initiative in his own battle to save Yiyi.


    This made him lose out on the chance to catch his breath provided by Fixate.


    Jade Truth''s wed hand broke through the paralysis to reach Tang Jie, unleashing the unprecedented power contained between its fingers. "DIE!"


    Just as he was about to obliterate Tang Jie, he found himself slowing down.


    It was an attack with all his strength behind it, but his Immortal energy was flowing and changing several dozen times slower than normal. Jade Truth could even see the Immortal energy flowing through his body, which was extremely rare.


    Observing how his Immortal energy flowed and changed even enlightened him. If he had time, he could even use his insights to bring his Heavenly Jadefication to a new level.


    But in the end, he didn''t get this chance.


    As he slowed down, Tang Jie grew faster.


    As the five fingers dug into his body, about to unleash their energy, Tang Jie was able to do numerous things.


    He first shouted, "Break", "Shake", "Shatter", and "Open" with Law Speaking, finally loosening the Heavenly Jadefication a little. After this, he opened his Celestial Eye and activated his Dao Realm.


    Through the Celestial Eye, Tang Jie was able to identify the weakest part of the Heavenly Jadefication, after which he used six strikes of the Combat Emperor Catalog in a row. Under this furious barrage, the heavens shattered, and Tang Jie finally broke free.


    He didn''t leave, instead splitting into two. The original body remained in ce to draw Jade Truth''s attention, taking on his w, while the avatar moved to his back and swung the Sovereign de at his neck.


    All this could happen in an instant thanks to Split-Second Youth.


    Split-Second Youth had slowed down Jade Truth''s time and elerated Tang Jie''s time. This allowed him to use Law Speaking, the Celestial Eye, and the Combat Emperor Catalog, and then divide himself into two.


    Finally, after a "long" charge-up, Jade Truth had finished gathering up energy, and the flow of his time returned to normal. His hand erupted with a blinding light that sted open Tang Jie''s stomach. But at the same time, he felt danger from behind him.


    Looking back, he saw the shining Sovereign de. Aghast, he tried to run, but Tang Jie''s original body held him fast. A golden wave swept over him, obliterating Jade Truth.


    Obliterated with him was Tang Jie''s original body, Jade Truth''s terrifying strike shattering that mighty figure.


    A momentter, the original body began to reform.


    The Immortal Spirit Body, an evesting body!


    As Tang Jie was destroying Jade Truth, an explosion erupted from beneath the earth, sending a plume of dust soaring into the sky. Together with it came Mou Siming''s crazed and enraged roar: "DIE!"


    However, his counterattack failed to go smoothly, for a giant hand suddenly appeared.


    This was a glowing translucent arm that terminated at a smooth stump. It seemed to be carved from jade and had a jewel-like sheen.


    This was the Bejeweled Star Lord''s severed arm.


    Tang Jie had given it to Xu Miaoran to protect her, and Xu Miaoran had tried her best to not use it. But when Mou Siming used his Starshatter Ring, she knew that she wouldn''t be able to hold onto this treasure.


    The Starshatter Ring was Mou Siming''s Dao armament, and unlike the others, this was not a pseudo¨CDao armament, but an artificial Dao armament. It wasn''t considered the strongest of artificial Dao armaments, but this still made it much more powerful.


    The Starshatter Ring emphasized the "Shatter" in its name. This Dao armament belonged to the Dao of Force, and when it was thrown out, it would shake the heavens and sunder the earth. Even a star in the heavens would fall if struck by this ring, hence the name "Starshatter". But it consumed a great deal of energy, and Mou Siming did not recklessly use it. Moreover, he was a very proud person and felt that using the Starshatter Ring on two Violet Pce experts was too shameful. It was only after several of his attempts had been thwarted that he finally used it. s, because of his arrogance, two Earth Immortals had died. Of course, if he had used it earlier, Tang Jie would have found a way to counter it.


    While Tang Jie''s cage of fire and earth was formidable, it could only yield to the power of a Dao armament, forcing Xu Miaoran to take out the Bejeweled Star Lord''s arm.


    The arm of a True Immortal was extraordinary, the Bejeweled Star Lord''s arm even more so, as he had been hibernating for ten thousand years.


    The arm and ring shed in the air, neither able toe out ahead.


    But if one looked carefully, one would notice that each sh caused flesh to fall from the arm, indicating that it was taking significant damage. Meanwhile, the Starshatter Ring was fine. This wasn''t purely because of a Dao armament''s power. It was also the difference in the user.


    But a momentter, Tang Jie charged at Mou Siming "Leave this ce to me. Go and help Yiyi."


    He threw Jade Truth''s Imperishable Law Robe to the Vermillion Bird.


    This item was definitely living up to its name, having reformed even after a beating like that and outlived its owner.


    The Vermillion Bird grabbed it, wiped away its seals, and put it on. With a thought from her, the robe transformed into a splendid gown. Only the Vermillion Bird, who was a half-step from Earth Immortal, could use the robe to its full extent, as Xu Miaoran had yet to reach the proper cultivation level. The Vermillion Bird was very satisfied with the robe, as she was now strong enough to go a few rounds with an Earth Immortal.


    Meanwhile, Xu Miaoran winced as she called back the arm and flew off with the Vermillion Bird.

 Chapter 928: The Power of a True Immortal

    Mou Siming was unconcerned by Tang Jie''s attack, growling, "To think that you could break the precedent of the ages and kill an Immortal tform expert while only at Violet Pce! Tang Jie, you really are a peerless genius. No wonder you were able to ughter so many members of my sect in the court. But your gravest mistake is that you are too ambitious. Killing one is already a miracle, but you actually want to defeat five in a row! Tang Jie, how much more energy do you still have left to fight?"


    Killing two Earth Immortals in a row had greatly exhausted Tang Jie. After all, he was facing people of a higher cultivation level, so his ordinary attacks were basically useless. The only things that worked were Dao Arts.


    Of the eight Dao Arts that Tang Jie knew, he had used six: Skyrend Swordfall, the Ten Extinctions de, Law Speaking, the Dao Realm of Insight, Split-Second Youth, and Nearby Horizon. The only ones he hadn''t used yet were the Reflections of Floating Life and the Infinite Pce. He had used Skyrend Swordfall the most, so he had only enough ughter Dao power to use it five more times.


    In such circumstances, even if he were taking on only one Immortal, he would find it hard to win. This wasn''t considering that Mou Siming was stronger than Jade Truth and that there were still two Earth Immortals after him.


    Five Earth Immortals was really a little too much for Tang Jie to digest.


    But he simply smiled. "If I can''t beat them, I''ll just think of something else. It''s not like I haven''t thought things through."


    As he spoke, he once more produced that mystical crystal ball.


    Mou Siming immediately paled and hastily wed at Tang Jie. A giant dragon emerged from his hand, roaring toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie simply blinked away using Nearby Horizon. He pressed down on the crystal ball, upon which the world began to shake.The earth trembled and the skies shuddered. Everything began to shatter and break apart as if the end of days hade.


    While the world crumbled away, an enormous torrent of energy thundered out of the heavens, surging toward Mou Siming with a world-destroying momentum.


    "This is¡­" Mou Siming cried out in rm. This energy was utterly enormous, even exceeding his own.


    How could this be possible? Mou Siming knew that even if Tang Jie could defeat Immortals, this was because he hadprehended many Dao Arts and had nothing to do with his cultivation level. But this energy clearly came from an existence stronger than him!


    Had Tang Jie really found a True Immortal to help him?


    This was impossible. Such an obvious target would have been discovered by Flowing Wind''s Overflowing Heaven Mirror ages ago instead of remaining undetected until now. It was precisely because they were confident that there was no True Immortal that the five of them had gone in.


    But this energy clearly belonged to a True Immortal, leaving Mou Siming utterly stunned.


    A momentter, this power descended, rushing toward Mou Siming, but also toward Flowing Wind and the me Celestial Sovereign.


    The three Earth Immortals sensed this approaching threat and flew into the air to meet it. The three Violet Pce experts wanted to follow, but then a pair of elegant hands, a seething me, and a willow branch moved to intercept them.


    "You should stay right here," Xu Miaoran trilled.


    The three Earth Immortals worked together to deal with that immense power. Even though Yiyi was no longer interfering, allowing them to fight together, s, they had to put everything they had into fending off the terrifying power of a True Immortal.


    Even three Earth Immortals had to do everything they could to hold it back.


    "How could this be?" the me Celestial Sovereign roared. "How could he have this power?"


    "Could there really be a True Immortal?" Flowing Wind wondered as he threw out his Genesis Cloud and nced at the shing Overflowing Heaven Mirror. s, he was disappointed, for the Overflowing Heaven Mirror found nothing.


    "Then a formation?" Mou Siming shouted.


    "No." Flowing Wind shook his head.


    A formation that could exhibit the power of a True Immortal had to be a High Antiquity supreme formation, and Flowing Wind was sure that Tang Jie wasn''t capable of this. Even if he had the ability, he wouldn''t have the resources.


    The costs ofying down such a formation would not be small!


    But this True Immortal energy hanging over the heads was all too real, and as the three of them held it back, they despaired.


    The me Celestial Sovereign furiously said, "Tang Jie, if you have the guts, fight me one-on-one! You''re no man if you hide behind a formation!"


    Tang Jie casually replied, "Didn''t I already do that? Why is it that you think about dueling me the moment you end up in danger? If you''re actually willing to fight me one-on-one to the very end, I don''t mind, and it would save me the trouble of splitting you all up. However, you''re only willing to challenge me when you''re in danger. Such courage truly makes one want tough."


    The me Celestial Sovereign choked up in anger.


    Suddenly, Flowing Wind froze in realization.


    Yes, if Tang Jie had control over a True Immortal''s power, why had he fought them instead of using it from the start?


    It would have let him utterly dominate them.


    A True Immortal could easily suppress five Earth Immortals.


    That Tang Jie had killed two before using it meant that there was a limit to this power.


    Connecting the dots, Flowing Wind shouted, "It''s the estate! This is a True Immortal''s estate! He''s using this ce''s remnant power to deal with us!"


    "You finally understand," Tang Jie chuckled.


    The Five Origins Estate had been left behind by a True Immortal, so it naturally had preserved some of that Immortal''s power. This could be seen from the seal at the entrance.


    However, the power left inside the estate was even stronger. It was just that it was scattered and buried throughout the estate.


    But Tang Jie had discovered this energy and used a formation to gather it together to use against his enemies.


    It was just that the True Immortal was not present, so like the Bejeweled Star Lord''s arm, it was a limited resource. Even so, at full force, it could certainly bring a lot of pain and suffering to the three Earth Immortals.


    Once Flowing Wind revealed the truth, Mou Siming and the me Celestial Sovereign regained some confidence. Since there was a limit to this power, they would just oust it.


    The three of them began to expend all their strength against the True Immortal energy.


    Facing their full force, this torrent of True Immortal power rapidly began to dry up.


    Mou Simingughed, "A fox borrowing the authority of a tiger is ultimately just an empty shell. Now that you''ve lost the tiger''s hide, let''s see what other tricks you have left!"


    Tang Jie had been using this time to recover. He smiled and asked, "Is there still time for me to opt for a duel?"


    The me Celestial Sovereign arrogantlyughed. "Tang Jie, you truly are a genius, capable of annihting an Earth Immortal while at Violet Pce. But since you have this strength, we don''t need to waste any more time on you. Now that you have nothing left to back you up, hurry up and die!"


    A wave of mes burned away thest of the True Immortal''s power.


    Tang Jie sighed. "When did I say that I was relying on this True Immortal''s power? On the contrary, it''s been a constant pain in my side. I have to thank the three of you for getting rid of thest of the energy protecting this estate. Now, I can bring it into my Yellow Court World."


    As he spoke, there was a boom, and the entire estate began to shudder!

 Chapter 929: Hidden Estate

    As the True Immortal''s power was neutralized, the Five Origins Estate began to tremble.


    And then the rocks, soil, water, nts, trees, and even various fiends began to fly up into the sky.


    As they were tossed and turned in the winds, they wove together a scene of frenzied destruction, as if the entire world was being torn apart and squished together.


    Once this wild storm had subsided, everyone found that there was now arge depression in the center of the Five Origins Estate. This depression was in the shape of a valley and was covered in fog, as if it was another world.


    Everyone was stunned by this sudden development, but Tang Jie''s eyes shed¡ªas expected, there was a hidden estate in the Five Origins Estate!


    When Tang Jie hade here the first time, he had found it strange how low the level of the Five Origins Estate was.


    Normally, the cave estate left behind by a cultivator would be of a simr level to the cultivation of its owner. An Earth Immortal''s estate might not have been able to stop other Earth Immortals, but it would have no problems stopping Violet Pce cultivators.


    But the Five Origins Estate, an estate left behind by a True Immortal, was a ce where a bunch of Violet Pce cultivators could freely travel around, with Tang Jie being able to sweep through the ce as a Deification cultivator. While Tang Jie was stronger than most, the average Soul Projection cultivator would have had just as good a time, which was strange given that this was a True Immortal''s estate. Thus, Tang Jie believed that there had to be something else to this estate.


    s, with his mastery of formations, he still was unable to solve the secret of this estate, and this mystery had continued to trouble him. It was only when these Immortals hade after him and Tang Jie used the remnant True Immortal power left in the estate against them that this mystery was solved.The valley before them was clearly the true hidden estate of the Five Origins Estate. It was no wonder he couldn''t find it! The master of this estate had used some formidable method to seal it, and it was only revealed when the seal was drained of power.


    While Flowing Wind''s group was still in shock, Tang Jieughed and said, "I didn''t think I would get this sort of surprise. Let''s go in and take a look!"


    He flew down to the valley.


    The Immortals realized what was going on, and the me Celestial Sovereign shouted at Tang Jie and threw a me at him.


    Tang Jie instantly turned himself into several hundred Tang Jies, all of them flying into the valley¡ªReflections of Floating Life! In truth, he had many ways of dealing with the pursuit from the three Immortals. Both Nearby Horizon and the Infinite Pce would also be fine, and he could even just take one or two attacks. He had chosen this method primarily for the sake of Yiyi and the others.


    They understood and flew toward the valley, even He Chong and Duan Fourth joining them. This was their first opportunity to leave the diagram since Tang Jie had linked it to the Primordial Fog Domain.


    The thick fog permeating the valley could obstruct even the eyes of Immortals, blurring their vision on the perimeter andpletely blocking out the depths.


    After a few seconds in the valley, Tang Jie hadpletely disappeared. The three Immortals could not ept this and flew into the valley in pursuit.


    As they entered the fog and flew down for a long time, they felt as if this valley was enormously deep. All around them was white fog, which didn''tpletely block their vision, but made everything too indistinct and obscured to make out.


    After flying for a while, they finally hit the ground, which was cracked and had numerous boulders scattered about. They could see green in the distance and hear the wind blowing.


    Curious, the three Immortals tried to fly up and get a better look, but they saw nothing but green, as if they were in a field. s, the fog was too thick, and they could not see far into the distance. What they could see were giant trees with barkless trunks and leafless branches. They could no longer see the surrounding mountain walls, as if they were no longer in the valley and had been transported to some other world.


    Mou Siming looked at Flowing Wind and asked, "What do we do now?"


    Flowing Wind shot several bolts of energy at the Overflowing Heaven Mirror, and several scenes appeared on it. To Flowing Wind''s surprise, he couldn''t understand what he was seeing at all.


    Various patches of color floated past the mirror, holding no meaning whatsoever.


    Flowing Wind fruitlessly examined them for a while before shaking his head. "We''ll just have to n as we go."


    The me Celestial Sovereign darkly said, "You two, be careful. The environment here is very strange, probably the work of the formationid down by that True Immortal. In normal circumstances, even if we couldn''t break through it, we could at least protect ourselves. But Tang Jie is proficient in formations, so if he is able to figure out the secrets of this ce, he could use it against us."


    The normally arrogant Mou Siming immediately nodded in agreement. "Correct. The best n is to find Tang Jie as quickly as possible and have a decisive battle with him. Once we''ve killed Tang Jie, we can slowly solve this formation."


    Flowing Wind replied, "While this ce is strange, one positive aspect is that Tang Jie hasn''t been able to prepare beforehand, so we won''t have to deal with many of his tricks. Although the Overflowing Heaven Mirror is not as useful here, some other methods might work, and there''s no harm in trying."


    The me Celestial Sovereign and Mou Siming both grew excited, and they employed their own tracking methods. A few momentster, Mou Siming shouted, "My Crimson Thread works!"


    With a shake of his hand, a red thread appeared, leading into the distance.


    All three of themughed. "He''s not escaping this time!"


    They began to follow the red thread.


    They encountered no traps along the way, and the me Celestial Sovereign chuckled, "What True Immortal methods? Other than this fog, there''s nothing else to be afraid of."


    "Brother Hong, don''t get careless," Mou Siming cautioned.


    After fighting together, Mou Siming had begun to take the me Celestial Sovereign more seriously, even growing more polite to him. One day ago, Mou Siming would have never believed that it was possible.


    To be honest, it was because of the pressure exerted by Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie had shaken their minds too much in today''s battle.


    As they were flying along, there was a mighty roar, and then a giant figure appeared in front of the trio.

 Chapter 930: Miniaturization

    It was a giant figure the size of a small mountain.


    Its upper half was obscured in the fog while its giant feet descended from the sky like heavenly pirs. Each falling foot produced powerful shockwaves, and the outside of each foot was covered in a thick, hard shell.


    The three had never seen such an enormous being before and were momentarily stunned.


    What was this? Some kind of Epoch Behemoth?


    The three Earth Immortals, despite their age and experience, had never heard of such a being before.


    As for how a small valley could hold such gigantic creatures, they weren''t surprised. Most Immortals had the ability to create dimensional subspaces, and a valley holding a world wasn''t even as advanced as Tang Jie''s world in a painting.


    Meanwhile, that giant beast had alreadye over as if it was charging right at them, its pir-like feet soon reaching the three. Two massive, ck, curved des sliced through the air as if a giant in the sky was swinging weapons at them.


    "Seeking death!" Mou Siming snorted, throwing out a bolt of energy that blocked the des. At the same time, he chopped a palm at one of the huge legs.


    This was just a probing attack that he didn''t expect to be very effective, but to his surprise, he broke right through the hard shell, leaving a deep wound on it. But only a little blue blood flowed out of the wound.Mou Siming said in delight, "So it was just an empty shell!"


    The giant beast retreated two steps and once more sliced its two des at Mou Siming. He confidently struck back, easily breaking the des. He then attacked several more times, and that giant beast finally reached its limits and fell from the clouds. What appeared was a savage creature, those two des being its mandibles. Two long tentacles grew out of its head, which were constantly pping at the air with a hiss.


    Mou Siming pped his hands andughed. "This beast has nothing to it but its size!"


    But the me Celestial Sovereign and Flowing Wind shared a nce, somewhat unsettled by this sight.


    For some reason, the two found this giant beast rather familiar.


    The me Celestial Sovereign pointed at the giant beast and said, "Sir Flowing Wind, why do I feel like I''ve seen this giant beast before?"


    Flowing Wind nodded. "I have the same feeling. But the thick fog is preventing me from getting a clear view."


    He was going to fly up into the sky to get a better look when the earth began to tremble, and then countless giant feet, rising and falling, appeared in the distance, signaling that countless giant beasts were rushing this way.


    Everyone was horrified. No matter how weak these giant beasts were, this was too many to deal with.


    "Go!" Flowing Wind barked, and the three of them took off.


    After flying for a bit, they saw a giant bird in the air.


    The bird was bigger than the giant beast from before, its head alone the size of a mountain, its wings practically blotting out the sky. A mere chirp from it was like a p of thunder, making their hearts leap in shock.


    Fortunately, the bird was so big that it didn''t think the three were even worth eating, so it flew off with a p of its wings.


    The experience left the trio dripping in cold sweat, and they nervouslyughed and wondered aloud what this world was and how it was so terrifying. Even a Boundless Gold Immortal''s small world was unlikely to be so vast and dangerous, no?


    If everything in the world was like this, wouldn''t it be even bigger than the Vast Wilderness Continent?


    Flowing Wind once more had a strange feeling.


    Seemingly realizing something, he suddenly flew even higher, his eyes shing like lightning as he looked around.


    Mou Siming and the me Celestial Sovereign, wondering what he was doing, also flew up. They were just in time to see another giant beast, its body as big as a mountain and covered in long fur, with even longer whiskers growing from its mouth.


    "What sort of beast is that?" Mou Siming groaned.


    Flowing Wind softly said, "Don''t you think that it looks a lot like a rat?"


    "''A rat''?" Mou Siming and the me Celestial Sovereign said in shock.


    When they looked again, they found that it really did look a lot like a rat. It was just so big and further obscured by the fog, so they couldn''t be absolutely sure. It was only Flowing Wind''s words that reminded them of the possibility.


    The me Celestial Sovereign said in shock, "How could a rat be so big?"


    Flowing Wind sighed. "It''s not the rat that''s big, but us who have be small."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    "I understand now."


    Tang Jie was standing on a green pir. After inspecting it from top to bottom, he had confirmed that it was a stalk of grass.


    It was just a stalk of grass swaying in the wind, but he was so small that he hadn''t noticed the grass was swaying.


    If not for his Celestial Eye, he might not have noticed the problem.


    The truth was that they had be small.


    As small as a mote of dust.


    "The Miniaturization Formation," Tang Jie muttered.


    This was one of the ten great Dao Formations of High Antiquity.


    The greatest power of the Miniaturization Formation was the ability to turn anyone who entered it extremely small, shrinking them in both size and strength. Meanwhile, those that had already existed within this formation were unaffected. In this way, this valley became full of countless giant creatures. The giant beast that Flowing Wind andpany had encountered earlier was nothing more than an ordinary ant. In such a situation, the Miniaturization Formation didn''t need to do anything else. The creatures living within the formation were enough to have intruders running for their lives.


    And as this was a Dao Formation, only someone with a higher grasp of the Great Dao would be able to escape the constraints of the formation. Tang Jie hadn''t expected to find a Dao Formation here, and he marveled at the strength of the Five Origins Estate''s master.


    Tang Jie now began to ponder what to do in his new environment.


    The Miniaturization Formation was formidable, but it didn''t guarantee death. Now that he was in the formation, he decided that he was going to exploit it to weaken those three.


    In addition, since the Five Origins Estate''s master had set up this hidden estate andid down this Dao Formation, there had to be some sort of treasure here.


    Cultivators took looting the treasures of the world as absolutely normal, and he had no reason to go back empty-handed now that he had found this ce.


    He began to calcte and n for the best way to make those Earth Immortals suffer and at the same time open up the hidden estate.


    Suddenly, the ground began to quake.


    Tang Jie looked into the distance and saw countless giant feet stamping into the ground. Some behemoth was making its way over to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie activated his vision and discovered that a centipede was rushing toward him, a poisonous gasing from its mouth.


    "Shit!" Tang Jie immediately turned and ran.

 Chapter 931: Betrayer of the Dao

    The centipede gave chase, a savage beast blotting out the heavens, and even Tang Jie felt his blood turn cold.


    In truth, this centipede was just an ordinary insect, and he only felt threatened because he had be smaller. There was no value in killing it, so Tang Jie wasn''t interested in wasting his strength.


    But while he wanted to leave, the centipede wasn''t inclined to let him go.


    As the centipede got closer and closer, Tang Jie''s eyes shed, and a bolt of lightning emerged from the fog to strike the centipede. While the lightning bolt seemed shy, if Tang Jie had been at his original size, it probably would have seemed like a small spark.


    The shrinking of his body had also greatly weakened him.


    Wondering what would happen if he made himself bigger, Tang Jie tried it and found that he couldn''t use such spells.


    The Miniaturization Formation made it so that all body transformation spells were suppressed by the Great Dao, and even Reflections of Floating Life was affected. While he could release illusions, his clones no longer had the power to take the appearance of others. The Great Dao suppressing it was at least higher than his own.


    The centipede kept charging after eating a lightning bolt, and Tang Jie grunted, "Stubborn bug, you really think I''m afraid of you?"


    He let out a thunderous punch that sted into the side of the centipede, breaking off several of its legs. Unable to stay standing, the centipede toppled over to the side while letting out a bitter shriek. But in the distance, Tang Jie saw another centipede scuttling over.Shockingly, there was a horde of ants behind it.


    Perhaps this was because of the formation. Any outsider who entered the Miniaturization Formation was liable to be attacked by the native creatures, and while they were all ordinary in strength, they tended to group together against these outsiders.


    "I guessed that it would be like this," Tang Jie grunted.


    He split himself into his original body and avatar, each going to deal with a centipede.


    The avatar wielded the Sovereign de and chopped the newly arrived centipede in half. But while this strike was clean and vigorous, killing "such a big fellow" actually took Tang Jie a lot of strength. Right after this sessful strike, the vast horde of ants arrived like a storm. Helpless, Tang Jie could only turn around and do battle with the ants.


    Meanwhile, the original body was in its own fierce struggle. Right after he finished off the centipede with three punches, the ground erupted, a terrifying maw rising up to devour him. The original body hastily jumped away and just barely managed to avoid what he found to be an earthworm.


    However, this earthworm had turned into a horrifying earth dragon with a chrysanthemum-like mouth ringed by row after row of sharp teeth. Tang Jie had never closely inspected the mouth cavity of an earthworm before, and had never imagined it to be so savage and repulsive.


    The serpentine body wriggled out of the earth and lunged at Tang Jie. Tang Jie threw out several punches in a row, his immense strength sting through the earth and breaking the worm into two chunks. But the earthworm refused to retreat, its two halves rising up together to swallow Tang Jie. Just when Tang Jie was about to deliver two more punches to end it all, the ground quaked, and another earthworm emerged from behind him.


    On the verge of being devoured, Tang Jie bellowed, and his body began to grow.


    He had gone from being a tiny fly to the earthworm to being the same height as it. Holding up his arms, he forced open the earthworm''s mouth and then ripped it in half.


    "Eh?" Tang Jie gasped.


    <em>I thought I couldn''t change my body''s size.</em>


    <em>So how did I get big?</em>


    Tang Jie hastily had his avatar try again and found that he still couldn''t use any body transformation spell arts. In other words, the formation was still working. The answery with himself.


    Tang Jie''s original body attempted to use the Three-Heads Six-Arms Divine Connections and found that he could actually grow two heads and four arms. However, he found that his original body couldn''t grow anyrger.


    "In other words, this has nothing to do with spell arts. Rather, my original body is unaffected? No, it''s notpletely unaffected. It can just resist the Great Dao''s power to a certain extent."


    Why could his original body resist while his avatar couldn''t?


    Tang Jie swiftly realized that this probably had to do with the Parting ssic.


    "The Parting ssic¡­ goes against the Dao¡­"


    If his guess was correct, then it was only today that he finally had some understanding of the Parting ssic''s true power.


    This was the real Parting ssic!


    Tang Jie found that he had only made meager progress on the path of body refining, that he still knew too little!


    Tang Jie''s original body had grown to about the size of an ant, and his strength had also grown. Before, it had taken several punches to kill one centipede, but now, one punch could unleash a swath of destruction.


    This made the following battle much simpler. The ants were no longer a match for Tang Jie and were easily ughtered.


    Tang Jie felt greatly refreshed after the massacre.


    If he ran into the me Celestial Sovereign and the others, he could simply stomp them to death like they were ants.


    At this moment, a voice rang out in Tang Jie''s mind: "Big Brother! Big Brother!"


    "Yiyi, where are you?"


    "Big Brother, I, Miaoran, Big Sister Vermillion Bird, and everyone else are all in the valley. For some reason, we''ve all gotten small, and a lot of bugs are chasing us!" Yiyi replied in panic.


    "Do you know where you are? Big Brother wille and find you."


    "I can''t tell. There''s a bunch of big rocks and fog!"


    Only then did Tang Jie remember that they had all been shrunk down and had no means of finding out where they were. And because of the Dao Formation, Tang Jie found it very difficult to find them. Perhaps even if he were right next to them, he might not be able to see them.


    As Tang Jie started to panic, he saw a streak of light in the sky.


    Tang Jie looked over and found that it was a trace of a formation line.


    "Heavenly Formation Traces? Positional Light Rivers?" Tang Jie blurted out.


    Heavenly Formation Traces were a sign that a formation was operating at full power, while Positional Light Rivers were formation lines that could only be seen from a special location. They indicated certain operating principles of the formation, and if they were discovered, one could use them to break the formation. Under normal circumstances, Tang Jie would need to find the right "position" to see the Light Rivers, but right now, his original body was able to resist the Dao of this ce, meaning that just sitting at a certain altitude allowed him to see this Light River.


    Of course, it was thanks to his understanding of formations that he even knew what he was looking at. Anyone else would have been unable to use this discovery. As he gazed at the Light River, he made some quick calctions and gained some understanding of the coordinates of this valley formation. s, knowledge of the formation told him nothing about where Yiyi and the others were.


    He hastily said, "The Life Gate is in the north. Run north!"


    "But we can''t tell which way is north," Yiyi sobbed.


    Tang Jie pped his forehead. There was no way to tell east from west here, unless one was proficient in formations like him.


    It was impossible for them to get out of the formation on their own, so Tang Jie clenched his teeth and said, "Hold out as long as you can and try not to move. I''ll solve the formation ande to you."


    He had originally nned to get rid of the three Earth Immortals first, but it seemed that Yiyi and the others would fall before that could happen, so he had to go and save them first.

 Chapter 932: Transcendence

    Tang Jie quickly made up his mind and began to turn toward the west. This was the location of the Open Gate, the key to the formation. Only here could he control the formation and find more traces of the past master of this ce.


    As he sprinted there, he was assailed by countless insects, but Tang Jie ignored them, punching his way through and crushing all these bugs.


    But as he advanced, more and more insects came his way, recklessly hurling themselves at him as if he was some rare and precious food.


    Tang Jie was delighted rather than worried, as this meant that he was drawing closer and closer to his objective, forcing the formation to protect itself.


    In the middle of his mad rush, a green mass appeared ahead: a pack of mantises flying toward him at a low altitude.


    The des of the mantises seemed suitable for cleaving apart the skies, and Tang Jie felt an inexplicable sense of peril as they swung toward him. They were even more difficult to deal with than the ants, forcing Tang Jie to use the Combat Emperor Catalog to destroy them all.


    Once the mantises were dead, Tang Jie charged forward again, and this time, he ran into a toad.


    Although he knew that this was just an ordinary toad, while he was miniaturized, the toad was an enormous being. It was so huge that Tang Jie had to lean back to look up at it, as if he was gazing at some sky-obscuring behemoth.


    The toad opened its mouth, a crimson tongue shooting out like a bolt of lightning. Tang Jie roared and punched, but he found that his punch didn''t really do anything. Thwarted, the toad pulled back its tongue and then hopped over, trying to squash Tang Jie.Tang Jie had no choice but to evade. However, his original body wasn''t skilled in spell arts, and his Dao Arts had actually all beenprehended by his avatar. Thus, he couldn''t use Nearby Horizon, and he reacted a little slowly, so the toad ended up crashing into him and sending him flying.


    Tang Jie tumbled through the air before crashing to the ground in a plume of dust, smashing a crater in the ground. But Tang Jie knew that while this crater seemedrge, if he were at his original size, it probably wouldn''t even be deep enough to fit his fingertip.


    Yet given that this was a small world, his original body, which was on par with an ant, was already a giant, his every movement shaking the world.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but think that "heaven-shaking" was all rtive. If he were viewing this battle from a higher perspective, he would think that it was just two ants fighting.


    He had actually understood this principle long ago, but there was a clear difference between that surface-level understanding and the profound realization he had reached just now.


    Tang Jie felt like he hadprehended something, viewing the flowers, grass, and breeze before him in a whole new light.


    But he couldn''t put thisprehension into words.


    The toad continued its pursuit, opening its mouth and shooting out its tongue.


    Tang Jie reached out and grabbed it.


    He looked at the toad and said, "No matter how big you are, you''re still just a toad."


    With a light wave of his hand, he cut open that previously tenacious tongue.


    The toad leaped up in pain, but it no longer posed a threat to Tang Jie, who ignored it and kept going.


    He felt like he hadprehended something, but it felt different fromprehending a Dao.


    It was difficult to describe this strange and exotic feeling.


    It felt like a Dao, yet not a Dao.


    Unable to figure out what it was, he could only go with the flow, immersing himself in the experience as he slowly walked along.


    His speed was much slower than before, but with each step, he covered as much distance as the stride of an ordinary person. At that moment, it seemed that he waspletely unaffected by his miniaturized form.


    After walking for some distance, Tang Jie finally saw arge cave up ahead.


    He called itrge, but from a normal person''s perspective, it was only about the size of a fist.


    Tang Jie suddenly understood why he hadn''t been able to find the hidden estate of the Five Origins Estate. It had been here all along, but it was just so small that nobody would pay it any attention or believe that it was the size of a fist.


    This was the location of the Miniaturization Formation''s Open Gate.


    Tang Jie moved to enter the cave, but just as he was about to go in, two giant snakes emerged from the left and right.


    These were the biggest creatures Tang Jie had run into here, appearing like dragons swimming out of the clouds. Their triangr, scaled heads emerged from the clouds, revealing their house-sized eyes and rainbow-sized tongues.


    Even real dragons wouldn''t give off this aura, would they?


    For two such massive creatures to appear would make anyone feel helpless.


    But Tang Jie simply muttered, "In a miniature world, snakes are like dragons. Then in the Ster Net Chiliocosm, could there be an even higher level of existence? From the perspective of that world, would dragons appear like snakes?"


    As Tang Jie muttered, a strange feeling welled up in his heart.


    He sensed that this formation''s real goal wasn''t to stop intruders, but to tell something to those who came after.


    The two snakes prevented him from continuing on this line of thought, slithering over and opening their jaws.


    Tang Jie looked at the giant snakes and said, "I''m someone from a higher ne who has descended to the lower ne. Do you beasts really think you can bully me?"


    He thrust out a finger.


    Rather than his impressive physical strength, he used a spell art with this finger.


    The Star Finger, a Mortal Shedding spell art.


    As a body cultivator, Tang Jie was stuck at Cognitive Creation, which meant that he couldn''t use any powerful spells. While he could still use spell arts of the Cognitive Creation Tier and below, spell arts of this level were nothingpared to a punch, so he basically didn''t use them.


    But now, he did.


    In normal circumstances, while miniaturized, this level of spell art would have had no effect against this sort of "big snake". Now, however, those two stars flying from his finger instantly punched bloody holes through the snakes, causing them to hiss in pain.


    Tang Jie frowned, unsatisfied.


    In his normal state, his Star Finger would have utterly in an ordinary snake.


    But the finger strike just now had only transcended the limits of his body, not restored him to his original state.


    Though Tang Jie was dissatisfied, he simply threw a few punches to kill the two snakes and then stepped into the cave.

 Chapter 933: Stone Chamber

    After traversing a long path through the cave, Tang Jie saw a giant stone double door.


    The stone doors exuded a sense of age that left Tang Jie with an inexplicable feeling of heaviness.


    It took a while for Tang Jie to shake himself out of this stupor. Just when he was about to push open the doors, he suddenly sensed something amiss.


    He heard a whistling sound, and then several pitch-ck crossbow bolts came shooting out from the side. The bolts looked ordinary, but Tang Jie still hastily retreated, not letting those bolts touch him.


    The bolts shot into the ground, but nothing particrly special happened.


    However, a momentter, Tang Jie sensed the thick energy of death on the bolts.


    The power of Destruction.


    These bolts had been empowered by the Dao of Destruction. Of course, they weren''t Dao armaments and could only work once, but that instantaneous burst of power was not at all inferior to that of a Destruction Dao armament.


    Tang Jie had never thought that the Great Dao could be used this way, nor that this trap would be so simple yet treacherous. Anyone else might have chosen to try and repulse the bolts with energy, to tragic results. Thankfully, Tang Jie was proficient in the Dao of Destruction, allowing him to discover this trick.Right after Tang Jie had found the problem with the bolts, the power of Destruction dissipated. If one hadn''t noticed right from the start, it would have been impossible to find out.


    He looked over at the doors, which remained shut.


    Tang Jie didn''t try to open it, instead looking around. He coldly chuckled. "So there was also an Armory Formationid out here."


    This Armory Formation wasn''t some special formation, and it had average strength. However, it had been concealed extremely well, and it had also been enhanced with Dao power, which gave it the feeling of a Dao Formation.


    However, minor formations remained minor formations, and Tang Jie was able to quickly identify its critical node. He immediately threw a punch, and with a boom, the double doors disappeared, revealing the stone chamber beyond.


    Tang Jie realized that the stone doors had been an illusion concealing the reality of this stone chamber.


    Within the stone chamber was a stone bed upon which sat a transcendent-seeming man in a Daoist robe. Tang Jie was initially startled, but when he took a closer look, he found that the man was long dead. It was just that some method had prevented him from bing Returned Remnants and maintained his appearance in life.


    Several words had been carved into the stone in front of the man. "Here rests Five Origins. Please do not disturb. Before me are my possessions. Help yourself."


    Other than those words, there was a jade te.


    A book, a jade mirror, and a Mustard Seed Bag rested on the te.


    Tang Jie opened up the book and found that it was a text concerning the Five Elements. While it didn''t discuss the profundities of the Great Dao, it was written in a simple yet insightful style that easily unraveled the mysteries of the cosmos. Tang Jie was more and more amazed as he read on, finding the solutions to some problems that had puzzled him for a long time. He immediately realized its value.


    This treatise wouldn''t visibly improve his strength, but it would undoubtedly enhance his understanding of the Dao of Five Elements.


    From a certain perspective, it was like the Weapon Mantra, using an art to transmit the Dao, though this was an inferior version. The Weapon Mantra transmitted a Dao Art via a spell, and while it couldn''t fully exhibit the might of the Weapon Dao''s Dao Art, it was enough to form the peerless weapon that was the Sovereign de. This Five Elements treatise couldn''t go this far, only allowing a cultivator to more easily be enlightened through its exnations. In the end, what one was enlightened to still depended on the individual. Even so, this Five Origins Dao Lord was very impressive, to have achieved this much.


    As for the jade mirror, it was the crucial node around which the formation turned. Tang Jie grabbed the jade mirror and was able to see the situation in the entire valley through it. He saw Flowing Wind and his fellow Immortals, and he also saw Yiyi''s group.


    Tang Jie quickly determined how to use this mirror. He lightly pressed a finger on the mirror, and the ants, scorpions, and spiders assailing Yiyi''s group began to withdraw.


    Xu Miaoran and the others were right in the middle of battle, so they were taken aback by the sudden retreat of the bugs.


    In the end, it was Yiyi whoughed and said, "It''s Big Brother. He found the key."


    Tang Jie had messaged her, and the news made everyone sigh in relief.


    At the same time, Mou Siming and the others fell into misfortune, an endless flood of giant bugs rushing at them. Even as Immortals, they found it hard to break out of this sea of insects.


    s, the Miniaturization Formation had no lethal moves of its own, and Tang Jie could only order all the insects to attack. It was far too difficult to kill Earth Immortals with only these bugs. Fortunately, Tang Jie had never pinned his hopes on them. He just wanted to use up some of their Immortal energy.


    As he recovered and the other side weakened, he would emerge the ultimate victor.


    The jade mirror wasn''t merely the key to controlling the Miniaturization Formation. It was itself a valuable formation treasure, far superior to Tang Jie''s crystal ball. Tang Jie put it away and then turned his attention to the Mustard Seed Bag.


    Inside were white and glossy stones.


    "Immortal Stones?" Tang Jie''s eyes brightened.


    Cultivators could use spirit stones to gain energy, while Immortals used Immortal Stones, which were spirit stones on an even greater scale. They could be used toy down Immortal formations, refine Immortal medicines, and also assist in cultivation, refining Immortal Essence.


    But these Immortal Stones had only been used in High Antiquity, and by Near Antiquity, all the ore veins had dried up. Their quantity had dwindled until even Immortals found them difficult toe across. Tang Jie had seen several Immortal Stones in Yun Tian''s possession, but Yun Tian considered them precious treasures that he didn''t even let Tang Jie touch, saying that they were to be used to recover in battle.


    Thus, Tang Jie was ted to find this Mustard Seed Bag packed with Immortal Stones.


    These items also increased his chances of reaching Immortal tform. After all, the charge at Immortal tform requiredrge quantities of Immortal energy, which these Immortal Stones could provide.


    Besides the Immortal Stones, the bag also contained some medicines, a book, three divine weapons, and some rather rare materials.


    The medicines were all Immortal medicines that could only be used at the Immortal tform Realm, and they were valuable even if they were only given to Xu Miaoran for her to study. The book recorded several powerful Immortal arts, but Tang Jie was currently incapable of using them. Those three divine weapons were rather average, but Tang Jie didn''t mind.


    The materials, on the other hand, made his eyes shine.


    This was because these materials together with the Five Elements treatise gave Tang Jie an idea of how to grow stronger.


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 Chapter 934: Strengthening

    After finding a ce to sit, Tang Jie merged himself back together. Because of the avatar, his body shrank, but it wasn''t as bad as before, which was a sign that he had somewhat adapted to the environment.


    He then took out the Mother Cloudbat puppet.


    After sessive upgrades, this puppet was able to fight against Violet Pce experts, so it should have been a capable helper for Tang Jie. s, Tang Jie''s opponents this time were too strong, and a Violet Pce helper wasn''t too useful.


    But with the Five Elements treatise, Tang Jie saw an opportunity.


    All the world belonged to the Five Elements; all thingsprised them.


    In the Great Dao pairing of Yin Yang and Five Elements, Yin Yang referred to the negative and positive aspects of all things while Five Elements referred to the basic elements thatposed them.


    Tang Jie''s Infinite Pce was based on this principle of the Five Elements, drawing on the basic elements to create the pce.


    But using only the basic elements was a little too¡­ basic. True mastery would be to use the Essences of the Five Elements.


    In other words, Metal Essence, Water Essence, and so on.The Mother Cloud Combat Puppet was made from Mother Cloud Metal Essence, the toughest substance in the world. The Sovereign de was made from a variant of Metal Essence, possessing not just toughness, but also the sharpness of a weapon and the ability to transform of a spell art, which made it even better than Metal Essence.


    In short, Metal Essence was the physical foundation of thebat puppet while the Soul Refining Pearl was its mental foundation.


    To make it stronger, Metal Essence alone wasn''t enough.


    With this Five Elements treatise, Tang Jie had deepened his understanding of this Dao, with the biggest breakthrough being that he could now refine the other four essences.


    Tang Jie took out two balls of me.


    The Pale Cloud me and the Deicide me.


    Holding these two mes, he began to form hand signs, and various Dao Runes belonging to the Fire Dao began to appear in the room. Gradually, influenced by the Dao Runes, the two mes began to merge together and condense.


    Forming hand signs and manifesting Dao Runes seemed simple, but Tang Jie''s forehead quickly became caked with sweat. Even killing two Earth Immortals in a row hadn''t been this tiring. Refining Fire Essence wasn''t easy, at least not as easy as Metal Essence had been with the Weapon Mantra.


    This was primarily because Tang Jie had just learned this. As time passed, he would slowly grow more proficient.


    As the ball of me condensed, there was a burst of sparks, and the me ultimately transformed into a fist-sized me flower.


    This was the Fire Essence that Tang Jie had refined, also known as the Fire of Primal Chaos, the me of Origin. By no means should one underestimate it because of its size. It shared the properties of both the Deicide me and the Pale Cloud me, and it would only grow stronger as one added more exotic mes to it. ??????¨§?


    Of course, this Origin me was far inferior to the me Celestial Sovereign''s Origin me. That man had entered the Dao of Fire, so his Origin me was thousands of times stronger.


    For Tang Jie''s purposes, however, this was enough.


    He threw the Origin me over to thebat puppet. At the same time, a Dao Rune manifested, attaching to the puppet and guiding the me into the body.


    Tang Jie then called out, "Little Three."


    A Nether Passage appeared, and a small ghost appeared next to Tang Jie''s side.


    Tang Jie held out his hand. "Give me the Profound Heavy Water."


    Little Three passed a water ball to Tang Jie¡ªthe Profound Heavy Water that Tang Jie had given to protect him. This object could hold seas of water, and it even had the Yellow Springs of the Nether Domain.


    Tang Jie began to refine the Water Essence.


    Using the same method, he quickly obtained a giant drop of water with a yellow sheen. There was a great turbulence within, as if countless waters flowed within it.


    Tang Jie also put this drop of water in the puppet''s body.


    All that was left was the Wood Element and Earth Element.


    Tang Jie had obtained some Wood Element and Earth Element treasures in the past, but he had fed the Wood Element treasures to Yiyi and used the Earth Element ones for formations. Thus, he had nothing appropriate to refine into their respective essences.


    Fortunately, what hecked, the Mustard Seed Bag possessed.


    A ten-thousand-year-old pine tree, a handful of sand from a ster river, a frosty purple willow tree, and a piece of golden night jade.


    These weren''t as rare as the Deicide me or waters of the Nether Domain, but they were rare enough to just barely meet the grade for refining the Earth and Wood Essences.


    Tang Jie also threw in the other materials in the bag, finally refining the two essences and cing them in thebat puppet''s body.


    Tang Jie began to thrust out his palms, Dao Runes dancing and formation lines shing all across the puppet''s body, and even its form began to gradually change.


    Tang Jie called out, "Forge the body with Metal, making it your bones. Let the Earth be your meridians, traveling along the formation lines. The Wood shall be life, forming the organs. Water shall be your blood, a medium for energy. Fire will be your source, enhancing your power. The Soul Refining Pearl shall be your soul, casting spell arts and controlling attacks so that you know when to advance or retreat, attack or defend. I name you the Evesting Combat Puppet!"


    With thest word, Tang Jie pped his hand down, and all of the formation lines on the puppet lit up in unison, its aura erupting. Its materials had limited it to Infant Tending, but now, its power surged, breaking into Deification and soaring straight past it, all the way to Soul Projection. But this still wasn''t the end, and it went all the way to the peak of Soul Projection before finally stopping. This speed of advancement was simply unheard of.


    Even then, Tang Jie wasn''t satisfied, frowning. "Is it because of your soul that you''re still unable to break into Immortal tform?"


    The puppet body created through the five essences had actually already reached the Immortal Body level, perhaps even surpassing it. But Earth Immortals were powerful not just because of their Immortal Body, but also because of their Divine Soul. It was precisely because their soul had been deified that they could achieve Immortality.


    And the Mother Cloudbat puppet was far from reaching this level.


    While he had long guessed this oue, he still couldn''t help but feel a tinge of disappointment.


    A Soul Projection puppet might as well not exist. After all, not everyone could be like Tang Jie and fight with Immortals while still at Soul Projection. Of course, as the puppet was perhaps even tougher than an Earth Immortal, fighting a battle was still possible. However, while Earth Immortals could afford to die, thebat puppet couldn''t. Without some overwhelming advantage against Earth Immortals and without their ability to be constantly reborn, the puppet could only offer limited aid.


    At this moment, a crimson light erupted from the puppet''s eyes, and its aura began to soar once more.


    Tang Jie was startled, and then he realized what was going on.


    Unlike otherbat puppets, the Mother Cloudbat puppet had a life force.


    It was the ghost guard, the Soul Refining Pearl.


    This life existed within the puppet, and had been umting energy all this time. It was now unleashing this energy, causing the puppet''s energy to soar toward the Immortal tform Realm.


    Was it really about to reach the Immortal level? Tang Jie could barely suppress his excitement.


    But at this moment, its progress came to a halt.


    What was going on here?


    Tang Jie carefully examined it and found that the Soul Refining Pearl waspletely drained of energy.


    "Ah, it''s still not enough," Tang Jie said in realization.


    Though the pearl had been storing up energy for several hundred years, this still wasn''t enoughpared to the humongous quantities of energy required for Immortal tform.


    This put thebat puppet in a state like the Vermillion Bird: half-step Immortal tform. The only difference was that the Vermillion Bird''s body was slightly weaker while her soul was slightly stronger, with the puppet being the exact opposite.


    Doing the math, two half-step Earth Immortals would be enough to hold out against¡­ half an Immortal tform expert.


    Yes, two half-step Immortal tform experts multiplied by two would be enough to fight with a single Earth Immortal.


    But ifbined with Tang Jie''s formation and the help of Xu Miaoran and Yiyi, it was doable.


    "This should increase my chances even more," Tang Jie muttered.


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 Chapter 935: Release

    With the Mother Cloudbat puppet settled, Tang Jie prepared to leave. Suddenly, he remembered something and turned to the body of Reverend Five Origins.


    Although its owner had been dead for many years, it still seemed to be alive. But there was no spirit in the body, presumably having dissipated over the eons.


    Tang Jie bowed to the corpse three times and said, "This lowly one, Tang Jie, was fortunate enough to enter your Immortal estate and obtain Senior''s legacy. I know to repay kindness shown to me, so I will bury Senior so that you may rest undisturbed."


    He lightly pressed a hand down, creating a hole next to the stone bed.


    Tang Jie came forward and picked up the corpse, intending to ce it in the hole.


    At this moment, a bang came from outside. Tang Jie turned his head in shock and found that there was something outside¡ªthe ice dragon that had escaped from the jungle chess board!


    As the estate was closed, the ice dragon had managed to escape Tang Jie but not escape the estate. It had ended up in the formation and found its way to this cave. Seeing this, Tang Jie put down the body and walked over to the ice dragon.


    The ice dragon''s original size was enormous, but it had been shrunk down by the Miniaturization Formation such that it was only slightly bigger than Tang Jie. Strength-wise, it was now much weaker, no match for Tang Jie at all. As such, Tang Jie was able to just reach out and seize the ice dragon.


    The ice dragon writhed in his grip, but it was impossible to ovee Tang Jie''s divine strength. Mighty sts of frost spewed out of its mouth, but s, because of the Miniaturization Formation, its effects were more like a cool breeze on a summer day.Just when Tang Jie was about to throw the ice dragon into the Myriad Immortals Cauldron, he thought of something and froze.


    After a while, Tang Jie released the ice dragon and had the Myriad Immortals Cauldron suppress it. Meanwhile, he took out the Eternity Sarcophagus from his Divine Pce. In the sarcophagusy a woman: Lin Xin''s body holding the Azure Dragon.


    As Tang Jie opened the Eternity Sarcophagus, "Lin Xin" opened her eyes and looked at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie said, "Azure Dragon, you''ve been imprisoned in the sarcophagus for more than three hundred years. Although one day in the sarcophagus is equivalent to one year outside, those three hundred years must not have been very enjoyable for you, right?"


    The Azure Dragon grunted, "Kid, just go ahead and say whatever you want to say."


    "It''s nothing. I just feel like I can release you now."


    "''Release me''?" The Azure Dragon was startled, and then itughed. "Kid, don''t try that on me. When did you ever be so kind?"


    "I''m not being kind, of course. But if you can agree to serve me, I will let you out."


    The Azure Dragonughed. "When I was in the Basking Moon Sect, I said so much to plead for my freedom, even professing my willingness to be a servant, but you still weren''t willing to give me my freedom. Why the change of heart? You think I''m a fool?"


    Tang Jie replied, "I didn''t release you back then because your half-step Gold Immortal Divine Soul could have quickly boosted this body to the point where you could contend against my sect''s ancestor. With no one to restrain you, you would be a source of endless problems."


    "But didn''t Yun Tian be a True Immortal? Without my original body, the highest I could reach after starting over is Earth Immortal. The Basking Moon Sect had nothing to fear."


    "There are still concerns," Tang Jie answered. "An Earth Immortal with a grudge, even when restrained by the ancestor, has to be regarded with caution. What if we drop our guard for a moment and let you go crazy? You could destroy the Zephyr Mountains with just a few palm strikes, and even if our ancestor kills you afterward, will that undo the damage done?"


    "Then why do you dare to release me now?"


    "Because you''re not in the Rosecloud Domain right now." Tang Jie smiled. "I don''t have the right to put the lives of the entire sect at risk, but I can put my own life at risk."


    The Azure Dragon was delighted. "Great, great! So long as you release me, I can do whatever you say."


    Back in the Basking Moon Sect, the Azure Dragon had begged Yun Tian numerous times for its freedom, but Yun Tian had feared that it would rebel and had to consider the lives of his sect members. Just as Tang Jie said, an individual of this level with a grudge could tten a mountain with a single p. Yun Tian would never take this risk.


    Tang Jie was willing to release it now firstly because they weren''t in the Rosecloud Domain, and secondly because he no longer feared Immortal tform experts. Only when he was this strong could he control an existence like the Azure Dragon without fear of being bitten back. Finally, he had a need for the Azure Dragon at this time.


    Tang Jie lightly said, "If you want your freedom, there are some things you need to understand. Firstly, I am your master, so you need to listen to my orders. If you don''t agree to this, I won''t try to force you, and you can just stay in this coffin."


    "I''m willing, of course, of course!" The Azure Dragon had already been willing to sell itself several hundred years ago, so it naturally agreed.


    "Your word alone won''t suffice. I need your sincerity."


    "Naturally," the Azure Dragon quickly replied. "My young friend, you may nt a seal on me."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "d to see you know where you stand. If that''s the case, I want the Immortal Shackling Stamp."


    "''The Immortal Shackling Stamp''?"


    This was a High Antiquity sealing art. When this seal was applied, the target would be able to go around as usual, but once the stamp was activated, it would leave the target in so much pain that they would wish for death. Yun Tian had brought it up in his conversations before, which was why Tang Jie knew about it.


    But to be honest, this sealing art primarily affected the physical body and had limited effect on the Divine Soul. The Azure Dragon was currently strong in Divine Soul and not physical body, so sealing arts like the Godseal Hand or Heavenly Execution Stamp would be more effective.


    But if that was what Tang Jie wanted, the Azure Dragon had no reason to refuse, so it passed the sealing art to him. It didn''t try any tricks with it, as someone of Tang Jie''s level required a high level of deception in order to fool.


    Tang Jie performed a few calctions and quickly determined that this was the real thing. He first turned the Sovereign de into a small rainbow nail, and then he stabbed the nail into the ice dragon''s body. He then began to apply the Immortal Shackling Stamp to the ice dragon.


    The Azure Dragon was mystified by Tang Jie''s actions, asking in both surprise and joy, "You want me to enter this dragon''s body?"


    "Isn''t it better to have you change bodies? Moreover, with this ice dragon''s body as your foundation, you still have a chance at reaching True Immortal."


    The ice dragon struggled against the seal, and Tang Jie shouted at the Azure Dragon, "Hurry up and project your Divine Soul!"


    With a bang, the Azure Dragon''s Divine Soul left Lin Xin''s body and flew into the ice dragon. As it battled with the ice dragon''s Divine Soul, Tang Jie finished the Immortal Shackling Stamp.


    Although Tang Jie could have summoned the ice dragon from the Myriad Immortals Cauldron to have it fight for him, in reality, the vast majority of fiends grew much weaker once they were controlled. Otherwise, the dragon and phoenix wouldn''t have grown so much stronger once the jungle chess board was destroyed. On the other hand, if the Azure Dragon''s soul took control of the ice dragon''s body, its strength would only increase. Moreover, applying the Immortal Shackling Stamp at this time was the safest. After all, a possession battle was extremely dangerous, and even if the Azure Dragon had a True Immortal''s soul, the ice dragon had the home court advantage. Neither of them would have the time to care about Tang Jie. It was also better than using it on that body that the Azure Dragon had gotten several hundred years to grow ustomed to.


    A few momentster, the possession battle was over, with the victor unsurprisingly being the Azure Dragon. This wasn''t to say that a True Immortal''s soul was bound to defeat an Earth Immortal''s soul. On the contrary, that advantage wasn''t even enough to counter the ice dragon''s home court advantage. However, Tang Jie had turned the Sovereign de into a Soul-Sealing Nail, and then he had used the God-Corroding Finger Art of the Five Gods Faith codex to deal a heavy blow to the ice dragon''s soul.


    The Azure Dragon had finally regained its freedom. Looking at its new body, it said in joy, "I''m finally free!"


    And then it looked at Tang Jie, its eyes containing aplex mixture of emotions.

 Chapter 936: A Struggle of Dao Orthodoxies

    The Azure Dragon''s eyes contained anger, hatred, excitement, and fear.


    But after an emotional struggle, the Azure Dragon ultimately sighed. "Forget it. This old ve pays respects to his master."


    While it might have made all sorts of promises for its freedom in the past, it was only now that it truly lowered its head.


    The Azure Dragon took on human form, turning into a blue-faced elder with a long beard and bowing to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie waved his hand. "There''s no need for the courtesy. From today on, you will follow me. Right, there''s something I want to ask you."


    "Master needs only to ask, and this old ve will do his best to answer," the Azure Dragon respectfully replied. Of course, Tang Jie didn''t know if this respect was actually sincere.


    Tang Jie didn''t mind, saying, "I want to ask: do you recognize this person?"


    He pointed behind him at the corpse in the stone chamber.


    "This is¡­" The Azure Dragon walked over in shock. "Is this that old man Wind Holder?""What sort of person was Wind Holder?"


    The Azure Dragon replied, "This man was a Lower Immortal of the Court of Myriad Domains, one of the 500 Immortal Generals. All five hundred were Earth Immortals, each possessing different abilities."


    "You''re wrong on that. Based on the arrangements left behind in this Five Origins Estate, Wind Holder must have reached True Immortal."


    "''True Immortal''?" The Azure Dragon was startled. "That''s impossible. Wind Holder ran into many mishaps in his early years of cultivation, resulting in an unstable foundation. Reaching Earth Immortal exhausted all of his potential, making it impossible for him to reach True Immortal in his lifetime. How could he have the strength of a True Immortal?"


    "What?" Tang Jie was also dumbfounded.


    The Azure Dragon continued, "And what''s with this ''Five Origins Estate''? Are you talking about Reverend Five Origins? He was one of the 28 Star Lords, his cultivation reaching True Immortal. But Reverend Five Origins is Reverend Five Origins and Wind Holder is Wind Holder. These two people arepletely unrted."


    Tang Jie said in surprise. "Then Reverend Five Origins isn''t Wind Holder?"


    "How could they be the same person?" the old dragon said in surprise. "While Reverend Five Origins was middle-of-the-pack when it came to True Immortals, he was a divine master of formations, the leader of the Eight Elders of the court''s Immortal Formation Hall. The old man even yed a major role when the Immortal Emperor created the Myriad Heavens Ster Divine Net. For this reason, when he got into one of his moods, even the Immortal Emperor would keep his distance. He was far above the likes of Wind Holder."


    "Then why is Wind Holder in the Five Origins Estate?"


    "How would I know?" the old dragon protested. "If you didn''t tell me, I wouldn''t even know that we were inside the Five Origins Estate. That old man was very entric, having few friends, and he never invited anyone to his estate. Only a select few people in the court even knew where his estate in the lower world was. Who could have expected you toe across his hidden estate?"


    Tang Jie''s eyes gleamed. "You said that Reverend Five Origins had only a few friends. Was Immortal Ji Yao among them?"


    The Azure Dragon heartilyughed. "If you said this to Reverend Five Origins, he would have been ecstatic. Despite his reclusive personality and unfriendly aura that would even ignore orders from the Immortal Emperor, there was one person that Five Origins never dared to defy: Immortal Ji Yao. It was widely known that the old man had a crush on the Iceheart Lotus Lady. If anyone in the court wanted the old man''s help with a formation, they would go straight to Immortal Ji Yao, and if Immortal Ji Yao gave her approval, the old fellow would obey without the slightest objection, even providing the materials. Even so, Immortal Ji Yao never turned her eyes to the old man, and in the end, he ended up dying at her hands."


    "Immortal Ji Yao killed him?" Tang Jie said in shock.


    "Indeed," the Azure Dragonughed. "When Immortal Ji Yao turned into a demon, numerous people used this as an excuse to try and kill her, but this old man refused to abandon her, continuing to cherish her like a treasure. He went so far as to disobey the court and hide Immortal Ji Yao. But that didn''t save him from dying at her hands. s, love makes such fools of us all!"


    "I see now. Then why did Immortal Ji Yao kill him?"


    "What do you mean, ''why''? Those who be demons can''t be judged usingmon sense. We kill people for our own benefits and needs, but demons kill purely because they want to kill. Of course, there could be another story, but at least I don''t know about it."


    Tang Jie understood.


    Immortal Ji Yao held no affection or loyalty for Reverend Five Origins, but even so, the first teleportation point she chose after escaping was his estate. But she probably wouldn''t have expected that this ce had turned into the tomb of Wind Holder.


    Tang Jie then asked, "Then was Wind Holder friends with Reverend Five Origins?"


    The Azure Dragon shook his head. "Old Man Five Origins was too entric. In his life, he had an interest in only two things: formations and Immortal Ji Yao. And Wind Holder belonged to the Heavenly Dao Faction, so they could never have been friends."


    "''The Heavenly Dao Faction''?" Tang Jie curiously asked.


    The Azure Dragon exined, "It refers to one''s understanding of the Heavenly Dao. You heard Immortal Ji Yao argue about how the Heavenly Dao doesn''t exist, right? Don''t be fooled by this sophistry. In truth, the court was gued by arguments over whether the Heavenly Dao existed or not, and Immortal Ji Yao was just one of many. The core of this argument is that things which you can''t verify the existence of can be essentially ignored, and those who adhered to this argument were the Dao Nihilist Faction. The Heavenly Dao Faction was the exact opposite, believing that the Heavenly Dao undoubtedly existed. They believed that if they kept cultivating, they would one day be able to reach it. This faction had the majority support in the court, from the Immortal Emperor all the way down to the soldiers, and I was one of them. There was also one more faction, called the Dao Traitor Faction. They believed that the Heavenly Dao existed, but that it wasn''t a goal to be pursued, but an existence that suppressed cultivators. Thus, rather than seeking it out, they went against and sought to shatter the Heavenly Dao, hence their name."


    Tang Jie''s mind was shaken by this news. "Who belonged to this Dao Traitor Faction?"


    To his surprise, the Azure Dragon shook his head. "Nobody."


    <em>What?</em> Tang Jie was startled by this answer.


    The Azure Dragon exined, "Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng was the sessor of the Heavenly Dao lineage. He had swept away the demons of the Primordial Fog and established a golden age, all ording to the will of the Heavenly Dao. He devoted his life to ascending to the supreme heights of the Heavenly Dao, so he could not tolerate the existence of the Dao Traitors. The arguments of the Dao Traitors had only a brief moment in the sun before the Immortal Emperor ordered them to be quashed. Thus, there was only the argument and no arguer. Or perhaps you can say that nobody publicly imed to support it."


    "I get it." Tang Jie nodded. It was clear that Dao Traitors were as uneptable an existence to the court as demons, and anyone who supported this argument would act from the shadows. He was now certain that the Martial Lord had been a Dao Traitor, with the Parting ssic being a clear disy of his stance.


    Tang Jie now somewhat understood why the Martial Lord had fought with the Court of Myriad Domains.


    It was a sh of ideals.


    Tang Jie recalled the sight of the Martial Lord swinging his axe at the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel.


    That battle that had led to the shattering of the court ten thousand years ago had been a struggle of Dao orthodoxies.


    And in this battle, the Dao Traitor had both won and lost.


    He had singlehandedly defeated the entire court, but he had been utterly in by the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel.


    This world had seemingly used this method to announce the existence of the Heavenly Dao, supreme and untouchable!

 Chapter 937: The Eight Gates Banners

    s, understanding ancient history was of no help to Tang Jie''s current situation, nor did it exin why Wind Holder was here.


    After some thought, Tang Jieughed and said, "There''s still three Earth Immortals causing trouble outside, so there''s no point in worrying about all this right now. Let''s take care of what''s currently on our te first."


    Just as he was about to walk away, he suddenly stopped and turned around. He ced Wind Holder''s body into the hole and bowed several times. "Although I do not know if those treasures left behind belonged to Reverend Five Origins or to Senior, I must still thank you, so I will erect this grave in your memory."


    The greedy Azure Dragon came over and asked, "There was treasure? Was it good? What did it consist of?"


    "Some divine treasures and some writing on formations," Tang Jie said, showing them to the dragon.


    The dragon shook his head. "Not even a single Dao armament."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Dao armaments are hard toe by, so it''s not strange that there aren''t any."


    The dragon rolled his eyes. "You think the court''s Earth Immortals are like your everyday wandering Immortal? A member of the court wouldn''t even be able to show their face if they couldn''t bring along at least a pseudo¨CDao armament. And Old Man Five Origins, with his mastery of formations, was incredibly wealthy. Other than the legendary Reverend Celestial Hook and the Bejeweled Star Lord, there was probably no one in the Great Ster Chiliocosm that was as rich as he was. How else could he haveid out this Miniaturization Formation?"


    Through the earlier conversation, the dragon had gotten a rough idea of the situation they were in, as well as about the miniaturization and the three Earth Immortals. He continued, "And there''s also the Eternity Sarcophagus Immortal Ji Yao gave you. How do you think she got it? It was Old Five Origins who gave it to her. When she became a demon, he wanted to seal her and then seek out a way to save her. But after bing a demon, Immortal Ji Yao managed to reach Gold Immortal, so how could he, this weakest of the True Immortals, possibly control her? As a result, the moment she broke out was the moment he died."<em>¡­You said just a moment ago that killing was in the nature of demons and that Immortal Ji Yao didn''t need a reason to kill him, no?</em>


    But Tang Jie kept thisment to himself, indifferently saying, "Is that so? Then perhaps he used them all, or perhaps there''s a thirdyer that we''ve yet to find."


    "Very possible!" the old dragon shouted. "Why don''t we look around?"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "No need. Since someone has already been here, the real treasures would have already been taken. We should be satisfied that we could already get this much."


    He straightened the body and then waved his hand, summoning dirt to cover the hole.


    After this was done, Tang Jie left without dy.


    The old dragon was mystified as to why he was leaving with such resolve, scratching his head. "''Satisfied''? Tang Jie, when have you ever been satisfied with what you have?"


    But as he couldn''t understand, he could only shake his head and follow.


    What he didn''t know was that not long after they left, the ground began to tremble.


    A corpse emerged from the earth! It was Wind Holder!


    That spiritless body began to emit light, and as it grew brighter and brighter, its energy rose. Spirit tform Realm, Mortal Shedding Realm, Celestial Heart Realm, Violet Pce Realm, and finally, the Immortal tform Realm! Concentrated Immortal energy gathered in white clouds,pletely engulfing that body.


    Still, that energy continued to rise, breaking through Earth Immortal and reaching True Immortal.


    Only then did this energy begin to weaken, and after a while, it was gone.


    The corpse slowly opened its eyes and looked around, and then it began tough. "After a wait of ten thousand years, the day has finallye! The Immortal Emperor spoke the truth! Haha, haha, hahahaha!" ??¦¡?


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Tang Jie returned to that grasnd.


    With the jade mirror, he could control the formation.


    s, this was still a Dao Formation, and it was the kind of formation that didn''t differentiate between friend and foe. In other words, Tang Jie could only control whether it was on or off and ensure that it didn''t harm him, but he couldn''t remove the formation''s effect on him. This was the special property of Dao Formations. While powerful, they also possessed a certain level of blindness. To make the Dao Formation ineffective on oneself involved transcending this Dao, controlling this Dao.


    But Tang Jie didn''t mind. After all, his n hadn''t included this Miniaturization Formation in the first ce. The formation not attacking him was enough, and he could use the resulting power imbnce to easily take down the three Earth Immortals.


    Holding the jade mirror, Tang Jie took a trip around the ce, if only to see what useful materials this formation held.


    After all, this was a supreme formation of High Antiquity, so it had to have required numerous materials, some of which could be reused.


    Yes, Tang Jie was already nning to dismantle this formation.


    While the Miniaturization Formation was powerful, it primarily existed to protect that cave, which made it simr to the Nine Executions Immortal Formation in that its purpose was to autonomously operate as an impregnable barrier. It wasn''t viable to have it support him in battle.


    Tang Jie naturally wanted a weapon that could kill rather than a steel door that could keep people out¡ªbut the door was made of fine materials that could be melted down to forge him a fine de.


    Thus, Tang Jie traveled along the formation lines, the jade mirror exposing the formation''s entire internal structure. This allowed Tang Jie to easily discover its secrets and take apart the formation from its most basicyer.


    And he really did manage to find some nice treasures. But he didn''t take them yet, as this would affect the formation. Instead, he marked all the reusable materials with his Divine Will so that he could take them with a mere thought. As for the waste, as they contained traces of the Great Dao, they could be used as references for study. Thus, Tang Jie also marked them with his Divine Will.


    The old dragon shivered at Tang Jie''s plunderous ways, and he was even more confused as to how such a person could be "satisfied".


    As they were going along, Tang Jie trembled and shouted in glee. "The View Gate Banner! How can there be a View Gate Banner here?"


    (TN: The author seems to have forgotten that Tang Jie already possesses the View Gate Banner. He currently possesses the banners for Stop, Death, Injury, rm, and View. This means that he is missing Rest, Life, and Open.)


    The jade mirror disyed a small banner fluttering in the wind: the View Gate Banner of the Eight Gates Banners.


    The old dragon gave him a weird look. "What''s so surprising about the View Gate Banner? The Eight Gates Banners were an artificial peak Dao armament Reverend Five Origins requested the Bejeweled Star Lord to make. For this, Five Origins ended upying down an Immortal Formation for him."


    "''An artificial peak Dao armament''? You''re saying that these are part of an artificial peak Dao armament?" Tang Jie took out the five Eight Gates Banners he possessed.


    To be honest, while they could increase the power of formations, Tang Jie couldn''t see a Dao armament in them.


    The dragon was stunned by these five banners, grabbing them and saying, "Let me take a look."


    He examined them carefully and finally nodded. "Yes, these belong to the Eight Gates Banners, the Immortal formation treasure Reverend Five Origins so treasured. It was never shown to anyone else, but somehow, several of the banners were lost, leaving Reverend Five Origins furious. How¡­ how did they end up with you?"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "Rather than asking how they ended up with me, it would be better to ask how they ended up in the Rosecloud Domain."


    The old dragon said in realization, "You got them in the Rosecloud Domain?"


    Tang Jie nodded. "There was a fragment of the court in the Rosecloud Domain, where the Pearl Lady once lived. It fell to the Rosecloud Domain after the Martial Lord shattered the court. Considering that the Martial Lord''s hidden realm was also in the Rosecloud Domain, this was probably intended by the Martial Lord rather than a coincidence. It also probably has something to do with how the Eight Gates Banners ended up in the Rosecloud Domain."


    The old dragonughed. "You''re saying that your master''s wife was such a scoundrel that she stole Old Five Origins'' banners?"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "I don''t dare to make such a im, but I hope not. But this isn''t what''s important. You''re saying that this is a Dao armament? Why don''t I feel any energy of the Great Dao from it?"


    The old dragon exined, "The Eight Gates Banners are abination Dao armament, and they can''t show their might unless all eight are together. It''s said that if the banners are all used on the same formation, they can upgrade it all the way to a Dao Formation."


    "''Upgrade it to a Dao Formation''?" Tang Jie was startled.


    This sort of effect was definitely worthy of the name of an artificial peak Dao armament, a far cry from the effect of each banner to boost the power of their corresponding gate.


    "How many did he lose?" Tang Jie anxiously asked.


    "It''s been too long, and I don''t remember too well," the dragon said, shaking his head. "But I think it was six."


    Tang Jie''s heart sank.


    He went searching, and sure enough, he found the Life Gate Banner at the Life Gate''s position. But there was no trace of that most important Open Gate Banner.

 Chapter 938: Picking the Wrong Opponent

    Without the Open Gate Banner, the Eight Gates Banners couldn''t be considered an artificial Dao armament, but there was nothing Tang Jie could do about this but sigh.


    Since six had been lost, the final banner must have been lost somewhere in the Rosecloud Domain, so he could only task the disciples of the Basking Moon Sect to search for it. Fortunately, the Basking Moon Sect was at its peak of power and would have no problem scouring the world for it.


    After marking all the materials he wanted with his Divine Will, Tang Jie turned his attention toward Flowing Wind and the other Immortals.


    Those three were currently in battle with the insects, which, despite their savagery, were ultimately helpless against the Earth Immortals. Not only that, the three grew stronger as they fought and seemed to show signs of escaping.


    The Azure Dragon was rather perplexed. "The Miniaturization Formation should have been far above the level of Earth Immortals, so why are things like this?"


    As a master of formations, Tang Jie exined, "It''s because the formation has already been broken once. When I came here, I wondered why the defensive power of the formation seemed rather weak, and I only understood when you told me that the remains belonged to Wind Holder and not Reverend Five Origins. Wind Holder already damaged this formation once."


    "Wind Holder isn''t capable of that!" the Azure Dragon firmly said.


    "If someone helped him, he could have done it," Tang Jie replied.


    It was precisely because of Wind Holder that there was a break in the Dao Formation, which had allowed Tang Jie''s original body to go against the Dao and use a part of its strength. This same w was also allowing the three Earth Immortals to gradually adapt and show signs of breaking out.Tang Jie didn''t mind this, first heading toward Yiyi''s location.


    He soon arrived at their side. When they all learned that Tang Jie had released the Azure Dragon and strengthened the Mother Cloudbat puppet, they became full of confidence and readied for a fight.


    Tang Jie said to the dragon, "Which one do you want to deal with?"


    The old dragon knew that his freedom meant he had to work, so he pursed his lips and said, "The one with the mirror."


    The one he had chosen was Flowing Wind.


    The old dragon was skilled in energy observation, and he could tell at a nce that Flowing Wind had the weakest energy signature. This undoubtedly made him the weakest, so he chose him as his opponent.


    Tang Jie smiled. "Alright, he''s yours. The others will deal with Mou Siming while I will handle the me Celestial Sovereign."


    He raised his hand and pressed down on the jade mirror several times, halting the formation. With another move, hepletely released the seals of the formation, upon which the entire world began to transform.


    Everything around them rapidly shrank. While they were growing, those massive creatures were bing tiny, and that befuddling fog was reced by a clear sky.


    It was like they had ascended from their world to a higher ne, even their senses evolving.


    Tang Jie pensively gazed at this sky that seemed both familiar and strange, feeling something from it.


    s, before this feeling could be fully experienced, there was a sharp bark.


    In the distance, Mou Siming andpany appeared, rushing at them.


    Tang Jie chuckled and pointed into the distance, upon which the world began to shift again.


    Numerous formations were activated all at once, a heavy fog descending that was thick with traps.


    The girls and thebat puppet charged at Mou Siming, holding him down with the help of formations, while the dragon rushed at Flowing Wind.


    Although Tang Jie had nted a seal in him so that he wouldn''t turn traitor, he was still thinking at every moment about his freedom. He had only broken free of the Eternity Sarcophagus, and he was already thinking of how to get away from Tang Jie, even thinking about killing him. Thus, he had chosen the one he had regarded as the weakest, Flowing Wind.


    As he rushed at Flowing Wind, he started to think about how he could fight in a way where it seemed like he was fighting at full power while also not defeating Flowing Wind too quickly.


    Yes, he would use the Hundred Cloud Transformations of the Divine Dragon! With all of its numerous variations, it put on quite the show of force, which was bound to convince Tang Jie that he was giving it his all.


    Thinking this, he smiled at Flowing Wind. "Kid, take this."


    He extended a hand, and a dragon w emerged from the clouds, swiping at Flowing Wind while stirring up an impressive storm in the process.


    But he failed to notice his w passing through an azure cloud. As the w reached through the cloud toward Flowing Wind, the cloud suddenly condensed, and the dragon felt his Immortal energy being severed. The dragon w instantly came apart into a ball of Immortal energy. And besides that, the azure cloud turned into a vortex and sucked up all that Immortal energy.


    The dragon''s Immortal energy was devoured.


    The dragon was stunned, but he failed to notice the problem. Thinking that he had fallen for some sneak attack, he shouted, "Kid, you dare to steal my Immortal energy? Hurry up and die!"


    Another dragon w swiped at Flowing Wind.


    This w came down with the force of a mountain, manifesting all sorts of weather phenomena as a proper attack from a Titan should. As the reincarnation of a True Immortal, even when limited by the ice dragon''s cultivation, the Azure Dragon could still unleash some powerful Immortal arts.


    But Flowing Wind simply dropped his head and thrust out a finger. The azure cloud in the sky shifted once more, turning into a finger and stabbing at a certain point in space.


    There seemed nothing special about this point, but it was actually the Immortal energy node of the Azure Dragon''s w. His Immortal art was instantly undone, and the cloud once more sucked up his lingering Immortal energy.


    The old dragon was dumbfounded this time. Such uracy in targeting the weak points of his attacks would require something on par with Tang Jie''s Celestial Eye. But the old dragon knew that this wasn''t Insight, for there was a familiarity to it.


    "Fate!" the dragon shrieked.


    This power was clearly the power of Fate.


    He had chosen someone who had entered the Dao of Fate as his opponent!


    The Azure Dragon knew that he had made a grave mistake.


    Those who entered the Dao of Fate could not be judged ording to their Immortal energy, but ording to their Dao Arts. The Dao of Fate was renowned for its bizarrity, and this person was clearly a genius who had both entered the Dao of Fate and cultivated a Fate Dao Art.


    Normally, the old dragon wouldn''t have been scared. The Azure Dragon was the master of Fate, a supreme Titan of the Dao of Fate.


    But he had chosen reincarnation in order to break his natural limit, which had cost him both his draconic body and his powers over Karma and Fate. No longer could he mobilize the power of these Great Daos, let alone use Dao Arts.


    In other words, he waspletely helpless against his opponent''s Fate Dao Art.


    Flowing Wind finally raised his head, smiling at the dragon. "I was wondering who it was. So it was the reincarnation of the Azure Dragon! s, despite your grand ambitions, you ended up as a ve to a human. Well, you''re still half an Azure Dragon. If I catch and refine your divinity, I can absorb your Fate Dao Wills and enhance my fortune. Through the Overflowing Heaven Mirror, I could see that Tang Jie had entered the Dao of Fate, so beating him wouldn''t be easy, but if I devour you, my chances will be much better."


    He waved his hand, and the cloud wrapped around the dragon.


    The old dragon was far too familiar with this move, crying out, "The Ethereal Rain Divine Connection, the Genesis Cloud, the Overflowing Heaven Mirror¡­ You''re her sessor¡­ her sessor¡­ Save me!!!"


    The Azure Dragon was calling for help!

 Chapter 939: A Thousand Years a Slave

    As the me Celestial Sovereign charged forward, Tang Jie stopped not far from him andughed. "Long time no see. Have you been doing well, Immortal Sovereign?"


    The me Celestial Sovereign stared at Tang Jie, a sense of bitterness in his heart.


    Once, Tang Jie had been a mere ant in his eyes, but he had already grown so much.


    The immense gap naturally left him feeling unpleasant.


    Besides difort, there was also some fear.


    Fear of Tang Jie''s strength.


    Both Origin Defender and Jade Truth had died at his hands. Tang Jie had already proved that he could challenge and defeat Earth Immortals.


    He had been forced toe here by the two sects, and while he hated Tang Jie, he also wasn''t on friendly terms with the other side. With Tang Jie seemingly getting stronger and stronger, with perhaps still more cards yet to y, he had no will to fight. Thus, he shouted, "Tang Jie, there''s no big grudge between us. While I sold you out to Blood River, you looted my treasury in return, and at the end of it, I ended up losing more. Why should we be enemies? This business is between you and those two sects, nothing to do with me. I''m willing to let the matter drop. What say you?"


    He was making a peace offer.Tang Jie smiled. "Immortal Sovereign, you wish to talk peace? That''s wonderful. But I recall you chasing me rather diligently back in the court. How should we calcte the losses I suffered with all those divine treasures?"


    The me Celestial Sovereign could tell what he was going for, and he grunted, "Tang Jie, you still haven''t won yet, so don''t get too cocky."


    "All right." Tang Jie pped his hands. "This is where the problem lies. As Immortal Sovereign says, I still haven''t won, so you''re still putting on airs. Even if you want to withdraw, you have no ns on paying any sort of price. But I worry that if we talk about peace after the battle, you won''t have the right to talk anymore."


    He looked around and said, "I''m fighting you guys here not because I''m trying to avoid all of you, but because I want to ascend to Immortal tform, which means I need to expand the Yellow Court World. The best way to do this is to have a few Earth Immortals serve as fertilizer. Thus, to me, Immortal Sovereign, you represent a small fortune."


    The me Celestial Sovereign paled. He had never expected Tang Jie to be this ambitious.


    Moreover, Tang Jie wasn''t lying. This had been his n from the start, so for him, a dead me Celestial Sovereign was more valuable than a surrendered one.


    The me Celestial Sovereign panicked. "Tang Jie, Mou Siming and Flowing Wind aren''t that easy to deal with. Fighting with me might create some variables that will cause those pretty girls of yours to lose their lives. That wouldn''t be worth it at all."


    "That might not be the case," Tang Jie replied.


    As he spoke, in the distance, Yiyi suddenly took out the crown that had been taken from the me Celestial Sovereign. This item was a natural Dao armament that could be used even when one wasn''t at Immortal tform. Tang Jie had given Xu Miaoran the Bejeweled Star Lord''s arm, and he had given Yiyi the crown. It was just that Yiyi had been hiding using the formation rather than fighting out in the open, so she had had no opportunity to use it. When danger hade, she hadn''t had time, and it was Deng Yuqing who had saved her, and to die for Yiyi was something Deng Yuqing had been willing and wishing for. And now that she had taken out the crown, she could actually go toe-to-toe with Mou Siming''s Starshatter Ring. Meanwhile, the Mother Cloudbat puppet and the Vermillion Bird, two half-step Earth Immortals, attacked from the sides. Xu Miaoran helped everyone with various medicines while He Chong and Duan Fourth controlled the formations. Only Ice Phoenix continued to act aloof, watching the battle with folded arms.


    Tang Jie said, "Thus, if the oue were that hard to determine, Immortal Sovereign wouldn''t be wasting all this time chatting with me. In the end, youck confidence in your victory. If you really don''t want to be fertilizer for my small world, then I have a suggestion. You hand over your Origin me and help me kill those other two. Although I could do it without you, I''d like to conserve whatever strength I can."


    Despair appeared on the me Celestial Sovereign''s face.


    He had refined his Origin me by traveling across the myriad domains and collecting exotic mes, so handing it over to Tang Jie wasn''t a decision that came easily.


    But if he didn''t agree, he would die, and the Five Origins Estate was closed off, so he would find it very difficult to leave unless Tang Jie let him. The me Celestial Sovereign finally understood why Tang Jie had chosen to fight here¡ªnot just for the formations, but because this ce prevented them from escaping. Meanwhile, Tang Jie could leave whenever he wanted.


    In the end, their arrogance had caused them to underestimate their foe.


    The me Celestial Sovereign inwardly cursed, but s, he still had to face reality.


    As he was considering his answer, the old dragon''s cry for help came from the distance.


    He turned and saw the Genesis Cloud strangling the dragon.


    Hope appeared in the me Celestial Sovereign''s eyes, while Tang Jie sighed.


    He knew that the dragon''s ipetence had ruined his n to make his opponent surrender without a fight. Flowing Wind gaining the upper hand had made the me Celestial Sovereign believe that he could fight back.


    Thus, they would still have to fight.


    "Actually, this dragon was never a part of my ns, but even if I told you that I still had a hundred different ways to kill you, you wouldn''t believe me.


    "That being the case, we can only fight."


    The me Celestial Sovereign unleashed his Origin me at Tang Jie.


    As he had almost sold out Flowing Wind earlier, he went all-out in his attack, and his Origin me was much stronger than Tang Jie''s, setting the heavens aze.


    Not daring to be careless, Tang Jie threw out the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace, which fired off its divine beam to resist the Origin me.


    Through his repeated temperings, the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace had grown stronger and stronger, and the power of its 108 divine treasures was now enough to hold back the Origin mes. Tang Jie then swung his sword.


    A wave of sword energy surged toward the me Celestial Sovereign.


    The me Celestial Sovereign waved his hand, sending a ball of Origin me to counter it. But the Sovereign de sliced right through it as if it didn''t exist. The me Celestial Sovereign didn''t dare to take this sword directly, so he immediately fled. However, his escape art was no match for Nearby Horizon, and Tang Jie simply blinked over to intercept him and once more swung his sword.


    There was a shriek as the streak of me was sliced in two and then came together again, reforming into the me Celestial Sovereign.


    "You!" The me Celestial Sovereign roared, but before he could finish, Tang Jie chopped his sword, threw a punch, and then unleashed a waterfall of phantom swords.


    He needed to finish his opponent before the old dragon met his limit, so he attacked with all his might.


    The me Celestial Sovereign was weaker than Tang Jie already, and he had been further exhausted in the Miniaturization Formation, so the surge of the Skyrend Swordfall and a blow from the Ten Extinctions de swiftly took one of his lives.


    As the me Celestial Sovereign reformed, he cried out, "Tang Jie, stop! We can talk things out!"


    "Fine¡ªhand over your Origin me and be my ve for five hundred years."


    "You''re raising the price?"


    "Of course!" Tang Jie snorted. "You think you have the right to negotiate when you''re under siege? If you die one more time, I''ll add another five hundred years. At 2500 years, you need to hand over your Divine Soul. And if you lose ten lives¡­ there''s no more adding, for all your cultivation will be part of my Yellow Court World. So please, continue with your hesitation!"


    The me Celestial Sovereign was shocked and enraged, yet he still couldn''t ept being a ve for five hundred years. At this time, Flowing Wind managed to kill the dragon once, which made the me Celestial Sovereign think that if he held on, Flowing Wind could kill the dragon before he was killed by Tang Jie.


    His hesitation slowed his reaction, and Tang Jie unleashed another salvo,bining spell arts and Dao Arts before mincing up the me Celestial Sovereign into ground meat.


    Now it was a thousand years of very.

 Chapter 940: Begging for Surrender

    The me Celestial Sovereign was about to go crazy from rage.


    He was an Earth Immortal who had entered the Dao of Fire and could be considered a Godhead, a top-ss figure no matter where he went in the cosmos.


    But when facing Tang Jie, he was forced to choose between death and very. Never in his cultivation career had he encountered something like this.


    Yet there was no ignoring the suffocating pressure exuded by Tang Jie''s strength.


    This was Tang Jie with a greater Immortal Spirit Body, his body cultivation serving as his foundation while his Dao Arts served as attacks. In this way, both offense and defense involved the Daos, his every move unleashing an overwhelming tsunami.


    Tang Jie was getting into the rhythm of the battle now, his vertical eye opening as the Sovereign de sliced at the me Celestial Sovereign once more.


    He was using all his strength now and holding nothing back, and as a result, sword energy engulfed the heavens.


    The me Celestial Sovereign could only muster his Origin mes to defend.


    While the Origin me wasn''t weak, Tang Jie had entered the Dao of Five Elements. He may not have been as specialized as the me Celestial Sovereign, but his time immersed in the Dao had endowed him with a level of resistance against the Origin me, so it couldn''t do much to him.The me Celestial Sovereign''s face twisted in anger. "Tang Jie, don''t celebrate just yet!"


    He spread out his arms, and his Origin me transformed into a giant dragon and charged at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Immortal Sovereign, you seem to be out of moves."


    He simply reached out, upon which the dragon fell into his hand, flopping about like a fish out of water and helpless to escape.


    Tang Jie then sent a wave of sword energy at the me Celestial Sovereign, who roared and unleashed all of his Immortal energy. The fire dragon grew explosively in size, breaking free of Tang Jie''s palm and immediately snapping its jaws at him.


    "Useless." Tang Jie shook his head and thrust out a finger, striking a certain point on the fire dragon''s body.


    As he grew more and more proficient with his Celestial Eye, he could see the weaknesses not only of a person, but also of spell arts. All things in the world had their means of functioning, and everything that existed had a weak point that could be used to destroy it.


    Tang Jie couldn''t do this before, but now, even the ws of Immortal arts were bared to him.


    With one strike of his finger, the fire dragon was destabilized, its power cut down by more than half. However, the me Celestial Sovereign was not thwarted so easily, the dragon still ramming into Tang Jie. s, it rammed into the Infinite Pce instead. The Fire Dao shed with the Five Elements Great Dao, one with quality and the other with quantity, neither able toe out ahead. In the middle of their blinding sh of light, Tang Jie blinked behind the me Celestial Sovereign and swung the Sovereign de at his neck. "Immortal Sovereign, you''ve gotten old."


    His head went flying, but the me Celestial Sovereign wasn''t willing to give up this life and reached out to snatch it back.


    Tang Jie swung again, chopping off the arm, upon which the me Celestial Sovereign attempted to turn into me. But Tang Jie simply turned the Sovereign de into a giant umbre with the flick of his hand, sticking it right into the me and letting it unfurl, thus breaking the me in two. Unable to bring his body back together, the me Celestial Sovereign left his me state, upon which the umbre turned back into a saber, this time imbued with a ck me. Tang Jie chopped it at the remaining half of the me Celestial Sovereign''s body, and the power of Destruction of the Ten Extinctions de obliterated it. The remaining half was unable to live on its own and swiftly dissipated.


    Another death.


    When the me Celestial Sovereign was reborn, he immediately shouted, "Fifteen hundred years! I agree!"


    But Tang Jie casually replied, "It''s two thousand years."


    "What?" The me Celestial Sovereign shivered. "Why did it increase by an extra five hundred?"


    Tang Jie exined, "The power of Destruction obliterates all life, and this kill consumed enough Immortal energy to have revived you twice, which you must know yourself. Also, you used up so much energy that you don''t even have ten lives. You must have used up at least half of it, right? Thus, if you want to be my ve, you need to hand over your Divine Soul Origin as well."


    The me Celestial Sovereign almost threw up blood.


    It seemed from Tang Jie''s tone that he would have to practically beg to be his ve.


    To be honest, even if the me Celestial Sovereign''s Returned Remnants nourished the Yellow Court World, it wouldn''tpare to the benefits that came from an Earth Immortal ve. After all, nourishing a world was simply increasing a world''s abilities while an Earth Immortal subordinate was a real manifestation of power. ?


    It was just that Tang Jie was at a crucial point of his ascension to Immortal tform, and nothing was more important than that, so he was willing to take even a 1% greater chance of sess. He was attempting an unprecedented Heaven¨CMan Union region, three timesrger than the standard, and this required that he establish his Dao in the Yellow Court. Thus, every Earth Immortal was an important resource.


    This was why he really didn''t care for the me Celestial Sovereign''s servitude, just like he had rarely collected fiends in the Myriad Immortals Cauldron. His desire to advance was just that much stronger.


    This was also why Tang Jie was raising the price as the me Celestial Sovereign died, not caring at all if the me Celestial Sovereign hesitated or refused, even hoping for it.


    The me Celestial Sovereign had finally realized this. As Tang Jie gained better control of the situation, his desire for a dead sovereign over a living sovereign became more apparent.


    The me Celestial Sovereign blurted, "I agree! I agree! I''ll hand over my Divine Soul Origin and be your ve for two thousand years!"


    Tang Jie had just used Nearby Horizon to reach his foe, which would have been followed by Law Speaking to paralyze his foe, a Split-Second Youth to slow his flow of time, and then a Skyrend Swordfall to cut the slowed me Celestial Sovereign into ten thousand pieces. Finally, he would use the power of Destruction to finish the job.


    The me Celestial Sovereign''s surrender ended up throwing his ns into disarray. He failed to voice his Law Speaking, which caused him to force back the energy he was about to unleash. He needed a moment to calm back down, after which he asked, "You agree?"


    "Yes, I agree, I surrender!" the me Celestial Sovereign helplessly said. In a sh of light, his Divine Soul appeared behind him, upon which the me Celestial Sovereign reached behind him, tore off a chunk of his soul, and handed it to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie hadn''t expected this old man to concede so swiftly, and he was at a loss for words. Rather than pride, there was only displeasure, as if he was saying, "How could you agree? How could you surrender? How could you ept conditions like these? You''re an Immortal tform expert, for heaven''s sake, a supreme Titan! What about your dignity, your resolve to face death¡­" and so on.


    In short, Tang Jie wasn''t ted at all to take on such a powerful ve, so much so that the me Celestial Sovereign actually had to stuff his Divine Soul Origin into Tang Jie''s hand. He then bowed and said, "Although I am an Earth Immortal, undying and evesting, it is precisely because I am undying that I value my life. To be a ve is better than death. Master''s Dao Arts are far more profound than mine, so it is only natural that I take you as my master."


    This matter seemedical, but the me Celestial Sovereign wasn''t joking in the slightest. Tang Jie needed some time for his mind to process what had just happened.


    What was done was done, and Tang Jie couldn''t bring himself to go back on his word, so he put away the Divine Soul Origin. With it, Tang Jie controlled the me Celestial Sovereign''s life and could kill him with a single thought.


    Although he was still rather sore that he couldn''t turn the me Celestial Sovereign into fertilizer, Tang Jie had ultimately chosen to ept this reality. While there were few Earth Immortal ves in the universe, they weren''tpletely unheard of. But Tang Jie was perhaps the only one who was so miserable about it.


    With the me Celestial Sovereign now his ve, Tang Jie said, "Go and help Yiyi and the others take down Mou Siming. I''ll go and deal with Flowing Wind."


    He immediately began to fly toward Flowing Wind.

 Chapter 941: Fortune

    The Azure Dragon had also been pushed to the point where he was willing to be a ve, but he hadn''t done so because of the Immortal Shackling Stamp. The moment he dared to surrender, the Immortal Shackling Stamp would activate and drop his cultivation.


    But he had managed to hold out until the storm had cleared, and he almost broke into tears when he saw Tang Jieing over.


    Meanwhile, Flowing Wind was unperturbed by the me Celestial Sovereign''s surrender, sneering, "It''s quite rare to see something so useless in this world. But there''s nothing wrong if he''s with you now. After I kill you, all that is yours will be mine."


    "Oh? Can you actually do that?" Tang Jie asked as he floated over.


    Flowing Wind chuckled. "A Soul Projection cultivator ying two Earth Immortals and subduing another is unprecedented, a manifestation of immense fortune. But do you really think you can keep on winning?"


    Tang Jie raised an eyebrow. "It sounds like you still have some card yet to y, which makes you confident in your victory. This is nothing to be surprised about, and I''ve never believed that I can dominate all with my current strength. What I don''t understand is: if you really had this sort of card, why didn''t you use it earlier?"


    Flowing Wind smiled. "Because the moment hadn''te. You have also entered the Dao of Fate. Protected by the Dao of Fate, your fortune is boundless, your luck unparalleled, and killing you would be extremely difficult. Killing this sort of person involves first seizing their Karma, grinding away their fortune, and seizing their Great Dao power. Only after their foundation has been destroyed can one attempt to y them in a single strike. It''s not just about seizing their treasure, but also their Dao power. This is the ideal method."


    "Oh?" Tang Jie narrowed his eyes.


    This was the first time he was hearing this kind of argument. He pondered Flowing Wind''s words and said, "In other words, when I was killing the others, it was because you intentionally held back?""You finally get it?" Flowing Windughed. "As they say, the Great Dao is difficult to attain, the Immortal tform a challenge to break through. The path of the Immortal is like the path to the heavens, and ascending to Immortality is even harder than ascending to the heavens. Since ancient times, numerous cultivators have wasted their lives attempting to ascend to Immortality. This is why anyone who was able to get this far must be blessed by Fate. And how could anyone blessed by Fate be so easily in? Even if one is strong enough to y them, these people will often inflict a bacsh upon their deaths that will adversely affect your fortune. Those skilled in the Dao of Fate will be able to exert a greater effect while those not skilled will have a smaller effect."


    Tang Jie understood. "In other words, in killing those two Earth Immortals, I suffered bacsh from Fate? But I''ve killed Immortals before, so why didn''t I have any problems then?"


    "Do you really think so? You were simply unaware. Moreover, this effect will gradually fade with time."


    Tang Jie recalled the immense difort he had felt when he had been experiencing the world''s sorrow.


    Had the effect on his fortune also yed a role in the difort he had felt?


    Although he had entered the Dao of Fate, his teachings on this were limited, so he didn''t actually know that much about it. Thus, he found Flowing Wind''s words very interesting.


    Flowing Wind coldly smiled. "As for now, you think it canpare to what happened to you in the past? My Heaven''s Equal Sect is the best at manipting Fate. Beforeing here, each one of us was blessed and protected by Fate through my teacher, so the effect of killing them ispletely different. Moreover, you even did something as absurd as taking an Earth Immortal as a ve! You must understand that this infuriates the heavens even more than killing one! The me Celestial Sovereign still lives, but he is not exactly willing to be your ve and must hold some resentment. This resentment will transform into a Fate curse that will also influence your fortune, to an even greater effect than you killing two Earth Immortals. Otherwise, why wouldn''t I have enved him instead? But you were too reckless, actually enving two Immortal tform experts! You think this old dragon isn''t holding some resentment for beingpelled to be your ve? I''m confident that not even your fortune can resist two death curses and two living curses."


    Flowing Wind concluded, "In killing two Immortals and enving two, you''ve dropped your fortune to its absolute lowest. If I try to kill you now, not only will the Heavenly Dao not make trouble for me, it will bless me even more. Thus, my victory is certain!"


    At this moment, Flowing Wind erupted with a blinding light.


    Even Tang Jie couldn''t help but lower his head a little, looking toward the old dragon.


    The old dragon replied, "You must be careful. He''s telling the truth. He''s the sessor of the Sage Mother of the West''s lineage, which is a master at manipting Fate. When I was the Azure Dragon, I once discussed the Dao of Fate with the Sage Mother, thinking myself to be the strongest Fate Dao expert in the world, but to my surprise, the Sage Mother''s Dao surpassed mine. In the Court of Myriad Domains, besides the Immortal Emperor, the one that people wanted to avoid provoking the most was the Sage Mother of the West, and she was also the one that people most wanted to get in the good graces of. If you offended her, nothing would go well for you, but if she liked you, it would be akin to being loved by Fate, and everything would earn its protection. I don''t know who this man''s master is, but they inherited some of the essence of the Sage Mother of the West''s Dao Art, and manifesting the protection of Fate isn''t anything difficult for him. By killing two Earth Immortals and enving the me Celestial Sovereign, you really have suffered the bacsh of Fate and are in great peril!"


    "''The Sage Mother of the West''? One of the court''s Four Sages?" Tang Jie was startled.


    The Four Sages of the court were the Sage Lord of Cosmic Origin, the Unbounded Immortal Elder, the Sage Mother of the West, and the Dragon Ancestor, and all had been Boundless Gold Immortals, their status second only to the Immortal Emperor. The Sage Mother of the West was even said to be a Dao Controller.


    He hadn''t expected Flowing Wind to be a member of her lineage. With this lineage and a Dao armament, though he seemed the weakest, he was actually the strongest. The dragon was also a Fate Dao expert, but as he had lost his Immortal body and the Dao Runes within it, he was countered at every turn by Flowing Wind, which was why he ended up in such a miserable state.


    "So the Heaven''s Equal Sect belonged to the Sage Mother of the West''s lineage. No wonder it''s so powerful." Tang Jie nodded. "But what about it? The blessing of Fate? The bacsh of Fate?"


    Tang Jie shook his head andughed.


    "I don''t believe in Fate."


    "What?" Flowing Wind and the old dragon were both stunned.


    Tang Jie had also entered the Dao of Fate, but he said that he didn''t believe in it!


    This was as absurd a statement as a cultivator saying that Immortals didn''t exist.


    "Yes, I don''t believe in Fate," Tang Jie dered. "I believe in Fate''s existence, believe that there is a power of Fate, but I don''t believe that everything I do has to do with the protection of fortune, don''t believe that fortune granted me all that I have worked for. If the blessing of fortune was enough to seed, why should I try? If all my efforts were actually the product of fortune, then what was the point of all my blood and sweat, all that I sacrificed? And if I failed, whose mistake was it?"


    These questions left the other two speechless.


    "I believe in its existence, but not that it can control me. If it really can, then I will resist it. My life is my own choice, not something controlled by fortune. My sess is through my own efforts, not something granted by fortune. My failures are mine to bear, not for me to me the heavens for¡­ My life didn''t start off good. I was born in Little River Vige and was hunted down. To ascend the Immortal path, I was willing to sell my body, and to seek the Great Dao, I took on all sorts of dangers. If all this was granted by Fate, then this Fate was a little too harsh on me.


    "Thus, I don''t believe in Fate.


    "I am not under its control. On the contrary, I should be the one to control it."


    He beckoned Flowing Wind toe forward.


    "Since you think my fortunes have fallen and you can defeat me now and take all that I have,e and try me.


    "Let''s see which one of us actually ends up dead!"


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 942: The Fate-Burning Candle

    Tang Jie and Flowing Wind faced off in the sky, their bodies exuding powerful auras.


    This was a stand-off between two of the most outstanding geniuses of the era.


    As he gazed at them in all their radiant glory, even the old dragon felt inferior.


    He knew that this battle wasn''t something he could influence.


    He retreated and went over to help the others deal with Mou Siming.


    Flowing Wind didn''t mind. In his eyes, only Tang Jie had ever existed. In his view, Tang Jie represented the only threat, and so long as he handled him, even the me Celestial Sovereign and old dragonbined couldn''t threaten him. As for Mou Siming: apologies, but those of the Ster Net Gate had never been his friends.


    Looking at Tang Jie, Flowing Windughed. "It doesn''t matter whether you believe it or not. Once your destiny has been decided, the mandate of the heavens is difficult to defy. If you don''t believe it, I''ll go ahead and show you!"


    With a wave, he produced a candle in his hand.


    The candle was very long and thin, with bamboo-like joints across its length. At its top, a me flickered, and when Tang Jie gazed at it, he felt his heart thumping as if something was influencing him.Flowing Wind smiled. "My Fate Dao Art is called the Fate-Burning Candle. All people in the world have a Fate Candle, a manifestation of the lifespan decided on by the will of the heavens. When the Fate Candle burns out, one''s life will end. No one can resist this. Before you is your Fate Candle that I fished out of the Ocean of Fate. Observe its length. Each segment represents one hundred years of your life. You are a young genius who is overflowing with talent, so your lifespan is extremely long. A Fate Candle this long would have been enough tost you a long while yet, but with me¡­"


    Flowing Wind chuckled and blew on the candle me, upon which the me suddenly intensified and began to rapidly melt away the candle.


    The burning of the candle sent fear running through Tang Jie''s body.


    Flowing Wind said, "You see it? The Fate Candle is a real manifestation of your fortune. If your fortune was powerful, your Fate Candle is bound to burn slowly, and not even my Dao Art would be able to hasten the process that much. But look at how quickly your Fate Candle burns! It''s a clear sign that your fortunes have declined, that you are no longer protected by Fate. All you have is a long lifespan that will be burned down to nothing all the same."


    As he said this, Tang Jie could feel a sort of weakness in the depths of his body, as if something really was being stripped away from his life force.


    That candle seemed very long, but at the rate it was burning, it probably wouldn''tst long.


    Holding the candle, Flowing Wind smiled as if everything was now under his control.


    His Fate Dao Art was truly profound. No matter who it was, he could fish out their Fate Candle and essentially hold the life of his opponent in his hands. But this Dao Art also had some restrictions. For example, those who were protected by great fortune were highly resistant to it, and sometimes even fishing out the candle was extremely difficult.


    Even once he performed this difficult feat, the Fate Candle wasn''t going to burn away all at once, so the other party had sufficient time to counterattack, and using it in battle wasn''t very easy.


    This was why Flowing Wind had wasted so much time talking to Tang Jie: to buy time.


    In truth, the moment he saw Tang Jie, he had started searching the Ocean of Fate for his candle. s, Tang Jie''s fortune was too immense, so he had to wait until Tang Jie had killed two Immortals and enved two more before he could finally find the Fate Candle and ignite it.


    While Tang Jie didn''t know of all these limitations, he did know that he was in trouble and he couldn''t let his opponent do as he pleased. "I''ll just have to kill you before that happens."


    He let out a thunderous punch: the Devil Crushing Strike!


    Flowing Wind held the candle in his left hand and summoned his Genesis Cloud with his right, sending a sea of clouds at Tang Jie. Tang Jie''s heaven-shaking strikended in the clouds, and while it caused them to churn and roil, Flowing Wind himself seemed to only suffer a light push. All of that berserk energy had been absorbed by the Genesis Cloud, and the punch seemed to only strengthen it.


    "A Dao armament?" Tang Jie''s eyes narrowed.


    Flowing Wind smiled. "This treasure is called the Genesis Cloud. Although it is called Genesis, it is actually a Karma Dao armament. Its primary focus is creation, not killing."


    Tang Jie nodded. "''Genesis''? I''m familiar."


    There was still the Genesis Stone b in his Yellow Court World, a divine item created through the influence of Divine Genesis. Although it didn''t have the Dao Standard, it still had some level of creation, and it was ying an important function in his small world. ?


    Anything that carried the name "Genesis" generally had the ability to create, as well as some other unique function.


    Divine Genesis was able to create various treasures, and this Genesis Cloud seemed to have another kind of special power.


    Tang Jie didn''t know what these exact abilities were, but by fighting, he would find out. He went on the offensive, punching out a Fierce Gale Strike with his left hand to scatter the clouds to see if this could undo the Genesis Cloud, and swinging the Sovereign de with his right to see if this divine weapon of the Weapon Dao could be the solution to the cloud.


    Flowing Wind was unconcerned, jabbing a finger into the air. The Genesis Cloud contracted, a vortex appearing in its center, from which a vast torrent of power surged and mmed into Tang Jie''s Fierce Gale Strike, the titanic sh of energies shaking the very fabric of space.


    Fortunately, this was a True Immortal estate, so it managed to endure the impact.


    The cloud then split apart into numerous tendrils that the Sovereign de shed at to no avail.


    Tang Jie was startled, because the energy unleashed by the vortex just now was none other than his Devil Crushing Fist.


    In other words, the Genesis Cloud had absorbed the power of his punch and then turned it against him.


    This was an even higher level of using one''s own attack against oneself, for not only had it devoured his strength, it had been able to save it to use for the right moment.


    Attack and defense werebined in a single cloud.


    "The Dao of Karma?" Tang Jie''s eyes narrowed.


    The Dao of Karma was the Dao of cause and effect, preordaining all things!


    It seemed like "reversing the heavens and earth" and "constant transformation" were the two fundamental powers of the Genesis Cloud.


    Akin to how the Sovereign de could shatter all weapons, the Genesis Cloud could counter all arts. No matter what spell art was used against the Genesis Cloud, it could absorb and use it, even counterattack. Even the Sovereign de couldn''t do much to it.


    However, if the other side didn''t attack, the Genesis Cloud wouldn''t have much to do, so it was ultimately a Dao armament better on defense than offense.


    But Flowing Wind also had his Fate-Burning Candle, so all he wanted was to stall for time. Thisbination was extremely dangerous to Tang Jie.


    It was no wonder the old dragon was so afraid of Flowing Wind. With thisbo, Flowing Wind was the strongest of all the Immortals who hade along this time.


    "Interesting!" Tang Jie grunted. "This Genesis Cloud is quite amazing, but I wonder how it deals with Dao Arts."


    With a wave of his arm, Tang Jie unleashed a Skyrend Swordfall.

 Chapter 943: Resisting the Mandate of Heaven (1)

    The Genesis Cloud could counter all arts, so what about Dao Arts?


    Yes, but also no.


    The Great Daos were supreme, and nothing could resist them.


    Daos were the foundations of the world, irreversible, unalterable, undefiable. From this perspective, Dao Arts could not be countered.


    But when two Dao Arts, both possessing the utmost authority, collided, their attribute yed a pivotal role.


    Normally, there were two kinds of results. The first was that when two Great Dao attributes were in conflict, theypeted in Dao nature and Dao power. The former represented quality and thetter represented quantity, and the twobined determined the level of the Great Dao. If the levels were different, the higher level would win, and if the levels were simr, they would neutralize each other.


    The other was that if their attributes were different and didn''t interfere with each other, then level didn''t matter, and both would work.


    The Genesis Cloud was a natural Dao armament of Karma, while Skyrend Swordfall was Tang Jie''s ughter Dao Art.


    In terms of level, the Genesis Cloud was clearly of a higher level. As a natural Dao armament, it had incorporated Dao Runes into itsposition. Just by existing, it could draw in the Dao power existing in nature, and, barring special circumstances, its Dao power would never run out. Inparison, Tang Jie had yet to reach the Dao-Controlling level, so his Dao power was limited, which left it far behind the Genesis Cloud.But in terms of attribute, the two were clearly different.


    The Skyrend Swordfall was a manifestation of ughter, and to break and damage was its nature, which waspletely unrted to the Dao of Karma.


    Thus, when the two collided, it was the second result: both worked.


    A bizarre scene yed out.


    The unique powers of the Genesis Cloud caused an unprecedented mutation in the Skyrend Swordfall as it rushed toward Flowing Wind.


    The Skyrend Swordfall should have manifested as a dazzling and majestic flood of swords, but under the influence of the Genesis Cloud, this impressive sight shrank down into a thin sliver of sword light. It was like a leaf on the wind,cking any sense of weight or grandeur.


    This was because Dao Arts had both a Daoponent and an Artponent. The Skyrend Swordfall used Tang Jie''s sword will as its basis and was formed through such sword arts as the Longevity Sword. However, the Genesis Cloud made it so that all spell arts, including sword will, were stripped away, leaving only that pure ughter Dao Will.


    But this sliver of ughter Dao Will couldn''t be stripped away by the Genesis Cloud. It pierced through the cloud and shed at Flowing Wind, creating a ssh of blood.


    While Flowing Wind immediately had the cloud turn the powerful sword will of the Skyrend Swordfall against Tang Jie, without the ughter Dao Will, this attack had a tenth of its usual power and was easily beaten back by Tang Jie.


    The ws of a defensive Dao armament immediately became apparent. The Genesis Cloud was far above Skyrend Swordfall in terms of level, but its unique property of defending and then counterattacking made it hard to threaten Tang Jie. A stripped Dao Art was too weak to do much to Tang Jie, and, having seen this problem, Tang Jieughed. "So you can''t reverse the Great Dao, right? True¡ªif even Great Daos could be reversed, you would be invincible. Since you can''t turn the ughter Dao back on me, let me try the Dao of Destruction too."


    He unleashed the Ten Extinctions de.


    ughter was the process, and Destruction was the result.


    The specialty of the ughter Dao was rather simr to the Sovereign de, able to ignore defenses to a certain extent. Thus, this Dao Art''s primary purpose was to obliterate all existences with powerful defenses.


    The Ten Extinctions de was the opposite. Even Immortals obliterated by the Dao of Destruction would lose a life, and if it was a strong power of Destruction, one strike could reap several, or kill them permanently, turning the undying and evesting property of Immortals into a joke. ?


    Thus, after figuring out how far the Genesis Cloud could go, Tang Jie used the Ten Extinctions de.


    The Genesis Cloud could counter all arts, but it had few other defensive properties to speak of. The Ten Extinctions de shot forward, and while the Genesis Cloud was able to strip away its mes and aura, this de of pure power of Destruction still twinkled with a lethal light in Flowing Wind''s eyes.


    This was an attack he could not ignore, and he let out a low roar, upon which clouds swept in, a gentle rain beginning to fall.


    This was an autumn drizzle, drenching the world in sorrow and mncholy.


    "The Ethereal Rain Divine Connection?" Tang Jie muttered.


    He had seen Flowing Wind use this Divine Connection earlier. It had held back the old dragon and left himpletely helpless.


    While he hadn''t known what was going on then, now that he was in the middle of it, he finally realized what was so special about it.


    Every drop of rain was imbued with a power that could corrode the soul, filling Tang Jie with helplessness. But a momentter, Tang Jie gathered up all his strength and charged at Flowing Wind. His body cultivation was enough to resist this corrosive power.


    The splendor of the Ten Extinctions de fell upon Flowing Wind''s head, slicing it into two. But a momentter, his body dissolved into clouds. It turned out that Flowing Wind had already moved away.


    The Ethereal Rain Divine Connection didn''t only weaken one''s will to fight. More importantly, every drop of rain had a powerful illusory effect that could fool the senses.


    Flowing Wind had seized that moment to evade.


    Tang Jie turned his head and saw Flowing Wind standing behind him, still holding that Fate Candle. It was just that a small part of the candle had melted away over the course of their shes.


    Flowing Wind smiled. "Brother Tang, I have heard that you have the ability to transform yourself in various ways, and my Ethereal Rain Divine Connection also has a transformation ability. I wonder how itpares to yours."


    A momentter, drops of rain took on the appearance of Flowing Wind. In a sh, the world was full of Flowing Winds, all of them holding candles and smiling at Tang Jie, as if Flowing Wind had used Tang Jie''s Reflections of Floating Life.


    Besides people, the drops of rain also turned into birds, beasts, bugs, fish, and many other lifeforms besides. An entire illusory world was born, so lifelike that one could easily get lost within it.


    Tang Jie naturally wouldn''t be fooled, but finding the real Flowing Wind in all of this wouldn''t be easy.


    But he simply sneered, "It''s certainly not a weak Divine Connection, but it''s of no use against me."


    The Celestial Eye on the center of his forehead opened. "Dispel!"


    A light shed from his Celestial Eye, and all the illusions shattered.

 Chapter 944: Resisting the Mandate of Heaven (2)

    Chapter 944: Resisting the Mandate of Heaven (2)


    Under the Celestial Eye of Insight, all illusions were vanquished.


    Yet moments after the surrounding illusions disappeared, Tang Jie saw a new illusion forming around him.


    Flowing Wind let out a heartyugh. "My Ethereal Rain Divine Connection might not be a Dao Art, but it has its own profundities. I admit that Divine Connections cannot resist the profundities of Dao Arts, but what if I don''t resist and let you have at it?"


    Tang Jie was shaken.


    Flowing Wind''s n was very simple. He would let Tang Jie''s Celestial Eye pierce through the illusions and simply create anotheryer.


    This Ethereal Divine Connection was extraordinary in its own way. While it couldn''t match the absolute authority of a Dao Art, the shattering of its illusions seemed to have little effect on the user, allowing it to be used repeatedly.


    Quantity could make up for theck of quality.


    In terms of spiritual energy, no matter how much of a genius Tang Jie was, he couldn''t possiblypare to an Earth Immortal.


    Even though Tang Jie''s Celestial Eye swept here and there, breakingyer afteryer, there seemed to be no end to Flowing Wind''s illusions.It took more power to create than destroy, and using the Ethereal Divine Connection actually consumed more Immortal and spiritual energy than Tang Jie''s Celestial Eye.


    But Flowing Wind was an Earth Immortal. He could condense spiritual energy into Immortal Essence and thus continuously replenish himself, while Tang Jie''s Dao power was limited.


    By using the limitless against the limited, Flowing Wind had halted Tang Jie''s offensive.


    In truth, this was a choice that any Immortal would make when facing a cultivator with a powerful Dao Art. What was happening with the Ethereal Rain Divine Connection and the Celestial Eye of Insight was just like the Jewel Immortal Sovereign using eleven finger strikes to shatter the Infinite Pce. Otherwise, a cultivator, regardless of their cultivation level, would be invincible afterprehending a Dao. In reality, cultivation was always the foundation of a cultivator, and without this foundation, a Dao Art was far from enough to seal the victory.


    Tang Jie was dealing with the aforesaid situation. The Celestial Eye clearly countered the Ethereal Rain Divine Connection, but Tang Jie was helpless before this seemingly endless reserve of Immortal energy.


    Usually, this wasn''t a problem. After all, he couldn''t do anything to Flowing Wind, but Flowing Wind wasn''t able to do anything to Tang Jie.


    However, Flowing Wind had his own Dao Art, the Fate-Burning Candle that was burning away Tang Jie''s life, instilling a sense of peril in him.


    His candle continued to ze as Flowing Wind bought time with his Ethereal Rain Divine Connection and Genesis Cloud, a smile on his lips seeming to say, "What can you do to me?"


    Tang Jie snorted. "Since you have this supreme illusion Divine Connection, you might as well take a look at my ability."


    He threw his head back and threw up a mouthful of blood.


    The blood scattered, turning into countless Tang Jies¡ªReflections of Floating Life!


    Flowing Wind froze for a moment, nning to say, "Using illusions against illusions doesn''t do that much."


    A momentter, he saw those thousands of Tang Jies raise their weapons and attack.


    Instantly, Flowing Wind felt like he was in terrible danger.


    In a sh, he turned into a streak of light.


    A momentter, his countless illusions shattered.


    Not because of the Celestial Eye, but because illusion was doing battle with illusion.


    Tang Jie had merged his illusion clones with Flowing Wind''s Divine Connection, battling him on the illusory ne. The meaning of this battle wasn''t merely topete in spell arts, but to forcefully draw these two together.


    <em>You have limitless Immortal energy? I have more than one Dao Art!</em>


    <em>You have quantity and I have quality. Let''s see who is superior!</em>


    The mixing of the two abilities tied them together, and nothing would happen until the battle reached its end and one side came out on top.


    At the same time, Tang Jie swung his sword at Flowing Wind.


    Skyrend Swordfall!


    The Ten Extinctions de!


    Flowing Wind snorted. "So many Dao Arts! No wonder you can defeat Immortal tform experts at Violet Pce. But so what? You really think that killing a few Immortals means you can defeat all Immortals? Immortals are akin to spirit cultivators among mortals and not so easily defeated. You''ve only defeated trash and have yet to see the powers of real Immortals."


    As he spoke, torrents of spiritual energy began to form in the air.


    From these vast torrents of spiritual energy arose tall mountains.


    Yes, high in the sky, mountains had been formed, as well as a vast ocean that separated the twobatants.


    Tang Jie swung the Sovereign de, shattering the mountains and splitting the ocean.


    Even mountains and rivers had to stand aside in the face of ughter and Destruction.


    Yet copsed mountains rose once more and the ocean merged back together. A vast world had appeared in front of Flowing Wind, going on and on, creating more mountains and oceans no matter how many Tang Jie hacked his way through.


    Tang Jie was stunned by this sight.


    He knew that Flowing Wind was still stalling, using the nigh infinite power of an Immortal to hold back his Dao Arts, but there was nothing he could do.


    Flowing Wind smirked. By now, more than half of that Fate Candle had burned away.


    Tang Jie knew that he couldn''t let this continue. "Fine, you really do have some Immortal power about you. So let''s try this instead."


    He suddenly stepped forward, instantly crossing that nigh infinite world and appearing at Flowing Wind''s side.


    Nearby Horizon!


    While Flowing Wind was still in shock, Tang Jie swung his sword.


    As Tang Jie''s de bit into his body, Flowing Wind shouted, and a streak of light struck Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie ignored it, trusting in his tough body, but to his surprise, rather than getting hurt, his vision blurred, and then he was a hundred kilometers away.


    He had been teleported away.


    Not only that, a ghostly figure appeared behind him and thwacked him on the head with a cudgel.


    The strike made Tang Jie feel like his world was spinning.


    Meanwhile, Flowing Wind''s shattered body reformed. Though the attack had failed to kill him, that de infused with the power of Destruction had forced him to expend a lot of Immortal energy.


    What Immortals cared about wasn''t how many times they died, but how much Immortal energy they consumed.


    If an Earth Immortal wasn''t attacking, they could die ten times and still not experience true death. On the same principle, in a particrly fierce battle, just one death might be enough topletely end them.


    Thus, Flowing Wind didn''t care about death, but about expenditure!


    The attack just now had expended half a life''s worth of energy, the equivalent of ten-some Manifold Mountain Ocean Incantations, and beside that, there was also the Five Ghost Migration and Haunting Spirit World Strike that he had used to send Tang Jie away.


    Flowing Wind was furious over all the energy he had used, and he blew on the candle once more, causing the me to burn even more fiercely.


    Tang Jie finally recovered from his dizziness.


    This was only thanks to his body cultivation. Anyone else would have instantly died to the strike. Still, he was aghast at what had just happened.


    Although he knew that Flowing Wind wasn''t some mediocre Earth Immortal and was probably an elite, he hadn''t expected that all of his moves wouldn''t be able to kill him and that he would be the one seeing stars.


    It had to be understood that he hadn''t been holding back.


    "Fine, I acknowledge you!" Tang Jie clenched his teeth and once more used Nearby Horizon to appear next to Flowing Wind.


    Just when Flowing Wind was going to use the Five Ghosts Migration again, Tang Jie shouted, "Stop!"


    That demonic sound paralyzed Flowing Wind.


    Tang Jie thrust a palm at Flowing Wind.


    Flowing Wind was unable to dodge this time, and the hand that was holding the candle was struck. The candle went flying off and then disappeared in a sh.


    At the moment the candle disappeared, Flowing Wind used the hand that had been holding the candle to strike Tang Jie in the chest.


    Tang Jie was blown back while throwing up blood, feeling like some terrifying beast had just given him a hefty p.


    This left him badly wounded, and for a brief moment, Tang Jie sensed that Flowing Wind''s strength had soared.


    It quickly fell back to normal, however.


    As he drew back his arm, he coldly red at Tang Jie and said, "You''ve got some skill, but you really think striking the candle is enough?"


    Tang Jie was dumbfounded, a feeling of ill foreboding welling up in his mind.


    Sure enough, Flowing Wind simply reached into the void once more. "You can use Dao Art after Dao Art, so why can''t I? You broke it once, so I can just find it again. Moreover¡­ it gets easier each time."


    He pulled his hand back.


    Tang Jie''s Fate Candle was once more in his grip.

 Chapter 945: Resisting the Mandate of Heaven (3)

    The Fate Candle''s reappearance made Tang Jie''s heart go cold.


    This was not because Flowing Wind could fish out his Fate Candle again. He could naturally just knock it out his grip again.


    The problem was that there was still just half a Fate Candle left.


    This meant that the Fate Candle couldn''t be restored to full after returning to the Ocean of Fate, at least not quickly.


    This meant that Flowing Wind hadn''t been working for nothing this whole time.


    Tang Jie felt the danger growing.


    If he couldn''t stop Flowing Wind before his candle burned down, he would perish.


    But rather than be afraid, Tang Jie became pumped up with fighting spirit.


    Tang Jie chuckled at Flowing Wind. "Interesting. Then do you realize that I can also grow more and more skilled the more I repeat certain tasks? Like¡­ if I can destroy the candle once, I can destroy the candle twice."Before he had even finished talking, he had already appeared next to Flowing Wind.


    "Stop!"


    Law Speaking activated once more, and then the de came down.


    Flowing Wind''s hand was severed, and the Fate Candle disappeared.


    A momentter, the hand returned to the arm and struck Tang Jie. Tang Jie countered by shing at Flowing Wind''s body, upon which Flowing Wind''s body came apart and then instantly came back together, his hand having already fished out the Fate Candle. A second after that, Tang Jie unleashed a powerful punch, but the Genesis Cloud promptly appeared, absorbing Tang Jie''s punch and sting it back at his head. At the same time, Tang Jie waved the Sovereign de, which transformed into countless des that pierced through Flowing Wind''s body.


    Flowing Wind turned himself into wind and once more evaded a lethal blow, while Tang Jie''s head was caved in, blood gushing out. However, through the Immortal Essence of his cultivated body, he quickly recovered. Just when he was about to attack again, Flowing Wind once more dizzied Tang Jie with a strike to the back of his head. Tang Jie swiftly returned the favor, using Law Speaking to stun his foe, the Celestial Eye to find his weakness, and finally a stab with the Sovereign de, which sted away almost half of Flowing Wind''s body.


    The two engaged in a thunderous battle in the sky.


    Other Immortals fought with numerous spell arts and Divine Connections, their divine and majestic might making the world pale, but their battle had devolved into a brawl. Gone was the splendor of a spell arts battle, leaving only that tension that came from having one''s life on the line.


    In this period, Tang Jie''s Fate Candle disappeared and reappeared over and over, bing the focus of the battle.


    In the process, Tang Jie found that his Fate Candle really did slowly recover upon returning to the Ocean of Fate, which he determined from how the rate at which his candle burned had slowed. Thus, he didn''t need to worry about Flowing Wind utterly extinguishing his life. But recovery needed time, and so long as Flowing Wind kept burning the Fate Candle, it would continue to melt away.


    He couldn''t resolve the danger of the Fate Candle unless he resolved the problem that was Flowing Wind.


    Thus, this battle was still a contest of strength. It was just that Tang Jie had a time limit.


    And he could see that his time was running out.


    Realizing this, Tang Jie attacked with all his might, using the Ten Extinctions de, Skyrend Swordfall, and Law Speaking as if they cost him nothing.


    He had already used up a significant amount of Dao power in his battle against the other two Immortals. He had recovered some after entering the hidden estate, but after this battle, he was once more running short.


    ughter Dao power ran out first, making him unable to use Skyrend Swordfall, and then came Destruction Dao power. He was using these as his primary form of attack, so they ran out the fastest.


    Following that, his Truth Dao power began to run out, meaning that he could no longer recklessly use Law Speaking. After that was Insight. Other than dispelling the Ethereal Rain Divine Connection at the start of the battle, he had also been using it to identify Flowing Wind''s weaknesses. Unfortunately, Immortals were Immortals, so while they had weaknesses, they weren''t fatal ones.


    The four Dao Arts most useful in duels were now unusable, and Reflections of Floating Life was still locked in battle with the Ethereal Rain Divine Connection. While it neutralized one of Flowing Wind''s moves, it could be of no other help. As for the Infinite Pce, he hadn''t used it much, but that was because it was a defensive Dao Art, and Tang Jie needed to be on the offense¡ªFlowing Wind was barely attacking him, only using the asional Haunting Spirit World Strike to dizzy him.


    He knew that Tang Jie, as a body cultivator, was extremely hard to kill, so he had chosen to kill him through Fate.


    Finally, he didn''t have much Dao power to use Nearby Horizon.


    In other words, by this point, Tang Jie had almost exhausted his eight Dao Arts.


    But Flowing Wind wasn''t doing much better.


    Although Tang Jie had not killed him once, he had still expended a great deal of Immortal energy, particrly in this final melee, where they had been trading blows without rest.


    Tang Jie''sbat power wasn''t necessarily linked to how hard it was to kill him, but the same wasn''t true for Flowing Wind. The more he fought, the less Immortal he became.


    Thus, he started to run short of the Immortal energy that powered his Divine Connections, and his injuries healed slowly rather than instantly.


    Tang Jie had clearly realized this and attacked with all his might. s, his body cultivator powers were countered by the Genesis Cloud, or else one Combat Emperor punch would have broken Flowing Wind.


    The Fate Candle still burned. The one who broke first would be the loser.


    Knowing this, both of them clenched their teeth and held on for dear life.


    Flowing Wind suddenly howled, and the surrounding winds rushed in.


    These winds sliced into the bones like the Astral Winds, imbued with a destructive power.


    But Tang Jie could even endure the Domain Astral Winds, so he wasn''t afraid of some Immortal''s Divine Connection.


    His body grewrger, seemingly stimted by the wind rather than weakened.


    However, Flowing Wind''s goal wasn''t to kill Tang Jie, simply to push him away.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie bellowed and unleashed another punch.


    Flowing Wind sneered. "Idiot, don''t you know that doesn''t work by now?"


    The Genesis Cloud rushed up and absorbed the punch.


    The Genesis Cloud had yed a pivotal role in this battle, essentially disabling all of Tang Jie''s Divine Connections and even his Combat Emperor punches. If not for the eight Dao Arts, he would have lost long ago. Still, because he had been forced to rely only on Dao Arts, he was now running out of Dao power, and Flowing Wind was still standing tall.


    As the Genesis Cloud absorbed the punch, Tang Jie snorted. "Of course, but that doesn''t matter."


    As he spoke, he suddenly divided into his original body and avatar.


    The original body flew toward the Genesis Cloud and began to unleash punch after punch.


    The Genesis Cloud spat out the punch it had absorbed, and there was a great rumbling as the two exchanged blows, the original body throwing punch after punch at the cloud like a madman.


    Yet this frenzy made Flowing Wind grimace, for he knew Tang Jie had realized the Genesis Cloud''s limitation.


    While powerful, the Genesis Cloud had a limitation in the rate at which it could absorb and convert.


    By unleashing that onught against the cloud, the original body was forcing the cloud to use all its strength, leaving it helpless to deal with the other Tang Jie.


    Just like how Flowing Wind had gradually developed an understanding of Tang Jie over the course of the battle, Tang Jie had gradually understood Flowing Wind. He saw that the key to this battle wasn''t the Fate Candle, but the Genesis Cloud.


    This Dao armament had rendered all of his spell arts ineffective, forcing him to use Dao Arts.


    Thus, Tang Jie had decided to use his original body to draw away the Genesis Cloud.


    Meanwhile, the avatar Tang Jie charged at Flowing Wind.


    Flowing Wind''s eyes glinted with a savage light. "Let''s see what other tricks you have."


    With a wave of his hand, the howling Astral Winds blew at Tang Jie.


    Without his cultivator body, Tang Jie was no longer so resistant to the Astral Winds.


    In certain aspects, Tang Jie''s trade of his original body to tie down the Genesis Cloud to get more powerful attacks wasn''t a great deal. But for Tang Jie, who was short on time, it was definitely the correct choice.


    As the Astral Winds rushed out, Tang Jie grunted and charged in, a crimson cloud appearing around him: the Flesh Millstone!


    Afterprehending Skyrend Swordfall and the Ten Extinctions de, he had rarely used this Divine Connection. After all, Dao Arts were superior. It was just that he was out of Dao power now, which made the Flesh Millstone the best substitute. It was no Dao Art, but in terms of power, it wasn''t much weaker.


    As the Flesh Millstone shed with the Astral Winds, something shocking happened.


    Flowing Wind''s Astral Winds failed to stop the Flesh Millstone, instead being sucked into the crimson cloud and vanishing.


    "How could this be?" Flowing Wind said in shock.


    "What''s so surprising?" Tang Jie indifferently replied.


    In truth, as a Violet Pce expert facing an Immortal tform expert, in order to win against someone with so many lives, he needed to be superior to his foe in certain aspects, just like when he had been at Celestial Heart trying to defeat a Violet Pce expert.


    At that time, how had Tang Jie managed to win against a True Lord''s thoughtcasting and greater energy reserves? He had relied on the power of his spirit arts and incredibly tough body, his punch counting for ten of his opponent''s, which bnced out the fact that his enemy could attack ten times faster.


    The same was true now. Even without Dao Arts, Tang Jie had never been a weakling.


    He was having such a hard time now because his opponent was a top-ss Earth Immortal.


    But after this bitter battle, Flowing Wind had grown much weaker, and though Tang Jie had exhausted his Dao power, he had plenty of spiritual energy. When he went all-out, even a child could make an adult stagger, let alone one who had already been weakened. With this, Tang Jie had naturally managed to take back the initiative.

 Chapter 946: Fatal Strike

    The Astral Winds were suppressed, and the Flesh Millstone dominated the battlefield.


    But a momentter, Flowing Wind''s eyes radiated a divine light. "Tang Jie, you''re no match for me, no match! Nine Nether Fatal Strike, execute him!"


    A yellow spring gushed out of the clouds, countless ghosts pouring out and rushing at Tang Jie.


    "A killing curse of the Nine Nether Yellow Springs?" Tang Jie was surprised that Flowing Wind would cultivate a Ghost Dao spell art like this.


    From what he knew, while the Vast Wilderness Continent didn''tpletely ban the Ghost Dao, it didn''t particrly wee it either, so most cultivators weren''t experts in this category of spell arts.


    It had to be said that the Divine Connections capable of controlling life and death from the Ghost Dao were very tempting to cultivators, causing some cultivators to practice them in secret. He just hadn''t expected Flowing Wind to be one of them.


    Now that he thought about it, it made sense. Fate was omnipresent, so it had some connection with the Ghost Dao. Thus, Fate cultivators had to understand it. However, understanding so much that one could summon the Nine Nether Yellow Springs was somewhat overdoing it.


    Anyone else would be horrified by this art. Putting aside the countless ghosts within the Yellow Springs, the water alone was highly corrosive.


    Tang Jie''s face simply twitched as he softly asked, "Are you sure my fortune is bad?""What?" Flowing Wind said in shock.


    As Tang Jie spoke, Little Three appeared and howled.


    Hunter Ghosts were infamous throughout the Nether Domain, so much so that the Ghost Emperor had evenmanded its subordinates to hunt them down. Unfortunately, Little Three was too hard to catch and didn''t enter the Nether Domain unless he was on a mission. For these ghosts emerging from the Yellow Springs, running into Little Three was basically delivering themselves to death''s door.


    All of the ghosts immediately began to shriek in pain, many of them dissipating into nothingness. Only the few Ghost Kings among them managed to survive, but they were left trembling in fear, not daring to move.


    Little Three waved his hand and flew into the Yellow Springs, traveling against the current and taking control of its source. As a result, this offshoot of the Nether River began to rush at Flowing Wind.


    Flowing Wind hadn''t expected this, paling in fright and swiftly sending the Yellow Springs back.


    It was a good thing that he was capable of doing this. Anyone else would have failed, and he still paid a heavy price in Immortal energy to do so.


    The weather suddenly changed, crescent des burning with mes and lightning falling from the heavens. Tang Jie had unleashed the Nine Heavens Cmity des!


    Flowing Wind had to transform his Immortal energy into a giant to defend himself.


    The des crashed into the in a majestic rain of fire. Inparison, the battle against Mou Siming, despite his Starshatter Ring and formidable Divine Connections, and the addition of the old dragon and me Celestial Sovereign into the fray, seemed a littlecking.


    The Fate Candle had burned down to a fifth of its original length, and no wind or rain could extinguish its me.


    Flowing Wind bitterly held on against the onught.


    He snarled at Tang Jie, "Tang Jie, you''re a real talent, to have pushed me this far! But no matter how amazing your cultivation is, there is no avoiding your inevitable death!" §²


    As he spoke, he mustered up everything he had to hold back Tang Jie.


    Both of them were rapidly consuming their strength.


    While Tang Jie could no longer use Dao Arts, Flowing Wind found it difficult to maintain his Divine Connections.


    As they continued to fight, Tang Jie could no longer use the Flesh Millstone and Nine Heavens Cmity des and had to resort to inferior methods, though Flowing Wind was in no better a state.


    The two fell all the way from peak Earth Immortalbat level down to ordinary Earth Immortal, and then Soul Projection, Deification, and Infant Tending!


    Yet they still held nothing back, using whatever they had.


    All tricks became meaningless, and pure strength became everything.


    Both of them were at the ends of their ropes, neither able to do anything to the other, but the Fate Candle was reaching its end and about to burn out.


    Flowing Wind loudlyughed. "Tang Jie, in the end, you''re no good! Your defeat is certain!"


    "Is that so? I don''t share the same opinion," Tang Jie chuckled.


    As Tang Jie spoke, Flowing Wind sensed that something was wrong, an inexplicable sense of danger gripping his heart.


    "Ah!" With a shout, he suddenly lunged forward, but he was toote, and a terrifying force mmed into him, almost pulverizing his body. Even though he swiftly circted his mantra to protect his meridians, chunks of flesh still sloughed off his body, as this strike was so fierce that he couldn''t maintain his physical form.


    Not only that, a hand suddenly emerged from nowhere and struck his hand, knocking the Fate Candle back into the Ocean of Fate.


    Turning his head, he saw Xu Miaoran standing behind him, holding the Bejeweled Star Lord''s arm.


    That final strike was the arm''sst mission, and it was dissolving into the wind.


    "Shameless!" Flowing Wind understood what was going on the moment Xu Miaoran appeared.


    The shameless Tang Jie had used a sneak attack!


    With the old dragon and the me Celestial Sovereign there, Xu Miaoran''s presence orck thereof had little effect. Xu Miaoran hadn''t moved only because she needed a better opportunity. Striking too early, when Flowing Wind was still strong, wouldn''t do much and might end up making her a target. Now was the ideal moment.


    Tang Jie had been willing to put himself in danger for this chance and had made Xu Miaoran wait. Flowing Wind had mistaken this for sess and focused everything on defense, giving Tang Jie space for his n to work. Otherwise, with his peak Earth Immortal powers, he could pose a threat to Tang Jie even without the Fate-Burning Candle, and if he couldn''t kill Tang Jie, he could attack Xu Miaoran''s group and help Mou Siming break out.


    Thus, Tang Jie had used a fair battle to hold him down and not give him a chance to interfere.


    At this time, dealing with two Immortal tform experts and two half-step Immortal tform experts had Mou Siming on his knees, which also freed up Xu Miaoran at the perfect time for her to strike.


    Flowing Wind was furious when he realized that Tang Jie had never intended to fight fairly.


    Tang Jie smirked. "Who''s the shameless one here? An Immortal tform expert with a Dao armament fighting a mere Soul Projection expert like me still can''t win, and you call me ''shameless''? Any other Immortal would say that they were lowering themselves if they were fighting two Violet Pce experts, no?"


    Flowing Wind was rendered speechless.


    Yes, he was a peak Earth Immortal and was definitely the stronger party here, so even two versus one wasn''t excessive!


    Even ten versus one would be fine!


    But this wasn''t how things were calcted.


    This was a True Lord who could kill Immortals!


    But this also wasn''t right. Wouldn''t this be admitting that Tang Jie was strong enough that he could only rely on their difference in cultivation in order to win?


    But his opponent had still found someone tounch a sneak attack, right?


    So why would someone strong need to rely on a sneak attack?


    The logic here was rather strange, and Flowing Wind was momentarily frozen as he tried to work his way through the problem.


    Yet even someone as talented as him couldn''t make sense of it, so he decided to drop the matter, once more fishing for the Fate Candle.


    This time, however, setting Tang Jie''s Fate Candle alight was no longer so easy.


    Xu Miaoran''s Limitless ability wasn''t particrly strong, but it perfectly countered the Fate-Burning Candle.


    The moment the candle appeared, her elegant hand appeared in the air and flicked it, causing it to vanish.


    At the same time, Tang Jie threw out the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace.


    He had no more energy, but the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace still had power.


    It turned its energy on Flowing Wind.


    This was the final card he had to y against Flowing Wind.


    But Flowing Wind coldlyughed. "You think you were the only one holding back a card?"


    As he spoke, he turned his hand over, and the Overflowing Heaven Mirror appeared.


    The Overflowing Heaven Mirror was also a valuable Dao armament, but other than finding Tang Jie and seeking out his Fate Candle, it had not shown any other power.


    Tang Jie had thought that this item was no longer useful in this battle.


    However, when Flowing Wind took out the mirror, Tang Jie instantly felt a terrible danger.


    A bone-chilling fear sprang from his heart and engulfed his entire being.


    He immediately shouted, "Dodge!"


    He shouted at Xu Miaoran, for the Overflowing Heaven Mirror was aimed at her.


    But he was too slow, as a momentter, a hand reached out of the mirror.


    It was a small hand as tender as a baby''s, thrusting a finger in Xu Miaoran''s direction.


    "NO!" Tang Jie roared.


    With this shout, the entire world trembled as if someone had pressed the "Pause" button.


    The wind, clouds, torrents of spiritual energy, and people all stopped.


    No, not "stopped"¡ª"slowed down".


    Everyone had begun to move much more slowly.


    Split-Second Youth!


    But Split-Second Youth had a very weak effect on the finger, which stopped only briefly before continuing to thrust at Xu Miaoran.


    This brief moment was enough for Tang Jie to step forward and activate Nearby Horizon!


    He hugged Xu Miaoran and rolled away.


    The finger brushed against Tang Jie''s body, and just a light touch was enough to make half of his body explode.


    As Tang Jie was heavily injured, the effects of Split-Second Youth faded, and everyone returned to normal. The finger pursued Tang Jie, but Xu Miaoran held Tang Jie and used Limitless to get far away.


    The finger seemed enraged at this failed assault, and it turned around and struck Tang Jie''s Fate Candle.


    A stream of Fate power instantly caused the Fate Candle to burn into ashes.


    "No!" Xu Miaoran shrieked.


    Yet just when the candle was about to gutter out, a brilliant light emerged from its base, preventing the candle from burning down and pushing back the finger that sought to snuff it out.


    "How could this be?" a voice brimming with disbelief resounded.


    The finger could no longer maintain itself in the face of this life and withdrew into the mirror.


    But the master of this finger was quite ruthless, at the same time calling back the Genesis Cloud, disappearing together with it through the mirror.


    <em>Crack!</em> A long fissure appeared across the Overflowing Heaven Mirror.


    Finally, Flowing Wind shuddered and began to plunge to the ground.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 947: Hibernation

    Without the Genesis Cloud, Tang Jie''s original body was now free, and he threw a punch at Flowing Wind.


    Flowing Wind was powerless to stop this strike.


    Knowing that he was about to die, Flowing Wind shouted, "Master will avenge me!"


    <em>Boom!</em>


    The thunderous punch obliterated Flowing Wind.


    He didn''te back.


    Drawing back his fist, Tang Jie indifferentlymented, "That has nothing to do with you."


    "Husband!" Xu Miaoran flew over, holding the avatar.


    Half of Tang Jie''s avatar had been pulverized by that finger strike. If this had been an ordinary attack, even aw cultivator would be able to recover from these injuries, but this had clearly been the attack of some Gold Immortal. Any sliver of energy that touched one would cling like a maggot to the bone, preventing the wound from being healed. The avatar''s condition was worsening.Fortunately, there was the original body. The two became one, and the body cultivator''s blood energy began to slowly nourish the avatar.


    Flowing Wind had been in, so the battle was basically settled.


    On the other end, Mou Siming had long ago lost the ability to contend against the old dragon and the me Celestial Sovereign. Although he had the Starshatter Ring, Yiyi had the crown to neutralize it. Without this edge, he was bound to lose the two versus one.


    Seeing that even Flowing Wind had died, Mou Siming panicked and tried to flee.


    But nobody was going to give him that chance, surrounding him.


    Mou Siming despaired and roared, "Let''s all die together, then!"


    Immortal energy sted outward as he self-detonated.


    An Earth Immortal''s self-detonation was closely linked to the amount of Immortal energy they had left. When they had plenty of Immortal energy, they would think they still had a chance and not self-detonate, and when they wanted to self-detonate, they had already exhausted most of their Immortal energy, so its power was limited.


    However, this self-detonation induced by despair, while containing less than a fourth of his Immortal energy, was enough to create a devastating disaster.


    His intent to bring everyone down with him made the dragon and the me Celestial Sovereign grimace.


    Only Tang Jie was smiling. "You could have done that ages ago, but you had to wait until now."


    Xu Muyang had used this move against Shi Wunian, and so it was no surprise that an Earth Immortal was capable of it. In truth, his original n included forcing at least one person to self-detonate so that he could run off while bringing trouble for his foes. s, Origin Defender and Jade Truth had been willing to die rather than self-detonate, and Flowing Wind had nothing left to detonate, so he hadn''t been able to use this tactic.


    Now that Mou Siming had finally made this choice, Tang Jie could finally activate his n.


    With a wave of his sleeve, everyone was shifted out of the Five Origins Estate to a different ce, though before that, Tang Jie remembered to take the Overflowing Heaven Mirror. While this treasure was damaged, it was still a natural Dao armament, still retaining some of its value.


    The Yellow Court World!


    Everyone remembered that Tang Jie had oveid the Yellow Court World and Five Origins Estate on top of each other, and he could freely move between them.


    Once they had been brought to the Yellow Court World, they were able to view Mou Siming''s resplendent self-detonation through a spatial projection.


    That berserk torrent of Immortal energy swept over the meadow and across the skies, even engulfing them¡ªbut all of this took ce on another ne of existence.


    They <em>ooh</em>ed and <em>aah</em>ed at the eruption of Immortal energy like they were viewing the bottom of the ocean through a pane of ss.


    Mou Siming''s explosion was as majestic as it was destructive, and not even a body cultivator like Tang Jie dared to take it on directly. But because they were in a different space, it did nothing to them.


    Yiyiughed and pped her hands. "Big Brother''s ns are asprehensive as always. There really was someone who couldn''t take it anymore and self-detonated. It was just surprising that this old man who yed with fire surrendered. If he had self-detonated, he would have definitely made for a dazzling fireworks show."


    The me Celestial Sovereign inwardly shivered. It seemed like this brother and sister were both the same in nature.


    Other people would be happy to have an Earth Immortal as a servant, but these two! The big brother wanted fertilizer while the little sister wanted a fireworks show!


    In terms of fertilizer, the Five Origins Estate was in tatters after that battle, and any kind of seal had been destroyed. Considering that the Miniaturization Formation had also been broken, there was nothing to stop Tang Jie frompletely incorporating the estate into the Yellow Court World.


    With Flowing Wind, Jade Truth, Origin Defender, and four True Lords bing Returned Remnants in this ce, thisnd was rich in spiritual energy, and once it was all integrated, it was bound to give the Yellow Court World a big boost.


    To be an Earth Immortal there would no longer be difficult for Tang Jie.


    Not only that, a Heaven¨CMan Union through the Yellow Court World would make Tang Jie stronger than a regr Earth Immortal. By then, he would no longer need to rely on numbers to defeat his foes. His avatar alone would be able to fight above his level.


    Just when Tang Jie was going to collect thisnd, something moved within the clouds.


    Curious, Tang Jie activated his Celestial Eye, and what he saw was a dragon in the clouds. This dragon had two horns growing from the top of its head, was dark in color, and had a rather strange appearance. Its head was particrlyrge while its body was much fatter and its four limbs were much thicker. At this time, it seemed to be in a rather bedraggled state, drenched in blood and missing many scales.


    The sight of this dragon immediately brought scenes from the Court of Myriad Domains to Tang Jie''s mind. Countless scenes shed by until they settled on one.


    "The Lithos Dragon!" Tang Jie blurted, finally recognizing this dragon.


    This was the mount of one of the Four Sages of the court, the Sage Lord of Cosmic Origin.


    The Azure Dragon also recognized this, pointing at the Lithos Dragon and stammering, "Li¡­ the Lithos¡­ The Lithos Dragon? Why is he here?"


    After not even half a day out of the Eternity Sarcophagus, the Azure Dragon had already run into two Immortals from High Antiquity. It was easy to understand his shock.


    The others were not as well informed, so they asked what this was. Yiyi even pointed at the dragon and said, "He''s so fat, so he should clearly be called the Fatty Dragon."


    Tang Jie exined, "This is the Lithos Dragon, the mount of the Sage Lord of Cosmic Origin in the High Antiquity era. It is born with the ability to travel through the earth and can also render itself almost undetectable when underground. From the look of it, he''s been hiding here for some time now. The Five Origins Estate was already forced open by Flowing Wind''s group, so there was no barrier to keep him out, allowing him to quietly sneak in through the earth. But it seems like he has poor luck, and he happened to run into Mou Siming''s self-detonation¡­"


    Tang Jie smirked.


    This Lithos Dragon truly was rather unfortunate. With his concealment abilities, unless Tang Jie had known about him beforehand and then used the Celestial Eye to seek him out, it would have been impossible to detect him.


    s, the immense energy from Mou Siming''s self-detonation had sent the entire estate into upheaval.


    No matter how formidable the Lithos Dragon''s ability to conceal himself in the earth was, he was still sted out into the open, with the explosion leaving him howling in pain.


    Even so, Tang Jie didn''t pity him.


    This old dragon definitely wasn''t harboring good intentions, sneaking in like that, so he needed to question him as to his purpose. Moreover, Tang Jie felt a familiar energy from him that made him recall a youth he had once met by chance.


    But just when he was about to seize the old dragon, a stone chamber suddenly appeared in the air.


    Tang Jie could see that this stone chamber was the one he had been to previously, but what had once been a tiny hole in the Miniaturization Formaton was now of normal size.


    The Lithos Dragonughed and wed at the stone chamber, saying, "It finally came out."


    Just as the w was about to reach the chamber, the doors of the chamber opened, and a hand reached out and flicked the w. "This ce already has a master. Leave at once!"


    This single flick left arge hole in the Lithos Dragon''s sturdy w!


    He howled, "Who is it!? How do you know about this ce?"


    His voice was stricken with fear. Evidently, the appearance of this mysterious hand was a massive shock to him.


    The doors fully opened, and a person flew out of the stone chamber.


    Seeing this man, the Azure Dragon couldn''t help but cry, "Wind Holder!"


    Yes, the one emerging from the stone chamber was none other than the Wind Holder whom Tang Jie had buried.


    But Wind Holder didn''t seem like a corpse at all, exuding the transcendent air of a living and breathing Immortal.


    Moreover, given that the Lithos Dragon was a Void Returning fiend, it was clear from the strike just now that Wind Holder had to have broken through Earth Immortal and be a True Immortal.


    Notably, the old dragon had earnestly dered that Wind Holder had an unstable foundation and could never go higher than Earth Immortal, but there was no doubting that this person had truly be a True Immortal.


    "Wind Holder!" The Lithos Dragon had also recognized the man.


    After a moment of shock, he seemed to realize something and shouted, "That thing¡­ you used it?"


    His voice was brimming with sorrow and despair.


    Wind Holder coldly snorted. "A beast dares to glimpse the will of the heavens? But Fate alone decides what you give and receive, and if it''s not yours, all your efforts to attain it will be in vain! Lithos Dragon, you lived your life as a mount and served the Sage Lord in the past. The Sage Lord has fallen, so this one will give you an opportunity. If you immediately submit and be my mount, I can grant you eternal life."


    "''Eternal life''?" The Lithos Dragon erupted inughter. "Absurd! Ridiculous! A puny character like you dares to speak of eternal life, even demand that I be your mount? You have the power tomand Immortal beasts?"


    "I didn''t in the past, but I do now," Wind Holder indifferently said. "Ten thousand years of hibernation were all for a single day. I waited more than ten thousand years for this day, so what do you understand?"


    The Lithos Dragon was dumbfounded. "''Ten thousand years''? You''re saying you waited more than ten thousand years for this day? Do you also know about that? How could that be?"


    Wind Holder slightly frowned. "What do you mean? Were you also slumbering for ten thousand years?"


    Tang Jie and the Azure Dragon were both shaken by these words.


    He looked over at the Azure Dragon and found the old dragon shaking, a look of disbelief in his eyes.


    Tang Jie casually said, "How interesting! If I recall correctly, Azure Dragon, you were also in hibernation for more than ten thousand years, right?"

 Chapter 948: A Secret of High Antiquity

    In the Five Origins Estate, Wind Holder and the Lithos Dragon faced off against each other.


    In the Yellow Court World, the Azure Dragon nervously looked at Tang Jie.


    But Tang Jie''s attention wasn''t on him.


    Through the spatial screen, Tang Jie was still observing the situation in the Five Origins Estate, his attitude that of a rxed spectator. "Now that I think about it, we''ve known each other for a long time now. I''ve alwayse to you with my cultivation problems, never asking you about anything else. But it seems now that this was a big mistake. Ice Phoenix bing a demon was a consequence of this mistake, though I didn''t think that I would continue to make this mistake¡­"


    Ice Phoenix harrumphed, not thinking that there was anything mistaken about her current state.


    Tang Jie casually looked over at the Azure Dragon. "When I encountered you in the core of the Verdant Cloud Domain''s formation, your original body had been sealing Immortal Ji Yao. I thought that this was the reason you had been slumbering for ten thousand years, but it now appears that I was wrong. You had some other goal¡ªam I right?"


    The Azure Dragon trembled, but he couldn''t bring himself to speak.


    It was strange. He was already Tang Jie''s servant, so what could he hide from Tang Jie?


    But not a single word came out of his trembling body.Tang Jie didn''t scold him, simply saying, "It was to break through, right? Back then, you said that ten thousand years of slumber was to break through in one day. If not for me and Lin Xin, once your True God had returned to your physical body, you would have broken through the threshold and be a Boundless Gold Immortal, right?"


    The Azure Dragon was startled.


    After a long while, he sighed. "Since Master already knows, this old dragon has no reason to hide it from you. Yes, I slumbered for ten thousand years to break out of True Immortal. As for suppressing Immortal Ji Yao, that was the price I had to pay so that the Immortal Emperor would use his Fake Sky, False Sun Immortal Art."


    "The ''Fake Sky, False Sun Art''?" Tang Jie repeated.


    "Yes," the Azure Dragon confirmed. "Master also knows that I was a Sacred Beast of High Antiquity, born with a powerful innate talent. s, because of my bloodline, I can never get past True Immortal. When I was an honored guest of the court, Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng personally told me that because the Azure Dragon bloodline originated from the beginning of the universe''s creation, the Five Realms and Fourteen Tiers were absolute. While the Four Sacred Beasts might reign supreme, the limitations of the cosmos prevent them from advancing any further."


    "The Five Realms and Fourteen Tiers are absolute for the Sacred Beasts?" Tang Jie''s eyes shed.


    Meanwhile, the Lithos Dragon had started to fight with Wind Holder. While the Lithos Dragon was an Immortal beast, Wind Holder was a True Immortal, so the Lithos Dragon was no match. But he wasn''tpletely helpless and was doing his best to escape.


    Tang Jie continued speaking with the Azure Dragon as he observed the battle.


    The Azure Dragon exined, "Yes, the Four Sacred Beasts were born at the beginning of the universe, growing with the world until they reached the apex. From then on, they were stuck at True Immortal, unable to advance any further. Later on, powerful Titans were able to find an even higher level, establishing the levels of Gold Immortal and Saint Immortal. However, the Four Sacred Beasts were still limited by their bloodlines, and their statuses gradually began to fall. I racked my mind for ways to break this limit¡­"


    "Including tempting Immortal Ji Yao into bing a demon?" Tang Jie indifferently asked.


    A hint of embarrassment appeared on the Azure Dragon''s face. "This¡­ this wasn''t on purpose. As I controlled the Dao of Fate, in order to break out of True Immortal, I was constantly observing the will of the heavens to find an opportunity, but countless years went by without a single opportunity. Just when I was about to despair, one day, as I was observing Fate, I felt the will of the heavens." ??


    "''The will of the heavens''?"


    "Indeed!" the Azure Dragon confirmed. "It was an indescribable feeling. Through that feeling, I found that if I wanted to break my shackles, I would have to die and be reborn, destroy and then create."


    Tang Jie nodded. "''Destroy and then create''¡­ It makes sense. But what does that have to do with Immortal Ji Yao?"


    "The Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra Immortal Ji Yao cultivates is one of the divine arts of High Antiquity, with boundless potential. The stronger the external force, the more it stimtes the self. When thinking of a way to achieve sess through destruction, the Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra was the best model."


    Through the old dragon''s words, Tang Jie finally understood.


    Immortal Ji Yao, the Iceheart Lotus Lady, had essentially reached her limit upon reaching True Immortal.


    This wasn''t strange. The Five Realms and Fourteen Tiers had once been the limit set by the world, and many people were never able to make it past this threshold. Everyone that had was talented to an absurd level, backed by untold amounts of effort and sacrifice.


    And Immortal Ji Yao''s Iceheart Mantra was an Immortal art that fell apart when one was affected by emotions, which the Dao of Fate happened to be perfect at.


    Thus, in order to research a method of destruction and then creation, the old dragon started with Immortal Ji Yao.


    As Immortal Ji Yao happened to be caring for the Martial Lord at the time, the dragon pulled on the strings of Fate to cause Immortal Ji Yao to ultimately drop her guard and develop affection for Li Jiuyang. The old dragon then made the Martial Lord fall in love with the Pearl Lady, dooming Immortal Ji Yao''s love, causing her to go mad and breaking the Jade Lady Iceheart Mantra.


    Of course, the old dragon didn''t just have her art fail, butid down many preparations beforehand so he could properly study the process.


    In the end, he really did seed. The day Immortal Ji Yao''s art failed was the day she broke free of her True Immortal shackles, and also the day she became a demon.


    The day she became a Boundless Gold Immortal and a demon were the same.


    She went to find the Martial Lord to try and kill this "adulterous couple".


    Of course, the results of trying to do this in the Court of Myriad Domains were obvious. Even as a Gold Immortal, she wasn''t invincible. Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng subdued her, but because of Reverend Five Origins'' pleading, rather than kill her, he handed her over to Five Origins, whereupon she was sealed in the Eternity Sarcophagus. Later on, Immortal Ji Yao broke free, killed Five Origins, and wandered about for a time, and then attacked the court, which resulted in her being sealed in that shard of the Primordial Fog Domain.


    The old dragon had thought that things would end here.


    But not long afterward, Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng came to find him.


    His first words were, "You were the one behind the Lotus Lady affair, no?"


    The Azure Dragon had been so scared that his soul almost fled his body.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Within the Five Origins Estate, Wind Holder and the Lithos Dragon were still fighting.


    The Lithos Dragon was under so much pressure that he could barely breathe, and though he tried his best to escape, he was facing a True Immortal and was thwarted at every turn. He was still only able to struggle on because Wind Holder was testing his newfound power and using the Lithos Dragon as a training dummy.


    Unmoved, Tang Jie continued to observe their battle. "And then?"


    The Azure Dragon sighed. "The Immortal Emperor was too sharp and easily saw through my methods, so I couldn''t even try to shirk the responsibility. But after learning my purpose, the Immortal Emperor became very pensive, after which he told me that while my methods were crude, I was on the right track. However, while the Lotus Lady could advance, I wouldn''t be able to."


    "And why is that?" Xu Miaoran asked in surprise.


    "Because the Azure Dragon''s bloodline limit is even stronger than what limited Immortal Ji Yao, right?" Tang Jie said.


    The Azure Dragon nodded. "The bloodline limit was too powerful and hard to break. Even if I were willing to be a demon, I still probably wouldn''t be able to be a Gold Immortal. However, the Immortal Emperor offered a path for me."


    "''The Immortal Emperor offered you a path''? You messed around with Immortal Ji Yao, but he offered to help you?" Yiyi said in confusion.


    The Azure Dragon chuckled. "Little girl, do you not get it? For cultivators like us, what is most important? Breaking through! Constantly breaking through! Why was the Immortal Emperor able to be the Immortal Emperor, going from mortal to Saint Immortal? Isn''t that because he had a heart that sought to constantly break into the next level?"


    Everyone was speechless.


    The old dragon was right. It went without saying that the Immortal Emperor must have had a heart set on advancement in order to be a Saint Immortal. It was precisely this persistent soul that had brought him to that lofty status, as was the case for any major figure in history.


    This was why the Immortal Emperor considered the Azure Dragon''s actions perhaps worthy of death, but also understandable.


    Most importantly, he wanted to know the results of the Azure Dragon''s research.


    Thus, after that, the Immortal Emperor joined the Azure Dragon in researching this theory of attaining the Dao through destruction and creation.


    The Fake Sky, False Sun Immortal Art was created at that time.


    It existed to destroy and to establish anew upon the broken shackles!


    When this art was used, the user would temporarily die, storing up their True God to experience countless cycles and years. In this period, they would have none of their former power, but constantly umte new fortune and power. Finally, they would use various methods to be reborn and break their shackles in a single step.


    It sounded simple, but the actual process was unfathomablyplicated, the time needed as long as ten thousand years.


    One could say that one was essentially using ten thousand years to ascend a single tier.


    It seemed like a huge price, but for Immortals who found their progress stymied, it might not be much at all. Take the Azure Dragon. He had already spent tens of thousand years in this world, so ten thousand years, or even more, was a price he was willing to pay for the sake of a dream.


    In truth, the price others paid to advance might not be very small either.


    To reach Immortal tform, Tang Jie first had to strengthen his Yellow Court World, and to do that, he had to kill a pile of Immortals, so Tang Jie could understand.


    Tang Jie was going this far just to reach Immortal tform, so the old dragon waiting ten thousand years for True Immortal didn''t seem strange.


    Thus, the Azure Dragon and the Immortal Emperor reached an agreement. They would perform a ten-thousand-year experiment, using the Fake Sky, False Sun Immortal Art on the Azure Dragon so that he could break his shackles and be a Gold Immortal. At the same time, he would suppress Immortal Ji Yao and prevent her from breaking out and bringing further cmity to the world. As the Azure Dragon was a participant the entire way, he was sure that if this n seeded, he would be able to find an even better way to advance, perhaps even skip or shorten the ten thousand years of slumber.


    The Court of Myriad Domains had been in its golden age at the time, the Immortals believing that their era wouldst for eternity. Nobody would have expected the court to be shattered, and the Azure Dragon certainly hadn''t expected the Immortal Emperor to swindle him. After all, the Immortal Emperor had the prestige, status, strength, and power to kill him with a single strike of his palm, so he hadn''t suspected anything.


    s, everything had changed after ten thousand years, and the Immortal Emperor''s arrangements had been a trap, robbing the Azure Dragon of his physical body and making him a prisoner.


    To this, the Azure Dragon could only say, "Perhaps this was thete punishment for what I did to Immortal Ji Yao. The Immortal Emperor never said anything about letting me go. I just thought that I had escaped. It seems now that the old man had nned out everything, and it just so happened that it was only today that my punishment arrived."


    Yiyi chuckled. "That''s strange. If he was going to punish you, wouldn''t he make you his servant? Why make you Big Brother''s servant? Why would he go so far for the sake of someone else?"


    This carelessment caused a strange light to gleam in the eyes of Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran.

 Chapter 949: Fake Sky, False Sun

    The Lithos Dragon was still fighting with Wind Holder, but it was clear he was on hisst legs.


    Putting his hands behind his back, Tang Jie said, "ording to you, the Fake Sky, False Sun Immortal Art was actually jointly created by you and the Immortal Emperor?"


    "Indeed," the Azure Dragon replied.


    "How long did it take you?"


    After some thought, the Azure Dragon answered, "Around ten years."


    "''Ten years''?" Tang Jie''s voice turned shrill. "Since you call it an Immortal Art, it must be very powerful, no?"


    "Of course. Immortal Arts are arts that only Immortals can use, with Immortal energy as their basis, and they should be able to shake the heavens and move the stars. But Immortal Arts are difficult to manifest, and there are few in the present age that can use them."


    "Oh? Then is there anyone among myst few opponents who could use Immortal Arts?"


    The Azure Dragon shook his head, and then he added, "That Flowing Wind''s Ethereal Rain Divine Connection was probably a kind of Immortal Art, but his cultivation wasn''t there. A real Immortal Art can only be used at the True Immortal level, so he could only use its Divine Connection version.""In other words, it''s hard to manifest an Immortal Art, yes?"


    "It''s definitely not easy!" the Azure Dragon confirmed.


    "Then creating an Immortal Art can''t be easy either, right?"


    "Naturally. It takes hundreds of years of refining to create a single Immortal Art," the Azure Dragonughed, and then he froze.


    He gazed dumbly at Tang Jie in realization.


    Tang Jie sighed. "I''m guessing that many of your contributions to that Immortal Art were thanks to hints from the Immortal Emperor. Just how many of your ideas were actually yours¡­"


    The Azure Dragon shuddered. "You¡­ you''re saying¡­ Impossible. There''s no way! The Fake Sky, False Sun Immortal Art is closely linked to the Dao of Fate. Without my guidance¡­"


    He couldn''t keep going.


    ¡­Because he suddenly remembered that what had happened in the Verdant Cloud Domain proved that the Immortal Emperor actually understood Fate.


    It was just that no one had ever known.


    Tang Jie casually delivered the finishing blow. "You''re certain that you were the authority on the Dao of Fate in the Court of Myriad Domains?"


    The Azure Dragon had no response.


    Just the Sage Mother of the West alone was an authority on Fate.


    Her Fate Dao Art was even better than his.


    If the Immortal Emperor wanted to create the Fake Sky, False Sun Immortal Art, why didn''t he just go to the Sage Mother of the West?


    The Azure Dragon trembled once more.


    Tang Jie finally stopped talking to him.


    There was no need to go into too much detail. The old dragon had simply thought that he was the master when he was just being used.


    Tang Jie just didn''t understand¡ªif the old dragon was being used, what was the person using him after? And why was he having all those people hibernate?


    What should have been the old dragon''s secret now appeared to be a rathermon one.


    One Immortal of High Antiquity after another was appearing, almost all in the same fashion.


    Slumber, awakening, breakthrough.


    Immortal Ji Yao, the Azure Dragon, Wind Holder¡ªthey were all people who couldn''t break through but managed to seed after destruction, gaining greater potential and advancing to a higher level.


    As for the Lithos Dragon, his bloodline had also limited him to the Earth Immortal level. However, from his performance, it seemed that just like the Azure Dragon, he was missing onest step.


    Wind Holder had managed to get in front of him and take this step first, leading to his failure, or else he would have been the same as the rest.


    There was also another person: the Bejeweled Star Lord.


    Like the Azure Dragon, he had been reborn as a mortal, in that vige in the Immortal Emperor''s tomb, so he had probably been going through the same process. While he hadn''t broken into Gold Immortal, it was probably because, like the Lithos Dragon, he was missing onest step. Would he still be able to take thisst step now that the tomb door had been closed?


    "What exactly is thisst step?" Tang Jie muttered.


    He looked at the Azure Dragon.


    The Azure Dragon trembled for a while before finally answering, "The Fake Sky, False Sun Immortal Art differs depending on each individual''s Fate. While the core of destruction and creation remains the same, the exact methods can vary. This old dragon doesn''t exactly know how they differ. Moreover¡­"


    He didn''t go on, but Tang Jie knew that he meant to say that since the Immortal Emperor was the real creator of the Fake Sky, False Sun Immortal Art, after the Azure Dragon was sealed, he couldn''t know how else the Immortal Emperor might have modified it.


    "If you don''t know, you don''t know. I can just ask Wind Holder." Tang Jie waved his hand, connecting to the two worlds, and before anyone could stop him, he walked over.


    The Azure Dragon panicked. Wind Holder was a True Immortal, and even if Tang Jie could defeat an Earth Immortal, the gap between the two levels was too great, and no talent could ovee it. Wasn''t this simply walking to his death?


    Not caring in the slightest, Tang Jie appeared in the air and looked at Wind Holder.


    The Lithos Dragon had beenpletely defeated by Wind Holder by now, and he was pleading for mercy and indicated his willingness to serve as Wind Holder''s mount.


    Wind Holder was in a good mood after subduing the Lithos Dragon, and he wasn''t surprised to see Tang Jie. With a smile, he said, "I can''t believe you came out on your own! I thought I would have to call you out in order for you to show up."


    He clearly knew that Tang Jie had been peeping at them from another space.


    Tang Jie indifferently replied, "While you might not understand the Dao of Space, as I ovepped these two spaces, you would be strong enough to just tear your way through. Moreover, when we entered, you were already awake, no? So you would definitely know where we had gone. Since we can''t fool you or hide from you, why not juste out and meet you?"


    Wind Holder sat on the Lithos Dragon andughed. "So long as you understand. Tang Jie, you are a real talent. Killing an Earth Immortal while at Soul Projection is an unprecedented miracle. Moreover, as you showed me kindness and buried my remains, this old man is willing to help you. What about it? So long as you are willing to be my disciple and obey mymands, I will help youplete your Yellow Court World. In the future, we will conquer the Great Ster Chiliocosm and rebuild the court!"


    Tang Jie smirked. "Are you still dreaming?"


    The Azure Dragon and Lithos Dragon immediately shrank back, not believing their ears.


    Tang Jie dared to speak this way to Wind Holder, a True Immortal?


    Even Wind Holder was dumbfounded. As for Xu Miaoran and Yiyi, they understood Tang Jie and weren''t surprised in the slightest. Moreover, when he said such words, they ceased to have any worries whatsoever.


    They knew that Tang Jie wasn''t acting, that he had something to back up these words.


    They didn''t know what it was, but they had no reason to not trust him.


    Wind Holder red at Tang Jie. "Brat, do you understand what you''re saying?"


    "I know what I''m saying, and I also know what you''re saying," Tang Jie chuckled. "You''re full of shit!"


    He gave Wind Holder a hard look. "You really think I''m three years old, so easily fooled by a few words? You appreciate my talent? Ridiculous! I could kill Earth Immortals while at Soul Projection. What does that mean? It means that when I ascend to Immortal tform, I won''t hold any regard for True Immortals! You''re just a True Immortal right now, and I might exceed your strength once I ascend. Would you be able to rest easy?"


    Wind Holder froze.


    Tang Jie went on, "And what do you mean about conquering the universe and rebuilding the court? That''s even more absurd. The Heaven''s Equal Sect and Ster Net Gate both have Gold Immortals overseeing them, and none of them dared to rebuild the court, yet a True Immortal who just broke through dares to make such bold ims? It''s already incredible that you were able to break through once, but does that make you invincible?"


    Wind Holder still had nothing to say.


    Tang Jie snorted. "As for that kindness of burying, that''s even more of a joke. You aren''t dead, so what sort of kindness did I show by burying you? Moreover, you left treasure for me, which is already quite enough to pay for your burial, so how does kindness y into it? Thus, everything you said was a lie, probably because you have designs on my Yellow Court World, right? When you say you want to help meplete it, you really want to just take it for yourself. Once you have the Yellow Court World, the next thing you''ll be after is my life."


    Wind Holder was dumbfounded, and then he threw back his head andughed. "Hahahaha! Kid, you really do have some wits. Yes, I did act nice to try and get your small world. As for killing you, I did have such a desire. You were able to defeat Immortal tform experts at Soul Projection, and you also have eight Dao Arts. Someone of such immense talent must be favored by the heavens. If I desire dominance, you are bound to be an obstacle that must be removed!"


    Tang Jie rolled his eyes. "A good-for-nothing among the five hundred Earth Immortals of the court makes a little progress and is now speaking of dominance? Really¡­"


    Wind Holder was furious. "What do you understand? I''ve used the Fake Sky, False Sun Immortal Art to reconstruct my Immortal path, and my potential is limitless. My path of cultivation is now smooth, all the way to Saint Immortal. This world is bound to be mine!"


    Tang Jie waved his hand. "Hold on now. From the sound of it, you seem to think that you were the only one who used the Fake Sky, False Sun Immortal Art?"


    Wind Holder was startled. "What do you mean by that? The Immortal Emperor personally designed this art for me¡­"


    Tang Jie sighed and pointed at the Lithos Dragon. "Why don''t you ask that guy under you first. Didn''t he also happen to have slept for ten thousand years? Ask him how he did it."


    Wind Holder looked at the Lithos Dragon, who replied in a trembling voice, "On the orders of the Sage Lord, I received the Fake Sky, False Sun Immortal Art and slumbered for ten thousand years, after which I was to reforge my Immortal body and recreate the court."


    Unlike Wind Holder and the Azure Dragon, it was the Sage Lord of Cosmic Origin who had granted the Lithos Dragon this Immortal Art.


    "WHAT?" Wind Holder felt like he had just been given a thump on the head.


    Tang Jie continued, "In truth, besides you two, I know at least two more who used the Fake Sky, False Sun Immortal Art¡­ Apologies; this isn''t some special secret art, but something that was mass-distributed."


    "That''s impossible!" Wind Holder roared, reaching toward Tang Jie with a giant sky-obscuring hand. "Don''t try to confuse me! Hand over your small world and I can leave your corpse intact."


    "I''m thinking the exact opposite," Tang Jie retorted. "No matter what you hand over, your body will never remain intact."


    He snapped his fingers.


    A momentter, that sky-obscuring hand disappeared.

 Chapter 950: Greed Leads to Death

    With a snap of Tang Jie''s fingers, the giant hand disappeared and Wind Holder screamed. The Immortal energy radiating from his body instantly vanished, and he copsed onto the body of the Lithos Dragon.


    Not only that, he held his head and bellowed as if he was in immense pain.


    A mighty True Immortal had instantly been turned into a mess! The Lithos Dragon was so rmed that he started shaking. Just when he was about to run, Tang Jie nced at him, which made him freeze. As a mount, he was used tomunication through nces, and he no longer dared to move.


    Wind Holder rolled around on the back of the Lithos Dragon, and after a while, the pain began to subside. He then sat up and angrily red at Tang Jie. "What did you do to me?"


    He had already discovered that if he attempted to use Immortal energy, he would feel a pain that made him long for death. Immortal energy became like scalding oil that was poured through his veins, tormenting him as it destroyed his meridians and flesh. Although it didn''t do real damage, the pain alone made even death seem more tempting. And this pain also left him unable to use his Immortal energy.


    Only when he stopped circting Immortal energy did this pain gradually fade.


    He was only able to sit up and talk because he had stopped circting energy.


    Tang Jie looked at Wind Holder and casually replied, "''What did I do''? Do you not recognize this method from High Antiquity?"


    Wind Holder was taken aback, and after he recalled his experience, a name came to mind, and he gasped. "The Immortal Shackling Stamp!?"His voice was brimming with fear.


    The Immortal Shackling Stamp was a frightening binding art in the era of the court. Once this art was sessfully applied, unless one had a counter Immortal Art or Dao Art, it would be impossible to undo. Wind Holder was merely a member of the lower middle ss of the court, so he had no idea how to undo it. If this was really the art he knew of, he was in big trouble.


    Tang Jie pped his hands. "Correct! It is indeed the Immortal Shackling Stamp."


    "How could that be!?" Wind Holder roared.


    While the Immortal Shackling Stamp was powerful, unless one was willing or utterly powerless to resist, it was impossible for it to be sessfully applied. How could Tang Jie have ced it on him?


    "Oh, I did it while I was burying you," Tang Jie casually remarked.


    Now that Wind Holder was restrained, the Azure Dragon and the others came through the spatial passage.


    The Azure Dragon chuckled, "No wonder you wanted the Immortal Shackling Stamp from me. So it was for this guy!"


    The Azure Dragon had found that request strange at the time, for the stamp only worked on the physical body, not the Divine Soul, and the Azure Dragon''s power was mostly in his soul. There were far better sealing methods Tang Jie could have picked.


    But now he understood.


    Tang Jie wanted the Stamp to deal with Wind Holder, who had been an empty shell at the time without the ability to defend himself. Applying the Immortal Shackling Stamp to this kind of body was just too easy. Meanwhile, attempting to seal his soul might have rmed Wind Holder and resulted in failure.


    Wind Holder could barely believe his ears.


    For Tang Jie to have applied the Immortal Shackling Stamp then, had he already realized the problem?


    "You knew that I wasn''t dead?" he anxiously asked.


    "I was just suspicious," Tang Jie replied. "I couldn''t be sure, so I applied the Immortal Shackling Stamp to be safe."


    "Why? I don''t understand. Why would you be suspicious?" Wind Holder shouted.


    He could not ept nor could he understand this. What sort of weirdo would enter a cave, find someone''s remains, and then suspect that this person wasn''t actually dead?


    Someoneing across treasure should have been over the moon with happiness, not fiddling with a dead man''s body!


    Tang Jie sighed. "You can only me your rotten luck. I''ve already experienced this once."


    Tang Jie''s exnation revealed to Wind Holder that Tang Jie''s suspicion wasn''t because of his bad acting, but because there were already several other cases. The Azure Dragon was one, the Bejeweled Star Lord was another, and the Lithos Dragon could be considered half of one¡ªwhen Tang Jie was returning to the Basking Moon Sect, he hadn''t been able to find the previous three sects in the area, nor could he find Yuan Chenfei, but there had been rumors of a dragon.


    Almost all of the High Antiquity Immortals Tang Jie had encountered had been reborn. How could Tang Jie not find this strange?


    "In addition¡­ it''s not all their fault. As a dead man, you truly failed to y the part. To be honest, my greatest source of suspicion was still a result of your error," Tang Jie finished.


    "Nonsense! Under the effects of the Fake Sky, False Sun Immortal Art, I entered hibernation for ten thousand years, concealing all of my Immortal energy and having my physical body die a true death. What error was there?" Wind Holder retorted.


    Tang Jie smirked. "You said you didn''t make an error, so let me ask you: who was the owner of this estate?"


    "Reverend Five Origins. Don''t you already know that?"


    "And what sort of person was Reverend Five Origins?"


    Wind Holder was baffled by Tang Jie''s line of questioning.


    Tang Jie answered his own question. "The number one formation master of the Court of Myriad Domains, the richest Immortal of the court, and also the most entric. Nobody knew where his estate was, and nobody was able to enjoy its riches. So what should be the state of an estate he left behind?"


    Wind Holder shuddered.


    Tang Jie answered, "It should be full of treasure!"


    With a buzz, Wind Holder finally realized where he had gone wrong.


    Tang Jie shouted, "But look at the shabby estate you left behind! What did you leave? A book on the Five Elements, very important and valuable, but for its contents, not its costs! A jade mirror, also very nice, but that''s because of the formation outside! And finally a Mustard Seed Bag, but what''s inside? Immortal Stones, materials, pills, and three divine treasures! The richest Immortal of the Court of Myriad Domains who even had the Bejeweled Star Lord as his client, a man who could just throw out the Eternity Sarcophagus, only left behind this shit? And you have the nerve to say that this was Five Origins'' home and this was all he had left?"


    Wind Holder limply sat down.


    Tang Jie snorted in disdain. "Your greatest error was to pretend to be Five Origins while being so petty that you were unwilling to take out his real fortune. When I learned that you weren''t Five Origins from the Azure Dragon, I started to have doubts. Based on the arrangements here, you were clearly the only person in ten thousand years to enter the hidden estate, but if you were really dead, why did you leave behind only this much? If I hadn''t been through the Bejeweled Star Lord and the Azure Dragon already, I might not have been able toe upon the answer. But after those incidents, I could only think of one answer: you weren''t actually dead. Precisely because you weren''t dead, you didn''t want to take out everything you owned. You had to take out what you had to, like the jade mirror, things that you added in to just fill the bag, like the Immortal Stones, and finally, to give it a more refined air, you put in the book. This would seem like a rich harvest to the receiver, but from the perspective of the gifter, it''s barely anything."


    Wind Holder sighed. "This old man was too greedy, and my reluctance to give up on these earthly things clued you in to the truth."


    Just as Tang Jie had expected, when Wind Holder first entered the Five Origins Estate, he obtained the fortune left behind by the reverend. Yet his true goal wasn''t these Dao armaments, but a special item in Reverend Five Origins'' collection. This was the only item that could let him take the final step of the Fake Sky, False Sun Immortal Art and sessfully break through.


    To stop anyone else who came in from destroying his physical body, he left out those treasures.


    Unexpectedly, nobody came in for ten thousand years, until Tang Jie''s group finally came in.


    By this time, Wind Holder had already met the conditions to awaken, so when Tang Jie came in, Wind Holder was in the middle of waking up. But as he had just woken up, he needed time for his physical body to recover, so he remained in hibernation.


    This should have been a smart choice. After all, if the recovery process were interrupted, he could have ended up like the Azure Dragon, his body and soul separated.


    s, Wind Holder was brought down by his pettiness. The treasures he had left behind might have satisfied someone else, with an ordinary sect happily running off without a second thought.


    But Tang Jie was already on his guard from his past experiences, so he had imnted the Immortal Shackling Stamp when burying Wind Holder''s body. This was, to put it mildly, unfortunate for Wind Holder. His soul had just returned and was still rousing itself, not even knowing what was going on outside, so Tang Jie applied the Stamp without the slightest resistance.


    Tang Jie''s habit of preparing for worst-case scenarios had finally borne fruit, and a mighty True Immortal had been restrained.


    Wind Holder had no arguments left.


    He said to Tang Jie, "I am willing to give everything in the Five Origins Estate to you so long as you spare my life."


    Tang Jie casually answered, "You don''t need to. I know where it all is."


    Wind Holder was shaken. "You can''t possibly know!"


    Tang Jie ignored him and looked at the Lithos Dragon. "You''ve seen what''s happened. I have a few questions I want to ask you. If you answer me well, I can let you live."


    "Immortal Elder, this little dragon will answer any question you have," the Lithos Dragon replied.


    This guy was ten thousand years older than Tang Jie, yet he was calling him "Immortal Elder". So long as he could survive, he was even willing to be Tang Jie''s grandson.


    Tang Jie asked, "Previously, you were sleeping in the body of a young man called Yuan Chenfei, yes?"


    "Precisely."


    Tang Jie nodded. "Slumbering for ten thousand years, achieving destruction followed by creation, is a very creative idea, but even creation can''t conjure up Immortal energy out of thin air, right? It''s not reasonable to suddenly achieve such immense cultivation. So where did this power when awakeninge from? And don''t tell me it was provided by that Yuan Chenfei."


    Wind Holder paled. "Don''t tell him!"


    The Lithos Dragon ignored that order¡ªhe was being very polite by not throwing Wind Holder off his back. "Immortal Elder, while the Fake Sky, False Sun Immortal Art speaks of destruction followed by creation, what is destroyed and created is the self, not Immortal energy. There is no need to go through that process for Immortal energy."


    Tang Jie nodded. Whether it was spiritual energy or Immortal energy, they were both kinds of energy. Cultivators cultivated their ability to control energy, and all advancement was aplished by controlling the energy of one''s body to grow stronger.


    The Lithos Dragon continued, "For this reason, when using the Fake Sky, False Sun Immortal Art, one must first take their Divine Pce, shatter the fabric of space, and then store one''s Immortal energy within the Divine Pce. When the time is ripe and the True God manifests, it can extract the Immortal energy and reforge the Immortal body."


    "Just like the ascension to Immortal tform?"


    "Correct!" the Lithos Dragon confirmed.


    The awakening from ten thousand years of hibernation involved reforging the Immortal body, which was generally simr to the ascension to Immortal tform. For cultivators who had be Immortals long ago, it was no difficult task.


    As for the Divine Pce the Lithos Dragon spoke of, it was precisely the internal dimension that every cultivator had upon reaching a certain level. But this dimension was rather small and was usually only used to store more important things. For example, Tang Jie had stored the teleportation formation back to Rosecloud in his.


    The Fake Sky, False Sun Immortal Art expanded the Divine Pce and then concealed it in the fabric of space. The Divine Soul had a mysterious connection to the Divine Pce that would not be severed. With the most valuable Immortal energy stored away, when the cultivator awoke, they could summon the Divine Pce and use the stored energy to reforge their body.


    This answer also told Tang Jie where Wind Holder had stored the treasure.


    It was undoubtedly in his Divine Pce.


    Anyone who used the Fake Sky, False Sun Immortal Art had a Divine Pce so huge that there was no need for a Mustard Seed Bag.


    Tang Jie said, "In other words, if I kill you, there''ll be a big explosion of loot. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!"

 Chapter 951: The Yellow Court World

    Chapter 951: The Yellow Court World


    Wind Holder died.


    With his True Immortal power, Tang Jie really didn''t dare to let him live. Who knew what other sort of trick he might have? Given the difference of two tiers, if this guy managed to break free, it would be a huge problem.


    As expected, Wind Holder''s death resulted in a splendid explosion.


    Various treasures, medicines, materials, and talismans rained down from the sky, piling up in a small mountain and leaving everyone dumbfounded.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but smile. "This is what it means to be rich!"


    While this giant pile would have to be cleaned up, which was much less convenient than stealing a Mustard Seed Bag, at least it was a very enjoyable sight.


    After the loot explosion came the inventory count.


    As the formation master of the court, Reverend Five Origins really had been wealthy. He didn''t have many divine treasures¡ªonly nine¡ªand had barely any art relics. After all, an existence of his level would disdain to collect those ordinary objects. The art relics in the earlier Mustard Seed Bag had belonged to Wind Holder to fill the bag.


    But the various rare materials were innumerable and left Tang Jie dazzled. Some of them he had only heard of, and others werepletely unknown to him.These materials were all forying down formations. Although they didn''t have as obvious effects as divine treasures and pills, they were far more valuable to Tang Jie. All this time, his formationying had been limited by his variety of materials. Although the Martial Lord''s hidden realm had many materials, they were all for cultivation, with only a few being suitable for formations. Meanwhile, each material here could be used for formations, so how couldn''t Tang Jie be excited?


    The materials certainly weren''t as prominent as Dao armaments, but if one added them all up, they probably would match the value of a Dao armament.


    Besides that, Reverend Five Origins had also left behind an artificial Dao armament, a bell. It was somewhat simr to the bell Xu Miaoran had used in the past, able to awe souls and disorder the mind. It didn''t sound impressive, but this was a Dao armament.


    Dao armaments weren''t about the power of their spell arts, but their absolute nature. In terms of power, many Dao armaments might not evenpare to divine treasures, but because of their Dao Runes, the spell arts that they could use were like thews of the world, unable to be resisted.


    Thus, the bell''s ability to upset the mind was irresistible, and even a Boundless Gold Immortal would be dizzied by this Dao Armament. Of course, what happened after they were dizzied was another matter entirely.


    Given its extraordinary effect and its delicate appearance, Tang Jie gave it to Xu Miaoran. In this way, Xu Miaoran and Yiyi both had a Dao armament.


    There were also pills and talismans, and Tang Jie distributed them ording to everyone''s needs. Of course, Tang Jie didn''t give any to those he''d subjugated, like the me Celestial Sovereign. He was already being nice by not taking his treasures.


    Finally, there was a Dao Bone.


    This Dao Bone was thest item needed for the Lithos Dragon and Wind Holder toplete their advancement. Apparently, it was condensed from the Immortal Emperor''s supreme power and was able to serve as a vessel of the Great Dao, making it superior to all Immortal medicines.


    Whether it was the Lithos Dragon or Wind Holder, once they were reborn, they needed to use this Dao Bone toplete their breakthrough and be a True Immortal. Not only that, they would now possess limitless potential.


    As for the Azure Dragon, because he had been the earliest one to study the Fake Sky, False Sun Immortal Art, he didn''t have this Dao Bone. Instead, he had been relying on the Verdant Cloud Domain''s Five Elements formation toplete his transformation. Unfortunately, the Immortal Emperor had swindled him.


    What confused the Lithos Dragon was: since the Dao Bone had been used, it should have been absorbed into the body and shouldn''t have remained. So why had Wind Holder left behind this Dao Bone?


    The Azure Dragon scoffed. "You need to ask? That dogshit Immortal Emperor must have swindled you lot as well. ''Limitless potential after bing a True Immortal''? Hah! The Dao Bone wasn''t even absorbed, so there''s no potential at all. On the contrary, this Dao Bone might end up absorbing all of your cultivation instead."


    His hatred for the Immortal Emperor had caused the old dragon to even change the way he talked about him.


    Despite his bias, the Azure Dragon''s argument was reasonable.


    But if this was really the case, it meant that someone had to ultimately benefit from this n.


    The beneficiary was most likely the architect of this n, meaning that the person who ended up with the Dao Bone would be the most suspicious, so both dragons looked strangely at Tang Jie.


    While nobody said anything, they all had the same unspoken theory.


    They all pretended to act confused while knowing the truth, though it wasn''t certain that they actually knew the truth.


    In the end, Tang Jie didn''t have anyone use the Dao Bone.


    After tidying up the treasure, Tang Jie proceeded to absorb the entire Five Origins Estate into the Yellow Court World.


    Four Earth Immortals and one True Immortal had died in the estate, so the ce was extremely rich in spiritual energy.


    As Tang Jie was absorbing everything, a rumbling came from the Yellow Court World.


    First of all, that golden wheel on the horizon began to exude a sacred light.


    This wheel was the foundation of the Yellow Court World, its core,parable to the Great Ster Chiliocosm''s Heavenly Dao Law Wheel and the Heavenly Dao Hourss in the Immortal Emperor''s tomb.


    Under this holy radiance, the entire world began to change.


    This transformation, while not visible to the naked eye, could be felt.


    They could feel the world growingrger andrger, the sky drawing farther and farther away from thend, and the earth growing thicker and thicker.


    Ayer of clouds appeared in the sky.


    All of these clouds were condensed from spiritual energy.


    Brilliant bolts descended from the clouds, bringing lightning, fire, destruction, and also life.


    The abundant spiritual energy transformed into winds and rain.


    All things in the world rejoiced as they basked in this sacred blessing.


    Life flourished and grew.


    On the central Immortal ind, that being who had not experienced a breakthrough for so long suddenly howled and let out a brilliant light. He had broken through!


    He had gone from peak Celestial Heart to Violet Pce.


    This was the Yellow Court World''s first Violet Pce existence, a sign that the world''s level had increased.


    Of course, this didn''t mean that this world could only reach the Violet Pce Realm. ording to the Yellow Court Dao that Tang Jie had set down, all living beings in the Yellow Court World had to be one realm below the Heavenly Dao. Only the master of this world was able to reach the apex of this world, or else there would be no way to control it.


    Thus, the living being on the ind reaching Violet Pce meant that the world''s level had reached Immortal tform.


    As Tang Jie was looking at this creature that had broken through, he suddenly grunted.


    A powerful will was transmitted into the mind of this creature.


    That first Violet Pce cultivator of this world trembled. Realizing something, he turned to the horizon and prostrated.


    This was obeisance to the Heavenly Dao. At this moment, Tang Jie was the Heavenly Dao!


    Tang Jie''s will filled this creature with veneration to Tang Jie. He knew that this was his God, his Creator. To this existence, the creature felt sincere devotion and was willing to give his life for him.


    In the future, more and more strong existences would be born on thisnd. Whether fiend or cultivator, starting from today, they would serve Tang Jie.


    All living creatures of this world were soldiers for its master.


    All the resources of this world were materials for its master.


    Allws of this world were the Dao Wills of its master.


    These were the three major uses of this small world.


    A person who owned this kind of small world was called a Domain Lord!


    All living creatures of the Yellow Court World were affected by the Yellow Court Great Dao. If they fought the Domain Lord, they would be suppressed by the world.


    This was the real reason Tang Jie dared to fight five Immortals.


    However, the Yellow Court World had previously been unripe, and a peak Violet Pce world didn''t have a very obvious effect on Immortals. Even if it could suppress them somewhat, it came at the cost of damage to itself.


    The Miniaturization Formation, the Azure Dragon, and the me Celestial Sovereign had made it so that Tang Jie didn''t need to use hisst trump card, allowing him to avoid this damage.


    Now that the Yellow Court World was on the Immortal level, it could easily suppress Earth Immortals.


    After several hundred years of constant investment, the Yellow Court World was finally starting to show some obvious power and ability to y a role in both cultivation andbat.


    From now on, it was Tang Jie''s new hidden realm.


    It wasrger, richer in resources, and had more functions than the Martial Lord''s hidden realm.


    If not for the value of the Parting ssic, the value of the Martial Lord''s hidden realm and the Five Origins Estate put together couldn''t match even a tenth of the Yellow Court World.


    Of course, growing the crop and harvesting the crop were two different things.


    The Yellow Court World had just reached the Immortal tform level, which was like a nt that had just borne fruit and still needed time to ripen.


    In terms of soldiers, the Yellow Court World had only one Violet Pce expert. It needed time for an army to take form.


    As for resources, the unique environment of the Yellow Court World had allowed for the creation of many special resources not seen in the Great Ster Chiliocosm, but he needed time to study and research their uses and effects.


    Finally, there were the Daos, which obviously needed time to develop.


    In short, while the Yellow Court World had borne fruit, just like the fruit on a fruit tree, it needed time to grow, someone to gather them, and even someone to sell them, and over the years of harvest, one could truly begin to profit and create an enterprise.


    But regardless, bearing fruit was a good thing. The Yellow Court World was no longer a small world that only sucked up resources.


    There were actually quite a few people across the Great Ster Chiliocosm who owned a small world, but those who were able to nurture one to this level were few and far between. It was a feat Tang Jie could be proud of.


    While the Yellow Court World was finallyplete, Tang Jie''s work wasn''t done yet.


    Like a cultivator, a small world had no limit to how much it could grow.


    Thus, Tang Jie once more began to make arrangements in the Yellow Court World.


    His main target this time was the time formation.


    The Yellow Court World''s time formation had been set down several hundred years ago, and it elerated the world''s time.


    But the time formation consumed numerous resources, and it had only been able to elerate time to a certain extent.


    To hasten the speed at which the "fruit" ripened, Tang Jie liberally used the materials he had gained from the Five Origins Estate.


    The addition of this vast quantity of resources filled up the gaps in the time formation, and Tang Jie started to be able to control the flow of time within this world. Of course, to pull this off, his just-filled coffers were emptied out once more.


    But Tang Jie was used to this. What were resources for, anyway? He would have used them here or for cultivation.


    To maximize the power of the time formation, Tang Jie even used the Eternity Sarcophagus as the formation eye, and its Dao Runes served to greatly boost the formation.


    As Tang Jiepleted the time formation, his understanding of the Dao of Time also grew by leaps and bounds.


    With this, the Yellow Court World could be consideredplete.


    But Tang Jie still wasn''t satisfied, drafting some newws for his world.


    Yes, the Yellow Court World had matured and borne fruit, but there was no limit to expansion. In the future, if Tang Jie had any extra resources, he would definitely invest them into the Yellow Court World to improve its potential.


    To this end, Tang Jie needed to properly n everything out.


    Thus, he altered thews of the Yellow Court World and set up a new conversion formation.


    This conversion formation used the Myriad Immortals Cauldron as its core. Using the cauldron''s Dao Runes, it was able to replicate its effects and suppress and enve all beasts.


    But there were some differences. The Myriad Immortals Cauldron was strong in suppressing and enving beasts, but not in nurturing them.


    Merging it with the Mountain River State Diagram did much to make up for this weakness.


    From now on, the Yellow Court World not only had the ability to produce, but it also had the ability to store up, umte, and convert. Some existences that couldn''t be suppressed by the Myriad Immortals Cauldron could now be dealt with.


    ¡­Like the me Celestial Sovereign, the Azure Dragon, and the Lithos Dragon.


    The day after the Yellow Court World''spletion, three more unfortunate fellows moved in to keep He Chongpany.


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 Chapter 952: A Hundred Years of Accumulation

    The Yellow Court World was valuable enough to turn even the eyes of a Dao-Proving Saint Immortal red with envy, and there was no limit to the value of its contents. Not even considering the vast amount of materials put into it, there were also two Dao armaments buried within, as well as the child of a Dao armament, the Genesis Stone b. The Genesis Stone b wasn''t a Dao armament, but it had inherited its power from a Dao armament and was not at allcking when it came to creation. It together with the Eternity Sarcophagus and Myriad Immortals Cauldron represented a trio that could control time and create life.


    The Yellow Court World was finally a ce that Tang Jie could cultivate in.


    Just as Tang Jie had expected, because he was the Domain Lord, his Heaven¨CMan Union zone was muchrger here than it was in the Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    ording to the original n, Tang Jie should have moved in mortals and established his Divine Kingdom, creating his own Immortal court that would push him onto the Immortal tform.


    But for some reason, Tang Jie changed his n.


    Instead of bringing in mortals, he chose to raise the creatures living on the central ind.


    Thepletion of the time formation allowed him to massively elerate the time of the Yellow Court World. To get the fruit to ripen as quickly as possible, Tang Jie adjusted its "clock", making time here flow a hundred times fasterpared to the outside world.


    Tang Jie resided outside this zone of elerated time, quietly waiting and observing.


    He waited ten years.Ten years in the Great Ster Chiliocosm was a thousand years in the Yellow Court World.


    As the five seasons cycled and the sun rose and fell, the world was transformed.


    The Yellow Court World had greatly changed over these one thousand years.


    The thin sky and earth had be much more natural, growing more varied and rich in contents. The Web of Fate was beginning to proceed ording to the Heavenly Dao that Tang Jie had set down, and Tang Jie himself wouldn''t know what happened unless he took his time to investigate.


    The creatures on the central ind had finally taken an extremely important step¡ªthey had left the Immortal ind and walked onto the world.


    They were the "masters" of this world, and traces of their footprints and life could be seen all around it.


    Over these one thousand years, they had developed their own culture and species. They were not humans yet were simr to humans. They were simrly an intelligent species, but they had their own special way of cultivating.


    Tang Jie named this species the Wuxing (Five Elements).


    Unlike humans, the Wuxing were divided by their five seasons, with one tribe for each of the Five Elements. Each season had a tribe that was active in the world, which led to the development of a unique lifestyle in the Yellow Court World.


    However, as they still hadn''t had enough time to evolve, the Wuxing had yet topletely differentiate, and they shared moremonalities than differences. They had also only barely begun to adapt to the five seasons.


    Much more time was needed to get there.


    Still, the Wuxing had entered the ranks of intelligent species.


    Under Tang Jie''s influence, they could be made to act ording to his emotions, liking what he wanted them to like, getting angry when he wanted them to be angry, growing sad when he wanted them to be said, and despairing when he wanted them to despair.


    Their minds were under Tang Jie''s control, moving as he willed.


    With this, Tang Jie could finally take on the trial that was Heaven¨CMan Union.


    From then on, Tang Jie entered the Yellow Court World every day to experience Heaven¨CMan Union and sublimate his Divine Soul.


    As he was the one who had created the Heavenly Dao of the Yellow Court World, sublimating the Divine Soul was incredibly easy.


    But Tang Jie knew that "easy" wasn''t necessarily a good thing. Sublimating the Divine Soul was itself a kind of tempering.


    Thus, Tang Jie didn''t give up on cultivating in the Ster Chiliocosm, doing both at the same time. He used the Yellow Court World to advance and the Ster Chiliocosm to temper, ensuring that his progress was steady and stable.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie''s status as the Divine Lord of All Life continued to receive incense, reinforcing his Fate power and fortune.


    During the day, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran would travel around the Vast Wilderness Continent, seeing the sights, experiencing the Daos of nature, andmuning with the world so as to temper his body and mind. At night, he would enter the Yellow Court World, expanding his mind and merging it with the minds of the people to sublimate his Divine Soul.


    And even though his pace was steady and unhurried, his cultivation speed was astonishingly fast.


    Twenty-some years went by in the blink of an eye, and Tang Jie''s Divine Soul finallypleted its sublimation,pleting the trial of Heaven¨CMan Union.


    It had to be understood that the ascension to Immortal tform was no easy task. Not only did it have several major phases, each phase consisted of numerous small steps, and every step consisted of innumerable details, each one absolutely vital such that skipping one would lead to failure. This was why a cultivator could spend several hundred years on Heaven¨CMan Union, or even reach the end of their life in this phase.


    But Tang Jie had needed only thirty years. This was the advantage of the Yellow Court World. Not only did it let him elerate time, it also let him have a muchrger Heaven¨CMan Union zone, which meant that he would have far more Immortal energy than other Immortals.


    Tang Jie''s Divine Soul was now sublimated, but it still couldn''t be considered a True God, perhaps a half-step True God.


    Several other steps were required to be a True God, which weren''t guaranteed to be any easier than the Heaven¨CMan Union.


    Thus, Tang Jie still had to keep working hard for his ascension.


    A hundred years swiftly went by.


    Tang Jie and his wife spent all this time wandering the Vast Wilderness, and they gradually developed some fame.


    Astonishingly, after the battle in the Five Origins Estate, the Ster Net Gate and Heaven''s Equal Sect didn''t try and settle the score, as if they had epted their lot.


    So many Earth Immortals had died, yet the two major sects had bowed their heads. There was clearly something suspicious going on, but Tang Jie and his wife acted as if they knew nothing, focusing on their travels and cultivation.


    The others also didn''t ck off. Xu Miaoran and Yiyi had both reached the peak of Soul Projection and entered the Heaven¨CMan Union phase. Like Tang Jie, they utilized the Yellow Court World to pass the trial. But because they weren''t the Domain Lord, they didn''t have as easy of a time as Tang Jie and were somewhat slower.


    But Tang Jie wasn''t worried. If the Heaven¨CMan Union phase was slow, it could be made up for with other factors. While Tang Jie had spent these two hundred years working toward his own ascension, he was also helping Yiyi and Xu Miaoran prepare for theirs. With Tang Jie smoothing the path for them, the two would have a much easier time with the rest of their ascension, and besides, Xu Miaoran was also a master pill refiner.


    As for the Vermillion Bird and the Mother Cloudbat puppet, they actually managed to reach the Immortal tform Realm before Tang Jie, giving Tang Jie five Immortal subordinates.


    This was inevitable for the Vermillion Bird. As a holder of a Sacred Beast bloodline, she would advance even if she didn''t do anything. Her advancement before had been stopped by the Martial Lord''s restriction, and now that she was free, her strength began to naturally rise.


    As for the Mother Cloudbat puppet, Tang Jie had been constantly gathering Five Elements Essences to upgrade it.


    He had the Yellow Court World, which was a world based on the Five Elements, its seasons each taking an element, so if there was one thing he could be certain of about it, it was that he had enough objects belonging to the Five Elements. Tang Jie didn''t even need to refine them himself. With an order from him, the Wuxing would refine the Five Elements Essences for him and offer them as tribute to the heavens.


    The Wuxing''s various differences had be more distinct now, the one species now developing into five with their own unique attributes.


    In this period, Tang Jie had also gradually figured out what resources he actually had in his world. He now had many special materials unique to his own world at his disposal and was able to create many new formations. s, because the two major sects didn''te to cause trouble for him, he had nowhere to use them and could only sigh.


    Days without an opponent were rather lonely.


    Tang Jie could only harden up and cultivate even harder. But the stronger he became and the greater his cultivation, the more difficult it became to find opponents.


    182 years after the battle at the Five Origins Estate, Tang Jie finally finished all the preparations. All he needed to do was "Shatter the Void" to be an Immortal.


    Two hundred years to get to this state was an absurd level of speed.


    But now that he was here, Tang Jie found that he wasn''t in a rush.


    Going from Violet Pce to Immortal tform was like going from Spirit tform to Mortal Shedding, a qualitative evolution. Thetter was from human to inhuman, and the former was from inhuman to Immortal.


    In terms of evolution, the two weren''t too different, but in terms of numbers and level, Mortal Shedding clearly couldn''tpare to Immortal tform, so one could say that the qualitative evolution of Immortal tform was in a league of its own.


    In terms of mentality, it was like Laozi finally achieving transcendence, on the verge of looking down on all life. It was very normal to be flooded with all kinds of feelings at this sort of juncture.


    Gripped by such emotions, Tang Jie chose to not immediately break through. Instead, he opted to return to the Rosecloud Domain.


    In the Rosecloud Domain, he went to see Yun Tian, Ling Xiao, Xiao Biehan, and Ming Yekong.


    When they learned that Tang Jie wanted to ascend to Immortal tform, they all sighed.


    Some people were able to ascend but still had to wait some more, but more people could never ascend, for they had used up all their potential.


    Ming Yekong and Mystic Moon were in this category. They had already used everything to reach Violet Pce, so ascending to an even higher level was just too difficult.


    Meanwhile, Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan were waiting for an opportunity.


    But as time wasted away, such opportunities became more and more unlikely.


    When they heard that a junior was about to surpass them and be the second Immortal tform expert of the Basking Moon Sect, they couldn''t but have mixed feelings. They were delighted and admiring, but also helpless and sorrowful.


    Regardless, this was good news.


    Wonderful news!


    The Basking Moon Sect decided to hold a feast, inviting guests from all around.


    The Basking Moon Sect was currently the number one sect of Rosecloud. The era of the six sects had fallen, so now when they held a feast, all sects big and small woulde.


    It wasn''t just them. The important disciples of the Basking Moon Sect stationed across thend also returned to pay respects to the Freedom Celestial Sovereign. Of course, Tang Jie''s old friends and acquaintances were among them.


    But when Tang Jie saw Wei Tianchong, he was dumbfounded.


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 Chapter 953: Old Friends

    Wei Tianchong was no longer the Wei Tianchong of the past.


    That plump youth was no more, reced by a wide-faced,rge-eared man who exuded authority, one of the supporting pirs of the sect. His face was rather aged, his body more imposing, his eyes brimming with confidence. But there were a few streaks of white in his hair.


    Glee appeared in Wei Tianchong''s eyes when he spotted Tang Jie.


    He swiftly walked over, perhaps to embrace Tang Jie, but then he stopped and bowed. "Wei Tianchong pays respects to the Celestial Sovereign."


    Tang Jie walked over, pulling Wei Tianchong close and closely inspecting him. After a long while, he sternly said, "Your lifespan has been damaged. Were you heavily injured or poisoned, or did you use a forbidden art?"


    Cultivators didn''t tend to grow old, but they did consume their lifespan.


    They used it when living, used it when cultivating, and used it when fighting.


    Luo Hanzhen had used up all his lifespan through too much fighting and had entered the Water Moon Paradise to be Returned Remnants, and when Tang Jie had been cultivating Split Second Youth, he had also consumed a considerable amount of lifespan. For this reason, nobody in the Great Ster Chiliocosm said that if you reached a certain tier you could live for so long, because there were too many variables.


    Theoretically, a Celestial Heart cultivator could live for several thousand years, but the only way to live this long was to live like a turtle, withdrawn from society, and one would also have had to not experience any tough battles beforehand.In his cultivation journey, Tang Jie had gathered countless resources, had cultivated to the peak of Violet Pce, and had even entered the Dao of Life. All of this should have given him enough lifespan to live as long as the universe, but in reality, if he didn''t reach Immortal tform, he had only four hundred years of lifespan left. Of course, if he had another breakthrough in the Dao of Life, he could add to his lifespan, butprehending a Dao relied on destiny, and there was no ready-made path. And while Tang Jieprehended Daos like drinking water, already possessing eight Dao Arts, not even he had a way of growing stronger in one particr Dao.


    Wei Tianchong''s white hair was an indicator that he didn''t have much lifespan left, which was why Tang Jie asked this question.


    Wei Tianchong chuckled. "I knew I couldn''t hide it from you. Thirty years ago, Nomad Venomheart caused trouble in the west, massacring three minor sects, and I was ordered to hunt him down. But this guy''s poison arts were more formidable than I expected, and he took one hundred thousand civilians as hostages. I had no other choice but to use the zing Heaven Hand to kill him, but I was struck by his Triflora Poison in return. I had to spend three years bathing in the Heaventop Springs to fully recover."


    Tang Jie had nothing to say in response.


    Although the Basking Moon Sect had united Rosecloud, that didn''t mean that it was free of problems.


    On the contrary, because Basking Moon ruled alone, it had to deal with all of the problems of the Rosecloud Domain.


    They were the ones who wanted to be the ruler, after all.


    One hundred and forty years ago, Yan Changfeng attempted to break into Violet Pce and failed, dying on the spot.


    From then on, Wei Tianchong assumed the post of Service Hall Master, bing the new Celestial Chief and experiencing countless battles, big and small.


    While Wei Tianchong had only brought up one matter, behind that single incident were countless stories, injuries, and exhausted lifespan, all of it culminating in that silver tinging his temples.


    But Tang Jie knew that Wei Tianchong could be considered fortunate.


    At least he was alive and living an exciting life. Although he had yet to reach Violet Pce, he still stood among the group that resided at the apex of the world.


    s, some people had departed for the final time.


    Tang Jie went around to see his old friends.


    Peng Yaolong was also one of the supporting pirs of the Basking Moon Sect. Like Wei Tianchong, he was also a Celestial Chief, the master of the Blood War Hall.


    Ye Tianshang had been assassinated on one of his travels, dying in an extremely bizarre way. s, even now, the Basking Moon Sect had yet to find the culprit, and it had turned into one of the sect''s cold cases.


    Bei Canghan and Wu Xianguang had both failed to break through into Violet Pce. Bei Canghan had died on the spot while Wu Xianguang had been able to receive timely treatment and survive. But he had lost his cultivation and be a mortal. From then on, he gave up cultivating and retired to the mountains, focusing on schrship. He ended up bing a famous schr whose influence could still be felt. As he still had some foundation from his cultivation, he managed to live another one hundred and twenty years before passing on, having be a father and grandfather to many.


    Another one with many descendants was Shi Meng. He possessed limited talent and knew that he had already gotten as far as he could in life. Thus, not long after Tang Jie departed, he officially retired and began to live a leisurely life. While he remained under the sect, he no longer took missions. He even bought somend near the mountains, built a house, and took on ten-some wives, living the life of a retired country squire. He had his old friends and was himself at Celestial Heart, so nobody dared to offend him. He was still living a pleasant life and was the ancestor of a major n. At this rate, he would probably outlive Wei Tianchong.


    Su Xinyue and Meng Shixue had both gotten married. Meng Shixue was Peng Yaolong''s wife, the two having secretly been friends since the academy days and marriage being the natural next step. As for Su Xinyue, she had married some other genius of the Basking Moon Sect. It was said that he was somewhat simr to Tang Jie in appearance, and Su Xinyue had only married him after being pursued for a long time.


    Liu Hongyan was still unmarried. She had inherited her master''s position and was now the deputy hall master of the Law Hall. She also had a stern appearance and issued punishments here and there, having be an infamous cold-faced nun of the sect. Tang Jie was stunned to hear how his ssmate had turned out.


    Qi Shaoming and Xi Canhen had gone to Nadir Hill. After Godhead Pce''s defeat, this area hade under the Seven Absolutions Sect. But Yun Tian bing a True Immortal and the great number of resources obtained from the Court of Myriad Domains caused the status of the Basking Moon Sect to rise even higher, and it began to slowly take back what it had once given away. Nadir Hill was still Nadir Hill, but the Basking Moon Sect had taken the ce of the Seven Absolutions Sect. Qi Shaoming and Xi Canhen were responsible for managing its affairs. Both were at the peak of Celestial Heart, hesitant to take that final step.


    Also hesitating at this final step was Cai Junyang. As the most talented Basking Moon disciple after Tang Jie, Cai Junyang had been preparing for the charge at Violet Pce this whole time. To this end, he had traveled all around Rosecloud and then gone to find Xian Tao so that he could travel to the Blood River Domain. It was said that his strength wasn''t far from Violet Pce, and he had the second highest chances to reach Violet Pce among Tang Jie''s friends.


    Yes, "the second".


    Cai Junyang had been pushed down to third ce.


    Er Hu had pushed him off.


    The disciple Tang Jie had taken in the Verdant Cloud Domain was now at the peak of Celestial Heart, half-step Violet Pce.


    But unlike everyone else, it was almost guaranteed for him to reach Violet Pce. All hecked was time and umtion.


    This was because he was the Child of Fate!


    When Tang Jie hadprehended the Dao of Fate and had to make his choice, he had given up on the entanglement of Fate and chosen to sever all the threads of Fate and attach them to Er Hu. This meant that the Heavenly Dao would no longer watch over him and also meant that Er Hu''s fortune had been boosted.


    Nothing was more important than this.


    Tang Jie had used the same method to assist Yun Tian in bing a True Immortal, and Yun Tian hadn''t even been a Child of Fate, only momentarily favored by it.


    This was why Er Hu made swift progress. He simply hadn''t reached Violet Pce yet because he had progressed too quickly in his early days, and the Basking Moon Sect wanted to ensure that his potential wasn''t wasted and sought to rebuild his foundations.


    But it wouldn''t be long before the Basking Moon Sect had another True Lord.


    Although another True Lord wasn''t something too special in the Basking Moon Sect, the upper echelons regarded new blood as a good thing.


    As for Zuo Quanming, after Tang Jie left, he had started to stick with Cai Junyang. However, he was rather unlucky and was attacked by a Chaos Sea fiend on one of his travels, sustaining heavy injuries and almost losing his life. While he had escaped, his cultivation had fallen all the way to the Mortal Shedding Realm, so he was now like Shi Meng, settling down in some ce to live out the rest of his days.


    When they learned that Tang Jie hade back, these people all returned to meet Tang Jie. Given all that had happened over thest two hundred years, there was no shortage of sighing about how so many people had passed on.


    While Wei Tianchong and Peng Yaolong had only tinges of silver hair, Shi Meng and Zuo Quanming were already white-haired elders and could barely speak clearly. From this, one could clearly see the difference between Immortals and mortals.


    Even Tang Jie couldn''t help but feel emotional.


    They ended up chatting about all kinds of things, from the distant past to the present day, with no regard for their present statuses.


    After they had shared drinks, Wei Tianchong found a proper moment and quietly asked Tang Jie, "She also came. Do you want to go and see her?"


    "''Her''?" Tang Jie said in surprise. "Who?"


    Wei Tianchong sighed. "So you had already forgotten? I suppose that''s right. For you, she was ultimately nothing more than a passerby in your life."


    Tang Jie seemed to realize something from this, whispering, "Shen Qingdan? She came?"


    For this feast, the Rosecloud Domain had invited more than a thousand sects, with tens of thousands of sect cultivators and wandering cultivatorsing from all around. The Basking Moon Sect had basically called up all of the Rosecloud Domain, with even Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate dispatching people to offer their congrattions so that the Basking Moon Sect wouldn''t punish them. Other than old friends of Tang Jie''s like Wei Tianchong, nobody under Violet Pce even had the right to meet Tang Jie, so it wasn''t surprising that he hadn''t run into her.


    Wei Tianchong chuckled. "Moon Embracer Peak."


    He walked off.


    Tang Jie was frozen for a few moments, and then he chuckled. "Fine; I''ll go and see her."


    He instantly blinked away.

 Chapter 954: Old Affections

    Moon Embracer Peak was one of the offshoots of the Zephyr Mountains. Its summit was not particrly impressive and wasn''t even considered part of the main base of the Basking Moon Sect. It was only because of all of the cultivators who hade to visit with Tang Jie''s return that it had been developed to ept guests. Given that the feast was nned tost for ten-some days, with various activities like singing, dancing, and martial contests, such arrangements had to be made.


    The Wandering Pce had been ced here.


    As a medium sect, the Wandering Pce was unremarkable among the many attending sects, which was inevitable given the sheer number of sects in the Rosecloud Domain. In the era of the six sects, a medium sect would have been rather high up in Sageheart. The only thing separating the Wandering Pce from Basking Moon would have been a fewrge sects and ten-some upper-medium sects.


    But after Yun Tian became a True Immortal, the structure shifted from six sects equally holding power to one overlord and three major sects. The Basking Moon Sect was the overlord sect while the Seven Absolutions Sect, Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and the Thousand Passions Sect were the three major sects. Beneath them were several dozenrge sects and several hundred upper-medium sects.


    All of these sects hade without exception, so the Wandering Pce was cast into the ranks of obscurity, its status only enough to get it a spot on the unremarkable Moon Embracer Peak. In such circumstances, the people of the Wandering Pce naturally had no chance of seeing Tang Jie.


    <em>And what if I met him? Perhaps he''spletely forgotten about me?</em> Shen Qingdan thought to herself.


    Their destiny had ultimately been simply passersby in life. Compared to the long lives of cultivators, that incidental encounter was but a mere instant. Was it strange if he couldn''t remember her?


    Even so, she still felt somewhat sad and lonely, and also a little bitter. All this left Shen Qingdan in a rather sour mood.


    Standing at the summit of Moon Embracer Peak, she gazed at the stars, specting as to which was Tang Jie.But regardless of which one it was, Xu Miaoran would probably always be at his side, no?


    Shen Qingdan bitterly thought to herself. Even her fantasies were starting to get infected by heartache.


    In the middle of her sorrow, a voice rang out behind her. "Pce Lord, Gate Master Tuoba has arrived."


    The one who spoke was an old woman, Elder Miao of the Wandering Pce.


    Shen Qingdan grimaced. "I''m not seeing him!"


    Before Elder Miao could reply, a man spoke. "Pce Lord Shen, there''s no need to be so cold."


    A green-robed man walked out, and while he didn''t walk quickly, a green lotus grew beneath his feet with each step, allowing him to keep his feet unsullied. And as the lotuses bloomed, they radiated the power of a Violet Pce cultivator!


    A few momentster, he had arrived at Shen Qingdan''s side and bowed to her. "Tuoba Hong pays respects to Pce Lord Shen. Have you been well since ourst meeting?"


    Shen Qingdan coldly replied, "I was doing rather well, but then I met you."


    Tuoba Hong hadn''t expected Shen Qingdan to be so direct. After a momentary daze, he pped his hands and said, "Pce Lord Shen is as feisty as ever, but that''s why I like you¡ªsincere, pure, never putting on airs. A husband can''t ask for more from his wife, haha!"


    Shen Qingdan''s eyes spat out mes. "Tuoba Hong, don''t be so shameless. Who''s your wife?"


    Tuoba Hong smiled. "Right now you''re not, but you will be in the future. The Wandering Pce owes the Green Bamboo Gate ten thousand spirit jades, and this debt will be repaid. If the Wandering Pce can''t pay, my Green Bamboo Gate won''t go too far. If Pce Lord is willing to marry me, this debt can be considered the betrothal gift from my gate. Not only that, my Green Bamboo Gate is willing to offer ten thousand more."


    Shen Qingdan angrily red. "Tuoba Hong, shut your mouth! If not for your breaking the agreement, my mother wouldn''t have died! And if my mother had lived, my Wandering Pce would have never been pushed so far by the Fire Lotus Gate and Three Blossoms Church that we couldn''t pay! And you still have the face to bring up this matter?"


    Tuoba Hong sighed. "The breaking of the agreement was my fault. But I already exined that the Fire Lotus Gate and Three Blossoms Church had invited another expert to deal with me, making me unable to join the battle." R


    Shen Qingdan snorted. "You couldn''t join the battle, so what about all the elders and hall masters of your Green Bamboo Gate?"


    Tuoba Hong replied, "They were all intercepted."


    "You think I would believe your obvious lies?" Shen Qingdan shrieked.


    Tuoba Hong sighed again and spread out his arms. "Pce Lord, whether you believe it or not, such is reality. Pce Lord, there''s no need to be so stubborn about this. So long as you are willing to marry me, I swear that I will treat you well. The heavens can serve as witness to my sincerity!"


    Shen Qingdan gazed up at the heavens and said nothing.


    Tuoba Hong gradually grew angry. "Pce Lord Shen, are you still obsessed over that august one?"


    "What did you say?" Shen Qingdan angrily turned to re at Tuoba Hong.


    Tuoba Hong casually replied, "It''s been several centuries, but has that august one ever gone to your Wandering Pce? Look at you. On this day when all the cultivators havee to pay their respects, the Wandering Pce among them, has that august one spoken of visiting you? No! In truth, he can''t even remember you."


    "Is that why you''vee to find me?" Shen Qingdan coldly looked at Tuoba Hong. "You want to see for yourself my Wandering Pce being given the cold treatment, after which you can have your way with me?"


    Tuoba Hong hastily replied, "Pce Lord, mind your words. This Tuoba Hong would never try to do anything against your will. It''s just that the Wandering Pce has owed ten thousand spirit jades to my Wandering Pce for more than a hundred years, so is it not reasonable for this Tuoba Hong to press the matter of repayment? Repaying debts owed is only natural, and everyone would agree that the right is on my side. Even if that august one came, he would not be able to punish me over this. While the world of cultivators has always revered the strong, it can''t bepletely unreasonable, can it?"


    "It truly is reasonable," a voice resounded.


    Tuoba Hong instantly paled, and just when he was about to bark at this intruder, he saw a look of glee on Shen Qingdan''s face. Realizing who it was, he had an ill foreboding. This matter had developed in the worst possible way!


    But he reacted quickly, dropping to his knees and shouting, "Tuoba Hong pays respects to the Immortal Sovereign!"


    The ethereal figure of Tang Jie appeared in the air.


    Ignoring the prostrating Tuoba Hong, he gazed at Shen Qingdan.


    "Long time no see," he said.


    "Long time no see," Shen Qingdan replied, tears in her eyes.


    He had finallye.


    She suppressed her agitated emotions and did her best to calm herself, but her trembling hands still exposed her nervousness.


    "Over the years, I have been so busy with my cultivation that I had no idea of your situation. This is my mistake. But since you were in trouble, why did you not tell the Basking Moon Sect?" Tang Jie asked.


    Shen Qingdan froze, but then she silently shook her head.


    <em>''Tell the Basking Moon Sect''?</em>


    <em>How?</em>


    It wasn''t that she had never requested help from the Basking Moon Sect. It was just that she only knew Tang Jie and not any of his friends. As a result, her requests weren''t prioritized.


    As for how she and Tang Jie had developed a friendship and fought alongside each other in Endsea, nobody actually knew about such a thing.


    All they knew of their rtionship was that contest in the Celestial Mountains and that hundred-year oath.


    But after one hundred years, Tang Jie hadn''t married Shen Qingdan, and the matter hade to an end. From this, it became clear that the two sects weren''t on as good terms as imagined. After another one hundred years, everyone came to know of the marriage between Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran, after which everyone ceased to pay attention to the Wandering Pce.


    How they had fought alongside each other was a personal matter between them that nobody knew about, and they couldn''t care about what they didn''t even know.


    Seeing the helpless look on Shen Qingdan''s face, Tang Jie realized something and nodded. "It was my mistake again. I thought that once the Wandering Pce entered Sageheart, it would receive some consideration."


    Shen Qingdan fell silent.


    "Consideration"?


    Of course it had.


    The Basking Moon Sect had been very generous toward the Wandering Pce at the start.


    But it couldn''t take care of the Wandering Pce forever. Eventually, it had to rely on itself.


    She looked at Tang Jie and smiled. "I''m happy enough to see youe visiting me."


    Tang Jie shook his head. "But I cannot forgive myself so easily. Tell me who has made you suffer or bullied you, and I will settle things for you. Was it this Green Bamboo Gate Master?"


    He looked at Tuoba Hong.


    Tuoba Hong yelped in rm. "Immortal Sovereign, don''t misunderstand! My Green Bamboo Gate has never bullied Pce Lord Shen. We have always been very considerate and generous to the Wandering Pce. When the Wandering Pce was trying to fight off the Fire Lotus Gate and Three Blossoms Church, it was my Green Bamboo Gate that intervened to help fend them off. Later on, when the previous pce lord needed resources to cultivate the Wandering Hand Divine Connection, it was my Green Bamboo Gate that loaned her the resources. This debt has been outstanding for more than a hundred years! My Green Bamboo Gate has never once pressed for repayment, and I have been as righteous as can be! I admit that I was impolite in my attempts to persuade Pce Lord Shen to marry me, but I have never bullied her! Please, Immortal Sovereign, I beseech you!"


    Tang Jie turned to Shen Qingdan. "Is that the case?"


    Shen Qingdan lightly nodded, indicating that Tuoba Hong had not told a lie.


    Tang Jie frowned. "I know of the Fire Lotus Gate and Three Blossoms Church. Both have been sects of Sageheart for a thousand years. How did youe into conflict with them? And why did the Basking Moon Sect not intervene?"


    Shen Qingdan began to exin.


    It turned out that this was connected to the Wandering Pce''s migration into Sageheart.


    Cultivation required resources, andnd was the most direct manifestation of resources. Withnd, one had spirit fields, people, and spiritual energy.


    Thus, even though cultivators could fly high in the sky, they ultimately couldn''t stay away from the ground and their constant need for resources.


    When the Basking Moon Sect recruited the Wandering Pce, it naturally needed to allotnd to it.


    But at the time, all the worthwhilend in Sageheart had already been distributed. Thends richest in spiritual energy belonged to the Basking Moon Sect, while the remainder were divided among the smaller sects. As the Wandering Pce was a neer, it had nond to speak of, so the Basking Moon Sect needed to give itnd. As they couldn''t creatend out of nothing and were unwilling to give the Wandering Pce their ownnd, they could only take from the existing sects.


    The Wandering Pce''s territory had been taken from two medium-sized sects, the Fire Lotus Gate and the Three Blossoms Church.


    Thus, the seeds of hatred were sowed between the three sects.


    For those two sects, the Wandering Pce had stolen theirnd, but for the Wandering Pce, this was the price that had to be paid for them to join Sageheart. If those two sects had a problem, they should go to the Basking Moon Sect rather than them.


    s, the two sects didn''t care how innocent the Wandering Pce thought it was.


    Fortunately, the Basking Moon Sect still protected the Wandering Pce at the time, so the two sects could only swallow their hatred.


    But this situation couldn''tst forever.


    Unfortunately, it began to change because of Tang Jie.

 Chapter 955: Seeing Through Lies

    The change in the Wandering Pce''s situation was that Yun Tian had be a True Immortal.


    The advent of a True Immortal had far-reaching and profound effects on the entire Rosecloud Domain.


    The most direct effect was that the Rosecloud Domain was basically united, the power structure moving away from six sects to one overlord and three major sects.


    Indirectly, the Basking Moon Sect''s attitude toward its subordinate sects became very different.


    In the past, the Basking Moon Sect''s strategy for small sects was to unite them to resist the other sects. As for therge and medium sects, it used abination of kindness and intimidation.


    After Rosecloud was united, this strategy was immediately adjusted. The Basking Moon Sect no longer sought unity, for from a certain perspective, all small sects had to obey its orders. In these circumstances, there was no point in uniting the sects against an external enemy, for there were no external enemies to unite against.


    Thus, their mindset gradually shifted from uniters to sovereigns, seeking bnce and encouraging internal conflict so that all the factions would weaken each other.


    The various internal conflicts between the sects of all sizes swiftly expanded as they began to struggle over all manner of things.


    This was how the conflict between the Wandering Pce, the Fire Lotus Gate, and the Three Blossoms Church had erupted. For cultivators, one or two hundred years wasn''t a long time, so that hatred was far from fading. Under these two sects, the Wandering Pce''s days gradually worsened. Fortunately, while the Basking Moon Sect encouraged internal conflict, it didn''t permit annexation, so as to prevent any one faction from growing too powerful. Thus, while the Wandering Pce lost ground, it was able to survive.The conflict had persisted all this time.


    It was then that the Green Bamboo Gate had appeared, allying with the Wandering Pce.


    "At the time, my mother was under immense pressure from the two sects. The Green Bamboo Gate could only provide limited support, so she decided to cultivate the Heaven Wandering Cloud Divine Connection. This Divine Connection is a supreme art of my Wandering Pce, possessing astonishing power, but cultivating it is not easy. My Wandering Pce emptied its reserve to achieve sess, even borrowing ten thousand spirit jades from Tuoba Hong in order to buy more resources."


    Shen Qingdan softly recounted the tale in her pleasant voice.


    "Then did she seed?" Tang Jie asked.


    "She did," Shen Qingdan replied. "Mother took on a big risk and seeded in cultivating this Divine Connection, after which she arranged with Tuoba Hong to have a battle against the Fire Lotus Gate and Three Blossoms Church by the sea. But on the day of the battle, the Green Bamboo Gate went back on its word and didn''t show up. Alone against the two sects, my Wandering Pce ultimately lost, losing countless experts¡­"


    Her voice softened, tears running down her cheeks.


    She hadn''t participated in this battle, but she had seen that few of the elders who set off to that battle had returned alive, and her father had even died on the field. Besides that, her mother had sustained heavy injuries and ultimately died not long after her return. Thus, she answered the call of duty and became the Pce Lord, and her first task was dealing with the awful situation of the sect as the two sects began to devour anything they could.


    Not long afterward, Tuoba Hong appeared and dered that he had not intentionally broken their promise. Instead, the two sects had invited experts to intercept him. Even so, he was willing to uphold their alliance and protect the Wandering Pce. At the same time, he began to ardently pursue Shen Qingdan''s hand in marriage.


    For a time, she had really believed him.


    "He treated me so gently back then that I almost fell for it," Shen Qingdan said.


    "''Almost''?"


    Shen Qingdan nodded. "''Almost''."


    Just when Shen Qingdan was about topletely trust Tuoba Hong, she received a message: the Fire Lotus Gate and Three Blossoms Church had never sent anyone to impede the Green Bamboo Gate.


    She was dumbfounded.


    Completely confused, she could only question Tuoba Hong. Tuoba Hong naturally denied it, but despite his earnest arguments, Shen Qingdan couldn''t bring herself to trust him and gradually distanced herself from him.


    As time went on, Tuoba Hong realized that Shen Qingdan no longer trusted him and started to visit less frequently.


    Without the protection of the Green Bamboo Gate, the two sects attacked even more fiercely, seizing spirit veins, destroying spirit fields, blocking trade routes, intercepting tributes¡­ The Wandering Pce started to experience every trouble a sect could experience. The disciples that were out training were ambushed, the treasures they obtained were stolen, and Shen Qingdan was constantly dealing with attacks both open and secretive.


    "That was the most difficult period of my life," Shen Qingdan softly said. "While there were a few times where I reached my breaking point, I managed to hold out¡­"


    Tang Jie understood, and when he looked at Tuoba Hong again, his eyes contained an entirely different emotion.


    Tuoba Hong shouted, "Immortal Sovereign, this is all the fault of the Fire Lotus Gate and the Three Blossoms Church, sowing discord between us! They really did send arge number of experts to intercept my Green Bamboo Gate. In that battle, many members of my sect were injured! The heavens can verify the truth of my words!"


    After some thought, Tang Jie asked, "What sort of people did they send to intercept you?"


    "One Violet Pce, three Soul Transformation, and a group of Celestial Heart Realm experts. The strength of my Green Bamboo Gate wasn''t enough to break through."


    "Where did they intercept you?"


    "Flying Deer Mountain."


    "What did they look like?"


    "They all used illusions to cover their faces, so we couldn''t tell."


    "What spell arts did they use?"


    "They used too many to list."


    "Then tell me the flow of the battle, step by step, based on what you saw."


    "It''s been one hundred years, so I''ve forgotten much."


    "Then tell me as much as you can," Tang Jie requested.


    He didn''t know which of Tuoba Hong''s words were true and which were lies, but he was confident that if Tuoba Hong was lying, it wouldn''t be a lie he had put too much thought into¡ªbecause Shen Qingdan didn''t have the right to interrogate him like this.


    Moreover, after a hundred years, any lies would have been long forgotten.


    Thus, Tang Jie constantly peppered him with questions, giving Tuoba Hong no time to think. If he was really lying, then the more answers he gave, the more he would expose a w.


    ording to Tuoba Hong, those interceptors had suddenly appeared, hiding their true appearances. They hade especially to stop them, and in order to conceal their identity, they used the spell arts of all kinds of sects, making it difficult to determine their origin. In the end, the Green Bamboo Gate was dyed so long that they missed the battle.


    After hearing this recount, Tang Jie continued his questioning.


    "Did you suffer any losses?"


    Tuoba Hong shook his head. "Those people were recruited by the two sects only to intercept us, not fight to the death, so nobody died. Even so, the elders were all rather badly wounded."


    "Since they didn''t want to fight to the death, why didn''t you try and force your way through?"


    Tuoba Hong clearly hadn''t expected this question. After a brief pause, he replied, "The other side had already made arrangements to stop us from doing that."


    "And what method did they use?"


    "This¡­" After some thought, Tuoba Hong answered, "The Sea Sky Curtain."


    Tang Jie immediately said, "The Sea Sky Curtain has powerful defensive properties, but it does not cover all directions, so you can circle around it."


    Tuoba Hong frantically added, "They also used the Heavenly Silk Web to wall us in."


    "You''re lying!" Tang Jie suddenly roared.


    Stunned, Tuoba Hong instinctively replied, "I''m not!"


    Tang Jie bellowed, "The Heavenly Silk Web is the secret art of the Jade Feather Gate, akin to the Heavenbane Lightning Pearls of the Heavenly Extinction Sect, practically a symbol of their sect. You said earlier that they were hiding their identities and using the spell arts of various sects, so why would they use the Heavenly Silk Web?"


    Tuoba Hong froze for a moment. "They might have been trying to frame the Jade Feather Gate!"


    "If they were trying to frame them, then did you ever ask the Jade Feather Gate? You had best think carefully before answering this question, because the Jade Feather Gate isn''t far from here."


    Tuoba Hong paled.


    Tang Jie knew the answer from his reaction. "You never did go, right? Because that never happened, because you made it all up!"


    Tuoba Hong started to sweat.


    He hadn''t expected Tang Jie to use such a simple method to see through his lies and had been caughtpletely unprepared, so he began to tremble all over.


    A few momentster, Tuoba Hong dropped to his knees. "O wise Immortal Sovereign, this lowly one does not dare to deceive you. My Green Bamboo Gate truly did break our promise in that battle."


    "As expected, you were the one who harmed my Wandering Pce." Shen Qingdan angrily red at Tuoba Hong.


    Tuoba Hong shouted, "Pce Lord, you go too far! Although my Green Bamboo Gate broke its promise, we have never harmed the Wandering Pce! Immortal Sovereign, please pass judgment on this!"


    Shen Qingdan fell silent.


    Yes, so what if they had proved that the promise had been broken?


    Tuoba Hong had only broken the promise, but he hadn''t joined the enemy. It was just that if Tuoba Hong had never made the promise in the first ce, her parents might still be alive. Besides that, Tuoba Hong was still shamelessly demanding those ten thousand spirit jades in an attempt to marry her. She loathed this person but could do nothing to him, and in her rage, sorrow, and helplessness, she began to cry.


    She had endured countless trials after bing Pce Lord, and never once had she cried, but she did now. Tang Jie''s appearance had instantly broken down all her walls.


    Tang Jie patted her on the shoulder and soothed, "It''s true that he''s never harmed your Wandering Pce, but not necessarily true that he had no intent to harm."


    Tuoba Hong was aghast. "Immortal Sovereign, this lowly one does not understand what you mean."


    Tang Jie casually exined, "If Qingdan married you, it probably wouldn''t be long before the Wandering Pce ceased to exist, yes? At that point, not even the Basking Moon Sect could stop the merger of the Green Bamboo Gate and the Wandering Pce."


    Tuoba Hong was even more rmed.


    He was actually a very ambitious individual. s, he found it difficult to do anything with the small sect he hade from, and he had racked his mind for ways to make his sect grow stronger.


    In the Wandering Pce''s conflict, he saw an opportunity.


    As the Basking Moon Sect only permitted internal conflict but not annexation, the Fire Lotus Gate and Three Blossoms Church could beat back the Wandering Pce but never exterminate it.


    Tuoba Hong sought to get on good terms with the Wandering Pce so that he might conspire against itter.


    First, he would bait the Wandering Pce into going to battle against the two sects, and then he would loan money to the Wandering Pce. Finally, he would get the two sects to kill the pce lord and then seek the hand of the new pce lord. In this way, not only could he get a beauty as his wife, he could swallow up the Wandering Pce without staining his hands.


    Just as Tang Jie had said, the Basking Moon Sect could not object to this form of annexation.


    In this way, the Green Bamboo Gate would naturally swell in strength.


    It should have been the perfect n.


    But a w had appeared in the execution: the Fire Lotus Gate and Three Blossoms Church weren''t idiots.


    When they learned that Tuoba Hong was ingratiating himself to Shen Qingdan, they guessed at his motives. Thus, they sent people to inform Shen Qingdan that they had never attempted to stop the Green Bamboo Gate.


    Although Tuoba Hong used the excuse of enemies sowing discord to muddle his way past this trial, this information managed to sessfully nt the seed of suspicion in Shen Qingdan''s heart, and the matter of marriage was shelved.


    After one hundred years, Tuoba Hong believed that any evidence that could prove his conspiracy had disappeared.


    He hadn''t expected that he would be practically transparent in front of Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie had managed to see through everything from just a single conversation.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 956: Cleaning

    Tuoba Hong was shocked and fearful from Tang Jie''s exnation.


    His expression alone told Shen Qingdan that Tang Jie had gotten the right story, and she was enlightened as to why Tuoba Hong had acted this way.


    The thought that she had almost be a sacrifice in this plot filled her with rage. "Tang Jie, help me kill him!"


    Even at her most difficult moments, Shen Qingdan had never gone to find Tang Jie at the Basking Moon Sect or request anything of him. That she would ask this now was a clear manifestation of her anger.


    While the Fire Lotus Gate and Three Blossoms Church were contemptible, at least they were openly enemies, and the grudges between them were for unavoidable reasons, so-called geopolitical factors. But the Green Bamboo Gate''s plot, Tuoba Hong''s conspiracy, was entirely the actions of a petty man, the conduct of a backstabber. There was no way she could ept it.


    But as she spoke, Tuoba Hong shouted, "Immortal Sovereign, there is no evidence! How can you kill someone based on pure spection?"


    Tang Jie was rather taken aback by these words.


    Tuoba Hong continued, "All the world is celebrating the Immortal Sovereign''s return. And while my Green Bamboo Gate is of humble status, it has always been respectful to the Basking Moon Sect. We came here to celebrate, bringing both kind words and rich tribute to show our utmost respect. We would never dare to show discourtesy to the Immortal Sovereign. For what crime does Immortal Sovereign n to kill me? Or will you say that such things as evidence are not necessary?"


    Tang Jie narrowed his eyes.This was his first time hearing someone speak to him in such a way.


    Just as Tuoba Hong said, everything was just his spection, and it was unreasonable to kill someone over spection.


    With Tang Jie''s current status, if he really wanted to kill him, nobody could do anything to him. But this would also make him a tyrant in the minds of the people, particrly because Tuoba Hong hade to congratte Tang Jie on his imminent ascension to Immortal tform.


    Killing someone who hade to congratte him would destroy his reputation.


    For someone of Tang Jie''s cultivation level, few in the world could oppose him, a single word from him could decide the flow of the world, and the wealth of the world was his to take. His authority had reached the absolute apex.


    It was precisely because he had nothing to pursue that he had to care more about his reputation, because the minds of the people were not something one could get just because one wanted them.


    Tuoba Hong was focusing precisely on this reputation.


    Tang Jie coldly said, "Audacious, daring to threaten me."


    Tuoba Hong was pressed against the ground and frantically said, "This lowly one would never dare to threaten the Immortal Sovereign! I am just worried that Immortal Sovereign would misunderstand."


    After Tang Jie had exposed his scheme, he knew that he was in danger and sought survival over all. Even if he knew that Tang Jie was going to get angry, he still had to say his piece in the hopes that Tang Jie would let him go to save his reputation.


    s, his n ultimately failed.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "You had a nice idea, but s, you have the wrong person. As a cultivator, I seek only the Great Dao, to live as long as the heavens. I stride across the skies, freely roaming the myriad domains. I focus on resolve and determination, only caring to not do anything that leaves guilt on my heart. And what I rely on is my cultivation, my Immortal Arts and Divine Connections. As for reputation, it is all fabricated. Like a nobleman''s sedan chair or a beauty''s cosmetics, it''s an external thing that can be had or discarded. As for posthumous reputation, we cultivators live so long that we might outlive those who could remember our name, so why should we care? For those people who have yet to be enlightened, such vanities might be worth fighting for, but for me, it is naught but a passing cloud¡­ Thus, if I wanted to kill you, I really don''t need to care about what other people think, and to be honest, I shouldn''t care. Cultivating all this way just to be bound up by the evaluations of others? Isn''t that ridiculous?"


    Tuoba Hong was stunned.


    He hadn''t expected Tang Jie to be so carefree. Hisst hope crushed, he dropped limply to the floor.


    But at this moment, Shen Qingdan suddenly grabbed Tang Jie. "Forget it."


    "What?" Tang Jie was taken aback.


    Shen Qingdan gazed at him with twinkling eyes. "I also think he''s right. In the end, this is all spection, so we can''t just use him of a crime and have him executed. Such conduct would chill the hearts of the people, and I don''t want your reputation to suffer."


    Before Tang Jie could say anything, Shen Qingdan said, "You don''t care, but I care!"


    <em>''You don''t care, but I care!''</em>N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Tang Jie was dumbfounded by these words.


    As he gazed into Shen Qingdan''s eyes, he seemed to return to the Beast Garden, back to that battle on the waters.


    At that moment, he knew that Shen Qingdan had never forgotten about him.


    What had stopped her from marrying Tuoba Hong had never been the warning from her enemies, but that longing in her heart.


    But even so, Tang Jie couldn''t do anything for her.


    After a long while, Tang Jie finally said, "I''m sorry."


    Shen Qingdan''s body trembled, and her face turned ghastly white.


    She understood the meaning of these words.


    Shaking her head, Shen Qingdan said, "Immortal Sovereign goes too far. Qingdan cannot ept such words."


    These words distanced the two from each other.


    Tang Jie knew that he had been the one to push Shen Qingdan away, quashing that newborn me of affection and leaving behind only rationality.


    Thus, he nodded and said, "If that''s the case, I will let Tuoba Hong go. However, Pce Lord Shen, you are still a friend who once fought alongside me, so I cannot let you be bullied like this."


    Tang Jie produced a bottle of medicine, a que made from violet bamboo, and a Mustard Seed Bag.


    "This Astral Essence Pill was personally refined by Miaoran and can assist in condensing the Divine Soul. This bamboo que represents my identity. In the future, if you need it, you can order the people of the Basking Moon Sect to do three things for you. In addition, it is a necessary item for participating in the Violet Pce Sublimation Ceremony. As for this Mustard Seed Bag, it has some resources that should be of help to you. These three items are a reflection of my sincerity."


    Each of these three items had a profound meaning.


    While the Astral Essence Pill did assist in condensing the Divine Soul, what was more important was that it was refined by Xu Miaoran. Through it, Tang Jie expressed his helplessness toward Shen Qingdan. While he hade to Shen Qingdan, in the end, they were just friends, not romantic partners. As for the bamboo que, it was just an ordinary item, but it had heavy symbolic value that actually made it the most valuable. First of all, it allowed Shen Qingdan to call upon the Basking Moon Sect. While she could only use it for this three times, what was more significant was not the number but the fact that these opportunities existed. An attack held in reserve was the most threatening of all. In the past, nobody understood Tang Jie''s rtionship with the Wandering Pce, but this que now cleared up any possible misunderstandings.


    As for the Violet Pce Sublimation Ceremony, it was a major Violet Pce breakthrough session that the Basking Moon Sect was about to hold, something that Tang Jie had specifically set up for the sake of the Basking Moon Sect and his old friends. There, the Peaceful Divine Abode ssic would be used to assist others in ascending to Violet Pce.


    The Peaceful Divine Abode ssic was an incredible art that helped to refine the Divine Soul and strengthen the Violet Pce, and Tang Jie himself had relied on it to make his own breakthrough. When used on others, it could also improve their chances, and while it didn''t guarantee their sess, it was better than nothing. Moreover, while the Peaceful Abode part raised one''s chances a little, the Divine Restoration part ensured that failure didn''t mean death, which was the true power of this art.


    In the past, Tang Jie had only a basic grasp of this art and insufficient cultivation, so his ability to protect others with this art did little.


    But now that he was on the verge of ascending to Immortal tform, this art became much more powerful. Naturally, he now needed to do his utmost for the Basking Moon Sect and for his friends. s, he could only heave a sigh of sorrow over the fact that Bei Canghan and the others hadn''t been able to wait.


    Not just anybody could attend the Violet Pce Sublimation Ceremony. Other than the members of the Basking Moon Sect, there were only a few spots left for outsiders. This violet bamboo que was a pass. The only difference was that while others would have to turn in their passes upon participation, Shen Qingdan could keep hers.


    Tang Jie didn''t say much about the Mustard Seed Bag, but rather than resources, inside was tens of thousands of spirit jades and various valuable items, even quite a few divine treasures. The average sect would consider a single divine treasure the anchor of the sect, and Tang Jie was the only one in the Rosecloud Domain who could gift so many at once. Of course, Shen Qingdan had no idea of what was inside and nkly epted it.


    With these gifts, Shen Qingdan''s strength was bound to soar, allowing her to avenge herself on the Fire Lotus Gate and Three Blossoms Church in the future. And while he was helping her grow stronger and get her revenge, he was also doing it in a rather fair way that would prevent any gossip.


    After doing this, Tang Jie turned to Tuoba Hong. "What you say is correct. There is no evidence to my spections, and since you havee to congratte me, it is improper to kill you. You may go now."


    He waved his sleeve, dismissing Tuoba Hong.


    Tuoba Hong sighed in relief and hastily made his exit.


    Upon returning to his own lodgings, he didn''t dare to linger, immediately summoning his disciples and preparing to leave.


    After flying for half a day, they arrived at a mountain.


    Tuoba Hong looked back, and when he saw nothing out of the ordinary, he once more sighed in relief.


    Although his argument had managed to hold off Tang Jie, there was a fatal loophole: if Tang Jie chose to not openly kill him but instead secretly kill him, there would be no problem at all.


    Tuoba Hong was naturally very panicked over this.


    Once he confirmed that Tang Jie hadn''te chasing after him, he said, "That damn Tang Jie, bullying others with his power like that! Once I be an Immortal, I''ll definitely have my revenge."


    But bing an Immortal was far too difficult, making these just empty words, and he helplessly sighed.


    But at this moment, someone giggled, "They say that for a gentleman, even waiting ten years to take revenge is not toote, but for this cultivator, even ten thousand years might not be toote. s, my husband is very busy and can''t wait that long for you."


    Tuoba Hong turned to the voice in rm and saw a woman approaching from the distance. Somehow, with each step, this woman was covering immense ground, rapidly closing the vast distance between them.


    "Xu Miaoran!" Tuoba Hong cried out. "What are you here to do?"


    He had reached Violet Pce earlier than Xu Miaoran, so he feared her much less than Tang Jie. He was unaware that Xu Miaoran was already at Soul Projection, much higher than he was.


    Xu Miaoran broadly smiled. "To kill you, of course. Men always have so many taboos restricting their actions, and they even have to worry about things like reputation. But we women don''t have to worry about so much and can just do what we want. Since you''ve made my husband unhappy, I naturally have to get rid of you and lessen the burden on my husband."


    Tuoba Hong paled. "Xu Miaoran, you!"


    "Shhh¡­ softer." Xu Miaoran ced a finger over her lips and smiled.

 Chapter 957: Ascending to Immortal

    That night, Tang Jie and Shen Qingdan walked together all the way from Moon Embracer Peak to Starsnatch Peak, and from Starsnatch Peak to the Skybracing Ridge.


    They chatted as they strolled about, even asionallyughing, and they paid no mind to any spectators. Thus, everyone came to know that Pce Lord Shen Qingdan of the Wandering Pce was a good friend of Tang Jie.


    They walked for an entire night, traveling across the greater half of the Zephyr Mountains, letting almost everyone see them together until daybreak.


    Tang Jie stopped.


    Gazing at the weak light in the distance, he suddenly fell silent.


    Sharp as Shen Qingdan was, she softly said, "You''re going?"


    Tang Jie nodded.


    Shen Qingdan whispered, "Thank you."


    After this night of strolling, even without the bamboo que, nobody would dare to provoke the Wandering Pce any longer, and all her troubles would evaporate. Rather than the Fire Lotus Gate and Three Blossoms Church causing trouble for her, she would cause trouble for them. It didn''t matter that she wasn''t strong enough yet, for she had the Basking Moon Sect backing her."s, I can''t do any more for you," Tang Jie said. "There are some things that you need to handle on your own."


    Shen Qingdan chuckled. "This is already enough. Friends have to act like friends. If they do too much, then they aren''t just friends anymore."


    Tang Jie''s heart thumped, and he didn''tment.


    Shen Qingdan once more felt a tinge of sorrow. "I don''t want to see you leave, so it''s best that I go back instead."


    She turned and headed toward Moon Embracer Peak.


    As Tang Jie watched her leave, his shoulders trembled as he was seized by the urge to call her to stay. But in the end, he remained silent and watched Shen Qingdan gradually disappear from his sight.


    A parting.


    His heart felt inexplicably heavy.


    Shaking his head, he sighed and turned to leave.


    In his pce, Xu Miaoran was resting on a bed of white jade.


    Tang Jiey down next to her, staring up at the ceiling.


    Suddenly, he said, "Did you take care of him?"


    Xu Miaoran chortled. "I knew I couldn''t hide it from you."


    She turned and ced her arms around his neck.


    Tang Jie gazed at his wife. "You''re not angry?"


    Xu Miaoran lovingly stared at Tang Jie. "It is not my man''s fault if other people like him, so why should I be angry?"


    "But given Shen Qingdan''s deep affections toward me, did you not think that I wouldn''t be able to resist her sincere feelings?"


    Xu Miaoran smiled. "Aren''t all outstanding men loved by numerous women? And the Freedom Immortal Sovereign''s reputation resounds through all of Rosecloud. Countless women are enchanted by you. If you had to take in every woman who fell in love with you, would you be able to go anywhere in this world? A true man knows more than to just to be fearless and headstrong when faced with difficulties. They also have to know how to be scrupulous and to not fear the sincere feelings of others. If you can push through mountains of des and seas of fire¡­ you should also be able to ovee the warmth of affection." ??


    "It''s a good argument, but you''ve never exined this to me before."


    Xu Miaoran proudly replied, "My man doesn''t need me to tell it to him."


    <em>My man doesn''t need teaching!</em>


    If there was a difference between Xu Miaoran and Shen Qingdan, the biggest was her trust for Tang Jie. It was an eternal trust, whether in battle or with other women!


    Hearing her proud words, seeing her beautiful face, feeling her intense emotions, Tang Jie felt like there was a sun rising in his heart.


    This brilliant sun burned away the gloomy clouds left by Shen Qingdan, untying the knots of emotions and opening up his mind.


    Throwing aside everything else, he embraced Xu Miaoran and gave her a long kiss.


    It was a very long kiss, containing all of Tang Jie''s emotions, a kiss that felt like it wouldst as long as the universe.


    After some time, Tang Jie finally let Xu Miaoran go.


    Before Xu Miaoran could say anything, Tang Jie heartilyughed. "I found it!"


    "What?" Xu Miaoran said in confusion.


    "I found the moment of breakthrough!" Tang Jie announced. "I''m going to ascend to Immortal tform!"


    "Right now?"


    "Right now! The moment hase, so it''s time to break through!" Tang Jie said, taking out the Mountain River State Diagram.


    As he threw out the diagram, the Yellow Court World appeared within the pce.


    Xu Miaoran remained on the white jade bed, yet around her were no longer walls, but a vast grasnd. However, no matter how enormous this world was, it never left the confines of this pce.


    Tang Jie separated himself into his original body and his avatar.


    The original body remained at the grasnd while the avatar used Nearby Horizon to appear far off in the sky. It seemed like a random location, but it was actually the center of the entire Yellow Court World.


    As Tang Jie appeared, He Chong, the Azure Dragon, the me Celestial Sovereign, and the Lithos Dragon arrived to offer their respects. Because the Yellow Court World had advanced in level, He Chong had already reached Violet Pce.


    Tang Jie waved his hand. "You may all go."


    They all withdrew.


    Tang Jie sat down, crossing his legs, and began to chant.


    As he chanted, clouds gathered, and currents of spiritual energy began to surge around him.


    This was Tang Jie''s Divine Will stirring up the world.


    The step of ascending to Immortal tform was very simple. It involved constantly stirring up currents of spiritual energy and condensing it into Immortal power, after which the body was forged into an Immortal body.


    How much Immortal energy was condensed determined the basic strength of the Immortal body.


    Unlike in the outside world, where the general flow of the world would impede a cultivator and limit the range of their Divine Will, Tang Jie was the master of the Yellow Court World, so his will was the world''s will. Under his Divine Will, all the spiritual energy currents were at his beck and call. With a single thought, the spiritual energy of the entire world rushed toward him, gradually forming into an enormous vortex.


    This vortex was three timesrger than what would normally be seen when a cultivator attempted to ascend to Immortal tform, precisely due to the decision he had made at the Heaven¨CMan Union phase.


    The Immortal energy formed by this massive vortex was also particrly concentrated.


    In the center of the vortex was a thick white cloud. This was Immortal energy.


    Different cultivation techniques had different ways of condensing Immortal energy. Tang Jie used a secret art of the Basking Moon Sect, which produced a righteous and profound energy. While itcked any sort of awe-inspiring power, it provided solid foundations with no side effects. As this Immortal energy condensed, it began to simte the evolution of a, mountains rising and falling, seas filling in and drying up.


    Simultaneously, Tang Jie''s body began to lose vitality.


    This vitality wasn''t simply vanishing into nothingness, but transforming intows that were condensed into solid form and drawn to his Divine Soul.


    Then, the Immortal energy began to stream into Tang Jie''s body.


    Tang Jie''s body entered another phase of transformation.


    It began to shrivel up and copse into dust like it had been decaying for a thousand years. Everything rotted away, leaving only the Dao Runes.


    Meanwhile, as the Immortal energy streamed in, a new body was being born, like an infanting into being.


    It was simr to what had happened during the Three Withering Tribtions. It was just that he had been bidding farewell to his mortal body then and building a spiritual body, and now, he was escaping his spiritual body and building an Immortal body. Compared to creating the spiritual body, building the Immortal body, which required refining Immortal energy first, was more difficult, moreplicated, and more dangerous.


    Several hundred years of umtion and waiting were precisely for this moment.


    Clouds churned as all of the spiritual energy in the world was drawn to the center by Tang Jie''s Divine Soul and refined into Immortal energy.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ascending to Immortality had always been dangerous, not merely because of the process, but also because of one''s hidden foes.


    Ascending to Immortal tform created wide-ranging effects that were extremely difficult to hide. If one''s enemies were nearby, they could use this chance to strike, and death was almost guaranteed. It didn''t even need to be one''s enemies. One or two people harboring ill intentions were enough to create serious consequences.


    But in the Yellow Court World, no matter how much of a ruckus Tang Jie created, nobody would dare to disturb him.


    The likes of the Azure Dragon and Lithos Dragon were under Tang Jie''s seal, and they did not dare to defy him. Even with Tang Jie''s physical body destroyed and his soul upied, a single thought would be enough to beat them down. Besides, his original body was standing guard. Finally, a thousand years of influence had bred a sense of reverence for the Domain Lord within them, banishing any thought of rebellion. This was the case with He Chong.


    Immortal energy continued to condense.


    With every passing moment, old bodies were dying off and new bodies were being born.


    This was a cyclical process meant to wash away all traces of mortality and create a brand-new self.


    This was a way to renew the body, an opportunity to make up for past regrets and add to one''s potential.


    s, most people weren''t able to aplish this.


    For most people, each time they refined, washed, condensed, and rebuilt immensely drained the Divine Soul. This was because the power of the physical body no longer yed a role here, and the Divine Soul was the sole influencing factor. As the Divine Soul had to do everything, it was naturally tired out quickly. Even though the Divine Soul had be a God and could exist outside of the Violet Pce, this sort of expenditure was still a heavy burden.


    But this also wasn''t a problem for Tang Jie.


    In the Yellow Court World, his will was the world''s will, so he could minimize what the Divine Soul had to do.


    This was why he could wash his body and rebuild it over and over. Besides that, three times the normal amount of Immortal energy was unexpectedly valuable, allowing Tang Jie to seek perfection.


    All of the foundationying he had done beforehand yed a role here, including the various rare herbs he had taken like the Nine Heavens Luan Grass, all of it culminating in his ultimate sess.


    Tang Jie charged at Immortal tform almostpletely unimpeded.


    No other cultivator had ever ascended to Immortality so easily and naturally, and with such strength.


    The Immortal energy created was so abundant and concentrated that it began to affect the entire Yellow Court World. The Five Elements ceased their cycle, and anomalies began to umte. The Wuxing, the species unique to this world, also began toe out. Sensing the will of this world''s supreme existence, they got down on their knees and began to pray.


    The sounds of prayer resounded through the heavens.


    The Immortal body was still in the cycle of birth and destruction.


    Each cycle meant that Tang Jie grew a little stronger.


    By now, Tang Jie had already sessfully ascended to Immortal tform. What followed was perfecting it.


    Tang Jie didn''t know how long he repeated this cycle. He simply immersed himself in the experience, letting the energy flow freely. That sensation of walking on the edge between life and death not only brought him to Immortal tform, it also increased his understanding of Life¡ªhe was so free that he could even etch a new Dao Rune into his body.


    Only when his Divine Soul finally felt exhausted and fatigued did Tang Jie stop the process.


    The spiritual currents faded away, revealing Tang Jie''s naked body floating in the air. Shockingly, his body was surrounded by a dazzling golden light, a kind of membrane or shell.


    Tang Jie closed his eyes in deep thought.


    And then he opened them and spoke, "Break!"


    The golden shell shattered into flecks of light, leaving only Tang Jie and this world that he was the master of.


    Tang Jie was now an Immortal!

 Chapter 958: Establishing the Dao

    Unbeknownst to everyone present, when Tang Jie achieved Immortal tform, a great storm suddenly formed in the Rosecloud Domain.


    Snakes of lightning writhed across the heavens¡ªthe signs of a brewing Heavenly Tribtion.


    Ascending to Immortality involved seizing the world''s spiritual energy to cultivate a more powerful self, and this would naturally incur a Heavenly Tribtion. Normally, a cultivator had yet to reform their physical body at this point, which made it very difficult to fend off a Heavenly Tribtion. In these circumstances, they either needed to rely on the help of their fellow sect members or else form a basic Immortal body before the Heavenly Tribtion fell, relying on this body to resist.


    But Tang Jie used neither of these methods, because he wasn''t even in the Great Ster Chiliocosm.


    He was in his own small world, and he was the Domain Lord, so there was naturally no Heavenly Tribtion.


    While the Great Ster Chiliocosm had sensed the ascendance of an Immortal, it couldn''t find Tang Jie''s location and couldn''t bring down the Heavenly Tribtion.


    Tang Jie didn''t need to worry about the Tribtion and could focus all his energy on forming his Immortal body, constantly washing and refining it again and again.


    This was another advantage of ascending in his own small world. It was a safe environment that let him grow even more powerful.


    When Tang Jie''s ascension waspleted, the Heavenly Tribtion had yet to find its target, so it could only fade away. The unaware denizens of the Rosecloud Domain took it for some ordinary shift in the weather, and only the likes of Yun Tian knew what had actually happened. But while the Earth Immortals of the other sects could only guess that Tang Jie had ascended to Earth Immortal and had somehow managed to avoid the Heavenly Tribtion, Yun Tian understood the truth. Faintly smiling, he said, "I can''t believe he managed to raise his small world to such a level."Tang Jie had never said anything about it, but Yun Tian was well aware of how difficult it was to bring a small world to the Earth Immortal level. To be able to nurture an Earth Immortal, a world had to have much more energy than an Earth Immortal. This was why investing all those resources and then killing two hundred True Lords and several Earth Immortals was just barely enough to get his small world to the right level.


    For him to do this at Violet Pce was practically absurd.


    But Tang Jie had done it.


    To this, Yun Tian could only say, "Incredible."


    Meanwhile, in the small world, the moment Tang Jie ascended to Immortality, the world began to rumble.


    A majestic will spread to every corner of this world.


    All creatures of the Yellow Court World felt this will and once more prostrated to the heavens.


    At that moment, their hearts, their Fates, their everything became closely linked to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, and a golden light spilled out of his hand.


    That was the power of Fate.


    When he firstprehended this Dao, Tang Jie had three choices. He had chosen to weave Fate, to establish the Dao of the Yellow Court.


    s, he had only the ambition and not the strength to realize it.


    Only today, after reaching Immortal tform, could he finally create the Web of Fate.


    Tang Jie''s control over the Yellow Court World''s Fate was greatly boosted, going from only slight influence to profound control. In the past, he had been worried about the creatures of this world surpassing him and refusing his control, so he had limited their cultivation to one level below his. Now, however, so long as he set their Fates, all creatures would naturally do as he wished.


    "Domain Lord, congrattions on attaining Immortal tform! Undying and evesting, enduring for eternity!"


    He Chong, the Azure Dragon, the Lithos Dragon, the me Celestial Sovereign, and the Vermillion Bird appeared and congratted Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie ignored them, continuing to feel out his new powers. After a long while, he sighed. "I''ve finally reached the summit of the Immortal path. But there is more than just a single mountain, and I''ve only surmounted the first. There is still a higher second summit, a third, a fourth, and perhaps even higher heights¡­"


    Xu Miaoran floated over. "''Higher heights''? Is there something above Dao-Proving Saint Immortal?"


    "Who knows?" Tang Jie casually replied. "Weren''t the True Immortals of the past called ''Supreme''? But in the end, the Five Realms and Fourteen Tiers became Sixteen Tiers. How can we know that there won''t be a seventeenth?"


    "If that''s the case, then when will the Immortal path end?"


    Tang Jie answered, "The Immortal path¡­ has no end."


    Tang Jie''s words made everyone fall silent.


    Yes, the Immortal path had no end.


    Those who had yet to reach the summit were working to get there.


    Those who had reached the summit were working to find a new path, a new summit!


    The Immortal path was endless!


    But regardless of what was in store for the future, everyone still had to work their way forward, step by step.


    Tang Jie''s immense Divine Will scanned the Yellow Court World, informing him of the Yellow Court World''s condition.


    He said, "This ascension to Immortality, due to excessive refining, has exhausted this world''s spiritual energy. If this situation is not quickly resolved, it will affect the entire world. I must request that all of you release your Immortal energy to stabilize the situation. Once I depart, I will think of a method to replenish this world."


    "As the Domain Lordmands," they replied, upon which they released their Immortal energy to maintain the world''s equilibrium.


    They initially believed that Tang Jie bing an Immortal should have taken only a limited amount of spiritual energy, but as they released their Immortal energy, the four Immortals found that they needed to release seventy percent of their energy to stabilize the world¡ªan astounding figure.


    Didn''t this mean that Tang Jie had enough Immortal power to match almost all four of them?


    Although an Immortal''s strength couldn''t be measured in this way, it was still a shocking amount of Immortal energy, and this wasn''t even considering that Tang Jie could challenge an Immortal tform expert by himself before all this.


    With their shock, they gained even more reverence for Tang Jie.


    Meanwhile, Tang Jie set about his own business. He grabbed at the air, summoning vast quantities of soil, which his Divine Will molded into a beautiful pceplex.


    He then began to emit a five-colored light, the power of the Five Elements.


    The power of the Five Elements constituted all things and epassed all variations.


    Through the power of the Five Elements, the soil became solid and tough, transforming into various metals, jewels, wood, and water, filling the pce with life and beauty.


    The pceplex slowly rose into the air.


    "The power of Genesis," the Azure Dragon murmured, enviously looking up at that pce.


    Creating a pce in the sky from nothing was difficult, even for an Immortal. Tang Jie could do this not merely because of his Five Elements power. While the Five Elements were the basis of all physical matter, to grant this matter spirituality, turning it into more than ordinary existences, required the power of Genesis. The power of Genesis was under the Dao of Fate, and Tang Jie had only been able to use it once he was able to weave the Fate of this world.


    Even so, this pce created through the power of Genesis would be immediately turned back into its original form if it were taken to the outside world. Only those natural resources that had truly absorbed the spiritual energy of the world would be unaffected. If this weren''t the case, Tang Jie would be able to create countless rare resources with a single thought.


    Although he couldn''t bring it out, this pce had a special function in this world.


    Tang Jie once more grabbed at the air, upon which the Yellow Court World''s Heavenly Dao Clock appeared.


    Tang Jie took out a brush and began to write a new Great Dao upon it.


    ording to the new Great Daows he was establishing, from now on, the Yellow Court World would be divided into an upper ne and a lower ne.


    The cultivators of the Yellow Court World were also no longer restricted to Violet Pce and could finally attain Immortal tform. But anyone who reached this level had to enter the upper ne and reside in the pce in the sky that Tang Jie had created, no longer able to meddle in the affairs of the lower ne.


    From now on, mortal and Immortal would be divided.


    Establishing the Dao was draftingws for the world. Now that thisw was established, the cultivators of the Yellow Court World could not avoid or defy thisw, unless they went against the Dao like the Martial Lord.


    Tang Jie had set down thisw so that he could more easily control the experts of this ce. Domain Lords had to deal with an eternal contradiction. On one end, if the existences in a small world were too weak, they couldn''t be of much help. But if the existences of the small world were too strong, they became difficult to control and could rebel. Even with the strengthened control of the Dao of Fate, it was impossible for there to not be people who defied Fate and went against the Dao. Those who cultivated the Dao were normally those who defied the heavens, so one always needed to be careful with them. One needed to both use them and be on guard against them, which was what Tang Jie sought to do with this division.


    After all, within the domain, he held authority over life and death. He didn''t have such powers outside it.


    Starting from today, Immortal tform experts like the Azure Dragon would reside in the Heavenly Pce. As there were few residents, Tang Jie could more clearly observe their actions. Finally, above the Heavenly Pce, Tang Jie expended a great deal of Immortal energy to set up a passage.


    From now on, the people of this world could go in and out using this passage, without Tang Jie needing to personally bring them in and out. Although this lowered the safety of this world, it was also necessary to make the small world more useful.


    Otherwise, whenever he fought with someone, if he also had to go in and out of the Yellow Court World to bring out his allies, wouldn''t he just be adding to his burdens? Most importantly, when going in and out of the Yellow Court World, he would also be exposing the Mountain River State Diagram to his enemies. Unless he made preparations beforehand, if it were attacked, the entire small world might be destroyed, which was a risk he couldn''t afford.


    The passage was the best solution for this problem.


    At this stage of development, Tang Jie could finally convert his investment in the Yellow Court World into a strategic resource.


    Once this was done, Tang Jie announced, "Starting from now, all of you will live in this pce. He Chong, Duan Fourth, while the two of you have yet to reach Immortal tform, you yed an undeniable role in the creation of the Yellow Court, so you are permitted to reside within the Heavenly Pce. In addition, the Heavenly Pce is only in its basic form, and there are still many other functions that it requires. I cannot ce the attention needed on this aspect, so I will need to rely on all of you to perfect it."


    Everyone affirmed.


    Tang Jie added, "Of course, as there are so few people in this Heavenly Pce, it might be too boring. Thus, I have loosened thews so that you can go to the lower ne and look around when you have nothing else to do, just so long as you don''t interfere with its development. If you still feel bored, you can choose to train the people of the lower ne, establishing your own sects so that they can grow stronger even faster. If that isn''t enough, I have left a message bell in the pce. If you ring the bell, I will be notified and answer your call. But if you disturb me for no good reason, I will have this bell removed."


    Everyone indicated that they understood.


    As the Yellow Court World developed more and more, it gained new rules and better functions.


    After doing everything that needed to be done, Tang Jie took Xu Miaoran and departed the Yellow Court World. As he left, he kept the passage slightly open so that spiritual energy from the outside world could flow into the Yellow Court World. While it wasn''t a lot, it was a constant stream of energy.


    Naturally, the greater the gain, the greater the risk, and by leaving this small opening, he had essentially left a crack in this world. While experts like the Azure Dragon couldn''t escape through this crack, creatures that were a little weaker could. Thus, Tang Jie alsoid down ayer of Astral Winds around the Heavenly Pce, a barrier that the creatures of the lower ne couldn''t break through. Still, some lucky people with treasures or arts that resisted the Astral Winds might still break through.


    But Tang Jie didn''t take any further countermeasures. It wasn''t that he couldn''t strengthen the Astral Winds, but if he did, he would also block the passage letting in spiritual energy.


    There was a bnce in such things. Seeking absolute defense meant that one would have to block all passages, and leaving others a small chance also meant giving oneself a small opportunity. The bigger the chances he gave, the more opportunities he would grant himself.


    Tang Jie''s small world was just getting off the ground, so he didn''t dare to gamble with it. He preferred letting in a small trickle of spiritual energy so as to maintain control. As for replenishing the small world, it would have toe through additional investment. This small passage alone wouldn''t be enough.


    As he was doing all this, Tang Jie came to realize that the world he had created was rather simr to the world he resided in, the difference being a matter of size.


    It was no wonder people said that a small world was a way toprehend the Daos.


    He found that there was nothing wrong with the statement.


    Writingws for the world was establishing its Daos.


    In the process of establishing Daos, one would naturallyprehend more of the Daos of the greater world.


    But as the worlds were on two different levels, there were many things about the small world that could only be used for reference.


    Still, this reference could prove immensely valuable.


    Tang Jie could already tell that ascending to Immortality and establishing the Dao had increased his understanding of the Great Daos by arge margin.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    And this understanding was in all aspects.

 Chapter 959: Fountain of Life

    Because the level of the entire world had increased, when Tang Jie established the Dao this time, he had gained a boost to all of his Daos.


    This wasn''t as significant for the Daos for which he had already formed Dao Arts, with the boosting more in the length of time he could use them rather than an increase in strength. It was a quantitative and not qualitative improvement.


    But for Life, Reincarnation, Karma, and Fate, the change was very obvious.


    Life and Reincarnation had always been Tang Jie''s weakness, and his progress in them had always been slow. As for Karma and Fate, Tang Jie couldn''t be considered poor in them, but as they were the top two of the Twelve Great Daos, they were innately difficult. Even a genius like Tang Jie had a hard time oveing the challenges they presented.


    But after his ascension to Immortality, all of this had finally changed.


    Tang Jie could feel that the Dao powers of these four Daos had received arge boost, with Life and Fate receiving thergest.


    The former was the result of constantly reforming his Immortal body, going between life and death over and over, while thetter was from establishing the Dao of the Yellow Court and weaving its Fate. Weaving the Fate for an entire world was an enormous undertaking, and the effort had caused him to condense numerous Dao Runes. With the Dao of Life, while he had gained fewer Dao Runes, it was still enough to form a Dao Art.


    Thus, Tang Jie could now create two more Dao Arts, which was a huge boost in power.


    As the Dao of Fate was number one in the Twelve Great Daos, Tang Jie needed to carefully consider what he would do with it. So Tang Jie opted to create his Life Dao Art first.The Dao of Life was the Dao richest in vitality, governing life force and lifespan. When cultivating this Dao, one could enhance life, create life, or live as long as the heavens.


    Wang Juemie cultivated the Dao of Life. His Dao Art was "Only I Am the Truth", which made him so abundant with the power of Life that he could bepared to Tang Jie''s original body. It had to be understood that while Wang Juemie walked the path of the body cultivator, it had been mentioned before that the modern body cultivator path was still essentially aw cultivator path, with the difference being that all spell arts were used to strengthen the body. It still shared the same cultivation levels asw cultivators. Only Tang Jie''s original body cultivated the true body cultivator path of High Antiquity, which operated with apletely different system of cultivation.


    Modern body cultivators were pseudo¨Cbody cultivators, powerful spell arts serving as the foundation for their powerful bodies.


    But Wang Juemie''s Dao Art used the Dao of Life to nourish his body, strengthening it so much that it almost equaled Tang Jie''s original body. This was one of the strong points of the Dao of Life, and this path was the path of life enhancement.


    As for living as long as the heavens, it did exactly what one would expect and lengthened lifespan. While cultivators could advance in realm to increase their lifespan, they would draw on their lifespan in intense battles. Besides continuing to increase their cultivation or consuming rare natural treasures that could boost lifespan, the third and best method was toprehend the Dao of Life and walk the path of extending lifespan. Each path had countless branches, and the same was true for lifespan extension. Some allowed for directly adding on to lifespan, while others allowed for slow recovery while cultivating. There were also those that could reduce lifespan consumption, like living a year while only expending a day''s worth.


    Finally, life creation was the ability to grant life. The Dao of Life concerned not just one''s own life and lifespan, but also granting life to the unliving. For example, there was an ancient legend that said that an Immortal once conjured a rain that caused nts and soil to all turn into sprites and monsters, able to walk and talk. This was the power of life creation.


    Of course, there were spells and Divine Connections that could make nts and rocks move, but these were all temporary. Once they were stopped, these objects would go back to being lifeless. Life granted through the Dao of Life was true life and would never be taken away. Not only that, these newborn creatures could grow and mature, forming their own species and tribes.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Many of the creatures of the Great Ster Chiliocosm were born this way, with some of the rarest monsters being born through the Dao of Life of some Titan. In the past, Tang Jie hadn''t understood the Dao of Life well and couldn''t create life, so he could only let his small world develop on its own and out of his control. This meant that while his Yellow Court World had all sorts of strange creatures, it had only one sapient species, the Wuxing.


    This was all because Tang Jie couldn''t control the reproduction of these creatures. If he had a Dao Art of life creation, he could guide the small world''s creatures in the direction he wanted. For example, he could create more sapient lifeforms like humans, or he could elerate their evolution, or he could decide what he wanted a certain creature to evolve into.


    While elerating time could also hasten evolution, there was no controlling what direction the evolution took without the Dao of Life.


    However, life creation could not be endlessly used. Each life created would consumerge quantities of Dao power.


    To develop the small world in the way he wanted and turn it into his ultimate trump card, he still needed to put in a lot of work.


    Still, Tang Jie resolutely chose the third path.


    Just like how weaving Fate was the best choice for the Dao of Fate, life creation was the best choice for the Dao of Life. Inparison, enhancing one''s own life was just too low-ss. Not even talking about how his original body was an extremely powerful body cultivator such that even a Dao Art on the level of "Only I Am the Truth" wouldn''t get its user to the same level, his avatar was undying and evesting now that he was an Immortal. Greater life force just had no attraction to an Immortal. The same was true for the second path. Tang Jie was confident that he could continue growing stronger, and so long as he could develop the Yellow Court World, he was confident that he could raise natural treasures that could increase lifespan.


    Thus, life creation was the ideal choice.


    Given Tang Jie''s personality, it was also the choice that best suited him.


    Life creation also had many branches. One path involved creating numerous lifeforms all at once. Such lifeforms normally had no potential, but they could serve to give one''s side a huge boost in forces in battle. However, Tang Jie was already at Immortal tform, so low-level allies were useless while high-level allies would probably consume too much Dao power. Besides, he had the Reflections of Floating Life for that purpose. Thus, he didn''t choose this branch. There was also a path that allowed one to precisely control the design process of a lifeform to create exactly what one envisioned. But Tang Jie felt like designing wasplicated and time-consuming work, and a small world needed more than a single lifeform. Too much designing would ce too great of a burden on Tang Jie, so he gave up on it. There was also a path that allowed for subtle direction by blessing one particr aspect of development with greater evolutionary potential. While the effects weren''t immediately obvious, as time passed, one powerful species after another would be born.


    With the time formation around, Tang Jie felt like this was the better choice for him.


    Thus, Tang Jie focused his Life Dao Art on the path of developmental direction, boosting the potential of species.


    The Dao Runes began to shift and writhe, forming a flower-like tattoo within his body. A power erupted from this tattoo, spreading across his body, and he felt his life force grow stronger and his lifespan increase¡ªeven though he hadn''t chosen these paths, this was still the Dao of Life, so it would somewhat boost the other aspects no matter which path he chose.


    As Tang Jie felt this new power, he rejoiced, for he knew that his Dao Art had taken form.


    He appeared in the skies of the Yellow Court World, and as he gazed upon thend, he conjured up a cloud of sweet dew.


    This dew rained down upon the earth.


    Grass began to grow, and saplings turned into trees and bore fruit.


    But besides that, the rocks and nts began to grow eyes and limbs¡­ They gained life and became monsters and sprites.


    Numerous lifeforms emerged from their hiding spots, regardless of species and ignorant of season, in order to bask in this gift from the heavens.


    Their instincts told them that this was a blessing from high above, and they rejoiced as the sweet dew rained down. Of course, those creatures who reacted slowly or were too timid toe out missed this opportunity. They were now destined to be eliminated in this epoch of evolution.


    The dew quickly disappeared, Tang Jie''s Dao power being insufficient to sustain it for long. However, he had notpletely used it up.


    This rain of dew served as a notification to all lifeforms. Now that this was done, Tang Jie used his remaining Dao power to create several fountains across the small world.


    Although it wasn''t much Dao power, because it was concentrated, the waters of these fountains were rich in the power of Life. Some creatures sensed this power and approached the fountains to drink from them. Although the fountain water didn''t immediately make them stronger, if they continued to drink it, they were bound to surpass their peers. Tang Jie only needed toe back at set intervals to refill the fountains.


    The rain distributed the power equally while the fountains nurtured specific individuals, thus creating a greater sense of hierarchy in the Yellow Court World. This was Tang Jie''s n.


    As for the Life Dao Art, Tang Jie called it the Fountain of Life.


    This name came from a game Tang Jie had yed long ago in the original world he hade from, Tang Jie turning the concept into reality. From a certain perspective, it was a real Fountain of Life, and as time passed, it would be this world''s most important resource.


    After creating the Fountain of Life, Tang Jie withdrew from the small world.


    He began to meditate.


    After some time, Tang Jie finally recovered his Life Dao power.


    He then summoned someone.


    It was the Mother Cloudbat puppet.


    A drop of the Fountain of Life gathered at his fingertip. As it glistened in the sun, it grew more and more concentrated until Tang Jie had collected all of his Dao power within it.


    Tang Jie then thrust his finger toward the puppet''s forehead.


    Shockingly, as that dew drop drew close, the puppet cocked its head and evaded his finger!

 Chapter 960: Remnant Soul

    Tang Jie wasn''t surprised to see that his finger had missed. He smirked and said, "As expected. You''ve recovered your memories, right?"


    The Mother Cloudbat puppet remained motionless, simply staring at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "You avoided the Pearl of Life I was going to gift you, so it''s obvious you''ve recovered your senses and know how to identify threats. This Pearl of Life would be a supreme treasure to anything else, but to you, a ghost dwelling in the Soul Refining Pearl, it is the worst poison, which is why you evaded it."


    After a few moments of silence, the puppet finally spoke. "Regaining the senses does not mean recovering memories. I never hid from you before that I had a mind of my own."


    "But if you hadn''t recovered your memories, you wouldn''t have cared about your death. You are a ghost with a physical body. The Pearl of Life will only kill the ethereal part while turning you from a ghost into a true spiritual creature, granting you a whole new life. Only if you had regained your memories and had obsessions would you want to cling to them."


    The puppet was silent once more. Finally, it nodded and said, "I did recover some memories, but not a lot."


    "What kind of memories?"


    "Some childhood memories¡­ I like painting¡­ and cultivating," the puppet replied.


    Tang Jie shook his head. "You''re lying.""I''m¡­ not¡­"


    "If you had only recovered some unimportant memories, why didn''t you tell me? Why did you choose to act deaf and mute instead?" Tang Jie questioned. "If my guess is right, you probably recovered your memory eighty years ago, right?"


    The puppet froze, its red eyes abruptly shing.


    A whileter, he finally said, "You knew for that long?"


    His voice had be deep and hoarse.


    Tang Jie exined, "It wasn''t hard to guess. You haven''t spoken in a long time. Your biggest mistake was not concealing it when your mind first awakened. But it''s hard to me you. While your mind had awakened, you had yet to recover your memories and bore no hatred toward me. All you had was a desire for power, and you naturally needed tomunicate that to me, so there was no way you could hide it. At that time, you had already exposed the fact that you were in the middle of recovering your memories. I''m no fool, so how could I have not noticed this?"


    The Mother Cloudbat puppet¡ªno, it was more correct to say "Mei Huaping"¡ªwas utterly dumbfounded, and finally, the mes of hatred began to burn in his eyes.


    Tang Jie was right on the mark. He truly had fallen silent after awakening his memories, worried that Tang Jie would notice the change in personality.


    But just who was Tang Jie? For him to suddenly fall silent as he gradually regained his memories meant that he had either turned dumb or else fully awakened.


    He didn''t speak simply because he had no confidence that he could beat Tang Jie.


    He understood Tang Jie far too much.


    Even several Earth Immortals couldn''t kill Tang Jie, and he now had several Earth Immortals as his subordinates, so how could he possibly rebel? The most likely possibility was that Tang Jie would catch him the moment he rebelled and wipe out his mind, resetting him back to factory default.


    The Mother Cloudbat puppet would remain the Mother Cloudbat puppet. All that Tang Jie would lose was some energy.


    In these circumstances, he could only wait for the right opportunity toe along. He trusted that, given Tang Jie''s temperament, he would eventually be involved in a fiercer battle, encounter a greater danger, and that would be his moment.


    What he hadn''t expected was that Tang Jie wouldn''t let him wait that long, plucking him out of hiding the moment he ascended to Immortal tform.


    ring at Tang Jie, Mei Huaping viciously said, "Why? Why did you pretend not to know?"


    "Because I was waiting for the right moment," Tang Jie chuckled. "A revived ghost isn''t something you see every day. I can''t miss out on this kind of chance. The general trend of the world prevented me from studying the Ghost Dao, but now, my situation has changed¡­"


    The reason for this change was very simple: his cultivation level had risen.


    Rules were only meant for ordinary citizens, and thisw only worked on those low-tier cultivators.


    Thew banning the study of the Ghost Dao might have worked on the past Tang Jie, but now that he could even defeat Earth Immortals, thisw had bepletely ineffective.


    Who in the Rosecloud Domain could subdue him except Yun Tian?


    Even in the Vast Wilderness Continent, there were few who could control him.


    Flowing Wind was an example of this sort of person. He had used a Ghost Dao secret art toward the end of their battle, but he had unfortunately run into Little Three, whorgely neutralized his attack.


    Still, Tang Jie had seen the power of the Ghost Dao in that attack.


    When one''s cultivation was momentarily unable to rise any higher,teral development, the study of other schools, was a choice that the vast majority of cultivators would make. The higher one''s cultivation level, the more one understood this principle.


    From that moment, Tang Jie slowly started to research the Ghost Dao.


    Of course, this study was merely to better understand the principles of the world, and besides that, the Ghost Dao was also intricately connected to the Dao of Reincarnation, which happened to be his weakest Dao.


    As Tang Jie studied the Ghost Dao more, his understanding of Reincarnation rose, and his mindset subsequently changed as well.


    It was at that time that Mei Huaping awakened his memories.


    A ghost would undergo some changes when they awakened their memories. This didn''t refer to their reactions or conduct, but the nature of the ghost itself.


    But Tang Jie hadn''t figured out that Mei Huaping had awakened through his understanding of the Ghost Dao. Instead, it was through his abnormal actions. Thus, when he discovered this fact, he immediately realized that his proficiency in the Ghost Dao was sorelycking.


    The power of Wisdom was not enough to make up for it!


    Akin to how Tang Jie needed various tricks to deal with strong foes, he needed to observe Mei Huaping''s habits to make up for his weaknesses in the Ghost Dao.


    Tang Jie decided that he needed to further his research of the Ghost Dao to improve hisprehension of Reincarnation.


    Others studied first and thenprehended, while Tang Jie had done it the opposite way with Reincarnation. He had borrowed the power of the Heavenly Dao Law Wheel toprehend the Dao of Reincarnation, and only now did he have a real chance to experience it.


    As he strengthened his understanding of the Ghost Dao, he also developed a better understanding of Mei Huaping''s condition and understood that this situation was extremely rare.


    As he was traveling about Vast Wilderness and collecting various Ghost Dao texts, Tang Jie finally found the most effective way to use an existence like Mei Huaping.


    For this method, Tang Jie had waited a whole eighty years.


    Gazing at Mei Huaping, Tang Jie said, "Today, that moment has finallye."


    He flicked that Pearl of Life into the puppet''s body, and a terrible shriek came from the puppet, upon which a phantom emerged: Mei Huaping''s soul. Using the Soul Refining Pearl, he truly had managed to revive.


    The Dao of Life was the source of life for all things, but it was poison for the ghosts of the Nether Domain. This Pearl of Life contained all of Tang Jie''s Life Dao power, which made it toxic to ghosts. Unable to resist, that ghost was naturally forced out. At the same time, a rumbling came from the puppet as it radiated vitality, signifying that a new life was about to be born.


    While it had lost the control of Mei Huaping''s remnant soul, it had gained the Fountain of Life, causing this puppet to finally have a life of its own, bing a monster in a real sense.


    A phantom emerged from Tang Jie''s back¡ªhis True God, which seized Mei Huaping''s remnant soul. Mei Huaping shrieked, believing that Tang Jie''s True God was about to devour him, but then Tang Jie said, "Mei Huaping, in the past, you conspired against me, and in return, I refined you into a Ghost Guard. From then on, you fought for me for many years, repaying the debt you owed. Today, I can give you your freedom and a chance to reincarnate, but you must do something for me."


    "What is it?" Mei Huaping''s remnant soul shrieked.


    "I need you to carry a sliver of my will and enter the Nether Domain, exploring its depths and its riddles so that I can understand the secrets of Reincarnation!"


    "The Divine Wandering Secret Art? You want to use that on me?" Mei Huaping howled, realizing Tang Jie''s goal.


    The Divine Wandering Secret Art was to attach a sliver of one''s mind to a wandering soul and take control of this soul so that one could explore the Nether Domain. This was an exploration method developed by the Ghost Dao cultivators so that they didn''t need to put their real bodies at risk. If they failed, all they would lose was a wandering soul and a portion of their Divine Will. Its greatest advantage was to broaden one''s knowledge of the Nether Domain and increase one''s cultivation of the Ghost Dao. In addition, one would learn many of the secrets of life and death, including that most important Dao of Reincarnation.


    If Tang Jie wanted to resolve his weakness in the Dao of Reincarnation, exploring the Nether Domain was necessary, and the Divine Wandering Secret Art was a key tool to reach this goal.


    This secret art had high requirements for the wandering soul, as ordinary ones were unable to bear a Divine Will. After all, they didn''t even have minds of their own, so how could they hold the mind of another? Only special wandering souls that had mutated into having their own mind could serve as a host to a Divine Will.


    But such a wandering soul was not easy to control, and without Mei Huaping''s remnant soul, the Mother Cloud puppet would be much weaker. This was why Tang Jie had waited all this time.


    Finally, he could execute his n. With the Fountain of Life, the puppet no longer needed Mei Huaping''s remnant soul, and Tang Jie, who had be a God, was more able to control a wandering soul.


    Realizing this, Mei Huaping shouted, "You have the Hunter Ghost, so why do you need me?"


    While Hunter Ghosts weren''t wandering souls, such a ghost could also carry Tang Jie''s will into the Nether. Given Little Three''s loyalty, he wouldn''t betray Tang Jie, so he was a much better option than a mutated wandering soul.


    But Tang Jie shook his head. "Little Three is a wanted enemy of the Nether Domain and will be attacked the moment he goes in. I want to explore, not fight, and you think I''ll have fun just watching Little Three fight while being unable to lend a hand? Moreover, I wanted to explore the secret of Reincarnation, but Little Three can''t do that. Only a ghost with a past life can serve my goals."


    "''Explore the secret of Reincarnation''¡­" Mei Huaping muttered.


    If this was the case, then Tang Jie truly might not be lying and was really giving him a chance to reincarnate. After all, only then could he experience the cycle of Reincarnation and understand its secrets.


    Although he still loathed Tang Jie, given that his revenge was hopeless, he seemed to have no better choice.


    He nodded. "Fine."


    "Since you agree, open your mind and let my Divine Will in," Tang Jie said.


    While Tang Jie could force his way, it was still better if Mei Huaping was willing.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Mei Huaping''s soul remained motionless as a tendril of gray smoke emerged from the back of Tang Jie''s head and slithered into Mei Huaping. The moment it entered, it split off into countless tiny chains that tightly bound Mei Huaping''s soul.

 Chapter 961: Divine Wandering

    "Tang Jie, you liar!" Mei Huaping screamed in rm.


    "Don''t panic, don''t panic. It''s just some countermeasures in case you try anything. Better safe than sorry, you know?" Tang Jie casually replied. As he spoke, those chains gradually disappeared into Mei Huaping''s body. But Mei Huaping knew that this sliver of Divine Will not only had taken up residence in his body, but it also now controlled his life. Even if Tang Jie could no longer pay any attention to him once he was in the Nether Domain, the Divine Will could still easily kill him.


    Mei Huaping sighed. "Can''t you just trust me a little? After all, I also want to reincarnate."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Only with caution can one steer a boat for ten thousand years. Moreover, reincarnating and wanting to kill aren''t two contradictory things," Tang Jie answered.


    Helpless, Mei Huaping could only say, "Well, you have my life in your hands, so you can do whatever you want. Send me off to the Nether Domain, then."


    "No rush," Tang Jie chuckled. "Let me ask you: how do you n to get to the Nether Domain?"


    Mei Huaping froze for a moment, and then he replied, "Naturally I''ll follow the Yellow Springs down, cross the Bridge of Helplessness, and then enter the Abyss of Reincarnation."


    Tang Jie smiled. "If it was that simple, why would I need you?"


    Mei Huaping looked in confusion at Tang Jie, who exined, "The Nether Domain is the opposing ne to Life, and it has its own system with its own profound mysteries. Within this domain, one canprehend Life and Death, Yin and Yang, recall the past and give form to the future. All Twelve Great Daos and the three thousand minor Daos can be found within, but they manifest themselves in different forms, making for infinite Dao Wills and secrets to discover. If you don''t properly experience it and gain some understanding of the Nether Domain while you''re there, wouldn''t it be a waste of my efforts?"Mei Huaping was aghast. "I''m just a puny wandering soul. What right do I have to wander the Nether Domain and learn its secrets? I probably wouldn''t get far before another ghost ate me up."


    Tang Jie replied with scorn, "You were once a member of the middle echelons of the Seven Absolutions Sect, you know, so why is it that you don''t have even the slightest shred of courage? You have to understand that a sessful wandering will also be a big benefit to you. As for the dangers of the Nether Domain, you know what those are without me needing to exin them. But why do you think I chose you? You are a special wandering soul, innately different from the others, and I''ve also refined the Soul Refining Pearl into your body. From now on, you are like a Hunter Ghost and can devour other ghosts to grow stronger. Moreover, you don''t have their limitations and can devour with no limit."


    Mei Huaping was ecstatic, not expecting to have received such an enormous boon.


    But he quickly realized that something was off. "It sounds very nice, but is there some disadvantage? Otherwise, why didn''t you let your Hunter Ghost have it?"


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Quite sharp. Indeed, in the end, you''re devouring other ghosts, so it will definitely have some effect on you. But I''m not sure how exactly it will affect you. After all, this has never happened before, so I''m experimenting with you. If you''re worried about your safety, you can just not devour anything, and if you feel like something isn''t right, you can stop at any time."


    After some thought, Mei Huaping agreed. No matter what side effect the Soul Refining Pearl had, he had the right to choose what he devoured.


    He nodded and said, "If that''s the case, I agree."


    "Then let''s make an agreement. I want you to wander the Nether Domain for one hundred years, after which you can reincarnate."


    "''One hundred years''¡­" Mei Huaping thought it over. While one hundred years wasn''t short, to a cultivator, it also wasn''t too long. Given that his life was in the hands of another, he could only agree. Secretly, he thought to himself that he might be able to glimpse some secrets of Reincarnation in these one hundred years that could let him preserve his memories in his new life. If that was the case, he would definitely get his revenge on Tang Jie one day.


    While he knew that even if he were reborn with his past memories, it was basically impossible to catch up to Tang Jie, a person needed hope. It was this thought that would motivate him to push through any kind of difficulty and pain in the future.


    Tang Jie smiled. "Great! Little Three, send him on his way."


    The transparent form of Little Three emerged, grabbing Mei Huaping''s soul and tossing him into the air, casting him through the spatial barrier and into the Nether Domain.


    The little ghost''s control over space was growing stronger and stronger.


    Once this was done, Tang Jie set off a part of his mind to observe the situation in the Nether Domain while the majority of his mind began to settle down into meditation.


    He was done with the Dao of Life, so it was time to ponder what to do with the Dao of Fate.


    Temporarilycking a proper n, he had no desire to form a Dao Art right now, so he decided to exit his seclusion.


    The people outside were going crazy by this point.


    Tang Jie had ascended to Immortality within the Mountain River State Diagram, but Yun Tian had already told everyone that Tang Jie had made the charge at Immortal tform, and from the looks of it, he had most likely seeded. Thus, they had been waiting outside the Freedom Pce for some time.


    But Tang Jie wasn''ting out, and nobody dared to go in.


    Other than Yun Tian and Sect Master Ling Xiao, who had enough status to wait within the pce, Xiao Biehan and everyone else stood waiting outside.


    The Basking Moon Sect didn''t determine its seniority based on cultivation, and one''s master would always be one''s master. But cultivation was not entirely meaningless. When a junior''s cultivation exceeded their senior''s, they could be considered a peer of their senior. Thus, Ling Xiao could still maintain his status as master and remained seated in the Hall of Divine Conference while Xiao Biehan had to personally go and wee the most outstanding disciple of their sect.


    As Tang Jie finally emerged, the crowd saw his transcendent appearance and immediately understood. Bringing their hands together and bowing, they called out, "Congrattions, Freedom Immortal Sovereign, on advancing another step and attaining Immortal tform, bing undying and evesting!"


    The more junior disciples even dropped to their knees and prostrated.


    Bells and gongs rang out through the Zephyr Mountains, the power suffusing their melodies causing the clouds to churn and cranes to take flight.


    A moon rose up over the clouds, radiating a gentle light.


    "The Lunar Wheel! It''s the Lunar Wheel!" someone within the Basking Moon Sect shouted in glee.


    The Lunar Wheel was a natural Dao armament of the Basking Moon Sect, and also its most useless. This was because its only function was to allow the user to transmit their Divine Will to any ce within the entire domain. But while it could make the Divine Will travel far, it didn''t amplify its power in any way. Thus, while a spell art had unlimited range, there was no guarantee that it wouldnd, so all it did was waste the user''s Divine Will.


    Thest two times the Basking Moon Sect had used the Lunar Wheel were to announce when Yun Tian had reached Earth Immortal and then True Immortal.


    For cultivators, only this level of news was worth using the Lunar Wheel.


    This time, the Lunar Wheel''s appearance finally had nothing to do with Yun Tian.


    Through the Lunar Wheel, a booming voice was transmitted to every corner of the Rosecloud Domain: "Freedom Celestial Sovereign of the Basking Moon Sect, Tang Jie, sessfully ascended to Immortality today. From now on, he will live as long as the heavens, undying and evesting! Let all the world know of this fact!"


    As that voice spoke, everyone in the Rosecloud Domain from emperors to peasants prostrated, and then they raised their heads and cheered.


    At the same time, a powerful Divine Will spread to every part of the Rosecloud Domain.


    This was Tang Jie''s Divine Will, borrowing the Lunar Wheel to view thisnd from an even higher perspective, taking it all in with a single nce.


    He saw the windswept deserts of the north, a caravan enduring a sandstorm. With a single thought, the sandstorm vanished, and that caravan was able to survive. They felt a powerful will sweep over them, and recalling what they had heard just now, they knew that an Immortal had saved them and immediately fell to their knees.


    He saw storms raging on the southern oceans, and with a single thought, he calmed the waves. The fishermen caught up in the waves immediately exalted their savior.


    He saw the Gargantua in in the east, gripped by drought, the farmers begging for rain while the disciples of sects did nothing. With a thought, rains descended over the parched earth while the disciples in charge of the area were instantly marked by his Divine Will and warned, causing them to turn ghastly pale.


    He looked to the mountains of the west. There, in the Spirit Mountains of Nadir Hill, a massive stone heart was beating. It was no wonder the Great Mountain had a mind. It turned out it had naturally attained the Dao and formed a stone embryo within the mountains, allowing it to control the mountain range. Tang Jie was an acquaintance of that stone embryo, and through the power of the Lunar Wheel and his Celestial Eye, he had finally been able to find out the truth. He smiled and said, "There is destiny between us, so why note with me?"


    The stone embryo had existed for ten thousand years and had absorbed the essence of the Myriad Court fragment, bing so powerful that even a True Lord couldn''t subdue it, so it was unwilling to submit to Tang Jie. Tang Jie simply smiled and said, "You truly are a stubborn rock. I am granting you this blessed opportunity, but you refuse to take it. Don''t think that I can''t do anything to you if you stay hiding in those mountains. You must realize that there are many things that I am simply unwilling to do, not unable to. Ah, forget it; just watch closely."


    Tang Jie expanded his Divine Will, and an object emerged from his Sea of Cognition.


    It was the Genesis Stone b, shining light in all directions.


    The intelligent stone embryo felt its power and began to resonate with it, floating out of the Spirit Mountains.


    The Genesis Stone b could invoke the miracle of creation on all things. While the stone embryo possessed immense power and innately attained the Dao, it was too fixed in ce. To have arts without the Dao was to have wealth with no authority. To have Dao without arts was like having authority and no wealth, and this described the stone embryo''s position. The Genesis Stone b could provide such "wealth".


    Thus, the stone embryo flew toward Tang Jie.


    But the moment it emerged from the mountains, a giant hand broke through the clouds and reached for it.


    Tang Jie''s eyes flew open. "Audacious!"


    His Divine Will immediately conjured the clouds into a hand to stop it.


    But his opponent was quite formidable, shattering the hand that Tang Jie had created through his Divine Will. Tang Jie was briefly startled, and then he said in realization, "So it was you!"


    The meddler was none other than the Earth Immortal Ancestor of Godhead Pce, Ye Yun.


    He was the only one capable of shattering Tang Jie''s Divine Will hand.


    In terms of strength, even though Tang Jie had just reached Earth Immortal, he wasn''t afraid of Ye Yun. However, he was transmitting his strength over a vast distance through the Lunar Wheel, so he was in no shape to fight with Ye Yun. Even if Nearby Horizon could let him travel as far as he could see, until he advanced further in this Space Dao Art, he couldn''t teleport using the Lunar Wheel as his foundation.


    As Ye Yun reached for the stone embryo, Tang Jie snorted, "Ye Yun, you dare steal from me? Are you trying to give my Basking Moon Sect an excuse to exterminate your Godhead Pce?"


    The hand trembled and reluctantly withdrew.


    A voice resounded, "This Ye Yun was ignorant and offended Immortal Tang. Please forgive me."


    "Deliver to my sect ten divine treasures, one hundred ultimate-grade art relics, one hundred thousand spirit jades, and ten geniuses of eight-cycle or above as hostages. Only then will you be pardoned."


    As Tang Jie spoke, the stone embryo entered his Sea of Cognition.


    Because of the Lunar Wheel, this exchange was seen by all of the world.


    Thus, everyone knew that with Tang Jie''s ascension, the Basking Moon Sect was strong enough to totally suppress the other sects.


    As all cultivators were making their way to the Basking Moon Sect to pay their respects, in the Zephyr Mountains, all the cultivators prostrated, calls of "Immortal Sovereign" resounding through the heavens, and this time, there was weight to the word "Immortal".


    Casting his gaze across the world, Tang Jie announced, "Three months from now, the Violet Pce Sublimation Ceremony will be held at the summit of the Zephyr Mountains, and all who attend will be able to ascend to the Great Dao."

 Chapter 962: Invitations

    All the world came to know that the Basking Moon Sect was going to hold the Violet Pce Sublimation Ceremony.


    Those fortunate cultivators who were invited would make an attempt at Violet Pce on that day under the protection of the Immortal Sovereign. Not only were their chances of sess increased, they would survive even if they failed.


    The news immediately set off an uproar.


    There were countless peak Celestial Heart cultivators in the Rosecloud Domain who were stuck at thest step, not daring to take it.


    And there were also many every year who died in the attempt.


    But now, Tang Jie was going to protect them as they made their attempt.


    While the boost to sess was limited, just the guarantee of survival was a rare opportunity.


    ording to the rules Tang Jie hadid down, only those who had received an official invitation could receive this protection. Everyone else could only observe.


    There were 36 invitations in total, so only 36 people could receive Tang Jie''s aid as they made the attempt at Violet Pce.Twelve were reserved for the inner disciples of the Basking Moon Sect, and six of these were meant for Wei Tianchong, Cai Junyang, Meng Shixue, Liu Hongyan, Qi Shaoming, and Xi Canhen. After all, Tang Jie was the one presiding over this ceremony, and nobody could object to the six people he had named. As for Shi Meng, he had long ago lost the drive to go any further and only desired a peaceful retirement, so there was no point in his taking part. Like him were Zuo Quanming and Su Xinyue, who had also suffered an injury that had damaged her foundations and exhausted her potential, leaving her no hope of ever reaching Violet Pce.


    Er Hu wasn''t included for the exact opposite reason. Without Tang Jie''s help, he was already guaranteed to reach Violet Pce, so there was no need to waste a spot on him.


    The worst off was Peng Yaolong. He was Meng Shixue''s husband, and Tang Jie found it hard to justify giving them two spots. Thus, Peng Yaolong had yielded and let his wife take the spot. The remaining six spots were left to the Basking Moon Sect to rmend so that Xiao Biehan andpany had something to do.


    In short, these twelve invitations were the easiest to handle.


    The next twelve were distributed to the various sects.


    Six were given to the Seven Absolutions Sect, the Thousand Passions Sect, and Horizon Ocean Pavilion, while the remaining six were left for the Basking Moon Sect''s subordinate sects, for those six that were the most reverent and obedient, one of these being the Wandering Pce. These invitations did not indicate any particr person, and the sect had the power to choose who would go.


    Thus, various struggles urred within the various sects for the twelve invitations, with plenty of faction-making and internal strife, as well as numerous tournaments to decide who in each sect would receive the invitation.


    But this was rtively finepared to what happened to the remaining twelve, which were let out into the wild for whoever was most capable to get.


    These twelve invitations unleashed absolute mayhem.


    A massive conflict for the sake of the invitations ensued.


    Initially, the struggle for the invitations took ce only on the financial stage.


    The twelve invitations primarily flowed through the variousrge auction houses of the Rosecloud Domain. To get one of these invitations, cultivators from all around emptied their pockets, willing to offer up everything their sect had, even putting up divine treasures.


    Even so, the vast majority of cultivators went back in failure, while the price of the invitations continued to rise. The Basking Moon Sect was easily able to reap a fortune, and this was when many strong cultivators had yet to take part in the bidding.


    This opportunity to advance to Violet Pce was too rare, and all those cultivators naturally weren''t willing to give up. Thus, some people took the risk of resorting to banditry.


    As the twelve invitations spread out, they stirred up storms across the Rosecloud Domain. For one invitation, cultivators fought in the open and in the shadows, using any means at their disposal. A gruesome treasure hunt yed out over thend, a ceaseless vortex of ughter.


    In the past, Tang Jie had taken part in such a hunt, but at that time, he had been the main character, the center of the vortex. This time, he was the architect, coldly observing everything from his throne in the Freedom Pce.


    A river valley in the northwest.


    Ten-some cultivators had surrounded one, and while this cultivator was quite strong, he was gradually losing ground. Seeing that he could hold on no longer, he pulled out his invitation and roared, "You push me too far! I would rather destroy the invitation than hand it over!"


    He poured his energy into the invitation, but to his shock, the invitation was unharmed.


    The cultivators erupted inughter. "This invitation was made by the supreme Immortal power of the Freedom Immortal Sovereign! One would have to be at Immortal tform or haveprehended the Dao of Destruction to destroy it! It''s not something you''re capable of! Hurry up and die!" ?


    Countless attacks barraged the cultivator, and that cultivator was instantly torn to shreds, leaving only the invitation to float to the ground.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    One person managed to grab the invitation, but before he could celebrate, a de was stabbed into his back. Turning in shock, he saw his senior who had been fighting alongside him lunge at the invitation with a savage expression.


    Another rain of blood ensued as the ten-some cultivators who had been working together now fought to the death.


    Something like this would happen almost every day, brother against brother, husband against wife, master against disciple, one drama after another ying out in the Rosecloud Domain.


    They werepletely unaware that all of this was being observed by others.


    Within the Freedom Pce, twelve mirrors circled in the air, projecting everything that the twelve invitations experienced.


    Ling Xiao slightly frowned at the brutal battles taking ce. "These twelve invitations are a source of chaos and disaster for the world. Tang Jie, what is the purpose behind this action?"


    The Basking Moon Sect was the leader of Rosecloud, and safeguarding the world''s prosperity ensured its own. Thus, they didn''t support this sort ofrge-scale fighting. If Tang Jie hadn''t been behind all this, Ling Xiao would have already sent someone to pacify the unrest.


    But in the end, Ling Xiao hadn''t been able to endure this and hade to question Tang Jie.


    At the very least, Tang Jie had to offer a convincing exnation.


    Tang Jie made some calctions on his fingers for a long while before finally saying, "I am ensuring that the Basking Moon Sect''s power endures for ten thousand years."


    "''Ensuring the Basking Moon Sect''s power''?" Xiao Biehan''s eyes shed. "Like you did for the Martial Ancestor?"


    Tang Jie smiled. "Somewhat different."


    "How so?"


    Tang Jie waved a finger, and countless ethereal threads flew out from its tip. "It''s quicker, stronger, and more efficient!"


    A look of joy appeared in the eyes of Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan.


    Everyone knew that Tang Jie was an expert in Fate, and it was thanks to him that Yun Tian was able to be a True Immortal, which Tang Jie had spent more than a hundred years on.


    Tang Jie was now saying that things would be even better than before. Ming Yekong realized what he was getting at and shouted, "A Fate Dao Art?"


    Tang Jie replied, "I''m still figuring it out."


    This was tantamount to a confession.


    A Dao Art was an extremely important matter, so once they learned about it, they stopped trying to interfere.


    The result of the Basking Moon Sectpletely washing its hands of this matter was that the conflicts over the twelve invitations grew even more intense.


    Almost all the cultivators of the world were focused on these invitations, whether or not they had the strength or cultivation. Everyone knew that these invitations were supreme treasures. Almost everyone''s Fates were tied to these invitations, which became twelve giant vortices that spanned the Web of Fate.


    From each vortex extended a thick primary thread that led back to Tang Jie. The twelve invitations became like twelve Fate ry stations that concentrated all the gathered Fate power on Tang Jie.


    In the eyes of others, these invitations represented the Violet Pce, cultivation, ughter, and robbery. But in the eyes of Tang Jie, they represented an endless number of Karmas and Fates.


    Unlike what he had told the others, his n didn''t merely involve his Fate Dao Art.


    He also sought a breakthrough in the Dao of Karma.


    As an Immortal, Tang Jie had entered eight of the Twelve Great Daos, and he had an ambition to achieve theplete set. The breakthrough in the Dao of Reincarnation rested on Mei Huaping''s remnant soul, while the Dao of Karma depended on this n before him.


    Karma and Fate wereplementary, so Tang Jie was using this Violet Pce Sublimation Ceremony for a n of unprecedented scale, with effects far more far-reaching than anyone could imagine.

 Chapter 963: Fate Dao Art

    The vortices surrounding the twelve invitations grew more and more intense.


    Those cultivators who obtained the invitations tried to hide this fact, but the invitations let off a special wave that revealed their location.


    This forced those cultivators to constantly move around to evade those people who were tracking that signal. Various running battles erupted in due course, drenching thends of Rosecloud in blood.


    As it was mostly peak Celestial Heart cultivators taking part in these battles, the death of each cultivator would result inrge quantities of spiritual energy being released as Returned Remnants.


    But this time, the situation was different.


    The Forest of Trees in the southeast.


    "Aaagh!" A scream tore through the air, and blood rained from the heavens.


    A cultivator plunged from the sky.


    A tall and imposing man flew over, reaching out and grabbing an invitation.Looking at the invitation, the man chuckled. "I finally got it."


    He flew off without looking at that fallen cultivator.


    He naturally wouldn''t know that the cultivator''s corpse began to give off white streams of energy that drifted up into the clouds.


    Even if he did know, he wouldn''t have cared. There was nothing strange about a cultivator turning into Returned Remnants on death, their lifetime of spiritual energy returning to the world. This dense spiritual energy would turn into a rain that would nourish this part of the world.


    But unbeknownst to him, amid all this evaporating spiritual energy, a sliver of energy didn''t dissipate, traveling higher and higher into the heavens.


    Far above the clouds, it traveled through the Astral Winds, before transforming into a star suspended in the sky.


    Such incidents were taking ce across Rosecloud. When a cultivator died over an invitation, a thread of spiritual light would be hung up in the sky.


    The stars created through the killing surrounding a particr invitation would gather together.


    As time passed and more stars appeared, they gradually took the form of twelve ster vortices. Reflected in the mirrors, their light was concentrated into a single giant beam that illuminated Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie was holding a mirror in his hand: the shattered Overflowing Heaven Mirror.


    The mirror had been shattered into an unusable state in the battle with Flowing Wind, and only a small piece along the edge was intact.


    As the beam of light created through the twelve ster vortices concentrated on the Overflowing Heaven Mirror, the cracks on the mirror began to heal.


    But anyone who thought he was doing all this to fix the mirror would be gravely mistaken.


    Just as the Overflowing Heaven Mirror was slowly recovering, a new crack appeared on the mirror. This crack extended across half of the mirror, breaking the part that had just been repaired.


    Tang Jie waspletely unconcerned, continuing to bathe the mirror in starlight.


    Thus, the Overflowing Heaven Mirror continued to be fixed and broken.


    In this process of healing and breaking, the cracks on the Overflowing Heaven Mirror gradually formed a strange pattern. Extending from the center of the mirror were twelve lightning-like cracks. They spread across the surface of the mirror, dividing it into twelve seemingly equal parts.


    Once this was done, something different finally happened with the Overflowing Heaven Mirror.


    Numerous Dao Runes emerged from the mirror, mysterious and abstruse characters that exuded an immense and intimidating power before Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie smiled.


    Yes, this was his goal.


    He didn''t want to repair the Overflowing Heaven Mirror. The mirror was unimportant. What was really important were its Great Dao Runes. Thus, he had been focusing only on restoring these Dao Runes, and through the fortune of those countless people, he had finally done it.


    But for him, this was only the first step.


    Tang Jie pped the Overflowing Heaven Mirror, upon which the mirror split into twelve, each piece vanishing into one of the mirrors arrayed around him.


    The twelve mirrors immediately erupted with light, and the scene disyed on them changed.


    Other people could still see the original scene: people fighting, killing, fleeing, and chasing for the sake of the invitations.


    But those proficient in the Dao of Fate could see the connections between every person in the mirror.


    These connections had already been put through a filter.


    Comprehending the Dao of Fate allowed one to see the entanglements of Fate. But there were millions of such entanglements, forming a vast andplicated web, and the real difficultyy in unwinding the threads to get at what one wanted. Tang Jie had needed a hundred years once to sort through the Web of Fate, and even then, to follow threads back to their source took copious amounts of Fate power.


    But at this moment, the Web of Fate in the twelve mirrors had be clear and simplified, all extraneous threads removed, leaving only the connections the observer deemed important.


    For example, if one wanted to kill a person and wanted to know what factors would interfere with this goal, one would have to go searching through the target''s Web of Fate for those particr threads. Now, with a single thought, one could clear away all the irrelevant information and see only those necessary threads.


    This was the world in Tang Jie''s eyes at this moment.


    The connections between all things had be simple and easy to grasp.


    Tang Jie could see the cause and effect to everything and thus change Fate.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He had been able to do this before, but never this easily.


    He lightly waved his hand.


    In a projection showing events on the southern seas, a cultivator was fleeing from ten-some other cultivators.


    Just when it seemed like he wouldn''t escape, a savage sea beast emerged from the ocean and spat a torrent of water at his pursuers that sent them flying.


    Just when the cultivators were about to restart their chase, countless fiends leaped out of the water and began to attack them, leaving them stunned and dumbfounded. As a result, they could only watch as their target used this opportunity to flee.


    This was the power of the Dao of Fate, the ability to control all things and creatures. Tang Jie was able to do this before, but never like this, as easily as lifting a hand.


    Tang Jie was just getting started.


    In the end, Fate power''s control over events was limited to cause and effect. In other words, the Dao of Karma was also capable of doing this.


    In fact, one could say that this was what the Dao of Karma was meant to do. The Dao of Fate was capable of doing things on an even higher level.


    Gazing at the images on the twelve mirrors, Tang Jie suddenlyughed and announced, "Pass on my order! Anyone who finds this object for me can exchange it for a promise with me. So long as it is something that does not harm myself or the Basking Moon Sect, I can agree to do anything in my power for that person."


    Even without the Lunar Wheel, with his control over the Web of Fate, Tang Jie was able to transmit these words into everyone''s minds.


    And the object that appeared in everyone''s minds was clearly the Open Gate Banner.


    These words set off another storm.


    It went without saying that a struggle over the Open Gate Banner was about to begin.


    Tang Jie set this matter aside and took out twelve sheets of silver foil, twelve golden books, twelve yellow talismans, and twelve rolls of silk. Each was made of valuable spiritual materials and suffused with Fate Dao power. Tang Jie had made them while waiting all this time, and as he threw them into the twelve mirrors, the mirrors began to change and exude a solemn aura that was thick with Fate energy.


    Tang Jie finally stopped, waiting in the hall and letting the storms beyond it rage.


    On the Web of Fate, the conflicts continued, but meanwhile, Tang Jie''s n was reaching its final phase.


    All that was left was to wait¡­


    For the ultimate moment of sess.


    Three months quickly passed.


    The day of the Violet Pce Sublimation Ceremony finally arrived.


    The conflicts over the twelve invitations had finally settled, and each had an owner.


    The cultivators who brought the invitations to the Basking Moon Sect received the best treatment the sect could provide. And when they thought about how they would personally receive the Freedom Immortal Sovereign''s assistance in their breakthrough, their hearts leapt with joy.


    Not long after they had been sent to their amodations, a disciple delivered the invitations to the Freedom Pce.


    He kneeled in front of the pce and announced, "As the Immortal Sovereignmanded, other than Wandering Pce Lord Shen''s, the invitations have all been collected. Immortal Sovereign, please receive them."


    The doors opened, and a gust of wind whisked away the invitations.


    Tang Jie''s voice rang out. "Has everyone been settled down?"


    "Everyone has been sent to their amodations. Tomorrow morning at the Chen Hour (7¨C9am), they will make their attempts at Violet Pce. When the timees, Immortal Sovereign, please grant them your protection."


    "Mm, when the timees, they can start their breakthroughs without needing to wait for me."


    "Ah?" The disciple was taken aback. <em>Without you, why would they do it? Didn''t theye here to ascend to Violet Pce because of your Peaceful Divine Abode ssic?</em>


    But then he realized: the Immortal Sovereign was a noble existence that could not be seen by just anybody. He would naturally provide his protection from the shadows, which waspletely possible given his powers.


    With this thought, he departed.


    Tang Jie pointed, and twelve invitations flew out of the stack of 35. These were the twelve that caused so much chaos and strife, and they flew into their respective mirrors.


    Like water into oil, the invitations caused the twelve mirrors to go through intense changes, twisting and writhing as they erupted with Fate energy. Fortunately, all of this was restricted in the pce, and the only one to sense it was Er Hu. Gazing in the direction of the Freedom Pce, he muttered, "What intense Fate power! It seems that Master''s Fate Dao Art is on the verge ofpletion."


    Within the Freedom Pce, the twelve mirrors began to settle down, each ultimately taking the form of a page.


    The pages werepletely transparent, like ayer of water, and through them, one could see all sorts of dazzling scenes that came from all across the Chiliocosm.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, and the twelve pages fell into Tang Jie''s hand, forming into a thin book.


    With this, Tang Jie exhaled. "It''s finally done."


    This sigh was packed with emotion.


    Nobody knew how many resources and how much effort he had invested into this Fate Dao Art.


    But if he couldplete it, it would all be worth it.


    As he looked at the book, he muttered, "Since it''s done, I should test it out."


    Tang Jie flipped to the first page and began to write.


    "In tomorrow''s Violet Pce Sublimation Ceremony, all the Basking Moon Sect disciples will seed in advancement, Shen Qingdan will seed, and the rest will not die."


    Once he was done, the contents of the page dissolved into chaos, and Tang Jie''s Fate Dao power surged into the book. As this Dao power entered, the scene on the page gradually cleared, revealing Wei Tianchong and the others sessfully reaching Violet Pce.


    When the page had been entirely lit up, Tang Jie had been almost drained of Dao power. Even so, his face was all smiles. He tore off the page and threw it into the air, where it dissolved into countless motes of light. Meanwhile, the Web of Fate began to shift.


    Satisfied, Tang Jie seated himself on his throne.


    He said to himself, "While the Peaceful Divine Abode ssic is good, it only increases one''s chances by ten percent. It can''tpare to the absolutew of my Wish Granting Spell¡­"


    Dao Art: Wish Granting Spell (Book),plete!

 Chapter 964: Ten Thousand Years of Prosperity

    The Wish Granting Spell was the Fate Dao Art that Tang Jie had spent three months creating.


    Unlike his past Dao Arts, this was not a Dao Art created from nothing, but thebination of a damaged Dao armament and the Fates of countless people. Moreover, it could only be used twelve times.


    After twelve uses, the Wish Granting Book would disappear, as would Tang Jie''s Fate Dao Art. But at that time, he could try to reform the Dao Art. Whether he found another Fate Dao armament or tried to rely on his own abilities would depend on where he was at that point.


    The reason it had been soplicated to make was naturally that it was just too powerful.


    The Dao of Fate could develop in many different directions. At its apex, one could predict the future or control all things, but none of this couldpare to the Wish Granting Spell. Predicting the future didn''t necessarily mean that one could use the future, and the "all things" that one could control only referred to ordinary things. The higher the level of the existence, the more difficult it was to control. Only the Wish Granting Spell could truly bring about whatever one wanted. This was why creating this Dao art required expending a Fate Dao armament, and even then, he could only use it twelve times.


    And there was also a limit to the extent of the wish granted.


    Firstly, the Wish Granting Spell only worked on those existences controlled by the Dao of Fate. While this referred to the vast majority of existences, there were a few that were immune to the Wish Granting Spell.


    Secondly, all events had to have some usible reason behind them. In other words, if you wanted something to happen, it had to be possible in the first ce. If it was utterly impossible, then it would not happen. For example, if Tang Jie wished for Wei Tianchong and the others to seed, it was because each of them had a chance to seed. Even if it was as tiny as 0.0000001%, so long as it was there, it could happen. But if Tang Jie wished for a mortal to reach Violet Pce, well, that was just impossible, so the Wish Granting Spell would fail.


    Finally, one needed to expend Fate Dao power. The more difficult the wish was to realize and the lower the starting chances of sess, the more Dao power it would consume. And this Dao power could not be stored forter. If the wish granted was too difficult for one''s Dao power, then the wish would fail to be realized. Fortunately, the page would remain intact.After doing this, Tang Jie began to rest and recover his Fate Dao power.


    As he quietly meditated, outside, the world had gone crazy.


    One night went by very quickly, and the next morning, 36 people gathered on the Zephyr Mountains. To make things easier for them, each of them upied one mountain. Although Tang Jie hadn''t appeared, the Basking Moon Sect had already sent people to inform them that the Immortal Sovereign would use the Peaceful Divine Abode ssic from the shadows to protect them, so everyone could simply focus on their breakthroughs. As a result, they began without hesitation.


    They hadn''t expected too much. It was only a single opportunity, and they knew that their sess wasn''t guaranteed. However, just experiencing it once would give them more confidence for next time.


    But as they were breaking through, violet light erupted from one mountain after another, meaning that their upants had sessfully reached Violet Pce.


    One or two was rather normal, but there were eventually so many bursts of light that the spectating crowd was blinded.


    When all 36 had concluded their sessions, the gathered cultivators discovered that 16 people had seeded.


    16 out of 36 was a shocking number.


    But even more shocking was that all twelve from the Basking Moon Sect had seeded, with only four non¨CBasking Moon Sect individuals seeding, one of them being Tang Jie''s close friend Shen Qingdan.


    Everyone realized that this probably wasn''t a coincidence.


    Nobody would believe it if Tang Jie said he hadn''t paid them special attention, and it seemed like Tang Jie had no ns on hiding it.


    But they originally believed that Tang Jie was only able to ensure that nobody died. Now, it seemed that he could guarantee a sessful breakthrough! The two held totally different meanings.


    s, there was no point in envy. Tang Jie clearly had no ns on helping anybody extra. Guaranteeing that the rest didn''t die and had a chance to try again was enough to fulfill his promise, and he wouldn''t take responsibility for anything else.


    The only thing they could do was re with red eyes. If this were anyone else, they might have resorted to threats and intimidation, but the Basking Moon Sect reigned supreme, so they didn''t even have the right to try things the hard way.


    This incident caused Tang Jie''s reputation to rise even higher. Not even considering anything else, the spots at Basking Moon Academy became many times more contested, and that little courtyard in the Student Forest that Tang Jie had stayed in for one night became a holynd, visited by countless students every year.


    This was all forter. Right now, the cultivators who had just experienced this event were rather agitated and caused quite the ruckus on the scene.


    One person resentfully said, "The Immortal Sovereign is showing a little too much bias here. We all received invitations, so why did he treat them so generously and us so coldly?"


    "That''s right! I fought through a sea of blood to get this invitation. The Immortal Sovereign should have treated us all equally."


    "Let''s find the Immortal Sovereign and demand an exnation!"


    "Let''s find the Immortal Sovereign and demand an exnation!"


    The riled-up crowd began to protest.


    Theypletely forgot that Tang Jie didn''t owe them anything, and only felt that they had been treated unfairly.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The Basking Moon Sect''s disciples issued threats and tried to intimidate them, but the anger had gone to their heads. It wasn''t that they weren''t afraid of the Basking Moon Sect, but that they had momentarily forgotten about it, seeking momentary pleasure and shouting whatever thought came to their mind. Even in this era of cultivators, it wasn''t unheard of for thews to not punish the masses, and it was generally a taboo to kill several dozen peak Celestial Heart cultivators at once. Strength could let one conquer the world, but it wasn''t suitable for ruling it. Any ruler that sought long-term peace would want to peacefully resolve anything that could be peacefully resolved.


    It was with this hope that everyone protested.


    But as they shouted, there was a great rumbling, and what happened next stunned the world once more.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    After one day and one night of recovery, Tang Jie had fully recovered his Fate Dao power.


    Without caring about what was happening outside, he took out the Wish Granting Book and wrote:


    "The Basking Moon Sect will remain at its zenith and rule Rosecloud for ten thousand years!"


    After writing this, Tang Jie ced his hand on the book and began to pump in Dao power.


    This was the promise he had made to Ling Xiao and the others: to create an eternal golden age for the Basking Moon Sect. Compared to the favor of Fate, the Wish Granting Spell was far more reliable and effective.


    Of course, such a gigantic wish was not easy to realize, but it had to be remembered that the Basking Moon Sect was already the lord of Rosecloud and in the middle of its golden age. Even without Tang Jie''s wish, the Basking Moon Sect could have ruled for at least several thousand years without a problem, and persisting for ten thousand years was no problem. What was difficult was ten thousand years at its zenith. After all, the Primordial Fog Cmity''s threat was everpresent, and each cmity reshuffled the deck, with numerous reigning factions falling. To maintain the zenith for ten thousand years meant ousting three Primordial Fog Cmities, which required a certain degree of luck.


    This luck didn''t rest in how strong the Basking Moon Sect had be, but rather how strong would be the force the Primordial Fog Domain aimed at it. If it wasn''t too strong, the sect could easily ovee the cmity.


    This was where the Wish Granting Spell was primarily targeted.


    Of course, unless there were specific requirements, there was no need to state it. All that was required was the result.


    A momentter, the page began to light up, the Rosecloud Domain appearing upon the page. Above thatndscape was the Basking Moon Sect, sitting above it all like the noon sun.


    This majestic sight was even more impressive than the current state of the Basking Moon Sect.


    This wasn''t strange. If a sect was able to remain at its peak for ten thousand years, it had to have umted impressive strength, most likely producing numerous Earth Immortals. Previously, the six major sects could barely manage to bring up a single Earth Immortal, and if they died, they would have to start all over. This made it difficult to umte a powerful force.


    Tang Jie sought ten thousand years at the peak not merely because he only had enough power for it, but because this was a very important step for a sect. In the future, if they didn''t make any critical missteps, they would have limitless potential.


    The page grew brighter and brighter, but Tang Jie suddenly felt his strength running out. He realized that he was in trouble, that hecked the Dao power toplete the wish.


    He could give up and perhaps try again tomorrow with lower conditions. However, to lower the conditions meant dropping one Primordial Fog Cmity, which was a reduction of three thousand years. Tang Jie didn''t want to cut down the time so severely, but he also couldn''t linger in the Rosecloud Domain until he one day had enough Fate Dao power to fulfill this wish. Thus, he took out the Mountain River State Diagram and thrust his hand inside. "Lend me a hand!"


    These words were instantly transmitted to the minds of every individual in the Yellow Court World.


    All the creatures immediately prostrated and began to chant Tang Jie''s name.


    As the sounds of prayer rang out, a Fate Vortex appeared in the Yellow Court World, concentrated on Tang Jie''s hand, sending all that Fate power to him.


    This was the advantage of a small world. Whatever one wanted, even Fate power, could be provided. Of course, this wasn''t an infinite resource, and such support would slow down the Yellow Court World''s development. However, it wasn''t a big problem.


    The Dao power flowed out of the world and then into the page.


    The page grew brighter and brighter, and after a few moments, it was done.


    Without hesitation, Tang Jie tore off the page, and it dissolved into motes of light.


    The cultivators gathered on the Zephyr Mountains heard a massive rumbling.


    The sky seemed to grow shorter, some immense will descending upon this world.


    In a sh, this vast will was gone, but every person felt something unusual in the depths of their hearts.


    It was hard to describe, a sense of safety, a boundless confidence in the future.


    When they looked at the Zephyr Mountains, at the Starsnatch Pagoda, they felt an unprecedented majesty, like mortals gazing upon Gods!


    Everyone gazed at the horizon in dumbfounded awe, and then they got down on their knees.


    Yun Tian, Ling Xiao, and Xiao Biehan realized that something big had happened.


    "What happened?" Ming Yekong, whose level was a little lower, still didn''t understand.


    "Tang Jie fulfilled his promise," Xiao Biehan replied.

 Chapter 965: The Open Gate Banner

    The day of the Violet Pce Sublimation Ceremony was one of unprecedented glory for the Rosecloud Domain.


    What everyone knew was that sixteen Violet Pce True Lords had arisen on this day.


    What everyone didn''t know was that the Basking Moon Sect trulypleted its most important evolution on this day, bing a real major sect with limitless potential.


    And it was the same person who had done these things: Tang Jie.


    Using the same Dao Art!


    This was the Dao of Fate in all of its infinite power!


    While it couldn''t kill someone with a single finger, it could achieve earthshaking effects that even Immortal Arts couldn''t match.


    Once this was done, Tang Jie began to prepare for his third wish!


    Like a naughty child, he had no thought of saving anything forter.The third wish was to find the Open Gate Banner.


    Yes, he had never put his hopes on anyone else finding it.


    The Open Gate Banner had been lost for many years and was basically impossible to find. Although Tang Jie had found seven and could perhaps find the eighth, those odds were too low, and Tang Jie wasn''t willing to wait. After all, it had taken him seven hundred years to collect seven, so rather than trying to find it himself, it was better to use the Wish Granting Spell.


    This was probably the least amount of Fate power Tang Jie would ever use on a wish, with the page lighting up almost instantly, so quickly that Tang Jie momentarily questioned his decision. If it was that easy to find, then maybe it was right under his feet? Fortunately, he managed to control himself. Being easy to find had nothing to do with distance. The Dao of Fate cared nothing about distance, only about the possibility of sess.


    If the Open Gate Banner wasn''t around, it didn''t matter how much Dao power he put in, and if it was, only a little would be needed.


    The moment he used the Dao Art, Tang Jie felt like he was being guided in a certain direction.


    Tang Jie followed that guide in his mind.


    The Open Gate Banner ended up being much farther than he had expected, and he flew for ten-some days.


    By this time, Tang Jie was on the southern seas, not a person in sight. The feeling in his mind was still guiding him forward while growing stronger and stronger. Tang Jie knew that he wasn''t far from his target.


    Tang Jie continued to fly forward, and finally, he saw a small ind in the distance. His mental guide told him that the Open Gate Banner was on that ind.


    On the ind was a mountain, and as Tang Jie flew around the mountain, he sensed that the banner was within it, so he used an earth movement spell and plunged into the rock.


    As he descended, his surroundings grew hotter and hotter.


    Several thousand meters down, the area suddenly opened up, and he found himself in a spacious subterranean cavern.


    Amid broiling waves of heat, a river ofva flowed. Around it were strange rocks and fiery red crystals.


    "Magmatite? An Underme River?" Tang Jie''s eyes brightened.


    He hadn''t expected to find such treasure in his search for the Open Gate Banner.


    Magmatite was a kind of Fire Element ore that could be refined into a kind of fire crystal, and it could be used for cultivation, forging, orying down Fire Element formations. An Underme River was less useful, simply an underground river brimming with mes. But while others might not be able to use it, someone proficient in the Dao of Five Elements like Tang Jie could. ?


    The Dao of Five Elements could condense the essence of the Five Elements from the various objects of the world.


    On the surface, he had to consider the rest of the Rosecloud Domain, and the resources were not solely his to take. But underground, Tang Jie didn''t have these concerns. He naturally wasn''t going to refuse this Underme River. He reached out, and the entire river flew into his hand, and as it did, he began to circte his Dao Runes. Through the power of the Fire Dao, the enormous river shrank down until all that was left was a bit of Origin me.


    Not every me could be condensed into an Origin me. An entire mountain of ordinary fire might not be able to create a single spark, but the river had created arge me the size of a phoenix, and it could even transform.


    Satisfied, Tang Jie threw it into the passage to the Mountain River State Diagram. Thus, a red cloud appeared in the Yellow Court World, and a wave of fire descended from the heavens.


    In another world, this rain of fire would spell disaster, but not in the Yellow Court World. Through the Heavenly Dao, the season shifted to fire season. Most creatures retreated, and only the fire creatures emerged.


    As the Origin me descended, it was immediately absorbed by the world, turning into Fire Elemental power that filled all the creatures of the fire season and elicited hoots and cheers.


    Tang Jie then swept up all the Magmatite and sent it into the Yellow Court World as well, showering the world with fiery crystals.


    Magmatite required a lot of effort to break its surface and extract the impurities, even for someone of Tang Jie''s cultivation. Thus, he just tossed it all into the Yellow Court World and directly ordered the Wuxing to do it and then offer the purified crystals to him.


    When the Domain Lord gave an order, the denizens of the domain had no choice but to obey.


    Tang Jie walked along, sweeping up all the Magmatite he saw. With the disappearance of the Underme River and Magmatite, the subterranean space became much cooler.


    As the heat retreated, Tang Jie began to hear a howling wind.


    "Eh?" Surprised, Tang Jie picked up speed and rushed forward.


    That feeling in his mind had reached its maximum, and Tang Jie knew the Open Gate Banner was right in front of him.


    As he flew forward, he finally spotted a bottomless abyss, a thick sinister energy rising from it.


    On the other side of the abyss was a fire brazier, into which the Underme River flowed. Above the brazier hung a banner.


    The Open Gate Banner!


    Tang Jie was delighted at the sight, but then he froze.


    This was clearly a formation, with that fire brazier being the energy core of the formation. The Open Gate governed the source of the formation, which meant its energy supply. The Underme River was clearly the formation''s energy supply, which was how the formation was able to sustain itself all this time. As for the Open Gate Banner, it existed to enhance the effect.


    Tang Jie thought that the Open Gate Banner had been lost in that incident from more than ten thousand years ago, but now, that clearly was not the case. Someone had intentionally ced it here to boost the power of the Open Gate. And judging by the form of the formation, it was probably being used to seal this abyss.


    But this formation wasid out in a very inconspicuous fashion, with no defensive abilities or apparent formation lines. Thus, Tang Jie had not recognized it as a formation at first nce, and as a result, he had taken away the Underme River, which ended up breaking the formation.


    Without a seal, the abyss had begun to exude that sinister energy.


    As he expanded his senses, he found that this sinister energy was thick with the deathly aura of the Nether Domain, and he could also faintly make out the wailing of ghosts.


    Startled, Tang Jie activated his Celestial Eye and found that there was a fissure at the bottom of the abyss.


    The energy of the Nether Domain was leaking from this fissure.


    Tang Jie immediately realized that this was like the Inkcloud Abyss of the Verdant Cloud Domain, a passage to the Nether Domain.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Unlike that one, the entrance here had been sealed by a formation.


    But this was exactly what confused Tang Jie. The seal was extremely crude, so defenseless that Tang Jie had easily broken it without realizing.


    But on the other hand, the formation had to have been quite powerful, primarily because it had existed for ten thousand years. After all, the Eight Gates Banners had gone missing ten thousand years ago. Anything that could seal a Nether Domain passage for ten thousand years couldn''t be weak.


    This was someone who could create a formation that could seal off a Nether Domain passage for ten thousand years, yet they had left itpletely defenseless. Rather than saying that the formationyer was weak, it was more likely that it was intentional.


    Tang Jie could think of only one exnation: the person whoid down the formation had entered the Nether Domain. Since they had gone in, they intended toe back out. To ensure that they didn''t block the way back, they had made the formation extremely easy to break. So long as they could find the entrance, they could get back out. As for the ghosts, they wouldn''t understand how the formation worked and would be unable to break it.


    It was very easy to prove this theory.


    Tang Jie summoned Little Three. "Little Three, go inside and see if there are any cultivator world marks around."


    Since that person wanted toe back, they should have left something to mark the location. While it had been ten thousand years and that mark might not exist, the Nether Domain was different from the ne of the living. No matter how much time passed, very little changed. If there was a mark, so long as it hadn''t been destroyed, there would still be some trace of it.


    Little Three jumped in, and he soon came back. He had found a mark on the other side of the passage, an Everburning Spirit Lamp. If one inserted a bit of Divine Will into themp, one would be able to sense its location no matter how far away it was. A ghost would have no use for thismp, so it was basically trash in the Nether Domain. When Little Three found it, it had been half-buried in the dirt, the ghosts nearby floating past andpletely ignoring it.


    "A clever idea, but s, they didn''te back," Tang Jie sighed.


    The formationyer had carefully considered how they were going to leave, but given that it had been ten thousand years, they were probably deceased.


    Tang Jie had no interest in finding out who they were. He simply sent a sliver of his Divine Will through the passage and left it on themp with the help of Little Three, after which he withdrew.


    This was just in case he ended up in the Nether Domain one day and needed a way out.


    After this was done, Tang Jieid down another formation to seal up the entrance. Like his predecessor, he didn''t install any defenses. However, in terms of sealing power, it was nothing like as impressive.


    Thisparison made Tang Jie realize that the formation mastery he was so proud of wasn''t actually the best, which left him rather depressed.


    Fortunately, he had now collected all of the Eight Gates Banners.


    He now had another Dao armament.

 Chapter 966: Pursuing Development

    With the Open Gate Banner in hand, Tang Jie took out the seven other banners, and the moment all eight were brought together, something was triggered within them.


    The eight banners began to hum in resonance and gave off the radiance of joy and delight, as if they were old friends who were being united at longst.


    Tang Jie released his grip, and the eight banners spiraled up into the air and unfurled themselves, transforming into pirs of light shining with Dao Runes.


    They really were a Dao armament!


    The shing Dao Runes were like butterflies dancing in the air, exuding an enchanting light as they spun around.


    An ancient energy lingered around the banners, making them seem even more majestic and venerable.


    Gazing up at the Eight Gates Banners, Tang Jie could feel the Dao of Formations within them. Yes, the Eight Gates Banners belonged to the Dao of Formations, which was under the Dao of Truth.


    When Tang Jie had entered the Dao of Truth, he had managed toprehend some of the Dao of Formations. But when forming his Dao Art, he had ultimately still chosen the Four-Nine True Word Mantra to merge with it, creating Law Speaking. This was mainly because he hadckedbat Dao Arts at the time.


    Such a treasure of the Formation Dao ending up in his hands had essentially made up for all his past regrets. As he basked in its energy, he slowly began to unravel a few mysteries that had gued him for many years.Wanting to test their power, Tang Jie decided to use the Eight Gates Banners on the formation he had justid down.


    The sealing formation he hadid down was the Shadow Spirit Condensation formation, which absorbed the Yin energy of the Nether Domain as its source of power.


    Because of his master, Xu Muyang, Tang Jie had always followed the path of nature, adapting his formations to their surroundings. Since this ce was rich in Yin energy, he would use it as energy, and this also served to better conceal it. In terms of craftsmanship and creativity, he wasn''t at all inferior to the person who hadid the previous formation.


    But in terms of grandeur, the Underme River had been far more impressive. It was also slightly inferior in terms of power, and the asional ghost would be able to get through.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He noticed the difference the moment he applied the Eight Gates Banners. He found that the banners gave him the ability to control aspects of the formation. For example, he could choose to strengthen the sealing effect or the concealment effect, but he couldn''t strengthen its defense. This was because he had stripped the formation of all defensive ability whenying it down.


    Tang Jie immediately realized that this was the Dao-enhancing function of the Eight Gates Banners. If he chose to boost one certain aspect, this aspect would be raised to the level of a Dao and be unalterable.


    But on the other hand, it only worked on one aspect, not on all aspects.


    Still, this made the Eight Gates Banners extremely powerful. For example, if an extremely strong defensive formation like the Fire Beacon Smoke Net Formation had its defenses enhanced to the Dao level, it would be basically invincible, imprisoning anyone that entered. And if a ughter formation were boosted to the Dao level, every attack made by the formation would be suffused with the ughter Dao. How scary was that?


    Satisfied, Tang Jieughed and called back the Eight Gates Banners.


    He finally had a Dao armament that could hugely boost hisbat power.


    While he had many Dao armaments, none of them boosted hisbat power. The crown was good, but he had given it to Yiyi, and the bell he had given to Xu Miaoran. The Myriad Immortals Cauldron and Eternity Sarcophagus had both been ced in the Yellow Court World to be part of that world''s foundation. This left him with the Imperial Sky Stamp, but this could only boost his cultivation, not hisbat power. The Eight Gates Banners finally filled in this weakness, and made for a terrifyingbination with the Sovereign de and Myriad Yin Yang Furnace.


    Excited, Tang Jie headed back to the Zephyr Mountains.


    The moment he returned to the Freedom Pce, Yun Tian''s voice rang out. "Tang Jie, pay me a visit!"


    Tang Jie didn''t dare to ignore the ancestor''s call, and he headed straight for the back mountain.


    Arriving at the thatched hut, Tang Jie went straight in.


    He sat down in front of Yun Tian and asked, "Ancestor, for what reason have you summoned me?"


    The meditating Yun Tian opened his eyes and smiled. "You did very well. I can sense that the fortunes of the Basking Moon Sect have swelled, its potential bing limitless. We can now go ten thousand years without a single worry. I presume that this is the work of your Fate Dao Art. But what sort of Dao Art is it?" ??


    Tang Jie offered the Wish Granting Book.


    Yun Tian was taken aback. "A Dao armament?"


    But it didn''t feel quite right, as it gave off Tang Jie''s energy signature, indicating that he was the only one who could use it. Of course, a cultivator''s weapon normally had various seals that ensured that they were the only one who could use it.


    The problem was that when Yun Tian held this book, he could feel a strong sense of rejection, even intimidation. If Yun Tian continued to hold it, he felt like he would immediately be cursed by Fate and gued by disaster for the rest of his life. This was not something any seal could aplish. He hastily put the book down.


    "This is your Dao Art?" Yun Tian blurted out in realization.


    Tang Jie nodded and exined how he had fused the Overflowing Heaven Mirror with the Fate Dao to create it, to which Yun Tian clicked his tongue in admiration.


    Tang Jie had always been an unconventional thinker.


    In retrospect, Tang Jie''s truly powerful moves were almost all self-created. Other than the Martial Lord''s legacy, he had developed all his own Dao Arts and Divine Connections, using the techniques of various sects only as a reference.


    This was why Tang Jie had been able to remain so strong. So great were his moves that if he were to take one and write it into a book, it would be on par with the Violet Jade Mantra or the Divine Firmament Sword ssic.


    After expressing his praise, Yun Tian said, "The Basking Moon Sect is truly fortunate to have you. With your Wish Granting Spell and ten thousand years of umtion, the Basking Moon Sect can truly rise to the next level, possessing boundless potential. But for the same reason, Tang Jie, don''t you think the Rosecloud Domain is too small?"


    Tang Jie was startled, and then he understood what Yun Tian meant.


    In terms of area, the Rosecloud Domain was one of the smaller domains of the Chiliocosm, not evenparable to one of the states of Vast Wilderness. And size was not to be underestimated. Only arge world could amodate arge structure. The reason the Rosecloud Domain had only been able to produce a single True Immortal over the eons, other than the Primordial Fog Cmity, was itscking world structure.


    Why had Tang Jie needed to kill so many Earth Immortals and True Lords to fill the Yellow Court World? To boost the structure of his world. Even then, his Yellow Court World was barely able to nurture a single Earth Immortal, and he alone had greatly drained it. It would be ages until it could bring up a second Earth Immortal.


    So the size of a world was important.


    Tang Jie had used the Wish Granting Spell to ensure ten thousand years of prosperity for the Basking Moon Sect, and if all went as expected, ten thousand years of umted resources would be enough to create numerous Earth Immortals. But creating a second True Immortal? Unless Tang Jie once more used the Dao of Fate to gather fortune, it would be extremely difficult.


    Yun Tian had called for him to discuss precisely this issue.


    "The structure of the Rosecloud Domain is too small," Yun Tian said. "What you have done is add another wall around the Rosecloud Domain, protecting this world, defending it. But if the Basking Moon Sect wants to grow stronger, we must not only have the strength to protect ourselves, but also the strength to go on the attack."


    "''The strength to go on the attack''?" Tang Jie froze, and then he whispered, "Ancestor, what do you mean?"


    "Attack and obtain more worlds!" Yun Tian answered.


    As he had suspected!


    Tang Jie was enlightened.


    The path of Immortality was endless, so every step meant a more distant future, a higher ambition. Now that Tang Jie had protected the Basking Moon Sect with his Dao Art, Yun Tian had be even more ambitious. The Basking Moon Sect wanted to grow stronger, and he wanted an opportunity to break into Gold Immortal. This made Yun Tian extremely proactive about finding opportunities to expand.


    More worlds meant more development, both for the sect and the individual!


    Understanding what Yun Tian meant, Tang Jie replied, "That means a cultivator war."


    "War is a necessary part of expansion," Yun Tian answered.


    Tang Jie hesitated. "But there is a longstanding rule among the myriad domains that there is to be no fighting between domains, as this would weaken the overall fighting strength and present an opening that the fiends and demons of the Primordial Fog Domain could take advantage of."


    Yun Tian scoffed. "Those became empty words long ago. If it really held true, then you wouldn''t have had to so carefully hide away the teleportation formation in the Five Origins Estate. They talk about uniting against the Primordial Fog, but when have the cultivators of the positive ne ever trulye together? Moreover, while the Primordial Fog is strong, for the positive ne, it is ultimately no more than a temporary event. This isn''t their world, so no matter how much they gain, they still have to leave in the end. The only difference is how much damage they deal to the positive ne. Meanwhile, the conflicts within the positive are eternal. This is why working together is something that''s only talked about. There are many times when we have to be more on guard against the cultivators of the positive ne than Primordial Fog!"


    Tang Jie had nothing to say, because Yun Tian was right. The fiends and demons of the Primordial Fog, no matter how strong, would eventually retreat, while the fellow cultivators of their ne would continue to take and steal. For this reason, while the cries of unification were constant, war had always existed. Tang Jie knew this, which was why he had been so careful and not given the Vast Wilderness any opportunity.


    Yun Tian said, "Over the eons, the Vast Wilderness Continent has invaded countless worlds around it. How do you think it managed to flourish to that state? Not only that, they joined all those worlds to theirs, taking both resources and territory!"


    "''Joining worlds''?" Tang Jie said in rm. "You''re saying¡­"


    "Correct!" Yun Tian confirmed. "It''s merging two worlds together, turning small worlds into arge world. You really think the Vast Wilderness Continent started off that big?"


    Tang Jie said, "I heard that there were originally only two worlds, the Ster Net and the Primordial Fog. Later on¡­"


    "Later on, the Ster Net shattered, turning into countless worlds scattered across the void, with Vast Wilderness being thergest. Is that what you heard?" Yun Tian grinned. "Nothing more than a conqueror hiding the truth, making up an impressive excuse. The positive ne has existed for more than a million years. We don''t even know what happened ten thousand years ago, so how can we know how the universe began? And the truth is no longer important. What''s important is that the rules are always used to bind those below. In the past, the Rosecloud Domain was ruled by six major sects, and none of them was powerful enough to unite everything, so we could only follow the rule. But times have changed. Since you''ve used your supreme Fate Dao Art to protect this lowly sect, why shouldn''t we use this opportunity to fight for more?"


    Tang Jie slightly frowned. "The Wish Granting Spell will protect the Basking Moon Sect, but a Fate Dao Art is not invincible. If we adjust our course, our fortunes will change with it. Someone else skilled in the Dao of Fate might be able to use Dao against Dao and break my Wish Granting Spell. Moreover, the Vast Wilderness Continent swallowing up other small domains is one thing, but my Rosecloud Domain doing the same is another matter entirely. Just because they can do it doesn''t mean that we can."


    Yun Tian could hear that he was unwilling to fight, and he didn''t try to push the matter. "You were born in Rosecloud, so wherever you go, Rosecloud will be your foundation, your home. You are proficient in the Dao of Fate, so you should know that a person''s fortune is usually strongest in their own home."


    This was true. Unless one was blessed by the heavens, one would always find one''s fortune to be strongest in one''s home, finding it easier to do things there.


    But while this difference was more evident on somebody else, it didn''t matter much to Tang Jie. With his fortune, cultivation, and intelligence, he could turn misfortune to fortune wherever he went.


    Thus, these words didn''t have too much of an effect on him.


    But Yun Tian''s next words almost made him jump to his feet.


    He said, "I''ve heard that your Yellow Court World has hit a bottleneck? I suppose you''ve found that there just aren''t enough resources to continue development, no? But if you were able to merge another world, all your problems would cease to be."


    Tang Jie''s mind trembled.


    He swiftly said, "How do we do it?"

 Chapter 967: Cultivator War

    Developing a world from nothing was immensely difficult.


    Tang Jie was well aware of how much time and effort it had taken to build up the Yellow Court World. In that period of time, most of his resources had been invested into this world.


    Although he was starting to get a return now, like using it to reach Immortal tform, there was no end to the Immortal path. The day after bing a True Immortal, Yun Tian had started thinking about his path to Gold Immortal, and Tang Jie was no different.


    But getting the Yellow Court World to raise a second Earth Immortal was already difficult, let alone a True Immortal.


    And without the help of the Yellow Court World, Tang Jie''s path to bing a True Immortal would be many times more difficult.


    While it was true that the Yellow Court World needed far more resources than a single cultivator, it was much less picky. As a small world, it essentially needed everything. Impurities could be turned into dirt, spiritual objects could be turned into spiritual energy, and even filth could be recycled into useful things. In this aspect, it was much easier to raise the Yellow Court World than himself.


    This was why Yun Tian bringing up merging worlds into the Yellow Court immediately caused Tang Jie to change his attitude.


    This matter was far too important to him.


    Yun Tian was amused by Tang Jie''s shameless reversal. "You''re already a Titan, yet you''re still so profit-minded, not even getting out of bed unless you think it''s worth it."Tang Jie chuckled. "In front of Ancestor, your disciple will be your disciple no matter what cultivation level he reaches, and there is no need to pretend in front of my master."


    Yun Tian bitterly smiled and shook his head. "How much is split to you will depend on your contribution."


    "Protecting the Basking Moon Sect''s prosperity for ten thousand years isn''t enough of a contribution?" Tang Jie acted dumb.


    Yun Tian pretended to be angry, snorting, "That''s repayment for all that the Basking Moon Sect has done for you over the years."


    Tang Jie grumbled, "I thought I had repaid that when I helped you be a True Immortal."


    "Nonsense!" Yun Tian scoffed and red. "Then how should we settle the ounts over how the Basking Moon Sect gathered up all spirit nts older than five hundred years and expended all the thousand-year spirit fields in the Water Moon Paradise for the sake of your advancement?"


    "I brought all of you to the Court of Myriad Domains."


    "And I helped you take the crown and block the Bejeweled Star Lord''s attacks!"


    The two of them argued over the matter of contribution like they were children, which would have certainly stunned any outsider bearing witness to it. Suddenly, they stopped and smiled at each other.


    Yun Tian pointed at Tang Jie and said, "You brat, let me tell you: don''t try and ck off around this old man. The entire domain is at stake in a cultivator war, so we can''t afford any carelessness. Before every battle, we have to be absolutely sure about our chances, or else we''ll bring about disaster. If you want sufficient benefits, you have to make a sufficient contribution."


    "What do I need to do? And what can I get?" Tang Jie simply asked.


    In all of Rosecloud, he was probably the only one who could talk to Yun Tian this way.


    Yun Tian answered, "Merging domains isn''t some game. Making one world devour another requires a special formation called a domain fusion formation. Using this formation as the entrance, one can employ a devouring method to gradually epass the other world. Even then, the process takes hundreds to thousands of years, depending on the world''s size."


    "''A domain fusion formation''¡­" Tang Jie muttered. He knew nothing about this kind of formation.


    "In addition, you need a domain migration formation. Every small world is out there in the endless void of the Chiliocosm. To merge domains, one needs to move domains, and only when the domains are adjacent to each other can there be any devouring. This is also an extremely taxing and difficult process." ????§°?§§??


    "Then Ancestor means¡­"


    "The Rosecloud Domain doesn''t have these two kinds of formations, but the Vast Wilderness Continent does."


    Tang Jie understood. "Ancestor wants me to learn these two kinds of formations."


    Yun Tian nodded. "You are more familiar with the Vast Wilderness Continent, and you are proficient in formations, so nobody is more suited for this mission. Moreover, you will also need to be the one whoys down this formation. This contribution alone will be enough to get you ten percent when we start merging domains."


    "Only ten percent," Tang Jie said in disdain.


    "Ten percent of a world, and you''re still not satisfied? Can all of the resources of your Yellow Court World add up to even ten percent of the Rosecloud Domain''s?" Yun Tian harrumphed.


    Tang Jie was rendered silent. While his Yellow Court World had developed well, it really couldn''t match one tenth of the Rosecloud Domain. Otherwise, it wouldn''t be "panting for breath" after producing only one Earth Immortal. The Rosecloud Domain was still a world that could produce a True Immortal, just with a little difficulty.


    Yun Tian added, "Moreover, this is only the contribution from those two formations. If you want more, you can just do more. With your current strength and cultivation, you could even fight on par with me. If you join the battle, you could get fifteen percent."


    Tang Jie immediately said, "Ancestor, do you mean that you are also only fifteen percent?"


    Yun Tian red. "This old man counts for twenty, the other five Earth Immortals of the major sects put together count for twenty percent, and all the True Lords count for ten percent. The rest can be considered twenty-five percent."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Low-tier cultivators could not be underestimated, for many ants could bite an elephant to death. While theycked strength, they had numbers, and whenbined with special formations and treasures, they could disy considerable power. The six major sects all had formations that could be used by their lower-tier disciples tobine their powers. This was why numbers had always held some relevance in the cultivation world, and why the experts of the various sects needed to treat them well. This was why Yun Tian considered all the cultivators beneath Violet Pce as twenty-five percent, and in a real battle, tens of thousands of cultivatorsbining their powers might be even more powerful than a True Immortal¡ªof course, whether all those people couldbine their powers was a major problem.


    Tang Jie wasn''t happy to hear that Yun Tian was giving himself twenty percent and Tang Jie only fifteen percent, but he didn''t dare to argue. When he thought about how he would also have the ten percent from the formations, which put him at twenty-five percent and above Yun Tian, he decided to drop the matter entirely.


    In truth, merging domains was a wide-ranging matter that couldn''t be simply divided up so easily. At the very least, the twenty-five percent assigned to every cultivator below Violet Pce wasn''t going to be parceled out to each individual.


    Yun Tian was partitioning this way as a way to negotiate with Tang Jie. If they won a cultivator war in the future, everyone else would divide the conquered world between themselves, while Tang Jie could take away an entire quarter straight away.


    And enriching Tang Jie was the same as enriching the Basking Moon Sect¡ªthe Rosecloud Domain belonged to everyone, but what was Tang Jie''s was the Basking Moon Sect''s!


    Yun Tian and Tang Jie both understood this.


    The two of them smiled at each other, thus reaching an agreement.


    "If that''s the case, your disciple will head off to the Vast Wilderness Continent to get those two formations."


    "How do you n to get them?" Yun Tian asked.


    "I"ll find Huang Wuji. His Star Radiant Gate is a country-level sect of the Vast Wilderness Continent, simr to my Basking Moon Sect, so it should have the privilege to know of those formations."


    Yun Tian nodded. "That would be for the best. Come back quickly so that we can prepare for the cultivator war."


    "So quickly? You''ve already chosen the target?" Tang Jie said in surprise.


    A cultivator war was no small matter, but moving a domain would take some time. How would they get started when they had nothing at all?


    Yun Tian replied, "There is one world that we can attack without moving our domain."


    Tang Jie was puzzled at first, but then he cried out in realization, "The Blood River Domain!"


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The Blood River Domain!


    This was the first domain he had ever traveled to.


    Unlike all the other worlds, the Blood River Domain was right next to the Rosecloud Domain.


    It was so close that they could be considered separated by only a wall.


    It was precisely because they were so close that the Lord of the Blood River was able to so easily open up the spatial barrier and infiltrate the Rosecloud Domain. It was precisely because they were so close that Tang Jie was able to use the teleportation formation in the Martial Lord''s hidden realm, which could only prate through a single domain barrier, to travel between the two domains. It was precisely because they were so close that Tang Jie was able to achieve the inter-domain trade at a low cost. And it was precisely because they were so close that Yun Tian had chosen it as the first target.


    They were so close that Yun Tian didn''t even need to move the domain. He just needed to attack and then devour.


    Tang Jie hadn''t expected Yun Tian to turn his attention to the Blood River Domain.


    Now that he thought about it, the inter-domain trade had been running for long enough now, and Xu Miaoran had made enough money. Moreover, the extended trade had begun to lower the profit margins.


    For thest few years, the presence of so many goods from another domain had started to tip off the Blood River Domain side to the existence of a teleportation formation, and they had started to interfere with the tradingpany run by Xian Tao. In these circumstances, Xian Tao decided to withdraw from the trade and the Blood River Domain for the time being. Only when the goods from the two domains were all used up and the profit margins rose would she restart it.


    Now, however, this n would be put on hold, because Yun Tian nned to take the entire Blood River Domain.


    The inter-domain trade meant that the Rosecloud Domain had a very deep understanding of the Blood River Domain. On the Blood River Domain side were five Earth Immortals, which made it weaker than Rosecloud, and with the me Celestial Sovereign subdued, there were only four.


    In other words, the Rosecloud Domain could take down this world without the intervention of Tang Jie or Yun Tian. Of course, they would still each get their share of the spoils. While Yun Tian didn''t care about his part, Tang Jie very much did.


    The thought of attacking the Blood River Domain made Tang Jie recall his acquaintances.


    Na Shan, Hei Yan, Shui Yao, and also Liu Qianyi¡­ The thought of her figure at their parting made Tang Jie''s heart grow a little hotter.


    How were they doing now?


    And what sort of state was the Lord of the Blood River in?


    Yun Tian''s voice resounded in his ear. "You don''t need to go to the Blood River Domain this time. All you need to do is bring back those two formations¡­"


    "Go! Of course I''ll go! There are some old friends that I dearly miss. Moreover, my Flesh Millstone is somewhat unable to keep up with my cultivation, and I don''t want to waste this Divine Connection. If I can get some energy from the Immortals of Blood River, I might be able to turn it into an Immortal Art, make it even stronger!" Tang Jie replied.

 Chapter 968: The White Bone Gate

    By the time Tang Jie returned to the West Bull Divine State, half a year had passed.


    Even though Tang Jie was already an Immortal, the Vast Wilderness Continent was so vast that it took Tang Jie quite some time to get here.


    Fortunately, a cultivator war could easily take hundreds of years. Tang Jie was in no rush and casually took his time with Xu Miaoran.


    When they arrived at the country of Shangyuan, Tang Jie pointed into the distance and said, "Fifty kilometers from here is Cloudfront Mountain. When I was waiting for Reverend Yellow Heaven, I took up residence there for one hundred years. s, while I managed to find Reverend Yellow Heaven, I still haven''t found a way to undo demonification."


    He shook his head and sighed.


    Xu Miaoran soothed him, "There are some things that you can''t force. And Sister Ice Phoenix seems to be doing fine in the Yellow Court World."


    Tang Jie grumbled, "Of course she''s doing fine. I have ten whole Wuxing watching her in rotation for fear that she causes trouble. In these years, she''s attempted to secretly cause trouble for me at least one hundred times. If I weren''t the Domain Lord, I might have actually fallen for it a few times."


    Xu Miaoran covered her mouth and giggled. "Husband, you insisted on bringing this trouble on yourself, so what can you do? In any case, she can''t beat you, so just consider it something to stimte your boredom."


    "The problem is that she''s ying with her life!" Tang Jie angrily said.In causing trouble for Tang Jie, Ice Phoenix had truly run the gamut. Even though she was being closely watched, she always found ways to stir up waves and give a hard time to the Wuxing watching her.


    After countless failed schemes, Ice Phoenix found that she had no way of disturbing Tang Jie too much, so she impulsively decided to do something risky: break through to Violet Pce.


    The usual ten percent chance to seed was only true if one prepared to a certain extent.


    But Ice Phoenix did no preparations whatsoever, ignoring all the plentiful resources avable in the Yellow Court World and simply charging in.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie had always been watching, and when he found out what she was doing, he hastily applied protection to her. This method of breaking through naturally wouldn''t seed, but thanks to Tang Jie''s protection, she managed to survive.


    But Ice Phoenix had found a way to deal with Tang Jie.


    <em>I''m in a good mood today, so what should I do? Break through to Violet Pce!</em>


    <em>I''m in a bad mood today, so what should I do? Break through to Violet Pce!</em>


    Just like that, Ice Phoenix made the charge to Violet Pce whenever she had the time, leaving Tang Jie with his hands full and cursing this woman for her recklessness.


    Ice Phoenix was also rather sharp. Whenever he was about to reach his breaking point and give up on her, she would stop being reckless and be extremely obedient. Once Tang Jie had been properly softened up, she would go back to her suicidal ways.


    Onlyter on, when Ice Phoenix identally seeded, did this form of trouble-making finallye to an end.


    From then on, Ice Phoenix lost a way to use her life to threaten Tang Jie, but she simply started to think of new ways to cause trouble for Tang Jie, which Tang Jie could do nothing about.


    Xu Miaoran and Yiyi watched this all in amusement, but they didn''t do anything.


    They didn''t have any hard feelings against Ice Phoenix. In the end, she was just a poor girl who had once fallen for Tang Jie. If not for Immortal Ji Yao, she might still be happily living her life. Thus, everyone felt a little guilty about her, and if conditions permitted, they let her do as she wished. In any case, while Ice Phoenix was throwing fits, she knew that Tang Jie was someone who could harden his heart at critical moments, so she never tried to cause trouble whenever anything important was at stake. Thus, they had let her be until now.


    The mention of Ice Phoenix had Tang Jie feeling rather helpless.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    After two days of chatting and traveling, Tang Jie finally arrived at the base of the Star Radiant Gate.


    As they approached, Tang Jie saw that the name card of the Star Radiant Gate had been reced by that of the White Bone Gate.


    Tang Jie knew of the White Bone Gate. It was one of the upper sects of Shangyuan, its status second to the Star Radiant Gate.


    When had the base of the Star Radiant Gate be the White Bone Gate''s?


    rmed, Tang Jie knew that something serious had happened to the Star Radiant Gate.


    He exchanged looks with Xu Miaoran and Yiyi and sternly said, "For some reason, the Star Radiant Gate has experienced a major incident. This probably has to do with what happened at the Court of Myriad Domains."


    When Tang Jie had killed two Earth Immortals in the tomb, Huang Wuji had taken part. As the Heaven''s Equal Sect and Ster Net Gate both had means of identifying the culprit, there was a chance that they would know of Huang Wuji. If this was the case, it wouldn''t be strange for the Star Radiant Gate to suffer disaster. But someone of Huang Wuji''s cultivation wasn''t so easy to find, and he also understood the two major sects more. There was no reason for him to have not taken precautions, so how did the Star Radiant Gate still get found out?


    Whatever the case, he needed to go over and take a look.


    Tang Jie didn''t want to expose himself, so he used Thousand Faces to change his appearance into a yellow-faced man. He then waved his hand at Xu Miaoran, turning her into a middle-aged woman, and then made Yiyi appear more ordinary. After that, the three flew toward the White Bone Gate.


    As they approached, several cultivators flew out of the sect''s mountain range. They were all low-level Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators, wearing mourning clothes and giving off a ghostly aura, their faces pale.


    They flew over to Tang Jie, and their leader asked, "Might I ask who you are and why you havee to our White Bone Gate?"


    "''White Bone Gate''?" Tang Jie chuckled. "Isn''t this the base of the Star Radiant Gate? When did it be the White Bone Gate?"


    The disciples of the White Bone Gate scowled. "So you came looking for the Star Radiant Gate."


    Their tone immediately changed.


    Tang Jie politely said, "Yes. This one is Shen Tianyang. I am old friends with Senior Brother Lin Kuhai of the Star Radiant Gate. I came today to visit him, not realizing that this had already be the base of the White Bone Gate."


    A White Bone Gate disciple proudly said, "The Star Radiant Gate was defeated by my White Bone Gate and has already lost its status as a country-level sect. This preciousnd naturally belongs to our White Bone Gate now. As for Lin Kuhai, I haven''t heard of him, so he probably died in the territory battle a hundred years ago."


    Lin Kuhai wasn''t made up by Tang Jie. He was an elder of the Star Radiant Gate, and when Tang Jie was waiting for Reverend Yellow Heaven, he had interacted frequently with the people of the Star Radiant Gate. Lin Kuhai was one of the people he had been on good terms with. But now this Deification cultivator was being mocked as a nobody by a mere Mortal Shedding cultivator.


    Tang Jie didn''t push the issue, simply frowning and saying, "The Star Radiant Gate lost? That Reverend Yellow Heaven was quite strong among Earth Immortals. While the White Bone Gate''s White Bone Divine Lord is also an Earth Immortal, in terms of cultivation, he wouldn''t necessarily be stronger than Reverend Yellow Heaven, no?"


    "Such arrogance! You dare to insult the ancestor!?" the White Bone Gate disciples shouted, summoning their Ghost Guards and having them attack Tang Jie.


    These Ghost Guards were the specialty of the White Bone Gate and were not at all inferior to the one that Tang Jie had made. To be more precise, this was probably the source of the first Ghost Guard art. While the ancestor of the Ghost Raising Sect had imed that he had created it himself, he had initially learned it from this White Bone Gate and then modified it using his own experience. This was why the Ghost Guards of the two sects, despite being created in two different ways, had essentially the same result, though the White Bone Gate''s Ghost Guard could be considered a little stronger.


    But there was a limitation in materials, and the White Bone Gate wasn''t able to get stronger corpses, so these Ghost Guards were actually inferior.


    As the Ghost Guards lunged, Tang Jie sowed a few beans.


    These beans turned into soldiers and charged at the Ghost Guards.


    Now that Tang Jie had be an Immortal, many of his previous tricks were no longer able to meet his needs, with the bean soldiers being one of them. But Tang Jie was thinking of ways to improve the beans and make them stronger. Currently, there was a piece ofnd in the Yellow Court World specifically for nting these beans, and the beans had begun to evolve in this environment and gain some abilities of the Wuxing.


    The five beans he had just sowed belonged to this special type of bean.


    Each bean represented an element, one bean soldier for each color charging into the fray. Bean soldiers were originally used en masse, but now there were only five. Nevertheless, they managed to hold off seven Nine Revolutions¨Clevel Ghost Guards.


    But to this impressive performance, Tang Jie shook his head, still finding them too weak.


    Even if they had numbers and formations, they were individually still too weak to participate in Tang Jie''s battles. They would have to be at least half-step Celestial Heart and enhanced by special formations and treasures to be useful.


    Right now, they could only be used when he was toozy.


    The White Bone Gate disciples realized that they had encountered someone powerful, but since this was their home base, they couldn''t just retreat. After exchanging looks, one of them took out a bone whistle and blew on it.


    As the sound of the whistle reverberated, countless people flew out of the White Bone Gate.


    This time, they were led by several Celestial Heart cultivators, one of them shouting as they approached, "Who dares to intrude upon my White Bone Gate?"


    He sent over a st of corrosive wind.


    Tang Jie was inwardly enraged. Had these people no thought for the lives of others, attacking without even asking what was going on? They had to realize that he was far stronger than them and was merely showing restraint, but they only used that fact to take advantage of him.


    His face darkened, and he grunted, "Yiyi, show them a little of your power."


    Yiyiughed and pointed a finger, which transformed into a vine that swept toward the cultivator who had spoken.


    The Celestial Heart cultivators immediately swung their weapons to cut down this vine, but the vine seemed to easily absorb their hits. In the middle of their shock, the vine curled around them and tightly bound them together, and no matter what those cultivators did, they couldn''t escape.


    At this point, they finally realized just how strong this adversary was. But it seemed like the cultivators of the White Bone Gate had bones for brains, as rather than trying to seek peace, they decided to keep calling for reinforcements. Thus, a third wave of cultivators emerged from the White Bone Gate.


    At this time, a solemn voice rang out. "Who dares to intrude upon the sacred grounds of my sect?"


    A finger emerged from the heavens and stabbed at Yiyi.

 Chapter 969: White Bone Divine Lord

    Objectively, this finger attack was quite impressive. Born from the clouds, apanied by rains, stirring up a howling wind, it was a finger fit to intimidate all the world.


    But in Tang Jie''s eyes, it was like a child y-fighting, and even its aura wasughable.


    This finger had been unleashed by some Violet Pce expert.


    Thus, he didn''t move, acting like it was nothing more than a puff of smoke.


    At the same time, Yiyi flicked a petal.


    A pink petal drifted through the air, yet as it floated before that finger, it was like a mountain, stopping it cold.


    As the finger''s power dwindled, the attacker snorted. "A childish trick!"


    A gray energy burst out of the finger, instantly turning the petal to ash.


    The finger continued forward.Unperturbed, Yiyi pped her hands and giggled. "A good move! Have some more!"


    Several more petals flew out.


    The True Lord continued to thrust his finger, which shed with gray light again and again, but as those petals were obliterated, Yiyi simply sent more.


    To his shock, the True Lord realized that while there was seemingly no end to this little girl''s petals, he was starting to grow tired. But now that he was on the tiger, it was hard to dismount, so he could only press forward and hope this little girl wore out first.


    Yet when Yiyi saw his divine strength, she threw out hundreds of petals andughed, "Great, great! More, more!"


    As she cheered, so many petals appeared that the heavens became a sea of flowers.


    This was Yiyi''s innate spell art, the Silkheaven Net, but as she had grown stronger, this spell art had be an innate Divine Connection.


    There were at least ten thousand petals, gathering together into a floral dragon that had the True Lord shaking in fear. The floral dragon rammed at the finger, which was pulverized on the spot.


    "Arrogant!" another furious roar rang out.


    A white beam of light shot out and struck the floral dragon, so fierce that even Yiyi''s Silkheaven Net couldn''t resist it. At this moment, a slender hand emerged out of nowhere and caught the beam of light, upon which it became apparent that it was actually a white bone, glossy and exuding a supernatural aura.


    "A decent treasure," Xu Miaoran chuckled as she put away the bone.


    This infuriated the attacker in the shadows.


    This was a precious Nine Nether Bone that he had personally refined in the Yellow Springs of the Nether Domain. It was extremely powerful, and he had only determined to use it because that little girl had been so mighty, not expecting it to be taken away by someone else. He almost threw up blood in panic.


    But this finally made him realize that these weren''t people to be trifled with, so he hollered, "Everyone, stop!"


    Tang Jie sneered. "Now you realize that you can''t win, you want to be reasonable?"


    As expected, several people appeared in the distance, their leader wearing a tall hat and sporting a wide belt, his face rather normal. But the people behind him were like hanged corpses, their faces pale and cold¡ªclearly the result of cultivating some Yin art.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The leader brought his hands together in respect and said, "This one is Reverend Heartless, the master of the White Bone Gate. Has our White Bone Gate offended the three of you in some way?"


    From the sound of his voice, he was the one who had thrown the bone. As for his cultivation, he was at Soul Projection, the same as Xu Miaoran and Yiyi, but in actual strength, he was clearly much weaker than them. Otherwise, his bone wouldn''t have been so easily taken by Xu Miaoran. To be honest, Xu Miaoran only appeared weak whenpared to Tang Jie. In reality, with her cultivation, she could fight above her tier and was top-ss among her peers. ?a?????


    Tang Jie took the bone from Xu Miaoran and noticed that it was a Nine Nether Bone. Without raising his head, he said, "Since you want to act reasonable, you should be reasonable. By asking how we were offended by you, aren''t you saying that we were the ones who came looking for trouble, shifting all the me onto us? As for who struck first and who was bullying whom around, you had no thought of considering that. Am I right?"


    The cultivators of the White Bone Gate grimaced.


    Tang Jie finally raised his head, looking at that Reverend Heartless.


    He shook his head and said, "With your strength, as a Soul Projection cultivator, you''re average. Having personally seen Qin Chaoxuan''s abilities, I can say that even the him from several hundred years ago is stronger than the you of the present."


    Qin Chaoxuan was the master of the Star Radiant Gate and Huang Wuji''s disciple.


    Reverend Heartless was startled to hear Qin Chaoxuan''s name and finally realized what was going on. And while he was enraged that he was being called weaker than Qin Chaoxuan, this person was too powerful to offend. After all, the two women were already as strong as him, and that man seemed even stronger than those two purely based on his demeanor.


    Tang Jie said, "Since you are weaker than Qin Chaoxuan, and your disciples don''t seem much better than those of the Star Radiant Gate, there can be only one reason the White Bone Gate could defeat the Star Radiant Gate and be the country-level sect: an ancestor battle. Theoretically, only if your sect''s White Bone Divine Lord was stronger than Reverend Yellow Heaven could you win this battle. So where is your ancestor? I would like to see if this is truly the case."


    This was essentially saying, ''You don''t need to fight me. Only your ancestor has the right to fight me.''


    The cultivators of the White Bone Gate felt their souls leaving their bodies, and they didn''t dare to talk back.


    Reverend Heartless mentallyined, <em>Where did the Star Radiant Gate get such powerful allies?</em> He bowed and said, "The ancestor is in seclusion and is not seeing guests. Please forgive any offense."


    Tang Jie coolly said, "If you don''t want to offend me, have hime out. Just because he''s in seclusion doesn''t mean he can''t be disturbed. I want to know what''s going on with the Star Radiant Gate and just how the White Bone Gate managed to defeat it."


    Everyone inwardly groaned.


    Reverend Heartless awkwardly said, "Our lowly sect''s ancestor cultivated a secret that caused his strength to soar¡­"


    Tang Jie impatiently waved him off. "Don''t even try that bullshit with me. The White Bone Divine Lord definitely didn''t be a True Immortal, or you wouldn''t be talking like this and would have already gotten your ancestor toe out and obliterate me. Since he''s still an Earth Immortal, dealing with Yellow Heaven is no easy task. I''ve seen Huang Wuji''s strength, and even if he''s not among the strongest group of Earth Immortals, he''s not somebody any ancestor from any old sect could defeat."


    The White Bone Gate had gone to great efforts to seize the Star Radiant Gate''s position, but they were still just "any old sect" in Tang Jie''s eyes. s, Tang Jie was stronger, so they could only silently bear the insult.


    Just when they were considering notifying the ancestor, a voice proudly rang out. "You speak with quite the arrogant tone! Let this one see what kind of person wishes to test this one''s power."


    As this voice rang out, four White Boneguards marched out carrying a coffin.


    Each of these White Boneguards were of Violet Pce cultivation, their skeletons flowing with light and their eyes burning with ghostly mes. The coffin was made of rare ten-thousand-year-old Goldwood and covered in intricate patterns which closer inspection would reveal to be profound Dao Runes. A white creature had been carved onto the coffin lid, its upper half a crowned skeleton and its lower half simply a cloud. While others might take it for a mere carving, Tang Jie knew from Little Three that this was a rare existence of the Nether Domain.


    A Void Ghost!


    As the golden coffin was carried out, all of the White Bone Gate cultivators dropped to their knees. "We pay respects to the ancestor!"


    With a creak, the coffin lid was raised, and a man sat up. His flesh had entirely withered away, leaving him skeletal. This was the White Bone Divine Lord.


    But a momentter, his face shed red, and then blood began to pulse through his skin, gradually restoring color to his face.


    That withered skeleton transformed into an elegant schr, though his eyes still had an eerie red glow. He gazed at Tang Jie and said, "You are Huang Wuji''s friend? Did youe here for the sake of the Star Radiant Gate?"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "I truly am Huang Wuji''s friend, but I haven''te out to fight for their sect. The Vast Wilderness Continent is thend of the strong, and the customs of ten thousand years won''t change just because of me, and there is no need to change them. Thus, if your honorable sect was able to rely on your own strength to defeat the Star Radiant Gate, I have no reason toe forward."


    "So long as you understand," the White Bone Divine Lord grunted.


    "But the White Bone Gate has to prove that it''s stronger than the Star Radiant Gate first," Tang Jie added.


    The White Bone Divine Lord furiously said, "My sect has already upied the base of the Star Radiant Gate and begun to receive the tribute of Shangyuan, bing a country-level sect. Is this not proof enough?"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "At least right now, it''s not enough."


    The White Bone Divine Lord angrilyughed. "You are nothing more than an early-phase Earth Immortal. Based on your cultivation, it hasn''t been ten years since you''ve be an Earth Immortal, yet you dare to act so audaciously!?"


    The White Bone Divine Lord had sharp eyes, able to swiftly determine Tang Jie''s cultivation level and even that his foundations were still not stabilized. This was why his caution had turned to disdain.


    No matter what, he didn''t believe that a new Earth Immortal like Tang Jie could be stronger than someone like him, who had been an Earth Immortal for several thousand years.


    Tang Jie casually replied, "But you still have to prove yourself."


    "You''re not worthy!" the White Bone Divine Lord roared, summoning a chilling wind to assail Tang Jie.


    "That''s what I''m talking about," Tang Jie chuckled.


    The one thing he was afraid of was his opponent not attacking. After all, how was he going to test him if there was no attack?


    This chilling wind seemed much weaker than the finger attack from before, but Tang Jie could tell that there was a corrosive power suffused in this wind that made it akin to the Domain Astral Winds. A crimson cloud immediately emerged around him: the Flesh Millstone!


    His opponent had used a Divine Connection, so he would respond with a Divine Connection.


    Tang Jie was going to use traditional cultivator methods against his opponent so that he could see what difference there was between him and a veteran Earth Immortal.


    He was testing both his opponent and himself.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 970: Shameless

    The Flesh Millstone''s power had grown along with Tang Jie''s cultivation.


    It was a churning cloud of blood, seemingly light yet actually as heavy as a mountain.


    It instantly sucked up the White Bone Divine Lord''s chilling wind and neutralized it.


    Unperturbed, the White Bone Divine Lord spat out another ball of cold energy. This one was countless times more dense, and Tang Jie''s Flesh Millstone was unable to grind it down.


    As this st of chilling wind approached, it exuded a powerful cold wave that froze the surrounding area, even though the White Bone Divine Lord was concentrating all of its power on Tang Jie so as to not drag in other people.


    Unable to endure this, the White Bone Gate cultivators retreated, the True Lords of the sect even activating a formation to protect thend below. Otherwise, no matter how careful two Earth Immortals were, when they exchanged blows, the aftershocks had a chance of destroying the area. And if they fought without restraint, there was no hope of protecting the area.


    As this wind assailed him, Tang Jie felt the blood in his veins freezing.


    The White Bone Divine Lord sneered, "This is the Freezing Yin Energy I gathered from the Yellow Springs of the Nine Nethers. What do you think?"


    "Not bad," Tang Jie casually replied. The Flesh Millstone continued to churn, slowly grinding away at the chilling wind.But while the Flesh Millstone had grown stronger, it was ultimately still a Divine Connection he had created in his early years, which would be inferior to anything he created now, so it was ultimately weaker than this Freezing Yin Energy. Moreover, the White Bone Divine Lord had been an Earth Immortal for many years and had a much greater cultivation than Tang Jie. Thus, in the sh of two energies, the Flesh Millstone needed to turn six times to finally grind away the wind.


    The White Bone Divine Lord smuglyughed. "You talk big, but you''re really nothing much."


    Tang Jie didn''t mind. In terms of Divine Connections, he was naturally inferior to a veteran Earth Immortal like the White Bone Divine Lord.


    Tang Jie was stronger than others because of his peerless physical body and his numerous Dao Arts.


    Right now, Tang Jie was using neither of them, which brought him down to the level of an ordinary cultivator.


    This left him without many advantages.


    But even without advantages, he still had something.


    He had three times the normal amount of Immortal energy.


    In the Heaven¨CMan Union phase, Tang Jie had used his own Yellow Court World as the foundation, so his zone had covered an area three timesrger than normal.


    This meant that he started off with a stronger cultivation than other Immortals.


    This was also why he was able to fight with the White Bone Divine Lord.


    He was testing his ordinarybat power, without his Dao Arts and physical body.


    The properbat power of an Earth Immortal.


    For this reason, Tang Jie had not used a single Dao Art. In his eyes, the White Bone Divine Lord was nothing more than his training dummy.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Even though the White Bone Divine Lord was pushing him hard, Tang Jie refused to use his lethal moves, continuing to use the Flesh Millstone. With three times the usual Immortal energy, he was able to wear down the White Bone Divine Lord''s offensive.


    But his opponent simply grunted, "A junior that doesn''t know how high the heavens or how thick the earth is."


    He pped the coffin, and then countless white skeletons appeared in the sky, piling high into a mountain of bones. The coffin flew up to the peak of this mountain, and the White Bone Divine Lord pointed down at Tang Jie. "Now that you''re in my Bone Realm, hurry up and submit. Considering that you''re an Earth Immortal, I can spare you and ept you into my White Bone Gate. Not only that, I can even transmit to you the supreme Divine Connections of my White Bone Gate."


    At Earth Immortal, one could form a realm.


    This meant influencing the surrounding area with one''s power, making it more favorable for oneself.


    This was essentially the same as a Dao Realm. The difference was that the Dao Realm altered the world''sws while an art realm simply relied on one''s strength to forcibly convert the area.


    The White Bone Divine Lord''s Bone Realm was an art realm, as was Flowing Wind''s Ethereal Rain and the me Celestial Sovereign''s sea of mes.


    For Tang Jie, who had been able to wipe the floor with Earth Immortals while at Violet Pce, this Bone Realm wasn''t stronger than the realms he had seen in the past, but it was rather novel. Thus, he privately praised it and began to study this art realm.


    The White Bone Divine Lord was unaware that Tang Jie was free enough to use this opportunity to grow stronger, taking his attitude as one of fear instead. Heughed and said, "Forest of Bones Formation, Rise!"


    Countless bones flew out of the mountain and shot toward Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie raised an eyebrow, and countless des appeared, suffused with fire and ice as they hurtled toward the bone arrows.


    As expected, Tang Jie''s Nine Heavens Cmity des were unable to stop these thousands of bone arrows, which sted through the des and covered the sky in white bones.


    In the distance, the White Bone Gate cultivators cheered, "Our ancestor is mighty!"


    They were beside themselves with excitement.


    Tang Jie truly was having a rather tough time.


    He had to admit that these veteran Earth Immortals were veterans for a reason. Even with three times the Immortal energy, without the appropriate moves, he was still no match for his foe. Moreover, the White Bone Divine Lord had cultivated for many years, so his Immortal energy reserves were essentially on par with him. Three times referred only to the base value, if Tang Jie were facing another cultivator who had just be an Earth Immortal. Meanwhile, there was no gap to speak of against someone like the White Bone Divine Lord.


    This was why, as the battle wore on, Tang Jie''s excess Immortal energy failed to make itself apparent.


    Even so, Tang Jie held on, and within the Bone Realm, the White Bone Divine Lord used all kinds of ghost cultivator Divine Connections.


    The Ghost Dao had always been known for being fierce and sinister, and it was very strong in the early stages. However, after Immortal tform, where everyone became much harder to kill, the instant-kill techniques of the Ghost Dao became rather weak. This made it so that ghost cultivators were on the weaker side when it came to Immortals.


    The White Bone Divine Lord had always been resentful about this, and it was only today when he had run into Tang Jie that he could go all out, use anything he wanted to use.


    Heart-Piercing Bone Needles, Freezing Yin Energy, Bone-Melting ckwater, Soul-Severing Ice Devil, and so on¡ªhe was truly able to attack to his heart''s content.


    This newborn Earth Immortal didn''t have any other kind of ability, but he did have ample Immortal energy, able tost until now. The White Bone Divine Lord initially wanted to recruit him, but now, he felt like this person had too much potential and instead decided to kill him. Thus, he stopped talking and unleashed all of his power.


    As the battle grew more exciting, he stood up out of the coffin, revealing that his legs were nothing but bones, like he was a skeleton wearing a human suit. Any ordinary person would have been scared to death by this half-human, half-ghost appearance.


    When the cultivators of his sect saw him stand, they cheered, "Our mighty ancestor possesses boundless divine might, his powers reaching even into the Nether Domain!"


    The Vast Wilderness Continent was already ruled by the two major sects, so these disciples didn''t dare to boast about dominating Vast Wilderness, so instead they crowed that their ancestor''s power reached all the way to the Nether Domain. After all, it wasn''t like the Titans of the Nether Domain were going to run over and object.


    Even more excited, the White Bone Divine Lord attacked with greater gusto, the skies lighting up with the power of his abilities.


    In the future, they would say that an Immortal tform Titan came to cause trouble at their White Bone Gate but was easily defeated by the Divine Lord.


    Tang Jie endured another round, but after seeing that the White Bone Divine Lord hadn''t used anything new, he asked, "Sir, might I ask whether you have any other moves?"


    The White Bone Divine Lord was taken aback. "Why do you ask that?"


    Taking this as a non-answer, Tang Jie shook his head and said, "I said before that I wanted to see if you had the strength to defeat Huang Wuji. Based on the battle just now, while Divine Lord isn''t weak, you''re still somewhat weaker than Huang Wuji. I don''t believe you could defeat him."


    The White Bone Divine Lord hadn''t expected this reply, angrily roaring, "Arrogant! Still daring to say such things right as you''re about to die!"


    A giant hand of bone swung at Tang Jie''s head.


    He was using 100% of his strength, seeking to kill Tang Jie in a single blow, so greatly had Tang Jie infuriated him.


    Tang Jie sighed. "It seems that that really is all."


    He hadn''t used any ultimate move after being so angered, so he truly wasn''t hiding anything else.


    Tang Jie had by now confirmed the strength of both parties. He understood that he was still weaker than a veteran Earth Immortal in terms of ordinarybat power, and he couldn''t be bothered to continue the testing, pping at the bone hand.


    In the earlier battle, Tang Jie had needed three or five attacks to deal with one of the White Bone Divine Lord''s attacks, but now, Tang Jie didn''t even bother to use a spell art, relying on just his physical body. The White Bone Divine Lord judged this to be suicidal.


    But as the hands shed, Tang Jie''s hand didn''t explode into dust. Instead, the bone hand froze for a moment, and then countless cracks spread across it, making it seem like it would shatter at any moment.


    Although it was a hand created by a spell art and its shattering would be no big loss, the White Bone Divine Lord was dumbfounded.


    How could this kid''s physical hand break down one of his Divine Connections?


    The cheering disciples stopped yelling in unison, as if someone had grabbed them by the neck.


    A clever disciple suddenly shouted, "A desperate strike made with thest of his strength, but it''s not enough to turn the tables! The ancestor will win!"


    Cheers of "The ancestor will win!" rose up to the heavens.


    Tang Jie produced an item in his hand.


    It was a sword.


    The Sovereign de.


    He swung the Sovereign de, and the Bone Realm popped like a bubble.


    The mountain of bones dissolved into the wind.


    The Bone Realm that had dominated the heavens had been obliterated with the light swing of a sword, once more stunning the spectators.


    The White Bone Divine Lord was also stupefied.


    He was unwilling and unable to believe that his Bone Realm had been so easily broken.


    Staring at Tang Jie, he suddenly shouted:


    "You¡­ you¡­ you actually used a weapon! Shameless!"

 Chapter 971: Advancing Another Step

    The howlings carried the White Bone Divine Lord''s voice across thend, stunning everyone into silence.


    Standing in his coffin, the White Bone Divine Lord angrily red at Tang Jie, the only thought in his mind being that Tang Jie was shameless. If he hadn''t used a weapon, how could he have possibly broken his Bone Realm?


    However, he had a Dao armament of his own.


    This golden coffin, which he had soaked in Yin energy and painted with spiritual blood, and which he had gone to great lengths to catch a Void Ghost for, was a Dao armament. Although it was an artificial Dao armament, it was a Ghost Dao treasure of immense power. It was just that using it ced a severe burden on him. His two legs were the result of thest time he had used it, and he was still recovering.


    But it was worth it if he could get rid of this brat.


    Thinking this, he pped the coffin lid.


    The Void Ghost on the lid seemed toe to life, sucking at the air.


    When other people cast arts, they exhaled, and they expelled clouds, mes, or waters of various colors.


    But the Void Ghost inhaled, and while there was no momentous shift in the world, Tang Jie suddenly felt like his life was in grave danger.Tang Jie felt like the Void Ghost was making something within his body churn and transform.


    Little Three''s voice arose from Tang Jie''s body. "Father, watch out! This Void Ghost is a master at seizing vitality and converting life to death. If it can sessfully perform the conversion, you''ll be converted into a ghost attendant under his control. But considering the power of this coffin, it should only be able to convert Violet Pce cultivators, not Immortals. This was probably how this old man got those four Violet Pce ghost attendants. As this treasure can control ghosts, I can''t do anything about it."


    "So that''s what''s going on." Tang Jie understood.


    This treasure bore some simrities to the deceased Origin Defender''s jungle chess board. It was just that while the chess board could only summon and had no offensive powers, the Void Ghost Coffin was a lethal weapon in its own right, with the creation of ghost attendants merely being a bonus.


    As the Void Ghost inhaled, Tang Jie''s immense vitality began to convert into death energy, and his face began to gain a greenplexion. This was a sign that his nature was being turned into that of a ghost.


    The cultivators below cheered at this sight.


    Tang Jie wanted to resist, but he found that the Void Ghost had paralyzed him.


    Little Three frantically said, "The Great Dao is restraining you! You can''t escape unless you use a Dao Art of your own."


    "Understood." Tang Jie used Nearby Horizon, which interrupted the Void Ghost''s inhaling. But the moment he reappeared, the inhaling restarted, and Tang Jie''s nature resumed its transformation.


    "Shit, you can even resume the upload?" Tang Jieined.


    Little Three didn''t understand what he was saying, anxiously warning, "Father, don''t be careless! This Void Ghost is being empowered by the Dao Runes, so there''s no way to avoid it. Only the Daos of Life or Reincarnation can fight back. Unfortunately, Reincarnation isn''t Father''s strength, and you chose life creation in the Dao of Life, which is of limited help here. You have also yet to achieve the Great Dao Body, so you can''t resist the conversion of the Great Dao, so it''s best if you hide away for now."


    His advice was for Tang Jie to use Nearby Horizon to create some distance. While the Void Ghost Coffin was powerful, it didn''t have an infinite range.


    Tang Jie pursed his lips. "Wouldn''t that mean that I had to run after not being able to beat him? I would lose face."


    Little Three was stunned. <em>You were fine with running when you couldn''t beat somebody before, and you never talked about face before. Why do you suddenly care about losing face?</em>N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Tang Jie paid no attention. In the end, the real reason was that he was looking down on his opponent.


    A man could yield to the strong, but it was very hard to bow to the weak.


    The White Bone Divine Lord was a weakling in his eyes, and when facing this sort of person, even the most materialistic person would want some face. Or perhaps one could say that maintaining one''s face in front of this sort of person was for one''s own good.


    As the Void Ghost Coffin changed Tang Jie''s nature, his face began to turn green and ghastly.


    Tang Jie tried a few more things, but he found that they didn''t work.


    The Infinite Pce could only block tangible attacks and was useless against this kind. The Reflections of Floating Life couldn''t deceive this sort of automatic lock-on. Law Speaking worked against people, but it had no effect on this Dao armament ghost. He had also tried the Realm of Insight, but the Great Daos were thews of the world, and they possessed no weakness to speak of. The weakness only existed in the user, but the White Bone Divine Lord was in the coffin, which protected him and made his weaknesses hard to target. ughter and Destruction could be used, but that would probably destroy the coffin.


    Tang Jie was looking down on his opponent, so he was thinking about the problem in a way which would maximize his gain, so he momentarilycked good choices.


    After some thought, given that he didn''t have time, he used Split-Second Youth.


    He used it on himself, slowing down his flow of time.


    The rate at which the Void Ghost Coffin converted his life force instantly slowed down.


    Tang Jie said, "Since it converts life to death, it should belong to the Yin Yang Dao. Let''s see what secrets this Void Ghost Coffin has."


    He activated his Celestial Eye.


    But rather than weaknesses, he sought out the operating principles of the coffin.


    The mystical Dao Runes of the coffin were revealed under the Celestial Eye, their profundity enough to dazzle anyone. Even someone as proficient in the Daos as Tang Jie suffered a huge shock to his mind, a thousand times more intense than when he had viewed Dao Runes in the past. Thankfully, his soul had already been deified, so he was able to endure it all. As those Dao Runes shifted before his eyes, he was able to perceive the countless truths regarding the conversion of Life and Death from them.


    In just a few moments, his understanding of the Dao of Yin Yang soared.


    But in this time, his body began to stiffen, his face bing like that of a thousand-year-old zombie. An Immortal tform cultivator like him, even if he devolved to Violet Pce after conversion, would still possess immense energy. At that moment, the cultivators of the White Bone Gate felt like they were witnessing the birth of a supreme ghost and cheered.


    Even Yiyi paled. "Big Brother is going to be okay, right?"


    Xu Miaoran remainedposed. "He''ll be fine. He''s just using this opportunity toprehend the Great Dao and advance another level."


    "But Big Brother seems to be in danger," Yiyi replied.


    Xu Miaoran answered, "Don''t panic. The more in peril his life is, the deeper heprehends the Dao. My husband is letting the Dao infiltrate him so that he can experience it to its greatest extent, and his Dao of Yin Yang is bound to benefit greatly from it. If his luck is good, he might even reach the Dao-Controlling level."


    "''Dao-Controlling''?" A hint of admiration appeared on Yiyi''s face. This was a legendary and supreme level. Was Tang Jie really going to reach it?


    Tang Jie''s body was still transforming, hisplexion bing more zombie-like and two fangs sprouting from his mouth.


    If one focused on Tang Jie now, they would find that his body was rigid and devoid of life force, essentiallypletely converted. While his shell of a body had yet to fall away, his strength had already fallen from Immortal tform to Violet Pce.


    The White Bone Divine Lord smuglyughed. "The cycle of Life and Death, the conversion of Yang to Yin! Anyone who tries to mess with my Void Ghost Coffin will be my ghost servant! Obey me!"


    Normally, Tang Jie should have flown over and prostrated to him, ready to obey his orders.


    But Tang Jie didn''t move.


    He simply stood there in silence as if he was really dead.


    Finding this strange, the White Bone Divine Lord grumbled, "Is there still a sliver of obsession clinging on? I''ll put it out right now!"


    He opened his hand and pulled Tang Jie toward him.


    But Tang Jie still didn''t move, resisting his pull and standing there like a wooden dummy.


    The White Bone Gate cultivators who had been cheering on their ancestor were silenced by this sight, trying to digest what they were seeing.


    The White Bone Divine Lord also realized that something was wrong. Finally, he decided to give up on this ghost servant and swatted at Tang Jie, seeking to obliterate him.


    Just when his hand was about to reach Tang Jie, a bony hand rose up and caught it by the wrist.


    Tang Jie''s head rose, gazing at the White Bone Divine Lord with his lifeless eyes and croaking, "Is that how it was? I understand now."


    As that icy voice spoke, a light gleamed in his eyes, and then it engulfed his entire body like a spark igniting a wildfire. Tang Jie''s withered and dead body once more regained vitality, even greater and more intense than before.


    "This¡­ this is impossible!" the White Bone Divine Lord shrieked.


    He had never seen anyonee back from being converted by the Void Ghost Coffin.


    But there was no denying what he was seeing right before his own eyes.


    The zing me of vitality melted away the death energy within Tang Jie and converted it back into life force. It was like a rebelling army, pushing back the way they hade and reconquering lost territory, subduing all the death energy within Tang Jie''s body. In the blink of an eye, Tang Jie hadpleted the reversal and gone from death to life.


    Not only that, after regaining his vitality, Tang Jie turned to the coffin and inhaled.


    It was exactly the same thing the Void Ghost had done.


    But the moment he did this, the Void Ghost on the coffin lid began to scream in terror, and a white light appeared on the coffin.


    Yang energy!


    This energy that represented life spread across the Void Ghost Coffin, melting away the Yin energy, and no matter how much the Void Ghost screamed, it couldn''t stop this conversion.


    The White Bone Divine Lord cried out in shock, "NO!"


    But his cries couldn''t stop reality, and no matter what spell art or Divine Connection he used, he couldn''t stop the Void Ghost from dissolving. The coffin itself began to rumble, the Dao Runes gradually breaking free of the coffin and flying toward Tang Jie. Like moths to the me, they vanished into Tang Jie''s body, and the moment they disappeared, they seemed to trill in excitement.


    Soon, all of the Dao Runes had disappeared into Tang Jie''s body, leaving only that Daoless golden coffin, a Dao armament turned into a divine treasure. And because the Void Ghost was dead, it fell from a divine treasure to an art relic.


    The White Bone Divine Lord stared in wide-eyed shock, and then he finally realized something. "Dao-Controlling¡­ Dao-Controlling¡­ You can control the Dao!"


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 972: Searching for the Star Radiant Gate

    The White Bone Divine Lord''s words were like a drop of water falling into hot oil, setting off an explosion in the minds of the spectators.


    What did controlling a Dao mean?


    For many cultivators,prehending a Dao was already difficult enough, let alone controlling a Dao.


    This man before them was actually a Dao-Controlling Immortal! Who could possibly afford to offend a man like this? Who could even defeat him?


    For a moment, silence reigned over the world.


    Tang Jie slightly raised his head, and then he shook it and replied, "No, I haven''t reached that level yet."


    The White Bone Divine Lord''s face was ashen as he said, "If you can''t control the Dao, how did you so easily destroy a Dao armament?"


    Tang Jie replied, "Is being able to destroy a Dao armament the standard for controlling a Dao? I don''t think so. Daos are the rules of the world, and proficiency is divided into the stages ofprehension, entering, and controlling. Toprehend is to understand its principles, to enter is to upy its position, and to control is to exercise its authority! Thus, the true Dao Controller can use the Dao freely and no longer have to rely solely on Dao Arts. While I was able to take away the Dao Runes just now, I wasn''t able to break through the level of Dao Arts. Thus, I have yet to use the Dao freely, so I cannot be called a Dao Controller. But I''ve gained a feeling for it, and while I''m not close, I''m also not far. So I have to thank you. If not for your Void Ghost Coffin, I wouldn''t have been able to advance so quickly in the Dao of Yin Yang."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "In the past, I thought that you had to be at Immortal tform to use Dao armaments, but now I realize that I was terribly wrong. Immortal tform is only sufficient to use Dao armaments normally, but if you''re not proficient in the Dao of the Dao armament, you still can''t utilize its full might. This is why I was able to take away the Dao Runes on the Void Ghost Coffin. If you had understood the Dao of Yin Yang a little more, I would have failed. It seems that if I want to advance more, I need to find more opponents like you."The White Bone Divine Lord was humiliated and furious. "You¡­"


    Tang Jie waved his hand. "Alright, I told you everything you want to know, so now you can tell me what''s going on with the Star Radiant Gate, right? If you''re good, I can forgive you for wanting to kill me earlier."


    In Tang Jie''s eyes, the White Bone Gate wasn''t a match for him, so there was no need to regard them as his enemy.


    Helpless, the White Bone Divine Lord lowered his head and said, "This old man truly did defeat that Reverend Yellow Heaven, but he had been heavily injured before our battle."


    "Oh?" Tang Jie''s eyes shed. "What sort of injury would be hard for even an Immortal to recover from? Moreover, if he was injured, it would have definitely been kept a secret, so how did you find out? Even if you did know, what gave you the courage to strike? Were you not afraid that he would recover and strike back? Someone must have been working from the shadows, no?"


    Stunned, the White Bone Divine Lord bowed and said, "The Divine One is truly wise! There truly was someone who struck from the shadows, but as to who it was, this old man is not sure. However, I have heard that the Heaven''s Equal Sect was involved."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "''The Heaven''s Equal Sect''?" Tang Jie''s eyes widened.


    So they really were connected to all this?


    But if they had intervened, why hadn''t they simply destroyed the Star Radiant Gate? Why had the Star Radiant Gate only been driven out by the White Bone Gate?


    Tang Jie didn''t understand, and it seemed like the White Bone Divine Lord had just been a tool and didn''t understand either, so there was no point in asking him. Thus, Tang Jie said, "Then do you know where the Star Radiant Gate is now?"


    "I heard they went to the Small Trunk Mountains, but I don''t know their exact location."


    Tang Jie nodded. "Very good. Out of consideration for your honesty, if you do one more thing for me, then I''ll forgive all of you for attacking me."


    "Divine One, please speak."


    Tang Jie replied, "Open your books to me and let me read them."


    "What?" The White Bone Divine Lord was stunned.


    A sect''s books represented all that it had umted over the years, all of its secrets. If those secrets were publicized, a sect would no longer have any secret or special arts, which was only slightly better than being obliterated.


    Opening a sect''s books was essentially handing over one''s fatal weakness. From then on, one would be controlled by that person.


    Tang Jie really only wanted the two formations. The White Bone Gate was only one tier lower than the Star Radiant Gate, and as a ten-thousand-year-old sect, it should theoretically possess this category of knowledge. But he didn''t want to let them know what he wanted. After all, if the White Bone Divine Lord knew he wanted those two formations, he would also realize that he nned to fight a cultivator war. Although everyone was aiming for such a thing, it wasn''t appropriate to publicly announce it. Moreover, he didn''t want to miss out on a free opportunity at extortion.


    Those books didn''t necessarily contain some powerful divine arts, but he could use it to expand his knowledge and broaden his thinking, adding to his foundations.


    Tang Jie was able to create so many of his own Divine Connections and Dao Arts because of this good habit of his.


    Thus, Tang Jie coolly said, "Rx. I don''t n to threaten you into doing anything. After this, I will fly off, and I probably won''t see your White Bone Gate ever gain. I also won''t pass on the White Bone Gate''s arts to anyone¡­ hmph, it''s not like there''s anything good to pass on. I just want to trace the arts of the Ghost Dao back to the Great Dao it originated from. The spell arts and Divine Connections I develop from that Great Dao will be thousands of times more powerful than your paltry arts, so you really have nothing to worry about. All I seek is to understand the thought processes behind them."


    Tang Jie was telling the truth. He wanted the knowledge and mindset. With a proper foundation, he could create his own spell arts that wouldn''t be inferior in the slightest.


    The White Bone Divine Lord knew that refusal wasn''t an option and could only agree.


    The White Bone Gate disciples were indignant over their ancestor''s defeat. But this was how battles of the upper echelons were. Since their ancestor had lost, unless they were all of one mind to resist until the end, they could only quietly ept their fate. Worst of all was that even if they all worked together, they couldn''t defeat Tang Jie.


    The gap was just too big.


    An Immortal who could nearly control a Dao fighting those who hadn''t even entered a Dao? It was child''s y.


    Tang Jie proceeded to take up residence in the White Bone Gate, enjoying the best treatment and studying its secret texts every day. The White Bone Gate had existed for thousands of years, and it had enough books to pack a building. Even though Tang Jie had entered the Dao of Wisdom and was able to read through multiple books at once as fast as he could flip their pages, even using Reflections of Floating Life to create more of himself, he needed quite a few days to read through them all.


    Several dayster, after Tang Jie had read through all the books, he filtered through all the chaff and summed it all up into a single text, the White Bone Treatise. Like the ck Yellow Treatise of the Basking Moon Sect, it was a foundational mantra. While the book contained many spell arts and Divine Connections, the most important part about it was an Immortal''s experience and understanding of the Great Daos. Using it as the foundation would make it easier for one toprehend Great Daos.


    From this aspect, Tang Jie was actually doing something the Martial Lord had done: transmitting the Dao as an art.


    But inparison to the Martial Lord, he could only transmit the mindset, which was far inferior.


    The more Tang Jie tried to imitate the Martial Lord, the more powerful and terrifying the Martial Lord seemed to be.


    He really couldn''t understand how the Martial Lord, who had fought against the world with pure strength, had managed to do all this.


    Putting that matter to the side, afterpleting the White Bone Treatise, Tang Jie departed the White Bone Gate, at which the White Bone Gate sighed in relief, as if they had sent off a gue god.


    After leaving the White Bone Gate, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran headed toward the Small Trunk Mountains. Though he had already obtained information on the two major formations from the White Bone Gate, he still wanted to seek out the Star Radiant Gate. While he wasn''t sure if their misfortune had anything to do with him, this was exactly why he needed to go and confirm it. If it really was his fault, he needed to providepensation.


    Several dayster, Tang Jie finally reached the Small Trunk Mountains, but after asking around, he found no information regarding the Star Radiant Gate.


    This left Tang Jie with somewhat of a headache.


    The White Bone Gate only knew that the Star Radiant Gate had retreated in the direction of the Small Trunk Mountains, but not if they had decided to take up residence there or continued retreating even farther south, or perhaps even begun to move in a different direction. Perhaps the threat of the Heaven''s Equal Sect had even made them change their name.


    In truth, Tang Jie did have his ways of finding them, the Wish Granting Spell being the best.


    But he was rather unwilling to waste one of his nine chances on finding the Star Radiant Gate.


    Xu Miaoran could tell what he was thinking and said, "Husband, over the years, you have always bravely advanced on the Immortal path, expending all your resources in the pursuit of advancement, scheming and plotting in various ways, and there is nothing wrong with that. But as time has passed, you''ve focused too much on calction and lost the impressive and grand bearing a cultivator ought to have. Your worries today are an example. When you sought out the Open Gate Banner, you didn''t hesitate in the slightest to use the Wish Granting Book. While the Open Gate Banner was linked to a Dao armament, can a single Dao armament reallypare to the entire Star Radiant Gate? In the end, the real reason is that the Dao armament is yours while the Star Radiant Gate isn''t. But doing this treats friends as weights on the bnce, which is rather unsightly."


    Tang Jie''s mind was given a jolt, and he deeply bowed to Xu Miaoran. "It was my mistake. Fortunately, you were there to point it out. I''ll use the Wish Granting Book right now."


    Xu Miaoran chuckled. "No need to be so hasty. Let''s look around for a few more days and then use it. We should still try to save it if we can."


    "Yes!" For the first time ever, Tang Jie was obeying Xu Miaoran''smands.


    After searching for half a month and confirming that the Star Radiant Gate wasn''t in the Small Trunk Mountains, Tang Jie used the Wish Granting Book.


    Immediately after using it, Tang Jie knew what direction the Star Radiant Gate was in and flew in that direction.


    He ended up flying for several months, almost back to the center of the continent. It was on a straight line with the Five Origins Estate, and if he kept on flying, he would end up at the Demon Abyss.


    The feeling was very clear now, indicating that the Star Radiant Gate was in the vicinity.


    This was the Violet Lightning Divine State, which neighbored the Gray Heron Divine State where the Five Origins Estate was located. It would take around a month to reach the Five Origins Estate from here.


    As for the location of the Star Radiant Gate, it was in the Sky Curtain Mountains of the Violet Lightning Divine State.


    When Tang Jie arrived and activated his vision, he finally spotted the name card of the Star Radiant Gate on a distant mountain.


    But the Star Radiant Gate was no longer so glorious.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 973: Patience

    Arge pce stood on the mountain, and while it seemed rather impressive andrge, it was decorated rather simply. There was norge-scale development around the mountain, with the members of the sect almost all concentrated on the single mountain. There were numerous people on the mountain, with countless small buildings built on the slope, and one face of the mountain bearing numerous caves. It was packed with cultivators to the maximum.


    To the north of the mountain, a giant wall served as a barrier. This wall was around a thousand feet tall and was made from the extremely rare Astratite. Each block of Astratite was as big as a millstone and covered in formation lines.


    Tang Jie could tell that this was a sect-protecting formation. When the Star Radiant Gate arrived here, it had to start from the beginning. In losing their base of ten thousand years, they had lost not only the resources but even basic things like the defensive formation. Thus, they had to rebuild from the most basic of things. The defensive formation would decide whether the sect lived or died, so building one could easily take hundreds of years, and it wasn''t strange at all to see that they were still in the middle of construction. But protective formations usually had their basic structures established first and then were slowly filled in over time so that they could still be used in the early stages.


    The Star Radiant Gate was clearly not opting for this style of construction. This was a long-term project that would bepletely useless until it waspleted.


    After some thought, Tang Jie realized what was going on.


    "The Primordial Fog Cmity! This formation is meant to protect against the Primordial Fog Cmity!" Tang Jie cried out in realization.


    The Star Radiant Gate was established near the Demon Abyss, so when the Primordial Fog Cmity erupted, it would be one of the first to be attacked.


    The Star Radiant Gate must have had a terrible time if they had fallen all the way from a rear sect to a frontline sect. But they still had to survive, and this formation was one of their methods.


    Tang Jie realized that the Star Radiant Gate being here was probably no coincidence.Inwardly furious, he flew over to the Star Radiant Gate.


    The disciples of the Star Radiant Gate saw someonending and shouted, "Who dares to barge into my Star Radiant Gate?"


    But there was a slight tinge of fear in their voices, none of the dignity of a former country-level sect.


    Tang Jie sternly said, "Your ancestor''s good friend Tang Jie hase to pay a visit."


    Everyone exhaled in relief when they saw that it was a friend and not an enemy.


    A momentter, Huang Wuji''s voice came from the pce. "Young Friend Tang Jie, you''re finally here. Come inside. I didn''t think that you would reach Immortal tform after only two-hundred-some years. Congrattions."


    Tang Jie shot over to the pce.


    Huang Wuji was seated within, and while he was still an Earth Immortal, he was much less easygoing, and sorrow and worry covered his face.


    Tang Jie brought his hands together and bowed. "I pay my respects to the Reverend. This one had quite a difficult time finding you."


    Huang Wuji grimaced. "There''s nothing to find here. This old man is an inauspicious figure, with everyone around me suffering misfortune. There was no need to go through the trouble."


    "You were abandoned by Fate?" Tang Jie understood what he meant. "Was it the work of the Heaven''s Equal Sect?"


    "You guessed it." Huang Wuji helplessly nodded. "Who else could it be?"


    Through Huang Wuji''s tale, Tang Jie learned that after they split up at the Myriad Court, Huang Wuji continued his travels. He traveled for another one hundred years, during which the Star Radiant Gate was fine and well. But one day, Huang Wuji had the feeling that his opportunity at a breakthrough could only be found on the Vast Wilderness Continent, so he returned to the Star Radiant Gate.


    Upon his return, the Star Radiant Gate began to run into problem after problem.


    While Huang Wuji didn''t think much of it at first, he gradually began to realize that the situation wasn''t right.


    "I realized that this might not be a coincidence, that someone had used the Dao of Fate against me."


    "The Heaven''s Equal Sect," Tang Jie indifferently said. In all of the Vast Wilderness Continent, this sect was undoubtedly the master of the Dao of Fate.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Precisely." Huang Wuji nodded.


    "In the end, I burdened you," Tang Jie sighed.


    Huang Wuji firmly replied, "Young Friend, that''s not right at all. Back then, the Heaven''s Equal Sect and Ster Net Gate were being far too tyrannical, seeking to take the treasure for themselves and clear out any rivals, not taking into consideration any other cultivators. We killed them because we were forced to, striking back out of anger. I won''t hear this talk of you burdening me."


    Tang Jie bowed. "If Reverend does not wish to me me, I will ept it. But what confuses me is that if they knew that you were connected to that incident in the court, why did they only use this method on you?"


    Huang Wuji answered, "I also considered this question, and I feel that there are a few possible reasons. The first is that the Heaven''s Equal Sect doesn''t have any evidence. It goes without saying that they used the Dao of Fate to find me. But while the Dao of Fate has always been so unfathomable and bizarre in this way, it''s also why it''s so iprehensible. It''s not like you can just perform a divination and immediately use someone as being a criminal, right? If that were really the case, shouldn''t we have those of the Dao of Fate run the world? Thus, while the Dao of Fate''s divinations have always been correct, it has never been appropriate to use it as a tool of governance. As the ruler of the south, the Heaven''s Equal Sect operates ording to thews it set down, and they can''t break thews they themselves established, and since they had no solid evidence, they couldn''t do much to me directly."


    Tang Jie nodded. "Indeed, the Dao of Fate is not a proper form of evidence."


    Huang Wuji continued, "Another important factor was that they themselves weren''t sure. While I don''t understand Fate, I know that the Dao of Fate is everchanging. Even if it offers some indicator, it''s hard for it to give exact details, preferring the ambiguous over the definite."


    But Huang Wuji had guessed incorrectly. The circumstances he had described did exist, but that was mostly the result of someone who had not entered the Dao to a sufficient depth. At a certain depth, the result would be much more clear. However, while he was wrong, the resulting answer had been correct. Tang Jie had been present when they killed the two Earth Immortals, and Tang Jie, as someone who hadprehended Fate, had long ago used the power of Fate to conceal the truth. Thus, even when someone stronger in the Dao of Fate attempted to divine the truth, they received only an ambiguous result.


    It had been such a problem finding Tang Jie despite having his image for precisely this reason. And for Huang Wuji, whose appearance wasn''t known to the two sects, it was even more difficult to be sure.


    Without any evidence and unable topletely confirm if Huang Wuji was connected, the Heaven''s Equal Sect acted furtively, manipting Fate.


    This alone was not enough to ruin the Star Radiant Gate.


    s, perhaps the Star Radiant Gate had rotten luck, or perhaps this was the inevitable result of being abandoned by Fate. One day, an elder of the Star Radiant Gate left on a mission. Knowing that the Star Radiant Gate had been faring poorly as ofte, he had been particrly careful and brought a Dao armament with him. On his way back, he ran into a great fiend, and in their battle, he needed to use that Dao armament to kill that fiend.


    He had no idea that the Dao armament he had used was the jade ruler Huang Wuji had obtained from the Court of Myriad Domains.


    After the two had killed the two Earth Immortals, they had each taken a pseudo¨CDao armament. Tang Jie had taken the Thunderp Hammer, which he had then given to the Basking Moon Sect, while Huang Wuji had received the Measure Heaven Ruler. Huang Wuji had ordered that this item was not to be used, but time had gradually diluted the strength of his order. It had been more than a hundred years, and the ancestor had yet to emerge from seclusion, so wouldn''t it be a waste to just leave a Dao armament lying there unused?


    This was why that Star Radiant Gate elder had taken out the Measure Heaven Ruler.


    The moment it was used, the Heaven''s Equal Sect detected its signal.


    Suspicion instantly turned into confirmation, which gave them many more tools.


    "Not long after that, an Earth Immortal from the Heaven''s Equal Sect arrived. I fought with him but was ultimately defeated. However, that man didn''t kill me, simply taking the Measure Heaven Ruler and leaving."


    "He didn''t kill you? Why?"


    Huang Wuji shook his head. "I don''t know. The reason he gave was that he was preserving strength for the fight against the Primordial Fog Cmity, but who would believe that nonsense? I was heavily injured at the time, and not long afterward, the White Bone Gate attacked. Not only did they bring the powerful treasures of the sect, there were also mysterious experts observing from the shadows. I knew that the Heaven''s Equal Sect was most likely supporting them and the sect''s territory was lost, so I decided to withdraw and preserve the strength of the Star Radiant Gate. But not long after that, I received a decree from the Heaven''s Equal Sect saying that since my Star Radiant Gate had lost its base, a new location had been selected for us."


    "Which was this ce?"


    "Correct." Huang Wuji bitterly smiled. "They ced us here near the Demon Abyss so that we could serve as cannon fodder against the Primordial Fog Cmity. In this way, the Heaven''s Equal Sect could exterminate us without any objections."


    "But they would have to wait until the Primordial Fog Cmity to eliminate you," Tang Jie indifferently said.


    "Young Friend, what do you mean?" Huang Wuji said in surprise.


    "It''s nothing. I just think that the Heaven''s Equal Sect is very patient. If it were me, I wouldn''t choose such a time-wasting method," Tang Jie replied. "Even if I didn''t want to leave behind any evidence, there are faster ways of getting rid of a sect. For example, I could just arrange for a few more sects like the White Bone Gate, and then everything would be cleaned up."


    Huang Wuji trembled. "You''re saying that they have another n? What would make them go to so much trouble?"


    Tang Jie stood up and looked outside the pce.


    A grave look appeared on his face. "Why? It''s me, of course. An excellent scheme, and such patience! I must express my admiration for your patience."


    As Tang Jie spoke, there was a boom of thunder in the distance.


    A storm raged, and dark clouds surged.


    A light golden hand suddenly plunged out of the clouds, reaching for Tang Jie.

 Chapter 974: Receiving of Souls

    The giant hand reached toward Tang Jie, exuding a majestic and omnipotent aura, as if all the world was within its palm.


    It was just one hand, but Tang Jie knew that he was in deep trouble.


    ¡­Because this hand came from a Boundless Gold Immortal.


    Even a True Immortal couldn''t stop the blow of a Gold Immortal.


    To kill Tang Jie, his enemies had even mobilized a Gold Immortal.


    This hand had been waiting for hundreds of years now.


    As that hand descended, Tang Jie understood that he was facing the greatest danger in his cultivation career.


    Tang Jie roared and charged out of the pce. The moment he was out, he grew into a thousand-foot-tall giant, which erupted with countless rays of light that weaved themselves into the majestic Infinite Pce.


    Tang Jie was using the powers of his physical body and his defensive Dao Art at the same time.Thinking this was not enough, Tang Jie threw out two more items.


    The Myriad Yin Yang Furnace radiated the light of divine treasures while the Sovereign de zed with mes. At the same time, four arms grew from his back, each fist throwing out a strike from the Combat Emperor Catalog.


    These weren''t even the strongest moves Tang Jie could make. That was the Mountain River State Diagram.


    The diagram rose into the air, opening up a window of light behind Tang Jie''s head.


    Countless arms emerged from this light.


    The Azure Dragon, the Vermillion Bird, the me Celestial Sovereign, the Lithos Dragon, the Mother Cloud Metalbat puppet, and the countless creatures living within the Yellow Court World yelled in unison, gathering all of their power and unleashing it at the hand in the sky.


    At this moment, all of Tang Jie''s strength and all of the Yellow Court World''s strength was being mustered up against that hand in the sky.


    All of this energy gathered into a single point and then surged up toward the descending palm.


    It was like two beams of light colliding in the air, and their impact resulting in a massive explosion of energy.


    Tang Jie''s enormous body was sent flying, while in the Yellow Court World, the Azure Dragon and the others were instantly blown to bits, this single strike destroying one of their lives. Cries of misery arose from the Yellow Court World as that enormous torrent of energy surged in through the passages, wreaking cmity across thend.


    In the primary world, this explosion of energy also unleashed a storm of destruction. Fortunately, Huang Wuji was able to respond in time to protect his sect and disciples, but the surrounding mountains were instantly obliterated, causing him to yell in rm, "Get back!"


    The energy shockwaves rumbled through the world for a long while before finally stopping.


    When the embers faded, Tang Jie''s giant body was still standing.


    He had blocked it?


    Huang Wuji couldn''t believe his eyes.


    Tang Jie had actually blocked the strike of a Boundless Gold Immortal!


    But anyone who thought it was all over after one strike would be fatally mistaken.


    That golden hand in the sky was still there, and it was readying another strike.


    The cultivators all felt their hearts shudder from fear, and all of them secretly cursed this Boundless Gold Immortal for being so shameless, attacking again after their first attack had failed. Did they have no regard for their own dignity as the superior one?


    Through the world passage, the Azure Dragon and the others also felt fear, but they didn''t have any right to choose.


    The hand descended once more, and Tang Jie clenched his teeth, unleashing a salvo of punches and swinging the me-wreathed Sovereign de. But the normally ever-powerful Sovereign de was seemingly ineffective now.


    The golden hand exuded a faint glow, and when the Sovereign de cut into it, it seemed to be cutting into an ocean.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    To be honest, the entire hand felt like an ocean to Tang Jie: heavy, majestic, and deep, draining him of the will to resist.


    Gold Immortal!


    This was the power of a Boundless Gold Immortal! Just one hand was enough to inspire terror and despair!


    Tang Jie had once believed that he was on par with a True Immortal and would be able to fight back against a Gold Immortal. Only now did he understand how absurdly wrong he was. While he had exchanged blows with Immortal Ji Yao before, that had only been the finger of a Gold Immortal, and it had been bereft of Immortal Ji Yao''s guidance. When a Gold Immortal was able to truly use their strength, it was far above anything the current him could reach.


    In the path of Immortality, the farther one went, the greater the gap was, and this was no empty statement.


    Tang Jie knew that he was a frog in the well, but even so, he was fearless before the might of this Gold Immortal.


    Even if it was an ocean, he would cut a path through!


    The Sovereign de''s crimson me grew even stronger, one phantom sword after another erupting from its de. A mountain of swords plunged into the palm as if they had struck the bottom of the sea, causing ripples to cascade through the aura of golden light.


    At the same time, the Azure Dragon and the others joined their powers once more, the strength of five Earth Immortals sting out. In another massive shockwave, the attack was blocked once more.


    "Hmph!" An angry snort rumbled like thunder.


    The Gold Immortal was clearly enraged. Two attacks failing to strike true had left them feeling utterly humiliated.


    The hand wed at the air, and a momentter, the entire region began to distort.


    To everyone''s shock, this region of space they were in had been altered.


    This alteration was on the level of the Great Dao, meaning that this region''s Dao had been altered.


    Tang Jie could tell that after this wing, his control of the Great Daos had fallen to an extremely weak level, as if this region was rejecting the Great Daos, rejecting his power.


    Tang Jie was bbergasted.


    Was this a Dao-Controlling expert? Able to adjust thews of the world with a thought!


    The mes on the Sovereign de began to fade, and the mountain of swords disappeared, as the power of the Great Daos waned. Tang Jie now found it difficult to use his various Dao Arts, the greatest trump cards in his battle against those above his level. All he could rely on was his own power!


    The golden hand came down for the third time.


    In its majesty was the conviction to kill.


    Everyone despaired. To block the first two palms, both Tang Jie and the existences in the Mountain River State Diagram had used everything they had, but the gap between the two was just too great.


    The Yellow Court World was in a state of devastation, having just experienced a massive cmity. The weaker Wuxing had already been in by the first two strikes. But against this lethal threat, all the creatures of the Yellow Court World heedlessly charged into the fray, for this was Tang Jie''s will, the decree of the Domain Lord.


    All the domain obeyed the Domain Lord, no matter what trial or tribtion they had to face!


    <em>Boom!</em>


    In the primary world, the Mountain River State Diagram erupted with a dazzling light, and arge door seemed to open, a torrent of energy rushing out through this door to meet the golden hand.


    The golden hand mmed into it, and in the ensuing shockwave, countless creatures were obliterated, and bitter and painful shrieking rang out. Points of starlight that represented life shattered, and the Yellow Court World was turned into a wastnd. A sinister wind began to howl as the Nether Domain sensed this mass loss of life. The gates to the Nether Domain opened, manifesting in physical form so as to wee all these souls. This was a phenomenon that would ur at any major disaster, the Nether Domain forcefully manifesting to bring in all the new souls.


    Seeing this, Tang Jie angrily roared, "Scram!"


    These creatures bore Tang Jie''s brand, and each one was a part of his wealth. Tang Jie would not permit them to fall into the Nether Domain, at least not in this fashion!


    Even in this moment of peril, Tang Jie still had two of the arms on his back punch at the Nether Domain gates.


    The wild power stopped up the gates, causing all of those souls to bounce back into the Yellow Court World.


    At the same time, the golden hand finally broke through the torrent of energy and descended toward Tang Jie.


    It was on the verge of touching Tang Jie, and Tang Jie wasn''t sure if he could endure the power within that strike.


    Xu Miaoran suddenly let out a cry and appeared before Tang Jie, the crown on her head glowing with a golden light.


    "Miaoran, don''t!" Tang Jie shouted in rm.


    The Gold Immortal was just too powerful, and the powers of the Great Dao had been weakened to the utmost, so even the crown would be of no use. No matter what, Tang Jie could not permit his wife to die for him, so just before the palm was about to strike Xu Miaoran, Tang Jie roared.


    <em>Raaaa!</em>


    The sound wave caused the palm to freeze for a moment, during which Tang Jie''s body shed, a figure shooting out from his body, grabbing Xu Miaoran, and then vanishing, moving at a blinding speed.


    In that moment, Tang Jie had unleashed all the Dao power he could get his hands on and used four Dao Arts. First was Split-Second Youth, to elerate his own time. Second was Law Speaking, to slow down the hand. Third was Reflections of Floating Life, to separate the original body and avatar, the original body weakening the spatial restrictions and the avatar using Nearby Horizon. All this was just barely enough to save Xu Miaoran.


    A momentter, the palm passed through their afterimages and struck Tang Jie.


    There was a terrible howl, and time seemed to stop.


    That giant figure stood motionless, and then it tumbled over.


    Even the seemingly unkible original body was puny and fragile before that hand. With one palm strike, all of the vitality in Tang Jie''s original body was annihted, and even the Immortal Essence that could bring him back to life was scattered such that there wasn''t even enough to bring him back to life once.


    A terrifying strike, a vicious strike, an invincible strike!


    After this strike, that golden hand finally reached its limit, and with a soft sigh of helplessness, it faded away.


    Tang Jie''s avatar flew over to the original body in an attempt to save it. But at this moment, another giant hand emerged from the still-open gates of the Nether Domain and grabbed Tang Jie''s original body. "You dare to stop the soul reception of my Nether Domain? Let this be your atonement."


    The hand pulled Tang Jie''s corpse through the gates of the Nether Domain, upon which they disappeared.


    Little Three let out a shriek and then charged in the direction of the vanished gates, disappearing as well.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 975: Migration

    The battle was over.


    The battle hade quickly and ended quickly. Time-wise, it had only taken ten-some seconds in all.


    If not for all the devastation it had caused, one might have taken everything that had happened for a dream.


    While the battle had been extremely short, the consequences were severe.


    Tang Jie''s original body had died on the spot, and the corpse had been pulled through the gates of the Nether Domain. From a certain perspective, Tang Jie was dead, and all that was alive was an avatar that had cultivated to a rather high level.


    The just-matured Yellow Court World had taken an unprecedented blow.


    Numerous Wuxing had died, and of the ten-some Violet Pce cultivators, nearly a thousand Celestial Heart cultivators, and hundreds of thousands of other cultivators, only a scant few of the highest remained. The rest had all been in!


    This was a world-destroying apocalypse for the Yellow Court World. Whether or not the creatures of the domain could reemerge, and if the Wuxing would still be the same, were things that even Tang Jie wasn''t sure of. This would require time and the world itself to nurture!


    The Yellow Court World''s singr continent had been broken into several parts, and the endless sea had flowed in, slowly pushing thend apart and separating them.Some of the formations of the domain had also been damaged, and He Chong and the others had to desperately repair them so that the world could remain stable. But they also hadn''t fared well. The terrifying power of a Gold Immortal had shattered the Yellow Court World in only three strikes and caused the five Earth Immortals to also die thrice. Moreover, the excessive power of the Gold Immortal had dispersed more Immortal energy than usual, making each death the equivalent of several. If the Gold Immortal had made one more strike, they would have suffered the same fate as Tang Jie''s original body and lost the ability to revive. And they hadn''t even been directly fighting.


    The thought of the Gold Immortal''s might made all of them shiver.


    Boundless Gold Immortals deserved their reputation as supreme existences.


    As for Tang Jie, he had actually lost the least.


    Once that Gold Immortal''s hand had disappeared, all Dao power had been restored, and Tang Jie regained his powers. Xu Miaoran had also survived. Husband and wife embraced each other, fear still in their eyes.


    After a while, Xu Miaoran said, "Is it okay that the original body entered the Nether Domain?"


    She still didn''t know that the original body was utterly dead.


    After some thought, Tang Jie decided to keep this a secret, so he said, "Life and death are decided by Fate, and there is no point in fretting over it. Besides, isn''t there also Little Three?"


    Theposed and confident look in his eyes caused Xu Miaoran to calm down.


    They turned to the distant mountain, from which weeping could be heard.


    A vast mountain range had been reduced to a single mountain.


    Using all of his strength, Huang Wuji had just barely managed to protect the mountain on which the Star Radiant Gate resided.


    But the Star Radiant Gate basically had only the mountain left. The buildings and spirit fields had all been destroyed, and even some people who hadn''t been on the mountain had died terrible deaths.


    A vast mountain range had be a wastnd and all the buildings had been turned to dust, leaving only devastation and ruin.


    The formation wall that the Star Radiant Gate had been building for nearly a hundred years had been obliterated by the aftershocks of the battle within just a single day. All it had taken was the st from a shockwave to wipe out everything.


    Huang Wuji silently mourned the ruins.


    A sect with an Earth Immortal had actually been used as bait! And then it had sustained grave losses on top of that, so he was understandably suffering from some shell shock.


    He was utterly bereft of the calm and graceful manner of the past.


    When Tang Jie saw him, he felt very ashamed.


    He flew over to Huang Wuji.


    "What are you here for?" Several Star Radiant Gate True Lords angrily red at him. Although they knew that they were no match for him, that this was a person who could take the blow of a Gold Immortal and was probably even stronger than their ancestor, they still unyieldingly red at him in fury.


    Tang Jie wasn''t angry, understanding that they had a reason for their hatred.


    In the end, all of this was because of him.


    Thus, he got straight to the point. "Reverend, this was a trap."


    Huang Wuji looked at him. "What? You think this old man was in on it?"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "Of course not. I''m only saying that it was the Heaven''s Equal Sect thatid the trap, and all of us are victims. The Star Radiant Gate paid in blood, but that makes it all the more necessary to remain rational, or else someone can exploit this opening."


    After some thought, Huang Wuji nodded. "I understand. After all, we killed someone from the Heaven''s Equal Sect. When doing this, I knew that trouble woulde to find me eventually. But given the Heaven''s Equal Sect''s domineering ways, if given another choice, the old man would still have killed them."


    Tang Jie smiled. "Yes. Although we killed the people of those two sects, it was because they wanted to kill us. Since we felt no shame about our actions, there''s no need for regret."


    Although these words were somewhat repetitive, this was primarily to ensure that they shared the same viewpoint. After all the tragedies that had urred, Tang Jie first needed to ensure that they were still on the same side and that the problems had arisen because of their enemy and not because of him. This ensured that their minds were united, for if there was enmity between them, there was no hope of staying friends.


    After getting this acknowledgement, Tang Jie said, "Regardless, we have to resolve the problem. Since that Gold Immortal from the Heaven''s Equal Sect failed to kill me, they will definitely try again. I can''t remain here and must leave at once."


    Huang Wuji nodded in understanding.


    "But if I leave, what about the Star Radiant Gate? In today''s battle, not only did I suffer unprecedented damage, the Heaven''s Equal Sect also confirmed your rtionship with me. Now that you''ve lost your value as bait, won''t you simply be destroyed?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Huang Wuji shuddered.


    Tang Jie had voiced exactly what was worrying him.


    Tang Jie could tell from his expression that he was right, so he said, "I''m afraid there''s only one way out."


    "And what is that?" Huang Wuji asked.


    "Go to the Rosecloud Domain!" Tang Jie answered. "Even if this ce won''t ept you, there are ces out there that will. No matter how long the reach of the Heaven''s Equal Sect, it can''t cover the entire Great Ster Chiliocosm. If you develop somewhere else, things might even turn out for the better."


    "''Develop somewhere else''?" Huang Wuji said in shock.


    It wasn''t that he hadn''t thought of this before, but such things were easier said than done. And it could also be considered betraying one''s homnd to run away from problems.


    Moreover, not only would they have to deal with new people and ces, the Vast Wilderness Continent was the biggest continent of them all. Any other ce could only be smaller.


    As said before, the level of the world decided the prospects of the cultivator, and size had a direct rtionship to level. The Yellow Court World had only been able to raise a single Earth Immortal despite all of Tang Jie''s investment, while the Rosecloud Domain''s upper limit was True Immortal. Only a ce like the Vast Wilderness World could produce so many Immortal tform experts, even Gold Immortals and Saint Immortals.


    To go from the Vast Wilderness Continent to the Rosecloud Domain was like going from the big city to the countryside. Who could ept it? And for Huang Wuji, this limited his development even more. He wasn''t even able to be a True Immortal in the Vast Wilderness Continent, so what hope did he have in the Rosecloud Domain?


    But he had to deal with the cruel reality before him, and there was seemingly no better option than giving up on this ce. For this reason, he was hesitant.


    Tang Jie saw what he was thinking and whispered to him, "The Rosecloud Domain is fighting a cultivator war."


    "What?" Huang Wuji trembled.


    He stared at Tang Jie, who nodded in confirmation.


    "Who started it?" Huang Wuji asked.


    This was a very professional question. The cultivation world operated on the rule of the strong, and this was even more true for cultivator wars. Thus, he was actually asking which side was stronger.


    "We did. The Rosecloud Domain has one True Immortal and five Earth Immortals if you don''t count me."


    "And the target?"


    "No True Immortals, and four Earth Immortals."


    "Then it should be fine. But if my Star Radiant Gate goes, wouldn''t we be taking someone else''s ce?"


    "That''s why you have to go now so that you can get a ce for yourself," Tang Jie answered.


    What had happened with the Wandering Pce told Tang Jie that forcefully partitioning territory could easily cause internal conflict. But if the Star Radiant Gate joined in the cultivator war and took some territory of the Blood River Domain for themselves, what had happened with the Wandering Pce would not repeat itself. For the Rosecloud Domain, it was perfectly fine to have another ally that could hasten the end of the war. If they could smoothly seize one domain, the Rosecloud Domain would grow much stronger, and then they could conquer more domains and grow stronger and stronger.


    Thus, they would happily wee the entry of the Star Radiant Gate.


    As for the Star Radiant Gate, since the Rosecloud Domain had only one True Immortal sect, it meant that they would have a rather high status if they went over. Over there, they could be a major sect second only to the Basking Moon Sect, whereas here, they were struggling to breathe.


    Huang Wuji and the leaders of the Star Radiant Gate quickly realized that this was an opportunity and decided to migrate.


    The Heaven''s Equal Sect wouldn''t give them much time, so the Star Radiant Gate immediately set about packing their things. Fortunately, cultivators lived simple lives and just needed to stuff their possessions into Mustard Seed Bags. Besides that, Tang Jie also had the Mountain River State Diagram to take in everything, which made the journey even faster¡ªthe Yellow Court World was in a deste state and needed people to work on it. Since they were free anyway, he might as well have them do some reconstruction.


    Of course, there were also those unwilling to leave, and Huang Wuji permitted them to go elsewhere.


    Tang Jie whisked away the Star Radiant Gate and flew off to the Five Origins Estate and its teleportation formation. With Nearby Horizon, this trip was extremely short.


    Meanwhile, on the Nether River.


    A huge mass of flesh was slowly floating through the air.


    Like a giant ship, it flew off into the horizon.


    Far in the distance was a towering mountain of bones, and at the peak of this mountain was a majestic pce of bones.

 Chapter 976: Arrival

    The Yellow Court World.


    A single continent had been broken into five, with the ocean surging in to divide the pieces into separate inds. But as the continent had only just been separated, the distances separating them were not too great, only a few kilometers at most. However, with each passing year, the power of the oceans would widen this distance by about the length of a step. The continents were like siblings leaving the family home, establishing their own residences and then gradually growing to be strangers as time passed.


    The central ind was still thergestnd mass, consisting of three fifths of the area of the original continent. It contained the core Immortal ind and the region directly surrounding it. What had once been the most prosperous region was now and of death. As it was in the center, it had endured the strongest energies, and the remnants of that Boundless Gold Immortal''s power still lingered, raging across thend and preventing any creature from living on it like some natural disaster. Not even grass would be able to grow here for the next few centuries.


    The other four continents had drifted off in four separate directions and were fortunate enough to evade the rampaging Gold Immortal energy, which allowed them to develop in their own way.


    The western continent contained the volcanic world furnace, which was the source of life. As a result, the soil here was the most fertile. But as all intelligent creatures had gone extinct, the "volcanic ash" brimming with energy had no one to develop it. This energy-rich soil umted inyer uponyer, bing a thick callus over the earth. As time passed, these calluses would transform into Earthen Fetal Membranes, which contained a variety of special substances known as Earthen Fetuses. Earthen Fetal Membranes and Fetuses were extremely rare materials in the Great Ster Chiliocosm, and those that were found would generally only be found in deposits norger than ten feet in radius, which made them extremely valuable. But here, circumstances had led the entire continent to be covered in Earthen Fetal Membrane.


    The southern continent was where the few surviving Wuxing Violet Pce cultivators were hiding out. They were thest surviving natives of the Yellow Court World, and they existed to carry on the line of the Wuxing. For this purpose, Tang Jie was even willing to have them cripple their cultivation so that their fertility would increase. After all, the higher one''s cultivation level, the more difficult it was to reproduce. This was the world''s way of bncing things. The southern continent was destined to be the new starting point of life for the Yellow Court World, the core of its expansion.


    The northern continent had nothing at all. On the original continent, this ce had been the farthest from the center and been a wastnd. The shattering had not changed this. The northern continent had drifted north, and as it was the smallest piece, it drifted the fastest and was now the farthest from the central continent. As itcked value, Tang Jie decided to do as had been done in the world he hade from, sealing thend in ice and making it the world''s storehouse and transfer point. It existed to store and release excess energy, ying the role of a buffer region. In the future, if the world encountered another energy attack, this continent would take the brunt of the attack, sparing the rest of the world from further turmoil.


    Finally, there was the eastern continent, where the Azure Dragon andpany stayed.


    Besides them was the Star Radiant Gate."Groundbreaking spells, release! Drainage spells, go¡­ a little slower. You have to be in sync!"


    On a wastnd of the eastern continent, several dozen Star Radiant Gate disciples were gathered, releasing spell arts under themand of a Cognitive Creation cultivator. As they released spell arts, thend was divided into various fields, water appeared in trenches, and the wastnd was turned into farms.


    Farther off, cultivators at Celestial Heart or even Violet Pce were busy at work, using Divine Connections to move mountains and fill in oceans, creating tall mountains that would slow the flow of the winds. As variation appeared in terrain height, the world began to return to a cyclic nature.


    Even the True Lords of the Star Radiant Gate couldn''t help but express admiration for the n that Tang Jie had drafted. It was thanks to his proposals that the world''s operations had actually gotten smoother rather than decaying. Despite the continents being different and influencing each other, the world''s climate and terrain transforming, everything was developing in a predictable and controble manner. Rather than destroying the world, the destructive cmity had spurred it into bing more vigorous and lively.


    "With such methods and daring, this Tang Jie is a true hero." In the sky, a group of Star Radiant Gate elders viewed the transforming world below, one of them sighing in praise. This man was Lin Kuhai, one of the True Lords of the Star Radiant Gate.


    A man with a long beard next to him smiled. "Indeed. To develop a world to this level in only a few centuries is a rare sight even for an old man like me."


    Another personmented, "Gate Master, if you say it''s a rare sight, then doesn''t that mean that you''ve seen small worlds like this before?"


    The man who had spoken earlier was none other than Star Radiant Gate Master Qin Chaoxuan¡ªa peak Soul Projection cultivator, a half-step Earth Immortal. A nostalgic look appeared on his face as he said, "The Chiliocosm is home to all kinds of strange sights and talented individuals. Some people are focused on cultivation, some people are focused on the Great Dao, and of course, there are also people focused on small worlds. Justparing small worlds, while the Yellow Court World isn''t weak, it''s also not the strongest."


    "Oh? Who owned that world? Someone from the two major sects?"


    Qin Chaoxuan fell silent.


    After a moment of thought, he replied, "A small world is a bottomless pit, and they require an enormous amount of resources that can''t be satisfied through normal channels. For this reason, if a sect isrge, it actually bes difficult to develop a small world like this. After all, someone could easily be used of personal enrichment, and the small world itself can be taken by another, resulting in aplete loss on investment. The person I know of doesn''t belong to some major sect, or even to the Vast Wilderness Continent."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "They''re not from the Vast Wilderness Continent?" the others remarked in surprise.


    Someone asked, "I didn''t think there would be another talent like Tang Jie who doesn''t belong to the Vast Wilderness Continent."


    Qin Chaoxuanughed in disdain. "Nonsense! Who says that only the Vast Wilderness Continent can produce talents? While Vast Wilderness really is the number one in the Chiliocosm, the universe is vast, toorge for the Vast Wilderness Continent to hold all that talent. You can''t even say that only the Vast Wilderness Continent has Boundless Gold Immortals or Dao-Proving Saint Immortals."


    "There are more Saint Immortals than Yu Cheng?" everyone said in shock.


    Qin Chaoxuan snorted. "Yu Cheng didn''t sweep through the Primordial Fog all by himself. It was just that when he established the Myriad Court, his reputation surged, and his peers gradually faded into the background. But this didn''t mean that they died. That''s why you need an open mind. The Vast Wilderness Continent is very strong, but it''s not without peer."


    Everyone was startled by this realization and understood that the sect master was soothing them.


    Although everyone had already made up their minds to leave the Vast Wilderness Continent, in the end, the unease from leaving one''s homnd was inevitable. In this restless atmosphere, it was easy for mishaps to ur. Tang Jie was having them plow fields and build mountains not only to restore vitality to the continent, but also to just give them something to do so that they wouldn''t think too much. And Qin Chaoxuan was saying all this tofort them and, more importantly, to make them put away their "big city" pride. If they entered someone else''s territory with that attitude, a problem was likely to ur.


    Everyone understood what Qin Chaoxuan was getting at and voiced their agreement.


    Someone abruptly said, "It should have been a thousand days since we entered the diagram, so Tang Jie should have arrived at Rosecloud, no?"


    The Yellow Court World''s time flowed at a ratio of 100 to 1, so one thousand days here was only ten days in the outside world.


    Ten days should have been enough for Tang Jie to reach the teleportation point and return to Rosecloud.


    Qin Chaoxuan nodded. "He''s arrived, but so many people, cultivators at that, can''t be released into Rosecloud all at once. He''s probably looking for a safe ce to let us out."


    "Hmph, rather than looking for a ce, this kid is just trying to squeeze a little morebor out of us." Thisint came from none other than Huang Wuji. Having spent some time with him, he understood Tang Jie''s personality, and hisment was right on the mark. Tang Jie had arrived at Rosecloud ages ago, but when he saw the Star Radiant Gate at work and the continent thriving, he intentionally dyed a few days.


    While his body was on the outside, his mind had been focused on this small world.


    Huang Wuji had made no attempt to hide his words, and when Tang Jie heard it, he knew that this was a warning. No matter how thick his face was, he could no longer feign deafness. With augh, he said, "Apologies for the trouble. We''ve arrived at Rosecloud. Everyone, please prepare to leave."


    In a sh of light, a passage appeared in the sky.


    The cultivators immediately flew up toward the passage, flying up and up until they emerged. They found themselves high in the sky, the Gold Ignis Astral Winds above them and a resplendent world below.


    In the distance was a vast mountain range.


    On their first sight of the Rosecloud Domain, the cultivators were enchanted, and praised its beauty.


    Tang Jie pointed at the mountains and said, "Those are the Zephyr Mountains, the base of my Basking Moon Sect. I''ve already notified the disciples of the Basking Moon Sect, and my Basking Moon Sect is ready to wee all of you."


    He flew down.


    As he descended, music resounded from the mountains.


    More than a hundred rare beasts and birds appeared together with dancing clouds while apanied by heavenly music.


    Female cultivators flew into the sky and began to dance, petals falling from their hands and creating a floral path from the mountains all the way to the sky.


    A rainbow fell on the petal path, and Yun Tian''s voice joyously announced, "For the Star Radiant Gate toe from so far to my Rosecloud is a great blessing. With such a powerful ally, my Rosecloud has a great future ahead of it!"


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 Chapter 977: Sentimentality

    The arrival of the Star Radiant Gate set off shockwaves through the Rosecloud Domain.


    An Immortal sect from arger world not only broughtbat power, but also more experiences and points of view, as well as a deeper understanding of the Immortal path.


    If this were before the cultivator war, the Star Radiant Gate definitely wouldn''t have been weed. After all, the migration of arge faction would present a shock to the entire structure of the world, including the division of territory and authority. But with a war imminent, this kind of sect became a powerful ally, and when it came to territory yet to be gained, people tended to be more generous.


    Thus, the Star Radiant Gate received the most ceremonious wee, and to start off with a good impression, Yun Tian had personally allocated arge area of the Zephyr Mountains to the Star Radiant Gate to serve as their resting ce.


    At the same time, with Tang Jie bringing back the two major domain formations, the Rosecloud Domain officially began the pre-battle preparations.


    One team led by Tang Jie and Hong Shenji set about gathering materials for the two domain formations, while another team began the mobilization process, exining to cultivators the advantages and rewards to be gained from the cultivator war so as to recruit them for the army.


    Whether it wasying down the domain-merging formation or organizing a cultivator army, they all needed time.


    The entire Rosecloud Domain set to work, engaging in war preparations like never before.


    The Rosecloud Domain in the middle of mobilization had a very heavy air.N?v(el)B\\jnnThe lower-level cultivators needed to train in cultivator military formations, the middle-level cultivators needed to cultivate their individual strength, and the high-level cultivators, who often required hundreds of years for a single step of progress, focused more on studying the field ofmand and strategy rather than futilely grasping for somest-minute enlightenment.


    The pre-war preparations took three years, during which Yun Tian, Tang Jie, and Ling Xiao managed to consolidate the entirety of the Rosecloud Domain.


    At the center of everything was the Basking Moon Sect, and around it were Horizon Ocean Pavilion, the Seven Absolutions Sect, the Thousand Passions Sect, the Star Radiant Gate, Godhead Pce, and the Beast Refining Gate, which formed the second echelon. After them were the domain''s seventy-tworge sects, forming the third echelon. In truth, given the current circumstances of Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate, they had fallen to the status of ordinaryrge sects a long time ago and should have been put in the third echelon, but they still had their Earth Immortals. In this world where the higher levels of power reigned supreme, this was the most important factor, so they barely qualified for the second echelon. Lastly was the fourth echelon, which consisted of the medium and small sects, together with various wandering cultivators.


    This tiered army which represented the military might of the Rosecloud Domain spent every day drilling and training, even Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate, which loathed the Basking Moon Sect, diligently taking part. They were well aware that they needed to train as hard as they could precisely because the Basking Moon Sect had a hostile attitude to them. This was the only way they could survive in theing war. In this battle, they were not only fighting for the Basking Moon Sect, but also for their right to survive. If they performed poorly, then they had no reason to keep existing.


    Tang Jie would mercilessly wipe them from the map of the Rosecloud Domain.


    This was why they trained harder than anyone else.


    At the same time, with the entire power of the world behind it, the Dual Domain Formation was rapidly taking shape.


    The energy veins of the Thousand Origin Mountains were used as the power source, 49 mountains of the Rosecloud Domain were used as supporting pirs, 108 rivers served as the energy circuits, 365 supporting formations served as junctions, and 129,000 treasures became nodes. Finally, a vast sea of resources served as points in a massive that covered the entire Rosecloud Domain. It was so huge that even the Eight Gates Banners couldn''t be used.


    Once this formation wasplete, all of Rosecloud Domain would be under control of the Dual Domain Formation. Domain merging and domain migration were both simply different functions of this single formation. Yun Tian hadn''t known this, and Tang Jie had only realized when he got the formation diagram.


    With this formation, the Rosecloud Domain had the ability to devour another domain.


    One day, when Tang Jie was still working on the formation, Yun Tian requested his presence at the Hall of Divine Conference.


    Yun Tian had moved there from his thatched in the rear mountain.


    For Yun Tian, going from Earth Immortal to True Immortal was also a process of exiting seclusion. For those who had reached Immortal tform, seclusion and involvement were both simply means of advancing along the Immortal path. When secr matters grew bothersome, cultivators would choose to avoid them by entering seclusion. When the path forward became difficult and one needed to step back into the affairs of the world, they would do so. This was what Yun Tian was doing. Since the structure of the Rosecloud Domain was limiting his development, his only options were to leave the Rosecloud Domain and to expand the Rosecloud Domain, and neither of them called for seclusion.


    If Tang Jie hadn''t been around, he might have chosen the former. After all, it was simpler and more convenient. But Tang Jie''s presence had changed Yun Tian''s mind. Tang Jie''s sess within the Yellow Court World had made Yun Tian keenly understand the importance of having one''s own world, and the Wish Granting Spell''s protection gave him a second option. In these circumstances, Yun Tian pushed hard for a cultivator war. He no longer had a need to seclude himself in the rear mountain and now appeared in the Hall of Divine Conference to personally manage things.


    When Tang Jie arrived, Yun Tian was speaking with Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan.


    Unlike in the past, there were ten-some True Lords in attendance, and the Hall of Divine Conference seemed much more packed and lively.


    When Tang Jie arrived, he was immediately weed in, with the likes of Wei Tianchong all smiling at him.


    Yun Tian said with a smile, "You came at the perfect time. How is the progress on the Dual Domain Formation?"


    Tang Jie went over to Yun Tian and sat down. "We''re in thest phase, and if all goes as nned, it should be done in a month."


    "Great." Yun Tian nodded. "Let me ask you: if you stopped working on this, would Hong Shenji be able to finish it without any problems?"


    Tang Jie immediately replied, "The main structure isplete, and all that''s left is adding the finishing touches. I personally handled all the important parts, so there should be no problem on that front. In addition, Hong Shenji is very respectful to me, and from what I know of him, there should be no problem with his work. While the Seven Absolutions Sect has ambitions, Ji Qingfeng is a smart man and wouldn''t try any tricks in the current situation. Ancestor, is there something you need from me?"


    "That is good," Yun Tian replied in satisfaction. "With regards to the Dual Domain Formation, we originally didn''t know enough about it, and it was only when you brought the formation diagram back from Vast Wilderness that we gradually understood."


    "Is Ancestor referring to the Domain Rending?" Tang Jie asked.


    The Domain Rending was an enormous upheaval that would take ce at the start of the war, when the domain was forcibly torn open. After all, one world trying to devour another was bound to produce enormous shockwaves. These shockwaves would travel and linger for a long while, months to years. The exact time depended on the size of the opening, withrger openings producing longersting shockwaves but allowing for the transport of more troops and a faster merging speed. In return, this gave the invaded world a warning. So long as it wasn''t some primitive world with no experience, the inhabitants would realize what was happening and start making preparations. Thus, when the invading army arrived, what awaited them wouldn''t be some harvest, but a painful strike from the enemy.


    This was the Domain Rending, and it was a problem that anyone who wanted to start a cultivator war had to deal with.


    "Correct," Yun Tian replied. "The Domain Rending is a problem that every invading domain must deal with. Not only does it create a disadvantage in the early stages of the war, it also gives the enemy notice of our attack. This old man has already done the calctions, and the linking of domains will require at least three months, andplete linkage will take three years. This means that when the invasion begins, the Blood River Domain will have already been able to prepare for three months, and then for the next three years, we will find it very hard to send in arge army. This will be our weakest moment, and if the Blood River Domain seizes this opportunity to counterattack, we could suffer huge losses. We could lose the war and even be counter-invaded."


    Ling Xiao added, "After some discussion, we''ve decided that before therge-scale invasion, we should first infiltrate the Blood River Domain and sabotage their defenses."


    Tang Jie understood. "You want me to go over using the teleportation formation?"


    Everyone nodded.


    Tang Jie thought this over. "If we teleport over all of the Rosecloud Domain''s experts of Violet Pce and stronger, could we directly destroy them?"


    Xiao Biehan immediately answered, "It''s difficult! You are the person whoid down the Dual Domain Formation, so you should understand its situation the best. Using spirit stones alone to power it is far too expensive. The best method is to have someone control it. The ancestor and the Earth Immortals of the other sects need to remain here to manage the formation, so it will be hard for them to leave. Moreover, the Blood River Domain is notpletely defenseless. When you consider the total intelligence, manpower, and terrain advantage of a domain, they could even fight off a True Immortal. Having all of us go over is bound to rm them, and if we get stuck in a battle, we would be outnumbered and unsupported. Our chances of winning are low, and even if we win, it would be at a high price. In truth, other than sabotaging their defenses, we have another mission for you: to find out what trump cards the Blood River Domain is hiding. If you find any, you must work hard to destroy them, giving no chance for them to be used."


    Tang Jie understood everyone''s n.


    His mission was to infiltrate Blood River and destroy all their defenses so that when the Rosecloud Domain invaded, their losses would be minimized. Tang Jie had the transformation ability granted by Reflections of Floating Life and also had the me Celestial Sovereign, who originally belonged to the Blood River Domain and owned the Celestial me Pagoda. There was no one better than Tang Jie for this mission.


    "I see. I understand my mission. If that''s the case, I''ll get ready to head for the Blood River Domain."


    The teleportation formation in the Martial Lord''s hidden realm had been destroyed long ago, but Tang Jie knew the coordinates and could easily build another.


    "There''s no rush. We also need your help with something else," Yun Tian said.


    "What''s that?"


    Yun Tian asked, "Can your Wish Granting Spell help someone be an Earth Immortal?"


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 Chapter 978: Division and Unification

    Bing an Earth Immortal!


    This was a dream held by every Soul Projection cultivator, but it was the dream most difficult to realize.


    Many cultivators were stopped cold at this point, dying with regret.


    Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan werete-phase Soul Projection cultivators, but this final step was a yawning chasm that they could never cross. In the end, they could only watch as theter Tang Jie surpassed them.


    Originally, this wasn''t a big deal. For the more talented and capable to appear inter generations and surpass the old wasmon in the cultivation world.


    But the Violet Pce Sublimation Ceremony had given these cultivators who struggled at the threshold a ray of hope.


    This ray of hope was Tang Jie. He had given everyone a chance, brought them some expectation of sess. After all, if Tang Jie could make Soul Transformation cultivators reach Violet Pce, couldn''t he make Violet Pce cultivators reach Immortal tform?


    This question had been on their minds for some time, and finally, Yun Tian had asked it on behalf of everyone else.


    Tang Jie was taken aback by Yun Tian''s question, and then he smiled. "I understand now. I''m sure that all of you must have had this question for some time, right?"Everyone blushed.


    Ling Xiao coughed. "Tang Jie, I know that this isn''t something easy to do. Immortal tform is far more difficult to reach than Violet Pce, and we won''t be surprised to hear that it''s not possible¡­"


    Tang Jie answered, "I actually tried. While the situation isn''t as bad as you think, it''s also not that great."


    Everyone was startled, asking in unison, "What do you mean?"


    Only Ling Xiao understood. "Are you saying that you can''t do it now, but you might be able to in the future?"


    Tang Jie smiled and nodded. "Master is correct. Theoretically, the Wish Granting Spell should have no problem bringing someone to Immortal tform, but it takes too much power, so much that it''s basically impossible, even if it''s one page per person. With my current Fate power, I''m still a distance away from helping Master and Martial Uncle seed. But in the future, as the gap shrinks, it might be possible."


    Yun Tian immediately asked, "How long will it take?"N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Currently, the only peak Soul Projection cultivators of the Basking Moon Sect were Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan. If they became Earth Immortals, they would provide a huge boost to the Basking Moon Sect''s prestige.


    Tang Jie answered, "It''s hard to say. It''s dependent on two things. One is my own Dao power. The stronger I grow in the Dao of Fate, the greater my influence. But Daos most rely onprehension, which has a limited rtionship to time spent cultivating. Some people can go their entire lives withoutprehending a Dao, while some people only need one or two days. Even though I''ve entered the Dao of Fate, if I want to go even further, I still have to abide by this principle. Unless the time hase, it will be difficult to progress. Of course, because I''ve alreadyprehended the Dao, if I spent several hundred years studying it, I would probably make some progress, but it would be very inefficient. This was how I managed to enter the Dao of Fate, but that took one hundred years. The second aspect depends on Master and Martial Uncle."


    Yun Tian understood. "You mean their distance from Immortal tform?"


    "Precisely."


    The Wish Granting Spell worked upon the original chances of sess. The stronger one''s foundation, the greater one''s chances of reaching Immortal tform, which would mean less Dao power required for the Wish Granting Spell. He had already confirmed this.


    Thus, if they wanted to ensure ascension, the two would first have to increase their chances, which was more reliable than waiting for Tang Jie''s Fate Dao power to grow.


    With a thousand years of cultivation behind them, Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan had long ago broken through the Heaven¨CMan Union phase and were on the steady road to sess. If they didn''t have to divide their attention between cultivating and the various matters of the sect, they might have made even more progress.


    Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan looked at each other, a n forming in their minds.


    Yun Tian clearly shared the same idea, nodding his head. "Over the years, the two of you have had to manage the sect, and while you have contributed so much, you dyed your cultivation as a result. It is now time to put down sect matters and focus on cultivation. In my view, the two of you should resign from your positions as Sect Master and Swordholder and hand off the tasks to Mystic Moon and Nine Splendors so that you can focus on cultivation."


    Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan were delighted. "Many thanks, Ancestor!"


    Authority was obtained so that one could better develop. When authority impeded one''s development, it became a burden that needed to be cast aside.


    As for Mystic Moon and Nine Splendors, they were both still at Deification, so there was no need for them to consider Immortal tform yet. Resources still had a lot of meaning for them, so taking up the positions of Sect Master and Swordholder would help them forward rather than hinder them and was exactly what they wanted. As for the others, only Ming Yekong was making the push to Deification, with the rest just having reached Infant Tending, so there was no point in thinking that far ahead.


    Hearing that Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan were resigning, Tang Jie said, "Since Master and Third Martial Uncle have both set aside sect affairs, you might as welle with me to the Blood River Domain. When war is imminent, the heavens will react, and the world will be gripped by great change, danger, and instability. If you are able to harness it to your benefit using Fate, you might be able to encounter some great fortune that will let you reach Immortal tform."


    Great danger was also life. Tang Jie had gotten to Immortal tform over the graves of quite a few Earth Immortals. And now that a great war was about to fall on the Blood River Domain, it was possible for Tang Jie to create opportunity out of danger. In truth, Tang Jie didn''t want just Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan to reach Immortal tform. He wanted the same for Xu Miaoran and Yiyi. As the saying went, when one person achieved the Dao, even their chickens and dogs ascended to heaven. Advancing all by oneself on the long Immortal path was too lonely, and if Tang Jie had the power, he wanted to bring along hispanions.


    The Wish Granting Book still had eight pages. Tang Jie hoped that it could create at least eight Earth Immortals, and it seemed four were already reserved.


    With the discussion over, the handing-off process began. Three dayster, Yun Tian used the Lunar Wheel to announce the transition in power. There was much discussion about the resignations of Ling Xiao and Xiao Biehan, with some conspiracy theorists thinking that this was an internal purge of the Basking Moon Sect, the old falling out of power. The more clear-minded realized that this was a sign that the Basking Moon Sect was seeking even more development, that it wanted to upgrade the Violet Pce Sublimation Ceremony to an Immortal Ascension Ceremony.


    Regardless of what the masses thought, the people at the center of this vortex had already left the Rosecloud Domain and arrived at the Blood River Domain.


    This world was much the same as Tang Jie had left it, but the visitor had changed. On his first visit, he had been a fugitive on the run, but now he was performing reconnaissance for a conquest.


    As Xiao Biehan emerged from the diagram, he looked up at the crimson clouds and asked, "This is the Blood River Domain? Do you know where we are?"


    Tang Jie shook his head. "Once Miaoran''s store came under suspicion, it became closely watched. In order to not be discovered, I adjusted the coordinates. However, the slightest adjustment to a domain-crossing teleportation can result in arge error, so I can''t be sure if we arrived at the ce I wanted. But this isn''t a problem, as we happen to have a local boss of the Blood River Domain with us."


    He let out the me Celestial Sovereign.


    The me Celestial Sovereign sighed upon seeing his old haunt, but s, Tang Jie wouldn''t give him much time to be sentimental. He flew into the air, and after some investigation, he said, "This is the southeastern region of Blood River, the territory of the humans."


    Tang Jie smiled.


    Blood River consisted of seven regions, with fiends upying four, demons two, and humans only one. And the southeastern human region was exactly where Tang Jie had tried to go. The me Celestial Sovereign''s confirmation had him sighing in relief.


    "It seems you already have a n," Ling Xiao said.


    Tang Jie nodded. "We''re also humans, so we naturally have the greatest advantage if we mingle with fellow humans. Moreover, in this cultivator war, relying on the Rosecloud Domain alone would be too exhausting. It would be best if we could have some allies in the Blood River Domain. The humans have always been the weakest party in the Blood River Domain. If we try, we could possibly recruit them, which would make our work much easier. Moreover, war is all about having a pretext. Once we contact the humans here and have them invite us in, we could charge in with the excuse of rescuing the humans from peril, and righteousness will be on our side. The world favors the righteous and scorns those who defy it, so we would also have the favor of Fate. In addition, with the help of the native humans, we could also gain a greater understanding of the Blood River Domain''s internal affairs and more easily discover anything that could threaten Immortal tform cultivators."


    Ling Xiao and the others nodded in agreement.


    Recruiting the humans gave them both an ally, vital information, and a pretext, so there was no better option. As for after the war, like the Star Radiant Gate, given the vastnds of the Blood River Domain, there was nock of space to give away. The only ones suffering would be the fiends and demons. Considering that they were hostile to humans anyway, they could be killed without the slightest sense of guilt.


    Ling Xiao praised, "While you don''t have any impressive military aplishments, you already have a mind for military strategy. It''s no wonder you were able to achieve so much sess."


    Xiao Biehan said, "This is an excellent n, but how exactly will we carry it out?"


    "It''s simple. We provoke the existing hatred between the two sides," Tang Jie answered.


    And there were plenty of ways to do that.


    There was deep-seated resentment between the three races. It was just that the humans had always been the weakest, so they had retreated to their corner in the southeast and avoided any conflict that they could.


    The arrival of Tang Jie''s group was going to change all this.


    Tang Jie''s n was to have everyone split up and then bully any fiends or demons they encountered, making them so angry that they would counterattack. It wouldn''t be long before the fiends and demons would be enraged ande together against the humans.


    At that time, the Rosecloud Domain would have an opportunity toe forward.


    Ling Xiao, Xiao Biehan, Xu Miaoran, and Yiyi were tasked with this. With their strength, so long as they didn''t linger in any one ce for too long, they could freely travel across this world.


    As for Tang Jie, he had something more important to do.


    He was going to mingle with the humans.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 979: Courage

    Once it was decided to split up, Tang Jie bid farewell to Ling Xiao and the others. He originally intended to keep Xu Miaoran at his side, but Xu Miaoran insisted on going off on her own. Realizing that she wasn''t strong enough to keep up with Tang Jie and understanding that she wouldn''t be very useful at his side, she decided to go off on her own, giving her more opportunities to use her own strength and wit.


    Tang Jie understood this and ultimately let her go.


    Xu Miaoran left, as did Yiyi.


    This brother and sister had almost never been separated before, but today, Yiyi wanted to do as Xu Miaoran had done and do something on her own, no longer being like Tang Jie''s shadow.


    Everyone had to grow up and whether it was early orte, they ultimately had to go off on their own road.


    Tang Jie was feeling this very deeply at this moment.


    The Azure Dragon, Lithos Dragon, and Vermillion Bird also left on their own missions, ultimately leaving him with just the Mother Cloudbat puppet and the me Celestial Sovereign.


    Once everyone was gone, Tang Jie said to the me Celestial Sovereign, "I left you here because I have another mission for you, which I''m sure you can guess."


    The me Celestial Sovereign sighed. "You want me to go back to the Celestial me Pagoda and oversee things?"Tang Jie nodded. "The human faction is the open resistance, but we also need an ally in the shadows, and the Celestial me Pagoda is a fine choice."


    The Celestial me Pagoda wasn''t within one of the seven regions and was its own faction, but in the end, it still belonged to the Blood River Domain. If a cultivator war began, the domain was bound to internally unite, including the Celestial me Pagoda, which made it an excellent spy.


    This was the mission Tang Jie had given to the me Celestial Sovereign.


    The me Celestial Sovereign established amunication method with Tang Jie and then headed to the Celestial me Pagoda.


    After doing all this, Tang Jie turned and flew in the direction of the human hearnd.


    It wasn''t long before he reached a vast in, a cold and deste ce without a single inhabitant for miles around. Strangely, despite the soil being rather fertile, no crops were nted here.


    As he continued flying, he finally saw a small vige. It was extremely small, with only several dozen inhabitants, most of whom were old. When they saw Tang Jie, they immediately started to run. Tang Jie was forced to use a spell art to awe them, making them kowtow to him, so that he couldmunicate with them.


    Tang Jie learned from them that this ce was called the Cloudsea ins, and it was located on the outermost rim of human territory. To the east was the first stronghold of the humans, the Skywater Pass. As for where Tang Jie hade from, it was the intersection of the seven regions, the most chaotic ce where bandits asionally roamed and raided from. This was why the region was so uninhabited and why those vigers had been so terrified.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but sigh.


    Ordinary people truly had a hard time surviving in a ce where humans were weak. Thus, the Rosecloud Domain conquering the Blood River Domain would be a blessing for the humans here.


    After leaving some food for the vigers, Tang Jie departed.


    After flying for around four hours, Tang Jie spotted two groups of people flying in the distance.


    Three people flew at the front, two men and one woman. They didn''t appear old, and they had decent cultivation levels, two being at Cognitive Creation and one at Spirit Ring.


    They were being pursued by a group of Hemos cultivators, who, while seething with killing intent, had rather mediocre cultivation levels. The highest among them was only at Spirit Ring. While they didn''t have much advantage in cultivation, they did have greater numbers.


    A bystander would have run off long ago, but Tang Jie was here to make trouble, and if it didn''te to him, he would have to go looking for it. Since these Hemos had shown up in front of him, Tang Jie was happy to go and meet them.


    The three spotted Tang Jieing over and shouted, "Leave! It''s a Hemos hunting squad!"


    Tang Jie didn''t know what a Hemos hunting squad was, but the fact that these three could think of someone else''s well-being in their situation gave Tang Jie a very positive impression. He shouted, "Cruel fiends seek the extinction of humanity! Any human cultivator has a duty to punish them!"@@novelbin@@


    He unleashed a howling gale at the Hemos cultivators.


    He was currently acting as a Celestial Heart cultivator, so the power of this attack wasn''t strong. However, it was enough topletely overwhelm them, at the level of a Heart Demon cultivator. This wasn''t something those ten-some Hemos cultivators could handle.


    But as the gale approached, the Hemos cultivators roared and raised their hands. A crimson cloud formed from their concentrated powers and blocked his attack.


    "Eh?" Tang Jie was astonished.


    It wasn''t surprising for the Hemos to have abination attack. The key here was that it was a rather effective one.


    When it came tobination attack formations, there were normally several attributes that were important. The first was the degree of ovepping. Inbination attacks, ovepping the energy would consume some of it, and the amount consumed determined the quality of the formation. The ones used by the six major sects of Rosecloud all consumed the minimum amount, or else they wouldn''t be threatening enough. The second aspect was the range and reaction speed, the third was the difficulty to use and power consumption, and thest was the flexibility.


    These various factors meant thatbination attacks came in all sorts of forms and effects.


    Thebination attack used by these Hemos cultivators was clearly an extremely profound formation, at least when it came to reaction, consumption, and flexibility. That they possessed this kind of formation meant that they had considerable backing.


    Sure enough, the three human cultivators shouted, "Be careful! This Hemos hunting squad has powerfulbination attacks!"


    These three took Tang Jie for a Heart Demon cultivator and rejoiced, but they also sounded the warning. Although it hade a littlete, at least they had good intentions.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "I understand."


    He chopped his palm, unleashing a wind de that shot at the Hemos. These cultivators showed no fear of this "Heart Demon" cultivator, but this time, as the wind de crashed into the crimson cloud shield, the shield trembled before shattering with a bang.


    Everyone was stunned. The wind de hadn''t seemed that strong, so how had it so easily broken theirbination shield?


    A Hemos cultivator quickly realized what was going on, shouting, "He knows the weakness of the blood formation!"


    Indeed, Tang Jie had struck the critical weakness of the shield. With his eyes, finding the weakness was far too easy. He hadn''t even needed to use his Celestial Eye.


    But the Hemos remained calm, their leader shouting, "Count yourself lucky! Let''s go!"


    He waved his hand, preparing to retreat.


    Tang Jie raised an eyebrow. "After attacking, you think you can just leave? What do you take us humans for?"


    Just when he was about to attack, the three humans rushed over and said, "Sir, don''t stop them! Let them leave!"


    "Oh? Why?"


    Tang Jie turned to them, and one of them replied, "This Hemos hunting squad belongs to a powerful group of border bandits led by a Violet Pce True Lord. This is only one of their teams. If we kill them, it will only bring us more trouble."


    "Is that so? So you mean they can chase you around, but we can''t strike back?" Tang Jie coolly said, ncing at the retreating Hemos cultivators. These Hemos, despite knowing that the enemy was stronger than them, were in no hurry to retreat at all, even carrying a little swagger as they flew off. It was clear that they were not at all worried about this "Heart Demon" cultivator. They probably assumed that ending the hunt was the limit of what humans could do.


    The woman among the three humans grumbled, "The humans are weak, so what can we do?"


    Tang Jie snorted. "So have the humans been bullied so much that they don''t even have a drop of courage left? If you let yourself be bullied so much, why are you even cultivators?"


    These words made the three humans shiver.


    Tang Jie lectured, "The Immortal path has countless dangers. Since you have decided to walk this path, you should bravely press forward with no fear of death. If you''re constantly worried about enemies ahead and behind, what exactly will you be able to achieve? Even if cultivators don''t ask for it, there are still heroes among the ordinary folk. If your country is in danger, you should be willing to die for it, not only enjoying its fortune and running when dangeres! A hero in life and a martyr in death! Even ordinary people can understand this, but cultivators don''t! Tragic!"


    The three felt ashamed, and their blood began to boil.


    Tang Jie continued, "The Hemos push humans too far, so we cultivators should resist with violence, putting our lives on the line to wipe them out!"


    These final words were like a wake-up call, and the three humans shouted in unison, "You''re right!"


    They charged at the Hemos hunting squad.


    While it seemed like Tang Jie had used his passionate words to incite them, in truth, cultivators had honed their minds for many years and were not so easily moved. Tang Jie had actually used a few charming spells when speaking. Of course, he was no expert in this category of spells, but given that he was an Earth Immortal, all he needed was a little push to have these three offering up their lives to him, let alone something as small as this.


    The Hemos sneered at the daring of these three, several of them preparing spell arts to obliterate them.


    Tang Jie simply smiled and snapped his fingers, upon which the Hemos found that the surrounding spiritual energy became extremely difficult to use.


    At the Violet Pce level, one could suppress spiritual energy to a certain extent, making it difficult for one''s opponents to use spiritual energy and cast spells. At Tang Jie''s level, one could target specific individuals with this suppression.


    He didn''t go for full suppression, simply weakening the Hemos so that they cast spells several times slower and what they did manage to cast was much weaker. Even their art relics were no longer as powerful.


    Meanwhile, the three humans were unaffected, unleashing a storm of attacks that had the Hemos howling in despair.

 Chapter 980: Red Leaf Alliance (1)

    Su Hongmei had never been so happy fighting before.


    When facing the Hemos, she had always been the one being beaten and chased. Never once had she been able to beat them up to her heart''s content. As the blood in her veins boiled, she used everything she had learned, and those normally aloof Hemos became like stray dogs, desperately trying to flee.


    Su Hongmei was so excited that she didn''t even consider why her opponents had suddenly be so weak. She simply fought with all her might, unleashing spell art after spell art. Under thebined power of the three humans, the Hemos cultivators died one by one, and soon, they had all been in.


    Once the Hemos cultivators were all dead, the three finally calmed down and realized what they had done.


    One of them paled and shouted, "We killed them! We killed the Hemos hunting squad!"


    His name was Wang An, and he was Su Hongmei''s senior brother. He was the most timid of them, so when he realized that they had killed all the Hemos, his first reaction was fear.


    "Yeah, we killed them. What''s so scary about that?" the other cultivator tersely replied. This was Su Cang, Su Hongmei''s older brother, and he was the strongest of the three as a Spirit Ring cultivator.


    The charming spell Tang Jie had used on them was set up specifically to expire after the battle was over so that he could see what their real reactions would be. It now seemed that this Su Cang had a little guts. Although it was Tang Jie who had given him the courage to strike, at least he wasn''t acting horrified and was openly confronting reality.


    "Strange¡ªhow did our opponents be so weak?" Confusion appeared in Su Hongmei''s eyes.During the battle, she had been immersed in the pleasure ofbat, but once the battle was over, other thoughts began to take hold. There was the fear of death, but there was also confusion over their victory.


    Su Hongmei was well aware of the difference in strength between the parties, so their victory was rather suspect.


    From behind them, Tang Jie said, "These people were struck by my Spring Breeze Erosion spell. Anyone struck by it will feel weak and unable to use spiritual energy."


    Rather than trying to cover things up, it was better to just admit that he had made the enemy weaker. Su Hongmei had nothing to say to such a reasonable exnation.


    Meanwhile, Su Cang clearly didn''t have as many worries, excitedly saying, "So it was thanks to Sir''s secret art! It''s all thanks to Sir that we were able to escape danger and kill those cultivators."


    His line of thinking was rather simple. Since this person had saved them, then whatever he said was right, and if he was saving them, it madeplete sense for him to weaken the enemy and work with them to kill the Hemos.


    Tang Jie smiled. "While it is a formidable spell art, it prevents the user from moving, so it''s thanks to you three that they could all be in. If I were alone, it would have been very difficult for me to take them out."


    His real intent behind this statement was to tie everyone together and ensure that no one could shirk responsibility.


    Wang An worriedly said, "Regardless, killing a hunting squad is a big deal. That Li Xiao won''t let this matter go."


    The mention of Li Xiao caused the faces of the Su siblings to darken.


    Tang Jie asked, "Who is this Li Xiao?"


    Su Cang replied, "Li Xiao is the captain of the Hemos hunting squads, an Infant Tending Violet Pce cultivator of unfathomable strength."


    Tang Jie almost burst outughing at the use of "unfathomable strength", but considering their cultivation levels, an Infant Tending cultivator truly did fit this descriptor. Thus, he only said, "Among the hundreds of thousands of cultivators of my human race, is there not a single Infant Tending cultivator?"


    Su Hongmei replied, "Of course there is. The human race has its own Titans. But we humans can''tpare to the power of the fiends and demons, who have their own Titans. We are greatly outnumbered, so we don''t dare to recklessly start fights."


    "So an Infant Tending junior is allowed to run rampant on the Cloudsea?" Tang Jie asked.


    The three humans rolled their eyes.


    <em>"An Infant Tending junior is allowed to run rampant"? You''re only at Heart Demon yourself, and you dare to call someone at Infant Tending a junior? Do you realize how big the gap is?</em>


    But since this person had saved their life, they didn''t try to argue too much.


    Su Hongmei tactfully replied, "Li Xiao alone isn''t someone to be afraid of, but Li Xiao belongs to the Bloodfiend Alliance. The Bloodfiend Alliance consists of eighteen Hemos tribes and is too powerful to contend with. Thus, while those Hemos hunting squads seem like bandits of the Cloudsea ins, they''re actually a vanguard for the Bloodfiend Alliance. Provoking them means having to watch out for the vengeance of the entire Bloodfiend Alliance."


    "I see." Tang Jie nodded.


    Through the inter-domain trade, Rosecloud had learned a lot about the Blood River Domain. Tang Jie knew that the Bloodfiend Alliance was a powerful Hemos organization that included the majority of the Hemos tribes. It was this alliance that was the number one faction of the entire Blood River Domain. Second to it was the Demon Gate.


    The demons of the Blood River Domain primarily consisted of cultivators who cultivated Demon Gate arts and became demons. They could not strictly be considered demons, only to carry some demon nature. They weren''tpletely irredeemable like the demons of the Primordial Fog Domain, with some of them even being able to retain their humanity. Hei Yan had been an example of one. In reality, they were rejected by both the demons of the Primordial Fog and the humans. These demon cultivators, unable to join either of these sides, could only form their own demon faction. Moreover, there were also some real Primordial Fog demons in the territory of the Demon Gate, and together with the demon cultivators, they formed the main body of the demon race in the Blood River Domain.


    Inparison, while the humans had their own alliances, they were the weakest, and not only were they weak, they refused to join together.


    This single region was home to threerge alliances and seven small alliances, each with their own designs. It was no wonder the humans were being pressed so hard.


    The three before him came from one of the small human alliances, the Red Leaf Alliance.


    The Red Leaf Alliance consisted of four sects, with their leader being the Red Maple Association, the sect that Su Hongmei''s group belonged to. Its sect master was a Deification True Lord. The other three sects were also each led by a single True Lord. Put together, the Red Leaf Alliance alone was stronger than the Hemos hunting squads.


    Even so, the Red Leaf Alliance''s people still fled for their lives, the reason being that the gap between the strength of their respective backers was too big.


    The Su siblings were disciples of Red Maple Association Master Liu Nanshan, and they had beening back from a mission to pick up goods when they had been attacked. If Tang Jie hadn''t intervened, they would have been devoured and lost together with the goods.


    After hearing all this, Tang Jie introduced himself as Tang Chong, a wandering cultivator. The three thanked Tang Jie for saving their lives and invited him to stay at the Red Leaf Alliance.


    This Red Leaf Alliance was located in Thousand Autumns City, a day''s journey from here.


    The four of them ended up arriving at Thousand Autumns City by nightfall.


    The headquarters of the Red Leaf Alliance was located right outside Thousand Autumns City, on the slopes of the mountains to the west. Tang Jie saw a mountain covered in green bamboo and waterfalls. Although the mountain wasn''t particrly tall, it was a lush and picturesque ce. But Tang Jie couldn''t help but frown.


    Whether in Rosecloud, Vast Wilderness, or even the Verdant Cloud Domain, all the bases of Immortal sects emphasized majestic spectacle so as to embody the grandeur and ambition of a major sect. While picturesquendscapes like this did exist, they were mainly reserved for the residences of recluses who sought peace and quiet, away from the affairs of the world.


    The Red Leaf Alliance was all about worldly affairs, but it disyed an elegant and secluded atmosphere that signified ack of ambition. It was no wonder its achievements were so limited.


    Su Hongmei didn''t know that the Red Leaf Alliance''s choice of location was being objected to, excitedly exining, "This is the headquarters of my Red Leaf Alliance. Beautiful, right?"


    Tang Jie inly answered, "Elegant and secluded, a picturesque ce perfect for retirement."@@novelbin@@


    Su Hongmei, with her pure thoughts, failed to catch his meaning, proudly raising her head and saying, "Of course. Big Brother Tang,e with me. I''ll take you to see my Red Leaf Alliance''s Scarlet Cloud Forest. This is a famous sight of Thousand Autumns City."


    She pulled Tang Jie along.


    Tang Jie had a youthful appearance and had the cultivation of the Heart Demon Tier. This was two tiers above Su Hongmei, but it wasn''t a huge difference, so Su Hongmei didn''t treat him like a senior and called him "Big Brother". Of course, this was only a privilege he afforded to women. Another person would have been pped countless times by now.


    As Su Hongmei guided Tang Jie through the gates of the Red Leaf Alliance, a cultivator came flying out of the distance. He also didn''t seem very old. Bearing an eagle-like nose and sharp eyes, he flew by on arge sword. When he spotted Su Hongmei, he excitedly had the sword fly down. Once it was near the ground, he jumped off and said, "Junior Sister, you''ve returned! Was your journey smooth?"


    Su Hongmei lowered her head. "Greetings, Senior Brother Tao."


    Senior Brother Tao turned to Tang Jie. "And who are you? Daring to intrude on my Red Leaf Alliance?"


    Given that he had seen Su Hongmei pull Tang Jie inside, it was clear that he was looking for trouble. Having noticed the jealousy in his eyes, Tang Jie instantly knew what was going on.


    This was definitely one of Su Hongmei''s suitors feeling a little possessive.


    In truth, this wasn''t anything rare among youths. It was just that ever since entering the Basking Moon Sect, Tang Jie and his peers had all been earnestly striving on the Immortal path, so none of them had time to bicker over love. Unexpectedly, it was only now that he was an Earth Immortal that he had run into such a thing. At this, he didn''t know whether tough or cry, feeling a sense of both glee and regret.


    The glee came from being able to experience this "missing" part of life, and the regret from the fact that someone of his status gained no joy from stomping on people of this level.


    But sometimes, stomping on people wasn''t for joy. It might solely be for the sake of amusement, a sudden impulse¡ªlike seeing a beetle on the road and stomping it to death just to hear the crunch.


    Tang Jie suddenly felt like hearing that crunch.


    So he said, "Roll off."


    This was imbued with Law Speaking, so Su Hongmei witnessed Senior Brother Tao immediately rolling away with his hands over his head.

 Chapter 981: Red Leaf Alliance (2)

    Su Hongmei watched with wide eyes as her senior brother rolled away. Although she had never liked this senior brother of hers, she had never seen him like this before.


    Senior Brother Tao rolled and rolled, only stopping after several dozen meters.


    The effects of Law Speaking disappeared, and Senior Brother Tao finally regained control of his body and was able to stand back up. Unfortunately, all that rolling had left him bedraggled and filthy, particrly as there had been some dog feces on his path which he had rolled right through. He was now covered in the stuff, smelling as awful as he looked.


    Su Hongmei couldn''t help butugh.


    "Bastard!" As Senior Brother Tao looked at himself, he grew angrier and angrier.


    He couldn''t believe that something like this had happened to him. He red at Tang Jie, the mes of fury zing in his eyes.


    "Seeking death!" he roared, pulling out a silver hook and swinging it at Tang Jie.


    He loathed Tang Jie for the humiliation rendered upon him and held nothing back in this attack, the silver hook glowing with a frosty light.


    Tang Jie simply thrust out a finger, and the moment it touched the hook, it froze, and then it erupted in a burst of light and shrapnel."My Frost Hook!" Senior Brother Tao instinctively howled, dumbfounded by the sight.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, drawing a golden grain into his palm.


    Ever since reaching Violet Pce, he rarely used the Weapon Mantra. This was mainly because his opponents were strong and their treasures too valuable to shatter. But since he had run into a Spirit Ring piece of trash with a decent art relic, wouldn''t it be a waste to not shatter it?


    After gathering the golden grain, Tang Jie walked deeper into the Red Leaf Alliance, totally ignoring Senior Brother Tao.


    Su Hongmei followed in shock. "You actually shattered Senior Brother Tao''s Frost Hook?"


    Tang Jie casually replied, "Is that surprising? He''s just a Spirit Ring cultivator, one tier lower than me. It''s not strange that I can shatter his art relic."


    "This is different," Su Hongmei replied. "The Frost Hook was forged by his master using Absolute Yin Ice Iron, and it took three whole years to forge, so it''s not so easily broken. He once fought against a Heart Demon cultivator using this treasure, and it wasn''t destroyed then. Even his own master couldn''t do it."


    While Su Hongmei called him "Senior Brother", they weren''t actually from the same sect.


    "That''s just because his master was unwilling to," Tang Jie chuckled.


    This was true. Even without the Weapon Mantra, there were plenty of cultivators who could shatter treasures. The real secret of the Weapon Mantra wasn''t in the ability to shatter, but the ability to create.


    It was a tool of creation, not destruction, the culmination of the Metal Dao, the Greater Essence of the Weapon Dao!


    Su Hongmei bemoaned, "Although Senior Brother was rude, shattering his art relic was also inappropriate. This will be a big problem."@@novelbin@@


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "If this puts you in a difficult spot, then this Tang will simply take his leave."


    Tang Jie turned and began to walk away.


    He had barely made it a few steps when a voice came from deeper within. "Honored guest, why are you leaving so soon? My ignorant disciple offended you, and he was properly punished for it."


    A gentle breeze swept out, blocking Tang Jie''s path.


    This breeze contained the power to hold back a Heart Demon cultivator, and while Tang Jie needed only a thought to break through, he still stopped, letting that breeze hold him back while he feigned shock.


    The gates of the Red Leaf Alliance opened wide, and that voice continued, "Honored guest, pleasee in."


    Su Hongmei leaned over and said, "Master is personally inviting you in. Big Brother Tang, please don''t refuse."


    So this was the Alliance Lord of the Red Leaf Alliance, Liu Nanshan?


    From the move just now, it appeared that he at least had a very precise control over his strength, which made him worthy of his title.


    Tang Jie originally hadn''t nned to leave, and since he was being invited, he decided to stride on in.


    Without a Senior Brother Tao to stop him, he went straight through and eventually came before arge hall.


    Several people were seated in the hall, their leader a lean-faced, dignified man in a green robe, who was probably Liu Nanshan. There were three others besides him: a giant muscr man, a ck-robed elder, and a young woman in a pce gown. All of them were at Infant Tending and were likely the leaders of the other three sects of the Red Leaf Alliance: the Heavenly Saber Gate, the ck Frost Sect, and the Incense Weave Sect.


    The Su siblings were disciples of Liu Nanshan, but Wang An was the nephew of the Heavenly Saber Gate''s Wang Zhanshan. Upon seeing their elders, they immediately prostrated and exined what they had experienced.


    The two sect masters grunted when they heard that the Hemos hunting squad had been after their disciples, but when they heard that their disciples had struck back, they turned grave and hesitant, clearly worried about possible counterattack.


    Since their disciples had been saved, they didn''t criticize Tang Jie too much, but the sect master of the ck Frost Sect, Mo Wuxin, rudely said, "Scoundrel, the Hemos are ascendant, and we humans are doing our best to avoid their attention, but you dared to strike back? Don''t you understand the disaster this could bring on us?"


    This man was Senior Brother Tao''s master, and he was gravely displeased over how Tang Jie had made his disciple roll around like a ball. He had already been holding himself back, so when he heard that Tang Jie had helped their cultivators kill members of the Hemos hunting squad, he finally lost hisposure.


    He also added, "I think we should tie him up and send him to the Hemos to be executed. This along with some resources aspensation should be enough to smooth things over."


    "What?" Su Hongmei paled.


    She immediately stood in front of Tang Jie and shouted, "For what? Big Brother Tang only intervened to save us, and we were the ones who did the killing. Why should he be the one handed over? If you want to hand someone over, hand over us!"


    "Bastard!" Mo Wuxin barked. "Not only did you make a mess of your mission, now you dare go against your superiors? Realize that my proposal is to save you. Do you have to wait until the Hemose over to know regret?"


    Su Cang resentfully said, "Old Mo, that''s not right at all. Why is our Red Leaf Alliance in Thousand Autumns City? Isn''t this because this is the front line against the Hemos and demons? We''re here with the solemn responsibility of protecting humanity, so how can we sell out our heroes before the enemy is even here?"


    Mo Wuxin roared, "It''s precisely to protect humanity that we have to do things this way! Or do you want to provoke the Hemos cultivator army intoing over and wiping us out?"


    Su Cang retorted, "Protecting by sacrificing our heroes?"


    "Correct!"


    The two quarreled to the point of blows, ring each other down. Even though Su Cang was only at Spirit Ring, an entire realm separating him from an Infant Tending cultivator, he didn''t back down in the slightest.


    Mo Wuxin trembled in rage, but just when he was about to speak, Luo Xiangran, the sect master of the Incense Weave Sect, said, "Alright, enough. Why are you even arguing? We''re on the same side. Bickering like this will only make outsiders think less of us."


    Su Hongmei raised an eyebrow. "Sect Master Luo, there are no outsiders here. Big Brother Tang is a Heart Demon cultivator of profound cultivation who saved us, so we n to invite him to our Red Leaf Alliance, adding a powerful ally to our forces."


    Mo Wuxin immediately said, "''Powerful ally''? More like ''walking disaster''!"


    Su Cang was going to argue, but Liu Nanshan interrupted, "Alright, enough arguing."


    Everyone stopped and looked to Liu Nanshan. This wasn''t only because he was the Alliance Lord, but also because he was the only Deification cultivator among them and also because he was known for being impartial. While Tang Jie judged him ascking daring, in the eyes of the Red Leaf Alliance, he was a reliable Alliance Lord.


    Liu Nanshan looked at Tang Jie and said, "Sir Tang saved my lowly disciples, so I express my gratitude. Come; gift this man one hundred Blood Jades."


    Someone immediately came forward with a jade tray upon which one hundred Blood Jades were neatly stacked. These were a cultivation resource of the Blood River Domain that was neither too great nor too bad. For the price of saving someone''s life, it was clearlycking.


    But these one hundred Blood Jades made the Su siblings tremble in realization.


    Sure enough, Liu Nanshan then said, "Sect Master Mo''s words, while unpleasant to hear, are reasonable. The Hemos are the stronger force, and we humans cannot afford to offend them. The Hemos are bound to take revenge for the loss of their hunting squad."


    "Master¡­" Su Hongmei said in a trembling voice.


    Liu Nanshan was deaf to her words. "But I do not support handing you over to the Hemos. My Red Leaf Alliance does not return kindness with evil, nor have we retreated to this level."


    The Su siblings rxed.


    Liu Nanshan went on, "Thus, we will not send you to the Hemos hunting squads, but unfortunately, we also cannot ept you into the Red Leaf Alliance. In the end, the Red Leaf Alliance cannot give the Hemos a reason to attack. Please, Sir, take these Blood Jades and leave."


    All was silent in the hall.


    Tang Jie gazed at the tray of Blood Jades and then pointed at the Su siblings. "What about those three?"


    Liu Nanshan froze, and then he silently gazed at his disciples.


    Tang Jie understood.


    The future of the Su siblings would depend on the attitude of the Hemos.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "There''s something that I''m wondering if I should say or not."


    Liu Nanshan raised his hand. "Please, speak your mind."


    Tang Jie said, "Within the Blood River Domain, the humans, fiends, and demons are the reigning factions, with the fiends being the strongest and the humans the weakest. But why is it that the fiends have never exterminated the humans? Is it because we''ve been yielding ground all this time?"


    He looked up at the four sect masters, who said nothing.


    "You all know the answer, right? If they only yielded, humans would have been exterminated long ago. Humans have been able to survive until now, even holding on to this single region not through yielding and forbearance, but through courage and fists, through countless cultivators throwing themselves into battle over the countless years!


    "Can the fiends exterminate us? They can! But they don''t dare!


    "Why? Because they are well aware of how high the price they have to pay for it will be, and with the demons watching, they don''t dare to pay up.


    "This is why humans have been able to survive until now, through our guts, our courage, our lives! Yes, the humans are outmatched and can''t afford to provoke our foes, but if theye at us, we can''t back down. As the front line of humanity, confronting the advance of the Hemos, if we keep retreating and retreating, can this even be considered a front line? And is this kind of cultivator a cultivator of humanity?"


    Everyone was moved by his words.


    Tang Jie took in a deep breath. "Don''t let them slowly grind away at our will! Don''t let them extinguish our courage! When the timees to fight, we human cultivators should fight!"


    Tang Jie turned and strode out of the hall.

 Chapter 982: Pernicious Plot

    "Tang Chong!" a voice called out to Tang Jie.


    He turned and saw Su Hongmei gazing admiringly at him.


    This girl had always been wanting to learn how to grow stronger and reach higher realms, but there had been some things that she had never even considered before.


    Tang Jie''s words today had been a wake-up call.


    Tang Jie hadn''t been bbering nonsense. Humans had always had a tough path to survive. Not every world was dominated by humans as the Rosecloud Domain was, and there were actually many ruled by other races, like the Blood River Domain and the Verdant Cloud Domain. In the vast cosmos, there were many other races fighting with humanity for the right to survive. While all of them shared amon enemy in the Primordial Fog, they also had their own grudges with each other.


    This was why there were cultivator wars.


    One could say that the first cultivator wars were racial wars. Onlyter did they develop into a game where the strong devoured the weak.


    Even so, Tang Jie was notpletely willing to subscribe to the principle of the strong eating the weak. He had found his own source of righteousness in this war, not just for this war, but for the other wars in the future. The Rosecloud Domain would not conquer the worlds controlled by humans, only the worlds where humans found it difficult to survive, and it would do so only to coexist and not exterminate the native humans of those worlds.


    This was a righteous cause!A righteous cause that all humans had to uphold!


    It was because Tang Jie believed in and persisted in this conviction that he was able to influence the others. This wasn''t a spell art, but it was more effective and direct than any kind of spell art.


    Liu Nanshan and the others turned pensive. It was clear that Tang Jie''s words had triggered something inside them.


    From their expressions, Tang Jie knew that his words had worked, and his expression rxed a little.


    As expected, Liu Nanshan said, "Young friend, you are right. We humans are able to hold on to this one region of the Blood River Domain thanks to the fearless sacrifice of countless predecessors. Thousand Autumns City is named as such because it is the wall of humanity, intended to stand against its foes for all of time. The one who protects the city must be a brave hero who does not back down in the face of battle. Over the years, my Red Leaf Alliance, for the sake of humanity''s so-called great n, has fallen back again and again, which has only served to make the Hemos more arrogant. Fools that we were, we failed to realize that peace is not won through yielding, but through fighting! What this old man said before was wrong!"


    Liu Nanshan bowed to Tang Jie.


    An actual Heart Demon junior would have been rmed to see a Deification True Lord bowing to them, but Tang Jie took it in stride, nodding and saying, "So long as you understand."


    His arrogant demeanor instantly vaporized the goodwill that everyone had just developed for him.


    Liu Nanshan brushed it off and said, "If that''s the case, then there''s no need for you to leave in such a hurry. Stay for a few days at my Red Leaf Alliance. And if the Hemos hunting squades asking questions, why don''t we fight alongside each other against them?"


    Tang Jie smiled. "How could I dare to not ept Sect Master''s kindness?"


    Liu Nanshan ordered, "Hongmei, take this young man with you and arrange a residence for him."


    "Yes, Master!" Su Hongmei rushed off with Tang Jie.


    Leaving the hall, they wound through theplex and soon arrived at a secluded courtyard with a small grove of bamboo growing in front of it and a garden with variously colored flowers to the side. There was also a long corridor that led to a fountain that had lotuses flowering in the pool.


    Su Hongmei said, "Big Brother Tang, this is where you will be staying. It is where the alliance hosts honored guests. I hope Big Brother Tang will enjoy its elegant seclusion."


    Tang Jie replied, "A cultivator has few requirements beyond a ce with plenty of spiritual energy."


    Su Hongmei chuckled. "As expected, Big Brother Tang is an ascetic."


    There happened to be a few stone stools in the courtyard, so rather than leave, she sat down and conversed with Tang Jie. This wasn''t to say that she had taken a liking to him. Given how long she had cultivated, she was no inexperienced youngss. Rather, she was a rather famous cultivator among her peers known as the Red Maple Fairy. It was just that she was rather taken by Tang Jie''s unique way of speaking and bold spirit, so she wanted to be friends. Tang Jie didn''t mind, and the two began to casually chat, even asionally sharing a heartyugh. It was an avid conversation that had the two wishing that they had met earlier, like they were old friends despite having just met. Senior Brother Tao, who was watching from the shadows, was ovee by jealousy, but he knew that he wasn''t strong enough to do anything but curse.


    What he didn''t know was that most of Tang Jie''s attention wasn''t here, but on the great hall.


    A sliver of his Divine Will stretched from here all the way to that hall.


    While a wall of Divine Will was protecting the hall, this couldn''t stop the infiltration of an Earth Immortal. He easily got in to listen in on the conversation between the alliance leaders.


    "Alliance Lord, do you really n to go along with that Tang Chong and fight it out with the Hemos?" Mo Wuxin asked.


    Liu Nanshan replied, "What do you three think?"


    "Tang Chong''s argument wasn''t unreasonable, but it focused a little too much on courage. In the end, the reality is that humanity is barely holding on," Incense Weave Sect Master Luo Xiangran said. "If we start a war with the Hemos, there can only be two oues. The first is that we''re defeated, upon which the Red Leaf Alliance will be annihted and Thousand Autumns City will be conquered by the enemy. The second is that we defeat them, but the Hemos will then start a new offensive, which will repeat until we are defeated. Either oue results in the end of my Red Leaf Alliance."


    "Most importantly, we might incite a war between the two races," the Heavenly Saber Gate Master added. Despite the fact that Tang Jie had saved Wang An, his disciple, even he wasn''t taking Tang Jie''s side.


    Liu Nanshan sighed. "Indeed. Wars are easy to start but difficult to pacify. The young have courage and spirit, but they never consider how a war is settled once it is started. Dying is easy. It''s living that''s hard. At times, being willing to die doesn''t make one courageous."


    To be honest, Liu Nanshan wasn''t being unreasonable.


    A true man had courage but also understood when to endure. The only problem was how to bnce the two.


    Liu Nanshan and Tang Jie clearly had different opinions on where this bnce should be. Tang Jie was an Earth Immortal, and he had Rosecloud behind him, so in his view, fighting was correct and enduring was wrong. But Liu Nanshan was only a Deification True Lord, so enduring was the more farsighted n. As for war, he might go his entire life without seeing a good opportunity for one.


    One could say that neither of them was wrong. The differences in position meant that they considered different things.


    Thus, Tang Jie didn''t me them for having such thoughts.


    What Liu Nanshan said next, however, enraged Tang Jie.


    Liu Nanshan said, "That''s why I had that Tang Chong stay."


    Everyone''s eyes shed. "Senior Brother, you mean¡­"


    "If we don''t keep Tang Chong, how are we going to exin ourselves to the Hemos hunting squad?" Liu Nanshan casually answered.


    <em>As expected,</em> Tang Jie mentally snorted.


    This old thing felt like he was being clever and was keeping Tang Jie simply to hand him over to the Hemos.


    "But there''s a method to handing him over," Liu Nanshan added. "I must admit that Tang Chong was right about one thing. Peace is gained through fighting, not through enduring. The Hemos have only gotten more and more arrogant, even a small hunting squad daring to act so unbridled around us. Thus, we need to fight when we should fight."


    "Then Alliance Lord intends to¡­"


    "Fight. There''ll be a fight, but not anything too serious. We just have to let them know that they can''t do anything they want to us, and if they push us too far, we can at least kill them first."


    Mo Wuxin pped his knee. "Alliance Lord, this is a wonderful n. Once we give them a small lesson and then hand Tang Chong over to give them some face, they should be able to restrain themselves."


    "Give them a p with one hand and a candy with the other¡ªa good n." The Heavenly Saber Gate Master nodded.


    Tang Jie inwardlyughed.


    He listened as they nned out the details, but finding it uninteresting, he withdrew his Divine Will. Meanwhile, Su Hongmei was saying, "¡­so, I beat that guy up. From then on, that brat didn''t dare to provoke me¡­ Hey, are you listening?"


    She pushed Tang Jie.


    She was so at ease that they almost seemed like siblings.


    Tang Jie nodded. "I heard, I heard. It seems like you treat all your suitors this way. It''s no wonder you''re still not married."


    Su Hongmei blushed and red at him. "Is that any of your business? As a cultivator, I''ve set my ambitions on the Great Dao. If I spent all my time on romance, things would be hopeless. Moreover, at the time, my cultivation was still very low. If I had agreed then, wouldn''t I now be watching my husband turn old? If I marry someone, they have to at least be at Celestial Heart and have ovee their Heart Demon. A husband that can live a thousand years and be young and handsome."


    She looked at Tang Jie and added, "Someone like you would be pretty good."


    She was actually making a simpleparison, but in the ears of Senior Brother Tao, this was a frank confession, and he was so enraged that he wanted to kill Tang Jie on the spot.


    Tang Jie chuckled and shook his head. "Don''t go joking about things like that."


    "Tsk, boring," Su Hongmei said in disdain.


    The two continued chatting for a while longer, but Su Hongmei saw that it was gettingte and left.


    Tang Jie retired to his room to meditate.


    Late in the night, Tang Jie suddenly sensed something and cracked open his eyes. Gazing into the distant darkness, he grunted, "Interesting."


    Then he closed his eyes again.


    A few momentster, Senior Brother Tao appeared outside the courtyard.


    He didn''t get close to the courtyard, knowing that a Heart Demon cultivator had a formidable Spirit Will that would sense him the moment he got close. But as the Divine Will had not yet been cultivated, it could only be a little better than a Spirit Ring, with fifty meters normally being the limit. Given that he was using a secret treasure of his master to approach, he was sure that Tang Chong wouldn''t notice him, but any closer would expose him. Thus, standing outside the courtyard, he red at Tang Jie''s residence and ced down a gold-patterned centipede, which began to crawl toward Tang Jie''s room.


    Tang Jie could tell that this was an extremely venomous centipede known as the Goldwing Fireback. It had a powerful fire venom that even a Heart Demon cultivator would find hard to resist if it got a bite in. Worth noting was that the poison mimicked the effects of energy deviation, so an unaware Heart Demon cultivator would think that their cultivation wascking and that their Heart Demon was affecting them, which would lead them to be burned to death.


    Tang Jie chuckled at the other party''s methods.@@novelbin@@


    The centipede quickly crawled into Tang Jie''s room and onto his body.


    Tang Jie let the centipede crawl onto him and bite, letting its mandibles pierce through his skin and pump venom into his blood. A momentter, he used his Immortal energy to gather all the venom into a ball and expel it, tossing it into a bottle. The venom of a Goldwing Fireback centipede was a rare material that would be a shame to throw away.


    The centipede was rather tired after biting, and it retreated once Senior Brother Tao called it back.


    Senior Brother Tao saw that his centipede hadpleted its mission, so he left in satisfaction.

 Chapter 983: Blueheart Flame

    The next morning was a clear day.


    Waking from his meditation, Tang Jie heard a call from outside. "Big Brother Tang! Big Brother Tang!"


    It was Su Hongmei.


    Smiling, Tang Jie walked out of his room. "Junior Sister Su, good morning."


    Su Hongmei walked up with a smile. "Big Brother Tang has never been to Thousand Autumns City before, so I n to take you around today."


    "Fine with me." Tang Jie nodded.


    The two of them began to make their way out of the Red Leaf Alliance.


    Before they could get very far, they ran into Senior Brother Tao, Tao Tiande.


    This man had been lingering around Tang Jie''s residence for some time, probably hoping to hear the shriek from Su Hongmei when she found Tang Jie''s corpse. s, instead of the scream, he saw Tang Jie and Su Hongmei talking andughing, which almost made him shriek instead.Tang Jie casually brought his hands together in greeting. "Good morning, Brother Tao."


    "You¡­ you¡­" Senior Brother Tao gaped as he pointed a finger at Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie chuckled. "Indeed, Brother Tao must still be angry over yesterday''s matter. My reaction then was a little excessive, and I feel some remorse, so let me express my apologies."


    He bowed to Senior Brother Tao.


    Tao Tiande was dumbfounded, gawking at the bowing Tang Jie.


    Seeing no reaction, Tang Jie patted him and said, "It seems that Brother Tao has epted my apology. Wonderful! Oh, this one and Junior Sister Su are going to stroll around town, so we won''t keep bothering you, Brother Tao."


    He bowed and walked off, leaving a dazed Tao Tiande staring at his back.


    "How could this be!? He was clearly bitten by the Goldwing Fireback centipede, so how is he still alive?" Tao Tiande had sensed very clearly that the Goldwing Fireback had bitten Tang Jie, which was why he was so certain that Tang Jie would die. He had never imagined things to turn out like this.


    He couldn''t tell at all from Tang Jie''s smiling appearance if he actually knew what had happenedst night, which made his mind even more of a mess.


    What was he to do?


    Did Tang Jie not know, or was he just pretending not to know? And if it was thetter, what was the reason?


    Tao Tiande was gripped by terror.


    As he watched Tang Jie leave, he suddenly made up his mind. Since he had already attempted assassination, there was no going back. He could be in the clear if Tang Jie really didn''t know, but if he did know and was not saying anything on purpose, he was probably attempting to ckmail him. He refused to be controlled by another, so the only option was to keep trying until Tang Jie was dead.


    Sometimes, this was how humans were, making one mistake and following it with more.


    From the moment he tried to kill Tang Jie, Tao Tiande was stuck on a path that he had to walk to the end, to kill or be killed. Thus it was said that believing in someone''s sense of right and wrong was the most foolish choice one could make. If one hundred people made a mistake, only one woulde to their senses while the remaining 99 would walk the mistaken path until the end.


    Tao Tiande was currently stuck in this mindset, and he proceeded to follow the pair.


    Tang Jie and Su Hongmei had already left the Red Leaf Alliance and were on the road to Thousand Autumns City.


    As a city on the border of human territory, it wasn''t particrly prosperous, but it had its own unique style. The mortals living here mostly served cultivators, and almost every one of them had a cultivator n or sect they were affiliated with, thergest naturally being the Red Leaf Alliance.


    The most popr products being traded in the city were naturally art relics and the like, or elsebat resources. Inparison, cultivation resources were much less popr.


    Tang Jie did see some resources that could be used for formations, but they were mostly on the low level and useless to him. With his current mastery of formations, just one object he needed would essentially be priceless.


    But this let Tang Jie walk around with a rxed mind. As for Su Hongmei, she appeared to rather enjoy the window shopping. Meanwhile, Tang Jie observed the city''s defensive formation, which he quickly managed to get a rough understanding of.


    It wasn''t a bad defensive formation, and if a Deification cultivator was supporting it, it could stop the attacks of at least two Soul Projection cultivators. But it was helpless against Earth Immortals. Without using any Dao Arts, Tang Jie could shatter it with a single palm.


    This rather disappointed Tang Jie.


    As the first defensive line of humanity, this ce should have had the best defenses, yet its formation couldn''t even hold off an Earth Immortal! However, if this was the case, how exactly were the humans able to fend off the Hemos?


    Tang Jie didn''t believe that humanity was so shorthanded. Just like in the Rosecloud Domain, there had to be many sects that had their own unique powers such that even the Basking Moon Sect would have had to pay a price if it wanted to take them over. Back when the Basking Moon Sect and the Seven Absolutions Sect had joined together against Godhead Pce, they had only barely won, and this was because they had chosen to end the war once they had gotten what they wanted. If they had instead opted to wipe out Godhead Pce, Godhead Pce might have employed more suicidal methods.


    Since the trump card of Thousand Autumns City wasn''t its formation, it was probably something else, but he didn''t know what.


    Most importantly, what about the Hemos and demons?


    What exactly were their trump cards?


    This was what Tang Jie wanted to know the most, and to do that, he needed sufficient status among the humans, perhaps even needing to use the humans to force the other two races to show their hands. Only then could the Rosecloud Domain invasion force be ready for it.


    As he was thinking, he suddenly sensed something.


    Extending his Divine Will, he noticed that Tao Tiande was following them. He inwardly sneered, realizing that this stubborn fool still had the guts to mess with him, and he began to contemte killing him.


    It just so happened that they had reached a corner, so Tang Jie used Reflections of Floating Life to create a clone of Su Hongmei and himself to keep walking down the same road while he turned with the real Su Hongmei down another road. Despite his doing this out in the open, nobody noticed the switch.


    Tao Tiande continued following the fake Su Hongmei, and Tang Jie paid close attention to him to see what he was up to.


    To make things easier, Tang Jie had his clone leave the city and go somewhere deserted, after which he found a reason to split up with Su Hongmei. As expected, Tao Tiande saw his chance and got close. Using that same concealment treasure from before, he approached Tang Jie up to the detection limit of a Heart Demon cultivator and then took a small square box out of his Mustard Seed Bag.


    As the box was opened, Tang Jie was able to see a blue ball of me inside. To be more precise, it was an icy me, floating in the box, pure and aloof.


    Tang Jie instantly recognized what it was.


    This was the Blueheart me, an exotic me like the Pale Cloud me and Deicide me. When this me attacked a target, it would not inflict any damage on the surface, heating the target from the inside out. This was why it was known as the me that was most difficult to defend against, not only attacking in a strange way, but also starting from the weak internal organs. Fortunately, it was much weaker than the Pale Cloud me or Deicide me, but that was not to underestimate its lethality.


    Tang Jie didn''t think that Tao Tiande would actually possess this me. From the look of it, it was probably the lowest level possible of this me, but if it were used properly, it was enough to kill a Heart Demon cultivator.


    Sure enough, he had something to back up this assassination attempt of his.


    A pained look appeared on Tao Tiande''s face. He didn''t have much of this Blueheart me, and didn''t understand how to nurture it, so if he wanted to kill with it, he would probably have to use it all. But he bore the pain and cast the spell to use it, sending it flying toward Tang Jie, and Tang Jie had his clone ept the me into its body.


    The moment the Blueheart me entered his body, he enclosed it with his spiritual energy, severing its connection with Tao Tiande.


    As Tao Tiande attempted to ignite the me, he found to his shock that he had lost connection to it.


    No matter what order he gave, the Blueheart me gave no response.


    As for "Tang Chong", who should have burned to death by now, he slowly turned around and smiled at him.


    Tao Tiande was dumbfounded.


    No matter how much of a fool he was, he knew that he had been discovered, so he immediately tried to escape through the earth. <em>Bang!</em> Tao Tiande felt like he had run into a wall of steel, and instead of escaping, his head was now drenched in blood.


    Unable to escape through the earth, Tao Tiande took to the skies, but right as he jumped up, a powerful wind blew. It was so strong that Tao Tiande, a Spirit Ring True Person, was sent tumbling down and crashing into the hard earth, which caused even more blood to flow from his head.


    Tang Jie''s clone slowly walked over. Although it was just a clone, after Tang Jie had be an Immortal, the Reflections of Floating Life had also grown stronger, capable enough to fight a Spirit Ring True Person. Moreover, Tang Jie''s Divine Will was also on the side, and as a God, it could lock down the surrounding area with a single thought and leave Tao Tiande with nowhere to go.


    The clone sauntered over and said, "Brother Tao, since you''re here, why are you in such a rush to leave?"


    Tao Tiande didn''t dare to pay him any attention, hastily taking out a Free Roaming Talisman to teleport away. This was a Divine Connection, and simply sealing off the area''s spiritual energy wasn''t enough to restrain its use.


    But Tang Jie''s clone simply nced at the talisman, which first shed and then dimmed. Tao Tiande desperately tried to activate it, but it remained inert, much to his stupefaction.


    This was his first time encountering a cultivator who could even block a Free Roaming Talisman.


    What had been a simple nce had actually involved Tang Jie using the Dao of Space to remove the talisman''s power. This wasn''t a Dao Art, but a way to use the Great Dao that required a profound understanding of the Dao.


    In the past, Tang Jie might not have been able to do this.


    But in his battle with the White Bone Divine Lord, Tang Jie had deepened his understanding of the Daos.


    He realized that spell arts were existences that were founded in the Great Daos, and there was no spell art that did not use the Dao. The difference was that while spell arts indirectly used the Daos, Dao Arts directly used them.


    Comprehending, entering, and controlling were descriptions of this direct control.


    Comprehending meant seeing. While one couldn''t use the Dao yet, one knew the right direction and could asionally borrow its power.


    Entering the Dao was obtaining its power. With the Dao Runes etched into one''s body, one could finally truly and directly use the power of a Dao.


    But Tang Jie had never been sure as to what controlling the Dao meant. It was something one couldn''t understand until one was there, and it was only after the battle with the White Bone Divine Lord that Tang Jie began to have some idea of it.


    Controlling the Dao was not merely about using the power, but about thoroughly understanding the entire system. At this level, all associated existences and spell arts would be affected.


    The Free Roaming Talisman used a Divine Connection, but this Divine Connection was born from the Dao of Space. Once Tang Jie reached the Dao-Controlling level, other than breaking free of the limits of Dao Arts, he could also influence all spell arts associated with that Dao.


    To put it simply, an Immortal controlling the Dao of Space could make it so that all cultivators in a certain range were unable to use Space spell arts unless they had an even deeper understanding of the Dao of Space or used Space Dao Arts.


    Tang Jie had yet to reach the Dao-Controlling level in the Dao of Space, but a talisman had a specific design on it andcked the flexibility of a human. Thus, Tang Jie''s influence and the massive gap in cultivation was enough to seal it, allowing him to get a preview of Dao Controlling.


    Thus, one could say that there was a point in bullying the weak.


    With hisst trick rendered useless, Tao Tiande felt his soul was leaving his body.@@novelbin@@


    Tang Jie''s clone walked over and knocked him out.


    Just when he was about to end his life, he was suddenly inspired. A sh of insight came out of the Sea of Fate, informing him that the answer he sought could be found on this person.

 Chapter 984: A Pretext for War

    When Tao Tiande woke up, he found himself in a small room, strippedpletely naked.


    Tang Jie was seated nearby, looking through his possessions.


    These mostly consisted of art relics and medicines used by a Celestial Heart cultivator. While Tao Tiande came from a decent background, in Tang Jie''s eyes, there was nothing of value other than the Blueheart me.


    This left him rather unhappy.


    This was exactly what was so terrible about the Dao of Fate. It was far too unfathomable, and even when it gave the asional guidance, it was difficult to figure out what direction it was pointing in. All he knew was that something on Tao Tiande was the answer he sought, but he had no idea what form this answer took. He could use the Wish Granting Book to find out, but Tang Jie wasn''t willing to pay such a heavy cost.


    However, it seemed that the answer wasn''t in these art relics.


    "You¡­" Tao Tiande began to shout and yell.


    But no matter how loudly he shouted, his voice couldn''t leave this room.


    After confirming that there was nothing among the possessions that he was looking for, Tang Jie walked over and coldly gazed at Tao Tiande."You¡­ What are you going to do? Why have you tied me up here?" Tao Tiande still had a little hope, a tiny hope that Tang Jie didn''t know what he had donest night.


    s, Tang Jie had no interest in chatting with him. "Those who kill will always be killed by others. I''m sure you understand this principle, so let''s not waste our time. If you want to live, honestly answer my questions, or else I''ll kill you."


    Tao Tiande''s heart went cold.


    "Brother Tang, spare me! I know my wrongs. I shouldn''t have tried to harm you¡­"


    Tang Jie stopped him. "None of this nonsense. It''s not what I want to hear."


    "Eh?" Tao Tiande looked at Tang Jie in confusion.


    Had this man not captured him because of the assassination attempt?


    "Let me ask you: how much do you know about Thousand Autumns City?"


    Tao Tiande was baffled by his question, but he didn''t dare to not answer. "I know a lot, but what does Brother Tang want to know?"


    "If the Hemos invaded with experts at Soul Projection or above, how would you deal with them?"


    Tao Tiande instantly replied, "Activate the city''s formation and defend with all our might."


    "The Flowing Frost Cloud Formation is pretty good, but it can only fend off thebined might of two Soul Projection cultivators at most. If more Soul Projection cultivators are dispatched, or even an Earth Immortal, what then?"


    Tao Tiande was taken aback by the question, but he still answered, "Humanity has more than one border city. There are thirteen border cities on the front line, and this is only the first line. All the cities mutually assist and support each other."


    "But that''s still not enough against the Hemos, right? Or else you wouldn''t be so scared of them."


    Tao Tiande dropped his head and fell silent. He didn''t know what Tang Jie was trying to find out, only that Tang Jie would kill him if he answered incorrectly.


    Tang Jie continued, "It''s impossible to hold the borders for a thousand years with only this little power. I want to know what the real trump card of the border defense is."


    Tao Tiande gave Tang Jie a horrified look. "You¡­ Are you a Hemos spy?"


    It wasn''t surprising that Tao Tiande thought this way. Tang Jie was concerned about precisely what a spy would be concerned about.


    Tang Jie didn''t exin himself, simply saying, "I want an answer. If you can give it to me, I''ll give you a chance to live. Otherwise, it''s death."@@novelbin@@


    He then made a Heavenly Dao Oath.


    Tao Tiande panicked.


    This wasn''t concern for the survival of humanity. He had no ns on being a martyr.


    But he was just a disciple of the small ck Frost Gate''s master, while even Red Leaf Alliance Lord Liu Nanshan might not know what the trump card of humanity''s border was. How exactly was he supposed to know?


    Yet Tang Jie was asking, even threatening his life over it.


    Tao Tiande was frantic because he had no means of selling out humanity.


    Tang Jie could see that he really didn''t know, so after some thought, he said, "It seems that you really don''t know anything. But the guidance of Fate can''t be wrong. You have to know something rted to the answer I seek, so why don''t we do this? Tell me about your experiences. Have you encountered anything strange? Been to any forbidden grounds and secret areas?"


    After some thought, Tao Tiande replied, "I haven''t encountered anything strange, but as for forbiddennds, in the border area, there really is such a ce."


    "Oh? You have a connection to that forbiddennd?" Tang Jie asked.


    Tao Tiande nodded. "Three years ago, I was ordered to go to that forbiddennd. That was where I obtained the Blueheart me."


    "Oh?" Tang Jie grew excited.


    With a flip of his wrist, that blue me appeared on his fingertip.


    The Blueheart me had the bizarre power to enter the body and burn one from the inside out, so Tao Tiande didn''t dare to touch it directly. Instead, he kept it in a box and used a mantra to control it. Only a cultivator at Violet Pce or above could block it and prevent it from entering the body. The moment Tao Tiande saw Tang Jie hold up the me on his fingertip, he began to tremble in fear. Violet Pce! This was a Violet Pce cultivator!


    And given how at ease Tang Jie seemed, he was no ordinary Violet Pce expert.


    Tang Jie didn''t know what was going on Tao Tiande''s mind, nor did he care, carefully examining the me. The insight from the Sea of Fate grew even stronger, that blue me lighting up his mind and opening his eyes.


    "That''s it!" Tang Jie excitedly said. "The guidance of Fate really was here."


    His eyes pierced through the veil and saw a thread of Karma extending to the horizon, pointing him in the direction he needed to go.


    There was no doubt that that forbidden ground was the true trump card of humanity''s border region.


    He didn''t know what it was, but he was sure.


    Putting away the Blueheart me, Tang Jie sternly said, "Tell me everything about the forbidden ground and how you got the Blueheart me in as much detail as you can."


    Tao Tiande didn''t dare to dy, quickly recounting everything about the forbidden ground.


    The forbidden ground was located five hundred kilometers away in a valley within the Soaring Immortal Mountains. It was called the Ice Blue Forbidden Ground and was closely guarded. Tao Tiande didn''t know what was inside, but every year, the human alliance would send in many resources and bring out some resources in return.


    Three years ago, the ck Frost Gate was summoned and sent to the Ice Blue Forbidden Ground to carry out a special mission. His master epted the mission, and Tao Tiande was one of the people he brought along. It was in that trip to the forbidden ground that Tao Tiande obtained that ball of Blueheart me.


    "Was it only your sect?" Tang Jie asked.


    "No, there were many other sects," Tao Tiande replied. "But I wasn''t familiar with them."


    "What was in the forbidden ground?"


    Tao Tiande shook his head. "I don''t know much. When I followed my master into the forbidden ground, we found a garden valley in which spirit nts grew, but most of them were withered. As we proceeded forward, we passed through the garden to reach a cliff wall. The wall was covered in cracks, and a blue me zed within them. Our ck Frost Gate''s mission was to use our Dark Ice energy to seal the cracks."


    Tang Jie had some understanding of the ck Frost Gate''s Dark Ice energy. It could create an unmeltable ice, a rather decent freezing spell. The human alliance had the ck Frost Gate go into the forbidden ground precisely for their Dark Ice energy. The other sects must have been asked for simr reasons, to repair the cracks in the mountain wall.


    They had essentially been called as repairmen. Tao Tiande had been rather clever. When he was repairing the wall, he had taken a liking to the blue me and stolen some, and this was the Blueheart me.


    "You''re saying that all those mes behind the wall were Blueheart mes?" Tang Jie asked.


    "Indeed!" Tao Tiande replied. "Unfortunately, the alliance''s guards were watching too closely for us to steal it. Moreover, the Blueheart me is so strong that nobody below Violet Pce can even use their hands to touch it. Some ignorant people attempted to steal it this way and ended up being burned to death. I was lucky, having obtained a special stone that could be made into a Firehold Jade Box, and then I recognized the Blueheart me and came across an opportunity to steal a little."


    Tang Jie indifferently said, "Others might also have managed to steal it and just kept it a secret like you."


    "Yes, yes, Senior, you''re right." Tao Tiande was so scared that he agreed with whatever Tang Jie said. Once he learned that Tang Jie was at Violet Pce, he even addressed him as "Senior" and would probably be kowtowing if it were possible.


    Tang Jie fell into thought as he tried to figure out where the Blueheart me and Ice Blue Forbidden Ground hade from.


    But even someone as well-read as him had no knowledge of this.


    But it was fine. Ultimately, he would find out once he went over.


    Tao Tiande saw him fall into thought and said, "I told you everything I knew, so please, Senior, let me go! This lowly one was blind and failed to see¡­"


    He began to beg and plead for his life.


    Annoyed, Tang Jie sealed Tao Tiande''s mouth.


    Tang Jie said, "Although the Heavenly Dao Oath doesn''t have much binding power over me, all the effort it would take to break the oath isn''t worth it for someone as small as you. But you knew that I was a Hemos spy, yet you still worked with me and told me all of humanity''s secrets. This is not at all the demeanor appropriate for a human cultivator, so I can''t just let you go like this."


    Tao Tiande was aghast when he heard that this man had the ability to break the oath. It was no wonder he had so easily made that promise!


    Tang Jie said, "Whatever; a war needs a pretext. Since you like betraying so much, I''ll make you into a hero instead. You will be the one to start this war."


    "Wh-what?" Tao Tiande said in confusion.


    Tang Jie pointed at Tao Tiande, who was immediately robbed of control over his body, which stood up, walked out of the room, and flew into the air.


    As he flew higher and higher, Tao Tiande discovered that numerous Hemos cultivators had gathered outside Thousand Autumns City.


    Their leader was a savage figure seething with blood energy.


    "Li Xiao?" Tao Tiande cried out.


    This was clearly the leader of the Hemos hunting squad, Li Xiao.


    Tao Tiande realized that the Hemos hunting squad had finallye to demand an exnation for yesterday''s incident.


    Liu Nanshan and the others had already appeared, floating over the city and negotiating with Li Xiao.


    At this moment, Tao Tiande found himself shouting, "Li Xiao, you coward, you think you can just bully around us humans as you please?"


    <em>No, why did I say something like that? I didn''t say that!</em>


    Tao Tiande inwardly cried out in terror, but his mouth continued to move on its own.


    "Hurry up and die!"


    With a furious roar, he summoned a storm of frost that swept toward the Hemos cultivators.

 Chapter 985: Chaotic Battle

    Tao Tiande was a Spirit Ring cultivator.


    When this level of cultivator used their full strength, they could unleash powerful spell arts, and if one wasn''t particrly picky, one could describe such spell arts as "blotting out the skies" without beingughed out of the room.


    As Tao Tiande used his full strength, without considering its actual lethality, the storm of frost had a radius of a thousand feet, enough to sweep over a hundred cultivators. If he wanted to dilute the power even more, it could have covered an even greater area.


    Thus, the storm of frost managed to catch at least a third of the Hemos cultivators, with Li Xiao, who was standing at the front, being the first to get struck.


    As a Hemos, Li Xiao had gotten used to bullying the humans. He was already "shocked" that the humans dared to resist a robbery, so he was even more surprised that when he hade to "seek justice", they would be so "insulting and wanton".


    As the wave of snow and ice approached, he took it as a sign of utter disrespect for a Violet Pce True Lord, causing him to gnash his teeth in anger.


    This was not merely a challenge to him, but one to all Hemos!@@novelbin@@


    With a single thought, a crimson wave of blood rose up to meet the ice.


    This was Spirit Ring versus Violet Pce, so Tao Tiande''s loss was clean and swift.The wave of frost vaporized on first contact with the blood, which continued unimpeded toward Thousand Autumns City, threatening to sweep over thend¡ªif Liu Nanshan hadn''t been present.


    A green light blocked the crimson wave outside the walls of the city.


    Li Xiao scowled. "Liu Nanshan, you think that just having Thousand Autumns City means you can do what you want?"


    He roared, upon which two people appeared in the distance.


    One was a white-haired elder followed by a donkey and the other was a Hemos woman as pretty as a flower, wearing shockingly revealing clothing and carrying a zither.


    Liu Nanshan paled. "It''s Old Donkey He and the Blood Queen! Activate the Flowing Frost Cloud Formation!"


    These were famous Hemos Deification cultivators. Liu Nanshan was no match for both of them at once, so he chose to activate the formation.


    The Hemos womanughed. "Nanshan, there''s no need to be such a stranger. The Flowing Frost Cloud Formation is meant to protect the city in times of war. Currently, we Hemos are simply unhappy and havee to talk things out, and you''re already activating the formation? Do you think you can activate the formation for free? Or that it''s the private property of your Red Leaf Alliance?"


    With these malicious words, the Blood Queen had defined this battle as a mere dispute, which made Liu Nanshan hesitate. As she had said, activating the Flowing Frost Cloud Formation was extremely expensive, and if it were used for every asion big and small, what was even the point of having the Red Leaf Alliance around? Thus, the formation could only be activated if the situation was unfavorable. Currently, the other side had only outmatched them by one Deification cultivator, so the strength gap was not too great. The Red Leaf Alliance was not guaranteed to lose if they fought with all their might, so it was arguable that it was not necessary to activate the formation.


    As he hesitated, the woman in red flew over and waved her sleeve at the wall, unleashing a cascade of crimson petals.


    Liu Nanshan immediately realized that he had been enchanted by the Blood Queen''s charming spell, and his hesitation had caused him to miss out on the best opportunity to activate the formation. A momentter, the petals shattered, releasing a red fog over the city.


    The crimson cloud caused everything to fall into chaos, sending the entire world into confusion.


    Tang Jie sensed that this was an extremely bizarre and powerful spell art that affected all substances of a spiritual nature¡ªit targeted formations!


    As expected, the Flowing Frost Cloud Formation immediately ran into problems and failed to activate.


    "It''s the Myriad Crimson Smoke! Hurry and dispel it!" Liu Nanshan shouted.


    The cultivators on the walls prepared to drive out the fog.


    Seeing this, the white-haired elder suddenly opened his mouth and roared.


    It was an ordinary shout, but the skies responded with a resounding rumble, as if some god was pounding drums. If one listened closely, one would realize that this was the same shout, but instead of dying away, it had gained force and was still bouncing around in the heavens like a hammer.


    The name of this art was the Thunder Duke''s Rumble!


    The Thunder Duke''s Rumble deafened the ears of the cultivators and made it difficult for them to focus.


    Li Xiaoughed. "My friends, what are you waiting for? Kill them!"


    The Hemos cultivators began to bombard the walls with spell arts.


    Tang Jie could tell that thebination of these two spells, while powerful, could only prevent the activation of the formation temporarily. However, this was exactly what Li Xiao wanted, as he had no intention of taking the city. He would never voluntarily start a war between the two races. He simply wanted to use this chance to kill a few human cultivators and take some treasure.


    Among the Hemos, this would be considered a glorious act and would have no ill consequences.


    As the Hemos cultivators attacked, Liu Nanshan knew it would be difficult to end things peacefully. He roared, "You won''t have your way!"


    A st of green Astral energy swept toward Li Xiao.


    But before it could hit, the Blood Queen used a red cloud to intercept it.


    At the same time, Old Donkey Hu flew over, upon which Wang Zhanshan, Mo Wuxin, and Luo Xiangran went up to fight him. These three were all at Infant Tending, so in a three versus one, they still shouldn''t have been a match for Old Donkey He. Strangely, Old Donkey He seemed quite weak, and the three were actually able to gain a slight advantage. They began to underestimate him and wonder how he had managed to grow more famous than the Blood Queen.


    With the two Deification experts in battle, Li Xiao also joined the fray.


    His body erupted with a red light as a head grew from his back, two arms emerged from his waist, and his body grew into a hundred-foot-tall giant. His four arms separately wielded a hammer, staff, axe, and mace, and as he swung them around, they stirred up mighty gales.


    The Hemos normally cultivated both the body and arts. With his tough body and powerfulbat arts, he didn''t fear Liu Nanshan at all despite being only at Infant Tending. With his domineering body and mighty spell arts, he was actually rather simr to Tang Jie in terms ofbat style.


    As an Infant Tending True Lord, he ranked at the very top of his tier, and now that the four sect masters of the Red Leaf Alliance were being held back, it was time to flex his power. But the Red Leaf Alliance wasn''tpletely powerless against him, someone shouting, "Use the Verdant Wood Formation!"


    It was Su Hongmei.


    With her order, the disciples of the Red Leaf Alliance assumed their positions and pulled out their swords. With a unified roar, countless tendrils of sword energy gathered into a single massive sword that sliced at Li Xiao. Li Xiao swung his four weapons in response, and the ensuing impact created a boom that even rmed the Deification True Lords. Despite being a Violet Pce expert, Li Xiao''s attack had been blocked by thebined power of the disciples.


    From a distance, Tang Jie couldn''t help but sigh in admiration. Thisbinationbat formation wasparable to those of the six major sects of Rosecloud.


    At this time, the cultivators in charge of the Flowing Frost Cloud Formation were working hard to activate the formation, and all they needed was a little more time. What they didn''t know was that the formation was never going to activate¡ªTang Jie was standing at one of its formation nodes, coolly watching the battle.


    Above Thousand Autumns City, the cultivators of the two sides continued to battle.


    Even with the Verdant Wood Formation, the Red Leaf Alliance was still at a disadvantage. As the captain of the Hemos hunting squad, Li Xiao had no fear of this formation, his four weapons swinging around in turn and unleashing one terrifying attack after another, stressing the energies of the disciples to the limit. Meanwhile, the other cultivators of the Hemos hunting squad crazily attacked.


    Hemos cultivators were known for being pugnacious fighters, and cultivators of both body and arts were also known for their ferocity. With all these Hemos cultivators unleashing spell arts and Li Xiao himself leading the assault, the Red Leaf Alliance disciples groaned under the pressure. With each barrage, more disciples began to weep blood. Some cultivators were even dragged out of the formation by Hemos cultivators and executed.


    It was a perilous situation, and the Flowing Frost Cloud Formation was still inactive. Panicked and infuriated, Liu Nanshan shouted, "Li Xiao, the one who killed your people was that Tang Chong. I can hand him over to you!"


    If he had handed the man over while he held the upper hand or if he had activated the formation before starting negotiations, Li Xiao would have epted it. But with the Hemos having the upper hand and the formation still inert, Li Xiao ignored his shouts, not even caring who this Tang Chong was, and continued to fight.


    Liu Nanshan was frantic, but there was nothing he could do.


    Tang Jie estimated that the time was right and secretly cast a spell.


    The Hemos cultivators instantly felt their spiritual energy freeze up. This wasn''t restricted to only the low-level cultivators. Even the likes of Li Xiao and the Blood Queen found it harder to circte their energy. When they attempted to thoughtcast, they felt a pressure from the world that made even thinking somewhat problematic.


    As a result, the Hemos side''s morale instantly fell while the humans were suddenly ascendant. Su Hongmei stood at the very front, her body shining with a dazzling aura as if she was empowered by some kind of treasure. With one swing of her sword, countless streams of sword energy gathered around it into an immense wave aimed at Li Xiao.


    Li Xiao raised all four of his weapons to block, and upon impact, he felt an intense energy sting through his defenses, obliterating his barrier and striking him, almost cutting him in half.


    "Sword intent!!!" Li Xiao shouted in disbelief.


    Su Hongmei was also stunned. When she swung her sword just then, she had seeminglyprehended something. A sense of sharpness had arisen in her mind, and she had simply swung her sword in ordance with that feeling, not expecting to wound Li Xiao.


    Was this sword intent? In the middle of this arduous battle, she had inadvertentlyprehended sword intent!


    ted, Su Hongmei swung her sword once more.

 Chapter 986: Old Donkey He

    The peerless sword intentbined with the Verdant Wood Formation to unleash a terrifying attack that even an Infant Tending True Lord didn''t dare to confront.


    Li Xiao had no choice but to evade.


    By evading, he doomed the Hemos cultivators behind him, the wave of sword energy sweeping through and reaping the lives of several dozen of them.


    Su Hongmei rejoiced at her sessful strike. With her current cultivation, this one strike should have been her limit, but then she felt a warm current flowing within her body, replenishing her lost energy, so she swung her sword again.


    Every time she attacked, the other sword energies would gather around, and Su Hongmei ended up guiding the entire Verdant Wood Formation, unleashing one mountain-cleaving blow after another. Having learned her lesson, she decided to ignore Li Xiao and focus on the other cultivators of the hunting squad. As waves of sword energy rampaged across the heavens, the Hemos tumbled from the sky.


    The Hemos quailed at her might and began to withdraw, which allowed Su Hongmei to run rampant. Wherever her sword pointed, nobody dared to contend against it. Suddenly, Su Hongmei began to let out a dazzling pir of light.


    Those with sharp eyes instantly recognized what had happened, shouting in rm, "Advanced! She advanced! She advanced to Celestial Heart in the middle of battle!"


    It was not unheard of to advance in battle, but like the natural treasures spoken of in legend, such things could only be encountered and never sought. Nobody had expected to experience such a thing today.


    Su Hongmei didn''t expect to advance in the middle of battle. She felt like there was an infinite well of energy in her body that never ran out no matter how much she swung her sword. On the contrary, she only grew stronger and stronger, and she felt like she had ascended to the heavens.Was this what it felt like to advance to Celestial Heart?


    Following the feeling inside her, Su Hongmei cleared her meridians and opened her Spirit Ring. As her Spirit Will expanded, she felt like the world had opened a gate for her.


    Raising high her sword, she swung it down, unleashing an even sharper sword intent at Li Xiao.


    "Die!"


    Li Xiao knew this was trouble, but there was no time to dodge. The sword energy cut through him, cleaving him in two.


    But he was at Infant Tending and possessed formidable strength, so he survived and used spell arts to pull his body back together. Just as he was about to cast more spells, his Divine Soul was shaken, and he was no longer able to use the power of the world. An immense will had descended upon him, suppressing all his strength!


    This terrifying supreme will stripped Li Xiao of his will to resist, and he felt like an ant gazing up at the high heavens.


    Despair!


    Endless despair!


    At that moment, Li Xiao finally understood what was happening.


    An Immortal!


    There was a human Immortal intervening from the shadows!


    Li Xiao was filled with regret, remorse, and despair. He wanted to shout a warning to hispanions, but in the end, he couldn''t say a thing.


    His strength was fading away, and he couldn''t even move a finger. In a sh of light, Su Hongmei swung her sword again. The light once more cleaved into his body, the immense energy contained within instantly obliterating all his life force.


    Li Xiao''s vision went dark as he plunged into an endless abyss.


    Dead in body and soul.


    Li Xiao''s death caused mass panic among the Hemos and energized the human cultivators.


    "Wonderful!" the human cultivators cheered.


    That sensation of endless energy still empowered Su Hongmei, and she turned her sword on Old Donkey He. So long as she defeated him, the defeat of the Hemos was certain. Old Donkey He was currently being beaten back by the three human Infant Tending cultivators, and it was only thanks to his Deification cultivation that he was still alive. Presumably, he was in the weakest group of Deification cultivators.


    Su Hongmei swung, and Old Donkey He was cut through, unable to dodge. Everyone was delighted to see the blow strike true, but then that donkey suddenly brayed and charged out, spitting a white pearl at Luo Xiangran.


    Luo Xiangran paid it no mind, throwing out a scented handkerchief to block it. While this handkerchief was no divine treasure, it was a decent defensive art relic that she considered enough to block the attack from this donkey. But to her surprise, the white pearl simply tore a hole through the handkerchief as if it wasn''t there and continued to fly toward her. Grimacing, she immediately thoughtcast a barrier for herself. But the white pearl sted through the barrier as if it were made of decayed wood, leaving Luo Xiangran aghast. Toote to dodge, she thrust her palms out, and the white pearl pierced through her palms and dug into Luo Xiangran''s chest.


    Her body swayed and began to give off a frosty energy, after which it exploded into countless shards.


    A Violet Pce cultivator had been in in a single blow.


    "What''s going on?" the human cultivators said in shock.


    The donkey made a very human expression, chuckling as it shook its head. The white pearl flew out from Luo Xiangran''s remains and then flew at Mo Wuxin. Having seen what happened to Luo Xiangran, Mo Wuxin used everything he had to defend himself. There was a blinding burst of light, and then Mo Wuxin tumbled from the sky with a yelp. His full-throated defense had been unable to block the entirety of the strike, and he had been heavily injured.


    The donkey raised its head and brayed, upon which a rainbow beam shot out from its head toward Wang Zhanshan, and it was clear that it far outmatched him. Thankfully, Su Hongmei, empowered by the formation, was able to intervene, sending a wave of sword energy that mmed into the rainbow beam. But thebined power of a thousand cultivators was not only unable to suppress the rainbow light, the rainbow light was able to strike back, its bacsh injuring all of them at once and causing them to weep blood.


    A majestic will filled the world!


    "Soul Projection! You''re at Soul Projection!" Su Hongmei, Wang Zhanshan, and Mo Wuxin all shouted in shock.


    They could clearly sense that this immense power was something only a Soul Projection cultivator could possess.


    But why was it this donkey that had unleashed this attack?


    The disdain and mockery on the old ck donkey''s face thickened.


    As Su Hongmei gazed at the donkey''s face, the truth dawned on her, and she blurted out, "Old Donkey He! You''re the actual Old Donkey He!"


    "Heehaw! Heehaw!" the donkeyughed.


    As itughed, the white-haired elder who Su Hongmei had cleaved in two stood back up. There was no blooding from his body, which turned out to be practically mummified, the flesh shriveled and the bones hardened. This was clearly a corpse that had been dead for many years.


    "Old Donkey He" didn''t refer to this old man, but to the donkey behind him.


    Old Donkey He originally had the name "He Changsheng", and he had been an ordinary cultivator. But when he suffered a cultivation mishap and was on the verge of death, he happened to spot a donkey passing by. He cultivated a secret soul transfer art, so he attempted to possess the donkey. Miraculously, he seeded. After oveing numerous trials, he seeded in converting from a human to a fiend.


    As he continued cultivating, he managed to reach higher heights than he had ever reached as a human, the peak of Violet Pce. As for the old man, that was his original body. After bing a fiend, he had refined the corpse into a zombie, which he controlled through a secret art. Ignorant outsiders took the old man to be Old Donkey He, not even considering that he could be the donkey. The old man was nothing more than a puppet of flesh and blood, akin to the Mother Cloudbat puppet.


    Perhaps because he was once a human, Old Donkey He was rather obsessed with his original body, and through great cost and effort, he managed to bring this flesh puppet to the initial phase of Deification. As a result, his overall strength fell, but perhaps this was the only way Old Donkey He could restore some of his lost humanity.


    Since then, for every battle, Old Donkey He would send his original body to go and fight, which reinforced the impression that this puppet was Old Donkey He, merely an average Deification cultivator, hiding that the real deal was at Soul Projection.


    A Soul Projection cultivator making a surprise attack was not something an Infant Tending cultivator could handle, which was why one strike had been enough to kill Luo Xiangran and heavily injure Mo Wuxin.@@novelbin@@


    Old Donkey He let out an eerieugh. "It seems that you lot have some skill."


    The humans paled while the Hemos cheered.


    At this moment, someone charged out and shouted, "Is Soul Projection that amazing?"


    It was Tao Tiande.


    After instigating the battle, he had been engaged in the battle with the Hemos. Logically, he should have died, but Tang Jie refused to let him die, controlling him like a puppet around the battlefield.


    At the same time, Tang Jie was gathering energy within Tao Tiande, which seethed and churned within him. However, Tang Jie refused to let it dissipate, concentrating more and more energy until he was on the verge of exploding. Whenever he was about to reach his limit, a power would appear thatpressed the spiritual energy inside him until it was as small as a needle.


    By repeating this cycle, a terrifying amount of energy was gathered within Tao Tiande.


    Old Donkey He happened to flex his power at this time, so Tang Jie had Tao Tiande lunge at the donkey.


    Tang Jie had long ago recognized the real power of the donkey. And while a Divine Division fiend was nothing to Tang Jie, taking care of him without causing a stir was somewhat troublesome. If he wanted to use the hands of another against the donkey, he would just barely be able to pull it off, but the person he used had barely any chance of surviving.


    So Tang Jie had left Tao Tiande alive for this moment.


    Under Tang Jie''s control, Tao Tiande charged out. Old Donkey He was unaware of the actual situation and took him for a simple Spirit Ring cultivator, so he simply spat out a cloud to sweep him away. To his shock, Tao Tiande scattered the cloud with a powerful st of energy and then hugged the donkey, crying out, "Let''s die together!"


    His body erupted with light.


    The old donkey finally realized that something was wrong, but it was toote to dodge. Tao Tiande exploded, and spiritual energy engulfed the donkey like tens of thousands of sharp knives.


    This was an explosive Tang Jie had personally created, and he could guarantee its power. The donkey screamed as blood erupted from all the countless new holes in his body.


    Even so, the old donkey was still alive. After all, he was a Divine Division fiend, and even the weakest Divine Division fiend wasn''t that easy to kill. But a momentter, a cold and brilliant wave of sword energy swept toward him. Shamelessly, it was even more powerful than before, more appropriate for a Violet Pce expert than a Spirit Ring cultivator.


    Old Donkey He finally couldn''t take it anymore¡­

 Chapter 987: The Blue Flame Hideaway

    The battle was over.


    The Hemos had retreated in defeat. As the price for defeat, the Hemos had paid in the lives of 328 cultivators, including two Violet Pce cultivators: Li Xiao and Old Donkey He.


    The Blood Queen was the only survivor, fleeing after being heavily injured by Liu Nanshan''s Verdant Essence Palm.


    But Liu Nanshan wasn''t happy in the slightest¡ªthe matter had gotten serious.


    Killing a few members of the hunting squad would only incur the revenge of the hunting squad, but the death of two Violet Pce cultivators was enough to start a war between the humans and Hemos.


    Worst of all was that he had been the one to instigate it. It waspletely unrealistic to use Tang Chong as a scapegoat now¡ªa single Heart Demon cultivator couldn''t bear such a heavy responsibility.


    Liu Nanshan could already imagine how the other human cultivators would look at him.


    He was a brainless warrior who only had guts and no regard for the overall situation, and so on. Any cultivator who didn''t want to see the extermination of humanity would pile the nder on him, while he himself had nowhere to vent.


    How had things gotten to this point?Liu Nanshan didn''t understand.


    This was all that Tang Chong''s fault!


    The thought made Liu Nanshan furious, and he turned and asked, "Where is Tang Chong?"


    Su Cang replied, "He disappeared right after the battle started. Hmph, he was talking so much about courage, but when the battle starts, he vanishespletely."@@novelbin@@


    He spoke in an angry tone, taking Tang Jie for a coward.


    Liu Nanshan was stunned.


    Su Hongmei was walking over at this time and happened to hear her brother''s words. Raising an eyebrow, she said, "Who said Big Brother Tang vanished? In the battle earlier, I felt his energy in the area. And those Hemos! Brother, didn''t you notice how they were suppressed in the middle of battle? Wasn''t this exactly what Big Brother Tang did before? I''m sure he was always around."


    "Then where did he go?"


    Su Hongmei looked around but failed to find Tang Jie.


    At this moment, a cultivator came over and said to Liu Nanshan, "Alliance Lord, a senior called Tang Chong asked me to convey a message to you."


    "''Tang Chong''?" Liu Nanshan said in surprise, while the Su siblings rejoiced.


    "What message?" Liu Nanshan asked, vaguely suspecting that it wasn''t anything good.


    The cultivator replied, "Tang Chong said that now that the Hemos have invaded, humanity should unite against theirmon foe, and that for the sake of humanity''s longevity, you must desist from Red Leaf''s secret plot. He also said that he was willing to be the vanguard for humanity and y the Hemos. Thus, he wouldn''t stay long here and hopes that Alliance Lord will not miss him."


    Su Hongmei said in confusion, "What ''Red Leaf secret plot''?"


    But Liu Nanshan was ashen, realizing that Tang Chong had known about the n they had made yesterday. How had he realized? With his Heart Demon cultivation, it should have been impossible for him to eavesdrop.


    While he was shocked and enraged, there was nothing he could do, and he grimly stalked away. Su Cang realized that his master''s mood wasn''t right, so he pulled at his sister so that she wouldn''t ask any questions.


    In a sour mood, Su Hongmei sulked, "What a pity! I was going to share my joy of ascending to Celestial Heart with Big Brother Tang, but now he''s gone. Where did he go? How is he going to y the Hemos? How many can he kill when he''s all alone? I hope he''s careful and doesn''t get himself surrounded."


    Su Hongmei had no idea when she said this how big of a mess Tang Jie was about to get himself in.


    Tang Jie really had left, right after leaving behind that message.


    But rather than heading toward the Hemos, he flew deeper into human territory.


    After flying around five hundred kilometers, Tang Jie reached a mountain range.


    It was a vast range of steep-sided mountains that had half their bodies hidden in the clouds. These mountains were shaped like humans, while the clouds were like bands of cloth, so from a distance, it seemed like a woman ascending to the heavens.


    These were the Soaring Immortal Mountains.


    Tang Jie began to search for the valley Tao Tiande had spoken of, but he found nothing.


    Realizing that it had probably been hidden by a secret art or formation, he activated his Celestial Eye.


    The vertical eye on the center of his forehead opened, and a ray of divine light scanned his surroundings. As an Earth Immortal, he could see all thend around with a single nce. As expected, in the depths of the mountains, he found a ce concealed by a formation. Through the clouds, he could vaguely make out a valley, most likely the one Tao Tiande had spoken of.


    Tang Jieughed and flew toward the valley.


    As he got closer, Tang Jie found that not only was this ce concealed and sealed off by a formation, it also had many cultivator guards, and he could even detect the energy signature of a Violet Pce cultivator among them.


    Of course, Tang Jie didn''t care about some True Lord. Transforming into an eagle, he flew into the valley.


    The transformation powers of the Reflections of Floating Life were so formidable that even Immortals found it difficult to see through, so Tang Jie easily infiltrated the valley. As Tao Tiande had described, there were many spirit nts growing here, many of them quite rare. While they were limited in terms of age, they still had some value, at least for Tang Jie.


    But he was in no rush to gather them, flying deeper into the valley until he reached a glossy cliff face.


    The cliff face was like a shattered mirror, the once-smooth surface now covered in cracks that were thick with the marks of spell arts. Tang Jie identified several hundred, all of them intended to repair the cliff face. This was likely the location Tao Tiande was referring to.


    The cliff face had beenpletely repaired such that there were no obvious weak points. But when he stood in front of the wall, Tang Jie felt an inexplicable pressure. He could sense that there was an existence possessing immense energy behind this cliff face.


    However, as the wall was now sealed, Tang Jie had no way of getting in.


    He attempted to use an earth movement art to travel through the wall, but the moment he entered, a powerful energy forced him back. For this to happen to an Earth Immortal left Tang Jie stunned.


    He closely inspected the surroundings and found that there was another formationid down in this valley, clearly an Immortal-level formation.


    Tang Jie was surprised at this level of defense. This meant that he couldn''t rely purely on his cultivation level to force his way through, which meant that the danger within was most likely more than he had expected.


    Since he couldn''t travel through the wall, he had to find the proper entrance.


    Tang Jie activated his Celestial Eye and began to look around.


    He quickly discovered that there was a thicket of vines nearby, under which was a small cave. At the entrance of the cave, a Soul Transformation expert was keeping watch.


    Smiling, Tang Jie transformed into a breeze and entered the cave,pletely undetected by that cultivator.


    The moment he entered the cave, he felt a heavy energy beginning to burn in his body and spill out.


    This was the sensation of the Blueheart me burning up his organs.


    It was an unremarkable energy at first, but the farther he traveled, the stronger it became, and even as an Earth Immortal, Tang Jie found the power threatening to break free. It was no wonder that Soul Transformation cultivator only dared to keep watch outside.


    After traveling for some time, he suddenly heard a rustling sound.


    Turning to the sound, he found a fiery red ant crawling over.


    The ant was the size of a human head, with a bright red carapace and de-like mandibles. Sensing something, it raised its feelers toward Tang Jie and threateningly hissed.


    Tang Jie was surprised. From the color, appearance, and mandibles, he recognized this as a Bloodscythe Ant of the Blood River Domain, but he had never seen one so big before.


    While he was processing this, the ant rushed at him, its mandibles closing with great force. Tang Jie used a Spirit tform Realm barrier to test the ant, and the barrier broke apart on contact. Tang Jie needed to reinforce the barrier three times before it was finally able to stop the ant.


    Seeing as the Bloodscythe Ant was still crazily charging at him like a madman, Tang Jie somewhat understood what had happened to it.


    The unique environment of the cave had caused the ant to mutate.


    Crushing the ant, Tang Jie continued on his way while feeling out the cave''s environment.


    Rather than growing humid, the air became even drier. There was a charred odor to the air, and a strange energy suffused his surroundings.


    The light of the Blueheart me began to pulse within the cave, shing with the aura unique to exotic mes.


    The path continued down, with the asional Bloodscythe Ant popping up.


    More and more ants appeared as he delved deeper, eventually appearing inrge groups that forced Tang Jie to flex his power again and again.


    After traveling a thousand meters, he reached the nest, whereupon he ughtered all the ants and finally brought an end to their assaults. He left one queen ant alive, which he threw into the Yellow Court World to add some variety.


    But things did not end here.


    After the Bloodscythe Ants, Tang Jie soon encountered a pack of Firebats.


    The Firebats were stronger than the ants, and they could fly. They came in a great cloud, spitting out blue mes that engulfed the entirety of the cave. s, it was no use against Tang Jie, who easily wiped them out.


    After the Firebats were pangolins.


    These Blueme Pangolins, like their predecessors, had been empowered by the special environment of the cave. Their armor was tough, their ws were sharp, and they could even travel through the earth. Their strength approached that of the average Celestial Heart cultivator.


    Tang Jie dismantled these pangolins and stowed them away as materials.


    Once this was done, obstacles finally stopped appearing, and Tang Jie made his way down the path until it opened up into a vast subterranean world.

 Chapter 988: Blue Eyes

    The first thing he saw was a giant stone tform, floating in the air.


    Beneath it was an abyss from which a deep blue me rose: the Blueheart me.


    This me was much stronger than the ember Tang Jie had seen before. With one nce, Tang Jie felt like he had been scorched, his heart almost being seared through his chest.


    Five chains made from Mother Cloud Essence Metal were suspended from the ceiling, giving off an eerie twinkle in the light of the blue mes. Upon closer inspection, he found that the chains were covered in countless characters that circled around in mysterious patterns¡ªDao Runes!


    The chains reached all the way to the stone tform, where they shackled the head and four limbs of the person lying atop the tform, rendering them immobile. Under that person was a hole which opened up to the abyss. The endless blue mes from the abyss surged into this hole, where they werepressed by a formation within the hole until they became likeva, which then emerged from the hole to wash over that person.


    It turned out the Blueheart me was being used to deal with the person on the stone tform. Not only was this person being roasted by Blueheartva, they were additionally shackled by Dao Rune chains and suppressed by an Immortal formation. The human cultivators had set up terrifying defenses against this person.


    Tang Jie couldn''t make out the face of the person on the stone tform.


    Tang Jie flew up until he was level with the person, whom he found to be a schrly man apparently asleep. As the blue mes seethed around him, he could asionally see a hint of greenish-blue flit across his face. This was a sign that the Blueheart me was burning him from within, a sign that while the surface was calm, his insides were in chaos. But he was sleeping!


    Tang Jie could sense that the man really was asleep.For this person to have endured the daily torment of Blueheartva and survive, even sleep, he had to possess a shocking level of cultivation. Tang Jie was sure that he wouldn''t be able to be soposed in the same situation. This person appeared to be an Earth Immortal, yet this was no ordinary Earth Immortal, but one who could face a Supreme True Immortal, which made Tang Jie feel a grave sense of danger.


    With his original body dead, he had be much weaker. While he could still stomp the average Earth Immortal, he had no chance of defeating a True Immortal. Of course, even in his fused form, he still might not have been able to beat a True Immortal, but at least he could put up a fight. Right now, he had to be extremely careful if he encountered anyone above his tier.


    This was why Tang Jie was being very careful around this person.


    He sensed that this person''s real cultivation level wasn''t at Earth Immortal, but True Immortal. It was just that he had been imprisoned and tormented by the mes for so long that his strength had fallen to the Earth Immortal level. Thus, even if his current cultivation was at Earth Immortal, he still represented a significant threat, and Tang Jie couldn''t predict what would happen if such an existence were freed.


    Thus, Tang Jie hesitated for a moment before making up his mind.


    He softly coughed.


    This soft sound caused the slumbering man to slowly open his eyes.


    mes danced in his deep blue eyes.


    When Tang Jie saw those eyes, his heart leaped, and he realized that he had erred.


    This man wasn''t a human!


    To be more precise, he wasn''t a human in the usually understood sense.


    In the Great Ster Chiliocosm, while the intelligent races could be sorted into humans, fiends, sprites, and demons, there were a few rare human-like species that were not human, like the giants of Gigantes. These were collectively referred to as the Varia.


    This man belonged to one of the Varia races. His race had features simr to those of regr humans, but they all had blue eyes that danced with fire, which was why they were called the Blue Eyes Race.


    It was no wonder this man had been locked up underground!


    Precisely because he wasn''t a human, he couldn''t entirely be trusted, and so the human cultivators didn''t dare to let him out. For them, this True Immortal who had fallen to the Earth Immortal tier was a double-edged sword, only to be used in the most dire of emergencies. As a result, he had be the trump card of the human front line.


    Tang Jie was confident that if this man were released, it would shake the entire Blood River Domain.


    The Blue Eyes cultivator looked at Tang Jie, his eyes glowing. "Who are you?"


    There was a buzz to his raspy voice, and tongues of me emerged from his mouth when he spoke, showing that his insides were still burning.


    Tang Jie smiled. "The one who will grant you freedom."


    To his surprise, the Blue Eyes cultivator looked at him in contempt. "Another one trying to make me their servant. Chen Tianguan and Guang Yuan couldn''t do it, so how could a new Earth Immortal like you do so?"


    Tang Jie had interacted with the Blood River Domain long enough to understand its situation, and he knew that Chen Tianguan and Guang Yuan were two human Earth Immortals of Blood River, the supporting pirs of humanity. Chen Tianguan had died long ago, leaving only Guang Yuan, and it was precisely his death that had set off an age of human weakness.


    That this Blue Eyes cultivator would bring him up meant that he had been sealed here for at least three thousand years.


    Tang Jie pursed his lips and said, "Chen Tianguan and Guang Yuan aren''t even worth mentioningpared to me."


    For him, there was nothing amazing about subduing an Earth Immortal. Weren''t the Azure Dragon, Lithos Dragon, me Celestial Sovereign, and Vermillion Bird all Earth Immortals? Even the Mother Cloudbat puppet had the strength of an Earth Immortal. With five subordinates of Earth Immortal caliber under him, Tang Jie naturally wouldn''t care too much about such a thing.


    The Blue Eyes cultivator trembled in shock. "You''re¡­ you''re not with them?"


    Tang Jie casually replied, "Did I ever say that I was with them? I came here purely by coincidence. I found out that the Blueheart me could be found here, so I came to gather some, not expecting to run into all this."


    He intentionally said all this so that the man would think that his opportunity had finallye.


    Sure enough, the eyes of the Blue Eyes cultivator erupted, and heughed, "Good, good! I, Jin Tianya, have waited three thousand, eight hundred years for this moment. Child, speak: what do you want? If you are willing to release me, this old man can owe you a favor, which is bound to pay off richly in the future."


    (Jin Tianya, ¾¡ÌìÑÄ, can mean "To the end of the other side of the world", "To the end of the horizon")


    In his view, his promise was extremely valuable. In the past, there had been countless people who had desired such a promise but failed to get it, and if he hadn''t been tormented for 3800 years, he wouldn''t have been willing to give it.


    But Tang Jie had no idea who he was and replied, "As an Earth Immortal, I wander the myriad domains. I happen to just be passing through, so we might not ever meet again. Rather than promises of future reward, I prefer to settle ounts here and now. If you have some reward that can satisfy me, I don''t mind helping you out. If you don''t, then I have no intention of offending the people of this domain."


    Jin Tianya was startled by these words, and then he thought it over and found the argument reasonable. While this person was an Earth Immortal, he was all alone, so there was no way he would offend all the human cultivators of the Blood River Domain for free, particrly because there were veteran Earth Immortals among the humans. Meanwhile, this man had only recently be an Earth Immortal, and with his no-doubt-mediocre strength, there was no way he would take any risks.


    His excitement cooled, and he asked, "What do you want?"


    "That depends on what you have," Tang Jie replied.


    Of course, his real goal here was to release this man, ruining humanity''s trump card and forcing them to seek help from the Rosecloud Domain, thus giving the Rosecloud Domain a righteous cause for its invasion.


    This didn''t mean that he couldn''t extort the man a little.


    This Jin Tianya was still a True Immortal, albeit weakened, so he had to have something good. Not only could he get something he might need, he could also hide his real goal.


    Jin Tianya bitterly chuckled. "You can see the state I''m in. When I entered this domain, I was nning something big, but I ended up falling for the pernicious plot of the three races and ended up under their control. All of my treasures were seized while I was locked up here to be tormented daily by the Blueheart me. What could I possibly have to give you?"


    "That''s your problem," Tang Jie indifferently said.


    The more uncaring he acted, the more generous Jin Tianya would be.


    Jin Tianya could only ask, "Sir, are you interested in arts?"


    Since he had no possessions and was unwilling to sell himself into very, he could only barter with his cultivation knowledge.


    Tang Jie answered, "That would depend on the arts themselves."


    Jin Tianya said, "I have abat art, the Starlight Battle Mantra. Once you cultivate it, you will be able to shake the stars and outshine the sun and moon, doubling yourbat power."


    "If it only doubles mybat power, that''s not too useful to me."


    The Skyrend Swordfall and Ten Extinctions de could both increase his power by ten times, and with such peerless Dao Arts, what did he care for some Starlight Battle Mantra? It had to be said, though, that doubling one''sbat power would be extremely valuable in the eyes of others.@@novelbin@@


    Jin Tianya then offered, "I have the Blue Eyes Secret Art, able to see through illusions and darkness."


    Tang Jie replied, "I happen to have a simr art. Moreover, the Blue Eyes Secret Art is connected to your race. Even if I learn it, it wouldn''t be very useful and could serve only as a reference."


    Helpless, Jin Tianya clenched his teeth and said, "I have the World Descender Mantra, the legacy of a Gold Immortal. It is a mantra that leads to the heavens, and you can cultivate it all the way to Gold Immortal."


    Tang Jie''s eyes shed. "A Gold Immortal''s legacy, ''the World Descender Mantra''?"


    The future prospects of a person''s cultivation career normally depended on three things: one''s legacy, one''s environment, and one''s self.


    "One''s self" referred to one''s talent, efforts, and luck, which were self-exnatory.


    The problem of environment had been mentioned before. As for legacy, that was even simpler.


    Arts were left behind by one''s seniors. If the one who created the art was only at Violet Pce, then there was no hope of a smooth road to Earth Immortal cultivating this art, unless someone who cameter built upon this art to create something better.


    This was why having an Immortal tform ancestor didn''t just represent the peakbat strength, but also the maximum level of a sect''s legacy.


    As the Basking Moon Sect''s ancestor, the Water Moon Celestial Sovereign, had ascended to be an Immortal, the arts he had left behind could be cultivated until Earth Immortal. Thus, those who cameter, so long as they met the grade in other aspects, could cultivate to Earth Immortal, but only this far.


    To be a True Immortal, Yun Tian had to seek out new arts to perfect and improve his path of ascension. In this phase, he no longer relied on legacy to ascend, but on his own research, which was exactly what made his path so difficult. The other sect ancestors of the Rosecloud Domain faced the same challenges.


    If Tang Jie hadn''t concentrated the fortune of the world on Yun Tian, and if Yun Tian hadn''t been able to discuss the Dao with the Azure Dragon or consult with Immortal Ji Yao, the path to True Immortal would have been even more difficult.


    Even then, Yun Tian had only brought the Basking Moon Sect''s legacy to the True Immortal level. To reach Gold Immortal or higher, he would once more have to rely on himself.


    This meant even greater effort and even more excruciating challenges, unless he was lucky enough toe across a Gold Immortal legacy.


    Tang Jie hadn''t expected that his habitual attempts at extortion would uncover information concerning a Gold Immortal''s legacy.

 Chapter 989: The World Descender Mantra

    "A Gold Immortal''s legacy, ''the World Descender Mantra''?" Even someone asposed as Tang Jie couldn''t help but be surprised. "Are you telling the truth?"


    Jin Tianya bitterly smiled. "In my situation, how could I dare to deceive you? However, while this mantra can take you directly to Gold Immortal, it is extremely difficult and dangerous to cultivate. If it''s not necessary, I don''t advise attempting it."


    "Deal! So long as you give me the World Descender Mantra and agree to one other request, once I confirm that the mantra is real, I will release you," Tang Jie said.


    "What request?"


    "You can''t attack the human cultivators of this domain. I know you were imprisoned by the humans and must harbor resentment against them, but I am also a human. I wouldn''t be able to ept it if the humans of this ce suffered disaster because of me, so even if it means not obtaining the World Descender Mantra, I can''t release you. This would destabilize my Dao Heart, so obtaining any mantra would be pointless."


    Jin Tianya was surprised by this request. After a pause, he asked, "What about the fiends and demons?"


    When he had entered the Blood River Domain all those years ago, he had relied on his True Immortal strength to dominate the ce, offending many people. Thus, it wasn''t just the humans, but the Immortals of all three races who united to seal him here. At the time, the human faction hadn''t been so weak, so Jin Tianya had been sealed on human territory. But not long afterward, the number one titan of the human race, Chen Tianguan, failed in the ascension to True Immortal. Worth noting was that he had used the World Descender Mantra in this attempt. Even with the undying body of an Immortal, he was unable to ovee the danger that came from the failure and died. Humanity was instantly weakened while the fiends used this opportunity to flourish, resulting in today''s situation. With no other choice, the humans used the sealed Jin Tianya as their trump card, and this along with the threat of the Demon Gate made the fiends uneasy about invading.


    For Jin Tianya, while the humans were enemies, so were the fiends and demons, leading to his question.


    Tang Jieughed. "What do the fiends and demons have to do with me?"Jin Tianya was delighted. "Great! I''ll start with those two races then!"


    "As you please," Tang Jie answered.


    For Tang Jie, Jin Tianya had made exactly the choice he wanted.


    If the battle at Thousand Autumns City was the primer to start the war, Jin Tianya''s attack wouldpletely set off the me and make sure that there was no way to put it out.


    The two exchanged oaths. Tang Jie would grant Jin Tianya his freedom, and then when Jin Tianya was free, he would not kill any humans in the Blood River Domain unless they attacked him first. In addition, Jin Tianya would pass the World Descender Mantra to Tang Jie.


    With the agreement, Jin Tianyaughed and said, "Now that we''ve settled our alliance, I must ask my young friend to find some Rainbow Water, Verdant Wood Essence, and Locust Paste."


    "What do you need those for?" Tang Jie asked.


    "To break the formation, of course." He nced at Tang Jie, inwardly grumbling, <em>You''re an Immortal, so how do you not even know this?</em> "These five chains are all made from Mother Cloud Essence Metal and empowered by Dao Runes, so it''s impossible to break them. My only way of breaking free is to gather these three items and then take them to the three formation eyes to counter the formation¡­"


    As he was talking, Tang Jie took out the Sovereign de and lightly tapped one of the chains. From their toughness, he confirmed that these Dao-enhanced Mother Cloud Metal chains were difficult for even Immortals to break. But to Tang Jie, they were useless.


    "Once the formation is suppressed, another formation needs to beid down to draw away the Blueheart Demon me. To be honest, this formation isn''t easy toy down, and I''m not an expert, so I can only do my best to try and teach you¡­"


    Tang Jie raised the Sovereign de, and the power of ughter flowed through his arm into the de¡­


    Jin Tianya was still talking. "Finally, we two willbine our strength to suppress the Dao power, allowing me to use my transformation powers and free mys¨C"


    Before he could say "self", Tang Jie swung the Sovereign de.


    Jin Tianya ruefully shook his head. Youths were always so impatient, never waiting for him to finish.


    "Self¡­ So? It''s too tough, right¡­" There was a golden sh of light, and the chain around one of his arms broke away. Jin Tianya''s voice died away like he was a strangled chicken. Then he said in a shrill voice, "It¡­ it broke?"


    Tang Jie raised his sword and swung several times, slicing through the remaining chains like they were cabbages, after which he gathered the chains and threw them into the diagram. ???O???¦¥?


    Without the five chains binding him, Jin Tianya was finally free. Because the formation was still active and the Blueheart me still burned, his cultivation was still being suppressed. However, now that the chains weren''t binding him, he only needed to take a few steps to leave the center of the suppression area, upon which his energy immediately began to recover. Even the zing Blueheart Demon me was no longer able to halt its recovery.


    "Ha, ha! I''ve recovered! I''m free!" Jin Tianya gleefully looked at himself and shouted.


    He could clearly sense the energy soaring through his body and that me being suppressed, no longer harming him.


    But he could not be considered truly free, for there was still a formation to deal with.


    This formation had been designed to target him, so it was also particrly effective against him. So long as he was still underground, it would affect him. Meanwhile, Tang Jie suffered barely any effect at all.


    This was a road the human cultivators who had imprisoned him had left for themselves, and Tang Jie was simply using it.


    Still, for Jin Tianya, this was the closest he had been to freedom since he was imprisoned all those years ago.


    All that he needed to do was break the formation, and he would truly be free.


    "I''ve done what I promised, so now it''s time to fulfill your end of the bargain, right?" Tang Jie asked.


    Jin Tianya came to his senses and turned to Tang Jie, and then he looked at the Sovereign de in his hand.


    "What a sharp weapon!" Jin Tianya praised, greed in his eyes.


    His first idea was to break the oath, kill this man, and steal his de. Tang Jie had his ways of breaking oaths, and so did Jin Tianya.


    But he quickly disposed of the idea, for he knew his own situation best. The long suppression had left him with severe injuries, and this man was still an Earth Immortal. With their cultivation levels being equal and the formation restraining him, there was no chance that he could defeat Tang Jie. Moreover, the oath was also a restraint, and while he had a secret method of breaking the oath, it required paying quite a heavy price, which would make the situation even worse for him.


    With all these factors against him, Jin Tianya knew that he couldn''t beat Tang Jie, so he gave up on the thought. In any case, the World Descender Mantra was extremely difficult, and it wasn''t like he hadn''t handed it over before, with Chen Tianguan having died because of it, so there was certainly no taboo on giving it away now.


    Thus, after some thought, Jin Tianya said, "Of course. I am not someone who goes back on my word, so rest easy."


    He pointed at the air and began to write.


    As he wrote in the air, blue characters of dancing mes appeared. Jin Tianya was using air as his paper and the Blueheart Demon me as his ink!


    A few momentster, he had finished writing the World Descender Mantra, after which the characters formed into a book which was titled "World Descender Mantra".


    Because it had used the Blueheart Demon me as ink, the book had a demonic nature that could make a reader''s mind waver and develop a Heart Demon. But someone who passed this trial could increase their mental will simply by reading the book once, without even considering the actual contents. Of course, for Tang Jie, this effect was just a decoration.


    Jin Tianya took this newly-made World Descender Mantra and handed it to Tang Jie. "The original World Descender Mantra is destroyed, so I have rewritten it based on my memory. I swear an oath on the Heavenly Dao that all that is written on this paper is the truth."


    He moved off to the side and began to recover.


    Tang Jie scanned the book with his Divine Will, reading through the mantra. Meanwhile, he activated the Dao of Wisdom and began to study this mantra''s secrets, simting what would happen if he cultivated this art.@@novelbin@@


    He didn''t truly trust Jin Tianya. Jin Tianya thought he had hidden that greedy gaze of his, but Tang Jie had seen it very clearly.


    But he did not care about or fear Jin Tianya. In his eyes, Jin Tianya was simply a tool. A tool''s loyalty did not matter, only that it was useful.


    As for the authenticity of the World Descender Mantra, taking Jin Tianya at his word had never been in the cards. He intended to use the simtion powers of the Dao of Wisdom. He had entered Wisdom through Insight, and he walked the path of observing spell arts and countering them to achieve victory. This meant that he could seek out the secrets and ws of spell arts, but this could also be used to simte arts. It was just that there had never been a need in the past, while now there was: simting the World Descender Mantra.


    Through his simtions, Tang Jie managed to find some rather interesting things.


    This wasn''t saying that Jin Tianya had given him a fake. There was a science to making fakes. All arts in the world had principles on which they operated, and one could not casually concoct one out of thin air. Moreover, anyone who could reach Immortal tform had immense knowledge and experience to draw on, so random alterations would be easily found out.


    The World Descender Mantra had been passed down by a Gold Immortal Titan, so even Jin Tianya wasn''t capable of performing such an exquisite adjustment that Tang Jie wouldn''t be able to figure it out. Doing something so crude would only make him lose face, so Jin Tianya hadn''t done something so pointless.


    With only a little simtion, Tang Jie confirmed that this mantra was real.


    And to be honest, even if it wasn''t, so long as the majority was real, Tang Jie could find the problems through cultivation and repair it.


    In the Great Ster Chiliocosm, mantras had never been good just because they were old. One generation of youths after another constantly sought to surpass the legacy of their seniors. While they did need to learn the arts of their seniors, they had never been satisfied with just that.


    For cultivators, the arts of one''s predecessors primarily existed to serve as a sessful foundation that would save time for those who cameter, letting them reach the highest heights of the past in a shorter time and continue their climb to higher levels.


    This was how the Five Realms and Fourteen Tiers had be Sixteen Tiers.


    After confirming that the mantra was fine, Tang Jie began to use the Contrame Mantra to gather the mes.


    The Blueheart Demon me, as one of the world''s exotic mes, was a supreme treasure, such that even Jin Tianya wanted it, even though he had been imprisoned by it. But he had yet to recover his strength and didn''t dare to fight with Tang Jie, so he could only angrily watch Tang Jie take all of the Blueheart Demon mes while doing his best to recover.


    Ignoring Jin Tianya, Tang Jie transformed into a gust of wind and left the cave.

 Chapter 990: Rebuilding the Palace

    After leaving the cave, Tang Jie didn''t fly away, instead flying around the Soaring Immortal Mountains and installing caches of materials in certain areas¡ªhe was setting up a formation in the Soaring Immortal Mountains!


    In truth, there were many cultivators tasked with guarding Jin Tianya in the Soaring Immortal Mountains, but Tang Jie was so strong that they had no hope of detecting him.


    Under the eyes of all these people, Tang Jie easily set up his formation.


    After doing this, Tang Jie found a ce to hide and began to patiently wait.


    He waited for three days and three nights.


    After these three days, a rumbling came from the cave. Jin Tianya had finally recovered his cultivation enough and was preparing toe out.


    As the formation was designed around him, the moment he left the cave, the entire formation was triggered.


    When this Immortal-sealing formation was fully activated, even an Immortal would find it hard to resist, and it served as thest defense of the human cultivators. Unfortunately, this formation had existed for several thousand years, and time had worn away at its power. Moreover, Tang Jie had damaged part of the formation when he destroyed the chains, and he had also stripped it of the Blueheart me''s support. Finally, Jin Tianya had spent several thousand years in the cave and had familiarized himself with every detail of the formation that he could, so the formation was unable to hold him down.


    A quaking came from the depths of the earth, growing more and more intense until even the Soaring Immortal Mountains began to sway.The cultivators guarding the mountains began to realize that something was wrong. "Oh no!"


    They flew into the air and began to cast spell arts to strengthen the formation.


    They weren''t strangers to this kind of situation. Jin Tianya had attempted to store up energy and break out more than once, and the repair mission that Tao Tiande had joined in had been because of hisst struggle.


    They all thought this situation was no different.


    But they quickly realized that they were wrong, for the shaking was more intense than ever before. Their spell arts utterly failed to suppress the surging energy underground, and they could feel the quaking growing worse and worse.


    "What¡­ what''s going on?" a cultivator asked in shock.


    In reply came the quaking of the Soaring Immortal Mountains.


    As the mountains swayed, light burst out from various points across the range. This was energy erupting from the formation eyes of the formation in unison.


    Beams of light pierced through the air, triggering a majestic wave of spiritual energy that had all the cultivators fleeing in shock.


    Only Tang Jie was smiling, furtively firing off several sts of energy at the pirs and activating his Celestial Eye so that he could calcte the operations of this formation. ???????§§?


    The smarter cultivators in the air had already begun to flee, while the slower ones were still futilely attempting to prevent the formation from falling. In that energy shockwave, all their defensive barriers were obliterated, and their bodies melted away in the st.@@novelbin@@


    Even those who flew away weren''tpletely safe. The shockwave sent giant stones flying into the air, wrapped in destructive energy. One cultivator was struck by a boulder, and in a sh of light, his barrier shattered, and the boulder smashed him into a pancake.


    There were also smaller stones, filling the air like locusts. While these stones weren''t as terrifying as the boulders, they were as powerful as art relics, able to easily pierce through barriers and bodies alike, and they soon had many cultivators dead or injured.


    But this wasn''t even the most terrifying thing.


    In the center of the Soaring Immortal Mountains, energy surged from the top of a mountain like a volcanic eruption, forming an intense pir that stabbed into the sky. A powerful pressure wave emanated from it, instantly covering the surrounding area and forcing everyone to descend.


    "This is¡­" An experienced cultivator could sense the horror that was about to appear and cried out.


    Many more didn''t even have time to feel anything, the immense pressure instantly killing them.


    A rain of blood fell over the world as cultivators fell from the sky. Meanwhile, the center of the mountain cracked upon, and Jin Tianya flew out.


    He had finally broken free of the formation''s suppression.


    "Hahahaha, I''m free! I''m finally free!" Jin Tianya roared.


    As he roared, Tang Jie waved his hand, upon which countless gleams of light appeared in the air. This was the debris from the ruptured mountain, alling together to weave into an enchanting cloudscape.


    Tang Jie pointed downward, and a giant stone flew out from the bowels of the earth: the stone tform that Jin Tianya had been sleeping on.


    As a substance that could hold a True Immortal, it had to be something extraordinary, then it had been Jin Tianya''s bed and tempered by the Blueheart Demon me for 3,800 years, making it even more incredible. As it flew up, it shrank in size and then flew into the cloudscape.


    "Stop!" Tang Jie shouted, upon which the cloudscape froze. And then it began to shrink.


    By now, it was in to Jin Tianya what Tang Jie was up to.


    He was borrowing his power to refine the Immortal-sealing formation!


    This was already an incredible formation, and while it had weakened and lost value over time, there was no denying that it was still an Immortal-level formation.


    Even if it was dismantled for parts, this formation would still be quite valuable.


    Tang Jie had made himself a pretty penny from recycling formations in the past, and Jin Tianya was impoverished after his many years of imprisonment, so the moment he broke free, he hoped to gain back some wealth from this formation.


    He hadn''t expected Tang Jie to be so lowly as to use him to take the entire thing.


    Taking the entire formation was much more difficult than dismantling it. After all, this meant preserving its original strength, and in normal circumstances, Tang Jie wouldn''t have been able to do it. After all, this was an Immortal formation.


    But Jin Tianya''s presence made everything different.


    In the process of breaking out of the formation, Jin Tianya was essentially taking on all of the burden of taking the formation on himself, allowing Tang Jie to sit back and rx, only needing to take the formation when the work was done.


    And he had really pulled it off.


    Through the formation that Tang Jie hadid down earlier, the intact formation was fixed in the air, and then it was shrunk down and copsed, with the stone serving as the center.


    Jin Tianya frantically said, "That''s mine!"


    He reached out for the formation.


    This was a crucial juncture in the formation''spression process, and if it were seized now, it would shatter, making all of Tang Jie''s effort pointless. But Jin Tianya no longer cared.


    Tang Jie naturally wouldn''t let him ruin his n. "Sir, you''re not being very grateful."


    He snapped his finger, sending out a st of wind that pushed away Jin Tianya''s hand, upon which he shouted, "Condense!"


    The formation''spression process elerated.


    "Don''t even think about it!" Jin Tianya punched at Tang Jie without regard for the consequences.


    Tang Jie waved his hand, summoning the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace, which unleashed a divine ray of light that stopped Jin Tianya''s punch.


    Through countless refinements and the investment of innumerable treasures, the furnace had long ago reached the level of an ultimate-grade divine treasure of immense power. The only thing separating it from the status of Dao armament was a Dao Will, but it was much more powerful than many Dao armaments.


    With Jin Tianya''s punch blocked by the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace, Tang Jie took out another item: the intelligent stone embryo he had found in the Spirit Mountains shortly after he had be an Immortal.


    It spent every day next to the Genesis Stone b, soaking in the power of creation and growing more intelligent and more flexible in usage. It could be used to forge tools, make talismans, ory down formations. Tang Jie was unwilling to refine this intelligent stone with such limitless potential into a mindless treasure, so he had kept it until now.


    Today, he had finally found an opportunity for this intelligent stone embryo.


    The stone embryo sensed Tang Jie''s intentions and happily flew toward the stone b in the core of the formation.


    In a sh, the stone embryo disappeared, and then the stone b began to change forms, first transforming into a stone stele. Tang Jie shook his head. "No good!"


    The stone stele took the form of a throne.


    Tang Jieughed. "This shape is pretty good!"


    As he spoke, the formation began to disappear into the throne in a cascade of lights. When all had subsided, that majestic Immortal formation was gone.


    In its ce was a throne in the sky covered in all kinds of strange carvings, each one actually aponent of the formation. In this way, it became part of the throne''s powers, allowing it to unfold into an Immortal-sealing formation.


    But Tang Jie still didn''t think this was enough.


    The formation was weakened from age, and then it had been further worn away through the damage done by Tang Jie and Jin Tianya. Thus, the formation could only suppress those below Immortal tform now.


    But Tang Jie didn''t need this formation if it could only deal with Violet Pce cultivators.


    Thus, Tang Jie called the throne to his side and then summoned the Infinite Pce.


    He ced the throne in the central hall of the Infinite Pce. "Rise! Suppress! Seal! Press! Combine! Ascend! Merge!"


    With seven uses of Law Speaking, Tang Jie harnessed the Dao of Truth to the limit, seeking to fix thew of the cosmos.


    This was a higher manifestation of Law Speaking. As Tang Jie entered deeper and deeper into a Dao, he also gained more understanding of what it meant to control a Dao. This had allowed him to achieve breakthroughs in each of the Twelve Great Daos, and Truth was no exception.


    At this moment, the Infinite Pce became a small world created through his own energy, and in this small world, his Law Speaking set the rules of this ce.


    All the formations within the Infinite Pce began to merge together into a brand-new formation. Originally, the Infinite Pce defended against external forces and attacked those within, with the Ster Net Astral Demon Formation serving as the primary offensive force. But as all these formations began to merge together with the Immortal-sealing formation, they began to ascend to an even higher level of power.


    Finally, he also threw in the Eight Gates Banners, which brought the Infinite Pce to an even higher level. With this, Tang Jie''s Five Elements Dao Art suddenly leaped to the front, once more bing Tang Jie''s most powerful Dao Art.

 Chapter 991: Sky Throne

    Chapter 991: Sky Throne


    The series of actions, while seemingly ratherplicated, took only a few moments to transpire.


    A momentter, the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace went flying off with a bang.


    Jin Tianya pushed past the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace and flew at Tang Jie. "Give me back my formation!"


    After three days of recovery, he had restored seventy to eighty percent of his strength, which had also restored his confidence. In his view, even as a fallen True Immortal, eighty percent of his strength was enough to deal with a new Earth Immortal.


    Tang Jie shook his head and smiled. "Did you forget your promise not to attack humans?"


    A momentter, a bolt of lightning shot out of the sky at Jin Tianya.


    Jin Tianya ignored it, enduring the heavenly lightning as he attacked Tang Jie. "Even if I have to break the oath, I''ll kill you!"


    Jin Tianya majestically soared through the air, the lightning as his backdrop, his blue eyes coldly glinting.


    He raised his hand, which transformed into a huge mountain that descended onto Tang Jie''s head.Tang Jie chuckled. "I''ve been wanting to see what a True Immortal is capable of."


    He raised his hand, and a hand made of clouds moved upward to meet the mountain.


    This Drifting Cloud Hand was a Divine Connection he had created on his travels. It wasn''t particrly powerful, but it was a rather exquisite technique.


    s, it was obliterated on first contact with Jin Tianya''s mountain palm.


    A crimson cloud appeared, the Flesh Millstone merging with the Drifting Cloud Hand to face the challenge. But Jin Tianya still easily pushed through. The vast power of this palm truly suited the domineering aura of a True Immortal.


    Jin Tianyaughed, "Junior, you really think that you can sit on the same level as me just because you''ve reached Immortal tform? You''re still too young!"


    Tang Jie nodded. "In terms of cultivation, you truly are stronger. When ites to regrbat power, I''m inferior¡­ no, ''greatly inferior''."


    "Huh?" Jin Tianya was surprised by his indifferent tone.


    Tang Jie continued, "Fortunately, I''ve never primarily relied on Divine Connections for battle."


    What sort of joke was that? What did an Immortal rely on for battle if not Divine Connections? Dao Arts?


    Jin Tianya didn''t think this casual thought of his would be the truth. He simply didn''t believe that someone couldprehend all Twelve Great Daos. After all, in this world, someone who couldprehend just four Daos was rare enough, let alone all twelve. Worst of all, he didn''t even have the right to experience it.


    He was only able to see one: the Infinite Pce.


    In the face of his domineering foe, Tang Jie finally unleashed the just-upgraded Infinite Pce.


    In a burst of rainbow lights, the resplendent pce emerged.


    Among these halls was a particrly tall pce with a t roof, and upon this roof sat that throne, on the back of which was a fierce face.


    This face was alive, and it was grinning at Jin Tianya.


    Clouds emerged from its mouth, shrouding the region in a mystical and intimidating atmosphere.@@novelbin@@


    "The Immortal-sealing formation!" Jin Tianya cried out in rm.


    He was far too familiar with this feeling.


    No, it was slightly different.


    This Immortal-sealing formation was even stronger and fiercer than the one that had sealed him!


    Jin Tianya felt powerless against the pressure of this formation, even felt like he should fall on his knees. Thankfully, this formation also suppressed the lightning.


    Even so, Jin Tianya paled and immediately stopped attacking.


    A voice rang out. "Kneel before the throne!"


    Tang Jie had appeared on that tform, his robes majestically floating around him, his eyes exuding dignity, and his words shaking Jin Tianya to the core.


    Despite his shock, Jin Tianya stubbornly replied, "''Kneel'', to you!?"


    He raised his hands, sending out a surge of blue light that exploded against the insides of the Infinite Pce.


    Tang Jie snorted, "As stubborn as expected. Seal!"


    The clouds churned, and a particrly powerful force descended upon Jin Tianya, pushing back his blue lightning.


    Aghast, Jin Tianya desperately attempted to gather Immortal energy and push back the torrent of energy. But this energy was like a mountain, an ocean, the entire chiliocosm, utterly impossible to resist. Blue light erupted from his hands over and over, but that power ground it away into nothing. It seemed like the helpless struggle of an ant against an approaching carriage, or thest sparks from an electric eel against a fisherman¡­


    The torrent of energy gradually pushed Jin Tianya to his knees.


    The energy then transformed into giant shackles that chained down Jin Tianya and robbed him of any ability to stand.


    "How¡­ how is this possible?" Jin Tianya wailed.


    Tang Jie had sealed him without even moving a muscle, and he had used the Immortal-sealing formation he had just taken.


    There was no mistaking this familiar feeling.


    But even the original Immortal-sealing formation couldn''t hold him, and the one Tang Jie had seized should only have been weaker. How was it that it was stronger?


    He found it impossible to understand or believe.


    Tang Jie didn''t even look at him, seating himself upon the throne and saying, "Well? Are you convinced now?"


    Jin Tianya stared at him in shock.


    "In the end, I''m the one who gave you freedom. Even if it was a fair trade, I still showed you some kindness. For you to attack me is to repay kindness with evil. How should I treat such an ungrateful person?"


    Jin Tianya viciously red at him. "Don''t try and trick me. You really think I would believe that you inadvertently came across me and decided to save me? Hmph, you probably had some n in mind when you came to let me out, right? Although I don''t know what your goal is, since you went through the trouble of saving me, you naturally wouldn''t kill me so easily."


    Tang Jie was taken aback, and then he smiled. "Alright, alright, I suppose you are an old monster who''s lived several thousand years. You''re smart enough to not be fooled by my little act. In other words, I can''t use your life to extort anything out of you, right?"


    "Hmph!" Jin Tianya looked away.


    He talked tough, but deep down, he was rather nervous.


    After all, he had been captured by Tang Jie right after being freed. If this man got angry and decided to lock him up again, he would have nothing left but his tears. He was just doing his best right now to put up a tough front.


    Fortunately, Tang Jie had no ns on extorting him any more, primarily because he was too poor.


    Since Jin Tianya had guessed that Tang Jie had no intention of killing him, he decided not to waste time, saying, "You''re correct. I let you out for a reason. But as for the reason, there''s no reason for me to tell you. Just know that you can go on with your business, and so long as you don''t provoke me, you can do whatever you want. Right, if possible, it''s best not to mention me. Just say that you got out on your own."


    The cultivators guarding this ce had either died or fled, and Tang Jie had kept himself concealed while acting, only revealing himself at the very end. Thus, nobody knew of Tang Jie''s involvement and took all the phenomena to be Jin Tianya''s work.


    "Of course, you can not listen to me and insist on pulling me down, testing whether or not I dare to kill you. As for whether I can¡­ you''ve already tried that, and I trust you don''t need to try again."


    Tang Jie smiled, a smile so cruel that it made Jin Tianya shiver and realize that he wasn''t joking.


    Just as Tang Jie said, he had already proved that he could kill Jin Tianya, and very easily at that. So long as Jin Tianya was still thinking straight, he wouldn''t provoke Tang Jie again.


    Not only that, in the future, he would probably do his best to avoid Tang Jie and be on his best behavior if he couldn''t.


    Helpless, Jin Tianya could only nod and agree.


    Seeing that the old man had finally gotten the picture, Tang Jie withdrew the formation.


    Jin Tianya finally felt the pressure lighten, his freedom restored.


    This time, he didn''t dare to linger and immediately left.


    As he departed, Tang Jie''s face darkened. "A fallen True Immortal¡­ really is quite strong."


    Suppressing Jin Tianya with the formation had seemed easy, but it had taken sixty percent of the formation''s power.


    This didn''t sound like a lot to suppress an Immortal, but it was still far from where Tang Jie wanted.


    Tang Jie''s idea was to use thebination of the Immortal-sealing formation and the Eight Gates Banners to suppress at least three Immortals at once.


    At this level, whenbined with Tang Jie''s own strength, he would be able to deal with an entire group of Earth Immortals as he pleased.


    Tang Jie hadn''t encountered this many Immortals at once yet, but there was no end to the pursuit of power. No matter how strong Tang Jie was, he would never feel that he was strong enough and didn''t need to grow any stronger.


    Through this test, he had proved that thebination could easily seal one Immortal, but it was only able to seal two at most, and probably only for a short amount of time.


    In addition, the Ster Net Astral Demon Formation wasn''t strong enough, so rather than putting power into the offensive formation, it would be better to concentrate it all on the sealing formation to extend the sealing time.


    But the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace was very powerful. While the Eight Gates Banners also used the power of the Great Dao, theycked offensive power, while the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace was the opposite. If it could be merged with the Infinite Pce, it could further boost the formation''s power.


    However, the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace was the only divine treasure he had forged himself. It bore his spirit, and it had unlimited potential. The Sovereign de was his number one offensive treasure, the Mountain River State Diagram was his number one resource treasure, and the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace was his number one defensive treasure. After all, it had been able to block Jin Tianya''s attack for a time.


    If the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace were merged with the Immortal-sealing formation, it might grow more powerful in the short term, but its long-term development would be hindered.


    In the end, Tang Jie gave up on the idea.


    There was nothing perfect in this world. The Immortal-sealing formation could already seal two Earth Immortals. If he wanted to make it stronger, he would just look out for some other opportunity.


    With this thought in mind, Tang Jie flew into the distance.


    With matters here settled, he just needed to patiently wait.


    Given Jin Tianya''s personality, he would soon deliver the news Tang Jie wanted.


    Suddenly, Tang Jie felt a feeling that he had lost a long time ago.


    This was¡­


    After a moment, Tang Jie gleefully realized what it was.


    It was the will of the original body!


    After a period of hibernation, the original body''s will had finally awakened!

 Chapter 992: Hibernation

    Here was a sky full of dark clouds.


    The sky was eternally gray, without a single ray of sunlight or color. The earth stank with the odor of decay, and withered trees emerged from barren soil that was devoid of life.


    A thick fog lingered over the ground, originating from the distant Yellow Springs that poured out of the heavens.


    It steamed and billowed across thend, bringing gloom and destion to the whole world.


    This was the Nether Domain.


    In thends of the Nether Domain, only ghosts existed.


    Various kinds of ghosts.


    The most primitive fog ghosts born out of the fog, resentful souls born from concentrated resentment, savage spirits created from the remnant Yin energy left behind after death, and various zombies that still retained their physical bodies, as well as other strange existences that were difficult to categorize, popted this vast world of ghosts.


    The Nether Domain was unbelievablyrge,rger than Vast Wilderness and only smaller than Primordial Fog.As the afterlife for the myriad domains of the chiliocosm, it was linked to countless worlds. These connections made the Nether Domain a ce full of the mysterious and bizarre, far more than one could imagine.


    The Yan River was one of the bizarre locations of the Nether Domain.


    It was a pitch-ck river with no source, having always existed alongside the Nether Domain, its waters emerging from its soil. The waters did not flow, yet they were always sshing and sloshing. A ck fog floated over the river, and numerous ghosts floated around in its waters.


    Near the bottom of the Yan River, the ck river waters were churned up by some mysterious power into a series of vortices.


    asionally, one could see ck ghosts swimming out of these vortices.


    Thus would a Yan River ghost be born.


    Not every ghost had to appear in the Yellow Springs. The Yellow Springs supported the entire Nether Domain, but the Nether Domain was linked to all the myriad domains of the Ster Chiliocosm. In this world, many things defiedmon sense or even existed in contradiction. Thisnd of the unfathomable and iprehensible had to be avoided by the living and was somewhere the dead found it hard to slumber.


    Lower down the Yan River was its ck river bottom.


    The undercurrent that flowed here was highly corrosive and lethal to any life, and even ghosts were unwilling to go here. Only bone fish and ghost crabs could be found here. ???¨®?§§?@@novelbin@@


    But in this kind of ce, a giant of a human body still stubbornly existed.


    He was sunken into the river bottom, covered in rotting sands.


    The surging undercurrent couldn''t scrape away that tough flesh, and the sharp teeth of the bone fish couldn''t bite through it. Even the parasitic souls of the ghost crabs couldn''t take root here.


    The giant corpsey motionlessly on the river bottom.


    There was a terrifying wound on his chest that prated entirely through him. An immense energy still lingered over this wound, obliterating any ghost that got close.


    A ghost crab approached.


    The energy vortex within the wound attracted the ghost crab, but also terrified it so much that it only dared to hover at the edge of the vortex.


    Suddenly, a transparent hand reached out of the wound and grabbed the crab. The ghost crab''s misty body began to transform in an attempt to escape its clutches, firing off sharp spikes made of condensed ck fog.


    But the hand was unaffected, pulling it toward the wound.


    The vast energy obliterated the ghost crab, leaving only pure soul energy that was drawn into the wound.


    Deep within the wound was a shattered heart, and next to the heart sat a transparent ghost.


    Sitting next to the heart, it cautiously guided that soul energy in, upon which the shattered heart healed a little.


    Then the heart thumped.


    Although it was only a single pulse, the immense Life energy unleashed spread out for several dozen feet, killing all bone fish and ghost crabs in the area. s, this sort of death provided no benefit to this body, and a soft sigh came from the heart.


    The transparent ghost lightly stroked the heart as if saying, <em>No rush, no rush.</em>


    The corpse was naturally Tang Jie''s original body, and the transparent ghost was Little Three.


    Tang Jie''s original body truly was dead.


    It was utterly devoid of vitality.


    The palm of the Boundless Gold Immortal was beyondpare, and even Tang Jie''s so-called undying and evesting original body was in on the spot.


    But his soul survived!


    Because of the avatar, the soul of Tang Jie''s original body still had somewhere to go, so it was not an absolute death.


    But Tang Jie did not call back the soul in the original body.


    On the contrary, he had it stay there.


    Souls could not take root in the dead, and those that did simply became walking corpses.


    Tang Jie had other ns.


    The moment his original body died, Tang Jie had used life creation on it.


    To be more precise, he had used it on the original body''s shattered heart.


    The moment he used life creation, a new life was born in Tang Jie''s original body.


    It was a fragile life,cking a mind or any ability to fight.


    But it was also a seed.


    A seed of Life!


    Yes, Tang Jie''s original body was dead, but Tang Jie had left himself a seed of Life.


    The moment the seed of Life was created, the original body''s consciousness entered the newborn life and entered a hibernation akin to death.


    Tang Jie called this the "Fetal Breath".


    The newborn life''s development process had to take ce in secret.


    Thus, he also used a secret art to seal all of the body''s energy so that it didn''t leak out.


    In this way, the seed of life could grow in the original body, drawing nutrients from the original body to create a new one.


    It was a good n, but that Nether Emperor had ruined it by pulling the original body into the Nether Domain. Of course, it was Tang Jie who had been unwilling to hand over the souls of the Wuxing to the Nether Domain first.


    This couldn''t be med on Tang Jie''s pettiness. The Wuxing were a species Tang Jie had created and belonged to the Yellow Court World, not to the Great Ster Chiliocosm. This was an independent system that served as an important reference and field of study for Tang Jie, a way for Tang Jie toprehend the Great Daos.


    If the souls of the Wuxing entered the Nether Domain and went through reincarnation, the system would be merged with the Great Ster Chiliocosm''s system, and his world would lose its independence.


    In the future, to obtain greater strength, the Yellow Court World would eventually have to merge, but not now. Thus, Tang Jie could not permit the Nether Domain to take those souls, and he gave up his original body as the price.


    Fortunately, the Nether Domain wanted souls, not bodies, and that Nether Emperor had be a God through an ethereal body and had little interest in flesh. It had only pulled in the original body to get revenge, after which it ignored it.


    The Nether Domain was thend of the dead, thick with Yin energy and thin with life. Fortunately, the seed of life was growing within the original body and didn''t need much from the outside world, so there were few problems on this front.


    The real problem was that the original body''s will had fallen into hibernation within the seed and could no longer resonate with Tang Jie''s will, so Tang Jie didn''t know its situation.


    All he knew about the original body was through Little Three.


    Without a will to guide it, the seed of life could only grow on instinct, which was very slow. Worst of all was that while that Nether Emperor had no interest in flesh, this wasn''t the case for every ghost of the Nether Domain.


    Most ghosts with physical bodies would be interested in Tang Jie''s original body.


    Tang Jie needed it to recover faster so that it could deal with any possible threats.


    In this time, Little Three was constantly catching ghosts to feed to the original body''s will so that it could awaken faster and control the body.


    After this sigh, a voice rang out in Little Three''s mind: "Three."


    "Kee!" Little Three excitedly squeaked like a mouse.


    The original body''s will had finally awoken.


    The original body asked, "What is our current situation?"


    Little Three iled and shouted for a bit.


    Through thought transfer, the original body understood what Little Three was talking about.


    He felt his own condition and found that he was still in that most primitive seed form, rooted in the heart that had just barely been repaired, neither ghost nor human. Even his will was just barely hanging on, and thinking was a long and exhausting process. As for the connection between him and his avatar, that was simply out of the question. Thankfully, the avatar was able to sense that the original body had awakened.


    The original body said, "I can''t stay awake for too long. I will soon fall back into hibernation, so you need to keep gathering ghosts to feed to me, which will extend the time I can stay awake."


    "Of course, Father. I''ll definitely catch more ghost crabs for you," Little Three answered.


    The original body replied, "That isn''t enough¡­ I need stronger¡­"


    Little Three immediately grimaced. "But I''m a Hunter Ghost. I can''t show myself in the Nether Domain."


    "Then let theme," Tang Jie said.


    "How?"


    "Fishing¡­ use my flesh¡­" The original body''s voice began to fade.


    In this little while, the original body''s will was already beginning to slide back into slumber.


    "''Your flesh''?" Little Three was taken aback.


    Right, why hadn''t he thought of that?


    The original body''s flesh was very tempting to a certain kind of ghost. It could be considered a natural treasure in some respects and would definitely be excellent bait.


    "But what if they''re too strong¡­?" Little Three was a little worried.


    He wasn''t scared of ghosts that were too powerful, but if they started fighting, there was a risk of being exposed.


    "Unsuitable targets¡­ give up¡­ abandon bait."


    "But that would waste your flesh."


    "Waste if you must. What is lost¡­ can be gotten back¡­ter¡­" The original body''s voice dwindled away into utter silence.


    He had once more entered hibernation.

 Chapter 993: The Situation

    The original body''s will vanished after a brief moment.


    Even so, Tang Jie had still sensed it, and it made him sigh in relief.


    Any life was at its most fragile in its seedling stage. Fortunately, the original body had been shepherded through this trial by Little Three. While this was only the first step on a road of a thousand miles, it was the most important step and worth celebrating.


    With all his business settled, Tang Jie left the Soaring Immortal Mountains.


    He found a pretty little ce in human territory to settle down, after which he began to research the World Descender Mantra given to him by Jin Tianya.


    This mantra was authored by a Gold Immortal called Reverend Heaven-Forsaken.


    As the legacy of a Gold Immortal, it differentiated itself the most in that it particrly strengthened the Divine Soul. At its peak, the Divine Soul could leave the body and wander the heavens,pletely giving up the physical body to be a True God.


    This was much stronger than the True God in the Immortal tform sense,pletely forgoing the Immortal Body and being able to use Divine Connections with only the soul. It could also possess others and create thousands of avatars. This was why it was called the World Descender Mantra, for the one who sessfully cultivated this art would be a True God descending upon the world, able to freely possess whoever they wanted.


    But this was not without its ws. First of all, cultivating this art required constantly absorbing the energy of the physical body. Cultivators originally cultivated the body as the Immortal Body and the soul as the God, cultivating both. But the World Descender Mantra meant giving up on the Immortal Body and cultivating only the God, essentially walking the path of the soul cultivator, the exact opposite of the body cultivator. This meant that Tang Jie would have to sacrifice a lot, even the Dao Runes etched into his body. While the Great Dao was said to be formless and was concerned only for the mindset, Dao power had form, and Dao Runes had their wills. To use a Dao Art, one still had to bring form to the formless. Topletely give up on the physical body would affect his Dao power. Fortunately, the one who had left behind the World Descender Mantra was also a Godhead, proficient in the Great Daos, so he had created a method of establishing the Daos as a True God, but it was rather troublesome.In addition, this art was extremely dangerous. Gathering all of one''s energy on the True God involved a major shift in one''s form of existence. Shifts meant risk, which was why the World Descender Mantra was extremely difficult to cultivate. Thest person to cultivate it, Chen Tianguan, had died in this process.


    After some thought, Tang Jie decided to still learn it.


    After all, the World Descender Mantra had many advantages. The first was that it meant he didn''t have to worry about a mantra again until he reached Gold Immortal, saving him a lot of time that would have been wasted searching. In the path of cultivation, the person who could move faster had more opportunities, being able to go farther and higher. The second was that it made him more powerful. The soul cultivator concentrated all power on the Godhood, which directly made Divine Connections more powerful. The True God of a soul cultivator could unleash Divine Connections much more powerful than those of an ordinaryw cultivator. This alone made them superior to countless other cultivators.


    As a price, the Immortal Body would weaken, but so long as the Primal Divinity was not extinguished, the True God would exist eternally, surviving even the utter destruction of the Immortal Body. Moreover, his original body was a body cultivator, and the two inbination would create an effect where one plus one was greater than two.


    Finally, deep down, Tang Jie felt like something wasn''t right.


    He had been harboring this ill foreboding for some time, and while Tang Jie had failed to track it down, one event after another had reinforced it. The Azure Dragon, the Lithos Dragon, Wind Holder, the Bejeweled Star Lord, the mysterious destruction of the Court of Myriad Domains, the strange encounters in the Immortal tomb, the revival of numerous hibernating individuals, that mysterious figure he had seen in his reincarnations, the bizarre event that had taken ce during his ascension to Soul Projection (which Xu Miaoran had told him about), the Fate Candle that should have been extinguished in his battle with Flowing Wind¡­


    All of this was warning Tang Jie to reluctantly admit that there was some secret hiding on his body.


    Even his absurdprehension abilities, especially of the Twelve Great Daos, were connected to this secret!


    Even if he didn''t want to admit it, he knew that it would catch up to him eventually.


    This was why Tang Jie was seeking an opportunity to escape all this.


    He saw this opportunity in the World Descender Mantra.


    The Lithos Dragon, Wind Holder, and Bejeweled Star Lord had all hidden their physical bodies, and what they had controlled were physical bodies. This meant that when he cultivated the World Descender Mantra, weakening his Immortal Body, while he might not necessarily be able to escape his Fate, he would at least have a better chance.


    Thus, no matter how difficult, Tang Jie had to cultivate the World Descender Mantra.


    Tang Jie spent every day cultivating this mantra, converting his Immortal Body''s power to his Divine Soul, nurturing his Godhood and strengthening his Primal Divinity.


    Of course, Tang Jie didn''t close himself off from the world. After all, his main mission was to probe the Blood River Domain, so while cultivating, he also created physical avatars to travel around and gather information.


    Tang Jie quickly got the information he wanted.


    As he had expected, the deaths of Old Donkey He and Li Xiao and the severe wounding of the Blood Queen at Thousand Autumns City, along with the loss of several hundred cultivators of the Hemos hunting squad, had infuriated the Hemos.


    Rather than a simple border conflict, it had evolved into a war, and it was one where the weaker side had won. It would be very strange if the Hemos epted this oue. ???¨®§£§¦s


    Thus, the Bloodfiend Alliance soon began to marshal its forces for an invasion.


    The humans fell into panic, criticizing the Red Leaf Alliance for "stirring up conflict" while sending out messages saying that the incident was a misunderstanding and that they hoped that the Hemos would stay their hand for the sake of both races, even offering to paypensation. At the same time, they urgently contacted the Demon Gate, hoping to make this a two-versus-one, promising numerous rewards and talking up how the teeth would be exposed to the chill once the lips were gone.@@novelbin@@


    One could say that this string of responses wasn''tcking. The weaker side had to be shameless sometimes, but it was better than being wiped out. If they had continued with this effort, the matter might really have been settled.


    But the incident at the Soaring Immortal Mountains ended any hope the human cultivators had for peace.


    Jin Tianya''s escape directly led to two things. The first was that the human alliance lost an important intimidation tool. The second was that Jin Tianya, restricted by his oath, didn''t go to the humans, instead starting a massacre in fiend territory.


    The day after leaving the Soaring Immortal Mountains, Jin Tianya appeared in therge fiend city of Hehuan and used a supreme Divine Connection to unleash utter mayhem. The cultivators in charge of protecting the city were all ughtered before they could even activate the defensive formation, and the entire city was obliterated with no survivors. Jin Tianya continued on his way, massacring twenty-seven cities in the span of three days and stunning the entire Blood River Domain.


    After three days, the fiend Immortal Reverend Evil Cloud personally began to search for Jin Tianya, forcing him to retreat and restoring some peace to the fiends.


    But defending against an Immortal was very challenging.


    Jin Tianya knew that he was all on his own, so he focused on sneak attacks, appearing across fiend territory and massacring a city every day, and theirnds soon resounded with wailing and weeping.


    All of this was Jin Tianya''s handiwork.


    The fiends naturally couldn''t ept peace in such a situation.


    Since Jin Tianya was out and was only targeting the fiends, the humans must havee to an agreement with him and let him out on purpose. Xu Miaoran and the others were also instigating conflicts in other border cities, and when the fiends put it all together, the objective of the humans became "obvious".


    Once the fiends thought that they understood, they naturally stopped listening to the humans and sent their armies against the humans. Even the Lord of the Blood River created an avatar to join in, and a majestic cultivator war erupted.


    By the time Tang Jie had started cultivating, the fiends and humans were already fighting.


    The humans naturally couldn''t match the strength of the fiends. If the fiends didn''t also have to deal with Jin Tianya, and if the humans didn''t have the terrain advantage, they might have lost in the early stages of the war.


    Even so, the humans were under immense pressure, so they sought help from the Demon Gate.


    For the Demon Gate, the obliteration of the humans naturally didn''t favor them, so they intended to help. After all, this was how things had been for many years.


    But just when they were about to intervene, Jin Tianya ran over to demon cultivator territory and started killing, destroying 12 cities in one day. His ferocity was appalling, even more demonic than the demons.


    The demon cultivators were furious.


    Demons were an impulsive and irrational race, whether they were naturally born or had be demons through cultivation. Their minds didn''t work properly, so they were always the ones causing trouble rather than the other way around. It was already very difficult to make them understand the concept of mutual survival, and if they had been able to understand the concept that a minorck of restraint could ruin the greater strategy, they wouldn''t be demons.


    After that incident, the humans could no longer ce their hopes on the Demon Gate.


    On the contrary, the situation became even worse.


    The Demon Gate had its own kind of wisdom.


    They were no longer helping the humans, but it also seemed inappropriate to just watch the fiends devour the humans. Wasn''t that giving them the opportunity to dominate the world?


    Well, there was only one option.


    They might as well join the fiends in attacking the humans.


    Since they weren''t helping the humans in their resistance, they might as well snatch some food from the mouths of the fiends.


    This was how Demon Gate cultivators thought, simply and practically.


    Just like that, the Demon Gate joined the battle, but as enemies, not friends.

 Chapter 994: Enduring in Silence

    While Tang Jie was quietly cultivating in the mountains, the curtains had risen on a war that involved all of the Blood River Domain.


    In this war, the only neutral faction was the Celestial me Pagoda.


    Before the start of the war, the me Celestial Sovereign had ended his "travels" and returned to the Celestial me Pagoda to once more manage its operations.


    In the face of the current situation, rather than joining in, he had announced his neutrality and advocated for restraint and rationality from all sides for the sake of all the inhabitants of this world, after which hey back and watched the show.


    Thus, the City of Freedom became the only haven for humanity, with numerous humans gathering there every day, and the me Celestial Sovereign''s strict orders ensured that nobody dared to kill anyone there. But outside the city, the three races battled it out each day.


    Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the dual forces of the fiends and demons had pushed back the humans. Having lost the ten-some border cities, Thousand Autumns City included, the human forces had begun to retreat inward, and the front lines were drawing closer and closer to the human capital city.


    On the map of the Blood River Domain, the yellow area representing the humans was shrinking almost every day, while the red and ck areas representing the fiends and demons had expanded to the point of almost covering the entire map.


    The fiend and demon armies were taking three cities a day, each of thempeting against the other for human territory. Their greatest hindrance wasn''t the resistance of the human cultivators, but the small tricks yed by their ally.


    Although Tang Jie had hidden himself to cultivate the World Descender Mantra, his clones had been constantly roaming the world. With his profound cultivation and deepening understanding of the Dao, when he wasn''t involved in mass creation, he could easily create a few longsting clones. These clones could not onlyst a long time, they could freely transform and had also transcended the previous limits onbat power. So long as they were restricted to below Celestial Heart, they could fight against ordinary cultivators. If he was willing to use some essence blood, he could even create long-term Celestial Heart clones.Thus, even though Tang Jie didn''t leave his seclusion, he still understood everything going on outside. Besides that, Xu Miaoran and Yiyi were also passing on news to him.


    On this day, Tang Jie was still cultivating in the mountains when he suddenly frowned, then he smiled and said, "You''re here, so why do you insist on these little tricks?"


    He snapped his fingers, and there was a yelp as somebody in the distance tumbled out of the void.


    It was Yiyi, waving her small hands and shouting, "Ouch, ouch! Big Brother, you''re so awful for bullying me around."


    Another voice rang out in the distance. "So, you failed, right?"


    Another person emerged, confidently striding through the air and instantly closing the distance: Xu Miaoran.


    Coming up to Tang Jie''s side, Xu Miaoran said, "Yiyi recentlyprehended the Dao of Wind and became able to transform into a breeze, which is excellent for infiltration. I made a bet with her that it was impossible for her to get within twenty thousand feet of you as a gust of wind without being detected, and it seems I was right."


    In the Great Ster Chiliocosm, assassination had never required a cultivator to get close to the target. It was just that the closer one was, the higher one''s chances of sess, and the greater the power that could be applied. Thus, the ability to conceal oneself and approach the target yed a major role in one''s ability to kill.


    With Tang Jie''s strength, Yiyi would never be able to trick his eyes and ears, even with the Dao of Wind, which was why the distance at which she was discovered was the crux of the bet.


    Yiyi was very confident in the Dao of Wind and felt like she could get within twenty thousand feet of Tang Jie before she was discovered, but Tang Jie had found her out long before that, which was a major blow to her confidence.


    She gloomily flew over, pouting all the while.


    Tang Jieughed. "Silly girl, this wasn''t your mistake. It''s just that when you enter my Primal Divinity core, I would discover you even if I didn''t want to."


    The Primal Divinity core was the region a cultivator could control.


    For example, the span of a Spirit Ring cultivator''s Spirit Ring was their core. In their core, they were at their strongest.


    A Spirit Ring cultivator''s core was only several dozen feet in radius, but a Violet Pce cultivator could use their Divine Soul to extend this to a thousand feet. An Immortal could have a core thousands of feet in radius, and even their level of control was greater. In this range, all existences had to obey the Immortal, down to a de of grass. In this region, the Immortal was the emperor. Only another Immortal could resist, with cultivators below that realm barely being able to use spiritual energy. This was how Tang Jie had dealt with the Hemos hunting squad¡ªan easy task for any Immortal tform expert who wanted to act from the shadows.


    Tang Jie had mostly been able to fight against Immortals while at Violet Pce because he fought with his body and with Dao Arts, rarely relying on spiritual energy.


    The girl felt a little better after hearing Tang Jie''s exnation.


    Then she realized something and eximed, "Eh? When did your Primal Divinity core reach twenty-two thousand feet?"


    A normal Immortal could control an area between eight thousand and twelve thousand feet in radius, with the most outstanding being able to reach fifteen thousand. While Tang Jie had three times the Heaven¨CMan Union zone, this was an estimatedparison to the lowest end of the range, making it around twenty thousand feet. This was why Xu Miaoran had said that Yiyi could get no closer than twenty thousand feet. ???£Ï?§§s


    But Yiyi had been discovered at twenty-two thousand feet.


    The Primal Divinity core would expand as the Immortal grew stronger, but as he hadn''t advanced to the next level, it should have been limited. She hadn''t expected Tang Jie''s Primal Divinity core to expand so greatly in this time.


    Xu Miaoran also frowned. "Strange¡ªyour aura seems weaker."


    This was the work of the World Descender Mantra, weakening the body and strengthening the Godhood, going to the extremes of what it meant to be aw cultivator.


    "I''ve just made some progress in cultivating a rather unique art. Right, why did youe today?"


    Yiyi answered, "All the work has been done, and the three races are at war. Why haven''t youe yet?"@@novelbin@@


    Xu Miaoran added, "With the fiends and the Demon Gate working together, the human cultivators are bound to lose. It''s about time we came forward and they invited the Rosecloud Domain to intervene. So we''vee to ask you what you intend to do."


    Tang Jie chuckled. "You''re afraid that we will intervene toote and the humans will be exterminated before we can do anything?"


    Xu Miaoran smiled. "I suppose you can see it that way. Do you think differently?"


    Sure enough, Tang Jie shook his head. "You''re looking down on the humans too much. They were able tost for several thousand years among the fiends and demons as the weaker party, so you really think this is all they''re made of? Let me ask you: what''s the current situation?"


    Yiyi spoke up. "The human cultivators have been routed, and the fiends and demons are conquering everything in their path. The situation seems hopeless for the humans."


    Tang Jie asked, "Has Guang Yuan intervened?"


    "No."


    "Any major battles?"


    Xu Miaoran answered, "None. The front line is constantly receding, and the humans haven''t fought a single major battle, showing no guts or glory at all. All the humans are in panic and calling Bao Qingsong ipetent."


    Bao Qingsong was Guang Yuan''s disciple and the leader of the human alliance. He was a formidable Soul Projection cultivator who was also intelligent and wise, and he had quite the prestige among the human cultivators.


    But this war had been a major challenge to his reputation, and his turtle strategy was resulting in the fastest defeat in human history, much to everyone''s dismay and discontent. Bao Qingsong had yet to reach the level of speak-not, think-not, or else his ears would be on fire by now.


    This was why Yiyi and Xu Miaoran were so certain of defeat and hade to Tang Jie to ask about the next step.


    But Tang Jie shook his head. "You underestimate Bao Qingsong. I''m sure that the humans are no match, but not that they would be defeated so thoroughly. In my view, Bao Qingsong is nning a major counterattack which might be able to salvage the situation."


    "Is Bao Qingsong capable of this?" Xu Miaoran asked in surprise.


    "To be more precise, it depends on whether he can grasp this opportunity."


    "What opportunity?" Yiyi asked.


    "The key is the Demon Gate. To save the humans, the Demon Gate has to stab the fiends in the back, joining the humans against the fiends."


    "But the Demon Gate was enraged by Jin Tianya and no longer wants to be friends with the humans."


    "Then make them hate the fiends even more! Sometimes, rather than promising anything, it''s easier to just incite a fight between two dogs¡­" Tang Jie profoundly said.


    Xu Miaoran''s eyes lit up. "Human territory is the bone."


    "Correct! The Demon Gate is attacking the humans to prevent the fiends from bing too powerful. Bao Qingsong is choosing to retreat, giving uprge amounts of territory, which is the bone. Now, the two races are fighting over territory, which is worsening rtions. If Bao Qingsong ys up his side''s weakness and ys a few more small tricks, he can definitely start a fight between the fiends and demons."


    "I see!" Yiyi pped her hands in realization. "At that time, the humans will strike, beating them both back and teaching them a harsh lesson, turning defeat into victory."


    "Wrong," Tang Jie replied. "If that happened, humanity would be finished."


    "Eh?" Yiyi and Xu Miaoran were stunned. "Then what should they do?"


    "Negotiate peace."

 Chapter 995: The Incident at Cloud Dream

    "''Negotiate peace''? That''s just asking for humiliation!"


    Reverend Tianshu roared and stood up. This man had a ruddyplexion, a shiny bald head, and a very crude demeanor, always speaking in a rumbling voice. It was hard to imagine him as a Soul Projection expert.


    He pointed fingers at Bao Qingsong and cursed. In his view, they had paid a heavy price for this opportunity, so to use it to negotiate peace, offering up territory andpensation, was utterly shameful!


    Bao Qingsong was a schrly man. Seated within the hall of the human alliance, he sighed and said, "It''s not what I want either, but our race is weak. Even if we incite conflict between the fiends and demons and then attack, the best we could do is win a battle, not win the war. The only option is to use this chance to negotiate peace, after which we can try and get the Demon Gate to ally with us again. This is the only way to get us out of this crisis."


    "Then what about the territory we''ve already given up?" another person asked.


    Bao Qingsong shook his head.@@novelbin@@


    This meant that they probably wouldn''t be getting back what they had already lost.


    "That''s two thirds of humanity''s territory. If we lose this, we lose two thirds of our resources, two thirds of our poption, two thirds of our cultivators. We humans were already weak, and if we lose all this, won''t we still be facing the danger of being conquered in the end?" A majestic voice rang out, but there was no sign of the speaker within the hall.


    Bao Qingsong turned to the rear of the hall and prostrated. "Master is correct. War is a swift death and peace is a slow death. But a slow death is still better than a swift one. Only by surviving will we still have an opportunity. If the heavens take pity on humanity and grant us another Immortal, Master will no longer have to fight alone, and we can take back everything that we lost.""But how long will we have to wait? Must we endure this so long as another Earth Immortal fails to appear?" another person asked. There was another observation that they kept to themselves. Earth Immortals were not truly Immortal. What if another Earth Immortal appeared and then Guang Yuan reached the end of his lifespan? Or if Guang Yuan reached the end of his lifespan while another Earth Immortal had yet to appear?


    While such things couldn''t be said, everyone knew it.


    "That''s right. Waiting like this for something to happen is just wishful thinking. I can''t agree to this. It''s too much," someone said.


    These people were all authorities of humanity, and they couldn''t ept this sort of humiliating fate.


    "I can''t ept it either!"


    "Humanity can only stand and survive, not kneel and die!"


    "That''s right!"


    The cultivators in the hall voiced their objections.


    Reverend Tianshu said, "Bao Qingsong, were you bribed by the fiends and demons into being their spy?"


    He had never learned how to talk with tact, immediately asking such an offensive question.


    Bao Qingsong scowled, but he ultimately held back and simply said, "It''s all for the sake of the bigger picture!"


    The hall was full of mor, but everyone without exception expressed full-throated opposition to Bao Qingsong''s "defeatism", more willing to bring everything down with them than to hand it over.


    Even though Bao Qingsong was the leader of the human alliance, he couldn''t decide things on his own. In the end, the council unanimously rejected his proposal, instead choosing to use the internal discord between the fiends and demons to strike hard and drive them out of human territory before talking about peace. ????§à?¨§?


    Yes, they could have peace negotiations, but that was only after they had disyed their strength and taken back their territory.


    Was their decision wrong?


    Not necessarily!


    Sometimes, one couldn''t know the result until it happened.


    Once the fiends and demons were beaten back, they might roar back in fury, or they might realize that they had underestimated the humans and choose to ept peace while there still existed a third party looking for opportunities.


    Life was so uncertain because everything was possible yet one could ultimately only see one of those many possibilities.


    If the method one chose was a sess, one would celebrate and think that the methods one didn''t choose were all wrong, but if the method failed, one would be full of remorse and believe that all the other choices were correct.


    The reality was that the world had never been so absolute. One choice being wrong didn''t mean that another choice was correct.


    Regardless, the elders of the human alliance had made their choice, and Bao Qingsong could only ept it and n out the counterattack.


    The counterattack began two monthster.


    The fiends and demons had by now taken more than two thirds of human territory and had built up a great deal of resentment as they vied for loot. Internal struggles weremon, but the real trigger took ce at the Cloud Dream Mountains.


    The Cloud Dream Mountains were a mountain range in human territory.


    They were the site of some ancient ruins, purportedly a cultivator battlefield where countless cultivators had died. For this reason, the mountains were rich in spiritual energy and resources while also being incredibly dangerous. It was an excellent ce for a cultivator to explore and seek out treasures. It was said that Bao Qingsong had had a lucky encounter here that had served as the foundation for his future sess.


    By now, finding some undiscovered cave estate in the Cloud Dream Mountains wasn''t very possible, but theplicated terrain meant that it was home to some special resources.


    Anyone who upied these mountains would own all the resources here.


    Cultivators tooknd in a very simple way. They first drove away all the local cultivators and broke any existing formations, and then theyid down their own formation, after which thend was theirs.


    Those that employed this method of takingnd required three things: a strong organization, strong individuals, and strong formations. Only the three together could properly seizend.


    The Cloud Dream Mountains became a major issue for the fiends and demons.


    At the onset of the war, the Demon Gate and fiends had agreed to attack the humans from different directions, keeping whatevernd they upied in the process. It sounded simple, but in practice, there were many problems.


    The Cloud Dream Mountains stretched across human territory, so they were a target for both races. Moreover, the treacherous terrain meant that one could easily end up dead, which provided the perfect conditions to secretly kill someone¡ªafter killing one''s opponent, one could simply throw them into a dangerous area and im that they had died there, after which one couldy down a formation and im the area. Others could also go about destroying one''s formation and push the me onto treacherous terrain.


    With the human cultivators further inciting conflict, the two races quickly began to fight over the resources of the Cloud Dream Mountains.


    It was a fight to the death, all false kindness stripped away. The fiends had numbers and bizarre arts while the Demon Gate had powerful individuals with ruthless methods. When the two got fighting, blood drenched the mountains, conflicts cropping up all over the ce.


    As the Demon Gate consisted of strong individuals and the terrain of the mountains wasplex, their cultivators often minded their own business and gathered up resources on their own, remembering to set aside a little for the sect. Thus, in the early stages of this conflict, the weaker Demon Gate actually had the upper hand.


    The shift came on the twelfth day after the armies of the two races had entered the Cloud Dream Mountains.


    A cultivator called Lang Qianmo found a spirit nt called the Yearning Red on Sorrow Peak. It wasn''t a particrly rare nt, but it rarely grew in such great numbers as it did here, and they would all be ripe in a few days. Lang Qianmo quickly imed the area as his own.


    But a group of fiends also discovered the ce, and when they saw that Lang Qianmo was alone, they decided to take it, upon which the two sides fought.


    Shockingly, Lang Qianmo, who was only at Heart Demon, managed to win, killing 35 fiends at once, including one Soul Transformation, three Heart Demon, and twelve Spirit Ring cultivators¡ªa result on par with Tang Jie in his youth.


    What Lang Qianmo didn''t know was that one of the cultivators he had killed was the son of a fiend Titan, Cang Lie.


    Cang Lie was a Deification cultivator, in the upper echelons of the fiends. He was furious at the news of his son''s death and went to the Cloud Dream Mountains to personally take revenge.


    The two races had an unspoken agreement for the conflicts to be restricted to those below the Violet Pce Realm so that there were no unnecessary losses among their upper ranks.


    Cang Lie''s entry broke this agreement.


    He had particrly cherished his son, and he needed to vent his anger, so he ughtered all the Demon Gate cultivators he encountered.


    In relieving his rage, he enraged the Demon Gate.


    A Demon Gate Titan struck back, injuring Cang Lie in just three blows and forcing him to flee.


    That Demon Gate Titan should have been satisfied with this. After all, the fiends were still stronger.


    But demons had never been reasonable, which made sense given how arrogant and temperamental they were. That was what made them the Demon Gate. Thus, the Demon Gate Titan chased Cang Lie for three days and three nights, all the way into fiend territory, killing him in front of arge group of fiend cultivators before swaggering off.


    The incident instantly exploded, and numerous experts from the fiend side mobilized, with the Demon Gate responding in turn. The bigshots from the Godyer Sect, Ossuary Gate, Demon me Sect, and Inkheart Sect battled it out against the fiend Titans, the world wailing in grief andmentation as they battled.


    Their battle went on for three days and nights, until both sides were utterly exhausted and had lost people.


    It was at this moment that Bao Qingsong arrived, leading the human cultivators in a surprise attack. Of course, to be safe, Guang Yuan didn''t take part. Even so, the fiends and demons suffered a major defeat, and Bao Qingsong led the humans in driving back the enemy.


    Bao Qingsong wanted to use this opportunity to negotiate peace.


    But the human cultivators, high off their victory, wanted to take back all their lostnd, even strike into the territory of the other two races, before talking about peace.


    Bao Qingsong could only sigh.


    He didn''t dare say that negotiating peace early was correct, but he knew that not negotiating peace now was a mistake.


    As he expected, the human alliance quickly discovered that they had lost the opportunity to negotiate.

 Chapter 996: Negotiations

    "You''re saying the Verdant Trio and the Demon Gate''s Twin Devils have both taken action?" In his secret estate in the mountains, Tang Jie was leisurely sipping on a newly-brewed cup of tea.


    "Mm, the human alliance pushed all the way to Heavensea Pass, wanting to take back everything, but then Verdant Yang, Verdant Wind, and Verdant Pine of the fiends as well as the Scarlet ze Celestial Sovereign and Violet Owl True Lord of the Demon Gate appeared together¡­ That smells wonderful! What kind of tea is it?"


    The fragrant aroma made Yiyi jump up and seize the cup to drink the tea herself.


    "You drink like a bull." Tang Jie pointed at Yiyi and chuckled. "My Clearmind Tea uses hundred-year Violet Ripples and the Frost Dew that condenses on Celestial Heart Grass at dawn, while the cup is made from the skull of a Wastnds Celestial Bull. This tea can restore lifespan, increase spiritual energy, and strengthen the muscles and bones, yet you just gulp it down like a savage¡­ How many people died?"


    "Unclear, but I heard that at least two human Violet Pce True Lords died, one was heavily injured and is missing, and two more were captured, with the rest escaping¡­ No wonder I felt so much power surging through my body after drinking it," Yiyi said, patting her belly as she began to circte her energy to digest the benefits of the tea.@@novelbin@@


    "Of course. I brewed it for myself, after all," Tang Jie answered. Something that would help out an Earth Immortal like him would naturally be even more effective on a True Lord. If a Celestial Heart cultivator drank it, they would probably explode on the spot. "To lose five out of twelve Violet Gold Beams all at once, they have no hope now."


    The humans here knew their top experts as "one pir that holds up the heavens, and twelve violet gold beams." The "pir" referred to Earth Immortal Guang Yuan, and the "twelve violet gold beams" were the twelve Violet Pce True Lords.


    While the Immortal tform experts remained uninvolved, the Violet Pce cultivators were the strongest force. To lose five in a single battle was an unprecedented loss.


    "Everything is as you predicted. The victory made the humans lose their heads and forget about the difference in strength." Xu Miaoran gracefully walked over and sat down. "Where did you get hundred-year-old Violet Ripples here? I''ve never even heard of it before."Tang Jie sighed. "I had hoped that I would be wrong¡­ They grew in my Yellow Court World. The Wuxing have recovered, and they will gather up a sample of anything rare and unusual from the Yellow Court World every year and offer it to me as tribute. The Violet Ripples and Celestial Heart Dew are part of the tribute. The Violet Ripple blooms in the Wood Season and only ripens once every one hundred years. The Celestial Heart Dew can only be gathered in Water Season, and someone has to be constantly on watch so that they don''t miss out on the opportunity. In addition, the stove used to boil the water is made from the Metal Season''s Windsilver, the pot used to wash the tea is made from the Earth Season''s Violet Sandmud, and the fire used to roast the tea is the Viscous Jade me. All Five Elements are present, and the skull of a great fiend is used as a vessel. Only then was I able to achieve this effect."


    The seeds he had sowed all those years ago had finally grown up, and his independent small world was finally beginning to supply him with resources.


    At the Earth Immortal level, ordinary resources no longer sufficed, so Immortals had to constantly wander the myriad domains, broadening their vision, advancing their cultivation, and searching for resources.


    But now, Tang Jie had many resources delivered to his door, such that he was swiftly advancing to the peak of Earth Immortal.


    "Why hope that? Haven''t you been waiting for the humans to lose?" Xu Miaoran took a sip of the tea and muttered, "Oh, it has some characteristics of rity Dew, as well as concentrated vitality, impressive spirituality, and also a rather unique prative aspect. If this were used in medicine, it could improve the effects of certain recovery and healing medicines."


    Xu Miaoran had also been advancing as a pill refiner all this time. She was already familiar with all the old medicines and was now at the point where she was developing new ones.


    Of course, developing medicines was no ordinary challenge. Not only did one have to develop new prescriptions and concoction methods, one also needed the ingredients.


    This new tea instantly opened up Xu Miaoran''s mind, and she had so many new ideas that she wanted to immediately start experimenting.


    Tang Jie knew what she wanted and smiled. "No rush, no rush. The Yellow Court World has produced many products that I intended to have you research. You can get them once we''re done here¡­ It''s mainly because of the trump cards of the fiends and demons."


    Tang Jie had smoothly found humanity''s hidden trump card, Jin Tianya, and then released him to make trouble for the humans. But he still hadn''t found out what the trump cards of the fiends and demons were, and the humans clearly weren''t strong enough to force them to use them.


    Yiyi chuckled. "Is that all? That Jin Tianya isn''t anything incredible. Honestly, while a hidden Earth Immortal might be very important to the human alliance, it''s no threat to the Rosecloud Domain. The trump cards of the fiends and demons are probably about the same."


    Tang Jie shook his head. "Jin Tianya truly isn''t a threat, but not every trump card is meant to be useful for every situation. In other words, you can''t think that just because your opponent has a hidden card that doesn''t work on you, it means that all of them are no good against you. We can''t say that because the human''s card is of no threat that the cards of the fiends and demons are also of no threat. And when ites to problems, having just one is already too much."


    "So you''re saying that we still need to find out what the fiends and demons have up their sleeves?" Yiyi scowled.


    "The Azure Dragon, Lithos Dragon, and me Celestial Sovereign have been investigating this whole time, but they haven''t found too much. Currently, the clues for the fiends point to Blood River, but there''s nothing for the demons," Xu Miaoran said.


    Tang Jie immediately said, "I know the Lord of the Blood River, and while he acts like he has no desires, he''s got all sorts of schemes going on, which could be seen from how he even used me to get ess to the me Celestial Sovereign''s secret cave. We have to be on guard against them, and we also can''t afford to be careless around the demons." ??N??¦¢¨¨?


    "But Grandpa Yun is already pushing us," Yiyi said.


    "Mm? Why''s that?" Tang Jie asked.


    Xu Miaoran exined, "Yesterday, we received a message from Ancestor Yun saying that everything in the Rosecloud Domain was ready and everyone was anxious toe over, so we had only one month left."


    Tang Jie''s face darkened. "Why in such a rush?"


    "Hong Shenji calcted that the barrier walls between the domains will be at their weakest a month from now, at which point breaking the barrier will be much easier. If we miss this chance, we will have to invest even more into breaking the barrier."


    "Ruining my ns just to save on expenses?" Tang Jie unhappily said.


    Xu Miaoran soothed, "I knew you wouldn''t be happy, but you can''t me Ancestor Yun. Breaking a domain wall takes an enormous amount of resources. Cultivator wars aren''t free, so it''s best to save where we can. You have to realize that saving a few resources here actually means a total value in the hundreds of millions, maybe even enough to buy a Dao armament. Moreover, hundreds of thousands of cultivators are assembled to go to war. At times like this, the worst thing to do is wait and wait. If you wait too long, their will to fight will have been worn away."


    "But this isn''t enough time for us to figure out the trump cards of the fiends and demons."


    Yiyi smiled. "Didn''t Big Brother already find the human trump card?"


    "That''s different. Trump cards aren''t used until the veryst moment," Tang Jie said with a shake of his head. "I was able to find the human trump card because the humans are weak, so they have to show their card to intimidate the others, which means it wasn''t that much of a secret at all. Besides, it''s also not necessarily the ultimatest resort. On the other hand, the fiends and demons are strong, so unless they''re pushed to the limit, we won''t be able to see anything, which makes it all the more necessary to thoroughly probe them."


    "But the result might be just another Jin Tianya, one or two hidden Earth Immortals or Dao armaments, right?" Xu Miaoran asked.


    "Yes," Tang Jie replied.


    Until one saw the trump card, it could be anything.


    It could be devastatingly effective, or it could be useless.


    For the Rosecloud Domain, a few more Earth Immortals was no problem at all.


    But nobody could be sure until they saw it for themselves.


    Xu Miaoran smiled. "I understand what you mean, but while caution is good, excessive caution makes it difficult to even take a step forward. In this world, there are some things that you have to take by force, not by wit, or else what would we need cultivators for?"


    Tang Jie looked at his wife in surprise.


    Xu Miaoran grabbed his hand and said, "When it''s time to use force, you use force, and when it''s time to take risks, you take risks. If the two of us were to do everything on our own, what did we amass an army for?"


    Tang Jie speechlessly stared at her, until finally, heughed. "My wife, you''re right, so we''ll do as you say. Tomorrow, I''ll go to the Cloud City."


    The Cloud City was the capital of the human race and its final fortress.


    With the human alliance''s defeat being certain, Tang Jie needed to appear before Guang Yuan as a savior so that the human alliance would officially request the Rosecloud Domain to save the humans of thisnd.


    This would give them ample excuse to invade.


    Although cultivator wars were extremely cruel and people rarely cared about having a righteous cause, Tang Jie knew that having a righteous cause meant having the hearts of the people, having the support of all the humans of the Blood River Domain.


    As for the fiends and demons, there was no need to talk about righteousness with them.


    "No, not you. I alone am enough," Xu Miaoran said, pressing Tang Jie down.


    "Why is that?" Tang Jie said. "We''ll need to negotiate with Guang Yuan, and with your strength¡­"


    "It''s precisely because I''m weaker that I''ll be able to convince Guang Yuan," Xu Miaoran answered. "For the side being saved, the savior being strong isn''t necessarily a good thing."


    Tang Jie was enlightened.


    Indeed, no matter how Tang Jie tried to exin it, there was no chance of concealing from Guang Yuan the fact that the Rosecloud Domain had been plotting this invasion for some time.


    But with the human race in peril, he would have no other choice.


    In times like this, the reinforcements not disying overwhelming strength would make him feel more at ease. For example, if the other side had only a few more Earth Immortals, their status wouldn''t be in much danger if they joined forces, and perhaps the human alliance could even stand to benefit from pitting the invading forces against each other. After all, recruiting the human alliance meant that the human invaders weren''tpletely confident in their victory, so if they suffered heavy losses, they would give more to native humans.


    Since they had no idea what the other party was like, they could only specte, and spections often had a wishful side to them. Most importantly, they would often tend to favor oneself.


    But if Guang Yuan saw a freakishly strong expert like Tang Jie, his mind would immediately go to the worst case.


    He would realize that now was the best time to negotiate, because after that, he might not have the right.


    This was why Tang Jie not appearing at the negotiations was the best choice.


    Tang Jie chuckled and said, "I''ll protect you from the shadows."


    Xu Miaoran stopped him. "Rx. If I want to run, there are few people who can catch me. Besides, so long as that Guang Yuan hasn''t gone crazy, he would never offend me. Keep cultivating and just wait for your wife toe back with the good news."

 Chapter 997: The Start of the Invasion

    The next day, Xu Miaoran went to the Cloud City.


    Ten-some days passed without news, which left Tang Jie rather nervous.


    Then, Xu Miaoran finally returned, and with good news: Guang Yuan had agreed to invite the Rosecloud Domain to assist them in the war.


    Tang Jie now had his righteous cause to rally behind.


    It was now time for the invasion to begin.


    For this, Tang Jie went back to the Rosecloud Domain.


    By now, the Rosecloud Domain had been transformed.


    Under Yun Tian''s strong management, the cultivators of the Rosecloud Domain had be an integrated body led by the Basking Moon Sect.


    After many years of preparation, they were ready to go to war.When Tang Jie returned, the Zephyr Mountains were engulfed in a majestic and grandiose air.


    Jeweled chariots, giant ships, and flying pces covered the skies, as did various mounts like cranes, bulls, snakes, and elephants. Lofty cultivators flew here and there, riding swords, whisks, or gourds.


    On Starsnatch Peak at the center of the Zephyr Mountains, various gs snapped in the wind, glowing with mystical auras.


    Countless high-tier cultivators had gathered here. More than a hundred Violet Pce True Lords had assembled in front of the Hall of Divine Conference, with the Earth Immortals seated at the very front.


    Within the Hall of Divine Conference, Yun Tian was seated on the highest seat as he lectured on the Dao.


    A Supreme True Immortal was personally lecturing on the Dao! It was no wonder so many esteemed cultivators had rushed here.


    With the cultivator war nigh, Yun Tian had decided to make an exception and offer lessons so that everyone could grow stronger.


    War was a matter where the life of the nation was on the line.


    Cultivator wars were even more so. Even though the Rosecloud Domain had the clear upper hand over the Blood River Domain, Yun Tian didn''t dare to be careless. Far too many had made a mess of things because of their own arrogance, and while it was said that absolute strength could sweep through everything, who could say which side truly possessed that absolute strength? ????????¨¨??


    If this couldn''t be done, it was better to be cautious.


    The experienced Yun Tian was all too aware of this fact.


    "¡­Thus, the way to achieve the union of heaven and man lies with the clear heart. To abide by one''s will andply with thews is toprehend the heavens and earth, and only then can one attain the Dao¡­" Yun Tian''s voice resounded in the minds of all listeners, leading them out of the darkness and to the light.


    As he spoke, flowers bloomed in the sky and clouds billowed, the entire world responding to Yun Tian''s words. At this moment, his words were the Great Dao.


    Everyone was enchanted by his words.


    But at this moment, another voice rang out.


    "One who seeks the Dao will find it in their own heart, so how can the Dao seeker follow the Heavenly Dao''s path?" this voice retorted.


    Everyone looked to that voice in rm.


    A person was striding through the air, lotuses blossoming at his feet. It was an elegant and graceful figure that couldn''tpare to the majesty of Yun Tian, but he exuded a sense oftent sharpness. It was like a mountain hidden within the clouds, invisible to the eye yet exerting its pressure all the same. Of course, it was Tang Jie.


    Everyone fell to their knees. "All hail the Freedom Celestial Sovereign!"


    Yun Tian smiled upon seeing him. "One follows the Dao of the Heavens because all is within the bounds of Karma and Fate and the principles of the heavens have been made manifest. Thus, it is the utmost honor of the sage to follow it."


    Tang Jie immediately replied, "One follows the Dao of humanity because all are immersed in the sea of suffering, so we must let go of our obsessions and cultivate the truth."


    Yun Tian pped his hands andughed. "An excellent argument full of daring and courage, going one''s own way rather than following the will of the heavens!"


    This discussion of the Dao didn''t have a winner or loser, someone who was right and someone who was wrong, simply different expressions of intention. The old and wise Yun Tian sought to act ording to the will of the heavens while Tang Jie was more straightforward. He neither defied the heavens, nor always did as the heavens wished. For him, freedom to do as one wished was the Great Dao.


    Yun Tian rose and asked, "Tang''er, since you''ve returned, have you finished investigating Blood River?"


    Tang Jie replied, "Martial Ancestor, I have fulfilled my mission, gathering information on the powers of the Blood River and making a pact with the alliance of humans there, such that they have invited us to help them in their fight against the fiends and demons."


    While saying this, he used his Divine Will to tell Yun Tian that he had yet to find the trump cards of the fiends and demons. After all, such things could not be said openly.


    "Wonderful!" Yun Tianughed.


    He was anxious to take the Blood River, and he did not mind that there were still some unknowns.


    In the end, cultivator wars depended on strength. While it was necessary to do some nning before the invasion, to be stymied by ack of information was to be paralyzed by nning instead.


    Yun Tian naturally wouldn''t make this kind of mistake. The invasion of the Rosecloud Domain could not be stopped, regardless of the quantity and quality of Tang Jie''s information.


    Seizing upon Tang Jie''s words, Yun Tian announced, "The moment hase, and the golden age of my Rosecloud Domain begins now! Soldiers, prepare yourselves! Three days from now, we will activate the formation and invade Blood River!"


    "Invade Blood River!" the cultivators roared, their cries resounding through the Rosecloud Domain.


    Three dayster, the invasion finally began.


    A million cultivators were gathered above the Zephyr Mountains.


    They were well-organized despite their numbers. There were ten men to a squad, a hundred men to apany, five hundred men to a battalion, three thousand men to a division, ten thousand men to an army, and one hundred thousand to a legion. Each legion had onemander and two vicemanders, themander being a Soul Projection cultivator and the vicemanders being at Deification. Every army had one high general and two deputy generals, both posts being filled by Infant Tending cultivators. Each division was led by a Soul Transformation cultivator, with battalions being led by Heart Demon andpanies led by Spirit Ring cultivators. Mortal Shedding cultivators served as ordinary soldiers, trained inbat formations and equipped with Godhead Armor. While their cultivation level was low, they could use their numbers through formations, and if they weremanded properly, their might was not to be underestimated. As for Spirit tform cultivators, their cultivation level was too low for them to take part.


    Other than the million-cultivator army, there were also countless fiends serving as the vanguard, with all kinds of birds, beasts, insects, and fish taking part, as well as innumerable puppet soldiers. Scattered about the army were also various flying pavilions and pces.


    This majestic army arrayed in the heavens exuded a somber and intimidating aura.


    Yun Tian was in the very center of the army, seated in a majestic pce.


    This pce was a huge edifice, ten thousand feet tall.


    In the center of the pce was arge drum called the Xie Bull Drum. This drum was made from the hide of a beast from High Antiquity known as the Xie Bull, and the mallet used to beat it was made from the leg bone of a Oceancoil Giant, which Yun Tian had personally killed during his travels in his early years. While not a Dao armament, it had the wondrous effect of increasing the power of a cultivator''s spell arts by thirty percent for all who heard it.


    At this moment, Yun Tian grabbed the mallet and struck the drum!


    <em>Boom!</em>


    A massive sound wave reverberated outward, traveling to the ears of every cultivator and stirring up their will to fight.


    "Activate the formation!" Yun Tian roared.


    This roar was transmitted through the Lunar Wheel to every corner of the Rosecloud Domain, upon which the cultivators stationed at various locations activated the parts of the formation they were in charge of.


    Points of starlight lit up across Rosecloud, extending into rays of intersecting light, creating a web of starlight across the entire domain.


    From above, one could see that this web of light connected almost every part of the Rosecloud Domain. It had its roots deep in the earth, where it gathered energy from the spirit veins, and then it gathered all this energy in the sky, even pulling at the Domain Astral Winds.


    That barrier in the sky disappeared, the power meant to protect the domain converted into offensive might!@@novelbin@@


    The formation stimted the energy even further, ultimately manifesting a golden, one-horned behemoth.


    This beast was the Ning ("Fierce"), the legendary Domain Beast of Remote Antiquity. It was said to have the power to devour worlds, consuming thousands of kilometers a day and leaving only void in its wake. Later on, the Titans of the past worked to exterminate this beast to protect civilization. When the Ning died, countless worlds burst out of its body, and thus the Great Ster Chiliocosm came to be.


    The Ning Beast was no more, but cultivators had the means of creating Ning phantoms, with these domain-devouring beasts of yore symbolizing the power of the formation.


    The Ning phantom let out an earth-shaking roar and then opened its mouth to bite down on the domain barrier before it. The domain barrier was a formless membrane that sealed off space and isted the myriad domains from each other. It didn''t stop anyone from going through, but it stabilized the world. Now, the Ning had bitten arge hole in it.


    The drum was struck once more, and the million cultivators roared in unison.


    The thousands of points of starlight once more activated, creating a giant millstone in the air that moved behind the Ning Beast.


    The Ning Beast represented the offensive might of the formation, and this millstone of starlight represented the burden on its back, which was the Rosecloud Domain.


    Yun Tian swung the mallet down. "Forward!"


    "Forward!" The trained cultivators shouted in unison and pushed at the millstone.


    The millstone began to spin, and with each rotation, the Rosecloud Domain rumbled. The Ning Beast advanced with the Rosecloud Domain on its back and once more bit at space.


    The tear in the domain barrier widened a little more.


    Of course, "a little more" here meant expanding by tens of millions of feet, and with each additional bite, more and more of the endless void beyond the Rosecloud Domain revealed itself to the massed cultivators.


    At the same time, the full form of the Rosecloud Domain became apparent. It was a half-sphere, like someone had taken a ball and chopped it in half.


    "Awoooo!" The Ning Beast howled, and so did the cultivators.


    The drum thundered, the millstone turned, and the Ning Beast charged out of the domain barrier, dragging behind it a long chain of starlight that was deeply nted into the earth, towing this enormous chunk ofnd into the void.


    And down below, a world akin to a sea of blood was waiting for them.

 Chapter 998: The Might of Blood River

    The sky above the Rosecloud Domain had never been so clear before.


    In the past, the Domain Astral Winds had covered all, creating a rosy glow wherever one looked. Only a few stars ever managed to prate the rosy clouds, appearing as little pinpricks of light.


    But today, the sky was glorious.


    Never before had the starry sky been so clear, bright, dazzling, enchanting.


    When that dark and boundless universe appeared before them, its majesty left them momentarily stunned.


    Not even Tang Jie could have imagined that the domain migration formation would manifest in this fashion, and he was enchanted by its grandeur and majesty. While the arts of the ancients might not have been able to match the present in terms of excellence, in terms of boldness and daring, the ancients were still far greater!


    Despite his emotions, Tang Jie kept busy, pouring power into the millstone. With each turn the millstone made, the Rosecloud Domain received a powerful push that made the Ning Beast faster and stronger.


    The Blood River Domain and Rosecloud Domain were so close as to be neighbors, and with all those cultivators united in purpose, the Ning Beast almost instantly crossed the gap between them, its jaws opening up and biting down on the Blood River Domain''s barrier.


    But the reaction this time was very different.As the Ning Beast bit down, a crimson wave swept up from the Blood River Domain.


    Churning clouds could be seen within the blood-colored wave, and then arge section of red clouds broke off and rose into the air. In the end, the bite had been blocked by the Blood me protecting the domain.


    As the Blood mes blocked the attack, a giant figure rose out of the Blood River Domain, blotting out the skies of this world as it let out a mighty roar.


    "RAAAAA! Who dares to intrude upon my borders!?"


    It was the Lord of the Blood River!


    At this moment, his body consisted entirely of raging red waves, appearing just as mighty and intimidating as the Ning Beast. The Titans of the Blood River Domain gazed upward and trembled in terror.


    Everyone knew that the Lord of the Blood River was strongest in the Blood River Domain, but in the end, he was just an Earth Immortal. How could he possibly be this strong?


    But when Tang Jie saw this, he simply smirked and muttered, "So you finally showed your true form?"


    While he had failed to dig out the trump cards of the fiends and demons, his efforts hadn''t beenpletely fruitless. He knew that if the fiends had any trump cards, they would be connected to the Lord of the Blood River. After all, there had to be a reason he was able to be the number one Titan of the Blood River Domain.


    Thus, the moment the Lord of the Blood River appeared, rather than being surprised, he activated his Celestial Eye. At the same time, Yun Tian''s eyes also shone with a divine light as he peered at the Lord of the Blood River. While he didn''t have the Eye of Insight like Tang Jie, he was still a Supreme True Immortal.


    As the two of them looked, they both gasped in surprise.


    Yun Tian said, "He''s clearly only at Earth Immortal, but his aura is on par with mine. How strange."


    Tang Jiemented, "His power seems toe from the entire Blood River Domain."@@novelbin@@


    Yun Tian frowned as if realizing something. "You''re saying¡­"


    Tang Jie chuckled. "His name is Lord of the Blood River, so you can take it as being the master of that Blood River, or you could also take it as meaning he''s master of the entire Blood River Domain. What''s more likely is that the Blood River is itself the soul river of the Blood River Domain. Since the Lord of the Blood River is the monsterized Blood River, since he can control the Blood River, he can also borrow power from the entire Blood River Domain."


    These words exposed the secret behind the Lord of the Blood River''s power.


    His greatest weakness was that his original body, the Blood River, couldn''t move, but his greatest strength was that he could lengthen his body and harness the power of the entire Blood River Domain. ??¦Á??§°??§¦?


    Yun Tianughed. "I see! But what does it matter if he can use the entire power of the domain? In the end, he''s just the operator, so he can be defeated!"


    Yun Tian then announced, "Tyrannical fiends and demons have assaulted my fellow humans. Now, the cultivators of my Rosecloud Domain, as allies of my friend Guang Yuan, havee to execute the fiends and demons and uphold righteousness! My fellow cultivators, join me in exterminating the demons and upholding justice!"


    Countless cultivators flew out of the Rosecloud Domain.


    With the Gold Ignis Astral Winds removed, there was no distinction between "inside the domain" and "outside the domain", and cultivators could easily fly beyond the heavens. Under Yun Tian''smand, more power was poured into the millstone, and the Ning Beast let out a world-shaking bellow and once more bit at the Blood River Domain. At this moment, the Blood River Domain was like a delicious apple that the Ning Beast wanted to eat up.


    "Impudent!" The Lord of the Blood River roared as the enormous figure spread out its arms and pushed at the Ning Beast. This was no longer the Infant Tending Blood River Lord Tang Jie had first encountered, but the Blood River Lord at his peak.


    This cultivator war had started with a sh of its apex powers!


    Just when those hands of blood were about to strike the Ning Beast, Yun Tian waved his hand.


    It was a simple wave, but then his reflections appeared all across this space, like a breeze was blowing through. The hands fell apart in the wind, transforming into countless drops of blood that rained over the world.


    "A Supreme True Immortal?" A look of disbelief appeared in Blood River''s eyes.


    He could tell that this wasn''t some feigned act, but truly a simple wave of the hand. Despite that, it was bursting with profundity, far above any Divine Connection. This was the essence of a True Immortal, the myriad arts embodied in a single act.


    But the Lord of the Blood River did not fear a True Immortal.


    He was the manifestation of the Blood River, and so long as the Blood River was not destroyed, he would live forever. So long as he was in the Blood River Domain, even a Supreme True Immortal couldn''t kill him.


    With another roar, the entire Blood River rose into the air, an ocean in the heavens that churned with towering waves.


    This was not some illusory Blood River, but the real Blood River that was blotting out the heavens. It used the Blood Sea Divine Connection as its foundation, but it was far more powerful than that. A momentter, a crimson cloud rose up from the sea toward Yun Tian.


    Yun Tian waved his sleeve, sending out a light breeze. This breeze turned into a green ray of light that struck the crimson cloud. In response, the cloud turned into a howling tornado, which the green ray of light simply sted through, sending blood raining down from the sky.


    But while the green ray of light gradually weakened, the Blood Sea of the Lord of the Blood River continued to rise up in resistance. After traveling a little more, the green ray of light was worn down to nothing by the frenzied Blood Sea.


    A hint of solemnity appeared on Yun Tian''s face.


    He waved his hand and then thrust out a finger.


    The Lord of the Blood River howled and summoned a fist of blood to meet Yun Tian''s finger.


    With one strike, the finger obliterated the fist and continued forward, obliterating the arm behind it. But when this arm of blood fell, several more rose up to take its ce, and just like before, the finger strike was worn down until nothing was left.


    Yun Tian had attacked three times now, each more serious than thest, but he had yet to get the upper hand over the Lord of the Blood River.


    Scowling, he snorted and said, "I see you have some skill. Again!"


    He swatted a palm at the Lord of the Blood River.


    This attack was many times more powerful than his previous ones.


    The Lord of the Blood River simplyughed. "So what if you''re a Supreme True Immortal? I''m the protector of Blood River, and all of the domain''s power is at my beck and call. So long as I''m around, don''t even think about getting through! Break!"


    With a roar, several hundred fists rose out of the crimson sea.


    <em>You have quality, and I have quantity!</em>


    The Lord of the Blood River finally showed what it meant for an Earth Immortal to have all of the Blood River Domain''s power under their control. When facing a Supreme True Immortal, he boldly charged in and managed to hold things at a stalemate, leaving all the watching cultivators stunned.


    The Lord of the Blood River truly had the strength to back up his title. Thankfully, he could only use this power when protecting the domain and couldn''t move himself, or else he would have united the entire domain long ago.


    And it was fortunate he was only an Earth Immortal. If he were wielding the power of Blood River as a True Immortal, there would probably be no one who could stop him.


    Even so, the Lord of the Blood River had now be a major obstacle to the domain merging. While fierce, the Ning Beast was ultimately only a phantom, and itcked actualbat power. In this battle of two Immortals, it could only howl and roar, not daring to get close.


    As for the other cultivators, they were even less inclined to approach. This was a True Immortal battle where both sides were unleashing all their might, so the aftershock could easily inflict casualties in the thousands. To avoid excess losses, nobody dared to get close. Only the Earth Immortals were truly able to approach.


    Someone suddenly rushed out from the Rosecloud Domain side and attacked the Lord of the Blood River: Huang Wuji! In response, someone emerged from the Blood River Domain and blocked Huang Wuji''s strike. This was Reverend Evil Cloud, an Earth Immortal of the fiend race, and the ck fog he unleashed mixed together with Huang Wuji''s yellow cloud as they contended against each other.


    Another person emerged from the Rosecloud Domain: Godhead Pce''s Ye Yun. Although the Basking Moon Sect had suppressed Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate, this only made them more proactive when it came to the invasion, for they knew that the only way they would get new territory was if the Blood River Domain were conquered, which would give them more opportunities to develop. So long as they were patient and bided their time, they still had the chance toe back in the future. And to use their strength, Yun Tian didn''t mind offering them a little reward. In the view of Yun Tian, keeping somepetitors around was beneficial to a sect''s development.


    In response to Ye Yun, another person emerged from the Blood River Domain, surrounded in ck energy and demonic mes that marked him as a demon cultivator. With the entire domain in peril, the fiends and demons had put aside their grudges to join hands against thismon foe.


    The Rosecloud Domain sent one, and then Blood River sent another, but this time, it was the me Celestial Sovereign. As Tang Jie''s spy, until he received an order from Tang Jie, he naturally had to take part in the war as part of the Blood River Domain side, his Origin me sweeping out to scourge his enemies.


    The Rosecloud Domain sent forth its Earth Immortals, and the Blood River Domain sent out its own in response. Originally, the Blood River had seven Earth Immortals¡ªthree for the fiends, two for the demons, one for the humans, and thest being the me Celestial Sovereign. The humans had turned traitor while the Lord of the Blood River was busy dealing with Yun Tian, so the fiends and demons were cut down to four, and with the me Celestial Sovereign, they had five. As for the Rosecloud Domain side, with Huang Wuji joining, they had six if one didn''t count Tang Jie.


    The Rosecloud Domain had sent all six now, but the Blood River Domaincked a person to send out.


    The Immortal with a free hand was the ancestor of the Beast Refining Gate, Mu Ziyang. As heughed, the phantoms of several fiends appeared behind his head, each of them that of a peak Divine Division great fiend. These merged with Mu Ziyang, who let out a howl and then charged at Reverend Evil Cloud.


    The cunning Mu Ziyang knew that the Lord of the Blood River wasn''t something he could deal with, so he decided to clip his wings instead.


    In a two-versus-one, Reverend Evil Cloud was soon hard-pressed.


    At this moment, a beam of sword energy shot toward Mu Ziyang.


    Mu Ziyang was rmed, and the phantom fiends behind him howled and transformed into an eight-armed, three-headed giant fiend, all eight arms thundering at the sword. There was a brilliant burst, and Mu Ziyang was sent flying.


    As the smoke cleared, a person stood tall in the air.


    The Blood River Immortals called out in surprise, "Jin Tianya? How is it you?"

 Chapter 999: One Versus Six

    Floating in the air, Jin Tianya held up his sword and shouted, "Why can''t it be me? Lord of the Blood River, Eternal Life Demon Sovereign, your Blood River Domain is facing a great disaster and is in need of allies."


    It seemed like he was exploiting this opportunity.


    When the Titans of the three races had sealed him under the Soaring Immortal Mountains, all of his treasures had been divided between the Lord of the Blood River and the Demon Gate''s Demon Sovereign, while Chen Tianguan had taken the man himself as his share of the spoils. Now that he had escaped, he was desperate to get back what was his. He had been attempting to do so in his killing spree across thends of the fiends and demons, but s, he had found nothing. However, the invasion of the Rosecloud Domain had given him another opportunity.


    When the Eternal Life Demon Sovereign heard this, he immediately threw two items over to Jin Tianya.


    Jin Tianya caught the items, which turned out to be a snow-white longsword and a golden shuttle.


    A hand also emerged from the Blood Sea, clutching a jewel eyeball that shone with a blue light. Even though it was just a single item, the Lord of the Blood River seemed very reluctant to hand it over.


    Jin Tianya had naturally lost far more than just these three items, but given that several thousand years had passed, he was never going to get back everything. These three were his most important treasures, and he was satisfied just by getting them back. He immediately threw away the sword he was using and gleefully said, "Flying Snow Sword, Sunchaser Shuttle, Clear Sky Divine Eye¡­ you''ve finallye back to me! Hahaha!"


    As heughed, he swung the sword at Mu Ziyang.


    The wave of sword energy was so immense as to appear like a mountain. It was simr in aura to Tang Jie''s Skyrend Swordfall, but even more grandiose against the backdrop of space.The power of this attack was more than double that of his earlier one.


    Mu Ziyang snorted, and the giant fiend behind him swung around and charged at the sword mountain, showing no fear.


    Earth Immortals had to endure the pressure of a domain while they were within it and also had various other considerations that made them hold back. In the void, such considerations ceased to be a problem, and they could use all of the strength they had at their disposal.


    The sh of only two Earth Immortals set massive shockwaves through the void, bursts of light erupting from the two domains, and when ten-some Immortals battled at once, space itself was at risk of shattering.


    One could say that all the higher-ranked powers on both sides had joined the fight, except Tang Jie and Guang Yuan. As the one who had made the invitation, Guang Yuan had essentially already joined the Rosecloud side, but he was sitting on the sidelines so he could see how strong Rosecloud was.


    Knowing this, Tang Jieughed and flew out.


    The Blood River Immortals were aghast when they saw that there was another Earth Immortal, and when Jin Tianya spotted Tang Jie, he froze, and then his many years of experience made him realize what was going on. He had already gotten a taste of Tang Jie''s strength, so he immediately wanted to back out. But given that he had just sworn an oath to not leave until this battle was over, he couldn''t leave. However, he did slowly begin to float away, trying his best to keep away from Tang Jie.


    The Lord of the Blood River also spotted Tang Jie and roared, "It''s you!"


    He clearly recognized Tang Jie, but the pressure from Yun Tian was such that he could only defend himself and had no strength to settle grudges with Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie also ignored him, shouting, "Immortals, go and deal with Blood River. You can leave these people to me."


    Everyone was taken aback. He was going to take on six all by himself, fighting against all of the Earth Immortals of Blood River besides the Lord of the Blood River himself? ?????¨®??¦¥??


    Wasn''t this too arrogant?


    In the end, Tang Jie was a new Immortal, so even with profound Dao Arts and formidable strength, he couldn''t possibly fight against six veteran Earth Immortals at once.


    Even those on good terms with Tang Jie, like Huang Wuji and the Seven Absolutions Sect ancestor, wanted to tell Tang Jie to not be arrogant. But before they could say anything, Ye Yun and Mu Ziyang had already retreated. As the ancestors of Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate, they had the worst rtionship with Tang Jie, and if Tang Jie wanted to take on six Immortals all by himself, they were happy to let him do so. Besides, if they disobeyed, they could be punished by Tang Jie. While Tang Jie wasn''t guaranteed to do this, sometimes, it was better to overthink things.


    With those two retreating, the other four also had to withdraw.


    As those six Immortals turned away to deal with the Lord of the Blood River, Blood River''s Immortals were freed up.


    Reverend Evil Cloud turned to Tang Jie and grunted, "Arrogant!"


    He immediately reached for Tang Jie.


    The other Immortals also attacked, even the me Celestial Sovereign joining in with Tang Jie''s blessing, charging at him together. Only Jin Tianya backed away as he attacked, though of course, he still used his full power, his Flying Snow Sword unleashing a grandiose wave of sword energy.


    In the face of this terrifying wave of death, countless rays of light shot out from Tang Jie, creating the magnificent Infinite Pce around him.@@novelbin@@


    The Infinite Pce exuded an intense radiance, disying the full might of a Dao Art as it blocked thebined attack of the six Immortals. No¡ªto be more precise, it was five. The me Celestial Sovereign was only attacking for show, for he would never dare to attack Tang Jie seriously.


    Even so, the Infinite Pce''s defensive powers were frightening enough from being able to stop five Immortals.


    Tang Jie seated himself upon the throne in the center of the pce and shouted, "Activate!"


    The Infinite Pce suddenly expanded, sweeping up the me Celestial Sovereign and two other Blood River Immortals.


    His Infinite Pce''s Immortal-sealing formation could only suppress two Earth Immortals at once, but of these three, the me Celestial Sovereign was one of his and had already received orders to act like he was struggling. Thus, Tang Jie was still only really suppressing two people. Of course, nobody else knew this, so when they saw Tang Jie suppressing three Immortals at once, they immediately paled in fright.


    Tang Jie raised the Sovereign de and swung it at the closest unrestrained enemy, Reverend Evil Cloud.


    The me Celestial Sovereign knew the might of the Sovereign de, as did Jin Tianya and the Lord of the Blood River, but Reverend Evil Cloud did not. As Tang Jie attacked, he raised a hand and fired off a bolt of dark energy.


    "Don''t try and block it!" the Lord of the Blood River shouted.


    "Retreat!" Jin Tianya also shouted. He wasn''t actually concerned, but had simply shouted out of instinct.


    s, these warnings came toote. As the dark bolt and Sovereign de collided, the dark bolt exploded into stardust and dissipated into nothingness.


    "How could this be?" Reverend Evil Cloud shouted in disbelief.


    The Sovereign de continued its approach.


    Realizing he was in trouble, he threw a golden cymbal, a wooden stake, and a halberd. The cymbal grewrger as it flew toward Tang Jie, attempting to swat him down like a fly, while the wooden stake released beams of green light that attempted to coil around Tang Jie and render him immobile. As for the halberd, it simply stabbed at Tang Jie, exuding a chilling light and endless killing intent. As he unleashed these three divine treasures, Reverend Evil Cloud backed away, countless barriersyering themselves around him.


    In response, Tang Jie simply charged.


    The Sovereign de sliced through the Heaven-Holding Cymbal with one swing, obliterated the Wind Anchor Stake with another, and then shattered the Heaven-Equaling Halberd with a third. All divine treasures broke under his sword, and then it was the turn of Reverend Evil Cloud''s barriers to melt away.


    rmed, Evil Cloud turned himself into a gust of wind.


    Tang Jie swung at the air, upon which the Sovereign de turned into a bell, which unleashed a brilliant radiance that then transformed into a vortex. Reverend Evil Cloud was pulled into the vortex and he let out a scream as he was ground to death.


    Although he swiftly revived, the ashen expression on his face revealed his shock.


    As Tang Jie was killing Evil Cloud, the Demon Gate''s Eternal Life Demon Sovereign attacked.


    He was the leader of the Demon Gate and possessed formidable cultivation. He sent forth a tide of ck energy that turned everything around him as ck as ink.


    Countless demons emerged from this ck fog, able to corrode the soul and make humans turn into demons. Of course, his methods of demonification were much inferior to Immortal Ji Yao''s and weren''t of much use against Tang Jie, but the screeching from the fog also had the ability to confuse the mind, even working on Earth Immortals. In this demon fog, all Immortal tform experts would have their Divine Wills greatly weakened, which was tantamount to obscuring their vision.


    At times like these, the Eternal Life Demon Sovereign was often able tounch extremely effective surprise attacks.


    The Eternal Life Demon Sovereign had chosen the moment Tang Jie was attacking Evil Cloud to maximize his chances of killing Tang Jie. As a member of the Demon Gate, he was cruel and callous, so even if he was working with the fiends, he didn''t care if his ally died. On the contrary, he was happy to trade Evil Cloud''s life for a chance at killing an enemy.


    Thus, when Tang Jie slew Evil Cloud, the Eternal Life Demon Sovereign unleashed his Soul-Shaking Spike.


    This was an art of the Demon Gate that targeted the Divine Soul. Even the Godhood of Immortals would suffer when struck by this attack. Moreover, it continued to linger on the Divine Soul, so even if one died physically, the effects would still remain. If one could properly use this opportunity, one could kill their opponent seven or eight times.


    But as he unleashed the Soul-Shaking Spike, he felt his surroundings suddenly slow down.


    Everything slowed except for Tang Jie, who suddenly elerated.


    Tang Jie flitted away, and the attack he had spent so much time gathering energy forpletely missed.


    How was this possible?


    As the Eternal Life Demon Sovereign reeled in shock, Tang Jie turned to nce at him.


    His eyespletely ignored the demonic fog''s Divine Will¨Cobscuring ability, which stunned the Eternal Life Demon Sovereign. Could he actually see him?


    What Tang Jie did next proved this to be true.


    He drew back the Sovereign de and then stabbed it at the Eternal Life Demon Sovereign.


    The Demon Sovereign hastily retreated in rm while the ck fog transformed into a wave that howled at Tang Jie.


    Just when the demonic wave was about to sweep him up, Tang Jie stepped forward and disappeared. At the same time, a cold light erupted behind the Eternal Life Demon Sovereign. Sensing danger, he transformed into a puff of smoke at the moment the de touched his neck.


    He had already seen how Evil Cloud had died, so rather than dispersing, he then transformed into a hulking demon that snarled and sought to devour Tang Jie.

 Chapter 1000: Rout

    Chapter 1000: Rout


    The giant demon was created from all of the demonic energy the Eternal Life Demon Sovereign had gathered throughout his life, making it immensely powerful. It also had the unique attribute of being ethereal, allowing it to ignore attacks while still freely attacking the enemy.


    But as it sought to devour Tang Jie, the Sovereign de turned into a bronzentern which erupted with the light of the zing sun.


    This miniature nova of light instantly drove away the darkness, causing the demon to screech and wail as it melted away.


    Just like Tang Jie had used the bell to deal with the wind, he used the bronzentern to deal with the darkness demon. In this light, no darkness could exist, and the Eternal Life Sovereign could only wail, "How could this be?"


    He had already seen this sword transform into a bell, so how could it now transform into antern with different abilities? It was simply unbelievable. If this was simply an illusion, then how could it be so powerful?


    In the middle of his shock, he frantically summoned more ck energy in an attempt to resist.


    Tang Jie pped thentern, and the nova became a supernova, the light of a million tiny suns exploding outward and obliterating the demon.


    Tang Jie pulled his hand back, upon which thentern once more became a golden sword that shot straight toward Jin Tianya.


    But this attack missed. Jin Tianya hadn''t wanted to fight Tang Jie from the very start, so when Tang Jie had been ying Reverend Evil Cloud and the Eternal Life Demon Sovereign, he had already retreated. It wasn''t because he really thought that Tang Jie could defeat six Immortals at once, but because he was certain that if Tang Jie dared to attack, then he had something to back it up and ensure that he could survive against six Immortals, if not win. He had onlye here to get back his treasures and didn''t care about the oue, so he had no desire to fight seriously with Tang Jie and make an enemy.His selfishness had ended up saving one of his lives.


    Tang Jie was startled that his attack had missed, but then he smiled. "Quite kind of you."


    Jin Tianya blushed at the fact he was exposed so easily. Bowing, he said, "Daoist Friend Tang is formidable, possessing stunning cultivation. This one knows he is inferior and does not dare to contend against you. But I have a duty to carry out, so please forgive me."


    Tang Jie got what he was saying. "It''s fine."


    Reverend Evil Cloud happened to be reborn at this moment, and as he heaved a giant mountain at Tang Jie, he cursed, "Jin Tianya, just what are you doing?"


    Jin Tianya shrugged. "I swore an oath on the Heavenly Dao to assist you in this battle if you returned to me my possessions, but this oath didn''t say anything about helping you win, or fighting to the death. Once this battle is over, I will leave this ce and have nothing more to do with its conflicts."


    He fired off several finger sts at Tang Jie, but they were all nks, containing only the power of a mere Spirit Disciple.


    Everyone was stunned by his shamelessness, inwardly cursing him.


    Tang Jieughed and swung his sword.


    He was not merged with his original body, so two Immortals at once was still quite difficult. Jin Tianya not intervening made things much easier for him. He threw out the Sovereign de, which turned into a majestic silver river.


    If one looked closely, one would find that this silver river was actually made of countless different sword energies, each oneparable to the sword intent unleashed by a peak Celestial Heart cultivator. This vast river of countless sword intents descended from the heavens.


    Most terrifying of all was that this attack used the Sovereign de as its basis.


    Skyrend Swordfall was a ughter Dao Art, which emphasized lethality and unstoppability, and the Sovereign de was also an unstoppable weapon. The two put together made for a horrifyingbination.


    Reverend Evil Cloud despaired as his mountain was sliced into bits, though anyone viewing this from down on the surface would have been enchanted by such a magnificent sight.


    The sword river surged forward after ttening the mountain, slicing Reverend Evil Cloud into countless chunks.


    The Eternal Life Demon Sovereign happened to revive at this moment and was caught in the crossfire, dying again before he could even react.


    In the blink of an eye, the two Immortals had been in by Tang Jie twice, leaving the other Immortals stunned.


    The level of damage Tang Jie could inflict wasparable to the Lord of the Blood River. If the Lord of the Blood River was a peerless defensive expert, then Tang Jie was the peerless offensive expert. §²?¦­????


    While those two began to revive, Tang Jie had the Sovereign de transform into a three-footed golden crow, zing with light and heat as it flew toward the Lord of the Blood River. Just as thentern was the apex of light, the golden crow was the apex of mes, even containing the Origin me that Tang Jie had refined. As the golden crow ascended, it transformed into a sea of fire.


    This sea of fire was the counter to the sea of blood. By using the Celestial Eye to identify the weakness and then have the Sovereign de transform into the counter, Tang Jie had managed to take down his opponent every time.


    The Lord of the Blood River bellowed, and the Blood Sea churned once more. But he was already exhausted from dealing with Yun Tian and the six Earth Immortals, and if he hadn''t been able to draw power from the domain, he would have lost long ago. Even so, he had been just barely holding on, so Tang Jie''s attack was thest straw on the camel''s back. In a sh, the sea of mes vaporized arge quantity of blood.


    The Eternal Life Demon Sovereign and Reverend Evil Cloud finished reviving. The Eternal Life Demon Sovereign had an ashenplexion. Never before had he been killed like this twice in a row. He shot an angry re at Tang Jie and roared, "Heavenly Disaster Finger!"


    A grayish-ck finger shot toward Tang Jie, suffused with a chilling death energy that was clearly not to be underestimated. Tang Jie was unable to identify it with the Celestial Eye and only knew that he shouldn''t try to block it, so he immediately blinked away using Nearby Horizon. But the Heavenly Disaster Finger followed him like a shadow, ignoring distance to chase after him.


    Just when it was about to hit him, Tang Jie pulled out the Mother Cloudbat puppet. This was one of the cards Tang Jie was relying on in his battle against the six Immortals. After several upgrades, the Mother Cloudbat puppet could bepared to an Earth Immortal.


    The Heavenly Disaster Finger struck the puppet, and there was a bang as a ck energy invaded it. The formations on the puppet lit up to fight against the dark energy, and golden kes fell from its body, the Mother Cloud Essence Metal crumbling away under the Heavenly Disaster Finger''s power. But thebat puppet seemed to not feel it, raising an arm and punching forward.


    The Eternal Life Demon Sovereign yelped and waved his sleeve, summoning ck pirs of wind that howled about the void of space like raging ck dragons. As the sovereign of the Demon Gate, he possessed considerable strength, and he was now exhibiting his heaven-toppling demonic might. But the Mother Cloudbat puppet simply punched at those ck dragon wind pirs, and while they seemed simple, each punch could destroy a wind pir.


    The Blood River cultivators were well aware of how powerful the ck dragons of the Eternal Life Demon Sovereign were, and their eyes flew open when they saw this.


    On the other end, Tang Jie sent a wave of churning fog at Evil Cloud.


    It wasn''t some killing technique, but Tang Jie''s cultivation wasn''t to be underestimated, and Reverend Evil Cloud had already had the courage killed out of him. Rather than taking on Tang Jie''s attack, he chose to retreat, starting to seem more like Jin Tianya.


    Rather than give chase, Tang Jie unleashed a Ten Extinctions de at the Lord of the Blood River, the attack aimed straight at the core of the Blood Sea. Within the subsequent explosion of crimson fog were the sparkling blood-colored gems that were the essence of the Blood River. These gems were useful to even Earth Immortals, and all the Immortals wanted to grab them, but a hand appeared out of thin air and swept them all up before they had a chance.


    They turned and saw a giggling Xu Miaoran. "Thanks!"


    Her Limitless was the perfect art for stealing, and with Yun Tian and Tang Jie backing her, she had no need to fear anyone. Anyone else wouldn''t have dared to use such a skill. Fortunately, she didn''t go too far and ran off immediately after pulling off the heist, leaving the other Immortals helpless.


    The Lord of the Blood River bellowed in anger from being heavily wounded.


    s, it was impossible for him to turn the tables.


    Seeing Tang Jie easily maneuver among the six Immortals while he himself was slowly losing ground, the Lord of the Blood River finally realized that he could not stop the invaders. Since keeping the enemy out of the domain was no longer possible, he could only seek an opportunity within the domain.


    Even so, he didn''t forget to issue a threat: "My Blood River Domain isn''t a ce that you can just casually swallow up. If you''re smart, you''ll swiftly withdraw, or else we might have to destroy everything!"


    Yun Tian and Tang Jie frowned.


    To be honest, they found such words both scary and annoying.


    There were many capable individuals with all kinds of abilities in the cultivation world, so it wasn''t strange for things to go awry. Moreover, in terms of strength, while the Blood River Domain wasn''t as strong as the Rosecloud Domain, the gap wasn''t too big. If Yun Tian hadn''t advanced to True Immortal and Tang Jie hadn''t be an Immortal himself, the two sides would be practically on par. For the other side to have some means of burning the whole domain down out of spite wasn''t strange.


    Of course, it could also be a bluff. While it was easy to talk tough, in the end, few people could carry out such a thing.


    However, whether or not the Lord of the Blood River was telling the truth, Yun Tian couldn''t possibly give up. What was the Rosecloud Domain even doing if they were giving up after a few threats?


    Thus, Yun Tian waved his sleeve and said, "I''ll have to see it for myself."


    The Lord of the Blood River red at Yun Tian and Tang Jie and then let out a howl. But then he flew downward, fleeing from battle.


    As he fled, the Blood Sea dissipated, the skies of the Blood River Domain clearing.@@novelbin@@


    The Rosecloud Immortals naturally wouldn''t let him go and attacked him as one.


    But the Lord of the Blood River was the manifestation of the Blood River, and he had nothing if not an incredibly tenacious life force. No matter how much power one possessed, while they could stir up crimson waves until they reached the heavens, they couldn''t kill him and could only watch as he fled back to his domain.


    The Eternal Life Demon Sovereign and Reverend Evil Cloud also fled.


    If Tang Jie was willing to go all out, he could hold at least one of them back.


    But after some thought, Tang Jie intentionally loosened the Immortal-sealing formation, and with a bang, the three Immortals imprisoned within, the me Celestial Sovereign included, broke out of the formation.


    "We''re out!" a fiend Earth Immortal shouted in glee.


    The three of them immediately flew downward.


    This meant that Tang Jie "no longer had time" to chase down the other two Immortals. He bellowed, "Where are you going!" after which he and the Mother Cloudbat puppet each intercepted one Immortal, leaving the me Celestial Sovereign to escape back to the Blood River Domain.


    Jin Tianya received the same treatment. He had no interest in fighting, and Tang Jie had no interest in finding more trouble for himself, so when the Lord of the Blood River ran, Jin Tianya was the first to do likewise, at the same timeughing, "The battle is over, so my oath is fulfilled! From now on, I have nothing to do with all of you. I hope that all the cultivators of the Blood River Domain die protecting it, hahahaha!"


    He turned and flew out of the Blood River Domain.


    With this, the Blood River Domain had been utterly routed.


    Without the Blood River Immortals to stop it, the phantom Ning Beast let out a heaven-shaking howl and bit down at the Blood River Domain below. With one bite, it devoured a vast area of Domain Blood mes, which were ejected from its rear end into the millstone behind it.


    "Raaaa!" The one million cultivators in the rear roared as they pushed energy into the millstone, and as the millstone turned, it pulverized this power from another domain and transformed it into the most fundamental substance that was then absorbed into Rosecloud.


    The Ning Beast opened its mouth wide and went on a feeding frenzy on the Blood River Domain.

 Chapter 1001: World Collision

    Chapter 1001: World Collision


    A giant hole appeared in the sky.


    In the depths of that hole in the crimson sky, one could see a giant, golden-horned beast biting again and again.


    With each bite, the hole grewrger andrger, gradually opening the entire sky.


    Following this giant beast was a world in the form of half a.


    It hung in the sky like a moon, but so much closer and brighter.


    On that moon, one could vaguely make out shining pces and people flying here and there.


    It was a scene straight out of a fairytale.


    It was all real, but it did not represent beauty.


    The invasion of a neighboring domain had begun, and the Blood River Domain''s territory was being lost at a terrifying pace.The Ning Beast was eating up the territory of Blood River like it was a delicious cake, transforming it into resources for the Rosecloud Domain. As the Blood River Domain shrank, the Rosecloud Domain was growingrger, sometimes so quickly that it could be observed with the naked eye.


    It was as if what had happened in the Yellow Court World had been brought into the main world.


    As the Ning Beast devoured more and more, the distance between the Rosecloud Domain and the Blood River Domain shrank. That bright moon in the sky drew closer like a descending meteor.


    And as it drew closer, it obscured the entire sky.


    Normally, this was merely an exaggeration, but this time, the sky had truly ceased to exist.


    The two worlds were so close that they were about to connect.


    When the bright moon that was the Rosecloud Domain finally collided with the surface of the Blood River Domain, there was a massive boom, and a series of earthquakes erupted across thend.


    The first to collide were the mountains of the domains, peak against peak, the towering mountains of Rosecloud mming into the mountains of Blood River like giant pirs. In a sh, the mountains were pulverized into clouds of dust.


    As the mountains crumbled, the gravitational pull of the two worlds suspended the debris between the two worlds, forming a belt of stone in the sky.


    Then the surfaces collided, the earth groaning and shuddering from the impact. The impact traveled into the bowels of the earth and then erupted from the surface again as pirs of energy. These pirs of energy mixed together with the pirs of energy from the world on the other side, creating a grandiose sight. ??????¨º?


    The surface began to ripple as the worst earthquake of all took ce, the shockwaves traveling thousands of kilometers and destroying everything in the area. What was different here was that the Rosecloud Domain had long ago made preparations, evacuating all the people beforehand and choosing the most deste Transverse Range as the site of impact. In contrast, the Blood River Domain had made no preparations at all, so the collision resulted in everyone on the surface dying. This was a massacre, but there was no other choice. War was for resources, and to get sufficient resources, a certain level of ughter was required. The only thing they could do was focus the ughter on the fiends and demons, avoiding human territory.


    Even so, the shockwaves were so widespread that they still affected the humans, though their losses were much less severe.


    But this was not the end of things. After the collision of surfaces, the oceans began to overflow, the gravity of the two worlds pulling at each other''s oceans. As a result, giant pirs of water spiraled into the air, and the seas transformed into a chaotic dance of struggling water fiends and monsters. Dangerous and hidden areas of the ocean were destroyed in the collision, driving out the great fiends slumbering within.


    The Rosecloud Domain didn''t have any significant ocean areas, but the Blood River Domain had mighty oceans popted with primitive fiends, which met with cmity.


    Finally, the energy of the bowels of the earth erupted. The power of the impact hadn''t just been felt horizontally, but also vertically. While some of its power had turned around and erupted from the surface in mighty geysers, most of the power traveled even deeper, creating thousands of channels in the earth, and then fire began to shoot out from them like volcanic eruptions. The pirs of fire and water wove together, creating vast clouds of steam.


    With this, the terrifying world collision finally came to an end. The two worlds were now stuck together like two people holding hands.


    At the same time, the Ning Beast phantom retreated to the Rosecloud Domain.


    With the phantom gone, the Rosecloud Domain suddenly began to move, the half-sphere seemingly developing a life of its own. The impact site began to change, a giant fissure opening in the center of the Transverse Range. Outcrops of rock began to grow from the sides of the fissure in row after row. If one were observing all this from a distance, it would seem as if someone was drawing a mouth for this. First there was the mouth, and then the teeth, and the mouth opened wider and wider until it could devour mountains, and finally, it took a bite at the Blood River Domain¡­


    Yes, this was the real form of domain merging. The devouring of the Ning Beast was too slow and expensive, whereas this was domain merging in the real sense. When migrating the domain, the Ning Beast was the horse pulling the carriage. When merging domains, the Ning Beast was the soul controlling the domain.


    At this stage, there was no stopping the domain merging. At the moment of linking, the Rosecloud Domain had brazenly assigned the Blood River Domain the role of food that should be devoured. But the Blood River Domain was far too big, and to consume this "food" that was almost asrge as its "body" would take an extremely long time.


    This was why this was the only chance the Blood River Domain had to counterattack.


    The vast size of the domain-merging formation meant that it had many nodes whose destruction could affect the formation, and if enough nodes were destroyed, the entire formation would be finished. The mutual repulsion between the two worlds would make them separate again.


    This was Blood River''sst and only hope.


    Here was when the middle- and low-level cultivators came into y.


    The battlefield was too big for the powerhouses to concern themselves with each and every battlefield, unless they attacked without distinction between enemies and allies. Moreover, they also had to protect the core of the formation so the powerhouses of Blood River wouldn''t go and destroy it.


    Thus, in this battle of two domains, numerous cultivators were deployed.


    They flew off to the opposing side from various directions,nding at varying locations. Once the two worlds were linked, they were so close together that the Blood River Domain could no longer reject Rosecloud''s "kiss", and Rosecloud could no longer reject Blood River''s "embrace".


    Vicious battles began to y out in the intersecting space of the two worlds.


    Various groups of cultivators, puppets, and fiend beasts were locked in brutalbat.


    The twinkling formation eyes became the source of conflict over which the cultivators of two worlds fought. asionally, explosions of blood would bloom in the air, but rather than falling, this blood would simply hang in the air. Under the effect of certain spell arts, some of these blood flowers were even able to maintain their form.


    However, some of the blood would fall in the direction of the Blood River Domain.


    This was a very weird sight. While mes, stones, trees, and oceans were all floating in the air, only the blood was falling toward the Blood River Domain.


    Standing on the roof of the Hall of Divine Conference, Tang Jie saw all this and smiled. "Old Blood River, you think I can''t see your tricks?"


    This was clearly the work of the Lord of the Blood River. He had been badly wounded in his battle with Yun Tian and had now hidden himself away, absorbing blood in order to recover his energy.


    Just when Tang Jie was about to intervene, Yun Tian suddenly said, "Pay it no mind."


    "Ancestor?" Tang Jie looked to him.


    Yun Tian exined, "I heavily injured Blood River, so it will take some time for him to recover. Even if he does recover, I will be able to deal with him. Our first priority is toplete the domain merging. Blood River''s cultivators are crazily attacking the formation eyes, and each formation eye destroyed will slow down the domain merging. I need to stand guard over the central core, and the other Earth Immortals have their own mission, and even if one or two of them were free, they wouldn''t be able to affect the overall situation much. The Lord of the Blood River is the manifestation of the Blood River and has the power to teleport, so he can transport cultivators for a sneak attack. This is a harsh challenge for our cultivators, and in order to avoid severe losses, you should go and assist them."


    Tang Jie considered this. "You can leave this matter to me, then."


    With a wave of his hand, arge amount of essence left his body, each ball of blood turning into a clone through the Reflections of Floating Life. Unlike before, he had put more blood and flesh into creating these clones, such that there were only a hundred-some of them.


    But these hundred-some Tang Jie clones were all at the peak of Celestial Heart, and they flew off to various parts of the battlefield.


    Tang Jie was a little pale after using so much essence blood.


    Still, he had more to do. As he took out the Mountain River State Diagram and unrolled it, countless Wuxing emerged from it.


    After countless years of recovery, the devastated Wuxing had flourished once more, and through this rebirth from the ashes, the Wuxing had be arger, stronger, and tougher race, producing more high-level cultivators and growing even closer to humans.


    The desire to survive had made the entire race develop in a stronger direction. Of course, this was also because Tang Jie had taken their souls and refused to let them fall into the Nether Domain. Otherwise, the flourishing of the Wuxing would have been very difficult, let alone this evolution.


    The gathered Wuxing prostrated to Tang Jie.


    Tang Jie''s will was instantly transmitted to the minds of every Wuxing, informing them of their mission.


    "Go and do your duty. Protect the formation eyes with everything you have."


    After sending off the Wuxing, Tang Jie began to sow beans.@@novelbin@@


    These beans had been unable to keep up with Tang Jie''s cultivation, and several hundred bean soldiers couldn''t even defeat a single Celestial Heart cultivator, so he had stopped using them. But Tang Jie''s Dao Arts and the current battlefield situation had given them new purpose.

 Chapter 1002: Reinforcing

    Chapter 1002: Reinforcing


    After sowing the seeds, Tang Jie used life creation.


    The bean soldiers were usually summoned through a spell art, Sowing Beans into Soldiers. This was because some external force was needed to give them a boost, or else they would have to naturally grow.


    Sowing Beans into Soldiers was actually a spell art belonging to the Dao of Life, so one could use simr methods as well. To put it simply, spell arts and their like could be used to grant the beans life and the ability to fight.


    But regardless of how powerful these spell arts were, they all belonged to Life, so none of them could be greater than the Great Dao itself. To directly use the Dao''s power of life creation on the beans was many times stronger than using Sowing Beans into Soldiers.


    The twobined created a special kind of bean soldier.


    The power of life creation turned the beans into soldiers, but these soldiers were clearly much stronger, each one at the peak of Mortal Shedding. But because they had few spell arts, their actual strength was inferior. However, if they could assemble into formations, one only needed around twenty to fight against a Spirit Ring cultivator,pletely different from the three hundred that were needed in the past.


    Still, Tang Jie frowned.


    In the end, he was still weak in the Dao of Life, unable to get the bean soldiers over the hump and into Celestial Heart. It had to be understood that bean soldiers could use their numbers to fight above their realm. Not fight above their tier, but above their realm!


    "Realms" referred to the major thresholds, and "tiers" were the minor thresholds.@@novelbin@@When the bean soldiers were weak, they could use their formations and numbers to defeat a Celestial Heart True Person, so if they were individually at Celestial Heart, they could take down a Violet Pce True Lord without a problem, all the way up to Soul Projection! So long as the difference was within two realms, victory was only a question of numbers. This was unlike regr cultivators¡ªa group of Spirit Ring True Persons could never defeat a Soul Projection True Lord, for the greater the gap in strength, the less power numbers had.


    If the bean soldiers reached Soul Transformation, Tang Jie suspected that they could even fight an Earth Immortal. Of course, it was hard to estimate what the losses would be.


    Putting all that aside, the current bean soldiers had to organize into phnxes of one hundred, or else let alone Violet Pce True Lords, Celestial Heart True Persons would be enough to doom them.


    Tang Jie had spent a long time growing these beans, and he had more than enough to sow as many as he pleased. Thus, he kept on sowing beans and turning them into soldiers until his Life Dao power ran out, creating nearly ten thousand of them before finally sending them out.


    As for the bean king, Tang Jie was unwilling to let him join the assault. This was mostly because this was a very scattered battlefield, so the bean king couldn''t y much of a role, so the chance of losing him outweighed the value of sending him out. After all, the bean king was the only one who could constantly grow stronger through cultivation, and he was now much stronger than before. In the past, the bean king could only enhance around a thousand bean soldiers, but now, his influence could span over hundreds of thousands. In fact, he was deeply displeased that Tang Jie couldn''t provide him so many soldiers at once.


    Once this was done, Tang Jie finally began to rest.


    In this war of two worlds, gruesome battles were ying out all over the ce.


    Celestial Heart and Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators were the main fighting force here, and these cultivators formed teams and fought on different battlefields, with many people preparing for a prolonged campaign.


    Because of Yun Tian''s own preferences, while the world collision had taken ce at the Transverse Range, it leaned more toward thends of Godhead Pce and the Beast Refining Gate so that these areas sustained more damage. In addition, most of the formation eyes had been concentrated there, turning the western side of Rosecloud into the main battlefield. More than half of the cultivators were concentrated in the borders of these two countries.


    In Nadir Hill, the Heaven Wind ins.


    A group of cultivators from Godhead Pce was standing guard around a formation eye, apany of one hundred men led by a Spirit Ring cultivator. There were also three hundred puppets and two hundred fiends, but the puppets had all been lost and more than half of the fiends had been killed or injured. Even thepany itself had lost ten-some men.


    Across from them was an attacking force of three-hundred-some Hemos cultivators, with even more of them dead on the ground. The problems facing the defender were different from those of an attacker. As the attacking side whose job it was to destroy the formation, the

 Chapter 1003: Interception

    Chapter 1003: Interception


    Simr scenes took ce all across the Rosecloud Domain.


    The hundred-some clones of Tang Jie flew between the smaller battlefields and rescued the cultivators defending them like a fire crew putting out fires.


    But even more sess was owed to the Wuxing and the bean soldiers.


    The Wuxing were an unexpected force on the battlefield. They had strange appearances, neither human nor fiend, and they also possessed bizarre abilities.


    As they had lived in the Yellow Court World, the Wuxing were particrly effective at wielding the power of the Five Elements, with almost all their spell arts and Divine Connections being based on them. Thus, the Blood River cultivators normally wouldn''t have even seen their enemy before they were suddenly attacked by a barrage of fireballs, a giant wave, a sandstorm, or an avnche of trees, and then¡­ they were gone.


    Tang Jie served to boost morale while the Wuxing served to intimidate the enemy. As for the bean soldiers, they were a source of amusement.


    The jabbering, infant-sized bean soldiers, iling their weapons as they charged into the fray, were utterlycking in any seriousness or solemnity, despite the size of their formations. Their exaggerated movements and cute faces made it difficult to notugh. But the funny bean soldiers were savage fighters, and their performance inbat made one''s blood run cold.


    Even though the three forces Tang Jie had sent out were making their presence felt on the battlefield, formation eyes were still being taken, and the speed of the domain merging was slowing. But as the formation eyes fell, the Rosecloud Domain''s cultivators also had to defend less and less and could concentrate their forces, with the cultivators who had retreated from destroyed formation eyes joining up to defend others. At the same time, the Rosecloud Domain began to utilize its greater number of high-tier cultivators.


    Blueheart Ridge.<em>Whoosh!</em>


    A sharp sword energy sliced a Hemos cultivator in half, and an immense energy welled up from within, obliterating his body from the inside out and turning it into a rain of blood. This Hemos was a Violet Pce True Lord, yet he had been in with a single blow.


    Cai Junyang swung hisrge sword around andughed, "Some Violet River Great Fiend of the Jewel Mountain Eight Gates he was! He couldn''t even handle three attacks from my sword! Hey, do the two of you need any help?"


    Nearby, Wei Tianchong and Qi Shaoming were battling two other Violet Pce cultivators. They snorted in unison, "No need!"


    Qi Shaoming had always been a little proud, and the main reason he hadn''t grown arrogant was that Tang Jie had beaten him up all those years ago, making him realize that there was a heaven beyond the heavens. However, his past as a nine-cycle genius had still made him a little more arrogant than his peers. He couldn''t catch up to Tang Jie, but he had been vying for first ce with Cai Junyang for some time now. Before the Violet Pce Sublimation Ceremony, Cai Junyang had always been in the lead, but s, Cai Junyang had ultimately been unable to break into Violet Pce on his own, and Tang Jie had needed to help him. As a result, with Qi Shaoming and Cai Junyang on the same level, Tang Jie had essentially helped Qi Shaoming equal the score. Qi Shaoming naturally wasn''t willing to let Cai Junyang get ahead of him again, and put his all into keeping up.


    Since Cai Junyang had killed his foe first, Qi Shaoming sent a wave of sword energy at his own foe. This cultivator threw out a small blue pearl whose radiance held off the sword energy, preventing it from making impact. Qi Shaoming grunted and suddenly turned into nine¡ªthe Phantom Clone sh that he was so proud of. The Phantom Clone sh had grown with his cultivation, its power on the Divine Connection level. Each of the nine Qi Shaomings had Violet Pce cultivation, and even his Seven Stars Moonchase Sword had been perfectly replicated, each one unleashing a dazzling wave of energy.


    The blue pearl erupted with bursts of light as the nine Qi Shaomings unleashed innumerable attacks. Finally, the blue pearl reached its limit and exploded.


    "My Sea Exploring Pearl!" the cultivator shouted in grief, and then he was lost in a storm of sword intent.


    On the other end, Wei Tianchong was in a stalemate. His opponent was a Demon Gate cultivator, covered in demonic energy. Not only was his body itself highly toxic, it was also extremely tough. All of Wei Tianchong''s spell arts were weakened by ny percent before they could even make impact, and his opponent would swiftly heal the negligible damage that was inflicted. Meanwhile, those punches and kicks seemed simple, but they carried such weight that Wei Tianchong felt like each punch was a mountain.@@novelbin@@


    This man was the Golden Cauldron Demon Lord, an illustrious figure of the Demon Gate. Though only at Infant Tending, he was a formidablebatant that was the leader of this trio. Wei Tianchong was using everything he had, but he was slowly losing ground.


    To see his twopanions breezing through their battles while he was the only one losing made him furious, and he roared, "Damn you! You really think you can push me around like I''m some y doll?"


    The Golden Cauldron Demon Lordughed. "In my view, I guess you''re just a little tougher than a y doll?"


    "Is that so? Then it''s time you experience the power of y!" Wei Tianchong suddenly threw aside his treasures and aimed his hands toward the ground. "Rise!"


    Below floated the shattered peaks of the two worlds, and as Wei Tianchong aimed his hands at them, those chunks of mountains began to shudder, and then they began to grow arms and legs. The mountains had been turned to giants, striding through the air toward the Golden Cauldron Demon Lord.


    "This is¡­" The Golden Cauldron Demon Lord was mystified by what he was seeing.


    Wei Tianchong furiously roared, "Have a taste of my Hundred Refinement Combat Puppet Divine Connection! Kill him!"


    The mountain giants swung their arms at the Golden Cauldron Demon Lord.


    If these giants had only brute strength, the demon lord had plenty of ways of dealing with them, but these giants emitted the light of formations, indicating that there was clearly something more to them. As expected, as he thrust out his palm with all his strength, enough to shatter mountains, the giant''s body shed and continued onward as if nothing had happened. Even though the Golden Cauldron Demon Lord cultivated both arts and body, the impact of the giants'' fists against his body was difficult to endure, and he hastily retreated. ??¨¢N??¨§?


    But even more giants charged in, surrounding him from all sides. Not only that, the formations on them activated, sealing his surroundings to render all escape arts ineffective.


    This was Wei Tianchong''s Hundred Refinement Combat Puppet Divine Connection. Unlike Tang Jie''s life creation, it did not grant life, creating lifeless puppets instead. This was an art that Wei Tianchong had developed himself, merging it with his talent for modeling, and it freed him from having to spend so much time on carving and molding. Of course, without any rare materials, their actual strength was limited. However, so long as he had enough mountains to work, he could continue to producebat puppets.


    As the mountains-turned-puppets charged in and swung their fists at the Golden Cauldron Demon Lord, his indomitable body began to falter, and he began to crazily howl in fury.


    <em>Bang!</em>


    Another giant fist mmed into him, causing him to throw up blood.


    At the same time, there was a scream, which came from hispanion being in by Qi Shaoming.


    This ced a huge psychological pressure on the Golden Cauldron Demon Lord, and he lost all will to fight.


    But his desire to retreat gave Wei Tianchong more space to work with, and as he poured more power into his Divine Connection, more and more mountains were turned into puppets, filling up every inch of space around the Golden Cauldron Demon Lord.


    Just when it seemed like he was about to lose, despair appearing in his eyes, he suddenly roared, "You can''t kill me!"


    He transformed into a beam of golden light and shot forward, so sharp that it instantly pierced through several dozen giants, digging a path straight through them.


    After breaking out of Wei Tianchong''s encirclement, the Golden Cauldron Demon Lordughed, "You idiots, if I want to leave, who can stop me?"


    His original name was the Golden Head Demon Lord, primarily because of this Divine Connection where he poured golden light into the top of his head. This resulted in an extremely prating attack that could also be used for escape. He had killed countless people in the past, and when he was being hunted down, he had used this move to escape death numerous times.


    Now that he was free, he flew off into the distance, and it was toote for Cai Junyang and the others to catch up.


    Suddenly, he felt danger approaching, but before he could do anything, there was a golden sh in the distance.


    It was a swift and strange attack, illuminating his body like the rising sun, leaving him nowhere to run. All he could do was summon all the strength he had to the surface of his body, pushing his thoughtcasting to the limit to create countless barriers around him, hoping to survive through thebination of barriers and his tough body.


    But when the sword touched him, he realized he was wrong.


    This attack rendered all defenses irrelevant.


    The sword prated through all of his barriers as if they didn''t exist, stabbing into his body and erupting with a vast sea of energy that obliterated everything that he was.


    "Such¡­ sharp¡­" the Golden Cauldron Demon Lord muttered, unable to finish his sentence before the sword light wiped him from existence.


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